A Royal Canterlot Wedding: Deleted Scenes

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 2

Chapter 1

A Royal Canterlot Wedding: Deleted Scenes (Chapter 1)

If there was one thing about serving in Canterlot’s Royal Guard that Bludgeon really liked, it was reconnaissance duty. It certainly beat the heck out of standing absolutely still outside some VIP’s door, or trotting about the palace like a clockwork toy. Out here, at least, he could enjoy some exercise that didn’t involve sparring with a stinking, sweaty partner or beating up a wooden dummy with his sword in a dusty training yard.

He stretched his wings and savoured the caress of the cool air as he pulled into a slow descent for the forest below. The spires of the tallest conifers looked like the claws of some gigantic griffon, reaching up to the purple-black night sky. As he flew past the treetops, he realised that this forest was different from the others – its canopy had several layers that were far too dense to be penetrated by the light of the full moon. He would have to finish his final sweep of this valley on the ground.

“Just my luck,” he muttered.

It would be great to finally have this royal panic over and done with. About a week ago, some griffon had flown into town and made mention of an ‘army’ skirting the borders of Avian territory, apparently heading in the direction of Canterlot. The griffon had then left the next day. Granted, ponies and griffons weren’t exactly buddies, but Bludgeon would have expected the bird to at least have the courtesy to tell them what exactly they were up against. If anypony asked him (nopony had), he would’ve called it a hoax. Unfortunately, Captain Shining Armour had insisted on keeping the Guard of full alert, regularly sending scouts into the surrounding countryside to keep watch. That was a little strange, since the stallion had never struck him as the paranoid type. Then again, Bludgeon supposed he couldn’t blame the captain – it was his wedding, after all.

The branches of the lower canopy were so dense and intertwined that he had no choice but to barge through it, squinting as twigs and leaves slapped at his face. Once he had landed in the undergrowth, he could appreciate how most ponies were unnerved by the dark. Down there, the air was thick and cloying with humidity, made worse by the complete lack of wind. Only the tiniest shafts of moonlight reached the forest floor.

He hoofed at the ground and made a face when he realised how moist and soft it was. There was no way he was going to be trotting around in that if he could help it! With a quick leap, he was back in the air, alternating between gliding and flapping to stay aloft just a few feet above the ground.

It was quiet as he wove between tree trunks and saplings; the only sounds he heard were of his breathing, occasional wingbeats and the rustling of leaves when he passed them by. Once his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, it became plain that there was little of interest in this forest – sure, there were some really unusual plants that the ponies in the Royal Canterlot Botanist Society would probably go crazy over, but Bludgeon really couldn’t care less about those. He was searching for an army that didn’t exist, and there was nothing in this forest that remotely suggested the presence of one. There was no military camp, and the ground looked pretty much undisturbed. And aside from those gigantic spider webs, he couldn’t – wait…

Bludgeon braked in mid-air and settled into a hover, barely avoiding a collision with what looked like an extra-large spider web stretched between two trees. Actually, there was no way it could be a spider’s web. Upon closer inspection, he imagined it looked more like the result of a full grown dragon picking its nose and wiping it on a tree until it stretched and stuck between two of them. The ‘threads’ were wider than his leg! He found a bit of it that fell under a shaft of moonlight and noted that it was brownish green in colour, and it was glistening with wetness. He reached out to touch it, but quickly withdrew his hoof when it pulsated with a squelchy noise.

“Oh, hayseed,” he muttered under his breath.

That was when he realised that the patch of forest ahead of him was completely covered in the stuff. He could see silhouettes of the icky mucus stretching from tree to tree, from the ground right up to the canopy. It looked like somepony had gone crazy with a party and hung streamers everywhere – except that said streamers were made of partially dried snot. Come to think of it, even the trees looked sort of deformed, having odd bulges and projections on their trunks and larger branches.

He hovered towards one for a closer look, and found the surface of the bark slathered in more of the disgusting stuff. And… he couldn’t quite tell from the bad lighting, but it looked like there was something black and shiny stuck on there, too. He peered at a lump that had a large thorn poking out of it… and nearly had a heart attack when a pair of glowing blue eyes opened on its surface.

Before he could think of what to do, the black thing detached from the surface of the tree and lunged at him with blinding speed – he barely had enough time to let out a cry of alarm before the hard and bony creature collided with him and held him in a vice-like grip. His wings strained from the sudden increase in dead weight and he felt himself spinning off… there was an impact when he crashed into another tree, which thoroughly disrupted his wingbeat pattern. The sudden loss of lift caused him and his unwanted baggage to plummet straight to the ground.

Bludgeon hit the forest floor with more force than was good for his spine, but in spite of being half-dazed by the impact, he did manage to growl and bash his assailant on the head with his helmet. He then squirmed out of its loosened grip and kicked out with his hooves, sending the thing flying into the air, screeching like some unholy cross between an owl and a cricket. There was a dull thump when it hit the ground some distance away. Chitters and clicks in the darkness became audible as he rose to all fours, followed by the buzz of insect wings.

Time to get out of here. Once he had recovered from the initial shock, he quickly realised that he didn’t stand a chance in the darkness against so many opponents. He spread his wings and leapt into the air, pumping them hard to gain height. He heard rather than saw something hurtling in his direction and barrel-rolled to the side, barely avoiding being tackled in mid-air by one of the creatures which he’d yet to put a name to. More of the things tried to latch onto him, but he evaded them with all the skill and practice that had been hammered into him in the Royal Guard.

Bludgeon suddenly encountered some resistance in his shoulder and felt a wet and sticky tautness, followed by severe whiplash as he was yanked out of his flight path, only to dangle upside-down in the air as he tried to process what the hay just happened.

The webs… The realisation came just a little too late. Two or three of the massive bug thingies clamped onto him and plucked him out of the snot-web with a sticky snap. He tried to land a few bucks and punches, but being suspended in the air largely negated his ability to put weight and power behind his attacks.

“Stop struggling or I’ll use your head as a battering ram,” something hissed in his ear.

Bludgeon was a tad too busy focusing on the fact that he was trapped in a dark abyss of a forest filled with glowing blue eyes everywhere, to realise that one of the bugs had just spoken to him. A second later, his brain caught up. He quit thrashing and blurted, “Huh?”

“On second thought, you annoy me,” the husky voice said again.

There was a sudden, rapid acceleration, and he saw the silhouette of a tree trunk rushing to meet his face. The impact wasn’t quite as painful as he’d expected, but its after-effects were a whole lot more impressive. His eyes kept trying to go in different directions, everything sounded muffled and indistinct, and were those stars whirling about in front of him? Oh, and he had a splitting headache, too. Dimly, he was aware of being dropped onto the ground and swarmed over by dark, pokey things that slathered him in gunk. He thought he heard something speaking again, but he wasn’t quite sure. He was getting rather sleepy, and his throbbing head certainly wasn’t helping matters.

* * * * *

“You need to widen your stance; what you’re doing now might serve in a battle formation, but it will do you little good in single combat.”

“Yes sir.” Tufty obeyed, even though her horn was itching to grab something. Hoof to hoof combat was good enough, she supposed, but why bother when she was a unicorn? She could easily use a spear or sword, and she was sure she’d be way better at those. Still, Captain Shining Armour had personally reassigned her to training under Princess Luna’s Night Guards, and she had no intention of blowing her chance to stand out a little. Their outfits and appearance enchantments looked totally awesome – more so than the plain grey and gold of the Royal Guard unicorns. The yellow eyes with slit pupils were neat, but it was too bad she couldn’t get a pair of cool dragon wings like her new mentor…

“Ah, Tufty, are you daydreaming again?”

“No, I – ” that was all she got out before the Night Guard tripped her with a low sweep of his hind leg, blew her over with a swipe from his wing, then pinned her down with his forelegs.

Ugh, I’m terrible.

“I suppose that is a yes.” His voice was stern, but his slit-pupiled eyes twinkled with amusement.

Tufty got back on her hooves and prepared for another round of sparring. Anvil was absurdly strong, and his fighting style was… not very forgiving on the target. She’d gotten through basic training in hoof to hoof combat, and that mostly involved techniques designed to incapacitate. Some of the Night Guard’s repertoire, on the other hoof, looked like they could really hurt somepony. And they didn’t even use weapons! Every morning, she’d be going to bed with fresh bruises – that was another thing… adjusting to the new schedule of sleeping in the day.

Just then, the stallion’s oncoming strike interrupted her thoughts. She twisted a little so that her armour would take the hit, then used a little magic to pull his hind legs out of place and retaliated with a quick jab. That staggered him a little, but he quickly recovered and charged forward with alarming speed, enough that she panicked and used a spell to levitate him off the ground entirely. Hayseed, he’s heavy! That was a stupid move – wasting magic like that. She couldn’t even muster the concentration to fling him away or something, and suspending him like that was taxing enough without having to think about a different spell. He simply went still, content to watch her sweat it out, with an amused expression on his face as he waited for the inevitable. Tufty gritted her teeth and squared her shoulders, getting ready to attack as soon as she ended the levitation. The golden aura faded, and the stallion landed neatly on all fours. Unfortunately for her, he was too quick, and half a moment later, she was sprawled across the floor once more, panting with her tongue lolling out. At least she’d done better this time – she’d scored a solid hit on his forehead, and he winced slightly as he helped her up.

“You’re improving – well done. Take an hour’s reprieve; be back at the tower for the dawn’s watch.”

Tufty nodded. Well, that wasn’t so bad.

The clip clop of hooves announced another presence in their corner of the training yard, and when she’d turned around, she found an earth pony garbed in Night Guard armour, excluding the helmet. Heavyset frame, thick legs and unruly mane, contagiously energetic mood – she’d recognise Hay Bale any day or night, even with the armour enchantments that made them look like bats. Well… wingless ones, in hers and Baley’s cases.

“Hiya Tufty!” her friend called out.

As the earth mare trotted over from the other side of the yard, Tufty noticed that she looked thoroughly scuffled, too. Behind her was their other mentor, Hammer, walking along silently.

“How’d it go?” she asked Baley.

“As usual – he’s tougher than he looks,” The earth mare shrugged, then grunted when she flexed a tender spot of muscle. “And considering how he already looks like he’s made of stone, that’s kinda saying a lot.”

Well… it looked like Captain Shining had found the one guard capable of managing Baley on her own turf. Wouldn’t have thought that he’d turn out to be a pegasus, though – a really big one. Their mentors were kind of creepy at times – Tufty had never seen them with their armour off, so she didn’t know what they really looked like under their bat-like enchantments, and they were unusually strong for pegasi. She’d been a new recruit when Princess Luna had been restored from being Nightmare Moon, and barely a year later, those two guards had shown up out of nowhere, and acting as if they were best friends with the princess, at that. She’d never seen them in training, they’d never needed any, and they’d always spoken in that old-timey accent just like the moon princess. And they were being pretty cryptic about it, too. Oh well, maybe she’d find out when she became a fully-fledged Night Guard, whenever that was supposed to be.

“What about you?” Baley asked.

That shook Tufty out of her thoughts. “Okay, I suppose.” Then, another thought hit her. “Wanna go to the mess hall? Anvil’s given me a break.”

Baley glanced back at Hammer, who gave her a nod of permission and took to the air along with his companion, Anvil, angling off towards Princess Luna’s tower. After their mentors disappeared into the palace shadows, there was a loud gurgling sound nearby.

Tufty raised an eyebrow at her fellow initiate, who grinned and said, “Mess hall sounds good – my stomach demands an offering.”

Supper, as it turned out, was little more than boring oatmeal and baked hay. Not that Tufty was expecting fancy food – she was just a guard, but the new cook had somehow managed to make those things taste even blander than they already were. She wasn’t sure whether to be more impressed with the cook, or with Baley who was sitting on the opposite side of the table, chowing down her food as if it was the most delectable stuff in the world.

Turning back to her own bowl of liquefied tastelessness, she began stirring absent-mindedly with a spoon, until she heard the whooshing sound of a pegasus approaching at speed, and had just enough time to back away before a royal guard crashed into the table with his face in her oatmeal.

Well… if he wants it that much, he can have it.

She looked up and surmised that he must have come in through the window. Pegasi apparently weren’t too well acquainted with doors... But her assessment changed when she noticed that his armour was scratched and dented, and there were black and green smudges all over his body. He looked half-dazed, and seemed only partially aware that his face was covered in oatmeal. Tufty instantly forgot about her food and caught him with magic before he slumped off the table and banged his head on the floor; Baley came to his aid a second later. Together, they helped steady him, at which point a couple of other off-duty guards in the mess hall cantered over to see what the fuss was.

“Hey, it’s Bludgeon!” one of them exclaimed.

The battered pegasus groaned, eyes rolling in his head. “Need… need to see the captain. We’ve got a problem…”

Baley cut him off. “Shush – you’ve got an appointment with the infirmary.” Then, turning to their onlookers, she added, “You guys mind getting the captain? Sounds like this guy has news for him.”

Tufty took a moment to strip off the stallion’s armour with magic, noting how beaten up he looked. And the smudges… they were all sticky and crusty. Just what exactly leaves marks like that? Maybe it was something from Evefree Forest… She shook her head. At any rate, she’ll find out when he got better. For the time being, Baley hauled him onto her back and trotted away, with Tufty tagging along to steady him and make sure that he didn’t slide off and hurt himself some more.

* * * * *

Shining Armour’s fears were confirmed – there was an impending threat against the city. He was cantering towards the infirmary, glad that the exercise was shaking the sleepiness out of his system, when he was suddenly joined by Cadence. One moment he was alone, the next, she was cantering by his side, apparently having come from one of the adjoining corridors.

“Cadence, what are you doing up so late?”

She shrugged and carried on. “The same thing you are, dear. The little hub bub outside woke me up, and after one of your guards so kindly told me the news, I thought I should come along. It sounded serious.”

“Well, I won’t argue with that,” he agreed.

The infirmary was brightly lit, and they found Bludgeon in one of the beds, with bandages wrapped here and there around his numerous injuries. Those that didn’t warrant bandages included cuts and scratches that had dried up and were beginning to scab over, plus bruises and a pair of black eyes. The surgeons had done a quick and efficient job, as always, but the pegasus stallion still looked like he was going through some pain. He looked really awkward, lying in that position, but at least he was awake.

“Report, soldier,” Shining Armour said. “I have the gist of what happened, but I need details.”

Bludgeon blinked his slightly swollen eyes and shook his head. “I… am not sure what else there is to say. It was dark, sir, and I was ambushed. All I know is that… they weren’t anything I’ve ever seen before. There were a lot of them… I barely got away.”

“Define ‘a lot’; I want a number.”

As he said the words, Shining Armour noticed that Cadence was giving the stallion a rather strange look – there was a slight frown on her forehead, and her stare was oddly intense. He noted that Bludgeon was looking at her, too. Bludgeon’s eyes kept flitting back and forth between him and her. But the moment quickly passed, and he found himself wondering whether he was just seeing things. Was that it? Was he being paranoid that other stallions were looking at his fiancé, and she them?

“I don’t know… I really don’t,” the injured pegasus replied, knocking Shining Armour off his train of thought. “It was hard to see what they looked like – I’m not even sure if they aren’t just wild animals.”

Shining frowned, but he did feel as if a weight was lifting from his shoulders. “You know, that may actually be good news. If that’s true, you might have just been disturbing their territory – which means we have nothing to worry about. If I’m not mistaken, timberwolves have been sighted close to the area you were in.”

“We probably should find out, just in case,” Cadence said. She was also frowning; she leaned close to Bludgeon and added, “Do you think you’d be able to show others the way to where you found those creatures? Do you remember where, exactly?”

“I do, but…”

“I don’t think he’s in any shape to be doing anything but resting, dear,” Shining Armour interjected.

The pink alicorn was undeterred.

“Hmm… maybe this will help,” she mumbled, and brought the tip of her horn into contact with the injured pegasus’ forehead.

There was a soft, green glow, and Bludgeon cried out in surprise, but relaxed in the next moment and groaned in relief. “Oh… yeah… that hit the spot,” he sighed as he suddenly leaned back into the pillows. A second later, he started snoring. The swelling around his eyes and on his bruises were receding, and his assortment of cuts had disappeared, replaced with pink skin between the little gaps in his coat.

Shining Armour realised that his eyebrows had disappeared into his forelock and quickly set them back into place. “Did… did you just heal him? I didn’t know you could do that – that was incredible! I thought Princess Celestia and Luna were the only ones!”

Cadence smiled in embarrassment. “One of the few things I learned in my time away from home.” But her expression suddenly grew serious, and she continued, “I’ve given him enough that he’d be able to fly again by tomorrow. He can easily lead a small group to make sure that his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.”

“Well…” He put a hoof to his chin and mulled it over.

“This isn’t something we can ignore, dear. If they’re just animals, there’s nothing more to worry about. But if he was attacked by real enemies… I mean, it was totally unprovoked!”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. We’ll double up on security for now and I’ll send a few of them out in the morning.”

* * * * *

“This place is creepy, I’ll give you that. But what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?” asked Rivet as the four of them marched through the undergrowth of the forest. Their hoof-steps were muffled by the mushy ground, occasionally accompanied by the crunch of dead leaves and twigs.

“You’ll know it when you see it,” ‘Bludgeon’ replied.

“Yeah… you’re gonna have to give us a little more to go on,” another guard, Rainy Tail, insisted. “Can’t look out for something if you won’t even tell us what they look like.”

Well, he supposed he wouldn’t be giving away much… the poor slobs would soon find out, anyway. “They look a lot like bugs – really big ones. They’re kind of good at blending into their surroundings. Then again, it was dark when I was attacked.”

Some muttering at the back of the group reached his ears – clearly, the one called Breezy was of the opinion that he had just been seeing things. But he ignored the stallion and carried on, trotting deeper into the forest, taking note of the drop in light levels due to the thickening tree cover, and the myriad of scents that flooded his nostrils. The morning fog had recently cleared away, but the air remained thick and heavy with moisture.

The others followed, albeit gingerly in some cases, as their weighty armour made their hooves sink rather deep into the soft, damp earth. The dense vegetation wasn’t exactly permissive of flight unless they went higher up, but the others weren’t keen on breaking away from the group.

It got progressively darker as they went deeper, to the point where the sun was reduced to a few scattered shafts of light poking through the trees.

“Woah…” said Rivet. He was looking up at the webs crisscrossing the branches of the trees directly ahead of them, his mouth slightly open. Others made similar exclamations as they noticed the difference in the environment before them. “Enemy or not, whatever made these must be one heck of a bug.”

“Yeah, we’re here,” he said. “Stay sharp, and let’s get this over with. I’ll take point.”

“You the boss, Bludgie,” said Rainy Tail as they began the search.

They moved in a tight, defensive formation, with Breezy bringing up the rear and watching their backs. He led them on until they were directly under the webs. He paused and lifted a hoof to signal everyone to halt, which they all did. Their breath fogged in the cool air, and the silence was punctuated by the sounds of droplets of water plopping onto their armour every few seconds. He waited a moment or two, until some new scent tickled his nostrils. He sniffed, and a tiny smile twisted his mouth. The message in the pheromones was simple – swarm.

“Bludgeon?”

He turned around and saw his comrades looking expectantly at him. Their expressions changed to concern when they saw his face.

Rivet raised an eyebrow. “Why the hay are you smiling?”

He turned his back to them and looked around with all the casualness of someone mildly interested in the weather. “Oh, no reason,” he said, and then bucked the stallion in the face. He whirled round and saw the stallion crash into the undergrowth, and his fellow guards staring at him in confusion, mouths slightly open.

“What the hay was that for?” Breezy yelled.

A second later, the guard yelped when a dark shape whizzed down and pummelled him into the ground from above. Rainy Tail whirled round and cried out in alarm and confusion as more dark shapes detached from the surrounding trees. Credit where it was due – he got into battle formation quickly enough and when he realised that ‘Bludgeon’ wasn’t on his side. The guard had bent low in preparation for a charge, and let loose a surprised “Oof!” when two or three changelings rammed him from the side. The undergrowth rustled as several others dealt with Rivet. They’d underestimated Breezy, though – he threw off the three or so changelings pinning him down and bolted forward, apparently intent on head-butting him for the betrayal. Easily dealt with, though – it was a simply a matter of standing still and doing absolutely nothing whilst another three of his brothers and sisters rushed the pegasus from all angles and grappled him into submission.

“Why?” Breezy hissed at him as he struggled to break free.

He trotted forward, looked down on the stallion and grinned. “For love, of course,” he said, after which he delivered a swift blow to the side of Breezy’s head and knocked him out.

With that done, the swarm set to the task of restraining the pegasi and preparing to wrap them up in their very own cocoons. They would soon be joining the real Bludgeon, suspended high up in one of the trees.

As he watched them work, one of his sisters, Mandible, buzzed over and regarded him with critical eyes. She was average-sized as changelings went, but then again, they were all average sized. Drones never really got to stand out, and they had to tell each other apart mainly by scent and sound. Everyone’s wings had a unique frequency. Apart from that, they only had defects to mark who they were – Mandy’s was a chipped right fang.

At any rate… the look his sister was giving him – was it respect?

“Nice work, Rax,” she said.

Well, that was a nice change. Until she poked his armour and added, “Or should I say, Bludgie? That name sounds adorable on you.” His other siblings chittered in laughter.

Rax rolled his eyes. Changeling or pony, it didn’t matter – the universe had an annoying tendency to put him together with others who liked to poke fun at him. He answered them in Equestrian, because pony mouths were simply incapable of speaking Vespid. “Heh, laugh all you want – at least I got the job done.”

“Congratulations, Thorax, you’ve just been promoted,” someone announced.

All eyes turned to the changeling descending from her perch on one of the overhanging boughs. Her carapace was thicker than normal, and had an extra sheen of iridescence that marked her as an overseer.

A quick rustle of the wings was the appropriate sign of respect, but in his current form he settled for a flutter of his feathery wings. “Overseer Skeehar, I’m honoured.”

She seemed more amused than pleased. “Oh, don’t thank me yet. I’m sending you right back into Canterlot.”

What?

Skeehar grinned. “Oh, yes. You’re now our lead infiltrator, and I’m tasking you with the responsibility of undermining Canterlot’s defences. All of it, mind you.”

He’d probably made a stupidly dismayed face, or something – everyone started snickering in one way or another.

Yep. The universe hates me.

“Of course, you’re taking three more to replace the idiots you just lured out. I understand they’re your closest siblings, so do try to not get yourselves killed.” The overseer surveyed the black sea of faces and called out, “Mandible, Chitin, Scritch; get over here!”

The looks on their faces were priceless – Mandy’s especially. Getting the chance to boss his annoying sister around? Hee hee! Rax instantly revised his assessment of the universe – maybe there was justice in it, after all.

“Uh, will there be any need to… enhance the authenticity of our encounter?” he asked. The first time round, after he’d taken Bludgeon’s form, Skeehar had ordered his siblings to give him a beating in order to make his story more convincing. Maybe it was just him, but he thought they’d taken a little too much pleasure in that particular task.

The overseer gave a sharp chirp – a plain no. “Improvise. Take their armour and their shapes – I want all of you back in the city by nightfall, and I want their defences down in time for the invasion,” Skeehar ordered. “Failure will result in… disciplinary measures that you are not likely to survive.” She gave them a toothy grin. “No pressure.”

The invasion was due in less than thirty hours. And they had to incapacitate Canterlot’s substantial forces within that time…

I was wrong, Universe. I still hate you.

* * * * *

It was an uneventful flight back to the city. Rax kept his form as Bludgeon, whilst Mandy went as Rainy, Chitin as Breezy and Scritch as Rivet. Two sisters and a brother – Skeehar was right in saying that he was rather close to them, although ‘close’ simply meant that he didn’t always want to bite off their heads. After all, Mandy, Scritch, Chitin and he had all been grubs from the same brood, and after all the backbiting they’d done together to make it into the warrior caste, they did share a special connection.

When they were nearing Canterlot, he noticed that Chitin was falling behind. He turned and saw his younger sister fidgeting in the armour, seemingly obsessed with something about the belly strap, for she kept looking down on it and nudging it around. It was a ridiculous sight with her trying to fly whilst doing so.

Rax called out, “Chitin, what is the matter with you?”

“It’s the stupid bellybutton – it’s making me nervous!”

You’ve got to be kidding me.

“I mean, what’s the point of having a hole there?” she continued, “I feel like my insides could start spilling out any minute!”

I just don’t have enough problems, it seems. Chitin was clearly unaccustomed to being a pony – amateur. Then again, she always was the littlest grub amongst them.

“Just suck it up and keep flying!” he yelled. “Your guts can’t spill out of your bellybutton!”

“And what’s this dangly thing supposed to be?”

Rax covered his face with a hoof. Of course… he’d be the one stuck with a sibling who’d not been paying attention in pony anatomy classes.

“You won’t want to mess with that,” Scritch commented.

Chiting tilted her head in puzzlement. “Why? Is it a sting? Seems awfully soft for one…”

Groaning in exasperation, Rax flitted close to his sister and snapped, “That’s an extremely disgusting organ that male ponies happen to have, so you’d best not muck around with it – just pretend it’s not there, okay?”

His sister’s curiosity was relentless. “But what is it for?”

He thought he felt an eye twitch. “Well, when a male and female pony like each other very much – argh!” he threw his hooves up in the air. “Why am I even telling you this?”

“Umm, what’s that?” Mandy suddenly asked.

Biting back a sharp retort, Rax looked ahead at what his sister was pointing at and nearly stalled. Canterlot city – it was inside a gigantic, pink, shimmering bubble. If he had to guess, it was a shield of some sort.

“Thorax, did you by any chance cause this?” Scritch demanded.

Who, me? It most definitely wasn’t. It had been the queen’s idea to play up the threat in order to get Shining Armour to send more guards out, but that was all. Unfortunately, the captain had clearly thought that a little extra caution was in order. And there was nothing Rax could’ve done about that.

“No,” he answered.

Of course, that didn’t stop Mandy and Scritch from pinning the blame on him. “You’re an idiot,” they said in unison.

Nope, never enough problems.

Chapter 3

A Royal Canterlot Wedding: Deleted Scenes (Chapter 3)

Boom.

Tinsel Hoop, assigned usher for the royal wedding, looked up from the list of guests and down the empty corridor on the right, where he thought the sound had come from. It had been faint, but it sure sounded like somepony had taken a sledgehammer to a brick wall or something.

Strange, that section was walled off – nopony had used it in a long, long time. Putting the thought aside for consideration at a later time, he returned his attention to the resplendent couple in front of him and said, “You are rather fortunate, Mister and Mistress Jade, the ceremony is underway, but you have not missed too much of it. Please, do go on in.”

The couple nodded their thanks and went through the doors into the Great Hall, and Tinsel went back to his list of attendees. That was pretty much the last of them – everypony had already gone in. Then, his eyes fell on one name he’d been told to cross out earlier – Twilight Sparkle, the bridegroom’s sister. He wondered just what she must have done to have her invitation revoked.

Boom.

A cracking sound followed the dull explosion. Tinsel was just about to ask the two guards posted at the entrance to check it out, when he remembered that they’d both rushed off to the restroom – at the same time, too. Slackers.

Boom. Crack.

This time, the sound was louder, and much, much nearer. Tinsel frowned and trotted towards the sound. When he turned round the corner and into the old corridor, he found pretty much what he expected – an empty walkway that abruptly ended in a solid wall of stone, windowless and dimly lit by a lone torch. It leaned downwards at a slight angle, had no adjacent rooms, and if memory served, the last chamberlain had declared it structurally unsafe and ordered it to be sealed off. He trotted right up to the wall, shed a little light on it from his horn and tapped it with a hoof. Solid stonework.

Boom!

He yelped and jumped backwards and landed on his rump. Somepony was on the other side of the wall!

Boom!

Fractures appeared, and some of the stone blocks shifted out of place. Dust drifted off them in little clouds. Tinsel felt another explosion rock the barrier, and the cracks widened and zigzagged out.

“Guards! Help!” he yelled.

Several ponies came running; none of them were guards, and they gawked as the middle of the wall fractured further and bulged out. Tinsel yelped again and scrambled out of the way just before the middle of it exploded in a shower of stone fragments and dust. The spectators gasped, and after he had wiped the dirt out of his eyes, Tinsel felt his jaw drop.

Twlight Sparkle?

What the hay was she doing in there?

The purple mare seemed mildly annoyed that she had an audience staring at her, but she simply ignored them and proceeded to widen the opening in the wall, ripping out more stone blocks with purple magic. No wonder they called her the Element of Magic – those blocks looked ridiculously heavy, and the grinding noise they made as she forced them apart were cringe-inducing.

When she was done, Twilight Sparkle turned around and addressed him directly, “Where is my brother?”

“Uh… in the Great Hall?”

“And where is Princess Cadence?”

Tinsel noticed that she’d pronounced the name as if it was a dirty word. Was that a trick question? “Uh… she’s… with him?”

And then, another figure clambered out from the other side of the wall. Pink, this time.

Princess Cadence?

“I, but… but…” He looked back in the direction of the Great Hall, where he was absolutely, positively certain that he’d seen the bride with the groom. He looked back at the pair of dishevelled, dusty ponies in front of him and stammered, “But… what… how?”

“How, indeed,” Princess Cadence muttered.

“Catch your breath, I’m going in,” the purple unicorn announced.

“Now, wait just a minute, you can’t – ”

He didn’t get to finish the sentence. One moment he was standing in front of her, the next, there was an explosion of light and he was suddenly hovering in air – after which gravity took over and he landed on his rump for the second time in the day, facing an empty, broken wall. When he turned around, he saw Twilight Sparkle galloping past the small crowd, who were giving her a very wide berth. Tinsel glanced back to the ruined wall, then to the weary pink alicorn, then back to the crowd who were muttering amongst themselves and beginning to trot after the purple unicorn. He sighed.

When this is over, I’m asking for a raise.

* * * * *

Celestia squinted against the blinding green pillar of fire, and then felt her hairs stand on end as she stared at the dark figure that had been her niece just a few seconds ago – the creature before her was a changeling queen! She had not seen one of those in centuries. Caution warred with the instinct to quickly strike her down, but thankfully the former won. Wherever there was a queen, there too would be the swarm. The guards had to be alerted.

She only had a few precious moments – when she was certain that the changeling was not intent on attacking immediately, she closed her eyes and cast a teleportation spell. It was a silent one, and it left no smoke or soot when she popped back into existence in the barracks.

“Guards!” she thundered.

Groans and retching noises answered her call – the guards were mostly on the floor, throwing up greenish gunk, along with whatever they’d had for breakfast that morning. Others were clutching their bellies and grimacing and moaning. Their weapons lay all about the floor, completely forgotten.

What happened here?

There was no time to find out; she could not rely on them.

Her next teleport took her to the garrison by the city’s gate, but she found the place oddly devoid of guards. There were only civilians milling about the place, looking on in astonishment at the sudden presence of their monarch. She frowned. The changeling queen... It had to be. There was no other explanation. She had done this to the guards, somehow, and the remainders were out on patrol!

The third time, Celestia teleported into her private chambers, where she found Philomena casually preening herself whilst perched on the mantelpiece.

“Philomena, I need your help,” she called out.

The phoenix tilted her head in curiosity.

“We are under attack, and the guards have been incapacitated – I need you to fly out of the city and gather every sentry and patrol you can find. Do whatever it takes to bring them back. Please, go!”

Philomena acknowledged her with a reassuring warble and flitted out the window, leaving a golden trail of fiery dust in her wake.

It was a flawed plan, but it was the best she had and she could not afford another delay. Celestia teleported back into the Great Hall just in time to find the changeling queen in the middle of a grand speech.

“ – soon, my Changeling army will break through. First we take Canterlot, and then, all of Equestria!”

Enough was enough. Celestia took a step forward.

“No, you won’t,” she growled.

* * * * *

Rax could see beams of light flashing out through the clerestory windows of the Great Hall – one side was green, the other was gold, and from the way the angles kept shifting back and forth, it was apparent that a magical duel was taking place within, most probably between Queen Chrysalis and the sun princess. He watched with mounting tension as neither light seemed to give way. Then… the gold portion flashed and grew until only a feeble ray of green shone out of the windows.

Not good.

“She can’t lose!” Chitin exclaimed, jaw dropping.

“She won’t,” Mandy asserted. “Our queen is much stronger than any pony princess.”

Rax wasn’t so sure, but all the doubt vanished when the green light suddenly flashed brighter, growing in intensity until it overwhelmed the gold. And then the light faded altogether. Their queen had won the battle.

“Told you,” Mandy huffed.

Looking up, Rax could see cracks appearing in the translucent pink dome above – the rest of the swarm were pounding on it, hundreds at a time. Poor grubs, using their faces as battering rams couldn’t have been very pleasant. Overseer Skeehar must be having a field day making his siblings martyr their complexions for the swarm. Oh well, it wasn’t as if they all looked amazing to begin with.

A guard, one who apparently hadn’t drunk any cider, was making his way towards them, led by a concerned-looking earth mare. He froze when he got closer, staring. Rax raised a hoof to touch his ear and felt his stiff, chitinous one instead of the soft and hairy version of his pony form.

Oops. His disguise must have slipped off from all the pheromones coursing through his body. The air was positively thick with it. Time for the real fun to start! He smiled at the mare and stallion and shifted fully into changeling form with a flash of green fire, baring his fangs for good measure.

The mare leading the guard screamed.

Mammals. If he still had pony eyeballs, he would have rolled them.

They pounced all at once, and Rax savoured the look on the guards face, with the tiny pinprick pupils, gaping mouth and drooping ears when he realised that he had four changelings sitting on top of him. The stallion wriggled and thrashed, but to no avail, as Rax and his siblings set their glands to work and began wrapping him up in sticky resin. When they were finished, the pegasus was sprawled over the ground in a very compromised position, with limbs outstretched at odd angles and a new, panicky expression on his face as he struggled to break free. The rapidly hardening resin creaked and stretched a bit, but held fast.

Satisfied with their work, Rax glanced about and found the tattling mare nearby, shaking and shivering as she cowered under a table of a nearby eatery.

Still here? That pony really needed to get her sense of self-preservation checked – it was probably broken. Not that he was going to complain if they wanted to make it easy, though. He began trotting towards the mare, but Mandy beat him to it. The mare stared at his sister, apparently rooted to her spot under the table. Rax and the others caught up and stood by their sister, effectively cutting off any escape for the petrified mare.

Mandy grinned and leaned under the table. “Boo,” she said.

Rax had to make several attempts to review his memory to make sure he’d gotten the details right – he wanted to cement that moment in his memory forever. The pony had basically screamed her loudest wail of terror yet, and bolted out from under the table faster than most changelings could blink. The table and several chairs had been overturned, and Mandy had had her legs bowled out from under her, doing several somersaults in the air and landing on her chin, with her forelegs splayed out, body bent backwards and hind legs and tail dangling over her head in the most undignified manner. Her eyes were scrunched tight from the pain, and when she tried to right herself, she found that her fang was tightly wedged in a gap between the pavements.

That was too much. Rax, Chitin and Scritch started snickering.

Mandy narrowed her eyes at them and growled, “Har har. Now stop acting like clowns and help me up!”

“It’s amazing how you totally got your shell handed to you by that pony,” Rax quipped. Chitin and Scritch continued laughing.

Still, he did assist her by grabbing her head and yanking it off the ground like a turnip. She shoved him away after that, but he was feeling gracious enough to let that slide. Changelings didn’t go red like ponies, but Mandy’s translucent wings were flushed with a lot more colour than usual at the moment. It totally made up for the sugar incident earlier.

Screams began to fill the air. Looks like the ponies had finally noticed them, plus the army directly above the city. Rax eyed his surroundings, taking note of the frightened faces peeping out from windows, the clip clop of hooves as ponies on the street fled in the opposite direction whenever he looked directly at them. Well, that’s no fun. Chasing was good, but fighting was better – the pheromones were making him itch for a real battle.

Back at the palace, he spied six ponies galloping down the steps and into the courtyard, apparently heading for one of the annexes in the royal keep. As he watched them, there was a sound like shattering glass, and the protective barrier above the city disintegrated.

“Took them long enough,” Scritch commented.

Rax took to the air and angled in the direction he’d seen the six ponies running. “Come on, we’ve got mammals to hunt.”

* * * * *

The creatures looked like some disgusting cross between a bug and a pony, and they were everywhere, making horrible buzzing noises like a swarm of bees. Tufty’s gastric plight was temporarily forgotten as she watched one of them come whizzing down like a green firework, crashing into the ground barely five tail-lengths away. She shielded her face with a hoof, and gasped when the thing clambered out of the crater and leapt at her. She cried out in alarm and groped for something, anything nearby with her magic. Her spell found a loose object, and she swung it with all her magical might – and a foldable deck chair smacked the bug-pony aside.

Pain wracked her belly once more. It felt like her guts were all ballooned up, holding in an entire river that was just waiting to come out – and a muddy one at that… No, she did not need that kind of imagery right now! She glanced around, saw royal guards being violently subdued and wrapped up in greenish-yellow stuff. More bug-ponies were raining down.

Tufty made up her mind. She galloped towards the nearest bush and leapt right into the middle of it, making a mental apology to the gardener for what she was about to do. The sounds she made as she went about her business were best left un-described and forgotten as soon as possible.

Oh… She let out a huge sigh of relief. The pressure was gone; her bloated innards could finally relax.

Tufty ground her teeth and singled out one of the creatures harassing a civilian. Okay, payback time. She exploded out of the bush and bucked it right in the flank. Belatedly, she realised that she was still a little weak from the indigestion – the thing recovered after a second and struck back with a vicious kick. She angled herself so that the blow glanced off her armour, then grabbed its extended leg with magic and jerked it off balance, then tripped it with a low kick of her own. It landed on its side, and Tufty bucked it again and sent it spinning on its back and tumbling down the street like an upside-down tortoise – those things had pretty slippery shells.

The stallion she’d just saved stammered his thanks and galloped off.

“Come on, bring it!” Tufty roared at the bugs.

About five of them crashed into the ground before her, and before she could do anything, there were multiple explosions of green fire. When the flames were gone, there were five of… five of her… all of them grinning menacingly.

“Bring it!” they shouted back, in her own voice.

Shapeshifters? Oh, ponyfeathers.

Tufty wasn’t stupid – not completely, anyway – she wouldn’t be able to handle five-on-one. She chuckled nervously, spun round and broke into a gallop just as the band of fake Tufties charged. She went back the way she’d come, rushing past houses and shops and gardens that were in the process of being wrecked by the swarm of bug-ponies. Her belly still ached a little, but that was pretty low on her list of concerns. Civilians and fellow guards were being pummelled and wrapped up in green stuff like gross cocoons, and she felt a pang of guilt for not helping – but she had problems of her own.

She ran on and on, until she was nearly back at the street where she’d left Hay Bale, still with the five copies of her close behind. She saw more ponies being captured, and her conscience decided to move up from pricking her hide to outright sticking her flank with a pitchfork.

This wasn’t what a Guard was supposed to do – maybe being stupid was better than being a coward. She found a discarded spear by the street and grabbed it with her magic, then whirled round to face her pursuers. That seemed to surprise them – the closest one skidded to a halt, and she whacked its head with the shaft of the spear. The next one received similar treatment, and she bucked the third. The next two leapt upon her before she could defend herself, and they transformed back into their bug shapes and started smearing green stuff on her coat – it came oozing out from the holes in their legs.

The stuff was sticky, and it was hardening fast. Tufty struggled as they went round and round, smearing more of it and hitting her every now and then to keep her off balance. She fell, and her cheek landed in a patch of green and stuck fast.

No no no!

In desperation, she reached out with magic and grabbed the spear she’d dropped, but only managed to distract one of the bugs. The others were coming back. One of them slapped her horn, and her spell fizzed out.

The creature hissed in her face, and on a moment’s whim partially fuelled by hysteria and frustration, Tufty snarled back at it. It flew away.

She blinked in surprise, and it took her a moment to realise that it had flown sideways, and it had begun with an impact. She then saw the figure that had taken its place and could have pranced in joy if she hadn’t been glued to the ground.

“Baley!”

“Be with you in a sec,” said the stocky mare as she bucked the other insect and rammed another that was beyond her line of sight, stuck as she was.

Tufty strained against the sticky stuff again, wincing as it pulled painfully at the hairs on her cheek. Suddenly, she felt Baley grab hold of her, and the mare said, “Sorry bud, this might hurt a bit.”

“Yeow!”

A bit? It was a massive understatement. The hardening stuff stretched like taffy and snapped like rubber, probably taking off a good patch of coat on her cheek. Still, Tufty counted herself lucky that she was wearing her helmet, or she might have lost quite a bit of mane as well.

They wasted no time in rallying everypony within earshot.

“This way, ponies!” Baley shouted, “We’re moving to the barracks!”

Tufty retrieved her spear and whirled it around like a rotor blade whenever a bug-pony got too close. It was more for show than anything and was magically taxing, but it did give pause to potential assailants. Some civilians and guards rushed to her and Hay Bale, and only two other stallions in armour were in fighting condition. As one, their little group beat a hasty retreat, with the stallion guards in the lead and her bringing up the rear. Baley circled around them, keeping the creatures at bay with her heavy kicks.

Slowly but surely, they made their way through the streets, constantly harried by the black shelled ponies. When they were about two blocks away from the barracks, Tufty noticed that some of them were breaking away and heading off in another direction. There seemed to be a major fight going down in one of the main roads, involving a whole multi-coloured mass of ponies. It took her a moment to recognise the Elements of Harmony from such a distance – all hundred-something of them.

“What the heck?” Hay Bale exclaimed when she noticed what Tufty was looking at.

“Shapeshifters,” she simply said.

“Wow.”

“Uh huh.”

Her companion looked at their current charges, then shifted her gaze back towards the crowd of Element bearers, as if unsure of who had greater priority. “Shouldn’t we do something?” she asked.

Tufty took a second to mull it over, then shook her head. “The Elements can handle themselves, I think.” She glanced at the civilians they were escorting and added, “These guys on the other hoof can’t.”

Hay Bale acknowledged the reality of the situation with a curt nod, but her frown made it clear that she didn’t like being unable to help everypony at once.

There was something that had been bugging Tufty for a while, and she figured that now was as good a time as any to ask about it. “Are you all right?”

Baley gave her an odd look. “Yeah, I feel fine. Why?”

She gestured at the guards amongst them who looked positively green and were clutching their bellies every now and then. “I suspect food poisoning – I wasn’t so good myself, back there.” Then the thought hit her like a bag of bricks. “That cider… that must have been it!”

The earth mare frowned. “You sure? You look fine to me.”

“I do, now. But, remember when I needed to use the bathroom?”

A raised eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“It didn’t end well.” If only she could scour her brain of that memory for good…

Thankfully, Baley didn’t press for details, but she wasn’t entirely convinced, either. “Well, I had plenty, and I still feel okay.”

Mystery for the ages. Tufty filed it away for contemplation at a more leisurely time – right now, she just wanted to get everypony to safety.

* * * * *

The pickings had been easy so far. Rax and his siblings had already subdued and wrapped up several guards and regular ponies, and they were now hovering through the streets, searching for more. Squads of other changelings were busy fighting and cornering ponies, and finding victims yet to be claimed was getting a little hard. He’d lost sight of the six ponies earlier, but it seemed that the rest of the swarm had found them. He spared a few seconds to watch the chaotic tangle of flailing limbs and wings, but decided that there were quite enough of them already.

“Aren’t we going to help?” asked Chitin.

“A hundred on six? As if they need any,” Mandy scoffed.

Rax shared the sentiment – surely there were more ponies that were yet to be dealt with.

“How about those?” Scritch suggested, pointing at a group of ponies a street away, being herded to the barracks by several guards. Two amongst them stood out, wearing midnight blue armour and resembling bats in appearance.

Rax grinned at his siblings and simply said, “Chase me.”

* * * * *

A hysterical scream filled the air as a pale blue unicorn mare came galloping towards their group, with three of the bugs close on her tail. One of them snapped at her, and she yelped and nearly lost her balance, but kept galloping as if her life depended on it.

“Baley, a little help!” Tufty shouted as she doubled back to protect the newcomer.

The fleeing mare galloped right past her, and she whirled the spear once more to deter the three oncoming bugs, who snarled and spread out in three directions in an effort to flank her. Luckily, Hay Bale made it just a little bit harder for them by charging into the fray – one of them panicked and took to the air as she bulldozed another clean through a shop window.

Tufty looked back at the group and saw the blue unicorn safely amongst the rest of the civilians, being soothed by one of the other guards as they pushed forward to the safety of the barracks.

No sooner had she turned back to face the assailants than there came a flash of green light from behind, giving her a long shadow for a split second. It was followed by a cacophony of screams and confused shouts, and when she’d whirled back to see what was the matter, she found their entire group in disarray, with everypony running in just about every direction at once, with a lone bug-pony standing in the middle of it all, smirking mischievously.

Ponyfeathers. Those things were more creative than she’d given them credit for… just how many of her companions might be one of those in disguise? It was a disturbing thought, but one that she couldn’t entertain right now. The barracks was close enough – they could make a run for it. It was too late to hope that they could regroup anyway, given the state of panic that the civilians were in.

“Get to the barracks, run!” she shouted. "We'll hold them back!"

Some ponies obeyed, but it took another shout or two to get the attention of the rest. Her fellow guards quickly picked up on the cue and began herding the others towards safety. More of the creatures were closing in, and there was no time left to dilly-dally – they galloped off, some carrying the injured or incapacitated, leaving Tufty and Hay Bale to deal with the shapeshifters. She glared at the one which had formerly been the fleeing mare, gritting her teeth as she galloped to catch up as it pounced on a hapless pony.

“Hey, chew on this!” she yelled as she jabbed her spear at it.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what it did. It leapt off its victim and sidestepped her strike, then viciously chomped down on the shaft just behind the spearhead. There was a sharp crack, and Tufty instinctively withdrew and realised that she was left with little more than a long stick with splinters at one end. Oh.

The shapeshifter lunged, but surprised as she was about her ruined spear, she was ready for it. She discarded her weapon and braced herself, leaning into the blow with her full weight. They were both staggered for a moment, but quickly recovered and began wrestling and tumbling on the street. Tufty tasted sweat and felt the sting of it in her eyes; there was also the grinding of dirt and stone against her armour and hide as she struggled to pin down the bug pony. It snarled and gave her a head-butt to the face.

Oh, really? She growled and paid it back in kind, grinning as it gave a choked off cry and reeled. I’m the one with a helmet, you dummy. With its grip loosened, she swept a hoof low and knocked it off its legs.

Gah! She’d forgotten about its wings – as soon as it lost its footing, it barrel-rolled to the side in mid-air, and before she could get over her sudden loss of a tactical advantage, it had flanked her and grabbed her from behind, taking to the sky with all the speed of a racer at full gallop. Tufty gasped as the ground fell away with alarming speed, watching Hay Bale and the bugs she was fighting shrink into the distance.

The bug pony chuckled. “Think you can fly?” it asked.

Tufty gulped. Under normal circumstances, she might have lost control of her bladder – flight magic was way out of her league, and they were several hundred tail-lengths up in the sky, for crying out loud! But the buzzing of the creature’s wings had given her an idea. A crazy one, but it was better than nothing.

“Nope. Can you?” she retorted, flaring her horn.

It looked confused for a moment, until Tufty managed to channel enough magic to grab its wings and force them to a standstill. The bug pony let loose a startled shriek as they began to plummet. She felt her stomach rise to her throat and fought the urge to flail around – something which her carrier had no qualms about doing. She held on tight to the holey forelegs around her chest, ignoring the dints its flailing kicks made on her armour and concentrating on keeping its wings locked up. The ground rushed up with alarming speed, and she nearly succumbed to a panic attack when they started spinning in free fall, but through it all, she was counting.

Three…

Two…

One!

Tufty released her spell’s hold on the creature’s wings and felt a gut-wrenching jerk from the sudden deceleration as it fought to regain height. Still, it was not enough to stop their fall, and they ripped right through what felt like a canvas roof. There was a dumpster below, with its lid most inconveniently shut. They smashed into it with enough force to make a sizeable dent, and unfortunately, Tufty happened to be underneath the bug when they hit.

The first thing she was aware of after the impact was a gnawing ache in her chest and limbs, along with the weight of a limp body on top of hers. Also, for some reason, the world wouldn’t stop spinning, no matter how much she blinked. She moaned and collapsed where she lay, quite happy to just breathe and wait for her pounding heart to calm down.

* * * * *

Rax groaned. His chest plating felt like it might have fractured; although the unicorn had sort of broken his fall, her armour didn’t help to make the landing any softer. He really shouldn’t have underestimated the stupid mare.

There was a buzz of wings, and Scritch appeared round a corner and into the back alley they’d fallen into.

“Oh, there you are. We’ve been – ” His brother came to a stationary hover, eyes wide. “Eww, what are you – ” he began, and would have said more if a white pegasus in golden armour hadn’t suddenly slammed into him at an angle from above and smacked him into the wall. He didn’t get back up.

“Sergeant… Arrow?” the unicorn beneath him groaned.

“Cavalry’s back; more are on the way,” the newcomer replied, and began advancing menacingly on them. On Rax, specifically. That was, until the stallion stopped dead in his tracks and stared. Disgust and rage twisted his face as he roared, "Get away from her, you little hayseed!”

Rax blinked. What are you talking about, meathead? He looked down, and found two dazed amber eyes looking back. The mare was apparently still too traumatised from the crash landing to do anything but stare. Then, it occurred to him just what sort of an exploitive position he was in over the female pony – there she was, splayed out on top of the dumpster, with him poised directly over her, both of them seemingly worn out...

Oh, you have got to be kidding me. He frantically scrambled off the mare and waved both forelegs in protest. “No, no, no, it’s not what you were thinking!” he screeched. “That doesn’t even work!”

Too late, he realised that he’d been speaking Vespid, although later on he would have concluded that the pegasus wouldn’t have been inclined to listen even if he’d had the presence of mind to use Equine. The guard charged, yelling, “You’re going to pay for – herkkk!”

Two black projectiles intercepted the pegasus from above, bashing him on the helmet and causing him to crash face-first into the ground. His words ended in a garbled cry of pain. Rax was beginning to sense a theme, here.

“Mandible? Chitin?”

“Less talking, more helping,” the bigger of his sisters chittered, already busy smearing resin on the incapacitated guard.

Rax obliged, and upon closer inspection he found an assortment of scratches and freshly cut grooves on Mandy’s carapace. “What happened with the other bat-guard?”

“She got away along with half of the group. It would’ve taken us too long to break into the barracks.”

“She was a tough one – I think she cracked my horn,” Chitin mumbled, rubbing it tenderly with one hoof as she used the other to wrap up the pegasus.

“You’ll be fine next moult. Get over it,” Mandy asserted. She flexed her forelimbs back and forth, making sure that the joints hadn’t cracked or warped out of shape from all the brawling she’d put them through.

Which reminded Rax… he glanced back at the dumpster and found that the mare he’d fought had disappeared. A quick flit about the place confirmed that she was no longer around. Clever girl…

Well, at any rate, the city was theirs. Most of the guards were already subdued, and it won’t be long before the rest were taken care of.

“Tch… what happened?” Scritch suddenly asked.

All eyes turned to the changeling groggily sitting up on his haunches. There was a little puddle of drool where he’d been laying for the past couple of minutes. He was sporting a little crack on the shiny carapace of his head where the stallion guard had struck him, and he looked a little concussed.

“Simple. You were napping when we were taking care of business,” Mandy droned.

“Was not – oww…” Scritch winced when he rubbed at the crack on his forehead.

Just then, the ensnared pegasus began to strain against his sticky bonds and growled, “Urgh… you will not… get away with this…”

“I think we already have. Sorry,” Chitin opined innocently.

The guard glared at her as if he would have liked to pop her head clean off, but it was impotent frustration – he could not break free. Once done with the guard, they took to the air and scanned the city, looking for a place that wasn’t already being swarmed by their siblings.

“Any reason nobody’s taken that one?” Scritch asked, pointing towards a tower. It was pretty much untouched, and judging from the classy style of its construction – by equine standards anyway – it looked like it belonged to an important pony. One that was apparently obsessed with astronomy, considering the dark blue, starry motif.

“Easily fixed,” Rax answered. He flitted up to one of its windows and entered, and he heard his siblings buzz in a moment later.

Chapter 4

A Royal Canterlot Wedding: Deleted Scenes (Chapter 4)

It was difficult to see; the world was tinted green, and it was upside down. Princess Celestia tried to shout, to call for help, but realised that her throat and lungs were flooded with something thick and viscous. Her heart sank when she saw that she was encased in a cocoon full of the stuff; she was practically swimming in it. Odd, though, that she apparently didn’t need to breathe. Perhaps the fluid was somehow sustaining her, which was rather interesting. But there were more pressing matters at hoof; she had to go to the aid of her subjects.

Unfortunately, her horn refused to do anything, and Celestia couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. Her powers were intact, that much she knew, but she could not channel it. And… what did she need magic for, again?

She shook her head vigorously, and the haziness in her mind was temporarily gone. Something in the fluid was muddling her thoughts, preventing her from using magic. Or from doing anything useful, it seemed. Come to think of it, she was feeling rather sleepy. Maybe she could rest for five more minutes, then think of a way of getting back at the changeling queen when she was done. Yes, that seemed like a sound plan…

No! Stay focused!

She fought against the fatigue, but she could feel her resolve slipping…

As she watched the blurred figures trot around below, her eyelids began to slide shut. The idea was revolting, but Celestia had to admit that her cocoon was really comfortable…

* * * * *

The city was in chaos. The shapeshifters were capturing ponies left, right and centre, beating up those who resisted and terrorising those who didn’t. Tufty shrank back into the shadows amongst a bunch of trash cans when a group of them buzzed overhead, wincing when her joints protested with little flashes of pain. She was also still a little miffed that her opportunity to sneak away from the bug ponies earlier had come at the cost of Sergeant Arrow’s capture, and she’d been unable to help.

Or maybe unwilling, her conscience prodded.

Tufty mentally shook her head. It wouldn't have been smart. She’d been hurt, and they would still have outnumbered Arrow and her. She’d tried being heroic. Now, maybe it was time to start thinking less like a Royal Guard and more like a Night Guard; strike from the shadows, act only when it will make a difference, do what must be done. Even if that meant withholding help to ponies who desperately needed it right now.

She slunk out of her hidey hole, taking care to keep to the shadows. Whenever somepony nearby cried out for help whilst fighting or being chased by a bug pony, she reminded herself that any assistance rendered there and then would be wasted. A lone guard couldn’t hold back an army. Heck, even the returning patrols were proving ineffective at stopping the invaders. The best they seemed able to do was to form pockets of resistance here and there, constantly gnawed at from all sides by the shapeshifters. No, Tufty needed to find somepony who could make a real difference. Princess Celestia would have been the obvious choice, but the Great Hall was too far away. She’d be caught before reaching it. Luna’s tower, on the other hoof…

Where are they, anyway? The princesses hadn’t come to anypony’s rescue, as far as she knew. A disturbing thought came to her; had the princesses been poisoned like the guards? In any case, there was no point in wondering. She’d get their help if they weren’t, she’d think of something else if they were. Right now, she needed to focus on getting to Luna’s tower without being spotted. She was currently in the back alley of a bunch of shop houses, and she’d have a shaded route with plenty of cover for at least three quarters of the way. She’d then have to cross a street in full sunlight to make the last sprint to the palace grounds.

She managed to make it through the shady areas without incident, and stopped just at the corner shop of the street she needed to cross. It had pretty much been ransacked, and there was nopony around. She clambered in through the broken window on her side and peeped out of the one that was properly facing the palace on the opposite side. There were a few ponies ensnared in green gunk down one end of the street, and a few shapeshifters were buzzing around. When she thought that no one was looking, she clambered out. A brief pause, and she took a deep breath.

Here goes.

She dashed across the street, leaping over trash and debris, praying that nothing would see. After reaching the other side, she continued past the unguarded gate and galloped over the grass, making a straight line for the nearest doorway into the palace.

Nothing came for her. No screeches, no buzzing of wings; nothing at all. There were just more of the same sounds of clashes between guards and bugs and panicked ponies in the distance. It was all rather anticlimactic, to be honest. Tufty had been expecting a minor scuffle, at the very least.

Then again, considering how things had been going for the past few hours, it would have been pretty ungrateful of her to complain about a bit of dumb luck.

* * * * *

The tower itself was round in shape from the outside, but the window led to an interior that was roughly in the shape of a crescent moon. There was a stairwell off to the side, and a few ornate, wooden chairs and a table stood just outside of the massive doors on the curving inner wall of the tower. Whoever lived in this tower was probably one of the decadent types; a perfect victim for feeding on its love. He or she even had guards, as evidenced by the pair of discarded spears leaning by the door. He could just imagine them panicking and rushing to the restrooms as soon as the indigestion settled in. No matter how tough, every pony eventually succumbed to the resin; they’d have to get it out of their systems, through one end or the other.

Rax trotted up to the doors and pushed them halfway open, as quietly as he could. He peered in, and was slightly annoyed to find Chitin peeking from between his legs, and Mandy hovering above his head. He ignored them, though, and focused on what lay inside. It was dimly lit, but his eyes adjusted easily to the weak light. The room was even more resplendent that the marble interior of the tower; there was a huge bed by the curtained window, plump cushions on the floor, a plush carpet, antique furniture, tallow candles on their golden stands; all the sort of things that only nobility could afford. The pair of gigantic speakers in the room did seem a little out of place, though. There was one on each side of the bed.

Then, he saw her. Dark blue coat, starry mane and tail, wings and a horn; this wasn’t some rich pony noble, it was an alicorn. She was lying on the bed with her back turned to them, sides rising and dropping with the slow, calm breaths of sleep.

“Um, should we call for help? This one might be waaay out of our league…” Chitin expressed.

“She’s asleep,” Mandy stated. “We can weaken her first.”

“What are you all blabbering about?” Scritch demanded. He still couldn’t see inside with the three of them blocking the view. Rax felt a sharp tug and was suddenly yanked backwards, landing on his rump. He scowled as his brother quickly took his place without so much as a sorry or thank you.

“Okay… I see what you mean,” was all the dumb grub said.

Rax didn’t answer. Princess Luna, the so called princess of the night. He knew that alicorns were powerful, and they should call for help, but he couldn’t help feeling that the risk was worth it. Changeling drones, taking down a princess? Even though there were four of them, the feat would still be glorious! And in addition to being oblivious to the chaos outside, to the point of being able to sleep, even, she hardly looked like the sort who could intimidate anyone. She was so lanky and… for lack of a better term… prissy-looking.

“So… are we going to take her on or what?” asked Scritch.

Mandy responded by nudging past him and creeping onto the thick carpet, treading as lightly as she could. They all followed suit, and Rax found that they didn’t even need to try very hard at being stealthy. The carpet was so thick and soft.

Once he was a few steps in, he realised why the alicorn was unaware of the invasion. Suddenly, all the sounds from outside were non-existent, and he could only hear noise coming from within the room – their shallow breathing, the tiny clicks of their wings twitching in anticipation. There was a silencing spell in the room; no sound came in, no sound went out.

They edged closer and closer, until they were right next to the bed, surrounding the princess. She continued to be oblivious to their presence, and they could even hear her snoring softly. Her eyes were moving beneath their lids; she was clearly dreaming.

“Well, this is going to be easy,” Mandy noted.

Maybe. Rax and shared a look with his siblings, and as one, they all channelled what little magic they had into a combined dream-stalker spell. A green aura enveloped the alicorn’s head, and she shifted a little in reaction to the intrusion of four strangers into her subconscious.

Changelings ideally fed on the positive emotions of wakeful ponies, with love being the most nourishing, but they could also feed on the directionless, nebulous feelings in their dreams – the more pleasant the dream, the better. Rax could even ‘glimpse’ scattered fragments of what she was dreaming about. Smiling faces, a friend or two, an approving sister, windy willows under a moonlit sky…

It was those feelings that they tapped into, carefully siphoning them off. Rax felt a surge of power as he fed, there was an almost electrical buzz in his horn as his reserves of magic were replenished, to be later converted into nourishment or simply used for spells. After almost a minute of feeding, he felt ready to take on an army. So this is what real power feels like. Alicorn emotions were some pretty volatile stuff; he’d never gotten that much energy from one sitting before!

There was also something else in her subconscious, like a shadow lurking beneath the tranquil surface of a lake. Curiosity piqued, Rax probed a little deeper. Sometimes, the best memories and emotions needed a little digging in order to bring them out. His siblings became aware of what he was doing and followed his example, twisting their collective consciousness further into the depths.

But then something didn’t feel quite right… the flavour of the emotions began to change, from the sweetness of happiness to something more… sour, bitter, sharp. He opened his eyes without breaking the spell and realised that the blue alicorn was grimacing in her sleep. Maybe they’d fed too eagerly or gone too deep; her dreams were taking a turn for the worse. She moaned and shifted uncomfortably, and he could feel a sense of dread growing in her mind.

“Stop!” he hissed to his siblings.

“What did you do?” Scritch hissed in return.

Rax severed the connection and scowled at his brother. “What did I do? There are too many of us feeding. We need to stop this now or she’ll wake up!”

“Will you two shut up? We’ve got power now. Let’s just take her down!” Mandy interjected.

“Uh oh,” Chitin suddenly commented, pointing.

Rax looked back to the alicorn and saw her twitching. Her breathing was heavy, and her muscles were all tensed up, and… was that black smoke coming out of her coat? He risked a little probe into her subconscious and felt the bitter and scalding taste of resentment and rage, many times the intensity of a normal pony. He hastily pulled out and backed away. They all did.

“Traitors…” the princess muttered through clenched teeth, eyes still shut tight.

Rax’s heart rate was climbing. She knows we’re here?

“After all I did for them…” she continued, seemingly to no one in particular. A snarl escaped her lips, and she suddenly began twitching and moving her legs as if she was galloping. Her mane and tail seemed to writhe along with her body, and a bit of it lashed out in his direction. Rax chittered in surprise and took a few steps further backward… and then tripped over a stool and crashed into something shaped like a box. Disgusted at his clumsiness, he swatted at the offending object, only to feel his leg strike what felt like a button, smashing it in and cracking the object’s surface. Something clicked, and blue lights suddenly came to life on the massive speakers on both sides of the bed of the thrashing alicorn.

Oh, hayse –

The pony expletive hadn’t even completely formed in his mind when he was suddenly thrown back by the explosion of sound from the speakers. It felt like an actual shockwave, and all candles in the room instantly went out. The only source of light remaining was the blue glow from the speakers and the magical aura on the alicorn’s horn.

The ripping screech of electric guitars and the thunder of drums assaulted his ears; each pulse of sound felt like it was going to split his carapace and shatter his horn. He collapsed to the carpeted floor, groaning and wincing. Even the fibres on the carpet seemed to shudder with every sound wave.

“Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the mares are pretty,”

The alicorn princess’ eyes snapped open, glowing a pure white. She snarled again, and Rax thought he could see fangs in her mouth.

“ – Oh won’t you please take me ho-ooome!”

Sweet Chrysalis! He tried to cover his ears, but it did not help; he couldn’t think with all that blaring noise! A quick glance told him that his siblings were faring no better. Chitin was curled up in a ball, Mandy was burrowing her head under a cushion, and Scritch was yelling something at him which he couldn’t hear.

“Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the mares are pretty,”

Rax got the gist of his brother’s gesturing, though. Thoroughly panicked, he searched for the music player he’d stumbled into and nearly moaned in despair when hitting the stop button had absolutely no effect on the speakers whatsoever.

“ – Oh won’t you please take me ho-ooome!” the singer blared from the speakers. The voice was just as ear-splittingly, shell-crackingly loud as the music. Every ornament in the room was shaking.

Oh sweet Chrysalis, make it stop, make it stop! His head felt like it was being squeezed in a vice, and his whole body was beginning to twitch uncontrollably. He ground his teeth, and instantly regretted it; he felt like the vibrations were going to shatter them. It took a huge effort to simply unclench his jaw.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it; the princess was on fire. Literally. Rax gaped as blue flames erupted on various parts of her body and spread, leaving a pure black coat when it faded away. Her body seemed to stretch and grow, until she was just about as tall as Queen Chrysalis in her true form. Her mane and tail changed to lighter hues of purple and blue, but it continued to writhe in agitation. She snorted, and blue fire and smoke jetted out of her nostrils.

Don’t just stand there, do something, idiot! And then it hit him – he was an idiot. He grabbed the music player and found the wire connecting it to the rest of the sound system and bit it clean in half.

“Just an urchin living under – ”

The music abruptly stopped; there was only the hum of a current running through the still-active speakers.

Much better…

Rax heaved a sigh of relief as clarity returned to his mind. He could finally think straight! And that was when the now black alicorn decided to lob a bolt of lightning in his direction. He just had enough time to flick his wings open and zip to the side as a cushion was annihilated into a pile of ash. Chitin, Scritch and Mandy had already taken cover by then, and once he had ascertained that his siblings had all recovered from the audial trauma, he hissed, bared his fangs and channelled his newly siphoned magic into a counterattack.

Four against one, Princess, with you weakened and we freshly fed. Fancy transformation magic was not going to save her, even if taking the image of the fabled Nightmare Moon did make her appear a tad more intimidating. He felt his spell joined by the magic from his siblings, and as one, they blasted a green bolt of energy directly at the black alicorn. She shrieked when it struck her horn and was thrown against her dressing table, which promptly splintered from the force of the impact.

Well… that was easy.

The princess rose, with loose accessories and splinters of wood sliding off her body. She was wearing a decidedly furious scowl, and her horn was crackling with blue energy.

Or not…

The dark alicorn, which he was starting to mentally refer to as Nightmare Moon, snarled in a voice that rippled with power, “Worthless insects. You dare – ”

Crack!

Her speech was interrupted via an instant vase to the face. It shattered into a hundred pieces, and Rax turned and saw Mandy with her horn aglow, with several other household objects hovering in the air by her side.

Nightmare Moon snorted and glared at his sister. “Insolent whel – ”

Bing! An alarm clock struck her on the forehead.

She reeled and snarled, “Try that again, and I’ll – ”

Fwoomp! A huge, poufy cushion impaled itself on her horn, covering her face and smothering her words.

“Running out of things to throw, here,” Mandy hissed, as Nightmare Moon sputtered and sneezed from all the down leaking out of the pillow. “Do something!”

The dark alicorn ripped the cushion in half with magic and violently tossed aside the remains, sending loose down flying everywhere. She then inhaled deeply and bellowed, “ENOUGH!”

Whump!

Eeeeeeeeeeeee…

For a moment, Rax thought he’d gone deaf; there was nothing but a high pitched ringing in his ears. The vocal shockwave had sent every loose object in the room flying, including him and his siblings. His back ached from the impact when he’d hit the bedroom wall. He shook his head to clear it and nearly whimpered in dismay when he saw one of the huge speakers hovering over him. He just managed to roll to safety before Nightmare Moon smashed it into the spot where he’d been a second earlier.

Keep cool, he told himself. Don’t panic. They still outnumbered the alicorn, and they still had plenty of power in reserve. So what if she was a tougher nut to crack than expected? They were changelings and she was a pony, and predators never ran from their prey!

Rax channelled a sizeable portion of his power into a beam of green fire and blasted it directly at the dark alicorn, who met it with her own beam of crackling, blue magic. He grimaced when he felt the immense force behind her magic; it was steadily pushing his back as if it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

But when he was just about to give up, two more beams of green fire joined his own, halting the advance of Nightmare’s magic. From the corner of his eye, Rax saw Chitin and Scritch with determined expressions on their faces as they channelled their newly acquired magic to assist him. He almost felt like hugging them for helping out when they could have so easily just buzzed off to leave him with the alicorn. Almost.

Unfortunately for them, Nightmare Moon’s magic was still stronger than all three combined. Her beam of energy was slowly but steadily pushing theirs back, and there was an almost predatory grin on her face as she watched them struggle.

Mandy, where are you!

Then, he saw her, circling the room, clinging to the ceiling. Rax suppressed a grin as his sister positioned herself to strike the alicorn from above and behind, charging up a globe of green magic on the tip of her horn…

Nightmare Moon’s tail whipped up and twisted into a clawed shape, grabbing Mandy by the throat. The changeling let out a choked cry as the spell on her horn fizzled out, and a second later, she was plucked from the ceiling and flung right into Scritch and Chitin. They all collapsed into a tangled heap of limbs and wings. With his siblings’ support gone, Rax reeled under the renewed pressure from Nightmare’s magic and released his spell, darting to the side to avoid getting blasted by the blue beam of energy. It left a smouldering hole in the carpet.

The alicorn wasn’t done with them, though. The next thing Rax knew, Mandy was flying towards him, and he was bashed sideways into an overturned table. He squinted through the red haze of pain in his forehead… and saw Nightmare Moon’s mane grasping his sister’s tail, and she was using her as a club to bludgeon Scritch and Chitin. Mandy was screeching and flailing about, which was only going to make things more unpleasant for all of them. If getting the snot beaten out of them wasn’t so blasted painful, Rax might have laughed at the situation.

It was time for to forget about taking all the glory for themselves. The princess of the night was something that only the Queen would be able to handle. Fumbling with a spell, he searched for the scattered remains of ripped cushions and burnt carpet and gathered as much as he could, then flung the whole lot of it into the alicorn’s eyes. She hissed and released her hold of Mandy, who dropped onto the carpet and began wobbling around, confused and concussed.

“Don’t know about you,” Scritch groaned as he got back onto his hooves, “but I’ve had enough of this princess.”

“Help me!” cried Chitin, who had Mandy’s tail between her teeth and was desperately trying to drag her towards the exit.

“Eurgh… lemme go,” Mandy slurred.

The things we do for family…

Rax and Scritch rushed over and pulled their incapacitated sister out of the room, all the while with Nightmare Moon muttering promises of revenge as she tried to clean the ash and down out of her eyes. Sounds of the invasion outside became audible once more as they crossed the threshold of the silencing spell.

When they reached the window from which they’d originally entered, Scritch leapt out and caught Mandy after waiting for Rax and Chitin to unceremoniously toss her out. Chitin went next, but just when Rax crouched low, ready leap to safety, he heard an explosion and felt something hot strike his back. His body thrashed for a second, and the next thing he knew, he was on the floor, twitching. The pain was accompanied by the sound of something sizzling, and then he realised just what happens when a changeling is struck by lightning. His carapace had protected him from the worst of it, but his wings, on the other hoof… Panic rising in his chest, he clambered to the window sill to call to his siblings for help, but saw that they were already gone, lost amidst the swarm in the city.

And he could not follow.

Rax craned his neck around and hissed in pain when he tried to buzz his wings – they were crispy and smouldering at the edges, with gaping holes burnt right through the middle. Completely useless. He wouldn’t be able to fly until his next moult, and that was ages away!

Why, Universe, why?

Why was it that whenever something might go right for once, the universe decided that it needed to remind him of how much he was supposed to despise it?

Then, the clip clop of hooves reminded him that he was still in the same building as the madmare. He turned around and saw her approaching, slowly and deliberately, like a cat stalking a mouse. Strangely enough, Rax found her fascinating, in a she’s-totally-going-to-kill-me sort of way. She was tall, dark and regal, almost as graceful as Queen Chrysalis, but her mane and tail looked like they were seething with rage, judging from the way they lashed around. It was impossible to see her pupils because of the way her eyes glowed, but the downward curve of her mouth made it clear just what sort of mood she was currently in.

His eyes darted to the stairwell off to the side. With his wings decommissioned, that was going to be the only way out.

He broke into a frantic dash for the exit, just as Nightmare’s mane snatched at him.

* * * * *

The base of Luna’s tower had its own annex, which was filled with an assortment of well-furnished rooms for VIP functions, a kitchen, a mess hall, plus a small barracks. It was a little strange to have all those things together, but then again, Princess Luna did have unusual tastes in the way things were organised.

Tufty made a cautious sweep of the lower floors, taking care to avoid blundering into any shapeshifters that might have been lurking about. She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the sight of several barrels of apple cider stacked about the mess hall, which were no doubt served to any guards unfortunate enough to have been stationed here at the time.

The place was a wreck; utensils and unfinished meals were strewn about the place, along with loose furniture and ornaments. A struggle had taken place here, but everypony had evidently already fled or been dragged away.

Once she was certain that Princess Luna wasn’t anywhere in the lowest levels, she began ascending the stairs leading into the tower proper. Something caught her eye as she passed a window, and she felt her ears droop in dismay when she looked out. The Elements of Harmony had been captured. She could see them being herded away like sheep by a black mass of bugs, several streets away. With them out of the fight, they needed the Princesses, now, more than ever. Without them, they were probably doomed.

As if on cue, thunder rumbled in the building.

* * * * *

Rax dodged the bolt of lightning, but lost his balance and felt a moment of terror as he lurched forward. Normally, that was never a problem, but with his damaged wings, the prospect of falling down was suddenly that much more nerve wracking. He curled up into a ball and as he began tumbling down the stairwell, wincing as he bounced off each step and the outer wall. His horn and wings were unwelcome projections in this instance, and he yelped in pain every time they struck something.

He lost count of the number of steps fairly quickly, and by the time he landed with what felt like a splat on the foot of the stairs, the world was spinning. He shakily got to his hooves and ran – and smacked face-first into a wall.

I’ll never hear the end of this, he thought as he peeled his face off the stonework, but that was only after he’d taken several moments to regain his sense of balance.

His heart rate shot up another few notches when he heard someone galloping down the stairs. He turned and glimpsed the madmare rounding the bend of the stairwell before he bolted towards the open door at the far end of the hall they were in. He felt the alicorn’s mane graze his flank, and he expended the remains of his magic on upending braziers, lampstands, torches and just about every ornament that he could get a magical grip on, tossing them in his wake in the hopes of slowing her down.

Fat chance, apparently. He could hear her heavy hooves pounding, getting closer. He didn’t even make it halfway to the door before he felt a sharp yank on his tail that sent him sprawling onto the floor. He looked up and found the dark alicorn standing directly over him, wearing an expression of disgust mixed with macabre anticipation in the form of a half-grin half-snarl.

It was the first time he was truly gripped by fear; his muscles had gone slack in terror, and no matter how much he consciously wanted to keep a cool head and think straight, his subconscious kept messing up his coordination and his thoughts in its mad, futile scramble for survival.

He rolled to one side to avoid getting stomped by her left hoof, then back the other way as her right one crashed down. He was left pinned between both of her forelegs as she glared at him, blue magic and lightning crackling on her horn. His reserves were practically bone dry; there was nothing left that he could use to protect himself.

Rax had heard some talk about the way time seemed to slow down when you were about to die, but he had never really believed it. Until now. Which was a probably a bad thing, since it meant that he was going to die and all that. The magic on the alicorn’s horn coalesced into a bolt…

Sweet Chrysalis, she’s really going to kill me!

He looked away and scrunched his eyes tight.

But his doom never came. Rax felt something grip his horn and the next thing he knew, he was sliding on his back carapace, being dragged away from Nightmare Moon.

It was all he could do to let out a sigh of relief as he saw the bolt of pure energy strike the floor, leaving a patch of red-hot stone.

* * * * *

Nightmare Moon?

Tufty picked her jaw off the floor and hid behind the doorway to watch. The dark alicorn was chasing one of the bugs, and some twisted part of her found it rather… satisfying to see the creature being terrorised instead of the other way round. It was galloping at full tilt and tossing everything it could find into Nightmare Moon’s way, which was about as effective as trying to block a train with paper cups. She simply swept them aside with magic or barged through them.

Nightmare Moon. She was still trying to wrap her head around that. Aside from the glowy eyes and the lack of armour, the alicorn was pretty much a spot-on match to the villain of legend, plus the accounts of what happened at the last Summer Sun Celebration. Was somepony masquerading as her? Or…

Princess Luna. Was a relapse possible? Or was she simply taking on the shape of Nightmare Moon to scare off the bug? It seemed likely… She had done that on Nightmare Night, according to everypony who’d been in Ponyville.

That mane didn’t look like it was just for show, though. It was twisted into the shape of a dragon’s forearm, and when the shapeshifter was about halfway through the corridor, its tail got snagged by the alicorn’s mane.

Gotcha!

But Tufty’s mental cheer wilted when she saw ‘Nightmare Moon’ trying to stomp on the creature. Those stomps had some real force behind them; the sounds they made when she missed and struck the floor were worthy of making one think about crushed bones and mangled armour. And when the alicorn began charging up a spell to strike the bug with, Tufty sensed a potentially fatal amount of magic being poured into the magical bolt.

There was no hesitation. Invaders or not, the creatures hadn’t done anything to warrant death. Killing was an absolute last resort, and that was drilled directly into the brain of every guard.

Tufty grabbed the creature’s nearest appendage, which was its horn, with magic and pulled. It was out of harm’s way with barely a second to spare, sliding it on its back towards her. She released it when it was a stride away and then quickly leapt on top to hold it in place.

“I’ve got it, Your Highness,” she said as the alicorn approached. The bug screeched and tried to scramble away, but she held it fast and slapped its face to shut it up. Turning to the alicorn, she then added, “I don’t know where Princess Celestia is, but the rest of the city needs your help. Everypony is… uh…”

Her words trailed off when she saw the rage on the alicorn’s face.

“Uh… Your Highness?”

A spell was forming on the tip of the princess’ horn, and it did not look like the non-lethal type. It was positively crackling with energy.

“Princess Luna, what are you – Aack!”

The bug suddenly gave a mighty heave, and Tufty was thrown off balance and shoved aside just in time to watch a lightning bolt shoot past her snout, exactly where her face had been a second before. The bolt screamed through the hallway and obliterated a section of wall at the other end.

“We’re even,” the bug declared with a hiss.

“I… you… What?” Tufty was still reeling from narrowly avoiding being burnt to a crisp. And… did it just pay a debt? For what? For the bit where she’d saved it from getting fried by the princess?

The shapeshifter tilted its head, almost as if it was rolling its eyes, then gave a startled chirp as a blue aura enveloped its entire form. At the same moment, Tufty felt an immense pressure bearing upon her from all sides, and when she looked down, she saw that her body was held fast in a very powerful magical grip. She tried to run, but it was as if she was in a suit of armour of which every piece had been welded together. She might as well have been a statue for all the good her struggling did.

They turned back to find the dark alicorn towering over them, another magical blast being readied on its horn. This time, there was an eager, nasty smirk on its face. The bug pony was struggling fruitlessly, and when it realised that nothing was working, it turned into a young stallion with a flash of green fire. Then, looking at the alicorn with large, pleading eyes, it blubbered, “Please, you’re hurting me! I don’t wanna die!”

“There shall be no mercy for my enemies,” Nightmare growled.

An idea struck Tufty. She stared at the empty space behind the dark alicorn and used a little magic to detach a portrait from a wall, sending it crashing to the floor. At the same moment, she gasped, “Princess Celestia, thank the stars you’re here!”

“What!” the alicorn cried, whirling around and spreading her wings wide in a display of aggression. Her magical grip on Tufty dispersed, and she was free to move once more.

The next step was simple. Run. The bug pony didn’t need telling as they both made a dash in the opposite direction of the alicorn, to put as much distance between them as possible. Tufty avoided all the rooms and dead ends, and the bug pony seemed to be following her lead. They slowed after rounding a corner, thoroughly spent from the long, mad sprint to relative safety.

“Wow, that actually worked,” she muttered as she slumped against a wall. Her lungs were burning, and her legs felt like they were ready to just drop off.

“Unbelievable,” agreed the shapeshifter as it planted its rump on the floor in exhaustion.

Tufty froze and stared at the bug, suddenly realising that they were technically supposed to be on opposite sides. It stared back, blue eyes unblinking.

“Nopony makes a foal out of me. You shall both pay dearly for that!” came another bellow from Nightmare Moon, echoing through the stone hallways.

Tufty glanced in the direction from which the voice had come, then turned back to the shapeshifter. “Truce?” she asked, offering a hoof.

It bumped her hoof gingerly, as if she’d just asked it to pull out a fang without so much as a drop of anaesthetic, and grudgingly replied, “For now.”

“You cannot hide from me!”

The alicorn was getting closer. Without wasting another second, they both went back to running for their lives.

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.”

Chapter 2

A Royal Canterlot Wedding: Deleted Scenes (Chapter 2)

Tufty wasn’t sure which she liked less – strangling herself, or listening to Princess Mi Amore Cadenza rattle on about this and that. It was past ten o’clock, and the pink alicorn had suddenly taken an interest in the security of the palace grounds at night. It didn’t seem entirely necessary, since that Bludgeon guy and his three buddies had gotten back that afternoon from the scouting mission. They’d reported a small battle with some timber wolves – nothing to get worked up about. But the pink alicorn had insisted, and since Princess Luna was watching over the palace grounds and Hammer and Anvil were out on patrol, it had fallen to Tufty and Hay Bale to show her around.

They were trotting down the main corridors with the alicorn in the middle and the two Night Guard trainees on either side.

“ – and it would be beneficial if we could have more guards around here at night,” Cadence advised, glancing at the sentries standing at their posts. “It’s dreadfully quiet – what if we are attacked? Can the rest of the guards wake up in time?”

Princess Cadence had been making complaints of that nature pretty much right from the beginning. Patrol patterns and schedules, lighting, fortifications or locking mechanisms – it didn’t matter how mundane. And whenever she did find something positive to say, Tufty couldn’t quite shake the feeling that it sounded completely insincere. And her laugh – it was simpering, tittering, annoying. Tufty nodded and agreed with her whenever possible, but inside, she was pulling her mane out. She suddenly felt really sorry for Captain Shining Armour. Seriously, has he even met her?

“Well… we can wake a few more guards and send them on patrol, if that would put you at ease,” she suggested.

The pink alicorn nodded. “Do that.”

Dooo thaaat… Tufty rolled her eyes. It was immature, but she couldn’t help it. It was either that, or buck somepony in the flank. Speaking of which… Baley was being remarkably unhelpful – she’d not said much at all the entire time. Tufty made sure that the princess’ attention was somewhere else, then glanced over her back and saw her fellow guard trotting along blithely, as if their little tour was not disagreeable in the least. How could she stand it? Then, she spotted the little wire going into her ear, and the entire mystery was solved just like that. She scowled at the oblivious earth mare.

The princess suddenly stopped. “Well, I must leave you now.” She smiled. “Thank you so very much for showing me around the palace and how everything works.”

There was that feeling again. She almost sounded more… gleeful than grateful.

“You’re welcome, Your Highness,” Baley replied.

As if you were doing all the work… She offered a smile to the pink alicorn. “If there is anything else, don’t hesitate to send for us, Princess.”

The alicorn nodded graciously. “Oh, I will. And now, I must go to see my husband-to-be.” She spread her wings and flew off into the night, making for the apartments where the Captain made his dwelling.

When she was out of earshot, Tufty rounded on Baley. “Wow, thanks for all the support back there.”

The earth pony was still watching the princess, head bobbing slightly. Tufty frowned and used a spell to pluck the earbud out of the mare’s ear. Baley looked surprised for a second, then grinned sheepishly when she saw her.

“Are you listening to that rock stuff again? You know we aren’t allowed to do that when we’re on duty!”

Baley sounded apologetic enough, but was largely unfazed. “Sorry, desperate times call for desperate measures – she was going to drive me nuts. Besides, that tour we gave doesn’t really count as duty, I think.” She paused for a moment, then added, “Oh, and it’s country, this time. I’ve lent my rock CDs to Princess Luna.”

“You what?” That seemed… inappropriate, somehow.

Her companion shrugged. “She actually asked me, not the other way around.”

Tufty shook her head. “Never mind – back to work.”

* * * * *

Dawn was almost upon them. They were in the old cellars, where part of the palace’s stock of food was kept. The place was roughly cubical in shape, connected to the rest of the palace by a disused flight of stairs that led up to the kitchens. It was dark, humid, and the stonework floor right at the back was covered in a thin, black layer of grime. There were no cobwebs, but Rax did get a glimpse of lichen growing in a few patches here and there. Even with the lamp they’d brought along, the place had an air of solitude and abandonment. And… it was now officially Rax’s favourite spot in Canterlot. It was as close to the hive as any equine place could get.

He was pacing around as he and Scritch waited for their sisters and Queen Chrysalis to arrive. He hoped that they were done with setbacks for the day – when they’d tried to enter the city, he’d accidentally smashed his face against that pink bubble, which felt smooth as glass and hard as stone. In retrospect, he probably should have tested it with a leg first, instead of trying to act normal and fly through it like some of the pegasi he’d seen. Luckily for them, some rainbow-maned pegasus who had been flying laps around the city had noticed and told Shining Armour, who later apologised and said that he was still working out the kinks in his barrier spell. Of course, Rax and the others hadn’t bothered to mention that it was working perfectly fine.

Have they gotten lost?

Since they all wore the guises of pony guards, it was only natural that they were assigned duties as everyone else. Mandy and Chitin had been separated from Rax and Scritch, but prior to that, they had all received word from their queen to meet here, in the cellars. And his sisters were late – their watch should have been over fifteen minutes ago.

Whilst pondering whether he should go searching for them, the door atop the stairs creaked open, and two armoured pegasi stallions crept in and glided down the steps.

“Where have you been?” Rax hissed. “You’re late!”

“Sorry,” Chitin mumbled, averting her eyes. It was a little amusing to see that grubbing demeanour in a fully grown pegasus, especially since she spoke using the stallion’s deep voice.

Mandy, on the other hoof, was unrepentant. She rolled her eyes at their sister and turned to Rax, saying, “I go where I want, when I want. You’re not my overseer.”

Rax’s wings twitched. “But Skeehar is, and she’s made me the leader of this operation. So you’d better do what I say, or else…”

Mandy tilted her head and raised her eyebrows in mock curiosity. “Oh, do tell! What are you going to do?”

He glared at his sister and growled, “It’s not what I’ll do that you have to worry about; if the overseer gets word of how you disobeyed orders, she will – ”

“Call you a useless larva for not keeping her in line?” Scritch helpfully suggested.

That was probably true… Rax scowled at his brother. “Whose side are you on?” he demanded.

“The sweeter side.”

Rax blinked. “What?”

Scritch grinned and inclined his head towards Mandy, who tossed a little brown bag to him. The changeling caught it, reached in and plucked out a grainy white cube, which he proceeded to pop into his mouth. Rax looked back at his sisters and noticed that one of Chitin’s cheeks was bulging a little. He looked back at Scritch, who now had an expression of sheer, unadulterated bliss on his face.

Rax sniffed the air, and then realised what his siblings were all munching on – Mandy and Chitin had gone to the kitchens to pilfer some sugar cubes. Sugar. Pure, refined, cut-into-perfect-bite-sized-chunks sugar. Much to his annoyance, his mouth started watering – stupid pony anatomy and their stupid bodily functions. But… his body reminded him that he’d not had nourishment in quite a while, and… sugar…

Mandy smirked and held another little brown bag tantalisingly in front of him. “Want some? It’s good stuff.”

He lifted a hoof, but she suddenly whipped it out of reach and slipped it into a saddlebag. “Actually, on second thought… you were being rather mean to me…” she mused.

I hate you…

Rax felt a glob of drool trickle down to his chin. Chitin was giggling, and Scritch was outright guffawing at the no doubt undignified sight he presented. He lunged at Mandy, but she deftly hopped out of the way and hovered above him.

“I might be persuaded to give you some, if you repeat after me: I, Thorax…”

He didn’t want to, but it was like he no longer had control over his speech. “I, Thorax…”

“… Would like to apologise to my dear sister, Mandible…”

Would like to stuff you into a barrel… “… Would like to apologise to my dear sister, Mandible…”

“… And confess that I love her as a big brother and best friend, forever.”

And blast you to the bottom of the ocean… He tried to resist, but then she waved the little bag above him again, and even had the audacity to take out a sugar cube and give it a slow, ponderous, noisy lick. Sugar… His lips quivered. “… And confess that I love her as a big brother and best friend, forever.”

“Okay, since you asked so nicely.” Mandy chuckled and tossed him his share of the sugar cubes.

I hate myself...

But such thoughts disappeared when he chomped down on a cube and felt it crumble and melt into chunks and sticky puddles of pure sweetness. It was immeasurably refreshing – the sugar went straight to his brain and muscles, firing up his senses and restoring his energy.

“There will be retribution,” he warned Mandy as he munched. There was no way he was going to let this one slide.

His sister stuck a tongue out at him in response.

True to her word, the queen came just as the sun rose, a little while after they’d finished their pilfered treats. The door glowed green and swung open, admitting the soft yellow light of sunrise, followed by the dark silhouette of the alicorn shape that she was wearing. Her shadow danced across the walls as she gracefully descended the steps and entered the vicinity of the flickering lamp’s light. She seemed very pleased with herself.

“Ah, my children, it is nice to see you. Is everything in place?”

They bowed. “Yes, Mother,” Rax answered. “The supplies came in last night, just as you commanded.”

“You ordered quite a lot,” Scritch noted.

The queen nodded. “There are a lot of guards.” She then gestured towards the great stack of barrels in the humid cellar and continued, “Well, waste no more time. I have made certain that no one will disturb us – give them some flavour!”

Rax closed his eyes and willed the transformation – it was slower than the usual flash of green light, since they had all opted for the gradual, more complete transformation that could fool ponies even when they came into physical contact. The quick ones were more illusory than actual transformations and had been too risky for the task at hoof, besides costing actual magic – the slower way was more natural. He felt the hairs retreat into his body, his skin harden until it became his proper carapace, felt his teeth sharpen and lengthen to their usual pointy proportions, and his horn poked out and grew to its normal length and shape. He then buzzed his wings experimentally. Ah, better.

Once restored to their true forms, they stripped off their royal guard armour and began their task. Rax pried the lid off a barrel and held his foreleg over it, waiting patiently as he willed his glands to produce resin. Thick, green fluid oozed out of the pores, and he shook his foreleg to dislodge them. About five or six globs went into the barrel, and he replaced the lid and began working on the next one.

It was quickly done, with their queen there to help them shift the heavy barrels with her powerful magic. Before an hour was gone, every single barrel was laced with a little ‘gift’ for anyone who drank. Queen Chrysalis stepped back to admire their work and chuckled gleefully. “I’ll order the servants to distribute them shortly. Oh, those fools won’t know what hit them! When this is over, the four of you will get first choice in picking your prey.”

“I like the sound of that!” Mandy grinned.

Queen Chrysalis' smile was delightfully nasty. “This day is going to be perfect!”

Chitin buzzed her assent. “Oh yeah, you know it, Mom!”

* * * * *

“Miss Sparkle, is something the matter?” Hay Bale asked.

They were posted at the outer doors of the throne room, where the wedding rehearsal was taking place. Princess Cadence had gone in several minutes ago, along with the captain, Princess Celestia, and five of the Elements of Harmony. And now the sixth one had arrived…

The purple unicorn standing in front of them looked like she was an inch away from frothing at the mouth. Her eyes were a little red, and she looked like she had not slept a wink that night. In fact, the way the morning rays of the sun were falling on her, with the shadows and all, she looked like the sort that would bite your head off if you spoke to them before they got their morning coffee.

“Is something the matter?” she snapped, “Yes, yes, I would think so! Haven’t you been listening to what I’ve told you? There is something wrong with Princess Cadence – you guys need to help me!”

“Woah, slow down,” Baley soothed. “I know that the princess can be a little… difficult, but what makes you so sure we should stop the wedding? Isn’t this the captain’s decision?”

The unicorn groaned in frustration. “Ugh, I see that nopony is going to believe me. Fine, I’m going in myself!”

Tufty stepped in front of the mare and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Look, why don’t you take a couple of minutes to cool down or something? They – ” Oh, horse apples.

The Element of Magic had stomped forward until they’d practically bumped noses and stared her right in the eyes – it killed the words before they could even leave Tufty’s mouth. That glare… it promised sheer and utter doom to anypony who stood in her way. And right now, it was aimed at her. She could have sworn those pupils were pure red a second ago – she would never have suspected that such a pleasant-mannered mare could harbour such… such wrath.

Tufty gave her an awkward smile and quickly hopped out of the way. “Uh, on second thought, go right in. He is your brother, after all.”

When Twilight Sparkle had trudged past them and slammed the doors shut, Tufty slumped and released the breath that she had been holding.

“The captain’s going to have a pretty interesting family,” Baley noted.

“Yeah…” They hadn’t tied the knot yet, and it already looked like his sister and bride were going to be at each other’s throats – an alicorn versus the Element of Magic, no less. She rubbed her forehead and groaned – they should have been in bed by now, but with the wedding so close and everypony’s anxieties running high, they’d decided to pull another shift and stay up throughout the day. And if the purple unicorn’s behaviour was any indicator, it was going to be a long, long one.

They spent the next several minutes in watchful silence, until it was broken by the doors bursting open, and a sobbing Princess Cadence ran down the corridor and out the entrance without so much as a glance back.

“ – and if I don’t stop you, you’re going to ruin my brother’s life!” Twilight Sparkle’s voice rang out.

Tufty’s eyes widened, as did her companion’s. They peered round the corner and saw the purple unicorn bump into her elder brother. Captain Shining Armour looked like he was having… one of those moments.

“Uh oh,” Hay Bale said.

“Yup.”

They quickly stopped peeking and went back to their posts, content to mind their own business as the tongue lashing began. They were pretty far back, but Shining Armour’s voice could really carry his words far.

“ – in fact, I wouldn’t show up to the wedding at all!” the captain finished.

Baley whistled.

He really pulled his bucks, though. Shining Armour could really dish out a verbal assault when he felt like it – Twilight Sparkle was lucky that she was his sister, or it could have been a lot worse for her.

They stood stock still as the groom, the new bridesmaids, and Princess Celestia trotted out and after the pink alicorn. Tufty noted that even the sun princess was ticked off… that sort of thing happened only when, well, when something really ticked her off. Her famed student must have really blown it to have put her in such a mood.

The minutes ticked by, but nopony else entered or left the throne room. After almost an hour had passed, Tufty felt sufficiently concerned that she needed to take a look. Baley tagged along. The throne room was empty, and a quick search told them that nopony was hiding anywhere.

“What happened here?” Baley wondered aloud.

Tufty turned and saw her fellow guard hoofing at a circle of scorch marks on the carpet, just at the base of the dais.

“Maybe somepony really lost it,” she suggested. “My cousin once saw a unicorn set himself on fire when he got angry enough.”

Or maybe she just teleported. Some unicorns could do that – and it left annoying burn marks all over the place. It would explain the absence of the purple unicorn, too.

Something growled.

Tufty whipped her head back up, ears cocked and eyes scanning her surroundings for trouble, but she only found Hay Bale standing there, looking guilty.

“Umm, you hungry? I could use some breakfast.”

Tufty snorted. “Yeah, when our watch is over.” Barely a second later, she yawned and mumbled, “I wouldn’t say no to coffee.”

* * * * *

Princess Luna was not impressed with her new niece. Oh, she had been excited enough to learn that another alicorn had been born whilst she was away, and when Princess Cadence finally visited Canterlot, she had been amongst the first to greet her. That went well enough; the young one was sweet towards Shining Armour and Tia, if a little haughty towards everypony else. That in itself was little cause for concern, but it wasn’t until Luna had an actual confrontation with her that she was forced to revise her assessment of the pink alicorn.

“I just want a little security for my wedding, is that so much to ask?” Princess Cadence bemoaned. “What’s so difficult about sending a few patrols further out?”

Luna surveyed the faces of everypony else in the council chambers; her personal guards, Hammer and Anvil, plus Sergeant Arrow were all wearing expressions of varying degrees of incredulity, from near-indifference to outright disbelief, in that order. She was more inclined to the latter.

Truly, Niece, this is the reason you have summoned us away from sleep? It was well into the morning, and she had been just about to tuck herself in for the day when a guard had come running, bearing orders for her Night Guards to come to an urgent meeting regarding Canterlot’s safety, directly from Cadence herself. Luna had followed, partly out of curiosity, and partly out of annoyance that her niece had presumed authority over her guards.

“But, Princess,” Sergeant Arrow protested, effectively bringing Luna back to the present, “what would be the point of it? Bludgeon has confirmed that he’d overreacted – he was attacked by some timber wolves, and they’d already driven them off. There’s nothing that we need to go out looking for, especially not as far as the marshes.”

“Don’t argue – you have your orders,” Shining Armour said.

“But, Sir…”

“Go. Send your best flyers.”

Arrow looked like he had been about to say more, but stifled at the hard look on his superior’s face and briskly saluted him before speeding off to make the necessary preparations. The other two grey pegasi, on the other hoof, remained still, apparently deep in thought.

“What are you two waiting for?” Shining Armour demanded irritably, “Get going!”

Her guards were largely unfazed.

Anvil tentatively put a hoof up. “Ah, if you don’t mind my asking, what would be the point of sending battle-ready guards so far out of the city? Simple scouts would suffice for this purpose.”

“In any case, we would better serve here, should any attack occur,” Hammer agreed.

Cadence batted her eyelashes at them in an overtly flirtatious manner. “Oh, but I can’t rest easy until I was certain that only Canterlot’s finest were on the job!”

Anvil looked like he was expecting Shining Armour to shoot lightning at him or some such, but nothing of the sort happened. Luna was surprised that Cadence would flirt publicly, and in front of her future husband, no less! Strange that Shining Armour seemed oblivious to the deed, but she was happy to note that her guards were not taken in by her honeyed words.

“Ah… that is very flattering, Your Highness. But that does not change our stance on this – we would be wasted out there, if you truly believe that there is an impending threat.”

Luna was inclined to agree. “Anvil speaks true. There would be no – ”

“Excuse me,” Cadence cut her off, “but this is a matter for the Captain of the Royal Guard to decide.”

Luna stiffened at the rude interruption, but the pink alicorn had already turned her attention to the captain. “Dear, would you please talk some sense into them?”

Shining Armour rubbed his forehead with a hoof and regarded the pegasi with growing impatience. “Look, I know that Princess Celestia has given you two special treatment on the grounds of being close friends of Her Royal Highness…” here, he inclined his head to Luna, “ – but you serve Canterlot, and right now, you are needed to keep watch out there, so start acting like soldiers and follow your orders! If you can’t do as you’re told, you might as well wear dresses like all the pretty court ladies and go to the wedding instead, and I’ll give the job to somepony less insubordinate!”

Again, the two big pegasi weren’t intimidated by the display.

“Unless you intend to have the guests die laughing, you might want to seek alternatives,” Hammer deadpanned.

“Speak for yourself,” Anvil piped up. “I might look rather fetching in a dress, I’ll have you know.” He put a hoof to his chin and glanced down at his chest. “Hmm… which would go better with my coat – pink, or yellow?”

“Shame would look better on you,” Hammer replied.

His fellow guard chuckled. “Are you certain? That sounded more like jealousy.”

Shining Armour looked like he was having a difficult time deciding whether to be disgusted, amused or infuriated – or all three at once. Luna giggled, and Cadence glared at her. She quickly stopped herself – it was probably time to step in before her guards drove the two lovers insane. As much as she disapproved of Cadence’s behaviour, and appreciated the gesture of support from her guards through their insubordination towards her niece for that earlier insult, she was still a princess.

“Hammer, Anvil, that is enough,” she commanded. “If they earnestly believe that it is for the good of all, then, by all means, go. Is that understood?”

They bowed, dark armour glinting in the light of the morning sun, and said in unison, “We serve.”

Luna dismissed them with a sweep of her wing, and watched as they trotted off towards the barracks to catch up with Sergeant Arrow. When they were gone, she turned back and saw Cadence whispering something in Shining Armour’s ear. The stallion seemed oddly glassy-eyed, and as she looked on, he suddenly groaned and rubbed his horn.

“Shining Armour,” she began, “are you certain that you wish to maintain the barrier on your own? There are many around you who would be willing to help, myself included.”

The white stallion shook his head in apology. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, but the spell is very complicated, and I wouldn’t dream of asking you to help in such a menial task.”

Luna frowned. “Complicated? I have examined your spell – it is hardly more than a magnified protection ward; difficult to maintain only because of its size.”

“There’s no need to worry about this, he has everything under control,” Cadence replied. She flared her horn, and a greenish wave of magic flowed to the stallion’s own. Shining Armour grimaced a little, but sighed when the magic subsided and smiled at his bride.

“Thanks, dear. I needed that.” With that said, he bowed to Luna and took his leave. Cadence began trotting after him, but Luna called out, “Niece, a word with you, if you please.”

The pink alicorn turned around, and Luna caught sight of a flash of annoyance on her face.

“What is it?” Cadence asked brusquely.

To begin with, your manners leave much to be desired.

“Cadence, you should know better than to flirt with ponies other than your future husband. I can easily swear to Hammer and Anvil to silence, but others might see it as an opportunity for gossip, or worse, blackmail. You are a princess, and should know better.”

The pink alicorn nodded and began to turn away, but Luna tapped on the floor with a hoof. “I am not finished. I do not appreciate the way in which you have assumed authority over my guards – over all the guards, in fact. As you so kindly reminded me earlier, Shining Armour is the captain, and using your relationship to order them around on your every whim is unbecoming for a princess. What you do here in Canterlot is going to reflect on everypony else, especially Celestia.”

Cadence scoffed. “And you would know all about whims, wouldn’t you?”

“Explain…” Luna said, eyes narrowing.

“Oh, I’m sorry, weren’t you the one who, on a whim, decided to plunge Equestria into eternal night?” Cadence tossed her mane and continued, “And didn’t you try again when you came back from your holiday on the moon?”

She stiffened again. “It was not that simple; Tia and I – ”

“Come to think of it, it is rather odd that everypony is so trusting of you, considering what you tried to do last year.” Cadence let out a little gasp. “And, oh my, didn’t you say earlier that you were good at swearing ponies to silence?”

“Don’t you dare insu – ”

“And who’s to say you won’t try a third time? Does Aunt Celestia really trust you that much?”

Luna was dumbstruck – was her niece actually questioning her loyalty to her subjects? It was unthinkable!

The pink alicorn looked at her with lazy, condescending, half-lidded eyes, and said with all the self-assured smugness of a seven-year-old filly speaking to a two-year-old, “I know it’s hard adjusting to a world that’s moved on without you, but maybe you should think about what you’ve done before trying to advise others about what they should or should not do.”

Luna opened her mouth to retort, but only inarticulate sounds came out. Her niece gave her an infuriatingly sweet smile and trotted off, leaving her alone in the council chambers. She stood there in the silence for several minutes, stopping only when a gust of wind blew in through the window and reminded her where she was. With an angry snort, she closed her eyes and teleported to the south wing of the palace.

She popped back into the world with a tiny explosion of blue smoke, startling a couple of palace servants before she began trudging towards her quarters in the tower.

“Err… Your Highness, is there anything you need?” one of the servants tentatively asked.

Fetch me a halberd; your princess wishes to have some... fun.

“No – leave me be,” she growled.

The servants quickly retreated. She had been able to keep her emotions under control several moments ago – but now, the simmering heat was beginning to boil over.

Princess Cadence… she has no idea…

To presume that she knew everything that was to be known about the Eternal Night… the resentment that her subjects loved Tia but feared Luna, the hurt when she thought that her friends had abandoned her, the confusion and fear when her emotions caused her magic to spiral out of control… and worst of all, she remembered that she had liked being Nightmare Moon. As much as she deserved punishment for the harm she had wrought all those centuries ago, she had paid for it with a thousand years of solitude – time enough for the resentment and loneliness to fester and turn into irrational hatred, selfishness, delusional arrogance… and yes, cruelty, even. It had taken all of the Elements of Harmony to bring her back, but the memories remained. And if she dug deep enough, she was certain the feelings would be there as well, just waiting to resurface, perhaps even to consume her once again.

You know nothing of the shadows that haunt me, Little Niece…

Now that she was alone and away from judging eyes, she could feel her temper fraying. It would feel good to lash out at something… but she quickly reined those thoughts in – the last time she had allowed her emotions to get the best of her, it had resulted in a thousand-year sojourn to the moon. Then the thought came unbidden, that perhaps Cadence could do with a week or two on the moon to learn some humility.

It was only after turning her thoughts to more pleasant memories, namely, her experience in Ponyville in the latter half of Nightmare Night that she began to calm down. Luna had her temper firmly under a lid by the time she made it back to her room, but she was hardly keen to make an appearance at Cadence’s wedding anymore. It was petty, admittedly, but after that insult, she was not going to grace Princess Cadence’s marriage with her presence. She swept past the guards by her door and said, “I will not be attending the wedding, and I do not wish to be disturbed. But should there be an emergency, you have my leave to intrude and inform me so.”

* * * * *

“What kind of apple cider is this?” Hay Bale asked with a quizzical frown as she inspected the contents of her flagon. “The colour looks kinda off.”

The palace servant shrugged and passed another flagon of the stuff to a guard who was passing by. “Beats me. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza says that it’s the finest brew, all the way from Appleloosa, and she has personally ordered it for everypony in the Guard as a token of appreciation.”

Awfully generous of her. There were barrels of it sitting around in the mess hall – servants were filling out mugs and offering them to the guards, and she could see some of them carting off more of the stuff to distribute to those who were on duty elsewhere. Although… Tufty had to agree with Baley. The cider did look a little odd – more opaque than what she was used to.

After taking a sip, her fellow guard shrugged and proceeded to chug it down. “Well, maybe she wasn’t so bad after all,” she commented.

Tufty took a sip and snorted. “You’d forgive anypony who gives you something for free.”

The cider was unusually sweet, and it had a weird aftertaste. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but it tasted almost… waxy. Not that she’d ever tried candlewax, but the smell was kind of similar. It also seemed a bit thicker than normal. The pony who brewed this particular batch must have been a little tipsy when he was about his business…

She was just about to ask Baley if she noticed the strange taste, but instead found her having a second round. Guess it’s not a problem. But then again, Baley was okay with a lot of stuff that everypony else would’ve had issues with.

“You really like it, huh?”

The earth mare wiped froth off her mouth with a foreleg and belched noisily. “I’m thirsty, and I need something to wash down all those hay sandwiches.”

* * * * *

It was all coming together very nicely. After going round giving all of their fellow guards a drink or two, Rax and his siblings had decided to move outside of the palace grounds, where they could watch and wait without hassle, disguised as regular ponies instead of royal guards. It was also a good reason to get rid of the weighty armour.

The swarm should be on the move by now, and in spite of the pointlessly huge number of scouts and sentries that ‘Princess Cadence’ had ordered to keep watch over the countryside, key patrols had already been replaced with their own kind, allowing them to advance through the thick forests without so much as a squeak of alarm from any pegasus sentries.

He glanced up towards the towering structure of the royal palace, where Queen Chrysalis was preying on the captain’s energy, then shifted his gaze to the guard ponies around the gates to the palace grounds. Poor fools didn’t realise that their world was just about to come crashing down around their ears. Why the guards were required to stand stock still and silent as rocks was beyond Rax; it wasn’t as if they were trying to hide or anything. But he did smile when he noticed that they were slowly finding it harder and harder to act like statues – some shifted in discomfort every now and then; some were sweating, and some appeared to be doing their utmost to suppress a grimace. He chuckled.

Rax had kept a watchful eye on all of the guards in their vicinity, making sure he’d counted all of them, taking note of where they all were. The order to attack would come soon, and it would be good to know which ponies were capable of fighting. Roughly nine out of ten had drunk their special complimentary apple cider – so it was the remainders that he had to look out for.

“Are we going to fight all of them?” Chitin asked.

“Just the ones that haven’t drunk anything,” he replied.

“That’s what I meant. All of them?”

“Don’t be such a grub,” Mandy sneered, “It’ll be easy pickings!”

“Yes, even Thorax should be able to handle one,” Scritch added. After a pause, he added, “On second thought, you might want to help watch his back – his peripheral vision is awful.”

Rax was about to shoot back an insult, but at that moment a little gust picked up, coming vaguely from the direction of the palace. Something tickled his senses, and he took in a deep breath – and started grinning. His heart began to pound, his breathing quickened, and he began to have difficulty standing still, itching to start thrashing and fighting. He bounced on his hooves, barely able to contain his excitement, and his siblings were doing much the same. Queen Chrysalis had released the combat pheromones – it was the signal to swarm.

He saw Mandy baring her fangs – her disguise was already slipping away in her anticipation of some good, old-fashioned violence. “Let it begin!” she snarled.

Let it begin, indeed. Some of the pony bystanders were giving them funny looks, but Rax didn’t care. Soon enough, those ponies will have much bigger things to worry about.

* * * * *

“Uh, Baley, can you hold the fort for a moment? I think I need to go to the bathroom.”

The earth mare looked with concern. “You okay? You look a little green.”

There was a twinge in Tufty’s lower gut. She nodded. “I’m fine; I just need to go, really bad.”

Hay Bale gave her a push. “Well, gosh, go on – don’t try to hold it in like that!”

She snapped her thanks and dashed off as quickly as she could, trying not to jostle her stomach too much. A shiver ran through her, and she picked up the pace, ignoring the looks she was getting from passers-by, and the scolding from those whom she barged aside in her haste to get to the restrooms.

The first one she went to was full – there was a whole line of ponies waiting to enter, and they all looked like they had equally urgent business, so asking if they could kindly let her cut the line was out of the question. That was okay; she could go to another. Her guts gurgled as she galloped to the next nearest one, and she gritted her teeth when she felt a bowel movement. Bad bad bad bad bad!

Shop houses and mansions were little more than a blur as she galloped full tilt, and she nearly crashed into somepony’s back in her blind rush. She skidded to a halt and could have sworn that her hooves were smoking, but that wasn’t her biggest concern right now. Her jaw dropped when she saw twenty or so ponies lined up at this restroom as well. Oddly enough… they were all royal guards, and come to think of it, so had been everypony at the other restroom. These guys all looked equally desperate; their spears lay forgotten on the ground by their sides as the hopped and fidgeted and squirmed in place. Something wasn’t right.

That was still okay – there was another restroom nearby. But just then, another shiver ran through her body, and she squirmed in her armour and tried to squeeze her legs together. There was no way she could run any further without an… accident. Nooooo! What had she done to deserve this? Tufty really felt like dropping onto the floor and lifting her hooves to the sky and wailing in despair.

On second thought, she felt it was justified.

She dropped onto the floor and lifted her hooves to the sky, wailing in despair, “Nooooo!”