"Girl, I'm glad you asked me." Pipp wandered through the aisles. "Never gotten married myself, but I know what a stylish look is, and how to dress for the occasion! You're not half bad at it either!" She fluttered around Comforting, lifting the dress this way and that as she made adjustments to it. "Let me tell you, you look stunning." She pulled out a phone for a few quick photographs of the draconeques to be. "You're working it!"

Comforting paused at that wording before shaking her head fondly. "Why thank you, Pipp. This is looking like the right one." She admired herself in the mirror with a deep sense of satisfaction. The dress was beautiful on her, it really was. It was pure white, mostly unembellished and quite simple for all that it draped nicely and flowed elegantly along her long body shape without looking ill-fitting or overly cartoonish.

She snorted at that thought. She was a cartoon. Or the writing of a cartoon? She shook her head free of those meta thoughts. There was little to be found in pondering them for too long. "Pipp, thank you."

Comforting grabbed Pipp from the air and hugged the pegasus gently.

Pipp squeaked, which became a bright laughter as she wriggled about and held up the phone. "Selfie!" With a click, she captured a shot with her and Comforting together. "Sending that right up." With a few presses of her hooves, she sent it on its way for friends, family, fans, enemies, and a dog wandering the streets to find.

Comforting grabbed at her own phone and took a similar picture of herself and Pipp, complete with heart filters before setting it as her profile picture on her various social media accounts with a snicker of gleeful amusement. "You are the hero today. Any other tips for a blushing bride to be?"

Pipp took that remark about 'blushing' quite literally and dove into Comforting's pockets, giggling loudly. "How about a little bit of blush here and there? You know, to go with your awesome makeup? We're gonna look fabulous together!" She grabbed some and immediately got to dabbing it on Comforting with the laughter that only came from a creator in the thralls of their work. "Looking so good."

Comforting giggled back at that eager statement even as she rocked side to side as Pipp finished adding some blush and other cosmetic bits and pieces. "I want to look good for Toots." She rubbed at her nose as she pulled out her phone and tapped at it for a moment as she navigated the internet for pictures of flowers before pushing it over towards Pipp with a hopeful smile on her face as she watched Pipp's expression turn to one of consideration.

"Are these what you want on your wedding?" She grabbed it with both hooves and twirled as she scrolled through the pictures. "They are fantastic! They'll help you shine, for sure." Pipp surrendered the phone back to Comforting. "Now, can I ask an awkward little question?"

"Mm?" Comforting tucked her phone away. "I doubt it'll be that awkward."

"Well, I hope, but, yeah." She shrugged a bit. "I love you, fantastic creature you are, but I've never seen a creature and a pony get married before. This is a first! I'm not against it. Toots is so obviously super in love with you, and you're not exactly subtle about feeling the same way. I'm so happy for both of you!"

She flew up to Comforting and hugged her tightly before hopping back to resume talking seriously. "I just wanted to check-in, and see if there was anything different? More we could do? Should we invite everypony, or maybe limit it a little, so we don't get anypony in the crowd that decides it'd be a great time to complain about it." She rolled her eyes at the thought.

Comforting waggled her clawed hands. "Well, we're going to do it under the Together Tree." She blinked at Pipp's startled look. "Oh? What's up?"

Pipp inclined her head. "Well, it's gonna be hard to tell ponies not to wander over if they want to. Bold! I love it." She giggled with a bright smile. "Alrighty! Right out in public for everypony, we're making this a normal thing, by force!" She clapped her hooves as she laughed. "This is going to be so fabulous!"

Comforting softened at that exuberance before touching noses with Pipp with an amused smile on her lips. "Thanks, Pipp! That means a lot to me."

"Oh, pshaw!" Pipp pushed against Comforting with giddy delight before tapping Comforting's wings firmly. "We have a lot of work to do on these beauties."

Comforting looked over her shoulder at her mismatched wings. "Hm? What do you want to do? I usually don't even think about them." Still, she was thinking about them then, both flapping with little motions.

"Well, you don't have to do anything you don't want." Pipp had gathered some materials that could be used for those wings without being obvious about it beforehand. "But a bit of sparkle wouldn't hurt!" She flew up and started adorning those wings with bits of cloth and shine. "If they aren't holding you up, you can put whatever you want on them. Not like they're busy."

Comforting brushed her wing forward a bit more, giving Pipp easier access to them as she worked carefully to avoid tangling them with the careful application of pins and lace. "It'd be nice to look nicer." She mostly tried to be still for Pipp's work. "You know, you remind me a little of another pony, a historic one."

Pipp blinked at that. "Like, really? Who? If you say Twilight Sparkle, I will throw a brush at you." She laughed at the very notion.

Comforting shook her head quickly. "A friend of hers, Rarity. Quite the fashionista, that unicorn, and she would have been doting over me, were she here, just as you're doing."

Pipp sat up at that statement before yanking Comforting into a tight hug as she snorted and giggled loudly. "Aw, thank you! I've heard good things about that pony." She stroked her hoof along Comforting's neck. "But let's focus on the here and now. Ancient ponies aren't going to help you look great for this wedding."

Toots turned left and right in front of a mirror with a fussy huff. "So?" He spun about again, flashing himself a nervous grin in the reflection. "What do you think?" He gazed down at his forelegs, covered in white gloves up to his elbows with fancy gold edges and red seams that matched his red tie with gold highlights and purple gem pin on it. He smiled at that and at his nicely shined hooves, possibly for the first time in his life. The suit was really quite striking in its dark purple coat that had intricate gold seams and edges on it with a light green undershirt.

"You're working this too hard," came a cockney accent as Rufus shook his head. "Everything I heard says you already won the mare, um, lady? Whatever she is. Just show up with a smile and a decent suit and you're doing fine! Whatever she picked out for herself is likely to be equally fancy, and that means you'll look fine together."

Toots took in a deep breath as he carefully adjusted his tie as he leaned forward to better look at his hat and how it sat on his head even as he glanced over at Rufus. "You really think so?"

"I know so." He threw an arm over Toots. "Now, about that bachelor party. I have something lined up, and you're going to have a blast."

Toots smiled with obvious doubt. "I'm not sure. I was never much of a 'wild stallion' as it were. Not sure I need to say goodbye to times I never had."

Rufus shook his head with mock incredulity before dropping into his serious voice. "Oh, Toots, of course you do!" He grinned before flipping back into the cockney accent again as he started to pull Toots away from his dressing room with a snicker of delight. "It's not just about that, it's just a last hirrah for having fun without worrying about your family. You'll have tons of time to have a family, but this is the end of this part of things."

Toots stepped forward to follow Rufus even as he pursed his lips. "I suppose there is something to that." He knew he was getting played, but the earnest look on Rufus' face did make him wonder just what he had in mind for the party. "This is just a normal bachelor party?"

"Of course!" Rufus slapped Toots on the back. "We'll have fun, all us boys, and we'll celebrate this new start to your life."

Toots followed him out, even as he tried to ignore the growing sense of dread growing in his stomach at the very notion of getting lost in the big city for the night before his big day.

But he wasn't good at ignoring peer pressure. Ponies, as a whole, were pretty bad at it. He let Rufus guide him off, stopping only just long enough to get his tuxedo off. "No need for that where we're going!"

Rufus called up other stallions in the city, giving them the address to meet at. "This is going to be so much fun!" He leaped up onto Toots with a cackle of delight as he waved down a taxi driver with a sharp whistle and a bright smile as he bounced in place. "C'mon, let's get you some drinks!"

"Okay okay." Toots slipped into the taxicab. "But one thing."

"Yeah?" Rufus closed the door behind them as the taxi sped up. "What's up?"

"No saucy mares." Toots folded his arms on his chest. "I already have one, and I love her."

"Wouldn't dream of it!" Rufus winked grandly before waving around them as the street passed by in an instant as the driver sped up towards their destination for the night. "There are plenty of fancy, rich, fancy ladies and gentleponies that will be happy to celebrate with us tonight!"

"You said fancy twice." Toots rubbed at a cheek awkwardly.

"They're twice as fancy." Rufus winked as the taxi slowed to a stop. "Let's go!"

Toots made sure to pay the taxi driver before they slipped out of the car. "Wow! Is this really the place?"

The building was large and opulent in a way he wasn't used to. The outside was colored to appear like marble, and all manner of riches and fineries decorated it. "This does look, as you said, fancy. Isn't it a little much just for a party?"

Rufus waved that way. "It isn't just a party! It's a celebration of an end, and a start! You deserve it." He thumped against Toots. "Come on!" He grabbed him by the hoof and dragged him along as he led him inside with a wave and smile to the guard by the door as he barreled through the doors and into the wide open bar area with glee as he laughed before looking around the room.

Other ponies, summoned by Rufus' frantic calls and texts, cheered at spotting him and Toots. They crowded around, chatting animatedly. They were mostly regular ponies like Toots or Rufus: good, hard working stallions that earned their money honestly through effort.

As promised, the night dissolved in cheers to the future and plenty of opportunities to share tales of how things had gone and shaped up, and what Toots saw in their future. More than one stallion prodded with questions. "What's she like? I mean, she isn't a pony. It's gotta be, you know, different, right? Have you two?"

Toots responded to those questions with a fond shake of his head as he settled down with his friends as they all toasted to his happiness. "And that's why I'm glad to have all of you by my side!" Sadly for them, he never answered questions about Comforting that were private in nature.

Author's Note

They're both ready for the big day!

Join the special community of folks who like my stories and/or get your own here at atreon!

Don't want to do an ongoing thing? You could

Join my discord to chat!