"No surprises this time," Night Light said as he pushed Velvet's wheelchair into the Canterlot General. It was her due date. And even though her water hadn't broken yet, she had an appointment for a reserved bed for when the big event arrived. Not that Velvet had made it any easier this time around. She had been as horny as ever, but as Night Light had promised himself, "No surprises this time."

"I heard you," Velvet said, sitting uncomfortably in the wheelchair. Although in all reality, there was no way for her to ever actually be comfortable in her state. Except for when she was swimming. Her mind drifted to the maternity spa where she could just float in the heated indoor pool. Night Light delivered her to her maternity suite without event. He and the nurse helped her into the bed.

"The doctor will be here shortly," the nurse said. She closed the curtain and walked away. A few minutes later the sound of heavier hooves approached accompanied by the voice of a pony singing.

"Cuz it's the first of May, first of May, outdoor hmm-hmm starts today," The curtain was yanked open and the tall pony stepped inside with some balloons. "Congratulations!" Celestia said, tying the blue balloons declaring that 'It's A Colt!' to the bed.

"Thank you, Princess Celestia," Velvet said.

"Ah, ah!" she chided as she slipped into her medical coat and washed her hooves in the sink. "It's Doctor Celestia today. So, how are you doing? Have the contractions started?"

"A little. Still a few minutes apart," Velvet said.

"Hmm," Celestia hummed, glancing at Velvet's dry tail. "And your water hasn't broken yet?"

"No, not yet," Velvet said. Celestia glanced out the window at the sunny afternoon.

"Well, I'm going to need to set the sun in a few hours," Celestia announced, "So lets get this show on the road!" She brandished a scalpel at Velvet. Before Night Light could even react, Celestia stabbed a balloon with a loud 'pop'.

"GAH!" Velvet shrieked in shocked surprise. Every muscle in her body tensed at the same time in a single constriction. With a second 'pop' a rush of fluid soaked the bedding between Velvet's legs. "Um, I think I wet the bed," she said muttered.

"Everypony say, 'That's not her pee'!" Celestia teased.

"No," Night and Velvet said together.

"Alright, alright," Celestia said. "So how far apart are the contractions now?"

"Um, I don't knoOOH MY GOSH!" Velvet lurched as she felt a big one.

"And off we go!" Celestia said as she pulled on a pair of gloves.

"Give me your hoof!" Velvet said to Night. He sucked in a breath through his teeth. He quickly grabbed a piece of metal frame from the next bed over and put it into her hoof. She gripped the section of steel pipe and it crumpled like a plastic drinking cup while Night Light slipped away. He headed into the waiting room. He had been through this once before. He didn't need to see it twice.

He sat in the maternity waiting room and looked at the stack of magazines. They were so old that he suspected that the venerable hospital had been built around them. On the far side of the room he saw a stallion in a Royal Guard uniform. He wasn't a high-enough rank to be one of Celestia's usual escorts. Night got up and sat beside him, looking at the rank on his sleeve.

"Corporal," he greeted.

"Hmm? Oh, hey," the pony greeted nervously. He seemed young.

"You waiting on a family member?" Night asked. He shook his head.

"My wife."

"Oh yeah? How long you been married?"

"Nine months."

"And... she's due today?" Night asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, uh, we got hitched as soon as we found out. You know, doing the right thing by her and all."

"I can respect that," he said.

"Are you in the guard too?" he asked.

"I was. First Lieutenant."

"Retired?" he asked. Night Light chuckled.

"Do I look that old?" he asked. The corporal shrugged.

"I don't know. Sorry." Night Light looked the his dim reflection in the reception window. His mane was scruffy. So was his chin. He felt old.

"Eh, it's not the years," Night Light said, "it's the mileage. No, I got out after I finished my term. Could have been a Captain by now but you know, life happens." The corporal nodded in understanding.

"Are you here for family?" the corporal asked.

My sister

"My wife," Night said.

"First one?" he asked.

Second

"Yeah," Night said.

"You nervous?" he asked.

Terrified

"Nah," Night lied. "You?" The corporal nodded. "That's okay. You're allowed." He looked at his uniform. The brass had been tarnished from recent neglect. "But you know, when I got nervous in the guard, I would shine my armor."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You have your polish kit with you?"

"Yeah, in my duty ruck sack," he said, digging out the tin of polish. Night Light took it and started to shine the corporal's helmet.

"You do your chest plate," he said. The two of them sat there and shined the armor. "You see? All you need to do is focus on this one thing and block out all your worries.

"Excuse me, sir?" a nurse said as she walked by, "What are you doing?"

"Shining armor," Night Light said. "What does it look like?"

"Heh, yeah, you tell her El Tee," the corporal laughed. For the rest of the afternoon, each time a nurse came in to investigate the smell of polish, he told them the same thing.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm shining armor."

"What's that smell?"

"We're shining armor."

"Have you chosen a name for the colt?"

"Shining armor!"

The nurse took out her pen for the birth certificate.

"Wait, WHAT!?" Night Light jumped up and ran after the nurse. "Wait no! It's supposed to be Negasonic Warhead! Aw dammit you already wrote the... thing. Fuck."

"Wow! Negasonic Warhead! That's a way-cooler name than what I was going to do!" the corporal said. "I think I'll have to use it!"

"Yeah, fine... go ahead." Night Light groaned. "I'm not using it anymore." He walked back to his wife's suite. "Shining Armor?" he muttered to himself. "Well, that's what I get for huffing armor polish." He arrived at her bed and reached out to pull back the curtain, but stopped. "Um, are you done with... the whole event?" he asked through the curtain.

"Yes!" Velvet said through the curtain. "They already got rid of the placenta." Night Light pulled back the curtain and walked inside. Velvet was cradling their small white colt. A tuft of his two-tone blue mane sat just above his small horn. Celestia walked back in with the clip board with the birth certificate.

"Welcome to Equestria, little," Celestia squinted at the paper, "Shining Armor." Velvet glared at Night Light.

"The fuuuck!?"

"Sorry!" Night Light apologized. "I wasn't paying attention in the waiting room and I might have kinda gotten sorta a little bit... high."

"Unbelievable."

"Eh, I'm sure it will grow on you," Celestia said to the little foal. She gave Night Light the clip board and snapped off her gloves. "Well my work here is done!" She looked at the clock. "And with forty five minutes to spare! I'll have to pay Air Tender's bar a visit!" she said on her way out.

"Why is your hoof black?" he asked.

"Hmm? Oh, Celestia gave me a piece of coal to see if I could crush it into a diamond."

"And!?" She pointed at the pile of coal dust on the floor. He frowned, a bit disappointed. A nurse opened the curtain.

"We're ready to move you to recovery," the nurse said. Velvet nodded and they wheeled her down the hall to a different section of the hospital.

After some well-deserved rest, Velvet went home accompanied by her family. Once there, she had more visitors. Specifically, Night Light's adoptive family.

"Shining Armor, eh?" Air Tender said as he looked at the foal in the crib. "So what happened bro, were you high when you came up with that name?" he asked his brother.

"It's... a long story," Night Light said.

"Yeah, he pretty much was," Velvet said.

"Thanks... dear," Night said. Mage Star stood beside the crib in his City Guard uniform. He looked into the crib with a serious expression.

"I see great things for you, Shining Armor. I will be your favorite uncle!" he said.

"Oh, how do you see great things for him!?" Air Tender asked.

"With my magic!" Mage said pointing at his horn.

"Oh, please! You couldn't magic your way out of a paper bag!" Air said.

"Yeah, well, you couldn't fly into a ceiling fan! Oh wait, yes you could!" He flicked the nub of his broken wing. "You want another cripple nipple?"

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you!"

"Hey! Fuck both of you!" their father said, grabbing both of them by their ears.

"HE STARTED IT!" They both said together.

"No! I started it years ago in a moment of blind passion!" he said. "And I swear, I will end it the same way right here, right now in front of your brother, his wife, and his damn newborn!" He smacked them both upside the head. "Now take it the hell outside!" The other two ponies slumped their shoulders and went out the front door to have a calm, reasonable discussion about who was the bigger doo-doo-head. "Eh, those two..." their father sighed. He turned to Night Light and Velvet. "Anyways, congratulations you two." He elbowed Night Light. "I always knew you had it in you." He elbowed Velvet. "And apparently you did too! Heyo!"

"Wow."

"Thanks... Dad," Night said.

"Anyhoo, I just wanted to stop by and see the little cooch potato. But I can't stay too long. I need to swing by the liquor store on my way over to seeing your future step-mom over at the brothel."

"Isn't it a little early to start drinking?" Velvet asked.

"Pssh! Who stops!" Velvet and Night Light walked with him to the door and watched him walk in a not-so-straight line down the road.

"So he still gets paid by Celestia for raising you, and this is how he uses it?" Velvet asked. Night sighed.

"...Yeah."

"So how did you turn out so well?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Who says I did?" he asked. She hugged him.

"I do. But honestly, why would Celestia put you with... him?"

"Mage says he was a lot better before his wife died. But after that... everything just sort of went south," Night said. "But he's a good pony, deep down. He always made sure that we ate and did well in school. He kept us well-behaved." Night looked at his brothers smacking each other around, tussling in the front yard. "Most of the time. But then once we were old enough that he didn't have to take care of us, he just sort of... stopped taking care of himself, too. But I'll never forget what he used to tell me when I was younger. He would say to me, 'Night Light, be better. Be better than you were yesterday. Be better than the other colt. And definitely be better than me'." Velvet put her hoof on his shoulder.

"You are," she said.

"Thanks." A cry came from the crib. Velvet sighed.

"Feeding time again."

"Dibs on leftovers!" Night said as Velvet scooped up the tiny colt from the crib.

"No. You need to go deal with your brothers," she said as she headed up to the bedroom. Night Light turned and headed outside. The other two stallions were done fighting and were sitting side-by-side on the front steps.

"Are you two done?" he asked.

"Yeah," the both answered.

"So what now?" Night asked.

"I need to go start my shift soon," Mage said.

"But your uniform looks like a mess," Night said.

"Eh, I'll just say that I got into a fight with a homeless vagrant. I mean, I wouldn't be lying."

"Eat a dick," Air said.

"You live in a bar."

"I live above a bar. That I own!"

"What about you?" Night asked Air.

"I work all night in a bar, mate. This is cutting into my sleep enough as it is." They both trotted down the walkway to the road and headed in opposite directions. Night Light turned and headed back inside. He walked upstairs to their bedroom. Velvet was laying on the bed with little Shining Armor happily suckling at one of her engorged teats. Night Light crawled across the bed eyeing her free breast. Velvet felt a second set of lips on her other nipple. She put a hoof to his forehead, pushing him away him barely a mouthful of her milk.

"This isn't for you," Velvet scolded him. "You can have what's left after he's finished!"

"Aww, but there's never any left!" Night pouted. "I miss feeding time from when you were still pregnant."

"And I was very grateful for the relief. But Shining needs his nutrition if he's going to grow big and strong like his father." Shining Armor scrunched his tiny face in disappointment as he finished draining one of her breasts and shifted over to the other and resumed drinking. "He certainly has your appetite."

"Well that's fine," Night said, moving down between her legs. "I still get priority elsewhere..." Velvet's eyes shot open as she felt his lips on hers. She practically shoved him off the bed with her magic.

"Too much!" she yelled. "Too much, too soon!" She grabbed a book from her shelf and threw it as nicely as she could at his head. "You know better!" The book flopped open in front of him. What to Expect When You're Expecting. Night Light flipped towards the back.

"Ugh, let's see... blah blah... after birth the mother will not be receptive to... da da da ...for up to SIX WEEKS!?"

"Life can be so unfair, I know," Velvet groaned.

Night Light looked down at the pony laid out under him. His magic undid the clasp on the fabric covering their crotch, revealing what was within. He was in awe of what he saw.

"That sure is... something," he said, changing Shining's diaper. "I kind of wish Celestia would take you for a few years, too," he said as he cleaned Shining's brown fur white again. "At least until you were housebroken." He tossed out the soiled diaper and powdered the foal's bottom before fitting him with a clean one. He looked at the clock on the wall. "Where the hell is your mother? She's going to be late for our date."

"Welcome back from your maternity break. How has motherhood been so far?" Celestia asked Velvet, walking beside her to the princess's castle chambers.

"Exhausting. I've actually been looking forward to this meeting to get a break for a bit," Velvet said. "That little foal is a need-machine. And my teats are so tender. He's always hungry!"

"And Night Light?" Celestia asked.

"Him too! If it isn't Shining on my breasts, it's him!" Velvet said, exasperated. Celestia chuckled.

"That's not really what I meant."

"Oh," Velvet blushed.

"Although I suppose it's understandable with his... fixation. He was bottle-fed after all."

"Right."

"I meant more about how he was holding up with his new role as a father," Celestia said.

"He's been a big help. I don't know how I would ever do it without him," Velvet said. Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Perish the thought. But you would never have to carry this task alone," she said.

"Thank you."

They walked into Celestia's chambers. She took out the locked box in the locked chest in the locked closet. She opened it and took out the book with her journal of charts. The last page had Velvet and Night Light's traits crossed. Only a single square of all the possible foals described a pegasus filly. It was circled with fresh red ink.

"Cadance," Celestia said as she wrote the name in below it. "Ninety nine percent." Celestia drafted up a new graph on the next page with Night Light and Velvet's traits again. She started to fill in the cross sections. She darkened the outline around a group of four squares that each said 'Unicorn' and 'Male'. She made a new note. "Shining Armor," she said, "is one of these four possibilities."

"How do we know which one?" Velvet asked.

"We don't. At least, we won't know for sure until we see his offspring," Celestia said. The four squares ranged from 96% to 98%. "He lacks the X Factor."

"What is that?"

"It's literally the X Factor," Celestia said. "The X chromosome carries the needed genes for him to be an Alicorn. And as a male, he only has one X chromosome, paired with a Y. Shining himself will not be capable of ascension. But his daughters are sure to be natural born Alicorns!" Celestia said. "That is... his daughters with Cadance."

"And his sons?" Velvet asked. Celestia drew a line down between the four squares, splitting them into two groups.

"It's a coin toss," Celestia said. "His colts have a 50% chance of being Alicorns. Beyond that, it's 25% Unicorn. 25% Pegasus." She put the quill down and closed the book. "Again, that is, if..."

"He breeds with his sister," Velvet said.

"Yes."

"How is she?" Velvet asked. "Cadance. I heard that her birthday was the event of the season last Hearts and Hooves Day."

"She's doing well," Celestia said as she placed the book back inside the box. "She'll be flying soon, I suspect. I'll be taking her out into the garden to play once we're finished here."

"Hmm. Well I should get going. Night Light will be expecting me home soon, too."

Twilight Velvet stood on the balcony overlooking the Canterlot Castle Gardens. Princess Celestia was far below, along with her personal guards and her foal's cadre of caregivers establishing a perimeter. Velvet watched Celestia ducking in and out from behind the various flower bushes playing hide and seek with little Cadance as she ran around. Velvet's ears strained at the distant giggles of the foal. But it was as close as she could get, as per her old agreement with the Princess.

Cadance jumped and fluttered her wings. Each time, bounding a little higher. Until on her next try, she didn't fall back to the ground. Velvet gasped as she witnessed her first flight. The squeals of the foal's delight echoed off of the courtyard's stone walls as she zipped upwards into the air. The tiny pink pegasus stopped and hovered just in front of Velvet.

Velvet froze, afraid to move. She didn't breathe. She didn't blink. As though she might scare off this fawn that had crossed her path in the forest. The only sound was the buzz of Cadance's tiny wings moving in a hummingbird's blur. The little pegasus erred closer. She extended her tiny hoof and booped Velvet on the nose, curious to see if she were real or just another statue.

A blur of white appeared behind the foal. Celestia's gold-clad hooves plucked Cadance from the air and cradled her. Velvet finally let herself breathe again, free of the fear that the filly might fall. Cadance looked at Velvet from Celestia's hooves with a curious expression. Celestia, herself, gave her former student a neutral look. Neither disapproving of her presence, nor particularly pleased to see her at the moment.

"Leave the nice pony alone," Celestia said to the foal in her hooves. Cadance looked up at the Princess and smiled. Velvet watched as they slowly drifted back down to the ground. Rain drops began to fall on the balcony railing.

"What a terrible day for rain," she said to herself. It was a strange rain cloud, with the precipitation localized entirely above Velvet's cheeks. She decided that she needed to get home before the rain got any worse.

"Night?" Velvet called into their home as she opened the door. "I'm sorry I'm late. I know we had a 'special' night planned but I got a little sidetracked." She walked into the living room. Night Light was asleep in the recliner. His mane looked like a ragged mess, his hoof around tiny Shining Armor asleep on his chest. She carefully cradled Shining in her magic and put him to bed in his crib. She unfolded the guest blanket and laid it over Night Light in the chair, kissing him on the forehead. "I guess we'll have to take a rain check."