Two Heirs, One Throne

by Volt Aire

Big Bed, Tiny Colt

Vini

Vini was sure to keep an eye on his boy. It took sixty seconds to leave that hospital, but only thirty for him to learn how slippery his child was. He had easily escaped his blanket and Vini's grasp in the waiting room. He had then crawled to a foal's place mat and drew with some crayons... on the table.

"Just one foal is all we asked for. Not two; only one." Vini wrestled with the baby hippogriff in his foreleg, trying to get outside to the royal chariot. It resembled a white, elongated claw and had golden details along the sides. Pulling it were two earth pony guards with armor to match. Vini saw how soaked the blue plumes on their helmets were and wondered if they stood there in the rain the whole time.

Luckily for them, the storm was settling with the sun. The clouds slowly turned from pink to grey while the rain lessened and lost its brown coloring.

"Silver Scar," Vini commanded, "take us home."

"What of Empress Luminescent? Won't she need a ride?" asked Silver Scar, on the right.

"She can walk." Vini gave no explanation as to why. As his new foal tried to crawl off the chariot, Vini grabbed and set him back down in front of him. "Stay, child."

The baby sat with a grumpy face and stared at him, as if daring him to look away for just one second. Great Echo, he acts a lot like we did. That is a trait we need to break.

Silver Scar and his recruit began to pull them back to the castle.

---

Luminescent

Luminescent paid her bill of one hundred and five bits to the nurse in the waiting room. In the Griffin Kingdom, the bill would be much higher and the babies would be kept under close watch for a while, to ensure they are healthy. The Hippogriff Empire, however, focused mostly on its bards and alchemists, leaving much to be desired in the ways of true medical science.

That was why she had to ride a quarter of the way across town to a hospital with a maximum capacity of twenty-five ponies. Building a hospital in the castle just wasn't worth the bits when you entire medical knowledge could be -and was- written down in a two-hundred page, fully illustrated journal.

"My Lady," the doctor called, looking out the window, "it appears your ride has left."

Luminescent stepped next to him and saw that predictable sight. Their chariot was a white speck down the road.

If we had a doghouse, Luminescent thought, feeling like a bear that had been poked a few too many times.

"Father left?" Solara asked, sitting next to the table. Volta was loosely wrapped in his blanket, watching her draw with the crayons.

"Yes dear," she groaned, "I'll have to walk you home now." She was careful to mask her anger. The only thing that kept a frown off her face was the thought of Vini trying to find a couch they didn't have.

Levitating the foals onto her back, Luminescent said, "Hold onto you brother, he might fall." As she opened the door, she thanked the doctor for his help.

"No problem, it's my job," he said. "Come back anytime; I'll be glad to take your money."

Luminescent laughed, gave him a final wave, and headed home.

---

Vini

The castle was the shining gem in the city of Besra. Built on the banks of the Talon River, its white marble columns and tall arches were a breathtaking view to any foreign diplomat. It stood proud in the center of the city, the home of the royals for the last ten thousand years or so.

None of this grabbed Vini's attention. He felt so many emotions blotted his mind that it was hard to keep the newborn from running off. He was overjoyed to be a father again, scared of the second child, angry at Luminescent for wanting to keep it, and guilty for leaving her at the hospital. He could sense a thought forming, but couldn't quite hear it. Then it came.

Shouldn't have done that. We should not have done that. Vini's reason finally broke through the clouds of emotion. As Silver Scar and the recruit slowed to a stop at the castle doors, Vini was having seriously scary thoughts of what his wife might do for revenge. He would rather go to war with every nearby nation, watch his empire burn, and be a griffon war prisoner than see his wife tonight.

"Scar," Vini said, "we need thee to send an escort to Luminescent."

"Finally realize your mistake, did you? About time," he laughed. Scar was an old friend, he could say practically anything he wanted to the emperor without fear of being fired, imprisoned, or executed.

"Yes," he admitted. "And would thou kindly buy a couch? We may need one this night."

"You'll need it more than one night, Vini." His blunt mockery was frightening the recruit to death. "I'll see what we can find."

Scar told his recruit to buy a couch, while he went to find Luminescent. In the meantime, Vini tried to find a safe place to sleep.

---

Luminescent

When night had truly taken its place, Luminescent had walked halfway home and her legs were tired. Volta and Solara were heavy, sleeping weights on her back. Seeing the grey pony in armor jogging up to her was a pleasant sight.

"Scar" she called, "did you have a nice walk?"

Scar stopped in front of her and replied, "Oh, it was wonderful. I got to pull a chariot with the quietest colt in town, all the way to the castle. Then I was given permission to find you." His voice was so cheery that Luminescent didn't know if he was using sarcasm or not. "How was yours?"

Bottling her rage for later she said, "Pleasant. It's a nice night to be walking."

"Your children would beg to differ." He gave a quick glance to the sleeping foals. "Need any help carrying them?"

"Yes, please." As she levitated them onto his back, a confused look formed on his face. "What's wrong?"

"You had one foal going into the hospital, right?" She confirmed. "And you have two with you now." Another nod. "And Vini had one as well. Does that mean...?"

"Twins." She waited for him to freak out like Vini did. He didn't, he only sighed.

"This should be fun."

---

Solara

Solara was having a great dream. She was running around in the earlier storm, splashing in the puddles, and catching the rain in her mouth. It tasted delicious. But, like all good dreams, they end to early because somepony always interrupts your nap.

Somepony was trying to whisper, but failing miserably. "In the guest room? It's a little big for him. Even Discord got the small chambers with a crib." It sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite tell.

"He called the other one Discord?" She knew that voice. The speaker didn't even try to stay quiet. "That's two foals he named without me! Can't he wait five minutes?"

Solara opened her eyes and found Scar and Luminescent chatting together. Solara was on the floor of the guest room, Volta at her side, wide awake. The guest room was plain and simple: one large dresser, a big window, Two lamps next to the door, and a king sized bed. Scar was leaning on the dresser and her mother was sitting on the bed.

Volta made the cutest baby noises in his arsenal. Solara responded with a squee that was nearly as adorable. Nearly.

"Sunshine's awake," Scar announced.

"Hey sweetie, you tired?" Luminescent asked in a soft tone.

"Not anymore."

Luminescent smiled. "Then why don't you show your brother around his room." When Solara agreed, she walked with Scar to the door and said, "Good night, Sweetums. If you need us, we'll be looking for Vini."

"Wish him luck," Scar said. With that, the two left.

"So Volta," Solara cheered, "this is a dresser. You put clothes in it." She spoke that way about everything in the room- the door, the window, the curtains, the bed, and a tiny candle next to the bed.

Now that she thought about it, Scar was right, this room was too big for him. It was even bigger than her's. "Why do you get the big bed?"

Volta wasn't listening, he was busy staring at the clouds. His claw was reaching under the window like he was trying to grab one.

"Do you want a cloud, Volta?" He whined in a cute way. Volta was getting very good at that. "Well, I don't think they would miss just one..." Solara tried to grab one with her magic, and after two failed attempts one glowed blue and floated down to the window. As it got closer it got bigger, forcing Solara to crush it with her magic. The cloud gave little resistance and went from the size of the room to about half the size of the bed. She mentally told it to stay crushed as she slipped it through the window and placed it in the corner near the door.

Volta's face was lit up with joy as he jumped onto his cloud. Well, he tried. Volta fell into the side and floated to the top like a bobber. Solara pushed him down a few times to find that he would float back to the top no matter what. Good thing too, because he fell right to sleep on the small white sea.

You're awake, you're tired, you're awake, you're tired. Make up your mind! she felt like saying. Instead she whispered, "Sleep tight, Volta. Don't let the cloud bugs bite."

She used the built in snuffers on the lamps to darken the room, and only the tiny candle was left to keep the baby company.

Comments

[Volt Aire]

Really wish my proofreader wasn't addicted to Star Craft. Takes longer to post when I'm unsure of my work.