contingent

Twilight gathered with the girls at the map table. All except Rainbow Dash. The young princess purposefully set this meeting early in the morning when she knew the pegasus would be asleep or preoccupied.

“Twilight what is this all about?” Rarity asked. “Some of us need our beauty sleep.”

“Where’s Rainbow Dash?” Pipped up Pinkie. “Are we waiting on her?”

“Actually,” Twilight began. “She’s sorta the topic.”

“Oh no.” Fluttershy said. “Something’s not wrong, is it?”

“That depends on how you wanna take it.” The alicorn answered.

“Well what is it?” Applejack joined in.

"Yes, what could possibly be wrong with her now?" Rarity asked. "This past month or so has been tragedy enough."

“Rainbow’s with foal.” Twilight blurted out.

Silence filled the room. Minutes passed while the group was processing this shocking information. The whole situation before had already put things on a bad setting. Their once bright, brash Rainbow was now a couch potato that was constantly upset. It hurt all of them to see her as such. And it was all because Flare happened. None of them really knew how to handle it. Stuff like this just doesn’t happen.

“Is it… his?” The farm pony broke the silence.

“There’s no one else’s it could be.” Rarity pointed out.

“Oh my” Fluttershy spoke.

“What’s she doing?” Applejack asked.

“From what I gathered, put it up for adoption.” Twilight answered.

“Poor dear just can’t catch a break.” The unicorn said.

“This is great!” Pinkie suddenly spouted. The rest looked at the bright mare, confused. “What? Why wouldn’t you be excited for a new little foal around? I bet it’s just what Dashie needs.”

“Pinkie, I just said she’s not keeping it.” Twilight stated. “And I don’t quite think you understand the weight of the situation. Rainbow isn’t exactly taking this positively.”

“What!? Why not?”

“Pinkie, darling, I didn’t take you for one to be this clueless.” Rarity said.

“Well, I know why she wouldn’t be happy.” The bouncy mare said. “I guess I just want her to be happy about this. It’s the exact thing she needs to boost her mood!”

“Well, I guess someone is taking this well.” The alicorn said. "But it's a really sensitive topic for her at the moment. As I'm sure you all already understand. Well, maybe not Pinkie."

"I get it. I'm just trying to be positive!"

"Anyway, I doubt she was really going to tell you guys, and I don't think I'd want to put her through that right now. So I took the liberty to do so myself"

"Do what yourself?"

Everyone turned  to see Rainbow in the doorway. Her mane and facial expression clearly read that she had woken up recently.

"Rainbow! You're up!"

"Yeah, I have been for an hour now. Why is everyone here?"

"We heard about your condition." Applejack said.

"My wha-? Oh... That."

"How are you holding up with all this?"

"I'm going to go eat some toast." And with that Dash left for the kitchen.

"Why to go Applejack. " Rarity said annoyed. "You scared her away."

"What? I thought we were supposed to know so we can talk about it!"

"What part of sensitive don't you understand?"

"I'm sorry!" AJ said angrily.

"Girls! Stop!" Twilight shouted. She sighed and began to rub her temples. "She'll come out of her shell eventually. Well, we can hope. The best we can do is be there for when that happens. Like we have. I finally got her to talk a little bit yesterday so it’s progress."

"Wow, I didn't think she ever would." Rarity added.

"This whole predicament is something new to all of us. And now a pregnancy is being thrown into the mix. Let's just be cool about it and be there for her. Business as usual. What she doesn't want right now is attention." The princess added.

"For once." The farm pony put in.

"This is all just so awful." Fluttershy joined. "I feel terrible for her about all this. I went home and couldn't sleep that night we got her home. The very thought of what happened, happening to a friend... I just don't understand how she's acting like nothings happened."

"Well, she is trying to cope." Twilight justified "She's just... Depressed. All day sitting there. So in her own way, acting like nothing has happened is her way of trying to deal with the fact that something has clearly happened."

"Hey Twilight!" Rainbow shouted from the other room, beginning to enter the map room. "You're out of bread. I may have just finished it." She sits at the table too.

"Noted. I'll get more today."

Awkward silence filled the air. No one knew what to say. What do you say?

"So..." Applejack started, trying to break the silence. "Why are you up so early, Rainbow? Never really seen you to be an early bird."

"Me and the toilet had a five-o-clock meeting. I didn't want to be late. But, after that bout of spewing I couldn't get back to sleep. So here I am."

"Oh, that doesn't sound, uh, pleasant."

"I've always heard about the hardships of being pregnant." Rarity said. "Got quite the adventure ahead of you."

"It can't be that bad." Rainbow argued. "I just gotta tote the thing around for awhile, pop it out, and send it on it's merry way. Then I can go back to my life."

"Do you know anything about carrying foal?” Twilight asked.

"She did skip the reproductive section of health class a lot when we were in school." The butter Pegasus chimed in.

"I don't need to know any of that junk!" Dash defended. "I didn't exactly plan on this. I never wanted kids, they slow you down. Plus, making one requires some guy. Relationships are dumb distractions and only lead to foals. So why would I need any of that schooling?"

"Just in case."

"Whatever. I did better things with that time. I always went and did extra training in the field."

"And now you're a clueless pregnant gal." Applejack jokingly pointed out.

"What're you gonna name it?" Pinkie asked.

"I'm not keeping it! It's trouble enough I have to carry it around! The thing is lucky I'm even doing that."

"Sorry I asked. I'm going to head back to Sugarcube Corner now." The pink mare got up. "I'll make you anything weird for you when ya start wanting them!" Pinkie bounced away after that.

"When I what?

"Clueless." Applejack started to walk out as well. "I got work to do. Farms always open, RD." She left.

"I better go feed the animals breakfast. It's almost seven." Fluttershy left too.

"I want all the details of how you're doing. You're the first of us, surprisingly, to go through this experience so I'd love to chit chat about it sometimes. I'll see you girls later." Rarity left the castle last.

"It's not going to be bad or anything. Right Twilight?" A slightly worried Rainbow asked.

"I've heard it can be trialing. But what all those mares told me it was worth it in the end."

"This is gonna suck."

"You seem much better than you did yesterday. You kind of just shut yourself in your room."

Rainbow shrugged. It was true, yesterday she spent the entire day shut in the room. She was thinking real hard about her new predicament. Dash was really upset at first. Down in the the pit of her own hell. She had a piece of him growing in her. A Flare parasite. After crying about it for hours it hit her like a brick wall.

She wasn't keeping it. She only had to carry it. And one month was already out of the way! This wasn't the end of anything but a postponement. She tried from there to not think about it as a chunk of Flare, but a little life trying to get by. Which was true.

"Just did a lot of thinking is all"

"Glad to hear it, Rainbow. We're happy you're talking more and accepting help. I told you how worried we all are."

"Yeah, I know."

"We just don't know how to react to all this as much as you do."

"Hey, it's fine. I shouldn't have been pushing you all out. But, you know how hard that is for me."

"Believe me, we do. Which is why we've been giving you space."

Rainbow smiled. "Thanks.... So. About that bread? Toast still sounds good and something I can keep down."

_____________________________

A week passed and things started to get better since  Rainbow began to be more open and friendly. She didn't start any conversations but she didn't shut others out either.

Currently Rainbow was lying on her bean bag chair quietly wallowing. She had noticed her new pudge that's snuck up on her. Twilight told her she needed to be having regular checkups and the doc had said around now was when bloating apparently happened.

Not fun. This stupid thing was making her fat! And she couldn't do anything about it. Everyone would notice soon enough. That's all she needed now, everypony talking about her. And not in the way she normally likes it.

"Rainbow!"

Startled, Dash looked up to see an excited orange filly. "Don't sneak up on me like that! Gonna kill me one day."

Scootaloo chuckled. "Not my fault you sit there staring off to space."

"Yeah yeah. How'd you even get in here?"

"Spike answered the door and let me in. Duh. But I saw Twilight the other day and she said I was allowed to come 'bug' you again. So here I am!"

"You're very persistent."

"I call it determination."  The filly sat down. "So we haven't been flying in like, over a month."

"I've had stuff happening, kid."

"So much that we can't go flying?"

Rainbow sighed. "Look, it's not that I don't want to. It's complicated."

"Then make it not complicated."

"That's not how it works."

"Stop keeping secrets. It's not fair." The filly whined.

"Life's not fair."

Twilight entered the throne room with some books floating in her magic. "I thought I heard voices down here. I see Scootaloo found her way over."

"Rainbow won't tell me why she's ignoring me! Use your princess powers to make her."

"I can't make her do anything. But Rainbow, she's gonna find out eventually. Better from you than the town rumors, don't you think?"

Rainbow made a frustrational groan. This was not a conversation she wanted to have. Especially with a kid. But Twilight had a point. She didn’t want Scoots to find everything out by rumors whispered through town. She’d feel hurt that Dash never told her or something.

“Tell me what?” The innocent young pegasus asked.

“Twilight, you do it.”

“Is it bad? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong.” The young princess comforted. “Rainbow is just having a hard time with it.”

“It’s inconvenient and making me fat!” Dash defended. “It came out of nowhere this past week.”

“Well maybe if someone didn’t eat a bag of french fries day. And a jug of root beer.” Twilight countered.

“Shut up.” The pegasus grumbled.

“The doctor said not to give into your unhealthy cravings like that.”

“He’s not the one having them.”

“What’re you guys talking about? Are you sick?” The filly asked, thoroughly confused. “You can just tell me.”

“Ugh, look. I’m, uh, eh expecting.” Rainbow tried to explain.

“Expecting what?” Scootaloo wasn’t quite understanding.

“Um. A foal, Squirt.”

“A what!? You’re having a baby?” The orange pegasus was intrigued and excited. “Since when? Wait, with who? You’ve been seeing some guy and not even telling me?”

“Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down. It hasn’t been long and there is no guy. Trust me.”

“I know where foals come from, Rainbow Dash. There has to by a guy involved.”

“How old are you again?”

“Not the point. Who's the dad?” She asked, not knowing how sensitive the topic was.

“I’m going to head out now. I’ll be back later.” Twilight left, leaving them to talk.

“Wait!” Rainbow shouted. “Twilight don’t leave me here!”

Rainbow sighed. She really didn’t want to have this conversation. But Scootaloo wasn’t any real stranger to the reality of the world. She grew up living in that orphanage with kids coming in and out with all sorts of stories.

“Look, kid. Since you, uh, know how foals are made.”

“Yeah?”

“You also know that sometimes mares are… forced, to do that process. Right?” She started the talk awkwardly.

“Wait, what? Forced to have foals or sex?”

“I don’t want to talk about this.” She sighed. “The second one.”

“Oh, I know that yeah.”

“Yup. Well that happened to me. You know, while I was kidnapped and all that.”

“I knew you were kidnapped, yeah. Didn’t know the other part.”

“It happened. And it led to the foal, so.”

“Why so sad and secretive? People are usually happy that their getting a baby.” The filly innocently said with a smile.

“Squirt, I ain’t exactly keeping it.”

Scootaloo’s face fell. “What? What’re you doing with it?”

“There’s a few nice orphanages and such up in Cloudsdale. If it turns out to not be a pegasus I found another place out in Manehatten.”

“You’re ditching it?”

“What? No. I’m sending it to a better place than with me.”

“You’re it’s mom! You are the better place.”

“I’m no one’s mom. I can’t be one! I’ve got other stuff to do and I’d just be terrible at it anyways.” Rainbow was beginning to be frustrated. What did Scootaloo know? She’s only twelve. She doesn’t understand the weight of the situation.

“So you’re just gonna send it away? Leaving it through it’s whole life wondering where it’s family is? Why no one wanted it? What it did wrong?” The younger pegasus had begun tearing up, letting one or two fall.

Rainbow didn’t know how to respond. She knew that Scootaloo was talking about herself at this point. She had no idea this was how she felt. She thought Scootaloo was fine with living at the orphanage. Dash didn’t think she would believe sending it off would be bad. It was obvious now that of course Scoots would think giving it up was a bad idea.

“Squirt. I never saw myself with kids. I just don’t think I’m cut out for it. And I know it might be hard for you to understand, but it’s got some of him in it. I don’t think I could live with that.”

“It also has you in it. Forget what’s his face, it’s yours! Aren’t you the element of loyalty?”

“Do not throw that at me!”

“Well it’s true! This is the opposite of being loyal. I can’t even imagine what it’d be like growing up knowing I was some rape baby my mom didn’t want.”

“It wouldn’t even know. They don’t tell the kids that stuff. I checked.”

“Trust me, we find out. One way or another, be it sneaking into files or listening to adults when they think we aren’t. I wasn’t supposed to know I was just a drop off, but I do. They still try and tell me my mom put me there because she knew it was better for me and all that crap. I know better. I know that she didn’t want me around because I’d be in the way and a reminder of her mistake of getting pregnant in the first place! Just like what you’re going to do!” The filly got up and began to run out.

“Hey! Scoots!” Rainbow tried to call her to stop. “It’s not like that! It’s…” She was already out the door.

It wasn’t like that… Was it? She would just think of Flare and all those awful things everyday when she looked at the kid. She couldn’t do that to herself or the foal, right? But, on the other hand it would have to live knowing it was once unwanted. Dash even said so earlier, she never wanted kids. She never asked for this.

Neither did the foal.

It wouldn't be so bad having it around, would it? She’d have something to distract her from the horrors of recent. A prodigy to have. What if maybe it didn’t do so well out there dealing with all those things Scootaloo had said? Here it’d at least know it was loved and kept…

Now she was actually considering it.

She didn’t have much more time to ponder it as Spike entered the room. Trotting behind him was Soarin of course. Shows up at the worst of times it seems.

“Here she is.” Spike directed the stallion. “Where she usually is.”

“Thanks, Spike.” He said.

“No problem, I’m sure you can find your way out when needed.” Spike said as he left.

“Why’re you here?” Rainbow asked.

“I had the schedule for training here.” He set them on the table as he sat down next to her. “Thought I’d bring it by.”

“Thanks. But you do know a mailing system exists, right?”

He smiled. “Yeah.” He noticed how forlorn she looked. “You ok?”

“I can’t do the training camp this time around.”

Soarin was taken aback by this news “What? Why not?”

“You’ve been filled in on what happened to me while I was at Flare’s, right?”

“Twilight debriefed me the day you got to go home. I thought you’d be healed by the camp time?” Soarin asked, confused.

“No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just that it led to a-” She coughed awkwardly, still not liking talking about it. “Pregnancy.”

Soarin was slightly surprised. “So you’re..?” Dash nodded. “Oh. Well, there’s no need to be worried. After it’s born and your maternity leave you’ll be welcomed still. And there is a great daycare at the HQ! The Wonderbolts make it possible to have a family and a job.” He finished with a smile.

Rainbow was quiet for a few moments. “I don’t know if I should keep it or not. I mean, it’s his. But it’s also mine. I don’t want it to grow up thinking it wasn’t wanted either. That’s probably a shitty feeling. But I don’t think I could take care of it either. I’d mess everything up…”

“Rainbow. You wouldn’t mess everything up. No one knows what they’re doing right away. They figure it out as they go.”

“I don’t think I could do it.”

“Kids need to know they’re loved and have proper guidance. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re the element of loyalty so it’d be abundantly loved and cared for; and it’d be surrounded by the rest of the elements and even royalty. Wonderbolts too. I don’t think it’d turn out half bad. Also don’t think you’d be doing everything by yourself. I’m one hundred percent sure you’re friends would help you with anything.”

“So you’re saying I should keep it too?”

“I’m not telling you what to do at all. All I’m saying is that you aren’t giving yourself much credit. Half of the reason you’re considering this is because of how the foal came to be, right? But you’re also doubting that you could handle being it’s mother. I just think  you could easily overcome both.”

“I don’t know if I could…”

“I know you could. You’d be a great mother. If you choose to. In the end it is your foal, so you decide.” The stallion got up. “You think about it. You have time. But, I’m going to head out. Gotta tell Spitfire the update. I’ll catch you around.” He waved off as he left.

Rainbow sat there. She did have a lot of thinking to do. She was actually starting to care about this kid. That seemed dangerous if she was considering giving it up.

She’d have think about it over some french fries and root beer. the multicolored mare got up to head to the kitchen. She couldn’t think straight until she ate some of those gold strips and delicious drink.