She felt cold. Tired. Painful.
Her eyes could barely open, but even then she couldn’t make out anything. Everything looked hazy and constantly shifting about that it made her want to hurl.
Where is she right now? Why does everything hurt so much?
She wanted to cry, but her throat felt too parched to let her. She couldn’t understand why?...Was she dying?
The thought quaked her heart relentlessly. Each beat stinging like she was constantly being stabbed.
Make it stop. Please, stop it.
Her body felt heavy. She couldn't even raise a hoof nor her head to even look at herself. A weak yawn escaped her. She can feel herself steadily losing consciousness.
No! She has to fight it back. What if she actually dies if she fell asleep now? She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. This may hurt, but she’ll have to pull through.
She heaved her head up, only managing to tilt it a slight to look down at herself. The effort was short, but the agony in moving her muscles were unimaginable to her.
She had a moment to look before that pain stole her consciousness. There was a familiar colt strapped to her forehoof. His fur looked so messy and dreadfully strained with a red substance.
There was also some pony else on her, but she couldn’t make out who it was. The creature was at the other side of her barrel, fastened to her hind leg.
Haven’t she seen these two before? The mare had little time to think upon it before she finally lost consciousness. The very last thing she could register was a sudden creaking noise.
The next thing she heard was a beeping sound. It quickly became tiresome after the fifth time it announced itself. The mare waved her hoof out, searching for an alarm to shut it off.
“She's awake,” she heard a stallion’s voice. Her eyes opened immediately, remembering that she was sleeping in her bedroom.
But instead of seeing her room, she found herself in a white room. A stallion in a lab coat approached her at the side of a bed that wasn’t her own.
“How are you feeling Ms. Bud,” the stallion asked.
“—” Bud was drawing a blank on how to react.
“Confused? That’s understandable. I can explain what has happened.” Bud shifted her sights across the room. From the other side from herself, she could see a green and blue mare dressed in nurse attire. They appeared to be in front of a counter with running sinks on opposite ends. Were they washing their hooves?
“Please don’t move too much,” the stallion said. “You wouldn’t want to put any more stress on your body.”
“Am...am I in a hospital?” Bud managed to get her words out.
“Yes,” the stallion answered. “Your friend called in for you after finding you...in your predicament.”
“Oh, right. I wasn’t feeling so well this morning. Was I really that sick?”
“Sick isn’t the word I would choose.”
“So I’m not sick?”
“Ms. Bud, you were aware that you were pregnant, right?”
“...huh?” As Bud was now even more confused by the stallion, a door slammed open with her friend Lazuli emerging.
“Bud,” Lazuli shouted. The pegasus flew next to Bud’s bed alongside the stallion. “Oh thank Celestia you’re still alive.”
“...huh?” What did she mean by still alive? That would imply that she was near death.
“Ms. Lazuli,” the stallion said. “Please don’t barge into the room like that. Ms. Bud is in a very delicate condition.
“Bud,” Lazuli ignored the stallion. Her attention was squarely on her bedridden friend. “Are you alright now? If anything’s wrong I can help.”
There was only one thing on her mind right now. A question that she needs some pony to answer. “What happen—”
Bud stopped herself when she heard a moan from the counter. It sounded high pitched; like it belongs to a child.
“He’s a feisty one,” said the blue mare. “He won’t stop trying to chew on my hoof.”
“It’s only baby teeth, Blue Dose”, said the green mare. “If any pony should be careful, it’s me. This little filly has some really sharp fangs. Thank goodness she hasn’t woken up yet.”
“What’s going on over there?” Bud asked.
“Those are our nurses cleaning your foals," the doctor answered. "We wouldn’t want them to catch any infections from the blood on them.”
“Your...Mine? My foals?” Bud craned her head when a headache surged. What was with all this conundrum she's dealing with? “Can some pony please explain what’s going on here!?”
“To put it boldly, Ms. Bud, you’ve become a mother,” the stallion said.
“You also almost died,” Lazuli added. “Your blood was all over your bed.”
“I’m a mother,” was all that Bud registered.
“Yes,” the stallion said. “Do you want to see them?”
The running water from the sink stopped and the nurses approached Bud from the other side of her bed with a wrapped towel carried in their hoof. The nurses hoofed them to Bud and in each of her hooves, she was beheld the greatest miracle of her life.
Wrapped in a towel was a baby colt staring at her with his cyan eyes. The colt sniffed her with his tiny snout and then flailed his body until his hooves came free from the towel. The colt dangled its hooves for Bud, moaning loudly when he couldn't quite reach her. Bud flipped the towel and unfurled it so that the colt could crawl to her side. Bud chuckled when the colt started gnawing on her pectoral, grooming her with his baby teeth.
In the other towel, she beheld a rare sight that left her confused. It was a baby filly, but she couldn't recall any that have sharp fangs. The filly would constantly open its mouth, displaying her fangs as she seemed to be taking a mouthful of air.
Curious, Bud unfurled the towel around the filly and saw that her wings were even more unnatural. A pegasus's wing should be coated in feather, but the filly’s did not bear a single. It resembled much of a bat’s than a pony’s. Strange that it didn’t seem to bother her that much.
“I should’ve listened to Clip and brought you here sooner,” Lazuli mumbled to herself, but loud enough for Bud to hear. Her words drew Bud’s attention as she faced her ashamed friend. “What’s wrong?”
“What time is it?”
“It’s morning. Why ask?”
“Shouldn’t we be at school right now?”
“Hey, don’t worry about that. I got that all taken care of.”
“Why did you let me sleep for so long? It was only supposed to be for an hour.”
“I’m sorry, okay. Something came up and I had to leave the apartment for a bit. Well, at least it was supposed to.”
“My students,” Bud continued speaking as if she didn’t hear her friend. “I need to go to them.”
“You are in no condition to go anywhere Ms. Bud,” the stallion said with urgency. “You just hours ago rebounded a hypovolemic shock.”
“Th-that sounds serious,” Bud recoiled.
“That’s because it is. And besides, you’ve recently given birth to two foals," Lazuli paused briefly on those words. "If any foal requires your attention, it’s them.”
“I’m sure your class will understand why you can't come,” the green mare joined their conversation. “Doctor Dime already wrote a note for your friend to send to your school.”
“I’ve actually just came back from that,” Lazuli added. “So just rest up, okay? You’ve already scared me enough.”
Glancing at the two foals, her mind pondered towards the future. She’ll have to stock up on supplies fast; thankfully she’s already made savings for that already. Though she’s a bit unsure about the filly. Could she treat her like a simple pony or does she have to try other things to accommodate for her? How will she be able to find out if that’s the case?
And what of her job? She’ll have to go every morning like this and she has no pony but her co-workers that could help her. She’ll likely have to hire a nanny, but how do you even begin to find one in Manehattan? She hasn’t even lived here for an entire month yet.
The timing of this was beyond inconvenient, but she took a deep breath to calm the cadence in her thumping heart that concerned every pony around her thanks to the heart monitor. Regardless of how this happened, of how this nearly killed her, and the changes she’ll inevitably have to make for her two foals, she will definitely make this work. This was what she wanted, and now that they are within her hooves, she will never let them go.
A few hours passed as the sun lit her room. After Lazuli returned to school, Bud began to feel anxious again. Despite the bravado she displayed internally, she hoped that Lazuli would’ve kept her company along with her foals. But she understood that Lazuli has her own class to run as well.
The staff gave Bud and her foals time to rest in the patient room. Doctor Dime was the last to go after checking the two IVs punctured to her forehoof. She must’ve lost a lot of blood because her body looked far thinner than it was yesterday. She hoped that didn’t mean she would miss her cousin's wedding at Ponyville.
The colt had cuddled close to Bud and started gnawing on her mane. Bud was fine with this, for moments later the colt was fast asleep for her to remove her mane from his mouth. Though now he was chewing on her hospital gown. Bud contemplated if he is always going to be biting. If so, then she may have a rather uncomfortable time when she has to breastfeed him.
She hoped to Celestia that the filly is not the same. Those fangs would likely pop her like a balloon.
Remarkably, the filly was still asleep through all the events that transpired. You would think a bath would at least be enough to wake her or even the cries of her brother. Bud heard he was making quite the fuss while she was in the emergency room.
Bud gazes out through a window on her left. She was plenty of floors high, so she couldn’t see any pedestrians walking by. If she’d recall correctly, there should be a small cafe somewhere on this street of this hospital. Maybe when they discharge her, she can get two cups of Veronda blends to reinvigorate herself.
A sudden moan attracted her attention back to the room. She noticed her filly shuffling awake as the filly's eyes opened. The slitted teal eyes of the filly gazed back to Bud, astonishing her mother even more than her filly’s other exotic features.
“Luna,” the filly breathed.
“—” Bud froze when she heard her newborn filly speak. Bud must have imagined that, right? Never has she heard of foals speaking. Especially moments after birth. “Um,” was all she could utter, not nearly convinced of her reasoning.
Her voice stiffened the eyes of the filly, that livened with unknown animosity. Bud flinched, shocked that a foal could give such a look. Her eyes peered intensely like a predator keen on its prey.
Bud’s growing fear came to pass when the filly suddenly pounced atop her mother. “You,” the filly’s ironically cute voice spoke to Bud. “Why do you appear before me again?”
Bud had no way of processing what she was seeing. In what way could she justify this as normal? “I...what?” Bud couldn't find the right words to respond.
“Do not feign ignorance with me,” the filly sneered with her adorable voice. “You have committed two great sins. You have altered my body and turned me into some feeble creature. But most importantly, I do not sense Luna with me. Explain yourself now or you shall suffer a far more grim fate than I have planned for you.”
“—”
“Speak filly,” the filly ironically ordered. “Do you not understand who stands before you? I am the embodiment of the beloved Princess Luna’s will. The being destined to smite the accursed fiend of the sun. I am Nightmare Moon!”
Did Bud hear that right? Was this filly speaking the truth? No, that would be even crazier than her foal speaking in the first place...Yet, despite all the outlandish things the filly was doing, she couldn't sense the filly lying to her. Bud grimaced at her relent. “But, you can’t. She's just a foal’s tale.”
“Foal’s tale!” the filly shouted. “I was merely entertaining the idea. You mean to tell me that harpy brought that to fruition!?”
“Mmm,” Bud noted the colt now shuffling on her side.
“Please don’t be so loud,” Bud warned the angry filly. “You’ll wake him.”
“Don’t you dare give me orders, peasant,” the filly snapped. “You forget you are speaking to—Luna!” The filly shouted again when she traced the sound of the colt. The filly jumped off from her mother where she can rub her snout to the colt. “What happened to you?” The filly turned her sights to Bud with refounded ire. “You sickening monster. It was you, wasn’t it? I’ll tear you to sunder for this!”
The filly bore her fangs as she pounced atop Bud again. Before the filly could pierce Bud’s hoof that she placed between them, the filly let out a wide yawn. Her body then collapsed atop Bud as the filly’s eyes lidded down.
“No,” the filly’s voice was tired, but also desperate. “Stop. Don’t put me to sleep. I don’t want to die.”
“Wh-what,” Bud was completely caught off-guard by the filly yet again. Why was she suddenly terrified after threatening her life?...Should she console her?
“I don’t want to die. Don’t do it, please. Don’t do it,” the imposing filly was now begging with a pair strand of tears now dripping from her eyes. The filly gazed heavily at Bud as her eyes slowly lidded shut. “I won’t...forgive you.” The filly’s eyes were finally shut and she resigned back to her slumber.
Bud only stared at the filly, hoping to Celestia that she wouldn't wake up. The light from the window beamed her attention and her mind was again thinking of the future.
The light felt like a terrible omen to her, proof that this was her reality now. That the creature that frightened her last night was most likely the filly that was now sleeping atop her. And she’ll have to raise it as her daughter; if she can manage to live long enough...Could she really make this work?
“...”