Solara
Late in the day, an orange filly with a red mane stared out a window in the hospital's waiting room. The tiny unicorn loved the storm outside. All the clouds were pink, and lightning danced among them. A smile grew on her face as she placed her hooves against the metal window frame.
"Such a disgusting downpour," came her fathers voice. "More like a mud storm than rain." Vini glared at the little brown drops striking the window, "We must consult with the weather team. Those blasted pegasi cannot schedule a storm without the emperor's consent."
Solara tried not to giggle; he was just so funny to her. Vini spoke with an old fashioned voice, and being a hippogriff, he had those weird claws, feathers and a beak. His mane was short and styled like a general's. His tail looked like a bird's. Plus, he got real defensive when you spoke about his color- he called it 'Royal Violet;' she called it 'Grape.'
It was hard to believe the two were related. They shared only one trait: Vini's emerald green eyes.
Solara's mom gave another series of yells from the other room. Her doctor said something unintelligible which was followed by another scream.
"Why's mom screaming?" Solara asked. "Is she mad?"
"She is giving birth," Vini said flatly. "From what we have gathered, it seems to be a painful process." Seeing the frightful look on Solara's face, he added, "But do not worry, she will be fine. 'Tis only the second time Luminescent hath given birth."
Not understanding Vini at all, Solara turned her attention back at the storm. She didn't care what her father thought about it, Solara thought the storm was beautiful. The rapping on the window, rumbles in the distance, brilliant flashes of light... she wished she could jump out the window and run in the rain.
In a feat of incredible timing, a baby's cry echoed through the room just as the rain started pouring twice as hard. Another cry came and lightning struck the building, teaching Solara not to touch metal in a thunder storm. She jumped to the floor, her mane spiked up with static. She giggled at the sparks dancing in her mane and coat.
Half an hour later, the doctor, an orange hippogriff in a white coat, entered the room and asked Vini and Solara to follow him.
"Please be a colt," prayed Vini. "A hippogriff colt."
The three walked in to find Luminescent lying in a bed, a pile of blue blankets placed on a table beside her. Luminescent brushed her stringy, orange mane behind her horn and gave Solara and Vini a tired smile. She scooted over on her bed and patted the spot next to her.
Solara was more than happy to jump up with her. She snuggled up to Luminescent's yellow fur and got a big hug from her mother.
"What happened to your mane, silly?" Luminescent teased. She tried smoothing it out, but her hoof was shocked and Solara's mane went frizzy again.
Solara giggled. "Lightning tickles."
Before Luminescent could respond, Vini stood beside her and took her hoof in his claw. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and asked, "We heard thee yelling; did thou need anything, Lumi?"
Popping sounds emerged from Vini's claw as Luminescent's hoof squeezed back. He squeaked and grimaced as she answered, "I just wanted to see you, Vini."
As Vini and 'Lumi' spoke, the doctor advising against breaking Vini's writing claw, Solara checked out the big bundle of blankets. Turns out, it was two small bundles, each holding its own baby. Solara focused on the right one, a dark blue, hippogriff colt. His eyes were closed, and he was chewing on some fabric he tore off the blanket. The baby on the left was exactly identical, except he was barely awake and smiling at her. His eyes were golden, like Luminescent's.
"They're so cute!" Solara squeaked. "Can we keep them?"
"That's what we were planning on," Luminescent answered. "They're your little brothers, after all."
"Th-th-them?" stuttered Vini. If Solara didn't know any better, she would have thought he sounded scared. But since she 'did' know better, she chose not to care.
Solara dove and gave her new brothers a big hug, ignoring a glare from the doctor. Both babies were now wide awake and giggling there heads off while she made funny faces.
"We cannot keep it!" Vini hissed loud enough for Solara to hear. He noticed her looking and then continued to speak too quiet for anypony except Luminescent to hear.
"Mr. Doctor Sir," Solara whispered, "what can't we keep?"
"The second-born twin." The doctor picked her up and placed her on a counter against the wall, away from the babies who should have been sleeping.
Solara looked back to her family. The baby who was awake earlier was tearing up, his claws reaching for her. The other seemed ready to push his brother off the table. Her parents were still having a silent argument.
"But why not? He's so cute."
"He's a twin," the doctor countered. "The second-born twin is supposed to be a monster. One that brings bad luck to anything that comes to close. Usually they're ki-" he hesitated "-um- dealt with- before anything bad happens."
The newborn actually did push the other off the table. Luckily, the doctor had good reflexes and caught him.
"Like that?" Solara asked as the doctor re-imprisoned them in blankets.
"No, usually it's much worse than falling off a table. That, and the curse strikes others, not the twin in question."
"Then maybe he isn't cursed," Solara said, filled with hope.
Solara caught how her enthusiasm made the doctor sad. "Maybe, but there's no proof either way. Your mother refuses to believe it, but your father, as usual, is siding with paranoid tradition. It's understandable; a stallion in his line of work can't afford any unfortunate surprises."
"Well, I won't believe it." Solara unconsciously took a challenging step toward the doctor.
Her parents finally seemed to reach an agreement. Or, more likely, chose to stop arguing.
"Which was first?" Vini asked.
"This one." The doctor gave him the baby who pushed his brother off the table.
"We thank thee for thine assistance this evening." Vini turned to Luminescent and said something that shocked Solara more than the lightning. "That is not our real son. Thou may only keep that thing on one condition: Keep it away from us and our real son." With that, he stormed out of the room. Solara had no clue where he was going, they had the same ride home.
"Can he do that? Just take a baby from a hospital?" Luminescent asked the doctor.
"He's the emperor, it's his baby... there isn't much else we can do for it. Why not?"
Luminescent sighed, and looked at her 'monster.' He was struggling, and succeeding, to break free of his fabric cocoon. "At least we still have you."
Solara hopped of the counter, crept passed the doctor, and jumped on table to unravel her brother. He seemed fascinated by the sparks still dancing in her coat.
"Doctor," Luminescent asked, "how do hippogriff name their foals?"
The baby reached for Solara and was zapped. She felt her mane fall back down to her head. The static that kept it afloat was now jumping across his claw.
"Usually, we find a good word and change it a little, rather than plucking them strait from a dictionary."
"Pardon me?"
The doctor watched closely as the baby reached back to Solara and returned her static. Her mane, once again, achieved zero gravity and the baby had a fit of laughter. "He seems interested with electricity." He named off some words, "Static, shock, thunder, spark, volts... hmm. You could try... Volta, maybe?"
"Volta? That's a silly pony name," Solara argued.
"Then it's perfect for a hippogriff." The doctor started looking for something on the counter.
"Volta; I love it," Luminescent said. "My sweet, little Volta." She picked him up and cradled him in her forelegs.
"That's very well and all, but we still have business to attend." The doctor found a clipboard which he showed to Luminescent. "My bill, Your Highness. Plus five bits for the name, please."