//------------------------------// // Special Delivery // Story: Wedding Bells and Egg Shells // by DraconequusMaximus //------------------------------// Spike was normally a happy dragon, but the baby had literally been draining the energy out of him. Adult males normally went into a short hibernation during incubation, Spike hadn't considered that it was for a good reason. He had wanted to live life as normally as possible, but now it was biting him in the flank. He was too tired to do much of anything and was pretty irritable when he wasn't sleeping. The current count was up to one hundred and thirty-seven days, after the first month and a half the pseudo pregnancy started getting to him. The energy from the gems he devoured helped a bit, but couldn't compare to sleep. Spike was understandably miserable, he was essentially sharing his normal amount of energy with another dragon. He was trying to hold out however, he was nearly to the projected time the gold dragon would have taken to hatch the baby. Currently, the girls were helping with housework. Macintosh was once again working the farm, he would have liked to help out more, but crops needed tending to. Trixie was dusting, Twilight was organizing... everything, Fluttershy was tending to Peewee, Rarity was straightening up the nursery, Pinkie was cleaning the kitchen, Applejack was with Mac, and Rainbow Dash was supposed to be vacuuming. What she was actually doing was playing Spike's new Haystation gaming system, he had bought it because it required little physical excursion while still being fun, a necessity for pregnant teenage dragons that thought they knew better than mother nature. "Aw yeah! High score!" Rainbow bellowed as she pumped a hoof in the air, signifying her victory. "Ugh, loud Dash. I've got a headache." Spike groaned from his spot on the sofa, he silently wished he had proper mammalian ears that could be plugged. "Seriously dude, I've seen plenty of mares take pregnancy better than this. Spitfire punched a griffin spy right in the beak two days before she delivered Soarin's foal last year." Dash replied still much louder than Spike would have liked. "Sure, because I should totally be out fighting evil while I'm all weak and achy. Come over here so I can practice." Spike replied with a snort of black smoke punctuating his annoyance. "Heh, nah I think your okay. You can turn off the angry dragon smoke now." Dash replied nervously. Spike looked at her strangely before looking down and seeing the black smoke still flowing faintly from his nose and mouth. Normally the black smoke would come naturally to make him seem threatening, but would also dissipate quickly. The continuing stream of unwanted smoke was a sign of his flame pouch's gasses reaching a very high temperature, normally due to anger or extended flame use. Since neither of those were the case it seemed to be something everypony had been waiting on. "Girls! We have an issue! I think the baby's coming!" Spike bellowed as more smoke continued issuing from his maw. The girls all dropped what they were doing, running to the dragon's aid. Twilight took point as per usual. She rallied them in line like a general would her troops. "Pinkie, go get Applejack and Macintosh, Apple Bloom if you can find her. Fluttershy, get warm water and towels. Rarity, I want you to go fetch the gems the baby's going to need. Trixie, port home and get the camera. Dash, stand back and don't do anything." She yelled sending the mares off to their various tasks. "Okay, so not gonna lie, pretty nervous right now." Spike admitted as the smoke continued to pour from his mouth and nose. Luckily the house had been built with powerful vent fans for emergencies, pushing the smoke from the house. "Yeah, I don't really know if we really need water or towels for this. That's just what they always say in books, you do know what to do though, right? She's not gonna hatch inside you and crawl out right?" Twilight asked nervously as her mask of confidence slipped away. "No, ew that'd be gross. I just need to spit up the egg, she's gonna start moving around in it and that'll tell me it's time. When the cool air hits the hot shell she'll know to break out." Spike explained, quoting the implanted information as best as he could. A moment later Trixie popped back into the house in a flash. She was wearing the camera she had been seeking around her neck. A second later Fluttershy returned from the bathroom with towels and a bucket of warm water, and Rarity with the gems. Rainbow Dash was currently trying not to panic, she wasn't good in this type of situation. Pinkie burst through the door carrying all three Apple siblings in her front hooves somehow. She deposited the sisters on the floor and Macintosh on the sofa. "It time?" Mac asked the panicky dragon with a worried tone fit for an expecting father. Spike merely nodded quietly, his attention was being devoted to feeling the subtle movement of the baby. All was still for the next few moments as all eyes rested on the parents to be. Spike closed his eyes and took Mac's hoof into his claw for support. Mac was currently ignoring having his hoof crushed, there were more important matters going on. The mares in the room all exchanged worried glances with one another. Suddenly they all jumped a foot as Spike clutched the side of his chest opposite his heart and groaned. It may have been covered by the M.A.C. but his insides were still very vulnerable. "Oof, I feel like I just got punched in the lung, but from the inside." Spike groaned sickly, it was a nauseating experience. "Get her out of there!" Twilight yelled frantically. Spike nodded, working through the extreme discomfort. He clutched his chest and worked muscles he wasn't used to working, trying to safely move the egg up and out of the flame chamber. After a few minutes of work he could feel the weight shift inside, and the egg appeared as a bulge at the base of his throat. Fluttershy placed two of the fluffy towels out across the coffee table in front of the couch. Spike nodded appreciatively as he tried forcing the egg up his throat. It had been much easier getting the egg down, gravity playing a pretty big role in that. Now the egg was heavier, and he had to force it upwards. Instincts began flaring to life as he went on, the muscles in his throat normally used in honing his flames began enacting their secondary purpose. The egg traveled upwards steadily after he got the hang of it, he could feel it rising to the back of his throat. He lowered his head to the coffee table, not wanting his precious cargo to fall from his impressive height. The egg slowly slid into his mouth, hitting his fangs from behind, telling him it had reached it's destination. He carefully deposited the egg onto the towels, making sure his fangs did nothing to harm the thin shell protecting his child. He moved his head back slightly, wanting to give her room. The white and teal egg steamed after being exposed to the much cooler outside air. It stood still before beginning to wobble. A light cracking noise could be heard, the shell began opening in one spot, a dazzlingly white set of scales could be seen beginning to break through. Trixie seemed to be taking a photo every few seconds, but nopony was paying enough attention to get her to slow down. Nopony noticed as Rainbow Dash fainted, they were too busy marveling at the scene before them. The egg split directly in half, the infant dragoness emerging from the lower half, the upper remaining upon her head hiding her eyes from view. What could be seen of her were the same brilliant white scales they had been given a glimpse of before. Her underbelly was a light teal color, very smooth. Her spines took on the same color, and three of them ran down her cheeks on each side and one on the tip of her nose. It could be seen that her mouth was slightly more like a beak than that of other dragons. Spike carefully removed the egg half from his daughter's head revealing beautiful, unique eyes. Unlike the eyes of a pony or even Spike, they were white where they would normally be black. They seemed odd, but completely functional as she was currently taking in the world around her for the first time. Upon the top of her head was a crown-like crest of four points, much like the one her biological mother had possessed. Her little ears began just behind the base of the crest, much different than Spike's webbed ones. As she surveyed her surroundings she flapped tiny fully developed wings happily, only now having the room to stretch them. "She's beautiful." Spike said in wonder, he had had no idea what the baby would look like other than color. Seeing his daughter for the first time brought happy tears to his eyes. Spike turned down the dial on his chest, shrinking himself to relatively the same size as Macintosh. He feared that his full size would harm the newborn. He carefully stretched his arms out and took her from the mess of eggshells, bringing her to her fathers. She cooed happily as she looked upon her parents, Macintosh too began crying tears of happiness. Everything seemed so much more real now, he was a father looking upon his little girl for the first time. Fantasies and fears danced through the minds of both proud papa's, neither had ever been a father before. The look of happiness on her face told them that everything would be alright however. The trio was silent in their bliss for a moment. "I really hate to interrupt, but do you have a name in mind?" Twilight asked, summoning up a blank birth certificate and quill from seemingly nowhere. Spike and Macintosh looked at each other at that, they had discussed several options, only knowing what color she would be made things difficult. One seemed to stick out from the choices now that they were seeing her. "We do actually, Macintosh?" Spike said looking to his husband with a warm smile. Macintosh nodded knowingly. "Priscilla Falstaff Equestria, fer official purposes. We're gonna call her Pearl." Macintosh finished. He affectionately nuzzled his daughter once he had finished, careful of Pearl's spines. She produced more adorable coos of affection at this. "She certainly looks like a pearl, she's so pretty." Apple Bloom agreed, moving her head at different angles to see the glimmer of her scales in the light. "Wasn't Falstaff grand pappy's name?" Applejack asked, scratching her head in thought. "Eeyup. Granny was always tellin us bout how great he was. We're expectin great things outta Pearl, thought it was a good fit." Macintosh said plainly, he knew his daughter was destined for greatness, even if he'd be long gone by the time she accomplished it. "Done, Pearl is officially an Equestrian citizen and a princess of the crown. I'll make a copy and get the original back to you as soon as possible." Twilight said looking up from the task of filling out Pearl's certificate. "Ooh, another princess, and she's a dragon too. The government's gonna get crowded if this keeps up, Cadence, Spike, Twilight, Shining Armor, and Pearl in less than thirty years." Pinkie Pie counted off on her hooves, nopony even questioned where the fifth one came from. "I'm not one for politics, but I do know little Pearl is just sooo adorable." Fluttershy squeed happily, babies were one of her favorite things in the world. Dragons doubly so. "It'll be up to her if she wants to pursue politics, she can be anything she wants to be." Spike replied, giving his daughter a gem from the bag. Everypony watched as Pearl munched on the gem. It was amazing to see a newborn chew through something like a diamond. Her tail flicked to and fro as she enjoyed her treat. The spade of her tail beating against Spike's arm. Spike took a moment to enjoy the contact of scale on scale. He never imagined that he would ever be able to call another dragon family. He would love Pearl no matter what she was, but he had often felt alone in his younger years, now he had a loving husband and a daughter of his species. Life couldn't get any better it seemed. "Shouldn't we let yer Ma know?" Macintosh whispered, not wanting to disturb Pearl's intense but adorable focus on her crystalline meal. "Yeah, I'll take care of it." Spike replied taking a photo from the stack Trixie was accruing. It was one of the first photos of the egg before it hatched. Spike held the photo above him and let loose a small gout of green flames, it burned away and the ash left for Canterlot. It felt pretty great having his breath back, and being able to change size would be great. He'd be able to go through pony sized doors again. Pearl marveled at the fire her father produced, leaving the last bit of her gem forgotten. She tried to imitate him, coughing up a few blue-green sparks and smoke. "Hey sweetie, don't rush it. I couldn't make a real flame on purpose until I was six months old." Spike reassured the now pouty infant. "She seems awfully lively for being about ten minutes old." Rarity exclaimed. "Dragon babies develop an awful lot inside the egg. Spike was climbing around Celestia's chambers within two days of being hatched." Twilight added, thinking back to her childhood. "Still a baby though." Mac pointed to the stream of warm liquid running down Spike's arm. "That's adorable." Spike replied sarcastically. "We forgot to get diapers didn' we?" Mac asked trying very hard not to smile. "Eeyup." Spike replied as passed Pearl to Macintosh carefully. He grabbed one of the extra towels, cleaning himself off. Pearl let out a loud yawn as her eyelids grew heavy, being born probably took a lot out of you. She let her father's warm fur help her along the way to dreamland. Spike looked back to the adorable little dragoness, he couldn't bring himself to be mad at her. She was just too darn adorable. She should get her rest, her grandmother and great aunt would be along ant time now to spoil her rotten.