Chapter 3: Six Month Ago
It was now three months since Twilight had become pregnant and she was starting to show. Not fully but enough to know she was starting to gain a bit of a bump. “Sigh, so…” Twilight asked the doctor.
“Seems the foal’s coming along nicely Miss Sparkle. Any problems?” Dr. First-aid asked kindly.
“Well… I still can’t seem to keep anything down that’s not apples.” Twilight said tiredly. She couldn’t even enjoy her normal daisy and daffodil sandwiches without needing to use the bathroom right after.
“Really? Hmm what about the supplements you’ve been taking.” Dr. First-aid asked a bit confused.
“Ugh don’t even get me started on that stuff. I feel worse every time I take it.” Twilight replied remembering the morning dose she had taken… and left back home with the sandwich.
“That’s nto good Miss Sparkle. Your foal needs the right nutrients to grow and stay healthy. Have you tried anything else?” Dr. First-aid asked taking some notes.
“Well… I tried a few different sandwiches, they didn’t go very well. Then there was the vegetable soup which was even worse, I even tried a few different types of fruit and well…” Twilight’s ears went flat against her head. She really did like fruit, but having apples every time was becoming a bit… dull.
“What about sweets?” The doctor asked looking up from his notes. “Normal ones.”
Twilight tapped her chin with her hoof and shook her head. “I haven’t tried any normal sweets yet.”
The Doctor nodded at this. “Well let’s give it a shot. I’ll see if one of the nurses can spare an extra cupcake from Sugar Cube Corner and see how that goes.” Twilight smiled at this. Some different food would be a nice change after three months of just apples. A few moment later a nurse came in with a delicious looking vanilla cupcake. “Take a test bite and see how the foal likes it.” Dr. First-aid instructed.
With a sigh Twilight took the cupcake and took a small bite hoping it would taste good. A few bits of chewing and she quickly devoured the entire thing. “Oh Celestia that was good…”
Dr. First-aid smiled at this. “Looks like we can please the foal with some sweets as well. Now, I’m going to write you out a request to hand to the Cakes for some cakes I think the foal might like along with a few other sweets in candy form. I’ll have them make the sweets out of fully natural ingredients, not food dyes.” Twilight nodded at this as she sighed at the still lingering flavor of vanilla on her tongue. Now she didn’t have to just have apples anymore, she could have something else. Sure apples where really delicious and was one of the staple foods for Ponyville thanks to Applejack and her family but she so wanted something else. “Now Miss Sparkle are there any more issues?”
Twilight thought on it and shook her head yes. “I’ve been sleeping a lot more as well, is that normal?”
Dr. First-aid nodded. “Quite normal actually since you are carrying a foal and been eating nothing but apple dishes. Though I must ask how long you sleep.”
Twilight sighed. “Well I went to bed last night after dinner, about eight at night, then I woke up at eight in the morning.”
The Doctor shook his head at this. “No, that’s not good Ms. Sparkle. You’re sleeping far too much. Even with a foal you should at least be sleeping between eight to nine hours but a full twelve is a bit much. Is there any pain in your limbs or exhaustion after a small task?” Twilight thought on this and shook her head yes to the first but no to the second. “When I walk around a lot my legs start to hurt and I have to sit down.”
The doctor sighed happily at this and nodded. “I suggest light exercises for now on. It’ll help strengthen your leg muscles and I’m also recommending a weekly massage to help stimulate circulation. Since this is your first foal you’ll be needing to move more often since your now carrying not only your own weight on your legs your also carrying that of a baby.” Twilight just looked at him a bit mad. “I meant no offense.” The Doctor said looking back at his notes. “Is there anything else Ms. Twilight?” Twilight shook her head no. “Nothing at all, then let’s move on.”
***
Rainbow Dash paced in the waiting room along with her friends worried. Twilight nearly collapsed on the way here and she even got sick at home before they came on got her. She looked up at the ceiling and tossed up her hooves. “What’s taking them so long?!”
Nurse Redheart soon quieted her with her hoof. “Miss Dash please remember this is a Care Center, Ponies are trying to recover here.”
Rainbow Dash smiled sheepishly and laughed a bit. “Um, right… sorry.”
Nurse Redheart sighed to the group. “I know it’s quite stressful for all of you being here to support your friend and her child but you must remember that this is a place for recovery and medical aid. The doctor is doing what she can for your friend so please, don’t worry.” The girls all sighed and nodded but Dash still couldn’t sit still. It just wasn’t her style and she was still worried about just who exactly was the second parent. She even worried if SHE was the second parent. She didn’t want the foal to grow up like she did, alone.
It was soon that Twilight trotted out of the medical room alongside her doctor. “Now remember to keep yourself active and eat what was prescribed. Only take the mineral supplement if and only if it is needed understand?” Dr. First-aid lectured.
“Yes Doctor, thank you.” Twilight said smiling.
“Alright then. Here is the, ahem, prescription you need to give to the Cakes, be sure they get it.” Dr. First-aid said using his magic to hand over a scroll.
“That’s a pretty long prescription doctor.” Twilight said taking it into her own magic gently.
“Yes well, it has everything you and your foal needs on there and I know the Cakes will take good care of you.” The doctor replied smiling.
“Alright. Thank you doctor, see you next month?” Twilight asked gaining a nod.
“Same time as this Miss Sparkle, take care.” Twilight nodded to the doctor and trotted slowly to her friends.
“Twilight! How’d it go?” Rainbow Dash asked landing in front of her.
“Well… Dr. First-aid says the foal’s coming along nicely but I need to start eating something different than apples, no offense Applejack.” Twilight replied.
“None taken sugar cube. What else did that doctor fella say?” Applejack asked worried.
Twilight looked at each of her friends and saw the worried looks on their faces. “Well he also suggested I do some light exercises for now on. I need to strengthen my leg muscles and he’s also recommending a weekly massage to help stimulate circulation.”
Fluttershy came forward nodding at this. “Oh yes, since it is your first foal Twilight you’ll need to move more for you and the baby’s health.”
Rarity step forward next. “Why don’t you join Fluttershy and I’s Spa dates darling this way you can have help to and from the Spa along with some company while you have your massage.”
Twilight smiled at this. “Thank you Rarity, I’d really appreciate that. Oh right, mind joining me at Sugar Cube Corner? I have to give this prescription to the Cakes.”
The girls blinked at this and nodded, Pinkie Pie the most since she worked and partied there a lot. “But the cakes aren’t doctors why would you need to give them a prescription, oh, oh, unless their really doctors in disguise but that wouldn’t makes sense because not a lot of doctors know how to make the cakes yummy cakes so maybe they are doctors in disguise but I would know if they were really doctors because I work with them and I’m not really sure I’d be working with them since I’m not really good at that medical stuff but I can try if it means making everyone in Ponyville super duper happy!” Pinkie said while bouncing along her trotting friends.
“Actually the doctor wanted me to him them this prescription because they can make some natural sweets like cakes, candies, and other things that the foal might actually like other than just apples, sorry Applejack.” Twilight explained then frowned.
“Ah shucks sugar cube, don’t you worry about all that. Even Granny Smith knows yah need a healthy diet when you’re a Ma to be.” Applejack said smiling.
“Yeah. Thanks girls for helping me so much.” Twilight said gaining gentle hugs from all of them.
“So um Twilight? Any word on who the other parent is yet?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously.
Twilight sighed at this. “No.” She looked to her friends with a very worried and sadden face. “Yet… I’m… I’m guessing it’s not a Stallion. I know Big Mac wasn’t at the party we held after we got rid of Nightmare Moon but…” She looked each over with tears in her eyes. “That’s not what I’m worried about. I… I don’t even know what the foal is going to be. I don’t know if it’s going to be a Unicorn, a Pegasus, or an Earth pony and I… I’m not ready to be a mom, I’m not only a Librarian girls. I’m Princess Celestia’s student, her FAITHFUL student. What will my parents say when they find out, let alone my whole family?”
Rarity and Fluttershy came over and held their emotional friend. “There, there, Twilight. No mater what you have you have all of us to help you. Also I guess if you were to ask Princess Celestia I know for certain she would go out of her way to help you. And as for your family dear Twilight, you will have to confront them at some point.” Rarity said smiling kindly.
“If… if you want we could all come visit you often and you can always talk to me or Rarity while we’re at the spa.” Fluttershy offered Twilight sniffed at this.
“Thank you girls.” It was at this Pinkie produced a vanilla cup cake with purple icing for Twilight which she slowly munched on and smiled at and started to feel hungry after it was gone. “Come on girls, I think it’s hungry again.” Twilight said looking down to her stomach.
***
Rainbow finally laid down in her cloud home sighing. Once the girls all had their fill of the Cake’s sweets, Twilight eating enough to be another Pinkie Pie, and helped Twilight back home it was all time for the girls to also return home and rest. However Rainbow just couldn’t rest.
Her mind was still on Twilight’s answers and her concerns. “No.”
It was such a simple answer and it scared not only Twilight but herself. “Yet… I’m… I’m guessing it’s not a Stallion. I know Big Mac wasn’t at the party we held after we got rid of Nightmare Moon but…”
Did this mean Twilight… guessed it was one of them? “That’s not what I’m worried about. I… I don’t even know what the foal is going to be. I don’t know if it’s going to be a Unicorn, a Pegasus, or an Earth pony and I… I’m not ready to be a mom, I’m not only a Librarian girls. I’m Princess Celestia’s student, her FAITHFUL student. What will my parents say when they find out, let alone my whole family?”
That was a good question. Rainbow turned to her side and sighed. What WOULD Twilight’s family say, or better yet how would they react when they find out it was with a mare instead of a stallion?
That sent chills down her spine. Sure she was open-minded but… Rainbow growled in frustraition of remembering Flightschool. How she was always targeted as a fillyfooler due to her mane and fetlock colors. Was it so unusual to have a rainbow colored mane? Also was it always seen as someone with a multicolored being into mares? It was one of the many reasons she got into fights so often. So what if her only two friends were another filly and a female griffon did that really mean she wanted to be with anther mare when she was older? That should be her choice not anyone else's. Sitting right up she… she… just… cried. She could be the second parent and… she… she didn’t know how to handle it.
***
Applejack just laid on her bed thinking. Thinking of the past… and the present. Twilight was going to be a Ma, an unwilling Ma, but a Ma none the less. Yet what about the foal? What will they do when it was born? What will Twilight’s family do after they find out about her special somepony? So many questions… and no answers. Sighing she turned to her own past. All she could remember was her, her brother, and Granny and Grandpa Smith. Grandpa Smith was a big, tough, and loving old stallion who could buck a tree so well the entire orchard dropped its, or so Granny had told her. She never saw her Grandpa apple buck but she sure did learn a lot from him before he passed away.
Then there was Granny Smith, her current and only living parent she knew of and though she was very loving and very caring… how would she react when and if they found out she was Twilight’s foal’s second parent. Closing her eyes she knew how she’s react. She’d… she’d dismiss Applejack from the family. She’d no longer be an Apple, she wouldn’t be part of the farm, she’d be poor, on the streets with only Twilight and the foal as her only comforts… “What am I goin’ ta do Grandpa? What’s Granny going ta do when she finds out? I… I done want to lose the farm let alone my family. I… I need help Grandpa… please help me.”
***
Rarity finished her nightly ritual and sighed looking into her mirror. She really felt for Twilight and would do anything for her or any of the girls. Yet… Rainbow’s question still weighed heavy on her mind. “No.”
No she didn’t know who the second parent was and she could tell, they all could tell, this weighed heavily on poor Twilight’s mind. She even knew something no one had told her. “Yet… I’m… I’m guessing it’s not a Stallion.”
Twilight was right about Applejack’s brother Big Mac not being at the party that was held after they had gotten rid of Nightmare Moon but those other concerns, “That’s not what I’m worried about. I… I don’t even know what the foal is going to be. I don’t know if it’s going to be a Unicorn, a Pegasus, or an Earth pony and I… I’m not ready to be a mom.”
Rarity knew exactly how it was to be suddenly there for a young foal as, though she did not wish to admit it openly, she was more a mother to her little sister Sweetie Belle than her own parents. How she did love her parents dearly she still was more a parental figure to her sister than their own parents. Then there was the concern she felt was quite important. “I’m not only a Librarian girls. I’m Princess Celestia’s student, her FAITHFUL student. What will my parents say when they find out, let alone my whole family?”
Twilight had a point on this. From what she knew the Library’s last librarian was paid normal wage, about seven bits and a spur or about ten thousand four hundred and forty bits a month. For a single mare this wasn’t bad but for a mare with a foal… it wasn’t enough.
Doing the math in her head she knew that by the second to third week there would be issues. The price of diapers, bottles, possible foal sitter which always varies on who you get, all factored into an average spending, yet Twilight wasn’t a normal mare. Twilight was also Princess Celestia’s student so it would be guessed that she’d get some kind of an allowance from the Princess or her own parents which was another issue. Rarity and the girls knew little to nothing about Twilight’s own family other than they must live in Canterlot just as Twilight did. She had a few customers from Canterlot at her shop and only one couple stuck out in her mind, a Miss Lyra Heartstrings and her love a Miss Bonbon.
They currently lived in Ponyville but knew quite a bit about Canterlot’s society and mindset on such couples. They never did tell her why they moved to Ponyville but she could always just ask however, just how WOULD poor Twilight’s family react… let alone her own if she was Twilight’s special somepony? Sighing she finally trotted over to her bed and laid down. If she was Twilight’s special somepony… what would she do about her own secret crush?
***
Fluttershy sighed as she fed her beloved chickens. “Poor Twilight…” Though she would have loved to be a mother she… wasn’t sure if she could be with Twilight even if she was the second parent to the foal. The only one she truly felt like being together was with either Applejack’s big brother Big Macintosh, the biggest yet gentlest Stallion she had ever met let alone the most well-mannered, even if was a bit of the silent type; Rarity, one of the most beautiful Mares she’d ever seen; or the mare she’s had the longest crush on, Rainbow Dash. Finishing her chore she finally went inside and just went to her bedroom closing the door so she would be left alone that night. Once she got to her bed she just fell onto it and cried. Twilight? Big Mac? Rarity? Rainbow Dash? Who would be her special somepony after the foal came or the results were announced. Never in her whole life had she been so worried… and so scared.
***
Princess Celestia sighed as she slowly trotted with her sister to her bedroom. “Sister please you need your rest.” Luna said gently and worried for her older sister.
“I know Luna but… I…” Celestia started till her sister nuzzled her. Celestia sighed as she allowed her maid to help her get ready for bed. For the past few months since their call to the hospital the only thing, or pony in this case, that was on her mind lately was Twilight, her faithful student… and parental daughter. Though they were not related by blood she had helped raise her from foal who to the mare she was today and… to know she was to be a mother and that she, Princess of the Day and co-regent of Equestria, could be the second parent to her students foal… It just unnerved her in ways Luna nor the castle staff could understand.
She loved Twilight more like a real daughter than a student in her school and would do anything for her yet there were times she did have to leave Twilight for a royal meeting but she knew she would be okay with another of her family members yet still… this all felt so… wrong. Finally she was placed into her bed by her maids and left to sleep while her sister took her place at the Night Court.
Luna on the otherhoof was… curious of the new life she was about to encounter. She had never seen a baby foal before let alone this Twilight Sparkle she had heard so much praise about. She had met all the other Elements yet not this Twilight and hearing what the doctor had told all of them, that Twilight Sparkle was pregnant with a foal and that one of them: the elements or she and/or her sister, was Twilight’s special someone that was to raise the foal when it was either born or one of them were inform. It was just so… curious. At times she had found herself wondering about her being someone’s special somepony and often liked it while at times it scared her. She knew only so much these modern times she wasn’t even sure she could help raise a foal without an entire castle staff to help support her. Sighing she went off to deal with more pressing matters, the Night Court was once open again.
***
A week later Twilight was relaxing with Rarity and Fluttershy during their normal Spa sessions and was greatly enjoying it. Who would have guessed that Lotus and Aloe were so good to not only normal patrons but pregnant ones as well. She had a nice relaxing warm bath, while Rarity and Fluttershy got the sauna, the massage was the same as Fluttershy got which was very light and very gentle which really helped her sore, tight, and tired muscles. Even the hoof-a-cure and horn filing was pleasant and especially gentle.
Lotus and Aloe even gave her a discount for being a mother to be and was even kind enough to recommend some flowers to gain on the way home to help in relaxation. The best was white and blue roses which reminded her of princess Luna and her Teacher Princess Celestia which really helped to keep her calm and also relax. Later that week Rainbow Dash and Applejack came over to help her work out and just chat helping her relax more and to find out the local news and mostly if Twilight had found out who the other parent was yet which sadly was a no.
Even Pinkie Pie visited when she could along with delivering the needed foods Twilight’s doctor had prescribed. For the rest of the month things where really looking up for Twilight and her growing foal but as always thing never goes well for long, at least when it involved Twilight and her friends.
To be continued