Octavia was up early, woken by the plaintive, silvery wails of her filly. She had crept to the tiny creature, soothing her before Vinyl woke, and now she sat on her side of the bed, her filly nestled warmly in her lap, fast asleep.
It saddened Octavia that she couldn't nurse the foal herself, but she said nothing to Vinyl, figuring the other mare had enough to worry about already.
So, each morning Octavia pressed a bottle to the little grey filly's lips, mentally apologizing all the time.
The filly stirred, her horn flickering with an unexpected spark of magic, and her eyelids fluttered, soft lashes like moths on her velvety grey cheeks.
Octavia sighed blissfully, smoothing an electric blue curl from her foal's forehead.
It was odd, really, simply calling her 'filly' all the time. But before the birth Vinyl had refused to think of names, or even judge Octavia's suggested ones, and now all their time was taken up caring for her, so they simply hadn't had the time to think of one.
Vinyl Scratch rolled over, yawning. Her scarlet eyes were clouded with sleep, and she bore an almost foalish expression of peace, remarkably like the filly's own.
"Morning', 'Tavi-Babe," she said sleepily, sitting up to give Octavia her customary good-morning lick on the cheek.
Octavia smiled and whispered back, "Morning, Sweetheart."
Vinyl ruffled the foal's mane affectionately. "Good morning to you, too, Filly."
'Filly', upon hearing Vinyl's not-very-quiet voice, decided it would be a good idea to open her wide violet eyes and howl a reply. Her piercing shrieks filled the open air, oddly deafening for coming out of such a tiny mouth.
Vinyl scooped her out of Octavia's lap, wiking at her. "Let the Master do it, 'Tav."
It's peculiar, Octavia thought to herself, how Vinyl seemingly had no clue about how to take care of foals, but she could soothe this one in the blink of an eye.
Vinyl nuzzled the foal gently, and she stopped sobbing almost immediately, her purple eyes shining as she watched Vinyl's spiky mane bounce and twitch with every nonsensical word she said.
Octavia giggled, mimicking the filly's happy coos as she tickled the round, furry belly, delighted by the toothless smile she earned as a response.
Vinyl kissed the filly's hoof as it waved before her, then leaned over to do the same for Octavia.
"What?" she said at her marefriend's questioning glance. "I can't have anypony getting jealous now, can I?"
"how could I be jealous of my own foal?" Octavia asked playfully as she slid out of bed, donning a fluffy pink robe. "You keep yourself busy giving that foal of yours breakfast. I'll make ours. Any requests?"
"No. Just not oatmeal, okay?" When Vinyl made no move to begin nursing the filly, Octavia frowned at her, shaking her hoof in a scolding manner.
"Go on, Vinyl. If you don't feed her, she'll get all grumpy again. So get moving, missy."
"Yes, ma'am." Vinyl gave a mock salute as she settled into position.
When Octavia returned, two steaming plates of waffles on her back, the filly was asleep again, curled up in a ball against Vinyl's stomach.
The two mares ate in silence, Octavia lost in thought and Vinyl too busy eating to care about conversation. Her muzzle was sticky with maple syrup, but she trusted Octavia would take care of it later, so she left it there, and continued eating.
Eventually, Octavia broke the silence, voicing they're thoughts in a simple question. "What was it like, Vinyl? Before I came in, I mean."
"The whole thing went by in a flash, one minute they were wheeling me into the room, and what seemed like ten minutes later they were handing me the filly, and you were there, telling me how proud you were." Vinyl stopped speaking and looked directly at Octavia, her eye so full of raw emotion that it practically burned. "But every second of those ten minute that were actually four hours inched by so slow I could have died.
"But it hurt, 'Tavi. It hurt more than you could ever imagine," she continued, dropping her eyes again, maybe shy about the story, maybe simply watching the filly. "Every single second was filled with a searing pain, like hot metal, or torn flesh. That little filly fought to get out, and she fought hard. She used every possible way she could to show that she wanted out, and she intended to punish whatever was keeping her in for so long. She's feisty, Octavia. Watch out for that."
Octavia nodded, not fully comprehending, but wanting to.
"It was the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me, though. Don't get me wrong on that. You have no idea how relieved I was to see you afterwards. I'm so glad they let you come in." Vinyl closed her eyes as if remembering. "I just hope... I just hope that you get to experience it sometime, 'Tav."
Octavia felt her eyes go wide in surprise. This filly was an... An accident, so to speak. And whereas Octavia herself would be glad to have more foals, she hadnt expected the suggestion to come from Vinyl. She'd really been expecting to have to beg for years before her mate would agree. Vinyl Scratch seemed so definably unparentish, but it seemed the filly had changed her some.
"That means a lot to me. Thanks, Vinyl." She leaned carefully over the filly to hug her marefriend tightly, discreetly rubbing away a tear in the bright blue mane she buried her face in.
But the filly, ever a talent for picking perfect moments, opened her mouth wide and began to shriek, leaving both mares to forget each other momentarily in their haste to pick her up.
"Hey there, mare o' mine," Vinylmsaid as she walked in the door. She gave Octavia a quick kiss before moving to peek at the filly, who was laying on a blanket on the floor, chewing peacefully on a red fabric ball. "Hi-ya, Tamby." Vinyl ruffled the filly's mane playfully.
"Tamby?" Octavia frowned slightly in confusion.
"Yeah, Tambourine. It's the name of one of my great aunts, or something. Kinda suits her, dontcha think?"
"The filly, or your great aunt?" Octavia asked.
" Duh. The filly." Vinyl rolled her eyes. "You were just saying this morning how we should name her soon."
"True, but I didn't mean for you to name her while you were at the grocery store."
"But don't you think Tambourine suits her?" Vinyl pressed, eyes wide.
"Hmmm," Octavia said slowly, rolling the name around in her mind. "Yes, I guess it's better than Pizzicato or Operetta, but how did you come up with it at the grocery store?"
"Oh. I kinda... Saw a tambourine there, and I was already thinking about names other than Wubsy, which I still think is the best, by the way, and then I remembered that my great aunt was called that, and it seemed like a good name." Vinyl spoke fast, as if she were hiding something.
"What's wrong, Vinyl?" Octavia asked, curious.
"It... It's nothing, 'Tav. I just really want to name her soon."
"No, that's not it, I know there's some thing else. Tell me." Octavia spoke sternly, as of she were reprimanding a naughty foal.
Vinyl shrunk back slightly, looking ashamed. "I swear, all I meant is that I want to name her fast, okay? Can't that be all?"
Octavia sighed. "Alright. But if there's any other reason, please tell me. We promised no more secrets, remember?"
"I know," Vinyl said tiredly. "Which is why I am honestly telling you that there's nothing wrong. If we hadn't promised, I might have made up an issue just so you would stop questioning me."
Now Octavia's brain was all muddled up. "Alright, I give up. Do you still want to look at names?"
"No," Vinyl said stubbornly. "I like Tambourine."
Octavia sighed. She was getting nowhere, now. "Well, how about we try it for tonight and tomorrow? If it seems right, she'll stay Tambourine, and we'll go to the pony certificate place on Friday, okay?"
"Okay." Vinyl sounded like a sulky filly, but she held her peace, playing with Tambourine all evening just so she could say the name over and over.
Maybe we should stick with Tambourine just because it makes Vinyl so happy, she thought, watching them play wrestle on the carpet. Currently the fill-- no, Tambourine was climbing onto Vinyl's chest, giggling, but Octavia knew that wouldn't last long. Soon Vinyl would be tickling and kissing her belly until she rolled off, kicking, and the whole thing would repeat.