There was a shift in the cosmos. The moon, which had stood as a sentinel against the all-consuming darkness, had begun its slow descent from the sky. It’s brother, the luminescent sun, took its place. The darkness, which had so viciously fought against the moon for supremacy, fled as the sun peeked over the mountaintops. Light, warm and golden, bathed everything that the sun surveyed.

A band of this light found its way through a window and toward a bed, where James found himself sleeping. The young man’s face scrunched up as the sunlight replaced the comforting, quiet darkness. He tried to cover his face to block out the light with a hand but the sun, gentle yet powerful, would not be denied. The light flowed through his fingers and onto his face.

With a sleepy grumble, James tried to cover his face with his covers, but just like his hand the silk covers were a poor barrier. It was time to rise, the sun quietly said, in a language known to only a few. It was time to start the day, to be a creature of life and motion, to seize the day and make it his own. But still he resisted the call, rolling onto his other side with a grumble.

With that moment he found himself once again in the motherly embrace of darkness. Along with that sweet jubilation he also found himself pressing up against something soft, warm, and furry. He took a deep breath, humming in delight as vanilla filled his nostrils. Fur, unspeakably soft, was tickling his cheeks and his nose but he ignored the sensation, burrowing his face deeper to hide away from the almighty sun. In the silence of the room he could hear the steady yet powerful beat of a heart. He pressed his ear against the softness, moving with it as it gently rose and fell, listening to the steady thumping.

He tensed as he felt something lightly gliding up his back. As with the fur against his face it was soft, yet it had this firmness to it that warned of a hidden strength. The something leisurely made its way up his back, up his neck and toward his head, where it stopped right at the top of his head. For a moment it simply lingered, not moving, not applying pressure, but then he could feel it run lengthwise down his head. Though he could feel no protrusions to speak of, the familiar sensation of fingers running through his hair could be felt. He sighed under the gentle ministration, nuzzling his face deeper into the softness and the beating heart.

“James dear,” A voice, as soft and light as a spring wind, wafted through the air. “James, darling, it’s time to rise and shine.”

James’s eyes slowly fluttered open. Blinking blearily, and wondering who would wake him at this ungodly hour, he looked up to see a pair of blue eyes staring down at him.

The owner of said eyes looked tired. Her mane and fur, usually perfectly maintained, was sticking out everywhere. Her eyes, usually so lively and bright, were half-lidded and hazy. On her chin was a line of drool that lead up to her mouth. Rarity, though she looked even more tired than he felt, smiled down at him as she rubbed one of her big, blue beautiful eyes. “Good morning, darling,” she said, yawning.

Exhaling explosively through his nose, James rested his cheek against her chest. “There’s nothing good about this morning,” He grumbled quietly.

The unicorn giggled as he tried to throw the covers over his head. Her horn glowed, and with a flick of her horn it was back down on his lower back. “Now, now, none of that,” she chastised, giving his head a pat. “It’s time to greet the day, dear.”

With another grumble, James reached up and began tugging at the fashionista’s shoulders. He didn’t know what all of this waking up nonsense was about but it was going to be nipped in the bud before anything crazy in mind happened. So, still grumbling, he began to drag the unicorn down his body so that she wouldn’t get any more crazy ideas. Rarity, of course, simply giggled as she found herself as the smaller spoon, leaning up to give him a sweet nuzzle on the cheek.

“I don’t wanna greet the day,” James groaned, pulling Rarity against him and resting his chin on the top of her head. “The day wants to beat me up and steal my lunch money.”

“Oh? Well hiding from it isn’t going help things,” Rarity said teasingly, nuzzling his neck as his arms wrapped around her. “You need to go out and face that mean old day, dear.”

“Well you’ve never gotten a swirly by the day. If you had you wouldn’t want to get out of this bed until noon either.”

A sleepy, amused hum escaped the fashionista’s throat. She rested her horn against his cheek as she laid there, just listening to his quiet breathing. One of her hooves hooked around his middle and began to trace his spine. James sighed as one of his hands reached up and dug his fingers into her mane, gently scratching her scalp.

In the background, the chirping of birds could be heard as the two just took a moment of this brand new morning to lay together. In those few, wonderful seconds everything else went away. There was just silence and warmth and comfort.

“You know, I have been thinking, James dear,” Rarity said, shattering the perfect silence.

“You better watch that, I heard if you think too hard steam starts to come out of your ears.”

Snorting, Rarity playfully shoved him. “James, come on now.”

“I swear that I watched it happen to Bonbon at the market the other day,” James said, complete sincerity in his eyes. “It was crazy. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. I’m pretty sure that someone even took pictures.”

With another giggle and a shake of her head, the fashionista continued her train of thought. “Now, as I was saying, I have been wondering whether this is out of our control.”

James’s brow furrowed. “What? The steam coming out of our ears when we think too much?”

“No! I was talking about this,” she said, reaching up to boop his nose. “The two of us have been trying so hard to discover why we wake up like this every morning—”

“Not really.”

“—But what if this is just meant to be?” Rarity’s back arched as she sighed dramatically. “What if it is fate that brought us together? What if we are destined to wake up in each other’s arms until the end of our days?” She sighed again as she covered her face. “Just think of it, darling!”

James did as she asked, his nose scrunching up. He wondered if such a thing was feasible and what it could mean. If this was predetermined than did that mean that everything else was preordained in his life? Did he have free will, a say in what he did in the mere moments that spent amongst the living? Or was he just the toy of some higher being, doomed to carry out their whims like he was some sort of puppet on invisible strings?

What even was free will? Were their gods? What purpose did he have in the universe? Was there even such a thing as purpose? Did it matter what he, a tiny insect in the universe, did? Was Nietzsche right in saying that nothing mattered and nothing would ever matter? Was god dead? Did he kill him? Or her? Or it?

His hamster, smelling smoke, shook its head as it broke into a dead sprint.

“Well… I guess it’d be… something,” he lamely uttered.

Rarity tittered softly as she looked down at him. “Well, I suppose it cannot be helped,” she lamented. “I just hope that I can find room in my abode for all of your belongings…”

“…What about my belongings?” James asked.

“A bigger bed might also not be out of the question,” Rarity muttered, scratching her chin. “If we need to I could certainly have somepony come in and add an extension on the boutique. Thank Celestia that my ceilings are high enough so that you don’t have to crouch down. Otherwise harmony only knows how much that’d cost to rectify that...”

James’s brow furrowed in concern. “Um, Rarity? What’s this about extensions and ceilings? Rarity?”

“And of course we’re going to have to come out and tell ponies that we’re together. We wouldn’t want anypony to think that we’re a pair of harlots.” Rarity stared down at him with an appraising eye before she grinned. “Ohhh! I know just the place where we can have our date! It might not be extrémité supérieure but I don’t think we need to flaunt ourselves too extravagantly.”

“A date?” James hesitantly said. “You’re talking about a date, right?”

“Of course, darling,” Rarity said with a nod. “After the two of us go to your house and take stock in everything that we shall need to move then we can—”

“Move? Why the heck are we moving anything out of my house?”

“Because you are moving into my home, dear,” the fashionista said with a playful roll of the eyes. “Weren’t you listening to a thing that I said?”

“…Yes?”

“Excellent!” Leaning down, Rarity touched her nose with his, her big, blue eyes staring expectantly. There was warmth in those eyes; an affection that made his heart flutter in his chest. “Then the two of us shall be together forever more?”

Her tone was soft, hopeful, not at all confident like it had a moment ago. The smile on her face was a nervous, small thing, like a flickering candle that could go out at any moment. For a minute the two just found themselves staring at each other. The only sounds that could be heard in the room were their breathing and the creaking of the bed as Rarity nervously squirmed waiting for an answer.

James found himself smiling at the sight. “If it’s fate then who am I to go against it?” he asked, reaching up to scratch the fashionista’s chest.

The sigh that Rarity let out was a shaky one, relief instantly washing away her anxiety and fear. “I always knew that you were a reasonable stallion, James darling,” she said, trying and failing to keep her voice even. “Tis no longer in our hooves, if it ever was, I’m afraid.”

“I guess we’ll have to just sleep in this bed together until the rest of time huh?”

“I suppose so.”

“We’re going to have to start dating. You’re going to have to tell your parents and I’m going to have to lease an ad in the paper that I’m selling my house.”

“Mother and father are sure to love you, dear, and I’m positive that we can find somepony to buy your house with little effort.”

“After that, if everything goes well, I suppose you’ll be wanting a wedding ring?”

“Not for a few years,” Rarity insisted, though her eyes were shining at the very idea. “But in the future yes.”

“And a few little monsters running around the house?”

“It’s only proper that after you marry a lady you have a family with her, James.”

“And then grandchildren?”

“If our children are lucky enough for find that special somepony yes.”

Sighing dramatically, James threw his hands up. “Well, like you already said, it’s probably out of hands. What with the fates and swimming against the current of destiny and all that.”

Rarity nodded in agreement, rubbing her nose against his before she rested her head on his shoulder. The fashionista felt happy, exceedingly so, she was so happy that she didn’t know what to do with herself. She wanted to run outside and shout to the heavens, she wanted to wrap her hooves around the stallion holding her in those big arms of his and pepper his face with kisses until the sunset, she wanted to do a million different things and she wanted to do it all at once. But a lady controlled herself, no matter how happy or excited or ecstatic she was, so she just found herself smiling softly as she nuzzled James’s shoulder.

“We shall just have to suffer through it, darling,” she told her brand new coltfriend. “Pawns in fate's design as we are…”