It's been some number of days since I was born, and I haven't gotten anything in me. For some reason, the sight of mommy's teats or a bottle makes me cry until I fall asleep. I'm very weak right now, and movement is difficult. It's easier just to not move at all. The feeling of emptiness in my belly has faded to the background of my mind.
Today is a special day, apparently. Skyla and I are picked up and put in pouches on mommy's sides before we leave home. We're covered by her wings, and I like that. I decided it would be a good time for a nap.
When I'm woken up, we're in an unfamiliar room. Mommy's laying on the ground, and I soon feel myself being set against her chest, along with Skyla, who starts wandering around.
Soon, an unfamiliar pony came in. "Hello, your highness. I'm Dr. Softhoof, and I'll be your foals' pediatrician."
"Thank you," mommy said. "Could you start with Skyla?"
"Of course, Princess." The doctor lay down across from mommy and started looking over my sister. He also asked mommy things about her, which she answered.
After he finished with Skyla, I was floated over to him, and I just let myself flop onto the floor. After a few seconds of looking at me and a poke to my shoulders, he spoke. "I've never seen a foal in this bad of a shape. I think the only reason she's still alive is because she's probably immortal. Has she gotten any milk?"
"No," mommy said. "Every time she's presented with a bottle or my teats, she cries herself to sleep. I don't know why she does that."
"Every time?"
"We try to get her to drink some milk when we feed Skyla, but she doesn't take to it at all. Shining Armor and I are actually considering having Twilight raise Inova until she's eating solid food."
"Princess Sparkle?" The doctor finished looking me over and I was floated back to mommy. Both her and the doctor sat up, Skyla and I at mommy's hooves.
"Yes. We're thinking of having her just teleport the milk into Inova's stomach."
"I wouldn't suggest doing that, your highness," the doctor firmly stated. "Even if it's done slowly, teleporting the milk in won't end well. It won't break down and be absorbed properly due to the lack of saliva. Inova might also have trouble learning to eat properly later on as well."
"Hm?"
"If you were raised with milk and food being teleported into your stomach, what would you do with food set in front of you?"
Mommy was silent for a while. "Alright. So if teleporting isn't a viable option, what else can we do?"
"Either some mind altering spells, which I really don't like the sound of, forcing her to drink, or putting her on a nutrient drip."
Something inside me took note of those last two words. I don't know why they seemed to scare me, but I knew, somehow, how to avoid it. I found the will and energy to move and went between mommy's legs to immediately find a teat, which I started nursing from. I did not stop until I felt full, at which point I was floated over mommy's shoulder and pat on the back until a small burp came out of me. For once, I was feeling sleepy in a really good way.
"Well doctor, I don't think we'll have any problems with her not feeding again," mommy said. "I just wish I knew why." Not long after, I was asleep again.
Princess Cadence put Skyla and Inova back in their pouches after talking with Dr. Softhoof a bit more about them. After deciding on the next checkup date, Cadence paid for the appointment like any other pony would have to and left to head home.
When she got home, after doing some light grocery shopping, Inova was still asleep and Skyla still had plenty of energy. After putting the groceries away, Cadence lifted Skyla out of her pouch and set her on the floor, where she immediately started exploring again. Inova was taken out and set on the couch, still asleep.
After spending some time with Skyla, Cadence set about making supper for herself and Shining Armor, who was still working back at the castle. It was his first day back since Inova and Skyla were born one week prior, so there was a bit of a backlog for him. Shining was liable to get caught up in his work, like his sister did, though he had a bit more restraint than she did. He knew when to stop and take a break, for one thing.
While she was waiting for Shining Armor, Cadence went ahead and started eating her supper. Fifteen minutes later, moments after finishing her food, Shining Armor came in.
"Hello, Shiny," Cadence greeted. "How was work?"
"Hey Cadence," Shining Armor replied. "Work was pretty good today. I didn't have quite as much of a backlog as I thought I did and finished all of it."
"That's some good news. But I have better news," Cadence smugly said as she levitated Shining's prepared plate to his place.
"Better than getting through a week's worth of backlog in a day?" He sat down and took a bite of his food. "Better than this meal?"
"Inova finally started nursing."
Shining Armor let that fact sink in for a bit. "How did you do it?"
"I was at the pediatrician's office with the fillies and the doctor. I was talking with him about what we might have to do to make Inova healthy, when she suddenly moved and started nursing off of me. I don't know what brought it on, but I have a feeling she'll drink from now on, whether from me or a bottle."
"That is good."
"Yes it is. Speaking of the foals, it's about time to feed them again. I'll go take care of that."
I was awoken by mommy gently shaking my body.
"Inova, Skyla, it's your mealtime," she said. I didn't know quite what she meant, but that feeling of emptiness I had so recently gotten rid of was back. Skyla and I were placed between mommy's legs and we both started nursing at the same time.
After we finished and the burps were gotten out of us, daddy came in. Skyla was given to daddy for some reason while mommy stayed with me. I decided to move around a bit to explore. The going was slow, and mommy helped me a lot. By the time I had managed to cross the room, I was tired and collapsed onto the floor slowly, aided by some force I felt, but couldn't see.
Mommy and I kept doing that for a while until something warm and wet appeared in my diaper. I didn't like how that felt and started crying. I felt myself floating and soon found myself on my back on a table with mommy over me. But even as she changed the diaper and cleaned me (which felt nice), I couldn't stop crying for some reason. That noise I hated was in the air again.
Just as I was about to fall asleep, something else warm and moist, a bit more solid than the first thing, appeared in my diaper, causing me to cry loudly again. Once again, mommy changed my diaper and cleaned me, but I fell asleep during the cleaning. It felt nice.
Cadence walked out of the foals' room, Inova sound asleep in her crib, and returned to her husband and Skyla. "We're going to write a memoir about these girls," she suddenly stated.
"Why so soon?" Shining Armor asked as he made little ramps for Skyla to play on. "They're only a week old."
"Not yet, Shiny. Do you remember the books Twilight gave us about raising twins?"
He gave her words some consideration. "We've already derailed from all of them, haven't we?"
"They all said that they would behave similarly for a month before personality differences really started showing."
Shining glanced in the direction of the foals' room. "It might be because they're alicorns. They're the first naturally born ones, after all."
"Dr. Softhoof did suspect the only reason Inova's still alive is because of her immortality. I don't know how else she would have survived." She watched Skyla stumble, fall over, and get back up to play on the ramp shields. "I still don't know why she made such a fuss about feeding time or why she suddenly started on her own."
"We may never know."