Precious Cargo

The first thing she noticed was the lights were too bright. What was that pounding in her head? Ugh! Where was the floor again? I don’t even want to open my eyes, she thought, already feeling the burning sensation she knew came of partying entirely too hard with Pinkie Pie. That ball of cotton candy was wrapped around a constitution that made other ponies weep. Trying to go drink for drink with one Pinkamena Diane Pie was like trying to move Cloudsdale all by yourself, not that she’d ever tried, but she wasn’t so sure that it couldn’t be done, especially by the Fastest Flier in all of Equestria. She started to do her standard head shake to toss her multi-hued mane back to frame her face, but immediately regretted the action because she had to quickly lean over the side of whatever it was she was laying on and expel the contents of her stomach onto the floor.

Noticing that hanging her head down felt slightly better, and more to the point, put her face in shadow, Rainbow Dash cautiously opened one eye to survey the damage to AJ’s barn. Wow. The pink party pony had really out done herself this time. Streamers littered the ground, mixed with glitter, and some unidentifiable substance that could easily have been either cake frosting, alcohol, or both. Rainbow figured it was probably both. The table where the cake and refreshments had been was over turned, the contents spilled on the floor, and somehow Twilight Sparkle was sleeping in the middle of what had been the chandelier, hanging from the ceiling, though a few feet lower than it was the night before.

She glanced down at the puddle of puke that lay at her feet, and groaned. She supposed she was going to have to clean it up, as she was both the one who made it and nopony else seemed to be alive yet. She always was an early riser, about the only pony who ever woke up before she did was—she sat up abruptly, eyes wide, and panicked as a flash of orange lips went through her memory. Pain ignored for the moment in her fear, Rainbow looked down at where she was laying in the hay loft, immediately aware that she wasn’t alone. Cleaning up would have to wait, as in her panic she’d stirred her bed partner.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, she thought, and did the only thing that came naturally to all Pegasus ponies, she flew. Off of the loft, out the door, and straight to her cloud home on the other side of Ponyville, or at least on the other side of Sweet Apple Acres.

Panting more than she really thought she should be after such a short flight, she collapsed into her bed with a groan, both from physical pain and the mental anguish that she’d done something incredibly stupid last night. How could she have treated her that way? She deserved so much better than a night of drunken fillyfooling.

Cautiously she looked up at the advertisement poster she had on her ceiling. “Oh, AJ, what can I do to make this up to you? Will you hate me now? It was stupid of me to take advantage of you. Everypony knows you can’t handle sarsaparilla.” She sighed, still groaning, her own hangover practically forgotten, other than a minor nauseous twinge that made the thought of food disgusting.

Across the acres of apple trees for which the Apple family was known, the straw-maned pony that had been entangled with Rainbow Dash stirred. Rubbing her face with her hooves, Applejack blinked the sleep from her eyes and looked down at where her partner had been when she fell asleep. She frowned trying to remember if there had been any sign that Rainbow would have not enjoyed her attentions the previous night. Digging her hoof gently into the hay of the loft disappointed, she sighed then carefully climbed down the ladder.

About two steps from the bottom Pinkie’s voice reached her ears. “Yee-uck!” The pink fluff was standing at the base of the ladder holding her hoof in the air with a look of disgust on her face. “I guess someponies can’t hold their barfy-warfy until she got outside.”

AJ rolled her eyes with a chuckle. Though she also felt the muffled congestion associated with a minor hangover, she wasn’t at all nauseous, and she quickly grabbed a bucket and dirty rag. Not for first time since Pinkie had invited herself to hold last night’s bender on the Apple family’s farm, Applejack thanked Celestia that they had held the party in the barn.

“Y’all could clean it up instead o' jus’ standin’ there makin’ faces, Pinkie. Y’know Rainbow’s a featherweight.” AJ tried not to smirk at the memories of the drunken Pegasus falling all over herself, and immediately blushed thinking about her scent.

Pinkie danced over and grinned up at her orange friend, “Aww, your still thinking about her.” Without waiting for a reply Pinkie bounced off, the icky on the floor apparently forgotten, and shaking her head AJ got a mop to clean it up.

On her way out to dump the wash water she heard Twilight Sparkle stir from behind a pile of hay bales. Peering over the bedding she saw Twilight sprawled out with hay in her mane and she was muttering to herself about something concerning magic and alcohol not mixing well. “Ya feelin’ a’right, Twi?”

“Oh, I’m just peachy, Applejack, why ever would you ask that? Because I’m in so much pain I can’t move, and my horn feels like I had a long workout with the Princess? Or could it be that I’m covered in enough dirt and hay that my coat is the same color as Derpy’s? Oh, no wait, I know why, because you can shake off the effects of Pinkie’s parties like they’re nothing while the rest of us mortals are reduced to praying that we don’t have to spend the day in bed.” Twilight was always grumpy after a short night with too much alcohol, but even more so if she had helped at all in the decorating with Pinkie beforehand.

AJ smiled warmly, knowing all too well how the purple unicorn felt, and simply said, “Come up ta the house when yer able ta get on yer hooves, Big Mac’s got a cure fer hangovers that’ll leave ya feelin’ better than ya did yesterday.” Twilight gave a moan and a flick of her tail and AJ moved off to finish cleaning up from the party.

Bounding into the main house while AJ cleaned up the barn, Pinkie Pie greeted the gathered ponies at the breakfast table with a cheery, “Good MOORNING!”

Rarity looked up over a cup of coffee with a look that would wilt flowers, “Yes, well, it will be eventually, darling. Once I’ve rid myself of this rotten taste in my mouth and showered. I feel positively wretched without washing my mane after all of that time in that dusty old barn.”

“Oh, come now, it wasn’t, um, that bad. Really.” Fluttershy joined the two mares, with a knowing smile at Rarity, who tried desperately to conceal a blush. “And the coffee is good.”

“Totally! Big Mac makes THE BEST coffee.” Pinkie chimed in, and the aforementioned stallion blushed a deeper red. “I mean, it’s totally the BEST pick-me-up after the most AWESOME party ever, right?”

“Eyup.” He poured Rarity another cup with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth and the same knowing look in his eye as Fluttershy.

Rarity sipped the warm, bitter liquid and allowed the steam to absorb into her pours, trying to steady her thoughts, then exhaled, blowing her fallen coiffure up out of her face for a moment. “Well, I’m just glad that Granny Smith was willing to watch the fillies at Twilight’s last night. The last thing I’d want is the girls seeing me like this.”

“I think I’ll, um, go check on Rainbow.” Fluttershy squeaked, blushing deeply. She crossed the kitchen to plant a kiss on Big Mac, and dashed out the door.

Rarity drained the last of her coffee. “I do believe that it is my time to leave as well, darlings. Pinkie, would you be so kind as to walk with me back to my boutique I fear I shall die of shame if I have to make the journey on my own, and, Macintosh dear, wonderful coffee as always.”

Big Mac smiled with a slow deepening to his cheeks, as the cotton candy pony bounced beside the white unicorn, passing AJ on her way in for some coffee for Twilight. She watched them leave and nudged her brother’s shoulder. “Should ask her out, sugarcube.”

“Eyup.” Said the big pony of few words.

AJ shook her head, her words running around in her head as she looked out the window at the clouds. One formation in particular always caught her eye, and she sighed, gathering a travel pot of Big Mac’s famous Joe. Why did it always take alcohol to get Dash to open up? And why did she always ‘dash’ off the next morning? Questions like these gnawed at her heart, especially being the Element of Honesty. It bothered the orange apple-bucker to no end that she had to coerce Rainbow the way she did.

Coming back into the barn, Twilight was at least sitting upright, she noticed, though the purple unicorn’s bangs hung in her face, so she couldn’t tell if she was awake or sleeping sitting up. She set down the coffee and went back to cleaning up the streamers and such. Pinkie would be back later, after her shift at Sugar Cube Corner, to gather all the trash together and help AJ put the barn back to the way it needed to be to store the apples, but with apple buck season still several weeks away it wasn’t such a pressing need. The whole time her mind kept wandering to the cerulean Pegasus, which brought her predicament to Twilight’s attention.

A couple of cups of Big Mac’s coffee and AJ was right, Twilight felt much better. She made a mental note to have him write down his recipe for her. It was certainly just the thing that she needed when pulling an all-night study session. In fact, she felt so much better that she instantly picked up on AJ’s distraction.

Ever ready to help her friends Twilight trotted over to AJ. “Thinking about her again huh?” She gave her a hug when she nodded. “Well, have you tried just talking to her?”

“Aw, Twi, she always runs away. You know that.” AJ kicked a pile of hay in disgust. “Ah swear, she doesn’t like me. She just can’t hold her licker.” Twilight knew AJ meant alcohol, but made no attempt to correct her friend’s accent. The orange earth pony went on, “Ah try ta get close to her, an’ she gets all defensive, an’ then y’know Ah git all competitive, an’ it jus’ winds up all muddled inta a fight. She storms off and Ah’m left feelin’ like she kicked me in the breadbasket.” She was fighting to control her emotions. “Only time she lets me close is when she’s drunk, an’ Ah jus’ feel awful takin’ advantage of ’er.”

Twilight used her magic to sweep up the hay AJ kicked, and she hugged the earth pony again. “Are you sure you don’t want me to talk to her? I think she’s more into you than you think.”

AJ looked up confused. “How so?”

“Well, last night, and this may be the booze talking but she was asking me about spells that would allow a mare to have a foal with another mare.” She shook her head, feeling like there was something she should remember, but she just couldn’t put her hoof on it, her horn hurt too much to think straight. She felt like she’d been doing magic all night long. “I told her something about how it’d take a lot of magic to do, and that I’d have to be channeling the spell the whole time that the two mares were intimate. Which is true. It takes a LOT of magic to make a mare pregnant by another mare.”

AJ snorted, and Twilight giggled a bit, still feeling that nagging pull in the back of her mind, but confronted by the task of cleaning up the party both mares dismissed the topic to lighter conversation.

Several weeks later, a steady rain was pouring down Twilight’s windows. Odd, she thought, I didn’t think it was supposed to rain over Ponyville today. It was the start of apple buck season. The skies should have been clear to give the harvesters around town the chance to get their head start on the harvest before winter was scheduled to set in. She was just about to walk out her door to investigate when something else splattered her window. It was yellow and slimy, and seemed to be warm, steaming the window as she watched very confused.

That made up her mind, and she poked her head out of her door just in time to see a blue form high in the clouds hold her stomach retching. Before she could called out, Rainbow shuddered and went back to positioning herself to buck the cloud currently pouring rain on the library. She seemed to be having trouble. She bucked but the cloud barely moved, and her forelegs shook with the effort. She almost retched again, but as Twlight watched she grabbed her stomach and shuddered hard. Clearly she was exhausted, with huge bags under her eyes, even her wings seemed droopy.

“Rainbow!” Twilight called.

The blue Pegasus looked down, and upon losing her rhythm also lost whatever was left of her lunch in to a nearby cloud.

Well, that explains my window, Twilight thought, then she called, “Hey, are you ok?”

Rainbow closed her eyes, this part was the worst, and slowly, making large, extremely gentle circles, made her way down to hover near Twilight. Or at least that was her intention, but a foot higher than she planned, she opened her eyes, and the vertigo of turning a circle caused her to gag, which disrupted her flight pattern, and landed her on her rear in front of Twilight, legs splayed out to either side and breathing heavily.

Twilight rushed forward and reached out a hoof to help, but Rainbow waved at her, clenching her teeth, “Don’t touch me, it makes me—“ she gagged again, but apparently her stomach was empty.

“Can you stand?” The purple unicorn made a shield with her magic to keep the rain off of them both.

Rainbow shakily made her way into the warm library, and practically collapsed on the cushions in front of Twilight’s desk, the unicorn’s favorite reading spot.

“Gee, Rainbow, you look awful.” Spike quipped, carrying a stack of books down from Twilight’s bedroom.

The Pegasus glared at the baby dragon. “Ya think?”

“Spike!” Twilight chided. “Go get some ginger root tea and a couple of warm blankets.” She shooed him with a disparaging look then turned to Rainbow worried. “Why on earth did you try to go to work today? You’re obviously sick.”

“Cause, I’ve been out sick all week, and Derpy had to take Dinky to get new shoes before school starts up again so she couldn’t cover for me.” Rainbow shivered, her mane soaking wet.

Crossing to her other side, Twilight lit her horn with magic, trying to warm the sopping Pegasus, and soothe her nausea at the same time. Something in the spell pushed back, and she frowned. “What about Fluttershy? Surely she’d be willing to sub in just this once. Most of the summer birds have left for the winter already, and Rarity doesn’t mind helping the other little critters make their homes ready for hibernation.”

Rainbow started to shake her head, but decided that was a bad idea. “No, she’s off with Big Mac in Appleloosa this week. Remember, she, Pinkie, Big Mac and Rarity went off down there for something. I forget what exactly.” She closed her eyes, the weariness settling over her heavily. As she drifted off to sleep she missed Twilight gasp lightly, and by the time the unicorn got the nerve to touch the Pegasus’ side, she was so far gone that she didn’t even flinch.

It was hours before Rainbow woke up, now dry and discovered she was snuggly tucked into Twilight’s spare bed. She looked around slowly, having learned over the last several days that moving too quickly right after waking up brought on worse attacks of nausea and usually vomiting. She noticed dry crackers, a cup of ginger root tea on ice, and a note from Twilight:

Dear Rainbow,

We need to talk. I know why you’re sick. Please, drink the tea and eat a few crackers before trying to get out of bed. You’ll feel better, trust me. Don’t move too quickly, though I’m sure you already figured that part out, sorry. Take your time, I’m downstairs with Spike whenever you’re ready.
Your friend,
Twilight ♥

Rainbow groaned, rolling onto her back and rubbing her face with her hooves. Trepidation added to the churning feeling in her stomach. One on hoof she wanted to know what was going on, but RD wasn’t a dumb pony. A worm of an idea had crawled its way into her head and as much as logical sense seemed to deny it, she couldn’t help but wonder. Her one hoof slid gently down her toned underside almost with a mind of its own. She waited for the familiar ache of emptiness to radiate through her, but it didn’t come. Did she dare hope? She let her mind wander back to the past, just after her arrival in Ponyville and that first meeting with Applejack.

The day was sunny, warm and bright. Fluttershy had convinced her to come to the tiny town outside the Everfree Forest after her stunning departure from flight school. It was easy to get a job, her Weather Pony certification saw to it that she was practically employed before she even set hoof off of Cloudsdale, and Ponyville, having been settled by Earth Ponies, had the smallest Weather Team she’d ever seen. Being this close to the forest meant easy job security, so when Fluttershy asked, she said why not.

Trotting through the market after establishing her home, a little cirrus, a touch of nimbostratus and a dash of cumulus, she literally ran into a hard-headed orange blur. As both mares landed on their flanks in the dust Rainbow rubbed her forehead.

“Oh hey, sorry there, Ah didn’t see where Ah was goin’. Y’alright?” She took the offered hoof up and smiled at the earth pony with the apple cutie mark.

“S’alright, I wasn’t paying attention either.” Wow, she thought, staring at the farm pony with an entirely too Griffon like purr running through her brain. “The name’s Rainbow Dash, what’s yours?”

“Ah’m Applejack. Welcome ta Ponyville. Yer new around these parts?” AJ smiled, still dusting herself off a bit.

Rainbow smiled, “Yeah, I just moved here from Cloudsdale.”

Just then the pink, fluffy Earth pony shaped entity known as Pinkie Pie bounded up to the two conversing fillies. “Did you just say you’re new?! We have to have a Welcome to Ponyville party!”

“Uh, sugarcube, Ah think Rainbow here would like ta-“

“Rainbow! I LOVE that name! Rainbow what? Huh? Huh?” Pinkie interrupted AJ with her characteristic bouncing, that all in all to the athletic Pegasus seemed a bit crazy.

“Rainbow Dash?” She hesitated, giving Pinkie an odd look.

“Rainbow Dash! That’s AWESOME!!” Pinkie positively levitated, and then began to bounce off calling over her shoulder, “Come to Sugarcube Corner! At 8! We’ll PARTY!”

“Uh…” Rainbow watched after the retreating ball of bouncy fluff with some worry on her face.

AJ chuckled a bit and shook her head, “Dun worry about Pinkie Pie, she’s harmless, mostly. C’mon, Ah’ll show ya ‘round town.”

Applejack took Rainbow to all of the hangout spots around Ponyville, most were run by other Earth ponies just like AJ and Pinkie, but the Carousel Boutique was something Rainbow wasn’t expecting. Run by a stunning up and coming unicorn, the designs were amazing and Rainbow was bowled over. Cloudsdale had some fancy clothing designers but Rarity’s flair for the stunning was something that Rainbow felt would put the moguls of Canterlot to shame.

“Come in, darlings! Welcome to Ponyville, Pinkie was just by to invite me to the party she’s throwing for you.” Rarity was gorgeous, dumbfounding, and threw Rainbow for one of the biggest tailspins she’d ever felt. From her violet mane and alabaster coat, to her perfectly pedicured hooves and those eyes! Rainbow felt like she could sink into those azure pools forever, and Rarity obviously knew it because the next thing she said was, “Oh, darling, you’re barking up the wrong tree, but thank you so kindly for the approval.”

Rainbow blushed deeply, nopony had ever read her that deeply before, and being a fillyfooler wasn’t exactly something that she broadcast openly. She coughed nervously and looked at the plush carpet, but before she could say anything in response an even more stunning creature walked, or rather waddled through the curtains separating the boutique from the apartment beyond.

“Rarity, could cha be a dear and get me some of those sugar cakes yur friend’s always bringing over? I’ve a feelin’ lil Sweetie here’ll be comin’ out bouncin’ and singin’ jus’ like yur Ma did, don’t cha know.” The pink mare was heavily swollen with foal and though her mane was still styled in an updo, it was clear that she’d been sleeping with it done.

Rainbow thought she’d died and gone to pony-heaven. The curve of her belly, the flush to her fur, the warmth in her eyes, it gave the fast-flying-filly a tingle in her nethers like she’d never felt before. From that day forward Rainbow knew that someday she had to experience that feeling for herself.

It didn’t matter that her dreams of being a Wonderbolt would be destroyed, the call to feel a life growing within her was all that mattered. Coming back to herself, Rainbow figured she could probably get up without too much in the way of complications. She sat up slowly, and rolled off the bed with a gentle plop to her hooves. So far so good, she thought, but the pit in her stomach gnawed at her consciousness as she made her way downstairs to the library proper.

“Oh, you’re up! Great.” Twilight called from across the room. She was just coming in from the kitchen, and carrying a tray of gingersnap cookies. “These should help any residual issues the crackers and tea failed to take care of. Dr. Murkhoof says that mares in your condition should eat small meals throughout the day to avoid dehydration and malnutrition.” The purple unicorn smiled sweetly at the exhausted Pegasus.

“Dr. Who?” Rainbow munched a cookie absently, all the while still not daring to believe the way that the facts were lining up. It was impossible, she’d never been with a stallion, ever.

Twilight put the cookies down on her podium and picked up a book with her magic. The purple glow shut the book and held it up for Rainbow to read the title while she nibbled on a second cookie. “What to Expect When You’re Expecting: a mare’s guide to all things about pregnancy by Dr. Heidi Murkhoof.”

Rainbow saw on her haunches, shocked. She was…she…really? No! It was impossible. It can’t happen without a stallion, she was sure of it. She’d wanted to ask Twilight if it could but she’d never gotten up the courage to do so, or had she? Her black out from the party several weeks ago came rushing back to her. She still didn’t know everything that happened that night. Though she was certain AJ had convinced her to come to bed with her again. She didn’t mind that AJ did, it’s just why did AJ always have to be drunk to do it, it made her feel dirty, and used, like the orange Earth pony couldn’t be with her unless she was schnockered.

Twilight looked concerned, “Rainbow, are you ok?” She crossed the distance between them and put a hoof on her forehead. “Rainbow? Hello?”

“Huh?” The cyan Pegasus blinked and shook her head. “Uh, yeah, I’m fine.” She rolled her shoulders, settling her wings on her back. Was her side bigger than normal? No, not yet. Though, how far along was she, and what stallion did they trick her into mating? Soarin? Nah, he was more interested in Pinkie than Rainbow. Big Mac? Rainbow snorted out loud, earning her a confused look from Twilight. “I’m fine, Twi, honest!” She smiled broadly, her characteristic ego shining through as best she could in spite of the bags under her eyes.

“I just want to make sure, because Pegasus pregnancies can be tricky. There’s a—“ Rainbow held up a hoof cutting off her friend.

“I know, a book about it.” She shook her head. “Really, Twilight, you worry too much, and you’re wrong, I can’t possibly be pregnant. I’m a mare, and I only have sex with mares. You know that.” She winked suggestively and Twilight blushed.

Shaking off the memories of their last sleepover before Pinkie’s party, Twilight pressed forward. “Yes, but I also know you want a foal more than anything else in the world. I mean, that’s the whole reason you and I hit it off so well after that whole Nightmare Moon thing.”

Rainbow nodded, their mutual desire to feel the joy of carrying a foal was certainly something that she didn’t make open to anyone outside of the three of them. Even at that, she wasn’t comfortable with Pinkie knowing, but nopony could keep anything from Pinkie. The ball of fluff had a sixth sense about secrets, and somehow always knew them without anypony telling her.

“But, really, Twi?” Rainbow looked at the floor. “Who am I kidding? It’s never gonna happen. Mares can’t make other mares pregnant, and stallions are…” She shuddered at the thought.

“There is a spell I know of, but it takes a LOT out of a Unicorn to cast it.” Twilight went over to a particularly well-hidden corner of the room and pulled out a book, bound in black, and locked shut with a padlock. “It’s part of a series devoted entirely to sex magic.” She explained. “The hitch is that the Unicorn casting the spell, can’t be having sex at the same time. It disrupts her concentration.” She opened the book to the right page, showing Rainbow the illustrations of what happened to the two mares in the grips of the spell. The drawings were crude, but she got the idea and blushed deeply, a flash of orange fur with emerald eyes crossing her mind.

Putting the book back, Twilight sighed. “Which is why I will probably never be able to have the joy of doing what you’re doing, Rainbow. No stallion or mare-friend, and according to everything in that book, you need two ponies.” She shrugged.

Rainbow started to deny the accusation of her pregnancy again, but Twilight gave her a look that meant she should shut up and trust in her on-again, off-again lover that she was telling the truth. “So, how far along am I?” Rainbow blushed and bit her lip, trying to resist the urge to rub her stomach protectively.

“I’d say somewhere around seven weeks.” Twilight nodded, snagging one of the cookies for herself. “The foal’s mind is only just starting to express itself, so he or she can’t be much bigger than that.” She smiled at Rainbow’s next question, which was written across her face before she spoke.

“How do you know?”

“Part of it comes from Dr. Murkhoof’s book, but also, honestly, Rainbow, you know how much of a maiesiophiliac I am, do you really think I wouldn’t look into the stages and energy signatures of a mare’s pregnancy?” Twilight looked shocked, which knowing her wasn’t too far of a stretch for Rainbow. While the chromatic Pegasus had not gone as deeply into research as her unicorn counterpart, she had to admit it was silly of her to have assumed that the book-worm wouldn’t have read every book she could get her hooves on about the subject. They’d even pretended the scenario they were experiencing right now for real in their occasional trysts.

“Alright, I get it. You know.” Rainbow sighed. “It’s just all the times we ever played with this sort of thing you were the one carrying the foal. Not me.” She closed her eyes, the weariness of the last week and a half weighing heavily on her. “Plus, how do I know who the father is? Wait until she’s born?”

Twilight scrunched up her muzzle in thought. “I don’t really know. I mean, I believe you when you say you haven’t been with a stallion, but other than casting that spell, I don’t know how it could happen. And besides, even if you found a unicorn to cast the spell, who would the mare be? Applejack?”

Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, in my dreams maybe.” It was something of a sore subject for her. Twilight knew better than to press it.

“Well, for now, go rest up. I’m going to write a letter to Princess Celestia, maybe she or Princess Luna will have a way of determining the father.” Rainbow knew better than to argue, and was too exhausted to care anyhow, Twilight would do what Twilight does best, write to the Princess and research. So, Rainbow grabbed another cookie and started for the stairs. She frowned for a moment and changed her mind, “Twi, I’m gonna go grab my nap someplace I can think. I like your bed and all, but I hafta feel the wind. I think it’s the only thing that’ll clear my head about all this, and besides, the rain stopped.”

Twilight didn’t like it but she nodded, knowing that Rainbow would have some coming to terms she’d have to deal with before too much longer. She watched her sometimes-lover leave with a sigh, when was that filly gonna learn that all she had to do was open her mouth and she wouldn’t have to face these things alone?

Crossing through town, Rainbow just sort of ambled along, not really paying attention to where she was going. If she had, she would have realized that she was headed in the absolute wrong direction if she wanted to be by herself and think. She realized this when a pink haze invaded her vision.

“Congratulations, Dashie!!” Pinkie squealed, entirely too loudly. She hugged her, leaving Rainbow stunned, once again, at Pinkie’s ability to know what was going on without anyone ever telling her.

“Thanks, Pinkie, but swear you won’t tell anyone. I—I don’t think I’m ready to spread the news just yet.” Rainbow half smiled, knowing Pinkie wouldn’t anyway, but needing to say it if only to calm her own nerves.

Pinkie giggled, “Of course, Dashie! I Pinkie Pie promise! Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” She bounced around Rainbow giggling and twirling, as usual. “So, when ya gonna tell her, huh?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Pinkie. She doesn’t need to know.” Rainbow sat back, crossing her hooves in an unconscious defense of her unborn foal.

“I suppose, but you’ll have to tell her at some point. It’s not like you can let her get you drunk anymore.” The pink pony giggled, and hugged Rainbow. “And don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll love the idea.”