Needless to say, Midnight wasn’t very happy upon waking up.
“I can’t believe this is happening to me!!” he snapped for what must’ve been the fourteenth time. “Rip, I can’t deal with this! I mean, I can handle demonic, magic-leeching centaurs, power-mad unicorn kings, even sadistic slaving griffons, but this?!”
“Aye, mate, but what choice have ya got?” Rip shrugged. “This baby is inside ye and it’s gonna stay inside ye for the next ten months or so!”
“Ten months?!” Midnight echoed, gaping at Rip in disbelief.
“Well, ya did meet that seapony near a month ago, aye?” Rip reminded him. “So, ya got just a bit o’er ten months t’ go `afore ya give birth.”
Midnight sighed miserably as he tried to think of another solution. He certainly couldn’t get rid of the baby, not only because he had no idea how but Midnight was repelled by the idea of terminating an unborn life simply because it was an inconvenience.
He wondered if he could get Princess Celestia’s help but he was on the coast of Equestria while she was in Canterlot, in the middle of the country. He wasn’t sure if there were trains in this era and he didn’t relish the idea of journeying there on hoof. He could try flying but according to Rip, this child would limit his energy, and even teleporting would take too long, not to mention the cravings for fish he was gonna need to satisfy. The journey could take days, maybe weeks!
“Look, Midnight, I realize yer on a journey,” Rip spoke up, “but ya can’t go anywhere, wha’ with yer magic on the stint. Yer still welcome in me home an’ I’ll help ya get through this.”
Sighing, Midnight looked at Rip, then his belly.
“How far along are you?”
“Me? I’m about halfway there,” Rip chuckled, giving his baby bump a gentle pat. “An’ as ya felt, me lil’ one’s startin’ to move inside me! Got his dad’s strength, the way he kicks me.”
“What makes you think it’s a colt?”
“Father’s intuition,” Rip chuckled with a smug look. When he noticed Midnight sigh again, he suggested, “Midnight, I realize this isn’t exactly a welcome interruption in yer journey, but th’ best you can do is settle and wait! An’ if yer still itchin’ t’ take off, ya can put yer foal up for adoption. I know a few ponies `roundabout that would love to be parents.”
Sighing again, Midnight said, “Alright, Rip, you win… Let’s get something to eat. But not smoked salmon again, faust knows I don’t need you gassing me again!”
“Heh-heh, hate t’ tell ya, mate,” Rip said in good-natured warning, “but you can expect even more flatulence outta me in th’ comin’ months!”
Midnight groaned and face-hooved as Rip bade, “C’mon, a friend o’ mine always gives me a discount on tuna!”
“Only if you walk next to me, not ahead of me!” Midnight insisted.
Walking through Horseshoe Shores, Midnight regarded the single fathers and the foals with them, the ones with sharp teeth.
“Plainly, we’re not the first to undergo seapony pregnancy.”
“Oh aye,” Rip nodded casually. “Wer’ the closest settlement along the coast to the seapony kingdom, Aquastria I believe it’s called.”
“So… all these foals with sharp teeth?”
“Aye, it’s their seapony heritage! Remember, these foals yer seein’ are only half-seapony. They inherit their mothers’ powers but until they reach a certain age they’re better suited on dry land. Once they’re old enough, their seapony powers start to show an’ they’re able to assume their seapony form underwater.”
“Do any of these foals know their mothers?” Midnight asked.
“Maybe one or two,” Rip considered, “but alas, most a’ these foals only have their dads. To this day, seaponies are shy and reclusive to us landlubbers. But because Horseshoe Shores is near enough their territory, and because of our ways seaponies occasionally frequent these waters and a hopeful stallion is often lookin’ for a kiss from a seapony but… one thing leads t’ another and they often find themselves with foal as well.”
“What’s so great about a seapony’s kiss?” Midnight asked.
“Cuz’ a heartfelt kiss from one grants ye the ability t’ breathe underwater!” Rip answered.
“But I can’t breathe underwater,” Midnight brought up, “I’ve gone swimming plenty of time in the last few weeks and I had to hold my breath while submerged.”
“I’d wager because this seapony’s kiss weren’t sincere, it din’t give ya that underwater breath, me bucko,” Rip shrugged.
“Bah! She not only saddles me with a kid, she stiffs me a pretty nifty power!” Midnight snapped. “I swear, if I ever meet her again, she won’t be singing a happy tune…”
So, Midnight’s life in Horseshoe Shores continued. Over the weeks, he and Rip carried on fishing and bringing their catches to sell. Midnight had considered writing to Sombra about his predicament but he was too embarrassed, not only because of his condition but because of how it happened.
He respected his master and his master thought well of him in return. He didn’t want to lose the esteem Prince Sombra had of him.
But as the third month of his pregnancy came around, Midnight was noticing the bump in his barrel, and he was getting angrier and more frustrated of his condition. Rip was massive and getting excited as his pregnancy was coming to a close.
However, the conditions of both stallions were taking its toll. Nausea, mood swings, and severe flatulence. The windows of the house were often kept open to keep it aired out. Midnight wasn’t prepared for the symptoms and then came the day when Rip announced he had to stop working.
“WHAT?!”
“Mate, I’m just another couple months before I give birth,” Rip said apologetically, “we discussed this last month!”
“And you expect me to?” Midnight griped, “I’m an ok fisher-pony, Rip, but I still make mistakes! Just last week, we lost a lot of our catch because I got a knot in the line wrong.”
“It’s alright, Midnight, these things happen,” Rip said forgivingly, “work aside, once ya reach th’ middle of your pregnancy, ye can also kick back an’ relax! Faust knows you’ll need to!”
“Rip… I’m not even halfway through this bizarreness and I’m starting to go out of my mind! My fetlocks are aching, I’m feeling nauseous all day long, I am sick of the tea Mama Tsunama has us drink, the hunger pangs are a bitch, the cravings are getting out of hoof, I’ve got sunburn on my scars, the salty sea air makes me thirsty all the time, and I-” Midnight ranted as the tension reached the boiling point. And made itself known with a very loud and prolonged fart that instantly made Midnight stop his blabbering and his eyes were like dinner plates.
Rip smirked as the flatulence came to an end and Midnight groaned in embarrassment, dropping his face onto the table. Rip shook his head in understanding before asking, “Feel better…?”
“…Yeah,” Midnight muttered meekly, not daring to raise his head to meet Rip’s gaze.
“Midnight, I know this pregnancy’s makin’ ya edgy but ya gotta loosen up an’ relax!” Rip assured.
“Workin’ yerself up like this ain’t good fer yer baby!”
Midnight simply groaned in response.
“Midnight, I know this foal seems like an inconvenience right now, but ya gotta stop lookin’ at it tha’ way and think of it this way – You’re goin’ t’ be a father! Ya have a life safe in yer belly, and there ain’t nothin’ so beautiful as bringin’ new life into this world! Inside ya is a wee little foal growin’ an’ waitin’ to be born but more so it’s waitin’ to meet you, it’s dad! And I can tell ya, when ya first hold yer child, yer gonna feel so proud an’ happy to have th’ lil’ one there wit’ ya.”
The words Rip was saying made sense to Midnight, and so far he had considered this baby inside him to be an unwanted burden, and although he wasn’t quite yet coming around he did feel a twinge of guilt for thinking such things about this child.
He sat up and looked down at his baby bump – It was nowhere near as large as Rip’s and Midnight hadn’t felt any kicks or such so far, only the frequent grumbles of gas and uncomfortable pressure of the foal weighing onto his bladder. But as he held his hoof over his stomach, Midnight began to wonder, Will it be a colt… or a filly?