Questionable Parentability

by KillerSteel

First published January 1st, 1970 00:00

When it comes to ponies, being a parent is one of the most stressful and enlightening subjects someone could ever bring up. There's a lot of questions to ask about their skills in handling children, and whether they want it in the first place.

Such a thing never really occurred to Pinkie Pie, though. She'd always cared about others, and even threw a few baby showers herself for happy couples in Ponyville over the last few years. Having a child of her own? Impossible! She had too many kids in the entire town to take care of, let alone her own! But with a recent visit to the hospital about some mysterious symptoms, she suddenly finds herself in quite a predicament.

She's pregnant. With no clue as to what happened, or who even made her this way, she's faced with nine months of waiting for a foal she had no clue was growing inside her in the first place. Split between abandoning the child, going through with it and raising it on her own, or just keeping everything bottled up until the last second, she constantly faces a question in how things could be done, how things could have gone, and just what this means for her. And in the end, only one question ever comes to light.

"Can I do this?"

Chapters

Day Zero: Planning

Day Zero: Planning
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Questionable Parentability

Day Zero: Planning

-General idea with this fic is Pinkie finding out she's pregnant, with no clue who the father is. Faced with a child she can't really claim was consentually or otherwise created, she has to come to terms that her life of partying and having fun may quickly be coming to an end, and not only that, but a life faced with child troubles, financial difficulties, and splitting her time between her friends, her foal, her job and her partying. She's confused as to whether she could really raise a child in the first place; sure, she's great with the Cake Twins, but that's just a few babysitting jobs here and there. She has some fun for a few hours, entertains the kids, then goes back to her work. It was never a 24/7 commitment for her.

But with a child soon coming into her life, a mere eight months away, she's suddenly forced to grow up, and grow up fast. A parent needs to be responsible, stable and focused, and none of these things can really describe the mare that Pinkie Pie is. But, with some support from her friends, she has a chance to pull through, the little voice in her head becoming a little bit quieter with each passing day.

General path of this would start with Pinkie trying to face the problem on her own, looking for advice from other parents around Ponyville. OCs for the foals in school and such, seeking tips from them how one would hypothetically, theoretically, and totally-not-related-to-her-in-any-way handle a child. Numerous stories about their lives and how they raised their children giving a look into both sides of the story, from the parents and from the kid. Possibly even learn how Scootaloo grew up in case Pinkie really can't handle a child.

Slowly grows into her reaching out to her friends, and just trying to figure things out. Goes to Twilight for technical advice, Fluttershy for how to care for a pony properly - more than just having fun with them -, Rainbow Dash for how ot properly raise a child for something more than just a home life. Rarity for just general advice on how to treat others, concerning her little sister, and finally, Applejack for values about a family, and how everyone is connected.

Eventually, she comes back to facing the problem on her own, where the plot changes to find the father. DNA tests, a look back into her past. Dreamscape viewing with Twilight going through her memories to discover just what happened that night. Nothing like 'Shattered', God no, I could never manage something that mysterious.

After that, the father is eventually found and confronted, and Pinkie comes to terms that she may very well be alone in this endeavor, likely losing her mind in the process. She came to understand that being a parent is a shared job of love and care, and simply being abandoned by a stallion too afraid to do anything with a mare with a kid is way too much for her. He runs off and she goes after him, screaming at the top of her lungs and basically revealing her pregnancy to the whole town.

After this, the town comes together in support for Pinkie, just trying to hold her up while the clock ticks on. End the story on Pinkie finally accepting that the child is coming, and that she'll have to just find out whether or not she can deal with things.

Sequel idea would be her raising the foal on her own, split between her job and friends. A real coming of age fic. Yeah... yeah, I think this could really work. Good thinking, past me!

Likely going to write this on a day-by-day basis. A few days spent with Pinkie trying to figure things out on her own, then reaching out to others, then to her friends, then coming back to her as she tries to find the father. Should also set myself up with a work process.

1 chapter every three days, starting Saturday... that sounds good. It lets me get a good handle on writing.