"But we can decide more firmly later." Rarity smiled, looking around at her friends who hadn't responded. "We have another six months here, girls, let's enjoy it."

Pinkie's grin was from ear to ear as she pressed against Twilight. She leaned a little closer, lifting her snout to the mare's ear. "And if we both end up going home, we might be able to continue our little thing?"

Twilight's blush told the rest that Pinkie had just said something possibly naughty. "You going to share, darling?" Rarity grinned, batting those big eyelashes of hers. "Let's all be clear, this place is a lot more… open, than back home." A glance at Rainbow Dash from the white unicorn only got a half grin back. "I will not hold it against anypony if they want to stay, but I absolutely will not think about it, without being allowed to go back to say goodbye."

The lighter note the mare had raised suddenly fell as everypony, even Sunset, gave a little sigh. All faces turned to the vampony, however. "I can't go back, not ever. I have… I have ponies here who will help me, look after me. I know all of you would, but this is a little big for the ol' gang to deal with."

"We need to talk to Twilight… Princess Twilight." Twilight still got a little confused, but it helped that the other mare was bigger and, well, more 'wingy' than her. "I might even be able to help with it."

The mood picked up and all seven of them began to head upstairs, joining the wake. Mirror Applejack had a thought, one that caused her to blanch white. "What's wrong, AJ?" Sunset caught on to her condition first, the mare's heart beating so rapidly suddenly that it was like there was two of her.

"If this world's Granny died-" Applejack didn't get any further, Sunset had wrapped a flame-colored wing around her and with a flash of black and opal magic the pair vanished.

"She can cast spells again?" Twilight looked between her friends, who all looked more worried than intrigued.

The spell sucked the vampony almost dry. Transforming fruit had been one thing, using more than her usual power, but this tapped her out and she wobbled a little on her hooves. However, she was perfectly on-target. "Sunset? Applejack?" Princess Twilight Sparkle spread her wings a little, her wife was at her side still, so the mare before her was definitely the mirror version. "What's wrong?"

"Portal, now, Applejack needs to-" Sunset didn't get any further. Beside Twilight, pony Applejack looked alarmed.

"Twi, if our worlds're mirrors, she needs to go home, right now." Applejack looked at her mirror-twin. "Ah'm sure she is okay…"

Her mind catching up on events, Twilight spread her wings, grabbing mirror Applejack. She looked at her husband and wife and was gone in a puff of magic. "I really hope…" Sunset knew what was happening, she hated it, but she couldn't even go back to help her friend cope.

"It's a dark path for her, until she knows." Gel spread his wing over Applejack, over Sunset too, pulling the fiery alicorn in for a hug. "You casting spells again now?"

Sunset showed only the slightest hint of a blush. "Not really," the hug helped a lot, her legs felt like jello, "but she needed to move as quick as she could, and that wouldn't upset your wake."

Applejack could admit that she hadn't had much contact with Sunset, but from what she understood of her past she was a good mare. "Twi'll help her." It was absolute truth, not only to AJ, but Gel and Sunset too. All three nodded to the sentiment. "As for this here shindig, Ah think it's time ta move things along." Giving her husband a kiss and a nuzzle, Applejack strode up toward where Vinyl had her gear.

Seeing her friend coming, Vinyl slowly dialed the music back, hovering a mic over to AJ. With the music stopping completely, all eyes invariably turned to the stage where Applejack was standing. "Mares, gentle… ah horse-apples. Granny wouldn't want some formal windbag of a speech." Nearly every pony in the room smiled at that, all knew Granny Smith in some way or another. "Granny helped ma with me, my brother, and sis. She knew us all our lives, and we knew her too." Some tears came to the mare's eyes and she shook her head. "Ah ain't the best at this here talkin', but she meant so much ta me Ah can't help but give it a try. That is what all of us Apples do, ain't it? We see something in life standin' in our way and we just keep goin'." There were a lot of moist eyes now. "Granny was the best of us, an example of a mare squeezin' every last drop outa life, right to the end. Granny Smith," a glass winked into existence in AJ's free forehoof, it had a potent-looking brown liquid in it, "ah can't help but think if'n we spend our lives living like you did, takin' everythin' head-on, we can't help but have as many friends at the end, who'll drink to us one more time."

There wasn't a single pony in the room without a drink in their hoof, to one side a sweating Starry was waving a hoof at her slightly-smoking horn. AJ lifted her glass and drank the potent drink down, followed by everypony else. Nearly every cheek in the room lit up red at the same time, even a white alicorn sitting at the back. Applejack kicked, and hard, but there was no finer drink to have to celebrate Granny Smith's life.

The portal stood before Applejack, it was unlit now but she knew the Princess would be able to work her thing. She held on to her fear and worry, using it to fight panic. Words would be bad, AJ knew if she opened her snout and started talking she wouldn't stop.

Channeling her magic, Twilight lit up the room with power as she poured it into the two matched books sitting beside the portal, resting on lecterns. The magic swirled and poured into the portal. With the bridge between worlds energized, Twilight grabbed one of the books and stepped forward, one wing reaching over Applejack to pull her through as well.

The changes the portal always wrought were done and, stumbling with their arms wrapped around each other, Twilight and Applejack landed out of the portal on the other side.

"I was right!" Apple Bloom pointed at the two who had appeared before her. "Wasn't I right Big Mac?"

"Eeyup." Muscles bulging as he held two girls from hitting the cold pavement, Macintosh lifted his sister and her friend to their feet. "You okay, sis?"

"How is Granny?" The words ripped from Applejack, her eyes staring at her two kin.

"She's fine!" Apple Bloom rushed up to her sister, hugging her, knowing without a doubt that it was her sister. "The doctor said somethin' about a stint-"

Big Mac ruffled the girl's hair. "Stent."

"That's what Ah said!" Apple Bloom looked from her brother back to her sister. "Anyway, she needed one of those and she'll be fine."

Twilight stood frozen, the difference between her world and this one becoming painfully clear. Would Granny Smith in her world have lived if they brought her over? It seemed confusing, and not terribly helpful to mention so she kept quiet.

"Twi, I… I can't go back." Applejack looked between her brother and sister. "Ah need to see fer meself and…" She was cut off by a hug from her friend.

"I will tell your friends, don't worry." Twilight squeezed the girl.

"Ya know some'o them are plannin' ta stay?" Applejack looked to her friend-that-was-a-princess. "Sunset has ta, but Fluttershy said she wants to… Rarity too, I think they are going to want to visit back here a bit, maybe even after."

The revelation shocked Twilight. "I wonder what effect that will have on the world, on the magic here?"

Her friend's sadness was blown apart, exploded violently by a giggle. "Twi, don't stop bein' you."

With her friend safely with her family, Twilight almost turned back to the portal, still active and ready. "Oh, AJ, here." She passed over the diary to her. "You are officially the custodian of magic here."

Taking the book, Applejack looked down at it. "But this is Sunset's… oh." She pulled it close. "Got it, Twi. Any problems, Ah'll give ya a holler."

"Even if you just want to talk, okay?" Twilight looked the girl in the eyes. "You are never alone, Applejack, you know that?"

AJ looked to her left and right, sister and brother, then down to the book. "Yeah, sugarcube, ah know it."

Twilight stepped back through the portal, landing back on all-four. Sitting on the floor, Applejack, Sunset, and Gel. They were passing around a bottle of something that looked dark brown, but had a label with an apple on it.

"How is she?" Applejack and Sunset both cut in at once, only Applejack's had a slur to it.

"AJ is fine, her brother and sister were waiting for her." Twilight looked to her wife. "Their science works better than magic." It was admission of failure, AJ could see that. She held out a foreleg to Twilight and the alicorn slumped down beside her.

"Her Granny lived? Ah'm happy fer her." There was jealousy, more than a little, she would have to work on that later. "Right now, Ah jus' wanna snuggle." And AJ did, leaning in against Twilight until her wife put a wing around her, she passed the bottle to Twi.

Lifting the curiously dusty bottle to her snout, the smell hit Twilight and almost made her eyes cross. She froze a moment and took a breath, getting more of it. Then she took a pull from the bottle. Her throat was on fire, her tongue felt like dry water had burned it and she knew she was blushing. "Wha… what is that?"

"Granny's best. That there's the finest applejack'n Equestria. She set it ta cask when I were born." Applejack, relaxed now that her little family was back, took another long pull of the bottle. "'s good!"

Gel looked across the two at Sunset, rolling his eyes. He could see the drink wasn't affecting the vampony one bit, as it wasn't with him. "I think you can finish that bottle upstairs."

"No!" AJ snuggled closer to the now blushing Twilight. "Got my Twi, got my Gel, don' need nothin' else!"

Not hesitating for a second, Gel fell forward, flowing and pouring himself down and over the pair. It took effort to wrap them both, but he had the mass to do it, even if the result wasn't perfect, it was good enough. Tucking the left legs of Twilight up, and the right legs of Applejack, Gel created a wider, bigger pony to contain his two wives. Inside him, the bottle was turned upside down, a pair of sipping tubes running to it and to each of the mare's mouths; AJ was suckling on it happily.

"Sorry, Sunset, I believe my two angels need some privacy and a more… cleanable… location." Gel gave a bow, of course the two mares were doing the movements too, but he turned to leave.

"Thanks, Gel." Sunset got up and hugged the oddly-proportioned stallion. "You really do keep everypony together…" Her grin was lop-sided.

"And on that note, I'm outta here." Gel started walking out, feeling the two mares inside him squirm as they felt their bodies being moved, carefully, by their mate.

The sound of crying broke both the kiss and any hope of continuing it. "Your turn." Muffins grinned at Dash, giving another little kiss. "Hey, don't look like that, I know you are doing this as a test."

"Wha-what? That's ridiculous!" Rainbow Dash flopped onto her hooves from the couch, walking to the next room where now both foals were crying. "Who has a problem?" The dark face of Winged Pattern leaned over and nuzzled her brother, then looked back to Dash as if her own cries were unimportant. "Apple? Thanks Wingy." A blue hoof, far too large for a little foal to properly bro-hoof, reached down toward her and Winged lifted her own leg and poked it.

Using her wing, Rainbow scooped Apple Seed out and immediately she screwed up her nose. "Oh, yup, found it in one. Muffins, diaper!"

"You know," Muffins was walking into the room, already talking, "if we had a foal, there would be days when I wouldn't be around to do this." The alicorn lit her horn, lifting the colt's rear up, unfastening the diaper. "Ho… that is ripe. Dash, what did you feed him?"

"Milk!" Rainbow Dash brought a wing around to defend her nose, then couldn't stop giggling as Winged copied the gesture herself.

"Yup, you are bit bad." Muffins cleaned the dirty colt up carefully, wrapping all the mess in the diaper and tucking it away. "Any mare who won't sensibly leave such a scene of nasal destruction is bound to grow their belly soon." Muffins started fitting a clean diaper. "I don't hear a protest about getting pregnant."

Rainbow had been playing a game with Winged, hiding their noses with alternating wings. "Huh? Well…" The blue mare got a kiss on the cheek. "It just seems totally cool to bring a new pony into the world, I envy Twi… which isn't cool at all."

"Then we will talk more and maybe make plans." Muffins kissed her wife again. "I may be a bit derpy, but I never do anything without a plan… well, except when I fell for the coolest and most awesome pegasus in Equestria."

Winged Pattern looked up at the mares tending to her brother and her. She smiled, they tasted nice.

Author's Note

Somepony seems a bit 'bit' too, derpy Muffins. I don't hear any objections from you about it?

Honestly though, ponies use their mouths so much, I hate to think how pegasi/earth pony parents handle foals...

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