19: The Culmination
Chapter 19
The Culmination
The curtain rose swiftly from the unlit stage, revealing the dominion of shadows therein. The silence was palpable as the audience sat in breathless anticipation and confusion, eagerly awaiting the first strains of a beautiful melody. From the blackened stage, there came the dainty sound of a throat being cleared followed by a very sweet and melodious voice; one as elegant as Rarity’s, but without the accent.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts, today I have a special performance for you all. This day has been made night for us, and I depart from my usual fare for something a bit more melancholic. Fillies and gentecolts, I present to you my latest work: Luna’s Requiem.”
From the stage, there rose a low, mournful note, soon followed by more of the same. Lights of blue rose and fell in time with the melody, adding an extra dimension to the notes. The melody began as a low and dreary dirge, conjuring forth the image of a funeral in my mind. There was a palpable remorse and anguish carried by the melody, and the pain and suffering it inspired in me was a physical one. I could feel the tears begin to slide down my face as the melody washed over me and consumed me. I felt the solitude and the abandonment in the melody, and it struck a chord deep within me and stirred feelings that I’d forgotten I had. The melody began to build in intensity, its discordant notes still finding harmony in their wild oscillations.
This passage, or act, or whatever you wish to call it, inspired the mind to picture a slowly growing madness and anger, as logic and reason fell to blind hatred. Lights of red and orange flashed against shades of blue and purple, the growing cacophony of light playing a silent accompaniment to the musician on stage. A sharp note sounded and the light flared white, briefly illuminating the stage and the grey mare situated in the center of it. In the brief instant, I thought I saw the glimmer of a tear upon her cheek. The lights immediately resumed their rhythmic waxing and waning in shades of Pink, purple, blue, yellow, orange, and white, offset by a blue-tinted darkness. The melody became the score from an action movie as the tempo increased, causing my pulse rate to do the same. It was as if I was watching the Mane Six battling against the Nightmare in a clash of light and sound.
The “battle” raged on and on, the intensity slowly building to a climax, and the lights followed suit. Gradually, the stage was well enough illuminated to make out the figure on the stage, though it was impossible to tell if Octavia was actually crying. The crescendo came in a great sweeping wave of emotion, as the lights atop the stage flared brightly in a prismatic display of colorful illumination. The music and the lights died as one, plunging the stage into silence and darkness. I initially thought that the performance was over at this point, but from the darkness there rose a slow and somber note, so quiet that I nearly missed it. The music slowly built upon itself, becoming lighter and cheerier as the notes flowed. In a way that was difficult to explain, the melody conjured forth the image of fall in my mind, as the leaves burned red and began to fall.
The melody continued its cheery tune, giving its praise to the redeemed princess of the night as she was once more a part of the kingdom. The piece came to a close with a single, drawn out note that echoed a sense of finality as it spread through the hall. A moment of silence followed the conclusion, and was soon shattered by the thunderous sound of applause ringing in from all directions. The walls of the concert hall shook under the onslaught. The lights on the stage had risen with the melody, their brightness and twinkling mirroring that of the music, until the stage was fully illuminated. Octavia was bathed in the glow of the lights as she stood and took her bows, the entire audience rising to its hooves as she did so. A series of bows were rendered before Octavia laid her instrument into a velvet-lined case.
Turning from the instrument, she made her way to the center of the stage, stopping only a few meters from where Joy and I sat. From this distance, I could see the damp path that tears had traced down her face. As she stood in the light, she gazed expectantly out across the crowd, causing their volume to rapidly diminish until silence once more reigned. Once the audience had been silenced, she spoke up once again, her voice cracking from the emotion.
“Good afternoon, everypony. I can see that you’ve all enjoyed the performance. This is the first time I’ve performed this piece for an audience, and I hope that it moved you as it did me.”
As she said this, her gaze locked on mine as I brushed a tear from my eye. She then reached up and mirrored the gesture before continuing, her gaze passing back out to the crowd.
“This piece is a tribute to Princess Luna, as you may have guessed. The piece begins prior the Banishment, as I tried to convey the loneliness and despair that Luna endured as the ponies shunned her nights in favor of the day. The next stanza begins to reflect the growing madness and rage within her heart as the nightmare begins to take hold. This stanza leads into the battle between the bearers of the Elements of Harmony and the Nightmare during the Resurgence, culminating with the banishment of the Nightmare and Luna’s Redemption. The pianissimo that follows represents the recuperation period that Luna required as she adapted to life after a millennium of banishment. And finally, the allegretto at the end signifies the triumphant return of our Princess of the Night, whom we welcome back into our lives with open arms. Thank you for your patronage, and may your days and nights be full of joy.”
The audience once more rose to its hooves and sent forth a thunderous applause, shaking the very ground with its force. The curtain fell on the stage, signaling the end of the concert and prompting ponies to begin moving towards the exit. I stayed seated as the hall cleared out, earning me more than one sour look as ponies had to go around me. Casting my gaze at Joy as she sat beside me, I took a bit of comfort as she wiped tears from her eyes as well. At least I wasn’t the only one who had been moved by the lovely piece. Even though her eyes were puffy and red from her emotional response to this truly great music, Joy looked positively amazing in her little black dress. By the time Joy had quelled her tears, the hall had nearly emptied of patrons, and a platoon’s worth of cleaning ponies descended upon the vacated seats.
Joy and I took to our hooves and made our way towards the side of the stage, finding our way blocked by a positively hulking mound of pony. His dour demeanor vanished entirely once we flashed our VIP passes as he kindly gave us directions to our destination, and while smiling, no less. A few turns and short hallways later, we were outside of a simple wooden door, its appearance not befitting the tier of celebrity within. A gentle rapping on the door elicited a soft response from within, inviting us across the threshold. The handle was surrounded by a blue aura and turned, the door silently swinging open as Joy led the way into the room.
I marveled at the room, which stood in opposition to everything I expected. The room was small, perhaps ten meters square, and somewhat dimly lit. I’d anticipated a cathedral-sized space, chock full of important ponies and their lackeys, as lesser ponies fought for space at a buffet table. Instead, the small, dimly lit room was furnished with naught but a quartet of over-stuffed leather loveseats arranged so that they all faced each other. Everything seemed to be designed to foster a sense of closeness and intimacy, which it most certainly did. In the chair facing the door was a grey mare, sitting with her legs crossed under her and a cup of hot tea held in her hooves. She took a sip as we walked in, smiling in bliss and sighing contentedly. Opening her eyes, her expression was one of puzzlement for a moment before her features lit up in recognition.
“My goodness, I recognize you two… I played a little something special for you when I stopped in Ponyville a few months ago. How have you been since then? Oh, look at me, babbling on… please, take a seat and get comfortable. Tea?”
Joy found herself a bit overwhelmed by the deluge of questions from her idol, so I took the lead in answering the questions as best I could as we took a seat.
“Yes, that concert is and will always be one of my fondest memories. Yes, we would love some tea, however you take yours would be fine for me. I can’t speak for Joy, though.”
At the mention of her name, Joy pulled herself out of her daze and joined the conversation.
“Yes, I would like that as well, Miss Octavia.”
The slate mare wave a hoof dismissively. “Please, simply ‘Octavia’ will suffice. Though, I ask that you not call me ‘Octy’, as that name is special to me.”
Joy finally seemed to find her voice, and took it upon herself to respond. “Of course, Octavia. As for your other question, as to how we have been these past months, I must say things have been going better than I would have had any right to hope. Despite the fact that we work opposite sides of the clock, we still manage to spend time together, and we get along pretty well for the most part. Except when Dave does something dumb… which is pretty frequently, now that I think about it.”
I held a hoof over my heart in mock hurt. “Hey now… I’m getting better, meanie. Goodness, no respect at all… “
Joy stuck her tongue out at me with a smile, and I grinned back. Octavia watched this with a smile of her own, though with a slightly wistful tint to it.
“Joy, Dave… I must say, it is refreshing to see a couple that gets along as well as you two do. If only there were more ponies out there who shared the kind of love that you two do, I think the world could be a wonderful place.”
At this unabashed compliment, Joy and I looked at each other with a little blush. If she only knew what was planned for this evening… I smiled at Joy for a moment before turning back to Octavia with the same smile.
“Why, thank you, Octavia. That’s very sweet.”
She simply smiled in reply, and further conversation was somewhat delayed by the arrival of the tea on a fine ceramic platter. Once Joy and I had been served, a comfortable moment of silence passed as we indulged in our tea. Now, I know next to nothing about tea, but whatever tea blend this was can only be described as incredible. A light citrus taste with a touch of honey called forth some uncomfortable feelings, but I was able to push them to the side with relative ease compared to before. Octavia once again broke the silence, and I was somewhat surprised by her socialization… I supposed I’d expected her to be a bit more stuck up for some reason.
“So, how did you two enjoy the performance? What do you think of this latest piece?”
I looked to Joy to take the lead again, but she gave me a slight nod to field this one on my own.
“Well, I was truly moved by it. I could just about feel the remorse and loneliness in the notes, and I just found the entire piece resonated with me in a way that I can’t fully explain. Which, I suppose, is the mark of great music.”
Joy nodded silently beside me, a faraway look in her eyes as she relived the concert. Now it was Octavia’s turn to blush, and seeing it made me smile a bit wider. Octavia responded to my observation with a very in-depth explanation of chords and all sorts of things that I didn’t comprehend whatsoever, and I had to stop her shortly after she started to ask for an explanation. After the first three times this happened, she tried to simplify it for me a few times before she gave up and wrote me off as musically hopeless. Joy watched all of this with a little bit of a smile, trying to contain her enjoyment at my flailng attempts to keep up. As the minutes rolled by, a question formed in the back of my head and persisted to bug me until I got it out of my head.
“Octavia, I have an off-topic question to ask… do you mind?”
Joy took it upon herself to add an addendum to my question.
“You’ll get used to it, he does that a lot.”
Octavia nodded knowingly. “Ah, I’ll keep that in mind. So, what’s the question?”
“I was just wondering why there aren’t more ponies back here, in the back-stage sort of thing.”
“That is actually a good question. I only offer a few passes for each performance, because I prefer these things to be a more relaxed and personal sort of affair. I learned the hard way early on that if you have more than a few ponies in the same room, especially if those ponies are affluent, it soon turns into a fight to establish superiority over the others. This, in turn, just winds up being a stressful affair for all involved. By keeping these engagements small, they tend to remain civil.”
“Huh… that makes a lot of sense when you put it like that.”
“Experience is hard won,” she said with a smile.
The conversation continued in this manner for another hour, covering topics varying from Joy’s career progression and my promotion, all the way to who made Joy’s dress and the best place to eat in Ponyville. I don’t recall exactly what convoluted twist of conversation led us to the topic, but we found ourselves once more on the subject of relationships, though this time the subject of the questions had been flipped from us to Octavia. Stranger still was the fact that it had been me that broached the question.
“So Octavia, you pretty well know the both of us from head to hoof… tell us about yourself. Surely a mare as beautiful and successful as yourself must have swarms of admirers?”
Octavia blushed and pointedly looked elsewhere as she cleared her throat. While Octavia’s attention was focused on anything but me, Joy used her cheating unicorn magic to give me a solid thump on the nose for calling another mare beautiful in front of her. I was about to call shenanigans on this, since Joy herself had remarked how beautiful the musician was on more than one occasion, but I let it slide for the moment. An awkward silence settled in as Octavia sipped her tea, still focusing on the wall. Just as I was opening my mouth to change the subject, she spoke up.
“You might think so, but it simply isn’t true. Oh sure, there are those in the grips of foal-like infatuation who pop up from time to time; but with the way that I’m constantly on the move en route to some far off concert or another, they tend to fade away as quickly as they pop up. No, a life on the road is far from the ideal lifestyle to meet a special somepony, since you are hardly in the same place long enough to say hello before you’re off to the next stop.”
I knew the feeling well.“I understand where you’re coming from, more or less. I know what it’s like to hop from place to place. But even so, are you telling me that there is nopony out there who’s been fortunate enough to catch your fancy?”
The ghost of a smile graced her lips as she stared into the distance. “Well, there might be one… but I’d rather not fuel any more of these silly rumors floating around. Celestia knows I don’t need any more of those hanging over my head.”
“I know that feeling as well, unfortunately. I’m sorry that you can’t just love whoever you love without it being a public spectacle, and I respect you right to privacy. I won’t pester you anymore about it.”
I now had Octavia's full attention, as she set down her cup and turned to face me. “Do you have any idea how wonderful it is to hear you say that? How long I’ve waited for somepony to just accept what I say at face value without trying to needle the details out of me?”
I shrugged modestly. “Entirely too long, it would seem. The fact that anypony would continue to press after you explained your position so plainly amazes me, and not in a good way.”
“It is quite sad, is it not? I was just talking to Vinyl the other day, and—“
Octavia’s face went sallow as she clamped her hooves over her mouth, wishing she could take back her words while preventing any further ones from popping out. Based on her reaction, I would venture a guess that she hadn’t meant to use Vinyl’s name. Honestly, I wouldn’t even have noticed the slip if not for the immediate and profound reaction to the slip. Not wanting to draw any more attention to the situation, I did my best to carry on as if nothing had happened, despite Octavia’s reaction.
“So, you two were talking the other day, and…?”
Joy was looking back and forth between Octavia and I as if there was an invisible tennis match taking place, and Octavia simply fixed me with a worried, yet hopeful look as she tried to divine my intentions. Cautiously, she continued where she’d left off, though omitting the name from earlier.
“We were talking the other day about the same exact thing, and she voiced that same sentiment, though in cruder fashion. She even followed her statement with wild declarations of immediate and significant bodily harm if she was party to any of this. Something about a Bass Canon of some sort. At any rate, I just thought it was amusing that the two of you had a similar stance on the matter.”
“Sounds like this mare has a good head on her shoulders.”
“She certainly has her moments.” As she said this, Octavia smiled to herself, her gaze going up and to the left as she lost herself in a recollection of some sort. There was no mistaking it, and no room for even a sliver of doubt; she had a definite thing for Vinyl. I could say this with total confidence based off of her expression… I wore the same expression when I thought about Joy. Joy and I shared a look, the both of us smiling at the same time in a perfect replication of Octavia’s expression. Aforementioned mare caught a glimpse of the two of us smiling at each other before we turned to smile at her, and proceeded to look surprised and then defeated.
“Well, it would seem that you two are now privy to my dearest secret. I know that you will most likely spread the news to everypony within earshot, but could you find it in your heart to postpone the press conference for a few hours so that I can break the news to Vinyl?”
I sat there with my mouth agape for a moment, in shock at that I’d just heard. Joy was more inflamed than dumbstruck at this comment, and was thus the first one to speak up on the matter. “Octavia, really?”
This caught the slate mare by surprise, drawing her up short. “Really what? I don’t understand the question… look, all I’m asking is a few hours to tell Vinyl on my own terms before everything blows up in our faces. Is that too much to ask?”
Joy’s incredulous tone deepened. “Do… do you really think that we would do that?”
Octavia hung her head. “Well, I was hoping that you would agree to the grace period to allow me to break the news my own way, but it would seem that I’d be wrong.”
At this point, I chimed in. I’d finally managed to find my voice, and I was already tired of this beating around the bush.
“Octavia, we won’t be giving you the grace period simply because we will not be telling anypony about this. Neither of us have any business or desire to reveal somepony’s dearest secret, least of all that of a new friend. Frankly, I’m mildly insulted that you think we’d stoop so low.”
Octavia’s eyes bounced between Joy and I as she tried to wrap her mind around what I’d just said. “So… you aren’t going to tell the world about Vinyl and I?”
I shook my head. “We have no right to; it’s not our place to reveal your secrets. You obviously have a reason for doing what you are doing. Besides, I’d like to think that we are at least some type of friends by this point, and friends don’t do things like that to friends.”
“I… I can’t thank you enough for this…you cannot possibly imagine what news like this could do to my career.” Octavia looked as if she was uncertain whether to laugh or cry in relief.
Thoughts of bigotry, prejudice, blind hatred, and irresponsible ignorance flashed through my mind in the form of images from the news. It seemed like no matter who you were or where you were from, there were people who hated you just on blind principal alone.
“I understand more than you could imagine. Like I said, and I’m positive that Joy is on the same ship as I am, your secret is safe with us. Though, if I may, I’d like to make a suggestion.”
“It would seem that I have underestimated you both; for that I am deeply sorry. Forgive me?” Octavia punctuated her declaration with a bow of her head.
I smiled at her, my heart warmed by her candor. “Of course we forgive you, though it was a simple mistake.”
“I thank you nonetheless. And what suggestion do you have?”
“Simply that you break the news about your relationship on your own terms, so that you have a measure of control over the ‘spin’ on it.”
She merely nodded. “Yes, you are not the first to tell me that, and it is beginning to look more prudent each day. I suppose it will have to come to light sooner or later, and it would be nice not to have it hanging over my head every day.”
“See? Occasionally, even I have a good idea.”
Joy, who had been quietly observing and nodding up to this point, again chimed in on my behalf.
“It’s true, it does happen; the only problem is that it is about as common as seeing a phoenix catch a cold.”
With that joke, the tension that had been slowly building was dissipated, and the three of us laughed as if we were old friends recounting fond memories. The remaining time passed in a blur, and before I knew it, there came a rapping on the door and a mare’s voice informing Octavia that she was needed somewhere for some obscure purpose. The three of us rose as one to say our goodbyes and depart. I had a momentary flashback to my first night in town as I was trying to figure out how to greet Joy, though this time it was for a departure. As I was debating between a hoof-bump and a bow, the decision was made for me as Octavia scooped both Joy and I into a bear hug. I was once again caught completely off guard by the social nature of this famous musician, and she seemed to delight in defying my expectations of her. Our embrace broke, and we went our separate ways.
It took a few tries to find our way out of the labyrinthine back stage, but we eventually made our way back to the main hall and out to our awaiting carriage. How the carriage pilots knew when we would be out of the hall was a bit of a mystery, but I figured that it most likely had more than a little to do with the dozens of ponies who were lurking about in the shadows. The throng of paparazzi that had gathered earlier to welcome us had evaporated, and the entire hall seemed different without the chatter of the cameras and the ponies wielding them. We boarded the carriage in relative isolation as compared to our earlier disembarkation, the only sounds were the chatter of far-away ponies carried aloft by the wind.
I provided an address to the pilots, and before I could even begin to give them directions, they were off and moving. I supposed that they likely knew where it was, seeing as they had lived in the city their entire lives. Sure enough, we were pulling up to the parkway in front of the establishment that we’d be eating at a full ten minutes ahead of schedule, thanks to a very crafty shortcut. Also, the fact that we were in a sky carriage and not bound to the earth was a contributing factor. Once we came to a halt in front of the restaurant, a pair of very fancily clad ponies came up to the carriage and opened to doors to beckon us inside. We were led into a candle-lit building draped with burgundy and purple velvet, dark wood and red lenses over the lanterns casting the entire scene in a sultry and rather intimate light. Not once was I asked for my name; it would seem that I was the only pony to book a reservation at this particular time. We were seated at a table near a window, facing out into a private courtyard. The courtyard had a small fountain near its center, surrounded by weathered cobblestone and overhung by a trellis completely ensconced by flowering vines.
Though the day outside was bright, the vines that grew upon the trellis served to diffuse the light into a very soft and scattered illumination. The speckled rays of light played across the rippling surface of the water to send medallions of light playing across every surface; the way the light danced off of Joy’s face was simply magical. Thanks to Rarity’s contacts and with the aid of Derpy’s intimate knowledge of the postal system, I was able to coordinate this meal a couple months in advance. This had a two-fold purpose, though the first one was the most important; by ordering ahead of time, I was guaranteed that the dishes I desired would be in stock and present. Additionally, by paying months in advance, I was able to get the meal at a pretty good discount. This was especially useful since my reputation as a hero did not extend to Canterlot, so I didn’t have that ace up my sleeve.
Over the course of the next hour, we endeavored upon a gastronomical odyssey the likes of which have not been seen before. We were served dishes bearing ingredients from all corners of the globe, from the frigid tundra to arid desert, and everything in between. While I did my best to savor the food instead of wolfing it down, Joy had taken to examining her food in a most methodical manner. By turning it this way and that, taking small bites and chewing them with a faraway look, and even so much as sniffing the morsels, Joy was undertaking a scientific analysis of the food before her. The portions were rather small, but there were just so many of them… they kept coming and coming, and it seemed like they would never end. By the time it was over, there had been twelve courses in all. I was pretty well stuffed, since Joy had passed off roughly half of her food to me each course. By the final dessert, I found myself struggling to finish the mousse moose.
Dinner, while a delectable explosion of flavors and textures beyond my wildest caffeine-fueled imaginings, was still somewhat less than I had hoped for. With the food coming in waves, and with Joy alternately studying her food and passing it off to me, there was hardly any time to talk. I would have figured the mare would be brimming with questions and comments from the sit-down with Octavia, but it would seem that she had pushed that to the side for the duration of our feast. I supposed it was for the best, so that she could focus on the food in that strange way of hers, but at the same time it was slightly disheartening. I sighed inwardly, deciding that the rest of the night had gone according to plan, so this small deviation was really of no concern in the long run.
Even though I’d paid a significant portion of the meal cost prior to the meal itself, when our culinary excursion was over, I still received a bill. Despite the small fortune that I’d paid already, the bill was enough to make me a little sick inside. There seemed to be one too many zeros on the ticket. Luckily, I’d planned ahead for this, and had carried a generous quantity of bits with me for just this eventuality. Though she hadn’t seen the bill, there was no hiding the ridiculously large pile of bits from Joy. As I placed the satchel upon the silver platter, joy shot me a skeptical look, as if she was trying to figure out exactly how I’d come up with the mayor’s ransom worth of bits. The waiter came and went, the unicorn’s horn glowing quite brightly as it fought the weight of the bits. The manager came out to thank us face to face. It was at this point that we were informed that we were the only ponies to have ever ordered such a large assortment of entrees. A bit of small talk later, and I was hoofed a platinum card, and informed that because of our patronage we were being granted a preferred customer status. Based on the fact that the card was delivered on a velvet lined silver platter, it seemed to me like this was a pretty big deal.
Thanking the hosts profusely as we left, I waddled behind Joy as we made our way back to the carriage. Once situated inside, I found myself positively bombarded by pent-up questions and remarks from the azure mare, who had apparently been holding them back under great pressure through the duration of the meal. I was faced with inquisitive remarks ranging from questions about the performance to observations on the texture of the meal and its various constituents. And, there we were. Joy was making up for lost time as we flew from the capitol back to town, and we completely covered the bases of conversation within the first half of the trip. As we closed the distance to the town, the trajectory of the carriage let me know that the pilots were not going directly to the library as I had feared, but were instead heading towards the meadow that I’d given them directions to earlier. As the carriage drew nearer to the clearing, the sun likewise drew nearer to the horizon. As we touched down in the meadow, the sun kissed the horizon. Joy and I stepped out of the carriage, still lost in conversation. We paused our discussion long enough to thank the guards and bid them a good night before they flew away and left us in silence.
Joy and I walked a few steps to the crest of the hill, bathing in the last rays of the waning sun. I had Joy take a seat on the grass at the foot of the tree for a moment as I zipped into the air and swooped through the tree, coming to rest at the hiding place for the Aurora blue. I was immediately stricken by horror of incomparable purity, for the flower has missing. The moment of horror passed as I spotted the glass cylinder sitting right where I left it, sitting a little lower than I remembered from where it settled. Trying to calm my racing heart was of no use, for the moment of truth was nigh. I took a deep breath to steady my hooves as I opened the encapsulated flower and placed it in my teeth. Satisfied that it was secure, I stepped off the branch and proceeded to glide to a gentle stop beside Joy. My landing was so soft that Joy didn’t notice me until I stepped a little closer to her. At the sound of my steps, she turned to face me, a mildly startled expression on her face. Upon seeing the rose, her face brightened, and I steeled my nerves and began my proposal.
Or at least, I tried to. One thing that I’d never stopped to consider was how exactly to take a knee as a pony. Sit? Bow? Kneel while standing? The last one sounded right to me, so I did my best to execute it. I must have done something right, because as soon as I got into position, Joy immediately put her hooves over her mouth and began to tear up. Noting how uncomfortable this position was to maintain, I immediately launched into the scariest one-sided conversation of my life.
“Several months ago, I crash landed in this town. I was a strange pony in more ways than one, and I harbored a past rife with secrets best left buried. In my first day, I was shown more kindness from random strangers than I’d received in the entire year prior from even my friends. That day, I met you, and I knew that I’d found something truly special. In that moment, I turned the page into a new chapter of my life. It all started with a rose.”
I gestured at the rose Joy still held as she pressed her hooves to her mouth to try and maintain her composure.
“Today, I give you another rose, with the hopes that you will help me turn the page on a new chapter, a chapter that we write together.”
I reached into my coat and pulled out a black velvet box, holding it at chest-level and taking a seat. Joy’s composure cracked, and a small sniffle escaped her as a tear made its way down her cheek. As I spoke my next five words, I slowly opened the box.
“Joy, will you marry me?”
Never before in my life has silence roared so loudly. The sound of the crickets in the meadow screamed at me like a jet engine at full throttle, and my heartbeat pounded in my ears like the beating of a drum. Joy sat there in silence, as another tear caressed her face, each second an interminable eternity. In a strained voice that cracked with emotion, she eeked out a reply.
“I… I don’t… I… no… can’t… words… “
With each syllable, the pit of fear in my stomach grew larger and blacker, threatening to consume me. My heartbeat hammered in my ears with the staccato rhythm of a machine gun, a cold sweat breaking out upon my brow. My despair grew with each syllable, and I felt the crushing weight of rejection and defeat crashing down upon me. What would I do when she said no? Would I have to move out? I couldn’t very well continue to live there after such a crushing blow. What would I do after this? How would I cope? How would I—
My thoughts were immediately severed by a kiss placed upon my lips. I sat there in shock for a moment, still trying to wrap my head around what was going on. What was going on? One second, Joy was snubbing me, and the next, there are lips against mine. Lips that tasted like… mint? Like… like Joy? But, she was snubbing me… and now she’s… wait. Kissing doesn’t really imply rejection. Unless she’s trying to let me down easy… but… she said no, didn’t she? The kiss persisted, pushing with a passion unlike any other. Maybe… just maybe…
The kiss was broken as my mind screamed along at a thousand kilometers per hour, trying to put things together in a way that made sense to me. Through the confusing haze of thoughts rocketing around my skull, a single incongruous word pierced the veil.
“Yes.”
Yes? Yes what? What did I say? Oh, right. I’d asked her to… marry… me.
“Yes? Did you say… yes?”
Joy merely smiled through the tears and she leaned forward to embrace me. She placed her face into the nook between my neck and my shoulder, whereupon she lost any premise of control over her emotions. As she wept joyous tears into my coat, a stream of words fought their way out between shuddering breaths and fits of giggles.
“Yes, yes… a thousand times yes. You don’t know how happy I am right now, you can’t imagine. I thought you’d never ask!”
I was smiling so hard it hurt, relief flooding my veins. “No, I think I have a pretty good idea how happy you are. I am the luckiest stallion alive! I thought you were going to say no, and I would’ve had to flee town in shame if you did.”
Joy’s voice was stern, and I knew she meant business. “NO. You aren’t going anywhere. Ever. You said the magic words, now you’re going to be stuck with me FOREVER.”
I took a moment to appreciate how uncannily like Pinkie Pie Joy had just sounded. Immediately following this, there arose in me a great sea of love, one whose shores were distant beyond imagining. I swear, it felt as if the entire population of not only the world, but of this multiverse and the next had forfeit their love and sent it to me. I was overwhelmed by love, consumed from within by the swelling of emotion I felt for this mare in my arms. I pulled from the embrace, having to work a little bit to free myself from the tenacious mare. Joy looked at me with that adorable little pout of hers as I did so, but that vanished entirely into a mask of awe as I opened the case to show her the ring.
She was awestruck, pure and simple. Her eyes traversed every facet, every nook and cranny of the ring as she did her best to take it all in. The tears that had recently been stemmed began to flow anew. I carefully took it from the velvet repository and gingerly held it betwixt my hooves as I moved to place it atop her horn. Joy looked at me with a funny expression as I did this, apparently bewildered by what I was doing. As I drew closer with the ring, she recoiled slightly before speaking up.
“Uh… Dave? What are you doing?”
“I wanted to put the ring on you, love.”
“I can see that. Is this some sort of joke?”
“Huh? I… I don’t understand. Doesn’t the ring go on the horn?”
Joy twitched, and I could almost see her urge to facehoof. I was guessing that the ring didn’t, in fact, go atop the horn.
“Dave. Really? It goes on the left fore-hoof, you weenie.”
“Ouch… name calling? Meanie. But I’m new at this, so we can call it a rookie mistake.”
Joy chuckled a little, her spirits impervious to my shenanigans on the wake of this momentous event. She lifted up the appropriate hoof, and I pressed the ring onto it. The ring was slightly smaller than her hoof, but as I pressed it against the curve of her hoof, it glowed faintly white as it seemed to stretch around the bulky hoof to sit on her slimmer ankle. Once in position, the glow faded and the ring was once more solid. Joy watched over this in awe of the shape-shifting material as it molded itself to her fetlock. As soon as the ring was in place, she held up her hoof to once more marvel at the craftsponyship exhibited by the band. Though the carvings were intricate, they stretched and reformed seamlessly, their exquisite detail unmarred by the event.
On the horizon, the moon began to crest the mountain, its wan light gilding the valley in quicksilver wherever it touched. As the pale light struck the two of us, the soft light seemed to caress our forms. I looked at Joy, and she, at me. In this moment, a spark passed between us; an unspoken signal, an unquestioned intent. Months of patience and ever-growing desires had led up to this, and the ring was but the final piece of the puzzle to fall into place. In this meadow, under these glorious stars, and with the greatest source of love I'd ever known staring deeply into my eyes, I knew that the time had come; the time was right.
I'd procrastinated and pushed this off into the future for so long for many reasons, but one reason that I'd been unable to own up to was simply that, by taking this relationship into the stage where two ponies become one, I would be taking the final step necessary to make this life my own. After all, what could be a more natural part of life than reproduction? What more definitive way was there to demonstrate one's commitment than with an offering of flesh?
Wordlessly, we made our way back to the house, walking side by side so closely that we might have been one pony. As we strolled through town in the early hours of the night, there was little that crossed my love-addled mind other than the feeling of Joy’s body pressed against mine as we walked, her warmth flowing into me.
Once we got home, we climbed the stairs and went to bed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sun had risen well into the sky by the time I’d stirred from my slumber. I’d been having such a wonderful dream, too. I yawned and stretched, smiling at the way the mare next to me moaned and shifted at the disturbance. With a smile that I couldn’t hide if I tried, I rolled over and placed a kiss on the tip of Joy’s nose. She scrunched up her nose and shrunk into the blankets with a smile. Trying to be sly, Joy cracked one eye open to spy on me and probably launch a pillow-fusillade as soon as my back was turned. The only thing she saw when she opened her eye though was my eye, staring at her from a few centimeters away. We made eye contact, and she knew the jig was up. Still smiling, she dramatically yawned and blinked away the sleep, trying to play it off like she hadn’t been planning a sneak attack. We kissed once more, threatening to reignite the embers of the night prior. I broke the kiss and made my way downstairs to my bathroom so I could prepare for the day.
Even after the shower, I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face. I tried and tried again, but the damn thing was stuck. Not that I minded, though. I was still radiating the afterglow, and I didn’t care who saw it. I was so high on cloud nine that I’d caught myself floating more than once. Literally, I was floating as I did that odd little wingtip-only-flapping motion.
Will you marry me?
Last night, with those five words, I’d invited Joy to open a new chapter with me, the first chapter of the rest of our lives, our lives together. In the light of a new day, everything seemed brighter and more vibrant as the promise for the future lent its light to shine down upon us. The light bathed me in its warmth as I absorbed its rays and radiated them back out to the world. I immediately noticed one of the biggest changes within us, and that was how much more tactile we were now. Sure, we’d kiss rather frequently, and we tended to nuzzle each other in public, but there had always been an element of space in this. The kisses would break, the embraces would separate, and we would walk side by side without touching. This separation vanished with the coming of the new dawn. Almost constantly, Joy and I maintained physical contact in some form or another. Be it brushing our flanks together as we walked or sitting on the couch so that we were pressed to the other, the contact was consistent. Each touch of a hoof to flesh, a teasing caress of a mane or wing, or even the thought of such contact was enough to inspire within me a bubbly warmth, a feeling of utter adoration and draw from me a smile.
Naturally, this was hard to miss. Joy and I were sitting at the table, eating from the same bowl of oatmeal when Dawn cantered in. Why were we eating from the same bowl? Good question. It was Joy’s idea, something about washing fewer dishes and conserving water, so on and so forth. The fact that I was able to share food at all was a pretty solid indicator of how dramatically things had shifted. Dawn is a sharp mare, and she picked up on it almost instantly. I felt a twinge of fear as I saw her warming up the mom-face, but Joy intercepted the incoming death-stare by thrusting her hoof out, showing off her ring. Dawn still shot me a reproachful glance, though it was half-hearted at best and lasted less than an instant. As her eyes focused on the ring and the meaning of it sunk in, Dawn began to choke up. A smile blossomed upon her face, and it lit the room. Her eyes widened and began to glisten as she began to proffer her congratulations. Dawn sat down right there in the doorway, holding her arms open as she beckoned her daughter to embrace her. Joy was more than happy to oblige, her own tears of happiness beginning anew.
Seeing the way Dawn’s pride in her daughter lit up the room threatened to get a tear or two from me as well. I sat back in a contented bliss as I watched them, the tears flowing freely from the mares as they professed their happiness and excitement at this momentous occasion. My reverie was interrupted by a pale blue glow around my hoof, gently tugging me from my chair to join in the hug. That I, the outsider, was being brought in to this sacred mother-daughter moment was more than I could bear. Liquid happiness began to leak from the corner of my eye as I embraced and was embraced.
Once the tears dried up and the group-hug broke apart, Dawn set about bombarding us with questions about the wedding.
“So, when is the wedding? Do you have a color scheme picked out? How about bridesmares or groomstallions? How many ponies will be there? Have you made a gift registry yet? Have you—“
Joy held up her hoof to stem the onslaught. “Mom, hold on a minute. We haven’t really even discussed that stuff ourselves yet. After all, he only proposed last night, and well… we were a little… pre-occupied at the time.”
Dawn held up both hooves in the universal sign for “I don’t want to hear this” as she set about shooting me another one of her mom-stares. This one didn’t seem so much like a threat as like an indication that we were going to have to talk about this later. Not even this could dampen my spirits. I smiled and nodded at this, silently assenting to the inevitable. Dawn retrieved a pencil from a drawer and hurriedly began jotting something down on a scrap of paper. After a moment of furious writing, she gave me the fruit of her endeavor; a list of details that Joy and I would need to talk over and decide on for the wedding. Joy suggested that we talk it over on a walk through the meadow, and I had to admit that it sounded like a lovely idea. It was already mid-to-late morning, and the temperature outside was simply wonderful.
As we walked through the streets of the town, we managed to nail down the big stuff. The wedding would be a year to the day from the proposal, in that same spot under the tree. We opted for a simple black and white color scheme, and I got Joy onboard with my idea for the alabaster pillars framing our vows. We ran into a bit of a roadblock with the groomstallions though, since I had exactly zero close male friends. I knew a few stallions, but none well enough to ask to be my best stallion. I decided that this was something I’d need to work on, but, as Joy pointed out, I had a year to do it. So, no rush. Some of the decisions we had to make were simple, requiring no thought at all. Rarity would be contracted to make the dresses for the bridesmaids and suits for the groomstallions, Pinkie would handle the catering and the reception, we would schedule through Dash for the weather for that evening, and hopefully get Twilight to act as the wedding planner with us. Applejack and Fluttershy were a little bit distant to me, seeing as how I'd never really interacted with them outside of the short meeting at the Ponyville Gala.
They were invited, of course, but I wasn’t so sure that they would be able to attend, what with all of their other duties and what have you. Or, In Fluttershy’s case, brave enough to face the crowd for the benefit of a pony she barely knew. Joy and I wanted Lyra to provide the music for the actual wedding ceremony, the ghostly strains of her lyre seemed to be the perfect complement to the ceremony.
Nailing down the broad strokes and deciding the rough outline of the way we wanted things, that was the easy part. Filling in the finer details like seating, what pattern we wanted on the tablecloths, and what sort of flowers we should have as a centerpiece… that was going to take a good bit more work. Sighing with a tired smile, I nuzzled my head into Joy’s neck and looked to the horizon. My heart fluttered a little more than usual when she rested her head on mine with an adorable little giggle.
Sure, the process of fleshing out the details was going to be arduous and probably frustrating as hell, but… as I looked up at the chin of the mare I loved… I knew that it was worth any price.
I closed my eyes and smiled.
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1) That crazy mare who blows things up. Can't remember her name.
2) What you almost did to Derpy. I would've had to do a Liam Neeson on you then.
3) Pretty much anything Dave says, especially around Joy.
Do you know what you get if you Google 'Luna's Requiem"? This.
The whole chapter......
thestate.ae/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/olivia-gif-5.gif
derpicdn.net/media/W1siZiIsIjIwMTIvMTAvMTUvMDZfMjlfMzdfNTM5XzEyMzM0OF9fVU5PUFRfXyJdXQ/123348__safe_twilight-sparkle_animated_clapping_citizen-kane_orson-welles_applause.gif.gif
iambrony.jsmart.web.id/mlp/gif/12257__safe_rarity_animated_clapping_citizen-kane.gif?1342433196
iambrony.steeph.tp-radio.de/mlp/gif/h69362__safe_animated_octavia_reaction-image_clapping_citizen-kane.gif
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3bzf1vJd71r3856io1_400.gif
But then this question
twilight.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/134371945456.jpg
3.bp.blogspot.com/-tlnXpjBiv8/UCKmmCuU5WI/AAAAAAAABMQ/CRbH_7thcbE/s1600/Facehoof.jpg denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw2608-facehoof.png
deviantart.com/download/190837922/double_facehoof__rainbow_dash_by_atomicgreymon-d35mbhe.jpg
i.chzbgr.com/completestore/2011/11/4/9e7051fe-b749-4e00-8e79-5e50716bdd8d.jpg
community.us.playstation.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/29451i0879AF4E14762D38/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&px=-1
3.bp.blogspot.com/-he2clPa0nzc/UEbONsNI8GI/AAAAAAAAAHU/yhKKlHnk23Y/s1600/CMC+doesnt+even+deserve+facehoof.jpg
27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxfxt6kLPf1qg0isio1_500.png denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw2708-Facedesk.png
encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJYaYr4JTEkATkatORjvmneTPMULm5vjR_p_x-lZSw7PCfhXQ_
Oh well. That was nice. I don't really recall the "hey I'm from another world" moment though. Did it even happen?
Also the timing is a bit too big for me to recall specific moments - let's leave it at "the story had its fun times".
wow, another editor who feels how i feel. that's rare.
2301840
It hasn't happened yet, but it will.
2301767 That crazy mare who blows stuff up (but only on Wednesdays) is Technia. You're welcome for her being introduced to the author.
2301840>>2302078 And you know what that means.....
2302915 Technia, thanks! And I also forgot it only happens on a Wednesdays.
1.) What was the part of the story that made you laugh the hardest?
Definitely the part where Dave was genuinely confused and horrified by Diamond's. Comedy Gold.
2.) What part of the story saddened you the most?
Poor Derpy. Just, poor Derpy. Could you write in a Derpy Mac ship or something, just so she doesn't have to spend the rest of the fic alone?
3.) What is your favorite part of the story, and why?
Please don't make me choose. There are 3-4 favorite parts in every chapter, minus the super dark one, of course.
2301840
Well the story still says incomplete.... and we have a wedding to effectively ruin now for dramatic effect...
I don't doubt that it will come up, but things have been going almost TOO well for Dave.
Can we knock him down a few pegs soon? Some character conflict would be nice.
2302527
Yes, this will cause a few problems in the near future.
2303464
Oh, there is some badness coming up. Believe me, Dave won't even be able to find the peg he was on. It's hard to mess up when you are constantly gainfully employed. But... well, I won't ruin it. Just wait.
2303190
That might just be a possibility. Or something of the sort.
1. Anything really with Dave. His natural derp makes most things, if not everything, funny.
2. Gonna have to go with Ditzy Doo AKA Derpy and her accident, or the alternate ending that actually made me cry for the first time in years.
3. My favorite part isn't so much as a part as it is a concept. Most relationships in fics seem forced to me, hence why I hate shipfics. This is, in my opinion, a way to do it right.
On a side note, I like how you played Octavia. It wasn't generic and boring, but it wasn't something radically different that no one sees her as.
2304272
Dave does have a natural Derp factor about him, doesn't he...
And as far as the alternate ending... yeah, not even going to lie, I cried like a ninny even as I wrote it.
I am glad this relationship is progressing in an acceptable manner... I try to keep it interesting.
I am pleased that my portrayal of Octavia was apart from the norm, but still within reason. That's exactly what I was going for.
The part that made me laugh was when Dave and Technia were working on the A.S.S.(good God that was funny).
The part that made me sad was Dave's manic depression, as I suffer similarly. It reminded me of the weight of depression that caused me to attack my own body, a thing I am ashamed of...
And my favorite part was when Dave relaized he was going to marry Joy. The amount of emotions I felt made me happy to simply be alive(A feeling that was replicated in this chapter.)
You have unbelievable talent. God bless you, yoy magnificent writer.
S. L.
A. K. A
Wings of White
2305781
Boy howdy, are you in for a ride. It only gets better (read: crazier) from here!
2305781 Wait, you're not only reading but playing a game when you could be writing? I require more reading material. Get back to work.
2304456 As I said to Lucky424 up above, you're welcome for Technia being in the story.
2306461
I'm like a soldier savant. I learn VERY quickly and it sticks with me. Also, kudos on the CLS reference.
7.62x51... a good number.
2306663
I found this story at about noon yesterday. Simply put this is wonderful and has earned a place in my top favorites. There is really no other story like it out there so keep up the good work.
2308038
I'm glad to hear it!
I try to capture the shenanigans in my mind to amuse others, and I like to see that it's going well.
In terms of how this story rates on my favorites: This is one of the few i will read AS SOON AS I FIND a new chapter has been posted. 99% of the other stories i read get downloaded on to my kindle for reading later... but this one... this one its like "OMG I GOTTA READ IT NAO!!!" so i'll sit down on my computer and read it, even though i highly prefer reading on my kindle.
Excellent work by far. I will have to re-read it to remember the parts you asked since it's been a while between when I sat down and read the majority of it to now. This is one of the best romance fics i have read to date.
(just as an fyi, i think there are only 1 or 2 other stories that rank up on that "READ NOW, NOT LATER" list... my actual read later list is about 80 long)
2316997
I'm happy to hear that I'm doing something right as far as the story goes. The fact that it ranks so highly among your personal favorites means a lot to me. Thank you.
I wish i could push the favorite button like a million tome but i cant so ill settle with a good ol fashioned hooah. P.S the rest of my squad thinks im nuts. Oh well thats their problem
1. The part where he was learning the ropes as a handyman
2. The story hasn't really struck me as "sad" at this point
3. I think the end of this chapter was my favorite part
2317327
I know the feeling of being the odd one out.
2317625
Thank you for your response. It hasn't struck you as sad, huh? If you want sad, message me and I'll send you the alternate ending. It's... Dark.
Still got Act II to do.
2319918
Nah, sad isn't really my thing. I actually enjoy that the main character isn't always wallowing in self-pity
2319918
i would like to read the alternate ending I simply love the story and the characters.
Well, looks like I've reached the end of Act I of A Dream That Wasn't. I must say, this story is quite amazing. It's incredibly underrated; you've done a fantastic job so far! It has definitely been worth the 6+ hours of reading it took me to get here, and answering your questions is the least I can do!
1.) What was the part of the story that made you laugh the hardest?
) simply by how he told about what happened. A couple of the funniest parts that come to mind are the legendary Dave-ferno scene and then probably that whole scene with Technia and the A.S.S. Also got a surprising amount of laughs from when the air filter exploded on Dave. 
Dave's narration itself is quite entertaining. I know there were several instances of the mundane being made quite epic (at least 20% cooler
2.) What part of the story saddened you the most?
Hm... I think I was most saddened by the circumstances on which he arrived in Equestria. It's sort of swept under the rug for a good portion so far (with arguably disastrous results), but really thinking about it, he lost quite a lot in that first couple chapters, and there are a lot of things that he wants to fix that he'll never get the chance to. A lot of loose ends that he never got to tie off... and that has to be absolutely devastating. Then it's compounded by the fact that although he's partially "come clean" to Joy, he really hasn't at all. There's still a lot of skeletons in his closet, and I just know that's going to bite him in the flank in the future.
3.) What is your favorite part of the story, and why?
Saving Derpy. That was awesome! Very action-packed, and it got me thinking back to my medical training from lifeguarding. Honestly, I think I was like Dave in that the full weight of what happened didn't really hit until after she was handed over to the professionals. I think that's a testament to how well that whole scene was written. It was all adrenaline and fast thinking... until it was out of his hooves. Then it all sank in and all we could do was wait and hope she'd make it.
Looking forward to reading Act II. I have distinct feeling there's going to be some rough seas for Dave in the near future, be it something of his own doing or something of external cause or some combination of the two--and I cannot wait to find out!
1. dain bramage, pinnacle of slapstick right there
2. dave's internal struggle with all his secrets, i could already see him getting run out of town, the prospect of losing his new life and love alone was extremely sad
3. i liked the early chapters where dave and joy had so many dialogues and one-on-one scenes, they have such a nice synergy, them interacting is my favourite thing. in the later chapters it got kinda pushed aside for a more quicker pace, which i can understand, but i find it a little sad anyway
It makes me think oof sht SpOre game a little. You can make friends with nearly everyone, but there will always be those few that will hate you on principle and will hate you no matter what you do.