The broom zipped and zoomed in and around the tower, collecting the materials asked upon the Spellcaster. Books, blankets, and pillows were thrown into a pile on the central floor; Starlight’s main living room quarters. Besom was happy to finally be of use after years of negligence, even if it was for only one time or perhaps the very last time.

Meanwhile, the Spellcaster collected supplies of her own from her bedroom.

“I must be overthinking this,” Starlight questioned, “That spirit was too bubbly and friendly to go ahead and kill me over a bag of candy. She-she wouldn’t dare have me explode in my own home and make this my last Nightmare Night!” She grabbed her own stomach in hopes that she was right, “…would she?”

The Spellcaster brought down two wooden buckets, one filled with warm water with a rag and the other with cold water for hydration. The buckets had strained on her and she had to rest on the circular living room rug.

“To be the mother of a demon. I don’t know whether to be happy or scared of this outcome. I’ll need to first be able to live and tell the tale before I can make any assumpt--…tions?”

Starlight’s attention was brought to her swollen womb. Something inside her reacted. Tapping on the outer walls.

“It-it moves!”

She placed a palm on the front of her stomach, where something inside her slowly reached out and pushed upon the hand.

“Wh-whoa…you are a strange creature.”

The creature inside her caused much squirming from the comment, almost as if it understood her. Starlight was surprised, but perhaps more testing should be required.

“Uh…shadow, demon thing…if you can hear and understand what I’m saying, um, tap my hand three times.”

The Spellcaster placed her palm on the right side of her swollen stomach. But the creature didn't react so quickly.

“Oh. Well, I guess that was exp—oh!”

Tap-tap-tap, the unborn shadow reached out and touched its mother’s hand. It was true; the creature could understand her.

“Amazing…” she commented as she took a seat on her recliner, “I guess Besom isn’t the only one I can speak to. Un-unless for some strange reason you can speak as well. Can you?

Her womb did not budge. An obvious no, perhaps.

“Well, I guess that’d make sense, wouldn’t it? Oh! Hey, you wouldn’t mind slowing down your growth spurts for a bit? I’m kinda worried you might burst out of me. That spirit I summoned wasn’t very clear on how I’d obtain you, y’know?”

Once again, the womb didn’t budge.

“Thought so...It seems like I might have to ride this entire thing through until sunset tonight. And then, we’ll finally get to introduce ourselves properly.”

The creature created a somewhat purring feeling inside its mother. Starlight felt the vibrating and rubbed herself as if she were petting a cat.

“Maybe I was overreacting. I’ll be happy to see you when you come out.

The purring abruptly stopped. It was replaced with the loud groans and the shaking movements.

“Oh no, here we go ag-again!”

The Spellcaster’s womb bounced and trembled as the next growth spurt had come. She had now adjusted to its abrupt changes that she no longer yelled out in pain. And it began to spurt out once again, now to the size of a large pumpkin with her bust swelling along. Her body had stretched wide enough that the belt buckle was almost ready to burst off her body. When the noises subsided, Starlight’s body was thankfully still capable of sitting on her recliner.

“Are-are you ok in there?” she questioned her belly with concern.”

The creature rolled its arm, paw, or claw across her expanded stomach. But the noise it made seemed to have pitched deeper the bigger it gets.

“Sorry, dumb question. But I mustn’t sit around; I need to prepare for the birth!”

The Spellcaster attempted to escape her seat, but the last growth spurt had made I a bit difficult. But suddenly, she got up without a struggle. Confused, she turned around at her seat but there was nothing out of the ordinary. But her eyes darted at her own shadow, noticing that something connected to her shadow’s armed pushed her up. She turned around thinking there was an intruder, but nobody was there. And then she turned back to her body.

“Did…did YOU do that?”

The creature purred for its mother, wishing to aid her during her pregnancy.

“Talk about friends from the inside. You and I, shadow, are going to get along just fine.”

The womb kicked out hard in hopes of pointing something out to her.

“Oh…a name? I’m usually creative with them but I can’t give you a proper name until I get a good look at you with my own eyes. If I were to give it to you now, I’d just name you Kicky.”

Starlight looked up towards the upstairs where she had come from. She still had things to gather.

“Even locked up inside me, you could be a big help. Get me upstairs and I’ll grab the remaining supplies I need.

Suddenly the Spellcaster had felt as though she was being given a boost as she was capable of walking up the stairs again. But looking at her own shadow revealed unknown limbs sprouting from her own shadow pushing her along her way. Up, up to the top of the tower, swinging the door open and entering her treasure horde.

“I already sent Besom to grab a bucket’s worth but it wouldn’t hurt to grab two more buckets worth, would it?”

Her womb kicked in acceptance as Starlight got down on her knees and scooped a batch of candy with one of her buckets. She repeated the process with the other bucket and tried to hold them both up. But she strained as she tried to lift the buckets. The mass inside her gave her the extra helping hand and lifted the buckets with her.

“Thank you. But are you somewhat fused to my body or can you move on your own?”

Nothing more but a quiet bubbling suggested it was bound to its mother.

“Of course. Was only curious but you’re best aiding me as much as you can. We’re both in this together.”

The creature inside purred as they both walked back down to the living room. Once there, Starlight spotted her broom dropping off a couple of fresh sets of clothes and turned back towards her, but not before being scared by the unusual shadow being casted by the Spellcaster and hiding in the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, Besom. Our new friend here isn’t going to hurt us. It’s the creature I asked for, but it’s kind of bound to me until birth.”

The broom flew back towards its master and tilted its handle in confusion. Starlight looked around the living room. She just about had everything she required for the evening; candy was laid across the living room table and fresh water was supplied in the kitchen. The main couch had been adjusted and covered in half a dozen pillows while emergency cloths and medicine were supplied on the kitchen counter. And finally, she had asked for her mirror to be brought down and placed in front of the circular rug bearing Starlight’s cutie mark on it.

“Wonderful work, you two,” Starlight complimented, “I should be ready for tonight unless something new decides to rear its ugly head into my private business. I’ll call upon you if I need any further assistance, Besom.”

The broom tilted its handle sideways.

“And this time I won’t lock your door. Alright?”

The broom nodded and zoomed away back into the storage closet it had been lying in. It rested its bristles on the ground and became inanimate again.

Now alone with the unborn creature, Starlight walked to the center of the room and carefully lied her knees on the round carpet. With nothing else to do for now, she rested her eyes for a brief moment. Her head tilted downward, softly rubbing her gravid form as the shadow inside purred within her once more.

“What in Equestria am I feeling?” Starlight judging herself, “Have I perhaps gone through those five phases of acceptance so fast that I now consider THIS normal? I am Starlight Spellcaster, witch of Foal Mountain, not some surrogate mother!

She sighed off her complaints and looked back down towards her swollen stomach.

“Despite all of this, I am rather enjoying the company. It’s always been myself but now I’ve reunited with an old assistant and am now about to obtain the ultimate means of pilfering every last drop of candy from Hollow Shades. Speaking of which…”

The Spellcaster turned around and held a hand towards the table. Her shadow stretched out to the candy on top and grabbed a handful that levitated towards her and dropped into her palm. Using her other hand, she unwrapped all of the pieces and sent them all down her mouth in one swing. The mixture of chocolates and fruit flavors had started giving Starlight a massive sweet tooth and wished for more. She reached out again with her unborn assistant and obtained another handful. She individually ate each piece of candy to learn its flavors and had already decided the grape was her personal favorite. On her next reach, sorted her candy apart and ate each flavor one at a time. It was getting hard for her to stop eating her so called “treasure”.

“Mmf, so delicious!” the Spellcaster declared as she reached for another handful, “So what’s your favorite flavor? I’ll have them one at a time and you let me know which is the best. Got it?”

The unborn shadow audibly acknowledged her request.

Starlight first unwrapped and ate a set of cherry candies. Her belly didn’t growl so it was assumed none of these. She moved onto the orange flavors, followed by the blueberries, grapes, lemons and the default chocolate. None of these satisfied it. Through the process of elimination, one flavor was left on her palm and she ate all of them in one gulp.

“Well, if it isn’t limes, I don’t know what it—is—“

Her womb growled and groaned. At first she was confused if this was the way the shadow was saying “yes”, but she knew what was coming. And this time, she became intolerable to the growing pains. She shut her eyes and allowed both hands to be placed upon her womb as the flesh underneath her robe burst out several more times. But this time something felt wrong. She felt like she was being squeezed too tight in her delicate state, almost as if something needed to give. But one last surprise growth spurt did the trick and the witch’s belt and buckle snapped off, collapsing to the rug. Her body wasn’t done changing yet. Starlight’s bust had also began putting on more weight. It had gotten to the point that she felt like a water balloon as something warm and wet built up inside her breasts.

The changes had finished, and now Starlight sported a belly as round as a wagon wheel. She picked herself up and brought her new form to the mirror in front of her. She had noticed that where her old belt buckle was, there now was a popped-out belly button. As for the belt itself, it may as well be scrapped for parts now that the outie had destroyed it. Up above her womb, her rack was being held up by her growing womb, looking rather perkier and pointier. They also felt warmer than before, and the Spellcaster reached a hand up to her chest and groped herself. A small splotch of white liquid had dampened her witches robe. She let go and looked at her entire body in the mirror that thankfully could still house her body for the moment.

“…I’m at a loss for words,” the Spellcaster confessed to its unborn child, “How big are you going to get?”

The shadow creature groaned in a new, lower pitch, unsure of the near future itself.

“I must put my focus elsewhere. Luckily, my bookshelf should have something I can read.”

Starlight now had to waddle over to her destinations as her growing size lessened her movement speed and mobility. She got back down on her knees and looked through her shelf. Most of her readings consisted of magical spells and advanced telekinesis, nothing too much in the realm of fantasy or science fiction novels. All but one that had always peaked her interests; the story of Dr. Frankenstallion. In fact, there was a book marker still inside.

“Perfect, all this plotting had put me behind my old reading schedule,” Starlight observed.

She and her demon shadow child picked themselves up and brought the book to the Spellcaster’s recliner. She slowly took her seat as the old wood creaked loudly under her surprising weight.

“Ever heard of Dr. Frankenstallion?”

Her belly only gurgled quietly.

“Well, it’s only one of the best science fiction novels known to ponykind. Would you like me to read aloud to you?”

The purring feeling asked her to go on.

“Alright, but I’m continuing on where I left off so pay attention.”

Starlight opened her book to chapter five, where the mad doctor Frankenstallion brings his creation to life.

“I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed; when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch --the miserable monster whom I had created.”

Her womb got comfortable as the Spellcaster continued to narrate the story for it.

Author's Note

Sadly, the cover art I selected had to be removed due to some NSFW guidelines that it couldn't pull off. You can still find the picture off-site on Derpibooru.