“Where is it?!?” I uttered, panicking as I looked around for the ring I had just had, wings fluttering anxiously. “Spiiiike!”
My assistant trotted over, claws tangled in the lengths of his bowtie. He looked at me and frowned.
“Really?” he deadpanned.
“This isn’t funny, Spike!” I panted. “I lost the ring I got for Rainbow! The wedding is going to be ruined! She’ll never talk to me again.” I was heading for hyperventilation as my mind conjured all sorts of images of horror for me.
Spike reached up and grabbed my muzzle, making me meet his eyes. Once he was sure he had my attention, he reached up and tapped my horn, a slight feedback surge indicating that it was active.
Glancing up, I saw the ring and pillow hovering in my telekinetic grasp. Grinning sheepishly, I lowered the object and resettled my wings. “Sorry,” I whispered. “I’m just nervous.”
He finished tying his bowtie and stuck his claws in his suspenders. “I understand, Twilight,” he said, rocking on his heels for a moment before going and picking up his suit coat, the blue tint complimenting his purple scales. “But Rainbow Dash loves you, and between you and Rarity, you’ve planned every last detail. I should know.” He reached into an inner pocket and produced a rolled up bit of parchment. “I helped write the checklist.”
I giggled a little, trying to settle my wings. I had looked them over several times already after preening them and had to fight the urge to check again. We were waiting now for the ceremony to start, and I had never felt so much nervousness before.
“I’m not ready for this,” I said, pacing. “I don’t know anything about being married! What if she’s making a mistake? What if five years from now she wakes up and decides that she doesn’t like being tied down? What if…”
“What if you took five minutes and breathed?” came a voice from the side. I looked and found Spike letting my mother and Cadence into the room I had been assigned. “After all,” my mother continued. “You can hardly say that anypony knows about marriage before they get married. Your father and I certainly didn’t.”
“Or your brother and I,” Cadence added. “Or you and I for being princesses, for that matter. You’ll pick it up as you go along. But I’ll share with you a secret, Dash is just as nervous, in all likelihood.”
I smiled and hugged my old foalsitter. I was still fighting down butterflies, but I no longer felt panic rising. “Thanks,” I whispered, reaching over and pulling my mother into the embrace as well. “I love you two.”
Mom smiled and nuzzled my cheek. “We love you too, Twily,” she said.
“Is she ready?” I heard Dad ask from the door.
I pulled the door open with my magic and stepped forward, seeing my Dad’s eyes mist up a little as he took in my dress. I felt my cheeks heat up as he smiled a sad smile.
“My little filly is all grown up,” he whispered.
I walked over and hugged him, giving him butterfly kisses like I had when I had been a young foal.
“I’m still your daughter,” I whispered to him. I could hear music playing in the grand hall of the palace. “Come on, Daddy,” I said. “It’s time.”
He nodded and smiled, giving a slight sniff. “All right, sweetheart.”
And my heart soared as I stepped through the doors and saw all my friends and family there.
Sunset sat to one side with Starlight, forelimbs crossed together as they both smiled at me. Fluttershy and Applejack were off to the other side, the couple beaming as they saw me stride forward. Rarity was at the organ, playing the processional with a slight run to her mascara.
And at the altar was Rainbow Dash, her mane tamed and carefully styled, the Wonderbolt dress uniform fitting her smartly, playing off her prismatic mane. Her jaw dropped as she saw me and I blushed.
Dad held my hoof out to her, and the Pegasus took it, the two of us looking at each other.
“You’re beautiful,” she whispered.
“You’re not bad yourself,” I returned.
“Dearly beloved,” Princess Celestia said, beginning the ceremony. I missed most of the speech, to be honest, lost in my marefriend’s ruby eyes.
“I believe that my little ponies have prepared their own vows,” she said, bringing me to the present.
Rainbow cleared her throat, bringing a small card out and holding it in her wingtip as she read off of it.
“Twilight,” she said, her raspy voice shaking slightly. “You have helped me become so much more than I had ever hoped to be. With your help, I became a Wonderbolt, helped save Equestria sevveral times over, and found my wonderful friends. And with you, I’ve become a better mare. I brag less, compete less…”
I heard Applejack snort in the audience, causing a chuckle to roll through the hall.
Rainbow blushed for a moment. “But I know that nothing in my life would be the same without you,” she continued. “I want to be with you always, and cross that final finish line having lived a life full of love.”
I felt tears in my eyes as she tucked the card away.
“Rainbow,” I said, trying to fight down the nerves. “The first time we met, you soaked me with a raincloud and dried me off with a whirlwind. I was so flustered by it that it took me a moment to remember what I was there for.”
I looked her in the eyes, seeing them shimmer in the light.
“But since then, you have shown me time and again your loyalty,” I whispered. “Your unwavering faith in your friends and unwavering willingness to help them, no matter the odds. You gave up a chance to fly with Cloudsdale in the Equestrian Games to stay with your friends and you have always been there for me.”
I smiled. “You might be a bit caught up in pranking,” I said, hearing Pinkie giggle in the crowd as Dash ducked her head. “But you have learned your limit, even if it took being pranked proper in return. You are a subject that I could never get tired of researching, and I want to learn everything there is to know about you. I want to be there as new chapters are written in your life, and be able to look back on them with you decades from now, the book of our life more precious than any other in my library.”
We kept looking at each other as Celestia began speaking again, lost in her eyes. We exchanged rings, hers sliding around her neck on a chain while the solid band that matched the gemstone ring she had given me months ago slid onto my horn. It felt warm.
It felt like it was full of love.
Celestia spread her wings and placed one over each of us, smiling down at us.
“I now proclaim you married,” she said. “You may now…”
Rainbow leaned forward and kissed me before she finished the sentence. I dimly heard the shouts of joy and the crack of the Wonderbolt flyby, but none of it affected me.
I was locked in an eternity of joy with the mare I loved, our wings spread out and primaries interlaced.
I’d never felt so happy.
