//------------------------------// // Chapter Two // Story: Two Stallions // by Night Princess //------------------------------// Lightning returned to his house cursing and mumbling to himself. "That self-centered, no-good, son of a-" He opened the door to his home and yelled, "Stitch, I'm home."  He stomped through the house, still seething with anger from the argument he had with his friend. No, not friend. His enemy.  "That jerk." "Stitch, what's for dinner?" he called. No answer. Lightning realized that he  hadn't heard a sound from her since he got home.  She wasn't in their bedroom. She wasn't in the kitchen. Nor was she in the backyard or living room.  Okay, do she wasn't at home. Slightly odd, but there were millions of other places a pregnant mare could be without telling her husband, who she knew got nervous when he was alone.  He picked up his phone and dialed Rainbow Mosaic's number. She would know where her best friend would be. Sometimes Lightning suspected that she knew more about his wife than he did.  He got her voicemail, and nopony picked up.  Something was wrong. Mosaic always had her phone with her.  Lightning began to break into a panic attack. His heart thumped, sweat dripped down his brow, and he had the strangest sense of impending doom.  He picked up the phone and dialed 9-1-1.  "Hello? Yes, my wife has gone missing... About twenty minutes? No, no, I'm sure she would have told me. Stitch in Time. She's a coral-colored pegasus with a pink mane, a needle and thread cutie mark... Oh, you know where she is?" Waves of joy rushed over him. "Thank Celestia! Where is she?" His eyes grew to be the size of frisbees. "What do you mean, room 41 in the emergency room?" ### Olympic Dash screamed in anger. Lightning Bright was just about the most idiotic stallion ever to fly in Cloudsdale. "If his brains were dynamite, he wouldn't have enough to blow his nose." Oh, if only he had remembered to say that during their fight.  His phone rang.  He picked it up and yelled into it, "Yeah, what do you want?" He knew who it was. Who else would dare call him now? "Olympic, have you seen Mosaic lately?" Olympic swore. "Why the hay are you calling me?" "Listen to me, Jerk. I think our wives are in serious trouble. At least, Stitch is." "I would be too if I was married to such a retarded, idiotic-" "Would you shut up? Stitch is in the emergency room and I don't know why. Now where is Mosaic?" Olympic paused. "I don't know, I haven't seen her for hours. I think she went to visit Stitch." "I'm going to call the emergency room again to see if Mosaic is there." Lightning hung up.   The idiot was probably planning some stupid joke he hoped Olympic would be stupid enough to fall for. Well, it wasn't going to work! He threw the phone on the desk and stomped off.  Where was Mosaic? It wasn't like her to run off without telling him. And where would she go? She worked as an artist at home, and if she was going to go somewhere with her friends she would have told her husband, or at least leave a note.  The phone rang again. Olympic, despite himself, picked it up.  "Yeah?" "Mosaic's at the hospital with Stitch." "Why?" Olympic's jaw dropped.  "I don't know, they didn't say. But I have an idea..." "What? Why is she there?" "I think at least one of them is in labor." Olympic hung up immediately, spread his wings, and dashed as fast as his wings could carry him to the hospital.  Waiting outside was Lightning Bright, looking as nervous as a snowman in July.  The two silently walked inside and asked the receptionist if they could see their wives. She lead them to two doors right next to each other.  "Do you know what happened?" Olympic asked the receptionist.  "They seem to have a rare disease that the doctors have hardly heard about. Apparently they have no way to cure it and it could be fatal. That's all." "I'm dreaming," Olympic muttered. This was all a stupid prank Lightning and their wives planned.  Olympic opened the door on the right and found Mosaic lying in a bed, looking pale and weak.  "Rainbow!" He ran to her and took her hoof. "What happened?"  She managed a weak laugh. "Funny story. I went to visit Stitch, and we started working in her garden for a little bit. And I found these mushrooms-" "You ate some fungus that you couldn't even identify?!" "No, silly, I'm not that dumb. It just touched my skin, and I broke out in a weird rash." She raised her right wing, which was covered in tiny red welts.  "Then Stitch touched my rash, and she broke out, too. I called 911 after a while." "So this is just a little allergic reaction?" Olympic asked hopefully.  "Well...no. Apparently it's more than that. Because I'm pregnant, the chemicals on the plant I touched could affect my foal. And the doctor says..." "What? What did he say?" "Remember honey, I'm young and strong, and I'm sure I can live through-" "Live?!  WHAT!?" "....the doctor said this is life threatening." Olympic did the only thing he could think of: he punched a wall.  "Please stay calm, I can do this." Mosaic's voice weakened. "Oh, no." "What now?" Olympic almost screamed.  "The foal. It's coming. I'm in labor." Olympic slapped the button in the wall that was used to call the doctor. "Don't worry, honey, I'll be right here!" "No, Dash. Let the doctor take care of me. I don't want you getting worried." She kissed him.  He walked out the room,  his wings sagging. Lightning was sitting in a chair against the wall, looking as if he had been...crying.  "How's Stitch?" Olympic asked.  "She's in labor, and the doctor said-" Lightning looked like he would burst into tears.  "I know. Mosaic is, too." he sat next to his friend.  They said nothing for over an hour, thinking over the situation and wishing with all their hearts that there was something, anything, they could do.