Days had passed, and Twilight once again found herself waking to the gentle caress of the sun’s glow warming her face. The smell of spring air came wafting in from her open window, rousing her further. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open only to be met with a blinding beam of light shining in through her bedroom window. Twilight let out a soft groan, squeezing her eyes closed once more. She shifted her body so the light wasn’t blinding her.

The clock on her nightstand read eight o’clock—past time for her to wake up, but try as she might, she couldn’t pull herself from her bed. Her body felt too heavy to even move. Lying there, she couldn’t really find a reason to actually get herself out of bed. She had some work to do, but that wasn’t urgent. She had to meet Rainbow Dash for lunch again, but today, she was picking Twilight up at the library rather than meeting her like she had been.

A small, sleepy smile worked its way onto Twilight’s face as she closed her eyes. She was still giddy over the fact that she and Rainbow Dash were dating. It had only been two short days since their night at Rainbow Dash's house, but these past two days they had spent together were wonderful. They had met for lunch every day, and Dash had been coming over for dinner too. Of course Dash would stay after dinner so the two of them could spend some quality time together, usually until late, when the pegasus would finally leave to go home.

Twilight was worried the time she and Rainbow Dash spent together would be awkward, but in all honesty, things hadn’t changed much between them. They had found themselves talking about the same things, and doing the same activities. They still sat around talking with one another, reading books, and planning new tricks for Rainbow Dash to try, but now they weren’t doing those activities as mere friends.

As Twilight lied there, thinking about it, she realized the two of them had feelings for one another for a long time. They had always done these things together, so dating has only made things less awkward for them since they no longer had to hide their pent up feelings. Simply put, Twilight didn’t need to be reserved, or feel awkward around Rainbow Dash. She could sit next to her, hug her, or even kiss her if she wanted—which she often did.

Twilight let out a soft, content sigh, feeling the sun's warming rays heat her fur. The past few days had been absolutely wonderful—everything Twilight had wanted ever since she realized her feelings.

“You up, Twilight?” she heard from across the room.

“Yeah, good morning, Spike,” she said with a yawn.

“What do you want for breakfast?” he asked, climbing out from his basket.

“I’m a little tired of oatmeal. How about we have eggs and toast. That should be simple enough, right?” Twilight asked, though her head was still lying on her pillow.

“Oatmeal would be easier...” Spike griped just loud enough for Twilight to hear. Suddenly he stopped just before the first step downstairs. “Wait, you don’t even like eggs.” The dragon shot a confused glance back to Twilight.

“I know...” Twilight said with a bit of a puzzled look herself. “They just sound good right about now though...”

“Alright then...I guess I can make you some eggs if you want. We do keep some for cooking after all.” He started walking down stairs as he spoke, growing quieter as he left the room.

Twilight took a deep breath in anticipation for what was to come. This was her least favorite part of sleeping in—getting out of bed. Slowly, she forced herself up and out from under her covers. But as soon as she was up, her body moved into an involuntarily stretch after a long night. She stretched out her forelegs, back, and then finally her hind legs, making her shudder slightly. After a small yawn, she was ready for the day.

Twilight made her way over to her bedroom window as she levitated over her hairbrush. She ran the brush through her mane as she looked out onto the town. Ponyville was already awake—shops already opened, and ponies already in the streets. She looked to the sky, a little hopeful for a glimpse of a certain cyan pegasus hard at work, but she was met with no such view. Above, she did see the weather team clearing the clouds from the overcast sky they had yesterday, which meant today would be sunny. Perfect for her lunch date with her marefriend.

“Twilight, breakfast should be done soon. You wanted your eggs sunny-side up, right?” Spike called up from downstairs.

“Umm, I guess that will be okay,” she replied.

After she put her brush back down on her dresser, she trotted downstairs. Spike was standing in a little apron in front of the stove. He held a frying pan close over a plate as he tried to use a spatula to get the eggs out of the pan as neatly as possible.

“Do you need help with that?” Twilight asked from behind him.

“No, I’m just trying not to break the yolks.” He sounded very determined as he meticulously lifted one of Twilight’s eggs. Carefully he set it down on the pan. Next began the arduous task of getting the spatula out from under the egg.

Twilight couldn‘t help but giggle to herself a bit. Her horn sparked, and her magic gave enough room under the egg for Spike to pull the spatula out with ease. “Let me help.”

“I could have gotten it,” he muttered with a touch of resentment.

“No reason to fuss with it,” Twilight replied with a smile.

The next egg went much easier with the same teamwork they used on the first. Twilight levitated her toast over from the toaster, and placed it on her plate. Next she levitated both hers and Spike’s breakfast to the kitchen table. Spike grabbed a chair and the two of them sat down for their meal. As she sat down, Twilight levitated over a news paper Spike brought in before he started cooking.

Twilight looked down at the egg on her plate, contemplating whether it looked appetizing after all. She used her magic to poke her toast into the center, soaking some of the gooey yellow yolk into the bread. When she took a bite, she had an odd sense of not being too pleased with the taste, but she also felt that it was just what she wanted. The longer it sat on her tongue, the more accustomed she became to the flavor. In fact, she could probably actually enjoy her breakfast.

“Hey, Spike?” Twilight asked after she swallowed. She turned her attention to the morning newspaper as she ate her breakfast.

“Yeah?”

“Did you pick up the ink and scrolls I asked you to yesterday?”

Spike only sat there, silently eating his breakfast. Twilight shifted the paper to the side, peering out from the edge. His eyes stayed firmly glued to his breakfast, refusing to look up and meet Twilight’s gaze. “Spike?” she asked with a more authoritative tone.

“I...forgot...” he muttered.

“Would you please go out and get some after breakfast? I can’t get any work done until I have some scrolls, and ink to write on those scrolls with.”

“I’ll go after breakfast...”

“Thank you.” She took another bite. She did much the same with the toast, though this time she cut a small piece of the egg white and placed it on the toast as well. After she finished swallowing. “I know Rarity has been rather busy designing a new dress line for a client in Manehatten. Perhaps she could use some stationary as well.” Twilight hinted with a sly smile.

Spike’s eyes suddenly lit up, but he coughed and forced himself to look a bit more serious. “I could stop by and see if she needs anything,” he replied, trying to play it off as though he wasn’t excited.

“I’m sure Rarity would be very appreciative,” Twilight said as she went back to the newspaper.

-----------------------------

After breakfast, and Spike had left for his errands, Twilight decided she should get ready herself. She had finished reading the morning paper, finding little of interest in the town news. Mostly it was hearsay or articles pertaining to rather mundane matters. Twilight tossed the paper into the garbage, and headed upstairs. With Spike gone for a few hours, the work she needed to get done put on hold, and Rainbow Dash coming over to get her for lunch, she had some time to get ready.

After an extended shower, Twilight left the bathroom in a puff of steam. She breathed deep, and let out a refreshed sigh as she used a towel to dry her still wet mane. She levitated over her hair brush, and started brushing her mane until it laid in its usual perfectly straight style. When she finished, she placed the brush back on her dresser. As she looked around her room, her eyes fell upon a book sitting on her nightstand. She took a step towards her bed, just starting to consider reading it until Rainbow Dash came over to get her, but she was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Twilight turned, curious as to who would knock at a public library. “Coming,” she called out as she trotted down the stairs.

The only pony that she could imagine coming over was Rainbow Dash, but Twilight knew she wouldn’t knock. Twilight stood in front of the door for a moment, not sure what to expect. For a brief moment she worried something had happened to her pegasus lover, but she pushed that out of her mind quickly. She opted for a happier, more probable scenario of Dash getting off work early.

However, when Twilight opened the door, she saw not her lover, but her four friends Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Behind the four mares, a certain purple dragon was poking his head out with a nervous smile. Twilight looked at them confused for a moment. “O-Oh, hello girls...” the librarian said with a bit of surprise.

“Hello, Twilight,” Rarity said with her usual prim and proper tone. “May we come in?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. For some reason, she didn‘t like where this was going. She felt like she was being backed into a corner. “Sure, but I’m going to be leaving soon...”

Her friends filed into the library. Rarity’s magic pulled the door closed behind the group after they were all inside. “There is a rather concerning rumor going around town,” Rarity’s lady-like nature cracked with concern filling her voice.

“W-What rumor would that be?” she asked her friends timidly, knowing full well what they had heard. Just walking around town the past few days she had seen ponies whispering around her.

“W-Well...P-Ponies are saying that...you’re...umm...pregnant...” Fluttershy muttered, still avoiding looking at Twilight.

“I-I wonder where they heard that from...” Twilight laughed nervously.

“We would have dismissed the rumors entirely, that was until I heard it straight from the horse’s—or in this case—dragon’s mouth.” Rarity brushed her mane out of her face.“Little Spikey-wikey here told me that it was true.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as she looked at the little dragon, now cowering. “S-Spike!” she yelled in disbelief.

“S-Sorry, Twilight. With how happy you’ve been the past couple of days, I didn’t know I was supposed to keep it a secret still...”

“Secret means secret, Spike! That would mean that I would tell ponies first!”

“I didn’t tell them everything! I didn’t want to spoil your news completely...” he whimpered.

Applejack stepped between Spike and Twilight. “Now don’t go takin’ it all out on Spike here,” Applejack chimed in. “The town’s already buzzin’ with the news, so it ain’t like he started it.”

Twilight had herself to blame for that one. She was still haunted by the embarrassment of yelling it at the top of her lungs in the town square to get Rainbow Dash’s attention. “Did Spike tell all of you girls?” Twilight asked, calming down a little bit.

“Well—” Pinkie said before taking a deep breath, “—I heard from Mrs. Cake, who hear from Ditzy Do, who heard from Cheerilee, who heard from Aloe when she was at the spa, who heard from Berry Punch—” The pink pony was cut off by Applejack stuffing a hoof into her mouth.

The farmer rolled her eyes. “Ya wanna give us the short version there, Pinkie Pie?” she asked, with the bubbly mare still going on under her hoof.

The party pony held up her own hoof, telling the others to wait a second as she continued to talk into Applejack’s hoof. After a second Pinkie gave a ‘go ahead’ nod for the farmer to pull the hoof out of her mouth. “Who heard from Blue Bonnet that YOU are pregnant! It‘s so exciting! Another little foal to play with!” she said with a small jump into the air.

“So, just about the whole town knows?” Twilight asked fearfully. “I haven’t even told anypony yet...”Twilight’s body tensed from her little lie. “Well, one pony...” she said shrinking down a bit. Twilight decided to leave out the part that she yelled it at the top of her lungs in the town square too.

“That one pony you told must have some loose lips,” Pinkie replied with a giggle.

“As I said, I heard from Spike,” Rarity added. “But after he told me, I gathered everypony, and they told me that they too had been hearing rumors.”

“We...umm...got a bit worried about you...” Fluttershy added.

“Well, I guess there’s no point in hiding it anymore...” Twilight sighed. “It’s true, I’m...having a foal.”

“S-Sorry, Twilight...” He stepped up to her, holding his claws behind his back as he fidgeted.

“I can’t really be too mad at you for telling them, Spike,” she said leaning down to nuzzle him. He relaxed once he realized he wasn’t in trouble.

“He had only told us because he thought we should know, though he didn’t give any specifics,” Rarity added.

Twilight nodded to her. She couldn’t really deny that she had brought this upon herself by telling Spike to go to Rarity’s. She also hadn’t really told him to continue keeping this a secret, and now that she thought about it, he very well could have dismissed the original notion since she was so distraught. As far as Spike was concerned, she probably wanted to keep it a secret because her and Rainbow Dash weren’t in a relationship.

“We all came because we were worried about ya, Twilight,” Applejack said with a small frown. “We ain’t ever seen ya with a stallion, so we all kinda got a bit concerned. I mean, do ya even know who the dad is? Y-Ya weren’t...uhh...” Applejack trailed off, unable to bring herself to say it.

Rarity looked at the farmer, sharing her troubled look. “No pony forced themselves on you, did they?” she asked, finishing Applejack’s question.

“No, no pony raped me.” Twilight shook her head at the absurdity. Her friends all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness, I don‘t know what I would do if one of my best friends had been assaulted.” Rarity placed her hoof on her forehead.

“Do you know who the father is?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, we’ve spoken about the...situation...” Twilight’s eyes darted around nervously. This had been the part she was truly dreading. A pregnancy out of nowhere, and the absence of a stallion in her life would of course draw some suspicion. She could always say some stallion in town got her pregnant when they were drunk at Pinkie’s party, but that wouldn’t be right, also lying would only complicate the situation further.

She knew she shouldn’t lie, yet Twilight couldn’t bring herself to tell her friends the truth. They wouldn’t know how to react. It would be like telling Rainbow Dash all over again; her friends wouldn’t be able to even comprehend—well, with the exception of one in the room. Twilight looked at Rarity, who was looking at Twilight expectantly. Her heart tensed, and a feeling of shame washed over her.

“So, you’ve talked?” Pinkie asked. “Cool! Who is it? I hope he’s nice! Do we know him?” Pinkie jumped up and down as she asked Twilight.

“Pinkie, this is serious,” AJ said in mid facehoof. “Calm down, would ya?”

The party pony shook her head back and forth spastically. “Can’t! Too excited!”

“Relax, darling,” Rarity placed a hoof on Pinkie’s should, stopping her from bouncing again. “Twilight, don’t just keep us in the dark. You said you spoke to the father, so who is he?” Rarity turned her attention back to Twilight.

“W-Who is he?” Twilight’s body tensed.

“Yeah, do we know ‘em?” Applejack asked, growing a bit impatient.

“U-Umm, well, I suppose you could say that...” she muttered.

“Well, whose foal is it?” Rarity pressured Twilight for an answer.

The librarian turned her head away from her friends. That feeling like she was being backed into a corner had come to fruition. “T-That’s a secret...” Twilight muttered, avoiding eye contact.

Immediately Rarity’s eyebrow raised. “We’re your best friends, and you can’t even tell us?” she asked sounding a bit hurt.

“W-Well, it’s...umm—”

“Hey, Twi,” The familiar scratchy voice of Rainbow Dash suddenly grabbed everyone’s attention.

“D-Dash—” Twilight placed her hoof over her mouth to stop herself from calling her marefriend by her pet name. Her eyes shot over to her friends who were all looking in Rainbow Dash’s direction.

With all eyes suddenly on her, the pegasus couldn’t help but feel like she was interrupting something. She slowly looked over her friends as she entered the room, seeing a mixture of expressions on their faces ranging from hurt to beaming. “So, what’s going on?” she asked feeling out the conversation before she got too deep.

“Dash! We were looking everywhere for you!” Pinkie popped up in front of Rainbow Dash, grabbing a hold on her by the shoulders. “Well maybe not everywhere—we didn’t check Quills and Sofas. OH MY GOSH! Were you buying a new sofa?” Applejack let out a frustrated sigh as Pinkie spoke. “Wait, not important, did you hear Twilight is pregnant?” Pinkie asked jumping up into the air.

“Oh, you guys heard about that?” she asked rubbing the back of her head in an embarrassed sort of way.

“R-Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said with a nervous laugh. “Great timing! We should probably get going!” Twilight walked over to her marefriend, forcing Pinkie out of the way, and pushing Dash towards the door. Rainbow Dash looked back at her a bit confused.

“Hold on now, ya were just about ta tell us who the dad is!” Twilight’s whole body went stiff as soon as Applejack interrupted her.

“Dad?” Rainbow Dash looked at Applejack and then back to Twilight. The unicorn shook her head softly, screaming at her with her eyes not to say a word. She gave a soft nod.

“Yes, the father of Twilight’s foal,” Rarity said softly, taking notice of Twilight and Rainbow Dash’s little back and forth.

“O-Oh yeah, the father...of her foal...” she said with a small cough at the end.

“A-Actually girls, if you’ll excuse us for a bit, I need to talk to Rainbow Dash in private.” The other ponies in the room gave the two a suspicious look.

“You two are hiding something aren’t you,” Rarity said, narrowing her eyes.

“W-Why would you say that! I just needed to...to...give Rainbow Dash this book!” she said grabbing a random book off the shelf behind her.

“What?” Everyone, including Dash asked, surprised. That was probably the least believable excuse she could have come up with; it wasn‘t even a book Rainbow Dash would even consider reading. However with a small sigh she went along with it.

“Y-Yeah, I’ve always wanted to read—” she looked over to see what Twilight grabbed, “—A Brief History of Equestria: Volume 4.” The pegasus didn‘t even try to hide her apathy.

“You see? Well, I had best give it to her...in private,” Twilight stressed the last bit as she pushed Rainbow Dash out the door. “Spike, don’t tell them anything while I’m gone!” she said sternly to the baby dragon before using her magic to close the door behind them.

“Those two are definitely hiding somethin’...” Applejack muttered.

“Like what? Like a surprise party?” Pinkie said popping up behind Applejack, and giving the other earth pony mare a start. She turned to the pink pony and let out an annoyed grumble.

Twilight shoved the pegasus out the door, slamming it behind her. “What’s the big idea Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked, landing on her back. Slowly she climbed back onto all fours looking at her marefriend like she was crazy.

“I panicked!” Twilight said pacing back and forth. Just from walking back and forth, she felt weak. She began breathing heavily, like she had been running a marathon. “Oh my gosh, is this really happening?” She said, trying to slow her breath purposefully, whilst muttering a mantra of ‘calm down Twilight’ to herself.

“Panicked? About what? You could have just told them! It‘s not like we really need to keep it a secret.”

“Y-Yes we do!” Twilight yelled.

“Why? And since when?”

“S-Since forever! You didn’t tell anypony did you?” she asked accusingly.

“No, hasn’t really come up. Why do we have to keep it a secret?”

“B-Because—” Twilight stopped herself for saying another word. She plopped down on the ground.

“What’s going on, Twi?” Rainbow Dash walked up and placed a wing around her lover, trying to comfort the frazzled mare.

“No pony would understand, Dashie,” Twilight said, leaning her head onto her marefriend’s shoulder.

“Look, it’s fine. They’re our friends, There’s no way they’d freak out,” she said trying to cheer up the unicorn.

“No way they would freak out? Who wouldn’t freak out! I’m pregnant from another mare! It’s not exactly normal!” the unicorn said still breathing heavily. After a moment her breath slowed a bit. “I’m sorry,” Twilight said after she calmed herself down.

Rainbow Dash placed her head on top of Twilight’s “It’s alright, I was a little freaked out when you told me a few days ago, but they’ll get over it, just like I did.”

“I’m just nervous. I mean I’m pregnant with my best friend’s foal. Oh, and did I mention my best friend is another mare? Mares don’t get other mares pregnant! I don’t even know how ponies will react.” She could feel herself getting worked up again, so she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

There was a long pause as the two sat there. “Would anypony even believe it? I mean, it even sounds crazy when I say it.” Her marefriend let out a little chuckle.

“Come on, Twi, you‘re worrying about this too much. It’ll be fine”

“No, it really won’t...No pony can know you’re the dad, Dashie—especially not Rarity.” Twilight nuzzled into her lover’s neck.

A sudden gasp interrupted the two. Twilight’s heart froze solid. She had heard that over-dramatic gasp before, when she first came to Ponyville. Slowly, the two mares turned their heads back to an open window behind them. Pinkie Pie had her head sticking out, her eyes wide, and her mouth hanging open.

“H-How much did you hear?” Dash asked.

The library’s front door burst open on the other side of Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “G-Get in here, now!” Rarity said poking her head out through the door.

Twilight slowly looked at Rainbow Dash with pure dread. If Dash had to compare it, it was as if Twilight had just learned that Discord, and Chrysalis had all teamed up and killed Celestia. She felt a little helpless, like she could do much for her unicorn lover. Slowly she felt Twilight stand up next to her, and head into the library.

“W-What the hay is goin’ on, you two?” Applejack asked. She looked almost scared she was so confused.

“W-Well...” Twilight started to speak, but she lost her nerve. Her body shivered uncontrollably, and she couldn’t even look her friends in the eye. Slowly, her eyes pinched closed as she wished herself anywhere but here.

Rainbow looked at her marefriend with concern. Seeing Twilight like that upset her. She looked back at her friends with a defiant look. “I’m the dad, alright? Twilight’s foal is my foal.” Rainbow Dash kept her eyes firmly glued on Rarity, seeing the dressmaker’s eyes go wide for a moment in disbelief.

“Beg yer pardon?” she asked still in complete disbelief.

“Me—I’m the father!” she repeated.

“Y-Ya do know two mares can’t make a foal, right, RD?” Applejack asked for confirmation.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes to see everyone now focused on Rainbow Dash.

“So, Rainbow Dash is the dad? But that’s silly, we all know two mares can’t make a foal!” Pinkie laughed to herself.

“It’s true, Pinkie...” Twilight replied with her face visibly turning red. “Rainbow Dash is the father...”

“Seriously, Twi, was it that hard to just tell them?” the pegasus said standing next to her marefriend. She gave her a playful bump. “They’re handling it just fine."

Twilight buried her face in the her lover's neck in a bid for affection, and hiding her shame. It worked a little in both counts, as she didn’t have to look at her friends, and her lover placed a hoof on her head, stroking her mane. “That’s not what I’m worried about...” she muttered quietly.

“T-Twilight Sparkle!” Rarity yelled, both shocked, and upset. “Y-You—”

Applejack help up a hoof in front of Rarity, stopping her mid sentence. “Hold on now, Rarity, let’s calm down an let ’em explain.”

Rarity glared at Applejack. She realized when she saw the seriousness in the farmer’s eyes she composed herself. She let out a small sigh before flicking her mane out of her face with a snap of her neck. “I-I suppose I should...let them explain.” She glared slightly at Twilight. “And she does have a lot of explaining to do.” she said in a low voice.

Applejack nodded, and turned her attention back to Twilight. “Now, how the hay does that even work?”

“I-I’ve known Rainbow Dash my whole life, and I can say for sure that she...isn’t a he...” Fluttershy said quietly from behind her friends.

“It’s a long story,” Rainbow Dash said shaking her head a bit.

“Well, we’re not exactly going anywhere,” Rarity responded.

Twilight pulled away from Rainbow Dash, regaining her composure. With a long drawn out sigh, she agreed. “Fine. I suppose you all do deserve to know...You‘re my best friends, and this is kind of a big thing in our lives, so I—we—should tell you how it happened.” Twilight glanced over to Rainbow Dash giving her a weak smile. Her marefriend nodded approvingly.

Twilight’s attention then turned to the youngest member in the room. “However, Spike, this isn’t appropriate for little dragons. Why don’t you go outside for a while.”

“Aww, Twilight, I’m old enough for this stuff!” he protested.

Twilight simply shook her head.

“She’s right, Spike. This is...adult talk...” Rarity said to him.

The dragon kicked his leg out in protest. With Rarity telling him too, he knew he wasn’t going to be able to stay. Slowly, without further argument, he walked out the front door, sulking as he did so.

Twilight and the others kept an eye on the door to make sure it was closed. Next Twilight looked over at the open windows that had gotten her into this mess and closed those with her magic. Once the door closed, and the windows were shut tight, Twilight and Rainbow Dash started their story. “It all started at Pinkie’s party about 3 weeks ago...”

Author's Notes:

Somepony's got some 'splainin to do

If you have not read the previous chapters after 1/18/2014, there have been extensive rewrites. I would recommend rereading.