Sunny Gardens: Sixty Six Percent

“I think she's close.”

The voice of Sarah on the other end of the phone is a bit confused.

“How can you tell?”

“I dunno, she keeps singing to her babies.  Er...well, she's been doing that for a couple of weeks now anyway.  She's really lethargic.  Lightning has to help her move around all the time now.

“How big is she?”

You quietly walk over to the pen and peek down.  Berry is asleep, but Lightning is still awake, and looks for all the world like he's standing guard.

“Bewwy sweepy.  Bewwy nee' sweepies fo' babehs,” he says, looking up at you.

“I can still see her legs.”

“That's fine.  Alicorn litters aren't very large.”

You nod, remembering the notes in the binder.  “One or two, right?  I wonder why that is.”

“Who knows,” Sarah sighs.  “I'm more interested in what color they're going to be.”

Since Berry has been so sleepy, and Lightning has been totally focused on his mate for the duration, you've had plenty of time to read the foal notes in that binder.

“They've had lots of red and yellow foals.  At least, that's what the notes say.”

“Look at you, doing your homework.”

You blush a little and smirk.  “I can do business-y stuff, you know!  I mean, I've run this shelter for a whole year!”

“I'm teasing.  Well, let me know if she goes into labor.  I want to see this for myself.”

After Sarah hangs up, you go turn the TV you finally had installed so Berry can watch her favorite morning show.  Something about ponies, or something, you never really pay attention.

“Yay, pichas,” she wheezes happily, grunting lightly as she tries to reposition herself to see.  Lightning noses her around when she fails to do so.

“Siwwy Bewwy.  Wet fwiend hewp move!”

“Wuv fwiend,” she coos, her voice a squeaky whisper.

She really is bloated, at least, for her.  You might have to consider bringing a sleeping bag and staying overnight in case she pops.  You smile a little every time she laughs at the TV.  Lightning scolds her a bit, saying she needs to rest for her kids.

“Oh, Lightning, she'll be fine.  Relax.”

“Wuv Bewwy an' babehs!” he says in a huff.  “No wan' dem huwt!”

“I know that, but letting her laugh isn't going to hurt her.  It'll probably help her.”

He stares at you blankly for a moment, then looks over at his mate.  “Waff hewp?  Bewwy waff mo'!”

You can only shake your head as he tries tickling her, causing her to grunt in protest instead of giggle.  “Don't make her laugh, silly.  Just let her laugh.”

He nods furiously at this suggestion.  “Wet waff!  Okay!”

You laugh a bit yourself, but truth be told, you're rather nervous.  You've never actually helped deliver fluffy foals before; the other woman at the shelter did all of that.  It doesn't seem that hard...then again, you do have a tendency to screw things up sometimes.  At least, being alicorns, the parents will actually be of more help.

You hope.

And you're worried about how tired Berry seems to be.  Every other fluffy dam you've encountered was a literal ball of energy, a wobbling happy sphere of 'wuv babehs!' and 'fwuffy mumma!'  Berry is a lot more subdued.  You chalk that up to being an alicorn; you've done everything the binder said otherwise, the babies should be healthy.  You've given her the right food, you've limited her rough playtime with Lightning, you've given her lots and lots of hugs to make her feel happy.

Why is she so sluggish, then?

Time begins to drift a little faster now that the sun has completely risen.  Cars travel past on the street, including a black Porsche; Sarah waves as she goes by, heading toward her shop.

You're getting sleepy.  It wouldn't hurt if you took a little nap.  You pull off your watch cap and...

“OWWIES!”

...nearly jump out of your skin as Berry shrieks in pain.  You stumble out of your chair and rush over to the pen.

“Berry?  What happened?”

“BABEHS NOW!” she yells at you, beginning to pant.  Lightning runs around in a panicked little circle, just like a regular fluffy does when they're scared.

“Wightnin' no know wha' do!  Daddy a'ways do babeh tings!” he wails unhappily.  “Wucy, hewp Bewwy an' babehs!”

You don't know what to do either, exactly, but you step over the side of the pen and kneel down beside Berry while calling your sister.

“Sarah!  Labor!  Babies!  What am I supposed to do?!” you shriek when she answers.

“Let them handle it, they should know what they're doing...”

You hold the phone to Lightning's mouth.  “Hewp!  Sawah!  Wha' do when babeh time?!”

“...okay, maybe not.  Hold on, I'm on my way.”

Berry pants and twitches heavily.  Her rear fluff is darker and wet and...bloody.  You gulp audibly and scoot over a little closer to her.  The best you can manage at the moment is petting her on the head and attempting to be reassuring.

“It's okay, just...uh...just push!  Push, Berry!”

“Am!  Bewwy am puss!  Babeh com—owwies!”

You glance at her rear, just in time to see a bloody, soaking wet something plop out onto the pink bedding.  Lightning sees it too, instantly ceases his panic, and rushes over.

“Babeh!” he says excitedly.  “Daddeh hewe, babeh!”

You watch in amazement as he gently takes the baby into his mouth and moves it over to Berry's head.  He sets it into her forelegs, and she starts to clean it.

“Wuv babeh,” she coos quietly.  It chirps at her as she licks it; not the kind of chirp you're used to from a foal, and not the size, either.  This thing is as big as a gerbil and has a very deliberate, squeaky chirp.  She cleans it very thoroughly before asking for Lightning again.

“Pwease hewp babeh fin' miwk,” she says.

“Hewp babeh!” he nods, gently taking the foal in his mouth again and moving it to her teats.

Once that one is latched on, she screeches in pain again as another foal comes out.  Sarah walks in just then, smoothing her hair back as she comes over to the side of the pen.

“How's it going?”

“Alicorns are really good at this,” you reply, looking up at her.  Lightning takes a moment to calm the scared foal on Berry's teat before seeing to the new foal at her rear end.

“Babeh fo' mumma!” he chirps happily, picking it up and giving it to her to clean off.

“Wow.  A fluffy dad that gives a shit?” Sarah blinks.
Berry is still a little swollen.  You take a peek at her rear and gag; it's bloody and dripping with fluids.

“Stiww haf owwies,” she sniffles, handing off the newest baby to Lightning.  “Pwease miwk fo' babeh!”

“Hewp babeh,” Lightning nods again, setting the squeaking foal on the empty teat and walking around toward Berry's tail end again.  “Daddeh hewe!  Babeh come, gif wuv an' miwk!”

Two or three minutes pass with nothing happening.  Sarah walks around so she can get a better view of things.

“Is it stuck?”

“I dunno, you're the fluffy pony breeding expert.”

She leans over the side and peers closer, before smirking at herself.  “Didn't think I'd be staring at a horse's ass this morning.”

You fold your arms and huff.  “Sarah!  She might need a vet!”

“Whewe babeh?” Lightning asks, looking around at Berry.  “Bewwy?  Haf mo' babehs?”

She nods lightly, busy balancing her foals on her teats.  “Stiww haf owwies in tummy.”

Lightning resumes his position.  “Babeh come!  Wan' hug an' wuv!”

A few more moments pass before the baby finally does come, plopping out unceremoniously in the puddle of blood and god knows what else.  Lightning bends down to pick it up as before, but stops short and stares down at it.

“What's wrong, Lightning?”

He looks up at you and Sarah with tears in his big eyes.

“Babeh...babeh smaww.”

Berry, who was chirping happily about the owwies being all gone and cooing to her kids, suddenly falls silent.

“Babeh smaww?” she echoes as Lightning comes over, the bloody foal in his mouth.  Instead of giving it to her to clean, he sets it down on the floor so she can look at it.

“Babeh too smaww?” he asks her.  The foal is squirming around, mouth opening and closing, but no sound comes out.

She stares at the baby for a second or two, then begins to sniffle.

“Babeh...babeh no big 'nuff,” she says, beginning to weep.
You look up at Sarah.  “What should we do?”

“Let them handle it, it's their child.”

You frown hard and stand up.  You're not going to watch them reject a runt; it breaks your heart every single time.

“Wuv babeh.”

Berry's wavering tone catches your attention, and you turn back around.  You watch as she very gently cleans the small, silent foal, turning it over a couple of times to make sure she gets all of its fluff.  She then takes it into a hug with her forelegs, not saying a word.  She then looks at Lightning, who weeps openly, and holds out the foal to him.

“Gif wuvs, den...den hewp babeh feew betta.”

“What does that mean?” Sarah asks.  You can only shrug at her and look back down.  Lightning takes the foal, and, plopping back on his haunches, gives it a hug.  It finally squeaks; a broken, warbling mess of a noise that sends chills down your spine.  It sounds so much like Mandy did.  After a long, quiet hug, Lightning takes the foal in his mouth and waddles past your legs to an empty corner.  He sets the baby down and sniffles.

“Am sowwy babeh, too smaww.  Haf owwies aww time.  No wan' fo' babeh.”

Before either of you can react, he presses his left front hoof on the foal's head and steps on it.  There's a muffled pop, and the foal becomes still.  Lightning, crying bitterly, wanders away and sits with Berry.  She's still crying, too.

Neither you or Sarah can find any words, so you both just look at the foals that lived.  It's too early to tell their gender, but their colors are vibrant.  One has a cherry red mane and tail and aquamarine fluff, and the other is a rich golden yellow with a pink mane and tail.  They squeak rhythmically as they suckle, getting gentle words from Lightning or a one-legged hug from Berry every time they make a noise.

Sarah suddenly excuses herself, saying that she has to go call the potential buyers to tell them the good news.  She leaves in such a rush that you can't even get out a goodbye.  After she's gone, you sigh, looking down at the dead foal in the corner.  You feel a tug at your skirt.

It's Lightning.  “Wucy no be sad.  Babeh too smaww, haffa make betta,” he says, hugging your leg briefly before seeing to his new family again.

That just makes you sigh a little harder as you step out of the pen to clean up the mess.

And the corpse.