//------------------------------//
// Expectation In Two Ways 
// Story: All Behind Celestial Rays 
// by Cosy Purity 
//------------------------------//

“Oh, oh… o-o-oh,” The doctor stammered as he looked from Celestia to Spring and back again.
“Sincerest, deepest apologies, Miss Celestia…. I assume you’re here to see your sister? Yes, y-yes, well, I’m afraid you can’t come in yet,” He said, dipping his head regretfully.
“What? Again?!” Celestia wailed, unable to contain her disappointment.
“Y-y-yes, yes… sorry, Miss,” He said and quickly shuffled over to her, closing the “door” with great care behind him.
“Your mother is recovering at the moment, as well as your sister. You won’t be able to see them again for… for a while, Miss,” His short frame drooped slightly.
Celestia’s eyes widened, then she quickly put a hoof on his shoulder and reassured him, “No, it’s okay. Please alert me when they’re ready?” She added, inwardly wondering if she would be able to bear even a few more minutes of waiting.
The doctor brightened a little.
“Yes, yes, of course,” He nodded, a smile breaking upon his face, almost with relief.
I guess he just doesn’t want me to be upset that I can’t see Little-Me yet, Celestia reflected, I’m not sure why he’s taking it so hard though. It’s not his fault.
As if on cue, Spring - who had been standing quietly by them - broke her out of her thoughts and said,
“We’ll be looking out for you, then. Thanks for informing us… er… Mister…?”
For a second the doctor’s face appeared frantic, as if he had forgotten his name. Then he breathed,
“Oh, uh, Anty Tubbs, Ma’am,” He affirmed.





Celestia was slouched against the far wall of the main cavern where all the alicorns were gathered, but still a far way away from them. Starswirl was beside her, his face scrunched up with a combination of bemusement and mostly disdain.
He turned his head to look at her, his face still scrunched, and said incredulously,
“Anty Tubbs?”
“That’s what I told you,” Celestia said exasperatedly, gazing up at the ceiling and ready to crumble with the dust in impatience.
He turned his head forward once more, and as if taking a moment to think very hard, his face somehow crumpled even further, and he turned to look at her with the exact same movement as before and hissed,
“Anty Tubbs?!”
His voice rose on the last syllable, sounding almost like a quiet, unbelieving screech.
“Yes, I know it’s a really stupid name!” Celestia said, looking at him with widened eyes.
After a moment of staring at each other they broke into an abrupt snort of amusement and began to laugh quietly, not wanting to draw attention from the other alicorns.
After a few moments their laughter died down and they sat for a while in silence.
Then Starswirl broke it.
“But seriously,” he muttered, “It sounds as if he made the name up.”
“Well, his parents did,” Celestia pointed out.
“Do I even need to make that cliche statement?”
Celestia raised an eyebrow, completely lost on what he meant.
“Don’t make me say it,” Starswirl grumbled, “You know how I hate cliches.”
She poked his shoulder with a hoof and smiled. Starswirl frowned at her, but she knew it was playful.
Then they both turned when the sound of approaching hoof-steps alerted them and looked up in unison to see Spring, her brows furrowed in thought. Her lips were pressed together and her eyes had a far-away look.
Then she met the two’s gaze and seemed to be brought back into reality. She plodded over to Celestia and settled down in front of her.
Celestia’s heart clenched with excitement.
“I went check up on Mr. Tubbs,” Spring began.
Starswirl snorted.
As if she hadn’t heard, Spring continued,
“But he wasn’t there. Another doctor was in his place. He seemed a little on-edge… He told me that he’d excused Mr. Tubbs... and when I asked him why, he told me very sternly that he didn’t want to talk anymore about the matter. Doctor’s business. But, on the bright side,”
Spring continued, stopping Celestia from asking any questions that had immediately sprung up in her head,
“Your mom is ready to show you your sister.”
Celestia’s heart filled once more with elation, but she still felt pressed to ask about Anty and the strange behaviour of the doctor.
“Why do you think the doctor excused Mr. Tubbs?” Celestia queried, “And where could he have gone? Any alicorn would have noticed him and he would be incredibly dragon-brained to go above-ground…”
Spring smiled at her reassuringly.
“We’ll think it over later, okay? Everypony has been so stressed out and in a terrible mood, and I know how badly you’ve wanted to see your new sibling. I just want us to focus more on what’s good right now. So are you coming with or not?”
Celestia scrambled to her hooves and bounced in place.
“Coming! Coming!” She exclaimed.