Sweet Apple Herding

~ ❀ ~

Friday, April 4th, Year 10 of Princess Twilight

A year and a half after Pip started dating Big Mac and Sugar Belle’s herd, the barn was transformed once more into a makeshift nursery. It had a wide space and plush blankets for foaling mares, as well as various tools and supplies to assist with the deliveries. The farmhouse had incurred some modifications too: an additional room had been cleared and furnished as a bedroom for the four new foals.

Pip welcomed Nurse Redheart in the barn before noon, as they had scheduled. Since foaling twins was riskier than single births, and Sweet Apple Acres was too far from the hospital to rush there when Cheerilee would enter labor, Redheart came to them instead.

“Good morning, Cheerilee,” Nurse Redheart said as she took place beside the heavily pregnant mare. “How do you feel?”

“Giddy,” Cheerilee replied with a nervous smile.

“Everything will be fine,” the nurse reassured her, depositing her saddlebags and picking up a large envelope. “With your last ultrasound, we can confirm both of your little fillies are in the proper position - belly down, head first, forehooves extended forward. All is ready.”

Redheart prepared a bottle of clear liquid and a syringe. “I will first give you an injection of oxytocin to induce labor. Your waters should break within 20-30 minutes, then add 20-30 more minutes to birth each foal. Any questions?”

Cheerilee shook her head. “No, I’m ready.”

The nurse filled the syringe and skillfully inserted the hypodermic needle in Cheerilee’s buttcheek. She pressed on the plunger, injecting the clear solution in the mare’s bloodstream.

Pip massaged his mare’s back as Cheerilee went through the procedures one more time with Redheart and Applejack. The rest of the family settled around, waiting for the birth to start. Sugar Belle and Big Macintosh were there, of course. Harvest Blossom, Orchard Breeze and Rain Hearth were there as well; the foals had promised to stay quiet and still, and Fluttershy would remain with them to answer their questions and calm them if needed.

Since the birth had been scheduled for induction in advance, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were able to join too. The CMC approached Pip, but stayed a respectful distance away to avoid crowding around Cheerilee.

“So, it’s… it’s the day, ain’t it, Pip? Miss Cheerilee will foal soon,” Applebloom whispered.

“Yeah…”

“I remember when Cheerilee first introduced you as the new student from Trottingham,” Sweetie Belle commented. “It’s kinda crazy to see you two now, having foals together.”

Pip chuckled. “I know… but I love her, and I love our herd, so it’s okay.”

Soon enough, Cheerilee let out a pained gasp. A deluge of warm, yellow amniotic fluids followed, streaming from her vulva and soaking the hay behind her. She had gone into labor.

Pip cleaned the floor of the drenched hay, and replaced it with a fresh batch. Applejack spread a large blanket on the ground, allowing Cheerilee to lie on her side. Pip settled down behind her, holding her tail out of the way while Big Mac and Sugar Belle lay down in front of her to keep her company.

Cheerilee’s vulva became looser, her vagina expanding to allow her foals to pass through. Soon, a white sac filled with amniotic fluids appeared through the supple purple folds. Cheerilee gasped and kept pushing, her contractions guiding the first of her filly through her dilated vagina.

Pip soon spotted a pair of tiny white hooves through the ripped amniotic sac. “Cheery, she’s coming…”

His breath caught in his throat as he saw a little white muzzle between the forelegs. Love filled his heart as he saw the full face of his filly exiting Cheerilee’s womb. The little foal had white fur and a white mane, but there was also a purplish spot around her left eye and two mores on her cannons.

After pushing for about ten minutes, Cheerilee gasped as the filly’s rump and hindlegs passed her vulva. The newborn foal slipped onto the blanket.

Pip heard the filly whimper as she took her first breath, squirming shakingly to get out of the white amniotic sac that still covered her rump. Reverently, the young father helped his foal by ripping open the rest of the bag so she could creep out of it.

“What a beautiful foal!” Nurse Redheart exclaimed.

‘Beautiful’ was right, even if the filly was still completely soaked in yellowish birth fluids. While her front and mane were white, her rump and tail were amaranth purple. The two colors met in a wavy line across her midsection, creating a stark contrast between her front and rear.

“Sugar Belle, can you move her?” Redheart asked. “Cheerilee can’t turn around right now.”

Pip felt a sensation of deep loss as his filly was levitated away from him. That feeling stopped immediately as he witnessed Cheerilee turning her head and seeing her foal - the filly he had given her. The purple mare’s eyes light up with love as her daughter was deposited in front of her. Without a word, she tenderly licked the filly clean.

A few minutes later, Cheerilee gasped as she experienced another wave of contractions. Another white bag filled with liquid appeared from her depths as the second twin filly engaged in her mother’s vagina. Cheerilee’s swollen belly started to slowly deflate as her second foal exited her uterus, the filly cute face appearing from the mother’s stretched vulva. She kept pushing, helping the foal travel through her tight passage. With a twitch of her hindlegs, a loud wet squelch, and a relieved sigh, Cheerilee was discharged from her burden, leaving the second twin filly on the soaked blanket.

Again, Pip was left with the breathtaking sight of his newborn filly. He helped her out of the ripped amniotic sac. The second filly was almost identical to her twin sister, except her color pattern was inverted: her front end and mane were amaranth purple, while her rump and tail were white. She crawled out of the white sac, which Sugar Belle lifted into a nearby bucket for disposal.

After birthing the second twin, Cheerilee rose up and turned to face her last foal. She went down to lick the filly, but stopped as she noticed Pip. “Do you want to do it?”

“I can?”

“Mmhmm.”

Pip, filled with love, went down with his tongue out. Letting his parental instincts take free reign of his actions, he licked his daughter’s face, cleaning the fluids from Cheerilee’s womb out of her coat. The filly squirmed as he lapped her entire body, grooming her coat, mane and tail.

Once his second filly was mostly clean, Pip settled down next to her. Meanwhile, underneath Cheerilee, their first twin was starting to stand on her wobbly legs and take hesitant steps. Pip would have liked to help her walk, but he knew she had to do it on her own. After a bit of fiddling around under her mother, the filly managed to find one of her teats and began to suckle. The foal gulped down Cheerilee’s milk, filling her little stomach with her first meal.

When the older twin had emptied the first of Cheerilee’s udders, she naturally started looking for the other teat. Foals needed to absorb their mother’s first dose of milk, which contained vital nutrients and antibodies, and they couldn’t let the first twin drink from both teats. As they had rehearsed, Big Mac intervened by pushing her little head away and giving her a feeding bottle full of foal formula instead, which she gulped down eagerly. Eventually, the satisfied filly approached her twin and settled down next to her.

“Aww, they are so sweet…” Sugar Belle commented, a tear in her eye.

The younger twin eventually did the same as the first one and rose on her shaky little legs. Cheerilee gently guided her to her second udder. The foal eagerly suckled on the teat, drinking the rich, creamy mare milk. Once she was done, Pip dragged the filly toward her twin sister and gave her the second bottle of foal formula. Soon, both twins were sleeping next to each other, looking absolutely adorable.

Cheerilee gasped. “Uh, hold on… stand clear.” She spread her hindlegs and her vulva loosened again. With a good push from the purple mare, the fleshy mass of her placenta dropped onto the barn floor. Nurse Redheart and Applejack examined it, looking for abnormalities: blood or tears of the placenta could be signs of medical complications.

The nurse moved on to examine the newborn fillies, then the mother. “Everything is all clear, Cheerilee. Both you and your fillies are perfectly healthy. Congratulations!”

Cheerilee lay down next to Pip and nuzzled her sleeping fillies. “Oh, thank you Pip. They are so beautiful…” She whispered something in his ear, and he gave her a nod of approval.

Cheerilee looked around at their family. “Everypony, may I present my daughters?” she announced without raising her voice too much, not wanting to wake the two fillies. She pointed at the older twin, the filly with a white front and an amaranth purple rear, “this is my daughter, Morning Rose.” She indicated the younger twin, the filly with an amaranth purple front and a white rear, “this is her twin, Evening Rose.”

As everypony complimented the foals and their parents, Fluttershy pushed Rain Hearth forward with her wing, encouraging her with a nod. Rain Hearth, Cheerilee’s first filly with Big Macintosh, carefully approached her little sisters and gave each one a tiny kiss on their forehead.

~ ❀ ~

Thursday, April 10th, Year 10 of Princess Twilight

For the third time in a week, Pip was with his herd in the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. Lying between Cheerilee and Sugar Belle, he was watching Fluttershy give birth to her pegasus filly.

Big Mac tenderly extracted the foal from her amniotic sac, revealing a filly with an almost white pale green coat, and a burgundy mane with maroon highlights. Her irises were a bright red color.

The foal was obviously Big Mac’s daughter, but that was alright. Pip held his son, nuzzling his little horn. Sugar Belle had foaled the little colt the day before, the white spots spread over his dark pink coat marking him as the fruit of Pip’s seed. They had named him Sweet Pepper.

Pip had sired three of the herds seven foals: Morning Rose, Evening Rose, and Sweet Pepper. The new pegasus filly, Wine Sap, was Mac’s fourth child, after Harvest Blossom, Orchard Breeze, and Rain Hearth.

As the herd returned home with their new foal, Pip knew his life had changed forever.

That was just fine with him.

~ The End ~