Awkward, But Worth It

by bahatumay

That Time Your Dream Wedding Becomes a Nightmare

Wedding preparations.

The phrase sent chills up spines of both mares and stallions, but for different reasons. Mares imagined a day they would want to remember for the rest of their lives. Stallions imagined nagging mother-in-laws, tight collars and ties, standing there forever doing nothing, and so much food that wasn't for them to eat.

However, when preparations were over and the time for the wedding itself had come, both genders would always remember standing in front of the authority marrying them, next to the pony they loved, waiting for the time when they would be married in the eyes of the state, their families, and Celestia herself.

Of course, it's also quite memorable when you're the only one standing there at the altar... especially when the ceremony was supposed to start almost twenty minutes ago.

Applejack shuffled her hooves nervously. Behind her, she could hear Rarity muttering a steady stream of curses on Rainbow Dash for being late, and Fluttershy chewing on her hooves. In front of her, Princess Twilight Sparkle stood with royal dignity and patience, but Applejack knew her friend well enough to pick up on the tiny ear twitches and microshuffles that showed that she, too, was nervous. Sweetie Belle had started snacking on some of the flower petals she hadn’t thrown, and ringbearer Scootaloo was nervously chewing on one of the tassels on her uniform. Best Mare Apple Bloom stood in front of the congregation and so had to stand straight in front of everyone, but she looked worried and even her bow looked like it was drooping. The only one who wasn’t worried was Pinkie Pie, but that was probably because she had started playing a round of Go Fish with Fluttershy. And perhaps Granny Smith, who had fallen asleep again.

Thankfully, Rainbow chose this moment to arrive. Unfortunately, she decided to enter by flying through the door, splintering it into pieces as she entered.

She skidded to a stop, leaving deep gashes in the plush carpet. “You called?” she asked, striking what might have passed for a heroic pose, if it weren’t for what she was wearing.

Or, rather, what she wasn’t wearing.

Applejack’s eyes widened. “Rainbow?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you na-?”

“Your dress!” Rarity interrupted with a horrified shriek.

Rainbow looked down at the few white strips of cloth that crisscrossed her body. “Yeah, it got lost somewhere in Ghastly Gorge. Probably the second bramble bush. Or that third quarry eel burrow.” She paused at the expressions she was getting. “What? I wanted to go fly for a bit before my wedding. That’s cool, right?”

Rarity fainted. Apparently, she didn’t think so.

As Fluttershy rushed to help, Ranibow turned to Twilight and scratched her left calf with her right hind leg. “I’m here. Let’s get this party started.”

Pinkie quite literally rose up out of her seat, grinning widely.

As one, everypony turned to her and said, “No!”

Pinkie’s smile faded slightly, and she slowly sank back down into her seat.

Twilight coughed lightly and began. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…”

Applejack couldn’t help but notice that Rainbow was bouncing slightly. It was very distracting.

“...the joining of two souls together to become one…”

Apple Bloom’s ears flicked as she (and everypony in a wide radius) heard Rainbow belch under her breath.

Twilight managed to stay on track. “...forever, as long as Celestia’s sun and-”

Rainbow interrupted. “Hey, Twi, can we get this show on the road?”

“What?”

“You know, skip to the 'mare and mare' part.” She leaned forward and said in a stage whisper, “I gotta tinkle.”

“Ahh!” Applejack sat up in a cold sweat.

Rainbow Dash shot up in surprise, wings flapping furiously; until the low ceiling abruptly stopped her upward motion, sending her crashing back down to the floor. “What happened, AJ?” she asked, pulling herself back onto the bed.

“Had a nightmare,” Applejack responded, still panting.

Rainbow had a couple options here. Number one was tease her, but judging by how shaken she looked, she decided to go with option two, which was a gentle hug and nuzzle. “About what?”

“Getting married.”

Rainbow pulled back, hurt etched on her face. “Well, if you didn’t want to get married, then you shouldn’t have asked me!”

“Nonononono!” Applejack rushed to do damage control. “It wasn’t like that at all. Just... It was a nightmare about something that happened at the wedding.”

Rainbow flinched. “Did it involve Pinkie Pie?” she asked hesitantly.

“No, thankfully…”

“Was it another changeling attack? Did Discord change our dresses to cheesecake? Were we overrun by crazed animals?”

“No.”

“Did the cake fall over and squish Sweetie Belle?”

That was oddly specific. “No.”

Rainbow gasped. “Did we run out of cider?” she asked in a horrified whisper.

Applejack snorted. “That’s your nightmare,” she said, but a smile played at the edge of her mouth.

“Did we run out of food?” Rainbow tried again.

“At an Apple wedding?” Applejack snorted, this time derisively. “You’d have a better chance of stoppin’ the sun from rising.”

“Did my estranged twin cousin show up and dramatically proclaim that she was the real Rainbow Dash and that I was an imposter only trying to marry you because I wanted your farmland to sell it to those two crazy unicorns, and then we fought and after we were done rolling around nopony could tell us apart so you had to make out with both of us in front of everypony to do a taste test to see which one of us was the real Rainbow Dash?”

Applejack laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of this idea. “How in the hay do you have a twin cousin?” she asked.

“It could happen!” Rainbow protested.

Applejack shook her head and rested a hoof on Rainbow’s thigh, further on the inside than she strictly needed to be. No matter what happened, Rainbow could always bring a smile to her face, and this time was no different. “Nothing like that. Just... be on time? Please?”

“Promise,” Rainbow said, crossing her heart.

“And make sure you go to the bathroom before the ceremony."

And with the crisis averted, it was time for Rainbow to go back to option one. "You got it. But are you gonna come watch to make sure? Cause I'm not really into that sort of thing. Just sayin'."

Applejack gave Rainbow a playful slap upside her head with her pillow. “Good night, Rainbow Dash.”

Author's Note:

This is one of the first scenes I wrote, as is the next chapter. I’d nearly forgotten about this one, though; just found it on accident. I am excited for the next chapter, not only because DbzorDie asked me not to write it, but also because it splits canonically and I can’t decide which fork I like better, so I’ll prolly publish both.
Can’t believe it’s almost been a year since I started this story. I should do something for that, huh?

Comments

[DbzOrDie]

[Tchernobog]

Sad thing is, I *could* see Dash doing this.

[bahatumay]

4047699
The scariest nightmares are the ones that seem far too real...

[Tchernobog]

4047708
Poor, poor Applejack.

[tirilee]

I totally can see Rainbow doing this

[Sawk71]

THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS BACK! I can't believe it is finally back, have bee following this since like Chapter 19. i need the next chapter NOW!

[Diamond Sparkle]

Lol at Sweetie Belle eating the rose petals. Poor Applejack what a nightmare to have.

[Hesitant Brony]

Why can everyone see Dash doing this? She's the element of friggin' loyalty. Also, based on last chapter alone, I think she'd be mature enough to not bungle her own wedding. Still, I can see her thinking up those possible nightmares. Poor Sweetie Belle didn't even see the cake falling before it was too late.

[Starry eyed brony]

awesome

[LucyHorseThing]

“You know, skip to the 'mare and mare' part.” She leaned forward and said in a stage whisper, “I gotta tinkle.”

I actually wouldn't mind if someone did that at my wedding. I'd be eventful.