1055 AD, June 20th

A thousand and some years ago, if somepony had told Nightmare Moon that one day she be attending a wedding and making sure everything was going well for her closest associate, she would have laughed in their face and dismissed them as being delusional.

‘How my past-self would hate to be proven wrong…’

Exhaling through her nostrils, she watched the guests chat amongst each other, or at the very least try to.

Mixing Octavia’s high-society friends with Vinyl’s gritty, nightlife compatriots may have worked to make a good source of entertainment, but it had the side-effect of increasing the probability that the bride and groom would have panic attacks.

Nightmare Moon watched a noble and his wife converse with a spiky-maned stallion with multiple piercings – the wife and the stallion were making googly-eyes at each other the whole time – for a while before picking out a slender pony a good head taller than the majority of the guests.

She didn’t bother calling out; Fleur only had to glance over before she smiled and trotted over excitedly.

Fleur was dressed in the traditional gossamer lilac dresses worn by bridesmaids; the frilliness of it all made her wish bodily harm on Future Nightmare Moon should she ever choose to don such attire.

“Well, well…” Fleur’s eyes roved over her body approvingly. “Don’t you look handsome?”

Nightmare Moon had chosen to wear a black tuxedo, white cuffs, and a white collar with an indigo tie. Clothing wasn’t something that appealed to her, but for the sake of the wedding – not to mention her associates’ sanity – she was willing to acquiesce.

“You know my feelings about your choice of wear,” Nightmare Moon shrugged. “All that embroidery and patterns – it should stick to banners and tapestries.”

“You’re so practical, you know that?” Fleur rolled her eyes.

“Somepony has to be when there’s a wedding about,” Eyes narrowing, Nightmare Moon scanned the room. “Neither Vinyl nor Octavia have fled, have they? I feel as if I should have threatened Vinyl more.”

“No, they’re both still getting ready,” Fleur chuckled. “Oh my, I’ve never seen Octavia so worked up; she’s hyperventilating into three paper bags at once.”

“Do I even want to know how Vinyl is doing?”

The other mare’s eyes flicked to the ceiling in thought. “I’d guess that depends…”

“Sadly, you’ve said enough,” Nightmare Moon’s horn lit up as she adjusted her tie. “Still, so long as they both get in front of Princess Twilight when they’re supposed to, I’d call this day a success. By the by, where is your husband?”

“Somewhere,” Fleur gestured to the crowd with a lazy wave of her hoof. “I believe he’s catching up with a few of his friends.”

“Speaking of Fancypants, I’ve been hearing rumours regarding his company’s crystal trade with the Crystal Empire; namely involving the smuggling of items not drawn in the contracts. Do you know anything about this?”

Fleur blinked and her eyes widened. “I…” She frowned slightly, irritated. “Star, you know Fancypants; he wouldn’t do something like that.”

Nightmare Moon knew Fancypants enough to know how much he detested illegality and shady businesses, but not enough to know if he wouldn’t do it if push came to shove. Ponies did things they didn’t like all the time if it would get them further ahead in life and knowing how much of a wide-eyed idealist he was, who was to say his own altruistic ambitions wouldn’t lead to him adopting an ‘ends justify the means’ mentality?

“It’s my job to make sure about these sorts of things,” She replied coolly, aware that she had upset her associate. She hated how wrong it made her feel. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Fleur sighed, her expression one of annoyance. “I have heard nothing about this; Fancypants told me a few employees had to be fired because of their laziness so maybe that’s what it’s all about: disgruntled workers.”

It was logical and made sense. A far-cry from the whispers of the many conspiracy-crazed nobles paranoid that somepony was after their wealth 24/7.

“Thank you for your input,” Nightmare Moon poured herself some wine, the bottle and glass floating in front of her. “Would you like some?”

The other mare hummed in debate, brow furrowing slightly. “Sure – why not? It’s a celebration, isn’t it?”

“Whether it’s for a wedding or for the Equestrian record for the most panic attacks had by the bride and groom remains to be seen.” Nightmare Moon cleanly poured another glass, holding it out to her associate.

Fleur snorted and tittered, her lack of focus causing the glass to tremble once it was in her magic. “If we’re lucky we can have both.”

“Then I should have ordered twice the wine.”

Fleur’s chuckle was slightly muffled as she took a sip. “Well, a third record: most wine served at a wedding.”

Nightmare Moon gave a wry smile. “No doubt Vinyl would be ecstatic about that.”

The alicorn paused as Fleur laughed once more. She felt so… relaxed just standing there talking to her fr- associate. A feeling of nostalgia came over here as she was reminded of the days when she was just a part of Fancypants’ hegemony, when her days were spent conversing with Canterlot’s elite and her nights were spent making sure ponies didn’t get too rowdy in Vinyl’s club.

Her ambition – her goal – had been to stage a coup, but she could remember times when thoughts of a hostile takeover had been the farthest thing from her mind and she was able to simply sit back and feel content… at least for the moment.

No desire to rule Equestria.

No driving passion to see Celestia on her knees begging for mercy.

Nothing but contentment – a sensation that had been utterly alien to her otherwise.

She never thought trivial things like that would feel so… right. When she rose to power and dealt with the invasions, she’d make sure to have some free-time to do more ‘hanging out’ with her associates.

And if they decided they wished to no longer be seen with the pony who lied to them for four years… well, that was fine, too.

She didn’t need them; they were luxuries.

“At any rate…” Fleur began once she had her mirth under control. “I hope you’re not feeling too bogged down with the responsibilities of keeping a wedding from spiralling out of control?”

“Hardly – once you find the correct way to handle a large-scale event, you’ve found the way to deal with them all.”

“Oh? And that is?”

“Yelling. Yelling with just a hint of putting out enough refreshments to keep everypony distracted,” Nightmare Moon shrugged. “Mostly yelling though.”

“And might I say you’re very good at that?”

“You may.”

“I’m glad you took the time to help out; I know you must have a dozen other things to do.”

“Not really…”

In truth, volunteering to make sure the wedding went out without a hitch had cut into her time – time which she could have used to finish up on some paperwork or train her subjects.

Nightmare Moon wasn’t a pony who was easily demoralized by the thought of mountains of forms and papers requiring her attention – she actually enjoyed it to a certain extent – but she did have limits and with the deadline of the coupe approaching, she was under a lot of pressure.

Yet the thought of not helping with the wedding simply wasn’t appealing to her.

It was a sobering thought – she had developed a soft spot for a loud, obnoxious DJ that she originally thought would be impossible to live with without succumbing to madness.

“So modest – you’re really just a big softie at heart, hm?”

Nightmare Moon grimaced. “I know you caught me drinking, but I assure you I’m not drunk enough to take those words lying down.”

“I’ll get you yet…” Fleur adopted a menacing expression though it was ruined by the playful smile on her muzzle.

“Doubtful,” The alicorn glanced at the watch adorning her right foreleg. The ceremony which would bind Vinyl and Octavia together in holy matrimony was to begin in an hour. “At any rate, I’m afraid I must cut our conversation short: last-hour preparations and all that.”

“By all means,” Fleur nodded. “I’m all a-tremble to see those two get betrothed.”

Giving a single nod in farewell, Nightmare Moon trotted through the crowd.

Half an hour later, most of the guests were seated and Nightmare Moon was beginning to feel the approaching signs of a twitch as a hundred things went wrong.

A glass of wine had been shattered a few minutes earlier, some guests weren’t accounted for, the ice sculpture resting in the punch bowl was melting too fast, and one of the band players was complaining about a sore hoof.

Oh, and Vinyl wasn’t in her room.

She did not spend a great deal of her precious time and energy on such an occasion only to have her associate ruin everything because she was having a case of the pre-wedding jitters.

Perhaps she should have expected something like this, but… no, Vinyl may have been stressing, but never once did she give any hints that she flat-out could not go through with the wedding; Nightmare Moon would have noticed that; Vinyl was too easy to read for things like that to slip by.

Finding a secluded spot, Nightmare Moon closed her eyes, and cast a Detection Pulse spell. The pulse travelled through the building, highlighting every unicorn in her mind’s eye. As the outlines faded, she picked out a lone figure inside a broom closet. The outline showed a familiar tousled mane.

‘There you are…’

Nightmare Moon stalked towards the closet like a predator, brow furrowed and lips drawn in a fierce expression that would have sent a manticore running. When she arrived at the closet she noticed a unicorn stallion talking softly at the door. He seemed familiar…

He noticed her approach and sighed in relief. “Hey, Star, remember me?”

She frowned, straining her memory, eyeing the mane and glasses.

“From the club? Neon Lights?”

“Ah, yes – the stallion who somehow got his tongue stuck to a block of ice in the middle of summer. I haven’t seen you in quite some time.”

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, not the best moment of my life. But never mind that – Vinyl’s locked herself in there and she won’t come out,” He rapped his hoof against the door for emphasis. “You think you can talk her out?”

“I’ll break the door down if I have to…” She glared at the door as if the intensity of her gaze would set it alight before knocking her hoof against it. “Vinyl! If you’ve somehow missed the fact that your own wedding is about to commence, then I will have officially lost faith in equinity!”

“Oh…” Came the muffled response. “Hey, Wolf… how’s it hangin’?”

“Not too well to be honest; there’s this unicorn that won’t come out of the closet for her own wedding. Have you heard of her?” She knocked on the wood a few more times. “Now would you come out of there and tell me what’s bothering you?”

“Um…” There was a shuffling noise. “Could you come in instead?”

The thought of dragging the DJ out crossed her mind, but she gritted her teeth and sighed through her nostrils. “Very well.”

The door unlocked and creaked open. Nightmare Moon trotted inside and closed the door behind her, Neon Lights uttering a quick ‘good luck’ as support.

Vinyl was sitting against the wall on her haunches, glasses lying at her side. Like Nightmare Moon, she had chosen to wear a tuxedo, not inclined to share in the same dream of her fiancé to finally wear a wedding dress.

She gave Nightmare Moon a small grin. “Little too late to try and get me to come out of the closet, eh?”

Nightmare Moon detected the melancholy in her tone and her anger cooled slightly. “What’s the problem? Why are you hiding away?”

Vinyl shrugged, idly playing at her tuxedo’s cuffs, straightening and rolling them back up again. “Dunno. Felt like everything was too open and freaky and shit. I never was an outdoors filly, ya know?”

“You’re beating around the bush,” Nightmare Moon said. “You know how much I hate that.”

“Yeah, yeah…” She nodded. “Yeah…” She paused and sighed, looking up at her. “Wolf… are you, like… scared of anything?”

The openness and sheer emotion in the DJ’s gaze reminded her of when she revealed that she would be moving out. Nightmare Moon hesitated and focused on the unicorn’s horn instead of making direct eye contact.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I dunno, but… are you? Are you scared of anything?”

“… Scared?”

“Yeah, ya know – fear.”

Fear…

Nightmare Moon had… She wasn’t sure if she had ever felt fear. When the Elements of Harmony had blasted her, there was a sinking feeling, a moment where she literally thought ‘How can this be?’, but was that sinking feeling fear? It seemed more like dismay and outrage.

“Nothing crosses my mind, but…” She thought deeply, trying to recall a moment close to fear.

Vinyl spoke up. “I’m… kinda scared of dying.”

Nightmare Moon blinked and re-focused. “Dying? That’s natural; death is not an appealing concept.”

Vinyl shook her head. “Nah, I mean… not the ‘dying’ bit, if that makes sense; it’s… Okay, so there I was getting ready for the wedding… then out of nowhere I suddenly started thinking of all the cool crap me and Octy have done. All the dates and spending time together and the sex.”

Nightmare Moon grimaced. “Yes, you’ve told me… time and time again… and in great detail.”

“So I’m thinkin’ about all that stuff and how good it makes me feel inside and I think to myself ‘I like these feelings; it’s awesome’. And I’m thinkin’ and thinkin’ and then I realize…” She paused. “I realize… when I die… that’s it. I’m gone – no more DJ Pon-3, no Vinyl Scratch. I’m dead and gone. And if there’s no afterlife then I just stop thinking and then I’m… just nothing. No thoughts, no memories, nothing!”

She shook her head, exhaling shakily.

“And… I don’t want to lose all these memories and feelings. I don’t want to lose who I am. I don’t want to lose Octy – I really don’t want to lose her. Just… the thought of going through life and getting all these awesome experiences and crap and then just… losing them all in one second like they never existed, like nothing I did mattered. It’s fucking scary, Wolf. That… nothing… scares me.”

“…”

“And I’m freakin’ out over this wedding because I know how happy she’s going to make me and the thought of losing that…”

A single tear streamed down her cheek, painting a streak of fur a damp grey. She wiped it away quickly and sniffed – no more tears dripped, but dozens more had gathered in her eyes.

“Ah… fuck…”

Nightmare Moon cringed as the DJ looked away in shame. She didn’t know what to do. It was the ‘leaving the apartment’ situation all over again.

She felt wrong.

The words Vinyl spoke made her feel uneasy.

Time had no power over her and the effort it would take to actually kill her was too much to be considered worrisome, but if she did somehow die… the thought of simply ceasing to exist and fading until she was nothing but a memory, a story…

‘A Mare in the Moon…’

The idea tainted her mind for a few moments, stirring and festering…

Then a wave of heat surged throughout her body.

“Oh, you are being such a snivelling coward right now.”

Vinyl looked up in surprise. “What?”

“You’re afraid of dying because you don’t want to lose all these memories and feelings?” Nightmare Moon scowled venomously, pushing her face closer to Vinyl, who backed up against the wall in shock. “And you’d rather abandon Octavia – a mare you have referred to time and time again as your ‘one true melody’ – and leave her at the altar because you’re too scared to face that?!”

Vinyl winced. “I just-”

“Fine – let’s say there really is no afterlife and nothing’s waiting for you. If that’s the case, then you might as well get the most out of your life as possible instead of moping about and stewing in your own pathetic puddle of self-pity and woe!” She inched closer, green eyes locked with red. “You let fear and self-doubt control your life, then you might as well end it right here, right now!”

“I-”

“We live to accomplish! We live to experience! We live to find our purpose! We do not live to lament about death and what it may hold for us! If that’s what we were meant to do then we wouldn’t have these dreams, these desires! I have a desire – a few, actually – yet do you see me moaning and shivering at the idea of death? If I had to be afraid of anything involving death then it would be worrying if it would be painful and prolonged!”

“I-”

“Yes,” She turned away, glaring at the door, teeth bared and tail swishing. “Ceasing to exist and being unable to remember my accomplishments isn’t attractive, but what’s worse is to be forgotten or not remembered at all! If I’m going to go then I want other ponies to remember me, to know that I was here and I lived! I’m not a bag of organs and magic walking around autonomously; I am a thinking, confident, powerful mare who has done and is capable of doing many great things!”

Nightmare Moon turned again, slamming her hoof down on the floor.

“And you should want to feel the same way! You’ve trudged through life for this long and now you’re deciding to let fear rule you?! You’re willing to let something you desire slip through your hooves?! No! Make your mark on the world! Let everypony know that you exist and you live! If you don’t then I will personally beat you here and now for wasting my time and energy in being your friend!”

She drew in harsh breaths as she glared down at Vinyl, daring her to say anything self-pitying and melancholic. It was bad enough that she had the gall to doubt herself after so many years of self-assurance and confidence, but infecting her with the same unwanted thoughts?

The nerve of that loud, obnoxious, beat-boxing, pancake-eating…

Nightmare Moon drew back in shock as Vinyl suddenly began chuckling. “Why…?” She quickly recovered and her brow drew together in anger. “Why are you laughing? Is something I said hilarious to you?”

“Nah, nah…” Vinyl grinned up at her. “I just… almost pissed myself…” She guffawed, holding her stomach and trembling from her mirth.

“You enjoy sitting in urine?” Nightmare Moon commented dryly. A split-second later, she shuddered with a grimace of disgust. “Actually, don’t answer that; I already know how sexually adventurous you and Octavia are.”

Vinyl continued to laugh. “Shit, Wolf… I forgot how scary you can be,” She wiped a tear from her eye, calming down slightly. “It’s been so long since we’ve hung out that I figured… Tartarus, sitting on your flank and signing all those papers hasn’t made ya soft in the least, eh?”

“Mercifully,” Nightmare Moon fixed her glare on Vinyl again. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Right, right…” Vinyl inhaled deeply, stilling her giggles, but keeping her smile. “You’re right. You’re totally right about all that stuff and hearin’ all that just… I dunno; it just made everything I said dumb. Funny but dumb.”

“You’re…” This was new; normally she had to shout something a few times before Vinyl saw reason. “Yes, it was.”

Vinyl rose to her feet, adjusting her clothes. “I… You’re right; I should live life to its fullest and I want Octy to do the same… with me. I’ve been going by that rule for so long and then I just forgot about it. I forgot about it for one second and almost lost…” She blinked and beamed up at her. “But you reminded me… thanks, Wolf.”

Then she hugged her.

Nightmare Moon froze as a white foreleg was slung over her shoulder and Vinyl rested her head on the other. Physical affection wasn’t something new, but it was restricted to soft punches, elbow jabs, and rump bumps; a hug was something she had only seen Vinyl give to Octavia.

It lasted for maybe one and a half seconds and then Vinyl removed herself, levitated her glasses to hang in the collar of her tuxedo and trotted towards the door.

“So let’s get this party started, eh?”

The closet door open and light spilled in as well as Neon Lights’ concerned questions. Nightmare Moon quickly reigned in her initial surprise and stalked after the DJ.

“Vinyl, you know how I feel about being touched so suddenly.”

“What, still? Jeez, Tartarus is gonna freeze over when somepony manages to get you into bed.”

Neon Lights sighed. “Do I even want to know what happened in that closet?”

“Miracles, Neon, my stallion – Wolf showed her sensitive side.”

Nightmare Moon bristled and spat. “Remember it because it’s the last time it’ll ever happen.”

“And you called me your friend.”

“Last. Time.”

“Octy, you know I can talk like nopony’s business except when I actually have to say something worthwhile. Because then I just start talkin’ crap; kinda like that time you introduced me to your parents and at dinner I started trying to come up with every type of topping that can go on pancakes and then they got mad at me and then I was like, ‘at least you’re mad at me for something other than I’m a mare’ and… hold on, lost my train of thought.

“Right, so you know I talk crap sometimes and say nothing for hours and… well, it really means a lot to me that you can just sit there and just listen to me. I know you can’t speak and everything, but you can still hit me or glare or growl and when you don’t and just listen… it’s pretty cool. And it’s cool because when I finally run out of stuff to say then I don’t really have a choice, but to do the same thing you do: sit and listen. And I’m glad you make me do that because I never realized how musical the world can be.

“You know my music: all lights and artificial and stuff, and that’s friggin’ awesome. But it wasn’t until I really sat down and listened did I finally figure out and say, ‘damn, all these nature sounds and crap would make a good remix’. And that’s pretty much how I made my latest track, so thanks for that. And it also got me thinkin’ that maybe not every type of music needs to be loud and heavy to be good. Like your cello thing; when I first heard you play I thought I was in Snores-ville – population, me. But it grew on me, ya know? Kinda like you and all those cute little things you do – hey, you know Octy drools in her sleep? It’s friggin’ cute as crap.

“Where was I? Oh yeah, so I guess what I’m trying to say is… thanks, Octy. Thanks for helping me see the world in a different way and being cool with all the dumb stuff I do all the time and just… being there whenever I need you. I’ve never been a romantic mare – never really wanted to – but every time I do make you blush and swoon, I feel like the most sly and suave pony that ever existed. You’re just… awesome and… I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. You’re the needle to my record… as dumb as that probably sounds.

“I… love you, Octy.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Ah, jeez… you always know the right thing to say. Friggin’… making me going soft in front of everypony…”

Twilight Sparkle smiled warmly at the two mares and said, “Octavia Philharmonica, do you take this mare to be your wife?”

Octavia nodded, tears of joy brimming in her eyes.

“Vinyl Scratch, do you take this mare to be your wife?”

Vinyl sniffed and nodded, face almost splitting from the size of her smile. “Hay yeah, I do!”

“Then by the power invested in me, by the land of Equestria and my fellow princesses – Celestia and Luna – I now pronounce you two joined in holy matrimony. You may now kiss.”

After the expected applause, cheers, tears, and a kiss which lasted the better part of three minutes, it was time for the wedding reception.
Much to Nightmare Moon’s chagrin, it wasn’t planned by her.

‘At least,’ Nightmare Moon thought as she watched Vinyl and Octavia have their first dance; a slow, methodical display that was rather surprising coming from the DJ. ‘The music’s good.’

She wondered how long it would be before that pink menace decided to put on the Pony Pokey.

Still, despite the minor hiccup with Vinyl’s little pit-party, the wedding ceremony had gone according to plan. Nightmare Moon was… happy… to see her f-friend’s big day go without a hitch.

“Ah, Star Secret!”

And just like that, her good mood vanished.

Turning and putting on an amiable grin, Nightmare Moon nodded at Twilight Sparkle. “Princess, it is an honour. It was generous of you to come out here and act as the marriage officiant.”

Twilight blushed and shrugged modestly. “Well, when Pinkie heard her friend was getting married, she practically begged me to step in and perform the ceremony,” The princess looked up at Nightmare Moon; even with her alicorn status she was still smaller. “You know, I actually wanted to talk to you; been meaning to for a while now.”

Biting back a grunt of annoyance, Nightmare Moon kept smiling pleasantly. “Oh? What about?”

“Well, first of all, I wanted to apologize for the mess Pinkie made of the ice sculpture.”

Nightmare Moon’s right eyebrow ascended. “What mess?”

“Oh, uh…” Twilight laughed and quickly waved her hoof dismissively. “N-never mind! No mess! No worries! So anyway, the second thing was that I never got a chance to congratulate you for becoming the Seventh Representative of the Royal Court. My friends and I tried to find you at the ceremony, but it’s like you were avoiding us.”

Nightmare Moon almost laughed at the irony of that statement. She didn’t want to associate with the Element bearers for two reasons: the first was because they were the key figures in stopping her previous plans to rule Equestria, and the second was because she couldn’t know for sure if they would be able to sense her true nature through some passive ability of the Elements.

Judging by Twilight’s relaxed demeanour, there may have been no claim to that suspicion, but Nightmare Moon felt she was entitled to be paranoid; the date of her coup was coming closer day by day, and the slightest slip-up could spell disaster.

“My apologies, princess,” Nightmare Moon replied. “I was engaged elsewhere at the time.”

Twilight nodded, completely believing her lie. “I thought so. Well, congratulations anyway; better late than never, right?”

“True,” Nightmare Moon discreetly glanced to the side, looking for something she could use to excuse herself. “I-”

“Oh, but the girls will want to meet you, too!” Twilight’s wings spread slightly in excitement and she looked over her shoulder. “I thought I saw- Applejack! Rarity! Over here!”

‘Ah, wonderful…’

The rest of the accursed Element bearers sans the boisterous pegasus were approaching at Twilight’s behest. They all looked ecstatic at meeting her except for the yellow one – Fluttershy, she thought the name was.

“This is Star Secret,” Twilight gestured to her friends in turn. “Star Secret, I want you to meet Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Rainbow Dash couldn’t be here unfortunately; she’s, uh…” Her head expression fell a little. “In hospital.”

Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened in surprise. “Hospital? The last I heard of the Wonderbolts and their recruits, they were investigating the plains of Appleloosa.”

“Ah, they were, but tha’ fool pegasus took offense to some angler bat messin’ up her flight and tailed it to a cave without informin’ th’ captain,” Applejack answered. “Stirred a whole nest of ‘em up an’ broke her wing an’ a leg sealin’ up th’ entrance with a boulder.”

For some reason, Pinkie snickered and cast a devious look at Rarity, whose cheeks flushed in indignation. The unicorn made a zipping motion across her lips.

“Thankfully, some of the buffalo living in that area came by and helped her back to the town,” Twilight continued. “Spitfire gave her some time off to recover. Rainbow Dash wasn’t happy, but asked to be moved to Ponyville for her recovery.”

“How unfortunate.” Nightmare Moon said, hiding her pleased grin with a faux sympathetic frown.

While her plans didn’t call for any of the Element bearers to be injured, it certainly didn’t hurt that one of them was. It also put a bit of joy in her heart to hear the news as well.

“Dashie’s a tough cookie!” Pinkie said in that annoyingly high-pitched, bubbly voice as she bounced up and down in place. “She’ll be up and flying around in no time. Sure, she’ll probably be crashing through Twilight’s library again, but it’ll be worth it to have our old speedster back. Right, Flutters?”

Fluttershy was hanging back behind Rarity, trying to appear friendly, but having a difficult time hiding her unease. “Oh, yes; sh-she’s so very strong. I don’t doubt it.”

The shy pegasus’ anxiety set off warning bells in Nightmare Moon’s head. While it didn’t seem that Fluttershy saw through her disguise, it was obvious she was getting some sort of bad vibe from Nightmare Moon’s presence. It made too much sense the Element of Kindness’ empathy would be that strong.

Nightmare Moon wanted this conversation to end quickly, but couldn’t see anything that would provide a reasonable excuse. Perhaps if she pretended to be sick, then she could-

‘Wait, what is that?’

The gentle melody that had been playing to Octavia and Vinyl’s slow dance the entire time suddenly switched up.

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie pumped one hoof into the air gleefully. “Here’s where it gets funky! Swing with me, Rari-O!”

“Er, excuse m- eeeee!”

Rarity was swept away in a pink blur and ended up on the dance floor, being swung this way and that, her cries for help going unheeded by the masses getting into the groove of the music. Amazingly, despite the clashing cultures that made up the wedding guests, everypony seemed to be enjoying the song; some nobles were even dancing with those from the grittier section of Canterlot.

“Hey, now this I like!” Applejack smiled approvingly and started nodding her head to the beat. “Ain’t country music, but it’s a near second ah’ll tell ya tha’!”

Somepony tapped Nightmare Moon on the shoulder. Turning, she tilted her head down slightly to meet the gaze of a blushing opal-coated mare with a swirly mane of strawberry hair. She appeared to be one of the bridesmaids – most likely one of Octavia’s friend – but Nightmare Moon didn’t recognize her.

“Do…” She began, blue eyes sparkling hopefully. “Do you want to dance?”

Nightmare Moon wasn’t one for dancing and she certainly didn’t have the time nor the desire for romance, but if it got her away from these mares…

“If the princess will excuse me…?”

“Oh, go ahead,” Twilight politely bowed her head. “I’m sure we’ll meet again soon; enjoy the party.”

‘Doubtful…’

Nightmare Moon allowed the opal-coated mare to lead her to the dance floor. She may have been a better fate than hanging around Fluttershy and risk being exposed, but Nightmare Moon still bristled at being forced to dance; it would have been suspicious not to after she had just agreed to do so.

The mare before her was doing some form of dance which involved large swings, putting her entire body weight into every movement. It made sense a song with such a beat would involve a lot of energy.

Nightmare Moon was a decent dancer – not great but not bad – but she was unfamiliar with this genre of music, so she simply swayed back and forth on the spot while watching the other mare’s movements until she felt confident enough to try copying.

“I’m Peachwood,” The mare introduced herself as she and Nightmare Moon weaved and swung around each other. “I heard you were the one who helped organize the ceremony.”

‘Ah, small chat; just what I wanted.’

“You heard correctly,” Nightmare Moon nodded. “I would have done the reception, too, but Vinyl enlisted Pinkie Pie for that.”

Peachwood did a pirouette before saying, “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“… It’s not bad; the music’s quite enjoyable.”

“It’s a mix made by Vinyl and Octavia; they wanted to see if they could mix classical and electronic, and make it sound good,” She briefly looked around the room and giggled. “I think it’s safe to say they succeeded.”

Nightmare Moon glanced over to a frightening display of Twilight flailing about like she was having a seizure. Appropriately enough, many dancers were giving her a wide berth.

“They’ve succeeded in creating a monster…”

Author's Notes:

Note 1: At the bouquet-toss, several ponies were subsequently traumatized by something that totally did not involve Rarity.

Note 2: Nightmare Moon believes what she says whole-heartedly because it is all that could be defined as 'hers'.