//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: A New Harmony // by The-rogue-shadow //------------------------------// Derpy closed her eyes against the intense pain as the Doctor held her hoof, offering encouragement. The midwife sat at her lower end, informing her of her progress and continually telling her to push. Princess Luna stood in the doorway, engrossed by the proceedings. Derpy screamed and pushed as she felt the foal slowly moving. She breathed hard and fast, pushing methodically as inch by inch a new life was being brought into the world. "Come on Derpy, just one more." Said the midwife too calmly for Derpy's liking. "I can't!" She screamed, her body exhausted, pain blinding her. "Come on Derpy, I believe in you, you can do this." Said the Doctor, his voice sympathetic but tense. She looked at him, and the smile on his face, before screaming again, pushing one last time with all of the energy she could muster. Then she heard it; loud, healthy crying, signifying her foal was born. "Congratulations Derpy, it's a beautiful, little unicorn filly." The midwife said happily, wrapping the foal up tightly in a blanket and handing her to Derpy. The foal was light purple in colour, her large eyes were slightly darker than her coat and the tuft of mane on her head was dark purple, similar to the colour of Twilight's coat, Derpy noticed. The Doctor kissed her on the cheek, looking at his daughter. "You already have a name don't you?" he said, knowing the answer. Derpy nodded, too exhausted to do much else. "Sparkler." She said, remembering the older version she saw with the Doctor. The midwife motioned for Derpy to hand over the foal so that she could rest. Derpy began to hand it over, when Luna asked; "May I hold her?" She walked over and sat on a chair as Derpy nodded. The midwife happily handed her over to the princess, who looked uncomfortable. "She is so small. I have not seen a foal in over one thousand years. Greetings my newest subject." She said, smiling as a small tear ran down her face. Luna handed it back to the midwife, who took the baby away for her first wash and to be placed in isolation, so as to not run the risk of infection from outside sources. Derpy laid down, putting her head calmly onto the soft pillow. She tried to get comfortable, but panicked when she realised she could not move her legs. "Doctor, what's going on? I can't move my legs, or my wings." The Doctor calmed her down; "That's completely normal Derpy. Because of the thicker bones of earth ponies and unicorns, it puts a lot more strain on Pegasus bodies during birth." He helped her move into a better position, before kissing her. "I'll let you get some rest okay?" he said, turning and following Luna out of the room, as Derpy closed her eyes, allowing herself to fall asleep like she had wanted to for the last ten hours since the birth had begun. She awoke to darkness, as a noise startled her. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she noticed four large shapes. "Doctor?" she asked, before a griffin's talon clasped over her mouth. It put one if its fingers up to its beak, ensuring Derpy would not scream. It pulled its hand away, wiping it on the bed as though it had grabbed something disgusting. "Wha…What do you want?" she asked quietly, scared out of her mind. It looked at her, then at the other griffins. "We heard there was a foal born today." It said, before another one piped up. "Foal? Don't you mean snack?" Derpy tried to get up, but was still unable to move her legs. "No! Please! You can't!" she begged. The griffins just laughed. Derpy heard Sparkler crying and she welled up with tears, scared for her daughter. The griffin used his finger to wipe a tear from her eye. He licked it up. "Wow, turns out Pegasus tears ARE sweet, looks like Gilda was telling the truth." They turned to leave. But stopped as another dark shape blocked the doorway. "Give the foal to her mother, and leave before you get hurt." The shape said, and Derpy recognised the voice as belonging to Pinkie. One of the griffins lit a candle, illuminating the Pink earth pony, and laughed. "What! Are you gunna stop us Pink." Said the one holding the crying Sparkler. "Yes." Said Pinkie, as she pushed on her front hooves, and raising up onto two legs. Derpy cringed as she arched her back and the sounds of the vertebrae cracking made her sick. Stunned and uncertain of Pinkie, one of the griffins attacked, swinging a wild claw. Pinkie ducked under it, before jumping up, her hoof outstretched, catching the griffin on the chin and sending him sprawling. The rest of the griffins attacked, except the one holding Sparkler, who slowly made his way along the wall to the exit. But Derpy's attention was focused on Pinkie, as she ducked, jumped and hit the griffins with all of her might. Eventually realising that they had no chance they drew weapons, and attacked again. But Pinkie was like a force of nature, at one point; she dodged a swing of a sword, broke it in half and then stabbed the griffin in the chest with the broken half. Derpy was both engrossed in the beauty of it and fearful of what she was seeing. The last two griffins were dispatched quite easily by Pinkie, as she kicked one in the face, making it fall back onto the other, getting impaled on the sword and the last she killed with a well-aimed scalpel thrown into the eye. Derpy noticed the last one at the door then, she willed her way out of bed, falling in a heap on the ground, and she crawled as fast as she could. "Pinkie, that one is getting away!" she yelled, frantic. Pinkie took off out of the tent, giving chase. Derpy reached the door in time to see Pinkie do something incredible; the griffin had begun to take off, and in a stunning display of skill, Pinkie, still running on two legs launched herself into the air, using a large rock as a step. Pinkie landed on the griffin and Derpy lost sight as the struggled started, she kept crawling, sheer force of will and maternal instincts keeping her going. She looked up as the griffin flew in front of the moon, being illuminated by the white moonlight. Derpy screamed in horror as the griffin suddenly took a steep nose dive, crashing into the ground. Derpy slowly lifted herself onto her hooves, and unsteadily made her way towards the crash zone, each step a matter of careful planning and willpower. She eventually arrived to find the griffin, its neck broken lying in the snow, and Pinkie curled up in a ball nearby. Derpy started to panic when she couldn't hear the crying of a scared foal. "Pinkie! Where's Sparkler?" she asked frantically. Pinkie uncurled herself, revealing cuts all over her body, a bloody nose and a black eye. She also produced Sparkler, sleeping contently in Pinkie's arms. "Sparkler!" Derpy exclaimed happily, and tried to run to her, but her back legs failed and she fell face first into the snow. Pinkie helped her up and put Sparkler in her arms, smiling all the while. Luna suddenly appeared, followed by the Doctor. "What happened here?" Luna asked, before seeing the dead griffin. Derpy told her the whole story, as the Doctor put his arms around her in an effort to keep her and their child warm. "I will have the night guards doubled immediately." She said, bowing her head so as to help Derpy back to her bed in the hospital. "Wait Princess. I want to say something to Pinkie. I… want to say thank you for saving my daughter, for saving me, it's a debt I cannot repay, so I have to ask if you would do me and my family the honour of becoming Sparkler's godmother." She said, smiling at Pinkie, who just nodded and smiled back, proud of herself. Derpy was placed into a new room of the hospital, more secure and closer to Sparkler. Within a week she had regained the full use of her legs, and almost the use of her wings. Pinkie came to see her every day, just to keep her company, and Derpy realised that for Pinkie, it had been a moment of redemption. A moment that Derpy believed she had earned.