Vinyl Scratch judged herself to be about thirty paces from the Castle of Friendship when it happened; she stopped dead in her tracks, bit her lower lip softly, and her cerise eyes – covered though they were by her trademark black sunglasses – darted back and forth, searching for some place for her to hide in. Even that fancy shindig in Canterlot hadn't caused this many butterflies in her tummy, though she couldn't help but feel a grim sense of irony about the fact that her current trepidation also involved castles, weddings and the aristocracy.

        She sucked in a great volume of the balmy springtime air until her lungs felt close to bursting; taking one step backwards to counteract her equally recalcitrant forward momentum, Vinyl gingerly approached the gleaming crystal edifice that had, quite literally, taken root in the town. Even though it had been here for a while now, it was still difficult to get used to its sheer bulk. Tentatively, she reached out and tapped politely on the door once she was close enough to do so.

        Oh, well, she thought after barely a split-second of waiting, turning around to make good her escape, there doesn't seem to be anypony home at the moment, I guess I'll just have to come back lat...

        “Good morning,” Spike said, cutting into Vinyl's thoughts – and actions – of retreat by the simple expedient of having opened the door and welcomed her. With the practised ease of one used to dealing with those awed by royalty, the young dragon led the unicorn to a small, well-appointed sitting room located in an anteroom next to the lobby. He made a contrite face and said, “I'm sorry, but would you mind waiting here for a few minutes, Vinyl? Twilight has to finish up some last-minute reports for Princess Celestia. She wants to know everything about the alternate timelines we encountered while battling Starlight Glimmer.”

        “Alternate timelines?” asked Vinyl, her eyes narrowing behind her sunglasses as her muzzle creased into a frown. Starlight Glimmer had become a fixture around town as of late, ever since her plottings had been stopped by Twilight Sparkle, but clearly there were elements to the story that had gone unmentioned by the Princess of Friendship. Vinyl wasn't so sure that she even wanted to know.

        “Ah, I wasn't supposed to mention that,” Spike said, making a show of laughing nervously through a grimace while scratching the back of his neck hard enough to leave a dent in his scales. For the sake of not causing a mass panic about how close Equestria had come to multiple ruinations, Celestia had asked Twilight to keep some of the details surrounding her time-travelling odyssey on a strict need-to-know basis. “Uh, please, take a seat. Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee?”

        If you happen to have a keg of hard cider lying around, I wouldn't mind having a few mugs of that. “No, thank you, Spike,” Vinyl eventually replied with a slight shake of her head. As he tottered off to inform Twilight of her arrival, Vinyl took a seat on a muted grey sofa and tried desperately not to fidget with her hooves. She couldn't quite shake the notion that she'd just been summoned to the principal's office for goofing off in class. She must've had her headphones confiscated a thousand times a week.

        She took in what little décor there was to be found; six months since the castle had sprung into existence, and it still felt like Twilight and Spike were in the process still moving everything in. Not that there were boxes lying around or anything, but the place felt … cold and sterile still. Despite the best efforts of her closest friends, she'd never quite felt at home here as she had in the comforting environs of the Golden Oaks Library. Then again, it was difficult to judge an entire palace from just one room and a stretch of hallway.

        To try and calm her racing mind, Vinyl ran through the breathing exercises taught to her by Lyra Heartstrings. This is no different to any other big gig, she tried telling herself, and if you present the image of confidence you'll eventually start feeling it. She couldn't help but chuckle mirthlessly at the situation she found herself in: here she was, one of the coolest cucumbers in all of Equestria, a DJ who'd rocked out at some of the roughest nightclubs in Canterlot and had lived to tell the gory tales, feeling for her pulse every ten minutes just to check whether or not she was about to have a massive coronary.

        That said, it's not every day that you find yourself sitting in a crystal castle and waiting to have a chinwag with the Princess of Friendship, is it? Vinyl felt a chill tug at her that had nothing to do with the temperature, and she rubbed the hooves of her forelegs together until she felt a small spark of warmth spread through them. Especially considering what it is that I have to talk to her about.

        “I am so sorry for making you wait like this,” Twilight Sparkle said from the threshold, startling Vinyl out of her reverie, her face flushed and sweaty as she braced herself against the door frame.

        Vinyl got the impression that she had literally just run from one side of the castle to the other; she looked about as regal as a dishevelled, sleep-worn alicorn could possibly look. Which wasn't very. Still, when Vinyl thought about her own shock of messily-arranged blue hair and typically careless appearance, she supposed it would be hypocritical of her to criticise others for a lack of professional decorum. If it hadn't been for her sunglasses, all of Ponyville would bear witness to her sleepless nights, bloodshot eyes, and the beginnings of crow's feet clawing at the sides of her eyes. “That's okay, Twilight.”

        After smoothing down her violet mane and catching her breath, Twilight continued, “That's something they never mention in the fairytales you read as a foal: being a princess comes with a heck of a lot of paperwork!”

        “I can't imagine,” replied Vinyl, greeting Twilight with an informal bow. She didn't do it because she felt that she had to; Twilight was a friend, and more than that, she was a friend who had saved Ponyville a zillion times over. That deserved a show of respect, no matter how uncomfortable it made the Princess of Friendship.

        “You don't have to do that,” said Twilight uneasily. “I mean, it's awkward enough with strangers, never mind my friends.” In formal settings, she knew from having memorised an incredibly dense tome of royal protocol delivered to her by Princess Celestia the day after her coronation, it was mandatory for a supplicant – no matter what their status or rank – to prostrate themselves before a member of the ruling council. But she hated it. And so did Celestia. And so did Cadance. Luna thought that it was hilarious, though. “Goddesses, when I think about everything that's happened ...”

        “D'you want me to come back another time?” asked Vinyl, desperately hoping that the answer would be yes.

        “No, no, no. I'm sorry. It's just that, a couple of years ago, I was this totally introverted unicorn who knew nothing about the real world. And now-”

        “-And now,” Vinyl said, sympathetically interjecting, “you have this big, shiny castle, a fancy title, and all the little ponies are coming to you expecting you to have all the answers to their problems.”

        “Yes, exactly.”

        A shy, socially-awkward unicorn whose acquaintanceship with the real world barely approached nodding-to-each-other-in-the-corridor terms. But all that had changed one fateful day. Even now, Twilight could scarcely believe how much her life had changed because of the events of the Summer Sun Celebration those few short years ago. “A brief trip,” Celestia had promised, “simply to ensure that everything is well in hoof.”

        “Uh, Twilight?”

        “Huh?” Twilight came back to Equestria to discover a white hoof waving frantically in front of her mulberry eyes. “Did I space out?”

        “Yes, you did,” said Vinyl, the ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of her muzzle as she let her hoof drop with a soft thud on the polished crystal floor.

        “Sorry. Lack of sleep. Um, do you want to talk here or shall we go through to the throne room?” asked Twilight, a look of unease on her face as she uttered those last two words.

        “I'm fine with here,” said Vinyl, casting an appraising eye over the small, cosy sitting room. “It's, er, it's very comfortable.”

        “Yes, it is, isn't it?” Twilight nodded vigorously her agreement, her thin smile suggesting to Vinyl that she was pleased to be conducting business here rather than elsewhere.

        “What's wrong with it, then?”

        “With what?”

        “The throne room. Sorry if I'm prying, but uh, you just looked a little bit queasy when you mentioned it earlier. Something up?” asked Vinyl.

        “No, there's nothing wrong with it,” Twilight replied, grinding her teeth together softly in order to suppress a sigh. Her foreleg wavered in mid-air for a moment before she spoke again. “It's just that … I really hate having to sit on that big, stupid, crystal throne and look down at other ponies like they're-”

        “-Commoners?”

        “Mm,” Twilight said, unhappily affirming Vinyl's suspicion. Again, it was all part of royal protocol that the attendant princess be seated upon her throne while attending to their petitioners. Whomever wrote that stupid rule must've been on one heck of a power trip at the time.

        “I thought that it'd be one of the perks of the job, though?” Vinyl said, her muzzle splitting into a wide, tooth-baring smirk. “I mean, getting to boss everypony around and-” She trailed off when she caught sight of the aghast look plastered across Twilight's face. “Whoa, take it easy. I was just kidding.”

        “I know, but-” Twilight shook her head to try and clear the thousands of stray thoughts that had built up ever since her ascension. It didn't matter how many times she spoke to the other princesses, it didn't matter how much they insisted that she'd gotten the position on merit, it didn't matter how many lives they saved or monsters they defeated, she still felt … unworthy for the task. “Never mind, I'm still getting used to all of this.” Desperate to change the subject, she sank gratefully into the seat opposite Vinyl's and asked, “Anyway, what is it that I can do for you?”

        “Okay, uh,” Vinyl said, then trailed off into silence. Come on, you can do this. You've practised saying this in front of the mirror a thousand times. Today.

        “Are you all right?” Twilight asked, her face a mask of concern.

        “Huh? Yeah, why do you ask?” replied Vinyl, blinking the sweat out of her eyes.

        “You're hyperventilating.”

        “I am? Sorry.”

        “It's not a problem. Not for me, anyway. But for you, it could mean that you have alkalosis, diabetes, or even heart failure. Those would be problems,” said Twilight, chuckling nervously before affixing a hoof to her forehead. Sometimes, I need to end my conversations a few sentences earlier.

        Vinyl just stared at Twilight Sparkle for a long moment; she wasn't sure whether or not royal protocol allowed for her to laugh in the face of a princess and live, but she sure felt like doing that at the moment. Ever since she had first moved to Ponyville, Vinyl knew that Twilight had the tendency to babble when she was nervous, and despite the events of her life – bearer of the Element of Magic, holder of the Rainbow Power, personal student of Princess Celestia herself and the fourth alicorn – she still couldn't wrap her head around the idea of ponies coming to her when they needed help.

        Poor thing. How the heck is she going to cope with a marriage proposal, then? Knowing that she was just going to prevaricate endlessly otherwise, Vinyl forced the words out of her throat before she had a chance to swallow them down. “Twilight, I want you to marry me.”

        “What?”

        Feeling her face turn cherry red as she realised her mistake, Vinyl corrected herself with all the dignity and élan an incredibly flustered unicorn could manage. “Us. I meant us.”

        “Oh.” Twilight drew in a sharp intake of breath and let it out hurriedly. “Of course. You want me to perform the ceremony.” She paused for a moment as that news sunk in. “Me? Really?”

        “Yes, you, really.”

        “But-” a frown scrunched Twilight's face up “-I've never done one before. I never expected anypony to ask me to do one. What if I screw it up? I'll be responsible for ruining your special day. You should probably ask the Mayor instead. She's much better at them.”

        Leaning forward, Vinyl reached out to brush Twilight's hoof with her own. Royal protocol, be damned. She looked into Twilight's sombre eyes and said, “Look, I know it's kind of a big deal what we're asking, but … you're our princess, you've saved our collective butts more times than I can count, and more importantly than all of that, you're also our friend. Octavia and I have talked about this a lot and we would be honoured to have you preside over our wedding.” A tic pulled the corner of her muzzle into a faint smile. “Besides, with Pinkie Pie doing the catering, Rainbow Dash handling the entertainment and Fluttershy supervising the orchestra, there are plenty of other things that could go wrong.”

        Twilight made a noise in the back of her throat at that, something halfway between a laugh and a snort.

        “I know how scared you are about making a mistake. Almost as scared as I was way back when I first worked up the nerve to ask Octavia out. Almost as scared as I was when I asked her to marry me,” Vinyl said more seriously, not letting up her intense gaze. “You don't need me to tell you that you can't let your fears stop you from doing something. As the Princess of Ponyville, sooner or later, you're gonna have to do something like this. Why not start with two ponies who love you and will be willing to cut you a little bit of slack if you aren't pitch perfect?”

        Releasing a pent-up sigh, Twilight found herself gripping Vinyl's hoof a little bit tighter. Amazingly, the unicorn's words had worked and she found herself feeling just a little bit better. “You're right, Vinyl,” she finally said. “It's just that, ever since getting the castle, the whole princess-thing is suddenly a big deal in a way that it wasn't before. I mean, foals coming up to me and asking for my autograph is harmless and silly, but this thing-” Twilight stamped her hoof on the floor “-reminds everypony that there is a royal presence in Ponyville, and I'm so afraid of letting them all down that I keep trying to shirk my obligations.”

        “This is in no way the same as your current situation,” said Vinyl, her head tilting back slightly as she focused on the memory, “but the very first time I was asked to headline a gig, I was nervous as heck. I couldn't get a wink of sleep the night before, and I kept hoping that I would fall ill, or get in accident, or just have any old excuse to cancel. In the end, though, I just had to suck it up and do it.”

        “And how did it go?” asked Twilight.

        Vinyl grinned abashedly, scratching the back of her neck nervously. “To be honest, I got so drunk that pretty much the entire night's just a series of blurs to me. But hey, ponies still ask me to DJ for them, so it must've gone all right, right?”

        “Well, if you ever get tired of DJ-ing, you could always get a job as a motivational speaker,” Twilight said sarcastically. As far as inspirational speeches went, it was probably the worst that she'd ever heard in her life, and she couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud. Fortunately for her, Vinyl quickly joined in and the next few moments were spent giggling until they had to stop just to breathe. Sometimes, there wasn't any sane reaction to life's ridiculousness but to laugh at it. Ridiculousness such as a pony going from a non-entity to a national hero in the space of a few short years. “So. Have you set a date yet?” asked Twilight when she had recovered enough from her fit to speak.

        After calming herself with a couple of quickly taken breaths, Vinyl replied, “No, not yet. We wanted to make sure that you were cool with the whole thing first before we got down to the nitty-gritty. We've had some vague talks, made some vague plans, but everything's all still very-”

        “-Vague, yes, got it,” said Twilight, rolling her eyes. “I'm definitely cool with it now, though.” Bringing ponies together was pretty much the mission statement of the Princess of Friendship after all, wasn't it? Whether it was platonically or romantically. She had an important duty to perform and Celestia had given it to her because she knew that she'd be able to handle it, even if she still felt unprepared for it. Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Melody had been a couple for almost as long as Twilight had been in Ponyville, and now they were preparing to take that difficult next step in their relationship. She had to start doing the same with her role in Equestria.

        “Awesome,” said Vinyl excitedly, practically leaping for joy out of her seat while pulling the alicorn into an affectionate embrace. “I'll need to go and find Octavia so I can tell her the good news. I'll let you know all of the details just as soon as I find them out for myself.” She got up to leave, but before she did, she lifted up her sunglasses and smiled warmly at Twilight. “Thank you. It means a lot to both of us.”

        “You're welcome,” replied Twilight, her smile equally as heartfelt. “Take care.”

        “You, too, Princess.”

        Once the unicorn had departed, Twilight leaned back in her chair and smiled. She was still smiling when Spike returned to the sitting room half an hour later to find her keeled over. Sleeping, a speck of drool hanging from her mouth. With a slight shake of his head, he left for a moment and returned with a blanket. After carefully draping it over her and making sure that she was properly tucked in, he said, “You know, as fun as all the crazy adventures we have are, these are the moments that I treasure most: when I get to see you just being you.” On impulse, he planted a small kiss on the tip of her horn. “I love you, Twilight Sparkle, my Princess.”