It's Heart and Hooves Day. I'm on my way to the hospital. As always, I've been anticipating about Flurry Heart's birth, and these days have been exciting, with our friends taking care of our pregnancy.
"Looking for your wife?" the receptionist asked me. "Well she's doing fine, in her ward!"
"Right, I'll go and see her," I replied, and I found my way to her ward, and as I opened, there she was, striding to the door.
"Hey there, gorgeous," I greeted her.
"Morning, Shimmy," she replied, and we both kissed.
"Doing good last night?"
"Yeah. After that baby shower two nights ago." She felt her belly. Then, she appeared to be wincing in pain.
"Flurry, feeling okay?"
"Yeah, it's just… contractions again, I mean, practicing contractions," she groaned.
"There, there, let's get to the bed."
I slowly guided her to her bed, and after feeling her, her contractions stopped.
"Thank goodness," she sighed. "I suppose they're coming very soon…"
"Don't worry. Let's have a walk around to ease yourself, shall we?"
"Okay."
We walked around the hospital corridors, slowly due to Flurry's huge size, yet she was still able.
"It's Hearts and Hooves Day, huh?" she asked me. "Do you have any surprises yet?"
"As a matter of fact, I'm still choosing one before the day's over," I replied. "But don't worry, I promise I'll find it for you."
"Aw, thanks," she nuzzled me. Then, she said, "They're kicking again. Oh, I mean, they're coming out anytime soon! I am well prepared."
"You are," I smiled. "We've worked hard together. I can't wait for that too."
Later, with Flurry staying at the hospital, I spent the entire day waiting at Sugarcube Corner ordering and waiting a special Hearts and Hooves Day chocolate and cupcakes for Flurry.
"So your wife's babies are coming soon?" the female owner asked me.
"Yeah, we all know this is gonna really big, and we're all well-prepared for it," I answered.
"With lots of babies, you're gonna have lots of excitements, huh?"
"Yeah, our palace staff have everything covered, so don't worry."
"Heya pal, just to inform you that you can collect your orders in tem minutes!" the female owner's brother appeared to inform me.
"Right, I'll be getting them!"
It was evening by the time I picked my orders and headed back for the hospital. I'm sure Flurry would be giving birth now, and I felt dreadfully nervous.
But Flurry still appeared fine as I entered her ward, still with her massive belly.
"Oh, you're back," she said as she heard me opening her door. "Have you got anything?"
"Yep! Check them out!" I showed her the obligatory Hearts and Hooves chocolate as well as the special Hearts and Hooves cupcakes I ordered from Sugarcube Corner.
"Wow, they're amazing!" she beamed. "Pound and Pumpkin sure know what we're expecting, huh?"
"Yeah, your buddies," I replied. "Anyhow, Flurry, today is a day meant for us and many other lovers. I love you."
"I love you too, Shimmy. All these times, we're strong together…" Together, we engaged in a long kiss. Suddenly, she let out a yelp, breaking our kiss.
"Flurry? Is it time!?" I asked, shocked.
"What a strong contraction! It could just be- ooh!" As she cried, there was a splash coming from her bottom. "Ah, my waters! I think it's really time now."
"You're… in labor! Goodness!" I panicked. As Flurry tried to restrain herself from her labor contractions, I glanced out the ward door, frantically calling, "Beryl! BERYL! FLURRY IS POPPING NOW!"
I laid on the bed, groaning in pain as I tried to push my first baby out with contractions raining in, something that seemed to go for a day.
"Ugh, ah!" I screamed. "Oh, this pain is killing me. How long is he gonna be stuck inside me!?"
"Keep calm, just breathe, Flurry," I could hear Shimmering advise me, but the pain hurt me so bad that I went out of my mind.
"I'm doing it!" I screamed, and I grabbed him on the neck. "This is all your fault! You knocked me and you made me suffer for almost a year! If anything happens to me, you're going to Tartarus with me!"
"Uh, ah, help! Don't do that! I love you, you can't kill me!" He cried.
"Who cares! It's stallions who make mares weak, and I'm gonna make you pay!"
"Flurry, calm down. Going insane at birth is nothing uncommon. You'll be alright!" I could hear Beryl calming me down.
"I know. It's just, agh, this pain is so unbearable…" I tried to relax myself when suddenly, I felt somepony holding onto my hoof. Wait a minute, Shimmering fainted when I strangled him, and Beryl was monitoring my birth. How could somepony be holding my hoof?
"Too much pain, huh?" Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded. "Always experienced from a first time mother."
"Uncle Flash!" I called, and suddenly I felt strength flowing into me. "What's this? You came to help me?"
"I know you can get through your first labor, but I still wanted to help you anyway!" he chuckled, as he helped Shimmering up. "Now, boy, you go and support your wife while I'll try to ease her."
"Alright, thanks, Sir," he went on to hold my hoof as Uncle Flash massaged my belly to ease my pain.
"Shimmering," I said to him. "Sorry I said these words to you. I really… couldn't think properly."
"It's okay. Right now," he continued. "Our main thing is to see our kids so let's keep pushing."
"Got it. Hnnngh…!" With newfound courage and strength, I was able to resume my pushing, aided with Uncle Flash's soothing to my womb.
"Come on, Princess! You can do it!" I could hear one of my ward mates calling. A while later, I could feel the first baby's body moving through my bottom.
"The front hooves are coming out!" cried Beryl. "The head is coming…"
"How… does it look like?" I asked.
"It's covered in the amniotic sac. Don't worry, I'll work that out."
As Beryl spoke, I could finally feel my firstborn slip out of me easily. "Here we go! It's a male alicorn foal!" A few seconds later, sounds of crying filled the ward, and everyone cheered.
"Oh, huh… Let me have a look at him," I asked her.
"Here you go," she laid the baby, still crying and covered with bits of the amniotic sac on a blue towel and placed it in front of me and Shimmering. He appeared grayish brown, just like what I saw him in my dream long time ago.
"Gleaming Spear, there you are," I whispered so that no one could hear me announcing his name. "I knew you're the first to be born. An alicorn. Perfect for the head of the family."
I glanced at him for about ten minutes. Then Beryl said, "Okay, Flurry. Don't forget you still have seven more in your body!"
"Yeah, you're right," I said as contractions came again. "Clean him, please. I'm gonna push again."
As they cut his cord and started to clean him, the pushing went on for another five minutes. "The second one's hooves and head are coming out!" Again, I felt the baby being pulled out of me, and a few seconds later, the second baby started crying.
"It's a unicorn filly!" Beryl announced, and she laid it on a pink towel for me to see. "Fifteen minutes born from the first one!"
"Mythical Shine, my eldest girl," I whispered. I glanced at her for a while. She appeared lavender. Then, again, contractions arrived again. But this pushing seemed a bit harder than the first two.
"Oh, what's going on?" I groaned. "This one's a bit harder to push."
"Don't worry, easy there," Beryl said as she handed Mythical Shine to be washed. "I'll check it."
As she inspected, she was in for a surprise. "Oh, his bottom is coming out first! Hang on, I know how to deal with it."
Carefully, she slowly pulled his back, and a while later, I could feel his rear hooved slipping out of me, before his body and head emerged.
"It's a male earth pony colt! Ten minutes from the second born!" Beryl announced as he started crying.
As usual she laid him on another blue towel for me to see. I was able to view Streak Ace for yet another while when I felt like pushing again.
"Oh, my! Another bottom is coming!" Gently as she did to my third born, she pulled him out. "It's a unicorn colt! Eight minutes from the third born!"
She laid him on yet another towel. I viewed Mythical Glow for a few minutes, before I felt the urge to push again.
"Number five, here we go!" I groaned, as if I still had strength left. As I felt the fifth baby going through, I asked. "Is it gonna be a head or a bottom this time?"
"Don't worry, it's a head!" Beryl announced. Then, the fifth came out easy as pie! "An earth pony filly, five minutes from the fourth!"
"Excellent, you're doing well," Shimmering told me, as a nurse laid Pristine Ace in front of us.
"Yeah, I could feel them coming out faster every time I push each one out," I replied. "Right now, minimal talking! There's three more inside me!"
Eventually I struggled to push the remaining three. They all came out at short intervals, and with the next ones being pushed out, I began to feel less and less pain. "Pegasus filly, four minutes!", "Pegasus colt, three minutes!" Beryl kept announcing them, and I viewed them for short moments.
"Okay, here's the last one," Uncle Flash said. My belly had visibly been deflated, and it's now baggy from the stretching of eleven months.
"Right, here we go!" I gave myself one final push, and I felt my last's head finally popped.
"Alicorn filly, three minutes," Beryl carried her out. "Well done, Flurry! You've birthed all of your babies!"
"Yes, finally," I breathed a sigh of relief. "All their kickings for eleven months, I can finally get to see them now, crying in our hooves."
"You deserved it well, Princess!" a doctor praised. "What's left is your 'still-pregnant' bump!"
"Yeah, all this stretching for very long!" Another nurse replied, and she poked it.
"Hey, that tickles!" I cried.
"We've got one more thing, removing your afterbirths," Beryl announced. Gently, using all the cords cut, she pulled all of them out of me.
"Now, would you like all your babies placed in the nursery or right here?" another doctor asked.
"Right here, sir. We wanted to accompany our long-kicking fellas," I said.
"Alright, have a look at them all you want!" He wheeled each tray consisting of my babies. Some were asleep, some were still crying. They all looked beautiful, looking exactly the same as I saw in my dream.
"Aww, they're cute!"
"You're a miracle, Princess!" my ward mates called.
"Thanks. They're worth the wait," I replied. I then turned to Beryl. "Can you get them fed?"
"Sure. I'll get them." She later returned with my stored milk, and eventually fed them.
"Daww, aren't they just adorable?" Shimmering asked. "I can't believe it, we're parents now."
"Yeah. This is my best Hearts and Hooves gift ever!"
"You've come a long way, Flurry," said Uncle Flash, as he watched our babies feeding. "I'll relay this news to your family in the Crystal Empire, hopefully they'll visit you soon."
"Sure, Uncle."
"For now, good night. And good job to you too, Beryl," he said and he eventually faded away.
"You really are great, Flurry," Beryl said to me. "To birth out all of them in less than an hour. Now we don't want to disturb you further. Have a good time with your babies, you two!"
"Okay, good night!" I replied as she left the ward.
"Well, aren't they cute?" Shimmering asked, with the babies sleeping soundly.
"Yeah, they are," I replied softly. "We've worked hard for this. We're gonna be proud parents!"
"You're right. This is gonna be a huge and perfect family. I love you, Flurry."
"You too, Shimmy. Good night." We kissed, and as he left home to tell the news to Auntie Twilight, I began to drift to sleep, exhausted from all of my energy spent from my labor. "Good night, my children," I whispered to them as I closed my eyes.
The first ponies I woke up to see were my parents. They both look pleased when I opened my eyes.
"Flurry, you're awake," Dad said to me. "We were here a while ago!"
"It's ten o'clock now," Mom continued. "Well we knew you had a hard night. Your Uncle Flash announced the news to us, and we managed to come here."
"Oh, yeah, I gave it my all. They're all here," I replied drowsily, showing them my babies. They're still sleeping.
"You and Shimmering did a fine job producing these babies there," King Sombra said.
"Now all you need to do is to do some fitness to restore your body," Madam Radiant Hope said. "Then you'll decide when you're gonna have kids again."
"We might," I replied. "But we'll surely rest for now."
"Flurry, I'm glad you're here!" Auntie Twilight came in, followed with my friends quietly. "Congratulations on your birth! We're here to look at your babies! How cute they are!"
"Yes, indeed!" Melody added as she saw them. "I can't imagine them running and flying around soon!"
Eventually we talked about what I did in Ponyville while everyone managed to admire my babies. My friends were able to narrate what me and Shimmering did here, and that Mom, Dad and my siblings seemed to be awed.
It wasn't until two days later, I was safely discharged from the hospital and ready to return home, along with my babies, which every one of them had no complications, as well as everypony's gifts. Everypony stood at the hospital entrance as we left, waiting to see my babies.
"Come see us again during the Crystalling!" I waved to them.
The Crystalling turned out to be as eventful as planned. Master Sunburst did them well, and I was able to announce each of their names as he presented each of them. Thankfully, no babies' magic surge shattered the Crystal Heart, something that my parents feared for!
"What a day!" I sighed as we retired into our room, placing our babies in the cribs. "This is our best Crystalling yet!"
"Sure is," agreed Shimmering. We watched them falling asleep, and then we both laid on our bed. "That was the best pregnancy we had."
"It's only our first, Shimmy," I replied, as I looked at my belly cast placed at a corner. "Gosh, I'm eager to have more children again. Let's just take care of them well first."
"You're right. By the time your body's better, let's do that again. Our confidence in growing a family is bigger. I love you, Flurry."
"You too, Shimmy," I said and we kissed, with both feeling contented on our first steps to parenthood.