Transylmania...
A large yawn broke the silence of the pitch black room, indicating there was some life inside it. An audible but faint shuffling followed it, broken by the soft translucent glow from gems all around the room. As they gradually brightened, a rickety wooden bed was able to be seen, along with the figure of a pony atop it. The pony rolled over and moaned pathetically before lifting it's head up to reveal two massive golden and bloodshot eyes.
The pony yawned again before cringing at something. Her front hooves curled around her stomach, gently massaging the soft spot. Her face softened a bit as she did that, as if some pain had alleviated. She closed her eyes, hoping to sleep some more before a knock came from her door. She whined at it, but a voice spoke from outside the room.
"Angel, dearie? Are you alright?" came the familiar gentle tone of Aunty Autumn Night.
All Angel could do in response was whine again as a new wave of pain shot through her belly. This was perhaps the worst stomach ache she had ever had, even worse than the one she got from eating those fuzzy strawberries some years ago. Why she felt this way was a mystery to her, especially since she hadn't eaten anything odd in a while.
The door to the cave creaked open and Angel rolled over to see the older mare looking at her with concern.
"Angel, you've been like this for two days," she stated as the gems in the room began to brighten, "You need to see a doctor now."
Wyvern Pass...
The unusually loud sounds of talons scratching against wood woke Valyrie prematurely, causing her to throw the nearest object at her door, which unfortunately was her only pillow. It took the tired gryffon a few seconds to realize she had tossed the only support for her head before she rose up and yawned.
In the dim light, Valyrie blinked her gold eyes and looked around the room. The area was small, but big enough for her to survive in. Her bed took up one quarter of the space, and that is not to say her bed was large. A chipped and pock marked mirror hung onto one of the creaking walls, swaying ever so slightly as the house did. Turning to the only window in the room, Valyrie groaned as she saw half of the window was covered by snow and the other half was shielding her from a blizzard.
"Guess there's no flying today," she grumbled.
Throwing her covers from her, which was a claw-knit quilt her mother made her, Valyrie placed her claws on the freezing wood planks. The icy layer of air that surrounded them tried to worm its way up Valyrie's legs, but the tough soles of her claws and paws prevented any shuddering by her. Once her footing was established, her wings flapped quickly and spread wide, almost touching both ends of the room.
Valyrie groaned as she stretched her joints, feeling a couple soft pops in her wing joints. Before pulling them back in, she made a quick scan of her vaned feathers. The primary and secondary feathers were all aligned except for one particularly pesky one on her right wing. Growling to herself, she brought the wing closer and proceeded to nibble on it for a moment with her beak.
After ten seconds of that, Valyrie pulled her wing back to its resting place on her side and sighed. It had been two months since she had left Equestria and slowly felt her connections to the place slipping away. Preening herself was something she almost had to relearn when she came home, mostly because there wasn't a pegasus at a spa to do it for her.
Shaking her head of the memories, Valyrie trudged out of her room and down the rickety stairs, wondering what was for breakfast. The sound of her father voice echoed up to her, indicating he was not in a good mood this morning.
Canterlot...
"Hold still while I take your measurements, Captain. Please!"
Comet did his best to be resolutely still as the tailor measured his body, moving his measuring tape in some very uncomfortable ways. It somehow went from seeing his leg length to wrapping around his tail and then to the inner part of his rear leg, making this the worst fitting he had ever received. It was for a good reason, namely his arraignment as the new Captain of the Guard, but he was not in a good mood.
In fact, he hadn't been in a good mood in about two months.
While his duty was here in Canterlot, his thoughts were in Transylmania with his marefriend, Angel. It had been almost two whole months since he had last heard from her, something that worried him immensely. After the two week period she had set expired, Comet had sent several letters to Transylmaina.
Sadly, every letter came back with the same message: UNABLE TO DELIVER DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.
Upset by the lack of communication, Comet had arranged for some time off to go there himself, regardless of weather. He had obtained several days worth of food, goggles meant for flying into snowy weather and even a pop up tent for the nights.
Then he was hit with becoming the new Captain of the Guard.
A wandering piece of the measuring tape touched against a particularly sensitive area of him yet again, causing Comet to nearly buck the tailor in the face. Spinning around angrily, he saw the familiar face of his second in command, Holly Stalk, standing by the doorway with a most grave look on her face.
"Commander, Princess Celestia has requested your presence," she stated tonelessly.
"What for?" Comet responded with a little bit of leftover venom in his voice.
"I am allowed to tell you that she wants you to be fully aware of your duties as Captain. I cannot speak further about what she wants to show you."
Comet tilted his head at that, wondering what the buck Holly Stalk was being so cryptic for. Sure she was a bit of a hardass when she was serious, but he had never seen her like this. Turning his attention to the tailor, he nodded to him and stepped off of the pedestal, grateful to be away from that infernal tape. Without a word, Holly Stalk spun on the spot and marched out of the door, Comet in tow.
The two ponies walked along in tense silence. For the first few minutes, Comet was okay with the welcome quietness, but eventually he began to get suspicious. There were ponies rushing about and carrying out their duties near the tailor, but Holly Stalk seemed to be taking him to a more deserted part of the castle. As his mind worked out something to say, he accidentally bumped into Holly.
Her reaction was immediate. Her angry looking teal eyes whipped over to him and her hooves flinched, ready to attack him.
"Sorry," Comet mumbled.
Holly's gaze only got harder as she spun around, marching off in a more irritated manner. Comet usually didn't care for her attitude, but he had never seen that reaction before. Eventually, the two ponies rounded a hallway to a dead end.
"Um," Comet spoke up, "Are you sure this is the right place?"
Holly's gaze returned to him, a snarl on her face.
"Yes, Commander," she almost spat at him.
Comet recoiled a bit from her. Why was she so irritated?
"You okay, Holly?" he asked in a slightly concerned tone.
She breathed in deeply and closed her eyes, calming herself down.
"Yes, sir," she answered in a much more even tone, "I just wish we didn't have to do this."
Transylmania
Angel yipped as a gray hoof prodded her stomach, sending a slight jolt of pain into her belly. The hoof backed away instantly, straight to its owner. To Angel's right stood a bat pony stallion with glowing orange eyes and a mask over his snout. A silly shiny disk sat on his forehead, just barely keeping his messy purple mane back.
"Oh dear," he spoke softly, "It doesn't seem to be just an upset stomach or food poisoning, does it?"
Angel groaned at that.
"If I knew what it was, you wouldn't be here now," she bit back, irritated.
Behind the doctor, a small snort of amusement rang out. Aunty Autumn Night held a hoof over her snout, barely concealing a smile while a taller bat pony stallion rolled his golden eyes. He was older and a little more haggard looking than the doctor, putting him near Autumn Night's age. He wore a white coat covered in pockets, so his cutie mark wasn't able to be seen.
"Angel," he mumbled, "He's here to help..."
Angel yipped again as the doctor prodded her side, causing her to nearly hit him.
"Fat lot of good he's doing, dad," she growled.
Her father merely shook his head, a small smile tugging at his cheeks.
The doctor narrowed his eyes at Angel's belly as he neared it. His ears stood straight up and he spun his head so that his ear was pressed against it. He looked up at the ceiling, as if waiting for something before his eyes became cross looking. He picked his head up and stared at Angel's belly before pressing his ear to it again.
Angel had to repress a chuckle as she saw him listen. The doctor was young and somewhat new to his position, so he looked like a total dork moving his head around. Eventually, the doctor backed away from Angel slowly, a disturbed look in his eyes.
"Doctor?" Autumn Night spoke up, "Is everything okay?"
The doctor looked to Angel's aunt before spinning back to Angel herself.
"I, uh," he spoke in a confused tone, "I need to get another doctor for this."
Wyvern Pass
Valyrie slowly walked down the creaky steps, bracing herself for her father's temper tantrum. He was always irritated, but when he was shouting before the whole family even woke up, it was not a good thing. Valyrie's mother was not the best cook in all of Wyvern Pass, but her father was quite demanding.
"What do you mean by that?!" his voice rang out in the rickety house.
Valyrie hung her head, taking a deep breath before rounding the corner into the kitchen. Her father had made her the target of his anger since she had returned, so no matter what was going on, it was her fault. Much to her surprise, though, the kitchen contained three griffons instead of just two.
Samson stood angrily at the table, his black claws leaving fresh marks in the table. Behind him stood Valyrie's mother, a claw over her beak and her eyes starting to water. At the other end of the table sat a stone gray griffon, his cool blue eyes locked onto Samson's blazing golden ones.
"It's true," the gray griffon spoke in a totally calm attitude.
Canterlot
Comet couldn't believe his eyes as he saw the image in front of him. He stood with his jaw hung open, eyes as wide as dinner plates. The room he was in was spacious, much larger than where he thought he was going. A bed sat in the corner and a table dominated the center of the room. In front of him, Holly watched him with her normal hardass look while Princess Celestia smiled from the table, along with another pony.
"Do come in, Commander," she spoke gently, "I have somepony I want you to meet."
Transylmania
Angel shifted a little uncomfortably as the ice cold stethoscope withdrew from her belly. Her golden eyes were locked onto the owner of the stethoscope, a seasoned looking bat pony with a graying mane and tired blue eyes. Only, instead of looking tired, they were wide open and in shock.
"You hear it too, don't you?" came the younger doctor who was tending to Angel earlier.
The doctor's eyes swept across Angel and locked onto her face, causing her to shrink a bit.
"Unbelievable," he whispered in awe.
"What? What is it?" her father asked from behind the two of them.
The doctor didn't even turn to them as he delivered his diagnosis.
"My dear," he spoke slowly and deliberately, "You're pregnant!"
Wyvern Pass
"It's true," the stone gray griffon spoke, "Your daughter is legally part of Equestria. Her marriage document says so."
Valyrie's eyes opened wide in shock at that.
She was married?!
Canterlot
A black pony with a sickly green mane looked up to Comet with her piercing green eyes. She was as tall as Princess Celestia, so her hole ridden hooves were up on the table, fumbling around with a teacup. Her two large fangs were visible for only a few seconds before the rest of her teeth were revealed as she snarled.
"Hello Comet," growled Gorgon, "It's nice to see you again after what you did to me."
"Now now," came Princess Celestia, "I believe she wants to say hello as well."
Gorgon's eyes slid over to Celestia, hatred burning in them, before returning to Comet.
"And Nova says hello as well," she spat out.