//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9: Newborns and the First Months 
// Story: Silver and Foals 
// by dracone 
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					Newborns and the First Months

Before they knew it eight months was coming to pass and Silver went into labor. Saying she was a threat to everypony around would be a gross understatement, during her mood swings prior she had left a sizable crater that was turned into an impromptu swimming hole when the rain came during one of her visits to Mustang while still carrying. To make matters worse she was having trouble meditating because of the energy she had dedicated to focusing on her developing babies, in short nopony wanted to be in the same room as her. Thankfully she had the foresight to lock herself in the bathroom and have the foals in the tub, while everpony else that was present at their home had the good sense to barricade the other side of the door until a good half hour after something akin the sounds of a rampaging dragoness had died down.
“We're going to have to wait another hour for the stallions to go and see them,” said Lightning Twist as they were removing all of the furniture used to make the barricade and returning it to where it was originally placed in the house, the fact they managed to get a table propped against the door during the made barricade rush was impressive however everypony groaned when it took time to right the thing and return it to the dining area.
“Why is that?” asked his mother, “a father should be the second one to see his foals.”
“Because for the first hour and a half a dragoness sees the arrival of any males, including her mate, as a threat to her offspring,” said Lightning Twist, “that and in dragon societies females help with the raising during the first week to ensure the children are...” a sorrowful moan came from behind the door and Lightning rushed into the now unobstructed room, “Silver, what's wrong? Are they...” he couldn't finish the sentence.
“They're barely breathing,” she said in a quiet tone, “I am not going to lose them, not while I still draw breath,” with that the sound of her stretching her neck came before a thick white mist came out of her mouth and covered the two small bodies, it was at this point everypony rushed into the room and witnessed the display. Seconds later they began to stir. She smiled and said, “say hello to your son Steel Wing,” she gestured to a dark blue colt with leathery dragon like wings and toe claws on his hind legs with a electric orange mane and tail that both looked like that of pony's and electric sapphire colored eyes, “and your daughter, Forest Snowfall,” she gestured to a dark green filly with icy blue mane, an articulating dragon-like like tail that resembled her mother's, dragon-like wings that were twice the width of a pony her size covered in pegasus feathers (that were drooping under their own weight, something the new mother would easily be correcting), brilliant snowy lavender colored eyes and horns like her mother's that swept back in an almost artistic style over the contours of her head. When both began to cry/yawn a series of dragon-like teeth stretched out from folds in their gums and some how managed not look imposing against their regular looking pony teeth and also revealed their cute dragon-like tongues.
Silver pulled the two toward her teats and and the two began to suckle from their mother, Lightning smiled and said, “you're more like a pony in your motherhood than some others I know. They're beautiful. I didn't know you could do that.”
“Yes, they are,” said Silver Fall as Lightning's sister and parents joined (his brothers opted out on account they had a health fear/respect of dragons and didn't want to do anything boneheaded). "I could always breath the mist, I told you about the dream that told me about that.”
“No,” said Lightning, “using your dragon breath in a non-dragon form.” Silver gave him a look that told neither did she.
“Oh, they're adorable,” said Star Tome, Spotlight Flutter just gave a series of aws and d'aws while Crimson Skies just smiled.
“They definitely look unique,” said Crimson Skies, “I'll be able to spot them at a distance when they're older. Have you given any thought to their education?”
“A bit,” said Lightning Twist, “we want them to socialize with foals their own age, but at the same time the mayor here, and his supporters, didn't take kindly to Silver revealing herself and are more than happy to pretend it was nothing more than a bad dream.” While he was doing that Silver was cleaning the foals with her tongue, which was alternating between pony and dragon at irregular interval giving the indication she was doing it involuntarily.
“So the foals can't go to school here then,” summarized Spotlight, “they'd practically get mauled by other parents in Cloudsdale.”
“And their unique qualities would definitely get the academy head wanting to have them,” said Star Tome, “which would lead to rumors that they got in because I pulled a few strings, the academy wanted to increase its prestige or both.”
“Probably both,” said Spotlight, “Canterlot wouldn't be much better for education, not to mention the commute would be too much for the dears if you stayed here, and we have to let you move naturally or somepony will accuse us of pulling strings to keep you all close.”
“Looks like homeschooling is our only option right now,” said Lightning Twist, “but that doesn't leave much room for socializing.”
“While I appreciate you all talking about the future of my offspring,” said Silver finally entering into the conversation, “ could we do this in a larger room, I want to see to their walking practice.”
“Oh, sorry,” said the four ponies as they stepped out of the bathroom and Silver carefully picked up her now sleeping bundles in her forelegs and floated out of the room on her wings and set the two down in the dining area.
After the two had been set down Silver said, “Spotlight could you be a dear and find a ribbon that compliments Forest Snowfall's coat, she'll trip over her wings otherwise.”
“Of course,” said Spotlight and left the room quickly.
“Why didn't you ask me,” said Lightning and Star in unison.
“No offense to either of you, but your eye for aesthetics isn't as intuitive as your mother's, and a grand-mare needs something to do that makes her feel like she's spoiling her grand-foals,” said Silver Fall as she nuzzled her foals.
Crimson just chuckled and said, “yup, my mother was the same way when every one of you was born, she was especially frantic about it when the twins were born.”
Lightning Twist and Star Tome shot him a look of surprise, he then continued with, “of course after that she went back to pretending to be a cold mare that could care less.” The two nodded in unison. After their unified nod the twin dragon/pony hybrids woke up and started suckling their mother again.
Spotlight came back brandishing a mass of sky blue ribbons in her hooves and said in a whisper when she got next to Silver Fall, “I found all of these in a drawer in your room, what were you doing with so many blue ribbons? Were you expecting a colt?... Only?”
“Actually, no,” said Silver Fall, “a long time ago pink used to be considered part of red instead of its own color, and as such was seen as the pinnacle of a male's representative color. Blue was seen as the girly-girl's color at that same time, I'm a little stuck in the older traditions I guess.”
Spotlight smiled as he passed one of the smaller ribbons to Silver Fall, who in turn gently tied it gently to her daughter so that they hung like that of a normal pegasus while still being loose enough to not hurt her (the wings still drooped, but not so much that the little foal would have trouble with them).


*****************************

After waiting three hours, mostly so that Snowfall could get used to the feel of the ribbon on her wings, Silver motioned for Lightning to take them ten feet away from her (the other ponies moved out of the room so as to not interrupt this pivotal moment in the lives of the foals. Steel Wing took to his legs fastest and made it to his mother, with her encouragements, in about a ten minutes. Forest Snowfall had more trouble because even without her wings to trip over she was still tripping over her tail, to accommodate the little filly Silver cut the distance in half after moving Steel to her back for the move and setting him back down when she was done moving. With a bit more encouragement Snowfall made it to her mother's side and Silver nuzzled her daughter while telling her she was a good girl.
As she was nuzzling her foals she heard a mechanical *click* and all three looked up and over at Star Tome who had a camera on its prop aimed at the three another of the *click*s and a flash that temporarily blinded the three as they were looking at the strange device followed by Star Tome's excited voice saying, “and got it, another precious moment for all of us to show off when Silver finally reveals herself to the Princess.”
“Star while I love like I should all family,” said Silver in a calm maternal voice (which Crimson and Spotlight both knew said that Star was in trouble) as she and the twins blinked the spots from their eyes, “please do not take it the wrong way when I say that if you use that device in the presence of my foals before the age of six years again I will break it apart and force you to eat each and every piece of it because I will be too angry to give you a far more reasonable punishment. My foals just barely got the hang of walking and you used a device that in its current state can disorient me an them, you are fortunate they were already at my hooves when you took the pictures.”
“That's why I waited,” said Star, “that and you with your foals is by far the cutest image we can get.”
“Star, honey cloud,” said Spotlight, “Silver's right to be concerned, her foals barely made it a few hours ago. Maybe you should have waited a few days before taking the pictures. Silver, the foal carrier I was having made for you should be ready and delivered next week, you'll be able to take the foals wherever you want. Their little baskets will keep them safe, they will also have straps in them to keep the foals from falling climbing to far out. I also made sure it would work well with your natural appearance by comparing the images of the design to a rendering of your natural appearance and pony look to each other in a rendering of you wearing the carrier.”
“Thank you,” said Silver gracefully as Steel tried scaling his mother's back, Snowfall was content to entertain herself by playing with her tail and watching it with a curious gaze. Turning her attention to her daughter Silver nuzzled Forest Snowfall, and was greeted to a pair of little hooves holding onto her muzzle as as she lifted her face. Her daughter tumbled away a few seconds later and giggled and shook her head before saying something in foalish that sounded like she didn't want to do it again.

**************************

It was the following week and the package arrived for Silver, as promised. The carrier baskets looked like they might hold her growing foals for a month or two before they outgrew them, that was good enough for her. Silver strapped the twins into each basket so that they were snugly comfortable. Once she confirmed that the twins were comfortable she slipped on the carrier, before the twins could make sounds of distress she said reassuring words and told them even though mommy couldn't be seen she was right there for them. She then threw a blanket over the carrier saddle and secured it using the straps before leaving the house, it had been ages since she had been to Mustang and wanted to at least touch base with Cider Press. Mustang was also the only place she could take the foals and they would not be treated as something to avoid (she hoped, since they were used to seeing her in her dragon form).
After the half hour flight to Mustang, most of which caused Steel Wing to giggle with excitement (much to his mother's surprise, she figured it was because he was a more physically oriented child in his actions and now mindset), Forest Snowfall giggled along with her brother for the first couple of minutes before deciding she didn't like extended movement and started making sounds of distress that caused Silver Fall to reassure her daughter most of the trip. Silver finally arrived at the small settlement only to hear that Princess Celestia had made one of the trips she made to small settlement and its kin roughly every decade or so prior that week (she thanked her luck, she still wasn't ready to meet with the ivory alicorn). She walked into the establishment run by Apple Chiller and Cider Press, she saw a nearly a year old Apple Juice following her mother around and trying her best not to disrupt her mother as the mare served drinks around the tavern.
“Cider, you have a moment?” came Silver's voice, everypony looked over to see the disguised dragoness with her foal carrier and all gave great cheer.
“After this las' servin',” said Cider Press, “then we caun catch up Silver.”
A few minutes later the two were in an area of the bar restricted to patrons, the place was only for family and close friends for private time and held the rooms for Apple Chiller and his family. Silver smiled as she undid the straps for securing the blanket and said, “I'd like to introduce my foals.”
“Foals? How many did you have?” asked Cider Press, Apple Juice bounced up and down with excitement giving happy cries and babbling about new playmates.
“Two,” said Silver Fall, “I had Twins.”
“Oh,” said Cider fluttering her eyes in surprise, “were thay healthy? Yah expressed concerns abou' their 'ealth in the moments after birth before ya even knew ya would be 'aving 'em.”
“There were some minor complications, fortunately I was able to remedy such things myself,” said Silver Fall as she pulled the blanket off and lowered herself before crawling out from the harness. Once she was free she started undoing the straps for the twins, she started with Steel Wing, pulling the young colt out she said, “this is Steel Wing, he's a little physically oriented, he should be fine to play with Juicy for a few minutes,” setting the blue colt down and began undoing Snowfall's straps, the sound of Steel and Juicy playing brought a smile to her muzzle.
“How old are they?” asked Cider as Silver lifted her daughter from the basket.
“About a week,” said Silver, “this is Forest Snow Fall,” the green filly waved her little hoof at Cider before wagging her tail, “would you like to hold her? She's really sweet and gentle.”
“Mos' certainly, thar size makes 'em look two or three months old,” said Cider taking the little green filly, Snowfall smiled at the mare and licked the mare's muzzle with her little tongue before giggling and making a motion for her mother to hold her. Silver took the filly back and held her to her teats and landed to bring a wing across to block any viewing of the foal suckling. Shortly after his sister had started Steel Wing rushed under his mother's wing and began to feed as well.
“Aww, Ah wanted ta pway wid 'im longer,” said Apple Juice.
“He's just a week old,” said Silver Fall, “pony/dragon mixes have more dramatic growth spurts. So they are usually bigger than a pony foal of a similar age, he's almost half your size. If he were a normal pony he'd still be a cuter little bundle.”
“But ain't ya a pony?” asked Apple Juice.
“No, I'm a dragon with the ability to look like a pony,” said Silver Fall, “you've seen what I look really look like when you were younger, of course you were only a few months old at the time.”
“So,” said Cider, “when caun we continue tha card games? Tha boys have been sendin' me letters askin' when tha games will return, they say et's borin' widout our monthly get tagethers and ya 'ave been tied up wi' 'aving the twins tha last couple ah months.”
“In three months or so,” said Silver, “I need to get the twins acclimated to their properties. I have to teach them how to handle their breath weapons, Lightning and I need to give them flying lessons, and I need to teach Snowfall how handle her tail.”
“Ah noticed it doesn't 'ave ah bony weapon at the end like mos' ahf tha dragon tails Ah've seen, yer tha only dragon Ah've seen widout that.”
“I get it from my father,” said Silver Fall, “instead of having a weapon oriented tail I have a utilitarian oriented tail. I have what's called an articulating tail, that means my tail can grab on to things and even hold on to them. It's quite strong, I've picked up immense weights with little effort with it.”
“An' it's also really nimble,” said Cider, “ya can do a lot ah complex movements wid tha' thing. Pity ponies don't 'ave something like that.”
“I've seen you do some pretty impressive stuff with your mane and tail that's akin to what my tail can do,” said Silver Fall, “earth ponies can manipulate their natural magic fields to do what my tail can, of course it might be a bit to a lesser degree when compared to my tail.”
“Well yah,” said Cider, “but it gets real tirin' and once ya reach a certain point it stops workin', when ya get tired wid yer tail ya don' lose it lahk earth ponies do.”
“Maybe so,” said Silver, “but I need to manipulate my natural magic field alter my form or breath type.”
“Yah caun change yer breath type?” asked Cider Press with surprise.
“Mhm,” said Silver Fall, “Ice, Fire, Lightning, Mist and Wind. I can do it on my own, but when certain emotions run high they cause an automatic change. If I get angry I spit fire, excitement means lightning, and when I'm feeling really frightened I can blast out wind. My foals could have inherited any of the elements I can spit.”
“Ah wanna see ya spit lightnin', please,” said Apple Juice.
“Sorry Juicy,” said Silver Fall, maybe when the twins are older and I've taught them how to handle their abilities.”
“Promise?” asked Apple Juice.
“I'll do better, I'll swear an oath. An oath is a promise that is should never be broken by anypony because it is meant to be a strong tie to them both. I swear this oath unto you, when the twins can fly on their own and handle their special breaths I will show you my Lightning, Wind and Mist breaths and should I break this oath you can punish me any way you deem fit, within the limits your mother sets on what kind of punishments you can meet out on me. It is done, we have an unbreakable promise witnessed by my foals and your mother.”
“One Ah will remin' both ah ya constantly if ya decide ta be difficult in tha future,” said Cider.
The twins crawled out from under their mother's wing and made off in different directions. Steel Wing made for more playtime with Apple Juice and Forest Snowfall tried to climb back into her carrier basket. 
"That looks like it's my cue to leave,” said Silver as she picked up her daughter and began strapping the filly in, said filly gave a tired yawn and fell asleep in her basket as Silver finished fastening the last securing line on to the filly in her basket, after making sure her daughter was secure Silver did the same to Steel Wing, who made a show of fighting his mother until half way to his carrier basket. After the young colt was secure to his mother's liking she secured the blanket to the carrier's saddle. Once she was she checked with a few good tugs she nodded to herself and made her way out.
“I'll be back in a few months, make sure Juicy behaves herself. I would hate bring the Twins with me only to find out their sole playmate for the time being can't join them.”
“If she gets out ah line Ah'll remind 'er of yer oath ta her, that should bring 'er down a few pegs,” said Cider as Silver made her way to the door, the disguised dragoness nodded and took flight as soon as she was outside of the establishment.
A half hour later she was back home and putting the twins in their crib. “So,” came Lightning's voice, “where'd you take them?”
“The Desert Apple Tavern, I needed to interact with at least one of my friends, and it was a good opportunity to give the twins some socializing with another foal. Apple Juice is almost a year old, but at least she gave the twins an opportunity to meet somepony close to their age. Steel Wing took to playing with her fast, Forest Snowfall was more content to stay with the mothers and listen in on our conversations.”
“Nice to see your friend took it well,” said Lightning Twist.
“Oh, I'm sure she's having a little freak out about now,” said Silver Fall, “Cider's funny that way, she puts on a good face when in public, but in private she lets out all her frustrations somewhere she feels secure.”
“You know this because?” inquired Lightning Twist.
“I was her foal-sitter,” said Silver, “and now she's one of my best friends.”

***********************************************
Three months came and the twins did indeed out grow their carrier within a month, as their mother anticipated. Silver changed back to her natural look and had her foals confirm she was their mother by scent while she warmed up some soy milk she had mixed up when the twins were only three weeks old. She gave it to them in saucers, the twins would break any bottles or cups they tried to drink it from at this stage. Silver had Steel Wing learn to fly from his father while she busied herself with teaching Forest Snowfall the nuances of an articulating tail, in the span of a few hours Snowfall was getting it and ecstatic about it. The filly picked up her toys with a level of finesse that was impressive for one her age, but her excitement caused her to apply a little too much pressure and as a result the filly ended up with splinters in her tail from some of the wooden blocks she had been practicing with. She would cry until her mother removed all the shards from the blocks and breathed a fine mist to heal the filly.
In an effort to imitate her mother Snowfall tried spitting out her own breath weapon, only to be met with an ordinary breath. After an hour of trying, with her mother explaining how to do the breath weapon instead of trying to talk her daughter out of it Snowfall finally spit out a thin cone of snow and ice that resembled that of her mother. Both smiled at each other (she didn't care she didn't have mist powers, she could spit ice).
The next time they saw Steel Wing he was flying around the room, until he saw his sister spit out a puff of snow and begged his mother for lessons, she told him he would learn the next day and his sister still needed to learn how to fly. Silver provided her daughter's flying lesson, but this took almost six hours, and a break for two meals, before the filly was able to hover a few inches off the floor for a few seconds. Silver told her daughter to practice and in no time she would be as good as, if not better than, her brother. Silver told her children the truth, the mayor didn't want to see anything that hinted that ponies weren't the only ones living Cirrus so they had to remain inside until she could find a way to properly hide their dragon-like features from the mayor and his supporters.
The next day Silver Fall was teaching Steel Wing how unleash his breath weapon, while his sister ran an aerial obstacle  course with her father timing her upstairs (Lightning got a few weeks off when he told his supervisor that his foals were ready to learn how to fly). After going through the steps with Steel Wing he managed spit out lightning after three hours of practice.
The next day was filled with Silver teaching the foals how to manage their breath abilities, Snowfall hung onto her mother's every word while Steel Wing ignored his mother's warnings and asked when the would move on to target practice. The next day Snowfall was free to do whatever she wanted, because she actually did as she was instructed, Steel Wing got another breath lesson with his mother. Silver Fall told him in a very blunt manner that if he didn't listen to his mother's warnings about his breath abilities he would be stuck in those lessons regardless of what he was old enough for, he paid the lesson attention and actually did as he was told regarding his breath ability. Silver had explained to both that without keeping themselves in check their breath abilities could prove dangerous to them and the ponies around them (including their father).
About a months after they learned their breath abilities, and were practicing in areas their mother designated, before Silver found an effective way of doing what she needed. She brought Night Spell to visit, fortunately the mare had the week off for the time she wanted and was happy help the dragoness. When the dark colored unicorn mare arrived (using a cloud walking spell she found in the spell archives) she became excited (in a good way) about seeing the twins and cast a spell to make them look like pegasus foals that had their coloration (she warned that it would only last a few hours).
Silver guided the twins, while carrying Night Spell, to Mustang. Once in the town and in the Dessert Apple Tavern Night Spell removed the illusion spell from the twins and they were let loose to play with Apple Juice and the other foals of Mustang that were haunting the tavern. Silver told everypony to hold up for a moment and went to see Apple Juice, in her dragon form, and followed up on her promise. All the foals showed great excitement, especially when Silver told the twins to be careful with their breath abilities.
After explaining why the twins couldn't demonstrate yet she headed back the table and slipped her tail under board beneath her seat to reveal that it was where she had hidden her deck. Everypony, along with a small bulging bag of bits, smiled as she asked, “what do you want to play first?"
“Capture the crown,” said others in unison. Silver just nodded and dealt out the cards after a few shuffles.
Half an our into the game Silver's tail shot out and caught a pegaus colt with a teal coat and a gray mane and tail, “and what do you think you're doing young colt?” inquired Silver without looking away from her cards (which everypony saw as an impressive feat), “the sooner you tell me the less severe the reprimand and sooner I let go.”
“Actually I'm good,” said the colt in the rustic tone that was common among all the Mustang pegasi, “but if you really wanna know, we're playing 'Capture the Dragon', the way it works is your foals are with different teams and the first team to get a hold of other dragon/pony back to their designated base wins.”
“Uh huh,” said Cider, also not looking away from her cards and drawing before saying, “an' which team is Juicy on?”
“The one with Steel Wing, I'm on the team with Forest Snowfall. I'm our scout, I would say where our base is but one of the other team could be listening.”
“Alright,” said Silver, “can you at least say you're base is out of the way and somewhere that won't get you in trouble. Because if you're entrenched in the kitchen or near the wine cellar then I will personally remove the twins from the game by taking them home and cutting our game day short.”
“Of course not,” said the colt with a laugh.
“You're based near the cellar doors,” said Silver in an even maternal voice that sent a shiver down the colt's spine, “you have ten minutes to relocate to a location that both not obstructive or likely to get you in trouble before I sniff out my foals and take them home early.”
“Yes ma'am,” said the colt as Silver released him and withdrew her tail and dashed off.
“It always amazes me how you can do that,” said Night Spell.
“I foal-sat his parents and grandparents,” said Silver with a cool evenness to her voice, “I'm well aware of his family's quirks, the colts and stallions always laugh when they're doing something that will probably get them in trouble to some degree, his grandfather was a particularly bad case,” she threw down a knight of wands and the default number of skirmishing cards and continued with it (not really paying attention who responded to the challenge), "because he got a thrill out of being caught doing something he shouldn't. That said, his wife mellowed that stallion out. That seems to be a trend with his family, problematic until they find the right mare or stallion and then become model citizens.”
“That's nice,” said Night Spell as she drew a card. 
The rest of the game continued for almost another three hours without incident, Silver's tail shot out and pulled a dashing Steel Wing to her, “and just what are you up to young colt?” she said Coldly (still not looking up from her cards).
“Hide and seek, I'm it,” he said.
“What happened to 'capture the dragon'?” asked the dragon in a more judging maternal voice.
“Oh, Snowfall and her team won it a while ago,” said Steel Wing, “she somehow managed to trick us into moving our base around every few minutes and caught me off guard during the fifth move.”
“Carry on,” said Silver Fall as she let her son go.
“It amazes me how you can just do that without looking away from your cards,” said Guard Wind, “your daughter will make a fine guard when she decides to join up.”
“What makes you think Snowfall will join the Guard?” Inquired Silver.
“She'll live a long time, she'll feel a need to keep the nation safe somehow,” retorted Guard Wind.
“I wanted to play my part by being a scholar, that's why I accepted the scholarship to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns,” said Night Spell, “I wanted to be a scholar crafting new spells, but my parents forced me into the Guard, they told me it was a proud tradition I have to hold up. My parents parents might be nobles, but my grand-mare on dad's side and grand-stallion on mom's side were commoners that a lot of ponies say lucked out in training, they put in more effort than most of their graduating class. I was highly committed to my training, but that doesn't mean that I didn't want to quit. To me obligations win out over what we want, many of Canterlot's nobility find my sentiments unbecoming of their ranks.”
“She's ah noble?” asked Cider, “sure 'ad me fooled, she ain't got the higher than ya'll attitude tha' nobles 're so fond ahf.”
“Her grandparents tempered her,” said Silver as she gathered up the cards and shuffled them.
“That is indeed correct, they were good guards and good ponies all around,” said Night Spell as Silver passed five cards to all the ponies at the table, “that said many of the nobility don't really like my parents and their siblings.”
“Just because one their parents isn't from the nobility,” said Gale Stream with surprise as he picked up his hoof for the new game, “that's insane.”
“No,” said Silver evenly, “that's nobility. If you don't have what they claim is a legitimate claim to your title then you are no better than a really fortunate commoner, which they believe is of little consequence or standing.”
“It's true,” said Guard Wind, “they've tolerated my family because we've all been in the Guard for so long, but they still see us as nothing more as really fortunate servants.”
“That's the way it is I suppose,” said Silver looking at a Prince, Princess, 9, 4 and Ace off suite (a runt, that she could work with if she played her way smart, but her head was only half in the game so she decided to wait until the card trade session and if she still didn't have anything substantial she would bow out gracefully), "although from what I've heard most of the current houses only extend back about six centuries, my father was older than that when he met my mother.”
“How old were they when they had you?” inquired Cider press as she kept her face neutral while looking at her cards (she had a pair of 5s and three Princesses, in her opinion, the best hoof any player could have in any game, oh flushes were great and all but they were really hard to build up in any given game and it was better to go for sets of a single kind of card).
“That is confidential,” said Silver, “while I have no problem spitting my age out like my breath abilities, I like to keep the defined age of my parents hidden. A little mystery to mares is always nice, keeps the stallions interested in us.”
The two mares nodded in unison which was immediately followed by both stallions at the table saying in unison, “no fair, you mention your father being older than most of the Canterlot nobility then go tight lipped on it.”
“Boys,” said all three of the females with a teasing tone before giggling.
“Remember back before she had foals?” asked Gale Stream to Guard Wind.
“Yes,” said Guard Wind without missing a beat, “she wasn't nearly as fun, check.”
Gale Stream sputtered a stream of incoherent sentences before saying, “raise two,” as he tossed a pair of bits on the pile.
The game continued for another half hour when Snowfall trotted up and made series of foalish babbles. “Excuse me everypony,” said Silver, "one of my greatest obligations is calling, I fold, Guard you're the new dealer 'til I return,” with that she slipped from her seat and sauntered over to her saddlebags and tossed open the left bag to reveal three large pitchers of soy milk and a pair of sippy-cups. She poured some of the milk into both cups before passing the green one with an image of a snowflake on it to her daughter who took it in her tail and started drinking from the cup eagerly. Holding the other cup (a blue one with the image of a cloud on it) in her tail Silver closed the flap and secured the latch before taking a sniff in the air and saying, “your brother is this way, come on Snowfall.”
As they headed to find the blue colt she heard Gale Stream whining, “why are you the temporary dealer?” She figured it was the fifth or sixth time the stallion had made that complaint.
“Because you wouldn't respect the cards properly, Cider would try to cheat and Night has a bad habit of shuffling the deck during the game when she's the dealer,” came Guard Wind's voice as the mother and daughter departed the room.
The pair found Steel Wing curled up in a corner with Apple Juice giving them a look that said she was trapped. Silver lifted her son, a bit roughly so as to wake him, from the floor. The moment Steel Wing had stopped obstructing her path Apple Juice dashed out of the room. The moment Steel Wing's yawn was closing his mother placed the cup of soy milk in his mouth and his mouth closed around the sipping top, this brought enough surprise to fully awaken him and have him bring his fore-hooves to the cup and begin drinking. By this time Snowfall had polished off her drink. Silver left her son to his drink and left with Snowfall's empty cup in her tail, and Snowfall in tow.
Once she was back at her bags she opened the opposite bag and gently lowered the cup into the bag before lowering the flap. Once the closed the flap she heard Forest Snowfall say in her cute little voice, “mommy,” Silver turned to see her daughter with her hooves raised like she wanted to be lifted. Silver obliged by picking her daughter up with her tail and heading back to the table.
As she approached she said, “alright eveypony I'm back, and Snowfall will be joining as an observer.”
“Any reason why?” asked Night Spell.
“Auntie,” said Snowfall with a giggle pointing at Night Spell.
“Sound reasonin' ta me,” said Cider Press.
“Auntie,” said Snowfall again, this time pointing to Cider with her tail.
“Snowfall, sweetheart,” said Silver, “you're going to have to be quiet for mommy and her friends, can you do that?”
The green filly smiled and nodded her head vigorously, also making a lip zipping her motion with her tail. Silver returned to her duties as dealer and found that the game hadn't progressed at all, “Let me guess,” she said, “nopony wanted to play if I wasn't the dealer?”
“Yep,” said Night Spell, “your deck, your duty was our reasoning.”
“What did you do while I was away from the table for ten minutes?”
“Mostly comment on your new status,” said Guard Wind. With that Silver just nodded and the game resumed. True to her mother's request Forest Snowfall was quiet, to the point the stallions were a little creeped out and Cider was concerned about the home life of the filly. Regardless the game continued. True to form Cider won the last two games and once again made a comment about how Silver had the best playing deck in Equestria.

************************************

It was three weeks later, Silver had told Lightning Twist about Forest Snowfall's first words when they got home (after a quick illusion spell from Night Spell before leaving Mustang), he was ecstatic. That is until learning that it was only Snowfall that had said something. It wasn't until early the next day that Steel Wing said his first words, during breakfast as he followed his father before the stallion left for work he had said, “daddy,” at least six times. After Lightning had left the house the blue colt ran up to his mother and said “mommy,” half a dozen times in rapid succession. Forest Snowfall just rolled her eyes and went back to resting against her mother's side, she was still awake but just loved the feel of cuddling up against the dragoness's side.
“I know you're excited about being able to say new words,” said Silver Fall to her son with a gentle voice before nuzzling the colt, “but you need to learn when to properly use the words, like your breath ability.” The colt nodded and snuggled up next his mother and took a long nap.
Nothing had bothered the happy couple until they a few days later when they were told that Star Tome was being required to introduce her family to the new school head, apparently this pegasus wanted to know the kind of connections and relations their staff had. Silver and Lightning agreed she would spend the day in the twins' room while he entertained their guest. While Star Tome was perfectly accepting of half dragons in the family, and even considered her niece and nephew adorable, their was no telling what this unknown pegasus scholar would be like upon encountering the twins. They resolved to keep the fact the twins were hybrids secret from the new visitor. Mustang was fine with the twins, but that town had gotten used to Silver Fall long before she revealed herself and spent years getting used to seeing a dragon around town, and the twins were only playing with other foals in one building out of sight from anypony outside. Cirrus was still being governed by a pegasus that freaked out when a you joked about a dragon flying by in the distance, the same with his supporters. Dusty Skies was a pegasus that had managed to maintain his position mostly because the town didn't bother have anypony run against him when it came time for nominating and electing a new pony to office, that and his supporters were the major players in Cirrus (which compared to most other pony settlements would probably be considered a bad joke, but they were ponies that made sure things got done quickly in the town).

A few days after the letter was brought Star Tome and her new boss arrived, Cloud Scroll (a sky blue pegasus with dark blue eyes and a cloud gray mane and tail), arrived just as Silver was getting the door to the twins' room closed behind her (she made sure that she had plenty of soy milk and a variety of different plant samples that ponies regularly ate because she felt it was time to start them on solid food, she would have liked to do this at the kitchen table but with the change in circumstances she was willing to teach the twins in their room, she would just have to do it at their play table to teach them where it's proper eat).
“Hi, Star,” said Lightning Twist as he got the door, “so, this is the new academy head?”
“Yes,” said a primly arrogant sounding stallion, “I am Cloud Scroll and I believe a good educator can be properly judged by the company they keep and the family they have.”
“Very good,” said Lightning, “my wife is with the foals in their room, they're only a few weeks old so we don't want them possibly disrupting your visit.” Please buy the excuse was all Lightning and Star could think as the stallion looked around the house.
“That's all well and good,” said the stallion, the two and Silver breathed a quiet sigh of relief, “but I'm aware of all your siblings, miss Tome, only this stallion, who happens to be your twin brother, is the only one supporting a family. Care to tell me why, mister Lighting Twist?”
“I've always been family minded,” said Lightning Twist in a humble voice, “and I suppose my sister and brothers just haven't found the right pony yet. Sis, have you introduced him to our siblings yet?”
“No,” said Star Tome, “I suggested we try one of them or our parents as a meet and greet, but he insisted on you first.”
“Yes, indeed,” said the Stallion, “I understand your wife, Silver Fall, has a unique coat color. Also why is it you don't have any family photographs? You said you were family minded, so why is it your home is devoid of anything that shows you and your family?”
“Silver's a very private individual,” said Lightning, “she has extensive experience in foal-sitting, but she prefers that any photographic record of her be kept in a box to only show trusted friends and family.”
“So she's security minded then?” questioned the stallion.
“To an extent, she did insist on setting up an obstacle course on the living room ceiling so the twins could practice flying and not have any of their things lying where somepony could easily hurt themself,” said Lightning.
“Well, at least she has her head in the right place,” said the stallion as he looked at the ceiling, “that course seems a little advanced for foals if you ask me.”
“One of the twins, our colt named Steel Wing, is very athletically minded for his age. Silver thought arranging a more challenging course would help to diminish some of his excess energy faster.”
“Why is their a series of targets strewn around the course?” inquired the stallion.
“Range practice,” said Lightning, “the twins throw some foam or gel balls that are intended for foals at the targets to test their reflexes, depth perception, and once again it helps to burn off excess energy that the foals have. The blue on yellow line on the ceiling is a marker for where they're intended to stop before we pass them their throwing toys, they've also thrown a few stuffed animals at the targets during their anger fits, this method helps to make their aggression bouts a bit more constructive.”
“I see,” said the Stallion, along with the sound of something being scribbled, “Now back to your wife, she is the only pony I've heard of having silver coat, and she also has an indigo mane from what I've been told. The mane isn't all that unusual, I've seen plenty of ponies with indigo in their manes and tails, but the coat is of interest to me. Would she perhaps like to meet with our genealogy department so that we can learn where this distinct aspect comes from? Also I've found no mention of her in the Cloudsdale or Canterlot family records, I figured a pony with such a unique coat would at least be in once of those data bases.
“Her parents decided on home birth, without a doctor present,” said Lighting, “the same holds true with us, the difference is that while I registered our children in the town records Silver's were far too stubborn to tell the rest of Equestria they had wondrous bundle of joy. Also the family of Silver's mother saw Silver as a shame to their line, something about mixing tribal bloodlines diluting a powerful lineage.”
“Ah, I see,” said the Stallion, “she's from a family that had some very archaic beliefs that many think only are found amongst many of Canterlot's nobility who insist on 'maintaining the old traditions', personally I think the practice to be a bit silly with the way modern ponies are now, but it a fascinating way to peer at how things were in the pre-Celestia era of Equestria's history. What about her father?”
“Just broad strokes when talking about his home or family I'm afraid, Silver doesn't even know much beyond the fact that he had seven siblings.”
“Big families quit are common, especially amongst many of the earth pony clans,” said the stallion, “it makes finding the proper lineage more difficult, and since her father was secretive with his side the family it doesn't help finding out whom she is related to.”
“For all any of us know she could be distant cousin of the Princess herself,” said Star Tome with a teasing voice.
“Yes, well familial jokes aside,” said the Stallion, “it was nice to meet you, how old are your foals now?”
“Three months,” said Lightning, “they're just shy of four at this time.” The stallion nodded and Told Star they were off to meet another one of her brothers.
An hour after the two had left, and the door was securely closed, Silver and the twins exited the twins' room. “That was almost too close,” said Silver, “thankfully he was more business and less in the mind of wanting to see the foals.”
“agreed,” said Lightning as Steel Wing began crawling on his father's back and sucking the stallion's mane.