Luna prodded Celestia's side with a hoof. "You really didn't take that well."

"Hm?" Celestia watched the train depart far below. "What's that?"

Luna rolled her eyes. "You forgot things you just said. You are not taking Twilight getting married well."

"What? No, she's a free mare, able to marry whom she pleases." Celestia forced a little smile. "Even multiple ponies, if that is what her heart tells her."

Luna nodded. "It is, and she does. So do many other ponies, though most don't have so many as Twilight. But you still didn't take it well." She gestured down towards Ponyville, but Celestia was already walking away. "This is clearly not what you had planned, and I know you, Sister. You had plans." She moved to walk alongside Celestia. "So what were they?"

Celestia looked ahead at the great doors into Canterlot's castle. She took a deep breath, then walked on. "She was to become a princess, the princess. That road is, hm, harder to trot if she is distracted with domestic requirements."

Luna giggled softly at her side. "Come now, you've watched them play and seen their love. She's hardly going to be too distracted to do anything. In fact, they may help her."

Celestia paused to lean against Luna. "That would be nice. I've never been able to rule with a husband or wife at my side."

"You've had a sister." Luna tossed her head towards the castle. "Who cares about you, and helps how she can."

"I know." Celestia leaned in and nuzzled against Luna. "I don't mean it like that. I just, I have plans. But Twilight is married, which throws those into question."

Luna nipped at Celestia's closer ear. "We allow Discord to roam free. That our plans are led astray is the least we should expect. Let's make the best of what we have."

Celestia sighed and nodded. "Yes, you're right." She looked back towards Ponyville with a small smile. "And as much as she was or will ever be mine, I wish Twilight the best of happiness."

***

Bella rocked on her seat softly. "I don't understand. Why couldn't we just run over a rainbow to get back?" She smiled at that. "It would be really fast, and I like running with Twilight."

Twilight tilted her head to one side. "Because Brad isn't here. That is my guess. We each have a unique link to the rainbow. Brad and you can conjure it in the first place. Lacking you two, no rainbow at all." She pointed to herself. "I can direct it, so it doesn't just go back and forth from the human world."

Bella nodded slowly. "Okay, that makes sense to me. So, with Brad there, we could make the bridge, and you could make it go to Ponyville."

Twilight bobbed her head. "Exactly! But, no Brad, no bridge. Rainbow Charm can strengthen the bridge, allowing anycreature to step on it, linked or not. We each have a purpose with the bridge. It's fascinating, really. I wish Moondancer could be here."

Bella paused and cocked an ear, leaning in close to Twilight. She sniffed gently. "What's wrong?"

Twilight tilted her head, then laughed nervously. "It's silly, but I want all of us to be together. Being separated like this? I don't like it." She hugged Bella close with a wing. "I think it's the marriage talking. In the past, I wouldn't have cared so much about a friend or two being somewhere else, so long as I had my studies."

She laughed awkwardly. "Then again, Spike isn't here either. Being without him and my friends at the same time? That is unusual fo—" Her words ceased as she felt a snout pressing right into her face. She burst into laughter, hugging Bella. "Thank you, I needed that."

Bella grinned at Twilight. "Just wanted to see your eyes sparkle." She leaned in, wrapping Twilight close. She rubbed her cheek against Twilight's own. "And your smile. It's so lovely. Now I get why Brad would do things like that."

Twilight colored darkly, but held Bella back to herself with a slow sigh. "Thank you, really. It's so easy to focus on what you don't have and forget what's right there in front of you. At least until she just goes in for a snuggle." She nuzzled gently against Bella. "It's lovely having you here. And, I know I'm not the best with feelings and such, but thank you for everything."

Bella let out a little hum and squeezed Twilight warmly. "It's a new thing. As a horse, my feelings came and went in different ways. I had them, of course. I was sad, or happy, or excited or anything else, but it was mostly in here." She tapped a hoof to her head. "Now they can come out another way." She pointed to her flapping lips. "And everypony else actually listens and shares theirs and it's, well, I like it."

Twilight laughed and kissed her nose. "Good. I'm glad you feel that way." She leaned in to brush noses with Bella. "And I will always listen to you." She blushed with a nervous laugh. "Let's enjoy the company and wait for the ride to be over."

Bella laughed warmly and settled in beside Twilight.

***

Twilight took a deep breath in the cool night air. The stars above gleamed in their constellations, as if she were on a cloud gazing down from above. "Home sweet home." She trotted for the ramp leading off the platform away from the train. "Let's get back to the library. They may be worried about us."

Bella giggled softly, staying close to Twilight's side. "I think Brad would have sent a letter, or something similar."

Twilight got a quizzical look. "They could have asked Spike to send one, which would have gotten to Celestia. But that wouldn't reach us, especially while we were on the train." She got to the library and her horn glowed to open the door. "We're home!"

Spike was standing right there, grinning. "Hey Twi." He turned his head slightly towards Bella. "Two for the price of one? Neat. Brad! They're home!"

Bella looked down at Spike with a smile, then started laughing as he ran in place towards her. She lowered her head and let him clamber onto it. "Hello again, Spike. Enjoy your time with Brad?"

Brad came to a stop by them, reaching a hoof out to Twilight to pull her close. RC was a moment later, which turned into a full family hug of quiet.

Spike inclined his head, still on Bella. "It was fine. I made dinner. Oh! It's in the fridge if you want any."

Brad shook his head, holding his wives close. "We can have it for breakfast tomorrow morning."

Bella rubbed up against Twilight and Brad, eyes closed. "I agree. Bed."

Spike looked from where he was on top of Bella. "Wow, you all are really close." He slid to his feet, off Bella. "I'll be—"

RC caught him with a wing. "Where do you think you're going, Bro?"

Spike blinked with confusion. "Bro? Uh."

RC pointed at Twilight. "You're her brother." She pointed to herself. "I'm married to her. You are my brother in law. That's how that works." She pulled Spike in against her other side. "Which means I get to do this."

Spike let out a little squeak as RC started ruffling his head fins. "Whoa! Okay! Okay! Hey, uh, Sis? That's going to take some getting used to."

RC grinned and released Spike after some more rubbing. "I know I'm not Rarity, but we'll be one big family."

Spike blushed deeply. "It isn't that I don't like you, or Twilight, I just—" He waved a claw about the room, gesturing vaguely. "It's not about her! It's, uh, wow. I didn't think Twilight would not only get a special somepony, but get married to them so suddenly, is all." He shook his head a bit. "This is all so fast for me."

RC leaned down and gently brushed Spike with her wing. "Do you want me to leave? Or, well, not leave, but sleep somewhere else? I'm not trying to make this awkward for you."

Spike shook a hand. "I'll get used to it. None of you did anything wrong." He shrugged. "I just have to adjust to there being four more ponies living around me." Bella laughed at that. "Oh, right. Brad's a human sometimes, isn't he?" He peered at Brad, then Bella. "And you're an ancient pony. Totally normal, for this house."

Brad nodded at that, then grinned. "It's what I want. All this." He got another hug in with his wives. "All these wonderful mares and ponies. I love them all." He became a human, then paused. "Wait. I wasn't holding the statue." He dug it out. "How'd I do that? Change forms?"

Bella looked down at the statue. "I think the statue is a tool to help us learn. Now that we're practiced, we don't need it. You should probably still keep it, though.

Brad lifted a hand at that. "Nice idea, but we should actually test that."

Twilight pricked up. "A delightful idea!" She trotted away from Brad, becoming a human, then a pony, switching back and forth as she went further and further away from Brad. When she got about twenty'sh feet away, she turned back with a frown. She was a pony, making a noise of effort. "Huh, I can't switch back." She took another step forward, reaching towards Brad with a hand. She then began a series of hops, changing back and forth each time with little effort.

Bella grinned, turning into a horse to bump her face against Brad, then became human, turning to give Brad a little smooch. Brad wrapped an arm around her. "Alright, so we don't have to hold it, but it has to be kinda close."

Twilight trotted back in. "Utterly fascinating, and matches with the bridge link we've seen." She pointed a hoof between Brad and Bella. "You two need to be close, but don't have to be touching, to summon the bridge. I likely have to be close, but not touching, to direct it. RC has to be close to strengthen it." She nodded to the statue. "We each have our role in the bridge. The statue seems to have a similar range, at least twenty feet from the primary holder, you." She pointed at Brad. "Unless you want to pass us the statue."

He answered that by tucking it away. "If we don't need to touch it, we can all change how we want pretty freely alright."

Spike made a noise of effort, but nothing happened. "Aw shoot."

Twilight poked him gently. "I told you not to try that. We have no idea how it'd affect somecreature that wasn't a pony, horse, or human. Could you even change back if it did work?"

Bella flicked an ear at that, then moved in to nuzzle Spike gently. He let out a little eep and backed up. "Hey!"

She laughed warmly, stepping in closer to continue nuzzling Spike with her head. "You are an amazing little dragon. You don't need to be anything else."

He blushed darkly, trying to push away from Bella. "Okay! You can stop rubbing against me like that!"

Bella took a few more steps matching his pace, keeping the rub going. "I don't know."

Brad put a hand on her back. "Give him a little space. You are quite the snuggle bunny, aren't you?"

Bella nodded with a broad smile. "Yes!" She became a human. "Yes!" She was a horse. The whinny she let out was likely the same word, if one knew how to understand horses.

RC moved up and hugged Spike. "Alright, my turn." She pressed her snout to his warmed cheek. "I was serious, by the way. You're my little brother now. I accept all that means. You need something, you come to your big sis here and you get it!"

Twilight took a deep breath, then blew it out. "Okay, that's enough. There's going to be plenty of time for you two to have a new sibling relationship. But we have other things to do. Namely, sleep. It's already quite late."

Author's Note

The family's back together, yay! And some rules of how this works is figured out.

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