Wedding
The wedding was in late autumn.
By that time, a lot had changed.
I had reconnected with some old friends, and been able to relive my days as a student of Princess Celestia. Rarity had opened her boutique in Canterlot, fulfilling a long-held dream of hers. The cutie mark crusaders had, at last, earned their cutie marks. It turned out that Applejack actually knew Countess Coloratura. Like, personally.
Whew. Sometimes it’s hard to believe how strange my friends are.
One thing hadn’t changed, though: Rainbow Dash and Applejack were still very much in love.
It’s kinda funny. I think a lot of ponies thought that the pair was just too similar; that they could never, ever get along as a couple because they were just carbon copies of one another.
That’s what everypony around town said, anyway.
Which, of course, is totally wrong. Rainbow Dash and Applejack are individuals, and the more I saw of them as a couple, the more I saw how it worked; Rainbow’s energy would fuel Applejack, Applejack’s stubbornness would cool Rainbow. Applejack’s honesty was always backed by Rainbow’s undying loyalty. Rainbow’s loyalty was rewarded with Applejack’s true love. Rainbow was the rain which fed Applejack’s soil, and Applejack was the lush treeptops that kept Rainbow’s skies clear.
They were perfect for each other.
Vinyl and I were starting to think we might be perfect for one another, too. She brought back the art to my magic, and I gave her the critical gaze her music needed to flourish. The hours we whiled away, locked in the castle, experimenting wildly, singing at the top of our lungs…
It was magic.
I know I say that a lot. But it really was! It was as if I’d found the missing half of my soul in another pony, and we had at last been reunited, finally able to be everything we had been trying to be for years.
...What was I talking about?
Ah, yes. The wedding.
This wedding was huge. Huge in every way. Physically huge, because Applejack’s family could fill a minor-league hoofball stadium without much trouble. Emotionally huge, because-- well, because it was them! Applejack and Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie and Rarity had been erupting into tears at random intervals since the proposal, often requiring comfort from one or both of the soon-to-be-wedded mares.
And… mentally huge.
Because planning that wedding? Impossible.
I should know. Being famed for my organizational skills, I had been called in early to help. I dunno if you’ve ever tried to plan a wedding, but it is a nightmare.
Literally every kind of nightmare. Financial, organizational, familial… friendships would be tested, merely based upon where you sat them for dinner. Rifts would be torn in the delicate fabric of the Apple Family. Parents would be forced to interact.
Dates would be brought, unapproved.
There would be crashers.
There would be allergies.
There would be drunk friends and relatives stumbling about, without a filter.
So many variables. Enough to make my head spin faster than a carnival ride.
When my eyes started to glaze over and reflect the seating cards, Vinyl would pull me away from the table and say “Hey. At least you’ve got music handled!”
So it went today. The day before the big one.
Little things to be wrapped up. You know. I was hyperventilating when Vinyl pulled me off the seating arrangements.
“Hey,” she said softly. “Look at me.”
I focused on her eyes.
“Breathe in,” Vinyl said.
I did.
“And out.”
I did.
“Better?” Vinyl asked.
“A little…”
“Twi, you totally got this!” Vinyl said smiling warmly. “You’ve done way harder stuff. I think you can handle this one.”
I sighed. “And, if I can’t, at least we’ll have good music.”
“You betcha,” Vinyl said with a wink.
It had all come together so flawlessly: Octavia and the rest of her quartet would play them down the aisle, Rara was available to sing for their first dance, and Vinyl had pulled together some friends to help DJ the rest.
She'd never miss spending the evening with me, after all.
Vinyl rubbed my back gently. "Wanna take a break?"
"I can't," I said. "This really needs to be finalized. If I could only figure out what to do with Apple Dumpling and Apple Fritter…"
Vinyl's brows furrowed. "What needs to be done with them, exactly?"
I chuckled. "They're twins. They hate each other, and I don't know where to seat them for the dinner."
Vinyl scoffed. "Look, you really think that finding the right seating will stop two ponies who hate each other from getting riled up?"
"Uh… yes?"
Vinyl shook her head. "There's no point. This is a wedding, Twi. Time to air age-old grievances and generally be difficult."
"How romantic," I muttered.
"It is romantic!" Vinyl said. "Nothing more romantic than watching your families melt down before your very eyes. Gives you a great list of things not to do right off the bat."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm guessing your family gatherings leave something to be desired?"
"I'm a born black sheep, Twilight," Vinyl said. She clapped me once on the shoulder. "I cause fights I have no business being a part of."
"Wow, maybe I'd better put you at the troublemaker table," I said, giggling.
Vinyl stretched up to kiss my jaw. "As long as my princess is at the troublemaker table, too."
I giggled some more, and returned Vinyl's kiss, lingering a little longer than she had.
Vin used her magic to pull my chin down, very gently, and kiss me on the lips. My eyes fluttered shut, and I allowed her to win this one.
When she broke the kiss, Vinyl still stared up at me expectantly.
"Stop distracting me!" I scolded.
"Stop being so distracting," Vinyl retorted.
I scoffed. "Flirt."
Vin flashed me an enormous, cheesy grin, but backed off a bit.
I returned my focus to the seating arrangements. Perhaps Vinyl was right; avoiding drama at a wedding was a futile endeavor.
Dumpling and Fritter were seated together. But off to the side. Just in case.
"Did you try on your bridesmaid dress yet?" Vinyl asked.
"Yep!" I answered cheerfully, fastening Dumpling and Fritter to the board.
Vin pouted. "And I didn't get to see you in it because…?"
"You'll see me in it tomorrow, Vi."
"What if I wanted to see it today," Vinyl responded.
"What are you going to wear?" I asked.
"Don't change the subject."
"I'm serious," I said, levitating the seating board over against the wall. "I haven't seen you try anything on. Do you have something packed?"
"A bowtie," Vinyl said.
I whipped my head around to look at her. "That's it?"
Vinyl shrugged. "Yeah. Why, should I be wearing more?"
I sighed. "I… guess not. I just thought you'd want to wear more. You don't always get chances to dress up like this."
"Well, one day I'll get married, and I'll dress up then," Vinyl said simply.
My heart fluttered.
We hadn't talked about it yet. We'd been dating for nearly a year, but it had been a disjointed year. My busy and unpredictable schedule meant that Vinyl and I could go long stretches without seeing one another at all.
All of this is to say that… we weren't ready?
But sometimes I felt ready.
And it was kinda scary, if I'm honest. Like standing at the top of a cliff, ready to jump, hoping that safety awaited you at the bottom. The longer we were together, the shorter the cliff became. But it was still a leap of faith.
"Shouldn't we be getting on the road soon?" Vinyl asked. "I thought we were supposed to set up tonight."
"Shoot! What time is it?" I asked, looking around frantically for a clock.
"It's about three in the afternoon, Twi," Vinyl replied.
"Yikes!" I started gathering up wedding-planner materials as fast as I could. "We should have left fifteen minutes ago!"
Vinyl scrambled to her hooves, also gathering as much as she could carry, and followed me out to the carriage I had rented.
The two of us had mastered moving in sync. We rotated around one another in the kitchen with effortless ease, tangled around one another in my study room as if we were meant to be there together. It was love without anxiety, now. Love without fear or complication. Just easy.
In just two trips, we were ready to leave.
I took a last look at the castle before we left. When we returned, two of the Elements would be married.
Married.
I wondered idly how the Tree of Harmony might feel about that.
"Twi?" Vinyl called. "You ready?"
I sighed. "Yep!"
Applejack and Rainbow Dash had had a long deliberation over the venue.
At first, Rainbow had been disappointed that she couldn't get married in Cloudsdale, as she had apparently always dreamed. I know-- it's hard to picture Rainbow daydreaming about her wedding.
Applejack, of course, had then felt guilty offering Sweet Apple Acres, as she felt it was unfair that she got to marry at her home, when Rainbow's home wasn't even an option.
Rainbow had then relented, announcing to all the world that she didn't care where she got married.
Applejack, not wanting to be shown the more wedding-obsessed of the pair, had also stated that she did not care about the venue.
This sort of thing went on for a month and a half, and most of us lost track of it. Eventually, through some unseen miracle, the two of them agreed on Rainbow Falls. It was booked later that day.
Getting to Rainbow Falls was slightly easier than getting to Cloudsdale (in that it didn't require being a pegasus), but significantly more difficult than simply holding it in Ponyville, as we had all suggested.
A perfect compromise.
Vinyl and I arrived at around eight o'clock that night. There was a hotel nearby (considerably less fancy than the one in Canterlot, but not terrible) where everypony--and I mean everypony--was staying.
Friends. Family. Plus-ones. A great big cocktail of insanity just waiting to break loose.
"Hey! It's Twilight!" shouted a familiar voice.
I kicked off the carriage's harness. "Scootaloo? Is that you?"
There they were: the cutie mark crusaders, plus Babs Seed, waving enthusiastically from the hotel's wrap-around porch.
"Hiya, Twilight!" Applebloom shouted.
I giggled. "Hi, girls!"
"Okay-- remind me how this works again?" Vinyl asked, popping open the back of the carriage. "With the bridesmaids?"
I sighed. "Applebloom is Applejack's maid of honor."
"Right. Sisters."
"Mm-hm," I agreed. "And Scootaloo is Rainbow Dash's maid of honor."
"But… they're not sister's?" Vinyl asked.
"Right."
"What are they, cousins?" Vinyl levitated out two bags of supplies, passing them off to me as she spoke. "Uh… babysitter and… baby?"
I laughed. "They're not related."
"So, why--"
"It's hard to explain," I said.
"Magic of friendship?" Vinyl asked.
I nodded. "Magic of friendship."
Saying "magic of friendship" had developed into a sort of shorthoof for certain parts of my life. A lot of strange things happen when you're the ponification of friendship itself. Saying that something was due to "the magic of friendship" was how we agreed that, one, it was a long story, and, two, the long story likely would make very little sense when retold, anyway.
Vinyl smirked at me as she closed the carriage. “And… the rest?”
“Joint bridesmaids,” I explained. “Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and myself.”
“Damn. The Princess of Friendship, only a bridesmaid,” Vinyl commented sarcastically, shaking her head.
“And it’s a title I wear with pride,” I said, holding my head high.
We walked up to the hotel side by side, rails intermingling with each little swish.
Vin opened the door and held it for me. I bowed my head to her and trotted inside.
The hotel was quaint. Kinda of kitschy. Like it was doing everything possible to scream "the hotel for vacations and vacations only". No business meetings were going to be touching that place. Definitely no conventions.
The lobby consisted of a few large couches in a circle around a massive fireplace. Everything was in shades of red and brown, and nothing of a brighter hue than Applejack's coat. The walls were covered in little “natural” decorations, like mounted antlers scavenged from the nearby woods, and plumes of feathers set onto mahogany boards. There were a few paintings, but the kind that you forgot the moment you looked away.
It was a little more like a ski lodge than I had anticipated.
Of course, the couches in the lobby were filled with familiar faces. Not my closest friends (as they were probably all prepping for the main event), but the friends-of-friends that had come to be like distant cousins of mine.
Soarin and Spitfire sat beside one another. Big Mac and Applejack’s cousin, Sunflower, seemed to be having a good time catching up. Rara was there, too, chatting casually with Gilda the griffin, who seemed totally enraptured. Blossomforth, Flitter, Cloudkicker, and Cloudchaser were meeting Cherry Jubilee and donut Joe.
It was almost hard to reconcile the image. So many different creatures, all coming together because Rainbow Dash and Applejack were getting married.
Married!
“Hey, there you are!” Applejack shouted. “Thank Celestia, I thought you’d gotten lost!”
I looked up. Applejack was standing at the top of the stairs, sort of peering around a pillar at me.
“Are you wearing your dress?” I asked.
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Rarity’s doing some last-minute alterations. I told her it was fine, but… well. You know Rarity.”
I chuckled.
“The crew is down at the event hall setting up,” Applejack explained. “They’ve been waiting for you.”
I smiled. “I’ll get right over.”
“Applejack!” Rarity’s scolding voice could be heard from here, though she seemed to be at the top of the stairs. “Get back here! I swear, it’s like you want to trip on your way down the aisle.”
Applejack gave me another look, like she wanted to be annoyed but just couldn’t find it in herself to do so. She quickly disappeared back upstairs.
I turned to Vinyl. “Do you think you could get us checked in?”
Vinyl snapped to attention and feigned a salute. “Say no more, princess. Get out there and make this wedding happen.”
I saluted her back. “Aye-aye, captain.”
Vinyl snickered. “Princesses don’t salute back, dummy.”
“Well, this one does!” I said, smiling brilliantly in the face of Vinyl’s teasing. “Come by when you’re done, alright?”
“I will.”
I left Vinyl with a kiss on the cheek, and trotted back out the front of the hotel.
My wedding-planning materials were still in the carriage, and so I scooped up what I could carry and began to trot down the dirt path to the event hall.
The hall was situated at the base of one of the smaller Rainbow Falls tributaries, so that the entire space was constantly bathed in its chromatic glow. I actually thought the whole thing was rather cheesy, but Rainbow and Applejack seemed to agree that it was nice, so I’d kept my mouth shut. I guess things just look different when you’re getting married, don’t they?
Even from a few strides away, I could hear Pinkie’s wild babbling, back by the deeper tones of none other than Discord, also babbling.
Apparently, Rainbow and Applejack’s idea of wedding planners was Pinkie PIe, Fluttershy, Discord, and Princess Cadance.
Had I known this earlier, I may have brought more supplies.
Cadance was quietly hanging some silk-and-flower garland along the wall. She seemed to be trying to blissfully ignore the other three.
“I just think it’s a little bland is all,” Discord complained, crossing his arms. “Don’t you think Rainbow Dash and Applejack would prefer something a little more exciting? Perhaps a flock of eagles?”
“No eagles!” Fluttershy said, stomping her hoof.
Pinkie was closely examining the cage of doves on a nearby table. “I dunno, Discord. I thought doves were pretty traditional. Cadance?”
Cadance looked slowly over her shoulder. “Doves.”
“There,” Fluttershy said, sticking her tongue out at Discord.
Discord clucked his tongue. “Pardon me, but I never said that doves weren’t traditional. I merely suggested that Rainbow Dash and Applejack might be bored by doves. Eagles would more accurately reflect their personalities, don’t you think?”
“It’s not about reflecting personalities, Discord,” I muttered. “It’s just supposed to be pretty.”
All four of them turned to look at me. “Twilight!”
I smiled. “Hi, everypony! Let me guess: you’ve been missing the seating arrangement?”
Pinkie gasped. “How’d you know?”
Discord scoffed. “Because it was her job, of course.”
“Discord!” Fluttershy scolded. “Be nice!”
“I’ll show you to the cards, Twilight,” Cadance said, chuckling lightly. “They’re back this way.”
I glanced over at the other three, wondering if, perhaps, they ought to be supervised. Then again, I suppose Fluttershy would always be Discord’s supervision.
I trotted to the back of the room, following Cadance’s lead into a small closet.
She began to dig through a cardboard box of deliveries.
“It’s nice to see you,” I said. “It feels like it’s been a while.”
Cadance smiled. “It’s nice to see you, too! We’re really in our element, aren’t we?”
I cocked my head at her. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you know. Love, Friendship,” Cadance said. She pulled out a tightly-bundled group of notecards. “It’s all here, in just a day. Aren’t you excited? I know I am.”
I laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited!”
Cadance giggled. “I knew you would be.”
The two of us exited the closet, and Cadance closed the door behind us.
I walked back over to the pile of things I’d pulled out of the carriage, rummaging about for the massive seating chart I’d only just finished.
Cadance came up behind me. “So… how are things with you and Vinyl?” she asked gleefully.
I paused in my rummaging, a bit thrown by the question. Nopony had really asked me that before, I guess. “Um… good? Why do you ask?”
Cadance hummed lightly. “Oh, you know. Weddings. They make you think.”
I blushed a little. “Speaking of, where’s Shining Armor? Shouldn’t he be helping us?”
Cadance scoffed. “I’ve already planned a wedding with Shining. I’m not exactly eager to do it again. You know, I’m convinced he’s partially colorblind? He kept insisting the blue things were purple, or brown things were red… it was impossible to choose decor with him.”
I laughed. “That sounds like Shining to me.”
Cadance laughed, too.
“Hello, girls!” Discord said, suddenly appearing between the two of us. “Need any help with the seating? I’m simply the best at following instructions…” He reached for the name cards.
Cadance smacked his paw away. “Not a chance, Discord. The last thing a wedding needs is more chaos.”
Discord slumped over dramatically. “Oh, what a pity. I suppose I will have to return to the decorations…”
“That’s it!” Fluttershy cried, stomping over to our sides. “Discord, you’re being a hindrance! EIther do what we ask, or go back up to the hotel!”
Discord looked hurt, but only momentarily. “Fine. I can see when I’m not wanted.”
In the blink of an eye, he was gone.
Cadance breathed a sigh of relief. "Smoothly handled, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy beamed.
"Why was he here in the first place?" I asked.
Fluttershy sighed. "It was just an idea I had. Discord doesn't have very many creative outlets, since he can conjure up anything he wants… I guess it didn't really work."
Pinkie put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Oh, well. It was a nice thought, Fluttershy."
With Discord gone, things became much smoother. The four of us worked well together, although I have to admit having Rarity there might been helpful. All in all, Fluttershy's understatedness and Pinkie's outrageousness balanced out… with the keen guidance of Cadance and myself.
There was one thing Applejack and Rainbow Dash had been very strict about: this wasn't a "fancy" wedding. They wanted it to be put together by friends and family alone, built with love instead of money.
Again, sappier than I would've thought for the two of them.
Honestly, I thought they'd elope.
We worked diligently for about twenty minutes. Then Vinyl arrived.
"Hey, anything I can do to help?" she said.
I jumped. Vinyl was practically right on top of me, but I'd been too absorbed in the precise placement of a tablecloth to realize.
"Oh, gosh, you're here!" I chuckled lightly, putting a hoof to my chest in surprise. "Sorry, I'm just-- I'm a little frazzled!"
"Don't I know it," Vinyl said.
I managed to catch my breath from the scare. "Um… gee, I'm not sure what we have for you…"
I looked around the room. Fluttershy was fully focused on the flower arrangements. Cadance was decorating the walls and windows. Pinkie Pie was producing thoughtfully-composed collages from absolutely nowhere (her mane, maybe?) and placing them artfully throughout the room. And I was setting the tables.
No room for Vinyl.
"Do you have the, uh… music stuff?" I asked.
Vinyl shrugged. "The guys are bringing all the equipment in the morning. Are you sure I can't help with, like… place settings? Or flowers? I have kind of a green hoof."
"Um…" I surveyed the room again. Everypony was so focused on their tasks that they hadn't even noticed our conversation. "You know what would be nice? Could you just bring down your radio and play some music for us?"
Vinyl's face sort of melted a little. "Y-yeah. Sure. That's really what you want me to do?"
"I think we'd have a lot more fun with music!" I said. "Is that okay?"
Vinyl paused, then smiled. "Yeah. Of course, princess."
I watched her go.
Something felt… off.
My scientific mind kicked on.
Vinyl had spent plenty of time with my friends. It couldn't be that.
She and I were in good standing with our relationship. So it definitely wasn't that.
It was too early to propose… so it wasn't that.
What was different? What was different about the wedding? What made it different than game night, or the festival? Or any of the other dozens of times we'd spent to get her as a group?
Then, it clicked: she was the intruder.
She wasn't long-time friends with anypony else here. She hadn't become part of the family yet. She was an outsider, trying desperately to belong… but it wasn't a switch you could flick.
The cold stone of anxiety turned over in my stomach.
Cadance was right: this wedding was the perfect storm of love and friendship.
Where did Vinyl fit in all of that?
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Ah weddings, the perfect vehicle for drama.
WROOONG!
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10213710
Drama = chaos, I believe the next couple of chapters will be interesting.
Love this story so much! You do great work!
Also, a typo real quick: 'Applejack was the lush treeptops that kept Rainbow’s'
Dummies, you could've just moved Cloudsdale to Sweet Apple Acres! Easy!
Heh