Rule of Three

Chapter 3: The Foal Shower

Eight Months Later-

“Let’s see here…” Velvet sat back comfortably in her favorite chair, pondering the pile of presents before her. She couldn’t get a read on what was inside them, so she just grabbed one at random, picking a small box wrapped in purple paper.

“Oh, these are adorable!” Velvet lifted up the tiny pajamas out of the box for everyone in the room to see. They were a pure, deep black, adorned with sparkly stars in the arrangement of constellations. “Awww, thank you, Twilight!”

Twilight Sparkle, who was sitting in the chair across the living room, smiled softly, her wings fidgeting a bit. Also in the room were Shining Armor, Cadance, Celestia, and Luna. It was rather inconvenient to have two separate baby showers (one for friends, another for family) but having royals in the family kind of demanded it.

“I thought it looked kinda like the pajamas I used to have,” Twilight said. “You know, the blue ones.”

Velvet’s smile turned wistful. “You looked so cute in those…”

Twilight’s eyes fell on her mother’s pregnant belly. Heavy and round, her new sibling slept soundly within, snug and secure.  “Let’s hope that that trend continues.”

Velvet had gotten pregnant even before she’d fully gone out of season, but that hadn’t stopped her and Night from continuing to go at it like rabbits. Their sex drives seemed to be stuck on ‘high’, and the sessions they’d had were some of the best in years. Even seven months later they were still going strong, although they tried to keep things on the down-low when others, such as family, came to visit.

“Do you have pictures, by chance?” asked Celestia. She and Luna were sitting together on the couch, which was snug for ponies their size, but neither of them seemed to mind the close contact. “I’d love to see.”

“Yes, yes, yes!” said Luna, leaning forward. “Foal pictures are always fun!”

Twilight’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks. Stars above, Celestia and Luna wanted to see her baby pictures. Mission abort! Eject! Eject!

Velvet thought for a moment. “Hmm, I’d have to check the photo albums. We can check later.”

“Mooommmm...”

Velvet raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “What? It’s not like there’s any blackmail material in there. You were a completely normal baby.”

“Though you certainly gave your mother Tartarus before you were born,” Night muttered.

Velvet shuddered. That pregnancy, privately referred to as the Year of Suffering, had been a big reason why she and Night had stopped at two. Fortunately, this pregnancy hadn’t been nearly as bad. The worst she’d had to endure were cramps, cravings, and morning sickness.

Twilight suddenly became very interested in the floor. “I-I… you, it’s just that... ergh…”

Fortunately, Celestia took pity on her. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Twilight. I was just curious. We don’t have to see them if you don’t want.”

The weight slowly lifted off of Twilight’s shoulders. “U-Uh, yeah. Let’s pass on that, if we could.”

Luna’s ears drooped. “Aww…”

Twilight cleared her throat and returned her attention to the pajamas. “A-Anyways, I had a friend help me weave some spells into the fabric. They keep the wearer comfortable regardless of temperature, they’re self-cleaning and resistant to stain, they display things like heart rate, temperature, blood pressure, and magic levels as needed, and they also stretch to fit the wearer up to a certain point! They should fit the baby for about three years or so, give or take a few months... Oh! And they’re fireproof. Just in case of a magic surge.”

Velvet’s jaw about hit the floor. She’d noticed that the garment had spells on it, but she hadn’t realized that they were permanent. Working spells into fabric permanently was no small feat, and it must’ve been quite the undertaking—both for Twilight, and whoever had helped her. A garment like this was probably worth along the lines of several thousand bits!

“Wow.” Velvet set the pajamas gently back in the box. “That’s... quite impressive, honey! Thank you! All of those things will definitely come in handy.”

“Just all of those things?” Night smiled and winked at Twilight. “No wish-granting features, or invincibility charms?”

Twilight blew a raspberry at him. “Sorry. I’m reserving those for my own children.”

“Alright, let’s see…” Velvet looked through the pile, shifting her weight a bit so she was more comfortable. The foal had a tendency to start squishing her bladder if she stayed still for too long. “I thiiiinnnk… I’ll opennnn… uuuuppp…this one!”

The present in question was pink with a gold and purple bow on it. Recognizing Cadance’s orderly hoofwriting on the tag, Velvet wasted no time in tearing it open.

Inside the box was a set of plain-looking diapers, about a dozen of them. They didn’t look fancy or out of the ordinary, but they emanated a strange magic Velvet wasn’t familiar with.

“What do we have here?” Velvet picked up one of the diapers, examining it from all angles. “There’s some kind of magic in these… a Conjuration spell, I think?”

Cadance, who was sitting on the loveseat beside Shining, smiled. “They’re designed to detect… ah, organic waste, and dispose of it. I thought I’d try to spare you the ickiness of changing diapers.”

Velvet’s eyes lit up. “Oho! Really?!”

“Yep!” Cadance said brightly. “You and Night have had to do it twice over already, so I figured you deserve a break. The spell on each one will only last a month, but it’s rechargeable.”

Night in particular took a great interest in this. Leaning over, he eagerly inspected the diapers with a gleeful grin. “Oh, thank the stars… these are great, Cadance! These are going to be a lifesaver!”

Cadance giggled. “I don’t like changing diapers, either. It’s one of the reasons why I was looking into it in the first place! Plus, I figured this was a safe investment for me and Shiny, eventually.”

At this, Velvet studied Cadance carefully, reading her body language and tone. Her daughter-in-law seemed nonchalant, but there was the sliiiiiightest bit of yearning in her voice, her eyes flicking down to Velvet’s belly now and again.

“And when’s that ball going to get rolling, hmm?” Velvet asked. “I certainly hope you two haven’t been deterred by Nighty and me. I’d love to see you start a family of your own soon!”

“Yeah!” Twilight chimed in. “I want nieces and nephews to spoil!”

“Surely you’re not going to let Velvet and Night win, are you?” Luna said. “They’re beating you now 3 to 0!”

Celestia covered her mouth to hide her snort.

In reply, Cadance gave Shining a very odd look, her face scrunched up like she was sucking on a lemon.

Shining wilted a bit, but to his credit, he didn’t shy away from the question. “It’s been a lot of work reestablishing the Crystal Empire. Cady and I have been up to our ears trying to handle it all, dealing with things like trade routes, border disputes, peace treaties, law revisions, national security, military protocol, and dozens of other things. We’re both so busy right now that we wouldn’t be able to give a child the attention they’d need.”

Cadance reluctantly grunted her agreement. “We know we’ll never be typical parents, just on sole basis of who we are, but we do want to be with our kids as much as we can. I’m not going to dump our foals on some wet nurse or nanny. That’s just not happening.”

“We’re hoping things will settle down in another year or two,” Shining continued. “Once we’ve finished laying down the foundation of… well, everything, we can start thinking about things like kids. Until then...”

Velvet looked down at the floor. She’d been afraid of something like this, but wasn’t sure if there was a way to make things easier for them. Shining and Cadance had a big responsibility, and they had to make sure the Crystal Empire was set back in order.

“I think that’s smart of you,” Night said, nodding as he spoke. “You realize that having kids now would be biting off more than you can chew, and you don’t want to get in over your heads. That’s a very mature assessment.”

“That it is.” Celestia smiled warmly at Shining and Cadance, her voice taking on an approving air. “It takes a level head to realize that the needs of your little ponies take priority over what you personally want. It’s not easy, I know, but sometimes, we need to make sacrifices.”

“Such is the burden of the crown,” Luna said.

Velvet bit her lip. She was afraid that problems like this were just going to keep coming for Shining and Cadance. She wanted them to be happy up there, not weighed down by the responsibilities all the time.

“That being said,” Celestia continued. “I can’t help but observe that your decision is a symptom of a larger problem. If you’re short-staffed right now, or just don’t have enough ponies experienced with administration, I might be able to spare you a few of my advisors for a while. That’ll ease the workload while you seek full-time replacements.”

“Which we also can help with,” Luna added. “We get applications for administrative positions all the time, from University graduates to veterans. Just tell us what you’re looking for, and we can send ponies your way.”

Shining and Cadance went stock still, their eyes going wide. If Velvet didn’t know better, she’d think they’d both just become statues.

“R-Really?” Cadance breathed. “You’d do that?”

“That would help so much!” Shining blurted. “Yes! Yes, PLEASE!”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps you should’ve said something sooner, hmm? You needn’t suffer for nothing, you know.”

Both Shining and Cadance chuckled, putting hooves behind their heads.

“And I feel like I should mention,” Night said in a matter-of-fact voice. “That a certain other princess rather enjoys performing administrative work, particularly things like going through old books. Perhaps if you asked her as well—”

BANG

“YES!” Twilight teleported in front of Shining and Cadance, the biggest grin on her face. “Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes! Let me help you! I can go through the Empire’s archives and update things!”

Velvet and Luna burst out laughing.

Shining, after getting over his mini-heart attack, haltingly found his voice. “S-Sure, I guess?”

Cadance smacked herself upside the head. “Oh, for pony’s sake… we should’ve thought of you to begin with, Twilight! You’re perfect for that!”

“She really is, and you should have,” Velvet said, ignoring that it hadn’t occurred to her, either. Whatever, she could blame it on pregnancy brain. Neither of them had that excuse. “With her handling your paperwork, I bet you’ll be all caught up by the end of the quarter.”

Twilight scoffed and raised her chin. “Don’t make me laugh, Mom! I’ll have everything straightened out in a month. Six weeks, tops!”

Velvet rolled her eyes. She knew how her daughter got when it came to these things. All she could hope was that Twilight didn’t burn herself out.

“If Twilight does indeed bring your books up to code, and you get some extra hooves to spread out the remaining work, I’d wager things will become much easier for both of you,” Celestia said to Shining. The faintest of grins crossed her face. “Perhaps then you can focus on other projects.”

Luna pretended to examine her hoof. “Projects with eleven months of prep time, perhaps?”

“I know you want to, sweetie,” Velvet said. She looked down at her belly with a fond smile, feeling the light flutterings of the foal twitching in its sleep. “I’ve seen the look in your eyes when you’re around little kids. It’s the same one your father had before we had you.”

Shining didn’t reply right away. He sucked his teeth and rolled his shoulders, trying to stay stoic as he endured simultaneous puppy-dog eyes from his wife and sister. He suddenly noticed that Night was trying to catch his eye, and while his father remained silent, his expression was one that spoke volumes.

“Let’s… see how things go,” Shining finally said. He put an arm around Cadance and smiled. “If we get things under control, and everything really does slow down, I don’t see any reason to hold back. You’re right, Mom, I do want to do this, but I wanna make sure Cady and I can put forth the time and energy before we take the plunge.”

Velvet smiled back. “I know, Honey. I trust your judgement.”

“WOOHOO!” Twilight raised a hoof in the air. “Oh, I can’t wait, I can’t wait! I just know your kids are gonna be so adorable!”

Night turned to Celestia and Luna. “Guess this means we’ll be needing to plan another shower pretty soon.”

Judging by the looks on their faces, neither Celestia nor Luna had a problem with that.

Meanwhile, Cadance leaned in and whispered in Shining’s ear. “Remember what we talked about. Four, at the very least.”

Shining chuckled. “Yeah, right. We’re not gonna be satisfied with four.”

“Hmm, you’re right.” Cadance snuggled closer and snuck a peck on the cheek. “How many bedrooms are in the castle, again?”

Velvet decided that that was enough chatter for now. She picked up a new present, this one in indigo wrapping. It appeared to be from Luna, who now sat up a little straighter.

“I hope you like it,” she said. “I made it myself.”

Intrigued, Velvet opened up the gift and peered inside.

Within was a circular crib mobile of metal, beautiful and intricate, dyed in colors of deep violet, pale lavender, and steely silver. The arms of the mobile were inlaid with runes of some kind, none of which Velvet recognized, and the edges were set with cloudy stones that almost looked like pearls.

“Oh, my…” Velvet carefully picked up the mobile in her magic, eliciting an “Ooooooh” from all present.

“It’s a dreamcatcher,” Luna explained. “One of my own design. Its filters out bad dreams and other maladies of the mind, but it also soothes anypony in the vicinity, allowing them to fall asleep faster. Infants wake during the night for many reasons, but with this, yours will hopefully sleep longer, and easier.”

Velvet was speechless. She’d never seen so much care and effort put into something as mundane as a crib mobile! It was practically a work of art! Something like this had to be one of a kind!

“Wow, Luna,” Night said. He carefully took it from Velvet to look it over himself. “This spellwork is top-notch! Thank you! How long did this take you to make?”

Luna shrugged. “One of my first acts upon my return was to place enchantments like these across the entirety of the Dreamrealm. What’s in the mobile is just a more focused version. I did this quite often back in the day for ponies I favored.”

“You haven’t done anything like that for me since you’ve been back,” Celestia pouted. “Am I not in your favor?”

“You haven’t asked,” Luna replied smoothly. “You know, that thing ponies do when they want things?”

Celestia nudged her. “Oh, hush.”

Velvet finally found her voice. “I-I don’t even know what to say. Thank you, obviously, but beyond that... you said it’ll help the baby sleep?”

“It should, yes,” Luna said. She tapped her chin in thought. “Although, considering newborns are notoriously finicky about sleeping, he or she will still likely wake during the night. Just not as often. Hopefully.”

Velvet suppressed a snort. She was well-aware of how hard it was to get babies to sleep for long periods of time. She’d take any help she could get.

“May I go next, Velvet?” Celestia gestured to the small white box in her lap. “I only have one gift for you, but after you see what it is, I think you’ll understand why.”

Velvet almost laughed. It appeared that not even she was immune to sibling rivalry. Might as well indulge her, but it was going to be tough to one-up Luna’s gift.

Velvet accepted the box and brought it before her. She opened it up, and inside was…

A scroll. Just an everyday, mundane scroll, rolled up tightly and sealed with wax. Attached to the scroll was a note written in tidy, flowing script, so she took it out and read.

Velvet-

Within this scroll is a spell took me several months to perfect. It did not exist until just a few weeks ago, and since has been tested and approved by both the Equestrian Mages Guild and Equestrian Medical Association. It’s subsequently been given the classification of B-Class Hazardous Magic. (This means it can only be distributed by a licensed physician or registered arch-mage. Considering I’m the latter, that’s not really an issue. I’m just telling you in case you were curious).

I know that childbirth is excruciatingly painful process. Even with the accomplishments of modern medicine, it’s still not enjoyable by any means. This spell is designed to fix that. It works by—

Velvet’s eyes grew wide, then progressively wider as she read farther down. By the time she finished the letter, you’d think she’d seen a ghost. She set the letter down and gaped at Celestia, who merely winked in reply.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, looking between them. “Mom? What’d she get you?”

Velvet didn’t reply. She just passed the letter to Night, whose face also quickly assumed a look of shock. He opened and closed his mouth several times, but no sound came out.

“Okay, now I’m curious.” Luna turned to her sister. “What is it?”

“You know that little project you gave me advice on a few weeks ago?” Celestia whispered. “I got it working.”

Luna mouth became an ‘O’. “Ah. Very nice.”

Velvet coughed and closed the box, setting it beside her. “That’s very, um… very, considerate of you, Celestia! Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I imagine that this has already been... erm, distributed, to the local hospitals?”

“Oh, yes,” Celestia said. “Along with several dozen trainers to instruct in its use. By year’s end, every hospital in Equestria should be able to provide it.”

“So are we just not supposed to know, then?” Cadance asked. “Come on, Aunt Tia. Spill the beans!”

Shining and Twilight nodded agreement.

But Celestia remained aloof. “I think I’ll wait for the newspapers to make the announcement. I will say, though, that this is a gift for you as well, Cadance. And if you—” she gestured to Twilight, “—ever decide to have foals of your own, then it’s your gift, too.”

Now Twilight just looked even more confused. Cadance, on the other hoof, perked up considerably. Shining’s expression was somewhere in between, but it was clear that the gears were turning in his head. He didn’t dwell long on it, though, and instead produced a present of his own from behind the couch.

“Here, Mom,” Shining said proudly. “I may as well go next. This one’s from me.”

Cadance apparently hadn’t seen said present before this, as she looked at it with an expression of horror.

And Velvet could see why.  It was possibly the worst wrap job Velvet had ever seen. The box wasn’t even completely covered on all sides, and there had to be half a roll of wrapping paper on the sides that were. Tape was everywhere on the thing, mostly doing more harm than good, and if she didn’t have her magic to force it apart, it likely would take forever to open.

Velvet took the papery abomination with a mother’s smile. “I can see that, dear.”

Shining snickered. “Yeah, probably should’ve had Cady wrap my gifts.” He gestured to the plethora of perfectly-proportioned pink presents peppering the pile on the floor. “She makes it look like art.”

Beside him, Cadance slowly… slowly lowered her head into a facehoof. “Never again, Shiny. Never. Ever. Again.”

Well, the wrap-job may have been terrible, but the gift inside certainly wasn’t. Within was an Ursa Major teddy bear, soft and huggable, with wide black eyes and a happy smile on its muzzle. Its lavender fur was incredibly fluffy, perfect for any infant.

“Oooh!” Velvet picked up the teddy bear and hugged it, rocking it back and forth in her hooves. “Oh, this is great, Shining! It reminds me of the one you had!”

Shining grinned. “Good ol’ Dipper. I figured go with what you know, right?”

Night leaned over and examined the teddy bear, nodding his approval. “Not bad, bud. Let’s hope they don’t sleep with it until they’re twelve, though.”

Shining turned a faint shade of pink. “I was eleven and a half...”

Celestia’s face grew into a smirk. “My former Guard Captain slept with a teddy bear until he was a preteen? We might have to revoke your Medal of Bravery for that.”

Luna’s expression grew grave. “A considerable violation of protocol.”

Shining Armor blew a raspberry at them. “I regret nothing.”

Velvet smiled fondly. She loved it when she could see her home as intended; a place where ponies could relax. Seeing Celestia and Luna letting their manes down was quite the compliment, indeed.

“A-hem,” Twilight coughed.

Shining’s grin faltered. He rubbed his arms for a moment, then exhaled out his nose and spoke up. “Ah, another thing about the bear, Mom. Twily and I collaborated a bit with our gifts, and when she told me she was enchanting the pajamas, I kinda... did the same thing with the bear.”

Velvet raised her eyebrows. She examined the teddy bear closer, and sure enough, the bear was ablaze with protective enchantments. They likely were designed to be hidden from any and all prying eyes, but to Velvet, they were as clear as day.

“What did you do?” she asked, playing dumb. “I don’t sense anything.”

“You’re not supposed to.” Shining sat up a little straighter in his seat. “I put wards on the bear, all of which are tied to the baby’s magic signature. Deflection, repulsion, poison detection, elemental resistance, things like that. If one of the wards is triggered, you and Dad will be notified immediately, and an S-Class forcefield will be erected around the baby. Said forcefield will only be able to be deactivated by one of the ponies in this room, and only if no mind-controlling effects are present on them.”

Velvet blinked several times, digesting all of that. “Erm, I’m... not sure all of that’s necessary, Shining. I doubt the baby will be in danger from any of those things.”

Shining shook his head. “Look around you, Mom. You’re surrounded by some of the nation’s most important and powerful ponies. There’s a chance somepony may try to use you or the baby as leverage to get at one of us, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let that happen.”

“He’s right, Velvet,” Cadance said. Her voice was soft, but fervent. “I don’t like thinking about it, but you and Night are at risk.”

Velvet sighed. Of course she knew that, and she’d taken measures of her own to protect herself and Night. She was okay with some extra security, but she didn’t like having things forced on her...

...or slipped under her nose.

“I think you’re overreacting a bit.” Velvet kept her voice flippant, her expression dubious. “I appreciate that you want to protect us, but this is going too far. You may as well put wards on the whole house while you’re at it!”

Shining suddenly became quite serious. He steepled his hooves and lowered his chin. “Twily?”

“...yeah?”

“How many protective spells and wards do we have on Mom and Dad, counting the ones on the house, and the ones we—” he gestured to himself, Cadance, Celestia, and Luna. “—all helped you with?”

Velvet said nothing, but inside, she was cackling like a madmare. About time they admitted it. She was going to have a field day with this.

There was a very long pause before Twilight answered. If one didn’t know her, they might say there’s no way she’d have the answer to something like that. A single pony able to coordinate spells from multiple ponies, and to make them all work in sync? That was absurd.

Twilight opened her mouth to answer—

“One hundred and thirty,” Night said.

Everypony (save for Velvet) flinched.

With a rather bored look, he yawned and cracked his neck. “That’s what you were going to say, wasn’t it, Twilight? One hundred and thirty spells, all cast by you in secret upon your mother and I, without our permission. You even used some impressive charms to prevent anypony from sensing them.”

Twilight froze, her mouth still hanging open.

“One hundred thirty-three, dear,” Velvet said, her voice as icy as it was calm. “She put a few more on this weekend.”

Night raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What were these ones for?”

Velvet pretended to think for a moment. “I haven’t analyzed them all yet, but one of them’s designed to cancel out the effects of a curse that ‘brings thoughts to life.’”

“Y-You… what?” Panic crept into Twilight’s voice. “How?! I used a six-layer Falerion Concealment Array! There are Omega Class dampening runes etched around the house! There’s no way—”

“I’m your mother, Twilight.” Velvet rested a hoof on the crest her womb, patting it gently. “Your magic is, and always will be, mixed in with mine. You forget that both you and Shining were once where this little one is now. It’s not exactly hard to detect either of your spellwork as a result. ”

Something seemed to click for Twilight. “Gestative sympathetic arcane resonance...” She groaned and put her head in her hooves. “Oh, horseapples, I forgot all about that...”

“I suggest you stop trying to hide things from us,” Night said, his voice becoming like iron. “Both of you. We’re not stupid, and we don’t appreciate being treated like it.”

“You… you just baited us,” Shining realized. “Baited us into admitting guilt!”

“Yep,” Velvet said. “And you fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.”

Celestia and Luna silently watched the exchange, intrigued. They’d never really gotten a chance to see Velvet and Night properly be…. well, parents. It was eye-opening to see. Cadance, on the other hoof, had been around a few times when Shining or Twilight had gotten chewed out. She knew well enough to keep to keep her mouth shut.

Especially considering that the glares Night and Velvet were giving Twilight could’ve stopped a dragon in its tracks.

“I’ve noticed you tend to add wards after something’s happened down in Ponyville,” Velvet said. Her eyes drilled into Twilight, her voice stern and hard. “Is there something you’d like to tell us?"

Twilight gulped and shrank down in her seat.

“Wait, hold on!” Shining cut in. “Twilight didn’t—”

“Shining Armor,” Night and Velvet said as one.

The address was like a whip crack, making frosty chills race down Shining’s spine.

“S-Sorry,” he mumbled.

Night stared at him for a moment longer before turning back to his daughter. “Go ahead, Twilight. Enlighten us.”

Twilight felt herself starting to sweat. A nervous laugh escaped her, her legs bouncing back and forth on the chair. “We… uh, k-kinda had a mishap with an old book?”

“What kind of book?” Velvet asked.

Twilight’s wings twitched again at her sides. “I’m not… actually... sure? I-I never actually saw it.”

Velvet and Night simply stared at her.

“Really, I didn’t!” Twilight said in a rush. “It got destroyed before I could analyze it! All I know is that contained a pretty nasty c-curse that one of my friends used on accident… made a bit of a mess in town, heh-heh...”

Velvet and Night continued to glare with all the gut-wrenching fervor of annoyed parents. Velvet also noticed that Cadance and Luna looked a little guilty, too, but that could be dealt with later.

“Was anypony hurt?” Night finally said.

“No, thank goodness,” Twilight said. “The curse was removed in time. There was just a bit of clean-up.”

“More than a bit,” Cadance muttered.

“We told you to be careful going through that library, Twilight.” Night jerked his head at Celestia and Luna. “Even they told you to be careful! Who knows what kinds of things have wound up in there over the centuries?!”

Celestia took the queue. “He’s right. I’d no idea a book of curses was in that library, hidden or no. At this point, it’s safe to say there’s no telling what’s out there.”

“I’ll remind you that we were not the ones who originally built that castle,” Luna added. “It was made by the Council of Three Tribes, passed to us only when we were asked to rule.”

“But I wasn’t the one who found the book!” Twilight protested. “Spike went out there by himself and found it in a secret room! If I’d known, I’d never have—”

“And why exactly,” Velvet said, her voice growing even colder. “Did you let Spike, a baby dragon, go off into the Everfree Forest by himself?!”

Twilight pursed her lips. She twiddled her hooves idly, her eyes falling to the floor.

“I think I can explain that,” Celestia said. “From what I recall reading in the report, Spike had been left in the care of one Rarity Belle, who became emotionally distressed about something regarding her special talent. Spike wanted to help her feel better, so he snuck off to the castle in the Everfree hoping to find a spell of some sort. That’s when he found the book.”

Velvet thought about that for a moment. She’d met Rarity before; she’d seemed like a nice enough pony. Perhaps a bit too interested in the superficial, but not a bad sort. Velvet had also heard from Twilight that Spike had had a crush on Rarity, and while he wasn’t as smitten as he’d once been, his affection still lingered.

“I’d think twice about leaving Spike in Rarity’s care from now on,” Night said to Twilight. His eyes were still hard, but his voice lost a bit of edge. “He’syour familiar, and thus your responsibility. You can’t trust that other ponies understand the kind of trouble he’s prone to.”

“Agreed,” Velvet said. “And I hope you’ve talked with both Rarity and Spike about all this. As a princess, as a caregiver, as a friend, you need to be the one that puts their hoof down.”

Twilight looked up, a glint of fury in her eyes. “Oh, believe me. Spike is very much grounded for the foreseeable future. That’s why he’s not here right now. And as for Rarity, she was more or less a victim, but she should have kept a better eye on Spike. Fortunately, she wants to make up for it however she can.”

Twilight gestured at the baby pajamas. “She was the one who helped me enchant the onesie. Did it free of charge, of course, and she also mentioned making another pair on the house. She’s going to be doing some things for the town, too.”

Velvet let out a long exhale. “Well, it’s good to see that you’re not slacking on the discipline front, at least. I know you don’t like exercising your authority, but I’m afraid that comes with the package. You have those wings for a reason, dear. Ponies need to see that you’re not a pushover.”

Twilight slumped in her chair and rubbed her temples. “I know, I know…”

Celestia hid a small smile. She’d had a lot of trepidations about how the world would receive Velvet and Night’s third child. She had less so, now.

“Now, as for the hundred-plus spells you have on us,” Night said, addressing both Twilight and Shining. “You really should’ve gotten our permission before casting them. Regardless of whether your hearts were in the right place, you didn’t even give us a say in the matter! You just went ahead and did it! Does our opinion not matter to you?”

“I seem to recall teaching you both that unsolicited spells on other ponies are not okay.” Velvet narrowed her eyes. “Did that particular lesson not sink in?”

Shining winced. “We were afraid you’d say no…”

“...and you both can be stubborn about things like this…” Twilight added quickly.

“...and every day trying to convince you would be a day you’d be unprotected…” Shining said.

“...so we decided not to take the chance,” Twilight finished. “It just… wasn’t worth the risk.”

Velvet barked out a harsh laugh. “Stubborn about our own safety? Honey, we’re well aware of who you and Shining have become! It takes every ounce of our self-control not to brag about it to everypony we know! How naive do you think we are?”

“I think what’s happened is that you two have forgotten who we are,” Night said softly. “We may be old… well, maybe not physically anymore, but we’re not idiots. Did you think we forgot about Discord’s escape? The changeling attack? Sombra? The vines from the Everfree? We know you both lead adventurous lives, and our lives could get adventurous by proxy.”

“We’re touched that you’d do so much to protect us,” Velvet said. She rested her hoof on Night’s arm. “And seeing you already looking out for your new sibling is amazing! But you can’t skulk around and go behind our backs. That is not okay. If you want to help with our security, you TALK to us about it first. Are we clear?”

Twilight and Shining mumbled affirmations and apologies.

“And maybe you can keep us up-to-date on these adventures you keep having, hmm?” Night said. “Neither of you write home as often as you used to. We miss the letters.”

Luna stifled a laugh. Ever the grievance of a parent was not hearing enough from their children. Some things never changed.

”Now, let’s move on, shall we?” Velvet turned her attention back to the pile of presents waiting to be unopened. “Ooooh, this looks like a good one! Let’s see what we have…”