The sun started to make its way higher in the sky, a gray mare let out a sigh. Her due date came, sleep slowly became hard to achieve and even harder to keep. As her belly grew, the harder seemingly minor tasks seemed to become. Octavia was glad that Vinyl was so helpful. She’d started to clean and after a few visits from the firefighters, take-out had become the norm for dinner.
“Hey, Octy. I’m about to make some coffee, would you like some?” Vinyl’s voice drifted from the kitchen. She started to get up early and trying to cook breakfast. It was just toast, flowers, and a cup of coffee. Octavia let out a small groan as she tried to roll out of bed.
“I would love a cup. Just give me minute.” Smiled warmly as she smelled the coffee being brewed. It seemed it was the only thing to get her out of bed at times. She walked down the hallway of their apartment slowly. The place was surprisingly clean, mostly due to the fact that Octavia was on leave and would chew Vinyl’s head off if she didn’t help keep it spotless.
When she made it to the kitchen, she found the otherwise wild DJ with her mane pulled back and humming a tune as she cooked. Steam was wafted from a cup sitting on the dining table. Octavia smiled and trotted over to take a quick drink. A deep sigh escaped as the coffee was just the way she loved it, black with a hint of nutmeg. Octavia couldn’t be happier that Vinyl had stepped up as she promised.
It wasn’t long before Octavia was pulled from her happy thoughts by the smell of smoke. She blinked a few times as she watched Vinyl rushed around the kitchen trying to put out the fire she somehow started.
“Don’t worry, Octi. I got this under control. Just sit back and enjoy your coffee.” Vinyl was trying to put water on the fire, but it cause the fire to flare up. One would think after the fifth time she would learn that you can’t put water on a grease fire, but Vinyl wasn’t like most. The Fire Department was number two on the speed dial. So it wasn’t long before everything was under control and the landlord was happy to know Vinyl wasn’t allowed to cook till she took classes. Which sadly meant Vinyl wasn’t going to be cooking any time soon.
“I hope we learned a lesson here, Vinyl. We got lucky that the firefighters were close by before the things could get out of hoof,” Octavia sighed and finished off the last of her coffee. “Just go to McHoof’s and get my usual.” She nodded her head toward her saddle bag. Vinyl looked down and as she walked out pulled some bits from Octavia’s bag.
It was going to be a while before Vinyl would get back, so Octavia curled up on the couch in the living room to take a little nap. She needed one after almost having the apartment burn down. Vinyl would wake her once she got back.
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Vinyl stood at the counter of the local McHoof’s. She could never think about what she wanted before. She always chose what looked or sounded good at the moment. The young colt behind the counter yawned as he waited for her.
“Come on, Vinyl. You are in here every other day, so just get what you usually get. I’m sure Octavia would like to something to eat soon. Especially after you tried to burn the place down. Again.” The manager joked as he poked his head of his office nearby. Vinyl smiled and they both started to laugh.
“How did you know that I almost burned down the apartment again?”
“The firefighters stopped by for something to eat after they kept your place from turning ash. I think I heard something about a mare not knowing how to put out a grease fire. And figured it was you,” The manager came out of his office and motion for the young colt to move out of the way. “I feel sorry for Octavia having to put up with you trying to cook. So the meal’s on me. And because I still need to make some money here, I let you pay half price for your food. Just promise me you’ll start taking some cooking classes soon.”
“You can count on it. I was going to take a few months off before trying to find a new gig.” Vinyl used her magic to try and find her bits. She didn’t want to use the ones Octavia gave her. The manager thanked her and left Vinyl to wait for her food.
The food order didn’t take long to finish. Vinyl thanked the colt and rushed back home. It wasn’t long before she made it to the front door of the building.
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Octavia grumbled as she heard Vinyl made her way into the apartment. She rubbed a hoof across her eyes, in an attempt to remove the sand she’d managed to accumulate.
“Vinyl, is that you? Did you get the food?” She just waved a hoof in the air, she was still kind of sleepy from her nap and didn’t want to try to get up. She heard the laugh that lead to the crazy life she now had and she wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
“I did. I’ll go get everything set on the table while you try and get up,” Vinyl started to make her way to the kitchen, but stop. “Oh, how was the nap?” Octavia yawned and nodded her head. She rolled to her side as she tried to roll to her hooves.
“It was nice, just wish it lasted a bit longer.” After a few more tries she managed to land on her hooves and follows Vinyl into the kitchen. She let out a happy sigh as the aroma of the food drifted to her nose. Octavia stopped and closed her eyes as she felt the foal move. She still wasn’t used to having something move around inside her.
Octavia couldn’t believe her eyes, Vinyl had almost finished setting up the table. The white mare looked up and smiled at the gray mare. Even if all the food was from a fast food place, it was still nice to see it all set out and Octavia was happy.
Both mares enjoyed the meal together and sighed after they finished. They both knew that now that the meal was done, there was only one thing left to do, setup for the foal’s room. This had been a big topic of discussion, as they both couldn’t make up their minds on whether should they keep things neutral, plan on a colt, or plan on a filly.
“Vinyl, please? Just pick one.” Octavia started to rub her hoof between her eyes as she held them closed. Vinyl couldn’t keep her mind on one plan before she jumped to a different one.
“Neutral… No, wait filly. But having a colt would be just awesome.” Vinyl moved from one side of the room to the other like a filly who just ate too much candy and Octavia could feel her hoof dig deeper into her forehead.
“Vinyl, if you don’t pick something, I will, and you will have no say y afterwards.” This caused Vinyl to stop in her tracks and she started to give Octavia the eyes. Normally the site of that would smash Octavia’s resolve to pieces instantly,, but today she was not in the mood for it. Vinyl gave a soft sigh and looked down in defeat.
“I guess then, it would be smart to go with a neutral theme for the room. And when the foal gets older, we can change to things they like.” Vinyl started to bounce around the room yet again as she started to become excited about all the cool things their foal might be into. Octavia smiled as she was just glad to have Vinyl finally pick a theme for the room.
So for the rest of the day, the two of them started to set up the room. Which is to say that Octavia relaxed on a couch and told Vinyl what to do. The white mare would start to complain about something, but stopped once she was reminded about why she had to do it. After a few hours, the room was nice pale yellow color with everything a newborn foal could ever need.
“Wow, the room looks amazing, Vinyl. I think the foal is going to love it.” She looked over to see the unicorn passed out and snoring next to her. She started to feel kind of bad, she did push Vinyl kind of hard. But that passed as she looked down and see the goofy grin on her face. ‘Vinyl, you are cute.’ Octavia let out a yawn and joined Vinyl in the nap.
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The next few weeks flew by for the two. Vinyl kept her word and managed to take up some cooking classes when she had the time. And so one day, when Octavia woke up to the smell of warm meal and not a burning apartment, she started to roll out of bed when the door to the bedroom open up and Vinyl with a tray of food. She gave a frown when she found Octavia half way off the bed.
“Get back in bed. I didn’t just spend a whole lot of time cooking for you, just for you to enjoy it at a table. Now get back in that bed and enjoy this meal.” Vinyl’s horn lit up and Octavia found herself being placed gently back in her spot on the bed. Soon the tray of food found its spot next to her.
“Fine, but you have to tell me how long it really took you to cook all of this.” Octavia adjusted herself so she could enjoy the mean and still stare Vinyl down. Vinyl looked around to find something to change the subject, but Octavia didn’t relent in staring her down .
“Three hours,” Vinyl mumbled under her breath. This only caused Octavia’s gaze to narrow . “Okay, it took me three hours to cook everything.” Vinyl turned around to reclaim the now dirty dishes, before taking them to be cleaned. Octavia smiled and started to eat the meal, but stopped when she heard the sound of dishes crashing and breaking. She sighed, but pushed it out of her mind as she kept eating.
Octavia grunted as she stretched, but soon found herself feeling a small pain in her lower region. She tried to ignore it, but the pain refused to yield, progressively getting a little stronger and stronger. Then came a wet feeling between her back legs.
“Vinyl! I think it’s time!” There was a mix of pain and fear. Vinyl rushed into the room and was followed by the sound of more dishes breaking. Her eyes grew wide as everything started to click in her head. Vinyl rushed around the room pulling all the pre-packed bags and rushed out the door. Octavia sighed and waited for Vinyl to realize that she was missing something.
It was not long before the DJ rushed back in and picked up Octavia with her magic. This was not how she planned on being taken to the hospital, but she was just glad that Vinyl did come back for her.
It was a sight to see, a white mare rushing down the street with a pregnant gray mare and two bags, telekinetically suspended in the air. Ponies moved out of the way as Vinyl was a one mare train through town. It wasn’t long before both of them made it to the hospital.
The nurse at the front desk just blinked a few times at the white mare that was panting and the hovering gray mare that looked like she was in slight pain, but more annoyed.
“Umm miss, how can I help you?” The nurse waited for Vinyl to catch her breath, but Vinyl did not wait.
“Foal… Coming… Now…” Vinyl looked around the room and back to the nurse. Pressed a button and paged a doctor and an orderly to come meet the two mares waiting at the front desk. The orderly was a unicorn and was the first to make it. He had to use his magic to get Octavia into a wheelchair, but Vinyl didn’t make it easy for him. Soon the doctor walked out to greet Vinyl and help her relax.
“Hello, I take it you must be Vinyl. I’m Dr. Stable. Please follow me and we shall check on Octavia and see how she is doing.” He gave Vinyl a warm smile and turn to lead her deeper into the hospital.
Vinyl never did like hospitals that much. She found they had a weird smell of something that has been cleaned, by bathing it in disinfectant, with a splash of bleach for good measure. Dr. Stable took her down a very large hallway with many doors to room with families crowded around mares and their new foals. Now Vinyl and Dr. Stable stood in front of a set of doors with a sign that read, ‘Delivery Room’.
Soon she found herself in the room next to the bed where Octavia laid with a happy smile plastered on her face. A nurse informed her that she was given some medicine to help deal with some pain. Vinyl took one of Octavia’s hooves and the world around her started to be tuned out.
It was not long before Octavia’s grip started to tighten and Vinyl started to believe that she would need a doctor soon to fix her hoof. Dr. Stable and a few nurses wasted no time in getting gowns and mask on them and Vinyl. Everything felt like it was moving so fast for her.
Octavia started to breathing like they had been practicing and making sounds like she was trying to push something. After what seem like hours, the Dr. Stable asked Vinyl if she would like to watch the foal being born. She nodded and freed her hoof from Octavia’s death grip. She didn’t remember much once she got next to the doctor, just that the world around her went black.
When Vinyl woke up, she found herself on one of the couches in one of the rooms they had passed earlier. She looked over to find a bed with Octavia in it holding what she could only guess was their newborn foal. Octavia was looked down at the foal with a warm motherly smile on her face.
“Who is that next to you?” Vinyl rolled off the couch and trotted over and got a better look at the foal and smiled to see that it took after Octavia in having a gray coat, but she chuckled as the two tone blue mane was just so out of place.
“Her name is Bass Note, our daughter.” Octavia moved the filly to her other side so Vinyl could get a better look at her. Vinyl gave the little filly a gentle nuzzle and found herself being poked by a little horn hidden way in the messy mane. She couldn’t believe it, their first foal was a unicorn just like her.
Life for the two would never be the same again, but they wouldn’t have want anything else.