Penny's class had gone well, she had finally gotten the hang of planning out a few lessons in advance and was settling into being a teacher. But something bugged her. Two new mares to the mathematics class caught her eye. One she recognized as being with Silver at her wedding but the other… it couldn't be, surely somepony would have noticed.
"And there we are, if you could all get your homework submitted at the start of next class that would be great." Penny spared her focus to look out across all the ponies she was teaching. After the first two lessons she had taught she had been surprised to have a few new faces appear. Her class had been dubbed the 'fun maths class' and she liked to keep it that way. "Class is dismissed." No sooner were the words out of her mouth than ponies were hurtling for the doors.
"Uh, if our two newest students could stay behind, please?" She looked right at the white and dark unicorns alternately. She waited at the front of the lecture hall and, when everypony else was gone leveled a stare at them. "I can't even guess why you are here, those disguises are-"
"These are not disguises, we are using these to-" The small, wingless Luna was starting to explain when Celestia cut in.
"We are experiencing life as simple ponies, we are still ourselves, in our full capacity, but we can also explore the world and life like this." Totally-not-Celestia smiled at Penny.
"Okay, I of all ponies can understand wanting to do that. Why my class?" Penny gestured to the empty hall. "I mean, I know I am not teaching exactly what is on the syllabus, but I am making sure these ponies are well grounded in mathematics and hopefully teach them numbers aren't just a tool to-"
"You just explained why we are here. Learning something entirely new," Totally-not-Celestia gestured at the explanation Penny had given on the blackboard behind her, for complex numbers, "a new way to use numbers and new ways to understand it."
Penny smiled at this, she knew her ego was being stroked but it didn't stop it from feeling good to have the princess do it. "Okay, okay, I get it. You could have just asked me for some private lessons. No need to go to this kind of trouble," Penny gestured to their unicorn forms. The lunar mare shifted a little, feeling a touch odd.
"Are you alright?" Really-not-Luna had a look of concern that worried Penny, since it was aimed at her.
"I am fine, just feeling the weight of my filly. So you are both going to be staying then?" Penny looked between them, raising an eyebrow.
Really-not-Luna nodded and Totally-not-Celestia followed suit.
"Okay, then have your homework done by next lesson and you can stay." Penny grinned wide, loving being able to hold a little something over the pair. "Since you are here, should I put your names on the official roll?"
Totally-not-Celestia smiled and gave a nod. "Sunny Days.
"Celine." Really-not-Luna added.
Penny brought her quill over and made some notes. "Okay, then I guess you can go." She had the urge to thank them, to hug them both and gush over how much she loved being a pony, but that wasn't how to handle a student.
Penny sat in the comfortable chair that she had managed to get brought into the lecture hall. She watched as two regular-sized avatars of the two most powerful ponies in Equestria left her room. She felt a little tremble run through her. She wasn't due for at least another week or so. Something was wrong, though. She looked up to the door, both the mares had already left. "Well shit." Working herself back onto her hooves, Penny made her way slowly for the exit.
One hoof in front of the other, she was panting a little by the time she reached the door and pushed it open. A student was walking past and turned to look, seeing obvious distress. "Are you alright Miss Cart?" Penny shook her head. "Oh gosh, uh…" Penny was surprised when the unicorn blinked out of being. "She is down here!" The voice of the student was reassuring, Penny felt like she just wanted to slump and, as her belly seemed to want to tense up, she started to.
"Oh no, I got you." Gingersnap's voice buoyed Penny's spirits and she felt a strong grip under her suddenly take her weight. "Your little one coming? Well, lets get you somewhere better suited for it." The orange mare supported Penny and started making her way along to the little nurse's office.
"I… I just felt a little strange and then…" Penny was about as distracted as a pony could get. One minute everything had been fine and now she was panting, feeling like her belly wanted to shove down through her back legs.
Two blurs practically beat the door down and were in the room. One darkest black, the other almost gold. Penny sighed and relaxed as much as she was able.
"Is she okay?" Stick was looking worried. "Ensorcellee isn't due for another week at least."
Hay nuzzled Penny's neck while Stick grilled Gingersnap. Penny noticed something a little odd and giggled. She reached out a hoof to rub at Hay's wings. "They look nice."
The world seemed to fade a little as that tight feeling built and built, making Penny tremble with effort. She missed what the others said, although she was sure Stick at least would be talking up a storm.
"Who told you to go into labor? You are early." The door had been knocked open by a unicorn's cane as a familiar stallion hobbled in. His features softened a little, his blue eyes focusing on Penny. "Well nothing for it now, but next time, stick to your schedule." Penny wasn't sure why, but even as her next contraction stole her attention, she could still focus on the stallion's voice. "Breathe Penny, breathe, don't push yet, let her do some of the work."
The pattern settled in. Resting, sudden contraction and being guided through by the doctor's voice, then back to resting. Penny had decided that she was done with pregnancy, she told the doctor as much and he told her to deal with it.
"Okay Penny, next contraction, you push." Penny looked up at the doctor, giving a nod. Things were speeding up, there wasn't any pain, for which she likely had to thank her pony body, but it still was a lot of work. Then the next contraction came on her and Penny pushed, she pushed and pushed and suddenly there was nothing to push! "Got her."
A shrill little squeal filled the room of the impromptu maternity room. The doctor did something out of Penny's sight but a moment later, wrapped in some white towels, Ensorcellee was hoofed to her.
The whole world seemed to fade. All Penny could think of was her two wives nearby and their little, perfect foal. "Oh… she is…" Penny hugged the filly to her, the intelligent little eyes looking up and then closing to nuzzle back.
Ensorcellee was very much a lunar unicorn, but her little body showed some other hints. Her mane and tail both had bright green highlights through them and when she smiled it was easy to see that she had not just the lunar penchant for teeth, but prominent changeling fangs as well.
"Our foal is perfect, isn't she?" Stick had a hoof reaching over, playing with the little foal. Sorlie's little horn seemed to have a slight curve to it too, a slight reminder of her changeling heritage and a hint, Penny thought, as to what she had been feeling lately.
"She is, she takes after her parents in every way, I think." Penny channeled the smallest sliver and saw the filly's eyes light up and an adorable giggle came from her. The unicorn mother couldn't even feel the drink she knew her foal was taking, but she knew she could definitely do it.
"Are you feeding her like that?" Hay was blinking, watching the odd interaction. "That is so cool, will she want milk?"
Penny was halfway to blushing when a bottle was passed over from the doctor. "We can find out." It seemed Sorlie really did, her eyes closing in contentment as she began to nurse from the bottle and her mother's love.
"She is premature, but that just means she has a bit more growing to do to catch up." Doctor Horse clopped over to the family, his cane making a distinctive not-pony-clop sound. "I want to see her tomorrow, this isn't my specialty but when my patients need a doctor I will not let them have any but the best." He tapped the side of the bed. "Tomorrow, make sure she makes it." He glared at Hay and Stick before leaving.
"Please tell me you two decided on a house today?" Penny sounded tired, she was tired. But the foal at her side was worth being tired for. "I swear, if you use this as an excuse-"
"Whoa, relax, we have." Hay tried to make a placating gesture. Penny was in a mood to be relaxed and rested her snout just above her filly's nursing head. "The nice green house, on Trotting Street? That will be good." Stick just nodded, the drone having become a little quieter than usual since seeing her foal.
Penny looked up at Stick, trying to catch her gaze. "Stick?" The changeling looked at her. "I love you."
Stick's features seemed to melt into a smile. "I love you too… just can't get over this, she is so amazingly perfect." Stick hesitantly lifted a hoof up to feel Sorlie's mane. "So soft…"
"We are going to the doctor tomorrow, then the hive." Penny yawned suddenly, tiredness flooding her. "Ugh, it's not even evening yet."
"You just had a foal, relax, you can have a day off." Hay kissed Penny's nose. "But why the hive?"
"I want to introduce her to the pupae. I don't know why, but I have a feeling it is a good idea. She is a daughter of the hive, I owe Princess Fast a lot." Penny's hoof reached to rub Stick's cheek then she yawned widely, her fangs showing off. "Ugh, no sleep I just want to relax…" Penny's fight was a losing one, she closed her eyes. "Mmm, just a little nap then."
"She is looking more healthy than an early-foal should, but that is certainly nothing to be upset about." Doctor Horse wasn't the one talking, he was sitting in a chair to the side, looking every bit the grump. The lovely mare who was talking was a pediatrics nurse at the Canterlot Hospital. "Now, her horn and teeth…"
"Are a sign of her heritage, I think we have that under control." Penny smiled, trying not to frighten the nice pony with her full array of teeth. "So she is doing okay?"
The doctor chose then to get up and shooed the nurse out with his cane, making scary noises at her. "Go! You got to confirm I am not incompetent!" The mare made a disgruntled noise but left. "She clearly is blind as well as terminally stupid. Half breed ponies are not that common but I am thinking half breed changelings are going to be more so." He looked to Stick, apparently not having picked up that Hay was exactly what he was talking about. "Is there anything I should be looking for? I have a book on your kind that is strangely lacking in details on your young."
Stick looked surprised to be the focus of the stallion. "Uh, normally only the queen has foals in a hive, and then she lays eggs, not foals."
"I see, so this will follow more pony-centric themes, probably for the best. But you tell me the minute you become pregnant, if you do." He leveled his cane at Stick and the tip didn't wobble a bit. "Come back in a week, sooner if anything odd happens." Doctor Horse suddenly turned and stalked from the room, producing a pill from his pocket and gulping it down dry.
"He is a strange pony…" Hay was watching the door a moment before a little cooing sound snatched her attention. She reached a hoof to Sorlie, the filly trying to catch it with her own.
Penny smiled at the two, loving how easily Hay seemed to just accept the filly as hers but not hers. "He is, but he is smart enough that I am willing to put up with his antics, as I think the nurse was."
"Lets get out of here, I want to see the hive and show off." Stick's wings buzzed a little, her excitement clearly evident. Hay helped Penny up and snuggled Sorlie against her, "I got her, you take a break."
Penny kissed the mare enough that she was sure Hay realized how much it meant. "Thank you, you are the best."
"What? Why?" Stick cut in on their warm little moment. "I can be the best too!"
"You are both the best, you know that." Penny had never seen real jealousy in either of her lovers, and she didn't see it now. Stick was baiting her and all three of them knew it. "Here, let me show you." Penny began to channel, watching as both mares wobbled a little, Sorlie, experiencing her first 'big meal' presented to her, didn't hesitate and Penny wobbled along with her mates, feeling her foal feed. "Dang girl... She can really drink."
The walk was slow, but direct. Penny felt for sure a song would snatch them up but her hopes were dashed as they reached the hive. Both drones at the front door looked up at her with surprise, then shock, delight, and then adoration, in that order. "Oh…" One managed to wobble a little and park his black flank on the ground.
"Penny, cut back on the channeling…" Stick nudged the lunar mare but got a laugh from her.
"How about no, it is about time the hive felt exactly how I feel about them." Penny looked down at the two practically melting changelings who were just doing their jobs. She leaned in and kissed each on the cheek. "Thank you for being the best."
Both of them flared their eyes open, the love pouring from the mare was not just for her mates but was suddenly, at least in part, for them too. One just folded, the other looked up with a silly grin. "You're welcome…" They too joined the other changeling, flopped on the ground and smiling like a loon.