//------------------------------// // The Beginning // Story: Lightning Aura Strike // by Mischievous Blue //------------------------------// The Beginning Late, deep into Luna’s night, a black pony held the hoof of a lavender mare laying on a delivery table. She was heavily pregnant with her only child, a girl. She was going to be a unicorn, she just knew it. She could feel the magic radiating out from her swollen belly. Her husband had told her that it had to be a pegasus because he had seen one too many appendages poking at the mare’s stomach at a time; this obviously indicated wings. They had been thinking up names based on what the filly would be able to do. They decided on “Lightning” if she was a pegasus, and “Aura” if she was a unicorn. The mare gave a small cry and squeezed the stallion’s hoof tighter. The doors to the room swung open and two regal figures entered. Princesses Celestia of the Sun and Princess Luna of the Night seemed to fill the room with their majestic brilliance. They greeted the young couple who bowed (as well as the mare could) and greeted the Princesses in return. Luna approached the black pony and asked him to accompany her outside while the two other ponies talked. The stallion obliged and followed the Princess into the hall. Celestia waited until the door closed to turn to look at the young mare. The Princess figured that this had to be them, the family they had been searching for. The royal sisters may not have received information on the couple’s appearance, but there were no other families with the surname Strike. Celestia continued to look at the pregnant mare, and the mare looked back. The Princess then opened her mouth and asked, “How are you?” The lavender pony was momentarily surprised. She was facing the Princess of the Sun on a hospital table about to go into labor and Celestia wanted to know how she was? Well, might as well continue with the small talk as nothing else was going on. “I’m fine, thank you. I must say, I was quite surprised to hear that you and Princess Luna wanted an audience with us at such a...strange location.” She blushed a little, knowing how weird it sounded coming out of her own mouth. A refined pony of Canterlot society she may be, it’s still no easy task asking why such important figures would want to meet you and your spouse at a hospital minutes before your delivery. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there is a serious case of ponypox going around. It easily infects pregnant ponies and damages, or even kills, the fetus inside. We’ve been going around for a couple months now, casting magic on unborn foals to protect them from infections and diseases. We got a notice saying that you hadn’t received the spell yet, so we rushed over to make sure we made it before the baby was born.” The lavender pony hadn’t heard of any such disease going around, and upon entering the Canterlot hospital, it had been unusually quiet, almost eerily so. She brushed this thought out of her mind and focused on the Princess again. She agreed to the treatment and lay back as Celestia started her magic and lowered her horn towards the pony’s enlarged belly. The black stallion was pacing back and forth in the hospital hallway just outside the delivery room. The Moon Princess was outside with him, just watching him walk back and forth. What’s so important that I can’t be in there with my wife, the black pony wondered. He stopped pacing and went over to one of the chairs and sat down. Luna walked over and began to speak. “So, your name is Takedown Strike, am I correct?” she inquired. “Yes.” “May I ask what your occupation is?” He turned his head towards the princess and he fixed his red eyes on her. “I am the commander of the Equestrian SWAT team.” “I see,” Luna said. She considered this for a few moments before continuing. “What does your wife, Glimmer, do for an occupation?” Takedown turned away. He didn’t answer. The two sat outside without speaking for close to thirty minutes. Then an ear shattering scream tore through Takedown’s thoughts and he turned and ran to his wife’s delivery room. He didn’t bother opening the door. With the adrenaline running through his body, he ran right through it, wood spraying out and flying in all directions. The Moon Princess was right behind him. === It had been 15 minutes since he had found his wife writhing on the delivery table and the two Princesses took their leave. He now held a tiny red female pegasus wrapped in a towel in his arms. The tiny newborn had its eyes closed and was moving gently under the towel. Takedown couldn’t take his eyes off the tiny pony. He couldn’t believe how he and his wife could have made such a beautiful little pony. He sighed and wiped a tear from his eye. “Well hon, you did it. We now have a little filly of our own. Congratulations.” No reply. “Honey?” He turned to look at Glimmer. She lay on the stainless steel table, not moving. She might have just been sleeping, except her chest wasn’t moving. “Glimmer? Honey, please wake up. You have to see our child. You got this far, you can’t give up now.” He lifted her head up with one hoof while holding the lightly squirming foal in the other. Glimmer’s head rolled to the side in her husband’s shaking hoof, her mouth slightly open, eyes closed, never to open again. Takedown felt a heat spread through his chest as he realized what he was seeing. He was scared, had never been this scared, and would never be this scared again. He attempted to resuscitate Glimmer with the training he received from so long ago, but to no avail. He laid his wife’s head down on the table and carefully closed her mouth. Tears fell from his eyes as he cried over Glimmer’s body. After a while, he heard a cooing sound. He looked over and realized he still had the newborn in one hoof. He looked down at the little pony as it continued to coo and squirm. Its eyes opened, and two enormous yellow eyes looked back at her father. Father and daughter looked at each other for several minutes. The newborn gave a confused gurgle and Takedown picked her back up and gave her a small hug. He then held the pony out and looked at it from a distance. His wife wanted the name Lightning if it was a pegasus, but was also fond of Aura. Even though the little pony wasn’t a unicorn, Takedown decided to honor his wife. He gave Glimmer one last kiss on the lips before flying out of the hospital. The foal gave what Takedown guessed was a “Whee” as he flew out through the hospital doors and out into the moonlight. He stopped in midair and looked at the foal, who was looking at her surroundings as best she could. “Hey,” he said and the foal snapped her attention to him. “In honor of your mother, I now give you the name of Lightning Aura Strike!”