Chapter 16: Wedding
I’ve never been to one of these before. Like most kids, I was born way after my Mother and Father had married and in the meantime there hadn’t been a wedding with either of my parent’s friends. So the only unique life experiences I had been able to taste, so to speak, were funerals and birthdays. Perhaps it was some sort of irony injected by the universe to have me experience the two extremes.
I allowed myself to walk around, taking in the novelty of the wedding. I got fitted in a suit, nothing fancy, just a plain black suit. I enjoyed the feeling of the suit making me feel a little swanky, even if it were a mite uncomfortable compared to my casual clothes. My Dad thought the opposite and would at every opportunity slip out of the suit fitted for him to walk around in his regular old jeans and t-shirt, much to the exasperation of Tempora.
Soon, very soon, I would be the official stepson and for all legal intents and purposes the son and heir to the throne of Equestria. Tempora would be my stepmother and my father in a rare bout of seriousness, had impressed upon me the importance of referring to her as ‘Mother’ or ‘Mom’, if I was feeling casual. I gave my father some slack because it was his wedding and also because I was his best man. I felt happy for him but a little sad that my biological mother wasn’t here to see this. I’m sure she would probably be happy for Dad too. Either that, or she would utterly destroy him if she wasn’t dead.
We went through several practice rehearsals. I wasn’t an expert in weddings, having never been to one, as previously mentioned but apart from a lack of a church organ to play ‘Wedding March’, it was surprisingly similar. I wasn’t party to the planning so I didn’t know if it was Earth influenced and that was where I found the similarities, or if it was Equestrian influenced and they coincidentally had very similar weddings.
Despite the antics of my father, Tempora had never looked so happy. I hadn’t known her for long of course, but a smile that wide was just impossible unless one were exploding with joy, sunshine and rainbows. Something Tempora seemed to have overflowing inside of her.
I went through the motions of the wedding. I had the chance to admire Tempora’s stunning wedding dress, which was not in the standard white and frilly affair of normal wedding dresses but a complex pattern of stars as diamonds, the skies as skeins of coloured aqua, crimson and orange silk and an eye-catching hem of rubies that set a bedazzling display of beauty and grace. As Tempora had entered the rehearsal in that dress, she had blushed furiously as everyone’s eyes were immediately drawn to the beautiful design. It kept my Dad still for five whole minutes. Yes, no other force in the universe were capable of doing that. I had to hand it to the power of love.
Celestia and Luna had been adorably costumed for this event as well. Their dresses matched their themes of the day and night, at least, that was what List had told me. Celestia had a white and sun-yellow dress trimmed with satin and silver threading that gave me the impression of the coming dawn. Luna had dulcet midnight tones with rich silk studded with deep blue sapphires and diamonds which gave me the impression of staring into the night sky.
Even though I had never asked it, Discord had been made a crimson vest and surprisingly, Tempora had allowed him to lead the two sisters foals down the aisle as they shook flower petals from a basket held in their mouths. I was aware of the slight atmosphere of disapproval from the members of the audience around the hall during rehearsal but I paid them no heed and Discord and I kept both our spirits up by messing around after the serious rehearsal was finished.
After a couple of run throughs of the rehearsal I dashed around to help with the preparations. I wasn’t required to but it felt like the right thing to do. Servants that were carrying absurd loads of cutlery, cloth or culinary treats gave me a grateful smile as I leant them a helping hand. They even warmed up to Discord slightly as he tagged along to help move some items as well.
All in all, it had been the most hectic, but surprisingly fun, day I had experienced in a while.
The real wedding procession went smooth as a greased gear. We all did our parts with no slip ups except a minor moment when Luna tripped on the hem of her skirt and stumbled a few steps. That conjured up more smiles than anything, though, and I thought it added to the event rather than take away. The wedding didn’t have anyone of significant authority to preside over the ceremony (for what authority could be higher than Tempora’s?) so there was a direct exchange of vows and the swapping of rings and the slow passionate kiss as a rumble of hoofs and the lone clapping of one’s hands echoed around the throne room.
I won’t bore you with the details of the reception, but needless to say, these were precious moments I was living in. History was in the making in front of me and I realised I was witnessing the moment when two worlds touched together and were bound to each other’s fates. For some reason, this precious moment when hand clasped with hoof was there for the world to see, I thought of Cadance and how she wasn’t able to see this beautiful moment.
I know it’s sappy, but I liked to think that she did...