In front of a Flameby ZippStorm23ChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1Author's Note Just thought to experiment a little with their relationship. Chapter 1 “I’m sure it’s nothing. Probably some kind of stomach flu,” Zipp said after her morning retching session. “Zipp, really, you’ve been having ‘nothing’ for the past month already, you should get that checked,” Hitch said, after rubbing her back. “Alright, I’ll go right now, and i have full permission to say i told you so when she says that it’s just a stomach flu, see ya!” She said as she set off for the castle. “Ms Storm, is it alright if i take an ultrasound?” Dr. Green asked her. “Sure,” She shrugged and climbed onto the examination table. The doctor applied some cold gel on her stomach and began to move something around it. She looked at the screen, her face expressionless. She put the thing down, and passed Zipp a few tissues to clean up the gel. As she began to explain to her what was wrong, Zipp couldn’t believe her ears. Hitch was getting kind of worried. It had been 2 hours. Why hadn’t Zipp returned yet. He began to pace the room just as someone knocked. He opened the door and saw Zipp, looking very tired and sweaty. “A-are you okay? What did he or she say?” He asked. Zipp had a blank look on her face as she closed the door and walked to the centre of the room. “Zipp?” Hitch asked, worry filling his voice. She beckoned him closer, and whispered in his ear. He had a look of shock on his face. “A-Are you serious? This isn’t a prank right?” He asked, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. Zipp, her own sapphire eyes filled with tears as well, nodded, a smile on her face. Hitch tried to say something but was breathless, and all that came were big gasps of air. Tears rolled down the sides of both their faces as they were wrapped tightly in an embrace. The 2 couldn’t sleep, dancing around in joy, making castles in the air about the life they were going to make. Finally, at about 4 in the morning, the 2 collapsed onto the bed, Hitch whispering to his wife’s stomach, “I love you,” Chapter 2Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 3As she was reading in Pipp’s room on the table, she felt a strange kind of pain in her stomach. She couldn’t tell if it was just another one of the kicks or something else. She stroked her hoof down the left side of her quite bloated stomach to calm the lives inside her. She felt it again, this time a little painful than the first one. It wasn’t like she was holding in a scream or anything, but she still felt it. Pipp returned from the hall and entered the private library with Zipp. She picked a book from the shelf behind her and sat down opposite her sister. “Found this new book, it’s part of a series called Sleckodla: The Tale of Truth. I thought it’s a bit weird—are you okay Zipp?” She asked upon seeing her sister wince. “Y-Yeah, i don’t know, it feels a bit w-weird,” She replied. Pipp, having a hunch of what could be happening asked, “Does it feel like your stomach is tightening?” She didn’t know if she wanted her sister to say yes or no. “Yes yes, that’s exactly it. It doesn’t hurt though, it just feels weird,” Pipp’s fears were confirmed and she moved beside her sister and said, “Zipp we need to get to the hospital now,” Hearing the tension in her sister’s voice, she was immediately alert. “Why? I-is something wr-wrong with me?” She asked. Pipp whispered in Zipp’s ear. Zipp immediately dropped a text to Hitch and the 2 went over to the Palace Private Hospital As Hitch burst through the door to room 75, he found his wife sitting on the bed. “Zipp, a-are you ok? What did the doctor say?” He said breathlessly. “Yeah, im totally fine, im definitely not freaking out over the fact that without any warning it would be today! Sorry, i didn’t mean to snap, it’s just a bit stressful and im trying my best to just be as chill as possible,”She said apologetically. Just then someone pulled him out. It was Thunder. “Listen, i just want you to know not to panic. It’s a very mentally and emotionally stressful time for her, and if you panic, shes gonna panic more, then you will panic more, it will be a viscous cycle, and it might affect the entire process, just a piece of advice from my experience,” He said really quickly. Hitch hastily thanked him and went back in and found her hyperventilating, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. “Hey, hey, look i’m here okay, nothing’s gonna happen, everything will be fine, and im gonna be right here beside you the whole time ok? You can do this. We can do this,” He said reassuringly as he held her hoof. She calmed down, smiling at him as she did. She began to shiver, but she wasn’t cold. She wasn’t in pain either, but she was shivering. The 2 were immediately alarmed, and at that moment a doctor entered. “If your hoofves are shivering, it’s completely normal,” he said as he crossed the room. As he spoke she began to shiver more violently. Her entire body was shaking now. Pipp was outside, pacing, along with her friends. Their spouses were all at home, taking home of their children. The 2 of them were inside for quite a long time. They heard something that was a mix of a scream and a groan. It was loud enough to be heard by all of them. Hitch opened the door and exited the room. “C-com-complic-cations, em-emergency sur-sur-surgery,” he stammered. The room was empty. From what he stammered they made out what had happened. Pipp kept calm, while Hitch began to hyperventilate. 1 hour later Hitch was nervously pacing outside despite protests from his friends. Finally a doctor exited the room and beckoned Hitch inside. He took a breath and entered. Zipp was lying in the bed on her back, looking peaceful. Seeing her like that, he immediately calmed down. “She is completely fine, we’ll bring the baby in soon, just running a few tests,” The doctor said, leaving the room. Zipp began to stir, and Hitch was immediately alert. As she began to open her eyes, her eyes fell on Hitch. “What happened?” she asked, the first thing she noticed was her flat stomach, something she hadn’t seen in months. Not seeing a baby anywhere, she was alarmed. “Wh-where,” She stammered. “They’re just running a few tests on the foal, im sorry” He said, before beginning to cry. “Hey, what’s wrong?” She asked, now calmer. “You h-had c-compli-ca-cations, and yo-you had an emergency sur-surgery. I couldn’t t-take c-ca-care of y-you,” he said inbetween sniffles. “Hey, the complications weren’t your fault, it was probably a result of me being a first timer, none of it was your fault ok? Im completely fine, and you should be too. We should be ecstatic actually, we made it, Hitch,” She said, tears of joy leaking from her eyes. He wiped his eyes, and hugged her. Chapter 4She entered the dim room, where she found her partner with his chin on the edge of one of the cribs. As she trotted closer, his ears twitched, indicating he had heard her hoof steps. “Hey, I put them to sleep,” Hitch whispered, looking at the foal sleeping peacefully inside the crib, his multi-coloured wings fluttering slightly under the soft blanket. “Yea, i can see that, you better sleep, you look tired” Zipp whispered back, giving him a small kiss on his cheek before heading towards the bed, her partner following close behind. The 2 of them climbed into bed and fell asleep. Hitch thought his partner fell asleep, but really, she was awake all night, watching her filly and foal in the crib. She was too alert to sleep. Suddenly, there was some movement in the crib, and the filly began to whimper. As Zipp slid out of bed, she began to wail, not loud enough to wake the tired stallion in bed, but loud enough to wake the foal beside her. She walked over and peered into the cribs. Upon seeing their mother’s face, the filly stopped crying and the foal opened his eyes wide and began to giggle. She gave her a wistful smile and carried the duo out of the crib with her wings. “You really are a night bird aren’t you?” Zipp asked softly. As the foal and filly began to shiver, Zipp picked up the blanket in the crib with her teeth and draped it over the both of them. The trio went down to the kitchen, where she made them sit on the counter. The filly became captivated by her mother’s wing colours, and reached out to touch them. In doing so, she nearly toppled off the counter. Thankfully Zipp turned around in time, her now motherly instincts telling her to. She caught the filly just before she hit the floor. She began to giggle, while Zipp began to hyperventilate. “Oh my pony, that was so dangerous,” she said breathlessly. “Don’t do that again,” she said playfully reprimanding her daughter. She giggled again and her mother touched her nose with her own. She fit the tip of one bottle into the filly’s mouth, and the other into the foal’s. They finished it fast, now of age to be able to hold the bottle on their own. The white pegasus put the bottle into the dishwasher. As she was doing so, her daughter began to play with her mother’s feathers. Zipp noticed, her wings being a very sensitive part of her body. She noticed her daughter touching them, and smiled. She carried them in front of the fireplace. She placed both of them on the rug, before going to collect some wood for the fire. She placed the logs in the fireplace before using her hooves to start the fire, the same way she did one of the first times she talked to Hitch. She flapped her multi-coloured for the other pieces of wood to catch fire. Once again, her filly and foal were captivated by the way their mother’s feathers glowed in the light of the fire. She sat down beside them before placing them underneath her chest on the floor, the blanket still draped around them like a cape. She extended her wings so that it was covering the both of them. They playfully touched her wings as they glowed in the light of the fire, now emitting a soft crackling sound. As they began to feel sleepy and coo, she leaned against her mother’s foreleg. Zipp looked down, seeing their eyes closing slowly. She wrapped her wings tighter around, so as to keep them warm. She too began to feel sleepy, when suddenly there was a loud bang from beside her. The trio were startled awake, the foal beginning to whimper. She turned to her side, her wings tensing up. It was coming from the main door, somepony was banging it. She was alert now, ready to spring out of her position. Her daughter began to wail, disturbed from her slumber. The bang came again, and this time she stood up, her children behind her. There were 2 consecutive bangs again, louder than ever. She didn’t need to shout for her partner to come down. He trotted down at a great speed, finding Zipp with her wings flared and their son and daughter wailing on the ground behind her. Seeing her partner in front of them, she grabbed them and tried to quiet them down, unsuccessfully. There was another bang, and they all flinched. Hitch slowly approached the door peeping through the peephole, only to find a young colt banging the door and running away, as though it was some joke. He sighed, and turned around, the only thing to be heard in the room was their daughter’s wailing. “Just some colt who thinks it’s fun to wake people up at 2 in the morning,” he lamented. Zipp let out a sigh of relief, as her wings lowered. Zipp sat back down on the rug, trying desperately to calm both of them down. She flared her wings, displaying all the beautiful colours again. It didn’t work this time, and the duo continued to wail. Zipp then did what her father would do for her, she began to sing the same song her father would for her. As she began to sing, the filly and foal quietened down and their eyelid’s started to droop. Zipp smiled, and set them back in the same position that they were in before, her children between her 2 forelegs, and her wings around her in front of the fireplace. This time Hitch sat beside her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. “I was really scared just now, y’know, i thought, something would happen to them,” Zipp whispered. Hitch wrapped his hoof around her shoulder. “It’ll be okay, i’m here remember,” He said, consolingly. “Yeah, it’ll be okay,” She said, keeping her head on his shoulder. “Y’know, they have your eyes, Zipp,” he said, a smile on his face. Zipp let out a soft chuckle. In a house lit by the fireplace, in front of it a new family slept together, knowing that they would always be there for each other.
Chapter 1Author's Note Just thought to experiment a little with their relationship. Chapter 1 “I’m sure it’s nothing. Probably some kind of stomach flu,” Zipp said after her morning retching session. “Zipp, really, you’ve been having ‘nothing’ for the past month already, you should get that checked,” Hitch said, after rubbing her back. “Alright, I’ll go right now, and i have full permission to say i told you so when she says that it’s just a stomach flu, see ya!” She said as she set off for the castle. “Ms Storm, is it alright if i take an ultrasound?” Dr. Green asked her. “Sure,” She shrugged and climbed onto the examination table. The doctor applied some cold gel on her stomach and began to move something around it. She looked at the screen, her face expressionless. She put the thing down, and passed Zipp a few tissues to clean up the gel. As she began to explain to her what was wrong, Zipp couldn’t believe her ears. Hitch was getting kind of worried. It had been 2 hours. Why hadn’t Zipp returned yet. He began to pace the room just as someone knocked. He opened the door and saw Zipp, looking very tired and sweaty. “A-are you okay? What did he or she say?” He asked. Zipp had a blank look on her face as she closed the door and walked to the centre of the room. “Zipp?” Hitch asked, worry filling his voice. She beckoned him closer, and whispered in his ear. He had a look of shock on his face. “A-Are you serious? This isn’t a prank right?” He asked, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. Zipp, her own sapphire eyes filled with tears as well, nodded, a smile on her face. Hitch tried to say something but was breathless, and all that came were big gasps of air. Tears rolled down the sides of both their faces as they were wrapped tightly in an embrace. The 2 couldn’t sleep, dancing around in joy, making castles in the air about the life they were going to make. Finally, at about 4 in the morning, the 2 collapsed onto the bed, Hitch whispering to his wife’s stomach, “I love you,”
Chapter 3As she was reading in Pipp’s room on the table, she felt a strange kind of pain in her stomach. She couldn’t tell if it was just another one of the kicks or something else. She stroked her hoof down the left side of her quite bloated stomach to calm the lives inside her. She felt it again, this time a little painful than the first one. It wasn’t like she was holding in a scream or anything, but she still felt it. Pipp returned from the hall and entered the private library with Zipp. She picked a book from the shelf behind her and sat down opposite her sister. “Found this new book, it’s part of a series called Sleckodla: The Tale of Truth. I thought it’s a bit weird—are you okay Zipp?” She asked upon seeing her sister wince. “Y-Yeah, i don’t know, it feels a bit w-weird,” She replied. Pipp, having a hunch of what could be happening asked, “Does it feel like your stomach is tightening?” She didn’t know if she wanted her sister to say yes or no. “Yes yes, that’s exactly it. It doesn’t hurt though, it just feels weird,” Pipp’s fears were confirmed and she moved beside her sister and said, “Zipp we need to get to the hospital now,” Hearing the tension in her sister’s voice, she was immediately alert. “Why? I-is something wr-wrong with me?” She asked. Pipp whispered in Zipp’s ear. Zipp immediately dropped a text to Hitch and the 2 went over to the Palace Private Hospital As Hitch burst through the door to room 75, he found his wife sitting on the bed. “Zipp, a-are you ok? What did the doctor say?” He said breathlessly. “Yeah, im totally fine, im definitely not freaking out over the fact that without any warning it would be today! Sorry, i didn’t mean to snap, it’s just a bit stressful and im trying my best to just be as chill as possible,”She said apologetically. Just then someone pulled him out. It was Thunder. “Listen, i just want you to know not to panic. It’s a very mentally and emotionally stressful time for her, and if you panic, shes gonna panic more, then you will panic more, it will be a viscous cycle, and it might affect the entire process, just a piece of advice from my experience,” He said really quickly. Hitch hastily thanked him and went back in and found her hyperventilating, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. “Hey, hey, look i’m here okay, nothing’s gonna happen, everything will be fine, and im gonna be right here beside you the whole time ok? You can do this. We can do this,” He said reassuringly as he held her hoof. She calmed down, smiling at him as she did. She began to shiver, but she wasn’t cold. She wasn’t in pain either, but she was shivering. The 2 were immediately alarmed, and at that moment a doctor entered. “If your hoofves are shivering, it’s completely normal,” he said as he crossed the room. As he spoke she began to shiver more violently. Her entire body was shaking now. Pipp was outside, pacing, along with her friends. Their spouses were all at home, taking home of their children. The 2 of them were inside for quite a long time. They heard something that was a mix of a scream and a groan. It was loud enough to be heard by all of them. Hitch opened the door and exited the room. “C-com-complic-cations, em-emergency sur-sur-surgery,” he stammered. The room was empty. From what he stammered they made out what had happened. Pipp kept calm, while Hitch began to hyperventilate. 1 hour later Hitch was nervously pacing outside despite protests from his friends. Finally a doctor exited the room and beckoned Hitch inside. He took a breath and entered. Zipp was lying in the bed on her back, looking peaceful. Seeing her like that, he immediately calmed down. “She is completely fine, we’ll bring the baby in soon, just running a few tests,” The doctor said, leaving the room. Zipp began to stir, and Hitch was immediately alert. As she began to open her eyes, her eyes fell on Hitch. “What happened?” she asked, the first thing she noticed was her flat stomach, something she hadn’t seen in months. Not seeing a baby anywhere, she was alarmed. “Wh-where,” She stammered. “They’re just running a few tests on the foal, im sorry” He said, before beginning to cry. “Hey, what’s wrong?” She asked, now calmer. “You h-had c-compli-ca-cations, and yo-you had an emergency sur-surgery. I couldn’t t-take c-ca-care of y-you,” he said inbetween sniffles. “Hey, the complications weren’t your fault, it was probably a result of me being a first timer, none of it was your fault ok? Im completely fine, and you should be too. We should be ecstatic actually, we made it, Hitch,” She said, tears of joy leaking from her eyes. He wiped his eyes, and hugged her.
Chapter 4She entered the dim room, where she found her partner with his chin on the edge of one of the cribs. As she trotted closer, his ears twitched, indicating he had heard her hoof steps. “Hey, I put them to sleep,” Hitch whispered, looking at the foal sleeping peacefully inside the crib, his multi-coloured wings fluttering slightly under the soft blanket. “Yea, i can see that, you better sleep, you look tired” Zipp whispered back, giving him a small kiss on his cheek before heading towards the bed, her partner following close behind. The 2 of them climbed into bed and fell asleep. Hitch thought his partner fell asleep, but really, she was awake all night, watching her filly and foal in the crib. She was too alert to sleep. Suddenly, there was some movement in the crib, and the filly began to whimper. As Zipp slid out of bed, she began to wail, not loud enough to wake the tired stallion in bed, but loud enough to wake the foal beside her. She walked over and peered into the cribs. Upon seeing their mother’s face, the filly stopped crying and the foal opened his eyes wide and began to giggle. She gave her a wistful smile and carried the duo out of the crib with her wings. “You really are a night bird aren’t you?” Zipp asked softly. As the foal and filly began to shiver, Zipp picked up the blanket in the crib with her teeth and draped it over the both of them. The trio went down to the kitchen, where she made them sit on the counter. The filly became captivated by her mother’s wing colours, and reached out to touch them. In doing so, she nearly toppled off the counter. Thankfully Zipp turned around in time, her now motherly instincts telling her to. She caught the filly just before she hit the floor. She began to giggle, while Zipp began to hyperventilate. “Oh my pony, that was so dangerous,” she said breathlessly. “Don’t do that again,” she said playfully reprimanding her daughter. She giggled again and her mother touched her nose with her own. She fit the tip of one bottle into the filly’s mouth, and the other into the foal’s. They finished it fast, now of age to be able to hold the bottle on their own. The white pegasus put the bottle into the dishwasher. As she was doing so, her daughter began to play with her mother’s feathers. Zipp noticed, her wings being a very sensitive part of her body. She noticed her daughter touching them, and smiled. She carried them in front of the fireplace. She placed both of them on the rug, before going to collect some wood for the fire. She placed the logs in the fireplace before using her hooves to start the fire, the same way she did one of the first times she talked to Hitch. She flapped her multi-coloured for the other pieces of wood to catch fire. Once again, her filly and foal were captivated by the way their mother’s feathers glowed in the light of the fire. She sat down beside them before placing them underneath her chest on the floor, the blanket still draped around them like a cape. She extended her wings so that it was covering the both of them. They playfully touched her wings as they glowed in the light of the fire, now emitting a soft crackling sound. As they began to feel sleepy and coo, she leaned against her mother’s foreleg. Zipp looked down, seeing their eyes closing slowly. She wrapped her wings tighter around, so as to keep them warm. She too began to feel sleepy, when suddenly there was a loud bang from beside her. The trio were startled awake, the foal beginning to whimper. She turned to her side, her wings tensing up. It was coming from the main door, somepony was banging it. She was alert now, ready to spring out of her position. Her daughter began to wail, disturbed from her slumber. The bang came again, and this time she stood up, her children behind her. There were 2 consecutive bangs again, louder than ever. She didn’t need to shout for her partner to come down. He trotted down at a great speed, finding Zipp with her wings flared and their son and daughter wailing on the ground behind her. Seeing her partner in front of them, she grabbed them and tried to quiet them down, unsuccessfully. There was another bang, and they all flinched. Hitch slowly approached the door peeping through the peephole, only to find a young colt banging the door and running away, as though it was some joke. He sighed, and turned around, the only thing to be heard in the room was their daughter’s wailing. “Just some colt who thinks it’s fun to wake people up at 2 in the morning,” he lamented. Zipp let out a sigh of relief, as her wings lowered. Zipp sat back down on the rug, trying desperately to calm both of them down. She flared her wings, displaying all the beautiful colours again. It didn’t work this time, and the duo continued to wail. Zipp then did what her father would do for her, she began to sing the same song her father would for her. As she began to sing, the filly and foal quietened down and their eyelid’s started to droop. Zipp smiled, and set them back in the same position that they were in before, her children between her 2 forelegs, and her wings around her in front of the fireplace. This time Hitch sat beside her, and she rested her head on his shoulder. “I was really scared just now, y’know, i thought, something would happen to them,” Zipp whispered. Hitch wrapped his hoof around her shoulder. “It’ll be okay, i’m here remember,” He said, consolingly. “Yeah, it’ll be okay,” She said, keeping her head on his shoulder. “Y’know, they have your eyes, Zipp,” he said, a smile on his face. Zipp let out a soft chuckle. In a house lit by the fireplace, in front of it a new family slept together, knowing that they would always be there for each other.
