Rainbow's Choice

by Metaphor

Rating: teen
Tags: Cutie Mark Crusaders, Main 6, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash
Length: 31764

Rainbow Dash has a choice to make but how will she respond to it and what will her friends think of her?

When Rainbow Dash wakes up tired one morning little does she know that her life is about to be turned upside down. When she discovers the truth she is left with a very difficult decision to make that will affect the rest of her life. Should she focus only on her needs or does she take a wider view and possibly sacrifice everything she has worked so hard to achieve. Should she listen to her friends? What will they think of her when she finally decides?

Published 2013-12-16 23:10:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-22 08:57:10 UTC

Chapter 1

As a beam of morning sun found its way through a crack in the curtains a rather irritated groan sounded from within the darkened room. A blue coloured Pegasus stirred in her sleep as she was dragged from the depths of dreamland and back to reality.

“Oooooh, why do you have to spoil my lie in?” complained Rainbow as she turned over in her bed, “I don’t have weather duty until ten...could easily fit in another few hours of sleep...”

Rainbow gave a sigh and stretched, her back giving several loud cracks as she tried to shake off her drowsiness. She had been finding it harder and harder to get up in a morning over the last few weeks. She had been training hard in her spare time like she usually did...perhaps she was over doing it?

“Over doing it my hoof!” she scoffed at the wall, “Besides if I don’t practice AJ might beat me at this year’s Iron Pony competition...got a reputation to uphold after all.”

Rainbow grinned broadly as she stepped out of bed and crossed to mirror on the far wall. She must have slept a little roughly, her rainbow coloured mane looking a little messy. She frowned and cast a cautious glance around the room as if looking for some unseen spy. After a moment she raised a hoof and opened a draw on a small cabinet to her side. Again she looked around before pulling a hairbrush from the draw and sitting down in front of the mirror.

It may seem a little strange but Rainbow was still slightly paranoid following the incident with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the ‘dreaded’ Gabby Gums. She was thankful that most ponies had simply forgotten about the incident but she certainly hadn’t. Whilst she didn’t hold any ill will against the young foals she was always on the lookout for cameras. After all she was a Wonderbolt in training and she didn’t want any incriminating girly evidence causing her embarrassment.

Putting the thought aside she set about brushing the evidence of sleep from her mane. It didn’t take long, Rainbow having a short style compared to most mares. As she looked herself in the mirror she gave a large yawn before getting up and wandering slowly into the next room. Today’s weather business was for Ponyville and she knew she should be looking forward to that...but for some reason she just wanted to go back to bed. What was wrong with her today?

She shook her head. No this wasn’t like her! She grinned as best she could and trotted over towards the balcony. Outside the sun had already risen and the balcony basked in its warm rays. Looking down from her cloud home Rainbow could see Ponyville a short way off. In her mind she could already imagine what the others would be up to. Applejack had likely been up since before the sun had risen, she wondered how many trees she had already bucked that day. Twilight would no doubt be nose deep in her studies already, she had to remember to drop by and pick up the latest Daring Do book from her. Fluttershy was likely giving her animals their morning feed, speaking of food Tank needed a fresh supply of lettuce. Rarity she knew was working on her dresses, she had been going on and on about a new order she had taken all week. And Pinkie, well who knows? Out of all her friends she was the only one she could never predict.

But speaking of Pinkie, Sugarcube Corner definitely sounded like a good place to start the day. A nice breakfast before cloud busting duty would no doubt help her out. Again Rainbow gave a smile and stepped out onto the balcony. She fanned her wings in the morning sun and then leaped from the balcony. For a moment she allowed herself to free fall, enjoying the rushing feeling of the wing through her coat and mane. As the trees below began to approach though she unfurled her wings the wind catching her feathers and pulling her into a graceful swoop that sent her skimming the top of the branches. Her morning sleepiness was forgotten, this is what she needed. The feel of the rushing air, the freedom of the boundless sky, nothing would ever fulfil her as much as flying did.

As she soared over the outskirts of Ponyville she found herself gazing at the various ponies coming and going below her. Big Macintosh looked a little tired as he pulled a heavy loaded cart down the main street, Apple Bloom bouncing up and down beside him as he went. Outside town hall the Mayor was speaking with two ponies that looked like they were from the newspaper. She also caught sight of Flitter as she stopped by a market stall. Just another normal day.

Rainbow soon made if to Sugarcube Corner and gently landed a short way off. As she approached a couple of ponies looked up from the tables that were set up outside. At one of them sat Lyra and Bon Bon, the pair giving Rainbow a wave as she approached. Rainbow returned it but didn’t stop to talk. As she entered the building she couldn’t help but notice Lyra making large motions with her forelegs, that pony was always telling wild stories.

“Oh hello deary!” came a cheerful call as Rainbow brought her attention back to where she was heading.

Mrs Cake was behind the counter, the earth pony icing a selection of cupcakes.

“Oh err...hi,” replied Rainbow as she looked around the interior of the bakery.

“What can I do for you this morning?”

“Just some breakfast I guess, is Pinkie around?”

“Pinkie Pie? No she isn’t deary. She bounced out of the door early this morning, don’t know where she went. Shall I tell her you’re looking for her if I see her?”

“Nah, if I know Pinks she’ll come looking for me before the day is out.”

“Very well, now what can I get you this morning?”

Rainbow paused in front of the counter, surveying the line of tempting looking sweet cakes lined up behind the glass. After a moment she ran her hoof along the glass and then pointed to one of them.

“That one,” she said.

“Oh, the pecan and maple muffin? Those always seem so popular, I’ll have to make more before the day is out no doubt,” smiled Mrs Cake as she quickly pulled one of the muffins from the counter and handed it to Rainbow.

Rainbow took the muffin and took a small bite, nodding her head in approval as she swallowed, “Well you do make the best sweet things in town.”

She quickly tossed a couple of Bits onto the counter top as payment before turning away. As she took another bite though she paused and turned back. Mrs Cake was just about to return to her icing job as Rainbow spoke.

“Hey any chance I could order a batch of those muffins to take with me?” she said quickly.

“Hmm? Oh! Ah, well I don’t see why not deary.”

“Great! Could I pick them up later? I have some weather jobs to take care of this morning.”

“Uh, sure.”

“Great!”

Rainbow quickly produced a few more Bits, enough to cover a batch of twelve muffins. As she looked back at Mrs Cake she found her staring at the money with a bit of confusion.

“What wrong?” asked Rainbow, eyeing the money herself thinking there was something wrong with it.

“Oh, nothing, nothing at all deary...it’s just well you always say you never want to eat too many of these in case if affects your training.”

“Oh yeah, I do normally say that. Guess I’m treating myself today,” replied Rainbow after a moment of though, “Oh well, thanks again Mrs Cake. Later!”

“See you later sweetie.”

With that Rainbow left the bakery leaving Mrs Cake to stare into space for a moment in puzzlement. She eventually gave a small shrug though and went back to her icing. Stranger things had happened that’s for sure and the extra catering business was always a bonus.

As Rainbow stepped outside Lyra was still making big arm motions, her companion Bon Bon looking a little bored although this completely escaped the excited unicorn in front of her. Rainbow chuckled as she gently lifted herself from the ground and took off. She had to meet the rest of her weather team on the outskirts of town to give them the entire brief. It wasn’t a big job but it was essential none the less. A rainstorm had been scheduled for Ponyville that was to last the rest of the day and early into the morning. A few days of bright sun had left the ground a little too parched for everyponies liking.

As she arrived she found most of her team already assembled. Thunderlane, Flitter and Cloudchaser were already there, just Blossomforth was missing. They were talking amongst themselves as Rainbow arrived, each of them giving her a bright grin of welcome.

“Morning Rainbow Dash,” commented Thunderlane as he glanced up at the sky, “Pity we have to spoil the nice weather with a storm.”

“Yeah well, that’s our job,” replied Rainbow sternly, “Speaking of our job, where’s Blossomforth?”

“Running late,” replied Flitter, “She said she’ll be here soon.”

Rainbow gave a small grumble, there was always one, no matter.

“Alright Blossom will have to catch up later but we have to get started,” she said, “Flitter and Cloudchaser, you two start work on moving the clouds in. Thunderlane I need you to whip up a little lightning, not much, just enough for an odd bolt but mostly thunder.”

“Got it,” replied Thunderlane.

Flitter and Cloudchaser also nodded their understanding and the three of them took off. Rainbow stayed on the ground watching the three pegasi go about their work above her. Despite Blossomforth not being there the job was going well and before long the clouds were starting to build and the dull rumble of thunder began to echo around the sky. Rainbow was impressed; everypony was doing a really good job this morning. Well that is everypony but Blossomforth, what was keeping her so occupied she couldn’t make it to weather duty on time? The more Rainbow thought about it the more she found it irritating her. By the time the three pegasi above her returned to the ground for a break she was positively fuming.

“You alright Rainbow Dash?” asked Cloudchaser curiously.

“Alright? Yeah I guess I’m alright,” replied Rainbow as she tried to brush off her expression with a smile, “Uh...good work you guys, looks like we’ll be finished on time despite...”

“Rainbow Dash, so sorry I’m late!” came a call from behind the group.

They turned to find Blossomforth coming in for a landing nearby. Rainbow’s expression returned to its earlier irritated form as she watched the Pegasus approaching.

“Where have you been all morning?!” demanded Rainbow.

Blossomforth looked a little taken aback by the sudden outburst, “I...sorry Rainbow Dash, I got held up with...”

“Don’t give me those excuses! It’s bad enough you get ill on Tornado Day but now you’re late for weather duty too?”

“That’s a bit uncalled for,” interrupted Thunderlane.

“Oh can it mister!” responded Rainbow as she turned on the Pegasus, “You were just as bad that day and...”

Rainbow paused in mid-sentence, raising a hoof quickly to her head and shutting her eyes. For a moment she stood still, a pounding feeling tearing through her head like she had just suffered a bad landing. The other pegasi remained quiet as they watched Rainbow for a moment.

“...I...sorry everypony,” said Rainbow after a moment, “I don’t know what came over me. I just got really irritated and...”

Rainbow stopped again as a new feeling washed over her. Her stomach gave a grumble and a wave of nausea passed over her. It took all her strength not to hurl immediately. She wavered slightly on her feet, what was going on.

“I uh...think I need to...”

Another wave of nausea passed over her and this time she couldn’t resist. Turning sharply she upchucked what little food she had eaten that morning, wavered again on her feet and collapsed.

Chapter 2

Rainbow awoke to the sound of numerous concerned voices and one that just sounded like it was on a constant sugar buzz. The room spun round and round but at least the nausea she had felt earlier had subsided. As she focussed her eyes the room came into view, it was almost like déjà vu but this time she knew it wasn’t a failed flying trick that had sent her to the hospital. She blinked slowly and looked around again, the faces of her five best friends staring back at her like they had been the previous time she had been here.

“Rainbow!” exclaimed Twilight, “We’ve been so worried about you.”

“What ya go and do this time?” asked Applejack, “Ain’t trying to fake an illness to get out of the Iron Pony next week are ya?”

“Please everyone, give her a little breathing room,” interrupted Doctor Stable as he carefully used one of his forelegs to push Pinkie Pie back from the bedside, “Good to see you’ve finally woken up Rainbow Dash, how are you feeling?”

“Still a little dizzy doc,” replied Rainbow as she raised a hoof and rubbed the side of her head.

“That’s to be expected, according to Thunderlane you hit your head pretty hard when you collapsed,” continued the doctor.

“Collapsed?” asked Rainbow.

“Don’t remember, according to your work colleagues you were in an argument when you suddenly stopped, threw up and fainted.”

“Is she going to be alright?” asked Fluttershy nervously from behind Twilight.

“She will be fine, she just needs a little rest, nothing more than that,” replied the doctor.

“Oh thank goodness,” sighed Fluttershy as she shot a smile at her friend.

“Speaking of rest I think it’s best if you all leave now. She’ll be free to go in the morning.”

“Yes of course doctor, come on everypony,” replied Twilight as she turned towards the door.

“So super happy you’re alright Dashie!” chimed Pinkie as Applejack began to push her towards the door, “Oooooh, I’ll have to organise a get better soon party!”

“Alright Pinkie, move along now,” chuckled Applejack.

As the ponies left the room Doctor Stable slowly closed the door and turned back towards Rainbow Dash. For a moment he looked at her with a curious expression.

“Miss Dash I have to ask you a few questions if you’re feeling up to it,” he said after a moment.

“Uh...sure doc, what’s wrong? You said I’d be fine with just a little rest right?” asked Rainbow in response.

“Well yes you will be alright with a little rest...but there’s something else going on here and I need you to clear up a few points for me.”

The doctor slowly sat himself down next to the bed and lifted a pad of paper and a pen into the air with his magic.

“Now I’m going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer truthfully Miss Dash, this is very important.”

Rainbow just nodded in response, she was curious to know what all this was about.

“Now then, in the last few months have you noticed any changes in your behaviour? Any mood swings? Bouts of annoyance or sadness?”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow; that was a bit of an odd question to ask. That said she sat and thought for a moment, “Well I guess I’ve been a bit easy to annoy recently. Today I got really angry at Blossomforth for being late...that’s not like me.”

“Uh huh, and trouble sleeping or do you wake up tired?”

“Well duh! I’m training to join the Wonderbolts, I’m always tired.”

“That’s not what I mean, have you woken up and still felt tired? Has your sleep been disrupted at all?”

“Hmm...well I guess I have been feeling really tired on a morning even after my rest days. But seriously doc I’ve been training really hard! I mean I’m ten times the flier I was before I went to the Wonderbolt Academy...not that I was bad before you know, I’m just EVEN better now.”

“Ah hah,” replied the doctor as he made a few notes on his pad of paper, “And have you been feeling sick at all before today?”

“Nope!”

Again the doctor made a few notes and then lowered his pad and pencil. He looked at Rainbow for a moment, “Now then Miss Dash my next question may sound a little personal but I need you to answer truthfully. How long has it been since you last noticed you were...in season?”

Rainbow could feel the blood rush to her face faster than you could say ‘what the hay?’. She stammered slightly, leaning back away from the doctor as she did.

“W-What does that have to do with anything?” she asked as she pulled the bed sheets further up her body as if trying to hide.

“Everything Miss Dash, now, I need an answer, how long?”

Rainbow felt like curling up in a hole in the ground. How does she answer a question like that? Everypony had urges and she wasn’t an exception but it was just something that was never talked about. To be honest she’d never spoken to anypony about such things.

“I...well...a couple of weeks maybe...I hadn’t really thought about it recently. I’ve been so busy training I usually just fall asleep at night...”

The doctor just nodded, picking up his paper again and making more notes. He nodded a few times and then stood up.

“Well Miss Dash I suppose I should congratulate you,” he said with a small smile.

“Congratulate me? What for?”

“Well we’ll need to book an ultrasound just to double check but your answers along with the scans and checks we did whilst you were unconscious certainly point to it, you’re pregnant my dear.”

Rainbow Dash simply blinked, had she heard him right? Pregnant? No no no, that couldn’t be right. She knew for a fact that couldn’t be right, she would remember something like that happening! This had to be a mistake, a joke...that’s it! A joke! Rainbow suddenly burst out laughing, waving a hoof in front of herself as she pointed from herself to the doctor and back again.

“Good one doc! You really had me going for a moment there! Pregnant! Oh man that’s one of the best pranks anypony has ever pulled on me ever! Seriously now what’s wrong with me? Indigestion? I bet its indigestion isn’t it, I knew I shouldn’t have had muffins for breakfast again! Or maybe the Feather Flu, you know that one Blossomforth and those other Pegasus had during Tornado duty. Right?”

As Rainbow Dash looked back at the doctor she found him staring back with the same calm expression he had been wearing ever since her friends had left. He wasn’t laughing, there wasn’t even a hint of a smile, not even a slight grin or a chuckle.

“I’m not joking Miss Dash, you’re pregnant.”

Rainbow could feel the colour draining from her cheek, it wasn’t a joke?

“But...but...but that’s not possible...I...”

“I take it from your reaction you haven’t been trying to get pregnant,” replied the doctor.

“Trying?! I haven’t even had a special somepony in years!” replied Rainbow, an element of fury in her tone as she flung her forelegs into the air, “Pregnant?! I-I-I can’t be! I haven’t even...gone that far with a stallion before.”

The doctor took a deep breath, “Listen Miss Dash, I understand this is a lot to take in all of a sudden. That’s why I wanted to talk to you in private. As I said we won’t be completely sure until we perform an ultrasound scan. I’ll have Nurse Redheart come up and see you shortly. She’ll answer any further questions you might have. Until then try to get a little rest, alright?”

“I...I...ok doc,” replied Rainbow as she curled up into a ball on her side.

Chapter 3

When Nurse Redheart finally arrived later that afternoon Rainbow hadn’t even moved from her earlier position. She still lay curled up on her side staring blankly into the bedsheets. The white earth pony slowly pushed the ultrasound machine into the room and stopped next to her bed.

“Miss Dash?” she asked curiously.

Rainbow didn’t move, the Pegasus almost looking lifeless as she lay. Nurse Redheart raised a hoof and gentle placed it on Rainbow’s shoulder causing the Pegasus to jump harshly and spin round to face her. The sudden movement caused the earth pony to jump herself, drawing her hoof back from Rainbow’s shoulder.

“Goodness, you made me jump,” she continued as she turned back towards the machine, “Now I’m sure Doctor Stable mentioned an ultrasound scan to you earlier today, yes?”

“I’m not pregnant!” replied Rainbow firmly, folding her front legs in front of her and glaring at the nurse beside her, “No way is that even possible!”

“Miss Dash I know it’s a lot to take in but if you’ll just let me…”

“No!”

Rainbow gave a short warning snort. She couldn’t believe this! It must all be a bad joke, a really distasteful joke!

“I’m not pregnant so you can take that machine away!” she continued.

Nurse Redheart gave a small sigh but quickly a small smile began to spread across her face, “Well if you aren’t pregnant then having the scan will prove us all wrong won’t it.”

Rainbow looked back at the nurse and snorted again, “Fine! I’ll show you all! You’ll all be eating your words when you find out I am right!”

Without a seconds pause Rainbow pushed the covers down to expose her middle and rolled onto her back. Once there she folded her forelegs again and stared up at the ceiling with a ‘don’t care’ expression on her face. Nurse Redheart gave another small smile and lifted a tube of ultrasound gel from the cart.

“This might be a bit cold,” she warned as she applied a liberal amount to Rainbow’s middle.

The Pegasus shivered slightly but otherwise didn’t move. The earth pony then flicked the machine on and retrieved the probe from its housing before applying it to Rainbow’s coat. For a moment there wasn’t anything showing up, Rainbow eying the screen with glee as a smile spread across her face.

“See! Nothing!” she gloated.

“Oops, silly me,” commented Redheart, “I was slightly off…your athletic physique must have shifted things slightly.”

With that she repositioned the probe and almost immediately Rainbow felt the colour fade from her face. There it was! It was hard to see due to the early stage of the pregnancy but it was plain to see. The miniature horse shaped mass moving back and forth on the screen next to her.

“There you are Miss Dash,” informed Redheart looking at the screen, “I believe that confirms our earlier diagnosis. Allow me to congratulate you. Now then, we need to sort out a few details for your prenatal care. Do you…”

Redheart stopped as she heard a sniffing sound from behind her. She turned to find a sight that next to nopony had ever seen before; Rainbow was crying. The usual confident and fun loving expression of the Pegasus was now saddened and unsure. Her head rested on the pillow, tears slowly trickling from her eyes and across her face. She hadn’t even raised a hoof to brush them away.

“This can’t be happening…” she murmured slowly to herself.

“Miss Dash…”

“It’s not fair! How could this happen? When did? How?” continued Rainbow, her voice gaining volume and anger with each passing syllable, “I can’t have a foal! I don’t WANT a foal!”

“Miss Dash please calm down.”

Rainbow’s face twisted with rage, her eyes flicking to and fixing on Redheart.

“Calm down? Calm down?!” repeated Rainbow.

Redheart quickly backed away slightly, the look in Rainbow’s eyes terrifying her.

“This changes everything,” continued Rainbow, “And you’re telling me to calm down? AAAAAAARGH!”

Before Redheart could do anything Rainbow had swung a hoof round and grabbed the table lamp from the cabinet beside her bed. A moment later the lamp impacted the far wall, shattering into pieces as Rainbow rolled herself onto her hoofs and jumped from the bed. The bedside cabinet itself was the next item to meet her rage as she brought her hind legs up slammed them into the wooden frame. She didn’t have as much strength as Applejack in this department but it was enough to splinter one side of the cabinet and cause the remaining contents on its top to slide off onto the floor.

Redheart meanwhile had darted to the room door and slammed her hoof down on the emergency call button. It was only a few moments before a strong looking earth pony who worked on security came rushing into the room. Seeing the devastation being caused by Rainbow he quickly launched himself at her, using his weight to hold her down as Redheart ran to a nearby cabinet. Quickly gathering a needle from a locked part of the cabinet she headed back towards where Rainbow and the guard were struggling against each other.

“Lemme go! Lemme go right now or I’ll…” screamed Rainbow as she tried to break the earth pony’s grip on her, “…get that needle away from me!”

Redheart ignored her, using a moments pause in the struggle to dive the needle into Rainbow’s neck. She barely had enough time to inject as Rainbow lashed a wing in her direction knocking her and the needle away. Still it was enough, the sedative had its effect nearly instantly and Rainbow slumped to the floor. There was a short pause as both Redheart and the security pony looked at each other and sighed.

The evening was drawing in fast as Rainbow finally came to once again. Her head was groggy but this time it wasn’t from vomiting and passing out. She blinked a few times and looked around her. Once again she was in a hospital room, a different one to her previous room by the fact that the furniture was still in one piece.

“Ah, you’re awake,” came a voice from her left.

Rainbow looked over to find Doctor Stable staring back at her with a mixed expression.

“You may still feel a little groggy for some time until the sedative we gave you fully wears off though,” continued Stable, “I was debating the idea of strapping you down Miss Dash but I hope it won’t come to that. Even so I’ve brought in some extra insurance just in case your temper gets the better of you again.”

Stable motioned towards the door where the same security pony who had tackled her earlier that day stood watching her. Rainbow didn’t say anything, choosing instead to simply look at the bed sheets in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry doc…I just…what does all this mean?” she asked slowly.

“It means Miss Dash that you are to be a mother. It may be unexpected but I need you to remain calm, we have much to discuss,” replied the doctor.

Rainbow lay still as the doctor spoke. The sedatives were still in her system giving her a very relaxed feeling but she didn’t feel relaxed. A million and one questions raced through her mind. A thousand different possibilities playing out one after another. What was going to happen now?

“Now then, despite your earlier outburst Nurse Redheart has volunteered to take care of your pre and post natal care should you wish for it. This being your first foal I would suggest you take it. We can never be completely sure how your body will react and it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“I don’t want a foal…” murmured Rainbow.

“Please Miss Dash don’t start this again. I appreciate this was unexpected but you are pregnant and no amount of denying it will change the facts.”

“No…I mean…I don’t want a foal! Not now! I have things to do! The Wonderbolt Academy opens again in a few months, I’m lead pony! Then there’s the weather team! I can’t leave Ponyville in the lurch! Not to mention the Iron Pony competition in a few weeks, Applejack is expecting me…”

“Well I can safely say Miss Dash that there won’t be any Iron Pony or weather team work for you for some time. As for the Wonderbolt Academy I’m afraid you’ll have to call that one over and done with. First pregnancies can be very traumatic on the body and we always insist that Pegasus stay grounded until the birth at the very least.”

“Grounded?!” cried Rainbow before shaking her head, “No no no no no! I can’t do this!”

“Miss Dash I…”

“What about abortion?”

Doctor Stable fell silent, the older stallion sighing slightly as he closed the notepad he was reading from.

“There is that option but…”

“Great! Give me the details!”

“Rainbow Dash!” stated Stable, his voice firm, “This isn’t something that shouldn’t be taken lightly. You’re talking about aborting your own unborn child!”

Rainbow fell silent, the sternness of the doctor’s voice drilling straight through her. Tears began to form in her eyes once again as she raised her front hooves and gently began to sob into them.

“I can’t do this doc,” she murmured between her sobs, “I’m not ready for this!”

Doctor Stable gave a slow sigh and opened his notebook again, “Rainbow Dash, you’re not alone in feeling the way you do. A lot of new mothers find it hard to accept the fact…but I urge you to consider your options very carefully. What you decide to do will affect you for the rest of your life in one way or another.”

Doctor Stable stood and began to walk towards the doorway.

“In either case, we wouldn’t be able to start any abortion process for at least a few weeks; it’s still too early in the pregnancy for that. Take this time to think about it. Talk to your friends about it perhaps; as with all our patients what we’ve discussed will remain confidential on our end. For now please rest, in the morning you’ll be free to leave although I will insist on weekly check-ups to monitor your progress.”

Rainbow just gave a nod as the stallion left the room. As the door closed she looked up, her gaze catching that of the security pony stood by the door.

“I’m not going to break anything,” she said flatly, “I…I need some time alone.”

The security pony gave a gruff sigh, “I’ll be outside.”

With that he turned and left the room. Rainbow found herself alone once again. Pregnant? How could she be pregnant? Her mind tried to think back, tried to remember when and how it happened…and yet nothing came to mind. Why did this have to happen? Her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt was so close. She knew Spitfire was always watching her, always monitoring her track record and aerobatic performance. She had whipped her team into one of the best in the Academy despite the weak links and problems she had faced. She had even reconciled with Lightning Dust. Everything was going to plan and now…

No! She wouldn’t let it happen! Nothing was going to stand in her way! She was Rainbow Dash, best flying in all of Equestria! She had been through worse times than this and she would overcome it! A couple of weeks? That’s what the doctor had said. That was cutting it fine for the Iron Pony competition but she wasn’t about to let everypony down. She would show everypony that she could do anything and once this minor upset was gone she would be back on track! Just wait and see, nothing stops Rainbow Dash!

Chapter 4

“Are you sure you’re feeling ok?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“For the fiftieth time Twilight, yes I’m fine,” replied Rainbow with a roll of her eyes, “Just a little tired.”

“I’m glad,” replied the alicorn, “You always seem to make us worry more than any other pony I know.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” added Applejack as she slinked closer to the Pegasus, “And ya better be alright for the Iron Pony contest! Don’t want nopony saying ah beat ya down to ya being ill!”

“Don’t worry Applejack, I’ll be fighting fit in time for the contest! And you better be ready too because this year I’m going to win once again!”

The two ponies stared at each other for a moment, their eyes alight with flames and their mouths twisted in a growl. After a moment both of them relaxed and started laughing.

“Ah shucks sugahcube, I’m just glad ya are alright,” smiled Applejack, “Now if ya’ll excuse me, ah got apples to buck.”

“See you later Applejack,” said Twilight with a wave of her forehoof.

“Yeah, uh, later Applejack,” added Rainbow as the orange coloured mare shot them both a grin and trotted off towards the edge of town.

For a moment neither Rainbow nor Twilight said anything. They were both standing outside the hospital, Rainbow having been released a few moments earlier. Twilight and Applejack had come to meet her just in case she needed any help but it seemed that they wouldn’t be needed.

“Well if you’re feeling alright I guess I ought to get back to the library,” announced Twilight as she cast a glance at the blue Pegasus, “I found this amazing book yesterday about ghosts and myths. Did you know that the Headless Horse might have actually been real?”

“Twilight you read too much,” commented Rainbow with a roll of her eyes.

“Oh? This coming from Miss sneak into a hospital to steal a copy of Daring Do?”

“Twilight!”

“Sorry Rainbow… but speaking of Daring Do…”

Twilight paused and looked over her shoulder at a saddlebag she was carrying. Her horn began to glow and the bag opened as a book floated its way out and hovered in front of Rainbow. The cover read ‘Daring Do and the Treasure of Arkay’.

“I brought you the next book in the series,” squeaked Twilight, “I only just finished reading it myself, it was so awesome! Daring Do had to…”

“Hey hey, woah there Twilight!” interrupted Rainbow, “Don’t tell me the plot already!”

“Sorry, I was just so excited about it.”

“It’s alright, thanks. I was going to pop in and see if you had it yesterday before….well thanks.”

“No problem, I’ll see you later!”

“Later!”

With that Twilight departed, spreading her wings lightly and giving a graceful flap as she took off into the air. Rainbow was still amazed at how down to earth Twilight remained despite her coronation and becoming an alicorn. Naturally she spent a lot more time in Canterlot than she had done but the Ponyville Library was still full of her hoofsteps and pleasant manner. If anything she had become much more sociable too, always entertaining trips of schoolchildren or playing host to important meetings. Rainbow was still a little disappointed that her flying style matched more with Fluttershy than her own but then again Twilight had always been more of an egghead than an athlete.

Rainbow gave a sigh and let herself relax for a moment. Just then the faint buzz of rapidly flapping wings and the crunch of wheels on dirt sounded in the air. Rainbow gave a small grin to herself, those two sounds only ever came together when one pony made an appearance.

“Hey Rainbow Dash!”

Yup, she called it. Turning to her right she saw a small orange coloured Pegasus with a purple mane speeding towards her on a scooter. Behind her a set of tiny wings fluttered back and forth in a rapid motion that had as of yet been unable to give her freedom within the vast skybox above her.

“Hey there squirt!” replied Rainbow as she brushed one of her forehooves against her chest in an effort to look cool.

“Rainbow Dash! I heard you were in the hospital! Sweetie Belle told me this morning. She said that Rarity had told her last night. What happened? Are you alright?” rattled off Scootaloo as she came to a screeching halt next to Rainbow.

“Alright?” questioned Rainbow, “Kid the word alright doesn’t even exist in my world! Nothing wrong with me at all, nope, not a thing!”

“Phew! I was worried for a little while,” sighed Scootaloo.

“No sweat kid.”

Rainbow placed her hoof on Scootaloo’s mane and rustled it back and forth in a playful manner. Ever since that camping trip to Winsome Falls the pair had been spending a lot more time together. Of course with Rainbow’s duty as weather manager and her constant trips to the Wonderbolt’s Academy the time they had was often short but that didn’t mean it was any less memorable. It was an odd feeling but Rainbow always got a sense of enjoyment and pride whenever she spent time with the young Pegasus. Like Rainbow she also had dream and ambitions that to other seemed well above her station…but as she had told Scootaloo on many occasions, don’t let other people put you off.

“Swell! Does that mean we can still hang out this afternoon?” asked Scootaloo as she muscled Rainbow’s hoof away from her mane.

Rainbow bit her lip; that was today?

“Hmm, tell you what squirt,” she started, her mind racing for something to say, “…how about we meet up at Sugarcube Corner, I’ll treat you to an ice cream.”

“Really? That sounds great!” grinned Scootaloo as she wrapped a warm hug around the older Pegasus, “I’m glad you’re ok too.”

Rainbow gave a grin and returned the hug, wrapping one of her forelegs around the young filly. It was an odd thing really; Rainbow showing emotions other than brashness and ego. That said, ever since she had taken to helping Scootaloo her usual tough girl attitude always seemed to vanish into the mist whenever she was around…so long as nopony else was watching.

“Well kid I gotta head out, things to do you know,” announced Rainbow after a short moment.

“No problem, I gotta meet up with the Crusaders anyway!” replied Scootaloo, “I have this wicked cool idea about how to get our cutie marks!”

“Just don’t break anything like last time.”

Scootaloo blushed brightly for a moment as she remembered what Rainbow was talking about. As she watched the sassy grin cross Rainbow’s face though the blush faded and a grin of her own appeared. Picking up her scooter she stepped aboard and spun it in the direction of Ponyville centre. She gave a wave and a moment later was speeding down the path on her latest endeavour. Rainbow watched her for a moment, grinning slightly as she remembered back to her own childhood.

Finally she gave a sigh and looked back at the book Twilight had given her. The next book in the series! Rainbow had been looking forward to this for a while and today was the perfect time to sit down and read it. She needed escapism, something to let her completely forget about the unwanted news that had filled her head for the last two days. Pregnant! Ha!

Part of Rainbow was still in denial. How had it even happened? Like she had told Doctor Stable she hadn’t even gone that far with a stallion before. Sure there had been the inevitable kisses and cuddles from various ponies throughout her life but she had always been so busy training that a romantic relationship had never once crossed her mind. If what the doctor had told her was right it would have happened a few months ago…but despite the hours of brain wracking she had gone through the previous night she couldn’t think of anything.

The only event she could think of during that time frame would have been her two week stay at the Wonderbolt Academy in preparation the upcoming trainee flight show. The show had been a massive success with Rainbow’s display team being the best of the bunch. Spitfire had even congratulated her…in her usual joking manner of course…but none the less it had been a compliment.

Still it didn’t matter, none of this would ever matter. In a few weeks she would abort and life would be back to normal. Nopony would ever find out and she’d still be the heroic future Wonderbolt she had always been. She rose her head high and stood proud for a moment, enjoying a little daydream of finally finishing her training and becoming world renowned. Yes, it would all be worth it!

“Uh…Rainbow Dash?” asked a quiet voice from behind her.

Rainbow blinked and slowly turned, a little embarrassed to be found in such a gloating position. Stood there on the path was a white coloured Pegasus with a striped green and pink mane and tail. Her wings were unfolded, raising in such a way that she could cower behind them at a moment notice. She wasn’t looking directly at her either; choosing instead to turn her head and glance at her out of the corner of her eye.

“Oh…hi Blossomforth,” replied Rainbow.

“I…uh…I just wanted to…apologies for being late for weather duty…are you alright?” spoke Blossomforth in a quiet voice.

Rainbow sighed and nodded her head, “I’m fine don’t worry about me. If anything I should be apologising to you, I didn’t mean to shout.”

Blossomforth seemed to relax, the Pegasus seemingly expecting another round of shouting.

“I’m glad you’re alright, I thought I must have really upset you. The doctors couldn’t tell us anything when we brought you in so we’ve all been concerned.”

“Well you can tell the other I’m going to be fine…uh…the doctors think it must have been something I ate that didn’t agree with me.”

There was a brief pause between the two of them. Blossomforth and the others on the weather team were the only ponies who had actually seen her collapse, if she could convince them she was fine everything would likely be forgotten quickly. Another question began to filter into her mind though, a question she would likely have asked the other day if she hadn’t passed out.

“Hey Blossomforth, why were you late the other day? It’s not like you to be tardy,” asked Rainbow, trying to make her question sound as unaggressive as possible.

“Oh! Well you see…” began Blossomforth before giving a small sigh and a smile, “I was in Manehatten the day before. My cousin Summer Breeze was having a baby. She asked me to come and be at her side…we’ve been like sisters since we were young and she said she couldn’t do it without me. I stayed by her side all night. To be honest I was not going to come back…but Summer said I shouldn’t shirk my responsibilities so I flew back but I knew I was going to be late.”

Rainbow didn’t really know what to say; finally deciding on a simply response, “Oh?”

“I’m sorry I was late Rainbow, I really am…but I couldn’t ignore my cousin when she needed me the most. I plan on flying back to Manehatten tomorrow to help her with the baby. She is such an adorable little foal and…well, you know I can never have children of my own…”

Rainbow did indeed know. There had been complications during Blossomforth’s own birth that had left her sterile. No matter how much she wanted it she could never have a child of her own. Rainbow felt a twinge of guilt ping its way through her body but a shake of her head flushed it away.

“…well…I guess that’s ok,” replied Rainbow after a moment, “…I’ll…uh…I’ll cover your shift on weather duty this week.”

“Really? You’ll do that for me?”

Rainbow just gave a nod. Blossomforth meanwhile felt the tears welling up in her eyes. As she broke down she crossed the distance to Rainbow and flung her hooves around her.

“Thank you Rainbow Dash, thank you so much,” she wailed.

“It…really means that much to you?” questioned Rainbow as she slowly patted Blossomforth’s back in an unsure manner.

“It does! It really does!” replied Blossomforth through her joyous tears, “Summer and her husband have agreed to make me the Godmother and spending time with them all is just…it may not be my own child but it’s the closest I can get and…thank you!”

Blossomforth broke down again, resting her head in Rainbow’s shoulder. The blue Pegasus didn’t really know how to respond, she’d been through many situations, faced many dangers, defeated ancient evils and overcome impossible odds…but this amount of emotion from one pony? That she hadn’t seen before. Was having a child this important to Blossomforth? Was it so important that she’d risk losing her job and the life she’d built here in Ponyville for the chance at it? Could a child really be worth that much?

Not a chance! How could it compare to fame and glory? Of everypony on the street knowing your name and admiring your skills. A simple mother? You don’t get praise for that! Nobody congratulates you or hold ceremonies in your honour! You just fade away into the background and get forgotten about! Well not her! She was going to overcome that and shine like the blazing star she knew she was. When everyone sees her in that Wonderbolt outfit blazing a trail across the sky nobody will ever think she could have been anything but.

Just then Blossomforth released her grip on Rainbow and pulled back. For a moment she stood and brushed the tears from her eyes before flashing a large smile at Rainbow.

“Thank you again Rainbow, and I’m so glad you’re alright. I better go, I need to pack for my trip tomorrow. I’ll bring some photos when I come back.”

“Uh, sure, take care.”

Blossomforth nodded and then turned, racing off down the path towards town. Rainbow shook her head hard and looked back at the book she was still holding. This was all too much for her, escapism was calling. She needed somewhere quiet and out of the way to relax where she could read and not be interrupted. Fluttershy’s cottage! It was quiet, out of the way and what’s more it was close! Without another thought Rainbow unfurled her wings and took off. There was no pain, no discomfort, no unease, nothing. She was perfectly normal, so much for Pegasus needing to stay grounded, eh doc?

Chapter 5

Rainbow’s arrival at Fluttershy’s cottage was as smooth and graceful at it always was, the Pegasus taking a moment to dust herself off before she approached the door. Raising her hoof she knocked three times, the noise causing a reaction from the owner of the house.

“Eeeep!”

Rainbow smiled to herself, Fluttershy jumped at everything…even a pony knocking on her own door. It was a few moments before the door opened a crack and a familiar yellow face poked round the edge. Upon seeing Rainbow Fluttershy’s eyes brightened and the door opened fully.

“Rainbow Dash!” she exclaimed brightly, “I wasn’t expecting you, are you alright? There’s nothing wrong is there?”

“No no Fluttershy, I’m perfectly fine,” replied the fellow Pegasus, “The docs let me go this morning. Thought I’d swing by and say hi…and find a quiet spot to read if that’s ok with you?”

“Oh certainly, it’s always nice to have company.”

Fluttershy quickly stepped aside and waved her front hoof in an inviting manner. Rainbow Dash stepped inside and glanced around. Nothing much ever changed in Fluttershy’s cottage apart from the animals she was currently sharing it with. At the present moment a selection of different birds were perched on the rafters and a family of hedgehogs were resting peacefully in a nearby basket. Angel didn’t appear to be present but then Rainbow knew all too well that the little bunny had a mind of his own.

“Please have a seat,” suggested Fluttershy as she walked past Rainbow towards the kitchen, “I was just making some tea if you’d like some.”

“Uh, sure I guess…” replied Rainbow in an unsure tone.

Rainbow was never really one for trying different drinks, water was usually good enough to quench her thirst…although a glass of classic Apple Family Cider or apple juice certainly wouldn’t be refused. Tea on the other hand was something that she usually didn’t go for.

As Fluttershy busied herself in the kitchen Rainbow collapsed into the large sofa in Fluttershy’s front room. For a moment she just sat back and relaxed before bringing her book up and reading the title again. She grinned to herself, whilst she still thought that reading was for eggheads and brainy ponies like Twilight…there was still a place for everypony to enjoy a little something. Opening the front cover she began to read the first few lines but didn’t get far before Fluttershy returned. She carefully set the cup down next to Rainbow and then retreated to a nearby chair herself.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to greet you this morning,” she spoke softly looking a little sheepish, “I had to stay home and take care of some animals. One of the squirrels had fallen from his tree and broken a leg…I couldn’t just leave him.”

“No worries,” replied Rainbow, brushing off the matter like it was nothing, “Twilight and Applejack met me…not that they needed to, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Oh that’s good…I was so worried when I heard you’d collapsed. Did they tell you what was wrong?”

“Oh uh…must have been something I ate.”

“Really? That sounds like a really odd reaction for that…are the doctors sure? I mean…not that I think they’re wrong or anything…or that is…I mean…meep!”

“Relax Fluttershy I’m fine!”

Fluttershy gave a small nod and settled back into her chair before reaching for her tea. She took a small sip and then glanced back at Rainbow Dash in an expecting manner. At first Rainbow didn’t understand but then she caught sight of her own cup sitting nearby. She eyed it for a moment and then sighed. Putting her book down she reached for the cup and eyed the liquid inside.

“It’s a new blend that Twilight brought back from the Everfree Forest last time she visited Zecora,” informed Fluttershy before taking another sip, “I hope you like it.”

“Hmm…”

Rainbow waited a moment longer and then took a small sip. As she did her tongue was assaulted by a brilliant flavour of ripe berries and vanilla that quickly vanished only to be replaced by a mild spice as she swallowed. Rainbow blinked, unable to really comprehend the flavour on a first sip. She took another, this time the flavours being much more mellow and smooth. This was very odd…she liked it!

“Hey this is pretty good!” she exclaimed before taking another sip, “What’s in it?”

“You like it?” replied Fluttershy with a tone of growing happiness, “Oh that’s just wonderful! You’ve never liked any of the teas I’ve made before. It’s a mixed spice and berry tea with some other herbs in it. Twilight told me all about it but I couldn’t remember the whole list.”

“Ha! Well I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

Rainbow took another sip, it was certainly refreshing. In fact the spicy after taste was so moreish that she found herself unable to stop. Soon enough she’d finished her cup and wiped her mouth with her hoof. Sitting back she let out a contented smile.

“You know, I could get used to this,” commented Rainbow as she folded her hooves behind her head, “This sofa sure is comfy.”

Fluttershy gave a small giggle, “I don’t think Angel would like that, he’s always so fussy about where he sleeps. Ooh I almost forgot, it’s feeding time.”

Fluttershy got up from her seat, crossing the room to a large cupboard. As she did the various animals around the room perked to alertness and quickly dashed across the room to a variety of feeding bowls that sat lined up against the wall. Fluttershy quickly opened the cupboard and pulled a few things from it before making her way over to the feeding bowls. Soon enough the hedgehogs were happily lapping at bowls of milk and Fluttershy was dishing up a seed mix for the birds.

Rainbow watched her work, the yellow Pegasus gently humming to herself as she worked. Rainbow had never paid Fluttershy’s abilities with animals much notice, it was simply something she was good at and wasn’t thought about until needed. But watching her now she began to realise just how much enjoyment she got out of it and the true skills she really had.

“You really are good with animals,” she said softly, half to herself in all honesty.

“Oh yes, I just love taking care of them,” replied Fluttershy with a smile, “They are like a family to me, I don’t know what I’d do without them.”

“What about a real family?” asked Rainbow before she even realised she’d said it.

“Oh most of my family still lives in Cloudsdale,” replied Fluttershy, “I see them every so often but they know how much responsibility I have looking after all these animals. I’m so busy I don’t have time for much else. I’m never worried though, it’s such a rewarding experience. Just like having a hundred little babies of my own.”

Rainbow’s mind twitched, “A hundred babies of your own?”

“Why yes. Every one of these critters relies on me to help them, just like a baby. I uh…don’t think I’d ever have a foal of my own but with all these animals I don’t need to.”

“Is it really that good?”

“Oh yes…it’s always hard work and sometimes I get upset but all I have to do is look around and I can see the difference I’ve made…even if nopony else sees it.”

“Uh…huh…”

Rainbow didn’t say anything else, choosing instead to go back to her book as Fluttershy went back to her animals. A hundred babies of her own, that just sounded like way too much work. No wonder Fluttershy never got out much.

Still she was glad of the peace and quiet after discovering what she would be faced with that afternoon. Noon had come and gone by the time she finally made it to Sugarcube Corner and she had been preparing in her mind a few stories to entertain Scootaloo with but her plans went a little astray when she saw three young fillies sat around a table outside the café.

They were definitely the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the shapes and mane styles gave that much away…but one addition certainly made them stick out. Or rather stick to…all three of them were covered in tree sap from head to hoof and each sported a different variety of leaves, twigs, straw and mud. Rainbow couldn’t help but chuckle to herself as she approached, it very much looked like it wouldn’t be her recounting stories today.

“I told you it was a bad idea,” complained Sweetie Belle, the normally white unicorn sporting rather interesting array of twigs in her mane, “Rarity is going to kill me!”

“Quit your whining!” moaned Scootaloo with a roll of her eyes as she tried in vain to pull some leaves from her tail.

“Well it looks like some fillies had an interesting morning,” commented Rainbow as she got within earshot of the complaining trio.

They all looked round, Scootaloo giving the biggest grin out of all of them, “Rainbow Dash!”

“So are you going to tell me what happened or should I try and fill in the blanks myself?” asked Rainbow as she stopped next to their table.

All three fillies sighed simultaneously before Scootaloo spoke, “You really don’t wanna know.”

“Haha! Don’t sweat it kid, I got into lots of messy situations myself when I was your age.”

Rainbow settled herself down into a chair opposite them and sat back. It really was a funny sight…but then it was becoming quite a common one. Nopony else at the café had even looked in their direction, as if seeing three fillies covered in sap and leaves was normal.

“Didn’t expect to see all three of you here today, not that it’s a problem,” continued Rainbow, “I mean…”

“Goodness deary,” interrupted a call from behind Rainbow as a blue coloured mare made her way towards them, “Are you alright?”

When is everypony going to stop asking me that? Rainbow stifled a groan and looked round as Mrs Cake came to a stop next to them.

“I’m fine Mrs Cake, no sweat,” replied Rainbow, “The docs said it was something…I…ate…”

Rainbow trailed off as she remembered who she was talking to. She could only watch as a look of sheer alarm and panic spread across Mrs Cake’s face.

“Oh deary! I’m so sorry! How can I make it up to you? We’ve never had any issues with our baked goods since Pinkie Pie and Applejack…”

“I’m sure it wasn’t anything you gave me,” interrupted the Pegasus as she quickly waved her hoofs in front of her, “Seriously! Don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t worry about it! Goodness how can I not?” continued Mrs Cake.

“Really! It’s no problem, I’m feeling perfectly fine.”

“Yeah Mrs Cake, Rainbow Dash is fine!” joined in Scootaloo, the young filly grinning broadly at the older mare.

“Well…if you say so,” replied Mrs Cake slowly, “I still feel terrible about it though. I had no idea it was something like that.”

“Well alls well that ends well right?” asked Rainbow with a small bite of her lip before trying to change the subject, “Uh, could we get a couple of ice creams?”

“Uh uh uh!” piped up Sweetie Belle, “I want a triple decker chocolate drizzler!”

Rainbow grinned, trust Sweetie Belle to relax the tension.

“Oh uh, sure!” commented Mrs Cake, “It’s the least I can do.”

“Ah’ll go for a vanilla apple sundae,” followed up Applebloom.

“Rainbow Supreme!” finished Scootaloo with a large gesture from her forelegs.

Rainbow gave a small chuckle, she might have known, “I’ll have what Scoots is having. And really, don’t worry Mrs Cake, I’m fine.”

“Well alright deary, I’m just glad you’re alright,” sighed Mrs Cake before giving a small smile and wandering back in the direction of the café.

Rainbow leaned back in her chair again, she really had to watch what she said. That was all kinds of awkward. For a moment Rainbow watched the mare and then turned back to the Crusaders. They had already launched into another heated discussion about what they should try next to get their cutie marks, something never changed.

Chapter 6

The violent sound of retching echoed around the floating cloud home like a pea stuck in a tin can. Rainbow sat next to the toilet, her head limply supported on the rim and her hooves gripping the side of the bowl like her life depended on it. Four mornings in a row, four! Why did life hate her so much?

Slowly she raised her head. Her eyes were red and swollen from interrupted sleep and dark bags were starting to form under them. Her ears drooped and her rainbow coloured mane stuck out in all directions like she’d been the victim of one of her own rainblow-drys. She moaned quietly and gave a few coughs before raising a hoof to her chest and trying to steady herself. Her mouth was bone dry despite the copious amount of water she had been drinking.

She looked down at herself and glared. Although it was virtually unnoticeable to anypony else she could definitely see some changes in her physique. Her usually flat and well-toned stomach was definitely bigger than it had been before. Rainbow hadn’t noticed it over the last few months but now that she looked at it she could notice the difference. It was only two week since she had found out she was pregnant but it felt like an eternity.

So far she had been able to deal with everything this unwanted nonsense had thrown at her but right now she felt like dying. To make matters worse today was a day she had been dreading since the previous week, her second hospital check-up appointment. Part of her mind was saying don’t bother; just go back to bed and try and get some sleep. The other half, however, knew exactly what would happen if she missed it. Doctor Stable wasn’t a pony who just let things slide. Last week she had been a few minutes late and he had chewed her out for at least five minutes before she had even gotten inside the hospital.

It wasn’t only the doctor though, it was the tests themselves. Rainbow had always been a very sensitive pony in terms of touch. She couldn’t bare having her hoofs touched and normally only accepted hugs from ponies she knew. It made her feel vulnerable, putting somepony else in charge…she didn’t like it.

She gave a short sigh and sat back from the toilet. She didn’t feel any better despite her previous activities and doubted she would for some time. Breakfast was certainly out of the question! Even the thought of food made her feel nauseous despite the hunger pains drifting through her body. What had she done to deserve all this pain and suffering? Hoisting herself to her feet she took a brief glance at herself in the mirror and then left the bathroom. She stumbled a little, bumping into the bathroom doorframe and giving a light grumble.

“Better get this over with…” she murmured to herself as she gave the side of her head a gentle rub.

It wasn’t long before Rainbow was on the ground, walking slowly towards the Ponyville hospital. She had decided against flying, a first for her in a long while. She had tried of course, part of her ‘nothing can stop me’ attitude. And yet here she was. She was glad her home was out of the way, the last thing she needed was for somepony to start asking questions about why she was riding clouds to the ground.

It was then that a poster caught her eye, tacked to a nearby tree. Rainbow stopped to look at it; the Iron Pony Competition. An image of her and Applejack was proudly plastered across the centre of the poster; each pony staring at the other with a steely determination in their eyes. Rainbow remembered posing for that photo, it seemed like a whole lifetime ago. And yet the competition was now only three days away…three days.

Rainbow felt a knot of rage building in her stomach; she wouldn’t lose! Whatever happened she wouldn’t lose! The competition had grown since the previous year, a massive event that was now going to be covered by the media. It was quite a grand occasion for Ponyville; a town that had, frankly, been passed over as just another ordinary village. It wasn’t grand like Canterlot, nor was it sophisticated like Manehatten or a tourist trap like Las Pegasus. But this event could really put Ponyville on the map. She couldn’t let everypony down! Scootaloo hadn’t stopped talking about the competition for weeks now, the Rainbow Dash fan club had been practicing a chant since before Winter Wrap Up. Rainbow smiled slightly, they didn’t know she knew but it made Rainbow feel incredibly proud. She knew that getting too big headed was a foolish thing; her friends had taught her that when they had posed as the mysterious Mare-do-well…but she couldn’t help herself from time to time even so.

A twinge in her back brought her back to reality as she shifted her weight. She looked away from poster and set off again towards the hospital. Well there was only one thing to do and nopony was going to persuade her otherwise. She was going to be the best pony any pony could wish to be. She was going to be talked about on every street corner and be twenty percent cooler than anypony else.

As she finally arrived at the hospital Nurse Redheart was there to greet her. The medical pony gave her a friendly smile and waved her in. Rainbow tried her best to look perfectly fine; a task she almost pulled off apart from the occasional wince.

“Take a seat Rainbow and I’ll be right with you,” announced Redheart as she opened a door to one of the examination rooms.

Rainbow walked in, heading to the far side where the examination table sat. Slowly she hoisted herself onto it and waited. This was one of the worst part, the waiting. The room was painted in the usual medical green colour, the walls decorated with the usual medical style posters and charts. A clock sat on the wall, its hands slowly ticking off the seconds one by one. Rainbow hated this. She hated this room. She hated the pointless posters she had read a million times over. She hated the stupid plastic flowers sat in their stupid polka dotted vase. Most of all though she hated the thing inside her.

“There we go,” came a call from the door as Nurse Redheart entered the room, “Just had to clear a few bits of information with reception. Doctor Stable is unavailable today, minor emergency to deal with, so I’ll be conducting your tests on my own today.”

“Fine!” replied Rainbow bluntly as she folded her forelegs, “Let’s just get on with it.”

“Miss Dash you really should be happier about all this. You’re going to be a mother!”

Rainbow didn’t reply, instead choosing to glare at the poster opposite her. Redheart sat down next to the examination table and started flicking through a list of records.

“Now then, let’s get these questions out of the way first shall we? Have you been sleeping well?”

“Fine, no problems.”

“Ah…hah…any further sickness? Pains, aches or dizzy spells?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

Redheart put her notes down and levelled her gaze at Rainbow, “Miss Dash I know that’s not true. I could see you wincing with every step you took when you arrived and I also noticed that you didn’t fly here today.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me ok!”

“Very well, lie back I need to conduct a few tests.”

Rainbow did so, lying back on the table and staring up at the ceiling. Redheart approached her side, for a moment just observing the blue Pegasus before moving her hooves up towards her face. She quickly placed on either side of Rainbow’s left eye and gently pulled her eye lids back.

“Hmm…reddened eyes and the start of shadows…have you had any disrupted sleep?” she asked.

“N-no….”

“Ah…hah,” replied Redheart her tone completely unconvinced as she moved down Rainbow’s body, “Dry lips too, open wide now.”

Rainbow did so reluctantly, Redheart taking a moment to examine the inside of Rainbow’s mouth before moving on.

“Signs of dehydration…you’ve obviously not been eating right either? Are you sticking to the diet information we gave you last week?”

“Well…kind of…” replied Rainbow as the look on her face started to grow more irritated.

Redheart shook her head, “Miss Dash this is very serious! If you don’t look after yourself it could have terrible consequences on your child…”

“I already told you!” interrupted Rainbow, “I’m not going to have this child! I’m aborting as soon as I can, speaking of which you said you’d have more information on that for me today.”

Redheart took a deep breathe, “Yes, yes I do…but with your current attitude I don’t even think I should tell you.”

“Tell me right now!” demanded Rainbow, slamming her hoof on the side of the table as she sat up.

“…We still can’t proceed for another week…”

“Another week! That’ll put it AFTER the Iron Pony! What do you expect me to do about that?!”

“I expect you to look after yourself properly! In your current state I wouldn’t recommend the procedure anyway, it’s a very complicated piece of surgery and if you aren’t in perfect condition it could have long lasting effects for you. You’re obviously dehydrated and hungry. I can tell you’ve not been sleeping properly and the way you were wincing would indicate you’re suffering from cramps and muscle fatigue. Your physique doesn’t help either, you’re so highly strung that it’s causing everything to tense more than normal and…”

“Oh so this is my fault now?”

“I’m not saying that Miss Dash. I’m saying that if you want to go ahead with the procedure you have one week to start following the rules or we won’t be able to do anything. Now lie back down, I have to check the foal.”

Rainbow gave a brief snort and then flung herself back on the table and resumed her earlier activity of staring at the ceiling. In the meantime Redheart retrieved the scanning machine and applied some gel to Rainbow’s midriff. Rainbow didn’t bother to look at the screen.

“Hmm,” mused Redheart as she moved the probe back and forth, “Still too early to tell the gender. It almost looks like…”

“What?”

“…oh its nothing,” finished Redheart as she removed the probe, “Everything looks fine.”

“Good, can I go now? I got things I need to do,” asked Rainbow as she made a move to sit up.

“You can go yes…but I recommend you take it easy for a while, certainly until your physical condition improves.”

“Improves? I’m the best athlete in Ponyville! What’s there to improve on? Oh I know what this is! You think Applejack is the best don’t you, should have figured! Well I’m going to show everypony I can still win! I’m not going to let Ponyville down.”

“Miss Dash, you’re not still thinking of competing this week are you?” gasped Redheart, the nurse pony looking visibly stunned.

“Competing? No. Winning? Oooooh yeah! Now if you’ll excuse me!”

With that Rainbow flipped herself off the table, gave a small groan and headed out the door. As she did she almost collided with Nurse Sweetheart, the plump pony having to jump back as Rainbow made her exit. After watching her leave for a moment Sweetheart stepped into the room to find Redheart sat in a chair looking thoroughly dejected.

“Oh dear, another bad examination?” she asked softly.

“I’m afraid so…” replied Redheart as she looked up, “…it’s like nothing I say even registers in her head.”

“Is she still wanting to go ahead?”

“Yes, and she’s even going to compete at the Iron Pony.”

Sweetheart was silent for a moment before giving a sigh. She looked around the room, her vision finally fixing on the still active scanning machine. The screen was frozen on an image, seemingly taken by Redheart during the scan. Sweetheart blinked and looked again, crossing to the machine to get a better view.

“Well I’ll be…” she said finally.

“You notice it as well?” asked Redheart.

“Have you told her?”

“I nearly did but I don’t know if it will make a difference or not? She didn’t even look at the screen herself. How can she be so detached?”

Redheart gave a small sigh as a tear began to form in the corner of her eye. Sweetheart quickly walked up beside her, throwing a hoof round her shoulder.

“Come on now, let’s get you some tea.”

Chapter 7

Rainbow couldn’t believe it. Two days now and not a single wave of nausea! She was grinning from ear to ear as she looked at herself in the mirror. Not only did she feel a lot better but her appetite had returned too. A morning without sickness, a peaceful night’s sleep, and a meal fit for Celestia; Rainbow felt ready to conquer the whole of Equestria.

“Ha! Just gotta start by beating one!” she said to herself as she spun to leave the room.

Today was the day, the Iron Pony Competition. Twenty different athletic tests to determine who was the best. This year the competition had been opened for any pony to join but she knew that it was either her or Applejack who was going to win. As she took flight towards the outskirts it felt like the last few weeks hadn’t even happened. Sure she hadn’t been able to train as hard as she would have liked but that didn’t meant she was going to give up the competition to the orange mare.

The competition ground was drawing close now, Rainbow looking down to see ponies of all types making their own way towards the make-shift stadium. On the wind the murmur or voices, yells and cheers began to drift in. Above the murmur Rainbow could hear a familiar voice of a certain purple dragon blaring out across the area.

“And again another big welcome to the second Iron Pony Competition.”

So Twilight let Spike do the announcing again. Rainbow grinned, she was surprised. Twilight had been incredibly busy recently with a few matters in Canterlot but she hadn’t said what. If Spike was announcing though maybe it meant Twilight would be attending the competition too? So long as she decided not to take part as well! Rainbow shuddered slightly at the thought; last years Running of the Leaves had been enough for her. The fact that Twilight had beaten her on that occasion was still one that irritated her, even if she would never admit it to her friend.

“Ho ho everypony! Looks like our second major contender is arriving,” came Spikes voice causing Rainbow to look down.

Her thoughtful musing had meant she had almost flown over the competition grounds without even noticing. She gave a brief grin to herself and pulled up, going into a full loop, punching a hole clean through several clouds and then shot towards the ground. She could hear a few startled cries from the gather ponies as she raced towards the ground but Rainbow knew what she was doing. At the last moment she pulled up, the downdraft throwing all manner of dust into the air. As it cleared everypony began to cheer. Rainbow had made a perfect landing within the dust cloud, the Pegasus absently brushing a little dirt from her shoulder as she grinned at the crowd.

“Mighty grand entrance Rainbow!” called a voice.

“Ha! You ain’t seen nothing yet,” replied Rainbow as Applejack trotted towards her.

“Ho yeah? Wanna shake on that?”

Applejack quickly raised a hoof and spat on it before extending it towards Rainbow. Rainbow grinned and copied the action, slamming her hoof into Applejacks. Behind them a number of the assembled ponies started cheering.

“Yeah I’ll shake on that…and this year I won’t need to use my wings to win either!”

“Well this could get mighty interesting…”

Both ponies grinned at each other before falling into step next to the other as they made their way towards the rest of the competitors. Both knew it was only a friendly competition, their experiences the year before giving them both a much more level head on reality…but it didn’t mean they weren’t going to strive to win. As they walked it seemed Spike was already getting proceedings underway.

“…and all the events will be the same as last year. But remember everypony the scoring has changed this year due to the additional competitors. Each event will now be marked as follows; first place will receive three points, second will receive two and third will receive one point. The pony with the most points at the end of the competition will be crowned the winner. If there is a tie we will go into a tie-breaker in order to determine the winner.

Spike was stood on a large wooden platform opposite the main grandstand holding a microphone. The small dragon was still the same as he always had been, dragons never growing up as long as their greed wasn’t encouraged. It was always the opposite with Spike, he was always giving and for that everypony treated him like their own sibling.

“Now to get things started allow me to introduce the judge for this year, Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

Rainbow gave a broad smile; she shouldn’t have doubted Twilight for a moment. If there was one thing you could count on it was that was always there for her friends no matter what. The crowd of ponies erupted into cheers as the purple alicorn appeared on the stage. Was it not for the royal sash that hung round her neck and the element of magic crown that rested on her head you couldn’t have told the difference between the old Twilight and the new; well apart from the wings. Rainbow could see the blush spreading across Twilight face as she lifted a microphone into the air with her magic. A loving glance was exchanged between her and the dragon before she turned to the crowd.

“Thank you everypony for such a warm welcome,” she began before being drowned out by more cheering.

Twilight waited for them to stop before she continued, “But this day isn’t about me, it’s about the competition and the brave ponies who have decided to take part. I wish you all the best of luck and may the best pony win!”

Cheers erupted once again and Rainbow and Applejack both exchanged an amused grin. Twilight had always been good at public speaking but it seemed to her friends that since her change she was a lot more nervous about it. It didn’t show to others but they could tell. Fluttershy was always nervous for her but both Rainbow and Applejack found it highly amusing.

“Ok everypony! Just like last year the first event will be a barrel weave. You all have your competition number, if you don’t then be sure to collect it from the front bench before heading to the starting line,” announced Spike as Twilight retreated slightly and sat down at the edge of the stage.

“See you on the other side cowgirl,” commented Rainbow.

“You betcha!” replied Applejack with a smirk.

After collecting her number Rainbow headed to the first event. She was number twelve, Applejack being number eight. This meant she was chasing; a position Rainbow didn’t mind being in. She could keep a close eye on Applejack this way, spot every mistake she made and make sure she didn’t repeat them.

Even so it did leave her waiting as the ponies ahead of her did their own runs. It was interesting to watch though. Thunderlane put in a good performance, scoring a time of nineteen seconds and only one fault. Other ponies weren’t so lucky such as Showshine; the unfortunate pony losing her footing and smashing headlong into one of the barrels. This resulted in a brief pause as the competitions medic Nurse Redheart checked her out. Shoeshine was fine but she was sent to the hospital to be checked out just in case.

By the time Applejack had done her run Rainbow was starting to get a little impatient. Even so the earth pony didn’t disappoint in keeping Rainbow interested. A time of sixteen seconds and no faults unlike the previous year. That was going to be a hard time to beat, very hard. It was almost her turn now though and the next few competitors quickly finished their own runs. The last pony to run before her was Derpy, the grey Pegasus looking extremely excited to be competing. When her turn came she grinned broadly and raced out onto the track. Rainbow wasn’t sure if she properly understood the concept of the even or was just too excited to care. Her time was good, an amazing fifteen second time…but a whopping twelve faults after she managed to hit every single barrel on the course. The thoroughly excited Derpy quickly turned into a thoroughly dejected one as she was given her final score.

“I just don’t know what went wrong…” she muttered quietly as she passed Rainbow.

Rainbow felt a little sorry for her but she knew Derpy always cheered up quickly. She wasn’t sure if it was because she had a short memory or didn’t dwell on things for long but it wasn’t important right now. It was her turn!

Lining up on the course starting line she licked her lips as she waited for the starting signal. Her eyes flicked back and forth across the staggered line of barrels ahead of her. Left, right, left, right; she could do this.

“And go!” cried Spike from his stand.

Rainbow was off like a shot. Diving left, turn, realign, forwards again. Her weaving was a marvel to behold, a precision display that could have graced the Equestria Rodeo. As she crossed the finish line she dug her front hooves into the ground, spinning round to look back at Spike for her time.

“And a very impressive time from Rainbow Dash, sixteen seconds and no faults!” announced Spike, “That puts her in second place behind Applejack so far.”

Rainbow kicked the ground, so close.

“Not bad for a weather pony,” commented Applejack as she walked up behind Rainbow, “Even better than last year.”

“Hah, uh…yeah…uh…well done,” replied Rainbow after a moment.

“Don’t fret sugar cube, plenty more events to go.”

Rainbow did her best to smile; this was only the first event of course but as everypony knew Rainbow hated loosing anything. The rest of the first event went by without any further incidents, Thunderlane coming in third with his impressive run. As the various competitors made their way towards the next event Rainbow couldn’t help but stop and grin at one of the gathered groups in the stands. Scootaloo and the rest of the Rainbow Dash fan club sat together wearing their Rainbow mane wigs waving flags and banners. As the Pegasus approached Scootaloo jumped to her hooves and started chanting.

“Rainbow Dash is the best, she is better than the rest. Applejack is so funny, she couldn’t even beat a bunny!” cried the young Pegasus before erupting into cheers.

Next to her Sweetie Belle pulled a face and looked at her friend, “What kind of lyrics are those?”

“What ya say about ma sister?!” cried Applejack before the earth pony tackled her friend.

As Cheerilee moved in to break up the fight Rainbow gave a grin and moved on. She should have known Scootaloo would have done something like this. She began to wonder if Applejack would feel bad but one glance showed her that the mare was chuckling to herself; most likely at Applebloom’s reaction.

“Next up we have a test of strength,” announced Spike as the competitors arrived at the second event, “Simple one this is, just kick that target as hard as you can. The strongest kick will win.”

“Well ah think I have this one in the bag as it were,” commented Applejack as she swung Rainbow a knowing grin.

“Yeah we’ll see about that cowgirl,” replied Rainbow with a huff.

Applejack just chuckled to herself as she slotted herself into line. Indeed this event was definitely played to Applejack’s strength. There wasn’t much that could compete with a lifetime of apple bucking. Still Rainbow wasn’t about to give up without a fight, she still had everyone else to beat if nothing else.

Unlike the last event this one passed quickly, the only hold up being the repair job needed on the machine after Applejack sent the bell sailing into the air like she had done the previous year. Applejack’s comment kept running back and forth through Rainbow’s head as she waited; she would show her…anything Applejack could do so could she.

Approaching the machine for her turn she spent a moment glaring at its surface before turning away. She did a few quick practice kicks into the air before positioning herself. She dug her front hooves into the ground and licked her lips. Pausing for just a moment she raised her hind legs from the ground and kicked out hard.

The kick was good, the bell being sent flying from its mounting as it was struck. The sound never even registered in Rainbow’s head. Even as the crowd went wild at the superb kick Rainbow heard nothing. She was frozen, lost to time and reality, trapped within her own small world. It was like nothing she had ever felt before; a pain so great it froze every muscle in her body. She couldn’t even bring herself to scream; her mouth hanging open like a door off its latch. Her frozen moment did not last long however. As a dry gasp passed her lips as her forelegs gave way and she collapsed.

A number of ponies started screaming, others pointing and shouting. A few raced towards the unconscious Pegasus, Applejack being the first to arrive. She shook her hard but Rainbow didn’t wake from her slumber.

“Rainbow! Rainbow answer me!” she cried quickly, the panic spreading quickly across her face.

“Move back, move aside quickly!” called Nurse Redheart as she tore through the crowd and came to a stop next to the pair, “Quickly Miss Applejack, move back please.”

Applejack did just that, moving enough so that Redheart could knee down next to Rainbow. She quickly placed a hoof on Rainbow’s chest, “Heartbeat’s elevated, breathing…”

She leaned over, placing her ear next to Rainbow’s mouth, “…breathing slow.”

She moved her hoof down, placing it against Rainbow’s stomach. Redheart’s face suddenly turned even whiter than normal, “Oh no! It’s moved…we need to get her to the hospital immediately!”

“I’ll take her!” came a voice.

“Princess?!” asked Redheart.

Twilight landed next to them, her usual calm and collected exterior showing signs of actually cracking, “Quickly get her on my back, no time for questions!”

Redheart didn’t argue and with the aid of Applejack they quickly had Rainbow positioned across Twilight’s back.

“Follow me as quickly as you can!” she said before spreading her wings and taking to the sky.

Twilight wasn’t a daring flyer like Rainbow but she was a powerful one. A single flap of her alicorn wings was likely enough to lift several ponies into the air and, having taken lessons from both of her Pegasus friends, her control was excellent. She made a beeline for the hospital, ignoring anything and everything she saw; luckily it wasn’t far. As she arrived her horn sparked into life causing the hospital doors to swing open with a bang. Doctor Stable was about to shout angrily before he saw who it was that was responsible.

“Princess Sparkle!” he said quickly, giving a short bow.

“No time for formalities, we have an emergency!” announced Twilight.

“What do you me…oh by Celestia!” replied Stable as he spotted Rainbow on Twilight’s back, “Nurse! Get a stretcher in here NOW!”

Nurse Snowheart was quick off the mark, wheeling a trolley in quickly before helping Stable to lift Rainbow onto the bed. As the pair dashed off down the hospital corridor Twilight was left standing in the reception area looking longingly at the empty corridor ahead of her.

The day was slowly drawing to a close when Doctor Stable and Nurse Redheart finally came out to see the assembled group. Twilight had now been joined by Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy as well as the three Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike. Each of them looked incredibly worried especially Fluttershy, the yellow Pegasus looking like she was going to faint at any moment.

“How is she doctor?” asked Twilight as calmly as she could.

“Your highness, she’s going to be fine but I’m afraid to say I have been expecting something like this to happen for a while now,” replied Stable.

“What in tarnation do ya mean?” asked Applejack with a confused expression.

“Well performing violent exercises like taking part in the Iron Pony was bound to cause problems given her condition.”

“Condition? What condition?” asked Rarity.

For a moment Stable and Redheart exchanged puzzled looks.

“You mean…she hasn’t told you?” asked Redheart.

“Told us what? Stop being so cryptic consarnit!” replied Applejack as her earlier confused expression changed to irritation.

Redheart gave a small sigh and looked at Stable, the doctor giving her a small nod before she turned to address the group, “Rainbow Dash is pregnant.”

“Pregnant?!” chimed all the assembled ponies and dragon at once.

“How can Rainbow Dash be pregnant?!” asked Scootaloo, “She doesn’t even have a special somepony!”

“My word, that’s quite a shocking revelation,” commented Rarity, “I wouldn’t have expected that from Rainbow Dash. Not that I’m being critical you understand.”

“Why didn’t she tell us…?” asked Twilight.

“That I don’t know,” replied Stable, “We encouraged her to talk to you all about her decision but…well she is stable now. It would appear that the over extension of her body during that kick at the Iron Pony caused one of the foals to move. This sudden unusual motion likely caused her a lot of pain which in turn caused her to pass out. She’s awake now though so you can speak to her if you wish but she needs rest so make it brief.”

“Wait, one of the foals?” asked Twilight.

“Yes, we weren’t sure until just now but the scan we just did has confirmed it…Rainbow is carrying twins. A little unusual for a first pregnancy but not unheard of.”

“TWINS!” cried Pinkie Pie suddenly, having been too stunned to say anything up until this point, “Oh my gosh! Twins! Two new babies! Oh my I’ll have to get the party supplies ready! We’ll have to arrange a ‘finding out Rainbow Dash is pregnant’ party! Uh! And then I’ll have to…”

“Pinkie Pie, do calm down,” interjected Rarity, “This is a very serious situation, not one to be taken so lightly.”

“Darn tootin!” added Applejack, “Hey doc, did she know that doing this could be dangerous?”

Stable nodded, “Oh yes, we made it quite clear to her.”

“Darn it Rainbow, what ya thinking?”

“Let’s find out…” finished Twilight as she started to make her way towards Rainbow’s room, “Spike take the Crusaders home.”

“Yes ma’am!” replied Spike quickly.

“Wait!” said Scootaloo, “I wanna see Rainbow Dash!”

“Tomorrow!” replied Twilight.

“But…”

“Tomorrow!”

Twilight turned her head sharply; her expression said it all. Few had ever seen Twilight as serious as she looked right now. With the added impact her new princess form gave her it was enough to stop Scootaloo from talking immediately. The Pegasus was still upset, Dash had been like a sister to her ever since their trip to Winsome falls. This was a majorly important event, she wanted to be there…but she wasn’t going to back talk a princess. Together with Spike and the other two Crusaders she turned and headed towards the exit, still lost between shock and amazement at what she had heard.

Twilight and the other four ponies meanwhile had made it to Rainbow’s room. For a moment they all waited outside the room before Twilight rose a hoof and pushed the door open. Rainbow didn’t seem to notice at first, the Pegasus gently sobbing into her pillow as she lay there. As the group moved in though the noise of their hooves caused Rainbow to stifle her sobs and quickly wipe her eyes. Even so it was easy to tell she had been crying; her eyes red and bloodshot.

“Oh…hi guys…ah…” she began as she sat up.

Applejack was the first to break the silence, the muscular earth pony visible restraining herself as she spoke, “Dammit Rainbow! What the hay are ya playing at?! First ya go and get yourself pregnant and don’t tell us and then you take part in the Iron Pony after the doctors have told you not to! Why ah ought to smack ya…”

“That’s enough Applejack,” interrupted Twilight as she cast a glance at the raging pony before looking back at Rainbow, “Well Rainbow? We’re waiting…”

Rainbow didn’t say anything. Her face was a mess of emotions; fear, sadness, anger, they flashed back and forth like the waves on a rough sea. In turn each pony looked back at her with their own emotion. Pinkie looked the happiest, the bouncy pony looking on the verge of exploding with confetti as she grinned at Rainbow. Rarity looked more concerned, the unicorn seemingly trying to work out what had been happening on her own. Fluttershy still looked terrified as she peeked out from behind Rarity, her green eyes quivering with relief and fear. Applejack still looked ready to pounce, her lower jaw quivering with rage as her eyes bore holes straight through Rainbow’s head. Twilight meanwhile remained cool, her expression giving away nothing and saying nothing; the perfect poker face. And yet Rainbow could see past it and what she saw scared her more than anything else, disappointment.

“I…” started Rainbow as she looked away from her friends, “I’m fine…nothing to worry about…”

“Forgive me darling,” cut in Rarity, “but you are anything but fine. Hiding this from all of us and then risking your health and the lives of your foals for some silly contest? I know you always like to win darling but this is a little over the top now.”

“It shouldn’t have mattered…this was all supposed to be over by now…” murmured Rainbow.

“What was supposed to be all over?” asked Applejack.

Before Rainbow could say anything though Pinkie launched herself forward, seemingly unable to contain her excitement a moment longer, “Oh my gosh Rainbow Dash! You’re pregnant and that means you’re going to have foals! And that means I’ll have to throw a party! Oh goodie goodie goodie! Uh! I have to start planning right now! Can’t let a moment go to waste! Remember that big party I threw for the Cakes, well this one is going to be even bigger! Uh who is the father! I’ll have to invite him too! And then we’ll…”

Rainbow couldn’t take it; the looks from her friends, the endless questions, the bouncing pink blob of excitement right in front of her face. They knew nothing of her pain! Nothing!

“Pinkie Pie shut up!” she screamed, her voice silencing the party pony quicker than the time Trixie removed her muzzle.

Rainbow glared at Pinkie for a moment, “I’m not having the foals! I’m aborting!”

“WHAT?!” cried Pinkie as she bounced backwards away from Rainbow, “But but but but…”

“Aborting?” gasped Applejack as her expression changed from rage to astonishment, “But what…”

“Oh my…” murmured Fluttershy as the colour seemed to drain from her face.

Rarity herself didn’t say anything, neither did Twilight although both ponies cast a sideways glance at each other.

“Yes aborting! You want to know why?!” continued Rainbow, “I didn’t ask for this! I didn’t want to get pregnant! I don’t even remember who the father is, I don’t even know when it happened or how! But what I do know is that I’m not having these foals! I’m going to be a Wonderbolt! I’m going to be one of the greatest flyers Equestria has ever known! That’s my destiny! This is just another sick test that I have to overcome! Nothing is going to stand in my way! Nothi…”

Rainbow suddenly stopped as the back of Twilight’s hoof met Rainbow’s cheek. The gathered ponies in the room had been so shocked by Rainbow’s outburst they hadn’t noticed Twilight approaching Rainbow…even the Pegasus herself had been oblivious to her. A red glow began to spread across Rainbow’s cheek as her face flushed from the impact; Rainbow slowly raising a hoof to her cheek as her eyes tracked upwards to look at Twilight.

The alicorn’s expression had softened slightly from her earlier neutrality. She looked saddened, a single tear forming in the corner of her eye. Slowly she raised her own hoof and wiped the tear from her eye before turning her back and walking away towards the door.

“Come on girls, let’s go,” is all she said as she walked from the room.

Nopony said anything for a moment. Pinkie Pie was the next to turn away, her normally frizzy mane and tail deflated and hanging limp beside her. She looked depressed and sad, all the normal bounce and fun having left her. Behind Pinkie, Rarity slid from the room without a word; she didn’t even look back or flinch. For a moment Applejack and Fluttershy remained still staring at Rainbow. As Applejack turned to leave Rainbow finally found her voice.

“Applejack wait!” she called, reaching out with her spare hoof towards her friend.

“No Rainbow, ah ain’t waiting,” replied Applejack as she turned towards the door, “Ah think you’ve got some serious thinking to do.”

“Applejack…wai…Fluttershy!”

The yellow Pegasus looked like she was almost on the verge of tears. Her eyes watered as she looked helplessly around the room at her departing friends and Rainbow. For a moment her gaze met Rainbow’s, the blue Pegasus looking back with desperate hope and sadness. Fluttershy couldn’t take it, quickly bursting into tears as she fled the room.

Rainbow’s out stretched hoof slowly fell to her side as she stared at the empty doorframe. A tear began to form in her eye and a moment later her earlier sobbing resumed.

Chapter 8

The minutes dragged by one by one; gradually adding up to hours as the constant tick-tock of the clock counted off the intervening seconds. For Rainbow each and every one of them felt like a lifetime as she lay huddled in her bed. Her tears had long since dried up, her body refusing to shed more but her mind still lost and saddened. How could all of this have happened? What had she done to deserve this?

In Rainbow’s mind scenario after scenario played out one after another. Each one was different but they were all the same. Rainbow had always been a head strong pony. She knew what she wanted and she knew how to get it. She would breach any problem and forge a path that she knew she deserved. She was a winner, a pony destined for greatness. But this time something had happened that she was unaccustomed to; she had lost.

She had lost her respect, her dignity, her reputation…but most of all she had lost her friends. The way Twilight had looked at her before leaving still haunted her every time she closed her eyes. It had been like the look you might give an injured animal found on the road; a look of pity and sadness. She had lost Twilight’s respect…

…so what?! Rainbow’s brow furrowed and a building growl started to slip from between her clenched teeth. What did she know about anything?! That egghead sat in her library even now as a Princess. She didn’t know the first thing about how she was feeling! And the others? They were just shocked, driven along by Twilight’s stupid notions. She was destined to be a Wonderbolt, something her entire life had been heading towards; how could they understand something that big?

She rolled onto her back, straightening her covers as she did. No her way was the only way. Her friends would understand in time…and if they didn’t they didn’t deserve to be her friend!

The morning came all too quickly for Rainbow. Between sobbing and struggling with her internal monologue there hadn’t been much time left to sleep. But that didn’t matter, she was feeling much better now and ready to take on the day once again. She rubbed her tired eyes, trying her best to make them focus. She wasn’t having much luck.

A sudden knock on the door snapped her to attention quicker than a mug of coffee. Who was it? One of her friends? Had they come to apologise? Unlikely. She didn’t get much time to debate the issue though as the handle twisted and the face of Nurse Redheart peeked round the door frame. Upon seeing that Rainbow was awake she gave a small smile and opened the door.

“Good morning Miss Dash,” she announced cheerfully as she walked into the room and headed towards the window, “Did you sleep well?”

“Uh…not really…” replied Rainbow in a mumbled tone.

“Well I suppose that’s unsurprising,” continued Redheart as she raised a hoof and opened the curtains flooding the room with the morning rays of the sun, “After all, first pregnancies can be terribly hard on the body.”

Rainbow didn’t reply and instead just shielded her eyes from the sudden brightness that was assaulting her sleepy form. She grumbled to herself as Redheart approached the monitoring equipment set up next to her bed. For a moment she stood and examined the readouts, nodding to herself occasionally as she skimmed over the figures and charts.

“Well this all looks in order,” she commented before turning to Rainbow, “Your vitals are all stable once again. Are you still in any pain?”

“No…” replied Rainbow without looking at her.

“Any other symptoms at all? Nausea, cramps?”

Rainbow shook her head. Redheart nodded to herself and tore the print off from the machine.

“Very well,” she started as she folded the readouts between her hooves, “I’ll deliver these to the doctor for a final check but I would think you’ll be free to leave by midday.”

She made a move to leave, a sharp cough from Rainbow causing her to look round.

“How long?” asked Rainbow, “How long until I can abort.”

Redheart sighed, she was becoming tired of answering this question, “No more than a week.”

Her voice was factual and cold. Rainbow knew she didn’t approve of the decision she was making and Redheart had grown tired of hiding her opinion. For a moment the two ponies looked at each other, a wave of disgust and anger passing between them before Rainbow finally rolled over and pulled the blanket over herself.

“Good…” she mumbled.

As Rainbow finally left the hospital she could help but feel a sense of relief wash over her. She hated hospital, full of the sick and injured; two things that Rainbow tried to avoid whenever possible. As Redheart stood at the entrance waving Rainbow didn’t even look back. Her head was held low, a dejected look of acceptance plastered across her face. Despite her relief at being allowed to leave Doctor Stable hadn’t let her go with a number of set instructions; instructions that currently floated through Rainbow’s mind like a dark cloud.

“No flying…” she muttered to herself, “…no flying until after the procedure.”

She couldn’t believe it. She’d even been forbidden from flying up to her own cloudhouse. Rainbow continued to grumble as she slowly made her way towards Ponyville. What was she going to do now? She doubted heavily that any of her friends would want to even see her never mind offer her a bed to sleep in. Possibly Fluttershy but the mental image of the pegasus’ face the previous afternoon still haunted her vision. Applejack would likely buck her into the nearest pigsty. Pinkie already occupied the spare room at Sugarcube Corner and she didn’t even want to see Twilight after what had happened the previous day.

It seemed there was only one friend she might have a chance with, Rarity. She was sure the unicorn would have some choice words to give her and some heavily opinionated opinions but she always did what she could for everypony she knew. Rainbow sighed once again but quickly pulled her head up and tried her best to look like her confident normal self. Things could always be worse.

The trip to the centre of Ponyville didn’t take long and luckily the town appeared quiet. Market day was tomorrow and most ponies were occupied with their area of work. That said Rainbow could help but notice a few glances coming her way. Most noticeably from Rose and Daisy as they stood chatting at the flower stall. They both stopped to look at her, Rainbow giving them both a snort as she caught their glance. The pair quickly went back to their chatter but Rainbow knew that the conversation topic had changed. They knew…she wondered how many other ponies in town knew.

As she approached Carousel Boutique she could make out a shape moving back and forth behind the net curtains that hung in the window. The faint glow of magic hung in the air signifying it was most likely the unicorn herself, most likely working on her latest outfit. For a moment Rainbow hesitated outside the door, her hoof poised just inches from the handle. What was she going to say? How was Rarity going to act after the events of the previous day?

For a brief moment a flash of guilt ran through Rainbow’s mind. She was the Element of Loyalty! She never abandoned her friends and could always be there when you needed her the most. Despite her ambitions she had never put her own heart’s desire above that of the ponies around her…and yet…

No!

This was totally different and nothing they could say would make her change her mind. With renewed vigour she pushed her hoof forward, opening the door and stepping into the boutique.

“Welcome to Carousel Bouti…oh, hello Rainbow,” announced a rather cheerful Rarity before her tone flattened, “How are you?”

She kept her mannerism but Rainbow could pick out the undertone of disdain in Rarity’s word.

“I’m fine…” replied Rainbow, trying to keep the resentment from her voice.

“Good good,” replied Rarity as she turned back to her earlier tasks, “They let you out of the hospital then?”

“Yeah, doc said I was free to leave.”

“And what can I do for you?”

“They said I wasn’t allowed to fly so I was wondering if you have any spare rooms I could use for a few days.”

Rarity didn’t answer at first; the unicorn seemingly more interested in adding another layer or ribbon to the dress she was working on. As her magic reached out and started to pluck various other items off a nearby shelf Rainbow began to wonder if she was just being ignored or if Rarity had just not heard her. She was about to speak when the unicorn sharply cut the air.

“Yes I have a spare room upstairs,” her tone carried no hint of interest, “Third door on the right at the top of the stairs. I take it you’re probably hungry…hospital food is never very appetising.”

“Uh…yeah, I’m a little hungry,” replied Rainbow in a slightly unsure tone.

There was a moment of silence between the pair. Rainbow couldn’t help but just stand there, her gaze fixed on the back of Rarity’s head as she weaved her fashion magic into her latest creation. Rainbow was quite used to Rarity expressing her opinions. The white unicorn was well known as a drama queen, prone to bouts of whining and complaining about the smallest inconvenience. She had not said a word since yesterday about Rainbow’s situation but the Pegasus could tell there was a storm brewing under the surface.

“Rarity…I…” she started as she lightly kicked the floor with a hoof.

“Not another word,” interrupted Rarity fiercely as she spun to face the blue Pegasus, “I know what you’re going to say and I don’t want to get into it.”

Her magic had faded, the items she was holding aloft clattering to the floor around her as she bore a solid glare through the glasses she was wearing.

“I’ve known you long enough to know that anything I say is just going to ping off that ignorant stubborn shell you carry around like a bad smell!”

Rarity stepped forwards, each word bringing her closer and closer until her nose was almost touching Rainbow’s.

“So instead I’ll offer you the hospitality I’d give any of my friends…but mark my words, you’re making a big mistake and I hope you don’t live to regret it. Now, why don’t you go and make yourself comfortable upstairs and I’ll fix us both something to eat…I need a lunch break anyway.”

With that Rarity turned quickly and headed towards the back of the boutique. As she did her magic flared into life once more and the sign on the door flipped from ‘Open’ to ‘Closed’ with an audible slap. Rainbow stood in shocked silence for a moment, she had expected Rarity to say something but more along the lines of constant whining and criticism. A big mistake? Is that what Rarity thought?

After a moment she shook her head and began a slow walk towards the stairs that led up to the next floor of the boutique. Each step felt like a summit climb as if each of her hooves were encased in lead but eventually she arrived on the upper floor. It was quiet, a little too quiet for her liking. Her thoughts reverberated off the decorated walls like a pea in a drum.

A mistake…

Was it a mistake?

No! The only mistake was letting it happen in the first place! How had it even happened?! She raised a hoof to her head, pressing hard against her temple as if trying to force the answer to surface. And yet for all her effort she couldn’t remember a thing; it was like part of her life had gone missing…a very important part. Why couldn’t she remember? Why?!

A pain erupted in the side of her head forcing her to remove her hoof. A visible line had been formed in the side of her temple where she had been pressing. She gave a small groan and then let loose a yawn. The last few days had been so trying on her and her schedule had been completely throw into disarray…she had missed at least six of her normal naps.

Counting the doors on the right side of the corridor she pushed open the third one to find the spare room. A few boxes stood stacked up in a corner of the room and a shelf was packed with various books and objects but overall the room was tidy and well maintained for a spare room. The bed was well suited to the boutique as well. Although it was only a single due to the size of the room it was neatly made with frilly sheets and pastel shaded quilts.

Rainbow gave a sigh as she headed towards it and pulled back the covers. She tended to prefer her cloud bed, regardless of how soft a regular bed was it never compared to the complete unimaginable comfort of clouds. Sometimes she wondered if her friends knew what they were missing out on, even Fluttershy didn’t use a cloud bed. As she climbed into the bed though her reservations melted away as she sunk into the soft pillow and silk sheets. She remembered yawning again and staring at the ceiling for a moment before her body finally gave into the exhausting she had been trying to ignore.

It was some time later when Rainbow’s sleep was interrupted by a quiet but firm tapping. Her eyes fluttered open and for a moment she was momentarily confused at where she was before she remembered. The tapping was coming from the door, somepony rapping on it from the other side.

“Rainbow darling,” came Rarity’s voice, her tone back to her usual cheery and friendly self, “I know you must be tired but your food is getting cold and you’ve been up here for nearly two hours. Do come down and get something to eat.”

Rainbow listened as a set of hoofsteps faded off down the corridor. The room was filled with silence one again…until her stomach gave an annoyed gurgle. She curled up slightly and ran a hoof over her mid-section. Food did indeed sound like a good idea right now. Rolling herself out of bed she headed for the door and made her way downstairs, but not before stopping at the bathroom to splash her face with water.

During her descent of the stairs the small of recently cooked food wafted into her path. She could smell bread and coffee but the smell of vanilla was the one that caught her attention. With her hunger fuelling her eagerness she bounded down the last few steps and headed into the kitchen area.

Rarity stood in front of the stove, her magic keeping various pots, pans and spoon moving back and forth as she worked. To one side a small table was set out with a spread of different foods; fresh bread rolls, scrambled egg, a mountain of assorted salad and a stack of muffins. Rainbow couldn’t help but drool slightly, after the generic slop she had been eating at the hospital this was going to be heaven.

“Ah Rainbow good, do sit down, help yourself,” motioned Rarity as she turned slightly to acknowledge the Pegasus, “I had to put a few things away in the fridge to make sure they didn’t go bad, one moment.”

Rainbow slowly settled herself into a seat as Rarity’s magic opened the fridge and proceeded to pull out a string of items including butter, pickles and a variety of jams and spreads. Rainbow was already helping herself to bread as the final few items landed on the table.

“The eggs may be a little cold but I’m afraid it’s all I’ve got at the moment. I sent Sweetie Belle to get some more but she hasn’t come back yet. I can make you some fresh coffee though, cold coffee is…so uncouth.”

“Uh, thanks Rarity,” replied the Pegasus as she spoon some of the afore mentioned scrambled egg onto her plate, “You did this all yourself?”

“Yes yes,” replied Rarity with a smile, “Just because I consider myself destined for high society doesn’t mean I’m completely useless. In fact after a long day working on my ensembles I tend to find a little cooking is a nice way to relax. Although I must admit that the muffins are from Sugarcube Corner, one cannot deny that they do a simply marvellous job…and Pinkie said this was the best batch she had ever tasted…that said I do remember her saying that about last week’s batch as well.”

Rainbow felt a small smile spreading across her face, typical Pinkie. The situation felt strangely normal, as if this was just any other day and Rainbow had popped in for lunch. Saying that Rainbow couldn’t remember the last time she had had lunch at Rarity’s home, she tended to visit Fluttershy more often than her other friends. She resumed her eating as Rarity turned back towards the kitchen and set about running the dirty dishes through the sink.

“So, how long will it be?” asked Rarity suddenly.

Rainbow stopped her eating, looking back at the unicorn with a hint of confusion, “Excuse me?”

“How long until your procedure?” Rarity kept her tone level and factual as if talking to a patient rather than a friend.

“Oh uh…no more than a week,” replied Rainbow as she looked away and tried to focus her attention on the pile of muffin on the tabletop.

Rarity gave a small nod to herself, “You’ll be here for a while then, I don’t imagine the doctors will let you fly again immediately after such a procedure. I’ll clear out the spare room later so you’ll have a little more space. And I’ll let Fluttershy know that she’ll be looking after Tank for a while.”

“Huh?”

“We figured you wouldn’t be allowed to fly for a while so Fluttershy volunteered to go and collect Tank from your home and look after him. The little darling was looking very confused when Fluttershy collected him apparently. You should go and see him later once you’ve rested.”

“Oh, yeah…”

A silence passed between them, neither pony wanting to say anything else. That said the silence wasn’t destined to last as the door at the front of the boutique opened and the scurry of small hooves echoed into the room.

“Rarity! I got the eggs!” chimed Sweetie Belle as she charged into the room carrying a basket on her back, “Oh! Rainbow Dash!”

“Uh, hi Sweetie Belle,” replied Rainbow with a small wave.

Rainbow wasn’t sure exactly what to say and part of her wondered how much Sweetie Belle actually knew about what was going on.

“Marvellous darling,” commented Rarity as she levitated the basket onto the counter top, “I’ll make a useful sister out of you yet. Rainbow will be staying with us for a few days, the doctors say she’s not allowed to fly yet.”

“Uh uh uh uh! That is so cool!” bounced Sweetie Belle, the foal vibrating up and down on the spot in excitement.

She quickly dashed over to Rainbow’s side eying her carefully for a moment. Rainbow was a little put out by the stare and adjusted her position in her seat.

“Rarity tells me you’re having an ab…um…abdor…abdoption! Who are you giving the foal to?” asked Sweetie Belle excitedly.

“Huh? What?” asked Rainbow, the Pegasus completely confused.

“My sister said you couldn’t take care of the foal and when that happens you give the foal to another mum and dad to look after right?”

“Sweetie, it’s a little bit different to that,” cringed Rarity, “Now really isn’t the time for such questions, remember what I told you last night.”

“Aaaaaaw!” moaned Sweetie before giving a sullen nod of her head.

“Good now why don’t you…”

The front door of the boutique rung out again as somepony else walked into the shop. In fact from the flurry of hoofsteps it was more than one pony.

“Sweetie Belle?” called a familiar sounding southern accent,” Ya here Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie Belle herself spun towards to doorway as Applebloom rounded the corner, the young farm pony smiling broadly as she spotted Sweetie Belle. As she scanned the rest of the room though her smile faded like she had seen a ghost. She quickly looked to her side as another young pony wandered into view. Orange coat, purple mane, a pair of small wings that had yet to give her the joy of the air; Scootaloo.

She wore a sad expression, the filly looking forlorn and lost. Her eyes were bloodshot and her orange coat showed signs of tears. She dragged her hooves, her wings hanging loose at her side. Slowly she scanned the room, barely lifting her gaze from the floor until she spotted the blue Pegasus sitting at the table.

In that moment her eyes shot open, her previously sad exterior vanishing. Her wings perked up, her tail was lifted aloft and for but a moment a smile spread across her face. Rainbow felt the colour drain from her face though as the smile turned the other way, her lips and teeth beginning to quiver. Her eyes narrowed, her blood shot pupils boring holes straight into Rainbow.

“Scoots please don’t!” snapped Applebloom as she raised a hoof to Scootaloo’s shoulder, “You promised!”

Scootaloo didn’t even turn to look at her, she simply knocked her hoof away as she continued to glare at Rainbow.

Finally Rainbow couldn’t stand it, she had to say something, “Err, hi kid!”

“Shut up!”

The words cut the air like a knife silencing every pony in an instant. Nopony moved and for Rainbow everything faded away apart from the furious filly that stood in front of her.

“Don’t you ‘hi kid’ me!” continued Scootaloo, “How dare you?! How dare you even think that…”

Scootaloo’s furious exterior began to waver, tears beginning to form in her eyes and her limbs trembling.

“Scoots I…what’s wrong?” asked Rainbow, her voice low and full of fear.

“What’s wrong?!” replied Scootaloo, her eyes flashing with renewed rage, “You’re going to ask me what’s wrong? You are! Is this the real you?! I thought you cared about me but now I can see that I’m just excess baggage! Somepony to fish for compliments from!”

“What…Scoots no!” stammered Rainbow, her mind racing as she tried to work out what was going on, “I love you kid, I…”

“You love me?! Ha! I know you’re pregnant Dash and what’s more I know that you’re getting an abortion! I’ve tried to ignore it until now, thinking it was just my paranoia but now I can see it clearly.”

Rainbow tried to speak but her mouth was dry. What was going on?! This had to be a bad dream!

“You always want to be the hero, and you hate losing,” continued Scootaloo, “You always brag that you’d do anything for your friends…but only when it suits you! Your dreams are always the most important thing and everything that gets in the way is just an obstacle isn’t it?!”

“Scootaloo darling, please stop,” interjected Rarity but it was already too late to stop what was coming next.

“My parents might have abandoned me but at least they had to guts to bring me into this world! They could have just got rid of me too but they didn’t! I thought you were different Dash! I always looked up to you and after that trip to Winsome Falls I though…I thought that maybe I’d finally found a true family.”

Tear were now streaming down Scootaloo’s face and her words were becoming wails of agony and pain.

“But then not even a week after that trip you suddenly take off to the Wonderbolt’s Academy. You don’t even tell me you were going before you left! And even when you came back you were always busy. You kept promising to spend time with me but you always ended up forgetting or rescheduling it. And even when we did hang out all you wanted to do was brag about how you’d become Lead Pony or how you’d broken another record. And when it wasn’t convenient you’d just push me aside…just like you’re doing to these foals! I…I….hat…ha…”

Realisation dawned on Rainbow’s face but it was all too late to say anything. She blindly blurted out a string of incoherent mumbles, her mind trying to arrange the words she wanted to say but failing miserably. As she looked at the filly she saw a flash of conviction pass behind her eyes.

“I HATE YOU!” screamed the young filly as her tear finally took over and she burst into sobs.

She turned tail and ran, rushing from the room as the tears slid from her face. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle rushed after her, both of them calling her name and asking her to stop. Rainbow slowly pulled herself out of her chair and took a few shaky steps towards the door only to be stopped as Rarity held up a hoof to block her path.

“No Rainbow, let her go,” she stated firmly.

“But I…I…” stammered Rainbow, her mind still a fog of pain and disbelief.

“Do you see now Rainbow? Your decision has many more consequences than you can possibly imagine.”

Chapter 9

The rest of the day passed in a wash of blurred images and numb feelings. The intricate patterns made by the paint on the ceiling of Rarity’s spare room were so clear in her mind she could have sketched them out blindfolded. Rainbow had long since passed the crying stage now but her coat and pillow were still drenched in tears and the occasional sob and whimper still punctuated the still air in the room.

How long had it been? A few minutes? A few hours? A few days? Rainbow couldn’t tell and nor did she even care. It had been a larger hammer blow than she could have imagined. No pony had ever said they hated her before; of course some had commented on her being annoying or egotistical or too laid back but hate? No this was a new sensation for Rainbow and it was only made worse by the pony who had said it.

Scootaloo, a filly who she had always considered a friend…and over the last few months a sister. She wanted to show her the joys of flying, to help her realise her true potential…and yet. Scootaloo’s words floated back into her head. It was true, despite so many promises she had made to the young filly she could recall only a handful of them that she had actually kept. She was always thinking about becoming a Wonderbolt, had she really been ignoring Scootaloo that much? Was she so obsessed with her dreams that she was just forgetting about everything else?

No! She was the bearer of the element of loyalty! She had helped to defeat Nightmare Moon, Discord and many other threats to Equestria. And yet, these achievements seemed to dwindle when she examined the day to day life that she led. Everyday her friends were lending a hoof to other ponies. Fluttershy cared for her animals. Applejack worked her farm. Rarity was always dashing back and forth between her fellow ponies even when she had orders piling up by the bucket. Pinkie Pie was always throwing parties and making everyone feel happy. Even Twilight was still going about her usual daily business despite her now being a princess. She was even still running the reading group at the library.

And what did she do? Sleep, eat and occasionally bust a few clouds. A weather pony, something that practically any Pegasus could do in their sleep. The more she thought about it the more she came to realise; when she wasn’t working on her own goals she didn’t do anything. She barely helped out, slept through most of the day, bragged at every possible opportunity and played pranks on any pony she could. Tears began to return to her eyes as a quiet knock on the door snapped her attention back to the real world.

“Rainbow darling?” called Rarity, “Are you ok in there, please let me in.”

Rainbow didn’t reply, instead choosing to roll onto her side and face away from the door. She scrunched up her face, trying her best to flush the fresh tears from her eyes. As she heard the door open she pulled the blankets around her even tighter than before. She listened as a set of hoofsteps approached and a pony sat down at the edge of her bed.

“Rainbow,” questioned Rarity calmly as she lay a hoof on Rainbow’s covered shoulder, “Come now, you can’t stay here forever.”

“Leave me alone,” replied Rainbow as she curled up even more beneath her blankets.

Rarity gave a short sigh and removed her hoof, “I know you’re upset my dear but you can’t stay in bed forever. You’re been up here nearly seven hours.”

“Why does it matter? Everypony hates me!”

“Everypony does NOT hate you Rainbow! Don’t exaggerate, its most unbecoming of a lady.”

“Like you don’t…”

There was a moments silence and Rainbow felt a pang of guilt race through her body as she realised what she had said.

“I’m sorry Rarity…” she whimpered quietly as she slowly turned onto her back and looked up at Rarity.

The unicorn looked a little forlorn and thoughtful, a small but sad smile resting on her lips.

“It’s alright deary,” she replied after a moment, faking a large smile as she did, “No harm done.”

“Rarity…what am I going to do?” asked Rainbow with a sniff.

“About Scootaloo?” replied Rarity, “I’m sure she will come around in time my dear. That little filly has been through a lot in her life and she’s got so many insecurities due to her lack of flight. I’m sure if you give her some space for a while you’ll be able to talk to her about your decision.”

“Do you think I’m a good pony?”

Rarity didn’t respond immediately, she sat staring at the wall and Rainbow could almost see the cogs of her mind turning over as she tried to formulate her response.

“Yes, yes I do,” replied Rarity at length, “You’ve always been there for us when we needed you…well apart from that time you got Discorded…but then none of us where right in the head back then.”

“But I don’t do anything. You’re always helping ponies out…I mean you even gave me a room to stay in even though you don’t agree with what I’m doing.”

“Rainbow just because you don’t do anything directly doesn’t mean you’re not helping. You’ve inspired a lot of ponies I know and let’s not forget that little fan club of yours. And your confidence is well…something I envy.”

“You…”

“Let me be candid with you Rainbow, I will never be a great fashionista in Canterlot high society.”

Rainbow blinked hard, had she just heard the unicorn correctly.

“There are some barriers that even talent and hard work cannot breech Rainbow. It hurts to admit it to myself and it hurts even more to admit it to others. All my life I’ve aimed for that goal but I know it’s not a goal I can never reach. Oh I can try but even if I get close it will be pulled away from me, there is no way that those in power would allow a common pony such as myself to reach stardom.”

“Rarity…”

“Let me finish Rainbow or I may not be able to!” snapped Rarity, “However, when I look at you I see a fiery determination. You’ve always been a pony who never gives up, never backs down and always strives to be the very best she can be. When I think of you I can’t help but think ‘maybe I can’. Oh listen to me, I sound so silly.”

Rarity jumped slightly as she felt something touch her shoulder. Rainbow had sat up, her tear soaked face looking back at her as her hoof gently gripped her shoulder.

“Thanks Rarity…”

“Oh think nothing of it darling,” dismissed Rarity, the moment of sappiness having vanished from her composure, “Now I should head off, I have a supper to prepare. You really should come down, you never did finish lunch and I know you need to keep your strength up.”

“Rarity, wait…” interjected Rainbow as she applied a little more pressure to the unicorn’s shoulder, “Can I ask you a personal question?”

“Um…I suppose so my dear, what is it?”

“Have you ever wanted foals?”

Rarity gave a small smile, “Yes I have, many times to be honest. But life just hasn’t gifted me with that yet. I’m always so busy I hardly have time to sit down and relax never mind take time off to entertain some stallion. Looking after Sweetie Belle on occasions is hard enough for me to slip into my schedule. That said its never a chore, do you know that I actually got her to make dinner last week without completely burning it…and it wasn’t half bad either. The cooking lessons I’ve been giving her must really be helping out, I’m so proud of her. I often wonder if mom and dad felt the same way about me when I became a fashion designer or got my cutie mark.”

Rarity let out a gentle sigh as her vision drifted across the patterned wallpaper that lined the walls. For that brief moment Rainbow caught a glimpse of a life that could be. It was hard to imagine Rarity as a mother but in that instant she saw past the prissiness, the drama and the uptight reactions. She saw a caring mother and a loving family. She could hear the cries of joy as the foals played and charged around. In that moment Rainbow could feel something inside her change.

“Rarity, what should I do?” she asked quietly.

“That I can’t say my dear, it’s for you to decide…but don’t feel as if you have to decide alone. Talk to us, to all our friends and don’t make any rash decisions. This is a life changing event and you have to be sure you make the right decision…not just for yourself but for everypony.”

Chapter 10

When Rainbow awoke the next morning she felt refreshed and relaxed. She had slept surprisingly well given the events of the previous day but was no closer to the answers she was seeking. As she lay in bed staring at the ceiling the previous evening began to filter back into her mind. She had enjoyed a quiet and relaxing meal with Rarity, the unicorn treating her to a delicious barley stew. They hadn’t spoken much but Rarity had acted with such care and love that Rainbow could have mistaken her for her own mother. She had even allowed Rarity to tuck her into bed.

Rainbow couldn’t help but chuckle, that wasn’t like her at all; maybe it was all the sudden mood swings? She remembered the doctor telling her she would get them. Slowly she extracted herself from the bedsheets, Rarity having tucked her in so tight it was almost like a straightjacket. Soon after she was in the shower, sighing contently as the warm water washed the ebbs of sleep from her body. She unfurled her wings for a moment, fanning them in the running water. Pegasi were naturally at home in the sky but Dash felt it was the only place for her. She missed the tingle she felt in her wings as the air rushed past them.

As she arrived at the bottom of the stairs a look of melancholy had etched its way onto her face and Rarity was quick to pick up on it.

“Feeling alright this morning dear?” she commented cheerily as she levitated a bowl of apple sauce onto the breakfast table.

“Better than last night Rarity,” replied the Pegasus as she slipped into her seat, “My head is still a mess though…I still don’t know what to do. I had been so dead set on not having this foal that…well I hadn’t considered the other options.”

Rarity quickly levitated a glass of orange juice down onto the table in front of her, “Drink up now dear, foal or no foal you have to keep your strength up, I understand the first pregnancy can be very tough on the body.”

“Yeah I heard that too.”

Rainbow raised the glass to her lips and took a sip. For a moment she watched as Rarity worked her way around the kitchen, the unicorn was making pancakes.

“Now then my dear I must let you know,” announced Rarity as she continued cooking, “I have a full schedule today. Several of my clients are coming in for new fittings, I have a batch of twenty dresses to finished for a company in Manehatten and at some point I have to dash out and pick up my new shipment of thread from the post office. They were supposed to be delivered yesterday but something must have happened to the post.”

“No problem Rarity,” replied Rainbow before taking another sip of juice, “I might head into town, need some space to try and collect my thoughts.”

“That sounds like a good idea, and even though I’m busy today if you need me PLEASE let me know. I know your pride often gets in the way but we all need a shoulder to cry on from time to time.”

“Thank you Rarity, really.”

“Not at all!” Rarity quickly levitated a stack of pancakes onto a plate in the centre of the table, “Now then you go ahead and eat up, I’ve already had breakfast and have to get to work right away. Call me if you need anything dear.”

Rainbow gave a nod before staring hungrily at the stack of pancakes. Rarity quickly trotted off, humming lightly to herself as she did. Rainbow meanwhile helped herself to a stack of pancakes and started smothering them in syrup. Yes a walk was just what she needed today.

It was a short while later that Rainbow found herself trotting through Ponyville. It was market day and all of Ponyville was out on the streets. Different ponies rushed one way and another carrying bags or pulling carts. She recognised many ponies as she wandered the crowds but nopony seemed to pay her much attention, each of them busy with their own business. She had hoped to get a little quiet time but it seemed that unless she felt like walking out of town she wasn’t going to get it. Maybe she could visit Fluttershy but as quickly as the thought appeared she dismissed it, she wanted peace right now not more emotions and explanations.

As she pressed on through the crowd though it seemed that fate wasn’t willing to allow her to have the peace she desired.

“Apples! Git your apples here! Fresh from the farm!”

Rainbow winced, she knew the voice all too well. She looked around but in the hustle around her she couldn’t make out where the voice was coming from nor see the orange coloured farm pony either. What did she do? Stay still or press on? Where exactly was Applejack? Did she really want to see her right now or not? Looking around Rainbow finally decided on a direction and quickly slid herself between two stands. If she had been allowed to fly she would have simply taken off straight up and hid in the clouds but right now she was grounded. What made matters worse was that as she emerged from the other side of the stands she came face to face with that which she was trying to avoid.

Applejack stood only a few feet away, the farm pony looking happy and content as she finished selling a basket of apples to Lyra. Beside her Applebloom looked on intently as Applejack completed the sale.

“Ya come back now,” smiled Applejack as Lyra trotted off happily, “And that’s how it’s done Applebloom. Ya don’t need to go getting right up in customers faces, just smile, be polite and add a little flourish to your sales pitch. Now we’re all done for today so you take the saddlebags and head back to the farm, I’ll join you soon.”

“Sure thing sis! See ya later!” replied the small filly as she flipped a rather heavy looking saddlebag onto her back and set off into the crowd.

Applejack gave a small sigh and leaned back against stall. She flicked her Stetson up and looked ahead. It was at the moment that the two ponies made eye contact for the first time. Applejack looked surprised but Rainbow looked nervous. For a moment they looked at each other, both speaking and neither moving.

“…well,” announced Applejack finally breaking the silence, “Howdy Rainbow.”

“Err…yeah, hi Applejack.”

Rainbow looked away slightly, glancing back at her friend as if expecting her to pounce on her at any moment. When they had last spoken Applejack had been so angry she would have pounded the Pegasus into dust had it not been for Twilight stopping her. She had always felt secure around the strong work pony, liking nothing more than a friendly competition or a playful argument. In a way she was very much like Rainbow; headstrong, competitive and playful. And yet right now all she felt was nerves.

“Are…are you alright sugarcube?” asked Applejack after a moment.

“I uh…well…”

“Ya still nervous about how I acted at the hospital the other day aren’t ya?”

Rainbow bit her lip as she slowly nodded, she didn’t like to admit it but it was true. Applejack smiled softly as she approached her friend, gently laying a hoof on her shoulder.

“Ah’m sorry Rainbow, ah shouldn’t have acted like that,” she said calmly, “I just got so angry and I lost ma temper.”

Rainbow felt herself relax slightly, she had expected a hard punch or another episode of angry words not an apology. She just nodded in reply, sheepishly kicking the ground with one of her hooves.

“Tell ya what, why don’t ya walk with me back to the farm? We can discuss everything as we go,” suggested Applejack.

“Alright Applejack,” replied Rainbow after a moment as she looked back at her friend with a sheepish look.

Applejack smiled, playfully jostling the Pegasus, “Well look at you, ah ain’t seen you this nervous…well, ever.”

Rainbow managed a weak smile, it was true that she hardly ever showed much negative emotion. She was a proud pony and hated being seen as weak or frail. She even denied the fact that she had got scared at ghost stories as a filly. The last few weeks had certainly seen a drastic change in her outward emotion, she had cried more times than she could remember and certainly the way Rarity had treated her the previous evening was something she had never expected to happen ever.

The two ponies fell into step beside each other, making their way slowly through the crowd as they headed towards the edge of town. For a time neither of them spoke, at least until they had cleared the crowds and moved onto the quite track that led out towards the farm. Rainbow was busy remembering back to that day in the hospital. The way Applejack had acted was a little odd, it was natural to be upset when someone did something you didn’t approve of…but the degree of rage she had exhibited was higher than anything she could rationalise.

“Just ask your question already…” stated Applejack with a sigh.

“W-what?” replied Rainbow as she snapped herself back to the present.

“You want to know why ah got so angry back at the hospital don’t ya? I can tell by looking at ya, can’t hide nothing from this apple.”

Rainbow didn’t say anything for a moment, “I guess I do.”

“Let me start by asking you something then,” replied Applejack as she came to a halt on the outskirts of Ponyville, “You got any siblings Rainbow?”

The Pegasus shook her head, “Uh, no, just me.”

“Figured as much, you never did mention anyone but ah don’t like to pry you know. Well as an Apple I have tons of siblings, not all directly related you understand but us Apples are like one big family regardless of who your parents were. Despite all that though it’s still down to us to run the farm, Granny, Big Mac, Applebloom and maself. Our other relations don’t have time to help us, they are all too busy with their own farms and such.”

Applejack paused and trotted over to a patch of grass, slowly kneeling down and then rolling onto her back. Rainbow followed, sitting her rump down on the ground as she continued to listen to Applejack.

“Things would have been fine but fate can be a tricky thing. Ah was a fool as well, can’t go blaming it all on fate now can ah. Happened about five years ago, there was a big storm and the roof of the old barn was threatening to come loose. We’d just finished harvesting all the hay too and if that roof had come off it would all have been ruined. Big Mac was out of town on business so ah decided to try and fix it. Granny warned me not to go but ah didn’t listen. If I had it might have meant we lost a harvest of hay but…anyway. So ah climbed up on the roof and tried to fix the loose planks. Several of the joists had worked their way loose due to the wind but I managed to hammer them back in. Ah was just about to come down when a gust of wind knocked me off balance. Ah stumbled on the wet roof and fell.”

Rainbow felt a little of the colour leave her face as Applejack paused in her story. She couldn’t bring herself to interrupt, the earth pony didn’t look very comfortable telling the story.

“Ah’m not sure how many bones ah broke, a lot,” continued Applejack after a moment, “but that wasn’t the worst of it. Ah hit the roof of the old tool shed and went straight through it, ah landed on some…rather choice implements.”

Applejack sat up and brought her front hooves down on her right thigh. She parted her coat over her inner thigh and Rainbow could clearly see a small scar. It was circular, a few centimetres in diameter, like a puncture wound.

“Pitch forks can be mighty useful but that day ah wish ah’d never laid eyes on them. That is one of the scars, the others are in…rather choice locations,” Applejack blushed strongly, Rainbow catching the idea quickly and blushing too, “The wounds themselves weren’t life threatening and the broken bones healed up just fine but…well the internal damage was something else. Ah remember one of the doctors talking to a nurse when they thought I was asleep, he said it was a…harrumph…shredded pile of meat.”

Applejack paused again to allow the realisation to sink in. It didn’t take Dash long to work out where the end of the story lay.

“So you…you can’t have…”

“Ah can’t have foals,” finished Applejack with a solemn expression, “They had to remove it all or it could cause further complications down the road.”

“Applejack I…I had no idea…” stammered Rainbow as she tried to think of what to say.

“Ah’m not surprised sugarcube, ah don’t exactly go around telling every pony.”

Applejack’s earlier anger suddenly made sense; it was just like Blossomforth all be it slightly different in circumstance. Applejack nodded to herself as the realisation passed over Rainbow’s face.

“So ya understand now huh?” she said flatly, “It’s why ah spend all my time on the farm, ain’t no point in fraternising with stallions.”

Rainbow bowed her head, Applejack’s admittance was more than she had been expecting. She had figured the farm pony had been mad because she was such a family orientated pony. As she raised her head again a glum expression had plastered itself across Applejack’s face. It was quite a sight, Applejack was not a pony to let something get her down and to see her upset was a very rare sight. This was more than simply sadness though, it was something much deeper and Rainbow could only imagine how deep her pit of despair must be.

“I’m sorry Applejack,” she said at length, “I guess I never stopped to consider other ponies feelings about what I was doing.”

“Ah…ah…ah…”

Applejack was on the verge of tears, her voice stammering with every choking gulp of air she inhaled. She rose a hoof to her eyes and casually wiped the forming tears away, trying her best to remain calm and collected; it wasn’t working.

“Ah just don’t want you to throw something away before you realise what you’ve got. Normal ponies don’t think about this type of stuff…but us unfortunate ones think about it all the time.”

Applejack leaned forwards grabbing both of Rainbow’s front hooves in her own. For a moment their eyes met and Rainbow caught a glimpse into the inner feelings of the work pony. There was no anger, no malice, no hate or revulsion. Instead Rainbow saw something quite different, hope.

“Ah just want you to promise me one thing Rainbow.”

“What?”

“Think about how your decision will affect other ponies, least of all those two little ones inside you,” Applejack moved one of her hooves and gently prodded Rainbow’s stomach, “Ah can understand that you wouldn’t have chosen this path under normal circumstances but what’s done is done. Just keep an open mind…and ah won’t judge you regardless of which way you decide to take this.”

Rainbow paused, considering the request. Truth be told ever since her conversation with Rarity the previous evening she had been having doubts over her decision already. Did she really want to do this? She hadn’t thought about it this way before but if she went ahead with the abortion she would be ending two lives. Two lives that didn’t even know they existed yet. Could she really do that? But then was she willing to let go of all the accomplishment and skills she had so far attained. Could she simply abandon her old life on a whim?

“Alright Applejack, I promise,” she said at last, reinforcing her words with a nod of her head.

Applejack released her hooves and sniffed hard, “Thank you sugarcube. Ah didn’t want to lay my own problems at your door, ah heard about what happened yesterday with Scootaloo from Applebloom, but you deserve to know why ah got so angry.”

“Yeah…that…” replied Rainbow with a sigh.

“Cheer up darling, ah’m sure that little filly will come around eventually. Just give her some space for a while.”

“Thanks Applejack.”

The orange mare gave a small nod and slowly pulled herself to her hooves.

“Well ah ought to get back to the farm, lots of apple bucking to do this afternoon to restock our supplies. You take care of yourself now Rainbow.”

“Yeah…you too Applejack…”

Chapter 11

It was passed lunchtime as Rainbow found herself seated at a table in Sugarcube Corner. An empty plate sat in front of her which held the remaining crumbs of a muffin and a glass that held the remaining drops of apple juice that had made up her lunch. Yet again she had found herself ordering sweet things, it wasn’t good for her waistline but she couldn’t help herself. If there hadn’t been so many ponies queuing up with her she may have ordered a few more muffins but she hadn’t wanted to appear greedy.

Speaking of the crowded shop though, there was something missing. Rainbow scanned the collected ponies but yet again her suspicious was confirmed, Pinkie Pie was not here. Away to her left Cherry Berry and Golden Harvest sat discussing the prices of carrots. Starhunter was kicked back in the far corner, the midnight blue Pegasus enjoying a small snooze in his chair after his meal. Sea Swirl and Twinkleshine were stood at the counter running their noses back and forth across the array of fresh cupcakes Mrs Cake had just finished icing. Yet there was no sight of Pinkie anywhere.

“Uh uh, can I have a raspberry one?” came a gleeful voice.

Rainbow’s head snapped round, the words not even registering but the tone making her expect to see Pinkie bouncing in the front door. A pony was certainly bouncing but it wasn’t Pinkie Pie, it was Dinky Doo. The small unicorn foal was beaming from ear to ear as she skipped along besides her mother Derpy Hooves. The wall eyed pony was smiling too, one eye seemingly casting glances at Dinky continuously as she walked towards the counter. Rainbow blinked, you had to be careful around Derpy, her skewed eyes had a tendency to draw your gaze and you could find yourself being incredibly insulting if you weren’t careful.

Rainbow was usually quite good at this having worked with the Pegasus on multiple occasions…occasions that usually ended with something getting broken. Derpy didn’t mean it of course, she may be a natural klutz but she also had a heart of gold. Rainbow watched as the pair stopped by the counter, Dinky having to constantly bounce up and down so she could see into the glass display.

“Hello Mrs Cake!” announced Derpy in a loud but friendly tone.

“Oh hello deary!” chimed Mrs Cake in response, her gaze passing over to the bouncing filly, “I see you’ve brought company today.”

“Well the mail was a short run today so I thought I’d treat her, don’t get much time together these days.”

“I can understand dear, working a full time job and taking care of a foal all on your own, can’t be easy. I have my hooves full taking care of Pound and Pumpkin and I have a helping hoof.”

“You get used to it,” replied Derpy with a smile as she looked down at Dinky, “Now my little muffin, what did you want?”

“Raspberry one!” beamed Dinky, the filly still bouncing up and down on the spot and seemingly not getting tired at all.

“Two raspberry muffins!” announced Derpy, her hoof snapping forwards to point at a lemon cupcake before she quickly blinked and realigned her hoof to point at the right item, “Uh…sorry.”

“Oh no fuss deary, anything to drink?”

“Chocolate milkshake?” asked Derpy as she glanced at Dinky.

The filly just nodded enthusiastically as Mrs Cake smiled to herself and went off to prepare the afore mentioned milkshakes. Rainbow watched the whole scene unfold before her. She hadn’t given much thought to Derpy’s situation previously. She was a single mum, Dinky’s father having left town before she had even been born, nopony even knew if he was still alive. Derpy had raised Dinky all on her own and she had done an excellent job so far…but it hadn’t been easy for her. Rainbow could count at least four jobs that she knew of that Derpy had been sacked from due to one reason or another. Weather pony, removal agent, decorator, the list went on and on. Her current job as a mailmare seemed to be working out for her but apparently it wasn’t giving her much time to spend with Dinky.

Rainbow continued to watch as the pair trotted off to a far table with their order, both mother and daughter talking happily as they sat down. The blue Pegasus found herself musing on the idea of what it would be like to be in Derpy’s position. It wasn’t a far flung scenario, like Derpy she would have no help in raising her foals…she didn’t even know who the father was. The more Rainbow though the more terrifying the prospect became. She didn’t know the first thing! She didn’t know how to change diapers, she didn’t know how to feed or burp a baby…she didn’t even know any good bedtime stories! All her life had been dedicated to getting into the Wonderbolts, a life that was all but hers and yet…

Rainbow pressed her hooves to her head. She couldn’t do it! What sort of life would her foals have? She wasn’t a mother, she couldn’t even look after Scootaloo properly. She ripped her eyes away from the laughing mother and daughter, glaring across the café at nopony in particular. The yellow Pegasus her eyes fell on though meeped and shied away slightly at the dagger like gaze. Rainbow instantly felt her face drop as she realised what she had just done. The Pegasus must have noticed the blush of embarrassment spreading across Rainbow’s face though as a small smile returned to her face.

She trotted over to the table, smiling slightly as she approached, “Hi Rainbow Dash.”

“Fluttershy…I…sorry, I didn’t mean to glare at you,” replied Rainbow as she brushed a hoof against her foreleg in embarrassment.

“It’s ok Rainbow, no harm done,” replied Fluttershy as she slipped into a seat opposite Rainbow, “Actually I’m happy that you’re not mad at me.”

“Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you?”

“Oh well…you see…um…” Fluttershy looked away, shifting in her seat as she bit her lip slightly, “Well…it’s just that…oh I’m so sorry Rainbow Dash!”

Fluttershy almost looked like she was on the verge of tears as she descended into incomprehensible squeaks. Rainbow gave a small sigh and hurriedly placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“Calm down Fluttershy, what’s the matter?” she asked as calmly as she could.

“I…I…I’m sorry I ran out of your hospital room the other day…” whispered Fluttershy in a shaky voice.

“Huh?!” replied Rainbow as she rose an eyebrow at the trembling Pegasus, “That’s what all this is about?”

“I was just so confused,” continued Fluttershy, seemingly not noticing Rainbow’s reply, “I…I just couldn’t think straight and I got scared and…ran.”

She paused, looking up at Rainbow with a pair of sorry looking eyes, “When I calmed down I couldn’t stop thinking about what you must have thought of us all…leaving you alone like that. But then I was too afraid to go back and…and…”

“Easy there Fluttershy, it’s all ok,” replied Rainbow in an assuring coo.

In truth part of her was still annoyed and upset over what had happened that day, mostly towards Twilight who she had always considered a friend and ally…despite her being a colossal egghead! But seeing Fluttershy like that caused all that anger and resentment to vanish like a morning mist. She couldn’t be angry at her, not now anyway.

“You mean that…?” whimpered Fluttershy.

“Sure I do, have I ever lied to you before?”

“N…no, you haven’t…thank you Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow felt another blush passing over her face. She looked away sharply, trying to hide her emotions from the yellow Pegasus but it seemed she had already noticed them. She sprung from her chair, pulling Rainbow forwards across the table as she embraced her. Rainbow felt another blush crossing her face as she noticed the odd looks they were getting from various corners of the café. She allowed Fluttershy another moment before she forced her back into her seat and sat back herself.

“Actually I wanted to talk to you about something,” murmured Fluttershy after a moment of silence between them.

“Oh…sure, what is it?”

“Well I’ve been thinking and…I think I understand why you said what you did back in the hospital…about…aborting…”

The word didn’t come easy to the Pegasus, it was almost like she was speaking a foreign language.

“Ever since I’ve know you you’ve been training to be a Wonderbolt. It’s all you’ve ever talked about…all you’ve ever wanted to be. You’re flying skills have helped save Equestria and you’ve worked so hard to get where you are. I…I look up to you really, you’re always so confident and sure of yourself…you know what you want and you do everything you can to get it.”

As Fluttershy spoke her words drifted softly through Rainbow’s head. All that she said was true, it was just like Rainbow had told herself. All the sob stories she had heard from Applejack and Blossomforth. All the disapproving looks and stern words that had been shot in her direction from her friends and the other ponies around her. All her inner doubts and emotional quandaries. None of them seemed to matter right now. She was Rainbow Dash, best flier in Equestria and future Wonderbolt captain in the making. She had battled villains and unimaginable evil and had risen to the challenge…and she was going to overcome this as well.

“You’re right Fluttershy!” she said quickly, interrupting the Pegasus with a broad grin, “I can’t just throw it all away! I’ve come too far quit now and nothing is going to stop me from reaching my goal! I knew you’d understand me Flutters!”

She reached forwards, grabbing the Pegasus and drawing her into another hug, not caring about the second round of odd looks she was getting from around the café.

“You’re a true friend you know that!” she continued, “Thank you!”

“Oh….uh…it’s…” mumbled Fluttershy, trying to get her words out but failing miserably.

Rainbow pulled back, the Pegasus looking renewed with a sense of determination and optimism.

“This has definitely made up my mind,” she announced with a grin, “my appointment isn’t for another day yet but nopony is going to change my mind now! All thanks to you Fluttershy, I knew I could count on you.”

Fluttershy looked like she wanted to say something but her lower jaw only quivered slightly as Rainbow continued to speak.

“Well I think I’m due a well deserved rest, Rarity’s spare bed might not be as good as my cloud bed but it’s not bad all the same. I’ll see you later Fluttershy!”

With that Rainbow jumped from her seat and strode from the café, her smile growing with each step she took. There was no doubt any more, no reservations or concerns. She knew what she was going to do and that was that.

Behind her Fluttershy’s hoof was raised slightly in a vain attempt to reach out towards the departing Pegasus. In the corner of her eyes tears were starting to form and her lower jaw began to quiver even more. Slowly she shut her eyes, placing both her front hooves over them as a barely audible whimper escaped her lips.

“You’re such a coward Fluttershy…why didn’t you tell her? Why didn’t you tell her what you really thought? Now it’s too late…it’s all your fault…”

Chapter 12

Invigorated, refreshed, confident…all words that could describe Rainbow as she strode purposefully down the main street of Ponyville. Her mind was now fully made up, her earlier doubts and regrets long forgotten and a new sense of resolution filling her mind. Everypony had been quick to judge her, quick to lay their troubles on her, quick to try and manipulate her! She wasn’t going to allow it, this was her life and she was going to do exactly what she wanted to.

Carousel Boutique came into view as she rounded a corner, the sun glinting off the pristinely kept building. It might not be home but right now she didn’t care; right now all she wanted was a quiet spot to take a nap and forget all of her troubles.

“Rarity? You here?” she announced loudly as she pushed open the front door.

A shrill cry of shock sounded from behind a nearby screen before a rather annoyed looking Rarity poked her head out from behind it. Whilst the shock of Rainbow’s call had annoyed her this didn’t last long and her face quickly fell. For a brief second panic crossed her face before she managed to collect herself.

“Oh, hello Rainbow dear…I uh…wasn’t expecting you back until later…” she said slowly, her voice betraying her best attempts to remain calm as it stuttered her words.

Rainbow narrowed her gaze, “Rarity? What’s going on?”

“Why whatever do you mean dear?” replied Rarity with a slight chuckle, her eyes casting a momentary glance at the screen she had stepped out from.

Rainbow wasn’t buying it, something was going on. She stepped towards Rarity, making her way towards the screen before Rarity stepped up to block her path.

“So, what can I do for you darling? Hungry? I could make you some daisy sandwiches if you like.”

Rainbow frowned at the white unicorn, “Seriously? That’s the best you can come up with? Think I’ll just take a quick peek behind…”

Without missing a beat she gave a quick flap of her wings, the force enough to launch her clean over the unicorn and landing her next to the screen.

“…this screen first.”

Rarity didn’t even have time to object as Rainbow poked her head around the screen however in the same time frame Rainbow wished she hadn’t. A purple alicorn sat patiently on her haunches on a small raised platform. Pieces of fabric along with needles, thread and pin lay neatly stacked to one side of the platform along with numerous different outfits arranged carefully on a rack behind her. The alicorn herself was wearing a long pink and gold dress, her outfit looking a little unfinished judging by the various pins and clips that held some of it in place.

She held her head high, her eyes closed as she breathed in and out at a regular almost military like pace. Slowly she lowered her head, her eyes opening slowly as her gaze levelled on the Pegasus.

“Hello Rainbow,” she said softly.

“…oh, hi Twilight…” replied Rainbow, her voice harbouring a hint of annoyance that she could feel building inside her.

“Rarity, why don’t you take a break for a while, I’m sure Rainbow here will have some choice words to say to me in a moment,” announced Twilight, her words sounding like a question but her tone portraying a sense of stern commandment.

“Oh…yes of course!” replied Rarity, the unicorn giving a small nervous chuckle as she made her way towards a door at the back of the boutique, “If you need me I’ll be right here of course.”

Twilight slowly returned her gaze to Rainbow, the Pegasus having never even shifted her gaze at all. As the sound of the door closing drifted through the boutique Rainbow felt herself snap.

“Choice words?” she questioned, “Choice words?! Darn bucking hayseeds I have some choice words for you!”

Rainbow snorted loudly, the rage she had felt the day before raising its head once again as she glared daggers at the alicorn.

“How dare you sit there and act all calm! I thought we were friends Twilight!” she started, her voice rising in volume with every word she spoke, “Do you have any idea what I’ve been through for the last few weeks?! I’ve had my whole world flipped upside down and I don’t even know how it happened! And here you are playing judge, jury and prosecution on what I’ve decided to do! What give you the right to do that?!”

Rainbow snorted again as she paused for a moment in her anger. Twilight didn’t speak or make any movements of her own, she just looked back at the Pegasus with a perfect poker face. This seemingly only served to aggravate the Pegasus further.

“I’ve stuck by you guys through every problem and situation you’ve faced! Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra! And just when I needed you guys the most you slap me across the face. Oh you don’t approve! Rarity thinks I’m just a spec of dirt making a big mistake, Applejack sounds like she pretty much wants me to have kids for her, Pinkie just wants to throw another party, Scootaloo hates me and you…! You…just sit there with your high and mighty princessness and look down on me!”

Twilight blinked, still not reply but listening intently as the Pegasus continued on.

“At least Fluttershy understand me! I knew I could always count on her, not like you bunch of ‘friends’.”

Rainbow lifted her front hooves, making invisible quotation mark motions with them before returning them to the ground. She glared at Twilight, the lack of any reaction only adding fuel to her internal fire as her rage continued to burn out of control.

“In fact I don’t know why I’m wasting my time talking to you! I’m going to head over to Fluttershy’s cottage and stay there instead. You stuck up unicorns give me a headache!”

Rainbow turned to leave but stopped almost immediately. Behind her a single sound filled the air, a brief momentary giggle. It was the type you might give when you found something amusing but didn’t want to offend, unfortunately it had just that effect. Rainbow spun like a mad bull, her teeth grinding together as she caught the last of Twilight’s smile fade from her face.

“What the hay is so bucking funny?!” she screamed.

Twilight didn’t respond immediately, instead choosing to take a moment to inhale a breath and steady her mind as Cadence had shown her how to do.

“I see you spoke to Fluttershy then,” she said softly, no hint of rage or hatred in her voice, “Tell me something Rainbow, did she actually agree with your decision or is that what you decided to hear?”

“What?!”

“Fluttershy came to see me last night. She had been crying since she left the hospital, do you want to know why she was so upset?” asked Twilight although the question was entirely rhetorical, “She was so confused and upset. She kept talking about how she felt bad for running out of the hospital, about how nervous she was that you thought she was a bad friend…but mostly about how bad she felt about herself for thinking of you as a bad pony.”

“W-what?” interrupted Rainbow, the Pegasus momentarily stunned out of her anger by Twilight words, “A bad pony? But she said she understands my decision.”

“Yes she does, Fluttershy might be a quiet timid creature but she’s seen more life than you care to give her credit for,” replied Twilight, “She’s been taking care of animals for most of her life. In that time she’s seen the cycle of life and death repeated more times than we can count. She’s treated illnesses, fixed injuries and soothed distress but most of all she’s seen how fragile life can be and how precious it is. She knows that our time is short and that we have to do all we can to fulfil our destinies but she also knows that we cannot abandon life as if it was nothing. So tell me Rainbow, Fluttershy may understand your decision but did you actually ask her if she agrees with it or not?”

Now it was Rainbow’s turn to be silent. Twilight’s words rattled back and forth in her mind like a pea in a drum. She thought back to her earlier conversation with Fluttershy, trying desperately to find something in the yellow pegasus’ words that would confirm what she thought. Nothing appeared, yes she had said she understood her decision but she had not once said she agreed with it. Was it true? Did Fluttershy think she was a bad pony because of what she was planning on doing?

“No!” cried Rainbow, her earlier rage surfacing once more, “You…you’re just twisting her words! Fluttershy is my friend! She wouldn’t think I was a bad pony! She…she…you! You’re just turning everypony against me! You just want to see me fail! You’ve always hated my confidence! Just like that time you all made me look bad by playing that Mare-Do-Well character!”

Rainbow was starting to shake, her mind racing as she tried to make some sense of her situation. All her friends were against her! She was all alone! They just wanted to see her suffer!

“Do you think I wanted to become a Princess?”

The question cut through Rainbow’s thoughts like a hot knife through butter. She looked back at Twilight, the previously steady and calm looking alicorn suddenly seeming like a little lost filly.

“W-what…?” replied Rainbow in a murmur.

“Do you think I wanted to become a Princess?”

Twilight repeated the question but it still made no sense. Rainbow remained silent, Twilight giving a small sigh as she looked away.

“Let me tell you a story Rainbow,” she began, her face becoming saddened slightly, “Once there was a young unicorn filly. She was always amazed by magic and lived in awe at the amazing wonders of the world around her. One day she was given the chance to add to that wonder and become the student of a pony she respected more than anything in the world. Her life was perfect! She had friends she could count on and cared about. She had the perfect life studying and learning. Sure she had to overcome incredible obstacles but her friends and knowledge always allowed her to pull through. Then one day something happened that would change her life forever. She had no idea at the time what was ahead of her and no way of knowing that what was to come could never be changed back. In that moment her life was flipped upside down. Everything she thought she knew felt alien to her and despite her wealth of knowledge she felt completely alone and unprepared for what was to come.”

Twilight paused as she raised a hoof to wipe away a single tear that had formed in her eye. Rainbow meanwhile just listened in silence, her mind already piecing together what Twilight was talking about.

“And yet her friends stuck by her despite the sudden change in her life. Despite the unknown road she began to feel confident in her new life…but was it what she had really wanted? If she had been given the choice would she have chosen the same path as the one she was on now? Do you think I wanted to become a princess?”

Twilight looked directly at Rainbow, her gaze hard and stern. Rainbow remained silent, her mind unable to form the words she wanted to say.

“When Celestia chose me to be her student did she have this planned all along? Was she merely crafting me into the perfect image to fit this new status? I trusted her with all my heart and, although that trust remains, a part of me resents what has happened. I have never said this to anypony else Rainbow but…if I could choose, if I could go back and alter the past…I would!”

Rainbow felt as if she had been hit by the Friendship Express. Had she heard Twilight right? Apparently her inner thoughts were not so inner as Twilight smiled slightly and gave a light chuckle.

“I can see on your face that you can’t believe it. To be honest I can’t myself sometimes. Being a princess is an amazing thing. I get to do so much good and make so many ponies happy but…at the same time am I truly happy? I sometimes find myself wishing I could go back to how life was when I was just a simple librarian and I could spend my time reading and enjoying time with my friends. And yet that life is gone now and here I sit with my new one.”

Twilight ran a hoof along the edge of the dress she was wearing sighing softly as she did.

“You have a very important choice to make Rainbow, more so than you, me or any pony else can appreciate. I know it is hard to think about but remember one thing. Some things in life happen and we cannot change them but sometimes life will give us the choice as to how our life will pan out. I never got that choice Rainbow, you do. Don’t throw it away in a fit of rage and sorrow. What you decide to do is going to shape the rest of your life and you will look back at this moment with either pride or disgrace. I’m not trying to tell you what to do but try to consider every possibility instead of getting hung up on one choice alone.”

Twilight sighed again, her expression softening completely as she smiled broadly at the Pegasus, “And remember one thing Rainbow, even when we disagree with you we’re still you’re friend and nothing will ever change that.”

Chapter 13

Rainbow sat on her haunches staring at the wall at the foot of her bed. She had been there for hours, studying the layer of paint for imperfections at a microscopic level. So far she hadn’t found any and neither had the numerous questions flying round her head been answered.

She felt numb and dislocated, as if she existed in a totally different world to the one around her. She just couldn’t get her mind to focus. What was she going to do? She sighed lightly and turned her attention from the wall to the floral pattern on the bed sheets instead. Life had always seemed so simple and now she just didn’t have a clue.

For the first time since she had discovered her pregnancy Rainbow felt lost. Until now she had always known, or thought she had known, what her next course of actions was but now she just didn’t know. It was an odd sensation having always been a pony of decisive action and leaping where other feared to tread. There had only ever been one way of doing things, her way!

“What do I do?” she asked the wall in front of her.

The wall didn’t reply but her stomach gave a gurgle. She hadn’t eaten breakfast that morning. In fact she hadn’t eaten dinner the previous night either. After her encounter with Twilight she had retreated to her borrowed room and hadn’t been seen since. Rarity had knocked a few times but Rainbow had ignored her on each occasion, pretending to be asleep. Sleep; Rainbow wished she could get some but every time she closed her eyes her mind would fill with images, thoughts and problems that jolted her awake again like a lightning strike.

Her stomach gurgled again. Rainbow gave a small sigh; if sleep was eluding her then she could at least fulfil another of her body’s requirements. Slowly she hoisted herself from the bed and opened the door. As she walked down the corridor her head hung low, her tired eyes heavy with doubt and uncertainty; she didn’t even have the strength to lift her tail from the ground. As she neared the top of the stairs though she perked her ears slightly, she could hear voices talking in a hushed tone. For a moment she was slightly curious but it faded quickly, in truth she just didn’t want to know. Descending the stairs she entered the kitchen, the voices more apparent but still Rainbow didn’t pay them much attention.

“Rarity? Is there anything to eat?” she asked slowly as she walked in.

The voices stopped, the room so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. Rainbow looked up slowly, her gaze meeting that of Rarity. The unicorn looked shocked, stunned almost, but it seemed to be more than being startled by Rainbow’s appearance in the doorway. It took her a moment to recover, Rarity giving a small cough as she spoke.

“Rainbow darling, uh, did you sleep well?” she asked.

Rainbow didn’t reply. Her gaze had since moved to the second pony in the room. Sitting across the table from the unicorn was an orange brown coloured earth pony. Rainbow didn’t need introducing to the pony, he was a regular sight around Ponyville.

“Caramel?” she asked slowly, “What are you doing here?”

Rainbow’s question was valid but perhaps a little blunt in its tone. The earth pony seemed to cringe at the question, looking away sharply and swallowing. Rarity sighed slightly as she got up from her seat.

“Caramel just dropped by to see you,” she said plainly as she gave the pony a pat on his shoulder before heading to the door, “I think you have a lot to discuss.”

For a moment Rarity looked back at Caramel, the earth pony looking back at her nervously. She nodded firmly to him and then trotted past Rainbow into the next room. For a moment the silence returned; Rainbow stood motionless in the doorway looking at Caramel, who in turn just looked back at her sheepishly.

“What do you want Caramel?” asked Rainbow finally as she turned towards the kitchen itself and started her hunt for a snack, “Come to rub salt in the wound?”

“Huh? What? No…I…” stammered Caramel in response, “Why would…”

“Why would you do that? Why not? It’s not like every pony else has been shy about giving me their opinion on the matter.”

Rainbow opened a cupboard and pulled out a bag of oat cereal. She didn’t feel up to this right now, she was hungry, tired and just wanted to be left alone. Caramel didn’t say anything for a moment, the pony tapping his front hooves together nervously as he stared at the floor.

“I…I heard about…what happened,” he said slowly.

“Huh! I doubt there’s a pony in all of Ponyville that doesn’t know,” replied Rainbow harshly.

“Rainbow…do you remember…how it happened?”

“How I got pregnant?” replied Rainbow as she began pouring herself a bowl of cereal, “What does it matter anymore?”

Rainbow stopped in her actions, staring at the cupboard in front of her. At first the question s of how and who had been forefront in her mind. Who had done this to her? Why couldn’t she remember? But after weeks of thinking and questioning herself she had given up on ever getting answers. Since then the question of what to do next had been her main focus and now she didn’t even know what the answer to that question was.

“It matters because…” Caramel took a deep breath, “When I heard I found it hard to believe but as more and more ponies told me the same thing I started to think.”

“About what?”

“I went to the hospital yesterday and submitted a…sample…” continued Caramel, “…I’m the father.”

The clattering of porcelain hitting the tiled floor resonated around the room as the cereal bowl Dash had been holding exploded into pieces spilling its content across the floor. Rainbow’s face had gone white, frozen in the moment of shock as the news had been revealed to her. Caramel looked sheepish, a mix of nerves and fear.

“F-Father…” murmured Rainbow as the colour began to return to her face, “But that’s…that’s not possible! I’ve never…with you….how…”

“Don’t you remember? It was at Sweet Apple Acres after you came back from the Wonderbolt Academy. There was a big party and we were all celebrating.”

“Party? I remember the party…well…most of it…”

“You…got into a drinking contest with Big Macintosh,” replied Caramel sheepishly, “Don’t think I’ve seen a pony drink so much cider before in my entire life.”

Rainbow ran a hoof down the side of her face before pressing it into her temple. She remembered that night. After arriving back in Ponyville Applejack had hosted a party, organised by Pinkie Pie, at Sweet Apple Acres. They had been celebrating her success at the Academy and Rainbow hadn’t been shy about enjoying herself. Having found Big Macintosh enjoying a private stash of last season’s Apple Family cider Rainbow hadn’t been able to resist. Never one to back down Rainbow had accepted the challenge and twenty four pints of cider later Rainbow had been victorious.

At least she thought it was twenty four pints. She couldn’t remember anything until sometime the next day when Pinkie Pie had awoken her from her slumbers. Rainbow rubbed her head again, straining to remember, and yet there was nothing. Nothing between cider and waking up.

“I thought you just didn’t want to talk about it,” said Caramel after a moment, “When I woke up the next morning you were gone. I…I hate to say it but I was really upset about it for a while. Call me a sentimentalist but I honestly believed all that stuff you said that night.”

“…said?”

“About how being a lead pony was a tough job and that you needed someone to take care of you. About how you had always found me cute but were too nervous to say anything. About how you wanted your first time to be with somepony special…and that pony was me.”

Rainbow’s eyes were as wide as saucers, was it true? Had she said all those things? Had it really happened like that? As her mind raced to find an answer it found something else. With renewed vigour her eyes flashed with anger. The answers to her initial questions of who and how had been discovered and with then the pain of those first few days returned in an instant.

“Lies! You’re lying! That never happened! You…you…you must have used me! That’s what you did!”

Caramel was shocked by the outburst, momentarily leaning back in his seat before his own emotions made an appearance.

“I used you?!” he replied, his voice shaking slightly, “How dare you say that! You were the one who came onto me! You couldn’t wait to get me into bed! If anything you used me! You practically pinned me down!”

“That’s not true! I’d never do something like that! I…”

Rainbow stopped as a flood of memories rushed back to her. Whether it had been a mental block formed by an overabundance of alcohol or simply an unhealthy amount of self-denial didn’t seem to matter in that moment. Images, feelings, words, emotions…they were all disjointed and scattered; like looking at somepony’s life through a photo album. With each one that flashed through her mind Rainbow backed away, her rear finally pressed hard against the counter top as she tried to retreat from her own memories. It was true; but why? Had she wanted this? Was there a part of her that wasn’t totally devoted to her life goal? In that drunken state had she betrayed herself? She shook her head slowly as fear, disbelief and horror passed across her face like mist on the wind.

“No…” she murmured.

“Rainbow…” replied Caramel, the earth pony slowly taking a few steps towards her.

His voice was enough to bring Rainbow to her senses and in that moment the most dominant of her emotions took hold; fear. Without saying a word she bolted for the doorway, running full tilt out of the Boutique and out into the streets. The door was left hanging by a single hinge as the Pegasus smashed her way straight through it without stopping and several of the mannequin pony stands in the shop lay scattered across the floor. Caramel didn’t see any of it, he hadn’t moved from his spot in the kitchen. He stood silently, one of his hooves raised towards the doorway as if reaching out. As Rarity raced back into the room she could only watch as Caramel’s expression dropped. He screwed up his face, trying desperately to hold back the tide but ultimately it was futile. With great reluctance the tears finally appeared, Caramel looking down and slamming a hoof against the floor as his tears began to flow.

Outside Rainbow raced through the streets. The quiet evening streets of Ponyville seemed to be full of black spectres that followed her every move. Each one taunted her, her mind filling with chants and cruel whispers as she continued to run. Despite this though one voice pierced through everything. A voice from deep inside herself, a voice that had been locked away and forgotten. A voice that said only said two words, your fault.

She continued to run, trying to escape the nightmares in her head. She turned one way and then the other, jinxing through the streets of Ponyville like a lost child. She didn’t know where she was going, she didn’t care…she just needed to escape, to be free of everything. Then it hit her, one solution, a way to rid herself of everything and be done with it forever.

She turned right, heading for the outskirts of town. The few ponies she did meet barely had time to look in her direction as she raced past them, her mind fixed on one thing alone. Then it came into view, a large building on the edge of town. Throwing herself against the hospital doors Rainbow tore into the lobby, the Pegasus nearly colliding with Nurse Sweetheart as she pushed a trolley of supplies across the foyer. Dr Stable, who had been stood at the main desk checking off files, quickly looked in Rainbow’s direction a disapproving look settling on his face.

“Rainbow Dash this is a hospital not a race course!” he scolded, “And what are you doing here anyway? Your check up isn’t for another three days…did something happen…oh my…”

As Rainbow turned to look at the doctor the well of despair and nothingness that Rainbow was feeling was plain to see in her eyes. Gone was the brash ‘I can do anything’ personality and with it the confidence and drive that Rainbow usually portrayed.

“Help me doc…” replied Rainbow, her voice almost cracking as she spoke.

The stern look on the doctor’s face fell away to be replaced by genuine concern. He would usually have treated Rainbow with a slightly heavier hand than other patients, she always tended to cause trouble in one way or another, but right now the broken looking pony in front of him looked more like a lost child than the would be Wonderbolt.

“Come this way, we’ll talk in my office.”

Stable quickly walked to Rainbow’s side, guiding her away from the reception and down the hospital corridors. His office wasn’t far and soon enough Rainbow was sat in a large padded chair in his room nursing a cup of tea between her hooves. She hadn’t spoken or even moved since they had arrived other than to accept the tea and take a small sip.

“I take it you’ve spoken to Caramel,” said Stable, finally deciding to break the silence.

Rainbow just nodded slowly.

“I’m sorry Rainbow,” continued Stable, “I was here yesterday when the tests were run. I encouraged him to speak to you considering your earlier behaviour but I didn’t know it would affect you this much.”

“It’s ok doc…” murmured Rainbow quietly, “It actually…helped…”

“Oh?”

“I…I always thought I could overcome anything that was thrown at me. I was going to be the best and nothing would stop me. But now…this is something I can’t just smash through. I always thought that somepony else was to blame, that this was just a test. But it’s not somepony else…it’s my fault. I did this to myself. All my plans for the future…all my dreams and aspirations…they are all in ruins. I don’t want that…I just want things to go back to the way they were…”

“Rainbow are you saying…?”

“I can’t do this doc!” exclaimed Rainbow, the cup in her hooves shaking along with her as she sat staring at its contents, “I want the procedure…now!”

“Rainbow we can’t just…”

“…Please…?”

Stable paused as he looked at Rainbow. She had looked up at him, eyes wide and pleading like a starving pony asking for food. She wasn’t demanding like the previous time, she wasn’t just being impatient or trying to ignore what was going on. This was her decision, made with the full knowledge of what it meant and what the consequences would be. Stable gave a small sigh.

“Very well…we can’t perform immediately as the operation will take some preparation first. I’ll have Nurse Sweetheart start preparations and we’ll start tomorrow morning. Until then I want you to try and get some sleep, it looks like you haven’t had any for days and you’ll need to be well rested.”

Rainbow just nodded and then went back to staring at her drink. In truth part of her felt disgusted that this was the choice she had made. She was running away, something she had never done in her life before. She felt useless and dirty as if she was nothing more than a piece of discarded litter. But what choice did she have? She just wanted life to go back to the way it had been before, she wanted everything to be normal again. What choice did she have?