The Night Has Been Doubled?
“I’m home!”
With a sigh of relief, you walk into your sizable house in Silver Shoals. Ever since Celestia and Luna retired from being princesses, they’ve lived in this quaint, waterfront town. They had planned to move in together at one point, but those plans changed when you and Luna got married. Now, you and your lovely wife live together in this beautiful home, and Celestia is your neighbor.
…Oh, right. You’re married to Luna. Like… Princess Luna. Ruler of the Night Luna. Once-evil-tyrant Luna. That Luna. Meanwhile, you’re just a human who was displaced from their original world, long ago. You’re a funny little guy. A silly little goober.
And hey, she loves you as much as you love her, so you have to be doing something right.
You remove your jacket as you make your way inside. While Luna might be retired, you still work full-time at a local restaurant. In truth, the place isn’t particularly fancy, but you’ve single-handedly made it a bit more popular. You’re an excellent chef, and the general curiosity surrounding you as the only human in Equestria might make you a bit more interesting than you would be otherwise.
It’s not like you need the money, either. Luna’s retirement fund alone is probably enough to support both of you for the next thousand years, but you find the work fulfilling and getting to help the nice folks around town puts a smile on your face.
Still, sometimes the job can be exhausting, and you’re glad to finally be home. You’re tired, and you’d like nothing more than to put your feet up for a while. That said, there is something that demands your attention more than relaxation.
“And how is my favorite mare doing tonight?”
You enter your bedroom with a smile on your face, knowing darn well what awaits you. Sure enough, sprawled out on her back with a book levitated magically in front of her face is your beautiful wife, Luna.
She wears a comfortable silk nightgown, which has a noticeable cut down the middle to expose her belly. While her mane and tail aren’t exactly a mess, they’re definitely disheveled enough to key you in to the fact that she’s been lying there for some time. As you address her, she gently sets her book down next to her and stares at you. She doesn’t smile, but she also doesn’t look particularly upset. Frankly, you’re not sure what to make of it.
After a few awkward moments, she finally smiles. You look into her gorgeous eyes, and you realize from their shakiness and lack of focus that she’s exhausted.
“Hello, Moonbeam. How was work?”
“Business as usual, mostly,” you say as you make your way to the closet to get changed. “Sepia Lens brought her grandson in, and she was so excited that they didn’t leave for three hours.”
“Hey, cut her some slack. He doesn’t get to visit very often.”
“Oh, I meant that as a good thing! She’s been needing this lately, especially since her youngest moved out.”
“Hmhm, I’m glad to hear that she’s doing better, then.”
You exit the closet, now prepared for the evening. Before giving Luna your undivided attention, however, you saunter over to the bathroom to clean up a bit.
“What about you? How did your day go?”
“Well… you know how it’s been. Morning sickness. Strange appetite. Sudden bouts of fatigue. Same-old same-old, really.”
A few moments later, you step out of the bathroom and look down at the alicorn mare. Your eyes drift from her face to her belly, which has finally swollen up enough for even a regular passerby to understand what’s going on.
Luna is pregnant, and she has been for several months now.
“You holding up okay?”
“...A-about as well as I can be, I suppose.” You narrow your eyes. “What?”
“You hesitated.”
“A-and?”
“And you’re stuttering.”
“So? Am I not allowed to be a bit anxious about this?”
“Well…” It’s extremely unlike her to sound like she does now. Her voice is full of doubt, and she’s tripping over her words. Throughout her pregnancy so far, this hasn’t been the case. Even when she gets anxious, she's pretty good at speaking clearly and confidently. After a moment, you sigh and sit down next to her. “Of course you are. I’m anxious, too.”
“Hmph. And you’re not the pregnant one.”
“No, no I’m not.” You hesitate for a moment, realizing that Luna is in a bit of a mood. Not that you blame her, of course. Still, you have a feeling that you know what she wants. A smile creeps its way to your face as you shuffle towards her. She mumbles something as you get behind her and sit at an angle before leaning her backwards onto your stomach. Then, with tender, gentle movements, you begin to brush and stroke her mane. “Guess I need to pull my weight and help you calm down then, huh?”
“Peh.” She lets out a chuckle while trying to hide her amusement. She won’t admit it, but she absolutely loves it when you do this. “...L-lower.”
“As you command, Lulu.” Your hands slowly work their way through her mane towards her head. From there, you begin to scritch her neck, causing a gentle coo to escape from her. “Did you do anything else today, dearest?”
“...Well. I, uh…” There’s that hesitation again. “I did get out of the house for a little while. Went for a walk, ran some errands.”
“Oh? Did you run into any trouble?” You decide not to press her any more about the way she’s speaking, figuring that if something happened, she’ll tell you when she’s good and ready.
“Not particularly. It’s nice to get out every now and then, you know? Stretch my legs a little bit, get some sun.”
“Speaking of, how’s the daylight treating you?”
“I’m tired pretty much all the time, but whether that’s due to me being out of my element or my body telling me to relax, I’m not sure.”
Ever since her pregnancy started, she’s found it extremely difficult to sleep during the day like she used to. Neither of you have any idea why, either. On top of that, she’s found that it might be a bit dangerous for her to enter the dream realm while she’s pregnant, so she’s taking a sabbatical from the few duties she chose to retain as “Princess of the Night” post-retirement.
“I suppose we probably should have expected that,” you say as your hands drift further and further down her body until you begin to gently stroke her belly. “You’re doing the work of two ponies now. Hehe, I guess you could say that the night has been doubled?”
“...Mm.” She’s clearly enjoying the attention you’re giving her, but your words seem to have struck a chord with her. When she speaks again, her voice is low and quiet, practically a whisper. “Tripled, actually.”
“What was that?”
“T-tripled.”
“...Lulu?”
“I, uh… I went to visit the doctor today.”
“Oh, right. I forgot your checkup was this afternoon.”
She opens her mouth to speak, but no words come out. You notice that she’s trembling a bit in your arms, and you cease the caresses you’re giving her in favor of wrapping your arms around her completely in a comforting hug.
Slowly, she tilts her head back to look you dead in the eyes.
“We’re having twins, Anon.”
“...”
“...”
“...H-huh?”
For a moment, your mind goes blank. You… you heard that right, didn’t you? Did she really just say–
“I'm pregnant with twins, Moonbeam. Two beautiful little foals.”
“Twins,” you parrot. “Twins.”
“...Moonbeam? Are you– oh!”
Luna is cut off as you bend down and place your lips to hers. The angle is odd since you’re effectively upside-down relative to her, but the passion and love you’re trying to convey is there all the same. The two of you stay like that for a few moments as you try to "say" what your words are currently failing to do.
Finally, you part.
“Lulu, that’s incredible!”
“Incredible? I-I thought…”
“You thought what?”
“I thought you’d be… I don’t know, a bit more torn than this, I guess.”
You laugh as tears of joy start to stream down your cheeks.
“Do you remember what I told you when we found out you were pregnant?”
“You didn’t think a human could get a pony pregnant?”
“The other thing.”
“That you hoped I wouldn’t get offended if you made jokes about my weight?”
“The other thing.”
“That it’d be really funny to rub it in my sister’s face that I’m having a family before her?”
“The other thing.”
“That… that you always wanted a family?”
“Thaaaaat’s the one.” You gently scritch right behind her ears, causing them to do that adorable flicking thing as she feigns annoyance with you, failing to hide her growing smile. “I don’t care if it’s one kid, two kids, no kids, or thirty kids. I’m gonna be right there with you every step of the way, loving every single moment.”
She lets out a chuckle and an exhausted sigh.
“You understand that this is going to make things twice as difficult as we thought?”
“Oh? Since when did you start backing down from challenges?”
“That’s not what this is about and you know it, Moonbeam.” Her eyes slowly drift away from you, a distant fear evident within them.
“...Still afraid of being a mother?”
She remains quiet for a while as you go back to stroking her mane.
“Even if we put aside how terrified I am that the children of an alicorn and a human might not be healthy, I’m just not sure if I’m gonna make for a good role model.”
“What? Lulu, that’s ridiculous. You’re great with children. You help them with their nightmares all the time.”
“Yes, but I’m not their mother. I can help them face their fears. I don’t know how to raise them!”
“I don’t think anypony does, love. It’s just something we’ll have to figure out.”
“...It doesn’t help that they’ll never be able to escape us.”
“I-I’m sorry, ‘escape us?’”
“No matter who they are, or what they do, they’ll always carry the burden of being the children of Princess Luna, the mare that used to be Nightmare Moon, and her human husband.”
She doesn’t elaborate, but she also doesn’t need to. Her self-doubt about having been Nightmare Moon is something she will likely struggle with for the rest of her days, and it’s something you’ve both had to come to terms with. Meanwhile, you aren’t free from controversy, either. Turns out, a lot of ponies don’t like it when one of their princesses marries an alien. Go figure.
“That’s true. But you seem to be forgetting something important, Lulu.”
“And what’s that?”
You lean down again and hold her face in your hands as you look her in the eyes and smile.
“They’ll be the children of Luna and Anon, the most doting and loving parents they could ever ask for.”
“...Pfft.” After a moment, your wife’s worry melts away as she begins gently laughing at your reassurance. “What did I do to deserve such a legendarily optimistic husband?”
“You gave him somepony to fall in love with... not to mention a family.”
You both smile as you lean down to kiss her once again. Your lives are about to be very different. No amount of reassurance or optimism could possibly quell all of your fears, and the future has never felt so uncertain. However, there is one thing you know for sure: No matter what the future holds, you’ll face it together.
And you’re gonna be the best parents Equestria has ever seen.