//------------------------------// // The Day Before // Story: A Wedding at Twilight // by TheShadou //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle was sitting at the vanity brushing her hair. She watched herself in the mirror while the brush straightened out her mane. She had a pleasant smile on her face. As she finished up with her brushing, she glanced over slightly to see the reflection of Rainbow Dash still lying on the bed. Rainbow watched as Twilight was sprucing herself up in the mirror. It was a morning routine that had become regular ever since they had started spending their nights together. In the morning, Twilight would get up and get herself ready for the day. Rainbow would lazily lie in bed and watch before she got up herself. Watching Twilight in the morning had become something that Rainbow Dash enjoyed very much. They weren’t in a rush today, as no one had anything planned until noon. So Twilight took her time getting ready for the day, and Rainbow just lie there in bed. After she was done getting ready however, Twilight turned her attention to the pegasus lying on the bed. She walked over and smiled at Rainbow Dash. “Come on, lazy, it’s time to get up.” Twilight said in a teasing manner. “Aww, come on, Twi, we don’t have anywhere to be right now. Couldn’t we just relax for a bit longer?” Rainbow asked as she flopped on her side. Twilight chuckled in her throat before answering, “I guess we can be lazy for a while, but it’s still time to get out of bed. Come on.” Rainbow moaned with a playfully annoyed tone before saying, “All right, I’ll get up.” She crawled over to the edge of the bed where Twilight stood, and gave her a little nuzzle on her cheek. Twilight smiled and accepted the playful nuzzle. Just then, a knock came at the door that adjoined the room they were in with the one right next to it. Twilight knew who was knocking and said “Come in.” She then used her magic to open the door. As the door opened, a little head popped in. Nyx looked around the room and spotted the two mares at the bed. She smiled and walked into the room. She was awake and ready to see her mother and Rainbow Dash. “Good morning!” Nyx greeted, cheerfully. “Good morning, Nyx.” Twilight said in a motherly tone. “Morning, kid.” Rainbow said as she got off of the bed and stood next to Twilight. “Did you sleep well?” Twilight asked after she and Nyx hugged. Nyx looked up to her mother and chirped a happy “Yep!” She then walked over to Rainbow and smiled up to her. Rainbow tussled Nyx’s hair before scooping up the filly and hugging her. After she put her down, Nyx smoothed her hair with her hoof and giggled. “So is Spike awake yet, or…” Twilight asked already knowing the answer. “No. He’s still asleep.” Nyx answered. Twilight and Rainbow both rolled their eyes and smiled to each other before the three of them started laughing. They were soon interrupted by Spike however. Spike yawned before asking, “Hey. What’s everyone laughing at?” The three ponies stopped laughing for a moment, looked at each other, and started laughing even harder. Spike watched on in confusion as his three friends continued to laugh, merrily. They finally calmed down enough to give Spike an answer. “Oh, nothing. We were just sharing a good laugh together, that’s all.” Twilight said with a bubbly voice after laughing so much. The other two smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. Spike shrugged his shoulders and walked into the room. “Well anyway, today is the day of the big wedding rehearsal. You two ready?” Spike said, pointing at the two mares. “Yep! We’re all ready to go. When the time comes, I mean. Right Rainbow?” Twilight looked to Rainbow Dash with a smile. Rainbow smiled back and nodded her head. Though, as she did, she felt her nerves start to rise. She didn’t want to worry anyone or disappoint Twilight, so she kept quiet about it. “Well, it’s not for a few more hours, but why don’t you two go get ready. When you’re done, we can all head out for some breakfast.” Twilight said to Spike and Nyx. The two young ones ran back to their room to get ready. The whole time, Nyx giggled to herself, and Spike smiled excitedly. Rainbow watched the two of them disappear into the room next door. She was about to walk over to the mirror when she heard Spike say, “Hey Nyx, have you ever thought about how when Twilight and Rainbow Dash get married, Rainbow will become, like, your new mom?” Nyx’s excitement was clearly heard in her voice when she responded. “Yeah! It’s so exciting! I’ll get to have two parents. I can’t wait!” Rainbow listened to the conversation, and began to feel uneasy. She was a little excited herself about technically becoming Nyx’s second mother, but now, the day before the wedding, she was starting to worry. ~ The morning passed quickly for everypony in the castle, despite some waiting impatiently for the events of later that day. Noon came around and all who needed to be in the throne room were present. All but one. Pinkie Pie was almost bouncing off the walls, she was so excited. “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I’m so excited!” “Pinkie, please. I’m excited as well, but you should really calm down. Today is only the wedding rehearsal, not the actual wedding itself.” Rarity said while watching Pinkie bounce up and down. “I know, I know. But it’s still exciting. Today is like the second best part of a wedding, because we get to practice it. It’s almost like we get to have the wedding twice! That’s why I’m so excited.” Pinkie explained, cheerfully. Rarity smiled and shook her head in response to Pinkie. She looked around at the decorations that had been organized and set up by Twilight and said to her, “This all looks marvelous, Twilight.” “Oh, thank you Rarity. I’m glad you approve. I tried to keep your advice about aesthetics in mind while Princess Celestia and I arranged the decor.” Twilight said to her friend. “It looks wonderful, Darling. I’m happy you took my advice, but still kept to your own style. It is your wedding after all. Your big day as well as Rainbow Dash’s, of course.” Rarity smiled approvingly to Twilight, who beamed her pride at the fashionista’s approval. Applejack glanced around the small crowd and noticed that somepony was missing. “Hey, where’s Rainbow Dash?” Everyone looked around and saw that she was indeed missing. They all looked first to Rainbow’s parents, who shook their heads at the questioning ponies. Then they all looked to Twilight who said, “I thought she was right behind us. I’m not sure where she is.” “Maybe she got distracted.” Spike guessed. “I’ll go look for her. She probably just… well, I don’t really know what could be keeping her. I hope she’s alright.” Fluttershy said as she began to fly off in search of the missing mare. Just then, Rainbow Dash came around a corner and shouted over to her friends, “I’m here!” She flew over and landed near the group. She smiled awkwardly at the inquisitive looks she was getting from them. “I was, uh… I was… fixing a loose banner! Yeah. That’s it. I was fixing a loose banner that had fallen down.” Rainbow explained. “Which banner? There were only hanging ribbons in the halls.” Twilight asked while thinking back to the path they had taken through the castle. “Ribbon! I meant ribbon.” Rainbow nervously corrected. She rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof and flicked her tail. Her wings seemed to be twitching slightly, and she lifted her back right hoof up, then quickly back down. She was actually hanging back on purpose. Rainbow was looking at the decor on the way, and she let her nerves get the best of her. She had stopped before the last corner and waited. Thinking about why they were headed to the throne room had made her legs heavy and her heart race. She was listening to her friends from around the corner, and what they said only made her even more nervous. “Well, now that we are all here, shall we proceed with today’s plans?” Celestia asked. Everyone agreed vocally to Celestia’s suggestion. Everyone, except Rainbow Dash, who just swallowed loudly. Nyx was standing the closest to Rainbow Dash, and was the only one who seemed to notice her nervous mannerisms. She wondered to herself why Rainbow was acting like this. Nyx had never seen Rainbow act this way. The group all headed in through the throne room doors to where they would practice for the upcoming ceremony. They all walked in while Rainbow Dash slowly followed along next to Nyx. The little filly watched Rainbow the entire way. As she did, she began to get suspicious feelings about the pegasus. The group had gone through the rehearsal in full, and they were now enjoying the remainder of the day together, for the most part. Twilight had been doing well up until now. However, she was staring to worry about everything, like she does. It wasn’t bad, but Rainbow Dash wasn’t being much help to her fiancé at the moment. She just sat on a cushion and stared into space. This left the job of calming Twilight down to the other ponies. While Twilight was being calmed by her friends, Rainbow Dash tuned everything out while she sat and thought. She thought about her relationship with Twilight. She was amazing in Rainbow’s eyes. Everything about the purple alicorn was perfect. Sure, they got on each other’s nerves from time to time, but that just made Rainbow’s feelings grow stronger. ‘Twilight Sparkle is the best thing that could have happened to me,’ she thought. Rainbow couldn’t help but feel elated by the thoughts that floated around her head. But as each good memory and happy thought lingered in her mind, her fears only grew stronger. The mare of her dreams was just that, the mare of her dreams. ‘She deserves the best. Can I give that to her? Maybe I…’ Rainbow’s train of thought was interrupted by the excited voice of Rarity. “Hello? Rainbow Dash, are you listening?” Rainbow shook her head and came back to the outside world. The others were doing other things around the room, except for Rarity and Nyx, who were waiting for Rainbow Dash to respond to them. “Huh? What did you say? I wasn’t listening.” Rainbow asked in response to the two in front of her. “I said, ‘have you ever thought about what will happen once you are married to Twilight?’” Rarity repeated. “What do you mean?” Rainbow asked. “What she means is, have you ever thought about how you will become a princess after you marry my mom?” Nyx explained. “I’ll be a princess!?” Rainbow asked, feeling somewhat surprised. “Technically, you will. Not the same as Twilight, or Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, but you would still gain the title in an honorary way. Like how Shining Armor is now technically a prince because he's married to Princess Cadence.” Rarity explained. Rainbow had never thought about that. She hadn’t considered what marrying a princess would mean. She only ever thought of marrying Twilight as marrying the pony that she loved. Rainbow Dash was even more nervous now. Thoughts about this new piece of information began to zoom through her head. ‘A Princess? Me? What does that even mean? Will I have to do princessy things? Why have I never thought about this before?’ Rainbow’s composure was beginning to falter. Her fright was beginning to show, and Rarity quickly picked up on it. “Rainbow Dash, are you feeling nervous?” “Huh? What?” Rainbow asked as she was pulled out from her mind yet again. “Nervous, Darling. Are you feeling nervous?” Rarity repeated. She was showing concern on her face. She was also trying to be soothing in order to calm her ailing friend. “I’m not nervous! Who says I’m nervous?” Rainbow exclaimed. Her attempt to convince Rarity of this statement proved to be in vain, however. Rarity chuckled and got closer to Rainbow Dash. She put a hoof on her shoulder and smiled warmly at her nervous friend. “I understand that this is a very big event, Rainbow. Anyone would be nervous when it comes to such an important step in a relationship. It’s natural to feel even just a little frightened, especially when the big day brings even more to a pony’s life than the average marriage does.” Rainbow listened to her friend’s words and considered what she was saying. “This is a very big step. It will defiantly change some things about your life, as well as Twilight’s, but I know that you two will be happy together.” Rarity finished comforting Rainbow with a smile. Rainbow thought about those last words, ‘happy together.’ Rainbow turned her head and looked over to the rest of her friends, who were talking and laughing together. She looked at Twilight and watched for a moment as she smiled and laughed. Rainbow loved to see her friends happy, and she loved to see Twilight happy. Rarity’s words struck at Rainbow’s heart, and she calmed down. She regained her composer and looked back at Rarity. “Thanks, Rarity. I’m feeling better now.” Rainbow said, softly. Rarity smiled and took her hoof from Rainbow’s shoulder. “I’m glad I could help.” She said still using her most soothing voice. “Pre-wedding jitters are completely natural.” Rarity looked out a window and took notice of how late it must have been. The sun had been gone from the sky for at least an hour now. She turned toward her friends and said, “Everypony, I believe that we should all be heading off to bed now. We have a long day tomorrow, and we should get to bed early if we want to be ready for it.” Everyone noticed the time, and agreed. They began to head off to their guest rooms. Once they each arrived at their own rooms, they said goodnight to each other and went inside to go to sleep. Before Twilight, Spike, Nyx and Rainbow could enter their room however, Rarity suddenly stopped them. “Wait! Rainbow Dash, you must come with me. You’ll be staying with me tonight.” She said as she began to trot off to her own room. “Huh? Why?” Rainbow said, confused. “Why? Because, it’s bad luck for the bride and, well, the other bride to see each other before the wedding.” Rarity explained. Pinkie Pie, who was still with the group, added “Yeah. The brides to be can’t see each other until the ceremony begins, or the marriage might not work out.” “Well, I wouldn’t really go that far, but still…” Rarity trailed off in response to Pinkie’s rather ‘over-the-top’ explanation. Rainbow Dash looked to Twilight with an inquisitive expression, who looked back with the same look. Neither of them where very superstitious, but Twilight seemed to agree with the suggestion, though somewhat reluctantly. Rainbow caught on to Twilight’s thoughts before she could even speak. Rainbow didn’t like the idea of not getting to stay with Twilight, but they knew their friends. It was easier to just give in and go along with it. It was only for a night and half a day anyway, they figured that they could manage. The five remaining ponies and the one dragon all said their goodnights to each other before heading off to bed. Rainbow Dash and Twilight kissed and hugged each other for a minute. After the hug, Rainbow kissed Twilight one last time, before following Rarity to her room. Rainbow looked back over her shoulder at Twilight, who was watching her leave. They had spent times apart that lasted much longer, of course, but tonight felt different. They knew that they would definitely miss each other a lot more tonight. As Rainbow lie in bed that night, she thought about the events of the day. She thought about everything that had been bothering her. She remembered all the days she had spent with Twilight as a couple, and she thought about how blissfully happy they had been. Then Rainbow thought about tomorrow, and about the wedding. The thoughts of the following days were making her feel uneasy. For whatever reason, she just couldn’t stop feeling scared. She worried about what the future would hold for her. She worried about what would happen to her life. She worried about the ponies whose live would be changing besides her own. But all of this paled in comparison to her biggest concern, 'Twilight.' The thoughts in her head made her feel queasy. Normally, she could roll over, and there Twilight would be. She could cuddle up to her and all of the world’s problems would seemingly just slip away, and Rainbow Dash would feel just fine. But tonight, she was alone. Rainbow looked into the darkness, and she missed Twilight. Tonight was going to be a long night.