The Second Dream

by totallynotabrony

Make Your Mark: Ali-Conned

The decision to get married was quick and easy. How was another matter entirely. There were so many details I didn’t even know where to start. Hitch didn’t want me to get out of bed and start drawing up campaign plans, though. Fair enough, I would do it in the morning.

There was one thing he insisted on talking to me about right then and there, though.

“Sentra, I think you need to deal with your anger management problem.”

“I actually don’t,” I said. He started to protest, but I held up a hoof. “I wasn’t angry at all when I broke Misty’s face. My actual problem is that I’ve been train-er, I tend to answer to violence with violence even if it’s not directed at me. So when I saw Misty pushing those rocks down on top of Zipp and Pipp, I just reacted. This is just the first time we found that out because Equestria tends to be fairly peaceful.”

“That’s going to be a thing you need to change if you’re going to continue with law enforcement.” His tone was firm.

I sighed. “Yeah.”

That was all either of us was willing to discuss tonight, and we saved the rest for the morning.

---

“You’re getting married!?” Sunny shouted. “That’s so fast!”

I had set up the planning session over at the Brighthouse. The residents there would be heavily involved in the marriage ceremony, whether they actually wanted to be part of the planning or not. Of course, that meant breaking the news of what the event was actually for.

I glanced at Hitch. We had decided to keep the pregnancy secret for a while longer, so all we could really do was agree that, yes, this had come together quickly.

The girls congratulated us. Fortunately, we made good progress on the planning, arranging the event, catering, and all the other aspects of the ceremony.

I’d underestimated their enthusiasm for a wedding, and so we ended up done early. Sunny invited us to an event she was hosting in town that afternoon.

I liked Sunny as a person, but boy she came by her reputation as the local crazy person honestly. She’d organized an entire public event and speech…just to tell everyone in the crowd to stop eating unhealthy junk food and grow vegetables instead.

“You’re just saying that because you run a smoothie stand!” someone pointed out, reasonably. I believed Sunny’s intentions were honest, but definitely understood how it looked.

“I just think everypony deserves wholesome, fresh-grown vegetables. We could build a community garden, where we all could help grow them together.”

“Um, cool, but don’t we have plenty of vegetables already? Not even just from a store, what’s the difference between a community garden and locally-grown organic produce sold at farmers markets?” I only spoke loud enough for Hitch to hear. While I disagreed with Sunny, as her friend I wasn’t going to call her out in public.

She’d gotten so passionate about the proposal, though, that her alicorn magic had begun to manifest, the ethereal wings and horn appearing as she spoke. We still didn’t fully understand how it worked, but it did seem tied to Sunny feeling strong emotions.

It was like flipping a switch. The crowd visibly began to agree with Sunny, just from a costume change.

Pipp was in the crowd and filming Sunny. Couldn’t blame her, so was I. Alicorn anything was always good for likes. Both Pipp and I were walking with our phones out, looking for better angles, and just happened to meet in the middle at a good spot.

“Sunny looks nervous,” Pipp said out of the corner of her mouth, trying not to get her voice on the video.

I agreed. “She's definitely not used to this much attention.”

Pipp laughed nervously, as if that had inadvertently touched a nerve. I glanced at her.

“What? There’s nothing wrong with with being used to attention, or lack thereof.” Her bluster wasn’t covering anything, though, and we both knew it. As maybe the only other person who would truly understand, Pipp confided to me, “I’ve been having a lot of trouble going viral lately. I’m not sure what’s wrong. Well, actually, it’s probably this new group that’s stealing my thunder.”

Pipp showed me her phone. Her other phone, not the one that was recording. I had no idea how many phones she had.

The video she showed me was a fairly standard music and dance video. “They’re called the Filly Four,” she said. “They’re the hotness right now.”

There were only three mares in the video, but before I could comment, Hitch came over to join us. Sparky was sitting on his back, happily entertaining himself by popping off little magic fireworks. Pipp’s eyes fell on him. “Hey Hitch, is that normal?”

“Hmm? Yeah. My little buddy really enjoys himself,” Hitch replied. “I call it Sparky’s spark.”

“Could I…borrow him?” Pipp asked, beginning to raise her phone.

Hitch and I traded glances. Even if he hadn’t been party to the earlier conversation, I’m sure he knew what she was up to. At the same time, free sitter.

We offloaded Sparky to Pipp. Hitch and I started to turn away, to get started on preparing for the wedding, when I noticed the three mares Pipp had shown me making a beeline for Sunny.

“Like, oh my gosh, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” the one in the lead said, putting her foreleg around Sunny’s shoulder and taking a selfie.

“We went to school togeth-” Sunny began.

“I’m Sugar. This is Lily and Rosedust.”

Not only was Sugar apparently a classmate of Sunny, but I recognized her as one of the Canterlogic models. She’d been there when Sunny had ruined the Canterlogic expo shortly after I’d come to town.

“We saw you were having a problem with fame,” Sugar went on. “If you hang out with us, we’ll make sure you have all the platform you want for your vegetables or whatever. We actually have a spot open in our group right now.”

Oh, so that was why there were only three. I could see in Sunny’s eyes that she was strongly considering it. However, almost surprising me, she turned and said, “Sentra, can I talk to you for a second?”

She excused herself from the group. Hitch and I traded glances and he said, “I’ll meet up with you.” He left to continue the wedding prep.

Sunny and I walked across the street. She said, “Sentra, you’re an expert on social media. Is hanging out with the Filly Four going to help me get my message across? Or are they just using me for my alicorn abilities?”

“A little of both, I think.”

Just then there was a buzz from Sunny’s saddlebag. She pulled out a familiar-looking makeup compact. It looked just like the one I had observed Misty using the first time I had seen her.

Curious at whatever the mirror was doing, Sunny opened it and then gasped. “Is that me?”

“I’m your inner voice,” replied the mirror. I sidled sideways so I could see. It sure looked like Sunny’s reflection, but it was moving independent of her - not to mention talking back.

“You do want to be recognized for your unique power, and you want to be able to use that power to achieve your goals, right?” prompted the mirror.

“Well, yes,” Sunny said.

“Uh, Sunny, where did you get that?” I asked.

“It was a birthday gift,” she said, though not paying much attention to me because even I had to admit the mirror talking to her was a lot more interesting.

“Sunny, don’t be distracted,” the mirror version of her said, voice rising a little and apparently trying to head off my skepticism. Maybe it hadn’t planned on there being someone else with Sunny.

“So this magic mirror talks, and claims to be you,” I said.

“You’re at a critical point. You can achieve your dreams,” the mirror tried to break in again.

“I mean, I didn’t know the mirror was magic,” Sunny said. “But is it really me?”

“Of course! I’m your inner voice!”

“Come on, Sunny, not listening to talking magic artifacts is basic magic 101. I know magic is a new topic for everyone and we’re still learning about it, but if I can give you a piece of advice, we have a saying back where I’m from: never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain.”

I held out my hoof. “Moreover, I’m going to have to ask you to turn that over to me. Based on the description of the item, I believe it’s relevant to an ongoing case.”

Sunny wavered. The mirror said, “Don’t listen to that freak! Use your power to take what you want!”

“...yeah, okay,” said Sunny. She snapped the compact closed and handed it over.

---

I was cautious about the mirror, and didn’t really want to carry it with me because there was no telling what it might do. As I said, magic was new and there was just no telling what might happen. It was probably better than letting it continue to cajole Sunny, though.

The mirror didn’t seem to want to talk to me, and only showed my reflection. I didn’t spend too much time examining it, though, and went to catch up with Hitch.

He was at the catering place. A guy named Dee ran the business. I didn’t know if his name was short for something. At any rate, he came highly recommended.

I texted Hitch the situation with the mirror. It seemed reasonable to assume the mirror could eavesdrop, so I didn’t say it out loud. Hitch read the message, and then replied Is this going to stop the wedding?

I don’t think so. Misty will keep for a little longer.

She was still handcuffed to her hospital bed, though we’d been told that she was awake now.

I got a notification on my phone. Pipp had just posted a new video. Sparky was throwing apples at her face.

It was going viral, so I guess she got her wish.

---

The town hall wasn’t exactly crowded. We hadn’t really wanted to open the wedding to the public. Hitch had more friends in Maretime Bay than I did, so the crowd that did show up skewed more towards his side.

We’d planned thoroughly, but in terms of actual time elapsed, this had all come together fast. So fast my head was still spinning as the music began to play and Zipp escorted me down the aisle. There was no one to give me away, so to speak, so I’d asked her to pull double duty as both escort and maid of honor.

Up at the front was Hitch, along with Sunny who was his best ma-best maid. Hitch looked great in his suit, though as acquainted with his body as I was, I could tell the extra curve of his stomach. Another reason for the quick wedding, before it got to be too much.

White wasn’t really my color, but some things you don’t mess with. Hitch smiled when he saw me in my dress.

I came to the front and stood across from Hitch. It was time.

Izzy was, frankly, not the first choice for either of us to officiate the ceremony. However, she unexpectedly knew the Cha Cha Slide, which pretty much made her a shoe-in for the reception DJing, so it was easier to just have her do the rest. We'd gotten Pipp to do the videography, and Sparky was the ring bearer.

I don't know why there were rings. We didn't have fingers.

The music stopped. Izzy took a deep breath and spread her forelegs wide. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today for the joining in holy matrimony between Hitch and Sentra. Hitch, do you take Sentra as your wife?”

“I do.”

“Sentra, do you take Hitch as your husband?”

“I do.”

“Great! I now pronounce you hitched - ha ha - you may kiss.”

I didn’t think anyone really expected the ceremony to take all of twenty seconds. Have I mentioned that speed was of the essence? The crowd had gotten over their surprise, though, and cameras were beginning to flash as Hitch pulled back my veil and our lips met.

“I love you,” he whispered.

I realized at that moment that despite everything the two of us had been through together, we’d never actually said that before. Boy, what a backwards, speedy relationship this was.

“I love you, too.”

The two of us resurfaced, so to speak, to the cheering and clapping crowd. After the lightning-fast ceremony, we could take our time at the reception.

We worked the crowd, talking and thanking everyone for coming. Some of them had brought gifts from the registry. A few of those items I was really looking forward to.

Over at the food, Dee had brought a big selection. I paused to consider my options. Hopefully something that wouldn’t be a risk of staining this dress. Eventually I just went with a quick grab from the mixed nuts bowl.

Hitch came over. “What are you doing?”

“Sucking on Dee’s nuts.”

He sighed deeply, as he usually did when I said something like that. I hadn’t even planned this one.

“Though if, on the honeymoon, you wanted me to try yours instead…”

“Sentra, you know very well why I don’t think oral sex is a good idea.”

The teeth, right.

Over at the DJ booth, the music came up. Izzy shouted, “We're going to get funky!”

---

That night, Hitch and I fell into bed together. All things considered, it had been a good event. We hadn’t actually planned a formal honeymoon, and we’d been having sex for quite a while at this point, so it wasn’t as if tonight was going to be anything too out of the ordinary. But still, it would be the first time as a married couple.

That didn’t mean we needed to rush, though. I’d noticed Hitch had been getting a little slower, what with his belly. We were going to have to go public with that eventually, but I think both of us were dreading it.

It had been a little awkward when we’d arrived at the front door. With him pregnant, it wouldn’t do for him to carry me across the threshold. I might have been tall and willing to get physical, but wasn’t sure if this body was quite strong enough to carry him.

“It was a good party,” I said aloud.

“Yeah,” Hitch agreed contentedly. “Some of the registry gifts were weird, though.”

I pulled out a rubber mouth guard that was custom-fitted for me. Hitch eyed it, perhaps wondering why I’d also brought it into the bedroom. “I know we’d talked about you fighting. Are you planning to train on a regular basis, with sparring and such?”

“Maybe. Maybe it would help me work out my, er, situation with violence.”

I put the mouthguard in. “Bu tonigh Ah wa hopin Ah cou finally giv uu a bowjob.”

Comments

[Neo4K]

“Sucking on Dee’s nuts.”

😁 Okay, this joke seals it. Sentra is definitely like Plymouth Valiant.

[artofwar77]

That setup for a "deez nuts" joke paid off well.

Absolute delight to hear them say "I love you" to one another.

Good on Sentra staying vigilant for her friends when it comes to suspicious magic.

Thanks for the chapter.

[Nismo Rose]

I’m so happy for Hitch and Sentra!
I wonder what they are going to name the foal?

[hmaf43]

why the protagonist has to be a pig ACAB?