When Applejack and Twilight decide to have a foal, Twilight works a little magic to get the job done, though there are unexpected consequences when all of the mane six wake up the next day, all expecting their own little bundle of joy.
Twilight and Applejack have been married for two years now, so it's not surprising when Applejack gets the motherly bug to have a foal. To please her wife, and to have a foal that belongs to both of them, despite mares not being able to get pregnant the normal way (obviously), Twilight creates a spell to do the job, and it works perfectly. However, there are unexpected consequences when each one of the mane six wake up the next morning and find that they are all expecting their own little bundles of joy.
*Takes place about five years after current cannon* *Yes, the library is the setting. I'm in careful denial of the thing ever blowing up in the first place* *Coverart by Me, using a base from Softybases on dA:
“Ah want a foal.” Applejack said, mostly to the ceiling, as the early dawn rays of sunlight washed in through the window. Lying next to her in bed was her wife, who rolled over towards her quickly.
“I thought we talked about this.” Twilight said softly. Her eyes widened and she leaned in closer. “With our lives, our jobs, our responsibilities! Do you really think it’s a good idea to add a baby to all that?” She began to ramble. Applejack rolled her eyes and silenced Twilight with a hoof.
“Beshides, we can’t really have a foal anyway.” She mumbled from behind Applejack’s hoof. Applejack put her hoof down and raised an eyebrow questioningly.
“Well, I don’t know if this fact has alluded you, and I hate to tell you this, but we’re both mares.” Twilight explained sarcastically.
Applejack snorted. “Really? Ah hadn’t noticed! ‘Course I know we’re mares, Twi! Jeez!” She huffed, rolled over, and heaved herself out of the bed. “Ah need to go get ready.” She said stiffly.
Twilight sighed. “Applejack,”
“Yeah? Whatcha need?” Applejack said, as if the previous conversation hadn’t even happened.
“I’m sorry.” Twilight apologized. Applejack turned around. “I know that family is important to you, and that this is something you want, but I just don’t know if it’s the right thing for us.” She said. Applejack sighed again and went to sit on the edge of the bed. Twilight reached a hoof out and began rubbing her back.
“Ah know all that. I just always thought I’d have kids, ya know? Carry on the Apple family name and all that. I mean, it’s not like it isn’t gonna go to the next generation, with Big Mac and Cheerliee and their herd of litt’uns…I don’t know. I just didn’t see me going my whole life without havin’ babies, it’s always been somethin’ I dreamed of…guess I should have seen this coming when I married a mare.” Applejack laughed, but her heart wasn’t in it.
Twilight scooted over and leaned her head on her partner’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about what I said earlier. I didn’t realize this was weighing so heavily on you.” She sighed. “I just don’t know either. I never really saw myself having kids…not just because I’m gay, either, mind you. Just think about our options, we could either adopt, or one of us could have a sperm donor. Either way, at best that baby will only be half ours. I don’t really mind that, but I have a feeling you might.”
“Well, when you put it that way…” Applejack slumped. “You’re right. I’d want any foal we had to be both of ours…” She trailed off and then sat herself back up with renewed vigor. She huffed out a breath. “Well, that’s that. Ah’ll just have to get used to the idea.” She said, more to herself than to Twilight. “Besides, Ah’ll just work harder at being a real good aunt to Mac’s kids.”
Applejack turned back to Twilight, a mischevious “And Ah really don’t mind havin’ you all to myself.” She said seductively as she tackled Twilight back onto the bed and kissed her. Twilight laughed through the kisses. “Stop it! Stop it!” She giggled.
“Stop what?” Applejack responded. “This?” She asked playfully as she began tickling Twilight’s belly.
“AH! Yes! Yes, that! Stop it!” Twilight laughed, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. Applejack smiled victoriously. Her wife really was adorably ticklish, wasn’t she? “Gah! Really, honey! Stop! I can’t breathe!” Twilight gasped.
“Aw! Ah never get to have any fun!” Applejack pouted. Twilight smiled. “Alright! Alright!” Applejack groaned and got out of bed once and for all. She looked at the clock on the night stand and swore. “Ah buck! Ah’m gonna be late!” She said and ran out of the room.
Sounds of drawers opening and closing and water running reached Twilight’s ears. She smiled and went down to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast.
Twilight jumped as the toast flew out of the toaster. She didn’t even look up as her magic wrapped around it and began buttering the toast in question. She was too busy reading a letter that had just arrived. It was from Spike, who was in Canterlot helping with delegations between the Equestrian government and that of the Griffon Kingdom. Ever since he had helped Celestia smooth over a border dispute between Appleloosa and some dragons who were living in the Badlands at the time, he had been Celestia’s go-to for sticky diplomatic situations.
Twilight laughed. He was far too old to continue being her assistant anyway, even without the fact that he was now almost too big to fit through the library’s front door. She was just glad he had found his own calling in life, though who would have guessed it would be politics, of all things?
“Thanks for the breakfast, Twi!” Applejack said as she raced down the stairs, grabbed the toast and the pear sitting next to it, and rushed toward the door. She took a bite on the way out and immediately gagged and spit the food out. “Eugh! What the?” She said, as if noticing the pear for the first time.
“Oops! Sorry hon! Got our fruits mixed up I think!” Twilight’s horn flared and the pear was replaced with an apple. Applejack laughed. “Much better!” Twilight rolled her eyes. In her personal opinion, it would do Applejack good to try new things every once in a while, especially fruits, though the stubborn earth pony was particularly opposed to it. “Bye, Twi! See ya later!” Applejack said, going out the door.
“Forgetting something?” Twilight asked from her place at the table. Applejack looked around, confused. Twilight put a hoof up to her head.
“Ma hat!” Applejack gasped and raced back up the stairs. A few seconds later, she returned, her prized Stetson sitting proudly on her head. This time she stopped by the table and planted a kiss on Twilight before running to the door. “Bye, yeah, for real this time!” She yelled as the door closed. Twilight sighed happily and returned to her reading.
She did wish that Applejack didn’t have to commute to Sweet Apple Acres every morning though. She looked around her library home. She had of course offered, back when she and Applejack had first moved in together, to commute here to run the library each day, and have them live at the farm. Though, back then, the farm was already full with Big Mac, Cheerliee, their kids, Apple Bloom and Granny Smith. Since then, Apple Bloom had left with her friends to go on adventures and explore Equestria and the nations beyond. Goodness only knows what they were up to now, even with the letters the girls sent to their respective elder sisters on a fairly regular…ish basis.
Twilight finished her breakfast and with a flick of her horn, cleaned up the kitchen. She absolutely loved the reset spell she had found. With a little bit of configuring, it was now set to send everything in the kitchen to its proper place and teleport any foreign objects, namely food scraps, into the trash bin. Twilight was careful to cast it when she was alone though… ever since Spike had ended up head-down in the trash during one of his visits home. Apparently, the spell had deemed him ‘foreign material’.
With another burst of magic, a calendar floated into view in front of Twilight. She poked a hoof to the date and it expanded to show an hour-by-hour daily schedule. She smiled as she looked over her day plans. Obviously, most of it was just keeping the library open, in addition to working on her magical research projects, which were stored down in the basement laboratory.
She was currently working on the finer aspects of time travel spells, more specifically traveling into the future. She had done it a few times, but only succeeded in going a few seconds into the future…. Which of course begged the question of whether she had really time traveled or if she had just blacked out due to magic recoil; which had been all the more prevalent and powerful as her alicorn magic pool had only grown in the past few years. She wished there was a way to be more sure, but without direct observation, she had no way to be certain.
She turned to Owlowscious the second and gave him a long look.
“Want to come down to the lab with me and provide a means of observation on my experiments?”
“Hoo?” He asked.
“Me silly!” Twilight responded, as she opened the door to the basement, Owlowscious II in her wake.
---
Three and a half hours later, Twilight was surrounded by papers, notebooks, and sticky notes, not a single one of them on the topic of time travel. She had tried to continue her daily experiments, according to her schedule, but she quickly found she couldn’t focus. She had learned a long time ago, that if something was on her mind, it was best to focus on it for a while and then go back to whatever she actually needed to get done. She sighed.
Rolling her eyes, she lit up her magic and pulled out several more books, their titles drifting past her, “Genetics 101”, “The Miracle of Childbirth”, and “The Science behind Conception”, to name a select few. Ever since that morning, she just couldn’t keep what Applejack had said out of her mind. She had been reading every book and scroll text she had on the subject, as well as a few theoretical magic texts having to do with it and the probability of immaculate conception, which in truth, she wasn’t really concerned with, but to figure out what she wanted, she needed to start with what was already being done.
She flopped her head down onto her desk. What was it she wanted? A foal? Really? She knew that wouldn’t work. Why was she wasting her time? Questions floated around her head, swirling like a vortex. She hoped this was just a phase where she found out more information to address a problem that was troubling her, like the time she had learned quantum mechanics in the hopes of learning to be two places at once; despite the fact that she really just needed to decide which of her two prior commitments she needed to go to. Twilight was funny like that, and it was something she, her wife, and all her friends had learned to deal with a long time ago.
She didn’t really want a foal, she wanted a way to make Applejack feel better. That was the crux of the problem and she knew that, but this was her way of dealing with that stress; by finding out absolutely all the knowledge even partially pertaining to the subject at hand. Owlowscious II landed on top of her head, breaking her out of her swirling vortex of frustrated thoughts.
“HOO!” He declared.
“What?”
“HOO!” He repeated, flapping up to the clock. “HOO! HOO!” He called again, this time sounding almost like an alarm clock, you know if alarm clocks sounded like irritated owls.
“OH! I almost forgot! I have a lunch with Fluttershy and Pinkie!” Twilight gasped, pulling up her schedule again. “Thanks!” She called back to Owlowscious as she ran out the door of the library.
“HOO!” He responded, sounding rather pleased with himself.
“Hello girls! Sorry I’m late!” Twilight called as she walked into Sugar Cube Corner. Pinkie and Fluttershy were already sitting at a table at the edge of the room, near the kitchen door.
“Twilight!” Pinkie yelled. “We’re over here!” She said, waving her hooves in the air. The toddler in her lap giggled.
Twilight laughed too as she pulled up a chair. “Sorry, I got a little caught up with research this morning.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it!” Fluttershy said kindly. “We’ve been having a fun time waiting, gives me a chance to see little Coco, doesn’t it?” Fluttershy cooed at Pinkie’s two-year old daughter, whose full name was Chocolate Strawberry, obviously named because her pink body and brown mane made her look exactly like her namesake. Twilight and Pinkie smiled.
“Okie dokie, little loki! Time to go see your Daddy! Mommy’s having lunch with her friend-ies!” Pinkie giggled as she swung Coco up onto her back and walked the both of them into the kitchen.
“Daddy!” Coco could be heard yelling from the other room.
“Come here my little sugar-dumplin’!” Cheese responded.
Fluttershy looked at Twilight and smiled. “They are such a cute family.” She sighed. “I wish Rainbow wasn’t gone so much…” She trailed off, looking wistfully at the door to the kitchen. Twilight wrapped a wing around Fluttershy, a gesture she had learned was very comforting to pegasi, even more so than a usual hug.
“I know it’s hard, but at least you know Rainbow is happy living her dreams, and she knows you’ll be here when she gets back.” Twilight told Fluttershy.
“I know that, and I’m happy for her. I just miss her I guess. I never realized how hard long distance relationships can be! I want to be with her, but I could never keep up with the Wonderbolt’s tour schedule, let alone leave all my animals behind! I mean, who would take care of all of them?!” Fluttershy rambled and then laughed. “I know I’m being silly, it’s just weird, since I’m used to having her around.” Twilight nodded.
They all missed Rainbow Dash… and Rarity too, for that matter. They had both gone off to follow their dreams, Dash joining the Wonderbolts and Rarity opening new boutiques, first in Canterlot and then in Manehatten. All their friends were happy for the two of them, but it was different having them gone.
Fluttershy sighed and sat up. “So, how’s Applejack?” She asked Twilight, clearly trying to change the subject. Pinkie suddenly popped up from behind them. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise.
“Yeah! Too bad she’s so busy all the time! I baked a whole batch of apple cupcakes this morning!” Pinkie chimed in as she sat back down at the table.
Twilight suddenly had an idea, “Do you have any left?!” She asked Pinkie enthusiastically.
“Sure do! Why?” Pinkie asked.
“Can I take a few home with me? Applejack and I had…a bit of a rough morning, and I’d like to patch things over.” Twilight answered.
“Oh no! What happened?” Fluttershy asked.
“Nothing much,” Twilight reassured them with a smile. “Just a little bit of a… spat, I guess. We’ve already made up, but there’s no such thing as being too nice in these situations.” Twilight smiled. “Happy wife, happy life, and all that.”
Pinkie laughed. “That’s a good one! Hahahahaha!” She giggled, falling off her chair. She sighed happily and pulled herself up, miming wiping a tear out of her eye as she did so. Twilight rolled her eyes good naturedly. Bit much, if you asked her.
“Do you mind me asking what it was about? I’d love to be able to help, you know, if you want.” Fluttershy said. Twilight smiled, finding it funny that Fluttershy felt the need to tack on the ‘help’ bit at the end. They all knew she was a hopelessly nosy pony sometimes, especially when it came to situations like these. It was why she and Rarity got along so well; she knew when to ask the right questions to get the juiciest info.
Twilight sighed, coming back to the problem at hoof. “Well, it’s not surprising really. Applejack is getting the feel that she needs to have kids. I’m just not sure that’s really an option right now, and we had a little disagreement. Its fine, and she said she was okay, but I can’t help but feel she isn’t telling me everything she’s thinking. I know how important family is for her. I hate being the one stopping that from happening.” Twilight confessed.
Fluttershy nodded sympathetically. “I’m sorry, Twilight, that can’t be easy. I know the feeling myself actually.” Fluttershy said, putting a hoof around Twilight’s back.
“You do?”
“Of course! I have always wanted kids, but I knew I had to give that up when I decided that Rainbow was going to be my very special somepony. Even if she was around all the time, and we were, you know, actually married, it wouldn’t be an option, at least unless we decided to adopt or something. Makes you wish two mares could have a foal together, doesn’t it?” She said begrudgingly.
“Does Applejack want to adopt a foal?” Pinkie asked.
“No, I’m not sure she’s really thought about it, but either way, she’d want the foal to be at least half ours, so we’d probably have to find a sperm donor.” Twilight explained. “But, it’s less that she actually wants to just have a foal. It’s more that she wants to have one with me, which is, of course, impossible. I think she’s just having a bit of a motherly phase. So, I just have to make her feel better, I think. It’s not really a fix-able problem.” She continued.
Pinkie nodded. “Cupcakes!” She squealed, getting up and rushing behind the counter.
“What?!” Twilight asked, not following.
“You wanted cupcakes for Applejack!” Pinkie explained, pulling out a box. “I am so glad my cupcake sense was working this morning!”
“Isn’t it called your Pinkie Sense?” Twilight asked, laughing.
“Well, duh! Cupcake Sense is a sub-sense of the Pinkie Sense whole! Silly! How else would I know what kind of cupcakes to make?! Du~uh!!” She finished, putting the last few cupcakes in. “Though, I’ve never had to make ‘Sorry your wife is a mare and you can’t have a foal’ cupcakes before!”
“Pinkie! That’s insensitive!” Fluttershy gasped.
Twilight laughed, used to Pinkie’s comments by now. “It’s fine.”
Pinkie laughed again. “Well, let me know if I need to throw a party or something! I’m always looking for a reason!” Pinkie sighed happily, pulling out hay and daffodil sandwiches from under the counter. “You girls good with sandwiches?” She asked. Both Twilight and Fluttershy nodded enthusiastically.
---
Twilight let out another burp as she poured over the book she was reading. Lunch with the girls had gone wonderfully, even if she had eaten way too much. It was no wonder, since after their sandwiches, Pinkie had pulled out a platter of assorted desserts, which they had all munched on as they talked. Twilight had let her appetite very much get the better of her, and she was feeling the consequences now.
“’Scuse me.” She said, mostly to herself, though Owlowscious II was roosting somewhere in the study with her. She looked down at the book in front of her, another text on the science behind artificial insemination. She sighed, pushing it out of the way.
She still had no idea why she was suddenly so obsessed with this problem. She had thought talking her problems out with her friends would have given her some perspective on the matter, reminding her why she didn’t really want a foal in the first place, and giving her some ideas on how to help Applejack through the process of letting go.
However, her talk with Fluttershy had very much the opposite effect. With Fluttershy expressing the same problems as Applejack and she were going through, albeit on a lesser scale since she and Rainbow Dash weren’t actually married, Twilight now felt the need more than ever to find out as much information on the subject as she could. On top of all that, she now felt like there was an actual problem she should solve.
How could two mares, without the addition of a stallion sperm donor have a foal? It shouldn’t be possible, but the more research Twilight had done, the more she was starting to think, that maybe, just maybe, with a little bit of magic, it might be possible.
“Twilight? You down there?” Applejack yelled from the door to Twilight’s basement study. Twilight jerked her head up from the pile of books and saliva she had been sleeping on. She rubbed a hoof on the sticky side of her face and glanced down at the mess of papers, notebooks, textbooks, and now drool she had made. She must have fallen asleep while researching. She groaned in response to Applejack’s question.
Applejack laughed from the top of the stairs and Twilight could hear those same stairs begin to creak as Applejack made her way down to the study. Twilight gasped and quickly lit up her horn, rearranging her books so the time travel ones were on top and the maternity texts were safely hidden underneath. She felt a pang of guilt at hiding them, but the last thing Applejack needed was a reminder. Twilight was in the baby stages, so to speak, of coming up with a plan or spell that could help the problem, and even if she did, she still wasn’t sure she actually wanted to use it to have a foal anyway.
“Twi, we’ve talked about this. How many times do Ah have to tell you not to fall asleep down here! Just go to bed for pete’s sake!” Applejack scolded playfully.
“Ha!” Twilight retorted. “I wasn’t sleeping! What on earth would give you that idea?”
“Maybe all the drool on your desk, sweetheart.”
“Ah, yes. I suppose the evidence is fairly damning.” Twilight sighed, looking up at Applejack with a smile. “How was work?” She asked.
“Long.” Applejack replied. Twilight looked at the clock on the wall, it was nearly ten o’clock at night. Applejack wasn’t usually this late getting home, but they were ramping up for harvest time at Sweet Apple Acres.
Twilight smiled sympathetically. “Sorry, hon! I hope it wasn’t too much work…” She turned away from her desk and stood up to face Applejack, smiling cutely. “You know, if you want, I could, uh…help you relax.” Twilight gave Applejack her best bedroom eyes. Applejack laughed, a full, beautiful laugh that filled Twilight up with sunshine. Some days Twilight swore it was that laugh that she fell in love with. It didn’t happen as often as Twilight believed it should, but when it did, oh, when. it. did; Twilight felt the happiness down to her bones.
It took her all of one-point-three seconds to launch herself at Applejack for a hug and even better, the kiss that Applejack met her with. It was long seconds before they pulled away from each other, smiles on both their faces. Even after two years of marriage, it never got old. Being close, being wrapped up in one another; it just got better, more familiar and more right. Twilight could still taste Applejack on her lips. No surprise, she tasted like apples, thought Twilight had yet to find an apple in the flesh that tasted quite as good.
Applejack smiled. “I was going to ask how your day was, but personally, Ah prefer this much better.” She leaned back in, her hoof coming around Twilight’s neck. Twilight let out a moan of pleasure as they erased all the negative space between them.
“Mhmm… It was good. I got you cupcakes…” She mentioned in one of the breaks when they came up for air.
“You know that sounds wonderful, Ah might have some later, after Ah’m done tasting you!” She taunted, licking Twilight’s neck and kissing her up until their lips met again, then going back down to Twilight’s chest. Twilight giggled.
“That tickles!” She gasped out.
“Good.” Applejack said, going lower.
“Oh!” Twilight gasped. Applejack planted another kiss as she raised Twilight up to expose her belly, going still lower. Twilight’s back hit the table, her wings snapping out to give a counter to the backward push. Her large wingspan sent papers flying all over the study. “Apple- Applejack!”
“Yes?” She asked, her tongue darting out to lick Twilight again.
“Maybe!” Twilight shivered happily. “Maybe, we should go up to the bedroom to finish this!” She gasped out in the lull between kisses and licks.
Applejack tilted her head back to look Twilight in the face. She cocked her head to the side, as if contemplating Twilight’s request. “Hrm. Nope! Too far!” She declared, her tongue reaching to lick the fur backwards on a very sensitive area.
“Applejack!” Twilight squealed. Applejack laughed, quickly coming back in for another kiss. She pressed hard against Twilight, who felt her balance shift. There was nothing she could do as they both went tumbling over backwards, the table toppling underneath them in a tangle of bodies, legs and wings and wood.
“Oof!”
“Ow!”
A brief struggle ensued while they both detangled themselves from the wreckage and each other. Twilight looked down at the ruined pile of books, papers and table in dismay. Her ears perked as she noticed an odd sound. It took her a moment to realize what it was.
Applejack was laughing. “Gosh, Ah’m sorry Twi!” She giggled. “Guess my first chore in the mornin’ is gonna be table repair!” She joked.
“Sorry?! This is all my current research! It was alphabetized by subject and author!” Twilight gasped, her mind racing with how much work it was going to be to re-organize all this. Then it hit her. Applejack’s laughing had gone suspiciously silent. Twilight’s blood ran cold.
She turned to find her worst fear realized. Applejack stood perfectly still, her eyes fixed solely on the book she held in her hoof.
“What’s this?” Applejack asked softly.
“A book.”
“No shit, Twi! Ah know damn well that it’s a book! Get to it!” Applejack yelled, a mix of anger and confusion written all over her face. Twilight looked down to see exactly which book Applejack had noticed and picked up. ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ declared itself loudly from the cover.
“It’s a book about what to anticipate when bringing a foal into a home.” Twilight said, sheepishly. The look of utter apathy that Applejack shot at Twilight could have withered plants. Seriously, with Applejack’s earth pony sensibilities, that was not only possible, but quite probable. Twilight swallowed and sighed.
“Well, I’ve been—” Twilight began.
“Are you pregnant?!” Applejack cut her off.
Twilight blanched. “WHAT?! NO! That’s what you were thinking when you saw all this?! That I was cheating on you?!” Twilight yelled incredulously.
Applejack frowned. “Wait, what?”
“Applejack, we just covered this earlier today! TWO MARES CANNOT GET PREGNANT!” Twilight groaned loudly.
“AH know that!” Applejack rebuffed. “What was I supposed ta think? You’ve been down here all day researching something, and all of it is baby books!”
Twilight put a hoof to her face and slowly pulled it down, her eyes meeting Applejack’s.
“Okay, okay. You know I’m not pregnant right?”
“Got that.”
“I’m not cheating on you either.”
“Eeyup.” Applejack rolled her eyes.
“SO. Now that’s out of the way, I do have something to tell you. I’ve been thinking about our conversation this morning.” Twilight began.
“Really? Ah hadn’t even given it a second thought!” Applejack laughed. Twilight could have smacked someone. It was a close tie on whether she more wanted to hit herself or Applejack.
“Anyway. After we talked this morning, I started pulling out all these books, just wanting to get stuff straight in my head.” Twilight started.
Applejack snorted. Twilight gave her a withering look.
“So, then I went to lunch with Pinkie and Fluttershy, and Fluttershy and I got to talking about this particular problem, and then I decided to do a little more research, thinking that, well, babies are just the combination of two sets of genetic material, right? And then, you know, all that is stuck in a uterus for ten months, and then, bam! Out pops a foal!” Twilight explained. Applejack nodded with a skeptical look on her face.
“Ah know all that, Twi. Was that all the looking up you did? You just wanted to know how babies were made, you know after the fact? Ya coulda just asked!” Applejack shook her head, a smile on her face.
Twilight huffed. “No! That is not all, quit interrupting!”
Applejack sat down and nodded very seriously. Twilight deadpanned. It was clear that Applejack was humoring her at this point, albeit with a bit of mockery thrown in.
Twilight pursed her lips and continued. “So, why can’t I just do that with a little bit of science and a little bit of magic? If I can combine our genetic codes with a random probability and then implant the information into a compatible bunch of cells, and then let it incubate in one of our uteruses, we theoretically--”
“Could have a foal?!” Applejack gasped.
“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed. “Now, I need to do a little more work on the random probability gene sequencing, so that the child would be a proper representation, as if we had reproduced the normal way, and of course, we’d have to artificially introduce a Y chromosome if we wanted there to be the correct chances of a girl or boy. And on top of all that I want to talk to Cadence about love magic, because the gene combination could, in theory, happen entirely within the spell matrix, as long as a strong connection exists between the gene donors….” Twilight trailed off.
“Applejack, are you even listening?” Twilight asked, turning away from her notes and back to face Applejack.
Applejack was standing perfectly still. “We can have a foal?” She asked softly.
“Well, there’s still a lot of work to do to figure it all out, and I don’t know, we kinda aren’t really in a great spot for a kid right now, but I figured I’d see if I could solve the problem…” Twilight rambled.
Applejack pulled Twilight over to her, put her own hooves on Twilight’s shoulders, looked her in the eye, and asked, “We can have a foal?”
“Yes, in theory.” Twilight explained.
“Do you know what to do? Because if this is one of those things where you want to analyze it from every angle before doing it despite knowin’ exactly what ya needed to do in the first place, I don’t want to wait.” Applejack asked again, a look of desperate hope in her eyes.
That look damn near broke Twilight’s heart. “I thought you said you were fine this morning.” Twilight responded, trying to change the subject.
“This morning this wasn’t possible. Can you do this?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. That’s what I needed to know. What do you need to do this?”
Twilight frowned. “Well, really, nothing. It should all happen in the spell matrix, including the impregnation and the creation of new cells, which would evolve from already present eggs inside the ovaries. I would just need magic to guide the cells and to implant them with the genetic code it would need to tell it that it needs to become a baby.” Twilight listed things off, gesturing with her hooves. She stopped. “Why?”
“Let’s do it.” Applejack said, fully serious.
“Right now?!” Twilight gasped, her mind reeling with the implications.
“Applejack! We can’t just have a foal! Besides the implications of a completely untested, new spell, what would we do with a foal?! We are way too busy! We can’t just do this right now! This is exactly why I wanted to be more sure of myself before I brought this up to you!” Twilight gasped and rambled.
“Twilight.”
“And! And! What happens when it gets bigger?! Foals get bigger you know! We don’t have room for a foal here! We’d have to get a bigger house! I’d have to commute to the library, I can do that, but—but! What happens if somepony needs a book at three a.m.?! I know that may seem silly to you, but I’ve been there!”
“Twilight!”
“And, it has to eat and stuff! Where are we gonna get all that food?! And diapers! And a crib! And baby supplies, like, like clothes!”
“TWILIGHT!” Applejack yelled.
“What?!” Twilight cried, her mane sticking up in crazily in several different directions.
“Do you trust me?” Applejack asked.
“Of course. Why?”
“I need you to believe me when I say, that Ah can’t wait to do this. You have no idea how important this is to me. Now that I know we can do this….Twi, there has never been anything more important.”
“Applejack…”
“Twi, Ah need this. Trust me. Besides, a foal doesn’t come right away. We’ll have nearly ten months before this baby is going to be anything more than a bulge in my belly!” Applejack laughed.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Your belly?” She asked skeptically.
“Hon, I love ya, but let’s be honest, you don’t exactly have the greatest child-bearing figure!” Twilight shot Applejack a look that could have burned out a small star.
“Not that it ain’t gorgeous! Ya just don’t really have the, erm, size! for it!” Applejack blundered, blushing.
“I’m taller than you.” Twilight deadpanned, fluffing her wings a little for emphasis.
“It’s more the child-bearing hips, we’re lookin’ fer, darling!” Applejack explained, wiggling her rear end. Twilight laughed and Applejack’s blush deepened.
“Fine, your belly!” Twilight laughed, done messing with her wife for the moment. Applejack’s moments of embarrassment were few and far between, so Twilight took advantage of them.
“Wait was that a ‘yes’ I just heard?” Applejack smiled. Twilight leaned in for a kiss. She rolled her eyes towards the ceiling and back down to look into Applejack’s bright green ones.
“I trust you.” She said simply.
---
Twenty minutes later Twilight and Applejack stood in the middle of a large, study-sized pentagram; surrounded by spell books, medical texts, and several large diagrams Twilight had drawn.
“Okay, one more check!” Twilight declared, tapping around the circle for the fourth time.
“Twi! Isn’t that enough?”
“This is our baby we are talking about! I mess something up and that child could be dealing with it the rest of their life! I mean what if the genes combine wrong and we end up with…with a griffon child?!” Twilight was on the verge of hyperventilating.
“Is that actually possible?”
“You better hope not!”
Twilight stepped out of the purple chalk line and put a hoof to her chin. She relooked over the spell matrix one more time. In theory, it all would happen without the need for direct medical intervention. The spell would reach inside Applejack and herself, drawing on the connection between them for its main power source. It would replicate their DNA within the spell matrices and combine it randomly, along with a pseudo gene; needed to make sure the foal’s sex would be a fifty-fifty random determination like it should.
Once that was done, the spell itself would implant the new genetic code into one of Applejack’s eggs, inside the womb, much the same as a sperm cell during traditional conception. After that, it was just a matter of making sure the cell stuck and was accepted by Applejack’s womb. It was the same problem couples using invetro fertilization, but Twilight had thought of that too. Combining the pregnancy spell with her time-travel spell would speed the pregnancy up by one month.
Therefore, once the cell was fertilized, the time-forward spell would activate, transforming the cell into a fully forming fetus, that Applejack’s body would have no choice but to accept. Twilight swallowed…. In theory. That was the kicker. This was all in theory, if the connection between herself and Applejack wasn’t strong enough, the spell wouldn’t be able to complete. If the genes didn’t combine correctly, the child could be very messed up. If the time-forward spell didn’t work exactly like it was supposed to and stop when it needed too, Applejack could be pregnant for a year, or five minutes.
“Are you okay, hon?” Applejack came up behind her and ran a hoof down her back.
Twilight swallowed and sighed. “I think so. Are you sure about this?”
Applejack leaned towards Twilight and hugged her close. “Do you remember what I said to you the night you proposed?”
Twilight laughed. “You totally just froze!”
Applejack snorted. “Ah did not!”
“Yes you did! I asked you and then you got all still and looked at me like I was crazy!”
“Fine, fine! I just couldn’t believe it alright!” Applejack protested. “Ah was talkin’ ‘bout after that!”
“Oh, when you said, ‘Yeah! Ah mean Ah think so!” Twilight chided.
“Yeah! And, Ah do not sound like that!”
“So, what you’re saying is that ‘Yeah, you think you’re ready’?” Twilight laughed.
“Yep! Ah reckon I am!”
Twilight smiled wryly and her horn lit with a glowing purple aura. “Okay, then.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
The study filled with a brilliant magenta light that completly blocked out the light bulbs, which was probably a good thing, since they were blown out by the power influx only moments later. Twilight’s eyes opened, glowing pure white. A cascade of purple sparks danced out of her horn, glowing as they traveled towards Twilight and Applejack’s hearts, disappearing as they went.
Twilight was deep in the spell by that point. She watched as it proceeded to pull out the genetic information and begin combining, now it would draw on the connection for power. Even Twilight’s near infinite pool of alicorn magic wasn’t enough to create life out of nothing. She turned her attention back to the spell still going on. Then something she wasn’t expecting happened. The sparks, that were the physical manifestation of the spell matrix changed from purple, to rainbow.
Twilight frowned as a rush of power swarmed into the spell and her vision, throwing everything in the room into stark detail and rainbow color within the matrix. Twilight gasped as she tried to control the flow, trying desperately to drive it into Applejack as it tried to dissipate. She gasped in shock as she realized what that much magic would do to Applejack if it were to flood her system. Twilight grunted and began pulling layers of magic off the spell, rings of the pentagram disappearing as she did so.
Those layers were flung out into the night and Twilight could feel as they went racing across Equestria. She didn’t have time for that now though, she needed to do what she could to save the spell, and more importantly, keep her wife and future child safe; as she was too far into the process to stop now. She sent another wave of power out of her horn, struggling to control the flows of energy as they swarmed out.
One…two…three…four…five! The last wave of magical energy didn’t go racing into the void like Twilight expected, but lodged firmly within herself. She gasped in pain, but didn’t pay it any mind. She pulled her focus back as she flung out the time-forward spell. She could feel it work perfectly. It was part of the spell that Twilight could use her own magic well-spring for. The spell finished and Twilight dropped to the floor with a gasp, the time spell had pulled more out of her than she had expected. She pulled herself up and looked across the room as the final spell fragment landed softly in Applejack’s belly, which glowed pure orange for a split second before the entire study went dark.
“Applejack?” She gasped.
“Ah’m alright, Twi!” Applejack called back through the darkness. Twilight let out a breath she hadn’t known she had been holding. “Did it work?” She heard Applejack ask.
Twilight lit her horn with the last dregs of her magic, doing a simple diagnostic spell, searching for the magic traces that exist in every living being. Applejack’s earth pony magic in her hooves glowed orange, but now there was also another small glow alongside it. A tiny green light emanated from Applejack’s midsection.
Twilight smiled and a tear leaked out of the corner of her eye. She wiped it away absentmindedly with a hoof as she wrapped Applejack in a hug of hooves and wings.
An alarm blared loudly right in Rarity’s ear. She gasped and sat up, throwing Opal across the room in the process. She groaned and put a hoof to her face, only to realize it was sticky and wet with Opal kisses.
“Opal! What has mommy told you about licking her?!” She scolded. Opal regaled her with a look that could only be translated as, ‘I don’t care, I want food, stop being so lazy and feed me.’
Rarity rolled out of her bed, landing softly on the rug. She opened the blinds on her window and peeked out, a beautiful blue Canterlot sky greeting her. She squinted and pulled the blinds shut again, her head throbbing.
“Ugh, darling. You really need to watch the alcohol, you aren’t the young filly you used to be.” She said to herself. Opal meowed from across the room, impatient for breakfast. Rarity ambled across the room and poured some cat food into the bowl sitting in front of Opal. At the same time her magic was already floating over several pain pills and a glass of water to her.
She choked the pills down, glancing at her clock on the nightstand. She gasped. If she didn’t start getting ready right now, she was going to be late to open the boutique, and she had several important clients coming in today. She turned and rushed into the bathroom, her magic aura racing ahead of her to start the shower, turn on her curling irons, and organize her make-up.
Absentmindedly, Rarity stepped onto the scale. She wasn’t much worried about her weight or anything, but it was something she monitored. In her line of work, one couldn’t put too much importance on appearance, and of course, being heathy. She glanced down, expecting to see somewhere around her usual number. Rarity gasped loudly and stepped off the scale.
“No, no, no! That can’t be right!” She cried.
She stepped back on, the same large number glaring at her from the screen. Her eyes widened. She tried several more times, the result was the same.
“Of all the worst things to happen, this is…” She took in a big breath. “THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!!!” Rarity screamed.
---
“Pokey, pokey, Mommy’s Tummy!” Coco sang as she ruffled her mane up against Pinkie Pie’s underbelly. She jabbed a hoof up towards Pinkie to emphasize her point.
“Oof!” Pinkie gasped. “Ow! Coco, careful please! That hurt Mommy!”
Big fat tears welled up in Coco’s eyes and she sat down, her bottom lip jutting out to a ridiculous degree.
“Oh, stop with the alligator tears, you little stinker!” Pinkie said, leaning down from cooking breakfast to scrunch her nose up against Coco’s. Coco sniffed and then laughed, her grin quickly changing to a smirk. “Yesiree, little dee, you can’t fool me!” Pinkie told her. Coco laughed again. Even if she could never fool mommy, she still liked to try.
Pinkie smiled at her daughter, turning back to the breakfast she was making for the two of them, looking at the clock on the wall as she did so. She had about half an hour before she would need to open the shop. Cheese had already left early that morning to start setting up for a client's birthday party that He and Pinkie had planned and would be co-hosting that evening. Pinkie was pretty excited, since this was one of the first parties she had hosted since Coco was born. She never stopped helping Cheese plan the parties that were booked for their company, but she was a very devoted mother and it had taken quite a bit of time for her to be comfortable leaving Coco with anyone other than Cheese or herself.
"Mommy! Why is your tummy so big? Have you had lots of sweets? How come I can't have lots of sweets?!" Coco chirped at her from her chair at the kitchen table, which she had clambered into while Pinkie was turned the other way.
Pinkie laughed. "Because you're such a tricky stinker!" She grinned as she set eggs and toast down on the table.
"AW! I want cake!" Coco declared.
"Maybe later, if you're good and eat all your food!" Pinkie replied with a smirk. Coco pouted.
Coco started wolfing down her breakfast at mach speed. Pinkie debated telling her to slow down, but decided against it, since Coco usually wouldn't eat anything, ever. Well, unless it had copious amounts of sugar in it. Pinkie shrugged, like mother, like daughter, she figured.
"Done!" Coco shouted triumphantly.
"Yay!" Pinkie shouted with her. "Alright, go play, Mommy will be out in a minute." Coco ran through the swinging door to the main room of the shop. Pinkie turned to put a batch of cupcake dough in the oven before turning to follow Coco. She stopped as she caught sight of herself in the mirror on the wall next to the door. She frowned, she was looking a little plumper than usual. She tilted her head in thought, had she been eating too much lately? Nope. Had she not been active? Yep. Pinkie's nose scrunched, it didn't feel like she was getting chubby, but it wasn't an unknown feeling either, it felt like...
Pinkie gasped and her eyes widened. She dove towards the back hallway to get to the bathroom. She dug through her drawer as fast as she could, she knew she had some in there. Finally she victoriously pulled out what she had been looking for, holding it up in front of her face. She smiled, hopeful. She had always wanted more foals, after all.
---
"Dash! Get your ass in gear! We're going to be so late! Spitfire is gonna kill you this time!" A voice yelled from outside Rainbow Dash's room.
"Calm your contrail, Fleetfloot. I'm coming! Besides, Spitfire wouldn't kill her fastest flier!" Dash laughed. "And also, probably her replacement as captain by the time this year is over." She added under her breath.
Fleetfoot banged on the door. "What was that?!"
"Nothing!" Dash turned back to the problem at hand, and the reason she was going to be late to morning drills. She pulled desperately at the zipper on her training uniform, but to no avail. The darn thing just would not zip up. She sucked in a breath, holding in her stomach and yanked on it with all her strength.
"Come on, come on!!" She huffed at it. With a crack and a pop the zipper broke, part of it flying across the room, as her uniform slumped around her belly.
"Buck my life!" Dash cried. "Fleetfoot, go on without me, I'm gonna be late!"
"You're already late!"
"I'm gonna be later! My stupid uni just broke, I'm gonna have to run over the the fitting shop."
"What?! Open the damn door, Dash!" Fleetfoot yelled.
"Ugh! Fine!" Dash ripped the door open angrily looking down at her ruined uniform.
"Sweet Celestia, Dash! How much have you been eating?!" Fleetfoot gasped, looking at Dash's stomach.
"Huh?" Dash looked down at herself and then glanced at the mirror hanging in her room. Her eyes widened. "I did not look like this yesterday! What the hay is going on?!" She protested.
"You've either been eating like a full-grown male buffalo, or that's last night's beer belly!" Fleetfoot laughed.
"This is serious!" Dash retorted. "My whole flight pattern is gonna be thrown! I can't do my good stunts if I'm this big! We have a show tomorrow!" She lamented.
Fleetfoot rolled her eyes. "It's not like we can't change the routine. Just go to the fitter's and get a new uni, you big fatty. I'll tell Spitfire what happened, and I'll see you at afternoon drills." Fleetfoot walked out the door.
Dash frowned, looking into the mirror as she took her ruined uniform off and threw it on the floor.
---
"Hi, um, is there anyway you could fit me in to fix my uniform, real quick? I have practices to get to." Dash said, peering over the fitting desk, at the tailor mare behind it, who looked back over the tops of her pince-nez glasses cynically.
"I have lots of orders to finish today. You can't just come in here, demanding I fix things! You are aware that there is a show tomorrow?" She said disdainfully.
"I know! I need it for that! My good uniform popped its zipper this morning! I was getting ready for full-dress practice, okay?!" Dash protested.
The tailor sighed dramatically. "Well, if I must...at least a popped zipper isn't that hard to fix." She rolled her eyes and held out her hoof.
"Thank you!" Dash responded, putting her uniform in the tailor's outstretched hoof. The tailor turned and vanished into the back of the shop.
A few minutes later, she stuck her head back out of the back curtain and beckoned Dash back. Dash rose from her seat and followed, pulling back the curtain. The tailor shoved the fixed uniform at her.
"Alright, put it on."
Dash pulled the uni on, hooves first, and once again, encountered a problem when she reached the zipper to cover her stomach and chest.
"I thought you said you fixed it!" She exclaimed at the tailor.
"I thought you said all you had was a popped zipper! I had no idea I needed to take it out!" The tailor protested. She stopped, looking at Dash's midsection critically.
"Yeah, I apparently got really fat!" Dash laughed. "Probably should lay off the before-practice doughnuts, and well, the mid-practice cookies, and the after-practice cupcakes." She chuckled. The tailor rolled her eyes.
"You are the single most unhealthy group of athletes I have ever had the misfortune to work for..."
"So if you could just take it out a few inches across the middle, I'll be on my way..." Dash trailed off as she noticed that the tailor mare was staring at her.
"Miss Dash? I don't think overeating is the source of your problem." She said, obviously trying to be tactful.
"Yeah, probably drinking, if I'm honest." Dash laughed again. The tailor paled.
"I would stop that if I were you...probably, not the best idea for a mare in your...condition."
"Ha! That's the same thing Spitfire says! I don't listen to her either! I can drink if I want, regardless of my job!" Dash retorted.
"That's not really what I meant..." The tailor stammered.
"Well then. What did you mean?" Dash asked.
"Not to be rude, but I believe you might be growing in your middle due to, well, um... a bun in the oven." The tailor said slowly.
"Huh? I haven't eaten any buns!"
"In the family way?"
"What?"
"Up the duff?"
"Excuse me?"
"In the pudding club?" The mare tried.
"Ew. I hate pudding, what are you getting at?!" Dash asked, angrily.
"Knocked up!" The mare shouted.
"I may be a bruiser, but I haven't gotten in any fights, and why would that make me fat?!"
"Miss Dash you're expecting!" She cried.
"Expecting WHAT?!" Dash exploded.
"A FOAL! You dense mother-bucker!" The tailor screamed.
Dash's eyes got wide and she went totally silent. "You think I'm pregnant?!" She gasped.
"Mhmm... Applejack, your belly is so big..." Twilight mumbled as she rubbed her hoof over Applejack's distended abdomen. Twilight smiled, the realization that a baby was growing inside hitting her again; and not just any baby, their baby. She sighed happpily and slid back under the covers, the morning sunlight streaming in through the library loft windows.
"Er...Twilight? That ain't mah belly..."Applejack said, her voice coming from across the room. Twilight bolted upwards, her eyes flying open to look at what her hoof had been touching. Purple hoof on a purple belly. Twilight's eyes widened and she screamed.
"Twi!" Applejack rushed over to comfort her wife. "Woah, woah woah! Calm down!"
Twilight sucked in a breath and brought her hoof to her chest. She exhaled, her hoof following the air out. "Okay..." She began. "This is weird, but not bad...I think..." She frowned. "How did this happen?" She asked, looking up at Applejack. She gasped. "Something went wrong with the spell!"
"What?! You said you knew what you were doing!" Applejack yelled.
"It must have something to do with the extra magic source that interceded!" Twilight mumbled to herself.
"What?!"
"Hold still!" Twilight's horn lit up, her magical aura zipping over her own and Applejack's midsections. She let out a releaved sigh. "Good, both fetuses are perfectly happy and healthy."
Applejack smiled, "So two for one, huh?" She laughed. "This seems like the opposite of a problem!"
Twilight tilted her head in thought, attempting to add this to her conception of reality. Then she leaped at Applejack, tackling her in a soft hug that landed both of them on the bed. She smothered her with a kiss. They both laughed.
"This is wonderful!" Twilight gasped. She sighed happily, this was a perfect moment, she thought. She was lying in bed with her beautiful wife, both of them pregnant with their soon to be beautiful children. It was a bubble of happiness that Twilight wanted to wrap around herself, since moments this perfect were rare and precious. Twilight snuggled into Applejack, who wrapped her forehooves around Twilight, pulling the two of them ever closer, well, as close as they could get around their pregnant bellies.
A loud knock sounded on the door.
"TWILIGHT!!!" Some pony screamed from the outside of the library.
Applejack frowned. "That sounded like..."
"Please! It's me, Fluttershy!" The voice continued loudly.
Twilight jumped off the bed and rushed down stairs, her magic flinging the door open. She had never heard Fluttershy yell that loud, something must be wrong.
"Twilight!" Fluttershy gasped, falling in through the now-open doorway. In a rare burst of dexterity, Fluttershy's wings sprang open, flapping wildly to stop her fall.
"What is it?!" Twilight asked, breathlessly, as Applejack followed down the stairs.
"Now, every pony just calm down for a gosh-darn minute!" Applejack scolded. "Fluttershy, slow and calm, tell us what happened." She continued, turning to look at Fluttershy, who was clearly in a state of near-hysteria, her usually smooth mane a tangled mess and her eyes wild and scared.
"I- I--!" She stuttered.
Applejack went over and slowly coaxed Fluttershy to sit at the kitchen table, while Twilight was already busy pulling coffee and muffins out of the cupboard.
"Slow."Applejack repeated.
"Oh. my. gosh!!" Twilight exclaimed as she turned around. In her surprise, her horn flickered and went out, dumping the coffee mugs and muffin plates, along with their food, onto the floor in a loud crash. Fluttershy ducked and hid under her wings.
"Twi! What now?" Applejack cried, exasperatedly.
"Applejack! Look at her!" Twilight responded, pointing at Fluttershy, and more specifically, her midsection. Applejack's eyes widened. In their rush to help her, neither of them had noticed that Fluttershy's belly was just as big and round and distended as theirs were, maybe even more so, since Fluttershy had such a thin frame. It was incredibly obivious, when one stopped to look, that Fluttershy was pregnant too.
"Huh?" Applejack frowned. "This doesn't make any sense!"
"I know!" Fluttershy wailed. "Rainbow is going to be so mad at me! She's gonna think I cheated on her! I didn't I swear! I know it doesn't look like it, but I've never slept with a stallion! I mean I want kids, but not like this! I just woke up like this! I don't understand!" Fluttershy bawled, big tears running down her face, adding to the pathetic, dishevaled look that she already had.
"Twilight, do you have any idea how this would have happened? Even if she was pregnant, it wouldn't happen this fast, would it? Ah just saw her a few days ago!" Applejack said, turning to face her wife.
Twilight's eyes were as big as saucers. "Oh...oh no..." She whispered.
"You don't think...?" Applejack trailed off. Twilight nodded. Applejack's face went red. "How many ponies did you get pregnant last night?!" She shouted.
"Hold on a second!" Twilight rebutted with a frown. "I need to look into this. Get a hold of Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash and Rarity, if you can. I need to do some research on this." Twilight turned, opened the door to her downstairs lab and disappeared without another word.
"You can't just drop this and leave!" Applejack shouted after her. There was no response from the door. Applejack sighed and turned back to Fluttershy.
"Well, I guess we should head over to Sugarcube Corner and see Pinkie....for some gosh-darn reason." She muttered under her breath. She took another look at Fluttershy. "Or, I should head over, and you stay here and rest for a little bit". She said, calming down as she took in poor Fluttershy's unhappy condition.
---
Applejack opened the front door to Sugarcube Corner with a 'ding' from the bell above the door frame.
"Applejack!" Pinkie called from behing the counter, bouncing out to meet her. "Woah! Your belly! It's huge! Haha! Are you expecting a little bundle of joy too?!" Pinkie gasped. "Oh! Oh! OH! I could throw a double baby party!" She squealed.
Applejack stood completly still, looking at Pinkie in shock. "Well, that just about answers the question I came over to ask." She shrugged. "You don't think it's weird you've just suddenly gotten so big?" She asked, raising her eyebrown.
"I eat lots of cake!" Pinkie giggled, then tilted her head. "How are you so big?"
Applejack put her face in her hoof. "Think about this for a second Pinkie! How are babies made?"
Pinkie laughed. "I don't know why you're asking, since you seem to already know! But hey! I'll play along! When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much they wrestle and nine months later a foal pops out!" Pinkie giggled.
"Is that really how it works?!" Coco gasped from behind Pinkie, it was the first time Applejack had even noticed the small filly was there. "I've wrestled, mommy! Am I gonna have a baby?! I don't wanna baby! I'd have to share all my food!" Coco gasped. Pinkie fell over laughing.
"No, silly, only mommys can have babies! Are you a mommy?"
"Oh! Nope, I'm not a mommy! I'm a Coco!" Coco giggled, reassured. She turned around and went towards her toy pile in the corner and promptly picked up a doll. "Hear that! I'm not a mommy!" She told it and then sat down and started playing. Pinkie turned back to Applejack.
"Silly, you know I meant how are you pregnant? Since, well, it takes two to tango, as they say, and well, you have two left feet in your relationship, if you know what I mean!" Pinkie laughed, wiggling her eyebrows.
"What? Talk Equish, Pinkie!" Applejack demanded, a confused look on her face.
"You and Twilight are both mares." Pinkie expalined slowly. Applejack looked ready to strangle her.
"Ah know that! Twilight cast a spell!" Applejack cried.
"OOOOhhhh! That makes sense! Crazy how she did that the same time I'm gonna have a baby! They'll all be best friends!" Pinkie squealed happily.
"Pinkie, we think Twilight's spell got more than just me pregnant." Applejack explained.
"Huh?" Pinkie tilted her head sideways.
"Yeah, I'm pregnant and so is Twilight, which could have just been a small mishap with the spell, but then Fluttershy came over and she's pregnant too!" Applejack told Pinkie, whose eyes widened as Applejack talked.
"Have you talked to Rainbow or Rarity?" She asked.
"We're going to work on that as soon as we get back to the Library, Twilight is looking into the whole thing, she hasn't told us anything yet."
Pinkie walked over to the front door and flipped the sign to closed. "Coco, pick out some toys! We're going to Auntie Twilight's!"
"Yay!" Coco squealed, picking up toys and flipping them onto her back. Pinkie went into the kitchen and came back out with a diaper bag slung over back. She picked up Coco and put her in the baby carrier on the other side of her saddle bags.
"Well, let's go figure this thing out!" She declared, bouncing out the door. Applejack smiled and followed behind her.
Rarity stepped off the train and readjusted her shawl around her midsection, taking a careful look at herself in the windows of the train station, yes, the shawl still covered her in all the correct places. She sighed and began to walk towards her parents house, a feeling of shame deep in her stomach. She thought about going to the original Carousel Boutique, which was still up and running under her direct supervision and still sold her label, of course, but she honestly had turned over the management almost completely. So,to her parent's house it was.
At that thought, she mentally braced herself for the questions that awaited her. “Who was the father?” “How could you be so careless?” “What?! How could you not know who it was?” “Do you really sleep with that many stallions?!” Rarity shook her head. “NO!” She thought to herself. It would not go like that. She was an adult. She was perfectly in the right to sleep around and have fun while she was still fairly young. It just royally sucked that not all methods of contraception, the pill, and even male protection were not 100% effective. She had tried, hadn’t she? She strolled into Ponyville’s main square, lost in her thoughts.
"Rarity?!" She heard a voice call from across the square, she winced as it broke her reverie. It was to be like that, was it? She took in a breath and turned to face the voice, a smile on her face and a pep in her step, a move she had perfected without the use of emotion through years of mingling with the nobility. Of course, the pony that tackled her in a....much softer hug than expected, was about the farthest thing from the Canterlot unicorn elite that existed, except, possibly the pony behind her.
"Woah! We were just looking for you!" Applejack exclaimed while Pinkie Pie hugged Rarity. Rarity immediately felt better, despite everything that had happened that morning.
"Triple baby party!" Pinkie gasped as she ran a hoof over Rarity's belly bump.
"Yay!" Coco squealed from Pinkie's saddle bag.
Rarity gasped and frowned, "Triple baby WHAT?!" She cried, her voice rising in pitch.
"Pinkie, we've covered this, its probably going to be a... what's the word for triple, but with six?" Applejack trailed off, frowning.
Rarity watched this exchange in abject horror, noticing not only the bump in Pinkie's belly that was streching out Coco's saddle seat, but also the matching bump that Applejack was sporting. Pinkie being pregnant was one thing, she was married to a stallion and already had one child, her being pregnant at the same time as Rarity could be mere coincidence. Applejack though? She was married to Twilight of all ponies! Rarity slowly began to hyperventalate. There were a very few ways that Applejack could be pregnant, artificial insemination being the top of the list, but Rarity knew Applejack and her loyalty to Twilight and her family ways far too well.
The only way Applejack would have a child was if she could have one with Twilight. Rarity's face turned bright red as the implications of exactly what must have happened ran through her mind.
"Rarity? You're super-duper quiet! Are you thinking about something? Is it cake?!" Pinkie asked, getting very close to Rarity's face. Rarity brefily wondered if Applejack and Pinkie Pie had put together what happened. Well, she amended to herself, Applejack probably had a vague idea, since she was probably the intended target.
She, on the other hand could put together a fairly good idea of what had happened. She was a unicorn after all. Magically speaking, this shouldn’t be possible, but Twilight was not one to shy away from new spells. It was certainly something like that, even if Rarity didn’t know the exact details. The coincidence of all three, and if what Applejack said was true, all six of them being pregnant at the same time, was just too great, and whatever happened, it was most likely Twilight and some misplaced spell’s fault.
Rarity, in a unexpected and unusually intense burst of anger swore loudly. Pinkie gasped and covered Coco's little ears. Applejack frowned thoughtfully, she had never heard that one before...She rather liked it.
"Twilight Sparkle!" Rarity screetched, looking down the street in the direction of the library. "I SWEAR TO CELESTIA! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!" Rarity finished and began running.
Applejack sighed, looked at Pinkie, turned, and began running after Rarity.
"She isn't really gonna kill her is she?! I like Auntie Twi!" Coco wailed.
Pinkie smiled. "We better hope not!" She laughed. Coco smiled and laughed too, even if she wasn't totally sure why.
---
Twilight watched as the letters she was sending burst into green flame, along with a gout of sulfur-smelling smoke above the purple candle sitting on her desk. It had done the job of sending her letters to anyone in Equestria since Spike had left, it wasn't the same as having the dragon himself by her side, but it did the job. She had designed herself and Spike had imbued it with his own magic to make it work.
She groaned and arched her back, frowning at the papers and books laid out around her, the result of the past few hours of intense research on what exactly had gone wrong with the spell. It was clear to her now, and all that was left was to gather her friends and explain the situation. She sighed. That was going to be a treat, possibly her last, if Rainbow Dash or Rarity decided to kill her, both of which was equally likely, she thought.
She amended herself, it would probably be Dash, she figured, given the pegasus's temper, added to the fact that Twilight had not only gotten her pregnant, but also her significant other, Fluttershy, which meant that between them they would have two foals, further messing up Dash's Wonderbolt career.
A loud bang came from the main floor of the library. Twilight jumped, it taking her only seconds to realize it was the front door slamming open.
"TWILIGHT!" Rarity's voice screeched from the doorway as fast hoof steps made their way towards the basement door. "I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!" Her voice continued.
Twilight gasped and threw up a shield around the basement doorway. Her figuring had been wrong, a small part of her mind informed her. She frowned, sighed and pushed herself up from the desk as the sound of Rarity mercilessly pounding the door continued.
"You! Put! This! Shield! Down! RIGHT! NOW!" Rarity hollered. Twilight felt the blows on the shield as Rarity hit it again and again with her hooves, and then with her magic. Rarity's magic was nothing on Twilight's but every adult unicorn knew how to fire energy blasts from their horn, which were usually specifically used to break things, magical barriers included. Added to that was that those blasts were fueled by the strength of the emotions of the unicorn.
"RIGHT NOW, SPARKLE! IF YOU DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR, IT'S ONLY GOING TO MAKE YOUR DEATH MORE SLOW AND PAINFUL!" Twilight flinched, Rarity's emotions were pretty strong right now.
"Rarity! Ya stop that right now! We're all adult ponies here, and we can all sit down an' talk this out!" Applejack hollered over the din of Rarity's assault on the basement door.
"I will not stop! HOW DARE YOU! THIS COULD RUIN MY CAREER!" Rarity screamed and continued to besiege the door. Twilight sighed, backed up and removed the sheild. In an unfortunate bit of bad timing, she had unknowingly done so right as Rarity had fired another blast of pure magical energy. The door exploded, violently. Twilight gasped and threw the shield back up, just in time to contain the blast and hold in any shrapnel.
"Jeez! Rarity! Just talk it out, consarnit!!" Applejack yelled, looking pointedly at the broken bits of door floating in the purple aura of Twilight's magic; a door that she would, of course, have to fix....or replace. Applejack took another sad look at the door. Definitely replace. Rarity huffed, the destruction of the door had done quite a bit to relieve her immediate and violent anger. She sighed unhappily. It was at that moment that Pinkie and Coco came through the door.
"Auntie TWI! Are you still alive?!" Coco yelled down the stairs. Twilight laughed.
"For the moment!" She called back.
"Yay!" Coco squealed, bouncing up and down in her seat. Pinkie picked her up and set her on the floor. She pulled at her toys in Pinkie's other saddle bag and sat down to play.
Watching this, Rarity's anger ebbed even more. She took a deep breath. She needed some answers.
"Twilight, would you mind explaining why in the name of Celestia we are all pregnant?" She asked, an edge to her voice.
"Yes, please." Fluttershy's voice piped up from where she had been sitting on the couch. Rarity jumped.
"Hello, darling! I didn't even notice you there. I see I am not alone in this unfortunate turn of events." Rarity sniffed disdainfully.
"Absolutely. I will get right to that, as soon as Rainbow Dash arrives. I've sent a letter to her, explaining the situation and asking her to come here to meet with us and discuss it further. Long story short, I had a spell go wrong, and I am terribly sorry to both of you." Twilight explained, her head lowering in shame as she continued.
"It's alright, sugarcube, nopony blames ya." Applejack soothed, coming up behind her wife to nuzzle her. Rarity snorted. "Speak for yourself, Applejack." Applejack frowned, wanting to say more.
"Girls, stop. This is just something we are going to have to deal with...TOGETHER. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done to undo the current situation and it's going to take all of our friendship to get through this!" Twilight explained, mostly to Rarity.
Rainbow Dash was flying at top speed. After leaving the tailor mare's office in a blur of rainbow and blue feathers, she had rushed to the medical wing of the Wonderbolts camp, where she had sneakily stolen a pregnancy test, used it, and confirmed her worst fear. Now, she was on her way to Ponyville.
She didn't know what she was going to tell Fluttershy when she got there, and to be fair, she wasn't even really sure why she was going there at all, rather than trying to find a solution to what she could only view as a huge problem that was not only going to ruin her career as a wonderbolt, but also probably her relationship with Fluttershy, who could only take this as a sign that Rainbow had cheated on her. She put on an extra burst of speed, using a coping technique she had used since the day she learned to fly. The faster she went, the less she thought. It was an evasion tactic at best, and a horrible idea for flight safety at worst. It wasn't until she had started dating Fluttershy that she had finally learned to slow down every once in a while and deal with her problems. She shook her head as she realized that was something she was likely to lose after today.
She gasped as a small gout of green something spewed out in front of her. It was hot as she ducked to avoid it. She didn't even bother looking back to see what it was, she was too busy concentrating on just getting to her destination, Fluttershy's house.
---
"Well, how long is that going to take?!" Rarity whined, in reference to Twilight's comment about waiting for Rainbow Dash. "I can't wait much longer! My patience is already at it's breaking point, Twilight!"
"Well, I sent the letter about fifteen minutes ago, adding to that plus the time for her to fly here from cloudsdale and--" Twilight was cut off by the sound of the door to the balcony being slammed open.
"TWILIGHT! Have you seen Fluttershy?! She isn't at her house and I really, really, really need to talk to her!" Rainbow Dash burst in and proceded to trip halfway down the stairs that led to the main floor of the library before her wings snapped open. She flew the rest of the way, until she was hovering in front of Twilight. "Have you seen her?"
"Rainbow..." Fluttershy said, getting up.
"I kinda have a huge problem and I really need to find her and--"
"Rainbow!" Fluttershy repeated.
"And she's not at her house, or in the woods next to it, or anywhere!" By this time Rainbow Dash was practically prancing in place in front of Twilight.
"RAINBOW DASH!" Fluttershy yelled.
"Whatever, it's fine that you don't know! I'm gonna go try some other places!" Dash flipped around, coming face to face with Fluttershy.
"OH! Hey, Fluttershy! When did you get here?!" Dash asked. Fluttershy frowned unhappily. "So, uh, can we go back to your place, I kinda need to talk to you..." Dash asked, suddenly getting quieter, but without any decrease in the speed or urgency in her voice.
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack snapped. "Will you just slow down for one-gosh darn second and listen?!"
"Huh? What?" Dash asked, turning to face Applejack.
"Rainbow, did you get my letter?" Twilight asked.
"What letter?"
"How did you know to come her then?" Twilight frowned.
"I didn't... I was just looking for Fluttershy..." Dash said slowly, confused.
Twilight shook her head. "It's fine, you're here now." She said, turning to the group and taking a deep breath. Now that all six of them were there, it was time to come clean about what exactly had happened last night.
"I suggest you all sit down, this may take a minute to explain," Twilight began, mostly in reference to Rainbow Dash, who was bouncing on her hooves a anxiously. Twilight continued as Dash flopped down onto the floor. "Actually I'd love to get everybody something to drink and we could all sit down and talk this out rationally and calmly..." Twilight trailed off as she noticed Rarity's expression. "Guess not then." She finished lamely.
"Go on, Sugarcube, nopony blames ya for any a this, just get it out." Applejack said, putting a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.
"Alright then, I guess I'll just start from the beginning. I don't think it's any secret that Applejack has wanted a foal for a long time." She began.
"Well, of course! She's totally a family mare!" Pinkie commented.
"Yes, but darling, you should have thought of that before marrying, well, a mare, if I can put that gently." Rarity added.
"Ya don't think ah did?!" Applejack snorted back.
"Girls!" Twilight scolded. "This has very little to do with that! In any case, to acomplish the goal of two mares having a foal that was genetically both of theirs, I started researching and came to the conclusion that it could be done by magical means, given a strong bond between the mares in question." Twilight explained. "And it should come as no surprise to any of you that this would be possible. I've spent my entire adult life studying the magic that lies in the relationships between ponies; friendship for the most part, as I'm sure you're all aware, but a romatic connection can be just as, or even more powerful than that of a friendship, just ask Cadence." Twilight continued.
"Keep going, Sugarcube, stay on topic. We don't doubt that you can make up spells that work." Applejack said, bringing Twilight back from her ramble and back to the question at hand.
"Okay, sorry." Twilight sighed. "So, when I found it was possible, I went ahead with the spell, last night, in fact. It's intended purpose was to get Applejack pregnant, with my DNA, of course. As power for the spell, I tried to use the connection between Applejack and myself; since there is no way I would have enough magic power of my own to do something as difficult as creating life." Twilight took a deep breath.
"However, when I tried to tap into the strongest magical connection between Applejack and myself, thinking that it would be our marital love, I accidentally pulled the connection we all share because of the Elements of Harmony."
"Wait, hold on! We don't even have the Elements anymore!" Rarity argued.
"Elements of Harmony, Rainbow Power, it's all the same thing. The connection that exists between all of us is by far some of the strongest magic in Equestria and probably the world. It doesn't exist in some magical artifacts, it resides in all of us. So, the spell affected all the members of the connection I used to power it." Twilight finished, letting this all sink in.
"Okay... So, this spell is the reason we're all pregnant?" Fluttershy asked quietly.
"Wait! WHAT?!" Pinkie gasped in horror. "I'm pregnant because of a spell?!"
Rainbow Dash looked around skeptically, seeing the bulges in each of the other girl's bellies for the first time. "We're ALL pregnant?"
"Rainbow Dash! Pay attention will you!" Rarity snapped.
"Hey! I just got here, all right!" Dash yelled back.
"Girls! I know you're all tense right now, but it's not the time to start bickering!" Twilight scolded.
"Well, at least not with Rainbow! I should be arguing with you!" Rarity said, snarkily turning to face Twilight. "This is going to ruin my career! I am far too busy to raise a foal! And now I have no choice!" She began crying, her face streaked with tears.
Twilight had no response for that.
Over in the other corner of the room, Rainbow Dash had pulled Fluttershy aside.
"I'm so sorry, Rainbow." Fluttershy said softly.
"Why?" Dash asked, honestly confused.
"Aren't you worried about your career as a Wonderbolt?" Fluttershy responded.
"Don't you want foals?" Dash asked back.
Fluttershy's eyes widened and she looked up at Rainbow Dash.
"Well?" Dash asked.
"Yes! Of course I do!" Fluttershy cried. "More than anything." She finished softly.
"So what's the problem?" Dash smiled. Fluttershy squeaked and cried harder.
"Hey, come here." Dash pulled Fluttershy under her wings in a tight hug. "Listen, I've never been the type to really want kids, and I never really thought about it until I realized that by being with me, you were giving that up. I've always known you wanted a foal, and have always loved you for staying with me, even if you couldn't have that." Dash explained softly.
"I've been in the Wonderbolts for a couple years now, I've had fun! I'm not saying I couldn’t go longer....but I can give up something to stay with you, like you did to stay with me." Dash sighed. "We've been living our lives around my dream for the past few years. I think it's your turn to get to pick, and if raising a family is what you want, why would that be a problem?" Dash continued.
She laughed. "Besides, it's not really like we have a choice! We're both pregnant now, so there's no use worrying about it!" Fluttershy smiled, tears in her eyes. "Thank you." She said quietly. Dash smiled back.
“Rarity! Just calm down for a second! This isn’t something we can’t figure out!” Twilight said, exasperated. Rarity sniffed through the mascara running down her face. She was an absolute mess. It was as if, once she had heard what had really happened, it had all become real. She just didn’t know what to do.
The shame and outrage the Canterlot elite would rain down on her would be unimaginable, especially since she would be a single mother, a totally frowned upon lifestyle unless the father was dead.
She wouldn’t even be able to tell anyone who it was, since “Well it’s actually my friend Twilight, through use of the magic of friendship!” wouldn’t fool anyone.
“Rarity, ya know, if we need to, any one of us could take the baby off your hooves once you have it.” Applejack offered. “It’s not like any a’ us would mind even a little.” Rarity frowned, thinking that over as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy came back into the main part of the room, both of them teary, but looking better for it. It just wasn’t fair, Rarity figured. Each of the other girls had somebody to help them, somebody to lean on.
She didn’t have anybody to help her with this...and giving up her baby? She glanced down at the bulge in her stomach. She wasn’t sure she could do that. It was her flesh and blood, and even if she wasn’t a family fanatic like Applejack... family was still important. Rainbow Dash went up to Twilight and wrapped a hoof around her.
“So how does it feel to know you got six mares pregnant in one night? I know plenty of stallions and more than a few mares that would be jealous to hear that!” She joked.
“Wait. Since you got yourself pregnant, won’t your baby just be a copy of your genes?” Fluttershy asked, thinking about what Rainbow had just said, since it would make sense that Twilight would technically be the ‘father’ of all the babies.
“Actually, no.” Twilight answered. “The spell matrix was designed to combine and randomize all the incoming gene patterns to give any baby created an equal and healthy chance at life. So, technically, we’re all the ‘fathers’, as in the genegiving only parent, to each of the other five babies, other than our own. We are the ‘mother’, as in the incubating parent only to our own babies.” She explained.
“So, each of the babies is a combination of all six of us?!” Fluttershy gasped. Twilight was glad somepony was getting this stuff and Fluttershy was probably the only one that even partially understood genes and anatomy, thanks to her caring so often for animals.
“Well, yes!” Twilight responded. “With a preference towards the mother’s genes. So each baby will be most like it’s mother with a little of the remaining five of us mixed in. Does that make sense?” Fluttershy and the others nodded.
Rarity thought about that for a second. So, if she gave the baby to one of the other girls...it wouldn’t be giving the child up to someone who wasn’t family. Technically each of the babies was a blood child of each of them. She sniffed.
"Applejack…” She began softly. Applejack looked over at her. Nopony else seemed to notice their conversation as Rainbow continued to tease Twilight. “That’s...That’s the sweetest, nicest thing you could have said...and...and…” Rarity sniveled and sobbed harder, unable to get the words out.
Applejack sat down and hugged her. “It’ll be okay, sugarcube. Let it out.” Applejack comforted her.
“I I just! I’m just...not sure, what to do!” She choked out. “I can’t take care of a baby….but… I just can’t give it up either! I I just don’t know!” She cried.
“Sugarcube, ya don’t have ta decide right now. You’ve got near nine months to figure out what ya want ta do.” Applejack reassured her, as she ran a hoof up and down her back. Twilight grimaced as she overheard Applejack talking to Rarity.
“That….might not be exactly true….” She said slowly.
Rarity’s eyes snapped up to meet Twilight’s “What do you mean by that?” She snapped. Twilight frowned, apparently all was not forgiven where she and Rarity were concerned.
She brushed it off. “Well, I added a time element to the spell…” She began.
“So? What exactly does that mean?” Rarity interrupted her. “Why do that?”
“Well, if you’d let me finish!” Twilight snapped back, her temper getting the better of her. She took a deep breath. “It was to make sure the embryo would be accepted by the mother, a common problem during In Vitro fertilization, and this is very similar. I wanted to make sure the mother’s body would have no choice but to accept the fetus, so I made the spell add about a month in one night and since so many things went differently than I had planned...Well there may be other effects… such as a speedup in the length of the pregnancies.” She explained. "Of course, it could also go to the regular term, minus one month, like I intended." She finished with a sigh.
Applejack came up to her and put a hoof around her back. Twilight took a deep breath and continued. "I'm sorry girls, I never meant for this to happen. It's my fault and I take full responsiblity. There are a lot of factors to consider and we'll just have to see how it all works out. I don't have the full details right now, but I do know one thing. All six babies are healthy. That is what is important. We can work out anything else."
Applejack nodded. So did Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Rarity frowned. Pinkie Pie didn't say anything either. There was a moment of silence.
It was broken by Rarity. "Well, girls, as enlightening and fun as this has been I need to go. I need to rent a room at the Ponyville Inn, as it appears I will be staying here for the time being and I'd rather not have the shame of staying at my parent's house." She got up and began to gather her things.
"Ya can stay here if ya want, we have a spare bedroom in the basement." Applejack offered, naively. Rarity shot a particularily nasty glare at Twilight. "Thank you for the offer, Applejack, but I think we both know why that is an extremely bad idea."
"You could stay with us." Fluttershy offered quietly. "We have a full spare bedroom too... At least it would save you the money of having to pay for a room."
Rarity sighed. She'd have much rather stayed by herself, but at least until a temporary apartment could be found... Fluttershy made a good point. The money saved would be worth it, the businessmare inside could not say no to that offer.
"Thank you Fluttershy, I'd be much obliged to stay with you. Do you mind if we get going? All this excitement has completely worn me out."
"Absolutely. I feel the same way." Fluttershy agreed and with that, the three of them turned to leave.
"Goodbye, girls! See ya soon!" Applejack called, attempting to lighten the mood.
Rarity scowled and turned to leave. Rainbow Dash turned around and waved, only at Applejack. She carefully avoided eye contact with Twilight. Fluttershy sighed.
"Goodbye, Applejack, Twilight, and you too Pinkie." She said softly, before turning to leave. Twilight noticed Pinkie Pie was still sitting down in the corner, a sad look on her face.
"Pinkie Pie? Are you okay? You've been awfully quiet." Twlight asked.
Pinkie looked up, her eyes widening in surprise, like Twilight had startled her.
"Oh! Yes! I'm okie-dokie-lokie!" She smiled, thought Twilight could see it wasn't her fully, sincere smile she usually had on her face.
Pinkie looked around, as if noticing that the other girls were gone for the first time.
"Uh... I think I'm going to head home too. Talk to you girls later!" She bounced up and out the front door of the library.
Twilight pulled the door shut behind Pinkie, who had left it open as she left. She sighed and put her head to the wood of the door. She sniffed as tears began to run down her face. Applejack was across the room and next to her faster than she could blink. Applejack pulled her into a hug.
"Everyone hates me." She whispered quietly.
"Nah. They're just upset. That happens sometimes." Applejack soothed, running a hoof through Twilight's mane.
"I really screwed up. Bad." Twilight said, her face scrunching as more tears ran tracks down her fur. "Rarity definitely hates me, Rainbow Dash probably too. I don't know what's wrong with Pinkie, but it's something. The only ones who I haven't completely screwed over are you and Fluttershy, who is too nice to say anything even if I did upset her." Twilight sobbed. "I'm supposed to be the Princess of Friendship for buck's sake! This isn't supposed to happen!" She cried.
"Twilight, now that's just stupid and ya know it."
Twilight looked up, and sniffed. Her fur was sticking up in weird places, her eyes hurt and her mane probably looked like a whole bird colony had nested in it. She felt awful.
"Friends fight. Even princesses make mistakes. Yer still a pony at the end of the day, even if ya are an Alicorn. Yer gonna make mistakes, and it's okay. They're all upset right now, and rightly so. But they'll get over it. Ya didn't mean to, you had nothin' but good intentions. They'll understand. Ah promise."
Twilight sniffed again, her tears slowing. Applejack was right. She smiled a little through her tears and messy face, reaching up to kiss Applejack on the nose.
"Okay." She said softly. Applejack smiled back at her. "Besides, it's not like it can get much worse, right?" There was a crack of brilliant white light that lit up the entire library. Applejack squinted as it dissapated.
"What the hay...?" She murmered.
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" A loud, and familiar voice boomed angrily. Twilight decided that now was a very good time to curl up in a ball and die, as she stared up into the very big, very angry, pink eyes of a certain pure white Alicorn deity.
