Silver Lake

The County Courthouse in Downtown Silver Lake was a building Turner was quite familiar with, the building was rarely seen by the populace as it was located on the outskirts. The stately structure was made of stone and brick, with a domed roof. It was short and stout, like a small church, which also contributed to it’s somewhat unintentionally hidden location. The interior had around five rooms, six if one counted the basement. A courtroom, a jury room, a judge's chambers, a clerk’s office, and finally a records room. Turner had visited each room at least once during his time with the Sheriff’s Department.

Up until that morning his least favorite of them all had been the Judge’s chambers. The Honorable Judge Stare Decisis had the disposition of, for lack of a better term, a battle axe. She was older than Turner cared to guess, and it seemed the only thing keeping the grim reaper from knocking on her door was a fear of being on the receiving end of the sturdy wooden cane that never left her side. The nicest way to describe her view of the law was ‘Traditional’, and her chambers bore that out.

Large bookcases stocked with volumes of legal texts took up almost every wall, the windows were dressed with thin white curtains that allowed a decent amount of visibility when the morning light shined in. The carpet was a tasteful shade of burgundy, the walls decorated with stained wood panels. Places with no bookcase had oil paintings of various statesponies of Equestria’s past. The desk that sat in the center was about as wide as the front of Turner’s truck, every knick knack was in perfect order. From the pens, to the nameplate, even the little crumbs she occasionally missed in her cleaning somehow ended up in an orderly fashion. In addition to her desk there were a couple leather chairs spread about, Sam had placed her purse on one.

Today was different though, today Turner wasn’t there because he needed a warrant or a subpoena. He and Sam had both arrived at the courthouse ten minutes prior to its opening, which was usually still late for Judge Decisis. Turner was wearing his light blue dress uniform rather than his usual more casual uniform, similar to those worn by New Jersey State Troopers on Earth. Sam meanwhile wore a tasteful red dress. He had managed to convince the County Clerk to let them into the courthouse early, and when Turner had entered the Judge’s chambers she’d nearly blown her stack.

The Judge, an older grey coated unicorn, had levitated a volume from one of the shelves nearly quite literally threw the book at him. Before she’d managed to, however, he had explained his reasoning for being there. For the first time ever he had seen the Judge smile, if only for a moment, before she agreed to serve as Justice of the Peace for the purposes of Turner and Sam’s wedding, albeit begrudgingly.

That was what brought Turner and Sam to where they stood in Judge Decisis’ Chambers, it was no grand Canterlot hall or fancy looking gazebo, but for the two of them it didn’t need to be. They stood across from one another at half an arms length while the Judge was standing at the center, standing in the room as well was the County Clerk and the night janitor. They were the only ponies present in the building that could serve as witnesses to the ceremony.

Turner’s heart was pounding in his chest as he stood there, he could feel a lump forming in his throat and his stomach felt like it was rolling on him constantly. Despite that, he was happy. Sam was having similar feelings, though a noted bit of melancholy had wormed its way in as well. The woman wished that her Family could be present, or even Thomas and Gwen, but she knew that eventually they’d have a grand ceremony. For now, it would simply be their own private ‘I Do’.

“We’re gathered here today…” The Judge began, snapping both Turner and Sam out of their thoughts and to the crucial moment unfolding. The two of them looked at one another, and each could tell that they had made the right decision. The location didn’t matter, nor did the ceremony, only that they were committing to one another for the rest of their lives.

“To witness the marriage of Sergeant Paige Wilson Turner and Samantha Montoya. As I’m unsure of how Human Wedding Ceremonies are carried out, I’ll allow you to state your own vows.” It wasn’t the most romantic of ways to start off, it sounded like the judge was responding to an objection in court, but Turner supposed that would just make the story that much more memorable. “Sergeant.”

“Sam, when I first met you I felt like I got socked in the gut. First I thought it was just because I’d been alone for so long, but… Not for very long.” Turner began softly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He was flying by the seat of his pants here, but he figured the best thing he could do was speak from the heart. “You gave me the push I needed to move forward, to take risks I never dreamed I’d take, and when I was at my lowest moment you pulled me up. You saved me, Sam, when even I didn’t think I was worthy of saving.”

“I promise you, as God as my witness, that I will treasure our time together. I’ll be true, loyal, and honest. No matter the distance between us physically, you’ll always be in my thoughts. I’ll stick by your side through anything, and I’ll do it until the day I die.” Turner finished, reaching across and gripping Sam’s hands gently. His voice was shaking somewhat from the emotions welling up inside him. Though he wasn’t sure, he could swear he heard the night janitor sniffle in the background. Sam smiled and wiped one of her eyes, looking off to the side for a second before composing herself and looking Turner in the eye.

“Paige… When I first met you I thought you were some weirdo with a weird name living in a backwater town. I stuck around because I wanted to be away from Canterlot more than anything else…” Sam admitted, taking a breath. “At least, that was until we began to talk. You weren’t some weirdo, just… A person with different priorities. You stayed in Silver Lake because the town welcomed you and you wanted to give back to them what they gave you… Security.” The woman quietly wiped her eyes again, smiling as she did so. “You’re a noble man, sensitive, funny, intuitive, stubborn, and you snore like a bear… I wouldn’t have it any other way, except maybe that last one.” Turner smiled faintly and let out a soft chuckle.

“I’ve seen you come home from work tired and upset, but I know it’s only because you care that much.” Sam continued, sighing as she let her emotions get the better of her. “I’ve dreaded the thought of you being drafted, but I know you wouldn’t stand to send someone else in your stead. You care about me, and there’s no one else I’d want in my corner when life gets rough. I’ll be in your corner too, just like I’ve always been. As long as I draw breath. I promise.”

Turner and Sam looked at the judge, the mare was looking at the two of them with a somewhat misty look to her eyes. That was the only outward display of emotion, however, other than a slight smirk. The old mare cleared her throat and straightened her posture.

“Do you have the ring?” She asked, Turner looked at Sam who simply removed her engagement ring and handed it back to him. “I suppose that works, slip it onto her finger.” Turner nodded, and like a glove the ring was back on Sam’s finger. “How about you?” She was looking at Sam, the woman nervously reached to her purse. She dug around inside it for a moment before withdrawing her keyring. She removed the keys quickly, leaving just the round loop of metal. “Again, I suppose that will have to do.”

Sam slipped the ring onto Turner’s finger, at least partially. His finger was a bit too fat for it to slide more than a knuckle’s length.

“Paige Wilson Turner, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?” The judge asked, Turner nodded.

“I do, your honor.” He said, smiling at Sam.

“And do you, Samantha Montoya, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do!” Sam replied quickly, it seemed she could barely contain her excitement. The Judge smiled, it honestly unsettled Turner a bit, though it seemed he was the only one. Maybe just because he knew the judge to almost always be grumpy… He stopped himself, his mind was wandering.

“By the power vested in me by the Kingdom of Equestria, Province of Dodge Junction and County of Evergreen I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The Judge said with a firm nod. “You are now hereby ordered to kiss the bride forthwith.” Turner wasn’t about to disregard an order from a judge, that’d be contempt of court. So, he wrapped his arms around Sam and pulled her into the most passionate embrace he could. Their lips met in that instant, their eyes closed.

Sam could only see fireworks in her mind, her heart seemed to be pounding ten times a second, the feeling of Turner’s arms around her and his lips against hers wasn’t anything new, but to have them around her and know they were the arms of her husband was something completely new. In the background of her mind she could hear the song ‘At Last’ playing. Turner, was having his own moment. Wreathed in the arms of his wife for the first time, he felt like he had come further than he’d ever expected… Even on Earth he wasn’t sure he’d ever find a woman he loved like Sam. No matter what happened after that, he would remember that instant, the moment their lips met, as the happiest moment of his life.

After a blissful twenty seconds the two of them finally parted, the Judge was quietly watching them while the County Clerk and Janitor that had witnessed the ceremony seemed to be hugging each other.

“Thank you, your honor.” Turner said as he looked at the judge, the mare gave a dismissive wave of her hoof.

“One of the few happy parts of my job.” Decisis said simply, she adjusted her mane with her magic. “Now, not to be rude, but I do need my chambers… All the same, congratulations.” Turner nodded and clasped Sam’s hand firmly, it wasn’t just Sam’s hand though… It was his wife’s hand. “Oh, one more thing.” The judge’s horn glowed as a drawer opened on her desk, from within was a crisp white peace of paper, she also levitated a pen. “This is a marriage license, you need to fill it out for all this to be official.”

“Care to help me with this, Misses Turner?” Turner asked with a joking tone, Sam rolled her eyes but nodded. Tears were starting to come and roll down her cheeks, tears of happiness that she had never thought she’d cry. The two of them filled out the paper quickly, barely able to sit still long enough to get to the end. Once they got there the two of them signed their names, the Judge looked it over and floated it over to the clerk in the back of the room.

“Rubber Stamp, sign and notarize this… You too, Scruffy. Then file it.” Decisis said before looking at the newly weds. “As I said before, congratulations. Now, I’m sure you have plenty of newly wed things to do.”

“Right… Again, thank you, your honor.” Turner said with a nod before he and Sam began walking out of the office, the Janitor picked up some shredded documents from a trashcan near the door and began throwing the confettified paper like rice. It was both awkward and sweet at the same time, which pretty much summed up the entire ceremony. Turner and Sam quickly made their way to the front door, only once they were out of earshot of the other’s did they stop to look at one another again. “Well… We did it.”

“I know.” Sam said before she kissed him once again, the two of them stepped outside into the chilly morning air. They were greeted with the usual morning sounds of birds chirping and a breeze blowing through the town, the Equestrian flag flying atop the courthouse fluttered in the wind. “Want to get some breakfast, Mister Turner?”

“Sure, Misses Turner.” Turner replied with a smile, he looked at his finger and noticed just how tight the keyring felt. “First, I think I might need to get this ring resized.” He joked, Sam let out a slight laugh and the two of them began walking towards their Marshal parked across the street.

“Take it off, last thing I want is your finger to lose circulation.” Sam walked towards the passenger side while Turner made his way towards the driver’s seat. “Besides, I need my keyring back.” Turner removed the keyring from his finger, but tucked it into his shirt pocket. “Hey!”

“Come on, you want to use it for keys now?” Turner asked as he got into the truck and closed the door. Sam closed her door as well and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “I think we should hold on to it, look back on it as a fond memory. How great would that be?” Sam leaned back in her seat and let out a content sigh.

“Alright…” Sam relented, her face melting into a smile as the two sat there. “I can just picture us in fifty years, sitting around the house looking at things from the past and we find that.” She looked over at Turner, her expression was warm as ever. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Turner replied before he leaned over and kissed her once again, Sam smiled and fished around inside her purse for a second before withdrawing the key to the truck. When she pulled away she handed it to Turner. He slipped it into the ignition and started the Truck. “Is it weird of me to think that just getting breakfast is a kind of weird way of following up something as major as our wedding?”

“If it were a big wedding, absolutely…” Sam said with a nod while she reached towards the dashboard and turned on the heat. “Since it’s just the two of us though, I think it’s fine. I’d be happy doing pretty much anything as long as you were there.” Turner smirked at her and waggled his eyebrows. “You’re mind went right to the gutter, didn’t it?”

“Yup.” Turner replied, Sam gave him a slight punch to the shoulder prompting him to start laughing. He put the truck in drive and did a quick U Turn so that they could drive back into downtown. “I just want to say… What you said back there, the vows and stuff. I really loved that… Even if you accused me of snoring.”

“I appreciate what you said too…” Sam replied with a smile as they took a right turn and headed a bit further into town. “And yes, you do snore.” Turner smiled but didn’t retort, instead he kept driving them until they finally arrived at the town diner across the street from the new movie theater. “It’s still setting in… We’re married! Actually married! Not just dating anymore, or even engaged!” Sam beamed.

Turner smiled as he pulled the truck into the parking spot nearest to the diner and put the Marshal into park. He was happy, he really was, but in the back of his mind there was a nagging thought that soon reality would hit. He wasn’t going to dampen Sam’s spirits though, not on a day so important. He’d force those thoughts into the back of his mind, far away from where they could possibly interfere. The two of them exited the truck and made their way into the diner. Despite being slightly overdressed, they didn’t seem to stick out all that much as most of the morning rush had yet to enter.

They sat in a booth near the window, casually relaxing as they waited for one of the waiters to come over. Sam twirled her hair around one of her fingers while Turner adjusted his uniform to be a bit more comfortable.

“Paige, I’m gonna order some rings for us… Proper wedding bands.” Sam said simply, Turner was about to open his mouth to offer to help pay. He stopped though when he saw the ernest look in her eyes, he knew that she wanted to do it on her own.

“Alright, Sam.” Turner said with a nod. “I’d like that.” Not long after that the waiter arrived, the two of them ordered their breakfast. Turner couldn’t help but smile when Sam ordered a plate of pancakes, specifically asking for a smiley face of whipped cream on them. He meanwhile ordered biscuits and gravy, his usual order when he was on the clock… “Crap, I forgot.” Sam raised an eyebrow as the man reached into his pocket and withdrew his pocket, after a couple seconds of fiddling he put the phone to his ear. “Hey, Sheriff. It’s Turner. I need to take a personal day…” The man paused for a second to listen. “Don’t tell anyone, but Sam and I worried I’d get caught in the draft before our wedding, so we went to the courthouse and… Yeah… Really?”

“Are you sure it’s right…? Tomorrow?” Turner asked, Sam watched him quietly as his expression shifted slightly, becoming a little more serious than it had before. “I see…” Turner quietly looked at the table. “You’re sure it’s right?” Another pause. “Alright, boss… I appreciate you letting me know… Bye.” Turner hung up and quietly tossed the phone down on the table, interlocking his fingers as he looked down. “God damn it.”

“What?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow, Turner sighed and looked at Sam with a somewhat crestfallen expression.

“Army sent the Sheriff a list of the people they’re drafting tomorrow, in case some folks try to dodge.” Turner explained, his eyes glancing out the window again. “They called me, Sam. Hell, they called half the county. I get the official notice tonight, at which point I’m to report in the morning to the train station for the train to the processing center in Canterlot… If I pass the physical I’ll be sent to an induction center...” Sam looked like she’d just been hit by a gut punch, but before she could start to freak out she felt Turner’s hand grab hers and squeeze it tightly. “We knew this was coming, honey… It’ll be okay.”

“How do you know?” Sam asked as she looked somewhat distantly at the table. “Right when we start to move forward it seems like nothing goes right…” She quietly took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. “It’s not fair.” Turner nodded and let out a sigh, looking towards the counter of the diner as the waiter approached with their food. He set down the pancakes in front of Sam and the biscuits and gravy by Turner.

“Thank’s…” Turner said, the waiter nodded and walked away. The man looked back to his wife, the ink on their marriage license wasn’t even dry yet and already it seemed the road forward would be difficult. Sam looked at Turner as he quietly made a sign of the cross over himself. “God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change… The courage to change that which we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Sam wiped her eyes with her napkin and looked at her plate, the smiley face staring back at her was almost cruel in how joyful it seemed. “Sam, look at me.” The woman looked him in the eyes. “It will be alright. Have faith, now more than ever.”

“I’ll… I’ll try.” Sam said quietly, wiping her eyes once again and sniffling. Turner looked at her plate, then at her.

“Do you want to switch plates?” He asked, Sam shook her head. “Okay… Eat, you’ll feel better once you have a full stomach.”

“How are you so calm?” She asked as she cut into the pancakes, doing her best to calm herself down. Turner took a bite from his plate before looking around as if checking for someone that could be listening in. When it was clear there was no one else listening he leaned closer, cleared his throat, and spoke softly.

“I’m terrified.” He admitted. “Absolutely scared out of my mind.” He leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers, then took a deep breath and looked at the table again. “If I freaked out every time I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to do my job…” Sam was a little surprised by the admission, and upon closer inspection she could see in his eyes that what he was saying was true. “If I’m calm, the people I’m with stay calm too.” His tone was even, almost bordering on casual, but there was a faint edge to it.

“I… I guess I see your point.” Sam said quietly as she took another series of deep breaths. “As long as I know that your as scared as I am I can deal with it.” Turner reached across the table again, clasping Sam’s hand in his own and giving it another firm squeeze. “Let’s finish here and go home, I want to just curl up under the blankets with you while I can…” Sam’s tone almost sounded tired, Turner nodded and the two of them continued to eat in moderately uncomfortable silence. Both of them tormented with their own fears for the future, both of them looking to the other for strength, and both of them finding it in one another’s eyes.

They paid for their meals, got up, and drove home in that same uncomfortable silence. They passed plenty of ponies that didn’t know what was coming, and they couldn’t say a word. It didn’t matter, by nightfall the entire county would know. The chill of the winter air nipped at them when they arrived back home and exited the truck, as they walked back inside Turner could swear he heard the sound of thunder off in the distance. Clouds were rolling in, it seemed a storm was brewing on the horizon… Wordlessly both Sam and Turner made their way to the bedroom, undressed down to their underwear, and climbed in under the blankets.

They didn’t do much at first, they just laid their together in the bed. Turner had his arms around Sam’s waist, and she was getting as close as she could to him in preparation for what would likely be their last night together in a long time, and yet… It would also be their first night together as husband and wife. As the hours passed by the shock gradually began to wear off, and by nightfall when they heard the knock on the front door both of them had prepared themselves for what was to come.

Sam remained in bed, Turner put on a pair of sweatpants and went to the door. As expected, he found a letter taped to the wood from the Equestrian Government. Turner took it inside and opened the sealed parcel, inside he found exactly what he’d been expecting. The most galling thing about it was the way the letter was written, congratulating him for being such a fine example of what Equestria had to offer. Without another word Turner left the notification on the table and went back to bed, he crawled in beside Sam once more and held her even tighter than before.

That night the two of them did something more gentle than what they usually did in bed together, a private moment of love and passion that, out of respect for the newlyweds, won’t be recorded in the pages of this story. It was, after all, a farewell meant only for husband and wife.