At This Time of Year?

Mt. Gleam is said to be the most dangerous mystery dungeon on the north side of the continent. Only the most well prepared exploration parties or uneducated fools would dare enter its fold. The infamously strong ice type ferals found within are quick to punish the unprepared. Once inside, you must burn bright against the frigid wind, or perish in the cold.

Cass the Aurorus thought it would be the perfect spot for a dinner date.

She gleefully trampled through floor after floor of the deadly dungeon, bashing away anything that stood in her way. Ferals that would give other explorers nightmares were nothing more than the target of a single aurora beam, before they faded into irrelevance. The few hits that did connect against the towering tundra trawler were easily shrugged off. Nothing this dungeon could conjure would be able to deter Cass from achieving her perfect date.

Cass seemed not as interested in the mortal peril around her than she was with the Pokémon that clung onto her back. A small Meloetta rode side saddle on Cass’ back, gently holding onto one of the sails that draped down the Aurorus’ neck for balance. She was very comfortable as Cass moved through the dungeon, if a bit confused.

“Cass, honey,” the Meloetta said, “what exactly is the point of this trip of ours? You know I am always ready for some impromptu exploration, but this seems a bit… much. Even for us! And your continual refusal to answer my questions is not alleviating the issue.”

As the Meloetta spoke, Cass brought down one final feral that stood in their way. As the feral fell, she lit up with joy as her goal was finally revealed in front of them: the final staircase of the dungeon. Her plan was almost at fruition.

“You worry too much, Alta!” Cass exclaimed. “You’re going to love it! So stop stressing over nothing, and relax!”

Alta sighed as her eight foot tall dinosaur girlfriend continued to carry her forward. “You have said that four times already, darling. It would be more concerning if I wasn’t ‘stressed’.”

“Oh yeah?” Cass bounded up the final staircase as she spoke, eager to show her girlfriend what awaited them at the peak. Alta held on for dear life as she was jostled around by Cass’ motion.

“Check this out!”

The couple reached the top of the stairs, and were transported somewhere else.

The fresh, chilly air at the top of Mt. Gleam was a welcome change from the stale dungeon atmosphere. The air pricked at the Pokémon’s skin, calling their senses back to attention. Alta watched as her breath turned into a cloud of steam with every exhale, before vanishing into the dark night. She felt herself begin to unwillingly shiver from the weather.

“I hope you intend to impress me with more than a cold mountain top, darling.” Alta teased. She reached into the backpack attached to Cass and retrieved a massive blanket to drape herself in. 

Cass glanced backwards at her girlfriend with a smile, then glanced back again when she realized she was shivering. “Oh, no, no! You’re not cold, are you? I’m sure we could get a fire going, or uh, use a berry, or something! Just hold on for a little bit!”

Alta laughed at Cass’ concern. “Cass, I am perfectly fine. There is a reason why I always pack a blanket with us. And believe me, it is a very warm blanket. Do not worry so much about me. Seriously.” Alta softly laughed to herself. “Now you are the one who needs to ‘relax’!”

Cass blinked twice, slowly. “Oh. Hah, yeah. Blankets! Those, those, uh- we have those. Perfect.” She continued to the very top of the mountain, where a makeshift building awaited her and her girlfriend-shaped payload. 

Cass bumped her head on the top of the doorframe of the wooden shack as she entered. Alta gracefully floated through the door after her, giggling while wrapped in her giant blanket. She closed the door and sat down on the only chair present in the shack. 

“Ahh… it’s warm in here…” The Meloetta relaxed so deeply in the chair it was as if she was deflating in that blanket. “I do not recall seeing this building when we were here last year. Or, at least, we were too blinded by the snow to see it.”

“Oh, no, it wasn’t here back then! It was just built, actually. Brand new.” Cass spoke as she lifted some items out from her pack. “It’s pretty nice, huh?”

“As nice as a shack on top of the world’s coldest mountain could be, I suppose.” Alta joked. “Now that we are here, could you finally tell me what you have planned for us, darling?”

“That would spoil the fun, though! Let’s eat first, then maaaaybe I’ll consider telling you!” 

As Alta once again sighed at her girlfriend’s antics, Cass procured a metal cylinder from the bag and clumsily screwed off its top, placing it on the table. Steam poured out from the object as the hot contents met the frigid air. 

Alta floated off of her chair and directly over the top of the cylinder, staring directly into it. Warm air and a delectable aroma greeted her face. She gazed at the contents for a long moment before confirming what she was looking at with Cass.

“…Soup? Warm soup?”

“Yup!” Cass smiled with pride. “It’s my three-berry soup! I cooked it for you when we first met. Don’tcha remember?”

Alta floated towards Cass’ face and put her hands on either side of the Aurorus’ face. 

“Of course I remember! It was the best meal I ever had. But. Cass. My sweet. My beloved. My everything. How in Arceus’ name did you get warm soup all the way to the top of Mt. Gleam? It should be frozen solid by now!”

Cass broke eye contact with Alta and stared up at the ceiling, as if she was thinking hard about something. 

“Oh, yeah! So, that metal tube it’s in? I, uh, called in a favor and had Tinkaton from the guild make it for tonight. She said it’s insulated; so that means hot things in there will stay hot for a long time! That way we can have soup all the way up here! Pretty cool, huh?”

Alta was dumbfounded. 

Cass has never put this much forethought into any decision she had made in her entire life. She joined the exploration guild on a whim. She asked Alta to go out with her 4 hours after they met. Alta was certain that if Cass thought about a single concept for more than an hour at a time, she would die. 

And now, Cass had custom-ordered some sort of… soup carrying device for a dinner date? How long ago did she have to ask Tinkaton to make that? It had to be at least a couple weeks. Cass doesn’t plan anything a couple weeks ahead of time. This was wildly out of character for her. Alta wondered what occasion could possibly warrant this kind of preparation from her girlfriend. 

She came to the grim realization that whatever reason Cass had for doing all this, it was probably a big deal. A thousand terrifying theories came to Alta’s mind about what that ‘big deal’ could possibly be.

It… it would be fine, though. Alta would just not think about it. She would simply not think about the crushing thought that Cass might be preparing to tell her horrible news. She assured herself that everything would be okay. If Cass wanted to break up with her, she would not do so at the top of Mt. Gleam, right?

…Right?

Alta did, in fact, continue to think about it.

All throughout the serving and consumption of their (admittedly fantastic) soup dinner, Alta could not pry the thought of what this evening was for from her head. Her desperate need to learn more gnawed at her relentlessly. In between mouthfuls of soup she stared at her girlfriend, fruitlessly trying to parse some sort of hint, as Cass scarfed down what had to be a gallon of soup. The Arourus was all smiles. If she did have some masterfully planned agenda here, she was hiding it well.

It never occurred to Alta that attempting to psychoanalyze her girlfriend when all she had done was prepare for a very thoughtful dinner was, perhaps, a bit of an overreaction.

Their meal went by with little conversation, due to Alta’s concerns and Cass’ voracious appetite.

---

Cass shoved the now-empty metal canister into her bag. “Okay!” she remarked, “Now it’s time for the big thing! The main attraction, if you will! Are you ready to go outside again, darling?”

Alta took a deep breath. Her small body floated a few inches upward as she drew in breath, and descended again when she exhaled. What she was looking forward to just an hour ago had now become her most dreaded moment. And she’s had her fair share of dreaded moments.

“As ready as I will ever be.” Alta weakly responded. 

“Great! Let’s go: it should be just about ready!”

Cass, miraculously, did not pick up on an ounce of the trepidation in Alta’s voice. Instead, she barged through the door of the shack (bumping her head once again) and stood out in the snow. Alta reluctantly followed, once again wrapping herself in that divine blanket as the temperature dropped.

Cass looked straight up, gazing somewhere into the night sky. She paced back and forth across the mountain top as she stared, testing different angles for whatever she was looking at. She eventually found a spot she liked and called Alta over.

“Okay, stand right here! And look up! It, uh, should happen any second now.”

Alta floated over and sat down on Cass’ back. She followed her girlfriend’s eyes and looked upwards to the night sky. The countless stars of the cosmos met her gaze, mystifying motes of light in an impossibly dark backdrop. The beauty of the stars inspired Alta to write a song about it when she returned to the guild. 

Of course, the distant light of the stars was nothing compared to the brilliance of the moon. Alta turned her head to gaze at the moon. It was shockingly bright tonight. The light of the almost-full moon was only minorly depleted by the shadowy figure that loomed in front of the moon, blotting out half of the celestial body.

Wait.

The what.

The figure in front of the moon?

Alta scrunched her eyes shut and opened them again. The figure was still there. 

She must be going delirious from her worry. She slowly blinked one more time. The figure remained. 

It seemed to be a flying type, with large wings spread open as far as they could.

Okay. Okay. This is fine, probably. Cass said she wanted Alta to see something, right? So this is probably the thing she wanted her to see. Yeah. That must be it. If Cass saw this she’d be able to explain everything.

“C-Cass, my love,” the bewildered Meloetta whispered, “what is that, in the sky?”

Cass turned back to look at Alta and smiled wide. The reassuring look immediately put Alta at ease.

“Ooh, did you see it?” Cass followed Alta’s gaze and looked up toward the sky. “I was hoping I would see it first, but I’m glad you-”

Cass stopped herself mid sentence as she spied the figure eclipsing the moon. She took a good long moment to comprehend what she was looking at.

“…”

“What the FUCK is THAT?”

Okay, she didn’t know either. That’s not good.

Cass craned her neck upward to get a better look at the mystery Pokémon. Her confusion quickly gave way to fury. 

“What IS that thing? Where’s the aurora?! Hey, ASSHOLE!”

Her shouting caught the attention of the figure. They were much closer to the ground than Cass first thought: they couldn’t be more than one hundred feet above her as they flinched from the unexpected beration. Their wings flapped unsteadily in the darkness as they realized they weren’t alone on the mountaintop.

“YEAH, I’M TALKING TO YOU!” Cass continued to shout as loud as she could. Snowflakes began to swirl around her as her frustration boiled. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? WHERE THE FUCK IS THE AURORA?”

The Pokémon flapped its wings in place for a moment, staring down at Cass. It was clearly unsure about whether to fly down to her and talk, or to run away from the crazy screaming woman. In the end, their politeness won out, and they began slowly flying down to the couple. They expertly glided down towards the mountain and hovered just above the snow

Alta went slack jawed as she realized the true scope of the Pokémon they were dealing with. This thing towered above Cass, who was one of the biggest Pokémon Alta had ever seen. Their wingspan was monumental, the crescent-tipped wings reaching far above their head when they were stretched. The purple color of its body reminded Alta of the cosmos, with beautiful gold coloring on the wing tips and neck. 

Alta and Cass were in the presence of Lunala.

Lunala analyzed the couple. She slowly absorbed every aspect of the Pokémon in front of her, with a particular interest in Alta. “Hm. An Aurorus. And Meloetta. In a blanket. Interesting.” She spoke with an arrogant sort of pride.

 “Well,” Lunala sighed, “you have my attention now. What is it you two want from me? Or were you shouting like a lunatic for your own amusement?”

Alta gulped.

She never enjoyed interacting with Pokémon “like her”: the mythical and the legendary. Most of them are self-absorbed recluses that have little respect for others. “Mundane” Pokémon are typically little more than a nuisance to them. If you ever meet a legendary, they’ll get offended at the thought of you existing and knock you out cold in less than a minute.

The lake trio are an exception, Alta noted. The lake trio are cool. They do backup vocals for Alta’s concerts sometimes. And Mesprit baked cookies for her when she was sick last month.

So, most legendaries will knock you out cold. With the notable exception of the lake trio.

Based on her intimidating posture and self-assured attitude, Lunala did not seem to be an exception. A confrontation would be inevitable unless Alta did something. 

She planned to use her clout as a mythical Pokémon to get Lunala to leave them alone. Playing that card has worked on legendaries in the past. Maybe she can make Lunala doubt her ability to beat them in a fight? Then they could slip away into the mystery dungeon where Lunala would be too big to follow. All she had to do was negotiate for one minute of peace. Then they could run away.

Just as she was about to plead for their lives, Alta was jostled out of her train of thought as Cass took a step forward.

Oh no.

Cass took another step forward.

Oh, please don’t.

And another step.

This would end badly.

Cass moved directly in front of Lunala. She couldn’t have been more than a foot away from the legendary. Alta swore she saw Lunala fly backwards as Cass approached, if only by a few inches.

“What do I want? I’ll tell you what I want.” Cass declared. “I want to know where the FUCK the aurora is!”

Cass was filled with a kind of anger Alta hadn’t seen from her in a long time.

Lunala cocked her head. She seemed to be almost as confused as Alta was. 

“The… aurora? Do you not mean… Aurorus? As in, the species you belong to?” 

The legendary was genuinely interested in learning what Cass could possibly be referring to. The aura of mystique Lunala carried herself with was gone now, completely shattered by the harsh vibes of a very angry Aurorus.

“No, DIPSHIT!” Cass hollered. Some spit flew from her mouth, landing on Lunala’s wings. “I’m talking about the aurora! Aurora borealis? Northern lights? You know? The green light in the sky? The most beautiful natural phenomenon in the world? Ring any bells?” 

Lunala shook the snow and spittle off her wings with disdain. Her eyes wandered as she pondered what the ‘green light in the sky’ could be. Then, they widened as she came to a conclusion.

“Ah!” She exclaimed in realization. “You are referring to the energy that hovers in the northern sky! The threads of mysterious color that float about in the frigid night. They are rare and fleeting, only appearing on a few special nights. That is your ‘aurora’, is it not?”

Alta was impressed by how non-aggressive Lunala seemed to be right now. Any sense of anger or violence that she first carried with her had been usurped by confusion and curiosity at what Cass wanted. She wouldn’t strike them. Not yet, at least.

“Yeah, that’s it!” Cass seemed to relax as Lunala began to get onto the same page as her. “We have technology that lets us predict when the aurora will happen,” she explained, “and there’s supposed to be one tonight!”

“That is correct.” 

Cas was smiling now. The snowstorm around her relented. They were finally getting somewhere! “Okay. Good! So, where is it? We should be able to see it super well up here.” 

“It is gone.” Lunala flatly stated. “I have consumed it.”

“You-”

Cass’ eye twitched.

“You-”

She took a deep breath. Alta put a hand on her girlfriend’s neck in a vain attempt to calm her down. She knew it wouldn’t work.

“YOU ATE IT?”

Lunala flinched at the volume of Cass’ voice. She tried not to let the outburst affect her. After all, there was no feasible way for a commoner to have that sort of effect on her. She would not be intimidated by some upstart ice type who thinks they can strong arm a legendary. 

“Yes. I consumed what you call the aurora borealis.”

Cass stared wide-eyed at Lunala. She mumbled incomprehensibly as she tried to fully grasp what she said. “You.. What- huh? The… I- You… what the FUCK!” She slammed her leg into the snow on that last word to emphasize her frustration, then began pacing in the snow.

Alta knew better than to try to calm down her girlfriend. The point of no return had been passed. All the Meloetta could do now was prepare for what was to come. Cass was going to do something batshit insane, and Alta would be ready to support her decision like the good partner she is. For now, though, she would sit back, relax, and watch the fireworks unfold.

Lunala took Cass’ pacing as a signal to keep talking. “Perhaps you are not familiar with my anatomy, Aurorus. I, Lunala, the great winged beast of the night, consume the energy of moonlight to sate myself. This includes your aurora, as well. That consumption of energy is what allows me to perform wondrous feats such as… this!”

Lunala spread out her wings wide as her purple body began to glow. The light grew and grew in strength, until Lunala was too radiant to look at. Right when Alta was about to avert her eyes, the light vanished. In its place, an orb of beautiful glowing moonlight manifested in front of Lunala. The misty white sphere was constantly swirling and moving inside itself, creating quite the mesmerizing effect. Lunala pointed one of her wings in a random direction and the orb rocketed off that way, careening through the snow. 

Right before impact, Alta realized with dread and joy that Lunala had not picked a random direction for her little moon-orb stunt. She had selected a target. And that target was the shack they had just come from.

The three of them watched as the wooden hut was obliterated by the attack. The poor thing didn’t stand a chance. What was once a humble refuge against the freezing cold had been reduced to tiny splinters, erupting from the snow like a geyser. The shards of wood then rained down over the mountaintop, a few harmlessly bonking Lunala and Cass on the head. 

Alta covered her mouth with her hands in an attempt to hide the expression of excitement on her face. She was looking at Cass, and Cass. Was. Pissed. Her eye twitched with fury as one last stray wooden splinter landed on her head. 

“See?” Lunala continued, “This is the power I wield. I consume your moonlight, and your ‘aurora’, and I transform it into something beautiful.”

Alta was desperately fighting with every muscle in her body to not break into uproarious laughter. Lunala was completely oblivious to the Pokémon-shaped storm of rage that stood in front of her. She continued to talk about how great she is and yadda yadda whatever, as Cass experienced what could only be described as the deep primal urge to stomp somebody into the ground.

Okay, now was the time to get involved.

As Lunala looked up to the heavens and went on and on about how she’s “an extension of the cosmos, and just as powerful and beautiful” (absolutely false), Alta floated over to Cass. She flew over her girlfriend’s head and leaned down, looking upside-down into Cass’ eyes. She was remarkably angry. Alta had seen Cass get frustrated plenty of times, or even get genuinely angry, but this was new. This was pure, unbridled fury. And it wasn’t a good look for the Aurorus.

Alta placed one hand on each of her girlfriend’s cheeks and lightly pushed her hands together, pudging Cass’ face. Cass immediately began to relax as she looked into the eyes of her partner. She was still unbelievably angry, mind you, but she would never intimidate Alta like that. Instead, her face made an expression like that of an angry puppy.

“Cass, my love. You are angry.” Alta smushed her cheeks a bit more to emphasize her point.

Cass avoided making eye contact. “N-no, I’m not.”

Alta rubbed Cass’ cheeks in circles while huffing, “Yes you are! You are so angry right now!”

“Am not.” Cass grumbled.

“Am too!”

Cass sighed. She took a deep breath, and tried to let her anger go. For Alta’s sake. 

“Okay, yeah. I’m mad. I… I had this whole plan to impress you, and we were gonna see the lights together, and then… and then that bitch comes in and ruins everything! My whole plan- all this stuff- it’s ruined.”

Another sigh.

“I’m sorry, Alta. I’m sorry I got angry. That was… wrong of me. I’m, like, really sorry.”

Alta gave Cass’ cheeks one final smush. It was a smush of reassurance. “Are you kidding me? Darling, Lunala – or, ‘that bitch’, if we would rather use your terminology – is a stuffy elitist prick who eats moonlight for her own personal enjoyment. You have every right in the world to be furious at a moron like that! I just want you to let me help with your problems, is all. And she seems like quite the large problem to me.”

Cass chuckled. She stole a glance at the still-monologuing Lunala, then looked back at Alta. 

“Yeah, I guess she is.”

Alta let go of her girlfriend’s face.

“So, she is in our way, is she not?”

“Yeah, she is!”

“And what do we do to things in our way, my sweet?”

Cass’ lips curled up into an irresistible grin. Small wisps of snow began to swirl around her as the dinosaur’s excitement grew.

“WE KNOCK THEM DOWN!”

Cass was still worried about what would come next, after Lunala had been taken care of. But that was okay. For now, she knows what she has to do, and she is pretty damn good at doing it. 

“Exactly!” Alta clapped her hands excitedly. “Let us knock Lunala down, together!”

The couple shared one more loving look with each other before facing Lunala. She wasn’t even looking at them. Staring off the side of the mountain, Lunala continued to regurgitate substanceless words to nobody in particular.

“…are my powers special? Well yes, I do believe so. Although, it depends on your definition of ‘special’, but if your dominant criteria are uniqueness and effectiveness, then yes-”

“Hey, prick!”

Lunala spun around to find which one of those two imbeciles would be foolish enough to interrupt her. She turned just in time to see Cass galloping towards her like a freight train. Sitting on her back was Alta, holding tight to Cass’ neck as they rushed forward, like lesbian cavalry. 

Oh, so these two fools thought they could ambush the resplendent Lunala? Catch her off guard like some common brigand?

Absolutely not. 

Lunala spread her wings wide as the couple approached. Powerful light once again radiated from her body as she prepared to deliver a devastating attack.

Cass could not possibly care less.

Halfway through Lunala’s remarkably inefficient charge-up, Cass slammed into her at top speed. 

“FUUUUUCK YOUUUUUUUU!”

Lunala lost control of her body as she was sent flying from the collision. Her wings momentarily locked up from the shock, leading to her face planting in the snow. It was quite the entertaining sight, seeing a legendary Pokémon splayed out face-down in the snow like roadkill. 

Lunala quickly pulled herself off the ground, flapping her wings unsteadily as she spat snow out of her mouth. 

“How DARE you! I will not forget this INSULT you have thrusted upon me! If it is a fight you want, then it is a fight you shall receive! This day, you will feel the full wrath of the moon!”

Here we fucking go.

This, right here? An overwhelmingly powerful Pokémon ready to fight to the death? A fight most people would faint at the thought of?

This was Cass and Alta’s bread and butter. They could do this shit all day. Dinner dates, sight-seeing, and social interactions were infinitely harder tasks than the fight that now presented itself to them. Put this couple in a room with someone who wants them dead, give them one minute, and you’ll have a humbled Pokémon and a very pleased couple.

So, naturally, the duo could only laugh at Lunala’s empty threat. 

Alta disembarked from Cass’ back and floated up next to her. Cass regarded her with a mix of joy and concern for her well being. 

“Are you ready?” Cass asked.

Alta smiled. “When you are with me? Always.”

The couple darted towards the snow-covered bat in perfect unison, ready for a battle.

Let the record show that Lunala tried. She attempted to put up what some people might call a ‘fight’. However, it dawned upon her rather quickly that these “imbeciles” far outclassed her in every imaginable facet of battle. For every foot of space Lunala would put between them, Cass would close in on her by two. Any attack Lunala shot out was followed by at least three blows against her. Cass didn’t even flinch when hit by a moonbeam, and Alta was too evasive to be caught by her moves. There was simply nothing Lunala could do that this power couple did not have a response for.

Taking down Lunala was not a challenge; it was stress relief.

Cass shouted at Alta after firing out an aurora beam. “Let’s end this, Alta!”

Alta nodded in response. “Right!”

Cass summoned a huge block of ice and hurled it at Lunala, stunning her from the sheer weight of the blow.

“That’s for EATING the aurora!”

Alta darted towards the legendary, her hair changing color and shape as a powerful relic song reverberated through the cold air, further disorienting and damaging Lunala.

“That’s for threatening my girlfriend!” Cass shouted.

Cass pawed the snow with her front foot, like a bull ready to charge. But she did not charge yet. She waited until she knew Lunala could see her coming. Until she knew that bitch was lucid enough to see that a commoner Aurorus would be the first Pokémon in a hundred years to defeat her. Cass wanted this to sting.

“And this! Is for! RUINING! MY! PROPOSAL!”

A shield of ice formed in front of Cass as she bashed into Lunala. Cass may have ran like a train earlier, but now, she hit like one. As she bulldozed Lunala with enough strength to level a house, the legendary screamed.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!” Lunala howled like a banshee, equal parts furious and terrified.

Now, do note, dear reader, that this cocktail of emotions is not because Lunala is about to meet her demise. This is, emphatically, not the case – Lunala will simply be knocked unconscious by this finishing move. This legendary Pokémon just cannot accept the fact that a commoner was about to be the one to defeat her. Not a legendary. Not even a mythic! An Aurorus. A stupid, arrogant, plebeian Aurorus. This fact is the sole source of her rage.

What an jackass, right?

As Lunala fell onto her back, her mouth began to glow a stunning neon green. This light was trying to push out of Lunala, to force its way out of her body. She gagged and choked as she tried to fight this force. 

Alas, there is no fighting nature’s will.

Lunala’s mouth gaped open as a beam of green and purple light erupted from her mouth, like the world’s strangest water fountain. Cass and Alta cuddled up against each other as they watched the light travel. It shot up, up, and up into the sky. As the light reached an altitude it found appropriate, it split off in all directions simultaneously, enveloping the black night in an otherworldly kaleidoscope of color. 

Calling it beautiful did not even begin to do it justice.

Alta spun around in wonder as ethereal blankets of color sat in the skies around her. They were constantly changing shape and color, like the most majestic cosmic dance. 

Alta floated up into the air and giggled with joy as she flew underneath the northern lights. She laid on her back as she floated, staring upwards at that gorgeous scenery as she drifted through the air. 

It is quite rare to have experiences in your life that, as you experience them, you immediately know they will remain a core memory of yours for the rest of your life. At this moment, Alta knew. She knew this was simply the most fascinating phenomenon she had ever seen. She knew she would use this very moment as a songwriting font for years to come. And she knew that her love for Cass grew even more (if that was even possible) for showing her something so miraculous. 

Alta laid there for a long moment, floating in the night sky. Her thoughts drifted from the aurora to her Aurorus. She thought about how Cass how prepared all this for her. Of how kind it was to even think of showing Alta all this. Of how she stood up to Lunala when even Alta had trepidations. Of how she was apparently going to propose to Alta tonight.

Wait.

Wait.

Wait

Waitwait

Waitiawtwaiwt

Waiwiasiaws

ghdds. jfjuwiwe. ghiwiuiqsowsio. asijwdjoqedfmnienmgogmroasmefdoaqwmdomecomweovcmowemvomrdewurgtpfovmcxb. A.

HOLY FUCK

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

WHAT

WHAT?

REALLY?

ACTUALLY?

FOR REAL?

Did she hear right? Did Cass actually say that? She was going to PROPOSE? Holy FUCKING ARCEUS DAMNIT was this finally happening?

Alta’s eyes shot open. The northern lights suddenly seemed a whole lot less interesting to her. She twisted around, breaking out of her light-watching setup and flew towards Cass as fast as she could.

Oh sweet Arceus she was nervous.

Cass was staring up at the aurora in silent rapture when Alta arrived. She smiled sweetly at Alta when she saw her. “There you are! It’s, uh, it’s really something, isn’t it? All this light… it’s beautiful. I can’t believe that skank ate all of this.”

Alta let out a half hearted chuckle. “I cannot believe it either, darling. …A-actually, about that fight, there was, well, something I wanted to inquire about…” 

Alta fiddled with her hair as it faded from the orange of her pirouette form back to green, desperately trying to distract her body from the daunting question she had to ask. She felt like she was stricken with the world’s worst case of vertigo as the words formed on her tongue.

“You, well, you announced to Lunala that you were… that you were going to, ahem, propose to me?”

Cass’ face went pale.

Oh, no.

Alta found out. And Cass, like the idiot she is, brought this upon herself by loudly exclaiming her intentions. She had to be honest with Alta now. She had to let her know how supremely wrong tonight has gone. Yes, the only way to make this right was to apologize profusely for that bat ruining everything, and to hope and pray that Alta didn’t break up with her on the spot.

Cass took a long, deep breath.

“…Yes.”

Alta quietly squealed. Cass couldn’t hear it.

“But, uh,” Cass continued, “it wasn’t meant to be like this! I am so, so sorry Alta! If I knew that legendary would be out here, I never woulda made you come out here, and I never woulda tried to propose today, and I never woulda bothered you with this stupid plan. Oh, Arceus, Alta. I just, I’m so sor-”

As Cass apologized for the third time for something that wasn’t her fault, Alta decided that she needed to take the lead, for once.

She flew forward and kissed Cass mid-sentence.

“-sorr-OH! Mmfm!” Cass’ face lit up as her girlfriend kissed her. Her legs turned to jelly as Alta gently held Cass’ head on herhands as they kissed. She started blushing almost immediately, as snow began to kick up around her. The white wisps circled around the duo as they held each other close. Alta found it adorable. And, with aurora borealis shining down on them, it was very romantic.

Once she felt the point had been made (the point of course being that she loved Cass) Alta broke away from Cass’ lips and looked her in the eyes.

“Cassiopeia, the love of my life. You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. Tonight has been nothing short of exceptional. The meal you made? These lights? It has been remarkable. No moonlight-eating maniac could ever take that away from us. I understand that tonight may not have been exactly what you planned, but I loved every moment of it.”

Cass’ eyes were starting to well up with icy tears.

“E-even when we had to kick Lunala’s ass?”

“Especially when we had to kick Lunala’s ass.”

Cass laughed with overwhelming relief. Alta joined her. 

“This has been a great night, Cass. It truly has. I can think of one more thing that would make it perfect, though.”

Cass cocked her head to the side in confusion.

“Oh?”

Then, it dawned on her.

“Oh! Yeah! Of course!”

Cass clumsily fished around in her backpack until she found what she was looking for. She placed a small wooden box on the ground, in front of Alta. 

“Alta the Meloetta, songstress of Gallant City, she who has walked between worlds, the divine diplomat, icon of hope, and every other title I can’t remember. The last two years I have spent with you have been the greatest years of my entire life. I, uh, want to spend the rest of my life by your side, continuing to take on the world together. Because together, we are unstoppable. Together, we can do anything. So, will you make me the happiest Pokémon in the world, and marry me?”

Cass flipped open the box to reveal two earrings, both in a teardrop shape. They were colored with an intertwined spiral of green and blue glass. One earring was sized to fit Alta, and the other for Cass.

Alta was blushing so much her face became reminiscent of a tomato. The beet-red Meloetta looked at the earrings, then looked back at Cass. She had been dreaming of this moment for so long. There were a million things she could say right now, wanted to say right now. Here, standing on this mountain, she could give an hour long speech to her beloved right now on all the ways she matters to her.

But, if she had to beat around the bush for one more second, she was going to kill someone. 

“Yes! Yes, I will!” Alta shouted, before squeezing Cass’s neck tight in a hug. 

“I was hoping you would say that.” Cass whispered into Alta’s ear.

The now-engaged couple stood there, underneath the dancing lights, hugging each other with nothing but love in their hearts. Everything that had happened tonight was absolutely worth it, Alta decided, since it led up to this moment, right here. And this one moment was everything.

Only once she started shaking from the cold weather (and from Cass’ body temperature) did Alta let go. 

“Now,” Alta said, “That was lovely, but I have had it up to here with this accursed mountain. How about we head back to the guild, where I will not freeze to death, and we tell everybody the good news?”

Cass smiled. “That sounds like a good plan.” She produced two guild badges from their bag and handed one to her fiancée. 

Alta spoke up one last time before they headed back. “By the way. You totally paid Timburr to build that shack for us, did you not?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“And the earrings were custom made, I suppose?”

Cass’ smile grew even wider. “I’ll let you guess on that one.”

“I love you, you weirdo.”

“I love you too, you prima donna.”

With one last look at the mesmerizing night sky, the two of them vanished into light. The only thing left on the mountaintop was the unconscious Lunala, in all her humiliation, brightly illuminated by the aurora. 

Truly, her limp body half-submerged in the snow is as true a symbol as any of the power of love.

Literally, of course. 

The literal power of love. And its ability to beat the shit out of people that get in its way.