And Marshmallow Makes Three

Chapter 2: Sleeping Troubles

   "Go to sleep," Fluttershy pleaded. "Please? Pretty please?" Instead of obeying her pleas, the child only continued to wail, kicking her stubby, chubby legs. The yellow mare let out a stressed sigh. She was at her wit's end. She had tried everything: feeding, holding, cuddling, rocking. The child simply didn't want to go to sleep. Perhaps she should do something like reading to her in order to make her fall asleep. Oddly enough, the milk hadn't had any effect on her. The child was still as active as ever, much to the mare's distress. "Please go to sleep." She rocked the basket back and forth in hopes that the tranquil rocking would lure the child to sleep. She had yet to get the child a crib or a substitute such as a cradle. She would be able to get all the necessities tomorrow when she went shopping with the girls.

   She sighed and picked the child up in her hooves, holding her out. She looked at the child as she continued to cry. "What do you want me to do? Hmm? What do you want?" She received no answer, only more crying. "Hmm, I wonder . . ." She set the child over her shoulder and gently patted her back. After only a few seconds the child let out a soft burp and all fell silent. She smiled to herself, holding the child out again. "There? All better? Now will you go to sleep?" She set the child back down into the basket and covered her up. "Now, get some sleep, okay? We've got a big day tomorrow." She suddenly stopped as she headed off towards her bed, remembering that she had yet to find anyone to watch after the baby as she and the girls went out shopping.

   She shook her head. She would figure something out. She hopped into bed, snuggling into her covers, Angel curled up by her side as always. The rabbit didn't like sleeping alone. Like a dog, he preferred sleeping with his owner. She smiled down at him and she gently stroked his head before closing her eyes and beginning to fall asleep, Marshmallow's soft breathing filling the room.

***

   Fluttershy woke up in the middle of the night, quite baffled that Marshmallow hadn't stirred all night. While she was new to parenting, she was sure that the child should have woken up at one point in the night, needing to be fed or changed or . . . something! Worried as to why the child hadn't stirred all night, she went over and gently nudged Marshmallow. The baby didn't react. Okay, don't panic just yet, she thought to herself. She studied the baby's chest and noticed that it wasn't rising and falling. Naturally, this got her concerned. She lifted a hoof and felt around on the baby's neck until she found the spot where the pulse should have been. Only, there was none. Her eyes widened and she grabbed Marshmallow, hoisting the child onto her back and bolting out of the cottage, waking up Angel in the process. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, being careful not to let Marshmallow slip off in the process.

   She thought about where she could go. If anyone would know what to do, it would definitely be Twilight. Oh, but she didn't want to bother Twilight, especially when it was so late in the night. The hospital was her best option. Surely the hospital would be open. They had to be. They were open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, weren't they? Sure they were!

   Her baby wasn't breathing! She had to do something, anything. If only she'd gone and asked Twilight for a book on parenting, she wouldn't have been dealing with this dilemma. She would know what to do and wouldn't be belting towards the hospital so early in the morning. Nonetheless, even if she did know what to do, she figured she would still have to get emergency help anyway.

   In spite of the fact that she was hurrying towards the hospital, she yelled for somepony, anypony, to help her, screaming that her baby wasn't breathing and she needed emergency assistance. Nopony came to help her. If they did, she probably couldn't see them properly due to the fact that her eyes were swimming in tears, making it hard to see. It was a miracle that she hadn't crashed yet. She didn't know what was wrong with her. After all, she barely knew the child and yet she was calling it "her baby." Why? She and the child had only known each other for a couple of hours, and even then their bond wasn't that strong. Still, she had an oath to keep, an oath to help others in need, even if she didn't know them very well. She was certain that her friends would do the same.

   She suddenly stopped, realizing that she was still running. What am I doing, she asked herself. Her wings flew open and she took to the skies, soaring past the fluffy clouds, the wind stinging her eyes, making it all the more difficult to see properly through her tears. Luckily, her wings acted as a shield to protect her baby from falling off and falling to her death. She was at least thirty feet or more in the air and a fall from any height would do untold damage to the baby, and that was the last thing she wanted. The wings seemed to be keeping her firmly in place, so her fears were, for the most part, dashed.

   By flying, she was able to reach the hospital much faster than had she just walked. She burst through the emergency entrance and thrust Marshmallow onto the counter, panting, trembling with trepidation. Breathlessly, she tried her best to explain the situation and the nurse immediately took the white skunk and began walking down a hallway that had various rooms on either side. Fluttershy followed her, only to be stopped by the nurse and told that she had to wait in the waiting room. Unfortunately, the yellow mare didn't take this too well and demanded that she be allowed to stay in the room as her baby to ensure that her baby would be all right. While the nurse reassured her that her baby would be fine, this didn't help to convince her. Continuously she pleaded to be let in the room to watch over the operation so she would know what to do if the event should occur again, and to know what was wrong with her baby. Sadly, her demands were not met and she had to forcefully dragged to the waiting room while she kicked and screamed for them to let her watch over her baby.

   Minutes later, she sat in the waiting room, a cup of water in front of her and a warm light green blanket draped over her body to keep her warm. One of the doctors that had dragged her to the room sat in front of her for two reasons. One, to make sure she didn't try to get in the room where her baby was being held. Two, to reassure her that everything would be all right. His words so far were having no such effect. She had yet to drink from the cup of water that he had given to her. She sat, still trembling, her mind overwhelmed with worry and fear of what was wrong with her baby. She whimpered and allowed a stray tear to fall from her eye at the thought that her baby might be dead. But how? She didn't know. She had never heard of someone just dying during sleep from some unknown cause.

   She jumped as she heard the door to the waiting room hit the wall and she looked up to see all five of her friends entering the room, Rainbow Dash leading the pack, the rainbow streak that flowed behind her leading them even if they couldn't completely see her. The doctor who sat in front of her turned his head to look at them and he realized that they were friends of hers based on the surprised expression on her face.

   "What are you guys doing here?" she asked.

   "Making sure you're all right, dear," Rarity replied.

   "You were yelling so loud we thought something terrible had happened," Rainbow Dash declared.

   "Is everything all right, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked.

   The yellow pony shook her head sadly, looking down at her hooves.

   "What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

   Fluttershy lifted her head, her eyes brimming with tears. "My baby," she said softly. "Something's wrong with my baby."

   The others, aside from Rainbow Dash, blinked. "Your baby?" they all asked in unison, all utterly baffled at what was going on.

   "Rainbow Dash, what in the Sam Hill is she talking about?" Applejack demanded, gazing up at her friend.

   "You didn't tell them?" Fluttershy asked.

   Rainbow Dash shook her head. "When I went to go check up on Fluttershy about why she wasn't at the picnic earlier today, she was busy watching after one of her forest friends."

   The others stared at the yellow pony.

   "What?" Fluttershy asked.

   "You're not going to get overly attached to this friend, are you?" Twilight asked.

   Fluttershy blinked. "What do you mean?"

   "I mean, you're not going to spend all your time looking after it, are you?" Rainbow Dash asked.

   "Don't call her an 'it,'" Fluttershy demanded, glaring. "'It' has a name."

   "A name?" Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow.

   "Marshmallow," Fluttershy answered simply.

   The others snickered, particularly Rainbow Dash.

   Fluttershy glared. "And just what is so funny?"

   "'Marshmallow'" Rainbow Dash repeated. "You're kidding me, right?"

   "Well, I think it's a rather cute name," Fluttershy replied.

   "But going back to my question," Twilight said. "You're not going to spend all your time looking after . . . uh . . . Marshmallow, are you?"

   "Well, that depends," Fluttershy replied. "She's just a baby. She needs me. I can't just look after her for one day and then just dump her in the middle of the forest."

   "So find someone who to look after the kid," Rainbow Dash suggested. "Let her be somebody else's problem." The others, particularly Fluttershy, glared at her. "What?!"

   Fluttershy shook her head at Rainbow Dash's suggestion. "Oh, no, no, no, no. I could never do that. You guys all know how passionate I am about my work, like Twilight is with studying, or you, Rainbow Dash, with flying."

   "But this isn't going to become a problem, is it?" Rainbow Dash wanted to know.

   The blanket draped over Fluttershy's body went up and down, indicating that she didn't know the answer. "I don't know. I might just decide to become her permanent guardian."

   "But, Fluttershy, surely her family is looking for her," Twilight suggested.

   Fluttershy nodded. "I'm sure they are, but until they arrive on my doorstep, someone's gonna have to look after her, provide for her, take care of her."

   "And how are you gonna deal with that?" Applejack said. "How are you going to handle it when you have to give the young'un back?"

   Once again, the blanket heaved up and down. "I don't know. I'm sure Rainbow Dash has already mentioned this to you all, but would you girls mind helping me tomorrow with shopping for her? There are a lot of things I need to get."

   Applejack smiled. "Of course, sugar cube. We have all afternoon."

   Fluttershy smiled in return. "Thank you."

   A sound of somepony clearing their throat got their attention. Upon seeing the doctor, Fluttershy nearly ran over to him and demanded how her baby was doing. "I'm afraid your baby has sleep apnea," he said simply.

   Though she had no clue what the condition was, Fluttershy still felt her heart drop into her stomach. Based on the distressed look on the doctor's face, she could tell that the condition wasn't anything good. Fear seemed to overwhelm her once again and she took off down the hall, her eyes darting to and fro as she struggled to find the room where her baby was kept in. She spotted it not too far down the hall and she burst through the door. Immediately, a nurse began pushing her out, stating that she shouldn't be in the room and that she had to leave. "I need to know if my baby's all right," she cried. She pushed against the nurse, struggling to get to the bed that her baby was lying in. "I need to know if my baby's all right!!" She jumped backed, caushing the mare pushing her to fall onto her stomach. Seeing her chance, she trotted into the room and looked down at the white skunk lying in the hospital bed before glancing up at the doctors surrounding the bed.

   Once again, she was dragged to the waiting room where the doctor spoke to her about Marshmallow's condition and what she could do to help.

   "Your baby's gonna be fine," the doctor stated once Fluttershy had calmed down. "Sleep apnea is simply a sleeping disorder where one stops breathing during sleep. It's mostly prevalent in premature babies. Luckily, there are several things you can do to help."

   "Like?" Fluttershy asked.

   "You could try having her sleeping in a different position. For some babies, lying on their backs causes this problem. Try having her sleep on her side, if you can. Though, I should warn you, this can be dangerous. Lying on her side could cause her to roll onto her stomach, and that could cause her to fall into Sudden Infant Death Syndrome."

   Fluttershy yelped at this and covered her mouth with her hooves.

   The doctor continued as if there was no interruption. "Other things you could try would be  a breathing mask. Her nasal cavities could be congested. There are a number of things you could try, but all the solutions might not work. You might have to go through a number of them before you find the right one. Here," he handed her a few pamphlets, "read these. They'll help you better understand the condition, as well as list more solutions to the problem. And if there are any futher problems, come see me."

   Fluttershy nodded to show that she understood. She swallowed hard, clearly trying to fight back her emotions that semeed to be getting the better of her. "May I . . . may I please see my baby now?" She blew her pink mane out of her face, revealing her right eye.

   The doctor nodded. "Of course." He turned, revealing a nurse pushing a carriage that contained the baby white skunk.

   Fluttershy instantly grabbed her and held her close, letting out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Celestia . . ."

   "You should all go home and get some rest," the doctor advised. "You wouldn't want to spend the night in the hospital, would you?"

   Fluttershy smiled. "Of course not. Thank you, doctor. Please excuse me for my behavior tonight."

   The doctor shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I have a kid of my own, you know."

***

   "I'm so embarrassed," Fluttershy said quietly, looking down at the ground as she walked. Marshmallow was saddled onto her back. She looked at the others out of the corner of her eye, Rainbow Dash flying ahead of them. "Could we please not mention this night ever again?"

   "Whatever are you talking about?" Rarity demanded. "You have no reason to be embarrassed."

   "But I acted like a maniac."

   "No," Twilight replied. "It only shows how much you care, and that's the important thing." She smiled.

   The yellow mare smiled back. "Thank you, Twilight."

   Applejack smiled down at Marshmallow. "She really is quite adorable." She nuzzled the white skunk with her nose, watching carefully to make sure that the skunk was breathing.

   "Really cute," Pinkie Pie added gleefully, hopping. How she could be so perky so early in the morning, the others didn't know. Must have been the sugar she constantly consumed, they reasoned.

   "Yes," Fluttershy agreed, turning her head to look down at the baby skunk out of the corner of her eye, "and she's my baby."

   "Are you sure you can take care of a baby?" Twilight asked. "It's a big responsibility, after all."

   "Oh, I'm sure I can handle it," Fluttershy replied. "It shouldn't be any different than taking care of any other animal I've looked after, right?"

   "Uh . . ." Twilight mumbled.

   "You guys wouldn't mind looking after her every now and then, would you?" Fluttershy asked.

   Applejack smiled. "Course not, Fluttershy. Since me and Rarity have experience with babies, we'd be happy to look after her."

   "Me?" Rarity questioned. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I don't do diapers."

   Fluttershy chuckled at her friend's objectiveness. Typical Rarity.

   "But we'll help out any way we can," Twilight reassured the pegasus. "That's what friends are for, right?"

   Fluttershy suddenly looked down, a frown on her face. "Are you sure it's all right? I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage."

   "Nonsense, sugar cube," Applejack replied, smiling. "We'd be happy to help."

   "But who's going to watch her while we're all out tomorrow?" Fluttershy asked. "I can't leave her at home by herself? And I'm going to need some help renovating my bedroom to make it into a nursery. It's just as well. I barely use it except for guests. I usually sleep on the couch. It's much more comfortable."

   "We'll find someone, don't you worry none," Applejack replied. She turned to Twilight. "Is Spike busy tomorrow? Or have you given him the day off?"

   "I'm pretty sure he won't be busy," Twilgiht replied, "what, with us being in town. I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem with watching her."

   "And if all else fails," Rarity replied, "you can always have Mr. and Mrs. Cake watch her."

   "They already have Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. I don't want to burden them with another kid, especially someone else's. Besides, I turned down their offer to babysit for them. No way would they want to babysit for me."

   "Honey, you're thinkin' too hard about all this," Applejack interjected. "Relax. We'll find someone."

   Fluttershy smiled. "You're right. I shouldn't be stressing about this so much. She attempted to check on Marshmallow, but turning her neck at such a degree hurt her neck. "Is she all right?"

   "She's just fine, sugar cube," Applejack replied. "Don't worry. I've got my eye on her. If anything should happen, I know CPR."

   Fluttershy sighed in relief. "That's good. Maybe you could teach me some time."

   Applejack nodded. "Of course."

***

   It was near dawn by the time Fluttershy got home. Nonetheless, she still wanted to get as much as sleep as she could before she had to go shopping. There was no way the girls would be in the mood to go shopping so early in the morning. They would more than likely head off on their shopping trip a little after lunch, so that gave her all morning and the early afternoon to look for a babysitter.

   To keep another incident like earlier from happening, Fluttershy allowed Marshmallow to sleep with her. She held the infant close, the baby skunk snuggled warmly within her mane. Of course Angel didn't take too kindly to this and he reluctantly retreated to the foot of the bed and went to sleep, once Fluttershy had used the stare on him in order to get him to obey orders, of course.