News of The Princess of the Night’s pregnancy spread through the Equestria like wildfire. Some came from overseas, some from the far south, or north. Many came to pay their respects to the one who set and rose the moon. More ponies came than she had ever thought would want to see her. As for Night, he had a completely different set of problems to deal with.
“Lu-Lu, I will be ok. Get some rest and I will be back.” Night said. Luna huffed and looked away from him. She was sitting in the castle gardens having a picnic with Night. One thing her pregnancy had done was mess up her sleep schedule. Now Luna was up more during the day than at night.
“We are perfectly healthy to go about our duties.” Luna protested. She wasn’t too fond of leaving her lover to deal with her royal duties.
“You may be healthy, but I wish it to stay that way. You could go with less stress.” Night said. Luna opened her mouth to respond, and then closed it. Night was right, she was rather stressed with her hormones going crazy. Along with dealing with those irritating counselors, she couldn’t argue with him.
“You make a fair point my love. But do be careful please.” Said Luna sincerely.
“You know I always am. Now let's eat up. I had the cooks make you those little sandwiches you like” Night said. Luna’s eyes lit up as he said this and she dug into the basket.
“Thou should have led with that!” exclaimed Luna. Night laughed as he watched his lover devour mini sandwich after sandwich. It was anything but becoming of a Princess the way she ate them. Night could have cared less about that though and he grabbed his own sandwich and dug in. The two enjoy each other's company in the afternoon sun.
The following months went by relatively smoothly. With Celestia helping Night, Luna got to relax as the foal grew. The duo were anxious about what the name should be. Celestia suggested we name her after their predecessor. Platinum was a good name for a filly, but what if the foal was a colt? Night and Luna sat in their room on the balcony thinking of names together.
“My love what about Silver Shine, oh!, or Dusk Comet! ”Luna said. She was enthusiastic about picking names. Night looked at his lover and took in her appearance, smiling at her. Her baby bump was apparent, her cheeks were fuller. Along with her now very shapely rump, Night was as Celestia said months ago, smitten. He didn’t care how Luna looked, the way her personality came through was breathtaking.
“How about….”Night said thinking for a moment. He thought back to a fond memory of them on the moon. Embracing one another as Luna comes to bring him home to Equestria.
“Moon Dancer, I like that one,” Night said. Luna turned to look at him with eyebrows raised.
“Pray tell why?” Luna asked. Night closed his eyes and sat back in his chair. He gathered his thoughts before turning his head back to face Luna.
“Because… It was one of my favorite past times with you. The slow dances in the morning, followed by listening to you talk” Night reminisced. Luna blushed and smiled at Night before placing a hoof on her stomach.
“Thou know we cannot dance well,” Luna said shyly. Night didn’t say anything and laughed, making Luna pout.
“You may not, my Love but that did not stop me did it?” Said Night. He truly meant what he said about dancing with Luna. She may have been clumsy but she tried and he loved every second he got with her. Luna flinched and lifted her hoof from her stomach.
“Oh my, Our little one might be a better dancer than I the way they kick” Luna said. Night and Luna made eye contact and laughed. They loved the way life was going for them so far, and they couldn’t wait to greet their little one.
“Lu-Lu just breathe love,” Night said. He was trying to suppress his own worry for his lover. It was a week past their initial due date for their foal and they were worried. Though the worry shifted today from where are they to,
“WE KNOW TO BREATHE, YOU BUC-”Luna screamed. Only to be stopped by her contractions . Quickly running to the door, Night opened the door and found a maid.
“Excuse me, could you go and get Dr. Ilium. Luna’s water has broken.” Night spat out. The maid’s eyes grew wide and she nodded. Bolting off, the maid went towards the medical wing of the castle. Night shut the door, as Luna screamed in pain. He turned to her and jogged back over to her. He grabbed a hoof with his wing and held it firmly. This made Luna relax a little bit as she acknowledged his presence.
“Night, You know you are my love. Correct?” Luna asked him. Night was confused where this was going. He figured this was just reassurance and was happy to oblige.
“Yes Luna, As you are mine” Night said happily. Without skipping a beat Luna turned to him, her face a mix of rage, and pain.
“When this is…Ugh, Over. We ARE GOING TO KILL YOU.” Luna said through gritted teeth. This made Night gulp, and before he could respond the door opened. In came Celestia, Dr. Ilium, and a few maids. As soon as they came into the room, Night was enveloped in magic and lifted out to the door.
“Night, my dear. We are going to handle this. You go do…something.” Celestia cooed. Rolling his eyes, Night struggled against her magic to no avail.
“Let, oof…Let me help!” He commanded. This made Celestia giggle at his persistence.
“We have enough “help” to go around right now. You are better off out of the room anyway because-”Celestia said, pausing. Luna’s loud royal Canterlot voice boomed out of the room making every pony flinch.
“HE DID THIS TO ME, WHERE IS HE? HE'S DEAD!” Luna howled. Night winced and ceased his struggles to go and help his lover.
“Because of that. I would hate for you to not meet your foal due to an untimely departure,” Celestia said sarcastically.
Night just nodded and wandered down the hallway to Luna’s office. He took a seat behind the desk and decided to do some of the night's work early. He worked until he started to lose consciousness, his worry and the emotions of the evening finally catching up with him. He nodded off until his head rested upon the desk and he drifted off to sleep.
Night was woken up when he felt himself being shaken in his seat. Yawning and sitting up, he rubbed his eyes to see who was bothering him. Through unfocused eyes he made out the faint shape, and color of who it was. Alabaster, tall, wings, and it was Celestia.
“Should I just let you sleep, or do you want to see your little foal?” Celestia asked sarcastically. Night groggily looked at her then shot up out of his seat. His senses jogged by that sentence he ran out of the office he was in. Down the hallway back to the bedroom where his lover and foal were. Opening the door slowly he saw Dr. Ilium sitting next to Luna and a number of maids cleaning up.
“Ah I see Princess Celestia has found you.” Dr. Ilium said to Night. He nodded and looked at Luna. She was practically beaming at the foal she held all wrapped in blankets. Night slowly made his way over to Luna in bed.
“My love is everything alright?” Night asked softly. Luna looked up at him and nodded, tears in the corner of her eyes.
“I am yes, but this little one. None of the names we thought of do her justice my Love.” Luna said. Night watching as Luna moved the blanket the foal was wrapped in down for him to see her. Night was in awe at the beautiful and adorable foal Luna held.
“She’s …wow… you are right.” Night said, looking down at her. The foal had the colors of the night sky. The small alicorn had a Cerulean coat, with flecks of green on the tips of her wings. Her mane a deep indigo much like Luna’s; but it was the eyes that made Night beam at their foal. The brilliant pink eyes that Night and his foal shared made him extremely overjoyed.
“Anything comes to mind for our little one. She cannot be nameless forever you know.” Luna said. Her sarcasm shook Night from his thoughts as he continued to stare intently at the sleeping foal. He didn’t know where it came from but the only name Night could think of was,
“Artemis… Artemis Shine.” Night said. Luna smiled and closed her eyes for a moment. Opening them she nodded in agreement and hummed.
“Our little Artemis Shine. We love it” Luna said. She used a wing to motion him over next to her. Dr. Ilium got up and let Night sit next to Luna.
“Yes my- oh” Night stammered. Luna was using her magic to lift Artemis over to him. He held out his arms. Gently placing the foal in his arms Luna smiled at the scene she saw. Night was using his wings as extra support to hold the foal.
“I-I’m a dad,” Night said softly. Tears in his eyes slowly streaming down his cheeks. The foal woke up and saw Night which surprised him. Before he could move or notify Luna, Artemis smiled at him. Night couldn’t believe it, he couldn’t even find his voice to say anything. He simply smiled back, savoring the moment.
“Enjoying yourself I see,” Celestia said. She had pulled up a chair and sat next to him. He was impressed he didn’t even hear her. Then again it wasn’t like he was paying attention to anypony else at the moment.
“Yes. I most definitely am. Tia, could you do me a small favor?” Night asked. Celestia raised an eyebrow at him.
“Oh? And what would be so important to have me run an errand?” Celestia sarcastically said. Rolling his eyes he leaned over and whispered to her what he needed. She froze and looked at him. She looked like she was about to faint again but she nodded and left the room.
“Where is our sister going? She was so ready to hold Artemis” Luna asked. Night looked at Luna and smiled.
“She will be back in a moment. I forgot something and she was kind enough to go grab it” Night responded. After about 15 minutes Celestia came back into the room and practically skipped over to Night.
“I have returned Br-” Celestia caught herself. “Night here is your requested Item.” She finished handing him the package.
“Thank you, here is Artemis. Be car-”Night stopped as Celestia slowly levitated the foal out of Nights arms. She then levitated the package over to him and winked.
“Yes I know, now go ahead” Celestia said. She looked at the foal and contained her squeal of excitement. She couldn’t wait to spoil her niece rotten. Night looked over at Luna and cleared his throat. She looked from the maid she was conversing with and faced him.
“Yes my love is something wrong?” She asked. Night thought for a moment and smirked at her.
“Yes there is something wrong Luna,” Night said. Mustering all of the seriousness he could; which wasn’t much. It was enough to convince Luna of a problem though.
“And what would that be? Is there an intruder? Is Artemis ok?!” Luna said. Night waved a hoof at her as she looked around the room for the foal.
“Nothing like that, no,” Night said, suppressing a chuckle.
“Then what is the problem my lov-” Luna stopped. Night was on the floor and held out a ring with his wing.
“We did things a little out of order, my love. But I want to no longer be just your lover nor you just mine. So I ask you… Will you marry me Luna, Princess of the Night?” Night asked. Luna couldn’t contain herself as she flung her arms around his neck and cried. She nodded in agreement as she did so.
A muffled, “Yes, Yes I will” was all that could be heard from Luna. They stayed in their embrace until it was interrupted by Celestia.
“I do hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your foal needs a change. I will not take that first time experience away from you” Celestia said. Night and Luna pulled out of their hug and looked at each other. They laughed and Night wiped away Luna’s tears.
“Let me put this on you and I’ll do it” Night said. Luna bowed her head and Night carefully placed the ring onto her horn. After doing so Celestia left the foal in Night’s care. After cleaning and grabbing a new diaper, Night had to call a maid over. He had never actually figured out how to tie them. This made every mare in the room giggle at him as he struggled. Red in the face Night accepted his defeat and left it to the maid.
“You tried your best,” Celestia said through her giggles. Night rolled his eyes and looked at the maid finishing up. Artemis Shine was given back to her mother and the two settled into bed once again. Luna yawned and so did the foal, which made Night laugh.
“She needs to rest now, that's enough excitement for now. I’ll get you 2 late” Dr. Ilium said. She shooed Celestia and Night out of the room and closed the door behind them.
“Sooo, Celebration Cake?” Night said, looking at Celestia. She looked back at him in her composed Princess demeanor.
“My, It is only 2 in the morning. Of course I want a Celebration Cake” Celestia said, breaking character. The two set off for the kitchen humming the sun's victory anthem as they did.