A week. It had been a week since the proposal. A week since the last time Pinkie saw Thunderlane. She laid on her bed, watching the occasional lump form on her stomach as the foals inside her moved. She had gotten a lot accomplished that week. She had gone to all her doctor appointments, alone. She had sent out the letter to Double Diamond. Sighing, she remembered he was due to arrive in an hour. She had even watched the Cake twins alone for half a day! She just wanted to go out and have some fun, talk to some ponies, maybe even bake a cake.
Instead, she was regulated to her bed because she had been exhausted and Mrs. Cake insisted she take a nap. Not that it hadn’t been a good idea. She felt much better now. She could probably even face Double Diamond without being angry – well, as angry. She still didn’t understand, but maybe she would have the patience to sit and listen.
Besides, Twilight had agreed to go with her. Originally, she wanted everypony there, but they thought it was a bad idea and Twilight had volunteered to mediate. “Try not to fall asleep this time,” she had said, but the joke had fallen flat.
The door to her room slowly swung open and a grinning, frosting covered face peeked in at her. “Pinkie,” Pumpkin whispered loudly. “Are you awake?”
She sat up and nodded. “You betcha!” She hopped down from the bed. “How could I be asleep when I have my favorite little filly all ready to play with me?” She picked Pumpkin up and together they plopped onto the bed. Pinkie leaned down, blowing raspberries onto the toddlers stomach. The peals of laughter drowned out the footsteps in the hallway.
“Oh, you two,” Mr. Cake said, smiling fondly at them. “Honestly, I sent you to get Pinkie, not play with her.” Pumpkin just grinned at her father. He scooped her onto his back before looking over at Pinkie. “Twilight is waiting on you downstairs.”
Pinkie took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Be down in a sec!”
He left, leaving the door open, and Pinkie fell back onto her bed. After a second of staring at the ceiling, she stood and went down to go with Twilight.
Twilight smiled at her when she arrived. “Hey! How are you feeling?”
“Better now. That nap was a super good idea.” She stretched. “Somehow just being pregnant makes you tired.”
Twilight giggled. “Yeah, the hormone changes and the stress your body is under takes a lot out of you. But something nice from the café we’re meeting at will probably help.” She pushed the door open, urging Pinkie through.
During the walk, Pinkie imagined two little foals following along behind her, chattering about their day. Foals running ahead, skipping and playing and calling out to friends. She smiled and glanced over at Twilight. She was mouthing something – nothing clear enough to read but her lips were moving. Twilight did that when she was deep in thought, so Pinkie turned back to the imagined foals.
Then she saw Double Diamond sitting on the outside patio of the café. “There he is!” she said, her pace quickening. “Come on.” She waved to him with a smile and received one back. The café was a nice one, full of color and character. It didn’t take long for the two to find seats with Double Diamond.
They had no more than sat down when Twilight leaned forward. “Okay.” She looked between them both and drew a quick breath. “So, what have the two of you discussed so far?”
Double Diamond spoke first. “We discussed school and break schedules, but neither of us liked that. We don’t want to split them up, either.”
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah. We both want to see them when we want to see them. We don’t hate each other, so mostly we’re having problems with a solution that isn’t just one of us moving.”
“I need to be in my village. We have a new ski season coming up, and the competition is good. Pinkie refuses to leave Ponyville, too, since this is where her life is. A move doesn’t work for either of us.”
Twilight sat in thought for a moment. “Well, what if one of you kept the twins full time, and the other came to visit whenever they could?” Pinkie raised her hoof. “Yes, Pinkie?”
“Well, I wouldn’t like that because I want to see them all the time! So I want to be the one to keep them.” Both Pinkie and Twilight looked to Double Diamond.
Double Diamond shrugged. “My life and my schedule, with training and the games coming up, is unpredictable right now. That’s probably the best solution.” He frowned. “It’s not my favorite – I’d still like to have my kids closer, you know? But right now, it’s probably the best choice we have.”
Pinkie put a hoof on his shoulder. “Hey, you can come spend time with them whenever you want, okay?”
Twilight nodded. “Plus, this issue can always be revisited later. But for now, I think this is the best solution, too.”
Double Diamond tapped his hoof on the table. “Then I guess that settles it.”
Pinkie met his eyes when he looked at her and smiled. “Hey, if you send a copy of your schedule, we could come watch your games.” She glanced at Twilight, eyebrows raised. “I bet all the girls would come! We could be your loudest cheering squad!”
He grinned. “Really? You would do that?”
With a nod, Pinkie giggled. “Of course, silly.”
Without warning, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. Pinkie pushed back against him, eyes wide. At the same time, he was enveloped in magenta magic and pulled away. “What the hay?” Pinkie leveled a glare at him. “That’s not very nice. You can’t just kiss people out of nowhere!”
His nose wrinkled in confusion. “I used to do it all the time.”
“When we were dating. I have a coltfriend now. I know I told you.” Pinkie stood and shook her head. “That’s a breach of trust.”
Double Diamond scoffed. “Please, I’ve heard so much about this coltfriend of yours, but I’ve never seen him. You expect me to believe he actually exists? He was a ploy to get me jealous, and it worked. I’ll take you back.”
“What?” Pinkie leaned forward, teeth clenched. “Of all the egotisical things I’ve heard you say, that is the most ginormous one.”
Twilight placed a hoof on Pinkie. “We settled what we wanted to. Let’s go.”
Pinkie nodded. She followed Twilight out, not looking back at Double Diamond, ears clamped down against whatever it was he was saying.
They had only walked down the street a few paces when Twilight stopped suddenly and, with a falsely cheerful smile on her face, blocked Pinkie’s view forward. “Actually, let’s go the other way. I need to buy some flowers!”
Pinkie lowered her eyebrows. “Roseluck’s is this way, Twi.”
“Oh, is it?” She gave a nervous giggle. “That’s right.”
“You’re being weird.” She leaned around Twilight, whose smile had turned to a grimace, saw Thunderlane talking to Sugar Grape. They were laughing about something. “Why didn’t you want me to see Thundie?” she asked. Sure, maybe she had told Twilight how he had been avoiding her after asked her to marry him, but after a week she really missed him. She trotted forward and called his name when she was close enough.
He turned, his smile vanishing. “Oh, hey, Pinkie.”
Sugar Grape looked between the two and then to Twilight. “Hi Pinkie, Twilight.”
Twilight gave a pained smile and waved.
Pinkie looked at Thunderlane. “Are you still mad at me?”
“Mad?” Thunderlane laughed. “I wasn’t mad at you. I was upset. It hurt, a lot. I flew for hours after you said no. I thought a lot this whole situation. You and me, the foals, Double Diamond. What kind of future we could even have together. Whether we are even any good together.” He paused and looked at the ground.
Pinkie felt her heart beating against her ribcage. She took a deep breath in through her nose and did her best to not let her fear show through. “And?” she asked, but it came out as a whisper.
“I thought of so many different ways this could go wrong. I thought of what your rejection could mean. Then I just thought about you.” He looked up, meeting her worried frown with a smile. “I love you, Pinkie Pie. I am willing to wait for you.”
“I love you!” Pinkie sprang forward, launching into a hug. Thunderlane tried to keep them upright, but failed, causing them to sprawl on the ground. Pinkie jumped up and rubbed her snout with a giggle. “Ouchie.”
Thunderlane giggled as he got to his hooves as well. “Anyway.” He glanced over to where Sugar Grape and Twilight were silently watching. He cleared his throat and straightened up. “Anyway,” he said again. “Sugar Grape, I hope that helped. Um, I’m going to go and get uh, lunch. So.” He glanced at Pinkie. “You’re up for lunch, right?”
“Yeah!” She nuzzled into his neck. “You guys should come!”
Sugar Grape and Twilight glanced at each other for just a second. “Actually, Princess, there was something I needed help with over at my stall. If you wouldn’t mind?”
“Of course! You can tell me about it on the way.”
Pinkie sighed. “Too bad. I’ll see you later, Twi-twi! Bye Sugar Grape!” Thunderlane wrapped a wing around Pinkie as they walked toward a hayburger place. “At least they’re still hanging out,” she said. “They’ll be totally cute together.”
An amused smile flicked across Thunderlane’s face. “What?”
“Twilight and Sugar Grape. They’ll make the cutiest couple.” Pinkie looked up at him. “Don’t you think?”
“Pinkie, they aren’t hang—“ He paused for fraction of a second, just long enough to be considered a pause. “Actually, yeah, they would make a cute couple.”
“Right? I can’t wait to hear all about it.” Pinkie bounced out from under the wing and ahead a few paces. “Come on! I’m hungry.”
With a laugh and a good natured eye roll, Thunderlane trotted along after her.