Spike and Rarity approached the castle with immense joy. It had been a while since their last visit; they hadn't been to the Crystal Empire since they got married last Winter. It had changed quite a bit since then; the paths were shinier, the ponies seemed happier and the weather was beautiful.
They had barely even stepped hoof into the castle before Shining Armor and Princess Cadance were running to greet them, smiles plastered on their faces.
"Cadance! Shining Armor!" Rarity yelled enthusiastically, absolutely gleaming with joy. She and Cadance hadn't seen each other in so long and were almost overwhelmed to be seeing each other once again.
She and Cadance had gotten along so well recently, being the only married mares in the group. They often met up in Canterlot, complaining about their partners' habits, drinking tea and exchanging stories about how they'd saved Equestria, the few dozens of times they had. It was how they bonded.
"Rarity! Spike!" Cadance was just as happy to see Rarity. When they got to each other, they embraced one another in a tight hug while Spike and Shining Armor awkwardly hoof-bumped. They were fairly close too, often finding themselves watching sport and drinking cider together when the girls wanted to hang out but they were nowhere near as close as Cadance and Rarity were and they would never do something as painfully humiliating as hugging.
They moved to the main living room, Cadance and Rarity already bouncing around and gossiping about the ponies in Equestria, and Spike and Shining Armor exchanging a few words every now and again about the weather.
After some catching up between the four of them, they decided it was time for lunch. They sat at the downstairs kitchen table while crystal servants prepared daffodil and daisy sandwiches for the ponies and pink sapphire gems for Spike.
"We've never told you that?" Rarity asked. "I'm surprised. I thought I'd told everyone about that story."
"Trust me, I'm sure I'd remember you telling me about Spike burping on his burrito and accidentally sending it to Princess Celestia," Cadance said with a giggle. The whole table was soon crying with laughter; all except Spike who was frowning at everypony involved.
"I'd like to see how well you could send and receive packages through your mouth!" the small dragon whined.
Once the laughter had died down, Shining Armor started talking about his week. "There was this pony that was threatening all the guards, he looked insane. We tried apprehending him, some of the stuff he was saying was unheard of, but he teleported away before we could even take one step towards him. We couldn't track him either because he was wearing this black cloak, covered his cutie mark perfectly. I really fear for the ponies of the Crystal Empire."
Rarity and Spike seemed somewhat quiet and outright shocked. "Don't worry," Cadance said in reassurance. "You'll be safe. The castle is crawling with guards, and there's no way we'd let anything happen to you." The pink princess smiled at the couple a smile that could brighten up even the darkest of days. It was like a hex was being cast on them, making them forget their worries. Spike and Rarity soon found themselves smiling too and everypony continued to eat their meal in silence.
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about how things have been on the different sides of Equestria, telling stories and gossiping until Luna raised the moon, and everypony was starting to feel tired.
Cadance and Shining Armor showed Rarity and Spike to their room, where their bags had already beaten them there. Rarity and Cadance embraced in another tight hug before promptly separating.
"Goodnight, Rarity," she said sweetly. "Goodnight Spike." She winked at him before leaving the room.
Everypony else said their goodbyes before Shining Armor headed off to his own room.
"What a day," Spike said, taking a seat at the edge of the bed.
"Yes, it was marvellous. And dinner was simply divine. I love the exquisite cuisine that comes with the Crystal Empire. Almost as much as I love the Empire itself."
"I have to admit, the gems are always perfectly ripe." Spike was drooling in delight.
"I don't understand how you can eat such precious jewels," Rarity said in astonishment.
"Me neither."
"Oh, I'm exhausted!" Rarity complained. "I feel like I'm going to pass out if I have to stay awake any longer. We should get some sleep."
"Yeah," Spike said, climbing into bed with her. "Goodnight, Rare. I love you."
"I love you too, Spikey-Wikey."
It wasn't long until Spike awoke from a terrible nightmare. He forgot it rather quickly. It was something along the lines of losing Rarity to another stallion. Spike was fuming in annoyance.
Because he was small, and Rarity was so beautiful, he had a lot of self-doubt about himself and how Rarity could get any stallion she wanted. When she walked into a room she'd turn just about every head in her direction, ponies would drool over her. Nopony ever drooled over Spike, they hardly even knew he existed, and when he was out with Rarity, he might as well have just been invisible. Spike grimaced and turned to look at Rarity but—
She wasn't there.