//------------------------------// // 15: Delivery // Story: Memoir of a King’s Master Consort by Sir Spike // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// There are a few memories of your whole life that you can’t ever forget. Of birthday parties, holidays, vacations, graduation, weddings, the first time you got laid, the first time someone says “I love you,” and the day you become a parent. I’ll never forget that day in September, just as the leaves were changing color and the hive was very active. Most of the frantic Changelings were centered towards the Lavender’s chambers with the Hive’s best physicians and wet-nurses were in with her through her labors. Just outside of not only the door of her room but even at the secret passages where Pharynx’s guards that stood watch as it was happening. I was with Thorax in his bedchamber. He circled around in the center of the room while I sat in a corner. We were both tense, only I didn’t show it but I knew that he could sense it. “How long has it been?” he asked no one in particular. “Almost an hour by the looks of it,” I told him from looking at a clock on the wall. “Do you think that one of us should go check on her – just to be sure everything’s okay.” “You know what your brother said. He’ll come by to tell us once everything is done. So who’s to say that everything isn’t fine?” “But how long does it take to lay her eggs?” I shrugged, “I can’t say, I suppose it all depends on the mare and how many she’s eggs that are… well… coming out, so to speak.” “Yeah…” he plopped down on the floor on his hindquarters. “I just really hope everything is going to be okay.” This was my cue to stand up to hug him. “I know you’re scared, and frankly so am I. Since you guys are pretty much family to me, I too can’t help but worry about how things will turn out.” “Well that, and the fact that we’re going to be parents. Something I thought would never happen is happening. I just hope that we can make full on our promise to raise them without…” he trailed off. “Without what?” I raised an eyebrow. He sighed, “That none of us would be like mother.” I patted his head, “You and Lavender are no Chrysalis. You two don’t nearly have enough gree-” I instantly stopped with a realization. “Oh, crap.” “What?” I put both claws over my maw, “I’ve completely forgotten,” I muttered. “What?” “Thorax, do you remember the time when I became so obsessed with my greed that I practically turned into a monster?” At first, neither of us dared to speak what the other was thinking. “Oh, Celestia…” “I guess that gives your nightmare a little more context,” the Changeling King laughed uneasily. “But if I recall, I do think Twilight has given me specific instructions to not only to keep that greed in proportion but how to reverse it in case you grow faster than you intended to.” “And the hatchlings?” “I already told this in your dream and I’ll say it again: I don’t believe that you’ll ever hurt them. We know that you’re more gentle than that. And as I have said,” he nuzzled me, “I do trust you enough to raise them with us.” Just then there was a knock on the door, to which his brother entered. “Well?” Thorax asked, “Is it done? Is Lavender and the hatchlings safe?” Pharynx took the time to show his very rare smile, “Are you ready to meet your children, brother?” We rushed over to the Queen’s chambers were in that crowded room of doctors, nurses, and guards. Lavender was still on her bed with a sheet over her hind legs while a Changeling was apparently cleaning up from the afterbirth. But what caught our attention, was that on a cart were five, tennis ball sized, clear green orbs that were carefully placed on a pillow. A nurse was studying each of them with a magnifying glass. As soon as we entered, the nurse bowed to us, “Three fillies and two colts, Your Majesty.” Thorax was awestruck, “C-Can I see them?” “You may look, but do not touch. The eggs are still very fragile at this stage, but once we get these to the nursery, it’ll be about a week until they hatch.” I and the King approached them. As we got closer, we can make out each of their forms within it. Tiny, grub-like in which we could not only make out the gender of each because the Colts had three bumps on their heads. All five of them were suspended in there with their eyes closed as if they were sleeping in cocoons. I glanced over at Thorax who was tearing up. And I didn’t have to be a Changeling to sense the amount of pride and joy he had at that moment. Gently he went around to his exhausted queen and kissed her forehead. “They’re beautiful.” She opened her eyes, “Next time,” she said softly, “morphine.” The King chuckled at that, “Are you okay?” “I just had five children within an hour, how do you think I feel?” He looked over to the doctors, “Has she been given painkillers yet?” When told that they just did and all it needs was to kick in, he said to Lavender. “You need to rest. We can see them in the nursery once you’re able to get back on your four hooves.” “That might take a while,” she flopped her head on the pillow. “I feel like I’ve been torn in two by a train on railroad tracks. Are the hatchings healthy?” “It would appear to be so ma’am,” one of the nurses informed her. She tilted her head to the side to see the see-through eggs, to which the Queen smiled. “I think you may take them to the nursery now, but be careful because they’re very precious to me.” They obeyed as guards and wet nurses drove the cart away and carefully as if the eggs were made out of glass. I admit that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them as they were being wheeled out. They were so fragile, so impossibly small that I felt the enormous weight in realizing that I’m responsible for these guys too. Perhaps Thorax was feeling the exact thing in the idea that things will be different now. I’m now a father. Of course, I wrote letters to not just Twilight, but to the royal family and friends of the Changeling Kingdom to tell them that Lavender has given birth to five, healthy hatchings. And the response was almost immediate as within a few hours, I was burping out letters saying the exact same thing: “We want to come and see the babies.” The biological parents certainly didn’t mind as they told them that their eggs should be hatching within a week. About three days later, Queen Lavender, although still frazzled and even lipped a bit, was able to stand up. Once she was able, the three of us gathered in the nursery, around the five eggs. There was one question that all of us had on our minds: “So what are we going to call them?” I asked them. Both King and Queen looked at one another, “That’s a rather good question.” Thorax confessed, “With so many names to choose from, what exactly are we going to name them?” “I have an idea,” she said, “Something that I have been thinking about for a while. How about we name them after those who we admire?” “Admire… how?” I asked with a cocked eyebrow. “Like heroes or someone from a myth that would deem worthy enough for these hatchlings to have.” Humming in thought, Thorax commented, “So three fillies and two colts… Who was born first?” “Her,” she pointed to the one on the left. “In fact, they were laid from left to right.” “Okay,” he nodded, “So do you have any ideas for this one?” She hummed before saying, “I was thinking… Atalanta.” “Wasn’t she from Pegasi mythology?” I inquired. “Because I think I’ve heard that name before.” “It is,” Lavender nodded. “I have been reading Pegasi myths a while back and that name stood out because of what she was. Atalanta was once raised by bears and once she was brought to civilization she became a huntress that was so good that she’d managed to outdo any task better then what the stallions could throw at her.” “So basically she was the strong mare type that wasn’t afraid to take up any challenge that was presented to her?” I asked. She nodded, “Exactly. I like to have the girls to have that name because it’s both elegant but independent. The name itself is almost a byword for one who is confident in herself in what she does.” “Atalanta…” I mused over. “I think I rather like it.” Thorax nodded, “I think I can call her that… Very well, her name is Atalanta.” “Your turn,” she pointed to the colt next to the firstborn. “What do you think is a good name for him?” In a glance at me, he answered, “How about Jr?” I snorted, “What? Thorax jr?” “No, I was thinking Spike Jr.” That caught me off guard, “Woah, hold on, are you serious?” “Wouldn’t that technically make him Spike the Second?” Lavender questioned. “If so, at least it would sound more regal.” “Yes and yes. I am serious and that’s a better name now that I think of it.” “Okay but, why though?” I questioned him. “Because if we’re going to name our children after heroes that we admire, I might as well have one of my colts be named after the one that I look up to.” ‘Awe… Goddesses I love him.’ I thought at first before clearing my head, “As kind as that is, are you sure about naming one of your children after me?” “More than that, I think that having a son deserves a name in which he has proven to be a hero time and time again.” “But wouldn’t it get confusing to have two individuals named Spike?” “He has a point,” Lavender interjected. “How about this: formally he shall be known as Spike the Second, but privately we’ll call him Junior?” It seemed fair enough. This conversation went on for a while, but to abridge it, in the end, we named two other sisters as Velvet, in honor of Twilight Velvet that was like a grandmother to me. While the youngest was named after Thorax’s favorite literary heroin: Scheherazade, named after the mare that told stories to a mad king for a thousand and one nights. Lavender named the second son after a figure in Changeling folklore: Sekto, who is said to be the first Changeling in all of creation. Now with the names given, I inquired of the couple, “So how exactly are we going to raise these guys? I mean, with all the duties we have of day court and all that, that might make our hooves full, wouldn’t it?” “Not to say that we won’t have help,” Thorax pointed out. “Of course we’ll interact with them as much as we can, but do remember that we also have others to assist us.” “Yes,” his queen nodded. “Grant it that we do have duties to uphold, I do want to spend time with them as well. I want to play with them, teach them, calm them whenever they’re upset, read to them when they’re trying to go asleep. Essentially, just to be a mother to them. And I do expect the same out of you two as well, with something like this; I’ll need all the help I can get.” “We promise,” we said at the same time. “Good,” Lavender nodded, returning her gaze at the eggs. “Oh, I can’t wait for them to hatch.” I put a claw on Thorax’s back, “You know what? I think I’m looking forward to this too.”