Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy walked over the pony pile that was the Royal Family. The rest of the ponies present stopped what they were doing to watch.

“Twilight,” Pinkie whined “You’re supposed to be partying, not sleeping!”

Celestia looked up and answered before Twilight got a chance.

“Pinkie Pie, we were all worried that we were going to have to send Artemis to the moon today. For now, we just want to snuggle with the member of our family that we thought we were going to lose. We will join the party later.”

“But-!” Pinkie started to protest, before Rarity levitated a cookie to Applejack, who caught it and promptly shoved it into Pinkie’s mouth.

“Of course, Princess Celestia” Rarity answered “We’ll check back later.”

“Do you want us to bring you anything to drink?” asked Applejack

“I’ve already got that.”

The girls turned to see Spike walking up with a bottle of Apple Family apple juice for each member of the royal family.

“Thank you, Spike” said Twilight, sitting up as she passed Artemis a bottle and opened her own.

Artemis sat up, opened his bottle and quickly drained it, downing the whole thing in seconds. “Yes, thank you, Spike. I needed that.” He said before laying back down, pulling Twilight with him.

Twilight squealed in surprise as she fell to the ground, only to find herself pulled into his hooves as the rest of her friends and family watched and smiled.

Spike and the girls walked off to rejoin the party. Celestia drank her apple juice as she moved to the other side so that Twilight was between herself and Artemis. Laying down, she was able to cuddle with them both. Cadance lay snuggled up to Artemis’ other side and pulled Shining Armor down to cuddle with her.

Twilight Velvet and Night Light stood and walked over to the food tables, leaving the alicorns and their son to relax.

Thirty minutes later, Twilight looked up to see Pinkie staring at them. She sighed “If I don’t go join the party soon, I don’t want to even think about what Pinkie is going to do.”

Celestia looked at Twilight “Is she really that serious?”

Twilight looked down at her as she stood “Pinkie is only serious about one thing and that is partying. If you are at one of her parties and are not partying, she gets offended.” She shuddered “The last time we didn’t want to go to one of her parties, she ended up talking to piles of rocks. She thought we didn’t like her or her parties anymore.”

Artemis stood as well “We don’t want her thinking that. Besides, I’m hungry.”

They didn’t notice Pinkie bounce over, excited to see them getting up.

“I just hope she doesn’t get offended when we don’t eat the cake.” He continued

Twilight shrugged “It’s hit or miss. I know she won’t be happy about it. She can eat cake and cookies every day, but hasn’t quite figured out that most other ponies can’t.”

“What?! No cake?! Why?! It’s a party!” Twilight and Artemis turned to see Pinkie staring at them as if they had each grown an extra horn. Celestia, Cadance and Shining Armor stood as well and looked over.

“We can’t eat as much sugar as you, Pinkie.” Twilight explained “The Triple Chocolate, Strawberry Frosted cupcakes you made us eat a couple of days ago had enough sugar in them to hold us over for a week. We’re still going to join the party, we just can’t eat any cake or cookies. Our bodies can’t take any more sugar right now.”

“Aww,” Pinkie pouted “but that’s OK.” She paused, looking down before suddenly looking back up and grinning “Oh, I know! I’m gonna make you two an extra special cake next week to make up for what you’re not eating tonight!”

“Alright” Twilight said before Pinkie bounced away, muttering about flavors and color combinations.

Artemis stepped up next to Twilight and looked down at her “She doesn’t get it, does she?”

Twilight shook her head “She never does.” She paused “She once threw a party every night for a week and expected us to be there every night.”

Artemis stared at her “Seriously?” Celestia, Cadance and Shining Armor stared as well as they walked up to the couple.

Twilight nodded as they walked over to the food table. She and Artemis each prepared a salad and grabbed some fruit before settling on the grass off to the side to eat their dinner. Celestia, Cadance and Shining Armor did the same and joined them. The only difference was that each of them had a large slice of red velvet cake.

After eating, Twilight nuzzled Artemis and stood. “Come on, Artemis, this is your party. What do you want to do first?”

Before he could answer, Pinkie popped up in between them. “Piñata Time! Twilight, help him! You two have to do that trick you did last time! That was so cool!”

Before anypony could ask what Pinkie was talking about, Artemis and Twilight looked at each other and smiled. Then they lit their horns. The piñata left the tree, floated to the middle of the park and tripled in size. Artemis and Twilight each sent a beam of their magic at the center of the piñata. The beams of their magic swirled together into a single beam of purple and dark blue. The beam of their magic hit the piñata and it burst in a flash of purple and blue magic. Candy rained down over the park, gaining cheers from the foals.

Pinkie bounced in excitement next to Twilight “Now we have another game for the foals! Candy Scavenger Hunt!”

“YAY! Thank you, Prince Artemis and Princess Twilight!” shouted the foals. They were already running around searching for, and eating, the candy.

The adults present laughed and shook their heads, not even bothering to try to stop the foals.

Twilight smiled and walked to the center of the park, gaining everypony’s attention. They watched as she closed her eyes and focused. She raised her head and lit her horn. Several bursts of magic flew into the sky. They turned into a small display of dark blue and silver fireworks.

Everypony cheered as she walked back over to Artemis.

Artemis looked at her, surprised. “How did you-?”

Twilight giggled “New spell. I created it yesterday afternoon while you were sleeping. I knew Pinkie would want to throw another party the next time she saw us and I wanted to have a gift ready.”

Artemis had a very touched look on his face as he pulled her close and gave her a tight hug. “Thank you, Twilight” He paused, before continuing in a whisper that only she could hear “I love the fireworks, but I will get my real gift later tonight.” He smiled as she blushed and nodded.

“Y-your welcome” she stammered “I’m glad you like it.”

Cadance walked up to Twilight and gave her a hug. “You have to teach me that spell, Twilight! I want to cast it for Flurry, she’ll love it!”

Twilight laughed “Sure, Cadance. I’ll teach you the quick way.”

Cadance looked at her “The quick way?”

Twilight nodded, used her magic to gently pull Cadance’s head closer and brought their horns together.

Suddenly, Cadance saw everything Twilight did to create the spell for her fireworks and learned how to create them herself. She grinned and quickly taught Shining Armor using Twilight’s “quick method”. Meanwhile, Celestia and Artemis had lowered their heads to Twilight’s so that she could teach them as well.

Celestia and Artemis each felt the pull of their respective celestial bodies. They looked at each other, nodded and walked out to the center of the park. Everypony stopped what they were doing to watch. Celestia spread her wings, lifted into the air, lit her horn and lowered the sun. She landed and looked at Artemis. He nodded, spread his wings as well, and lit his horn. A flap of his wings brought him into the air, the moon rising with him. Then, a flash of magic brought out the stars. He landed next to his sister as the crowd cheered.

Artemis and Celestia looked at each other and nodded before they motioned Twilight, Cadance and Shining Armor over to them. As soon as they were close enough, Celestia whispered “Let’s really give them a fireworks show.” The other members of the royal family grinned and nodded. They smiled at each other as each of them lit their horns.

This caught the attention of the crowd and they paused, waiting to see what was going to happen next.

Celestia, Artemis, Twilight, Cadance and Shining Armor all cast Twilight’s fireworks spell at the same time. This created a fireworks show that went on for several minutes, in every color of the rainbow. The show shone beautifully against the backdrop of the newly risen moon and night sky.

For several minutes, after the show ended, the party goers were quiet. Then they cheered louder than ever.

Pinkie shouted “Turn up the music! It’s Dance Time!”

As the music grew louder, ponies joined them in the center of the park, the improvised “dance floor”. There were so many ponies present that the alicorns, except for Cadance, had no choice but to take to the air. Cadance stayed on the ground so that she could dance with Shining Armor.

In the air, Celestia and Rainbow each kept an eye on Artemis and Twilight. Whenever they strayed too far from each other, Celestia would push Artemis towards Twilight. Other times, Rainbow would give Twilight a flying tackle, sending her crashing into Artemis. After the first couple of times, it became kind of a game. Artemis would get a little too far from Twilight, making sure Rainbow saw him. After she tackled Twilight, he would fly under and catch her.

After a few hours of this, Twilight and Artemis grew tired. They landed and walked over to the side of the park. Making sure that they were not in anypony’s way, they lay down to cuddle and rest for a bit. Some of the foals noticed this and made their way over to them, Water Lilly and Silver Spark among them.

Artemis and Twilight looked up as they noticed that they were suddenly surrounded by foals. Silver Spark walked up to Twilight and lay down, cuddling up to her chest. Water Lilly did the same to Artemis. They, and the other foals, curled up near, and in some cases on, Artemis and Twilight. After a few minutes, the foals fell asleep.

Pinkie looked around, suddenly noticing that she couldn’t see Twilight or Artemis. She walked around for a few minutes until she saw a bit of lavender laying on the ground, out of the corner of her eye. She saw Twilight and Artemis curled up together, resting. She was about to yell at her friends for not partying but found that she was suddenly surrounded with Celestia’s golden magic. She looked over at Celestia to see her shake her head.

“But it’s a party and Twilight’s not partying!” Pinkie exclaimed, gaining the attention of everypony nearby.

All of the ponies at the party looked on as Celestia shook her head again. “Take a closer look at them, Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie, and everypony else, looked over at Artemis and Twilight. They smiled as they saw that the foals were all cuddled around, and on, their prince and princess, sound asleep.

“I am sorry to stop the party when everypony is clearly having so much fun,” Celestia began “but it is clear that some ponies have had a long day.”

At that, Artemis and Twilight opened their eyes and raised their heads.

“I’m sorry, Twilight and Artemis. I did not mean to wake you.” Celestia said softy

Artemis shook his head and quietly replied “It’s alright, sister, we weren’t asleep. We initially just wanted to relax and catch our breath from all of the dancing.”

Twilight nuzzled Artemis and giggled quietly, looking at the foals. “Yeah, but as soon as they saw us relaxing, they came over, curled up and fell asleep. We didn’t have the heart to wake or move them.”

Artemis nodded and returned Twilight’s nuzzle “Besides, I do enjoy spending time with foals, even if all they did this time was fall asleep.” He finished softly

The parents laughed quietly as they walked forward to gather their foals, careful not to wake them. Soon, the only two left were Silver Spark and Water Lilly.

Celestia looked over as Straight Arrow and a Pegasus mare walked up to her, slightly panicked. “What’s wrong, my little ponies?”

The mare bowed “My name is Orchid Rain, princess. Have you seen a young Pegasus colt?”

Straight Arrow nodded “I can’t find my daughter.”

They were both startled as they heard Artemis chuckle and Twilight giggle.

“Are you looking for these two?” Artemis asked quietly

Straight Arrow and Orchid Rain looked over to find that the foals they were looking for had cuddled up to their prince and princess again before falling asleep.

Both parents smiled at the sight and sighed in relief. “Yes, Prince Artemis. Those two are exactly who we are looking for.” Replied Straight Arrow

Orchid Rain shook her head in wonder “How in Equestria did you get him to go to sleep, Princess Twilight? He’d normally still be awake for hours. It’s kind of a daily struggle.”

Twilight shrugged, leaning into Artemis’ side “I didn’t do anything special. Artemis and I just cuddled with the foals while we were recovering from all of the dancing.”

Artemis smiled and nuzzled Twilight before looking up at Straight Arrow and Orchid Rain “She’s right. All we did was allow them to lay down and rest with us.”

Cadance walked over with Shining Armor, Twilight Velvet and Night Light. “I have a different theory, Uncle Artemis.” She paused as he and Twilight looked up. “Twilight told them what happened so they could understand it and without hiding anything. You protected them from whatever Blueblood had planned. I think they trust the two of you.”

Orchid Rain smiled “Prince Artemis and Princess Twilight, I agree with Princess Cadance.” She paused to look at the two of them. She smiled as she took a moment to look at her son, still snuggled up to Twilight. “You two are going to make wonderful parents, your highnesses.”

Straight Arrow nodded “I also agree with Princess Cadance, your highnesses. Today, you two have protected and cared for a large group of foals, none of them your own, by yourselves.” He paused and looked down at Water Lilly. He was thoroughly enjoying the sight of his normally shy daughter in Artemis’ hooves, sound asleep. “I cannot wait until you two have a foal of your own. I’m sure he or she will be great friends with Water Lilly and Silver Spark.”

They all smiled as Twilight and Artemis looked at each other for a moment before Twilight turned bright red.

Celestia laughed quietly “I hope that happens soon, I can’t wait to have foals in the castle again. The last foal we had in the castle was Twilight when she first became my student. I would love to have her foal running those same halls.” She lit her horn and levitated Water Lilly and Silver Spark onto their respective parents’ backs. They smiled, thanked Artemis and Twilight and headed home to put the foals to bed.

Artemis and Twilight looked around to see that the park had been cleaned by the ponies that were still present.

Celestia noticed this as well and told them to go home and get some rest. Then she turned to her family and Twilight’s friends.

“All of you are welcome to come to the castle and stay the night. I already have rooms prepared for all of you, except for you, Twilight.” Celestia paused as Twilight looked up at her. “Did you forget? Every time you stay over at the castle from the night you arrived to help my brother, you will be staying with Artemis in his room.”

Before Twilight could respond, her friends and family laughed.

“I know that, Celestia.” Twilight gave her a look “I just thought that you would try to make us spend the night in your room again.”

“Oh, I won’t even try that tonight.” Celestia said with a sly smile “Besides, I’m fairly certain that my brother won’t allow it.”

At that, Artemis chuckled and shook his head. “You are right, sister, I won’t. Tonight is not a night for family sleepovers.”

By this point, they had arrived at the entrance to the castle. They found Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang waiting for them. They fell into step behind the royal family and followed them to the throne room. There, Celestia told everypony which rooms they would be staying in.

She paused “I expect to see all of you for breakfast at eight. Well, except for Artemis and Twilight. I have a feeling they will be sleeping for much of tomorrow.”

“Why would they sleep that long?” asked Applejack

“When something very stressful happens and is finally resolved. The body reacts by resting for a long time. When I got my brother back almost four years ago, I spent most of the next day asleep. In fact, I only woke up to raise and lower the sun. When I did wake, I would just hug Artemis tighter and fall back asleep.”

Artemis laughed “I was much the same. At the time, I was so relieved that I was free of the Nightmare and that I was welcomed back by my sister that I slept for almost two days straight, waking only to help with the moon and stars. This may result in something similar.”

Celestia nodded “When you two do wake up, don’t leave your room. Just have one of your guards send for food. As soon as you eat, go back to bed. I don’t want to see either of you out of your room for two days, Artemis. I just want you two to rest, understand?”

Artemis smiled but Twilight was wide-eyed, not expecting that. She still nodded with Artemis. They said their good nights and left the room, heading for Artemis’ tower.

Everypony on the way that saw them smiled at and congratulated them both, glad the threat was over.

Eventually, they made it to Artemis’ personal chambers and went inside. Silver Shadow and Midnight Fang taking up positions outside, guarding the door to their prince’s room.

Inside, Artemis and Twilight went out to the balcony. After all of the stress and chaos of the day, they just wanted to stargaze for a while. However, it didn’t take long for the chill of the night to get to them, so they went back inside.

They went to Artemis’ bed and lay down.

Next Chapter: Chapter 28 Estimated time remaining: 32 Hours, 50 Minutes