When The Stars Alignby Moonshine34ChaptersChapter One - The First Signs Of The StorkChapter Two - Just NoChapter Three - A Taste Of SuccessChapter One - The First Signs Of The Stork“Girls, I’m going to have a foal,” Twilight Sparkle announced. A few minutes ago the lavender alicorn had gathered her six best friends together in the throne room of her castle to tell them the news. The princess’ revelation was met the cries of surprise and delight, many congratulations and hugs were bestowed upon Twilight. “Ooh! This is sooo amazing!!! My little Confetti cannon and your baby will be B.F.Fs, I just know it!” Pinkie Pie yipped excitedly, bouncing circles around the room. “And I’m sure Percy and Radiance would adore a new playmate,” Rarity interjected. “Oh, and I’ll be able to show him or her the new nursery I’ve built in the Sweet Feather Sanctuary for all the adorable baby animals,” Fluttershy piped up happily,”I’m sure they’ll love it!” Everypony seemed ecstatic at the news, well, everypony except a certain rainbow-maned pegasus who just hovered in the air and rolled her eyes dramatically. “It’s about time,” Rainbow Dash snorted derisively,”I mean, you’ve been married for like, a decade already.” “Rainbow!” Applejack admonished the cyan mare,”That’s not a very nice thang to say. Just cus you’re a mother now don’t mean that Twi oughta be too. Different ponies feel ready fer parenthood at different times and ah sure as hell ain’t ready yet!” “It’s alright AJ. Rainbow has point. I guess it’s because initially Flash had to finish up his time serving as a royal guard in the Crystal Empire before he could move in with me. Then we were both so busy with teaching, and I still had a lot princess duties so we never really had time to think about having children. It was actually only about a month ago we agreed we were ready and should try and now, well...,” Twilight trailed off sheepishly,”But I’ll have you know we have only been married for five years, two weeks, six hours, nine minutes and as of now twenty-three seconds.” “Still a humongous egghead I see,” Dash smirked,”But yeah, I’m sorry for what I said. To be honest I kinda wish Soarin and I had waited a bit longer before having Delta, don’t get me wrong I love the kid to pieces but being a mom is no easy task.” “Hmph! At least you didn’t have twins! Honestly, I swear not a moment goes by when they’re not bickering and squabbling with each other. Fancy does try his best, poor dear, but he does tend to spoil them rather than discipline them. Which leaves me with the heinous task of being the annoying, boring parent!” the alabaster unicorn cried, then upon noticing the princess’ worried expression quickly added,”But, obviously they’re my two precious darlings and I’m sure your foal or foals will be wonderful too.” “Do you think he or she will be an alicorn like Flurry?” Fluttershy asked Twilight. “Ooohhh! Just imagine how awesome that would be! Your baby would be like, the most powerful alicorn ever, you know with you being the Element of Magic and all,” Pinkie grinned hopping up to the lavender alicorn. “Well, Princess Luna did say that Flurry was the first alicorn ever born as far as she knew and she and Princess Celestia have been around for many millennias so it’s highly unlikely,”the princess said doubtfully,”Besides I would prefer him or her to not possess too much magic because it could be dangerous for not just them but for everypony around them too.” “Yeah, Flurry’s magic sure was a mite, unpredictable back when she was a foal,” Applejack chuckled,”It’s good that you’ve taught ‘er tah control it over the years.” “Speaking of magic control, where’s Starlight? And Spike for that matter?” Rainbow asked. “They’re in the library working on some ‘top secret’ spell I can’t know about,” Twilight laughed,”You should of seen their reactions when I told them I was having a foal. Starlight had a complete melt down, sobbing and asking if she should leave as she might be a bad influence on the baby while Spike started dancing around and shouting ‘I’M GONNA BE A B.B.B.F.F!’ at the top of his lungs!” At this her friends all collapsed into a fit of giggles. Soon however, an awfully familiar, raspy and rather manical cackle joined in and everypony stopped to see the Lord of Chaos himself float out of the a Friendship map. “Well, hello everypony! Having yet another little gathering to which I’m not invited. Seriously, that’s getting very old now,” Discord sniffed. “You appear to be perfectly adequate at inviting yourself so it never really seems to be a problem,”Rarity countered in a equally snarky tone. “What do you want Discord?” Twilight enquired wearily. “Nothing, my dear, I’m just popping in to check up on the mother of my future godfoal,” the draconequus grinned toothily. “What? You’re seriously still holding her to that after all these years?” Rainbow cried incredulously. “Why ever not, a promise is a promise after all,” Discord sang cheerfully. “I don’t think I actually promised, and I certainly didn’t Pinkie Promise,” Twilight mused,”However, I think that despite all appearances Discord would be a perfectly acceptable godfather to my child. So I’ll humour him, for now...” “Why thank you, Oh Wondrous and Benevolent God of Friendship, deadly rainbows and other girly nonsense. I can’t even begin to express my overwhelming gratitude towards you,” the Lord of Chaos declared, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Any time,” the princess said with a sickeningly sweet smile that made the Discord’s insides curl, and not in a fun, chaotic way. “Eugh, this just got waaay to sappy for me to handle, so Discord out!” the draconequus gagged opening up a door that had appeared out of nowhere and stepped through it. “I’m sorry Twilight, I tried to convince him to not force you to make him your foal’s godfather but he just wouldn’t listen,” Fluttershy sighed apologetically. Suddenly the Discord’s head popped out of Twilight’s throne. “Oh and by the way, your Highness, it’s a girl,” he said before disappearing once more. “Well, there goes the whole surprise on the day thing,” the alicorn muttered, slightly bitterly. “How dare he ruin the surprise! That big old meanie pants, I’ll get him for this,” Pinkie Pie growled. “On the plus side I can start creating some gorgeous ensembles for her. Wait, I could even do a whole line! Royal Baby Wear. It’ll be the hottest new trend!” Rarity squealed. “Aw, c’mon sugarcube. It was a fifty-fifty chance after all,” AJ said comfortingly, glaring at the dramatic fashionista,”Tho’ it wouldn’ kill somepony to show a littl’ more tact.” Just then the throne room doors swung open and an orange pegasus sauntered in, wearing an enormous ear-splitting grin that would put even Pinkie to shame. “Hey ladies,” Flash greeted the them,”Guess who’s going to be a father? Me! Woohoo!” “Um, honey, I kind of already told them,” Twilight explained. “Oh, right, well, ok...,” the former royal guard mumbled, looking down at the ground. “By the way, we’re going to have a filly,” the alicorn told him. “What? How do you know, isn’t it way to early to tell?” Flash asked. The princess gave a heavy sigh, and simply said,”Discord.” Chapter Two - Just NoRarity sashayed purposefully through the dirt streets of Ponyville, after all she had a whole line of foalwear to create. It was an absolutely glorious day, the sun’s rays reflecting off her alabaster coat making the unicorn glow. Her luxurious purple mane and tail were also highlighted to perfection. Ponies would turned to gape at her and one stallion even wolf whistled. “Looks like I’ve still got it,”Rarity preened to herself, continuing onwards with a new spring her step. Clearly time had not affected her beauty at all. Suddenly, a sharp cry pierced through her reverie. Rarity’s blood ran cold when she realised where the sound had come from, which was none other than Carousel Boutique. Terrified one of her precious foals was injured the unicorn galloped towards her home and kicked open the front door, only to be greeted with the strangest of sights. Her husband was reclining on one of the many velvet fainting couches reading a detective novel. “Fancy! What in Celestia’s name was that dreadful noise I just heard? I know it was one of the twins, why are you not up there already?!” Rarity demanded. “Relax, my dear,” Fancy Pants chuckled,”Sweetie Belle and her coltfriend are taking care of them. They came by about a quarter of an hour ago so I asked if they would mind babysitting Percy and Radiance. They agreed, although somewhat reluctantly.” “Oh, that’s good. As long as somepony is watching the-WAIT! COLTFRIEND?!” the alabaster unicorn screeched. In a frenzy of rage Rarity charged up the stairs, along the corridor and burst into the twins’ nursery. “Sweetie Belle! How dare you not inform me that you have a coltfriend! I’m your big sister for Celestia’s sake, we’re supposed to tell each other everything!” she yelled angrily. Rarity was met with a pair of stunned stares from her younger sister and the young brown stallion beside her. The two tiny foals in the pairs’ hooves exploded into a fit of hysterics at their mother’s outburst. “Rarity!” Sweetie Belle admonished,”Now look what you’ve done!” Taking Radiance from her coltfriend the unicorn proceeded to rock both the foals in her hooves, crooning a gentle lullaby. It appeared be a slightly more toned down version of her original rendition of Fluttershy’s ‘Hush Now, Quiet Now’ song. Almost immediately the pair ceased bawling and instead gurgled happily at their aunt, who placed them gently into their cots. “Honestly, big sis, I expected more from you. There was no need to make such a spectacle of yourself. Button Mash and I only started dating a few hours ago. I was going to tell you as soon as you got back from Twilight’s,” Sweetie explained, turning to face her sister. “Oh, um, right. Well, in that case, please accept my deepest apologies,”Rarity bumbled, having the grace to look embarrassed,”I suppose I did overreact just a tad.” “You think?”her younger sister snorted. “Um, M-Miss R-Rarity, I didn’t mean to intrude. I can go away if you want,”Button stammered, still a little terrified from the alabaster unicorn’s entrance. “No, no. You can stay as long as you like, darling. Button Mash, is it? A pleasure to meet you,” Rarity smiled graciously, extending a hoof towards him. The young stallion tentatively took it and planted a small peck the manicured tip. “And such a gentlecolt too!” Rarity beamed. “Alright, alright. That’s enough,” Sweetie griped, uncomfortable at the situation,”Would you mind if we went out for a bit?” “Of course, Sweetie. I don’t expect foalsitting is anypony’s ideal first date,” the fashionista fluffed with a conspiratorial wink. “Nope. Thanks, love you, bye!” the younger unicorn said hurriedly, shoving Button out of the room. Chuckling at Sweetie’s expense Rarity walked to the corner of the room to check on her foals. They were both sound asleep, their tiny forms rising and falling in perfect unison. Everything about was so perfect, from their minute hooves to their snub little snouts. Watching them dream Rarity felt an almost overwhelming surge of love so deep and fathomless it was excruciating. “They’re the most wonderful things in the world, aren’t they?” a voice asked from behind her. “Oh, Fancy dearest. I didn’t hear you come in,” Rarity chuckled, turning to her love. Fancy Pants warped his hooves around the unicorn and pulled her close to him. Rarity’s lithe frame seemed small and fragile in comparison with his imposing, well-built stature. After a few moments, the unmistakable sound of Sweetie Belle’s tinkling laughter could be heard outside. The pair moved over the window and gazed out at her and Button Mash, walking side by side along the street. The brown stallion had obviously said something hilarious because Sweetie was leaning into him for support as she convulsed in a fit of giggles. “Do you remember when we were like that?,” Rarity breathed wistfully. “What do you mean were?” her husband asked in mock surprise, his eyes twinkling,”I bet I can still make you laugh like that.” Fancy then proceeded to tickle Rarity’s sensitive sides and was met with a unimpressed stare from his wife. “Darling, you know I adore you but no. Just no,” the alabaster unicorn sighed. Chapter Three - A Taste Of Success“Okie, dokie, lokie. So we’ll need a pinch of sugar, some flour, eggs, la, la,” Pinkie Pie hummed cheerfully as she bustled around the kitchen, fetching cooking utensils and various ingredients. “Er, Pinkie, are you sure you wanna put beetroot and cheese in that?” Rainbow Dash queried, gazing at the strange concoction her friend was making with a mixture of disbelief and repulsion. “Of course, silly, Twilight said specifically she wanted a beetroot, cheese, carrot and molasses strudel. It’s just pregnancy cravings,” the party pony giggled. “Ooohhh, right. That makes se-Ow! Hey, cut that out, mister!” Rainbow scolded the tiny, powder-blue colt on her back. Delta Haze had recently taken to nibbling his mother’s wings. However, one particularly hard nip had ripped out a cyan feather. Dash gently lifted him off of her back and onto the ground to preserve her remaining feathers. Immediately the tiny pegasus’ adorable maroon coloured eyes widened as he took in all the exciting new sights around him. Just at that moment the door swung open and Confetti Swirl flounced into the kitchen, sending Delta scuttling behind Rainbow. “Mommy, mommy! Look what I did in our class today!” the excited filly cried, thrusting a messy, hoof painted and slightly soggy piece of paper at Pinkie. “Wowee! That is super duper amazing, my little confetti cannon!” the party pony exclaimed. Rainbow leaned over to look at the creation and was stunned at the crude but artistic way the colours were blended together. However the pegasus couldn’t for the life of her work out exactly what the painting was of. Certainly not a pony as it didn’t have a muzzle, hooves or tail. Plus, its ears were too small and it stood on its hind legs. “So, what is it, Coni?” she asked the peach coloured filly. “It’s a human of course, Auntie Dash,” Confetti giggled, “But there aren’t any in Equestria.” Rainbow raised her eyebrows questioningly at Pinkie. The earth pony shrugged in response as though she had no idea what her daughter was talking about. Dash sighed, evidently the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree. Meanwhile, Delta tentatively poked his head out from behind his mother’s hind leg. Confetti spotted him instantly and her face lit up with an enormous grin. “Hi there, little guy! Aww! You’re sooo cute!” the filly gushed, “Do you wanna play? It’s okay, I don’t bite.” Reassured the little pegasus began to walk towards Confetti. Her exuberant entrance and loud voice had been quite intimidating at first. Not to mention the filly was very tall for her age and had a great auburn bushel of a mane flecked with multicoloured square shapes, hence her name, that further added to her height. However Confetti’s pretty raspberry eyes were soft and welcoming so Delta approached her unafraid. Their mother’s looked on in satisfaction and pride. Pinkie then turned to Rainbow. “So, what’s it like being a Wonderbolt instructor?” she asked. “It’s pretty awesome actually. The team is incredible, maybe even better than ours was,” Dash admitted, “Although I do kinda miss the glory days, ya know? When I was up there, flying with the best. I don’t anything will ever beat living my foalhood dream, except having Delta. Soarin’ gets so sappy about it, he’s totally hopeless. Just one look at his old flight uniform and he’s sobbing his eyes out. Or maybe it’s just cos I still beat him every time we race. After all I’m still the fastest flyer in all of Equestria.” “Aw, you really do miss it. Do you want be to bake a batch of chocolate chip cheer-up cookies for you?” Pinkie enquired sympathetically. “Thanks but I’m fine. That reminds me though, I should pick up a few apple pies for Soarin’ if AJ’s got any left. He’s still obsessed with those things,” Rainbow chuckled. “Speaking of Applejack, do you know what’s going on with her? She seems really down but says she’s fine but obviously she’s not but I have no idea what’s bothering her and it’s kinda freaking me out!” the party pony blurted out. “Oh, um, sure,” Dash stammered, “But maybe she’s just tired. Life on the farm can be really exhausting, and I hate to say it but none of us are getting any younger. Also Big Mac is busy raising his family with Sugar Belle and Apple Bloom is travelling Equestria with the CMC, so she’s having to do most of it by herself.” “That’s true but I can tell it’s more than that,” Pinkie sighed, “Oh, it’s no fun when one of your best friends is sad.” “Don’t worry Pinkie. I’ll do my best to find out what’s wrong, then we’ll get the girls together and have a party or something,” Rainbow suggested. “Yippee! I love planning parties! That’ll cheer her right up, I’m sure of it. Thank you, Dashie, you’re a super duper friend,” the earth pony smiled, pulling the cyan pegasus into a warm embrace. “Hey , no problem, anything for a friend,” Dash grinned. Delta and Confetti had started a game of tag and were charging around the kitchen, squealing and giggling in delight. The hot pink earth pony caught sight of the unfinished strudel and gasped. “Oopsie, I need to finish making the strudel!” Pinkie remembered, disentangling herself from the hug. She shoved the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mixed them together at a seemingly impossible speed. “Here, taste some!” the party pony cried, shoving a spoonful of the weird, greeny gloop into Rainbow’s mouth. The cyan pegasus jerked her head back a millisecond too late, her eyes going wide and nostrils flaring as she unintentionally inhaled the foul looking mixture. Shockingly, it didn’t taste half as bad as she had expected. “Wow, who knew you could even make something as gross sounding as beetroot, cheese, carrot and molasses strudel taste decent,” Dash mused admiringly. “What can I say, I’m a mare of many talents,” Pinkie Pie smirked with a playful wink. “You sure are, Pinkie. You sure are,” Rainbow smiled fondly.
Chapter One - The First Signs Of The Stork“Girls, I’m going to have a foal,” Twilight Sparkle announced. A few minutes ago the lavender alicorn had gathered her six best friends together in the throne room of her castle to tell them the news. The princess’ revelation was met the cries of surprise and delight, many congratulations and hugs were bestowed upon Twilight. “Ooh! This is sooo amazing!!! My little Confetti cannon and your baby will be B.F.Fs, I just know it!” Pinkie Pie yipped excitedly, bouncing circles around the room. “And I’m sure Percy and Radiance would adore a new playmate,” Rarity interjected. “Oh, and I’ll be able to show him or her the new nursery I’ve built in the Sweet Feather Sanctuary for all the adorable baby animals,” Fluttershy piped up happily,”I’m sure they’ll love it!” Everypony seemed ecstatic at the news, well, everypony except a certain rainbow-maned pegasus who just hovered in the air and rolled her eyes dramatically. “It’s about time,” Rainbow Dash snorted derisively,”I mean, you’ve been married for like, a decade already.” “Rainbow!” Applejack admonished the cyan mare,”That’s not a very nice thang to say. Just cus you’re a mother now don’t mean that Twi oughta be too. Different ponies feel ready fer parenthood at different times and ah sure as hell ain’t ready yet!” “It’s alright AJ. Rainbow has point. I guess it’s because initially Flash had to finish up his time serving as a royal guard in the Crystal Empire before he could move in with me. Then we were both so busy with teaching, and I still had a lot princess duties so we never really had time to think about having children. It was actually only about a month ago we agreed we were ready and should try and now, well...,” Twilight trailed off sheepishly,”But I’ll have you know we have only been married for five years, two weeks, six hours, nine minutes and as of now twenty-three seconds.” “Still a humongous egghead I see,” Dash smirked,”But yeah, I’m sorry for what I said. To be honest I kinda wish Soarin and I had waited a bit longer before having Delta, don’t get me wrong I love the kid to pieces but being a mom is no easy task.” “Hmph! At least you didn’t have twins! Honestly, I swear not a moment goes by when they’re not bickering and squabbling with each other. Fancy does try his best, poor dear, but he does tend to spoil them rather than discipline them. Which leaves me with the heinous task of being the annoying, boring parent!” the alabaster unicorn cried, then upon noticing the princess’ worried expression quickly added,”But, obviously they’re my two precious darlings and I’m sure your foal or foals will be wonderful too.” “Do you think he or she will be an alicorn like Flurry?” Fluttershy asked Twilight. “Ooohhh! Just imagine how awesome that would be! Your baby would be like, the most powerful alicorn ever, you know with you being the Element of Magic and all,” Pinkie grinned hopping up to the lavender alicorn. “Well, Princess Luna did say that Flurry was the first alicorn ever born as far as she knew and she and Princess Celestia have been around for many millennias so it’s highly unlikely,”the princess said doubtfully,”Besides I would prefer him or her to not possess too much magic because it could be dangerous for not just them but for everypony around them too.” “Yeah, Flurry’s magic sure was a mite, unpredictable back when she was a foal,” Applejack chuckled,”It’s good that you’ve taught ‘er tah control it over the years.” “Speaking of magic control, where’s Starlight? And Spike for that matter?” Rainbow asked. “They’re in the library working on some ‘top secret’ spell I can’t know about,” Twilight laughed,”You should of seen their reactions when I told them I was having a foal. Starlight had a complete melt down, sobbing and asking if she should leave as she might be a bad influence on the baby while Spike started dancing around and shouting ‘I’M GONNA BE A B.B.B.F.F!’ at the top of his lungs!” At this her friends all collapsed into a fit of giggles. Soon however, an awfully familiar, raspy and rather manical cackle joined in and everypony stopped to see the Lord of Chaos himself float out of the a Friendship map. “Well, hello everypony! Having yet another little gathering to which I’m not invited. Seriously, that’s getting very old now,” Discord sniffed. “You appear to be perfectly adequate at inviting yourself so it never really seems to be a problem,”Rarity countered in a equally snarky tone. “What do you want Discord?” Twilight enquired wearily. “Nothing, my dear, I’m just popping in to check up on the mother of my future godfoal,” the draconequus grinned toothily. “What? You’re seriously still holding her to that after all these years?” Rainbow cried incredulously. “Why ever not, a promise is a promise after all,” Discord sang cheerfully. “I don’t think I actually promised, and I certainly didn’t Pinkie Promise,” Twilight mused,”However, I think that despite all appearances Discord would be a perfectly acceptable godfather to my child. So I’ll humour him, for now...” “Why thank you, Oh Wondrous and Benevolent God of Friendship, deadly rainbows and other girly nonsense. I can’t even begin to express my overwhelming gratitude towards you,” the Lord of Chaos declared, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Any time,” the princess said with a sickeningly sweet smile that made the Discord’s insides curl, and not in a fun, chaotic way. “Eugh, this just got waaay to sappy for me to handle, so Discord out!” the draconequus gagged opening up a door that had appeared out of nowhere and stepped through it. “I’m sorry Twilight, I tried to convince him to not force you to make him your foal’s godfather but he just wouldn’t listen,” Fluttershy sighed apologetically. Suddenly the Discord’s head popped out of Twilight’s throne. “Oh and by the way, your Highness, it’s a girl,” he said before disappearing once more. “Well, there goes the whole surprise on the day thing,” the alicorn muttered, slightly bitterly. “How dare he ruin the surprise! That big old meanie pants, I’ll get him for this,” Pinkie Pie growled. “On the plus side I can start creating some gorgeous ensembles for her. Wait, I could even do a whole line! Royal Baby Wear. It’ll be the hottest new trend!” Rarity squealed. “Aw, c’mon sugarcube. It was a fifty-fifty chance after all,” AJ said comfortingly, glaring at the dramatic fashionista,”Tho’ it wouldn’ kill somepony to show a littl’ more tact.” Just then the throne room doors swung open and an orange pegasus sauntered in, wearing an enormous ear-splitting grin that would put even Pinkie to shame. “Hey ladies,” Flash greeted the them,”Guess who’s going to be a father? Me! Woohoo!” “Um, honey, I kind of already told them,” Twilight explained. “Oh, right, well, ok...,” the former royal guard mumbled, looking down at the ground. “By the way, we’re going to have a filly,” the alicorn told him. “What? How do you know, isn’t it way to early to tell?” Flash asked. The princess gave a heavy sigh, and simply said,”Discord.”
Chapter Two - Just NoRarity sashayed purposefully through the dirt streets of Ponyville, after all she had a whole line of foalwear to create. It was an absolutely glorious day, the sun’s rays reflecting off her alabaster coat making the unicorn glow. Her luxurious purple mane and tail were also highlighted to perfection. Ponies would turned to gape at her and one stallion even wolf whistled. “Looks like I’ve still got it,”Rarity preened to herself, continuing onwards with a new spring her step. Clearly time had not affected her beauty at all. Suddenly, a sharp cry pierced through her reverie. Rarity’s blood ran cold when she realised where the sound had come from, which was none other than Carousel Boutique. Terrified one of her precious foals was injured the unicorn galloped towards her home and kicked open the front door, only to be greeted with the strangest of sights. Her husband was reclining on one of the many velvet fainting couches reading a detective novel. “Fancy! What in Celestia’s name was that dreadful noise I just heard? I know it was one of the twins, why are you not up there already?!” Rarity demanded. “Relax, my dear,” Fancy Pants chuckled,”Sweetie Belle and her coltfriend are taking care of them. They came by about a quarter of an hour ago so I asked if they would mind babysitting Percy and Radiance. They agreed, although somewhat reluctantly.” “Oh, that’s good. As long as somepony is watching the-WAIT! COLTFRIEND?!” the alabaster unicorn screeched. In a frenzy of rage Rarity charged up the stairs, along the corridor and burst into the twins’ nursery. “Sweetie Belle! How dare you not inform me that you have a coltfriend! I’m your big sister for Celestia’s sake, we’re supposed to tell each other everything!” she yelled angrily. Rarity was met with a pair of stunned stares from her younger sister and the young brown stallion beside her. The two tiny foals in the pairs’ hooves exploded into a fit of hysterics at their mother’s outburst. “Rarity!” Sweetie Belle admonished,”Now look what you’ve done!” Taking Radiance from her coltfriend the unicorn proceeded to rock both the foals in her hooves, crooning a gentle lullaby. It appeared be a slightly more toned down version of her original rendition of Fluttershy’s ‘Hush Now, Quiet Now’ song. Almost immediately the pair ceased bawling and instead gurgled happily at their aunt, who placed them gently into their cots. “Honestly, big sis, I expected more from you. There was no need to make such a spectacle of yourself. Button Mash and I only started dating a few hours ago. I was going to tell you as soon as you got back from Twilight’s,” Sweetie explained, turning to face her sister. “Oh, um, right. Well, in that case, please accept my deepest apologies,”Rarity bumbled, having the grace to look embarrassed,”I suppose I did overreact just a tad.” “You think?”her younger sister snorted. “Um, M-Miss R-Rarity, I didn’t mean to intrude. I can go away if you want,”Button stammered, still a little terrified from the alabaster unicorn’s entrance. “No, no. You can stay as long as you like, darling. Button Mash, is it? A pleasure to meet you,” Rarity smiled graciously, extending a hoof towards him. The young stallion tentatively took it and planted a small peck the manicured tip. “And such a gentlecolt too!” Rarity beamed. “Alright, alright. That’s enough,” Sweetie griped, uncomfortable at the situation,”Would you mind if we went out for a bit?” “Of course, Sweetie. I don’t expect foalsitting is anypony’s ideal first date,” the fashionista fluffed with a conspiratorial wink. “Nope. Thanks, love you, bye!” the younger unicorn said hurriedly, shoving Button out of the room. Chuckling at Sweetie’s expense Rarity walked to the corner of the room to check on her foals. They were both sound asleep, their tiny forms rising and falling in perfect unison. Everything about was so perfect, from their minute hooves to their snub little snouts. Watching them dream Rarity felt an almost overwhelming surge of love so deep and fathomless it was excruciating. “They’re the most wonderful things in the world, aren’t they?” a voice asked from behind her. “Oh, Fancy dearest. I didn’t hear you come in,” Rarity chuckled, turning to her love. Fancy Pants warped his hooves around the unicorn and pulled her close to him. Rarity’s lithe frame seemed small and fragile in comparison with his imposing, well-built stature. After a few moments, the unmistakable sound of Sweetie Belle’s tinkling laughter could be heard outside. The pair moved over the window and gazed out at her and Button Mash, walking side by side along the street. The brown stallion had obviously said something hilarious because Sweetie was leaning into him for support as she convulsed in a fit of giggles. “Do you remember when we were like that?,” Rarity breathed wistfully. “What do you mean were?” her husband asked in mock surprise, his eyes twinkling,”I bet I can still make you laugh like that.” Fancy then proceeded to tickle Rarity’s sensitive sides and was met with a unimpressed stare from his wife. “Darling, you know I adore you but no. Just no,” the alabaster unicorn sighed.
Chapter Three - A Taste Of Success“Okie, dokie, lokie. So we’ll need a pinch of sugar, some flour, eggs, la, la,” Pinkie Pie hummed cheerfully as she bustled around the kitchen, fetching cooking utensils and various ingredients. “Er, Pinkie, are you sure you wanna put beetroot and cheese in that?” Rainbow Dash queried, gazing at the strange concoction her friend was making with a mixture of disbelief and repulsion. “Of course, silly, Twilight said specifically she wanted a beetroot, cheese, carrot and molasses strudel. It’s just pregnancy cravings,” the party pony giggled. “Ooohhh, right. That makes se-Ow! Hey, cut that out, mister!” Rainbow scolded the tiny, powder-blue colt on her back. Delta Haze had recently taken to nibbling his mother’s wings. However, one particularly hard nip had ripped out a cyan feather. Dash gently lifted him off of her back and onto the ground to preserve her remaining feathers. Immediately the tiny pegasus’ adorable maroon coloured eyes widened as he took in all the exciting new sights around him. Just at that moment the door swung open and Confetti Swirl flounced into the kitchen, sending Delta scuttling behind Rainbow. “Mommy, mommy! Look what I did in our class today!” the excited filly cried, thrusting a messy, hoof painted and slightly soggy piece of paper at Pinkie. “Wowee! That is super duper amazing, my little confetti cannon!” the party pony exclaimed. Rainbow leaned over to look at the creation and was stunned at the crude but artistic way the colours were blended together. However the pegasus couldn’t for the life of her work out exactly what the painting was of. Certainly not a pony as it didn’t have a muzzle, hooves or tail. Plus, its ears were too small and it stood on its hind legs. “So, what is it, Coni?” she asked the peach coloured filly. “It’s a human of course, Auntie Dash,” Confetti giggled, “But there aren’t any in Equestria.” Rainbow raised her eyebrows questioningly at Pinkie. The earth pony shrugged in response as though she had no idea what her daughter was talking about. Dash sighed, evidently the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree. Meanwhile, Delta tentatively poked his head out from behind his mother’s hind leg. Confetti spotted him instantly and her face lit up with an enormous grin. “Hi there, little guy! Aww! You’re sooo cute!” the filly gushed, “Do you wanna play? It’s okay, I don’t bite.” Reassured the little pegasus began to walk towards Confetti. Her exuberant entrance and loud voice had been quite intimidating at first. Not to mention the filly was very tall for her age and had a great auburn bushel of a mane flecked with multicoloured square shapes, hence her name, that further added to her height. However Confetti’s pretty raspberry eyes were soft and welcoming so Delta approached her unafraid. Their mother’s looked on in satisfaction and pride. Pinkie then turned to Rainbow. “So, what’s it like being a Wonderbolt instructor?” she asked. “It’s pretty awesome actually. The team is incredible, maybe even better than ours was,” Dash admitted, “Although I do kinda miss the glory days, ya know? When I was up there, flying with the best. I don’t anything will ever beat living my foalhood dream, except having Delta. Soarin’ gets so sappy about it, he’s totally hopeless. Just one look at his old flight uniform and he’s sobbing his eyes out. Or maybe it’s just cos I still beat him every time we race. After all I’m still the fastest flyer in all of Equestria.” “Aw, you really do miss it. Do you want be to bake a batch of chocolate chip cheer-up cookies for you?” Pinkie enquired sympathetically. “Thanks but I’m fine. That reminds me though, I should pick up a few apple pies for Soarin’ if AJ’s got any left. He’s still obsessed with those things,” Rainbow chuckled. “Speaking of Applejack, do you know what’s going on with her? She seems really down but says she’s fine but obviously she’s not but I have no idea what’s bothering her and it’s kinda freaking me out!” the party pony blurted out. “Oh, um, sure,” Dash stammered, “But maybe she’s just tired. Life on the farm can be really exhausting, and I hate to say it but none of us are getting any younger. Also Big Mac is busy raising his family with Sugar Belle and Apple Bloom is travelling Equestria with the CMC, so she’s having to do most of it by herself.” “That’s true but I can tell it’s more than that,” Pinkie sighed, “Oh, it’s no fun when one of your best friends is sad.” “Don’t worry Pinkie. I’ll do my best to find out what’s wrong, then we’ll get the girls together and have a party or something,” Rainbow suggested. “Yippee! I love planning parties! That’ll cheer her right up, I’m sure of it. Thank you, Dashie, you’re a super duper friend,” the earth pony smiled, pulling the cyan pegasus into a warm embrace. “Hey , no problem, anything for a friend,” Dash grinned. Delta and Confetti had started a game of tag and were charging around the kitchen, squealing and giggling in delight. The hot pink earth pony caught sight of the unfinished strudel and gasped. “Oopsie, I need to finish making the strudel!” Pinkie remembered, disentangling herself from the hug. She shoved the ingredients into a mixing bowl and mixed them together at a seemingly impossible speed. “Here, taste some!” the party pony cried, shoving a spoonful of the weird, greeny gloop into Rainbow’s mouth. The cyan pegasus jerked her head back a millisecond too late, her eyes going wide and nostrils flaring as she unintentionally inhaled the foul looking mixture. Shockingly, it didn’t taste half as bad as she had expected. “Wow, who knew you could even make something as gross sounding as beetroot, cheese, carrot and molasses strudel taste decent,” Dash mused admiringly. “What can I say, I’m a mare of many talents,” Pinkie Pie smirked with a playful wink. “You sure are, Pinkie. You sure are,” Rainbow smiled fondly.
