//------------------------------// // The New Life Begins // Story: The New Life of a Winning Pony // by Chengar Qordath //------------------------------// Blossom took the news surprisingly well. “This is a joke, right? One of those times when you’re just being silly and random? Because there’s no way you could seriously be considering naming our child Aurora Boreawesome.” Eepy bit her lip, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of us.. “Well, I like ‘Aurora’.” “That part of the name’s not the problem,” Blossom grumbled. I shrugged. “I know it’s silly, ridiculous, and completely over the top, but it’s just a fun name. I like saying it.” Blossom rolled her eyes. “You realize that would get our kid laughed at in school, right? You can’t treat her name like it’s just a joke.” I sighed and rolled my eyes. “It would just be her middle name. Most ponies don’t even care about middle names. You and Fluttershy don’t even have one, and I bet neither one of you know what mine is.” “Lysistrata,” Blossom and Fluttershy responded in near-perfect unison. Huh. When did I tell them that? “Way to undermine my argument,” I grumbled. “Whether or not everypony knows her middle name isn’t really the point,” Fluttershy murmured. “We shouldn’t give our foal a bad or silly name just because her middle name doesn’t matter. It matters to Blossom, and it matters to me. While Rainbow’s suggestion is very ... nice, I don’t think it’s the right one for our child.” Blossom frowned at me. “Don’t tell me you’re going along with this just to get some points with Rainbow? I know she’s been a bit worried about the two of you drifting apart now that you’re not working together, but there are much better ways to deal with her insecurities than letting her give our foal a ridiculous name.” “It’s not about Rainbow,” I grumbled. “It’s just...” I shrugged helplessly. “I guess just saying ‘I like it’ isn’t good enough?” “For most names, saying you like it is fine,” Blossom answered. “We’re gonna need a bit more for a name like ‘Boreawesome’.” I sighed and ran a hoof through my mane. “Yeah, I guess that’s fair enough.” I tried to come up with a more substantive argument than saying that I liked the name, or that Rainbow would sulk if we didn’t take her suggestion. Pushing that angle would probably just lead to Blossom pointedly reminding me that Rainbow wasn’t the sire, which would be kind of hard to argue with. A best friend and honorary aunt is a big deal, but it’s still well short of an actual parent. All else being equal, Blossom and Eepy had the right to veto Rainbow’s ideas. I had to admit though, it was a little amusing to imagine what Rainbow would name her own foal... Maybe Blossom had a point that part of why I was working for Rainbow’s suggestion was to keep things going smoothly with her. Rainbow was pretty worried about losing touch with me now that we weren’t working together. Which was ridiculous considering everything else we’d been through, but just because I thought she was being a bit silly didn’t invalidate her feelings. Going along with one of her silly name ideas wouldn’t be the strangest thing I’d ever done to help calm her down when she was feeling a bit insecure. Maybe I should just try to seduce Rainbow and get her to turn our trio into a quartet? It would deal with her insecurities, and if we could move past all our mutual baggage we’d probably work pretty well. Of course, that baggage was pretty substantial, and while the idea was appealing in abstract we’d never really had a romantic dynamic. I loved her every bit as much as I did Blossom or Eepy, but it was a different sort of love. Still, I wasn’t going to give up on my choice of name without a fight, and I was prepared to fight dirty to make it happen. “Alright. Fine then. If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it.” “Do what?” Blossom asked, frowning at me. “You know...” I grinned and slowly ran a feather up her spine. “That.” Blossom shivered, then blinked and quickly took a step back from me. “Tempting, but I’m wise to your ways. This is one problem you can’t sex your way out of.” “No such thing,” I shot back with a teasing smirk. “That just means I need to break out a few tricks you haven’t seen yet.” Blossom rolled her eyes. “We’ve been together for years, Cloud. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen just about everything you can do.” Oh, there was no way I could let that pass. I grinned at her, scooting over to give her a long, lingering nuzzle. “That sounds like a challenge. One thing Dash and I have in common, we can’t turn those down.” Blossom shooed me off with one of her wings. “Don’t make me get Fluttershy’s spray bottle. I will use it on you if I have to.” “Fiiine.” I sighed and slumped back onto the couch. “No using my feminine wiles and incredible sexual prowess to convince you to see things my way, even though I totally could if I really wanted to. Everyone knows I’m irresistible when I’m really trying.” “Of course you are, dear,” Fluttershy smiled and gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder that somehow managed to be both comforting and just a tiny bit condescending. I groaned and threw up my hooves in surrender. “Fine, we’ll drop the ‘Boreawesome’ part of Aurora’s name, if that’s what it’ll take to make you two stop teaming up on me. So what should we do for a middle name?” Blossom frowned in thought for a few moments, then shrugged. “It’s not like we have to give the foal a middle name. Like you said, Fluttershy and I don’t have one. The usually only come up in families with a strong family naming convention.” “Like the Kickers?” I pointed out. “I mean, I guess we could try something vaguely Old Pegasopolan-ish like my middle name is, but...” I trailed off with a shrug. Nothing was really springing to mind, and it’s not like I was incredibly devoted to slavishly following every single clan tradition. Besides, I’d already insisted on the kid being a Kicker, that was more than enough work to honor the whole clan legacy. Fluttershy idly stroked my huge lump of a belly. “If we do want to choose a middle name, I still think Nimbus would be really nice.” I grimaced and shook my head. “I dunno. I mean, I get the idea behind it, and it’s nice. You know, honoring Mom and everything. It’s just ... that’s a name with a lot of baggage for me. I’m already pretty worried that all my mom issues might end up bouncing back on my kid, and putting her name on Aurora ... yeah, that probably makes it more likely.” “Right,” Blossom sighed and rubbed my back. “I think you’re a bit more centered than you’re giving yourself credit for. I doubt you’d do anything ridiculous just because your mother’s name is our kid’s middle name, but ... well, I suppose if we’re vetoing your idea for a middle name, you can veto ours too.” She smirked at me. “After all, as you’re so fond of reminding us, your vote counts for more since you’re the one carrying the kid.” “Darn right it does.” I playfully hoofed her in the shoulder. “Not to mention it’s my mom’s name we’re talking about.” “I suppose that’s fair enough,” Fluttershy conceded. “I suppose if we don’t have a good idea for a middle name, we could always just go without.” “Seems like the best solution,” I agreed. “I just hope Rainbow won’t sulk too much when she finds out she only went with half of her name suggestion. Though I suppose if we don’t give Aurora an official middle name, Rainbow might just assume it’s Boreawesome. I mean, it’s not like we’re telling her it’s not that.” Blossom tapped her chin in thought, then shrugged. “I suppose it’s fine if that’s just Rainbow’s nickname for her or something. I’m just not putting it on our foal’s birth certificate.” “That seems like a very reasonable compromise,” Fluttershy agreed. “I’m sure Rainbow will agree. If she doesn’t...” She took a deep breath, then spoke with surprising firmness for Eepy. “Well, then when Rainbow has her own child, she can name it whatever she likes.” “Sounds like we’re all on the same page then.” I reached down and gave my own belly a quick pat. “Hey there, Aurora Kicker the Middlenameless One, who may or may not be nicknamed Aurora Boreawesome by a certain strange but very good friend of mine. Nice to finally know what I’m supposed to call you.” “Let’s just stick with Aurora Kicker instead of including a paragraph of backstory in her name,” Blossom commented dryly, though her attempt at snark was ruined by the smile on her face. “I really like it.” Fluttershy slowly ran her hoof over my belly, as if she could stroke the foal through my stomach. “Sounds good.” I gently put one of my hooves on top of Fluttershy’s. “Now we just need to tell every—” The rest of my sentence disappeared in a gasp of pain as the foal kicked again. Fluttershy’s ears perked up and scooted closer. “Cloud? What is it?” “Fine,” I winced and rubbed my belly. “Glad you like your name, Aurora, but you don’t have to work so hard at living up to the Kicker part of it.” “You okay?” Blossom asked, scooting up against my side. “Yeah, fine,” I assured them both. “Just Aurora getting really restive again. Guess it’s no surprise when she’s close to coming out.” “Right.” Blossom joined Fluttershy in rubbing my belly. “Be nice to your mom, Aurora. She’s gone through a lot for you already. I know you’re eager to meet the rest of us, but there’s no need to rush it.” “You don’t know the half of it,” I grumbled. “Maybe someday I will,” Fluttershy answered with a hopeful smile. “I know it’s probably not what you want to hear right now, but I wouldn’t mind have another foal someday, and I’d like to carry it if that’s okay.” “Be my guest.” I tried to smile, but it faded away into a grimace when Aurora kicked again. “I mean, the miracle of life growing inside my body is amazing and all, but I could do without the constant pain and discomfort.” “I’m sorry it’s so hard on you.” Eepy wrapped a reassuring wing around me and kissed my cheek. “Don’t worry, I know you can do this.” “You’re almost done,” Blossom chimed in. “Redheart said you were due any day now. Then you can look forward to being done with this.” She teasingly poked my shoulder. “And we’ll be done with listening to you complain about the constant pain and bloating.” “No making fun of my suffering,” I pouted. “And of course, you forgot about—” I gasped as a new, much sharper pain shot through me. “Oh ... oh, that’s not just a normal kick.” Blossom’s eyes widened and she immediately shifted from teasing to nurturing. “Are you okay? Is something wrong with the baby?” “You know how you said it might be any day now?” I managed to groan out in between waves of agony. “Well ... I think it might be today.” Fluttershy’s jaw dropped, and she bolted up to her hooves. “Oh! Oh dear! Oh my goodness, it's not ... oh my goodness!” Blossom seemed to be keeping a slightly cooler head, but only slightly. “Do you think you can make it to the hospital, or do we need to do it here? Fluttershy’s got some experience from her animals, and I could go get Redheart...” “I’ll make it to the hospital if you two have to carry me,” I groaned out. “No way I’m having this kid without a bunch of docs putting every painkiller known to ponykind in me.” Fluttershy quickly grabbed her bag of medical supplies. “I’ve got a few things to help with pain in here. Maybe we could try some—” The first contraction hit. “I need something way feathering stronger than what you’ve got!” I screamed at her. A second later I realized that I was screaming at the top of my lungs. At Fluttershy. “Sorry, I just—Shadow’s feathery TEATS! Get me to the hospital! Now!” I’m sure there are mares out there who say that every moment of childbirth is a wonderful, magical experience. After having gone through it myself, I’m equally certain that every last one of them is a liar. Back when I’d been reading classical literature in college, I’d come across a line in Lyequinegus’ biography where Plutrotus claimed that when Lyequinegus lost one of his eyes it hurt him ‘almost as much as a mare suffers whilst foaling.’ At the time, it struck me as a really weird and out-of-place comparison. Sure, the idea was to talk up how tough Lyequinegus was for carrying on in battle despite such a painful wound, but I just didn’t get why Plutrotus drew that parallel. Now that I’d gone through it ... well, if Lyequinegus managed to keep fighting while going through something that hurt half as much as what I suffered, I had a newfound respect for the guy. The main thing I remember about the whole experience is a whole lot of screaming at Redheart, Eepy, Blossom, and anypony else I could see about how I needed more meds. Then everything got hazy once they’d finally pumped me full of what I presume was the maximum safe amount of the most powerful painkillers known to ponykind. I’m not sure if the drugs actually took away the pain or if they just everything so foggy that I can’t remember it, but I wasn’t about to complain about either outcome. After all, if my brain didn’t really register the pain, that’s as good as taking it away entirely. Once everything was done, the docs told I’d been in labor for a little over eight hours. Considering how long that is and how much I don’t like what I do recall, I’m very happy I don’t remember it all. Besides, everything cleared up in time for the most important part. I don’t exactly recall when my daughter was officially born, but once Aurora was out the docs gave me something to clear up my head since I didn’t need to be half-unconscious anymore to deal with the pain. I remember coming to lying on the hospital bed, feeling utterly exhausted and incredibly sore, but now it was more like the soreness from working out too hard rather than the earth-shattering agony I’d gone through up to that point. I looked around the room. Blossom and Eepy were both sitting beside me, one on each side and holding my hooves. Eepy must’ve seen that I was starting to come back to the world because she gently nuzzled me. “Your father, Rainbow, Twilight, and everypony else are all waiting outside. Some of them wanted to come in, but Redheart didn’t want the room too crowded.” “Yuh,” I groaned out, gently squeezing her hoof. I would’ve said something more, but even that half-formed syllable took a lot of work. Blossom gasped softly, and when I followed her gaze I saw Redheart approaching us with a carefully wrapped bundle. The nurse smiled, then carefully passed it over to me. I took my baby from her, all the pain and exhaustion fading away as I stared down at this tiny little foal. I know every mother is supposed to say this about their kids to the point of it being a huge cliché, but ... she was the most beautiful thing in the world to me. Her coat was lavender and just a shade lighter than mine, while her mane mixed pink and green in softer hues than Blossom’s. She opened her blue eyes for the first time, staring up at me. As her eyes met mine, I knew my life would never be the same. This changed everything. But ... I think maybe I was okay with that. “Hi Aurora. I’m your Momma.”