Three years after the events of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic…
***
“I’ve already been a mother for a long time in a sense. I’ve raised more fury, scaly, and feathery friends than I can count. I love caring for them. It makes me happy, but it’s more than that. It makes me who I am. Life is beautiful and magical, and the fact that almost anyone can help create it is one of the most amazing things in the world to me. All it takes is two creatures coming together in love to create something wonderful. I’ve witnessed these beautiful creatures being born many times, but I want to do more than witness it. I want to experience it for myself. I want to be a mother not just to nature, but to my own child or children. Now I’ve finally found someone that I love, and I’m ready. I know it may be difficult because of my and Discord's unusual situation, but I'm ready to do whatever I need to do in order to make it happen."
It took Fluttershy a second after she finished speaking to realize that she had just said all of that out loud, in her cottage, in front of other ponies.
Two pairs of eyes stared back at her in utter bewilderment. They belonged to Dr. Horse; Ponyville’s best pediatrician, and Dr. Fauna; Fluttershy’s veterinarian and good friend. Of course, there was one other pair of eyes at the scene, belonging to Fluttershy's beloved fiancee, Discord, but unlike the doctors, he was not staring or looking mortified. He simply smiled at them with an expression that was half loving and half cocky.
"Fluttershy, I'm not sure we understand exactly what it is that you want us to do," Dr. Horse said. Dr. Fauna nodded her head in agreement. Fluttershy looked down at the floor timidly.
“Quite simple really. You use all of your pony doctor wisdom to find out what to do, you tell us, we do it, and it works perfectly,” Discord answered.
“But I only work with baby animals, and he only works with baby ponies. I’m sorry Fluttershy, but I just don’t think we’re the right ponies to talk to about this,” Dr. Fauna said apologetically.
“Yes, perhaps a more magic based doctor,” Dr. Horse suggested.
“A magic based doctor? Oh… Ok… Hopefully we can find one,” Fluttershy said. Her voice seemed to shrink a bit more with every word.
"Hmm. If only we knew some sort of exotic, black and white pony who specialized in supernatural remedies and happened to live just outside of town," Discord said. His voice dripped with sarcasm. Fluttershy gasped.
"Zecora! You're a genius, Discord!" Fluttershy said happily. Poof! What sounded like applause rang out through Fluttershy's cottage, and sunglasses appeared on Discord's face.
"Thank you! Thank you! You're too kind!" he said. Then, poof! Everything was back to normal. The doctors were not amused. Fluttershy rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling.
“You really think she could help?” Fluttershy asked the room hopefully.
“Let’s see…” Discord said. He snapped, and he was in a scientist’s lab coat wearing goggles and writing notes on a clipboard.
“Pi times two hundred and fifty-four, divided by x squared, plus the gravitational constant, equals two point six six six repeating minus eight…” Discord muttered comically. Then, poof! His scientist things were gone.
“Only one way to find out my dear!” he said. Fluttershy gave him a weary smile, but it was beautiful nonetheless. She turned to the doctors, not wanting to be rude and shoo them out so soon, but also wanting to see Zecora as soon as possible.
“I think if it's okay with you guys, we're gonna go ahead and go now, but… Um… Thank you so much for coming over to my cottage to help. I really appreciate it.”
However, when Discord and Dr. Horse were just out the door and Fluttershy turned to leave, Dr. Fauna stopped her.
“Fluttershy, as your friend, I feel the need to tell you… I may not know much about the physiology of ponies-much less whatever creature Discord is-but I do know that when you try to breed two different species, sometimes if they’re too different, they can’t conceive. It just doesn’t work.”
“Is it… Is it even possible?” Fluttershy asked quietly. Dr. Fauna looked pityingly at Fluttershy’s face, which had turned sad and hopeless, and even though logically she could not understand how it could happen, she smiled solemnly at Fluttershy and said
“Anything is possible.”
***
“Will we be able to have a baby?” Fluttershy asked Zecora once Fluttershy and Discord had made it to Zecora’s and explained their dilemma. Fluttershy entertained the idea that she could always just adopt instead if having her own child didn’t work out, and of course she would, but she knew it wouldn’t be the same. Wonderful, but not the same.
“I know my answers are usually set in stone,
but I’m afraid that this time, it is simply unknown,” Zecora said. She had a deeply thoughtful expression on her face.
“That’s definitely a first,” Discord muttered.
“To know whether the result would be noble or tragic,
I must first take a closer look at Discord’s magic.” Discord was taken aback for a moment.
“What do you need to know?” he asked. Despite being disorderly and chaotic by nature, it was obvious that he cared about Fluttershy and her dream quite a lot.
“You seem to have the entire world awaiting your command,
and how that could be possible, I do not understand,” Zecora answered. Discord sighed. He had hoped he would never have to fully explain how his power worked. He hated getting technical, especially since every time he explained to somepony how his magic worked, there was a chance that it wouldn’t work on them anymore. But, he was willing to do it for Fluttershy.
“You’re right. No currently existing creature in this universe has the amount of power that most ponies believe I have. Even I am clueless as to how anypony could ever possess that much power without losing control and destroying everything around them.”
“I don’t understand. You do have that much power. I’ve seen you use it,” Fluttershy said confusedly.
“No. My power isn’t real. It’s just a mirage that fools the senses.”
“But that can’t be… I’ve seen you make beevers go evil, and turn water to ice. Those can’t be mirages! They did real damage,” Fluttershy said.
“Those weren’t mirages, but the magic I used was. I fooled the beevers senses into believing that they had no choice but to be evil, so they were. I convinced the water that it had to become ice, and it did the work to become ice itself. My magic is merely persuading senses to believe what I want them to believe. As you’ve seen Fluttershy, even I myself do not physically exist. I’m made of an idea, and my magic reflects that.”
Fluttershy was flabbergasted. How had she not known that? She and Discord were engaged, and yet some aspects of him were still beyond her comprehension. Meanwhile, Zecora was also trying to wrap her mind around what she’d just heard.
“If what you say is truly correct,
there are two likely outcomes for your child I suspect,” Zecora said thoughtfully. Several seconds passed.
“And they are?” Discord prodded.
“The most likely product that I can predict,
is a normal pony pegasus, with minimal conflict,” Zecora said.
"And the second?" Discord asked. The couple could tell that the second possibility was not as pleasant. Zecora hesitated.
"If I am to be honest, I must confess.
The other possibility would be reason to stress,” Zecora said cautiously. Fluttershy and Discord exchanged a worried glance. Well, Fluttershy’s was worried. Discord’s was more vaguely uncomfortable. Discord spoke up, knowing what Fluttershy wanted to ask, but also understanding that she was too shy to actually ask it.
“What exactly is the likeliness of the second option?”
“I would say the likeliness is just a slim chance,
but if the unlikely pulled through, we would know in advance,” Zecora said.
“S… So our child would probably be ok? And… And if they weren’t, we could save them in time?” Fluttershy asked faintly. Zecora saw the same thing in Fluttershy’s eyes that Dr. Fauna had seen in them, and she couldn’t bear to disappoint her. Zecora nodded her head yes.
Hours later, Zecora hoped and prayed that encouraging them hadn’t been a terrible mistake. After all, regardless of the odds, anything was possible.
Ten months later…
***
Fluttershy laid in bed at Ponyville hospital, with a nurse tending to her as she went through labor. Just outside the room stood Dr. Redheart, Discord, and Zecora.
“I’m sorry, but only the mother and father are allowed in the delivery room,” Dr. Redheart said to Zecora. Discord sighed and spoke back.
“Look, I know you’re a little new to this whole being-a-doctor-instead-of-a-nurse-thing, but just to be absolutely clear, my wife-” Poof! A giant styrofoam pointer appeared in the air and pointed at Fluttershy.
“-has asked for Zecora-” The pointer pointed at Zecora.
“-to be in that room-” It pointed at the door.
“-when she has the baby,” he finally finished. On the word ‘baby’, the pointer in the air had transformed into a floating, two-dimensional baby bottle. Dr. Redheart’s face had gone bright red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. A second later, the bottle disappeared.
“I’m sorry sir, but-” Dr. Redheart was interrupted by the nurse slamming open the door to Fluttershy’s hospital room.
“The baby’s coming,” she said. Dr. Redheart immediately dropped the conversation and walked into the room, closely followed by Discord and Zecora. Though Dr. Redhaert stared daggers at them, she said nothing at Zecora’s entrance.
A few minutes and a couple of painful cries later, the filly was born. At first, Dr. Redheart smiled at the filly she’d just delivered.
“It’s a girl,” Dr. Redheart said. Fluttershy smiled.
“Arceus. Her name is Arceus,” she said.
Though all seemed well for a single happy moment, the doctor’s smile faded when she got a closer look at the baby.
“Oh no,” Redheart said almost inaudibly.
“What?” Discord asked.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before. The baby… She’s not crying,” Redheart mumbled confusedly.
“You do know that not all babies cry when they’re born?” Discord asked condescendingly.
“Is she ok?” asked Fluttershy.
“It’s not that she doesn’t have the urge to cry. Her body is very tense, and her eyes are squeezed shut much more firmly than they should be. It’s almost like she’s holding in her tears.”
“It cannot be! How is it so?
I was convinced if this happened, we would surely know!” Zecora cried. Zecora looked around the hospital, seeming to look at it in a whole new way. Then she looked back at Arceus. Fluttershy had never seen Zecora so panicked.
“I must take the child and get out of here!
I need to get her where no one is near!”
Then, just like that, Zecora grabbed Arceus from Dr. Redheart roughly, and ran from the room, presumably from the hospital as well.
“Zecora no!” Fluttershy screamed. Discord stared at the door in shock. Without a word, fluttershy tried to jump up and follow Zecora.
“Fluttershy, wait! You're still connected to the machine!” yelled Dr. Redheart. After realizing that the doctor was right, she yanked all of the cords off of her, and ran as fast as she could, stumbling due to her epidural having not worn off yet. With Discord’s help to run, Fluttershy caught up with Zecora and Arceus just a few minutes later.
Zecora hadn’t taken Arceus far. They were in the middle of an empty acre of land within viewing distance of the hospital.
“Please stay back! Don’t come any closer!
If you do, I fear your lives may be over!” Zecora yelled. Even with her loud volume, Fluttershy and Discord could barely hear her across the distance.
“What is going on Zecora?” yelled Discord with a threatening tone in his voice. Fluttershy just stood and stared. She was shocked, confused, and scared.
“I beg you to be cautious of your daughter’s incredible powers.
For they multiply not just over years, but even over hours.
Suppressing them will only lead to more of what you’ll soon see.
But letting them out will be dangerous if not done carefully.
The two of you took a mirage, and made it something real.
And you’ll find that actuality is an infinitely bigger deal.”
Zecora paused when she heard a tiny moan from Arceus, who was still incredibly tense, and was clutching her tiny eyes together even harder than before. Tears of concentration formed at the corners of the newborn filly’s eyes. Zecora looked sad, but determined as she stared at her innocent face. She turned her attention back to Fluttershy and Discord.
“And now with so much left to say, I fear that I haven’t the time.
So with all you are and all that is, remember my final rhyme.
The only way to free your child from the clutches of her curse,
is to release her magic and not hold back, but not in our universe.”
Before Fluttershy and Discord had the chance to react, Zecora looked down and saw Arceus take a preparatory breath. Then she looked up with tears in her eyes, and smiled solemnly. No more than a second later, Arceus let out her first cry, and with it came power. Pure power poured from the tiny filly, and blasted out in every direction. It was white, loud, and too bright to look at. The whole town heard the ominous boom.
Dust and rubble flew into Discord and Fluttershy’s eyes. When they were able to see properly again and most of the dust had cleared, Fluttershy ran towards Zecora and Arceus. When she found them, her eyes filled with unshed tears.
Arceus lay in the middle of a circular crater that spread out in every direction for at least twenty feet around her. Her eyes had finally opened. Her coat and mane were black and white, not unlike Zecora’s, but instead of being striped everywhere, she was mostly white with just a few black stripes, and a blob of black around her eyes, almost looking like a superhero mask. Her eyes were quite a contrast to the rest of her petite body. Where the whites of her eyes should have been, they were the same color green as Fluttershy’s eyes, but in the center, where the color usually was, they were blood red.
Arceus looked around. She seemed confused. It was as if she was looking for Zecora.
Although Fluttershy understood what had happened, between the state of Zecora and the tears in her eyes, her eyes could hardly make anything out. All she saw was black and white and red all over.
