Author's Note

All six of these shorts will have embedded songs at key points within them, each of which is important to its respective short, as they're what I drew inspiration from to write them. Hope you enjoy the (mostly ambient) music

Twilight - Love and Timing

The gentle crash of the lukewarm ocean waves lapped at your feet as you strolled along the cool sands. Coastal winds whipped your unbuttoned blazer and halfway undone tie every which way, but you didn’t care to fix them. Not with only the two of you around, anyhow. Day had long since given way to night, a canvas of ethereal heaven adorning the locale as you and your marefriend strolled side by side.

You weren’t sure how they did it, but Night Light and Twilight Velvet ended up renting out an entire beach for the annual family trip, complete with separate waterfront cottages for each pair present. Ironically enough, it was the same beach where Twilight had initially asked you to be hers, which gave everything a silky sweet undertone of sentimentality. You were flattered beyond belief when they had extended an invitation - from what Twiggles had told you, they were typically pretty strict about the whole shebang being a family-only occasion.

All the more reason for your surprise upon their utter insistence for your attendance, especially on Night Light’s part. Apparently, he’d been the one to initially enforce the relatives-only rule, which only endeared you to him more since he was the one who formally extended the invitation.

You openly pondered what could’ve changed his mind as you and Twilight meandered onward toward your lodging, your hand resting gently on her withers all the while. The further you went on, the more you could feel her shivering underneath your fingertips, moreso whenever a rogue gust of wind ripped through.

“You cold, hon?” you called out to her over the dull roar of the waves.

Her head whipped around to face you, as if she were surprised by your question.

“Oh, no, I’m f-fine,” she stuttered, very clearly not fine.

You giggled to yourself; mares were stubborn creatures, and your Twilight was no different.

“You can take my jacket, if you want.”

She shook her head, resolute.

“I’m okay for now, Anon,” she reassured you. “I definitely want to hop under a few blankets when we get back, though.”

The lack of one of her beloved nicknames for you gave you pause. She must’ve been real chilly for her to only use your abbreviated name.

“Deal. I needed a good cuddle with you, anyhow.”

She beamed at you, satisfied with your affections, before facing forward once more.

Before long, your cottage crept into view, the darkened windows begging for its occupants to come back home. The moment you laid your eyes on it, though, Twilight’s trembling worsened, breaking out into outright shaking with the mildest of breezes. Even more concerning was the barely-suppressed whispering you heard under her breath, rhythmic in nature. She did that sometimes to help herself mellow out, she had told you - said it was something she’d done ever since she was a filly.

Poor mare… Sometimes, you wished that she’d swallow her marely pride and do things your way for a change. For a little bit, at least.

You said nothing, but pulled her closer to you, hoping to share some warmth.She leaned into your touch, but the shivering only barely subsided.

“Almost there, hon,” you said as you gave her side a light squeeze.

“Y-Yeah,” she replied, a bit unsteady. “D-Did you want to read anything tonight before bed?”

“For sure. Did you bring that new novel? The one by Pale Gloom?”

“The First Disciple? Yep, I’ve g-got it in my suitcase.”

“Oh, I’ve been looking forward to that one! Want me to make some tea to go along with it?”

“I-If you wouldn’t mind, honeybun.”

You inwardly celebrated the return of the nicknames you were so fond of. You’d softened up quite a bit after all this time with her, but you didn’t care - you’d never felt quite so wonderful about life before. Though her shivering and rhythmic whispers continued, you knew then that everything was alright.

Not much later, the two of you had crossed the sandy stretch and ended up right outside of the cottage’s front porch. Before you could make your way up the steps, though. Twilight held her outstretched wing to your midsection, walking in front of you with a crooked, troubled smile.

“Hold on for j-just a moment,” she croaked out. “I need to go check s-something. Just a second!”

She bolted up the steps and through the front door, doing her best not to slam it behind her. From within, you heard a rush of hoofsteps, a fair amount of rustling, and your marefriend’s quiet murmurs, even over the onslaught of the ocean waves. The fuss eventually subsided, though, and after a few moments of relative quiet, Twilight’s voice rang out from somewhere inside.

“Okay, you can come in now!”

You furrowed your brow. What was she up to…?

Leisurely, you traipsed onto the front porch. The dim light that had replaced the windows’ darkness lit the way, your every step just barely illuminated by a soft amber glow. You reached out for the door with a timid hand, anxious after all of the sudden fanfare. The cool metal of the door handle sent a chill down your spine as your fingers wrapped themselves around it. With a downward tug, you wrested the door free of its latch and pushed it inward, crossing the threshold into a cloud of warmth. It closed behind you, muffling the outside ambience to a pleasant, almost sleepy volume.

While the living room was still mostly darkened, a gaggle of tall candles tastefully strewn about coated everything in that same dim light that came from the windows. The couch and chairs had been moved out of the way, freeing up tons of space to walk around. In the center of the newly made space was the coffee table, a few burning candles sitting on the end furthest from you. On its surface were what looked to be old photos, but before you could subject them to closer scrutiny, Twilight stepped into view from an open doorway to your bedroom.

Warm light from the myriad candles draped itself onto her soft countenance, every shadow cast accentuating her features. She had freshly brushed her hair in the time that you had taken to enter, silky strands lilting about in the stillness of the room. She’d even applied a few extra spritzes of her beloved perfume, if that lavender aroma in the air was anything to go by.

Just as she was when you first fell for her, just as she was every day since then, she was…

Breathtaking.

“Hey, honeybun,” she greeted, that same nervous smile you’d come to love adorning her face.

It proved to be infectious; for the life of you, you couldn’t help the corners of your mouth from skyrocketing. Not that you’d have wanted to, of course.

“What’s all this, Twilight…?” you mused, gawking at everything she had put into place.

She closed the distance between the two of you, and without her asking, you got down onto a knee with open arms, letting her nuzzle into your chest tightly as you threw your arms around her. She hooked both front hooves around you and threw her full weight into you, which you received without hesitation.

Even then, in the far warmer climate of the homey cottage, she continued to shiver.

“Oh, you know,” she replied as she pulled away. “J-Just something to show you how much I love you.”

You rose to your feet, drinking in the moment with your whole heart.

“I love you too, hon. More than anything.”

The adoration on her face was matched only by her nerves - the more time passed, the more crooked her already elated grin became.

“Do you remember when we took these?” she asked, her aura enveloping your hand as she led you toward the coffee table, kneeling down again when you arrived.

The photos you had seen from a distance all turned out to be snapshots from across your relationship together, all arranged in chronological order from top to bottom. It was a cute little ritual you had both agreed to soon after the start of your relationship, determined to preserve precious memories for as long as possible. You thought you had misplaced them, as they had all but disappeared a few months ago during a furniture rearrangement. Each of them were now framed, all of which were one thousand percent going on the fireplace mantle back home.

“Oh, man, how could I forget?” you said, appreciation plain on your gobsmacked face.

You pointed to the first one in the sequence.

“Isn’t that one from the second date we ever went on? When we wanted to try Gustav’s?”

She nodded enthusiastically, a glint of nostalgia in her eyes.

“I was so embarrassed when they made a show of bringing out the ‘lovers’ buffet’, but you leaned into it.”

Oh-ho-ho, you definitely remembered that. To tell the truth, you were just as embarrassed as she was, but you weren’t about to let her anxiety get the best of her.

Your eyes locked onto the frame at the very center of the table, depicting the two of you simply lounging on the couch reading a book together.

“I’ll never forget this one,” you reminisced, heady from the memories. “The night you first told me you loved me.”

You reached over, cupped her head in your hand, and kissed her cheek. The smell of lavender when you drew close was monumental, her cheek firm as she smiled against your lips.

To your surprise, she still shivered. Though your bare touch tended to bring that out of her in certain situations, this was different; she was trembling.

You drape a hand over her withers, the sensation more intense around her barrel.

“You alright, hon?” you asked, still willing to pass it off as a lingering reaction to the coastal gusts. “I can go get that blanket real quick, if you want?”

You make to stand, but she stops you again with an outstretched hoof.

“N-No, no,” she stammered out vehemently. “I’m okay. I promise, I’m okay.”

You cocked an eyebrow, a bit worried by her frantic denial, but you shrugged it off just as fast as the feeling arrived.

“Okay,” you said as you kneeled back down. “Whatever you say, babe.”

Your attention affixed itself back onto the series of photos, enamored by the outpouring of her love. Before long, though, you noticed something odd.

“Oh, did you lose one of the photos?”

“Hm?” Twilight hummed, unsure of what you meant.

You gesture to the last frame in the series, removed slightly from the rest of its compatriots.

“This one’s empty.”

Her trembling once again worsens, accompanied by an almost comically audible gulp.

“I-I was, um… I actually wanted to d-discuss that.”

‘Oh…?’ you thought, intrigued. There was a bit of apprehension in your gut, what with her odd behavior, but once more, you pushed it to the side.

You nod, adopting a disarmingly calm smile so as to ease her into it.

“Of course, Twi.”

She searched your features, looking for something unknown to you. When she found it, she took a deep breath, exhaling her nerves out into the open air.

“I-I’m sorry I had to sneak these out of the photo album,” she began, steadying herself as she spoke. “I know how much it upset you when you thought you lost them, and it upset me even more to see you that upset, but I had to have them for tonight.”

She leaves your side, passing by the photo table. Though you can still visibly see her shaking, it’s no longer on the level of tremors. She looked across every frame, only stopping at the one that was empty.

“I’m beyond grateful that you bought us that camera. These…”

She paused for a moment, an unsteady breath hitched in her throat.

“T-these memories are some of the happiest of my life, and they were all because of you.”

She turned to you, the ghosts of tears threatening to fall from the corners of her eyes.

Your chest tightened, a wholly un-unified mess. While she readily admitted to being of a sappier disposition than most mares, it always brought you great pain to see her in tears. In that moment, though, conflict seated itself deep within the tumult of your stomach. Even through the myriad contortions that her tear ducts were orchestrating on her features, she still maintained that impossibly elated smile - undulating under the strain, yes, but glowing.

She spoke through it before you could chime in, fighting against it all the while.

“That’s why I left the last frame empty. I want to make more memories with you, Anon. More than we could ever know what to do with.”

You chuckled, chest tightening in adoration all the while.

“That’s a dream we share, then.”

She nodded, steadying herself once more against her own nerves.

“‘And what are dreams, if not silhouetted glimpses into how life ought to be?’”

You frowned in surprise as she quoted one of your favorite Equestrian authors without missing a beat.

“Hey, that was Clear Portrait, wasn’t it?” you guffawed, unable to stifle a laugh.

“Mm-hm,” she hummed as she slipped past you, your gaze fixed firmly on the photos.

“Yeah, I knew it! That was one from one of his memoirs, the passage where he was… he was talking about…”

You sputtered off as the truth of her gesture revealed itself.

‘Is she…?’ you thought, your heart having all but stopped in your chest.

Before you could turn to face her and confirm your suspicions, figures swathed in pitch black shadows moved from out of your bedroom, fanning out to encompass the rear of the room. Night Light, Twilight Velvet, Spike, Shining Armor, and Cadence all beamed at you from the other side of the room. Night held a camera in his magical grasp - the same camera that had captured stills of a wonderful life with your Twilight.

The same one that was present for that second date, and the mess of a Hearts and Hooves day that ensued.

The same one that was there for her first day as Princess of Friendship.

The same one that was there for the day she told you she loved you.

The same one that was there for your first vacation together.

The same one that you hoped would…

“Anon?”

Twilight’s voice ripped you from your stupor. You turned to face her, your own mouth ever-so-slightly contorting against your will.

She held a velvet box in her hoof.

As she bowed to you, the tears she had barely been withholding finally rolled down her soft cheeks. Time froze, immutable.

“Will you marry me?”

She lifted the lid of the coffer with her magic, revealing a golden band, woven with traces of her aura that would linger forevermore.

…

If a pin had been cast to the floor, the king of Griffonia might’ve heard it.

Your throat constricted itself, each swallow a monumental task. You had long since known your reply, of course. Long before she had ever even thought she might ask.

You fell to both knees and enveloped her in a desperate embrace, unwilling to let go for anything. She tucked her head into your breast as you breathlessly offered your answer.

“Yes!”

Tears flowed freely between the two of you, both clinging on for the dear life together that was to come. Off in the distance, the click of a camera rang out above the cacophony of celebration.