Stalliongrad The Visitor From Ponyville [Private]

[RedCedar]

Red couldn't help but chuckle at that image, either. Queen Chrysalis definitely did not seem the type to officiate at a wedding. Of course, most of the Princesses didn't officiate weddings most of the time, either, but that image did strike him as funny.

Still, Red was left feeling very much the product of his upbringing. It had seemed a given throughout his life - simply the way it was done. You met somepony, you fell in love, and if things went well, you got married. That was simply the way it was. He'd imagined what his own wedding might be like on occasion. So when that sentimental notion ran headlong into a changeling's well-developed sense of practicality, he found himself at a total loss.

Of course, by her definitions, he wondered if she didn't consider the two of them as good as married already. So much for not complicating things.

Taking a deep breath after the laugh brought on by Naj's mental image, he said, "When you put it that way, you're right. All that matters is how we feel. Especially right now."

He just wasn't going to rule out talking about it again in the future.

[DerpRavener]

"When you put it that way, you're right. All that matters is how we feel. Especially right now."

Naj nodded, satisfied that Red saw the sense of her opinion on the matter. Even setting aside that she had nopony left who could host a wedding for her, she didn't see the necessity of it. She supposed such things don't do any harm, but it felt wasteful.

She couldn't help but perceive a certain disappointment in his answer though, and despite her confidence in her position she felt a little doubt in the back of her mind. After a minute or two in contemplative silence, she sighed herself. “Alright, if after we get this whole business sorted out with the princess you really want to do something like that, I won't argue. It seems unnecessary to me but,” she shrugged, “as these things go it could be kinda fun.”

Shifting topics a bit, she looked over at the turntable and listened for a moment. “Say, got any other music you want to show me? This is alright, but I think I'd prefer other things.”

[RedCedar]

"It seems unnecessary to me but, as these things go it could be kinda fun.”

Red smiled broadly as she agreed to go through with it, if only to satisfy his romanticism of the subject. The truth was, he would have asked her right then and there if he thought it would improve her odds in her meeting with Celestia, but in the end, he figured, if it were to happen, it should be for the right reason only, not as a legal convenience that wasn't guaranteed to be successful. "They are fun, too." he said. "I've been to a few friends' weddings and they've always been a good time."

He nodded to her request for a change in music, and trotted back to the phonograph, lifting the needle and replacing the record in its sleeve, then to its place on the shelf, before selecting another one. "This one's more of the fast stuff you like, though, a few slow songs too like on Sapphire Shores' record." he explained. Evidently the band was composed of ponies who couldn't spell, as the words Def Hyddra were splashed across the front of the album jacket. Giving the player another few winds of the handle, he placed the needle on it and trotted back to sit beside Naj again, bobbing his head a bit as the music started.

[DerpRavener]

Red assured Naj that weddings were enjoyable events, using his memories of one's he'd been invited to as support for it.

Naj smirked, remembering the closest she'd been to a wedding. “I can think of at least one time that wasn't true.” She hadn't said it directly, but felt it was obvious she was referring to the event in Canterlot. She suddenly shook her head. “Ahh, but that's another weird case, and I already said I wouldn't argue.”

Red got up to switch out record the current record for another, explaining that it was closer to the Sapphire Shores record they listened to earlier. As Naj caught a glance of the title she frowned, a little perplexed at the concept and spelling on the jacket, though she made no argument. She could imagine even a deaf hydra having more music knowledge than her at the moment. She chuckled at yet another amusing mental image, but otherwise made no comment until he music started.

They listened to a few songs in relative silence, either enjoying the music or simply lacking anything to say for the moment. Naj was enjoying these songs more, bobbing her limbs and head in time with the music and even wriggling on the couch a bit in a vague semblance of a dance, though she wasn't quite as energetic as before. Not because she was enjoying it less, but just because by this point it was getting to be time to call it a night. She yawned, feeling a little tired though she could keep going for a bit if she desired. (Or a while if necessary, but she didn't want to push herself like that except in emergencies.)

She looked over at Red again, while otherwise still moving left and right to the beat. “One more song, I think, and then I'm probably gonna head to bed. So, if there's anything else you want to talk about tonight, now's the time.”

[i was thinking of ending the thread around here, unless you have an idea for how you want to continue it. My thinking is that Naj would stick around for another few days 'off camera', but I don't think we'll get much thread material out of that right now.]

[RedCedar]

Red smirked. He hadn't wanted to mention that particular wedding as a stunning example of a flawlessly executed ceremony and gathering, but she seemed to realize well enough that that was going to be the exception, not the rule, so he left it at that.

Seeing her yawn, he wasn't at all surprised that she was ready to go sleep. After all, they'd been fairly busy the entire time she'd been here, and today was certainly no exception. Shaking his head, he said "Nothing I can think of," as he himself was starting to feel the effects of a cider and the late hour, but then paused a moment. "Except, perhaps... when two changelings are in a relationship, is there some little thing they might do to show their affection for each other?" He could almost feel his ears turn red inside by asking, but it was steeped at least partly in curiosity.

[sounds good. Only thing I can think of is that when she gets ready to go back, if Red finds out she walked to Stalliongrad from Ponyville as he suspects, he'll insist on getting her a train ticket back, and one to return on another time.]

[DerpRavener]

"Except, perhaps... when two changelings are in a relationship, is there some little thing they might do to show their affection for each other?"

Naj scrunched her nose in thought, trying to see if she even encountered it to remember. “Hmm...well, there's always the little things. Going out of your way to help, making an effort to spend time together. Sharing more love than necessary. You know, little sacrifices for the other pony.” She waved a hoof. “But if you're asking about things like how ponies send each other flowers sometimes, there's nothing like that I can recall, no. Though of course I sorta avoided those sorts of things, so there's probably things I don't know about.”

She looked up at Red from the couch, a smile on her face. “I don't think you have to worry about that yet though, you've done more than enough this week.”

Moments later, the track came to an end. Naj yawned again, before rolling off the couch and meandering towards upstairs, saying “Welp, this was fun, but I'm ready to get to sleep. Good night, and I'll see you tomorrow.”

[Could work if we did a time skip to a sort of epilogue, though I think it would be inevitably a bit awkward. Alternately it could just be implied, to be referenced in a later thread. I'll leave it up to you which approach to take.]

[RedCedar]

Red smiled to Naj as she headed upstairs to sleep. "Good night, Naj. Sweet dreams." he said before getting up and shutting off the phonograph, putting away the records and clearing the dishes from dinner. Her answer played over in his mind a bit. Trying to help and spend time with the one you were in a relationship with made sense, of course, but he could pretty much guess why there was little need for any other sort of reminders when you were a changeling. Just by their very nature they could sense another's affection for them. When you could do that, what more was necessary? It was probably why she had only been vaguely familiar with what getting a hug meant when she first arrived in Stalliongrad.

The only problem with that was that it made it very difficult to kiss her goodnight.

Trotting up to his own bedroom and getting under the covers, however, he couldn't help but smile at the optimism he felt from what had happened that evening, not only for Naj and for himself, but for all of Equestria.

A changeling had agreed to marry him.

There was hope yet.

[i think we can leave it as implied for the next time the two of them meet. That would probably work out best. So with that, I think we can call it a thread.]