Dr. Heartbeat led Twilight into the Hospital’s morgue. He opened one of the freezers and pulled out the body of the mare that had given birth to North Star. “Here is the body that you requested to examine Princess.”
Two guards moved the body over to an examining table. Twilight held up a notepad and pencil in her magic to take notes as she looked over the body. “The mare is an Earth pony, green hair, white mane and tail. No cutie mark. Very odd.” Twilight scanned the body with her horn to detect any dark magic, and she sensed a small trace.
“Interesting.” Twilight put on gloves and a surgical mask. She picked up a scalpel to start the autopsy. But as soon as Twilight cut into the body, it was engulfed by black flames. After they vanished, nothing was left of the body except for a small pile of ash.
Dr. Heartbeat and Twilight both stood in shock. Twilight removed her mask and gloves. “I’ve got to report this to Princess Celestia immediately.”
“Should I inform Princess Cadence about this as well?” Dr. Heartbeat asked.
Twilight paused for a moment. She thought about how happy Cadence was being a mother, and the love that she had for North Star. “No. For the time being, this is classified. North Star has shown no signs of dark magic, so there is no need to be worried.”
Dr. Heartbeat gave Twilight a worried look. “For Celestia’s sake, I hope you’re right.”
Cadence and Shining were awoken in the early hours of the morning by North Star’s crying. “It’s your turn.” Cadence said before Shining could even get a word out. With eyes half opened, Shining got out of bed and made his way to North Star’s room across the hall.
Shining looked down into North Star’s crib. The foal was crying and wriggling under his blanket. “What is it now?” Shining asked in a gravely voice. He picked up North Star and checked his diaper. “Well, you don’t need a change.” Shining listened to North Star’s tummy, but heard no grumbling. “You’re not hungry either.” Shining rocked him back and forth while trying to sing a lullaby. “Go to sleep, go to sleep. Please go to sleep.”
North Star then spat up all over Shining. The little foal yawned and fell back asleep. Shining simply put North Star back in the crib, then walked back to his room.
Cadence heard shining coming in and turned on a light. She looked in shocked at her husband. “What happened to you?”
“That kid hates me.” Shining said bluntly. He walked into the bathroom to wash up.
Cadence could not help but smile. “Shining, North Star does not hate you. He’s still just a foal. All you need to do is spend time with him.”
Shining dried himself off with a towel as he emerged from the bathroom. “But every time I’m near him he’s either crying, hungry, or doing something gross.”
Cadence put her hoof to her chin and thought for a moment. “I’ve got it! The two of you will spend the day together at the foal gym tomorrow.”
Shining climbed into bed with a skeptical look. “You mean the place where parents get together to play with their foals? I don’t know Cadence. I still have my duties as captain of the royal guard.”
“Shining, you’re a father now. The most important thing for you is spending time with your son. Besides, it’s only one day. Just hand over your duties temporarily to one of your officers. I’m sure Celestia and Luna will understand.”
“Well, alright. It couldn’t hurt to give it a shot. And besides, I really could use the day off.” Shining nuzzled Cadence before going back to bed.
Cadence nuzzled him back. “Trust me, the two of you will have a great time together.”
The next day, Cadence got Shining and North Star ready for their big day out. Shining had North Star strapped to his chest, and Cadence had filled his saddle bags with diapers and bottles of formula. Shining was starting to feel like a pack mule.
“Honey, don’t you think you’re overdoing it a bit?”
“Not at all. We must always be prepared.” Cadence kissed Shining on the cheek, then kissed North Star on the head. “Ok, have a fun day you two!”
Shining waved goodbye to Cadence as he left the castle. Two guards followed from a safe distance. As he walked down the street, Shining waved to the ponies of the Crystal Empire. Most smiled and waved back, but some gave odd looks as soon as they saw North Star.
After a good long walk, Shining and North Star finally arrived at the foal gym. Inside was a big play area filled with foal safe toys. Parents mingled with each other while showing off their newborn foals. A caramel-colored earth pony with a brown mane and toy blocks for a cutie mark stepped to the center of the room.
“Hello parents! My name is Caregiver, and I am the lead instructor here at the foal gym. If everypony could please sit in a semi-circle, we can start with introductions.”
Shining sat on the floor and removed North Star from the foal carrier and placed him on the floor in front of him. Caregiver immediately noticed the prince, and she made her way over to him.
“Shining Armor! What a surprise to have you here with us!” She knelt down to look at North Star. “Is this little cutie yours? Why, I didn’t even know Cadence was pregnant.”
“Yeah, he’s mine. His name is North Star. Cadence and I actually adopted him.”
“I doubt a dark little foal like could belong to Cadence anyway.” One of the other parents muttered. Caregiver looked over and gave the pony a stern glare.
“Ok parents, we’re going to pair up and have our foals play together!” Caregiver announced. Caregiver paired Shining and North Star with a pegasus and her daughter. The mother had a white coat and yellow mane with a Daisy cutie mark. Her daughter was yellow with an orange mane.
Shining watched as the two foals rolled a ball back and forth to one another. “Your daughter is adorable. What’s her name?”
“Summer Haze. My name is Daisy.” She replied. “So, you said you and princess Cadence adopted North Star?”
A sad look came over Shining’s face. “Yes. His real mother died a few weeks ago after giving birth to him. Cadence and I adopted him that same night.”
Daisy put her hoof to her mouth. “Oh my, that is so sad! North Star is so fortunate that you and Cadence decided to adopt him.”
Shining rubbed the back of neck. “Well, it was mostly Cadence’s idea.”
“How so?” Daisy asked.
“To be honest, I’m not ready to be a father. I know nothing about kids, and North Star is a hoof-ful to handle.”
Daisy simply smiled. “No pony is ready to be a parent. We all try our best. In the end, all that matters is love. That you care about your child, no matter what. North Star may not be yours biologically, but he is your son now. You just need to take it one step at a time.”
“Wow. Such wise words. You must be some sort of teacher.”
“Actually, I’m a bartender. I see a lot of broken hearts in my line of work.”
“Well, your husband must also have an interesting job.”
Daisy lowered her head. “Yeah, husband.”
Meanwhile, North Star and Summer giggled as they pushed the ball back and forth between one another. Suddenly, another foal crawled over and took it away. Summer began crying as North Star tried to grab the ball back, but the other foal would not let go. Frustrated, North Star shoved the foal back onto his behind. The foal began screaming, which brought over his mother and Shining.
“Get away you little monster!” The foal’s mother shouted as she scooped up her child.
“Whoa, calm down. What happened?” Shining asked.
“That monstrosity attacked my child!” The mother shouted, glaring down at North Star.
Shining grew angry. “My son is NOT a monster!” He said as he put his hoof down. North Star hid behind him.
“He’s right.” Caregiver stepped forward. “Ma’am, your son stole the ball that North Star and Summer Haze were playing with. North Star shoved him down while trying to get it back. I witnessed the whole thing.”
The mother was taken aback. “How can you defend that beast?! It bares the horn of Sombra!”
“Ma’am, I think you should leave.” Caregiver said with an insistent tone. The mother turned around and left in a huff.
“I apologize for causing a scene.” Shining told Caregiver. She simply waved him off and smiled.
“Don’t be. Mothers like her are always causing a scene.”
Summer Haze was still crying. North Star crawled over and booped her on the nose. This cheered her up and she started giggling.
Daisy picked up her daughter. “Summer appears to like your son. The two really seem to get along.”
Shining ruffled North Star’s mane. “Well, his mother is the princess of love. Perhaps the two of them can have a playdate at the castle sometime?”
Daisy nuzzled Summer. “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”
After returning home to the castle, Shining was greeted by Cadence. “So, how did everything go? Did you and North Star have fun?”
Shining set down North Star and explained everything. “Well, things started out alright. North Star made a friend with a young pegasus named Summer Haze. Her mother Daisy is also a very nice and polite mare who gave me some good advice on being a father. But then another mare’s foal stole North Star and Summer’s ball, and after North Star tried to get it back, she called our son a monster! Can you believe the nerve-”
Cadence abruptly cut off Shining. “Shining, did you hear what you just said?”
“Uh, what?”
“You called North Star son! For the first time since adopting him, you called him your son!” Cadence hugged shining, tears of joy running down her face.
It was then that it dawned on Shining. He had called North star his son. coming to North Star’s aid made him feel like he was defending the foal as his own. “I guess the little guy is really growing on me.” He said with a smile.
North Star wiggled in between the two, looking up at them with a smile.