Solaris followed Dr. Joy through the empty corridors as she guided him to the room Trill was in the maternity ward. Even though he was tired from worry and his body demanded sleep, he was too excited as he was about to meet his little filly for the very first time. He had a small sliver of hope that she'll look like the daughter he always sees in his dreams, but he didn't care what her coat or mane would turn out to be after knowing she'll look just like how she envisioned her body to look. As they passed by the glass window that showed the inside of the nursery, the alicorn paused and looked at the newborn foals sleeping inside. He was about to scope out which one was his, only for the doctor to drag him along with her magic.

"Come along, Your Highness," she said. "I know you're a bit eager, but you'll have to wait. I'll bring her to the princess's room once she's fully checked out."

"You mean like a check-up or there's something wrong with her?" Solaris asked as he was about to panic.

"It's just a mandatory check-up, just to see if she's completely healthy," Dr. Joy assured. "There weren't any complications, though I think Princess Trill might not be walking for quite a while. She might need to stay here for a bit until she's fully healed."

"Yeah. I figured changeling bodies can't handle live births that well." He gulped, knowing he was going to get it once Trill was able to move around.

"The good news is that Princess Trill suffered no internal injuries. That spell really did transform her reproductive organs to handle the entire birthing process from the time your foal was conceived up to going into labor. I think she'll be walking a little funny once she's back on her hooves, but nothing too serious." After passing by a few rooms in the maternity ward, Dr. Joy stopped in front of Trill's room. "And here's where your wife is staying. I'll go and get your little filly while you catch up with Her Highness."

The doctor left and headed to the nursery, leaving Solaris outside of the hospital room. He slowly opened the door, the lights inside dimmed bright enough to see, but not too much to keep anyone awake. Inside the reclined bed was Trill, wearing a hospital gown as she slept under the covers. Just from the look on her tired face and her frazzled mane, she must have been through quite an ordeal of pain and exhaustion, and the alicorn felt guilty not being there to help her fight through her labor. Solaris quietly approached the bed and sat beside her, gently pressing his hoof against her cheek.

"Hey, Trill." She strained to open her eyes, hearing Solaris's voice.

She turned her head as she looked at him with a tired gaze, a small grin on her muzzle as he gently rubbed her cheek. "Solly..."

"How are you doing?" he asked as he leaned closer to kiss her, only to feel a weak hoof slap him on the nose.

"There had to be a stupid summit you had to go to," she grumbled. Solaris giggled nervously, giving Trill an apologetic grin. She didn't stay mad at him for long, bringing her hoof behind his head and pulling him down, pressing his lips against his in a soft kiss. Slightly shocked, he quickly recovered and kissed back, her tired forelegs trying to pull him closer as he gladly obliged. He pulled away and nuzzled her, her hooves running against his hair. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." Trill yawned, still pretty tired as Solaris looked down at her flat belly, a part of him missing seeing her carrying their baby inside of her. "It was pretty painful, huh?"

"Yes, and you are going to pay me back for putting me through like twelve hours of labor and eleven months of symptoms and extra weight...Now now though. Too tired." She began lightly bopping the back of his head, forcing him to look up at her. "But that pain was worth it."

"Really?" he asked, the exhausted changeling nodding her head. "What does she look like?"

"I'm not telling," she said, making Solaris whine in disappointment. "You'll see for yourself. I think you're in for a surprise."

"What do you mean? We saw what she looked like through the sonogram spell." Trill just grinned, frustrating the tired stallion with her secret on their foal.

Before he could press further, Dr. Joy lightly knocked on the door to the room and opened it. "Hello. Got a little visitor."

She walked in, pulling a hospital bassinet in after her, the mobile crib carrying a bundle wrapped snuggly in a pink blanket. Solaris gasped, watching the foal squirming underneath the warm blanket. Tears welled up in his eyes as Dr. Joy brought the bassinet closer to him, his hooves gently scooping the filly up as he held her carefully. His heart stopped when a tiny white hoof slipped out of the blanket, and he saw little holes in her leg. He helped uncover the infant a little more and saw what she looked like.

Sleeping soundly in her blanket was the filly he had dreamed of having as a daughter: white coat, a slightly crooked and jagged horn like Trill's, a small strand of green hair with a small sliver of gold in the middle sticking out of the pink cap she wore to keep her ears and head warm, and a pair of small white feathered wings at her sides. He couldn't believe his eyes, and yet he hoped that, when she opened her eyes, she would have the same emerald green eyes.

She began squirming a little more, opening her eyes as she felt someone holding her and fumbling with her blanket. His guess was right as his newborn daughter looked up at him curiously, her eyes the same emerald green as her mother's and the same kind as his dream daughter's. He couldn't hold back his tears any longer as he smiled, the filly in his dreams really was his daughter, and he couldn't be anymore overjoyed than he had ever been in his entire life.

Solaris looked at Trill, smiling back at him as she knew he would love to see what their daughter looked like from how she described his dream daughter to her. "Trill...She's beautiful." She let out a tired giggle, nodding her head in agreement as he looked back down at the baby filly in his hooves, still looking at him who this strange stallion was that was holding her. "Hi," he whispered, moving a hoof to touch one of hers.

She stared at the hoof, reaching out to his and touching it. She grew fascinated by it as she felt his fur, clutching it with her little legs as she pulled it to her, hugging it. She let out a content coo and smiled, looking up at her daddy as she snuggled against his hoof. He gently moved his hoof away, holding his foal closely to his chest as she nuzzled him, letting out a squeaky yawn as she fell back to sleep, feeling safe in her daddy's embrace.

"Knew it," Trill said. "She's a daddy's girl."

"Sure looks that way," Dr. Joy said as she pulled out a birth certificate. "So, did any of you come up with a name yet, or do you still need a while?"

Solaris tucked his daughter back inside of her warm blanket, finally finding the perfect name for her. "I think so...Emerald. Emerald Sparkle."

"Better than anything I could come up with," Trill said, the doctor writing down the filly's chosen name.

"Emerald Sparkle. Lovely name." Joy finished writing the name and signing her own before taking her leave. "I'll leave you three alone. Good news is that she can drink formula since changelings don't exactly lactate, which means she can eat foods that we can in the future. Though, if she can absorb love is something you two will have to test when Trill's not so lethargic. I'll come by tomorrow morning to take Emerald back to the nursery, perform some more checkups for a few days, and then you can take her home."

"Sounds good," Solaris said, making sure to keep his voice down so he doesn't wake Emerald. Dr. Joy left the room and began to head back to the office. He looked down at the sleeping filly he held, placing a soft kiss on her cheek, her horn glowing green a brief second as she cuddled against him. "Looks like she does if I give her love willingly. I think I can managed loving you and mommy, right, Trill?"

He looked back at his wife, the mare passing out a moment ago. Solaris let out a yawn, his exhaustion setting in as his body demanded sleep. He carefully laid Emerald down in the bassinet, watching her sleep for a while before he walked over to the bed, sat beside it, then rested his head beside Trill's, closing his eyes as he fell into dreamland along with his family.

Within the next few hours, the sun began to rise, its light shining through the blinds of the windows throughout the hospital. Dr. Joy had arrived and took Emerald back to the nursery for more routine checkups, as well as examining her physical anatomy a little more. Solaris's cousins, Discord, and Chrysalis had woken up in the waiting room, led by the alicorn himself as he guided them over to the nursery to see Emerald Sparkle.

"Ooh! Which one is it!?" Cherry exclaimed as she pressed her face into the glass, her eyes looking around at the newborn foals. "Is it that one? No, that one!...Oh wait, that's a colt. Solly has a daughter."

"I think she stands out among the other unicorn foals in there," Solaris hinted.

"There she is," Butterscotch pointed, spotting the white filly with the changeling-like horn, suckling on her hoof as she looked at them through the window.

"Awww!" Gemstone swooned. "She's so adorable!"

"Weird. I thought she would have looked a little bit uglier." Prism earned a hard punch in the shoulder by Apple Seed, the teenage pegasus rubbing the eventually bruised limb. "I meant more like a changeling."

"Still rude," the young farm stallion said.

Emerald looked at Chrysalis, the changeling queen looked away as she recalled how her grandfoal looked when she came out. "At least they bathed her."

"You seem to have a weak stomach if you can't handle watching a mare give birth," Discord teased, Chrysalis growling at the draconequus as he waved to the little filly now looking at him, tilting her head in confusion at the odd creature.

"So, are you going to take her home?" Cherry asked.

"Not yet. Plus, there's still the summit I need to return to since everything's fine now," Solaris said. "Just a few more days until it's done, then I can finally take Emerald home to the castle. I'll stop by once the major meetings for the day are done and see her and Trill for a while before heading back." The alicorn looked through the window, pressing his hoof against the glass as Emerald began to doze off, still sucking on her hoof like it was a big pacifier. "You guys make sure to keep Trill company. And don't overwhelm Emerald, especially with baby clothes, Gemstone."

"But I have so many cute little hoofie pajamas I made in the past few months, and I know the perfect ones that fit her coat and mane respectively," the unicorn said.

"No spoiling her," Solaris warned. "I'll see you guys by the end of the week or when I stop by after a break from the meetings."

Solaris headed outside to teleport back to the summit, not wanting to breathe fire in the hospital and risk setting off the sprinklers throughout the building. The others couldn't wait to have the chance to hold Emerald when they were allowed to.

"Well, good thing I don't have anything to spoil her with," Chrysalis mumbled as she looked back at the slumbering newborn in the nursery. "And the rest of the hive knows there's a new changeling among us...who is also part pony...This will probably cause a few problems for her when she gets older..."

For the next few days, Emerald Sparkle was taken care of by the hospital staff until she was ready to head off to her new home. After her examinations were done, Dr. Joy delivered the newborn filly to Trill's room, seeing more and more new ponies who wanted to see and hold her. She especially liked Discord more with his magic doing the silliest of things to make her giggle and entertain her. Whenever Solaris was finished up for the day, he would teleport to the hospital and see her, making her the most happy as she felt more comfortable resting in his hooves when he held her.

At long last, the summit was finally over, Solaris leaving the border of the kingdoms from the center of the continent on his chariot, almost forgetting he had arrived with his guards after hearing Emerald was born along with the discussions on the world's state of well being. After making it back to the castle, he dismissed his guards and flew off to the hospital. He knew at some time today, Cadence will end up visiting and drag Shining Armor and Flurry Heart after making it back to the Crystal Empire, desperate to see her grandneice after having to wait a week to see her. He arrived at Trill's room, where Dr. Joy was waiting for him with Trill, still in bed, and the wriggling little bundle of joy that was his daughter.

"Hello, Your Highness. Perfect timing." Emerald reached out to Solaris as he walked in, the stallion snatching her up and nuzzled her. "Emerald's all ready to leave. She has a clean bill of health."

"That's good," he said, feeling Emerald grab his hoof and hug it close to her, latching her mouth on the tip of his hoof and sucked on it. "And is Trill able to move yet?"

"I've been laying in bed every single day except to limp over to the bathroom, so I'm dying to get out of here." Trill began to slowly climb down off the bed, wincing a little as she set her hind legs down. She bent her legs to see if they can hold her weight. "Still a bit numb, but I'm not in that much pain. I think I can still walk."

"You may need a bit more bed rest," Dr. Joy suggested.

"Bed rest, shmed fest. I'm gonna leave with my husband and daughter, and I'm not going to spend another week here in a hospital after spending hours pushing her out of me," Trill said, leering at Solaris as she reminded him how long she had spent giving birth.

"Alright, but if you expect to be fully recovered, then you shouldn't engage in much strenuous walking or physical activity," the doctor said. "Which includes sexual intercourse, Princess Trill."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm gonna be too busy taking care of Emerald to even think about that for a while." Trill slowly made her way over to Solaris, bumping her muzzle into his. "And when we do have the time to ourselves, you're gonna get it, big boy."

"Y-Yes, ma'am," Solaris said with a nervous grin.

After signing out the discharge papers for both Trill and Emerald, the new family began to walk out of the hospital and back to the castle. Unfortunately, the moment they walked out the doors, they were bombarded with reporters, many ponies from different news media companies taking pictures with their flashing cameras as their words were all jumbled as they began asking questions. Solaris quickly shielded Emerald's eyes from the flashing bulbs coming from the cameras, having no idea where they all came from before he arrived.

"Prince Solaris, is it true that you and Trill have actually managed to make a foal despite the difference between pony and changeling anatomy!?" one of them asked.

"Was there magic involved!?" another questioned.

"Is that little filly a clone kept in the hospital from some insane science experiment gone awry!?" Trill growled at that reporter's question.

"I thought Emerald's birth was supposed to be kept on the down low until a little while later," Solaris hissed as he kept Emerald from having her eyes flash rapidly and cause her to cry out from the sudden paparazzi attack.

"Joy swore to keep a secret, and we're like best friends," Trill whispered back. "Unless one of the nurses blabbed or somepony else spotted her when they walked past the nursery during the last few days, then I might find an excuse to suck the love completely out of them."

"Trill, don't." The reporters continued asking questions, some more logical while others were flat out ridiculous as they tried to find the truth, or for the insane questions, make a quick bit over juicy gossip or desperate scoops. "I'm sorry, but I cannot comment on anything at this time! But to make this simple: Yes, this is my actual daughter, yes she was created by a magical spell that allowed Trill and I to conceive a child past the anatomical barriers we had, and I would appreciate not flashing your cameras in my daughter's face, otherwise she's not the only one who's going to get cranky!"

Unfortunately, the reporters didn't stop snapping photos with their flashing cameras, only irritating the royal couple further. Luckily, their saving grace came from Discord as he appeared in front of them.

"Ooh! Paparazzi! My favorite kind of ponies! Here's a little magic trick for you!" He snapped his fingers, creating a large circular tarp that covered all of the news ponies surrounding Solaris, Trill, Emerald, and himself. As they all squirmed as they tried to escape from the sudden tarp that fell over them, and as the draconequus rolled up the sleeves of a magician's uniform he instantly wore, he wriggled his fingers, grabbed the tarp, and lifted it up. The reporters had disappeared, the tarp wrapping around and shrinking as it attached to his shoulders as a cape. "And voila. Annoying ponies gone without a trace."

"Thank you, Discord," Trill thanked. "I was about ready to clobber the stallion who called Emerald a scientifically made up clone in a lab experiment."

"You didn't send them somewhere dangerous, did you, Discord?" Solaris asked.

"Oh, don't be silly," Discord said with a wave of his paw, creating a small rattle with the shape of his head, giving it to the infant filly in the alicorn's hooves. "I just took them to the north to get away from the warm spring air around here. Just a little ways away from the Crystal Empire is all."

In the middle of the frozen wastelands, just a mile away from the barrier of the Crystal Empire, the news ponies all stood in utter confusion after Discord teleported them away. "...Well, that was unexpected..."

With the reporters taken care of thanks to Discord, Solaris and Trill had a quiet stroll back to the castle with their baby. Emerald was quickly entertained by her new rattle her Uncle Discord gave her, shaking it around as it made an assortment of silly sounds that she liked. Eventually, word will get out that the prince has a pony/changeling daughter when those ponies returned to Canterlot, but at least they'll be given some time for Emerald to adjust to all the attention she'll wind up getting as she grows older.

As they passed through the gates, the new princess stopped playing with her new toy as she saw the castle. Solaris and Trill laughed as she tried to crane her head back to look up at the top, but being held in her daddy's hoof only made her bump her head against his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's really tall," the alicorn said. "She's going to be overly curious."

"Oh yeah. Hopefully you baby proofed every single part of the castle," Trill said as she rolled her eyes.

"Every single part of the castle has been baby proofed in case she wanders off." The new mother knew it, nudged Solaris's side. "She might also experience some bursts of magic and fly around, but I'm prepared for any of that to happen."

"I just hope she doesn't wind up like Flurry Heart." Solaris grimaced, looking down at the innocent face of curiosity as she moved her head to look at everything in the halls.

"Me too...At least there's no relic here in Canterlot she could accidentally break in a temper tantrum," he chuckled, only to trail off as he was going to expect some form of backlash if Emerald doesn't get her way when she's able to talk and move about on her own. They passed by many of the servants and guards, all of them seeing the new princess as Solaris and Trill headed for their bedroom. The alicorn opened the door to Emerald's bedroom, showing the curious infant where she will be staying. "Here's your room, Emmy."

"Nearly a week old, and you've given her a nickname," Trill teased. "And you said you had a hard time trying to find her a name."

"You know, it's actually more difficult to make a name for someone, even after months of thinking, just to make sure their name will be perfect." She stuck her tongue out at him, but he ignored her as he set Emerald down in the middle of the room. He gently removed the warm cap off her head, releasing the rest of her small tuft of mane and ears and the pink blanket wrapped around her, giving her some more mobility for her tiny legs. "How do you like your new room, sweetie?"

Emerald continued looking around, her rattle still held in her mouth that continued making random noises as she moved her head. She soon looked up, her daddy looking down at her, unintentionally leaning back as she fell back, quickly caught by the stallion and helped back up to a sitting position.

"You think she can crawl by now?" Trill asked as she sat down in front of Emerald.

"Maybe. Let's see. Come on, Emmy. Crawl over to mommy." She looked up at him, his heart immediately melting at the adorably confused look on her face. She reached her hooves to one of his and hugged it, wanting to stay with him more than crawl to her mother. "Ok, I guess not."

"Well, since she likes you, let's see if she'll crawl to you," Trill suggested, gently levitating Emerald over to her. She giggled as she floated in the air, dropping her Discord rattle as she looked up at her mommy. "Oh, so now you want me around you, hmm? You silly filly." The mare nuzzled her daughter's head, earning a squeaky coo from the filly. "Now, let's see you crawl to daddy. You love him more than me."

"That's not true, Trill." Hearing his voice, Emerald leaned forward and rested her belly on the floor. Using her front hooves, she shakily pushed herself up to try to stand, but her muscles weren't strong enough yet as she fell. Solaris was worried she hurt herself, but she tried again, only keeping her forelegs holding up her upper body, shuffling her hind legs to begin crawling over to him. "There she goes. Oh, I need to find a camera. I want to record memories of everything."

Solaris got up to head over to their room and find a camera to take a picture of his daughter crawling, but as he reached the door, it slammed open wide, smacking him against the wall behind the door as an overly excited Cadence barged in. "Where's the baby!?"

"Hi, Aunt Cadence," Solaris groaned.

"Hmm?" The pink alicorn pulled the door back, watching her nephew slide down the wall and fall forward. "Whoops. I didn't know you were there, Solaris." Even though Solaris had tried to leave to get a camera and got smacked by the door, Emerald still crawled toward him, unaware of the fact her daddy was knocked for a loop. She reached him, lifting herself on her back legs as she pushed herself up on his snout, giggling innocently as she tried to snap him out of his daze. Cadence gasped as she spotted her grandniece. "Oh my goodness."

"That's our daughter, Emerald Sparkle," Trill said as she walked up to her dazed husband. "She was still crawling toward him even as he was about to leave."

Emerald heard Cadence squeal, looking up to see the new pony staring at her, hearts inside the pink alicorn's eyes as she gazed at her grandniece. "She's so cute! Oh, come here, cutie!" Cadence picked up the confused baby and hugged her. "If only that stupid summit didn't happen, I could have met her sooner!"

"Careful not to suffocate her," Trill snickered, helping Solaris back up on his hooves as she shook the cobwebs out of his head. "So, is Shining Armor and Flurry here, or was it just you who came by?"

"I flew as fast as I could to get here," Cadence said. "The train was so slow and I couldn't take the wait after getting back home and shouting to Shining his grandniece was born...I think they should be here in a while."

"So you can hog my little filly to yourself." Solaris groaned, rubbing his sore snout as it met the door earlier. "Now, to the camera so I can take pictures."

"That's supposed to be the mother's job to constantly take pictures of the baby, Solly." The stallion ignored Trill's comment as both mares giggled.

"Trill, you and Solaris have a beautiful little filly," Cadence complimented. She held Emerald out for her to get a better look at her aunt. "Oh my gosh...She almost looks like Twilight when she was a foal."

"You knew Twilight when she was that young?" Trill asked.

"No, when she was around seven. Shining and I were in high school at the time, and I foalsat for Twilight when her parents went out. They even told me to keep an eye on Shining Armor, too." As Cadence smirked at the extra job she mentioned to the changeling, who rolled her eyes at the statement, she summoned a book from her magic. "The in-laws gave us a copy of all the photos of Shining and Twilight when they were little, and I still tease Shiny about his baby pictures."

Trill grabbed the photo album and opened up the first few pages. She snickered as she saw Shining Armor's pictures: most of his baby pictures showing him either sleeping or a big mess from eating food or playing in the mud, some of his older ones as a young colt pretending to be a knight or playing with Night Light and Twilight Velvet.

"Oh yes. The best leverage a parent will have on their foals; embarrassing baby pictures! Good thing I don't have any." She turned the pages, flipping past more of Shining Armor until the time when Twilight Sparkle was born. The first of this set showed Shining Armor holding his baby sister in his hooves with an excited grin on his face. While looking through the other baby pictures of Twilight, Trill began to notice how oddly similar she looked when compared to Emerald. Her eyes darted between her daughter and the deceased princess as a baby unicorn, surprised to notice how ironically alike they looked. "Wow. I think you're right...If you don't count the horn and wings."

"It's an odd coincidence...though I doubt this little filly could be a reincarnation of her..." Cadence's joy began to fade, sighing sadly as she set Emerald Sparkle down, looking at the baby pictures of her sister-in-law. "...She didn't have to do all this...She could have stayed safe with us in the Crystal Empire with Solaris..."

"Even if any of them stayed there, Lucifer would have been able to find some way to break through the Crystal Heart's barrier. Especially if he used that giant demon form of his..." Neither mare wanted to imagine what would have happened if the dangerous stallion back then could have been powerful enough to break through the protective barrier.

Cadence felt tears well up in her eyes, the pain of that day and the years that came with it still a very tragic set of memories no one would ever forget. She had lost her sister, almost lost her husband, and could do nothing but hope that Solaris could fight through his own pain of loss, knowing he was still suffering from losing the family he had known since he was young. As she grew lost in the painful past of Equestria's tyrannical rule from a unicorn with powerful dark magic, Emerald crawled over to the book and looked at the pictures curiously. She placed a hoof down on a solo picture of baby Twilight, not sure who it was and what her mommy and the other pony who hugged her were talking about.

"Do you think we should tell her about her grandmother and other aunts she never knew?" Trill asked.

"I think that should be up to Solaris." Cadence gently lifted Emerald up from the book and held her, closing the photo album before she got too upset. "It's a topic he'll have to talk to her about when Emerald gets older...and if she asks where Twilight is."

"Hey, Trill! Where'd you put the camera!?" Solaris asked as he called out from their bedroom. "I can't find it!"

Cadence quickly dismissed the book, not wanting her nephew to see pictures of his mother as a foal and cause him to feel upset and miss her. "Good thing I hid that thing while I took pictures of the two of us in bed," Trill said to her aunt-in-law with a wink, giggling devilishly as the pink alicorn blushed. "It's in the cabinet where your gauntlets are stored!"

"Why the hay is it in there!?" Trill snickered, knowing full well why she hid it there.

"Wait...did you develop the roll of film that's already in there?" Cadence asked, making the changeling wince in shock.

"Oh applesauce." She quickly made her way out of the nursery and ran into the bedroom. "Wait, I think the film's all used up! I'll find another one!"

Cadence shook her head, looking down at Emerald as she looked up at her. "I know you're going to cause a lot of trouble for your daddy when you grow up. You and mommy both."

A while later, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart had finally arrived and were escorted to the castle by carriage do to the stallion's forelegs. As much as he wanted to berate Cadence for flying out of the train and scaring the daylights out of their daughter, he forgot what he was going to say to her when he saw Emerald Sparkle, whom the alicorn was holding on to as they arrived. The family ate outside in the gardens for dinner, though while Solaris fed Emerald a bottle of formula, Trill had to keep Flurry entertained so she doesn't ruin the baby's feeding schedule Solaris intended on keeping for his daughter.

"I thought she would have looked more like a changeling, but I was wrong," Shining said. "But don't think having me see my grandniece is going to distract me from talking to you about flying out of the train, Cadence."

"Heheh...Well, it was worth a shot to distract you with cuteness." The Crystal Prince rolled his eyes, even though she was sort of right.

Flurry flapped back to the relaxing adults and suckling infant, landing in her father's lap. "I win!"

Trill panted as she crawled her way over to her seat on the patio, slumping over the table as soon as she sat down. "H-How...do you...handle her? She's an infinite ball of energy...and she never stops." Her ears perked up as she heard a small giggle come from Emerald, still eating her meal with her little hooves grabbing the bottle her daddy held for her. "Oh hush, you. If you weren't so fussy and let me feed you, your daddy could have played with Flurry and tired her out."

"I hope she doesn't get separation anxiety, otherwise I can't exactly do my duties as a prince without her being a distraction." The baby finished the last of her formula as Solaris pulled it away, laying Emerald over his shoulder and began to pat her back to help her release the gas bubbles in her tummy. A little while of patting lead to a very loud burp, surprising everyone present as she sighed. "...Whoa. Where did that come from?"

"Not from me, that's for sure," Trill said as she chugged down a bottle of water, letting out a belch of her own. Flurry giggled, but before she could try to mimic her changeling cousin, Shining kept her drink away from her to prevent her from acting like a pig. "I'm a refined princess."

"Yeah. More like incorrigible," Solaris said as he held Emerald, the filly nuzzling against his chest. "You better not have her wind up mimicking you from everything you do, especially when she gets older. Babies' brains are like sponges and take in a lot of what they see and hear."

"Like with Flurry Heart and her hyperactivity?" The young alicorn fluttered over to her cousin and hovered beside Emerald.

"Can I hold her?" Flurry asked.

"Ok, but be very careful with her." Solaris gently lowered Emerald into Flurry's as she landed on the ground, showing her how to hold her properly.

Flurry held her first cousin once removed, Emerald looking at her curiously, meeting so many new faces in the short time she was born. "She's real tiny," the little alicorn said. "Hi. I'm Flurry Heart, your big cousin."

Emerald cooed, her horn glowing green as she scrunched her face, the aura slowly encasing the alicorn filly. Trill gasped, knowing what kind of magic her daughter was using, quickly flying up and snatching her away from Flurry Heart.

"Ok, I don't think that was a good idea to let somepony like Flurry hold Emerald," Trill quickly said, surprising the others with her action.

"Trill, she was just holding onto her," Shining chided.

"And Emerald was trying to suck the love out of Flurry," the changeling explained, turning the infant around to look at her. "No stealing love, Emerald. You can hurt somepony."

"I knew she was able to consume love too the first night I held her," Solaris said. "I saw a spark around her horn when I gave her a kiss."

"Maybe you should use the Fledgling's Forbearance spell Sunburst used on Flurry Heart," Cadence suggested.

"I'm not sure if that spell will temporarily disable her ability to take love, and we're not sure if she needs love for sustenance." Solaris gently rubbed Emerald's head as he pondered a way to prevent her from stealing love from anyone else who holds her. "Maybe we can try sprinkling love essence in with her formula to sate her hunger for love. And if that doesn't work, Trill might need to transfer love I give to her to feed Emerald."

"Are you somewhat excited to try experimenting with feeding our daughter?" Trill asked with a suspicious gaze, Solaris giggling nervously as he reluctantly nodded.

"So, does that mean I can't play with her anymore?" Flurry asked.

"No, Flurry," Solaris said. "You just can't hold her, otherwise she'll end up eating your love until you're exhausted."

"Awww," the alicorn filly said dejectedly. "No fair..."

The sun set and the moon took its place, now late in the evening and time for young ponies to go to bed. Keeping to the schedule he made for Emerald Sparkle, Solaris got his little filly ready for bed: he gave her a warm bath, put a fresh diaper on her on the changing table in the nursery, and carefully put on a pair of hoofie pajamas Gemstone couldn't help but send to the castle, patterned with small yellow suns and stars. He soon began to rock her in his hooves and lull her to sleep while humming softly.

Her eyes began to droop as she nuzzled into her daddy's chest, his soothing voice and protective hooves assuring her she was safe as she drifted off to sleep. Emerald let out a yawn and closed her eyes, Solaris continuing rocking her as he slowly headed toward her crib. Using his magic to dim the lights to a gentle glow, he gently lowered her in the crib, planting a small kiss on her forehead. The baby's horn sparked from the love he gave, making her squirm and coo, thankfully not waking her as she seemed to drift deeper to sleep.

"Good night, Emerald," he whispered. "I love you."

Solaris quietly exited the nursery, closing the door behind him as he walked across the hall and entered his and Trill's room. His wife had finished setting up the baby monitor for them to hear in case Emerald woke up, setting it down on the dresser beside the bed.

"We are not going to be getting a lot of sleep for a long while, are we?" Trill asked as she plopped down on the bed. "Ugh. I hate being tired. I had enough being exhausted during the first couple months of being pregnant."

"Well, get used to it, because when she wants something or needs a diaper change, she'll cry." Solaris climbed into bed with her, wrapping his hooves around her and snuggled with her. "If I have any important events I need to attend early in the morning, you're going to have to check on her if she wakes up in the middle of the night."

"Oh, goodie goodie gumdrops," Trill grumbled. "You get her first if she wakes up tonight."

"Deal." He kissed his wife on the cheek and closed his eyes. "Night, hon."

"Night." Trill shut off the lights and fell asleep, feeling her husband nuzzling her as they drifted off.

In the nursery, Emerald was fast asleep, warm and snug in her new PJs. A moment later, a small lavender light shined in the dim room, not bright enough to wake the infant, a pair of light hoofsteps walking across the room headed toward the crib. A glowing purple hoof reached out and gently pet the filly's head, slowly stirring Emerald as she opened her eyes. She looked up at a lavender mare, her hair a dark purple with a pink stripe down the middle, her purple eyes looking down at the baby with a smile.

"Hello, Emerald," she said, rubbing the filly's cheek as she lulled Emerald back to sleep. "I guess I'm considered lucky to be your guardian angel. I'm glad I get to meet you and watch over you, my granddaughter." The guardian angel looked at the door, more at the room on the other side where Solaris and Trill were soundly sleeping. "He won't be able to see me...but you will, Emerald." She leaned forward and gave the foal a kiss on the cheek, already back to sleep. "Please, keep your father happy. He's been through a lot, and he needs you."

She began backing away, disappearing in a small flash of lavender light, leaving no trace of her behind as she watched over her granddaughter from above.