Chapter Seven
It was foggy and chilly, though the sun peaked over the ground below, with Celestia's promise of a warm day. Citizens of Ponyville at six in the morning were groggy but moving around with their mornings, at least the ones that woke up early. Some ponies were not working, but huddled around T.V.s talking hours before the actual royal wedding about the royal wedding. Images of clean streets and a beautiful morning in Canterlot flashed across the screens and a unicorn mare narrated everything that was and would come.
Rhubarb and Merry hustled towards the train station (thank Celestia Rhubarb got Sundays off of work and so did Merry) and quickly got their tickets and their seats inside. The train to Canterlot they took was filled to the max; ponies of all shapes and sizes and ages sat and chattered. Many of them had newspapers that had the same headline: the royal wedding.
Merry May was so tired she ignored all of them. Almost as soon as the train took off, she fell asleep against Rhubarb and gently snored. Rhubarb looked out the window as the train rode by, watching the country slip by. Slowly he turned his head down to his snoozing girlfriend and smiled. Softly, he began to sing.
"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, it's time to--"
"Rhubarb?" May whispered quietly, and she opened her eyes and looked to him. He looked back at her eyes.
"Yes, my love?"
"I love you, but you're a terrible singer and I'm trying to sleep." she said with a smile. She closed her eyes again peacefully and the stallion told to shut up looked insulted.
"I'm a bad singer? Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked, sounding hurt. Merry did not open her eyes as she responded.
"I didn't have the heart to." She yawned. "But when I'm trying to sleep is when I finally draw the line."
"I'm not a bad singer!" he protested. A mint green earth pony mare with a wavy blond mane and blue eyes sat across from them, listening to the whole thing. Her cutie mark was a heart with a paw print in the middle and two leaves, one leaf on each side of the heart. This young mare had also been trying to sleep, and she glared at him.
"She's right, you know." the observer said, trying to cover her ears with a pillow. Rhubarb shot a brief glare at her, which she ignored. Merry chuckled and laid back against her pony pillow.
"Just be quiet for a little bit."
"Fine." he crossed his hooves and spent the rest of the trip in silence watching hills and mountains slip by. Around nine in the morning, they finally arrived in Canterlot. Everypony slowly huddled out of the train, waking up from naps and stupors, taking in the majesty of the city. Rhubarb and Merry barely had a chance to get past the train station when a familiar blue and rainbow-maned mare flew up.
"Merry May, I need you to come with me. The wedding starts in a few hours and I need you. Rhubarb, I'm stealing your girlfriend, sorry not sorry." Rainbow Dash grabbed Merry's hoof and flew off quickly. Merry looked back to her boyfriend, who smiled and waved. She scoffed and rolled her eyes and began flapping her wings to not hold Rainbow down. The two sped off.
It was then it dawned on Rhubarb he had nothing to do. The shops were either closed or overcrowded with patrons, all available benches were taken, and the castle was strictly closed off. His ear and eye twitched. "So what do I do now?" he asked aloud. A moment passed by without an answer, and Rainbow doubled back, hoisted Rhubarb up, and zoomed off. She had done it so fast that Scales's head was spinning, and she spoke almost as fast.
"No time to talk! Applejack needs you in the kitchen, stat!"
"Oka--"
"I said no time to talk!" She zoomed past royal guards and into the castle, which was beautiful and sparkling shiny, but the changeling didn't even have a moment to take it in. She dumped him by a door inside and flew off without saying anything. He blinked, and the door burst open and he was yanked inside by Applejack.
"Thank goodness you're here!" the orange mare said once she placed him down. "We need more ponies on desserts! One of the pastry chefs got sick and I got Celestia's permission to bring you in! Now go start makin' cupcakes!" she pushed him towards a wooden table full of ingredients to go and an oven a few feet away. He blinked.
"What sort of--"
"I don't care! The wedding's in a few hours and you need to get to work!" She slapped an apron on him and after a second of coming back to reality, Rhubarb did as he was told and began to bake. Applejack turned her attention to main dishes. With the help of a few other chefs, within three hours the unicorn produced hundreds of all sorts of cakes, cupcakes, tarts, and treats. He forgot the outside world and he focused on ingredients, measurements, frosting, and art. When he cooked, the outside world ceased to exist.
It worked, and he was so wrapped up in work that around noon he failed to notice Princess Celestia herself walking into the kitchen to see what was going on. Applejack stopped her work and quickly bowed to the princess. "Princess Celestia!"
"Hello, Applejack. I've just come to, ahem, 'sample' some treats beforehand, if you don't mind..."
"Oh, not at all!" Applejack said eagerly. "You know, the pastry chef's just got done with a batch of cupcakes. Why don't you go try one?"
"I think I shall." The tall alicorn walked right behind him to a table of his done confections and he didn't even notice. The other chefs watched in utter amazement as Celestia used her magic to pick out a chocolate cupcake with a vanilla-chocolate swirl. She undid the cup wrapper and bit into it. Chefs watched nervously. Her eyes widened and she grinned.
"My goodness, this is delicious! Applejack, did you make this?" she asked, turning her head to the earth pony. Applejack shook her head with a smile.
"No, ma'am; Rhubarb!" she shouted to pull said changeling out of his trance. He shook his head and turned to find the princess a few feet behind him. He nearly dropped his mixing bowl to see her. She was beautiful. Long, mult-colored mane and a white coat with a very slight light pinkish tone. Her eyes were kind as she looked to the bearer of the element of honesty. She was absolutely nothing like his old, cruel queen. "Chef Rhubarb there-- the green unicorn stallion-- is the one behind that cupcake."
The princess turned her head to the shocked unicorn and kindly smiled. Sensing his timid awe, she held out a hoof to him. "Chef Rhubarb, it's good to meet you." Awkwardly, he returned it and they shook hooves.
"The...the pleasure is mine, your majesty." he said. Celestia giggled.
"Your special talent is a blessing for Equestria. I haven't had a cupcake that delicious in awhile. Are you attending the wedding?" she asked cordially. He shook his head.
"No, your majesty. I came because my girlfriend was taking over for a mare that got sick. Something about tossing flower petals as the bride and groom head off. As it turned out, they were a chef short in the kitchen, so I came immediately to help."
"I thank you for your hard volunteered work. What's your girlfriend's name?"
"Merry May."
"I shall send her an invitation to come into the chapel where the ceremony is to be held itself. And you are invited as well." With a pop of magic, a white ticket with a heart and a crown in the middle appeared out of thin air, and it floated down to Rhubarb, who took it in further amazement. "Thank you for your effort. I hope you enjoy the wedding. And sometime I may call upon you to help at a ceremony like this again. I could do with more of those sweets."
"Yes, your majesty!" He bowed deeply. "Thank you so much!"
"No, thank you. Applejack, Rhubarb, chefs, I'll see you at the wedding." Right as Celestia was about to walk out the door, Rhubarb spoke up again nervously.
"Your majesty?" he broke out. The princess turned back to him patiently.
"Yes?"
"I'm...I'm sorry about all that happened yesterday with the changelings."
"Don't be sorry. There was nothing you could've done to prevent it." the princess of the sun said. "Anyways, the ceremony is at two. I would advise going to Rarity to get a quick tux."
"Of course. Thank you." The princess left, and nopony noticed the look of utter guilt that fell upon Rhubarb's face.
Around twelve thirty, Rhubarb and Merry met up to go to Rarity to borrow outfits. They went outside of her room of the castle, and when they opened the door, they were not expecting to find what they found. Princess Cadence herself, along with Rarity and Twilight Sparkle, was trying on her dress. She was smiling at her reflection in a mirror as a frazzled Rarity looked proud of her work. Twilight signed off on a clipboard of some sort. The couple shared a look of embarrassment and tried to get out without being caught, when Princess Cadence spied them.
"Hello?" she called. Rarity and Twilight finally noticed them, and their attempt to sneak back outside failed. Merry nervously laughed.
"Oh, hello, your majesty...Rarity...Twilight." They looked at each other again and quickly bowed. "We didn't know you were in here trying on dresses."
"Well, what do you need?" Rarity asked politely. Merry, being the braver of the couple, spoke first.
"See, we just got invitations to attend the wedding, and we were hoping you had a dress or a tux for us..."
"...but we see we're intruding, so--" Rhubarb was cut off by a gasp of horror from Rarity.
"And you're without outfits?! Get inside here right now, I'm not letting you attend without a proper outfit!...Well, wait...do you mind, Princess Cadence?" she asked. Cadence shook her head.
"No, not at all. I've got my dress. I'd like to help. It'd be fun. What's your names?" she asked kindly.
"I'm Merry May." the mare said.
"And I'm Rhubarb." the stallion said coyly. Cadence squinted and then gave an 'aww.'
"I take it you two are a couple?" she asked. They both nodded. "That's adorable. You know, one day, Merry, you could be where I am. Getting married." she said. Merry giggled.
"I certainly hope and expect so." She nudged Rhubarb, who nodded rapidly. Twilight closed the door, and Rarity retreated to her mannequins. She looked at the ladies' and gentlecolts' outfits and pulled out a pink dress from the fillies' and a simple black tux from the colts'. With a little magic, the outfits appeared on both of them.
"What do you think?" Rarity asked expectantly. Rhubarb was pleased with his simple but elegant tux and gave his approval, and Merry squealed with joy at the dress.
"It's adorable! Thanks, Rarity!"
"Not a problem. It's my job to create fabulosity." Right as she was turning back to the bride, Merry spoke up again.
"How much is it to rent or buy?" she asked. Rarity gave her an incredulous look.
"Dear, I'm too busy with the bride to even worry about that right now. Go ahead and take your outfits for free. A gift from me to you."
"That's...incredibly generous of you," Rhubarb said, "thank you so much."
"Not a problem. You two should go get your seats soon if you want good ones." Rarity warned. Twilight opened the door for them, and as they were leaving, Rhubarb turned to the princess.
"Your majesty, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday with the changelings."
"Don't worry about it, Rhubarb," Cadence said calmly, "it's not like it was your fault." The door then closed behind them, and Rhubarb's cringe was hidden from their sight. Merry May sighed and gently patted him.
"You know, Rhubarb, even if you said anything, I don't know if they would've listened anyways. They didn't even believe the groom's sister when she said something was wrong." she comforted. Rhubarb shook his head in dismay.
"I didn't even try though."
"Well, it's in the past now, and everything's okay. I know that probably doesn't help for me to say, but you were scared, and likely most ponies would've done what you did in your position."
"Still..."
Another sigh from Merry May. "Well, come along. If you think of anything I can do to make you feel better, let me know. Let's go get our seats."
Stats
Page generated in 0.029 seconds
Total duration
685 users online
1,091,956 hits today, 2,591,549 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
yay new chapter
What– How–
...What is this witchcraft?! You are now updating so fast?! *ahem* Not that I am complaining... I was just excited that I could have something to read while I worked and waited in the lab.. It's not like I was waiting for this or anything. Not at all... ;)
Heh, a happy day, and yet, the guilt trip wombo combo continues.
2786239
Maybe she's a changeling impostor.
yay
2786512
...
img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/shadowslayer/Humor/9ec30ddbe3ac1ff991fe2b890e99a077.jpg
And then Celestia learns the truth and squishes him under her hoof!
Celestia, "Ewwww! Bug guts! Guards! Come here, I need to wipe off on you!"
Tyrantlestia.
Four chapters in two days? Man, you're on fire!
im loving this story so far!
MMMMmmmm.... updates...
Woo-hoo, new chapter already!
Poor Rhubarb. You just know security's gonna nick him at the wedding.
I was expecting somepony to find out this chapter.
2786512. Yeah, how could she be an imposter?? They would both have to be in on it to write this off as legit *innocently whistles*
2786622 What if he is evolving? Did he accidentally cook up some rare candies instead?
If Rhubarb keeps going on saying he's sorry to all the major heads involved in the wedding somepony's going to pick him up on why he's going about like that.
Also, loving this so far.
subtle rhubarb...you are a master of keeping suspicion off you...cause the ponies are thick as rocks
>What's your names?
fiks ur gramer k
Some interesting developments we have here...poor Rhu still have yet to forgive himself. And, ouch...heh, his ego, regarding his singing, just got hit hard. He is going to be 'feeling' that blow for a while.
C&Cs:
Applejack stopped her work and quickly bowed to the princess.
The princess left, and nopony noticed the look of utter guilt that fell upon Rhubarb's face.
Rhubarb turned to the princess.
> Capitalize ‘princess’.
Her eyes were kind as she looked to the bearer of the element of honesty.
> Capitalize ‘bearer’, ‘element’, and ‘honesty’, since it is part of a title.
... the princess of the sun said.
> Capitalize ‘princess’ and ‘sun’, since it is part of a title.
Yeah..............just as I thought. We have Trollestia present. She knows he's a changeling.
What sort of Muffins?
images5.fanpop.com/image/polls/1063000/1063803_1340988031517_full.png
Unrelated, but;
You know, it'd be incredibly funny if Celestia were to hire a Changeling as a stand-in for her day-court one day and he/she goes trolling on the 'Nobles' while Celestia is out in town.
PinkiePie cupcakes have a competition.
You have earned a thumbs up from me. I shall continue to read, I am considering adding to favourites.
A Changeling like Rhubarb always has that "d'waaa" thing with Merry May. Good couple.
Nice chapter!