Moonlit Eternity

Epilogue

Four Months Later

Steel Anvil awoke from a deep, peaceful sleep in his bedroom. He had been sleeping well every night since he was cured of his monstrous affliction, but even since then, waking up every morning always felt like a brand new experience. Over the one hundred and seventy-two years he had spent as a miserable, sleepless vampire, he had forgotten exactly what sleep was like. He stretched extravagantly, yawning widely as he tried, and failed miserably, to smooth out his mane. He looked out the window, which stood open, letting in the beautiful rays of sunshine he used to fear.

"Rainbow?" He called, noticing the absence of his partner from their bed. She had moved in with him some three months prior to this day. He got out of bed and looked around some more. "Rainbow, where are you?" He patted her pet tortoise, Tank on the head as he left the bedroom to go search throughout the small, albeit quaint, house. Since Rainbow had moved in, Rarity had demanded that she have at least some input on the interior design, appalled at Steel's minimalist approach to house decoration. He looked out on the front and back porches and the living room. He glanced at the clock above the fireplace and grimaced at the time. It was 2:45 PM in the afternoon. He would have been lucky if she hadn't left to go to Twilight Sparkle's library yet. Just as he was in these thoughts, he heard the bathroom door open. Walking toward the noise, he saw his marefriend, Rainbow Dash, exit the bathroom, her body still moist from the hot shower she had taken, her mane still wet. She smiled at him and raised an eyebrow saucily when she noticed how he was gawking at her.

"Morning, hun." She said simply. "How'd you sleep?" Steel snapped out of his stupor.

"Oh, it was alright." He said, puffing out his chest and pretending that he wasn't staring at every inch of her body. "What's the plan for today?"

"We're going to go grab a bite to eat with Gilda first. She's passing through Ponyville today, so I figured we could grab a bite to eat with her for a little bit. Then, we'll go get Pinkie Pie from Sugarcube Corner and head to Twilight's house. Sound good?" She said, swishing her mane to the side, still loving the fact that she was looking completely irresistable to the Stallion.

"Yeah. Lemme just get a shower first." Steel said, walking to the bathroom. After he had washed himself, freshened up and dried off, and Rainbow had fed and said goodbye to Tank, they left the house and walked toward Cafe du Mane. Rainbow and Steel quickly found Gilda sitting at a table outside the restaurant with two empty chairs. She smiled at Rainbow.

"Took ya long enough." She said.

"Hey, Gilda." Rainbow said, sitting down. "How has your trip been?"

"Oh, it was cool." Gilda said, slightly sighing. "A little dull, though. The looks I got from the ponies in Fillydelphia were pretty hilarous." Rainbow snickered.

"Yeah, we don't really get that many Griffons here, and when they do, they're like some kind of mystical being to everypony who doesn't know them."

"Yeah, I know." Gilda agreed. "Hey there, Steel." Steel nodded at her.

"Hi." He said. "Rainbow Dash has been telling me you're pretty fast." Gilda looked at Rainbow incredulously.

"Pretty fast?" She said, suprised. "I'm faster than her!" Rainbow scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Oh yeah, right." Rainbow said, half laughing, as her daffodil sandwich was laid in front of her. Gilda had probably ordered it for her, knowing it was her favorite. "You and me, a race to Sweet Apple Acres and back." Gilda stood up, as did Rainbow. She looked at Steel, who was talking to the waiter about his meal. "Steel? Do you mind?" Steel looked from the waiter at her.

"Huh? Oh, sure, by all means." He said before going back to placing his order of a daffodil sandwich, same as Rainbow's.

"Great! Let's go!" Rainbow said as she sped off into the sky, followed immediately by Gilda. Steel sat and waited patiently, looking around the outside of the place, admiring the quaint little decorations and asthetically pleasing things. The waiter brought his sandwich back to him and placed it in front of him.

"Enjoy, sir." He said before heading back into the bulding, most likely to service some other customer. Rainbow Dash flashed back to the table, followed almost immediately by Gilda. The force of the two of them hitting the ground next to him caused the sandwich to fly out of Steel's hooves and fall on the ground. He frowned at the sandwich and looked at Rainbow Dash and her friend.

"Oh, no. Sorry Steel." Rainbow said. "I'll get you another one."

"No, it's fine." He said. "I really wasn't hungry anyway. Shall we?" He stood up and motioned toward Sugarcube Corner. The pegasus and the griffon nodded as they started for the confection store.

"I totally won that race." Rainbow whispered, smirking.

"Oh, please, you did not." Gilda responded. Steel merely sighed as they approached the candy-coated building. The three of them had picked up Pinkie Pie almost immediately and headed for Twilight's library. Gilda had been to Ponyville once before since Steel had been cured, so when she did, she apoligized to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy for the way she treated them. Pinkie and Fluttershy, of course, readily accepted. They were now actually good friends. The griffon said her goodbyes and left for her destination of Las Pegasus. Steel looked to Rainbow, who was pressed against him as they walked. They approached the library and knocked on the door, which Twilight answered, smiling sweetly.

"Come on in, guys! The princess is almost here!" The purple mare said happily. The reason they had all gathered at the library was to welcome Princess Celestia to Ponyville for a visit. She had planned to talk to Twilight about her studies and learnings over the past weeks. Pinkie Pie ran inside to give all of her friends hugs, and greet them extravagantly, as she always did. Steel and Rainbow entered the library, looking upon all their friends, (who Pinkie Pie had already hugged). Applejack sat on a couch, laid back and calm, enjoying the relaxing air of the library. Rarity was adjusting her mane in a portable mirror. Fluttershy was looking for a book and Pinkie Pie just sat in a chair and happily hummed to herself.

"Hey guys!" Rainbow said.

"Rainbow, Steel! Great to see you two." Rarity said before quickly going back to her mirror. Rainbow rolled her eyes as Applejack came up to her and patted her back.

"Heya, Dash." Applejack said. "Hey, Steel." They both smiled and greeted her. Fluttershy flitted from the other side of the library and wrapped Rainbow in a hug, which she returned. She then hugged Steel who hugged her back with a small squeeze. She then went back to looking for her book.

"So," Rainbow said, walking into the library. "When is the Princess supposed to be here?" Twilight nervously looked at the clock ticking before gulping and looking from side to side.

"Oh, about half an hour ago. It's fine...I'm sure she'll be here any second." Sure enough, almost on cue, a knock was heard at the door of the library. Twilight exclaimed happily and answered the door, revealing the mighty and majestic Princess Celestia. All the ponies in the room knelt before her. Twilight nuzzled her.

"Princess! Welcome to Ponyville." Twilight said. The princess softly laughed.

"Why, thank you, Twilight. I always love coming here. I apoligize for being late. There was an issue in Canterlot that needed fixing." She said happily. "Hello, everypony." She looked down at them, looking up at her. She looked at Steel and smiled happily. "Steel Anvil. I sense a heartbeat coming from you. Congratulations." He smiled warmly and nodded at her.

"Thank you, your majesty." He said. The princess looked at her student.

"Well, now that the formalities are over, how about some tea while we discuss your studies?"

_____

The talk with Princess Celestia lasted quite a long time. It had been 4PM when they had started talking. They were still talking at 6 PM. The other ponies entertained themselves with things like games, (namely Twister where Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Steel all fell to the flexibility of Pinkie Pie) books and different forms of conversation. But, eventually, any ideas for entertainment ran out and the ponies just sat in the room, listening to Twilight and Celestia talk.

"Honestly," Rarity whispered to Fluttershy. "Why did we come if the princess is just going to talk to Twilight?" Fluttershy looked at her and shrugged. After a while, it was starting to get dark, so the princess began to leave, followed by all of the other ponies to see her off. She looked back quickly at Steel.

"Steel Anvil." She said to him. Her soft voice grabbed his attention. "How is business going at the forge?" He smiled at her.

"It's been going alright." He said. "I got a few orders last month." The princess nodded and raised an eyebrow and rubbed her chin, appearing to be in thought.

"You know..." She said. "My entire royal guard has been using the same set of spears for fifty years...I do believe that they need some new ones." She looked down at him. "I heard about your father Copper Shine's metalwork many years ago. They said it was as close to perfection as it could get. I hope you have his skill." At the mention of his father, Steel looked up at her, confused.

"Princess, I don't quite-"

"I would like to place an order for one hundred and fifty spears. The blades must be ten inches." Steel's eyes widened in disbelief. The ruler of Equestria was requesting of him what she should have been requesting of a smith in Manehattan or Canterlot. The royal alicorn's horn lit up with magic as they levitated a wheelbarrow under a large sack she got from her chariot before dropping the sack on the wheelbarrow. "I think I'll pay you in advance. One hundred and fifty thousand bits. I think that should cover it, don't you?" Steel just nodded stupidly at her as she got into her chariot. "I will expect them by the years end." Steel nodded again.

"Yes, your highness, thank you!" He said, extremely happily. "I won't let you down!" Rainbow Dash embraced Steel, overcome with happiness for her coltfriend. They kissed in the pure splendor of the moment. They had been getting by on both of their incomes, but this small fortune bestowed upon them was an incredible blessing. Celestia smiled at them.

"Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have to releive my duties to my sister back in Canterlot. Goodbye! Princess Luna and Discord send their regards." Everypony's eyes widened at the statement as the Princess rode off into the darkening sky.

"Discord?" Rainbow said, looking around at her friends. "What the hay?"

"Let's just trust the princess. She's never made a bad decision for Equestria." Twilight said before she clopped her hooves togther. "Okay, so, does anypony want to spend the night tonight?" Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity accepted the invitation, but Rainbow Dash, Steel Anvil and Applejack all had work to do the next day. As they began to go all of their seperate ways, Pinkie called to them.

"Come on, guys! Come join the party! Work can wait!" Rainbow smiled but respectfully declined the offer. After saying their goodbyes and receiving hearty congratulations from their friends, they headed back to the forge, the wheelbarrow weighing a lot, due to the massive amount of bits inside of it currently, thanks to Princess Celestia.

"Come on, let's go home and start a fire!" Rainbow said happily. "That's always the best thing when you've been walking around in the freezing cold weather all day. Besides," Rainbow said, inching closer and closer to her love as they walked. "It'll be nice and romantic." She kissed him before ambling ahead slightly, putting an enticing pep in her step to get Steel going. It worked. Steel smiled as he followed Rainbow, empowered by the promises of things to come. He looked to the side, across the street from himself as he approached the forge. There was a jewelry store, a great, well-kept place. He looked and saw pony mannequins, wearing different-looking necklaces. He noticed a sign above them that said-

'Marriage necklaces: 50% off.'

He looked at the window, then at his newly aquired small fortune, then at the beautiful necklaces. He briefly considered the different possibilities of what could happen in he did indeed ask Rainbow Dash to marry him.

"What's taking you so long?" He heard Rainbow Dash call from down the street. He looked up at her.

"Coming!" He thought to himself. 'Get married? So soon? Who are you kidding?' He hung his head slightly and continued after Rainbow, walking at a faster pace. When he finally got a ways down the street, he looked back at the store window and smirked to himself.

'Hmmm..." He thought to himself, now smiling. 'Maybe.'