"Just hang in there, Octy! Just remember your breathing exercises!" Vinyl urged, doing her best to coach her now in-labor marefriend as she, Bonbon and Lyra did their best to flag down a carriage. Once they had gotten the attention of a carriage, Lyra and Vinyl helped levitate Octavia into it.
"Where to, miss?" the carriage puller asked Bonbon.
"Ponyville General, now! We have a mare in labor!" she said, throwing a small sack of bits at the stallion. "GO! GO! GO!"
"Gotcha!" the stallion said, tucking the sack of bits into his satchel and charging off as quickly as his legs would take him.
"DEAR CELESTIA WHY DOES THIS HURT SO MUCH!?" Octavia screamed, feeling as though her lower half was being forced to squeeze out her innards along with her foals.
"Just hang in there, Octy! You're going to be o-" Vinyl would have finished her sentence, had it suddenly felt like her hoof had been caught by an iron vice-grip set to "powderize".
"A'LL BE OKAY WHEN YE' GET MA' FOALS OUTTA ME!" Octavia roared, her Scoltish accent coming out in full force. For the first time in her entire life, Vinyl had been stunned into complete and utter silence, Lyra staring in awe at what had just occurred.
"...Octy? You have an accent!? That is amazing! I can't believe-" Vinyl stopped dead when Octavia shot her a glare so potent it could have destroyed the sun. "...I'll be quiet now..."
"That's probably for the best..." Lyra said. "Don't worry, Octavia, we'll get you to the hospital in time," she said.
"It hurts... it hurts so much..." Octavia whimpered, gritting her teeth and gripping Vinyl's hoof as hard as she could as another painful contraction squeezed her abdomen. Vinyl's jaw hung open in a silent scream as Octavia's surprisingly withering strength about crushed her hoof.
"I... I may need a hoof-doctor after this..." Vinyl said softly, making an attempt at trying to cradle her now-assuredly broken hoof, yet she could not pull away. To her ultimate horror, Octavia turned her head to face Vinyl.
"...Oh no... ye' were the one who did this ta' me! Ye're going t' TAKE YER PUNISHMENT!" Octavia said, letting out a pained yell as another contraction hit her, causing her to reflexively crush Vinyl's hoof.
"...Yes, Octy..." Vinyl said, both out of genuine concern for Octavia, and out of sheer agony and fear Octavia would cause her even more pain.
"C'mon, pick up the pace!" Bonbon urged. The stallion looked over his shoulder, his already-heavy breathing becoming more and more painful with each moment.
"I'm going as fast as I can!" the stallion yelled, pushing himself as hard as he could to get to their destination. Once they had finally arrived at the hospital, Bonbon immediately leapt out of the carriage and kicked open the hospital doors with a swift buck.
"We need a gourney- now! We have a mare going into labor!" Bonbon yelled. A nurse who had just finished wheeling out a patient nearby immediately rushed over to grab an empty gourney that had just been cleaned and refitted for use.
"Where is she?"
"Alright, I need you to give me the specifics. When did she go into labor?" the nurse asked. He peered over Octavia's charts, flicking part of his red mane out of his golden eyes.
"Well, she went into labor about an hour ago," Vinyl said. "You said your name was... Chord?"
"'Chordae', ma'am," he said with a small smile. "Well, we've given her a sedative, and she's resting. You also said the contractions were coming in how far apart?" he asked.
"I would say one every couple of seconds at its worst, but it slowed down to maybe once every few minutes," Vinyl said.
"Hmm... seems like a false alarm, but I'll talk to the doctor about maybe keeping her over-night," Chordae said.
Vinyl's blood ran cold. "What do you mean? We can't stay overnight!"
Chordae raised an eyebrow. "What could possibly be more important than ensuring the safety of your marefriend and your foals?"
"Our wedding."
A profound silence filled the room as Chordae looked at Vinyl, then back at Octavia, and gave a small sigh. "I'll try and see what I can do, but I can make no guarantees," he said as walked out of the room. Lyra and Bonbon made their way over to Vinyl, who had fallen silent as she pondered the possible outcome.
"We'd have to postpone our wedding..." Vinyl said softly, tears filling her eyes.
"Hey, don't think like that..." Bonbon said, hugging her around her shoulders.
"Yeah, you never know- the doctor may release her early..." Lyra added.
"We'll just have to see what the doctor says," Vinyl said, wiping her eyes. "If he wants us to stay, then we'll stay. I'm not going to put my foals at risk for a simple ceremony."
"That's very mature of you, Vinyl. You're already thinking like a mom," Bonbon said with a wink.
"I'd better go let both sets of parents know Octavia's in the hospital," Vinyl said. "Would you mind staying here with her? Let her know where I went if she wakes up before I get back," she said.
"Sure thing," Bonbon said.
With that taken care of, Vinyl exited the hospital room. She made her way down to the nurse's station looking for Chordae. The stallion made his way out of another room and set down his clipboard. He then noticed Vinyl, making his way over to her from behind the counter. "Can I help you with something?"
"Yeah, I need to borrow some paper and a quill," Vinyl said.
"Oh, sure." Chordae reached over and placed a quill, ink and paper for Vinyl to use. "Let me know if Miss Octavia needs anything," he said as he moved off to assist another patient.
"Sure, thanks," Vinyl said. She then quickly got to work writing both messages, and sent them off via her magic.
"Ah, what a lovely, peaceful afternoon..." Rolando said as he sat at the balcony of the hotel room he had rented for the week for Marianna and himself. He made his way over to the kitchen area, and poured himself a cup of hot tea. He was about to sit down to drink it when Marianna barged in with all the force of a hurricane, sending the scalding hot cup of tea directly into Rolando's lap. "YEOW!" he yelped as he patted his legs and thighs to try and dissipate the heat.
"Rolando, we need to leave- now!" Marianna said, bustling past him to retrieve a scarf and a jacket.
"May I ask why and the reason for such urgency?" Rolando said, grabbing a towel to dry himself off.
"I just received a letter from Vincenza, an important one!" she said.
"Saying what, dear?"
"Octavia went into premature labor! We need to leave- now!"
Rolando paused for a moment. "...Surely that cannot be right... at this stage in her pregnancy-" he suddenly felt the words die in his throat when his wife suddenly closed the distance with him, her ruby eyes taking on the color of fire as she peered into the depths of his soul.
"...Are you really going to sit there and ponder an occurrence that should not have happened but so clearly did, instead of rushing to your daughter's side as your grand-foals are born!?" Marianna yelled, her patience thoroughly exhausted. Rolando swallowed hard, feeling himself shrink to a size that would have made a dust mite similar in size to that of Canterlot Castle.
"...No, dear... let's go," he squeaked. He stood up and grabbed his coat, allowed Marianna to leave first, and shut the hotel room behind them.
Madeline was seated in a chair inside their own hotel room. Rolando had been kind enough to pay for their stay in the hotel as well, including whatever amenities they decided to use while they were there. She had been quietly reading a book in peace when a small letter popped into existence before her. "Oh... a letter..." she said as she examined it closely. She unfolded the piece of paper... and charged out of the room at top speed without even finishing it. She made her way through the halls of the hotel and down several flights of stairs before she finally found Kester, seated at the bar, talking and laughing with an old friend.
"Kester- need- leave- now!" Madeline panted, out of breath.
"Wha's th' matter, love? Ye' look like ye've just seen a ghost," Kester said, concerned.
"...Tavia ... in... abor..."
"Wha'? Are ye sayin' 'Octavia's in good favor?' Well A'd hope so, she's a right good little lass," Kester said proudly. Madeline shook her head.
"She... abor... coming..."
"Dear, ye're no' makin' any sense. Ye said she was 'able and coming'?" Kester asked, even more confused. Madeline suddenly grabbed Kester by the ears, dragging him down to eye level.
"No, you dolt! Octavia's in labor!" Madeline said. As somepony had flipped a switch in his mind, Kester's entire expression changed. The next thing Madeline knew she was suddenly on his massive back, the mare able to feel every muscle in his body tensing like steel wire under extreme stress. The stallion took off like a shot and out the front door as fast as his tree-trunk legs would allow him. He put so much strength into his legs he was quite literally tearing up dirt and mulch as he charged past, leaving small gouges out of the ground as he made a beeline for the hospital.
"A'M COMIN' 'TAVI! PAPA'S COMIN'!"
Vinyl made her way back into the hospital room, and sighed. She took a seat next to Octavia, who was still in a deep sleep. "Well, if we have to stay, we have to stay..." she said softly, placing a hoof on her belly. "You three are my biggest priority..." she said softly as she touched her cheek to her belly, giving it a small kiss. She smiled when she received a light kick in response. "You're just like your grandpa..."
"Hello," a voice said. Vinyl, Lyra and Bonbon turned their head to face a stallion that had entered the room. "Good evening, I'm Doctor Haysworth, Octavia's physician." He then took a seat on a stool near the bed, and sighed. "I understand your wedding is tomorrow, but what occurred today should not have happened. I would feel more comfortable if she stayed here tonight. We'll be keeping a very close eye on her throughout the night, and we will try to release her as early tomorrow morning as possible. I'm sorry, but I cannot allow her to have another episode like this and risk harming herself or the foals."
"I understand, Doctor Haysworth," Vinyl said softly.
"Good... I'll be back here in a little while to start doing tests," he said. He then got up and left the room, taking the papers with him. Vinyl felt her heart sink, but hid it to the best of her abilities.
"Looks like we may have to postpone the wedding after all..."
~Ten Chapters Remain~
(blog-post to follow about lateness and stuff!)
I LOVE YOUR STORIES!!!!!!!!
I should really get around to reading this...
But... ships... and 66 chapters...
in b4 a million "OH GOD I THOUGHT THIS STORY WAS DEAD" comments
I love the part about Vinyl and Octavia's parents. Well done, my friend, well done.
:O UPDATE!!!!
1418128
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSS
An update! AN UPDATE! AN UPDATE!!!
*Faints from fangasming*
P.S. So worth the wait! But hey, that doesn't mean you can just vanish for months like that!
Make more now or I'll do something you'll regret
Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh *Joygasm everywhere*
Questions answered. Glad to see an update, I was starting to wonder what happened to my favorite pony couple.
i can't help but imagine kester's voice sounding like the father in "how to train your dragon". Also Tavi's accent in this was killing me especially
wonderful chapter mate, wonderful!
ohmygoditupdatedYES!
Would you believe I was just thinking about this story yesterday?
Yay! You updated!
I was rereading this yesterday.... I need to do this more often
THE ACCENTS!!!! I LOVE THE ACCENTS!!! *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* I MISSED THIS STORY!!!! LOVE IT!!
Sorry about that. I love the chapter, my friend.
i forgot i was tracking this >.> thanks for the update, hope it pumps out more that there is 10 chaps left
why so little.... why so late... anyway i love how no matter how long you take to release a chapter am always happy to see more of this
Holy shit its alive! Wooo party!
AN UPDATE!
MORE!
Yay update!
Well about Damn time. It was a good chapter if a bit short, but that could just be me. Been reading a lot of longer fics here lately so meh..
*Looks around*
Another chapter?
Oh no...
DOCTOR! THE FABRIC OF TIME AND SPACE IS IN DANGER!!!
TO THE TARDIS!
*After what seems like five seconds*
Oh My Dear Sweet Celestia that was close...
I have waited a HORRIBLE long time for this and I am ETERNALLY Greatful that this story did not just end at the peak. IT IS JUST SO GREAT!
Now...
I dont want to give you any pressure...
But...
I am really looking forwards to the next chapter already!
So Good Luck!
Wow. Update.
An update, for a while i thought you we're dead, but when i got the email telling me there was an update my day was complete i hope you update again real soon.
YAY, UPDATE!!!! but then again .....
ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!!!!!! PLEASE, keep those updates coming!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK4kVi1leeg
Oh joy! Another chapter!!!! COOOOOOOL!
MOAR, MOAR, I say!!!
Wait a second... This story updated
Hear my heavenly laughter
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hWNsg7_D23o#t=0s]
Seriously though Yay! Hope this story has a satisfying conclusion, but more importantly Where in the heavily guarded gates of Tartarus, has Unts been. You could write a sidefic about that little guy.
Love to read this now, but I can't
MY PEOPLE NEED ME!
Have a favorite!
1418410 pokerface.jpg....
Good Show! Glad to see you're back.
Long time no read! glad this popped up in my favs. Cant wait, reading in a minute!!!!
LOL!
I'm glad you're back!
> le email
> Two's Company has been updated
> My reaction: OHFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK (etc.)
> Reads story immediately
One thing that just killed me, was reading Octavia in a strong female Scottish accent.
It's about fuckin' time!
TCTaC updates? WHO NEEDS SCHOOL?!
<Post reading> Octavia having a Scoltish accent, new head canon.
You know I've been wondering when you'd finally get around to this.
I like how Tavi's accent came out. Stress always brings accents to the front, especially if you're hiding them
1418106 OH GOD I THOUGHT THIS STORY WAZ DED.
But seriously though, almost took off my clothes seeing this. Too bad I have to save that occasion for something else.
I miss the daily updates...
1418239
I concur with your sentiment
I almost fucking cried when I saw the update, you got me that excited after the cliffhanger in the last chapter. literally, every day since I read the last chapter I was thinking about the story and how the dates didn't add up, but premature labour explains it. It was one of my guesses, but I wasn't sure. I imagine it has something to do with the foals being magically conceived.
I can also imagine Octy speaking like fat bastard from Austin powers and saying "Git out ma bell-ley" in a scoltish accent as she is in labour.
Leave us on a cliff-hanger for 3 months, and then have it be a false alarm? That is the true definition of evil!
HOLY SHIT ITS BAC HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLL YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
Wow me and the Missus have had similar experience not to long ago she had to stop in for two nights for what turned out to be an infection and then another two night when she had a bad reaction to the antibiotics she was given.
Not to be rude or anything, but I beg of you, MORE!!
>turns on computer
>checks emails
>sees update
>*boom*
Holy bollocks, it UPDATED. YES! So AWESOME!
Oh, lord/lady Lithe, please bequeath to us yet another of these marvelous, scrumptious chapters.
/kowtows
Praisingly,
~Plyxe
hmm whats this, an update to one of my favorites..... DEAR SWEET LORD ITS TWO'S COMPANY! but seriously im glad it got updated this is my 2nd favorite fic besides allegrezza. keep up the good work and i cant wait for the next chapter
IT'S BACK!!!! HOORAY!!!! and...now I have to wait more.