Six Surprises
Rainbow Dash made a conscious effort to shut her jaw, which had gone slack with the news. "You're what?" Pinkie burst into tears at that. She'd clearly been just about able to hold the tears back until that point, but the shock in Rainbow Dash's voice... She hid her face behind her hooves. "I don't know how it happened I don't want this to be happening please help me..." Rainbow Dash decided to shut up for a minute. "Ah, Sugarcane," Applejack said and lined up with the pink pony to lean comfortingly on her flank. "Y'all know how it happened. Didya just get carried away?" Rarity managed to smile despite her illness. "It's happened to the best of us, Pinkie darling. There's no shame in it." She paused, and then asked the question her inner queen of gossip was dying to know. "So who was he?" "Nopony," Pinkie Pie sniffed and wiped her nose with her fetlock. "I haven't mated." That made the ponies pause and look uncertainly at each other. Then Applejack took a deep breath as if steeling herself for something difficult, and spoke. "Pinkie Pie, listen. You throw a good party. You know that, we all know that. Now is there any possibility that maybe you drank enough to forget who it was?"
Rainbow Dash looked at the apple farmer out of the corner of her eye. She'd been thinking the same thing but hadn't quite dared say it. Not that she was a coward, it was just that Pinkie needed more sensitivity than she trusted herself to offer. And in truth she admired Applejack's courage - and gentleness, despite the brutal honesty of the question. The pink earth pony looked stunned, and then embarrassed. "I... don't think so." She went uncharacteristically quiet and looked around at her friends. "Maybe that's what I did." Rainbow Dash felt uncomfortable about the doubt in Pinkie's tone. But again, she couldn't find any better words and would only screw things up if she said the wrong thing. Twilight Sparkle stepped forward and put her front legs around Pinkie's shoulders, and Pinkie accepted the hug. Rainbow had no idea what to say. But she noticed the look of worried confusion on Twilight's face while she thought nopony could see. xXx Haybayl trotted happily along, accompanied by nothing more complicated than the rattle-and-creak of his cart, the slight breeze and the sights of this new town. The sun warmed him better than it would most other ponies because of his pure black colour, so as he pulled the cart easily along he felt quite warm.
Eventually the houses began to thin out and give way to a more suburban feel, and finally to completely rural space. He looked around, interested in what he would see. The hillside to his right was covered in apple trees. An orchard! And the field to his left was bare with nothing but grass and flowers: a perfect place to set up
a hay meadow! He stopped, unhitched himself from his cart, and trotted into the orchard to find the trees' owner. The sooner he had permission (or not) from the owner to use the neighbouring field, the sooner he could set up his new farm. The dappled shadow was a welcome relief from the warmth of the open field, and the vague scent of apple wood fluttered at the edge of his awareness. Why, it was all so pleasant that- "Hi, stranger." He nearly tripped over his hooves and looked around for whoever had spoken. There, between two trees stood a petite yellow mare with red streaks in her hair, looking at him with the lazy eyes of a seductress. "Well hey there, pretty mare!" he said happily. He always greeted friendly mares like this since he'd used the phrase to greet an old marefriend and she'd liked it so much. He lifted his head and looked around. "Is this by any chance your orchard?"
She followed his gaze up into the boughs as if amused by the idea, and the trees. "No. But I like to relax here sometimes." She took in a deep breath and then let it out and Haybayl got the impression that she really liked doing that. Really liked doing it. He smiled politely at her. He didn't want to disappoint a lady but he had work to do - and lots of it. "Do you know where the barn is?" In truth he hadn't known which way to go through the orchard. He hadn't seen the orchard owner's barn so he'd just taken a wild guess. But if this pretty pony could tell him the way... "Why find a barn when there's plenty of shelter here?" This nonplussed him. "Well, I ain't lookin' for shelter..." She lay down and watched him from under the lashes of one eye. "We'll be fine right here." He tilted his head. Was she coming on to him? "We?" She batted her eyelashes. "We." Wasn't that what the French said sometimes? Maybe he could spare a little of this afternoon. xXx Pinkie Pie had been so distraught that Rarity had invited the pink mare to her parlour to sit with her while she worked. Rarity had always found seamstressing so calming that maybe it'd help Pinkie a little just to watch her working.
"Now you don't have to do anything Pinkie," she said in her confident, maternal voice as she gathered the materials for her most recent commission. "Just make yourself comfortable and if you need anything, I'll be right here." She arranged the golden gauze on her worktop and cut it into sections to make into separate ruffles for a billowing skirt, and felt certain that Pinkie would appreciate the opportunity to sit quietly and let the shock sink in. The white unicorn felt a lot like sitting still herself, what with the constant churning of her stomach and the unladylike sweating. So Pinkie would feel just fine if she let her rest. Wouldn't she? Of course
she would. They just had different reasons not to feel on top of the world, that was all. xXx Sunset Shimmer stayed near Sweet Apple Acres long after the stallion left. In truth she only meant to wait for nightfall without being discovered - and there was little chance of that where she lay. But then she realized that lying in the sun in the afterglow of her mating was gloriously pleasurable, and that made her enjoy the wait all the more.
Everything's coming together, she thought with a secret smile at nopony in particular. The sun arced overhead and the sky turned from hot blue to peachy lilac and finally to cool navy. It was only when the sun's warm colours had finally disappeared that the yellow unicorn stood up and walked in the direction of Applejack's family home. When she first saw the family's home through the trees Sunset was surprised to see that the lights were still on, so she huddled down in the bushes. It won't be too long, surely? The unicorn thought to herself. How late can a family of farmers want to stay up? Well, it didn't matter how late they stayed awake. Soon enough they all had to go to sleep. And Sunset needed time to send out her telekenesis and find a suitably unsuitable sperm, anyway. She found one soon enough. Big Mac, she thought with satisfaction, the words a purr in her mind as she extracted a healthy sperm cell from him. I wonder how you'll feel when everypony realizes your own brother is the father of your foal, Applejack? I bet you won't be so level-headed then. She was just thinking about how perfectly it was all going and smirking at the next blow she was about to strike when Applejack came to the door.
"Go on Winona! Go on outside and do yer business. Goooood girl!" Sunset Shimmer seethed inside as Winona leaped around, twisting and barking and wagging her tail, and eventually set to sniffing around for somewhere to do what Applejack so gracefully called her 'business'. After that, the dog sniffed around some more, weaving her way closer and closer to Sunset's hideout. Then Sunset realized that this was going to be a problem. The collie paused with surprise, and looked straight at the bush she was hiding in. Get lost, you stupid, flea-bitten mutt! The yellow unicorn was furious at having been discovered but couldn't do anything else but stay very still and very, very quiet. "Come on Winona! This ain't no time to start huntin' squirrels!" Winona didn't take her eyes off the bush, and stalked closer. "Winona!" Applejack sounded like she was getting annoyed. The dog must have seen Sunset because she chose that moment to start barking hysterically. "Ah come on Winona! Git back inside!" More barking. Applejack sighed - a short, irritable sound - and walked over. Once she was
there she seemed to sympathise more with the dog. "Well, what is it? What can you see?"
Sunset held her breath, which wasn't easy now that her heart was pumping so fast. Applejack frowned and came forward, and extended her hoof to pull the foliage aside. Sunset didn't think she'd seen her, but if she didn't move now she'd definitely be discovered. She tried not to think about the likelihood that moving would get her discovered anyway and shuffled discretely to her left, praying that that would be enough. Her movements disturbed some kind of bird. It sprang into the air, beating its wings and Applejack startled a little. "Oh Winona girl, you're just yappin' at pigeons! Come on, now!" And with that, Applejack took Winona's collar in her teeth and led her back indoors. Sunset let out her breath and relaxed. But then a smile spread across her face. She'd been nervous but hadn't dropped her telekinetic hold of Big Mac's sperm. And now Applejack presented her rear end towards Sunset as she fought to keep a hold of Winona. So Sunset Shimmer did the obvious thing: she reached forward with her telekinesis and stuffed the sperm under the earth pony's tail.
xXx The summer matured and the Mane Six enjoyed the beauty of the season as best they could. But a cloud hung over them and for once, it wasn't one that Rainbow Dash was capable of pushing away. The sickness that gripped Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie remained. The others comforted Pinkie Pie as best they could, but the pink mare was only ever temporarily consolable, terrified of her looming motherhood. Fluttershy and Rarity, both quite separately, tried not to think about the fact that their illnesses looked exactly the same as Pinkie Pie's morning sickness. They both knew they couldn't be pregnant but the similarity was just too disturbing. Everypony thought the problem had stabilized, but then Applejack came down with the same condition, wobbling on her normally strong legs and spurning her beloved apples in favour of plain grass and hay, citing them too rich. Even this strangeness the mares could stomach. And then Fluttershy developed a bump. xXx "Fluttershy, what the hell?!" Rainbow Dash was the first to notice and spied it one morning as she worked on shifting clouds. She stopped to look more closely at the pegasus, swooping in to look at her from several angles to make sure she hadn't seen it wrong.
"Where the hell did that come from?" "Oh Rainbow Dash, I don't know. But it can't be a foal, it just can't be." The timid mare looked less confident than her words and she watched Dash's angry swooping from behind her pink locks. "Oh yeah, like Pinkie said about her pregnancy!" Dash yelled. She couldn't understand why Fluttershy wasn't
being more sensible, seeing what was in front of her. Or inside her, more like. Fluttershy put up her front hooves to try and shush the weather pony. "Please Rainbow Dash, keep it down. I don't want anypony to hear." Rainbow Dash brought her face close to Fluttershy's in challenge. "Uh uh, and why not?" The silence was, well... pregnant. Fluttershy gulped and looked away. xXx Applejack was good at keeping it to herself when she felt worried so that nopony could see. She could even do it when that worry turned to panic. She'd learned that only today when she'd found that her belly was all swollen. And she knew that she could keep the panic inside because there was no way - no sock-darnin' way - that she could be pregnant.
But Big Mac wasn't so sure. And he was sure happy to tell her that. "But uhh... Ah seen pregnant mares before, Applejack. N' that looks like a foal bump to me." "I dunno what you're talkin' about, big brother," she said as she trotted from the hay store to the cow paddock, determined to remain indifferent. She knew the facts. "It's probably just indigestion." It couldn't be a foal, and she didn't need no doctor to tell her that. Or any big brothers who insisted on jumping to conclusions. Big Mac hmmed uncertainly. Applejack snapped. She turned around and forced her muzzle against his. "Are you doubtin' me?" She saw his eyes flicker from right to left as he tried to figure out how to answer. Clearly that answer wasn't going to be no. She growled with frustration and walked away. "Fine. I'm goin' to check on Fluttershy." He was silent behind her as she left, and she decided not to feel disturbed by that. xXx As soon as she'd left the farm she regretted saying that she'd go and see Fluttershy. After all, what would there be to say? They couldn't puzzle out about Applejack's nausea any more than they had. They'd already had all the conversations they could about it. Fluttershy had gone to the nurse and had had her own strange bump confirmed: she was pregnant. She'd insisted that she was pure, but Applejack had secretly decided she couldn't be. Rarity and Pinkie Pie had been checked out too. It was all just one big, annoying puzzle. Applejack was confused about why her symptoms looked so much like pregnancy, but she knew it couldn't be.
She didn't go out drinkin' and screwin'. She didn't flirt too hard to get contacts in the fashion world. She didn't mate and then get too scared to admit it. She was a virgin and any pregnancy for Applejack was therefore certified impossible. Im. Possie. Bull. No, she wouldn't be able to talk to Fluttershy. She turned onto a different track and headed for Twilight's house instead. xXx Spike
answered the door and smiled politely. "Oh, hey Applejack!" "Hey there!" she said with the kind of forced happiness that usually became real as soon as she used it. "I came to talk to Twilight. She around?" Then she heard retching and her face dropped. "You have got to be kidding me." Spike looked uncomfortable and tapped his claws together, avoiding her eyes. "Uhm. She's kinda having a hard time right now." Something clicked into place for Applejack. Pinkie Pie was pregnant, Fluttershy was pregnant. Rarity was pregnant. Applejack was pregnant. She neutralized her facial expression the moment the realization dawned on her. The moment she lifted the curtain on that knowledge wasn't easy but she couldn't find it in her to be harsh to little Spike. She was going to have to face facts. Somehow all four of them were facing the same situation.
And now, all five. It seemed impossible. But they were going to have to face the reality of it. She drew herself up to her full height. "She sounds in a right ol' pickle. I'll go and talk to her." She trotted past Spike and surreptitiously noticed his eyes bug out at the sight of her bump. "Twilight? Twilight, honey?" She heard the all-too familiar sound of a bile-rusted throat before she heard Twilight Sparkle's voice. "Hello Applejack." Applejack came closer and put her hoof on Twilight's purple shoulder to comfort her as she leaned her jaw and forelegs on the edge of the sink, groaning and smelling sour. "Hey there." Twilight lifted her face from the sink, spat, turned and looked at Applejack with reddened eyes. "Applejack, I think I've got the same-"She saw Applejack's bump. The earth pony kept her face deliberately as neutral as she could make it. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no!" The purple unicorn sat on her haunches and put her hooves to her forehead, shaking her head in dispair. "This can't be happening. Not you too, Applejack!"
Applejack brushed her own hoof against her slight belly. "I think we just gotta face facts, sugarlump," she said heavily. "But it's impossible. I'm a virg-" Twilight stopped herself and glanced past Applejack at Spike, who looked unusually interested in a copy of Famous Equestrian Unicorns in the Medieval Era that had already been sitting open on her desk. She blushed and looked away. Applejack leaned in close. "Here too, Twilight, here too. I don't think it's possible either, but we can't just keep sayin' it's not possible. We gotta do somethin' about this." Twilight looked distraught and shook her head slightly at the floor. The farm pony didn't think she'd quite registered Applejack's words. "We gotta figure out what's happened to us before-"Before what? she wondered. Before the births? Then her brain caught up and she widened her eyes in shock. How could I
be so stupid? "-before Rainbow Dash gets caught!" Twilight's head snapped up at that. She took a breath and tried to say something, but couldn't quite bring herself to say it. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and wrinkled her muzzle. "Okay. Let's just suppose for the sake of argument that I'm pregnant. That we all are. How can this be happening?"
Applejack sighed. "I don't know, sugar, but we gotta help Rainbow Dash." "How? How, if we don't know how we got pregnant?" "Lock her up?" Applejack said before she realized how crazy it was even to suggest it. Twilight gave her a look, and then trotted busily out of the bathroom. "That might just work. We should tell her. She'll be okay with it if we tell her why she has to stay away from... from... I don't know what, but she'll accept our help if we say why. Won't she?" the unicorn asked Applejack. The farm pony shrugged. "It's worth a try." TO BE CONTINUED...