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A Different New Addition

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"Annie, sweetie, I'm just not sure what to do," a teal haired woman spoke to the infant she was nursing in her bedchambers. "Your father doesn't even know what else could be done."

Of course, since infants could not talk, Antoinette merely kept suckling. She was several months old at this point, and gaining a nice head of hair with the same color as her mother. It wouldn't be long before she would begin weaning Antoinette, however, as the baby girl was also in the process of teething and learning to eat solid foods. Her mother merely sighed as she continued feasting on the breast milk.

"I've given Twilight plenty of exercise and fed her properly," she said. "And even tried following your father's own crazy steed exercise regiment. He would always say it kept Sir Kieran in shape. But Twilight still looks too heavy..."

For the past few months, her Pegasus, Twilight, had been steadily gaining weight despite any efforts to keep her healthy. Though she looked fine otherwise, her owner still feared for her health.

A few moments later, the doors of the bedchambers opened to reveal a dark brown-haired man in a fairly formal white shirt and ribbon bow tie. He was carrying a boy between two and three years with the same hair color, also dressed in his own little suit. He paused for a moment when he saw his wife suckling their daughter.

"Oh, Kelli, my apologies," he said. "I didn't know you were breast-feeding."

"Ah, Frederick. Don't worry, it's fine," Kelli replied. "I've had other things on my mind lately, you know..."

"Ah, yes, Twilight," Frederick realized. "Hopefully she'll be alright. Other than her weight, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary."

"That's true."

"Mommy! Hi!" the boy cried out with a smile.

"Hi, sweetheart! Heh, you're starting to become quite the talker, aren't you Morgan?" Kelli replied with a big grin.

"Oh yes, he certainly is! Kelli, he said "Daddy make you pick a god and pray!" earlier!" Frederick excitedly announced. "Well, he says "pray" more like "pway" but isn't that wonderful?"

Kelli blinked before responding.

"Oh my goodness, that is priceless," she commented, bursting into a laugh. "But, uh, where exactly did he get your most famous battle cry?"

"Ah, er... I think he either heard me training or remembered it from a story I told him. Maybe I improvised a little too much on some of those bedtime stories..."

"I hope it's just the stories. Why would he hear you training?"

"Well... sometimes when you're busy with Antoinette or another task and Ralph doesn't have time to babysit, I look after Morgan during training. Many of us here have our own duties and children now, so I hate to burden anyone else. And using a battle cry in training gets me more eager to keep going!"

"What? Frederick, I hope you're being careful!"

"Oh, I am, believe me. I let Morgan play off to the side, but I never take my eyes off him, nor does he ever get near the weapons or people sparring. I always try to have someone spar with me when I do too."

"Ah, alright. I should've guessed, with you being you."

"Indeed. Well, shall we turn in for the night?"

"Sure, Annie seems to be finished by now. I'll burp her and we can go to bed."

"Ah, why don't I do that for you? I'll also put her to sleep as well. You've had much on your mind, my sweet."

"Oh, but Frederick, you already work so hard. And fathering two children now has practically doubled your duties."

"Don't worry, it is no trouble. I'm fine."

Frederick gave his wife a reassuring smile. Kelli then couldn't help but smile back and give in.

"Oh, alright. You're such a sweetie, Freddy Bear."

"Of course!" Frederick obliged, still smiling. "Though I must say, while I wouldn't object to more children if you wanted them, I would not at all mind stopping at two. I do have my hands quite full."

"Ah, I think I would agree, honestly. Two is enough!"

"Heh, alright then."

Frederick then took his infant daughter and gently began patting her back until she let out a tiny belch. While Kelli set Morgan up on his little bed, Frederick did a quick check of Antoinette's diaper to make sure she did not need changed. Kelli was as good about it as he was, but he still always made sure just in case, as they really never did know for sure when she or Morgan would need one. Morgan was in the process of being potty trained at this point, but even he still wet himself at times. When Frederick saw that she was dry, he began rocking Antoinette to lull her to sleep. He could not sing beautiful lullabies like his best friend, Ralph, but he knew some of the music and did his best to hum it. Kelli watched her husband lovingly as he gently kissed Antoinette and laid her in her crib some minutes later. Frederick might've had no singing voice akin to Ralph's, but somehow despite his tall, bulky, and muscular frame, he had no trouble being as gentle as a feather with his children, to the point where he was just as good as the royal singer at getting them to sleep. He then gave Morgan a kiss good night as well, as he had been doing every night.

Frederick might not have seemed like it sometimes due to his nature, but he loved his children as much as any great father would have, perhaps even more. He wasn't sure of his abilities as one at first, but Kelli knew he had it in him. He removed his more formal wear until he was only in underclothes and approached her in the bed moments later. They soon slipped under the blankets.

"Frederick, you do amaze me every time you put them to sleep. I love you," Kelli praised, resting her head upon Frederick's shoulder.

"Ah, I love you too," Frederick replied, putting an arm around her. "And I do believe we have created a beautiful family."

"We have! I hope it has many great years to come too."

"So do I. For now, however, let's have a good night sleep."

"Yes, let's."

With that, they came together for a passionate good night kiss before beginning to drift off to sleep.

*** A Few Months Later ***

"Oh my gods, Frederick, is it just me, or has Twilight gotten even heavier?!" Kelli observed when she went to feed her midnight-colored Pegasus in her stall. Twilight was lying on the ground in soft hay, her pudgy belly seemingly taking up near half of the floor space she had.

"Hmm, she might have... This is quite unusual," Frederick commented, also feeding his horse, Sir Kieran. "She still hasn't shown any signs of health issues otherwise though, at least according to Sumia and Cordelia. And having been longtime Pegasus owners themselves, they would know."

"That is true... But I hope this gets resolved soon, Twilight will rarely give me rides anymore!"

"Oh, that's no good... If there's no improvement within the next few months, we'll consult an animal physician," Frederick decided. "Although..."

"Alright. And what?"

"Well, I did also notice Sir Kieran looking at and sniffing her a lot awhile back. Like he's keeping an even closer watch than usual, despite always being in the next stall over."

"Huh... I guess he's pretty concerned too then. They do spend a lot of time together due to our marriage."

"That they do, yes... Well, we should go tend to the children and our duties. We always have recruits to train and those recent increased reports of bandit activity may not stop yet."

"True, yes. We do have work to do. We'll be back later, Twilight, I promise!"

With that, after leaving plenty of food for both steeds, Frederick and Kelli left to care for their children and do the usual day's work. Not long ago, bandit activity increased slightly and they were helping to resolve the issue. They also had been training new recruits for the army ever since the most recent war ended a few years before. And Frederick always did various other tasks for Chrom, who was now the Exalt and ruler of Ylisse, and his sister, Lissa. Though in recent months, Lissa was also spending quite a bit of time with a farm boy they had been allied with named Donnel. Frederick and Kelli suspected they would soon wed themselves, as they were close. Frederick almost seemed afraid of this, however, as he didn't like the idea of having to say good bye to Lissa. She would go live on the farm with Donnel if she married him. Donnel could not leave his mother or farm behind, after all. Lissa promised she'd visit a lot if they were to marry, but Frederick wasn't sure how well she could keep to that since she was still young. And he was just so used to serving her. It almost felt like he was going to watch his child move away and start their own life.

Kelli couldn't imagine how he'd be when the real thing eventually happened with Morgan and Antoinette. Nothing short of tears on her shoulder, most probably.

Later that afternoon, while Ralph watched the children after doing a show rehearsal, Kelli and Frederick went to do a few separate chores, including weapon and armor checks, patrol checks, and more after a few training sessions with the recruits. Kelli also still occasionally studied her strategy books since she was the army's main tactician. Cordelia, another Pegasus knight, was returning from a flight and offered to check on Twilight for Kelli, who was making sure the tomes in the armory were organized.

Cordelia's Pegasus, Palla, was a beautiful white mare whose stall was near Twilight's. Next to Cordelia's was Sumia's also white Pegasus stallion, Snowflake. Sumia wasn't too bright and she met her Pegasus by chance in the middle of a mission, so she couldn't take time to come up with a more creative name. She knew a lot about animals and raising Pegasi, as well as telling fortunes, but not much else, and was also very clumsy.

Cordelia pushed back her long flowing red hair as she let Palla into her stall and patted her happily. Before she could even turn around after locking the door, however, a somewhat faint whinnying reached her ears. She realized it was coming from Twilight's stall. Cordelia was going to check on her anyway, so she walked over and looked inside. Twilight was laying in the hay as usual, and repeatedly letting out small whinnies and whimpers. Sir Kieran was also watching her from his stall and whinnying as wlel. For some reason, Twilight's leg was raised a little and...her swollen belly looked a little lower than before. When the answer to what was happening suddenly hit her, Cordelia shook her head, her eyes widening, and gasped.

"Oh my gods! How did we not see this before?!" she cried and ran out of the royal stable as fast as she could. "I have to get Kelli!"

Oh, everyone is going to feel like such fools! Cordelia fumed in her head as she raced back to the armory, where Kelli likely still was. She was huffing and puffing when she entered, struggling to catch her breath. Kelli was still there, only this time cleaning her lance.

"Whoa! Cordelia! What's the matter? You look like Frederick just made you run laps around the palace!" she said, startled. "Is Twilight alright?!"

"Er, yes and no," Cordelia answered as best as she could between breaths. "Yes in that she'll eventually be alright, but no in that right now, she's in pain! I know what's been going on with her! And I feel so bad for not seeing it sooner!"

"Wait, slow down, what's happening here, exactly?"

"Kelli, your Pegasus is giving birth!" Cordelia blurted.

At this, Kelli froze, not answering for more than a second.

"...WHAT?!" she suddenly shouted. "You mean she was pregnant?! ...Wait, she's birthing RIGHT NOW?!"

"YES! She's in deep labor and will be foaling real soon," Cordelia continued. "That's when the foal begins to...well, come out. We have to get someone in there to help her and make sure it goes smoothly!"

"ARGH! Damn it all! Can you get Sumia and go in there until I get an animal doctor? I have a husband to yell at! I'm positive his horse did this! He's in SO much trouble!"

"Wait, are you certain Sir Kieran is the father?"

"It can only be him! They spent the most time together by a long shot, and that explains why Frederick noticed him paying closer attention to Twilight lately! Sir Kieran mated with her and knew!"

"That would make the most sense... Well, this is going to be a bit messy and disgusting, but alright, I'll go get Sumia. She'll be glad to help until you bring an animal doctor. But hurry! There's not much time!"

"Right!"

Both women soon rushed out of the armory and went separate ways to find the two people they sought. Kelli knew Frederick went to report to Chrom a few minutes before, so he was probably still in the throne room. She made for it as fast as her legs could, just as Cordelia had. Once she made it to the top of the stairs and rushed to the large doors, she shoved them open as hard as she could, her face almost a rosy red with exhaustion and anger.

"FREDERICK!" she yelled, seeing her husband still speaking with Chrom, who stood in front of two large thrones alongside his wife and queen, Olivia. All three of them jumped instantly, Olivia's long pink curls bouncing as she did so.

"Wha--?!" Frederick uttered. "Kelli! What's wrong? Why are you yelling at me?"

"Yeah, Kelli, you scared us!" Chrom added. "Is there a reason you're raising your voice like this?"

"Yes, because I have words for my husband here!" Kelli shot back. "Cordelia found out what was wrong with Twilight! WHY DID YOU NEVER TELL ME MY PEGASUS WAS PREGNANT?!"

Frederick blinked, feeling a mixture of shock, surprise, confusion, and wondering how he was going to calm his wife down.

"Huh?! What?! I-I had no idea!" Frederick protested. "Honest to the gods! I told you I was as confused as you were about her weight! But please, calm down! Why is this making you so angry with me?"

"Because your horse is obviously the one who impregnated her and now she's in the middle of giving birth! They spent the most time together and you did say you saw Sir Kieran paying closer attention recently! How could you let your horse mate with my Pegasus and get her pregnant without either of us knowing?! If I hadn't asked Cordelia to check on her, she might've tried to give birth all by herself and died!"

"...Alright, I do owe you an apology there, but--wait, she's foaling NOW?!" Frederick gasped.

"She's about to, yes!"

"Oh, gods! Milord, I'm sorry, but we--"

"Yes, Frederick, I know. You two need to get an animal physician as fast as you can. Go and hurry!" Chrom ordered.

"Yeah, we can wait. Go help your poor Pegasus!" Olivia agreed.

"We'll go let Ralph know what's going on too so he knows to stay with Morgan and Antoinette," Chrom offered.

"Alright, thank you, milord and milady!"

Both Frederick and Kelli rushed out as quickly as they could and began making their way down the stairs.

"Kelli, I deeply apologize!" Frederick said again. "I was never even sure if a normal horse could reproduce with a Pegasus!"

"I never was either, but like I said, ours did spend a lot of time together, and horses can reproduce with donkeys, so I always figured it was probably possible that they could do it with Pegasi too!"

"You have a point, yes... But still, I should've kept a better eye on Sir Kieran. I guess it didn't occur to me that he could try to mate with Twilight. I was irresponsible! I really am truly sorry!"

Frederick grimaced, and Kelli could now tell he was beginning to beat himself up, and she only helped him do that by screaming at him in front of his liege in the throne room.

"..Well, I'm also sorry I yelled," she replied. "This just came as a huge shock. And maybe I should've watched them better too, honestly."

"Don't worry, I fully understand your anger," Frederick said. "Even if the yelling was...startling. But we have a pressing matter to attend to, so we'll have to talk more later."

"Yes, right!"

The two then rushed into the royal infirmary. It had a few animal physicians working there as well as ones for people. After quickly relaying their situation to one, the man followed the couple out to the stable, where Cordelia and Sumia waited inside Twilight's stall. Just as Cordelia had told Kelli before, the Pegasus was indeed about to bear a foal. Sir Kieran was looking over his own stall again and not looking back. Sumia did her best to keep Twilight comfortable by stroking her, while Cordelia watched and waited for when the foal was going to appear.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Sumia exclaimed. "Twilight just started foaling!"

"Yes, I can feel the foal coming!" Cordelia reported, having placed a hand on Twilight's still swollen stomach.

"I say again, everyone needs to pay a little more attention next time!" the animal physician replied. "Looks like you ladies did fine though, so I can take it from here. Thank you both!"

"Of course!" Sumia said with a smile. Somehow, while everyone else seemed tense and anxious to some degree, she was fairly calm. She was used to being around Pegasi and raising them, but she hadn't seen one give birth before. Perhaps she was more excited to see the foal than she was scared.

Sumia and Cordelia both then left the stall to allow the physician to tend to Twilight and join Frederick and Kelli nearby.

"What I'm mostly surprised at is that you two got your steeds to breed at all!" Sumia said with a smile. "Horses and Pegasi can breed together, but they more often breed with their own species, just as horses and donkeys would."

"Wow... We must've spent a little too much time out riding together," Frederick surmised. "Those are the only times the two could've mated."

"Yeah," Kelli agreed. "I figured a horse and Pegasi could breed since they could with donkeys, but... This is just crazy. I can't believe none of us noticed Twilight was pregnant. I feel so bad! Twilight might've been uncomfortable or in pain for a long time and then I went and yelled at Frederick because his horse is definitely the father..."

"And Sumia and I know Pegasi, we could've seen it..." Cordelia admitted. "It looks like these two breeding just didn't occur to any of us."

"Yeah, but it looks like your love rubbed off on them!" Sumia observed with a giggle.

"Heh, I suppose so," Frederick admitted, a somewhat embarrassed grin forming on his features.

"Hey, we'll have to come up with a name for the foal and figure out what to do with it as it gets older," Kelli pointed out. "And will it be sterile or have other developmental problems like other hybrids tend to?"

"We can worry about the name once we know the gender, but that's a good question..."

"Well, from what I know, and unfortunately it isn't much since I've never worked with horse and Pegasi hybrids, I've heard that sometimes they can be born with wings too small or too weak to fly," Sumia explained. "And males are normally sterile, but females can definitely be capable of reproducing, just as with mules and hinnies. In fact, I've seen a couple books theorize that it's more likely for a horse and Pegasus hybrid to be fertile than a mule or hinny because horses and Pegasi appear to be more closely related biologically. This is only a theory though, because it comes from people who studied the corpses and anatomy of both and there isn't yet a way to prove it."

"I think I've heard something like that too, actually," Cordelia added. "Also, there isn't a special term for horse and Pegasus hybrids, they're simply called horses or Pegasi depending on if the foal has wings or not. And another theory is that the foal is more likely to have wings if the mother is the Pegasus."

"Ah, I see..." Kelli commented. "I guess we'll have to wait and see what the foal's physical capabilities will be then."

"Indeed," Frederick agreed.

The area grew quiet after this, save for Twilight's and Sir Kieran's whinnying. Kelli was still worried, but did her best to be calm with reassurance from Sumia and Cordelia that the physician was doing the best he could. Frederick also held onto her hand, giving her a smile, even though behind that, he also held concern. The group felt like they were waiting forever for the physician to give the word. It hadn't felt so slow since they were in the process of having babies themselves. Twilight let out a couple louder whinnies moments later, almost making Kelli gasp fearfully, but the Pegasus soon sounded calm again. And the words everyone was waiting to hear finally rang out soon after that.

"That was a close one, folks, but congratulations, you now have a new filly!" the physician announced. Everyone smiled happily.

"Oh, a filly is a girl!" Sumia cried. "A boy would've been a colt."

"Yes, let's go see her!" Cordelia said.

"Right! And thank goodness, I'm glad that's all over," Kelli agreed, breathing a heavy sigh of relief.

"I second that," Frederick also put in.

The four then went to rejoin the physician inside Twilight's stall. Sir Kieran had leaned over the wall of his own and was licking Twilight's face.

"Awww!" Sumia commented when she saw this. "Sir Kieran really cares!"

"Heh, that is very cute!" Frederick agreed, a large smile crossing his features.

Kelli and Cordelia very much agreed, also in awe. The physician then reported that both mother and baby were doing fine. Laying beside Twilight, and being wiped off with a towel by the physician, was the newborn filly, covered in the same midnight blue fur as her mother. Her main and tail were much closer to none other than Sir Kieran's, however. And most notably, she had wings.

"She's lovely!" Kelli said. "Oh and, see, Frederick? Only Sir Kieran could give this foal that mane and tail color! None of the other steeds Twilight interacted with have that!"

"Yes, you're right. That confirms it," Frederick agreed and turned to Sir Kieran. "Seems we're both fathers now, my old friend! I just wish I'd known sooner!"

He then patted his horse affectionately.

"And I do agree, the filly is beautiful!" he continued.

"She has wings too," Kelli pointed out. "That's nice to see. They look normal enough to let her fly someday too!"

"They do, yeah," Sumia agreed. "A Pegasus foal keeps their wings folded until they've learned to walk well though. It's like how a human baby has to learn to crawl before walking. A Pegasus has to learn to walk before flying. We'll see after that if the wings and other muscles are strong enough for flight."

"Yes, and we'll help you out," Cordelia offered with a smile. "We know about raising a Pegasus, so any questions, you can ask us."

"And you can ask me about any problems you might have as well," the physician added.

"That is most appreciated," Frederick replied with a smile.

"Yes, it is!" Kelli agreed. "So...Frederick, what do you think we should name her? I'm still thinking on that..."

"Hmm, well..." Frederick began. "She was certainly the biggest surprise in our lives, so perhaps...Surprise?"

Kelli chuckled.

"Oh, wow, you're definitely right! That's perfect!" she complimented. "Surprise it is!"

"That works!" Cordelia commented.

"Yeah, I'll say!" Sumia put in, also laughing.

The group watched as Twilight began letting Surprise nurse. She also licked her filly to make sure she was entirely clean from the birth. Frederick and Kelli also decided to go get fresh hay for the stall since much of what was there had gotten wet from amniotic fluid. The others agreed this was the best idea anyway to promote the health of the new mother and baby.

"Next time though, you two," Kelli spoke up, eyeing both Twilight and Sir Kieran. "If you want more foals, we'll be watching more closely! No more surprises!"

"That's for certain!" Frederick seconded.
I got this idea earlier today, and I technically did want the next one-shot of this series to feature both Frederick and Kelli's children, so... XD Yep, somehow nobody noticed the pregnant Pegasus! This is part of the series of one-shots I've done featuring the Frederick x female Robin pairing from FE: Awakening. Though this one is less on their romance and more on...that of their steeds, I suppose! lol

Also, the name Surprise can be considered a My Little Pony reference just as Twilight's name. Pinkie Pie was originally going to be named Surprise, based of of an old MLP character with that name. What's more, that Surprise was a Pegasus!
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Falchion1984's avatar
This is just me, but that opening line could be construed as a good bait-and-switch. After all, Kelli could just as easily be telling baby Annie that her favorite pet needs to be put down. The switch part, where we learn about Twilight putting on weight, and suspect why, acts as quite a contrast to what many readers likely interpreted from the get-go. And, the image of Twilight going through Frederick's training routine? Priceless! Did Freddy Bear go into conniptions when Twilight STILL didn't lose weight, I wonder? For that matter, did Sully snarkily suggest that infamous seaweed? Well, my only quibble about that is that it's not training regiment, it's regimen. Morgan picking up daddy's one-liners is also adorable. I'd normally say Morgan's a bit ahead of the curve, but this IS Morgan we're talking about. He/she is usually portrayed as being ahead of the pack...F!Morgan's wackiness notwithstanding. Having Morgan near the training area does push the proverbial envelope, given Frederick's mother hen nature, but him watching and trying to mimic daddy's swings and thrusts does make a cute picture. I do like the references to Ralph, though I was under the impression that his title was royal balladeer. Moving on, I like how Frederick seems conflicted over the prospect of Lissa moving away. That Lissa and Donnel aren't already married did surprise me, though. Does this mean Owain didn't arrive during the war? Or, that he did, but he did so before Lissa was married and had to stay mum about who her husband was? There have actually been some fics along those lines, so it might be worth considering down the line. It does make me wonder, however, if older Morgan and Annie have already left, though. Such snippets do intrigue, though I wouldn't mind a Note setting the record straight. Moving on, Kelli dressing down Frederick in front of Chrom was pretty funny, though including him a bit more might make it funnier. Maybe Frederick glances at Chrom in a mute appeal for help and Chrom, remembering a certain incident involving posters, just snickers and watches the show. The tidbits about how animals that can interbreed is interesting, as are the potential complications. Since I knew about what was happening with Twilight, but not the particulars, I was wondering just how the baby would turn out, albeit along slightly different lines. Suppose the foal could fly, but not carry a rider? Or, for that matter, suppose the wings were limited to gliding on air currents (Buzz: This is falling, with style!) rather than true flight? Possibilities abound. And, clever idea, the name Surprise. All in all, though some improvements could be made, this was very cute. Thanks for reminding me about it and I appreciate your patience while I got to it.