Captain's unnecessarily nervous about the Longstocking family reunion. They have to go to the Longstocking's hometown, and he knows that no matter how many times they meet with his family, they always get weird looks. Whether it be for their occupation or their polyamory, the majority of the Longstocking family doesn't approve of them.
"It'll be alright," Annika reassures him.
"I could chop their heads off if need be," Tommy smirks, letting them know she's joking. "Scootaloo will be there, and so will Zealous. And maybe Pippi. And anytime you need us or Twilight, we'll be at your side."
Twilight says nothing, as he is still working on his first word. Instead, he shows his support by kissing Captain's cheek and hugging his face.
Captain can't help but smile, "Okay. Let's go in there and see how it goes…"
Pippi shows up late to the reunion, holding hands with her girlfriend, Sweetie Belle, and having gone to Book End before arriving at the Longstocking castle in the hopes she'd be able to catch her brothers before they went to the actual reunion. But alas, they had already left, and she had to arrive at a place she's never considered her home.
"I'm nervous," she whispers, and Sweetie Belle squeezes her hand.
"I'm sure it'll be fine."
It is not fine.
Immediately Pippi is swarmed by the wrong people. They're not her brothers, and they all have questions. When is she going to return for good? When will she return to wearing proper princess attire instead of stainless steel armor? When will she trade her horse in for a more sensible pet, like a fancy lap dog? When will she settle down with a nice prince (nevermind the fact Sweetie Belle is literally holding her hand)? Has she picked out names for her eventual children?
The gaggle is interrupted by Captain pushing through. She's got her normal princely smile wide on his face and has no qualms about shoving away family members in order to pull her little sister into a hug.
"Pippi!" she says, pulling her through the crowd effortlessly into a corner with her, Annika, Scootaloo, and Scootaloo's fiancée. "It's so nice to see you!"
"It's nice to see you, too," Pippi replies honestly. "I've missed you both."
"And no one else here, I'm sure." Scootaloo deadpans. "I'm glad you came, even if our family is the dictionary definition of overbearing."
"You can say that again," she sighs, as Sweetie Belle catches up to them.
Annika blinks, "Sweetie Belle? What are you doing here? I haven't seen you since high school!"
Sweetie Belle slides her hand into Pippi's and holds up their intertwined hands. For a second, Pippi feels self-conscious. But Captain is genderfluid and dating two people, so she lets the feeling go.
Annika squeals. "I'm so happy for you! How'd you get together?"
Sweetie Belle leans her head on Pippi's shoulder, "My knight in shining armor saved me from a venus fly trap! I've been hooked on her ever since."
Annika awws, and Pippi decides to try and get the spotlight off her. She turns to Scootaloo, "Thank you for your letter, Dex. I'm so happy to hear you're engaged!"
Scootaloo smiles with a sweet blush, holding up his hand to show off the ring. It has a gorgeous pink stone cut into the shape of a heart against a gold band– no doubt designed by Applebloom herself.
"It's beautiful," Pippi smiles. There's a ring of her own in her pocket, but she's saving that until after Scootaloo gets married. What kind of sister would upstage her brother's marriage by getting engaged herself? "You two look really happy."
"We are!" Applebloom hugs Scootaloo's arm. She doesn't know if it's just because she's Applebloom, but Pippi swears she sees little pink hearts rising around her while she's being lovey-dovey.
Before Pippi can say anything more, Tommy's sharp voice cuts through the clamor. "Captain, I hate your family," she says with her typical serious tone, coming to stand next to her partner and leaning on her shoulder.
Pippi opens her mouth to say something, but she's distracted by what Tommy is carrying. A baby. She gasps and looks at Captain, "Is this the person Scootaloo said I need to meet in his letter?"
"Yes, it is!" Captain says, taking the child from Tommy's arms. "This is our son, Twilight Hearts."
Pippi melts, "I'm an aunt?"
"You're an aunt! Would you like to hold him?" The child is basically a toddler, so he's heavy when Captain lifts him into Pippi's arms, but Pippi holds him tenderly. She's held much heavier things before.
"I'm your Auntie Pippi, sweetheart. How are you feeling? You don't like the family either, huh?"
Twilight coos and spits out a string of half words that probably mean something to him. "Auntie," he finally says, and Pippi beams.
"That was his first word!" Annika stares, somewhat jealous as she has spent the last few months trying to get him to say mama.
"How sweet," Pippi pets Twilight' hair. The little boy finds himself very interested in the bits of armor littered about Pippi's normal clothes, messing with them. "Are you going to be a knight like me when you grow up? You have the choice to be anything at all, remember that."
"We'll let him choose," Tommy declares. "For now, we're assuming he'll be the King of Hearts, but if he decides to be a Prince Longstocking or a Snow White, that's his decision."
"Good," Pippi bounces him, "That's how you should be raising him. Not that I expected anything different of my brother."
"Sister." Captain corrects. "Sister right now, although I wouldn't go around telling everyone. Barely anyone here knows."
"Of course, my dear sister. Now, what is there to do here besides shit talk our own family–?"
"Language!"
"- besides bad talk our own family? Drinks? Party games? Sneak away to Captain's old bedroom and talk about our lives? I don't want to mingle. I'm only here for you guys."
"You know how our parents are," Captain sighs. "They'll spit us up by binary genders and make us do that stupid treasure hunt like every year."
"Yeah… I don't exactly want them to lock me in a box on the roof again. How about we just get out of here? I'd rather like to see your theater while I'm around; let's go to Book End."
"Agreed!" Captain and Scootaloo say at once. The three siblings lead the way out of the Longstocking castle, not giving their partners time to question any of the traditions they just mentioned.
As they're walking, they walk past Zealous, who sees them and immediately joins their group without saying anything.
"Hello?"
"I didn't want to go in there, so I'm your adult chaperone now," Zealous explains, pushing their green hair out of their eyes. "I hate that stupid treasure hunt."
"We're all adults now," Pippi points out.
"You're in your mid-to-late twenties. I'm fifty. I'm still the adult here. And it's nice to see you, Pippi! I haven't seen you since you still went to Ever After High! And hello, Sweetie Belle!"
"Hello, Mx. Longstocking. Are you still working at the school?"
"Yup. I will continue working there until that school stops creating issues for me to help students cope with. Who's this little one?" They look to Twilight, "You had a baby, Pippi?"
"No, he's not mine. He's Captain's."
"Oh, that's wonderful! I really should stop by the theater more."
"We're going there now,"
"Brilliant!" Zealous falls into an easy pace beside them. "What's the little tike's name, then? Don't tell me he's got some Longstocking name. I can't stand those."
"He's Twilight. Twilight Hearts," Tommy says, and Zealous grins.
"Don't have Longstockings. This family is too much all of the time. Now, how's the theater going? I know you trained up those kids at the school well, and I'm pretty sure a few of them are doing theater now. Although I got Artura into tApplejackpy, so hopefully Ever After will have two licensed tApplejackpists in time."
The theater owners tell Zealous all about their work as they head to Book End. Pippi listens, trying to catch up on all she's missed. She's missed her siblings, just not their extended family. She chats with Scootaloo too, and he tells her everything about his own life. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom seem to be hitting off too, which means that Pippi will definitely bring Sweetie Belle to Scootaloo's wedding. As if she was ever considering anything different.
They end up at the theater, and Captain steps inside, starting to give them a grand tour. It's peppered with remarks and stories, and Pippi stops feeling as if she's missed everything since she feels entrenched within some sort of history at the theater. During the tour, they stop at a particular dressing room, and Applebloom launches into the story of how she proposed to Scootaloo. Which, well, leads to the big question.
Applebloom takes Pippi's hands, "I know this is a bit sudden, but I'd love to have you in the wedding. Will you be one of my bridesmaids?"
Annika adds in, "Tommy and I have already agreed. Though, she hasn't mentioned who her maid of honor is…"
"That will be a surprise!" Applebloom giggles. "Now, what do you say?"
"Yes, absolutely! I'd love to participate in my brother's wedding, especially as a bridesmaid to the goddess he loves so much!"
Applebloom absolutely beams, fluttering up and down while still holding Pippi's hands. "Oh, thank you, Pippi! I can't wait to have you as a sister-in-law! You too, Captain."
"So, when's the wedding?"
"Two days after Valentine's."
"Really? Why not just have it on Valentine's day, then?"
"Out of respect to an old friend of mine– it's a long story. She's going to be another of my bridesmaids, and I want to make sure she'll be ready and willing to be in the wedding."
"Is she your maid of honor?"
"No."
"Wow– you're going to have a lot of bridesmaids."
"Would you expect any less from me?"
"Not at all." Applebloom may have gone to the same high school as them, but she's still an Olympian goddess through and through. "I'm so excited!"
"You should be, I'm going to go all out! Now, Captain, Tommy, and Annika: tell us more about little Twilight!"
And so the group talk, catch up, and dote on the newest among them until night comes. Once the sun sets, Annika decides to rent rooms in a nearby motel for their dear friends, letting them all stay in close proximity as they wait for the wedding.
Applebloom stands in front of a mirror, admiring her dress as Tommy stands behind her. "You look excellent. I do believe this is some of my best work," Tommy smiles, fully honest. The dress is a nice white with pink undertones. Greek design obviously inspired it, and Applebloom looks absolutely enchanting.
"I do!" Applebloom twirls, "This is the happiest day of my life, so far. I can't wait!"
"Bit of an over-exaggeration, isn't it?" Annika giggles, "It's not even your wedding day yet?"
"True," Applebloom sighs. It's about a week before the wedding, and Tommy is making absolutely sure that the outfits fit everyone in the wedding party. Everyone except for the last two mysterious bridesmaids, at least, as they still haven't shown up. "Still, you don't get to look and feel this wonderful every day!"
"Yes, but think about how incredible you'll feel on your actual wedding day!" Applebloom beams.
"That will be my happiest day ever! I can't wait. A whole week before Scootaloo and I can be married. I keep calling him my husband already."
"I've called Captain my husband on accident," Annika giggles, "we're not even engaged."
Tommy blinks, "Do you want to be engaged?"
"Not particularly, but it still happens. I guess that just happens when you've been in a relationship for so long."
"We're sort of married, when it comes down to it," Tommy nods. "Maybe one day we'll do it. Maybe not. We definitely won't overshadow Applebloom's wedding, though. We're not in any sort of rush."
Pippi pretends her hand wasn't just in her pocket, running her fingers along a ring box she's been carrying around since she got here. She simply nods.
"Look, when I look this beautiful, nothing can overshadow me. But also: don't you dare." She and Annika burst into giggles while Tommy nods along. "I'm just so excited."
"Well, there's not that much longer. And I'm excited too. We all are!"
"And I'm excited to get these dresses done. When did you say the final two bridesmaids will get here?"
"Tomorrow morning, don't worry. I'm sorry it's taking them so long, but… well, they don't exactly live anywhere near us."
"Oh!" Annika beams, "Are they from the monster realm?"
"One of them is, yes."
"So who's the last one."
"My maid of honor. She's… well, she's my adoptive sister. Tommy, you have to make sure her dress is absolutely perfect, okay? I don't want my wedding to disappoint her."
"Isn't your sister the goddess of pleasure?" Pippi pipes up, "I doubt anything could disappoint her, so long as you're happy."
"Thank you, Pippi. Still, you know what it's like to have older siblings. She's a full-blood goddess, and she's way more popular than me. I just… want to live up to her."
"I'm sure you will," Annika assures her. "If I've learned anything from living with Captain, it's that he's prouder of Scootaloo and Pippi than anyone else– save Twilight."
Applebloom looks at herself in the mirror and smiles. "That's good. I couldn't stand to disappoint her."
"I doubt you could."
Sure enough, the next morning there's a knock on Annika, Tommy, and Captain's apartment door. Tommy answers to find Applebloom, beaming, followed by Draculaura and a woman she's never seen before. The goddess Pinkie Pie: standing quite tall with strawberry pink hair, a glowing smile on her face.
Tommy leads them to her sewing room, getting to tailoring the base bridesmaid dresses to their exact measurements. They both nod appreciatively, thanking Tommy for her good job. Meeting more of the wedding party just makes the minutes towards the wedding inch slower, and they can all tell that Applebloom is getting antsy.
She's projecting a lot of worry into making sure everything goes well, although she's too nice to snap about it. Still, after she fusses over the flowers ten times, the wedding party decides that she needs a night out immediately.
And so, it's bachelorette party time!
Applebloom doesn't want anything big, so the girls just rent a hotel room, get drinks, and decide to go out to a club. Nothing big, but nothing too small. Just enough to loosen Applebloom up and have a night of fun.
They head to the hotel room first, changing into clubbing clothes. They then head to the club, a small building in Book End that's a normal bar by day and Jack and Jill's Club by night.
It's loud, Melody Piper the DJ making sure that the music is spot-on for the location. Lights, probably made by magic, flash around.
It's the perfect place for Applebloom to do some target practice.
The first couple she sees is dancing near each other, but not with. One is a pretty girl with short cropped blonde hair, the other a pretty boy with long blue hair. Applebloom smiles: Jackpot.
After the two end up dancing together, Applebloom looks around for more; Two boys drinking together. An older pair of friends. The bartender and a mail carrier.
A tall thin man and- was that Zealous?
Applebloom nudged Pippi, pointing over to her cousin, who was obviously flirting with a man by the bar. "Were they invited, or was that an accident?"
"Accident. Should we ask them to join?"
"Nah, let them flirt. They can join if they see us." Applebloom sets her sights on a trio awkwardly hanging out together instead.
They end up at a table, telling jokes and laughing together as they trade stories. Zealous sees them but doesn't join, preferring to spend time with their friend. That's fine, because their stories are starting to spill into things they wouldn't want them to hear anyways.
The night ends with everyone returning to where they're staying, and continuing the wait for the wedding.
Finally, the wedding comes around, and Applebloom can barely stay still. Not that Scootaloo is any better. His side of the wedding party– made of Captain, Humphrey, Hopper, and Raven– are keeping him calm as he gets anxious. Not about the wedding itself, more about if Applebloom decides that she doesn't want to marry him.
Anyone with eyes can tell that that's an utterly mad thought. Scootaloo and Applebloom love each other to a whirlwind degree, but Scootaloo's still nervous. Oh well, he'll calm down when he sees Applebloom walk down the aisle.
Or he'll faint. The jury's still out on that one.
Anyways, everyone gets ready. Scootaloo's side of the wedding get dressed up in blue suits– aside from Raven, who goes with a bridesmaid's lavender dress. Applebloom's many bridesmaids get their dresses on– aside from Pippi, who opted for the suit.
Mainly, the bridesmaids spend their time tending to Applebloom. Pinkie Pie does her hair and makeup, Draculaura gushes about the wedding, Annika makes sure her wings are perfect thanks to her experience with birds, Pippi helps her calm down, and Tommy gets the dress on her without ruining any of Pinkie Pie and Annika's work.
And then it's time for the actual wedding.
Scootaloo stands up front, nervously fidgeting with his cuffs. He keeps looking down the aisle, as if Applebloom is going to disappear or not walk down it. He waits patiently through Pinkie Pie and Captain walking down, through the young Longstocking flower girl, and through Twilight waddling down as ring bearer.
And the second the wedding song plays, she steps out.
The aisle is utterly covered in pink petals, and her heels move through them like water. Scootaloo gapes at how nice she looks, and she smiles up at him, holding her bouquet tight.
"You're beautiful." Scootaloo says as she reaches the altar.
"You're handsome. Are you ready?"
He swallows, "Ready as I'll ever be."
Applebloom's aunt, Applejack, starts officiating as Applebloom hands her bouquet to her sister, taking Scootaloo's hands and looking deeply into his eyes. He looks right back, absolutely sweet and beaming.
The wedding seems to fly by as they exchange vows and kiss.
Everyone in the audience and wedding party claps, an assortment of friends from Ever After and the monster realm, along with the few good Longstocking relatives and an assortment of gods. As the official ceremony wraps up, the party begins!
Applebloom throws her bouquet, and Pippi catches it. She looks towards Sweetie Belle, who grins. The ring in her pocket remains untouched- for now. It's still the wedding day, after all, and she knows Applebloom and Scootaloo would never forgive her.
After the bouquet is cake, and then toasts and live entertainment. They dance, first just Scootaloo and Applebloom and then all of them, from Pippi and Sweetie Belle to the theater trio to Tommy and Twilight. Applebloom looks like she couldn't imagine a better wedding, and she can't.
It's perfect.