Every day is a beginning, and every day is an ending. Life reads like a sheet of music, which each day like a note on the page, flowing seamlessly into the next. There may be breaks and there may be pause, but the melody carries on and on. And every day brings with it another piece of a story. My story.
Because my life is a book, and with every day I turn a page. With every word I say and every thing I do, I write down a word in a seamless novel. But today there are only two words that I need to write. And when they are written, my life will change forever.
All I need to do is say them.
I focus and let that thought guide me. I close my eyes and take a steady breath in before letting it out. As it leaves my lungs I feel the world drowned out beyond me. Through the hazy shade of calm which encapsulates my world, I hear his words hanging in the air like a flight of angels.
With a smile, I take it all in, enjoying the moment. In a few seconds it’ll all fade away and be gone. Sunlight passes through the stained glass window in brilliant, vibrant shades. It’s melodic, as melodic as anything I can ever produce on any instrument in Equestria. It drenches everything in color like waves crashing against the shoreline.
The faces in the crowd blend together, but I know each and every one of them. We’ve spoken at reunions, I’ve visited their homes in distant towns all across Equestria. Today, they don’t matter. Because this day, this moment, belongs to us.
I feel the smoothness of the fabric against my skin: white as Celestia’s coat and brighter than her sun. I spare myself another breath, freeing those butterflies from my chest. They twist and twirl to the air, free at last, like leaves falling in reverse up to the branches.
It feels like this day has gone on forever, but I know that when I look back it will have ended all too soon. But that’s okay. Because I know that when I look back through my rose-colored glasses, I will remember everything about today.
I’ll remember all the colors that fall across the chapel, and how the flower petals dot the ground like tiny puddles in the rain. I’ll remember how the pews sit in perfect, parallel lines, stretching far across the floor like bridges over an ocean.
But above all, I will remember her. I will remember how she stands, with a smile a mile wide and eyes burning with something I can’t quite describe. I will remember walking up the aisle and seeing her standing by the altar, and feeling all of my doubts and anxieties melt away.
She stands there, wearing her suit like a uniform, standing tall and proud like a general in front of her army. She’s so patient and so perfect… I wonder if she’s as anxious as I am on the inside.
There are a million faces in the seats, and I know each one dearly. But today, they don’t matter. The only one that matters is hers.
I look into her eyes and I remember how they captivated me that night so many years ago. They shine as brightly as they did back then, and her smile… Her smile is a weapon. A weapon more powerful than a thousand suns and rarer than life beyond our world. It bathes me in a light so pure and so warm that I feel that I may die right here and now.
I can not afford to stumble now. I fight back the tears though I know it’s a losing battle, and raise my chin slightly. She notices my movement and nods in my direction, and I feel my heart calm a bit at the gesture.
She ruffles her wings and I know she is just as impatient as I am. For us, this day marks the start of something. Something that we should have done years ago but never found the courage. And I suppose that’s a part of what today is about. Courage.
Because on our journey, we learned something. We learned how to be brave in the face of danger, and how to be brave for each other. From there we learned how to be brave for ourselves. And that is what brought us here today. Standing in front of those who know us and those who love us, not afraid to hide ourselves any longer. Not afraid because we have each other.
I have cried many times over the years, and I am not ashamed to admit it. Today, I think that I will cry some more. But it won’t be from sorrow. And that is a change that I am all too happy to accept.
Thankfully the time is coming, and I no longer have to drown myself in my own mind. His voice begins to wind down, and his eyes raise from the book he reads. He turns towards us, a knowing smile filling his face, as he pushes his glasses up before clearing his throat.
Two words are all I need to say.
He turns to her first. “Do you, Lightning Dust, take this mare to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do.”
Two words.
“And do you, Fiddlesticks Apple, take this mare to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
And then the world turns its eyes to me. Breathe in. Breathe out. Smile. Speak. “I do.” My voice wavers and cracks. But it doesn’t matter: her eyes light up all the same.
The moment passes and a chapter of my life ends.
We lean in, lips all too eager to find the other, and the crowd erupts into applause.
A chapter of my life is over. But a new one is just beginning. And with her by my side, I know in my heart that I have many more pages to turn.
