Author's Note

Sorry that this chapter is a little short but I had a little bit of writer's block on this one. So, this one is mainly emotions and character building.

Twenty Four: Flurry of Emotions

(Twilight's POV)

It's been a few days since the trip to the dragon lands and Ember has been learning and getting along with the herd very well. And by all accounts, she's learning well and learning quickly what life is like in a herd. However, Ember wasn't the only one that was affected by the trip to the dragon lands. I learned just how happy I am with him. And something else. But that something else I'll have to discuss with Celestia, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity. Celestia first. It was still early in the morning and because the herd's community slash animal sanctuary was still in the planning phase, Celestia was still in Canterlot until the new cottages were complete. Luckily for me, the fast travel was in place and operational with the other travel rune inside an empty room next to Celestia's room. Once in Canterlot, I went next door and knocked on her bedroom door.

"Come in," she invited and when I walked in she was laying in bed with Solar feeding from her. Even when Celestia smiled at me and waved her hoof in greeting saying, "Good morning, Twilight," I wondered what it would be like to have my own foals feeding from me. It was just one of the things I came here to ask her.

"What's it like to have her feeding from you?" I asked while walking over then jumping onto the bed to join her.

She hummed softly in thought while looking back at her daughter suckling on her teat with quiet cooing sounds. "Kind of like when Emmit does it," she paused before wincing slightly followed by some giggles, "although he was always careful of his teeth." I had to giggle along with her when hearing that because of the number of times that he's done the same for me. "But I get the feeling that isn't what you really came here to ask, am I right?"

I blushed slightly but nodded. "You know me all too well." I paused before speaking my mind. "I'm thinking about having a foal with Emmit."

She squealed happily with a look of joy in her eyes, "That's so wonderful to hear, Twilight. You weren't so sure during heat season, so what changed your mind?"

"The recent trip to the dragon lands," I began to say while watching Solar nurse with my heart fluttering at the thought. "I saw such joy in Ember's eyes when she let everything go. She gave herself to him with such joy that she actually laughed. And then I did too. I laughed too with such joy being with him that..."

"That having a foal crossed your mind," Celestia finished softly with a knowing smile my way.

"Yeah, it did." Solar seemed to be done feeding, so I watched Celestia pick up Solar in her magic, sit up, and begin to burp Solar while holding her in her front hooves. "I started wondering what it would be like. Wondering about every facet of raising a foal of my own. Wondering if I'm even ready for a foal?"

Celestia giggled at that last part as Solar let out the cutest tiny burp followed up by a cute yawn with her small tongue curling up. "Oh Twilight, I worried about the same thing," Celestia told me which surprised me while Solar snuggled in her mother's legs to fall back to sleep. Celestia worried? I never knew her to be worried about anything. "Even though I knew that I wanted a foal of my own, I too was worried if I was ready. That's normal, Twilight. Just remember what Fluttershy said, that you can never be truly ready to be a parent. But I'm happy, Twilight. Truly happy for the first time in my life." She looked down at her daughter with such a look of pride, joy, and happiness. "Yes, it's a lot of work and a big commitment but I can tell you that those motherly instincts will kick in. And I would say don't worry about it because you're in a herd. You'll have me, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity all to look to for advice. And that's just from your herd sisters. Plus, you still have Cadence and Shining Armor to lean on for advice as well."

While I thought about what she said, she leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "And you didn't hear it from me but I think Luna is thinking about it as well."

Now that did surprise me and it showed in my eyes when they snapped up to her, "Yeah?"

Celestia nodded quickly with a soft squeal of delight. "I see the same questions in her eyes as I see now in yours. The way she looks at Solar when she watches over her is almost a dead giveaway. The joys of being a parent far outweigh any hardships that may come." She paused when we heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she said and we watched Luna walk in. Celestia winked at me conspiratorially. "Good morning, Lulu."

As Luna walked across the room, there was a tired smile on her face, "Good morrow, sister. Good morrow, Twilight." She approached the bed, and with one flap of her wings landed lightly onto the bed with the express purpose of laying down next to Celestia. And she did so a little comically with a long exaggerated silly sigh with amusement and mirth in her voice. "Good thing there's this nice soft pillow for me to rest on."

We giggled at her amusement even as Celestia put a wing over her and nuzzled her in return. "How was your night, Lulu?"

"Tiring," her words sounded tired with the same tired look in her eyes. She then smiled while looking off into the distance as if remembering something. "Yet rewarding."

"Do tell," Celestia teased her with a slight nudge.

"There was another nightmare where a young filly was terrified of Emmit in his dark form," she explained and by the look on her face, I think this was the tiring part of her night. "Normally, I would have turned the nightmare into a most wonderous night of the most passionate sex. But she was too young, so Emmit and I came up with the idea of him saving her from his evil counterpart. However, even when he did, she remained unconvinced. It took a couple of hours of convincing but we were able to rid her of the fear."

"And the rewarding part?" I asked, now curious as Celestia was.

Luna's smile widened when I asked that. "There were no other nightmares that night, so we thought of something more...desireable."

"I'm beginning to like this already," Celestia giggled with a conspiratorial wink my way.

"Because of his enhanced body, thanks to our mother, he doesn't require as much sleep as he normally would without that enhancement," Luna started explaining to us with a wide grin on her face. "So, he decided it would be a good idea for us to spend the rest of the night under the stars. Where he made love to me slowly with his hands first. Touching me, and kissing me, everywhere under the moonlight ignites the fires of passion between us."

"Rarity would find that so romantic," I told her with a wide smile of my own while thinking about it.

Luna hummed in thought giving us each a glance, "That's what she thought, yes. Emmit was sleeping with Pinkie and Rarity at the time, so they had him promise to do the same to them tonight. It was a most enjoyable night."

"Enjoyable enough to consider having his foal?" Celestia asked softly with a knowing and hopeful smile.

Luna hummed in thought, again looking off into the distance, before saying, "I'm still thinking about-" She stopped and turned to Celestia with a look of surprise.

Celestia giggled with a dismissive shake of her head, "A mother knows, sister. And you are not the only one."

When Celestia looked my way, I told Luna about the very same thing. "I've been thinking about having a foal with Emmit as well. My recent trip to the dragon lands helped me see just how happy I am to have him in my life. And maybe there can be something more between us. But I've been wondering just how good of a mother would I be? And other such questions."

"I've thought the same, friend Twilight," Luna said with a small understanding smile and a slow nod. "Or rather...we...have thought the same." Her body changed to that of Nightmare Moon. "How could we say that we are ready for motherhood when such a short time ago we were still unrepentant of our actions so long ago? And because of such actions of long past, am I really that capable of being a good mother? What would I have to offer? What lessons? Am I stable enough to love our foal?"

As I listened to her, I realized that some of those were also my questions. My own doubts. Celestia smiled and hugged Nightmare close to her, "Lulu, Nightmare. I've seen the way you look at my daughter. I've seen the love in your eyes for her. If you have that amount of love and protection for her then you'll have much more to offer your own foal." She then turned to me, nuzzling me in turn, "And so do you, Twilight. Even as much as I knew I wanted a foal with him, I was still not prepared for what was truly involved." She looked down at her sleeping daughter then leaned down to nuzzle her gently. "But right now, I'm the happiest mare in all of Equestria. I'm in love with a wonderful stallion that has given me the most wonderful daughter that we are raising together. I'm part of a herd along with my beloved sister and those I consider my friends." She paused before giving us both a reassuring smile. "I know the both of you have your doubts. I did as well. But that is the benefit of the herd. Neither of you will be alone in this. You both will have me, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity. And also Cadence and Shining Armor with others willing to give advice."

There was silence for a couple of minutes while we thought about what she said. Luna spoke first. "Then at the next heat season, I won't use the preventive but allow myself to become pregnant."

"I think I will as well," I said softly with a small smile. "It's something that I want to share with him."

Hey, Twilight? Cadence, your brother, and Flurry Heart are here with me. I was so deep in thought that Emmit's voice suddenly in my head jump scared me. And Nurse Redheart is also here about the school kids that got sick. And that made me facehoof.

I'll be right there, I told him then looked up at both Celestia and Luna. "I totally forgot about the Cheerilee's students coming down with the horsey hives."

Celestia waved her hoof with a smile, "We heard, Twilight. Go ahead. One thing to remember is that all your planning and schedules don't matter when you are a mother."

That actually shocked me for a couple of seconds before tentatively saying so long to them and walking back to the teleportation runes in the room next door.

^_^

"Cadence! Shining Armor!" I called out to them as I walked into the backroom of Rarity's boutique. And would have gone through my usual greeting with Cadence except Flurry spotted me. I gasped in an exaggerated way, sat down, and lifted my front hooves to her. "And there's my favorite niece." Flurry squealed with delight and flew over to me right into my hooves for a great big hug. Which, considering the size of her abnormally large wings, she could return with relative ease even being the foal she is. She wasn't the only one either, as Cadence and Shining Armor both walked over for a hug as well. They weren't the only ones there either as Rarity, Pinkie, and Emmit were there as well. "I wasn't expecting either of you," I told them while rubbing my nose into Flurry's belly making her laugh.

"Yeah, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision," Shining sheepishly said while rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof.

"As you know, Flurry is a hooffull and we could use a little time off."

I looked up at them while holding Flurry in my hooves and winced a little. "Yeah, the both of you do look a little ragged around the edges."

"We know that we sprung this on you at the last minute but we were wondering if you could watch her for us while we took the afternoon?" Cadence asked where I then looked over at Cheerilee with a look of uncertain reluctance. I was conflicted between wanting special time with my niece and the obligation toward the sick kids.

"It's an art exhibit that a friend of mine put on that we want to go see," my brother explained with a pleading tone in his voice. He would use that voice anytime he really wanted something and begged me to help him with. "And it's only on for this afternoon."

Emmit must have seen how torn I was between obligations because he rolled his eyes slightly and waved a paw in my direction with an understanding smile. "Go on and spend time with Flurry, I can go entertain the sick kids at the hospital."

"I'll go with you, darling," Rarity said as she leaned up against him with a happy and content smile on her face.

"Yeah, go ahead, Twilight. We'll go with him to visit the kids," Pinkie echoed the same sentiment as she too leaned up against him.

"You mean it?"

"Sure, Twilight go ahead," he nodded firmly with a big smile on his handsome fox face.

I felt like kissing him. So, after quickly shifting Flurry to one hoof, I quickly walked over to do just that. Flurry started hovering nearby after I got close to him, so I was able to use both front hooves to reach up, grab his head, and bring it down for a big passionate kiss. I told him how thankful I felt through the kiss by lifting my hoof to his cheek. Then half giggling and half moaning into the kiss. While doing this, I heard a soft retching sound from behind me along with some hums which sound like "Awws." Which told me that it was both Cadence and my brother were the ones humming in aww and it was Flurry that was to retch in disgust. Flurry I could understand her reaction being a foal and all. But was a little surprised at my brother's reaction. He simply just frowned.

When we broke the kiss, and after turning around, the looks on their faces proved that I was right. "Alright, Flurry, I'm done." In response to that, Flurry flew back over into my outstretched hooves again.

"We've brought enough diapers with us to cover the time we'll be away," Cadence told me while also looking a little guilty.

So, with Flurry in one hoof, I stepped up to them with a reassuring smile. "Oh don't worry about that. Because I think she'll have lots of fun with the animals at Fluttershy's." After sitting down, I held Flurry at hooves length with a wide smile. "Wouldn't you like that? She has a bunch of small very cute animals that you can play with." Flurry agreed by clapping her front hooves together while cooing away happily.

"I take that as a yes," Emmit chuckled as he stepped up beside me. The tone in his voice was a happy one but that tone of voice changed to that of a father. A father that was gently cautioning a foal and leaned in toward Flurry. "Now Flurry, I want you to listen to me. If you go over to Fluttershy to spend time with her animals, will you be a good girl and be on your best behavior?"

"If she's not, then mommy and daddy will have to put her in time out," Cadence gently warned but with a knowing smile on her face. After Flurry looked around between Emmit and her parents, she then sheepishly looked back at Emmit with an encouraging nod of her head. "Wonderful!" Cadence cheered, stepped up, and kissed her daughter's cheek. "In that case, we're off on our date, so be a good girl for Auntie Twilight and Fluttershy."

Shining Armor did the same and stepped forward kissing his daughter, "Be a good girl, we'll be back later." Then he shifted to kiss me on my cheek, "We'll be back later, Twilly."

"Thanks for doing this," Cadence hugged me when Flurry started hovering beside us.

"You're welcome. Now go on and have a good time." After I hugged her in return, they both bid us so long and left. Then looked over at Emmit. "Thanks, I really appreciate this, so I can spend time with Flurry."

He smirked and with a teasing wink he said, "Go on and have fun, you can thank me later."

"Alright," I smiled then turned to Flurry. "You ready to go?" Flurry clapped her hooves together with a happy squeal of delight while her horn ignited with powerful magic. Then teleported us.

^_^

(Emmit's POV)

Thank goodness Ponyville Hospital wasn't far from Rarity's boutique. Now that Pinkie and Rarity were both well into their pregnancy, their hooves start getting sore after long walks. I even offered to carry them, however, both said that they needed the exercise. So, a short time later, we walked through the front door and into the hospital's foyer. And wouldn't you know it, Nurse Redheart was standing behind the front counter. She was looking through some clipboards when we walked up. Naturally, upon hearing hoofsteps against the polished tiled floor, her face brightened and turned to offer us a friendly greeting...

Until she saw me.

That's when that friendly greeting went away and dipped into a concerned frown. "Alright, what did you do now?" The mare sitting behind the reception desk, obviously the regular receptionist, put a hoof to her mouth to stifle a growing giggle. More than likely at my reaction to her less than stellar greeting which also got both Pinkie and Rarity stifling their own giggles as well.

So, I gave her a frown of my own, narrowed eyes, and a disappointed tone of voice as well. "Well, that's a fine how do you do. And what do you mean by that? I didn't do anything."

Redheart narrowed her eyes at me and lowered her tone to an accusing one, "Then how come Twilight's not here to entertain the foals sick with the horsey hives?"

Pinkie immediately thrust a front hoof into the air while bouncing a little, "Oh, oh, oh, I know." Then paused to wait for Redheart to look at her before continuing. "Cadence and Shining Armor showed up unexpectedly a short time ago wanting Twilight to look after Flurry Heart. And because Twilight can't be in two places at once without time traveling, we offered to come here and entertain the foals in her place."

Redheart seemed to take a few seconds to process that as if checking Pinkie's sincerity before giving us a nod with her smile returning. "Ok, this way then."

"So, what is the horsey hives?" I asked as we walked through a side door and into the hospital proper.

"It's a viral disease that causes red bumps, or welts, to appear that's also accompanied by high fever, dizziness, disorientation, coughing, vomiting, shortness of breath, and even hot and cold flashes for more of the bad cases," she went into nurse mode as she described what the kids were going through. It also reminded me of a human disease as we walked down a hallway and turned right at the next corner. "Because it's also contagious, we are keeping them in their own isolated large room." Which wasn't too far ahead because she stopped right before a pair of doors then turned around to face us. "Before we enter, I must ask if you three have been vaccinated against it or have had it before?"

"I didn't have to get vaccinated against it since I've had it before," Rarity's face fell in sympathy with a matching tone of voice. "So, I know what those poor kids are going through."

"I've been vaccinated," Pinkie said cheerfully with a wide smile.

Then Redheart looked over at me.

"If it is what I think it is, then I've had the human equivalent, so I should be safe," I told her. They all looked at me in curiosity when I said that. So, I continued with, "From what you've told me, Nurse Redheart, it sounds exactly like what humans call Chickenpox. Which I've had before and can also relate to. I'll have to look at it to make sure but I'm fairly certain it's the same thing."

Redheart gave me a firm acknowledging nod, "Very well, this way then." And turned around walking into the isolation room. After walking in after her, I winced at the sight. There were eight beds in total all occupied with eight of Cheerilee's kids from her class. Four beds on each side of the room. Typical white square tiles for the floor and walls with stucco ceiling. As sterile as possible according to my nose which was better than a bloodhound. Each one in varying levels of the sickness with some looking better than others. Being a father now myself, my heart ached for them. One, in particular, seemed to be the worst of them. She was just to my left from the door after we walked in. An off-white filly with a braided purple mane and tail was trying to sleep, however, she was trembling a little as if going through a cold flash. The small filly in the bed next to her didn't seem to be fairing much better as she looked the same just wasn't shivering.

"Oh, the poor dears," Rarity's motherly instincts kicked in right away and walked toward the closest bed to her.

Pinkie's mane drooped as she followed Rarity but went to the next bed.

Meanwhile, I moved between the two filly's beds, laid down, and put a couple of tails over both of them. Both had blankets over them and while one was asleep the purple maned filly seemed to be shivering. So, it was the poor shivering filly that I started warming through my tails. While most of them were still asleep, this poor filly couldn't because she was shivering too much.

"She's been hit the hardest by this," Nurse Redheart whispered while she looked at me with a thankful smile on her face.

It took a couple of minutes for my heat to work into the blanket before it started warming her up. When it did, however, my heart broke for her when she snuggled a little closer to me as if trying to get closer to the heat. It worked though. Another minute or so later, she stopped shivering and started to finally relax. "I was right," I whispered to Nurse Redheart just as the filly's eyes began to flutter open. "Horsey hives is this world's version of chickenpox." When the filly opened her eyes, she was still a little out of it, so it was no surprise that it looked like she didn't know what she was looking at. Her eyes widened a little in shock and even a little fear when it finally caught up to her fevered mind. "It's alright," I whispered gently to her leaning down to lightly kiss her forehead, "go ahead and try and get some sleep." She just nodded slowly to me as sleep began taking over and closed her eyes. She was asleep a few minutes later. Finally resting peacefully.

"She's finally asleep, thank you," Redheart whispered her thanks to me. "She's been up for a long time with chills."

Before I could say anything in response, the other filly woke up with a soft moaning gasp of surprise. That soft moan told me just how horrible she was feeling. "Hey there, sweetie. How are you feeling?"

"Aren't...you...?" It was obvious that she was exhausted but the surprise was in her wide eyes as she looked up at me. I just smiled down at her giving her a slow understanding nod. "I feel horrible," she said taking a pause to yawn before continuing, "and so tired."

"Go ahead and sleep, sweetie," I whispered and leaned in to gently kiss her forehead as well.

A smile spread across her face as she gave me a tired nod of her head, closed her eyes, and snuggled into the blanket with a soft, "So warm." And was soon fast asleep again.

"Finally, they're asleep," Redheart whispered with sort of a sad smile on her face as she sat down on the other side of the bed from me. "These two are the worst cases. I haven't had a filly or colt die on me yet from the horsey hives and these won't either. Unfortunately, they will have another week or so of this before it gets better for them."

"Yeah, it was the same for me," I whispered over to her, locking eyes on her. "It was about a week and a half of pure misery before everything got better. High fever with those spots itching like crazy and all while they told me not to scratch them."

"They itch for them too."

I gave her a smirk. "They told me that scratching them would leave bumps when I got better. And they were right. However, I did find a way to scratch the itch and not the red bumps themselves. I didn't scratch the bumps themselves, I scratched around them. Thus relieving me of the itch without the fear of leaving on me when everything cleared up...mostly."

She shook her head at me with a slight smirk of her own. "At least these two are asleep, thank you."

"Being a father myself," I whispered while looking down between the two fillies, "my heart goes out to them and I know how their own fathers feel." Now that the two fillies were asleep again, I pulled back my tails and stood up. "Might be a good idea to bring them a couple more blankets each." Redheart simply nodded and turned around to exit the room apparently to do just that. After a look to make sure the fillies stayed asleep, I backed up, turned around, and walked over to where Rarity was talking with one of the colts.

"No, I can't say that I know what you are going through," Rarity whispered to the young colt.

"I can," I whispered while walking up to the colt's bed on the other side of Rarity. "We call it by a different name but it's the same thing."

He was pouting up at her as I walked up but after I said that he turned his head toward me. "What was it like for you?"

"From what I see, I'd say worse than yours." I took a second to look him over and from what I saw, he definitely had it better than most. That was because he wasn't shivering, he was well enough to pout, and he had fewer red bumps than most of the others. He simply looked upset that he was sick in the first place.

"Well this sucks," he pouted again, crossing his front hooves over his chest.

"Yeah it does," I agreed with a slight nod of my head before emphasizing, "but you have a relatively light case. Take your classmate behind me, for example. She's been up for a long time shivering and couldn't get any sleep. Now she's finally asleep. Yes, it sucks and I know you don't feel very good right now but you're better off than most of your other classmates."

"Try and look at it as the glass half full instead of half empty," Rarity said to him, encouragement in her voice.

"Though that might be a little hard to do right now," I added gently to that.

After coughing a couple of times he huffed out a soft, "Whatever."

"I think that colt needs a little attitude adjustment," Rarity commented softly as we walked away.

"I went through that stage at one point," I whispered back to her. "Mostly, he's just upset and angry that he's sick. Hopefully, he'll grow out of his whatever stage."

On the other end of the room, we walked up to Pinkie with a colt and a filly playing cards. There was a brief question on where Pinkie got those cards from before quickly dismissing it in order to retain my sanity. "Join us for cards," Pinkie kept her voice down while still maintaining her excitement at us joining her while waving her hoof in greeting. Rarity and I sat down on the floor on either side of her facing the two sick ponies.

"What are we playing?" I asked while looking at the cards.

"Go fish," Pinkie gleefully replied. The colt and filly also looked happy for us to join them.

I used my ability to levitate some cards over to me, "Haven't played that in a while."

"Neither have I," Rarity did the same, "so this should be fun."

^_^

(Twilight's POV, Fluttershy's Cottage)

"Everypony be careful while playing tag," Fluttershy called up to both Flurry Heart and the birds up in the air.

I looked up at Flurry flying with the birds just above us as they played tag with a happy smile. "Flurry really is having fun up there."

"Yes, she is," Fluttershy giggled then leaned her head down to nuzzle her son in her hooves. "It's good for her. Not only that she's having fun but it will help her flying ability as well." I had Midnight Aurora in my hooves and she looked so cute. Fluttershy must have seen the longing look on my face as I looked down at the sleeping little filly. "I'm really glad that I have these two foals, Twilight," she said to me with a glowing look of motherhood in her eyes. "I'm really happy and I think that you would be a good mother."

"You think so?" I asked while Flurry's happy laughter and the bird's happily chirping above us as we sat outside in Fluttershy's back yard. "I've been wondering about that."

She giggled and shook her head dismissively, "I'm sure you will be after you get the hang of it. It's definitely something you won't learn from books."

Out of the corner of my eyes, I watched Flurry teleport herself directly into the hawk's path. Because the hawk was looking behind it, the hawk flew right into Flurry's waiting hooves. Flurry hugged the hawk, cooed at it, then teleported away again.

"That's just it, Fluttershy, I've learned so much from books that I'm worried that I won't be able to adapt."

"Oh you will, Twilight," Fluttershy told me to calm my fears with an easy knowing smile while gently rocking back and forth. "You're already adapting."

"What do you mean?"

Fluttershy nodded at me, "You're rocking back and forth, like me, while holding Midnight. It's what I do with Shadow to help him sleep. You're doing the same and I didn't have to tell you to do it. And you don't even have your own foal, or foals, yet." There was a wide happy glowing smile on her face as I looked down at myself. Indeed, I had started gently rocking back and forth while holding the little sleeping filly in my hooves. And I didn't even realize that I was even doing it. "And believe me, Twilight, that those instincts will kick in. And it's not like you'll go through your heat one day and be a parent the next. Your months of pregnancy will help you ease into the responsibility of being a parent. And remember, you'll have all of us to help you as well."

I sighed with a smile her way, "You're right, Fluttershy. I guess I'm just scared that I will get overwhelmed."

"Try not to worry so much about it, Twilight," she encouraged then smirked with a wink. "Besides, you'll have Emmit there and he's a good father."

I giggled at the images that flashed through my mind of him holding Solar in his arms or when Solar was playing with his tails. "Yeah, he is." While smiling off into the distance with my mind still flashing images, I saw how Flurry was getting frustrated with the birds. That was because the birds started using other tactics to either distract Flurry or ambush her to get a tag. I also spotted AJ, Apple Bloom, and Ember walking into the yard.

"Howdy, y'all," AJ greeted as they walked up but kept her voice down due to the foals. AJ and Apple Bloom walked up to me and sat down on either side of me looking down at the foal. Ember decided to sit down next to Fluttershy and looked down at the foal she was holding. "How are the little tykes doing?"

"Oh, they're still sleeping mostly," Fluttershy's smile and voice held a mother's love in them as she giggled softly. "And Twilight is thinking about having a foal with him as well."

"Is that right?" Apple Bloom asked suddenly making me blush while looking down at the foal I was holding. In response to that, I simply looked over to her and gave her a nod.

"I'm glad to be in his herd and all but I'm not ready for something like that yet," AJ said with a slight shake of her head. Then smiled over at me, "Though I'm happy for you though and will help you any way that I can."

"Thanks, AJ."

The next question was from Ember and was surprised by what she asked. "How do you know that you are ready for a youngling?"

While looking down at the foal, I thought back to my time in the dragon lands. "For me, it was after seeing you so happy when you mated with him in front of all the other dragons. That had me thinking of how happy I was with him as well." I paused to look down at the foal in my hooves and my heart just seemed to overflow. "And looking at this little foal and the way I feel around Flurry Heart, I just feel like this is something I want. Something to experience with him."

We all giggled when Apple Bloom simply stated, "I think I'll wait a little while for that." It was a little funny because it was such an obvious statement for a filly her age. And she knew it too because she was smirking when she said it with humor in her voice.

"I do not feel ready either," Ember said softly with her eyes on Fluttershy's foal in her hooves.

"That's alright, Ember. There's plenty of time for you and Emmit to have a foal of your own," Fluttershy encouraged with a smile at Ember. "Take your time right now to get to know him, the herd life, and us."

"Cheerilee told us in class a while back that there's a biological clock for mares. That there will be a time where it will be hard to have a foal and even impossible."

"You won't have to worry about that until you are well into your forties, Apple Bloom," I told her and would give her an encouraging hug if I wasn't holding a foal.

"How long do dragons live?" Apple Bloom asked curiously as she looked up at Ember. Her question was obviously in relation to Ember's breeding period.

"A dragon can live hundreds of years old," Ember replied simply yet with pride in her voice.

Flurry Heart landed in front of me, folded her wings, and crossed her front legs in the cutest pout.

Fluttershy giggled softly, "I think somepony's a little upset."

Apple Bloom reached out to rub Flurry's head a little, "It's just a game, Flurry Heart. It's meant to be fun. Don't take it so seriously."

She continued to pout as I questioned Ember, "If dragons live that long, then your breeding period must be equally long?"

As Ember began speaking again, Flurry shifted her attention to her. A look of curiosity was on her face because I don't think she's ever seen a dragon before. "Yes, our breeding period is between two and three hundred years. Most of the dragons that you saw in the dragonlands were yet twenty."

"Hoowee, that's long. At least you'll get plenty of years with Emmit then." AJ turned to look at me for confirmation when she asked, "Didn't Emmit say that he'll live just as long as the princesses?"

"Yeah, he did," I told her with a nod of my head while Flurry got up and walked over to Ember. "He also told me that the reason for his long life was because of his fox form. Its natural lifespan is around one thousand years. And that's without Equestria's natural magical rejuvenation. If his body was able to connect to Equestria's magical energy then he told me that it's possible for him to outlive even the princesses."

"He told me the same," Fluttershy spoke up but her voice was filled with a little sorrow which showed in her eyes as she looked over at me. Meanwhile, Flurry had spread her wings and started hovering around Ember to take a better look at her. "He also told me that both the Tree of Harmony and the Empress has told him that they made sure that he is connected to Equestria's natural magical field, I think he called it."

"What does that mean?"

Ember's eyes tracked Flurry's movements as Flurry looked her over.

"It means that he's basically immortal, Apple Bloom," I said to her with a somber tone in my voice. "He'll outlive even the princesses and his foals. If he doesn't do anything stupid to get himself killed that is."

"That means he will outlive even the oldest dragon," Ember put in right before Flurry Heart hovered around Ember's head to now hover in front of her.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or not," AJ mused before looking up at the silent interaction between Ember and Flurry Heart with a growing smirk on her face.

"I actually asked Celestia about living as long as she has. She's told me that it's more of a curse than a blessing." I paused and used my magic on Flurry's tale to gently pull her away from Ember with a little giggle, "Flurry Heart, I know you're curious but it's not nice to stare like that." Flurry started to pout again as I gently encouraged her away from Ember before giving my attention to the girls again. "As I said, it's more of a curse because you get to watch your friends and even family die of old age while you live on looking as young as a twenty or thirty-year-old mare."

"I guess that's why he wants all his family in one place, right?" Apple Bloom questioned with a somber look on her face. "Kind of like how the Apple Family gets together as often as possible."

"Family is definitely the most important thing in his life, that's for sure," AJ agreed with a quick firm nod.

Right then Aurora in my hooves started to fidget, then wake up, and started crying. A second later, before I could say anything, her brother woke up, heard her, and started crying as well. "Time for another feeding," Fluttershy said with a very happy tone in her voice.

^_^

(Emmit's POV)

"I'm glad we were able to help and entertain those poor fillies and colts," Rarity was saying as she walked beside me on our way back to Fluttershy's cottage. I had two tails around both her and Pinkie.

"Me too, it's not fun being sick," Pinkie put in as we began approaching Fluttershy's cottage. "At least we could make them smile for a little while."

There were more at her cottage than I thought there would be. Not only was Twilight there with Fluttershy but also Ember, AJ, and Apple Bloom. All were sitting around close together without any sight of Flurry Heart or Cadence or Shining Armor. Around them were only Harry the bear and a couple of other larger-ish animals along with the smaller animals. Harry had positioned himself to lay just behind Fluttershy and Ember as we walked up. Our two foals were curled up together in front of her fast asleep on a thick blanket in front of her.

"Honey, we're home," I announced in usual comical fashion although softly as to not wake up our kids. "Flurry, Cadence, and Shining Armor aren't here?" I would have said Shining Humor again but wanted to have sex with Twilight sometime in the future. Pinkie walked over to sit between Ember and AJ while Rarity followed me to the other side of the circle.

"They've come and gone already," Twilight said and watched me trot over to Fluttershy with a wide smile and a slight blush on her face.

Before I could sit down, Rarity looked up at me and with her eyelashes batting away asked, "Would you be a dear and use your hands on my aching hooves?"

Without saying a word, and while keeping a slight smirk on my face, I morphed into my human form, sat down next to Fluttershy, and beckoned her over with a curl of my finger. However, I had to stop her when she was still facing me as she sat down in front of me. Rarity looked at me in slight confusion when I waved a finger at her but smirked with a mischievous glint in her eyes after I waved that same finger in a circle. She understood, so she turned herself around and sat down in front of me. A few smiles and blushes showed up after I reached forward pulling her back against me where she could rest her back against my chest. Before having some fun with Rarity, I had to reach down to my new son and daughter. A proud and happy smile on my face as I laid a gentle hand over them.

"How were the other kids at the hospital Rarity?" Apple Bloom asked as I put one arm around Rarity and gently rubbed our growing foal inside of her. "I haven't had it yet and according to AJ I might not ever have it because of our work on the farm."

AJ chuckled a little, "Yeah we definitely get more injuries than we do any sicknesses, don't we?"

"There were two that were really really bad with one filly could hardly sleep because she was shivering," Pinkie said as her hair drooped in sadness as she talked. "Emmit was able to warm them up and help them sleep."

As Pinkie started talking, I took my hand away from our sleeping foals and started massaging Rarity's front right hoof. "Thank you, dear," she said softly in thanks as I began rubbing her hoof. She even sighed contently, closed her eyes, and wiggled herself more comfortably against my chest.

After Rarity did that, Pinkie looked over at us with a growing smirk on her face. "After Rarity it's my turn."

Fluttershy echoed Pinkie with a soft giggle of her own and a wink my way, "That does look very comfortable and I'm happy that you were able to help those poor fillies and colts in the hospital."

"Yes, thank you for doing that," Twilight thanked us as I shifted to Rarity's front left hoof. "With you three taking care of that, I was able to spend some quality time with Flurry Heart and think about something else." The others had smiles on their faces while looking at Twilight expectantly. Twilight had a cute smile on her face and even a growing blush when she said something that I wasn't expecting her to say. "I'm so happy to be with you, Emmit. So, I want to have a foal with you."

That stopped me dead in my tracks, so to speak. I mean, I always thought that she would want them someday. I just had the idea that she'd be like Rainbow and want them a little later.

"Really, Twilight?" Rarity asked while looking at her with the same surprised expression. Then smiled as I did and was going to ask why but Rarity beat me to it. "While I'm happy that you have decided such because I'm happy to be having his foal as well, I'm also curious as to what brought you to that."

The way she looked at me was similar to Fluttershy because she was looking away slightly with a blush and a smile on her face when she replied. "I thought about it when we had sex in front of all those dragons. Ember laughed because of how happy she was to be with you." She paused and looked over to Ember with an expectant look.

Taking the hint, Ember's eyes met mine with a genuinely happy smile my way. "She is correct. I didn't really know that a dragon could find his or her chosen mate. And after seeing a side of my father that I've never known and meeting you, I am happy to be with you. Because when we mated, I've felt like my body, my whole being, was," she paused appearing to think of the right word, "in tune, I think you could say, with yours. A feeling that I've never felt before that felt so good..."

I gave her a smile to reassure her I know what she was trying to say.

"And...I think it was the same for me," Twilight said again drawing my eyes back to her. "I'm just so glad to be with you that I want that in my life."

That brought a wide smile to my face as I placed both hands on Rarity's growing baby bump. Though the happy smiling look on my face also had a slight teasing look to it as well. "I'm happy that you want a foal with me but you realize that all your schedules will be all but useless, you know that right?"

Twilight just sighed with a look of "I can't believe you just said that". But smirked at me anyway and took it in good nature, "It will take some adapting but it's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make."

Pinkie decided to up the ante by moving in front of Twilight and grabbed her head with a sudden gasp. "Who are you and what have you done with Twilight?"

Even Twilight laughed with everypony else as she reached up and brought down Pinkie's hooves, "Pinkie."

Pinkie then turned to Rarity and I with a pleading look at Rarity. "My turn?"

There was amusement in Rarity's voice as she carefully rolled away from me, "Alright, that's fair."

Pinkie squealed happily, stepped up, turned around, and leaned back against me. Then wiggled to get more comfortable with her own sigh of contentment with I wrapped my arms around her and started rubbing her belly where our foal is. "Yep, this really does feel great." With an amused smirk on my face, I turned my head to give her a light kiss on her cheek when she leaned her head back onto my shoulder. Then commented to Twilight, "I'm really happy to be having this foal, Twilight. After spending all this time with the cake twins and then seeing these twins, I realized that it's something I wanted." She turned her head to give me a long lingering kiss, "And I'm happy to have this foal with you, Emmit."

"I am too, Pinkie," I kissed back then smiled over at Twilight. "I'd be happy to have a foal with you, Twilight."