Applejack's Little Visitor

Applebloom burst through the doors of the Golden Oaks Library. She whipped her head back and forth like she was on the hunt, and her eyes landed on one of the low book holders by the entrance. They were filled with light reading or instructional texts, and what AJ ended up picking out was a black and yellow book reading Pregnancy for Morons.

Upstairs, Twilight and Spike heard the loud ingress. Twilight was in the middle of a book, so Spike went downstairs to attend to their patron.

“Applebloom?” Spike saw her seated in the entrance, madly flipping through the pages of the book. Spike fully descended, and got a look at the picture on the cover: it was a mare’s belly being cradled in her arms. “Wait, why are you reading that?”

Applebloom noticed him, so she angled herself away from him and hunched herself over the book. She tried to dismiss him, “Ah’-...ah’ need to know somethin’.”

Spike raised an eyebrow, then went back up the stairs. “Uh, Twilight…?”

Applebloom had picked out the right page in the table of contents, and turned to the section titled “How do I know if I’m pregnant?” She went down the list of symptoms, and her eyes began to widen. Nausea? Cravings? Mood swings?

“Oh mah’ gawd!” she said aloud.

“Um, Applebloom?” Twilight stood beside Spike on the staircase. “Is something the matter?”

“MAH' SISTER IS PREGNANT!!!” Applebloom cried, as she rocketed out the door. She ran right past Pinkie Pie, who suddenly froze mid-hop, turned her head one-hundred eighty degrees, and took such a long gasp; Twilight Sparkle was on Applebloom’s heels, but was pulled back by the gale force gasp and slammed headfirst into Pinkie Pie.

Twilight sat up and rubbed her head, then Pinkie filled her ear. “Twilight! Did you HEAR that? Applejack’s gonna have a BABY!-That means Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, and Rarity, and Big Mac, and Applebloom, and you and me, we’re all gonna be like-...AUNTS!”

“Pinkie Pie…” Twilight began.

“-And an uncle! Or two!-Or three! Oh, this is so exciting!” Pinkie Pie shot up and wiggled her legs, “I GOTTA TELL EVERYBODY!”

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight grabbed Pinkie’s tail with her magic and yanked her back. “Don’t you think you should wait until you hear it from Applejack herself? You don’t even know for sure what Applebloom said is true! She just ran out of my library after reading a book about pregnancy—she could just be overreacting, as usual.”

“Aw…” Pinkie’s mane drooped, “but I always wanted to throw a surprise baby shower!”

“Didn’t you do that for the Cakes?” asked Twilight.

“That doesn’t count…they were expecting it!” Pinkie pouted.

“Well, Pinkie…” Twilight rolled her eyes theatrically and shrugged, “There’s no such thing as a REAL surprise party!”

Pinkie was aghast, and gave another gale-force gasp. This time, Twilight was so close her snout got caught in Pinkie’s mouth. Pinkie noticed she was suffocating Twilight, and spat her out. Twilight fell back, gasping for air.

Twilight rose to her hooves, “What I meant…bleck!” She rubbed her snout clean, “Is that everyone knows when their birthday is! Unless they’re a baby, or they forgot, or they have no friends, nobody’s ever really surprised to get a party. It’s part of the social contract.”

“Twilight…” Pinkie moaned, “why do you have to ruin my fun?”

“I don’t think it’d be very fun for Applejack.” Twilight said. “She probably wants to tell her family first. If she’s even pregnant, that is.”

Pinkie’s ears then perked up. “Wait, I’m family! She can tell me!”

“You might be family, Pinkie Pie. Might. But...” Twilight said in a defeated tone, “You could go ask her and find out. Y’know, hug her neck and see if the party won’t be a complete waste of time?”

Pinkie then got a serious look on her face, “Twilight! A party is NEVER a waste of time!” She got up in Twilight’s face and locked gazes with her. “Even if the party is on the ‘wrong day’, every party is its own super-special work of art that deserves to exist! To be seen, to be smelled, to be tasted!” She held a hoof to her heart, “It shows just how much I care.”

Twilight was not moved, “Don’t you have, like, three other birthday parties this week? Not to mention, you’re already gonna be busy helping with the festival aren’t you?”

Pinkie sputtered, “Oh, pfft! I've already thrown those parties before! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, Twilight! Carpe diem! Besides, even if Applejack isn’t having a baby, who’s to say she’ll never have a baby? Or Big Mac? They could still use all the gifts we give ‘em someday!”

“Pinkie, you’re in denial.”

“Can’t hear you Twilight!” she began hopping in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. “Too many ideas! I gotta start party planning!”

Twilight watched her disappear behind a row of houses. She grumbled, “That pony!”

Twilight remembered she let Applebloom get away from her. Fortunately, Twilight knew for certain where Applejack would be. She could just go to Applejack first and-

“Twilight! Over here!” Spike called to her from the door of the library. He was standing next to a dark-colored mare, with red fur and a green mane.

Twilight walked back over, “May I help you ma-?”

“Miss Twilight Sparkle!” the mare interrupted her, “The Mayor needs you to oversee preparations for the festival!”

“Wait-what?” Twilight was caught off guard. “Why me? I thought she was handling it!”

“So did I!” The nervous red mare was beside herself, “But a bunch of paperwork piled up at the last minute, and on top of that she also has to settle a dispute between the business owners of Ponyville!”

“Well, can I at least stop by Sweet Apple Acres real quick?”

“NO!” The mare screamed. “Oop!–I’m sorry, but it’s like the Canter Creek ponies have never run a festival before! They don’t know a thing about zoning laws, and there’s this pegasus near the edge of the forest who's making a big stink about ‘the animals’ for some reason!”

Twilight gave up, “Okay…” Sorry Applejack. Maybe she’ll chew Pinkie out, so she’ll learn from this experience. She followed the mare down to the fairgrounds.

Applebloom poked her head through the door into a pink room, filled with hanging curtains, wall mirrors and mannequins modeling expensive looking clothing. The shop’s bell rang as she opened it, and a classy voice sang from the back. “Just a minute!”

Applebloom decided to speed things up and just went to the source of the voice, where a white unicorn mare with purple hair was working on a pair of dresses. It was Sweetie Belle’s older sister.

“Why hello Applebloom!” she looked over at her. “Are you looking for Sweetie Belle? She was in the park, last I saw her.”

“Thanks Miss Rarity!” Applebloom said quickly, then she turned around to leave.

“Are you sure you don’t need anything?”

“Nope! Thanks anyway!” Applebloom speed-walked out the door.

Sweetie Belle was standing on a small stage in the Ponyville Park, singing her heart out to an audience of the brown colt from yesterday, having actually managed to get him to put down the Game Colt for two seconds. Beside him was an even smaller piebald colt. Both seemed to at least appreciate her performance, and gave her applause at the end of it.

“Yeah! Yeah! Encore!”

Sweetie was delighted at the suggestion, and walked over to her beatbox to restart it.

“Hey-hey-hey!” B.M. waved his hooves, “I didn’t mean it!-Or uh, do you have another song?”

“Oh. Uh…” Sweetie had only brought the vocal-free CD for the one song on it she actually knew by heart. Lucky for her, Applebloom came running in yelling.

“SWEETIE BELLE!”

“Hey Applebloom!” Sweetie didn’t notice her panicked look. “I’m glad you’re here, now I have an excuse-”

Applebloom grabbed her, “Sweetie Belle, listen! Applejack’s-!”

She stopped yelling and noticed the “audience”. The smaller colt got a concerned look.

“What’s this about Applejack? Is she alright?” the small colt spoke in a Trottingham accent.

“Sweetie Belle, could ah’ talk to you over there?” Applebloom pointed offstage.

“Actually,” the brown colt spoke up, “I’m just gonna go, if that’s alright with you Sweetie Belle.”

“Button Mash!” Sweetie cried.

“Hey, I asked this time!”

“Well, yes but-!” Sweetie Belle was indignant, but Applebloom interrupted the weekly drama between her and Button Mash.

“Actually he should leave, Sweetie Belle. ah’ think this is gonna take up our whole day.”

“Okay. So…” Button Mash looked at Sweetie Belle.

She sighed. “Fine. You can go.”

“Thanks Sweetie Belle! Great performance!” He then walked off. “Gee, my mom was right! Communication!”

“That boy…” grumbled Sweetie Belle.

“Well, he IS just a boy,” Apple Bloom rolled her eyes at Sweetie Belle. “Now listen, Sweetie Belle, ah’ just found somethin' out!” She then withdrew the yellow book from her saddlebag.

“WHAT?” Sweetie exclaimed. “But-wait, no! That can’t be possible, wouldn’t you have noticed before? See, look here,” Sweetie Belle then pointed to the section on symptoms, “it says that nausea is most common in the early stages of pregnancy; and again, how is she so big now if she wasn’t before?”

“Look, ah’ thought the same thing,” said Applebloom, “but Zecora came over to give her a checkup, she used a stethoscope an’ everything and she said she had a ‘bun’! Like a ‘bun in the oven’!”

Sweetie Belle thought for a second. “Maybe she meant like, a piece of food. Or a really BIG bun!”

“No, Applejack said she had to keep it a secret from us! Cause she was afraid we would all worry! Zecora said in five days we would know the truth, and we would all be happy!”

“That’s…oh my gosh.”

“And Zecora said she chose to ‘embiggen’. Why would she do that-?”

Suddenly, Sweetie Belle placed her hooves on Applebloom’s shoulders and bounced up and down.

“Oh Applebloom, this is WONDERFUL!” she squealed.

“It is?” Applebloom’s voice shook.

“Yes! You’re gonna be an aunt!” Sweetie pulled her into a full hug, which Applebloom did not return. “It’s gonna be like having a little sister, I guess, since you’re so young. But aren’t you excited?”

“Ah’...ah’ don’t know.” Applebloom looked bewildered.

Sweetie went silent for a second, then leaned in, “How BIG is she?”

“WHAT?” Applebloom shook her head. “Sweetie Belle!”

“Hey, it’s a reasonable question…”

“You-you’re missin' the point Sweetie Belle!-”

Then two fillies then noticed the spotted colt was still sitting on the bench. He leaned forward with rapt attention, but flinched when he realized they were staring back at him.

“Oh! Um…sorry, did I do something?”

“We…kinda forgot you were there,” said Sweetiebelle.

“Oh,” the colt became downcast. “Just like always...”

There was a pause after this.

“So…” Sweetie looked at Applebloom expectantly. Applebloom rolled her eyes.

“About that big.” Applebloom pointed at the colt. His eyes widened.

“You’re so lucky…”

Applebloom knocked on the door to Scootaloo’s house, and was answered by Scootaloo’s Aunt Holiday. She was a friendly-looking Earth Pony with a tousled orange mane.

“Oh, g’day Applebloom, Sweetiebelle. Come on in! Scootaloo’s just upstairs.”

“Thank you, Miss Holiday!” Sweetie Belle said, as she shoved the yellow book back in the saddlebag. They passed by Aunt Lofty, a green-haired pegasus, who was busy at the sewing machine. Not everypony with a thread and needle cutie mark could be Rarity, and Rarity could hardly help mend every dress in Ponyville.

In the hallway at the top of the stairs, Holiday knocked on the door to Scootaloo’s room, “Sweetie-loo!”

A voice called from inside, “I’m busy!”

Holiday glanced at her friends, “Your friends are here, brumby!”

“Oh…” there was a pause, “-uh, okay! You guys can come in!”

Aunt Holiday opened the door for Scootaloo’s friends. Scootaloo was nowhere to be seen, much to their confusion.

“Shut the door!” came the voice again.

“I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.” Holiday excused herself.

“Thank you again, ma’am!” called Sweetie Belle. Applebloom started to say “Yeah, thank-!” but she was already gone and Sweetie Belle shut the door. Applebloom was just so preoccupied.

They looked around the room for Scootaloo, Sweetie got ready to open the closet when Scootaloo called from the opposite side of the room. “Just a second, girls!”

Applebloom walked towards the source of the voice: it was the bed, but Scootaloo was not on top of it. Applebloom crouched down and looked underneath, Scootaloo was sprawled out surrounded by extra covers, reading something with a flashlight.

“Scootaloo?” Applebloom made her flinch. “Why are ya’ readin' like that?” Sweetie Belle came to the foot of the bed, and peaked underneath. She used her telekinesis to draw down the covers, and looked Scootaloo straight in the eye. The flashlight made her squint.

“Oh!” Scootaloo wriggled out from underneath the bed. “I just…like to read like that.”

Applebloom raised her eyebrow. “What were you readin’?” Applebloom saw the Pocket Companion for Daredevils was on Scootaloo’s nightstand.

“N-nothing…”

“It looked like a magazine.”

“I said it was nothing! Okay?” Scootaloo snapped.

Sweetie Belle then spoke up, “Guys, it doesn’t matter. Now listen, Scootaloo! You’re not gonna believe this!”

Scootaloo turned to Sweetie Belle, Applebloom lowered her ears because she knew what was coming.

“Applejack’s PREGNANT!”

“WHAAAT-?” Scootaloo covered her mouth, she didn’t want her aunts to come in. “Really?”

“It’s true…” Applebloom had a truly sad expression on her face. “She’s gonna have a baby in five days.”

“Wait! Five days? How-?”

Sweetie Belle interrupted, “She went to Zecora! She gave her a checkup today and Applebloom heard everything!”

“Wow! Well then, who’s the stallion?” asked Scootaloo. “Is there a stallion?”

“Well, ah’ didn’t hear everything…” Applebloom’s head was held low, “who knows what they did?”

“Well that’s why we brought the book!” Sweetie Belle withdrew the yellow book and carried it over. Scootaloo looked at the cover.

“‘For morons?’” said Scootaloo.

“Well, to be fair,” said Sweetie Belle, “we did have to read like ten books and use a dictionary to know what ‘sex’ was. But this thing’s like a picture book for adults, it’s so easy to understand!”

“Huh…” Scootaloo shrugged, “okay.”

Sweetie Belle plunked down the book, then opened it to the page of symptoms they had read earlier. Scootaloo sat down beside Sweetie, meanwhile, Applebloom was too morose to get up from her side. The other two began flipping through the book, and talked about what they read.

“So this is how we found out she was pregnant,” said Sweetie, “Applebloom said she threw up a bunch, she needed to pee a lot, she got weird cravings…”

“Wait!” said Scootaloo, “But some of these are like early symptoms…”

“Maybe whatever Zecora did makes her have them all at once?”

“It also says her udders are gonna get bigger!” said Scootaloo with slight disgust. She turned to Applebloom, “Did they do that, Applebloom?”

Applebloom said numbly, “Uh…ah’ don’t know. Ah’ couldn’t see, she was too…” she weakly formed a circle with her hooves.

“How big is she?”

“That’s what I wanted to know!” Sweetie whined. Scootaloo gave Sweetie a look.

“She’s like-...Pip sized.” Applebloom threw up her hoof.

“Holy shit!” Scootaloo’s eyes then darted left to right, Sweetie Belle was shocked. “I mean, that’s crazy! What if she’s having twins?”

“Or it’s like Big Mac?” said Sweetie.

“Ew.”

Sweetie Belle was confused, “What’s ‘ew’?”

“Well it’s uh-” Scootaloo looked at Applebloom. She didn’t look up, so Scootaloo decided she must not know the mean rumors about her family, and neither did Sweetie Belle. “-Don’t worry about it.”

She continued, “But you know what I just thought, maybe there’s something in this book about how ponies like her can have a baby on their own!” She started flipping back to the table of contents, Sweetie Belle took over with her telekinesis. They skimmed through the book to find the section, but the most they found was a blurb saying “see Getting Pregnant for Morons”.

“Oh.” Scootaloo was disappointed. “Well, did you get this book at Twilight’s? Maybe we can go back for the others.”

“Eh…” Applebloom said nervously, “ah’ don’t know if Twilight’s gonna be happy to see me. Ah’ didn’t think she’d let me check it out so ah’ just kinda…”

“Wait, you stole it?”

“Ah’ll give it back! Ah’ panicked okay? Ah’ just figured things out and then Twilight came down to stop me from readin’, so ah’ ran out the door!”

“Okay,” Scootaloo whispered, “keep your voice down! We’ll-we’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah, and besides,” Sweetie Belle said brightly, “what’s important is that we help you get ready for Applejack. And this book can help us!”

Applebloom was stunned as her friends continued to enthusiastically flip through the book. Her surprise turned to bitter anger—she flattened her ears and arched her back.

Scootaloo answered, “Okay-yeah. Let’s look through the other sections and figure out what we’ll need to do.”

“Let’s start from the beginning!” Sweetie flipped to the start of the book and began reading.

“So, you’re having a baby! Or maybe you’re thinking about it. Either way, congratulations—this is the beginning of an incredible journey filled with excitement, questions, and probably a few cravings. Whether this is your first pregnancy or you’ve been through it before, Pregnancy for Dummies is here to guide you every step of the way.

Let’s face it: pregnancy is a big deal. It’s not just about nine months of carrying a little one—it’s a whirlwind of doctor’s appointments, hormonal changes, nursery planning, and advice (sometimes more than you asked for). This book is your no-judgment, no-stress companion for navigating it a-”

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO?” Applebloom suddenly exploded. “Are you fillies STUPID?”

Downstairs, Aunt Lofty and Aunt Holiday looked upstairs upon hearing the sound of a filly swearing, and the ensuing emotional tirade.

“Oh dear!” said Aunt Holiday, “That sounds serious!”

“Yeah. Well, I guess it’s my turn,” Aunt Lofty began to get up.

Aunt Holiday got up faster. “No, I’ll go! You have your sewing to do.”

Lofty flatly said, “It can wait, you’ll need backup.”

“I handle fillies like this all the time! You’re out of your depth.”

“Well, I could use the practice…” Lofty said coyly as she wedged herself into the hallway. Their snouts were close enough to touch.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were frozen speechless.

Applebloom was going off on them. “You think this is some kind of SCHOOL PROJECT? Well it ain’t! This could change everything! What if Applejack moves away? What if somethin' HAPPENS to her? What if-?...What if-?” Applebloom had shifted from burning anger to abject sadness in a matter of sentences. She made a horribly contorted face as she failed to choke back the tears.

“Applebloom…” Scootaloo struggled to find the right words, but just as she began to speak the door opened. Sweetie Belle quickly shut the book and Scootaloo shoved it under the bed.

Aunt Holiday stood in the doorway, “Girls, is everything all right? We heard someone yell.” She used the most neutral yet caring tone, befitting a situation she knew so little about. Aunt Lofty walked in behind her, and surveyed the group as her partner had instructed.

“Hey,” Aunt Lofty noticed the tears on the yellow filly’s face, “why are you crying Apple Blossom?”

Aunt Holiday whispered, “Applebloom!”

“-Uh, Applebloom, what’s wrong?” Lofty sat herself down by her. Applebloom noticed and shrank in a slight fetal position.

Aunt Holiday cleared her throat slightly, and as Lofty looked over she gestured for the pegasus to give Applebloom some space. She did follow her lead however, and kneeled down to the fillies’ level and looked the other two in the eye. “Girls, what happened?”

No one said anything for a second. Scootaloo’s eyes darted from Aunt Holiday to Applebloom, while Sweetie’s were fixed on Applebloom.

“Scootaloo?” the mare began.

“I-it wasn’t me!” Scootaloo waved up her hooves defensively.

“Sweetie-loo, we’re not pointing hooves, we just want to know what happened.”

“Well, then why are you looking at me?”

Sweetie looked at both of them, she then spoke up. “It’s not her fault Miss Holiday! It’s just that…” she then looked at Applebloom for a second, and Holiday’s eye followed hers. “We were…talking about the festival! You know-and the events we’re gonna be doing. I’m doing the singing thing, Scootaloo’s gonna hit all the sports stuff, and Applebloom-...” What was Applebloom doing? “Uh…she said she was training with Applejack for it but, um, Applejack’s…sick.” Holiday cocked her head slightly, Applebloom raised hers a little. “And that’s why Applebloom’s sad and she yelled at us.”

Aunt Holiday looked over at Lofty, and signalled her towards Applebloom.

“Is that true, Applebloom?” the older pegasus asked. Applebloom turned her watery face at her and nodded.

“That’s really what happened?” Holiday sought to confirm. Applebloom nodded harder, her face was wrinkled, Lofty placed her hoof on her shoulder.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Holiday asked, to which Applebloom didn’t seem to have an immediate answer. She lowered her gaze and looked from side to side, as if between two choices.

Scootaloo sighed and also looked at the ground. “I guess it’s our fault too. We should’ve been listening!”

“Yeah,” said Sweetie. “Sorry we didn’t…” What else didn’t we do? “Sorry we-...acted like it wasn’t a big deal.” Sweetie rose to her hooves in determined Rarity-like fashion, “But-! We’re here for you Applebloom.” Applebloom raised her head as Sweetie approached, “We’ll help you any way we can—to get you ready for the festival, and to…help you take care of Applejack! You can tell us anything, because we’re your friends.” She held out her hoof to Applebloom.

While Applebloom’s face was still tense, her tears had slowed as she processed Sweetie Belle’s words. She looked at Sweetie’s outstretched hoof. After a moment she nodded, then took it. A few seconds later she pulled Sweetie Belle into a hug, which Sweetie returned.

“Aww!” went Aunt Holiday. “Well there ya’ go girls! In’t that sweet? And hey, we can help y’out too. Whaddaya need?”

“I think…” Sweetie Belle came up for air, “-they need groceries. They were gonna try out a chili recipe for the festival!”

“Well, we can take care of that.” Lofty rose to her hooves. “Do you have it?”

Sweetie turned to the filly she was embracing. She sniffled then shook her head, “Ubh, no. You happ’ to-” she wiped her nose, “-go to the house…”

“Say no more!” Lofty extended her wings. “I’m on it!”

“Oh! And orange juice! Lot’s of orange juice for Applejack.”

Scootaloo quipped, “Yeah, maybe a couple days worth. The gallons!”

“Well we can do that together!” said Aunt Holiday. “We’ll meet up at the grocer with your Aunt, and get it all in one go!”

“Thank you so much Miss Holiday.” said Sweetie Belle.

“My pleasure girls!”

“But uh…” said Scootaloo, “you might wanna give us a couple minutes.” She approached her two friends, still locked in a bearhug.

“Take all the time ya’ need.” Holiday walked out of the door after Aunt Lofty. She shut the door out of courtesy, but had left it open slightly to listen in to what they said when she was gone.

After a few seconds of swaying, Scootaloo spoke up. “Hey…Applebloom, we really are sorry. We meant what we said too.”

“Ah’ know…” Applebloom sobbed.

“We’re gonna help you get through this,” said Sweetie, “no matter what!”