Time for the roughest Flight for this group of ponies.
For a certain group of ponies, the last several months have been one big and strange roller coaster ride of emotions.
Rainbow Dash had gotten Thunderlane, his brother Rumble & the Foalsitters Flitter & Cloudchaser to join her circle of friends, though it took a while to warm up to them, especially Applejack, who had been outspoken against the Quartet, which included intimidating Thunderlane, buck kicking Flitter in the jaw and chasing Rumble in Canterlot with the intent of hurting him.
Soon enough they made peace after Applejack realized how badly her actions affected her friends, plus Applejack started to love Rumble after he took it upon himself to comfort her, the very mare that chased him around, Applejack deemed that a worthy friend.
To make things right, she tried for the longest time to get on Thunderlane's good side, even being at his side almost every minute, which annoyed him and made Rainbow Dash jealous since she had a crush on him. At the end of all of it Applejack eased up & Rainbow Dash hooked up with Thunderlane.
Rumble however had to deal with life with the Crusaders. Apple Bloom liked him straight away and he always got along with her, that was the easy part. Sweetie Belle hated him at first however, saying he's boring and no fun and would always hesitate and not wanna do any crusading ideas, despite her being hypocritical on that since she too can be very hesitant on things, but it's easier to blame someone else after all.
Scootaloo, despite inviting him and making him a Crusader, had started to dislike Rumble as time went on, to the point where she, along with Sweetie Belle and other crusader Babs Seed voted Rumble out the group, and then later ganged up on him and beat him down. Though the girls started to regret doing that, with Sweetie confessing that she's always had a crush on him. Rumble had forgiven them and showed them kindness, but there was more to it than that.
Rumble's kindness had worked wonders, between dealing with Applejack, Babs Seed, Sweetie Belle and even the reckless Lightning Dust. Lighting had always been a rival to Rainbow Dash, and at Canterlot vowed to upstage her, but failed miserably, though the bright side was getting a sponsorship deal with Suri Polomare & The Flim Flam Brothers, plus befriending Trixie, a friendship that grew into a romance.
Lightning tried upstaging Rainbow Dash again in Manehatten but that did not go well either, it even led to a big fight in which she and Trixie were wounded by Applejack. Once again Lightning had another shot, but to get that shot she had to team with Rumble. It didn't go well at first, especially when her reckless nature took hold, it got to a point where she nearly lost her spot to Fluttershy, only for Trixie to cast a spell that bound them together.
The bright side was that although they hated it at first, it helped them become good friends the week they were stuck together, to the point where Rumble was so angry when after the spell was broken, the ponies still tried getting rid of her and a fight broke out that nearly crippled Lightning Dust. Luckily she turned out to be ok and befriended the rest and it seemed like things were going smooth.
Then came the downward spiral, first Rumble gets in trouble when during a date with Sweetie Belle, he had gotten into a sexual situation which involved the two losing their virginity to each other, getting Rumble into hot water, and to make matters worse he had punched Diamond Tiara, the local bully. Due to his actions Twilight considered strict discipline, which was deemed unfair by Rainbow Dash & others and they had left Ponyville.
To reunite her friends, Twilight invited everypony to The Crystal Empire for a getaway, but due to the hotel being enchanted to the point where everypony had sexual desires, several things happened. Rumble, thanks to bad advice from Lightning Dust & Trixie, had sex with all the fillies there, The Crusaders & Dinky Do, despite warning from her foalsitter Derpy not to do so. One of the sexual conducts was decribed as a rape due to Rumble not knowing the difference between playing tough to get and forcing himself on a filly.
Plus Rainbow Dash had done the unthinkable, she had an affair with Soarin, the two caught having sex in the hotel, which resulted in major heartbreak and Thunderlane breaking up with Rainbow Dash. At the end Rainbow left to become an official member of The Wonderbolts and Thunderlane had started dating Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight however was a lot different than Rainbow Dash, she was a good marefriend to Thunderlane but as a big sister figure she was very stritch with Rumble, any sign of him messinng up and Twilight would discipline him. Then she dropped the dombshell that she and Thunderlane were getting married, which upset Rumble, he even pleaded with Rainbow Dash to come back to Thunderlane, but she is unsure if she could.
We cut to the present, the wedding is in 3 days, all the preparations were done, the wedding will be in Canterlot, Celestia would be doing the honors, Spike would be the Ring Bearer, The Cutie Mark Crusaders would be the Flower Girls, Twilight had her bridesmaids in Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie & Rainbow Dash if she chose to come. Thunderlane had selected Flitter & Cloudchaser as his best mares since he can't pick only one.
Rarity & Coco Pommel made the wedding gown & suit, Pinkie & Cheese Sandwich made all the Party Preparations, Amethyst Star had even helped organize the whole wedding.
Rumble however could only watch as his brother was about to marry who he felt was the wrong mare.
One day Twilight had gone to the Carousel Boutique with Rumble. Thunderlane was off on his own errands so Twilight offered to keep an eye on Rumble. Normally that's Flitter & Cloudchaser's job but Twilight insisted, she wants to spend time with Rumble to keep him out of trouble. Plus she figured he could play with Sweetie Belle.
They had arrived and knocked on the door, which was answered by Rarity, "Oh, hello Twilight, good to see you, and you too Rumble"
Both waved and said "Hello".
Twilight then started speaking, "I'm just here to check on my wedding dress, can you believe I'm getting married in 3 days?"
Rumble cringed a little at the sound of marriage. Rarity nodded, "Yes, it is amazing, I'm so envious of you, if you want to check on your dress, come on inside, I can show you"
Twilight & Rumble went inside the Boutique and Rarity led them to Twilight's wedding dress, "How does it look? Be honest"
Twilight examined it, "It looks great, you always outdo yourself Rarity, I can't wait to wear this, I still can't believe I'm so close to my marriage, it's so exciting!"
Rumble rolled his eyes, but his mood lightened up when he saw Sweetie Belle enter the room, "Hi Sweetie Belle!"
Sweetie noticed him and grinned enthusiastically, "Rumble!" she ran over and hugged him, which he returned. Rarity awed at that, though Twilight kept an eye out to make sure it stayed a hug.
Sweetie broke away from the hug, "Let's go to my room, we can talk there". Rumble nodded, "That sounds fun, let's-"
Twilight cleared her throat, "Ahem". Rumble groaned and turned to Twilight, "May I go to her room please?"
Twilight thought a moment, "Ok, but no funny business". Rumble sighed loudly, Twilight took exception to that, "Rumble, manners! Remember I'm doing this for your well being"
Rumble nodded, "Yes Twilight", he turned to Sweetie, "Come on".
Rumble went upstairs with Sweetie Belle, Rarity turned to Twilight, "Is it hard being a big sister figure to him?"
Twilight rubbed her head a bit, "Sometimes, he's a bit different than Spike, probably because Spike is closer to my age than Rumble is and Spike was taught manners by Princess Celestia herself since she raised him for part of his life before he went to live with me and my family, dealing with Spike wasn't too bad, he had issues but he always did what he needed to do, but with Rumble", she sighed a bit, "He's a bit different and harder than I expected, he was such a sweet colt at first, now he seems a little...I don't know, rebellious?"
"With all due respect Twilight", Rarity started explaining, "He doesn't seem that rebellious, he just looks a bit unhappy, keep in mind he went through a lot after meeting us, he suffered from constant bullying, whether it was Applejack, Babs, Lightning Dust, Scootaloo, even Sweetie Belle, not to mention that pompous little Diamond Tiara, obviously it was gonna take a toll on him"
Twilight nodded, "I'm aware of that, I just wish I could help him, but it seems like h can't stand me sometimes, maybe I'm being a little hard on him, I'm just so worried for him, I'm marrying his brother, which means I have a huge influence on his life, all I want is make him the happy little colt he once was"
"My advice, stop trying so hard, otherwise it's gonna affect your relationship, let him get used to you"
Twilight shook her head while holding it, "Rarity it's been months since I've started dating his brother, he should be used to me by now".
"That may be true, but keep in mind that he was really close to Rainbow Dash, it's possiy he feels that you've kinda taken his brother away from her".
"But I didn't, Rainbow Dash cheated on him, then he broke up with her, he was free for the taking", Twilight insisted.
"Right, but you hooked up with him pretty much immediately after the break up, that's not really a good thing to do to a friend", Rarity stated.
"Hey I can't help it if Rainbow Dash cheats on her coltfriends, besides he needed me Rarity, I was his friend for a long time, I've had a crush on him almost as long as Rainbow Dash did, but I never said anything out of respect, if she can't respect him enough to be faithful then why should I pass up on the chance to date him?"
Rarity sighed, "It's very complicated Twilight, but that's life, like I said, Rumble doesn't hate you, he just hates the idea that you're marrying his brother because deep down he wanted Rainbow Dash to do that, Rainbow was more than his brother's marefriend, she was a good friend to him as well, they had one thing in common, they both love flying and being competitive, you need to find common ground with Rumble if you hope to have him like you the way he liked Rainbow, but don't force it, let it come naturally".
Twilight took what Rarity said into thought, perhaps she had a point, she needs to try to befriend Rumble, show him that she can be a fun pony to be around as well, "Ok Rarity, I'll try that".
"Good, now here's your dress, make sure it fits, and hopefully it's a prelude to a good wedding", Rarity used her magic to levitate the dress to Twilight, which she took.
"Thanks Rarity, now I should get going, I'll go fetch Rumble", Twilight said and went to find Rumble.
Meanwhile in Sweetie Belle's room, the two have been sitting against a wall with Rumble leaning against Sweetie Belle and vice versa.
"Twilight's gonna be your sister-in-law soon, how are you feeling about that?" Sweetie asked.
"I hate it, nothing against Twilight but she's no Rainbow Dash, I really wish that Rainbow was the one marrying my brother right now", Rumble said.
"Maybe it won't be so bad, she's really nice after all"
Rumble scoffed, "Nice? She's always on my case, she scares me sometimes honestly, it's like I'm the new Discord or something".
Sweetie sighed, "It's probably our fault, we started this whole thing and now you're facing the consequences". Rumble nuzzled Sweetie Belle, "Don't blame yourself, I'm responsible for my own actions, though I still think Twilight is going paranoid over this".
Sweetie kissed Rumble on the head, "We're still here for you". Rumble looked at her with affectionate eyes, "Thanks, you're the best".
The two then went in for a little kiss, not too unusual, Rumble does have a tendency to get a little more than friendly with the Crusaders here and there, mostly Sweetie & Apple Bloom since they're the only ones left that are willing to do this type of stuff with him.
Their fun was cut short when Rumble heard some trots making their way to Sweetie's room, he broke away, knowing what Twilight would do if he got caught. She knocked a moment, to which Sweetie opened the door with her magic and Twilight entered the room.
"Time to go Rumble, we still have a few plans before the wedding, and you are gonna be our little ring bearer, hopefully Rarity will have your tux ready by then".
Rumble stood up and waved good-bye to Sweetie Belle before leaving the Boutique with Twilight. Sweetie pondered a bit, a little concerned about Rumble.
Outside Twilight is walking home with her wedding dress with Rumble right beside her, "I can't wait til I marry your brother Rumble, we're gonna be such a happy family".
Rumble barely reacted, he just kept walking. Twilight remembered what Rarity said so she decided to put it to the test, "So Rumble...how is your flying going?"
"Fine", Rumble said, not too interested in dragging it out. Twilight decided to keep going, "That's good...so are there any tricks you wanna show me? Anything you've been working on?"
Rumble shook his head, "I don't have anything yet, still working on perfecting it".
Twilight thought a moment, getting him to talk would be tough, but she wanted to make a friend out of him so she kept going, "Would you like to fly with me sometime? I bet it would be really fun!"
Rumble just looked at her a bit confused, "You don't usually fly Twilight, why do you want to fly with me? When I fly I usually go fast and I like doing tricks, I don't know if you can handle something like that".
"Maybe you can show me, I'd love to be able to fly like you can, you're a great flyer, I saw for myself during Tornado Day", Twilight said.
Rumble looked somewhat suspicious of Twilight's intentions, why the sudden interest in his hobbies? Is she trying to be like Rainbow Dash?
"You don't seem like the competitive type, I'd hate to see you get hurt doing a move", Rumble admitted. Twilight ruffled his mane, "You're sweet to care for my well being, but I'm still interested, I'd love to spend more time with you".
Rumble sighed, "If you really want to, maybe we can try it sometime". Twilight grinned excitedly, "That's so great, I can't wait to bond with you", we're gonna be the best of friends soon Rumble, I promise to always watch out for you, care about you and love you with all my heart".
Rumble chuckled nervously, "That's really nice of you", deep down he still wasn't too fond of the idea of Twilight marrying Thunderlane, though she looks like she's trying so he'll give her a shot at least.
They made their way home, Twilight went to the Invitation deck, "Ok time to spread the invites, one for all our friends here, one each for the princesses, one for my brother, maybe add a little sidenote to that", she grinned mischievously at that, then looked through agian, "One for Coco, one for Cheese, one for Trixie & Lightning Dust, and one for Rainbow Dash".
Rumble's ears perked, "Rainbow Dash? You really are gonna invite her?" Twilight nodded, "Of course, she is my friend and I do want her there, I just hope we can put this aside, besides I'm sure she's super happy with Soarin, she's liked him forever after all".
Rumble nodded though a bit unconvinced, "Yeah, she does I guess".
Twilight pulled Rumble into a strong hug, "Oh Rumble, you may not realize it, but I love you very much, and one thing that excites me about this wedding is knowing we'll be so much closer, think, one big happy family, you, me, Thunderlane & Spike, not to mention you will be the brother-in-law to Cadance & my brother Shining Armor, I can't wait for this".
Rumble still didn't look to thrilled, plus the hug was a little strong for his liking. Twilight rubbed his mane, deep down hoping that her shows of affection will win Rumble over so they can have a nice friendly relationship.
Meanwhile at Sweet Apple Acres, Thunderlane is helping Applejack with some orders made for the wedding. "You excited fer your big day partner?"
Thunderlane nodded, "Very, I can't believe I'm gonna be married soon, never though I'd be marrying a princess though, that has me a bit nervous, won't that legally make me a prince?"
Applejack nodded, "That's right, Prince Thunderlane, sounds kinda nice right?" Thunderlane wasn't too convinced, "That's gonna sound weird, hope that doesn't catch on, I just wanna be plain old Thunderlane".
Applejack patted hos back, "Very modest of you, just like Twilight, y'all won't let your titles go to yer head". Thunderlane nodded, "Yeah, the only title I'd want is Wonderbolt".
That brought a question to Applejack's mind, "Speaking of Wonderbolts, ah do need to know one thing...do you still have any feelings for Rainbow Dash?"
Thunderlane looked caught by surprise with that question, "Uh Applejack, Rainbow and I broke up, I'm with Twilight, and I care about her deeply".
"That don't answer mah question Thunder, do you still have feelings for Rainbow Dash? You didn't exactly break up on the best terms, and the last thing you want is that the day you two reunite, you succumb to old feelings you had about her and then make the same mistake she did".
Thunderlane wasn't too pleased hearing that, "I would never cheat on Twilight, she's done so much for me Applejack, I love her, I honestly do, me and Rainbow are a thing of the past, all I wanna focus on is getting married, that's all".
Applejack nodded, "Whatever you say partner, though all that aside, ah do hope you and Twilight Have a nice and happy marriage". Thunderlane's annoyance turned to happiness, "Thanks, means a lot".
While they continued to work, Thunderlane brought up another topic, "So how long before you and Rarity make it official?"
Now it's Applejack's turn to be surprised, "Me and Rarity? Wow ah never thought of that, especially since it would be a huge commitment, she has her business and ah have mah farm, though it would be nice to take her as mah bride, we'll work out the details eventually though".
"I hope you get married soon, you're already so perfect for each other", Thunderlane admitted. Applejack smiled and nodded, "Yeah, ah think we would too".
Soon all the invites were sent out, Derpy made sure they were taken to their locations ASAP, she pulled a few strings for Twilight and got these sent via express mail. It wasn't long before Trixie & Lightning got their letter, both putting on a smile.
"We're going to a wedding! Maybe they'll let us perform there!" Trixie said. "Let's not worry about that, somehow I feel like that might rub Twilight the wrong way, and we've seen how she'll get when she's angry", Lightning added.
Trixie nodded, "Right...though I wonder if we should let Suri, Flim & Flam know? If they come they might try to sell something". Lightning shrugged, "Then they get booted, I just wanna see Rumble again". Trixie agreed with that, she missed him very much after all.
Coco got her invite, she sighed dreamily, envying the happy couple. Cheese & Pinkie also got theirs, they knew it was time to get back to Ponyville.
When Shining Armor got his, he felt a bit infuriated, "Twilight's getting married!? And I had to find out through a wedding invite!? Why would she...oh, right". He then looked at a note that said, 'Doesn't feel so good, does it?'
Shining Armor face hoofed, "Just for that, I'm gonna end up having a nice long and painful chat with Thunderlane".
Finally Rainbow Dash's invitation came, she grabbed it from the mail and looked it over. After reading it she set sighed sadly, "So...it's official, he's gonna marry Twilight...and now I have an invite to the painful reminder of my stupidest mistake!" she tossed the invitation aside angrily, "Dammit Rainbow, why did you have to throw away the greatest thing that's happened to you!?" she punched a wall angrily, "That should be me! Not Twilight! ME! What is Thunderlane thinking anyway!? And what about Rumble!? I know he's not down with this, those letter she sends, I can feel his heart breaking over me not being there", Rainbow sighed, "I should be there for him...he's my special little colt..."
She jumped on her bed, face down in a pillow screaming angrily, though her screams turned to tears, anger into sorrow, the feeling sinking in, knowing she lost her loved one to another. She stuck her head out the pillow a moment, "Thunderlane...I'm so sorry!" she resumed crying into the pillow, though after a few minutes she pulled out the pillow and rubbed her nose, "Get it together Rainbow, you're stronger than this...besides it's not fair to Soarin, he's trying to make my life happy, this should be a dream come true, to date a Wonderbolt, and eventually become one". She sighed heavily, "Or maybe it was just some foolish fangirl fantasy".
As she laid thinking, Soarin soon came into the room, "Hey Rainbow, what's up?" he noticed her face and the pillow, "uh, have you been crying?"
Rainbow looked a bit nervous, she didn't wanna tell Soarin that she was upset over her ex-coltfriend getting married, it might hurt him a bit, "Uh...no, I was...working out, and I got all sweaty so I stained the pillow".
Soarin looked confused, "Uh only your face though?" Rainbow realized her bluff, "Uh...maybe this bed is good at absorbing?" she put on a nervous laugh, but once again, Soarin wasn't buying it, "Rainbow, I've seen you lie on that bed all sweaty, hell I've made you sweaty on that bed, it never absorbed, now what's going on?"
Rainbow bit her lip, she was running out of ideas, though Soarin then noticed the Invitation on the ground, "Huh? What's that?"
Rainbow's heart skipped a beat, "What's what?" Soarin looked at her like she's crazy, "That letter on the floor", he trotted over to it and picked it up. Now Rainbow was nervous, once he reads that letter, he'll end up putting two and two together and realize that she likely doesn't have true feelings for him, thus breaking the heart of another stallion.
Soarin put the note town and turned to Rainbow Dash with a very serious expression, further making her nervous. "I know what's going on..."
Rainbow cringed a little, nervous as to how Soarin would react.
"Rainbow Dash...you miss your friends don't you", Soarin asked, his demeanor turning into a cheery one. Rainbow Dash looked surprised, thankfully Soarin is usually cheerful & laid back, giving Rainbow Dash a clear path, "Uh yeah, I haven't seen them in so long and when I read the letter, my emotions got to me".
Soarin chuckled, "That's a normal feeling Dash, you didn't need to make up some story about sweating out of your face". Rainbow rubbed her head, "Sorry, I don't like when others know I've been crying, I have a tough girl rep after all".
Soarin approached her and nuzzled her, "You don't need to keep the tough girl act with me, nothing wrong with being in touch with your emotions, now as for your friends, I take it you wanna see them".
Rainbow rubbed her head, "Truth be told, I have mixed feelings about it, I miss them but..." Soarin nodded, "I get it, you didn't leave on the best terms, but this is your chance to make amends with them, don't pass it up, isn't there this one colt you love being with, what was his name...? Tumble or something?"
"It's Rumble, and yeah I do miss him", she looked sadly to the side, "Very much". Soarin patted her a little, "I get it, if you miss him, then why not just attend the wedding, or at least just the pre-wedding, catch up, you don't have to stick around for the whole ceremony if it's too awkward for you, I'll even come as well if you'd like, I don't think we have any shows booked".
Rainbow gave Soarin an honest smile, she had to admit, he's a really nice stallion, "Thanks, you're a great guy Soarin". Soarin blushed a bit, "Thanks, you're a great mare". The two engaged in a kiss for a bit before Rainbow broke away, "Let's get ready".
Soarin nodded and the two decided to pack their things for a trip to Canterlot, it's a big moment for Rainbow Dash, a chance to right a wrong.
Meanwhile on the far outskirts of Canterlot, a Queen watches with a sinister smile on her face, "Ah Canterlot, old memories", she looked to her army, "Soon my children, it will be time to feast".
The Changling Army did a hungry snarl while Queen Chrysalis let out an evil laugh, the wedding is gonna have unwanted guests.
The wedding is almost here, who's gonna cause more commotion, Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor or Chrysalis?