Perfect Evergreens

Originally published January 23rd, 2020.

~~~

Fluttershy dug her fingernails into the arm of Rainbow Dash's suit. 

Rainbow looked over at her friend and nudged her shoulder. "Hey, don't be nervous."

"I don't think I can look him in the eye. You know when you have a brand new crush and you can't look them in the eye? It's like that, but it's the person I'm going to marry." She could feel herself starting to sweat and she smiled at the ground. "I wasn't like this yesterday."

"If you wanna run, I'll have your back."

"Rainbow Dash! You know that it's a good nervous."

"Kidding! Anyway, don't sweat it too much. He probably feels the same way."

Celestia un-straightened Discord's bow tie. "You seem pretty perky. You aren't nervous?"

Discord patted down the tulle over his right leg. "Of course I'm nervous. Committing myself to one person for the rest of eternity? It's bound to give anyone jitters."

"They're good jitters, I hope."

"Oh, yes. But jitters nonetheless." His snagglefang picked at a fingernail. "This is one of the first weddings I've ever attended that I haven't also crashed, excluding yours, and Big Mac and Caramel's. Besides, my poor Fluttershy's probably shaking in her Rarity-approved sandals. I have to put on a confident face for her."

Celestia smiled as she took his arm. "She's marrying you. I think she can handle jitters."

Behind the veil of ivy,  Fluttershy heard the bird's song begin. They were accompanied by the raccoons on percussion. It was an arrangement they had written all by themselves as a wedding gift.

"Is my flower crown straight?" she asked.

"Yep," Rainbow replied.

Fluttershy took a breath in, then out. She reached her bouquet hand up and used a couple of fingers to tug the headpiece down, making it crooked.

The two of them parted the ivy and stepped forward.

Discord wiggled his left toes in his cowboy boot and his right toes in his loafer. "I appreciate you accompanying me down the aisle, Princess."

"You're my friend. Plus, it was very kind of you to offer to do the same for me at Novo and I's ceremony, even if Luna was already committed to the role; I wanted to make it up to you." Celestia gave him a friendly head bump for the first time in millennia.

"Well, it's starting. Are you ready?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? You're the one that's going to be a married not-a-man soon."

"You should know the answer already. I'm only being polite to you, since you're my best princess. It's a big responsibility, being best princess."

The two of them parted the ivy and stepped forward.

The first thing Fluttershy saw was the makeshift tree stump altar.

Pinkie had worked with the animals to decorate the ceremony, so there was a mixture of manufactured decorations, like pastel yellow confetti (biodegradable, of course), and natural decorations, like flower crowns for everyone who attended. It was absolutely perfect.

A string of daisies was hung across the front of the altar, and behind the altar itself sat Harry the Bear. He had been the first one to offer to marry Fluttershy and Discord, and since he had already officiated several weddings in the past, they accepted with enthusiasm. 

The ceremony was taking place in the backyard of her cottage, and she liked that her wedding was right next to her home. It was already a special place to her; what place could have been better?

From the audience, half of the small crowd smiled warmly at Fluttershy. The other half was watching Discord walk down the aisle to their left.

The decorations were perfectly chaotic.

Pinkie had taken Discord's advice and kept the venue a lovely balance between "ridiculous" and "pastel forest chic". 

Two torches of green flame burned on either side of the altar, lit by none other than Spike. Through a little of Discord's magic, the two flames were silently breakdancing to the music. 

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had volunteered to make the flower crowns for all the non-animal guests, and they had followed through with this task, but each crown was messy and lopsided. They looked like they might fall apart at any moment. Discord loved it. It looked particularly funny on Luna's head.

Discord looked past Luna, over the heads of other messy flower crowns, and saw Fluttershy walking down the aisle to the right.

Fluttershy felt her face light up the exact same moment that Discord's did. She exhaled and tried to look forward as she approached the altar, but she couldn't. 

The two of them looked at each other with expressions like giggling schoolchildren, and it was one of the only times in Fluttershy's life when she wasn't concerned at all about what her audience was thinking. Not even a little bit. All she was thinking about was Discord, and how much she loved his combination suit-dress (that Rarity probably hated tailoring because it was technically a fashion travesty but she tailored it anyway because she's amazing), and how much his red flower crown brought out his eyes, and how much she loved him.

After only a moment more, they both stood in front of Harry. Fluttershy hugged Rainbow, Discord hugged Celestia, and the maid of honor and best princess took their seats.

Discord didn't even try to look away when he caught Fluttershy's eye. He saw her attempt to act dignified for a moment, and he saw her give up immediately. 

Her crown was much neater than everyone else's. The girls had probably spent the most time on it. It was made from Poison Joke (enchanted by Zecora so they wouldn't have any effects), and attached to the back was a veil with intricate turquoise stitching. Another of Rarity's contributions, since she wasn't able to design a wedding dress for Fluttershy. The dress was one from Fluttershy's closet; a nice, forest green number that Fluttershy already loved to wear. 

Everybody got into position, and Discord thought about seeing Fluttershy in this dress again in the future, and being able to associate it with their wedding. His smile would have grown if it wasn't already at maximum capacity.

The music quieted, and Harry cleared his throat. He growled and began to recite the opening remarks in bear tongue. 

Fluttershy smiled, Discord's hand secure in hers. She stepped a bit closer to him, close enough that their arms were pressed together (but not their shoulders, because she was too short and he was too tall). 

Discord tried to stifle a chuckle as Harry continued. He opened an eye at the back of his head, and just as he expected, most of the audience couldn't understand a word the bear was saying. He, Fluttershy, and Luna were the only ones present that spoke bear. Maybe Pinkie. Discord wasn't sure.

Reveling in the confusion of his friends and the presence of his almost-wife (mostly the latter), he swung their arms forward and back, just slightly.

When the time came for vows (improvised, since they wanted the ceremony to be short and comfy), they faced one another and took each others' hands. Fluttershy went first, and it took her a moment to get the initial words out. She couldn't stop smiling. Discord beamed, and his chest burned at the sight of her.

Fluttershy said, "Discord, I'm so proud of you. I'm so happy that I can stand here with you today and say you're the love of my life. I..." She exhaled again and laughed airily. "I'm overjoyed that I've been in your life for as long as I have been. If you'll have me, I'd like to be there for the rest of it. That kinda sounds like a proposal, but it's a little late for that, I guess."

Lighthearted laughter. "You know I'm not very good with words, especially on the spot. But I wanted to just be able to say what I was feeling in this very moment, and what I'm feeling is that I love you. I'm so thankful that everyone was able to come here today and celebrate our love, and I'm thankful that we're able to commemorate it by making it official. Official-official, I mean." She smiled. "I already knew I wanted to be yours a long time ago."

Discord leaned down and kissed her, and Spike, who was sitting in the front row, commented: "You're not supposed to do that just yet."

"Oh, relax." Discord rolled his eyes, but he was grinning. "It's our wedding and we'll kiss as many times as we want."

It was Discord's turn. He stood up straight and cleared his throat loudly, summoning a third arm to straighten his hair so he wouldn't have to let go of Fluttershy's hands. She tilted her head fondly at his tendency to make a show of everything. 

"Fluttershy, I can say with absolute confidence that if I had to marry one of the shmucks here, you're my first pick out of the bunch, so I'm glad it's you I'm marrying." He winked when she softly reprimanded him with his name. It was all in good fun, and everyone knew that. 

"I should have known I was yours when you called me a sweetheart in front of Her Royal Highess. From that point forward, I was putty in your hands. You're the bravest person I know. You're my role model. I admire you so deeply and profoundly, and I'll shout that from the rooftops if you'd like me to, but I'll refrain for the moment since we're preoccupied at the moment." More laughter. "The past fifteen years with you have been the best of my life, and I've lived more years than I can count. I want to spend so many years with you that I lose track. I love you, Fluttershy."

With that, Harry growled that he now pronounced the two of them partners in marriage.

Fluttershy flapped her wings a couple of times so she could more easily embrace Discord and they could share their first kiss as a married couple. Their frames fit together like two puzzle pieces.

The crowd clapped, a few people whistling as loud as they could, and the animals all stomped and chattered. Even the bees could be heard buzzing as loud as they were able.

The reception was held in the chaos dimension.

There was an adjustment period for many of the guests, since it was the first time a number of them had even stepped foot in this plane, but once everyone got used to the way everything felt kinda dizzy, it was a blast.

No preparation was needed for the celebration. Discord simply snapped everything into place once everyone arrived. It was a lovely evening of chaos and revelry.

Rainbow Dash gave a speech. She remarked that she hadn't known Discord as long as she had known Fluttershy, and she had trusted him for even less time, but she knew he made her friend happy. She hugged both of them after her speech was finished, and lifted Discord off the ground just to show off.

The second speech came from Celestia. She expressed her fondness for both parties, and said she wished them nothing but the best. She also jokingly gave them her blessing, which Discord guffawed at the mere concept of.

No one could say when, exactly, the party ended, because time behaved oddly in the chaos dimension, but it was pretty late when the last guest left. Fluttershy and Discord waved goodbye from the portal as the Smooze oozed on home, and after the gateway was closed, they stood and held each other for a little while. It was their first moment alone that day. Their first moment alone as a married couple.

For their honeymoon, they planned to take a voyage on a ship across the rift between dimensions. Their course was set to lead them to an island on a faraway planet, where they could relax and take in the flora and fauna, something they both had a passion in.

They left that very night. The ship Discord poofed up was unnecessarily large, suited more for an entire pirate crew than a pair of newlyweds, but Fluttershy found it charming. 

The evening was spent marveling at the twinkling lights of the rift from the ship's deck, leaning against each other, and saying sweet nothings out loud instead of whispering them.

Later that night, when Discord and Fluttershy were warm in their bed, basking in the soft glow of intimacy and familiarity, not a single soul around for miles, they pulled out carefully-written notes.

Their vows. The true ones, not the ones they improvised in front of friends. 

Words that they didn't want anyone else to hear, because neither of them had ever been very comfortable laying their souls bare where anyone else could hear.

"I'm starting my bit by saying that my love is unconditional, and it always will be. I'm always going to love you. 

I'll love you if you're by my side for the rest of my life. I'll love you if you make a mistake, or a few mistakes, or a million mistakes. I'll love you if something really awful happens and we end up on opposite sides, even though I know that will never happen. No matter what happens, through good and bad, my feelings are never going to change. I know you know that, but I wanted to tell you. I'm always going to fight for you, and it's because you deserve that. 

I know I said it earlier today, but I'm so proud of you and so happy that you're in my life. You're such a wonderful person, and you endlessly inspire me in every way possible. You inspire me to be more confident and stand up for myself, you inspire me to be creative, you inspire me to have a wonderous outlook on life. 

And watching your journey has made my heart warm and brought me so much joy, and it's because your happiness is my happiness. I love seeing you happy. I know I can't do all that much, and I'm not very strong, but I want to protect that.

I didn't grow up with very many people I could trust. I'm very lucky to have such good friends, but I'm particularly glad that you're my best friend and my partner. You're my person. I appreciate it more than I can put into words how I don't even have to say anything for you to understand me. I know I can tell you anything, anything at all, and you won't judge or laugh. I know you'll always love me, even if I turned into a giant spider tomorrow. I know you'll always be here to make me smile, whether you're telling a joke or holding me in your arms.

There's not a lot of things in life that are certain. I'm happy that you're a certain thing in my life, even if chaos isn't always. I love you, Discord. With all my heart. I can't wait to spend my life with you."

"You saved me. You saved my life. I'm not sure where I would be without you. You're the center of the entire universe. I'd give my life for you; you need only ask.

Nothing's ever going to hurt you. I won't let it. You're the most protected being in the entire galaxy. Congratulations, my dear, it's a big honor!

In all seriousness, though. For the longest time, I thought I had existence figured out. Then, you showed me kindness. You held my hand. That was the first time anyone had ever truly believed in me, you know. I knew the Princesses beforehand, but they didn't trust me, and I didn't trust them. But you were the first person I ever felt like I let down, because you were the first person I cared about pleasing. 

And through your friendship and love and kindness, you taught me how to love. I wouldn't have any other friends if not for you. I wouldn't have a family and a home in Ponyville. I wouldn't even be able to be happy, not really; my happiness in the past was just amusement. It wasn't true happiness. It never lasted. Without you, Fluttershy, I'd still be made of stone, bitter and lonely, but never able to admit it. 

I learned every good thing I know from you. And I'd still be eternally grateful to you for that even if we hadn't fallen in love, but we did, and now there's nobody else I'd rather spend eternity with. My life, however long or short, belongs entirely to you, because you shared your life with me. I owe everything to you.

So I suppose I should say thank you. Thank you for everything. And know that I would have been equally as happy to just be with you without any contracts or ceremonies to go with it, but I'm happy we did those things. I love you, so, so much, forever and ever."