And just like that, the lie was born. Redstreak was shocked; Granny Smith fainted again; when it was suggested the next day, Applejack locked herself in her room to cry again; and Macintosh nigh on swore the house down in anger. But none of them could think of anything better, and so the plan began to formulate.
Over the next few weeks, Pink Pearl would begin dropping hints whenever she was with her friends that she and Redstreak had been trying for a foal. Talking about such things was hardly strange amongst mares her age, and she had often said that she would like another foal, so it wouldn't be a surprise to anypony. They would wait a while before actually "confirming" her pregnancy, perhaps a month or so, and then they would announce it in conversation. There would be all the happy friends and relatives to deal with after that, probably a small gathering for a few loved ones (and, of course, an increasingly common Pinkie Pie party for the whole town), before things began to settle down again and life went more-or-less back to normal.
Pearl would have to put on some weight as the months went by, although not too much, otherwise she would have difficulty working it off convincingly quickly following the foal's birth. Also to be considered was the fact that it wouldn't be easy to gain mass in the right places, whilst keeping it off in others. True, some mares just ballooned in all directions when pregnant, but for a normally busy and active mare like Pink Pearl that couldn't be the case. It would be easier if she was simply not seen after a while, to avoid difficult questions.
Applejack's weight gain would have to be hidden somehow or otherwise explained away. She probably wouldn't have to worry for at least four months, maybe five, but after six was when most fully grown mares started showing the signs, and considering she was not yet fully grown the signs would likely manifest early. After that, Applejack too would have to keep out of sight for six, maybe seven months, as she hid the unmistakable bump of a mother-to-be.
This aspect of their plan would likely be the hardest thing to accomplish: a pony did not simply “disappear” for such a period of time for no reason, and nor could they then reappear and expect no questions to be asked. A suitably believable excuse would therefore be needed, and luckily enough one soon presented itself: the Pony Pox. It was all over the newspapers one morning and all over Ponyville the next. Its sufferers were covered in itchy spots from head to hoof, as well as experiencing a range of other symptoms: from those of the common cold (if they were lucky), to more like the flu (if they were not). Severe cases could leave a pony bedridden for months, but ultimately did no real harm, even to those already weak or otherwise vulnerable. And perhaps “best of all”, there was no genuine cure other than to rest and wait for it to go away. In other words: it was perfect, even if Pink Pearl or Applejack actually caught it! And so “catch it” they did, first Applejack, then Pearl a few days later.
There followed several long, lonely, but thankfully uneventful months for the two housebound Apples, though they weighed heaviest on the youngest. Applejack often had no choice except to be alone in her room, and not just because she was hiding there, but because it was the easiest place for her to be. Heaving around a bellyful of baby pony is no mean feat for mares of any age, and having a bed (not to mention the toilet) nearby at short notice was a lifesaver for the young mare.
It also didn't help that she couldn't exercise much around the house, or during the brief times she went outside for her vitamin D. That, added to her extra weight and drastic hormonal mood shifts, made for an unfit, easily tired, and very easily upset Applejack. She cried at nothing, would then cry at being stupid enough to cry in the first place, would get angry at anypony trying to calm her down, would cry again in sorrow for acting like "such a mean-hearted bitch!", would possibly continue crying at her unaccountable bad language, and may only then calm down for a while, often becoming particularly amorous around Big Macintosh at this time. Much to her annoyance, she was consistently denied: Macintosh had been strictly warned off by both his parents, and it was more than his life was worth to disobey that order. It wasn’t easy for him to do, though: his fillyfriend seemed oddly attractive lately, and he couldn’t quite explain why…
Applejack was kept up to date with Ponyville happenings by her friend Rarity's regular letters. Although she wasn't allowed in to see "the invalid", as was her joke, Rarity made a point to keep in contact nonetheless, for which Applejack was grateful (even if the Unicorn did occasionally fill whole pages with the latest gossip and fashion news). There was one good thing that the gossip told her, however: that nopony suspected anything at all regarding her or her mother’s “illness”, and that Rarity was just as clueless as the rest. It was hard for Applejack to maintain such a huge lie to her friend, even over paper; and she desperately wanted somepony else to confide in, somepony relatively sensible like Rarity, who, despite their differences, she could probably confide in without worry. But it could not be: the fewer who knew, the less chance there was for some disaster or other.
Eventually, the hour arrived. It was early in the evening, now several weeks before Applejack was due to turn seventeen. She was stuck upstairs, being literally unable to safely descend without a great deal of help, and was returning (slowly) from the bathroom to her bedroom.
And that was when the contractions started.
Applejack collapsed to the floor with a groan, clenching her teeth and screwing her eyes shut whilst she waited for the pain to pass. But this was not like other times, and soon enough the pain from before was simply replaced with more, a sure sign that she was finally going into labour.
"Help!" she cried, staggering back to her hooves and limping back to her bed. When she got there it was all she could do to raise her forelegs up, there was no strength in her hindlegs to climb the rest of the way.
"Help!" she cried again, more desperately this time, as nopony had apparently heard her first call.
"Mama! Daddy! Nnngh!" Another wave hit, the worst yet, and her back legs gave out as she fell to a seated position. "Oof! Big Macintosh! Somepony help me!" There was a rapid clattering of hooves on the old wooden steps, and at last Big Macintosh appeared, sticking his head round the doorway with a concerned frown on his face.
"AJ? What's wrong?"
"Ah'm havin' yer foal, ya great galoot, now get over here an' help me!" she all-but-screamed. To his credit Macintosh acted quickly, firmly but gently lifting Applejack up and onto the bed with his forelegs, before laying her down on her back and doing everything he could to make her comfortable.
"O-ok, now, what now?" he said to himself, absentmindedly stroking Applejack's forehead with one hoof whilst laying the other over her belly.
"Towels! Need towels! A-and water! Damp cloths an' such!" he announced as he leapt up again, running off to the linen cupboard and back, then to the bathroom for the water, a whole bucketful, which he brought back in his teeth and set down beside her.
“Alright, AJ, just… just keep calm, o-ok?” His own attempts at keeping calm were not working very well, and his mind was reeling at the thought of having to help Applejack deliver the foal all by himself.
Fortunately for him their parents and grandmother showed up at this point, and Mac’s mother actually began to shoo him from the room to give her and Redstreak enough space.
"Don't y'all worry, sonny," Granny Smith said with a kind smile, placing her hoof over Mac's as she led him away. "Applejack ain't in any danger, an' neither's yer foal. Yer maw an' paw'll see 'em right, you wait'n see!" He reluctantly left, and Pearl closed the door behind him before sitting beside Applejack, holding one of her hooves and wiping her brow with a damp cloth. Redstreak positioned himself towards the foot of the bed, ready to help with the birth. Now all they needed to do was wait.
"It ain't fair!" Applejack cried suddenly.
"What? What's not fair, honey?" Pearl asked gently, keeping Applejack's hoof held tightly in her own. Her daughter's eyes had clouded with tears once more, but it soon became clear that she wasn't crying from the physical ordeal.
"Mac an Ah..." she gasped. “We've come so far, an' it's been so hard... a-and we're almost there, now, but... but as soon as Ah... as soon as we get our little foal... we're gonna have to give 'em up again..." Pearl felt her heart break at the sight of Applejack's despair, and leant in to hug her close.
"No, AJ, y'all ain't givin' them up, not at all!"
"But after tonight, they won't be my foal no more, an' Ah won't be able to be their mama!"
"Nothin's gonna change that, darlin'," Redstreak said, coming round to Applejack's other side and hugging her too. "It don't matter what other ponies think, or what the foal thinks, 'cos we'll know, an' eventually they'll all know too."
"But how long is that gonna be?!" Neither parent had an answer, and they told her so.
"But whatever the case, the foal is still gonna need y'all to be its mother fer a while," Redstreak said, trying to find something positive to say.
“That’s right!” Pearl agreed. “The little dear’s gonna need their mother’s milk for months to come yet!” She sighed, smiling sadly as she stroked Applejack’s brow.
“Ah know it ain’t perfect, hon, but it’s the best we can do right now.” Applejack said nothing for a short while; but eventually she swallowed down the lump in her throat, and tried to put on a brave face.
“Ah guess… Ah guess Ah should make the most of what Ah get, huh?”
“That’s the spirit, girl,” her father smiled reassuringly.
“And just like with Macintosh, we’ll be with you both the whole way.” Pearl leaned in and kissed Applejack’s forehead. “We’ll get through this together, just wait an’ see.”