[Saturday Afternoon]

[Lumina’s POV]

Cyan and I walked next door to meet our new neighbors/coworkers during our stay with my arm over his shoulder.

I wonder if that kiss on the cheek was sending anything to him? Not that I meant to, I didn’t even know what I was doing when I did that. It just felt… Right when that happened, especially with Cyan’s response to my question. He looked more like a stallion then and there than the usual sensitive, sweet colt I’ve gotten to know up to now when he said it. I got to admit, he looked… Cool the way he assured me. A mare around his age would probably want to do more than just give him a peck on the cheek like I just did. I’ve certainly gotten more affectionate with Cyan lately. I should probably be careful of how I play things out. When I saw him respond though… There was that same, presence around him that looked familiar somehow, especially when I looked into his beautiful, crimson eyes that showed promise and protection. I still can't figure out where I've seen that before...

“Should I start things off first, or would you like to?” Cyan asked before he snapped out of my train of thought. We were standing in front of our new neighbors’ door. For how long, I wasn’t sure as I was lost in my thoughts.

“Let me start things off first, and you can jump in when you’re comfortable. Sound good?” I asked, to which Cyan responded with a nod. I looked at the door, took a bit of a breath, and knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” A mare asked from behind a door.

“We’re new workers that Barley hired today,” I answered. “We moved in next door, and we wanted to say hello.”

Two pairs of hoof steps got to the door before it opened, and it revealed a light orange colored pegasus mare with a white mane and tail that looked like they were just brushed, and wore a spaghetti strapped top with jeans. She looked to be around Cyan’s age, but a few years older considering the height difference between him and her. The stallion behind her though was tall to where her head reached his chin. He was a lean, but lax pegasus with a dark brown coat and a white mane and tail like her sister; however, his mane was short clipped and sticking out front. He wore a black tank top that looked well fitted around him, and jeans.

“Hello you two!” The mare exclaimed. “Let me be the first to welcome you to the team! I’m Orange Icepop, and this is my brother Root Beer Icepop,” she introduced with a smile.

“You can call me RB if you want,” RB added.

Huh, they don’t have that Manehattan shrawl like Barley’s earlier. Maybe they’re not from around here?

“I’m Lumina Lustre, and this is my friend Cyan Shadow,” I introduced.

“Pleasure to meet you both,” he greeted calmly while shaking their hands before I did the same.

“So what brought you to working and staying here?” Orange asked.

“We were travelling, and cutting short on cheap places to stay with jobs,” I explained. “Barley overheard us and offered the room next door for us to stay while we work for him.”

“That’s Barley for ya. He’s such a nice stallion,” Orange commented.

“Where did you two start from?” RB asked.

“Canterlot,” Cyan answered with stoicism.

“Ooo~ Fancy,” Orange cooed. “Rooty and I grew up in Cloudsdale before we moved here,” I had to choke myself from laughing from the nickname, which Cyan did the same.

Rooty? Okay, that’s probably the cutest pet name I’ve ever heard.

“Orange, not in front of other,” RB whined.

“Oh please, no matter where we are, you’ll always be my Rooty Booty,” Orange cooed, to which RB just flushed greatly. It was harder for Cyan and I to hold in our laughs after that.

Oh Goddess, I take that back. THAT was probably the cutest pet name I've ever heard.

Cyan coughed to stop himself from laughing before he tried to change the topic. “So Barley informed us of your… unique relationship,” Cyan commented. “Excuse me for asking but… What made you two get together like this?”

“To be frank, I had some trouble finding the right stallion while I was going through dates,” Orange answered.

“And some of the mares I had seen didn’t see me as their type,” RB added while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

“We’ve always been close, and we loved each other very much,” Orange continued. “Just not in a way we expected until now. Rooty would comfort me through my down times, and I assured him how much of a great stallion he was even though other mares didn’t see it. It wasn’t until our last screwed up dates that we had come to each other for comfort in his room. By the end of our sobbing… Something clicked between us when we gazed at each other.”

“I didn’t realize until then how much of a beautiful mare Orange was,” RB added. “And how relaxed and happy I was whenever she was around.”

“And from all the times I assured how much of a wonderful stallion Rooty was, I didn’t realize until then how much he fitted what I want in a special somepony,” Orange finished.

“When we looked at each other back then…” RB continued to a pause. “We couldn’t help but want to try something to see if what we had felt was legit or not. So while our parents weren’t around… We kissed. Something had rushed between us at that moment, and things just kind of… Escalated then and there,” he finished with a blush.

Okay, I got to admit, I think my heart just melted from how romantic that sounded.

“So I assume your parents had to find this out sooner or later?” I asked.

“We had kept our… ‘Bonding times’ a secret for a while, taking every chance we had to ourselves to get intimate,” Orange admitted with a blush. I glanced over to Cyan and noticed his eye twitched at the remark before I looked back at the couple.

“I had decided at one point that we should confront our parents about us, together, and tell them the truth,” RB added.

“I take it your parents didn’t handle the news so well?” Cyan asked.

“No… it got so bad it led to the point of us moving out and coming here. Barley found us at our worst, and offered a job and place for us to stay,” RB answered.

“He was shocked at first when we told him about us,” Orange continued. “But he surprisingly handled it quite well. I guess working in this business for so long he had seen and heard his fair share of crazy events and ponies.”

“How long have you two been together since… Your first time together?” I asked.

“Eight months,” RB answered while he hugged his sister from behind. They also held up their left hands that showed matching gold rings on their fingers. “And we’re engaged.”

“Wow…” Cyan put in.

“Rooty just proposed to me last week,” Orange said. “And we’re planning to head to Las Pegasus to get hitched and spend our honeymoon over there for a few weeks.”

“Barley even offered to help fund for our wedding,” RB added. “He’s been so wonderful to us, he was like our new dad. Orange even wanted him to walk her down the aisle during the ceremony. You can guess how happy he was when we asked.”

Cyan and I stood there for a moment in shock by such a development by the couple in front of us. After a moment of silence, Cyan was the first to break it.

“When is your wedding?” Cyan asked.

“It will be in November later this year,” Orange answered. “It will be a quick wedding though, since there won’t be many ponies we know who would accept such a relationship like ours,” she commented solemnly.

Boy, you can pretty much do anything in Las Pegasus huh? I might want to visit there myself. Still, I can’t help but feel sorry for these two. What they have is unique, yes, but they seem to really mean it if they’re willing to go that far after eight months of being together.

I noticed that Cyan gazed at me with a face that looked like he was asking something, and wanted me to be sure if I was alright with it. I didn’t know what he was implying until I raised my eyebrows realizing it.

“Are you sure Cyan?” I silently mouthed, to which he nodded in assurance.

My goodness… Just minutes ago he looked like everything he knew around him just crashed and burned on top of him. Then again, from what he had experienced before as far as I’ve heard, this wasn’t the first time something like that happened. Come to think of it… He can probably see what Orange and RB went through with their parents as he had just experienced it firsthand recently. The wedding sounds nice, and I’m sure he wants the best that comes for those two like I was thinking earlier. This kid is something else.

I smiled and nodded at him in response, to which he returned as a thanks before he turned to the couple. “Orange? RB? Do you mind if you had two more spectators at your wedding?” Cyan asked.

The engaged stood there wide-eyed, and looked at each other to see if they were hearing things before they looked back. “C-come again?” Orange stuttered.

“Lumina and I would like to know if we could attend your wedding,” Cyan clarified.

“B-but why?” RB asked in disbelief.

“To be honest, I’m still wrapping my head around the idea of two siblings being in such a relationship,” Cyan admitted before he put a hand to his chest. “But as a young stallion who’s just setting his first step into the real world, the first thing that comes to mind is that the world is a strange and confusing place. I’m still kind of scared of what will come ahead for me and Lumina. Then again, there are some strange things in this world that can be very beautiful if you look at it right, and I’m open to learn whatever new things I come across.

“From looking at you two, and listening to what you’ve been through, there’s no denying that a strong love is budding within you two, and Celestia knows how love can take strange forms. I’m still learning about that myself, but it would be a great honor if I could witness one of those strange, yet beautiful forms if you’d let us,” Cyan finished with a smile. My lips quivered while tears welled up in my eyes.

… Goddessdammit Cyan, that’s just too damn beautiful for a fourteen year old to say. Why must you be so sweet?

Orange and RB shared that feeling I had as big smiles and tears started running from their own eyes. “Of course you two can come,” Orange responded with her voice broken in sobs. “We would be delighted if you two would join us,” RB just nodded in agreement.

“We thank you kindly,” Cyan thanked before the couple suddenly hugged us while sobbing tears of happiness. He and I just smiled as we comforted them before Barley came in the hallway.

“Yo Cyan! Lumina! Your lunches are… What’s going on here?” Barley asked in confusion.

“B-Barley…” Orange said while still crying as she broke off the hug with Cyan. “Cyan and Lumina want to come to our wedding.”

Barley stood there in shock before he grinned ear to ear at the news. “Well that’s just splendid! I say dis calls for a celebration! A round of cheesecake for everyone on me!” Barley exclaimed.

“Sounds good to me. You alright with that Lumina?” Cyan asked.

“It may go to my hips later, but I think this is worth it,” I assured with a smile.

“Well what are we doin’ standin’ around here for? Let’s grab some lunch!” Barley exclaimed.

“Yes sir!” RB and Orange exclaimed happily before the three left, and the two of us stood there watching them.

“Looks like we know where we’ll be going soon huh?” Cyan asked.

“Sure does,” I replied with a smile.

“Hey Lumina?”

“Yes?”

“There’s…” Cyan started before he paused, and shook his head soon after. “Never mind, I’ll ask later. Let’s grab that lunch. I’m starved.”

“Sure thing,” I agreed before we followed the three to the pub area.

I wonder what Cyan wanted to ask? Oh well, like he said, it can wait. Until then, I can definitely see him in a new light that adds with others shining on him. My heart’s kind of fluttering like butterflies just thinking about it now, as cheesy as that sounds. If Orange and RB can make their relationship work, maybe… Maybe there’s some hope for Cyan and I to do something with ours. I may have to wait of course, and there are still some things I need to settle in my mind before I start thinking about it. Until then… I’ll savor what the two of us have going right now. There’s no need to rush, and like Cyan, there are some things about love that I still need to learn it seems. I just hope with every step we take, we’ll be at each other’s sides.

With a smile on my face, I intentionally brushed my swaying tail to Cyan’s leg, getting a shiver from him while I giggled at the response.

Yep, Cyan’s still got it.

Next Chapter: Side Chapter 6: Nil's Lecture, Developing Mysteries, and Plans for the Future Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 36 Minutes