Applejack could feel her tail curling shamefully around her hindquarters, but Flam's icy eyes weren't on her. After pulling the covers up another few inches, Flim started with an abashed "I-I can explain---"

He held a hoof up, looking away in disgust. "Don't you dare say another word 'til you wipe your face!"

"Why?"

"WHY?! You're covered in her---her---" His ears were snapping about furiously, a hot, angry red tracing across his face. "I can smell her on you, Flim!"

"Oh, shit," she muttered, watching him rub his fetlocks back and forth across his mouth. Her blush turned hotter at the memory of the time she'd wandered back into a hoedown with a glob of semen on her cheek---at least that time a sympathetic cousin had taken her aside before she could humiliate herself.

This, however, was something she didn't think she could live down anytime soon.

Applejack cleared her throat and began to slide off the bed. "I'll, uh, jes'..." She slunk around Flam's glare, heading toward the door. "...Leave you two t'catch up."

"You do that."

His eyes were on her as she shuffled away; even though she could feel them boring into the back of her skull, she made sure to keep her tail tucked between her legs, preserving whatever modesty she had left. She was barely out the door when Flam began screaming. As embarrassed as she was, she had to put her hoof over her lips, trying not to laugh. She knew Flim had a.... rather extensive vocabulary, but apparently his brother's was even more colourful. He was hollering some epithets she hadn't heard since Big MacIntosh got hit under the tail with a rock-filled snowball.

When he'd paused to catch him breath, Flim sniffed "Are you done yet?"

"Oh, I haven't even begun! Flim, I'm going to cut your head off and---"

That started a fresh torrent. Giggling, Applejack leaned against the door and pressed her ear on it.

"---get your sorry ass stuck in Ponyville---in Ponyville, of all places!---and, of course, you expect me to come rescue you, and for some fucking stupid reason I do! Why do I keep doing this? Why do you keep doing this?! To think, I've been worried sick these past few days, only to find you galavanting about with that---"

"Choose your next words very carefully," Flim said with a sharp edge in his voice.

It seemed to startle his brother, but not enough to shut him up. "Why? Why are you defending her? Why was she even here?" Then he paused, as if something just hit him. "And what happened to her? She's really let herself go."

Applejack's ears flattened, but her lover was quick to correct him: "She's not fat, you twit. She's pregnant."

There was a long stretch of silence, and she truly regretted not being able to see their faces.

"Pregnant?"

"Er, yes."

"O...kay," Flam said, very slowly, and obviously through clenched teeth. "This is the part where you tell me it's not yours."

Another silence.

This time, it was broken by Flim screaming "OW! No, Flam! Not the horn! Not the horn! Ow ow OW!!"

"You stupid, stupid son of a bitch! How could you let that happen?! You---"

"Stitches, Flam! I have stitches! Take it easy!!"

"What?"

"Stitches," he repeated, and she could hear fabric rustling around. "See?"

"Oh, Celestia," Flam whispered. "What did he do to you?"

"He didn't---oh, nevermind. It was just an accident."

"Take the bandages off. Let me see."

"No. You'll faint."

"Dammit, brother, let me see!"

"Fine! But you'd better sit down."

She had to press her ear against the door, but she could faintly hear the sound of the chair scraping against the floor, and then the sticky noise of adhevise being pulled away. Flam began to say something, but it choked out into a whimper, and he started to retch. When she heard his hooves clattering to the bathroom, Applejack nervously opened the door a crack and peeked in. Flim was rubbing his temples with a disconcerted look on his face; his eyes were screwed shut, so he didn't notice hers in the doorway. She felt her stomach churn and quickly closed the door again, but it wasn't the sound of vomiting that had shaken her---she'd caught a glimpse of his exposed wound, and she could understand why Flam was having such a visceral reaction. It was hideous.

The water gurgled down the toilet, and Flam, still coughing a bit, made his way back into the room.

"Are you alright?"

"No, brother," he said, "I am not alright." His throat sounded ragged. "And neither are you."

"It's... not as bad as it looks."

"Really? Because it looks revolting. And how did you get the black eye?"

"Oh, Flam," he muttered, "You would not believe the weekend I've had."

"You know, were this any other weekend, I'm damn sure I wouldn't want to hear about it."

They both laughed, and even though it still felt tense, Applejack smiled. Good. She was glad Flam's anger seemed to have diffused---after what he'd been through, Flim needed all the support he could get.

"Okay. Tell me what happened. Start to finish."

"Look..." Flim sighed, and again she heard the chair against the floor. It was hard to tell, but it seemed as if Flam had pulled closer to the bed. "Once her brother found out who got her pregnant---"

"Are you sure it's yours?"

"Completely," he said. "She told me as much, and I... I trust her."

"Do you, now?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure she's not just, I don't know, pinning this on you because of some hidden agenda?"

"No, Flam," he snapped, "She's not Trixie."

The gasp came out before she could stuff her hoof in her mouth, and she heard Flam do the same.

"I'm sorry," Flim said, so low she could barely hear it. "That came out wrong. I didn't mean---"

"How dare you!" he shouted. "How dare you! After what you did---!"

"Flam! Flam." There was a muted hiss of magic. Applejack could guess what it was for; she'd seen unicorns send each other little horn-to-horn sparks before, usually when emotions were running high, but she didn't understand the nuances of their exchange. When Flam let his breath of out what sounded like a very tight chest, she put her fetlocks over the top of her belly and rubbed up and down. She wondered if it was possible for twins to touch horns in the womb.

For a few minutes they didn't speak, at least not out loud, and the only thing she could hear was the back-and-forth of magic; it reminded her of the soft, puffy white noise between songs on an old vinyl record.

"Flam," he said again, all of the terseness gone from his words, "Please. Please don't be angry with me. Not now. I...I'm sorry."

"I'm allowed to be angry, brother! Especially when you've gotten yourself into a mess like this, and then have the audacity to---"

"Don't yell at me," he said petulantly.

When she heard Flam's aggreived sigh, Applejack grinned a little. She wasn't proud of it, but she'd learned long ago that a good pout could do wonders on her brother's temper; apparently Flim wasn't above using such tactics himself.

"Fine, fine. Just... go back to the story."

"Well, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted---twice---once her brother found out I was the sire, he, er, decided to matters into his own hooves."

"Meaning?"

"Brother, we really need to learn to better cover our tracks. I'm not sure how he did it, but he managed to track us down. Me, specifically."

"I assume he wants some child support?"

"Worse. H-he wants me to marry her," he said with a bit of a tremor. "He came at me with a shotgun."

"He what?!"

"A shotgun! He broke into my hotel room!"

"And your... 'friend' didn't try to put a stop to it?"

Her ears pricked up---she'd almost heard the scare quotes he'd used. After a few seconds, when Flim answered, he sounded startled, too. "How did you know about that?"

"Oh, please. Half the floor heard. Besides, you left a little parting gift. You should both thank your lucky stars I found it before the maids did!"

"What are you talking ab---"

She heard a whispery sound, as if something papery had been thrown. "Call it insurance. No mare in her right mind would marry you after seeing these."

"What---" Then his voice deflated. "...Oh."

Flam let out a biting laugh. "That's all you can say? 'Oh'? By the way, you're paying for any future therapy sessions I might need."

"Why... why would you even get these developed?" Flim choked out. "They were supposed to be private!"

'Developed'? They were talking about photographs?

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I thought they'd be the only clue as to what had happened to you!"

"You idiot! I was going to develop these myself! What if somepony at the store printed out copies and sent them to the papers? Do you really want to ruin his career?!"

"I don't give a rat's ass about his career! I was worried about you!"

"...You were worried about me?"

"Of fucking course I---!"

Again she heard the exchange of magic, and one of them---she wasn't sure who---groaned.

"Flim," he said, in a much more gentle tone, "Don't ever doubt I care about you. Those four years we had to spend apart were..."

"I know. I know."

They sat in silence for awhile. Just as Applejack was turning to leave, Flam began to speak again: "Brother... what are we going to do?"

"I don't know. But you know we can work magic when we put our heads together."

He tapped his hooves against the tiles as he considered his options. "Are you going to tell the Old Battleaxe?"

"NO!" he shouted. "No, no! Absolutely not!"

"Why not?"

"She doesn't need to know!" The starchy pillow crinkled as Flim flopped back down on it. "Flam, she's the last pony I want to see right now."

"I still think she should know about this. If your little maref---er, if Applejack's planning on keeping this foal---"

"Of course she is."

"Then we need to let her know."

"Oh, Celestia, Flam! You're being ridiculous! You know as well as I do what kind of pony she is. If she finds out about this, she'll either drink herself half-blind or, or---I don't know, burn the hospital down!"

Flam was beginning to sound worn out. "Yes, brother, I know she's a bit of a cunt. But she is the only family we have."

Applejack pulled back from the door to adjust her hat. Before she could even begin to worry about her potential sister-in-law, a sudden voice said, right in her ear: "So I take it the prodigal brother has returned?"

"GYAH!"

She jumped and skittered to the side, her hooves sliding over the tile. She'd been so focused on the bizarre conversation behind the closed door that she hadn't even heard anyone approach.

"Jeez, Twilight!" she snapped. "Y'shouldn't sneak up on ponies like that! It's rude!"

She just smirked. "Ruder than eavesdropping?"

Her dock flicked up in embarrassment. Great. She'd just been caught with her ear on the door, the very thing she scolded Apple Bloom about so often. "I, uh..."

"Oh, I'm just giving you a hard time," Twilight said with a warm smile; then, to Applejack's surprise, she gave her a warmhearted nuzzle and hugged her around the shoulders, hard. It wasn't that Twilight wasn't affectionate, but ever since she'd found out about the pregnancy, she'd been treating her like a porcelain doll. Just a week ago she'd actually screamed at Rarity for serving Applejack tea with caffeine in it, going so far as to slap the cup out of her hooves. She'd also refrained from hugging these past few months, citing the fact that a 'crushing force' could induce a miscarriage.

She was so caught up in her thoughts she didn't get the chance to return the hug before Twilight pulled back. "Applejack, I'm so excited about this!"

"I'm glad one of us is," she said wryly.

"Don't you worry about a thing." Another unexpected embrace. "This is a normal, everyday procedure. But a truly amazing one---I'm really honoured you asked me to come join you!"

Applejack nodded, trying to keep her face neutral. She didn't want to let her know that she hadn't been her first choice. Big MacIntosh had been too squeamish to look inside his sister's "mare parts", and Fluttershy was still grieving over her ferret's lost litter of three.

"Well, we're running a little late already---we should get going."

They began trotting side-by-side, and after accidentally pulling ahead, Twilight slowed her pace to match her friend's. Applejack thought back to the time Twilight had shoved "A Foal Is Born" into her hooves, and the illustrations of things that looked more like UFO escapees than ponies-to-be. She swallowed. Feeling the baby move was one thing, but actually seeing it...? "So, uh... the nurse kinda gave me a run-down, but---d'you know how this is gonna work?"

"Oh, definitely. I've never been to a gestational ultrasound myself, but Shiny told me all about mine!" Twilight's perky expression shifted a little, turning into the analytical mask Applejack was so used to. But instead of the scientific spiel she was expecting, what came out was "Have you ever had anal sex?"

"I---what?!"

"Anal sex," she repeated, a bit too loud for comfort. "Have you ever---"

Applejack tried really hard to ignore the dirty look a passing candystriper shot them. "Twilight, we're in a public place!"

"It's a perfectly reasonable question, Applejack," she said mildly. That weird smile hadn't left her face. "You're more muscular than the average mare, so the technician might opt for a trans-rectal ultrasound."

"Oh, Celestia..."

"Then again, you're probably approaching your second trimester, which means the embryo would likely be large enough for an abdominal ultrasound," she went on, seemingly unaware of how pale Applejack had become. "You are about three months in, right?"

"Uh, no." Despite the braincells she'd killed that night, the date of conception was permanently etched into her memory---exactly a month before her own birthday. She'd usually celebrated with a glass of Granny's 'shine, but this year she'd had to settle for juice. "Four an' a bit. Almost five, in fact."

"Oh! I stand corrected. It's a fetus now, not an embryo."

"'Baby', Twi. She's a baby."

A feathery brush across her back made her look up; Twilight had extended her wing to give her a side-hug, and was smiling down at her with an look she'd never seen on the alicorn's face before.

"Of course she is," she said gently. "You know, the etymology of 'embryo' means 'that which grows', and 'fetus' means 'young one'."

Unsure of how to respond, she opted for a simple "...Uh-huh." Leave it to Twilight to say something like that.

"How do you know it's a she?"

At that, she had to smile. "Zecora told me."

She wasn't looking, but she could sense her friend raise an eyebrow. "And she figured that out... how, exactly?"

"She did this, uh, trick with her earring." When she heard a sigh, she added "Aw, c'mon, Twilight! Jes' cause it ain't scientific doesn't mean it's mumbo-jumbo. You've seen more'n anypony the stuff she can do!"

"I know, I know, it just..." Twilight shook her head. "It reminded me of a story my mother told me. They paid somepony---a so-called 'psychic'---at a fair to tell them the sex of their first. This was before every dam was getting ultrasounds, you see. Shining had to sleep in their bedroom for the first week because they repainted his pink room blue. And they returned all the dolls they'd bought."

"Hey, nothin' wrong with a fella playin' with dolls."

"I'm just saying," she went on, apparently missing the joke, "Some ponies will take your bits and tell you any hogwash they think you want to hear. I'm not saying Zecora would do that, of course, but..."

She glanced to her side, and noticed that Twilight's ears had folded down. "But?"

Twilight's wings twitched a little, and she stopped walking. Applejack did as well, and stood there staring for a moment before their eyes met again. "Please don't take this the wrong way, Applejack," she said, "But... you're... very, uh, trusting."

"So? Ain't that a good thing? And why shouldn't I trust Zecora?"

She looked behind them at the hallway, then turned back. "It's not Zecora I'm worried about."

It took her a few minutes before that sunk in. "Oh," she said, a little curt. "I get it. Yer worried Flim's playin' me fer a fool, is that it?"

"Well, I wouldn't say a 'fool' so much as---"

A quick wave of her hoof cut her off. She didn't want to hear whatever synonym Twilight had been thinking of, anyway. "I appreciate it, Twi', but y'don't know him like I do."

She snorted. "Luckily."

"Hey!" She nudged her barrel. "He's been real sweet t'me, y'know!"

The look on her face hardened, but Applejack was sure she'd seen a flinch of... something. Pain, maybe? "A lot of stallions know how to act sweet... so long as it gets them what they want."

Her jaw hung open, and it took awhile before she could speak again; even then, it was hard getting the words out through her burning, tight throat. "I don't believe it," she whispered. "You think I'm a whore, too, dontcha?"

"What?"

"I thought you of all ponies would know better'n to judge!" She snapped her head to the side to avoid Twilight's outstretched hoof. "I can't believe you'd---!"

"Applejack, no." She took a step closer, and when Applejack flinched again, she used a little puff of magic to take her by the chin, turning her head around again. "No. I don't think that. Not at all."

"Then why'd you say that?!"

"About stallions? Becuase it's true." Now she took both freckled cheeks in her hooves. "But I would never judge you, sweetie. Not after some of the things I've done."

She flushed, her mouth agape. That was the first time she'd ever heard Twilight use a term of affection.

"I don't want to see you get hurt, Applejack," she went on. Before she could tell her the same thing she'd said to her brother the day before---'Flim wouldn't hurt me like that'---Twilight surprised her even further by saying "I love you. You know that, right?"

She could hear her heartbeat in her ears, but managed to nod numbly.

"Ms. Apple?"

The receptionist's voice carried out from the open doors of the waiting room to the hallway where they were sitting, and at the mention of her name, Applejack lept up to her hooves. "Uh---Guess that's me," she said with a forced grin, and immediately wanted to slap herself for how stupid that sounded.

They got a few rasied eyebrows from the other patients in the waiting room as they walked in, Twilight's wing protectively around Applejack's shoulders, but she kept her eyes forward as she made her way to the front desk. Hanging above it was a clock which read five-past. Damn! She hated being late. "Uh, yeah, I have a ten o'clock appointment?"

The receptionist tilted her head towards a heavy oak door, where an icy-coloured unicorn in a crisp linen uniform was standing, holding a clipboard with her magic. Applejack stepped back in surprise. "Oh! Hello."

"Good morning. I'm Doctor Lily Soft." She politely extended her hoof towards Applejack. "I take it you're the lucky mare?"

She bit back what she wanted to say, and shook the offered hoof. "Yes, ma'am. I-I'm sorry fer bein' late."

"Not a problem at all." The doctor's eyes moved from her face to Twilight's, and they widened slightly; after a quick nod, which could have been an attempt at a bow, she turned back toward the door she'd stepped out of. "It's right through here. Please follow me."

At the end of a short hallway was a sterile-looking door, on which hung a plaque reading 'REPRODUCTIVE ULTRASOUND' above a hanging basket; Dr. Soft quickly flipped through the files inside, found the one she was looking for, and ushered the two ponies behind her in. Applejack did a quick scan of the room as she entered. It was a bit larger than a regular examination room, which was probably due to the intimidating-looking machine sitting next to the table, and instead of pictures of landscapes and sunsets, the walls were adorned with grinning babies, and, a bit disturbingly, posters warning about the dangers of doing drugs while pregnant.

"Ms. Apple, did you hear me?"

She peeled her eyes away from the one outlining the effect of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. "Huh?"

"I asked you to please get up on the table," she said, running a hoof over the fresh sheet of paper that had been pulled over the plastic mattress. "Lie on your back, with your hindlegs extended. You can do what you like with your forelegs, so long as you keep them away from your abdomen."

"Oh, uh, yeah. A'course." It took a few tries, but with a grunt, she managed to haul herself up just as Twilight was starting to light her horn. That made her jaw set. She didn't like being yanked about with magic, and Twilight knew that. Besides, a cumbersome belly wasn't a handicap, dammit!

As she shifted, crinkling the paper, Dr. Soft opened a drawer and magicked out something that looked like an oversized toothpaste tube. "Now, did you make sure to groom the coat on your underbelly before coming in?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good." She unscrewed the cap, and a dollop of clear gel slid out the top. It reminded Applejack of precum, and she had to bite her lip to keep from giggling. "I'm going to have to apply a thick layer of gel. It'll feel quite cold."

Better than stickin' it up my butt. "Okay. Squirt away."

Twilight chortled, and she put her hoof over her face in embarrassment. "That came out wrong."

The doctor gave her one of those I've-heard-everything smiles and began to squeeze the gel out in big globs. "Is this your first ultrasound?"

Her hindleg twitched when the cool gel made contact, and she hissed through her teeth. "Yeah."

"Do you know what to expect?"

"Sorta." She eyed the machine; it looked like a combination of a typewriter and a film projector, with a cloudy screen on top. "You'll poke an' prod at me, an' we'll see a black-an'-white picture a'the baby...?"

"More or less." She capped the tube and put it back in the drawer, and then unhooked a large (and unfortunately phallic) object from the side of the screen. "This is called the transducer probe, and I'll be using it to direct the sound waves into your uterus. Are you sitting comfortably?"

"As comfy as I'm-a get," she said as she stared down at her glimmering midsection.

"Here's what's going to happen."

Dr. Soft positioned the transducer on the largest swell of her belly, pressing down harder than seemed necessary; she fiddled with the machine for a moment, and pushed a button just below the screen. It flickered to life before turning to static. "I'm going to move this against your abdomen, and you'll feel some vibrations. After a minute or two, an image will appear on the screen. Please stay still, or I won't be able to get a good image."

Applejack licked her lips and looked up at the ceiling.

"Now, I've looked over what little was on your file..."

Please don't lecture me, she thought, thinning her lips.

"And you've stated that you are---" She looked away from the machine to check her clipboard. "One hundred and forty days in, is that correct?"

It took her a minute to figure out the math in her head. "Uh, I s'pose so."

The machine hummed as it warmed up, and Dr. Soft began moving the transducer across the slicked hide. "Hm."

Her face remained impassive and professional, but Applejack had seen the subtle flick of her ear. "What? What's 'hm'?"

"Oh, it's nothing serious---you just seem a little large for the gestational stage."

"A little large...?"

With a reassuring pat to the shoulder, Twilight smiled and said "She's always been big-boned."

"Hey!"

"I didn't mean fat, Applejack! You literally are big-boned. You have 'good birthing hips', as my mother would s---Ooh, look!" Her eyes were huge as she leaned forward, grinning ear-to-ear. "Applejack, look! I can see something!"

But the doctor's words were still ringing in her head. You seem a little large. You seem a little...Oh, Celestia, no! She suddenly remembered her second cousin once removed who'd made headlines by having quadruplets by surprise, and immediately snapped her eyes shut. "Argh!"

The doctor and Twilight exchanged a glance over her belly. "Is something the matter?"

"Aw, Twi', I can't look yet!" she whimpered. "I... how many are in there?"

She opened one eye just a crack. Twilight's face was frozen in slack-jawed shock.

"What? What?! How many are in there?!"

"Um..." She brought a hoof up to her mouth and began to nibble. Her eyes moved from the screen to Applejack's opened eye, and she offered her a nervous smile. "...Fewer than three?"

"WHAT?!"

She sat up far too fast, making the transducer slide off her belly and the image crackle out. "Twins? Was it twins?!"

"Ms. Apple, I'm going to have to ask you to lie as still as you possibly can," the doctor said sternly. "Otherwise, I won't be able to tell you anything at all."

"But you saw inside me, right? Was it twins?"

She put her hoof on Applejack's shoulder and, gently but firmly, pushed her back into a lying position. "Well, I briefly saw one fetus before you jumped like that."

"Was it alone?"

It looked like she was trying hard to keep from rolling her eyes. "Yes, it was alone. You're not having a multiple pregnancy."

Applejack's head snapped around to glare at a smirking Twilight. "What? I didn't lie. One is fewer than three."

She finally let her breath out, and reluctantly laughed. "Didn't take ya fer a prankster, Twilight!"

"I got you good, didn't I?"

"Yeah, well, I'm-a get ya back fer that!" she said with a friendly punch to her elbow. "Y'nearly made me piss myself!"

"Was there a reason you were concerned about having multiples?" Dr. Soft said, a little distractedly.

Despite herself, Applejack blushed. She'd only seen this doctor in passing before, and wasn't sure how much gossip she might have heard. "Uh, the... the father's a twin."

"Alright, I've got the image up again. Would you like to look?"

"...Sure."

And there it was.

"Oh sweet Celestia," she breathed. Nopony in her entire family had ever bothered with an ultrasound before, so she had no idea what to expect. She thought she'd just see a bunch of random blobs and blurs like those cross-section illustrations, but... inside the static, there was a little quivering curl, pulsing and twitching and very clearly alive. "Is... is that..."

Her gut lurched as it hiccuped; then it swirled around. She could clearly see a head, as well as the spidery, spindly limbs. There was a dark, fluttering shape in its ribs, and, like a punch to the chest, she realized that was its tiny heart.

"Is that my baby?" Applejack murmured.

"It sure is," the doctor said as she moved the sensor up and down over Applejack's belly. "Quite a healthy one, at that. See how it's moving?"

She blinked, and the tears streaked down her face. "Baby," she whispered, touching the side of her belly. Twilight pressed her hoof against the other side, and together they watched as it bounced around.

"Everything's looking good so far," she said as her trained eyes scanned the screen. "The placenta and umbilical cord are both where they should be, and I'm sensing a very strong heartbeat."

Twilight tenderly wiped the tears from her frined's cheeks, and Applejack briefly wondered if she sometimes used the same gesture on Spike. "So, uh, she's okay?"

Dr. Soft looked up in surprise. "How did you know the sex? I thought this was your first ultrasound!"

"It is," she said with a small smile. She watched as the hindlegs curled up against the body, then bolted upwards in a kick. "A friend a'mine told me."

Turning to the doctor, Twilight said "Did she get it right?"

"Yes, she did." With her free hoof, she pointed at the rump. "See the hindquarters? They're smooth. No sign of a scrotum. And, in answer to your earlier question, yes, she appears to be perfectly healthy." Dr. Soft squinted a bit; without removing the transducer, she held her free hoof up to the screen, pressing the tip against the curve of the foal's rump. "I can't be sure of the exact measurements until I print off the sonograms, but this one appears to be on the big side."

"Is that a problem?"

"No. Sometimes obese mares suffer from gestational diabetes, which can adversely affect the growth of the fetus, but you're obviously not in that category." She removed her hoof and began absent-mindedly tapping it against her knee. "This could be a case of hybrid vigor."

"But... she ain't sick?"

Dr. Soft looked over at her with the calm expression she was so used to using on nervous mothers. "Is there any reason in particular you're concerned?"

"It's jes'..." Applejack hadn't realized Twilight had taken her hoof in her own until she squeezed. Looking away from the doctor, she said in a quiet voice "I, uh, I was kinda... okay, really drunk the night I got pregnant. I know that can hurt the baby."

"Oh, there's no need to worry about that," she said, with a flicker of a smile. "It---she hadn't even implanted in your uterus at that point. As long as you've been dry since then, she shouldn't face any adverse effects."

"Oh yeah, I ain't had a drop sin---"

"Aah!"

Twilight's hoof jerked off her foreleg and she slipped down from her seat, landing on her knees.

"Jeez, are ya okay?"

"No!" she said sharply, glaring over her shoulder. "Something just yanked my chair out from under me!"

Applejack burst out laughing. "Ahahaha! She knows we're talkin' about her!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"She's been---" She had to take a few breaths to calm herself. The look on Twilight's face was priceless. "I'm sorry, sugarcube. I ain't laughin' at you; it's jes' that she's been throwin' things around fer a couple a'days now."

"She's been...?" Her violet eyes were shooting around wildly, from the screen to the doctor to the distended belly and back again. "The fetus has been...? You mean...?!"

"Uh-huh."

"Pre-natal casting?! Oh Celestia, this is amazing!"

Applejack chuckled into her folded hooves as Twilight began to bounce in her seat like an excited filly on her birthday. "I've read about this, but I've never had the chance to witness it first-hoof! Oh, look at me! Here I am without anything to take notes with!" She beamed at the screen, and even without looking, Applejack knew she was staring at the fuzzy little cone on the top of the fetus' head. "Applejack, as soon as I get my hooves on a quill, you have to tell me everything!"

"Well, there ain't much to tell," she said as she watched the little thing as it pulsed with her heartbeat. "The other day when Flim an' I were---" She coughed. Luckily her brain had kicked in before she could properly finish that sentence. "Uh, Flim an' I saw her throw a jar a'jam off the shelf. I thought he'd done it at first, but---"

"No, no, you have to tell me everything! Every detail! For example, what did it feel like? Did you sense a surge inside you? Was there ozone in the air, and did---"

"Twilight!" She was laughing as she pushed her back into her chair. "Calm down, sugarcube! I promise I'll tell ya everything later. But fer now, can we jes' let the doctor do her work?"

"Just as I suspected. This is a case of hybrid vigor." The doctor had moved the sensor to the bottom of Applejack's belly, right above her teats. "You know, this may seem unprofessional of me to say this, but I do wish more ponies were open to mixed-race relationships. Their offspring are almost always healthier."

Applejack and Twilight just looked at each other, neither sure of what to say.

Dr. Soft moved to flick a switch behind the machine, and it began making strange churring noises. "I'm going to print out a few stills from the ultrasound. I'll need to keep some for your file, but as for the rest---would you like to take them home?"

"Uh, sure." It seemed weird that she'd be showing her family pictures of the baby before it had even been born---she just knew Granny was going to say something about counting one's chickens---but at the same time, she didn't want to miss out on this opportunity.

"Overall, everything looks good. I'd advise you to increase your liquid intake, since the amniotic sac is a bit small, considering how large the fetus is relative to its---her age." She finally removed the transducer and began to wipe it off. "I'll go over the still images and add my notes to your file. On your way out, please speak to the receptionist about booking another appointment in about two months' time. In the meantime, if anything seems out of the ordinary, just come back and we'll see if we can't slip you in for a quick check-up."

"Okay," she said quietly. She couldn't quite believe what had happened---looking insde her own body, and seeing somepony else's, had been surreal, like the kind of dream she'd have after eating greasy leftovers.

With her magic, Dr. Soft opened the door on the other side of the room as she stacked the sonogram printouts on the desk next to the machine. "The bathroom's in there, and it has everything you need for getting cleaned up. Please take your time; the next appointment isn't for another ten minutes."

Now that she could move freely again, Applejack sat up, twisting her spine back and forth. It had been uncomfortable with all that weight pressing down on her organs, and she shuddered as she felt a few of them sliding back into place. "Thanks so much, Doctor."

"It was my pleasure, Ms. Apple." Then she turned to Twilight, and this time gave her a full bow. "And it was wonderful to meet you, Princess."

She waited for the door to close behind the doctor before she grumbled "Jeez. I really wish they wouldn't do that."

Applejack wasn't paying attention. She was holding the printouts, staring in awe at the top one. The foal's hindlegs were stretched out, her forelegs curled up against her chest; with a trembling hoof, Applejack brushed across the nubby little horn, barely visible. She's got Mac's ears, she thought, and felt a lump rise in her throat.

"Hey," Twilight said, catching her attention. "How do you feel?"

She put the pictures back on the desk, being careful not to smear them against her wetted belly. The gel was beginning to to get dry and gummy. "Uh, like a ghost sneezed on me."

"Okay, you have to come back home with me and tell me everything!"

"Twilight..."

She actually pressed her front hooves together and pointed them at her beseechingly. "Please? I'll have Spike make us some tea. Herbal tea, of course! Oh, and I got some goat's milk; it's very high in protein, so it'll be good for you and---"

"Twilight!" Applejack laughed as she eased her way off the table. "Can I at least get un-slimed first?"

"Oh! Of course." Again she tucked her wing over Applejack's back as they headed to the washroom. "That was amazing, Applejack. Thank you so much!"

"Yer the one who should be gettin' thanked, Twi'," she said with a hesitant nuzzle. "I, uh, I couldn't-a done it without ya."

Her ears snapped up as something hit her. "Wait a minute---why wasn't Flim here?"

Trixie greeted him with a crushing hug the moment the opened the caravan door. "Oh, pookie, you were gone for so long! I was starting to get worried!"

He halfheartedly returned the embrace, but pulled out of it as soon as she let up.

"...Pookie?" she said, watching as he flopped down on her cot, his back to her. "Is everything alright?"

"No."

She carefully lay down and spooned up behind him, her foreleg draped around his waist. "What happened?"

"It's bad, Trixie," he said, his words quiet and pained. "Really bad."

"How bad?"

"I.... don't really want to talk about it right now."

After a few breaths, he could feel her pull him in tighter and press her muzzle against his neck. "Okay."

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that; it could have been a few minutes, or it could have been half an hour. It wasn't until Trixie began to groom the back of his mane that he spoke again: "It's nothing I can't fix."

"Oh?"

"Yes," he said, whuffing a bit from the soothing pleasure of her tongue ruffling against his hair. "Flim doesn't know it yet, but I have an ace up my sleeve."

Author's Notes:

First, the thanks:

Thanks to Sir Barton for his advice and tips regarding equine ultrasounds, as well as for loaning me his character Dr. Lily Soft (seen in his fic "An Apple Studded Diamond"---nsfw!)

Thanks to The Literary Lord for making the TvTropes page for this fic and its prequel! I meant to mention it in the previous chapter but totally derped.

Lastly: Holy fucking shit a brick, people, do NOT google "horse fetus development" and then click on "Images". Just don't.