My Life on a Cassette Tape

"Yeah! Yeah, I'll see you here when you arrive! Alright, love you." I hung up from the call, a huge smile on my face. Yesterday had been a high point of many sorts, one I had thought wouldn't be matched until the wedding day. I had found, to my pleasant surprise, that this wasn't the case. I had called my dad the day after of course, and received the good news.

My mom had been cleared from the hospital, and beyond that there was already word along the grapevine that her unexpected recovery had led to a group of doctors to look into how to replicate such a circumstance. It seemed that one of my earliest of recordings was coming to fruition. I was only too happy to tell them both that not only was Double going to be getting married, but we had arranged for a shared ceremony. They'd be able to make the wedding, and, according to my father, would be in town by the end of the week.

Oddly enough, it seemed that my mares and I had, at separate moments, asked both Thyme and Double if we could share the ceremony. It certainly would make things easier - not to mention I rather not have Twilight waiting for another ceremony. True, I could get somepony else to officiate , but I wasn't going to let my cousin lord having Twilight to officiate his wedding over me.

Life was going well. We finally had a few wins under our belt. Sure, the threat that some representative of the old Empire might try and swoop in to ruin our day, but in the end, we had each other. My mares by my side and my friends surrounding me, there'd be nothing I couldn't face. Life could throw its curveballs, but in the end, my mares and I would be together.

I looked at my engagement ring with a smile. It was an interesting piece with a bit more than the bare minimal effort in it. The ring was made in a way that it seemed to be three rings that intersected across my finger. It was beautiful, just like my mares. And just like my mares, it was mine.

I clenched my fist and closed my eyes. This was good. I knew I wouldn't always have such good days, so I cherished the moment as long as it lasted. I had my mares, my mom had her health, and things were on the up and up. I committed this moment to memory, making sure that no matter what I could look back and remember how happy I was. Tears gently rolled down my cheeks.

I opened my eyes, looking out over Ponyville before me. The noonday sun hung high above, making the wonderful day all the better. The sound of birds singing merrily, distant colts and fillies playing, and the low sound of small town life and its busy - yet relaxed - pace were like music. The town had recovered well enough from the Emperor's intervention - a side effect of having been in the crossfire more than once I had been told. It was good to see, no doubt.

Raven sat down next to me on the porch, resting her head against my shoulder as she looked out to the town with me. The gentle breeze brought me her scent, a scent I was more than familiar with - one that gave me a great deal of comfort. My smile only grew as I wrapped an arm around her, bringing her close. It felt like we were already married in many ways. We only had so long to wait, and even so it felt like an eternity ahead of us to get to the day.

Raven moved her head about, looking away from the town and towards me - a gesture I returned. I gave her a tender kiss. Lips on lips, simply reveling in the feeling of the other.

"Let me tell you what, you deciding to have your wedding piggyback off of ours has actually been the greatest blessing in disguise!" Double said, flopping back into the couch. "Before you all asked, it was just Thyme and I, and she wanted everything passed by me to make sure I was happy. All well and good, but I've yet to find a suggestion of hers that I didn't like!"

"Forgive me if I'm still not seeing the problem." I said, swirling my fork in the plate of spaghetti. "Sounds to me as if you two had a good level of cooperation, something that most ponies would beg for."

"True, true, but when she passes everything by me it gets to a point where I say 'Look, I trust you, just go for it!' And then she comes back with 'But what if I pick something you don't like? We have to make sure!' Now that you and your mares are in on this the mares can be their own first line of questioning." Double explained before taking a swig for his glass of juice. "It's a relief to not have to approve everything, trust me."

"I suppose." I shrugged, taking another bite of my dinner.

"Say, I never asked this one, but... how is your marriage exactly going to be arranged?" Double asked, leaning forward in his seat. I licked the sauce from my lips - Periwinkle really was a great cook.

"Well, we're all getting married." I said simply, not entirely certain what he was precisely aiming for.

"Are they all just getting married to you or are they also making vows to each other? What's the situation?" He asked. "I can't imagine that we're going to do the ceremony enough times over for each of you all to get up as pairs and say vows to each other."

"Oh, no, we got that all figured out last night." I replied, spinning my fork happily in my plate of noodles.

"So that's what you were going on with each other until the small hours of the morning?" He asked, getting a blush of slight embarrassment from me. "I can't blame you all for talking into the wee hours. Heck, Thyme and I were talking all throughout the train ride over here - and that was after a late night of talking." He chuckled, leaning back again in his seat as he looked off into the middle distance, thinking about that time and likely every other time that had passed and was yet in front of us. His distraction was short lived as he refocused on me, still smiling. "So what did you end up deciding?"

"You see, we did some research. We wanted it to be legal and all - no surprises from the law about our union being legally bunk. Oddly enough, Twilight actually was able to text over several references in law to special exemptions to traditional two pony - or otherwise - unions in Equestrian law and how such ceremonies work. Apparently most of the stuff is actually just old laws that rarely get poked every millennium.

"So yeah, I'll be up at the front with you as we wait for our brides. You take hands with Thyme-"

"I like the sounds of this." Double said with a smirk, swirling his cup about. I chuckled and shook my head before carrying on.

"You and Thyme hold hands," I said, bringing it back to the topic at hand, "and then the four of us will stand in a semicircle facing Twilight. We'll each have a hand extended that will be part of cluster of four hands, and our remaining hand will be on the shoulder of one of the ponies next to us. My mares and I will be taking our vows in chorus so that the ceremony doesn't drag on - nothing worse than a rowdy crowd at a wedding."

"I could think of a few things worse than that."

"Not the point." I dismissed before he even had a chance to press it. He just shrugged. "Either way, it'll be a busy day for sure."

"Most definitely. Can't wait though." Double smiled. I couldn't help but feel the same way. Soon would be the wedding day. Soon we'd be able to get on with our lives, come hell or high water. Whatever would come, we'd be able to face it together.