Sunset took a deep breath, not that she needed to.

"Okay, let's take this slow." Mademoiselle slowly opened the door, revealing Gel. Sunset smiled, she felt no hunger towards the stallion now, it was like her instincts just accepted that he was 'neutral'. Then she saw Princess Cadance. Hunger rose inside her, she felt her mouth water, but her instincts didn't force her, she inhaled deeply again, smelling pony, smelling the iron-filled goodness inside them. "You are doing well, Sunny."

Sunset took a step forward, then another. The sound of a beating heart, far faster than Maddie's, filled her ears for a second, before she banished her acute hearing. "I am feeling hungry, but I can… control it."

"This is good progress, Sunset." Gel stepped closer and the amber alicorn turned her attention on him. It was like taking a breath of fresh air for Sunset, her instincts discarded him completely as food. The stallion wrapped both forelegs around her and she smiled, returning the hug.

"This progress, how complete is it?" Cadance looked from the predator she had known as a mare, to the older, much more experienced hunter.

"Alicorn blood, now that I have tasted it myself, is so potent I doubt Sunny would have a problem with regular ponies, so long as she is kept fed. Please, though, don't startle her, or those instincts will come to the fore." Maddie gave a bow to Cadance, then a deeper one to Gel. "I will stay on as her teacher, I do not want another child of mine to fall."

Sunset pulled back from Gel and was smiling so much that the stallion saw fangs, plain as day. "You want to go upstairs? It is just past midnight." The alicorn looked to Maddie first, then to the princess. Neither seemed to object.

"Keep me close, Gel." Sunset nuzzled his cheek. "I feel safe with you near, well, I mean, I feel others are safe-"

"I know what you mean." Gel lifted a hoof and booped the vampony on the nose. "Come on, Twilight has been worried sick about you."

As if in challenge, Cadance stepped forward, standing taller than Sunset she claimed all the height her alicorn heritage had to offer and she loomed over the young vampony. Tilting her head slightly she raised a brow.

Everything in Sunset told her to attack, to take Cadance as a meal. She was practically offering, and that was why Sunset was able to pass the test. She inhaled, deeply. "You smell so good, but I am full, I don't need to attack you." She looked up to find Cadance smiling down at her.

"Then let's go see your friends, Sunset Shimmer." Cadance lifted a hoof to rub the vampony's cheek, the blood stain from her 'birth' now a permanent pattern on her fur. "I wonder about your magic, though. You had a lot of affinity with the sun."

"Princess Celestia would be best to talk about that with." Mademoiselle moved up to flank her foal with Gel. "But that is for later. Restrict your magic as much as you can, I have no idea how it will be affected by your… rebirth."

Twilight watched her friend climb up from the entrance to the dungeon. Sunset squinted a little at the light but when she saw Twilight she moved, fast.

Gel was about to trap the vampony but Sunset was too fast for him. He watched her move in a blur. That she was hugging his wife was a great relief, as was Maddie standing near Sunset. He hadn't even seen her move, she had been a whole other lesson in fast than the vampony alicorn, but she had kept close to Sunset.

"Sunset!" Twilight was shocked at the speed of the mare, that she hadn't even had time to blink and her friend had covered at least ten pony-lengths. She squeezed back, hugging Sunset. "How do you feel?"

"Amazing, dismal, excited, terrified, hungry… hungry." Sunset noted her list, going from good things to bad things, ending with the dichotomy of her hunger. "It is amazing, I can hear you, every muscle you move, especially your heart. I can hear Shining Armor's foal, their tiny heart beating at a slightly different beat to his mother's."

Shining froze, blinking. "I… a colt?" Sunset suddenly realized what she had done and lifted a hoof to cover her snout. "Cady! I am having a colt! Flurry will have a little brother!" The exuberance clearly blew any awkwardness about being told right out of the air.

Cadance and her wife hugged tight, nuzzling. "A colt around the castle? Shiny, I think this was definitely your destiny, now."

"Mademoiselle." The voice came from behind Shining, a black, chitinous form separating from the shadow. "I understand it has been a long time?"

Maddie blinked in consternation. "I know that voice, but that is impossible… what are you?"

Deathly bowed, as he did so green flames burned around him, revealing the disguise he had affected to infiltrate the castle originally. "Would this help?"

"Drummon?" Maddie blinked. "Drum, what are you?" She took a step close, watching as the flames ate away at the pony she knew by sight. "Is it really you?"

"This was a lie I regret. My name is Deathly Stare." The changeling bowed to the vampony. "I was caught in the magic of the Mad King, My… My Queens, broke us all free, Princess Twilight and her friends saved our hearts." Deathly flicked his ears back, but was shocked when his mentor was suddenly wrapped around his neck, hugging him.

"Dru- Deathly… I can't say I don't like the name." Mademoiselle hugged the odd pony tight. "I left before you got the job, did you?"

"Deathly Stare is a knight of my empire." Cadance had recovered to watch the odd exchange with the two. "He is also head chef of 'his' kitchens." The particular description of his job made Deathly smile his fanged smile.

"He thinks he can cook? Let's see about that." Maddie dropped back from the changeling, keeping one leg casually over his shoulder. "Lead me to your kitchens, I wish to see what you have done with them. Sunny," Sunset's attention snapped back to her 'mother', "you will behave, won't you?" Sunset nodded to the older vampony. "Good."

The two oddest of friends trotted from the room, leaving princesses and princes to discuss matters among themselves.

Rarity actually got on quite well with herself, her other self. She only had to be shown something once, explained carefully, and the task would be done. She had a backlog of work to get through and after little time learning to sew with her magic, Mirror Rarity proved she was a natural.

"So, how are Starry and Dash?" Rarity was working her machine with one foot, her paws guiding the fabric through and around. "I will admit I had wished to play a little more with the Rainbow Dash here, but the darling just had her heart set on Muffins."

"Muffins? The silly girl who always walks into things and seems like she can't talk properly?" Mirror Rarity raised an eyebrow, working with her pony - or canine as was the case for now - counterpart, had proved to be enlightening. She picked up the actual work easily, but the business aspect had spun her head, she had a lot to learn and was about as eager as a pony could be to get to it.

"Yes dear, that Muffins. When you get back, you may wish to talk to that girl. Don't let her looks or act dissuade you, Muffins has a sharp mind, impeccable skills and, if the two are at all alike, the most loyal of personalities." Rarity was describing a mare she herself admired for the traits she rolled off.

But Mirror Rarity had paused in her work, her gaze rising up the wall, to the lovely pony-themed art. "When…" She exhaled deeply.

"What was that dear?" Rarity finished sewing the dress pieces together and put them on the 'done' pile.

"Rarity…" Mirror Rarity had lost the uncomfortableness of using the name for another. "I think I have a lot to learn here…"

"You do, darling." Rarity was already sewing the next dress up, her muscles working from new memories, but they were memories. "Was there something in particular you wished to learn?"

"Everything." The mare from the Mirror smiled as she got back to her work. "I want to learn everything."

"So when's the weddin'?" Granny Smith eyed Applejack, the younger mare was tired after only a week of eighteen-hour-a-day work, what was the world coming to?

"Well, we… uh…" Applejack had been half expecting this from her granny, the old mare was both horribly traditional and progressive all at once. "We kinda had a private-"

"Don't give me none'a that!" Granny Smith walked across the room on legs that showed a lot less shaking of late. "She is a princess, and that lug of a stallion is a prince. Even if'n they ain’t I wouldn'a let you get off without a weddin'!"

Applejack half cringed back, the wiry old mare wouldn't hurt her physically, she knew, not unless she deserved it, like when she was a filly. The problem was, Applejack thought she might deserve a smack. "Yer right." She took a breath. "So we need to make something special. The fields are quiet, the orchard is nearly all in, maybe it's time Ah surprised them both."

"That's my girl." Granny bonked Applejack lightly on the nose. It had meant to be light, but it was surprisingly firm. Not that it hurt. Granny Smith had the decency to blush and try to look away.

"Granny, what's goin' on?" Applejack lifted a hoof to rub her nose. "Yer acting all… well, spry of late. Did those no-good Flim-Flam what's-it's come back?"

The older mare gave a sigh. "Yer can't blame a mare for wanting a little bit of her youth back, can yer?" Granny Smith looked resolute. "Ah talked to that nice young'un… what's her name again… Plastic?"

Applejack quickly put some things together. "Vinyl."

"That's the one!" The old earth pony chuckled. "Swear, that song she makes is kinda catchy…"

"You took a seed, Granny?" Applejack looked at her mentor, the older mare glared back and gave a nod. "Yer life, can't say it doesn't make you look a lot more… well, it is like when you had those no good stallions' tonic malarky."

"This is real." Granny Smith grinned, her old bones feeling more sure than they had in many years. Her voice got smaller, AJ could barely hear it. "I feel young again…"

"Oh Granny…" Applejack got up and hugged the old war-horse. "I don't got nothin' against them, or the tree, seem like nice folks and Apple Bloom… well, she handles it okay."

Granny Smith beamed. "Sharp as a tack, ya're."

It hadn't taken much work, they practically looked the same. Daring Do looked in the mirror. She had brushed her mane the same, her tail too, she was the spitting image of Rainbow Dash, except for her coloration. "Close enough. Let's get to this party."

The music had started a few minutes earlier, it was impossible to miss. Bass thumps came from the castle that Daring could swear would shake it to rubble, but the castle seemed quite stable, despite the weapons-grade wubs. Spreading her wings she glided from the cloud-house. Circling lazily she soon landed at the open front doors. "Wow…" Her voice was lost, but she couldn't believe the motif of the place, a combination of love hearts and chilling crystal work, wrapped in stone.

Stepping inside the coldness of the building was gone, there was warmth, life, love. Daring's hooves started to bounce a little with each step, the music invading her body and causing her to dance along. A young voice raised. "Yeah! Bounce everypony!" It sounded like a filly and, suddenly, Daring really couldn't stop from dancing her way in.

In the main ballroom of the castle, a huge stack of speakers was setup, a white unicorn with electric blue mane and tail at the controls. Atop the unicorn's shoulders was a filly. Both of them bounced just as much as the crowd and Daring couldn't stop, didn't want to. The tune was so simple, but when that filly lifted the mic to her snout, the words sank into her like no song before had ever done.

"Hi!" A voice from one side yelled above the music, by dint of being right by her ear. A handsome stallion, dancing and moving, had another stallion dancing close enough to him that it was obvious to Daring what they were about. "New?"

Daring nodded and smiled, giving herself to the music. It seemed nopony cared if she was pretending to be Rainbow's relative or not, everypony was welcome.

Author's Note

A new chapter, a new beginning. Daring visits the party, finds friendship and magic twisted tightly together. Granny Smith makes a solid appearance. And YAY, Sunset is safe to be around!

Wait, where is the clop? Is this the right story? Are we in the Twilight Zone? Hee, that should be the name of the dungeon under the castle!

EDIT: Early chapter publish today, enjoy!

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