Congratulations, it's a...
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Harvest Moon yawned as she awoke to the smell of roasted tulips in vanilla. "Mmm..." The white pegasus stretched her back, flexing her wings before gasping and doubling over in bed.
As if a reflex, a thundering sound of hooves on floorboards coming up the steps. The door slammed open and a dark blue pegasus with a look of shock on his face burst through. "Are you alright honey?!"
"Stormy, relax. I'm pregnant, not crippled!" Smiling, she beckoned him to her side and kissed his muzzle. "But I do appreciate your concern."
The former knight ran his hoof over the massive bulge in his wife's tummy. "I know... I just don't want to risk you hurting yourself. Or the foal."
"You need to relax, dear. We're fine, and we will stay fine. Now help me out of bed, I've got stuff to do today," she said. Using his strong hooves, Stormy lifted her up beneath her pits and steadied her until she found balance on her own four hooves. The growing foal inside her had distended her stomach to the point that it almost dragged on the floor. "Can you believe it? Any day now, we're going to be proud parents!"
"I can only hope that they take after you. Your beauty, your love, your passion-"
The white mare silenced him and rested her head against his as they walked. "I'm the passionate one? Do you even remember making this kid?" Harvest laughed at the blush on Stormy's face as they walked down the stairs into their kitchen. "Personally, I hope they take after you. You're so strong, and you have a heart of gold."
"50 bits says they get the best of both worlds."
The sudden third party caused both pegasi to whip their heads towards the open window, a white unicorn poking his head in. "Scatter!" they accused in unison, faces returning to smiles.
"The one and only!" His horn lit up blue before he disappeared, reappearing inside the the room and taking a seat at the table. "My my, you're about ready to pop! How has the pain been?"
"Heh... manageable. It gets really uncomfortable every once in a while, but nothing I can't handle."
"Any false contractions?" he asked.
"Just a few."
Scatter Brain rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How many is 'a few?'"
"Uhh... maybe, one a day? Sometimes twice." she said, rubbing her stomach.
As she spoke, the unicorn's eyes widened and he bit his lip. "Every day?"
"Why?" Stormy's voice had resumed its earlier panic and he wrapped his hooves around Harvest protectively. "Is that bad? How bad is that?"
"Relax," the white ponies said.
"If she is having false contractions daily, then we should get her to the hospital. Stormy, take her there and see to it that she is taken straight into the OB-GYN ward.”
The stallion made to lift his wife, but she resisted. “What about my plants? I have herbs that need to be picked by a certain time to maximize their potency! I have customers that are expecting potions!”
“Honey, you need to go to the hospital. I’ll find someone to take care of your plants and potions, okay?” This time when he went to pick her up, she relented, allowing herself to be taken into the stallion’ strong forelegs. His wings spread and he flew out the door, headed towards Ponyville General.
There was a moment’s pause where the Scatter Brain simply stood in his friends’ empty kitchen, unsure of what to do. “Umm… I’ll just lock up then. Yeah…” He cleared away the burning flowers from the stove, discarding them into the trash and washing the pan they were in. He promptly left their abode, shutting and locking the door behind him as he went home to talk to his wife. “Pinkie Pie? Could you do Harvest a favor? Harvest's plants need... harvested."
At the hospital, Harvest and Stormy calmly checked into the ward. They calmly settled into the room and the pregnant mare calmly ordered a breakfast tray. The two calmly shared a conversation as they awaited the doctor’s arrival. They even calmly listened to some music - the calm kind - and discussed possible names for the foal.
There was nothing calm after Harvest went into false labor and locked her husband’s forehoof in a bonecrushing grip. The not-calmness suddenly became utter madness as Harvest felt a sudden dampness between her legs, and the false labor turned out to be not-so-false.
As the unicorns working at the hospital had foreseen the bloodcurdling screams of mothers in labor, the doors had been soundproofed via magical means. Scatter Brain strolled up the quiet hallway and stopped at the reception desk, nodding to the nurse behind the counter. “What room are they in?”
“Room 416. I think she’s in labor already.”
“Oh for goodness… thank you!” Wasting no more time, he grabbed his lab coat in his magic and tossed it around his shoulders, dashing down the hallway and bursting into the room. “Harvest?!”
“SCATTER GET YOUR FLANK IN HERE AND GET THIS FOAL OUT OF ME!” she screeched. The look on Stormy’s face indicated that his hoof in Harvest’s grip had once been in pain, but was now completely numb.
“I swear, if you don’t take the utmost care of her,” he growled at the doctor. “I trust you, but I know that this isn’t your specialty. I just… make her better, please. Get our foal out safely.” Turning to his wife, whose face was scrunched in extreme pain, he began whispering various words of comfort.
“I swear to you on our family, Stormy, your wife and child will be perfectly fine!” He spoke to the nurse who was installing an IV in Harvest’s foreleg. “Soon as you’re done there, get a crib ready.”
“It’s gonna be okay, dear, I promise. It’ll all be better in a short while.”
Tears were beginning to roll down her face, and she buried herself in his embrace. “I’m so scared…,” she whimpered. “It hurts… it hurts a lot!”
“Not unusual at all, but the medicine will help you focus and pop your foal out, and then everything will be alright.” He positioned himself between her legs and looked at his two best friends. “Completely professional, okay guys?”
“Scatter, now is not the time. Get our foal out and relieve her pain!”
“Right, right. Okay, Harvest?” Her odd grunt was perceived as a ‘What?’ so he continued. “I’m gonna need you to push for me. Your cervix is fully dilated, and this foal is ready - you just have to help them out!”
“I-I’ll try!” she gasped, shutting her eyes tight and gritting her teeth, focusing all of her energy on her hips.
“You can do it, sweetheart.” The blue pegasus planted a soft kiss against her lips, and her muscles seemed to respond to the action.
“Harvest, the foal is crowning! Push a bit more, you can do this!” He leaned over and whispered to the attending nurse. “This is probably the fastest delivery we’ve ever performed. Twenty bits says it’s a colt.”
“Ahh! I c-can’t! It hurts so much!” Harvest’s eyes were pouring, and if Stormy didn’t need to be strong on her behalf, he most likely would also be dropping the tears obviously welling in his eyes.
“Yes you can. When I married you, I knew that you would be the competent mother of my foals. I know you can do this. I know it!”
Huffing for a few moments, Harvest threw her all into forcing this foal out, her scream nearly deafening everypony in the room. In a few short moments, her voice died out and was replaced by a shrill cry. Dr. Brain was ready and took the crying foal in his hold immediately. “Nurse, time of birth, 1027 hours. A pegasus, surprise surprise. Pale blue coat, blue and purple mane, nice combination. Looks like a nine on the APGAR to me. Let’s get them cleaned up. We can weigh and measure them later.” He used a small vacuum ball to suck any fluid out of the foal’s mouth and the nurse handed him a towel to clean them up. “Dad, would you like to cut the umbilical cord?”
“Y-yeah… I would be honored to.” Stormy released his wife and approached his new foal. With shaky hooves, he took the clippers and snipped the lifeline between mother and child. Scatter immediately clamped the stump shut and helped clean up the panting mare lying in the hospital bed.
Now that the crying had quieted down, the nurse wrapped the foal in a blanket and handed it to Dr. Brain, who then passed it into a new mother’s hooves. “Congratulations, Miss Moon… it’s a healthy filly.”
Looking down at her most precious creation, Harvest only whispered, “I’ll call her Stella. Stellar Strider.”
The two white ponies looked up to see the proud father, tears streaming down his face and a shaking frame holding him up. “That’s… that’s my daughter.” As the words came out of his mouth, he broke down, holding his wife and kissing his newborn on her forehead.
“I’ll let you three have your time alone.” Smiling, Scatter Brain strolled out of the room with the nurse by his side, levitating twenty bits into her pocket.
Harvest Moon held herself together as best she could, her lip trembling and a few tears rolling down her cheeks. Stormy Weather kissed her sweetly, his tears still wet on his face. Stella was none the wiser, snoozing softly between her parents, safe in their loving embrace. “I will love you two with all of my heart, for all of my life. This, I swear.”
Smiling, his wife only nuzzled him. “I know. That is why you’re the perfect stallion to raise our foals, and the one I chose to spend my life with.” Kissing his snout, she added, “I love you too.”
~FIN~