Three Months Later
Soarin' glided gently through the air over the dirt road that led to the small cottage that was his destination. He was carrying a few bags of food that Fluttershy had sent him to get for their dinner. It was mostly stuff that took ten to twenty minutes in the oven, ranging to cheese sticks, to bread sticks, and a large pizza.
His gaze fell to the road and he spotted a mare with a purple coat looking around. He watched her as she turned around and looked up the road, then back, and repeated the motion a few times before taking a few steps forward.
She must be lost... I should help her out. He angled himself to descend and after almost a minute he landed within a few feet of the mare.
"Hey, I saw you from the sky, and well... you looked lost. Can I help you?"
Something at the back of the stallions mind nagged at him about this mare. She looked confused and rather lost as she shuffled in place, her purple mane covering half of her face.
At the back of the stallions mind, something began poking his thoughts. He got a feeling that they had met before, and he couldn't place where he had seen her face before. Maybe I saw her at a show. Seems likely. He took a small step towards her and gave her a friendly smile.
The mare's eyes widened behind her mane and she shuffled backwards a little. "I um... I need to get going..."
The stallion’s confusion covered his features, and as he opened his mouth to ask her why she was suddenly in a hurry, his thoughts clicked and he recognized her face. His confusion turned to cold indifference in a heartbeat.
"You were with her father. What are you even doing in this town?"
The mare hid behind her mane in a way that reminded Soarin' of the mare he loved. "I... I wanted to talk to my daughter... I had some news she needs to hear..."
"What could she possibly want to hear from you?" His voice dripped with a coldness that even he felt uncomfortable with.
The mare shuffled for a moment and lowered her head and voice. "Her father died..."
Like a balloon being popped, all the malice Soarin' felt left him as he recognized a hint of sadness in her voice, but something else as well. He couldn't quite place it, but he was certain it was almost... relief.
"Her... her father died? What happened... and why are you telling her in person?"
The mare looked at the floor and spoke in a low, ashamed tone. "She... she keeps returning the letters..."
Soarin' opened his mouth and closed it a moment later. That... makes sense. This is her only way to get that information to Fluttershy. He shuffled for a moment then nodded. "So, you want to deliver this news, and then what?"
He watched the mare shrug halfheartedly. "I don't know, but she deserves to know about this at least." She paused and sighed, a tinge of something entering her voice. "Maybe I can find a life doing something that doesn't harm anypony."
The blue stallion was surprised as the mare rubbed her shoulder, and it was at that moment that two things clicked in the stallions mind. First: was that there may have been a bit of regret in this mares mind over what she and her husband did to their daughter. The second was that she might have been a victim herself.
"Okay... I'll lead you to her house, but I'll need to get her braced for you, and the news." He noticed the small spark of hope in her eyes as he spoke. "She didn't exactly react greatly to you and you husband. So, don't expect a warm welcome."
His new traveling companion nodded. "I wasn't..."
The unlikely traveling companions made their way down the road, and silence fell between them. Soarin' made a small passing glance at her and noticed some slight discoloration on the shoulder she had been rubbing. A bruise... With that simple observation, his suspicions about her being a victim was confirmed.
"Hey... it's not my place to really ask... but um... did he... did he give you that bruise?"
The mare's pace slowed a little, and she sighed. "I... um... yes." She sighed again and gazed at the stallion. "I'm not a strong mare... I should have moved... out of his way..." A hoof moved to the shoulder again and then brushed the mane from her eyes. Her tone turned to one of a rushed panic. "Can we please keep walking? I just want to get this over with."
Soarin' nodded and led the way to the small bridge in front of the cottage that was their destination. The elder pegasus hesitated on the wooden path, letting the stallion make a gap between them, a cool breeze knocking her mane loose and covering most of her face.
The blue stallion turned to see the mare staring at the cottage, her eyes glassed over with worry, and fear. Soarin' swallowed before he spoke.
"Hey, wait here, and I'll go get her. Stay right here." He got a nod from the mare, and he turned to face the home of the mare he loved. He reached the door and opened it gently and walked inside. He was greeted by the lovely smell of vanilla, and the gentle flicker of candle lights. Lying on the couch was the now more rotund form of Fluttershy, her belly enlarged by the foal she was carrying, her head laying gently on a small pillow as she cuddled her favorite bunny.
"Soarin'! You're back. Did you get all the food we wanted?"
The wonderbolt nodded and placed the bags down on the vacant arm chair, then made his way to the mare he loved. "I did, but um... I need to talk to you about something."
The mare nodded lazily. "Sure. What's it about?"
"Well, you have a visitor." Soarin' made sure that his tone remained as close to neutral as he could. "They have some pretty... important news that you might want to hear."
The mare nuzzled her bunny then slowly sat up. "Why aren't they inside to talk to me then?"
"Because..." The wonderbolt hesitated for only a moment then swallowed. "It's your mother."
Fluttershy's relaxed expression vanished and was replaced with cold, frightened expression. "My... m-my mother? What does she want? W-Why is she here?"
The stallion sat next to his love, and wrapped a wing around her. "She wants to tell you something important, and thinks that doing it face to face is the best way to do it."
"I don't know, what if she tries t-"
"I won't let her harm you." He gave the mare a gentle nuzzle and a kiss on the cheek. "I won't let anypony harm you, or our foal, ever." He paused and hugged the beautiful mare. "I think you should talk to her. What she has to say is important, and well... you need to know it."
The yellow mare sighed and looked into her stallion's eyes. "Okay... I trust you..."
Soarin' nodded and stood up to open the door. In the doorway stood the older mare, shuffling for a moment then spotting her daughter on the couch.
"Hi... Fluttershy..."
The yellow mare rubbed her leg. "Hi... mother..."
The elder mare walked into the threshold, sparing only a moment to look around before she returned her gaze to her daughter. "So... your friend told you why I am here?"
Fluttershy nodded. "He said you had something to tell me."
"I do." The pegasus shuffled in her spot and swallowed. "Your... my husband had a heart attack about a week ago... there was nothing the doctors could do..." She swallowed again and looked into her daughters eyes. "He's dead dear..."
The purple maned mare moved her mane out of her eye and watched her daughter's face. It was neutral, but struggling to stay that way. The first few emotions were expected. Joy, relief, and a sort of peace, but what wasn't expected was a brief moment of sadness on the younger mare's face. Moments passed before Fluttershy spoke.
"So... does this mean you want me to go to his funeral?"
The older mare shook her head. "No... you don't need to suffer any more... I think we did enough..." She bit her lip and swallowed dryly. "I know this means nothing coming from me... but... I'm sorry... for everything. I should have been the mother you needed... but I couldn't be..."
As her mother turned to leave Fluttershy saw her in a very different light. She was no longer merely a bystander, watching the abuse and screaming, but a victim as well. Perhaps there was something in her mother that really wanted to step up and stop her father, but fear and other emotions stopped her. She was certain that Twilight would know the name of such a mindset, but right now she had something more important to do.
"Mom... I... I think we should um... start over." She got up from the couch and moved towards the mare. "I... know that we have a um, difficult relationship." She was now within a few steps of her mother. She could smell something she never smelled on her mother: Perfume.
"Mom... I forgive you." She moved closer and hugged her mother.
Her mother stood there stunned as she received the first hug from her daughter in what she was certain was almost twenty years. She slowly hugged her daughter back.
"I... don't know what to say... I don't think I deserve this..."
Fluttershy looked her mother in the eyes. "I do. Besides... I know this couldn't be easy for you... I couldn't do it if something happened and made me talk to you and dad..." She gave an awkward smile and hugged her mother once more. "I um, also have something to tell you..."
The elder mare noticed that Soarin' was smiling at them, and she silently mouthed "thank you" to him. "What news is it?"
"I'm... pregnant..."
Her mother remained silent for a moment and could only hug her daughter tightly. Soarin' watch the mares for a moment, know that despite everything that had happened, they were about to have a much better life. The elder mare began giving advice on diaper changing, and bottle preparation, he got up and decided that now was a good time to start making dinner for them.
She's got a mother, and our foal has a second grandmother... today has turned out really well for them both.
Over the course of Fluttershy's pregnancy she had received many visits from her friends. Some brought gifts, Rarity being the mare that brought her an entire wardrobe for the foal, while others helped her clean the home or gave advice. At the moment, she was being visited by Rainbow Dash and Spitfire.
"Dash... why does the couch need to be moved?" She sat on a small chair as she watched Spitfire sweep the floor as Dash held the couch in the air as she hovered in the middle of the room.
"Makes things easier, besides, we are doing it in style."
The flame haired mare chuckled as Dash placed the couch back on the floor. "Anyways, when is that appointment you have today?"
The pink maned mare looked at the clock and then returned her gaze to the pair of pegasai before her. "In an little bit. I'm waiting for Soarin' before I head out. It's our ultrasound."
Spitfire smiled. "Oh, that's when you find out the sex of the foal!" She walked over and sat close to the mare. "Do you have a preference, or do you want to be old fashion and not find out?"
"Pfft, who would not want to know? If I have a foal in me, I'd like to know the gender at least." Dash plopped onto the couch and placed her hid legs up on the rest of the couch.
Fluttershy smiled. "I want to know, but Soarin' said he wanted to be old fashioned. He says it's a family tradition."
Spitfire giggled. "Knowing his family, they would tease him forever is he did find out before they were born."
The yellow mares shared a small giggle as the front door opened, and the stallion they were talking about walked in.
He looked around the room and spotted Dash on the couch. "Oh, Hi Rainbow... what are you doing here?" Before the cyan mare could talk he noticed Spitfire next to the mare he loved. "Hey Spitfire. Same thing I asked Dash."
Dash spoke first. "We came over to clean up the house since Fluttershy is getting a foal mountain."
"Dash, it's not that big." Spitfire shot a stern glance at the prism colored mare but felt a hoof on her shoulder.
"It's kinda big for how long it's been..." Fluttershy smiled. "Maybe my foal is just growing a little fast."
The blue stallion moved to the mare on the chair and helped her up. "That's something the doctor can tell us. We should get going." He looked to Spitfire. "Will you two be here for long? We could make dinner for you."
The Wonderbolt captain shook her head. "I have to meet a few of the members of Beta Squad. They wanted to talk about a new trick to add to their show." She got up and gave her wings a small flap. "You know Beta Squad... this trick will probably involve fire, explosions, or possibly a shark."
Soarin' chuckled and nodded. "Yeah... okay, so I'll see you at practice then."
Fluttershy and Soarin' left the home after the pink maned mare gave her friends a quick list of things to do. The yellow pegasus placed her head on Soarin's shoulder as they made their way down the dirt road. The sun warmed them as it began to set in the evening, and the pair simply walked in silence until they saw the town in the distance.
"Hey Shy?"
"Yeah?" Fluttershy looked up at the stallion.
"We're going to be parents... and well..." He smiled and kissed the mare walking next to him. "I am really, really excited about it."
The mare giggled and nuzzled the stallion. "I am too."
They reached the hospital and after a few minutes they found themselves in a small room, Fluttershy on a small chair, laying down, and Soarin' holding her hoof. The attending doctor was a grey unicorn stallion with a long white beard and a clipped short mane. Due to Soarin's wishes, the stallion kept the screen facing away from the couple. The doctor was in the middle of the ultrasound and paused for a minute and ran his hoof through his beard.
"Well then. I have some interesting news for you." He looked to the pair. "I understand you don't want to know the gender sir, but this is something different."
The pegasus stallion swallowed. "What do you mean? Is the foal sick?"
"No, but... well, you may need to rethink your bedroom plans for them." The doctor tapped the screen for a moment. "You are having triplets."
Fluttershy felt the grip on her hoof tighten as she stared at the doctor. "Trip... triplets? You mean I have three foals in me right now?"
The doctor nodded. "I know this is a lot to take in, so I shall give you two a moment to talk about it." He got up and left the room, leaving them alone.
"We... we have triplets..." Soarin' spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. "I... I knew twins ran in the family but this... this is not what I was expecting..."
The mare looked at the stallion she loved and saw an expression on his face that was a mix of shock, joy and worry. She kissed him on the cheek and smiled to him.
"Soarin'... we can handle this..." She nuzzled him and placed another hoof on his. "It's good news."
The stallion swallowed and kisses her on the forehead. "It's amazing news."
Six Months Later
Nestled in a small hospital room was a new family. Cuddled on the bed together were the parents, Fluttershy's head resting on Soarin's shoulder, and the stallions wing wrapped around the mare he loved. Everything was as they had expected. The birth happened without a issue, the room was comfortable, and all of their friends and Fluttershy's mother had visited, but that wasn't what was on Soarin's mind as he watched his marefriend's gently breathing.
He hadn't expected that his family would have grown so fast, and as he looked down, he remembered the shock he had gotten a few months ago. He was in the hospital with Fluttershy as she got an ultra sound, and they both got to see their foal for the first time, and then they saw the other foals.
Soarin' gently nuzzled the small pegasus colt in his gently grasp, then looked over to to the two filly foals, one an earth pony and the other was a pegasus, nestled up to their mother, all three were sleeping gently. Soarin' smiled as the colt in his forelegs yawned and cuddled closer to his body. The stallion smiled and kissed the colt’s forehead.
"I'm going to have to teach you and your sister how to fly, with your mother of course, and then show you how to be nice to fillies... I'm told I'm handsome, and well, I bet you will look more like your mother, which will help you." He chuckled and kissed the sleeping mare on the cheek. "You're probably going to be a momma's boy, but that means one of your sisters will be a daddy's girl. I'm okay with that."
The colt remained asleep as Soarin' looked out the window, to the night sky, to the stars that shimmered in the sky. The stallion sighed contently and smiled to himself. He had no clue what being a father would be like, but he knew that he was going to enjoy every moment, because he was with the mare that brought him down to earth.