Second Chances

by Nailah

Chapter 13: Wedding Jitters

~A few months later.~

“Oh darling, this is just fablous on you. You look absolutely radiant, a true maiden.” smiled Rarity as she was putting the finishes touches on the last alterations to Fluttershy's dress for her upcoming wedding in a few days.

“Oh thank you, Rarity, you are so kind to do this for me.” replied Fluttershy with a soft blush appearing on her face. She was beyond nervous, never before had she ever even really thought she'd be one of the first ones of them to be married, and to Flim. She was sure no one had expected it. Discord....well he had taken the news as well as he could. He was happy for her, yet sad that it wasn't him. Fluttershy had been glad to see Discord take the news so well despite her house being upside down for a few weeks. That was to be expected though. She saw as her friends walked through the door. Rainbow Dash tackled her first.

“Rainbow!” yelled Rarity, putting her hoof down.

“Oh come on Rarity. Fluttershy is getting married and you expect me not to give her a big embrace?” smiled Rainbow.

“Since when are you the lovely dovey type?” asked Rarity with a raised eyebrow towards Rainbow. This was certainly odd behavior for her of all ponies...

“Well...I'm not really into it myself, but I've always wanted the best for my good pal Fluttershy.” she smiled nuzzling against Fluttershy affectionately. The two would always be the best of friends. Though she was going to keep her eyes on Flim just in case. After all she wasn't about to let anyone hurt Fluttershy's feelings, or they wouldn't hear the end of it from her or her friends.

Applejack, Twilight and even Pinkie Pie walked in shortly after Rainbow Dash to congratulate Fluttershy.

“Congratulations Fluttershy!” smiled Pinkie Pie as she unleashed a party canon alongside a bunch of confetti streamers in the air. “This is going to be the best wedding ever!” Pinkie exclaimed with sheer joy in her tone.

“It sure is exciting, I reckon...” smiled Applejack softly. She had been with Fluttershy through thick and thin, and to see her happy, and about to be married, it almost brought tears to her eyes, but she kept her composure. After all this was a rather happy moment.

“Fluttershy...I'm so happy for you, we all are, but are you sure about this?” questioned Twilight.

“As sure as I've ever been. I care deeply for Flim, and I believe he has proven beyond any doubt that he is a different pony now. He's changed.” replied Fluttershy.

“It's a big decision to be married, I wouldn't want you to rush into it.” replied Twilight Sparkle. She wouldn't admit it, but she couldn't help but feel a tidbit of jealousy. She had often wished to find love of her own someday, sometimes she wondered if she intimiated other ponies from each approaching her. She sighed to herself, she knew not to fret with her own ordeals. Today, was about Fluttershy and she would do all she could to help prepare her for the wedding.

******8

“Thanks for helping me out Big Mac.” smiled Flim in his dressing room. He couldn't help but pace back and forth in his room. He knew this was only the reharshal but he couldn't help having pre wedding jitters. Big Mac said it was normal, but he felt like he was panicking.

“Yep.” replied Big Mac. Big Mac along with Applejack hadn't exactly been that sold on Flim being a good guy now, but after hearing the story from his sister's hooves, it was clear that Flim wasn't the same pony he used to be. Now as long as he didn't go casting spells they'd be okay.

“Phew! I'm beat, can any pony tell me where a dragon can get a gem around here?” questioned Spike as he walked into the dressing room. “Hey Big Mac, we still up for hoofball later?” he questioned.

“Nope, wedding is tommorrow. Applejack and the family, we'll all be attending.” replied Big Mac.

“You do know that won't take up the whole day right? What about evening?” questioned Spike.

“Yep.” smiled Big Mac.

“Awesome!” replied Spike. He was going to get that rare hoofball card that Big Mac had, and he was sure he had enough trades this time to actually get it. He couldn't wait.

“Hoofball you say? That sounds rather fun, would you mind if I joined you two someday?” questioned Flim.

Big Mac and Spike looked towards one another and then back at Flim, after much discussion.

“Sure why not. The more the merrier.” smiled Spike. “Now to get me that gem, I'm sure there has to be one around here somewhere.” he spoke as he wandered off.

“It's amazing how Twilight gets anything done without his help.” smiled Big Mac.

Flim took a few deep breaths, as he looked into the mirror, looking at himself in his tuxedo with the pink bow that Rarity had suggested to match the pink and white dress that Fluttershy would be wearing down the aisle. Of course Flim had asked Applejack if she minded if Apple Bloom and her friends wanted to be the flower girl and sure enough, the three had been more than excited to be in another wedding.

Flim couldn't believe he was here in this moment. It all felt so sureal, like he might wake up any minute and find himself unhappy and alone once more. He quickly shook the thought out of his head. No...he wasn't that pony anymore, he was a new man, a pony worth love and attention. He rather liked this kind of attention and now he had a successful job to boot, right here in Ponyville. He wasn't sure where he was going to take Fluttershy for their honeymoon. He hadn't quite decided that yet, but he was sure he'd pick a wonderful place. With how much she enjoyed her animals, a quiant little cottage out in the woods might be a good place, but not the Everfree forest, he knew of a few other wooden areas not too far from Ponyville where the two of them could go after the wedding was over.

Flim just had to get through the reharshal and the actual wedding, before he even thought about the honeymoon.

“There's no need to be nervous, you'll be just fine.” spoke a female voice as she entered the male dressing room.

“Starlight?” questioned Big Mac a bit surprised. “You're not supposed to be in here, males only.”

“Oh that's just a formality, I wanted to have a word with Flim, if you don't mind. After all if anyone understands how he feels, it's me.” replied Starlight.

Big Mac just shrugged and walked off to get ready for the wedding himself, there was no need to worry about Starlight, he was sure she just wanted to be helpful, he just hadn't had the best impression of her ever since she had cast that gosh darn spell on him, so he wasn't her biggest fan.

“Flim, we don't really know one another but well...I'm ashamed to say I know all too well how you feel about how ponies will see you. It took me a long while to be comfortable with who I am now.” began Starlight.

Flim blinked as he listened to her, “You hurt ponies by scamming them?” he questioned out of curiosity.

“Yeah...something like that...but much worse.” replied Starlight Glimmer as her ears drooped a bit. She was still ashamed of the things she had done, but she had accepted her past, and was looking to make a new name for herself, and she knew that was exactly what he was trying to do.

“Oh...you don't have to say.” replied Flim. “I'm glad you came to talk, it has helped me calm my nerves a bit.”

“Not a problems, after all we gotta stick together.” smiled Starlight. “Now you have a wedding to get ready for.” and with that she walked out of the dressing room to give him his privacy.

Flim did feel a bit better after talking to her, perhaps he wasn't alone in this world. After all he knew how often the mane six defeated villains and helped them see the error of their ways. He was no different really, though it had been Applejack whom had been the one to show him his two cents worth. Flim walked out to the stage as he stood down below the stage where three candles were. Two candles were lit, one on each side of the other and a big center candle in the middle. He turned his attention to the back of the church they stood in. He could see the many empty rows of pews in front of him, and just imagining them full of ponies, was rather nervewrecking. He couldn't help but swallow a gulp of air down the lump of his throat. His hooves shook as he imagined the crowd hating him or booing him or just starring at him with distaste.

“Flim...are you okay?” questioned Applejack as she had decided to leave Fluttershy's room to check in on the kitchen staff to see how the cooking was coming along. She had seen Flim at the head of the church in front of where the stage was, frozen with fear.

“I'm terrified.” he admitted to her. There was no sense in lying, as she would know if he was, after all she was the element of honestly.

“Terrified of them?” she pointed to the empty pews. “Flim...there's no pony here but me. You are imagining things. Trust me, if I can say I like you, then I'm sure the rest of them will.”

“How do you know that for sure?” he questioned with a worried look on his hues. He couldn't help it, he worried about a lot of things, but the thing he worried most about was disappointing Fluttershy, he wanted to do right by her, and if that would mean leaving her because of pony's thoughts of him, he would.

“Listen, I know you feel ponies will judge you because of your past, but you can't let that eat you up. You are better than that, you have shown not only me, but Fluttershy just what a stallion you really are. Don't look to the past, with shame, but look to it as a reminder of how far you've come.” replied Applejack.

He knew she was right, he sighed heavily. “I'm sorry Applejack, I was just so nervous about a lot of things, but I was most worried about letting Fluttershy down.” explained Flim.

“Trust me on this Flim, you won't let her down, and I truly and wholeheartly believe that.” smiled Applejack.

“Thank you Applejack, it means a lot to hear you say that.” replied Flim. Flim walked up to Applejack and offered her his hoof.

“Friends?” he smiled.

“Friends.” replied Applejack as she accepted his hoof and shook his hoof in return. “Now I reckon, I gotta see how their doing in the kitchen.”

“Alright, see you shortly.” he smiled softly. It wouldn't be much longer yet before he and Fluttershy would be married. He knew it was only the reharshal but int a way this was a practice round for the real thing, so maybe by tommorrow he wouldn't be so nervous.

There was only one thing that Flim wished was different, he wished that Flam could've been here to see this, rather than sitting in jail. He wished he could have made him see the light, but perhaps he would finally see that he was right all along. They couldn't only care about themselves, to truly care about others, that was the real reward in of itself. There was no greater feeling and now that he knew how it felt, he never wanted that feeling to go away. Fluttershy...he couldn't wait to wrap his arms around her in a loving embrace and kiss her sweetly upon her lips as he would hold her in his arms. Just thinking about it, brought a smile upon his lips. He looked towards the back of the church and towards the pews, and he realized he wasn't afraid anymore, he was happy.