Author's note: So what happens after you get adopted by parents who believed they couldn't have kids of their own only for a week later they find out that they actually are able to have children and are now expecting? Let's find out. This is set the day after of the epilogue scene in the previous chapter.


Chapter 53: The Pregnancy and the Plum

"Pinkie! Sugar Plum! We don't want to be late!" I called as I stood in the doorway of our home. Looking in the mirror to make sure my suit was on right. Tonight was a party, a party for two accounts. This was Sugar Plum's official welcoming to our family party, and where we'd officially announce Pinkie's newfound pregnancy to everyone.

"Think very wisely about rushing the pregnant mare." Pinkie said as she walked down the stairs, Sugar Plum following behind her. Pinkie quickly gave me an apologetic smile for that small bout of hostility. "Sorry, hormonal imbalance." She giggled.

"Can't wait for that to be her excuse for everything for the next chunk of a year." I mumbled to myself.

"Do we have to do this?" Sugar Plum asked, shyness in her voice.

"Of course sweetheart!" Pinkie said. "There are so many ponies who want to meet you!"

"Why?" She asked.

"Because Pinkie and I are well respected members of... okay, Pinkie is a well respected member of the community, and I'm her husband, and you're our daughter." I explained. "They're gonna love you, don't worry."

"They all will!" Pinkie nodded. "There's Aunt Twilight, Aunt Applejack, Uncle Cheese Sandwich, Uncle TD, Aunt Rainbow Dash, Aunt Sunny Side, Aunt Rarity, Uncle Discord..." She began listing off all of our friends.

"Are we just going to refer to all our friends with Aunt and Uncle titles?" I asked.

"Of course not!" Pinkie shook her head. "Mr. and Mrs. Cake will have Grandparent titles!"

"I want to be there for when you bust those out around them." I chuckled.

"Can I bring Mr. Stuffly?" Sugar Plum asked, holding up her teddy bear that she had since her days in the orphanage.

"I think Mr. Stuffly would be better off at home sweetie." I said. "Someone to look after the house in case of intruders."

"Okay daddy." She said, putting her teddy bear back in her room."

"Alright, let's roll out." I said as I opened up the door and led our group to the bar.

"Are you sure they're gonna like me?" Sugar Plum asked Pinkie as we walked.

"You bet they will!" Pinkie smiled at her. "Why wouldn't they?"

"I dunno..." She shrugged. Once we got there, the only others that were there were Cheese Sandwich and Ivory. Which was weird, as I never opened up the bar today until now. I looked at them with a confused expression, they just looked at me in shock, kind of a deer in the headlights look from both.

"What are you two doing here? The bar was closed today." I said. They exchanged glances and then turned to me.

"I was just getting things ready for the party!" Cheese explained.

"And... And I was just warming up, make sure I sounded good." Ivory nodded.

"Yeah!" Cheese nodded. "And this must be little Sugar Plum!" He grinned running up to her. "Look at you! You look just like your parents!"

"Cheese. We adopted her you twit." I growled under my breath.

"Ohhh that explains it!" Cheese nodded. "Yeah she looks nothing like either of you, I didn't want to make things weird."

"Yet you still managed to." I said flatly. "Sugar Plum, this is Cheese Sandwich, he... means well." I introduced him to her. "And this is Ivory Keys," I led her over to Ivory at the piano.

"Hey kid." Ivory said to her. I shot her a look, telling her with my eyes to at least act a little nicer. "I mean, hi there... sweet... face? Angel... dust? No, that's not right."

"She... also means well." I sighed a little. I looked to the clock and saw that guests would be showing up any minute now. "Alright, put on a happy face, mask the fact you haven't slept in a week and a half, oh, that's just me? Awesome."

"You learn to either love or ignore your dad's remarks." Ivory murmured to Sugar Plum.

"It's kinda hard to tell if he's serious half the time." Sugar Plum nodded.

"But otherwise, you like 'em?" Ivory asked her.

"Yeah." Sugar Plum nodded. "They've been really nice to me all week."

"That's good, Chuck's a nice guy, his wife can be a little tiring, always so bubbly and cheery. But they're both good ponies." Ivory nodded.

"Yeah..." Sugar Plum nodded with a bit of a sigh, it was obvious something was bothering her, though nobody knew what. Not long after, the party began. The first to arrive were the Apple family along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

"Howdy Pinkie Pie!" Applejack smiled walking in, giving her friend a hug. "How've you been?"

"Little under the weather recently." Pinkie admitted.

"And why's that?" Applejack asked. Only four of us actually knew that Pinkie was pregnant, and that was me, Pinkie, Sugar Plum, and Doctor Horse.

"We'll tell you later." I spoke up.

"Now, where's little Sugar Plum?" Applejack asked. "I wanna meet my little possible cousin."

"She's right over here." I said as I walked over to the piano where she and Ivory were. "Sugar Plum, meet Applejack and her family, that's Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, and this is Applebloom and her friends. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle."

"Hi." Sugar Plum said timidly.

"Shy little gal ain't she?" Applejack remarked. "It's okay, we don't bite, 'specially not Granny Smith, she misplaced her false teeth." She joked, making Sugar Plum giggle.

"Hi Sugar Plum!" Scootaloo smiled. "I'm Scootaloo, we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

"Hey girls, Sugar Plum doesn't have her cutie mark!" Applebloom remarked.

"You know what that means!" Sweetie Belle grinned.

"No turning my daughter into a project." I stepped forward. "Not tonight anyway." After chasing off those creepy little Cutie Mark fitted Jehovah's Witnesses more ponies showed up, soon it was a full house. Sugar Plum mostly stood beside me quietly as I welcomed ponies. They'd say hi to her, she'd say hi back and that's where the conversation usually ended. Soon I decided just to go behind the bar before I made the announcement. Sugar Plum stood beside me behind the bar, I had brought a stool behind there for her to sit on.

"So, a lot of this stuff is bad for you." I explained, introducing her to the various bottles behind the counter.

"So why do you sell it?" Sugar Plum asked. "It seems like you're making money off of giving bad stuff to ponies."

"No, that's a common misconception." I explained. "I make money off of them thinking they need to bad stuff."

"Oh." She nodded.

"You'll understand when you're older probably." I shrugged. "You doing okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah..." She nodded. I could tell that wasn't the case however.

"You know if there's something bothering you, you can talk to me right?" I asked.

"I know..." She nodded. I just shrugged a little, maybe she was just shy. It was weird though, she seemed perfectly happy the day we brought her home, and the entire week too! But ever since yesterday she's seemed... off. I wanted to help her, but I wasn't sure how. I decided now would be a good time to make the announcement. I strolled over to the karaoke stage and tapped the mic.

"Hello, is this thing on?" I asked, getting the crowd's attention. "Hi, thank you all for coming down to the party! Now, this party was put together for two reasons, first and foremost, so everyone can get a chance to meet newest thing that claimed ownership of my heart, Sugar Plum, can you come up to the stage sweetheart?" I called to her, she shyly got down off the stool and strolled up to the stage. "Everyone, this is mine and Pinkie's adopted daughter, Sugar Plum." I introduced them all to her. "Say hi sweetheart."

"Hi everypony." She smiled shyly. "I'm... really happy that I get to meet all of you." Everypony awed at her and cheered for her, she blushed softly at the attention.

"Isn't she a dear?" I asked with a slight chuckle. "And now, for the second reason, Pinkie, you mind coming up to the stage?" I called for her. She then made her way up to the stage, slower than she normally would. "Pinkie, you mid telling everypony the news?" I asked her.

"Well..." She began. "After we got married, we immediately started... trying, if you catch my drift. And, well, we thought we wouldn't be able to have foals, so that's when this little dear came into our lives." She smiled at Sugar Plum. "But then, one day, I started feeling really sick in the morning! And at the same time Chuckie got a letter that there had been a mishap at the doctor's office! So, we are proud to announce that we're expecting!"

"We don't know if it's a colt or filly yet, but we're all very eager to meet this new member of our family." I added. The crowd cheered loudly and Pinkie and I exchanged smiles before the three of us merged with the crowd to socialize. I started to strike up conversation with Ivory and Cheese, Pinkie started to talk with her friends, I had just assumed Sugar Plum had met up with some other foals to talk to. It wasn't until I saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders all together without her that I felt worried, no other foal around that age was invited.

"Sugar Plum?" I looked around the crowd, she wasn't around the main room. I went to the hallway that led to the back room. "Sugar Plum, you in here?" I called into the back room, nothing. The bathroom? "Sugar Plum?" I knocked on the bathroom doors.

"For Celestia's sake!" a voice growled. "Keep a better eye on your kid and don't bother ponies in the bathroom!"

"My apologies." I said. I even checked back in the cellar, nothing, this was weird, no sign of her. I was feeling worried, I didn't really want to alarm Pinkie, but I might have to, I strolled out to the bar and went back behind the counter, a nervous expression on my face. Then, faintly, just faintly I could hear something from my office, it sounded like sniffling, somepony was crying in my office. I turned around and opened the door slightly, I just saw my chair facing the wall. I walked in slowly and shut the door behind me. I walked up quietly to my desk before knocking on it gently.

"It's funny, this is where I come to cry too." I joked. I knew it was Sugar Plum, I could recognize her voice in the cries. "Sugar Plum, what's wrong?"

"It's nothin..." She sniffed, not turning around.

"Nothin?" I asked. "Stubbing your hoof is nothin, swallowing a bug is nothin, but running off from a party to cry isn't nothin, now, what's wrong?" I asked, turning the chair around so she could face me.

"It's just..." She began. "It's nothin... when we get home I'll put everythin' back in my suitcase." She sniffed.

"And why would you do that?" I asked.

"Because..." She sniffed before continuing. "When you adopted me... you said it was b'cause you couldn't have foals of your own..."

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Well..." She sniffled again before erupting into tears. "You guys don't need me anymore and you're gonna send me back!" She cried out. Oh my God... that's what this was about. I needed to console her, but I couldn't do it alone. I poked my head out the door and locked eyes with Pinkie. "Hey Ma, we need you in here for a minute." I called her over, once she came in, she gasped in shock seeing Sugar Plum bawling her poor little eyes out.

"Sweetie! What's wrong?" She asked.

"You guys are gonna send me back!" She cried. "I... I don't wanna go back there!"

"Why on Earth do you think that?" Pinkie asked.

"Because when you guys adopted me... it was because you couldn't have foals!" She cried. "Now you've got foals coming, and you don't need me anymore!" Pinkie and I exchanged sad looks before approaching her and kneeling down to see eye to eye with her.

"Sugar Plum..." I began. "We'd never do that!"

"Of course not!" Pinkie shook her head.

"Maybe it was wrong of me to tell you why we were adopting you, but I really didn't take our doctor for an idiot." I said. "Yes. Yes we went in to the orphanage to adopt because we thought we couldn't have foals." I admitted.

"But, when we saw you, we completely forgot why we were adopting! All we saw was a little foal who just need somepony to love her!" Pinkie smiled.

"Pinkie's right," I nodded. "And yes, we are expecting, but do you really think that means we suddenly don't want you anymore?" I asked.

"A little..." She admitted.

"Sugar Plum, as far as we're concerned you're just as much a part of our family as the foal on the way will be." I said to her, hugging her. "We would never just decide we don't want you anymore."

"Chuckie and I love you so much!" Pinkie said, joining the hug. "And guess what." She said.

"What?" Sugar Plum asked.

"When the little foal comes along, that will make one more pony who loves you just as much as we do." She smiled.

"I love you mommy." Sugar Plum smiled, hugging Pinkie tightly. Pinkie just gasped as if her heart had melted. She looked at me with such happiness in her eyes as Sugar Plum hugged her. "You too daddy." She said turning to me and hugging me too. I smiled warmly down at her as I tussled her mane.

"Love you too kiddo." I chuckled.

"I guess it was pretty silly of me to get all worried about that..." Sugar Plum sniffed, her crying over.

"What?" I asked. "Absolutely not!"

"No!" Pinkie shook her head. "We all get scared sometimes, and it's okay to be scared."

"Just ask Pinkie, she'll tell you, I am notorious for bouts of anxiety just like you felt." I confided. "Back where I came from, my family didn't even actually like me, they teased me, picked on me, treated me like a failure, and those things stuck with me all the way till right now." I told her. "I feel the same anxiety about being abandoned that you were just feeling." I told her.

"So do I." Pinkie told her. "Once, I thought my friends had all abandoned me, I went crazy!" She said. "We all get scared sometimes, but it's important to remember that even when you're scared, there are ponies who love you who will do anything to make you feel better."

"That's what family is all about." I nodded, hugging her.

"You coulda just told me that earlier." Sugar Plum giggled.

"Well, that's poor communication, also something families do." I chuckled. "Now, what do you say we go back out to the party?" I asked her.

"Okay daddy." She giggled and smiled, the three of us walked out of the office. Sugar Plum sat up at her stool behind the bar and sipped a juice box I had given her. Pinkie and I exchanged smiling looks, knowing we just parented the hell out of that situation. I stepped up to the stage and tapped the mic once more.

"Hello everypony." I said. "I had just finished a talk with Sugar Plum, and I realized something. We all can get so scared, and so stressed about things, it's ridiculous the thoughts that go through our heads when we feel that way, and sometimes, we just need to remind ourselves that we just have to say 'it's alright' sometimes. Wouldn't you agree?" I asked the crowd, who nodded approvingly. "So, this little number goes out to you Sugar Plum. This always helped me whenever I felt anxious. Hit it Ivory." I nodded, and she started up the piano.

Me: I've got a smile on my face, and I've got four walls around me
I've got the sun in the sky, all the water surround me
Oh you know, ya I'll win now and sometimes I'll lose
I've been battered, but I'll never bruise... it's not so bad

And I say way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day
And it's all your state of mind
At the end of the day,
You've just got to say... it's all right.

Gina sings on the corner, what keeps her from dying
Let them say what they want, but she won't stop trying..Oh you know,
She might stumble, they push her 'round
She might fall, but she'll never lie down...it's not so bad

And I say way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day
And it's all your state of mind
At the end of the day,
You've just got to say... it's all right.

It's alright, it's alright...it's alright!

Cheese then began to join in the song with his accordion, already adding to the celtic/maritime vibe of the song, I chuckled a little as he played.

'Cause in this beautiful life there's always some sorrow
And It's a double-edged knife, but there's always tomorrow..Oh you know,
It's up to you now if you sink or swim,
Just keep the faith and your ship will come in. It's not so bad...

And I say way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day
And it's all your state of mind
At the end of the day,
You've just got to say...

"Everyone!" I called out.

All:I say way-hey-hey, it's just an ordinary day
And it's all your state of mind
At the end of the day,
You've just got to say it's all right,
Me: it's all right, it's all right

'Cause I've got a smile on my face, and I've got four walls around me...

I smiled as the song came to an end. "Thank you all for a wonderful time, but I'm afraid it's time to close up for the night." I said to the crowd. "Everyone have a good night and a safe trip home." I concluded as I turned the mic off and went over to Sugar Plum and Pinkie.

"Ready to head home Sugar Plum?" Pinkie asked.

"Yeah." She nodded, smiling at us as she finished her juice.

Once we got home, I walked Sugar Plum upstairs to her room and tucked her into bed. I gently helped her take off her glasses and I set them on the nightstand with a glass of water.

"If you need anything, just remember we're down the hall." I smiled. "And of course, we can't forget about Mr. Stuffly," I said as I tucked the teddy bear in beside her. She immediately hugged the bear tightly and smiled at me. "Goodnight Sugar Plum, I love you."

"I love you too daddy." She smiled as I went for the door and turned the light in the room off.

"See you tomorrow." I said closing the door.

"Goodnight!" She called. I chuckled a little to myself as I went downstairs to the living room, I yawned as I sat down on the couch next to Pinkie, as I stretched my hooves I put one around her and sighed happily.

"We did good today." Pinkie said.

"Absolutely." I nodded. "I was kind of worried, I didn't think I'd know how to handle those types of situations."

"You never really know until they happen, then you just happen to know what to say." Pinkie nodded.

"That's because words from the heart are never a fabrication." I stated.

"Poetic." She giggled. "We're gonna be the best parents ever."

"You're damn right." I nodded, giving her a kiss on the cheek.


Wasn't that sweet? They're such a cute family. Did anyone notice a subtle hint at a possible couple in the works? If not, maybe you need to re-read the chapter. Or wait until the chapter that addresses it. Until next time!

Song used

"Ordinary Day" by: Great Big Sea