Putting Her Dreams Aside

Rainbow Dash stood outside the door to Carousel Boutique and knocked on it three times. She had just received a note from Rarity that she had something to show her as soon as possible. The cyan mare had an inkling about what it was, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions that quickly.

It had been a little over a month since her and Soarin's engagement party. At this point, Rainbow's pregnant belly had grown a little bit more, and flying was slowly becoming more difficult. She knew that she would have to cease flying after some time, as it would put too much stress on her back and wings, undoubtedly causing more discomfort than she was feeling now.

The door to the boutique opened about five seconds after Rainbow had knocked on it. There was Rarity, her red glasses over her eyes and a measuring tape hanging lazily over her neck. "Rainbow, darling!" she said, happily, "You've made it! Please, come inside. I'm sure you'll absolutely love what Fluttershy and I have to show you!"

"Wait, Fluttershy's here, too?" Rainbow asked.

"Hi, Rainbow!" the yellow pegasus greeted from across the room, waving a hoof at her friend.

"Oh, hey, Fluttershy!" Rainbow responded, noticing her friend.

"Please come with us over here, Rainbow," Rarity continued, her and Fluttershy leading Dash over to a closed feature curtain, "I have a hunch that you already know what this is, no?"

"Well, I had a couple of ideas, but I didn't really wanna guess too quickly," Rainbow replied.

"Very well, then," Rarity continued, "Fluttershy, please show our friend what we've got for her."

"With pleasure, Rarity," Fluttershy responded. She then pulled the long rope anchored to the curtain, pulling the magenta curtain apart from the center. Once it was opened, Rainbow's eyes grew very wide. In front of her was a gorgeous, white gown. It had a few bits of lace on it in the upper chest/lower neck area, and there were six small gems on each side near the base, each one representing one of the six colors of Rainbow's mane. Overall, it wasn't too frilly and looked to be just the right amount of formalness to suit the bride-to-be.

Rainbow was almost speechless as she realized to whom the dress belonged to. "I-Is this...mine??" Rainbow asked, stuttering slightly.

"Of course it is, darling!" Rarity replied, smiling, "This is your wedding, after all."

"It...It looks so awesome!! Thank you!"

"Oh, don't thank me yet, Rainbow. Just have a look and see what's next to those gems down there."

Immediately, Rainbow focused on the spread-out gems at the bottom of her dress, the part that started just in front of where her wings would be and flowed diagonally down until it curved and leveled off with the ground. Upon closer inspection, Rainbow could see what she thought were cotton accents meant to imitate clouds, but when she touched them with her hoof, she knew it wasn't what she thought it was. "Is this...real cloud??" Rainbow asked, continually amazed at her friends' work.

"Yes, indeed, darling!" Rarity replied.

"But how did you do this? I thought you couldn't sew clouds to anything!"

"Yes, well," the fashionista continued, starting to walk around the dress, "You see, clouds are very delicate to work with, but I knew I had to include them in the design somehow. Luckily, our friend, Fluttershy, here knows a little bit about sewing herself, and she just so happens to know how to sew little bits of cloud onto a dress!"

"Oh, yes," Fluttershy stated, "It is rather difficult, but if you're really careful, you can easily weave string through and around clouds and attach them to fabric."

Rainbow was stunned at the realization that she had actual clouds on her dress. True, she was around clouds most of the time, but seeing them in this fashion was something she never imagined could be possible. Turning around, Rainbow lifted her forelegs and hugged Rarity and Fluttershy at the same time. "Thank you guys so much!" she exclaimed, "I love it! This is so cool!"

"Well, isn't that how you like it, darling? Cool?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah!"

"Well, I think it's safe to assume that Fluttershy and I were able to provide that extra 20%, were we not?"

"More than that! This is twenty MILLION percent more cool than I could have imagined!" She then let go of her two friends and began to turn back to face her new wedding dress. "All I wanna do right now is...wait," she paused as she noticed the absence of fabric on the underside of her dress, "Something's missing," she continued, pointing at her gown.

Rarity immediately knew what she was getting at. "Oh, yes, that," she said, "I didn't construct that portion yet because I needed to get a measurement of your entire barrel. That's another reason why I called you here."

"But the wedding's not for another month," Rainbow brought up, "Won't these measurements be too small once that day comes? I mean, my belly's probably gonna grow a bit more, considering there's two foals in there."

"Not to worry, Rainbow," Rarity said, reassuringly, "I have everything under control." She then levitated the measuring tape off of her neck and wrapped it around Rainbow's back and belly, squinting through her glasses as she determined the current measurement. "Perfect. Thank you, Rainbow," the unicorn continued, "I'll just add a few centimeters to this measurement to compensate for the possibility of your belly growing. We'll do one final measurement just before the wedding so we can get everything straightened out. Sound good?"

"Don't worry, Rarity. I trust you."

"Why, thank you, darling. Now, if you'll just give me one minute, I can have this dress looking complete." She immediately floated the mannequin over to one of her workstations to complete the initial assembly of the dress.

As Rarity began her work, Rainbow turned to her yellow pegasus friend and said, "Hey, Fluttershy, while Rarity's working on my dress, do you think we could step outside for a little bit?"

"Oh...um, if you want us to, Rainbow. Sure," Fluttershy replied. The two pegasi then stepped outside the boutique, turning to their right so they couldn't see Rarity through the window.

"Fluttershy," Rainbow continued, "I need to ask you something."

"Oh. What is it, Rainbow?" the yellow mare asked.

"Well..." Rainbow sighed. "Fluttershy, you and I have known each other pretty much our whole lives. Out of all the friends I have here in Ponyville and back in Cloudsdale, you're my best friend of them all." Fluttershy's eyes widened ever so slightly upon hearing what her friend had to say. "You've been with me through times of both good and bad, you've expressed kindness to me like no other, and you're just wonderful to have around. So...would you do me the pleasure of being my maid of honor at my wedding?"

Fluttershy gasped. "R-Really??" she asked, almost breathless.

"Yeah. Really. I can't think of any other pony who could fulfill this role."

Fluttershy was silent for the next few seconds. "Oh, Rainbow, yes! I'd love to be your maid of honor! Thank you!" she finished while throwing herself forward and hugging her lifelong friend.

"No, thank you, Fluttershy. Not only for this, but for being the most awesome friend a pony could ask for."

Fluttershy began to shed a few tears upon realizing just how much she meant to Rainbow Dash. She withdrew her embrace and looked Rainbow in the eyes. "You're welcome," she said, sweetly.

They remained silent for several seconds before Rainbow said, "Think Rarity's done by now?"

"I don't know," Fluttershy responded, "Let's go see!"

"Yeah!" Rainbow finished as she and her maid of honor walked back to the door and reentered the boutique.

Once inside, they saw Rarity putting Rainbow's dress back on the mannequin. The fashionista then saw her two friends walking back inside and smiled. "Wonderful!" she said, "You're back! Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just took Fluttershy outside so I could ask her something," Rainbow responded.

Rarity looked away slightly. "You know, I'm tempted to asked what you two discussed, but I know that would be highly unladylike."

"You know, Rarity, you're gonna find out sooner or later."

"What am I going to find out about?"

Rainbow turned and smiled at Fluttershy, subtly letting her know that she could deliver the news. "Well," the yellow pegasus said, wrapping a foreleg around Rainbow's neck, "Rainbow just asked me to be her maid of honor, and I wholeheartedly accepted."

"Oh, how fantastic!" Rarity exclaimed, sitting on her rump and clapping her forehooves together, "Congratulations!"

"Wait, you're not jealous, Rarity?" Rainbow asked.

"Why, of course not, darling! You've known Fluttershy longer than you've known me and our friends, so it only makes sense that you've picked your most long-time friend to do this for you."

"Phew..." Rainbow sighed, wiping her brow, "I was afraid this was gonna be getting Twilight's second Grand Galloping Gala ticket all over again."

"Nonsense, darling. Now, do you have time for an initial fitting before you leave?"

"Yeah, of course!" the cyan pegasus replied, walking over to where Rarity was. Rarity then levitated the gown off the mannequin and led Rainbow behind another curtain. Giving the pegasus some privacy, she stepped back and stood next to Fluttershy, both ponies anticipating what their friend would look like in her wedding dress. After about thirty seconds, the curtain opened, and Rarity and Fluttershy stared in awe at Rainbow Dash, her dress looking amazing on her. It fit her form perfectly, except for her belly, which was the slightest bit loose to accommodate the anticipated further development of the foals inside her. Other than that, the gems and clouds accented Rainbow's body perfectly, her wings fully extended as she modeled off what she would be wearing in less than four weeks.

"Oh, Rainbow!" Rarity exclaimed, "You look absolutely fabulous!"

"I agree!" Fluttershy responded, "You look more beautiful than I can ever remember!"

"Thanks!" Rainbow replied, happy with her friends' work, "This thing looks so awesome on me! This is just one more reason for why I can't wait to get married!" Rainbow then walked forward and hugged her friends once again, both Rarity and Fluttershy returning her embrace, albeit carefully, not wanting to mess any of their work up. "You guys rock, you know that?" Rainbow asked. Fluttershy and Rarity only smiled, happy that their friend was satisfied with her new wedding dress.

The door to the Wonderbots' main building opened as the team went inside for their 90-minute midday break. Though they were the most skilled and in-shape fliers in all of Equestria, a few of the team members were slightly exhausted. This included Soarin, as something had been on his mind all day, something that prevented him from having his attention devoted solely to his flying. Right before he went into the stallions' locker room, the light blue pegasus stopped when he noticed his captain walking toward him. "Hey, Spitfire," he greeted.

"Hey, Soarin," Spitfire replied, "Nice job out there."

"Thanks, but I could have done better. Anyway, I'm glad I ran into you. I'm meeting a friend for lunch, okay? I'll try my best to not return late."

Spitfire smiled at her teammate. "Alright, Soarin. Have a good time!" she said, turning to go down the hall toward her office.

"Thanks!" Soarin responded, watching his captain as she rounded the corner. He then went into the locker room, taking a brief shower and making himself look presentable before exiting the Wonderbolts' headquarters and beginning his flight to downtown Cloudsdale. It wasn't a long flight - no more than three minutes.

Soon, Soarin touched down at the front entrance to Cloudsdale Café, one of the most popular social spots in town. As he made his way through the front door, he immediately spotted his friend, Thunderlane, waving at him from a table near the front window. Soarin quickly trotted over to the table, climbing into the tall chair while saying, "Hey, Thunderlane! Glad you could make it!"

"Glad I could, too!" the black pegasus replied. He remained silent for several seconds before continuing. "How's your day been so far?"

"Pretty nice, although a bit tiring. How about you?"

"I haven't really done anything today."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I did what I could to amuse myself before coming here to meet you." Soarin didn't really want to think about what his friend could have done to keep himself occupied...

Just then, a familiar, light sky blue pegasus flew up to the stallions' table, a pen and pad of paper in hoof. "Hey, there, you two!" she said.

"Flitter?" Soarin asked, not expecting to see the young mare working at the café, "You didn't tell me you worked here! When did you start?"

"About a week ago," Flitter replied, "And I'm really enjoying it so far! Everypony I see here is really nice!"

"That's great!" Thunderlane said.

"So, what can I get you guys today?"

"I'll have an egg salad on toasted whole wheat with a side of hayfries, please," Soarin said.

"Same for me, please," said Thunderlane.

"Anything to drink?" Flitter asked as she began writing down the stallions' orders.

"I'll keep it simple and have some orange juice," said Soarin.

"Do you guys have virgin cider?" asked Thunderlane.

"We sure do!" Flitter replied with a smile.

"Great! I'll have a glass of that, please."

"Will do!" the young mare responded, "I'll have your drinks out very shortly, okay?"

"Thanks!" the two stallions replied in unison as Flitter turned and flew away to get their orders in.

Meanwhile, Soarin decided that now was a good time to ask Thunderlane a question he'd been meaning to ask him for the past month. "Hey, Thunderlane," Soarin started, "Can I ask you something?"

Thunderlane gave one giggle before replying. "Well, you just did, but go ahead."

Soarin chuckled. "Hehe...good one. Anyway...listen, throughout my life, I didn't have a whole lot of male friends. However, whenever I wanna hang out with another stallion, you're the first one that comes to mind. You and I may not have hung out as much as we wanted to over the years, but you're always a great guy to be with. Having said that...would you do me the honor of being my best stallion?"

Thunderlane's face lit up immensely, simply shocked that Soarin would choose him for such an important role. "Seriously?? Of course! I'd love to!"

"Really?? Great!" Soarin replied, cheerfully. He and Thunderlane quickly got down from their chairs and gave each other a quick, one-second hug.

They got back into their chairs as they heard a female voice coming from somewhere out of their line of sight. "I'm guessing something great just happened, didn't it?" Flitter asked, setting the glasses of cider and orange juice down on the table.

"Yep," Soarin replied, "I now officially have my best stallion for the wedding!" Thunderlane raised his hoof slightly while Soarin spoke.

"Hey, that's great!" Flitter replied, "Congrats, Thunderlane! I can't wait to tell my sister about this!"

Thunderlane faintly blushed at the thought of the amount of affection he'd be getting from his marefriend, Cloudchaser, over this whole thing. "Thanks, Flitter," he replied. Flitter smiled as she flew over to a different table, helping another pair of customers while leaving Soarin and Thunderlane alone to themselves. "Wow," Thunderlane continued, "I never thought I'd be doing something like this, Soarin. Thank you."

"No problem, Thunderlane," Soarin replied, "It's the best I could do to show how much I value you as a friend." Thunderlane only smiled. "I wonder who Dashie's gonna pick to be her maid of honor?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Soarin."

"Yeah, you're right." Soon, the two stallions had their lunch in front of them, and they slowly ate away as they continued discussing the big event that was to come very soon.