I walked up to the registration booth that was currently being manned by Amethyst Star, one of Derpy Hooves’, Aka Ditzy Doo’s, daughters, “Hi, I’d like to register for the running of the leaves.” I told her.

Amethyst wasn’t currently paying any real mind to me as she’s had dozens of ponies come up and register, “Name?” she asked, disinterested but not entirely harsh.

“Christopher McGrath, or just Chris.” I told her, at which she looked up at me.

She had a curious look on her face, “Oh, Chris, sure, but why do you want to join the running of the leaves? Last time this was going on you declined.”

I rubbed the back of my head, she had a point, last time I was around for a proper running of the leaves was before I left to the Empire, “Well… I mean, you see… how to put this… I was in a bad place back then but I’m better now and besides I’m a creature of ice, snow and cold, this just brings me closer to my favorite season and I wanted to help my town.”

She seemed to consider that before smiling, “Fair enough, well, you’re all set, your number is 224.” She said handing me my number, which I graciously took, “And remember, as much as this is a race it’s also to help the trees shed their leaves, so try to focus more on that than winning.”

“Well, duh, who would run this just to win?”

“I’ll let you take a guess at that, just know that they caused more than half the trees to not lose their leaves when they did. But the running will start in 20 minutes, good luck and have fun.” She told me with a smile.

I nodded, “I will, and tell your mom and sisters I said hi.” With that I went and joined the other ponies, I recognized a few but considering there were 223 others running with me I didn’t dwell on who was here. Honestly thinking about it I didn’t think Ponyville had that many citizens but it has grown into a much larger town since I’ve been gone so I would be surprised, and even then there was still a good chunk of ponies not participating.

I was at the back of the crowd as I was one of the last to show up, “Hey there Chris, I didn’t expect to see you here today.”

I turned my head to where the voice was coming from and gave a smile, “Oh hey, Twiggy. Really you didn’t expect me? If any of us would be the least likely to participate you’d be in my top 3, right next to Shy and Rarity.”

She blushed at that, “Hey, just because I’m not physically minded doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good run every now and again. Also, I participate in the running of the leaves every year.”

I looked her up and down, she was wearing some jogging shorts, a sports bra, it wasn’t really that cold at the moment, a nice 70 today so no need for long covering clothes. She also had a sweatband on with her hair tied back in a ponytail so it wouldn’t get in her face as she ran, he also had the number 220, “I can see that, you’re certainly dressed for the occasion.”

“I know, you should have seen me when I first did this, I was dressed head to toe in a uniform, I was so used to how Canterlot did this by just ripping the leaves off the trees in a matter of minutes I didn’t know what to wear, so i just came in what I was comfortable in.” She laughed at the memory, “Though you seem to be… wearing a little less than most though.”

I looked down at myself, I was wearing running shorts as well, but I had short socks on and breathable shoes. But that was really it I forwent a shirt as it was warm and I knew I’d overheat a bit too easily with one on. I shrugged, “It’s hot, you know I don’t handle heat well these days.”

Twilight nodded, “True, but don’t warn me when all the mares start staring at you.” She said with a giggle.

“Let them, I’m not ashamed of my scars and I’m proud of how I managed to reshape my body.” I said with a huff.

She shook her head with a knowing smile, “You always get defensive about that.” She scanned my person for a brief moment, “I noticed you don’t have a water bottle on you.”

My eyes widened in realization, “Fuck, I knew I forgot something, damn it, well guess I just have to take it slow today.” I was disappointed because I wanted to see if I could win today’s race but without cold water to keep me at a low internal temperature it wasn’t a viable plan. However, a flash of purple light and something floating in front of my face startled me.

“Here, you can have my spare for today, there should be water stops along the way to fill it up if you drink it all though.” Twilight explained, as she levitated her bottle in front of me.

I looked at her and then back at the bottle before grabbing it and clipping it to the side of my shorts, “Thanks, so where is everyone else?”

She rubbed her chin in thought for a moment, “I think Rainbow and Apple Jack are up front, they usually are. I think Fluttershy and Rarity are somewhere in the middle of the pack… they wanted to participate this year, try their hand at it for once they said.” She explained at my questioning look.

“What about Spike? I can’t see any scales in the crowd, really I can’t see much but colors but scales would stick out.” I asked her.

She pointed up in the sky towards her old hot air balloon, “He and Pinkie spectate and provide commentary for the ponies who aren’t running. What about Golden Skies, is she not running with you, she normally runs with me but she wasn’t here when I got here.”

I shook my head, “No, but I think since Shy is running, she’s probably with her.”

Twilight was about to say something but a horn signaling the last minute before the race reverberated around the area, “Welcome welcome welcome everyone to Ponyville’s 93 annual running of the leaves!” Said a bubbly voice that could only be Pinkie’s.

“Indeed, this year we have a turn out of 224 participants, thats 3 more than last year, it’s always a welcome addition to see more ponies taking part of this long held tradition.” Said a more masculine voice that had to be Spike.

“It is Spikey Wikey, now let’s welcome the new runners! Oh! This year the new runners are Fluttershy, Rarity, and Chrissy!” Pinkie said in excitement.

“So the gang's all here running finally, well except for us.” Spike said with a chuckle, “Well, welcome friends to your first run.” at that the group of ponies clapped and gave a loud welcome.

“Well now that that's out of the way, the race is about to be begin, so may the best pony win!” Pinkie said.

“And remember, while winning is important helping the trees is your goal today, though I don’t need to remind you all of that.” Spike said, reminding everyone of, what I’m assuming is, the event that made the trees not lose their leaves a few years back.

“Alright everyone on go you may begin!” Pinkie said.

“3! 2! 1! GO!” Pinkie and Spike said in unison, a loud bang from one of Pinkie’s party cannons sounding the start of the running of the leaves.

Mostly everyone else broke out into a run, however I was still at the back of the pack, along with Twilight, we were just pacing ourselves, running through White Tail Woods.

“Oh at the head of the pack is Dashy and AJ!” Pinkie said.

“Not that that’s any surprise, this is the same as every other year.” Spike said, obviously not surprised by this, “However what is surprising is that Chris is at the back of the pack!”

“Whaaaaaat?! Chrissy, what are you doing? Pick up the pace.” My oh so lovely fiancee told me.

I shouted up to her, “Love you too Pinks!” I shook my head but I kept the pace I was going. White Tail Woods at this time of year was absolutely stunning. I’m pretty sure the majority of the trees within the forest were birch, though a good mix of oak, aspen, maple, and beech trees were also easily seen. The leaves all had warm vibrant colors, anything from a bright yellow, to a deep red glinting in the sunlight, being at the back of the pack allowed me to be caught within a storm of falling leaves. This cause the sunlight to flicker and flash through the leaves making the woods look like the world’s most natural and beautiful kaleidoscope.

Twilight picked up the pace and left me alone at the back, which I was fine with, I’d catch up when I was ready to. Roughly half an hour passed and I was occasionally increasing my pace, I passed Twilight a several meters back, I was coming up on Rarity and Shy. Rarity was wearing long jogging pants and fashionable cropped sweater, her hair pushed back with a headband. Shy was also wearing jogging pants, though she was wearing a sports bra instead, that… uh yeah I’ll leave it at that, and had blue and white wristbands on. Her hair was also pulled back with a headband though she had it tied in a ponytail as well. Goldy was wearing jogging pants and a full sweater, her hair being in a ponytail like her mother’s, and while she didn’t have hooves she didn’t need to wear shoes as her feet were scaled.

“Hey girls.” I said coming up to them.

Rarity looked at me, “Oh hello Christopher.”

Shy smiled, “Hi honey.”

Goldy moved over to me and kept jogging, “Hi daddy!”

“How’s things going over here? I see you all are in the middle of the pack still. Not pushing yourselves too hard?” I asked them.

“Not at all darling, Fluttershy and I decided to take it easy as this is our first time being part of this event.” Rarity answered.

“Good, don’t wear yourselves out too much, how about you sweetie? You doing ok with all those heavy clothes on?” I asked my daughter, she was also part ice dragon so she could also overheat easily, but her pony half means she could handle the heat longer than I could.

She nodded, “A little hot, but I have water so I’ll be ok.”

I tilted my head in thought before holding my hand over her head. I focused my magic into the palm of my hand and forced the air to cool drastically around Goldy, to which she shuddered happily, “Better?”

“Much, thank you daddy!” She would’ve hugged me but we were still running.

“Not a problem. Alright I better get a move on if I want to catch up to the leads.” I leaned over and gave Shy a quick kiss and Goldy a kiss on the top of her head, as I slowly pulled away from them I also tapped Rarity lightly on the shoulder with my tail, letting her know I didn’t forget about her.

Rarity looked at Shy, her face a bit pink, “Darling, you are a lucky mare.” Shy’s face on the other hand was nearing a deep crimson and she could only nod in agreement.

I made my way I ran past a bunch of other ponies. A trio I recognized was the OG crusaders, who upon seeing me run past them were stunned, Sweetie the most as she almost tripped and fell, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom catching her. Others I recognized were Bulk Biceps, Derpy and her daughters, who I passed my hello to when I passed them. I saw cheerilee, not surprised she was this far ahead, I heard she kept in shape with jogging as is. I didn’t expect to see Vinyl Scratch in the race, but hey here she was, headphones on, jamming to some music, she was still rocking her trademark shades. When she saw me she gave an impressed whistle.

I took a swig of my water bottle, it was now half empty, should have enough to finish the race, as I kept making my way towards the front I came upon a familiar very pregnant Earth Pony and Unicorn, “Hey Lyra hey Bon Bon… uh should Bon Bon be running this much this far along?”

“Oh hey bossman, yeah she’s fine, aren’t you Bonnie?” The unicorn asked her wife.

Bon Bon was visibly sweating but gave us a thumbs up, “I’m good, it’s good to exercise while pregnant….”

I wasn’t so sure about that but I shrugged it off, “If you say so, how’s the shop doing?”

“It’s doing great, we can never thank you enough for doing that for us bossman.” Lyra said, she’s been calling me bossman ever since I bought them out and had them work for me.

“I told you it was nothing, take it easy on the run ok, take a break if you need to, no point in winning if you hurt the foal in the process.” I told them.

Bon Bon nodded, “Of course, I will.”

I looked to Lyra who gave me a nod, telling me if it got to that point she’d force her to relax for a little, “Alright well, almost to the front, I’ll see you all at the finish line.” I ran ahead, picking up the pace.

“Alright folks, it looks like the head of the pack is rounding onto the last stretch of the race, let’s see what the major upsets have been so far!” Spike said.

“At the back of the back is Steam Blower, who as usual always goes all out at the beginning and ends up at the back, maybe he’ll learn one day. Rarity, Fluttershy and Golden Skies have stayed in the middle of the pack the entire run, while Twilight Sparkle has slowly made her way forward.” The young drake explained, “Many runners have lost their place or gained but as usual Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash are leading the pack by a large margin still in a head to head race.”

“OH BUT WHAT'S THIS?! SOMEONE IS MAKING THEIR WAY TOWARDS THEM QUICKLY! IS IT? IT IS!!! IT’S CHRISSY AND OH…he’s all sweaty and shiny and oh my…” Pinkie said that last bit quietly enough that really only Spike could hear here.

“Ahem! As my Co-commentator cools down from the heat, she was saying that one of the new participants, Chris is gaining on Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack, will this come to a 3 way head to head race?!” Spike said in a dramatic fashion that would make Rarity proud.

But he was right I was gaining on those two, I could see them come closer into view, of course they heard the commentary as well and took a moment to glance behind them, their eyes widening as I was quite literally coming in between the two of them, “Hey you two, room for one more?”

“Oh, how in the tarnation is this fair?” AJ asked.

“Yeah? He can freeze time and I can’t fly, this isn’t a fair race.” The raspy voiced pegasus announced her displeasure.

“Hey, I’m not going to use my powers at all, just my natural skill, after all this isn’t just a race it’s also so we can knock down the leaves.” I told them, they nodded in agreement, remembering what happened a few years back, “However… you two still don’t stand a chance against me.”

“Oh is that so?” Rainbow asked, rising to the challenge.

“I reckon he’s saying he can beat us Rainbow.” AJ told her chromatic friend.

“As if, even without my wings I’m still faster than anyone.” SHe declared, pulling ahead of AJ and I.

“And mah legs can push me harder than anyone else.” AJ said, joining her friend.

“It looks like AJ and Rainbow pulled ahead of Chris! What will his response be?” Spike asked. What will my response be huh? I stopped and got into a sprinter’s stance. “Oh he stopped, what’s he doing?”

“It looks like he’s getting into a sprinting stance.” Pinkie said, finally joining her co-commentator.

“Welcome back Pinkie, are you ok?” Spike asked.

I could feel Pinkie eyeing me, “Oh I will be but that’s not important, right now the last bit of the race for these three is coming to a head and my Pinkie Sense says we’re in for a doozy!”

I smirked and kicked off from the ground, the strength of my kick off, cracking and shaking the ground hard enough to make all the leaves fall of in a large circle around me. As I ran I quickly over took AJ and Rainbow.

“What?!” Rainbow yelled, realizing she’d have to take this as serious as she could without flying, her speed increasing tenfold regardless, her hooves also shaking the ground hard.
AJ snorted in annoyance, she also went into a full out sprint which lead her into a head to head catch up between her and rainbow, and within a few seconds they were running next to me, “Howdy sugarcube, ya thought y’all could leave us in the dust huh?”

“Yeah man, you should know better than that.” Rainbow agreed with her farmer friend.

“Oh no, I knew you two could keep up with me, hell I know you’re faster than both of us Rainbow, you’ve proven that.” I told them, Rainbow grinning in satisfaction at my admission.

“You’re damn right I am.” She said happily.

“But that’s when yer flyin’, Dash.” AJ said, reminding her that she was not flying nor was she allowed to.

“She’s right, and guess what, you aren’t flying so that makes it fair game.” I told the cocky pegasus.

“Whatever, I can still beat you two without flying, just watch.” She pulled slightly ahead, though AJ and I just caught up to her easily. We ran for a few minutes and after rounding the last corner we could see the finish line.

“Oh and here we are! The end of the race its neck and neck, friend against friend against friend. The fastest Pegasus versus the strongest earth pony and the King of Ice, who’s going to win?! It’s so tense, so amazing, so fantastic…. I CAN’T TAKE IT! AHHHHH!” Pinkie screamed out.

I looked up at the hot air balloon and shook my head, but she was right, at this rate it was super uncertain who would win, and all of us were breathing hard, I looked at the girls I was running with, “Well… it’s time to end this, sorry girls but… I haven’t been going all out.” I took a deep breath, got down on all fours and rocketed off towards the finish line, thank god for my enhanced flexibility allowing me to do this. My increases strength and speed in running using all four limbs blew AJ and Rainbow back while knocking the leaves from the trees surrounding the last leg of the race, much like how it did earlier.

I easily passed the finish line before anyone else, garnering myself a first place medal, AJ was second, recovering faster than Rainbow did and Rainbow finished in third, upset for a split second but she gave me a huge grin and wrapped an arm around my neck, pulling me down to her face, “That… was awesome, so not fair but awesome, I should’ve known you were holding back on us, you were still pretty close to me when you took to the air again in our race. I should’ve known you were fast on the ground too.”

AJ chuckled, “I gotta admit, you got us good partner.”

“TAKING FIRST PLACE IS CHRISSY! FOLLOWED BY APPLE JACK! WITH RAINBOW COMING UP THIRD!” Pinkie said, “Wheeeeee!!!” I heard not coming from speakers but just from high up in the air. I looked up to see Pinkie falling towards me, did she jump from the balloon, why?! I flew up quickly and caught her. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me, “You did it you won!”

I was going to scold her on jumping out the hot air balloon, but I decided to let it go and opted to just give her a toothy smile as I slowly descended, “I did, did you ever doubt me?”

“Not even once, and that was incredible, how you just went woosh! And the ground went boom! And all the leaves just got blown away!” She said excitedly, still holding on to me even as we landed.

“Really you’re just going to leave me up here by myself?” Spike deadpanned.

“You got this, you’re the bestest commentator every Spikey!” Pinkie called out to him.

Spike just sighed and resumed his commentary until the race was finished, and not once did Pinkie let go of me.

“Congratulations on the win Chris.” Twilight said, her fur damp with sweat.

I shrugged, as best as I could, “That was the plan the entire time, but I couldn’t have done it without you giving me your spare water bottle, so thank you, Twiggy.”

“Good job Christopher, it’s nice to see someone else win for once.” Rarity said, giving AJ and Rainbow a playful wink.

“Yeah, good job bossman, we felt the wind you kicked up from where we were at.” Lyra said, rubbing Bon Bon’s back, as said earth pony was groaning in some pain.

“I’m so proud of you honey, I knew you would win.” Shy said, coming up to me and giving me a kiss, also softly kissing Pinkie on the cheek, but not taking the pink pony off of me.

“That was awesome daddy, just like up in Cloudsdale!” Goldy said, being one of the few people to experience my speed personally, really the only one.
“Thanks honey, Goldy, I wasn’t going to lose my first run.” I told them, slowly others came up to me and congratulated me on the win, eventually it was me, the girls, Lyra, Bonnie, the OG Crusaders and Spike left out in a barren White Tail Woods, “So, why don’t we all go out to eat in celebration, my treat.” I told them getting cheers of approval, and finally Pinkie let go of me.

“Chrissy!” I heard Pinkie yell from the other side of the fence.

I stopped working on the sanctuary I was still working on, I was getting very close to finishing, to look over at the gate that connected to front and back of the house, “What’s up Pinks?”

The look on Pinkie’s face was panicked and she was sweating up a storm like she ran here as fast as she could, “Bonnie’s having her foals!”

I dropped the fence post I was holding in shock, “What?!”

“Bonnie’s having her foals right now!” She repeated.

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck, ok uhhhhh…. Shit, forget this!” I broke out into a full sprint, grabbing Pinkie in the process, “Ponyville general hospital correct?” She yelled her confirmation over the rushing wind. With that I made my way to the hospital and went into the emergency entrance.

“Prince Christopher, what brings you to our hospital?” The pony at the desk asked.

“Friend, giving birth to foals, name is Bon Bon, beige earth pony with purple and pink swirly hair, 3 candies as a cutie mark?” I asked/told the receptionist.

He nodded, quickly flipping through his clipboard of check-ins, “Ah here she is, room 1113, head straight back until you reach the second branching path and make a left and keep going, you’ll find her room there.”

I gave him my thanks and grabbed Pinie again, who at this point was just going along with being pulled around like a rag doll, when I found the room I was looking for I saw Twilight standing outside of the door along with two pairs of older ponies. The first pair was a female earth pony who looked a lot like Bon Bon did save for the color of her hair, which was a solid sky blue. The male earth pony, however, was a vibrant yellow with hair the same two toned color of purple and pink that Bon Bon had. I’m guessing these were Bonnie’s parents.
That must mean the other pair are Lyra’s parents. The mare this time around only shared being a unicorn with Lyra and it explains where she got the white streak in her hair and tail as her mother’s was pure white with a dark grey coat. The stallion, Lyra’s father, shared his daughter’s coat color and a darker hue of her hair color he was, however a pegasus.

I set Pinkie down to sit on the floor as she was a bit dizzy from the ordeal, “Am I late?” I asked them, mostly Twilight in particular.

My sister in law shook her head, “No, she only just started but we have to stay out here, only her family is allowed in.”

I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding, “Oh good, I wouldn’t miss this for the world, I missed Goldy’s birth I wasn’t going to miss this one.”

“And who might you be son?” Bon Bon’s father spoke up.

“I’m curious as well, would you happen to be the donor for our grandchild?” Her mother asked, the question reflected in Lyra’s parent’s eyes.

I stammered for a moment before composing myself, “Nope, I have my own little family i’m taking care of… uh I’m their best friend… or at least they’re mine.” I explained.

Twilight moved up beside me, not before making sure Pinkie was ok, who gave her a shaky thumbs up, “He’s also my adopted brother-in-law, Prince Christopher McGrath ad Regim Glacies, recently announced several months ago, I’m sure you’ve seen the papers at the very least.”

At that, their eyes lit up in recognition, “Forgive us, your majesty, our daughter did mention she was friends with someone we wouldn’t believe. It has been…. A stressful day for everyone involved to say the least.”

I tilted my head and shrugged, “Eh, don’t worry about it and please, just Chris, I’m not one for formality outside of an appropriate setting. Though I didn’t catch any of your names.”

“Ah, once again our apologies, I am Sweet Treat and this is my husband, Stein Glass, we’re the parents of Sweetie Drops.” Sweet Treat said, officially introducing herself and her husband… wait Sweetie Drops?

“Did you say Sweetie Drops?”
She nodded, though confusion was evident on her features, “Did our daughter never tell you her name?”

“I guess not, I’ve just been calling her Bon Bon, it’s what everyone else does.”

Lyra’s father was next to speak, “Ah, I’m afraid that might be our filly’s fault. Greetings, your majesty. I am Tone Philharmonic and this is my wonderful wife, High Key. You see, as I’m sure you know, our daughter can be rather… forward, so she tends to introduce Sweetie Drops by her nickname she gave her, though since it seems she was never corrected for doing so Sweetie Drops must not have a problem with it.”

“Makes sense to me, everyone usually calls me Chris, never Christopher with exceptions of Aunt Luna and Rarity, or Shy when she’s upset with me…. Not a good thing to do, upset her…” I shuddered at the thought before something else registered in my brain, “Wait you said Philharmonic, correct? Are you related to Octavia Philharmonic?”

At that he smiled, “Yes, she’s my niece.”

“So… Lyra and Octavia are cousins… what a small world.”

“Indeed. So I assume you’re here to see their child then?” Tone inquired.

“Yeah, and technically I’m supposed to be around when a new foal is born, but since Ponyville and it’s surrounding areas are more Twilight’s jurisdiction I can pick and choose which births I want to be around for, this one, I wasn’t going to miss. I missed my own daughter’s birth due to unavoidable circumstances I wasn’t going to miss this.” I explained.

“He’s a good friend to your daughters and they’ve helped him a lot in return, so it’s only natural that he would be here for their foal’s birth. I give him my full permission and blessing to do so.” Twilight said, validating my presence even more so. I gave her a grateful smile, which she returned in earnest.

“And uh, not to be rude, or to insult your choice of company, but who’s the pink mare slumped against the wall?” Stein Glass asked.

“Oh… this is Pinkie Pie, she’s everyone’s best friends and one of my fiancees, she also is how I knew this was going on. She’s a good pony I promise, just a bit… strange.” I looked down at her and smiled, Pinkie giving me a dopey smile back, I guess she was still dizzy.

“Well, this might take some time, so how about we all sit and relax. Maybe Chris could tell you some of his adventures he had during his training.” Twilight suggested.

“Sure I don’t see why not.” I picked up Pinkie, bridal style and brought her over to the nearest bench where I was joined by Twilight and Bonnie’s and Lyra’s parents. I told them a few stories of my adventures I had over the years. Pinkie came too fully after a bit and just stayed listening to my stories. Slowly the others joined us one by one, with Spike bringing them in and leaving to get the others, by the time the full group was here we were actually informed that we were allowed to head into the room. We made our way in, one by one, but we quickly realized that 16 in one room was not the best idea so half of us left just leaving me, Twilight, and their parents. The doctor also left for a moment just to let us have some time with them.

Bon Bon looked like she was asleep, but Lyra looked up, her eyes tired but bright, “Mom, dad, Momma Sweets, Papa Glass. It’s good to see you could make it. Twilight and Chris too, good.”

High Note moved closer to her daughter and daughter in law, “How’s Sweetie Drops doing?” She asked her daughter.

Bonnie’s eyes slowly opened at hearing her real name, obviously exhausted to high hell and back, “I’m fine, hi Miss Key, does that mean Tone and my parents are here too?”

High Note nodded, gesturing to Bonnie’s parents, who turned to look at them, “Hi ma, hi papa… oh Chris and Twilight it’s good to see you too…” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “Come closer and see them.” She told us, “Quietly though, they’re sleeping.”

We moved closer, “They huh?” I asked quietly, peering over the blankets containing her foals.

She had 3 foals, one that looked nearly identical to her, except they were a unicorn and instead of just having 2 toned hair color there was an extra swirl of mint green, similar to Lyra’s hair color. Another was the exact opposite where it looked nearly identical to Lyra and had a tan streak going through it’s hair and was an earth pony. The last foal was a pegasus as you could see tiny feathers poking out from the back of the blanket and it had black fur with forest green hair that had streaks of sunshine yellow spread throughout.

“Huh… how do they look like you but the last one doesn’t? Didn’t you get a donor?” I asked them.

Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other before sharing a sigh, though lyra spoke up, “No, we didn’t magic can do crazy things Chris and I’ll leave it at that, as to why our third foal looks so different is because she probably takes after my grandfather in terms of color, it was the exact same as him. Her brothers however, obviously take after us.”

I blinked, “I guess that makes sense… I can’t really say much all things considered., but as long as they’re healthy and happy that’s all that matters.”

Twilight nodded in agreement, “Well, I’m technically here on official business, what are the foals names?”

“The pegasus is Forest Breeze.” Lyra said.

“The earth pony is Symphony and the unicorn is Gumdrop.” Bonnie said, keeping the naming tradition of both families going apparently.

Twilight smiled happily, “Those are beautiful names, as a Princess of Equestria I fully welcome Forest Breeze, Symphony, and Gumdrop into Equestria and may they have long, happy and fulfilling lives.” Twilight said as her horn lit up and her magic quickly washed over the foals, making them sigh in content. I gave my sister-in-law a curious look, “It’s just registering their specific magical signatures into the archives, so that they’re official citizens.”

“Ah alright, well congrats you two, it was a long road, and I’m happy for both of you, I’m glad I was here for it.” I told my friends.

“We’re glad you’re here too Chris, infact Bonnie and I had something we wanted to ask you.” Lyra said.

“Oh?” They had my attention.

Bon Bon nodded, “We wanted to ask you if you’d be their god father?”

+‘WHAT?!!!!’+ Ixis and I both screamed in my head, and I guess it showed on my face since they started to back track until I stopped them, “No, no, it’s ok, you just caught me off guard. Yeah I’ll happily be their god father. Why me though?”

“You have to ask? You helped us get our store to be what it is and you’re our best friend. Also, if anything were to happen to us we know you would be around to find out what happened and take care of them for us.” Bon Bon said.

“That aaand you’re going to outlive all of us anyways… it would be nice to have someone to watch over our family long after we’re gone.” Lyra added.

“I… Lyra… Bon Bon… you, I’d watch over your family regardless. You are my family, I promise I’ll take care of your family, no matter what.”

Bon Bon gave a weak smile, “Thanks Chris, I’m getting tired though, do you mind if we see the others before I go to sleep?”

“It’s no problem… I’ll see you when you’re more rested and I’ll get someone to watch the store, hell I’ll do it myself.” With that Twilight and I left the room, the others heading in, I smiled to myself, my family is growing even more, it makes my heart sing.

A couple of weeks after the birth of Lyra and Bon Bon’s foals it was Goldy’s birthday. She was turning 5 today, and she was excited as Pinkie was throwing her a huge party that we’ve all been helping getting set up., It took a few hours from 8 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon to get fully set up but once it was done, the party was huge and almost everyone in Ponyville was there.

It made me realize how much everyone loved Goldy, and that in itself warmed my heart. I was so worried that due to her being a triple hybrid she would be shunned and bullied, but that looked to be the exact opposite, she had friends who loved being around her and the adults in town thought she was an absolute sweetheart.

Really the party was going well until I saw a familiar looking pair of colts walk up to Goldy, I raised my eyebrow watching and waiting to see what happens.

“So this is your birthday party huh?” The heavier and shorter of the colts said, “Eh I’ve seen better.”

“Yeah, I bet everyone came just to have pity on you for being such a freak.” The taller lankier one added. At Goldy’s silence he continued, “I don’t even know why we were invited, your monster of a father probably told you to.”

“Or your freak of a mother.” The fat one sneered.

That’s what made Goldy speak up, “My daddy isn’t a monster and my mommy isn’t a freak.” She said in a harsh tone.
The fat one laughed again, “Of course she’s a freak, only a freak could have a foal with a monster like him. I guess that just makes you a super freak.”

“Shut up.” Goldy said quietly.

The skinny one leaned down, “What was that super freak?”

“I said shut up.” She said a bit louder.

“Huh? I’m sorry I must have something in my ears, what did you say? It sounded like you said shut up.” the skinny one asked, clearly getting annoyed.

Goldy glared at the, her pupils complete slits and steam flowing off her form as the temperature around her lowered, “I DID I SAID SHUT UP!” She roared out.

They backed up a little before the scoffed, “What, is that supposed to be scary?” The fat one asked, “Please, guess we’ll just have to put you in your place.” He said as he reared his fist back. That's when I stepped in and grabbed his fist in my hand and slowly lifted him up to my face, “W-what?” His partner tried to get away but I quickly grabbed his ankle with my tail, also lifting him up to my face.

“Hello, do you remember me?” I asked the boys, who nodded in fear, “Good, glad to see I left an impression. So I’m gonna tell you something, a lot of what you just said is wrong, it was actually amazing seeing how wrong you two were. Golden Skies isn’t a freak, she’s a wonderful girl who invited you out of the kindness and generosity in her heart, like her aunts and mother taught her to. To be kind and forgiving, though she still has to get to the whole don’t let anyone walk over you stage. I had nothing to do with any of that, in fact I didn’t want either of you little jerks anywhere near this party.” I told them with a growl underlining my voice, causing them to swallow their building saliva.

“My Shy, is an angel who gave someone like me a chance and taught me how to truly be happy once again. You have no right to call her a freak, so I would refrain from it in the future unless you want to bring the wrath of a dragon onto your heads.” I took a deep breath, mist rolling out of my mouth, my pupil slitting dangerously. I stared at the two colts straight in their eyes, deep into their souls, “Now me, on the other hand…. You were absolutely correct. I am a monster, I’ll destroy anyone and anything that threatens my family. No exceptions, now I suggest you leave this party and never go near my daughter again. If you do and I find out, you’ll know what it’s truly like to deal with a monster.” I said in a purely malicious tone, opening my mouth, cold flames dancing in the back of my throat before dropping the colts on the ground, to which they quickly scrambled away.

I huffed, stopping my magic from flowing, the mist settling and my pupil returning to it’s normal wide slitted self. I looked down to my daughter and got on one knee, her pupils were still heavily slitted and she was still pouring out ice magic. I placed a hand on her shoulder, her eyes snapping to me, from the boys she was watching running away, “Hey, it’s ok… it’s ok. Take a deep breath, and breathe out slowly.” She did as I told her to and once she was calm, her eyes returned to the normal pupils her pony half gave her and mist stopped rolling off her form. After she was 100% calmed down she hugged me and cried.

“I-I’m not a freak… mommy isn’t a freak…. You aren’t a monster…” She said between hiccups.

I rubbed her back and sighed, “No you aren’t and no one is here because they pity you. Look around, they are all worried about you.” She took her face from my chest, tears still flowing from her, and looked around, “See, all these ponies, are your friends, they are your family, this village would protect you from any danger, just as they would anyone else. They love you Golden Skies, as if you were their daughter. If I wasn’t around to step in, any single one of them would have in my place.” They all nodded, reassuring her that my words were truthful, “And you mother is a pure angel, the nicest pony I’ve met, and I’ve met a lot, don’t let what those bullies said get to you, ok?”

She sniffled her tears fading, “But… what about you, you aren’t a monster.”

“Goldy…I am a monster. I’ve done things I’m not proud of, I’ve hurt people and ponies in the past, some for no reason, some for actual reasons. And I’ll do so in the future, especially if anything were to hurt you. But that’s my job as your father, is to be a monster so all the other monsters won’t hurt you.” I told her, “But never a day in my life will I ever hurt you or your mothers or aunts. The day I do is the day I become a true monster and I hope whoever is the protect of Equus at the time puts me down.”

“But you never will do that right? You’ll never hurt me or mommy or momma Pinkie or anyone else right?” She asked me.

I gave her a small smile, “No… I won’t, I’ll try my best not to. Now, go enjoy your birthday, it’s for you after all, don’t let this get you down, I heard Pinkie has something super special for you and your cousin Apple Bloom does too.” I gave her a hug before gently pushing her away, she gave me a smile and nodded before running off to find those two.

“Are you alright Chris?” I heard Shy ask, as she came up to me.

I stood up, “I will be… she’s starting to act more like a dragon these days.”

“I’ve noticed, do you think you should take her to the Dragon Lands at some point?” She asked me.

My scales tingled at that, “No… I can handle her for a few more years. I’ll take her when it’s absolutely necessary.”

She gave me a curious look, “Chris, is there something about the Dragon Lands you aren’t telling me?”

I sighed, “I… yes, but I’ll tell you when I’m ready, ok? I promise.”

Shy nodded, and gave me a kiss, “I know you will, I trust you.”

“Thank you Shy, now come on, I need to forget about this debacle, let’s go see our girl happy.” I told her, leading her over to enjoy the rest of the party.

Author's Notes:

At the hospital waiting for my son to be born. To anyone who has been the father in this situation understands what I'm dealing with for those of you who don't, it is absolutely the worst thing I have ever experienced. I can deal with my own pain just fine, no matter how bad, because I at least have some modicum of control of the situation .

This, however, I do not, I just have to watch her be in pain for hours to days it sucks, I hate it and I can't do anything to help except be there for her. It's frustrating and it makes me feel absolutely useless so I haven't been able to concentrate on anything related to writing, it's why I didn't put this up yesterday like I said I would, but here you all are. I'll.... have the next chapter up when I can, no guarantee this time around when it will be.

I'll see you all next time, enjoy.