Strange and Stranger

by False Door

Epilogue

“Look at this dump,” muttered Shining as he walked across the threshold of the grand crystal foyer. “Glad I don't live here anymore.”

“Oh, Shining,” sighed Cadance.

He folded his sunglasses in the air and hung them from the collar of his palm tree patterned shirt.

“Welcome back, former prince and princess,” the butler greeted them. “The princess and his royal copilotness wish to receive you in the throne room.”

Cadance blinked. If they were busy why wouldn't they just tell them to relax somewhere else until they were done? The throne room was no place to casually visit, especially with family. “The throne room?” she shrugged. “That's odd.”

“Of course it is,” added Shining.

“I trust you still remember the way,” said the doorpony.

“As long as they didn't move it to the kitchen or something,” quipped Shining.

“Thank you,” droned Cadance in embarrassment before taking the liberty of teleporting her husband away with her.

The two appeared in the nearly empty throne room on the steps just below the two crystal chairs where sat Flurry and Anon, formally dressed and posed as if they were holding court.

“Thank you for coming, mom and dad,” began Flurry cordially.

Shining and Cadance side-eyed each other.

“How was the big tour?”

“Great,” replied Shining. “Feels like we saw more of the world in two months than we did in our whole tenure here. Not to mention that I don't even remember the last time I felt so rested. Now I guess I need to get some new hobbies or something.”

“We got you souvenirs,” added Cadance

Anon smiled and clapped in approval.

“Well, as you can see, the castle is still standing and the empire has not decended into chaos despite your complete and sustained absence.”

Shining scratched his head as he started to wonder if this was all just a little show they were putting on to prove to them that they were proper and responsible rulers.

Flurry waved her hoof gracefully. “Pleasantries aside, we've summoned you here to discuss a very important matter.” She paused to allow the mysterious gravity of her words to soak in. Then she squealed, “We're pregnant!”

Her parents' eyes practically exploded out of their heads. The news hit them doubly hard with the normal immensity of a first pregnancy surprise coupled with the biological compatibility question mark that was no longer a question mark.

“No you're not,” gasped Shining.

“Yes, we are!” She stood up from her throne with a grin almost wider than her face.

Cadance screamed as she ran up the stairs and wrapped her forelegs around her daughter. They all exchanged elated hugs, laughing and crying.

“And when she says ‘we’ she actually does mean both of us.” grinned Anon.

The improbable reproductive leap they'd already spanned made things just muddy enough that they had to stop in bewilderment and consider this for a moment.

Anon waved his hands. “I'm kidding.”

“A little prince or princess,” cheered Cadance.

“Do you have any names picked out?” asked Shining.

“We do,” replied Flurry, trotting in place.

Then Anon cut in. “If it's a boy, Battlestar. If it's a girl, Battlestar.”

Shining's mouth dropped open. “That is… an amazing name!”

“I know,” blurted Anon. “It was my favorite sh-”

His words cut off into an incoherent but no less exuberant mumble as Flurry quickly put a hoof over his mouth.

“We're really excited,” she chuckled nervously. “The due date is about a week before Nightmare Night.”

“-the tabletop game,” finished Anon, as she finally uncovered his mouth.

“Well, I hope you have a celebration planned for us,” laughed Shining.

“We do,” boasted Flurry. “But keep those lips sealed. We're not telling anyone else yet because we have an amazing empire-wide announcement planned.”
“And it's gonna need a lot of bee wax,” nodded Anon.

Author's Note:

Ignore the date on the last post and don't be afraid to leave a comment if you have a thought.

If you’d like to support this insanity, you can buy one of my novels.

Comments

[f0st3r21]

I was not anticipating either time skip. You got me good. Definitely had a good time with this one. 👍🏻

[Caladis]

Battlestar... lol.