The Crystal Empire, after recently having celebrated the ascension of a new princess might be thought to have had enough of celebrations, but to find out the parents of the same recent princess were not only reaffirming their bond with each other but were marrying a third party into their herd? They might as well be renamed the Party Empire.

Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but smile, her foals were both riding her back, just as she remembered Spike used to do, she was prancing alongside her mom and dad… and Velvet. It was hard not to like the changeling that was joining her family, Velvet seemed always ready to smile and laugh, even at the strangest things, but the deal clincher for her was the smile Velvet put on her mom and dad's faces whenever she was near them.

Talking was impossible above the cheers and hollering of ponies, the little contingent had been met at the train station by some guards who led them all the way to the castle. "Do you think they found out you were coming?" Twilight Sparkle could finally get her voice over the noise.

"No, Your Highness, this is… the Crystal Empire is well known, of late, for celebrations. There is much to celebrate." One of the guards clicked his hooves together and stiffened immediately as soon as he saw something coming.

"Twilight! Mom! Dad! Velvet!" Cadance strode down into the hall and love flowed around her. Velvet trembled a little until Princess Twilight quickly put a glowing sphere of protection around herself and the changeling. "Oh, woops!"

Velvet breathed deeply, feeling more full than she had in her whole life. "Thanks!" She turned to Twilight and gave the alicorn a peck on the cheek. "This may take some getting used to." Twilight dropped the spell when Cadance gave her a look. "Sorry Your Highness, you are… quite overwhelming!"

"No, Velvet, I am sorry to have put you ill at ease." Cadance stepped forward and spread a wing to hug the changeling, holding back as much of her love as she could bear to.

Still being flooded with love, Velvet at least could keep it from overwhelming her now. "Hardly 'ill at ease', the exact opposite."

"Where's our Shiny?" Twilight Velvet stepped up to hug her daughter-in-law, looking around for the former stallion. A tiny pink missile rocketed down the hall and latched on to Twilight Sparkle.

"Twi!" Flurry was hugging the other alicorn tight until she froze. "Who?" Her hoof gestured to Twilight's back.

"Flurry Heart, this is Winged Pattern and Apple Seed. They are my foals." Twilight Sparkle spoke in an adult manner to the alicorn filly, who cracked into a bigger smile and suddenly there were three overactive foals. "Yayyyyyy!"

"Only a week old?" Cadance watched as her own filly raced between her legs, then the two smaller foals followed. Twilight Sparkle nodded to the question. "And here Flurry can teach them all the worst things to do."

Shining appeared, her head darting around until she spotted Flurry. "There you are!" Her brain hadn't registered the other guests until she realized Flurry was playing with a changeling and a unicorn foal. She looked up, seeing the resemblance, particularly in Apple Seed, with her sister. "Twily!"

Coming together to hug, Princesses Twilight and Shining wrapped wings around each other. "How you handling motherhood, BSBFF?"

"Flurry? She is an angel, when she wants to be." Shining felt a light weight on her back and knew that the filly in question was there. A glance revealed that her sister had gained two little panting foal passengers of her own.

"I meant you, silly." Twilight lowered one wing a little, rubbing her sister on their belly.

"Oh! Ankles are sore, I get tired when trying to fly, things I am told are 'normal'." Shining lifted two hooves to make air-quotes. "What about you? Finally started growing that family of yours?"

"We grew up, didn't we?" Twilight leaned in closer to hug with her forelegs, just like she used to with her BBBFF.

"Sure did, Twily. We sure did."

Rarity huddled over her sewing machine. Her foot-paws worked fine for activating it, just as her hooves had, but using her paws to move the fabric was new and a little strange. She was really getting the hang of it again after a few days and soon outfits started to flow from her bench again, her backlog slowly diminishing. "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Sweetie." She and her little sister were having lunch. "But I think we can try working on a new outfit for you, now."

Sweetie, having been fighting to keep her big sister's spirits up, had her own raised to eleven by the offer. "Really? We are going to make something together?"

"Together." Rarity gave a happy little nod. "Now, what do you think for the base color, maybe a pink to show off your white fur?"

"I have just the right one!" Sweetie bounced from the table and into the work room, returning carrying a bolt of soft pink fabric, floating along beside her. "This one!"

Rarity thought to move the cloth with her horn for a moment before she remembered her paws. Reaching out she carefully unrolled a small section and draped it over Sweetie's back. "Oh my yes, this will be wonderful, I really had been wanting to use this silk for something." She claimed the bolt out of the air and rolled it back up. "Now, let's create something amazing…"

Sweetie's eyes grew wide and when she opened her mouth to reply it was like a song bubbled up inside her.

The two, together, lifted their voice to sing of their love for each other, with Sweetie providing the high notes and Rarity the low. It did more than just make them feel good, it made them feel like everything was working and would keep working. Just as they finished, the dress completed and hanging on a filly-sized ponequin, there was a knocking at the door.

Immediately worry filled Rarity, was it one of her friends? What would they think?

"Coming!" Sweetie gestured to the kitchen with her hooves and a smile for her big sister. "Almost there," the filly gave Rarity a look and in a lower voice said, "go, hide in the kitchen, I got this."

Scampering to hide in her own home, Rarity waited until her sister opened the door. "Is Rarity in?" Gel's voice was unmistakable and the fashionista loped out. "He wasn't easy to find, which is good." The stallion looked a little odd, bigger than he had when he left. Rarity suddenly had a shock of worry that he had the diamond dog inside himself right now.

"Oh, uh… how is he?" Rarity scuffed one of her feet. It was astounding, considering for a moment she balanced on just one leg.

"Halfway to Baltimare, or so I told him to be." Gel quirked his snout. "He seemed very apologetic, although he wasn't really sure what for. I don't think he realized what he did was bad. He did ask me to give you something."

Sweetie had closed the door behind Gel and trotted over to stand beside her sister. "We don't want anything from that big meanie, do we?"

"You might." Gel flowed, pouring to liquid on the floor. While the sight was quite astounding in itself, the fact that his body had been concealing hundreds of gems was the really amazing part. "There were more." Gel had reformed himself beside the pile. "I don't think he planned to come back for them. When I get back from the Crystal Empire, I will fetch whatever is left."

Rarity's eyes glistened for a moment, not only her love for how lovely the gems were was felt, however. An entirely new lust for shiny gems filled the former unicorn and she wanted, so very much, to rush forward and scoop all the hoard together and… "Oh bother."

Looking up at her sister, Sweetie saw the canine giggling. "Rarity?"

"He made me into a diamond dog. You just poured out a small fortune in gems. Have a guess at my first thoughts?" Rarity kept giggling, reaching down to rest a paw on Sweetie Belle's shoulder. "Thank you, Gel. You are the best example of a prince, I would hazard to hope that others might act as well…"

"Blueblood?" Gel blinked at the slight venom that came into the last words. "He seemed nice enough, got married, I believe."

"Some high-class mare with nothing between her horn and her neck, I bet." Rarity recalled her encounter with him.

"A changeling, just like his nature. Poor guy, did you know Celestia had him infiltrated into the high-society snobs since he was just a foal? All his life he had to keep up a ruse, a mask that wasn't… Rarity?" Gel blinked at the shocked look on the canine. "You okay?"

"He was a spy?" Rarity's mouth was dry. "You mean to say, he was acting all snooty and uppity and…" Sweetie managed to pull her big sister's fainting couch over with practiced speed, catching the falling canine on the soft padding.

"She had a crush on him." Sweetie giggled. "Then she met him and he was the least prince-like prince she had ever met… Well, he was the only prince she had ever met."

"I bet. From what ponies told me even he couldn't bear how terribly he was behaving. He fell in love and found a way out from under Celestia's hoof." Gel trotted over to the couch and lay down beside it. "Oh he still thinks much of himself, but now his smile is for other ponies, not just him."

Rarity came to, her sister waving a little fan before her face and a prince curled up nearby. "What…" The diamond dog's eyes narrowed as she caught up on her own memories. "He really didn't mean it?" For an instant she could hear the hope in her own voice. "But he is married?"

"I can promise, if he was less than delightful, it was an act. And yes, quite attached to a cute mare, but she isn't of my tribe, rather she descended from Vicious' line." Gel's explanation seemed to go quite over the sisters' heads. "She feeds on lust, not love."

Rarity blushed hotly, surreptitiously looking to Sweetie. The little unicorn giggled. "I bet he is having fun then." The moment she said it her hooves flew up to cover her snout.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity's indignation only fueled her blush. "You…" She saw only mirth on the filly's face, and Gel's. "You are probably quite right."

Sunny Days was having a great time. She had moved to the Crystal Empire only a month ago and, since then, nearly every week there had been another party, it had been a dream come true. Dancing in the street, she twirled around, the pan pipes moving against her lips perfectly. Other ponies joined the mare and they had danced the whole day away. As her namesake settled down past the horizon, Sunny panted and realized she was hungry. "Sorry! Sorry everypony, I need a break!"

A chorus of sad voices met her announcement, a few protesting, but most accepted her retiring for the evening. Besides, there would be more performers, this was practically a royal wedding itself!

Trotting down the alley to where the steps led up to her house, Sunny felt a slight chill in the air. Just as she opened her door she recognized a presence behind her. "May I come in?" The voice was feminine, soft.

Sunny turned to see the thestral behind her, the mare's dark lines lightened by cute, tufted ears. "Oh, um… are you, like, hungry? I couldn't turn anypony away, come in."

No sooner had she spoken the last two words than the figure half-spread its wings and rushed her into her flat. Sunny was trapped, her eyes staring into the dark irises of the other mare. She felt the weight of the world pushing her, almost crushing her.

"I am hungry, but worry not, I will not be killing you, little mouse." The thestral advanced on Sunny, wings still slightly spread. "Tilt your head just so, offer me your neck."

Sunny felt fear pumping through her body like her very blood, but she couldn't stop herself from tilting her head. She managed to slam her eyelids closed, but it was too late. Pain shot through her neck as she felt warm breath on her throat. Fangs closed and sank into her flesh. The fear suddenly vanished, washed away by a sudden and inexplicable pleasure that had Sunny moaning.

The thestral fed, suckling from the mare's neck, but it counted softly, in its head. 'One, two, three heartbeats to daze. Four, five, six to sleep. Seven, eight, nine to leave for the night.' Releasing her bite, the dark mare lapped at the wound. "Ten, eleven, twelve to make an ending." Her voice was soft as she lay the unicorn down gently.

Author's Note

Ooo, foreshadowing and, dare I point out what this baddie is? *maniacal laugh*

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