Treacle

Bitter

Thus, Ponyville bore witness to the downfall of one of its most endearing couples. The following morning, the citizens awoke to find a pile of various worldly effects and furniture taking up the street space in front of Sugarcube Corner, most of it belonging to Carrot Cake and Pinkie Pie. Likely tossed during some great emotional fury in the middle of the night, though what hour precisely no one could say. Shortly after this discovery, Carrot was seen hopping the next train to Manehatten with some of his belongings, final destination unknown. Word spread quickly of the circumstances, and soon everypony regarded Pinkie Pie as Ponyville’s premiere home-wrecker and the cause of the woe that befell the Cake household in the weeks that followed.

Luckily, she still had friends to support her, even while most of the town turned their noses up at her plight. Twilight jumped on the chance to help her lodging situation by offering temporary residence in the Castle of Friendship, finding it the perfect opportunity to observe a foal’s development up close. However, there were some concessions to be made with such an arrangement. Pinkie had to undergo regular medical check-ups and questionnaires regarding her pregnancy, all administered by her overbearingly inquisitive hostess, though Pinkie swayed her to keep the foal’s gender a surprise. Pinkie Pie’s movements and everyday exertions also had to be kept closely monitored, meaning considerably less freedom in moving about and being random and carefree. Then there was the dietary matters…

“Uhhh, Twilight, what happened to the sugar and cereal?” Pinkie asked one ordinary morning.

“I swapped them out,” was the cheery straight-forward answer. “From now until the foal is born you’ll be eating oats, fruits, vegetables, herbal teas, and perhaps the occasional sweets and sugary beverage. But those will be highly limited.”

“But come on, Twilight, you know me: I run on sugar. It’s what gives me my ‘get-up-and-go, face the world head-on’ vibe.”

“My extensive research shows that reckless eating can have negative effects on a foal’s development and could lead to them being born with diabetes or heart disease or any number of other maladies from the start. Though you’ve never been afflicted by such complications, I just want to ensure the foal gets the best start possible. Physiologically speaking, that is.”

“But my mouth is gonna be soooo bored,” Pinkie lamented as she poked at an uninspiring sprig of wheat grass.

“Just know it’s for your foal’s good. On the bright side, you get to drink as much milk as you want.”

“Can it be chocolate milk??” Pinkie brightened up.

“No, but I could add some vitamin-enriched cocoa powder to regular milk. In precisely measured quantities, of course.”

“Phooey…”

Things outside the castle didn’t fare any better. With her new reputation dangling over her puffy pink mane, nopony approached her for any party-planning, and even parties that had been scheduled months prior were abruptly cancelled, the clients’ trust in Pinkie Pie having been dashed by her new reputation. The fact most ponies in town wouldn’t even talk to her beyond a few passing words in greeting put her into a moody state. To worsen matters, toward the sixth month of pregnancy, Twilight had put a ban on all strenuous activity, including her therapeutic bouncing!

With much of the town looking down on her, the absence of her favorite sugary foods, the restraints on her own mobility, and hormonal imbalances to top it all off, Pinkie found herself the victim of some of the most debilitating mood swings Equestria ever saw. And it was up to her dearest friends to help her weather them, each more miserable than the last.

“I’ve got to be the worst pony who ever existed in the history of eveeer!” Pinkie wailed out during her latest and most crippling emotional lowpoint. “I’m just so dumb and stupid and keep getting everypony into trouble with my fat stupid ugly mouth!”

“You’re not stupid or ugly,” Fluttershy assured her, acting as Pinkie’s primary on-call motivational support. “You make lots of ponies happy with your parties. A lot of foals especially like your birthday parties.”

“And my foal is gonna wind up being hated by everypony because his-her-whatever mom destroys families. Nopony will want to be friends with him or her, and he’ll/she’ll be made fun of cuz they’ll have no father, all because of moronic me. And I am totally ugly! Look at how fat I am: I couldn’t even skip if I wanted to.” She pointed to her sizable belly, tears streaming down her face.

“Now really, dear, you’re being much too hard on yourself.” Being an expert in drama, Rarity knew how to maneuver around such an emotional minefield. “It’s only a temporary bit of weight, which your extraordinary metabolism will surely burn off once the foal has arrived. Besides, some say the pregnant look makes some mares seemingly glow.”

“Yeah, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash agreed, who still hung around to help out her prankster partner in crime. Said helpfulness is subject to debate. “You’re like a, a, a fun-loving party balloon. Yeah, that’s right!”

“A party balloon that ruins ponies’ liiiiiiiives!” To that, Rainbow Dash could only shrug, utterly conflicted.

So it went on in the Castle of Friendship, with Pinkie riding the waves of inconveniences that come with expecting. From pity sessions to sullenness to outlandish food cravings and body cramps and, of course, the inexplicable spikes in arousal that led to a few awkward moments between Pinkie and her uptight caretaker (bet you’d want to know about that, huh you pervs ;]). A murky, pedestrian sort of harmony for such a tumultuous start, but as is the unpredictable nature of life, little things come along to add flux to the mix.

One such thing came about well into Pinkie Pie’s eighth month of pregnancy, some time after the Running of the Leaves (which she couldn’t commentate on, adding to her list of lamentations). A steady rainfall had come to town that afternoon, and the Friends of Harmony were gathered at the castle for a rainy day sleepover. With a roaring fire in the main hall keeping things cozy, the girls lounged about, making small talk and eating snacks atop their personal pillows. The mother-to-be was packing a massive baby bulge and felt extra grumpy, keeping to her own pile of comforters outside the group while scarfing down a tub of diet vanilla ice cream (one of the few dietary exceptions Twilight allowed for certain occasions).

“So how long this rain gonna last, RD?” Applejack asked from her beaten home-made pillow.

“It’s scheduled for the rest of today, but should be cleared up before tomorrow morning,” Rainbow Dash answered from her official Wonderbolt brand long pillow.

“This sort of rain is very nice and relaxing,” Fluttershy commented atop her quilty throw pillow. “Say, Pinkie Pie, tomorrow when it clears up, you could perhaps step around in the puddles. You’ve liked jumping around in them during a gentle rainstorm like this.”

“Rassem frassem nassem dumb puddles dassum,” Pinkie grumbled before stuffing her mouth with a giant scoop of ice cream.

“I think a walk around outside is a swell idea, Fluttershy,” Twilight said atop from her trio of regal yet conservative lounge pillows. “Fresh air can cheer just about anypony up, especially when they’re cooped up for so long.”

“It’s because the town hates me, so I’m saving them the bother of having to look at me,” Pinkie talked through another mouthful of ice cream.

“That’s no way to talk, Pinkie Pie,” Rarity said from her designer gem-studded deluxe body rester. “Though it’s true some of the busybodies buzz about your situation and the town’s overall opinion of you has waned somewhat… okay, fairly considerably, but all you need to do is get out there and show them you’re still the kind-hearted, thoughtful, and energetic mare everypony knows and looks up to. Take it from me: holing yourself up out of despair has never helped anypony.”

“That’s exactly right,” Twilight nodded. “As soon as the foal is born, your mood swings will go away and you can get back out there as the funnest pony to be with.”

“A good thing it’s only a few more months,” Rarity remarked. “Despondency really doesn’t suit you, Pinkie.” Pinkie only gave a lazy growl and wave before resuming her ice cream massacre.

Suddenly there came a knock at the door… which translated to a hollow pounding from the thick double doors at the other end of the entrance hall.

“Uh, what was that?” Rainbow needlessly asked.

“Who could that be at a time like this?” Twilight asked with some concern, just as her dutiful dragon assistant waddled by.

“Allow me to get that, ladies,” Spike said in his most polite, sleepover taskmaster voice. Some seconds of anticipation passed before the the girls heard the main door open, followed by a low “Whoa” from the baby dragon, which was quickly followed up with, “Twilight, I think you should come here.”

“Who is it, Spike?” the princess asked as she got up and trotted for the door. The others, brimming with curiosity, soon found themselves up and following their lavender friend.

“Don’t leave us hanging, Spike. Who is it already?” Rainbow asked as she fluttered to the main doors.

The group made it to Spike, who held one of the main doors open to look at the evening time caller. Taking up places at the opening, they looked out into the darkened outdoors, and instantly gaped in surprise. Despite the rain-drenched hat and overcoat, there was no confusing the skinny-build, the yellow fur and the ginger mane of Carrot Cake. He looked wretched, with bags under his eyes and a five o’clock shadow well past its bedtime. The stallion simply stood there in the downpour, his eyes shifting between the ground and the group of mares eyeing him.

Being the diplomatic sort, Twilight was the first to overcome her surprise and greet the stallion, if but in a shaky fashion.

“Mr. Cake…”

“Hello, Twilight. Girls,” he said in a hushed, weary tone.

“When did you get back into town?”

“About an hour ago. Didn’t get much sleep on the train ride here, wandered a bit. Listen, I need to talk to you, and Pinkie Pie.”

“About what?” Twilight adopted a tone of selfless concern at hearing his wavering voice.

“Is Pinkie here? Or is she somewhere else?”

“What’s it to ya?” Being the brash sort, Rainbow Dash wasn’t one to let somepony’s sudden reappearance make her silent for very long. Especially somepony she had a bone to pick with. “She didn’t seem that big a concern when you skipped town all those months ago. How was the trip, anyway? Real scenic?”

“Please, I just want to know if she’s alright. Let me kn—”

“You’re letting a draft in! Who’s at the door?”

The cantankerous interruption preceded the approach of Pinkie Pie, trudging against her grump and expanded waist to see the fuss for herself. Upon seeing it, her attitude did a backflip as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Carrot managed to spot her through the lineup of heroines and had the same reaction, only far more restrained.

“M-Mr. Cake…?”

A tired smile took up the stallion’s face before he uttered, “Pinkie…”

The pregnant pony trotted lazily to the open door, not averting her gaze of her long-absent employer. Her friends stepped aside as she came up to a foot from him, looking deeply into his face. As Carrot found himself getting lost in those familiar blue eyes that had brightened up his days for so many years, Pinkie decked him out flat on the watery ground with a straight hoof to the schnozz.

Carrot sputtered some rainwater as he looked up from his puddle, seeing a now-fretting Pinkie Pie.

“Whoa, way to go, Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow patted her pal on the shoulder.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry I didn’t know what came over me! Just seeing you filled me with all these feelings which got tangled up with these other feelings I had from being pregnant and for that one second I needed to hit something! I didn’t mean to hurt you it’s just these mommy hormones are making me do crazy things.”

“Like ya haven’t done crazy before,” Applejack remarked.

“Only it’s unintentional this time!”

“That’s perfectly fine, Pinkie,” Carrot said over his fat, wet lip. “Had that kind of thing coming in some form or other. Probably should have hit me harder, to be honest.”

After a pause and an exchange of looks between friends, Twilight came forward and offered a hoof to the fallen stallion. “Come inside and we can talk.” Carrot nodded before accepting the hoof and getting back on his wobbly hooves.

Soon everypony was gathered in the breakfast nook close to the main hall, sitting around the gleaming table with their bedraggled guest. Spike had just finished passing around cups of hot cocoa and coffee and took up a seat near the table, waiting for the drama to unfold.

“I guess the first thing you want to know is why I left town without a word,” Carrot began, nursing his piping mug.

“You’d be right,” Applejack said sternly.

“To put it bluntly, I was distraught and had no idea what to do,” he explained. “I’d never seen Cup Cake so angry before, and I was scared beyond reason for what I did. I thought I’d come back the next day and maybe talk things out with her, like Pinkie suggested, but when I saw all my things just piled there out on the street, I knew it was over. So I took whatever I could carry and ran away. She hadn’t closed out our accounts by the time I found a bank, so I was able to pull out enough to support me while I went around looking for someplace to find a fresh start.”

“And that didn’t pan out well, did it,” Rainbow surmised harshly.

“Heh, I’m not young anymore. I can’t gallivant all over the place, doing odd jobs and make a comfortable living as a traveling bum. Nopony would want a sad old horse like me, especially if they learn that I fooled around with younger mares like some creep. Besides, even if I could live like that, if I didn’t mind being a creep and do whatever the hell I wanted, I simply wouldn’t.”

“And why is that?” Rarity asked. Carrot looked down into his cup of Joe, and with a deep breath he resumed.

“Because I still love my wife. Even after what I’ve done and what she said to me, I still love her to death. Deep down I know there can never be another mare in my life who I can love as much as her, whether they’re more beautiful, younger, smarter, richer, or anything like that. I tried telling myself for months that it was all gone, that I could never get it back, to just move on. But I can’t; no amount of drinking or travel or late nights could make me forget what I had run from. I don’t want to abandon her, or my kids. And I mean all my kids. And knowing that I also left a good friend scared and betrayed only tore at my insides more.”

“Didn’t seem that way when you told Pinkie to buck off like it was all her fault,” Rainbow accused.

“Yeah. Where do you get off puttin’ your adulterin’ on somepony else’s head, then up and leave them under a heap of misplaced guilt?” Applejack added.

“I wasn’t thinking straight at the time,” Carrot replied. “My very life was falling down around me, and I lashed out at others instead of myself. I could’ve at least found time to apologize before leaving, but I didn’t do that either. I just kept making one regrettable mistake after another.”

“That’s okay, Mr. Cake,” Pinkie spoke up. “It all started because I came onto you. You had never asked for it, so it’s still really all my fault this has happened. To the both of us.”

“I still could’ve stopped you, like any responsible stallion. But I didn’t, and look where we are.” He shook his head. “I want to set things right before I make anymore trouble. I want to be there to raise our foal, Pinkie. I want him to have a father and not wind up a bastard through no fault of their own. And they should be with their brother and sister, instead of becoming a stranger or an embarrassment to his family.” He stopped to put his head into his hooves, his composure faltering. “I’ve been piling on so many mistakes and I want to fix them all. But I’ll probably just make more of them like always if I go it alone. I just need help from you, please. Help me get back to my wife and family…”

He shuddered with silent sobs, bringing a damper to everyone’s moods. Even the hardened looks of Rainbow Dash and Applejack softened at such a pitiful sight, and Pinkie already had tears growing at the sides of her eyes. Rarity was the first to break through the veil of sorrow.

“Although you hurt our friend’s feelings and practically relegated her to single parenthood, I suppose if you’re willing to make amends, then we could help. Is that so, girls?”

The others looked to her, then to each other.

“You seem pretty worked-up over what ya done, and we’d be regular heels not to give ya a chance, if only cuz you’re lookin’ to help out Pinkie Pie proper,” Applejack said.

“Like she said: we’ll give ya a shot, for Pinkie’s sake,” Rainbow added, to Pinkie’s glee.

“Although it took you several months, you still came back, and in the end that’s what matters,” Fluttershy softly commended.

Carrot looked up from his hooves, then wiped his muzzle as he collected himself. “I deeply appreciate that. And I’m sorry for having got you wrapped up into this as you were… could’ve saved several ponies a headache if I’d fessed up.”

“Well, we did get a little carried away and sort of drove you to speak out at an inopportune time, so it’s partially our fault as well,” Twilight spoke. “The least we could do is help patch things up with a calmer, smoother approach.” A cunning glimmer lit in her eye as an idea struck. “And I think I know just how to do it…”