Three Words On Your Birthday - Anthology

by Duplex Fields

Pickle, cookies, wedding

"I do." Pinkie Pie could take the solemnest of ceremonies and insert a week's worth of party joy into each word.

"And do you, McIntosh Plowsworth Apple, take Pinkamena Diane Pie to be your lawfully wedded bride?" Reverend Wattle smiled gently. How the lad had grown since the wake for his parents.

With a playful smile, Big Mac looked deep into those cerulean eyes and said simply, "Eeyup."

A crowd large enough to fill an entire orchard meadow can take a surprisingly long time to stop laughing.

Rev. Wattle's voice rang out clear and true. "Let all ponies on the earth and in the skies above know that two lives are joined here in harmony. May their chords never grow dissonant, and may their bounty grow in fertile soil."

The crowd stamped their hooves twice as the joy-filled couple kissed. Then cheers and hat-throwing began as Mac and Pinkie embraced, their necks pressed together in an equine hug.

The reception went well, but a few guests were taken aback by the mild practical jokes set by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. The latter's sense of humor had grown more adorably sinister since she and Discord had begun spending weekends together working on his empathy and her boldness.

Romance was not in everypony's heart, however. Rarity had found herself with more work than she could handle since Twilight's coronation. Twilight had been swamped with royal business, and since she and Spike were a package deal, Rarity found herself alone more evenings than she liked. The carousel seemed less cheerful, no matter how brightly she lit it. She sat alone at a table while the others danced.

"Well hey there, Rarity," said a heavily accented voice, "D'ya need a dance partner?" Rarity winced. It was Hayseed Turniptruck. "Ah've come alone, an' Ah'd be more'n pleasured if'n you'd care tah step out."

She was about to turn him down, but then she saw the cookies at the buffet table. She knew herself better than her friends thought she did; obsessing over food was a sign usually followed by a week shrouded in a fashionable black cloak (and a week following with less income than her budget preferred). She put on her best smile, one usually reserved for the Canterlot elite and the fashion magazine photographers. "I would be enchanted, Hayseed."

Perhaps it was the aged cider, or the Pinkie Pie atmosphere, but it was Rarity's best night in months. Upon its conclusion, she politely kissed him on the cheek and returned to her home.

There was joy in her heart for the newly married couple and a warm glow at her decision: she would stop isolating herself. Her business could handle the bad press, if there would be any, of her enjoying herself in her own hometown with the ponies she'd grown up with.

Yes, resolved Rarity, she could be more than just a fashionista and a hero. She could be a friend to herself. And that mattered more to her now than she ever thought it could.

Author's Note:

For Harwick on deviantArt. Keywords: pickle, cookies, wedding.