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Before Dark

by Rambling Writer

Chapter 1: 3:37 PM - Reunion

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I don’t know what I felt when I saw Aegis in the farmer’s market that afternoon. Joy. Anger. Sadness. Hatred. Elated. Flat-out peeved. All those. None of those. It’d been a while, and I’d half-forgotten him, but… well, half-forgotten is still half-remembered. And I remembered waiting for hours on that empty train station platform all those years ago, hoping he would show up. But he never did.

And here he was now.

He looked much the same. More fit than he had a right to, considering he was supposed to be an artist now. He didn’t look royal guard fit, but still better than most. I guess old habits die hard. But his mane was hanging looser and longer than it had before, and he had a bluish tinge of stubble around his mouth and on his chin. If he was trying to grow a beard and/or mustache, it wasn’t working. Of course, he’d said he had trouble growing his facial hair out, right?

Sweet Celestia. How could I remember something that inane? That was almost five years ago.

Aegis pushed his way out of the crowd and kind of flopped up next to my produce stand. He attempted to grin, but it looked more like he was paralyzed. Somehow, the thing on his face that remotely resembled a grin looked sad. I wasn’t sure whether I was sympathetic or not.

“Hey,” he said quietly. And that was it.

Really? Really? That was really all he could say after… after everything? That was what one side of me screamed, anyway. The other side screamed that I should be thankful he was here to say that much. And what else was there to say right now? Apologies could wait until we’d gotten more settled in or whatever.

“Hey,” I said flatly. I kept my face as expressionless as possible. “You looking for something in particular?” I swept a foreleg across my wares.

Aegis blinked. “Don’t you… don’t you recognize me?” he asked quietly. “It’s me, it’s-”

“Welded Aegis. Took me, Bluebell, on a quiet whirlwind night through a carnival and Luna Pier almost five years ago. Agreed to meet me at the train station the next year.” I paused, even though he knew what was coming next. Let him squirm. “That was four years ago. You’re late.” I managed to keep my voice emotionless throughout that, until that last sentence. I couldn’t keep a little bit of accusation from creeping into my words. “So are you looking for something to eat?”

“I’m looking for you, Bluebell, I-” Aegis twitched and jumped an inch into the air, then buried his face in his hooves. “Oh, Luna, not to eat. Nothing like that.” His voice turned into a mutter as he kept talking. “Oh, Cadance, why did I say that?”

I couldn’t help but grin slightly. That was Aegis, alright.

But then, that was the same Aegis who had stood me up after I’d waited a year. My grin dropped. “Seriously. What do you want?”

“I…” said Aegis. “I want…” He took a deep breath through his nose and said, “I want to try again. I, I know I should’ve showed up all those years ago, but it’s, I-”

“But you didn’t.” I didn’t want to hear his excuses. He hadn’t shown up. That was that.

“Well, I-”

“You didn’t.”

Aegis flattened his ears and stared at the ground. “No.”

“So why now?”

“It’s…” Aegis raised his head back up. “That night was one of the most memorable nights of my life. One of the magic moment, once-in-a-lifetime things. I know we said we didn’t believe in soul mates, but… There’s just something about you, Bluebell. Something that makes me want to know you more. I, I haven’t met anypony like you since then, and I’m not sure I ever will. I just want to get to know you, like I should’ve done four years ago.” He tried to grin hopefully, but it came out closer to a grimace.

It seemed genuine, but it was hard for me to tell. It had that little… spark that was hard to fake, but at the same time, why hadn’t he shown up four years ago? “Not a bad speech,” I said flatly. “You write that up beforehoof or something?”

“No!” yelled Aegis. He snorted and flicked his tail. “I didn’t-” He stiffened and took a few deep breaths. “Bluebell,” he said in a slightly calmer voice, “I just-”

“Can you get a move on? You’re holding up the line.” I pointed behind him, at the slowly growing line of customers. Everypony looked incredibly self-conscious about being near the arguing couple and doing everything they could to make it look like they definitely weren’t listening in.

Aegis looked behind him and twitched. “Sorry, sorry,” he said quickly to them. “Just, one more second, okay?” He turned back to me and spoke quickly. “Fine. Bluebell, do you want to try to pick up where we left off? Yes or no?”

I tried to think fast, but it was quickly derailed by business anxiety and holding up my regulars. I groaned and slapped my hooves on the counter of my cart. “Look, Aegis. I’m working right now, okay? I barely have any time. I’ll be done in like half an hour, so… so just…” I ran my hoof through my mane. Accept him back or not? I’d kind of moved on, but… that wasn’t really working out. “If you really want to talk, just, just go find a bench or something on the edge of the courtyard and wait there, okay? I’m busy.” I glared at him.

He recoiled slightly and opened his mouth, but after a second’s pause, all he said was, “See you then, then.” He half-grinned, then quickly turned and vanished into the crowd.

I sighed and ruffled my mane as the next customer walked up, looking everywhere but me. Was this really the best idea? I still kind of wanted him, but I was half-taken, but, but, but… Well, if he was serious, I’d see if he’d wait.

Especially since I was going to be done in an hour and a half.

Next Chapter: 5:14 PM - Truth Estimated time remaining: 56 Minutes
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