The Royal Family

Back at Canterlot Castle, Twilight sat on her throne as she signed a few scrolls with a smile on her face and a slight bulge in her belly. Her cheeks were so sore she could not feel them anymore after the events of last month. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. First, Cadence shows up with an invite to Celestia and Luna's wedding. Then she proposed to Twilight. Then they all got married. Flurry Heart admitted her feelings for Twilight. All of this happened in under a week, and Twilight could not be any happier.

"How are things going, honey?" Cadence called as she walked to the throne. Twilight looked at her wife with a smile after she finished writing on a scroll.

"Everything's going great," Twilight answered as she made the scroll vanish. "Every creature has been notified about the public announcement."

"Are you expecting a crowd?" Cadence asked as she nuzzled Twilight's neck. Twilight leaned into her wife's touch with a smile on her face.

"It's something that affects all of Equestria," Twilight answered as she nuzzled Cadence's neck. "At least the dignitaries will show up." Cadence reached a hoof up and rubbed Twilight's belly.

"Mommy's not overworking herself, is she?" Cadence said in a baby-talk voice, making Twilight giggle.

"You know it's not developed enough to understand anything, right?" Twilight observed as she watched Cadence with a smile.

"Momma doesn't care," Cadence replied as she leaned down and nuzzled Twilight's slightly swollen belly. "Momma's still gonna love you." Cadence pecked kisses on the side of Twilight's belly, making her giggle as she watched her wife love on their unborn child.

"Cadence," Twilight groaned as she giggled. Cadence looked at Twilight from her belly while wagging her tail.

"Yes, darling mother of my babies?" Cadence asked as she fluttered her eyelashes.

"Is Flurry going to be here tonight?" Twilight asked through a light giggle fit.

"Well, thanks to the portals we all made with Discord's help, we all can share our nights whenever we want and still live the lives we want," Cadence observed as she moved to nuzzle Twilight's neck. The night Twilight suggested all the alicorns take each other to wives was spent talking to each other on making such a complicated union more manageable along with Spike, Ember, and Discord, as they brainstormed about teleportation ideas.

"I don't think we could come up with the idea if Discord hadn't reminded me about the portal to that other world," Twilight observed as she turned to nuzzler her wife.

"Twilight, honey," Cadence interjected as she nuzzled Twilight's cheek. "You were one of the most gifted unicorns in all of Equestria. You fought through thick and thin with your friends and family and became Princess of Equestria. Surely you, above all ponies, could up with a spell that could allow your family to come and visit you whenever you pleased." Cadence pecked Twilight's cheek.

"I'm not that great," Twilight countered with a blush.

"And modest," Cadence added with a smile before pecking Twilight's lips. "It's one of the reasons why I love you so much." Twilight smiled into Cadence's eyes.

"I love you too," Twilight said as she returned a kiss. Twilight rested her horn against Cadences as she closed her eyes as Cadence did the same thing.

"Come on," Cadence said as she pulled her head up. "Flurry will want us to be waiting for her when she arrives." Twilight inclined her head before she began walking with Cadence out of the court hall.

They walked through the halls of the castle side-by-side, greeting some guards as they walked with warm smiles. Since Twilight became Princess of Equestria, the royal guard began inducting new races into their ranks, from ponies to changelings, to dragons; you name it, they were there. Twilight knew that if she accepted all other races as her trusted guard, it would help build trust amongst the different races, even after all creatures of Equestria united against Queen Chrysalis, Cosey Glow, and Tirek that fateful day the Windigoes returned. One of her first captains was a gryphon named Gallus, who attended her School of Friendship when it was first founded. Even though Gallus is long gone, his legacy remains.

Soon, Twilight and Cadence reached the royal bed chambers, where Twilight used her magic to open the door and let her wife walk in first as she followed. The room seemed to be filled with more life since Twilight and Cadence got married over a month ago. The two alicorns made immediate arrangements to have Cadence move in, and she brought many of her belongings from the Crystal Palace and decorated the room with them. Even her dress stood proudly alongside the suite both Shining Armor and Twilight were for their weddings.

Amongst all the additions to the bed, one that stood out was a mirror in the corner of the room. The frame was white with a symbol of Celestia's Cutie Mark in the top right corner, Luna's at the top left, Cadence's dawned the bottom left, and Flurry Heart's at the bottom left. At the top in the center of the frame stood Twilight's Cutie Mark, overlooking all of them. In all of Equestria, there were only three mirrors like this. The other two were at Silver Shoals and the Crystal Palace, respectively, but with slightly different designs. Like this one, they all had white frames. However, in Celestia and Luna's room, their respective Cutie Marks were snuggled side-by-side at the top, with Twilight's and Cadence's at the center-right and Flurry's on the left. In the Crystal Palace, within Flurry's bed chambers, her Cutie Mark was at the top with Celestia and Luna's on the center-left, with Twilight and Cadence's Cutie Marks on the right.

Just as the door to Twilight's chambers closed and locked, Flurry's Cutie Mark on the mirror began to glow with the mirror. Twilight and Cadence stood beside each other as they smiled at the mirror. The reflection began to ripple like water as the figure of an alicorn stepped out of the mirror. Flurry looked around until she spotted her mother's and smiled brightly.

"Hey, moms!" Flurry called as she rushed up and hugged the other alicorns. Twilight and Cadence returned the hug with warms smiles.

"It's wonderful to see you, sweetie," Flurry replied.

"We're glad you could make it," Cadence added. They broke from the hug to smile at each other.

"As if I'd miss this for the world," Flurry smiled at them. "Is the courtyard filled yet?"

"I made sure to give us plenty of time alone," Twilight answered with a smile. Flurry smirked at the answer before her eyes spotted the bed, which was large enough for five full-grown alicorns. Cadence walked around and smacked Flurry's rump.

"I know that look," Cadence observed with a smirk of her own.

"What?" Flurry asked with a knowing smile.

"Why don't we have some tea first?" Cadence suggested. "Celestia and Luna won't be far behind."

"I've got it," Twilight said as her horn began to shine in a purple aura. In a flash of Twilight's magic, a tea table with a full tea set appeared in the room's center. "Magic has its uses, but it's times like this I miss my number one assistant." Cadence walked up and draped a wing over Twilight's back as she could tell Twilight was hiding some tears. Twilight smiled at her wife before they nuzzled each other. "Thank you, honey."

"It's what I'm here for," Cadence cooed.

At that moment, the mirror began to glow again, getting all three alicorns' attention as Celestia stepped through with Luna behind. Twilight, Cadence, and Flurry all smiled at the two eldest unicorns.

"You're just in time," Twilight said happily. "I just set the tea-table."

"That's my girl," Celestia observed as she walked up. "Making sure we have time to relax before the event."

"You know me," Twilight said with a blush. "Always organized." Celestia walked up and pulled Twilight into a deep kiss, which surprised Twilight before she leaned into the kiss with a murr while Cadence, Flurry, and Luna watched with smiles on their muzzles. Celestia broke the kiss after a minute, leaving Twilight in a dazed state for a few seconds before opening her eyes. "Damn, Celestia," Twilight breathed.

"She's had plenty of practice," Luna stated as she walked up before pulling Twilight into an equally deep and mesmerizing kiss. Celestia watched with a smile as her wife made out with her former pupil. Luna broke the kiss as she licked her lips as Twilight stood there for a few seconds before stumbling a step.

"Damn," Twilight studdered.

"Alright, that's enough," Cadence said as she took Twilight's side and guided her to one of the five seats around the tea-table. The others took their seats by the table as Twilight regained herself in her seat. "I think you put our princess out of commission for a minute," Cadence observed with a smile as she sat in the seat next to Twilight.

"I'm fine," Twilight stuttered as she shook her head.

"Should I kiss our princess back to reality?" Flurry asked with a smirk.

"Settle down, you silly filly," Cadence ordered with a chuckle.

"What?" Flurry asked with a bit of a start. "You all get her sweet lips, and I don't?" Twilight suddenly appeared in a flash next to Flurry and pulled her into a deep yet quick kiss before flashing back to her seat, catching the youngest alicorn by surprise. The other three looked at Twilight, who only smiled innocently as she began pouring cups of tea for all of them.

"One sugar or two?" Twilight asked as she levitated a cup to Celestia. Celestia smiled at the lavender alicorn.

"Two, please," Celestia answered. "Guess our kisses didn't stun you as much as you lead us to believe," Celestia observed as she watched Twilight drop two cubes of sugar into the cup.

"Oh, they did," Twilight said before turning to another cup. "But, only for a minute. One or two, Luna?"

"One," Luna said with a smile. Twilight dropped a cube into her cup.

"Six, please!" Flurry called with a smile after recovering from the initial shock of Twilight's surprise kiss.

"Oh, no, you don't, missy," Cadence interjected. "You're already too sweet for even one lump." Twilight chuckled as she dropped six cubes of sugar into Flurry's cup. "Twilight!" Cadence cried out.

"This is a special occasion, Cady," Twilight said. Cadence looked at Flurry, who began to drink her tea like a well-trained mare. Cadence looked at Twilight, who took Cadence's hoof in her own with a smile. "It'll be fine, love," Twilight assured Cadence with a smile. Cadence smiled as she tightened her hoof around Twilight's. They all enjoyed their share of tea as they mingled about the events of the last month before Celestia looked at Twilight with some concern.

"Twilight?" Cadence called, getting Twilight to look at her. "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Luna looked at Celestia for a moment before looking at Twilight. Cadence and Flurry looked at Twilight as well.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked as she put her teacup on the table. Twilight already knew the answer; she just wanted Celestia to voice her concerns.

"About all of us," Celestia answered as she watched Twilight. "All five of us, together in such a way." All four alicorns watched Twilight as she sat there silently for a minute.

"Out of all my friends," Twilight began, "my family, you five are the only ones I have left." Twilight lowered her eyes to the table. "You all have been there for me since I lost the others." They all stared at Twilight as a tear fell to her chin. "When they all left me, I was filled with so much despair; I almost gave up." Twilight started trembling before she looked at Celestia. "You reminded me how you'd been there since the day I got my Cutie Mark." Twilight looked at Luna. "You helped me as much as I helped you when we freed you from Nightmare Moon." Twilight turned to Flurry. "I've known you your whole life. And you," Twilight began as she turned to Cadence.

"You don't have to say anything else, Twilight," Cadence interjected as she pulled Twilight into a warm embrace with tears of her own. "We've all lost ponies we loved." Twilight trembled as she leaned into her wife's hug. Celestia got up and walked around the table toward Twilight and joined in the hug with her own tears. Luna and Flurry got up and joined in the hug. The warmth and love Twilight felt from each of these alicorns pushed her over the limit, and she broke into sobs. Twilight cried aloud into Cadence's shoulder as they all hugged her warmly. As Twilight cried, none of the others dared let go of her as if they were terrified that if they did, they would lose Twilight for good.

They all have experienced loss like this before, so if anyone understood Twilight's pain, it would be them. Celestia suffered many losses over the millennia. Luna was only one of many she lost, but after centuries of waiting, Luna returned to her, and their bond only grew stronger since. Luna not only lost herself to Nightmare Moon, but she lost a close friend she cared about deeply, one she felt understood her more than any pony in Equestria. Even young Flurry lost her father and many crystal ponies she cared about over the years.

After several minutes of Twilight crying into Cadence's shoulder, Twilight lifted her head as she wiped away her tears. "Thank you," Twilight said through a sniffle. "Thank you all." They all offered soft smiles as they watched her. Twilight looked at Celestia with determination. "Yes, Celestia. I am absolutely certain about this. I want you all to be my family. I want you all to be mine, and I want to be yours." Twilight stood up and looked at them all. "I want us all to be married."