**Finally a Family: Part I

Rapid beeps from the heart rate monitor were one of the many noises coming from the delivery room. Out of all of them, the most notable was Rainbow Dash, who was screaming her lungs out as a massive contraction blindsided her. Her eyes were clenched shut and her forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat. Soarin was at her side, clutching her right forehoof in both of his, doing his best to help his wife calm down and work through the pain. Even though Twilight had given the pregnant pegasus a few pointers from a book she had about breathing techniques for mares in labor, Rainbow had forgotten everything the princess had told her, and was now improvising her own tactics for relieving herself of the monumental pain coursing through her body. However, it wasn't working too well, which was why Soarin had to step in to help.

Underneath her hospital gown, Rainbow had two sets of electrodes on her belly. They were hooked up to a machine that showed the foals' heart rates. At the moment, they were very quick, which was normal, but Rainbow's nurse, midwife, and doctor were keeping a close eye on the machine, as there was always the chance of something going wrong during labor.

Rainbow groaned softly as her contraction ended. Right now, they were about two to three minutes apart, and whenever they struck, they struck hard, which was made obvious when the first one hit at the foal shower. Even at that point, Dash was unable to stand due to the immense pain, and everypony around her was certain that it was time.

Soarin gently rubbed Dash's foreleg with his right forehoof while he held onto the top of it with his left. "That's it, Dashie," he cooed to his wife, "Good job."

Dash did little more that moan softly in response. She wasn't breathing all that heavily at the moment, but she was breathing harder than normal. Even though the contraction had ended, she was still in extreme discomfort, and she knew the next one was coming soon. The cyan mare began to rub her belly softly with her left forehoof, hoping to generate a bit of warmth around her midsection to suppress a bit of the pain that she knew was about to come. What made it worse was that Dash had underestimated how intense the pain would be. She thought she'd be able to handle it without any trouble, but she was anything but correct at this point. Mrs. Cake had even warned her about what would inevitably come when labor struck, but Dash was feeling rather naïve on that particular day, and now she was feeling guilty about it.

"S-Soarin..." Dash whispered, a few tears forming in her eyes, "I...I can't take much more of this...It hurts so bad..."

Soarin leaned in and kissed his wife on the cheek. "Don't worry, Dash," he replied, comfortingly, "Dr. Crowning will be back soon and they can get the epidural started."

"He'd better be here within the next..." Dash paused as her uterus seized up and contracted once again. "Oooooooo.......OOOOOOOOO......AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" She screamed as the contraction progressed. Soarin couldn't help but feel horrible that his wife was going through such pain, but he wasn't the one experiencing it, and there wasn't anything more he could do but let her know he was there and that everything was going to be fine.

After what seemed like forever, which, in all reality, was only sixty seconds, Dash breathed a sigh of relief as her contraction ended. Then, as if on cue, Dr. Crowning, her delivery doctor, along with her midwife and Nurse Redheart, walked into the room, and she was more than happy to see them. "Well, Dash, how are you feeling?" the earth pony stallion asked, "Has anything changed?"

"I don't think so," Dash replied, "Other than a bit more pressure down near my...you know..." she finished, gesturing to her lower area.

"Well, let's get you checked before we discuss drugs. Sound good?"

"Sure."

"Alright, then," the stallion finished. Right after Dash had gotten situated at the hospital, Dr. Crowning checked to see how far along she was, and she was already four centimeters dilated. Normally, he would have talked about an epidural right then and there, but there was still a bit of paperwork that Soarin had to fill out at the time, and by the time he was done, the doctor had to go visit another patient.

Dr. Crowning took hold of the device he used to check how much expecting mares were dilated. He lifted the blanket covering Dash's hind legs and aimed the device at her opening, then moved it inside. "Oh! Interesting!" he said, his eyes widening slightly.

"What?" Dash asked.

"You're already at six centimeters! You're progressing faster than I thought!"

Soarin immediately leaned down and said to his wife, "You hear that, Dash? You're almost there." He really hoped his words would give her a confidence boost and help her avoid worrying about the pain.

"Doc," Dash continued, "Can I still get the epidural?"

"Well, that's why I wanted to get you checked first," Dr. Crowning replied, "You see, like I said, you're progressing more quickly than we'd anticipated, and now the window for an epidural is almost closed."

"However," Nurse Redheart said, "Though an epidural will give you some pain relief, it also slows down the labor process, which means you'll be here a bit longer."

This caught Dash by surprise. She had no idea why she hadn't asked anypony about this before, because if she had, she most definitely would have gotten the medicine by now. It was at this moment that she had to make a crucial decision: Get the epidural and wait longer with less pain, or forego the epidural and deliver the foals quicker. While she thought about it, her mouth opened wide as another contraction hit her, prompting Soarin to resume rubbing her foreleg in a gentle manner.

Dash breathed in and out quite audibly, moaning as she exhaled. "That's it," Dash's midwife said, "Just keep breathing. You're doing great." The light green earth pony mare continued to encourage Dash in that manner throughout the contraction, until it finally subsided.

This contraction was just as painful as the others, and it made Dash lean more toward wanting the epidural. However, she didn't want to be cooped up in a hospital bed for too long, as waiting for her wing to heal was bad enough. With a nervous look on her face, Dash turned to her husband and asked, "Soarin, what should I do?"

"Dash, I can't really give you much in terms of advice," Soarin replied, "I'm not the one feeling your pain...well, physical, at least. To answer your question, I think you should do whatever you feel is best for you."

Once again, Rainbow was left to her own devices. Too much was going through her head. "More pain or less pain? Stay longer or get out quicker?" she thought to herself.

"Rainbow Dash," Dr. Crowning said, "I hate to have to rush you, but I need a decision sooner rather than later."

"Okay," Dash replied. She closed her eyes and went into deep thought, trying her best to make a decision. After another several seconds, she opened her eyes, looked right at her doctor, smiled, and said, "Doc, you can go ahead and give that epidural to another mare, 'cause..." As she spoke, she turned her head to face Soarin, reaching up and touching his cheek. "...I really wanna see my foals." This caused Soarin to rub his wife's left cheek affectionately and kiss her on the lips.

"Very well, then," Dr. Crowning finished with a smile.

Several anxious and excited ponies sat in the waiting room, eagerly awaiting any form of news on their friend. Even though both Rainbow's and Soarin's parents were there with big smiles on their faces, Pinkie Pie was noticeably more excited about this, given how energetically she was bouncing up and down. These actions were bringing a slight amount of displeasure to a certain young alicorn.

"Pinkie," Twilight began, "Will you please stop bouncing off the walls?? The hospital isn't a place for that!"

"I CAN'T HELP IT!!!" Pinkie exclaimed, joyfully.

"SHHHHHH!!!!!!" Twilight went.

Still continuing to bounce, Pinkie's tone shifted to a whisper, though it was clear she was still trying to speak as loud as she possibly could. "I mean, I can't help it! Dashie's about to have two foals!"

Twilight groaned before turning to face Fluttershy. "She wasn't this energetic when the Cake twins were born, was she?"

"I don't think she was," Fluttershy replied.

"I must say," Rarity spoke silently to Twilight, "Pinkie's lucky that Applejack hasn't come back and hogtied her by now!"

"I agree!" Twilight replied in an equally-as-quiet tone, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that Dash is finally having her foals, but seriously! Who gets this energetic inside a hospital?"

"Actually, Twilight, I...I...pffft..." Rarity began to chuckle, "I'm sorry. I can't hold it back anymore!" The white unicorn then began clapping her forehooves together as she lifted her head slightly and closed her eyes. "Rainbow Dash is going to be a mother! Aaahhh!!" she exclaimed with glee.

All of a sudden, Fluttershy began to giggle as well. "I'm sorry, Twilight," she began, enthusiastically, her wings beginning to flap out of excitement, "I can't hold it back either! I'm so excited for Rainbow and Soarin!" she said as she began rising into the air.

"So am I!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing up to Fluttershy's now stationary flight level and looking her in the eyes.

"I know! I can't believe it's finally happening!"

"Neither can I!"

While Pinkie and Fluttershy continued talking excitedly with each other, Rarity stood up and began to bounce lightly herself.

In the meantime, Starlight was trying to keep her energy and excitement contained by repeatedly tapping her forehooves on her chair, but her actions proved to be futile. Turning to Twilight, the unicorn said in an excited whisper, "Sorry..." before giddily getting onto her hooves and bouncing lightly along with Rarity.

Seeing all her friends acting in all these ways initially annoyed Twilight, as she wanted to respect anypony else that may have been nearby. However, her own excitement was getting the best of her, and soon, she loudly said, "Aw, what the hay? Woo-hoo!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth, Twilight!" Firefly said.

The two ponies shared a laugh before Twilight continued. "I still can't believe that today is the day!"

"Neither can we!" Rainbow Blaze replied.

"I'm just grateful that thing that happened in Cloudsdale didn't kill me," Grey Nimbus spoke, "Then this day probably wouldn't have been as exciting."

"You may be right, Grey," Twilight replied, "But I think right now we should just be glad that you're here to witness the arrival of your grandfoals!"

"Yep! And I'm glad to be here, too."

Twilight and the two couples remained silent for a few seconds before she continued. "Wow, I really hope that Rainbow and Soarin like the little surprise my friends and I left for them back at their home!"

"Now, what was that surprise again, Twilight?" Wind Glider asked. Twilight then moved over and whispered what was waiting for the soon-to-be parents into her ear. "Oh, that! Right!" Wind Glider finished, "I'm sure they'll love it!"

"I'm sure they will, too!" Twilight replied.

Again, the group went silent for several seconds. "I wonder how my little filly's doing back there?" Firefly asked.

Twilight was the first to respond. "I'm sure she's doing just fine."

"Uh-oh," Nurse Redheart said, looking at the machine monitoring the foals.

"What?" Dash asked, noticeably concerned.

"Well, from what I see here, it looks like the heart rate of one of the foals has gone down."

"Is that bad?" Soarin asked, equally as worried as his wife.

"It has the potential to be, Soarin. There are a couple of things we can do, but if they don't seem to help, we'll have to do an emergency C-section."

Dash grew even more nervous at the thought of having her belly sliced open. "Well, what can you do?" the pregnant pegasus asked.

"Just give me thirty seconds," Nurse Redheart finished before trotting quickly out of the room. Rainbow and Soarin then looked nervously at each other before Dash cringed in pain as another massive contraction came over her. By now, they were less than two minutes apart, and they were becoming more intense.

Almost as soon as she had left, Nurse Redheart returned with a bucket of ice and a cup. She waited until the contraction was over before speaking. "Dash, one easy way to get the foal's heart rate back up is for you to eat some ice cubes."

"Huh?" Rainbow asked, still panting heavily from the contraction.

"Sometimes, if a foal's heart rate decreases, that means it's, well, sort of, fallen asleep in the womb. It doesn't literally fall asleep, but its activity inside the womb has decreased in such a way that the heart rate drops."

Dash had to think about what Nurse Redheart had said for a few seconds before she agreed to eat the ice cubes. One by one, she was fed the little pieces of ice, chewing on them before swallowing. She shivered as each one entered her mouth and went down her esophagus, but she pulled through, and eventually, the foal's heart was once again beating at a healthy rhythm.

"Wonderful!" Nurse Redheart said, relieved that a crisis had been averted, "Let me just do a quick ultrasound to see how things are in there, okay?"

"Go ahead," Dash replied, weakly. Much of her energy had been drained at this point due to the multitude of contractions. It took the pegasus her utmost to get through them without an epidural, and she was starting to worry that she wouldn't have enough energy to deliver the foals.

Soarin sensed his wife's discomfort and continued to stroke her foreleg, which, at this point, was becoming rather routine for the stallion, and Rainbow didn't seem to mind in the slightest. "Don't worry, Dash," he said, calmly, "You're almost there. Everything's gonna be fine."

"I hope so..." Dash replied, her tone suggesting that she had had enough of this already and just wanted her foals out.

As the husband and wife spoke, Redheart performed an ultrasound, determining that, just like she had told the couple at their very first ultrasound, both of the foals' heads were aimed toward the birth canal; however, one was significantly lower than the other.

Just then, Dr. Crowning happened to walk back into the room. "So," he began, "How are you feeling, Dash?"

Dash panted for a few seconds before replying, "These contractions are just getting worse and worse. And lately they've been..." At that moment, Dash cringed again, her body tensing up as another contraction hit her. This time, however, Dash felt significant pressure down below, and she felt like she had to push. "AAAAHHHH!!!!" she exclaimed in agony, "I think one of them's coming!"

Dr. Crowning immediately lifted the covers and looked down at Rainbow's canal, only to find a small mass of cyan and white hair that hadn't quite made it out into the open yet. "Dash," the stallion said, "The head's right there. Looks like we need to get ready right about now."

Dr. Crowning and Nurse Redheart immediately sprang into action, washing their hooves and covering them in protective latex, followed by dressing in blue attire that was normally saved for surgeons. At the same time, Dash's midwife took Rainbow's left foreleg in her hooves, while Soarin's grip on her other leg never ceased.

"Dash, this is it!" Soarin exclaimed in a whisper. Rainbow's only response was a pained groan as her contraction ended.

"Okay, Rainbow," Dr. Crowning continued as he lifted the blanket again and pushed it back, exposing Dash's hind legs completely, "We're ready. Are you ready?"

Never in her life had Dash's mind gone on the fritz quite like this. Her entire pregnancy began to flash before her eyes. All the ups and downs came back to her, but in the end, all she wanted was to meet the two ponies that had been growing inside of her this whole time. While she continued to pant, Dash mustered a proud smile and replied, "I'm ready."

"Great!" Dr. Crowning responded, "Now, when the next contraction hits, I want you to start pushing, okay?"

"Got it," Dash replied. Dr. Crowning then placed both of his latex-covered forehooves on each side of Rainbow's vagina, putting light pressure on her lower lips to prevent the foal from being delivered too quickly.

All Rainbow could do was lay there and wait for the next contraction. She was nervous, but at the same time, determined to get those two foals out of her. She took one more look at everypony in the room with her before...

"AAAAHHHH!!!!" Rainbow bellowed.

Dr. Crowning immediately exclaimed, "Push!"

Author's Note

We'll be back with "Dash Wears Her Vocal Chords Out" right after this!

I know...I'm terrible, aren't I?