"Hey Scoots?"
"Yeah Sweetie?" I asked with a yawn as I turned over in the bed to face my pregnant wife. Not long after we had gotten married the year before, we had decided to have a foal together, that was almost 11 months ago now.
"Do you think we're going to make good parents?" She asked, which made me pause a moment. "I know its kind of late to be thinking about this but..."
"Its okay Sweetie," I said and nuzzled her gently, honestly I wasn't sure what to say to that, I had been thinking about this on and off since we had first decided to have a foal.
Neither of us really had much experience with raising foals, I mean I had a little sister and Sweetie had a niece, but neither really prepared you for the experience of being parents.
Twilight had given us a lot of books on the subject of course and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had given me as much advice as they could. They were my family after all, and family helped each other out.
I was lucky to have such an amazing family.
"Its not going to be easy I'm sure but... as long as we're together and we have everypony helping us out, we'll do fine," I said and nuzzled Sweetie again, gently kissing her on the lips. "We're going to do fine, I'm sure of it."
Sweetie smiled and kissed me back. "Thank you Scootaloo, I'm sure we'll do fine."
I smiled and draped my wing over her. The last year had felt like some wonderful dream, sure we had our ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
"So Apple Bloom wanted to know if we'd be at the Apple Family Reunion this year," I said. "I said I'd have to talk to you about it."
"Oh, that's in a couple of weeks isn't it?" Sweetie said and I nodded. "We can certainly try... do you want to go Scootaloo? I know this'll be your first family reunion."
I paused for a long moment, it was kind of funny growing up I had never thought about having such a large extended family. Even when Rainbow and Fluttershy adopted me I only had my new grandparents and an Uncle.
Now I had the whole Apple family because Rarity had married Applejack, I had more family than I had ever imagined. I smiled a little and nodded as I kissed Sweetie lightly on the nose.
"I'd love to go," I said and smiled a little. "I'd love for all three of us to be there."
"Me too Scootaloo, me too," Sweetie said as she closed her eyes and added jokingly. "I think she's waiting so she doesn't have to meet her entire extended family all at once."
I giggled a little and gave her another kiss. We just lay there for awhile, enjoying the feeling of warmth as we held each other.
"Scootaloo?" Sweetie said after awhile as I looked at her.
"Yeah Sweetie?"
"Its time..."
Oh crap...
"Come on, lets get you to the hospital," I said as we got out of bed.
00000
"Hey Scootaloo, we came as soon as we heard," Rainbow Dash said as she came into the hallway outside of Sweetie's room with Fluttershy and my half-awake little sister Day Break, a yellow furred Pegasus filly with a blue and pink mane resting on Rainbow's back. "How's she doing?"
"She's fine," I said, taking a deep breath. "She's been in there for over 6 hours now, I've never been so nervous in my life..."
"Scootaloo, its okay," Fluttershy said with a reassuring smile as she sat down next to me. "Sweetie will be okay."
"Yeah," I said and sighed a little, the truth was that while I had sounded confident the night before I still wasn't sure of myself. "I'm just... nervous about this whole thing really, I can't believe I'm going to be a mom..."
"Yeah, my little Scootaloo is all grown up," Rainbow said with a smirk as Day Break slid off her back and up next to Fluttershy.
"Not helping mom," I said with a groan. "Were you this nervous when Day Break was born?"
"A little bit," Rainbow admitted which surprised me that she'd admit it. "All new parents are really, but you have to remember something."
"What's that?" I asked.
"That you never have to do it alone," Fluttershy said with a smile as she and Rainbow hugged me gently. "You've got your family and friends, and that'll never change. Right Rainbow?"
"Right," Rainbow said with a smile. "We couldn't be prouder of you Scootaloo, I don't doubt that you'll make a great mom."
"Thanks," I said with a smile. "What do you think Day, are you excited to have a little niece?"
"Yep!" The filly said with a smile as she smiled at me. "When will she get here?"
"Anytime now," I said with a smile as I ruffled the filly's mane. "Everything will be just fine."
"That's right darling," Rarity said as she and Applejack came down the hallway with their own filly Autumn Glory. "Is Sweetie Belle okay?"
"Yeah, the doctors said it'll be a little longer before the foal is born," I said, rubbing the back of my head a little.
"Oh we know all about that, Rarity here was in labor fer, what was it again... 12 hours?" Applejack asked as she looked at Rarity.
"14 hours actually," Rarity said with a groan. "Don't remind me."
"Yeah, this really isn't making me feel better..." I said with a groan. "Come on, lets go check on her before I go crazy."
We headed back into the hospital room where Sweetie greeted us with a tired smile. I smiled back and took a seat next to her bed, taking her hoof in mine.
"Hey Scoots, I see you decided to bring the party in here."
"Heh, yeah, well I found them hanging out in the hallway so I figured why not?" I said with a laugh.
I smiled a little as we talked for awhile, Sweetie was doing pretty well at least. I was happiest when I was with my friends and family.
I thought back to every moment me and Sweetie had spent together. When we first met as fillies, when we formed the CMC with Apple Bloom, when we got our cutie marks, when we started dating, and when we were married.
Now we were going to enter the next stage of our life together, and even if it was going to be a challenge, I couldn't wait.
00000
"Push Sweetie, that's it, you're doing fine, she's almost here."
Sweetie let out one last cry as a new cry was heard in the room.
"Its a filly, congratulations," the doctor said as she gently wrapped the filly up and placed her in Sweetie's forelegs.
"Hey Scoots, come meet your daughter," Sweetie said with a smile as I trotted over and looked down at the bundle.
The filly was an orange color with two shades of purple in her mane. I smiled down at her as she cooed softly.
"She's beautiful," I said with a smile as I gave Sweetie a soft kiss on the cheek. "Just like her mom."
"Just like both her moms," Sweetie said with a tired smile as she nuzzled me gently. "She just needs a name."
As I thought about that for a long moment the Doctor approached me levitating a clipboard. "Mrs. Dash, I hate to ask you this but given your... family's medical history, would you like to know if she inherited your condition?"
I frowned a little at that, I had found out when I was a teenager that I wouldn't be able to fly because of a magical deficiency that ran in my family. It hadn't been easy but I had come to accept it with the help of my friends and family.
When we had decided to have a foal together the Doctors had mentioned this possibility to us. It wasn't likely to happen, but there was always the possibility that our daughter would never be able to fly either.
Sweetie looked at me and nodded before turning to look at the Doctor. "Its okay Doctor, we can wait and find out when she's older," she said with a smile and I nodded in agreement.
"Okay, I understand."
"So, what are we going to name her," Sweetie Belle said and looked at me.
I thought for a long moment as I looked down at our sleeping daughter. We still had a lot to learn about being parents, but we would never give up on it and we both knew it. She was a spark of light in our lives now, and it was up to us to nurture that spark.
I smiled a little and nuzzled Sweetie gently. "Lets name her Sparky, our little spark of light."
Sweetie looked at me and smiled as she nuzzled back. "Sparky, I like that," she said with a smile "Welcome to the world Sparky."
"And welcome to the family," I added with a smile. "You'll soon be meeting all your cousins and grandparents and Celestia knows who else... so be ready."
"Scoots, lets try not to scare her," Sweetie said with a laugh as she kissed me gently.
We just stayed there for a long moment as a family. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
I never wanted it to go away.
Author's Note
An image of Sparky, admittedly when she's older:
