It was going to be dawn soon, Bucky could feel it, a sensation that now brought him terror and made him feel ill. It was more than the worry of pain that the sun brought, it was the feeling of fear. There were few things that scared Bucky, but those things that did tended to overwhelm him. He was getting better, but there were moments, moments like the one he was experiencing, that unnerved him.

He gave Derpy a little squeeze; she was still propped up against him. Her breathing was heavy now, almost panting, and her pelt was damp with water and sweat. There was no doubting it, Derpy was going to foal first.

From her corner, Clotho, known to others as Amaranth, smiled. “Be ready.”

Violet turned and looked at the enigmatic earth pony and then back at Derpy, nodding. “Yes, any time, soon. Derpy, how are you feeling? How is the pain?”

“I’m… managing… feel… the… need… to… push,” Derpy panted.

“I think she needs a kiss… right… about… now,” Amaranth said to Bucky.

Dropping his head, Bucky planted his lips on Derpy’s, an upside down kiss. He felt her whole body tense up and her hot, heavy breathing lingered on his face. He heard the sound of one of Derpy’s legs kicking, causing the water to splash.

“Woah, she’s crowning, it’s go time!” Violet lept over the side of the tub and landed in the water with a splash. “I think this one is going to be real easy.”

“Mama?” Standing in the doorway, Dinky’s eyes were wide and fearful.

Beside Dinky, Sentinel sat down, silent, his head tilted off to one side as he watched everything that was taking place. When Derpy let out a cry of pain, Dinky almost bolted forward, but Sentinel grabbed her and pulled her back. When she wrapped her forelegs around his neck, he gave her a squeeze.

Rubbing her eyes, Piña sat down beside Dinky and Sentinel, watching and waiting.

Stroking Derpy’s head, Bucky waited, feeling a little fearful, feeling nervous, and filled with anticipation. He’d been waiting a long time for this. He lifted his head and looked at his other foals. Harper had joined Sentinel, Dinky, and Piña in the doorway. She looked sleepy, curious, and scared. He didn’t know where Sukari was, but hoped that she wasn’t panicking.

“Snoot!” Lyra shouted as she pointed down. “I saw a snoot! It was purple!”

“OW… OOOOOH… stabbing!” Derpy shouted as her whole body tensed.

“Unicorn,” Violet said as she stroked Derpy’s belly. “Come on, give me a big push. You’ve done this before. The first unicorn you gifted this world with turned out wonderful.”

There was a grotesque slurping sound, a flatulent squish, and then there was a head. Violet watched as the head began to rotate as the foal continued to turn inside of Derpy. Violet lifted both of Derpy’s hind legs and held them in position. Blood oozed into the water and seeped over Derpy’s grey pelt.

“Worst is over, a few more pushes,” Violet said in a firm voice of command.

“I’m scared… this is gonna hurt… I’m having second… thoughts.” Berry Punch, panting, closed her eyes and pressed her face into Bon Bon’s neck. “There’s blood… I don’t feel good.”

Reaching up her right foreleg, Derpy reached over her barrel and grabbed Bucky by his talons. She squeezed, closed her eyes, and pushed with everything she had as she swallowed a scream. There was a moment of intense tightness followed by a strange feeling of emptiness. She gasped, panting, fearing the pain would overwhelm her, and then she heard a gurgling cry.

“Dizzy,” Violet said as she laid the foal on Derpy’s belly. A clean cloth held in her telekinesis was wiping the foal down to prevent heat loss. “Dizzy, meet your mother, she’s wonderful.”

After blinking a few times to clear away tears, Derpy winked her bad eye shut and looked down. The first thing she saw was black… and a little bit of grey. An ear? She blinked her good eye. A black mane and a grey ear. She let go of Bucky and reached down with her forelegs. She scooped the crying foal up, her touch gentle, and she could feel the umbilical cord against her left fetlock. She could see a little nubby horn.

Already, she was feeling the need to push again. She could feel the other foal thrashing around inside of her, making violent kicks against her womb. She looked up at Violet as she gave her newborn a squeeze. “Take him… Ditzy’s coming.”

Nodding, Violet slipped a clamp over the cord, lifted the newborn colt, wrapped him in a clean cloth, and then held him in her telekinesis as the colt cried his new little lungs out.

“—and here comes Ditzenburg, named after Derpy’s great grandmother,” Lyra said as she watched a teeny, tiny little head pop out. She stood on the edge of the tub, her ears erect and twitching with every cry that Dizzy made. The grey mare was already visibly smaller, it was as if her belly had somehow shrunk. It made Lyra feel queasy to even look at it or think about it.

“She just squirted them right out.” Thistle sitting beside the tub, reached out and stroked Derpy on the stomach. “Come on, just a little more, the hardest part is over I think.”

“Ditzy has a big head and she’s a lot bulkier than Dizzy.” Violet held the filly’s head in her magic as Derpy laboured to push the rest of her out. “I hope the wings haven’t slipped out of the birth sack, we don’t need any complications, this has to be one of the easiest births I’ve witnessed.”

“Fluttershy sneezed and made a foal,” Bucky said.

“I would have liked to have seen that.” Violet gave the tiny body a little tug, and with a pop, the wings were free. The rest of the foal slid out of her mother with a slurp. Violet lifted the foal, cleared the airway, blinked away a tear or two as Ditzy made her first cries, dried the foal to prevent heat loss, and then set her down on top of Derpy’s stomach. Sighing, she laid Dizzy down beside his sister, and watched as Derpy scooped them both up.

“She looks like you,” Bucky whispered. “She’s a little version of you. She’s perfect.”

Derpy, closing her bad eye, looked down at her new filly, her heart swelling with love and pride. The foal opened her eyes, which were grey, just like her father’s. The foal blinked, looking a little confused. One eye pointed towards the ceiling, the other at her mother and father.

“Yup, she’s perfect,” Bucky said. “I guess it’s time to get you out of the tub, cleaned up, and in the bed so they can nurse. I’ll help.”

“Don’t leave me!” Berry begged.

“Foals need to nurse.” Bon Bon gave Berry a squeeze. “Bucky will come back, right?”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Bucky replied.

“Bucky, what did you do to me?” Berry asked as tears rolled down her cheeks. She squeezed her eyes shut as the pain hit a crescendo and then floated on the verge of consciousness, feeling lightheaded and faint.

“Brandywine is corked in there tight,” Violet said as she lifted her head. “Any helpful words, Amaranth?”

“She’ll come out when she’s ready and not a moment before,” Amaranth replied.

After sucking in a deep breath, Berry Punch threw back her head and screamed at the top of her lungs, causing every ear in the bathroom and the bedroom to twitch. When she was done, her eyes rolled back into her head and she went limp in Bon Bon’s embrace.

“Berry!” Barley stumbled for the bathroom door, stepped over the foals, and approached the tub. He looked down at his niece, scowling and shaking his head. “Berry, stop your bloody bellyaching and birth those foals!”

In the bedroom, Sukari, who no longer had Barley to comfort her, began to cry as the bathroom filled with stunned silence. Bon Bon looked up at Barley with a confused, almost hurt expression.

“Berry Punch, we’re Shetlanders. We come from a heartier stock. Has all this fancy living made ye soft, ye bleatin’ ninny? Now suck it up, I dinnae wanna hear any more cryin’!”

Lifting her head, her eyes unfocused, Berry Punch gritted her teeth and pushed. One ear stood up, the other drooped, her hind legs kicked from the effort. She growled, then huffed, and then puffed.

“Eh, stop bein’ so bloody soft, ye git!” Barley yelled. “Yer an embarrassment! That’s what ye are, ye whiny little milksop! Ye ain’t got the feckin’ teats to squirt them little buggers out, ye big bleatin’ crybaby!”

“Feck off, ya bastard!” Berry’s eyes narrowed and she glared up at her uncle.

“Get up out o’ that tub and make me, ye big blithering numpty! Yer a disgrace! Yer mudder dropped ye in the dirt and kept workin’, and she didn’t so much as sniffle when yer fat, pudgy little head squirted out from her well fecked loins!”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Berry Punch roared, her mouth going wide, her uvula becoming visible for all to see. Her hind legs kicked and she almost sat up as she threw everything she had into it.

“That all ye got? What the feck happened to my niece? You know, the mare that went to Canterlot to kick some coont in the coont? Yer softer than a wee, warm, runny puddle of shite!”

“Yer a... GOBSHITE!” Berry yelled. Berry let out a wordless scream from between clenched teeth, her whole body trembling.

“Ye should have learned to take up the arse, seems yer damned coont ain’t up for the work it was made for, ye worthless fart lump!”

“BARLEY!” Berry Punch’s eyes opened and she looked at her uncle. She grunted and bore down, pushing with everything she had.

Bon Bon stared with wide eyes, not sure what to make of the exchange and everything being said. Bucky blinked, looking confused. Lyra had exited the bathroom and had since removed the foals from the bathroom door after soundproofing the bathroom. Thistle, a Shetlander, had pink cheeks and stared down at the floor. Belisama, sitting on the side of the tub, watched Berry and waited.

Amaranth began to giggle and covered her mouth with her fetlock.

“She’s crowning!” Violet said as she peered down. “There’s a bit of tearing, but it’s not too bad… Berry, keep going!”

“Come on Berry, yer almost there,” Barley said, his voice now soft. “Yer my filly… I always felt that I was cheated, you should have been my filly, and not my sister’s. She never appreciated you… she never loved you enough for what you did for Piña. Pinot Noir was a big numpty and she never quite knew what a treasure you were… now push, damn you, push, you soft headed lout… I wanna see my niece and I’m tired of waiting.”

“Oh, that’s a lot of blood,” Thistle whispered as she stood up on all four hooves.

Standing next to the tub, Barley extended his hoof to Berry. “Go on, give it a squeeze, ye’ve earned it. Do yer worst!”

Reaching out, Berry grabbed Barley’s fetlock, hooking it in her own, and squeezed down as she pushed. She saw stars in her vision and she could feel the pressure causing her whole face to tremble. She felt the blood pounding in her ears. She heard a sound that sounded very much like tearing flesh, like when Bucky, Thistle, or Sentinel ripped a fish in half. She felt a sharp, stabbing pain go shooting through her groin as her insides clenched.

“Just a little more, the worst is over!” Violet placed a wet, bloodied hoof upon Berry’s stomach. “Come on, the shoulders are jammed in tight. Give me just one good push!”

Almost sitting up, Berry bore down with everything she had, groaning, gritting her teeth, and straining so hard that she saw spots in her vision. She had the curious feeling of hard rain falling down and striking her face as she strained. Her whole body trembled.

“Ach, wee Brandywine is tearing Mommy a new one, crivens!” Barley shook his head at the gristly sight. “Oooh, that’s a sight that’ll make eyes sore, ugh!”

Violet, who had a good grip on the large, fat foal, gave a tug. The rear hips slipped free from Berry with a loud, wet sounding pop and then, Brandywine was free. Violet began to clear the foal’s airway and there was a subdued cheer from those watching when the foal cried for the first time. Violet worked to get the foal cleaned up.

“There’s a leg!” Thistle pointed down with her right foreleg as she pranced in place on her three other legs.

Violet felt her blood run cold. She looked down, worried about a breech birth. As she stared, the leg was slurped back inside and vanished. Violet, almost holding her breath, put a clamp on Brandywine’s umbilical cord and passed the foal to Bucky, who was close. She lowered her head, her brows furrowing, and began to examine Berry Punch to see what was going on.

Staring, Violet watched as Berry Punch’s bloody nethers clenched. There was a tear that was bad enough that it would need stitches. The water was turning crimson with blood. She glanced up, looking up at Berry from between her hind legs, and watched as Barley kissed Berry’s cheek. It seemed that Shetlanders practiced tough love.

“Berry, are you with me?” Violet asked. Violet heard an incomprehensible moan from Berry Punch. A feeling of worry began to settle into Violet’s mind.

“It’s not a breech birth,” Amaranth said in a low voice. “I do believe that little Barley just wanted to know where his sister went. Give him a moment, he’s shy and it’s cold out here. He’s not fond of the cold.”

Violet peered at the strange earth pony in the corner for a moment and then, when she looked down, she saw a snoot protruding from Berry Punch. She heard a grunt from Berry, and saw her sides expand as she pushed. Little Barley, who was a good deal smaller and skinnier, squirted right out, his head passing easily. One hoof came next, and his slender shoulders slipped free as Berry let out another scream.

“Brandywine looks just like you,” Barley said, whispering into Berry Punch’s ear. “But she has her daddy’s distinctive grey eyes.”

With a sloppy squish, little Barley slipped free and Violet lifted up him. The foal coughed, cleared his own airway, and then let out a plaintive wail as he began to shiver. Violet began to clean him up and made plans to stitch Berry up. She wiped the colt down with a clean cloth as Berry squirted out several clots and chunks of afterbirth.

Bucky, who stood watching all of this with wide eyes, felt a few tears slipping down his cheeks. “He looks just like me… he looks like… me… there’s a little version of me… Berry, you made a little version of me.”

Author's Notes:

To recap:

Ditzy: Grey pelt, wheat coloured mane like her mother, grey eyes like her father.
Dizzy: Grey pelt, black mane, amber eyes like his mother.

Brandywine: Plum coloured pelt, raspberry mane, (Like her mother) and grey eyes.
Barley Bitters: Tan pelt, black mane, grey eyes.