//------------------------------// // The Arrival // Story: Fillies of the Night // by Drunk Luna //------------------------------// The night was cold and silent, and it seemed to sigh with relief after the end of the two-day snowstorm that had just deposited its final remnants onto Canterlot. The frigid wind ushered the snow clouds out, polishing the dark blue sky and repelling the clouds with its icy breath. The aurora borealis shimmered above Equestria, reflecting off the sparkling snow as if the fluffy white blanket were a giant diamond. The watery streams of colorful light pulsed and danced like some kind of supernatural, luminescent cloud, their brilliance streaming into one of the bedchambers of Canterlot Castle, where Princess Luna's swollen flank rose and fell as she crumpled to her knees. Pain seared through her hindquarters. Liquid gushed down her legs as her water broke. Luna snorted and lay down on her side on the cool blue floor of her bedchamber. "Phoebus, it's happening!" she called to her husband. The gray thestral stallion galloped to her side and nuzzled her gently. "Luna, sweetheart, everything will be all right," he assured her. "I'm going to call the midwife and your sister. Just breathe, okay?" "I want to go to the hospital!" Luna screamed. "Take me there now! We can call everypony on the way there." "No, honey. You insisted on a home birth, and you told me not to take you to the hospital, no matter how much you begged." "Eeeuuuggghhh, I hate you for this!" she screamed. Princess Celestia, Prince Sombra, their three-year-old daughter, Summer, and Luna's midwife, Pure Heart, arrived at Luna's bedchamber within minutes. Celestia got there first and trotted to Luna's bedside. Phoebus stood by the bed, stroking Luna’s sweat-soaked forehead. Luna’s pregnancy had been difficult from the beginning; just after realizing her period was late, she had begun to suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum—morning sickness with vomiting so severe that she was unable to keep any fluids down through the entirety of her first trimester. She became dehydrated at around eight weeks pregnant and was sent to the emergency room, but luckily the doctors had managed to save her and the foal before things could get worse. As soon as she could feel the foal inside her, Luna had memorized her baby’s waking and sleeping hours, obsessively counting the foal’s kicks to make sure there was never too little or too much movement. Through all of this, though, she had enjoyed being pregnant, decorating the nursery with a wall of stars, choosing everything from the crib to the changing table, and picking out little toys for the foal. She had constantly talked to the foal, rubbing her belly every time she felt a kick. She and Phoebus had decided not to know the sex of the foal until he or she was born, so the nursery had a color scheme of dark blue and white. "Breathe, Luna," Celestia encouraged her sister. She vividly remembered the agony of labor, and her heart went out to her younger sister as she writhed and moaned in pain. Summer whined, and Celestia gave the filly to Sombra so she could focus on Luna. "Tia, I can't breathe!" Luna cried through gritted teeth. She felt as if her body was being torn apart from the inside. "Yes, you can, little sister," Tia reassured her. “Mares give birth to foals every day, Luna. You can do this.” “Okay, the foal is almost out," Pure Heart announced. "It's time to push, Your Majesty. Push as hard as you can, okay?" "I can't!" Luna shrieked. "Phoebus, why did you do this to me, you bastard?" "Just push, okay, honey? You can do it." Phoebus nuzzled her forehead gently. "The foal is crowning!" Pure Heart said. "You're almost done, Ma’am. Just one more push." As her body’s natural urge to push took over, Luna screamed and pushed as hard as she could. Suddenly, a small but loud cry pierced the air, and the nurse said, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, it's a filly!" "You did so well, my love," Phoebus praised her, kissing his wife's forehead. Then, all of a sudden, Luna was holding her daughter for the first time. The newborn filly had a turquoise coat, a glistening crystalline horn, a long, flowing, pink, purple and turquoise mane and tail, two fluffy, pointed, bat-like ears, and two tiny bat wings. "Oh, she is so beautiful! And she's a thestral alicorn!" Luna gasped in shock. The foal's cries softened to whimpers as she cuddled into her mother's chest. She yawned, blinked sleepily, and looked up at Luna with big, ice-blue eyes. "Hello, my precious little one," Luna whispered, gently nuzzling her daughter’s face and softly kissing the filly’s head. "Hi, sweetie! Ohhh, you’re so tiny! Mommy and Daddy love you so much." She kissed the filly's head again and gave her to Phoebus, who smiled blissfully. "You're perfect, aren't you, little angel?" he whispered to the filly, "Do you know what you're going to name her?" Celestia asked, reaching out to gently stroke her newborn niece's head. "Neoma," Luna said, looking down lovingly at the filly. “My beloved new moon, Princess Neoma Esme.”