Chapter 8: Aftermath

Pinkie Pie was sitting in her room, all by herself, for the tenth day straight. Ever since Celestia had come to visit many of her friends, except for Rainbow Dash, had not come to see her, and Discord has been busy with something as well, meaning she was truly alone. With each day Pinkie was noticing that Rainbow was visiting for less and less time, and while she was there she was visibly uncomfortable. If she wasn't the element of loyalty Pinkie was sure she would have been like her other friends and not shown up at all. Even Fluttershy, the kindest and sweetest pony in Ponyville didn't want to come to visit Pinkie.

"What did I do wrong..." Pinkie whispered sadly to herself as the noises of the Cake twins happily playing in their room came through the walls. It had been a week since she had been allowed into their room to play with them. The last time she was Pinkie had snapped at them, causing both of them to become afraid of her. Mr and Mrs Cake had told her to stay away from them for a little while, claiming that the time away would allow the twins to forget about her snapping at them, but Pinkie knew deep down that it was an excuse so she wouldn't do something like it again.

"Pinkie?" Mrs Cake asked slowly from the doorway, her head just barely peeking through into the room. When she saw Pinkie she was shocked. Her normally bouncy mane was straight as it could be, and her vibrant colors seemed to have drained from her, leaving two bleak shades of pink in their place.

"Yes Mrs Cake?" Pinkie asked sadly, not bothering to turn and face Mrs Cake directly, instead staring at her through the mirror.

"We were told to come and get you," Mrs Cake said, looking back behind the door at Mr Cake, "You have to go for a check up today" Pinkie sighed quietly before getting off her stool and heading for the door, her emotionless face crying out for attention, but Mr and Mrs Cake were both unsure of what to do. They had never seen Pinkie act this way before in all the time they've known her, and if she ever let it show before, she did it discretely.

"Are you guys coming with me?" Pinkie asked slowly from the bottom of the stairs, snapping Mr and Mrs Cake out of their thoughts. They gave each other a worried look before heading down the stairs together. Once they were all situated Mrs Cake grabbed the twins, who had stumbled to the stairs when they heard their parents going down. As soon as the closed sign was placed on the door they headed off, towards Pinkie's seven month check up.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Well that went..." Mr Cake tried to say as the group left the hospital's main entrance, "Okay?"

"I wouldn't exactly say that honey bun" Mrs Cake said sadly as she looked at Pinkie, who was looking down at the ground as she trotted up a head. Mrs Cake had headed into the room with her, so she could have some moral support, but it didn't help her any. The entire appointment had been surrounded by an awkward atmosphere, things heading downhill as soon as the doctor had seen Discord's name in the box for the father of the foal. After that Pinkie became unresponsive and attempted to end the appointment as fast as she could, but it still took at least an hour for them to get out.

"What happened in there?" Mr Cake asked as Pinkie kicked a rock so hard that it got stuck in a tree stump. Mrs Cake sighed and told him that they did an ultrasound. When they looked at the scan they saw a small Pegasus, but it had something that stumped the doctor, and that was a goat's horn. They had to call another two doctors into the room so they could confirm that it was a goat's horn and not just a strange growth or dead twin. As Pinkie heard the news her color faded even more, her bright blue eyes becoming a depressing navy color.

"Wow..." Mr Cake said as he looked at Pinkie, who was now nowhere to be seen. The Cakes looked around frantically, and after running up ahead they found the door to the bakery open, a pink tail disappearing into it just as they got there. Despite how worried the Cakes were they knew they would have to give Pinkie some time to adjust to the news, as well as to figure out whatever it was that was bothering her already. In the meantime the Cakes would get back to work, as the day was not over yet.

Meanwhile Pinkie was laying on her bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. She had remembered what Discord had shown her in one of her dreams about the foal, but never did he mention that it might be born with some strange horn or anything like that. At first Pinkie was afraid that the foal, which was also confirmed to be a filly, was going to be bullied and made fun of for being different, but the more she thought about it the more she was afraid of what Celestia was going to do. If the foal could use magic, and it was half as powerful as it's father, then it would have to be kept locked away forever, or worse...

"Why did this all have to happen?" Pinkie asked as she began to cry, stuffing her face into her pillow so that no pony could hear her sobs, a kick coming from her stomach to remind her why she was so sad. Thoughts of the young filly having a terrible life flashed through her mind, ranging from extreme bullying, all the way to spending her days just like her father, imprisoned in stone. As Pinkie continued to sob she heard Mrs Cake scream from downstairs, followed by the sound of dishes shattering, and then Pinkie's door opening a few moments later. When she turned around she saw Discord himself standing in the doorway, a sad smile on his face.

"Hello my sweet strawberry pie"