What was supposed to be a casual meeting between four friends turned into a scene of toddler turmoil. Tulip was screeching like a tea kettle as Snapdragon tugged at her mane, all the while Dust Bunny was making a mess finding random things to hide in.

Thunderclap struggled to pull the babies off of eachother without hurting their frail little frames, while Motor handled pulling Dust Bunny out of random boxes and cleaning up the mess which would be made again only seconds later.

“Stop hurting your sister Snappy!” Thunder groaned once she finally swept them up with her wings and held them far apart from each other.

“Sorry about this guys! You know how rascally three foals can be! Sometimes I wish we could just drop ‘em off with Mom for a few hours…or years.”

She ended her sentence with a giggle and a wink at her brother who gave her a nervous chuckle as he pulled his son from a flower pot.

“Just wait til you give birth sis!” He said, shuddering at the memory of his own wife giving birth.

Thunder recoiled. “What do you know? Quit stallionsplaining!”

Diamond Mine watched the scene unfold, a twinge of jealousy in her heart. Those triplets were a hooffull for sure, but still…she envied her friends. What she would give to have just one foal.

Pippin seemed to notice her feelings, as she spoke up. “Now now, parentin’ sure keeps ya on your hooftips, but ain’t it worth it?”

Motor shrugged in response to Pippin’s odd question, looking down to his children then looking back up at her.

“Well yeah, but I haven’t slept in four years! It’s constant whining, and crying, and spitting up, and pulling at each other’s manes, and kicking each other! I love them but what I wouldn’t give to get some REST!”

Thunder let out a deep sigh and nodded. “I’m definitely NOT looking forward to that. Right now is just as bad! I cant sleep on my stomach or my back, I can hardly walk, and my hooves hurt like hell!”

“Do you know how LUCKY you are?”

Everypony went quiet, turning their heads towards Diamond. She was practically shaking, shooting the two pegasi a sharp glare.

“Diamond-“

“I would give ANYTHING to have just ONE foal. And you have the NERVE to take yours for granted? To want to give them away?”

“By Luna’s stars, Diamond,” Thunder exclaimed, “It was just a joke!”

Motor nodded fearfully in agreement with his sister, meek from exhaustion.

“We love our foals with all our hearts, we wouldnt trade them for all of Equestria! You gotta learn to take a joke hon.”

“NO!” She stomped, tears welling up in her eyes. “You should NEVER EVER joke about that! About giving up your foals! You two have NO RIGHT to complain about what you’re so lucky to have! Why?”

“Diamond-“

“BECAUSE I LOST MY FOAL! AND I’LL NEVER HAVE ONE, NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY!”

With that, Diamond broke down into sobs, swiveling around and galloping out the door.

As a result of Diamond’s shouting, the toddlers began to scream and throw a tantrum just as she had. Thunder and Motor were too busy hushing and calming the babies to really pay attention or react to her outburst.

But Pippin, she was more quick to react. Shooting her friends an apologetic glance, she was out, looking for her wife. They needed to talk.

*****

After awhile of running and searching, Pippin finally caught up to Diamond on the outskirts of town. There she lay, sobbing under a tree and looking like a complete, pitiful mess. But that didn’t excuse how she’d treated her friends.

”Diamond!” Pippin snapped. “What gives?”

The unicorn mare jerked her head up, her face a mess of tears. “They…they have NO IDEA how lucky they are. They don’t even know what they have but I do! Because I don’t have it!”

”Diamond, you gotta cut that out! Parentin’ is hard! We’d be plum-tuckered too if we had three foals. Give ‘em a break!”

”Why?” Diamond cried. “Why can’t we have that? It’s so easy for them to have foals—not even planned—but no matter how hard we try…I try, I just can’t! It’s just so hard, Pippi…”

As Diamond buried her head back into her hooves, Pippin’s expression softened. She sat down next to her and took her into a loving embrace.

”I know. But you can’t take it out on others like that.”

”I’m sorry…”

“We may not be able to have a baby the way ya want to, Diamond, but we’ll keep searchin’ for other ways. I know how much we both want this. But until then, ya gotta try to stay strong.”