Tummy Tussle

Initially, Cup Cake was dreaming of holding her two new foals in her hooves in a hospital bed with Carrot Cake and their first set of twins by her side. Pinkie was in a similar state on the opposite end of the room, with Cheese Sandwich hovering over her and their newborns. It was a scenario Cup Cake honestly wouldn’t want to come out of, but fate can be so cruel sometimes.

***

A hard jab to her ribs stirred Cup Cake out of dreamland and to the sight of a burned-out fire and thus a dark living room. How long was she asleep? The lack of light made it hard to see what time it was on the clock. She was considering walking upstairs to her room and fall back asleep but she already felt very comfortable in her chair. That, and the fact her foals were starting to wake up and move made it obvious she wouldn’t fall asleep anytime soon.

Cup Cake sighed in defeat and reached down to pull the chairs’ lever and bring out its’ recliner. Now in a more comfortable position Cup Cake laid her head back and rested her hooves on top of her mountainous mound.

Feeling her foals’ movement subside somewhat Cup Cake attempted to go back to sleep, but another kick from one of the foals woke the other back up and they began to use their mother’s womb as a boxing ring. Cup Cake did her best to calm them down but they were especially rowdy tonight. Not even some of the lullabies she sang for Pound and Pumpkin seemed to work.

A sudden snort from her right made Cup Cake jump. She quickly retracted the chairs’ recliner and looked to where the noise came from. To Cup Cake’s relief her eyes had adjusted to the dark at that moment and she could clearly see Pinkie Pie resting on the chair next to her like she was earlier.

Cup Cake wondered what Pinkie was doing down here at this hour. Then she thought the same could be asked of her. Before Cup Cake could ponder further, she caught a glimpse of Pinkie’s belly change shape when one of the foals inside stretched out its’ leg. This awoke the other mother from her slumber and with a small grumble, she sat up and frowned down at her “little oven.”

“Can’t let Mama Pinkie get some sleep, huh bun-buns?”

“Pinkie Pie, what are you doing down here?”

“Huh? Oh, hi Mrs. Cake. After I put the twins to bed I decided to keep you company some more before we went to bed ourselves but I saw you were asleep and I decided to wait until you woke up so we could talk again but then I got tired and fell asleep like you did.”

“Oh it’s ok dearie. I honestly wasn’t going to go anywhere right now. Not that I don’t want to, it’s just even if I did go these two wouldn’t let me go back to sleep.”

“Same story with my own bun-buns. That large kick just now was only the first of many to come, as past experience has taught me.”

Both mares went silent, both had their hooves rubbing their bellies in an attempt to sooth their hyperactive foals, and absolute silence dominated the room. After a minute or two of just sitting in the dark, Cup Cake decided to speak up.

“Are you excited about being a mother, Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie Pie looked up and smiled. “Of course! Me and Cheesy had plans in advance to have foals after we got married. Though honestly, this was a bit earlier than when we said we’d start. I told Cheesy bringing a bottle of Berry Punch’s homemade wine was a bad idea. But that doesn’t matter now, we’re just so happy to become parents!”

“Shhh! The twins!”

“Oh. Sorry. Anyway, we already have some names planned out...”

For the next few minutes the two mare talked about anything and everything to kill the boredom while simultaneously rubbing their bloated bellies in hopes of calming down their restless foals, with little success. Then something happened with the foals that the mothers didn’t expect.

The weight in Pinkie’s belly began to shift to the left towards Cup Cake, as if both foals were leaning at the same time. Pinkie would have been pulled out of her chair by the shifting weight had she not grabbed the chairs’ arms for support. Coincidentally, the same thing was happening to Cup Cake. However, Cup Cake’s foals were shifting their weight to the right back towards Pinkie Pie. Both mares felt that their foals had developed enough motion to be able to do anything in the womb. Even as much as moving their mothers around instead of the other way around like they were now.

Cup Cake and Pinkie Pie looked up at each other, silently asking what they should do about this. While this range of motion for unborn foals wasn’t necessarily unheard of, but it was even more uncommon.

“Wowie zowie,” exclaimed Pinkie! “Now I know how my mama must have felt when she was pregnant with me. Only now, there’s two of them!”

“It would seem so,” agreed Cup Cake. “Pound and Pumpkin were never this excitable or active before they were born!”

The strangest thing the mares noticed was their shifting masses were directed toward each other. Not just in the general direction, but supposedly to the other mass directly. Were their foals trying to get closer to each other? It was a silly thought but the mares decided that things could be weirder than that.

After gripping onto their chairs for a time Cup Cake and Pinkie Pie felt their children calm down somewhat, but the movement they felt suggested that they were still trying to move close to each other. The mothers settled back into their chairs to catch their breath and resumed thinking of ways to subside their brood.

“I remember the day when you first came to work with us, Pinkie Pie,” Mrs. Cake stated. “You were the most energetic ball of hyper energy ever. Looking back, you were as calm as a cat on a lazy day compared to how our foals are currently acting.”

“Yepperooni, Mrs Cake,” replied Pinkie Pie. “I wish we knew of a way to calm them down. I love my bun-buns but right now I’m feeling more annoyed instead of tired by them.”

“Agreed. They didn’t move this much until we put Pumpkin and Pound Cake to bed. For once I think we should have let them feel our bellies some more. Get them back to their “belly bonding” like I said earlier.”

Then Pinkie Pie got an idea. “That’s it! Mrs. Cake, how about we put our tummies together and let our foals kick against each other?”

“What? Whatever for Pinkie Pie?”

“It’s like you said before, our foals were relatively calm before we sent Pound and Pumpkin Cake to bed. Maybe our foals enjoyed the attention so much they tired themselves out from their excitement. It would also explain why our tummies are currently attracting each other like big magnets. Since your foals and my foals are the only other foals in the building they would react to their presence like they did to Pound and Pumpkin. So if we allow them to kick against each other through our bellies they will eventually grow tired and rest like before. Besides, it might be a good experience and story worth telling to them one day.”

Cup Cake had given the suggestion some thought. It was a long shot, but if she and Pinkie hoped to get anymore sleep this was the only chance they had.

Pretty soon, Cup Cake and Pinkie Pie scooted their chairs so they were facing each other. Although it proved to be a challenge thanks to their wriggling wombs, the two mothers managed to sit back down face-to-face. Even then, each pair of unborn foals were still trying to reach each other, as could be seen by the mothers themselves, for their weight-shifting bellies changed direction and were now bulging directly outwards toward the other.

Now mere inches from each other, Cup Cake and Pinkie Pie scooted closer one last time and pressed their bellies together. The affect was almost immediate.

One of Pinkie Pie’s foals kicked first, prompting one of Cup Cake’s foals to kick back. Then Cup Cake’s other foal jabbed at Pinkie Pie’s belly, and then her second foal responded in full. Pretty soon both pairs of unborn foals were kicking back and forth through their mothers’ wombs. Pinkie Pie and Cup Cake found themselves enjoying the sensation and eyed the two wriggling masses with pride, giving off an occasional giggle when the movement got ticklish.

“Oh, this is so much fun,” Pinkie Pie squealed in joy!

“Indeed it is,” agreed Cup Cake. “I honestly don’t know why we didn’t think of this before? This is quite exhilarating.”

“Beats me, but at least we did it once except never. I don’t know how this could get any better.”

Just then, what can only be described as a fetal boxing match unfolded.

One of Cup Cake’s foals kicked first before being jabbed back by one of Pinkie’s foals. Cup Cake’s other foal attacked from the other side, delivering a solid kick to Pinkie’s other foal. Pinkie’s second foal responded with a right hook across Cup Cake’s navel, causing the whole belly to ripple and briefly stun the other foals.

To say Cup Cake and Pinkie Pie were astonished was an understatement. They had no words to describe their current situation. Neither of their husbands were going to believe them if they were told about this. Well, maybe Cheese Sandwich would but Carrot Cake would be doubtful at most.

While Cup Cake saw this ordeal as strange overall, Pinkie Pie thought it was very amusing. Perhaps it was time to take this up a notch. Pinkie Pie leaned over and plunged her hoof under her chairs’ cushion. Cup Cake was about to ask what she was doing but she decided it was best not to ask. It was just Pinkie being Pinkie.

Pinkie Pie pulled her hoof out to reveal a miniature boxing ring. Like traditional boxing rings each half was painted a different color. One corner was baby pink with Pinkie Pie’s cutie mark near the center. The opposite corner was baby blue with Cup Cake’s cutie mark near the center as well. In the space between the cutie marks were four outlines of small foals. Two each were standing in front of one cutie mark, facing the other. On the sides of the small boxing ring, Cup Cake saw the name “Tummy Tussle” was painted in gold letters.

Once more, Cup Cake didn’t question it and watched Pinkie Pie pull out the four rope posts, and then gently placed the elaborate ring underneath their bellies. Pinkie Pie reached her hoof under the cushion again and pulled out a black and white coach jersey. She put it on as best he could and finally pulled out a miniature microphone from her mane and spoke in an excited, yet quiet voice, “Welcome fillies and gentlecolts to the first ever Tummy Tussle tournament!”

Silence was their only answer but Pinkie Pie didn’t let that stop her. “Tonight, we witness an epic Battle of the Fetuses to see whose pair of baking bun-buns can last long enough against the others’ constant kicking until exhaustion overtakes them!

“In the pink corner we have the party planner of Ponyville, the bearer of the Element of Laughter, the daughter of a rock farmer, and an endless supply of ammunition for her trademark Party Cannon. The happy... the jolly... the bubbly... PINKIE PIE!

“And in the blue corner we have the co-owner of Sugar Cube Corner, kind and gentle to any pony she meets, the only pony I consider a second mother, and the best baker in all of Equestria. The motherly... the kindly... MRS. CUP CAKE!”

By that time Cup Cake’s foals had recovered and were ready to resume the match. Pinkie felt hers getting pumped up and she pulled a small bell and rubber mallet set from her mane. “Let’s get ready to rumbly in the tumbly!”

Ding Ding