//------------------------------// // Agápe // Story: Amor // by 314 //------------------------------// “For goodness sake Rainbow, can’t you hold still?” Rarity complained, trying to make sure the last bit of fabric was the proper length. “You keep poking me! How am I supposed to be still?” Rainbow shot back, shifting again as she did so. “Well you’re the one who always talks about how tough you are.” The tape measure snapped shut and floated over to a bag filled with different tools for making dresses. “There. I’m done. Now if you excuse me, I have to go and sort out Twilight’s dress. And don’t even get me started on the bridesmaids’ dresses.” Rarity lifted her bag in the air and started to trot out the door, only to pause at the exit. “Fluttershy, you will make sure she’s ready on time, won’t you?” “Of course!” she replied, nodding her head eagerly from where she sat in the back of the smallish room. Fluttershy gently clicked the door shut, turning around to look at Dash with a soft smile. “Rainbow, today is very stressful for her. Perhaps you could be a teeny bit nicer next time.” “Stressful for her? I’m the one getting married! In a dress!” Rainbow flew up to the ceiling, circling around it and lazily drifting through the room. She had refused to put on anything until the last minute. How else could she fly around otherwise? “A dress she had to make,” Fluttershy pointed out, staring up at her friend from the floor. “And you know that she wouldn’t have even let you step out of this room unless you were wearing a dress.” Rainbow grumbled to herself in discontent. “Yeah, well, I don’t get why I have to wear one. Twi didn’t date me just for looks.” She opened her mouth to respond, then thought the better of it. It would have just gone in the same cycle as their previous discussions on the matter. If Twilight hadn’t directly intervened, it might not have ever gotten anywhere. “It’s just for one day at least. I just don’t like wearing dresses! They’re too immobile.” “Rainbow,” Fluttershy said softly, flying up to Rainbow’s height and slightly behind her to start brushing her mane back with a hoof, smoothing it out and flattening it. “It’s okay to be a little worried about today.” “I’m not worried! Or stressed!” Rainbow’s voice cracked, “It just all seems really unnecessary. I get why Cadance and Shining Armor got married here in Canterlot, but she was a Princess! I dunno why we couldn’t have just had it in Ponyville.” Fluttershy giggled to herself. “You know, Rainbow, Twilight is a Princess too.” The disgruntled mare looked back at Fluttershy, considering her point with another grumble. “Oh. Right. But Ponyville’s got a castle now too, ya know!” Yellow flitted into Rainbow’s vision as her friend hovered in front of her, hooves crossed across her chest. “Rainbow...” “Yeah, yeah, I know,” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes almost dismissively, until Fluttershy gave her a faint yet scolding glare. A brief frown crossed her face, as she slowly settled back down to the ground with Fluttershy following her. “It’s just a big step, ya know? I’m happy about it, I really am. It just seems to have happened so fast.” “It’s been eight months since Twilight proposed to you. And a lot has happened since then.” “Eight months, two weeks, three days, fourteen hours, and some minutes. Dunno the exact number.” Fluttershy gave her a surprised look at the unusually specific statistic. Rainbow chuckled, then looked towards the door. “Twi’s been saying it for weeks. Even had a countdown on the wall of her room.” “Well let’s not wait until a minute before to get ready. I’m sure the dress won’t be that bad. It certainly looks lovely.” “Oh alright. Do your fancy clothing stuff.” Rainbow stood still, facing away from the mirror while Fluttershy did her best to get her into the wedding dress. All in all, it wasn’t terrible extravagant. She had asked Rarity for something simple and, despite the protest, her friend has delivered. Instead of ridiculous amount of lace, it was one mostly streamlined piece of cloth designed to emulate her passion for speed. Light, billowy transparent cloth draped off the back and ran along the ground for only a few inches. Whenever Rainbow moved, it would momentarily fluff up around her, giving her the appearance of a wispy cloud. Lightning bolts and clouds were carefully stitched all along the hem in golden thread, and the outline of her cutie mark was embroided where the cloth met at her chest. It covered her wings, something she was displeased about, but she’d manage. She went about barehoofed, as the one and only attempt by Rarity to get her into dress shoes ended up with the boutique earning itself a never-ending thunderstorm until she relented on the matter. The slim, golden engagement band on her left hoof was the only decoration she had, and she hadn’t removed that since she put it on eight months, two weeks, three days, and fourteen hours ago. Her mane and tail remained the way they were, albeit neatly brushed. Around her neck she wore a necklace identical to her Element of Loyalty. It might not have been the real thing, but she wore it proudly anyways, like a military medal. Finally, a slim golden circlet sat atop her head. Celestia had given it to her when they arrived in Canterlot, saying that she was a Princess by marriage now. Whatever. Fluttershy tucked a white lily behind Rainbow’s ear, then stepped back to view her little bit of handiwork. “Alright, what do you think?” She turned around, glancing at herself in the mirror. All in all, she looked like a slightly prettier Rainbow Dash in a rather stunning-but-simple white dress. “Fluttershy, what is the reason for all the white again? “White is the color of purity, birth, and hope,” she said, stepping around to make sure everything was perfectly in its place. “It’s supposed to symbolize a new beginning for the married couple, with hope that they’ll last forever.” “Oh. Well that’s cool I guess.” She got lost in thought for a minute or so, looking into the mirror at herself. Finally, she shook her head and returned to the metaphorical ground. “You need help getting into your dress?” A giggle came from behind her. “You’re a little late Rainbow.” The pegasus spun around, only to beam as she saw Fluttershy standing demurely in her light blue, almost white dress. It was tinged with cyan, just enough to compliment Rainbow’s coat. Much to Rarity’s dismay, it had to accompany Rainbow’s rather simple outfit. Both dresses had stitching on the border and at the neck, though Fluttershy’s instead showed flowers, butterflies, and a whole host of animal creatures. It was light and breezy as well, a style well suited to them both. However, she wore sandals that seemed to be made of flowers, twining up her legs almost like live vines growing. Just then, a knock came at the door. Applejack poked her head in, dressed up but still wearing her hat. “You two ready? Rarity wants y’all to go ahead and come down.” “We’ll be right along AJ. You look nice, by the way.” “Right back at ya Rainbow.” The door swung shut with a click, and the two pegasi looked at each other and grinned. “You ready to walk me down the aisle?” “Oh yes. I’m still surprised you picked me.” They headed out the door and down the steps from their prep room, still casually talking. “Why wouldn’t I? You’re the closest thing I’ve got to family with my mom gone and, well, you know my dad wouldn’t count anyways. If he shows up I’ll be surprised. ”Not like he’d pull his head out of the bottle long enough to even notice I’m getting married,” she mumbled, pulling away from Fluttershy’s side. “Aww, it’ll be alright. Who knows, maybe he’ll be here after all. But even if he’s not, you’ve got all your friends here.” She bumped Rainbow’s side, the action as close to a hug she could give all dressed up. Rainbow bumped her back, and, smiling, they gently bumped each other back and forth down the stairs. They were to the point of knocking each other into the wall—in Dash’s case, at least—when they arrived at the bottom, Applejack stifling a laugh. “Y’all two done?” “Why yes, oh so noble knight.” “Save the sass. We’ve rehearsed this enough, so ya know what to do, right?” “Yeah, yeah. When Celestia calls us, Flutters and I are going to walk out that door while Twi and Shining do the same on their side. We meet in the middle and blah blah ceremony, Spike brings up the rings if he hasn’t eaten them, oaths, we tie the knot, cake!” Before anypony could respond to her rather brusque view of the events, a slightly frazzled Rarity appeared around the corner. “Applejack! Thank goodness you’re here. They already started! It’s almost our turn!” “Well I know that Rarity, that’s why I’m standin’ here. I was startin’ to wonder where you’d gotten off to.” “Apologies. I had to finish getting myself in order.” She smoothed down a few stray hairs and straightened her dress. One deep breath later, she stood next to Applejack in an image of calm perfection. “Pinkie and Cadance are in their places, Twilight and Shining Armor are ready, you and I are here, Rainbow and Fluttershy are there, Celestia and Luna are already beginning the whole process, and the crowd is ready.” A voice called through the door for them and the Royal Guard soldiers on the other side opened the door, allowing the two to step through. The last thing Rainbow saw was the tip of a Stetson to the crowd before the ornate doors slammed shut again. “Are you ready Rainbow?” “As ready as I’ll ever be.” A minute of silence passed, then the entrance opened again and they stepped through to the applause of those gathered within. Long, red carpet stretched out in front of them, leading to the middle of the room and a raised dais on the right. On the left side, the crowd was assembled. The first row was all the family and friends of Rainbow and Twilight, at least those not involved. Theoretically, the side Dash entered on should have only had ponies she knew, but after the second row it descended into chaos. That might have been because a certain miniaturized draconequus saw it his duty to narrate the whole scene from Fluttershy’s shoulder, but weddings were chaos even without his help. “And the crowd goes wild as Fluttershy enters the scene! The flowers! The praise!” Small daisies and tulips grew up out of the floor from nothing after each step the quiet pegasus took. Others fell down from the sky onto the pair, at least until Rainbow blew one into Discord’s face. “Oh, and there’s some other mare with her too.” “Discord, give her this day at least.” Fluttershy chided, only sparing a glance at her shoulder. “Oh alright. I’ll make up for it later.” With a snap of his fingers, he exploded into a shower of white roses. When the flowers cleared, Rainbow could finally see across the hall to where the object of her attention entered. Twilight looked as beautiful as ever, but that was because she always looked perfect. She had let Rarity go all out with only minimum input from her; no pony wanted a repeat of the Gala. Lavenders and purples—as well as magenta to match Rainbow’s eyes—served as accents to the much more lavishly created white dress she was wearing. It trailed behind her, but still not quite as long as Cadance’s. Her mane was done up rather fancily, making it look like she had much more hair than she actually did. Small gemstones sparkled in the light of the room as she slowly walked forward. Her head lay bare despite all of the Princesses’ protests; she had made it quite clear that this was a day for her. Instead, a necklace identical to Rainbow’s hung around her neck with the six pointed purple star as its jewel. Rainbow was so focused on her wife-to-be that she didn’t even notice the ponies she was passing until Fluttershy bumped into her. “Look left,” she whispered, her voice barely carrying through the crowd. When Rainbow Dash turned her head to the left, her heart stopped and she almost tripped on nothing. For standing there, in the place of honor directly next to the aisle in the front row were two ponies she hadn’t seen in over a decade. Her mom and dad stood watching her walk down the row. Time had weathered them significantly, but they were still without a doubt her parents. Her dad’s periwinkle coat and tri-rainbow mane were unmistakable, despite the fact that somepony had managed to get him into a suit. He looked uncomfortable about the whole process, but still he stood there smiling as best he could. As for her mom, she looked significantly worse off, but even happier. A black eye patch covered her left eye, and the tissue around it was scarred. One of her front hooves was wrapped in a bandage and splinted, making it difficult for her to stand, but she did so anyways. The joy on her face couldn’t have been clearer if it was written on her permanently. Rainbow was still frozen in time, and it wasn’t until a nudge from a certain spirit of chaos that she began moving again. She stumbled her way down the aisle, passing the place Fluttershy stopped, and finally met Twilight in the middle. “Did you see your parents?” she whispered, grinning. “Wha- How?! How did you get my mom here?” Rainbow shot back, gasping in disbelief. “I’ll tell you later. We kind of have to get married now.” “But—“ “Wedding. Now.” She gently pushed Rainbow forward, causing her to stumble a moment before regaining her footing. She gave Twilight a look, but couldn’t help but grin after a few moments. It was just impossible to stay mad at her; even being slightly annoyed didn’t work. They proceeded up the steps together, pausing in front of Celestia, who simply smiled at the two of them. Fluttershy came up behind Rainbow to stand next to her, just as Shining Armor did for Twilight. “Ponies, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash.” Any mention of Twilight being a princess had been dropped today. Today she wanted to be a regular pony getting married to her love, not some high status royal figure. Rainbow let her mind start to wander away from the ceremony. It was just a bunch of words anyways. She had already proven her love for Twilight over and over again through her actions. Saying vows on a day with a fancy ceremony and dresses was meaningless unless it had the actions to back it up. But even as pointless as she thought the words were, the day was undoubtedly special. She came back down to earth when Twilight poked her with a wing, giving her a glare. She tuned back in in time to hear that it was almost time for the vows. Her soon-to-be wife knew her too well. “And on today, I couldn’t be happier for Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. Their dedication and love for one another is a light to us all. But let us wait no longer! Rainbow Dash, if you would.” Her voice rang out through the hall, loud, proud, and strong. “Twilight Sparkle, today I join my life to yours, not merely as your wife, but as your friend, lover, and confidant. Love was once just a dream to me, one that you made real. You give lift to my wings and make my heart flutter. There’s no one else I’d rather spend the rest of my life with. So, Twilight, I promise to love you forever, cherish you always, and stay with you no matter the turmoil.” She held her hoof up into the air, knowing what would happen next without a doubt. A purple frosted cupcake appeared in her hoof, whether through chaos or... whatever Pinkie was, she’d never know and knew not to ask. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Rainbow, much to Rarity’s displeasure, squished the cupcake into her face, smearing it with purple icing and cake that just so happened to be the exact hue of Twilight’s coat. She grinned at her marefriend, tongue flicking out to lick a stray piece of cake. Everyone chuckled, then Twilight straightened the already perfectly straight dress and cleared her throat. A notecard poked out of the corner of her dress, but a glare from her mentor made sure it stayed there. “Rainbow Dash, today I join my life to yours, not merely as your wife, but as your friend, lover, and confidant. Long ago you were just a dream of mine, a relationship I never thought I’d get to experience with you. The only thing that makes more happy than I am today is knowing that I get to spend every single day for the rest of my life with you. Rainbow, I promise to love you forever, cherish you always, and stay with you no matter the turmoil.” With a sly look at Rainbow, she held out her hoof as well and a cupcake spontaneously appeared, this time topped with cyan icing. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” As she crushed the baked good against her eye, the two of them giggled, then turned back to look at Celestia expectantly. “Mares and gentlecolts, I present to you Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash shifted nervously back and forth on her hooves, glancing at the door every few seconds. It was just them and their friends in the reception hall at the moment, after the wedding party had filed out. All of the guests—including her parents—had yet to come in. Twilight wrapped a comforting wing around her, but even she knew better than to try and distract her from this. Fluttershy hung around close by as well, but both her and Discord kept their silence. “What’s taking her so long?!” She exclaimed after one too many looks at the door. “Rainbow, by all rights she should be in a hospital, not here. But she insisted and wouldn’t take no for an answer. She also refused to let any magic near her.” “You still won’t tell me what happened.” “She insisted on telling you herself.” She shrugged her shoulders, then pulled in the stiff pegasus for a hug. “It’ll be okay, Rainbow.” Just as she said that, the doors opened and guests started filing in. Rainbow’s eyes searched the crowds for that one pony she hadn’t seen in ages, wings longing to take to the sky to find her. The room slowly filled up with ponies, many of them heading straight towards the newlyweds to congratulate them, stopping them from actually moving across the floor more than a few hoofsteps. Twilight met and talked with them as politely as possible even though Rainbow was still looking around and craning her head, totally oblivious to anypony else. Finally, a soft tap on her shoulder made her spin around to find Fluttershy looking at her. Without a word, she first cleaned off the purple cupcake on her face with a cloth before backing up and clearing her throat. “Um, Rainbow, your mom’s over there.” She pointed with a wingtip towards a pillar where a pegasus leaned heavily against it, waving off two concerned royal guards. Her dad was nowhere to be found, likely being staved off from the bar. Without a second though, Rainbow lived up to her name and dashed through the throng around her, inadvertently smacking the envoy from Prance in the face. But she didn’t care much about that. She slid to a stop in front of her mother, eager to talk to her, yet feeling slightly awkward. “Mom! Where have you been?” The older mare gave a tired sigh, then met Rainbow’s gaze. “It’s not a story for your wedding. I wouldn’t want to sully your day.” “No! I don’t care about the reception, where did you go? Why did you leave me and dad?” The only response she got was a chuckle and shake of the head. “I should have figured I wouldn’t be able to deter you in the slightest. Still, I’d rather not say it with all these ponies around.” “There’s the garden outside.” “I suppose there is.” She groaned and steadied herself on all four hooves, then proceeded to start walking towards the door that led to the Canterlot gardens. She was shaky on her hooves, but staunchly pushed away anypony’s offer of help. Still, Rainbow matched her pace for pace until they both felt the cool of grass under their hooves. A few more steps and they had escaped most of the noise. “Know first that I did not leave you by choice,” she began, slowly sitting down on a nearby bench. “Had you ever thought about why I would have chosen to marry an alcoholic and not tried for somepony better?” A subtle shake of the head and her mom continued. “I thought not. And, as much as I might have wished it to be so, I did not marry him with the intention of stopping him, though that was a bit of a side effect after I... left. You see, Rainbow, your dad and I weren’t ever the best of ponies. Which is why it makes me so happy to see that you have turned out better than anyone I know despite it.” “Rainbolt got drunk when he was depressed. I gambled away what little we had remaining. And gambling leads to debt. Debt with the wrong ponies.” Her eyes glossed over slightly, remembering back years and years. “I dug myself into a hole too deep to get out of. I didn’t want them to come after you, so I did the only thing I could and removed myself from the equation. It was tricky to fake my death, but it appears to have worked on most everyone. All but the few I was trying to escape. It took them a matter of months, but eventually they tracked me down. Did you know that some of the Diamond Dog cities and towns keep slaves? I certainly didn’t. Not until I lived it as one. I was locked underground and had almost given up all hope of being found, given up hope of seeing the sky again. “And then, a week ago, the Royal Guard breaks down the gates to the city and, with the aid of your new wife, set free every pony in that wretched place.” “Twilight said she was going shopping for a dress last week! She invited me to come along, but, well—“ Her mom chuckled, shaking her head. “You haven’t changed much then. Now, since you know what happened to me, will you go back in there and enjoy your wedding day?” Shooting a glance back at the reception to see what was going on, Rainbow grinned at seeing the dance floor slowly start to clear out as Twilight trotted around and talked to each guest. “C’mon Mom, my parents still have to dance with me!” Before she could reject, Rainbow gently pushed her mom’s shoulder with her head to get her moving. A minute later and they were both back inside, both to find their spouses. As Twilight was talking to the Prench ambassador, Rainbow popped up at her shoulder and gave her a peck on the cheek, instantly making her blush. Most of the cupcake had been wiped off, though it was still smeared through her fur slightly. Waiting for a gap in conversation, Dash threw a hoof around Twilight’s shoulder and dragged her off to center of the room. “Dance, remember?” She waved a hoof at Vinyl Scratch to start up the music they had selected, and, as it started playing, a circle of ponies formed around the duo. Hoof in hoof, they began to dance across the floor to the mostly classical music: Twilight slightly cross at the interruption but smiling wide regardless, and Rainbow acting falsely oblivious. “So Twi, read any good books recently?” she whispered, cracking her signature goofy smile. “Yes, it’s called “How Not to Interrupt a Conversation.” Might loan it to you after I’m done with it.” Rainbow faltered in a step, but recovered with the graceful ease of a practiced flier, wings fluttering beneath her dress. “Eh, it’s just a country. You’re the important one tonight.” She took advantage of the close quarters to peck her on the nose again. “You ready for the switching?” “No, but I’ll do it anyways.” The music changed slightly, and Nightlight stepped out of the throng watching and taking pictures, half dragging Rainbolt with him. Partners swapped and both mares found themselves dancing with their fathers. Twilight stumbled in the transition, only to be caught be the strong hooves of her dad. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and swept them across the floor, leading the dance. “How’re you holding up?” “It just doesn’t feel right now, like something happened that I never thought would happen,” she whispered back. “If it makes you feel any better, I thought you’d just end up marrying a book, so this is a vast improvement.” “Daaaad,” Twilight groaned, prompting a chuckle from her partner. Across the floor, Rainbow and her father tried their best to not show off all of their moves. As dancing was one of the only ways Rainbow could get her dad to put the bottle down for a while, they had had much more practice together. Still, there was a tense silence between them, one that neither tried to break. They danced in silence, both stealing jealous looks over at the other duo, but neither making an effort to form the same relationship. After half a song, it was the mother’s turn and the father’s were paired up for a time. A Royal Guard was trying to help Rainbow’s mom onto the floor, but being shunned was the most response he got out of her in that regard. The crowd watched as it continued its idle chatter, waiting for Firefly to start to dance. She winced at each step place on her hoof, but she was determined to not hobble across like an infirm. “Well Rainbow, I’m here to dance.” It was nothing complex, but beautiful in its simplicity. They simply circled each other while Twilight and her mom went around closer to the crowd. The dancing took forever, at least so it seemed to Rainbow. A dance with her mom, with her dad, with her new mom and dad, with Fluttershy, with Shining Armor, a dance with Celestia, another with Luna, a third with Cadance, an awkward and relatively interesting one with Discord, and finally a last one with her best friend and love, Twilight. More and more couples joined the floor after the family dances started until the majority were out on the floor. The music got livelier and less classical, food was broken out, and it became more of a party and less of a formal event. Rainbow dragged Twilight off the dance floor and back out into the garden, flopping down onto a bench with her. “Well that was certainly something.” “Was? I know you wish it was over, Rainbow, but we’ve still got—“ she glanced up at the sky to see the moon, “two hours before it’s over.” “Two hours?! I’ll never make it.” Twilight leaned over and kissed her on the lips lightly. “Okay, I think I can make it another hour.” And another kiss. “Hour and a half. C’mon Twi, diminishing returns.” Twilight started laughing harder than she probably should have before resting her head in the space between Rainbow’s neck and shoulder. It’d mess her hair up some, but Rarity could just deal with it. “Seems like you were listening to my rants.” “I always listen to your rants! I might not always actually learn something, but I listen. But diminishing returns is a common thing with exercise. It’s easy to get up to a certain level, but it gets harder and harder to improve just that last little bit. You put in the same time and effort to take off five seconds on a lap as it took to take off thirty before you started practicing.” Twilight giggled, stealing a glance back at the party. “And you still say you’re not a geek?” “Oh shaddup.” “Yes, Mrs. Sparkle.” “Nah, you’re Mrs. Dash.” “Twilight Dash, Rainbow Sparkle. I get to spend the rest of my life with you, so I don’t care.” “I love you Twilight.” “I love you too Rainbow.”