“That is enough!” Cadence shouted, shooting to her feet. “This is not your wedding! It is theirs, and should be allowed to plan it themselves!”
Twilight’s parents sat there in stunned silence. To be completely honest, I was just as stunned. Twilight looked absolutely dumbfounded.
And Cadence was still breathing hard from her initial outburst, a look of mixed anger and anguish on her face. Shining Armor had stood up and put his hands on his fiancé’s shoulders, trying to calm her down.
We had just told Velvet and Night that Twilight and I were engaged not five minutes ago, and immediately they had started in with the suggestions and recommendations for color schemes, dress designs, and other wedding details. It was more understandable for Twilight since traditionally parent’s pay for the daughters wedding. It was a silly tradition based off of the ancient use of a dowry. I never did understand it, personally.
Human customs are weird.
“They just told you they were engaged, and instead of congratulations or asking any questions about it, you launched right into trying to take control of their planning! Just because you never got your ideal wedding is no reason to try and wrest control of planning from Twilight and Sunset,” she snapped as a few tears welled up. “Or from Shining Armor and I.”
She wheeled, stalking away into the kitchen.
“I’m sorry,” Shining said. “I’ll see if I can calm her down.” He turned and followed his future wife into the kitchen.
Velvet had tears in her eyes, and her hand was covering her mouth. Night Light turned to Twilight and I.
“We weren’t that bad, were we?” he asked.
Twilight was still recovering from her shock at seeing the normally composed Cadence unleash anger and frustration. I sat forward slightly.
“You have been a little obsessive about details,” I said. “And while we would be happy for your input, you haven’t waited for us to ask for it, either. We literally just got engaged and told you, and you wanted to start planning things inside five minutes. You’ve been steamrolling Cadence and Shining Armor and they haven’t even set a date for their wedding yet, let alone decided on how they want to go about it.”
Twilight seemed to recover. “Look, Mom, Daddy,” she said, smiling soothingly. I love you both dearly, but you started making suggestions before we could tell you any details we may have arranged for already.”
Night Light nodded and sat back, deep in thought. After a moment he wrapped an arm around his wife and pulled her in close.
“Can you forgive us?” Velvet asked.
Twilight rushed over, sitting between her parents and hugging them.
“Of course we can,” she said. “But you’ve got to let us plan our wedding, and let Shiny and Cadence plan theirs. We’ll ask for advice when we need it, and please, understand that we love you,” she sat back. “But sometimes we got to do our own thing, otherwise it won’t mean as much to us.”
I leaned forward. “Plus, we have some top notch talent tapped for both us and Cadence as well, if she wants to avail herself of their services.”
Velvet smiled and wiped her eyes and cheeks.
“Can you show us what you’ve got so far?” she asked.
Twilight came back over and pulled her phone from her purse.
“Sure,” she said, hitting a few buttons. After a few moments, she smiled sweetly.
“Rarity,” she said into the phone. “Do you think you could come over? Great! Bring your sketchpads, please.”
Hanging up, she leaned back and crossed her legs.
“She’ll be here in fifteen minutes,” she said. “Shall I make tea?”
Rarity swept into the room, bearing several sketchpads. “I’m glad you called when you did, Twilight darling,” she said, setting her purse down on the floor before sitting next to me and flipping through her first sketchpad. “I had just finished a handful of rough designs for you, Sunset, and even Cadence.”
“Me?” Cadence asked.
“Oh, certainly,” the fashionista said. “You don’t have to go with my designs, but I thought it enough to just offer them. After all, I was just in the zone, as it were. Couldn’t put the pencil down.”
She settled on a page and turned it so Twilight and I could see the design settled on it. It showed a dress with a tight bodice and a long flowing skirt with a train. She had lightly sketched in some brocade designs on the bodice on an expanded view sketch off on the margin.
“I thought this one would look best for you, Twilight,” she said. “Your slim frame will be accentuated by the cut of the bodice without being too risqué. The train of the skirt will add a bit of grace without adding too much bulk or difficulty in walking.”
“I like the pattern,” Twilight said. “How do you plan on doing it? “
“I had thought about embroidering them onto an outer layer that I would attach to the dress during final construction.” Rarity pointed at an expanded section of the dress in the corner. “It would fasten with a side zip, cleverly hidden by the brocade. The difficulty of the embroidery will be keeping it light enough so you won’t swelter if you hold the wedding in the summer.”
She turned to me, her smile never shrinking. “Now for you, Sunset, I thought I would stray from the traditional path just a touch, to stay with your more unconventional attitude,” she said, flipping a few pages to reveal a dress with a straight silhouette, ankle length skirt with no train. The bodice had cap sleeves and a square neckline. There was another expanded view of the dress, showing a bolero jacket that went over the dress, with some embroidery patterns that brought to mind the image of flames and phoenixes.
“As you can see, it’s a more casual design, but still classy. It’s adjusted by some ties along the back. The bolero will be fitted close through the waist, but loose in the shoulders. The embroidery is optional, but I thought it suited you.”
“It’s…” words failed me. In just a couple of days, she had designed a beautiful dress for not just me, but for Twilight and apparently Cadence as well.
I wiped a tear from my eye. “It’s beautiful, Rares,” I said. “I love it.”
She beamed, then flipped another set of pages and turned to Cadence.
“For you, Cadence, I thought that something traditional with a touch of personal flair would be perfect. I took this gown idea with a medium train and corseted bodice and adjusted the neckline to a keyhole style, with it a more heart shape as opposed to a round one. It will have bell sleeves and I was thinking of giving the skirts some fairy cuts, giving it some flare as you walk without hampering your stride.”
Cadence’s eyes were a little misty. “I love it,” she said, lacing her fingers with Shining Armors.
Rarity shut that sketchbook and opened the other one.
“I also had some thoughts on bridesmaid dresses for both couples, with some integration of the dress designs in them.”
Later that night, just as I was leaving, Twilight came up to me with a small knapsack.
“What's this?” I asked, taking the bag.
“Something that we should have done a while back,” she said, tapping her fingers nervously. “It’s got a couple changes of clothes and a spare toothbrush in it.”
She smiled. “I thought that maybe, with us engaged and all, I should move a few things in for when I stay the night.”
I smiled and shouldered the bag.
“Fine by me, but don’t you usually steal one of my shirts for bed anyway?”
She grinned back and leaned in a little.
“I like doing that,” she said. “They smell like you.”