Author's Notes:

Trigger warning: semi graphic descriptions of a birth.

Also because I can't put this at the end. I tried to edit this. I probably failed. Yeah.

Gentle had been back from lunch for a bit now. She was busy preparing food for the animals in her care. I was included in that and she had been mixing up a large batch of the kibble. I however was on a wet food diet now. Gentle had decided that I wasn’t going to get enough water drinking it like that and as such I had to have soggy kibble when ever I ate. It was pretty much the worst.

Kristen, Zack and Emily had yet to find their own homes. At least they were here, even if Zack found it funny I had to eat soggy kibble. If I had been in any mood, I might have tried to blast him with that water gun I had done earlier. As it was I didn’t really feel like I had it in me and that water had to come from somewhere. I certainly wasn’t going to waste it on him.

Kristen had been a bit distant since our talk and I guess I couldn’t blame her. There was so much for her to figure out and not everyone was like me and just flipped the switch on accepting you were trans. She had asked to still have us use she pronouns for her and I understood all to well why. It made it seemed too forced for her otherwise. Maybe in time she would come around to those pronouns and not twitch every time one of the ponies called her a good boy. I hoped she could grow comfortable in all of this.

Emily spent less time asleep today. Gentle had brought her down from upstairs and has the four of us sit together in the front room while she was out baking the kibble. She was even worse than Kristen and was still being bottle fed. At least she wasn’t refusing it anymore. Her eyes looked dead and I wished there was something we could do for her. As it was, it just seemed like we had to hope she would come out of her stupor on her own. Only time would tell.

<Look I am going for a walk,> said Zack. <I can’t stand being shut in like this for so long. Besides we haven’t even met all the town yet. How am I supposed to have a sweet pad if I don’t go out and meet all these ponies.>

<Gentle asked us to stay here,> I said.

<So,> retorted Zack. <She isn’t our boss. Or master. Or whatever. Just tell her I went on a walk. I can’t stand to be here with Mopey one and two and Dopey.>

<Don’t call Emily Dopey,> I said angry.

<I wasn’t. You are dopey. A freaking Popplio in the middle of a forest. Yeah you are definitely Dopey.>

I turned away from him in my tub. I didn’t want to deal with this now. It was hard to not feel rather horrible about the being stuck in a wash tub only a bit bigger than I was. I kept telling myself at least I wasn’t like Emily. That what she was going through was harder. That didn’t really make any of this better. The only saving grace so far was Fond. She was extremely attentive, though I worried that Ty might have been missing out because of that, and came to visit as often as she could spare. Gentle had decided I could go home with Fond today. I wasn’t looking forward to leaving Kristen and Emily alone with Zack, if just because he was an ass.

Zack left the house, though he had trouble with the front door and could barely get it closed after he left. So the three of us sat in silence. The door opened again and I looked up to see if it was Zack deciding against being a jerk. Unsurprised, it was not him. Gentle walked in and smiled at us. Fond came in behind her. Coming over to us, Fond scooped me up into a hug, ignoring how wet she got and nuzzled my head. I felt a bit better about today but it still seemed like a disservice to Emily and Kristen to leave with Fond.

“How was your day?” asked Fond.

She couldn’t understand what I was saying but it wasn’t like I couldn’t try and maybe after a while she might learn at least enough to understand a bit of what I meant. I had heard cats and their owners did this. Why wouldn’t this be true of Pokemon and their friends?

<Slow, boring, and in a way cloudy,> I said.

“I hope that meant it went well,” said Fond. I shook my head as at least that was something she wasn’t likely to mistake for joy. “Oh I’m sorry about that. Well maybe getting some fresh air will help.”

I shrugged, or well a close approximation to it. Fond set me back down and pulled off the saddlebag she was wearing. It looked new and made of canvas and fur of some sort, rabbit I assumed. Fond placed me into the snug fit and then strapped me in before placing me back on her back. I was worried I would be too heavy as I took up most of her back but she seemed to barely even notice my weight. Horses were strong creatures back home and it seemed the ponies were no exception to that.

“Take good care of her,” said Gentle. “Make sure she is eating wet food, even if she doesn’t want to.”

“I will,” said Fond. “Come on Alice lets go for a walk and we can decide where the pond should be. But we should get Ty first. He or she, I don’t know, seems a bit lonely already.”

<I can see that,> I said. It would be good to see them even if I was still stuck being carried everywhere. What I wouldn’t give for legs or just an easier time getting places. It didn’t seem like that was to be and so I sighed and resigned myself to being carried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zack

Zack wondered the small town. There wasn’t anything here to really keep his attention even if everything was new and should have been exciting. Maybe it had to do with being a Pokemon. He wasn’t really certain. Maybe if he had something to do it wouldn’t be so bad. He hadn’t said it before but he definitely enjoyed being busy. Ty could try to run that game still and that might be fun for a while. It sure beat sitting around all day acting like the world had ended.

He stopped in front of one of the houses. It had an open workshop on the ground level and Zack could see a earth pony working with a grinder that seemed to run off of magic or electricity. The white pony didn’t seem to notice him yet and she brushed her dual colored mane out of her face. Zack walked up to her but kept a safe distance from her, if just so he didn’t get hit if she got spooked.

Over the loud sound of dust and noise being made, Zack didn’t notice another pony sneak up on him until they were right upon them. She was obviously pregnant and had mint green fur and blonde and white mane. Her horn lit up and the grinder slowed to a stop.

“Hi,” she said to the other mare. “You have an audience today.”

“Huh,” said the earth pony mare. She turned to look at Zack. “So I do. That is one of those creatures Gentle is trying to find homes for isn’t it.”

“I think so,” said the unicorn mare. “Hows it going little thing.”

<Boring,> said Zack. He didn’t expect either of them to understand him but it was polite to respond. <I was hoping to find a nice place to stay and something to do with my time. I kinda hate being so free.>

“You sure are talkative,” said the earth pony mare. “So is your name Mawile?”

Zack shook his head. It wasn’t like they would understand his spoken response. Still at least they made and effort.

“How was your talk with Glitter?” asked the earth pony of the unicorn.

“It was nice,” said the Unicorn. “She thinks I will be giving birth in a few weeks is all. I don’t know if I should be excited or nervous.”

“Either way, I’ll be there for you,” said the earth pony. She planted a kiss on the other pony and they then nuzzled their heads together. It seemed odd for a moment that two mares would be like that but so far there seemed to be many more mares than stallions as far as Zack could tell so maybe it was fairly normal here.

“I have to go see if Stirling needs any help today,” said the unicorn. “I just wanted to stop by and say I love you.”

“I love you too,” said the earth pony.

The unicorn started to walk away and not seeing any reason to stay there and watch was seemed like rather boring work, Zack followed her. She didn’t seem to mind the company though and they both were rather slow walkers so it was easy enough to keep up. Their walk wasn’t too far thankfully, as Zack was worried about the very pregnant mare being out and about so much, and they entered the tall tower. The bottom floor was filled to the brim with bookshelves though most of them were mostly empty. A desk sat off to one side where a unicorn sat working on some paperwork of some sort. She had white fur and gray mane and looked up with her brilliant blue eyes.

“Oh hi Golden,” said the new unicorn, she must have been Stirling. “I told you that I didn’t need your help for a bit. I have this covered you know. You should be resting.”

“I’m fine for a bit of walking,” said Golden. She looked rather annoyed. “It isn’t like I am disabled or anything.”

“I didn’t mean that,” said Stirling. “But I honestly don’t have anything for you to help with right now. I finished the contract for the mine and all I have been doing today is banging my head against my attempts at writing fiction.”

“Well maybe I can help you brainstorm,” said Golden. She winced suddenly and shook her head. “Sorry little one just bucking again.”

“See, you need your rest. My fiction can wait,” said Stirling. “It isn’t like I don’t have plenty of free time. Besides I think I might go for a walk. Clear the mind and all that.”

Zack couldn’t help but be happy that Golden wasn’t going to be busy spending time brainstorming. It seemed rather boring to him. He could have left her there with Stirling but something kept him by her side. She seemed nice enough and in a way he felt a comradeship with her. They both were stuck because of circumstance.

“Fine,” said Golden. “I guess I can just go have a lay down. I just feel so useless.”

“You have been listening to Iron Hoof too much,” said Stirling. “You are carrying the first foals to be born in Bellinghoof and you do your best to help out where you can. Just right now your job is to keep yourself and your foals safe. Do you want me to walk you back to your house?”

“No it is only two doors down,” said Golden. She winced again. “I can manage that. Though it would be nice if the foals would stop kicking.”

“I can imagine,” said Stirling.

Golden wandered back out of the tower and Zack followed. Something felt off to him and his nose could pick up the faint smells of something coming off of Golden. He shrugged maybe that was just the way she always smelt. Still she had slowed considerably. She let out a low whine and seemed to pee herself. It didn’t take long for Zack to grasp what was happening. She was going into labor.

Golden fell to the ground after she let out a low yowl of pain. Zack tried to catch her and was just strong enough to stop her from crashing into the ground completely. He could feel her spasm though as another contraction ran through her. They seemed to be coming rather quickly but maybe that was normal for ponies.

<Somebody, anybody, help,> shouted Zack as loud as he could. He didn’t want to run and get help in case something worse happened to his sudden charge. Thankfully his voice must have carried as Stirling poked her head out of the tower looking over at them. She swore and dashed over.

“I told you you should be resting,” said Stirling.

“Not a good time for told you sos,” said Golden through tight and quick breathes. Another contraction rocked through her and she yelped in pain. “Why now?”

“Golden,” shouted earth pony from earlier. She galloped up to us and scooped up Golden’s head. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Cracked, I need you to go get Gentle and Gleaming,” said Stirling. “I’ll carry her to a bed. We will be at Dirty’s.”

The earth pony nodded and ran off up the street. Stirling’s horn lit up and she lifted Golden from the ground with a grunt. Sweat formed on her brow as she walked towards the inn. Zack followed quickly. He could see she was dilating from the angle she was being floated at. How quick was labor for ponies? They barely made it into the inn when the first foal came. It was a lot of screaming and then a small sherbet unicorn squeezed out of Golden. Stirling wasn’t ready for that and Golden had been nearly head level above the ground. Zack caught the foal holding it gently as she started to cry. Golden screamed again as she shook from another contraction. There were more coming.

As the second foal came, Gentle ran into the room. Stirling had stopped only a bit into the inn after the first foal came. Seemed safer than trying to go up the stairs. Gentle had brought her medical kit with her and started to tend to Golden. Zack still held the first foal. The small one was a bit bigger than an armful for Zack and he gently rocked the baby. Zack had never been at such an event before and something in him had clicked. He had found his home even if the ponies he would be living with didn’t know it yet. Stirling sat down next to Zack holding an indigo unicorn foal. Golden didn’t seem done yet as she let out another howl. Gleaming came into the inn and Glitter was coming out with a pot of boiled water. There was too much going on for Zack’s liking but he could suffer through it anyway. Mary had come up to him and was staring at the foal. Neither of them felt like talking.

There was a crash and hot watter splashed across the room. Zack blocked it from the foal with his body letting it sizzle against his iron like skin. It hurt but not all that much. Looking in the direction of the crash he noticed, Glitter on the floor spasming. Mary had rushed over to her and was doing her best to hold the pegasus’s head still. Gentle looked torn between the two of her patients and thankfully Gleaming seemed to be calm enough to act.

“Stirling I want you to tend to Glitter,” said Gleaming loudly. Her voice must have been amplified by magic. “Gentle we need to keep tending to Golden. She is almost done and then we have to stem the bleeding. I don't’ think it is all that bad but you are the only one here who has delivered foals before.”

Gentle nodded and turned back to the mare in labor. Zack felt rather useless as there was another scream from Golden. Cracked had ran in and was holding Golden’s hoof and mumbling assurances to her. Three foals at once seemed rather spectacular even to Zack. How she had carried so much extra pony with her was beyond Zack. With a final scream, a white filly whose fur was marred with blood popped out. Gleaming passed the foal to Cracked and set to work fixing up Golden. Both Gentle and Gleaming had to work for a good hour before they seemed done. Golden had fallen asleep during that time and somehow the whole town had shown up. Zack still held the small sherbet filly with a darker but similar colored mane. The filly had the eyes the size of saucers and Zack couldn’t help but nuzzle the little one. She was just so cute. Maybe this was worth all the pain of being here.