Hard Truths

  "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

  The scream ripped through the poorly constructed house, echoing of the walls and almost making the ponies by the bed deaf. Folding his ears back, Brute Stalker glared down at his wife with his flaming orange eyes, muscular dark green body twitching in annoyance. "Peacock, why the fuss? A shitload of other mares give birth all the time."

  Shooting her would-be husband a glare from chilling green and blue eyes, Peacock Stalker grunted in anger before another spasm rocked her teal blue body, sweat dripping down her purple mane and tail.

  Not caring for a second dose of death by glare, Brute walked away to the door, seating himself in front of it, just like he was at work and was guarding the exclusive downtown clubhouse Mating Dance.

  While he left, the housewife and old friend of Peacock, Disco Light, a silver pony with white eyes and a shimmering blue mane and tail, stepped up besides her. Removing the cigarette from her mouth, Disco extinguished it on the floor while telling her old friend, "Now, I been forced to do a couple of these since we grew up and moved to different parts of this Tartarus-wracked hellhole, and let me tell ya, they ain't pretty or pain-free, as ya can already see. Don't worry though, they go quick enough once the head shows up."

  Barely able to register her friend's words, Peacock nodded just as yet another spasm hit, nearly making her faint in pain. Grinding her teeth, the laboring soon-to-be mother waited for her friend to tell her when to push, unsure in her addled brain precisely what to do and when to do it.

  Fighting the urge to light another cigarette, Disco examined the hole the new life was going to pop out from. Seeing it contorting and trying to open wider, Disco nodded. "Alright, Peacock, the kid's coming out to play. You'd better push right now if ya want this to go right."

  Following instinctively on the word of the technical housewife who doubled as a dancer, the blue mare gave her all, and the head of a baby pony popped out her hole. It was black as a starless night, with a silverish mane. As the baby's mother continued to shove, more of the foal appeared. Finally, the newly born slid onto the bed at Peacock's hooves. Trotting up, Disco wiped off the nasty mucus of the sack and gently rubbed the belly of the small creature till it let out a tiny gasp, breathing for the first time.

  "Well, there ya go, chango presto, a little unicorn mar-"

  "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

  Although her screaming still hurt the ears of all present, it was not as intense before. Raising an eyebrow, Disco looked back at the little mare's exit hole. "I'll be damned! You just full of surprises, ain't ya, Highness? Looks like one just wasn't enough for ya," she snickered, using the old nickname she had for her friend.

  Grimacing, Peacock didn't wait and pushed. The thing that slid out may have once been a foal, but now it looked like something that had been burned then put through a woodchipper.

  Disco whistled. "Damn, that be nasty. Wonder what the hell happened to this one."

    Grunting in exhaustion, Peacock looked from one baby to the other. "Twin unicorns...oh Celestia. I've heard about this. It's said that if you manage to somehow form twins, especially if they're unicorn, one twin will suck the other dry in the womb. An earth pony becomes two times stronger, a pegasus two times faster, and a unicorn...two times more powerful."

  Disco let out a whistle. "That's some scary shit. I don't envy ya. Why, regular unicorn foals are hell, imagine what two wrapped into one will be like."

  Looking down at the little black mare, Peacock felt something spark inside her. Turning her attention back to Disco, the new mother held a blazing determined expression in her eyes. "I don't care. Somepony's gotta take care of her, and it ain't gonna be nopony but her parents!"

  Brute, who had sat silently observing the scene, now stood and approached the bed. "Sucked 'er dry, eh?" he whispered to himself, watching the bundle crawl over Peacock as she went to feed.

  Suddenly, the foal stopped mid-crawl and look back, opening her eyes, which made everyone gasp. "What the hell?!" exclaimed Disco, extremely put off by what she saw.

  Brute only chuckled at this. "Guess this means she is purely, without a doubt, a Stalker. Only this family could cause a foal like this to be born into the world."

  After the initial shock wore off, the two friends muttered agreement as they all watched it turn back to feeding. Nibbling on her mother's nipple, the newborn was unaware of the scrutiny it was under.

  As the foal continued to feed, Peacock went into deep thought. No one said anything for awhile, then Peacock said, "Nightmare."

  Startled by the sudden breach in the quiet home, Brute and Disco both jumped, then embarrassed blushes came to their faces. "Oh, uh, what?" questioned Brute, who was feeling terribly awkward for the first time in a long time.

  Chuckling to herself, Peacock told them, "I think her name should be Nightmare. Nightmare Stalker. It fits, don't you think?"

  As the name was quickly agreed by her father, Nightmare Stalker peeked at them from the corner of her blue sclera with red irises pair of eyes.