Twilight’s castle had never been so quiet before. There wasn’t a shred of movement within the royal walls, not a single voice to pierce the silence. It wasn’t until the wails of a newborn rung out that the cheering began.
 
“There, there,” Twilight was barely able to give a tired smile. “You’re home now.” Her eyes seemed to light up as she stared down at the foal in her arms. She was alone- save for the nurses and Fluttershy, and the rest of her friends were trying to contact Tempest.
 
“She’s adorable, Twilight!” Fluttershy tried to stop the tears that streamed down her face. She stood by the edge of Twilight’s bed, staring down at the tiny new princess.
 
“Thank you, Fluttershy.” Hesitantly, she took a moment to look up at her friend. “It’ll… It’ll be hard picking a godmother.” She was barely able to chuckle.
 
Fluttershy breathed in quietly, a smile spreading wide on her face. “Well… there are so many great choices. I’d imagine Starlight or Cadence would be amazing picks. But you shouldn’t worry about that now, there’s plenty of time to choose.”
 
It was silent for a few moments before Twilight broke the silence again, looking down somberly. “Fluttershy, I…”
 
The quiet pegasus tilted her head, confused by the sudden tone change. “Yes?”
 
“I-I’m scared. I hate to think about this, I really do, but how can’t I? She was born three months early. Three months!” The princess’s eyes widened as her voice grew in volume. She looked down at her squirming daughter, readjusted her sitting position, and exhaled deeply. “The survival rate… Fluttershy, I don’t know what to do. She’s here, but for how long?”
 
“Oh, Twilight…” Naturally, Fluttershy’s tears began flowing stronger, but she sucked in a huge gulp of air and stood straight. “It’s like you to worry. But I can’t help but see a healthy young foal, as small as she is. And besides,” she smiled a bit, “she’s practically the essence of magic.”
 
Twilight tried her best to smile, but Fluttershy could tell she was unconvinced. Of course Twilight would worry. This was Twilight.
 
“The others are trying to find Tempest right as we speak,” Fluttershy began. She could see Twilight’s eyes light up again, but the princess still didn’t utter a word. “She’s on a simple mission to Griffinstone. It won’t be too long. I bet they’re on their way back right now.” She offered a cheerful smile.
 
Twilight nodded. “I guess that’s true.” She’d feel a whole lot better if Tempest was here by her side. And as if on cue, the door came crashing open. So loud that the newborn princess began to cry louder. Twilight looked up abruptly, watching as her friends poured inside the room.
 
Rainbow Dash kept stumbling into the walls with Applejack close behind. Pinkie came in bouncing, and Starlight entered with a huge grin. Lastly, Tempest rushed inside beside her wife and daughter, teary eyes and a wide smile.
 
Twilght rested her head against Tempest’s. No words needed to be spoken between the two as they both quietly watched their newborn daughter fidget against the blanket she was gently wrapped in. The moment was beautiful, so pure- the best moment of Twilight’s life.
 
She couldn’t help but notice, however, that one of her friends was missing.
 
“Where’s Rarity?” Twilight asked, looking at Applejack for an answer.
 
Applejack looked down, removing her hat and shuffling her hooves. All of her friends seemed to be looking down.
 
Finally, Starlight spoke up. “She wasn’t able to come,” she said quietly, sighing as she looked quietly at Twilight.
 
“You mean she didn’t want to come.” Rainbow Dash snorted. “She was whining the whole time-”
 
“Rainbow Dash.” Applejack gave her a stern glare. “That’s not what Twilight or Tempest need to hear right now.” She urged her friend forward toward the door. “We’ll leave you and Tempest be, Twilight. We’re happy for you, and you should be too. That’s all that matters.”
 
With a smile, her friends began to leave the room. Pinkie squeaked before exiting, her head poking through the door. She looked like she had a lot to say, her mouth full of air as she giggled. Perhaps she was keeping a surprise a secret.
 
Finally, they were the only three left in the room. Tempest blinked, chuckling a bit. “I can see the worry in your eyes, Sparkle. But look at her,” she gazed down at her daughter. “She’s perfect.”
 
Twilight carefully began to unwrap her daughter from the blanket. Her hooves worked gently around the soft cotton. “I… I didn’t think she’d be here this early. We hadn’t even started thinking about names.”
 
Tempest pressed her muzzle to Twilight’s. “I’ve been thinking,” she admitted, watching Twilight’s surprised expression. “You’re not the only one who prepares for everything years in advance,” she let out a genuine laugh.
 
“Well, I have had a few ideas, but none of them stuck with me.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed playfully.
 
“I liked Cassiopeia.” Tempest’s eyes were gentle as she looked quietly at Twilight.
 
Twilight couldn’t help the tears that flowed. It was perfect.
 
“Cassiopeia… I love it.”
 

 
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This lil nerd’s birth story:
 

 
Since she’s a newborn, and very premature, she doesn’t have any hair but due to being an alicorn, her wings are already pretty developed.
 
There’s a reason Rarity didn’t show up (; Also, I gave Tempest a different hairstyle. Was kinda going for a fresh mom look? I’ll probably change it up some more, but I like how it looks (:
 
Finally starting up my NextGen verse and drawing some content for it! I still have to get a lot of character bios drawn out, but I was too tempted to draw this sappy family cuteness scene with Twi and Tempest :’)
 
You can see some more of my (developing) NextGen verse here: www.deviantart.com/venommocity…