Author's Note
Latecomer suggested the idea and I felt it was worth exploring. Like our previous endevor it was spurred by personal messaging on Discord. And again it involves some headcanon, this time on the matters of pregnancy and child raising.
This fic is technically complete, but some stuff will be revised and fleshed out at a later date.
Simple Curiosity
To all but Pinkie Pie (who had unintentionally found out ahead of time) the news that Princess Cadence was pregnant had come as quite a shock among the group of six mares. But the secret was out now, and Pinkie Pie could rest easy knowing that she'd kept the surprise despite how many times she'd come close to blabbing about it.
None were more excited about this development than Twilight, however, the aunt to be. And to celebrate she decided to organize a special slumber party at her castle to celebrate. A girls only slumber party, which was a cue to Spike that he would need to make other arrangements for the evening. The little dragon was initially quite skeptical of the idea, but when Applejack suggested he could come over to Sweet Apple Acres and talk it up with Big Macintosh, Spike accepted. By the time the sun had set for the evening he had already left the castle.
At first the slumber party wasn't anything too out of the ordinary for the girls. There were pillow fights, smores making (and eating), scary ghost stories and of course makeovers. But Applejack thought to liven things up a bit by bringing some of her family's cider, and as time went on the six mares had a couple of drinks of the powerful beverage. As a result, it wasn't entirely a surprise when the conversation began to drift into more "personal" matters.
"I still can't believe it! I'm actually gonna be an aunt or an auntie!" Twilight giddily proclaimed as she pranced atop her sleeping bag. "Ooh! I should start reading up on how to be a great aunt for my nephew or niece!" And then a moment later she gasped! “No wait, that’s for their foals. For them I’ll just be an aunt! No, I can’t be just an aunt! I have to be the best aunt ever! Is there a book I can read? Or maybe I can ask Princess Celestia how she managed to be an aunt for Cadence and Blueblood."
Rarity scoffed at the mere mention of the snobbish prince who had been anything but charming. "I don't even want to think about that royal rubbish! To think I actually was smitten with him, even just for a short while," The fashionista shook her head. "Anypony could do far better than to fall for such a royal pain."
Rainbow Dash then teased. "Is that why you started crushing on Trenderhoof so badly?"
Rarity growled as she narrowed her eyes. "Unlike someponies," She declined to specify. "I am more than happy to seek out a prince charming with whom I can settle down with. If putting myself out there means I occasionally strike out, that is an unfortunate reality that I'll accept."
Pinkie Pie then spoke up. "And just think! When you do get married, then you can start a family of your own! Just like Princess Cadence!"
But the fashionista responded with what sounded like disgust at the notion. "On the contrary, I have no desire to bear children at the current moment."
"Why not?" Pinkie innocently questioned. "Foals are super cute!"
The fashionista simply replied with a frown. "Yes, but they are also very noisy, messy and smelly. I speak from experience. When Sweetie Belle was a little one, I had to unfortunately take care of her far more than I would've liked since my parents seemed to be very hoofs off with her. She's improved a lot, but I have no desire to repeat that unpleasant experience anytime soon - to say nothing of carrying the child first!"
“But then what were you going to do if things did work out with Blueblood?” Twilight queried, too curious to heed the implied ban on mentioning the prince. ”Nobleponies’ first priority in marriage is securing heirs,” Her friends glanced curiously at her and she trailed off with. ”Or so I read.”
Rarity took the rather forward question in her stride, responding “Well to be honest, I knew that, but, well… the me of then would bend a lot of her rules to be a princess. And I assumed a household like that would have nannies and such – not that I wouldn’t care for my own foal, but… oh dear, I was quite shameless, wasn’t I? Amazing how much one can grow in a few years…”
Applejack seemed to roll her eyes at her fashion friend's remarks. "Honestly, Rarity, you think you're the only one who's ever had to take care of younger siblings? Apple Bloom was a little hoofful, and raisin' her was an experience I'll never forget. But dang if she wasn't just the cutest little thing you ever did see. Yeah, it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. She could make it hard to love her sometimes. But there were moments I wouldn't have traded for the whole world of Equestria," And with a sigh she declared. "Reckon I'll probably have a family of my own someday. Only seems natural to have heirs to the family legacy."
Rainbow Dash snickered as she put a hoof to her mouth. "I could never see you dating, Applejack. You were rejecting all of Trenderhoof's advances."
"Just because you don’t take anypony who’s interested doesn’t mean you don’t want anyone," Applejack retorted with a quirked brow. "Besides, I ain't in any rush to put myself out there. Right now it's all I've got just to keep the farm goin' steady. Mac's prolly goin’ to marry first anyways, the way all the mares seem to swoon over him. At least, if he can ever bring himself to talk to one properly. He liked them well enough when he in his teens and most of them liked him back, until he opened his mouth! And now he barely talks half the time."
With a sigh, Applejack suggested. “Maybe I’ll end up goin’ first after all if he keeps dawdlin’, but I’m not in any rush. An’ even if not, I won’t be short of foals to raise if I want, always young Apples about somewhere.”
”Really? You’re just gonna wait and hope the right pony comes along?” Rarity questioned.
Rainbow interrupted and protested. ”No, now’s the time you need to be looking. Well, if you’re into that sorta thing.”
“And are you into that sort of thing, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity couldn’t help but ask. ”Because I have to say, I would quite be surprised if you had found a special somepony without the whole town knowing about it. At least, one you weren’t ashamed of.”
Pinkie gasped! ”Rainbow’s ashamed of her special somepony?! But why? Is he, like, super unathletic but sweet and loyal so she can’t help but wanna kiss him and snuggle him and hold him tight, but doesn’t want anypony to find out?”
Faced with such an elaborate fantasy, Rainbow couldn’t help but laugh. ”I think your Pinkie Sense got its wires crossed. I’m not like that with anyone but Tank… I mean, with no one! I mean, when I’m a full fledged Wonderbolt ponies are gonna be all over me, of course,” She ploughed on, hoping to cover her slip. ”And maybe there’ll be one or two I feel like keeping around for the long term. But let me get there first, OK?”
"Do you know what carrying does to a mare’s frame?” Rainbow proceeded to elaborate. “I’d have to drop out for months, and in the last fifty years only one Wonderbolt has made a comeback afterwards. I think her name was Cloudstreaker. No, I’m not even thinking about that kind of thing til’ I retire, and that’s not going to be anytime soon. I don't have time for any of that 'fru fru', mushy romantic stuff. And there is no way I'm slowing down to have foals. Getting pregnant would mean my dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt would come to a screeching halt. I'm just happy enough being Scoot's big sister and having my own fan club. I get all the family experience I need, without having to worry about the really tough stuff."
Pinkie Pie was quick to burst out (while stumbling around a bit due to all the cider she'd drunk earlier). "Well I'm totally not like you, Rainbow Dash! I can't wait to have a family of my own! After taking care of the Cake Twins for so long, I know I'm more than ready," And she cooed. "Oh, having little foals to chase after is going to be so much fun. I just hope they won't be as much trouble as Pound and Pumpkin Cake, those little rascals are quite a hoofful. Can you believe they're actually starting to not need diapers anymore?" The pink party pony paused briefly to wipe a tear from her eyes. "They grow up so fast. I can still remember when they were first born."
"We all do, sugarcube. We were there," Applejack pointed out. "Though I do have to agree that little ponies grow up so fast. I still remember Ma and Pa bringin' Apple Bloom home from the hospital for the first time, and them lettin' me hold her. She was just so cute."
"I'll bet you totally asked where foals come from." Rainbow Dash crudely commented as her cheeks flushed red.
"Rainbow!" Rarity growled while her cheeks flushed just as red.
Rainbow simply replied. "Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. We all learned about the birds and the bees at some point, didn't we?"
At the mention of such a "private" matter, Fluttershy quickly spoke up. "Yes, we did. Though I kind of found out for myself when I started taking care of animals. My parents were too shy to have 'the talk' with me."
"Didn't need my folks to teach me, growin' up on a farm meant you learned about these sort of things whether you wanted to or not," Applejack commented. "Besides, my folks were always honest with me if I ever asked them somethin'."
Twilight (who had been silent up to this point) sheepishly confessed. "Well, I sort of found out through books before my parents could teach me. Let's just say it was a good thing there were memory eraser spells, even if they didn't always work the best. I'm definitely not looking forward to having to discuss that with Spike."
"Come on, Twilight, he's not a baby," Rainbow half teased/half groaned. "You're acting like you're his mother or something."
Pinkie Pie chirped! "Well, she hatched him, didn't she? Doesn't that mean she kind of is his mom?"
"Me? A mom?" Twilight blinked in surprise. "I... I don't know. I mean, yeah, I care about Spike. But I wasn't the only one who raised him. You wouldn't expect a filly to take care of a baby, would you?"
Fluttershy just smiled. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Twilight. Aside from Rainbow Dash we've all had younger family members we've had to help take care of. And I'm sure you'll make a fantastic mother someday. You already do a good job of raising Spike."
"Well, that mostly means just letting him be free to do what he wants," Twilight commented as she attempted to change the subject. "About the only thing I have talked to him about personally is where he came from. He seems to have a pretty good idea of what I expect from him. He minds his business and I don't usually get involved," Then she turned to Fluttershy. "You know, I think you'd be the best mother out of all of us. You're already great at caring for animals, even baby ones."
The timid pegasus blushed as she threw up a wing to try and cover her rapidly reddening face. "Oh... I'm flattered you think so highly of me. I mean, I would like to be a mother someday and I'm sure I wouldn't do a bad job at it."
"So, when are you gonna propose to Discord?" Rainbow asked out of the blue. "Don't think I haven't seen the way he acts around you."
But Fluttershy shook her head. "It's nothing like that, Rainbow Dash. We're just friends, and you know that. It's not unusual for some friends to be closer than others. You and Applejack hang out all the time, after all."
A flustered Rainbow was quick to protest. "Y-yeah, but that's different. You're a gal, Discord's a dude."
But Applejack couldn't help but wonder. "How in the hay would that work out, though? After all, Discord is probably older than Celestia, and it ain't like he's gonna be goin' anywhere anytime soon. How would he and Fluttershy work out if they ever got hitched? Would they even be able to have children?"
Fluttershy simply declared. "I'll marry whoever I want when I feel the time is right. Maybe it'll be Discord and maybe it'll be someone else entirely. And the same holds true for when or if I have children. For right now, I'm happy with my life as it is and I don't see any need to rush into it."
All eyes then turned to Twilight, the only one among the circle of friends who had yet to truly give her thoughts on this unusual conversation topic. "Well, Twilight, what about you?" Rarity inquired in what sounded like an innocent tone. "Come on, darling. We're all curious as to what plans you have. Surely, you must have some idea of what your future love life involves."
The young alicorn stammered as her face became so red she couldn't possibly hope to hide it even with her wings. "W-well... I..." The words were slow to form.
"Yes?" Her friends all leaned forward, eager to hang on her every word.
Twilight paused to take a deep breath, just like Cadence had instructed her to do in these kind of situations. "I will say that I have been doing some preliminary research into the idea of marriage and motherhood," She tried to explain as calmly as she could given the circumstances. "Ever since Mrs. Cake gave birth to the twins, something nagged and nawed at my brain about the subject. It wouldn't leave me alone, so I tried to satisfy my curiosity with research."
"That's nice, darling. But what exactly have you concluded?" Rarity inquired. "Do tell." Normally she wouldn't be one to press on such matters, but when everyone else had shared their thoughts and feelings without hesitation it seemed more rude to her to have one friend abstain from doing so.
Swallowing hard, Twilight reluctantly answered. "The truth is, I don't really know. I mean, yes, I would love to get married and have a family of my own someday. I think that's a reasonable goal that anypony would feel inspired by. But I'm not exactly looking to throw myself out into the dating scene because of that."
"And that... certain royal guard?" Rarity knowingly ribbed Twilight on the matter.
The young alicorn answered. "Any connection we might have is purely platonic. He's a fine stallion, but I'm just not interested in him and it would be wrong of me to force myself onto him. Maybe someday my feelings for him will change, or maybe he's not meant to be the one for me. All I know is that I want to pursue a relationship and a family when I think I'm ready, when I have all the information and can make an informed decision about what I think is best. Besides, right now I've got the prospect of being an aunt to keep me busy."
Pinkie Pie just replied. "Hey, that's alright. I'm in no rush either. I at least wanna wait until the Cake Twins are all grown up. We're all still young and we've got our whole lives ahead of us."
Rarity nodded her head in agreement. "Indeed. One should not feel pressured into marrying or having foals at any point. It should be for everypony to decide whenever they feel they're ready. Besides, life is always changing, and so are we."
Twilight nodded back. "Exactly. So why don't we stop talking about such things and just focus on enjoying this sleepover?" She then floated over an empty cider bottle and placed it on the ground in front of the sleeping bags as she asked. "Who's up for a game of spin the bottle?!"
"Ooh! Ooh! I'll go first!" Pinkie volunteered, and soon everypony forgot about their earlier conversations for the time being.
