Soarin just stood there. His eyes were wide, his mouth was slightly agape, and the only sounds coming from him were inhales and exhales. He was also beginning to sweat a little. "W-What?" he asked, silently.

"Yeah..." Dash replied, still looking sad.

"A-Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh. I gave them a urine sample, and a little while later, they came back and said I was pregnant."

Soarin couldn't find the words to respond. He didn't even know how to feel. From what Fluttershy had told him, he had thought that Rainbow Dash was critically ill, but now she was telling him she was expecting, and it most certainly was his foal. It was almost too much for a stallion like Soarin to take in all at once. "Dash, I...I...I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

"No, it's not," Rainbow replied, reaching out to lay a hoof on her coltfriend's shoulder, "I shouldn't have been so persistent about wanting to do...you know, that. I shouldn't have gotten carried away like I did."

"Why are you blaming yourself? I'm the one who got you pregnant. At least, I think I am..."

"Don't worry. Ever since we've been together, you're the only stallion I've slept with."

Soarin breathed a sigh of relief. "So, how are we gonna deal with this? You won't be able to fly with the Wonderbolts if you're pregnant."

Rainbow Dash began to cry as Soarin climbed into the bed next to her. "That's what I'm so upset about...HHHH...I've waited my whole life to become a Wonderbolt, and two weeks after I get in, I have to stop because I'm gonna have a foal." The forlorn mare buried her face in her forehooves while continuing to cry, her coltfriend wrapping his foreleg around her neck.

"Dash, I'm sorry. Truly, I am."

"HHHH...I'm not ready for a foal, Soarin. I don't even think I'd make a good mother."

"Now, come on, Dashie. I think you'd make an awesome mother. You're a great leader and you know so many things. Heck, I'd be honored if you were my mother."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah."

"Th-Thanks. Anyway, aside from that, I don't know if I can even support a foal. Sure, I make quite a bit from being on Weather Patrol, but for now, that's it. I won't make any money from being a Wonderbolt if I can't fly with them."

"Dash, I'll support you and the foal any way I can. I don't want you to tackle parenthood alone."

Rainbow sighed. "Can I have some time to think about this, Soarin? You can let Fluttershy back in if you want."

"Sure, Dash," Soarin finished as he kissed his marefriend on the cheek, "I'll see you later." He then got down from the bed and walked out the door. "You can go back in now," he said to Fluttershy, who was still waiting outside the door.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

"I think so," the stallion replied, "We just need time to, well...think things through."

"Okay," Fluttershy finished as she and Soarin once again went in opposite directions.

"Oh, poor Rainbow Dash!" Rarity said, "Who knows what could be wrong with her?" She, Twilight, Starlight, Spike, Pinkie, and Applejack were all in the throne room of Twilight's castle, discussing their thoughts on what may be going on with Rainbow, given what Twilight had already said.

"I ain't never seen her in a state like that," AJ said, "She usually does a great job of keepin' her health in check."

"Look on the bright side, girls!" Pinkie began, "Once Dashie's all better, we can have a big 'Dashie's All Better' party!"

"Come on, Pinkie," said a now slightly annoyed Starlight, "This isn't the time to be thinking about parties."

Pinkie lowered her head. "Sorry," she finished.

All of a sudden, everyone heard the door to the throne room open, and they all looked toward it. There was Soarin, his face sporting a distressed expression. "Soarin!" Twilight exclaimed as she and her friends ran toward him, "Is everything alright?"

"Is Rainbow Dash okay?" Spike asked.

"Well, she's not sick, if that's what you were thinking," he began. Everyone else heaved a sigh of relief. "But, something is happening..."

"What?" AJ asked.

"Ummm..." Soarin couldn't bring himself to tell them immediately. He was afraid he would get all negative reactions from everyone in front of him. Still, they were going to find out as time went by, so he figured he should tell them now. "I...I...kinda..." Soarin was blushing and rubbing the back of his neck at this point. "...got Dash pregnant..."

The other five stared at him, all looking quite surprised. "Seriously?!?" Rarity asked.

"Yay!" Pinkie exclaimed, "Now we can throw Dashie a foal shower!"

"PINKIE!!" everyone else, except Soarin, interjected. The party pony only blushed apologetically.

"Is she okay?" Twilight asked Soarin.

"Yeah," he continued, "But she's pretty upset, and I can't help but feel ashamed of myself. She has to put aside being a Wonderbolt in order to carry this foal, and all because of me. I think we both should have been more observant of our actions after the afterparty." At this point, the light blue Wonderbolt stallion began to shed a few tears. "Why did I do this?" he asked no one in particular.

"Don't worry, darling," Rarity said, comfortingly, "You two have options, you know."

"Yeah, you're right," Soarin replied.

"Soarin!" Fluttershy screamed after bursting through the doorway to the throne room.

"Whoa, Fluttershy!" the stallion replied in surprise, "What's going on?" Everyone else looked on curiously.

"You need to come back to the hospital! Rainbow's...ummm..."

"What? What's happening?"

Fluttershy was panting in both exhaustion and anxiety. "She's...hhh...about to...hhh...terminate the pregnancy!"

Everyone else gasped. "SHE'S HAVING AN ABORTION?!?!?!?" Soarin screamed.

“Yes! Don’t you think you should talk to her about it?”

Soarin wanted to reply, but he immediately began thinking about the circumstances. He did want to talk to her, but at the same time, he knew there wasn’t really anything he could do. He and Dash weren’t married, so he had no say in what the foal’s future would be like. It was all up to the mother.

With a sigh, Soarin said, “No. This is entirely her choice, and I don’t have any right to intervene.” After that, Soarin began flapping his wings and flew out of the throne room, leaving behind several sad-looking mares and a dragon with a similar expression.

Soarin lay on his living room couch, going on a guilt trip of the recent events. He knew he should have gone back to work, but he was too distressed about the whole situation. He had accidentally gotten his marefriend pregnant, and now she was off to end it once and for all. He knew that it would very likely be a traumatic experience for the mare, but there was nothing he could do about it. Even though he may have already thought about the positives to being a father, it seemed that Dash had already made up her mind. “Dash is never gonna look at me the same way again…” Soarin thought to himself, “She may wanna break up with me after this is all done…”

Just then, there was a knock on Soarin’s front door. The stallion was a bit reluctant to get up, given how sad he was, but he eventually made his way to the door and opened it. His eyes went a bit wide upon noticing Rainbow Dash on his front step. The two pegasi stood there in silence for several seconds before Soarin said, “Hey…”

“Hey…” Dash replied, “Can I come in? I need to tell you something.”

Soarin sighed. “Sure,” he replied, “C’mon in.”

“Thanks,” Rainbow replied, silently.

The two ponies were soon sitting on Soarin’s couch, and the stallion was the first to speak. “Dash, I’m so sorry I put you through this. I never meant to cause you this much pain. At least you don’t have to worry about the foal anymore…”

“A-Actually, Soarin,” Dash stammered, “I…well, I didn’t go through with it.”

Soarin’s eyes widened slightly. “You didn’t?” he asked.

“No,” Dash replied.

“Why? I thought you weren’t ready for a foal.”

“You’re right, but…something in my head told me to not do it. At least…not immediately.”

“So you were just following your instincts?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Dash remained silent for a few more seconds before continuing. “Anyway, now that I’m here, I wanna hear what you think about this.”

Soarin didn’t speak immediately, but he soon gathered his thoughts and replied, “Dash, at this point, I don’t know if it’s a good idea if I tell you how I feel. I don’t wanna, like, try to convince you to do anything just because I said it. I really think it’d be best if you just do whatever you feel is right.”

Rainbow was a bit surprised by her coltfriend’s statement. “Why don’t you wanna tell me?”

“Because some ponies may think I’m trying to control you, which I’m not. I may be the Wonderbolts’ co-captain, but deep down, I’m not really that kind of pony. I’d rather encourage others to do what they feel is right than get them to do what I want them to do.”

For the first time that day, Rainbow Dash smiled. “That was really sweet, Soarin,” she said, “I didn’t know that’s how you felt.”

“Hey, you’re friends with the element of honesty. Applejack would probably give me a swift kick in the flank if I ever lied to you.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah, probably.”

The two pegasi then remained silent for the next few minutes, allowing them to really think about the scenario they had gotten themselves into. Rainbow was the first to speak. “Hey, Soarin?”

“Yeah?” the stallion replied.

“The more I think about it, the more I think that we could make somepony else happy by giving them this foal.”

“But…but that means you’ll be out for nearly a year.”

“I know, but knowing that we fulfilled someone else’s dream of having their own foal really makes up for that. It’s like taking time out of your life to do something for someone else. I’ve gone on a whole bunch of adventures with my friends, and we’ve done just that.”

Soarin took a few moments to process what he’d just heard. “Wow, Dash,” he replied, “I never thought I’d see that side of you. If that’s what you wanna do, then I’ll be there for you every step of the way.”

Rainbow smiled again. "Really?"

"Absolutely. I'll be with you through every phase of your pregnancy. I'll get you whatever you want, do whatever you need me to do, whatever I can do to make you feel loved. Plus, I'll even throw a portion of my Wonderbolt income your way, since you're not gonna be working while you're pregnant."

"Y-You'd do that...for me?" Rainbow asked.

"Of course. It's what a responsible stallion would do, especially for the greatest mare in all of Equestria."

Rainbow was silent. Her smile grew bigger, and tears began flowing from her eyes. Without warning, she leaned forward and kissed Soarin full on the lips, putting a little more pressure on him than she'd intended to. Soarin gladly leaned back into her, embracing her with both his lips and his forelegs. After what seemed like forever, Dash pulled away and looked Soarin in the eyes. "Thank you," she said, still crying slightly, "I love you so much, Soarin."

"I love you, too, Dashie," Soarin replied as he leaned forward and kissed her again.

Author's Note

Bit of a shocker, huh?

Anyway, I'm gonna post another short chapter today, and then I'll get into more serious matters starting tomorrow. Stay tuned!

*Update: This chapter has been significantly altered due to some negative feedback. I hope that what you have just read is better (given you already know what happened originally). The next two chapters have been edited as well (slightly) in order to fit in with this one.