Twilight, Luna and Fluttershy met in front of the Mirror to Canterlot High, each bearing a simple message from Sunset Shimmer.
Nyx and Leman want to talk - please come to the Mirror World. -SS
Sharing worried looks, the trio entered the Mirror and found themselves in the familiar courtyard in front of the high school.
"Glad you could make it," a voice called out to them. As one, the trio turned to see Sunset Shimmer walking towards them.
"Sunset, what's going on?" Twilight asked, her mind running a mile a minute with possibilities as to why they had been called.
The traveling Looper shrugged. "They wouldn't tell me anything concrete, they just asked me to send messages to you and left."
"Left? Where-" Fluttershy began, but was cut off by a gruff voice.
"Glad to see you could make it."
The four Equestrians turned to see two people walking towards them, their hands laced together between them.
On the left was a petite perky goth girl, whose face lit up at seeing Twilight. Standing next to her was a very tall male teenager, nearly a head taller than the small female. His whole appearance screamed dangerous with his biker jacket, broad shoulders, messy blond hair and a very hard face, which softened slightly when he laid eyes on the pink-haired woman who had raised him.
He offered a nod to Fluttershy.
"Little Mother, may I offer my sincerest apologies to my rude behavior towards you?"
Fluttershy swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.
"I'll always forgive you...you know that. You're my son. Even when you push me away, I will always love you."
She stepped towards him, a hopeful expression on her face and Leman took a step away from Nyx and opened his arms.
Fluttershy didn't need another invitation and hugged him tightly.
While the two spoke quietly to each other, Nyx approached Twilight and Luna shyly.
"I'm sorry I pushed both of you away. I-"
She staggered back as both Luna and Twilight wrapped their arms around her.
"You don't have to say anything, Nyx," Luna whispered into her hair, stroking her younger sister's back.
"We're your family," Twilight said, voice thick with emotion.
The entire group was quiet for a few minutes before Twilight gently pulled away from Nyx and cleared her throat.
"You said you had something to tell us?" she asked, eyeing Leman warily.
"Let's go somewhere where we can sit down?" he offered, gesturing towards the cafe Twilight remembered visiting during several Loops.
-
The six Loopers commandeered the corner booth, which offered ample room on one side for Sunset, Luna, Fluttershy and Twilight while Leman and Nyx sat across from them.
"Well, if it wasn't obvious, we've taken the time to clear our heads..." Leman winced. "Not in the best ways, looking back, but..." he fumbled his words. Nyx gave his hand a light squeeze and a look passed between them.
"So you've reconciled?" Luna asked, resting her chin on her hands and looking at them with a neutral expression.
Nyx nodded and the other Loopers relaxed.
"So you're dating again?" Sunset asked, happy to see the two talking again.
"Well, once we cooled down, we took some time for ourselves to think about our relationship. Nyx eventually contacted me and we talked it out," Leman said.
"We did it during a Daemon hunt, actually," Nyx chimed in.
Fluttershy and Twilight both blinked in surprise. They knew Daemons were dangerous, and usually required your full attention on them, but...the two mothers knew their children wouldn't have been too distracted by a chat.
"How did that go?" Fluttershy asked.
"It...hurt," Nyx said and Twilight reached for her, a worried expression on her face, but Nyx raised a hand, stopping her. Before Twilight could withdraw her hand, Nyx clasped it gently. "It wasn't any fault of the Daemons, mom."
Twilight relaxed and Fluttershy let out a relieved sigh.
"Seeing Leman after avoiding him for so long hurt worse than any death I've suffered," Nyx said. "But it was a good kind of hurt. I knew I had made the right choice with him, so once we had finished our hunt, we sat down and talked."
Sunset and Luna leaned forward, anxious to hear the news.
"Turns out we both had similar reactions to our spat. We withdrew from the Loops, pushed everyone who wanted to help us away and thought about what we had done wrong," Nyx said, leaning against Leman.
"We..." Leman started, then paused, grimacing. "This is probably gonna sound stupid, but...everything we've done together, everything we've shared...made us realize what we were giving up if we split. I...love Nyx...she's amazing, caring, patient, beautiful-ow!" he grunted as Nyx elbowed him with a glare. "Alright, sorry...but once we got our feelings out in the open, I...well..."
Together, they raised their left hands.
Twilight and Fluttershy's jaws dropped, Luna gasped and Sunset's eyes went wide.
On their ring fingers were a matching set of engagement rings.
"I asked her to marry me," Leman said quietly, looking at Nyx with a smile.
"And I said yes," Nyx said, leaning in and kissing him.
Nyx's eyes darted from one Looper to another anxiously. She fidgeted as the silence grew before she spoke hesitantly.
"We wanted you to be the first to know, which is why we were so quiet about it. Um...I was expecting more of a reaction. Are you mad?"
Her voice seemed to snap the other Loopers out of their blank state and Twilight found her voice first.
"No! No, we were...well, I was, at any rate, shocked." She took a shaky breath. "Reconciliation is one thing, but to propose," her eyes darted to Leman and he shrank back from her piercing stare, "and to accept..." Twilight's voice trailed off and she teared up. "I'm not mad, I'm happy."
Fluttershy simply smiled at Leman. "I'm glad you finally worked up the courage to ask her, Leman," she said. "It's always a mother's dream to see her son finally find someone he wants to spend the rest of his life with, and I don't think you could've chosen a better wife than Nyx."
Sunset felt out of place in such a serious conversation. She had spent Loops with both of them, but she still felt uncomfortable around both of them. The young woman simply offered a small smile to the two, which seemed to relax them further.
Luna had leaned forward, her eyes on the engagement ring. "Do you mind if I take a look at that?"
Nyx and Leman exchanged confused glances but gave their rings to Luna somewhat reluctantly.
The Night Mare examined them closely. "That's a beautiful gesture you've done for her, Leman. I've had ponies ask me to put their Cutie Marks in the night sky, but...I dare say you've done one better and put the stars into a ring she'll have forever." She passed the rings to Twilight, who admired the enchanted rings with something bordering on awe.
"A modest ring barely containing the beauty inside...that's definitely my daughter," Twilight said softly, which caused Nyx to blush happily as Twilight handed the rings back.
"Should we head back then?" Sunset asked, standing up and stretching her arms behind her head. Everyone but Nyx and Leman agreed, but when neither made a sound, Fluttershy turned to look at them curiously.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her voice worried.
Leman ran a hand over his face with a sigh before speaking.
"I hurt a lot of people, especially those back home, with what I said to Nyx and even after all this time, I'm not sure if they've forgiven me for what I did."
Twilight shook her head. "If you want me to explain to them-" she began, but fell silent as Leman abruptly stood up.
"No, no, it was my fault, and I should be the one to apologize for my behavior."
Nyx rolled her eyes, muttering, "Men!" under her breath as she stood up and gave him a reassuring hug.
"Come on, my sweet Lemon Baby, let's go spread the news. The sooner we start, the sooner we can get to the honeymoon."
Without another word, the couple left the café, leaving behind a quartet of dumbfounded Loopers.
"'Sweet Lemon Baby'?" Sunset finally managed to ask, clearly not sure whether to laugh or retch.
"Oh, don't be like that, Sunset," Fluttershy said, patting her shoulder. "When you find someone, you'll come up with cute nicknames for them as well."
"Never gonna happen," Sunset said flatly, crossing her arms and looking away.
Luna snickered. "If I had a bit for every time I've heard that..."
Chatting, the group followed after the engaged Loopers.
