Eleven months, full term
Flurry Heart's parents watched us as we packed our luggage for our stay in Ponyville, which we are departing to there tomorrow morning. Flurry has nearly reached full term, and our nurse has estimated that she had two more weeks to go. Her belly was already huge, and it's about a hoof-length and a quarter from touching the floor. She had told her plan of giving birth in Ponyville to her parents, which they gladly approved.
"Will you feel comfortable giving birth there, Flurry?" Prince Shining Armor asked.
"I'm okay there, Dad, as long as I have Melody's friends with me."
"With her best friend there it's not gonna be a problem!" I added.
"You two take care of yourselves, okay? I know you two guys can. I have confidence in both of you." Princess Cadance hugged Flurry Heart. "Let us know when you've given birth, okay? I'm eager to see your little ones."
"I'll be fine, Mom."
"And Shimmering, keep up on your duty. I'll continue to lecture you and Flurry on parenting when you two return with your children and after the Crystalling," she turned to me and hugged me.
"I got that, Princess. Leave it to me."
Just before noon, we were already in Melody Aurora's house, and are settling ourselves. Our plan was to stay in Melody's house for the first week, then I'll be moving into the Ponyville Hospital for Beryl to care for me, while Shimmering would be staying in Auntie Twilight's castle.
"Excited for your birth, huh?" Melody asked me as she came downstairs from arranging my room. "I've only got one and a half more."
"I understand you're excited as I am," I replied. Lifting my dress, I continued. "Let's do our belly contact, shall we?"
"Yeah, I'm on it!" She came and sat beside me, lifted her dress and had her belly touching mine. As usual, they began kicking again.
"Ooh, this is comfortable!" I said.
"Well you got two weeks here," Melody asked me. "What are you going to do here?"
"Hmm, I suppose we can plan everything tonight. I have no idea where to go now," I laughed.
"Don't worry, we still have time to surprise more ponies before you give birth," Shimmering replied. "I think we need more ponies to see your belly for real."
"We'll see about that tonight, Shimmy," I replied. "This evening… how about some gathering at Sugarcube Corner?"
"You can say that. I'll be having our usual gathering there as well!"
As usual, we were all gathered at Sugarcube Corner. This time, we were all with Princess Melody's friends. A number of them were all pregnant, and our Ponyville nurse Beryl was seemingly the largest of her friends, as she is now seven months along with triplets in her womb.
"Giving birth in our hospital?" Beryl asked. "That sounds interesting. I've already handled a number of births in the hospital, and I think I could put my skills for your case."
"That's kind of you, Beryl," Flurry replied. "How would you handle your own, though?"
"Oh, I can handle it, too. I'm only seven months, but I'm already excited on how I could handle my own labor!"
"My sister knows exactly what she's doing," smirked Chaos Control.
"She is absolutely reliable," agreed Platinum Royale. "To treat every expectant mare with advice."
"Oh, you guys…" Beryl blushed.
"Which reminds me, Greenie Hats, you're expecting, too, so, do you still go to the Wonderbolts Academy?" Flurry asked her.
"Oh, who says I can't go?" she replied. "As long as I'm fit, flying there won't be a problem! Even so, Raisin Brandy was being overprotective on my situation…"
"Oh, him…" Fiji Appleoak said. "Well Peanut Butter was a bit concerned on me going applebucking on my pregnancy, too, though I had to tell him over and over that I'll be fine."
"Oh, come on!" moaned Peanut who was on another side.
"Well anyway," Flurry continued. "I was thinking of paying a visit to the Wonderbolts Academy tomorrow. Thought I wanted to surprise those Wonderbolts there."
"Oh, cool! Leave it to me!" Thunder Clash announced. "I'll make sure you'll have a safe ride to there, since you got a huge body full of babies."
"She knows the trick, pal," I replied. "You can announce to the others."
"Oh, it's gonna be surprising!" said Greenie. "I'll find Mom and Dad later and I'll see what we can do!"
"Are you gonna be fine, Greenie? You're pregnant, too…" said a concerned Fiji.
"Nah, as I said, I can go, as long as I'm fit!"
"Is that something that came up to your mind in spending your time here?" Melody asked Flurry.
"Yeah, it just came in. I think it's better I walk around, to make myself active. We can plan more later tonight, Melody."
"Which reminds me, but yeah," said Pepper Flake. "We all agreed that Prince Orion's baby was cute the last month we went to see them, right?"
"Yeah, do you have any plans?" Pumpkin Cake asked.
"Well, since their baby's monthiversary's almost here, let's all make a wonderful surprise for them in a few days!"
"That's nice," Flurry agreed. "We could probably give them some good welcome."
"As for you, Flurry and Melody," Pepper turned to them. "Since you're here, and both of you are almost due though a month apart, I'll give you two the best baby shower you'll never forget!"
"Oh-ho-ho, you're always our best planners with your family," laughed Melody.
Late in the morning, I took off for the Wonderbolts Academy, with my body firmly on the cloud that aided my flight. Upon arrival, I was greeted by the Wonderbolts staff, with the crowd of Wonderbolt trainees waiting for my arrival.
"Welcome, Princess," greeted the former captain, as we shook hooves. "A great pleasure to see you here."
"Indeed, Madam," I replied.
"You know, my children told us everything about your arrival," Greenie and Thunder's father told me. "We got so excited that we thought we weren't prepared in time!"
"Oh, don't worry. It's not a huge visit, a mini one," I laughed. "Take me to the building, please."
"Oh, please, we'll show you the way! Rest yourself, Princess!" a Wonderbolt staff escorted me.
Soon I met the cadets and trainees at a lecture room, and I gave them a talk on my family and my learning responsibilities. At the end, a trainee asked if they could feel my belly, and I gladly allowed them.
"Don't quarrel, it'll be your turn eventually. You can feel it again if you want," I told them, looking at the inquisitive group.
"Wow, Princess, you surely are an attraction," Greenie's father told me.
"Yes. Just have a nice and cool attitude, and that's the secret to getting popular!" I replied, and we laughed.
That night, as I returned from my visit, I stopped by at Auntie Twilight's castle. She was touching her horn on my head to measure my body strength.
"Okay," Auntie Twilight said as she finished. "From what I analyzed, it's quite interesting. Due to your pregnancy, your foals are giving you more strength in the event of a battle. So that means your overall strength has increased from your babies!"
"Oh, so that means my babies are helping me in fighting because they're giving me extra strength!" I replied.
"Yup! This is showing something like children's love to their mother, isn't it? Conclusively, you'll gain more strength when you're pregnant."
"Nice! Have you actually tested it on Melody, too?"
"I actually planned to, and I'm to do the same to Beryl, too, since I needed to find out if the number of babies having can affect a mare's magical strength during pregnancy!"
"You never stop researching, huh, Auntie Twilight?"
"Researching is a never-ending process, Flurry Heart," she smiled at me.
We are now in Carousel Boutique, planning to meet Platinum Royale so that we can do something special: making a belly cast of her big pregnancy. We wanted to do it as a keepsake after Flurry has given birth to remind us how big she has been.
"So, you're finally here for your belly cast?" Platinum Royale asked. "I've got all the materials ready. Let me put my finishing touches on my fashion first."
"No problem, Platinum. We can wait," Flurry replied.
Just as we waited for a minute, somepony was knocking at the door.
"Come in!" Platinum called. The door opened, and Flurry recognized the pony instantly.
"Mrs Pommel! What a delight to see you here!" she called.
"Princess! Glad to see you too! I'm here to pay for a visit for a few days," she explained. "Oh, and it looks like you gave my daughter a surprise! Come in, kids! Guess who's here!"
Two ponies followed, and the teenage filly following behind rushed towards Flurry.
"Princess! I'm so lucky to see you again!" She cried as she hugged her.
"Hey, take care of my wife's belly!" I called.
"Don't worry, Shimmy. She knows how to take care of me. She must be my number one fan of my pregnancy!"
"Yeah, she keeps babbling about you almost every day!" added her brother. "You know, her part-time company she enrolled in has given her a task of writing an article of any topic. She said she wanted to write and have photos on you, and we said we can't really guarantee since we can't meet you often. I think we have to consider her lucky that she finally met you!"
"Yes, I'm so excited!" she shrilled. "I got my camera along, too! Where can we do our photographing, Princess?"
"Oh, so you wanted to have an interview with her and have photos of her, right?" asked Prudence.
"Oh, that's terrific!" beamed Flurry. "Well, you guys chat downstairs. We'll do our photographing upstairs!"
"Alright, I'll get back to you when I finish this as well!" said Platinum.
"Oh, so you're working. Is it possible for you to talk?" asked Mrs Pommel.
"Sure, I can listen to everything. Now, the three of you, have fun!"
Upstairs, the filly was doing her interview with Flurry Heart, which seemed like hours to me! Yet, I was able to provide her additional responses as Flurry mentioned me or when she asked something about me.
"Alright, Princess. I'd want to have a photography session with you. Your dress looks nice to be photographed!" the filly said at last.
"Oh, sure, no problem! I'll just pose and you'll take all these pictures nicely!"
In no time, the filly began shooting many pictures of my wife and her huge belly, with her lifting her dress to reveal her bare belly as well as posing some attractive poses, and even with herself stripped naked! And I was asked later to do a number of lovey shots with her, with one of the poses featuring her standing over me who was lying down with her belly touching me.
"You're a strong stallion, you stud," she told me.
"Eh-heh-heh, I'm… uh…"
Later downstairs, as Platinum was making Flurry's cast, we all looked at the pictures taken by the filly.
"Oh, goodness, they're all pretty!" beamed Prudence.
"They're all wonderful. I like that one pose," the filly's brother added.
"And all those amazing couple pictures," said Bloodthirst. "I must say, she nailed everything like a boss!"
"Hehe, it's my specialty!" she giggled.
"Now what we're gonna do is to finish this cast, then you can take it home as well," said Platinum.
"I'm wondering, are you gonna ask the company to publish the pictures once you show them?" asked Flurry to the filly.
"Um, I dunno, why?"
"I don't want my pregnancy pictures to be published until I've given birth and when the Crystalling is over," Flurry told her. "Shimmering also took me some pregnancy photos week by week as well as our ultrasound pictures, and I'll publish to the public, too when they're born!"
"We basically want to give a surprise to our subjects, and all of Equestria," I added. "That's when we'll show all these 'behind the scenes' pictures to everypony."
"So, can you tell your boss or manager not to release the pictures until I give birth and my Crystalling is complete? Just tell the boss it's a gentle request for the princess."
"Sure! Anything I'll do for my great, cute princess!" She kissed her on her cheek.
"Aww, you," Flurry blushed, and everyone laughed.
In the afternoon, our cast was finished, and all Platinum had to do was to leave it dry for a day. The filly managed to continue to take photos of the drying cast, as well as having group photos of us together. Needless to say, this moment was great, as we fulfilled somepony's wish of meeting her again. Later tonight, we'll be packing everything for Flurry to live in the hospital.
"So, how was your fun at Carousel Boutique earlier?" Princess Melody asked as we got home. "Prudence told me everything that happened."
"Yes, it was indeed enjoyable," Flurry replied. "We managed to get my cast done, and we're to take it back when I return after giving birth."
"Wow, that cast is sure gonna be another spotlight!" Melody replied. "I'll be making mine soon. Platinum's gonna make one for every one of us."
"It'll be a memoir for you kids when they grow up," added Chaos Control. "For them to imagine how big their mommy has grown!" And we all laughed.
"Here's the ward you'll be living!" Beryl showed me. It was as spacious as the wards back in the Crystal Empire Hospital. "I've moved all the necessary equipment here so that we can monitor you and your babies' progresses when you reach labor."
"That's very kind of you, Beryl," I said, settling myself.
"Now, lay on the bed, please. I'm going to do my routine scan," she instructed, and I laid on my bed and lifted my dress as she spread the gel, then moved the scanner over my belly.
"They're getting good. They're all ready to live in the outside world!" she remarked as she looked at every one of my baby. "Have you been experiencing occasional contractions?"
"Yeah, every now and then. My nurse said it's labor rehearsal, I'm pretty excited for the real deal."
"Heh-heh, great for you." Then she spotted something. "Oh, my, look at your teats. They're leaking!"
"Oh, really? Yeah, I do feel some moisture around them…"
"Your teats have grown amazingly huge, for all eight of your babies!" she laughed. "Don't worry, I got this covered."
She left the ward, and returned shortly with a pumping device.
"Here, I'll be collecting milk from your teats, then store them so that you can feed your babies when they're born!" As she spoke, she placed the pump on my teats, and began pumping.
"Oh, ah, it feels good…" I moaned with pleasure as my teats were being pumped.
"It does feel like you're having sex, doesn't it?" Beryl continued. "They're sensitive, and they trigger your sex hormones as well." She stopped pumping when the container was full. "Don't worry, your teats will be replenished in a day. Your milk will be enough to feel all of your babies."
"Heh-heh, such joy of motherhood," I giggled, agreeing to what she said. "I can't imagine, I'll be holding them in my hooves soon."
"Move around more," she advised. "You can then give birth without complications!"
Later that night, I wrote a letter to everyone in the Crystal Empire, detailing everything that happened in the past week.
Dear Mom, Dad, and everypony in the castle,
Shimmering and I have been doing great in Ponyville so far. As I am writing this letter I have already checked in my stay in the Ponyville Hospital. Beryl has been taking good care of me. She just did some milking from me, and with that milk I can feed my babies when they're born!
We did a lot of things in the past week. I'm sure you all knew about my visit to the Wonderbolts Academy. The Wonderbolt cadets and trainees were so excited on seeing and feeling my tummy! Then we all got to Canterlot to visit Orion's baby for her monthiversary. And yesterday, I made my pregnant belly cast, and a surprise guest from Manehattan interviewed and photographed me for her part-time job! I've already requested on behalf to her boss not to release the photo and my interview when the Crystalling is over.
Right now as I accustom myself in the hospital, I'm looking forward to me and Melody's baby shower, hosted by no other than our party friend Pepper Flake! Hopefully my body can hold on a little bit longer by the time Pepper invited me to it. Has Mistral Violet checked on her pregnancy yet? I hope Paladin Knight and Dark Glare's twin colts are fine as well. I'll get to you again when I got these eight kids out of me.
Flurry Heart
Over the next few days, I got to communicate with my ward mates. A number of them were preparing to give birth, and some had their labors performed on site. They were all awed at my massive belly, but most of all, they were nice and surprised to see me here. So does the staff. They all treated me well, and milked me a few days apart before treating my milk to be stored longer for my babies.
Soon our baby shower came. Pepper Flake personally came to the hospital to invite me over. When we got there, I was greatly surprised to see everypony there, and welcoming us was a huge tiered cake for me and Melody!
"You need more, because your babies need them!" Pepper explained.
We actually enjoyed it, with Auntie Twilight and her friends attending as well.
"You're getting close now," Rarity told me and Shimmering. "We won't be expecting any trouble from you."
"Yeah, hopefully. We've raised them well," I said, stroking my belly.
"And they're gonna be healthy when they come out," chuckled Shimmering.
Later that night, Melody and her friends visited our ward to see how it looked like. We all chatted, on how we're going to anticipate our birth.
"Pepper Flake," I called her. "Do you have a recording camera at home?"
"Uh, yeah. You want me to film you?"
"I just wanted to say something to my subjects before I give birth."
"Okay! I'm on my way!" She rushed out, and literally came back seconds later with the camera on her hoof.
"So, what do you want to say?" asked Platinum Royale.
"You may start," I told Pepper, and she clicked the button to start recording.
"My fellow subjects," I began. "My relationship with Shimmering Glow has been a long story, and one of our best recent highlights is that we are about to start a huge family, with the arrival of eight ponies." I tapped my belly before I continued. "I just wanted to say thanks to you all for supporting my pregnancy. I'm excited for their arrival and hopefully they'll come nicely, and that I'll be looking forward to the mass Crystalling.
"To my babies in here, all of you have been doing great, though I had to pay the price of letting you all suffer me in the early stages. But most of all, I loved having the eight of you in my body. It's so loving. You all taught me the responsibilities of being a new mother, and it was all of you growing inside me, I've became prettier." Everypony laughed when I said it. "Mommy loves all of you. I can't wait to see all of you soon. Oh, and your daddy, too. Shimmering, can you speak a bit to our kids?"
"Here I am," he said, and then he proceeded to kiss on my belly a lot of times, making me blush. "All of you will do just fine. We've got friends, elders and our beloved subjects waiting for your arrival."
"We'll see you all again. All the best in your lives!" I said, and then we kissed, and everypony clapped. That's when I signaled Pepper to end the filming.
"That was an amazing speech!" Melody praised. "To mention everypony in Equestria about what you've went through!"
"So, what do you want me to do with the video? Release it after your birth?" Pepper asked.
"Oh, you know what I was going to say!" I laughed.
"Anyhow, we're always ready. We'll help you through your birth!" said Beryl.
"Oh, thank you so much. I'll be counting on you!"
"Well come on, guys! A big hug featuring our expecting mares!" called Pepper.
"Aww, Pepper," I said as we hugged. "Well uh, anypony cares to feel my babies kick for perhaps, one last time?"
"Yeah! Let's get a feel of them!" Pizza Frenzy called, and we laughed.
"Shh, quiet down. This is a hospital, remember?" reminded Beryl.
"Oops, heh-heh," said Pizza embarrassingly.