Little Mare, Big Family

2 Months Later (2 Months Pregnant)

“Missus Scootaloo…” The doctor glanced up from her chart. “I have to be blunt. As your doctor, I’m certain your tiny body will have issues supporting your colt quadruplets.”

Scootaloo grit her teeth. She hung her head low, muttering a bitter curse. Just another thing her dwarfism was taking from her, laughing all the while.

“It’s not fair.”

The doctor sighed. “Life rarely is. I think it’s time to realistically look at your options, and see which one you want to choose. You really can’t afford to wait.”

Scootaloo flattened her ears. “I’m not going to termi—”

“No one’s saying you have to,” the doctor said. He bade her sit down, his voice calm and steady. “If you and your husband have already decided against that, there are other paths we can consider.”

Scootaloo plopped down in the chair, her expression neutral. “Such as?”

The doctor cleared his throat. “There have been other cases similar to yours. Er, multiple pregnancies where the mother was at high risk, I mean. The treatment plans have all involved magic in one form or another, but many have a high success rate. One in particular would be the best option for you, as I believe it would solve most all your potential problems.”

Scootaloo folded her hooves. “I’m listening.”

The doctor nodded. “I strongly recommend you have a very specific spell cast to grow your body accordingly so you can carry your foals. It’ll need to be cast by an S-Rank unicorn or higher, but as I understand you’re acquainted with Twilight Sparkle, either her or her pupil will suffice.”

“Hold on.” Scootaloo held up a hoof. “‘Grow my body accordingly?’ What’s that even mean?”

The doctor clicked his tongue. “In essence, a set threshold would be set on certain parameters of your body. This threshold would monitor your vitals, along with several of your body’s systems. Whenever one of them is taxed beyond the set threshold, the spell would activate, transfiguring your body to accommodate to the increased workload. For instance, when your skin starts to strain from your expanding womb, the elasticity of your dermal tissue will increase. When your musculoskeletal system is overly taxed by your increasing weight, your bone and muscle tissues will grow in density and mass. When your excretory system is taxed by your womb putting pressure on your bladder—”

“Okay, okay.” Scootaloo made a face. “I get the picture.”

The doctor made a few jottings on Scootaloo’s chart. “In the recorded cases this spell has been cast correctly, a 95% success rate has been recorded in the pregnancy progressing to term. After that, it’s just a matter of keeping up on your check-ups to monitor the integrity of the spell. That’s what’s caused the 5% failure rate, in case you were curious.”

Scootaloo’s spirits rose. “So you’re saying I have this spell cast on me, then just keep going to the doctor, and I’ll be fine?!”

The doctor chuckled. “More than fine, should you choose to have a Permanency spell cast afterward.”

“Heck, yeah!” Scootaloo shook the doctor’s hoof. “Thanks a ton, doc! I’ll do that!”

The doctor wrote out a few things on a scroll, then signed it and gave it to Scootaloo. “This is the name of the spell. I’m sure Princess Twilight or Starlight Glimmer will recognize it.”

Scootaloo snatched the scroll and sped out of the office in a speedy blur.

“You know what’s interesting about this spell?” Starlight Glimmer said from behind a spellbook. “It’s actually four separate incantations that are meshed together in an Starswirlian framework! It’s really quite fascinating!”

Scootaloo fidgeted as she fought to stay still. She was enveloped in the blue hue of Starlight’s magic, its energy creeping and crawling all over every nook and cranny of her body. “I-If you say so…”

Starlight looked up. “Something wrong?”

Scootaloo grit her teeth. “Kinda wish I’d said yes to your offer to freeze me in place while you do this—”

FLASH!

Scootaloo blinked. She tried lifting one of her hooves, but it didn’t budge.

“There you go!” Starlight said with a bright smile. “Better?”

Scootaloo muscled down her cringe. She forgot Starlight could be a little… overenthusiastic.

“I’m so glad you came to me for help!” Starlight returned to the book, double checking the instructions. “I didn’t even know that you were pregnant! How far along are you?”

Scootaloo sighed. “Eight weeks. Only just did the first arcanosound on Tuesday. Imagine Rumble’s and my surprise when we saw four soul signatures.”

“Ha! I’ll bet!” Starlight said. “Let’s see… manipulate the Dacrenzic array while melding the Reverse Talvnar field… transmit a negative eldritch sine burst and maintain it for at least four seconds… Pfft, easy-peasy.”

Scootaloo remained quiet while Starlight worked. Twilight would’ve been the preferred choice for this, but she and Spike were away in the Dragonlands for a few weeks. Starlight was the only choice to get this done without going up to Canterlot.

“Let’s see…. One more thing…” Starlight scanned the arcane tome. “If done correctly, the subject’s magic signature should be glowing white… check… now funnel ten thousand units of hornpower into the subject—TEN THOUSAND?! Holy hay and oats! No WONDER this spell needs a Talvnar field!”

Scootaloo wasn’t all that familiar with unicorn magic terms, but she did know numbers. Ten thousand was a big number. “Uhhh…”

“Whatever.” Starlight tossed the book aside, levelling her horn at Scootaloo. “Guess it explains why they only let an S-Class cast this. Sheesh, ten thousand…”

“Starlight?” Scootaloo said. “Should I be—”

“Shh!” Starlight froze Scootaloo’s mouth as well. “I need to concentrate.”

Scootaloo was helpless as Starlight’s horn began to hum… buzz… then whine. Light gathered around Starlight as she summoned forth more and more power, the rising energy making Scootaloo’s skin prickle. The light of the room dimmed, the pressure gathering more and more, to the point that it was almost painful in Scootaloo’s ears. She probably would’ve been yelling if she could talk, but effectively paralyzed, the only thing she could do was look on. Starlight now looked like a blazing effigy of power from all the magic gathered, and there was a split second of silence before—

VWUMMMMM

Magic erupted from Starlight’s horn in a shining ray. Scootaloo could only mentally scream as she was struck square in the chest, her body absorbing the energy and seeping into her cells. She imagined this was what being struck with lightning felt like, except here it was prolonged, lasting several seconds before the blast was fully spent.

Starlight panted for breath. She woozily raised her head and rubbed her smoking horn, looking Scootaloo over. “Greh… zeh… There, I think… that did it! Phew… how do you feel?”

Scootaloo didn’t reply.

Starlight blushed. “Whoops! Ah, heh-heh… sorry, I’ll uh... unfreeze you now…”

SLAM!

“I’m home, Rumble!” Scootaloo called.

There was some noise from further inside the house. A few seconds later, Rumble came in from the living room, expression pensive.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

Scootaloo fluttered up, giving him a quick kiss. “Way better than I expected! The doc recommended a spell to help the pregnancy, and Starlight Glimmer cast it!”

Rumble cocked his head. “So you’re going to be okay?”

“More than okay!” Scootaloo put her hooves on her belly. “Just you wait, Rumble. There’s gonna be some BIG changes coming...”