Rings

Night had fallen over the city of Canterlot. Nothing stirred in the streets, endless silence hung over them. The only signs of life still remaining were the occasional dots of light amongst the porcelain towers. A single mare was still out, seated on another tower's balcony, staring into the plains of Equestria. She couldn't tell if the sun had fallen below the horizon mere seconds ago or if it hadn't risen in months. Time raced and crawled simultaneously whenever she beheld the beauty of the empire. Eventually, she was torn out of her haze by the sound of the door opening, and watched as a pegasus stepped outside. "Hey," the visitor said, "mind if I join you?"

"As always," she replied, gesturing to a second chair which just happened to stand next to hers. "I still have some tea here. Do you want some?"

"Yeah, please." Once the pegasus was settled, a somehow still steaming cup offered itself, floating just right to be grasped. "Cheers." A symbolic touch of the cups, followed by a long chug. "Ah. It's getting chilly out here. You shouldn't stay out too long."

She giggled, innocent as crystal dew, sweeter to behold than nectar. "Says you. It's becoming summer, more every day. The city dreams of it. Listen and watch its glory."

"Tell me the story again," said the other pony, eyes lost on the horizon, then returning them to her. "Of two mares, of the day when they met, of the time when they were walking on clouds, tell it all, right from the start."

She smiled, understanding as a princess, humble as a bug. "It started in a castle, not far from here..."

A door opened just a crack, and a pegasus yellow as dandelions, named Fluttershy, slipped inside the small chamber. Inside, there were two unicorns, one standing on a pedestal, blessed with a coat as soft and coloured as lavender, and another, white as yarrow, busy pulling strings and threads on the other one's long dress in a quest for perfection. "Oh goodness, you look amazing," gasped Fluttershy when she caught sight of the dressed unicorn, going by the name of Twilight Sparkle.

"Thanks. If only it wasn't as constricting, though it is quite pretty, I must admit." Twilight looked herself up and down. For a moment, she seemed to be caught in her own beauty before collecting herself and saying, "Has Shining Armour arrived yet? There's no excuse why he could miss–"

"I don't think he'll be coming," interrupted Fluttershy. She took a step back, surprised at her own directness. "He's held up at the Crystal Empire. It's Cadance, she's... in labor."

During Fluttershy's speech, a storm had been brewing in Twilight's expression, then cleared just as quickly after the pause. "Oh, well. More for the family to celebrate, I suppose. Don't need him anyway."

"Maybe he would already be here if you'd told him about this before today."

"Yes, I suppose he would. But that is petty revenge for you." She hopped down onto the floor and walked to one of the windows which let in the sun's blessed warmth, though she could not escape the light blue glow of magic still weaving flowers into her mane. The city outside was buzzing with activity, masses of ponies blending together into single bodies as they went about their errants. Perhaps some of them were headed towards the castle, to her. The plain thought sent jolts down her spine, so much that she couldn't stand the view any longer and returned to her pedestal. "I'll be honest, I'm a bit nervous. Can you see that? Heh."

"Dear, there's nothing to be worried or nervous about," said Rarity, taking her tools back into the grip of her magic. "Now try and stand still please. If I do this wrong, it might hurt a little. If you move, it will hurt a lot. I doubt that you'd want that, we shouldn't spoil your beautiful sides before it's time."

"She's quite gentle, you know. Wouldn't have expected it either." She twitched the tiniest bit, then was bound down by magic. "Why couldn't I just go for a suit," grumbled she.

In the meantime, Fluttershy's face had taken about the colour of the roses that now made their way into Twilight's outfit. Shrinking to minimal size, she murmured something along the lines of, "I think I heard somepony calling, bye," before sneaking back out through the door.

"Anyhow," said Rarity. "It wouldn't have done you justice. You deserve to look as good as you do. This is your day, Twilight. Don't think we'll let anything ruin it for you." Trumpet blasts sounded in the distance. For Twilight, they might as well have been in another reality. Rarity calmly put her tools down. "Perfect, just on time. Royalty must go out first, remember. Don't forget, your friends will always be behind you."

Twilight Walked up to the door and reached for the handle. Actually using it was another thing altogether and would require the sum of all her courage. Of course, Rarity was right. They'd only come to get her if she delayed. She breathed through to the bottom of her lungs and pushed down. Out in the corridor, the noise had grown out of proportion. There was only the way forward now, as much as her fluttering heart tried to convince her otherwise. After an eternity of walking, she reached the tall doors leading into the event hall itself, which flung open with the magic of the positioned guards on her approach.

As the crowd spotted her, the murmurs dropped, but the noise level didn't seem to drop at all. They all stared at her as she made her way across, until she finally came to rest at the far end. Once there, her companion of choice, a unicorn mare wearing a purple coat and blue mane each as pure as respectively coloured irises, whispered, "Insert flabbering about how amazing you look here. Maybe you're even prettier than her. Then again, I'm not really a fair judge here."

"Nopony's supposed to see her before it's time!" retorted Twilight, adding in a playful nudge in the side despite all risk of ruining her perfect attire.

"I'm not sure if that includes those who can see her through walls, Sparkle." They joined each other in a polite chuckle. "Ah, but just look at Daylight down there." She gave a discreet pointer, at least discreet by her own standards, down to her own mother, a grey-coated unicorn. "Betcha she's just waiting to see us swap places. With royalty, rather even. You would probably do well, if only you weren't taken. On that note, if I ever do end up in your place, promise to kill me. Should I somehow manage to get away, will you also do this for me?"

"Of course," replied Twilight. "We'll always be friends, no matter what happens, and I'll be glad to stand at your side as you stand at mine."

The other mare was about to give a response when noise roared up again, followed by the hall falling silent. Rainbow Dash had just entered the room. Twilight had always considered her a work of art, but seeing what had been done to enhance her, Rainbow could easily serve as inspiration for generations to come. Hours fit into the time between heartbeats as she led a small parade forwards, trying not to make any premature eye contact.

"Tell me more about the two who were happy for years after," begged the pegasus, bouncing with excitement. "About the thousand moments when they couldn't be close enough, when they spoke tales without coming to an end, tell me all how it was."

"When, one moment, their lips suddenly touched." Blood rushed to her head, she could feel it.

"In an unbelievable kiss." They didn't come together as much as they just found themselves just a hoof apart. The pegasus gave a slight tug forward, felt her silken warmth, the one sensation that kept her heart beating. Just another beat later, they disconnected. The pegasus jumped backwards, balancing out on the guard rail. "How the world held its breath to see the love of these two."

"And those two were we." Twilight followed.