Our Inner Ponies 4: The Final Chapter

I stepped through the front door of the cottage and immediately made my way for the bedroom, suddenly exhausted. I trudged up the stairs, occasionally glancing at the approaching photos—some of me and Lucky, some of me with the Main Six and Maya—and eventually made it to the bedroom. I cannon-balled onto the double bed and curled into a slightly uncomfortable ball, my energy increasing as I began to fall asleep. After about fifteen minutes of sleep I began having a variety of weird dreams, all of which I was back in my human form. Some matched the disadvantages of me being here—like my family worrying, school curious of my location—but the rest were beyond strange.

One involved the night Maya and I fought Discord, but when our necklaces glowed, they fizzled out permanently. Then a giant Kayleigh emerged out of nowhere, smirking evilly, and Maya—along with the Main Six—disappeared from sight, leaving me to deal with two giant villains. There was another one where it was my wedding day, but before the "I do's" rolled in, everyone's faces either warped into Discord's or Kayleigh's faces. When I ran out of the room and into town, I saw that it had changed into the same chaotic environment when Kayleigh and Discord had taken over my hometown. If it weren't for Lucky opening the front door loudly, I swear I would've scared myself to death.

"Zaria?" Lucky called from downstairs.

"Up here!" A few seconds later, a flash of red was flying up the stairs and into the bedroom. I noticed that Lucky's horn was glowing red, and a medium-sized box surrounded by the same color floated by his side.

"Thought you could use a pick-me-up," he said, giving me a sweet smile. "Considering what happened this morning." I smiled as Lucky settled the box in front of me. Once opened, I was greeted with a few red velvet cupcakes, a single rose, and a stuffed...elephant.

"The store I went to was out of teddy bears," Lucky explained, shrugging sheepishly. I hugged the elephant to my chest.

"No, I like it. Really." After the cupcakes were eaten, I began to tell Lucky about the nightmares I'd had while he had been away. He didn't interrupt to say things like you're just stressed or those nightmares don't really mean anything. He listened with interest, and once I was done, he finally spoke.

"Those sound like some brutal dreams," he said. "But you shouldn't let them get to you. Most nightmares don't mean anything."

"So you're saying I should just ignore the fact that two of the worst villains plague my inner thoughts whenever I sleep?" I deadpanned.

Lucky was silent for a moment. "Well, if you put it like that..."

I interrupted Lucky on whatever he was going to say next. "Never mind, Lucky. I had a long day, I'm sweaty...maybe after a quick bath I'll be able to sleep easier."

Unfortunately, that wasn't the solution to my problem. I felt like the walking dead right after the bath, and once Lucky turned off the lights and joined me for a good night's sleep, the nightmares returned almost instantly—except it was nearly impossible to wake up on my own. Lucky had to shake me awake four times until I got to the point of just flat out staying awake until morning. Lucky, of course, denied this idea, but what choice did I have? So I lounged on the couch, glancing once or twice at the clock and window, wishing Father Time would speed things up. By the time the sky turned to a light peach color, I had to bite my wings whenever my head nodded forward. Trust me when I say that kept me up for a good four to six minutes. Just when I thought I was a goner, there was a knock at the door.

Yawning, I flew over to the door and swung it open. I gave a sleepy smile to the unicorn in front of me. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"It's only six forty nine," Maya replied, stepping inside. "I start in about eleven minutes. Plus, I couldn't sleep."

"Why not?"

"I was worried about you." I gave another sleepy smile and hugged Maya.

"And...I wanted to get this whole pregnancy thing confirmed." I released my friend as soon as the words left her mouth.

"No."

"But don't you want to figure out if you're going to be a mother or not?"

"No!"

"Oh come on. Do it for me, will you?"

"No."

"Well how about Lucky? Do it for Lucky!" I knew she'd throw that "Do it for LuckyBlitz" card at me, and I still said no. It's not that I wanted to avoid the whole "approaching mother" thing; it's just that people tending to my every need, extinguishing the flames that were indeed my worries...this isn't Medieval Times, hello!

"Fine. If you won't do it for me or Lucky—" My hooves suddenly felt like they were dipped in buckets of super glue, and when I looked down, a sparkly light brown aura were surrounding my hooves—"then do it for yourself."

* * *

My eyes were watching Twilight Sparkle like a hawk; wherever she moved, my eyes followed. Whenever she was about to talk, my ears would perk up, my hearing sharp as a tack. While my ears and eyes were on Red Alert, I managed to make a quick mental note: Kill Maya somewhere private...like a dark alley.

"Well, the readings are accurate," I heard Twilight discuss with Maya.

"And what does that mean?" I asked, making sure my death glare was visible for my friend. She stuck her tongue out in reply.

"It means that you are in fact carrying developing offspring within your body." I blinked, dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak geek."

"It means that you're pregnant, doofus!" Maya cried, face-palming (or face-hoofing) herself. Then her tone changed after a few seconds. "But isn't that somethin'? Just think dude: you and Lucky would be, like, the first hero family in Ponyville!"

"Yippee," I deadpanned, wondering if Lucky and Maya had somehow met up together and talked about the whole being the first ever hero family. Then I had a sudden thought. "Hey Twilight, is it normal to have nightmares when you're pregnant?"

"Of course it's normal," Twilight replied. "The fear of doing something wrong once the baby comes, stress...you'd be surprised how many things can toggle nightmares. Why do you ask?" I explained the kind of nightmares I'd had before and after Lucky was home. Twilight and Maya's faces were all the more confused.

"So, Kayleigh and Discord kept popping up nonstop in your dreams?" Maya tried to clarify when I was through.

"And whenever these two were in your dreams, it was almost always just you to face them?" Twilight added. I nodded at both the questions.

"And I don't get it. I mean, I know having nightmares once in a while is normal, but having ones about events that happened years ago..."

"Zaria, did these nightmares happen before you got pregnant or after?" Just hearing those words from Twilight made my skin crawl.

"Um...they happened just today. When I found out—"

"Yeah, yeah...that's the thing," Twilight interrupted, fumbling around with different sheets of paper and pencils. "I'm starting to think that...if half your nightmares consist of Kayleigh and Discord..." The way her voice trailed off made my heart skip a beat. Even though I hated suspense and wanted to shout for her to finish her sentence, I didn't want Twilight to continue.