Scootaloo groaned as she rolled over onto her side, she was now almost 11 months along in her pregnancy and was about fed up with the whole thing. She looked up at the ceiling of her room in the house she shared with Rainbow Dash and sighed a little.
It was hard to believe that it had been so long since she had found out she was Pregnant, the last few months had been crazy to say the least. She had been to the doctor more times than she cared to count and it felt like the baby was going to come any day, but she was certainly taking her sweet time in getting here.
"Hey Scootaloo, breakfast," Rainbow said as she came into the room with a tray and some food and and a glass of milk that she set down in front of Scootaloo. "How are you feeling today?"
"Other than like I've got a beach ball in my stomach?" Scootaloo asked with a groan as she wolfed down her breakfast. "I can't wait to get this foal out of me already, somepony kept waking me up in the middle of the night."
"Well, maybe she's about ready to come out," Rainbow said with a chuckle as she brushed her daughter's mane gently. "Don't worry Scootaloo, she'll come out when she's ready, you're not going to do yourself or her any good by rushing it."
"Are you sure?" Scootaloo asked with a sigh as she placed her hoof on her stomach.
"Don't worry about it Scootaloo, she'll come out soon, I'm sure of it," Rainbow said with a shake of her head.
"Did I make you wait this long?"
Rainbow frowned a little, in truth Scootaloo had been born early, she never could be certain but she suspected that it might have contributed to the younger Pegasus' lack of flight. There was no real hard evidence of course, but Scootaloo had never been able to fly and Rainbow was afraid that it might've contributed to the problem a little.
"Honestly Scootaloo, you were a little early," Rainbow said with a sigh. "The doctors weren't even sure if you were going to make it, but you pulled through, you were a tough kid even back then. You weren't going to let something like being born early keep you from taking the world head on and kicking its flank."
Scootaloo chuckled a little at that as she flexed her wings a bit. She had certainly done her best to be that over the years, something she had probably inherited from Rainbow Dash even if neither of them had realized it at the time. She smiled a little and hugged Rainbow as best she could.
"Thanks mom."
"For what?"
"For never giving up on me, just... sometimes I wish things could've been different, you know?" Scootaloo said with a sigh as she released the hug gently. "Like, what if you actually did raise me, do you think my life could've been any different?"
"Scootaloo, we don't have to dwell on the what ifs, this is what happened and nothing is going to ever change that," Rainbow said as she ruffled Scootaloo's mane gently. "Besides, everything turned out okay in the end, right?"
Scootaloo smiled and nodded a little as she laid back in bed. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom said that they were going to be coming by soon and at the moment she just wanted to relax a little. As long as the little foal in her womb behaved at least, it would be nice to be able to rest.
That's when she felt it, it took her a moment to realize what it was but there was a pain in her abdomen. She looked up at Rainbow Dash and cringed a little.
"Mom..."
"Yeah Scoots?"
"The baby is coming."
Rainbow's eyes went wide and she grabbed the overnight bags they had packed for just this situation. Rainbow helped her out of the house and off towards Ponyville General.
It was time to have a baby.
00000
"Is she okay, what's the word on the baby?" Sweetie asked as she came into the hallway where Rainbow was pacing, she had been asked to stay outside for the moment while they ran some tests.
"She's okay, they're both okay for the moment," Rainbow said with a sigh as she stopped pacing and turned to look at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom who were looking worried. "She's been in there for a few hours now, don't worry, everything is going to be okay... I hope."
"Yeah, me too," Apple Bloom said with a sigh, they both didn't want to admit it but they were worried for Scootaloo. There was always the risk that something would go wrong, especially given her age, but the doctors seemed confident that she would be okay.
"Are you okay Rainbow?" Sweetie asked as she placed her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, the older mare just sighed and shrugged a little. "What's wrong?"
"Honestly? I'm scared," Rainbow admitted with a shake of her head. "The closest thing I've had to this is when I had Scootaloo and, I don't know just somehow I feel more terrified than ever about this."
"Yeah, I know how you feel," Sweetie said as they took a seat across from the room where Scootaloo was in. "I can't believe we're actually here... it all feels so unreal, like the last few months have been more like a dream than reality."
"So, what are we gonna do now?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked between the two. "Scootaloo needs our support now more than ever. Ah know that tha two of yah have been gettin' closer, but yah don't have ta worry about her, she's a fighter and she'll make it out of this somehow."
Sweetie smiled a little at that, it at least helped her feel a bit better. She cringed a little when she heard Scootaloo cry out from inside the room, she didn't know if that was normal or if something was happening. She hated not knowing, her fillyfriend was in there right now and she might be in trouble, what was she going to do?
"Calm down Sweetie, it was probably just a contraction," Rainbow said as she placed a hoof on Sweetie's shoulder. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure that out myself," Sweetie admitted with a shake of her head. "I just, hope that I'll be able to be what Scootaloo needs me to be, you know what I mean? I don't really know anything about raising foals, but I know she's going to be counting on me to help."
"She's gonna be countin' on all of us," Apple Bloom reminded her. "Don't worry about it Sweetie, Ah know yah want ta be there fer Scootaloo because of how close ya'll are, but nopony is gonna be doin' this alone. Scootaloo needs us all at our best if she wants ta get through this, we're all gonna have ta pitch in."
"That's right, which is why we're all here," Fluttershy said as she walked up with the rest of their friends and Blueberry in tow. "What's the word on Scootaloo?"
"She seems to be doing okay at least," Rainbow said as she looked over at Blueberry who gave her a smile. "I'm glad you could make it Blueberry."
"Of course, I wouldn't miss it for the world," Blueberry said with a smile. "I'm glad to see you're all here, have you and Scootaloo been doing okay?"
"Yeah, we're doing it fine," Rainbow said as she took a deep breath. "Its not been easy honestly, but we've managed at least, and everything is set up for the new foal. I just..."
"You still don't know how you're going to handle all of this?" Blueberry asked as she looked at Rainbow who nodded softly. "I know its not going to be easy for you and Scootaloo, but I know you're going to do your best to help her," Blueberry said and her friends nodded in agreement. "She loves you Rainbow, I could always see it in the way she talked about you. You're going to do fine, I know it."
Rainbow smiled a little as she nodded and she looked over at Sweetie who nodded in agreement. She laid back and closed her eyes, maybe fore some time she'd at least be able to relax and hope that everything would be okay.
The Doctor headed out of the room and gave them a smile. "Hey, well the good news is that the baby is going to be here any time now, would you like to see her?"
"Sure," Rainbow said with a smile as she got to her hooves along with Sweetie and Apple Bloom.
"Just a few at a time, okay?" The Doctor asked as Blueberry came up next. "Just two or three at a time, okay?"
"Why don't ya'll go see her first?" Apple Bloom asked as she looked at Sweetie Belle, Blueberry, and Rainbow Dash. "Ah think she'd want ta see tha three of yah first, we can all wait."
Rainbow nodded and they headed into the room where an exhausted looking Scootaloo was laying in the hospital bed. She smiled as she looked up at the three of them.
"Hey you three," Scootaloo said weakly as she sat up a little. "Is everypony out there or am I hearing things?"
"Yeah, everypony is here, the Doctor just wanted a few of us to come in at a time," Sweetie said with a smile as she leaned in and kissed Scootaloo gently. "So how are you feeling?"
"I've felt better to be honest," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she shifted uncomfortably. "The Doctor said that I should be ready soon, I just... well its really hard to be comfortable right now, its still kind of hard to believe that I'm laying here right now."
"Yeah, but I'm proud of you," Blueberry said and Rainbow nodded with a smile. "Things aren't going to be easy going ahead, but I know that you're going to have the right ponies by your side in order to help you get through it. You've become close to a pony when I didn't even think you'd be able to again after Cirrus, you're a lucky pony, Scootaloo."
"And we all love you very much," Sweetie said with a smile as she nuzzled Scootaloo gently. "You've been through a lot, but its finally almost over... well, this part of it at least."
"I know, and then I'll have the most important part of my life ahead of me," Scootaloo said with a sigh as she cringed a little as there was another contraction. "Thank you, all of you, you're the best family I could ask for... you and the others."
"Family is the most important thing after all," Rainbow said with a smile as she stroked Scootaloo's mane. "Now stay strong for us, okay? You're not going to let this beat you, I know you're strong enough to survive the worst the world can throw at you."
Scootaloo smiled and nodded as she laid back on the bed. She felt like she still had a long way to go, but she knew that it was all going to be worth it in the end.
00000
"Breathe Scootaloo, you're doing fine," the doctor said as Scootaloo pushed. "I can see the foal, you're doing fine, don't worry about it."
Scootaloo cried out as she felt the foal coming out of her. It was a sensation like she hadn't ever felt before, the doctor had put some spells on her to numb the pain but it still felt something even with the spell.
As she cried out one more time, her cry was joined by a new one as she fell back onto the bed, breathing heavily as the doctor held the crying foal in her forelegs.
"Congratulations, its a filly," she said with a smile as she gently placed the filly into Scootaloo's forelegs.
Scootaloo smiled down at the crying filly, she was a light blue color with a light purple and light blue mane and tail. She held the small filly close to her, it was hard to believe that such a small creature was the source of such a noise, and of everything that had happened over the past few months.
Sweetie and Rainbow Dash came into the room not long after and smiled as they saw the little filly. Rainbow smiled as she looked down at her newborn granddaughter, but moved back a little so Sweetie could get closer.
"She's beautiful," Sweetie said as she looked at the filly with a smile. "Did you ever decided on a name for her?"
"I've been thinking about it for awhile," Scootaloo said as she smiled at the two of them. "There's a lot of good names in that book that Twilight gave us, so I've been thinking about it for awhile. Its kinda hard to decide, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I know," Rainbow said with a chuckle. "I remember picking your name, I honestly just felt it was the name that fit you the best. Maybe if there's something that you feel the same about with your daughter, I don't know if that helps any..."
Scootaloo looked thoughtful as she stared down at the filly, who was now asleep in her embrace. She sighed a little, there was only one name that she really liked that felt like it really fit her and she smiled a little.
"Storm Chaser, I'll name her Storm Chaser," she said with a smile as she held the filly close to her body. "Welcome to the world Storm Chaser."
"Welcome to the family," Rainbow said with a smile as she gently took the filly into her forelegs. "She's beautiful, just like her mom."
Scootaloo smiled a little as she laid back on the bed and closed her eyes. She couldn't believe that she had actually been through this whole thing, it felt like it had been yesterday when she found out she was Pregnant, but here she was, with her daughter and the other most important ponies in Equestria to her.
"She really does look great," Blueberry said as she looked at Storm Chaser and smiled. "Hey there Storm Chaser, I'm your godmother, I helped raise your mommy at the orphanage I work at. Don't worry, you've got a great mom who's going to take good care of you, and a great family."
Scootaloo smiled and nodded a little as she closed her eyes and just relaxed, she still had a long way to go before she was sure she'd be ready to be a mom, but she was going to do her best, and she was confident that she'd be just fine.
"Hey Storm Chaser, I'm your grandmother," Rainbow said with a smile as she smiled down at the filly. "I'm still pretty new to this, we all are really. But I promise you that I'm going to be the most awesome grandmother you could possibly ask for, welcome to the world. You've got a great life and a great family, and I promise that we'll all be here for you whenever you're going to need it."
Scootaloo smiled up at Rainbow Dash, she was happy that she had somepony like that to help her when she really needed it. She smiled and looked up at Sweetie who was looking down at the filly and gave Scootaloo a nod and a smile.
She knew that everything was going to be just fine.