Berry’s Bar, my safe haven. As always, I sat at the counter on one of the barstools, which were similar to those found on Earth, except shorter. The bar was as simple as it could get. It was a small pub at the corner of the street, its window panes befogged in every colour of the rainbow. It was decorated in all manner of odds and ends that ordinary ponies might call garbage, such as the singing fish that was mounted on one wall, for instance, or the tacky, red, heart-shaped cushions placed upon the various corner booths of the bar floor. Behind the counter, a shelf was filled with the most costly drinks to be found in Ponyville.

Aside from me, around twenty other ponies had the same idea of spending this mild evening in here. Spring was in full swing, and with it being a month after the whole estrus thing, no mare dared to drink again. They knew the risks and would want to avoid any damage to their potential offspring. But me? I had gulped cider down my throat as the whim, and my purse, took me. Ignorance was no excuse in law, but I didn’t feel guilty either. Why should I? It never even occurred to me that I could have been pregnant before today.

That was why the glass I held in both my hands now was only filled with water. Berry would have surely chided me if I spent my money elsewhere. I had told her to buzz off and let me enjoy my water. I didn’t even want to come here, but Applejack was gone for a delivery to a nearby village. Something about an apple pie emergency. So I asked Big Mac if he could tell her to meet me at the usual spot when she had time.

“Can I bring you something else, sweetie?” Berry purred and stared at my almost empty glass. “Or do you want to stick with water?”

“No thanks, Berry. I think I had enough lately.” The mare smiled contemptuously, shook her head, and turned to the guests further down the counter while mumbling something about how there couldn’t be anything like too much cider. Her husband, Silver Coin, a grey unicorn with brown mane, had told me once that the only time Berry was completely sober was when she was pregnant with little Berry Pinch. A cute thing. I really liked her. I had nothing against children really. Indeed, back on Earth, I was convinced that someday, perhaps later on in my life, I would have children of my own. I mean, that was how it was supposed to be, right? The little girls got dolls to play mommy while the boys got cars to push over the parquet floor and play firefighter or whatnot. I wasn’t spared from that type of education. I even had one of those dolls that could wet their diapers, at least as long as my mom secretly refilled the water since I often forgot to feed her.

Back on Earth, I had studied art, and I didn’t mean art history or anything in that vein. No, I wanted to become a painter, standing in a pair of dungarees with a ponytail in my own dirty atelier and casting my fantasies onto a canvas. Now I had to limit myself to a sketchbook, which was so expensive that I wasn’t able to afford anything but bread and sprouts for a week after I bought it. Paper, in a world where it had to be manually crafted, wasn’t cheap. With my two jobs, I was doing a bit better than with welfare alone, but I wasn’t exactly swimming in opulence. Berry and AJ only paid what they really could afford. I knew the state of the farm was one that she had to fight with the bank every year to make it to the next. And Berry had been saving up for a long time to make more out of this hole. That was why I was even more grateful for what they did for me. They really were my friends.

“Howdy!” I was startled, and the empty glass that I played with fell over and rolled for a few centimetres. “Ah! S’cuse me, sugarcube.” I had been so deep in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed AJ coming into the bar and standing next to me. The mare sat down on a chair at the counter and smiled at me.

“Hi, Applejack. Glad you could come.” As my friend rested her hooves on the counter, I saw that the hair around them seemed to be singed. It was as though she had run over coals. “What happened to your hooves?”

She eyed her dark, singed, orange coat and waved it off. “Nothing serious. Ah just have to buy new safety boots if I wanna make that trip ‘gain.” I nodded and raised my glass again, calling her attention to it. “Mighty clear cider you have there. Is ours not good enough for ya?” she asked with a grin and jabbed me in the side.

“Evening, Applejack.” Berry returned at that moment. “The usual?” The farmer nodded, and a few seconds later, a mug with freshly drawn cider stood in front of her nose. “Cheers.” Two golden coins were casually thrown onto the counter, and Berry disappeared again.

“I just thought I should hold back a bit for a while.” I continued the subject from before.

“If it makes ya happy,” AJ said and took a large gulp. “Ahhh, that’s what Ah needed.” She sighed as she slammed the mug back down on the counter. “So, what did ya wanna talk ‘bout? Big Mac said you seemed tense.”

“Well…” For a moment, I stopped and thought about what could be the best way to tell her. I mean, this was big news. I bet if those little hacks from the Foal Free Press heard about it, there would be an article just like the one time that I shaved off the little hair I had on my body aside from my head. Of course, I always tried to look flawless when I ran around naked. That also included shaving the hairs around my genital area, my legs, or the hairs in my armpits. But that didn’t mean that paparazzi could take photos of me in my bathroom and then write an article about how I was actually a hairy monster who shaved off her coat. I mean, some ponies even believed that bullshit! If I ever found out who that Gabby Gums was, we would have a serious talk. Luckily, the article had only made it on page three.

So instead of dropping the bomb, I tried to get my friend to conclude that I was pregnant. A woman who usually drank alcohol suddenly switched to water? A good place to start. But she would need more. “Well, I haven’t been feeling well lately. Something with my stomach.”

“Uhh.” She just nodded and looked at me questioningly. I knew the expression on her face. It said something like, ‘That’s all fine, sugarcube, but how can Ah help ya?’

“I thought that you maybe knew a home remedy or something like that.” It was worth a shot, but I didn’t think it was enough. I didn’t even know the symptoms ponies had when they were pregnant. For us humans, it was clear when your red friend didn’t visit you, but I doubt mares waited until the next estrus to know.

But maybe I was wrong. She eyed the empty glass of water in my hand again, and then her eyes wandered to my stomach. Just as she was about to respond, a familiar voice called out. "Applejack?" She turned around, looking over her shoulder at the doorway. I followed her gaze and saw the pony who I knew the voice belonged to: Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh, Ah forgot to tell ya that Ah met Twilight on the way here. She said she could use a drink as well, and Ah had never seen her drinking. So Ah thought that whatever was on her mind would be important. Ah hope ya don’t mind. She just came a bit later because she wanted to tell Spike.” What should I say? That I was uncomfortable around her? That I was indeed a bit embarrassed to see the mare again that made me come so many times without even touching me? A little bit. I had no clue why exactly. I had been with a couple of stallions and I didn’t have any problems seeing them again. I saw Caramel basically every time I went to buy candies at Bon Bon’s Bonbons, his fiancée’s store. Like I said, fucking, move in together, getting engaged, marriage, all hopefully within three months.

I remained silent, so Applejack turned around again and waved the lavender-coloured mare over to us. Her eyes fell on Applejack first, then on me, and I could have sworn that I saw some red shimmering through her coat. So she was still a bit uncomfortable with it as well. Good, I wasn’t alone then.

“Hello again, Applejack,” Twilight returned the greeting as she sat down next to her friend on the last free barstool at the counter. “And hello to you, Melody. I didn’t think we would see each other so soon again.

“You know each other?” Applejack asked, surprised.

“Briefly,” I mumbled. Twilight didn’t seem to have anything to add to that either and just nodded. “We met around noon for some minor thing.”

“Oh, hello, Miss Sparkle. What rare honour.” Berry appeared again out of the thin air. By god, I swear that mare had ninja training. What other reason was there to explain why her hooves barely made any sound while she walked over the wooden floor? “What can I get you?”

Twilight thought for a moment and tapped her hoof against her chin a few times. “I think I’ll just take a water, Berry. I’m not so much for alcohol.” With a sigh, the earth pony brought the ordered drink. “A bit for three glasses. I’m not the local fountain,” she said as she placed the glass in front of her.

“I’ll take the same again,” I threw in before she could disappear again.

“What?” Twilight said, suddenly upright on the chair. “You shouldn’t be drinking!” Everyone knew when something bad was about to happen. Time always seemed to slow down and eventually freeze. It wasn’t any different here. I could see every fine hair on her coat, every muscle that it took her to open her mouth, the lips that slowly formed the words that she had tried to carefully express instead of just blurting them out. It was a moment like that, but as quickly as it came, it ended. “You’re pregnant.”

Applejack’s mug fell to the ground. Berry dropped my glass that she ironically had just filled with water, not alcohol. I winced and prepared for what was coming. Uncomfortable silence. I didn’t need to look up from the counter to know that AJ and Berry were staring at me with open mouths while sounds of confusion hinted that Twilight was looking alternately between them.

It was Applejack who eventually broke the silence. “Wut?”

“Oh, Sweetie! I’m so happy for you!” I suddenly felt Berry’s hooves around my neck as she pulled me halfway over the counter. “Why didn’t you say anything? Now I feel guilty for making fun of you drinking water!”

“Water?” That was Twilight.

Well, now that it was out, I could just roll with it. I returned Berry’s hug. “Thanks, Berry, that means a lot.”

“Now wait just a second!” I felt a hoof on my bare skin again, this time on my shoulder, and I was pulled back into the chair by AJ. “How can ya be pregnant? Wasn’t that the reason ya broke up with Caramel? Did ya lie to him?”

“What? No!” I defended myself, and my friend relaxed again. “I really didn’t think I could get pregnant. Honestly, I still think that it should be impossible. That’s how I met Twilight.” All eyes went to the unicorn. “Doctor Stable couldn’t help me find out how it happened, so he suggested that I go visit Twilight to get an answer. We met earlier today.”

“When did you find out?” Barry asked curiously.

“Also just earlier today.”

“Wasted no time, eh?” The bar mare grinned.

“Well, I don’t have any. At some point in the next nine months or so, I will be blown up like a balloon and press something the size of a hoofball out of me.” Now that I thought of it, what would come out of me anyway? A human, a foal, something in between? And how long would the pregnancy go? The usual nine months or eleven? Only now did I realize how many unknown variables would come into play.

However, I didn’t seem to be the only who noticed. “Hold on! You don’t know what your… offspring will be?” Twilight asked.

“Well, no. How could I? Don’t you remember? I’m the only human on all of Equis. Which means…” I gulped. “I will be the mother of an entire new species.” There, I said it. Of course, I had known it all along. The thought had been in my head all day, but I had tried to ignore it.

“Don’t you worry, honey, we’re here for you! Right, Applejack?” Berry put a hoof over my hands. Even though the hard appendage wasn’t the most comfortable feeling on my hands, I still welcomed the gesture.

"Of course we are. We’re yer friends.” The conversation then took the turn I had both expected and was afraid off. Applejack asked who the lucky father was, and I had to explain to her how I didn’t know. Ponies, sex-driven as they were, still wanted at least a rough idea of where the fruit of their loins had come from. And, of course, Applejack gave me a firm lecture. Berry, on the other hand, now heard about my little breakdown a year ago for the first time and hit me lightly on the back of my head with her hoof. Lightly was still painful with their hard hooves. She said she would have spanked my flanks like I was a little foal if it weren’t for my condition.

Eventually came the question that I was afraid of the most. “Do you want to keep it?” It wasn’t a question about abortion. No, there was no such thing here. Ponies valued the gift of life a lot, and nopony would do it even if it would be possible here. It was basically in their DNA, so deep that there it didn’t even need a law. The question was if I planned to raise it myself.

Due to all the lust during estrus, there were a lot of pregnancies. However, there were cases where the mares were not able to raise the foals themselves, usually due to financial difficulties, illnesses, or in rare cases, because the mare didn’t want the foal. In that case, the mares would give birth to the foals and give them up to an orphanage. Almost every town had one, and they were rarely empty. Unlike on Earth and contrary to popular belief, they were usually very happy places. Often run by older mares that could no longer have their own foals, every foal had their own room, got three meals a day, and the love that they needed. The matrons loved the little ones like they were their own, so much so that many adopted them themselves if they didn’t find another family when they came of age, which was around fourteen here. Something I knew since AJ often sent me to deliver apples to the local orphanage.

The age of maturity for ponies was quite different than it was back home. Most of the time, ponies received their cutie marks by the age of fourteen, give or take a year or two. At the very earliest, they usually received it at age seven or eight. Normally, academic education for most ponies ended around age fourteen as well, so pony society, through convenience, decided a pony was legally an adult by the age of fourteen, having both received their cutie marks and finished their formal education by said age. Ponies reached physical maturity around a year or so after that, usually age sixteen in the case of mares when they hit their first estrus cycle. From then on, it was de rigueur for ponies to seek out a way to make money from their cutie mark or take up further education in one of the larger cities if they had the means to do so.

Let’s face it then. Was I ready to sacrifice at least fourteen years of my life for another being, to give it all of my attention? Counter question. What was I even doing with my life? I just drifted around. Wake up, eat, work, eat, more work, drink, eat, sleep, repeat. No career ladder that I could climb. No relationship that I could advance. Did I really have anything better to do? Not really. “Of course, Applejack. I mean, I always thought I would be mother one day. It just came a bit… early. And surprising.” The smile of my friends warmed my heart.

“A completely new species…” And with that, Twilight Sparkle, who had sat stiffly on her chair until now, joined us again with renewed vigour.

“You do know that I’m a completely new species as well, right?” And she was gone again.

“Ah won’t carry her home if ya go on like this,” Applejack commented dryly and emptied the fourth mug of cider for the evening. She always drank exactly five, then stumbled back home slightly drunk. She knew exactly how much she could handle and always stayed on the pleasant side of the alcohol to keep the aftermath as small as possible on the next day. After all, there was work waiting for her the next morning.

And with that, I looked up at the clock. The once young evening was getting on in years and entering its prime in life, the hands of the clock slowly ticking towards midnight. Even though this was a bar, it still closed at one in the morning. Berry would lock up at two so that she could wake up early enough the next morning to care for Berry Pinch. She might be an alcoholic, but she was also a very committed mother. With Silver Coin, who had a job in Canterlot and could only be here on weekends, she had to be. He worked at a bank, but I didn’t really know what he did there. But what I did know was that he had tried for years now to be moved to Ponyville so that they no longer had to keep an apartment in the capital.

By custom, I let my gaze wander over the remaining guests. Only Twilight, Applejack, and I were left at the counter. In one booth next to a window sat an elderly stallion who nipped at his drink. Two tables down sat a pair of mares who looked like they were celebrating something. Their table was strewn with shot glasses, and one mare’s head wobbled dangerously. One could tell she was minutes away from smashing face-first into the table and passing out here in the bar. The bed I had once occupied for a year was used to house ponies like that overnight. That was Berry for you. She probably felt sympathetic, having woken up in strange places as well during some of her escapades in the past.

Not far off from the drunks was a young pegasus who seemed to have the same idea as me: search for possible partners for tonight. Our eyes met for a moment, but it wasn’t meant to be. “What are you doing?” Applejack asked as I had turned around so far that my back pointed towards the counter.

“Hey, just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I stopped looking for Mister Perfect.” She rolled her eyes and chuckled as the last mug of cider found its way to her lips.

I kept looking around. A table next to the pegasus sat two earth pony stallions and were in a heated discussion about what they called the perfect week a third one seemed to have had. Since potential material for a relationship was a strong criteria for me, I scanned further. One of them didn’t look too shabby, but he wore a hooflet that only married couples wore to show that they were already taken. The other one was thin and a bit lean. He also seemed to have dyed his coat yellow. Badly as well - the brown roots could clearly be seen.

I was startled a bit as a hoof tapped against my shoulder. What was wrong with me today? Usually I could hear ponies a mile against the wind. Next to me stood a small bright blue pegasus with a ruffled white mane. He seemed to be nervous as he shifted his weight between his hooves, and his wings were unsteady as though they couldn’t find a comfortable position against his body. His cutie mark was that of a thermometer that depicted the mercury within it as if the temperature was at zero degrees Celsius. “Umm… can I buy you a drink?” he asked carefully, a shy smile on his face.

Being experienced as I was, I could smell fresh meat when I saw it. Yes, that was exactly how it worked. I didn’t even mean that he was a virgin, but stallions were usually nervous when they spoke to me for the first time. I looked back at him with a smile but also with a critical eye. Like I said, he was smaller than most other stallions, who usually reached up to my chest. If he stretched a bit, he would maybe just reach it with his muzzle. His chest and back muscles, however, seemed well-developed underneath his coat as with most pegasi who tended to fly frequently. This either meant that he had a lot of free time or a job related to it. His muzzle wasn’t as broad as the ones on other stallions as well. It was a bit smaller, almost a bit feminine in a way, but not unattractive. Somehow, it suited him. All in all, he seemed decent. And I could see that he wasn’t really the type of stallion who just wanted a quick lay since he didn’t have a boner while he stood here in front of me. He also actually tried to be nice. However, I still had to decline the drink.

“No thanks.” I saw the disappointment in his face. He must have built his courage up for a while now before he decided to ask me. “I’ve had enough tonight. But take a seat, and we can talk for a bit without one as well.” I pointed at the empty chair to my right.

A smile quickly returned to his lips, and he excitedly jumped on the chair that almost fell over. “I’m Celsius,” he introduced himself and reached out a hoof. I returned to greeting and introduced myself as well and then Applejack and Twilight, the latter still dazed.

Then we talked. About my job, about his job, and so on. He worked for the weather team here in Ponyville, which seemed to fit to my first impression of him. He lived in a small shared flat with a unicorn stallion named Common Sense, and a mare, Sweet Drops. They were together and to have the flat for themselves, they ‘asked’ him to go out for a bit tonight. Proposed he should go in a bar and write a script. Some things were the same on both worlds.

He knew that they would marry sooner or later, and he was mentally preparing himself for moving out. He even had his eyes on a small apartment. Celsius told me about his hobby of playing the guitar, something that really increased my interest in him. Being an artistic spirit myself, I told him about my hobby and my dream of having a large house with a workshop one day, not that little one-storey thing I currently lived in. He could completely understand since he often had arguments with his neighbours when he practiced. That was why he wished for his own house with a practice room that he could have enchanted to be soundproof. Problem was that it would not be cheap.

At some point when we talked, Applejack and Twilight had disappeared. Contrary to her earlier threat, she had apparently carried the unicorn home. And it eventually came to the time that Berry wanted to close, so I had to make a decision. Did I want to let this stallion into my life and try it? He couldn’t make this step, his place was occupied. Then my fuck-it-attitude set it. I couldn’t get more pregnant, and he was a nice guy. I could really imagine a relationship with him. So I spoke the words that were the universal code as we left the bar. “Do you want to come to my place for coffee?”

That was the point where I started to give this a story.

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Thanks to JBL for co-authoring, proofreading and editing.
And special thanks to Handyman for helping keep JBL from bashing his head in from frustration. - His own words, not mine ^^