The Takeover

Nova

The festivities are about to start in two days and now Khan and I are about to graduate from the boot camp. Finally.

Everything about me aches constantly. It's not as bad as it was at first but it's still there. Khan's wing is all healed up which brings a ton of weight off of me.

I love that stallion to death but he really is beginning to worry me. What with the nose bleeds and Celestia knows what else that he isn't sharing with me.

All of the ponies in training are lined up shoulder to shoulder on the stage in front of the small congregation while Vida gives her speach. Apparently she says this speach every time a fresh batch of trainees finish the course as she says it with practiced ease.

Not allowed to look anywhere except directly in front of me, I stare at a fixed point directly above the crowd.

"And now for them all to recite their creeds," Vida says and looks toward all of the ponies lined up.

As we recite the creed that basically makes us apart of their community, I hear a grunt to the right.

I want to glance over to see who it came from but there is no point in that. I know who it is. It's like he has a mini stroke every time it happens. I'm going to force him to the doctor soon; I can bare to see him like that.

We finish reciting and the small crowd stands and stomps.

The ponies on stage begin walking or flying off towards family members, some just walking to wherever they were going next.

I walk over to Khan, his eyes slightly pained but a smile that lies.

"I think you need to go get yourself checked out," I say to him and he just looks away, his smile fading. In his foalhood he was always told to get over it if he got hurt, so doctor visits were few. Now, he just doesn't want to go because he hasn't ever had to willingly.

"I know I should," he replies, still staring at the afternoon sun. "But I'm not."

"I don't want you to fool around and wait for this to get worse."

His eyes just avoid me, anywhere but in front. We walk in silence to the top of the hill in front of Vida's office building and watch over the rows of white houses that dress the mountainside.

"Do you think we could live here? Like, for good?" He asks, still not looking at me but instead the sun glinting off his faded purple eyes.

"Where else would we go?" I ask him, looking at the corner of his eyes.

"I don't know."

We still sit in silence, the sun beaming down on us, the warming touch felt good against the beginning of fall air.

We couldn't leave. So, the only thing we could do is stay. Maybe we could start over again. A new life, new ponies. A community that we aren't some shining objects to, but instead just fellow dwellers.
A life of normalcy for once. Maybe get married and...

No. Khan would never do that. He always said he couldn't justify bringing a foal into the world we live in. He would say Equestria isn't good enough for any foal.

I have him though. If I have nothing else, I have him. I lean on his shoulder, nuzzling it. My ear being up against his body, I could hear his heart beat. Slow but steady, relaxing in it's rhythm. He says something that I didn't catch for the vibrations of his body.

"Huh?" I pull my head off his shoulder and he is already facing me.

"Do you want to leave? Leave here?"

"You know we can't leave," I tell him. His expression tells me clearly that he doesn't care about that.

"When they step up and stop me, I might believe them," he says in that defiant tone that I've alwayd loved about him.

"Where would we go?" I ask again, this time he has an answer.

"Just for a walk, or a flying session. Somewhere away from everypong else."

A cloud floats in front of the sun, the ground around us turning a darker shade. Rays of sunlight poke through the cloud.

"I'd be okay with that," I tell him, not taking my gaze away from the cloud.

"Alright," he says. I turn to face him but he isn't sitting anymore but instead soaring up to the sky.

So it's like that, huh?

I stand and unfurl my wings, that aching feeling still there. I push off the ground and continue flying up, catching up to Khan who is slowing down.

He stops completely and begins hovering in place and looks down at me. Then he looks over to his left and barely audibly says, "Whoa."

I get level with him and look down in the direction he is looking. A massive wall spanning the entire base and rising about fifty feet, arcs around the mountain that most of the community is based on, only stopping at the sea. It has an intricate pattern of red and dark gray on the blocks of stone. Towers and guard shacks dot the top of the wall. Each tower has a spotlight and two ponies in each one and there has to be at least fifteen.

"How have we been here for going on three weeks and never have noticed this?" Khan asks, although it sounds more rhetorical than curious.

"I don't think anypony is getting in here," I say to him.

He continues ascending without warning and I follow him up. He stops at the cloud that was obstructing the sun light on the ground and lands on it.

I land next to him and watch as he walks slowly to the center. He comes across one of the holes that the sunlight was shining through and covers it up.

"Why do you like me?" He asks. The question throws me off a bit. Why would he ask something like that?

"Well, first of all, I love you," I tell him planting a swift kiss on his cheek.

I'm about to tell him a least of things that I love about him when he cuts me off with a simple, "why?"

"Why wouldn't I?" I decide to start. "You're awesome to me. You're personality is truly something amazing and you have looks to match," he doesn't say anything and just stares at the cloud beneath his hooves. "Is there something wrong, baby?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong," he says expectantly. He turns to look at me, a mischevious smile plastered on his face. "I just needed to hear you say all of that. Self esteem and what not," he says sarcastically.

"Celestia above," I reply with a grin. "Well, come here you little attention whore," I say, opening my hoofs. He gets into a stance like a cat about to pounce on its prey. I notice immediately and say, "Khan, don't you even think about-" It's too late.

He launches up and tackles me and we both land on the cloud, him on top of me. I start laughing and he joins in. As he is distracted, I push with both of my hooves against his chest and flip us over, with me on top of him.

"Whoa," he says with a light hearted chuckle. I giggle at his surprised face and just lean against him, letting my head lay againt his chest. Putting my ear against his chest, his soft fur tickles my ear causing it to flicker involuntarily. Once again, I hear is heart beat, this time a little faster than before.

"I've run the possibility through my head a couple of times," he says softly, once again vibrating my ear. "The possibility, the outcome. All of it."

"The outcome of what?" I ask him.

"It's kind of embaressing," he say slowly. I lean my head up to look into his eyes.

"Yes?" I ask. I hate it when he builds things up like this. He does it because it makes me even more curious.

"Well, I wondering," he says softly before letting his voice carry off.

"Would you stop that and just ask me already?"

He chuckles and smiles ever so slightly. "Would you, heh," he stops again with a chuckle again. He looks away at the sun for a moment and sighs before turning back and looking me in my eyes.

"Nova, will you marry me?" He asks.

My heart skips a few beats and I'm flustered. I don't what to say. That caught me so off guard that...I don't even know. "Ah..." I begin but pause before I say something that makes me look like an idiot. As if on cue, there is those butterflies floating around.

"I know that it's kind of sudden but...I feel like it's the right move," he pauses for a moment. "I feel kind of bad. I don't have anything to give you or to get on my knees for."

I can feel a tear of joy beginning to form on my eye, blurring my vision slightly. Before Khan continue on, I say, "Yes, I would definitely marry you."

His face lights up in the biggest smile and instead of wrapping around me and flying up in a spiral like he normally does, he just walks over to me and starts morphing the clouds in front of me. When is done there is a circular indentation in the cloud, big enough for two ponies and he holds out his hoof like the gentlecolt he is and helps me down into it.

I lay down on the left edge of it and Khan walks over beside me, climbing over and then laying down to my right so that our hooves are touching and we facing each other.

"I love you," he says to me, nothing but relief and kindness in his voice.

I almost start crying in joy again and tell him I love him too. Damn it, when did I become so soft?

<--------o------O------o-------->

Khan

I did it. And she said yes!

She said yes!

I unfold a wing and drape it over her while we lay in the makeshift bed I made in the cloud. I just can't believe it.

I thought she may say no, seeing as we just started seeing each other for like two weeks now?

It doesn't matter anymore. She said yes.

We've been laying here for what seems like hours. "So, what should we do first?" I ask her, seeing where she wants to go from here.

She stays quiet for a moment, her soft body slowly going up and down under my wing. "I don't know to tell you the truth. Maybe look into a place to stay? I doubt we can continue staying in the barracks."

"That's right," I say with realization. "We should ask Vida about how to get one of those houses."

"Mmm," she hums softly. "A place of our own. That sounds nice."

"Let's stop dreaming about it and let's go get it!" I shout with enthusiasm. We both stand up and walk to the edge of the cloud. As we peak over the edge, I bounce off of the cloud and start floating down, slowly descending side by side, together to the surface.

We land simultaneously in front of Vida's office and walk through the double doors. We continue up to Vida's office, not even bothering to knock and we ascend the stairs. The beautiful sound of a cello fills my ears and I immediately recognize the tune.

I stop at the top of the stairs and watch as the bow travels back and forth across the strings of the oversized acoustic bass.

Noticing our presense immediately, Vida stops playing and a smile widens on her face, her top fangs visible over her bottom lip. "Hey guys," she says loosely. "What brings you by?"

"We just have a few questions that we were hoping that you could answer," I tell her looking at Nova and her loving smile.

"What can I tell you?"

"First we'd like to know how to get a house on the mountainside," I tell her.

"Those houses are for veterans. You'd have to be tasked with a mission of some sort. An off base, risking your lives kind of mission."

"So, how do we get an assaignment?" Nova asks.

"Generally they are given out to ponies randomly. Whoever they think has the skillset for the task at hoof."

"Alright," I say to noone in particular. I'm good with a crossbow and machines, Nova is good with a knife and locks.

"So, what is your other question?" Vida asks, her enthusiasm to help is almost overwhelming.

"The other question would be..." I trail off and look at Nova to make sure she is ready for me to ask a question like that. At the nod of her head, I turn to Vida and ask, "How would two ponies go about getting...married?"

Vida's eyes go wide. "You two?" I nod my head and she says, "Are getting married?" I nod my head and look at Nova who is also nodding her head. "That's fantastic news. Wow that's wonderful, you two are perfect for each other." After taking a second to calm down, she says, "Congratulations."

We both thank her. "So how would we do that?"

"I'm pretty sure it's the same procedure for everypony on base as it is in Equestria. When are you two going to...ya know..."

"Get married?" Nova finishes for her. After getting a rapid nodding head she replies, "We...don't know yet."

"We are thinking of making it just a legal thing, nothing flashy," I add.

"Oh okay," Vida says, sadly.

We sit there for a moment in silence when I ask, "How is your part in the song coming along?"

"Great! Zyrah and I have been working hard on it."

She smiles slightly at Nova and when I look back at her, she is smiling also.

"What?" I ask nervously, remembering that night they were giggling with each other at Zyrah's place.

Nova says, "Well, sweetie...about our project..." I give her a kind of sideways look, urging her with my expression to continue. "You're in the project as well."

"Well, I helped with lyrics so I guess-" I start when she interrupts me.

"I mean, you're are singing...with me," she says with an awkward smile.

"What?!" Me? Sing? Haha, no.

"Come on, Khan, it'll be fun," Vida says from the right.

I don't know what to think. "I'm not singing in the project," I tell them both with finality.

"Don't be that way," Nova says, her smile quickly fading. "You sound beautiful you're just too scared to show it."

"Nova, I suck at singing and you know it," I tell her.

"I wouldn't go up there with someone who couldn't sing," Nova says walking up to me and brushing my mane to the side.

All I can do is laugh under my breath. I can't sing, doesn't matter what she says. "You're asking me to sing terribly in front of a bunch of ponies I don't know."

"Did you not used to play guitar in front of ponies you didn't know?"

I sigh. "That's not the point. Playing guitar and singing are too remarkably different things."

"Fine, whatever," she says in a mad tone. She turns and walks off towards the stairs. I can't do anything but stare at her suddenly changed attititude and mentally face hoof myself.

"You know this would really make her happy right," Vida says in a concerned voice, obviously taking sides with her because...mares.

"Okay! Okay," I say in a defeated tone. This stops Nova and she turns around to face me a hopeful look in her eyes.

"You'll do it?"

I sigh and shake my head. "Yeah, I guess I'll do it."

She let's out a little squee and flies into me and hugs me. "Yay."

I chuckle and wrap my hooves around her in return. It's strange how she can make me do things like that. Love is fickle like that I guess.