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Chapter 1: Welcome Back!1,218 words
Chapter 2: Shop,Talk,and Walk2,549 words
Chapter 3: The Crystal Empire1,951 words
Chapter 4: Getting it Done, or Almost1,615 words
A Date!1,217 words

Chapter 3: The Crystal Empire

Author's Note:

Hello! Sorry for the really long update, there's been a lot of schoolwork in my hands. But I'm back in business my friends! Two upcoming chapters of The Princess and the Dragon are coming soon! And at the same time, a new story, but it's a one shot story. That's all the updates for now. Enjoy the chapter!

Cheese crawled out of his sleeping bag to be greeted by the “morning blur” as he liked to call it. Squinting he attempted to bring his surroundings into focus. Closing one's eyes was quite difficult when starting a new day. He was distinctly reminded of those old glasses he used to wear. They were so large they had made him more closely resemble a dragonfly than a colt. Wearing them back then made him look like a fool. But it was the only way to see where he was going. Wish I had them now. The blur began to clear up through his constant blinking. Much better. Finally he struggled to his hooves, noticing the pink mare still sound asleep in her bed. He chuckled softly to himself. Adorable. Without ceremony, he prodded her in the ribs, "Pinkie, it's time to get up."

Pinkie moaned, squinting back at him, "Mmph, alright, I'm up." After tossing off the blankets, she grabbed the blueprints with her tail. Together they trotted downstairs. "So, I guess we should tell Twilight and Princess Cadence that we're going to hold the party at The Crystal Empire then." Just as Cheese was about to respond, the distinct call of trumpets drew their attention to the courtyard below. What’s that about? Cheese and Pinkie scurried down to the kitchen, and nearly ran headlong into Twilight and Princess Cadence sipping tea at the table.

Twilight lowered her cup, "Well hello, Pinkie. Oh, hello, Cheese, I didn't know you would come."

Pinkie yawned, "Yeah, he's going to help me plan the party."

Twilight smiled, "Well that's great! Cheese, this is my sister-in-law Princess Cadence."

Cheese immediately knelt down in front of the princess. He looked up at Pinkie, nudging her pointedly in the side. "Pinkie, kneel," he hissed.

Princess Cadence chuckled, "No need to bow, a friend of Pinkie's is a friend of mine."
Seemingly undeterred by his screw up, Twilight teleported a scroll and a quill to her side, "Cadence and I were just discussing about the preparations of the foal shower. We were thinking of holding it at the Crystal Empire instead."

"Well that was a coincidence, I was going to tell you the same thing!" Pinkie leaned in as she took a bite of her hay sandwich.

"Great! That's one thing check off the list." Twilight’s quill met the paper, neatly checking one of the boxes. "Why don't we get your supplies and head to the Empire? We can rest when we get there."

"Swure." Little pieces of her hay sandwich spat out as she spoke. She swallowed, "Let's go, Cheesie." The two party ponies trotted back to the upstairs to gather their belongings.

Twilight directed her focus to Cadence. Well she was awfully quiet. She shrugged. Meh, must be some kind of relaxing tip. "So Cadence, I think you should head towards the train station while I tell my other friends to pack. Yes?" No response. It was like she was in Lalaland. "Cadence?" She waved her hoof across her face. Nothing. "Cadence, hello?"

Cadence shook her head, "Huh? Oh, sorry Twilight. I was just . . . in the zone, you know? Hehe."

"Alright, so umm, I'm going to go. After I take you to the train of course." Twilight leaped off her seat as she lent her hoof to Cadence.

Cadence sighed, "Oh, Twilight, you don't have to be so careful. The due date is not until two weeks from now. I can walk to the train station myself. Besides, I have the guards to help."

Twilight sighed, she was acting like her brother when he was being frantic. "Alright, alright. But be careful."

Cadence leaned over, gripping her into a tight hug. Her soft giggle was all the reassurance Twilight needed. "Don't worry Mom, I'll be fine." The girls chuckled as they headed towards the outside of Sugarcube Corner.
........................................................................
The train came to a screeching halt, sending a large puff of smoke towards the ponies gathered at the station causing more than a few to cough.

Spike started hauling the luggage to the crystal train. These are so heavy!

Twilight trotted to the dragon, levitating half of the luggage inside. "There you go Spike."

Spike shot her a grateful smile, "Thanks, Twilight."

Everypony boarded the train, resting on the crystal seats. Cheese glanced around him. The chandeliers that were in every compartment were made up hundreds of miniscule crystals that caught the light like some fantastic kaleidoscope. The light bouncing off of Pinkie was especially captivating, magnifying the beauty that she already possessed in spades. Celestia she’s something else.

Twilight sat next to Cadence, whispering something in her ear. Twilight didn't understand what she was going to do, but she decided to wing it. Clearing her throat, she addressed the ponies in the compartment, "How about you take a look at the crystal caboose? It’s definitely worth a visit." Everypony seemed to agree, trotting briskly over to the other cart.

Cheese’s eyes fell on Pinkie’s decidedly stationary position. "Wait, what about Pinks? If she doesn't go then I can stay with her."

Twilight shoved Cheese to the other cart, "No need, we want you to have a nice time here. Pinkie is going to uh, help Cadence."

"Wait, for w-" The door slammed before he could finish.

Pinkie strode over to Cadence, "So, is there anything you need for you and your little foal?"

Cadence levitated a seat for Pinkie as she sat across her. "Yes, I need you to answer some questions for me, Pinkie. Is that okay with you?"

Pinkie smiled, "Sure! I would be obliged to uh, answer questions I guess. What kind of questions?"

"It's about Cheese."

"Oh, okay!"
Cadence lifted an eyebrow, "Okay." Weird, she's not reacting. Let me see. "So, that Cheese fellow, he's cute huh?"

A light blush brushed before her, "Well, I guess yeah. I think. Umm."

Cadence smiled at the blushing filly, "It's okay Pinkie, you could tell me. I am the Princess of love. I like to see ponies be together in happiness. And you and Cheese look cute together. Plus, I could see how he really cares about you."

The heat began to leave Pinkie’s cheeks. She knew that she could trust the Princess at any cost. Twilight would probably do some kind of science research. Fluttershy might just accidentally blurt it out when being pressured. Applejack, would probably do the same thing as Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash might just go and tell him. And Rarity will just give her a bunch of magazines about romance. Cadence was the only hope. She sighed, "Well, to tell you the truth, I do kinda maybe like him. But the thing that kinda hurts is that, what if I'm not good enough? I feel that Cheese deserves somepony that lives up to his expectations. He's a party pony that travels, I'm just a pony who stays in one place! Even if I do go with him, things wouldn't work out. Ponyville needs me as their ray of sunshine. Without me, Ponyville would be a mess. Trust me."

Cadence lifted her chin up, "Pinkie, you need to stop doubting yourself and start believing yourself. That's how love takes off. If you just believe in yourself, everything will smooth things out, you'll see."

Pinkie smiled, "Thanks, but I think I'm just going to take it slow. I don't really feel like I want to be in a relationship."

Cadence nodded in response, "That's okay Pinkie, love will always take time. But if you need any help, just come to me."

A door slammed opened from the caboose. A group of ponies walked out of it. Twilight walked towards Cadence, "Did everything go well?"

Cadence nodded, "Yes, Yes it did."

The train immediately stopped as the speaker spoke, "Attention passengers, we have now arrived at The Crystal Empire."

Cadence rose from her seat, "This is it, let's go."

The ponies carried their belongings off the train, eyes darting around the crystal city. It seemed even more captivating than before. Cheese on the other hoof was too focused on the crystallized buildings and ponies. Crystallized ponies? Awesome!

Cadence opened the doors to the castle as a white stallion rushed to greet her. "Shining Armour!"

"Cadence." Shining gave his wife a quick hug. He looked down to the unborn baby, "Is the foal alright?"

Cadence gave a quick chuckle, "It's fine, Shining." She pointed to the stairs of the palace. "You can find your rooms in there."

The ponies trotted up to the crystal stairs as they made their way up to a narrow corridor. They all went to deposit their belongings in their respective rooms. Pinkie and Cheese hastened to gather their party supplies, then quickly moved to throne room. Cadence and Shining were seated on their high backed chairs, looking up as they entered the massive chamber. "We have some plans for the party. Everything should be decorated by tomorrow." Pinkie pulled out the blueprints from her saddlebag.

Cadence levitated the blueprints, inspecting them with a small smile. "Well I think the plans look great. But I think we should add more of the crystal pony food traditions, just to make it fun for the Empire."

"Yes, great idea. We'll add that in for you, your highness." Cheese grabbed his pencil as he wrote it in his blueprints.

Shining Armour took in a deep sigh. "I think we should be fine tomorrow." He yawned as he smiled softly at his wife. "We should get some rest, don't want to keep the foal up." Shining placed the blueprints inside his saddlebags. "We can get started tomorrow."

Cheese and Pinkie got up as they waved goodbye to Shining and Cadence. Pinkie watched the brilliant sunset through the impossibly large window. Yawning, she followed Cheese towards his room. "Cheese, do you think the party will go out fine?"

Cheese chuckled, "Of course! With you by my side, nothing will go wrong." He sat down on the floor, pulling her into a tight hug.

Pinkie couldn’t stop the blush from stretching across her face at the sudden contact. She rubbed her eyes, yawning loudly.

Cheese smiled, "Hey, do you want some juice? I could pour some for us."

"Sure."

Cheese went to the kitchen as he poured a glass of juice. Upon returning, he found Pinkie sound asleep on the floor. "Awe, look at that," he whispered to himself. Placing the glasses down on the table, he gently carried the mare to his bed. As quietly as possible, he pulled the blanket over her. The sight of Pinkie curled up fast asleep made him feel warm all over. She’s like a kitten. He planted a kiss on her forehead, "Goodnight."

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