//------------------------------// // Prologue: All Hail Prince Spike // Story: How To Raise A Kirin In 12,371 Steps // by Soothing Stone //------------------------------// Dealing with a new routine of royal duties wasn’t nearly as difficult as Spike imagined it to be. Granted, it was weird having everypony call him “Prince Spike” after years of being the #1 assistant to another princess. When he got to work with his new chores, however, he discovered that it wasn’t that far off from what he had done before. Arrange meetings, go over paperwork, talk to diplomats, it was familiar territory for him. He had it in the bag. Still, there were times where things got rather interesting, and today would be one of them. He got ready in a guest room within Celestia’s castle, just wanting to make sure his uniform looked right. The white dress shirt was a little uncomfortable, but uncomfortable clothes came with the job. After adjusting his collar and slicking back his head spikes, he was ready to go. “Prince Spike, I have all the documents you need for today,” a stallion said to him, sporting thick glasses and looking almost as studious as Twilight. Spike dropped his clothes checklist and picked up the documents. “Thanks. Sorry, it’s just weird having my own assistant. I used to be the one handling all the checklists and stuff.” “I understand, although I wouldn’t imagine complaining about such a thing. Not with the pay you’re offering, of course. Celestia wanted to tell you that they’re ready when you are.” “Right, right, thank you. I’ll be out in a second.” The assistant closed the door as he left, leaving the dragon prince alone to look over his final preparations. He rubbed his hands together as he braced himself for what he was about to do, and he adjusted his wedding ring for good measure. This wasn’t the time to be nervous. The people at the meeting were all familiar faces, and a new title wouldn’t change his friendships with them. Spike left the guest room and made his way to the meeting room, a special room Celestia made for such occasions. It had a large table in the middle with a few chairs pulled up, and maps of Equestria and the bordering nations decorated the walls. A few guards were there to make sure everything went smoothly, but what really got his attention were the two members of royalty waiting there for him. Celestia was the first member, always wearing a fancy dress to indicate her royalty, with this particular dress being dark orange. She was going through her own set of documents, but she still had time to greet him with a smile. That wasn’t a surprise. What really stood out was the dragon there with them, none other other than Dragon Lord Ember. She grew a few inches since the last time Spike had seen her. “Long time no see,” she greeted him. “Hey, where’s Twilight?” “She’s staying in Ponyville to take care of a few things back home,” Spike replied. “She wish she could make it, but I’m here to take her place for today. You’re okay if I’m here in her place, right?” “I don’t have any problem with it. Are things okay with you and her? It still sounds weird in my head that a pony and a dragon got hitched.” “It’s wonderful,” Spike marveled. “We have our issues here and there, but that’s like every marriage. Still, we couldn’t be happier.” “Heh, I know what you mean with the issues. I’m learning that for myself.” Spike was a little surprised to hear that. “What do you mean?” “Well…” Ember’s cheeks blushed red for a moment. “I found a mate.” “Really? That’s amazing!” he gleamed. “I’m so happy for you. What’s he like?” “Well, he’s a dragon from the Dragon Lands, so he can be a jerk sometimes. He has a soft side, though, so that’s good.” “I’m glad to hear it,” Celestia commented. “It’s always wonderful to see old and new friends alike find romance and friendship, no matter what their walk of life is. Still, we have important matters to attend to, and we can begin when you’re ready.” Spike and Ember, realizing how much they got caught up in things, broke it up and took their places at the table. Ember always found it weird how Equestria used something as flammable as paper for their note taking. Then again, ponies couldn’t exactly breathe fire like she could. “So we’ve been getting a lot more dragon visitors after the opening of the Friendship School,” Spike noted. “We’re really happy about that.” “Yeah, just as long as you cut out all the singing, dragons really like it there,” Ember replied. “There’s lots of gems in Equestria, and everything’s not just dirt and ash. It’s nice out here.” “But we’ve had an unintended side effect as a result,” Celestia noted as she gazed through her papers. “A lot of ponies have been asking our offices about visiting the Dragon Lands. Since you’re the Dragon Lord, we’ve been wondering how you feel about letting them visit your homeland.” “Have you been there? It is just dirt and ash. And I don’t know if you know this, but dragons can be jerks.” Spike winced in pain, as he remembered Garble vividly. “I know all about that.” “But...it might not be a bad idea, actually. We’ve wanted dragons and ponies to get along for a few years now, and this could help. You ponies don’t really know that much about us, mostly because you’ve never really been there before. Just keep in mind that you’re probably going to find it boring.” “Noted,” Spike replied, taking a few notes for the meeting. “It’s really not that bad. Volcanoes are kinda cool.” “You’re not just wanting to go because there’s a lot of gems over there, are you?” He scratched out a note as soon as he heard that. “N-No! Hey...wait a minute…” To his surprise, he felt a little sick to his stomach. He hunched over and grabbed the edge of the table as the stomach pains only grew more intense. “Spike, are you alright?” Celestia asked. “I can have somepony look at you if you’re unwell.” “I-I don’t know! It just came out of nowhere and--” He burped out of nowhere, and it was one of his loudest belches ever. A flame escaped his lips, and a letter came out of the fire. “This wasn’t a good time for a letter, was it?” “Doesn’t matter to me. Who’s it from?” Ember wondered. “It’s likely from Princess Twilight,” Celestia thought. “Go ahead and read it, Spike.” With that blessing, Spike broke the seal and unraveled the letter. The first thing he noted was how it was hastily written, and it had a lot of ink spots all over it. Rather uncharastic of Twilight in his opinion. For having so many mistakes, it was a rather short letter. However, he would soon learn that short letters could have a big punch to them. He gasped when he read the contents of the letter, and he glanced to the princess and dragon lord in panic. “I have to get back to Ponyville right now. Something huge just happened!” Celestia looked to Ember with concern, but Ember just shrugged. “Whatever it is, sounds like it’s really important. Besides, I can get along with Princess Sunbutt--I mean, Celestia here.” “Very well. You’re free to be dismissed, Prince--” Spike had already left the room in a rush before she could finish her thought. “I wonder what would make him leave in such a hurry? This was something he was looking forward to for weeks.” “We could always just look at the letter,” Ember pointed out. Spike had left it in a rush to get out the door. “Huh. So we could do that.” Celestia levitated the piece of paper to her side of the table to look over it herself. Her eyes widened at the news, and she glanced at Ember in a mix of shock and awe. “Looks like there’s a new member of royalty on the way.” ------ As soon as Spike saw the news, he knew he had to get to Ponyville as quickly as possible. He didn’t bother with his royal carriage at all. Instead, he took to the skies himself and let his wings carry him as fast as possible to his home. There was no way he was going to let this sit for long. The journey, while short, felt like it was taking forever. His fastest speed wasn’t good enough. The uniformed shirt flapped around his body from how fast he was going, but that was the least of his concerns. It didn’t really matter in comparison to what else was happening. Before too long, he finally saw the Castle of Friendship come into view. He made a beeline to the balcony and made his landing there. Once he landed, he rushed past the door and looked everywhere in the castle for Twilight. The castle wasn’t that big, but it felt like a maze with what he was dealing with. He found Twilight before too long, standing in the living room with a blank expression. Once she realized Spike was there, she ran to him as fast as she could. They embraced each other tightly, overwhelmed with the new developments. “Are you sure the doctors are right? They didn’t screw anything up?” he asked. “I had them triple check to make sure. But it’s really happening, Spike. I’m pregnant,” she answered softly. He couldn’t help but gasp when it finally sunk in. “That...that’s wonderful. Oh my gosh, we’re going to be parents. It’s actually happening.” “I know. It was only a matter of time. How long have we been married?” “Two years, I think.” “Right. I just...oh my goodness, this is a lot to take in.” Spike laughed nervously and hugged her again. “It is, but this was something we wanted, right? We’ve been literally dreaming about it for a while.” “Yeah, but it’s one thing to dream about it and another thing to actually have it happen. I just didn’t think I would feel this way about it.” That made him stop in his tracks. “What do you mean? Are you not happy about it?” “No, it’s not that. I couldn’t be happier about it if I tried. But...you remember when you said we have no idea what the baby’s going to be like? It’s hitting me what you meant at the time.” His ears dropped down to the side. “Like how we don’t know if it’s going to be a dragon or a pony or a little of both.” “That’s what I mean. Personally, I don’t care what he or she is. It’s going to be our baby, and we’ll take care of it the best way we can. It’s the least we can do.” He held her hands and pressed their foreheads together. “Right. But it’s a little scary that we don’t know what species it is. I don’t know if we should be getting ready to have a pony baby or a dragon baby.” “I hate to admit it, but you’re right. Still…” She brought his hands down to her belly. “Can you feel it? That baby’s ours. We’re having a child together at last.” Spike felt up her stomach and thought of the baby inside. A tear started to go down his face as it sunk in completely for him. Deep down, he wasn’t sure if he would be a good father, but he wanted to be. For their child. For Twilight. Twilight, meanwhile, was holding her own tears back. This would completely change her life, but children always tended to do that. On top of that, she always wanted to try her hand at being a mother, and now she had that opportunity. She sniffed and calmed herself down. “Equestria will probably want to know about this,” she commented. “After all, they’re about to have a new prince or princess. That’s pretty big news, no matter what species it is. Remember when Flurry Heart was born?” “How could I forget? We should still wait for a little while,” he pleaded. “We just found out about it a few hours ago, and it’s going to leave us emotional for a while. It can wait for a month or two, anyways. You’re not getting a baby bump tomorrow.” Twilight giggled at the thought. “It’s going to take more than a day for that to happen. And we should probably get things ready for the big day before we announce it.” “Yeah. Our baby’s going to need a lot of food and toys after all. I should probably get on that as soon as possible.” “Oh, Spike, I’m so happy that I’m doing this with you…” She nuzzled his head softly with his. He did the same, kissing her on the lips for good measure. “Right back at you. Then again, it’s not like there’s another mare in Equestria as beautiful and smart as you…” After that, they were almost completely quiet for the rest of the day. The weight of the future was starting to weigh on them. Although they didn’t mind, it didn’t stop the fact that this was going to be a huge challenge for them. Joining each other’s hand in marriage was one thing, but raising a child would be another thing entirely. It would take a lot of preparation to be ready for it, both on a physical level and a mental level. As it turned out, their child would be something they wouldn’t see coming. No, it would be much, much better than that.