Chapters Prologue
Far off from Ponyville but not yet on the verge of the Everfree forest stood a single cottage. This cottage was the home of the forests well known animal caretaker, Fluttershy. She had done this job for years, taking care of silky animals, giving homes to those who didn’t have their own. Even after all these years she still found the enjoyment in her job. Especially when she now had someone to share it with in the shape of her adopted daughter, Annie. Even after she moved out of her home to live with her husband she still took it upon herself to visit.
But there appeared to be something off about her during her visit today. Normally she would be active and happy, joyfully interacting with the animals around Fluttershy’s home. But instead she seemed quiet, withdrawn, and it was beginning to make her mother worry. “Annie, have you fed the birds yet?” asked Fluttershy as she made way towards the birdhouses. But when she did she noticed that Annie hadn’t answered her. “Annie?” when she got closer she finally caught sight of her daughter standing alone.
The bag of bird seeds that was given to her sat full on the ground as Annie seemed to be staring off into space. “Athena?” Fluttershy called this time using her full name as she placed her hand on her daughters shoulder. It was now that she finally reacted, giving off a small gasp the moment Fluttershy’s hand made contact with her shoulder.
“Huh?” said Annie as she turned her head “Oh hey mom, did you need something?” she asked. Even now as Annie was staring in Fluttershy’s direction she appeared to be lost in her own mind.
“Sweetie, is something wrong?” she asked.
“N-no, everything’s fine,” said Annie “Why do you ask?” Annie tried to put up a normal face, even go so far as to smile, but Fluttershy wasn’t buying it.
“Honey I’ve raised you for years, I know when you’re upset about something.” She said “And I also know when you’re trying to hide it from me.” Annie’s fake smile faded quickly after that as she bit her bottom lip. For a moment she looked away, unsure of what to say, this had been bothering her for days now but she hadn’t said a word to anyone.
“It’s…there’s just been something on my mind lately.” She said finally. Moving around her Fluttershy placed her hands on Annie’s back, beginning to push her gently.
“Come inside, let’s have some tea.” She said as she guided her towards the house. Once inside Fluttershy prepared a brew for them, pouring the two of them a cup in the kitchen. The room fell silent after the two had sat down. Fluttershy waiting patiently for Annie to say what was on her mind, and Annie trying to figure if whether or not she should.
“She told me this in confidence, can I really just tell someone else?” she thought to herself. She hasn’t even told her own husband about it. But even so she been plagued with this in her mind for days. It had become all she could think about, maybe, just maybe if she talked to someone else she would find some ease.
“Mom, how would you feel if you knew one of your friends were hurting.” She said finally. Fluttershy blinked at the question, some worry growing inside of her when she heard the word ‘hurting’. Now she wanted to know who this friend was, and what was wrong, but for now she could only answer the question given to her and hope the rest will come later.
“As you know my friends and I are as close as friends can be. If I knew any of them we in trouble or hurting I’d want to do anything I can to help them, and I know they feel the same about me.” She said. Again the room fell silent as Annie took in the answer, and again she fell into deep thought. Fluttershy could still see the uncertainty in her daughters eyes, so she decided to say something to help make her feel a little more comfortable about talking. “Annie, sometimes when our friends don’t ask for help, it’s actually when they need it the most.”
Annie let out a small sigh as she finally looked up from her tea “I’m not sure if I can help her mom, not with this.” She said.
“Who?”
“Amber,” she said “Last week I went to Canterlot to pay her a visit, and she told me something that I didn’t expect. She told me that she was infertile, that no matter what she did she could never have her own child.” Fluttershy covered her mouth as she let out a small empathetic gasp.
“Oh my…”
“I’ve spent almost every day since then thinking about it, I keep hearing the pain in her voice when she told me. I want to help her so badly mom, but I don’t know how. I can’t just cast a spell and fix this…at least, I don’t think I can.” Annie felt a small sting in her eyes as she said all this. Though she had to wipe away some moisture from them she had to admit that it felt good to confide in someone else about this.
“Did you know Applejack had to go through the same thing when she was younger?” Annie was caught off guard by this.
“She was?”
“It was because of all the work she did in the farm, it made it complicated for her to get pregnant. I was the first person she told, I can still remember the look on her face that day. Her life’s work almost took away what she wanted most, and it almost broke her. At first I tried to keep it from the others, Applejack was just too proud to let anyone else know. But I knew that I couldn’t keep quiet about it, because deep down I knew that she needed our help, all of us.” Fluttershy gave a small pause, giving her a moment to take a sip from her tea.
“How did she take it?”
“She…had some words for me.” Fluttershy cringed slightly “But in the end she thanked me, and welcomed the help. We spent months doing what we could to help her, each of us giving her as much support as she needed. She was very close to losing any hope she had, but then one day she woke up with morning sickness. And I’m sure you can guess what happened next.” It was a touching story, one Fluttershy was still proud of.
“But what can I do, I don’t even know what’s causing her infertility.” Said Annie.
“That’s something you have to talk to her about, only then can you really figure out a way to help her.” Said Fluttershy. Again the two went silent as Fluttershy allowed Annie some time to mull over everything she was told. She wanted to help Amber with all her heart, to help give her the child she knew her friend deserved.
“And I will.” She didn’t know how but she knew she’d find a way. Finally she raised her cup from the table and drank from it.
“Thanks mom.”
Author's Note
Just how far are you willing to go to help a friend?
New fic inspired by the cover art drawn by Kilala97.
Canterlot was always a place of mass activity, dozens upon hundreds of people either driving through the streets or walking along the sidewalk. With so many people going about their way in large crowds it can be a bit overwhelming to someone from out of town. And a woman who could only see blurs, this was made even more difficult. Anthea, or Annie as her friends call her was having a hard time making her way through the busy streets. With so much moving at once all she could see were a rainbow of blurs blending together. It was very different than the calmer roads of Ponyville.
Thankfully though her husband T was by her side guiding her to their destination. Eventually they came across the building they were searching for. “Where almost there.” T informed Annie as the two of them made their way towards the elevator. As it began to climb to the appropriate floor T noticed that Annie’s hold on his arm tightened slightly.
“Nervous?” he asked.
“A little.” She said, but the truth is that the butterflies in her stomach were going crazy. It wasn’t doubt that was filling her but the uncertainty of what was going to happen “I’m just wondering what she’ll say.” She added after a short silence. T raised his other hand and placed it on Annie’s so that he could pull her closer. Leaning in her gave her a reassuring kiss on the head.
“We won’t know until we try.” The elevator slowed to a stop as it reached it designated floor, opening its doors so that those riding it may exit. Finally Annie and T found themselves at their destination, the door towards the end of the hall. Annie took in a deep breath before raising her hand to knock, but before she could she felt another hand grab hold of hers.
“Hold on.” T said as he turned Annie to face him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I know we talked about this already, but I want to hear it one last time.” Now holding both of her hands T looked down directly at Annie’s face. Though he knew she couldn’t see like everyone else he also knew what she looked like when she was being serious. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked. Annie smiled at T’s concern, using his arms as a guide Annie managed to fine his face, holding it to insure she was looking directly at it.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” she said “I want to do this, I can’t turn back now.” The look Annie was giving T was one filled with total certainty and dedication. Fully convinced that Annie had no doubts, T turned back towards the door and gave it several knocks. They didn’t have to wait long maybe a minute before they heard the locks coming on done.
The door opened to reveal one of the people living in the home, one of Annie’s oldest friends, Lucky Star. Lucky looked surprised to see them standing at the door but greeted them with a warm smile none the less “Well isn’t this a surprise,” he said.
“Hey Lucky,” said Annie. “You’re not busy are you?”
“Not at all, whatcha need?” he asked.
“I was wondering if I could talk to Amber, is she home?” a small frown formed on Lucky’s face at the mention of Amber. Turing his head slightly to look back inside of his home he let out a small sigh.
“Yeah, she’s here.” He said “But I’m not sure if now is the best time.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Well I know she told you about what happened, right?” Amber nodded, she could never forget how much pain she heard in her friend’s voice that day. “Her moods have been very unsteady since then. Sometimes her low moods will hit without warning, then she just tries to shut everything out.” Rubbing his arm Lucky leaned against the door frame and let out a small sigh “I try what I can to help her but there are times when she just budge.”
Annie could feel a lump form in her chest, it was just as bad as she thought. She’d only learned about this recently too, she would only imagine how long Amber had been dealing with this. Days, weeks, all this time trying to come to terms with something that was out of her control. She couldn’t let this continue, she won’t.
“Let me talk to her.” Lucky looked down on Annie with furrowed brows. He didn’t want her to see Amber as she was now, and he was sure Amber wouldn’t want to be seen either.
“Annie I don’t think-“
“Please…” she plead, once again a look of determination spread across her face “Let me try.” Lucky continued to stare at Annie, his mind was still telling him that this wasn’t the time. But he didn’t have the heart to turn Annie away.
“Okay,” he said standing aside. He was about to walk in and lead them to Amber, but before he could he felt a hand hold on to him.
“Actually Lucky, I was wondering if I could do this alone.” Lucky turned to see Annie had walked in with him, T still standing outside. This request seemed strange to him, though he trusted Annie he still had to ask.
“Why?”
“You’ll find out soon, but for now I just ask that you trust me.” Lucky rubbed the back of his head, he still wanted to know what Annie wanted to say to Amber. He stood there in silence for a little longer, wondering what would be so important that it had to be said in private. But in the end her agree, patting Annie on the head as he walked out of the door.
“Good luck.”
She sat on the sofa in the far corner of the living room, a freshly opened can of beer in her hands. Her eyes were locked on the window next to the sofa, her gaze focused on the moving clouds of the sky. As she sat there she began to wonder what brought about her mood change this time, she recalled having a pleasant morning before it happened. He recalled hearing something, something that caused her to close this very window. She almost found it laughable, being depressed about something she couldn’t even remember.
Laughter…
Now she remembers, she heard laughing coming from outside of the window. The laughter of children playing, having the times of their lives. There was a time when hearing that warmed her heart, but now it only served as a cruel reminder of what she could never have. She’d tried to close the window before it could hit her, but by then the damage had already been done. Now she sat alone, trying to drink away the pain.
“Amber?” she let out a small gasp as the voice disrupted the silence around her. Turning her head Amber saw who it belong to.
“Annie?” she said “W-when did you get here?” though Amber knew that Annie wouldn’t see what she looked like, she still tried to fix herself up a little.
“Just now, Lucky let me in.” Amber blinked, she had been so out of it she didn’t even hear the front door. Without saying another word Annie walked up to the sofa, using her hand to feel for where it was. “How are you holding up?” she asked as she sat down next to Amber. She didn’t answer at first, just leaned back on her sofa and let out a small sigh. She wanted to say that she was doing better, that she was trying to get her life back on track. But that would have been a lie, one she knew Annie would catch.
“Not so good…” she answered finally. “I want to get this behind me, I really do, but no matter how hard I try it just keeps pulling me down. Not matter what I do or try I’ll always be broken.” Annie flinched at the word, she wished that Amber wouldn’t use it to describe herself but she was too adamant about it. But now that she did, it was probably Annie’s best chance to bring up what she came to say.
“Amber, I need to ask you something.” She said.
“Yeah?”
“Last time we talked, you told me you were infertile. But you never explained what you mean by that.” Amber’s grip on her beer tightened slightly at this. She’d tried hard to keep that out of her mind, even if it wasn’t successful.
“Annie, please, I’d rather not talk about this.” Annie could sympathize with her, there was no way this would be easy for her. But she needed to know, not just for herself but for Amber’s sake as well.
“I know it’s hard,” raising her hand, Annie placed it on Amber’s shoulder “And I know I couldn’t even begin to understand how you must feel. But I also know you trusted me enough to tell me when something was wrong. So please, tell me the whole story.” Amber placed her hand on top of Annie’s welcoming the reassuring touch. Annie was right, she did trust her, more than anyone else.
“Okay…” she said “The problem is in my ovaries, they just can’t produce eggs anymore. And even if they do somehow manage to make one it won’t mature.” Letting go of Annie’s hand Amber placed her on her stomach, slowly she rubbed it as she talked.
“I’ve tried all kinds of medication but none of them work.” Feeling sorrows begin to grow again, Amber raised her beer to her lips. “There’s just nothing I can do…” Annie sat quietly as she heard Amber down the contents of her drink. Though the story itself was sad, what Amber said brought a small sliver of joy to her.
“Perfect.”
“I went to my doctor before coming here you know,” she said “Even before I had oasis she told me that I was incredibly fertile. She said that even now I wouldn’t have any trouble having kids.” Annie’s words felt like a hot knife in her side. Putting her beer down she turned to glare at her. She had just told her that she couldn’t have kids, and explained why, and now she decided to tell her this?
Why?
“Oh I get it!’ she said as she got up from her seat “You came here to gloat, is that it!?” in her anger Amber crushed the can in her hand, the liquid inside spilling out of it. Annie was caught off guard by Amber’s sudden surge of rage.
“What, no I-“
“Shut up!” Amber yelled as she spiked her can on the ground. “I thought you were my friend Annie, why would you do this?” she asked.
“Amber wait, you don’t understand I-“
“I don’t want to hear it!” Amber yelled cutting Annie off again. “I told you this in trust and now you decided to rub it in my face. Get out!” not giving Annie time to respond Amber made her way to the kitchen, opening the fridge she pulled out another can of beer. But just as she was about to open it something interrupted her. To Ambers surprise Annie had followed her to the kitchen and slapped the can out of her hands. Now it was Annie’s turn to be angry.
“If you’d let me get two words out I could finish what I was saying!” Annie was one who like her adopted mother Fluttershy rarely got angry. And also like her mother whenever she did get angry there was no on who could stand up to her. So in a sense of shock Amber stood in silence, allowing Annie to finish.
“Like I said, my eggs are incredibly fertile, they’d have no trouble maturing.” Annie’s gaze softened as she placed a hand over her stomach. “And what I mean by that is that they would have an easy time making a baby, be it inside of me,” before she finished Annie reached out her hand, gently placing it on Ambers.
“Or someone else…” Amber let out a small gasp, not because of Annie’s touch, but because of what she said.
“Someone else…?”
“Annie, what are you saying?” she asked, though part of her already knew.
“My eggs, take them, take as many as you need.”
“A-Annie, it’s not that simple,” said Amber, having studied medicine herself she would know.
“I know, but I spent days in Ponyville doing research, I even talked with Nurse Readheart.” said Annie “I know very well what it takes to do this, and I’m willing to do it, for you.” Amber felt tears running down her cheeks. Annie was practically offering her the world, and she had just yelled at her.
“But why, why would you go through with this for me?” she asked.
“You gave a lot for me when I was younger, you were my rock and my role model.” Said Annie “I know you did it out of the goodness of your heart but I have always wanted to find a way to repay you for it, to show you how much it meant to me.” Raising her hand Annie managed to wipe away some of Amber’s tears. “You’re my best friend Amber, please, let me do this for you.”
Amber’s emotions got the better of her, lunging forward she wrapped her arms around Annie for a hug. Annie didn’t make an effort to move away, she simply wrapped her arms around Amber, giving her all the time she needed to let it out. “But…but what if it doesn’t work?” she asked. “What if after going through all of that I still can’t have a child?”
“Then we’ll keep trying until it does.” Said Annie as she pushed Amber back slightly so that she could look at her. “I know you Amber, just as much as you know me, I know that you’re not the type of person who will give up without a fight. And now I want to give you that chance, so please Lil, don’t start now.”
A fighting chance…
That’s right, that’s the reason this affected her so much, because it was something that was out of her control. But now Annie was willing to give her that control, to give her a chance to fight for what she wanted. And she was going to grab hold of that chance, so wiping away the rest of her tears Amber stood on her own again, looking down on Annie with the first genuine smile she’d had in a long time.
“Where do we start?”
Author's Note
Sometimes it's harder to accept something when you aren't given a fighting chance. But when a chance does present itself, be sure to grab hold of it and never let go.
This fic will focus less on the technical aspects of in vitro and surrogacy and more on Ambers attempt to gather herself and set her life straight again. Hope you all like it!
There had been several occasions when Lucky found himself rendered completely speechless. But there was no doubt in his mind that right now was probably the most surprised he had ever been. Standing outside of his apartment Lucky had been filled in on why Annie wanted to talk to Amber alone, and he couldn’t believe it. Sure, Annie was the kind of person who would do anything to insure that her friends were happy, but this was on a whole different level.
“Annie’s really willing to go that far…?” A part of Lucky felt that he shouldn’t have been surprised, but even so he couldn’t help himself. As he tried to process this T simple stood in silence, looking over to his friend.
“Hard to believe, isn’t it?”
“Yeah…” neither T nor Lucky said anything for a while longer, unsure of how to proceed a conversation after having such an offer placed on the table. T would have preferred to stay silent until the girls came out, hoping that maybe then Annie would take over. But he knew he couldn’t, he promised that he’d try to get lucky on board.
“So what do you think?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” looking down again Lucky pulled his hand out of his pockets and gazed on the ring around his finger. This offer would give Amber something she’s wanted more than anything in her life, something that she was told she might never have. He couldn’t even begin to think about denying her something like this. But at the same time he was hesitant to say yes, unsure of whether or not Amber would be willing to go along with it.
No matter how he tried to twist it, there was only one fact “This is her choice to make.” Looking up at T Lucky continued “I’m not going to give an answer, I’m going to wait to hear hers. And whatever it is, I’ll go along with it.” As soon as Lucky stated his resolve both he and T’s attention were caught by the sound of the door opening. When it did Lucky quickly noticed that Ambers appearance had changed, though she wasn’t back to her normal self he saw that she was better than when he last saw her. And he also noticed the slight puffiness of eyes that had just cried.
“Did you tell him?” asked Annie as the two of them stepped out.
“Yeah.” Both T and Annie watched as Amber walked up to Lucky who had wrapped his arms around her for a hug. The two were silent for a moment, most likely still trying to settle after what they had been told. Eventually Amber stepped back and looked up into Lucky eyes,
“So…did you make your choice?” he asked. Amber in tern smiled back at him and gave a node of her head.
“Let’s do this.”
The group soon made their way back into the apartment, everyone finding a seat in the living room. The first step had already been taken now that both Amber and Lucky accepted Annie’s offer. But again this was only the first step, one of many that would need to be taken before this could all be done. Which is what brings them to where they are now, ready to discuss what they are going to do next.
“So how exactly does this work?” asked Lucky, between the two of them Amber was the one with the most medical knowledge while his was limited to just some of the basics.
“In Vetro fertilization isn’t something that can just happen overnight. It takes several appointments and you’ll have to be prescribed some medication before they can even consider making a date to remove some eggs.” Said Amber, which brought her to a question she hadn’t thought to ask until now. “That being said, where is this all going to take place?” she asked.
“That’s something else I wanted to bring up,” said Annie “But I wanted the both of you to be together before I did. Like you said, this is something that will take time, not just my appointments, but the one’s Amber would have as well. For this to work out best, the two of us would need go to the same hospital.” but there lied a problem, both Annie and Amber lived miles away from one another, both having their own hospitals they go to. So the obvious solution would be that one of them would have to move locations for a while.
Question was, who?
“We have plenty of space here,” said Amber “You’ve used our guest room before so you know it’s comfortable. And after what you’re doing for me it’s the least we can do.” Annie looked over to Amber and smiled warmly at the offer.
“I appreciate that Amber, I really do.” she said “But I have to ask you something; since you told me what happened you said that it’s hard for you to function. You also said you haven’t been able to work, so I have to ask, how long has it been since you left home?” Amber knew she couldn’t see her face, but still she turned away from Annie. She could feel a small sliver of shame wash over her, even she wasn’t sure how long it had been since she went outside.
“It’s…it’s been a while…” said Amber as she hung her head. Annie simply hummed in response, a small part of her had expected that answer.
“That’s why I have to insist on this,” she said with a series expression “Until we sort this through, until everything is said and done…I want you to live in Ponyville with us.” Amber couldn’t explain it, but for some reason the thought of going back to Ponyville filled her with an uneasy sensation. Her visits to the rural town had always been happy, many fond memories having been made there.
“But why, why do I feel afraid to go there now…?” she asked herself, desperately wishing that there would be an answer. But one didn’t come, not to her question anyway, and still she had to say something back to what Annie was insisting upon.
“Y-you know Annie, Canterlot General is a lot larger than Ponyville Hospital, their technology is up to date, a-and I know a lot of the doctors there too. It wouldn’t be hard for me to get the appointments we need if I talk to them.” Annie was silent for a moment, as if she was thinking about Amber’s suggestion.
“That does sound like it would make things easier,” Annie said with a nod of her head, for a moment it made Amber relax. Sure she didn’t know why she was trying to avoid Ponyville, but so long as they could still get the same results it wouldn’t matter, right?
“But can you bring yourself to step foot in that hospital?” again Amber felt herself pause, her last memory in that hospital was not a happy one. But how could it be, how could anyone look back in fondness of the place where you had your dreams crushed.
“Lil…” Annie said with true concern in her voice, Amber looked up at her to see Annie looking back, her brows furrowed. “You can’t avoid this…” Amber bit her bottom lip for a moment, she wished she could know why she tried to avoid it in the first place. But she knew that she wouldn’t be able to find out sitting here, she’d have to find her answer there.
“Okay…” she said, but then her expression changed, it was stern and unmoving, something Lucky hadn’t seen from her for a while now. “But I have one condition,” she said.
“Okay,” said Annie.
“Any and all of the expenses for this will be paid for by us,” she said as she placed on hand on Lucky’s shoulder. Annie looked as though she was caught off guard by this, for a moment she looked as though she was going to say something, but Amber beat her to it. “No Annie, I’m not going to back down for this one,” she said.
“You’re giving me everything short of a new organ, while I know you’re doing this for me I can’t take all this without putting in something of my own. Lucky and I have saved up a lot of money over the years, it should be more than enough to cover everything.” Lucky looked over to Amber for a moment, they did in fact have a lot of money saved. This was because they were looking to buy themselves a home. But he didn’t say anything, because one look in Amber’s eyes was all he needed to understand. There would be time for a new home later, right now this was more important, for both of them.
Annie let out a small sigh, she was sure her insurance could cover this, but it didn’t sound like Amber would move an inch. But maybe that was a good thing, being able to hear her friend trying to be stubborn, in a good way. “Okay Lil, you win this one,” she said with a smile. The room fell silent after that, the offer was given and accepted, and the conditions have been set, all happening a lot faster than Annie expected.
But it wasn’t long until the silence was broken by the sounds of someone clearing her throat. “Y-you know Del runs a new restaurant near here,” said Amber. “I bet if we showed up we could get some seats,”
“I could eat,” said T as he and Lucky got up from their seats. Soon after Amber and Annie rose as well, and all four began to make their way to the door. But before they did Amber felt a hand place on her shoulder. Looking back all she saw was Annie smiling at her, one so bright that she couldn’t help but return it. Without a word the two caught up with the guy and locked the door behind them. She didn’t think much of it at the time, but in that moment she had made a large first step.
Author's Note
I think this stories version of Annie could beat out Rarity for her Element of Harmony. Maybe it's just me. What do you think, did I make her too generous here?
