Several minutes had passed since Fiery fainted. He woke up to the shock of an ice cold bucket of water being thrown onto him. As he opened his eyes, he saw that his mother was holding the bucket with her magic above him. “So glad you could come back from the land of sleep son.”

“Wha? What the hell happened?” Fiery said groggily tone as he sat up.

“Oh, you just fainted when you found out that Octi is possibly pregnant.” Pinkie said out loud.

Fiery laid back down and put his hooves over his eyes in disbelief. “Fuuuuck.”

“Get used to it son, you knew this day was going to come eventually.”

Fiery removed his hoof from one of his eyes to look at his mom. “Yeah! But I didn’t think it was going to be so damn soon!” He put his hoof back over his eye and spoke some more. “How’s ‘Tavi taking it?”

“Oh, she fainted as well after she found out.” Pinkie replied to him.

“Great, just fucking great… Not only am I being forced to take care of some kids I thought my mom could take care of, but now I’m going to have a kid of my own in what, 9 months?”

“Eleven.”

“Whatever!”

“You should have worn a condom.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you.”

“Hey, I got an excuse, we didn’t have condoms 3,000 years ago.”

Suddenly, all three began to hear a noise coming from behind Pinkie. They looked to see that Octavia was getting up. “What happened?” She asked as she got up.

“You’re gonna be a momma Octi!” Pinkie bounced over to her sister and started to hug her. “Mom and dad are going to be so happy!”

“W-Wha?” Octavia started to become scared.

Fiery got up to address his lover. “My mom here told us that it’s possible that you’re pregnant with my kid.”

“B-But how!?” Fiery raised his eyebrow at her. “No! I can’t get pregnant yet!”

Fiery walked over to his lover and moved Pinkie out of the way, then began to hug her himself. “It’s okay ‘Tavi, we’ll figure out something…”

“F-Fiery…” She began to tear up and started to cry on his shoulder. “Why now? Why did it have to happen now?”

“Shh, it’s alright.” He began to stroke her mane and back, trying to calm her down. As he was stroking her back, he spoke to Pinkie and Starry. “Mom? Pinkie? You mind giving me and ‘Tavi some time to ourselves? And if there are any guards out there, to tell them to leave as well?”

“Sure dear, take all the time you need. Come along Pinkie.”

“Okay…” Pinkie said in a depressed tone, feeling sad for seeing her sister sad as well.

As the two left, Fiery spoke again. “’Tavi?”

“W-What…” She replied while sniffling, trying to clear her tears away.

“We don’t know if my mom is right just yet… But if she is…”

“What are you suggesting?”

Fiery stayed quiet for a while. “I don’t know… If we really don’t want this child, we might have to use the nuclear option…”

Octavia broke the hug off with Fiery and looked at him. “You don’t mean-“ Fiery looked away from her, ashamed for even having to suggest a thing. “How could you ever think of a thing like that Fiery!”

“I know!” He yelled back, still facing away from her. “But… But think about it ‘Tavi, are we really ready for a kid?”

“And what about those two orphans that you picked up? Those two kids that we don’t even know if they ran away from their parents or not! Are we ready for them!?”

“Hey! I thought that my mom was going to be able to help them here in the castle, alright!?” He said this time in the direction of facing Octavia. “This is our kid we’re talking about! It’s either ‘that’ or giving birth to him ‘Tavi. It’s your choice…” He looked at her with sadness in his eyes, but was still determined to look strong in front of her.

“What about adoption? Why isn’t that an option!?”

“No! I am not having my kid given away to be adopted. We have no idea if he would be safe or not or even going to a loving family!”

“So what!? You just want me to get rid of it just like that!?”

“I don’t know!” Fiery got up and started to walk away from her, afraid of doing something he would regret. As he did he began to use one of his hooves to run it through his mane. “I don’t know, alright! God damnit!” He ended up punching the wall in frustration, leaving a dent. “We have only two options ‘Tavi… I don’t know what’s going to happen if you give birth to that kid. What about your career? What about us being able to spend time with the kid and living together as a happy family? I don’t know if I could handle it…”

“So what, you would walk out, just like that? Just like how you said your father walked out on you? I thought you said you would never do the same to your kid.” She retaliated with anger in her voice, but was crying at the same time. Fiery had opened the door that he was standing by and started to walk out the room into the hallway. “Where do you think you’re going!?”

“I don’t know! But I think it’s better if I left right now before I do something I’ll regret!” He yelled back as he walked out the door and slammed it shut behind him as he walked into the hallway. Back in the room, Octavia only broke down crying, not knowing what to do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fiery began to walk through the halls as he was still fuming from the recent conversation. “Damnit ‘Tavi…” He spoke quietly to himself. “I just want to do what’s best for us.”

“Oh? And what would that be?” Fiery stopped walking to look up to see who was talking to him. It was Celestia.

“Oh, it’s you. What do you want?” Fiery asked in anger.

“Is that any way to treat your aunt?”

“Piss of with the aunt thing.” He began to walk around her but was stopped as a white aura surrounded him, then placed him back in front of Celestia. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to piss me off more.”

“And I’d like to have a chocolate shake right about now, but we can’t always get what we want. Now tell me Fiery, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well you know I won’t let you get away until you tell me, so you might as well tell me. Come, follow me into my chambers.” Celestia began to use her magic to bring Fiery along with her to her chambers. As they arrived and entered her room, she asked him again. “So tell me Fiery, what’s the problem?”

Fiery stayed quiet, still unsure of what to say, but finally came out with it. “… ‘Tavi’s possibly pregnant…”

“Well that’s wonderful!” Celestia said in excitement. “I don’t see why you would be so down about it though.”

“Because I don’t know if I can handle it, alright!?” Fiery yelled back at her as he looked into her eyes. “I don’t know if I could handle being a parent! I’ve only been back for only a week and this is what I get!? I find out that the girl I love is probably pregnant because I was too fucking dumb to think about birth control or some like that!”

“So you’re upset because you don’t know if you’re going to be a good parent? Is that all? Or are you worried about taking care of the child, along with the children you found as well?”

His face of anger turned to one of confusion. “H-How do you-“

“I met them while they were with Fluttershy. Cute kids really.”

“Then why don’t you take care of them?” Fiery snapped back.

“Because I’m not the one who brought them here Fiery. But that’s beside the point. Why don’t you think you’ll be a good parent?”

“Because, I was raised in such a shitty environment that I don’t know how to handle a kid… I guess I was hoping to use the kids I picked up as a way to teach myself for when I was ready. But I’m not ready…”

“Yet, not ready yet.”

“Maybe, but I don’t want to even think about raising a kid right now.”

“Then why did-“

“Because I thought my mom would be able to take care of them, alright!?” Fiery yelled at her, making Celestia go silent for a few moments.

After thinking about what he said, Celestia finally answered. “Fiery… If you could have a chance of having those kids be raised here, at least for a little while, would it make you happy?”

Fiery looked up at Celestia. “What are you getting at?”

“I want to know if you’re willing to adopt those kids if say, I keep them here at the castle for a few months, while you get your house ready. Not only would it give you enough time to get ready for those kids, but if Ms. Pie really is pregnant like you said, then you two can figure out what you want to do with your household then as well.”

“Whoever said that we were going to keep the kid?” Fiery asked in an angered tone.

“I did, because if you didn’t, I’d make sure you wouldn’t stop having sex with all the mares in your harem until you knocked every single one of them up. How does that sound instead?” Celestia threatened.

Fiery knew he was beat. As much as Celestia loved to kid around, she was serious when it came to the future generations of her ponies. Then he thought about something. “What about Luna? Would you force us to do it as well?”

“I’d make sure she was the first one.”

It was official, Fiery was beaten. “Fine… I guess since you’re giving me no other option…”

“Good, now go make up with Ms. Pie, I could hear her crying back in Starry’s room.”

Fiery nodded and began to walk back to his mother’s room, where Octavia would still be at, while Celestia stayed back in her own room. As Fiery left the room and shut the door, Starry came out of the shadows inside Celestia’s room and spoke. “Well that was much better than I thought.”

Celestia sighed. “Yes, but did we really have to threaten him with such a serious lie?”

“It’s your kingdom Celly. If he didn’t take care of her, who says he wouldn’t do the exact same thing once another of the girls get pregnant?”

“I suppose you’re right Starry… I just don’t feel right lying to him.”

“You? Don’t feel right when you lie? That’s a laugh.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “Perhaps you’re right… But what about the other human? Didn’t you say we were going to have some trouble with him?”

“Yes, some, but don’t worry. Fiery will be meeting him again very soon, whether he likes it or not…”

“What is that suppose to mean?”

“Mmm, nothing.” Starry then walked out of the room, leaving Celestia sitting there confused.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Fiery walked up to the door of Starry’s room, he breathed deep, let it out, and began to knock. “’T-Tavi? You there?” There was silence. “’Tavi, if you are there, I’m coming in. Don’t be upset.” Still silence. “A-Alright then, I’m coming in.” He slowly began to open the door, and as he got opened enough to see inside, he saw a flower pot heading right for the door. “Jesus Christ!” Fiery yelled out as he closed the door quickly, hearing the flower pot shatter against the door.

“Go away Fiery!” Octavia’s voice came from inside. “I don’t want to see you!”

“’Tavi, please babe, just listen to me.”

“Don’t you ‘babe’ me you bastard! How could you ever suggest such a thing!”

“Look ‘Tavi, I’ll admit, it was my bad for ever suggesting something like that. But yelling at each other through the door like this won’t solve anything! Please, I want to be able for us to talk in private.” It was silent. “A-Alright then, I’m gonna try to come in again, please don’t throw anything at me.” He slowly began to open the door again, only to have another flower pot being thrown at it. He quickly closed the door again. “God damnit ‘Tavi! I’m trying to make up with you, but how am I if you won’t stop throwing pots at me!?”

“Sorry Fifi, that was my bad.” A new voice called out to him.

‘What the?’ He quickly opened the door this time to find not just Octavia, but Vinyl there as well. “Vinyl!? What the hell are you doing here!?”

“What? Can’t I be here to comfort my best friend when she’s troubled about something?” She said, as she was hugging Octavia and stroking her mane. Octavia still looked saddened from the talk.

Fiery began to walk inside the room and closed the door behind him as he walked inside. “What the hell do you want?” Octavia snapped.

“Look ‘Tavi, I know I fucked up. Please, let’s just calm down and talk through this again.”

“What? Just so you can convince me to get rid of the foal!?” She screamed at him.

“NO! I mean… ‘Tavi, do you really want this kid?” He replied to her as he sat in front of her.

She stayed silent for a few seconds, then answered. “I don’t know Fiery, it’s just too much to be suddenly told that it’s possible for me to be pregnant, a pregnancy that I was hoping to put off for a few years…”

“Well… I’ll do whatever you want to do ‘Tavi.” Fiery replied to her with a smile. She looked up at him and saw him smiling. “If you want this kid, I’ll agree that we’ll do it together. You won’t have to raise this kid alone ‘Tavi, I promise you that.”

“What are you up to Fiery?” Octavia asked bitterly.

“W-What do you mean ‘Tavi? I’m being sincere.” He put on an even larger smile, trying to fake his lie.

“I know you’re lying Fiery. What’s your motivation?”

Fiery sighed. “Alright, look. Celestia told me that if I forced you to get an abortion or if I left you, she would force me to have sex with all the girls until I got them all pregnant. I’d really not rather have to do that.”

“So what, you’re only saying this so you can save your own skin?” Vinyl asked him.

“Vinyl, now’s not the time to-“

“No Fiery-“ Octavia interrupted him. “She’s right. Are you doing this to save your own skin? Or do you really mean it when you said that you would stick by me and help me raise this kid? If I’m even pregnant that is.”

Fiery sighed once more. “’Tavi… I really love you babe, more than anything in the world.”

“Besides Luna.” She corrected him.

“Err, yes, I love you two more than the world. But this isn’t about her right now, this is about you. Yes, it’s true that I’m doing this partially so I don’t have to impregnate all the girls, no offense Vinyl.”

“None taken.” She replied back with a grin.

“But I’m also doing this because… If you really do think that we’re ready for a kid ‘Tavi, then I’m with you. If you really do want this kid, then I’ll do my hardest to raise this kid with you. I don’t want you to think that you have to take on this responsibility all by yourself.”

“Fiery…” Octavia could see in his eyes that he was being serious. She then looked down and began to think. “And if I don’t want the child?”

Fiery stayed silent. “Whatever you choose babe, I’ll be there for you.”

“Even if I want to give it up for adoption?”

Fiery knew he couldn’t say what he had said earlier about adoption, despite him feeling the same about it. “I’ll get Celestia to find the most suitable parents for our child, who would love it in ways that we would never be able to.”

Octavia stayed silent for a little bit more before finally speaking. “I don’t know what I want Fiery… This has been too much for me to handle in just one hour…”

“I know ‘Tavi, but if you need to talk about it, you can talk about it to me.” Fiery smiled once more at Octavia, who finally smiled back.

“Thanks Fiery, and I’m sorry for getting angry before.”

“No, don’t be. It was a stupid thing to say and I never should’ve said it. I’m the one who should be apologizing for acting the way I did. I was acting like a complete ass the entire time… Can you ever forgive me ‘Tavi?” She kept smiling at him and nodded. He smiled once more at her. “Thank you so much ‘Tavi. I promise, whatever you should choose, I’ll be right there with you.”

“Thank you Fiery, I appreciate it.” Octavia replied. “I really do…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Fiery, Octavia, and Vinyl went through the halls going to the dining room for dinner, they saw Redheart along the way, causing Fiery to stop and talk to her. “Hey Heart?” He called out to her.

She turned around to face him and smiled. “Hi Fiery, I was just heading to dinner, want to join me?” She said in a teasing manner.

“I was actually going there myself, but before I went, do you mind if I talk to you in private for a minute?”

“Sure, but whatever for?” She asked back.

“I just need to find out some things, that’s all.” He turned back to Octavia and Vinyl. “Can you girls go and get some seats for us? I’ll be there in a minute with Heart.” They both smiled and nodded.

“Don’t take too long Fifi.” Vinyl told him.

“I’ll try not to.” He replied to her, then turned back to Redheart. “I’m sorry to stop you like this and all.” He said to her as the other two walked away, out of hearing range.

“Oh, it’s no problem, really Fiery, but what is this all about?”

“I want to know… As a hypothetical, what would happen to a mare if she got pregnant?”

Redheart was stunned by this question, but due to her nurse duties, knew how to answer it. “Well… How far into the pregnancy is this mare?”

“Only a few days.”

“Well… There a few things then I guess that would happen depending on what happens.”

“Like what?”

“Well, first off, there might be a delay in the mare’s menstruation. Her breasts might begin to swollen or become tender. She might become tired or fatigued. She also might start to have morning sickness, as well as getting backaches and headaches. Those happen usually within the first one to three weeks of the pregnancy, as signs I mean. Then, around six to eight weeks, she’ll start having to go the bathroom more. The areolas around her nipples might become darker. And then finally, she’ll start having food cravings, but that’ll last throughout the entire pregnancy. That’s all I can think of for the moment being… Besides the obvious of her stomach becoming bigger I mean. Why do you want to know this Fiery?”

‘Crap! I totally forgot about making up an excuse before asking!’ “Uh… I just had a friend who wanted to know, that’s all…”

“One of us is pregnant, aren’t we?” Redheart guessed.

“Yeah… It’s possible that ‘Tavi is pregnant, or so my mom tells me…”

“I see.” Was all Redheart said, then spoke up once more. “Are you thinking of keeping the child?”

“We don’t know. If it’s true that ‘Tavi is pregnant, I promised that I would go along with whatever she wanted. If she wants to get an abortion, then I’ll help her with that. If she wants to keep the kid, I’ll be there for her raising it.”

“But is that what you want?” Redheart asked him. He sat there quiet.

“I don’t know.” He finally answered. “I really don’t know if I’m ready for fatherhood.”

Redheart stayed silent as well before finally speaking to him. “Come on, the others are waiting for us at dinner. Let’s get going.” Fiery nodded and began to follow her as the two went to dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fiery had entered the dining hall to see everypony there, including the new orphans. He went to a seat that was in-between Vinyl and Octavia and sat down, then immediately began to talk. “Sorry I’m late you two, just wanted to ask Redheart some questions.”

“Oh? What about?” Octavia asked him.

Fiery leaned into her side so only she would hear him. “I just wanted to know some things about ‘you know what’. I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t be surprised by anything that might happen during… you know.”

“Ah, I see.” Octavia whispered back. “So what did she say?”

“Well, just the basics really. What might happen to your body during ‘it’ and such.”

“Alright, I guess that makes sense. You think you can tell me after dinner?”

“Sure ‘Tavi.” He said to her while smiling, as she smiled back. He straightened back up in his chair and waited for his dinner like everypony else. Just then, he remembered what he had talked about with Lightning before. “Oh, ‘Tavi, Vinyl, you guys okay if I ask you two a question?”

“Sure Fifi, what’s the matter?” Vinyl answered back.

“I was wondering, do you two have a music agent?”

Vinyl and Octavia leaned in front of Fiery to look at each other, then shook their heads. “No, so far we’ve been picking up gigs randomly, with the occasional luck. But why do you ask?” Octavia asked him.

“Well, when I was out with Fluttershy’s parents today, Mr. Hippocrene told me that his friend, Mr. Fancy Pants, wanted to become our agent.” He smiled at the two. Both of their jaws dropped, then turned to Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy!” Octavia called out.

Having her name called out like that made Fluttershy jump a little, but she was able to calm down as she figured out that it was Octavia. “O-Oh, yes ‘Tavi?”

“Is it really true that your dad said that Mr. Fancy Pants wants to be our agent!?” Vinyl said towards Fluttershy.

“Yes, it is.” When Fluttershy said that, a large grin grew on both Vinyl’s and on Octavia’s faces. They then began to hug Fiery at the same time, cheering while they did it.

“I can’t believe it Fifi!” Octavia called out, not caring if others heard her say his name in that way. “We’ve finally made it!”

Fiery only put on a smile. “We sure did girls.” He wrapped his arms around the two and brought them closer for a tighter hug. “We sure did…” They continued to hug each other when Celestia had entered the dining hall as well.

“Well I don’t know what this is about, but I’m glad to see you three made up.” She said teasingly to the three. They all had gotten off one another when Celestia spoke, and began to blush, clearly embarrassed.

“It wasn’t that Aunt Celestia, we were just happy because of an offer I had gotten earlier today.”

“Oh? And what would that be Fiery?” Celestia asked in interest.

“Mr. Fancy Pants wants to be our music agent!” Vinyl said out loud in excitement.

Celestia put on a sincere smile and congratulated the three. “Well I’m very happy for you three, you’ve definitely earned it.”

“Did I hear correctly?” A new voice said as it was entering the hall. It was Rarity. “Mr. Fancy Pants? Becoming their music agent?” She asked in an interested tone.

“Yes indeed Rarity.” Vinyl said with a grin.

Rarity sat down at her chair and began to think, then finally spoke. “Idea!” Fiery, Vinyl, and Octavia only looked at each other, confused.

“Uh, idea what?” Fiery asked.

“Hmm? Oh nothing darling. But I must ask, now that you will be meeting with Mr. Fancy Pants on business and making a relationship with him…”

“You want us to help you to get close for your clothing business.” Octavia finished for Rarity.

“If you don’t mind darling. You don’t have to, but I would be ever so grateful for it.” She put on a large smile, trying to convince them to do it. Fiery only sighed.

“We’ll think about it Rarity.” He said with an annoyed tone. Octavia and Vinyl were shocked at the reaction.

“Thank you Fiery dear! You don’t need to think about it too much, just an idea, that’s all.” She replied to him with a smile. Then, Octavia spoke up.

“Fiery? Are you feeling alright?” She asked him. “Normally you would have just outright refused.”

Fiery turned to Octavia and answered. “Hmm? Yeah, I’m feeling alright. For what I might have done… I don’t know why, but I feel like it’s better to at least think about it before outright refusing her. Can’t be a jackass all the time.” He finished with a smile.

“What’s a jackass?” A voice next to Fluttershy asked. It was Bramble.

‘Shit, totally forgot he was here.’ Fiery turned to Bramble and smiled, trying to think up of an excuse. “Uh, it’s another word for donkey Bramble. But don’t say it too much, as ponies frown on that type of language.” He answered, trying to play it off.

“Why’s that?” Bramble asked.

“Because it’s an adult word dear.” Rarity answered for Fiery. “But let’s forget about that, I don’t think I’ve seen you before dear, or the foal next to you.” Rarity commented to Bramble.

“Nice to meet you… um…” Bramble started, not knowing Rarity’s name.

“She’s Rarity, Bramble, and you don’t have to worry about her, she’s very nice.” Fluttershy assured the colt, who smiled back at her.

“It’s nice to meet you Ms. Rarity, I’m Bramble! And this is my little sister Autumn.”

“Very good manners for a colt your age Bramble.” Rarity replied to him with a smile. “Unlike a certain other colt I know of.” She said while shifting her eyes towards Fiery, who knew he couldn’t come back with an insult with a kid in the room. “So tell me Bramble, what brings you to the palace?” Rarity asked the colt in a motherly tone.

“Mr. Fiery said that my sister and I could live here!” He said with a big grin.

“Really now? That’s very nice of him.” Rarity commented, while looking at Fiery again.

“At least for two months, until we make room for them back at our house.” Fiery answered Rarity, which got glares from Vinyl and Octavia.

“Fiery… Didn’t we talk about this?” Octavia asked him. Fiery leaned back into Octavia to whisper to her again.

“It was either that or me knocking all the mares up and leaving the two on the streets again, which do you think I was going to take?”

Octavia sighed. “Alright, well if those were your only choices, I guess it’s fair to say you did the right thing then… Although I’m not entirely pleased that you picked them up in the first place…”

“So what, you would rather leave them on the streets to starve?” He came back at Octavia, who only blushed. “Just kidding dear, I know you wouldn’t do something so heartless, I just wanted some fun.” He whispered to her, which got a glare once more. He then leaned into her and kissed her on the cheek, then sat back up in his chair.

“Ewwww.” Bramble called out when he saw Fiery kiss Octavia. “Gross.” All the adults in the room began to giggle at Bramble’s immaturity, thinking it was adorable, as well as Autumn, who began to laugh because the adults were as well.

“Bram-Bram.” Autumn called out for her older brother.

“Yeah Autumn?” He leaned in closer to her sister to listen to her better, but was caught-off guard as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek as well, causing him to pull back. “Aw, Autumn!” The adults in the hall began to chuckle at the scene, along with Autumn, all while Bramble felt embarrassed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the rest of the dinner, the adults just kept the conversations to the groups that they were with while Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, who were on the sides of Bramble and Autumn, kept care of the kids. Pinkie was making funny airplane noises, while trying to get Autumn to eat her food. Autumn gladly obliged Pinkie and ate her food as it was fed to her by Pinkie.

Fiery had looked over at the scene and began to smile at it. Octavia had seen him smiling and began to ask. “What are you smiling about mister?” She asked in a teasing matter.

“Hmm?” He paid attention to Octavia. “Oh, just watching the kids… They really are cute… But something just hasn’t left my mind since I met the two.”

“Oh? And what’s that?” Octavia asked him.

“Why were the two living by themselves? Where are their parents?” He thought out loud, answering Octavia.

Octavia face had gone from happy to sad as she also began to think about it. “I don’t know Fiery… Perhaps you should ask them.”

“I tried, but the last time I did, Bramble only began to break down and cry.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t try now, does it?” Octavia asked him. He looked at her and smiled.

“I suppose not.” He answered her as he looked back at the kids, then spoke to Bramble. “Hey Bramble?”

Bramble looked up from his food that he was enjoying and answered Fiery. “Yes Mr. Fiery?”

“Please Bramble, just Fiery, no need for the mister.” Fiery said while smiling at the child. “But I actually wanted to know a little about yourself Bramble.”

“Yes Mi-err, Fiery?” Bramble corrected himself as requested, causing Fiery to continue to smile.

“Do you mind if I ask you why you and your sister were living on your own? Where were your parents?” He asked as nicely as possible. That didn’t seem to help, as Bramble only looked down in sadness.

“I don’t know where our parents are.” Bramble answered truthfully. “One day when I came home from school, I saw a note on the fridge, a note from my parents.”

“Do you mind if I ask you what it said?” Fiery asked.

Bramble began to tear up, but was able to pull out a piece of paper from his flesh pocket. Fiery assumed it was said letter. Bramble then gave it to Fluttershy, who took it and unwrapped it to read it. After a while of reading it, she also began to cry. “Fluttershy dear, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked in concern. Fluttershy shook her head, then began to pass the note over in Fiery’s direction.

When it finally reached Fiery, he immediately began to read it quietly to himself. “’Dear Bramble and Autumn, I want you to know that we love you very much, but due to some personal problems, your father and I thought it would be best if we left you in the care of the neighbors, as we know we are not fit to be parents for you. We hope you’re able to forgive us one day, but know that we’re doing this in hopes of you two knowing that we were never meant to be parents. I know this is selfish of us, but please, please, forgive us. Love, mom and dad.’… Jesus fucking Christ…” Fiery put the note in front of him on the table, where Octavia took it and began to read it as well.

After finishing it, Octavia finally spoke to Fiery. “They just left them? Just like that?” Octavia said quietly to Fiery. “How could they do such a thing?”

“I don’t know ‘Tavi… I don’t know… Not even my own parents would do something like that, not even my despicable dad. The only reason why he left was because of his affair, but at least he tried to stay in contact with me until I cut it off completely…” Fiery only shook his head in disgust before turning to Bramble and addressing him. “Bramble?” He said in a caring tone.

Bramble looked up from crying and wiped his tears away in order to answer. “Y-Yes F-Fiery?”

“I know this might be hard for you Bramble but… How long ago was this?”

“A-About two weeks ago…” Bramble answered softly.

“Alright…” Fiery said softly to the child before asking him another question. He looked back up at the child and spoke again. “Do you know what your parents names were Bramble? Or who your neighbors were?”

Bramble shook his head. “N-No. We had only been there for a year, and I almost never saw the neighbors… I only knew my mom and dad as mom and dad… I’m sorry for not being any help…”

“It’s okay Bramble, you did nothing wrong.” Fiery smiled at the child, trying to hold back his anger for the disgust he felt. “Do you know what street you lived on? Anything Bramble, anything could help so we could help find your parents.” He tried asking the young colt, but got no more answers, only silence. “… Alright Bramble, that’s alright… Aunt Celestia?” He turned to Celestia who had kept quiet the entire time. He then levitated the letter over to her and asked once more. “Can you-“

“I would be happy to Fiery.” She answered with a smile as she grabbed the note.

Fiery smiled and nodded his head in thanks. “Thank you Aunt Celestia. Really, thank you.”

Celestia was about to speak when she was interrupted by Twilight, asking about the situation. “I don’t understand, what happened?”

“It’s nothing, you don’t need to be concerned about it.” Fiery answered her.

Twilight rolled her eyes and huffed. “Here we go again, you say it’s none of my business, but what if I want to help? What about that?”

Fiery slammed the fork he was holding onto his plate and answered her again. “Look, Twilight.” He said in a tone that you were able to tell he was holding back anger. “I really don’t think you need to know about this. It’s none of your business. So please, for the love of god, just drop it.”

“And like I said, what if I want to make it my business? What are you going to do then?” She answered with a smug smile. When she had said that, she started to see his head literally starting to smoke. Instead of coming back at her cursing, he only got up and left the room, with Octavia following him to check on him.

“Geez, what’s his problem.” Rainbow said out loud, which got a glare from Fluttershy. “What?”

Fluttershy was about to open her mouth, ready to tell off one of her oldest friends, but Celestia interrupted her. “It’s alright Ms. Hippocrene, I think it’s better if I show the four of them this instead. Maybe then they’ll understand Mr. Embers a little bit more, as well as learn that they might have all gotten off the wrong hoof.” She levitated the letter over to Twilight, who began to read it immediately. While reading it, the other three Elements huddled around her and began to read it as well.

After all of them read it, it was Applejack who opened her mouth first. “He got angry, about this?”

“Is there something wrong about that Ms. Pomme?” Celestia asked Applejack.

“Err, no yer highness, it’s jus’…”

“Just surprising that he would have positive emotions?” Celestia teased. “Perhaps you all were wrong about him. Perhaps you all were just blinded by your hatred for things that he did in the past, that you didn’t look beyond that and try to get to know him better. It’s like Ms. Pie said, perhaps you would know him better on his own terms, rather than yours.”

Twilight felt the worst about it, being the one who always pushed him. “I guess your right Princess Celestia. We were all blinded by what he did at the party and what he did afterwards that we never tried to act friendly with him… Perhaps I should have asked him questions that weren’t so personal, and asked questions that he would’ve felt comfortable about…”

“Perhaps Ah should ah listened ta him first before chargin’ at him when Ah saw him an’ Fluttershy together.” Applejack said to herself.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so uptight whenever I was around him.” Rarity spoke out.

The three then looked at Rainbow Dash, waiting for an answer. “What? I’m still not forgiving him for puking on my face and in my mouth.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and huffed. “Fine Rainbow, you don’t need to forgive him for that, for your entire life even… But can’t you at least give him another chance? You know we’ve been in the wrong this entire time.”

Rainbow was the one who had rolled her eyes and huffed this time. “Fine… I guess I can TRY to be nicer to him.”

“There, now don’t you girls feel m-“ Celestia was saying, but was cut off from a scream from the hallway.

“FIERY!” It was Octavia. All the mares in the room started to run out into the hallway while Fluttershy stayed back with Bramble and Autumn.
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As Fiery stormed out of the room, Octavia followed him. “Just leave me alone ‘Tavi.” He said to her as she ran up next to him.

“No way Fiery, I want to make sure you don’t do anything stupid if you’re this upset.”

Fiery stopped and faced his love. “I’m sorry ‘Tavi, but I just want to be alone right now.”

“And I said no Fiery… I know how you feel, but that doesn’t mean you should take it out on other ponies, even if they don’t know how to keep their mouths shut.” She said, trying to council him while rubbing his shoulder with her hoof. “What Twilight said was ignorant, yes, but she only said it because she didn’t understand the situation… If she knew why you were upset, I’m sure she would understand that she shouldn’t have said anything.”

“She should’ve just kept her mouth shut in the first place.” Fiery responded angrily. He then turned to Octavia and spoke to her. “’Tavi.”

“Yes Fiery?”

“What do you want to do with the baby?” He asked in a serious tone.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I just need to know, what do you want to do with it? Do you want to keep it? Because if so… I promise you, I will never be like Bramble’s parents. I will never walk out on either you or our child.” He said to her as he looked into her eyes. She saw that he was being serious, then smiled and nodded.

“Thank you Fiery, I’m glad to hear that… Even though I know that now, I don’t know what I want right now, especially now that we know that Mr. Pants wants to be our music agent… Do I get it aborted so I can continue with my career alongside you and Vinyl? Or do I make sure you and Vinyl do all the work while I stay home with the child?”

“Well what do you feel like doing ‘Tavi? Do you want to work? Or do you want a kid? Either way I think you’ll get enjoyment out of both.” Fiery answered her, smiling while doing it.

She only looked at him with an annoyed face. “Says you. Who knows if I’ll be happy with a kid Fiery…? Perhaps you were right, perhaps we’re not ready for a kid…”

“No, don’t say that ‘Tavi, I know we’re ready.” He tried cheering her up.

“Do you really think that? Or are you just saying that so you don’t get forced to impregnate the other mares with kids?”

“Both really.” He answered truthfully. “As much as I really don’t want half a dozen of kids, I also don’t want you to feel like you’re forced to have this kid because of my selfishness, be it because I really want this kid or not. That’s why I’m leaving this up to you…”

Octavia looked down and sighed. “I’ll think about it Fiery… If I really am pregnant, we’ll have at least until the end of the first trimester to think about it, won’t we?”

“I’d rather figure it out before then, but yes, we will.”

Octavia looked back up at Fiery and smiled, who returned the smile. “Thanks Fifi… I know you’re being tormented by this as well, but at least I know I don’t have to go through this by myself.” She smiled while kidding.

“Don’t think this as torment ‘Tavi. This is really a miracle of life.” He said to her while continuing to smile.

She laughed a little bit. “A miracle of life huh? I guess it is… My little boy, a miracle of life…” Suddenly she felt Fiery wrap his hooves around her, then returned the hug. “Thanks Fiery… Thank you for so much…”

“It’s no problem ‘Tavi…” He said, then kissed her on the forehead, letting go of her in the process. “Now come on, I’m sure they’re wondering what happened to us back in the dining hall.” Octavia nodded and began to walk away.

As Octavia was walking away, she heard a sudden bang behind her. She looked behind her to see Fiery on the ground unconscious with a golden door wide open right next to him. “FIERY!” She called out as she ran over to his unconscious body.

The pony walking out from behind the door was Aloe, who was coming out the bathroom, when she heard the scream. She quickly looked around the door to see Fiery lying on the ground, unconscious. “Oh my gosh!” She said out loud as she began to rush over to his body as well. “I-I didn’t mean to!” She got out as she began to panic over his body, thinking she somehow killed him.

As the others from the dining hall began to running up behind Octavia and Aloe to ask them what had happened, Fiery’s body began to glow. As his body began to glow, Octavia saw the girls and spoke. “W-What’s happening to him!?”

Twilight was the one who answered. “He’s teleporting… To where I have no idea…”

“I’ll be the one to answer that.” A new voice entered the premise. It was Starry. “He’s going back to Earth, just for a little bit, to clear some things up.”

“What do you mean Starry? What are you up to?” Celestia asked.

“Oh nothing really, just sending him back to Earth so he can talk to the other human about coming here, that’s all.”

“W-Will he come back?” Octavia asked Starry, tears streaming down her face.

“Don’t worry Octavia, he’ll be alright. Luna is going with him.” As Starry dropped the ball, Celestia began to look around frantically. “Who are you looking for Celly?”

Celestia looked back at Starry with anger in her eyes. “Starry, what have you done with my sister!?” She said angrily. At the same time, Fiery’s body finally disappeared, going off to Earth, where he would be human again.

“You have nothing to worry about Celly, I can assure you.” Starry said while smiling. “Really, none of you do. He’s just going there for a little bit like I said, to talk to his human friend about what’s to be expected. Luna will be there as well to help him, incase my son is too stupid and thinks that this was all a dream or something.”

“I want to go as well.” Octavia demanded, anger also in her eyes and voice, while tears still streamed down her face.

“I’m sorry Octavia, dear, but I can’t let you do that.”

“And why not!?” She yelled at Starry, who winced from being yelled at in the ear.

“Because-“ Starry started as she was picking at her ear with her hoof, making sure it still worked. “I need to keep an eye on you. Usually my predictions are true, but when it comes to something like pregnancy, I’ve only had a 50/50 chance on it. Not to mention that if I send you to Earth, I have no guarantee that they’ll find you or vice versa, as I’ve seen nothing about Earth for the past two years that I’ve been back.”

“Wait, you mean Octavia’s pregnant?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“She might be dear.” Starry corrected her. “I know it’s a hard thing to reveal Octavia, especially if you don’t know if you’re ready or not for a kid. I just want to make sure you’re taken care of, that’s all.”

Octavia looked up at Celestia, hoping for somepony to back her, but Celestia only sighed. She took that as a sign that Celestia knew Starry was right, that she couldn’t go to Earth to find Fiery, and that she needed to stay back in Equestria in case she really was pregnant. “I have one question for you Starry.” Octavia finally spoke.

“Yes dear?”

“If you said that you haven’t seen anything about Earth for the past two years, how do you know if Princess Luna or Fiery will be okay?”

“Because Octavia, I’ve seen them come back with the human that is needed. I can’t say the same if you were to go as well… I’m sorry.”

“How long?” Octavia asked.

“Excuse me?”

“How long will they be gone?”

Starry sighed. “I don’t know the exact date, but I would say around one to two weeks.”

“And when he comes back, he’ll be back with the other human?” Celestia was the one who asked this time.

“That is correct, yes.”

Celestia sighed once more, then turned to Octavia and the other girls of his harem. “I’m sorry girls, but if that’s what’s going to happen… There’s really I can’t do…”

“What are you talking about Princess Celestia!?” Vinyl yelled out. “You can easily bring them back!”

“I know Ms. Scratch, I could… But I don’t want to, not if it moves our plans forward… I know you’ll miss him, but it’ll only be for a maximum of two weeks… If they don’t come back by then, I’ll go to Earth myself and find them and drag the three back.” Celestia said to the girls, which at first got complaints, but they all had to agree. “Very well… I’m sorry for you girls who were going to be with him tonight, but you’ll have to wait another two weeks before that happens… And Ms. Pie?” She said to Octavia. “Do you mind if I speak to you and Starry in private?” Octavia said nothing but nodded. Starry knew she had to go because Celestia was frustrated enough at her, so she did it so she wouldn’t be sent to the moon. “Good, if you follow me then please.”

Celestia began to walk to her quarters with Starry and Octavia following behind while the other girls had gone back to the dining hall to finish their dinner, then go to bed for the night.
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Chapter 23. Alright, quite a few things I want to talk about. Before I forget, I am a guy. I am sorry for anyone out there who might take offense to me writing about talking about abortion and pregnancy and all that. Understand that the abortion part, I’m only going on with stories I’ve heard and such. The pregnancy I looked up on the internet and found it at the American Pregnancy Association, so if I missed anything or feel like I’m being a douche for writing something I probably have no idea what the fuck I’m talking about, I apologize. Second part is that I’m thinking of doing the next chapter (for however long Fiery is on Earth with Luna and such.) I’m thinking of doing it in first person like I did with the first four chapters. Third, if anyone is willing, I would appreciate it if someone could draw a cover for this story for FiMFic (Yes, I am that incredibly lazy and poor to ask someone to do it for me or to draw it myself and scan it into my computer then upload it). Just PM me to ask me what I want and I’ll tell you. I would be EXTREMELY grateful and although I can’t guarantee your OC being in the story (Have yet to do that with Galaxian, [sorry man, trying to get around to it]), I will try to fit it in somehow if you want to. That is all. See ya next chapter.