Sparkle in the Night

Some months later...

The hustle and bustle of the doctors and nurses in the nearby hallway served as barely-audible background noise to the agonizing, nerve-wracking wait that Twilight experienced as she waited in the examination room, Shooting Star sitting calmly on the exam bed as Twilight paced a groove in the floor in front of him. Her belly had a noticeable paunch to it as she walked, though this was likely something far more significant than the after-effects of a hayburger binge.

Particularly given that she'd been experiencing periodic bouts of inexplicable nausea and food cravings in the months since her first...consummation with Shooting Star. It could only mean one thing.

Twilight, being the intelligent-yet-inexperienced and overworked Princess of Books that she was, felt more nervous than any of the times she'd been called to Canterlot by Princess Celestia on urgent business. Saving the world was one thing - bringing new life into it was another matter entirely, one that was far more imposing given that there was no obvious solution - no blasting of bad guys with giant friendship lasers, no impassioned speeches in an attempt to make the bad guys see reason, and certainly no time-traveling madmares!

"Twilight, please calm down! I'm sure the foal - our foal! - is perfectly fine and healthy..." Star said, the picture of calm placidity despite his mate's state of sheer distress. He knew better than to attempt to stop one of her nervous rampages with force by now - the last time he'd tried to do so, she'd nearly blasted him full in the face with wild, undirected alicorn might in her shocked surprise.

"B-but that's just it, Star? What if they're not? What if my alicorn magic has done something crazy to the baby and she's just one step away from needing magical intervention to keep her alive? What then?!" Twilight exclaimed, utterly lost to hysterics by this point.

Star opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off as the door swung open. The familiar soft pink mane and stark white coat of Nurse Redheart greeted the two of them as she trotted inside and hurriedly closed the door behind her, throwing her clipboard onto the bed as she rushed to Twilight's panicked side and put a forehoof across her back.

"Princess Twilight? I need you to breathe, alright? Can I get you to do that for me, Your Majesty?" Redheart instructed with the calm, firm authority of a pony who had had many years to perfect the art of calming panicked ponies. Star supposed that when one lived in a town as insane as Ponyville, such a skill would likely come in handy a lot...

"Breathe in." Gaaaaasp. "Annnd out." Fwaaah...

"In. And out. In...and out." After a few more cycles of the exercise, the rampaging ball of nerves that was Twilight Sparkle had finally calmed down to a reasonable level.

"There we go...feeling better, Princess Twilight?" Redheart said, smiling beatifically as she kept a respectful distance away from the panicked princess.

"J-just Twilight is fine, I think we're way past the point of royal propriety right now. Thank you so much, Redheart." Twilight replied warmly as she swept the pale nursemare into a hug.

"Of course! It's perfectly natural to be nervous, Twilight. Every new parent has a right to be frazzled when that glorious moment of discovery comes flying up in their face like an out-of-control pegasus deliverymare." The two of them shared a giggle at that. "Would you like me to perform a magical ultrasound? If the... conception was as many months ago as you say, then we should be able to see the developing foal quite easily."

"Ohhh...gosh." Feeling somewhat overwhelmed as she mentally prepared herself for yet another life-changing surprise that day, Twilight wordlessly nodded her assent.

"Come over here and lay down for me, if you'd please. I'll retrieve the machine...and I'll keep it under a cover so the papers don't get any funny ideas from seeing you and one of those machines going into the same room, hmm?"

Oh Tartarus, the press! In her haste to make it to the hospital, she hadn't even considered how the writers and photographers for those tabloid gutter-rags might react upon seeing her making haste to a hospital, swollen stomach and all. "You're the best, Redheart." Twilight answered warmly as she laid across the exam table, Shooting Star now standing upright near her.

"I try, dear." The nursemare responded coolly. "Now, shall we...have a look at what's going on in there, hmm?" She added, glancing meaningfully at Twilight's midsection as the Princess nervously traced her hoof along her belly.

As Redheart ran the focus of the ultrasound machine over Twilight's swollen tummy, tangible shapes began to appear on the monitor. The shape of one soft, stubby horn was visible...and beside it, another?!"

"Congratulations, Princess Twilight. It's a filly and a colt!" Redheart exclaimed excitedly as the ultrasound images became clearer.

Surreptitiously, both parents-to-be stared blankly at each other...before fainting on the spot.

"Everypony...the years I've spent with you girls have been the best thing that's ever happened to me, which is why I've called all of you here today." Taking Shooting Star's hoof into hers as they gripped each other tightly for support, Twilight glanced across the table at the rest of the girls as she nervously inhaled, shuddering in anticipation. "I'm pregnant! With a filly and a colt!"

Slack-jawed silence followed her, as the girls took a moment to process the gravity of what she'd said.

"BABY SHOWER TIME~!" Pinkie shouted, disappearing from her seat in a blur of pink excitement.

"Well, shoot! Congratulations, Twahlight! Reckon ah can't wait to see 'em!" Applejack congratulated proudly, tipping her hat forwards with respect.

"I'm going to spoil them rotten, darling~! You'd best be prepared!" Rarity purred deviously, rubbing her chin with her hoof. "I knew setting up the two of you together was a wonderful idea, dear!"

"Oh, that's wonderful, Twilight!" Fluttershy exclaimed, beaming a radiant smile as she clopped her hooves excitedly.

"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash shouted, bolting up out of her seat to excitedly fly laps in the air around the map table. "You'd better hope those foals are alicorns like you, Twilight, cuz I am totally gonna make them the best fliers ever if they are! Aww yeah!"

"U-umm...wow, congrats, Twilight!" Spike said unsurely, a bit nervous of what the addition of new members of Twilight's family might mean for their own dynamic. As if sensing his concerns, she flashed him a beatific, reassuring smile.

"I'm getting a baby sister AND a baby brother?!" Scootaloo shrieked, becoming a bouncing ball of pure energetic excitement almost as quickly as Pinkie had. She tackled Twilight with a leaping hug as she nuzzled against her new mother's fluffy chest, overcome with jubilation at the news.

Twilight giggled as she ran a hoof through Scootaloo's mane, smiling softly as she nodded in confirmation. "That's right, Scoots. And I can't wait to see what they look like..."

*Knock, knock, knock*

"Okay, hokay, gotta breathe, gotta breathe..." Star muttered to himself, before a good-natured ribbing in the side from Twilight halted his worried behavior.

"They're gonna love you, Star. Trust me." Twilight said reassuringly; moments after she finished her sentence, the lock on her childhood home clicked open, and the glow of Twilight Velvet's magic swung it open in front of them.

"Twilight! Oh, what a surprise, dear! It's been too long! Come in, come in, tell me everything my little darling has been up to!" Velvet exclaimed cheerfully, before turning around to holler into the home, "Nightyyy~! We have some more guests tonight, dear! Get out the good table settings!"

Twilight and Star shared an aside glance at that. "More guests?" Twilight parroted, tilting her head in confusion as her mother led them to the sitting room. It didn't take long for her question to be answered - a surprised gasp left her lips as Cadance, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart were already sitting on the couch to greet them! "Cadance? Shiny? What are you three doing here?!" She asked, eyes wide as Shooting Star felt his confidence begin to waver.

'Not just her dad, but her brother too? I am sooo dead...' Star thought to himself, resigned to his fate.

"Aww, what's up, a colt can't bring his wife and daughter along for a family visit anymore? It's good to see you, Twily." Shining greeted warmly, bouncing Flurry in his forehooves as she burbled out joyous, infantile squeals of delight.

"It's good to see you too, B.B.B.F.F." She answered back, before addressing Cadance next to him, "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake..." She began, and grinned as Cadance leaped up from her seat and hastily mirrored Twilight's ridiculous-looking little dance.

"Clap your hooves and do a little shake!" The Crystal Princess of Love finished the verse, laughing gleefully as she hugged Twilight. "I had, well, let's just call it a feeling, that I needed to be here today~" She said slyly, locking eyes with Shooting Star - who blushed scarlet beneath the interrogating, knowing gaze she gave him.

"Twilight!" A masculine voice called out, as the Princess of Friendship was suddenly swept up in a hug. The blue coat and mane of the stallion identified him as Twilight's father, a stallion she'd seen numerous pictures of in Twilight's photo albums. "It's wonderful to have you here today, pumpkin!"

"Love you, dad." Twilight said warmly, patting him on his crest as they separated.

With joyous greetings out of the way, all eyes turned to the unfamiliar stallion in the room - Shooting Star. "And who might you be, my good stallion?" Night Light asked cordially, his eyebrow arcing in interest.

"S-Shooting Star, sir. I'm...your daughter's coltfriend." He finished, grimacing as he expected the worst.

The older stallion's narrowing eyes seemed to confirm his worst fears as the reaction caused Star to shiver on the spot, though his fear quickly gave way to confusion as Night Light laughed boisterously and patted him on the back with one hoof. "And here I was worried she'd be too preoccupied with books to ever get a special somepony! Hah!"

From the sidelines, her mother tittered behind her forehoof. "Big words for somepony who just lost a bet, dear."

Twilight sputtered, as Star's confused expression only intensified. "Y-you two were betting on whether I'd ever get a coltfriend?!"

Cadence and Shining both joined in on the laughter after Twilight's exclamation, no longer able to hold back their amusement. "They weren't the only ones, Twily." Shining added teasingly, bouncing Flurry in his forehooves as she giggled and burbled happily, oblivious to the conversation.

"Though I never ruled out mares from the equation, either, I'll have you know! You and Rainbow Dash would be pretty cute together...or maybe Moondancer..." Cadance added, trailing off as she mused to herself. Twilight's blush - from anger or from embarrassment, she wasn't sure - intensified further.

"I-I don't...bwuh..." TwiOS appeared to be in the middle of rebooting, completely unable to comprehend what her family had been doing behind her back.

Night Light guided the two of them to their seats, both of them still in a daze from the odd nonchalance of the family's reaction. As two full teacups were floated into their hooves in Velvet's aura, Twilight and Star both took long, wide-eyed drinks that nearly emptied them in a single draught.

"So...when's the wedding?" Cadance added with a sly grin. Both ponies spluttered mid-drink, nearly inhaling their tea from the suddenness of the question.

"Umm, w-well, I'm pregnant, so pretty soon!" Twilight exclaimed, no longer thinking properly as the words slipped out in her rebuttal.

"WHAT?!"

'Oh, that's what finally surprises them?' Twilight thought cynically, cringing in apology at the surrounding ponies as they stared at her with wide eyes and slack jaws.

Next to her, Star had long since put his face in his hooves from the absurdly rapid escalation of the situation, and asked tiredly, "Okay, seriously do none of the ponies in your family have any tact?"