Twilight Velvet stretched and looked down at the accounts books. "I do believe, dear, that we are done with these ones. None of these wretched businesses look worth the time to acquire." Her horn lit and closed the books. "What about yours?"

Velvet tilted her head over to the unicorn, her eyes admiring every inch of her wife. "I might have one worth while. Little business with big potential, needs a sure hoof at the helm to grow." She floated the book over to Twilight. "Look at their monthly sales and stock on hoof."

"The moment they make anything, it trots out the door. They need to scale up." Twilight giggled. "But, this can wait for tomorrow." She stood up and stretched again, using her magic to wrap the "winner" in a little piece of blue ribbon. "How is Prince Blueblood doing? Did he secure those rights in Vanhoover?"

"You almost ready to pop there?" Velvet's eyes focused on Twilight's lower belly, a pronounced bulge there the proof that changelings are directly compatible with ponies. "Or do you need me to check?" Getting to her own hooves, her own belly showing quite heavily too, Velvet walked over to Twilight and leaned shoulder to shoulder with her.

A knock at the door drew the attention of both mares. "Coming!" Twilight waddled a little with her back legs, the sight, from behind, not diminishing Velvet's love for the unicorn; in fact, it only fueled it.

The door opened to reveal a pair of changelings. Both immediately recognized Sleek Guise but the other 'ling was new. "Sleek!" Twilight beamed. "Welcome back. Did Cherry stay on in Ponyville?"

"Surprise!" The second changeling flashed with green flame and revealed…

"Cherry?" Velvet stared. "Whoever you are, it is a poor joke and almost certainly against the law to impersonate-"

Sleek cut in on her fellow changeling. "No, no it really is Cherry. There was… well you know about the accident in Ponyville, with Discord and all the fuss?" Both Velvet and Twilight nodded. "Cherry got caught up in it, was dressed up as a changeling for Nightmare Night."

"But didn't that get resolved?" Twilight reached up a hoof to the disguised Cherry. "Are you sure it is her?"

"Well… we sort of slunk away early. There was something we had to see to in Las Pegasus…" Cherry blushed and leaned to her wife to give her a kiss. "And, next we hear, Discord had fixed everypony and here I am, still a changeling!"

"Who do you feed off now?" Velvet looked at the couple, not that she didn't mind having a new hive-sister. Then it hit her. "Does Queen Twisty know about this?"

Twilight, meanwhile, stepped back and ushered the two 'lings inside. "Those questions can wait until we have some tea." The unicorn beamed at her guests and closed the door after they entered. "Come, come. Our new sun room awaits."

Small words were made as the four made their way out and soon each had a cup of tea before them, made to their liking. "I was almost going to head to Ponyville myself, to check on Twily, but her letter was most insistent… as was my wife and husband."

"You bet we were." Velvet leveled a tender look at Twilight. "She can come to us now, if she wants to see you." The drone gave a nod of finality.

"She was… she took it hard at first, I think." Cherry sipped her tea. "We had a unique amount in common, it turned out. Although when she first faced Twisty, things got a little tense."

"Tense is an understatement. No disparagement to our queen, but it was THE Twilight Sparkle." Sleek waved a hoof in the air. "It wouldn't matter if all Equestria was against her, Twilight Sparkle could have a horn-suppressor on and all the ponies would be defeated… somehow." Three heads nodded in this, agreeing. "Neither really knew what was going on, they just… got angry. Apparently it is a queen thing."

"Glad we don't have to worry about that." Velvet chuckled around her cup. "Oh, we found a few more businesses that are ripe targets." Her horn lit and reached back into the previous room, floating the books out to them. "Here you are, we ran the calculations, each seems a viable choice."

It was quite obvious by now, even ignoring Sleek Guise's insistence, that this was Cherry Stripe, particularly with how eagerly she took the books, her snout diving into the first. "You aren't wrong." It took a few minutes of silence for her to check the numbers. Unlike the other two, she ran them in her head. "Are the rest this good?" Twilight nodded.

A gentle clopping sounded on the front door and Twilight looked to Velvet, who shook her head. "I wonder who that could be?"

"I'll get it." Sleek got to her hooves, letting the two pregnant mares to relax. Trotting to the door she lit her horn and opened it; and froze. "T-T-T-Twilight?"

The alicorn just outside smiled.

"Yes dear?" Twilight Velvet stood up, walking slowly to the hallway to see what had the changeling sounding so odd. She froze. "Twily?" Her eyes widened at her daughter, now taller than she had been mere weeks ago and… "Your mane?"

Ever the filly at heart, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, bounced up to her mother and hugged her tightly. "Hi mom. Uh, you like it?" Dark evening colors flowed in an unfelt breeze. "Mom?"

"T-Twi, dear." Twilight Velvet shook a little, feeling a rush of damp down her back legs. "Your mother needs a little help now."

Twilight Sparkle couldn't help but smile at the two mares laying in the hospital beds. The nurses had pushed two together so the mares could lay together. A nurse had come up to Twilight, not for the first time. "Are you sure, Your Highness, that they don't all need to suckle?" She kept sparing glances back at Twilight Velvet, who had apparently been hiding two little half-changeling foals—one of whom was enough a changeling to just drink her mother's love.

"They don't. Velvet will tell us if they are feeling poorly." Twilight's voice seemed to reassure the nurse and she trotted off, muttering something about "odd foals".

Gel waited by the door, two foals sitting proud on his back. The stallion turned to each of them, giving them little nuzzles. "Can they see their aunts and uncle yet?"

Twilight looked at her two mothers, realized how that felt to her and smiled. "What about it, moms?" She stepped close to the beds, looking down at the little foals and to the changeling mare and the unicorn. The three little bodies were all curled up together, two with tubby little bellies, the last looking just as content.

Velvet looked over at her wife. The initial shock of Twilight's water breaking had sent her into labor too. "I think our colt and his little ones are fine." Twilight nodded across to her. "Bring them over."

Gel heard the cue and walked over to the beds, his eyes widening a little at the sight before him. "They are gorgeous." A big dumb smile plastered itself on his lips. "Look Wingy, Apple!" He turned sideways so the little filly and colt on his back could see.

"We should let them rest, Gel." Twilight Sparkle kissed her husband's cheek. "Come on."

"They are all sleeping, they are already resting." Twilight Velvet gestured to the little ones, all in a tight ball. She looked up to see her daughter and son-in-law looking at her with barely suppressed giggles; she turned to Velvet and saw a similar look. "What?"

"Us, love." Velvet leaned forward and kissed Twilight on the nose. "Go on, I can't imagine that having you like that, Twily, is keeping attention away?"

Twilight nodded slowly. "Lots of ponies wanted pictures, then they found out about Princess Celestia." The princess grinned. "Seems to be a lot of love going around… Speaking of which, I will send a letter to Cadance and Shining."

"You are a… a…" Twilight Velvet yawned widely, her eyes not fully recovering and staying half closed as she finished. "Good filly."

A nurse came in and tried to herd Gel and Twilight out; apparently alicorn princesses were not immune to the laws of a hospital. "You should probably leave-"

"Leave now, we got it." Gel gave a wave to the two mares. Leaving the room he leaned over and kissed Twilight. "Your parents are awesome."

"Our parents." Twilight corrected her husband. "And of course they are." A blur raced past the two and into the room they had just come from. "Hi dad… bye dad…" Twilight gave a snort. "Can't really take that badly."

"Two wives giving birth at once, poor guy." Gel trotted easily from the hospital and into the afternoon air. "Now what? Was there that-" Something seemed to speed by, something pink. "Where did that come from?" Gel pointed to Twilight's hoof, that inexplicably held a piece of paper.

"Party invitation, for Princess Celestia's filly." Twilight scanned through. "I didn't even know Pinkie Pie was in Canterlot."

Applejack sat in the day court. Regular business had suspended at news that Princess Celestia had arrived flat of belly and toting a foal carrier. The white alicorn took to her seat at the front of the court. "Anypony here for any reason but congratulations may leave now." Celestia cast a sweeping gaze over the crowd, noticing a few suddenly frowning faces. "Oh, don't be like that. It isn't every day your princess has her foal." Applejack saw it, the gaze swept over her and lingered just a moment.

"First," Luna didn't hide her intention at all, she gazed right at Applejack, "we need to make an announcement. You all were so wonderfully patient about our bit of secrecy over my sister's daughter's lineage." She adjusted her gaze now, glaring at the few that had been pushing harder than most to find the paternal figure. "But the pony who sired Golden Dawn has agreed to drop their anonymity. Apparently being in the life of such a beautiful filly is more important than all the attention she is about to receive."

At the mention of a feminine pronoun, a good half the court started talking among themselves. Gabbing on and on, they were clearly expecting a bellow to sound to stop them but, because of the foal present, neither Luna nor Celestia seemed inclined to.

A good five minutes passed before other ponies finally had enough and started bumping the talkers. Once the room was quiet again, Princess Celestia lifted her voice. "Applejack?"

Being one of the former Element of Harmony bearers, along with having married into royalty, meant AJ's name was known, as was her visage. She got up and took a deep breath. Everypony present looked some manner of confused as a unicorn walked calmly up to the front of the room. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna." She gave each a grin and stepped closer. "Golden Dawn." She leaned her snout down into the basket Celestia had before her and rubbed her snout tenderly against the little shape.

"Your Highness!" One courtier seemed to want to stride forward, but then saw the royal guard step a little closer and glare at him. "Your Highness! Your Highness!"

The irritating voice had gone too far for the plain-spoken farm pony. Turning sharply on elegant legs, she glared at the noble pony. "Keep yer dang voice down, she is sleepin',"

Looking shocked on more levels that he comprehend, the noble closed his snout and sat back. His brain was spinning with thoughts, unable to work out if this was another joke, or if this mare before him had somehow done what a thousand years of other stallions had failed to do.

Fancy Pants was the first to rise and bow. "May I pay my respects to the new princess?" He got a nod from Celestia, which only had him turn to Applejack. "I would ask her father's permission too, my dear." Applejack stared in shock when Fancy bowed and, worse, gently took her foreleg and lifted it, kissing the edge of the hoof. Her brain span, connecting dots. Fancy pants and Fleur were a thing, Fleur was a "leggy unicorn"…

Applejack blushed. "A'course you can."

Author's Note

Support me on Patreon or fuel my writing on Ko-Fi!

Join me on Discord. Warning, said chat may contain NSFW material and should be considered adult in nature.

Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
Canary in the coal mine
Daremo
Mary Rowland
Boulder
A.P.O.N.I.

And special thanks to the following, for careful eyes and friendly words:
Daremo
Vutava
Boulder