Dusk

As Dusk walked up the overgrown dirt road to the monastery, a pony sprinting down to the village slammed into him with a satisfying smack, sending papers flying everywhere.

“Hey!” Dusk yelled, grasping his forehead. “Watch where you’re going, buddy!”

“I’m not your buddy, pal!” the pony yelled, sitting up quickly and glaring at him. It was Dawn.

Immediately, both Dawn and Dusk cracked up, hollering loudly. “Sorry, honey,” she half-laughed and half-apologized.

“It’s okay,” he laughed, scooting toward her and wrapping his foreleg around her shoulder. “You know, maybe you ought to look where you’re going. Running into ponies and doors all the time, I’m beginning to detect a pattern.”

She rubbed against him gently, laughing lightly. “Guess I’m the absent-minded filly. I’d forget my own tail if it weren’t attached to me.”

“It’s okay,” he said, rubbing her back. “Good thing I’m here for you. You have fun while I was gone?”

“Yeah. You haven’t been gone as long as I expected, did you at least manage to get some good research done?”

Yeah, research. Like I need to study Earth Ponies. “Yeah, managed to get some good information, so I came back early. Anything interesting happen while I was gone?”

“No,” she said, staring at the sky. “You know how it is. Nothing out of the ordinary happens here. Just a small, calm village where everypony’s content with not causing any trouble.”

Sounds like a couple places I used to know. Still, he couldn’t help but find himself laughing. “Yeah. Still, I guess it’s better than being hectic and chaotic.”

Dawn mmed in agreement, rubbing up against Dusk sensationally. “It’s always so pretty here. I could be content with living here for the rest of my life.”

The small box in his front pocket seemed to be growing steadily heaver and larger. It was begging him to be used. Now must be the time. “Me too. I’d like to spend the rest of my life with pretty things,”

He levitated the little box out of his front pocket and opened it, showing it to Dawn. “And maybe I could spend it with somepony pretty, too. Would you marry me?”

Her eyes pooled with emotion, sparkling and mixing with the light reflected from the small gold ring with a few tiny, polished diamonds build into it.

“Well, I…Don’t know…This is all so fast…” She was struggling even to find words so she could describe her inability to find words.

“Come on, sweetie. Let your heart talk instead of your brain.”

She put her hooves over her heart and smiled widely. “Of course! Of course I’ll be your bride!” she ecstatically yelled, pulling him in close for a kiss wet with both saliva and tears.

During the kiss, Dusk wobbily moved the ring onto Dawn’s pale yellow horn. It fit snugly around the middle, glistening dully in the deep red sunset.

***

“Wow,” Dusk whispered, looking around Dawn’s room, “How many papers must you have here?”

She laughed slightly. “A lot. I just want everything to go absolutely perfectly on our day.”

“Well, okay,” he conceded. “Can I make a silly tradition request?”

“That depends,” she said, rubbing her mane, which was unkempt from days of planning. “If it’s not too taxing, I could have it arranged.”

“Well, there’s been a tradition in my home community for generations where the bride and groom don’t see each other for two weeks prior to the ceremony.” Dawn was staring at him studiously, making Dusk fidget in place. “If it’s not too much to ask, could we do it? I mean, if everything’s planned and all.”

“Well,” Dawn looked around, contemplating his request. “Sure. But on one condition!” She added the last part quickly, before Dusk could start jumping for joy and celebrating like a sore winner.

“Fine,” he jokingly sighed, “What is it?”

“We honor a Changeling tradition at the ceremony!”

“Sure. What is it?”

She grinned deviously. “You’ll just have to find out at the altar.”

“Come on,” he pleaded, “What is it? You can tell me!”

“No,” she playfully negated, “You’ll just have to wait.”

“I know!” He pulled her in close and started kissing her cheek. “I’ll snuggle it out of you!”

Being pushed away, Dusk soon found himself falling backwards onto the floor. “I’m sorry,” Dawn laughed, “You okay?”

“You know, a simple ‘no’ would have sufficed.”

“Sorry, honey,” she apologized, walking to Dusk and extending a hoof down, which he took to get up.

“It’s okay,” he joked, “Mind if I ask what your tradition is now?”

“Sorry, but no. Besides, we’re probably about three weeks from the wedding. If you want to go through with your tradition, we should probably get everything done soon.”

“Okay,” he levitated a stack of papers off Dawn’s floor, “I’ll handle these plans?”

Judging by Dawn’s reaction, he had just made a surprisingly good joke. “Fat chance, mister,” she laughed, grabbing the papers and bringing them toward her. “I love you and all, but you’re a nightmare with planning. We’ll do this together, okay?”

“Fine. I admit defeat.” He dramatically plopped down onto the floor. “Do with me what you will!”

His requests were answered with a stack of papers flying into his goofy grin.

***

Dusk stared at his reflection in the mirror of his dressing room. He could hear the sounds of ponies flowing into the main hall, excited for the day that was about to come. The door opened, and Frumentum walked in, wearing sleek, loose-fitting formal robes.

“Ceremony’s about to start. You ready?” he asked.

Dusk smiled so widely that his smile started encroaching on his eyes. “As I ever will be.”

Frumentum walked next to Dusk and looked at him in the mirror. “You look astounding. She’ll be lucky to have you.”

“Yeah,” Dusk laughed, “More like the other way around.”

“Either way, I’m sure you two will be incredibly happy together.” Frumentum reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, shiny pin in the image of a sheath of grain.

“What’s that?” Dusk asked.

“It’s a pin,” Frumentum responded, pinning it to Dusk’s collar.

“I can see that,” he laughed, “Any reason you’re giving it to me?”

“It was dad’s.” Frumentum was staring at it longingly. “Been in the family for generations. Every stallion’s worn this at his wedding for years. Given how my life’s been going recently, you’ll be the only pony to have an opportunity at wearing it.”

“You sure I should be wearing this? I mean, you know, I wasn’t exactly his son and, well, you are.”

Frumentum chuckled and pat Dusk on the shoulder. “Nonsense. You were as much of a part of the family as anypony else was.”

“You…” his eyes were growing red and wet, “You really think so?”

Frumentum reached out and grabbed Dusk in a slightly crushing hug. “Even more now.”

After a few moments, Frumentum ended his bear hug with Dusk. “Okay,” he said, face warm with tears, “I should be going now. The ceremony’s about to start, if I want a good seat, I’ll have to go get one now. Otherwise, I’ll have to be conking a few heads to be able to see the groom.”

Dusk wiped the last few tears from his eye and smiled. “Okay. So glad you could make it. Brother.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Brother.”

As Frumentum exited Dusk’s room, Dusk turned into the mirror to survey himself. He was dressed in a fine, well-tailored suit that was supposedly considered “nothing too fancy” by most of the ponies in town. If that wasn’t considered fancy, Dusk could only imagine what his normal clothes were. Although they had both been combed and cleaned more times than he could count, both his tail and mane remained slightly messy. Even for the biggest day of his life, they were stubborn and didn’t want to conform.

“Okay!” came a voice from the entrance to his room. “They’re about to start. You ready?”

He looked at himself in the mirror one more time. “Of course.” He followed the pony through the halls of the monastery, which were decorated festively with flowers and lanterns glowing with all colors imaginable, and some Dusk didn’t even know existed. As they reached closer and closer to the entrance, the forest of festivity got thicker and thicker, climaxing to the outside. The pony led Dusk around to the back, where it seemed everypony and their brother (including Dusk’s) had gathered for the occasion. So many ponies had arrived that they had nearly run out of space; ponies were spilling around everywhere.

The pony stopped and pointed down the aisle. “Good luck,” he wished Dusk, then walked into the flood of ponies and quickly became just another head in the crowd. Dusk walked down the aisle to the head of the ceremony. Overlooking the crowd was a stallion wearing a thick, dark brown, woolen robe. Wispy, white hairs encircled his otherwise bald head.

As Dusk took his place on the stallion's left, the musicians started playing a reverberating hymn. Every head in the festivities turned down the aisle to where Dawn was standing.

To say she was radiant was an understatement. Her pale blue mane and tail were modeled expertly, looping, twisting, and going all directions simultaneously to create a maze of hair that would have been a nightmare to explain. Covering her body was a glossy, pure white lace dress embedded with tiny flakes of rhinestones to make her glow. Literally. A translucent silken veil was on top of her head, blowing ever so slightly in the calm breezes.

She walked slowly up the aisle, shining differently with each small step. Her dress was screaming for attention, and it was sure getting it. When she took her spot across Dusk, the stallion musician stopped, giving the stallion his cue to start. He did, but both Dawn and Dusk were preoccupied with each other. They held each other’s front right hoof as the ceremony was starting.

“You look celestial,” Dusk said, his eyes wide from staring at his to-be wife.

“Thank you,” she blushed. “You look stunning as well.”

He smiled and laughed silently. “Nothing in comparison to you, my lovely mare. What’s the tradition you had for me to discover?”

She leaned in close to Dusk’s ear. “We tell each other our biggest fears,” she whispered. “I’m scared to death of centipedes.”

“Really?” he could hardly keep from laughing.

“I know,” she looked away in embarrassment. “It’s a silly fear, but it’s what I fear the most. I used to have my father come in to squish them when I was young, I would just completely freak out. Too many legs, and they move so fast. They’re hardly natural.”

Centipedes. Seemed silly to Dusk, but he could understand it. Even they gave him the willies. “Okay,” Dawn asked, “What’s your biggest fear?”

Only one thing popped into his head. He pulled his head in close to Dawn’s ear and put his mouth by it. “The future,” he whispered.

“Wow,” she laughed, “Much more sentimental and deep than ‘centipedes’.”

“And now,” the stallion spoke to the backs of the crowd, cutting off Dawn and Dusk, “Dusk, do you take Dawn to be your wife, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

The answer was obvious to him. “I do.”

The stallion turned to Dawn. “And Dawn, do you take Dusk to be your husband, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

The moment of truth had come. Dusk’s mind and heart raced, waiting for her to say the same words he had said. But what if she didn’t? What would he do?

“I do,” she echoed. All fears washed out of Dusk as her words touched his ears.

The stallion levitated two small golden rings from a pillow being carried by a young colt and placed them on their horns. “I now pronounce you mare and colt. You may kiss the bride.”

Both Dusk and Dawn moved their faces into their others for a long, invigorating kiss. Ponies in the crowd cheered and stomped their hooves in excitement. When Dusk opened his eyes again, he saw not the filly deep in love he agreed to marry, but instead a mare leading a sophisticated life of passion whom he was married to.

“Come on,” Dawn beamed, “Let’s go, my husband.”

“Okay, my wife,” he said, smiling hugely. “Let’s go.”

The new couple hoof in hoof walked back down the aisle, under a shower of rice. As they passed the first couple rows of ponies, Dusk looked around. Frumentum was standing on the edge of the aisle, tears flowing freely from his eyes. He was nodding quickly, showing approval of Dusk’s life.

After they left the crowds of ponies, the mood quickly calmed down. All the excitement gradually declined until they reached Dawn’s first-floor senior member room. Dawn opened the door, and they walked in. Her room was neat and organized, a small sliver of light poking through the cracks in the curtains.

“So,” Dusk started to move closer to Dawn, “What do you want to do now?”

Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Dusk. “You know,” her voice was deeper and slower than normal, “That ‘thing’ married ponies do?”

“Argue?” he joked.

“No, silly,” she wrapped her forelegs around his neck, “The other thing ponies who love each other do. The one where I’m not always right.”

“Oh, my. You’ve waited so long for this, and you just won’t take no for an answer, will you?”

She kissed him slowly on the neck. “Of course not. Abstinence makes the heart grow stronger.”

“Catchy wordplay you have there. That how everypony does it in the Changeling villages?”

“Of course,” she giggled, “And in the pony ones, too.”

Whoops. 1 for 2’s not bad, I guess?

“Shut up,” he whispered erotically, moving behind her and stroking her neck, “Do you want this or not?”

“Pushy,” she joked, craning her neck backwards to look at his from below.

Laughing, he kissed Dawn’s upside-down face and started pulling her dress off. The abundance of gems sparkled as it fell on the floor.