Rainbow Dash paced around the room, wedding dress trailing behind her and needles trailing behind it.
“Rainbow Dash, stand still! I’m still making adjustments!” Rarity ordered.
Rainbow bit her lip as her eyes whipped between her stern and exasperated friend and the door to the hall. She knew that hallway was the only thing separating her from Applejack. Rainbow considered running through that door and making a break for it, just to catch even a glimpse of her fiancée.
But, with a sigh, she stepped back onto the platform in front of Rarity. “Sorry Rares, I just really want to see her.”
Rarity sighed and offered her friend a tired smile. “I understand, darling, but Coco and Sassy are still getting her ready. Besides, you’ll see her soon enough.”
Rainbow nodded and stood still for roughly two seconds before thoughts of Applejack flooded her mind again and she resumed fidgeting.
“That is, of course, if you let me finish getting you ready,” Rarity grumbled, just loud enough for Rainbow to hear.
“Sorry, I know, just…” Rainbow growled. “Ugh, this is so stupid. Why can’t we just be doing this in one room so I can see her now?”
Rarity sputtered. “Wh—B-b-but darling! Think about how lovely it will be, seeing your beloved in her dashing tuxedo, smiling confidently but demurely at you as you walk up to the altar. And then, once you get up there, she compliments your appearance in a whisper meant only for you, showing you how much she loves you even before the ceremony begins!”
Rainbow tilted her head and scrunched up her muzzle. “What are you even talking about, Rarity?”
“What do you mean, ‘what am I talking about’? Isn’t it obvious?” Rainbow just shook her head and Rarity exclaimed, exasperatedly, “Romance! I am talking about romance.”
Rarity closed her eyes and sighed dramatically, raising a foreleg to her forehead. “Oh, woe is me! Romance is well and truly dead, struck down at the hooves of one of my dearest friends, and on her wedding day, no less. What a tragedy!”
After a few seconds passed in silence, Rarity opened one eye to see Rainbow looking completely lost and unamused. She sighed and adjusted her glasses. “Oh, you’re no fun. Now stand up straight or I swear to Celestia I’ll prick you with this,” she said as she waved a needle in her magic.
Rainbow did as she was told, and quickly lost herself in her thoughts as silence set in again. She, of course, knew that Applejack was the reason they were doing this whole separate rooms thing. She’d gone on about ‘wanting to do things the right way’ and how it was unlucky for them to see each other before the wedding for some reason. Rainbow thought it was all kind of silly, but she knew it would make Applejack happy, so she’d agreed.
Rainbow had never been very superstitious, but she had a lot of experience with superstitious ponies, both through the Wonderbolts and through her fiancée—and her fiancée’s family. And if there was one thing she’d learned, it was that if the superstition wasn’t hurting anybody, there was no real point in arguing about it.
Of course, that was before she was stuck waiting here, standing still for ages waiting to see Applejack again, as Rarity assaulted her with makeup and hair products and fabric. At this rate, it was probably going to be hours before she saw AJ—
“All finished, and not a moment too soon.”
“Wha—huh?” Rainbow blinked and looked around. Rarity was standing in front of her and smirking, clearly proud of a job well done. In the mirror, she could see why. Her rainbow mane had been tamed and plaited and was resting delicately over her right wither. Eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara accentuated her bright rose eyes, really making them pop. And, while her gown definitely wasn't a 'classic wedding dress', it looked awesome. It was flowing, shimmering, colorful, serving to accentuate her lithe and athletic form.
And standing at the door with tears welling in his eyes was Bow Hothoof, who was wearing a suit that was slightly too small and a few years out of fashion.
Rarity began frantically levitating her own dress over to herself, as well as long lines of beauty products, and yet she still managed to make a shooing motion with her hoof at Rainbow. “It’s time to go, darling! Go, go!”
Rainbow scrambled down from the platform and walked to her dad’s side, where she was promptly pulled into a quick hug. Bow looked down at her with the goofiest grin she had ever seen, which was really saying something with him.
“You look great, hun. Best bride ever.” He pulled a tiny pennant emblazoned with her cutie mark out of his pocket, and on it were those same three words.
“Daaaaad!” Rainbow groaned, trying and failing to hide her grin.
“You ready to go?” Bow asked, holding out his foreleg for her.
“I’ve been waiting for this for like, hours now, so…” Rainbow chuckled and wrapped her foreleg around his. “Yeah. I’m ready.”
As Rainbow walked down the aisle, leaning against her dad, she saw Applejack smiling at her from the altar, wearing a tux that accentuated her toned form perfectly. Applejack dipped her head a little bit, clearly a little embarrassed by being the center of attention. But her smile—more of a smirk, really—was clearly meant only for Rainbow. Rainbow felt her heart speed up, and it took all of her willpower to not fly right up there and tackle her.
After what felt like an eternity and yet no time at all, Rainbow stood in front of the altar. She was pulled into another hug by her dad, this one longer than the last. Just as it crossed the threshold into embarrassing, Bow stepped back and wiped away a tear that was threatening to spill from his eye.
“Go get her, hun.” They shared a smile before Bow walked to his seat and Rainbow walked to the altar across from Applejack.
Applejack looked her up and down appraisingly and let out a low whistle. “Hoowee, sugarcube. That dress looks amazing on you; makes you look prettier than you normally do, and you’re already the prettiest darn mare I’ve ever seen.”
Rainbow blushed and rubbed her hoof against the ground demurely, before her brain caught up with what she was doing and she forced it down. “Y-you’re just saying that.”
“Nah, nah, it’s the honest truth. You’re prettier than the largest crop Sweet Apple Acres has ever seen. I know you were looking forward to wearing the tux today, but I sure am glad you lost that bet.”
Rainbow blushed and smiled at her partner, glad that Applejack was keeping up their little white lie about the bet even here, where no one was likely to hear them.
In reality, though, there had been no bet. Rainbow had really, really wanted to wear a dress and for Applejack to wear a tuxedo, and when she had made this known, her fiancée had just sighed and smiled that soft little indulgent smile, the one Rainbow knew was for her and her alone, and said, "I did always look good in a suit, so I can’t imagine a tux being that different."
She had then smirked and added, "Plus, then I get to show everyone just how pretty you can be when you really try." Rainbow had blushed beet red at the teasing compliment and Applejack had howled and chortled with laughter before kissing her blushing soon-to-be-bride.
Twilight walked up behind them on the stage, facing the crowd. “Are you girls ready?” They nodded at her, and she began to officiate the wedding.
Rainbow tried to pay attention, but all she could focus on was Applejack’s cute freckles, and the way she was smiling at her, and the way the light coming in through the windows highlighted her features in an absolutely angelic way. She also struggled not to let her gaze drift to her partner’s toned form, the accentuation by the tux even more clear up close, but she wasn’t being very successful if the occasional smirk Applejack sent her way was anything to go by.
Rainbow wasn’t sure how much time went by in that haze—she was pretty sure that she had mumbled out ‘I do’ (or something resembling it) at some point—but time had become meaningless to her as Applejack completely overwhelmed her thoughts.
Before she knew it, she vaguely heard Twilight say, “You may now kiss the bride.”
Applejack leaned in and kissed her forcefully, yet chastely, on the lips. Rainbow’s eyes fluttered shut and she leaned forward herself in an attempt to deepen the kiss, but ended up just stumbling forward as Applejack pulled away. Luckily, her now-wife caught her with one of her incredibly strong forelegs.
“Woah there, Dash, easy.” Applejack chuckled. She leaned down and whispered in Rainbow’s ear, “There’ll be plenty more where that came from tonight if you’re patient.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t believe in superstitions or bad luck, and she still thought not being able to see Applejack before the wedding was silly. But, she had to admit, as she looked up into those beautiful green eyes, maybe Rarity had a point about that whole romance part.
