The Day of Love

by Rose Quill

Major Points: Sunlight and Midnight

I personally hate taking the time to get all girly and primp most of the time. That was more my sister’s thing. But there were a few things that I could get behind doing something special for.

Sunlight and Valentine’s Day would be one of those.

So that’s how I found myself rushing around in the bedroom, trying to remember where my dress clothes were in nothing but a towel. I swear that sometimes, human clothing for women is designed to frustrate us. I mean, any of the nice evening wear I had in Equestria was simple slip on and tighten, easy with my horn. These things…

And that's how my husband found me, struggling to zip the back of my dress.

“Need a hand?” he asked, suppressing a chuckle.

“I’d rather have my horn,” I growled, but turned my back to him and pulled my hair back out of the way.

As he pulled the zipper the rest of the way up, he leaned in and kissed the nape of my neck. “You don’t exactly have the best of luck with your horn on this side,” he breathed into my ear. “We found that out with the dishes.”

I blushed hard, remembering when we had found out that out of the several spells I could cast strongly when ponied up, telekinesis wasn’t one of them. I’m just glad it wasn’t any of the good plates.

“Why couldn’t we do this in Canterlot this year?” I asked simply. “I seem to recall that our schedule had us slated for there this year.”

“Because according to the other schedule you made,” he said with a grin. “Made this holiday mine to plan. And I’ve made quite a few calls and set up something I hope you’ll enjoy.”

I eyed him carefully. “You know I don’t care for carnivals, right?”

He patted the air. “It’s nothing like that. And why ask you to dess up for that?”

“I don’t know, Lighty,” I said as I reached up and ruffled his hair - which was in sore need for a trim - before going to do my makeup.

“You’ve had some strange plans in the past.”

---

Pulling into the parking lot of a ritzy restaurant, I looked at him.

“How are we affording this, exactly?” I asked.

He shrugged. “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it?”

I looked at him closely. The money we made was split oddly, especially since my income was in bits from working at Aunt Sparky’s school for Unicorns. I could do what Mom did when she was younger and try to exchange them, but I also knew how tricky that could be. Besides, Lighty’s job at the lab paid well enough for our apartment and other needs on this side of the mirror just as mine did on the other side.

“You're up to something,” I said, giving my husband the side-eye. “And you’re trying to be sneaky about it, too.”

“You’re too perceptive for me, Middy,” he said, laying a hand against his heart.

“You're not good at the sneaky type, hon,” I rebutted. “That’s more my angle, and you are more the straight arrow.”

He looked at me. “I can be sneaky!”

“You had trouble hiding the proposal from me,” I countered. “And mainly because Rory helped you plan it.”

“You were surprised,” he claimed as he pulled me in close. “I knew you well enough by then to tell. And we do share feelings from time to time.”

“I was surprised you managed to get the words out,” I snarked. “I could tell how nervous you were. Though I will admit, having Rory get my ring size was a nice bit of misdirection. Good job, there.”

He gave a slight bow as he opened the door for me, gesturing inside.

As the hostess led us to a table, I couldn’t help but stare at the opulence of the interior. After giving our drink orders, I leaned forward and hissed at the calm face of my love.

“We can’t afford this, Sunlight,” I told him, my face giving way slightly to worry. “The wine alone is more than we usually spend on a dinner out!”

“Relax,” he said, patting my hand. “This is a once a year thing, and I’ve squirreled a bit of money aside for it all year. Plus, the salary of a level three researcher can easily handle one date night like this.”

“But you don’t have to spend a lot of money on me, Light,” I told him. “You know that…level three? I thought you were a level two?”

“As of today, I now lead one of the research teams.” He grinned at me, obviously pleased with how he had taken me off guard. “And now I get travel allowance for when I have to head out to one of the field stations.”

“Lighty, that’s great!” I smiled at the young man as our drinks were set on the table. “Do your folks know yet?”

“Not yet,” he said. “I might be really close with them, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to get one over on you, Professor.” He squeezed my hand as he teased me with my title. “We’ll tell them tomorrow. Tonight, there is nobody but you and me.”

I smiled at the promise, then realized something else.

“If we’re telling them tomorrow,” I mused out loud. “Then we’re staying in Equestria then?”

He nodded. “Got something planned for you there, too.”

I titled my head and gave a playful frown. “Who are you, and what have you done with the goofball I married?”

He laughed. It was a nice laugh, and I hoped that he never stopped having it.

---

“So, let me get this straight,” I said as we walked through the door. “You took me out to a fancy dinner, then brought me here to go dancing at the Royal Ball, and now we’re just going to crash in the house? Don’t get me wrong, you’ve scored some major romance points tonight, but I don’t get what’s so important about making it here by midnight.” I took my glasses off and set them on the table, feeling the magic in my horn pulsing steadily.

He pushed the door shut with his golden aura and leaned into me. His mane was still wavy and in still in desperate need of a cut, but even as a pony, he was handsome and surprisingly sexy.

“It was important because if my calculations are correct, midnight will give us the perfect angle.” he fairly well trotted up the stairs, leading us to the master bedroom. The fireplace was already stoked and the room aired out. Despite it being nearly twenty-four years later, a faint smell of smoke still hung in the room, remnants of a fire attack during a crisis while Mother was pregnant with me.

“Perfect angle for what?” I asked as he pushed the curtains open and struck me dumb.

Outside the window was the bright lights of the Aurora Borealis, something that was rarely visible from Canterlot. It’s lights shifted and wavered across the sky, and I realiesed that the moon was in it’s dimmest situation for the night, making the stars and the borealis shimmer even more brightly.

“Do you remember the last time we watched one?” he whispered to me, shoulder touching mine.

I nodded. “I do,” I whispered back, tilting my head to rest it against him. The shifting light made me remember the night he proposed. “One of the happiest days of my life, actually.”

“Well, at least it made your top ten,” Lighty teased as he planted a kiss just under the base of my horn, making me shiver at the sensation.

“You know what that does to me,” I purred softly, flicking my tail against his flank.

“Yeah, I do,” he returned in an equally soft voice. “What are you going to do about it, though?”

I rose and placed myself between him and the window, locking eyes. When his grinning face was fully on me, I smiled an impish smile.

And I couldn’t quite suppress my chuckle as his grin faded slightly.

“Remember how our first night at Mt Canter went?” I asked, taking a stalking step forward. “Your folks won’t interrupt us tonight.”

He chuckled nervously. “Major points, huh?”

“Oh, yeah,” I whispered as I went in for the kill. “Major points. Almost enough to call the shots.”

And I kissed him, sealing my claim to him, and his on me.

“Almost.”