Time was more of a concept than a construct to Pinkie. It meant something. Of course it did. It counted the years she had spent with her friends and cradled the present to make memories in her mind. Still, it was something Pinkie didn’t really get at times. Why was waiting for cupcakes for twenty minutes agonizing while a weekend vacation with her friends blinked past? So when the doctor had said soon Pinkie had tucked the information away and held it, unsure of what to do. Because when was soon? How quickly would soon be here? Was it a vacation time passing speed or a waiting on cupcakes speed? Probably closer to the vacation one, but not nearly as fast because sometimes it felt like the cupcake one.
Then of course, there were more soons once she made it to the hospital with a frantic Thunderlane and a swarm of her friends. She had waved to the nurses from Thunderlane’s back, cheerfully explaining that her water had broken. There was a flurry of activity and then she was in a room, nurses and doctors coming by to periodically say ‘soon’. Soon finally came.
She couldn’t help the warm swelling feeling in her chest. Two small tightly wrapped bundles lay sleeping in her hooves. Her smile was illuminating the whole room – or at least, that’s what she imagined. She wanted to cry and to jump and to giggle and be still and do so many other things at once. Instead, she just laid there in her bed, admiring the small foals as their tiny chests rose and fell with each breath.
Cotton Cloud was her son. She loved turning the phrase over and over in her head. Son. My son. His mane poked out of the yellow blanket he was swaddled in, a gentle, soft curly pink. Against his blue coat, it reminded her of cotton candy. Then she glanced at Cream Puff. The delicate little filly had a yellowish cream colored coat. Her main wasn’t as tightly curled as her mother’s, but it was wavy and the same shade of pink as her brother’s.
Pinkie looked over at Thunderlane. He hadn’t left the room since they had been brought back in. His eyes had never left them. He hadn’t even so much as spoken, but Pinkie could tell he was happy. He sat leaned forward, chair forgotten behind him. It had been an hour already that he stood there. “You can hold one of them,” Pinkie said. “They can’t bite yet.”
His eyes snapped up to hers and he nodded. She held Cream Puff up for him to take. He was gentle as he moved, slowly taking her out of Pinkie’s hooves and cradling her in his own. He wrapped his wings around her too. He softly stroked her face, seemingly mesmerized. “She’s so beautiful. And he’s so beautiful.” He looked back up to Pinkie, tears falling onto his face. “They’re so tiny and perfect.”
Pinkie looked down to her little boy and nodded. “Yeah, they are.”
The room was silent again. More time passed, not that Pinkie cared much about that. This was the best way she could think of to spend time right now. The rest of the evening, she and Thunderlane traded the twins back and forth, holding each of them.
After a while – Pinkie wasn’t sure how long, but enough time had passed that the babies had been fed twice and she and Thunderlane had been brought trays – she looked over at him. “Thundie, I’ve been thinking.”
He looked up from making faces as Cotton Cloud. “What about? Are you going to change their names?”
She smiled and shook her head. “No. About us.” She met his eyes with a smile. “If you ever wanted to ask me to marry you again, I would say yes.” She had thought before that Thunderlane’s smile couldn’t get bigger. She had been wrong. Somehow it stretched more.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said.
Eventually, a nurse came by and kicked him out and took the babies to the viewing area. As sad as Pinkie was to see the three of them go, she was tired and she knew that she would face an onslaught of her friends tomorrow. Not that she minded that, either. She just needed some sleep. She turned to her side and reached her hand out for Thunderlane.
Of course, he wasn’t there. Sigh sighed and curled into a ball, wondering if he missed her being there as she fell asleep.
Getting to go home with the twins felt great. Pinkie showed them their room and cribs, all their toys, and laid them down for naps. Getting into a routine hadn’t been all that difficult – mostly because Mrs. Cake helped set one up. Sleepless nights of getting up every hour to feed one or change or rock one turned into the twins starting to sleep more soundly. Four months, Pinkie realized, had whizzed by faster than Pinkie had ever seen time move.
She had just put Cream Puff to bed when Thunderlane walked in with Cotton Cloud. The babe was cuddled in a wing, sleeping soundly. “Never thought he’d go down. He wanted to chew on my mane.”
Pinkie grinned and leaned against him. He wrapped a wing around her, pulling her close. “I have a surprise for you. I arranged for a sitter tomorrow. We’re going out.”
“Where to?” Pinkie asked.
“It’s a secret. I Pinkie Promise you’ll love it.” He winked at her and, wing still wrapped around her, led her back to their room.
Pinkie was still giggle at Twilight as she and Thunderlane walked away from Sugarcube Corner. “Pinkie, I live my life by check lists, I think I can handle this,” she quoted, starting the giggling over again.
“It was nice of her to agree to watch them,” Thunderlane said. “I never imagined I’d be asking a Princess to foalsit my kids.”
Pinkie just stuck her tongue out at him. “Where are we going anyway? What kind of surprise is this? Does Twilight know when we’ll be back?
“Of course Twilight knows when we will get back.” Thunderlane looked over at Pinkie. “As for the other questions…you’ll see. Our stop is up ahead.”
Pinkie looked forward, eager eyes taking in everything. A couple market stalls, the hot air balloon, a small antique shop, and Filthy’s shop all stood close together. Thunderlane led her past the market stalls. He didn’t glance as the shops. So that left the hot air balloon.
Pinkie felt herself getting the inside trembling feeling of giddiness. It took a small conversation and then she was in the air with Thunderlane. They drifted through the sky, Thunderlane seeming to direct them this way and that until finally they were above Ponyville proper. All around them the town sprawled out, awash in the glow of the evening sun.
Thunderlane pulled out a picnic basket that had been tucked into a corner. He carefully pulled out the blanket and set the places. Drinks and plates and sandwiches and sides and…and a velvet covered box. Pinkie’s eyes locked onto it as she sat in her place.
Then she looked up at him, her eyes already wet. Thunderlane cleared his throat. “I know I’ve asked you this before, but neither of us were ready at the time. Now I think we are. I love you. I love your foals. I love our family and what we have together. I know you love Ponyville, and no one spot could ever do it justice so I wanted to do it in the air. With all of Ponyville in view. Because…because you deserve the world, Pinkie Pie. I want nothing more than to make you happy for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me?”
Pinkie swallowed and nodded. “Yes!”
Moving quicker than Pinkie could, Thunderlane leaned forward and kissed her. It started as a chaste peck on the lips. Then another. Soon, he had his wings wrapped around her. The rest of the balloon ride was spent locked together, the picnic forgotten.