Pinkie Pie had acted very strange all day long, and her friends were noticing. They were all excited to have Shining Armor and Cadance visit Ponyville, but something was troubling Pinkie Pie.
They were especially worried shortly before Shining Armor and Cadance arrived since that was the point where Pinkie was on the verge of insanity. She was literally up the tree in stress. She calmed down a little when their guests arrived, but it didn't take long for things to escalate back up. It was the most peculiar thing.
While Twilight was catching up with her brother and sister-in-law and Pinkie was keeping herself away from everypony, the rest decided to group up and assess the situation.
"Okay girls. What do we all got her?" Applejack asked.
Rainbow Dash wasted no time to give an answer. "We have decorations that still aren't up, a friend who's crazier than usual, and I'm pretty sure the veggie plates have already gone bad."
Applejack raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. "Uh huh. For now, let's just focus on that second one. All day now, Pinkie Pie has been acting wackier than a laughing dog in a cart race. To make sure Shining and Cadance enjoy themselves, we should probably calm her down."
"Mmm...as one who's always calm and can handle even the most grave of situations, I'm afraid I can't sympathize with Pinkie." Rarity said in a boastful tone, which neither Applejack, Rainbow Dash, or even Fluttershy bought.
"Then can y'all at least think of something that might be bothering her?"
Fluttershy, after letting the others talk so much, decided to speak up. "All day, it feels like she's been avoiding us. Whatever that secret she was hiding from us, she didn't feel ready to tell us. I remembered bringing up that Shining Armor liked baby carrots before she acted...well...weird."
Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin as she remembered something. "Baby carrots, huh? That reminds me. Scootaloo told me how Pinkie was making balloon animals, and for some reason, she made Scootaloo a baby bottle. How old does she thing the kid is?"
Rarity vaguely recalled a similar encounter. "I...believe I remember Pinkie Pie saying something about a baby, but outside of seeing her with a pacifier..." Recalling the pacifier Pinkie was sucking on as she ran away from her bothered Rarity more than it did earlier. "You know what, let's just end it with the baby thing."
"Babies, huh? Does she suddenly have a fear of em?" Applejack asked.
"It sounds almost like she's having one." Fluttershy added.
The four continued to think about Pinkie's behaviour, when suddenly, it hit them all. Fluttershy made her last comment without actually thinking about it, but when considering Pinkie Pie's behaviour, it all made sense. The mood swings, the word baby, and a secret that Pinkie wanted to stay secret. There was only one explanation, and all four of them reach the same conclusion.
"PINKIE PIE IS HAVING A BABY!?"
As the four mares screamed in unison, their voices echoed in the halls of the castle. Upon realizing so, they each covered up each other's mouths in a panic. Immediately afterwards, Pinkie Pie's head pop out from around the corner.
"WHAT DID YOU GUYS SAY!?"
This time, the group were the ones afraid. As far as they knew, Pinkie was about to find out that they knew the truth. None of them wanted for the big reveal to be so awkward.
Thinking fast, Rainbow Dash blurted out the first thing she could think of. "I said...oh baby oh baby! Gonna get my cider on tonight!" She said with a forced smile. "OH! But uhh...you probably shouldn't come. You know what they put in the stuff that I drink." This was followed by an even bigger forced smile by all four.
Pinkie narrowed her eyes as she stared at her friends. She was paranoid as is, but didn't call anypony out. Instead, she shifted her eyes left and right, then slowly backed away before running off. As soon as she left, the four took sigh in relief.
"I can't believe it. I shouldn't believe it." Applejack said in disbelief. "How can she be pregnant? She doesn't have a boyfriend or anything, does she?"
"She does have a lot of friends in Ponyville, though." Fluttershy argued. "I think she even has more in other places, so who knows. Maybe...does she stay in touch with Cheese?"
"It would explain why she spent al day yesterday throwing up." Rainbow Dash added. "That...or it could've just been from eating that entire wedding cake all by herself."
"Oooh, this is so exciting! I can't wait to make a gorgeous maternity dress for her!" Rarity said in excitement.
"Alright, alright. Calm down, girls!" Applejack ordered. The other three were getting all acted up and probably would've alerted Pinkie again if they raised their voices and higher. "We all don't know for sure if Pinkie is having a baby. But if she is, then she's clearly not ready to tell us all. For now, let's just let her keep it to herself. Act natural and pretend that we don't know anything."
The others didn't think that it was something Pinkie should've had to hide, but Applejack was right. They had no right to harass Pinkie about it, so they should let it be until the time comes.
"Fine, I'll keep my mouth shut." Rainbow Dash agreed. "I think I'll keep it filled with food. I'm starving right now."
"I will too, but I do believe that we need to meet up with Twilight, Cadance and Shining right about now.." Rarity reminded. "Should...we tell them...?
Fluttershy shook her head. "If Pinkie doesn't want us to know, then she wouldn't want Twilight to know either. Let's keep this to ourselves."
With the four mares agreeing to keep their theory a secret, they made their way out of the castle hall to find Twilight and Pinkie. They promised to do their best to pretend that they knew nothing since they weren't certain, but deep down, they knew that they wanted it to be true.
Even though Applejack kept the straightest face, she was, in fact, the most happy for Pinkie. "I just can't wait for the shotgun wedding!"
Later on, all six of Twilight and her friends met up together. Much to their surprise, Cadance and Shining Armor wasn't with Twilight. Instead, they had to meet up with them at town square. While Twilight was leading the group, Pinkie made her sure to stay behind all of them.
"I wish they waited to walk over with us." Twilight said. "But they said they had something to take care of first."
Rarity was a ahead of Pinkie and was paying attention to Twilight the whole time. They all heard Pinkie make a snarky remark under her breath, but none oft them heard it clearly. Rarity heard it as...
Alot...to take care of soon.
It didn't make a lick of sense to Rarity, but that was because she didn't hear Pinkie properly. When they all turned to Pinkie though, she insisted that she said nothing and ran on ahead of them. As they continued on, Rarity whispered to Fluttershy.
"Psst. Fluttershy. Did you hear her?"
"Yes. I think she said: She's got a lot to take of soon." She said whispered back.
As Rarity and Fluttershy gossiped about everything they heard, the group found themselves at the town square, but with nopony in sight. Rainbow Dash, having food on her mind, was upset that it was going to take so long before they could eat.
"UGHH! I need a hay burger in my belly, Right! Now!" Rainbow Dash said as she slapped the nearby fountain statue, which dropped a scroll that was rolled up in it. As Twilight grabbed it, Rainbow kept thinking about food. "I want this belly filled."
"HUH!?" Pinkie said in a scared tone.
Realizing what she said, she immediately knew where Pinkie's fear came from. "OH! I'm, uhh...saying I'm so hungry I could eat a baby. NOT! Having a baby! I mean...not saying hat you're...I hear sirens eat babies." This was all followed by another forced, awkward smile.
Pinkie didn't give Rainbow Dash too much recognition after hearing Twilight brining up a scavenger hunt, which was what the hidden scroll had written down. Dash was thankful that she was ignore after the slip up. After Twilight managed to decipher the clue, they made their way to their next destination.
Dash hoped that nopony would remember what she said, especially Pinkie, but on their way to the next clue, Rarity whispered to her..."Smooth move, darling."
After finding another clue, one that eventually led the group to town hall, tension started to get high again. Pinkie jolted past Mayor Mare as she waited for the group to arrive, but Twilight and the rest took their time walking in. They noticed that Mayor was jittery and excited, almost like Pinkie.
Mayor Mare waited for them all to walk inside, and when she thought none of them could hear her..."Baby! Oh boy a ba--" But she was heard. Pinkie darted back outside and gave her a dirty look, causing her to keep her mouth shut.
This didn't go unnoticed by the others though, with the exception of Twilight. They were a bit upset that Mayor Mare had apparently known about the pregnancy before they, Pinkie's best friends, knew. They went from concerned to offended.
When they arrived to the town's archives, Pinkie was going through files to find Applejack's birth certificate, which was what the scavenger hunt's clue stated. Meanwhile, Applejack turned to talk to Fluttershy.
"How many others do you think Pinkie Pie told before us?" Applejack asked.
"Knowing her, she wants us to know in a way that would surprise us the most. I...would rather not have it be...a surprise."
"Well, it sure as hay ain't a surprise, now isn't it."
Before they could continue on, Pinkie found what they were looking for. As soon as Applejack and Fluttershy saw the birth certificate, they almost forgot what they were even talking about. The baby Applejack photo was simply that adorable.
The scavenger hunt continued, and after solving the last two clues, one of which caused the group to witness how fast Pinkie could move by being shoved to the furniture store, they were ready to meet up with Shining Armor and Cadance to receive their grand prize.
As they reached the end of the game, they managed to stop to get a moment to breath after Pinkie Pie finally found something to distract her for two minutes. They had a stand selling chocolate chip spinach muffins. They weren't sure if she was eating because of cravens, or if it was because she was Pinkie Pie, but they didn't care. Pinkie also managed to drag Twilight over, so they were able to keep their talk private.
"So girls, I've been thinking." Applejack said. "I think I know why Pinkie didn't want to tell us the truth. Really think about this scavenger hunt that we were on. Am I the only one to notice a pattern?"
They all thought of it, but only Rarity spoke her mind. "Well, first we went to the school, then we got a copy of the Foal Free press, found AJ's birth certificate, and the last clue was on a crib--Oh my goodness this was planned." Rarity realized."
"And now we're going to meet up with up with Shining and Cadance at Sugar Cube Corner." Dash continued. "I bet they're throwing a celebration party for Pinkie. And surprise US with it too!"
The four were thrilled knowing that all of this was done just for them, even they weren't the star of the show. Something like this did call for celebration. That said, it became quite amazing that with such an announcement coming their way, none of them are happy with it. Just like that, their smiles were gone.
Rarity was the first to explain her misery. "Maybe I shouldn't have shoved the whole "don't ruin a secret" thing so far down her throat."
Then came Fluttershy "This really wasn't something you could just tell your friends, is it? I don't like surprises, but even I know that others love them."
Next, Rainbow Dash. "But we did know. And it probably caused more harm to Pinkie than just admitting it. Did we do the right thing?"
And finally, Applejack. "I think we did. Even if we ruined the surprise ourselves, Twilight will definitely be surprised. And we would've too if we just allowed Pinkie to keep something like this to herself. Some things should be kept secret, and as pony who's policy is honesty is the best, that's saying a lot."
Right there and then, Pinkie had finished up her muffin, and almost just as fast as she calmed down, she became as crazy as ever before. She urged Twilight and the rest to keep going to Sugar Cube Corner. She wanted the secret out, and she wanted it out soon.
"I really can't wait to get that maternity dress ready." Rarity said, now with a smile. "Oh, and for the baby to be born too."
Rainbow Dash smiled as well. "I just home Pinkie's ready for the responsibility. I certainly wouldn't have been."
"Still any ideas on who the father is girls?" Fluttershy asked.
"Speaking of which, remind me to get ready for their wedding. I just remembered that I don't own a shotgun." Applejack realized.
While still upset that Pinkie wasn't straight up honest with her best friends, they could still understand the feeling of keeping a big secret for the sake of an important surprise. They even came to respect Pinkie even more after they realized that SHE of all ponies wanted to keep a secret from getting out. That would take sheer, unadulterated willpower for her to pull it off.
They all knew that they made the right choice. While it's good to help friend feel comfortable, there simply are times when you shouldn't. In the end, the secret was revealed, by Princess Cadance and Shining Armor no less, celebration was called for, and they were all proud of themselves for not calling Pinkie out on it.
Especially since it turned out that Pinkie wasn't the one having the baby. Bullets were dodged, and it wasn't by Pinkie's non-existent lover.
Author's Note
After watching The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows, I asked myself "What if her friends got the wrong idea?"
Just a silly little story I thought. Shouldn't have distracted me from my other projects, but it did. Oh well.
