Soarin smiled, patting the front pocket of his flight jacket with a light blue hoof. His little surprise for his marefriend was exactly where it should be.
The Wonderbolt Co-Captain could still remember the day he'd first truly laid eyes on Rarity, back when he'd paid her a visit to have his flight suit mended. To think that it had already been over two years since that time. Two years of on and off dating, and more recently, of going steady.
But at long last, the stallion was confident that the time had come. He was going to ask the ultimate question. And he had a pretty good idea of what the response would be.
Landing at the front doorstep of Carousel Boutique, Soarin gently rapped a hoof against the door and knocked three times. Said door opened mere seconds later, and there stood Rarity in all her glory.
"Oh, Soarin, what a lovely surprise," Rarity greeted with a smile that could rival Celestia's sun for its brightness. "May I ask what brings you here today? Another last second fashion emergency?"
Soarin shook his head, chuckling ever so slightly. "Just thought I'd stop by and see how my favorite mare in the whole wide world of Equestria is doing," He commented, putting a hoof to her chin. "Also, there's a little something I'd like to ask of you. If you have a few moments to spare, that is."
Rarity happily replied. "For you, Soarin, I always have time to spare."
The pegasus stallion tried hard not to blush. This was it, the moment he'd been rehearsing over and over again in his mind ever since he'd decided to go through with this. He would've preferred somewhere a bit more romantic to set the mood, but the Wonderbolt Co-Captain knew he wasn't going to get another chance like this for a long time. So, he bent his back hooves down and kneeled, as his front hooves reached into his flight jacket and pulled out a small box. Opening it up, he declared. "Rarity, I've known you for so long now. And our time together has made me feel like I'm on top of the world. I can't imagine my life without you anymore. So I ask: Will you marry me?"
The fashionista gasped, nearly finding herself at a loss for words. Fortunately, she still managed to get out: "Oh darling, of course I'll marry you!"
Soarin beamed, presenting the small (but beautiful) diamond ring inside the box to his marefriend and future wife. "Excellent! And I already have the perfect location in mind for our wedding!" He told her.
"Oh, you do?" Rarity pondered. "I'm kind of hoping it'll be on the ground, I much prefer my hooves to touch solid ground rather than clouds."
"I figured you'd think that way," Soarin chuckled a bit. "Lucky for you, I've decided to hold our wedding at Ponyville Town Hall. And I understand your friend, Pinkie Pie, has a real talent for throwing parties and other celebrations."
The unicorn mare nodded. "I was just thinking of having her organize the wedding reception, it'll surely be a grand affair," Her eyes began to light up like stars light up the night sky! "Ooh! And my wedding dress and your tuxedo will be from my boutique! We'll have the finest wedding outfits anypony's ever seen!"
"I don't doubt that for a second, Rarity. You can make anything look beautiful," Soarin declared. "So, the wedding is on! And if all goes according to plan, we'll have it in half a year's time."
The very next day, Soarin flew back to Wonderbolts HQ, immediately requesting an audience with Captain Spitfire. It was there that he informed her of his intended wedding, and the need for him to have it off.
Spitfire flashed a smile, her tone of voice becoming a slightly teasing one as she told her old friend and fellow Wonderbolt. "I gotta hoof it to you, Soarin. You certainly know how to pick 'em."
Soarin blushed ever so faintly. "Spitfire, stop it, seriously! After all, I kind of owe it to you. If you hadn't slipped that mention of Rarity to Fleetfoot and Misty Fly, I'd have never found out about her."
"Well, that's what friends are for, right?" Spitfire remarked, leaning back in her desk chair a bit as she then declared. "I should be able to get you time off for your big day, but it's not a guaranteed thing. You know there's always a chance something will pop up that requires all hooves on deck."
Soarin nodded. "I'm aware of that, Captain. But barring some kind of emergency, I guess my wedding is assured."
"Just don't let yourself get distracted out there, Soarin. Your performance in the last couple of shows has been kind of lacking, and ponies are starting to take notice," Spitfire advised. "For the time being, your duties as a Wonderbolt come first. Once you're married, I think ponies will be a little bit more forgiving if you decide to leave the team and settle down."
Soarin shook his head. "I may have to leave for a little while, but I'll always be a Wonderbolt, even if I have to be a back-up one. Besides, Rarity and I have been making this long distance relationship work out so far. I think we'll be able to manage a long distance marriage."
"Can I count on you to save me a seat for the big day?" Spitfire asked Soarin.
Soarin nodded again and smiled. "Of course. In fact, I might even talk to Rarity about making you the best mare at the wedding."
Spitfire blushed at the idea. "Not sure I'd really consider myself 'best mare' material."
Soarin only laughed. "No need to sell yourself short, Captain, I'm sure you'd do great." And then he departed Spitfire's office without another word. His wedding to Rarity was all but assured now, so the only thing left to do was play the waiting game.
Weeks passed in the blink of an eye for both Rarity and Soarin, word quickly spread about their intended marriage. And with wedding preparations on top of their already demanding responsibilities, it was hardly a surprise to either member of the couple once two months had come and gone.
However, it didn't take long after that point for complications to start arising. Complications which threatened to derail the entire wedding.
One day, roughly two and a half months after Soarin had proposed to her, Rarity was hard at her work in her own little workshop. She was sketching out the designs for the wedding outfits she and Soarin were to wear, for what felt like the umpteenth time already. No matter what she tried, however, Rarity just couldn't come up with designs that impressed her. The fashionista had had to constantly change her wastebasket, as it filled up with crumpled pieces of paper that depicted rejected or failed designs.
"Ugh! No, no, no!" Rarity groaned in frustration, crumpling up yet another piece of paper and tossing it across the room to add to yet another stack. The mare with a pristine white coat all but slammed her head down on her desk in frustration. "Why must artist's block hit me now of all times?!" She complained, adjusting her ruby red sewing glasses ever so slightly. "I just want something nice and simple, yet elegant and memorable. Something Soarin and I will forever remember. So why am I constantly drawing a blank on what I want?! Come on, stupid brain, give me that winning idea I'm long overdue for already!"
Realizing that she wasn't going to get anywhere in her current state, the young fashionista reluctantly set aside her drawing tools and took off her sewing glasses. It was then that she noticed order forms for several other dresses had piled up behind her. A frustrated sigh escaped from her lips, as the unicorn realized it was almost noon. "I need to take a break from designing, and just focus on the orders for the wedding guests. If I could just figure out what's keeping me from those perfecting wedding outfits." She thought to herself, as she floated the envelopes over to her desk.
Just then, the doorbell rang. And before Rarity had even a chance to get up from her desk, a pink blur of motion zipped into her workshop. "Hiya, Rarity!" Pinkie Pie cheerfully greeted. "My 'Pinkie Sense' told me you were having another one of those extended working sessions, so I thought I'd bring you lunch." She presented a bowl of salad and a cupcake to her friend.
Rarity accepted the food without fanfare, floating over a few bits to Pinkie to pay for her meal. "Thank you, Pinkie Pie," She sighed, and proceeded to take a few bites of her salad. Then she asked the mare. "So, how are things going with the planning for the wedding and the wedding reception?"
"You will not believe how quickly word has spread about the wedding!" Pinkie exclaimed! "Seems like all of Equestria knows about it and plans to attend! We're starting to reach the limit for how many can fit into town hall!"
"Well, have you thought about setting up chairs outside?" Rarity suggested.
Pinkie nodded. "Yes, but even those are starting to fill up with designated guests," She then nervously added. "At this rate, there's hardly gonna be room to move or breath. We may have to find somewhere else to hold the wedding, just to fit everyone."
"But there aren't really any places more suitable for a wedding than town hall!" Rarity protested.
"I was thinking we could move the wedding itself to Twilight's castle, and have the reception at town hall," Pinkie suggested. "The main hallway alone could probably fit hundreds of guests, maybe even thousands!"
Rarity only shook her head at the suggestion. "Something tells me that Twilight wouldn't want her castle to be filled up with paparazzi and reporters. Besides, the flyers already advertised town hall. If we change the location now, we'll have to recall all those flyers, and send out new ones."
"Are you suggesting we start restricting access? That's a huge party no-no, Rarity!" Pinkie protested with a gasp!
"I don't know what else to do, Pinkie," Rarity remarked with a sigh. "I figured a wedding between Soarin and I would attract attention, but I didn't think it would be the next royal wedding!"
Pinkie hated seeing Rarity so upset. There had to be some way to solve the problem of the ever growing guest list, without changing the location or turning away interested observers. If only there was some way for everyone who wanted to attend to do so, without needing to be at town hall itself.
Then, all of a sudden, a light bulb went off inside the pink party pony's head! "Of course! It's so obvious I didn't even think of it before!" She mentally realized! Looking Rarity firm in the eyes, she told her fashionista friend. "Don't you worry, Rarity. I have the perfect solution in mind. I'll just need to see if Twilight and Starlight are willing to agree to it!" And she bounced away before Rarity had a chance to ask what her friend had in mind.
"I suppose that's one crisis resolved," The mare thought to herself, as she finished off her salad and downed the cupcake. "If only I could get over this artist's block that refuses to leave. Oh, I hope Soarin's having better luck than I am. Perhaps we weren't meant to tie the knot so soon."
Soarin, as luck would have it, was facing his own problems. Namely the fact that a show in Ponyville was slated for only a few days after his wedding. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, he'd just find a reserve or other backup member to fill in for him.
But posters had already been sent out for the show, and Soarin was one of the members touted. Even with word increasingly getting out that he and Rarity were going to be married, the expectations were still for him to be at said show. It was really the only one anypony expected him to be able to take part in for the foreseeable future after his marriage.
Naturally, this led to quite the dilemma for the Wonderbolts Co-Captain. "I'd hate to disappoint my fans after they all expect me to be there," The light blue coated stallion thought to himself. "Besides, Spitfire's been hounding on me about how my flying's been getting sloppy. Marriage or no marriage, I have to honor the commitment I've given!"
And it was with those thoughts that the stallion threw himself wholeheartedly into flight practice, even though he wanted nothing more than to spend his days visiting with Rarity and make sure she was doing okay.
This proved to be a mistake on Soarin's part, his mind (and heart) were divided as a result. Even the simplest of tasks that he'd previously had no trouble with, became incredibly difficult for him. Though he wasn't as distracted as he had been just prior to his injury at Rainbow Falls, it still showed.
"Hey, Soarin, will you pay attention for one second?!" Fleetfoot commented rather bitterly, attracting the stallion's attention. "You're flying too low! You're gonna crash if you don't pull up soon!"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. Thanks for the reminder." Soarin sheepishly blushed, as he increased his altitude just seconds before he would've struck a pole head on.
Misty Fly arched an eyebrow towards the stallion. "You sure you're one hundred percent there, Soarin?" She questioned. "You seem to be more distracted than usual. Thinking about your upcoming wedding to Rarity?"
"Maybe I am, just a little bit," Soarin admitted to Misty Fly. "But I'll be fine. I'm just a little out of practice 'cause I haven't had to fly like this in a while, that's all."
"Soarin, you really don't have to keep doing this. Spitfire will be glad to replace you with someone younger and more eager," Fleetfoot protested. "Thunderlane in particular has been itching to have his place in an official show."
"Nopony's being replaced! The posters say I'm going to be there, and everypony's expecting me!" Soarin angrily remarked, narrowing his eyebrows in frustration. "I told you, I'll be fine! I just need to get back into my old routine, and everything will be like second nature to me."
Fleetfoot snickered. "Then why am I leaving you in the dust so easily, Soarin? You used to at least give me a challenge. Now even Slowpoke Surprise can fly faster than you."
The stallion growled in frustration, furiously flapping his wings to increase his speed. "No fair getting a head start while I'm distracted, Fleetfoot!" In his mind, the Co-Captain couldn't help but think. "Fleetfoot and Misty Fly are right, I'm not concentrating on my Wonderbolt duties like I should be. Perhaps I should've waited until I had more down time before proposing to Rarity. At least I should've held off until after that show."
The anxieties and pre-wedding jitters only grew worse for Rarity and Soarin as the weeks and months quickly slipped past. Soon it was the final week before the wedding, and the two were all but ready to call the whole thing off.
Rarity was still desperately trying to find the perfect idea for the wedding outfits, both for Soarin's tuxedo and for her dress. And she still hadn't heard back from Pinkie Pie on her "idea" for the still growing guest list (Rarity had lost count of the number of invitations somewhere around three hundred and fifty), though she assumed that part at least was taken care of.
And Soarin, no matter how hard he tried, just couldn't split his focus. He remained constantly distracted, and despite how much he pushed himself, his skills only somewhat returned to where they'd been prior to his proposal. He was often the worst flyer of the day, and while cleaning the compound he would overhear his teammates talking in not so subtle detail about the fact that he was just not on the same level he used to be.
So it was that, a mere five days before the big wedding, the couple arranged an emergency meeting with the little time off that they had. There was a lot they wanted to discuss, including a possibility they dreaded having to resort to: Cancelling the wedding and breaking off their engagement.
Said emergency meeting took place in the same park in which the two had started their relationship that one fateful night years ago. And lucky for the both of them, the park was mostly empty, allowing them to vent their worries without fear.
Rarity was the first one to do so, all but immediately throwing herself onto Soarin as she confessed. "I think we've bitten off far more than we could ever hope to chew! I still haven't been able to settle on a design for our outfits! I've tried everything to cure my artist's block, but nothing's working!"
"I'm not even sure I can pull off the balancing act, Rarity," Soarin reluctantly replied. "I keep messing up and making obvious mistakes. Spitfire's even told me that unless I get my act together, I might end up off the team for Celestia knows how long," A sigh of regret escaped his lips as he nervously said to his marefriend. "You think maybe this wasn't meant to be? You and I? Together like this? Dating was one thing, but actually committing to a relationship and all the ins and outs it brings."
Rarity, however, firmly shook her head. "Even if we wanted to, it's too late to just cancel everything. The guests have already R.S.V.P'd, the wedding cake is being prepared as we speak, and it's already been arranged who's going to be doing what at the wedding. We have to find some way to make this work out."
The pegasus stallion found himself smiling despite the seriousness of the situation. "I knew there was something I liked about you, Rarity," He declared as he stroked her mane delicately with a hoof. "If you say there's a way we can still pull this off, I'm willing to believe in you."
"But how in Equestria are we going to make the impossible possible?" The fashionista wondered aloud. "I really don't want to have to resort to buying our wedding outfits from somewhere else. I really wanted your tuxedo and my dress to be unique. Something ponies will talk about for years and years to come."
Soarin only chuckled. "Rarity, you really don't need to go overboard or anything. With you, even the simplest of designs can look like the most beautiful thing in the world. I saw that first hoof when you fixed up my torn flight suit. That's what originally drew me to you. The fact that you could make dresses, suits, and all sorts of other wonderful garments, that were as beautiful as you. And all for very reasonable prices, I might add."
Rarity felt her cheeks grow ever so faintly red, and she felt a bit warm. Being with the stallion you loved could certainly do that to you. "Well, maybe it's still possible for me to find some last minute inspiration," She spoke with growing confidence. "But what about you? I don't want our relationship to get in the way of your responsibilities and loyalty to the Wonderbolts."
But the light blue stallion only said in response. "It won't have to. I've come to realize that I can't juggle being with you, and being a Wonderbolt, and keep going about life as I have already. I should've done this from the start."
The unicorn with a pristine white coat looked up at Soarin's beautiful green eyes, adopting the most confused look. "Whatever do you mean, Soarin?"
"I mean, that I'm going to ask for extend time off, a long hiatus," Soarin firmly declared. "I don't like the idea of having to walk away from the Wonderbolts, but the team will manage in my absence. I want to make sure I come back to them once I know how to handle being married to you, and how that will affect our relationship."
"Soarin, you really don't have to do that for me. I'm sure we can work something out." Rarity protested.
Soarin shook his head. "Maybe eventually we can. But for now, if I have to choose between being a full-time Wonderbolt, and being your husband, I'm going to go with the latter. Besides," He added with a faint chuckle. "I think Rainbow Dash has been itching for a chance to work her way up the ladder. And if she can't fill my spot, Thunderlane will manage just fine. And being a backup member means, I'll get a chance to interact with the next generation from time to time."
A few days later, the wedding took place just as intended. It turned out that Pinkie Pie's idea, was to have Starlight and Twilight cast projection spells to broadcast the wedding all over Ponyville. That way, those who couldn't get into town hall and secure themselves a seat, could still witness all the magic and romance unfold just fine.
Mayor Mare was given the honor of officiating the wedding, the umpteenth one in her long tenure of office (and hopefully not her last). Just like for Cadence's wedding, the Cutie Mark Crusaders served as the flower fillies, with Sweetie Belle serving as head flower filly at Rarity's request.
Trotting down the aisle next were the bridesmaids: High Winds, Blaze, and a rather embarrassed Fleetfoot (who despised the overly long and stunning dress she was in). Followed by the groom's aides: Thunderlane (who was taking Soarin's spot as a full time member until Soarin and Spitfire agreed otherwise), Big Macintosh, and Time Turner.
Spike was ring bearer, but the one who absolutely stole the spotlight was the best mare: Spitfire. Heads turned and cameras flashed, as everyone beheld the young Wonderbolts captain, decked out in a gorgeous sky blue, aero-dynamic dress, that looked not unlike a fancier version of her flight suit.
Then, on cue, the crowd fell into silence as a songbird chorus began to chirp away. Soarin trotted down the aisle to the altar, wearing a snazzy, dark-blue tuxedo jacket with a light-green tie that perfectly matched his eyes. And to the tune of "Here comes the bride", Rarity was led down the aisle in a beautiful, snow-white gown and wedding veil with a diamond collar around the neck. Accompanying her on her left, Hondo Flanks had taken off his signature straw hat and even shaved his mustache, even though he only wore a plain black tuxedo.
Soarin and Rarity struggled to keep from gazing longingly into each other's eyes, as Mayor Mare cleared her throat and began the proceedings. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here on this lovely day, to join together Soarin Rogers and Rarity Belle in holy matrimony. These two have been together for a couple of years, and faced a few trials in their relationship already. Yet they are now standing here, ready to join their lives together. Now, if there is anyone here who has a reason why these should not be wed, let them speak now or forever hold their peace."
No one said a word of protest, Mayor Mare taking that as a sign to proceed. She turned first to Soarin, asking the stallion. "Do you, Soarin Rogers, take Rarity Belle to be your lawfully wedded wife? In sickness and in health? In good times and bad? Until death do you part?"
Soarin nodded eagerly. "I do."
Mayor Mare than turned to Rarity and asked. "And do you, Rarity Belle, take Soarin Rogers to be your lawfully wedded husband? In sickness and in health? In good times and bad? Until death do you part?"
"I do! I most certainly do!" Rarity happily exclaimed.
Mayor Mare smiled brightly. "Then by the power invested in me, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
And after a quick exchanging and donning of wedding rings with Rarity, Soarin did just that. He leaned in and kissed Rarity tightly, and she kissed back without a second's hesitation. A few cries of "Aw" could be heard amidst the claps and cheers from the crowd. But for Rarity and Soarin, all that matter now, was that at last their lives were joined together. And whatever came next, they would face it together as husband and wife.
Author's Note
This is probably going to be the last installment of RarityxSoarin shipfics series. It was a novel little idea back in 2014, to explore a ship no one had ever done before (and to my knowledge, no one has done since).
Rogers, Soarin's last name, is a nod to Amy Keating Rogers who created him (Amy even confirmed that Soarin was named after her son).
