//------------------------------// // Age 0: Happy Birthday // Story: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Part 1: What's the Use of Crying? // by brokenimage321 //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle sat in the hospital waiting room, flipping idly through an eight-month-old issue of Popular Magic, her daughter Aurora asleep on her lap. On one side of her sat her husband, Flash Sentry, tapping his hoof nervously in that way he always did, and, on her other side sat Shining Armor, leaned back in his chair, a cap pulled low over his eyes. After a moment, Flash leaned over to her. “Shouldn’t she be done by now?” he whispered. “I mean, when it was you and Rory, we didn’t have to wait nearly this long…” “Every mare’s different, Flash,” Twilight murmured. “And every foal,” Shiny added. Both of them looked up at him as he sat up a little and lifted the hat. “I mean, when Cadance had Flurry Heart,” he continued, “she came so quick, we barely made it to the hospital--but, when Skyla came…” he chuckled. “Well, seems she wasn’t quite ready to leave yet.” Twilight nodded at Flash. “See?” she said. She turned back to Shiny. “Thanks for coming, by the way,” she said. He shrugged. “Oh, you know—Cadance always loves being here for the birth... Watching mother and foal see each other for the first time is probably her favorite thing in the world. Purest form of love there is," he said with a faint sigh. "This isn’t the first time I’ve been in the waiting room for this long. And, it being Pinkie Pie, she had to be here.” His smile faltered a little. “Plus, y’know, without the daddy here to help…” Twilight nodded. “I know,” she said, a note of sadness in her voice. They sat in silence for a moment. Twilight was just about to turn back to her magazine, when the door swung open. The three of them looked up to see the doctor smiling back. “All done,” he said. Twilight smiled, took Aurora in one arm, and stood. “How is she?” “Doing just fine,” he said with a sigh, as the two stallions stood to join her. “Healthy and happy—though tired, of course.” Twilight nodded, then swallowed. “And, uh, the baby—what is it?” The doctor smiled a little wider. “One of each,” he said brightly. Shiny raised his eyebrows, Twilight smiled, and Flash’s eyes went wide. “O-one of each?” Flash repeated.  “So, twins? A boy and girl?” The doctor hesitated. “No,” he said carefully, “One of each—unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony.” All three of them froze. “...are you serious?” Twilight asked. The Doctor nodded. “Yep,” he said. “Doesn’t happen often—especially not all three like that—but it does happen.” Twilight let out a long, slow breath, and Flash gulped audibly. “...can we go on back?” Shiny asked. “Sure,” the Doctor said, stepping aside. Shiny nodded his thanks and took the lead. Twilight took a step or two to follow, but had to stop to smack Flash with her wing. He snapped to attention, then looked at her, eyes wide and staring. It wasn’t hard to find Pinkie’s room—big shiny balloons spilled out the door into the hallway, forcing the nurses and doctors to walk around them. Shiny walked up, but hesitated on the threshold. He took a step back, then glanced back at Twilight. “Go on in,” he whispered to her with a nod. Twilight handed Aurora to Flash, then ducked under the balloons and stepped inside. All was quiet, save for the soft beep of the heart monitor. Bright sunlight streamed through the window. Cadance sat in an armchair in the corner. She glanced up, sleepily, then nodded to the bed. Twilight turned, and her breath caught in her throat. After a moment of hesitation, she gingerly stepped forward. There, in the sunlight on the bed, lay Pinkie Pie, in a blue hospital gown, her mane matted with sweat. She lay on her side, facing away from Twilight, curled partially around something. Twilight took another step forward, and Pinkie looked over her shoulder at her. She looked exhausted, but she smiled. “Hey, you,” she said. Twilight smiled back. “Congratulations,” she said. “Triplets?” Pinkie nodded happily. “Yep,” she said, then side-nodded at her. “Come on, meet the family.” Twilight tiptoed closer, and gasped. In Pinkie’s arms lay three tiny foals—so much tinier, even, than Rory had been. First was a chocolate-brown pegasus, with the lightest fuzz of hot-pink mane; as Twilight watched, she stirred in her sleep, flexing the awkward, naked arms on her back that were waiting for her feathers to grow in. Next to her slept the earth pony, his coat the color of chocolate milk, save for his markings—four white socks that went halfway to his knees. His dark mane was already starting to curl, and he slept with a contented smile. And the unicorn—she was pink, just like her mother, with a soft brown mane. She snuggled a little deeper into Pinkie’s side and gave a little sigh that made Twilight’s heart absolutely melt. Twilight heard steps behind her on the linoleum. She turned and saw a nurse, bearing a clipboard, and, following close behind, both Flash and Shiny. Twilight stepped back to let the nurse pass. “Miss Pie?” she asked. “Mmm?” Pinkie murmured, looking up. “Sorry, just—need to get some paperwork done,” the nurse replied. She consulted Pinkie’s chart. “Mother: Pinkamena D. Pie…” she read to herself, jotting something down on her forms. “Pink-A-M-E-N-A,” Cadance spelled for her. The nurse nodded her thanks. “And, um… Father?” Pinkie sat up and bit her lip. Twilight pricked up her ears. Cadance looked up. Shiny leaned a little closer. And Flash simply looked back and forth between Pinkie and the nurse. Everyone waited breathlessly in the sudden, tense silence, for what Pinkie would say next. Pinkie stared back at them in silence, then set her jaw. “No,” she said. Everyone stared. The nurse raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?” Pinkie nodded. “The father’s… not involved,” she said firmly. The nurse watched her for a moment, then made a little mark on her clipboard. “Fair enough,” she said. The audience let out the breath it had been holding. If Pinkie heard, she ignored it, and the nurse was too busy checking boxes to notice. After a moment, the nurse cleared her throat. “Now—the little ones—what are their names? Oldest first.” Pinkie smiled wide. She leaned down and kissed the pegasus on the forehead. “She’s Waltz Martha...” then the earth pony, “...he’s Tango Gene...” and then the unicorn... “And she’s Foxtrot Anna Pie.” At the names, Twilight smiled. She turned back to glance at Flash—and saw him with a strange expression on his face. She raised an eyebrow. “Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot?” he whispered. He looked around, then leaned closer. “W…T… F…?” He mouthed carefully. Twilight’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. Shiny hissed at both of them to be quiet, and Cadance just rolled her eyes. The nurse jotted down a few more things, then nodded carefully. “All done, I think,” she said. She turned to the others. “Now,” she said, “Miss Pie could use some rest. So, if you please, Your Highnesses, gentlecolts…?” Cadance sighed, then stood. She leaned over and kissed Pinkie on the cheek. “Congratulations, again,” she said with a smile. Pinkie looked up and beamed.   One by one, they filed out. The nurse stayed behind a little, to ask if she needed anything else—water, blankets, whatever—then said she’d be back soon with bassinets for the little ones. She left, and closed the door behind her. When the door clicked shut, Pinkie looked down at her little foals and sighed happily. It had been long and hard, but, finally, they were here—her three little treasures. To be sure, she wasn’t expecting three, but hey—the more the merrier, right? Pinkie bent down and kissed them each one more time, letting out a little squeal of excitement. She’d been waiting for this day for a long time—a long time. True, it hadn’t come just as she expected, but it was here—and so were they. She leaned back and sighed again. All four of them had the rest of their lives in front of them. And, if she had anything to do with it, those lives were all gonna be super-duper aweso-mazing.