Spike x Bloom: a New Life

Chapters

After the Act
Big Macintosh
Positive or Negative?
A Mother's Advice
Mood Swings
Baby Shower Party
The Test
Moment of Truth
Welcome to the Family
Three years later...
Prolouge
With Great Risk comes Great Responsability

After the Act

You’re probably wondering how things let up to this point; that is an interesting question. Perhaps we should go back sometime after Apple Bloom and Spike mating session. After Applejack found out, she was furious of her little sister getting laid the way she did. She knew that she couldn’t help it, and she knew that Spike didn’t approach her on purpose; her sister might have made it a bit hard for him to resist anyway. However, she just couldn’t help but feel like she could have done something to prevent it; but how could she have known that it would happen?

She would inform their brother, but he wasn’t home at the moment; so for the time being after getting her temper under control, she decided to pay Twilight a little visit and have a little chat with her on the sudden matter.

Twilight was in the library waiting for Spike to make his return from delivering his message to Applejack; however, she was realizing that it’s been a while since he left. She hoping that he was okay; he was only delivering a message afterall. But sure enough, she heard a knock on her door and she was expecting Spike to be there; but instead, it was her friend, Applejack.

“Oh, hey, applejack; funny seeing you here. I’m sure Spike already gave you my special message, right?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” Applejack responded, “and he also did so much more.”

“Huh; what are you talking about?”

Suddenly, Twilight saw Applejack call out to someone from outside, “Alright, you two, come on in; no need to prolong the inevitable.”

Twilight watched as she saw Apple Bloom and Spike walk inside with their bodies looking tense and sweat running down them. Spike wasn’t looking directly at Twilight and the same went for Apple Bloom. Twilight felt like she was in the dark; like there was something that she missed.

“Spike, nice to see you back; and… Apple Bloom, nice to see you too.”

“Hi, Twilight,” said Apple Bloom smiling nervously.

Spike was scratching his head and still not looking directly at Twilight. The confused mare looked at Applejack and asked, “Um… Applejack, I feel like I’m being left out of something. Care to tell me what exactly is going on here?”

“Gee, Ah don’t know, Twilight,” Applejack replied while glaring at Spike, “why don’t you ask your number 1 assistant.”

Twilight arched her eye and looked over at Spike and questioned him, “Spike… what did you do?”

Spike looked over Apple Bloom and she slightly smiled and nodded her head. Spike then gathered the courage to look at Twilight and told her, “Well, you see… I went to Sweet Apple Acres to deliver your message like you asked me to, and I was going to head right back here. But I couldn’t find Applejack anywhere; and when I looked inside the barn, the next thing I knew was the barn doors closing and me being cornered and tackled by Apple Bloom and I was easily giving in to her sexual gestures, and normally I could’ve pushed her off of me only, I didn’t because I don’t know what. And before long… I… I… had sex…with her. I had sex with Apple Bloom.”

It took a few seconds for Twilight to process Spike’s words, but it eventually came through as her eyes went wide and she shouted, “You did what?!”

“Ya heard right,” said Applejack, “yer little dragon mated with mah little sister… and enjoyed it.”

“Hey, I’m not exactly little anymore,” Spike protested, “And I mean that in both sense. And also, how could I not like it? I’m a male dragon after all, and your sister was pushing all my buttons… if you know what I mean.”

“But ya still could’ve resisted, but ya didn’t.”

Then suddenly, Apple Bloom spoke up, “Okay, granted; it was my fault too. I am the one who trapped him and tackled him. But in my defense, I’m an older filly experiencing her first heat and Spike got too close to me while he was… showing. I couldn’t resist it and my hormones were driving me crazy; so I just… went at him and had my way.”

Thankfully for Spike, Twilight wasn’t upset or angry; she was actually pretty impressed that this event took place; she almost forgot the importance of the matter, “Wow, that’s… fascinating. I never thought that something like this could be possible. So how did it feel?”

“Twilight?!” Applejack protested, “There is nothin’ facinatin’ about this! Mah sister and Ah were tryin’ to avoid any colt to mate with her, let alone a teen dragon!”

Twilight sheepishly smiled, “I know, Applejack; I understand. But… I can’t help but wonder of how things went.”

Apple Bloom was all ready to tell about her experience with Spike to Twilight, “Well, if you insist… Ah would be glad to.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” said Spike.

“Nonsense, Spike,” Twilight chuckled, “let her tell me.”

Apple Bloom looked at her sister with a pleading face. Applejack crossed her hooves and sighed as she responded, “Alright; go ahead.”

“Great,” Apple Bloom cheered, “so here’s how it went.”

From there, Apple Bloom explained everything that she and Spike did in that barn; and she explained it in some of the most explicit details that she could. After she was done explaining, her sister, Applejack stood there with her mouth gaping open, and Spike just sighed placing his claws over his face. But Twilight, while she was a bit shocked of how much Apple Bloom explained in detail, all she could do was feel impressed for both her and Spike.

“Sounds like you two had quite the time together,” said Twilight, “I’m quite impressed, Spike; to think that you would get so dominant like that.”

“It was instinct I guess,” Spike sighed.

Apple Bloom suddenly latched onto Spike and kissed him on the cheek, “If that’s the case, you should give in to your instincts more often.”

“Enough, Apple Bloom,” said Applejack as she pulled her sister of Spike, “There’s no need to encourage him. We’re going to discuss this with your brother when he gets back!”

“Come on, Applejack; Ah really did try mah hardest to get by this heat period, but it just got the better of me.”

“You know… now that I think about it,” said Twilight, “I’ve never heard of a dragon mating with pony before; in fact, you two might be the first ones in Equestrian history to do so.”

Apple Bloom felt really pleased of that fact and couldn’t help but get “Really; that’s so awesome! Ya hear that, Spike; we just made Equestrian history.”

However, Spike felt a bit stressed, “I don’t know whether to be proud or scared.”

“Apple Bloom, would ya please stop it already,” Applejack shouted, “this is serious! Who knows what this may mean fer you and the safety of your body.”

“Ah know that, but Ah just can’t help but feel a little excited for us; as in me and Spike.”

Spike suddenly smiled nervously as he stated, “Well… on the bright side, at least a pony can’t be impregnated by a dragon such as myself; right? Right?”

“Spike, while that may be true in theory,” said Twilight, “it’s not entirely true.”

“What; what are you talking about?!”

Twilight took out a whole bunch of books about mating history from her library shelves and was flipping through them, “It’s like I said, there are no history records of a pony and dragon mating together and producing an offspring afterwards. So there’s there’ no 100% assurance that Apple Bloom won’t be pregnant because of you.”

“But there is still a possibility of both outcomes right;” questioned Applejack, “maybe more than the other?”

“It’s hard to say; this is completely out of my league. But… whatever happens, I’ll definitely have something new to log in the record books.”

Spike just slumped down and groaned, “Yeah, that’s just swell.”

“Come on, Spike, don’t be such a downer,” said Apple Bloom, “If Ah do end up pregnant, Ah won’t be mad at you no matter what.”

“Yeah, you won’t, can’t say the same for your big sister who probably wants to strangle me with a rope and then have me hanged. But aside from that, hopefully we don’t have to worry about that; I’m not ready for this kind of responsibility yet.”

“Tell me, Twilight,” said Applejack, “If AB does get pregnant, and Ah’m not wishing fer her to be, wut are you goin’ to do about it?”

Twilight thought about it for a second and then came up with a perfect answer, “Well… since I am technically Spike’s official guardian, I would make sure to support him in any way I could.”

Applejack smiled and rolled her eyes, “Of course you would; or maybe you just can’t wait to see how this scientifically turns out.”

Twilight was quick to make an excuse, “Hey, that not entirely true!” But then she admitted it, “Okay, maybe… partially. But come on, wouldn’t you do the same for Apple Bloom?”

“O-o-of course I would,” Applejack answered honestly, “she my little sister. It’s just that… becoming and aunt because of her would be too much for me. Big Mac is a different story; he’s older than me, but AB has only recently become a teen. This is exactly what we were trying to avoid.”

“Technically, you already mentioned that, Applejack,” Apple Bloom chuckled.

“Quiet, Apple Bloom; you’re on thin ice as much as it is. Spike is just lucky he lives here and not with us.”

“Gee, that’s very comforting to know,” said Spike nervously.

Twilight thought that this was an interesting way to spend the end of her afternoon. She never thought that for one moment Spike was still her innocent dragon assistant, and then the next he would come back as a dominant male; and to one of her friends’ sisters no less.

“Now, Applejack, there’s no need to intentionally threaten Spike. I’ll deal with him here, and you can take Apple Bloom with you back to the farm and talk with her and; we can talk more of this when this is all over tomorrow.”

“Great idea, Twilight;” Applejack responded, “and I think I’ll start by sayin’ this.” She then looked back over at her little sister and said, “Apple Bloom, yer grounded fer the next two days. No crusadin’, no nothin’.”

“But Applejack!” Apple Bloom whined.

“No buts, little sis. This is wut happens when ya force a dragon to have sex with ya! Now move along.”

She led Apple Bloom to the entrance door of the library, and the young teen mare sadly looked over at Spike and then sadly walked out of the door.

“Enjoy the rest of your day, Spike,” said Applejack, “You two Twilight.” And then he closed the door behind her.

The tree stayed silent for the next couple of minutes with Spike still sitting in place thinking of the outcome possibilities of his actions. Twilight was letting him ponder on that while she looked at her books, but then she nervously smiled and chuckled as she said…

“So… Apple Bloom, huh? I always imagined Sweetie Belle; you know... since you had a past crush on…”

“I get it Twilight,” Spike quickly responded, “You’re not going to punish me, are you? You know I didn’t… do what I did to Apple Bloom on purpose, right? She provoked my instincts; and then…”

“Yeah, Apple Bloom described it in full, juicy details, remember,” Twilight responded, “She should write her own clop novel or something.”

Spike sighed again as he turned his head away from Twilight and he could feel his body tremble a bit. But then Twilight came up to him from behind and placed her hoof on his shoulder and tried to lift him up a bit.

“Cheer up, Spike. I know there might be a small chance of you getting Apple Bloom pregnant; but… I’m sure there’s more of a chance that it won’t happen. I mean… a pony getting pregnated by a dragon; that’s so silly. But of course if it does happen, we would possibly be looking at the world’s first pony/dragon hybrid, and it will be great to study it’s behavior and see how it reacts being in a new world and…”

Twilight suddenly stopped when she noticed Spike slightly glaring at her with some smoke coming from his nostrils, “Are you done?”

“Um… y-y-yeah; sorry.”

Spike suddenly got up and began heading upstairs, “I’m going to go sleep in the rest of the day; don’t want to risk accidentally getting somepony else pregnant.”

“Come one, Spike; you’re not serious, are you?”

“Oh I’m very serious. As good as mating with Apple Bloom felt, I’m just wondering if it will all be worth it.”

This was only the beginning for Spike and Apple Bloom and the aftermath of their moment of mating together. Deep down, Spike really liked Apple Bloom and found her a bit charming, but he wasn’t quite sure of how much he was on board in case the worst case scenario in his thought happened. But there was still one thing he felt that he had to worry about first. What will he do once Big Mac finds out what happened?

Spike: “Oh crap; I’m so bucked.”

Author's Note

It might be a while until the next chapter. Chapters in my other stories must be completed as well.

Big Macintosh

Apple Bloom’s big brother, Big Macintosh was staying with his special marefriend during the last day of the heat season. After the day passed, he came back to his home at Sweet Apple Acres where he was hoping to buckle down and get back to working on the farm. But unknown to him, he was going to be in for a big surprise once he entered into the house.

“Welcome back, big brother,” said Applejack as she greeted him, “Did ya have a good time?”

“Yeup,” he responded with a proud smile.

“So how did thing go with you and yer… special mare?”

“Well, Ah…”

Suddenly, Applejack halted her brother to speak anymore on the matter, “Wait, don’t answer that. Ah’d rather not wish to hear about mah brother and his sexual relations with another mare.”

Mac just sighed and agreed, “Yeup.”

“However,” said Applejack, “Ah’m afraid that a certain somepony else had herself a good time yesterday as well.”

Big Mac suddenly looked at Applejack noticing the hinting tone in her voice. As Applejack was waiting for the thought to hit hit her big brother, Big Mac arched his eye and said, “Um… you mean…”

Applejack suddenly gasped and blushed realizing what he was thinking. Then she shouted out of protest, “What; no, not me! Ah mean… Ah wouldn’t mind, but... A-A-Ah chose not to. So guess who’s left?”

Big Mac didn’t want to think the alternative outcome. But almost on cue, Apple Bloom came down from upstairs and saw her brother back at their home. She smiled and ran over to him, “Hey, Big Mac!” She then hugged him tight, “Yer back! It’s great to see ya again!”

But then, she broke away when she noticed that her brother was looking at her with a low-eyed look. One of his eyes arched at her a he said, “Applebloom…”

“Um… AJ,” said Apple Bloom sounding a little troubled, “why is Big Mac looking at me like that? ‘Gasp’ You didn’t tell him, did ya?!”

“Why not,” said Applejack crossing her forehooves,” he would’ve found out sooner or later.”

Big Mac knew that this was his second sister’s first time going through heat, but he just sighed imagining the pitiful state she must have been in to finally give in to her urges. “You just couldn’t hold in the urge, could ya?”

“How could ya blame me?” Apple Bloom protested, “ It was mah first time going through this! Ah almost tried to make myself mate with you, remember?!”

Big Mac groaned and felt uncomfortable thinking back at that moment, “Ah sorta wish Ah didn’t.”

“Well then… ya must understand, right? Right?! Please, big brother?!”

Apple Bloom was giving him pleading eyes so he could forgive her, but all he could see at the moment was her sister begging him in the way that she did last time, “S-s-s-top giving me those eyes, please; i-it doesn’t feel right at this moment.”

After pulling Apple Bloom away from their brother, Applejack said, “So… should we do something about this?”

After getting himself together, Big Mac responded, “It depends.” Then he looked back at Apple Bloom giving her the suspicious eye, “Who is it that mated with ya? Snips, Snails, Archer, Pipsqueak… or maybe that one who loves to eat?”

“Well… actually…” said Apple Bloom with a nervous smile, “you’d be surprised.”

Suddenly, the door behind Big Mac started to open and he turned around to see who was here. Sure enough, it wasn’t someone he expected. It was Spike who walked in and he was holding a small bouquet of flowers in his claws. He froze in place when he saw Big Mac standing there looking at him curiously. He looked behind the stallion and saw Apple Bloom smiling and waving and Applejack still giving him a small glare. He began to get nervous, and if he could sweat out of worry, he would be.

“Big Macintosh; h-h-hey there buddy!” said Spike nervously trying to stay cool, “N-nice to see you’re... finally back! Did you have fun? I’m sure you did. I just came over to visit, but I can see that you’re all in the middle of a family matter. So… I’ll just come back later.”

Spike turned around and was about to head back out of the door, but then Big Mac placed his hoof on his tail and he couldn’t move.

“Spike?”

Spike slowly turned back around towards the stallion and responded, “Y-y-y-yeah?”

Giving him a deep, serious look, BIg Mac questioned, “Did ya have sex with mah younger sister?”

“Heh, w-w-well that depends,” Spike slightly chuckled, “W-which sister are we talking about here?”

Apple Bloom quietly snickered at Spike’s comment, and Applejack glared at her while giving her a light punch on her shoulder to shut her up. Big Mac continued to stare down at Spike while not saying a word… in which he was very good at, and Spike doing his best to stay calm under pressure. When he was finally tired of the silent treatment, Spike broke down on his knees in front of the stallion and confessed.

“Okay, I admit it! I had sex with Apple Bloom, but it was unavoidable in my case. Your sister is so forceful when she’s in heat, and… well, look at that face! How can you say no to that face!?”

“Pretty easily,” said Big Mac.

“Yeah, no contest,” Applejack agreed.

Spike cautiously went over to Apple Bloom and handed her the bouquet of flowers that he had and was slightly blushing while saying, “Um… here. It’s just a little something I got for you after what happened yesterday. It’s no big deal.”

Apple Bloom hugged Spike very tightly see how much he really did care for her, "Don’t be silly, Spike, Ah love them! It's always the thought that counts."

She then gave Spike a kiss on the cheek, and he smiled and showed a little blush. Big Mac suddenly got behind Spike and started leading him outside. Poor Spike was slightly shaking wondering what Apple Bloom’ big, strong brother was going to do to him.

“A-a-are we having one of those private m-m-male to male talks?” Spike asked nervously.

Big Mac simply answered, “Yeup.”

As they walked out the door tried to follow them and shouted, “Don’t ya dare hurt him; okay, big brother?!”

“Stay right here, Apple Bloom,” said Applejack, “Let the males sort things out.”

“Ah just don’t want him to be so overprotective towards Spike,” said Apple Bloom, “Its not exactly his fault!”

“You should know yer own brother, AB. He’s quiet, shy and a pony of few words. But when it comes to protectin' anythang or anyone of this family, he’s going to step up his game a bit. But don’t worry, Ah’m sure Big Mac won’t hurt him… much.”

Apple Bloom lightly scowled at her big sister feeling a bit worried, “Don’t say that; he’s not going to hurt him at all! And if he does, it’ll be yer fault fer snitching on him!”

“Oh sure, that a good one.”

More than five minutes went by after Big Mac and Spike stepped outside, and Apple Bloom spent that time pacing back and forth in the kitchen wondering how the conversation was going… since she wasn’t allowed to eavesdrop on it. Applejack was just doing some light cleaning while she was waiting for her brother to finish with Spike. But pretty soon Apple Bloom’s ears perked up as she heard the front door open back up and he ran back to where it was, and Applejack calmly followed after.

Apple Bloom saw Spike with his claws behind his back and his head slightly tilted downwards; and Big Mac was right behind him with his usual calm, and collected expression.

“Spike, what happen?!” Apple Bloom shouted, “Did Mac tried to hurt you?! Any bruises?! Was he really tough on you?! Is he blaming you fer all of this?! Mac, you better not be blaming him fer all of this!”

Mac just looked at his youngest sister with an arched eyebrow not feeling intimidated by her threatful comment.

“Apple Bloom, it’s okay,” said Spike getting in front of her, “I’m fine. All my body parts are undamaged and intact.”

“All of them?” said Apple Bloom giving him a mischievous smirk.

Spike looked down, then he sighed and rolled his eyes and said, “Yes… all of them.” Then he explained, “Your brother was more understanding of this situation that I thought he might have been; and we both came into agreement with each other.”

“That’s great!” said Apple Bloom excitedly, “Thanks, Big Mac fer not hurting Spike and his assets.”

“Uh… sure thang,” Big Mac responded.

“Well, it’s nice that you don’t want to kill Spike,” said Applejack, “and personally Ah wasn’t going to kill him either. But what are we goin' to do about this whole ordeal? What did you and Spike agree on anyway?”

“Tell em’, boy,” said Big Mac as he pushed Spike closer to the sisters.

Spike looked at Applejack and Apple Bloom and at first he wasn’t sure how to to address the matter at first, but then he said, “B-Big Mac said that… he knows exactly how I feel because… the same thing happen to him.”

“Really?” said Applejack suspiciously, “He never told me that.”

"He even told me about a similar experience that you had, Applejack. He told me what Apple Bloom did wasn’t very far from what you did during your first heat."

"Wut?!" shouted Applejack as she brightly blushed, "Big Mac, wut were ya thinkin' talkin' about that to him! He didn't need to know that!"

Big Mac just shrugged shoulders like it was no big deal.

“Ooh, can ya'll tell me about it?" questioned Apple Bloom eagerly.

“No!" Applejack responded loudly.

“Anyway,” Spike continued, “He told me that since he went through the same thing I did, he felt like he didn’t have the right to be mad at me. Heh, he knows how it feels to have a mare almost force you to relieve her urges whether you want to or not. Am I right?"

Spike gave Mac a fist/hoof bump while the responded, "Yeup."

"So, he agreed to forgive me and not hurt me… on one condition.”

Applejack arched her eyebrow and her brother and stated, “And wut condition might that be?”

“That I take responsibility and… become Apple Bloom’s special somepony; well technically it would be some-dragon but I don’t want to ruin your tradition in words.”

“Alright!” Apple Bloom shouted as she hugged him, “Ah'm so glad he came to reason with ya, Spike!”

“Y-yeah, it’s quite a relief.”

“Come on, Big Mac, ya can’t be serious?” Applejack protested.

“Yeup.”

“Ah mean… not that Ah’m against Spike being with mah little sister, but… how do ya know that he really likes her that way?”

“Um, actually…” said Spike nervously, “after my years of being here in Ponyville, there were quite a few number of ponies that I… really came to crushing over.”

“One of them being Rarity,” Apple Bloom chuckled.

Spike groaned while leering at Apple Bloom, “Can we please get off of that fact. I’m over her already, remember? ‘Sigh’ Anyway, I had a few crushes in this town that I chose not to talk about until I was ready... not counting Rarity, and well... Apple Bloom just happens to be one of them."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Apple Bloom cooed.

"And wut do ya see in our little sister?" Big Mac brought up… even though he already knew the answer.

"Well, I definitely saw a different side to her yesterday; and to be perfectly honest, I don't know whether or not to like it or be frighten of it. But aside from that, I find her to be sweet, kind, strong, and a bit foolhardy, but she's also growing up to be a beautiful and honest pony... just like you guys; m-minus the beautiful part for you Big Mac."

Big mac nodded his head in agreement.

"So in short, I wouldn’t mind giving her a chance to be with her for a while. She's... pretty cute."

"Cuter than Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo?" questioned Apple Bloom as she got up closer in Spike’s face.

"Whoa-ho now, please don't put me in that kinda of situation."

Apple Bloom looked at her sister seeing how she was handling things, "Well, big sis, do ya approve or don't ya?"

"Fine," said Applejack, "Ah approve of this decision. Spike is our friend afterall, and Ah know he wouldn't intentionally do anythang to harm you and endanger this family. But there is still the matter of the possibility of Apple Bloom being fertile and gettin' pregnant. Ah've already made an appointment later today at the hospital."

"Come on, is that really necessary?" Apple Bloom groaned.

"Yes it is, no matter how small the probability may be; and yer still grounded for today and tomorrow, AB."

Apple Bloom continued to pout while crossing her forehooves, "Sometimes... yer no fun."

"Good, it means I'm doin' my job as yer older sister."

Spike felt a whole lot better knowing that now he was on good terms with Apple Bloom's older siblings, “So… we’re all good here, right.”

“Yeah, we’re all good," said Applejack while still giving Spike a semi-threatening glare, "... fer now.”

“Well… I’m… just going to… show myself out," said Spike nervously as he was headed back out the door... away from Applejack's glare, "I’ll try to catch you at your appointment, kay’, Apple Bloom?”

“Okay," Apple Bloom responded, "but it might be a complete waste of a visit.”

Spike just smiled and rolled her eyes as he calmly walked out the door. Afterwards, Big Mac sighed as he was headed upstairs towards their bathroom.

“So where are you goin’?” asked Applejack.

“Shower," Big Mac responded with a slight smile, "Yesterday was a long day… if ya know what Ah mean.”

Applejack groaned in slight disgust almost regretting of asking her brother that question in the first place.

“Wow, that must have been some day fer him; huh, Sis?” said Apple Bloom.

“Be quiet, Apple Bloom.”

Positive or Negative?

It was almost noon and Spike was preparing to head out of the library tree to go to Apple Bloom’s scheduled appointment at the Ponyville Hospital. He was just about to head out when Twilight called out to him and halted him in his steps.

“And where do you think you’re going, young dragon?”

“T-to the hospital,” Spike responded, “I want to be there for Apple Bloom’s check-up… for support, y’know.”

“What about all those books and other stuff that you left over there?”

Twilight pointed to a corner in the room where Spike left a whole pile of the library’s possessions. It seemed that hoarding instincts had gotten the best of him again.

“Oh, yeah. Uh… I-I’ll get to it later.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Twilight protested as she pulled him back from the door with her magic, “you’ll get to it now. You’ll just forget again… like you did last time. I’m not picking up after you again.”

“Come on, Twilight,” said Spike feeling antsy, “I don’t want to be late! I promised that I would be there!”

Then Twilight used her magic again to push Spike over to his pile and said, “Then you better stop complaining and hurry up.”

Spike just lightly brooded to himself as he was beginning to pick up the mess. Some smoke was puffing from his nostrils and he was feeling a bit upset. He was a teen dragon after all, and some of that teenage angst was showing a bit as he mumbled to himself…

“Man, what a pain. I’m a freakin’ dragon; I’ll do whatever the heck I want.”

“What was that, Spike?” Twilight suddenly said.

Spike jumped and hesitated as he said, “Uh… I-I-I said… I’ll get right on it!”

Twilight stepped out of the room for a moment, and Owlicious was nearby hooting at him in a humorous manner. Spike glared at him and lightly snarled.

“Shut up, you stupid owl.”

Applejack and Apple Bloom had just arrived to the Ponyville Hospital for the scheduled appointment. They walked up to front desk where they were greeted by Nurse Redheart who was smiling quite brightly.

“Hey there, Miss Applejack. You here for your sister’s appointment?”

“That’s right, Miss Redheart,” Applejack responded, “Um… ya seem a bit… ecstatic today. Are you okay?”

Redheart gathered herself together and said, “Oh I’m fine, it’s just that… you know, the past week really did wonders for me in many ways.”

Applejack looked at her weirdly and said, “Um… forget Ah asked.”

After signing in, the two sister went over to the waiting area where other’s were waiting for their own appointments.

“Sounds like she had a good time,” said Apple Bloom.

“Just keep walkin’,” Applejack groaned.

After they sat down and Apple Bloom was pondering of what was going to happen next, she heard a familiar voice beside her. “Hey, Apple Bloom; nice to see ya.”

She looked to her side and saw one of her friends acknowledging her, “Hey, Ruby. What are you in fer?”

“Just a normal check-up… as usual. What about you?”

“Ah mated with a dragon, so Ah’m here fer a pregnancy test.”

Ruby began laughing thinking Apple Bloom was just joking around, “Good one, Apple Bloom. You’re hilarious.” But then, she saw Apple Bloom looking at her with a light smirk, “Wait, what?!”

Suddenly, Redheart came out and announced, “Apple Bloom, Miss Rhyme will see you now.”

“Already?” Apple Bloom said in light shock, “Oh well, see ya later, Ruby.”

After Apple Bloom got up with her sister and walked off, Ruby was still sitting in her seat with wide eyes feeling completely shocked. She just looked at a pony beside her and asked, “She was joking… right?”

A few minutes afterwards, Apple Bloom and Applejack were in an assigned room waiting for their assigned nurse to arrive. Before long, a small-sized white pony with a dark red mane and tail came walking in with her trusty nurse hat and some papers.

“Hello, I’m Miss Rhyme and I’ll be your assigned nurse for today.”

Nursery Rhyme looked over at Apple Bloom and saw that she was looking at her smiling and giggling a bit.

“What’s that look for?” she asked lightly scowling.

“A-A-Ah’m sorry, but… Ah just can’t get over of how cute and adorable ya look.”

“Yeah, well… we can’t exactly help how our bodies develop, honey.”

Applejack lightly punched her little sister on her shoulder and whispered, “Apple Bloom, show some respect.”

“Ah’m trying, sis, but… just look at her.”

Applejack kept looking at Nursery Rhyme while she was going over her papers and she slightly smiled and whispered, “Well… she does look a bit cute Ah suppose.”

“Ahem. If we’re done talking about how cute I am,” said Nurse Rhyme as she was facing them, “lets get down to business. According to this you’re here for a… pregnancy test? And I’m guess it has something to do with recent heat period?”

“Yeah, that’s right…” said Apple Bloom with a smile, “and it was awesome. Ah bet you had some fun too, right?”

“Not really. I decided to not take part.”

Apple Bloom suddenly gasped, “What?! Come on; at the least did somepony try to approach you… despite your looks?”

Nursery Rhyme thought about it for a second, and then she remembered, “Well… there was a patient that I had a few days ago. He was definitely interested in me, but he was too injured to do anything to me… or anypony else for that matter. Maybe he’ll have a chance next year… poor guy.”

Apple Bloom tried to imagine that in her head, but all she could see was a cute little filly being suggestive to an older pony. She couldn’t get the image out of her head.

“So are you sure you want to do this now?” Miss Rhyme asked, “Its a bit early to make speculations.”

“We know, said Applejack, “but we want to make sure that her matin’ process turns up negative. Its a long story.”

Miss Rhyme suddenly had a determined look on her face and responded, “Try me.”

Applejack then started to tell her, “Well, it all started when Ah had to…”

But then her little sister suddenly interrupted. “Ah had sex with a dragon.”

Applejack glared intensely at her sister for shouting that out in the middle of sentence. However, Miss Rhyme froze and dropped her papers that she had in her mouth and shouted, “You what?!”

“Well technically Ah had sex with Spike. You know, the dragon who lives here; it was him. We had a wonderful time.”

Miss Rhyme got herself out of her shock and gathered her papers back up off the ground. “W-w-well that definitely defies as… interesting. But according to history records, dragons can’t impregnate ponies. Th-they can’t, right?”

“Ah’m pretty sure they can’t,” said Applejack, “but there’s nothing wrong with being safe and making sure.”

“It’ going to be negative,” said Apple Bloom, “trust me.”

Nursery Rhyme just shrugged and then grabbed a couple of hoof gloves and slipped them on her forehooves. She got all serious and then said, “Well then… lets do this.”

After cleaning up his mess back at the library tree, Spike ran to the Ponyville Hospital as fast as he could. He was holding on to his breath as approached the building, then he rushed in almost scaring Nurse Redheart at the front desk.

“H-h-hi there, I’m... S-Spike the Dragon.”

“Yes, we know who you are,” said Redheart with an amused smile, “… seeing that you’re the only dragon living here.”

“S-s-sorry, I’m just... out of breath. Is Apple Bloom already here?”

“Yes, she is. In fact, she’s already back there having her appointment.”

Spike felt relieved that he wasn’t too late and stood up straight, “Great! I guess I’ll just let myself in.”

But when Spike was about to enter the patient hall, Redheart stepped in front of his path, “Whoa whoa whoa, where do you think you’re going?”

“To where Apple Bloom is. I promised I’d be here for her.”

Redheart denied his request, “Sorry, but what she’s doing back there is is very private business due to it being a pregnacy test. So you have to stay out here. Besides, its not like you’re the one that mated with her.”

Spike suddenly blushed and scratched his head as he responded, “Actually… I-I-I kinda am.”

The whole room suddenly became silent and everyone in the waiting area were staring at him in shock. Redheart was no different thinking that he was just making a joke.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Why in the heck would I kid about this?” said Spike crossing his arms.

Redheart was in silence and didn’t know what to say. But she eventually broke herself out of her shocked state and told the anxious dragon, “Um… look, it’d be a bit awkward to send you back there now, so… j-just wait out there, okay.”

Spike just groaned and replied, “Yeah, fine.”

Spike was trying to calm down from wondering of how the procedure was going. But then he thought to himself, “What am I worried about anyway? Her results are probably going to be proved negative anyway. No reason to fret, Spike; everything is going to be okay.”

Apple Bloom went through a few awkward procedures in getting herself tested for pregnancy. Afterwards, she and Applejack were instructed by Nursery Rhyme to stay inside the assigned room until the results were done. After a few minutes, Applejack saw her little sister slightly moving her body around in the chair she was sitting in fidgeting a bit while softly humming.

“Are ya nervous, Apple Bloom?” she asked her.

Apple Bloom jumped a bit and hesitantly said, “M-me, nervous? Of course not. Why should Ah be nervous?”

“Its okay, Apple Bloom,” said Applejack as she placed her hoof her sister’s shoulder, “At times like this, its perfectly fine to be nervous. Besides, wut are the chances that Spike actually got ya pregnant?”

“Well… seein’ that this is the first time that this kind of thang happened, that’s completely unknown. Fer all we know, Ah could become pregnant. But hey, maybe it’ll be fun bein’ a Mom.”

“Listen Apple Bloom, Ah say that you’re not pregnant,” said Applejack in a demanding voice, “And if Ah say yer not, then yer not.”

Apple Bloom just looked at her sister with lowered eyes and told her, “Ya do know sayin’ that somethang is not goin’ to happen doesn’t really make it true, right?”

Suddenly right at that moment, Nursery Rhyme opened the door and came back into the room. Although, she seemed to be dragging herself a bit like she was delaying something.

“Oh thank Celestia you’re back;”said Applejack in relief, “this suspense is killing me!”

“So, Miss Rhyme,” said Apple Bloom as she got up out of the chair, “wut are mah results? Ah’m pretty sure its obvious anyway, so just tell us so mah sister can stop freakin’ out.”

They both suddenly noticed the nervous look on Miss Rhyme’s face and she was almost afraid to give them her answer.

“Everythang okay, Miss Rhyme?” Applejack asked.

“Well…” she then pulled out a sheet of paper from her business folder, “the results are completed and are all right here, but… well… see for yourself.”

When Miss Rhyme sat the paper down, the two sisters had a look at it… and what they saw shocked them beyond belief.

Meanwhile, Spike was in the waiting room trying to read a magazine to take his mind off of things. He was nervous the whole time he was waiting but he was trying his best to not show it. However at one point, a random foal beside looked up at him and asked him...

“So, are you nervous, mister dragon?”

Spike jumped slightly and looked down at the foal staring at him trying to stay calm. “M-me, nervous? Of course not! Wh-why would I be nervous?!”

“Because you’re going to be a daddy,” the foal responded, “Don’t worry, my dad says being my daddy isn’t bad… for the most part. It does seem very fun to me.”

“I’m not going to be a daddy!!!” Spike suddenly shouted, “It was just one time, and it was the first pony/dragon mating in forever! There is no proof that I am going to be a daddy from mating with a pony! I’m not going to be a daddy, I tell you! I’m not!”

As he was catching his breath, he realized that the entire waiting room was staring at him again. He was slightly blushing from embarrassment and just sat back down trying to calm down. The young foal looked up at his mother and told her…

“He’s nervous.”

Just then, Spike heard a nearby door open where the patient hall was. Thankfully for him it Applejack and Apple Bloom that were led out by Miss Rhyme. He jumped up out of his seat and ran to them feeling relieved from stress.

“Apple Bloom! Thank Celestia you’re back out and okay… n-n-not that I was nervous or anything.”

“He was nervous!” said the same foal from the waiting area.

“I wasn’t… n-n-nevermind. So how did it go? Was it a waste of time like you predicted?”

Apple Bloom, Applejack and Nursery Rhyme were all silent and not answering right away. Spike’s nerves were heightening again feeling that something was wrong. Why couldn’t they talk.

“W-w-what’s going on?” Spike questioned nervously, “Why do you all look troubled?” He then held on to Apple Bloom while kneeling and pleaded, “Apple Bloom, say something!”

Apple Bloom gave a little shy grin and then told him, “Um… Spike, remember how Twilight said that... it was uncertain if Ah could get impregnated by you... because we were the first pony/dragon pairing to ever mate ever?”

“Y-y-yeah, I do,” said Spike, But what does that have to do with…” Then suddenly, Spike’s eyes went wide with fright… almost afraid to ask what happened. “Wait… you’re not saying… please don’t tell me...”

But much to his horror, Apple Bloom gave him his answer, “Ah had my test, and… sorry, Spike, but i-it proved to be… positive. Yer goin’ to be a daddy. Congradulations?”

Spike stood there in his kneeling stance looking slightly horrified and one of his eyes started to twitch. His very will started to quiver, and then with all his stress builded up, he released it all out at once.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!”

The loud, screeching sound could be heard all around Ponyville and could’ve have been mistaken as a harsh scream of agonizing torture. Twilight was reading a book in the library tree when suddenly she held her head up getting a strange feeling.

“Did you hear something, Owlicious?”

She saw that Owlicious was in a deep sleep since it was in the middle of the day. Twilight just looked out of the nearby window and shrugged as she went back to her book.

“Hm, must’ve been my imagination.”

Back at the hospital, poor Spike was sitting on the ground in a ball rocking back and forth continuing to freak out silently in front of the others.

"Could you perform that scream again?" said Miss Rhyme sarcastically, "I don’t think the entire town of Ponyville could hear you." She went over to the ponies who were watching the scene strongly and told them, "Don't worry, ponies, nothing to see here; just someone freaking out over becoming a father."

Apple Bloom slowly went over to him and tried to comfort him, "Are you okay, Spike? Don't worry, maybe this will be a good thang. No need to freak out."

But it didn't seem to be working as he was softly saying to himself, "This isn't happening... this isn't happening... this isn't happening."

Nurse Redheart came out after hearing the dreaded screaming and saw the state that Spike was in. "Oh dear, I think you broke him."

"You think?" said Miss Rhyme, "But he needed to know now or later... and later wouldn’t be better."

"He'll be alright," said Applejack with a low sigh, "he just needs to get over this shock. But Ah can't say that Ah blame him, Ah'm pretty shocked mahself. How could this even be possible?"

Apple Bloom began to feel a little awkward sitting in front of Spike as he was freaking out constantly. She looked at her sister and suggested, "Should... we get Twilight?"

"Y-yeah, Ah think that's best for him right about now," Applejack responded, "Just wait till Twilight hears about this."

A Mother's Advice

After discovering her beginning pregnancy that came from her mating with Spike, she was really looking forward to finding out what she was going to have. But at the same time, she was a bit worried of the road ahead of her. The thought of giving birth to a newborn foal was both exciting and terrifying at the same time. But she did her best to hide her fright most of of the time; especially around Spike. Speaking of… Spike still couldn’t fully make out of how he felt about becoming a daddy. He always thought that he wouldn’t be one for a long time. But he still kept his nerves under control and accepted his fate. No matter how bad things could get, he chose to not abandon Apple Bloom… for healthful reasons, but also because he truly did love Apple Bloom… whether he got her pregnant or not.

It’s now halfway into the week until Apple Bloom’s next appointment to see the reveal of her future foal’s gender; she was excited. Now late in the morning of that day… Apple Bloom was on her way to meet with with her friends down at Sugar Cube Corner. She was proudly just walking along showing off what she had on board. But suddenly, she came across a couple of fillies that were glad to finally to see her… for the most part.

“Well well, if it isn’t the filly pregger of Ponyville. Nice little belly you got there.”

“Oh, hey, Diamond Tiara,” Apple Bloom said with a smile, “Thanks for the compliment. Wait a minute... you were bein’ sarcastic just now, weren’t ya?”

“Ya think.”

“Come on, Tiara, be nice to her," said Silver Spoon, "In truth, we’re both actually amazed and a bit jealous of what happened to you. Mating with Spike must have been something else.”

“Oh, it sure was," said Apple Bloom with a sly smirk, "But… how did you two know about it?”

Diamond Tiara arched her brow thinking that she was joking. “You’re kidding, right? Its was like the most talked about article in the Ponyville News Press about three days ago." She then took out a newspaper from a bag she was wearing and dropped it down in front of Apple Bloom to prove it to her, "Unless you had your head stuck under a rock, you would’ve easily known about it.”

Apple Bloom saw a picture of herself and another of Spike on the paper's front page that said... 'Surprising pregnancy makes country filly and dragon resident become parents!' It then went on to explaining more detail on the subject. She tilted her head feeling a bit impressed on how fast the news had spread.

“Huh… so that’s what those mysterious flashes that I saw that other day were. At least they got my good side.”

“A foal from a pony and a dragon," said Silver Spoon imagining in her head, "I wonder how that’s going look like?”

“I don’t know," said Apple Bloom as she wagged her tail, "but I’m pretty excited myself… if not a bit nervous.” But she then became curious of what those two did during her... event. “So what about you two? Did any of ya’ll have some fun during that heat season?”

Tiara chose to not say a word, but Silver Spoon decided to. “I didn’t, but I like heard that Tiara here got it on with somepony.”

“Silver Spoon!" Tiara shouted, "Tell my business why don’t ya!”

“Well… she asked.”

Apple Bloom had a low-eyed expression on her face smiling and looking at Tiara as she asked, “Dare I ask who the lucky colt is?”

Tiara just sighed as she rolled her eyes and admitted, “Just some... random pony I hardly like knew. He came by me, I was desperate, he was interested, and my Dad was nowhere around to stop us; so… we did it. B-b-but at least I didn’t get pregnant like you did.”

Apple Bloom chuckled and held her stomach while saying, “Hey, Ah didn’t say anythang. Congrats on your newfound experience.” She then looked up at the town clocktower and saw the time. Gasping, she got a bit frantic. “Oh, Ah got to get goin’; Ah’m meetin’ with the other crusaders at Sugar Cube Corner.” She then waved back at Silver Spoon and Tiara as she walked off, “It was nice running into you two.”

Silver Spoon smirked at Tiara and told her, “I think you could’ve made a great Mother.”

“Oh be quiet,” Tiara groaned.

Apple Bloom successfully made her way to Sugar Cube Corner where her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were waiting for her just outside the doors. Though she was glad to spend more time with her friends, she was a bit oblivious of why they were really there.

“Apple Bloom, you’ve made it!” Sweetie Belle shouted.

“Well of course Ah did! You girls called and Ah came! By the way, what’s the occasion besides hangin’ out with mah best fillyfriends?”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at each with slightly troublesome looks. Then they placed smiles back on their faces as they looked back at their friend; and Scootaloo said, “Well… we sorta heard from a few ponies about females becoming pregnant and going into parenthood. We wanted to do something big with you before you have to stop… you know… hanging out with us a lot.”

“Wut are you girls talking about?” Apple Bloom retorted, “What makes you think that we’re going hang out less after I have this baby?”

“The responsibilities!” Sweetie Belle responded, “Everypony knows that having a baby is a big responsibility and can take away a lot of free time for other things! We should have as much fun together as we can before that happens!”

Apple Bloom chuckled a bit from how worried her friends were about her situation thinking it wasn’t that serious, “Come on, girls, yer overreacting about this whole thing. Baby or not, we’ll still be able to spend many times with each other… just with a few distractions. But anyway, lets go in here and hang out a bit anyway.”

“That’s all we ask,” said Scootaloo.

The three teenage fillies walked inside of the shop with a bell ringing to announce their arrival. As they walked up to the front counter, they were greeted with the female owner of the building, Mrs. Cake.

“Good morning, girls,” she said; and then smirked at Apple Bloom, “and… Mother to be.”

“Nice to see you too, Mrs. Cake,” said Apple Bloom with an arched eyebrow.

Mrs. Cake chuckled slightly feeling a bit embarassed of her behavior, “S-sorry, I can’t help but feel a bit excited when a pony I know becomes a Mother… you know.”

“Ah understand. And don’t worry, Ah’m getting used to these many different reactions of me being pregnant.”

Sweetie Belle smiled and patted Apple Bloom on her back, “But it definitely helps that she mated with a Dragon though.”

“Oh yes,” said Mrs. Cake thinking about Spike, “how is the young dragon by the way?”

“He’s doin’ alright. He still has a long way to go before he gets over the realization of becomin’ a Father. But other than that, he’s dealin’ with the situation much better than he was before. He’ll be fine in the end; just ya wait and see.”

“That is wonderful to hear,” Mrs. Cake responded, “So… what will you girls like to order?”

“I’ll just have a couple of blueberry cookies, please,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Oh, I’ll take one of those awesome rainbow berry danishes!” said Scootaloo.

And knowing of why the girls were here in her family’s house in the first place, she asked Apple Bloom again, “And what will you have, Apple Bloom? Don’t be picky, just choose anything you want.”

Apple Bloom thought about it for a second and then had a interesting idea, “Well… you know how Ah always have a hankerin’ for a slice of yer apple spice pie.”

Mrs. Cake smiled and nodded, “Heh, I completely understand.”

“Yep, so Ah’ll take 3 slices please!”

Suddenly, the whole room went silent as Mrs. Cake and Apple Bloom’s friends froze in shock staring at her. Mrs. Cake hesitantly told her, “Um… a-a-are you sure about that?”

“Don’t worry, Ah have the bits right here.”

“N-no, that’s not what I meant exactly. You usually ask for one slice of this since its so filling for you, and sometimes two i want to challenge yourself. So… are you sure about asking for three?”

Apple Bloom looked at her, as well as her two friends, and she just calmly said, “Sure, Ah just feel really hungry right now fer some reason.”

Mrs. Cake still wasn’t sure about Apple Bloom’s request, but then she realized the possibility of her sudden growth of hunger and sighed as she said, “Well… okay then. I’ll be right back with your treats.”

After Mrs. Cake went to the back, Sweetie Belle whispered into Scootaloo’s ears while smirking, “And so it begins.”

“What do you mean by that?” Scootaloo whispered back.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by the sound of little hooves coming from upstairs. The crusaders saw the Cake’s twin daughter, Pumpkin Cake rushing out from the bottom of the stairs only dive down upon from behind by her twin brother, Pound Cake. He gave her a little tap as he went by and smiled proudly as he landed down.

“Hey! No fair, Pound!” Pumpkin shouted, “You can't use your wings like that on me; that's cheating!”

“Well that's what you get for using magic on me before;" said Pound, "that's cheating also.”

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

Their Mother suddenly heard from the other room and poked her head out to glare at them, “Pumpkin and Pound Cake! What did I tell you two about playing tag in the house?!”

"He/she started it!" both Twins shouted while pointing at each other.

"I don't care who started it! If the two of you don't calm down and keep on like this, so help me... I will have your Father deal with you when he comes back from his delivery! Is that clear?!"

Both twins were now suddenly frighten in respect of their Mother. They both sat up straight and bowed their head while saying, "Y-yes mam'; we're sorry!"

"Thank you," said Mrs. Cake, "Now please behave yourselves; we have a few guest that we're serving."

After their Mother went back to the previous room she was in, Pumpkin and Pound both gasped upon seeing who sitting at the front counter.

"Ooh; look, Pound,” said Pumpkin excitedly, “its the Crusaders! Hey guys!"

Apple Bloom was still smiling of amusement of seeing those two being talked down to by their Mother; but she just waved back saying, "Hey, Pumpkin; hey, Pound. Nice to see ya two."

"And don't you two look as cute and adorable as ever," said Sweetie Belle.

The brother, Pound Cake, suddenly went up to Scootaloo jumping up and down and said, "Hey, uh... Miss Scootaloo, have I ever told you of how awesome I think you and Miss Rainbow Dash are?!"

"Heh, only like a million times," Scootaloo replied while scratching her head and awkwardly smiling.

"Oooooh,” said Sweetie Belle as she lightly elbow Scootaloo on her side smirking, “looks like someone has a little foalhood crush on a couple of ponies."

"Oh knock it off, will you;"Scootaloo chuckled, "he's just idolizing us. He's 6, so its not like he understands love crushes."

Pumpkin Cake then went up to Apple Bloom seeing her slightly bulging belly and asked, "So, Miss Apple Bloom, was what we've heard of around town true; are you going to be a mommy?"

“Yeah, that’s right. Exciting, huh?”

“Do you know if its a boy yet?" questioned Pound, "I pretty sure that its a boy. Boy foals are better!"

"Nuh uh," said Pumpkin, "I think its a girl; it will be better if its a girl. Boys are gross and smell weird."

"Hey! We're not that gross. Besides, girls can be gross too."

"He is kinda right," Scootaloo admitted, "we girls can be a little gross too. Just ask Apple Bloom and yours truly."

"Really?" said Pumpkin, "What have you've done that could possibly be gross?"

"Well... I held bugs, played in the dirt and mud, scratched my flank, picked my nose..."

Suddenly, Apple Bloom burped out loud again shocking everyone around her.

"... that."

"Ew!" said Pumpkin in slight disgust.

Pound however started giggling loudly finding Apple Bloom's belch hilarious, "That was great! I told you, Sis; I told you! Do again, Miss Apple Bloom!"

Scootaloo just looked over at Pumpkin with a smirk and said, "Need I go on?"

Deciding to not argue against it anymore, Pumpkin just nervously answered, “Uh… no mam'; I'm good." Then she looked back over at Apple Bloom and stated, "But anyway, I’ve already decided that when I grow up, one day... I want to become a great Mom like me and Pounds’; and I’m sure that you’ll be a great Mother too.”

Apple Bloom felt really proud hearing a younger filly complimenting her, and she just gave a little noogie on her head, “Why thanks, kid; and vice versa.”

"Hey, Pumpkin!” Pound shouted out from the front door, “Wanna play tag outside!? And no cheating this time."

Pumpkin smirked at her brother feeling egged on, "Okay, I don't need my magic to beat you anyway!” She then waved at the other as she followed after her brother, “Bye!"

"Those two really are cute and fun to have around,” said Apple Bloom to her friends, “Mr. and Mr. Cake are lucky to have them?"

“Yeah,” Scootaloo scoffed, “but I’m pretty sure that they’re a handful to deal with; something else for you to look forward to.”

“Heh… yeah.”

Pretty soon, Mrs. Cake came back out into the room pushing a cart that had the dishes that each crusader ordered. “Your orders are ready, girls! Blueberry cookies for Sweetie Belle, a large-sized rainbow berry danish for Scootaloo, and… these... for Apple Bloom.”

As Mrs. Cake sat the dish in front of Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked at it with questionable looks; and Sweetie Belle asked her, “Wow, that’s a lot. Are you sure you can handle it, A.B.?”

“Ya darn right Ah can!" shouted Apple Bloom with confidence, "Mah appetite can handle anythang!"

And as they began to eat, Mrs. Cake just went on her way cleaning up around the shop, “Well… I’ll leave yo girls to this while I clean up around here.”

But then... thinking about the Cake twins and what Scootaloo said, Apple Bloom paused in her eating and said, “Hey, uh… Mrs. Cake?”

“Yes, Apple Bloom?” she said turning back around to the older fillies.

“Ah was thinkin’… since you are married and have become a Mother of two foals, do ya… have any possible Motherly advice for me?”

Mrs. Cake was suddenly at a loss for words. She wasn’t exactly expecting Apple Bloom to ask her this sort of question. “O-oh, you’re asking m-me for advice? I’m flattered.”

“Yeah, tell me... how hard was it raisin’ a foal from birth let alone two.”

Mrs. Cake didn’t think that she was a pure mother expert just yet but she figured that she had enough experience to give some pointers, “Well… it was definitely unexpected to say the least. Seeing that both Carrot and I are both Earth ponies, yet we somehow were able to conceive a unicorn and a pegasus. How Carrot explained it still confuses me a bit.”

“Us too,” all crusaders agreed.

As Mrs. Cake kept talking and the others were listening in, Apple Bloom kept lightly, but rapidly eating her cake slices.

“But in any case, it didn’t change of how much we loved them of course, and we were going to do all that we could to the best of our abilities raise them; with a bit of help from Pinkie Pie too.”

“So... raising them was not easy?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Far from it. Those two always seem to keep us on our toes at all times. The only main time they didn’t is when they’re asleep, and even then you have to be ready in case they wake up. But things got even more complicated when those two started to tap into their abilities. I think it started when Pinkie babysat them for the first time. Pound flying up in hard to reach places, Pumpkin phasing through things and always getting loose. And every once in a while, Pumpkin would have had a burst of magic accidentally… and what happened each time was always random. It was kinda hectic.”

“O-o-oh… wow,” said Apple Bloom hesitantly, “It must have been very hard for you two… and Pinkie.”

“Oh, but don’t worry,” Mrs. Cake chuckled, “I’m sure you don’t have to put up with what we had; that’s just our life. But despite everything, we were very happy. We love our children very much and always wanted what’s best for them.”

Apple Bloom understood where Mrs. Cake was coming from with her explanation, but now she wanted to make sure of what it was exactly that she had to do. “So… what can Ah possibly do to become a good Mother?”

“Well first off, learn to say no. Carrot and I learned the hard way that if you always give in to the demands of your children, they’ll just become spoiled and walk all over you.”

“Ooh, that makes sense,” said Sweetie Belle, “My Mom said that she had the same experience with Rarity; heh heh… and me.”

“Well, we all had our rebellious moments, Sweetie Belle,” Mrs. Cake admitted, “That’s just part of growing up. But next, Apple Bloom, do whatever it takes to keep them away from bad influences. Well… maybe not whatever it takes, but do what you can. I’m sure you already know what it like when children pick up bad behavior; it can cause major stress and tension between the child and parents. So unless you don’t care what your child learns, you must be careful of what you do, where you go and what you say with your child around.”

Suddenly Scootaloo bit her tongue while eating her danish and shouted in pain, “Ah! Celestia damnit; I bit my tongue.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle widen their eyes at their pegasus friend, and Mrs. Cake lowered her eyes and stated, “Kinda like that.”

Scootaloo blushed and chuckled nervously, “Heh... thorry.”

“And... last, but most important thing about being a Mother… at least to me is… always, and I mean always… be there your child… no matter what.”

“That sounds deep,” said Apple Bloom.

“And I mean it too. Most parents really care about what happens to their children and do all they can to support them. If they’re happy, be happy for them. If they’re sad, comfort them. And if they’re angry or upset, don’t scold them or complain about their behavior… but try and understand what they’re going through and work things out t the best of your abilities. Try all of these methods, and I’m sure that you’ll make a good Mother.”

Hearing all of what Mrs. Cake had to say about Motherhood, Apple Bloom started to have second thoughts of everything she was thinking of. “Wow. Bein’ a Mother really is challenging… not that Ah thought that it wasn’t.”

“I never knew parents had to go through so much,” said Scootaloo with some concern, “Are you sure you’re ready for this, Apple Bloom?”

“Of course Ah am; but… Ah guess Ah was being too excited and just didn’t understand just how important being a Mother was. Ah guess now Ah know how Spike feels; he probably knew of this sort of thang before Ah did.”

Just then, Scootaloo’s eyes wide and she gasped as she shouted, “Hey, check it out! Apple Bloom finished all three slices of pie! No way!”

“Huh?!” said Sweetie Belle staring at Apple Bloom’s empty plate.

“Whoa,” said Mrs. Cake seeing the evidence herself.

Apple Bloom was a bit surprised herself. She just kept eating while listening to Mrs. Cake’s advice completely oblivious that she had already finished. “Heh… see, Ah told you Ah was hungry.”

“W-w-well anyway,” said Mrs. Cake, “don’t be worried; you’ll be just fine. You and Spike together will bring great joy to this foal because both of you are kind and caring. As long as you both do your part, you’ll survive… trust me.”

Suddenly, Apple Bloom released a huge… “BRAAAAAAAAAP!!!” and then covered her mouth while blushing from embarrassment, “Um, mah compliments to the chef?”

“Oh my…” Mrs. Cake chuckled, “I guess I should be flattered.”

“Kinda gross… but impressive,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Well, thank you for this talk,” said Apple Bloom, “It definitely helped me understand more of what Ah gotten myself into. Ah’ll be sure to inform Spike on this.”

“You’re very welcome, dear. But… speaking of Spike, there is another perk of being pregnant and giving birth. The husband usually has to do all of the heavy lifting while you laze around.”

Mrs. Cake and Apple Bloom gave each other little sly faces; and Apple Bloom chuckled slightly, “Ooh, heh… somethang to look forward to.”

Just then, all of them heard a loud *BOOM* sound that almost shook the house and scared all of them half to death.

“Dear lord; what was that?!” shouted Mrs. Cake.

Suddenly, Pound nervously walked in from the front door and said, “Um, Mom… I’m afraid that your flower bed is… um, a bit wrecked.”

“I didn’t do it!” shouted Pumpkin from a distance.

Still sporting wide eyes, the crusaders looked over at Mrs. Cake to see how she reacted. She just slightly smiled and told them, “*sigh* Kids… what are you going to do.”

It finally came to that time of the week for Apple Bloom’s 2nd appointment at the Ponyville’s Health and Care Center to find out what gender her newborn was going to be; that is… if she wanted to know. She went there while accompanied by her Big Sister, Applejack and of course, Spike. Nurse Rhyme along with Nurse Redheart accompanied Apple Bloom through the test process, and then left her with Applejack and Spike in a separate room while they went to discover the results. When they came to them, they gave Apple Bloom the big decision.

“Well, Apple Bloom,” said Nurse Rhyme, “the time has come… for the reveal of your foal’s gender that is.”

“We can tell you what it is,” said Redheart, “but only if you wish to know what it is now. Heh, we have to ask that to every mare that becomes pregnant, you know.”

Apple Bloom became a bit nervous not sure if she was ready to know yet months before her birth date. But she had already talked it over with Spike who was still a bit nervous himself. He just smiled and nodded his head as Apple Bloom turned back to the two nurses and said…

“Well… Spike and Ah talked it over, and we decided that… we would… love to know… what Ah’m havin’.”

Applejack, though still not proud of what her young sister did, couldn’t help but smile and shed a small tear drop seeing how she was taking responsibility.

"Okay then,” said Nurse Rhyme smirking a bit, “congratulations! You’re having... Twins."

"What?!" shouted Applejack.

Both Apple Bloom and Spike froze and almost fell over each other while shouting, "TWINS!!!?"

"Nah, I'm only kidding. But I got you though, didn’t I?”

Redheart smirked while shaking her head.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!” shouted Spike in panic, “My heart literally leapt in my stomach!"

"Sorry; I tend to mess a little with some of my patients every once in a while."

"As long as its not something that will endanger her job," Nurse Redheart added.

"So... they're not havin' twins, right?" Applejack asked unsurely.

"No,” said Nurse Rhyme, “but they are having a baby boy."

A huge sigh of relief came out of Apple Bloom and Spike feeling a bit comfortable of Nurse Rhyme lying.

"A boy, huh?” said Spike nervously, “Okay, I can live with that."

"But you would’ve lived if it was a girl too, right?" said Apple Bloom.

"O-of course! I was just being happy of having one boy instead of twins is all."

"Just checkin'."

"Congratulations, you two,” said Applejack placing her hoof around her sister, “Now you know what to expect. Just wait until Big Mac hears that he'll be gettin' a nephew; he'll be so happy."

"Ah bet he will," said Apple Bloom.

"So... anything any of you want to say or ask?"

Suddenly, Spike marched right over to Nurse Rhyme with smoke coming from his nostrils and his claw pointing at her. "Yeah. Scare me like that again, and I will hurt you."

"Whoa, okay…” said Apple Bloom as she pulled Spike away from the shocked nurse, “there will be no threatening the nurse, Spike; we need her."

Spike took a deep breath and glared back at Rhyme, "Yeah... lucky her."

"Wow," said Redheart, “that was… something.”

"You're telling me," said Rhyme feeling a little chill go down her spine, “I didn’t think he was going to take that joke so seriously.”

Applejack just chuckled seeing her sister watching over the brooding dragon. "Don't worry about Spike, that's just the more terrifying and scary dragon part of him talkin'."

Mood Swings

(Sorry for the long wait; this the longest chapter so far. Hope you enjoy it.)

A little later the same day at Twilight’s Treehouse...

Spike had went back to the library treehouse a while after Apple Bloom’s newest appointment and walking with her back to her home with her big sister. On the way back there, he couldn’t help but ponder over what has happened to him over the past week. He was going to become a father whether he was going to accept it or not. But he was already on board with it anyway, so that fact did not change.

Once he got to the library tree, he told Twilight everything; and she listened as she was looking over some research notes. “So… a boy, huh? How lucky for you. After all, for all we knew, you could’ve had twins.”

Spike was laid back on a sofa relaxing after relieving some stress, “Please… don’t even put that possible outcome in my head. That stupid nurse already gave a bad enough heart attack.” Then Spike suddenly smiled, “But even so… I’m quite satisfied with the results.”

“So what about Apple Bloom?” Twilight questioned, “How does she feel about what she's going to have?"

"She seems fine with it. Although, I think she would be fine with it either way; and me as well. You should’ve seen Big Mac’s reaction; he had tears in his eyes knowing that he was going to have a nephew to look up to him."

"Part of me stills can’t believe that you're going to become a father. Has it really been that long since I hatched you from an egg?"

"It would've possibly been longer,” said Spike rolling his eyes, “if you know who hadn’t jumped me. That filly was too persistent. But… if I’m I’m going to be a father, Apple Bloom is a good pony to be with… I guess.”

“Now all that’s left is to find out what kind of creature is developing inside her.” said Twilight feeling excited, “If you don’t mind me saying, that’s the moment I’m waiting for most of all.”

“Well… you don’t have long to wait,” Spokie chuckled, “We’ve found out already of what it… I mean he could possibly be.”

Suddenly, Twilight dropped everything she was doing and faced towards Spike with her eyes shimmering. “Really?! Please tell me everything!”

Spike suddenly sat up on the sofa and told her, “They’re still not 100% sure of it yet, but Redheart stated that the newborn could turn out to be a hybrid after all. They saw something that resembled a little bit of a dragon tail, but it appeared to have hooves; that’s just a guess though.”

Twilight was so happy that she was going to witness in the birth of a hybrid creature. She was hopping up and down feeling ecstatic. “I was right; the first possible pony/dragon hybrid! A discovery worthy of my expertise!”

Spike lightly glared at her and said, “You’re not planning to perform some experimental tests on Apple Bloom and her baby, are you?”

“No… n-no, of course not! I wouldn’t dream of it! But do you think Apple Bloom wouldn’t mind if decided to anyway?”

Spike rolled his eyes and shook his head as he laid back down on the sofa and said, “Well… we know this much so far. At least I have plenty of time to relax and think things over before my life becomes a living hell; heh, heh.”

“Don’t think of it as going through hell, Spike;” said Twilight trying to make him feel better, “think of it as… trying something new… even though you… don’t have a choice.”

All Spike did was sigh and roll over on the sofa trying to get comfortable. As Twilight walked back over to her research materials to make sure they were still all in order, she brought up something to Spike. “But there is one thing I should give you a heads up about Apple Bloom being pregnant.”

“Is it the mood swings?” said Spike without turning around.

“H-how did you know?” said Twilight feeling a bit surprised.

“The crusaders were talking about it the other day and stating that Apple Bloom was going to go through the same thing. But I’m not worry; who's to say that she won’t be able to control herself? I’m sure it’ll be no big deal.”

Feeling unsure, Twilight just said, “I wouldn’t count on that.”

“What do you mean by that?” said Spike looking back at her.

“Oh nothing; nothing. I’m just saying that… oh never mind. I just you are prepared when the time comes.”

Spike didn’t wish to dwell too much on the fact, so he just laid back down trying to catch some Zs.

“You know,” said Twilight with a smile, “I also heard that you threaten one of the nurses. Is that true?”

“Hey, she started it.”

Apple Bloom and Spike knew that this road to their moment of sudden parenthood would be long; but they figured that as long as they had their friends, family… and each other, they would both get through it no matter the circumstance. But unknown to Apple Bloom the symptoms of pregnancy were going to sneak up on her one day; and for Spike, he was going to have to be her soft pillow to lay on during her time of crisis.

Before anyone could notice more than a week had passed already, and the whole thought of Apple Bloom possibly giving birth to a hybrid was settling in normally... not to say that it was still a wonderful thing to gossip about. But the start of some unusual things was about to happen. Spike woke up one morning fully stretching all of his libs while strongly yawning. It was just one of those mornings that he felt that it would be a while until he fuly woke up. Seeing that TWilight was already up, he started to head downstairs while wiping his eyes; but once he got to the bottom, he suddenly walked in on an unusual sight.

“What the huh?”

There was a medium-sized table in front of him that housed some delectable breakfast dishes. There was a even a plate with a few gems that for a few seconds made Spike drool a bit; but it didn’t overcome his curiosity of the situation.

“What is all of this?”

Suddenly out of nowhere, Spike was glomped on from behind by Apple Bloom who caught him by surprise. “Good Morning, Spike!” She then gave him a kiss on his cheek and added in her statement, “Did ya have a peaceful night?”

Spike saw her; she was wearing a pink bandana in her mane, and a pink-laced apron around her waist. She was looking at Spike with a big, bright smile feeling very happy to see him. Spike however was a bit surprised of seeing her here this early in the day.

“A-A-Apple Bloom? What the… wh-what are you doing here; and what’s with this breakfast spread? D-did you this?”

“Wut’s wrong?” questioned Apple Bloom with a little giggle, “Can Ah not make breakfast for mah handsome dragon to start his day off right?”

“Uh…”

Suddenly, Twilight came walking into the room and saw that Spike was up and was already greeted by Apple Bloom. She smiled seeing the cute sight, “Morning, Spike. Sleep well?”

“Twilight, what in the wide world of Equestria is going on here?!” Spike exclaimed, “And what’s she doing here?”

“Well...I know it was a bit early when she got here,” Twilight admitted with a bashful expression, “but she truly insisted that I let her do this. So, I let her. But I have to say, I kinda underestimated on how much she’ good at cooking; guess she gets it from Applejack. Plus… how could I pass up seeing her presenting breakfast to her handsome Spikey Wikey.”

Spike slightly glared at Twilight for calling him that name. But he then looked over at Apple Bloom who was still looking at him smiling and waving her tail waiting for him to compliment her. “Apple Bloom, this is all nice… and thoughtful, but… y-y-you didn’t really have to do all of this.”

“Don’t be silly, Ah was more than happy to do it. Ah somehow woke up this morning all alert and awake and thought to mahself; ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be nice if Ah could give Spike a nice little breakfast surprise fer when he comes out of bed and he’ll be so happy and grateful!’ Although, Ah did have a little assistance.”

Spike just smirked thinking of the obvious, “Who, Twilight?”

“Nope, Owlicious!”

‘Hoo hoo.’

Spike’s eyes went wide as he saw Owlicious fly down onto Apple Bloom’s shoulder. The owl looked back at him winking his eye probably stating ‘you’re welcome’.

“Who would’ve thought that an owl could learn to cook!” said Apple Bloom cheerfully; and then she started scratching Owlicious on his side making him coo and feel good, “Who’s a smart owl? Who’s a smart owl? You are; yes you are!”

On top of Twilight trying not to laugh, Spike couldn’t believe the way Apple Bloom was acting. He knew that she could be cheerful, but this was something different. “Um, Apple Bloom… are you okay? You seem to be acting a bit… strange... somehow; you’re acting unusually happy.”

Apple Bloom looked at Spike tilting her head wondering, “Wut’s wrong with me bein’ happy?”

“N-n-no, there’s nothing wrong with being happy; but… you just seem to be acting… too happy; happier and cheerier than usual. Does this have something to do with your pregnancy?”

Apple Bloom thought about it, but then decided to ignore the thought. “Ah don’t know. Maybe it is or maybe it isn’t, but who cares; Ah did this all for you, Spike. Here, have a gem.”

Apple Bloom picked up one of the gems on the table and then shoved it into Spike’s mouth. Spike stepped back feeling a bit unbalanced from Apple Bloom’s action; then he took out the gem to say to her, “Seriously, Apple Bloom, this behavior of yours is weird even for you. Are you sure you’re not…” Then suddenly, Spike noticed the aftertaste of the gem on his tongue and he licked his lips while looking down at it, “ooh, is that amethyst?”

“Sure is!” said Apple Bloom happily, “Ah found a few of them a few days ago and planned to surprise ya with them somehow. So… surprise!” She then went up to Spike again and gave him another kiss on his cheek. “Well… anyway, enjoy! Ah’m goin’ to go and clean up in the kitchen.”

As she skipped off towards the kitchen, Twilight asked, “You want any help?”

But Apple Bloom replied, “Nah, Ah got it. Thanks though.”

Twilight then looked back at Spike who was still licking the gem still in shock of what possible great length Apple Bloom went through to get it. She smirked know that Spike was impressed no matter how weird he felt of the situation.

“So… are you going to eat the wonderful little spread Apple Bloom prepared for you?” she asked him, “I’ve already eaten this morning, so help yourself to all of it if you want. I know you have a big stomach.”

Spike placed the rest of the gem in his mouth and savouring it as he was looking at the rest of the food. After finishing, he finally gave in and said, “Well… I guess I shouldn’t let it go to waste… and I am hungry; so… oh, what the hell.” He sat down at the table and was wondering what to start with; but then he said to Twilight, “But you know… it still bothers me a bit of Apple Bloom’s behavior just now; being so cheerful and loyal to me… and so early in the morning too.”

“I could be wrong,” said Twilight, “but… I do believe that it does have something to do with her pregnancy; no doubt about it. But this is just the beginning; I’m sure that she’ll go through some different kinds of emotions.”

Spike shrugged his shoulders knowing that Twilight was right; but he still hoped that things wouldn’t turn out to be too bad. Suddenly, he had a little love-smitten expression on his face remembering something that Apple Bloom was wearing.

“I’ll have to admit though, sh-she did kinda looked a bit sexy in that apron; and of how her belly looked great with it. Kinda turned me on a bit. Heh, that clever pony.”

Twilight was suddenly sweating a bit while slightly blushing. Then she hesitantly said, “Heh; um... actually, Spike, that was… my apron that she was wearing.”

Spike eyes went wide, and then he just sighed, “And… the turn-on is gone.”

It was finally happening; well… actually, it had already been happening. Apple Bloom was experiencing her scheduled mood swings. The first sign of it happening was actually back when Apple Bloom was asking for motherly advice from Mrs. Cake… and eating three whole slices of pie. Since then, there were many times where she decided to eat more than she usually did. This came as no surprise to her siblings, but for Spike… it shocked him sometimes of just how much she could consume. Apple Bloom’s behavior on the morning that she made him breakfast though made him feel awkward and impressed. He never thought that Apple Bloom would do something like this, especially for him.

Unfortunately, another period of Apple Bloom’s pregnancy was about to kick in; morning sickness. For the next past week, Apple Bloom had to deal with this situation and needed to to take it easy. During this time, Spike always took time out of his own mornings to come over to Sweet Apple Acres and help comfort her in any way he could. Spike didn’t mind and Apple Bloom loved the company and attention. But one day, Spike’s visit was going to take a nasty turn.

As he was about to come on to the farm grounds, he ran into Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle who just came from being with Apple Bloom; although, they had a warning for him.

“Oh, h-h-ey girls.” he said being caught off guard, “Um, what’s going on?”

“Hey, Spike,” said Sweetie Belle, “Uh… we just came from being with Apple Bloom; you know how she’s been feeling through the last week… with her morning sickness and all.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Spike trying to sound responsible, “That’s why I go to see her every morning after all. She’s always happy to see me.” Suddenly, he noticed the two fillies showing a couple of nervous expressions and said, “Um, what’s wrong?”

“N-n-nothing;” said Scootaloo, “its just... well… that may not be the case this time. She’s kinda… in a bad mood right now.”

“That’s nonsense,” said Spike disagreeing, “If she’s in a bad mood, then I’m here to make her feel better. Why would it be a bad time now apart from the other times I came to her here?”

Sweetie Belle knew the answer to that. “Isn’t it obvious yet, its because of her pregnancy! What else could it be?!”

Spike was being a little aware of Sweetie’s statement because of some of the other things that Apple Bloom did. It was as if what Sweetie predicted would happen was actually coming true; so why would it stop now?

“I’d be careful if I were you,” said Scootaloo warning Spike, “Some of the things she was talking to us about… um, well lets just said that it got really awkward.”

“Awkward how?” Spike questioned.

“Why don’t you go and see for yourself, just stay on your hooves… um, claws.”

After the two fillies went on their way, Spike began to scratch his head wondering what they were talking about. He figured that Apple Bloom would be glad to see him no matter how she felt. He headed into the farm grounds and saw Big Mac as he was walking out from the barn

“‘Sup, Big Mac,” he called out, “Apple Bloom is in there, right?”

“Uh… eyup,” Big Mac responded a bit nervously.

“Good, then don’t mind me as let myself in.”

As Spike went by him, Big Mac made a gesture like he was going to say something, but he decided to just let it be. When Spike entered inside, he saw Apple Bloom laying down on some hay flat on her stomach groaning and brooding while Applejack was trying her best to be there for her. Spike knew he showed up just in time.

“Come on, Apple Bloom,” said Applejack while easing her hoof across her sister’s back, “just breathe in and breathe out. You’ll get through this; Ah promise.”

“That’s easy fer you to say;” Apple Bloom brooded, “yer not the one having morning sickness like me.”

“Yeah, well… don’t say that Ah didn’t warn ya. Ah know Ah’ve said this many times already, but ya did bring this on yerself.”

Apple Bloom slightly glared up at her older sister and said, “That’s not exactly helpin’ things, Sis.”

“Just… try and relax… like ya have already been doin’. This whole thing will blow over before ya know it.”

Spike finally got close enough for both sisters to notice him as he greeted his mate, “Heya, Apple Bloom. How are you feeling? I-I mean… I know how you are probably feeling, but… I’m here; so you can…”

Suddenly, a slight scowl came upon Apple Bloom’s face as she was glaring at him and said in a pissed manner, “You!”

Applejack knew what was coming. “Oh boy.”

Spike was frozen in place from Apple Bloom sudden outburst He looked at her with a confused expression and wondered, “Um… pardon me?”

“How dare you show yer face here,” said Apple Bloom as she carefully got up on her hooves, “Do ya have any idea wut the hell Ah’ve been goin’ through all week?!”

“Uh… y-y-yeah, I do,” said Spike nervously as he took a couple of steps back, “That’s why I came almost every morning to make sure that you were all right. S-speaking of which… a-a-are you alright?”

“Of course Ah’m not alright, ya stupid dragon! Ah’ve been feelin’ like this for almost a week; remember?! And all because you knocked me up; you did this to me!”

Spike realized that she was starting to argue towards him about impregnating her… like he did in the beginning, “Whoa, wait a minute! A-are going back to that again?! I thought we were passed this already?!”

“Well think again, Spike! You did this to me and Ah won’t ever forgive you for it!”

“I did this to you?!” Spike retorted, “Don’t you mean you did this to yourself?!”

Applejack had to suddenly hold her younger sister back as she was trying to lunger herself at Spike. Luckily for her, Apple Bloom’s condition subtracted some of her restraint. “Come on, Apple Bloom; no need to play the blame game here… again.”

Spike then groaned realizing what might be going on. “Does… any of this have something to do with her… mood swings? It is, isn’t it?”

“Eh… sorta.” said Applejack, “But its normal; she doesn't truly mean what she says.”

“Says who?” Apple Bloom protested, “Ah mean every word! Come over here, Spike, Ah got a couple of hooves here that have your face’s name on them.”

“Man, I told Sweetie Belle that there was no way that this was going to happen,” said Spike, “but I guess that she was right.”

“Ah could’ve told ya that,” said Applejack with a smirk, “Pregnancy can do weird things to ya.”

Applejack then sat down holding on tight to her sister who was still pulling forward, “Let me go, Sis! Let me at that dragon bastard!”

Spike then took a deep breath and carefully moved towards the angered filly and was saying with caution, “Apple Bloom, look... you don’t really mean that. I… I-I-I came here to comfort you like I have been for the past couple of weeks. I don’t know how or why this whole pregnancy thing is making you act like this, but… it doesn’t matter. I still love you, a-and… you still love me, right?”

Applejack suddenly felt the restraint of her sister die down as she was looking at Spike with concerning eyes. She slowly got out of her big sister’ hooves and took a couple of steps forward and said, “Spike…”

Spike smiled as he got close to her, “Yeah?”

Apple Bloom then launched her hoof out and punched Spike across his cheek causing him to fall down on the ground. “Quit tryin’ to kiss up to me; Ah hate that!”

“Aw geez; Apple Bloom!” Applejack shouted.

Spike suddenly got up while holding his bruised cheek and saying to Applejack, “No no, its okay; its okay. I can handle it. Damn, that kinda hurt.” After getting all the way back up, he turned towards Apple Bloom with a nervous smile, “Well, I can tell that you’re not very happy to see me right now… that’s okay. I’ll just... come back later… when you’re in a better mood. Uh… s-see you later?”

Apple Bloom was still glaring at Sike as he walked back out of the barn; but she soon laid back down on the ground as she felt the morning sickness getting to her again.

“Ugh, this is the worse. If Ah knew that I would feel like this, Ah would’ve never jumped Spike in the first place. He’s a friggin’ dragon for celestia sake; he’s should’ve just pushed me off with his strength or somethin' instead of going with my temptation.”

“Apple Bloom… do ya even hear what is comin’ out of yer mouth?” said Applejack.

Suddenly, Apple Bloom felt a funny feeling in her stomach and then threw up a bit right in front of her. She slightly groaned and asked, “D-did ya… say something?”

Feeling a bit disgusted, Applejack tilted her head away from the sight. “Uh… nevermind… eew.”

Big Mac was pulling some heavy crates around outside when he suddenly saw Spike walk out from the barn. Still holding onto his bruised cheek, he looked over at Big Mac and said, “Not… a word.”

Spike never knew that this would happen, even if others said that it would. Ever since that morning when he received the huge bruise on his cheek from Apple Bloom’s punch, Spike became very weary and cautious when being around her. He never thought that something like this would happen with him and Apple Bloom, but it did anyway.

It was now almost two months from the very day that Spike woke up with a morning breakfast spread that was made by his lover (with assistance from Owlicious of course). From then, Apple Bloom had many bouts of emotions that either impressed Spike, worried him or scared him. Whenever she was in a rage mood, Spike always took precautions in approaching her and be careful of what he said to her. Regardless though, there were some times where he was caught off guard and Apple Bloom got the best of him again. It was a good thing that he was a dragon or else his body would have worse off than it did.

There were moments when Spike felt that he couldn’t take it anymore and that Apple Bloom needed to take a chill pill. But he soon realized that she was just acting this way because of her condition; and it was only during her morning sickness that made her bad attitude even worse. But taking a huge risk, he went to the farm one afternoon to face her regardless of how she was feeling. He ran into Applejack who told him that her sister was feeling a little down and went to lament in her Clubhouse and asked to be disturbed. He was wondering what could be putting her in such a mood, but he now had a feeling that she needed him even more than ever.

Once he got to the clubhouse entrance, he hesitated a bit almost worried what would happen if he went through that door. But he knew that he couldn’t back down now as he said to himself, “Okay, Spike… you can do this. No matter what she does or what she says, just get in there and… face her… and survive.” He then opened the door of the clubhouse very carefully to prepare himself of what may happen. “Um… Apple Bloom, I’m coming in. I-I hope you don’t mind if I… huh?”

When Spike took a good look inside the clubhouse, he saw Apple Bloom lying in the middle of the floor, curled up on a soft rug completely passed out. Spike was kinda surprised to see her like this; but then again she had been through a lot and probably need the sleep.

“She’s… asleep?” He then suddenly smiled seeing her posture and hearing her soft snore. “Aww… she really looks kinda cute and serene while she’s curled up and asleep like that.” Spike quietly walked over and then sat beside Apple Bloom and she didn’t move a muscle as she kept snoring away. Spike was facing away from her and was thinking over what he was going to said to her, “Well… maybe I can still release what I want to say… while she’s like this.” He then said what was on his mind. “Listen… Apple Bloom; I don’t know if you’re in one of those moods or not. I just hope… you’re not having the mad and raging at me one. I’ve already have a couple of bruises from trying to calm you down. But you should know that I…. I-I don’t mind of it… really. I guess we should’ve known that what Sweetie said to us was going to be true anyway.”

But suddenly unknown to him, Apple Bloom began to yawn and stretch out as she was waking up from her slumber. She squinted her trying to get a good look of who was beside her and soon realized that it was Spike.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that… no matter how this whole pregnancy thing makes you act like, it won’t turn me away at all. I… I-I really love you Apple Bloom, I really do. There were others that I became close to, and I know that neither of us planned on this relationship; but… I’m glad I’m with you, and I’ll stay with you the best way I can till the end. Heh, listen to me saying the exact same thing that I’ve been saying all the time; I’m sure that its getting old by now.”

As Spike sighed and was taking a breather from his meant to be practice speech to Apple Bloom, he suddenly heard her voice say in response, “Spike…”

He suddenly jumped and turned around to see Apple Bloom still laying down abut had her head up looking at him.“Ahh… y-you’re awake! W-wait, how long were you awake exactly?”

Spike was just waiting for Apple Bloom to start complaining and/or be harsh towards him seeing that it had happened a lot lately. But he soon noticed that she was suddenly looking at him with tears beginning to fill up in her eyes. He arched one of his eyes feeling a different kind of being uncomfortable as he asked...

“Wh-what’s with those tears? Are you…”

Then suddenly, Apple Bloom latched onto him wrapping her hooves around hi waist and was beginning to cry against him. “Oh Spike, Ah’m so sorry!”

“Oh boy,” said Spike softly to himself.

“Ah’m so sorry if ya ever got hurt or bruised because of me; Ah didn’t mean it! Ah was just goin’ through many different emotions and my body was just makin’ me do weird things that Ah couldn’t control! Ah’m so sorry, Spikey!”

Little did Apple Bloom know that she was going through some deep emotional issues right at that point, but she was sobbing so much that she didn’t realize it.

“Whoa, h-h-hey hey, get ahold of yourself!” said Spike as he was being startled by Apple Bloom crying fit, “Y-y-you don’t need to apologize; it wasn’t… all your fault.”

“But it was mah fault! Ah’m the one who forced ya to have sex with me! Ah’m the one who didn’t care and got ya into this mess! I-i-i-it’s like… Ah had no concern fer yer well-bein’! Ah’m a bad pony!”

‘Man, right now I sorta wish I was dealing with the angry Apple Bloom that yelled at me,’ Spike thought to himself as he was scratching his head feeling nervous of the situation.

Excessive eating, happiness, anger, and now sadness; Apple Bloom had been through all of these, and it was definitely throwing Spike for a loop. However, he wasn’t going to let these complications ruin what he and Apple Bloom had. But just then, the door to the clubhouse opened again and Apple Bloom’s other two friends, Sweetie Blee and Scootaloo walked in. They saw the sight of their earth filly friend constantly sobbing against Spike and were quite surprised.

“Wow,” said Scootaloo out of slight amusement.

Spike blushed out of embarrassment and chuckled nervously, “This is awkward, right?”

“Not at all,” said Sweetie Belle, “well… maybe a little. But I had a feeling that she was going to do something like this soon.”

“Of course you did,” Spike groaned.

“You should’ve seen her a couple of days ago when you were in Canterlot with Twilight;” said Scootaloo, “she was kinda brooding to us and her siblings about how mean she was to you, and that this was all her fault… and there other things that she was sorta being so emotional about. She even apologized to Sweetie Belle and me for gaining her cutiemark first before we did. I guess she felt that we found that to be a bit insulting… even though we said that it was no big deal.”

Apple Bloom suddenly looked up and saw Sweetie Belle standing over her and stating, “Apple Bloom, are you crying over silly things again?”

“M-maybe,” Apple Bloom slightly sobbed.

“Then get over it already! I mean really; you’re acting like such a drama queen.”

“B-b-but… Ah’m not!” Apple Bloom whined, “A-Ah’m just speakin’ wuts on mah mind! Ah’m about to have a baby soon and Ah’m feelin’ all stressed out about it! You two wouldn’t understand since yer not pregnant too!”

“Man, am I going to act like this if I get pregnant one day?” Scootaloo groaned, “Maybe I should reconsider this for now.”

Apple Bloom wiped away some of her tears as she looked back up at Spike and pleaded, “Spike, ya don’t hate me fer making ya knock me up and then havin’ ya stuck with this responsibility; do ya? Ah’ll understand if ya do, and Ah’ll deserve it too.”

“No, Apple Bloom, I don’t hate you for what you did,” said Spike, “I never hated you in the first place as a matter fact.”

“Y-you didn’t?”

“Of course not, I’d be a complete jerk if I did… not to mention that I would probably get a physical lecture from your siblings; and they would do it too.”

“Oh they would,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Definately would,” said Scootaloo, “They would beat your ass so bad.”

After glaring at Scootaloo a bit and making her nervous, he turned back to Apple Bloom and said, “But anyway… try not to brood too much. I really hate seeing you like this. Just… be happy again like you were before, or even yell at me a few times if you want… j-just use only your words though; okay?”

Apple Bloom suddenly smiled at him and was now crying tears of joy while hugging him very tightly, “Oh Spike, you really do care! Com here, ya scaly lump of love!”

Because of her earth pony-like strength, Spike felt a little strain on his body as he quickly told her, “O-o-okay… okay, that kinda hurts too.”

Apple Bloom gasped as she let go of Spike’s body so he could breathe again, “S-s-sorry; Ah don’t know mah own strength sometimes… heh.”

“N-n-no worries…”

Suddenly, an unexpected moment came when Apple Bloom felt a strange feeling bump against her stomach. She gasped as it caught her by surprise.

“Whoa! D-d-did ya’ll see that?”

“S-see what?” said Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom suddenly felt a few more bumps and she was feeling very startled. “That! Ah-Ah-Ah felt somethin’ tap me from inside mah stomach!”

“Ooh, this is exciting!” said Sweetie Belle jumping up and down, “The baby inside you is finally responding to the world around him. My Mom said I used to kick around in her stomach a lot when she was pregnant with me; especially when Rarity held her head up against her stomach.”

“You mean that mah baby knows who is here and can see who can see who’s here?” said Apple Bloom as she was looking down at her stomach, “How can mah stomach be see-through? Weird.”

“Well… I don’t think the baby can literally see through your stomach, but I think he can sense and hear things that are around… almost like they’re psychic.”

Apple Bloom found herself groaning a bit as the developing foal inside her was kicking some more against her; but she couldn’t help but smile too knowing what this moment meant to her, “H-he’s doin’ it again. Its a bit uncomfortable, but wonderful at the same time.”

Spike was just sitting there beside Apple Bloom feeling a bit nervous and shocked about what was going on. Was what Sweetie Belle saying true? Well to him she’s been right so far, so it must have been.

“Go on and say something to him, Spike,” said Scootaloo suddenly, “You are the father after all; he’ll definitely respond to you.”

Apple Bloom looked at him and signaled him to go ahead and try. After she laid more on her side, Spike slowly went up close to Apple Bloom’s belly and began to try and talk normally without sounding too ridiculous. “Um… h-h-hey there, um… s-son.” ‘I can believe that I said that.’ “I’m not sure if you can… actually hear me or see me, but… I’m your daddy. Strange, isn’t it; to have a pony mommy and dragon daddy? I bet you’ll make a lot friends because of your reputation as a hybrid... I hope. B-b-but that never mind that, I sure hope you’ll be a nice, peaceful, well-behaved baby that gives us no trouble and will let us sleep peacefully… at night… all night. So… thump if you agree.”

Spike placed the side of his cheek against Apple Bloom’s stomach waiting for a reaction; but nothing happened. He began to wonder why the baby wasn’t responding to him; but when he placed his snout close enough, Spike suddenly felt a strong kick from the stomach that struck against him. It caught him by surprise as he pulled back a bit and was rubbing his nose.

“Ow…" he said in slight surprise, "wow, that was a strong thump. Guess he wanted to show me how tough he is.”

All three crusaders began to laugh at Spike’s reaction as they found it too be funny.

“That was priceless!" said Scootaloo, "Guess he noticed you after all.”

“That was so sweet,” Sweetie Belle cooed, "Your face looked so confused."

“Looks like he’s has yer strength, Spike;" said Apple Bloom as she was rubbing her stomach, "but Ah’m sure that thump was a kick, signifyin' that he will be a great apple bucker… like me.” She then felt some more thumps go against her, and it was starting to tickle a little to her. “Ooh, there he goes again; such a strong little bucker. Just wait until Applejack and Big Mac hear about this.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo was were surrounding Apple Bloom trying to see if they could get a response from her baby as well. Spike was staring at the sight smiling at how sweet it was. That was the first interaction that he had with his soon to be son, and he loved it. He just knew that when this baby was born, it was going to be the greatest moment of his and Apple Bloom’s life. The only thing that worried him still was what could happen next on this long road to birth?

Baby Shower Party

(Its been a while once again, but here is the next continuing chapter!)

On this certain day, someone was suddenly having a really huge, sweet craving. Nope, surprisingly it wasn’t Apple Bloom… or anyone who might have been pregnant at that moment. It was Spike the Dragon who over the past few months had to deal with a pregnant Apple Bloom while supporting her anyway he could.

He was real tuckered out one afternoon after volunteering himself to do Apple Bloom’s share of chores at Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack and Big Macintosh since the nurses at the hospital recently told Apple Bloom to start laying off from doing any kind of labor work; it was so she could relax and be healthy until the baby came. After helping out that morning, Spike was making his way to one of the best sweet shops in town; Sugarcube Corner. As he went through the front setting off the dangling door bell, Spike heard someone greet him.

“Hello, and welcome to Sugarcube Corner! What can I do for you today?!”

Spike looked up and saw Pinkie Pie waving at him from the counter, “Oh; hi, Pinkie. Where’s Mr. and Mrs. Cake?”

“They’re over at the Health Care Center,” Pinkie answered, “The Cake twins had a doctors appointment today around this time, so Mr. and Mrs Cake asked me to watch the place until they come back! I’m so responsible!”

Spike lightly chuckled just being in Pinkie’s presence and feeling a bit less dulled out. “Heh, yeah… so you are. Well since you’re the one in charge, I’ll have a couple of those special, delicious sapphire cupcakes that Mrs. Cake knows I love so much; 10 of them I guess.”

Pinkie flashed a little smirk at Spike seeing that he was asking for a lot. “Ooh, someone is a hungry dragon today. 10 delicious sapphire cupcakes coming right up!”

As Pinkie hopped to the back to get what Spike wanted, the Young dragon just stood there waiting patiently awaiting his order. But then, he caught something just at the corner of his eye. In the main room, he noticed some balloons floating around and some streamers hanging from the ceiling. Suddenly being curious, Spike went over to that room; and when he got there, he was quite baffled to see a lot of supplies and objects that were probably for some kind of party.

“What the… what’s all of this stuff for?” said Spike while scratching his head.

Suddenly, Pinkie popped up right beside Spike and happily asked, “Do you like it?!”

“Ahhhh!” Spike screamed as he jumped to his side away from Pinkie, “Why do you keep doing that?!”

Pinkie then held up a container that housed what Spike had ordered from before. “I got your cupcakes! Are they for here or to go?”

“For here I guess… for now.” The cupcakes did look delicious to Spike as he now holding them in his claws, but at the moment he was a bit more curious of all the party stuff in the room they were in. “From all of this, I’m guessing you’re holding some kind of party… as usual?”

“That’s right!” Pinkie shouted, “I’m holding a baby shower right here in the shop… with Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s permission of course. Surely Apple Bloom told you about it, right?”

“Oh yeah,” Spike admitted, “she might’ve mentioned something about a baby shower to me at some point.”

“But of course, Apple Bloom isn’t going to be the only young mare that will be celebrating their pregnancy; there are a few others who got pregnant too after getting busy with somepony. Isn’t mating season great?!”

Spike wasn’t quite sure if he could agree to that statement; not to say that there was a major upside to it.

“Um, yeah; it can be… mostly.”

“But anyway, as always, its just going to be just us females; being here with each other celebrating the creation of life! Even Mr. Cake is going somewhere with Pound so there will be no males around!”

“What’s wrong with males being at a baby shower?” Spike questioned.

Pinkie gave Spike a little noogie on his head while telling him,“Oh Spikey Spikey Spikey; what wrong with that is… well… technically there’s nothing wrong with it, but its just tradition! You understand, right?”

“Yeah, I get it” Spike chuckled, “No males allowed; gotcha.”

Spike then took one of his cupcakes and took a savory bite from it. His eyes lit up and looked back down at it and said, “Wow, these cupcakes are just as good as I remembered them. Mrs. Cake really knows how to satisfy a dragon’s stomach.”

As Spike ate the rest of his single cupcake, Pinkie placed her head on his shoulder and asked with a bright grin, “So… Spike, still have any of your sanity left?”

Spike looked at her weirdly and said, “Wh-what?” Then he realized what she meant, “O-oh, you mean… well…”

“I know it may be a bit nosy of me to ask,” Pinkie admitted, “but I just wanted to know since you’re here.”

After finishing his cupcake, Spike thought of what to said at first; and then he answered saying, “Well, I haven’t smashed my head through a wall yet; so that’s a good sign, right? But jokes aside though, after everything that I have gone through with Apple Bloom so far, I feel… content. Although, I think I’ve lost count of how many times I wanted to scream my head off from some of the things Apple Bloom had made me do for her. Heh, I can even admit that a few times… I kinda wanted to hit her out of stress.”

Hearing that made Pinkie gasp as she stepped away from Spike; pointing her hoof at him and said, “Spike, how dare you think of such a thing!”

“Hey, come on!” said Spike, “I’m a dragon, okay; we have rage. But thankfully, I controlled that rage. I couldn’t bring myself to doing such a thing.”

“Why?” questioned Pinkie suspiciously, “Because she is pregnant and you couldn’t hurt her because of it, or because you would get a treatment much worse from her siblings?”

Spike knew he wouldn’t forgive himself if he had ever struck his claw against Apple Bloom in the state she was in. But he knew how worse he would have it if Applejack and Big Macintosh faced him about it. He couldn’t decided which would be worse.

“Probably both; although I’m sure the second reason helped more. Earth ponies can really kick your ass when they want to.”

“Hee hee, you’re so funny, Spike!” Pinkie giggled, “I can’t wait to talk to her more on this subject at the shower tonight!”

“Well, okay; just… don’t tell her about me having the thought of hitting her. Please?” Spike begged.

“Well… okay;” said Pinkie flashing a smirk, “but I don’t know. My mouth is very chatty.” Spike suddenly stood there with his arms crossed giving Pinkie a light glare. Pinkie just chuckled in response as she patted Spike on his back and told him, “I’m just kidding; I won’t tell her anything of it. Pinkie promise!”

Spike just smiled at her as he was about to bite into another one of his cupcakes. But then he stopped as he placed it back in the container and said, “You know… I think I will take the rest of these cupcakes to go. Suddenly, I don’t feel so silly anymore.”

“Really? What got ya down in the first place?”

“It was a long morning;” Spike admitted, “but… it was all worth it.”

When the sun started to set and the evening was upon the town of Ponyville, it was time for Pinkie’s Baby Shower party to begin! Many different mares and older foals with the exception of Pumpkin Cake were there and the party was going into full swing. But of course for Pinkie, there was one pony in particular in who she was waiting to arrive on the scene. But sure enough she saw the front door open up, and in the doorway were the crusaders; Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. Pinkie ran to the door in excitement and greeted them as they came in.

“Apple Bloom, you finally made it!”

“Any party being sponsored and held by you, Pinkie…” Apple Bloom stated, “wouldn’t miss it fer the world.”

Pinkie looked around Apple Bloom and her friends and noticed that someone was missing. “Hey, where’s Applejack? Isn’t she coming?”

“Don’t you remember, Pinkie,” said Apple Bloom, “she and Big Mac were making a big delivery in the late afternoon and she said that they may not make it back until late tonight?”

“Oh yeah; hee hee. I totally forgot that Applejack told me that! Oh well, you’re here, and that’s all that matters!”

Scootaloo suddenly cleared her throat and said, “And we made it too.”

“That you have!” said Pinkie as she came to Scootaloo and gave her a strong noogie on her head, “Welcome to the 15th annual Ponyville baby shower bash! Hosted by yours truly.”

After letting go, Scootaloo’s mane was a scattered mess, and she glared at Sweetie Belle who was giggling under her breath.

“15th, huh?” said Scootaloo as she re-smoothed out her mane, “You held this kind of party for that long?”

“That’s right!” Pinkie answered, “And I came up with name myself if you didn’t already know! However, I did almost decided to give it the abbreviated title version, but then I just thought it sounded too silly.”

Pinkie held up a piece a paper that she wrote on; and Apple Bloom read as, “The annual PBS bash?”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle lightly chuckled to each other hearing the abbreviation, BS it the title. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes and said to Pinkie, “Um… yeah; i-i-it does sound a bit silly. M-maybe it's a good thang that you stuck with the original title.”

“If you say so!” Pinkie suddenly turned towards the other mares who were there and shouted, “Hey, everypony, the guest of honor has arrived!”

Everyone there smiled as they saw Apple Bloom who looked a bit shocked and embarrassed from Pinkie’s sudden outburst. “Pinkie, come on; A-Ah’m nothin’ of the sort. Ah’m just like any other normal pregnant pony that’s here.”

“Of course you are;” said Pinkie, “but have you already forgotten the fact that you’re going to give birth to the very first pony/dragon hybrid known to all of Equestrian history?! That’s like a big deal! How could you not be so ecstatic?!”

“Ah know that, but… Ah try to not to make a big deal out of it now. Just treat me like an ordinary pregnant pony, okay? No special attention.”

Pinkie just stood there staring at Apple Bloom in shock. She was quite surprised of how serious the older filly was handling her situation, “Oh wow, really? I remember the time that you were so excited and so thrilled of what you and Spike accomplished that you wouldn’t stop talking about it!”

“I know, right?” Scootaloo chuckled, “Sweetie Belle and I were surprised too when Apple Bloom said that to us.”

Apple Bloom felt a little awkward of the way of what she was saying, but “Well… Ah guess after goin’ through everythang that Ah have, Ah started to think more maturely of mah situation. After all, this is a huge responsibility and Ah don’t want to mess it up.”

“Alright, Apple Bloom;” said Pinkie with a bright smile, “if that’s how you feel, then who am I to argue. I respect your mature decision.”

Suddenly, seconds after Pinkie’s words, the Cake Daughter, Pumpkin Cake came running up to them in a quick fashion. “Hey! Hey, Miss Apple Bloom; Miss Sweetie Belle; Miss Scootaloo! I’m happy to see you all here!”

Apple Bloom gave her a little hug being careful of her posture. “Hey, ya little scamp. Nice to see you too.”

“Man, it sure is weird being called Misses, isn’t?" said Scootaloo, "I feel so old.”

“We’re not that old, Scootaloo," said Sweetie Belle as she slightly glared at her pegasus friend.

Pumpkin then took out a little decorative card and held it up to Apple Bloom willingly, “Miss Apple Bloom, I know Pinkie said that we’re supposed to wait until near the end of the party to give out any presents, but… I wanted to go ahead and give you this. I hope you like it.”

Apple Bloom took the card and saw that on the front was a painted symbol of a fireball and an apple; and it said ‘Congrats, Miss Bloom!’ And on the inside were some glitter and some stickers around that read ‘Good Luck on being a good Mother.’

After reading it, she looked back at Pumpkin and said, “Aw, this is so sweet, Pumpkin; thank you. So… you did this all by yerself?”

“Well… a-a-actually,” said Pumpkin smiling nervously, “it was me and Pound; we made this together… a-a-and Daddy wrote the words for us. Pound isn’t here right now, so I’m the one who's giving it to you!”

Apple Bloom chuckled and gave Pumpkin another hug as she told her, “Well when you see yer brother next time, tell him this gift is perfect. Ah love it!”

“You’re welcome!” said Pumpkin with a cheerful grin.

Pumpkin’s Mother, Mrs. Cake was looking around the shop for her; but when she saw her, she noticed that she was with Apple Bloom and her two main friends whom she didn’t know had shown up yet.

“Oh, hello, Apple Bloom and friends,” said Mrs. Cake as she approached, “Glad you could all make it.”

“Hey, Mrs. Cake,” said Apple Bloom, “Yer daughter here was just giving me an early baby shower present.” She then held it up to show her, “Doesn't it look great? Ah can tell that a lot of work went into making it.”

“Well you know children and their arts & crafts,” Mrs. Cake chuckled, “Their work are truly a marvel to behold.”

“You really mean that, Mommy?” Pumpkin questioned

“Of course I do, sweetheart. Now then, would you like come and help me out a bit in the kitchen.”

Pumpkin got excited to hear her Mother ask her that; and she knew what she had to ask herself. “Ooh, can I lick off the spoon again?!”

“Of course you can. Just don’t over do it this time. You don’t want to ruin your good night’s sleep… or mines.”

“Okay.”

After Pumpkin went off with her Mother, The crusaders suddenly noticed the music that was playing out loud in the building. Of course, it was Vinyl Scratch who laying out these beats to keep the room lively. The selected song playing at the moment was suddenly creating an excited vibe in Pinkie’s body.

“Ooh this is my jam!” she shouted as she was headed to the music source. Then she faced Apple Bloom and asked, “Care to tear it up on the dance floor with me?”

Apple Bloom smiled as she shook her head and said, “No thanks, Pinkie, Ah’m good.”

“Okay, but you’re missing out on the fun!”

The three crusaders watched Pinkie as she got beside Vinyl and began dancing away as the Dj pony was cheering her on; and some of the other mares there were watching as well feeling entertained.

“Ah’m tellin’ ya, girls;” said Apple Bloom to her friends, “even when Pinkie turns 95 years old, she’ll still be able to dance crazier than anypony else without breakin’ her hip.”

“That is so true,” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo agreed.

As the three older fillies looking around, Apple Bloom’s eyes suddenly caught the sight of the table that housed different kinds of treats and refreshment. She had a mischievous smile as she pointed out to her friends.

“Hold up a minute, girls; my stomach has a date with that food table.”

Sweetie Belle sighed as she shook her head telling Scootaloo, “Here we go again.”

The two older fillies followed their pregnant friend over to the food table and saw all that it laid before them. Sweetie Belle came up to Apple Bloom and was letting her know, “Careful how you do this , Apple Bloom. This food is for everypony here, not just you.”

“Hey,” said Apple Bloom smirking at her friends, “never get between a pregnant mare who is hungry and delicious food… n-n-not that Ah would try to hurt you two.”

“Well you certainly didn’t hesitate to hurt Spike, now did you?” said Sweetie Belle.

Remembering the moment that Sweetie mentioned, Scootaloo chuckled as she brought it up, “Yeah. Remember that one time when Spike thought that you had enough of those special sweet cakes that Mr. and Mrs. Cake were selling at a low price and thought he could stop you; but then you tackled him on the ground and threatened him that you would kick his sorry ass if he tried that again? You caused such a scene that day.”

“Yeah; its a good thing that I wasn’t with you at the time,” said Sweetie Belle, “I would have been so embarrassed. N-n-no offense.”

Apple Bloom slightly blushed from embarrassment, but smiled as she said, “Don’t worry about it. You girls do have a point; even Ah’m surprised that Ah did that without thinking. Ah wonder if any of the pregnant mares here did something similar?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised;” said Scootaloo, “but do we really want to find that out?”

Everything was going pretty well at the baby shower with all of the mares sharing conversations and having fun. But now Apple Bloom and her friends were about to receive a little surprise as they heard someone speak to them from behind.

“Well well, I was wondering if you were going to be here; but I guess it was stupid of me to think that you were not.”

They all turned around and saw two fillies that they did not expect to see at that party.

“Tiara? Silver Spoon?” said Scootaloo.

Silver Spoon was smiling and waving at them with Tiara beside her with a nonchalant expression. “Hey, girls.”

“Well this is a surprise,” said Sweetie Belle, “What are you two doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious, you two;” said Apple Bloom, “they’re obviously here to show their support because they’re our friends. W-we are friends… right?”

The crusaders were waiting for a response out of Silver Spoon and Tiara; but Silver Spoon was just looking at Tiara who wasn’t saying anything at first. Her face seemed a bit flushed and nervous like she was hiding something.

“Are you going to like tell them or shall I?” Silver Spoon questioned her.

Tiara suddenly held up her hoof and shook her head a she looked back up to the crusaders and said, “Look, maybe we are here to like show a little support, but… th-that’s not the only reason that… we’re here.”

“But… wut other possible reason do ya possibly have to be here?” Apple Bloom asked. But at that moment, she suddenly looked down under Tiara and noticed that her stomach was a little plump, and not the kind of plump of eating a lot. Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide as she hesitantly said, “Wait… don’t tell me that you’re…”

Gathering all of her courage, she told them her reason. “Y-yeah. I too… am like… pregnant.”

Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle looked at each other with wide eyes and then looked back at Tiara in shock with their mouths hanging open. Then they both shouted, “W-w-w-what?! You’re pregnant too?!”

“I know, right?” said Silver Spoon with an amused smirk, “I had the same reaction when Tiara told me.”

“But… h-how can you be pregnant?” Apple Bloom exclaimed, “Ya told me that when you did the test that it was negative.”

“I know what I said, and it's was the truth!” Tiara scalded, “But it was about a few months after I told you that I was starting to feel weird… and was getting strange cravings. I knew I already tested myself, but I decided to try again; then suddenly… I saw the results, and it was positive! My Dad freaked out, and so did I for that matter.”

Apple Bloom and her friends were quite surprised and felt a bit awkward seeing Tiara like this. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo remembered their friend, Apple Bloom telling them about her run in with Silver Spoon and Tiara and of how Tiara didn’t get pregnant like she did.

“Wow, Ah… Ah don’t know what to say;” said Apple Bloom, “this really is a surprise. But wait… if ya had already found out that you were pregnant, why didn’t we hear anything about it all this time?”

“Well, its not like I just wanted to seek you out and say ‘Hey, Apple Bloom, like guess what? I’m pregnant just like you!’ I felt too embarrassed to tell anypony about it except Silver Spoon and my Dad… and the family doctor.”

“If you feel ashamed and so embarrassed,” said Scootaloo, “then why did you come here anyway?”

“Silver Spoon talked me into it,” Tiara groaned, “I don’t know why I even listened to her; this is stupid.”

Apple Bloom suddenly felt a little sorry for TIara. She understood of how she was probably feeling, except it seemed that she was taking it a bit harder than she had

“Come on, Tiara, there’s nothin’ to be ashamed of. After all, Ah didn’t expect mahself to be pregnant either, but Ah am. So welcome to the club.”

But Tiara didn’t feel the same way. “You don’t get it, do you?! I wasn’t planning to be a parent yet; I’m not ready! I-I-I’ll like crack under the pressure; my life is going to blow up big time! I totally regret my decision of ever letting Lickity Split get between my legs!” Tiara suddenly gasped as she suddenly covered her mouth. She didn’t mean for them to hear that, “Oh damnit.”

“Lickety Split? It was Lickety Split whom you had sex with?” said Apple Bloom.

“Wow, not too bad of a choice, Tiara;” said Sweetie Belle, “He is kinda cute.”

“Plus, he’s a pretty good athlete,” said Scootaloo, “I agree, you chose good.”

Silver Spoon looked at Tiara and tried to see if any of Tiara’s stress had went down. “See, Tiara, I told you there was nothing to be ashamed of.”

But it hadn’t.

“That isn’t the point I’m trying to make, Silver Spoon! I… I-I-I just want this to be just a nightmare that will blow over soon. I-I’m… sorta scared.”

Apple Bloom just smiled as she went over to Tiara and placed her hoof over her shoulder. Tiara was crying a bit and it was making the other crusaders feel a bit uncomfortable, but Apple Bloom understood and was surprisingly trying to lift Tiara up.

“Look, Tiara, Ah know this may seem scary; and trust me, Ah know. But… instead of lookin’ at the negative side of things, think of the possible good side of things; that’s wut Ah did. And don’t think you’ll be alone in all of this. If ya need help and comfort, you have yer Dad, you have yer best friend, and you have Lickety Split who should embrace his new responsibility too. If he’s not, maybe Ah an get mah Sister to talk sense into him; heh. Also, if you want… we’ll be there fer you too.”

Tiara was looking up at Apple Bloom in slight shock that she was talking to her like this. But she then turned away pretending to not feel affected at all while saying, “Why the hell are you like being so nice and supportive of me? Does becoming a Mother really make you that much more of a softie?”

“Come on, Tiara; what happened between us is all in the past. We’re older and more mature now; and we don’t have to look back at what was… just what is now. Plus, its not too late to make friends, even with the ones that you had picked on constantly. We forgive you. Right, girls?”

Sweetie Belle smiled and nodded, “Yeah, we do.”

Not being fully truthful, Scootaloo said, “Perhaps I do.” But then Sweetie kneed her in her side to set her straight, “Ow, okay, I forgive you too.”

Tiara felt a little better after her surprising pep talk with Apple Bloom, bt she was still trying to be cool about it. “Alright, fine; thanks, I guess. But don’t think that I’m suddenly going to get all mushy or anything.”

Apple Bloom just smiled and shrugged. “Works fer us.”

“See, Tiara,” said Silver Spoon with a smile, “I told you that there was nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about this. Everything is going to be just fine!”

“Hmph, says the pony who is not pregnant.”

After that, Apple Bloom decided to have a few sweets at the food table before going around with her friends to conversate with the other mares and older fillies there; including Fluttershy who couldn’t resist to come and enjoy herself. Apple Bloom shared some neat advice and opinions with the very few that were pregnant like her. But of course she was the highlight of it; all because of what she was carrying in her belly.

After a good bit of time passed, the time came for when Pinkie got everyone’s attention on her for the moment most of them were waiting for.

“Alright, everypony, I’m sure we’ve all been enjoying ourselves tonight hanging out with each other having mare time; but we all know the real reason why we’re here! Am I right, Carrot Top?! She knows what I’m talking about!”

Carrot Top was nearby giving Pinkie a low-eyed look. “Lets not dwell on that; okay, Pinkie?”

“Heh heh… a-a-anyway, this season we have a new ‘no pregnancy’ record with only 5 of us mares being impregnated!” Silver Spoon then walked up to Pinkie and whispered something in her ear as she pointed at her friend, Diamond Tiara. “Whoops, my bad; make that 6 of us! Now I don’t know exactly what’s it's like to be a Mother, but I do help take care of two twin foals; so… I guess that kinda counts. Right?”

“You’re not our Mommy,” Pumpkin giggled, “you’re our Auntie!”

“Oh yeah! Well, never mind then. Continue to enjoy the sweet jam, and stuffing yourselves silly at the food table… but not too much! However, its time for what many of us were waiting for… baby shower gifts! Open up those suckers and see what your friends or family… or both have given you to start off your Motherhood right; unless you’re already a Mom, then its no big deal.”

And thus the exchanging of gifts had began. For Apple Bloom, she had already received a couple of necessities from her two siblings a couple of weeks ago; like a little crib, and a few toys to play with. But she was given a few more gifts at the shower party like every other pregnant pony there; the common gift being diapers. You couldn't go wrong with diapers. However, Apple Bloom's two main friends did something a little different. Scootaloo gave her earrings, and Sweetie Belle gave her a blanket that her big sister helped her make. Each gift were custom made and had their crusader emblem on them. Apple Bloom was quite impressed.

“Aw, you two shouldn’t have,” she said hugging her two friends, “These are so cool!”

“Well, you’re our best friend,” said Scootaloo, “I mean what, did you think that we wouldn’t give you anything?”

“They may not be helpful for… taking care of your baby,” said Sweetie Belle, “but I hope you like them. We had them custom-made after all.”

Apple Bloom just chuckled and said, “Of course, Sweetie Belle; Ah love them very much.” Suddenly, she felt her baby kick her from within her womb, and it caught she suddenly gasped, “Oh! See, the baby likes them too.”

The three of them started laughing mainly being amused of the said comment. But then Pinkie came up to Apple Bloom vigorously shaking another present in front of her. “Ooh, Apple Bloom, open my present next! You’re going to love it!”

Apple Bloom took it and opened it up. When she did, it was revealed to be… “Oh wow… diapers. Ah guess you can’t have too many of these things, huh.”

But there was more to it than that.

“But they’re not just any diapers,” Pinkie exclaimed, “they’re fire retardant diapers! See, says it right there on the label!”

When Apple Bloom looked at the package, she saw in bright, bold fonts; ‘Fire-retardant diapers! This item is hot… literally!’ Apple Bloom arched her eyebrow at the statement and looked up at Pinkie and said, “Oh... that they are. But why?”

“Well duh, silly! Your baby is going to be part dragon, remember? Its better to be safe than sorry you know.”

“Wow, diapers that are immune to fire;” said Scootaloo feeling impressed, “awesome idea.”

“I know, right?!” said Sweetie Belle, “Ponies are coming up with neat inventions all the time!”

Apple Bloom was taking another look at the diapers and had a good chuckle. Then she hugged Pinkie and told her, “Well… thanks, Pinkie. These will definitely come in handy.”

The party wasn’t over yet, but it was definitely getting into its last hour. Pinkie was planning to make this party last as she always does. But then, a late entrant suddenly came in and walked up to Apple Bloom and the others and spoke up.

“Sorry that I’m a little late to the party. Do you mind I come into this little gathering?”

They all turned around and were astonished of who it was.

“T-Twilight! Y-yer here!” said Apple Bloom.

“Yeah, I am. I tried to get here earlier, but… you know me and how I can get wrapped in my studies and stuff.”

“Typical Twilight;” Pinkie chuckled, “always getting her head stuck in books and papers and spells and… a-and other stuff!”

Twilight looked down at Apple Bloom’s belly that was a bit bigger than she remembered seeing it and said, “So, how is the little apple-bun in the oven?”

“Oh, I get it,” said Sweetie Belle, “That’s a cute joke, Twilight.”

“I know.”

“Things are goin' pretty well, Ah guess,” Apple Bloom responded, “Ah feel like mah stomach is getting bigger everyday; its very weird.”

“I think if that was the case, you wouldn’t be able to walk right now,” said Twilight with a nervous chuckle, “You’d have to be carried on a stretcher until you gave birth.”

There was an awkward silence after what Twilight said as they all looked at her in a funny. Even Pinkie was tilting her head a little with an arched eyebrow.

“S-s-sorry about that,” said Twilight nervously, “Sometimes I say things that may sound a little weird.”

“A little?” Scootaloo questioned.

Twilight then quickly changed the subject by handing Apple Bloom a gift that she brought with her. “Um… a-a-at least I made it to the passing out of gifts part; so here you go, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom thought it was nice that she had one more gift to open. But when she opened it and saw what was inside… she couldn’t believe it. She was almost at at loss for words. “Whoa… n-no way.”

Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo rushed up beside her and said, “What is it?!”

Apple Bloom slowly pulled out a shiny, delicate-looking necklace from the box. The main part attaching the two silver chains looked like a giant half of an apple core with detailed textures created from pure crystal substance. Apple Bloom held it up with her wide eyes shimmering and her mouth gaping open; and Twilight was looking at her smiling proudly.

“Hey,” said Sweetie Belle, “isn’t that that very expensive jewel-encrusted apple core necklace that you said that you would get one day even if it killed you?”

“By the way; that was a joke, right?” Scootaloo questioned.

Apple Bloom looked at Twilight in shock and told her, “Twilight, y-y-ya didn’t have to give this to me. A-Ah mean… Ah know you have plenty of money, but… how did you know of this?”

“Well… technically I didn’t buy this;” said Twilight with a sly smile, “Spike did.”

There was another slight pause of silence as she looked back down at the necklace; and then she said, “Spike? This is from him?”

“You bet. He kept going on about how much you were fawning over this piece of jewelry. So once he heard about the baby shower… or should I say remembered about it… which was today, he used some of his own gem stash to buy this. Looks like somepony… or in this case, some-dragon is truly looking after you.”

“I am so jealous right now,” said Scootaloo, “Spike doesn’t use up his personal stash of gems for just anypony.”

Sweetie Belle saw Apple Bloom’s lips begin to tremble a bit and her eyes forming a few tears. She asked her, “You’re not going to cry, are ya?”

Apple Bloom quickly wiped her tears away and smile while answering, “No… no, of course not. Ah’m just really grateful, that’s all.”

She placed the necklace around her neck and watched as it dangled in front of her shimmering in the light.

“Snazzy!” shouted Pinkie, “Looks great on you, Apple Bloom! I just know you’re going to give Spike your full thanks! But make sure that you don’t thank him too much; after all, that’s what got you in this situation! Am I right?”

Now it was Pinkie’s turn to be stared at by the others with weird looks. She shrugged her shoulders and asked, “What?!”

“Well, Twilight,” said Apple Bloom, “even though this is from Spike, thanks for bringing it to me. I love it so much, and I will never let it go.”

“You’re quite welcome,” Twilight responded.

“Well… since yer here, there still some food left… heh, surprisingly. Want some?”

“I would love to.”

As they went onward, Apple Bloom told Twilight, “Oh, and by the way... Fluttershy is here too. She’ll be happy to see ya.”

“Ah, so she was able to come here, huh? Lead the way.”

“Hey, wait for us too, Apple Bloom,” said Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as they went after them.

“Jinx, you owe me a soda,” said Scootaloo to Sweetie Belle with a smirk.

Sweetie gave her a low-eyed look and said, “I’m not getting you anything.”

“Fine.”

Pinkie Pie was going to join them to; she felt that it would be great to catch up things with some of her friends before the party was over. She placed a little pep in her step as she bounced her way to the others.

“Hey, guys, wait up! You can’t ol’ Pinkie Pie out of this!”

Overall, the party went well, and it very successful as always. This was yet another moment that Apple Bloom enjoyed because of her pregnancy. And even though she was trying to be more serious of her situation, she still rather enjoyed the attention. However, she couldn’t wait to thank Spike for his surprise gift to her in the most un-sensual way that she could. That necklace to her would be a symbol of the true love and compassion that she now has with Spike; and this proved that Spike was becoming more and more loyal to her.

But… perhaps there was another way that she could be sure of that.

Author's Note

Next time, Spike's loyalty is put to the test.

The Test

Apple Bloom was truly turning into a responsible young mare. She was beginning to treat her situation more seriously than she had before. The next following day after that night, she seeked out Spike to thank him for his gift personally. No nothing like that, but there was some kissing… a lot of kissing. Also during the baby shower, Spike had a little get together himself with some stallion friends; organized by Macintosh. It was just the usual dude hangout moment that Spike felt honored to be a part of.

A few weeks after that, Apple Bloom had another appointment to check up on her pregnancy progress. Everything seem to be well as always, but Redheart and Rhyme noticed something in the test results that slightly questioned them. They told Applejack, Apple Bloom and Spike who were all there that the baby seemed to be a bit bigger than it should be at it's present state. But it wasn’t labeled as a threat to Apple Bloom but more like something out of the norm. The nurses told them that everything was okay for now; but if something very unusual happens, they were to contact them immediately. For now, Spike and Apple Bloom were just glad that things were looking well for them and their child.

Afterwards, Apple Bloom went home to rest leaving Spike on his own to do whatever he wanted. Up to now, Spike couldn’t believe that they had already been through more than half of the month’s length of Apple Bloom’s pregnancy. It was only a matter time until their child came into the world; and they would officially become parents. Once some time passed after Spike went by a couple of his favorite spots in Ponyville, it was near the beginning of the evening as he arrived at Golden Oaks Library and walked in with a pleased smile on his face. Twilight was reading some important documents as usual; but she looked up as Spike walked by her feeling upbeat.

“Man, I’m telling ya; life is good, Twilight.”

“You seem to be in a good mood, lately,” said Twilight with a little smile.

Spike then laid himself down on a couch stating, “You better believe it! I mean… just some months ago I was feeling all these different kinds of emotions from the situation that I’m in; happy, sad, fright, anger, worry, confused…”

“Don’t forget hysterical,” Twilight added.

Spike then groaned while glaring at Twilight and continuing, "Anyway, as of today... I feel so upbeat, so invigorated, so proud! In fact, I don't even know why I was being the way I was before; I should really count myself lucky of what I have now. I have great friends, and a great life; and now I have a special somepony to dedicate my life to. And... I'm going to be a father! Heh, I still can get over that, but... I feel so excited... like all of my stress is finally gone."

Seeing and hearing of how Spike was feeling and expressing himself, Twilight felt quite relieved for him and was glad that he was handling things much better than before.

“Looks like you’ve finally accepted your new responsibility. I mean… you already have been for months, but… you’re not letting it bother you anymore, right?”

“Nope,” Spike said proudly, “Although… I’d be lying if I said that I’m not nervous at all, because… I still am. How could I not be? Fatherhood is a huge deal. But I think I’m finally ready. When my son is born, I’m going to try to be the best father I can be!”

‘Hooo, hoo hoo!’

“You said it, Owlicious.”

Twilight got up and walked over to Spike and gave him a little pat on his head as he continued to relax. “I’m proud of you, Spike. It’s good to see you completely calm about this now. You’ll do great, I promise.”

“Yeah,” Spike chuckled, “I know.”

As Twilight walked away, she suddenly turned around towards Spike and said, “Oh, by the way… I meant to ask you; how did that appointment of Apple Bloom’s went anyway?”

“Oh yeah,” said Spike, “it went pretty good. No problems, complications or or hindrances. Everything seemed to turn out okay.”

“Well that’s good to know,” said Twilight, “I’m glad it went well.”

“However…” Spike stated.

Twilight suddenly froze and looked over at Spike questioning, “Huh? However what? Something come up?”

“Y-yeah. It's no big deal, but… the nurses said something about the baby in A.B’s womb being bigger than usual; well… at this stage of her pregnancy anyway. You wouldn’t know if that meant anything, could you?”

“Can’t say that I do, Spike. Although, since this process is in the last months, my advice is to pay close attention to Apple Bloom’s body movement and the emotion in her eyes. Who knows what could possibly happen with this sort of thing.”

“Well… that’s comforting to know,” said Spike, “But… I don’t care. I’m not going to let this get me down now. I have to stay strong for Apple Bloom’s sake. And I know her friends will be strong for her too.”

“Speaking of friends,” said Twilight suddenly, “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m expecting a couple of our friends to come over here soon.”

“Really?” said Spike as he looked over at Twilight curiously, “What are you doing?”

“Oh… y-you know,” said Twilight sheepishly, “Just… normal, regular mare stuff. Just us mares doing our own thing. You probably won’t be interested.”

Spike just scratched his head thinking that maybe Twilight was trying to shove him away for some reason. But then he just shrugged and said, “I don’t know about that, but thanks for the heads up.” He then reclined back into the sofa. “Just pretend that I’m not even here.”

Just then, the entrance door swung wide open, and Apple Bloom came walking right in shouting, “Hey, Miss Twilight!”

Spike was so startled he yelled and fell off the sofa with a loud thud. He lightly groaned after impact.

“Oh; hey, Apple Bloom,” said Twilight, “Nice to see you.”

“Is Spike here?” Apple Bloom asked.

Spike slowly got up and saw who was here. He jumped up and said, “Ugh, what the… Apple Bloom?! Wh-what are you doing here?!”

“I’d say that he is,” said Twilight to Apple Bloom from her earlier question.

Apple Bloom chuckled as she went over to Spike and nudged her head on his side and said, “Hey, Spike… darling. Ah didn’t surprise ya too much, did Ah?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Spike replied, “I’m fine.” Spike then noticed that Apple Bloom was wearing the jewel encrusted necklace that he got her in which she had wore every day since then. “Heh, you just can’t get enough of that gift that I gave you, can you?”

“How can Ah not?” said Apple Bloom as she held the necklace in her hoof, “It means so much to me cause obviously… it meant a lot to you.” She then placed a little kiss on Spike’s cheek that caused him to have a little proud smirk. “Anyway, Ah came here to ya because Ah was wonderin’ if ya wanna maybe… go fer a stroll.”

“A… s-s-stroll?” Spike questioned.

“Yeah, ya know… a stroll… as in a walk. Ah figured that we could just walk through the park a bit; then maybe just hang out on a small hill in the flower plains and watch the sunset. Is that okay with you?”

To Spike, this was a bit out of the blue for him. But when he looked over at Twilight, she smile at him and nodded her head telling him to go for it. He then looked back at Apple Bloom, took a deep breath and answered, “You know what… that sounds like a good idea to me. I could use the exercise; not to mention it will also be good for this little guy.”

Spike gave Apple Bloom’s pregnant belly a couple of pokes with his claw. Apple Bloom giggled a bit and pushed Spike’s claw away stating, “Oh cut it out, Spike; yer claws are so ticklish.”

“Oh, sorry,” said Spike sheepishly.

“Well… I guess you two should best be off now,” said Twilight looking at clock tower outside, “Don’t want to waste that romantic moment watching the sunset… together.”

“Yeah, come on, Spike,” said Apple Bloom giving Spike a little nudge, “Let’s get goin’.”

“Right!” said Spike as he and Apple Bloom were headed out the door. But then he looked back at Twilight and told her, “Oh, have fun with… whatever it was you were going to do with… whoever.”

“Yeah, have fun!” said Apple Bloom with a bright smile.

Twilight smiled and nodded her head while responding, “Not to worry, I will.”

After Apple Bloom and Spike left, Twilight sat back at her desk to continue the reading she was doing while waiting on her friends. She looked over at Owlicious who flew down beside her and said, “Can you still believe that Spike is going to be a Father, Owlicious?”

‘Hoo… hoo hoo?’

“I’ll just take that as a yes. But still… I’m a little unsure of what we’re about to do. I just hope it goes well.”

After a few more minutes passed, the entrance door opened up once again, and a couple of ponies walked in. Twilight looked over and was glad to finally see who she was waiting for to be here on time.

“Ahh, hello. I was wondering when you were going to get here. You girls ready to do this?”

Apple Bloom and Spike did exactly what they were planning. They stuck together while strolling a bit through the park enjoying the scenery and taking it easy. They even spotted a few more couples that were hanging out in the park as well and greeted them as they walked by. After some time passed, the sun was beginning to set and Apple Bloom led Spike to a certain small hill in a flower field near Ponyville; and the two of them sat there to relax in each other’s company. Apple Bloom was laying on side beside Spike who was sitting and leaning back on his arms; and they were both enjoy the beautiful sight of the sunset.

“Isn’t this nice, Spike,” Apple Bloom sighed, “Just the two of us… sittin’ here… relaxin’... enjoying the sunset together. Kinda makes ya think of the simpler things in life, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Spike responded, “it is kinda nice to just… relax and take it easy every once in a while. Heh, but then again, I do that all of the time.”

“But have ya ever done it like this?” said Apple Bloom as she laid one of her hooves on Spike’s leg.

Spike blushed a bit looking down Apple Bloom’s hoof caressing his leg and said, “N-n-no; I can’t say that I haven’t. But I gotta say… I think I like doing it this way better.”

As they continued to sit there, Apple Bloom suddenly brought up an interesting topic to Spike. “Hey, um… Spike? Now that we’re here all alone… just the two of us… there’s somethang that Ah wanted to ask ya?”

Spike wasn’t sure of what she going at with that comment, but he was quite curious of what she meant. “S-s-sure; what is it?”

“You may think that Ah’ve never notice, but… all those times that Ah’ve… acted weird and drove ya crazy… ya almost wanted to knock me out from frustration, didn’t ya?”

Spike’s eyes went wide as he looked at Apple Bloom in slight shock and then tried to deny it. “H-h-huh? Wh-what are you talking about? Wh-why would I even think of doing something like that?”

Apple Bloom lowered her eyes at Spike and said, “Just tell me the honest truth, Spike. There’s no reason for ya to hide it from me; Ah already know.”

To realise that Apple Bloom knew of his inner intentions over the past months caused Spike to feel a little uneasy. He didn’t want her to know that he almost went that far off the deep end, but there was no way he could hide it now. So he went on ahead and explained himself to her.

“Okay, you got me. But honestly, I was hoping that you didn’t notice at all. After we did what we did that day and you became preggers… and after my little freak out at the center, I felt like I could handle this situation. After all, I’m a strong, tough and loyal dragon; I can handle anything. But… I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t handle it at first. The way your pregnancy changed your personality sometimes and the way you treated me and acted towards me; overtime, I just wanted to rip my scales out. And… yes, there were times that I… felt like ripping your fur off of you and smack my claw across your face.”

Apple Bloom looked at Spike with a shocked expression for a few seconds, but then smiled as she chuckled a bit feeling amused. “Heh heh… so why didn’t ya?”

“What do you mean why didn’t I?! Did you actually think that I would go through with that; to hit a mare who is pregnant with a foal?! I'm not a monster! Besides, I knew that it wasn’t your fault that you acted like that, it was the procedure of your pregnancy. No matter how much I wanted to do it, I… I-I-I couldn’t do that to you. My loyalty still stands. No matter what happens, I’ll do all I can to protect you… and our son. I came this far, so I’m not going to back down now. This time, I am actually ready!”

Once again, Apple Bloom felt moved of Spike’s words; but she could help but giggle as well. Spike could be pretty corny to her sometimes when he tries to talk so serious. “Oh, Spike; still bein’ yer corny yet loyal self again. It's quite cute.”

“Oh come on, I’m just expressing of how I feel," said Spike, "I’m trying to be serious here!”

“Ah know, Ah know. Ah’m just messin’ with ya; but it's nice to finally hear you admit to how ya felt towards all of this.”

“Just... don’t tell your siblings about this," said Spike nervously, "They might give me evil glares if they hear what I felt like doing to you; whether or not it was intentional.”

Apple Bloom chuckled as she patted Spike on his back and said, “Mah lips are seal. It’ll be our little secret.”

The two of them then stayed quiet for a while as Spike allowed Apple Bloom to lay her head on his lap. They were just relaxing and enjoying the sight in front of them hoping that this moment wasn’t going to be ruined. But then, Spike got a sense of something from his ear; like he heard something nearby. His eyes narrowed as he slowly looked behind him and noticed a shadow peeking out from behind a tree. And Spike could see something glowing; more or less, it was magic.

“Apple Bloom, look out!!!” he shouted as he suddenly grabbed Apple Bloom and leapt away as a magic landed near the very spot they were relaxing. Apple Bloom screeched a bit as they tumbled a bit on the ground; but she was more than okay since Spike shielded most of her from the impact.

“Are you okay?” asked Spike as he let go of Apple Bloom.

“A-Ah’m a little shaken up,” said Apple Bloom hesitantly, “but… yeah, Ah’m okay. What was that anyway?”

Spike then turned around behind them from where the beam came from with a slight scowl, “I’m not sure, but… I don’t think we’re alone anymore.”

As Spike and Apple Bloom looked ahead, they suddenly saw the one who ruined their romantic moment; but it was quite strange. It was a pony wearing some kind of rubber suit that covered its entire body and dark shades that covered its eyes making it hard to make out who it was. Although, there was a horn pressing against the suit, so they at least knew that it was a unicorn.

The Unicorn was looking their way and then spoke out in a deep, foreboding tone, “If it isn’t the pony/ dragon couple I’ve heard so much about lately. Hanging out here all alone watching the sunset? How romantic.”

“S-S-S-S-Spike?” Apple Bloom shuddered.

Spike didn’t know who this pony could be, but he felt he was bad news. “Get behind me, Apple Bloom.” His protective instincts began to show as he bared his teeth blowing some smoke from his nostrils while shielding Apple Bloom from the mysterious pony’s sight. “Hey you, what’s your deal firing at us like that?! Do you even care that this pony is pregnant and could’ve been seriously hurt?!”

“Oh I am very aware of that,” the unicorn stated, “That shot I made didn’t even land in your spot; it was just to gain your attention.”

“Well, it worked; you have my full attention. So now if you wish to continue living, tell me who you are and what the hell you want from us!”

The unicorn chuckled feeling amused of how Spike was reacting and replied, “My name is a bit confidential, but I’ll tell you why I am here. I’m here on important business.”

“What kind of business?” Spike questioned.

“I believe there was word spread throughout Equestria that mentioned of a pony who was impregnated by a dragon and will give birth to the first pony/ dragon hybrid known to the world!"

Spike wasn’t quite sure what this unicorn was going at, but he wanted to know his full point. "Yeah... so what's it to you?"

"Heh heh, foolish dragon; don’t you see... there are many rare and exotic creatures in this world! But as of now, none of them will be as rare as the very creature inside that pony's womb! There are some certain sources in dark corners of Equestria that would be very willing to have such a creature... at a high price."

"Wait... did Ah hear right?” Apple Bloom shuddered, “D-did he just say that... he wants to... sell our child... like some kind of exotic pet?!"

That was all Spike needed to hear. This unicorn was apparently set on kidnapping Apple Bloom and keep her until their child was born; then eventually sell to the highest bidder like a some prize. Spike knew what he had to do; he was now on full protective alert.

"Okay okay…” Spike chuckled sarcastically, “now I know that you have a death wish. Did you honestly think that I would just stand here and just let you take Apple Bloom just so you can sell our child for money?! Like hell that will happen! I don’t know what you've been drinking , but if you think that you're going to succeed, you got another thing coming!"

"Oh yeah; you tell him, Spike!" Apple Bloom cheered while trying not to move too much.

"Now I suggest that you start running and hope that I don’t chase after your sorry flank."

However, despite Spike’s threat, the unicorn didn’t seem to waver at all. "I'm afraid that you’ve failed to intimidate me, young dragon. I'm not going anywhere until I get what I came here for."

“Is that so?” said Spike, “I guess you’ve already made up your mind.” After taking a few steps away from Apple Bloom and towards the unicorn, Spike lashed out his claws and said, “You make the first move, buddy.”

But the unicorn chuckled as it stated, “I do believe that I’ve already done that?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?!”

Just then, Spike heard a terrifying sound behind him. “Ahh!!!”

“What the…”

Spike suddenly turned around and saw that Apple Bloom was already captured. Another pony in the same attire who was an earth pony had dragged her towards them using a whip in it's mouth. Fearing for her life, Apple Bloom yelled out…

“Spike! Spike, help me!”

“Apple Bloom!” Spike shouted as he was rushing towards the earth pony. But then out of nowhere, another pony who was a pegasus and in the same attire as well came swooping down from the air and knocked Spike down on the ground. It caught him by surprise and he didn’t see it coming.

Afterwards, the unicorn used it's magic to levitate Apple Bloom over to its location as the other two ponies trotted over there as well.

“Ugh… dammit,” Spike groaned as he was getting up from being knocked down; and when looked up, he saw all three ponies staring back at him. He scowled at them as he saw Apple Bloom hovering over them feeling completely helpless.

“You didn’t really think that I was going to go against a dragon all alone, did you?” said the unicorn, “Well actually, I’m sure I could still take you on myself; but why risk it on such a big opportunity like this?”

“Give her back, you bastards!” Spike shouted out in anger.

“No need to get all worked up,” said the unicorn, “We’re just going to keep her until she gives birth to her child. Then afterwards, will bring her back to you intact… heh, hopefully.”

Spike had enough as he got more pissed off. “That’s it… you’re dead!”

He then fired a huge fireball at the three mysterious ponies. But the unicorn suddenly blocked it with a small magic barrier.

“Oh my, that was a risky move. What if that fire blast of yours had hit your precious lover here?”

Spike growled at the pony realizing that he was kind of right. He didn’t think that move through.

“You two, make sure to keep him distracted while I make my getaway.”

“Sure thang,” said the earth pony in a similar deep tone.

“You got it, Boss!” said the pegasus in the same tone.

It freaked Spike out a bit of how all three of the ponies’ voices almost sounded the same. But he didn’t dwell on t much once he saw the unicorn start to run off in the distance with Apple Bloom in tow.

“Hey,” he shouted as he began give chase, “who said that you were going to get away?!”

“Obviously… that would be us,” said the pegasus as it and the earth pony got in his way.

Spike kept trying to sidestep pass them or jump over them, but they kept preventing him to get by.

"Get out of my way now!" he shouted in frustration.

"Sorry buddy,” said the pegasus, “not happening. We have strict orders to keep you occupied no matter what."

“Is that so?” Spike growled, “I’m afraid that’s a big mistake on your part. Have you not realized that I’m a freakin’ dragon!?”

Spike suddenly took a deep breath and released a huge flow of fire from his mouth that engulf the two ponies blocking his path. He was aiming to char them enough to make them run in fear and pain; but when the flames settled, the two ponies were still standing and no injuries were seen on them.

‘What the hell?’ Spike thought to himself.

“That won’t work, little dragon,” said the pegasus, “These suits are encased with a heat resistant spell, so fire won’t hurt us… not even dragon fire like yours.”

Spike definitely didn’t see that coming, but he still wasn’t giving up that easily. “Oh yeah, well… lets see how you like this!” He lengthen his claws and then leapt at the two ponies. He took a giant swipe at the pegasus but completely missed as it quickly hovered to the side. He immediately swiped at the earth pony afterwards, but only scratched the fabric of the suit. So it was then that Spike found an upper hand. “Looks like your suits aren’t completely invulnerable after all. Now you’re in trouble.”

“Don’t think yer suddenly lucky,” said the earth pony, “That was a lucky swipe ya made earlier. You can keep swipin’ at us all you want; but just know that with each minute that passes, the further away your sweetheart gets.”

“So what’s your next move, dragon?” said the pegasus.

Spike realized that they were right. The more he spent with them, the further away the unicorn would get with Apple Bloom. He needed to think more clearly. Spike decided to shorten his claws and tried to dash past the two ponies a second time, but only to be pushed back by the pegasus. He tried again and grab a hold on the hoof and swung the pegasus to the side. He continued forward, but only to be pushed down from behind by the pegasus again. And when he tried to get back up, the earth pony grabbed a hold of his leg with the whip and swung him right back over them right he started.

“Aw, wook at the poor, defenseless, wittle dwagon,” the pegasus chuckled, “He can’t even muster up the strength to take us on and protect his lover. That’s so weak.”

Spike’s blood began to boil again as he got back up and shouted, “Shut up! I’m not weak!”

Spike dashed forward again, and this time rammed right through the two ponies knocking them both on the ground. However, the pegasus quickly got up and tried to go at him again, but Spike quickly counterattacked by grabbing the pegasus and throwing it right on top of the earth pony… hard.

Both ponies groaned and Spike smirked proudly and shouted, “Now stay out of my way!”

Meanwhile, the unicorn pony was making it's way across the fields trying to get away with Apple Bloom. However at some point, the pony looked back and saw Spike charging towards them from behind.

“I’m coming, Apple Bloom!”

“Spike!” said Apple Bloom happily.

Although, the unicorn chuckled and thought, ‘Yeah, that’s it. Keep it coming.’

Spike then proceeded to carefully shoot little fast fireballs at foot level to trip up the unicorn. But every shot Spike made, the unicorn kept dodging quite easily. Spike was becoming frustrated. “Dammit; come on!”

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Spike built up more speed in his step, and then took off into the air very quick. His body soared through the air and headed right for the unicorn with his claws ready. He was about to make the strike when suddenly…

“I don’t think so!”

That same pegasus came out of nowhere and rammed Spike away from the unicorn. Spike grunted loudly from the impact and landed on the ground. He suddenly saw that the pegasus was re-joined by the earth pony as well.

“You didn’t think that you had us down for the count, did ya?” said the earth pony.

The unicorn was carefully watching what was happeing and then continued on while hanging on to Apple Bloom; but the angered dragon still got back up still set on rescuing her. “Get back here!” But once again, the other two ponies got in his way, and the earth pony snapped it’s whip right in Spike’s path causing him to halt. However, Spike didn’t falter and he was ready this time as he got in a ready stance and said, “Bring it.”

The pegasus dashed towards him and threw a punch, but Spike easily dodged it and threw one himself getting the pegasus in the nose. The pegasus wiped the bruise and then got in a fist/ hoof fight with Spike exchanging blows over and over. Spike was a bit surprised how good a fighter this pegasus was; the style was even a bit familiar to him. However he was not planning on losing and letting Apple Bloom get away.

Suddenly, Spike saw a quick opportunity and gutted the pegasus with his fist, causing it to fall to the ground. And while Spike was distracted, the earth pony came from behind and tried to lash out its whip to trap him. “Gotcha again.” But without turning around, Spike reached out and grabbed the whip in a tight hold. Spike then glared over at the earth pony and grunted lowly from the his nostrils. All the earth pony could think was... “Uh oh.”

Spike used his strength to pull on the whip and brought the earth pony to him in his claws. He then took the two ponies and and tied them up using the whip. Then he carried them while running again towards the unicorn who was still getting away with Apple Bloom. He checked his angle and lept up in air shouting, “Spike fires into the end zone!”

With one strong throw, he sent the two tied-up ponies flying right towards the fleeing unicorn. The unicorn happened to look behind him and saw what was coming.

“What the…”

The two ponies slammed right into the unicorn, and all three went tumbling across the ground together. The magic holding up Apple Bloom disappeared and she fell back down surprisingly landing perfectly on her hooves. “Nice; Ah landed on all of my hooves!” She then smirked as she saw Spike catch up to her and was bending over to catch his breath. “Spike are you okay?!”

“Never mind... me;” said Spike feeling exasperated; then he looked up at her and said, “are... you okay? Everything… ‘whew’... intact?”

“Yeah, Ah think Ah’m fine… thanks to yer smooth protective moves.”

Spike suddenly brought a glare back on his face as he looked back over to the three ponies who were recollecting themselves from what they were put through. Just looking at them made Spike more pissed off the longer he stared. And now that Apple Bloom was out of their clutches, there was something drastic that he wanted to do to them.

“Hey Spike,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah’m afraid that Ah have a confession that Ah wish to tell ya. Ah’m a bit embarrassed to admit to this, but…”

“Hold that thought, Apple Bloom,” said Spike as some smoke was coming out from his nostrils, “First, those ponies need to be taught a lesson. I need to make sure that they never do this again.”

Apple Bloom saw the menacing look Spike’s eyes and knew what he was planning to do. She tried to stop him, “Spike, wait… y-y-ya don’t have to…”

But Spike didn’t hear as he was already dashing towards the other ponies; and because of her condition, Apple Bloom couldn’t stop him. Meanwhile, the three ponies were just getting themselves together when they suddenly saw Spike up in the air above them. Spike blew a strong stream of fire and engulfed the area around the ponies so they were trapped and couldn't see clearly.

“What the… what’s he doing?” said the unicorn.

Spike then slowly crept into the fire's embers and had his sight set on the three now trapped ponies. They couldn't see him, but he could see them.

“The three of you have made a huge mistake here today. I gave you a chance to drop your act and run away safely, but apparently I didn’t make my point across well enough. So perhaps I should make my point across… another way.”

The three ponies were huddled together trying to figure out where Spike was coming from. Then the unicorn suddenly pleaded, “Spike, wait! Y-y-you don’t have to continue on with this; we give up! W-w-we surrender!”

But in a dark tone, Spike replied, “A little too late for that I’m afraid.”

Then out of nowhere, Spike knocked the earth pony away with his spiked tail startling the other the other. In a slight panic, the pegasus tried to fly upwards; but Spike reached up and grabbed it by the leg and then twirled it around followed by being thrown down on the ground hard. Spike then had his sights set on the unicorn who was slowly backing away from him seeing his angered eyes and sharp claws.

“Spike, calm down!” the unicorn shouted, “It's not really…”

But Spike suddenly picked the unicorn up by it's neck in a tight grip and growled, “Shut up! I don’t want to hear another word of your crap! I hope your followers are watching carefully, because now I’m going to make an example… out of you!”

And with that, Spike released the unicorn’s neck only to swipe forward strongly with his claws. He sent the unicorn flying further than than the other two leaving a few red marks on its side from his razor claws. After falling on the ground, the unicorn laid still with a slight twitch of its hoof. The other two ponies quickly rushed over feeling worried of the unicorn's condition.

“Oh no!”

“He should count himself lucky," Spike growled as as smoke blew out from his snout, "As for you two, you’re next!”

Suddenly, Apple Bloom finally got close enough and yelled out, “Spike, stop! Ya don’t need to keep goin’ like this!”

“Apple Bloom, stay back;" Spiked shouted while keeping his sight on the three ponies, "it's too dangerous! I need to make sure I get my point across so that these three will never do this sort of thing ever again!”

Then Apple Bloom took a deep breath and shouted in a more demanding tone, “Ah said… stop, Spike… NOW!”

The sound of it caused Spike to stop and suddenly stand down. He felt a little startled by Apple Bloom’s tone of voice, and then he turned around only to see her staring back at him while gasping for breath and kneeling on the ground.

Worried for her health, he rushed over to her to make sure that she was okay. Once he found that out, he said to her, “Apple Bloom... I don't mean to be rude, but... what’s your deal?! These three just tried to kidnap you and were going to sell our child like a wild, exotic animal! Are we just going to let them get away with that?! I don’t think so!”

“Spike, that’s what Ah was tryin’ to tell ya!" said Apple Bloom, "This isn’t fer real. Those three aren’t who ya think they are!”

“W-wait… what? What are you talking about?!”

Just then when Spike looked back over at the three ponies, he received the shock of his life as the earth pony took off the top half of it's suit. Who it was made him suddenly freeze in place as he shouted...

"Wh-wh-what the... Applejack?!"

"Howdy," she said in her normal southern voice.

Then the pegasus took off the top half of it's suit.

"R-Rainbow Dash?!"

"S'up, Spike," she said while flashing a nervous grin.

Then he looked over at the unicorn just waiting for the top half of its suit to be pulled off. Sure enough it was… and Spike couldn’t believe his eyes.

"N-n-n-no way! T-T-Twilight?!"

"H-h-hey, Spike. We didn't shock you too much, did we?"

Spike just stood there with wide eyes, gaping mouth, and pointing his claw in their direction. He was completely speechless. But pretty soon, his silence broke and he was slightly stuttering in his speech as he questioned, "W-w-what in the wide world of Equestria is going on here?!” He then looked over at Apple Bloom and raised his voice, “WHAT… THE HELL… IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Apple Bloom was looking at him with a nervous smile as she responded, “Heh heh, Ah have a very logical explanation fer this.”

“Oh, I just bet you do,” said Spike as he crossed his arms. He then looked over at Twilight and said, “By the way, Twilight; are you okay?”

“Don’t worry about me and these... few wounds,” said Twilight, “Nothing that a mild healing spell won’t fix.”

Spike was very relieved to hear that. “Whew, good." But then... "Now again I ask… what the hell is going on here?!”

“Come on, Spike; calm down,” Apple Bloom pleaded.

“I will not calm down! After what I was just put through only to find out that it wasn’t for real; I want an explanation now!”

Just then, Rainbow Dash inched forward and said, “Uh… try and not get too mad; but… this was all kind of a test.”

"A... test? This was all a test?! For what?!"

"To prove yer loyalty to mah sister, of course,” said Applejack, “We wanted to see just how far you would go to protect her if she was... ever in any danger.”

Spike began to get angry again seeing what all of this was about. “All of this… was a test… to prove my loyalty?!”

“Okay; maybe what we did may have not been the best option," said Twilight nervously, "but… it definitely kept you on your toes, didn’t it? Now imagine if this was for real. At least now we know that just how much effort you put in to save Apple Bloom. You truly had the intent to kill.”

“Although, we didn’t exactly planned it to go as far as you took it," said Rainbow Dash, "You really did a number on us. But don’t worry, we took it like a bunch of tough mares.”

“Speak fer yerself," Applejack chuckled as she rubbed her cheek.

They were all expecting Spike to be okay with it even though he was quite confused about it; but unfortunately, he wasn't. He was just standing there looking at them with a pissed off expression and was lightly huffing and puffing. Twilight was getting a bit worried for him and tried to say something to him.

“Um… Spike?”

“So... let me get this straight,” said Spike trying to keep his cool, “After everything I did… everything I went though and put up with… everything I proved up to this point… and you guys pulled this?! Have you all lost it?!”

Apple Bloom tried to speak to him, “Um… actually…” but Spike kept on rambling.

“I can’t believe you… a-all three of you! Just who is the mature one here? I never thought that you girls would do something like this to me! Well… maybe I could see you doing something like this, Twilight… you know, for experimentation and research; and now that I can think about it, I guess Rainbow Dash would be in it for the action.”

Twilight blushed a bit and said awkwardly, “M-m-maybe.”

But Rainbow Dash fully agreed, “Eh, you’re right.”

“But you Applejack; I would’ve thought that you wouldn’t drag your little sister into something like this! Why would you?! I thought that you trust me being with her?!

Applejack suddenly felt a little awkward herself. “Heh, y-y-ya know… it's a funny story.”

“Spike,” said Apple Bloom trying to get his attention, “I’m… actually the one who…”

But Spike still wasn’t listening to her.

“I mean come on… I know that it's obvious that those suits that you wore were fire-proof, but did you see what I almost did to all of you. I almost couldn’t control my calm side! I… I-I-I could‘ve killed you!”

“Y-yes… Spike; we were pretty much aware of that,” Twilight responded.

"Man, is it kind of awkward that we're being lectured here by a baby dragon?" Rainbow Dash whispered to Applejack.

"Ya do know that he's not exactly a baby dragon anymore, right?"

"You know what I mean!"

Apple Bloom suddenly shouted as loud as she could, "Spike!"

Spike turned to her still feeling upset and shouted, "What?! Do you have something to say about this?!"

Apple Bloom lightly brushed the side of her leg trying to gather the courage to tell Spike the truth. "A-A-Ah do... actually. Ya see... this wasn't all their doin', it was actually... because of me. Ah'm the one who planned all of this. B-b-but don't take it the wrong way; Ah just wanted to test and see how much you could hold yer own because… well… lets face it… y-yer not much of a fighter.”

Spike was now at a loss and was even more shocked than he already was.

“But…” said Rainbow Dash trying to step in, “your strength more than made up for it and you were able to take us all on in the end without a single scratch on Apple Bloom. You’re proud of that, right?”

Spike glared at Rainbow Dash, and then glared back Apple Bloom who was nervously grinning at him hoping that he wouldn’t be mad at him. But it still didn't change anything; in fact, Spike was now even more upset.

“Okay… I get it now. So it was you who came up with this whole ridiculous plan and those three were your… what; guneia pigs?! That makes this scenario so much better.”

“Oh great, he’s being sarcastic," said Twilight.

“And seriously, Apple Bloom; who cares whether I can fight or not! I figured that I was already more than capable of protecting you and our child; but you obviously still had doubts about it, so you did this! Do you even trust my instincts anymore?!”

“Ah told ya, Spike," Apple Bloom pleaded, "it's nothin' like that! A-A-Ah just decided that… that it was okay to test ya. A-Ah thought... that it would be worth it to see if you were truly prepared and up fer the job, and… a-and… wait, Ah’m just repeating mahself, aren’t Ah?”

“Yes, yes you are. And may I remind you that your test almost got your sister and two of her friends slaughtered by my claws! If that had happened, would you think that it was worth it then?!”

Apple Bloom knew that could have been possible for real, but it kinda frighten her suddenly as she was thinking about it. She didn't say a word.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so," said Spike with a smug look, "You should’ve clued me into this whole thing and see what I thought of it! But to be perfectly honest with you, Apple Bloom… this whole thing was stupid, irrational and totally… unnecessary! I guess somethings never change.”

Apple Bloom suddenly lowered her head feelin a bit hurt from Spike's words.

“And you three…" Spike shouted turning to Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, "you should be ashamed of yourselves of even going along with this; especially you Applejack. You’re all lucky I didn’t tear you open and eat your bowels! N-n-n-not… that I would… actually… do that.”

There was a sudden silence throughout their area except the sudden light gusts of wind that swept through the tension. Spike wanted to say something more to Apple Bloom, but to keep himself from saying something worse in his state... he didn’t.

“I… I-I need to go; and don’t bother to follow me!”

Spike then fled away from the scene leaving Apple Bloom with the others. Apple Bloom tried to call him back...

“Spike, wait; come back!”

However, he didn't answer; he just kept on running off. At that moment, Apple Bloom truly regretted what she did.

“W-w-well... that could’ve gone better," said Twilight, "Never did I thought that I would be talked down to by him… literally.”

“Spike does realize that if we had clued him in it would’ve defeated the whole purpose of this plan, right?" said Applejack, "But… maybe he had a point that this whole thing was s… um, u-u-unnecessary.”

“Yep, I knew it," said Rainbow Dash trying to hide her guilt, "I told you girls that this was a horrible idea. I figured that the entire time.”

“Please; you were all up fer this," Applejack retorted, "Ya said that it would cure you of yer… adrenaline absence.”

“I know," Rainbow Dash admitted, "But hey, it totally worked! My body is all rilled up and alert! I needed a good rush.”

Twilight went over to Apple Bloom who was lightly sobbing with tears going down her face and calmly asked her, “Hey, uh... are you okay, Apple Bloom?”

Apple Bloom wiped away some of her tears and responded, “Ah’m… A-A-Ah’m alright, Twilight; but… did ya hear what he… said to me?”

“Oh we all heard what he said, Sis;” said Applejack, “and Ah oughta smack him er saying that straight in ya face.”

“No, Applejack… no. He’s right,” Apple Bloom admitted, “Ah’m a mare now, and Ah have a responsibility. Ah have to be more mature about mah decisions. But what Ah did here… maybe it was a bit too much; a bit rash and… kinda stupid Ah admit. Ah really need to learn to think better and more intelligently; not just fer Spike or anypony else… but fer mah child too. Ah guess… maybe Ah was still a bit doubtful about this.”

Applejack knew what her young sister was saying was right and was being pretty mature of not denying herself of her mistake. However, Spike’s words still didn’t make her smile. “That’s mighty mature of ya to say, Apple Bloom; but it still dosen’t mean Spike had the right to say that comment to yer face.”

“Where do ya think Spike went off to?” Apple Bloom said to Twilight, “It's possible that he could’ve gone anywhere... to be away from me.”

“Apple Bloom... Spike doesn't hate you, okay?” said Twilight, “He’s just… a little upset of what could’ve happened and that you were behind it… is all.” Twilight then had a little smile thinking of how Spike had brooding moments in the past, “But not to worry. I think I know exactly where he is.

Author's Note

Will these two make up?
Find out next chapter.

Moment of Truth

Apple Bloom had really messed things up between her and Spike. A plan that almost went horribly wrong, Apple Bloom convinced Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Rainbow Dash to secretly pose themselves as a group of bad guys who were going to kidnap her and sell their hybrid child to a high bidder once he was born. A bit too much,right? Apple Bloom didn’t seem to think so at first. But the angered rage that Spike showed proved to be more than what she expected of him. She had to stop him pleadingly so he wouldn’t go overboard and end up seriously hurting Twilight and the others.

Once Spike realized what was going on, he became furious. He felt betrayed thinking that Apple Bloom didn’t have full trust in him even after all of this time; that he still wasn’t ready for the task at hand. He was also mad that her test could’ve caused him to kill three of his friends. He eventually ran off telling the others to not follow him. Apple Bloom felt devastated after that realizing that she messed up big time. She didn’t mean for things to turn out like this, but the damage had been done. However, Twilight knew exactly where Spike ran off to.

Twilight brought Apple Bloom to her home, Golden Oaks Library along with Applejack and Rainbow Dash who followed. Once inside, Twilight lifted a large, loose wooden platform on te floor where under it was a dug in tunnel that led into an underground burrow. As they went in, Apple Bloom was quite surprised to see this hidden passageway for the first time.

“Whoa, Ah never thought Spike would have a little area like this in here,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah knew nothin’ of this.”

Twilight explained, “It’s just a little something Spike developed over time… by my approval of course, that he uses for when he wants to be alone… and also where he keeps his secret gem stash. Just… be careful; he can be a bit protective of it sometimes.”

“Don’t fret about me,” Apple Bloom claimed, “Ah don’t have anythang to worry about… Ah hope.”

At the end of the path, they came upon a small area filled with little hills of gems and other jewels. Lying on top of one of them was Spike who still brooding over what had happened. His back was turned from them, but he still knew that they were there; he could sense them as soon as they hoof in the tunnel. Spike rolled his eyes as he stayed in his position and not looking behind him.

“Um… h-hey, Spike,” said Twilight hesitantly, “Just... thought I come and check on you to see if you were okay."

While staying in his position, Spike grumbled, "What are you doing here?"

"Well... secret burrow or not, I still kinda live here. You can't get me out of here that easily."

"I believe that I am referring to the two southern sisters behind you," said Spike as he pointed his claw at behind Twilight.

Twilight chuckled lightly and said, “O-oh, yeah. Of course you are.”

“Don’t forget about me,” said Rainbow Dash, “I’m here too, remember?”

Spike wasn’t too fond of all of them being in his secret burrow; especially Apple Bloom who he was still mad with for her antics. “All of you shouldn’t be here. I thought that I specifically said to not follow me.”

None of them answered right away feeling a bit uneasy. But then Applejack looked at her young sister and whispered to her, “Well… are ya goin’ to say somethin’ to him?”

Apple Bloom looked at Spike who was still turned around and lightly gulped as she took a few steps towards him. Looking deep within herself, she tried to say what was on her mind to Spike. “Look, Spike; Ah… Ah know… that that you don’t want me to be here right now. But… A-Ah just came to say… that Ah'm sorry. Ah’m sorry fer trickin’ you the way Ah did; fer makin’ ya think that this was fer real. I-i-it seemed like a good idea at the time that it came into my head, but… all it did was make you dreadfully worried for mah well-bein’. D-do ya think that maybe… we could talk about this a bit and… put it behind us?”

Despite her words, Spike didn’t respond. He still remained in his turn-around position ignoring her completely. But Apple Bloom wasn’t giving up; she tried begging even more.

“Please, Spike!” she shouted while carefully bending down against her fore-knees, “Don’t be silent towards me like this! Ah’m tryin’ to say sorry here… with deepest apologies! Please, just… say somethang; anythang!”

Spike knew that she wasn’t going to go away until he said something to her, so that’s exactly what he was going to do. He calmly turned himself around and walked up to Apple Bloom while wearing a light glare on his face that made everyone there feel a little tense. From there, Spike spoke his mind.

“So… you want me to say something, right? You want talk over things; but what exactly do you want us to talk about?”

Twilight recognized the tone in Spike’s voice and knew where this was going.

“Yeah, what should we talk about? You know… aside from making me think that we were having a normal, romantic moment together… only to pull your stupid stunt that almost got your sister and her two friends here killed… oh, in which by the way I wouldn’t forgive myself or you if it had happened. Not to mention that you had me worried sick thinking that you were in real danger! I seriously thought I was going to lose you and our child!”

It was really getting awkward for Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash to see Spike carrying on like the way he was. And the more he went on, the more Apple Bloom slumped down on the ground feeling sorry for herself.

“You made me feel… so stupid to think that I actually fell for such a ridiculous ruse! Test or not, this whole half-assed idea just told me… that… you don’t trust me with this yet; that I’m not ready to handle such responsibility! So trust me… there’s nothing else to talk about.”

After his rant, Spike went back over to his little pile of jewels and laid back down with his back turned from them again. All Apple Bloom could do was stand there in emotional shock from Spike’s sudden words. She felt like complete trash at that moment; but even then… even though she thought that she lost Spike’s trust forever, she knew that she was in the wrong, and was willing to make it right. She took a few step towards him without getting too close and told him…

“You know what, Spike? Yer right; yer absolutely right. What Ah did was incredibly stupid, and you have every right to be mad with me right now. But please, don’t be mad with Twilight and the others; this was all me. Ah… Ah did all of this because… because I just wanted to see how truly dedicated you were to all of this. Ah kept denying that it was a selfless act; that I wasn’t doubting you in any way. But the truth is… Ah was doubting you. Even after everythang ya did fer me…”

Apple Bloom suddenly looked down at the necklace around her neck that she received as a present from Spike.

“... and gave me this, Ah still chose to go through with this whole thang. Maybe Ah could’ve handled it more differently, but… it wouldn’t make any difference.”

Feeling more and more sorry for herself, Apple Bloom began to lightly sob and shed some tears. She didn’t realize it, but even though Spike’s back was still turned, Spike was actually listening to her. He could tell that she was being honest and that she was trully sorry for her actions. But he still couldn’t look at her.

“The point is,” Apple Bloom continued, “Ah was being selfish against ya without knowin' it. Yer a great friend, and you’ll be an even better father… and Ah feel terrible fer ever doubtin' that. You can be as mad at me as ya want, but please… just find it in yer heart to forgive me?”

Suddenly at that moment, Apple Bloom yelled out in pain as she fell on the ground clutching her stomach.

“Apple Bloom!” Applejack shouted as she, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash suddenly rushed to her side.

Upon hearing her sudden sounds of pain, Spike immediately rose to his feet and came over to her feeling worried of what was wrong with her.

“A-A-Apple Bloom,” he shouted in worry, “Wh-what’s wrong?! Are you alright?!”

Apple Bloom was still groaning a bit; but thanks to a little support from her sister, she was able to stand back up. She didn’t want to worry the others, so she pretended that it wasn’t as bad as it looked.

“D-don’t… worry; Ah think th-the baby just kicked… a-a bit stronger than usual… is all. A-Ah’m alright now.”

The pain in her body did subside, but she was still feeling a little pain that she didn’t want anyone to worry about. She figured that it was no big deal anyway and was only just part of the pregnancy process.

Spike calmly sighed with relief and said, “Okay, that’s good then. Glad to know that you’re okay.” But after that, Spike went back over to his pile of jewels and laid back down as he was before… like Apple Bloom’s pain didn’t even happen.

“S-S-Spike,” Apple Bloom said hesitantly, “yer answer… please.”

Spike just took a deep breath and sighed as he responded, “Look, Apple Bloom… it's late, and I’m… I-I’m just not in the mood right now. I need time to think over this.”

Applejack placed her hoof around her sister to comfort her as she said, “Come on, Apple Bloom, let’s just give Spike some space. It's probably fer the best.”

“Yeah… Ah guess,” Apple Bloom sighed.

Applejack turned her sister around as they were making their way out of the hidden burrow. Apple Bloom had her head hanging down feeling bummed; she was really hating on herself right now.

“Thanks again fer bringin’ us here, Twilight,” said Applejack, “Ah sure hope this whole thang blows over soon.”

“So do I. Good night, you two.”

Rainbow Dash was just flying at a standstill trying to get over what just happened. Not in the mood to try and say anything to Spike in his state, she decided to bail out as well. “Guess I should be… going to.”

Now it was just Twilight standing in the burrow with a brooding dragon. She was planning to say something else to him, but she felt that it would just annoy Spike more. So instead, she just quietly started to back out of the burrow. But just when she was out of his sight, she hesitantly said to him, “Just… l-let me know if you need anything, okay?”

Then Twilight left closing the platform on the opening. Spike stayed in his laying position while rolling his eyes and said in a nonchalant tone, “Whatever.”

Even after all of that; after Apple Bloom fully apologized to Spike and tried to make amends with him, none of them thought that Spike was going to accept it so easily. They figured that it would be hours, days, or maybe even a couple of weeks before he would talk to any of them again. However to Twilight’s surprise, Spike suddenly decided to come to her in the middle of the night to have a personal talk with her. Twilight didn’t seem to mind though as she was happy to do so. They stayed up a little as Twilight explained everything about what happened; from how she used a voice modifier spell to disguise her and the other two’s voices in Apple Bloom’s plan to giving Spike some helpful advice since she was like a Mother to him. She even apologized to him for what happened. She felt kinda stupid for going through with it herself.

Early morning the next day, in Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom never came down from her room for breakfast with her siblings. She slept well that night, but she still felt down about what was going on between her and Spike. Pretty soon, her two friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle came over to spend some time with her but ended up being pointed up to her room. When they got there, Apple Bloom told them everything that happened yesterday evening; and even by their standards, they were both in quite a shock-stricken state.

“Sounds like you went through a lot,” said Scootaloo, “Too bad I wasn’t there to see it.”

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle protested.

“”What?! I’m just saying that this whole test that Apple Bloom planned out sounds awesome… in theory.” Scootaloo then looked back at Apple Bloom who had her face buried in her pillow and tried to get off the subject, “B-but… I-I-I’m sure it wasn’t as great as I think it is.”

Apple Bloom raised her head back up and her friend, “It's okay, Scootaloo, Ah’m the one who messed this up. Ah should’ve opened mah eyes and realize that what Ah was doin’ was stupid. Spike was right; Ah haven’t changed at all. Ah’m still just a young filly who screws things up.”

“No you’re not, Apple Bloom!” said Sweetie Belle as she hugged Apple Bloom trying to make her feel better, “You are not stupid at all! So maybe you made a big mistake; big deal. Everypony does that from time to time.”

“Yeah, I’m sure Spike makes stupid mistakes all of the time!” said Scootaloo, “It's just a normal part of life. And F.Y.I… you’re not a young filly, you’re a young mare; a young mare who shouldn’t keep herself here in her room sulking and feeling sorry for herself. If Spike doesn't forgive you… especially since you tired your ass off to apologize to him and realized your own mistake, then I say forget him. That’s what I would do if if the same thing happened between me and Rumble… i-i-if he got me pregnant that is.”

Sweetie suddenly gasped and said in worry, “Ooh, I hope it dosen’t come to that.”

“Neither do Ah, Sweetie Belle,” said Apple Bloom sadly, “but… Ah really hurt Spike. Ah was supposed to trust him and his loyalty and Ah ruined everythang. Up to this moment, Ah question if he’ll ever forgive me fer what Ah did to him.”

But at that moment, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s attention turned to the doorway of the room as the door slowly opened. Someone came into the room, and they couldn’t believe who it was.

“I wouldn’t question that just yet, girlfriend,” said Scootaloo with a smirk.

Apple Bloom was wondering what Scootaloo meant by that comment as she picked her head back up. But when she looked at the opened doorway, her eyes went wide as she hesitantly said, “S-S-Spike?”

Spike closed the door behind him and then said in a sheepish tone, “Hey, uh... mind if I come in?”

“No no. Not at all, not at all,” said Scootaloo in a sly tone, “We were just talking about you.”

Spike arched his eye at Scootaloo wondering just what Apple Bloom must’ve told them, “Is that so? I didn’t exactly expect you two to be here as well.”

“Hey, we’re her friends,” said Sweetie Belle, “We’re allowed to be here to ya know.”

Spike made his way to Apple Bloom’s bed as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo gave him some room. He then proceeded to sit down beside Apple Bloom and then stayed there in awkward silence. Both of them sat there with their heads turned idly away from each other not sure of what to say.

Suddenly, Spike looked over at Apple Bloom staring at her pregnant belly and asked, “So, uh… h-how’s he doing; th-the baby I mean. Uh… how’s the… baby?”

Apple Bloom lightly smirked and responded nervously, “H-he’s doin' well. We got plenty of sleep last night… mostly. N-no nightmares or anythang.”

“Good, good; that’s good.”

After that followed a little bit more awkward silence between the two. After the moment that happened between them, they couldn’t find the right words to say to each other. But then, Apple Bloom finally questioned him.

“Spike… you’re not still… angry with me about yesterday… are ya? Ah wouldn’t be surprised if you still didn’t want to talk with me.”

“Um… Apple Bloom,” said Spike with a light chuckle, “if that was the case, I wouldn’t even be here, now would I.”

Apple Bloom smiled a bit and blushed saying, “Oh yeah… heh heh, right. That should’ve been obvious.”

Pretty soon, Spike was finally able to get out the word to talk to her; his real reason of being there. “Listen, Apple Bloom. What you did yesterday… was stupid, and reckless… and it really upset me.”

“Yer not exactly makin’ me feel any better here,” Apple Bloom groaned.

“But… despite that… I know you had good intentions. You meant well.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were on the side just letting those two have their space. However, Scootaloo was wondering and said to Sweetie, “Is he... trying to fix things between them?”

“Shh, just shut your snout and listen,” said Sweetie Belle quietly, “I want to see where this goes.”

“It’s okay if you were still a little nervous about this whole thing,” Spike continued to say to Apple Bloom, “Heck, I’m still a little nervous myself. But… if we’re going to go through with this, we both have to have full confidence and complete trust with each other so that we can both be able to raise this child successfully."

Spike then placed one of Apple Bloom's hooves in his claws as he looked into her eyes and said...

"Think you can do that with me?”

Apple Bloom suddenly had tears in her eyes, but not the sad kind. She then jumped on him and wrapped her hooves around him feeling happy and relieved. “You bet Ah am, Spike! Ah don’t know wut Ah was thinkin’! Ah trust ya completely; Ah don’t doubt ya in the slightest. Ah know yer more than capable to do this, and Ah was wrong to think otherwise.”

Spike just smiled back at her and said, “I’m glad to hear that.”

Then the two shared a small kiss with each other to confirm the restoration of their relationship.

“Isn’t love a wonderful thing?” said Sweetie Belle to Scootaloo with a sigh.

“It’s okay, I guess," said Scootaloo trying to not make a big deal of it, "Oh who am I kidding? Love is awesome… if not somewhat tiresome.”

After breaking from the kiss, Apple Bloom asked Spike, “So… ya really do forgive me, right?”

“I guess I do…” said Spike with a sly smile, “for the most part. But you still owe me one actual romantic evening together. Although this time, please… no crazy, over the top, dangerous plots to test my loyalty.”

“Ah promise;” Apple Bloom chuckled, “ya got yerself a date.”

Now that things had settled between them, Scootaloo decided to test Spike herself by asking him a simple question. “So Spike, just to be sure… if it was me or Sweetie Belle that you accidentally got pregnant, you would treat us the same way, right?”

Spike froze for for a second and then slightly glared at her saying, “Any chance you can explain of why you’re asking me this? You’re not planning anything naughty, are you?”

“W-what?! No!” Scootaloo protested, “I’m with Rumble; I wouldn’t betray him like that! Although, I admit that I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t curious of how mating with a dragon is like. But… no, just a curious question is all.”

“I admit,” said Sweetie Belle, “I am a bit curious of your answer to that question as well. So would you?”

Apple Bloom threw her hooves around Spike and smile as she said to her friends, “Of course he would, girls. Spike is a dragon, remember? They have complete loyalty to their friends. If he could accept this with me, he could accept it with either of you two. Right, Spike?”

“If I say yes,” Spike replied, “can we please get off the subject?”

Unknown to them as they continued to talk to each other, Applejack was listening from the other side of the door smiling and feeling glad to hear that Spike and her sister made up together. Also, Twilight was there to, and Rainbow Dash came as well when she found out.

"See, girls... I told you everything was going to be just fine,” said Twilight, “I knew Spike wouldn't stay mad for long; especially not after the way Apple Bloom begged for his forgiveness."

"Well Ah'll admit... Ah actually had a little bit of doubt,” said Applejack, “but it's good to know that it was fer nothing."

"So Spike has forgiven all of us, right?” questioned Rainbow Dash, “Because my next phase of action was to use Pinkie Pie as a last cheer-up resort."

"Don't worry. He came to me last night and I told him everything,” Twilight explained, “He's forgiven us; trust me."

All three of them suddenly placed their heads against the door to try and find out out what was going on now.

"Ah wonder wut they’re doin' right now," said Applejack, "Y'all don't think that they’re making up by making out, do ya?"

But then suddenly, the door was engulfed with magic and then swung open causing the three mares to lose their balance and fell on each other in the doorway. Spike and the others jumped and looked surprised, except Sweetie Belle who was the one who opened the door.

"Ah ha!” Sweetie shouted as she pointed at the door, “I knew I sensed somepony behind the door."

"S'up girls... and Spike," said Rainbow Dash nervously.

While Apple Bloom was lightly chuckling, Spike crossed his arms and lowered his eyes at the three mare as he said, "Seriously? You three were eavesdropping?"

"D-don’t think of it as eavesdropping,” said Twilight, “think of it as... checking to see if you were okay."

Of course Spike continued to stare at Twilight because he didn’t believe a word she said.

"Okay, we were eavesdropping; b-but we were checking on you to."

"You three are unbelievable,” said Spike, “But I guess compared to what happened yesterday, this is pretty normal."

Everybody then started to laugh together over everything they’ve been through. Apple Bloom especially was glad that things were going back to the way they were.

"Ah'm so glad everythang is alright now. As long as Ah don't do anything else stupid, nothin' else can go wrong!"

But then in the middle of their laughter, Apple Bloom suddenly froze as she felt a huge jolt of pain go through her body. “Oh my…” She then fell on her side and held onto her stomach as she began whining in pain. Everyone’s attention was suddenly on her as they were suddenly panicking seeing what she was doing.

"Apple Bloom!” shouted Applejack, “Oh man, not again!"

"Again?!” said Sweetie Belle, “You mean this sort of thing happened already?!"

Spike suddenly got in front of everyone and and told them, "Everypony, give her some room!"

"She's not going into labor, is she?!" said Rainbow Dash, “I don’t take seeing a live birth very well!”

"She shouldn't be yet!” said Twilight Sparkle, “According to my research books, she shouldn't be giving birth yet until for at least 2 more months!"

As Apple Bloom continued to cringe in pain, Spike laid his claws on her and was trying to talk her through it. "Just breathe in and out, Apple Bloom! In and out In and out.”

The others stood back while Spike comforted Apple Bloom, but they were worried that something bad was happening to her; that maybe she was giving birth too soon. But pretty soon, the pain that Apple Bloom was feeling suddenly went away; and she just laid there trying to gain her breath.

“W-w-whoa… th-that was… intense,” said Apple Bloom with her voice slightly trembling, “This baby really wants to get out, doesn't he. Too bad he doesn't know that he needs more time to develop in there.”

“Are you… okay, Apple Bloom?” said Spike, “Is there something going on with you that you should tell us?”

“Ah… don’t think so,” Apple Bloom responded with a light groan, “‘ugh’ That sudden moment did do a number on me though. Sorry if Ah made all of you worried.”

“I know pregnant mares experience moments of pain from time to time," said Twilight, “but… there was something about the way Apple Bloom was responding that seemed a little… weird to me.”

Rainbow Dash suddenly sighed with relief, “Well I’m just glad that she’s not giving birth while I’m in the same room. But in any case... I'm glad you're okay, kid."

Overall, everyone was glad that the labor pains Apple Bloom had was just a false alarm; but they didn’t think it was anything else since Apple Bloom still had a couple of months left before that happened. However after seeing Apple Bloom in pain again, Spike had second thoughts of their evening plans.

“You know,” he said putting his claws on Apple Bloom, “maybe... we should skip the date this evening... just to be on the safe side."

In an instant, Apple Bloom turned to Spike and poked her hoof against him as she demanded, "Oh no, we're doing that date. I owe you big time, so there will be no delays. If Ah just take it easy for the rest of the day, then Ah should be good; r-right?"

Seeing her determined eyes, it was hard for Spike to say no; but he still placed his foot down a little."Well... okay. But if you have another one of those moments again, the date is off, got it?"

"Yeah yeah, Ah got it," Apple Bloom chuckled.

"Don't worry, Spike,” said Sweetie Belle, “We'll make sure that she won't get into any trouble.”

“Yep, you can count on us!" Scootaloo agreed.

"Girls, come on;” said Apple Bloom feeling embarrassed, “ya don't need to treat me like a baby... that's Applejack’s job."

Suddenly, the door burst open once again scaring everyone half to death. It was their freind, Pinkie Pie; and she came dashing into the room shouting, "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave no fear... the pink party pony is here!"

But as she looked ahead, she saw everyone she expected to be there and Spike who she saw sitting right beside Apple Bloom. She knew exactly what that meant.

"Aw, Rainbow Dash;” she pouted, “don’t tell me that those two made up without me?!” She then took out a box that sprayed out confetti and glitter, “I had a whole cheer up session planned out!"

Spike looked over at Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash; but then Twilight and Applejack was looking at Rainbow Dash who suddenly said, "What? It was a contagion plan just in case things... you know... didn't work out. Sorry, Pinkie, but your services are no longer needed."

Pinkie slightly pouted, but then showed a little smile and said, "Oh well, glad you two are all lovey duby again. Just give me a call if you ever get down in the dumps again!"

With that, Pinkie simply bounced up and down out of the room and was showing herself out. Spike was almost afraid of what Pinkie had planned for them.

"Too bad.” Apple Bloom chuckled, “Ah was kinda curious to see wut she was goin' to do for us."

"Trust me,” Spike stated, “I think we're good."

The rest of the day went on as normal as it usually does, and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo kept their promise of looking after their friend, Apple Bloom… even though she didn’t want them to. She actually thought they were kidding at first.

By the end of the afternoon, nothing else happened with Apple Bloom and she felt just fine. As promised, she and Spike went out on an actual real date together. Spike treated Apple Bloom to his favorite donut shop where she almost ate a dozen of them; and then, they had their little stroll in the fields and watched the sunset together. Thankfully for Spike, there was no surprises this time. Afterwards, they even went to see a classic movie at the Ponyville Theater; one that they both enjoyed. Luckily, nothing happened to Apple Bloom during all of this either.

Once everything was done and their night was at its end, Spike walked Apple Bloom to her farm home to make sure she made it back safe. With their day as good as it was, they both now felt much closer than they ever did before.

"This was a great evenin', Spike," said Apple Bloom as they arrived at the front door, "Ah had fun. Ah guess this beats wut we did yesterday, huh?"

"Absolutely," Spike chuckled, "Even now I still wonder of how you came up with such a ridiculous plan. I mean... it was so over the top and unnecessary. How did you even convince the others to even help you with it?"

"Ah have mah ways, but... it's best if ya don't know?"

Spike had to agree with her on that.

"Well in any case, I had fun too. Tonight was... pretty good. I'm also glad that you didn't have another one of those moments of pain in your stomach. You really freaked me out with that."

"Yeah, Ah know. But it's like Ah said, it's just our son wantin' to come out even though he can't just yet."

Suddenly, a little smile came on Spike' face as he scratched the back of his head and nervously chuckled to Apple Bloom. "I still can't get over that fact; our son. We're really going to have a son together."

"Yep," said Apple Bloom with a bright smile, "Ah bet some years back ya thought that you were goin' to have a child with Rarity, didn’t ya?"

Spike lightly scowled at Apple Bloom and told her, "Apple Bloom, don't start with me."

But then they both just started laughing together with neither of them feeling mad or upset at one another.

"Well, thanks again fer a great night," said Apple Bloom with a light blush, "Ah guess Ah should head inside so Ah can... go and rest. But that's what I seem to be doing recently anyaway."

Apple Bloom was about to open the door to her place when Spike suddenly said, "A-Apple Bloom, wait?"

"Wut is it?"

While speaking hesitantly, Spike suggested, "Do you... want me to... sleep with you tonight... j-j-just to make sure that you're okay and sleep well?"

"Aw, Spike..." said Apple Bloom realizing that Spike was still worried about her, "that's so sweet. But Ah'm a big pony... literally; Ah'll be alright. However if Ah do need ya, Ah'll let you know." She then got closer to him and said, "But fer now... Ah'll leave you tonight with this."

Apple Bloom placed her fore hooves on Spike’s shoulders and then leaned in and started to kiss Spike on the lips. It wasn't for long, but Spike’s body completely froze and was falling limp to the young mare's sweet, warm lips. After breaking away, Apple Bloom smirked at Spike as turned around brushing Spike’s face with her tail and was making her way inside the house. Soon only her head poked out to tell him...

"Good night."

After Apple Bloom went into the house, Spike just stood there staring at the door for a few seconds; but then he eventually turned around and began walking away off the farm. He was deeply in thought of everything that happened and everything was going to be. Up to this point, he knew that he had to be prepared for anything.

'Man, this is all going by so fast,' Spike thought, 'Apple Bloom and I are really going to become parents in a couple of months. It only seemed like yesterday that Twilight and I first came to Ponyville, and I saw Apple Bloom begging Twilight to stay for lunch with such adorable eyes. Although, I didn’t really care much about it then. But... it's all good. This is going to work out great. I'm glad to be starting a new life with her. There's nothing else that can mess this up for us.'

Apple Bloom told her siblings everything that went on during her date with Spike after she came into the house; but at the same time, she felt exhausted. After telling them, she freshened up and went straight onto bed. Of course, Applejack did her best to assist her if she needed it; but Apple Bloom thought she was pressing on her too hard. Once in bed and everything was taken care of, Applejack felt that she needed to poker her head in her young sister's room to check on her one more time.

"Everythang okay, Apple Bloom? Ya need anythang?"

Apple Bloom sighed and responded, "Ah'm fine, Applejack. Honestly, this is 4th time you asked me since Ah got back. You really should stop worrying about me so much."

"Ah know. A-A-Ah'm still a little on edge from wut happened this morning... let alone wut happened yesterday evening. Ah almost thought somethang bad was happenin' to ya."

"Well you and the others said so yerself, this is pretty normal for a pregnant mare. Don't ya think you should've gotten used to this by now?"

Chuckling lightly to herself, Applejack just admitted, "Yer right, sis; Ah'm sorry. Ah shouldn’t ride on ya too hard just because of a single incident. But just know that if ya ever do need anythang yer big brother and Ah are here for ya."

"Don't worry," said Apple Bloom after a big yawn, "Ah will. Just stop worrying yerself and get a good night's sleep. Ah'll be okay."

Applejack nodded and told her, "Good night."

After closing the door, Applejack saw Macintosh standing nearby with a slight expression of discontent on his face.

"You worried as well?" Applejack asked him.

"Yep."

"Yeah, well... don't be. Ah know what Apple Bloom told ya worries you; heck, it worries me as well. But... Apple Bloom is strong and we should know that. We shouldn't make much of a fuss about this unless she absolutely needs us. If Granny Smith were here... she would've said the same thang."

She then placed her hoof around Macintosh to perk him back up."Now come on, let's get some rest. We got a full day tomorrow."

Everything seemed to go fine as the night went on. It was about an hour past midnight and everyone was getting a good night's sleep. But all of a sudden, something was coming over Apple Bloom in the midst of her sleep. She was feeling a sharp pain in her stomach that mostly woke her up. Despite it she felt that it was nothing and that it would eventually go away... but it did anything but.

The pain began getting worse, and Apple Bloom was tossing and turning while constant groaning to herself and holding her stomach. "Damnit... w-what' g-going on? Wh-what’s wrong with me? Why does mah stomach feel s-so... queasy?" But no matter what position she got in, she couldn’t get comfortable. She even felt her bladder acting up and it was driving her crazy as she just flopped on her back, "Ugh, Ah can't even relax mah body; it's almost like... Ah need to go... b-but not in a normal way."

She didn’t want to trouble anyone with what she was feeling and she thought that she could handle it herself. But the more pain she felt, the more desperate she got. Eventually, she gave in and knew that she needed help, "Okay, Ah can't take this anymore. Ah need mah Big Sis. Ah know Ah’m growin' and all, but Ah think there's seriously somethang wrong with..."

But suddenly... as she was beginning to climb out from under her covers, Apple Bloom froze as she felt a different sensation come over her; and bed under her felt weird under her hooves.

"What the.. wait a minute. W-w-why do mah sheets feel all... wet and moist?"

In an instant, Apple Bloom looked under her bedsheets only to find a very shocking surprise. When she saw what she saw... she lost it.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Her scream was heard throughout the house, and Applejack suddenly rose up out from her sleep unaware of what she heard. "Huh? W-wut was zat? A-Ah could've sworn that Ah heard..." But that changed when she heard...

"APPLEJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!"

Applejack was now wide awake hearing her sister's cry for help."Apple Bloom? Apple Bloom?! Don't worry, Ah’m comin'!"

She stormed out of her room and was racing towards Apple Bloom’s; and was already right beside her.

"No surprise that you heard it too."

"Yep."

When they got to the room, Applejack barged in and both of them rushed over to Apple Bloom’s bed where she was sitting upright with the bed sheets covering her body's lower half.

"Apple Bloom, wut's wrong?!" Applejack shouted in worry, "We heard ya scream fer help, so..."

But then, Applejack lifted the sheet off of her sister and immediately saw the reason of her call of distress. As Apple Bloom was leaning on one side with one hoof and holding her stomach with the other, Applejack and Macintosh both saw a large area of a liquid substance directly under her.

"Sweet mother of..." said Macintosh.

Applejack couldn’t believe what she saw but hope that it wasn't what she thought. "Apple Bloom... please tell us that you only accidentally wet yer bed... no matter how embarrassin' it may be."

But that hope was dashed when Apple Bloom began groaning more in pain and told them...

"A-A-Applejack... B-B-Big Mac... this is no accident. It's the baby; A-Ah think... Ah think he’s comin'!"

Meanwhile...

Back at the Golden Oaks Library tree, Twilight and Spike were sound asleep like everyone else in town. Spike was lying in his usual bed right beside Twilight and was sleeping peacefully. But then suddenly, Spike was awoken by something he thought he heard.

He opened his eyes and held his head up looking around, "Was that..." He then got up and was looking out a nearby window as he felt that something serious was going on somewhere, "What's this sensation I'm feeling?"

Twilight suddenly woke as well and yawned as she stretched hooves. She then looked over at Spike who was constantly staring out the window he was at.

"Spike?" she said, "W-what's wrong, Spike? S-something going on?"

"Did you hear something just now?" Spike asked Twilight.

She tried to hear out for something, but couldn't make out what he meant. "Can't say that I did. I'm assuming you did though, right?"

"Well... I didn't hear exactly; more like I sensed it. I think... it's Apple Bloom; she might be in trouble!"

"How can you be sure that it's her?" Twilight questioned, "It's past 1 am; maybe you're hearing things in your subconscious mind."

"No, Twilight. Trust me, this is nothing like that. I can’t explain it, but... I have a weird feeling in my gut."

But at that moment, Spike didn’t have a second thought.; he had already made up his mind of what to do.

"I'm not risking it, I'm going to her." He then began climbing out the window as he looked over at Twilight and questioned, "Mind if I use this window? Thanks!" Then he jumped out, landed on the ground below and continued forward in a full four-legged sprint towards the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

"Well he's in quite a rush," Twilight chuckled to herself, "But I hope he's wrong about what he said. I'd hate for something bad to happen to Apple Bloom right now. It be real hard on both of them."

Spike was not wasting any time. He wanted to make sure that Apple Bloom was okay. But from the weird sensation he was still feeling, he was beginning to worry for her. There was no way he was planing for anything wrong to happen now.

'I'm coming, Apple Bloom; just hold on. Please be okay... for our son's sake.'

Author's Note

Only 2 chapters left!
Hope you look forward to it! :heart:

Welcome to the Family

(Sorry this took WAY too long to finish, but its finally here and finally done! Enjoy!)

(The OC baby is an alternate version of a OC created by LudiculousPegasus.)

(Finally... this chapter contains some facts of dragons that I made up for this story. Please don't hate on it.)

Apple Bloom had a wonderful date night with Spike to make up for the terrible mistake that she pulled. Afterwards, both of them were now at ease with each other even more than they had been in the past; and Apple Bloom was looking forward to having their baby in the next couple of months. Unfortunately, she didn’t have that long to wait.

In the middle of the night… about an hour past midnight, Applejack and Macintosh both heard their little sister crying out from her room; and it sounded like she was in serious pain. Both of them immediately reacted and raced towards her room and barged in. They both came to her thinking that she was having more of her uncomfortable contracting pains. But as they both saw the evidence, what they thought was far from the case.

“Yer… y-y-yer… in labor!?” Applejack said in slight panic, “Are ya sayin’ yer about to have the baby right now!”

Instead of answering right away, Apple Bloom let out another howl of pain while holding on to her stomach. It seemed to the two siblings that Apple Bloom was not kidding around.

“What the hay is goin’ on here?! We weren’t ready fer this! Not now!”

“A-A-Apple… jack?” Apple Bloom suddenly said hesitantly.

“Yes, Apple Bloom?” said Applejack as she went closer to her young sister, “Wut is it?”

“I-i-if ya don’t mind… THIS IS NO TIME TO QUESTION WUT’S HAPPENIN’! Ah need help… NOW!”

Applejack was immediately startled as she stepped back and said, “Ahh! O-o-of course!” She began pacing back and forth feeling a bit confused of what to do next. “Wut to do? Wut to do?! How would Mom and Dad handle this?! Think, Applejack! Think!”

Big Macintosh suddenly grabbed Applejack and gave her a little shake as she told her, “Get a hold of yerself, AJ! Wut we need to do is get our little sister to the hospital as soon as possible… in which Ah will be happy to do so mahself.”

Doing that seemed to work as Applejack took a deep breath and calmed down before saying, “Right. Of course, Big Mac; thanks for snappin’ me out of it. Ah’ll notify the hospital from here while ya carry AB there on yer back. Ah’m sure you’ll get her there fast enough.”

Suddenly, there was a loud thump sound at the room door; and Applejack and Macintosh looked behind them and saw Spike standing there catching his breath and said, “But not as fast as me.”

Apple Bloom then looked up and was a little surprised to see him there, “S-S-S-Spi-i-ike? Ugh!” But she then clutched around her stomach again feeling the unbearable pain.

“Whoa, you responded fast,”said Applejack to Spike, “How did ya know?”

“I just had a feeling and decided to act on it. Good thing I did.” Spike approached Apple Bloom and was becoming more troubled seeing the state she was in, “So what’s wrong? I’m here to help her in any way!”

With a slight hint of hesitance in her tone, Applejack said, “Spike… A-Ah’m afraid Apple Bloom… is goin’ into labor.”

Spike’s eyes suddenly went wide and he almost couldn't speak. He kept looking back and forth between Applejack and Apple Bloom stating, “Wh-wh-what?! Sh-she’s what?! For real?! Right now?!”

“YES, DAMNIT; YES!” shouted Apple Bloom at the top of her lungs almost scaring Spike half to death, “AH’M IN LABOR… RIGHT NOW! CAN WE PLEASE DO SOMETHANG ABOUT IT?!!!”

Spike couldn’t believe that it came to this. He thought that he had more time to prepare before Apple Bloom had their baby, but now it seemed that he didn’t have a choice now.

‘Okay, Spike, no need to act like a coward now,’ Spike thought to himself, ‘The moment is here a little earlier than expected, so… it’s time to act.’

Without much hesitation, Spike carefully took Apple Bloom and placed her on his back and told her siblings, “I’ll take Apple Bloom to the hospital. No offense to your brother, but I can get there much faster. The sooner the better, right?”

“Very well,” said Applejack, “And while you do that, Ah’ll notify the place from here. Hopefully our main nurse is still there this time of night.”

Apple Bloom was done talking at the moment and was instead constantly groaning in pain. Spike was panicking again realizing he needed to go right away, “Right, right, right; sorry! Let’s do this! Hang on, Apple Bloom!”

Spike then once again went to the window of the room and then jumped out from it then continuing on as fast as he could without shaking Apple Bloom too much.

“Go on after him, Big Mac,” said Applejack, “AB might need yer support; and Ah’ll come as soon as Ah can!”

“Eyup,” Macintosh replied before dashing out of the room.

As Macintosh followed after Spike, Applejack looked outside up at the starry night sky that was perfectly clear as she quietly said to herself, “Mom… Dad… Ah don’t know why this is happening now, but… please… watch over her.”

At the Ponyville Health & Care hospital,

Nurse Rhyme was in the middle of getting ready to heading out. Her night shift was now over and she was looking forward to having some rest. But all of a sudden, she heard the phone go off in her office; and since she was still there, she knew she had no choice but to answer it. She sighed hoping that it wasn’t anything too serious.

“Who could that be at this time of night?” she lightly groaned, “I was just about to end my night shift.”

She went over to the phone and picked it up; and as she began to talk, she tried her best to sound alert, “Hello? This is Nurse Rhyme. ‘YAWN’ How may I help you?” When she heard who was on the line, she became a bit worried, “Oh, Applejack… so nice to hear from you at 1:25 in the morning. Oh don’t worry, it's okay. You just caught me at the last minute is all. So, what can I do for you?”

Applejack began telling Nurse Rhyme about everything that what was happening right at the moment. Rhyme’s eyes suddenly went wide, her mane drooped a little as she suddenly questioned, “Huh? Wh-what about Apple Bloom?” Once she realized that she heard correctly, she was almost at a lost for words. “Wait, what?! Am I hearing you correctly?! Apple Bloom is already… in labor?!!! This better not be a late night prank.”

But of course she knew that Applejack and Apple Bloom would never joke about something like this. It was at that time that she made a bold decision to stay at the hospital longer to assist with the situation. She did promise them that she was going to be there when it happen and she wasn’t going to take it back now.

“So… it’s really happening, huh? I never would’ve thought. Well... don’t you worry about a thing; your sister will be in good hooves. You can count on that. See ya when you get here.”

After hanging up, Nurse Rhyme took another deep breath and prepared to head off to the main lobby where the other main nurses were while thinking to herself, ‘Looks like my night shift has extended. I’m going to sleep well in the morning.’

During this dire time of night, Spike wasn’t the only one who had a weird feeling of something going on with Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle had snuck out of her Sister's place and went out into the street as she was making her way to Sweet Apple Acres. But on the way, she ran into her other friend, Scootaloo who was also on her way to the same destination.

“Scootaloo?” said Sweetie Belle, “What are you doing up this late?”

“I could ask you the same thing;” Scootaloo lightly chuckled, “so I guess we’re both guilty.” She then went on to tell Sweetie Belle of why she was out in the middle of the night. “I had this weird dream that something serious was going to happen to Apple Bloom with her pregnancy. I couldn’t sleep. So I quietly snuck out to make sure that she was okay.”

“Get out!” Sweetie Bell softly shouted, “I dreamed something like that to; and I couldn’t sleep and had the same idea!”

“Are you trying to weird me out, Sweetie Belle?”

“No, I’m serious. She was at a hospital, and she screamed a lot calling out Spike’s name. Next thing I knew, doctors and nurses were all around her shouted and yelling things to her telling her what to do! That’s all I remember though, so I can’t exactly confirm what it was all about.”

“Whoa… that is freaky,” Scootaloo stated, “Well I guess since we’re both here and we both had similar dreams, we might as well go together. I just hope things aren’t as bad as we may think.”

“Yeah.”

As Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo continued on together, Sweetie decided to ask, “By the way, are you sure that your dream was exactly the same as mine?”

“Mostly,” Scootaloo replied, “But did your dream have Spike as a pony and Apple Bloom as a dragon?”

That took Sweetie by surprised, and she was trying to imagine the image in her as she responded, “No way; that must have freaked you out a bit.”

“Not really,” said Scootaloo nonchalantly, “Although, it was kinda weird seeing her poop a dragon egg out of her dragon ass.”

Sweetie couldn’t help but giggle a bit from that comment.

“Also for some weird reason, I saw Pinkie Pie randomly go by my viewpoint one time riding a unicycle while wearing a diaper, sucking on a binky and juggling balls. Now that was freaky.”

Sweetie suddenly froze as looked at her friend with wide eyes and told her, “Wow… lucky!”

Suddenly, Sweetie and Scootaloo felt a slight vibration from the ground underneath their hooves. Sweetie became concerned as she looked at Scootaloo and asked, “Hold on… do you feel that?”

Then quicker than they could anticipate, Spike the Dragon came trampling through and leapt over the two young mares and continued onward on the path. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were both startled from his sudden appearance; but they also noticed someone else.

“Whoa! Was that… Spike?!” shouted Scootaloo.

“Yeah,” said Sweetie Belle, “but who or what is that laid on his back?”

Scootaloo took a close look as Spike was running of and then gasped as she saw who was resting on his back, “No way, I-I think that's Apple Bloom!”

“They look like they were in a hurry,” said Sweetie Belle worryingly, “I wonder where they're going?”

“I don’t know,” said Scootaloo, “but come on; we need to find out!”

The two ponies began following after Spike and Apple Bloom in hopes to figuring out what was going on; and it was quite convenient that this was happening after the conjoining dreams they both had. But pretty soon, they were joined by Macintosh who was following after Spike and his Apple Bloom. However as he was running, he had suddenly started eyeing Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo with an arched eyebrow. The two younger ponies could do nothing but nervously smile at him.

“You two better have a good reason fer bein’ up and out here this time of night,” said Macintosh in a light, demanding tone.

“Heh heh… t-trust us,” said Scootaloo, “we have a very good explanation.”

As they all ran off, another young pony named Dinky was walking nearby with her Mother, Derpy. Derpy tilted her head and was being curious asking her daughter, “I wonder what that was all about?”

“‘YAWN!’ I don’t know, Mom,” said Dinky feeling very tired while hanging her head down, “Let's just… get back home and get some sleep, okay? I've been through enough tonight already.”

“Sure thing; but I'm just saying… we might be missing out on something fun.”

Dinky just sighed and rolled her eyes. Sometimes, she didn’t know what to do with her Mother.

Spike was storming down the path as fast as he could towards the Health and Care Center. He needed to get Apple Bloom there as soon as he could so she could properly give birth. But even as she was resting on his back, Apple Bloom was still in so much pain; and it didn’t seem to lessen any at all.

“Oh mah… GAWD!!! Wut is happenin’ to me?! Ah feel like mah stomach is burnin’ from the inside!”

Spike was becoming very worried for her from the way she was crying out. ‘Burning from the inside?’ He was hoping that she didn’t mean that in a literal sense.

“Hang in there, Apple Bloom!” he shouted, “We’re almost there! J-just think calm and... comforting thoughts!”

“Ugh! Ah oughta give you somethin’ comfortin’, ya d-dumb dragon!” Apple Bloom shouted in frustration.

Ignoring the statement that Apple Bloom said to him, Spike kept on running until he finally saw the Health and Care Center in his sight. However, he wasn’t expecting to see some of the employees standing right outside the building with a gurney at their disposal.

“Wow, Applejack definitely worked fast.”

Nurse Redheart was the main one there and she helped the others in carefully getting Apple Bloom on her back on the gurney. She told Spike, “We know what is going on. We have no time to lose!”

One of the unicorn nurses did a scan spell over Apple Bloom’s body to check the status of her predicament. Afterwards she suddenly gasped and stated, “Oh my… this looks really serious. Don’t worry, Apple Bloom, we’ll get you to the emergency room posthaste.”

Apple Bloom was laying on the gurney groaning in continuous pain and just stated, “Do wutever ya need to do, just… get this pain to s-stop!”

“Wait… Emergency room?!” said Spike feeling panicked and concerned, “Are we really resorting to that?!”

The unicorn whispered something in Redheart’s ear; and then Redheart’s eyes grew wide as she looked at Spike and said, “I’m afraid we have no choice. Let's go!”

As Spike followed them as they wheeled Apple Bloom into the center, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Macintosh were closing in from far off.

“There! I can see the center,” Scootaloo shouted to her friend, “hurry!”

Scootaloo was using her wings for extra lift to go forward, but Sweetie was literally panting in exhaustion trying to keep up with her, “I’m… running… as fast as I… can!”

Once they both got to the entrance way, they rushed in and looked around; but they didn’t see their friend anywhere. Their only choice was to talk to a nearby worker that was going by.

“Which way did they take A.B?!” both of them strongly asked.

The employee was a little startled at first; but as soon as she pointed in the direction, Apple Bloom’s friends instantly ran off in a hurry. The employee suddenly saw Apple Bloom’s big brother, Big Macintosh calmly walk in as he saw Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo run off.

“Your sister’s friends?” the employee asked the red stallion.

“Yep.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were galloping down the hallways in the direction that was given to them in hopes that they could catch their friend. But they couldn’t escape the certain thoughts from their heads.

“Oh… do you think what Macintosh said was true?” said Sweetie Belle.

“Of course it's true!” Scootaloo replied loudly, “Why would he joke about something like this?”

“I’m just being cautious is all. Anyway, I guess this confirms our conjoined dreams. I just hope Apple Bloom is okay.”

“Please… Apple Bloom is a tough pony;” said Scootaloo with a light chuckle, “almost as tough as me. I’m sure she’ll be just fine… she has to be.”

It was at that time that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo turned at a certain corner; and down that path, they both saw Spike in their sights again.

“Look, there’s Spike up ahead!” Scootaloo shouted, “That must be where Apple Bloom is!”

The two hurried and approached Spike feeling relieved of catching up to him; and Sweetie was gasping for breath when she asked him, “Is… A.B… alright?”

But suddenly, they both suddenly noticed that Spike was crying while blatantly staring at the dual doors in front of him, “I… I-I-I don’t know. But… if something happens to Apple Bloom… it will be all my fault.”

From the sound of Spike’s tone of voice, they could tell that whatever was going was very serious. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo didn’t like the fact that Spike was blaming himself again for what was happening, but they did feel sorry for him.

“Is that seriously wut yer thinkin’ right now?” said a sudden deep voice from behind.

Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Spike all suddenly looked behind them to see Macintosh who had finally caught up them; but not by running. Spike saw the way Macintosh was looking at him with a stern expression and tried to say, “B-but I…”

But Macintosh stopped him before he could start his statement, “But nuthin’. Yer not alone on this. We’re all just as worried about this as you are, but we shouldn’t let it get us down. Apple Bloom will be fine and can get through this, but ya need to do your part by believing that she can.”

Spike suddenly wiped away his tears and was trying to calm down knowing that Macintosh was right. “S-sorry. It's just that… it was so sudden, and this is happening… way too soon; and it just… freaked me out. But you’re right, I shouldn’t worry so much. Apple Bloom and I already promised each other to not think that way anyway. No matter what happens, I must stay strong… for her.”

“That’s the spirit, Spike!” said Scootaloo as she patted her hoof on Spike’s side, “We all need to be strong for her!”

Then Sweetie came on the other side and said, “And doing so will help her get through this.”

Suddenly, Spike realized something looking at the two older fillies, “Wait a minute, I just realized something. What in Equestria are you two doing here; and how did you know what was happening?!”

“It's actually a very interesting story,” Sweetie Belle lightly chuckled, “Scootaloo and I both had conjoining dreams where Apple Bloom was already having a baby with a lot of doctors and nurses around. So apparently, we both decided to sneak out of our houses to go and see if Apple Bloom was okay. But… technically, Big Mac is the one who told what was really going on.”

Spike was quite shocked of what they did; and the fact that they thought that it was normal for them to do so. “You both snuck out of your houses… in the middle of the night?! Are you both out of your freaking minds?!”

“Hey, give us a break why don’t ya!” said Scootaloo, “We did it because we were only worried about Apple Bloom just like you were!”

Spike just smirked and shook his head; Scootaloo did have a point. However, he turned his head back to the dual doors where Apple Bloom was and said in contempt, “Well one thing is for certain… I’ll make sure that nothing will ruin this day.”

On the other side of the dual doors, Nurse Redheart and Nurse Rhyme were working with others to prepare Apple Bloom for her sudden birth. As they set her up on a bed in the emergency room, Apple Bloom’s pain was not settling at all; and all she could do was continue to groan and scream in pain. It was making some of the nurses a bit nervous, but this wasn’t anything they haven’t handled before. And it was better for them that Apple Bloom was now the only patient in that area of the center.

Nurse Rhyme was beside Apple Bloom to help her get into a comfortable position to begin pushing. She told her, “Hang in there, Apple Bloom! We’ll get that baby out of you soon; I promise!”

“Ugh! C-can ya...get it out now?!!!” Apple Bloom screamed.

A small sweat drop formed on Rhyme’s forehead as she lightly chuckled, “Um… I’m afraid we can’t rush thing too much. Just concentrate on your breathing and try your best to push that baby out.”

“E-e-easier said th-than done! Ah can hardly relax with this burnin’ sensation in mah stomach! Damnit, does every pregnant mare feel like this?!”

“I wouldn’t know,” Nurse Rhyme responded.

Nurse Redheart was studying over a computerized scan that was monitoring Apple Bloom. But as she continued to look, she suddenly noticed something that troubled her, “Oh dear. Miss Rhyme, you might want to come look at this!”

Nurse Rhyme came over to the monitor screen where Redheart was and saw the silhouette of the baby inside Apple Bloom. She was quite surprised of it's development. “Whoa, look at it. I knew a that the baby’s growth was a little faster than normal; but… for it this big so soon, it’s no wonder that Apple Bloom is about to burst.”

“That is true,” said Redheart in a troubled tone, “but I’m afraid that is not the main problem here; look. Not only is the baby already in full development, but there seems to be some kind of heat emanating from it's body.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” said Nurse Rhyme as she saw the proof on screen, “However… it does seems that the temperature is getting a bit higher… and it's…. not stopping. Sh-shouldn’t we be concerned about that?”

Then Redheart revealed to her, “When Spike brought Apple Bloom to the front doors, my assistant had whispered something to me after scanning her magic over her body. I didn’t want her to be right, but… it seems that she is. Due to the major stress that the baby is feeling of being born, it's body is giving off rising hot temperatures.”

“Ahhhh! W-w-wut… does that… e-even mean?!” said Apple Bloom who overheard.

Nurse Rhyme then answered her, “I’m afraid... th-that it means that you’re not just feeling that your stomach is burning; your stomach... really is burning on the inside… more or less.”

“WHAT?! Ugh!”

“Wait, now I remember,” said Redheart, “This sort of thing is normal with dragons, but a dragon's body is capable of handling those temperatures. They do breathe fire after all. However… Apple Bloom is not a dragon.”

“No wonder Ah've been feelin’ like crap!” said Apple Bloom, “Ugh… that explains a lot. But… does th-that mean that mah baby is actually… h-h-half dragon?”

“I guess that is the only logical explanation; go figure,” said Nurse Rhyme, “B-b-but don’t worry; right now it's not at any scalding temperature. But we do need to get this baby out; otherwise… um, well… I hate to even think about it.”

“Geez,” Apple Bloom groaned, “that’s very comfortin’.”

It was then at that time that Redheart and Rhyme were guiding Apple Bloom to start pushing as carefully as she could. Nurse Rhyme was beside her again and told her, “Alright, just concentrate… concentrate, try to be calm and think happy thoughts…”

Apple Bloom suddenly glared at her feeling a bit upset of her words.

“S-s-sorry, bad choice of words,” said Nurse Rhyme nervously, “Whatever, just push!”

Nurse Redheart joined Nurse Rhyme and some of the other nurses to work with Apple Bloom as she began to push with all her might. The contracting pain was rapidly shooting through her body; but she expected as much. She was breathing in and out and concentrating on her goal to finally give birth. But unfortunately at some point, Apple Bloom let out the loudest scream than she had so far and showed no sign of having the baby out of her.

“Ahhh!” she screamed as she fell on her back, “It's not workin’! It's not workin’! Damnit, why won't ya come out already?!”

“Um, Miss Redheart?” said one of the assistant nurses who was standing over the monitoring screen, “The temperatures are still rising!”

Redheart and Rhyme were panicking even more than what they felt on the inside. They didn’t want the worse case scenario of this situation to suddenly take place in front of them.

“We need to figure out something fast!” said Nurse Rhyme, “We did not do all of that preparing over the months just to fail!”

Apple Bloom was just laying on the bed sweating and panting heavily. She was trying to overcome the pain that she was feeling, but it was too much for her to bear. But suddenly, a questionable idea came into Redheart’s head as she said, “Wait… I think I have an idea. This may sound a bit crazy, but… maybe there's a way to calm the baby inside; and in doing so, the heat will go down… making it easier for Apple Bloom to push him out.”

Nurse Rhyme thought about it, and then decided, “That...could actually work.” She then turned to Apple Bloom and asked her quickly, “Apple Bloom, during your moments of pain, were there any moments of when it seemed to die down the most?”

Apple Bloom was still in constant pain, but she was able to ponder on the question a bit and then said, “Ugh! Uh… A-A-Ah’ve had a lot of those moments, but… A-Ah guess the baby s-s-seemed to be at it's most c-calm whenever… Spike… was around.”

It was then that they knew what to do to possibly save Apple Bloom’s life. Redheart suddenly shouted, “That’s it! We need the dragon!”

Around that time, Applejack had finally made to the Ponyville Health and Care center. She carefully galloped through the halls until she got to where she saw her Big Brother, Macintosh waiting for her. “Ah’m here, Big Mac! Ah told Granny Smith everythang; but Ah knew that she couldn’t come out at this time of night. So Winona is keepin’ an eye on the farm until one of us gets back. Although, Ah’m still wonderin’ how Granny Smith slept through what happened… even at her age.”

“Yeup,” Macintosh agreed.

Suddenly, Applejack noticed Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo being there too. They both grinned and waved at her; and in response, she arched her eye and said, “Wait a minute, wut are you two doin here this time of night?!”

“Ugh!” Scootaloo groaned, “Are we going to have to explain everything again?!”

“You know wut… nevermind,” said Applejack trying to calm down, “Ah’ll wonder about that later.”

Immediately, she went over to Spike who was sitting the closest to the nearby dual doors with his hands folded and his head down in deep thought. She came beside him and questioned him, “You doin’ okay, Spike? How’s Apple Bloom doin’?”

“Right now… I’m not so sure,” said Spike without lifting up his head, “The nurses were going on about something serious going on in her right now, and it may be the cause of why she is in so much pain. I’m doing my best to be strong, but… I don’t know; I just wish I could be in there right now to make sure things are okay.”

‘It's that serious, Huh?’ Applejack thought to herself in slight worry, ‘Ah guess it's a good thing we were awoken by her screams, or else things might have been worse than it already might be.’

Applejack placed her hoof on Spike’s shoulder and told him in a comforting tone, “Don’t worry, Spike. If Ah know mah little sis, that means she has the means to get through anythang. That’s just how us Apples do things. She’ll be okay; Ah promise.”

But right at that moment of comfort, everyone there suddenly jumped to their hooves (and feet) as Nurse Rhyme came crashing through the dual doors and turned her attention to Spike as she shouted, “You, Spike the Dragon! We need you!”

“Huh? What?!” Spike strongly questioned.

“Your mate needs you by her side right now! Her very life might depend on it! There’s no time to waste!”

“W-w-wait, what do you mean by…” But before Spike could finish, Nurse Rhyme quickly got a hold of Spike and then began pushing him towards the dual doors from behind causing him to suddenly shout, “Ahhhhhhhh!”

After pushing him through the doors, everyone else was quick to act upon hearing what the young nurse said before.

“Hold up!” Applejack questioned, “Wut about us?! Shouldn’t we come to?”

Nurse Rhyme suddenly looked at them and and then said immediately, “Um… nope, sorry. But you can support all of us… from out here.”

After she left, Everyone was just standing there feeling completely baffled of what happened before them. They had no idea what was going on, and it was just making them more antsy.

“The hell?!” said Scootaloo, “How is that even fair?! And what did that nurse mean by Apple Bloom’s very life depends on Spike?!”

“Your guess is as good as ours, Scoots.” Applejack sighed.

Sweetie Belle just tilted her head while pondering on a certain fact. “She’s pretty strong for a little earth mare, isn’t she?”

Nurse Rhyme successfully got Spike into the emergency ward where Apple Bloom and shouted to the others, “Here he is! I got him!”

Once Spike got his bearings together, he looked over at the hospital bed where Apple Bloom was lying and covered in a sheet from the shoulders down; constantly groaning loudly. He quickly rushed over to her and shouted in worry, “Apple Bloom!” He then looked over at the nurses and strongly questioned, “What’s going on?! What’s happening with her that you guys need me here since I wasn’t invited in here before?!”

“Long story short,” Nurse Rhyme quickly said, “the baby’s body is heating up a lot due to high stress levels; and it's only getting hotter! If we can’t find a way to calm the baby down and lower the temperature, we fear of what it might do to her!”

“Say what now?!” Spike shouted. Now that he knew what was going on, he was even more worried than he already was. He didn’t want to suddenly lose her like this; and he could only imagine of how Apple Bloom’s family and friends would take it.

“Stay by her side!” Redheart ordered Spike, “Try to comfort her and the baby! It's our only chance at this; you might be her only hope!”

Spike’s body was getting jittery as he looked back down at Apple Bloom in the condition she was in. Fearing for her health, he said softly to her, “Oh my God. I’m… so sorry.”

“Ugh… y-y-ya b-better be,” Apple Bloom responded in light angry tone while glaring at him, “Ah’m… n-never lettin’ you impregnate me again.”

Suddenly, all Spike could do was smile and lightly chuckle as he held one of Apple Bloom’s hooves in his hands and said, “Heh… whatever you wish, Apple Bloom. But right now… I’m here for you. Everything is going to be okay. We’ll both get through this.”

Being careful, Spike partially placed his arm around Apple Bloom as he slowly lifted her off of her back and gave her support. But at that moment, Apple Bloom suddenly felt her pain ease up a bit to the point where she wasn’t constantly hoping for relief.

“W-whoa… th-that’s weird,” said Apple Bloom calmly, “A-A-Ah suddenly… do feel a little better now. Is you bein’ here really workin’.”

Spike’s only response was to shrug his shoulders. But then, Nurse Rhyme answered herself saying in excitement, “I’d say it is! The temperature is going down drastically! Look!”

She pointed everyone’s attention to the monitoring screen to see that what she said was true. The temperature inside Apple Bloom’s body was receding at a steady rate. All of the nurses sighed in relief.

“Now that is truly a miracle,” said Redheart, “We weren’t even sure if that would work; but thank Celestia it did.”

Spike couldn’t believe it. Just seconds before, Apple Bloom was in a state of peril that was endangering her life; but now she was fine thanks to him.

“Was that… really because of… me?”

“It's because of the both of you,” said Nurse Redheart with a proud smirk, “It already seems that when it's upset, it calms down whenever the two of you are here together. But that's just a hypothesis; I'm not 100% sure.”

“Wow... Applejack and the others aren't going to believe this,” Spike said with a light chuckle.

Now that things had calmed down and Apple Bloom’s health was no longer in danger, Nurse Rhyme came over to Apple Bloom again to assist with her procedure while Nurse Redheart stayed at the monitoring screen. It was time for to finally finish this birth once and for all.

“Alright, Apple Bloom,” said Nurse Rhyme as she lifted the foot of the bed sheet with another, “we need you to relax your body and begin pushing again; and take your time if you need to. Can you do that right now?”

“Yeah…” Apple Bloom responded hesitantly, “A-Ah think Ah can.”

Then without delay, Apple Bloom gathered her strength and began pushing again. She no longer felt the burning sensation that she was constantly feeling from before, but the process was still painful. However, that was normal. Nurse Rhyme was at the foot of the bed sheet looking under it to keep watch of the progression. Nurse Redheart was one side of Apple Bloom encouraging her, and Spike was doing the same on the other side.

“That’s it! Keep it going!” shouted Nurse Rhyme from under the sheet, “You got it!”

Apple Bloom was making progress and she could her slowly feel her making his way out from her body. As she kept screaming and pushing, Spike was looking down at her at feeling a major rush inside his body as he was thinking, ’Sweet Celestia, this is intense; and I’m not even the one pushing. But if she‘s going to be strong about this, then so will I.’

“Oh my… I'm starting to see something!” Nurse Rhyme suddenly shouted, “Don’t give up!”

This was it; the initial birth of the first pony/dragon hybrid was about to happen. Deep inside, Spike was getting really excited as he said, “I can’t believe this is happening!” But at that moment, Spike couldn’t help but to bend down a little and take a little peak under the sheet. “I have to see this! I have to see the very moment that the baby...c-c-comes…”

But when he looked, he suddenly saw the top of a head; and it kept coming out with every push Apple Bloom made. “... out.”

The very sight of that together with the intense situation somehow proved to be too much for Spike as suddenly felt a bit woozy and then fell on the ground unconscious. It startled most of the assistant nurses there, and Apple Bloom noticed herself as she shouted…

“S-S-Spike?! Spike!”

“Spike? Spike, are you okay? Spike?”

After fainting of seeing an actual birth in person, the next thing Spike suddenly heard was someone else calling out to him. He slowly gained consciousness as he opened his eyes and saw that he was back in the main room where the others were.“Ugh… wha… what happened?” But soon enough, he saw Twilight looking down at him with a face of relief; but he was wondering what she was doing great there. “Twilight?”

“Glad to see you awake, Spike,” said Twilight, “After you left the house, I couldn’t sleep no matter how hard I tried. So I decided to go to the farm, but you weren’t there; so I only assumed that you were here instead. When I got here though, I found you passed out in front of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. What in the world happened? Something go on with Apple Bloom?”

Suddenly, Spike began to remember what he was there for and what was already happening. “A-Apple Bloom? Apple Bloom! That’s right; she was… and I ended up... I-I need to see if she’s…”

Spike quickly tried to get back up to go back through the doors, but Twilight suddenly pulled him back with her magic. “Hold it right there, dragon boy; no need to rush so quickly.”

“Ah’m not quite sure wut happened in there,” Applejack explained, “but all we do know is that once Apple Bloom began givin’ birth and Spike saw it, it was too much for him… and he just fainted. That’s wut one of the nurses told us anyway.”

“Geez, Spike, way too stay strong,” said Scootaloo sarcastically, “Too bad you miss the initial birth; but then again, so did we.”

“What?!” Spike exclaimed, “Oh man; really?! Why did I have to conk out at such a big moment?! This sucks!”

“Don’t fret about it, Spike,”said Twilight “you couldn’t help it. Ah guess you’ve never seen or witness an actual birth so up-close and personal; and it's not exactly the same as watching an egg hatch.”

But that didn't matter to Spike, “No, but I shouldn’t have fainted like that. That was so embarrassing.”

“Well... Ah wonder wut’s going on in there now,” said Applejack, “It's been awfully quiet for a while after they brought Spike back out here. Ah hope everythang is alright.”

“Yeup…”

It was suddenly quiet for a few more minutes as Spike and the others just sat there outside the dual doors waiting for a confirmation on Apple Bloom’s birth. But sure enough, the doors finally opened, and Nurse Rhyme came out from them. At once, they all shouted...

“Nurse Rhyme!”

“Hello, everypony,” said Rhyme calmly, “Thank you all for being so patient; especially at this time of night.”

Spike had immediately jumped up and ran over to her causing her to back up a bit and said, “Nurse Rhyme, please tell me! How did this get go with Apple Bloom?! Is the baby okay?!”

Nurse Rhyme looked up at him and lightly smiled as she responded, “Well… the truth is that I should ask you that...after you fainted and all. You’re not used to the sight of birth, are you?”

“Can we not dwell on that fact right now?!” Spike shouted as he grabbed a hold of Nurse Rhyme and brought her closer to his face, “Answer my damn question already!”

Keeping calm under pressure, Nurse Rhyme just responded, “Calm down, Spike; it's alright. Apple Bloom is okay… and so is the baby.”

Suddenly, Spike slowly placed Rhyme back down and said, “Y… y-y-y-you mean…”

“That’s right, the birth was successful. It took a lot out of her, but… she’s going to be just fine.”

Hearing the good news brought proud and happy smiles to everyone’s faces; especially Apple Bloom’s siblings. Spike felt so relieved, all he could do was fall on his knees and lightly chuckle to himself. He knew all along that Apple Bloom would come through.

“Why don’t you come in and see your new son,” said Nurse Rhyme to Spike, “In fact, you can all come in… since everything is under control now.”

She didn’t have to tell any of them twice. They all nodded in agreement and were preparing to go see Apple Bloom and the baby. Spike was the first to approach the doors, but he immediately froze in his steps. He wasn’t quite sure if he was ready for what he was about to see.

“Come on, Spike, it's okay,” said Twilight from behind, “Just stay strong; and we’ll be right here with you.”

Nurse Rhyme led them all through the doors and into the room where Apple Bloom was resting. They were all glad to see her again, but they immediately noticed that she was holding something in her hooves.

Spike was hesitant when approaching her and softly said, “A-A-Apple Bloom?”

Apple Bloom suddenly looked over to her side to see everyone there and and calmly smiled as she felt at ease, “Hey, Spike. Hey, everypony. It's nice to see you all here.” But then she saw her two best friends, “Wait… what are you two doing here?”

“Never mind about that right now,” Sweetie Belle chuckled, “We’ll tell you another time. Right now we’re just glad to see that you're okay.”

Once again, Spike was a little hesitant in going forward. But then Applejack came up to him and told him, “Well… go on, Spike. You should be the first of us to see your son.”

“Eeyup,” Macintosh agreed.

Spike heeded their words and took a deep breath as he slowly made his way to Apple Bloom. His body was shaking with anticipation and and his hands trembling with excitement, but he wasn’t sure of what he would do once he saw what cuddled in Apple Bloom’s arms. Apple Bloom was lightly chuckling seeing how nervous he was and was purposely holding the baby away from him so he couldn’t see right away. But once she uncovered the top of the baby covered in cloth, Spike’s first initial words were…

“Sweet… balls of fire.”

Buried within the cloth, Spike saw what looked like the face of a baby dragon with the mane of a pony in his color. He appeared to also have the same color as Apple Bloom though.

“Isn’t he adorable,” said Apple Bloom This little cutie came out of me. He did put up quite a fuss after coming out, but… strangely, he quieted down after the nurses finished cleaning him. And look…”

Apple Bloom then carefully unraveled the whole cloth to reveal all of the baby underneath. Spike could see that their baby had a body that mostly resembled a pony, but he had a dragon tail that lightly waved from side to side as he continued to nap.

Finally seeing their baby and what he looked like brought a big bright smile to Spike’s face and said, “Wow, that’s pretty cool. He’s definitely our baby.” He then bent down to take a closer look at him and felt the warm breath of it's snore against his snout. “Hey, little guy, welcome to the outside world. Its finally great to see you here. And don’t worry, your life are in good hooves.”

Then at that moment, Spike almost jumped when the baby suddenly let out a huge yawn confirming that he was now barely awake. As Spike stayed where he was, the baby began sniffing around where he was and reached out with one of his little hooves. Then, he finally hit his mark as his hoof landed on Spike’s snout and then lightly babbled…

“Da.”

Everyone suddenly gasped in excitement in hearing that. It may have not been clear, but they knew that the baby obviously sensed Spike and knew that it was him. Spike suddenly teared up immensely in his eyes after witnessing what had happened. He was happy that his little son had already acknowledged him.

“Eyup, he knows who you are alright,” said Apple Bloom cheerfully, “Yer not goin’ to cry, are ya?”

After pulling away, Spike wiped away some of his tears and responded, “Does it make me… any less of a dragon to do so?”

“Absolutely not,” Apple Bloom chuckled, “Even dragons have to cry sometimes; whether they’re happy or sad.” She then looked over at the others and told them, “Hey guys, care to come over here to? Don’t worry, he won’t bite… heh, yet.”

Now that Spike had a good look at his son, the others came over being careful to not crowd the baby too much. But regardless, this was the moment they’ve waited to see since… well, you know.

“Awww… he’s so cute!” shouted Scootaloo, “I am so jealous of you right now, Apple Bloom!”

“Ya wouldn’t feel so jealous if ya truly knew of the pain Ah went through;” Apple Bloom chuckled, “trust me.”

“But still… you must feel very lucky to have such an adorable bundle of joy to call your own!”

Apple Bloom looked down at her baby who was snoozing again and smiled as she said, “Yeah, it really is.”

“Look at him, Big Mac;” said Applejack with tears in her eyes, “the first nephew of our family. It's a little sooner than we expected to get one, but… it finally happened.”

“Eyup,” said Macintosh with tears in his eyes to.

Then Applejack gave him a little smirk as she stated, “Now then... when will we expect one from you?”

Macintosh just responded by giving her a low-eyed glare.

Of course for Twilight, she was so excited to finally see reproductive result of Apple Bloom and Spike’s child. “This is… so unreal! I-I-I can’t believe what I’m seeing! He’s actually what I hypothesized of what he could look like; well… one of my hypothesis. He has a body that mostly resembles a pony, but he has a dragon snout and tail! I wonder if he can breathe fire to?”

Suddenly, Nurse Rhyme answered nearby, “We’ve yet to see any evidence of that yet, but he was just born; so… it's too early to tell. But I would keep a close eye on on him if I were you.”

Apple Bloom then noticed that her baby was starting to barely open his eyes. She thought it was adorable that he was trying to look at the world around him. “Look, Spike, he has mah eyes too. Too bad he’s completely blind right now though.”

The more Spike looked at their child, the more he wanted to see him in his own arms. So, he nervously asked Apple Bloom, “Can I… hold him?”

“Well that’s a dumb question,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah would hate mahself if Ah didn’t let ya.”

Spike reached out his arms as Apple Bloom carefully placed their baby in his hold. Spike was watching as the baby was still reaching its hooves out and was trying to gain an understanding of what was happening around.

“I never thought of how proud and happy I would feel once I had him in my arms,” Spike stated as he continued to smile, “but… what I'm feeling right now… is beyond words; I can’t stop smiling.”

“Isn’t that the most precious sight you've ever saw?” said Nurse Redheart to Nurse Rhyme who were watching nearby.

Nurse Rhyme was trying to fight back tears; but she felt so happy for the new parents. “W-w-what are you talking about? We see things like this all the time. I-it's nothing special.”

“So have you two decided on a name yet?” said Sweetie Belle suddenly, “I can’t wait to hear what it is.”

Apple Bloom and Spike looked at each other for a moment and then nodded in agreement as Apple Bloom responded, “We have. Ah was thinkin’ on the lines of maybe namin’ him Flame Core, but Spike thought that it was a bit too obvious of a name for him. But lookin’ at him now, Ah think we both know what his name shall be.”

As Spike cuddled his son more, he answered to the others, “His name is… Apple Spice.”

“Apple Spice, huh?” said Applejack, “Ah like it. Ah’m not sure why, but it definitely suits him somehow.”

“Eyup, it sure does.”

“There is still one thing I don't get though,” Nurse Redheart suddenly stated, “We're not quite sure of why the baby arrived sooner than we thought.”

She did have a point. None of them had any idea of why Apple Bloom had an early birth. The baby wasn’t premature, so what was the case?

“I can actually answer that,” said Twilight suddenly, “But don't worry, it's actually a simple and obvious one; and I didn't even have to study to know this. The main reason… is because a dragon's birth cycle is basically shorter than ours.”

The whole room was suddenly silent in shock. None of the nurses could believe that they didn't think of that possibility during their preparations. They felt quite embarrassed.

“Wow, that is a simple and obvious answer,” said Scootaloo, “Don't know why we didn't think of that before.”

“That makes so much sense,” said Spike feeling dumbfounded, “I should've known.”

“Wut do you mean by that, Spike?” Apple Bloom questioned.

“Well… being a dragon myself and a personal assistant to a major bookworm, I already knew of that fact. But the truth is that a dragon normally gives birth even sooner than you did. But of course, that's after they lay their egg… or eggs. I wasn't sure of how it was going to work out since you wouldn't normally lay eggs. So when that time frame passed, I figured that it was just going to be like a normal pony birth as I predicted. But I guess that was hardly the case. The whole baby heating inside the womb took me by surprise, believe me.”

Suddenly, Apple Bloom and Spike both saw their baby yawning again. But this time, they saw something that they didn't notice before.

“Whoa, did you see that?!” said Spike in excitement, “A dragon tooth! He has his first tooth!””

“A tooth… already?” said Apple Bloom, “How is that possible?”

“Well… Spike already had a tooth when I hatched him,” said Twilight, “so I guess this isn’t so surprising.”

Applejack was happy that Apple Bloom had survived her predicament and gave birth to a healthy baby. But she was still concerned of what happened to her when she was in labor and wanted to be sure. “Nurse Redheart; this is all so touchin’ and heartwarmin’, but Ah understand that that the baby’s stress was causin’ his body to heat up from inside Apple Bloom while she was in labor. Ah hope nothin’ too serious happened to her; did it?”

However, Redheart was proud to tell her, “Well thankfully… thanks to Spike, we were able to get the baby out before it's stressed body did any real damage. We already gave her some medicine that should help heal any wounds inside her body, so… there’s nothing to worry about. No harm done.”

“Whew… thank Celestia! That’s a relief.”

With his eyes now closed again, the baby, now known as Apple Spice was was mumbling slightly in Spike’s arms; and Spike decided to hand him back down to his Mother. “Here, Apple Bloom; I think he wants you back.”

As Spike was watching Apple Bloom cuddle Apple Spice back into her hooves, he just smiled and couldn’t get over the fact that this was really happening; that was now officially a father. Twilight came up beside him with a serene smile and placed her hoof on his side as she asked, “Are you okay, Spike?”

“Never been better,” said Spike calmly, “I’ve never realized just how great it is to know that you’re a father until today. I guess this is how Mr. Cake feels. Looks like we have something to talk about together.”

“The first pony/dragon hybrid,” said Sweetie Belle as she was looking at Apple Spice closely, “What do you think of it, Scootaloo?”

“He looks really cute and really cool. But what would be even cooler is if we found out that he could…”

Suddenly, Apple Spice began making a weird noise with his snout. It was like he was snorting in deeply and harshly.

“W-what’s wrong with him?” said Spike.

Apple Bloom just chuckled and said, “Ah think he’s goin’ to sneeze.” She then began to encourage him, “Come on, little Apple Spice; you can do it.”

Everyone watched closely as Apple Spice was about to have his first little sneeze. But when he finally let it loose, a little fireball shot out from his mouth. The ones nearby had to quickly dodge out of the way; but it somehow managed to hit Macintosh on his snout. It didn’t hurt, it had a tiny sting to it that he just shook off.

“Holy crap!” Scootaloo shouted, “He can breathe fire! I totally called it!”

“Huh… who would’ve thought,” said Sweetie Belle.

Apple Spice was lightly scratching it's snout with his hooves, and Apple Bloom nudged her hoof on him saying, “Looks like yer going to be a little troublemaker, aren’t you?”

This was the moment that was a long time coming, and it had finally came to be. Apple Bloom and Spike were now officially parents and were entering into a new part of their life. But at this moment, they weren’t afraid or worried at all. They knew that as long as they had each other and their family and friends, things were going to turn out just fine for the both of them.

Seeing how it late it was and that everything was delt with, Applejack turned her attention to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and told them, “Alright, you two; now that Apple Bloom is okay and you’ve seen the baby, it's best if ya’ll get back to yer homes and get some sleep.”

“Aw… do we have to?” Scootaloo groaned.

“Yeah, maybe we could stay here and keep Apple Bloom and her cute, adorable new baby company,” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Hey, Ah’m fine with that, Sweetie Belle; but good luck keepin’ yer Sister, Rarity from scoldin’ you from makin’ her worried sick because she woke up in the mornin’ and found her little sister missin’ and wonders what she will tell her parents.

Sweetie Belle thought about it and decided re-think her decision, “Okay; perhaps you made a good enough point. Rarity can be pretty scary when she’s mad.”

“Well, I don’t think Rainbow dash would mind much;” said Scootaloo, “she knows I can take care of myself. But I suppose I should finish off my sleep hours as well. The last time I didn’t get enough sleep… it wasn’t pretty. ”

“Don’t worry, girls,” Apple Bloom chuckled, “ya’ll can always come back here tomorrow. Ah don’t think Ah’m goin’ anywhere. Although, it's technically tomorrow already; so… ya’ll can come back later today… when it's actually daytime.”

“You can count on that,” said Scootaloo.

“We’ll be back to see you again soon; I promise,” added Sweetie Belle.

After giving their friend a hug, the two older fillies made their way out of the emergency room all giddy and excited over what happened; and they couldn’t wait to come back to spend more time with her and the baby.

“Hey, Applejack,” said Apple Bloom, “are you and/or Big Mac goin’ to stay here with me?”

“We would love to, Apple Bloom;” said Applejack, “but as much as we want to, we need to be headin’ back to the farm. It's great that yer doin’ good and all, so it makes us feel better enough to sleep the rest of the night out. We still have chores to do in the mornin’ ya know.”

“Eyup.”

Apple Bloom just lightly pouted feeling that siblings thought that their chores were more important than her being a Mother.

“Besides… you have Spike here to keep ya company. He’ll make sure that nothin’ happens to ya. Isn’t that right?”

“I sure won’t,” Spike replied.

“Okay,” said Apple Bloom, “but make sure that you come by as soon as yer done; and bring Granny Smith too. Promise?”

Applejack chuckled as she kissed her little sister on her forehead and said, “Ah promise.”

After Applejack and Macintosh left, Twilight was still there observing the baby; and feeling proud that in a way… she had become a Grandma. But then, she thought in her head…

‘Sweet Celestia! Am I really a Grandma?’

“Hey, uh… Twilight,” said Spike suddenly, “Are you going to go too or are you staying to study Apple Spice and do more of research?”

“Well… that does sound tempting, doesn't it,” said Twilight, “But that would be kinda selfish of me. Make no mistake though; I’m still looking forward it, but for now… I’ll just leave you two alone. My scientific research on the first pony/dragon hybrid can wait a few days… or better yet, make it a week.”

Spike just smirked and shook his head. He knew how bad she wanted to research Apple Spice. “It's okay, Twilight. It's fine if you want to do your research and stuff, just make sure to give Apple Spice some space; and don’t try to force him to do something either.”

“Yeah! Besides, you studyin’ Apple Spice might be fun,” said Apple Bloom, “and he might enjoy it to. Ya never know.”

Twilight understood; although, she knew that there was no way that she would try and do something that would be too forceful on the baby. Even she wouldn't go that far for research.

“Still, this is a special moment for the two of you. Make sure you enjoy every minute of it to the fullest.”

And with that… she took her leave.

“Nice job, everypony, nice job,” said Nurse Redheart to the others, “You’ve all done well. Take as much time in the morning to rest from this if you need to; just don’t stay out too late, okay?”

Spike looked over to his side and saw Nurse Rhyme preparing to take her leave for the night. He quickly came up to her and scratched his head awkwardly as he said, “Um… thanks a lot for all you’ve done. This must’ve been a lot for you to dealt with.”

Nurse Rhyme looked up at him a sarcastic smirk and questioned, “Why? Because I’m a small pony?”

Spike froze for a second and awkwardly answered back, “Mmmmmaaaaay….be?”

“Well… I am amazing, and I do surprise a lot of ponies with what I can do. But I should say sorry for poking fun at you sometimes. I was just joking around ya know.”

“Reaĺly?” said Spike with a low-eyed looked, “Because sometimes… it was quite hard to tell.”

Nurse Rhyme soon made her way to the exit of the room and wished Apple Bloom and Spike well, “Well, I’m off the clock and need some serious rest. But if you two ever need anything, give me a call… or call Redheart or somepony else instead if you like; I won’t mind.”

Once she left, Apple Bloom and Spike were the only ones left in the emergency room along with their new baby. Spike just calmly sat back down beside Apple Bloom as he was feeling at ease after everything that had happened that night.

“Well, Spike, we made it,” said Apple Bloom, “Our little one is now out into this world for everypony to see, and thangs can only get better from here.”

“Up to now, I still can’t believe it,” said Spike, “If anyone asked me what I could see me at this day from after my first couple of weeks here in Ponyville, I probably would say that I would be still living my usual, normal life with Twilight and hanging out with friends and… heh, still pursuing my dream of making Rarity mine.”

Apple Bloom smirked at him knowing that he was right. “Yeah, Ah just bet you would be thinkin’ that.”

“But I never would’ve thought that I would be a father thanks to the heated... somewhat uncontrollable actions of one of my filly friends. But even if I did, I would guess that it would be Sweetie Belle. N-n-n-not to say that I wouldn’t be into you! I mean… I like you, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and I wouldn’t mine having a life with any of you three; but… since Rarity is Sweetie’s sister, I would think that she would eventually point me into her direction and convince me to be with her instead. But you’re good to; you’re good… y-you’re real good. You’re perfect, and so is our child, and I wouldn’t trade it with anypony else in the world; and that’s the honest truth.”

Apple Bloom arched her eye at Spike wearing with an unsure expression. Spike just laid his hand on Apple Bloom’s shoulder and said nervously, “I love you?”

“Ya hear this, Apple Spice?”said Apple Bloom smirking mischievously, “Yer daddy is tryin’ to butter-up yer Mother with sweet words so she won’t be angry for misunderstandin’ him.”

Spike just sighed knowing that he couldn’t hide the truth from Apple Bloom. He did feel that things would’ve happened that way if their incident didn’t happen, but he didn’t want to turn down the responsibility he has now.

“If you ask me, Ah wouldn’t mind who you might have ended up with,” said Apple Bloom, “To be honest, there are a few other candidates that Ah would’ve guessed over you as well. But Ah guess mah vagina decided to choose fer us.”

“Apple Bloom,” Spike exclaimed, “not in front of the foal.”

“Well it's true,” Apple Bloom chuckled, “it obviously made me like wut Ah saw. But as ridiculous as it may sound, if we didn’t procreate with each other, we wouldn’t have this little guy here.”

“Oh come on, you know it's hard to deny that after he actually exists. ‘sigh’ Well… only time will tell of what will happen from here. Being parents is going to feel like hell sometimes.”

“Hey, Ah’ve already been through enough hell mahself. Compare to that, Ah feel that everythang else is goin’ to be a cakewalk.”

As they both continued on with their conversation, Apple Bloom noticed at some point that Apple Spice was once again fast asleep.

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

She pointed Spike’s attention to Apple Spice so he would notice himself. Apple Bloom then handed Apple Spice to Spike who placed him onto the little glass bed that was set up by the nurses. Spike placed him on his back with his arms and legs in a comfortable spread out position. Apple Spice just snored away giving the new parents a time reprievement.

“So how long do ya think he’s going to stay asleep?” said Apple Bloom, “Ya know that we’re goin’ to have to get used to that possibility sooner or later.”

The hospital bed that Apple Bloom was on was big enough that Spike jumped on it himself and got into a curling position as he laid down at the foot of the bed. “How about we sleep on it. It’s been a tiring night for us all, and you need to rest. And if what you said ever happens, I’ll take care of it for you.”

Apple Bloom was at a loss for words hearing Spike suddenly volunteer like that. “Are you seriously saying that? You mean it?”

“Hey, gotta learn sometime, right? No time like the present.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet of you,” said Apple Bloom as she bent forward and gave Spike a kiss, “Ah am pretty tuckered out. But when you do deal with him, just make sure you don’t faint on me again; okay, tough guy? Heh heh.”

“Ugh… just let it go already.”

After a few minutes passed, Apple Bloom had already fell asleep. She was more exhausted than she thought she was. But for Spike, he was still awake. His life suddenly changed in the blink of an eye, and now he had the responsibilities of taking care of a baby. H never saw it coming, but he was here now and chose to accept it. Looking back and forth at Apple Bloom and Apple Spice, who were both sleeping peacefully after stressful moment. After some time, Spike just smiled as he began to lay his head down and close his eyes feeling tired himself. He was looking forward to sleeping long into the morning after what he went through that night. But just as he was relaxed and comfortable and transcending into dreamland, he suddenly heard the last thing he wanted to hear at that moment.

“Wa...waa… WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

Apple Spice had suddenly woken up again somehow and began to cry out for attention. Spike’s eyes went wide open while still in a curled position, and he didn’t feel like getting up. He quickly tried to call Apple Bloom…

“Um… Apple Bloom; he’s crying. Do you think that…”

… but Apple Bloom was still sound asleep. Plus, he remembered that he made a promise to her that he would take care of it himself.

“Oh yeah… right.”

He sighed sadly as he got up and quietly went over to Apple Spice and picked him up to try and calm him down… and he did. But Spike feared that it would start over again if he placed him down again to sleep. But he was glad that Apple Bloom was still sleeping peacefully. She truly deserved it.

“‘sigh’ Oh well,” said Spike as he looked down at his cooing son, “at least two of us are going to sleep well tonight.

(Link to LudiculousPegasus' original female character): http://ludiculouspegasus.deviantart.com/art/Apple-Spice-s-Cutie-Mark-352478522

Author's Note

And that's the end... well, not just yet. :trollestia:
Stay tuned for the story's conclusion to see what happens after 3 years Apple Spice's birth.

Three years later...

Was it actually possible? A pony and a dragon producing an offspring? It had never been done before in the entire history of Equestria. But thanks to the magical, intimate atmosphere of the mating season, Apple Bloom and Spike had proved otherwise to everyone! Of course they didn’t plan on having a baby together, but fate brought them together on that day and helped them to create a future that to most would be impossible.

Ever since Apple Bloom's pregnancy was confirmed, Spike was freaking out a lot while Apple Bloom felt a bit excited and nervous at the same. Spike didn't feel like he was ready to become a father and help raise a child; and there was many times that he wished that he never gave into his driven desire that was stirred up by the country filly. But eventually, he came to accept it and kept his promise to help support Apple Bloom and their new child in whatever way he could. Down the road, they both experienced happiness, sadness, love, worry, pain, and heartbreak. But to both of them, it was all worth it… once their child, Apple Spice was finally born. Seeing their child for the first time brought many tears from Spike’s eyes; and he was officially happy to be now called a father.

So what happened after the initial birth? Quite a bit actually. Once Apple Bloom was released from the hospital 5 days after Apple Spice’s birth, Apple Bloom and Spike acted upon their first action that they agreed on. Apple Bloom decided that their child would be with her during the night at her home until he turned 1; but that’s not to say that Spike didn’t decided to stay with her on some of those nights. After all, he still had to do his part of being a parent regardless. Being the official party pony of Ponyville, Pinkie Pie decided to throw a celebration party the day after to celebrate the initial arrival of Ponyville newest citizen. She did it out of being so happy to make yet another friend; even if it was a newborn. Also being at that party, most of Ponyville’s citizens were able to see Apple Spice for the first time, and he was a huge hit with them. Seeing the first pony/dragon hybrid ever in Equestrian history was a big deal for them.

A few days later after talking through with it with Twilight, Apple Bloom and Spike decided to have a blessing placed on their baby from the two Royal Sisters;Celestia and Luna. Doing that made them believe that Apple Spice would be protected and watched over at all times. Besides, Applejack and Twilight, the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony each had their own chance of getting acquainted with Apple Spice and even did some things for him. Rarity even went so far as to design some baby clothes for him; for she was happy to do it. And being a lover of animals, Fluttershy had no problem spending time with Apple Spice. However, Apple Bloom and Spike had to keep an eye on Rainbow Dash to make sure that she didn't do anything too reckless around their child.

After more than a week went by, Apple Spice’s eyes began opening up a lot more and was able to start seeing and acknowledging things around him. But soon, they weren't going to be alone in becoming a parent. A little more than a couple of months later after Apple Bloom gave birth, Diamond Tiara went into labor herself and gave birth to a baby filly. When Apple Bloom and her friends heard about it, they went to show their support along with Silver Spoon. Even Tiara’s Dad and Mother were there to see her after she gave birth despite his busy schedule. But Apple Bloom was mostly glad to see Lickety Split, the very one who got Tiara pregnant to be there as well. It turned out that he was almost too nervous and scared to see it happen, but he came anyway. He proved to be a true gentlecolt to Tiara after all.

At this moment in their life, Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara were friends; and it only grew over time along with her other friends. But both of them becoming a Mother had brought them even closer than they ever had before. The same could be said for Spike and Lickety Split; they both knew each other’s pain.

It was definitely getting some used to, but this new life was soon becoming something regular and normal for Apple Bloom and Spike as they became accustomed to their new responsibility. With their friends and family's support… and whole lot of patience, life was only going to get better for them… um, for the most part.

We now bring you to three years later where Apple Spice is now three years old. On a certain day was pretty busy for Spike. He was on important Canterlot business with Twilight and it tired the heck out of him. So he was given a complete reprieve from Apple Bloom to crash and sleep alone at Twilight’s place while she tended to their child. However, the following day was a very special day; but it was too bad that Spike’s body forgot to tell him that as he slept in a few hours into the morning. It was to be expected though seeing that he was a total wreck when he hit the hay.

At some point, Twilight came back to her home from doing some morning errands. But when she went up to her bedroom area, she still Spike all laid out in his bed on his back snoring away. Twilight smirked a bit seeing him like this as she approached him and lightly tapped him on his shoulder to give him a friendly reminder.

“Spike? Spike? Hey… Spike?”

As she shook a little faster, Spike suddenly grumbled as he looked up at Twilight with squinted eyes, “Wha… w-what is it?”

“Morning, sleepy dragon. Did you sleep well? I think it's time for you to wake up.”

Hearing that made Spike groan some more as he flipped over on his front side and muffled, “P-please, Mommy… 5 more minutes… or 60?”

‘Aw, how cute,’ Twilight thought to herself; but then she said to him, “It's a very special day today, remember? Don’t tell me that you already forgot what today is?”

Being barely awake, Spike was doing his best to remember; pondering in his mind of what Twilight was trying to remind him of, “T-t-today? W-wait… today is…”

“Your son, Apple Spice,” Twilight stated, “He’s turning 3 today because… you know… it's his birthday.”

Spike’s eyes suddenly went wide as he gasped and suddenly shot up from his bed in panic and shouted, “Aw crap, that’s right! H-h-how could I forget that already?!”

“Well… you did have a busy day with me yesterday,” said Twilight, “and Apple Bloom did say that she didn’t mind if you slept in a little late this morning; so… it's no big deal.”

Spike looked at the clock tower outside and saw the time as he responded, “It's almost three hours after 8, Twilight! It is a big deal… at least it is to me! It's Apple Spice’s big day and I don't want to miss a single second of it!”

“It's still kinda hard to believe that it's already been 3 years since Apple Spice was born and you and Apple Bloom officially became parents;” said Twilight, “and you have definitely gotten a little taller since then.”

“Yeah… before you know it I’ll be too big to fit into this place,” said Spike hesitantly not wanting to picture that moment, “B-b-but that’s not going to happen… right?”

“Who's to say,” said Twilight as she patted Spike on his back, “But do know that no matter what, you’re always welcome to stay here. I’ll even create a separate room for you if I have to; although it would be kinda difficult to that in the middle of this town.”

Spike got up and shook himself off as he was focusing on the task ahead of him, “Well no need to worry. I’ll just make sure that I won’t get that big. It be kinda sad if I had to leave this town. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a son that I need to spoil today.”

“You mean like what you've been doing almost every day since his birth?” Twilight chuckled.

“Hey, he's a very special foal; so... he needs very special attention.”

“I'm just saying… if he ends up walking all over you one day, don't come running to me.”

After Spike gave Twilight a hug, he quickly left out the door and headed off towards Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight then smiled as she shook her head and thought to herself, ‘But despite everything… he really has matured a lot… and he truly is turning into a great father.’

Spike was up and raring to go. He raced through Ponyville being careful not to knock anyone over in his path. Sleep or not, he wanted to be with his son as much of day as he could. Pretty soon, he was almost to the home grounds of Sweet Apple Acres and was headed towards the main house.

Spike got to the front door and quickly swung it open to rush in and shouted, “Sorry I overslept, Apple Bloom! Please don't be… mad?”

But once he looked inside, all he saw was Applejack getting things prepared in the kitchen. Plus at a nearby table, there he was. Spike’s little Apple Spice was sitting on the floor in front Fluttershy who was there playing with him. All three suddenly looked up to see the young dragon feeling dumbfounded; but a smile came to his face when his son placed his hooves up and shouted, “Da-Da!”

That was a moment that always made him feel happy and at ease. Three years later and Spike still felt heartfelt hearing his child call him that way.

“Ah was wonderin’ when you would show up,” Applejack chuckled, “Apple Bloom said ya would. It is yer child’s special day after all.”

“Good morning, Spike,” said Fluttershy as she waved, “Don't mind me, I'm just having some fun with your adorable little Apple Spice.” She then nuzzled noses with him cooing, “Isn't that right?”

Apple Spice giggled at Fluttershy while brushing his hooves across her cheeks. Since Fluttershy came to watch and sometimes care for Apple Spice on occasion, Apple Spice loved being around her. She was always up to helping if Apple Bloom and Spike ever needed a break.

“Well… I figured you would be here, Fluttershy;” said Spike with a light chuckle, “but where’s Apple Bloom? Is she with her friends or something?”

With a light smirk, Applejack responded, “More like she’s right behind ya.”

Spike suddenly froze and slowly turned around to see Apple Bloom standing there with an amused expression on her face. “Well well… look who’s finally awake. Took ya long enough.”

“H-hey, Apple Bloom… darling,” said Spike nervously, “I-I-I can explain.”

Apple Bloom then signaled him to bend down a little; and then she gave him a little smooch on the mouth as she went by. “No need… Ah’m the one who told ya to sleep as much as ya needed to, remember? So stop bein’ so apologetic to me. At least you remembered what today is.”

“Um, actually… Twilight is the one who reminded me.”

“Oh well; yer here now, and that’s all that matters.”

Apple Bloom then turned her attention to Apple Spice who got up and ran up to her in a happily manner wagging his little dragon tail.

“There’s mah little birthday boy,” Apple Bloom cooded at her child, “Who’s turnin’ a year older today? You are; yes you are.”

“I’m thwee,” Apple Spice cheered.

“That’s right, Apple Spice; you’re three!” said Apple Bloom as she gave him a small noogie on his head, “You’re so smart.”

“His speech sure is improvin’ quite a bit lately,” Applejack chuckled, “Kinda reminds me of how quick yer speech improved, Apple Bloom. You were a quick learner.”

Spike came over to Apple Spice and picked him up in his arms as the young colt wiggled his tail and giggled in happiness. While holding him, Spike questioned, “Well, Apple Bloom… now that I’m here, I’m sure there’s something I can do to help prepare for Apple Spice’s birthday party that we have planned for the afternoon. Maybe I can help with the preparations in the barn where it's taking place?”

“Yeah… about that…” said Apple Bloom awkwardly, “somepony else is already on everything there.”

“Really? Who?”

“Take a wild guess.”

Apple Bloom then took Spike outside towards the barn where inside there was party decorations, games and different kinds of props everywhere; and in there singing a little tune while in the middle of setting it up was Pinkie Pie. She suddenly noticed them and bounced her way over to cheerfully greet them.

“Hello, you beautiful pony/dragon couple! Nice to see you together this morning!”

“Should’ve known,” Spike chuckled, “Who else but Pinkie Pie.”

“Pinkie!” Apple Spice cheerfully shouted.

After having a good look at the place, Spike stated, “This place looks crazy, Pinkie! Did you really do this all by yourself?”

“Of course I did!” Pinkie exclaimed, “I want to make this party extra special for your little bundle of joy! But trust me… compare to other parties I put together, this is nothing!”

Apple Spice suddenly wiggled out of Spike’s hold and hop down to move around the barn. He was suddenly enjoying the appearance of his surroundings. He was getting exciting and poking at things being curious of what they were for.

“Heya, Apple Spice!” said Pinkie as she suddenly appeared in front of the young foal, “What do you think? Do you think that you’re going to have an awesome party?!”

Of course Apple Spice agreed as he answered, “Gweat party! I have... gweat party!”

“So what do we say?”

“Thanku, Pinkie!”

“Yes! Pinkie Pie, you’ve done it yet again! I’m awesome.”

After picking Apple Spice back up and placing him on her back, Apple Bloom looked back at Spike and asked him, “Oh… Spike, Ah almost fergot to ask; did ya make sure to give an invitation to Diamond Tiara and Lickety Split? Ah thought it would be fittin’ if they could be here since their daughter is befriendin’ Apple Spice. Ah’m sure she’ll have fun as well.”

“Not to worry; I did,” Spike responded, “I think that’s the last thing that I did yesterday before I got to Twilight’s and collapsed.”

“That’s good,” Apple Bloom sighed, “Although, Ah’m sure that they would’ve come regardless.” She then looked back at their child and gave him a smile as she said, “Ya hear that Apple Spice? Yer friend is goin’ to be here fer yer party. Isn’t that great?”

Instead of answering, Apple Spice began sniffling a bit and was constantly breathing in. They knew what was coming, but Apple Bloom and Spike weren't worried. They watched as Apple Spice released a strong but cute little sneeze in which he wiped his snout afterwards.

“Whoa! Bless you!” said Pinkie Pie, “You know, that could be a bit of a problem if you did that in here and spat out fire. Big disaster waiting to happen!”

“Don’t worry, Pinkie,” said Apple Bloom, “he’s learned to control it now. Although, wut happened about a year ago is kinda hard to forget.”

“Yeah,” Spike agreed, “I still don’t think the Mayor trusts our child around the Town Hall. He almost burned it down with his sneeze… twice!”

“She’ll get over it eventually.”

Apple Spice looked up to his Mother again and said, “Mama? I am… thwee year old?”

Apple Bloom just chuckled as she pat him on his head, “Aren’t you being precious?” She then began leading him out of the barn as she said, “C’mon, lets get you washed up for your party.”

As they head back towards the house, Spike was leaning against one of the barn doors just smiling as he watched them walk away. Pinkie noticed his expression and express herself from it.

“Aw, you and Apple Bloom really have come a long way, haven't you? It only seemed like yesterday that I found out that she finally gave birth to that little cutie and the entire town was in a major excited uproar! Apple Spice really seemed like a big deal!”

Spike just sighed and answered, “Yeah… he was.”

“And now he's turning 3! Boy how time flies! Before you know it, he'll be at your present age; and then he'll find a young mare to mate and have a foal with!”

Spike suddenly almost lost his balance and slipped off the door he was leaning on. He turned to Pinkie and shouted, “Wh-what?! Why would you even think of something like that right now?!”

Pinkie just shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know. Just a thought I guess?” She then pulled up some fur on one of her hooves like a shirt sleeve to look at a watch, “Oh my goodness, look at the time! I gotta go see if the Cakes have finished Spice’s cake yet! Hee hee, that’s so weird to say. The Cakes finishing a cake? That sounds so crazy.”

Pinkie showed her way out as she trotted off back towards Ponyville leaving Spike standing alone in the barn. However, he felt good knowing that it was soon going to be filled with ponies who were coming to celebrate his son’s birth. He smiled while crossing his arms and thought to himself...

‘Well… Pinkie does have a point though… time really has gone by. This whole Parenthood thing is really working out for us so well. Although, the growing up thing… I think we’ll worry about that later… much much later.’

Before anyone knew it, the afternoon had finally arrived; and Apple Spice’s birthday party was now underway. Members of Apple Bloom’s extended family showed up, as well as different citizens of Ponyville; including the Cakes. As the crowd got big, Pinkie was already there entertaining some of the foals that were there with her balloon making skills and party favors. But soon, aside for Applejack who was already there too, her other friends showed up along with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Once they did, Apple Bloom and Spike were at the barn entrance to greet them.

“Hey, guys!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “The cavalry has arrived!”

“It's about time ya guys got here,” Apple Bloom chuckled, “We were wonderin’ if ya fergot or somethang.”

While scratching her head nervously, Twilight stated, “W-we didn’t, time just caught up to us is all. But we’re here now, right?”

“So where is the little birthday colt?” Rarity questioned, “I’m just dying to give him some good ‘ol lovin’.”

“He’s over there playing with some of the other young foals,” said Spike pointing behind him, “They’re having such a good time.”

They all saw. Apple Spice was nearby playing around with some other foals around his age that were there as well. They even saw the now 9 year old Pumpkin and Pound playing with them too as well as a few others. Apple Bloom and Spike remembered when their son first interacted with other foals. None of them didn’t care that he looked different or that he could breathe fire; they loved Apple Spice and wanted to be friends with him too. It was a huge relief for Apple Bloom and Spike.

“Well, come on in,” said Apple Bloom while leading the group in, “Mingle a little fer now. Thangs will pick up soon.”

They all came in to settle down and greet others who were there. Of course Apple Bloom gave her friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo a hug as they came in. She was happy to see them there as she hoped they would.

“Wow, this birthday party is pretty cool;” said Scootaloo as was looking around, “you know… for a 3 year old foal.”

“I agree,” said Sweetie Belle smiling, “Pinkie Pie never seems to lose her touch.”

Suddenly, Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo asked her, “So how did yer appointment go this mornin’, Scootaloo? Did everythang turn out to be positive?”

Little did she and Spike know that she was going to get a very surprising piece of information.

“Oh, it sure did… heh, in more ways than one.”

“What does she mean by that?” said Spike in an unsure tone.

“Well… it was supposed to be a regular check-up, but then one procedure led to another, and questions were asked and… there were things I couldn’t avoid revealing.”

Things began to build up in Apple Bloom’s head, but she still didn’t quite get right away. “Come on, spill it already!”

With no hint of regret, Scootaloo blurted out to them, “I'm pregnant!”

Both Apple Bloom and Spike looked at her with wide eyes and shouted, “WHAT?!!!”

“Yeah, I already knew;” said Sweetie Belle sheepishly, “but I was just as surprised as you guys. I didn’t know something like this was going to happen today.”

Apple Bloom stood silent for a few more seconds; but then she smiled and told her friend, “W-w-well… congratulations! This is… big news! How does Rumble feel about this?”

“Well seeing how much we enjoy making love with each other, especially over the past few months, he knew that it was going to be a possibility sooner or later. But that’s not to say that he totally freaked out when it was confirmed.”

Apple Bloom struck a little smirk at Spike as she told him, “Sound familiar to ya, Spike?”

“Please do not remind me of that moment.”

But despite her excitement, Apple Bloom knew that she had to focus on her son’s party for now. “We have to talk more about that later on. Just about everypony expected is here. Now all we have to do is wait for…”

“Us?” said a sudden voice behind.

They all turned around and saw the very ones Apple Bloom was about to mention.

“Exactly!” said said Apple Bloom, “Hello, Tiara… and Lickety Split.”

“‘Sup,” said Lickety Split with a smirk.

“Ah’m glad you guys could make it. This means a lot for Apple Spice.”

“Well we would have been here a little earlier,” said Lickety while slightly glaring at Tiara, “but somepony had to take 30 minutes just to get her mane done.”

They all did notice what he meant seeing the fancy state that Tiara’s white and purple mane was in. It was all sparkly too.

“Hey, I like already told you…” Tiara stated, “it wasn’t just me, I did Ribbon’s mane as well.”

Diamond Tiara and Lickety Split’s daughter, Ribbon Lace suddenly walked out from behind her parents acting all shy and timid even though she knew them all very well. She was pink just like Tiara and shared the same pale-color of Lickety’s mane. The only difference this time around was that Tiara placed some light-purple highlights in it and had it in a ponytail with a little flower bow to hold it in place.

“Wow… all that just for a little foal’s party?” Spike questioned

“I know; that’s what I said!” Lickety Split exclaimed, “I mean who takes that long just to get their mane done?! All I do is comb and condition my mane and occasionally condition it; and that only takes me 5 minutes!”

Tiara’s friend, Silver Spoon suddenly chuckled as she suddenly made her appearance hearing Lickey complain. “Boys… they just don’t understand the importance of a mare’s beauty appearance.”

“Tell me about it,” Sweetie Belle agreed.

Scootaloo just shrugged her shoulders, “Eh, I don't care much for it.”

“Hey there, Ribbon,” said Apple Bloom, “Don’t you look dapper today.”

Ribbon giggled and lightly blushed as she responded, “Th-thanku, Miss Bwoom. My... Mommy did it. Like it?”

“Indeed Ah do. It's lovely.” Apple Bloom then called out, “Oh, Apple Spice, look who’s here?!”

Apple Spice heard his Mother and immediately came over to her. When he noticed Ribbon Lace, he came to her wagging his tail and asked her, “Wanna pway?”

“Okay!” Ribbon answered with an excited smile.

And just like that, Ribbon followed Apple Spice back over to play with the other foals.

“And there they go,” said Apple Bloom, “Those two have gotten along so well over these past 3 years.”

“Well… it was all thanks to you,” said Tiara with a hidden smirk, “After all, you were like so fix on introducing them to each other a year after I gave birth to Ribbon. But then again… it was because of you that I was like able to gather the courage to face what was ahead of me. Becoming a Mother, raising a child, handling responsibility with a mate… you almost made it sound easy.”

“So… wut helped you to stay calm?”

Suddenly breaking out of her emotion moment, Tiara said, “U-um… well it's obvious, isn’t it? If somepony like you could handle such a feat, then there was like no way in hell that I was going to fail! I bet I’m twice as good of a Mother than you could ever be.”

Silver Spoon just rolled her eyes as she said to Apple Bloom, “It's her way her own friendly way of thanking you. You know that, right?”

Apple Bloom knew that she was. Even though they were basically friends now, Tiara still ended up refusing to show her true feelings of things in public in front of others; that is when her daughter was not around.

“Yer quite welcome, Tiara;” said Apple Bloom as she patted Tiara on her shoulder, “but just a reminder… we’re growin’ up. Try to do better in talking nice to others, okay?”

“Yeah, well it's not that easy for me to do you know,” Tiara sighed.

Now having calmed down, Lickety Split came over to Tiara sheepishly and stated, “Hey, uh… s-sorry if I was… complaining about you earlier. I was just… stating what was on my mind is all.”

Tiara smiled as she immediately said, “Apology accepted.”

“Wait… what?”

Tiara turned around and placed her hoof on his cheek and told him, “I was actually just waiting for you to apologize to me, Lickety Split; and you did. So… thanks.” She then guided Silver Spoon away from the group telling her, “Come along, Silver Spoon, let’s socialize a bit.”

“Man…” Spike chuckled, “you just got played.”

Lickety strongly groaned and said, “It really bothers me when she does things like that.” But then he showed a slight smirk, “But you know… it's actually that kind of thing that I really respect her for.”

“Well seeing that you two have cooperated with each other for your daughter for 3 years,”said Spike, “I guess you both have found new respect for each other… just like Apple Bloom and I did.”

“Ain’t that the darn truth?!” Shouted Apple Bloom as she tackled him from behind.

However, she caught him so off guard that he lost his balance and fell down on the ground face first. Her friends and Lickety Split just looked in shame at Spike, and Apple Bloom felt amused.

“Oh come on; you could’ve handle that much better.”

Spike just groaned as she he planted his face on the ground again.

After everyone that Apple Bloom and Spike had finally showed up, Apple Bloom got everyone’s attention as she stood on a small wooden pedestal with Spike beside her and made a small speech.

“Hello?! Attention, everypony! Ah just wanted to thank ya’ll again for comin’ here to take part in the birthday celebration our Son, Apple Spice! Some of you are probably wonderin’ though; why does this seems like such a big deal to us, right? Everypony has a birthday every year, right? Well accordin’ to mah big sister, Ah was given a party treatment similar to this one when Ah turned 3. Applejack did said that Mom and Dad had spoiled me a lot; may thier souls rest in peace.”

Apple Bloom and Spike bowed their heads for that last line with everyone else doing the same in respect.

“But anyway, Ah figured that Ah would treasure that moment by doin’ the same fer mah child now that he’s turned 3. Of course Ah needed Pinkie’s magic touch to make this perfect as you can all see.”

“Awesome choice, A.B!” shouted Pinkie nearby.

“But overall, Ah was just aimin’ fer one thang besides givin’ Apple Spice a good time; and that is fer everypony to have a good time… but not too much… since this is a foal’s party… if ya know wut Ah mean. Heh.”

“Yeah, I think they get it,” said Spike.

“Well in the words of Pinkie Pie…”

Then Pinkie shouted at the top of her lungs, “LET’S PARTY!!!”

From there, the party went into full swing. Apple Bloom and Spike made sure that Apple Spice was having a good time, but it didn’t take much to entertain him. He loved everything Pinkie had set up in there. The older ponies were enjoying themselves as well watching the foals have fun and striking up conversations with each other. Apple Bloom’s cousin, Babs Seed eventually came to her and Spike while Apple Spice was playing a party game with his friends; and she was so excited to catch up with her in person.

“Well, A.B., Ah don’t know about you… but Ah say that yer becomin’ one hell of a mother figure. Ah’m actually hopin’ to become one mahself one day.”

“Well thanks a lot, Babs,” Apple Bloom responded, “It's quite flatterin’ fer me to hear ya say that. And don’t worry, Ah’m sure you'll be a great Mother... like Ah am apparently.”

Spike just smiled and rolled eyes seeing Apple Bloom feeling like she was now a Mother expert.

“So how are thangs goin’ on with you in Manehattan?”

“Oh… same old, same old. Ah got a steady job as a mane stylist which is pretty great; but also just last week, Ah got mah own place… with mah own money.”

Apple Bloom went up to her and gave her a huge, tight hug, “Good fer you! Before ya know it, you'll be able to start yer own mane stylin’ business like you’ve always wanted, right?”

“You know it! Ah’ll make it there, you’ll see.”

Suddenly in the middle of their conversation, Apple Spice came running up to them feeling happy and full of energy. He even showed it by puffing out some non-leathal fire sparks from his mouth. It was something that he loved to do.

“Hello, birthday boy!” said Babs, “Seems like yer havin’ the time of yer life.”

“That was the plan,” Apple Bloom chuckled.

Following soon after, the Cake twins, Pumpkin and Pound came up to them feeling a little out of breath from chasing after Apple Spice.

“There you are, Apple Spice!” said Pumpkin, “Goodness… you sure are faster than you were last year. What’s up with that?”

“I’m pretty sure having the stamina of an earth pony and the speed of a dragon has something to do with that,” said Spike with a smirk, “Or… maybe you just tire too easily.”

Babs never had too much interaction with the Cake twins while they grew up, so she decided to strike up a conversation with them. “You two are the Cake’s kids, right? Ah’ve heard that you two are very fond of my ‘cuz here... and her lover.”

“You could say that,” said Pumpkin with a smile, “Being the first pony/dragon couple in history kinda made them a big deal. And the inclusion of Apple Spice doesn't hurt either… with him being the first pony/dragon hybrid and all.”

“Yeah!” Shouted Pound Cake in excitement, “Apple Bloom and Spike really worked hard to get to where they are now and faced many challenges on the way. But there was none more exhilarating than hearing about how Apple Spice almost got kidnapped.”

Suddenly, Babs froze up with wide eyes and slightly stuttered in shock, “W-wait… r-run that by me again?! Apple Spice was almost... wut?!”

“Huh? You mean Miss Bloom never told you… her own cousin?!”

Both Pumpkin and Pound; and even Spike and Apple Spice looked over at Apple Bloom wondering how she never told this bit of news to Babs. Apple Bloom nervously chuckled as she blushed a little and said, “Um… A-Ah guess it didn’t really hit me that Ah never got around to tellin’ you, Babs. Maybe Ah was too busy making sure to forget that scary moment because it frighten me so much.”

She suddenly pulled Apple Spice closer to her as she remembered what happened.

“You see…” said Spike, “back when Apple Bloom was still pregnant with Apple Spice, she did this ridiculous test for me to test how well I would be able to protect her and the baby if somepony ever tried to kidnap them. We sorta laugh on at it now, but it wasn’t funny back then; I passed almost too well, and I almost seriously hurt some ponies. And by some ponies, I mean Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh yeah, I remember Apple Bloom telling me about that,” said Babs, “Ah was totally shocked to hear about it.”

“But the most ironic thing was that just a bit more than a year ago, a similar situation actually happened right before our eyes. We were just walking in an open field outside of Ponyville one when I smelled something. Then when I saw this orb like object come at us, I shielded Apple Bloom and our child in case it was something dangerous.”

“He was so brave,” Apple Bloom sighed.

“Daddy brave!” Apple Spice shouted happily.

“But then, it started shooting out some weird-smelling smoke that blocked my sense of smell and sight. Once it's settled, Apple Bloom and I were frighten stiff to see a group of ponies carrying our son away; and they were already too far off…” Then Spike growled to himself, ‘Those ungrateful bastards.’

“No way! Wut happened?!” Babs strongly questioned.

“Well… there was no way that they were going to get away with it; so I dashed off after them even though they were almost out of my sight. But suddenly before I could do anything, something weird happened. They suddenly… disappeared… and then re-appeared… right in front of me.”

Once again, Babs was thrown for a loop as she shouted, “Wut?!”

“I know, I couldn’t believe it either; and those jerks were at a loss as well. But I had no time to figure it out. I took the opportunity to knock all of their faces to the ground and then help put their a… I-I mean… butts in jail.”

Spike was slightly sweating as he looked at his son who was smiling at him and enjoying his story-telling; and then shouted, “Daddy kick butts! Hee hee.”

“Good save,” Apple Bloom whispered.

“So… wut happened with the disappearin’ and the re-appearin’?!” said Babs, “Ah don’t understand!”

“Ya know that teleport ability Spike has with his fire breath?” Apple Bloom stated, “Turns out little Apple Spice here inherited that same ability; and we had no idea until that day. Accordin’ to those crooks, he sneezed really hard, and that’s wut caused it. Apple Spice saved himself before Spike could. Impressive, huh?”

“Bad ponies… bad!” Apple Spice chanted with a playful scowl.

Babs was quite fascinated with the story and was glad to finally be in the loop of things, “Whoa. And to think that wut you tested for Spike actually happened; and the kid ended up saving himself. That’s awesome.”

“You bet it was!” Pound shouted, “We may’ve not seen it, but just imagining it really got our blood pumpin’!”

“Yeah, that’s something we both can definitely agree on!” said Pumpkin.

‘I bet after that… no one will attempt something like that ever again,’ thought Spike to himself with a smirk, ‘Those bastards are lucky that I didn’t go all out that day.’

The party went on without a hitch, and everyone was having a great time. They all enjoyed cake and ice cream and other delicacies; especially the foals. And Apple Spice enjoyed opening presents with his parents assisting him. Even Ribbon Lace made a little card for him. Apple Spice liked it and gave her a little hug. Seeing this bought a tear to both pairs of the parents’ eyes. Who's to say that this would turn into something one day.

Pretty soon like all good things, the party was coming to an end, and many of the participants were beginning to say goodbye and take their leave. Diamond Tiara ready to leave as well along with Lickety Split; and so Apple Bloom and Spike accompanied them as they were about to exit the barn.

“So Ah guess we’ll be seein’ you two later?” questioned Apple Bloom.

“Of course we will,” said Tiara rolling her eyes, “We live in the same town, silly.” She then looked down at her daughter, Ribbon Lace who suddenly showcased a huge yawn as she leaned against her with half-lidded eyes. “But… for now, Ribbon really needs to rest… and so do I for that matter. And this party was really... nice. Maybe… we could... hang out tomorrow... or whatever… if that’s okay with you.”

Apple Bloom just went up to her and hugged her as she answered, “Sure thang. Ah would love that.”

Tiara just chuckled while trying to not look overly happy and then turned away as she placed Ribbon on her back. “Come along, Lickety Split. You’re tucking her in this time.”

“Sure thing,” Lickety sighed.

As Lickey passed by Spike, the young dragon placed his claw on Lickety’s shoulder and told him, “Hey, just hang in there. Before you know it, this sort of thing will be like clockwork; trust me.”

Lickety smirked as he gave Spike a hoof/fist bump, “Thanks, man. Talk to ya later.”

“Well well, Tiara,” said Silver Spoon as she walked beside her friend, “you’re really getting better at communicating with others without talking in a sarcastic sense.”

“I was getting better years ago, Silver Spoon,” Tiara lightly retorted, “I’m just improving is all.”

After most members left, the only ones left was Apple Bloom, Applejack and their main friends; as well as Spike, Macintosh and Apple Spice. The party was finally over, and the barn was in need of a good ol’ cleaning.

“Well… Ah’d say that this party was a huge success, don’t ya think?” said Apple Bloom to Spike.

Spike looked down at Apple Spice and saw him lightly yawning even though he seemed to be trying to keep himself awake. “It seems that Apple Spice is satisfied. He looks so tuckered out… or maybe that’s just the cake and ice cream taking it's toll.”

“Well… time to clean up thangs around here,” said Applejack to her friends, “Think you girls care to help us out?”

They all agreed as Twilight answered, “Of course. We would be happy to, Applejack.”

Feeling determined, Apple Bloom was ready to help as she said, “Alright then, let's get started right away.”

“Oh no you don’t,” said Applejack in retaliation, “We got this covered while you tend to the birthday boy and then rest up. You deserve it.”

“Eyup,” Macintosh agreed.

“Aw come on, guys,” Apple Bloom whinned, “Ah’m not that exhausted.” She then took a couple of steps forward and tripped over a party blower that was left on the floor by one of the foals. She groaned and then said hesitantly, “Heh, okay… maybe Ah’m a little exhausted.”

“I could’ve told you that,” said Spike, “But in the meantime, I’m sure these guys could use some dragon muscle around here.”

“Actually, Spike....” said Twilight, “we want you to rest as well…. mostly me. Have some time alone with your mare while we take care of things here.”

Spike was going to speak in protest, but then he decided against it and sighed as he answered, “Okay… if that’s what you want…”

“Of course it is! Take care of your mare and child. You have to enjoy it for as long as you can.”

“Alright then,” said Apple Bloom as she grabbed a hold of Apple Spice, “We'll be in the house if anypony needs us.”

With that, Apple Bloom and Spike guided their son towards the house being be careful that he didn't bump into anything. Pinkie Pie was just watching and slightly sighing as she said, “Wow, just seeing them makes me want to have a foal of my own! Well… actually, I already thought that being with Mr. And Mrs. Cake.”

“So do I…” stated Sweetie Belle, “but I'm still not sure if I'm ready for that yet. I still have plenty of time to think on it.”

“Unlike me,” Scootaloo chuckled as she tap her underbelly, “I need to start preparing like Apple Bloom did. But enough of this baby talk; let's make this place spick and span!”

Apple Spice was more sleepy than he was trying to show. He even almost nodded off on Apple Bloom’s back as she and Spike were escorting him inside the house to his little bed that was located in Apple Bloom’s room covered up by a sliding curtain for privacy whenever Apple Bloom needed it.

After putting him there, Apple Spice was wiping his eyes as he looked up at Apple Bloom and asked, “Mommy, I have to go sleep?”

“Of course; you have to,” Apple Bloom answered giving him a little cheek kiss, “It's been a full day today fer you, and little foals like you needs their rest or else you will be very cranky.” She suddenly shivered a bit remembering the last time that happened, “And we definitely don't want that to happen.”

Apple Spice suddenly let out another huge yawn as he stretched and then laid down on the blanket in his crib and suggested, “Sing, pwease?”

“Alright then.”

Singing was a really great way to help Apple Spice fall asleep sometimes. He really loved it, especially when it was Apple Bloom doing it. Spike tried singing to him once, but Apple Spice seemed to prefer his Mother's sweet, southern voice.

After singing one of her favorite foal hood lullabies, Apple Spice had finally fell asleep curled up in a ball-like position. Afterwards, Apple Bloom pulled over the curtain to shield him; and then she and Spike quietly walked away from their child and sat beside each other on Apple Bloom’s bed as thier son slept away. And all Apple Bloom had to say was…

“Yes… Ah am on fire today.”

While thinking long and hard about it, Spike suddenly stated, “Is it just me, Apple Bloom… or has it been a lot more easier to get Apple Spice to sleep?”

“Wut can Ah say;” said Apple Bloom as she took a huge stretch and laid back on her hooves, “he’s a well-behaved foal. Sure he is a bit of a handful at times and loves to play… a lot, but wut kind of baby doesn't? But overall, we’re quite lucky to be blessed with somepony like Apple Spice. He is definitely one of a kind.”

Still thinking over that, Spike just chuckled slightly as he said, “It's really has been three years. I can believe it.”

“Well believe it,” Apple Apple Bloom responded, “But that's just 3; Ah’ll be fully impressed when we get through at least 6.” She then let herself loose as she laid all the way down on her back. “Although fer our first time… we weren't half bad, were we?”

“Nope,” Spike admitted, “we were pretty awesome.” But just then, Spike looked down at Apple Bloom whose body was all sprawled out on the bed beside him. He then made a little smirk as he was getting certain ideas in his head as he turned on his side and stretched his arm across the relaxing mare and looked in her eyes. “By the way… we have time to ourselves right now. The others are cleaning in the barn, and our son is sound asleep; and now… this dragon feels like givin’ some lovin’ to his mare.”

Apple Bloom was a little startled by Spike’s sudden action; but then she tried to playfully push Spike’s arm away as she laughed a bit, “Spike… down boy. Not on our Son’s birthday. Besides, he's right over there.”

But Spike wasn’t making it easy for her. “I’m not asking for too much, just some nice little snuggle time… with a little nip here,” he said as he nip Apple Bloom’s ear that made her yelp softly, “and a little stroke there,” as he trailed a claw across her belly that gave her vibrant chills, “and a little bit of caressing... right around here.” He suddenly placed an arm under Apple Bloom’s head as he placed the other under her flank and gave it a small squeeze as he pulled her closer to him. “You can tell me when to stop ya know.”

Since Spike and Apple Bloom were basically together now, none of them were very shy to show more affection to the other. However, how Spike showed it sometimes was very straightforward. Apple Bloom was being overcomed by Spike’s suggestive action, but was trying to resist it. “O-o-oh, Spike… c-cut it out.” But the way Spike kept going on, she knew that it was impossible. So she decided to play along. “Ooooh, wut am Ah sayin’?”

Apple Bloom suddenly pulled Spike down onto her body, and the two lovers held each other close as they began to kiss in a very loving way. It was moments like this that they were glad that they were a couple. The romantic moment did go on for a few minutes… until suddenly, they both heard a voice call out to them.

“Mommy?”

Apple Bloom and Spike both suddenly stopped what they were doing and looked behind them to see Apple Spice slightly awake and poking head out from behind the curtain and staring at them. Of course being 3, he had no idea what was going on as he wiped his eyes and said, “What are ya… doin’?”

Apple Bloom and Spike quickly got off of each other and acted like nothing happened. Apple Bloom then told her son, “N-n-nothing, honey. Mommy and Daddy were just… playing with each other… is all.”

“B-b-but you’re a bit young to play the game we’re playing, okay?” Spike added.

Although, Apple Spice didn’t care about that. There was another important matter on his mind. “Mommy, I have to go potty.”

Apple Bloom just sighed as she was about to get up; but then Spike stopped her as he got up and said, “Uh-uh, just relax. I got this.”

Apple Bloom just smiled as she watched Spike accompanied their child out of the room. It was pretty nice for her to see them do any kind of male bonding. It was something that she knew Apple Spice needed; he was becoming too much of a mama’s boy. She scooted more onto her bed to relax and take her Sister and friends’ advice to rest. She was used to it though. It was a normal thing for her and Spike to ever since Apple Spice was born; just a part of being a parent to toddler foal.

As she laid down, Apple Bloom began pondering over something that she hasn’t thought about for over a year. That very day that she and Spike first mated; if that didn’t happen, would they’ve still fallen for each other? Would they still end up deciding to mate with each other eventually? Would they still have Apple Spice; Equestria’s first pony/ dragon hybrid? Would they’ve been as good of parents as they are now? She knew that only fate would know something like that.

Suddenly, Apple Bloom ears went straight up as she heard Spike yell out in the distance…

“A-A-Apple Bloom, Spice just sneezed while going… and it's not pretty! Sh-should I get Twilight?! Oh crap, how could this even happen?!”

As she smiled and shook her head, Apple Bloom knew one thing; life was never going to be boring for them for a long time.

Prolouge

It was a slow, quiet evening at the Poniville Health and Care center... around an hour after midnight, and not much was going on at the moment. Nurse Redheart was just finishing up an appointment with a patient of hers at the front desk.

“Well... after a couple of tests and careful calculations, I’m happy to say that… you’re not pregnant, Miss Hooves.”

“Alright!” the grey mare shouted; but then she looked confused, “Wait a minute… I’m not? But that means I accidentally woke my daughter up in the middle of the night for nothing!”

"Yeah..." groaned Dinky who was there with her for support, "thanks again for that by the way."

“I'm sorry that your... um, motherly instinct was wrong," said Redheart, "I’m not saying that you having another foal is bad though; but word of advice… maybe you should think before you act, or at least find out if the stallion who knocked you up will support you in the end. I’m just saying.”

“That’s what I told her,” said Dinky, “She always tell me to restrain myself from temptation. But ooooooh no; when stallions try to seduce her, it’s a completely different story.”

“But they do ask nicely.”

Redheart face-hoofed herself and shook her head while she tried to make Derpy realize, “Just understand, Miss Derpy; you obviously raised a responsible young mare and I’m sure she loves you very much, so… just do what she does. Okay?”

Derpy just smiled and saluted to her, “Will do, Nurse.”

“Come on, Mom,” said Dinky as she led her mother out, “'YAWN' Maybe we can get your mind off of things with some Muffins before we go back to bed.”

“Ooh, sounds like a great idea!”

Afterwards, Nurse Redheart calmly walked into the business office where she slumped down on a chair feeling bored. Another nurse, Nurse Sweetheart was there as well.

“What a night, wouldn't you say?” asked Sweetheart.

“I’ll say,” Redheart responded, “Nothing usually happens this time of night. I’m not saying that I wish ponies would hurt themselves or anything else so they can come here at night, but… sometimes I wish I can get something to help give me a boost to finish out the night, you know.”

Suddenly, the doctor named Nursery Rhyme burst into the office in a frenzy, “Girl girls girls; I’m sorry to interrupt your break, but this is no time to rest!”

“What’s going on, Miss Rhyme?” said Redheart as she hopped on her hooves, “What’s got you so much in a tizzy? And weren't you about to turn in for the night?”

“I was, but I'm afraid that we have a huge, complicated emergency situation on our hooves! I’m afraid… it’s finally happening.”

Normally that kind of statement wouldn’t make any sense without more of an explanation; but for Redheart and Sweetheart, they knew what that meant.

“Holy horseshoes,” Sweetheart shouted, “it is time for that already?! I figured that we still had a couple more months! This dosen't sound good.”

“Nurse Sweetheart,” commanded Redheart, “alert the supervisor staff; we’re going to need as many hooves as we can on this one! Heh, guess I opened my mouth too soon.”

A few moments at the entrance of the center, a stretch bed busted through the doors with some medical ponies steering it; and laying on it fully pregnant and about to burst, was Apple Bloom! She was laying there flat on her back and holding onto her stomach that housed her newborn; and she was howling in pain from the labor.

“Make way, ponies; make way! We have a major pregnancy on our hands; the biggest one yet!”

Also, running right beside her, making sure she was alright was her new lover, Spike.

“Apple Bloom, hang in there! Just keep breathing in and out; in and out!”

“WHUT THE HELL DO YA THINK AH’M DOIN’?!!!” Apple Bloom shouted at him suddenly.

Spike was suddenly quiet at her outburst and then hesitantly said, “I-I-I was just e-encouraging you.”

As they went on, Apple Bloom’s friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came in from behind and asked one of the nearby employees, “Which way did they take A.B?!”

As soon as the employee pointed in the direction, Apple Bloom’s friends instantly ran off in a hurry. The employee suddenly saw Apple Bloom’s big brother, Big Macintosh calmly walk in as he saw Sweetie and Scootaloo run off.

“Your sister’s friends?” the employee asked the red stallion.

“Yep.”

The ponies rushing Apple Bloom were nearing their destination when Apple was whining again from her pain feeling her baby coming close, “It’s comin’; Ah can feel it comin’! Why… wh-why did Ah let you do this to me?!”

“Me?!” Spike strongly suggested, “You’re the one who threw yourself on me! You were making it really hard for me to resist!”

“You’re just makin’ up excuses, Spike; and now because of you, Ah’m about to have a real-live baby pop out of me!”

“But I…”

“That’s… just her hormones talking,” said one of the medical ponies, “She doesn’t truly mean it.”

“Yes Ah do!”

“She really doesn’t.”

They finally got to the emergency room and carried Apple Bloom inside. However, Nurse Redheart halted Spike before he went in himself, “What; can’t I go in?”

“We have to make sure that she’s okay first. After all, this is the first time we helped deliver a birth to a possible hybrid.”

“What;” Spike panicked, “Do you guys even know what you’re doing?!”

“To be honest… we don’t.”

“Are you kidding me!?”

“I’m just kidding, but we have been preparing for this very moment; and now we’re going to put that preparing to work.”

Spike became more worried than he already was knowing what Apple Bloom was going through. All he wanted was her to survive the birthing process.

“Hey, don’t worry,” said Redheart as she patted Spike on his back, “she’ll be fine. Just stay out here and we’ll let you in once it’s safe enough.”

Spike just stood there completely still staring at the doors that Redheart went through constantly. A few seconds later, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo caught up to him and asked him, “Is… A.B… alright?”

They both suddenly saw Spike crying feeling sorry for himself, “I… I-I-I don’t know. If something does happen to Apple Bloom… it will be all my fault.”

It’s been almost 8 months since Apple Bloom experienced her first heat period and mated with Spike. It was the most wonderful moment that she ever experienced, and the same goes for Spike; but at what price? Some time passed by after that, and it was confirmed that Apple Bloom became pregnant with her and Spike’s offspring. It was quite a surprise to many knowing that a pony was impregnated by a dragon. If it was possible, what would baby the look like? Would it be more pony than dragon; more dragon than pony; or would it be something in-between? Well, no one knew exactly of what it would be, but Apple Bloom and Spike were about to experience the most important moment of their lives… if they could survive through the process first.

With Great Risk comes Great Responsability

What started as a day of speculation suddenly became a day of shock, fright and uncertainty for Spike. Recently, Apple Bloom went to the Ponyville Hospital with her older sister, Applejack to make sure that her mating process with Spike proved to be negative… in which they highly believe to be true due to Apple Bloom being a pony and Spike being a Dragon. And never in Equestrian history has a pony and dragon ever been able to conceive a youngling. Unfortunately, to Spike’s horror, they were proven wrong went Apple Bloom’s test came back positive.

All of his stress came out at once and almost the entire town heard his sudden scream of shock. He wasn’t upset about the fact that he got Apple Bloom pregnant and that they were going to be parents, but more like he was scared because he didn’t feel like he was ready for the responsibility. Apple Bloom was a bit shocked and nervous herself, but she was actually kind of excited and was curious of how this would turn out. While Spike was finishing his freak out, Applejack sent word out to Twilight. When she heard, she hurried right over with no hesitation. When she got there and went into the office room where they were, she noticed how Spike was sitting in a chair still slightly shaking with Apple Bloom standing right beside him.

“Thank Celestia yer here,” said Applejack, “Maybe you can get Spike out of this funk he’s havin’.”

Twilight looked around the room and noticed that no nurse was insight, “Where’s Miss Rhyme? I heard that she worked with you guys?”

Suddenly, Nurse Redheart came in the room from behind after hearing what Twilight said and replied, “She did, but she has business with another patient. So I’m here to observate in her place.”

In the middle of his shaking, Spike happened to look up slightly and saw Twilight standing a few feet away from him. He gasped, jumped up and literally ran and fell to Twilight’s hooves and yelled, “Twilight! Please tell me I’m dreaming! Please tell me that I just fell asleep at the tree and I haven’t woken up!”

Twilight sighed and placed her hoof on Spike’s head and said, “Sorry, Spike, you’re not dreaming.”

Spike sat up on his legs and placed his claws over his face feeling slightly grieved of his situation, “Damnit. I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Neither can I,” said Twilight, “It feels a bit ironic that we were just talking about the possibility of this happening yesterday and that it was very unlikely. Now all of a sudden… its actually happening. So how come I’m suddenly not as thrilled about it as I was yesterday?”

Applejack and Redheart were feeling a bit awkward along with Twilight who just came onto the scene. However, Apple Bloom was starting to feel a bit bad about herself seeing Spike breaking down like this because of what she got him into. She slowly went over to him with her head down and tried to speak to him.

“Spike… y-yer not upset about this whole thang, are ya? After all it is kinda mah fault that ya mated with me in the first place.”

Spike then uncovered his face and looked over at Apple Bloom as she was confessing to him.

“Ah could’ve just resisted mah urges and let ya walk right out of that barn door, then Ah could’ve secluded mahself for the rest of the day and then continue mah week without any worries. But now thanks to me... this happened and there's no way to take it back. Well... there is, but lets not talk about that. But anyway, Ah'm sure ya weren't plannin’ fer somethang like this, so... Ah-Ah'm sorry. If ya hate me fer this, then Ah'll completely understand."

"What; no!” shouted Spike as he broke out of his freak out, “Why would you even think that I would hate you for this?!"

"Maybe because when ya found out ya screamed at the top of yer lungs so loud that almost the entire town of Ponyville heard you?"

"Well... y-yeah, but forget that. Maybe it was sorta your fault to begin with, but we both already agreed that it was both of our faults. Either one of us could've done something to prevent... this, but I guess we didn’t think that this would be even possible.” Spike then lifted Apple Bloom head up with his claw and looked into her eyes and claimed, “I guess I kinda overdid it with my freak out, but that was just my stress and the sudden realization of reality talking. I may not be ready to be a father yet, but... I already promised your brother and sister that no matter what the outcome could be, I would be there for you no matter what... and as a fellow dragon, I won't break that promise."

With a single tear going down her face, Apple Bloom smiled and said, "Really? Thanks a lot, Spike!"

She then proceeded to wrap her hooves around Spike to hug him tight, and Spike hugged back smiling as well. Twilight almost felt like crying herself seeing the heartfelt scene in front of her, and Applejack couldn’t help but slightly smile herself. It seemed to her that Spike was really willing to stay in this.

"So anyway,” said Apple Bloom as she suddenly looked up at Spike, “what should we name our soon to be bundle of joy? Ah was thinking upon the lines of maybe Apple Spice, or Flare, or Flame Core, or even Apple Bloom the 2nd!"

Spike arched his brow and stated, "Kinda ruining the sweet moment here."

"Oops, sorry,” said Apple Bloom, “Maybe we can worry about that later."

After that moment, Twilight went over to Spike feeling that he better now and asked him, “So are you really done freaking out now, Spike?”

“Well… I’m still a bit nervous, and I’m still freaking out just a tiny bit on the inside. But other than that, I’m perfectly fine now.”

“Good!” said Twilight with a smile, “Now that you’ve gotten over your freakout, I can finally feel great to say… that this is the most wondrous moment in my life!”

Spike slightly glared at Twilight and she chuckled nervously and said, “A-a-and… you too; most wondrous moment in your life too.”

“Are ya still going on about whether the baby is going to be mostly a pony or a dragon?” Applejack questioned.

“Hey, I have the right to be excited. This will be a wonderful discovery for a pony like me.”

After studying through the observation papers, Nurse Redheart walked over to them and said, “Well right now its a bit too early to determine if this new life is a boy or a girl; or if its more pony than dragon or the other way around. I’d like reschedule another appointment for Apple Bloom 2 weeks from today to see if we can figure out what we’re working with.”

“2 weeks?” whinned Apple Bloom, “That kinda sucks; Ah wanted to see what Ah am havin’ now.”

“No need to rush the delicate process of birth, Apple Bloom,” said Applejack.

Suddenly, a random thought came to Twilight. “You know, this had crossed my mind since yesterday. Do you have any idea of how calm and relaxed we would’ve all been right now if I simply waited to deliver that message to Applejack myself?”

Applejack rolled her eyes and smiled sarcastically to Twilight, “Gee, ya don’t say.”

“Since this will be the first offspring of a pony and dragon,” said Redheart, “we’ll be keeping a close eye on it once we know what is developing. You’re in for a long 10-11 months, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom never understood why it always took so long for somepony to give birth, but in their situation it probably was a good thing.“Well… I guess that leaves plenty of time to calm down from this. Right, Spike?”

“Doesn’t make this moment any different, but thank Celestia anyway,” said Spike with relief.

“Any other advice ya want to presently give to the new lovely couple?” said Applejack to Redheart.

“Nothing much, but while I’m thinking about it… there is a high chance that this newborn is part dragon, meaning that it’s cold-blooded.” Then she looked at Apple Bloom, “So it will be important to keep that belly of yours nice and warm .”

Apple Bloom looked down and rubbed on her belly feeling troubled. “Well that will be kinda hard to do on really cold days.”

“Exactly why I suggest using this.” Nurse went to a corner and pulled out a wool-like band that could fit around anypony’s middle body, “Its just a little sweater-like sleeve to wear around your torso. On cold days, this can help keep whatever is going to develop in you warm.”

Apple Bloom carefully slipped it on getting it nice and snug and feeling it’s warmth. “Mmm… it does feel nice and cozy. I’ll take it; thanks!”

“Well this has been an interesting turn of events,” said Twilight, “Looks like we have a long task at hand. Just wait until Celestia hears about this, she’ll be so intrigued! But, um… I’ll make sure to do whatever I can to help out with this.”

“That’s all Ah can ask,” said Applejack.

Spike felt that most of his stress was gone for now, and he just sat hiemslf down in a nearby chair to relax a bit and take a breather. Apple Bloom then came over to where he was and gave him another little peck on hi cheek to cheer him up.

“So… do ya feel better now, Spike?”

“I’m technically the one who should ask you that,” said Spike, “You’re the one who is going to eventually give birth.”

“Well yeah, but… Ah’m actually okay with it. Ah know Ah got us into this, but we can always make the most of it. Ah can’t wait to shock the other crusaders with the news!”

“Don’t ferget that yer still grounded today and tomorrow, A.B.,” said Applejack while slightly glaring at her excited sister, “and durin’ that time you can relax, help with small things around the farm and think about what ya done got yerself and Spike into.”

Apple Bloom groaned and sighed as she responded, “Ah know, Sis; understood.”

With that said, Applejack and her sister were getting ready to walk out of the office room. But then Spike quickly stood up and asked, “H-hey! Um… think I can tag with you two for a little bit.”

“Sure thang, Spike;” said Appleack with a smirk, “and while yer at it, you can tell Big Mac the big news.”

As Spike followed them from behind, he groaned out of slight regret of suggesting it.“Oh goodie.”

Once they went out, it was only Twilight and Nurse Redheart left in the office room. Twilight just couldn’t help but wonder how things would turn out from this moment.

“Think Apple Bloom will get through this?” she asked Redheart.

“I guess we’ll see in about two weeks. We’re expecting this to be like a normal birth, but considering the two partners… we’ll keep checking it out just to be on the safe side.”

“But you have to admit that this is still a bit exciting, right.”

“It’s something that we’ve never experience, but… yeah, it is.”

That’s how it went down after what happened with Apple Bloom and Spike. IN the end, they both weren't very proud of what they did, but they both agreed to take full responsibility. Once back at the farm, Spike told Big Mac what the outcome was and was almost afraid for his life. But he had nothing to worry about because he was quite proud of him. He wasn’t running away from this fate placed on his shoulders even though he was still probably very nervous about it. But he chose to stay regardless and take on his new challenge with Apple Bloom; and that was all he wished from Spike. Because if Spike chose to run away, then Big Mac would probably have to kill him.

Even Twilight’s friends eventually found out thanks to a certain pink pony who likes to get the scoop on things. They all had different expressions of shock, especially Fluttershy who didn’t think that this sort of thing would even happen. Different other ponies ended up finding out what was coming, but their were others who were still in the dark about it, including Apple Bloom’s friends; Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. But after Apple Bloom’s 2 days of grounding from her big sister, she was able to fill in everything to them of what happened to her during the heat season. They found out that she was the only one out of all of them to get laid, and they were all quite surprised; but not as surprised as they were when they found out who she did it with.

It was a bit chilly that day and Apple Bloom had forgotten about a certain accessory that he should be wearing. Spike knew about it and volunteered to take it to her, only to walk in on the crusader’s discussion. It was then that Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo found out that not only was Spike the one who knocked up their friend, but that she was actually pregnant. They couldn’t believe it; this sparked a huge interest in their brains. Apple Bloom told them everything, and Spike had to endure the two other fillies’ giggles hearing everything that happened… and it only got more awkward for him from there.

“O… M… G, Apple Bloom,” said Scootaloo, “I can’t believe that you actually had sex with a dragon; and with Spike no less! That is so awesome!”

“I can’t believe that you even had the guts to do it,” said Sweetie Belle shockingly, “You must be very lucky.”

Apple Bloom was still laying down with her head held high and smirking, “Well… yeah, I guess Ah am.”

“Um, hello?” said Spike waving his hand, “Teenage dragon about to become a father over here. I wouldn’t say that I am lucky.”

“Oh don’t listen to him girls,” Apple Bloom stated, “he knows that he is very lucky and that he’s looking forward to being a daddy. After all, Ah didn’t hear him complaining when we were making lovely music together.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were chuckling again seeing Spike’s embarrassed face from Apple Bloom sensual talk. He groaned and got to speak for himself.

“Okay; you two, hears the truth. One, I protested many times at the beginning. Two, I doubt either of us was thinking straight during that moment to complain about anything. And third, while I agreed to be on board with this, I hardly find myself to be lucky.”

Scootaloo came beside Spike and gave him a little nudge on his side with her hoof and told him, “We get it, Spike, you’re a little nervous. There’s no shame in that. I know I’d be nervous if I were you.”

“But you should still feel happy of welcoming a new form of life into the world,” said Sweetie Belle, “That is definitely worth being proud about at least.”

Spike sighed and sat back down and looked back over to Apple Bloom who to him looked so calm and content laying there without any worries at all. He knew that he had to stay calm to for his sake and hers.

“You’re right Sweetie Belle, I will feel proud, and… I will be happy for Apple Bloom when she doe give birth. But it doesn’t exactly help you three cooing at me about it.”

“Speaking of which,” said Scootaloo, “do you two know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?”

“Not yet,” Apple Bloom responded, “We should know in about 2 weeks though. It does suck, but Ah guess you can’t rush birth development.”

Another bright smile came onto Scootaloo’s face feeling ecstatic about the whole situation, “This is all so exciting! You being pregnant and going to give birth to a foal… now for some reason I envy you that Rumble didn’t get me pregnant so I could have a foal of my own.”

“We feel so sorry for you,” said Spike sarcastically, “But now that I know that Apple Bloom’s siblings aren’t going to kill me, I guess I can relax knowing that the worst is over.”

That was… until Sweetie Belle thought about something. “But what about the mood swings?”

“The whut?” questioned Apple Bloom.

“Mood swings. You know… the different emotional changes that pregnant mares go through during the development. They’ll experience happiness, sadness, humor, worry, scared and they even experience anger… usually toward the one who got her pregnant in the first place. I don’t know why this happens, but maybe its not as bad as it sounds.”

Hearing what mood swings were, he then remembered reading something about that from the library. Some of his nerves returned to him as he said, “Oh, that’s just great. Guess I spoke too soon.”

“Oh, Ah’m sure that it’s no big deal,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah won’t get mad at Spike. Why would Ah?”

“I don’t know,” said Sweetie Belle, “but I’m just telling you what I’ve heard.”

Suddenly, Scootaloo looked out of the clubhouse at the clock tower and slightly panicked, “Whoa, look at the time;I gotta go! I promised Rainbow Dash I would babysit her tortoise!” She then smiled and winked at Spike saying, “Good luck with your day, you guys.” and then she flew off.

After Scootaloo left, Sweetie was slowly heading towards the door as well. She looked back at Spike and Apple Bloom and told them, “Well… I guess I’ll leave you two to be with each other. See ya later, Apple Bloom.”

“You too, Sweetie,” said Apple Bloom with a smile.

Now Spike and Apple Bloom were the only ones left in the clubhouse. They were just sitting there in each other’s company be silent and sometimes awkwardly smiling at each other wondering what to say next.

"So… mood swings, huh?” said Spike suddenly, “You going through that almost sounds too scary to even think about it."

Apple Bloom came up beside Spike and gave him a little cheek kiss that made him blush a bit; and then she told him, "Well don't let that make ya feel discouraged. Even if Ah do have mood swings, Ah'm sure that you can handle it."

Spike was truly hopeful that besides the time of birth, he wouldn’t have to go through anything more stressful. He sighed as he thought to himself...

"I just hope she's right."