An Early Morning Surprise
A gentle breeze blew through Ponyville. Dawn was soon approaching. Celestia’s sun began to peek over the horizon, bringing with it an orange-gold light with it that contrasted sharply yet elegantly against Luna’s moonlit blue and black sky. Ponies were home asleep in their beds, tucked away warm and cozy. Winter was beginning to make its presence known, bringing with it the cold winds, short days, and bare trees. Everything but snow. It had been over a week since the first scheduled snowfall of the year had been announced, and not one flake had been seen around the small city.
This made mornings especially dreadful. Winter was bearable because of snow. Without it might as well be called the” eight months of suck” (in the words of Rainbow Dash). Foals and grown ups alike were eagerly awaiting the day the white fluff would descend upon them and their town. With it would come activities like sledding, snowstallion making, snowball fights, and best of all snow days, which Cheerilee honestly wouldn’t mind.But unfortunately, it looked like day-off wouldn’t be happening for quite some time. The sun was now finally making it’s way past the lip of Equestria that masked her, and the day’s first rays began to cascade over the land and into a few homes.
One such home on Ponyville’s east side was getting hit with an exceptional amount of sunshine, much to the displeasure of the young colt residing there with his parents. His name was Off-Beat, and right now he was kicking himself for forgetting to draw the curtains like his mother had told him to. The newday sun shone directly at him, and Beat drew his covers over his head to try and block the light that was blinding him. It was of no use, unfortunately, as it simply bore through the blankets and back into his face.
Sighing in defeat, Beat through his covers off and hopped out of his bed. “Stinkin’ curtains... “ he grumbled as he rubbed his eyes tiredly. There was no way he was gonna be able to get comfortable again.
Beat trotted over to his window, eyes squinted, and raised himself on his hind legs. He bit down on the curtain closest to him and began to shuffle awkwardly to the side. The sun was beginning to rise higher in the sky, and as such it’s glare had wanned considerably, allowing Beat to open his eyes a bit more and take a look out the window.
The young colt froze. His mouth fell open, along with the curtain, along with himself. Beat tumbled to the floor with an “oof”. He was back to his feet and staring out the window in a second, first disbelieving, then amazed, then finally joyful. It was finally here.
Snow.
Snow spread across Ponyville in a neat, thick blanket from the top to the bottom. It had come late in the middle of the night, after everypony had gotten tucked away. Off-Beat could hardly believe it. After being more than a week late, winter, in it’s full, proper glory, had arrived in Ponyville, and made up for it.
While Off-Beat was occupying himself with the vista view of snowfall, a mare and stallion slept soundly in their room down the hall, huddled closely together. Octavia Melody stirred, her dream becoming vivid. She mumbled something under her breath, something incomprehensible that was barely above a whisper, but nonetheless gained the attention of her husband. Concerto opened his eyes and yawned. He got up on his forelegs and looked down at his wife. Whatever dream Octavia was having seemed to be becoming more and more real for her; she was beginning to fidget under the covers, looking troubled by whatever it was she was seeing.
Concerto rubbed Octavia’s side gently, slowly bringing her out of her slumber. She opened her eyes with a start, drawing a sharp breath from the dream’s events that were still clear in her mind’s eye.
“Good morning.” Concerto spoke in a hushed voice. Octavia turned to look at her husband. Her heart was beating a bit faster than usual. She hadn’t been having a nightmare, but her dream had certainly been troubled, and vivid at that. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before turning over to face Concerto directly and lay back down in the bed.
“Good morning, dear.” She replied.
“Are you alright, Octavia? You were talking in your sleep.”
Octavia sighed. She was afraid that had been the case. “Yes, I’m fine. I...had a dream about-”
“Her.” Concerto cut in, finishing Octavia’s thought for her. She nod her head. “Yes…”
Concerto lay back down with Octavia, wrapping her in a one leg hug.
“Do you want to talk about-”
Concerto paused as a rapidfire pitter patter of hooves rattled down the hall towards his and Octavia’s room.
“Mum! Dad!” Off-Beat called excitedly from behind the door. He opened it in an instant and skeetered to a halt in front of their bed. He hopped up and down excitedly while both his parents bobbed their heads in rhythm with their son’s bounces. “You’re nevah gonna guess what happened last night!”
Octavia reached out and placed a hoof on her son’s head to hold him in place, starting to get dizzy watching him bounce up and down. “If we’re never going to guess, then why don’t you tell us, dear?”
“I can show you!” Beat bounced over to the window in his parents bedroom and took hold of the curtains. It took a second too long for Octavia and Concerto to figure out what Beat was going to do. Before they could say a word, Beat tore the curtains back, allowing the sunlight to spill into the room, blinding Octavia and Concerto.
“Agh! Off-Beat! Sweetheart, close the blinds! It’s much too bright out!” Octavia exclaimed as she shielded her eyes from the sudden brightness.
“But mum, lookit what’s outside!” Off-Beat was back the bed’s side, tugging at Octavia’s leg in an attempt to get her out of bed and over to the window to behold the sight. Octavia sighed with constraint, and reluctantly shifted to get off the bed. She wasn’t sure how Beat could be so persistent with so little words, but by Celestia he knew how to get her moving.
“Very well, dear...what is it?”
“Just look out the window! You’ll see it right away.”
Octavia sauntered towards the window. Beat was already peering out, excited to show her his wonderful discovery. Using her hoof to block some of the sunshine, Octavia looked outside squinting, but her eyes quickly grew wide when she too saw the heaps of snow that had apparated whilst she slept. Off-Beat started jumping up and down again, smiling joyously.
“D’you think this means a snow day, mum?”
Octavia spared a sideways glance to her son. She smiled warmly at him. “Well...I can’t imagine that the pegasi are anywhere prepared to deal with all of this so suddenly, so...yes, I believe we’ll be having a snow day, my dear.”
“YAHOOO!” Off-Beat lept into the air and punched forward in triumph, only to stumble back and fall on his behind, making both his parents laugh. He quickly scooped himself back up, rubbing his neck, embarrassed. “I’m gunna go git my snow stuff!”
“Ah ah ah! Just hold on there, mister.” Off-Beat came to a screeching halt at his father’s words. He looked back to see what it was he had to say. “Your mother has a doctor’s appointment this morning, Beat, and we’re all going to go with her.”
“Aww, but daaaaad! Snoooow!” Off-Beat collapsed where he stood dramatically. Octavia giggled at the little display, while Concerto sighed.
“Now Off-Beat, things like this ought to be done as a family. Your mother might be sick-”
“I’m not sick, Concerto, for the last time.”
“But you might be coming down with something, dear. You’ve even said you’ve been feeling unlike yourself these last few days.”
Off-Beat’s ears perked when he heard that. He looked over to Octavia, concern filling his little ruby eyes. “You’re...getting sick, mummy?”
Octavia shot Concerto a deadly glare. He shifted his gaze elsewhere, whistling a tune while a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek. Octavia sighed, seeing how distraught Off-Beat was over this trivial matter. She looked down to her son, stroking his mane reassuringly. “No, sweetheart. Mumma’s not sick. I’m just...I’m not sure. But not sick. I just want to make sure everything’s in working order.”
Off-Beat rubbed against his mother. He looked up at her. “You promise?”
Octavia leaned down and gave her son a peck on his head. “I promise.” And with that Off-Beat’s smile returned. “Now, why don’t you go get yourself ready. I’ll have some breakfast ready when you come down.”
“Okay mum!” Off-Beat scurried out of his parents room and back to his, much like he had just a few minutes earlier. With him gone Octavia returned her gaze to Concerto, still looking nervous.
“I am not sick.”
And before Concerto could utter a reply Octavia was out the door and making her way downstairs to begin preparing the breakfast she’d promised. Sighing in defeat, Concerto made for his comb, and began to to straighten out his mane, working out how he might smooth things over with Octavia.
Meanwhile Octavia was still making her way down the staircase, leaning against the railway for support. She had made it about halfway down when she was struck with a sudden dizziness. She was also feeling awfully hot, the reason unknown to her. She took a few deep breaths, whipping the sweat from her brow, feeling the dizziness was beginning to pass. She inwardly groaned. Thank Celestia neither Concerto or Beat had seen her like that, they’d be beside themselves with worry. Now she wasn’t so sure this whole ‘not sick’ thing was all that true.
“Well it’s a good thing I’m going to the doctor’s then”, she whispered quietly to herself. She was back to feeling herself now, so Octavia got back on track with getting breakfast for Beat. Trotting into the kitchen, and got to fixing a bowl of cereal. She was pouring the milk as Beat walked down, mane combed for the day. He took a seat at counter she had put the bowl out for him.
“Thanks, mum.” Beat said happily before chowing down on the cereal.
“You’re welcome, love. When you’re done we’ll get ready to go.”
Beat looked up from his breakfast puzzled. “But...it’s so early…”
Octavia noded. “Yes, I know, but I thought it’d be nice if we could get the appointment out of the way quickly, that way you, me, and dad can have some fun today in the snow.”
Beat’s little face lit up with excitement. Octavia spared him a sideways smile. “Hurry and finish, son.”
Beat nodded enthusiastically, and began woofing down his cereal with vigor. Octavia sighed. That’s what she got for telling him to hurry. Less than a minute later Beat was finished his breakfast, had put his bowl in the sink, and was already wrestling with his scarf. Concerto made his way over to his son chuckling. He reached a hoof down to help Beat, who by this point was starting to get himself tangled in a knot.
“Somepony’s in a rush. Hold still a moment, Beat.” Concerto began to unravel Beat, who grumbled in frustration.
“Stupid scarf…” he mumbled to himself. Unfortunately Concerto had heard him say that, and gave his son a stern look.
“Now Off-Beat, don’t say that. Aunt Lyra and Bon Bon made this for you with love. It would hurt their feelings if they knew you’d called it stupid.”
Beat looked down, feeling a bit ashamed for what he said now. “Sorry dad…”
Concerto wrapped Beat in the scarf, finishing by rubbing Beat’s head firmly with affection. “It’s alright to get frustrated, son, just be mindful of what you say. Understand?”
Beat nodded dejectedly. Concerto smiled appreciatively. Octavia trotted over to the two stallions wrapped in her scarf and placed a pair of earmuffs on Concerto’s head, and he thanked her. “All ready?”
“Ready, mum!”
“Then let’s be off. After you, my dear.” Concerto opened the door and stepped to the side to allow Beat and Octavia to step outside, following them once he bolted the door. Snow may have littered the lawns of Ponyville, but it hadn’t gotten any colder than it had been the past week. The temperature was raising little by little as the sun rose into the sky, sending the last remnants of nighttime scurrying into the corners. The family of three trotted along at a leisurely pace, or at least Octavia and Concerto did. Beat was another case. He hopped from one place to the next, absolutely ecstatic. He dove into a nearby snowbank, emerging a second later making a snow angel. His parents walked ahead of him, and Concerto looked back.
“Come along, Beat. We’ll have plenty of time to play in the snow after your mother’s appointment.”
Off-Beat frowned but did as he was told, hopping out of the snow and hurrying after his parents after a quick shake off. It didn’t take long for the trio to reach the hospital, thanks to the empty streets of early morning. The hospital’s doors slid open automatically for the three ponies as they walked inside, getting a gentle dowse of warm air from the vents hanging above the entryway. Beat immediately threw off his scarf, causing Concerto to sigh outwardly. Oh well. They made their way to the front desk, and Octavia stepped forward to address the receptionist.
“Good morning, and welcome to Ponyville hospital. How may I help you?”
“Good morning, I have an appointment scheduled today, and I was wondering if it would be possible to have it done now?”
“With whom was it with?”
“Nurse RedHeart.”
The receptionist opened a large book, flipping some pages before landing on today’s date. She skimmed it before finding a time that could be presumed to be Octavia’s appointment.
“You’re in luck, ma’am. You were all she had today. If you’ll have a seat, I’ll have her down in just a moment.”
Octavia nodded. “Thank you”. And with that she and Concerto sat down to await Nurse RedHeart, while Off-Beat played with some blocks nearby. The wait wasn’t long, and as the receptionist had said the pony nurse was down in the waiting room in no time. Octavia and Concerto stood to greet her.
“Nurse RedHeart. Thank you for seeing us ahead of time. We appreciate it very much.”
“Not a problem, Mrs. Melody. To tell you the truth I’m glad you’re coming in now. I’m anxious to get out and enjoy some of this snow.”
Octavia giggled. “Yes, I know exactly what you mean. We’re quite excited too.”
“Yeah! We’re gunna build snowstallions, make forts, go tobogganing, and have hot cocoa after!” Beat jumped ahead of his parents, a big smile on his little face. Octavia looked down disapprovingly, while Nurse RedHeart smiled at the young colt.
“Sounds like a good time. I’ll be sure to hurry so you and your parents can enjoy yourselves.”
Beat’s smile widened, showing off his teeth. “Thanks a load, ma’am.”
“Of course. So. Shall we, Octavia?” Nurse RedHeart beckoned for the grey mare to follow her and get the appointment started. Octavia nodded. She told Off-Beat to behave for Concerto while she was getting her check-up, and he promised her he’d be on his best behavior. After a quick kiss with Concerto the two mares were making their way down the hall. They came upon an office with it’s door ajar. Nurse RedHeart stepped in first, while Octavia followed behind her. The grey mare sat opposite of the pony nurse, who took a seat behind a small desk while getting out a pen and clipboard.
“So, Mrs. Melody, just a check-up today?”
“That’s right. Just making sure everything’s in working order.”
“Any particular reason?”
“Well…” Octavia hesitated a moment, the morning’s dizzy spell coming back to her. She tried to find reason to it, but she knew that it wasn’t anything contemporary that had caused it. “My husband and I have been noticing some oddities as of late.”
“Is that so? Please, elaborate.”
“Well this morning I was making my way down the stairs, when I became terribly dizzy all of a sudden. Nothing like that has ever happened before.”
Nurse RedHeart quickly jot some notes down on her clipboard, motioning for Octavia to continue when she had finished.
“I’ve also had a few heat flashes that’ve come and gone sporadically. And the other day I became terribly hungry not long after finishing lunch. Certain tastes have also been...off, for example I added a lump of sugar to my tea and it made it taste...spicy.”
“I see...tell me, Ms. Melody, have you felt any sudden mood swings at all? Or perhaps nausea?”
Octavia thought back. For the last few days she did notice herself start to feel irritated over matters that normally didn’t bother her much, but nothing that would cause her to fly off her handle. “Yes, I suppose. Very subtle.” Then she was hit with an idea. “Oh, but nurse! There is one most peculiar thing I’ve been experiencing lately. For the past few nights, I’ve been having a reoccurring dream, and this past night it was especially vivid.”
Nurse RedHeart wrote “repetitive dream, last night vivid” down on her paper,underlining it. “Tell me about this dream, Ms. Melody.”
“Well, it’s nothing awful or grand to tell you the truth,” Octavia began to recount the events that would play out in her dream; she would emerge in a white, misty place that she didn’t recognize, and would start to hear somepony trotting, but she wouldn’t be able to locate whoever it was with her in the dream, until the moment before she opened her eyes.
“Who’s the pony that you see, Octavia?”
Octavia looked downwards to the floor, and fought back a tear before continuing.
===
Out in the waiting room, Concerto was occupying himself with a copy of “Maistro Monthly”, making sure to look up from his reading every few seconds to check on Off-Beat, who had taken to stacking the blocks into little tower that spelt out the different musical terms his parents were teaching him, or at least trying to with his imperfect spelling. Stacks that read “trehbl” and “noht” made Concerto smile in amusement and pride. Right now Beat was working on a new creation, and when he finished it, he ran right over to Concerto to show his father his work.
“Dad! Lookit this! Did I get it right?”
Concerto looked up to see where Beat was pointing. He raised his eyebrows upon viewing his son’s handiwork; the word “drum” was spelt perfectly in a neat arrangement from top to bottom. He smiled and rubbed Beat’s head affectionately. “Very good, son.”
Beat beamed, glad for his father’s praise. He decided he would try his hoof at some of the more difficult terms he knew of, so he could impress his mother when she was finished in Nurse RedHeart’s office.
===
Octavia blew into the tissue Nurse RedHeart handed to her, and wiped away the few tears that had managed to escape her eyes. She took a few shaky breaths to calm herself, aided by a caring hoof put on her shoulder by the pony nurse.
“Thank you, Nurse…” she whispered, composing herself with a sigh. “I’m sorry for getting so worked up.” A bit of heat had risen to Octavia’s cheeks.
“It’s nothing you need to apologize for, Octavia.” Nurse RedHeart reassured her softly. “To be perfectly honest, it’s a little expected, given your condition.”
“Condition?” Octavia repeated, growing alarmed. ‘Condition’ was not a word she had wanted to hear. “So then I am sick?”
“Oh no no no.” Nurse RedHeart chuckled, bringing a hoof to her head in self-discipline. “Allow me to rephrase that. You’re not sick, Ms. Melody. In fact you’re perfectly healthy, and thank goodness for that. It’d be awful for the baby if you were coming down with something.”
Octavia felt the wind leave her breath. Her eyes widened, pupils dilating. “B-baby?! Do you mean-”
“Yes, Octavia. You’re pregnant.” Nurse RedHeart flashed Octavia a warm smile. Octavia, however, was trying her best to piece together the news that had just been dropped on her. PREGNANT! She was pregnant! But how? She must have forgotten to take her birth control sometime in the last few weeks on the night of a performance. Nurse RedHeart took notice of Octavia’s shocked silence, since usually by now mares had some sort of reaction to the news. “I take it it’s bit of a shock?” She asked with a chuckle.
“I...yes! Very much!” Octavia responded, her senses finally returning to her. “F-for how long?”
“Well, from what you told me, I would take a guess and say no more than a few weeks at most. It’s quite surprising, really. Most mares don’t start to feel the changes in their bodies until the first month-and-a-half. If you had taken a home test, it most likely would have turned out negative.”
“I...see…” Octavia took a deep breath in. The day had barely begun, and already so many events had transpired, first with her dream, then with Off-Beat’s entrance, then the dizziness on the stairs, and now with the news that she was with foal! It struck her then how ironic today’s snowfall was in light of all of this. So many weeks of waiting, and in one fell swoop everything was paid off and then some. Talk about compensation. Octavia allowed herself a few more minutes of silence to fully digest this news, closing her eyes. A foal...would Off-Beat be jealous? She hoped not...but somewhere within her, she had a feeling he’d revel in being a big brother.
“How are you feeling now then, Ms. Melody?” Nurse RedHeart asked, bringing an end to the extended pause. Octavia slowly opened her eyes, a hint of smile on her lips.
“Relieved.” She responded. “And, well…” She struggled for a moment to find the words. “...very excited.” She finished, allowing the smile to fully come to life. Nurse RedHeart returned the smile.
“I’m happy to hear that. Now, a few things you’ll want to know so you’ll have an idea of what to expect…”
===
Back out in the waiting room Beat had gotten bored with the building blocks when he realized there was a restrictive finite amount of them around, so he had run out of words to spell a while ago. Now he lay on the ground, tilting one on it’s corner back and forth, his mind on the snow outside.
“Dad?” Concerto glanced off to the side where Beat lay. “D’you think mum’ll be done soon?” The young colt was anxious to get outside and enjoy winter with his parents properly. Concerto returned his gaze to the magazine held in his hoof, flipping to a new page.
“I’m sure she’ll be out any minute, Beat. Just a few more minutes.”
Beat sighed, expecting an answer like that. He was about to ask if he could jump in the snowbank outside the waiting room’s window, but he had a feeling that wouldn’t be something either of his parents would approve of, so he elected to remain where he was, teetering the block back and forth. As luck would have it he needn’t have to wait much longer; a few short seconds later, both Octavia and Nurse RedHeart were trotting down the hallway towards them. Beat sprung up and galloped towards his mother happily. Upon reaching her he wrapped himself around her foreleg, rubbing his cheek gingerly against her. Octavia giggled at the feeling, looking down at her son.
“Getting impatient?”
Beat didn’t reply, and opted instead to just continue hugging her. Concerto had noticed his wife’s return as well, and made his way over at a more sensible pace than Beat had. He reached a hoof around Octavia once he came upon her. “How are you feeling, my love?”
“Simply wonderful, dear.” Octavia spoke wistfully. Time lost it’s meaning for Concerto the next few seconds. He was relieved to learn that Octavia was well, as was Beat. It was when he inquired about the reasoning behind her odd symptoms that he got the news. Everything became very quiet for father and son then. Nurse RedHeart had slipped away somewhere in that span of time, allowing the family to process such a momentous reveal at their own pace. Soon enough Concerto came to, and he was overjoyed. He hugged Octavia close to him, and the two shared a happy kiss. Beat, meanwhile, stayed still and quiet. Octavia was beginning to worry. Was he jealous? She knew it was a common occurrence with the eldest child. She decided to steal herself, and tackle her fear head on.
“Off-Beat?” Beat looked up at his mother once she’d called his name. “Are you alright, sweetheart?”
Beat looked back down, a blank, unreadable expression on his face. Octavia got a heavy feeling in her stomach, and she knew it wasn’t from the pregnancy.
“I’m gonna be a big brother?” Off-Beat asked, finally breaking his silence while his gaze remained on the floor.
“Yes, sweetheart. You’re going to have a little sister or brother.” Beat became quiet again for a few seconds. “Are you excited?”
Beat slowly looked back up at his parents. They looked back at him, both of them wearing small smiles that at any moment could stretch wider. In Octavia’s case, she was also a little worried about what Beat would say next.
“Yeah.” He finally answered her, his response lifting the weight in her tummy. He returned the smile to his parents, causing a joyful tear to escape and trickle down Octavia’s face. She hugged her son and husband tight to her, and the two responded in kind.
What a morning it had been. Snowfall, doctor’s appointments, and a new baby on the way. There wasn’t much that could spoil the day for the happy family.
With that being said, Beat was heavily disappointed when he was told that Octavia wouldn’t be able to join him outside for the whole of winter.