Rarity blinked, feeling the warm comfort of her bed below her. She had no memory of entering it, though that wasn’t terribly unusual. Her stomach gave off a loud rumble, announcing its demands that she eat something before it set its sights on something vital within her body to digest. Possibly her spleen. This too was not terribly unusual, as she often missed real meals when she was in the zone.

“Hey, you!” Pinkie said, appearing in Rarity’s field of vision as if by magic. “Whoa, that was an angry tummy! Lemme get you something to fill that up!”

Pinkie disappeared from view, and Rarity passively noted that her bed squeaked just a little as the other mare got up, making a mental appointment to visit Quills and Sofas to see about getting a new box spring. Given how rough Pinkie could be on a bed, it was surprising the mattress itself was holding up.

Fluttershy yawned from her other side, leaning up and looking around the room in alarm. “Oh my goodness, what time is it?”

That was a very good question, actually, though Rarity would have followed it up with ‘what day is it?’ But time was a good start. She tilted her head, noting that sunlight was streaming into the room around the blinds. Daytime, that was something. Either... early morning or late evening... the hues were mostly oranges and reds, versus the pinks of dawn, and more from the western side of her room. Afternoon, then.

Looking back to Fluttershy, her attention was drawn to a new detail: a golden band, affixed to her marefriend’s ear. Closer examination revealed a single diamond etched into the surface.

Certain memories of what she had assumed to be dreams came to the forefront of her mind with a nearly audible snap. She sat up bolt upright, staring at the ear with slack-jawed amazement. A quick glance confirmed that indeed, there was a second earring present as well, though she could not make out a design on that one.

Fluttershy, who had been looking at her with a soft smile till then, didn’t seem to know what to make of this. She followed Rarity’s line of sight, and her look of confusion cleared. “Oh! Um... I... I told him to only etch one diamond in... until I got to ask... It’s... it’s a promise, to... to you, if you’ll have me... I couldn’t get an engagement earring made, because I wasn’t sure...” When Rarity didn’t actually say anything, she began to look uncomfortable. “S-should I not have put it on yet? I put on Pinkie’s and... I wanted to wait, until... But Pinkie said she just knew you’d be thrilled...” Fluttershy trailed off, and after a moment, she pawed at the earring. “I’m sorry—”

Rarity put a stop to that by grappling her, toppling her over on the bed and standing over her, fascinated by the new pieces of jewelry. As Fluttershy had said, each contained but a single cutiemark design. There was one balloon on the earring on the left, and one diamond for the earring on the right. “They’re beautiful...” Rarity whispered, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. “You... you did this?”

“I...” Fluttershy began, trailing off awkwardly. She swallowed, then tried again. “I did.”

Rarity just looked down into Fluttershy’s eyes in wonder for a time. It was like falling in love all over again. She’d always had feelings for her friend, of course, but she’d assumed them to be the perfectly normal feelings of admiration and love one felt for one’s very closest friend. Feelings of attraction were likewise natural, indeed, they were Rarity’s livelihood. What was fashion but a way to draw in eyes, after all?

But love, true romantic love, she’d never expected to find that in a friend, and now she’d found it twice. She was, in all likelihood, the luckiest mare alive.

“You really like them?” Fluttershy asked, staring back up at her, similarly captivated with what she saw.

Rarity didn’t answer, instead looking around the room wildly. “Where are mine?” she asked in a voice that she hoped didn’t sound too demanding, even if that’s exactly what she was doing.

“We...we put them together, in the box on the nightstand.” Fluttershy answered, making no attempt to move from under Rarity’s pinning embrace.

The smile on Rarity’s face grew ever wider as she saw them, and stopping but a moment to kiss Fluttershy passionately on the lips, she levitated the box to her in haste, popping the top open in front of her.

Inside was the earring with Pinkie’s three balloons, and the new earring, with a single butterfly etched into the gold. She clucked her tongue in mild disappointment, even if she understood the sentiment. She’d have to have these partial etchings redone with the proper designs, but she was anxious to feel them in her ears that very moment, incomplete as one of them was.

“Was... was it okay that I put the one from you on before I asked—” Fluttershy began.

Rarity’s eyes darted back down to her, seeing the mild anxiety forming in Fluttershy’s eyes like the cloudfront of a coming storm. Her mouth quirked from its grin into something more like a smirk, and she silenced that silliness with another kiss. They both came up for air after a few moments, after which Rarity favored her lover—

No, no, no, she is your fiance, now.

—her fiance with a stern look. “Of course it was all right. I was never, ever going to say ‘no’ to that question. So don’t even think about taking it out. Do you hear?”

“Hey!” Pinkie said from behind them. “No fair! I want snugglies too!”

“Oh?” Rarity turned her head, lifting Pinkie bodily in her magic, separating the tray of muffins from her and setting it down on the nightstand before lowering her down on the bed next to Fluttershy. She then rolled off of Fluttershy onto her back between them, putting an arm around both and drawing them to her. “Do you—” Rarity kissed Fluttershy on the cheek, “—have any idea—” she kissed a happily squealing Pinkie on the nose, “—how much I needed this all day?”

“Gonna guess lots!” Pinkie replied, sitting up and leaning her head on one hoof.

“Much, much more than that.” Rarity said airily, waving a hoof through the air for emphasis. “I wanted to spend the day with you both, and had no luck at all in making that happen until now. I missed you two when I checked for you in your room, Pinkie, and I was rudely kicked out of your home,” she said, her eyes flicking to Fluttershy. “Then I assume I missed you again when I went back to Sugarcube Corner, from the way the Cakes were acting.”

“I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy said in a rush. “If I’d known, I would have gone to you sooner, but I... I mean we, we were worried about you, and... I didn’t know what was wrong. So I talked with Pinkie about it, and—”

“I didn’t tell her!” Pinkie said quickly. “Cross my heart, she was worried about you being so grumpy and we were talking about the wedding and—”

Rarity silenced Pinkie with a look followed by a hoof to her lips. She quickly leaned up to peck Pinkie on the cheek when her ears wilted back in apparent dismay. “Enough, I think I understand. Fluttershy was worried, you two compared notes, and she discovered my poorly hidden secret.”

“Ya huh!” Pinkie replied, nodding rapidly enough to make Rarity fear her head might rattle loose. “Then she totally just asked me to marry her! Like, boom, just wow! It was so neat, but I said I thought maybe you’d be upset because you asked first—”

“That would follow, since you both had your earrings in.” Rarity sat up, getting the box from where she had set it down on the bed. “Well?” She said, looking at Fluttershy, then at Pinkie. “Would you two do the honors? I feel rather left out what with you both having adornments already on.”

A moment of deft manipulation of wing and teeth found Rarity sighing happily as she looked in the mirror at the small sparkles at the base of her ears. “That’s so much better,” she exclaimed happily, lying back down on the bed between them.

After a moment, Fluttershy joined her on her left, and Pinkie on her right, both of them being cradled by one of Rarity’s forelegs in a loose embrace.

“I’m sorry.” Fluttershy muttered into Rarity’s pelt.

Her ear perking up at the sudden apology, Rarity glanced down at Fluttershy in utter incomprehension. “Whyever for?”

“I... I...” Fluttershy buried herself into the curve of Rarity’s chest, seemingly at a loss. She stayed like that for a moment or two, then raised her head again to look back at Rarity. “I could see you were unhappy, and I didn’t know why. I should have asked you why a long time ago. You could have been happy—”

“I was always happy, darling.” Rarity said, cutting off any further nonsense in that same vein. “I called off the ceremony between Pinkie and myself because I didn’t want to go through with just the two of us, when it should be three.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed from Rarity’s other side. “We’re like the three blind mice! Or... the three little pigs?” At Rarity’s scandalized look she quickly said: “The three stooges? No?” She screwed up her face in thought, then she flashed them both a great big smile. “I got it! The three amigos!”

Rarity and Fluttershy both just looked at Pinkie for a moment, then exchanged a glance with each other. A mutual decision was reached when they both giggled just a little. “Yes, well, a trio, as it were.” Rarity said after a moment.

“Hey! One more and we could make a quartet!” Pinkie interjected again. “Who do you think—”

“Three is just fine, Pinkie!” Rarity said quickly, shaking her head. “Four is right out, I’m afraid.”

“I think three is fine, too.” Fluttershy said, snuggling back into Rarity’s side. “I’m just... sorry.”

Rarity gave Fluttershy a little squeeze with her foreleg. “Now, now, no more of that. I was hoping you’d come around eventually. I just never imagined it would be today. You saved me from making up a bunch of invitations for the wrong thing, that would have cost a fortune,” she paused, reconsidering. “Well, it’s still going to cost a fortune, but it would have been twice that to do it all over again for wedding invitations versus the party invitations. No matter, you’re here now.”

"I-I'm here.” Fluttershy agreed, laying her head down on Rarity’s chest. “I don't know why you two love me, but you do... and maybe that's okay. I love you both so much it hurts to think about, and that scares the willies out of me, but... I'm here, and I love you."

“Yay! Lovey dovey pony pile!” Pinkie stretched her hooves around them both, hugging them to herself tightly. “We’re gonna have such a huge wedding, you guys! And this time, no bugs to spoil it!” Her eyes grew wide at a sudden thought. “But wait, that big fight was pretty fun... do you suppose—”

“No!” Both Fluttershy and Rarity shouted simultaneously, making Pinkie’s hair blow back and her ears clamp to her head.

There was a tense moment in which it looked as if Pinkie might just tear up, but further theatrics were disturbed by a sudden and loud grumbling from Rarity’s middle, causing her to blush a deep crimson.

“Oh yeah! I brought up food!” Pinkie said, jumping out of bed and fetching the tray in her teeth, a huge grin around the edges of the plate.

In the weeks that followed, all three of them were very busy with preparations for the big day. Rarity had simultaneously browbeaten and bribed Filigree Flourish into doing the last minute invitations (Which he had promised over and over again simply could not be done in the time remaining, to which Rarity had promised his life would have a very short time remaining if he didn’t manage it somehow). She was, of course, having to make two new wedding dresses, she had scrapped Pinkie’s tuxedo in favor of another design that would match the other two, and was altering the bridesmaid and flowergirl dresses to match the new designs of the bride’s dresses.

She had finally let go of the idea of white for any part of her dress. She wanted color, and plenty of it. White was drab, and impersonal. And so what if she’d made love to Pinkie before the wedding? There was still the honeymoon to come, and the toys Pinkie had picked out just for Rarity. Let them all know she had joy in her life now! Let them even try to judge.

Pinkie, meanwhile, had denuded wedding supply stores in three cities of their stock, and was trying very hard to convince Rarity that decorating the entire town was totally necessary and not overdoing things at all. When Rarity had begun citing that such a thing might be against city ordinances, a very nervous looking Mayor Mare had been dragged into the Boutique, bringing with her various signed permits that allowed carte blanche on whatever Pinkie had planned. Pinkie had apparently acquired the services of the entire Canterlot Philharmonic to provide music, Vinyl Scratch to handle sound and lighting, and the local construction team to build an outdoor dining area big enough to seat an entire town and several hundred guests.

Rarity eventually threw her hooves up with a smile. This was Pinkie’s wedding too, after all.

Fluttershy, for her part, seemed to be taking up the slack in the general panic department, since Rarity and Pinkie were both in high spirits.

Fluttershy was in her bridal dress, doing her level best not to sweat a drop while in it. Rarity was patiently explaining that she didn’t need to worry so much, and making slight alterations while doing so.

“I just feel like I’m going to ruin everything. I mean, maybe we should have a private ceremony for the wedding and then you and Pinkie can have the great big...” Fluttershy gulped nervously, “...giant wedding with all of those ponies looking at how beautiful you are—”

“Darling, it’s going to be fine! Twilight will be reading off the actual vows and you know how much she likes to deliver speeches. All you have to do is stand with us, look into our eyes, say ‘I do’ a couple of times and exchange kisses with us both!” Rarity took a moment to pin a particular section of fabric up for later stitching. “Really, it won’t be any harder than modeling—”

Fluttershy whimpered quietly.

“Oh! Did I stick you, sweetness?” Rarity asked in concern.

“N-no.” Fluttershy said quickly. “I-I’m fine. But... but maybe you could just say I’m sick or something? I’m... I’m not very good with large crowds—”

“Nopony is asking you to sing, darling.” Rarity replied, then gave a low, throaty, suggestive chuckle. “Not at the ceremony, at least. When we get to the hotel in Las Pegasus... Well, I expect you to hit some high notes.”

Rarity watched in amusement as Fluttershy’s right hoof pawed at the carpeting under her feet before Fluttershy hurriedly stamped it down. It was one of the more interesting foibles about her winged lover; she had a nervous twitch when she was excited.

Many pegasi swore by their wings when making love, and indeed, Fluttershy adored having hers bitten, preened, and massaged. But her hoof was her invariable first choice when it came to trying to pleasure either Pinkie or Rarity.

Truthfully, Rarity was rather envious, as Fluttershy was incredibly adept with it. Rarity herself had to rely on magic or toys to really spice things up, but goodness... One had to assume the poor mare had spent many a lonely night learning just how much pressure to apply and what angle to use. When pressed about it, Fluttershy only blushed, explaining it had a bit of a mind of its own, and refusing to elaborate.

Rarity set her tools aside, coming around to the front of Fluttershy to look her over. Her poor darling was a mess of nerves, and had her eyes so tightly shut that she hadn’t even noticed that Rarity was right in front of her.

“Right, I think that’s enough for today, let’s get that off of you,” she said at last.

Fluttershy opened her eyes in surprise, and her ears clamped to her skull in dismay. “N-no, it’s fine, you were working and I’m not helping—”

“Darling, you’re so tense you may as well be one of my ponniquins!” Rarity replied with a chuckle. “I’m not angry, I am just not happy seeing you uncomfortable,” she delicately removed the dress from Fluttershy, carefully lifting her bodily to aid in stripping it off without removing the pinned sections. “There, that’s better. Let’s have something to eat. I’ll brew some tea.”

“But—”

“The next words I would like to hear from you are what you would like in your salad.” Rarity said, giving Fluttershy a stern look. “You may follow that up with your choice for dressing.”

Fluttershy opened and closed her mouth several times, each time saying nothing but clearly wishing to say volumes and afraid to do so.

After waiting patiently for some time, Rarity finally heaved out a great sigh. “All right, darling, out with it.”

What followed was a nigh incomprehensible stream of fears and protests. Fluttershy said she was going to ruin everything, that she wasn’t worth loving, that they were too good to her and they should just hold the ceremony without her. She said all this despite knowing that Rarity had paid quadruple to have new invitations made, and had enlisted every pegasi in town to get them all delivered in time.

Eventually, she ran out of breath, and just sat at the table, gasping.

“Better?” Rarity asked with a little grin.

“No.” Fluttershy answered. She took a deep breath, finally lifting her head to meet Rarity’s gaze. “Well... maybe a little.”

“If you need to vent a little more, it’s all right, sweetness.”

“It’s... it’s okay.”

Rarity nodded, flashing Fluttershy another knowing grin. The first time this had happened, it had been devastating. Fluttershy had cried, and Rarity had cried with her, and neither had stopped until they were a sopping mess.

The second, third, and fourth times had been emotional, but not quite as cathartic.

By the fifth time, Rarity had just started smiling and nodding, as it was clear that Fluttershy was just going through the motions.

This was the tenth time, and Rarity was actively finding it amusing.

“All right. We’ll try this again. Yes, we absolutely need you there. Yes, you are so very worthy of love. We could never be too good to you, we love you to bits. No, we cannot uninvite your parents, they already RSVP’d. No, I’m afraid we can’t just run away to Las Pegasus to elope. Yes, you will be wearing a dress alongside me, that is not negotiable. Yes, I love you so very, very much. Did I miss anything?”

“No.” Fluttershy said miserably. “I’m sorry. I’m just—”

“You’re just a giant bundle of nerves and self-worth issues, and we love every last neurotic inch of you.” Rarity declared, walking over to Fluttershy and throwing her arms around her. “And I will keep telling you this until you either believe it, or until I can no longer draw the breath needed to do so.”

“Sorry.”

“Again with the apologies!” Rarity hugged Fluttershy a little tighter, kissing her cheek. “Pinkie and I knew exactly what sort of pony you were before love came into the picture. We aren’t going to spontaneously decide it’s too bothersome if you’re like that as our wife! Everything is going to be absolutely wonderful, darling. Trust me.”

“I... I want to believe that.” Fluttershy replied, closing her eyes. “I want it so much, because it will make you and Pinkie happy. But every time I think about it it all starts going wrong and you both hate me and my world just falls apart—” Fluttershy’s eyes opened wide, and she let out a little eep of surprise.

“Very well. I suppose we’ll just have to give you something else to be concerned about.” Rarity said, focusing her magic on Fluttershy’s wings.

She began with a light massage, applying pressure at the shanks, dipping her head down to preen where necessary. Between Pinkie and herself, Fluttershy rarely found her feathers out of alignment these days, but there were always a few here and there that could use some extra attention. There was also some loose down that needed removing, which Rarity tucked into a small bag for safe-keeping. When she had enough, she was going to make a pillow. Another one. They were wonderfully soft.

Fluttershy squirmed under her attention, letting out little gasps and breathing raggedly. As Rarity had hoped, the bunched-up muscles in Fluttershy’s back were loosening, and the pawing of her right hoof was becoming more pronounced. It was a greedy thing, but Rarity didn’t mind. She was sure this would take Fluttershy’s mind off of things, at least for a little while.

Somehow, Fluttershy managed to survive the weeks that followed without going completely insane. She had done this with a combination of positive thinking, the moral and mental support of her animal friends, and many, many visits both to and from her fiances who patiently listened to the litany of fears that she had come up with every morning.

Pinkie had thoughtfully made up a checklist of the repeated ones, for easier reassurance. Rarity had a ready supply of ice cream and tissues stocked at all three of their homes. And her critters had all taken turns giving her hoof and back massages, as well as taking rotations being her hug buddy when neither Rarity nor Pinkie was present.

It had been very stressful, and she was very thankful to everypony and everycritter for their help. She had made it to the wedding day, it was nearly time.

She was in a room, alone, getting ready to walk out in front of friends and family and very important ponies and declare to them all that she was planning to spend the rest of her life with her two best friends, and doing her best to not run away screaming.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love them, never that. Nor was it that she didn’t want to get married. It sounded wonderful and she couldn’t wait for it to start.

It was stupid nerves making all of her muscles lock up and tense at the same time. She was fairly certain if anypony were to lightly push her from one side she would fall over like a wooden plank.

“Nopony likes a quitter, Fluttershy!” She exclaimed out loud at the mirror in her room.

“Oh, I hope that’s not true, actually. I’ve quit quite a few things...” Fluttershy shook her head, making the veil dislodge itself somewhat. “Oh, I can’t do that! I have to be strong! It’s all going to be fine! Rarity said so, and so did Pinkie, and they’re right about things... sometimes...”

She paced back and forth, doing her very best not to sweat. Everypony would see the stains and then they would leave in disgust and Rarity would be so sad—

“It’s going to be okay. Just walk past all of them, focus on Rarity and Pinkie. Oh, and Twilight. Twilight will be telling us what to say. She’s important too. Oh, and Applejack and Rainbow, they’re the best mares. So, just my closest friends. Oh, and the Crusaders. Especially Scootaloo, she’ll have the rings. Just my friends and their little sisters, and I can ignore my parents, and Pinkie’s parents, and Rarity’s parents, and the entire town, and Rarity’s friends from the fashion community—” Fluttershy’s eyes bulged wide in sudden realization. “Did Rarity invite Photo Finish? Oh, I don’t know if I want to see her. Wait, she’ll be taking pictures—”

In the next instant, Fluttershy was collapsed on the floor, her left forehoof twitching piteously.

Her head was spinning, and in her mind she heard the cameras clicking, and saw the flashes. Behind the flashes, she saw Photo Finish, her face impassive, eyes unreadable behind the ever present sunglasses. And that voice, that voice...

“Floottershy! It is time to make... ze magics!”

Her ears wilted back, and she tried in vain to cover her face, knowing more demands were coming.

“Hey! You fell down!”

Huh?

She looked at the source of some of her worst nightmares, wondering why somepony else’s voice was coming out of her mouth.

“Shy-shy, you okay?”

That’s not her voice, she thought, her brows furrowing at the confusing spectacle of that voice coming out of that mouth. It was more... harsh, and grating. A little like somepony scraping chalk on a chalkboard.

“Oh, wunderbar! You are like a delicate flower.”

Oh dear. Yes, that’s the voice.

Fluttershy shook her head sadly, wincing as the clicking from the cameras got louder—

“Okay, upsy-daisy, Shy-shy. It’s almost time!”

Her eyes flew open in confusion, and she saw Pinkie Pie smiling down at her. At first, this concerned her, as they’d agreed to not see each other just before the wedding ceremony, (one of the few things Rarity had insisted on, and after relenting on nearly every other point of her dream of the perfect wedding, neither Pinkie nor Fluttershy had had the heart to say it was silly) but it seemed Pinkie had accounted for Rarity’s stipulation, as she was wearing a blindfold.

“Pinkie, you’re supposed to be waiting for the wedding march to start playing!”

“Well, duh. But I was worried about you, even though I told myself you can do this alone. But then I told myself that even if you can do it alone, you were probably freaking out and that’s not fun to do alone. So I figured maybe I would come see you and check if you were okay. Then I remembered I wasn’t supposed to see you so I got this blindfold out of one of my blindfold stashes and now I’m here telling you about how I was worried about you—”

“How... how were you supposed to check on me?” Fluttershy asked, her brow furrowed. “You can’t see.”

“Well... when I came in I was kinda waving my hooves around hoping I would end up finding you by touch, but when that didn’t work I kinda took a little peek?” Pinkie’s smile became a little strained at the edges. “But it was just for a second, with one eye. I think maybe bad luck might ignore that, and... I dunno? If it decides to be picky I’ll have to find a four leaf clover or something.”

“Pinkie Pie, you know very well Rarity didn’t ask that of us because she believes in bad luck.” Fluttershy chided Pinkie, putting her hooves on her hips before realizing that Pinkie wouldn’t see it anyway. “I want to thank you for being worried about me but Rarity will be sad if we don’t follow her wishes.”

“It’s fine, darlings.”

Fluttershy’s ear perked up, and she turned towards the door to see a very sheepish looking Rarity watching them both.

“I... had much the same idea.” Rarity said, fidgeting a little under both of their gazes. She could understand, as she was breaking her own rule. But in truth, she was truly glad to see them both. “Truthfully I have a bit of a case of butterflies myself. I thought perhaps I could commiserate with Fluttershy and... gain some mutual moral support, as it were. So Pinkie is to be forgiven.”

“Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“However, that being said, she needs to go back to her room.” Rarity said firmly. She could forgive Pinkie, of course, but she was still clinging to what little she could of her original wedding dreams.

“Booo!” Pinkie stuck her tongue out. “I wanted to commiserate and stuff too!”

“Yes, but you can’t see either of us right now—” Rarity said as patiently as she could.

“That’s right!” Pinkie replied, gesturing to the blindfold and accidentally flicking her nose in the process, making her wince before the smile reasserted itself. “I can’t see anything!”

“But you should not be in here—”

Fluttershy just looked back and forth at her two fiances, and while Rarity was a little miffed with Pinkie, to her relief, Fluttershy seemed... almost calm. Perhaps Rarity needn’t have worried after all.

“You said I couldn’t see you two, you never said anything about not checking to make sure you were okay!” Pinkie stomped a hoof down, her face set in determination. “And it was really hard to find my way here, I fell and hit my nose four times!”

“Still—”

“Rarity—” Fluttershy said quietly.

“My nose really hurts!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Like, it’s not swelling, but it sore!”

“Pinkie—” Fluttershy tried once more.

“We’ll get you an ice pack after the ceremony. I promise. But for now—”

“Quiet!”

Pinkie and Rarity both went silent, Rarity turning to face Fluttershy, Pinkie facing the wall expectantly.

“Um...” Fluttershy’s ears went back in dismay. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so loud, but... I think maybe Pinkie wanted to be here just as much as you did, Rarity, and... probably for the same reason.”

“Which is why I forgive her for coming, but just the same, she is the groom—”

“Rarity.” Fluttershy replied with a little shake of her head. “Pinkie may be wearing a suit, but she’s my bride, and yours. It’s not right to say it’s okay for you but not for her.”

“I don’t mind being the groom!” Pinkie said to the wall. “I look really really good in a suit!”

“Yes, you do, Pinkie. But I think maybe... maybe all of us were a little nervous, and... and maybe it would be okay if we were all here, together, before we go out there with all of those other ponies.”

Though she still looked calmer than Rarity could recall seeing Fluttershy in recent memory, Rarity could still observe a barely suppressed shudder as Fluttershy talked about the crowd they were about to walk in front of.

“Would... would that be okay, Rarity?”

Rarity opened and closed her mouth several times, her expression shifting from indignant, to contrite, and finally to acceptance. Dreams be dashed, Fluttershy had a point. Also, she very much disliked the idea of excluding Pinkie from anything that involved physical comfort. She was a very soft and huggable pony.

So... for them, the dream would adapt again. It was still a very very large wedding, and all of their family were there. And it was a very silly rule standing in the way of hugging them both. “Very well. Pinkie, you may remove the blindfold so that we may all comfort each other in this stressful time.”

“Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed, taking off the blindfold with a flourish and looking at the wall in confusion for a moment before spinning around. “Okay, ladies!” Pinkie said with a huge grin. “It’s nearly go time! We have a town full of ponies out there waiting to see a wedding. Now, bring it in!”

Fluttershy and Rarity exchanged a look, shrugged, and got closer to be enfolded in Pinkie’s waiting arms, being brought into an impromptu huddle.

“Okay!” Pinkie said, looking at them both intently. “Soon, the music will start, and they’ll expect us all to march out from each of our rooms one by one. Our dads are all waiting to lead us down the aisle, and Twilight is ready to read the vows! Are we ready?”

“Um...” Fluttershy said hesitantly. “Not really?”

Pinkie rolled her eyes and smiled even larger. “I said, are we ready?!”

Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged a look.

“Um, yes?”

“Yes.” Rarity agreed, nodding firmly.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she burst into the room. “Have you seen—” her eyes bulged as she saw both Pinkie and Rarity embracing Fluttershy. “What are you girls doing? I thought the whole point was to keep you from seeing each other until you’re walking down the aisle!”

“Yes... well.” Rarity replied, looking flustered. “That is to say—” she looked at Fluttershy and Pinkie for help, and found support in their eyes. She turned back to Twilight, her mouth set firmly. “It’s our wedding, and we’ll decide what’s proper for it.”

“But you can’t just change the rules—”

The wedding music began, and Pinkie dropped her arms down to the floor, adopting a faux serious expression, her eyes shining with joy. “It’s show time!”

“Ack! I need to get to the podium!” Twilight exclaimed, a bit of her carefully styled mane coming loose and sticking out. Her eyes bulged, and for a moment Rarity feared she’d have to calm yet another pony. But after a long moment, Twilight closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, exhaling noisily. “Okay,” she said, looking a bit calmer. “But, no more changes, please! I already have the script memorized and I have cue cards just in case. Okay?”

“I think we can manage that.” Rarity said with a smile.

Twilight scrambled out of the room, and Rarity turned to Fluttershy and Pinkie. “Well, then. Shall we?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, they answered her grin with their own, and to Rarity’s relief, there seemed to be no worry clouding either of their expressions.

Author's Notes:

Here we have the penultimate chapter. It's been insanely fun writing this story. Thank you all for reading along so far, and I hope you'll join me for the final chapter.