Double Grounded
 
Prompt - A silly conversation.
Pinkie visits her new hippogriff friend at Mount Aris, where 'one small thing' has led to quite a lot of not-so-small things.
 
Tags - SFW, Hyper Pregnancy, Mild Belly Worship, Mild Feeding
 
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The moment she reached the top of the treacherous stone staircase to the peak of Mount Aris, Pinkie Pie was seized by a pair of taloned paws and drawn into a hug so tight and sincere that it left her even more breathless than the climb.
 
"Pinkie!" Princess Skystar exclaimed, burying the smaller pony's head in her feathered chest, "You're here!"
 
Pinkie drew back and gasped for breath, breaking into a broad grin at the sight of the hippogriff princess and returning the embrace as best he could. "Of course, silly! I never miss a bi-monthly saving-equestria-for-like-the-dozenth time new friend meetup!"
 
Skystar's beak spread into a grin equally wide, and she eased herself down onto her haunches to give Pinkie a little room to breathe. "Ooh, we're going to have so much fun! I can show you the palace refurbishments and the new market-"
 
"-and I can catch up with Shelley and Sheldon and Queen Novo-" Pinkie cut her off, so smoothly that it was almost as if she knew precisely what Skystar was going to say.
 
"-and you can tell me all about how Princess Twilight and the others are doing-"
 
"-and we can fly all the say up to the very summit and watch the sunset..."
 
Skystar hesitated. "Oh. Um... Pinkie, I don't think we can do that this time."
 
"Wh-what's wrong?" Pinkie asked, her enthusiasm deflating.
 
The hippogriff princess scratched her neck, lowering her voice. "I'm, ah, supposed to be grounded."
 
Pinkie gasped, shocked. "Grounded? Again? Oh Starry, what did you do this time?"
 
Skystar let Pinkie go, rising to all fours again. "Oh no, no. Not like that. Well, not entirely like that. See - I'm *grounded*." She motioned to the tremendous round swell of her midsection, and then demonstrated by flapping her wings and taking to the air. Or at least attempting to. For a few fleeting, gravity defying seconds, the very pregnant Princess Skystar hovered a few inches off the ground with all the grace of a blimp. She slowly eased herself back down, grinning bashfully.
 
"Ohhhhhhhh," Pinkie acknowledged. "Grounded."
 
"Well, and Mom ordered me not to fly any more until the foals are here," Skystar huffed, settling her center of gravity. "It's not my fault she left that priceless vase in such a narrow corridor."
 
Pinkie giggled and, gossiping, they proceeded into the city together side by salient side. With the Storm King defeated and the southern reaches of Equestria safe once more, the hippogriffs had reclaimed their mountaintop capital. All around were the sights and sounds of a town slowly and happily waking up from years of quiet slumber. Sounds of construction and commerce filled the air, as did the duelling smells of fresh paint and fresher food.
 
Skystar's pregnancy was no secret by now, of course; the inevitable result of partying a little *too* hard on the eve of Canterlot's liberation had rendered the heir of Mount Aris and Seaquestria with heirs of her own. Hippogriff and pony alike had celebrated the announcement in light of their newfound alliance. But by this point, as the months passed and the royal birth crept lazily but inevitably closer, even Pinkie was surprised at just how big Skystar had been getting. Every bi-monthly visit, the jubilant cream-coloured hippogriff had greeted Pinkie at the head of the stairs, her tummy appreciably rounder, heavier and more tightly-packed than the last time. By now it was only thanks to her slender, long-legged build that she could still walk at all. The belly she sported for this latest visit would have floored even the stoutest earth pony, but she nonetheless insisted on meeting her friend at the city gates and walking her to the palace just as she had every single time previously. Nothing could stop her - not her mother, not the royal guard; not even the weight and mass of eight healthy, active baby hippogriffs crowding her abdomen.
 
While Pinkie bounced along, energetic and apparently weightless as always, Skystar waddled blithely at her side, chattering away as if nothing at all had changed since they first met. The mass of her belly hung more than halfway to the ground, widening brazenly outwards to both sides, forcing her to take a wide stance. She spread out her stubby, taloned forepaws to distribute weight while her hooves did the hard work of propelling her forward. Even that ponderous gait wasn't enough to keep her entirely stable, each small movement causing her swollen belly to sway. Slowly, but with all the potential of a butter-coloured wrecking ball. Ground-bound hippogriffs respectfully evacuated their princess' path to the palace, quietly taking anything fragile or edible with them.
 
The guards' stoic vigils cracked slightly; they pointed awkward looks at the floors, ceilings, each other and occasionally Skystar herself. Okay, so bedding her mother's *entire* honor guard that night in Canterlot might not have been the wisest decision, but she was a hero and also grounded. Who could blame her, really? Maybe she was just that pent up after so long exiled beneath the sea. On top of that, she was sure that Equestrian food did something funny to hippogriffs (*so good!*). Of course, this meant that nopony actually knew for sure who the father was - it could have been any one of the palace guard. Or more than one. Or all of them. The only way to find out was to wait and see. None of this had escaped Pinkie's notice, of course, and the moment they were safely inside Princess Skystar's room (temporarily relocated to the ground floor) and a faintly blushing guard closed the door behind them, the two friends broke out into a fit of lighthearted sniggering.
 
The room itself was colourful and cosy, decorated with a chaotic mix of new furnishings and familiar trinkets brought up from Seaquestria. Shells in abundance, of course, but exotic-looking shards of coral and precious gemstones also decorated the room. Shelley and Sheldon watched over the entire strange scene from a strategically placed shelf, their googly-eyed stares as uncritical as ever. Queen Novo had spared no expense in ensuring her daughter's comfort; Skystar eased herself down onto a large, opulently plush floor mattress. Despite her boundless energy and enthusiasm for socialising, the gravid hippogriff had to admit that it was time to take a load off her poor limbs for a few minutes. Just a quick break to sit down. Or lie down. Or lie down, roll over and lounge. It wasn't long before heaviness and inertia had sprawled her on one side, the mass of her belly lifted prominently into the air with the underside exposed.
 
"Make yourself at home," she said brightly after biting back a yawn. "I just need a minute. We can do... stuff."
 
Pinkie gasped in shock. "Ooh! Almost forgot! I said hi to you, but not everyone else!"
 
Within moments, Pinkie had descended on Skystar's prone and rotund form, drawing close to the mammoth cream-coloured swell and prodding it gently. "Hi number one! Hi number two! Do they have names yet? Hi number three!" Unable to reach the entire thing from one position, the hyperactive mare flitted around Skystar like a hummingbird with no sense of direction or personal space. Whatever bizarre powers of perception Pinkie possessed, she had located all eight little ones in a matter of seconds - and woken them all up with gentle hoof bumps. Eager to greet her with what seemed like equal enthusiasm, Skystar's little passengers began to clamour and fidget, sending gentle but visible ripples of motion moving across the taut expanse of her tummy.
 
Skystar giggled out loud, clutching her suddenly very active and ticklish tummy to try and contain the little storm of kicks. "H-hey!" She tried to playfully swat Pinkie away, but after some fruitless flailing she instead laid her paws on her belly and began to rub gently in an attempt to calm her boisterous brood down. "One day I'm going to figure out how you do that." She sighed softly, splaying her toes. "Haven't picked names yet. There's so many good ones to choose from - and their daddy will want a say too." She paused, then smiled warmly. "And they say hi."
 
Pinkie grinned, leaning in close to give Skystar - or more appropriately, her midsection - a big hug of her own. The hippogriff's entire body was covered with cotton-soft, downy feathers and her belly was no exception. Even with the feathers a little more spread than usual the entire thing, brimming with life, was as supportive and warm as a freshly laundered cushion. She felt like she could just sink into it and relax the afternoon away, and was half-tempted to do just that. Pinkie brushed her cheek against great downy mountain, dropping her voice to a stage whisper. "Heya. Don't tell mom, but I bought cake..."
 
Skystar squirmed, trying to get her paws on the pesky pink party pony, but it was simply no use. Even without being weighed down by over half a dozen princes and princesses-to-be, she couldn't have hoped to match Pinkie's bizarre speed. But then, the moment she opened her beak to protest the teasing, Pinkie held a delicious-looking slice of chocolate cake right in front of her face, producing it as if from nowhere. With a single mammoth bite she snatched the entire thing from Pinkie's hoof and gobbled it down in one go. It tasted divine; a generous outer layer of thick and creamy icing with a soft, filling sponge center. The sort of decadent treat that only Equestrian cooking could provide. The rest of the cake lay tantalizingly out of reach off to one side on the bedside table.
 
"Don't eat it too fast, Starry," Pinkie mock-scolded. "You'll get a tummyache."
 
Skystar pouted, attempting to right herself while licking crumbs from her beak. "But I'm hungry now..." she whined, trying and failing to match Pinkie's playful insincerity.
 
Pinkie relented, moving to fetch the cake before Skystar could exert herself. "Yowie. Mrs. Cake couldn't stop sneaking little bits of her own pastries when she was getting ready to have the twins. You must be ravenous, huh?"
 
Skystar nodded, stretching her legs and leaning towards her friend expectantly. "All the time, Pinkie," she whined. "Still a month to go and I feel like a whale."
 
Pinkie shrugged, propped her head and shoulder gently against the princess' soft, octuplet-packed midriff, then sank down until she had settled into a comfortable snuggling position in the shadow of her friend's looming tum. Comfortably situated, she offered up another slice of the delectable cake. Wordlessly Skystar took the treat between her paws and devoured it with alarming speed. "Starry," Pinkie said, absent-mindedly stroking the wall of smooth, soft hippogriff she lay beside, "Want to just relax today instead of running around and doing stuff?"
 
"Cake first. Then... maybe nap."