It wasn't a very interesting day. Hot, sure, but so were the past few days. It was mid-summer, after all. The hospital was much the same that day. Hot and uninteresting, only the lack of a gentle breeze made the heat more of an issue. Not by much, but just enough to stick in your skin and make you a little uncomfortable.
It was quite cramped in the waiting room. Everyone had a seat to themselves but they all felt too close anyway. As it should be no one wanted to be there.
Those not deemed serious enough to see right away were forced to sit there, clutching at sprained hooves and willing the pain away. Others were there for check-ups and felt that it was ridiculous to have to spend an entire day there when no one seemed to be moving.
One mother was at the end of her rope. It had already been a stressful morning with her toddler refusing to cooperate, and now adding on top of that the inactivity over the past few hours in a cramped room causing her child to become restless was too much.
It was coming to that moment, the pivotal moment for any young child, when boredom was too high and the energy pent up inside was too great. He had already been restless in his seat, sighing in frustration, but he snapped. With a great inhale of breath he readied himself to scream the place down, and all his mother could do was cry on the inside as it was all too much for her.
It never came to this. Someone had beaten the toddler to it.
The door burst open, impressive for an automatic one, and an exhausted mare trotted in, panting for her life, hauling a trailer carrying a screaming mare.
Everyone looked. The one pulling had now collapsed. She wasn't particularly overweight or unfit but she had been booking it. The one in trailer was clearly heavily pregnant, so much so she was probably in labour, which would explain the screaming, thought most of the onlookers.
The situation did not do her justice. She was tall and blue with a rainbow flowing behind her, beautiful and understated as most notice the vibrant colour and little else as she walked by. Right now, however, she was in massive pain, dripping in sweat and tears as three small babies pressed against her insides.
A squad of nurses appeared at once, one to help the poor mare collapsed on the floor trying to catch her breath and two more to help the rainbow one into a wheelchair and take her to the maternity ward.
They were gone in seconds. Vanished as the double doors beyond which the hospital swung closed behind them. There was no sign it had even happened, other than the abandoned cart that lay in the sensor of the doors and kept them open. A breeze drifted in and replaced the hot, stale air with something more refreshing, and the cart itself provided some relief for the small child as it curiously investigated it, and the mother felt a wave of bliss as he did so.
Those in the corridor parted like a wave as the rainbow mare was wheeled before them. Each stole a quick glance, as one would, out of curiosity.
The one nurse not pushing the wheelchair took no time for pleasantries and got straight to the point, not being one for faffing. “Name?” She added as an after thought “Please.”
In a break of the intense pain the mare could answer “Rainbow Swirl,” she panted.
“What about you?”
The mare that had brought her in walked briskly by their side, sipping at the water she had been given, coughed her reply. “Cloud.”
The nurse had a look in her eye as if to insult the mare's parents for giving her such a bland name. “How do you know Rainbow?”
“I'm her neighbour. I heard screaming when I was in my garden and I figured it was about due so I hauled her into my cart and brought her here as fast as I could. My cart is going to be alright in the lobby, isn't it?”
The nurse had stopped listening sometime ago after getting the information she needed. “Now, Rainbow, it sounds like you're quite far along already so we will get you into the appropriate room.”
They took a sharp turn into the maternity ward. Rainbow screamed again, filling the halls with her pain.
“A doctor will be with you shortly,” one of the nurses said as they left the room.
Rainbow reclined in a bed, catching her breath in this brief window when the pain was only severe and not catastrophic.
By this time Cloud had recovered, still a little dehydrated and woozy, but was now there for her one hundred percent. She moved to Rainbow's side and held her hoof. The smile on her face grew only wider and wider as what was happening dawned on her. “I can't believe it. Today's the day!”
Rainbow managed a weak smile between quiet panting breathes and a chuckle. “Yeah. Two weeks early but the doctors said that might happen. And to be honest I'm relieved.”
“I can imagine. Well, I can pretend to.” Cloud managed a laugh. “I've heard one kid in your belly is bad enough, but three?! It will be worth it though. I wonder what you'll get?”
“Oh yeah. I hope there's a filly in the bunch. If I'm honest that thought is what's been keeping me sane during the pregnancy.”
“Trust me, you weren't that subtle about it. We all knew.”
A doctor walked in with a brisk pace in his step. “Hello,” he said in a friendly voice.
Rainbow looked up at hearing the familiar voice. “Doctor Nurse?” She smiled wide.
“I'm so glad I was on call today.” He walked around the bed, smiling all the way. “I was there at the beginning and now I'm here at the end.”
“Yeah. It's always good to see a friendly face.” Rainbow let out a nervous laugh.
“So, how are you feeling? Excited I bet.”
Rainbow screamed in pain, answering his question perfectly. Cloud was quick to grab her hoof. “C'mon now Rainbow, just breath through it. In and hard, nice and big.”
Rainbow did as she was told. A large breath in and a large breath out. It hurt to breath like that, but maybe it distracted her from the far greater pain elsewhere, making it not seem as bad.
“No time to chitchat,” Nurse muttered as he went to the end of the bed. He adjusted his glasses and peeked under the gown. Where the expression on his face had been quite professional before it was now of calm panic and mild surprise. “That's very good timing,” he said to anyone who was listening. “NURSE!”
A squad of nurses appeared at the door, spent a second staring at him before getting the picture. Necessary preparations began for the birth.
“What?” Rainbow said in an exasperated breath. The nurses were not gentle. They jerked Rainbow's body around, propping her legs up, moving anything that could get in the way. Now, Rainbow knew that this wasn't going to be a comfortable time, but they certainly weren't helping.
“Well, Rainbow, it would seem you are ready to, you know, get things going.” Nurse was still surprised. “You're lucky. I've had mares in here for a whole day waiting before.”
Rainbow didn't take comfort in that.
“Normally we would offer some kind of painkiller but it is far too late for that, I'm afraid.” Nurse took position and readied to birth some babies. “Triplets, right?”
Rainbow screamed, so Cloud answered on her part.
“Yikes. Today is not going to be fun.”
They babies were not taking their time. Numbers One and Two were out, checked, cleaned and wrapped as the next was one its way. Not even a moment to introduce them to their mother, or give their mother a breather, for that matter.
“Okay, Rainbow, that's two now. One more to go, and its not waiting.”
Rainbow nodded but her body and mind were exhausted. Nothing had ever tired her out so much, and to have to go through it one more time was an unbearable thought. Her eyes drooped and slowly shut, her head fell back into the pillow. The pain seemed to subside and everything was going black, only a few words entered her mind.
“Rainbow, stay with me. It's important. Oh jeez. Nurse!”
She passed out.
She woke up, still exhausted only numb from the waste down. It was different. Nothing made sense. It was a different ceiling from before. The bed was comfier. It was warmer.
“Oh, nurse. She's awake,” Cloud said softly.
Hooves trotted swiftly from across the room to Rainbow's side and quickly began checking her vitals. “At last. You gave us quite the fright.” This nurse was quite bit friendlier than the one who had brought her in. There was more care in her voice.
“What happened?” Rainbow asked. “Where are my babies?”
“They're fine. Happy and sound in the corner. I'll bring them over in a second after I make sure you're okay.” Her hooves were busy as she spoke. “See, you did a very risky thing.”
“What?”
“You fell asleep during childbirth. Well, more passed out from exhaustion. Not uncommon, but it is not a good thing.”
“Are they okay?” Rainbow blurted out. The heart monitor quickened its beeping.
“Oh yes, they are perfectly healthy. All three of them. You're lucky you had such a good doctor. He's a wizard when it come to babies.”
Rainbow breathed a loud sigh of relief.
“Now, I would be telling you to go back to sleep and rest proper, but I know of three little things who would say otherwise. They have very much been looking forward to meet you.” The nurse went to collect the first of the three.
Rainbow felt touched. “Really?”
“Of course they have.” The nurse picked up the first of the restless babies. “There is already a connection between you and your children, like with every mother, and as soon as they lay their eyes on you they will feel it as much as you do. It's a connection that will never break, and there is nothing else like it in the world.”
Rainbow watched the nurse come back with the first of three. It was so small. “Is that...?”
The nurse smiled lovingly. “Yep. This is number one.” She placed into Rainbow's hooves a tiny pony, of blue and rainbow, wrapped in a soft, pink blanket.
The feeling inside was nothing she ever felt before. It was as if a part of her had been added, a part had been missing. She stared wide eyed and slack jaw at the little her, and the little her stared back. She could feel it deep inside her heart that this filly already loved her unconditionally. She moved her hoof to stroke her face, and the filly didn't flinch as she gently rubbed her cheek. It was too much. She began to cry.
“If you're going to cry,” Cloud started, “after just one of them I think I'm going to give you some room. Now that you're awake I'll go get your family.” She leant over and kissed her friend's cheek. “Back in a bit.” With that she was gone.
“Ready for number two?” the nurse asked.
Rainbow nodded slightly, but her eyes remained firmly fixed on number one, so much so she never noticed the nurse go and come back with number two.
“And number two.”
The next one was placed snugly next to its sister. Another little her. Blue coat, rainbow mane and wrapped in a pink blanket. She squirmed her hoof free before staring at the huge version of herself.
Rainbow found herself laughing somewhere between giddy with excitement and hysteria. Two fillies? This was more than she thought. She was half expecting to have none just because the world can be like that sometimes.
The nurse came back once again with a third bundle of blankets squirming in her grips. “This one's a feisty one,” she muttered as she pulled away the blanket that the child so desperately wanted to be free of.
“And there. Filly number three,” she said as she placed the filly with the others.
Rainbow was speechless.
It was a beautiful autumn day. The sun from summer was still hanging around and the clouds were still in production so there was nothing blocking it. Rainbow thought it best to let her fillies roam the garden as they loved before the cold set in.
She sat there with her Nana, watching her children playing about, entertaining themselves with things only a child's imagination would find entertaining. Shine was digging her hoof at the grass while Dash tried in vain to climb the huge tree in at the back.
“So, just to make sure I actually have this,” Nana started, more to herself than anyone. “That's Dash with the rose coloured eyes.”
“Yep. Just like me and you,” Rainbow confirmed.
“Shine has the black eyes.” Nana paused for Rainbow's confirmation. “And Swirl has blue eyes, just like my girl.”
“That's right.” Rainbow could never tire of describing her children. She was, however, getting tired of people not being able to tell them apart. Seriously, how could anyone get confused, she thought, but failed to think how they are nearly identical unless you get right into the nitty-gritty details.
“It's weird that, isn't it?” Nana remarked. “Why is it some foals get the pupil and other the iris?”
Rainbow shrugged. “I don't know. I asked the doctors but apparently it's not something ponies have been bothered to research. All they know is it makes no difference.”
Nana nodded. They drifted back into silence again as Rainbow didn't have the strength to keep talking. It was a delight to watch though. Small children playing made her feel young again, despite now being a great-grandmother, and finally seeing her granddaughter so happy again made her feel all the more better.
“Is Swirl still...?” Nana asked first but went to check anyway. She lifted her granddaughter's thick mane, revealing a sleepy filly dozing off in the warmth and softness of her mother's mane. It would always make her heart do backflips. It made her giddy. “She is just precious!” she whispered.
Rainbow beamed. “I know! She adores my mane. Especially the green bit.”
Nana lowered the mane again so the filly could nap in peace. “You know, we've been so preoccupied with the fillies I haven't even asked how you are holding up.”
“Not much has changed since the other day. I'm just so, so tired.”
Nana looked at her, it wouldn't be surprising if she konked out right there and slept for a week. “Do you get any sleep?”
Rainbow genuinely couldn't answer. “I don't know. Maybe. I nap when they do, if I can. Otherwise nights are busy making sure they're seen to and fed, and that takes longer than I would like.”
“How come? I'd thought it would be over quickly.”
“I can only feed two at once. Plus Swirl needs feeding twice in the night. Doctor's orders,” she added before Nana could ask why. “When she came round she said Swirl is looking like she's not getting enough, which is apparently common with triplets, so she needs feeding more often. So that's two night feeds instead of one.”
“Oh, wow!”
“I feel like I've been sucked dry.
“Oh Rainbow,” Nana chuckled. “I don't need to know that!”
“Speaking of which it's probably time again.” As if on cue a dainty plop was heard as a small filly rolled off her back. “Hello there,” she said in a way one would talk to a baby. “Did you have a nice nap?”
Swirl didn't answer but instead started poking her mother's belly. A subtle sign she wanted feeding.
“I knew it.” Rainbow rolled over and her daughter started feeding. With a wing she shielded her daughter's head from the sun. The other two weren't far behind, with Shine only stopping to put a flower in Nana's mane, who accepted it gratefully.
Rainbow winced. “I need to start bottle feeding them. I thought I would get used to this sensation but it still hurts. Like, a real uncomfortable kind of pain.”
“Oh but doesn't it feel amazing?” Nana said with a wisp of nostalgia. “Don't you feel so close to them in a really intimate way?”
Rainbow could only screw her face up. “You're joking right? I feel close to them because I'm their mother, not because they are sucking milk out of me.”
Nana winced at the imagery. Somehow she had never made that connection. “I see your point. How about a pump? Would that help?”
“Ha!” Rainbow snorted obnoxiously. “I already feel drained so imagine doing it in bulk! Plus I would need a second fridge just to store it. Might as well give it them fresh.”
Nana smiled. “Well, it has been two months now so you should be able to swap if you feel it's right. That milk powder has come leaps and bounds since my day.”
Rainbow thought for a second before nodding. That wasn't a thought that struck her mind.
After the fillies filled their bellies they piled up in front of their mother, fighting over who gets to be closest, a contest which Dash always won, and fell asleep. Rainbow was quick to follow suit. After all, the sun was at its highest and the warmth soothed her tired muscles. She needed it a lot more than she realised.
Nana watched as her precious granddaughter and great-granddaughters napped in the afternoon sun for longer than noticed. Seeing Rainbow happy again, after all she's been through, was all that mattered.
She stood up to busy herself to make Rainbow's life a little easier, and the way her bones creaked reminded just how old she is. As she moved slowly as she gathered the few toys scattered about the garden a friendly face popped over the fence.
“Isn't it adorable?” said a nosey neighbour as she looked with a far off admiration in her eyes at the mother and her children.
“Almost too much,” Nana remarked.
“I get a glance whenever I can. I was there when she gave birth so I feel oddly involved with their lives now.”
“Oh,” Nana said loudly. “You're the one that took her in. I wondered how she knew you.”
“Didn't you know?”
“I think so but, y'know, I was a bit preoccupied. Thank you though.”
“It was my pleasure.” The neighbour gasped as a great idea came to her mind. “Take a picture!” she said in a loud whisper. “She's always taking pictures of them. I bet she would love one with her in it as well.”
“Ooo that's brilliant.” Nana snook off and came back with the camera, snapping a picture just in time.
It was only a short nap but it did a world of good for Rainbow. As she woke so did her fillies with a smile, although they wasted no time in getting up to play again, and Rainbow couldn't help but join this time.
Dash was still determined to get into the canopy of the tree, and no amount of failed attempts was going to put her off. The others two, however, were more curious about a large rectangle of charred grass and dirt somewhere towards the back of the garden. As they rolled in the dirt, which Rainbow didn't mind as it was they were going to be bathed anyway, Rainbow thought dark thoughts, about a dark time. Ones that should be looked back on fondly yet had been fouled by one event. One person. Her husband. Red...
She had been ill for two weeks now, and of course she blamed it on him.
“How dare you do this to me?” she scolded jokingly.
“Hey hey hey. Don't bring me into this,” he replied, obviously not getting the jestful undertone in her voice.
“But... you were the one to give it to me.”
He remained silent. There was no arguing with her as he did, in fact, give her the stomach bug.
The mornings were getting chillier as the tail end of summer was passing, but it was still peaceful and calm. Dew forming on the grass and leaves still retaining their green lustre, just days before the first ones would turn.
“I think I'm on the mend though. Only seem to feel this way when I wake up. Come on.” Rainbow hobbled slowly out of bed, not wanting to disturb her churning belly. “I need to eat something.”
Red followed for he too needed something to eat.
There she was. The mare that he loved watching. The mare that made him feel an excitement deep down that he couldn't described. All she was doing was flittering gently in the kitchen as she reached for the jar of coffee kept in a cupboard up high, but the way the sun shone through her mane and how her elegant body stretched was like honey on his eyes; incredibly painful.
Rainbow landed with a little tap on the tiles and a small grunt. As she stretched and rubbed the wing that felt oddly sore, as if she had slept on it funny, she felt some hooves grab her roughly, spin her round. Staring into her was her husband and, with barely a thought and no time to put the jar down, he pulled her in for a long kiss. It was unexpected, yet blissful. Any longer and the jar would have smashed on the ground.
She fell back as the embrace ended and stared dreamily at him. There was no room in her mind for the illness in her belly or the problems she faced. For a moment there was a complete peace. Nothing but the sun and the birds, and the butterflies in her stomach.
But she soon learnt that they weren't butterflies but, in fact, last night's dinner making an appearance.
She gagged and coughed the last of it that lingered in her throat onto the floor, along with the half that was already there, as Red stood in shock, pale faced and disgusted, coated in a thin layer of bile that stung the eyes.
“You're going to the doctor.” Red rinsed his face and thrust some paper towels at her while Rainbow begun laughing hysterically. It was a image, an event, she would come to remember fondly.
It was a very clean, sterile room. No emotion in the décor, just cost effectiveness. Rainbow sat on the rubber bed where patients normally sat while the doctor and Red had some far comfier chairs.
“So he was ill a couple weeks ago, like, super ill-”
“It wasn't that bad,” Red said disdainfully.
“Dude, you weren't the one cleaning up the bathroom after you were in there for nearly an hour. Or the living room for that matter.”
Red rolled his eyes.
Rainbow watched him for a second. She didn't enjoy when he was like this. Overly defensive. “Anyway. He was ill for, like, four days. Then there was nothing for a couple days. Then I got ill but it has been two weeks now.”
The doctor, who had been nodding along to all of this, took a moment longer to respond with an unhelpful “I see.”
It was silent for longer for Rainbow as she impatiently waited for the doctor to say something actually helpful. “Well?” She said with a hint of contempt.
“Sorry. I was just thinking.” The doctor loudly cleared his throat. “It seems to me like it's just a normal stomach bug. There's been one going round the past few weeks. However, I do think it would be worth your while having a small blood test.”
Rainbow pushed herself of the bed in a fit of panic. He eyes darted wildly, like a cat in front of a hungry dog, searching for an out.
The doctor leant over to Red and whispered, “Is she okay?”
Red was clearly annoyed. “She hates needles.” He let out a loud, disappointed sigh.
The doctor exhaled a laugh from his nose and looked at Rainbow's panic stricken face. “Are you really?” he asked, but the way she backed herself further into the wall was as much an answer he needed.
“Come on now. Stop being childish. It will only take a few seconds.” Red would have been red with embarrassment if he wasn't naturally red.
Rainbow whimpered as she saw the doctor prepare a needle.
“Your husband is right, Rainbow. You'll barely feel a thing.” He approached her, ready to jab the needle into her, but as he almost made contact Rainbow lashed out and punched him in shoulder.
Tears streamed down her face as her mind raced in fear, flickering as much as her eyes. The doctor was not perturbed and now, if anything, he was spurred on with a feeling of determination and a little vengeance. With a quick motion the needle was in her rump, slowly drawing blood into the vial.
At the sight of the needle in poked through her skin Rainbow let out a short scream before fainting.
Rainbow woke up tired. Mentally exhausted from a sudden influx of fear. The bed was stiff. The husband she was using as a pillow wasn't much better.
Before she sat up she looked own at her rump, and at the plaster stuck down over where the syringe had been stuck. Her sharp intake of breath woke her husband from his stupor.
“Finally,” he smirked.
“Sorry,” Rainbow groaned. “I just wasn't expected it.”
“It doesn't matter.”
Rainbow giggled at a thought. “Do you think I'll still get a lollipop?”
Red sighed with a smile. “Come on you. Let's get you home. He said we will get a letter when the results are in in a couple weeks.”
“Nice.” Rainbow stood up slowly. Her legs were shaking under her weight. “Red?”
“Yeah?”
“I want a new doctor.”
She wanted to treat herself for a change, so Rainbow, when doing the weekly shop, went to grab the coffee blend she liked. Slightly weaker but from more expensive beans with a much mellower, sweeter taste. Or so the label read. Rainbow couldn't taste it in that much detail but it was definitely nicer. So nice, in fact, that it was on the top shelf.
She drifted down and winced at the tightness in her belly when a familiar face turned up. One that made her scared and uncomfortable. The doctor.
“Hi Rainbow,” he said quietly and full of shame.
Rainbow said nothing more than a grunt and made a point of not making eye contact.
“Look,” the doctor started with a serious tone in his voice. “I want to say sorry for the other week. It was mean, unprofessional and frankly worthy of a lawsuuuuuu-.” He trailed off at the sight of the sudden gleam in Rainbow's eyes. “I got your result back this morning,” he said quickly to change the subject. It worked as Rainbow had become visibly nervous. Almost shaking.
“What?”
“Well, brace yourself. You're pregnant.”
It didn't sit right in her ears. It was nothing like whatever it was that she expected. All she said was nonsensical syllables that poured out without thought, culminating in something that sounded like “Wha?”
“You're pregnant, Rainbow. You're going to be a mother.”
This time the point landed firmly. She came over in fits of giddiness. “Really?”
“Yes!” the doctor said with forced enthusiasm. “I had a hunch in the office but I didn't want to get your hopes up. After all, all I had to go on was morning sickness. And that's one hell of a cliché as it stands.”
Rainbow had not been listening. Thoughts ran through her mind, amazing ones. Ones she had been thinking for years now but they were finally about to be reality.
With only a passing thanks she bulleted passed the doctor and out the store, abandoning her shopping, and headed home to spread the good news.
The front door nearly blew off its hinges as Rainbow blasted her way in.
“RED!” she shouted into the house, certain he was inside. “Get your butt down here!”
Red appeared over the banisters, drenched in sweat and fear. “What?” he panted.
“I said get your butt down here! I've got some great news.”
Red made his way downstairs slowly so he could mask him catching his breath. “What is it? I thought you were out shopping today?”
“Well, I bumped into the doctor at the supermarket and he had some results for me.” She was beaming. “We're pregnant!”
Red was taken aback. More shocked than happy, but Rainbow thought it was still setting in.
“Can you believe it?” She moved in and took him in a loving hug. “We're finally having a baby.”
Red took his wife in his embrace. They stayed there for a long moment, soaking up the news and picturing their new future together.
“Why are you so sweaty?”
“Oh err... I was doing some exercises.”
Rainbow bought it. He never exercised, but in all the excitement she accepted whatever he had said.
Meanwhile a mare had long since flown out of the bedroom window.
Rainbow had begun showing a bump. Enough that ponies would double take just in case she wasn't just putting on weight.
There was a group of them. Three ponies including Rainbow, her childhood friend, Dove, and neighbour, Cloud.
“Is this really a sensible idea?” Rainbow remarked. “Leading a pregnant mare who can barely fly blindfolded through a city 1000 feet in the air?”
“Nearly there now, Honey,” Dove muttered over Rainbow's giddy laughter. “This way!” She lead the group off to the fancier, more expensive district.
“I hope this surprise involves food. I'm starving!”
The girls looked about each other. None of them had thought about eating.
A little ways down the road they came to a stop in front of a large building that wafted with a strong smell of fancy soaps and incense that bothered the nose.
“Okay. Stand here.” Cloud positioned the mare purposefully on the street before pulling off the blindfold with a loud “Ta-Da!”
Rainbow gasped. The sight of an obese, yellow mare filled her vision. “Sass! You're here too!” She ran up and hugged her. “It's so good to see you.”
Dove and Cloud stood waiting, wondering if she noticed the actual surprise and the reason they brought her to this part of town.
As Rainbow let go, all the more happy to see her old university friend in ages, she asked, “So, now what?”
None of them could believe that she managed to miss it. “Are... are you serious?”
“What?”
In perfect synchronisation they all pointed to the spa behind them. “I know I was standing in front of it but even I'm not that fat,” Sass joked.
Rainbow turned and looked up the building at the softly glowing sign. “Cloud 9? Cloud 9?!” she screeched. “You're kidding? You're kidding right?”
Her friends just smiled at her. “No. Freaking. Way!” She found herself bouncing on the spot. “This is, like, the most expensive spa outside of Canterlot!”
“Yep.” Sass put her hoof over Rainbow's shoulder. “And we've got a whole half a day to get pampered into a coma. We figured this was the best excuse.”
Rainbow's hooves began pulling her forwards. “I've never been pampered before.”
“Hello, and welcome to Cloud 9. How may I help you?” said the receptionist with an unbearably airy voice, and to top things off she was wearing just a little too much make-up.
“Hi. I'm Dove. We've booked a spa day.”
“Of course.” The receptionist went to check the book. Every movement spread an offensive odour through the air, one of several perfumes and an odd eggy undertone. “Yes. Right this way.”
The group followed her through the doors into a corridor where a much nicer smelling pony took them off her hooves. They all nearly swooned at the sight of such a dreamy stallion.
“Please, follow me.” His voice was deep and soothing, yet they didn't follow at first as they spent a moment watching him walk away.
They left the sauna thoroughly sweaty and some workers began drying them off with the softest of towels so they were ready for the next item on the list.
“I don't know how much more of this I can take,” Rainbow blurted out.
“What?” Dove, the nearest and most with it of her friends, asked.
“I feel almost too relaxed. It's almost unbearable. My brain is knackered.”
Dove smiled. “Don't be like that. It's not everyday you get to experience this.”
As the third fresh dressing gown of the day was placed on them Rainbow shrugged her shoulders. “True. But I wouldn't mind a break. What's next anyway?”
“Massages!” Dove sang. “The best part.”
Rainbow had no emotion to show. The excitement had long since worn off.
As some of the world's top masseuses got to work Rainbow regretted ever doubting this place. She, as well as her friends, ascending into new planes of bliss and, as Sass had predicting, they were slowing losing consciousness and falling into the pleasure.
Rainbow was really feeling it but, moments before she passed the threshold of not having a worry in the world, a contact lens fell from her eye, only to be immediately stepped on by the masseuse. Now, with her vision blurred just over a bearable point, she sighed and got up.
“Please, miss, remain still,” said the masseuse but she waved him off.
“Contact fell out and I forgot my glasses. I need to go get them.” She looked over to her friend next to her. “Cloud. Cloud!” she shouted in vain as it landed on ears too relaxed to listen. She merely shook her head and got up to leave. “Tell them where I've gone. I'll be back in a bit.
With that, Rainbow left.
It was a pleasant walk home. The only thing better than being pampered like that was the cool, refreshing breeze re-energising her. It made the effects more apparent.
It took a while to get back home but the day was still young and there was plenty left for her at the spa.
She walked through the door and gasped harshly at the sight of her husband and what he was doing on the living room rug.
Red was too preoccupied to notice his wife watching him TAKING ANOTHER MARE TO POUND TOWN, but the mare had and was desperately trying to snap Red out of it. It didn't work until she screamed at Rainbow's furious grip.
She pulled the mare off her husband by the mane and dragged her to the door.
“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU WHORE!” she roared and threw the mare outside, cracking her skull on the path. The mare flew off as best she could.
Red remained frozen on the rug. Panting and sweating. Calming his mind down to confront the situation.
Rainbow was furious. It was an anger she never thought she would be able to feel. A fire raged through her veins.
“Why?!” she could barely look at him. “Why now?!”
Red didn't say anything, he merely looked down at where the mare was before with a faint glimmer of disappointment.
“We've been together for eight years! Married for four of them! We have a baby on the way! And NOW you decide to cheat on me!”
Red didn't even look at her. He sighed, “I was enjoying that.”
“WHAT?!”
Red looked up at her with a disdain in his eyes, a tired hatred.
“Don't you look at me like that. You have no right to look angry right now!”
“If you hadn't come home early we could have finished up and you wouldn't have had to see me fucking another mare.” His voice was cold and emotionless.
Rainbow had no words to say. Her blood boiled and her body shook with rage.
Red stood up. “I didn't want this, Rainbow. I didn't want a kid. I didn't want this house. I didn't want to get married. I didn't want you.”
Rainbow watched as an abyss seized her mind. A concoction of shear anger and confusion made her unsure of what she was hearing.
Red walked slowly towards her until she could smell the sweat that drenched him. “You are not the mare I barely ever fell in love with any more.” Their was a venom in his voice, one that had been festering for years. “I liked you at first, when you were new and exciting, but then you stuck around. Sank your claws in and wouldn't take the hint.”
“If you didn't love me,” Rainbow muttered, “then why did you not leave?”
“I thought I could just drive you away by being closed off and distant, but you didn't get it. You never see these things!”
Rainbow stared at him, trying her hardest to stop her jaw quivering as the only pony she had ever loved admitted everything was based on one massive lie, ripped her heart out and made the world not make sense any more,
He says very hurtful things about their relationship. Lists the mares he has slept with. Rainbow slaps him. He hits her back but much harder. Winds her, knocks her back, she worries about the baby. She then disowns him, removes him from every aspect of her life. He leaves in a very final kind of way.
The door shut behind him calmly. No anger or emotion in his action, just simply closing a door with penis flapping in the wind. Rainbow watched in anger, but as soon as the latch clicked in she had realised what happened.
It sunk in gradually as the anger faded. The reality of what this meant.
The one stallion she had ever loved was gone. Her life felt empty. Everything she had done since she had met him was for him and their life together, and now a third of her life seemed wasted, and the future seemed empty.
Her legs went weak and her chest heavy.
“What?” she whimpered. With one deep, ragged breath tears poured down her cheeks and she found herself crying.
Every glance at the rug that covered the floor brought back the image that was burnt deep in her mind, that of her one love being unfaithful, and she couldn't bare it. With her teeth she grabbed one corner and dragged with all her might the rug to the back, sobbing through her clenched teeth.
But it was far too heavy. She fell back, jaw aching, and couldn't think of anything else to do, so she let herself cry.
It had been a while since she left the spa, long enough for her friends to worry about her. Rainbow had barely noticed them walk into the house, asking loudly the house if she is there.
Cloud heard whimpering the other side of the sofa and quickly made her way to the source. She gasped. “Girls, she's here. Something's wrong.” She immediately crouched down to talk, but Rainbow grabbed her and pulled her in.
The stream of tears that had slowed began to well up again and pour out, accompanied by loud sobs. Cloud did her best to comfort her and make her stop crying but the only thing she could do was hug her back and let her cry it out.
The others had crowded around her, offering their sympathies as they tried to get to the bottom of why she was crying. “What happened?” Dove whispered sweetly.
Rainbow sputtered out syllables between sobs before only letting one coherent one through before losing it again. All she had to say was “He” and Sass figured it out.
“Oh no he didn't.” She was seething with rage.
“What?” the others asked.
“Red left her,” Sass clarified, and Rainbow's suddenly more intensive tears only proved it.
Secretly, Dove and Cloud were relieved as they had never liked him but that wasn't important now. Instead they became more affectionate and were there for her until she felt better, which was some time.
The sun was setting by the time she was thinking straight. They asked her to explain things but she refused. She felt embarrassed and ashamed to admit the reason to herself so she chose not to, only saying she wasn't ready. The others stopped prying about it, only the rug was in question any more.
“We have to burn it,” Rainbow stated firmly.
The others were concerned now. Fire?
“What?” Sass asked with more caution than anything.
“Take it outside so I can burn it.”
The others did not say anything for a while. Each were trying to figure out why. And also if it was safe.
“Please help me.” Rainbow didn't look at them.
“Sure honey,” Dove said. She wasn't happy about it but she felt she had to do this.
As a team they rolled up the large rug, carried it outside and put it in a safe place. After numerous unsuccessful attempts and angry frustration from Rainbow they managed to borrow some barbecue coal from a neighbour.
They spent the night watching a rug burn away to ash, with a few buckets of water to hoof.
Rainbow felt tiny hooves poke at her face, playing with her wings, and a familiar feeling of a small head butting into her leg.
She came back to the present. Her fillies were there for her, watching her curiously as she wasn't paying them attention. They found it interesting to play with their mother when she wasn't paying attention, and Dash had the habit of headbutting to get attention, as well as jumping on ponies.
Rainbow shook back to the present. The anger and sadness in her heart melted away as she looked down into her children's playful eyes. She couldn't help but smile back.
She reared up on her hind legs and started running. Her fillies laughed as they chased her around the garden, and she felt happy again.
He couldn't believe how long it had been now. Three months had passed since his twin sister had given birth and only now was he available to finally see them.
He felt ashamed of himself for not being there for when his sister might have needed him, and so excited it was almost embarrassing. The letter and the picture he was sent when they were born was fantastic he just couldn't wait.
His heart pounded as he trotted up the path to the door, growing steadily more terrified as he didn't know how his sister would react to seeing him after six months. He didn't let it consume, not wholly anyway, and knocked hard on the door.
Frantic hooves could be heard on the other side of the door, clambering over various objects, as well as cries of young babies suddenly starting up. The door flung open.
He smiled, it was good to see his family after so long, then he saw the filly held up in his sister's hoof crying its eyes out and let out a sound that was less than manly.
“Hi Rainbow,” he said with a smile.
Rainbow looked furious. With a vicious almost-punch she thrust a bag of coins into his chest. “Nappies. Nappy cream. Air freshener. Clothes soap. Towels.” She slammed the door again.
He was taken aback. A hug he expected, but not a large amount of coins and a shopping list he was praying to the gods that he would remember.
He shackled himself in the cart resting out front and flew off to the shops.
Shooting Star was Rainbow's twin brother, not quite identical though. While he shared the rainbow mane his eyes were pale like their father's and his coat was a light purple. Of course, he was also a stallion.
It was a confusing trip to the supermarket. Most of these products he had never purchased for himself before. He was lucky a middle-aged mother of five, a veteran of children, stumbled upon him staring at the many bags of nappies they sold.
“Having trouble?” she asked cockily.
Star nodded. “Yeah.”
“New dad, right?”
“No. Uncle.”
She was a little surprised. “Oh. Okay.”
“Yeah. First time I see my sister since she gave birth and she just gives me money and a shopping list. I have no idea what I'm doing.”
“That's fine, dear. Let me help.”
Together they figured out the best options for each item on the list. After thanking her he went to pay.
“Big night tonight, ey?” the cashier joked.
Star had been miles away. “What?”
She waved him off. “Nevermind. Say, do I know you? You look familiar.”
Star tensed with excitement. Finally, this moment had come! He was finally recognised in public!
He collected his thoughts and ran his hoof through his mane in a cocky manner. “Well, I am the lead singer and guitarist for the up and coming band REO Steedwagon.” The smugness coming out of his words and smile could be felt nine aisles down.
The cashier stared at him solidly, wondering to herself. Star waited, his smirk slowly faltering as he felt more and more embarrassed. The beeping off tills around him provide little solace.
“Oh. I must have been mistaken.”
Star felt his stomach drop. He was so embarrassed. “Y-yeah. Sorry.”
She scanned and he bagged in complete silence, letting his foolishness and regret soak deep in his coat. This would be a moment that he would remember in the wee hours of the morning and keep him awake.
Back at the house he knocked on the door again, only softer this time. Rainbow opened again with only a not so serious anger in her eyes.
Star gestured to the cart behind. “I got the goods.”
Rainbow bowed her head in relief. “Thank you so much. Can you put them in the kitchen please.”
Star nodded and begun unloading the cart, but as he walked in the living room he stopped dead in his tracks.
The three fillies were resting with their grandparents, nuzzling gently into their bellies.
“Oh my gosh,” he whispered. “They're amazing.”
Rainbow smiled. “They are. Although the past couple days are not a good example.” She almost sounded bitter.
“How come?”
Rainbow sighed angrily. “I'm weaning them onto onto food. They're teething. None of us a really sleeping. And all three of them have awful diarrhoea.”
Star grimaced. “Geez. It's amazing how you can put up with it.”
Rainbow was about to argue that she was not merely 'putting up with it' but she was in no state to argue. At the moment it felt exactly like that. “The first few months were always gonna be the hardest.”
“Can I get you a drink or anything?” Star asked. He felt he had to help in any way possible right now.
“Me and your father would love a cup of tea,” his mother, Blaze, ordered. Blaze was exactly like Rainbow, only a little older and had considerably less hair.
“Sorry. I completely forgot. Hi Mum. Hi Dad.” He gave them a quick hug and a kiss.
“There's the rock-star.” Thunder beamed with pride. Thunder was nothing like his children, being beige and speckled largely with brown dots, focusing mostly on his hooves and nose. “How was the tour?”
“Amazing,” he called through the kitchen as he put the kettle on. “Like, I really feel this is the start of it all. The big times are just around the corner.”
The loud voice woke the fillies from their very light naps and they begun crying gently, which was just a precursor to crying loudly.
“Oh don't do that,” Blaze pleaded to the Swirl curled up by her. “Please just be happy. Your uncle is here now.”
The knowledge of their uncle being there meant nothing to them as they had never heard that word before and didn't understand words anyway.
The three fillies looked up at this new pony. It looked like them, but they couldn't quite figure it out. Either way, just the sight of this pony calmed them down, and they were begging to see him closer up.
“Of course, Dashie,” Rainbow cooed. “Let's give you and your sisters to Uncie.”
Star fell to the floor and graciously accepted the fillies into his hooves after a quick introduction to them. They tried their best to clamber onto him but they were too weak from their illness
It was an amazing feeling, to hold such young life, such potential, such cute fillies. He could barely take it all in, but he was prepared to hold them for as long as it took.
This feeling quickly went away as Dash threw up on him and they all started wailing. He looked around frantically for help but there was no one.
His mother announced she was going to “put a wash one” and took off with a bundle of soiled towels while his father decided that that was a two-pony job.
Rainbow told them matter-of-factly, “Right, now there is three of you, that's one filly each,
I'm going to have a nap.” And she went off to have some well deserved sleep.
Star sat there, covered in oddly white vomit and crying fillies, and came to terms that this was going to happen a lot more often. And he was right.
Star was there in the morning after deciding to sleep over. In that time he had learnt how to properly change a nappy and could almost burp them after eating. Still couldn't tell the difference between cries yet but it was still early days yet.
“Now Swirl,” he started a little uncertainly, “Don't worry about Mummy. She'll be up soon.”
There were still tears in her eyes but they were silent. Dash had sped passed her, breaking out into a full gallop, and straight to her mother who was now sat on the floor in the living room.
“Rainbow!” Star said cheerily. “I'm glad you're up. Have a good sleep?”
Rainbow nodded.
“I should hope so. It's been almost a day! I slept round, by the way. Thought you would need an extra set of hooves. Can I get you anything.”
Rainbow mouthed something unintelligible. Star looked at her worrisome. There was something wrong.
“I'll get you some water.” It was the only thing he could think of.
As he waited for the tap to run cold he heard a harrowing, soul piercing scream from one of the children.
He bolted to their side. All three children were in distress. Tears streaming down the cheeks. Screaming in fear
He was frozen. A horrible chill ran through his body. His mind ran a mile a minute as the terrifying sight of his sister laying motionless on the ground burnt itself into his memory.
Rainbow was passed out. Unconscious. Barely breathing.
Rainbow woke up with a mouth drier than tree bark and a grogginess that was worse than every hangover she ever had combined. Everything hurt. The lights. The sounds. The bed in which she lay. It was horrible.
As she woke up further and her brain started taking in more detail she noticed that this was definitely not her house. She had no rooms with both fluorescent lights and a bed.
In her hoof was a tube that connected her to a bag of liquid on a stand to her side. The beeping in her ears was that familiar sound of a heart monitor.
It was at this moment she realised she was in a hospital.
Why she was there? She didn't know. How long had she been there? She didn't know that either.
She managed to turn her head and saw her brother with a small plastic spoon and one of her daughters waiting impatiently for the delicious vegetable mush.
After the spoon she looked over at her mother, who stared with a huge smile and mouthed the word, “Hello!”
Swirl gasped and began frantically poking her uncle.
“You can sit with Mummy in a minute,” he told her firmly yet kindly. Swirl didn't let up and kept going, poking and pointing at her mother. “One last spoon and we're done.”
Swirl opened wide and quickly gulped down the food. She was itching to be picked up and moved, and she wasn't happy with her uncle taking his sweet time.
“There we are, all fed. Now let's put you with Mummy.” He turned to check her first. The sight of her smiling at him made him weak. “You're awake?! When?!”
She was too weak to answer.
“Of course. Hang on.” Star was darting around, unsure of what to do. Eventually he decided to drop the fillies on her so they could all get a hug before running off to find a doctor.
Rainbow took them in an embrace they so desperately wanted. She sighed with content. But then she took a closer look at the tube coming out of her. She felt her chest tighten and started drawing short, sharp breaths. A chaos took her mind as she focused on only the needle under her skin, feeling scrape inside her with every movement of her hoof.
The three fillies scurried away as their mother's grip grew tighter and tighter around them and her breathing began to scare them.
“NURSE! Rainbow's awake!” Although he really didn't need to shout but he just couldn't help himself. The nurse, however, who was coming to the end of her very long shift, found it more than easy to do so. All she did was nod and then proceed to follow the excitable stallion to the room.
As they got closer they could hear the heart monitor beep erratically. The nurse felt a twinge in her stomach as it was not a good sound. She but on a burst of speed.
Inside the room the fillies had scurried to the end of the bed, looking with terror at their mother. Her body flailed under the blanket as she pulled desperately at the needle embedded under her skin. As she looked at the nurse she started babbling but her panic-stricken mind meant it unintelligible.
The nurse was about to run off and grab some sedatives when Star pushed passed.
“Move them,” he ordered calmly. The nurse moved the fillies while he jumped onto the bed and pinned down his sister.
The nurse watched in fascination while she held the children. Star pressed his face hard against his sister's, so much so their eyes almost touched, and stared unblinking. Strangely, Rainbow began to calm down, her breathing returned to normal and she started to speak clearly.
“Okay?” he asked. Rainbow nodded so he turned to the nurse and mouthed, “take the needle out.”
“I can't do that. Doctor's orders.”
“If you don't she'll just have another panic attack.”
The way he was perched on top of Rainbow, pinning her to the bed, made the nurse uncomfortable, but she just wanted to go home, so she removed it from her hoof. And left.
“Star,” the hoarseness of her throat reduced it to a whisper, “why am I here?”
Star smiled before getting off the bed. “You past out.”
“What?”
“Right in front of the little ones.”
Rainbow gasped. “Oh my gosh!”
“Don't worry. They're fine. I've been looking after them,” he said with a cocky air. “I think I'm quite good at it.”
Rainbow snorted. “Sure. Keep telling yourself that.”
“But yeah. You haven't been eating have you?”
“Of course I have.”
“Rainbow. C'mon.” He gave her a condescending look. “C'mon.”
“What?” she felt a little offended. “Of course I have been eating!” He hadn't stopped giving her the infuriating. “Stop that.”
“You were diagnosed with malnourishment.”
“What? That doesn't make sense.”
“I was looking around your house when I looked after these three. You had no fresh food, none that was in date anyway, and only a bunch of tinned stuff.”
Rainbow looked confused.
“Apparently the stress the past few days you were under caused your body to sort of shut down. Go on emergency standby. You were on a drip of... stuff the doctors gave you to make you feel better for three days. Then you woke up.”
“Really?” Rainbow asked now that she doubted her eating habits. “Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I felt full.”
It had been a few more months and the fillies had grown considerably. Swirl had gained weight and was no longer a concern, their eyes were nearly formed and people could generally tell them apart.
Rainbow sat watching them from the sofa contently. Somehow they still had so much energy despite not having their normal noon naps while she was quite the opposite, not that she wanted to admit that.
She moved on the sofa and lay on it so she could watch them play together more comfortably. It was a dumb move that only a tired brain would fall for. It was not long at all before her eyes shut and she fell into a deep sleep.
Swirl noticed first and a mischievous grin came to her sparsely toothed mouth. “Bah!” she announced to the room. Dash stopped running and Swirl stopped stacking her blocks before going to their sister.
They looked confused at her but Swirl was very confident in her plan she had just concocted.
She pointed to their mother and then to the kitchen. “Du,” she stated firmly.
Dash looked excited about this but Shine was clearly concerned. Her glum look and the way she avoided eye contact said it all. However Swirl blew a very convincing raspberry and Shine was convinced that it was a good idea, but her concerns had been noted.
The three trotted gently to the kitchen, being careful not to make a sound, as they went to put into action Swirl's plan to steal the icing sugar from the top cupboard.
It was like a well oiled machine. Swirl quickly went through the plan before they put in motion. Together they found the broom and pushed a chair from the table into the kitchen. They made a ladder out of their bodies to boost Dash up onto the chair and then it was her time to shine.
The success of the plan now rested in Dash's tiny hooves, and she wasn't prepared to fail. From the chair she hopped onto the counter and trotted carefully along the edge, planning her next move. It had to be just right. The next jump was higher than she ever managed to get, at least three times her height. But she was no fool. She knew she couldn't do it without assistance, but the reward was worth accepting help. She pushed the toaster to the limit of how far the cable would go, just so it was under the target. She climbed atop the toaster, readied her rump, and leapt with all her might!
Her tough, newly formed teeth gripped tight the handle of the cupboard and her little wings fluttered like mad, pulling the door open.
The fillies on the ground licked their lips with anticipation. They could already taste the sweet treat that they craved ever since their mother left it out and they got at before she could stop them. It was now their turn to help.
Using the chair as a pivot and after climbing on Shine's back against her will Swirl knocked the box of icing sugar to the ground, covering them in a cloud of sweet powder.
Dash fell to the ground,softening her landing with a little flurry of wingbeats, and they tucked in.
Rainbow woke up refreshed and feeling amazing. For the first time since she could remember she was actually well rested. She sat up and spent a moment basking in the relaxed calm she felt, in the comfortable silence.
But then she remembered silence was bad with three very young kids. Something was up. Carefully she got up to search for the fillies. They were only small so they couldn't gone far, she thought.
“Fillies?” she called out into the house. The was a brief pause before she heard the sound of tiny hooves scampering across the floor. Naturally Rainbow went to investigate, and was shocked at what she found.
It was a massacre. An absolute mess. The kitchen was covered in a thin coat of white powder. Shreds of pink cardboard lay strewn over the floor.
She quickly rushed to the side of the box. She stifled a tear as she took the box in a warm but sad embrace.
“Not now. I'm not ready.”
The box tried to speak but it couldn't; not because it was a box but because it was too injured. It's cardboard was ripped to shreds. Its sugar scattered across the floor. It was beyond saving.
It reached up with a flap and gently stroked Rainbow's cheek. It died there in her arms. Rainbow wept.
She got over it pretty quickly. After all, it was just a box of icing sugar.
“I must say I'm impressed, little ones,” Rainbow said loudly to the fillies in ear shot. “But that isn't good for your tummies. You've ruined your appetite for sure.”
The fillies didn't respond. They couldn't tell if they were in trouble or not so stayed in the corner, under the table, hiding as best they could. Luckily for them their now white coats blended in with the cloud wall.
Rainbow felt a smile come to her face. “Where are you?” she sang. She liked hide and seek as much as her children. “Come out. Come out. Wherever you are!”
The little Rainbows kept their giddiness as on the down low as possible.
“I wonder where you are,” Rainbow toyed as she eyed up a cupboard that was slightly ajar. She quickly opened it with a dramatic flourish. “Gotcha! Fuck.” She shut the cupboard again slightly red with embarrassment. She pondered for a moment as to where they could be, but then she saw the little hoof marks were trodden in the dust, betraying the fillies of their location. She stooped down low and squinted under the table. There she saw three sets of eyes.
“There you are!”
The fillies, with huge smiles on their face, bolted as they screamed with laughter, leaving in their wake a fine mist of sweetness.
Rainbow chased them down with glee, taking her time so she could savour the moment for a few seconds before realising the icing sugar they were coating everything in. She picked up the speed and caught them.
Shine gave up quickly and accepted her fate of being tucked under her mother's wing, but the others soon followed suit.
“Come on. You three need a bath after that.” They didn't like the word. Immediately they all began to squirm in their mother's tight grip. “Stop it. It's your own fault!”
They would listen to reason but continued squirming anyway, but they would only tire themselves out as Rainbow had been practising this grip for months. She could crush a watermelon.
Rainbow locked them in the bathroom. “Come on now, you silly fillies. You need a bath.”
She had barely turned her back for a second but that was enough for the fillies to almost escape. They pushed a plant pot up to the door, created a ladder of ponies and Dash was working on the tricky lock. Rainbow was more impressed and in admiration of their teamwork than anything, but she had to stop them even though they were so close.
“You like baths, remember?” she asked as she pulled Dash off the lock and moved their tools out the way. “Look at this!”
The fillies watched as their mother poured a liquid of a deep purple colour into the water and their eyes lit up.
“That's right. Bubbles!” Rainbow sang eagerly. She knew she wasn't supposed to put bubbles in the bath with young children but it was the only way to get them to bathe and not moan about it.
The bath took a lifetime to fill for the excited fillies, but the second their mother turned off the taps they clambered over each other to be the first to dive in.
Rainbow was lost in thought and admiration, staring fondly at the fillies as they splashed about gleefully in the water. They were finding it particularly fun to pile as many bubbles as possibly on Shine's head, laughing with each additional blob added on top. Rainbow laughed along with them.
Time span on, the bubbles in the bath were popping and the water was going cold. It wasn't until Rainbow's idle hoof, spinning gently in the water, sent a shiver up her leg that she noticed this. With a sigh she turned the tap on again. It broke her heart to hear her fillies stop playing, as they knew what happened when the taps came on a second time.”
“Bah,” Dash stated firmly.
“Come on, don't be like that,” she pleaded quietly. “You knew this was going to happen eventually.”
The little Rainbows didn't answer, only resign themselves to their fate. As they watched their mother lather up a sponge Shine decided to speak up.
“Mua.”
Rainbow jumped. The hairs on her neck pricking up and a cold shiver running down her spine. “What did you say?” she asked as casually as possible, but the thought of finally being called some variation of Mummy made that nearly impossible.
Shine tried again. “Muuua-”
Her sisters were looking shocked, as if their sister was suddenly speaking a different language.
“Go on,” Rainbow egged.
“Muuumum,” Shine droned out slowly.
“I-is that me? I am Mumum?” Rainbow asked hopefully.
Shine pointed at her mother. She couldn't say it as well as her, but she tried her best. “Mumum.”
Rainbow practically exploded. She squeaked herself silly before pulling her daughter out the bath and squeezing her as much as she could. Shine was not as thrilled to be held like this but decided to just go with it.
“That's right, Shiny,” she whispered affectionately. “I'm you Mumum.” The thought made her heart flutter.
As she kissed Shine all over the other two fillies were getting jealous. Not so much because of the loving embrace but rather that they could leave the bath without getting cleaned.
It was beyond difficult to them, to say a particular sound on purpose, but Rainbow was there as they tried there best. Dash was next, and incredibly proud of herself, followed almost immediately by Swirl.
Rainbow scooped them all up and fell to the floor so she could hug them all as hard as possible and kiss them all over.
“Go on. Say it again.”
Almost in synch they each said “Mumum.” They still could barely so such a complicated word.
Rainbow cried. “I'm so happy,” she whispered as she pulled them in tighter. She never thought them finally calling her a name could make her any happier than she was with them already, but she realised something. Just how much better life will get with every minute they would grow. She was looking forward to it.