Headmare Starlight Glimmer flipped through midterm papers that her professors had dropped off on her desk earlier that day. She glanced behind her out the window and saw that the sun was beginning its final descent towards the horizon. She was looking forward to the weekend, as always, but even more so since she had taken over as the School of Friendship's Headmare six months ago. The job was a demanding, fulfilling position, but time off was always nice. It had gotten even more fulfilling, and the time off even nicer, since she had immediately decided to split the responsibilities with her lifelong friend and boyfriend Sunburst, who had apparently been planning another one of his special dates tonight. One time it would be a dinner featuring an exquisitely exotic food, the next time it would be sightseeing at some lovely getaway for a weekend, or even just a nice nostalgic full-size game of Dragon Pit; Sunburst had managed to keep things fresh and exciting even through moving to Ponyville, which was why she was currently endeavoring to finish sorting these midterms and get out of her office. She hadn't seen him since lunch six hours ago, and she was very much looking forward to whatever surprise Trixie had popped in and told her that he had in store for tonight, and to meet him in the foyer of the castle when she was done for the evening.

If she was honest with herself, she was wondering if one of these surprises was eventually going to turn into him popping the question. They seemed to be in a stable enough place in their lives and careers now, and their relationship was stronger than ever since they were now living and working together. Then, there were times that she couldn't help but wonder if Sunburst was waiting for her to propose to him. Both of them had come quite a long way from her fainting in the castle's east wing hallway the first time he had asked her out to dinner.

Coming to the last paper in the stack, and seeing that it was properly marked and graded like all the others, she got up, trotted to the back corner of her office, and deposited them in the middle drawer of a filing cabinet for this year's class. With her last task of the day done, she quickly glanced over her office, saw that everything was in order, and turned to leave. Shutting off the light and closing the door behind her, she saw that the hallway was completely empty. She was sometimes the last one to leave for the day, true, but this time of day, there would almost certainly be students going to and from the dorms and the cafeteria. But there wasn't a single step or whisper as far as she could hear. She shrugged her shoulders, maybe there was a party or event in town that she had forgotten about; the big ones on Friday nights usually drew the crowds.

But as she made the journey from her second floor office to the front door without seeing a single creature, she was beginning to think something was up. She came out of the front doors, and saw the Castle of Friendship's exterior shine brilliantly against the setting sun. There were more lights on than she thought there would be at this time of evening; since Twilight's departure for Canterlot, castle activity had dropped considerably. Town events were still split fairly evenly between it and Town Hall, and there were still the "Friendship Feasts" held on the first of every month, but without Twilight and Spike, and the others going to and from, the Castle of Friendship had become a bit more empty.

Despite being right next to the Castle that had magically sprouted out of the ground on the far north side of Ponyville, compliments of the Tree of Harmony, the School of Friendship had been constructed from the ground up over a period of months. Considerable landscaping had been done as the structure had been built into the tallest hills in town. Starlight crossed the limestone bridge and made her way down the short cobblestone path around the southeast corner of the castle to the main entrance. She could have sworn she heard shushing noises as she trotted up the steps. She pushed the doors open, and her breath left her with a gasp as she looked at the current state and occupancy of the Castle of Friendship's foyer.

There were nearly one hundred ponies lined up on both sides of the red carpet going down the center of the foyer; townsponies and students she had become familiar with, turning and smiling at her. She immediately recognized some of her first villagers from Our Town; Party Favor, Sugar Belle, Nightglider, and Double Diamond. She saw her dad, and all of Sunburst's immediate family. She saw up farther along in front of the stairs, was much of the school's first class; Gallus, Sandbar, Yona, Ocellus, Silverstream, and Smolder stood with the Council of Friendship in front of them in the front row; Pinkie Pie was visibly vibrating, this had no doubt been another challenging secret to keep. Even Celestia and Luna had made a surprise trip from Silver Shoals. Princess Cadance stood in the front row next to Twilight.

And there, at the very top of the stairs, stood Sunburst, smiling down at her.

All eyes were on her as she made her way down the foyer and up the stairs to her boyfriend.

"I don't even want to know how you were able to put something like this together without any suspicion from me." Starlight teased him. "What's going on?"

Sunburst offered her a hoof, and lead her up the last of the stairs to stand beside him at the top of the first flight, before it split off to the east and west wings.

"Starlight, when you came back into my life, things immediately started looking up, for both of us. From that day forth, you and I have helped each other grow, our friendship has blossomed into something much deeper; to the point where I am absolutely certain that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Starlight Glimmer..."

Sunburst's horn lit up, and the felt-covered jewelry box was levitated out from under his cloak, opened, and presented to her.

"Will you marry me?" He asked, dropping to a front knee.

Starlight bit her lip as tears quickly threatened her eyelids. Sunburst removed the ring from the inside, and began to rotate it.

"And I don't mean in awhile, after weeks and months of stressful wedding-planning, in between running an entire school..." He continued. There was a mechanical click, and the ring, expertly crafted and seamlessly put together, smoothly split off into two separate rings.

"...I mean right now, tonight, surrounded by all of our family and friends."

The unicorn mare sniffled, and looked down at Sunburst, smiling widely.

"You always knew how to surprise me in unexpected and amazing ways. Yes, yes of course I will!"

Sunburst got to his hooves and the duo embraced, with stomping hooves from the crowd in front of them.

"Now," Sunburst began, releasing her from the hug, "I know you don't want anything particularly flashy, but Trixie is waiting for you in your bedroom with a little something. Meet back here in twenty?" Sunburst asked, as he floated the rings down to Twilight in the front row. Starlight nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. With that, Starlight excitedly trotted up the stairs to the second floor of the west wing, followed by Firelight moments later.

"Don't think she's the only one that's going to look stunning," Princess Cadance told him, coming up the stairs. "My husband is waiting for you in the East Study." She told him as conversations started to break out in the crowd to pass the time. Smiling at her, he gave a bow, then headed up the opposite staircase from Starlight, his mom in quick tow.

"I know you traditionally choose your Mare of Honor, but there was no other way to keep this a surprise." Trixie told Starlight, smirking as she stood in a purple silk gown, similarly colored to her magician's cloak, watching as Firelight helped his daughter get properly fitted into a magnificent white bride's dress. Starlight had quickly deduced that this was the result of Rarity wanting to get Starlight re-measured and fitted for a new Headmare's uniform.

"Like I would have chosen anypony else." Starlight replied to her best friend, with just as much playful snark. "I can't believe all of you were able to keep this a surprise. Especially with Pinkie around."

"Apparently there was a baby announcement a couple years back that gave her plenty of practice." Firelight told her as he made some adjustments to the wedding veil. With that complete, she stood in front of the triple-paneled full length mirror, and looked at herself with her dad and best friend at either side.

"I can't believe this. Just an hour ago I was grading midterm papers, and now..." She trailed off, sniffling.

"You look absolutely beautiful, sweetheart. If only your mom could see you..." Firelight said, tearing up a bit himself.

Sunburst's fitting was considerably less complicated. It consisted of a teal formal dress shirt, a vermilion bow tie that matched his mane perfectly, and speaking of his mane, he didn't object in the slightest when his mom took to it and his beard with a comb and can of hairspray. It was better than coming at him with scissors, he had to admit.

"Well Sunburst, I have to admit, I'm impressed. You're about to pull this off without a hitch." Stellar complimented, as she ran the comb through the front of his mane. Shining quickly and expertly removed the unicorn's glasses and cleaned the lenses and polished the frame, before returning them to his snout.

"Can't have my daughter's Crystaller looking unpresentable now, can we?" Shining Armor commented. The Crystal Prince was also in his own dress uniform that was reserved for the most important of occasions, such as this.

"Thanks for your help with everything, Shining." Sunburst said as his bow tie was straightened.

"Don't mention it, Sunburst. You made my daughter's first years so much less stressful than you know, and it's about time we were able to return just a little bit of the favor. You and Starlight are perfect for each other. I know that because she was proposed to and agreed to get married in 20 minutes notice. This isn't exactly a Las Pegasus trot-thru wedding, but you're right, running the School of Friendship while planning something much bigger would have been a considerable strain."

With a final run through with the comb, Stellar nodded satisfyingly at her son, tearing up a bit.

"Well, shall we?" Shining asked, ushering the groom to the door out to the hall.

Sunburst walked out to the east hallway, and started back towards the foyer, with Shining and Stellar at his sides. He came to the stairs, and all eyes were on him only for a moment, before shifting to the other side, where Starlight came out, and the stallion's lips couldn't help but tremble when he looked at how absolutely beautiful she looked. As was tradition, he descended first to the first flight, where Twilight and Spike were waiting with a proud smile as well. Shining stood back towards the second set of stairs while Stellar descended to her seat in the front row. Then, Starlight came down, also nearly overwhelmed with emotion. Trixie remained at the bottom of the second set of stairs, as Firelight gently lifted his daughter's veil with his magic, then kissed her on the cheek before returning to the seats on the ground floor, as she stepped up to Twilight with Sunburst. Tears pricked her eyes as she looked at her fiance.

"Beloved family and friends, we are gathered here today to unite the two heads of Ponyville's School of Friendship; Starlight Glimmer, and Sunburst. The commitment of these two longtime friends to each other is clear and undeniable. Spike, the rings please?"

Spike came forward with the two rings that were once wholly one piece, and Twilight took them in her magic's grasp, and offered each to the unicorns in front of her, who each took them in with their horns.

"Sunburst, do you take this mare, to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; until death do you part?"

Sunburst swallowed the lump in his throat as he looked at how lovely his fiance looked.

"I do."

"And do you, Starlight, take this stallion to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do you part?"

Starlight couldn't hold the tears back, and as they streamed down her cheeks, she smiled at him.

"I do."

The two of them took their rings and together, placed them around each other's horns.

"By the power vested in me by the sovereign nation of Equestria, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Sunburst took a single step forward, and touched his lips to Starlight's, and took her in his front hooves as the crowd in front of them cheered.

"May I present, for the very first time, newlyweds Sunburst and Starlight Glimmer!" Princess Twilight announced.

Sunburst and Starlight turned to the cheering crowd and waved to their family and friends.

"Now, I hope everypony's hungry, because the reception starts right now in the dining room, and we've got quite the spread. Let's go dig in!"

Author's Note

This may be this story's last update for awhile, if it sees any at all.

I've got a very, very rough idea of where it could go, but as is my usual flaw, fluff is non existent right now. I've also got other stories to progress and finish.

Regardless, thank you for reading. If you've got any ideas, don't hesitate to sound off in the comments!