Author's Note

Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, and commented on this story! Here's a longer than normal chapter for you tonight!

Warnings for homophobia

https://www.deviantart.com/divorcedmoonlight103/art/Sparks-and-Silver-Birch-856784313

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Once again, Seeking Sparks found herself standing in front of the mirror. She was four months pregnant now, but there were no obvious changes to her body yet. Sparks traced the curve of her belly with her eyes, looking for any signs of a bulge. Sighing when she saw only her normal lean frame, she pressed a hoof over her womb. The only sign so far that she really was pregnant was the slight rigidness of her abdomen. Her belly had lost some of the soft squishiness that River had used to use as a pillow, which had led to grumbled complaints from the blue mare as she tried to find a new way to nap against Sparks in the evenings.

Sparks didn’t mind though. She knew River was just as excited for the foal as she was and feeling the physical evidence of the pregnancy had them both overjoyed. And now that she had passed the 16-week mark, Twilight had said it was safe to tell others. They had well passed the point at which a miscarriage was likely to occur, but Twilight and Starlight had warned them that a magical pregnancy brought with it uncertainties and risks. So Sparks and River had held off on informing anyone until both unicorns had deemed it safe.

Now though, it was time to tell their families and friends. They both had taken off work this weekend to visit and tell their families. And Sparks found herself both excited and worried by the prospect. Since her accident as a filly, her parents had been extremely overprotective of her, and she had no idea how they would react to the pregnancy. She had no siblings and had always been her parents’ sole focus. Running River, on the other hoof, came from a huge family. Sparks was sure they would normally be thrilled by the prospect of their first grandfoal. But they had never been fully supportive of her lifestyle.

River had come out as a lesbian after her first summer working at Camp Friendship, and her parents nearly refused to let her return, believing the camp had turned her gay. After weeks of begging, crying, and support from Sparks, River managed to convince her parents to let her go back to camp. Over the years they began to begrudgingly tolerate her sexuality, but they never really accepted. When River introduced Sparks as her girlfriend for the first time, they had balked and sat in stunned silence before retreating to the kitchen and talking in hushed and frantic whispers.

Shaking thoughts of River’s homophobic family out of her head, Sparks glanced sideways at her bedside table, thinking about the kitten collar that she had hidden away. She and River had never been ones for jewelry, and River had once joked that if Sparks proposed, she better do it with a cat or there’d be no wedding. She had bought the collar months ago, a beautiful purple leather piece with yellow and pink flowers. Lyra and Bonbon had encouraged her to go for it, no matter what her girlfriend’s family may say.

“Love is love.” Lyra had said, adoration shining in her eyes as she looked at her girlfriend. “Who knows, maybe she’s planning to propose to you too.” Bonbon had shot a look at Sparks out of the corner of her eye, and smiled at her ever so slightly.

Sparks grinned at the mirror, having finally made a decision. She didn’t care if the foal was born before or after they were married, but she wanted River as her wife more than anything in the world. Her family be damned.

Smoothing one last stroke over her stomach, Sparks tossed a light sweatshirt on and trotted out into town. River should be at Fluttershy’s sanctuary for another few hours, and if luck was on her side, Fluttershy herself would be at her cottage. It was just nearing the beginning of winter. Sparks had gotten pregnant at the end of the summer, just after the camp season had ended. They hadn’t really planned it that way, but once Twilight had worked out the spell, they had been too excited to wait any longer. And it worked out for the best. With the foal due the following summer, Sparks would be able to work at camp until the very last day of her pregnancy.

As she trotted excitedly over to Fluttershy’s cottage, Sparks looked up at the pegasi above who were preparing for winter. Cloudsdale had returned just like expected. Which meant her parents would be in town for a few days before they moved on with the weather factory to bring winter to all the other towns and cities of Equestria.

Since they moved to Ponyville when Sparks was a filly, her parents had kept a house in town, even after they moved back to Cloudsdale to travel with the city and work in the weather factory. That way the flightless Sparks and her earth pony girlfriend would always be able to visit when they were in town.

Sparks felt a pit growing in her stomach. She and River had sent a scroll to her parents a week or so prior, asking to visit when Cloudsdale rolled in for winter. They were supposed to go over tomorrow for lunch. Feeling a shiver run through her, Sparks pulled her sweatshirt tighter around her, despite knowing that the chill had nothing to do with the weather. Pushing away her nerves as she walked up the path to Fluttershy’s cottage, she knocked on the door.

The yellow Pegasus opened the door and beamed when she saw Sparks standing there.

“Seeking Sparks! It’s so good to see you. River isn’t here right now though.” Fluttershy beckoned her in and offered her a cup of warm tea.

Sparks took the cup gratefully and sat down on the couch. “I’m here to see you actually.”

“Oh? What can I help you with?” Fluttershy offered her a bowl of sugar cubes, which Sparks excitedly dipped into. Dropping two into her tea, she glanced around the cottage.

“I was hoping to propose to River sometime soon, and wondered if you could help me out with it.”

“Oh that’s wonderful! I’d be happy to help! But what could you possibly need me for?”

“River has always wanted a cat, but we just never got around to looking for one. I wanted to propose to her with a kitten.”

Fluttershy’s eyes grew wider than Sparks thought was possible, and a huge grin spread across her face. Grabbing the brown mare’s hoof, Fluttershy tried to fly them both out of the door.

Sparks yelped. “Fluttershy! I can’t fly, remember!”

The yellow mare let go of her friend’s hoof and sheepishly lowered herself to the ground. “I’m so sorry! I just got so excited...I’m so sorry...”

She blushed hard and Sparks only chuckled and gestured to the door. “No worries. Where were you taking me?”

Fluttershy perked up immediately. “I have a cat you need to meet!”

Fluttershy led them out into the garden and beckoned at a smooth black cat.

“This is Catherine and she’s pregnant! She should be having her kittens in about two months. Then they would be able to leave her about 2 months after that.”

“So I could come pick out a kitten in about four months?”

The cat mewled as Fluttershy lifted her into Sparks’ forelegs. “That’s up to Catherine. She says she wants to see where you live first, and who your girlfriend is before she agrees to let one of her kittens live with you.”

Sparks considered this for a moment. “I could bring her home for a few days and tell River that we are pet sitting for you? Maybe that Catherine was shy and you wanted her to get to live with some other ponies for a little while?”

“I think that sounds like a wonderful idea! What do you think, Catherine?” The cat meowed and purred against Sparks’ forelegs.

“We are going to see my parents and River’s parents this weekend though. Will she be okay at our place alone for a few hours?”

The cat meowed again and Fluttershy blinked before turning to Sparks. “She wants to know if you’re telling them about the baby.”

“What?! How did you know??” Sparks flushed a deep red.

Fluttershy just smiled. “Catherine knew. Says you look like a new mother. She also says it’s okay if you leave her at your house for the weekend.”

Sparks ducked her head and smiled shyly. Fluttershy wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders.

“Congratulations Sparks. You’re going to be an amazing mother.”

Sparks smiled and thanked Fluttershy, waving goodbye as she walked back down the path with Catherine. The two of them wandered back to the house and once Sparks let her inside, Catherine ran right over and curled herself between River’s forelegs.

Startled, the blue mare set down the spatula she had been using to make grilled cheese sandwiches and bent down to pet the black cat.

“Who is this cutie?” She cooed as Catherine arched her back and purred.

Sparks smiled. “Her name is Catherine. Fluttershy asked us to watch her for a few days. Apparently she needs to learn to trust other ponies.”

River smiled and scratched the cat under her chin. Catherine purred then scampered off to explore the house. Sparks walked over and rested her head on the top of River’s. Giggling, River shoved her off and stood up, turning back to the stove. Sparks saw the shake in her girlfriend’s breath as she took off the sandwiches.

“Are you worried about tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Who knows how my parents will react. But I still want to tell them.”

Sparks wrapped River into a hug. “It’s gonna be okay. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together right?”

River held her tight, feeling her girlfriend’s taught belly press against her. “Yeah baby. Together.”

oOo

River and Sparks stood outside her parents’ ponyville home, staring silently at the knocker.

“Are you...gonna knock?” River asked out the corner of her mouth.

“Oh hush! I’m just trying to figure out how to tell my parents that the princess of friendship is using us as an experiment to see if she can knock up mares with their hair!”

River snickered. “You’re scared.”

“Am not!”

“Yes you are! And that’s okay! But we’ve been standing here for almost a half hour. You have to knock at some point. We still have to get to my parents’ by this evening.”

Sparks groaned and lifted her hoof to the door. The hollow knocking sound echoed through the house and she winced as hoofbeats advanced towards them. Sparks’ father, Darkened Sky, opened the door. He was a tall and stocky stallion with a deep ash gray coat and an electric blue and white mane and tail, like lightning streaking across the sky. He whooped and hauled Sparks into a crushing hug.

“Hahaha. Hi dad.”

The stallion merely sniffled and bellowed “FIRETRAIL!!!” into the house.

Sparks’ mother, a pale peach mare with a fiery yellow, orange, and red mane and tail, emerged from the hallway and joined her husband in crushing their daughter.

“Mom...dad...I...can’t….breathe!” Sparks struggled out of the hug and coughed. Her parents instead turned to River and dragged her into the same crushing hug.

“It’s good to see you again too,” River said, laughing.

Once her parents had decided that they both deserved to breathe, the group walked into the dining room where Darkened Sky had set the table for lunch. Fire and Sky chattered on about the weather factory and the crazy year they had had traveling Equestria with Cloudsdale. While they talked and prepared lunch, Sparks kicked her hooves under the table and tried to think of the best way to phrase the news.

Mom, Dad, Twilight Sparkle got me pregnant.

No that wasn’t it.

I’m pregnant with River’s hair.

Nope. Not that one either. Sparks felt her anxiety rising and started tapping her hoof on the chair. She felt River reach over and place a comforting hold on her foreleg. Sparks was called back to reality when her mother laid out sandwiches and asked how their year had been. It was now or never.

“Well.” Her voice trembled slightly. She couldn’t tell if it was excitement or nerves. “We’re pregnant.”

Both of her parents’ jaws fell open and the stunned silence stretched across the table.

“Twilight Sparkle created a spell for us. So the foal that Sparks is carrying is biologically ours.” River said with a squeeze on Sparks’ hoof.

Firetrail was the first to react, her eyes welling with tears. She launched herself across the table and tackled Sparks into another bone-crushing hug.

“OH MY CELESTIA SWEETIE!!!!! I’M GOING TO BE A GRANDMA!!!!!”

Sparks buried her muzzle in her mother’s short mane, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders. Laughing slightly, she returned the hug and turned her eyes to her father. Darkened Sky’s lip was trembling as he walked slowly around the table and pulled River into the hug with Sparks and Fire. The four of them hugged for a beat, just feeling the warmth of each other. When her parents finally pulled away, Sparks saw that they were both crying slightly.

“Oh honey,” Firetrail whispered. “I’m so happy for you two. I know how much you have both always wanted foals.”

Darkened Sky wiped away a tear as he kissed the top of his daughter’s head. “You are both going to be such wonderful mothers.”

Sparks and River reached out for one another, holding their hooves together. “Thanks dad.” Sparks whispered through tears.

The afternoon flew by as they recounted the story of the spell that Twilight and Starlight had created for them, and about the weekly visits to check on the pregnancy and foal. Firetrail gave Sparks all kinds of advice and Darkened Sky promised to start sewing baby clothes right away. When they finally said goodnight in the early evening, Sky pulled Sparks aside.

“Are you ever gonna propose to that wonderful mare of yours?” A mischievous glint lit up his eyes.

Sparks blushed. “Started planning today in fact. Should be ready in about four months.”

Darkened Sky nodded and bumped his shoulder against hers. “That’s my strong girl.”

“That’s just how you and mom raised me.” Sparks grinned and hugged her dad one more time. “Now we really have to go. We promised we’d be at River’s parents’ before dinner. Gotta tell them too.”

Firetrail and Darkened Sky waved them off as Sparks and River set off for the tree farm at the edge of Ponyville. As they walked in the early evening sunset, Sparks watched as River seemed to shrink smaller and smaller the farther away they got from town.

“It’s gonna be okay. They don’t actively hate me anymore at least.” Sparks said, nudging her girlfriend with her shoulder.

River simply nodded, continuing the walk in silence; they had reached the edge of the farm. The dark green pine trees were laid out in even rows over the rolling hills. A bubbling stream wound its way lazily through the stands, channels and hoses coming off it to water the trees. Something in River seemed to snap. Her step faltered only slightly before she plowed ahead, showing no trace of her earlier anxiety and fear. As she reached the door of the house, she reached out and knocked with no hint of hesitation.

“I won’t let them make me feel small for who I am anymore.” River growled between gritted teeth.

A pale green colt opened the door, staring up at them silently.

“Hi Leaning Oak. Where’s mom and dad?”

Before the colt had a chance to respond, River took Sparks’ hoof and plowed into the house. Rounding the corner to the main room, she stopped dead. Her entire family was sitting there on couches around the fireplace. The rest of her younger brothers and sisters and her parents looked back at the two of them, eyes wide with shock.

The green colt trotted into the room. “River is here.”

River’s mom, a white mare with a cascading mane of blue and silver, rose from the couch and walked over to them.

“Seeking Sparks.” She said with a hint of ice in her voice.

“Whitewater.” Sparks nodded back respectfully.

River stepped forward, shielding her girlfriend from the disapproving stares of her family. “Mom. Dad. Kids.” She paused, making sure everyone’s attention was on her. “Sparks and I are going to be mothers. Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, found a spell that could get Spark’s pregnant with our own foal.”

River emphasized Twilight's title, as if trying to show her parents that one of the most important ponies in the land had no problem with her sexuality, so why should they. Her father, an average sized stallion with a white coat and wispy green mane and tail, stood and walked up to his daughter. Ignoring River, he turned and addressed Sparks.

“We have allowed you to...court...our daughter. And now you push our generosity with this...unnatural abomination?”

Sparks felt her feathers bristle and could feel River raging beside her. Settling a hoof on River’s, she tried to reassure her that she could handle this.

“Silver Birch, sir,” Sparks emphasized the title, her tone dripping with sweetness. “With respect, you do not have any control over River’s life. She is allowed to love whomever she likes and live her life however she wants. If you do not want to be a part of your grandfoal’s life, then that is your loss.”

Whitewater looked around her husband, her gaze falling on Sparks’ belly. “Silver...maybe we should…”

The stallion cut her off with a sharp glance in her direction, then turned back to the young mares.. “You are not welcome in my home. Get out.”

River stepped forward, her eyes burning. “If you kick us out now, you will not get another chance. If you want any part in my life or your first grandfoal’s life, then you will sit the FUCK down and listen to me!”

Silver Birch turned his back to them. “Get out of my house.” His voice was calm and even. Sparks could see Whitewater still glancing around him, trying to get a glimpse of the supposed foal. All the fillies and colts stared at the ground, silent.

River screamed in frustration and stormed out of the house, her hoof steps echoing down the hallway. Sparks watched her go then turned back to the family.

“I love your sister,” she addressed her words to the foals. “I love her with everything I am. We are going to have a foal together, and I am going to ask her to marry me. She doesn’t want to lose you. She loves you all so much. Why can’t you love her for who she is?”

A few of the kids looked up at her as Sparks turned and addressed Whitewater. “Your daughter is an amazing, incredible pony and all she wants is for you to accept her. To have a role in her life.” Sparks touched her belly. “To be our foal’s grandparents.”

Finally, Sparks addressed River’s father, who still stood with his back to her. “Silver Birch, I hope that one day you can come around. Because your daughter loves you so much. She just wants to make you proud.”

Without saying another word, Sparks turned on her heel and walked out the door.

She found River sitting underneath a willow tree at the top of a hill. She was watching the night breeze rustle the long hanging branches.

“This is where I got my cutie mark you know. The day I realized that all things in nature are connected. From the smallest crawling ant to the rushing waterfall to the tallest reaching tree. And when I decided that I wanted to spend my life helping to keep that balance and protect the natural world, this little mark appeared.” She gestured to the willow tree on her flank.

“Dad was so proud of me that day. He looked at me with so much love and pride in his eyes. I haven’t seen that look in a long, long time.”

Sparks reached out a hoof and helped her girlfriend to her hooves. “Come on my love. Let’s go home.”

River sighed and closed her eyes as she walked under the branches of the willow. “Yes. Home.”

They walked quietly together into the night, towards a home and a life where they were both loved for exactly who they were.