Truth Is Smooth

Comb trotted briskly through the streets of Canterlot. She was already late for the meeting with Stormy and she refused to let him wait any longer. However, there was no doubt in her mind that he would forgive her this delay, she had a good reason for it after all. After two days spent bald like a newly hatched bird she simply couldn’t resist the deluxe pampering offered to her by her favourite hairdresser. Not to mention that her regrown mane needed all the attention it could receive.

The statue of Celestia located in the centre of Canterlot main square came into view and soon Comb could recognise the figure of Stormy Voice leaning against the pedestal. When he randomly glanced in her direction, he smiled and waved at her. She returned the gesture and galloped to him, embracing him in a hug upon getting into reach.

“I’m so sorry I kept you waiting. It’s just that I had to take care of my mane! I couldn’t stand leaving it in such a disarray!” she explained, her voice muffled by his coat.

“I don’t mind, really,” he assured her and chuckled a bit. “I wasn’t even sure you took in what I was shouting after you; I was ready to make a tour of the hairdressing saloons in search of you. You being fashionably late is a much more pleasant turn of events.” He pulled back a little and pecked her on the forehead, taking a better look on her mane in the process. “And I must say that the this manestyle is well worth letting me wait a bit. You are even more beautiful than before. I thought that to be impossible.”

She blushed slightly at the compliment. “Instead of getting yelled at I get complimented. That’s really a pleasant change from how he…” Her face showed some pain and she looked at the ground, hiding few tears. “Sorry. Let’s not talk about him at all. It is finally over, we don’t have to worry about that anymore,” she said, pushing the memories back where they belonged.

He caressed her cheek and smiled at her reassuringly. “If you ever want to talk about it, I will be there for you to listen. But today isn’t for mourning, there are other things to do. And you don’t need to apologize constantly, you know?”

Comb looked away sheepishly. “Uh, sorry about that.”

“Exactly,” Stormy chuckled and earned a small jab from her.

“So, why did you want to meet me here?” she asked and extricated herself completely from the hug.

“Well, for one I want to take you for a lunch to celebrate and this place is close to all the good restaurants. And I would like to ask you something, but that can wait a little longer,” he smiled enigmatically.

“Don’t tease me like that. You know well that I can’t stop thinking about what is to happen when you do announcement like that!” she whined and again punched his hoof lightly. The sparks in her eyes betrayed her mirth. “Have you thought about any particular restaurant, or do you want me to choose?”

“Next time I will let you pick the place, but today I have something in mind. Follow me,” he said and setted off.

Comb didn’t move and took a few seconds to behold him. He got rid of the gray suit, and a pair of new saddlebags adorned his sides. It also seemed that he got his coat groomed and his mane styled since she saw him three hours ago. He looked simply perfect to her. That was a part of the reason why she disobeyed his demand and instead of simply following him she caught up with him and leaned into his side, nuzzling his cheek while doing so.

After few minutes of walking, Comb decided to break the silence and take care of one troubling thing on her mind.

“You could have called me that you negotiated the mutual divorce with Profitable. I wouldn’t have been so nervous,” she reprimanded him.

Stormy expected this theme to come up and sighed. “I really wanted to call you. But do you remember what Profitable said about the mess I caused? It was really bad. The whole company spent the rest of yesterday trying to fix what I could and I didn’t get a minute for myself until midnight. Then I thought you were already asleep. I know how you must have felt, but I really couldn’t get the message to you. Will you forgive me that?”

She nuzzled him again. “Of course I will. Besides, I did practically the same thing. To an extent it was my fault that you got into that trouble. If I called you about the poison, you would have taken a leave.” Her mood dropped at that realization. “Were you at least successful with solving those problems?” she asked with hope.

“Partially. The transaction failed, and I had to pay a fee to the griffins for trying to fool them, but at least they will continue to trade with us. It would be a disaster if they were to cancel all contracts,” he informed her and smiled warmly. “And if you have warned me, things would have been much worse. I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to talk Profitable into that agreement and we couldn’t enjoy the lunch together today.”

“You are right with that, dear. But I still feel bad for causing so big problems,” Comb said dejectedly.

“Don't be, everything is fine and as it should be. And look, we are here.”

They stopped in front of a house covered in ivy. The signboard over the door said ‘Autumn’s Fair’ in decorative letters puzzled from red, orange and yellow leaves. Comb recalled hearing about this place from her friends who attended more of the social gatherings of the upper crust, and from those rumors she pieced together that the place wasn’t exactly a diner for commoners.

“Are you sure, Stormy? This place is pretty expensive, and they probably require reservations, like, month in advance,” Comb asked hesitantly.

“Just trust me, dear,” he said simply and entered the establishment.

The porter stepped from his place. “Good afternoon, sir.”

“Good afternoon. Stormy Voice and Comb Finesse, a table for two please,” Stormy requested nonchalantly.

“Of course, sir. This way, please,” the porter gestured for them to follow him and led them into an oak-paneled room with a high-fibre multicolored carpet. The blotches of different colors resembled the forest ground in autumn. The room was illuminated by many lamps on the walls as well as a crystal chandelier hanging down from the gray ceiling. Comb noticed that the true ceiling couldn’t be seen through a layer of real clouds.

They were seated at a table close to the window leading to the garden. The view at the flowers and trees would be more pleasurable, if the sky didn’t look like it was going to fall on the ground at any second. In the other hand, a sunny weather would diminish the effect created by the candles lit on the table.

“Your drinks and appetizers will be here soon,” the porter said with a smile and made his way to the other staff members to inform them about the customers. Stormy caught Comb’s questioning glance and quickly explained.

“I preordered for us, so we don’t have to wait for our food.”

She nodded and let her eyes drift around the walls and furniture, taking in all the luxury of the place and the appearance of other ponies seated in the room, before they settled at Stormy’s face. In contrast to Comb’s awed expression, he was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“Wow. This place is even fancier than I heard. How did you manage to get us here? You couldn’t have planned for this,” she questioned.

“Well, you are right that a reservation would be needed. But the owner and I are friends. Long ago I borrowed him some money to start this place, and since then he bends the rules for me a bit. I made the reservation after I left the chancellor’s office this morning, and he wrote an old date into the book,” Stormy explained as the waiter set a bottle of wine and two glasses on the table. “What do you want to toast to?”

“To a new life, I guess. Hopefully a happy and not-lived-alone one,” she smiled sheepishly.

“We can see about that” the mysterious smile returned on Stormy’s muzzle. “So, to a happy new life,” he declared, and their glasses clinked against one another. “Do you have plans for the afternoon?”

“Not really. I have to find some hotel to stay in until I get a place to live, so I think that will go first,” her smile dropped a little at the prospect.

Stormy squirmed restlessly on his cushion. “I… I wanted to…” he tried to speak, but he horribly stammered from nervosity.

“Wanted what, Stormy?” Comb inquired, confused by the sudden difficulties of the otherwise very eloquent stallion.

“I wanted to offer you that you could live with me,” he finally managed to say and winced for a reason unknown to Comb. The nervosity moved from his voice directly into his expression.

A bright smile appeared on her face. Somehow this possibility didn’t even cross her mind before that moment, but once the offer was in the open, she didn’t want to live anywhere else than at Stormy’s house.

“Really?” she squeaked excitedly, just as the waiter brought them the bowls with daisy salad. Were he not such a professional, the sudden noise would have certainly made him drop the items and ruin the exquisite dish.

Stormy watched this in amusement, the nervosity melting away like snow on Winter wrap-up day, and he put on his standard confident smirk.

“Really. I think my house is big enough for both of us. I know you find the secret meetings very romantic, but there is no need to pay for two places know, is there? And it would give you a free afternoon today as a bonus.”

“You can’t but see economical aspects in everything, can you?” Comb remarked sternly and giggled at his once again panicked expression. She extended her hooves to grab his. “Of course I accept! I would love to live with you, dear.”

Stormy heaved a sigh of relief, perhaps a bit bigger than the situation required. “Great! I even got the papers covering the change of residence ready for you.” Upon hearing this she gazed at him with quizzical amusement. “What?! You would need them anyway, so I stopped at the office to retrieve them for you!” he defended his motives.

“You are so easy to mess with, you know that?” she asked with another giggle.

“And you obviously made your goal in life to constantly remind me about that,” he shook his head disapprovingly, but couldn’t stay upset for longer than 5 seconds. Then he returned the smile. “Anyway, let’s eat our lunch. The waiter will be here with another dish soon. You are in for a real treat, by the way.”

Their lunch continued in comfortable silence disturbed only by an occasional praise of the quality of the food. Comb now fully understood why the restaurant was in such a high demand. As they put down their utensils, Stormy got up.

“Please excuse me for a moment. I will be right back, even before they serve the dessert,” he winked and trotted out of the room. Something about his behavior seemed off to Comb, but she shrugged it off as seeing things.

Despite the promise, the length of Stormy’s absence grew to almost ten minutes. Comb started worrying and was about to find a waiter to ask if he saw her companion, when a quiet music echoed through the restaurant. Her ears perked up, and she lifted her head to look around and find the source of the music. Many other guests did the same.

The sound returned with more intensity. She discerned a sweet violin song coming from behind the door to the anteroom. Then a white-coated earth pony mare entered. She was balancing on her hindlegs, holding the violin in her forhooves. Moving in that manner obviously didn’t pose any problem for her which in addition to the beautiful song drew few gasps of amazement from her audience.. She made her way to Comb’s table and stopped next to Stormy’s now vacant cushion where. She went through few more tacts of the piece, before she signaled with her eyes to Comb to look back at the door.

Comb caught the hint and turned back just in time to see Stormy step over the threshold, holding a bouquet of crimson roses in his mouth. He was smiling brightly around the stems and walked slowly, synchronising his steps with the rhythm of the song. He was gazing directly into Comb’s eyes and she involuntarily stood up, hypnotized by his smiling focused eyes, and waited for him to approach, the look of anticipation mixed with confusion and joy on her face.

As he got into a hoof’s reach, he offered her the flowers and she seized them in her magic, smelling them briefly. He dragged his right forehoof through the fibers of the carpet back and forth a few times before he spoke up.

“Comb, I know this is a bit sudden and that this day probably isn’t ideal to do this, but…” he trailed off slightly and shook his head before he regained his confidence and continued, “I really love you and I think you are the most beautiful mare in the existence. By Celestia, that’s why I call you Finesse of Nature all the time. And I really want to be with you. Not just like lovers, but something more.”

As he spoke, Comb’s expression lost all its confused quality, and she seemed to be glowing at this point. Is he really going to ask what I think he is? Comb mused, refusing to let herself believe it without hearing the words. She didn’t have to wait long.

Stormy reached into his saddlebag and pulled a black wooden box from it. He lowered himself on his hindlegs, opening the box at the same time and revealing a golden necklace with a big star-shaped ruby.

“Comb Finesse, will you marry me?”

For a few seconds absolutely nothing moved. His smile started to fade, but suddenly she threw herself on him. Were he not an earth pony, he would be tackled to the ground. His yelp of surprise was silenced by Comb’s lips pressed against his own. Overcoming the initial shock he wrapped his hooves around her and pulled her closer. The scene was rewarded by thunderous applause from the ponies present in the room. Few best wishes could be heard as well.

“I think she is trying to say ‘yes.’ It is a rather original way I would say,” a new voice said mirthfully from the door. “I am glad for that because otherwise I would have made this cake for nothing.”

The pair separated and looked at the owner of the voice. A red earth pony stallion was standing about ten feet from them, grinning from ear to ear and balancing a big pink cake with the words ‘Happy Engagement!’ written on it with white icing. He happily trotted to the table and unloaded his precious cargo there.

“You could have given us few more seconds, Tomato Growth,” Stormy reprimanded, a bit upset that the kiss ended so quickly.

“Aww, come on. You will have the rest of your lives for that stuff!” Tomato exclaimed and lightly punched Stormy in the shoulder.

“True enough,” Comb commented, “and Tomato got it right the first time too.” Stormy looked a bit lost, so she added with a grin, “Yes. Yes, I will most gladly marry you, dear.”

Hearing that, Stormy picked the necklace and placed it around Comb’s neck before hugging her tightly.

“I am also glad that you kept your word and returned before they served the dessert. This looks delicious!” Comb beamed as they returned to their places.

Tomato picked up a knife and cut a slice of the cake for each. Then he leaned to Stormy’s ear and whispered so loudly that all in the room could hear, “Asking me to bake this confectionery cutie in just three hours was one of the biggest requests you have ever made. But I understand that for such a beautiful mare you want only the best.”

“And you definitely are the best, Tomato Growth. You will be well recompensed at the wedding feast,” Stormy promised in response.