Surprise!

Chapters

Chapter 1: The After Party Party
Chapter 3: Cravings
Chapter 4: The Test
Chapter 5: Shock and Awe
Chapter 6: Spreading the Word
Chapter 7: Homecoming
Chapter 8: Apple Pie?
Chapter 9: Hospital Visit
Chapter 10: Letters
Chapter 11: Skating
Chapter 12: It's Here!
Chapter 2: Falling Stars

Chapter 1: The After Party Party

Chapter 1: The After Party Party

"Now that the fillies and colts have all gone to bed it's time to start..." Pinkie announced over a megaphone she had with her, "THE AFTER PARTY PARTY!" Everypony shouted happily and continued on partying as Applejack, Braeburn, and Rainbow Dash pulled out the cider barrels while Big Mac and Pinkie grabbed the mugs. Within minutes the part was really going, mostly thanks to the cider lowering everypony's inhibitions. If somepony, liked Pinkie, watched close enough, she could see a few ponies hooking up. Over by the cider taps Big Mac and Rainbow Dash were flirting almost nonstop, whether or not this was so Rainbow could get free cider was left to be seen. By the edges of the party stallions could be hitting on Applejack and Rarity, but they were being turned down by both almost immediately. Twilight and Fluttershy on the other hoof were standing in the far back of the party, trying to avoid being noticed by many of the stallions that were there. As Pinkie left to go get them more involved she felt somepony grab her tail.

"Hey Pinkie?" Braeburn asked shyly, his cheeks flushed just a little bit from all the cider he had drank.

"Yeah?" Pinkie asked, looking back at Braeburn from behind her tail.

"Can you come with me, I want to show you something" Braeburn asked, slurring his words slightly as he hiccup, the cider now starting to really affect him. Pinkie didn't understand him at first, but she quickly figured it out from the drunk look he was giving her. She weighed her options, looking at him, and then the stallions in the crowd. Braeburn was, without a doubt, the nicest looking one there, so it couldn't hurt to go with him for a little bit.

"Ok, but it better be awesome~" Pinkie said in a sing song way as she led Braeburn away with from the party with her flank swaying wildly, which his eyes were so inclined to stay on.

The next morning Pinkie woke up, feeling sick to her stomach, which was strange since she didn't have any cider the night before. When she got to her hooves she suddenly had an urge to vomit, which forced her to hold her mouth shut as she ran towards the bathroom, almost running over Mrs. Cake as she exited the bathroom after her morning shower.

"Morning Pinkie" Mrs Cake said happily as the pink pony rushed past her, "Is everything ok?" Pinkie turned around to look at her, but had her cheeks puffed out as she tried to hold it in. Once she got over the toilet she opened her mouth, and loud gagging noises came from inside the room as soon as she did, which worried Mrs Cake.

"Pinkie, dear, are you okay?" Mrs Cake asked worriedly as she poked her head into the bathroom, finding Pinkie sprawled out on the floor with her mouth hanging open.

"I feel like I've eaten five pounds of cotton candy..." Pinkie said weakly as she groaned.

"Dear, you did eat five pounds of cotton candy" Mrs Cake said, still remembering Mr Cake freaking out an hour earlier when he woke up to check on their supplies, finding an entire bag of cotton candy had been ravaged by Pinkie the night before.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I did" Pinkie said, now back to her normal self, but it was short lived as she was back over the toiler almost as soon as she got up. Mrs Cake watched her worriedly before Mr Cake shouted in agony from downstairs as the twins make a mess of the kitchen.

"If you need anything call me, okay Pinkie?" Mrs Cake asked before she made her way downstairs, waiting until Pinkie moaned in response before going. Pinkie went over the previous night's events, not being able to think of anything that would cause her to feel this way. She did make note of the small fling she had with Braeburn, but it was quickly dismissed as she thought it would be impossible that she would have gotten pregnant from him when she wasn't in heat. Her thinking was interrupted by another round of vomiting, this time making her pass out from it, but only momentarily.

"Ugh..." Pinkie groaned as she moved to head downstairs to begin work. All she needed was a few sugary treats and she would be back to her normal self, and the rest of the day would go perfectly. When Pinkie arrived downstairs she found Mr and Mrs Cake running all around the main room in a futile attempt to catch Pound and Pumpkin, who were flying around just out of their parents reach. Just as Pinkie turned to head into the kitchen so she could steal a treat she heard them run into each other, falling to a heap in the middle of the room.

"Sorry about that honey muffin" Mr Cake said wearily as he tried to get up, offering a hoof to Mrs Cake once he did.

"No problem cinnamon bun" Mrs Cake said sweetly as she took his hoof, the two of them getting right back to chasing their foals once they were up. Pinkie giggled quietly as she pushed open the door to the kitchen, looking around for any sign of a frosted treat for her.

"Ooh..." Pinkie said slowly as her eyes locked onto a batch of fresh cupcakes that were sitting on the counter. Planning to use the taste testing excuse if she was caught Pinkie grabbed two of them, eating them both in one big bite.

"Mmm..." Pinkie moaned happily as she tasted the cupcakes after they went down, "I love these ones!"

"Good to hear that dear" Mrs Cake said tiredly from the door with Pumpkin in her hooves, "Can you make another batch of them, the recipe's on the other counter"

"Sure thing Mrs Cake!" Pinkie shouted happily as she bounced over to the recipe, "Red Velvet. Sounds as delicious as it tastes!" Pinkie quickly went to work on the next three batches of the cupcakes, taking time to "sample" the batch that was already finished and sitting on the counter. By the time the other three batches were finished the first batch was nearly gone, with only one cupcake remaining, so Pinkie decided to eat that one too.

"Good work Pinkie, finishing two batches of cupcakes already!" Mr Cake cheered as he entered the kitchen with Mrs Cake, who was smiling as well, "I think you deserve a reward" Mr Cake smiled happily as he picked up a cupcake off the trays Pinkie had just prepared, and the other batch finally caught up with her. After she ran up the stairs to vomit into the toilet once more Mr Cake turned to Mrs Cake worriedly and asked,

"Was it something I said?"

Chapter 3: Cravings

Chapter 3: Cravings

It was early morning in Sugar Cube Corner when Pinkie woke up, slowly opening her eyes as the warm rays of light hit her in the face. Rather than jumping out of bed she slowly sat up and slid off of it, making sure she landed hooves first. Once she was sure she was stabled she slowly walked towards the bathroom, hoping to be the first one in, but the sound of running water meant Mr Cake was already sitting in the shower.

“Morning Pinkie” Mrs Cake said as she came out of the twins’ room, having just fed them their morning meal.

“Morning Mrs Cake” Pinkie said sadly, turning to face her, “Hey Mrs Cake, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course dear, what is it?” Mrs Cake asked back, interested in what kind of question Pinkie would have so early in the morning.

“How do you deal with this?” Pinkie asked, poking herself in the stomach.

“What about your stomach?” Mrs Cake asked, honestly confused by Pinkie’s question.

“How do you deal with having a fat one?” Pinkie asked, completely oblivious to how rude the question was, even when Mrs Cake leaned back with an offended look on her face. Pinkie raised an eyebrow at Mrs Cake, not quite sure why she would be offended by such a question. Over the past two months Pinkie had noticed that her own stomach was getting bigger, so she thought that asking somepony like Mrs Cake, who was a little oversized, would be a good thing to do.

“Dear, why are you asking me?” Mrs Cake asked flatly, obviously not amused in the slightest by Pinkie.

“Well, you are, um…” Pinkie said slowly, trying to find an appropriate word for Mrs Cake, “plus sized?” Mrs Cake didn’t even give Pinkie an offended look this time, instead she just stormed off, leaving a confused Pinkie in the hallway, right when Mr Cake came out of the shower.

“Is everything ok out here Pinkie?” he asked, looking down the hall just in time to see Mrs Cake turn to go down the stairs.

“Mrs Cake is mad because I asked her how she deals with being fat” Pinkie said, still not seeing the issue with her words.

“Mrs Cake isn’t fat Pinkie, she’s just…” Mr Cake tried to think of an appropriate words to use, “fun sized”

“Fun sized?” Pinkie asked confusedly.

“Yes, fun sized, now run along Pinkie, you need to help get everything set up for today” Mr Cake said flatly as he turned towards his bedroom, eager to get out of this conversation as fast as possible so Mrs Cake wouldn’t send him to sleep in the spare bedroom that night.

“Pinkie, can you come down here!” Mrs Cake shouted from downstairs, making Mr Cake jump.

“You’d better go” Mr Cake said quickly before he ran into his room. Pinkie gave his door a weird look before making her way downstairs, finding Mrs Cake standing at the bottom of the stairs with an angry look on her face.

“Did you eat all of our red velvet cupcakes last night?” Mrs Cake asked quickly, eyeing Pinkie down.

“Um, maybe…” Pinkie admitted shyly, but this only caused Mrs Cake to get angrier than she would have been.

“Pinkie, you know those were for a big order that was due today!” Mrs Cake shouted, “If you had eaten them you should have told one of us, or at least started a fresh batch!” Pinkie shied away from Mrs Cake as she yelled, and when she caught sight of Pinkie’s terrified look she calmed down, taking a deep breath to make sure she was okay.

“Pinkie, please, when you do something like this, just tell us” Mrs Cake said calmly before turning to go back into the kitchen, “Come on, we have some cupcakes to make”

“Yes ma’am” Pinkie said sadly, now feeling guilty over eating the cupcakes. She doesn’t know why, but she’s been having a strange craving for them ever since the got back from the meteor shower. Of course Pinkie didn’t tell anypony about it, especially not Mr and Mrs Cake, they would have freaked out and hidden all of the cupcakes from her, which wouldn’t have been good for anypony.

The rest of the day went without too much incident, other than Mrs Cake making sure to hide the new batch of red velvet cupcakes from Pinkie, much to her displeasure. Pinkie has always been implicitly trusted by the Cakes, and now they were afraid she was going to eat an entire order, even though she knew that they were for a customer who was coming in today. At around noon the Cakes left the bakery, leaving Pinkie to watch both it, and the twins. Deciding to use her time efficiently Pinkie began making herself a batch of the cupcakes, while the twins played together in their room. Just as Pinkie finished the cupcakes she heard the door open, so she shoved two of them into her mouth before going to the front counter.

“Hi Pinkie” Twilight said happily as she smiled at her friend, meanwhile Spike had caught a scent of the cupcakes Pinkie had just prepared, mesmerizing him almost instantly. As Twilight and Pinkie talked about random things, ranging from recipe books to the twins, Spike almost floated into the kitchen, his great sense of smell allowing him to find the cupcakes on the counter.

“Come to papa” Spike whispered quietly as he looked for the best one to eat, eventually finding an oversized one right in the middle. Without hesitation he gobbled it down, leaving nothing behind but a few crumbs. Luckily Twilight and Pinkie were still talking when he came out of the kitchen, but the doors opening did get Twilight’s attention.

“Spike, what is that on your face?” Twilight asked, moving her hoof to wipe something off the dragon’s cheek, coming back with frosting that made Pinkie jump. She almost flew over Twilight and Spike into the kitchen, a loud cry of agony ringing out when she saw that the giant cupcake she had made for herself was eaten by Spike.

“Oops” is all Spike said before Twilight started to pull him all the way back to the library so she could give him a talking to, meanwhile Pinkie just sat in the middle of the kitchen looking sadly at the crumbs he had left behind. She stayed that way until the Cakes got home, at which point she retired to her room for the rest of the day, much to the confusion of the Cakes.

Later that night Mrs Cake awoke to the sound of somepony vomiting in the bathroom, and when she went to figure out who it was she stepped onto a brownie tray, fresh from the oven. Out of curiosity she picked up the tray, and by using the light in the hallway she was able to tell that it was Pinkie who had made it, as there was virtually nothing left but a few crumbs that had gotten stuck in the corners of the tray. After Mrs Cake put the brownie tray back down she looked into the bathroom, finding Pinkie leaning over the toilet with her snout in the bowl. Before Mrs Cake could go see if she was okay Pinkie began vomiting again, and the sounds and smell of it made Mrs Cake back away, afraid that if she went any closer she would end up joining Pinkie in the toilet bowl.

“Is everything okay sugarplum?” Mr Cake asked tiredly as Mrs Cake climbed back into their bed, wrapping her legs around him quickly.

“Honeybun?” Mrs Cake asked quietly.

“Yes?” Mr Cake replied, turning his head back to he could look Mrs Cake in the eyes.

“Do you think it’s possible that Pinkie’s…” Mrs Cake trailed off, getting quiet as Pinkie began vomiting again, catching Mr Cake by surprise.

“Got the stomach flu? It is possible, it is getting kind of cold outside, so…” Mr Cake started to say, but he was cut off by Mrs Cake.

“Honeybun, I think Pinkie might be…” Mrs Cake trailed off as she looked deep into Mr Cake’s eyes, “Pregnant”

Chapter 4: The Test

Chapter 4: The Test

"Pinkie, dear, are you awake?" Mrs Cake asked quietly from the hallway outside Pinkie's room. When there was no answer she pushed the door open slightly, seeing Pinkie's hoof hanging off of her bed. She let out a loud sigh before opening the door all the way to see Pinkie sprawled out across her bed with her hooves going in every direction.

"Pinkie, time to wake up" Mrs Cake said quietly, giving Pinkie a little poke in the ribs to try and wake her up. Pinkie's eyes jerked open as Mrs Cake pulled back her hoof, just in time to get out of the way of Pinkie's laughing fit from being tickled by Mrs Cake's hoof. Pinkie laughed like a maniac for a few minutes before calming down completely, looking Mrs Cake with a smile on her face.

"Morning Mrs Cake!" Pinkie said happily as she prepared to bounce off her bed and towards the bathroom, but Mrs Cake stopped her. Pinkie looked at Mrs Cake confusedly before she was sudden overtaken by a sick feeling, prompting her to push Mrs Cake out of the way so she could get to the toilet. Mrs Cake sighed and headed out of Pinkie's room and into the bathroom, where she found Pinkie in the same position as she was the night before.

"Pinkie, dear, is there something you need to tell me?" Mrs Cake asked as she put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder, feeling her shudder as another round of vomiting began. Out of curiosity Mrs Cake looked into the toilet, gagging when she saw the brownish sludge that was sitting just on the water's surface. When Pinkie finished vomiting she looked up at Mrs Cake with a pained look on her face, having now emptied all of her stomach contents into the toilet bowl.

"I don't know Mrs Cake..." Pinkie said shakily, blinking her eyes a few times to make sure she was seeing everything correctly. Just as she got steady she felt another round of vomiting come over her, forcing her to shove her snout back into the bowl as Mrs Cake looked in their medicine cabinet for something. Pinkie tried to look at Mrs Cake, but her constant shaking made it nearly impossible. When the vomiting stopped she looked up to see Mrs Cake holding a box for a pregnancy test, making Pinkie raise an eyebrow.

"Do you think you're pregnant again Mrs Cake?" Pinkie asked, watching as Mrs Cake pulled the test out of the box.

"No dear, this is for you" Mrs Cake said calmly as she offered Pinkie the test, which she took albeit with a confused look.

"Why would I need one of these?" Pinkie asked innocently, which made Mrs Cake frown.

"Dear, do you know the signs of pregnancy?" Mrs Cake asked, sounding like a teacher.

"Cravings, weight gain, and..." Pinkie tapped her chin as she thought about the last thing, "Morning sickness"

"Exactly, now what have you been having for the past few weeks?" Mrs Cake asked, nodding towards the brown sludge in the toilet bowl to enforce her point. Pinkie looked into the bowl as well, her eyes getting wide as she realized that she was showing signs of pregnancy, but hadn't payed close enough attention to really notice it.

"Now you take that test okay Pinkie? I'll be right outside the door" Mrs Cake said as she looked Pinkie in the eyes, waiting for a nod so she could go stand outside. While she was waiting outside Mr Cake stumbled out of his room into the hallway, making his way towards the bathroom, but Mrs Cake blocked him off.

"You can't go in there right now" Mrs Cake said sternly, holding her husband away with one of her hooves.

"Why not?" Mr Cake asked confusedly, still partially asleep.

"Just because, now go tidy yourself up, it's almost time to open" Mrs Cake said, shooing Mr Cake away with a wave of her hoof. He grumbled something to himself as he walked away, Mrs Cake only hearing something about how it was his bathroom and that he had to pee, or something like that. She waited another minute before opening the door slowly, quiet sobbing coming from inside.

"Pinkie?" Mrs Cake asked slowly as she peeked around the door, seeing Pinkie sitting on the floor with her head in her hooves, the pregnancy test sitting just a bit ahead of her on the floor. Mrs Cake slowly entered the bathroom and picked up the test, her eyes drawn immediately to the results.

"I'm pregnant..." Pinkie said through her sobs, causing Mrs Cake to drop the test in shock. Pinkie was like a daughter to them, and with this news...

"Do you have any idea who the father is?" Mrs Cake asked worriedly, moving down to give Pinkie a hug.

"Yes..." Pinkie replied, happily accepting the hug from Mrs Cake, "But he's not from around here..."

"Who is it dear, we'll help you find him" Mrs Cake said as she rubbed Pinkie's back to comfort her, which appeared to be working as her sobbing was starting to die down.

"It's Braeburn, Applejack's cousin from Appleloosa..." Pinkie said sadly, now fighting back the tears that were trying to force their way out. Mrs Cake held Pinkie closer, knowing that it wasn't easy to travel between Appleloosa and Ponyville, and now with winter approaching all the farms would be working hard to get everything finished so nothing would be lost to the cold. With Pinkie in the state she was in there was no way she would be able to make it all the way to Appleloosa without something bad happening, and nopony could get a letter to Appleloosa fast enough, except...

"Pinkie, dear, are you feeling well enough to walk?" Mrs Cake asked, pulling away from the hug enough to see Pinkie's face.

"I think so" Pinkie said, not feeling all to confident in her ability to walk at the moment because of how shaky she was feeling. Mrs Cake helped her to her hooves and then sent her to her room to get ready to leave the bakery while she told Mr Cake what was going on. He quickly understood what was going on and what Mrs Cake's plan was, and he was prepared to watch the bakery by himself for a few hours while Mrs Cake made sure everything was okay. Once Pinkie was ready to leave they went out, making their way to the library.

"Why are we going to see Twilight?" Pinkie asked weakly, feeling exhausted from walking already.

"No pony, can get a letter to Braeburn before winter begins," Mrs Cake smiled as she thought about how clever she was, "but we both know a certain dragon that can" After a few minutes of walking they were at the library, frantic sounds of Twilight having a panic attack coming from inside.

"Spike, where is the book on Winter Start Up?!" Twilight cried as she ran around the library, nearly sending Spike flying away.

"I don't know, it should be in the shelves" Spike said defensively, honestly not knowing where it was.

"IT'S NOT IN THE SHELVES!" Twilight shouted as she prepared to rip apart the library to find the book, but a cough from the door made her stop.

"Are you looking for this?" Mrs Cake said, pointing a hoof towards a book on the floor that was titled Winter Start Up: The How to Guide. Twilight quickly ran over and picked up the book, giving it a giant hug before she realized that Mrs Cake and Pinkie were standing there, with Pinkie not looking all too well.

"Is everything okay?" Twilight asked, giving Pinkie a worried look.

"She's pregnant, and she says the father is Braeburn, Applejack's cousin from-" Mrs Cake said, being cut off by Twilight before she could finish.

"Appleloosa" Twilight said quietly, thinking to herself, "Wasn't he in town a few months ago for the harvest party that Pinkie threw?" Pinkie nodded quickly, making both Mrs Cake and Twilight frown worriedly. The two mares looked at each other, and Twilight could tell why they were here.

"Spike, get ready to send a letter" Twilight said with her head slightly turned towards Spike, who had begun to pick up all the books. With a grunt he went up to Twilight's room, coming back down with a quill and a scroll. Once he was in front of Twilight he prepared to write the letter, but Twilight used her magic to turn him around so he was facing Pinkie.

"Okay Pinkie, what do you want to say to Braeburn?" Twilight asked calmly, making Pinkie look up.

"Braeburn, I'm sorry that I have to send you this, but after what we did during the harvest party..." Pinkie got quiet as she tried to hold back her tears, "I'm pregnant. Mrs Cake says she wants me to send you this letter, probably so that you can know you'll be a father, but I don't really know what to say. I'm sorry for causing you all this trouble..."

"Signed Pinkie Pie" Spike whispered quietly to himself as he wrote Pinkie's name on the bottom of the letter before turning to Twilight, a somber look in his eyes, "This is going to Braeburn right now?" Twilight nodded sadly, and Spike thought about the farm pony, allowing him to locate him in Equestria. Once Spike knew where he was he breathed in, and when he exhaled his magical fire engulfed the letter, a green smoke cloud flying out the window once it was gone.

"There, it's sent" Spike said sadly, turning around to go back to tidying up the library while the three mares stood in a depressing silence.

Chapter 5: Shock and Awe

Chapter 5: Shock and Awe

Braeburn was working an empty field, checking for anything that somepony might have left behind, when a scroll appeared in front of him. His first reaction was to freak out, but he quickly calmed down and picked up the scroll, opening it slowly so that if there was any scary magic waiting inside for him, then he might have a chance to avoid it. When the scroll was open all the way Braeburn cracked open an eyelid, looking at it nervously, and when he saw that it was just a letter he began to read it, but the fear quickly came back to him.

"Pinkie is what?" Braeburn asked weakly, his worried eyes scanning the scroll in front of him for any sign that it was a joke, but if it was, he couldn't see it. For what seemed like years Braeburn just stared at the open letter, mouth open, until somepony came up and read it over his shoulder.

"You got Pinkie Pie pregnant?" the stallion laughed, having only been nearby because he was checking the next field over, "Looks like she's Pregnant Pie now"

"Shut it" Braeburn said quietly under his breath, his eyes narrowing as the stallion continued to laugh behind, occasionally repeating his joke to himself so he would keep laughing at it. As the stallion continued to laugh Braeburn stood up and turned around, slamming his hooves onto the ground on either side of the stallion's face. With a look of fear in his eyes the stallion stopped laughing and got up to run away, tripping as he tried to jump the fence between fields. Braeburn couldn't help but laugh as the stallion got up with a pile of dirt on his head, but his mood quickly sank back down when he looked at the letter again.

"I'm a father now..." Braeburn muttered to himself as he rolled the scroll up, setting it inside his vest so he wouldn't lose it. For the rest of the morning Braeburn went about his duties like a machine, not showing any emotions as he thought about what this meant for him now. First thing he had too figure out, was he moving to Ponyville, or was Pinkie moving to Appleloosa?

Pinkie, Twilight, and Mrs Cake all sat together in the library's main room as Spike made them all tea, picking out a sweet cinnamon one for her after she said she didn't care which. The library's sigh read closed to those that were outside, with a small note hanging below it,

Closed for Friendship

Spike entered the room and handing out the tea to everypony, but as he went to sit down Twilight picked him up magically and put him in her room. He grunted angrily from upstairs which helped to lighten the mood of the three mares, but the face still remained, Pinkie was pregnant.

"So, do you know what you're going to do now Pinkie?" Twilight asked worriedly, but Pinkie just shook her head sadly, her eyes focused on her reflection in her tea. Twilight looked to Mrs Cake for help, but found her idly sipping her tea as she looked at the table with a blank face, offering no real support now that her plan had succeeded. Knowing that Mrs Cake might need a bit of stimulus to start thinking again Twilight looked around the room for a book on unexpected pregnancies, and found only one.

"The Big Surprise" read Twilight out loud, getting both mares to look up at her, "Pinkie, Mrs Cake, maybe you two should read through this together" Mrs Cake nodded slowly before pulling the book towards her, opening it up to the first page. Pinkie watched quietly as Mrs Cake flipped through the book, occasionally stopping on a page to read it, but quickly learning that it was just a page used for chapter breaks. Eventually she got to the end and made a thinking face, but not before handing the book over to Pinkie. When she got the book Pinkie flipped through it's pages multiple times, but then put it down on the table with a heavy sigh.

"I don't know what to do..." Pinkie admitted sadly as she looked down at the floor, making Mrs Cake and Twilight share a glance between themselves.

"Dear, do you hate the baby?" Mrs Cake asked as she put a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder.

"No..." Pinkie replied, somewhat looking at Mrs Cake.

"Do you regret spending that time with Braeburn?" Twilight asked as she put the book away.

"No" Pinkie said, this time sounding confused at what was being asked.

"Then you should keep the baby dear" Mrs Cake said comfortingly, but Pinkie didn't feel it.

"What if Braeburn doesn't want to be with me, even though we have this baby?" Pinkie asked, looking up pitifully at Mrs Cake. Twilight and Mrs Cake shared a worried look before one of them spoke up again.

"Then he wouldn't deserve you dear" Mrs Cake said, looking into Pinkie's sad eyes. Pinkie looked up sadly, the idea going through her head. It was obvious that she was thinking hard about it, trying to figure out if she was worth that much to anypony.

"Yeah, and you'd be an amazing mother Pinkie" Twilight said with an honest smile on her face, bolstering Pinkie's confidence.

"You two mean what you're saying?" Pinkie asked, looking between the two of them with hope in her eyes. Both Mrs Cake and Twilight nodded, making Pinkie smile cheerfully. The other two mares joined in with her smile, which only made her smile bigger.

"So what's going to happen dear?" Mrs Cake asked, still smiling at Pinkie.

"I think..." Pinkie said, confirming it in her own head first, "I'm going to keep it"

Chapter 6: Spreading the Word

Chapter 6: Spreading the Word

Pinkie woke up the find the late morning sun shining in her eyes, forcing her to get up and out of bed. As Pinkie climbed out of bed her eyes were drawn to her stomach, which had started to stick out a few weeks ago. No pony had noticed yet, but that was mostly because Pinkie was constantly bundled up because winter was almost here. Stepping out of her room reminded Pinkie about what made today important, and why she was sleeping in. Today was going to be the day that Pinkie finally told the rest of her friends about the pregnancy, or as she put it, "Telling all my super duper close friends!"

"Pinkie, is that you?" Mrs Cake shouted up the stairs, having heard the sound of somepony walking around.

"Yeah, I just got up" Pinkie said, catching herself by surprise with a loud yawn. Mrs Cake giggled from the bottom of the stairs as Pinkie continued on her way to the bathroom so she could wash up. After a quick shower Pinkie found herself sitting in front of her mirror, slowly brushing her fluffy pink mane. She couldn't help but giggle as she watched half of her mane puff up while the other half straightened out, making her seem like half a clown. Pinkie heard somepony come up the stairs after she finished giggling.

"Keeping something funny from us are you Pinkie?" Rainbow asked from the other side of the door.

"Maybe..." Pinkie cooed from inside, smiling as the door opened, a chorus of laughter coming from the other side as everypony saw Pinkie's absurd hairstyle. Even Rarity managed to let out a laugh at Pinkie despite how she would normally freak out at the way Pinkie had her hair. Once everypony had calmed down Pinkie asked the one question that was on her mind.

"When did you guys get here?"

"We just got here a few minutes ago" Applejack said, looking at Pinkie with a smile on her face, "Mrs Cake said you were up here getting ready"

"Twilight told us that what you were telling us today was going to be big news, so..." Rarity said, barely able to contain her excitement at the opportunity to learn juicy new gossip. Applejack shot her a look that made her calm down just enough to act normal, but her excitement was still in her eyes. While the two of them argued with each other, Rainbow stepping in as judge, Fluttershy noticed something off about Pinkie.

"Pinkie, is your stomach, um..." Fluttershy let out a quiet squeak before finishing, "bigger?" Everypony stopped what they were doing and looked at Pinkie, closely examining her stomach to see if what Fluttershy was saying was true. At first none of them saw anything, but when Pinkie turned slightly to the side her bump was more noticeable.

"Are you gaining weight?!" Rarity shouted, pulling her dramatic couch out of nowhere just in case it was needed. Pinkie simply smiled and shook her head, making everypony raise their eyebrows.

"If that's not it then..." Applejack thought out loud to herself, trying to think of what could be causing it, and the only thing that came to mind was...

"ARE YOU PREGNANT?!" Applejack and Rarity screamed at the same time, having come to the same conclusion. Both Rainbow and Fluttershy jumped back from the two of them, their eyes wide with fear and surprise, but they quickly joined in on the stare they were giving Pinkie, who was just sitting there with a smile and blush on her face. Twilight walked up behind the four of them and coughed, breaking their focus on Pinkie.

"Why is everypony staring at Pinkie like she has the Griffon's Plague?" Twilight asked jokingly, making everypony give her a deadpan stare.

"What are you talking about egghead?" Rainbow asked, receiving a sigh from Twilight before she remembered the big issue at hand, "Pinkie's pregnant?!" Everypony's attention quickly turned back to Pinkie, who was still just sitting there and smiling at them all.

"How long has this been going on for?!" Rarity asked dramatically.

"About four months, according the Doctor Monitor" Pinkie said, looking down at her stomach with a smile, warming everypony's hearts as they looked at her. There was a moment of silence as everpony looked at Pinkie with warm smiles on their faces, before something came to Applejack's mind.

"Who's the father?"

"It's, um..." Pinkie stuttered, making everypony worry that she didn't know, but she suddenly looked up with a smile on her face, "It's Braeburn"

"What?!" everypony said at the same time, their jaws dropping as they looked at Pinkie. Again she just smiled back at them, making their surprised stares turn into happy smiles again.

"How long is everypony going to stay up here for?" Mrs Cake asked as she reached the top of the stairs, "We have plenty of cupcakes downstairs"

"Cupcakes?" Rainbow asked, her ears perking up as she quickly ran towards Mrs Cake, "What kind?"

"Special ones, half a dozen unique ones for each of you" Mrs Cake said with a smile, "Made by Pinkie herself" There was silence as Rainbow flew downstairs to find her cupcakes, but it was quickly broken by a loud squee from downstairs.

"THESE ARE AWESOME!" Rainbow shouted as she stuffed her face with another cupcake, "THANKS PINKIE!"

"Typical Rainbow Dash" Rarity said sarcastically, making everypony that was still upstairs burst into laughter, which was broken as Pinkie walked through them towards the stairs.

"Come on, I'm sure you guys will love your cupcakes as well" Pinkie said with a happy smile before she trotted down the stairs, followed soon after by the rest of her friends. The rest of the day was spent with all of them happily playing around, the shock of Pinkie's pregnancy having completely worn off after they saw how happy she was about it.

Chapter 7: Homecoming

Chapter 7: Homecoming

As the cab pulled up to the farm Pinkie felt her heart drop, seeing the fields being worked over by two familiar looking ponies while an old stallion sat on the porch of the farmhouse. Pinkie carefully stepped out of the cab, nodding to the stallion that was pulling it with a smile before turning to face the farm again. It had been years since she's been here, the most she's heard about it was in letters from her mother, but they stopped almost a year ago. When the old stallion on the porch saw her coming up her shouted to the ponies working the fields, waving his hoof towards her so they knew she was there.

"Pinkamena!" a grey toned pony shouted as she came running towards Pinkie, jumping at her in an attempt to hug her. Pinkie didn't make any attempt to dodge the hug, so she felt herself get pulled from side to side as the grey pony pulled her into a tight hug, soon being joined by the other pony that had been working the fields. The old stallion that had been sitting on the porch came over and smiled at Pinkie, his tired face showing years of hard work.

"Welcome home"

"So you guys defeated the Changelings?!" Inky asked loudly as her jaw dropped.

"Well, not really us, but we were in the room for this one" Pinkie replied as she thought about the wedding disaster, "I got to use my party cannon as a weapon"

"How well did that work out?" Blinky asked from the other side of the room, her hooves crossed in front of her.

"Well, it made a fun noise, and blew the Changelings away with confetti" Pinkie said as she laughed, remembering the pile of Changelings that were unconscious and covered in tiny strips of paper. Her two sisters looked at her in disbelief as their father came into the room with a teapot on a plate.

"Sounds like you've been busy" Clyde said as he placed the teapot down, moving to pour each of them a cup.

"Yeah, it's been fun" Pinkie said as she started to look around, "Where's mom?" Her sisters froze at the mention of their mother and Clyde just looked down into the teacup as he continued to pour into it. Pinkie noticed that something was off and decided to get up, moving towards an odd looking cabinet in the corner of the room. As she got closer Pinkie felt an odd sadness fall over her, making her feel the urge to open the doors.

"Don't open that" Clyde said flatly as he put his hoof against the cabinet, holding it closed. Pinkie leaned back away for a moment before looking back at her sisters, but both of them had looks of pain on their faces. When Pinkie looked back to her father she saw a tear run down his face, and it all made sense to her.

"Mom's..." Pinkie started to choke on her words, "Dead, isn't she?" Silence followed Pinkie's statement as her father moved to sit in his chair, and empty one right beside him. Inky and Blinky looked down at the ground, looking up slightly as Pinkie moved to sit back down where she had been before. They continued to stay silent until Pinkie felt a kick, making her jump in her seat.

"Are you okay?" Inky asked, her eyes finally registering the abnormal bump on Pinkie's belly, "Pinkie, are you..."

"Pregnant?" Pinkie asked back, "Yeah, that's why I'm here"

"When did this happen?" Clyde asked quietly as he looked up, his eyes squinted as he looked Pinkie over.

"A few months ago, at a party I threw for the Apple family" Pinkie explained, "I ended up, um..."

"Ok, we get that part, what happened after that" Blinky said, her cheeks flushing slightly as she thought about what had happened. Pinkie thought about it for a second before continuing her explanation.

"Well, I went through the first few months of pregnancy, told the father about it, and then decided to come here before winter so I could tell you guys" Clyde looked at Pinkie closely, thinking quietly to himself as he looked over her body, trying to see if anything else was wrong with her, but he couldn't tell.

"So why did you want to come to us now?" Clyde asked, his eyes darting to the cabinet behind Pinkie for a split second.

"I never knew anything was wrong before" Pinkie admitted sadly, "When her letters stopped I thought she just forgot to send them once, and I never got a letter about..."

"We forgot to send one..." Inky said sadly as she looked at the cabinet sadly.

"It's okay" Pinkie said with a sad smile before continuing her story, "I wanted to know if you would want to spend the holidays with me this year, considering"

"What about the father, shouldn't he be with you?" Inky asked, raising an eyebrow as she thought about how odd it seemed.

"He's from Appleloosa, he won't be able to make it to Ponyville in time, so I just thought..." Pinkie trailed off as she looked up at her father. Clyde stared back at her for a moment before smiling, which lifted her spirits. Her two sisters looked at each other happily before they ran over to Pinkie, eager to get her set up in her old room again. Their father smiled happily as the three sisters ran up the stairs to the room while laughing happily. Once they were out of sight he got up and walked up to the cabinet, opening it just enough to see his wife's smiling face, with a certain pink pony with a fluffy mane just below it.

"Hey dad, where's the bed sheets?!" Inky shouted from upstairs, snapping Clyde out of his thoughts.

"In the hall closet, where they always are!" Clyde shouted back as he shut the cabinet.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that!" Inky shouted back, followed by a laugh from the other two ponies upstairs, which made Clyde smile again. He went back to his chair and began to sip his tea, laughing from time to time as he heard his daughters talking from upstairs, their own laughs echoing throughout the house for most of the night.

Chapter 8: Apple Pie?

Chapter 8: Apple Pie?

As Pinkie entered Sugar Cube Corner for the first time in weeks she didn't expect to be walking into a surprise party for herself. When the shock had worn off Pinkie was able to tell who was there. Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Fluttershy, the Cakes, and...

"Braeburn?!" Pinkie shouted as she looked at the last pony in the line, who simply smiled back at her as the other ponies circled around her, "I thought it would be impossible for you to come all the way here!"

"It would have been, but Twilight was able to get me here thanks to the Princess" Braeburn said with a nod to Twilight, who smiled happily.

"But, why are you here, what about your farm?" Pinkie asked, knowing that running a farm was hard work, especially an apple farm in the west.

"I'm here because of you, you matter more than the farm Pinkie" Braeburn said as he stepped forward a bit, just enough so he could offer Pinkie a hug, which she happily took. When the two of them hugged the other ponies sighed happily, making Pinkie laugh. Eventually Braeburn joined her in the laughter, and soon enough, everypony was laughing with them. After they broke the hug Pinkie gave Braeburn a quick kiss on the snout, which made him turn almost as red a Big McIntosh was.

"So you guys threw a party for me because Braeburn is here?" Pinkie asked, noticing the congratulatory banners that were hanging on the walls.

"Well, him showing up was a last minute thing, but yeah you could say that" Rainbow said laughing as she thought about it. Rarity sighed loudly, making everypony look at her, causing her to freak because she had been sighing over the kind of cupcakes the Cakes had made for the party.

"Sorry, I was just hoping for a more..." Rarity paused as she tried to think of the right word, "Refined flavor?"

"What are you talking about, quadruple chocolate cupcakes are the best!" Pinkie said happily as she scarfed down entire cupcakes one by one, much to Rarity's dismay. She watched in mock horror as Pinkie managed to eat the entire platter of cupcakes, leaving nothing but a few crumbs, but she quickly fixed that by licking the plate and her mouth clean.

"How could you manage to stomach those things?" Rarity asked as Pinkie went to eat the other platter.

"It's simple, I just put them in my mouth, chew, and then swallow!" Pinkie said as she picked up a cupcake, doing just as she had said, making everypony but Rarity laugh. Once Pinkie had eaten all of the cupcakes she belched, making Rarity whine. Braeburn laughed as he walked over to Pinkie, putting a hoof on her shoulder to make her stop eating long enough for him to talk to her.

"Hey Pinkie, can you come with me?" Braeburn asked, nodding his head towards the stairs.

"Sure!" Pinkie replied happily, taking a few cupcakes the cakes had just brought out for the short trip up the stairs. She followed Braeburn while happily eating them, not noticing him stopping, causing her to bump into him and splatter a cupcake across his cutie mark.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?!" Braeburn asked quickly as Pinkie attempted to lick the bit of cupcake off his cutie mark, making his face turn about as red as it could get.

"I'm getting the cupcake off of your cutie mark, duh" Pinkie said as if what she was doing was normal in any way. Braeburn sighed as she continued to lick the cupcake off, humming happily when she had gotten it all. When Braeburn was sure she was finished he looked back at her, seeing her smiling happily at him.

"So, about why I asked you to come up here..." Braeburn said as he lightly tapped his hoof against the floor, making Pinkie cock her head to the side.

"What is it?" Pinkie asked innocently, making Braeburn become even more nervous about what he was there for.

"Um, it's about..." Braeburn slowly lifted his hoof up to point at her stomach, which was now quite large, "That"

"My belly?" Pinkie asked before she remembered that she was pregnant, "Wait, you mean the foal?"

"Yeah" Braeburn said, "See, where I'm from we just don't let mares raise foals by themselves, not when they know who the father is at least" Pinkie nodded to show that she understood what he meant, and after he collected himself he continued.

"But the thing is, I can't leave Appleloosa to be here with you" Braeburn paused so he could remember what Twilight had told him, "And you can't move to Appleloosa because you have to stay here"

"Why do I have to stay here?" Pinkie asked, never having been told the reason why she would have to stay with the Cakes in Ponyville.

"Twilight said that because you're an element of harmony you have to stay here, just in case there's another disaster like when Discord came back" Braeburn explained, "Because Appleloosa is so far away you wouldn't be able to fulfill your duty as an element"

"Awww..." Pinkie said sadly, her smile quickly turning into a frown. She was sad that she couldn't be with Braeburn, and she didn't quite know why. It could have been love, or it could just be because she's carrying his baby, she didn't know. Braeburn sighed sadly, sharing in Pinkie's depression for the time being, but when a small purple dragon came running up the stairs so he could use the bathroom Braeburn got an idea.

"Hey Pinkie, do you know if Spike could easily send messages to me?" Braeburn asked after Spike shut the bathroom door.

"Yeah, all he has to do is think of you, why?" Pinkie asked, not quite catching on to Braeburn's plan yet.

"Well, what if we sent messages to each other through him?" Braeburn said happily, "We could have a long distance relationship!"

"Really?!" Pinkie shouted as she thought about the possibility, "That would be awesome!"

"Ok, when Spike comes out of the bathroom we'll ask him, okay?" Braeburn said, but Spike had already come out of the bathroom and was currently giving them a confused look.

"Ask me what, exactly?" Spike asked, his eyes darting between the two of them.

"Could you, um, send letters between us?" Pinkie asked shyly, making Spike give her an even weirder look.

"Yeah, I guess I could" Spike said lazily before he started to head towards the stairs, being stopped by Pinkie as she gave him a giant hug to say thank you. He grunted in embarrassment before Pinkie let go, his cheeks flushed as he went back downstairs.

"So, how is the foal?" Braeburn asked while he put a hoof up to Pinkie's stomach, feeling a small kick as he did, "Wow, that's a strong kick"

"They're good" Pinkie said with a calm smile, "I go to see Doctor Stable tomorrow"

"Well, from what I can tell they're doing fine" Braeburn said as he felt another kick, this time strong enough to make Pinkie jump slightly, "You must be an amazing mother"

"I think they're just excited to see you" Pinkie laughed, joined in quickly by Braeburn, who thought the idea was cute and funny.

"Well, I'm excited to see you now too" Braeburn said as he gave Pinkie a kiss on the snout, making her blush, "How about we go back to the party now?"

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea, I'm starving!" Pinkie said before she ran downstairs, leaving Braeburn behind while he laughed at her response. The two of them spent the rest of the party by each other's side, making the mares downstairs smile happily as they watched the new couple play with each other.

Chapter 9: Hospital Visit

Chapter 9: Hospital Visit

Pinkie waiting inside the Ponyville hospital for only a few minutes before Doctor Stable called her into his office, a mysterious pony waiting in the corner of the room for the two of them. As Pinkie sat down she looked over at the Unicorn pony that was standing there, his white coat and jet black seeming odd to Pinkie. For one, she has never seen this pony before, and two, he was just so boring. No silly colors, no strange features, he was just a normal black and white pony.

"Good morning Miss Pie" Doctor Stable said as he sat down at his desk, his papers lighting up with a magical aura as he lifted them off the desk so he could file them away later. Once his desk was cleaned off he pulled up Pinkie's papers, looking them over carefully, noticing that a father's signature was missing from the pregnancy form.

"So, are you a single parent?" Doctor Stable said as he lowered the papers just enough so he could look at Pinkie over them. She smiled shyly before letting out a small giggle, the memory of the previous day still fresh in her mind. Braeburn had shown up, they talked, and he became her long distance coltfriend, but sadly he had to go back that evening.

"No, it's just, um..." Pinkie trailed off, trying to remember what everpony had told her to say when Doctor Stable asked about it, "Complicated"

"Okay then..." Doctor Stable trailed off, before he looked over at the pony in the corner, "Now then, let's go get this test underway" Doctor Stable got up out of his chair and nodded at Pinkie and the unknown pony to follow him out of the office, and the two of them happily obliged. After they walked down the hallway they entered a completely white room, tiles covering every surface.

"What are we going to do in here?" Pinkie asked, her voice echoing emptily as she looked around the room. When no pony answered her she decided to walk further into the room, but was suddenly picked up off the ground by some unseen force, which had caught her by complete surprise.

"Now Pinkie, we're going to scan you to see how the foal is doing" Doctor Stable said from the back corner of the room, just before a strong tickling sensation washed over Pinkie's entire body, making her squirm and giggle. Once the sensation was gone Pinkie straightened out, looking forward to see a large see through version of herself floating in the air.

"What is that?!" Pinkie asked loudly, making the other two ponies cringe before they could say anything to her.

"It's a hologram of you Pinkie, we're using it to check on the foal" Doctor Stable said, bringing attention to the strained expression on the Unicorn beside him's face, which mean he was the one who had set up the projection using his magic. Pinkie was suddenly dropped from where she had been floating, causing her knees to buckle because of the drop.

"So, how is the foal doing?" Pinkie asked as she walked over to the hologram, a small blobish shape in the middle of it's stomach.

"Well, right now I can tell that it will be a Earth pony, but other than that I can't really say" Doctor Stable said honestly as he examined the blob, "But it does look like the foal is healthy, so there's nothing for you to be worried about at all"

"Really?" Pinkie asked, her eyes growing wide with hope with the news that she was keeping her foal healthy. Doctor Stable gave the hologram one last look over before turning to Pinkie with a smile on his face, telling Pinkie that she had been doing a great job so far. Once he had given Pinkie a real physical check she was let out for the day, free to play with her friends, albeit with a warning to keep warm during winter for the foal's safety.

When Pinkie got back into Sugar Cube Corner she was welcomed by a steaming cup of hot coco, which had a small note next to it from the Cakes, telling her that they had to run the twins over to the hospital because they had gotten sick all of a sudden. Pinkie was worried at first for the twins, but the knowledge that they were in good hooves and the tempting hot coco snapped her out of it, the worry being quickly replaced by a warm sensation as the coco warmed up her body.

Once the Cakes returned home Pinkie told them the good news, and then with Mrs Cake she went off to the library, eager to send a letter to Braeburn to tell him what Doctor Stable had said. After a small fight with Spike because he was tired and cold Pinkie had managed to send the letter off, getting a reply back before she could even leave the library.

Dear Pinkie,

It is awesome to hear that the baby is doing good, and that it will be an earth pony like the two of us. I wish that I could have been there with you during the examination, but duty calls back in Appleloosa. Send me another message whenever there's something you want to talk about.

Love, Braeburn

"Can I go get something warm to eat now?" Spike asked, the letter sending and receiving having warmed him up only momentarily, the cold coming back almost immediately, harsher than before.

"Yes you can Spike, and thank you" Pinkie said happily before giving Spike a light kiss on the nose, making his cheeks flush for a moment, but it quickly faded as he smelled the hot coco that Twilight had just prepared for him as a thank you for sending the letter for Pinkie. With a final goodbye Pinkie and Mrs Cake headed back to the bakery, where Mr Cake had prepared each of them another cup of hot coco because of the cold weather outside.

Chapter 10: Letters

Chapter 10: Letters

Month Five

Pinkie Pie

Dear Braeburn,

The doctor says that everything is still okay with the foal, all I have to do is cut down on sweets. When he said that I told him that he was crazy, and that sweets never hurt anypony! He then tried to say something about how too high of a sugar level would give the foal diabetes or something, but then I told him that eating more sweets would only make the foal sweeter, so...

That makes sense, right?

P.S. I can't believe it's already been a month since you were here, it feels like it was only yesterday!

Braeburn

Dear Pinkie,

You know he was telling the truth right? Too many sweets are bad for the baby, everypony over here is saying the same thing. I would suggest you listen to him and don't do anything too crazy, ok? Oh, and one of my cousins came for a visit and heard you were pregnant. Apparently she was on her way to Ponyville so she might stop in to see the newest Apple before it's born, as well as to talk your eye off.

P.S. I feel the same way Pinkie, but just wait, when winter wrap up comes up next year I'll be there.

Pinkie Pie

Braeburn,

Ooh, one of your cousins is coming to see me?! What should I expect from them when they show up, normal Apple family stuff, or are they different? Oh well, it doesn't matter, it looks like Spike is getting annoyed so we have to cut the messages short. I'll see you next time Braeburn!

P.S. Yay! I wish it could be winter wrap up already!

Month Six

Pinkie Pie

Hi Braeburn! Twilight told me that I didn't have to put "Dear Braeburn" at the start of every letter, so I decided to stop doing it. How have things been over there for you, because things for me have been awesome. Your cousin showed up and gave me some exotic apple treat, which were amazing! I wish she had brought more, or told me how to make then. Oh, and I saw the doctor again, he says that things are still going good, but he would recommend that I start eating some more fruits and veggies because of how many sweets I ate before.

P.S. Applejack wants to know how things are with the buffalo.

Braeburn

Pinkie you know you should listen to the doctor right? He's gone to school and spent years studying this stuff, I'm pretty sure he knows what he's talking about, even though you might not want to change your diet to mostly healthy stuff rather than cupcakes and sugary sweets. Also, the treats from my cousin is a special secret recipe of hers that she created when she messed up while trying to make apple tarts and apple fritters at the same time, so you could always try that and see what happens.

P.S. The buffalo are fine, they've actually got a few of them helping get the farm ready for this years harvest because they love our pies so much.

Month Eight

Pinkie Pie

I'M SO SORRY BRAEBURN! Things got so busy at the bakery that I forgot to send you a letter last month, and almost forgot to send one this month, but Spike reminded me this time! Oh, I hope you aren't mad at me for it. Someone really important in Canterlot ordered a dozen baker's dozens of cupcakes, each dozen being a different flavor! It was so much work, I think we ran out of supplies at least three times during the whole thing. It was crazy!

Braeburn

Pinkie, calm down, ok? I could never be mad at you, just because you got busy and missed a letter to me doesn't mean I'm going to hate you or something. We have something special, and I mean that in more ways than the foal in you right now. I think you might know what I'm getting at here, and I would love to say it to you, but it feels weird to say something as personal as that on a piece of paper, so hopefully you can wait until the next winter to hear it from me in person.

Pinkie Pie

Ok, sorry for freaking out like that, I was just afraid because the letters were something we do to talk, and then I didn't send one so you might have thought I didn't want to talk to you anymore, and that I hated you or something and I...

Spike just told me to calm down because I was getting really crazy again even though I was just looking at a piece of paper again. He said I was really really weird and that I should head back to the bakery to lay down because of how weird I am being, so I guess I'll see you next month Braeburn.

Month Nine

Pinkie Pie

Braeburn did you hear?! Apparently the Pegasi in Cloudsdale have decided to start winter earlier this year because they were late last year! Do you still get to come here at the start of winter, even though it's two weeks earlier than normal? If it does then we can spend lots of time together and have tons of fun and cupcakes and parties! Ooh I can't wait, I want it to be winter already!

Braeburn

I heard from one of my cousins, who happens to be a Pegasus for some reason. I talked with my family here and they say that I can head out earlier because of this, but it also means I'll be really busy up until then because of all the chores that I'll have to get done over here. I can't wait to see you again Pinkie, but I gotta go now, there are some trees that need to be bucked and some pigs that need to be cleaned!

Month Ten

Pinkie Pie

Oh now I really can't wait to see you again Braeburn! Only a few more weeks and we can do anything we want together, which is going to be so awesome. I really wish the Pegasi had decided to start winter now rather than in two weeks, I really want to see you. My belly has gotten so big that Mrs Cake isn't letting me work anymore, so now I'm always so bored during the days! Ooh, the wait is killing me!

Month Eleven

Braeburn

Hey Pinkie, I'm sorry about not replying to your message last month, things were really busy and I forgot to write to you in all the rush, but I think I know how to make it up to you. All you have to do is go to the train station tomorrow when the train from Appleloosa is going to arrive and I'll make it up to you.

Chapter 11: Skating

Chapter 11: Skating

Pinkie waited happily at the train station, eagerly awaiting the arrival of her long distance coltfriend Braeburn, who was coming all the way from Appleloosa to see her now that his work over there was finished. As the train came into sigh over the horizon Pinkie began to bounce happily, making everypony else that was on the platform slowly back away from her. When the train finally pulled into the station Pinkie ran up and down the platform looking for which car Braeburn was coming out of. She didn't see him come out of the train before it began to move again, causing her to skid to a stop and begin to pout.

"I thought he was coming today..." Pinkie said sadly as she looked down at the platform, her eyes suddenly being covered by somepony's hooves. She stayed quiet as she tried to figure out who it would be, but the pony answered the question for her.

"Looking for somepony?" Braeburn asked happily, making Pinkie bounce up so fast she almost hit him on the chin. Luckily he backed out of the way fast enough and she ended up flying into the sky, turning around so she could land safely on him with a giant hug.

"BRAEBURN!" Pinkie shouted as she hugged him so hard he started to turn blue, making many of the ponies that were still on the platform give the pair confused and slightly worried looks. Evenutally Braeburn managed to push Pinkie off of himself just long enough to position his face right in front of hers, and with a deep breath he said,

"Pinkie, I love you"

"EEEE!" Pinkie squealed as she quickly pulled Braeburn into a deep kiss, which he happily accepted. The continued to kiss for a few minutes before the two of them began to run out of breath. When they broke apart they began to breath heavily, trying to regain their composure and breath. Before they headed down to town they kissed again, both of their faces now bright red.

"You're a good kisser" Pinkie said shyly as they started to walk off the platform.

"Yeah, you too" Braeburn said distantly as he looked up to the sky so he could avoid looking at Pinkie, the kissing having caused him to become very bashful. Once they reached the bakery they looked at each other again, only to turn bright red again as they opened the door. Mrs Cake had been the one watching the story at the time, and immediately knew what was going on between the two of them.

"Got physical did we?" Mrs Cake cooed, making the two of them blush even harder. She laughed happily and called

Mr Cake into the room so he could see the young couple as well, a hearty laugh coming from him when he saw their faces. He quickly ran back into the kitchen because of some cupcakes that had begun to burn in the oven, and Mrs Cake came over to apologize to them.

"Sorry about that, you two are just being so cute right now" Mrs Cake said with a smile as she tried hold in her laughter as they looked at each other, their faces getting redder as they looked into each other's eyes before looking away again. She continued to stand there as they started to calm down, managing to finally look in each other's general direction again.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Mrs Cake asked as she ran back behind the counter because a customer came in that wanted some red velvet cupcakes for his marefriend. Pinkie and Braeburn silently looked at each other, their faces blank as they attempted to think of something they could do that they would both enjoy.

"Want to go..." Braeburn trailed off, realizing that the buffalo run was only something ponies in Appleloosa did.

"Ice skating?" Pinkie proposed, getting a happy smile from Braeburn that let her know he would like that. She quickly ran off, leaving Braeburn and the other stallion alone in the front of the store, the two of them eventually striking up a conversation for the few minutes that Pinkie and Mrs Cake were somewhere else in the building.

"So..." the other stallion started catching Braeburn's attention, "You and Pinkie are...?"

"Yeah, pretty much" Braeburn answered, remembering in great detail the kiss him and Pinkie had shared on the station. He blushed slightly as he thought about her lips against his, but snapped out of it quickly.

"Wow, I'm amazed you can live with that crazy mare" the other stallion said with a laugh, "She's always so energetic, even now that she's pregnant"

"Yeah, sounds like I'll have my hooves full" Braeburn said as a loud bang came from upstairs, followed by an uh oh from Pinkie, "How about you?"

"I'm just getting some treats for her, she loves red velvet" the stallion said just as Mrs Cake came out of the back with a brown paper bag. She handed the bag to him and he handed her the bits she asked for, then he was off, giving Braeburn a nod goodbye before leaving.

"Ready to go skating?!" Pinkie shouted as she almost jumped down the stairs, her excitement almost overwhelming her at the moment. Braeburn nodded and took the skates from her, the two of them waving goodbye to Mrs Cake before heading out to Ponyville Lake. Once they were on the ice Pinkie was moving around frantically, perform amazing spins and twirls, meanwhile Braeburn just attempted to stay upright. When she noticed it she came over to help him, but felt a sudden cramp in her stomach, causing her to fall to the ice. Because she had been moving fast she turned into a small rocket, colliding with Braeburn, tossing both of them into the nearby snowbank.

"Pinkie are you okay?" Braeburn asked worriedly, moving to pick her up out of the snow as fast as possible.

"Stomach. Hurts..." Pinkie managed to say, her voice extremely strained as she tried to fight the pain she was now feeling. Without thinking Braeburn picked her up off the ground and threw her onto his back, forgetting to take both of their skates off before running to the hospital. When he came in on the skates the nurses and patients in the waiting room immediately looked at them in confusion, but one of the older nurses had a hunch about what was going on.

"Is this Pinkamena Diane Pie?" the nurse asked in a tired old voice, to which Braeburn quickly nodded, "Ok, come with me" She turned around and began to lead them down a hallway and into one of the maternity rooms, which was empty at the time.

"I'll get Doctor Stable now, you can go wait in the waiting room until we call you in, okay?" the nurse said, leading Braeburn back to the waiting room where the ponies there gave him even more confused looks. After Braeburn sat down the ponies looked away, but one of the nurses came over a few minutes later, a blank expression on her face as she stopped in front of him.

"Sir?" the nurse asked, making Braeburn look up at her in confusion, "Can you please take off the skates, you're scuffing the floors" Braeburn blushed furiously and quickly took the skates off, remebering right then that Pinkie also had her skates on when he picked her up. After he quickly checked his back for any cuts he relaxed, but then began to worry about the fact that Pinkie still had her skates on, but when a nurse came out with them he let out a happy sigh. The nurse set them down next to him and he stopped her to ask what was going on.

"Sir, she's begun contractions, we believe she is going into labor soon" the nurse said as though he should have already known. At that moment Braeburn's mind went completely blank except for one singular thought.

PINKIE'S GIVING BIRTH RIGHT NOW?!

Chapter 12: It's Here!

Chapter 12: It's Here!

As Braeburn waited the nurses of Ponyville hospital decided to head out in the snow to gather Pinkie's friends, including the Cakes, who were more than happy to come and wait along side him. When the Cakes finally showed up everypony was in the waiting room, some of them more worried than others. Rarity was reading a magazine on fashion close to her face so she could hide her anxiety. Fluttershy was just shaking and occasionally whimpering because of how strange the situation was. Twilight was sitting calmly, reading a book that she had brought with her while Spike slept in the chair next to her, tired from having to carry the gigantic book she was reading. Applejack and Rainbow were hiding their feelings by playing blackjack for potato chips that Rainbow had bought from a shop they had in the hospital. The Cakes were laying next to each other with the twins in their laps sleeping soundly while their parents talked happily about the new foal that was almost here. When Braeburn finished looking at everypony he realized that he had been tapping his hooves against the floor fairly rapidly for the past few minutes, even managing to wake up the twins with the constant tapping noise.

"Oh, sorry" Braeburn said shyly as he stopped his hooves, feeling his cheeks turning red from the embarrassment. When he looked back up he saw a nurse standing in front of him, Redheart if her ID badge was correct.

"Can you come with me, Miss Pie has asked that you be in the room for this" Nurse Redheart said before turning around to head back to Pinkie's room, stopping to make sure Braeburn was following before she actually headed down the hallway. Once he was up and out of his chair Braeburn found out that he was so worried about the whole thing that his legs had become weak, so much so that he almost fell flat on his face when he tried to walk forwards. Instead he just ended up sliding across the floor like a ballerina, receiving weird looks from everypony.

"I meant to do that!" Braeburn said before he headed down the hall after Nurse Redheart, who hadn't seen him slip. When they got to Pinkie's door she opened it, allowing Braeburn to take a big gulp before entering the room, a strange feeling hitting him right as he crossed the threshold into the room. At first he was confused by it, but his brain quickly deduced that it was the strange feeling of reality that had hit him. He was in a room with a mare giving birth, to his foal, right now, and he was going to be right there next to her for the entire thing.

"Are you Braeburn?" the doctor asked, snapping Braeburn out of his daze. When he nodded the doctor quickly directed him to a chair that was next to the bed Pinkie was laying in, on her back with her hind legs held open by two slings they had hanging from some posts that were next to the bed. How Braeburn didn't notice them until now confused him, but when Pinkie suddenly grabbed his hoof his attention was moved to her, and her alone.

"Pinkie, are you okay?" Braeburn asked worriedly. Pinkie replied by squeezing his hoof, almost getting him to yelp, but he managed to tough it out. In his mind he came to the conclusion that she was in quite a bit of pain, which she was more than happy to share with him by squeezing his hoof yet again, this time making him grit his teeth. When Nurse Redheart came back into the room with a small tub of warm water the doctor turned to Pinkie.

"You're going to have to begin pushing now, are you ready?" he asked, and Pinkie began to squeeze Braeburn's hoof as hard as she could.

"I think she's ready" Braeburn said through the pain, the squeezing loosening up when he said that, which meant Pinkie had done it so that he would answer for her. At that the doctor got into position and began to tell Pinkie to push, every push being followed by a yelp from Braeburn as Pinkie squeezed his hoof so hard that he thought she was just trying to rip if off his body. Eventually the squeezing became too much for Braeburn to bear so he moved his other hoof to hold Pinkie's at the same time, but it ended up backfiring horrible when she decided to squeeze both of them, doubling the pain.

"Okay Pinkie, just one last push and it'll be over" the doctor said, his voice being muffled to Braeburn as he was almost ready to pass out from the pain. With one final push and giant squeeze of Braeburn's hooves, the foal was out, it's cries coming out along with Braeburn's as held his hooves close to his chest, both of them throbbing with an immense amount of pain. Eventually the pain died down and Braeburn managed to look up, seeing Pinkie softly cradling a small form in her forelegs.

"Is that it?" Braeburn asked, his mind so fuzzy that he couldn't even remember the foal's gender.

"Yup, it's her" Pinkie said tiredly, her normally fluffy mane now stuck to her head and neck from all the sweat that was in it. Braeburn stood up to get a better look at the foal, it's pearly white coat and bright pink hair that had a stray blond streak in it catching him by surprise. While he looked Pinkie sat up and gave him a kiss, which he gave right back without thinking at all, his eyes still fixed on the foal. At first he was amazed he helped to create such a beautiful thing, but now he was concerned about it's health, and what it was going to be called.

"Did the doctor say everything was okay?" Braeburn asked as he tentatively reached a hoof out to touch the foals head, rubbing it gently.

"Yeah, they said she's perfectly healthy" Pinkie said with a smile as the foal tried to grab her mane with it's tiny hooves, "What do you think we should name her?"

"Well, she was a surprise, right?" Braeburn asked, the foal laughing happily making Braeburn repeat one word, "Surprise?" The foal laughed happily again and the new parents looked at each other with a knowing smile on their faces. Right then the doctor came back in with a chart, asking the same question Pinkie just had.

"So, have you two decided on a name yet?" the doctor asked, and both Braeburn and Pinkie answered at the same time.

"Surprise"

Chapter 2: Falling Stars

Chapter 2: Falling Stars

Pinkie bounced around the bakery happily as she prepared the treats for tonight's meteor shower. Twilight had told each of them about it whenever she saw them last, and asked if they would all like to join her up on a hill like they had done a few years ago. Of course Pinkie said yes, and she offered to make the desserts for everypony, but they talked about all of this almost two weeks ago now. It had been a month since the big party, and over the last few days Pinkie has noticed that something was off. If she ate too many sweets she would throw up, and the Cakes have been sending her away to her room because of "mood swings". Pinkie didn't believe it, she hasn't changed her mood since that one time when she thought everypony was avoiding her, and when she duplicated herself a bunch of times by accident. She stopped for a moment to think about it, but she knew it was still silly, she would be able to tell if she was acting like that again!

"Pinkie, dear, can you come here for a minute?" Mrs Cake asked from upstairs, the sound of Mr Cake running around coming down soon after. Knowing better than to ignore Mrs Cake Pinkie ran upstairs, stopping just outside the twins' room.

"What is it Mrs Cake?" Pinkie asked happily.

"I know that today you're heading to the shower with your friends, but can you watch the twins for a little while?" Mrs Cake asked as she struggled with Pumpkin, "Me and Mr Cake have to go make a delivery to somepony across town"

"Sure thing Mrs Cake, I'd love t-" Pinkie was saying, but she was cut off when she suddenly felt completely sick to her stomach, forcing her to sprint to the bathroom. After she was finished vomiting she went back to twins' room, but didn't find Mr or Mrs Cake inside. When she heard a noise from downstairs she knew that the twins' were now causing havoc down there, so she decided to go there before doing anything else. Mr and Mrs Cake were already getting ready to leave, which meant the twins weren't being watched for the time being until Pinkie managed to find them.

"We'll be back soon dear" Mrs Cake said with a smile as her and Mr Cake headed out the front door with a large shipment of blueberry muffins. Right after they left Pinkie heard a loud bang from inside the kitchen, so she ran in, only to see the twins eating the cupcakes she had already prepared for the meteor shower. In a rare moment of anger Pinkie shouted at the foals.

"How could you eat those?!" Pinkie shouted as she ran at the twins', her eyes focused on the tray they had eaten off of, "You foals ate them all!" The twins' started laughing loudly after Pound let out a loud burp, brought on by the cupcakes he had eaten. Pinkie turned her head towards them slowly with a mean look on her face, a small smile appearing as she thought of a way to punish them...

"Wow Pinkie, you really out did yourself with these treats!" Rainbow said happily as she grabbed another muffin from the basket Pinkie had brought, "What kind did you say these were again?"

"Pumpkin!" Pinkie said happily, smiling as Rainbow devoured another muffin. Soon after the other girls came over and started to eat the muffins as well, making her smile bigger with every bite.

"Oh no, we ate all of them, sorry dear" Rarity said as she reached into the basket for another, but finding none.

"Oh it's okay, I have a pound cake for later" Pinkie said with a smile as she looked into her other basket, the brownish cake sitting there, still hot and toasty from the oven at the bakery. Pinkie had to do a lot of last minute prep to make sure everything was ready for the meteor shower, which meant she was going to need some help getting it all finished, but Mr and Mrs Cake were still out delivering the muffins when she needed them, so she had to get Pound and Pumpkin to help instead. Pumpkin and Pinkie made the muffins, and Pound worked on the pound cake all by himself, happily surprising Pinkie when she saw it sitting on the counter. How the twins were able to do this, Pinkie didn't know, but she didn't really care at this point.

"Come on Pinkie, it's about to start!" Twilight shouted happily from higher up on the hill, her eye's wide with anticipation.

"Just a second!" Pinkie shouted back, hoping to make sure everything was secure before going up the hill. Everything was going good until she looked for the pound cake, but couldn't see it anywhere. As she looked around she saw Angel with it, making his way up the hill as he chewed up a giant bite he had taken out of it. When he felt Pinkie's eyes watching him he turned around and stuck his tongue out at her before taking another bite, but he never got the chance. Pinkie charged into Angel, sending both him and cake flying high into the sky. Before they hit the ground Pinkie prepared herself to catch the cake, and buck Angel away, but Fluttershy caught him in midair, giving Pinkie a worried look.

"Is everything ok Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked as she landed next to the pink pony.

"Your stupid rabbit was eating the pound cake" Pinkie said bitterly before turning around, not wanting to give Fluttershy the time of day after her pet had almost ruined everything. If he had eaten the pound cake then there wouldn't be another dessert, and the fruit punch Rarity had brought with her wouldn't have anything to go with it. After putting the pound cake away Pinkie trotted up the hill and sat on the opposite end of her friends from Fluttershy, being sure to avoid eye contact with her until around an hour later when Pinkie suddenly stood up.

"Is everything ok Pinkie?" Applejack asked as she watched the party pony sprint off towards the outside bathrooms that were nearby. When she came back everypony was gone, and her pound cake had been eaten, but Twilight was kind enough to leave a note:

Pinkie, the pound cake was amazing, sorry we didn't wait for you, but you had been gone for such a long time that we thought it would upset you if we didn't. We'll make it up to you at the next get together though!

"Well at least they liked the cake..." Pinkie said sadly as she started packing everything up, seeing a small piece of pound cake left for her inside the basket, along with a small glass of the fruit punch. She managed to crack a smile before she ate and drank what they had left for her, but she quickly returned to her sad mood as she started walking back to Sugar Cube Corner by herself, thinking the entire time about how she wanted to apologize to Fluttershy and everypony for how she had acted during the shower.