Pinkie wasn’t afraid of doctors. She really wasn’t. She just couldn’t seem to find a comfortable position to sit in the waiting room. Or stand. Or a good enough path to walk.
“Pinkie Pie.” Her head shot toward the voice. The nurse was looking down at a clipboard. “You can come back now.” She took a deep breath and looked to Thunderlane, who was now standing beside her.
They walked to the back and into a room with an uncomfortable looking bed. The nurse quickly checked Pinkie’s weight, heart rate, and blood pressure before telling her the doctor would be in soon. Which she was. The unicorn mare knocked before opening the door.
“Hello, Ms. Pie.” She smiled. “I’m Dr. Rosehoof.” She sat on a stool and pulled it over. “I’m just going to check a couple things before we get to the exciting part, okay?”
Pinkie swallowed and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” Dr. Rosehoof put her stethoscope in her ears and stood. “When you’re ready, breathe deeply for me.” Pinkie did her best not to flinch at the cold touch of the metal as she took a deep breath. Dr. Rosehoof moved the stethoscope several times before sitting back down. “You sound fine and your chart looks good.” She smiled at Pinkie. “Now for the exciting part!”
Thunderlane grabbed Pinkie’s hoof, giving her an encouraging smile. “Hey, you’ve been talking about this for days,” he said.
“It’s just so real.” She took a deep breath and put a hoof on her belly. “My first time seeing them.” She gripped his hoof tighter.
“Are you ready?” Dr. Rosehoof asked. Pinkie nodded. “The gel is cold,” she warned.
It was. Then her horn glowed as she cast the spell. Pinkie stayed silent, though, gripping Thunderlane’s hoof, and watched the screen as a fuzzy grey and black image appeared. Two small ponylike shapes appeared and Pinkie heard Thunderlane groan as she squeezed his hoof. She gave him a sheepish smile and turned back to the screen. It was astounding.
“There we are,” Dr. Rosehood said. “Here you have a little colt. And here a filly. They’re both earth ponies. By now, we could see developing horns or wings if they were going to have them.” She left the image on the screen for a moment more before ending the spell and wiping the gel away from Pinkie’s stomach.
“A colt and a filly,” Pinkie whispered. She turned to Thunderlane. “They’re a colt and a filly.”
“Yeah, I heard,” he said. They stood, the doctor giving a few more orders and another appointment, and left. Pinkie felt lighter than she had since learning she was pregnant.
The next couple of months was spent in a dizzying flurry of commotion. Rarity took charge of planning the baby shower and wouldn’t let Pinkie touch a single part of it. The Cakes were busy moving into the cottage they had bought while Thunderlane fixed the upstairs for Pinkie and the two foals.
Pinkie was mostly left in charge of the store. She baked and she sold and she woke up early and she went to sleep late. Everyone seemed to be on the go and moving so fast that by the time she blinked, the Cakes were moved out, the twins room was set up, and she was alone in Sugarcube Corner.
She sat at a table in the lobby one night. The shop had closed and the Cakes had gone home. Thunderlane was gone to reserve training. She was looking through a list of names she had picked out. She wanted to announce their names at the baby shower next week.
A tapping on the window caught her attention. She looked up to see Amethyst Star with a pensive smile on her face. She gestured to the door indicating she wanted in.
Pinkie moved out of her chair and opened it, letting Amethyst in out of the cool Autumn air.
Amethyst took a deep breath and met Pinkie’s eyes. “Hi, Pinkie.”
“Hi.” They hadn’t moved out of the doorway. Pinkie was well aware of what happened the last time they had been alone in the shop together.
“You never told Thunderlane what I said.” She just stated it. It was obvious Amethyst knew it was true, but Pinkie nodded anyway. “Why?”
“There isn’t a point in making two ponies sad. He loves you and he values your opinion.” Pinkie again felt a weird feeling in her stomach. Almost like it was tightening. She shrugged it off, though. It didn’t seem like Amethyst was going to be mean this time.
“I told him. Recently. He was upset and I was surprised. I would have hold him.” She sighed. “I’m really sorry, Pinkie. You didn’t deserve me saying those things to you.”
“I didn’t understand why you did.” And there, the feeling was going away now.
Amethyst shrugged. “I don’t know. I was angry. I thought you had cheated on him and then made some crazy story about how it was before. I thought you would leave him for the dad. I don’t know. I’m sorry.” She sighed and pulled a small wrapped box out of her saddlebag. “I brought you something. It won’t make up for it, I know, but it’s a token.” She smiled.
And the feeling was back, but worse this time. Pinkie grimaced a little, her hoof on her stomach.
Amethyst’s hopeful expression turned to concern. “Are you okay?”
“My stomach just hurts a little. It’s coming and going.” She took a breath. “See, all better already.”
For a second they stood there, and then then pain hit again. Harder this time. Amethyst moved to Pinkie’s side. “Okay, no, Pinkie. I think you’re going into labor. Let’s get you to the hospital.”