Life's Storm

by Snow Quill


Through Any Storm

It was a month before I was out of the hospital. A year before I walked without assistance. 

But through it all, every doctor's appointment and hair pulling physical therapy session, every screaming fit where I let out all my frustration and disappointment in myself… She was there. 

She promised she wouldn’t leave me, and she didn’t. I’m not one to believe in soul mates or true love but, if there was such a thing, I think she would be it. 

It was only because of that that I was here for her now, in a stuffy dress and an even stuffier hall full of Canterlot’s elite for a charity music hall. 

I stifle a sigh and shift to try and find a more comfortable position. Leave it to nobles to have lavish walls but cheap seats…

A hush descends over the room as the curtain rises and then…

There she is, chin on her fiddle, hoof holding her string, ready to play. There were others with instruments on the stage, but I only had eyes and ears for her. She stomped her hoof to set the beat and the music began. 

~~

“Absolutely marvelous! Why I daresay only angels could play better.”

Fiddly giggles demurely and bows her head, “Oh Fancypants, you flatter me sir.”

He chuckles in return, “The praise is well deserved nonetheless. Thank you for coming out to play tonight, I think this event has been a smashing success thanks to you and your fiddle.”

My cheeks hurt from how much I have been smiling and I drape my wing over Fiddlestick’s back, nuzzling her cheek. “I think Fancypants is right about that, you were sparkling up there Fiddly, sparkling!”

She smiles and nuzzles me back, a mischievous hint in her eyes as she nods to the champagne glass I have in hoof. “It looks like I’m not the only one who’s sparkling.”

I chuckle nervously, “W-well I just uh, just needed some liquid courage.”

She blinked at me, “Huh? What for?”

I let out a deep breath before taking a step away from her and grabbing the small box I had hidden in my feathers. I wobble as I kneel down, and instantly I feel eyes from all around the room on us. Fiddlesticks gasps as I open the box, revealing a simple, silver band on a string. 

“Fiddly...Fiddlesticks, you know I’m not good with the mushy stuff, but I figure this is the one time I can at least try it. You are...You are a beautiful mare with an amazing heart and,” I sniffle, blinking away tears, “I don’t deserve as good as you, but yet you’ve chosen me. You have made me feel worthy of your love, even through all the horseapples I put you through. I want to spend my life with you, so, so would you please marry me?”

I see her lips move and feel her crushing embrace, her verbal response lost in the cheering of the crowd. Tears run down both our cheeks as we embrace, peppering each other’s faces with kisses and laughing. 

This is it. I’ve finally made something with my life. 

~~ 
It’s raining outside, only a light sprinkle to help keep the dust down. We have a window open to listen to it and are wrapped in warm blankets cuddling on the couch. 

“Hey Fiddly?”

“Mmhmm?”

I smile at her sleepy tone. “I know I keep asking this but…”

I feel her shift against me, tilting her head up to nuzzle under my chin. “Dusty, I’ve told you a million times and I’ll tell you again...It’s okay.”

I huff playfully. “Well maybe I need to hear it a million and two times Fiddly. I know your dream is to be a mother and, well, now…”

She brings her head up to stare at me. There’s still a tired tint to her eyes, but for the most part they are deep blue pools of understanding, like a quiet lake where one could simply float and let all their worries melt away. 

I feel myself start to drift off in her gaze when she speaks again, her soft voice lulling me further. “I will still be a mother, just not in the way we were planning.” 

A familiar mischief sparkled in those lakes, a playful threat of a prank from a friend. “To tell you the truth, I’m gonna enjoy spoiling you rotten while you carry our foal.”

Despite my best efforts, my cheeks warm and she grins at my blush. “I love you Dusty.”

I nuzzle her. “I love you too Fiddly.”

~~

Fiddlesticks grips my hoof tightly and I return the hold, our eyes glued to the screen. The doctor moves the wand around and suddenly, the fuzzy details sharpen to reveal the shape of our foal. 

The doctor smiles, “It looks like your foal is developing well. Would you like to know the gender and race?”

I nod, unable to speak. 

The doctor adjusts the wand and points at the screen, at two little shapes on the foal’s back. “Congratulations, you two are going to have a filly, a pegasus.”

“A, a pegasus. Fiddly…”

She is already crying as she presses our foreheads together. “I, I see Dusty. Our baby is gonna fly.”

Our little girl, a pegasus, just like me. 

~~

Fiddly rubs my back soothingly as I groan over the toilet bowl. “Erghh...It should be illegal for morning sickness to be anytime but the morning.”

“Would you like a mint hun?”

I gently lift my head, squinting as I tried to decide if my body had expelled enough. “Hmm...Yeah, like, 5 please.”

She giggles and kisses my forehead before leaving my side to rummage for mints. I sigh and sit back, rubbing my low back with a hoof to try and ease the muscles. 

I smile at Fiddly as she hands over a small tin and I waste no time tipping it back and munching on the minty fresh tablets. 

She sits beside me and begins to rub my stomach and I lean into her. “Hey Fiddly?”

“Yeah?”

“You...You still love me right?”

She chuckles and kisses my cheek, “Of course I do, what kind of silly question is that?”

I flush in embarrassment, “I just, I’m scared one day you are gonna wise up is all.”

I pull my wing around my side. Once, I took great pride in keeping them in top form, but ever since that tornado I had developed a bad habit of chewing on it in fits of anger.

Fiddly gently runs a hoof down the battered feathers and rough, scarred skin underneath. “You and I have been through some very rough weather, but I meant what I said. I promised to never leave you.”

Tears sting my eyes, “But that doesn’t mean you’ll always love me. Look at me Fiddly, I can hardly call myself a pegasus anymore, how can I raise one? I barely have half a wing left…”

“Being a pegasus is more than being able to fly.”

“Says the earth pony.”

My bitter remark bounces off her tough hide as she continues. “You were born a pegasus, you have lived as a pegasus, and you will die as one. I fell in love with a mare from the sky and I shall continue to love her until the day I return to the earth.”

“You really mean it?”

“Yes, Dusty, I really mean it.”

~~

“-AHHHHH!!”

I scream and sit up, wincing in pain as I pant desperately for breath. Fiddly shoots up as well and instantly has her hooves around me. 

“Dusty? Are you okay? Did you have another nightmare?”

I nod against her, trembling as I try to hold onto her, to make sure she is real and beside me. I know being pregnant can lead to some wild dreams, but lately all I’ve been having are nightmares about Fiddly. Her dying in my hooves, her in a hospital bed after I failed to stop the tornado or worse; her under a fallen beam and bled to death. 

I press my muzzle into her chest and inhale her scent as she rubs my back and whispers soothingly into my mane. 

There is a sharp pain in my belly and I gasp, eyes widening in horror as I feel a wet mess between my legs. “F-Fidd, ba, baby.”

I feel the alarm in her body as she removes one hoof from me to turn on the light. We look down, and there is a dark stain on the sheets. 

She curses and leaps out of the bed, trotting in place for a moment as she looks between me and the bedroom door. She curses again and nuzzles me. “I’ll be right back hun, I just need to call the doctor okay?”

I nod and watch as she leaves. Another wave of pain rolls over me and I collapse back on the bed.

I must have blacked out at some point, because the next thing I know, the room is brightly lit and there's commotion around me. Doctor Bones looks up at me and smiles, "Good, you're awake. You are nearly fully dilated and-"

"Di-what now?"

"The baby is coming."

With those words, I am made aware of what was happening. Fiddly is beside me, holding my hoof tightly and there's a sort of tent over my legs made from our blanket. There are a couple nurses flitting about the room and calling out medical terms that go in one ear and out the other.

I blink in confusion. All my life I've heard that childbirth is the most painful thing, yet I can't seem to feel anything. Fiddly nuzzles me, "They gave you an epidural about 20 minutes ago, don't you remember?"

I shake my head, "No I don't. So what's going to-"

My face scrunches up as I feel pressure in my groin. "Oooh...That's, that's a weird feeling..."

The doctor pops up again and smiles at me, "Looks like you are almost there, get ready to push Lightning."

I nod and look up at Fiddly, the reality of this moment suddenly crashing over me. She peppers my face with kisses and encouraging words, the hoof not holding mine cradling my head gently.

"I'm here Dusty, you got this love, just deep breaths and..."

The doctor's voice rings out, "Push!"