The next few days were a bustle of activity as we prepped for the wedding. Over the course of five days I learned more than I ever wanted to learn about different cake frosting, fabrics, and wedding traditions. I was also exposed to more types of music than I knew existed, many of which I questioned whether they were simply incoherent noise. I learned the names and tastes of over two dozen types of alcohol, and discovered in the process that I was as immune to getting drunk as I was to getting ill.

Biblo was not particularly active in any of the planning. We would typically discuss each night before bed what I had suggested to me over the course of the day. She would sometimes show some preferences to certain things, but she left the majority of decisions in my hooves, insisting that she would love whatever decisions I made.

I was also introduced to Alicorn after Alicorn. Most of whom just reconfirmed the fact that all Alicorns were insane.

I met Cadance, the Alicorn of Love, and found that she wanted to go very much in depth with describing what I should be doing in bed. Her advice was actually very insightful, and I put a good deal of it into practice, much to Biblo's delight. Still, if I hadn't been given the extra sexual confidence, directly from Biblo's mind, I think I would have run away from her talks bright red.

I met Luna's older sister, Celestia, who I was told was the oldest of the Alicorns. Being the oldest apparently meant very little, as I was warned repeatedly by others that I should avoid doing anything she says to do. She was a notorious trickster who would deliberately engineer disasters and drama to happen, out of pure boredom, really mature. She was the Alicorn that directed the sun, and I was told how she would sometimes alter its positioning at random just to cause random havoc, or send ponies off on quests, that were more or less wild goose chases. All to get some perverse amusement.

Some were more or less normal seeming, with no signs of insanity. Somnabula was a pleasant enough Alicorn, who made small talk, and no Alicorn had anything bad to say about her. Mistmane, was also fairly pleasant to deal with, though she did tend to fuss a lot about how I should do more to accent my natural beauty more often. Paleo was a decent enough pony too, who I could easily pick out the similarity in personality to her counterpart, in addition to her appearance.

I met a good number of the lesser Alicorns as well, though trying to remember them proved difficult. They liked to change up what races they were disguised as on a regular basis, and did more drastic alteration to their features than what the Crusaders did, which made them unfamiliar with each new encounter. I couldn't manage to learn many of their names, and I could have sworn that sometimes I had encountered the same pony giving me a different name than before.

The only lesser Alicorn I got down for sure was a rather shy mare named Water Shadow, who maintained an blue earth pony form, with slightly darker blue mane. Water Shadow shared a love for the taste of fish, and took meals with me and Biblo several times, after she learned of our preferred meal. She had a love for sailing and fishing from what we learned, and was regularly pressured by the greater Alicorns to take up a spot as a Greater, and become the official Alicorn of such things. She didn't talk a lot, but we picked up she clearly was unhappy with the regular pressure. She just wanted to be a normal pony, and sail her boats.

While I met with various Alicorns, and tried to make decisions concerning the wedding, Biblo focused on training with Sunset. Rainbow would occassionally drop in on her as well to check some sizing, or compare a color of fabric against her fur. Biblo was also still doing her physical training in the courtyard, and tried to make time to read as we'll. So, she wasn't doing nothing over the course of this time.

Rainbow Dash was exceptionally impressed with her from what I could tell. Striving to be the best was something that the rainbow maned Alicorn held in high regard. Biblo's displays of physical prowess, and continuing push herself to master her own abilities, as well as expanding her education led to a great deal of praise from Rainbow. I half suspected that the Alicorn of Loyalty was flirting with my fiancee on more than one occasion, and the only thing that disqualified any concerns was the fact she was the embodiment of loyalty.

I was still leary of Rainbow. I had heard stories from her fellow Alicorns about her keeping her own personal harem, of both mares and stallions, at Skyhall, her primary home away from the Tree.

Aside from concerns about Rainbow Dash, my primary worry with Biblo was her continued struggle with mastering her empathic abilities. I knew it would take time, but her control was only getting marginally better. She could now shut them down for a few moments, but it wasn't something she could maintain. Trying to have them not operate for more than a minute or two caused her a great deal of strain, and she had to focus to do it, it was not something she could do quickly as needed. Sunset said that she would get better at it with time, as long as she kept practicing, but for the moment it left the concerns about her accidental absorbing an active concern. Fortunately she was taking great care not to have physical contact with any ponies other than me or Sunset.

And so things were progressing, as I sat in a private room, while waiting on Rarity.

The room was slightly smaller than the bedroom I shared with Biblo, carpeted in a lush green that reminded me of summer grass. The room had six different mirrors set up which endlessly reflected me between them.

I had never really paid my reflection much attention before or really looked myself over well in a mirror. Sure I had done so years before, when I first was transformed by Starlight Glimmer, but I was still a teen at the time. The years after I had not really had the luxury of having a mirror, and acquiring one was very low priority. So it was kind of shocking, seeing the mare in the reflection and knowing that she was me.

I had never been as well washed as I was now when I had looked in a mirror before. I had known of course that my fur was white, but had never noticed that it had a pinkish tint to it before due to the grime. My mane was a bit of a wild pink mess in desperate need of grooming. I looked like I was younger than I was, likely due to my cutie mark freezing my aging once I reached full maturity. My fangs were noticeable, and my ear tufts were not as disheveled as I thought they would be due to my past attempts at clipping them. My tail was large and full. I was rather slim, with just a tiny bit of plumpness to the flanks. I guessed the mare in the reflection was pretty, it was still a little weird connecting my reflection to myself.

After several minutes of waiting Rarity eventually teleported into the room. She had two bags held aloft in her magic in to the left of her head, and a bundle of some sort held aloft in her magic to the right.

"Oh, there you are. Sorry I am running late, but I wanted to make some last minute adjustments," she smiled as she spoke apologetically to me. "I hope you are eager to see how you will look tomorrow. I will make any final alterations that might need to be made here, after I see how it looks on you."

"I am a little nervous," I confessed, looking apprehensively at the items she had brought. "I have never done this before, getting dressed up I mean. I haven't gotten married either, obviously. All of this is happening so fast, it is a lot to take in."

"Don't worry, we will have you looking your best in no time," Rarity said kindly. "You have a wonderful coat and mane, and an excellent figure. You should embrace showing off your femininity more often."

"Growing up embracing my femininity got me beaten," I said sadly. "I kind of started avoiding doing so, even after I was transformed. After I was transformed, I was too concerned with just figuring out how to live to be bothered to care about my appearance."

"Well, that is all in the past my dear," Rarity bubbled happily as she undid the ties on her bundle and opened her bags. "It might have been for the best that you didn't take time to show off your appearance during those desperate times."

"Why is that?" I asked curiously.

"Oh," Rarity stopped short, trying to consider how to answer my question. "Let's just say that pretty young mares who are in facing such obstacles sometimes are forced to turn to doing certain activities to survive, prostitution to be blunt. They aren't bad mares, they just are doing what they need to do to survive. I have tried to work with, and help, more mares like that than I can count over the course of my years. Ponies shouldn't have to be reduced to selling their bodies so they can eat. it's an ongoing tragedy, one I have not been able to solve, despite my best efforts."

I hadn't even considered doing that back then. Of course, I hadn't really considered that ponies would be interested in using me in that way. There were certainly plenty of ponies that would consider a Thestral an exotic tryst. I don't know what I would have done if I had considered it then, I was certainly hungry enough back then to do just about anything. It was a scary concept that I was glad that I never fell into doing.

"Those unhappy matters are not what we are going to be concerned about right now," Rarity said, moving on from the unpleasant subject. "For now lets get this dress on you. I rarely get to make dresses for Thestrals, but your tribe has some very interesting design concepts."

The dress that she pulled out was very shear, and black. It had lines of solid white crisscrossing the entire dress. She moved the dress with her magic, putting it on me, tightening sections and moving my limbs like a doll using her hooves. Finally she stepped back, and seemed very pleased with herself. She gestured for me to look at myself in the mirror.

Now wearing the dress, I saw those lines of white imitated spiderwebs, and there was a clasp around my neck that had the design of a spider. Rarity also added several clips, that matched the clasp, into my mane while I looked myself over. She worked quickly on the mane and it took on an elegant style.

As she finished the mane she immediately started pulling articles of makeup from her other bag, and went to work on my face, telling me to close my eyes occasionally as she worked near them. She went at this for several minutes and I didn't get to get a good look at myself as she did her work, as she constantly was having me either move my head, close my eyes, or just standing between me and the mirrors herself.

"Spiders are such misunderstood creatures," she explained as she worked. "They are predatory, but they keep away pests from invading ponies' homes, much like your own tribe. And they create such exquisite designs in their webs. Thestrals have always had an uncommon fondness of spiders, and incorporate designs inspired by them in much of their fashion. I was happy to have an opportunity to work with such designs for you. It is so rare to work on dresses for Thestrals, and make something that embraces that artistic heritage. It was a special treat indeed."

Finally she was satisfied with her work, with the final addition of a pulled back veil, of the same fabric as the dress, only white. Now I was able to see what the final result was from Rarity's efforts.

I didn't have words for what I saw. I was gorgeous, not just pretty, simply gorgeous. I had always just been happy to be a mare, to be able to be viewed as female, without having to be questioned, but my reflection displayed not just a pony that was clearly a mare, it showed a pony that took my breath away with her beauty. I don't know why, but I broke down crying, it was just all so much. I was just so happy to be seeing this, it was like I was getting validation, even though I had no need of it.

Rarity was an old pro at recognizing the reactions of her dresses, and she expressed her own joy at seeing me so happy with a simple happy smile, though her eyes seemed like there were somewhat misty. She came and gave me a consolatory hug.

"I am glad you like it, dear," she said quietly, as she patted me on the back. "It always makes me so happy to see ponies seeing how wonderful and beautiful they really are. I hope it inspires you to do the same for others in the future."

I looked at my reflection and felt a swell of pride for myself. I was going to make Biblo's jaw drop tomorrow.

I was a little sad that I had to get undressed, and have my makeup taken off. Rarity had to do some scolding, insisting that I shouldn't mess up the dress, and that it was bad luck for the spouse to see her bride in her dress before the wedding ceremony.

Rarity had made a few minor alterations, tightening a few areas and letting a few others out, but I left with the dress done and ready for tomorrow. I was cleaned of my makeup, and Rarity took the dress with her as she vanished to wherever it would be awaiting me tomorrow.

I went to search out Biblo, and had little luck. When I finally found where she was, I had a very angry Rainbow Dash slam a door in my face, again scolding me about how it was not proper to see a bride in her dress before the wedding ceremony. I was to make myself scarce for the time being, while Biblo was to have her own fitting.

This left me looking around for other things to make last minute checks on, despite the fact that the Alicorns clearly had this all in order. I was still very nervous, and was only getting more nervous as time crept forwards. I had to repeat to myself that I was going to be a married mare after noon tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I had little I could even check. The wedding would be happening deep within the Tree. Biblo and I would not be sleeping together tonight, instead being housed in bedrooms deep within the Tree, near where the wedding would take place. There was a Twilight Guard member, Icy Moon again, who was standing by at the temple to escort us to our rooms. I simply was waiting for Biblo to finish, before we were escorted into the bowels of the trunk. Leaving me still with the problem of what to do with my time for the moment.

I decided to go to the dining hall and work on my vows, as I wanted them to be perfect. I had one of the staff fetch me a pencil and parchment, and tried writing them out from memory.

For any non-Unicorn writing anything down was a massive chore. It required you to have a pencil in you mouth and manipulate it with your tongue. It was tiring if you were used to doing it, and most non-Unicorns rarely wrote much beyond simple lists, single sentence messages, and their signatures as a result--at least once their schooling was over. This was going to be the longest thing I had ever written.

I was agonizing over it, with a tongue that was getting increasingly sore, when Hot Sticks came up to the table and sat across from me.

"Would you like some help with that?" He asked looking at my discomfort.

I spit out the pencil onto the table and put my hooves up to the sides of my head. "Please, if you would," I sighed with exasperation.

He grabbed the parchment and pencil up in his magic, and looked at what I had written over. He quickly started crossing out things and writing things in.

"Your spelling is atrocious," he said with bemusement. "As is your penmanship. I am pretty good at reading sloppy writing, but this is a real mess."

"Well, you have certain advantages, so don't judge me," I replied, more crossly than I intended.

He took my additude in stride, and simply grabbed another sheet of parchment from near me. The staff had been kind enough to bring multiple for me to use.

"There is a Thestrals technique for writing I have seen involving dipping the ends of one of the fingers of your wing in ink and writing with that," Hot Sticks explained. "Thestrals wings are much more dexterous than Pegasus wings, and it has always surprised me that not many of you make more use of that. Thestrals seem to make less use if their wings than Pegasi do, when it seems they should make make more. They are essentially just big webbed hands."

I spread my wings and looked at them. I never really used them for much other than flying. I knew some others who would use them to help with their grip on trees and rocks when climbing, but that wasn't really an activity I ever did. I suppose they did look a bit like hands, like a diamond dog would have, or a Klugian, or dragon, from what I was told. But I would assume that if they were really that useful we would all be trained from birth to use them that way. Then again, I knew my tribe's stubborn nature about doing things a set way.

"Maybe," I finally replied, still somehow doubtful I had been underestimating the use of my wings. "I will try adding some sort of exercises to my routine to develop using them that way, but I doubt I could produce anything legible trying that, right now."

"Just musing," Hot Sticks replied back. "Let's just ignore what your actual vows will be for the moment, and just focus on what you definitely want to convey. Just to make sure you know you are covering all of it."

"Okay," I said. "That doesn't seem to hard. I want to first convey I love her with all my heart. I want to let her know she brightens up my life, and makes me feel special in ways no other pony ever has. I want her to know I trust her. I want to also tell her that I want to protect her, just as much as she wants to protect me. And I also want to tell her that the idea of living forever is far less lonely an idea knowing I will have her with me. I would do anything to make her happy and safe."

"See that wasn't too hard," Hot Sticks laughed. "You can word it differently when you actually give your vows, but what I'm you just said is all you need to say."

"But that is so informal, and doesn't sound like I put lots of thought into it," I asserted.

"It is better for you to be sincere," he replied back with a smile. "Are you a mare that typically will speak with flowery formal language? No? Then why would you present yourself to your bride trying to do so? She loves you for who you are, and you need to present your vows to her as yourself. Say what comes naturally and quickly, not something you had to dig for, and say it the way you would say it. She wants you, so give her you."

"I just don't want her to feel like I don't take this seriously," I replied back dejectedly.

"I will tell you a secret," he said. Hot Sticks was good with telling others secrets. "Biblo was out in the courtyard earlier doing the same thing you are now, and stressing about it just as much. I told her the same thing I am telling you now. Would you be disappointed with her if she just spoke vows that weren't flowery or formal, and instead just spoke to you as she would always?"

I blinked. I hadn't really even considered she was stressing about the same kinds of things right now. The fact that she had left most of the wedding preparations to me made me had made me think she would be low anxiety. I felt abashed that I hadn't considered she may be just as stressed and anxious. Perhaps she had avoided the wedding preparation to avoid additional stress.

"No, I would be happy with whatever she ended up saying, because I know she means it," I replied back with a growing sense of relief.

"Then don't think she desires any more from you," he concluded.

"Pearl!" I heard Biblo call to me excitedly from across the dining hall.

I spotted my bride to be and rose from the table to go out to meet her. After just a few steps I was knocked to my back as she barreled into me with an excited hug, and lay atop me giggling after.

"You are going to have your jaw fall right off your head when you see me tomorrow," she sqealled with excitement. "I never felt so pretty in my life as when Rainbow put me in that dress with all my mane and makeup done. You always look so beautiful, but I think I might be able to be as beautiful for you this time."

"You are wrong," I replied, getting a strange look from her in response. "You are always the one that is more beautiful. You could show up in a burlap sack and still be the most beautiful pony in the room."

She blushed, and gave me a kiss in response, resuming her happy giggling.

"You are getting much better with those compliments, my precious," she managed to get out around her happy sounds. "Rainbow seems to think I will outshine you, she is just so competitive about everything, but no matter how bright I might glow, you are still the brightest light to me."

"Okay, you two can stop that now," Hot Sticks interjected with a playful tone. "I warn you both about flowery language today, and you then both proceed to start spewing it out at first opportunity. It is enough to make me gag from all the sweetness."

Biblo and I just continued to giggle together as we lay in a mass of pony limbs on the floor of the dining hall.

After a while the three of us finally exited out of the hall. We then sat out in the courtyard together, and enjoyed our pipes as we told jokes. It was just simple time shared not worrying about anything at all. No stresses, just good company, and high spirits. Biblo and I were ready for the day to come and there wasn't anything to worry about.

Next Chapter: Chapter 18: Newlywed and New Plans. Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 35 Minutes