Twilight walked through the halls of the castle on a chill fall morning. She was feeling refreshed, having done a relaxing sorting of the library over the weekend, and was finally getting out for some fresh air. “Good morning, Spike!” she greeted, waving to the passing dragon as he ran by. He turned and waved back, hurrying on his way. The Princess smiled and continued on her way. She stretched her wings, feeling stiff from the hours of inactivity her weekend had wrought. “Oh! Hello, Big Mac!” she said, not having expected to see the Earth Pony that day. The farm stallion stopped and gave a respectful nod, quickly trotting onward. Maybe she would do some flying with Rainbow Dash and… “Soarin? You, too?” she waved at the Wonderbolt, seeing him trotting around the corner.
“Oh! Hey, Twilight!” Soarin replied, coming to a stop. “Bolt told us you might be done with your… book-sor-something or other…”
“Book-sort-cation.” she corrected.
“Yeah, that! He said you might be done with that, soon. How was it?” he asked.
“Overall, it was very relaxing.” she told him. “So, what’s going on? What’s with the ‘gathering of guys’ today?”
Soarin shot a look behind Twilight, seeing the tail end of Big Mac’s tail ahead of him. “Oh, nothing you need to worry about. Just doing… uh… guy stuff! I gotta go. Important business to attend to!” He flapped his wings, shooting past the Alicorn and blowing her mane back as he disappeared from sight.
“Guy stuff?” she repeated, tapping her lower lip with her hoof. “Important business? What’s going on…?” She continued down the hallway, puzzling on what kind of ‘business’ Soarin might have referred to. “He said that Boltsinger told them about my book-sort-cation…” She eyed the now-approaching orange stallion carefully, extending her wing to stop him moving.
He did as hinted, giving her a smile. “Hi, honey! How was your book-sort-cation?”
“What are you planning?” she asked, ignoring his question. “I just saw Spike, Big Mac, and Soarin all going in the same direction, and Soarin sounded like he was keeping something from me. Why is that?”
Boltsinger took a step back. “What?! Planning something? I have no idea what you’re talking about!” He tugged at his pendant with his wing. “We’ve just been doing guy stuff! You know… A long, rousing game of O & O! Too bad Discord couldn’t make it… He always spices up that game!” He trotted in place, trying to get by. “Speaking of which, they need me back there! I’m the GM this campaign, so they can’t play without me!” He leaned in and gave his significant other a loving kiss on the cheek. “Love you! See you later!” He jumped up, buzzing his wings and speeding forward like an old jalopy. He quickly sped back into view with a hoof raised. “Oh yeah! There’s some company coming for a few days! Should be good times!” He started off again, leaving a cloud of dust below him.
“Okay, now I’ve got to see what he’s really up to!” She declared, following him to whatever destination he might have. Her spouse led her through much of the castle halls, finding their way to their bedroom. She tilted her head curiously, casting an invisibility spell and stepping gingerly forward. “What could they want to do with the bedroom?” she wondered. The answer came quickly as Boltsinger passed the door entirely, instead opting to move into the room just past it. “Wait, what?” She waited until the door was closed, then carefully leaned against it.
“Okay, so, we all know our roles here, right?” Boltsinger began. There were sounds of conformation coming from the others in the room. “All right. The rest of the team should be here, soon. I’ll be heading to the train station before long to meet them. Big Mac, can you start setting up plans?”
“Eeyup!” Mac’s voice answered.
“Awesome. Soarin, you’re the fastest, so you’re on item transport. Anything Big Mac needs that we don’t already have, it’s your job to snag it, okay?”
“You got it, Bolt!” Soarin affirmed.
“And Spike, you’re with me on info gathering. We’ve got a lot of experts on the team, but we can always get more to work with.”
“Okay!” Spike sounded off enthusiastically.
“Okay! Let’s do this!” Boltsinger declared. The sound of bumping hooves could be heard along with the opening of a window.
“Oh, they’re up to something, all right…” Twilight told herself, walking away from the door. “And I’m going to find out what it is!”
Boltsinger stood at the train station, having gotten a plethora of facts alongside Spike most of the day. All that was left, now, was waiting for everypony else to arrive. One of the trains he was waiting for pulled up rather quickly, opening up to reveal Shining Armor, Cadence, Sunburst, Starlight, and Flurry Heart. They disembarked the train, the foal noticeably without her stroller, and looked around.
“Aha! You’re here!” He called out, rushing over to them. He was met with an immediate tackle from his niece, sending him to the floor. “And who is this giant of a pony? And what have you done with little Flurry Heart?” he teased, Hugging the filly tightly. She laughed and climbed off, magically helping her uncle to his hooves. “It’s good to see you, too, Bug.”
“So, what’s this ‘project’ you need so much help with?” Shining Armor asked, stepping up beside Boltsinger.
The Pegasus quickly put his hoof over the Guard Captain’s mouth. “Let’s not mention the ‘project’ around the ladies… I’ll tell you when everyone who needs to know is together at the castle, okay?”
Sunburst adjusted his glasses, cocking an eyebrow. “But… Why don’t you want the girls to know about it? Shouldn’t they know what’s going on?”
“Not if it’s a surprise.” Boltsinger stated. “Anyway, you all head to the castle. I’ve got one more train to wait for.”
“What do we tell Cadence and Starlight?” Shining Armor wondered, lifting up the group’s luggage.
“Umm… Do stuff with Twilight?” he suggested, shrugging his shoulders. “She already seems to be curious about what’s going on. She could use a distraction. And it would be good for them to get together.”
“Okay. We’ll see you soon, then.” Shining Armor said, waving a hoof and beginning his walk to the castle with the other ponies in tow.
Boltsinger waved back, turning back to the platform as the train departed. “Okay… one more brother left to arrive…”
Twilight walked through the foyer, still pondering what it was her husband was up to. He was prone to setting things up without her knowledge sometimes, but this was the first time in almost a year that he’d been so adamant to hide the truth from her in this regard. What could be so important that he had to be so absolutely secretive? Not to mention… “Who in Equestria did he invite over for the next several days?”
And then there was a knock at the door. Twilight trotted over, opening it to see her brother, his wife, their daughter, and two good friends. At the sight of them, all of her concerns vanished. “Surprise!” Shining Armor and Cadence exclaimed, Flurry flying between them. Twilight shot forward, hugging the white stallion.
“Wow…” Starlight started, eyeing her former teacher’s enormous baby belly. “You’ve gotten pretty huge over the last few months, haven’t you?”
Twilight backed up, putting her hoof on her belly. “Oh! Yeah, it’s really growing in there. But, I’ve got a good handle on the side-effects, lately!”
“That’s good to hear.” Cadence affirmed, giving her sister-in-law a hug of her own. “But do you know what to expect when the day comes?”
“Oh, I’ve read plenty on the subject.” Twilight boasted, making for the inner parts of the castle. “I assure you, I’m very well prepared!”
“That’s good, but I’d like to see for myself.” the Crystal Princess suggested. “Is there any room in the castle we could go to where we can go over it?”
The Princess of Friendship brought her hoof to her muzzle, looking into the castle with a mischievous grin. “I can think of one place…” She led her guests through the hall to the room she was most interested in, right next to the master bedroom. “Right here.”
Shining Armor and Sunburst looked at the door, remembering what Boltsinger had told them earlier about Twilight’s suspicions. The orange Unicorn came forward, putting his ear to the door. “Are you sure this is the best room? It’s awfully close to yours. Why don’t you just use that?”
“Nnope!” came a deep voice from inside.
“Big McIntosh?” the scholar guessed, peeking into the the room. Big Mac, Spike, and Soarin were huddled up in the middle of the room, the Earth Pony pouring over what looked like building plans.
“Oh? Is this the room you’re playing Oubliettes in?” Twilight mused, peeking her head up to try and look over the stallion. “How is the game going?”
“Uh… it’s great!” Spike fibbed, poking his head out the door. “We’re just going into the evil witch’s fortress! Gotta get back to that!”
“But… You’re all--WHAA!” Sunburst gave off a shrill yell, being pulled into the room as the door slammed shut.
The door creaked open again, Spike coming out. “Actually, Shining Armor, do you wanna play too?”
Shining Armor looked back at the mares, just a little bit befuddled. “Um…” Spike pulled his mane, bringing his head down to his level so that he could whisper into his ear. The older stallion kept his best poker face. “Oh! Yeah, sounds like fun.” He headed over to his wife, giving her a hug and whispering something incoherent into her ear. “I’m gonna join them. You have a good time with Twily, okay?”
“Okay. you boys have a good time, then.” Cadence affirmed. She put her wing around Twilight, guiding her to another place in the castle. “We’re going to go over a few things. It’s going to take a while, so take your time.”
Shining Armor smirked. “Sounds perfect.” He bent down and gave Flurry a kiss on the cheek, then went with Spike into the room.
Twilight walked with Cadence, looking up at her. “How long is this going to take, anyway?”
“We have to go over a lot of the things you’ll be doing when the time comes.” the elder Alicorn explained. “There’s quite a lot, so I imagine it’ll be several hours.”
Twilight’s face grew ever more dejected. “I see… That can wait a little while, right? There’s something I really want to do.” She stopped, turning back to make for the door again. She found her hooves dragging on the floor with a tugging on her tail. She looked behind her, seeing a blue aura surrounding the end of her now-outstretched tail.
Cadence, her horn alight, had a curious yet stern expression. “And what’s so important that it’s distracting you from these exercises?”
Twilight hung her head. “I want to find out what those boys are really up to!” She told her. “I just know they’re doing more than just Ogres & Oubliettes, but they’re being so secretive about all of it!”
“Do you think there might be a reason for them to be secretive?” the pink Princess suggested.
“I know that Boltsinger likes to surprise me sometimes, but there’s no reason for it right now!” She released herself from Cadence’s magical grip, moving towards the door again. “If he would just let me in on it, I could help!”
“He seems to have plenty of help, already.” Starlight noted, pointing her hoof at the door. “Are you sure you’re not just letting your curiosity get the better of you?”
Twilight opened her mouth to find no words coming out. She made several attempts to explain herself, but all that came was silence. Cadence giggled, pulling her sister-in-law close again. “I won’t stop you from trying to satisfy your curiosity, but only after we’ve gone over what we need to. It’s too important to pass up, and you of all ponies should know that it’ll go better if you’re prepared.”
Cadence’s point hit home, the words feeling almost like they stabbed into her. She turned around once more, walking along. “Okay, you win.” She looked back at Starlight, who was giving the door her best interpretation of Fluttershy’s ‘Stare’, Flurry doing the same beside her. “You coming, Starlight?”
“Huh? Oh, no. You two go on.” She said, waving them off. “I'm not really concerned with all the ‘having a baby’ stuff, anyway. I’ll watch Flurry!” She patted the filly on the head, giving the two a smile.
“Okay, then. Don’t go too crazy.” Cadence stated, waving a wing.
Starlight and Flurry waved in return, waiting until the Alicorns left. Once they were out of sight, Starlight looked down at the filly with a devious smile. “You wanna find out what they’re doing?” Flurry laughed and nodded, facing the door and lighting her horn. Starlight put her hoof on the tip of the foal’s horn, shushing her. “Not like that. We don’t want to interrupt them, just see what they’re up to, okay?”
Flurry looked back up at the mare, giving an understanding nod. “Okay!” She flew up to land on Starlight’s back, leaning in closer to the door while the mare put her eye to the keyhole.
“NNOPE!” Boltsinger’s voice called from down the hall. Before Starlight could get a look at the goings on, there was a bright orange wing between her and the keyhole. “Nopenopenope!”
Starlight reared back, Flurry hovering above her. “Hey! What’s the big idea?!” She spat, glaring daggers at the Pegasus.
“You’re on the ‘do not tell’ list!” He declared. “Sorry, but that’s the way it is this time!”
“And why can’t you tell me?! It’s not like I would go and blab to Twilight!” She reasoned, stepping aggressively closer to him. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Trust isn’t an issue here.” He retorted, looking at the door. “I’m not telling you, Twilight, or any of our friends what’s going on here.” He looked back. “I have my reasons, but this is something I really need to do this way, okay?”
“Well…” she started, looking at the stallion’s purple eyes. There was an earnestness in them where she normally saw doubt, an electric spark passing through his pupils. “Okay… At least you’re still treating everypony equally about this.” She thought for a moment, finally perking up. “Tell you what. You don’t tell me what you’re doing, but I’ll still help out. I’ll… keep Twilight busy so that she can’t just barge in! How about it?”
“I guess so. But I think I have ‘barging in’ covered.” Boltsinger informed her.
“You could watch the baby while we’re not able to.” another mare’s voice suggested. “From the looks of it, we’re both going to be pretty busy.”
Starlight turned to look in the direction the voice came from, seeing the grey mare she knew to be Dimming Sparks next to her husband, Brightling. “Oh! Sparks… Hello.” she greeted, rigidly waving a hoof. “I haven’t seen you since the wedding.”
Sparks trotted up with a soft, only slightly fake smile, pulling along a stroller. “Hello… I’m sorry, I haven’t seen you very much. You’re… Starshine, correct?”
“Starlight…” the pink mare corrected, offering her hoof. “Starlight Glimmer. Nice to officially meet you.”
Sparks gave the offered hoof a hearty bump. “Likewise.” She turned to the stroller, tickling the baby inside. “Starlight, huh? I’ll have to remember that.” Her horn lit up, lifting the tiny Unicorn in the stroller and floating him gently over to Starlight. “This is Oathsinger. He’s a little rambunctious with the baby magic, but he’s a good little colt.”
Starlight smiled at the baby, taking him from his mother’s levitation. “He sure looks like it.” She put her hoof up to tickle his belly, causing him to let out a laugh. “You wanna meet a Princess, little guy?” He laughed further, looking up to see Flurry hovering above. He ignited his own horn, reaching for her and encasing himself in magic. The colt floated up to the filly, extending both forelegs out to her. She bumped hooves with him, flying around in circles. “I think they’ll get along fine.” Starlight stated, looking back at Sparks. “I have to say, after all I’ve heard, I wasn’t expecting you to be so… sociable.”
“A lot can happen when you’ve used a powerful relic to turn completely evil and tried to control the minds of everypony you’ve ever known only to be transformed and defeated by Twilight, her friends, your own husband, and his brother.” She stated, almost too matter-of-factly. Boltsinger and Brightling nodded in unison, chuckling to themselves.
“Oh, believe me, I know exactly where you’re coming from.” Starlight assured, stepping up and patting the grey mare on the shoulder. “You’re not the first ‘supervillain’ Twilight has reformed.”
“Correction!” Brightling started. “Twilight isn’t the one that ‘reformed’ her!” He pointed his wing between himself and his brother. “That was us. We did that.”
“You, too?” Sparks asked, setting up all of her son’s things. Starlight nodded. “What did you do to earn her wrath?”
Starlight chortled to herself. “I’ll tell you all about it, later.”
“Sounds good.” Sparks affirmed, turning back to face the magical mare. “Say, can you show me where Twilight and that other Princess went? I know nothing about this place.”
Starlight pulled Flurry and Oathsinger closer, waving a hoof to beckon the foals along. “Sure. She’s this way.”
Boltsinger and Brightling looked at each other while the mares and foals made their exit. “So, you ready to meet the team?” Boltsinger asked.
Brightling cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t I know most of them already?”
“Yes, but you’ve never worked with them before.” He said, reaching for the door. “There’s a difference.” As he turned the knob, he took a deep breath. “‘Tis I, the great rogue, Boltstinger! Come to claim the Crown of Kindness in the name of the Princess!”
From inside, Spike’s voice came to them. “Enter, brave warrior, and join the party once more!”
Brightling brought his wing to his muzzle, quietly laughing to himself. “Such a dork…”
Boltsinger looked back at his brother as the door opened, looking exasperated. “Everyone’s a critic.” He walked in nonchalantly. "I thought it was really cool.”
“No, little brother, Wonderbolts are cool.” Brightling corrected. Soarin perked up immediately. “Royal Guard captains are cool.” Shining Armor smirked. “Wizards, awesome!” Sunburst smiled and adjusted his glasses. “Speeches like that? Not so cool.”
“Says the pauper to the Prince.” Spike noted.
Brightling looked over at the dragon. “I don’t care how royal he is. He’s still my little brother, and he’s still a dork.”
“Well, I’m a wizard and I think speeches like that are cool.” Sunburst mentioned.
“Royal Guard captain here and I liked it.” Shining Armor added.
“I’m a Wonderbolt and I don’t think he’s a dork!” Soarin stated.
Brightling looked around the room, getting a good look at the ponies who had just spoken up. “Well… maybe even cool ponies can be dorks, too.” He did a double-take, looking at Boltsinger. “Wait, you have, in this room, working on something as ordinary as this… a Wonderbolt, a captain of the Royal Guard…”
“And Prince. Don’t forget that he’s married to Princess Cadence.” Boltsinger reminded.
“Yes, that too… And a wizard…”
“Crystaller to Princess Flurry Heart, to be precise.” Sunburst corrected, wiping his glasses with his cloak.
Brightling’s hoof met his forehead with a surprising amount of force. “... That. You have all of these high-class ponies helping you with something this simple?!”
“Eeyup!” Big Mac confirmed, going over several cans of paint.
Brightling shook his head, giving up. “Of course you do…” He took a deep breath, once again facing the other stallions. “Okay, then. Bolt tells me I’m here to help streamline things. What are we doing?”
Breathing techniques. Birthing exercises. Breathing techniques… Birthing exercises… For six… hours… Twilight had been put through the ringer. And it only got more intense once Sparks arrived, and she and Cadence began comparing notes. The two mothers were now in a heated debate about whether to have the birth at home or in a hospital. Cadence, on her experience having Flurry in her own castle, advised a hospital for a more safe and controlled environment. Sparks, having also had her foal at home, advised as such, saying that it would be a good test of her fortitude and a show of strength as a Princess. All the while, Starlight was running back and forth with Flurry and Oathsinger, doing her best to keep up with them to very little success.
“ATTENTION, LADIES AND FOALS!” Boltsinger echoed from somewhere deeper in the castle. “DINNER IS NOW READY!”
Twilight took the sudden disruption of the debate as an opportunity. “Oh! Good! Dinner!” She rubbed her belly, which gave an honest growl of hunger. “I’m starving. Listen, thanks for all of your advice. I’m sure I’m fully prepared for the big day! And you know what? I’ll even make it up to you tomorrow with a full day in town! But first, let’s eat!” She ran forward, charging between them and out the door, where she quickly turned towards the kitchen.
In the dining room, several tired stallions and the Princess’ favorite dragon sat, a number of extra chairs having been pulled out with a large meal laid on the table. Twilight trotted over to her significant other, taking a seat next to him. He looked over at her and smiled. “Hello, honey. How was your time with Cadence and Sparks?”
“It was… informative.” She replied, portioning her plate. “How was Ogres & Oubliettes?”
Boltsinger tensed up a little. “Went great! Got the Crown of Kindness. I was super sneaky, Spike did the magic, and Sir McBiggun yelled a hearty…” he motioned to Big Mac.
“Eeyup!” the red stallion said on cue.
“... as he struck down throngs of bad guys.” he continued. “Then our shiny paladin defended us all from the evil witch’s trap, and our alchemist concocted an escape for us! Quest successful!” He scrambled to grab himself a fork, stuffing some salad in his mouth.
“So what do you have planned tomorrow?” she queried. “Is there anything I can help with?”
Boltsinger shook his head as He swallowed. “Nnope! Just hanging out. Soarin’s been learning the art of ‘chillaxing’ from Rainbow Dash, and he’s gonna show us non-chillaxers how to do it just right!”
Twilight let out a sigh, deciding not to pry any further for now. “Okay… Well, if you need me, let me know.”
“You’ll be the first pony I ask.” he assured her.
The next morning, Twilight walked up to Sweet Apple Acres with Cadence and Sparks following close behind. Cadence had a curious yet content expression. She knew what her sister-in-law was really up to, but deigned to go with it. Sparks, however, was looking around with an air of caution, remembering her last visit to this farm.
The party of ponies quickly came upon the farmhouse, where Applejack was heading out to do her chores. She stopped a moment when the visiting mares came into view. “Well, howdy, Twilight!” She greeted, waving. As they were closer, the Princess’ guests caught her attention. “Princess Cadence, Sparks, good ta see y’all.” She bowed with a flourish of her hat. “What brings ya over?”
Sparks’ attention was immediately brought to the farm mare, her head going low. “Oh… Hello, Applejack. Good to see you again.”
Twilight patted the grey mare on the back, helping her calm down. “I’ve been getting some coaching on ‘motherhood', and I thought I’d thank my coaches with a day of doing things in Ponyville!” She floated forward a quill and parchment. “And the first stop is Sweet Apple Acres for some of the best pie in Equestria!”
Applejack gave off a mild blush. “Aww, shucks, Twilight. I dunno if it’s really the best…” She perked up, unable to keep a straight face. “Oh, who am I kiddin'? I’d be lyin’ if I said our pies were anythin’ other than the most scrumptious, sweetest, flakiest pies ya ever had crossin’ yer taste buds!” She waved her guests along towards the house. “Come on, y’all, make yerselves at home!”
Applejack led them all into the house, seating them at the kitchen table. “So, Applejack… What has Big Mac been up to, lately?”
Applejack shrugged, starting up the baking process. “Frankly, I got no idea what he’s been doin'. Why, just this mornin’ he ran off with a big ol’ block o’ applewood, lookin’ all shady like he was tryin’ not to get caught! You got any idea what he might need that much wood for?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I can’t say I do. But he has been doing a lot with Boltsinger, Spike, and all the other guys…”
“Weren’t they playin’ that game y’all egggheads like s’ much?” the Earth Pony inquired.
“That’s what they said, but I’m not so sure.” Twilight stated. “They were way too secretive about it.”
“Well, whatever it is they’re doin’, I’m sure they’ll let us in on it when the time is right.” She reasoned, chuckling to herself. “Besides, I haven’t been able to get an answer outta Big Mac no matter how much I tried. He’s quiet, yeah, but this is the first time he’s ever been so tight-lipped ‘bout sumthin’.”
Twilight nodded in understanding, getting up to help her friend with the baking. The four of them talked all the while, discussing the upcoming cider season and just how long the line can be expected to be. Twilight offered her services to make things move faster, but was turned down. After pies were made, cooled, and consumed, the orange mare went back to the orchard while Twilight, Cadence, and Sparks took their leave. The next stop on their visit was Sugar Cube Corner, where Mrs. Cake stood behind the counter, Pinkie Pie playing energetically with the twins.
Upon their entrance, Pinkie's attention instantly fell upon them, the young ponies firmly latched onto her back and mane. “Hi, Twilight! Hi Princess! Hi Sparks!” she greeted, emphatically shaking each of their forelegs. “Whatcha doing today?”
“Just walking around Ponyville.” Twilight answered, sitting next to the toybox and floating a pair of miniature hot air balloons over to the twins. “Seeing if anything interesting has been going on lately.”
“Interesting like…” Cadence began, leaning in inquisitively.
Twilight flashed a look at the older Princess that had a feeling of ‘Don’t make it too obvious!’ to it, then gave her poofy friend a smile. “Like whether or not you’ve seen Boltsinger, Spike, Big Mac, Soarin--”
“And Shining Armor and Sunburst and Brightling?” Pinkie finished, putting the little ponies down, where they each jumped up and grabbed a toy. “Well, just yesterday, Soarin was whizzing around all over the place with a bunch of different things! He had a whole rainbow of paint, plus a few other colors! Along with brushes, a bunch of nails, some quills, some paper, some books--”
“What kind of books?” Twilight inquired, finding herself an inch from Pinkies face.
The party pony shrugged. “Dunno! He was moving too fast for me to see what they were! But then this morning, I saw Big Mac with a big block of wood and his tools! And then Sunburst and Shining Armor trotted by with a bunch of boards and a blueprint! Brightling was walking with Bolt and they were talking about keeping it a secret from everypony because it was super duper important that nopony knows a thing!” A loud gasp found its way out of the pink pony, her body lifting up off of the floor. “What if the thing he’s doing is so big that it completely violates your trust and uprooted your relationship, sending everypony into a downward spiral that leads to bitterness as everyone rushes to defend the ones they care about most, and then we all get sick of each other and end our friendships and then all of Equestria is doomed the next time evil rears its ugly head!”
Twilight sat back down, wide-eyed, with a blink every other moment.
“That, or they could just be making a nursery. Who knows?” Pinkie concluded. She reached behind her, pulling out a strawberry cinnamon cilantro swirl cupcake and offering it out to the Princess. “Cupcake?”
Twilight leaned forward, eating the cupcake as she processed the information. As she swallowed the morsel, she stood up. “Okay… I have to see what they’re doing.” She ignited her horn, vanishing in a flash of magenta light.
Boltsinger and Brightling walked back to the room they had been spending their time, deep in discussion. “So, you really think it’ll work? ‘Cause I’d really like it if the baby--”
POOF.
Twilight stood in front of the door, her eyes fierce and her horn alight. The stallions stopped in the moment, gazing at the opening door. Boltsinger stepped up to the purple pony, bringing his wing forward. “Ummm… Twilight, honey… You really don’t want to do that.”
Twilight’s attention jerked over to see her husband. “Why? Because whatever is inside will be a big violation of my trust and is gonna make everypony hate each other?”
The brothers stepped tentatively back, looking at each other. “Hate…? Where did she get that idea?” Brightling wondered.
“I’m guessing Pinkie.” Boltsinger replied. He came closer to the now-stern mare. “Nothing like that. I just don’t think you should go in there!”
“Well I think I should.” she retorted, swinging the door open and haughtily stepping forward. “If it’s really nothing to worry about, then you shouldn’t keep it-- Ouch!!” She pulled back, repelled by a magenta barrier that looked to fill the doorway. She looked closely at it, seeing it lining the opening and surrounding the room as a whole. “A barrier? You had Shining Armor put up a barrier?!” The Princess of Friendship was fuming. She lit her horn, striking the magical field with the full force of her magic and stepping forward.
Boltsinger ran to her, clamping his jaw down on the end of her tail and pulling with all of his might, Brightling following suit the very next instant. “Twilight…” the blue-maned stallion said through his clenched teeth. “Please! Don’t force your way in! Just trust me! Please!”
“I’ll trust you when you start trusting me again!” she argued, continuing her slow and steady charge. The magic of her horn intensified, sparks of blue lightning forming around it as the beam turned white in the middle, making cracks appear in the barrier. “What in the name of Celestia could be so important that you can’t trust me with it?! Why can’t you just let…” the cracks spread further. “... me…” The cracks now covered the entire doorway. “... IN!!!” The barrier shattered, the sound of breaking glass echoing into the room and out to the hall. She charged into the room, dragging the brothers along with her. She looked around the room, seeing Big McIntosh staring back at her while sitting over a block of applewood being carved into a distinct shape, but not quite there yet. In another part of the room, Shining Armor and Sunburst floated a number of boards, forming them into the shape of a large set of shelves, similarly gawking at the arriving Princess, while Spike and Soarin stood by the wall, where an outline for a design was beginning to take shape. Boltsinger and Brightling lay on their stomachs, sprawled out behind the Alicorn, who fell to her rump with her jaw going slack. “What… what is this?”
Boltsinger got up, taking a seat beside Twilight. “Well… I was gonna wait until it was ready before I showed you but... Surprise?” he declared, motioning his wing and hoof to the room. “It’s… It’s the baby’s room!”
Twilight’s head slowly turned to look at him, her eyes still wide. “So… Having everypony come over from so far away…”
“I needed help. I knew I couldn’t do a lot of this, but I wanted to at least organize everything.” He pointed his wing at his brother, who was dusting himself off. “But he’s way better at that, so I brought him in for consulting.”
“And all the secrecy…”
“I really wanted to surprise you. Everyone got together and provided some information to make the whole theme of the room amazing!”
Her face returned to normal, taking another long look at her surroundings. “But… Why didn’t you just come to me? Or the rest of our friends? Why did you bring in all this help and not talk to the ones closest to you?”
“Because… Well…” Boltsinger gave his face a solid wing-slap as he made a deep inhale. “I wanted to do this without your help. Be in charge, have a plan, follow through, get it done.” He began pawing at the floor, drawing circles in the gathering of sawdust that had formed. “I’ve relied on all of you for so much ever since I met you… I’ve done some stuff, yeah, but nowhere near as much as you’ve all done for me.” He half-shrugged, directing his eyes at the purple Princess again. “I guess I just wanted to prove myself. Besides, I am the dad. Shouldn’t I contribute at least this much?”
Twilight surrounded her favorite stallion in magic, pulling him close and squeezing him tight with both wings and both forelegs. “Oh, Bolt… You don’t have to prove anything!” She released him, giving him a warm smile. “If you want to do this without our help, that’s okay. But you didn’t have to hide it from me.”
“Well, if I wanted to surprise you, yes I did. But I know what you mean.” he told her. He leaned in and gave her another hug. “Now, no coming back in here until I say so. Okay?”
“Got it.” she agreed with a laugh.
Three days later, Twilight stood outside the same room with a blindfold on. Boltsinger stood between her and the door, a huge grin erupting from his face. “Okay, Twilight, when I say so, you can take off the blindfold.” The Alicorn nodded, walking into the room under his guidance. The two of them stopped in the middle of the room, where Boltsinger took a position behind her. “Okay. You can look now.”
Twilight pulled off the blindfold and immediately gasped, marvelling at the room around her. The walls had a repeating image to them, with three pink butterflies pulling apple-shaped balloons with blue diamonds on the sides along a rainbow path, with a backdrop of a night sky that was littered with four and six-pointed stars. There was a large, dark blue bookshelf that came all the way to the ceiling, seeming to be bolted down. Lastly, in the middle of the room, there was an applewood baby bed, much like the one Applejack had provided for Flurry Heart, with a mobile hanging over it. The mobile featured six shapes hanging from a center that formed a magenta six-pointed star. The shapes in question were a blue diamond, a set of three balloons, one yellow and two blue, a big pink butterfly, a tri-colored lightning bolt coming from a cloud, a bright red apple, and a four-pointed star with two streaks of blue light trailing behind. “This room… It’s like a…”
“An homage to the most important ponies this baby will know.” Boltsinger explained. “Sunburst told me that the imagery will help the baby to recognize everypony more easily and become comfortable with them. Brightling agreed, so we came up with a design to match that wasn’t just your Cutie Marks all over the place, but still got the message across.”
“It’s beautiful… But, why isn’t there anything representing you in here?” she asked, giving the room another look.
“I did say it was an homage to the most important ponies.” he repeated, scratching his mane with his wing. “Besides, it’s not like the baby won’t recognize me. I’ll be here, probably taking care of it a lot. No need for a constant reminder of me if I’m already around all the time!”
“I’m sorry, but I have to disagree with you.” Twilight insisted, stepping firmly in his direction. “You’ve done a wonderful job, but I simply have to add something to the room that will remind the foal of its father.” Boltsinger opened his mouth to protest, but found it forced shut. “And I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer.”
“Okay, okay, fine.” he relented, giving her a content grin. After a moment looking into her eyes, a thought came to him. “Oh! That’s right! There is one thing I can really surprise you with!” He walked over to a corner of the room, where a box was sitting. He reached in, pulling out an item that he quickly tucked under his wing. “You would not believe just how much cajoling it took to get Big Mac to give this up…” He returned to stand before her. “This…” He brought his wings forward, revealing a ragged and patched grey pony doll with string for hair, along with a pink button and a blue button for eyes that wore blue pants with white polka dots. “... is Smarty Pants! This doll is really special, ‘cause it belonged to the Princess of Friendship when she was just a little filly! Isn’t that cool?!” He beamed in his explanation, seeing his spouse’s jaw drop entirely, her eyes starting to well up with tears. “And now, I’m giving her to you!” He thrust the doll forward. “Isn’t that great? And look!” He held his hoof up, where rested an impossibly tiny pen and notebook. “She even comes with her own pen and notebook, just in case you want to have her do her homework!” Twilight’s horn slowly flared to life, floating the doll and its accessories closer. “Personally, I really like her mane. What do you think? Wanna give it to the baby?” No words came out of the mare’s mouth. “Or… you could keep it for yourself. I hear you have a lot of fond memories with it.”
The doll floated over to Twilight’s back, sitting perfectly in place in the middle. She floated the accessories to fit flawlessly between the doll’s ear and ever-so-popular mane, receiving a pat on the head as Twilight nearly tackled Boltsinger in a hug, knocking him to the floor where she clung to him. “Thank you!” she cried, tears of nostalgic joy flowing freely. “Thank you so much…! This will be perfect for the baby!”
Boltsinger gave his wife a kiss on the cheek, patting her back and smiling. “Anything for my Twilight…”