Ch43: Disappointment
Twilight was overwhelmed. Her mind was struggling to process what she was seeing there. The rather muscular stature, the gentle smile, the moustache, the eyes, everything was there, yet she couldn’t believe it.
Markus was smiling down to her, looking her directly into the eyes. “I’m back.” He said.
Twilight’s eyes started to water. Now that her ears had confirmed what her eyes were seeing, she had certainty that this wasn’t a dream. This was indeed reality and whom she saw before her was indeed Markus. She began to sniffle and sob and Markus crouched down to ask what was wrong, but before he could make a sound, she lunged forward towards him and locked him into the most passionate kiss she could give. Markus was a bit surprised at first, but quickly leaned in, himself.
They parted after a few minutes, though for Twilight, it only felt like seconds. “Well, it seems somepony sure has missed me.” Markus said with a smirk.
Twilight said nothing and instead dug her face into his shoulder and began to sob again. “… We thought we had lost you forever…” Tears started to fall from her eyes, as she painfully remembered the moment, when she thought her life had lost all meaning. “Don’t do something like that ever again, ok?” She said with her face pressed against his shoulder. “Rainbow and I had been crying for days and even the princess—“
Her head jerked upwards, as she noticed something very important. “The princesses! I need to tell them that you’re back! Oh, they’re going to be so happy to hear that!”
She wanted to trot off to her writing desk, but was stopped by Markus. “Now, now, no need to rush things. You will have plenty of opportunity to tell them in their invitation to the ceremony.”
Twilight stopped and looked at him. “Ceremony? What do you mean?”
Her eyes went wide, when he knelt down before her and took a golden ribbon out of his pouch, which he then bound to her right foreleg. He then lifted it up and said: “Do you want to marry me?”
Silence befell the room, as Markus now nervously waited for the answer. An answer that he got, not in a vocal form, but in the form of a very happy squeal, followed by a tackle and a kiss.
She pulled back, jumping in place and giggling happily like a little filly. “Oh my Celestia, YES! I need to get Rainbow and tell her that you want to marry us!”
Twilight wanted to sprint off, but Markus was holding her on her hoof. “No, Twilight.” He said when Twilight looked back at him. “I said, I want to marry you.”
Twilight stopped tugging with her hoof and slowly sat down on the ground, looking at Markus in disbelief. “What? But what about Rainbow?” She asked, the befuddlement heavy in her voice.
Markus got up and started to pace a little. “You see, Twilight… During my time in solitude, I had many moments in which my mind started to wander in longing. All of these times, I had thought about you. Not Rainbow, not anypony else, only you. That made me realize that it’s only you who I truly want, Twilight. Nopony else, just you.”
Twilight wanted to object, but before she could do that, a third voice came in from the stairs.
“Ah…” Rainbow said when she cleared the stairs. “So that’s how it is.” Her voice started to sound shaky and her eyes glinted with tears. “Good. Fine by me.” She said, though it was obvious that it was not. She slowly walked backwards, trying to keep a straight face, but utterly failing at it. “I-I’m going back... upstairs. I d—I didn’t want to interrupt y- you…” She turned around and sprinted up the stairs, leaving a few tears to drop onto them.
Twilight immediately galloped after her friend, while Markus stayed in place and looked after the two. “Buck.” He then said with a hint of annoyance, before he, as well, went after them.
Twilight reached the door of Rainbow’s room just after she had slammed it shut. The bang of it echoed through the crystal halls of the palace like gunfire and nearly made Twilight’s eardrums burst.
Scootaloo stood beside her. She was already standing there, when Rainbow passed through and was now looking in wide-eyed wonder at the scene that unfolded before her. “I thought Markus was back? Why is Rainbow crying then?” She asked.
Just in speak of the devil, Markus caught up and looked at Twilight. Twilight looked back demandingly, signalling him that this was his fault, so he should be the one to resolve this. Getting the hint, Markus slowly neared the door, before he then slowly opened it and stepped through. When the door was closed again, Twilight held her ears onto it to hear, what was going on inside.
“Rainbow?” She heard Markus ask, but without getting an answer. “Rainbow? Are you okay?” He asked again.
“Pff, yeah, of course! Never been better!” came Rainbow’s muffled, sarcastic answer.
“Look, I’m sorry. I wanted to bring it to you differently, but-“
“SO WHAT WOULD THAT HAVE CHANGED?!” She suddenly screamed. “I AM PREGNANT WITH YOUR FOAL AND YOU’RE JUST abandoning me!” She plopped back down onto her pillow before the last two words were screamed, muffling them again.
“Rainbow, look, I… I am not abandoning you. I said, I would only marry Twilight, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll just kick you out. Of course, I’ll still care for our foal or if you don’t want to see me then at least pay foal support, or…”
“Yeah, not seeing you actually sounds good. Get out.” She commanded.
“I- what? Rainbow, come on, I’m—“
“I SAID GET OUT!!!”
Steps became audible on the other side of the door and Twilight quickly moved back, before Markus stepped out of the room again.
“Well… that could’ve gone better.” He commented, earning him a scolding look from Twilight. She then looked back at the door again and sighed. She decided that she, as well, should try to calm her down. She stepped through the door and was immediately met with a very warm welcome.
“WHAT DIDN’T YOU—“ Rainbow cut herself off, when she saw Twilight standing in her room. “Oh… hey Twilight.” She weakly greeted, before pushing her face down into her pillow again.
“Hey, Rainbow.” Twilight greeted back, tentatively making her way over to her friend. “How… do you feel?”
“I think you can answer that one yourself, Twilight.” Rainbow answered, not lifting her head from her pillow.
“Yeah… right… Are you mad at me?” Twilight asked.
Rainbow turned her head to the side and looked at Twilight with a tear-stained smile. “No, I’m not mad at you.” Her face darkened suddenly. “I’m mad at Markus though.” She said, before pressing her face back into her pillow.
Twilight sighed. “Look, Rainbow, I’m sure that he’ll see his mistake, if you just give him some-“
“No, it’s ok, Twilight.” Rainbow interrupted. “You know, even though it hurts, it doesn’t really come as a surprise to me.”
Twilight looked at Rainbow in confusion, though the Pegasus couldn’t see it. “What? What do you mean with that?”
“I mean that he’s been living with you this whole time, while I’ve just been visiting from time to time. Even though he managed to balance us at first, deep inside I knew that this would happen with that arrangement.”
Twilight looked a bit ashamed. She knew that Markus was spending more time with her, but she always thought of it as a necessity, since he couldn’t fly up to Rainbow’s, let alone stay there for a prolonged time without falling through the clouds.
“Well… ok, yeah, but maybe, if we go to him, we can persuade him to take you as well?” Twilight proposed, but Rainbow just groaned in frustration.
“What would it be worth if we had to persuade him to marry me? That would be worse than just not marrying him in the first place!” Rainbow sighed and sat up on her bed. “The truth is… I’m not really just mad at Markus… I mean, I am mad at Markus, but mostly, I am just mad at… myself. You know, even though I heard that he would leave me, in the worst way possible, I still can’t hate him… I don’t know if it’s because I am the Element of Loyalty or because I’ve got his foal growing inside me, but I still desperately want to stay with him – even if it would just be as his concubine or something.”
Rainbow started slowly caressing her belly, which by now had formed a decently visible bulge against her otherwise athletic body.
“You know what? If he won’t take you, he’s not going to get me either.” Twilight determined.
Rainbow shot around to look at her. “Wait, what?! No! No, Twilight! No! It is one thing that he left me, but you? He actually made you a proposal! You can’t just pass up a chance like this! If you want to make this whole ordeal to be somehow worth it then go ahead and accept it!” Rainbow commanded.
Twilight looked very worried now. “But Rainbow, what about you? I don’t know if I could handle seeing you sad while I’m happily married.”
Rainbow sighed again and looked at Twilight with a soft smile. “Look, I just told you how I feel. I’m okay, really. I just need a few hours to get this all out of my system and then I’ll be just fine, promise. Now, I think you’ve got a wedding to plan, don’t you?”
Twilight let out a long breath, before she smiled lightly at Rainbow and nodded. She then went over to the door, but before she could open it, Rainbow called out to her again.
“Oh, uhm, Twilight? I know it may be weird, considering what just happened, but… You know I thought that… if I’m not the bride, maybe I could at least be… best mare?”
Twilight was a little surprised at first. She thought that Rainbow wouldn’t want to come to the wedding at all, but being best mare? That meant she would get a front seat when the one thing she wanted was given to Twilight instead. At least, that were Twilight’s thoughts. However, when she looked at Rainbow, she didn’t look into the face of somepony who just lost her coltfriend, but into the face of somepony, who wanted to support her friend to the fullest.
“Of course, if that’s what you want. It’s the least I can do for you.” Twilight said, moving further towards the door, before being interrupted again.
“Oh, and Twilight?” Rainbow asked again and when Twilight looked at her, she saw her smiling.
“Thank you.” She said.
Twilight smiled back at her and finally made her way out of the room.
After the situation with Rainbow was kinda resolved, Markus and Twilight went to the rest of the Elements. After all, they, too, had the right to know that Markus was alive and well. An Information that caused quite a few tears to roll when they were presented with it.
However, those tears of joy quickly disappeared, when they were presented with the coming marriage, or, specifically, that Rainbow would not be a part of it. They didn’t say anything though, as they didn’t want to make Twilight feel uncomfortable. Also, they knew that even if they didn’t like it, the decision lay solely with Markus.
When the tour was through, they went on to the next point on their list: the date of the wedding. They went to the mayor’s office, where they were presented with a few options.
“I would like the earliest available.” Markus said. Twilight looked at him with a bit of surprise, but kept it for now.
“The earliest, let’s see… that would be the day after Nightmare Night, on the 1st of November.”
“Taken.” Markus quickly said.
Twilight was taken aback by the quick decision. “Are you sure? That’s only three months away.”
Markus knelt down to her and cupped her face with his hands. “Yes, I am certain. I don’t want to wait any longer, Twilight. Meeting death has taught me that every second of life is precious and I want to spend them with you.”
Twilight looked at Markus in slight awe, before answering with a smile. “The 1st of November it is, then.”
With the date now set, they left the office. However, just after they left the building, Markus was suddenly tackled down by an incoming black mare.
“Captain! I knew you wouldn’t just get killed like that!” Mystic cheered. She was wearing her usual patrol uniform, but had Markus’s rank markings strapped onto it, instead of her old Lieutenant’s insignia.
Markus got up again and dusted himself off. “Yes, it is quite a pleasure to see you too.” He said.
Mystic stood in front of him and blushed slightly. “Euh, yeah, sorry about that… I was just… euh… yeah, well, doesn’t matter. Anyways… now that you’re back, will you lead us again, captain?”
Markus looked down to her and smiled softly. “Sorry, but I have to refuse.” He looked over to Twilight, who was standing beside him. “You know, now that I’ve met death, I’d like to enjoy life for a while.”
Mystic formed an ‘o’ with her mouth. “Oh… okay then… see ya later, I guess?”
Markus and Twilight bade their farewells and made their way back home, but before they were too far away, Mystic shouted something after them: “Ah, captain, don’t forget J44!”
“Yeah, I won’t, don’t worry.” Came the answer from Markus, before they were completely out of earshot.
None of them saw how Mystic’s smile fell, or the serious expression she adopted afterwards.
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I feel like he's a fake Markus
I got a good idea maybe if it is chrysalis and Everypony finds out except dash she go out and say after they get him back and prank him and say that she aborted the child and he would freak out and not talk to her for awhile and then she makes it up to him
I was curious if you could put a POV line at the beginning of every chapter. Sometimes I am halfway through when I realize I have no idea who I’m reading about at the moment.
I agree with Ryder Steele that is is most definitely a fake Markus because the Markus that we have come to know over the course of the story would never leave out Dash out of something like marriage. He would marry them both like how they both became his marefriends. Even a close encounter with death wouldn't change that.
10273048
it's all 3rd person authorial from now on, so there's no actual 'POV'. at least not from one of the characters.
It's Chrysalis isn't it?
Ok here are the bits im putting on the table.
Markus survived but is being held captive by Chrysalis
J44 was most definitely a fake sign that Markus had told his troops to say as an imposter check.
Reading the comments I came to the realization of another possible impostor clue.
"Buck"
One he said buck, two he doesn't care about rainbow, and two he failed j44 test and he can't just leave the military like that, that's not Markus and I thought the fact this isn't Markus would be painfully obvious to twilight but let's see how this goes, this'll be fun, also fuck you chrysalis
It's a faake one. I'm calling it now. Can't wait to see shit dropping in the next few chapters.
10274244
i concur, tis be a trap!!!
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Thought so
Sumethings off and I don't know what.
I smell a changeling or something
That's a suspiciously long respawn time... whoever is wearing Markus's skin is about to be skinned alive once RD and Twi find out.
I smell something fishy here