The party ran almost through to dawn, although Daring noticed the filly emcee had left just after sundown. With her body still vibrating from the dancing, she spread her wings to head 'home', when a wing poked her shoulder. "Hey, if you want a room for the night, the castle has plenty. M'name's Cloud Chaser." She saw the two stallions that had been dancing earlier, but now there was a mare at their side, a mare sporting a little extra weight.

"Uh, I should probably head back, I promised Rainbow Dash I would mind her h-" Daring wondered if the trio were looking for a fourth for the night, not really what she wanted.

"Oh, you are cloud-sitting for Dash? That's cool. But when you wake up, come on back for breakfast, Starry is the best cook this side of Canterlot." Spike nuzzled in against his husband's cheek, giving the oddly familiar mare a wink. "Do I know you?"

Daring blushed. "Uh, well, maybe… I should go." Not that she didn't want to be nice to the pony, but a secret wasn't a secret if everypony knew it. Spreading her wings she soared out of the castle, feeling vaguely tired from the dancing, but finding her heart soaring at how good it had been to just let her mane down. "I should visit my fans more often…"

"You can lift things fine, that is a given." Twilight had her lab coat on, the one she always packed just in case of science-emergencies. "Spells might be the problem, and light… I wouldn't try to make light."

Sunset nodded, already worrying about that. "So I should do something simple? Got any fruit?" They had both been students in Celestia's school, and more, had both been Her students. Twilight grinned and levitated an apple over. "Okay, give me a second." The vampony alicorn started to warm up her magic, channeling slowly in case something went amiss. Just as she was using the power, as it started to pour through her horn and into the spell-pattern she had made she felt it. Terror, horror, pain.

Leaping forward at the mare's scream, Twilight forced massive power from her horn, but it wasn't her usual orchid-colored magic, darkness bubbled from her horn, tainting her eyes and around her face. She wrapped her friend in darkness, darkness that blocked out the light of Sunset's magic so completely that the vampony was safe from it. "Sunset, are you okay?"

Panting, Sunset had been plunged into the first real darkness since she had been reborn. She reached a hoof out and felt another clop against it. "Twilight? Did you do this? What is it?"

"Guess you didn't study any shadow magic? Not surprising," Twilight dispelled the darkness, her eyes fading back to normal again, "not really the sort of things most unicorns learn."

Sunset was blinking away the effects of the spell, looking at the mare she considered her friend. Her eyes locked on a trembling, pulsing artery at Twilight's neck. "Sorry?" She had missed some of what was said to her in her distraction. "Would… would that magic work for me?"

Twilight lifted a hoof up to her chin. "Perhaps, it is a whole different way of doing things, with an affinity to concealing and hampering. I… don't know if Cadance has any books on it, I think Princess Celestia took most of them to hide them in Canterlot."

"But I could learn it?" Sunset sounded desperate. "Twilight, I don't… I don't want to never be able to use my magic again!" She clopped a hoof firmly, her annoyance channeled down as she nearly broke the heavy stone of the floor.

"Maybe you won't have to, just keep to basic things, until I can work on something that might help." Twilight stepped in close to her friend, wrapping a wing around the other alicorn. A sudden alarm bell sounded in her head, figuratively. "Are you allowed to drink on your own yet?"

"N-N-No…" Sunset's teeth were rubbing at Twilight's neck, the feel of the soft flesh on her fangs was almost hypnotic. "Maddie would-" Suddenly the pony she had a gentle grip on was gone, a purple cloud of smoke left behind. "Thank you." Sunset hated that she couldn't control this fully.

"Sunset, you are one of my best friends, I won't quit on you. Work with Mademoiselle, when you can safely bite and drink, then I wouldn't mind letting you." Twilight blushed, there were old tales about the effects of a vampony's bite.

"Twilight!" Sunset was shaken completely from her fugue of hunger. "You have a husband… and a wife!"

"Okay, so we get Pinkie Pie to help organize." Rarity the diamond dog was sitting in the Apple's kitchen, she had a list.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie Pie, and her mirror clone, chorused together, looked at each other, then giggled.

Nopony could hold back a smile when even one Pinkie was happy, but with two Rarity's mood was swung into the clouds. Her friends had shrugged after the explanation of what she was, they really didn't care. "And then, of course, the Apple family will be providing food." She looked at Granny Smith.

"You betcha we will!" Granny felt amazing, she looked around at the ponies - and diamond dog - in her kitchen. "Gonna git the whole clan down, this'll be the best weddin' ever!" Despite herself, the old mare found her hoof tapping to a song that only she, in the room, could hear.

Rarity ticked off catering on the list. "I happen to know two mares who can handle outfits." She looked over at her mirror clone. "You up for it?" Mirror Rarity gave a firm nod, her eyes closing at the smile that poured over her features. "So that is settled. As is a venue, the castle will be perfect, but who are we going to have officiate? I had thought of getting Princess Cadance, but with them in the Crystal Empire, we can't really organize that."

"Princess Celestia." Applejack smiled lopsidedly. "Ah bet Ah can ask her to come and do that." All eyes turned to the 'simple farm pony'. "What? Yer doubtin' me?"

Rarity had even found herself tilting her head slightly to the side, before she caught herself and straightened. "No darling, of course not. It's just… the Princess is a busy mare…"

"Ah said Ah got it, can y'all make something ta fit her?" AJ smirked at the shock on Rarity's face, even as a diamond dog it was clearly evident, then it turned to determination.

"Of course I can… we can." Rarity looked to her clone, smiling.

The train was a special one. Twilight trotted from one end to the other, circling behind it and checking the other side; all the windows were dark. "Okay everypony, express to Canterlot, then we are going to have a little talk with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about matters," she looked significantly at Mademoiselle and Sunset, "then on to Ponyville."

"What is this, Ponyville, like?" Maddie had one wing around Sunny Days, the unicorn having adapted to sleeping most of the day away rather quickly, when her new lover was a vampony.

"Happy, loving…" Sunset tried to think of the town, then her friends came to mind. "Full of ponies who will as quickly forget a mistake as breathe." She turned sideways, looking at the bolt of blood-red down her side, it even obscured her cutie mark on that flank. "I hope they do…"

"That wasn't your fault, my filly, it was mine." Maddie reached to curl her wing over Sunset's back but was beaten by a huge gray wing. Muffins stuck out her tongue at the vampony, leaning in to nuzzle her fellow alicorn. "If those friends are anything like the ones present, I don't think there will be a problem."

Sunset looked up at Muffins, the mare's happy look turned almost toward concern for her friend and sometimes 'plaything'. Leaning down, the alicorn with changeling blood pressed her snout in to the now extra-fuzzy ear of Sunset. "I am going to need stronger ropes, don't worry, we can make something that will hold you."

"Sunset?" Maddie blinked at the look of her daughter. "What is wrong, what did-" She broke off, suddenly realizing something she should have known already. Though married Rainbow Dash and Muffins might be, they clearly had a place for her foal, and she hoped they would keep it for her, she was likely to need it.

Boarding the darkened train, Twilight's parents were nowhere to be seen. "Where's your folks?" Rainbow Dash had settled in beside Muffins, hence near Sunset. "I figured they would take a ride back to Canterlot."

Gel flopped down beside his mare, looking across at Rainbow Dash. "Apparently, they are going on a honeymoon, caught an earlier train." He shrugged. "Surprised you two didn't skip out for some alone time."

Muffins shook her head. "I don't want to be alone, nopony should want to be alone, when a friend needs you." She first nuzzled Rainbow, then leaned the other way to nuzzle Sunset.

"Are we going to need another wedding?" Gel grinned wide, the affection Muffins showed was completely genuine, he could feel it. "I don't know about anypony else, but I think weddings are done for a while, I just want to relax and not have to worry about Equestria being invaded, or ponies being invaded… or anything besides my mares' manes."

An itch started, in Muffins' snout, she knew something was incredibly funny, but the poor alicorn wasn't sure what.

Twilight Velvet, Night Light, and Velvet Touch met Applejack at the train station. "Another daughter…" Twilight almost swooned with motherly bliss. "We said we didn't want a big family." The last was said to her husband, leaning in and nuzzling his cheek.

"But look, it has brought such love." Night nuzzled Twilight back and then leaned over to nuzzle Velvet too. "Such love."

"No arguments there." Velvet kissed him on the cheek, nosing up to his ear. "Remember, you promised."

Night stood a little straighter and lifted a hoof across his barrel in a mock salute.

Applejack could do nothing but blush at this example of three ponies in blissful love with each other. "Ah reckon we should make our way up to the palace, Ah hear the Princess holds court in the mornings."

"Now now, there is no need to worry about that." Twilight patted AJ's shoulder like a mother would for a filly. Scanning around, she beamed and trotted over to a guard. "Excuse me, brave guard?"

Curry Comb turned to look at the mare who addressed him and then froze. He knew her, of course he knew her. Snapping to an absolutely perfect parade-ground salute, Curry stared ahead over her head. "Ma'am!" A guardspony didn't live long in his service, if he didn't recognize the mother of the captain of his guard, the fact that Shining was now a princess and no longer a member of the Canterlot guard, mattered little. "What can I assist with?"

Twilight sighed. "All you guards are like this, couldn't you just relax a little?" It was like Twilight had spoken blasphemy, like she was an evil temptress. The stallion strained to stand taller. "But I can't say you don't cut a dashing figure. Could you trot up to the castle and beg Princess Celestia for a little afternoon tea?"

"Ma'am! Yes, Ma'am!" Curry saluted sharply and turned to see his partner for the day looking on in surprise. "Recruit, take my place immediately, I have an important duty!" He turned his gaze over Twilight's head again. "Is that all, Ma'am?" He didn't see her nod, but he heard the mare's sigh.

Almost caught up in the wind of the unicorn stallion bolting as if the hound of Tartarus itself was after him, Twilight turned back to Applejack. "Will that do, dear? I am sure the princess will have some time to see a concerned mother and her future daughter. What was it about?"

Applejack was stunned by what she had seen, palace guard were normally so implacable, so resolute… Then she noticed something about the 'recruit'. Stepping over to them, she leaned in. "Princess Cadance is after you." The reaction was immediate, the stallion flashing with green fire and staring around. "Ha!"

The poor recruit, her nerves shot, turned to look at Applejack. "Why'd you do that?" She was a little upset, but the farm-bred mare her ire was on already had a hoof around her back.

"Sorry 'bout that, couldn't resist. M' name's Applejack." AJ wore a welcoming grin from ear to ear.

"Chitter." Chitter offered her hoof and the mare lifted her leg free of her withers to clop them together. "Wait a moment, Applejack, I remember you!" The changeling's crest and tail both flared and she squinted for a moment, then turned into a perfect clone of Applejack. The pose she suddenly pulled reminded AJ of a fight she had been in.

"That was you? Hot dang you are good at that!" Applejack turned to Twilight. "When we was fighting th' swarm at Princess Cadance and Shining's wedding, Chitter here was one of the drones that tried to take me on!"

"I learned that day that ponies are not worth fighting. Then Gel showed me that they are worth fighting for." Chitter let her disguise drop. "Sorry for the kick."

"Aw shucks, I double-barreled you." Applejack couldn't help but smile, even an enemy could be a friend, so long as they were honest about it.

"I woke up in the badlands, so I think you did well." Chitter saw her partner galloping back. "Wow, have we been chatting that long?"

AJ chuckled. "Ah think somepony put the wind up him."

"Twilight Velvet, Ma'am! Princess Celestia invites you and your friends, uh, cordially, to afternoon tea in the gardens!" Curry saluted sharply again, and promptly fell over.

Author's Note

Female guard? Why not, when she can look like whoever she wants!

Applejack is working her flank off to get things timed right. Yes, time doesn't match up perfectly chunk-to-chunk, but I think you are all used to that by now, and it reflects how time really does get disjointed, when there is no way to instantly communicate... for the average pony.

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