To Have and To Hold

by Freglz

A Morning Like Any Other

Sunlight filtered in through the kitchen windows. You have to be an early riser when you’re working on a farm, especially when you’re well on your way to becoming the de facto matriarch of the homestead, but today I was up particularly early. It had only been a couple of weeks since Sugar Bell had moved in, and I’d resolved myself to making her feel welcome. What better way to do that than to surprise the whole family with freshly made apple flapjacks?

I wrapped a foreleg around my stomach as it grumbled at the warm scent of oats baking in the oven. I knew the wait would be worth it, but my insides were having a hard time believing that. Honestly, I couldn’t blame them; my eyes stung from a lack of beauty sleep.

Somepony kicked the front door open and I jumped in my seat at the dinner table, whipping around to see Rainbow trotting into the house with a pleasant grin. “Morning, AJ.”

My ears stiffened. Having her swing by unannounced every so often weren’t nothing new – on the contrary, I’d grown to love her surprise visits – but if I knew Dash, which I did, then ‘morning’ and ‘awake’ weren’t words you’d associate with her. Still, she was here, and I couldn’t help but smile in kind. “Mornin’, sugarcube. Surprised to see you up this early.”

“Whaaat?” She rounded the table with a soft chuckle – the sort that said she had something good to share with me. “You think I’d prefer to sleep in when I can see you at your finest?”

“My finest,” I echoed, rolling my tired eyes. “Right. Because I’m exactly what you’d wanna wake up to at the crack of dawn.”

As she reached my side, she hopped into the free space beside me and shimmied close, draping a wing over my withers and nuzzling her head beneath my chin. “You are, though. Always. I thought you knew that already.”

Stars, she can be a real sap when she wants. She never had a tough outer shell, just the illusion of one. But although I imagined myself closing my eyes and sinking into the feeling of her warmth against mine, her silken mane and plumage against my coat, I sighed and gently pushed her back. “What's goin’ on, Dash? Got some news for me?”

“Heh.” She snatched a quick peck on the cheek before she met my gaze again, smirking. “If you checked the mail, you should know. Twilight’s inviting you, me and the other girls to a wedding.”

Messages from Twilight had grown rare since she’d taken Celestia and Luna’s place, which was only natural. Still, this was an odd way to start things off again. “Who’s the lucky couple?”

“Lyra and Bonbon. They’re renewing their vows.”

I turned to face Rainbow properly, bemused. “Gosh, it’s only been a year since they got hitched. How many times are they gonna do it?”

“Beats me, but I’m sure going.”

I blinked, stunned, then angled my head and arched an eyebrow. “To a weddin’?”

“Only if you are.”

Getting excited over something so schmaltzy was the last thing I’d have expected from her. But if she wanted to go, I wasn’t going to stand in her way, so I shook myself out of my stupor and shrugged. “Sure. Why not? Free food, right?”

“Thanks,” she hummed, caressing her wing up and down my back, then turned her attention towards the oven. “Speaking of which—”

“Yes, Dash, I’ve got an extra flapjack for you in there.”

“That’s my girl.”