"Okay class," Ms. Cheerilee said. "I'm going to explain why I asked half of you to write down your names on a piece or paper yesterday. I've put them in this fish bowl," she gestured towards the clear glass bowl next to her on her desk, "And you will pick from it who your spouse will be for your semester assignment."
Rainbow Dash rasied her hand. "Uh, spouse? Are we getting married or something?"
Cheerilee shook her head with a laugh. "Not exactly. You see, when you grow up and live on your own, you will aquire responsibilities. Like," she went behind her desk and heaved what looked like a small baby wearing a diaper onto her desk. "Children."
Applejack scratched her cheek. "Uh, Ms. Cheerilee? Ah don't quite get it."
A few other students around her mumbled in agreement.
"For the next few weeks you will be taking care of a baby with a partner. Your 'spouse'." She explained using air quotations. "This is to show you how hard it is to take care of a baby while maintaining a relationship. No I don't actually expect you to start dating your partner, but in order for this to work you both have to participate and communicate accordingly."
"What if two guys get paired together?" Someone in the back asked.
"Then you would have to just deal with it, now wont you? Same sex marriages of both sexes are common in this day and age anyway." She held up the fish bowl. "Now, I'm going to come around with the bowl. The half of the class who didn't write their name will pick a scrap of paper with their partner's name on it. Once everyone on that side has a paper, I will tell you to open it. And you can't change your partner once you have one."
Rainbow Dash groaned.
"Give me a break," Sunset Shimmer told her, rolling her eyes. "It can't be that bad."
Cheerilee came around and every other student picked out a piece of paper with their classmates name on it. When she gave the go ahead, everyone opened the paper to see who their partner would be.
"I got Rarity?!" Applejack barked. Not that she didn't like her. In fact Rarity was one of her very best friends. It's just...she couldn't see herself with someone like her. And especially not having a child with them.
"Pinkie?!" Rainbow squeaked. "She can't even keep an eye on herself how is she supposed to take care of our pretend kid?!"
"Sweet!" Twilight Sparkle said, turning to Sunset. "Looks like we're partners!" Of course this wasn't Princess Twilight, but her human counterpart. She had transfered from Crystal Prep at the beginning of the year and was quite surprised to find that she was already popular in a school she had never been to.
But, with the help of Sunset and the others, she had gotten used to all the attention and settled into their group quite nicely. There were significant differences between her and Princess Twilight of course, but that was a good thing. Sunset wouldn't have it any other way.
"Eeep!" Fluttershy squeaked. Everyone looked over at her for an explanation but it was clear that she was absolutely way too frightened to say anything.
Rainbow grabbed the paper off her desk and snorted. "Adagio! Oh man, I'm actually glad I'm stuck with Pinkie now!"
"Don't worry," Sunset told the pink haired girl, trying to calm her down. "I'm sure that she isn't as scary as she was before." She actually wasn't sure about that, but she wasn't going to tell Fluttershy that.
Cheerilee handed each group a baby and a blank birth certificate. She instructed them to come up with a name and write it on the certificate before handing it back to her next class. "And remember," she said as the lunch bell rang. "You have to work together in order for this to work!"
The gang's lunch table was unusually loud that afternoon, as each girl sat with her partner contemplating a name for their fake child. And so far, no progress had been made.
"No!" Rarity shouted at Applejack, her lips set into a deep frown. "We are not naming our child 'Bailey Hay'!"
Applejack snorted. "Why not?!"
"Because it is too country! Our child's name should be something unique and a combination of the both of us! Not something that you came up with off the top of your head!" Rarity countered.
"Fine! Then what do you suggest we name 'er?!" The farm girl barked.
"Cherry Blossom." Rarity huffed.
"Ah don't like cherries." Applejack said indignantly.
"How are you going to name your child something apple related when all of your family has taken up every apple related name ever?! At least it's fruit related! Work with me here, darling!" The fashionista told her, exasperated.
Applejack didn't say another word. She just grumbled to herself, and wrote 'Cherry Blossom' on the certificate. If this relationship was going to work, she was just going to have to shut up and let Rarity have her way sometimes.
Though their argument was greatly overshadowed by the one going on further down the table.
"Bubble Berry!"
"Rainbow Blitz!"
"Bubble Berry!"
"Rainbow Blitz!"
"Bubble Berry!"
"Pinkie, I'm not naming our son something that lame! He obviously takes after his mama so his name is Rainbow Blitz!" Dash shouted.
Pinkie slammed her hands on the table. "What are you talking about?! We're both his mamas so he takes after both of us! He can't be a baker like me with a name like Rainbow Blitz!"
"Who said he was going to be a baker?!" Rainbow demanded, poking a finger into Pinkie's chest. "Obviously the squirt is gonna be a Wonderbolt like me!"
"Nuh-uh! He's toats gonna take after me!" Pinkie said.
"No, me!" Dash insisted.
"No, me!" Pinkie insisted back.
The girls glared at each other, probably sending literal sparks flying.
Across from them, Sunset and Twilight had just put the finishing touches on their baby girl's birth certificate.
"Aurora Dawn is a perfect name, Sunset!" Twilight gushed, pushing her glasses up on her face. "How ever did you come up with it?!"
"Ah well," Sunset began, smiling modestly. "I just thought that our baby girl would have similar names to ours."
Twilight smiled at her. "It's so cute!" She giggled. "This project is gonna be a breeze for us!"
"Totally!" Sunset agreed. "Hey, you wanna take Rory to the park after school today? It's a nice day out and it'd be great for bonding and stuff."
"Sure!" Twilight told her. "I should ask the girls if they want to..." her sentence trailed when she finally noticed the commotion going on at the other end of the table. "Er, maybe it should just be the two of us." she corrected herself.
Sunset nodded. "Good idea."
The other girls did wind up accompanying them to the park. And while there they discovered that the babies had chips in them that caused them to cry. They had to figure out the reason for the crying on their own without hurting it.
That's when they also realized that the chips in the babies recorded whenever they were hit.
While Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were busy pushing Berry Blitz on a swing, (they had decided to compromise,) the two other groups of new parents sat at a bench playing with their children.
"I think you'd make a great mother, Sunset!" Twilight told the older girl smiling as she burped the doll after it's "feeding."
"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Sunset replied, giving her an amused smile.
"Well, you're really gentle, and compassionate. I think any kid would be lucky to have you as a mom." Twilight said, smiling at her genuinely. "I know I wouldn't mind having a kid with you."
There was an awkward pocket of silence.
"I-I mean, you know, if there was ever such a circumstance. Heh." The younger girl fretted, quickly pretending to clean off her glasses.
Their awkward silence continued until they saw Pinkie and Rainbow bounding towards them out of breath.
"H-Have you seen Berry?" Rainbow asked, breathlessly.
Applejack's eyebrows knitted. "Weren't ya'll just pushing him on the swings a moment ago? How'd you lose him?"
"Dashie thought it'd be funny to push him really really high and he kind of....flew." Pinkie explained, twirling her hair.
"Flew?" Twilight repeated. "You mean you guys sent him soaring?"
Dash nodded. "Pretty much."
"Hey!" Pinkie said, pointing to a dog a few yards away from them. "Get my baby's arm out of your mouth!" she immediately began chasing after the dog waving her fists.
Rainbow rolled her eyes but ran to catch up with her.
Sunset let out a low chuckle. Something told her this was going to be an interesting project.
Don't Be A Baby
Sunset heard a pounding on the door of her apartment in the wee hours of the morning. Whoever it was was going to have to wait. She was absolutely way too tired to open the door.
But the knocking persisted. Groaning, Sunset got up and opened the door, becoming confused when she saw her purple haired friend looking frazzled, carrying their infant.
The two had agreed that they would split up parent duty earlier that day. One would take the baby Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, while the other girl got it Thursday and Friday. Weekends, since there was no school was a joint effort, and those days they would rotate from each other's house with sleepovers to spend "quality time."
But today was Tuesday, and Sunset wasn't supposed to get the baby until Thursday. "Um? Are you alright, Twilight?" she asked, wincing at the shrill shriek of the child in her arms.
"It won't stop crying!" Twilight whined. "I tried feeding it, burping it, heck I even tried to put it to sleep! It just won't stop!" She thrust the baby into the older girl's arms and shut the door behind her, worried that the incessant crying would wake Sunset's neighbours.
Sunset looked down at the doll incredulously. When Twilight had taken it home after their outing to the park, it hadn't made a single peep. In fact, she was going to take the first three days and let Twilight have the last two. But Twilight insisted, and so Sunset had no choice but to give her the baby. Had she known that this was going to happen, she wouldn't have done it in the first place. Examining it, she realized that Twilight had overlooked something amusingly simple. "Hey, did you think to change its diaper?"
"The-" Realization washed over Twilight's face as she smacked her forehead. "Of couse! The diaper! Why didn't I think of that?!"
Sunset giggled. "Well, with the bags under your eyes, I'd say that your brain stopped working correctly about three hours ago." She yawned. "How'd you get over here anyway?"
"I walked. Well, more like ran. My parents were going to wake up if I didn't shut her up." Twilight answered sheepishly.
"Hmm. It's too late for you to go back now. You can spend the night if you want." Sunset offered.
"Really?" Twilight asked.
"Heck yeah. I'm not gonna let you walk back home at this time of night. It was a risk for you to even come here in the first place," Sunset pointed out.
"True," Twilight agreed. "I guess I'll just have to explain to my parents what happened. I'm sure they'll understand."
"That you snuck off in the middle of the night with your baby to see your spouse?" Sunset teased.
Twilight blushed. "Well, when you put it that way it doesn't really sound that innocent." She pushed her glasses up on her nose. "Furthermore, I'm surprised you don't live with your parents. Where are they?"
"Back in Equestria." Sunset sighed. "I haven't seen them in years." She frowned. "I don't think they'd want to see me anyway. Especially not after all the trouble I caused in both worlds."
Twilight smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm positive that the other me has made it known that you're a good person now," she offered. She blinked. "Wow that was so weird to say."
"Eh, you're taking it better than we all thought you would've. Want something to eat?" Sunset said, shrugging.
"Er, shouldn't we take care of that first?" Twilight reminded her, pointing to the still crying baby.
Sunset smacked her forehead. "Right."
The next morning, or at least, a few hours after both girls had gone to sleep, Sunset was awoken by the smell of fresh pancakes being made. Curious, she tiptoed out of her bedroom to see Twilight working the stove, singing a song to herself.
She smiled. That girl was a total dork. Clearing her throat, she couldn't help but giggle when the spatula in the younger girl's hand clattered to the counter.
"S-Sunset! I-I woke you up with my singing, didn't I?" Twilight fretted, turning to her.
Sunset waved her hand dismissively. "Nah. Your cooking is what woke me up," She said, stepping into the kitchen. She made a move to kiss Twilight on the cheek and the other girl jumped back.
"Whoa what are you doing?!" she squeaked, blushing.
"Couples kiss each other good morning do they not?" Sunset asked her, arching a brow.
"Yes, yes they do. From what I've seen in movies and the like." Twilight agreed, nodding her head slowly. "But we are not a couple. At least, not for real. And, uh, it'd be kind of weird getting a kiss from a friend."
Sunset stretched and headed over to the fridge, rummaging through it for a carton of juice. "Oh yeah? Why's that?" she asked, her words being muffled by something in her mouth. When she leaned back up to shut the fridge door with her foot, she had coffee creamer in one hand, juice in the other and a yogurt container in her mouth.
"Because we aren't dating, duh," Twilight told her, rolling her eyes. "And plus, we're girls....I'm not sure if I like girls."
"It's not like you're gonna suddenly love girls if I kiss you one time," Sunset snorted, starting up the coffee maker. "There's no lesbian fairy waiting to turn you into a lesbian either." She smiled at Twilight as the coffee in the machine gurgled into the cup she had placed under it.
Twilight laughed. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry." she said, placing the plate of pancakes on the table.
Then she noticed that it had been quiet.
Too quiet.
"Uh...Sunset?" Twilight said, getting up.
"Yeah?" the older girl answered her, stuffing pancakes into her gob.
"Where's Aurora?"
The fork in Sunset's hand stopped mid way to her mouth. "Oh horseapples."
There truly was no need to worry, in the flurry of happenings from earlier that morning, the doll had ended up in Sunset's room, some how under her bed. How it got there neither girl was sure, but what they were sure of was that they were lucky they didn't lose their assignment.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie on the other hand....
Speaking of hands, their baby was missing one. It was horribly noticeable too. No one at the lunch table had the heart to ask them what happened to their 'son', but Twilight guessed it had to do with the dog from the park yesterday.
"Say, ya'll seen Fluttershy lately?" Applejack asked, biting into an apple.
"Not since class yesterday," Sunset answered. "Why?"
"That's the thing. Fluttershy always comes to class. I haven't seen her all day today. And she's not even here at lunch. She always comes to lunch. What do you think's gotten into her?" AJ wondered.
"Adagio. Adagio got into her," Dash said, trying to duct tape poor Berry Blitz's hand back onto his arm while Pinkie held him still. "I saw her leave with her yesterday and haven't seen her since."
Just then a tray clattered onto the table, scaring everyone who wasn't paying attention. Especially Rarity, who was right next to the person who had done the offending action.
The table was quiet as Fluttershy sat down, beginning to munch on her salad before looking up at the girls who were all staring incredulously at her. "Um, what?"
"What? That's all you have to say?!" Pinkie demanded. "We thought you died!"
"No we didn't," everyone chimed in.
"I thought you died!" Pinkie repeated.
"Darling, we didn't think you'd be so willing to go with Adagio. Especially after your reaction from yesterday. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly changed?"
Fluttershy shrunk into herself. "Um, well, after I went with her and the rest of the Dazzlings back to their house, Adagio and I sat in the living room coming up with names for our baby girl," she explained, twirling a hair around her finger.
She grew uncomfortable as the others leaned in close to hear what she was saying. "We named her Crescendo Glare by the way, and well, I guess I stayed there and lost track of time. When I woke up it was well into the afternoon."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You spent the night at their house?" Dash asked as her and Pinkie's baby started to cry. She banged her head on the table as the crying got louder.
"It's not weird," Twilight replied for her. "I mean, I spent the night at Sunset's." Twilight realized that saying this was a huge mistake, because as soon as the words left her mouth all eyes were on her. "I-It's not what it sounds like!" she quickly protested.
"Some of you guys are talking this project way too seriously," Pinkie commented, unaware of the double meanings her statement held.
"I had just came to her for assistance! With the baby!" She held up the doll, shaking it in Dash's face. As she did so, her baby joined in the cries of Pinkie and Rainbow's baby, making the entire cafeteria look their way.
"Ah, the joys of children," Pinkie said sighing.
She whined when Dash punched her arm.
Author's Note
If there are any grammatical mistakes I do apologize, it's 11 pm and I'm too tired to edit. if you do find anything, feel free to kindly point them out and I will correct them as soon as possible. Also, thank you all sososo much for getting this story featured! It's like the billionth one and I seriously cannot thank you guys enough!
