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// Chapter 24:  What Comes Natural 
// Story: The Private Scrapbook 
// by Cadabra 
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Chapter 24:  What Comes Natural

Granny Smith sighed heavily as she looked down at the photo of the zebras.  “That poison joke must have though it was mighty funny to be sendin’ me into labor,” she explained.  “By the time that bath was ready I was too far gone fer a soak.  They tried pourin’ the cure water over me a few times, but the baby weren’t havin’ any of it.  Same thing happened to Lizza, only her baby didn’t end up livin’ since it was too soon fer it to come out.  We were all worried 'bout mine by then, and all I could do was just hunker down and push while everypony else was takin’ turns gettin’ cured…”

Bladire refused to leave his lover’s side, even if the afflicted blindness meant he could barely see what was going on.  Even at the encouragement of others to take his curing dip, he would not do so until he knew he could bathe safely with Smithy.  “She suffers because of me!” he explained.  “It is I who thought to take her through the poison joke, and it is I who caused this ailment.  I will not relieve myself while there is nothing I can do to help her.  Only when she is comfortable again will I be healed.”  

Polly and Tess instructed young Charlie to help make several trips to the creek to gather fresh water for a clean delivery.  Now that her mane and tail were untangled, the elder Tess was able to do what she needed to help the baby along while Polly worked to keep everything clean.  

Smithy was already several hours into her labor as Polly held a cool rag to her head as a way to ease the pain.  “I didn’t know it’d hurt like this,” she cried weakly as she squeezed her eyes shut.  

Bladire held out a freshly moistened rag that he rung out from a pail, hoping that she would find it soothing.  “Be brave,” he said meekly, reaching blindly for her hoof to hold.  “You must relax and let the child come to us.  We will soon see your baby.”  

Smithy noticed that Bladire’s pupils were now milky white due to the poison joke.  She knew he would be stubborn until the baby was born, which meant she would have to be his eyes.  “We’ll see our baby!” she screamed bravely as she gave it a good hard push, the sounds of her pain resonating through the forest’s late afternoon calm.  

The screams of pain had attracted several unpleasant things from the Everfree Forest that the men were prepared to fight off.  Tiny, Amos, Homer and Old Pete stood near the parameter of the ruins, ready to fight off any intruding creatures while Smithy finished bringing the baby into the world.  They had expected to have to fight off timberwolves, squash parasprites and other pesky insects, scare away a manticore, swat at snakes, and cut at pesky creeper vines.  What they didn’t expect to hear was the sound of voices coming their way.  

Tiny began to shake like an oversize leaf at the sound of the voices in the distance.  “It is them!” he whispered in a panic, cowering down with his hooves over his head and crying like a guilty child.  “What do we do?  They have found us!  They will kill us!  What do we do?!?”  

Homer grabbed the cowering hulk of a zebra by the shoulders to try lifting him.  “We will go to the women,” he said as calmly as possible.  “We must try to move them.  If we are lucky we can still escape.”  

Apple Bloom was on the edge of her seat as she listened to the story.  “Well, did ya escape?” she asked, bouncing anxiously.  

Granny Smith’s discouraging head shake made the anxious bouncing stop.  “It was them all right,” she explained.  “Word got out that a big ol’ snow storm was keepin’ the ship from Saddle Arabia from dockin’ on time at Horse Shoe Bay, so the Faction of the Stud decided to turn back home to wait fer word on when it’d be comin’ close.  As soon as they got home they noticed we were all gone and they followed our tracks…”  

The baby’s head could now be seen.  While this would normally be a time to cheer for the end of delivery and the start of a new life, all of the zebras were in too much of a panic for their own lives to welcome the new life that was rapidly coming.  

Bladire was busy trying to calm the group down as they tried to convince him to move Smithy.  “The baby is nearly born!” he protested as they tried to pick Smithy up.  “You will risk both lives to save your own?  Are you such cowards?”  

Agreeing with the blinded zebra, Tess helped push the panicking zebras off of the mother-to-be.  “Toby is right, my friends,” she said as calmly as she could.  “If she is moved about, she and the baby may never move again.  We must find a way to divert the Faction if we are to be free.”  

Amos grabbed desperately onto his son, Charlie.  “They will not take my son away from me,” he grumbled stubbornly as he held Charlie close for protection.  “They have taken my wife from me, and I will not be separated again.  I am taking my son to freedom, even if you do not choose to join us.”  

Bladire could not believe his ears as Tiny, Homer, and Polly took sides with Amos.  “We will fail if we are separated!” he begged.  “Please, help us!”  

The betrayers ran for their lives as soon as they heard their master and his gang’s voices coming closer.  Lizza hung her tired head in defeat as she sat beside those who had remained, watching the others run and wishing that she was well enough to join them.  The birth of her stillborn had taken too much of a toll on her body for her to join in the mad dash for freedom.  “You will not be alone,” she said, looking Smithy in the eye with a look of mixed, saddened emotions that were painful to read.  “We will not lose another child to the poison joke.  Now push it free!”

Before they knew it they were surrounded by the Faction of the Stud, each member having been affected by the poison joke.  In spite of the variety of oddities brought on by the poison joke, the most surprising one of all was Stinking Rich, who had reverted to adolescence.  He stood sneering over them, noticing that they seemed well enough.  “What’s goin’ on here?” he asked in a cracking, prepubescent voice.  “Is that the baby?  Oh stars, it is!”

Smithy could barely contain her anger as she hollered all the pain she felt in one last hard push.  It bothered her that her hateful husband could arrive last minute to experience the joy of childbirth while the zebra she loved sat back blindly and patiently, waiting though the hard part.  

Stinking Rich was barely able to contain himself as he watched the child slide into the world, trying his best to peek over Tess’s shoulders as she cleaned it off.  “What is it?  Is it a boy?” he exclaimed as she took it to a bowl of water to be cleaned off.  

As soon as the baby was properly cleaned, Stinking Rich could see that it was not a boy, nor was it his.  The yellow and black zebra stripes were enough evidence to show who the father was.  He fixed an angry look at his wife and his slave, gritting his teeth as he spit at the ground.  “Congratulations,” he said, pouring venomous sarcasm into every word.  “It’s a monster!  Boys, throw it in the creek, and get these zigglers tied up!  We’re goin’ home!”  

Before she knew it, Smithy was being held down on the ground against her will.  Having exerted herself too much giving birth, she didn't have the strength to fight back.  The last thing she remembered was having a rag full of chloroform stuffed in front of her nose and mouth, making her pass out.

Deep down, the Apple grandchildren were hoping for a happier ending to the story of the baby zebra’s birth, even though they knew the reality of the situation meant that their grandmother had to go home defeated.  Taking her turn to look at the photo of the zebras, Applejack couldn’t help wondering what her grandmother’s life might have been like if she’d escaped.  “What’d ya name her?” she asked sadly as she passed the photo on to her grandmother.  

Granny Smith took a deep, calming breath as she took the photo in her hoof.  “Kizzy,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek as she looked at the bright, sepia tone face staring back at her.  

Being a moral young mare, Applejack couldn’t believe the kind of stallion her grandmother had married.  “He was downright evil!  How could he even think to drown a baby?” she exclaimed, her brother adding a disturbed ‘EEYUP!’ to her comment.  

Granny Smith held the photo against her heart, remembering the day she took it.  “She lived ya know, thanks to Lizza,” she explained, knowing the story was only going to get worse from there.