The Snow on Her Cheek

Afterword

***

The room wasn't elaborately decorated: aside from a few cupboards and the desk, in front of which Octavia and Vinyl were sitting, there was nothing of interest here. Countless diplomas adorned the walls, promising that the doctor, to whom the mares had turned to, was a real professional.

A few weeks had passed since their wedding; but the "tingling" in Octavia's stomach hadn't subsided. On the contrary, it was bugging her every other day; and she would often wake up with a terrible urge to vomit. Vinyl was terribly concerned about her wife, and had practically dragged her to the doctor's to do all possible tests.

Now, they were sitting in the doctor's office, waiting for him to come. Vinyl put a comforting hoof onto Octavia's back. "Don't worry, Tavi, I'm sure it's just some sort of virus or something," she tried to calm her mare, who, in reality, needed being calmed far less than the pianist herself. "We'll deal with it easily."

The door swung wide open, and a brown stallion in a white robe rushed into the office.

"Miss Philarmonica, I presume?" he addressed the grey mare, running a hoof through his black mane.

"Missis Philarmonica," Octavia corrected him softly.

"My fault," the doctor apologised immediately, taking a folder out of nowhere, as it seemed to them. "Tend to get lost in time, you know?" he chuckled, looking through the papers.

"Do we know you?" Vinyl asked suspiciously, eyeing the stallion's hourglass cutie mark.

"Don't think so," the doctor replied. "All right! Congratulations, Missis Philarmonica!" His face beamed with a wide smile. "You're pregnant!"

Octavia's eyes grew wide, and Vinyl's jaw fell open. A few moments of uneasy silence had passed before the cellist finally managed to form her thoughts properly. "How?" she asked, her throat dry. "I have never been... with a stallion before..."

"Oh, it's not necessary." The doctor winked playfully. "I see that you two are married?" Receiving nods from both mares, he continued happily, "Then all is clear! You see, when two mares partake in a sexual activity, and... a horn is involved..." Vinyl blushed furiously and closed her eyes. "The... um... 'receiving' mare will eventually become pregnant! All it takes is love and some magic!" the brown stallion concluded with a grin.

"So...  Is it true?" Octavia blinked. "Am I really... pregnant?"

"Well, since you didn't use horn condoms..." the Doctor replied, which resulted in a squeak from Vinyl. "...And since the results of the tests don't lie, you will soon become a mother!"

To Vinyl's surprise, Octavia let out a happy squee and hugged her tightly. "Hehe, Tavi? You all right?" she wondered, while she herself was on top of the world: never in her life had she thought that she would be able to become a mother, being a filly-fooler and all...

"Vinyl, I'm so happy! I would have never thought I would become a mother! I mean, I love you dearly, but Vinyl, a foal! Just think about it - our foal!"

Vinyl gasped. "Tavi, can you believe it - I've just thought the same!"

"This happens," the doctor suddenly said. "When two ponies love each other very much, their thoughts sometimes coincide."

Vinyl and Octavia blushed a little, but nodded happily. Suddenly, Vinyl's smile faded a little. "Tavi, there's one thing that's bothering me..." she said quietly. "I mean, I've had really bad parents, and you know that..." Octavia nodded sympathetically and stroked her wife's chin. "I'm afraid, Tavi. I don't know if I'll be able to become a good mother myself..."

"You will," Octavia said in a determined tone, confident in her words.

"You will," the Doctor said at same time, making the mares look at him in surprise. "Um... I mean..." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Not that I can see into the future or anything..." His eyes drifted across the room. "Oh! How could I forget! I, um, have a concilium to attend! My congratulations, good-bye!" he yelled as he moved closer and closer to the door with each word and finally slid out of the room, his hoofsteps echoing across the corridor.

Vinyl and Octavia exchanged confused looks. The cellist shrugged and planted a kiss on the tip of her mare's horn. "Thank you. Vinyl. Thank you for gifting me with our foal."

Vinyl blushed and let out an uneasy chuckle. "Um, you're welcome? I mean, I'm totally happy too." She smiled and kissed Octavia gently.

In a few moments, they got up and trotted out of the office, their moods higher than the sun that was shining brightly in the sky.

"You know, I have this feeling I have seen this doctor somewhere..." Octavia said as they trotted along the hospital corridor.

"I know, right?!" Vinyl exclaimed. "As if we've met him somewhere..."

The two mares trotted towards the exit, and at the same time, towards a brighter future. The future where there will be three of them. The future of their family.

***

Meanwhile, Doctor Redhoof entered his office, eager to break the good news to the famous Octavia Philarmonica. "Missis Philarmonica, I have wonderful news for you! You're pre- huh?" The stallion blinked as he eyed his empty office. "I'm pretty sure I asked them to wait..." He approached the desk and raised a brow quizzically, seeing the folder with the test results open on the desk. "Hmm. I guess the nurse just brought the folder, and they left happily, seeing the results. Not the first time it's happened, after all." He chuckled, looking out of the window.

"It's not like some alien came here and told them, eh?"

~THE END~