Does the Party End with Motherhood?

(Sith’s Note: Anyone happen to have any idea what the general idea of pony lifespan is? I’ve always assumed it was human length, but others suggest less or more. I’m assuming a 1 year old foal though, based on the Cake twins, would have the capacity of human two year old, so maybe normal ponies live half a human life span?)

Chapter 3

Six Weeks Later…

Pinkie awoke like she did every morning, popping out of her bed and landing on all four hooves, her frizzy hair instantly popping back into place. Today though, as soon as she landed her stomach began to knot up, making her feel like somepony had kicked her extremely hard. She lowered herself down easily, trying to let the pain pass. Before she could do anything further, the door to her room burst open and in bounded Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. The two were now close to six years old, and as playful as they’d ever been, although Pound had lost his natural flight abilities as all Pegasi did, and Pumpkin had stopped having her magic bursts some time ago.

“Pinkie, it’s the weekend! Time to play with us!” Pound shouted a she hopped into the air with the intention of jumping on Pinkie.

Pumpkin, being much more observant than her impulsive brother, yanked him back with her magic. She seemed to instantly recognize something was wrong.

“Pinkie, are you ok?” she asked the usually chipper party pony.

“Oh yeah… I think. I’m not actually sure,” Pinkie could barely speak from the pain.

“Sorry Pinkie, I didn’t know,” Pound apologized, rubbing the back of his head and glancing away.

“It’s ok. Can you get your mom for me?” Pinkie asked them.

Without another word the filly and colt dashed down the stairs as fast as their legs could carry them, leaving Pinkie alone and confused as she waited for Mrs. Cake to come help her.

Six weeks had passed since Pinkie and Caramel had finally moved into the next stage of their relationship, and Caramel had not been one to let it sit as a onetime deal. Every time after they were finished he would either leave her small apartment or fall asleep for the night, listening to the sounds of her talking about an array of things, whatever was on her mind. Somewhere inside ,Caramel, he wondered if she enjoyed what they were doing. He took notice as to her expressions and sounds, but he’d known with his previous marefriend that anypony could be a pretty good liar when they needed to be. Caramel was sure, even if it was a horrible act to the pink pony, she’d lie through her teeth to see one of her friends smile, especially her coltfriend.

                Today, Caramel had managed to get his brother to watch the shop so he could head out for a day at Sweet Apple Aces. He’d heard the news that had followed their night out about Fluttershy’s predicament, and he knew Big Macintosh would be doing everything he possibly could to make her happy while they looked for more options.

     He trotted up the road, the wind blowing through his dark brown mane as he hummed to himself. It was a tune he’d heard Pinkie singing before, something about smiling. Ahead, he could make out an orange form bucking apples from one of the trees closest to the road. A smaller cyan blur dashed around her.

“Applejack!” he shouted as he got closer.

“Mornin’ Caramel!” Apejack shouted back, tipping her hat to him as he approached.

   Apple Blitz continued to run about around her mother, tumbling down into the soft dirt every so often from her still wobbly legs.

“What brings ya out here this fine mornin’?” AJ asked.

“Coming to see Big Macintosh, and the rest of you of course. Didn’t expect to find you out here, especially without your other half.”

“Rainbow’s out doin’ some flyin’. Ah reckon she’ll be back anytime now. That’s her break from little AB here, and she keeps on talkin’ about them Wonderbolts. Ah’m sure she’ll make it one day but, well, Ah don’t know if I really want her too. She’d be gone all the time and-“ Applejack was cut off as a cyan blur tackled her to the ground and began to furiously kiss her.

   Caramel stared on as Rainbow Dash straddled over her lover, continuing to kiss her playfully before stealing a few more passionate ones. Apple Blitz had stopped running for the briefest of moments to watch her mothers in blissful awe.

“Ma Dashie!” the tiny filly cried, scampering toward the two and jumping with all the might her little legs could muster.

     Blitz crashed headfirst into Dash’s neck, knocking her off Applejack, and landed with a thud on Applejack’s stomach. She shook her head furiously, her blonde, red-streaked mane waving in the breeze.

“Hey Little Bit,” Dash smiled as she sat up and wrapped a hoof around Apple Blitz. “So what were you talking about down here, AJ?” You want to tell me, I want to know!” Dash faked a whine.

“Well shoot, Ah didn’t know ya’ll was getting’ so big, AB. Oh, yer right there, I couldn’t tell ya from yer Ma fer a minute there,” Applejack smirked, causing Dash to stamp a hoof down in faux anger.

“Bah, suit yourself then. What are you doing here anyway Caramel?”

“Well, I thought anypony was welcome at Sweet Apple Acres,” Caramel smirked.

“Oh come on, don’t be a smartass now,” Dash rolled her eyes as she spoke.

“Smartass!” Apple Blitz repeated very clearly.

   At that moment, with one hoof blocking Blitz’s vision, Applejack took her other hoof and bashed Rainbow Dash on top of her head.

“Ow! What the hel-heck was that for!?”

“Exactly what ya corrected yourself for just now, yer language Dash. She knows about ten words, and one of ‘em is now smarta-, ahem, s-m-a-r-t-a-s-s.”

“Alright, alright, sorry. Jeeze,” Dash rubbed the top of her head.

   Apple Blitz giggled at their fight, mostly unaware of what any of it meant.

“Well, anyway, I just came looking for Big Mac. I figured since he and Fluttershy have been having such a rough patch, maybe he could use the company. I haven’t torn myself away from either work or Pinkie Pie lately, so I had hoped to hang out with him.”

“Sorry ta break the wheel off yer wagon Caramel, but Big Mac ain’t here. Took ‘em a while, but Twilight got them a personal meeting with the Princess to try and help with their problem. All three of ‘em left fer Canterlot this morning, Rarity too, though Ah’m pretty sure she was going to check on the progress of her first Carousel Boutique chain store. How she’s ever gonna keep up making enough fashions fer two stores is beyond me.”

“Oh, alright,” Caramel lowered his head, a little ashamed he’d put off trying to be there for his friend for so long.

“Don’t beat yourself too much now,” Dash gave him a playful punch in the leg. “Besides, Big Mac isn’t going anywhere. I’ll come get you personally the minute they come back.”

“Heh, alright. Thanks you two,” Caramel nodded and headed back towards town, probably to find out where Pinkie Pie was that morning.

     The two mares watched as he went, Applejack leaning her head on her marefriend’s shoulder.

“Smartass!” Apple Blitz chirped loudly, breaking the silence between the three of them.

     Dash burst out in a laugh at the surprise of the little filly. Another hoof quickly plopped down on Dash’s head, making her crash to the ground, grabbing her head in pain once again.

   Meanwhile at the library...

“So that’s what the doctor told me and I, uh, was hoping you would have a book or some sort of spell or something that could help...” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, trying to take in what all Fluttershy had just said to her. The pruple unicorn had just returned herself from an extended stay in Canterlot, teaching a few classes to the new fillies and colts that had been enrolled in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She’d gone with Rarity who was once again rubbing elbows with high society and pushing her new fashions wherever she could. sadly, work had gotten the best of both of them, and Rarity had been forced to stay in Canterlot while Twilight had had to return to Ponyville for the sake of the library. Neither had been able to spend much time with the other, and Twilight’s leaving had only put further strain on their relationship.

“That is... if that’s alright with you...” Fluttershy hid behind her mane, looking down at the ground waiting for Twilight’s response.

Twilight snapped back from he thoughts about her her marefriend she missed so dearly with honest concern for Fluttershy’s situation.

“Well, Fluttershy... I don’t think I could do anything to help you. I’m not sure there are any cures that anypony knows of, noted in any of these books that is,” she waved her hoof around her, signifying the books around them. Twilight could tell the disappointment in her friends expressions at that moment in time. “But I suppose I could double check,” she stated, looking at all the books around her.

Fluttershy glanced up, still hiding behind her mane, but in that very moment, Twilight could see the light in her friends eye. Fluttershy gave a slight smile as Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder and then making her way towards one of the bookshelves.

“This may take a little while,” Twilight muttered as she began to pull book after book off the shelf in front of her.

She piled any book that could be related to any sort of medical kind of thing by her, tossing some others in another pile to be re-shelved later. Fluttershy just watched from the same spot she had been sitting at. Her eyes darted from book to book that was being levitated through the air. Fluttershy’s eyes soon began to spin in circles and she became wobbly, as she tried to regain herself before she toppled over onto the floor.

At that very moment, Spike decided to pop in the library through the front door. He took a few steps in before he realized what was actually going on, well for the most part at least. Fluttershy turned around the see the purple dragon walk in as he pointed towards the piles of book around Twilight with a confused expression.

“Twilight is helping me look for a cure for this... uh... condition I have,”

“Ooohhh, okay,” he gave a slight nod.

He inched himself further into the library until he was right next to Twilight. He looked over at Twilight, who was busy flipping through books, before he picked up a book from one of the piles reading “Remedies for the Sick.”  He placed the book back down on the pile before nudging Twilight to get her attention.

“Oh hey there, Spike. I didn’t hear you walk in,” she gave him a brisk hug before returning to her current task.

“Looks like you could use some help, there Twi. I could start on this shelf over here,” Spike offered while he walked to the other side of the room to another bookshelf that hadn’t been touched yet.

“Oh that would be great! Thanks, Spike!” Twilight exclaimed.

Hours later and many tossed and thrown books later...

“I just can’t seem to find any leads in any of these books!” Twilight threw the book across the room in frustration, led by the slamming of her face into the desk she was at.

“It’s alright Twi. Don’t blame yourself for this,” Fluttershy said as she walked up and lay a hoof on her friends shoulder, hoping that it would calm the purple unicorn some.

“Yeah I guess so. I just want to be able to help you, Fluttershy,” she lifted her head off the desk, peering around for any books she may have missed.

Twilight let out a sigh when she noticed that she had gone through every one of them. She glanced over at Spike, who had apparently fallen asleep on one of the open books that he must have been reading. Twilight smiled, before turning back to Fluttershy.

“I just don’t know what else there is that we could possibly do,” she said, a slight tinge of sadness in her voice for not being able to help in any way.

“Well... um... maybe you could... uh... ask, Princess Celestia?” Fluttershy quietly suggested. Twilight pondered the thought for a moment, trying to think of what all Celestia would say to doing such a thing. She tapped a hoof to her chin while contemplating before taking out a piece of parchment and a quill.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

With that, Twilight levitated a quill and parchment to her, deciding Spike was better left to his rest for now. She began writing.

Dear, Princess Celestia,

I hate to disturb you, but I have a request that I must ask of you. As of late, my friend, Fluttershy has just recently found out that she has some sort of disorder that prevents her from having foals. I was wondering if you had some sort of spell or some sort of cure that we have yet to find that could help her out. I apologize that this will be a short letter and that it has nothing to do with my reports on friendship, but I will send those in soon enough.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle.

     She set the quill down and began to roll up the scroll. She looked back over to Spike who was still passed out on top of one of the books that was scattered around the room.

“Well I think we should call this a night. I’ll send the letter in the morning when Spike is awake, so come back sometime tomorrow, in the afternoon preferably,” Twilight stated as she turned back to face Fluttershy.

“Oh, well alright then. It is getting late afterall,”

Twilight nodded.

“Well I guess I’ll come back tomorrow then,” she walked over and embraced Twilight in a hug before saying thank you and heading out into the cool night outside.

Twilight closed the door behind the canary pegasus and turned around to see the mess of books that were scattered around. It’s rather late out... I’ll just clean this up in the morning, Twilight thought to herself. She trotted over to Spike, picking him up and laying him on her back before she turned herself in for the night. She deeply wished Rarity was back from Canterlot. She hadn’t had a chance to snuggle with her marefriend in such a long time. With a sigh she headed up stairs with the little dragon in tow, and hoped she wouldn’t have to bear too many more lonely nights in the future.

The next day had arrived and Fluttershy had done everything to kill some time before heading down to the library to find out what the Princess had said. She wandered the market area looking for ingredients for certain dishes that she may want to make later that night, doing her best to not let the market ponies get the best of her with their prices. Eventually a couple hours had passed and she started to make her way towards the library, hoping for a positive outcome. The library came into view as Fluttershy trotted closer and closer. When she reached the front step, she knocked a few times before Twilight came to answer the door and let her come inside.

“So any reply from Princess Celestia, Twilight?” Fluttershy questioned.

“Yes, but... well... here, I’ll just let you read the letter,” Twilight levitated the letter from Celestia and held it in front of Fluttershy so she could read it.

Twilight Sparkle, My Faithful Student,

I’m sorry I must be the bearer of such bad news, but I am afraid I cannot be on any more help than the doctors that have seen to Fluttershy already. The fact of the matter is, it would take extensive surgery and as you know, our magic cannot just make something out of thin air. I know you may not need the explanation, but for your friend, when we change one object into another, we are rearranging the atoms into something else, and that is how living things can become other living things, but we cannot make something like a table into a living creature. Only forbidden magic has been known to give life but the consequences for even trying such would be dire. In short, it would take other parts of Fluttershy herself to fix what she needs, and that may prove to be more harmful than her, and I do not say this lightly, simple problem. I wish there was more that I can do, but i do hope you understand my position on this matter.

Your Friend,

Princess Celestia

“B-but... why?” Fluttershy choked out.

“F-Fluttershy, it’s all right there. I-I-I’m really sorry,” Twilight had to hold back tears herself.

Tears began to pour from the yellow Pegasus's’ eyes while she read the letter over and over again. Twilight took the letter and set it back down on the desk from where she got it from previously. She pulled Fluttershy into a hug to attempt to calm her friend down once again.