//------------------------------// // Clearing the Rubble (Epilogue) // Story: The Walls Came Tumbling Down // by Dianwei32 //------------------------------// The Walls Came Tumbling Down Epilogue Clearing the Rubble Six Months Later Fluttershy’s heart was racing. The thundering of her hear beat crashed in her ears as she tried to take deep, calming breaths. She ran her hooves down her dress, flattening out non-existent wrinkles in the silk. Her pitiful attempt at meditation was interrupted as the door to the room opened and a certain purple unicorn poked her head in. “How are you doing in here Fluttershy?” Twilight asked. “It’s almost time to go out there. Not to worry you too much, but I just peeked into the main hall and there are an awful lot of ponies in there.” “I know.” Fluttershy responded as she ran her hooves over her dress again. “I just looked out there too. Now I’m having a minor panic attack.” She concentrated on making her breathing deep and even. “I haven’t been out in front of this many ponies since I quit being a model.” “Uh oh.” Twilight smirked. “Somepony’s not getting cold hooves are they?” Fluttershy looked back and shot her a confident smile. “Not on your life, Twilight.” * The music of the Royal Canterlot Symphony floated through the ornate archway leading into the main hall of the Canterlot castle as Fluttershy approached it. She could see dozens, if not hundreds, of stallions and mares in the main hall, causing her recently slowed pulse to rapidly accelerate again. She fixed her eyes on the far end of the hall, focusing on the one mare in the room that made the whole spectacle worth it. Rainbow Dash stood at the end of the hall, dressed up for what could only have been the third or fourth time in her life. She wore a Rarity-designed dress that had been altered to more closely resemble a gentlecolt’s suit. The base fabric was a deep navy blue silk, accented with electric yellow accessories to give the ensemble a distinctly Wonderbolts-esque feeling. Dash shifted her gaze down the aisle of the hall and finally noticed Fluttershy’s approach. Both mares felt impossibly large grins spread across their faces at the sight of the other. Every portion of Fluttershy’s body and mind ached to gallop down the aisle and race to Dash’s side, but she forced herself to keep an even, measured pace as she walked the length of the hall. She felt the stares from hundreds of eyes pressing in on her, but for once Fluttershy did not care what anypony else thought of her. As she reached the end of the hall and took her place at Dash’s side, Princess Celestia flared her wings from her place atop the nearby dais. “Mares and Gentlecolts.” Celestia began. “We are gathered here today to bear witness to the union of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in marriage.” “You look amazing, ‘Shy.” Dash whispered. “T- thanks.” A blush crept into Fluttershy’s cheeks, hidden by expertly applied makeup courtesy of Rarity. “Now for the vows.” Celestia continued. “Rainbow Dash, do you take Fluttershy as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, for all the days of your life?” “Sickness? Poorer? Worse?” Dash put a hoof to her chin. “Is there any way we can just get health, richer and better?” A wave of chuckles passed among the assembled ponies and Fluttershy shot a glare at Rainbow, offset by the wry smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “All right, all right.” Dash conceded. “I do.” “Fluttershy,” Celestia turned slightly. “Do you take Rainbow Dash as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, for all the days of your life?” “I do.” Fluttershy replied, her voice confident and carrying over the crowd. “Does the best mare have the rings?” The Princess turned to face Applejack, Rainbow Dash’s best mare. She removed her trademark hat, which she had been allowed to wear despite strenuous objections from Rarity, and produced two lovingly hoofcrafted wedding rings. Attached to each ring was a single feather taken from the other pegasus, allowing each mare to carry a small part of their partner with them at all times. Princess Celestia grasped the rings with her magic and floated them over to the couple. Each pegasus extended their left wing and the Princess magically bound the rings among the primaries. When the spell was complete, each mare had one mismatched feather in their wing attached to the small gold ring. The magic of the spell allowed the feather to move and act like the rest of the natural feathers. Both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash took a moment to examine their own wing and their partner’s before folding their wings back to their sides. “It is my great pleasure to pronounce you mare and wife.” Celestia beamed at the couple. “You may kiss the bride.” Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash leaned in for a brief kiss that they had agreed upon earlier despite Dash’s inclination for a more passionate show of affection. The hall erupted into a cacophonous uproar of cheering. The floor of the grand room quaked slightly under the sudden stampede of pounding hooves as everypony present sounded their approval. The newly married couple cantered their way down the aisle and headed towards the reception, planned and catered by Pinkie Pie of course. The reception area was decorated with streamers and balloons of every color, typical of every Pinkie Pie party. However, every eye was drawn to the center of the room, where the wedding cake towered over everything else. The sugary monstrosity stood ten layers tall, each layer raised above the lower one by three-inch risers. At the very top of the cake, barely visible from ground level, were two hoofcrafted cake toppers resembling Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. “How did you even make this thing, Pinkie?” Dash stared up at the cake with a mixture of awe and hunger. “I’m curious about that too.” Twilight added. “Not to put a damper on the festivities, but this cake seems to be defying at least three laws of physics by even existing, much less staying upright.” “Oh, you silly fillies.” Pinkie Pie patted Twilight on the head. “You think too hard. It’s just a cake. Stop thinking and just eat it.” She took her own advice and hopped over to the cake. She opened her mouth impossibly wide and moved to take a bite before Applejack pulled her away. “Hold on there, sugarcube.” Applejack reeled in the excitable party pony. “This here is ‘Shy and Dash’s weddin’, so they get to cut the cake.” Fluttershy and Dash trotted up to the cake and cut two small bites. They went to feed the cake to each other, but at the last second Fluttershy smeared the cake along Dash’s muzzle. “I’m gonna get ya for that.” Dash narrowed her eyes in fake anger. “I’d like to see you try.” Fluttershy responded. Together, they turned and headed for an empty portion of the room as several unicorn waiters began cutting the cake for the guests. Immediately, a line of guests formed near the couple, wanting to give their congratulations. After they spoke and shook hooves with what seemed like every pony they had ever met, Dash spotted a certain elderly mare headed towards them. “Head’s up, ‘Shy.” Dash whispered. “Here comes Granny Smith.” Over the six months between their engagement and the wedding, Fluttershy and Rainbow had made sure to try and hide their relationship from Granny Smith, afraid of her potential reaction. “Well, this here is sure one humdinger of a party.” The elder pony exclaimed as she reached the couple. “Ah sure am mighty happy fer y’all. Why Ah’m happier than pig in a mud hole.” “Wait, so you’re cool with me and ‘Shy together?” Dash asked with a slight air of disbelief. “It doesn’t matter to ya that we’re both mares? We thought ya might be against that sorta thing.” “Oh, ponyfeathers.” Granny Smith retorted. “That don’t matter none.” She jabbed a hoof at Dash’s chest. “The way Ah see it is that if ya find somepony that ya love, ya gotta hold on tight and never let ‘em go.” “Thank you, Granny Smith. That means a lot to us.” Fluttershy smiled and turned to Dash. “Although, it’s too late for Dash to back out now.” She extended her wing and revealed the single light blue feather among the canary yellow. “She’s stuck with me now.” Fluttershy stuck out her tongue at Rainbow. “I prefer to think of it as you who's stuck with me.” Dash flared her own wing to show the swapped feather. “Well aren’t you two just cuter than kittens in a box.” Granny Smith turned to eye a group of stallions across the room. “Now, if’n you’ll excuse me, Ah see a couple nice lookin’ gentlecolts over there and Ah need to see if Ah can convince one of ‘em to make a pass at Applejack. That filly needs to learn that there’s more to life than the farm.” “Good luck with that.” Dash rolled her eyes as Granny Smith waddled over to the stallions. “Good luck to whom with what, exactly?” Rarity trotted over to stand by Fluttershy and Dash. “Oh, Granny Smith is going to talk to that group of stallions over there.” Fluttershy pointed out the group with a hoof. “She’s going to try and convince one of them to try and ask Applejack out.” “Hmph.” Rarity turned her nose up. “Well that endeavor is doomed to failure. I have it on good authority that they are simply not attracted to mares.” “They shot ya down, huh?” Dash patted Rarity on the back before she stormed away. “That wasn’t very nice, Dashie.” Fluttershy tried to scold her new wife, but could not hold in a smile. “Come on, you know the first thing Rarity did as soon as she got here was scope out the single stallions and make a pass or two.” Dash gazed longingly towards the slowly shrinking wedding cake at the center of the room. “I bet she hasn’t even had any of that delicious cake yet.” “Well, it is our cake.” Fluttershy looked on as the seventh of the ten layers was magically removed to be cut and eaten. “I suppose it is only fair that we go get a piece.” “My thoughts exactly.” Dash galloped off in the direction of the cake. “Hey there Fluttershy.” Twilight cantered over to fill Rainbow’s recently vacated spot. “Where’s the other mare of the hour? Wait, let me guess... cake?” Fluttershy simply smiled and nodded. “I should have figured.” Twilight rolled her eyes. She shifted her hooves nervously and looked around briefly. “Say, Fluttershy... I’ve been meaning to ask you something. I’m really, really sorry I have to bring this up today, but I have to stay here in Canterlot for a while and I know you and Dash are leaving tonight to go to Las Pegasus for your honeymoon.” Fluttershy raised a hoof to stop Twilight’s rambling. “It’s alright. What’s on your mind?” “Well...” Twilight scratched the back of her neck with a hoof. “It’s about... Thunderlane. I never heard about what happened to him after the incident at the farm. I know he was put on trial and that you and Dash had to give sworn statements to the police, but I don’t know what the outcome was.” “Oh, is that all?” Fluttershy smiled reassuringly. “The trial actually just finished last week. Thunderlane was convicted on one count of attempted ponycide and two counts of aggravated assault. The judge sentenced him to seven years in prison.” “Wow.” Twilight’s mouth hung open slightly at the news. “That’s... good? I guess?” Fluttershy shrugged. “I honestly don’t care anymore. He took almost fifteen years of my life from me, I’m not letting him have another second.” She looked over to the main table where Dash was enjoying a piece of cake in each hoof. “All I know is now I’ve got Dashie, and that’s all I need. What happened back then is the past, and that’s where I intend to leave it.” Twilight reached forward and pulled Fluttershy into a hug. “I’m so happy for both of you. You two really do make a cute couple.” She released the embrace and stepped back. “I have to go find Applejack and Pinkie and let them know I won’t be heading back to Ponyville with them. Enjoy the reception and your honeymoon.” Don’t worry, I plan to. Fluttershy thought to herself. She would never vocalize such a thought to anyone but Dash, but she still liked to make slightly inappropriate comments in her head. Her mind was blissfully silent in return, just as it had been for the past seven months. In addition to the voice’s absence, she had not had a blackout since the events at Sweet Apple Acres. The mocking internal voice had never resurfaced after it’s ominous parting comment during the fight with Thunderlane. One of these days, your kindness is going to cost you something that you’re not willing to pay. Fluttershy smiled as she gazed out over the reception. Ultimately, her mind’s warning had been an empty threat. She looked back on how much her life had changed over the past seven months. She had finally admitted to herself that she had feelings for Rainbow Dash, only to have Dash return those same feelings. She had managed to confront her past, both figuratively and literally, with the help of Dash and the rest of her friends. Last, but certainly not least, she had proposed to and married the love of her life. For the first time since she started Flight School, Fluttershy felt truly happy.