"Ouch!"  Twilight yelped, her whole body flinching at the sudden jab in her flank.

"Well, perhaps if you weren't moving around so much..."  Rarity muttered.  She continued to carefully insert the pins into the folds of white fabric draped across Twilight's back.  "I've done dozens of wedding dresses, and I can't recall anypony who was quite so twitchy."

"Sorry.." Twilight mumbled, trotting slowly in place despite Rarity's comment.  "It's just that there's so much I have to do to get ready.  I have to meet Applejack at Sugarcube Corner this afternoon to sample cakes, and then we have to go see Fluttershy to decide what music we want to use, and then I have to talk to the mare to make sure all the paperwork was done correctly-"

"Twilight, please, I'm sure you've heard this many times, but you're getting far too worked up over all of this."  Rarity left Twilight alone for a moment and began to rummage around in one of her drawers.  "The wedding is not for another month, after all.  Besides, haven't you already done the paperwork and decided on the music?"

"I just want to double check to make sure everything is right."  Twilight said.  "You know how the mayor is with paperwork.  I just want to make sure that the license didn't slip through the cracks."

"Twilight, your wedding is going to be officiated by Princess Celestia herself."  Rarity said with a sigh as she drew a length of ribbon from a roll and snipped it off.  "Even if the mayor does manage to lose the paper work, I'm quite sure that the Princess will be able to smooth it over."

"The Princess!  I forgot, I have to check with her to make sure that I reserved the right hall for the reception!"  Twilight nearly jumped off of the box on which she stood.  "And I need to make sure to reserve the train tickets."

"Calm down, Twilight, please."  Rarity put her hoof tenderly, yet firmly on Twilight's shoulder and shoved her back into position.  "I realize there's a lot to do, but fretting over it is almost certainly not going to help.  You want me to finish up your dress, right?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"No buts!"  Rarity barked.  "Believe me, I know what it's like to be swamped with tons of things to, and trust me, it's better to focus on the matter at hoof.  Right now, that's your dress.  Once I finish it up, you can check it off your list, and you'll actually have one less thing to worry about.  And if you're worried about the time, you need to just hold still!"  She put both her forehooves on Twilight, who had resumed pacing in place.  "Seriously, if you keep moving around you'll only make this take longer."

"I'm sorry, it's just that I want everything to be as perfect as possible!"  Twilight said.  She made her best attempt to hold still.  She still twitched a bit, but managed to keep her hooves on the floor.  "I mean, it's going to be the most important day of both of our lives, and I don't want anything to go wrong."

"Really, Twilight, do you think that Applejack really cares about how perfect the day is going to be?"  Rarity patted Twilight on the head.  "You know that she's not one to sweat the details.  As long as you show up to the ceremony, I don't think she'll care where it is, or how good the cake is, or what music is playing, or what you look like.  Not that you shouldn't look fabulous, but really, I'm quite sure that all Applejack really wants out of this whole thing is you."

"You really think so?"

"Of course.  I thought you were more perceptive than that."  Rarity paused her efforts to pin the fabric.  "Even I know that Applejack has never cared about all the little minutiae and whatnot.  You could probably show up to the wedding dressed in that dragon costume I designed, and she wouldn't care as long as it was you in there."

"Really?"

"Well, it would be incredibly tacky to wear a dragon costume to your wedding, obviously, but yes."  

Twilight began to shuffle her hooves.

"Do you think that I should stop planning all this fancy stuff?"

"I think you should stop worrying about all the fancy stuff, that's all.  And hold still."  Rarity narrowed her eyes at Twilight, who sheepishly hung her head and stopped fidgeting. "Why are you doing all of this stuff, anyway?"

"Well, I just wanted everything to be perfect."

"I figured that..."  Rarity rolled her eyes.  "Why do you want everything to be perfect?"

"Well, it's supposed to be.  That's how weddings are supposed to go. I mean, after all the awkward stuff I've put Applejack through with our relationship I think she deserves the best possible-"

"Aha!"  Rarity interrupted.  "I knew that you were doing all of this because of her."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well, there's nothing wrong with it, per se."  Rarity said.  "Of course you want the day to be as good as it can be.  But you don't have to kill yourself over it.  If it isn't perfect, it isn't perfect, and I'm sure she'll understand that.  You shouldn't worry so much about something that she probably doesn't even care about.  It's great that you want everything to be so nice for her, but that's not what's really so important."

"I know, I know."  Twilight stomped her hooves in frustration.  "It's just that every time I try to plan something, I just keep thinking of ways that I could make it better, and if I don't even try it's like I'm not doing enough."

"Pffft." Rarity snorted.  "Let me tell you, if I ever find a nice stallion and want to settle down, I'll consider myself lucky if he's half as invested in the wedding as you."  She stepped back and surveyed the half-finished dress.  "Applejack will appreciate your effort whether or not everything actually pans out how you hoped.  I'm all for the two of you having a lovely ceremony, but at the end of the day, all that really matters is that the two of you are together when you come out of it.  Now stop moving around, or you'll still be standing there in a half-finished dress when the wedding day rolls around."

---

Applejack paced back and forth across Sugarcube Corner, sniffing curiously at the various samples that Mrs. Cake was carrying out of the kitchen.  Pinkie was bouncing around rather randomly, trying to keep the babies from wrecking the various baked goods that were stacked around the shop.  

"That's all of them!"  Mr. Cake said as he emerged from the kitchen, his entire body covered with a layer of flour.  

"Thank goodness..."  Mrs. Cake set the final pan on one of the tables and scurried over to where Pound was hovering, snatching him out of the air just as he was about to knock over a rather large plate of cupcakes.  "Would you like to start sampling the different types of cake now, or would you like to wait for Twilight."

"I think it'd probably be best to wait."  The orange pony replied.  "She's really stressing herself out over this whole thing.  She'll probably want to double check all the cakes anyway."

"Oh come on!"  Pinkie popped up next to Applejack and put a foreleg around her.  "She can check all the cakes whenever she wants!  If you eat them all now you can tell her about them and then she won't have to check the checking when she checks them!"

"Um, I don't think that actually makes any sense, sugarcube.."

"Well, I do think she has a point."  Mrs. Cake said.  "Even if Twilight does want to double check everything, it'll go faster if you've already tried some of them.  Then you can tell her what you thought of them when she tries them rather than just sitting around here doing nothing while you wait."

"I guess..."

"And they're better when they're fresh!"  Pinkie shoved one of the cakes under Applejack's nose.  Steam still rose from plate.  "Doesn't that smell good?  We made it with apples from your orchard.  It's a special recipe we put together just for you and Twilight!"

"I, uh..."  Applejack chewed on her lips, fighting the urge to take a large bite.  "I suppose I could get started if it'll save some time."

---

Twilight burst through the doorway of Sugarcube Corner.

"Sorry I'm late!" She gasped.  "The dress fitting took longer than I thought."

"Hey, Twilight."  Applejack mumbled around a mouthful of cake.  "Hope you don't mind that I started trying the cakes without you."

"No, no, it's fine." Twilight said.  "Are there any that you particularly like."

"Well, I thought that this apple cake here was really good.  That's just me, though."  Applejack said with a chuckle.  "You know, having apples in it and everything."

"Hmmm..."  Twilight levitated a piece of the cake over to herself and took a large bite out of it.  She chewed it slowly, trying to absorb as much flavor as possible.  "This is really good.  This is your favorite?"

"I guess so."  Applejack said with a shrug.  "There were a couple other ones here that I thought you would like-"

"Actually, I think we can just go with this one."  Twilight indicated the apple cake with her hoof.  "It's your favorite, and I think it's really good, so let's go with it."

"Uh, are you sure you don't want to try the others?"  Applejack was visibly taken aback by the sudden proclamation.  

"Why not?  I mean, we both like it, right?"

"Well, yeah..."  Applejack pawed awkwardly at the floor.  "It's just that...well, you've been a bit persnickety about a lot the wedding stuff.  I mean, you spent like two days choosing what kind of invitations to use, so I just thought you might want to try some more of them."

"I know, I've been really picky..." Twilight said with a sigh.  "I just wanted everything to be perfect.  It's been driving me crazy, and I bet it's probably been driving you crazy too, right?"

"Well, uh, just a little...yeah.  It's a bit of a chore sometimes.  But if it means that much to you, I guess I don't mind it too much."

"That's just it!"  Twilight answered.  "I don't really care that much about all that stuff.  I just wanted everything to be perfect because I thought you'd like it.  But you know what?  If it's good enough for you, it's good enough for me.  If the apple cake makes you happy, I'm fine with it, whether or not it's my favorite.  In the long run, the cake isn't that big of a deal."

"Aw, that's real sweet of you."  Applejack ruffled Twilight's hair.  "Are you sure that you don't care about it?"

"It's fine."  Twilight said with a chuckle.  "It's your wedding too, after all."

"Thanks."  Applejack leaned in and gave Twilight a gentle peck on the cheek.

"Y-you're welcome..." Twilight babbled, a bright blush showing through her coat.

"That's so cute!"  Pinkie Pie popped out from behind the counter, rubbing her hooves together excitedly.  "You make such an adorable couple!"