Chapter Three: The Big Day
The day of Cranky and Matilda's wedding had finally arrived. At Carousel Boutique, Pinkie and the other bridesmares were having some final adjustments made to their gowns. White wasn't Pinkie's favorite color, but for such a momentous occasion, she was willing to sacrifice.
All in all, Pinkie felt quite proud of herself. She had resisted the temptation to turn the wedding into a wild, crazy party, keeping it traditionally quiet and understated. The thought of how happy Cranky and Matilda would be with her work had kept her smiling all through Rarity's ministrations.
At the moment, Pinkie and the others were waiting for Rarity to put the finishing touches on Matilda's dress.
All too soon, Matilda emerged, looking quite beautiful in a white silk dress, a bouquet entwined in her tail.
"Wow, Matilda!" Pinkie hopped over to her. "You look great!"
"Thank you, Pinkie." Matilda beamed.
"Indeed." Rarity nodded. "Quite possibly my best work yet, if I do say so myself."
"No time like the present, gals." Pinkie declared. "Let's get moving!"
The entourage made their way outside the Boutique, where a white carriage, pulled by the earth pony Chance-A-Lot, waited to take them to the chapel.
After a short trip, the bridal procession entered the chapel, where practically every pony in Ponyville waited inside. Among the guests sitting in the pews were Twilight, Spike, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, Mr. and Mrs. Cake (with the unusually well-behaved twins in their laps), Caramel and his girlfriend Wind Whistler, and even the zebra Zecora was in attendance. The sheer number of guests was no surprise to Pinkie; Matilda had lived in Ponyville for a long time, and was friends with more or less everypony there.
With the bride having arrived, the organist began playing the Bridal March. Mr. Waddle, who was performing the marriage ceremony itself, stepped forward.
The bridal procession moved forward. As they went, Pinkie heard snippets of whispered conversation from the guests.
"Isn't this beautiful, ginger snap?" Mrs. Cake whispered to her husband.
"Reminds me of our wedding, honeybun." Mr. Cake nuzzled his wife.
"Does this give you any ideas, sweetie?" Wind Whistler grinned at Caramel.
"Maybe..." Caramel grinned back.
As they walked towards the altar, Pinkie spotted Cranky, wearing a dashing top hat with matching tails and a new wig (Provided by Rarity, who dubbed it "The Dreamboat Special Deluxe"). He was flanked by a donkey friend of his from Fillydelphia, who served as his best stallion. Laying eyes on Matilda, Cranky smiled wider then ever before.
Pinkie could barely contain her excitement, not to mention her relief. The big day had finally come, and absolutely nothing had gone wrong!
Suddenly, the music stopped abruptly. Looking over, Pinkie saw that one of the pipe organ's key was producing no sound. After tapping two or three times, the organist raised both hooves, ready to bring them both down hard on the defective key.
At that point, Pinkie suddenly remembered that it was in the pipe organ that she had stuffed her party supplies days ago.
"No, wait!" Pinkie cried in vain, just as the organist brought his hooves down on the key.
Suddenly, a shower of confetti, streamers, and uninflated balloons blasted out of the pipes, raining down on everypony in the church. Pinkie guiltily looked over at Cranky and Matilda, whose mouths hung open in surprise.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Pinkie babbled rapidly. "I knew you'd want a normal, quiet wedding, so I stuffed all my party stuff in the pipe organ so I wouldn't be tempted, but I didn't know that would happen! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so very sorry!"
Cranky and Matilda looked at Pinkie, then each other, then started laughing merrily.
"Why are you laughing?" Asked a hugely confused Pinkie. "I just ruined your big day!"
"Oh, Pinkie." Chuckled Cranky as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Why do you think we wanted you to be our Mare of Honor in the first place?"
"We were hoping you'd liven up the proceedings." Matilda smiled. "Your standard wedding is such a dull affair."
"To be honest, we were starting to get worried when we saw the chapel earlier this week." Cranky told her. "We thought something was wrong."
"But it appears we thought wrongly." Matilda indicated teh brightly-colored objects strewn across the chapel. "You always were good at surprises, my dear."
"So... you're not mad?" Pinkie asked tentatively. "Everything's okay?"
"Everything's perfect." Matilda smiled.
"Couldn't be better." Cranky grinned.
"Phew!" Pinkie mopped her brow. "I can't believe I held back my Pinkieness for no reason! Kinda silly, huh?"
"Pardon me, miss Pinkie." Mr. Waddle piped up. "As interesting as all this is, we still do have a wedding to get through."
"Oh, right!" Pinkie chuckled, returning to her rightful position. "Sorry!"
Mr. Waddle began the ceremony. It was the standard wedding fare, ending with the classic line: "You may now kiss the bride."
When Cranky and Matilda's lips met, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Even Rainbow Dash, who by her own admission wasn't a fan of "sappy stuff" shed a tear or two.
The ceremony complete, the newlyweds made their way down the aisle. As they reached the chapel door, Matilda tossed her bouquet into the air. Practically every mare in the vicinity scrabbled for it, only for the flowers to end up speared through the horn of a bemused Twilight Sparkle, who hadn't even tried to catch them.
"Well, well!" Spike sniggered. "Who's the lucky guy?"
"Very funny, Spike." Twilight rolled her eyes.
Upon leaving the chapel, the newlyweds and their guests made their way to Sugarcube Corner for the reception. Once everypony there was seated and served, Pinkie stood up and raised her glass of cider.
"A toast to the happy couple!" She declared.
"Cheers!" The crowd roared as one.
"Thank you, everypony." Matilda smiled.
"And how about a toast to our Mare of Honor, who has truly made this a day to remember?" Cranky suggested.
Once again, the crowd cheered.
"Aw, shucks!" Pinkie beamed, using her best Applejack impression. "T'weren't nuthin'!"
As everypony was having their fill of the food, the newlyweds turned to Pinkie.
"After dinner, we'll be having the dance." Matilda told her.
"Think you can add a little of your Pinkie Pie magic to the proceedings, kid?" Cranky asked.
"You bet!" Pinkie jumped up onto her chair. "I ordered a bunch of new party supplies for today. I could have had them here sooner, but that was back when I thought you didn't want a Pinkie-style wedding, so I wanted to make sure I wasn't tempted- Holy moly! What am I still standing around here for?"
And with that, Pinkie devoured what was left on her plate in one gulp and sped upstairs, ready to load her party cannon for maximum festive dispersal.
Once the food had been finished, the tables were cleared away, and music (provided by Ponyville's resident band) filled the room, prompting everypony to start dancing. Cranky and Matilda entered into a close, slow dance, just as Pinkie arrived downstairs with the party cannon.
"PARTY TIME!" She cheered, firing the cannon in every direction.
Confetti, streamers and balloons rained down on the amused guests, Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake especially, who cheered and reached for the brightly colored objects as they descended upon them.
Cranky and Matilda parted slightly to behold the festive rain all around them.
"We made the perfect choice, my darling." Cranky smiled.
"So true, Doodle." Matilda smiled back.
As the two donkeys kissed again, Pinkie leapt up into the air and loudly proclaimed "Best. Day. Ever!"
The End.