The Grand Crystal Ballroom was where events and parties were held. It didn’t get a lot of usage most of the time, but when it did, the place was thoroughly cleaned, decorated, and stocked in all the best the crystal ponies had to offer. Turnouts for these celebrations depended on what was being celebrated, but tonight, the place was packed with castle staff and their families.

The place was decorated in honor of Nightmare Night. A thin mist covered the floor that gave the place a eerie feel, and all manner of pumpkins, fake skeletons, scarecrows, and monster props were scattered on displays or set in the corners. The walls and windows were lined with cobwebs and glowing runes that changed colors, and the tables were covered with intricately embroidered tablecloths and glowing candelabras. The ceiling above was enchanted to look like the cloudy night sky, and the clouds were parted to reveal a large harvest moon. There was an impressive spread of food on a series of banquet tables on the far side of the room, and up on a stage was a musical band playing a fast-paced seasonal tune. The sun had just properly set outside to allowing the stars and real moon to come out, and ponies of all ages could be seen walking the streets in their quest for sugary treats.

The partygoers were in all manner of costumes. Silly ones like clowns, scary ones like zombies, traditional ones like fireponies, and fantasy ones like jackalopes. Everypony was laughing, talking, eating, playing, or dancing, and there was a feel to the air that put a smile on your face.

But most of the attention at the party was directed at the group of royals who’d just arrived. Gleaming, Eros, and Spike all stood waving at the entrance for a few moments before being escorted to the front of the room. A great many ponies did double-takes upon seeing Eros, with even a wolf whistle or two as they passed.

“Sorry, I’m taken!” Eros said.

“Looks like you’re debut’s a hit,” said Gleaming. She could spot more than a few jealous looks from mares in the crowd. “I wonder how many ponies will be questioning their sexuality after tonight?”

Eros chuckled. “At the very least, I hope this makes more ponies comfortable with things like this.”

Spike, who was curled around Eros’ shoulders like a scaly cat, frowned at this. “What do you mean?”

Eros hesitated. “Well, erm—you see...”

“Some ponies don’t know what they want in life.” Gleaming shook her mane a bit, the braided gems clicking softly. “How do you think you’d feel if you went for years thinking you only liked girls, but then you encountered a boy that completely swept you off your hoov—er, claws? Would you know what to do?”

Spike blinked several times. His face scrunched up, his tail tightening around Eros’ shoulders.

“No,” he said slowly. “I’d be confused. Like, really, really confused! I wouldn’t know what to do at all.”

Gleaming nodded. “Some ponies can’t do it, no matter how hard they try. It can be very stressful.”

Spike cocked his head. “Why would you want ponies to feel like that?”

“Because it’s not healthy to pretend your problems don’t exist,” said Eros. He took a moment to step up onto the platform the guards were leading them to. “Burying them does nothing but make you bitter, and it makes the ponies around you suffer.”

Spike’s face was as blank as a clean whiteboard.

Eros looked out over the crowd. “Trust me, it’ll make sense when you’re older.”

Gleaming’s gaze wandered as she made her way up after Eros. She’d already seen quite a few ponies she knew—her massage therapist Amber chatting with somepony while nibbling on a candied apple, Lieutenant Steelwing by the buffet table with a demure mystery mare, and Doctor Talia, off in a corner surrounded by ponies with medical cutie marks. Strangely, there was a tiny, bright-eyed foal in a carrier atop her back.

Gleaming got to her chair and leaned into the cushions, her profound stomach taking up most of her lap. She was starting to notice how warm she felt all the time, the heat bathing out into the rest of her body to make her feel like she was glowing. She gently rubbed her taut belly, feeling the precious lives within stirring, their movements causing tiny flutters that made her smile.

Eros noticed. “Hmm? They tickling you again?”

Gleaming giggled. “I think they just woke up.”

Eros’ eyes fell on his wife’s pregnant swell, snugly secured in its brace beneath the adjusted shirt. “Are you hungry at all?”

“I haven’t stopped being hungry these last three weeks.” Gleaming licked her lips, glancing over at the buffet line. “I might just let you and Spike handle the greetings once Twi—er, Dusk and Rainbow come down.”

Eros considered that. “So long as you finish before our other special guest gets here. She’ll want to talk with both of us.”

Gleaming’s eyes lit up. “Right, I’ll have to indulge quickly once dear brother arrives.”

“Where’d they go, anyway?” Eros looked towards the door. “One minute they were behind us, the next they were gone.”

“Bathroom,” Gleaming replied. “I’m guessing they’re having trouble getting used to their new ‘equipment.’”

“They just got here,” said Spike. “That announcer pony looks like he’s about to make an announcement.”

Sure enough, the herald cleared his throat and said in a loud voice, “Presenting, erm... His Majesty, Prince Dusk Shine! And his companion, S-Sir Rainbow… um, Blitz!”

The entire crowd turned to see Dusk and Rainbow coming in through the doors. They were both neatly presented in their costumes while standing hoof in hoof, Rainbow’s suave, cocksure grin an odd compliment to Dusk’s shy smile. Dusk’s dragon costume was modified so that it didn’t look like it was strangling him anymore, but it still didn’t look very comfortable.

Murmurs ran through the crowd. Several sets of eyes (mostly female) about bugged out of their heads, but the rest remembered themselves and bowed to Dusk as he passed, sneaking subtle peeks in his wake.

Gleaming stifled a snicker. “This is going to make some headlines.”

Eros nodded. “The right headlines, too.”

“Eh?” Gleaming turned to Eros. “This just for Nightmare Night. It’s not like they’re going stallion full-time.”

“I meant their relationship.” Eros gestured at the ponies in Dusk and Rainbow’s wake, all staring wide-eyed at the stallion’s tails. “Looks like they’ve decided to make it public.”

Gleaming squinted. It took a second, but from their higher vantage point she saw. Dusk’s and Rainbow’s tails were looped tight together—the universal sign that two ponies were a couple.

“I’d go get food now if I were you,” Eros said in an undertone. “We’re about to get mobbed.”

Gleaming couldn’t help but agree. “Try not to have too much fun while I’m gone, okay?”

Suddenly, Eros used a wing to lift up Gleaming’s tail, running his feathers across her sensitive slit. “Oh, we’ll be having our fun later tonight.”

Gleaming’s pupils shrunk to tiny dots. An even stronger warmth bloomed inside her now, one that quickly radiated southward to form an ache.

“Eros?” Gleaming said in a strangely calm voice.

He turned with a shit-eating grin. “Yes, babe?”

“Would you like to play a game tonight after trick-or-treating?”

Eros pretended to think. “What game?”

Gleaming was having trouble thinking straight. The stupid sexy bastard was purposely wafting his tail to give her a good whiff of cologne—her cologne. “Th-The one from that book Celestia gave us at… at our wedding! Yeah! I think it’s from… erm, chapter five? Or maybe six… whatever! You know the one.”

It took Eros a moment to get it, but once he did... “It’s been awhile since we played that game. I’m certainly down if you are… if you think you can handle it.”

Spike looked blankly between them. “What game?”

They ignored him. “Of course I can handle it,” Gleaming purred. “Get ready to lose, pink boy.”

In a flash, Eros bent down until he was inches from Gleaming’s face. His eyes captured hers, his parted lips only inches away. Gleaming found herself hypnotized, and before she even knew it, she was leaning in to—

Eros pulled away.

“You can’t win all the time,” he whispered.

Gleaming blushed. She wasn’t sure whether to smack him, tease him, or shove him to the ground and claim him. Ultimately she decided on the second option, but a small (albeit loud) part of her was insisting on the third.

Gleaming swatted him with her tail, using magic to pinch his ass as she walked away. “All’s fair in love and war.”

Spike watched Gleaming go, as lost as a blind pony in a maze. “Ummm, what was that?”

Eros’ ears turned red. He’d forgotten that Spike was with them. “Erm, it, ah… involves mushy stuff, buddy. Kissing on the lips and stuff. You wouldn’t like it.”

Spike immediately made a face. “Eww! Definitely count me out on that! It’s bad enough I’ve had to see all the kissing between Twilight and Rainbow!”

Eros watched Gleaming’s swaying hips as she walked away, suddenly quite grateful that his costume covered his groin. “Give it time, little bro. You might change your mind someday.”

Gleaming had half a mind to leave her guards in the dust and teleport over to the buffet, but she knew that wouldn’t reflect well on her in the long run. Fortunately, most ponies were too preoccupied with Dusk and Rainbow to give her any notice. It was an odd feeling; she didn’t often get the chance to blend into crowds.

The food selection was impressive. The kitchens always liked to be festive when it came to their holiday meals, and tonight was no exception. Roasted pumpkin seeds, baked pumpkin bites, a gooey cheddar fondue that looked like webbing, a hot dish with a jack-o-lantern face, a chunky blue cheese spread with pink food coloring to look like brains, bread bowls in the shape of skulls, a huge bowl of steaming mashed potatoes drizzled with ‘blood’, celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins, devilled eggs with olives to look like eyeballs, salted squash fritters, breadsticks in the shape of broomsticks, a delicious-looking hay and cauliflower soup, various candied fruits, cookies in the shape of arcane runes, ten kinds of pie, and at the very end, a bowl of bright green punch enchanted to give off smoke.

“Hot damn.” Gleaming’s stomach gurgled. “I’m not even sure where to start!” She grabbed half a dozen plates in her magic and proceeded to walk down the line. “I think a bit of this... and a little bit of that… some of this… some of that... ooh, definitely some of that… this looks good… that looks GREAT… this’ll go good with the bread… this with the soup… ah, love it when they make this... still need to get the recipe… maybe a little bit more of this… this too, I suppose… do I want some pie? Eh, I’m pregnant, I’m allowed. Sergeant Onyx, go get two more plates.”

One of her escorting guards obeyed, retrieving two additional plates and holding them steady in his magic. Gleaming dished out three large pie slices on each, but then after some thought, she grabbed a several more and piled them on. Lastly, she took a few cups and filled them up with the mysterious ‘smoking brew,’ then moseyed over to a table with her haul.

The guard holding the pie plates glanced at the other half dozen floating around. He didn’t say anything, but the doubt must’ve shown on his face, as Gleaming noticed and blushed.

“...I might’ve got carried away.” She shrugged and kept on moving. “Though I am a growing mare eating for six.”

They got to the table and set the food down. Gleaming took a moment to organize things, get silverware, cast a spell on the punch to make sure it wasn’t spiked, but finally, she was able to dig in.

She raised a soup-laden spoon to her lips...

“Princess Gleaming, Princess Gleaming!” a tinny voice said. “Hello, hello, hellooooo~! I didn’t know you were hereeeeee!”

Damn it.

A pair of ponies emerged from the crowd. One was the crystal pony Azure Mist, the owner of the underground day spa. Trailing reluctantly behind her was Amber, who subtly met Gleaming’s eyes with an apologetic look.

Gleaming withheld her sigh and set down her spoon. “Hello... Azzy, was it? It’s been awhile! Enjoying the party so far?”

Azzy tittered. “Almost two months and you still remember my name? How flatteringly flattering! I haven’t been to the castle in ages, since we all woke up from the curse, in fact! I was just telling Amber it’s amazing to see how much is all the same, and I love how you and Princess Cadance have tried to mix our traditional styles with the modern era! But what about you, hmm? Did you just get here?”

Gleaming’s stomach let out another growl. “That I did. And I haven’t actually eaten yet, so you’ll have to forgive me for seeing to that while we chat. ”

“Of course, of course, of course!” said Azzy. “Need to keep those little four fed, after all.”

“Er... five,” Amber said, her smooth voice easily heard over the music. “They missed one on the initial count. I thought I told you that a few weeks ago.”

Azzy’s jaw fell to the ground. Gleaming took Azzy’s shock as an opportunity to begin stuffing her face, the hot soup disappearing rapidly down her gullet, Gleaming only pausing to tear off pieces of the bread bowl and dip them in the broth.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Azzy clapped her hooves and danced in place. “Eeeeeeeeee! You’re having FIVE?! I can’t believe it! That’s unreal! That’s simply, utterly, terrifically splendiferously GREAT! You must be so happy! You must be so excited! Ohmygosh, you must be so HUNGRY! Wow, no wonder you’ve got so much food here! Go on, eat, eat, eat away!”

Gleaming snorted. She took another hearty gulp of soup and wiped her mouth. “Kind of ridiculous, isn’t it? It never really ends, especially with me using magic with the troops. This is meal number four today.”

Azzy’s eyes widened. “Meal number… wow, I can’t even imagine what that must be like. You’re taking it all so well, too! Your body’s adjusted to the pregnancy so well!”

Gleaming smiled. “It’s honestly it’s hard to believe how fast the time’s blown by. S’been an interesting ride so far.”

Azzy got a wistful look. “Don’t I know it. One minute you’re finding out you’re pregnant, and the next you’re holding ‘em in your arms. My advice is to enjoy the time as best you can, as it’s an experience from start to finish. Especially since you’re just getting into the really magical part of it now!”

Suddenly, Amber nudged Azzy and murmured something, gesturing to something a ways away.

Azzy looked where Amber was pointing. “Oh, fiddlesticks. Your Highness, I’m afraid duty calls, but do come visit me at my spa again soon, alright? And bring the rest of your family! I’m sure they’ll all have a lovely time.”

Gleaming perked up at this. “I’ll have to see what I can do.”

“Fabulous.” Azzy bowed and swept away in a flash, leaving both her and Amber behind. “Take care! Happy Nightmare Night!”

Amber made sure until Azzy was well out of earshot, watching stone-faced before turning to Gleaming. “She can be a bit oblivious at times.”

Gleaming waved her off. She finished the soup and bread bowl, turning her attention now to her first plate of food. “I was hoping to get a chance to talk with you, anyways.”

Amber grinned. She’d become a fast friend since she’d started coming to the palace twice a week, and the older mare had had more than a few nuggets of wisdom to share regarding life, pregnancy, parenting, and other things.

“I like your costume.” She sat down beside Gleaming and looked her up and down. “How’re you feeling? Skin itchy? Any swelling in your legs?”

Gleaming shrugged through her bite of fruit salad. “The foalsh are growing like weedsh and I feel like there’sh a black hole’n my gut, but ashide from’at, pretty good! Skin’s nice and shmooth, and it’sh not near as itchy ash before. Shwelling isn’t really an isshue; my sister saw to that. Oh, and I like your coshtume, too! Very cute.”

Amber was dressed up as a cheetah. She’d put lightener in her coat to make it look yellow instead of brown, and a simple glamour had made her look like she was covered in black spots. Her gaunt frame and wiry limbs worked well to pull off the look, and to complete it she was wearing a set of fake whiskers, a set of ankle socks that made her hooves look like paws, and her tail was twisted up to look thin and ropy.

Amber seemed pleased with Gleaming’s response. “I was worried this growth spurt was gonna be murder on you, but if the lotions and oils seem like they’re helping, then we’ll keep using ‘em. I assume you’re having Cad—er, Eros, put them on at night for you?”

Gleaming took a swig of the green smoking brew, which to her delight was a mixture of strawberry, kiwi, and lime. “I uh... told you this before, but he really, really enjoys doing it. You could say it helps us, uh... ‘get to sleep’.”

Amber smirked. “You’re lucky to have a partner who finds this attractive, you know. It’s healthy for the mother to stay sexually active during pregnancy.”

Gleaming polished off three breadsticks in a few huge bites. “I’m pretty sure Eros and I would both be going nuts by now if we couldn’t. I’ve heard some couples have next to no sex while pregnant, but we’ve, uh… well...”

“Been the exact opposite?” Amber offered.

Gleaming felt a flare as her eyes flickered over to Eros. “We’ve been fucking like rabbits.”

Amber snickered as she looked over to Eros. “Luna almighty, he’s a dreamboat. No wonder you can’t keep your hooves off him! You’re gonna have some mighty fine-looking kids.”

Gleaming smiled at that. “Thanks. Although to be honest, I’m more concerned about them just having all the right parts.”

Amber patted her shoulder. “Every parent is. I know you feel like pulling your mane out here, but if you do all the things you’re supposed to, then there’s nothing else for it. Just gotta let those buns bake and hope they come out right.”

“What an analogy.” Gleaming finished off the first plate and immediately went for the second. “I get what you’re saying, but it doesn’t make all this any less nerve-wracking. Eros is good at getting me to relax and feel normal, but we’re not together all the time. That’s when I’ve noticed that I start to get, well… bitchy.”

“Oooh, the dreaded b-word.” Amber giggled. “Now you’re really a mare.”

“It’s true!” Gleaming said. “I get irritated with ponies for no reason, I have next to NO patience, I have to hold my tongue to keep myself from biting ponies heads off and even still I wind up snarking… I’m not normally like that!”

“Eh, sounds about right,” Amber said. “We all have our highs and lows, and pregnancy throws a wrench in everything to boot. Some days are worse than others, I imagine?”

“Yes!” said Gleaming. She ate the last bit of hot dish and started devouring the peanut butter-celery sticks. “About once every two weeks I get so fed up with everything I just want to coop myself up in my apartment with Eros so I don’t blast somepony into the tundra!”

Amber laughed. “You sound like me when I was pregnant the first time.”

Gleaming hesitated. “Really?”

Amber got a far-off look in her eyes. “I didn’t do any blasting, but I did my fair share of ranting. Most of it was directed at my husband, sadly, but he knew none of it was actually directed at him, if you catch my drift. Usually he’d just sit there and listen while I screamed, and once I’d burned myself out, he’d hug me and we’d cuddle until I felt better.”

“Awww.”

“It was... nice,” Amber admitted. She snapped out of her memories to prop her elbows on the table. “Look, I know you’re really busy all the time, but if you want to relieve some of that stress that’s building up, I’d say get a hobby that pulls you away from everything. Something that makes you forget you’re royalty, something that makes you forget you’re pregnant, something that has nothing to do with the military. My hobby’s doing jigsaw puzzles, and I get so absorbed in them I don’t even notice time passing. I must’ve finished at least twenty of the things while I was pregnant with Ocean Spray, and when Heather came around, I went out and bought thirty-five of the really complex ones...”

Gleaming paused in her eating. Amber’s suggestion didn’t sound like a bad idea, and there were certainly more than a few pastimes she could think of. Maybe…

“Find a hobby, eh?” Gleaming set the empty second plate aside and started in on the third. She was still very hungry—it felt like she hadn’t eaten anything at all. “Y’know, Eros and Talia have been telling me a lot lately that I need to slow down. This might be the answer I’ve been looking for.”

Amber nodded. “Lemme know how things go, alright? And if you need any help, just say the word. I’ll try my best.”

Gleaming mumbled her thanks through a mouthful of corn.

Amber snickered. “I should get going. I promised my husband I’d take the kids trick-or-treating, though I do hope he’s managed to get them in the right costumes this year.”

Gleaming nearly spat food everywhere. Amber had a colt and a filly, so getting their costumes mixed up...

Amber winked at Gleaming. “Take it easy, alright? I’ll see you next Tuesday.”

And with that, she trotted away.

Gleaming took a moment to catch her breath. She watched her friend disappear into the crowd before taking a few moments to just eat and take in the whole of the party. A good number of ponies were now mobbed around Dusk and the others, and that number still looked to be growing. Fortunately, ponies had the sense to leave Gleaming be if they happened to notice her mid-meal, and as a result she managed to get through another three plates without any interruption.

It was on the sixth plate that Gleaming had a stray thought. While she was perfectly okay with eating in peace, there were a few others she hoped to talk to. However, she really didn’t feel like wading through a dense crowd on a full stomach... fortunately, being royalty came with some nice perks.

“Sergeant Onyx?” Gleaming said.

The guard who’d gotten the extra plates turned his head. “General?”

“Are you familiar with Lieutenant Steelwing?”

Onyx thought a moment. “Dark green pegasus from the Heartguard? Think I saw him around here somewhere.”

“Find him.” Gleaming turned her attention back to her first slice of pie. She was just about full, but she was pretty confident she could polish off or one... or two... maybe three… okay, she was going to eat them all. “He can bring whoever’s with if he’s not alone.”

Onyx saluted and trotted off.

A new song was just starting up, this one a bit slower and more somber. The lights dimmed to fit the ambience, an excited energy filling the room as ponies did evil laughs and made faces at each other. Gleaming watched for a while as a group of unicorns in the corner projected some illusions to fit the mood, and before long there were ‘bats’ and ‘spirits’ flying around the chandeliers.

“Ain’t that something,” said a dry voice behind Gleaming. “You’n Cadance went all out for this shindig, didn’cha?”

Gleaming turned. There on the edge of the crowd was Doctor Talia, meeting her eyes with a weathered smile. She was wearing a powder-blue dress with glittering snowflake patterns etched in silver, and a thin veil was over her face that emphasized her azure eyes. Her spindly horn jutted through the veil like an icicle, and her snow-white mane was let down to fall around her shoulders. The infant foal was with her as well, still on her back in a carrier, the little one looking around while wiggling her little hooves.

Gleaming waved. “Talia! Wow, that’s a really nice costume. What’re you supposed to be?”

Talia hobbled over and stood beside the table. “Ain’t it obvious? I’mma windigo! I’m here to feed off all the anger and hatred of the Crystal Empire! Ooooooo!”

Gleaming feigned surprise. “What horror! We’ll all be frozen solid!”

“Somethin’ like that,” Talia said. She used magic to remove the straps of the foal carrier, then set both it and its occupant down so she could pull up a chair. “Finally managed to pry myself away from all them medical residents mobbin’ me. They got more questions than there are stars in the sky, I tell ya. Not that that’s a bad thing, mind. S’actually kinda refreshin’ to be around ponies that don’t think they know everything.”

Gleaming was only half-listening. The little foal was now staring at her with those wide eyes, and Gleaming found she couldn’t quite look away.

“Who’s your friend?” she asked.

Talia’s eyes grew warm. “I thought you’d be curious. This here’s my great-granddaughter, Rosetta. She was born six months ago here in the Empire, and I finally got the chance to meet her when I came to help ya out. Her parents called me tonight as a last resort to watch her.”

Rosetta was a grey crystal pony with the same color eyes as Talia. Her blonde mane and tail were wispy shocks of hair that had yet to fully come in, and she was wearing a set of pajamas with stars and clouds on them. Her attention was currently fixated on Gleaming, but at the same time, she was also quite intent on trying to eat her pajama sleeve.

Gleaming scooched closer. “Aren’t you a little cutie?”

Rosetta simply continued to stare at her with those innocent eyes, her mouth slightly agape. She made small snuffling sounds as she kicked her legs, a bit of drool falling from her mouth.

“She’s a mellow one, for sure.” Talia pulled out a pacifier from her saddlebags and put in Rosetta’s mouth. “Thought at first I wasn’t gonna be able to come tonight, but her momma—my granddaughter—said she’d be just fine taggin’ along. Sure enough she’s been quiet as a mouse, and by the way she smiles when I hold her, I daresay she’s taken a likin’ to me.”

Gleaming was entranced. She usually didn’t get a chance to be this close to babies (being pregnant didn’t count) and while it was one thing to tell yourself that you were going to have a child, not even looking in the mirror was the same as this.

“I’d have thought being around so many strange ponies would bother her,” said Gleaming. “Not to mention all the music and the noise.”

Talia shook her head. “Us ponies descended from herd animals, darlin. Our foals are more at ease when they’re with a lotta folks. And as for the noise, well… that ain’t a problem for Rosetta. She’s got some pretty serious demyelination in her auditory nerves, so I’m afraid right now, those ears o’ hers are just for show.”

“Demy-la what?” Gleaming felt a chill. “I don’t—wait. Are you saying she’s…”

Talia placed a tender kiss on Rosetta’s head. “We might be able to repair the damage when she’s older, maybe even completely with surgery. But that all depends on whether or not things stabilize, and hard to tell with her bein’ so young yet. She don’t seem to be in any pain though, so at least there’s that.”

Gleaming’s heart skipped a beat. She stared at the tiny foal before her, so seemingly normal looking, yet… just, wow.

“H-How?” Gleaming looked up at Talia. “What happened? How bad is it?”

Talia shrugged. “About ninety percent hearing loss, give or take. We think it was caused by a hereditary condition on her daddy’s side. Apparently it don’t normally manifest this badly, but Rosetta lost the genetic lottery. Like I said, we might be able to get some, if not all o’ her hearin’ back in a year or two, but them hearin’ nerves just might not be able to carry a signal at all. Sometimes these things just come down to a roll o’ the dice.”

Gleaming swallowed hard. And here Amber had just said things could go wrong simply because. Even with everything else going right, making all the preparations you could and doing all the correct things, there was still a factor of randomness beyond anypony’s control.

“I gotta talk to ya about somethin’, Princess,” said Talia. “You don’t gotta comment on it right now, but you and Prince Charming over there should at least have it on your radar. If ya don’t, you might be in for a nasty surprise.”

Gleaming’s mouth went dry. “I… think I know what you’re going to say.”

“Maybe, but it won’t sit right with my conscience if I don’t go over it with ya.” Talia cleared her throat. “Now, I know you’re hopin’ your kids are born right as rain. Nothin’ would make me happier than to give all five o’them little ones a clean bill o’health, but the reality is that that very well may not happen. I don’t say this lightly—this is comin’ from a mare who’s seen it happen more times than she can count. Plain and simple, ya can’t let hope blind you to reality. No matter how many preparations we make, spells we cast, how closely we monitor ya, or how well you take care of yourself, we ain’t in control of everything here. Granted, ya got a better chance than most with all your resources, you bein’ in good health, and my experience to boot, but even still. You need to accept that your kids may be born perfect, they may have a serious, life-changin’ condition, or anything in between. If you’re not...”

It was a bitter pill to swallow. The idea that any kind of unpleasantness was going to befall her children? Here they all were, trying to do everything they could, trying to make sure these kids were born right, and even with all that...

“That... was actually one of the first things mentioned in one of the books Eros and I read,” Gleaming said. “It might’ve actually been one written by you, now that I think of it.”

Talia grunted. “Ya got some good advice early, then.”

Gleaming gathered her thoughts while tapping the table with her fork. “I really hate admitting it, but I know that there are a lot of risks involved in what we’re trying to do. It’s just hard not to get my hopes up, you know?”

Talia stroked her great-granddaughter’s cheek. “Don’t I know it.”

“Everypony’s concentrating so much on the best case scenario,” Gleaming said. “They’re all talking about how excited they are, making plans for things the Crystallers, baby supplies, hiring a twenty-four hour nanny schedule, making regular time to be with the kids, options for schooling... it all makes it seem like this is a guaranteed thing!”

Talia sighed. “Maybe some day we’ll recognize the warning signs of so many disorders it’ll make pregnancy complications a bad memory. I’m happy to say the field’s grown leaps and bounds in the last few decades, but there’s still a lotta stuff out there that we just plain don’t understand.”

Gleaming probably would’ve lapsed into silence following that. However, there were a few words Talia said there that reminded her of a recent development.

“Er, speaking of growth,” Gleaming said. “I noticed something earlier that I… um, wanted your input on.”

Talia’s ears perked up. “Hmm?”

Gleaming returned to her dessert while she told her what’d happened with her costume. She also mentioned Eros’ concerns, as well as what Dusk had thought of the occurrence. Talia stayed silent the whole time, her face impassive, but her horn did flash as she cast what Gleaming recognized as diagnostic spells.

“Cadance and Twilight are only half right,” Talia said after Gleaming finished. “There’s a lot that could be goin’ on though, so let’s start with the correct stuff: A rejected magic infusion does manifest in all the ways Twilight mentioned, and yes, those symptoms show up almost immediately. In you, the provided magic is being absorbed easily, almost greedily, so it’s pretty obvious we don’t gotta worry about that.”

Gleaming dabbed at her face with a napkin. “Gotcha.”

“However, just because your body’s accepting this new magic don’t mean you’re immune to side-effects,” Talia said. “For example, your DNA tests show that you’ve got an unusually high height potential, which from what I’m told, manifested pretty strongly when you were a stallion.”

Gleaming nodded. “I was big, yeah. Bigger than Cadance, actually.”

“Which ain’t no small feat,” said Talia. “But a chunk of that height potential got suppressed when you became a mare for some reason, makin’ ya only a touch taller’n most gals. Now theoretically, that could happen ‘cause of one of three things: The replacement of your Y-chromosome, an under-stimulation of your pituitary gland, or a third, unknown variable. We know it ain’t the first one because there’s multiple failsafes on the genderswap spell to prevent that, and I even just now double-checked the integrity of the matrix. It’s tighter than the security at Fort Trots.”

Gleaming breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. Turning back to a stallion now would be… bad.”

“Very bad,” Talia agreed. “Now, the second possibility’s the most likely, and fortunately’s also the most harmless. Basically, the hormone fluctuations in your system mighta signalled your pituitary gland to release a little bit o’ extra growth juice. And if that’s the case, it’ll prolly just result in you gainin’ about two to four inches. Sometimes that can result in problems, but seein’ as your body’s already anticipating it, I expect you’ll take well to it.”

Gleaming mulled that over. She wasn’t exactly thrilled, but she supposed there could be worse fates. At least with larger muscles she’d be able to carry the baby weight better.

“D’you think it’ll carry over if I go back to being a stallion?” Gleaming asked.

Talia hesitated.

“...if?”

Gleaming’s blood ran cold. “WHEN! I meant when. Please don’t think anything of it, and—oh, shit. CORPORAL!” She addressed her remaining guard, who unfortunately had been in earshot. “If you DARE mention this to anypony, I’ll have you scrubbing latrines until you’re as old as the good doctor! Got it?!”

The poor guard blanched. The look on Gleaming’s face was one that could send a dragon fleeing in terror. With a stiff nod and an audible gulp, he managed to reply, “U-Understood.”

“Good.” Gleaming went back to her last plate of pie and began chowing down, perhaps with a little more force than necessary. “Tell me about the third possibility, Talia.”

Talia stared at Gleaming as if she were trying to decipher a particularly complex puzzle. She shifted a bit back and forth on her hooves, the only noise between being Rosetta’s soft grunts.

“Gleaming—”

“Tell me about the third possibility, Talia.”

Talia swished her tail. With a sigh, the emotion left her face as she resumed her explanation. “The third possibility could be anything. It could be coincidence, an isolated incident, a side effect of carryin’ alicorn foals, a symptom of a yet-undiscovered disease, or somethin’ else entirely. I can’t give ya a better explanation without more data points to draw from, and the only way we’ll get those is by continuin’ to monitor ya. If you grow past four inches, then it’ll merit looking further into.”

Gleaming stared intently at her pie. Even if it’d resulted in the subject being changed, there was now an unease between them that shouldn’t have been there. She’d made a mental note to make this up somehow later.

“I did have one other thought,” Gleaming chose her next words with care.“When we did the ultrasound a few weeks back—the one with Endo, I mean, you said something as you were heading out the door. Do you remember?”

Talia regarded her evenly. “I do.”

Gleaming fiddled with the tablecloth. “Think it could be… that?”

Talia was silent for a long time. She pulled back the veil on her face and magically lifted Rosetta out of the carrier to rock her back and forth. Rosetta burbled at this, breaking into a huge smile when she saw her great-grandmother. The time lapse was so great that Gleaming finished her dessert and had stacked the plates beside her, and she was beginning to wonder if the old doctor would answer at all.

“I don’t believe in fate,” Talia said at last. “Don’t believe in destiny, premonition, or any o’ that other crap. I only believe in things that are supported by evidence, and even then, that evidence has gotta be backed up by a good source. There are a whole lotta unknowns goin’ on with you, Princess, and any single one of ‘em could be the reason for what’s goin’ on.”

Gleaming exhaled out her nose. A neutral response like that might’ve disappointed, but she had a feeling there was more.

“But then again,” Talia went on. “I’m real good at probabilities, and when you can reliably determine the odds of things, well... it’s not hard to know when ya should hold, and when you should fold. Drove my wife stir crazy, I tell ya, and if Los Pegasus hadn’t banned me for life, we prolly woulda wound up divorced.”

Gleaming made a second mental note to never play a game of chance with Doctor Talia. Or anyone else in her family. Heck, even the baby might be a force to be reckoned with.

“So what would you do here?” Gleaming asked. “Hold, or fold?”

Talia pretended to give it thought. “Hmm, this might be too close to call… Let’s leave it up to Rosetta, shall we? I’ll pass her to ya, and if she smiles, you must be holdin’ her the right way. If she cries though, ya must be doin’ the opposite. Sound fair?”

Gleaming just stared. “Wat.”

“Oh, come on,” Talia said. “You do wanna hold her, don’cha?”

Against her better judgment, Gleaming looked at the smiling Rosetta, who chose that moment to let out a huge yawn. Her pacifier fell out of her mouth onto the table with a faint plunk.

“Gimme,” Gleaming said.

Talia kept her magic steady while Gleaming summoned her own, enveloping Rosetta in her magenta hue. She was a light and squirmy thing, probably only about fifteen pounds or so, and while her crystal coat glimmered slightly at the change in magic, she didn’t seem to mind the switch.

Gleaming rotated Rosetta around so that they could meet eyes. Rosetta ceased wiggling and looked up at her, and there was a tense moment where Gleaming’s heart skipped a beat...

“Ba!” Rosetta smiled and reached out towards Gleaming’s face, trying to boop her nose.

Gleaming’s heart melted. “Well, hello to you too!” She giggled and nuzzled Rosetta. “Do you wanna be friends with me?”

“Awawa.” Rosetta began chewing on Gleaming’s braids.

“Hehe.” Gleaming began rocking her like she’d seen Talia do. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Talia looked on with a pleased look. “Yes, indeed.”

Later-

“Having fun, Dusky?” Gleaming asked as she sat back in her seat. Now pleasantly full and content, she was ready to greet ponies without being distracted by hunger pangs. Dusk and Rainbow were in seats of their own right beside hers, and while the line of ponies to see them had finally gone down, there was still a decent number left.

Dusk’s reply was a smile that screamed ‘kill me now,’ but Gleaming didn’t grant him any mercy. Instead she stuck out her tongue before turning away.

“Hiya, Gleam-Gleam!” said Spike. He was still curled lazily around Eros’ shoulders as his ‘parrot’, snacking on a ruby with a contented look. “Man, you musta been hungry! I’m actually impressed.”

Gleaming used a bit of magic to ruffle his ‘mane’. “Did I miss anything?”

Spike shrugged. “Most everypony wants to talk to Dusk and Rainbow.”

“—first date? Uh, nowhere special.” Rainbow and Dusk had about a dozen ponies currently around them, including two reporters taking pictures. Rainbow was currently the one talking. “There’s this cool little place in Cloudsdale called The Ozone, and we chilled there for awhile before going to see a Wonderbolts show. Got VIP seats of course, complete with the full-blown royal treatment! It was great!”

Dusk’s ears turned a faint pink. “I wish they hadn’t insisted on the VIP box…”

Rainbow nudged him. “It made for a good view, didn’t it? And the champagne they gave us was great!”

Dusk snorted. “That was Marérignon Rosé, Rainbow. A single bottle of that is worth more than most ponies make in half a year!”

Something seemed to click for Rainbow. “That’s why you freaked when I suggested we make mimosa with it! I just thought you didn’t want us to ask for more things when they were already giving us stuff!”

“What led to you to first realizing that you liked each other?” one of the reporters called. “And who made the first move?”

Rainbow and Dusk exchanged a look. Rainbow gestured to the crowd, and Dusk shrugged his before speaking up.

“Okay, so it probably won’t come as much of a shock to all of you, but I’m not quite the strongest flier yet.” He gestured to his wide wings. “I’m still pretty klutzy in the air, and I only have the stamina to fly for a few hours. I asked Rainbow to help me learn and get better, and we started going flying together a few times a week.”

“But then the plundervine attack happened,” Rainbow chimed in. “After that, we both sorta got involved with other things.”

“Right,” said Dusk. “We did remember eventually, though. It was pretty casual at first, nothing too involved or crazy, but eventually we started doing things that would leave me winded towards the end. We were happy I was starting to show some real progress, and then finally one time when we were both cooling down, we got to talking… and it just kinda happened.”

The crowd leaned forward. Dusk didn’t say anything more though, the silence dragging on for several seconds.

“Uh… what happened?” the other reporter asked.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Waddya mean, ‘what happened’? We kissed! Smooched, puckered up, locked lips, sucked face, canoodled, made out, whatever you wanna call it! I noticed she was checking me out, I didn’t see any reason to say no, so I went for it!”

Dusk cleared his throat. “Erm, not to contradict you or anything, Rainbow, but I wasn’t ‘checking you out.’ You just kinda pounced on me.”

Rainbow’s jaw fell. “You totally were! We’d just finished talking about all the crazy things we’d been through, that weird silence fell, and when I looked over you were staring at my wings with that cute look where your mouth hangs open. That was when I made my move!”

Now it was Dusk’s jaw that dropped. “That wasn’t me ‘checking you out’, that was me noticing how out of place your feathers were! I was about to offer to preen you or something, but then you went all casaneighva on me!”

You could almost hear the gears turning in Rainbow head. The crowd watched him intently, even the reporters stopping to watch.

Finally he laughed and nuzzled Dusk’s neck, a cheeky look on his face. “I don’t remember you telling me to stop.”

Dusk hummed. “That I didn’t...”

Gleaming looked away with an eye-roll and a shake of her head. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

Eros, who’d been watching as well, simply shrugged. “When the ball starts rolling on its own and you see no reason not to go for it… why not?”

Gleaming looked down at herself. Her curves, her slender legs, her smaller frame, her lustrous coat. The growing foals within her wiggled and shifted as they pushed against each other, snugly secured in her sizeable womb. “Why not, indeed.”

“Did you enjoy your meal?” Eros asked. “I saw you had a few visitors over there.”

Gleaming nodded. “Azzy, Amber, and Talia. We chatted about random things while I ate. I was actually hoping I could track down and talk to one other pony, too, but apparently he and his friend left the party.”

Eros shook the hoof of a castle employee who was dressed up as a cactus. After he was gone, he turned back to Gleaming. “I saw Talia had a foal with her. What’s the story there?”

Gleaming paused. There were a lot of ponies around, so she motioned for Eros to come closer. “That was her great-granddaughter, Rosetta. She was born deaf, and Talia says the damage might not be fixable. Poor kid will probably have to learn sign language and all that.”

Eros stiffened. He clicked his teeth, his eyes flicking back and forth. “That… might be a problem. We don’t have a lot of disability specialists up here, and there’s a pretty big waitlist last I heard. She might have to go down south for schooling.”

Gleaming frowned. “Can’t we contact any universities and let them know we have a demand for social workers?”

“That may not work. Even if we—” Eros paused to greet an older couple, both of which worked in the kitchens. “Even if we reached out to the Equestrian universities, there’s no guarantee any ponies will bite. Not everypony wants to live in the Crystal Empire, hun.”

Spike, who could hear everything, looked between them and cleared his throat. “Erm… why don’t you guys ask one of the other princesses? I’ll bet they’d know who to ask to save some time. Plus you’ll have some extra weight if one of them backs it.”

Gleaming rankled at the thought. “I’d rather not get them involved—”

“They have better networks than we do,” Eros cut in. “We might have to.”

Gleaming stared at the floor. “Yes, but… ugh. Look, I feel like we need to be careful how often we go to them for help. If we start only contacting them when we have a problem, they’ll think we’re using them or something.”

Eros rubbed Gleaming’s back. “They don’t think that, hun, trust me. Actually, I think they might be more offended if we don’t go to them.”

Gleaming didn’t reply to that. She just leaned into his hoof and focused on some ponies coming up to greet them, contemplating the options while speaking with guest after guest. She was asked questions about various things: Her health, the pregnancy, the foals, her morale, her work with the troops, her future plans, her thoughts on Dusk and Rainbow, even what it was like to be a mare. She politely answered all of these things without issue, Eros’ words echoing in the back of her mind.

“Okay,” said Gleaming. “Let’s try Luna first. She can help us get the ball rolling if nothing else, and if all goes well, we might be able to add this in with the new hospital. Rosetta deserves as much.”

Eros smiled. “Works for me. We can bring it up once she gets settled.”

Gleaming stood up a little straighter in her chair. “She should be here pretty soon, shouldn’t she? It’s almost nine.”

Eros cast a quick spell to check the time. “A little past nine. She should be here any minute.”

And once again, Spike found himself lost. “Uh… who are you guys talking about? I thought Rosetta was—”

And then all the lights went dark.

There was a collective cry of alarm amidst the guests, the band stopping their festive tunes. The moonlight from the ceiling and the windows was the only brightness, and the fog on the floor swirled as it grew noticeably thicker, a chill rising in the air...

Gleaming heard the fwissh of Dusk lighting his horn. Gleaming did the same, and the two of them looked to each other under their shared magenta glow.

“Please tell me this was planned,” said Dusk.

Gleaming wiggled her eyebrows. “Mayyyyyyyyybe.”

Suddenly, there was a flare of navy magic from the enchanted moon. The crowd turned their heads skyward to see.

Rainbow was the one who realized first. “Oh, awesome! Now it’s really Nightmare Night!”

The moon’s orange glow became brighter, it's corona pulsing like a heartbeat. The enchanted clouds parted to reveal the glittering stars beyond, the magic building until it gave everypony goosebumps. There was an ominous rumble, the kind that resonates in your ears and gives you the shivers, and everypony couldn’t help but watch with bated breath...

Which is when the piano started playing.

A familiar silhouette appeared upon the moon. The stars were drawn forward to gather in a shifting, spiralling mass, channeling their energy in an intricate pattern. The silhouette absorbed all the energy and glowed ice-blue, fading in and out in time with the pulsing light. Ominous shapes appeared within the swirling clouds, flitting and darting just out of sight, but never disappearing completely. The runes on the walls and windows shone brightly again, humming loudly like a violin climbing up its strings.

There was a moment of silence, and then...

“MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The moon’s silhouette faded, and in its place appeared a beautiful navy alicorn appeared in a flash of bright light. She was flanked on both sides with a quartet of batponies singing in a haunting chorus, and her regalia was black and silver etched with fine symbols of the moon and stars, her ethereal mane sparkling and flickering with dancing nebulae. She was tall and proud, her mighty wings like shrouds of the deepest blue, her elegant horn thrumming with power…

...and her belly was noticeably rounded, as if she’d been eating too many sweets.

“ANNOUNCING!” the herald boomed. “Her Royal Majesty Princess Luna, The Dark Lady, Mistress of the Night!”

Ponies began cheering and stomping, hooting and hollering as Luna descended like a guardian angel. She raised her hooves in greeting, and at her command, a chill wind swept through the Hall that smelled of fallen leaves. She and her batponies landed in the center of the room, and when she met eyes with Gleaming, her smile became especially wide.

“Greetings, ponies of the Crystal Empire!” she shouted. “It is time once more for the most GLORIOUS of nights!”

The mood was now more merrier than ever. Gleaming and Eros looked on as Luna mingled among the partygoers, not a single one rattled by her glamorous entrance.

Eros chuckled. “Seems like it wasn’t over the top, after all.”

Gleaming shrugged. She tossed a piece of candy to Spike, but it just bounced off his head as he still stared open-mouthed.

“Surprise.”