• Published 8th Jul 2012
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A Royal Canterlot Wedding: Deleted Scenes - Raugos



A story of what else was going on during the Canterlot Wedding.

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Chapter 5

A Royal Canterlot Wedding: Deleted Scenes (Chapter 5)

Tufty and the shapeshifter dashed into the mess hall, and as one, they pressed their shoulders against the thick oaken doors to force it shut. She glimpsed the madmare charging at them full tilt, magic blazing on her black horn, just as the doors slammed in place. The shapeshifter then barred it with a hefty wooden plank, and in the very next second, it bulged inward from the force of an impact on the other side, spitting out splinters the size of pencils, its metal hinges shrieking in protest.

She glanced about the hall, weighing her options. The mess hall was aptly named; plates, bowls, pots and utensils were strewn about the place, littering the floor with stale food and titbits. Ponies had clearly left everything in a hurry because of the invasion, and she saw more barrels of the cider that had been used to poison the guards.

Just how many did they get? It was as if they had gotten hold of the palace’s entire supply! Which, come to think of it, was not an unlikely scenario…

“Distract her,” said the shapeshifter.

Huh?

Hayseed, she really hadn’t gotten over the fact that the bug pony was actually conversing with her. Well, she already knew that they were intelligent, but having an interaction with one that didn’t involve bucking and biting was a novel experience.

“Are you serious?” she asked, staring. “You want me to attract the attention of an alicorn that’s trying to fry us both?”

The bug displayed a pair of sharp fangs when it grinned, mischief gleaming in its blue eyes. “I have a plan. She won’t know what hit her.”

Before Tufty could protest, there was another booming crash, and this time the door promptly exploded.

Tufty was thrown off her hooves and slammed into an overturned bench.

Ouch.

She shakily rose to all fours, scanning the mess hall for the bug pony, but it had disappeared. And Nightmare Moon was stalking past the ruined door. Her white, glowing eyes focused on Tufty, and the hairs on her back stood on end.

Okay – distraction. Come on, you can do it. She just needed to stall the alicorn. She’d tricked Nightmare Moon once, she could do it again. Just long enough to let the shapeshifter do whatever it was planning to do.

Sifting rapidly through her recollections of history and drama classes, she knelt and said, “Your Highness, it is good that you have arrived.”

The dark alicorn paused when it saw her, as if unsure of how to proceed. That confirmed Tufty’s suspicions; the princess was under a delusion of some sort. It appeared that she really was convinced that it was just over a thousand years ago. Briefly, she wondered if pandering to her delusions was such a good idea, but since she couldn’t think of alternatives…

“The… uh, rebels have gathered outside the castle.” Keeping her head low, she snuck a peek at the alicorn. When she saw that she seemed to be listening, she continued, “The Guard stands ready to serve. What is your command?”

Hayseed. This is so cheesy. It’s almost as bad as Hayspeare.

Nightmare Moon spread her wings wide and growled, “Teach them a lesson in humility. I want every Celestial Loyalist in the dungeon within the hour!” She stomped a hoof in emphasis.

“I – yes, Your Highness. They shall know your true wrath.” Tufty bowed and scraped a little more for good measure.

Wow, she’s really into this.

She stole a glance around, but the bug was still nowhere to be seen. Had it run off? Tufty hoped not. If it had…

“Well, what are you waiting for?” demanded Nightmare Moon. “Go forth and capture those malcontent upstarts. Show them what happens when they scorn the Night!”

“Yes, Your Highness, right away. Long live the princess!” Tufty saluted and attempted to skirt past the alicorn and out the door, but was stopped short by a writhing tail of purple mist and stars that barred her way.

“Long live the Night, you foal,” the dark alicorn growled.

Tufty felt her ears droop in dismay, and she began to back off.

Oh, hayseed. Where is the shapeshifter?

“I, uh – forgive me, Your Highness, it won’t happen again!”

Nightmare’s mane surged forward, and before she could react, Tufty felt its warm, yet somehow tingly caress tighten around her neck and lifted her bodily into the air.

“Help!” she cried, not caring about ruining the bug’s ambush anymore. She kicked and flailed about and threw several flashing spells into the alicorn’s face, but to no avail. “Whatever you’re doing, do it now!”

A faint snicker reached her ears.

Why is he – ?

She took a moment to process the significance of that, then…

Ooh, that little sneaky, dirty, rotten, no-good son of a cake!

She’d trusted it to help, only to get bucked in the flank when she wasn’t looking!

Well, that will go down in history as the shortest truce, ever.

Thoroughly miffed and temporarily forgetting about the present danger, she channelled a searching spell and found the little hayseed clinging to the ceiling some distance away, hidden in the shadows. A pulsing, angry heat blossomed in her chest, and she grit her teeth as her ears quivered, fuming at the bug’s betrayal and her own stupidity in trusting it. The heat spread into her horn, and she altered the seeking spell into a telekinetic one and engulfed the creature, surprising herself with just how much indignation she could convert into sheer power. The bug screeched in surprise as it was prized off the ceiling like a barnacle and dragged over to her side.

“Aha!” she crowed, fighting down a gleeful chuckle, “A spy, Your Highness! A Celestial Loyalist spy!”

Just like that, the alicorn’s interest shifted to the bug, and Tufty felt a much stronger telekinetic spell clamp down on it. She released her own magic and saw the gold aura around the creature change to blue. The mane’s grip on her neck didn’t loosen, though.

“Is that so?” Nightmare Moon mused, glaring at the bug pony.

There was a flash of green fire, and a clone of Tufty was suddenly in the blue aura instead. “She lies, Your Highness,” it cried in her own voice, “She’s the spy! She didn’t even know how to praise your glorious Night properly!”

Nightmare’s cold stare returned to Tufty.

“Gah, no!” she stammered, “Just a slip of the tongue, I – look, do not fall for its tricks! If it really is your guard, then why was it hiding away when it should have been kneeling in your presence as I had?”

“A fair point,” the alicorn conceded. She then shook the fake Tufty vigorously and after it had finished squealing, demanded, “What say you, foal? Any last words before I throw you into the dungeons?”

The fake pony looked around frantically for a second, as if searching for an escape route, but suddenly froze. Its formerly wide eyes relaxed, and its lips pulled into a grin.

Oh gosh, am I that creepy when I do that?

The fake Tufty pointed a hoof at Tufty and simply said, “She thinks that your flanks are unnaturally large, just like the moon.”

Tufty’s jaw dropped. In the span of a heartbeat, Nightmare Moon’s eyes had gone from being wide to plain glaring daggers at her once more, and it was clear that the bug had struck a nerve. There was going to be no reasoning with the alicorn, now. Tufty tried to get her mouth back into working order, but the insult was so uncreative, so low, and so cheap, that she couldn’t find a counter-argument to save her flank.

“I – but… how could – no, that’s not fair!” she blabbered in a voice that had gone all whiny and high-pitched.

“I will deal with you, later,” said the alicorn to the fake Tufty. Her horn flared brighter than before, and a large barrel floated over and settled just underneath the shapeshifter. Its lid glowed blue just before it was ripped off, revealing the apple cider within.

“Wait,” cried the phoney as it realised what was coming next, “just let – aagh!”

Splash!

When the shapeshifter came up spluttering and gasping for air, Nightmare Moon slammed the lid back on and stacked several more barrels around and on top of it. Tufty couldn’t help feeling a sense of satisfaction that its plan hadn’t gone too well, but it was sort of dampened by the realisation that she now had the sole attention of the moon princess. She gazed back at those cold, glowing eyes and saw nothing but turmoil. Playing to her delusions had done her no good, and even though it was a longshot, perhaps trying to reach the real princess within was a better idea.

“Princess Luna, I am not your enemy! Don’t you recognise your own guard?”

“My true subjects would not shun my Eternal Night.”

She made a sidelong glance out the window. It was the middle of the freaking day. “Look, I’m sorry about lying to you,” she pleaded, “but you need to snap out of this. Canterlot is under attack!”

Nightmare didn’t answer. Instead, her mane tightened a little, just enough to choke off Tufty’s next words.

Snap!

Tufty turned towards the source of the disturbance and saw a lone bug pony frozen in the doorway, one hoof guiltily lifting off of a splinter that it had trodden on. It must have wandered in from outside, seeing as the traitorous one that had fooled her was still stuck in the barrel.

Nightmare Moon paused in her contemplation and turned to gaze at the intruder with eyes that were fit to freeze an entire lake. Tufty stared, too.

The creature blinked.

So did Tufty.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes narrowed.

Then, like a foal that had just walked in on its parents being especially intimate, the new shapeshifter silently turned around and trotted back the way it had come, as if it had seen nothing of interest in the mess hall. Tufty could almost imagine it whistling an idle tune as it retreated from certain doom.

Smart guy.

Unfortunately, that still left her alone with the crazed alicorn. She grinned awkwardly at Nightmare Moon. “Umm, I wouldn’t suppose this would be a good time to say that you’re the best princess?”

The alicorn’s mouth curled in disgust.

Yeah, she’s not buying it.

All of a sudden, Tufty sensed a considerable spike in the amount of magic in the air, and saw a pink shockwave pass through everything in the room. It felt odd, like a sudden wave of warmth that had no actual force. Nothing in the room was shaken, apart from the pile of barrels that the bug had been stuffed into. They were all blasted apart like bowling pins, and one of them ended up hurtling through the window and into the sky without, its departure accompanied by the shrieks of hundreds of bug ponies.

Nightmare Moon reeled as if struck by the blast, and all at once, the rage seemed to drain out of her. Her features relaxed and her eyelids began to droop. Her mane’s grip loosened, Tufty managed to slip free and landed on her hindquarters with a thump.

The princess paid her no mind, and began to slowly trot back in the direction of her tower. Her head hung low and she seemed to sway with each step, as if half-drunk. Then, a snore escaped her.

Tufty’s eyebrows shot up.

She’s sleepwalking?

She slumped to the floor in relief. Whatever. So long as the crazy alicorn was no longer trying to beat the ever-loving peanuts out of her, she didn’t care what bizarre medical or psychological conditions she had. Had it been caused by the pink shockwave, which had looked suspiciously like Captain Shining Armour’s barrier spell? She could go with that. It was a simple enough explanation.

The first thing she heard was the flapping of feathered wings, signalling the approach of several pegasi in a great hurry. Four guards suddenly burst into the mess hall through the windows.

Could’ve used your help ages ago.

“Hey, you okay?” one of them said as he rushed to Tufty’s side.

“What happened?”

“The princess and the captain threw those things out of town,” replied another as he inspected her wounds. “They were – ”

And then the four newcomers froze, staring at something down the hallway. Tufty followed their gaze and felt her blood run cold.

“No. Oh no. No, no! It’s okay, just let her go!” she blabbered, waving her forelegs at them like a maniac. But it was too late.

“Stop right there!” the leader shouted. “Who are you? Turn around, and don’t make any sudden moves!”

The dark alicorn suddenly stood tall once more, and her mane and tail began to writhe with renewed agitation. She complied with the guard’s instructions, turning around slowly and deliberately. Her eyes were alert once again, and she began to advance on them.

“Insolent peon, who are you to give me orders?” she bellowed.

The leader of the guards shrank back in fear. “Nightma – Princess Luna?”

There weren’t enough hooves in the world for Tufty to smack into her face. She slumped to the floor, curled up into a foetal position and sighed in defeat.

We’re so dead.

* * * * *

“Princess Luna, I am not your enemy!” Rax heard the guard shout.

Heh, have fun convincing her.

His comment’s timing had been pure gold; it turned out that alicorns were just as insecure about their girth as anyone else! At any other time, he would’ve been inclined to be amused, but he had problems of his own right now.

He placed his hind hooves on the bottom of the barrel, his fore ones on the lid, and pushed with all his might. The wood creaked a little, but otherwise gave no indication of budging. He slammed a hoof into the side repeatedly, but with so much cider in the barrel, it was difficult to build any momentum to hit hard enough.

Then there was another problem. The sturdy barrel was well and truly sealed, and he was going to run out of air if he didn’t get out. Being natural underground dwellers, changelings could last for a long time on very little air, but even they couldn’t go without it forever. And the cider… being soaked in it was incredibly unpleasant. He was cold all over, but the insides of his leg pores were burning and stinging. A shiver went through him as he strained against the lid once more, but to no avail. The stupid princess must have placed something heavy on top, and he wasn’t strong enough to shift it even an inch.

He splashed down and simply sat there, up to his chin in cold liquid, exhausted and fresh out of ideas. Absentmindedly, he took a sip of apple cider and muttered, “I hate this place.”

Thud!

Rax’s face slammed into the side of the barrel, and amidst the sharp pain he also sensed a sudden, rapid acceleration, as if he’d been launched from a catapult. But something was constantly pressing him against the inside of the barrel, propelling him forward. It felt a lot like the barrier that had been over Canterlot hours earlier, only several times stronger and more… forceful.

The sense of acceleration continued for several minutes, leaving him with little else to do but sit there like a bug squashed against a window, thinking about how stupid and unfair the world was in general. To help pass the time, he occasionally took sips from the cider he was swimming in.

Because why the hay not?

That stuff was growing on him, he had to admit. Sweet and tangy, with a little kick to it that was pleasantly invigorating.

After a while, though, the pressure on his back disappeared, and a sense of weightlessness overtook him. He couldn’t see, but he could feel the apple cider floating around him in what he imagined were globules of fluid. The barrel had already reached the peak of its trajectory and was beginning to drop. His stomach leapt into his throat as he went into free fall, and he sneezed violently and coughed when droplets of cider went up his nostrils or down his windpipe. His charred wings buzzed reflexively and he gasped when needles of agony shot through them. He could hear the roar of wind climb in pitch and volume as the barrel hurtled towards the ground, until it was whining like a firework.

The ground...

For some reason, Rax was sure that that was something to be worried about, although he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why. Oh well, he could think about that later. For now, he should –

Boom!

Suddenly, the darkness of the barrel’s interior was shattered in an explosion of light and wooden splinters, flooding his eyes with a searing brightness. Before he could even blink, he was smashed back-first into something thick and mushy. A million sparkling droplets danced in the air above him, raining down in a fine mist that smelled strongly of apples.

Rax blinked as splintered remains of the barrel rained and plopped into the mud all around him, and he bent forward just long enough to see if anything was broken. When he was sure that he wasn’t seriously injured, he tried to rise, but an overpowering dizziness clouded his sight and completely wrecked his sense of balance. He flopped back and lay still, giggling for no apparent reason.

* * * * *

“Oh, you’re not dead,” said a scratchy voice.

Rax squinted at the dark form hovering above his head. Another changeling – Scritch. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d fallen from the sky, so he simply did the most logical thing and said, “Did we win?”

The other changeling raised an eyebrow. “Well, let’s see... every single one of us, the Queen included, has just been expelled from Canterlot via love-powered force field to anywhere within a five mile radius of the city, and you’ve just been blasted into the marshes inside a barrel of – ” here, he sniffed the air, “ – apple cider. So, yeah, everything went perfectly fine!”

Rax groaned as Scritch offered him a hoof and hauled him out of the squelching mud. Glancing at his surroundings, he could see that he was in the middle of a muddy crater, one which was slowly filling up with the marshy water that had been blasted away by the impact. He clambered after his brother who had already buzzed up to level ground, and when he was out of harm’s way, he started chuckling.

Scritch rounded on him and growled, “What’s so funny?”

“Hic!”

His sibling’s eyes widened. “Are – are you drunk? When did you even find the time to drink yourself stupid?”

“Not drinking; I was swimming.” Rax lifted a hoof and showed his dripping glands to Scritch proudly. “I think I absorbed a little too much...”

Keeping one hoof in the air took a little more concentration than he’d expected. The next thing he knew, the world was sideways and half his face was covered in mud.

“Hey, why’s the ground so – hic! – high?” he mumbled.

His brother’s jaw was hanging.

“Hee, hee, now you’re funny!”

The other changeling rubbed his forehead with a hoof. He then wrapped a foreleg around Rax’s chest and hauled him back onto all fours.

Rax swayed a little, and just when he felt that the ground was going to come up and slap him again, Scritch rushed to his side and provided him with a shoulder to lean on.

“Ugh, come on,” his brother hissed, “It’s a long way home. If we’re lucky, we can get to some real cover by nightfall. I don’t know where the rest of us got blasted to, but regrouping at one of the forests would be the smart thing to do.”

“Hic!”

As they plodded towards the line of trees at the far end of the swamp, Scritch commented, “Wow, your wings are wrecked.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“How did you survive the princess?”

Rax thought for a full minute before saying, “By – hic! – not getting killed, of course.”

“You – ” Scritch snorted and shook his head. “Never mind. I’ll ask again when you’re not too stupid to give a straight answer.”

Rax stumbled when his hoof got tangled in some soggy reeds, but his sibling ensured that he didn’t plant his face in the mud.

“You know, Mother’s probably going to kill you if she finds out about what you indulged in.”

“That’s why you’re going to vouch for me, right?” Rax grinned at him. “Because it totally was the princess’ fault. She...” he took a moment to recall, “She was the one who put me in the barrel.”

“I’m not a witness – I wasn’t there, idiot.” Scritch paused, as if struck by a thought, then mused, “Wow, this is so... therapeutic. No wonder Mandy likes calling you that so much.”

“You can lie, right?” Rax insisted. “We’re pretty good at that.”

“Maybe. Don’t count on it.”

Rax hiccoughed and promptly hugged his sibling.

Scritch made a face and gagged. “Ugh. Changeling love... I think I’m going to be sick.”

* * * * *

Princess Luna yawned as she made her way towards the main palace courtyard, where everypony would undoubtedly be beginning the evening’s celebration.

Truly restful days of sleep were hard to come by, but judging by the lightness of her steps and the pervasive sense of cheerful eagerness to celebrate the nightly portion of Shining Armour’s wedding, the past ten hours had been one of those days. She even felt ready to forgive Princess Cadence for her prior insults.

Luna began humming an old, happy tune under her breath, but slowed a little when she saw the palace servants busily cleaning up the interior of the building. Oddly enough, there were overturned furniture everywhere, and sections of the floor which were yet to be tidied up were littered with food scraps and ruined ornaments.

Curiosity piqued, she trotted over to a servant, but the stallion yelped when she approached and bowed a little too eagerly, almost to the point of grovelling.

Not this again.

“Rise, my little pony. I have no intention of causing anypony bodily harm tonight.”

The stallion obeyed, but from the way he kept avoiding her eyes it was obvious that he was still rather unnerved by her presence. “Err, yes, Your Highness.”

Luna sighed. “What is the matter?”

“Do you not recall, Your Highness?” asked a sagely voice.

She turned and saw an elderly stallion observing her as he swept away a pile of broken pottery.

“Recall what, exactly?” She swept her gaze all around and added, “And why is the palace in such a terrible state?”

The old earth pony raised an eyebrow. “So… you do not remember thrashing that bug? Beating up your own guards?”

“What in Equestria do you mean?”

Emboldened by the older stallion, the younger servant scratched the back of his head and added, “We were hiding around the place, and we could hear everything. Then after the giant force field came, you knocked out five guards and went back to your tower.”

“Yep,” confirmed the older stallion, as Luna stared in bewilderment, “I followed a safe distance behind. You went up to your tower, tidied it up, then went to sleep without so much as a whisper. Then, poof! You were all blue again, and not all black and scary. Don’t you remember doing all that?”

Luna trawled through her memory, but found that her recollection of the day was rather hazy. Also, she could not remember much about what state her room had been in when she woke up. Her most recent conscious memory was… trotting to the courtyard, only minutes ago.

And then she registered what the stallion had said about her appearance; black and scary.

Nightmare Moon? Was she casting alteration spells in her sleep, like the one she had used on Nightmare Night?

“I have no memory of these things,” she admitted. Although the servants were wont to exaggerating just about every situation imaginable where royalty was concerned, there might have been a grain of truth in what they said. She did not believe all the details, but she could clearly see that they were convinced by whatever they had seen. After all, she was still coming to terms with the shadows of her past. Perhaps she should be visiting those new-fangled physicians specialising in complications of the mind and heart that Tia had been telling her about. Insulting as the notion was, perhaps a session with one of those ‘psychiatrists’ would not be amiss.

“No memory of that?” The elder pony shook his head knowingly. “Well, in that case, Your Highness, you’ve got a condition…”

Princess Luna nodded dismissively and began trotting once more. “Yes, well, I trust that you ponies are capable of keeping the matter to yourselves for the time being? Rest assured, I shall address it with all due haste.”

But only after the celebration.

Tia did not deserve the added burden of knowing that her sister was providing the palace staff with all manner of amusing stories to tell, whether true or false.

* * * * *

“Hello, everypony, did I miss anything?” she asked.

Luna shifted uncomfortably when she noticed that Twilight Sparkle and her friends were giving her odd looks, as if she had just said something inappropriate.

Tia also seemed perplexed for a moment, but then she smiled and leaned close to whisper, “I’ll tell you all about it later. Enjoy the night, for now. These don’t come very often!”

She smiled at her sister’s warm response. “Well then, I suppose – ”

“Let’s get this party started!” squealed the energetic earth pony that Luna recognised as Pinkie Pie.

Feeling gracious enough to ignore the interruption, Luna watched in amusement as the pink mare darted off to a set of speakers and seemingly pulled a spiky, blue-maned unicorn out of nowhere to start up the sound system.

She began to bob her head to the beat of the music, watching in appreciation as the crowd of ponies present began to dance amidst the shower of confetti, streamers and balloons.

Ponies clapped and cheered as Shining Armour and Princess Cadence danced, with Twilight Sparkle leading them in song,

“Love is in bloom,”

“A beautiful bride, a handsome groom,

“Two hearts, becoming one,

“A bond that cannot be undone, because,

“Love is in bloom! A beautiful bride a handsome groom,

“I say, love is in bloom!”

The enthusiasm of everypony was infectious. Luna shut her eyes as her head-bobbing intensified and spread into her entire being, until she was rocking back and forth to the rhythm of the lively music.

“I didn’t know you were into head-banging,” she heard Tia whisper in amusement.

“Shut up and dance,” she retorted with an impertinent grin, still keeping her eyes shut, not caring if anypony saw her doubtlessly dreadful imitation of rock performance art. She was beginning to thoroughly enjoy herself, though, making full use of the vigour that she’d regained in her long snooze.

Her sister chuckled and whispered something else, but Luna was already too absorbed in the moment to hear what she said.

“Love is in bloom,”

“A beautiful bride, a handsome groom,”

“I say, Love is in bloom!”

“You’re starting a life and making room for us… for us, for us.”

She spared a moment to look up at the starry sky and saw streaks of fireworks shooting up into the deep purple, exploding into showers of green, pink and golden sparks. And on a moment’s whim, she made a few, well-placed stars twinkle especially brightly to complement the last, heart-shaped starburst of green and pink. The crowd drew in a collective breath of wonderment at the spectacle, and as they went back to celebrating the union of the two lovers, smiling and dancing and laughing together under the watchful gaze of the moon and thousands of stars, Princess Luna felt tears welling up in her eyes.

A wing draped over her back, and she turned to find Tia by her side. She leaned into the warmth of her elder sister’s embrace and whispered, “Love you, Big Sister.”

* * * * *

“Ugh…”

Tufty awoke to a room blazing white with radiance and instantly regretted it. She yelped and squeezed them shut once more. Turning to her other senses, she realised that she was in a firm but pretty comfortable bed, swathed in thick, warm blankets all over. She tried to move, but her sore back protested by sending sparks of pain shooting up and down her spine, and her limbs felt like they’d just been used to run several marathons in a row.

“Hey, you’re finally up,” said a voice by her side.

Hay Bale? She’d recognise that voice anywhere, but the earth mare’s tone lacked the usual energy and perkiness. In fact, she almost sounded… ill.

Tufty risked a squint and saw the stocky mare lying on a bed next to hers, stripped of her usual armour and dressed in a hospital gown. She then looked down on her own body and realised that what she’d taken for blankets earlier were actually thick bandages and splints around most of her appendages.

I’m in the infirmary?

How the heck had she gotten in here? She racked her brain but came up with nothing but blanks for a moment, until she remembered the dark alicorn. And the guards that had accidentally provoked her into throwing a second tantrum. And the part where she… No. She did not want to remember.

She gazed at Baley, wondering if she would know, but the mare had apparently seen the question in her eyes, for she instantly launched into a summary of everything that had transpired in the last twenty-four hours.

“Wedding’s over. We got our flanks kicked by those bug thingies – they’re called changelings – but luckily the Captain and the bride blasted them out of town. Last I heard, we’ve just gotten back our buddies who were caught in their traps. Don’t worry about Cogwheel and the others; they’re recovering nicely, just like you. Princess Luna’s pretty upset about the whole turning into Nightmare Moon and beating-the-stuffing-out-of-you thing, so she’s been visiting every now and then. You kind of just missed her.”

Tufty felt an eye twitch. “Not a bad thing, I think.” She wasn’t sure if she would be able to not have a panic attack if she’d woken up with the moon princess watching over her. Wincing a little at the discomfort, she sat up straighter and asked, “And what about you?”

There was a gurgling sound from Hay Bale’s stomach, and the mare’s mild expression twisted into one of panicked urgency as she leaned over the other side of her bed and retched. Tufty could hear the sickeningly thick stuff slopping into the bucket and groaned in sympathy.

Baley came back up, slightly green in the face, wiped her mouth with a hoof and muttered, “You know, you were right about the cider. Having a stronger stomach just meant I could swallow a bigger bomb and not notice.”

Tufty giggled at the analogy, then gasped as an ache shot through her midsection. Apparently Nightmare Moon had done enough damage that even laughing was painful.

Ooh. That was not nice.

“So… what did you think about the wedding?” asked Baley.

“I’m pretty sure I kind of missed it,” she deadpanned.

“Pssh. I’m talking about the guarding part. The kissy ‘I do’ stuff is boring.”

“Umm… Well, let’s see.” Tufty used a spell to assess the full extent of her injuries. “I’ve got some fractured ribs and a cracked femur, a burnt cutie mark, a brutalised digestive tract, about a hundred cuts and bruises, and…” she frowned, “why is there no hair left on my tail?”

Baley chuckled. “And the verdict is?”

Well, she’d fought some giant bugs and even managed to not get killed by a rampaging alicorn. She’d been tested to the very limits of her endurance, and even though her overall contribution to the defence of Canterlot was debatable, there was probably no other kind of excitement that could have compared to that. And considering how she’d pretty much expected to spend the whole time looking and acting like a statue, maybe getting more than a little roughed up was a small price to pay. Once in a while. She did sign up for this, after all.

Tufty felt a grin split her face and replied, “Best wedding, ever.”

Comments ( 29 )

Hoo boy, that took longer than expected. I was hoping to get it done before the season premier, but then the hype kinda got in the way. :twilightoops:
Anyways, to all those who have followed from beginning to end, thank you very much! And just as big a thank you to those who gave it a try! :pinkiehappy:

877357
Looks like you jinxed him :rainbowlaugh:

THis was still awesome! Makes me want to watch the Season 2 finale again! :pinkiehappy:

You...need..to...write...about....behind-the-scenes-season-three-or-something-because-everyone-loves-the-characters-you-create:pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiehappy::pinkiegasp::pinkiegasp:

good stuff, awesome ending, thnx man:yay:

Eh, was hoping for some semblance of loyalty between shapeshifter and pony, though I suppose it all ended more or less well anyway :/

Great story, have a thumbs up.




:yay::eeyup:

I liked how you wrapped things up here. Yay! :yay:

“No memory of that?” The elder pony shook his head knowingly. “Well, in that case, Your Highness, you’ve got a condition…”

Nice Avengers reference :pinkiehappy:

Sleepwalking (for lack of a better term) Luna as Nightmare Moon? Seems legit. Anyways, 'best wedding ever' indeed. I'd love to see a followup on this story, see what the meeting between Luna and Tufty, as well as the changelings and Chrysalis.

Well, as I expected, with the mane six taking the spotlight in the wedding episode, every other character could only play a minor part. But as I see it the changelings have lost the battle, but not yet the war. So there is potential for Luna and her guards to shine in another story of their own.

As for this one, I still found it to be highly entertaining. Well done!

Excellent ending.

Nice ending, although I hoped to see more Anvil and Hammer

Awww. Its done? To be honest I thought Rax really had a plan, and she interrupted it. I was expecting the cider barrels to be thrown.

"Well, she’d fought some giant bugs and even managed to not get killed by a rampaging alicorn... 'Best wedding, ever.'":rainbowlaugh:

Also, the scene where Nightmare Moon was using Mandy as a club reminded me of the Hulk thrashing Loki around like he was the weight of Smart Pants...

Also, Luna mad, Luna SMASH!!!

funny bit of fanfiction, good fun for a day

2429553 True, she could have set the threat, and then got in before the shield, that way nopony would possibly expect danger from the inside as the shield should prevent that, and nopony would be looking inside for the threat, they would all be searching outside.

1972674
Eeyup:rainbowlaugh:


Very good writing sir:moustache::moustache::moustache:

Awwww, no Anvil and Hammer?

I won't deny there have been weddings that could've been improved in such a fashion. Nicely done. hope we get to see more of these characters as you really characterize the guards beautifully.

:trollestia: Best. Wedding. Ever.

D48

Both of your stories were great, and this one really made me want to see you do more with Rax and Tufty's relationship even if that is probably impossible. You might be able to cook some reason for her to be in the caves if you really wanted to and it would open up some interesting opportunities when he runs into the other characters, but I cannot really see it working without causing problems elsewhere. It would take a lot of work to make the setup stick, and even if you managed that the timeline could be problematic. Oh well. It would be fun, but I just cannot see it happening.

3643677 Yeah, fun as that might be, I don't really have anything compelling enough to have both of them meet again. At least, not for now. :derpytongue2:

D48

3646544 What I figured. You could probably make it work if you could come up with a really good reason for her to be on her own in those caves which could follow from something going wrong with a real reason for her to be down there, but I cannot really think of an actual reason for her to go down there in the first place. Besides the ruins the ponies do not know about (although an expedition there would actually be a very good reason), the only things down there are Diamond Dogs and Quarry Eels. The eels are nothing but a reason to avoid the area, and those dogs do not seem like they would be taking slaves to justify a rescue mission given their remoteness, ferocity, and the fact that they do not seem to be able to speak Equestrian. You might also be able to do something with a dragon as well, although that would require you to dump her down one of those giant shafts somehow because I cannot see a dragon living that deep underground.

Not gonna complain because it was very good. :moustache:
Just that it kind of felt like a filler.

I know that this fic has finshed long time ago but did you just predict the changeling name to be thorax or did you edited that later after the season 7 ? Because if you didn't edit the story, it would be an amazing coincidence as the show use the same name.

8630987 It's the original name. No editing. However, I'm pretty sure I'm not the first to come up with that name for a changeling. Others have done it, too.

Heck, this guy chose it as his username way earlier. He had quite a bit of fun when the episode preview came around.

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