What's all this talk about Love?

Weddings weren’t the normal flare for Spitfire, but it was one of those things that eventually happened when you were a Wonderbolt and knew most everypony worth knowing, regardless if they were friend or foe. She’d had to do what was best for the ‘Bolts many times; far too many of those being less than ideal, but she knew if she wasn’t there then it could upturn the applecart of one of their sponsors.

And without their sponsors, the Wonderbolts were just a bunch of glorified fliers.

Each time was the same, so practiced that she’d usually keep her dress uniform steam cleaned and pressed, then wrapped in a garment bag for the next one. The only real work she had to put in was ensuring all of her metals, be the brass, silver, or her one golden pin, were brushed and polished to the point they could be considered a glare hazard to her fellow pegasi.

This was, however, her first wedding that she’d be in no such wardrobe.

For that matter, the first one she’d be a major player in.

Her mane and tail were groomed to the point of protest, a battle of will between mane gel and her natural, wavy strands trying to shoot skyward. Her yellow coat was brushed to the point that next year’s winter coat would be thin. The fur glowed with a bright energy that was reserved for those pompous ponies of Canterlot.

No, this was not normal Spitfire, and she hated it.

“Hm. I’m not sure, Rarity. Do you really think that’s how it should go?”

For the umpteenth time, Spitfire rolled her eyes at her mother, Stormy Flare, as she scrutinized the fashionista's fine thread work.

“Darling, trust me, I am a professional. I’ve got quite a number of wedding gowns, and groom suits, under my saddle.”

“Yes, I know, but this isn’t just the Captain of the Wonderbolts, this is my daughter. She must look her best.”

Spitfire let out a sigh, knowing already trying to tell her mother that her best was in her bomber jacket at 15,000 feet. Instead, her attention was drawn to a giggling Fleetfoot in the chair ahead of her. “And what are you laughing at?”

Fleetfoot waved her hooves in Spitfire’s general direction. “All of… this! It’s crazy, I never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“Keep up that laughter, and you won’t.”

Fleetfoot raised a wing to her muzzle in an attempt to mask her mirth. It was clearly not working as Spitfire bore her gaze at one of her fellow show ponies.

“Please, Miss Fleetfoot, that’s no way to speak to a bride, let alone a soon to be wed mare! This is her big day, and while she may be feeling stuffy and irritable from all of this necessary prep work, she needs all the support she can get, be that from her close friends,” Rarity gave the teal pegasus a look.

“Or her mother.”

Stormy gave a small bow.

“Or even somepony she barely even knows, such as moi. We are here for her, and while I’m sure poking fun and teasing each other is the norm in your locker room hijinks, but at a wedding no such thing is called for.”

“Except at the roast,” Spitfire said.

“Except at the-” Rarity froze, then stared pointedly at the bride. “I do hope there is no such thing going on at this event. Twilight is here, after all, as a friend to Jacob and I’d fear she would spend most of her time apologizing.”

Spitfire let out a small laugh. “No, no, that was just a joke. No roast, and if I had it my way, no speeches period, but that wasn’t an option.”

“As it should. You have many friends, much as Jacob does, who would love to say some meaningful things to their friend, and their friend’s newlywed. Now, darling, before I was interrupted, I was trying to ask you about the proposal! How was it? Twilight hasn’t said a word about it, and I know she was there.”

Stormy Flare blew a raspberry. “Please, we’re pegasi. Everything we do is about show and flare. I’m sure most of the town witnessed her giving him a primary.”

There was a nervous twitch in Spitfire’s features that she wished hadn't gone noticed by anypony, but Fleetfoot sat up straighter with a brow raised and ears attentive.

“Drats. Here we go.” Spitfire sighed. “I didn’t do that.”

Stormy was now giving her full attention to her daughter.

“You… didn’t do what?”

“I didn’t propose, or at least, not in any sort of traditional sense.”

This time, even Rarity halted, and looked on with curiosity.

Stormy rounded on her daughter. “You didn’t propose?”

“Or give him one of my primary’s,” Spitfire added.

“Woah, breakin’ them traditions, eh?” Fleetfoot whistled, and after getting a brief glare from Stormy she promptly closed her mouth.

“So, what, did he propose to you?”

Spitfire shrugged.

“What does that mean? It’s a simple yes or no answer.”

“But there’s nothing really simple about it. Twilight kinda pinned us in a corner and I blurted out we’d talked about marriage. She took it wrong, and here we are.”

Rarity gasped.

Stormy grabbed her daughter’s face with both hooves, and looked her eye to eye.

“You are telling me... that this entire wedding... was done because of a misunderstanding!?”

“Yeah.”

“Double woah.”

“Oh my…” Rarity raised a hoof to her muzzle. “This is… quite an interesting development.”

“Honey, you know how important tradition is to our family. You… oh my Celestia, you need to go give him a primary right away! Before he shows up without it visible on his person and everypony starts talking!”

Stormy moved to grab one of Spitifre’s wings, but was slapped away by her daughter.

“Woah, Mom, I’m not doing that. Jacob has his own traditions, you know, it’s not just about me.”

“You’re the bride, of course it’s all about you!”

“I have to agree, darling.”

“Eh, both my parents are dudes.”

Everypony looked to Fleetfoot.

“What?”

“Fleet, we know, we’ve met your dad’s, but why bring that up?” Spitfire asked.

She shrugged. “I mean, they’re going against the tradition right there,” she used her wings to make air quotes. “We’re flying ponies. Our point is to be free, so not all of us are about tradition.”

“Pegasi mate for life!” Stormy protested.

“Then where is her father?” Fleetfoot pointed at Spitfire.

The silence was deafening, Rarity, the outcast of the group, took a hesitant step back.

Spitfire expected her mother to be furious, but there was no flushing of cheeks, no flaring wings or throwing hooves. Peering at her mother’s eyes, there was only one emotion there, one she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Sadness.

Stormy licked her lips. “Why do you think I want my daughter to follow tradition? I believed in all of that, you know. Being free, going wherever the wind took me. Then I met him, and we had a good time. I was pregnant before too long, and was pressured by my own parents to propose to him. So, I gave him a primary, and you know what he did?”

Spitfire’s ears were already downcast, knowing the story. Fleetfoot, as close of a friend as she was, had never. The only other pony to know this story was Soarin’, Jacob’s human status notwithstanding.

“No, ma’am, but I can take a guess.”

“Your guess is correct, then. He longed to keep moving, not settle down anywhere. I was mortified, and before long my parents helped me, bringing me back to the traditional ways of the pegasi. A foal out of wedlock wasn’t too uncommon a thing, because before too long they’d marry. Unicorns, from what I gathered, were the exception.”

Everypony looked at Rarity.

The mare instantly felt on the spot, but stood confidently.

“That’s quite right. We are… very protective over ourselves should we feel the urge. A foal is a sign of combined love, and to have one without being married or, Celestia forbid, engaged, was a sign of untrust.”

“But there’s one thing,” Spitfire grabbed everyone’s attention. “Me and Jacob? We can’t have a foal, so that doesn’t matter to us!”

Stormy flinched at that, but seemed to bite her tongue on that topic. “No, but marriage is still very important. I just don’t want to see you, either of you, hurt over a public display that might send the wrong message.”

Stepping off the dressing podium, Spitfire approached her mother.

“We love each other, Mom. While I don’t know if getting married is the right or wrong way to do it, I think… no, I feel like either way, we’d be happy with ourselves.”

Stormy smiled, tears in her eyes. “I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

Spitfire hugged her mother, who hugged back as equally tight. “Together, we never will be.”

----------

Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, opened the door of Jacob’s changing room and froze in place.

Jacob, the human, was sitting at a table with two pegasi, Rainbow Dash and Soarin’. They currently had playing cards in their hooves, or hands in Jacob’s case, and had froze upon the alicorn’s arrival.

The groom was also still barely half dressed.

“Jacob!” Twilight stormed into the room, closing the door and picking up some of his clothes with a wave of her magic.

Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed the lip of the table top, throwing the cheap furniture into the air with a flip, sending cards flying and Soarin’ diving.

None of which went very far as Twilight’s magic grabbed everything, including Soarin’, then placed it back where it was.

“Drats,” Rainbow swore.

Twilight marched closer. “We’re supposed to be starting in fifteen minutes! Why aren’t you dressed?”

“Well, I was…” Jacob began.

“Yeah, he dresses surprisingly fast for someone who wears so much clothing,” Rainbow added.

“So we had time to kill,” Jacob continued.

“I had some playing cards,” Soarin’ said with a smile.

“Next thing we knew, we were playing strip poker,” Jacob pointed to his clothes floating in Twilight’s magic, “and as you can tell, I’m pretty bad at it.”

“I’ve literally only taken off my tie,” Soarin held it up.

Twilight then raised a brow at a bare naked Rainbow.

“Oh, I was just hot in that thing so took it off long before we began playing. I removed my earrings though.”

The alicorn groaned, then ushered Jacob forward and began helping him put on his shoes and overshirt, much like his mother would when he was little. “Seriously, you’re horrible. We need to hurry up before the ceremony starts and the groom is missing.”

Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash shared a look, then both looked at Jacob who was slowly tying his shoes.

Feeling their looks on him, Jacob gulped, then took his shirt from the magical field and held it.

“Actually, Twi… I’ve been thinking-”

Instantly, Jacob’s collar was pulled down, his upper body following as his face was pressed against the purple alicorn’s muzzle.

“Oh no, don’t tell me you’re getting cold hooves! You can’t do this to me! Or Spitfire! That would be bad! Really, really bad! Then we’d have a huge friendship problem to solve but love is one of those things that only Rarity and Fluttershy are good at!”

“Uh, no, I’m not planning to skip out on her.”

Twilight released his collar, letting out a held breath. “Oh, good, you had me worried.”

“Well, before you interrupted, Soarin’ and Rainbow had just finished telling me some of the lore behind pegasus mating rituals, and the like.”

Twilight’s ears twitched, then a faint blush brushed her cheeks. “Yes, I’ve looked into them myself since I got my wings.”

“Yeah, and Jacob here was about to tell us some of his human traditions,” Rainbow nudged the man’s leg with a foreleg.

“Or the lack thereof,” Soarin added.

Twilight cautiously looked at the clock.

Jacob had also seen the time, but smiled reassuringly. “Really, there’s not much to tell. It would only take a few minutes, I promise.”

Sighing, Twilight sat on her rump, which prompted the other two ponies to follow suit, then all three looking at Jacob.

The human began putting on his overshirt while he talked.

“Not much to say, if I’m being honest. There are religious ceremonies that I’m not entirely familiar with, other than I remember a buddha culture has the groom enter on a white pony.”

Rainbow snickered. “I’d pay to see you ride in the room on Rarity’s back.”

“I was thinking Celestia,” Soarin’ said.

The two ponies clopped hooves in a high five gesture.

Jacob rolled his eyes. “No, that was just a thing I picked up from a television show. Honestly, I’m just going to go by what I know, and how I was raised. My parents married later in life, I was born, and we were happy. There really were no special ways they went about it, or any customs.

“But me, personally? Well, no offense but this was a bit rushed. I love Spitfire with all my heart, but marriage to me was just something on paper to get a tax write off or help financially. Or, if something happened to one of us, we’d have a legal paper that allowed the other to make decisions in their steed in case of medical injury, or recieve their things upon death.”

“That’s true here, too,” Twilight said.

“Yeah, but you guys are much more laxed, and don’t really question things too much. When Spitfire pulled that wing muscle last year and I went to see her in the hospital, I was expecting to be stuck waiting in the lounge area, but to my surprise the doctor himself took me to see her and said to make myself comfy.

“Unless she was a blood relative or we were already married, that would never have happened back home.”

“So, what are you saying?” Twilight asked.

“Well, I need to ask you a question. Did you see me with one of Spitfire’s primary feathers that day?”

Twilight blinked, then her eyes went wide. “Oh my gosh, no! I… oh no what did I do!?”

Jacob knelt forward, then petted Twilight’s mane. “Shh shh, it’s okay. I was blindsided too, but not as much as having half the town show up to help us start setting up a Ponyville wedding. We talked about it, and we just figured it was fine, that no matter what we did it wouldn’t change how we felt.

“But now… I mean, how many pegasi traditions did we break without me knowing?”

“Just a few,” Soarin added.

“So, what, call the whole thing off?” Twilight pulled at her mane. “So many ponies have done so much for this, we can’t just tell them all nevermind, they changed their minds!”

“No, no. I just think me and Spitfire need to talk, and make things right. Soarin’ told me her mother is all about tradition, and I’m worried she’s going to get the wrong idea about this marriage.”

Biting her lip, Twilight looked at the clock. “It’s… usually bad luck to see the bride before the ceremony. At least, in unicorn weddings and some earth pony tribes.”

Jacob laughed. “Well, good thing I’m a human and she’s a pegasus then, cause we’re clearly all about breaking traditions.”

----------

Spitfire stood nervously on the dressing podium, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

The others had already left for the ceremony, which left her waiting to be summoned once Jacob was out there, waiting for her.

If she was allowed to be honest with herself, she did like the dress. It just felt weird. Not wrong, not right, just… weird.

There was a gentle knock on the door. She looked at the clock, they still had several minutes. Maybe Jacob was out there waiting for her, and they’re rushing things along? Much like herself, he didn’t seem as overly enthusiastic about this like everypony else had.

“Yes?” she called out.

The door opened a crack, and she could see Jacob’s fingers gripping the edge of it.

“It’s bad luck in human weddings to see the bride before the ceremony, but since we’re both guilty of several faux pas, I figured it would be okay if I came in and we talked?”

Spitfire blinked. “Uh, sure, come in.”

Jacob opened the door fully and entered. As it closed, Spitfire could see Twilight Sparkle standing outside, looking in curiously.

Her human, her soon to be husband, stepped forward, then stood beside her, staying on the ground level, facing the mirror to see them both standing there. She was a good several inches higher now, eye level with his upper chest.

“You look beautiful,” Jacob said to the mirror.

“You’re not too bad yourself,” Spitfire did the same.

“We look like complete dorks together, don’t we?”

Spitfire let out a laugh, then nodded. “Yeah, we do. What are we doing?”

“Getting married.”

“Why?”

“Because we love each other. And Twilight peer pressured the town into it.”

Spitfire shook her head. “No, but, why are we actually doing it?”

“Because the second thing I said. All of Ponyville got together for this, even some of your Wonderbolt’s.”

Again, she shook her head. “NO, why are we getting married?”

Jacob went silent, then with a sigh, took a seat on the podium, shifting so he sat still looking at the mirror, but sitting at Spitfire’s side. The mare sat down, which was awkward in the wedding dress.

No words came, the human struggling to think of an appropriate answer, until he just gave up and shrugged. Spitfire rolled her eyes at him, so in retaliation he nudged her shoulder with his own. She returned the gesture. They snickered together, both smiling again.

Then, Jacob noticed something, hanging from around Spitfire’s neck.

“Hey Firehead, is that the penny around your neck?”

Spitfire blushed. “Uh, well, it was supposed to be a surprise, when you saw me. I had it made into a necklace.”

“Huh, that’s really nice. Never thought I’d see something that was nearly worthless back home, meaning the whole world now, around the pony I love’s neck.”

Her face and neck glowed a light shade of red, however the blush going away quickly when the thought clicked in Spitfire’s mind. She brought up her right wing to pick the necklace up, the small piece of copper barely any weight on her feather tip. Then, she grinned.

“You… you did it.”

Jacob gave her a confused look.

“This. This was your primary. You proposed to me, back then.”

Blinking, Jacob smiled. “Ah, so I did.”

Spitfire took a deep breath, then brought her wing up to her face, bit down on a feather and yanked.

The action was so quick and sudden, it startled Jacob who watched all of this through the mirror.

“Normally,” Spitfire began with a feather in her muzzle, “we save a fallen one for this, but we’re about out of time, so here.”

Both lovers turned to look at each other, with Jacob raising a hand, palm up, to which Spitfire dropped the feather into it.

“Now, it’s official. We both shared a part of ourselves.”

Jacob looked worryingly at the small dab of blood, but Spitfire hadn’t even flinched or cried in any bit of pain. She was good at masking it, but her human had a good track record in calling her out on her bravado.

This time, however, he didn’t. He took the feather in his other hand, feeling it, playing with the one way texture.

“I’ve felt your wings many times, Firehead. Helped you preen, even.”

“Which is another level of intimacy for pegasi.”

“Yeah, your mother told me that one before.”

Spitfire blinked. “Wait, she knew you’ve helped me preen?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, it came out once by accident, when we were at one of your shows. She took it well, however, and told me about how preening was a delicate thing, and only those committed partners shared such an act.”

Spitfire squinted her eyes, then turned away. “So she knew all along… and yet she pushed along for all of this… why?”

There was a gentle breeze, causing her dress to sway, and her eyes spied the open window.

Their short bit of reprieve was cut short by a loud, single knock, before the door was thrust open.

Both mare and human looked back, and were shocked to see one of the wedding guests, Princess Luna, standing in the doorway.

“Oh, this is not the bar.”

Bride and groom raised their eyebrows at the alicorn.

“Alas, while I had been searching for an elixir to soothe young Sparkle’s nerves, I see I’ve stumbled upon a much better solution.”

“P-Princess Luna? Spitfire sputtered, then stood and gave a bow. Jacob was quick to kneel, however the princess closed the door swiftly and strode inside the room.

“Calm thyselves, for during such a grandiose occasion We are not the focal point, but you two are, so rise, and tell me what ails you, and causes you to make ponies, and the free drinks, wait.”

Spitfire and Jacob shared a questioning look, but did as told, returning to their sitting positions on the podium.

“Well, Princess, we’re discussing if we really want to get married or not,” Jacob said.

Spitfire, caught off guard by the blatant admittal, slapped her groom with a wing.

“Ow! What?”

“Verily? Is this so?” Luna looked to the pegasus mare.

Sighing, Spitfire nodded.

Luna tapped her chin. “We see,” then, she leaned forward, “And tell Us, is this because you feel as though you’re not truly ready? Or that you fear disappointing those ponies outside this room?”

The two lovers shared a glance with each other, with Jacob lifting a hand horizontally and rocking it in place.

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “That means sorta, in human.”

Jacob snorted with a little laugh. “In human?”

“You know what I mean.”

Clearing her throat, Luna grabbed both of their attention once more.

“Sorry, Princess,” Jacob said, with Spitfire nodding along. Then, he continued, “It’s just, this feels a bit like it’s not our wedding right now. Less about us, and more about the ceremony.”

“Ah, yes, We can understand that. We have been to countless weddings since our return, and they all share the same flair and comradery amongst the guests and family. The wed to be are happy, too, but with it comes great stress. Tis a shame it is not like it was in Our old time.”

“What was it like then?” Spitfire asked.

“Why, simple. Two who loved each other would come to Us or mine sister and have us wed them in the palace, and that would be all.”

“Wait, you can also marry ponies?” Spitfire asked, a small smile forming on her face.

“Why, most certainly! Mine sister simply wanted to do this one because-” she stopped suddenly, and looked between the two. “Oh. Oh. That… do you truly wish it to be so? They will be most upset. Sparkle especially so.”

Jacob grabbed Spitfire’s left forehoof, holding it and squeezing it in his palm. “Twilight will be pissed.”

“My mother will be too,” the pegasus added.

“And Our sister will surely guilt us into a feeling of remiss, however such things are for the future! Now, arise!”

They both stood, with Spitfire still up on the podium.

“Should we go with what we rehearsed?” Jacob asked Luna.

“We were not there, so no, this shall be as-”

Suddenly, there came a knocking from outside the room. With her magic, Luna cast a spell which surrounded the door and returned to facing the two.

“Time is short. We shall keep this brief.” She cleared her throat, stood straighter, and began.

“Spitfire, do thy truly love this… man, and wish to spend the last of thy days with him? Through all trouble and doubt?”

“I do.”

“And Jacob-”

“Luna? What’s going on in there!?”

“Blast, Sister already! Quickly, we do this on the move. The window!”

The door began to shake, the stomping of hooves louder and louder as Luna’s spell was being unraveled.

“Jacob, do thy take this mare to be yours, for-”

“Yes! I do!” he shouted, and then ducked down to climb out the window.

Spitfire opened her wings and dove out.

Luna stuck her head out the window, a large smile upon her face.

“Then as Princess of Equestria, I wed thee!”

Behind her, the door was finally kicked down by an irate Twilight Sparkle, whose dress was beginning to show signs of her excitement.

“What the- Luna!? Where are Jacob and Spitfire?”

Celestia leaned her head in, taking stock of the place, then sighed.

“Luna, you didn’t…”

“We did,” Luna sat on the floor, a smile on her face. “What joy that brought, to see two lovers forgoing any ceremony to simply be.”

“Wait, they did WHAT.” Twilight was at Luna’s muzzle in a flash. “It took us a week to set this all up! They can’t go, they’re getting married!”

“They already are.”

Twilight jumped back with shock and alarm “No, get them back here!”

“Too late, they have already made a break for it and-”

“What is going on here?” Stormy marched into the room. “Why is there all this shouting? Where’s my daughter and her beau?”

Twilight turned around rapidly. “They eloped!”

“Neigh! They are wed, by Us, and are on their way to… somewhere!”

“WHAT!?” Stormy shouted, then rushed forward and looked out the open window.

She could barely see them running towards the train station.

“Quick, if we hurry we can catch them and set them right!”

The pegasus mare jumped out the window, with Twilight Sparkle hot on her hooves.

Celestia sighed. “Well, I’ll let everypony know the ceremony’s been canceled.

“Neigh, we can still celebrate! We are simply skipping the boring part.”

—-------

Spitfire wasn’t sure when she realized they were being chased, but Jacob had apparently before her as he put on more speed with his two long legs.

Ponyville was mostly deserted since most of the population was at the wedding, but the parade of hoof falls sounding through town were enough to tell Spitfire that they were all after them.

Of course, she could fly, even in this fru fru dress, but she’d hate to upset Rarity by dumping the garment on the ground like it was nothing. Apparently, by Jacob’s flailing arms, he held no such reservation as he ditched the overshirt and tie, undoing a couple buttons, and somehow it seemed to allow him to pour on more speed.

Spitfire grinned, loosening parts of her own dress.

“Left, here!”

She didn’t need to be told, she knew Ponyville just as well as him, but followed the instruction regardless.

Entering the mostly empty marketplace, the only stall that appeared to be open and doing business was none other than the Flower Sisters, whom had helped with the floral at the ceremony.

The one they’re currently running from.

“Quick, get that dress off, I have an idea.”

“In the middle of town!?”

Jacob actually stumbled at that, then recovered. “No, not that, that dress is slowing us down.”

They ran to the flower stand, Spitfire already halfway getting the dress off.

“Hey, Roseluck, sorry to make this quick,” a panting Jacob wheezed out, hands on his knees as he was partly bent over.

“Uh…” Roseluck responded.

“We’re just gonna leave this dress with you, so Rarity doesn’t kill us. Okay? Okay!”

Spitfire dumped the dress on the counter.

From behind the cream colored mare, Lilly and Daisy popped their heads up, both grinning.

“Don’t forget thiiiiiis~” Lilly sing songed, then dropped a bouquet of flowers into Spitfire’s outstretched forelegs.

Neither one questioned it, they just did, Spitfire placing the bundled flowers between her wings.

“Kay, thanks, bye!” Jacob shouted, then was off again.

Now it was much easier to move, her limbs freed from the restraints, and so quite easily dashed ahead of her human.

“Train station! Tickets!” Jacob shouted.

Spitfire saluted with a wing, and shot ahead, putting her Wonderbolts training to use as she dashed around a couple other buildings, then landed with a skid of her hooves on the train platform.

Thankfully, there was a train still there, ready to go.

Also, thankfully, there was the ticket master hoofing over a ticket to a, now startled, stallion.

“Hey, where’s this train going?” Spitfire asked, then shook her head. “Never mind. Two tickets, one way, please.”

“Uh, I’m sorry ma’am, but I just sold the last-”

From her mane, Spitfire pulled out a check book.

“One hundred bits for one ticket, and another hundred for his ticket.”

“Hey!”

The ticket master blinked, looking between Spitfire and the other pony.

She groaned. “Look, time is important here.” She was already filling out the check, glancing at the sign stating who to make the check out too.

“Look, I’ll double it. Four hundred bits for the tickets, if you get that train moving right now.”

The ticket master’s lips twitched, then he nodded his head, looking at the stallion. “Sorry, Caramel, but your filly friend is gonna have to wait until tomorrow.”

“What!? But I already paid for it!”

“And you’re making money off it, to buy her that necklace you were just telling me about as an apology!”

The stallion blinked, tapped his hoof to his chin as he tried to think.

Before he could respond, Spitfire signed her name, threw the entire checkbook at the ticket master, grabbed a ticket, grabbed the ticket from Caramel, and was already moving for the train.

Just in time for Jacob to catch up, the man’s face beat red and hair a mess.

The train let out a whistle, and was already on the move.

“Hurry up! Let's go!”

Spitfire could have easily made it to the train car, but Jacob was now showing signs of exhaustion. She slowed, and with her help, they made it to the caboose, only just barely.

Both collapsed on the rear porch of the train car, leaning against one another, out of breath, and glistened with sweat.

Then, Jacob began to chuckle.

Spitfire joined in with a bit more of a laugh.

“HEY, GET BACK HERE YOU TWO!”

Both went silent, looking back to see Twilight Sparkle, as well as half the town, running along the train tracks.

On shaky legs, both stood, looking back. Jacob gave a small wave.

“We’ll write to you!” he shouted.

He placed his hand on her back, but then noticed something.

“Wait, where did these flowers come from?”

Spitfire blinked, and then remembered the Flower Sisters.

“Oh, they just kinda… hooved these to me. Didn’t even think about it.”

Jacob grinned. “Well, then there’s only one thing left to do.”

He removed them from her back, then held them out for her.

“Go ahead, give them a good throw.”

She blinked, then grinned, taking the flowers in hoof. Squinting, tongue out to the side of her muzzle, she lined up the shot, and let the flowers fly.

They watched as they caught air, aimed for the now slowing party of ponies.

Not even waiting to see where they landed, Jacob turned, kneeling down to Spitfire and placed a hand on each side of her face.

“I love you.”

Smiling, with the faintest bit of tears in her eyes, Spitfire nodded. “I love you, too.”

There, on the back of a speeding train, the two kissed, for the first time as a “married” couple.

“Say… where are we going, anyway?” Jacob asked.

Spitfire just shrugged, kissing him again.

—-------

By the time everypony had returned to town hall, they were tired, sweaty, and grumpy.

All except, that was, for a particular lunar alicorn.

“Huzzah! What a ceremony! Everypony should be proud for doing their part.”

Twilight, seated at the same table, just groaned, slamming her face into the table. Into the surface, she mumbled, “Stupid, all this time, the weeks of prep work…”

“Fret not, young Sparkle, for this was how they wished it to be!”

“I cannot believe it. My daughter, eloping!” Stormy, who shared a similar posture as Twilight, also groaned into the table.

Luna rolled her eyes. “Nay, as I have said prior, I had wed them. Hastily, but wed all the same. I heard two distinct ‘I Do’s’ in there.”

Celestia sighed, looking at Stormy. “She did the same thing centuries ago, at the ceremony of two highly prolific guards.”

Stomping a hoof on the table, Luna stood. “Rapier and Wit both had not wanted such a grandeur spectacle of their love! It was calm, smooth, much like their sword work! When We found both mares distraught, hiding in one of the castle rooms, We did just what they wanted.”

“Am I the only one who finds it adorable when she starts switching back to oldey speech like that?” Soarin’ asked.

Every single mare at the table glared at him.

“What?” he asked, confused.

As both royals picked up on an old argument, and Twilight Sparkle continued to mope, Stormy couldn’t help but stare down the stallion at their table.

She knew Soarin’, hay she’d practically raised him alongside her own daughter when his parents would be gone for work at the factory. Still, one thing eluded her, which had her lowering her eyelids, placing her chin on her hoof and her elbow resting on the table.

“So tell me then, Soarin’, why hasn’t any mare snagged you up yet?”

The stallion’s eyes grew large, which only served to encourage Stormy’s cheshire grin.

She leaned closer to him.

“It’s such a shame, really. My daughter and you’s friendship aside, I cannot help myself from seeing-”

Suddenly, a blue wing shot between them, masking Soarin’s head. Just as quickly, it was retracted, a now flustered, and quite flushed, Soarin’ appeared, a long blue feather behind his ear and lipstick marks on his cheek.

Rainbow Dash promptly scooted a chair between them, taking a seat.

“Sorry there, ma’am,” Rainbow began, leaning against the stallion and holding a disheveled bouquet of flowers in her forehooves, “but it's safe for me to say he’s taken now.”

Author's Note:

If it wasn't obvious, this story got some inspiration from the Dixie Chick's song Ready to Run.

Apologies once again to Doomgooey, who's been super patient with me while I worked this story out and got it completed.

It was also pure happen chance, that I completed this fic, got paid, and the very next day I had the R/H front wheel bearing go on my 2011 Silverado. Those suckers are up to 250 bucks. Owch.

Thanks again, and hope you (and others) enjoy it.

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