//------------------------------//
// Welcome Home 
// Story: Welcome, My Little One 
// by Delta 727 
//------------------------------//


Welcome, My Little One: Welcome Home



Two days after the birth of Twilight's foal...


The hospital was just opening for the day, when four ponies trotted in.

"Excuse me, nurse. Where is Princess Twilight staying? We're her family."

The nurse at the front desk of the hospital pointed down a hallway away from the reception desk. "Right that way, Miss Sparkle. In the room at the far back."

"Thank you very much," Twilight's mother said. She trotted toward the hallway where the Nurse had pointed, followed by Twilight's father, her brother, Shining Armor, and Cadence, her sister-in-law. After about of day of recovering from the birth, the hospital finally allowed Twilight's family to visit to see the foal. Twilight tried to convince the doctors to let them visit earlier, but they insisted that she rest. And, finally, Twilight's family was going to see the new member of their family.

Twilight's mother knocked on the door, but didn't say anything. She waited for a response, but it never came. She knocked again, and there was a murmur from the other side. It sounded like a pony just waking up.

"Come in..." Twilight's voice came from the other side.

Twilight's mother smiled, and gently opened the door.

"Good morning, honey..." she said.

"Oh..." Twilight smiled across the room at her mother. "Good morning, mom... Is everypony else here, too?"

Twilight's mother didn't answer. She just smiled, and pushed open the door. Twilight's father, Shining Armor, and Cadence all trotted in, with wide smiles on their faces and compassion in their eyes.

Twilight rubbed sleep from her eyes, and smiled. "Hey, everyone..."

"Hey, honey..." Twilight's father said.

"Hey, Twiley..." Shining Armor said next.

"Hi, Twilight," Cadence said last. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired..." Twilight replied. "Really tired..." Twilight curled her foal back up to her, with him still curled up deep in Rarity's blanket. "But the foal's doing just fine. If he was awake, I think he'd be happy to see you."

"Well, we're really happy to see him," Twilight's mother said. She trotted over to the side of Twilight's bed, and gently kissed her on the forehead. Twilight blinked sleep from her eyes, and kept her tiny smile. "And I'm so proud of you, Twilight. We all are. How does it feel being a mother?"

"I imagine it feels the same way as when you had me," Twilight said. "It feels amazing. I think I'm the first princess in Equestria's history to have my own foal."

"I don't think Princess Celestia or Princess Luna ever had foals, but their mother had them." Cadence giggled. "Sorry, Twilight. You're not the first, but I think you'll be one of the best."

Twilight giggled. "Thanks, Cadence..." She looked down at her foal. "Do you think you and my brother will ever have a foal of your own?"

Cadence and Shining Armor both blushed, and glanced at each other.

Finally, Cadence replied, "Erm... Not yet, Twilight. We haven't really thought about it much."

Shining Armor only nodded.

Twilight's parents were both staring at the couple with expectation, so Shining Armor changed the subject.

"So, um, Twiley... When's the hospital gonna let you check out and come home?'

"I dunno... They said they wanted me to stay resting here for at least another day, and to make sure the foal's healthy enough to leave." Twilight looked down at her foal. "I'm not too upset about that, though... I kinda like being here. Just me and my foal." Twilight giggled. "Flash said he'd make sure I was sick of him when I got out, he'd be caring for me so much!"

"Well, that's the sign of a good father, Twilight," Twilight's father said. "When you were born, I refused to leave your mother's side for days. When Shining was born, your mother passed out from exhaustion. She didn't wake up for hours, and she didn't have the energy to do anything for days. I was so worried about her that I made sure I did everything I could for her when you were born."

"So..." Twilight paused. "He's scared for me?"

Twilight's father chuckled. "Not quite, Twilight. He's just never had a foal before, so he's doing his best for both of you."

Twilight smiled again. "Oh, good. The last thing I want is for him to be worried about me. I've got plenty of good ponies to make sure we're okay."

"And speaking of plenty of good ponies," Cadence said. "Has Spike come to visit you yet?" Twilight's ears and expression immediately perked up.

"Spike!" Twilight's voice was soft, but concerned. "Oh, I completely forgot about him. I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he's fine, Twilight," Cadence reassured her. "I'll check in on him when we leave today. I'm sure he'll be waiting for you the second he hears you're coming home."

Twilight's muscles relaxed, and she settled back down into her pillow. "Thanks, Cadence. Can you make sure he's been taking care of the library? He's probably had a lot to keep up with without me..."

"I'll do that, Twilight." Cadence thought for a moment. "Do you want me to make sure he's been taking care of himself too? He's probably been worried sick about you."

Twilight giggled. "That'd be nice too. I don't think you'll need to, but he's never been through something like this before."

"So I heard Princess Celestia herself came by a couple days ago," Twilight's mother said. "You must've been very excited to see her."

Twilight smiled at her foal again, thinking about what she'd asked of her mentor. "I was. And I asked her if she wouldn't mind if our foal called her 'Aunt Celestia' when she grew up."

Twilight's whole family smiled, holding back a laugh. "Princess Celestia's gonna be an aunt?" Shining Armor asked. "That's gonna be a good story to tell to the guards."

Cadence nudged her husband, a hint of amusement in her voice. "No it won't be, Shiny."

Twilight's mother smiled. "Take it easy, you two." She turned back to Twilight. "Now you promise me you'll bring this little one by to visit his grandma once in a while?"

"I will, Mom," Twilight replied. "You can bake cookies with him during Hearth's Warming Eve and everything." The whole family shared a quiet laugh.

There was a knock on the hospital door, then it opened as a nurse with a blue coat and light blue mane tied into a bun trotted inside, holding a clipboard.

"Excuse me, but I'm going to need the family of the foal to leave for a few minutes. We need to run a few physical tests on the foal."

"Just a moment," Twilight's mother replied. "We'll be right outside if you need us, Twilight." She kissed Twilight on the forehead, then the foal.

"Thanks, Mom," Twilight replied, smiling again. "We'll see you soon."

Twilight's parents, Shining Armor, and Cadence all trotted out of the room past the nurse, who closed the door behind them. She trotted up to the bed beside Twilight, placing the clipboard on a small table next to Twilight's bed. Then, she trotted back to the door, and opened it. 

"You can bring it in now," the nurse said. The door opened, and a doctor with a yellow mane and blue coat, wearing glasses and a white lab coat brought in a large, metal pole on wheels, carrying a few I.V. bags on hooks, and a heartbeat monitor hooked up to the side. The nurse took the equipment from the doctor, and rolled it over to Twilight's bed, then picked up her clipboard as the doctor trotted over to Twilight.

"Good morning, miss Sparkle," the doctor said. "I'm Doctor Hay Bale. I'm here to ask you a few questions, and the nurse will be administering an I.V. and your heart monitor. The I.V. will remain until you leave, but the heart monitor will be taken on and off periodically so we can record if it changes. Are you alright with that?"

"Does my foal need one?" Twilight asked. The doctor shook his head.

"No. He is perfectly healthy. This is for you just to make sure you're getting enough fluid. You'll feel like you have less energy while you have it, and we recommend you get plenty of rest when we let you go tomorrow."

Twilight nodded. "Okay. Go ahead." The doctor nodded, and stepped out of the way to let the nurse move to Twilight's side. She picked up a small Velcro band from the monitor stand, and wrapped it around her upper leg. The nurse turned the monitor on, A thin, green line appeared, and started to jump periodically with Twilight's heartbeat, beeping periodically. Then she picked up the small tube that connected to the I.V., and placed it against Twilight's leg, and picked up a small needle from a sleeve on the tube. Twilight flinched her leg back at the sight of the needle.

"Wait... Will this hurt?"

The doctor smiled. "It'll only pinch a bit. The tube has a numbing agent on it, so you won't feel it under your skin."

Twilight nodded, and held out her free leg, since her other was occupied with her foal, and shut her eyes. The nurse placed the tube back against Twilight's leg, positioned the needle, and poked into her skin. Twilight flinched, and the heartbeat monitor picked up slightly. The nurse slipped the tube into Twilight's vein, and grabbed a small roll of surgery tape from the steel rack. She pulled off a small piece with her teeth, tore it off, and placed it over the spot where the tube when in. Twilight sighed and opened her eyes.

"There," the doctor said, and the nurse pulled a pen off her clipboard, and placed it against a paper on the clipboard. "Now that that's over, how are you feeling?"

"Just tired," Twilight said. "But my strength's been coming back over the last few days."

"Good, good," the doctor said. The nurse briefly wrote something down on her clipboard. "How has your foal been acting?"

"Well, he's been sleeping alot," Twilight replied. "He's opened his eyes a few times, and he notices me when I talk to him."

The nurse wrote something else down. "How has he been handling the formula he's been fed?"

"He's kept it down," Twilight said. "I've had to give it to him in smaller amounts than what the doctors told me to so he doesn't choke, but he's taken all of it every time."

The nurse wrote something down again. "Good," the doctor said. "That will be all for now." The nurse clipped the pen back to her clipboard. "We will check in on you again later today, then one more time before you leave tomorrow."

"Sounds good," Twilight said, her voice already heavy from the I.V.

The doctor smiled. "Rest well, miss Sparkle," he said. "I hope you and your foal have a very happy life together.

"Thanks, Doctor," Twilight said, her eyes already halfway shut, and her voice soft. The doctor nodded, and trotted toward the door, followed by the nurse. As soon as they left, Twilight's family came in once more, only to find that Twilight was already asleep.

"Aww, isn't that cute?" Cadence said. "Twilight's asleep with her foal."

Nopony else said another word. They all just smiled at the foal and his Princess mother.



The next morning...


Outside of Twilight's library, a purple baby dragon was pacing back and forth in anticipation. He'd received a letter from Princess Celestia that Twilight was doing well, and that she would be returning that day. Spike hadn't seen her for days, and he was worried sick about her, until Cadence brought him the news that both Twilight and her foal were healthy and happy. Soon, his worry turned to anticipation, as Twilight would finally be coming home.

Spike stopped pacing as a purple form appeared at the end of the path leading to the library. Spike hadn't noticed her arrive, but as soon as he did, he stopped in his tracks. Twilight was standing there, a smile on her face and a foal in her hoof, still wrapped in Rarity's blanket. Spike smiled, and ran forward to Twilight, jumping into her chest and hugging her.

"Welcome home, momma Twilight," Spike said.

"I'm so glad to be home," Twilight replied. "Now let's go inside. I wanna get him settled into his crib."

Spike let go of Twilight, saluted, and ran to the door to open it for Twilight. "After you, Princess."

Twilight smiled again, and trotted down the path and through the door, Spike slipped in after her, and closed the door. He turned around to see Twilight trotting up the stairs toward her bed, and setting her foal into a wooden crib with a purple canopy over the top and  a purple cushion inside next to her bed. Spike ran up with her, and pulled himself up the front of the crib to see inside. The foal was still fast asleep, curled up in it's blanket, breathing lightly as it got comfortable inside of it's new bed. Spike couldn't help but smile, and wipe a small tear from his eye.

"He's great, Twilight," Spike said. "Kinda makes me think of how you felt when you raised me."

Twilight smiled. "Funny you should say that, Spike. This is actually the same crib you slept in when I was raising you." Spike just smiled at Twilight when she said that, and then looked back at the foal.

"When do you think he's gonna wake up?" Spike said.

"He woke up a few times, but the doctors said he should be as active as ever tomorrow," Twilight answered.

"Oh, I can't wait!" Spike said, letting go of the crib." Maybe he can help me manage the library when he's older!"

"Only if he wants to, Spike," Twilight said. "You know that right?"

Spike thought for a moment. "I can at least be his first playmate, right?"

Twilight giggled. "Maybe, Spike. Just maybe."

Spike jumped onto Twilight's back to get another look at the foal. "What's his name?" He asked.

Twilight smiled one more time before she answered.

"Northern Lights."