Not My Pretty Petunias Too!
Fluttershy took a long breath of fresh afternoon air as she stepped outside of her cottage. The light of the summer sun was hot on her face and the gentle breeze tickled her feathers as it washed by. Bees buzzed from flower to flower and birds chirped as they flitted through the trees. A butterfly glided by with one graceful beat of its colorful wings, then looped back to land on the pegasus's nose.
Fluttershy giggled. "Oh, hello there mister caterpillar, you're looking so beautiful now. I hope your cocoon was comfortable," she said kindly, and the insect gave a buzz in return, earning a smile from the yellow mare before it flew away.
A happy expression still crossing her face Fluttershy trotted away from her door, practically skipping as she sung. "La lala la-la la-la lala."
It was just another perfect summer day, the animals were all happy, she was happy and nothing was out of the ordinary. That was until she opened her eyes, stopped suddenly and cocked her head.
"Erm, Rainbow... Why are you eating my flowers?" The prismatic pegasus was crouched in Fluttershy's path, hooves scuffed and dusty mane ruffled.
Strangest of all was the fact that she had her face buried in a patch of purple petunias, mouth working as she chomped on the stems, leaves and petals alike. Suddenly her ears stood tall and she looked at Fluttershy with the wide eyes of a startled animal. Fluttershy had not seen her friend for some time, maybe even months. Not only that, but she could have sworn Rainbow Dash was looking a little rounder than usual. How many flowers had she eaten?
"Fluttershy! Oh by Celestia...." Rainbow Dash's head shot up, a full cluster of petunias still in her muzzle. "What are you doing here?" she added, spitting petals from her mouth as she looked about frantically.
"Erm, I live here... You're in my yard." Fluttershy gestured to the cottage behind her and the flower beds that surrounded them.
"Wait... Your yard... I–I thought they belonged to somepony else." Rainbow's eyes panned over the garden as redness seeped into her cheeks. "You... Oh, yeah this is your yard," the mare lifted a hoof to her muzzle as she uttered one dry laugh.
Fluttershy raised one eyebrow. "Rainbow, we've known each other for years and you have been here a hundred times, how do you not know this is my yard?" she asked and Rainbow rubbed her forehooves together as she stammered.
"Sorry, Fluttershy, it must have slipped my mind. I've been away a while..." Her words were interrupted by a small belch, and Rainbow Dash covered her muzzle with a hoof, blushing harder. "Excuse me," she added quietly.
Taken aback, Fluttershy's face scrunched in confusion. "Well, I guess that's okay but..." She glanced down at the chewed flowers, their roots ripped from the loose soil. "Why were you eating my petunias?"
At the question, Rainbow Dash lifted herself up and glanced at the sky. "No reason, apart from the fact they looked so alluring... Irresistible... Tasty... No..." She faced-hoofed with every failed word before flapping her wings. "They looked great, I just had to see them up close. But sorry, Fluttershy, gotta dash, see ya', bye!"
Rainbow Dash bolted into the air, or at least she would have done under usual circumstances. Right now she achieved no more than a few feet off the ground before the weight of her flower-filled belly dragged her back to the dirt and she fell on her rump, redder than ever as she smiled weakly.
"I guess I ate too much," Rainbow admitted, her words cut off by another burp as she rubbed her swollen stomach. "Oh, by Celestia, this sucks. But I still have to go... I... I'll just walk, yeah walking is good."
She heaved herself up from the dust and began to wobble off, swaying uneasily as she did so. Fluttershy hopped into the air, easily allowing her friend to get no more than a few hoofsteps before she landed in front of her to block the path.
"Rainbow Dash, I can't just let you leave like this," she stated, looking the pudgy mare in the eyes.
Rainbow Dash shrank back, ears folded as she gulped. "Look, Fluttershy, I'm sorry about the flowers, they just looked so yummy... I–I mean good-looking, they looked good," Rainbow Dash stammered, smiling weakly.
"What? You think I care about them?" Fluttershy pointed a hoof at the flowers as she began to hover. "No, no, no, no, no." She shook her head rapidly. "I'm worried about you. Rainbow, you were eating flowers, you're clearly swollen and you forgot this was my house?"
Rainbow Dash glanced back at her belly as it gargled happily with the new meal, then rubbed a hoof along the back of her mane as she sat down again. "Okay, I didn't forget this was your house, your flowers just looked so good I couldn't help myself. But I'm fine really, just let myself go a little. You know, because I was away," Rainbow Dash insisted.
Fluttershy saw right through the lie the second it was uttered as she landed and wrapped a hoof around her friend's shoulders. "You don't have to lie to me Rainbow, just tell me what's wrong. I've seen plenty of animals get sick and that could be really serious. At least go to the doctor."
"What, the doctor? No way!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, shuffling away as best as she could. "I mean... No, I'm good, really." She rubbed her belly and Fluttershy frowned.
"Well, please at least come inside and let me make you some real food? I can take a look at you instead if you want, you're not an animal but some insight is better than none, right?" Fluttershy gave her biggest smile, eyes sparkling as they went wide.
Rainbow Dash let out a low groan, head drooping as she rubbed her belly and tried not to look at the levels of cuteness Fluttershy was employing. She resisted the adorable onslaught for a grand total of five seconds.
"Okay, fine, I'll come in and you can help me out, but not a word to anypony else, got it?" She pointed a hoof at Fluttershy and the pegasus beamed.
"You have my word, Rainbow. This is just between us, now let's get you inside." Fluttershy crossed a hoof over her chest and nodded, before hovering over and helping her grumpy friend wobble into the cottage.
********
"Now come on, Rainbow, open wide please," Fluttershy instructed as she hovered before a slumped, couch-bound Rainbow Dash with a small wooden stick.
"Come on, Fluttershy, is this really necessary? I already ate that soup, not to mention all the vegetables you said I should eat too," Rainbow Dash groaned, forehooves crossed over the top of her rounded belly as she watched the butter yellow pegasus hovering before her.
"I know, they were all very good sources of vitamins for you. But yes, Rainbow, this is necessary, I have to make sure you're not swelling anywhere else, throat inflammation could cause you to have trouble breathing and..." Rainbow Dash cut off Fluttershy's list with a wave of her hoof.
"Okay, okay, here." She opened her mouth wide, sticking out her tongue as Fluttershy flew forward and pressed it down with the stick.
"Hum... Let's see." Fluttershy hovered in close, staring down Rainbow Dash's throat as the cyan mare stared cross-eyed at her bobbing friend. "It doesn't look like you have anything wrong here, still a little something couldn't hurt."
She flew back, then over to a cupboard in her kitchen before darting back with a green tub. Rainbow Dash watched her dart about like some kind of insect before Fluttershy produced a pair of blue and green pills and held them out to her.
"What are these?" Rainbow Dash inquired, looking up at her friend.
"They're vitamin pills, you need all the vitamins you can get if you're going to get better, Rainbow," Fluttershy explained and Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
"Okay, if it gets you to stop worrying." Rainbow Dash took the pills and downed them in one hard gulp. "Happy now?" she asked, opening her mouth to show that they were gone.
It was then that Fluttershy retrieved a spoon from behind her back and stuck both it and some kind of oily, yellow substance into Rainbow's mouth. The sick mare recoiled, swallowing the stuff on instinct before gagging and wiping her forehooves over her tongue.
"Okay, no I'm happy, you took all you're medicine. Still, how have you been feeling recently? Ill, maybe sick?" Fluttershy asked, taking a seat on the sofa beside Rainbow.
Rainbow dash shot her friend a disapproving glare, but in the presence of Fluttershy's concern, it lasted about a second before Rainbow sighed. "Well, I was kinda sick the other week, it was a lot too. Not mention to the cravings for random stuff I'd never eat, and my hooves are killing me," Rainbow confessed and Fluttershy flew back over to a doctors bag she had on another chair, routing through it as her patient fidgeted, hooves rubbing together atop her belly.
"I see, well I'm going to have to take your temperature next." She produced a glass thermometer from the bag and hovered back over to Rainbow Dash.
Immediately the pudgy pegasus frowned. "I'm not opening my mouth like some idiot so you can shove Celestia knows what in there again, Fluttershy," she said as she slumped.
Fluttershy rolled her eyes, then smiled as she sat back down and rubbed her friend's back gently. "Awww, come on, Rainbow, it's only a little thermometer," she cooed softly.
"What, you going to offer me a lollipop when you're done too? This is why I hate doctors, they make me feel like a foal," Rainbow Dash spat, kicking out a hoof.
In her frustration, she failed to notice as she caught the thermometer and sent it tumbling to the floor where it landed with a crack. Fluttershy let out a sharp eep, as Rainbow took one look at what she'd done and sank back into the sofa.
"Oops, sorry," she admitted, peering down over her large belly as Fluttershy retrieved a brush and swept the broken shards away.
She then took a long, deep breath. "It's okay, I can just get another one form the vet. Though I still need to take your temperature, and if you won't go to the doctors then I guess I'll just have to use the spare," Fluttershy shrugged, then hover back over to the bag and retrieved an off-white utensil with a long metal rod and magical screen.
"Seriously, Fluttershy, how am I even supposed to fit that thing in my mouth?" Rainbow exclaimed, hooves outstretched.
Fluttershy giggled, "Oh, this one doesn't go in your mouth, it's a different kind of thermometer." Rainbow's eyes went wide as she struggled to roll forwards and onto her hooves. "It isn't a problem really, all you have to do is stand up and turn around." Fluttershy made a circular motion with her forehoof as Rainbow Dash thudded down on the floor.
"No, no, no, I–I'm fine really, I don't need the doctors or my temperature taking, I can do perfectly fine on my own," Rainbow protested, wobbling to the door as fast as her legs could carry her.
Fluttershy was between the fleeing mare and door just as fast as she had been the last time, the ominous thermometer in one hoof as her cyan eyes bore into Rainbow's.
"Fluttershy, please, please, please don't try and stick that thing where I think you are supposed to," Rainbow begged, falling on her hooves and almost groveling before the pegasus.
Fluttershy set the thing down beside her and dropped down to embrace her friend. "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to," she assured her and Rainbow's face relaxed as she let out a breath. "But..." That relaxed expression diminished just a little as she glanced back into Fluttershy's eyes. "You have to tell me what's wrong because I think you know."
Rainbow glanced away, ears folded as she gulped. Her eyes dug into the floor around their hooves as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Well, you see... A few months ago we were all at that party in Cloudsdale, remember?" she began and Fluttershy nodded, shuddering a little at the thought of so many ponies. "Well, I think I had one too many ciders and... Well, you know how many stallions were there."
Fluttershy's ears perked as she beamed. "Wait, so you're saying that you're..." she began and Rainbow nodded one.
"I think I'm knocked up... Please, don't tell anypony else yet," she asked as Fluttershy leaped up.
"Oh, my goodness, congratulations, Rainbow. This, oh this is so wonderful, you're going to be a mommy... My best friend's going to have a foal! Oh, Celestia, this is wonderful!" It was the most excited she'd been in a very long time and yet she couldn't help herself.
Rainbow Dash watched the butter yellow mare leap up and down with her hooves raised for a few moments' rubbing her belly before Fluttershy finally came back down and hugged her.
"But wait, if you were at that party then who's the father?" she asked and Rainbow went redder than a tomato.
"I don't remember, I've kept it under wraps since I found out. Told Spitfire and some of the other Wonderbolts I've been missing training because I was really sick," she admitted, rubbing her mane again.
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "But there were so many ponies at that party? By Celestia, my brother was there! Am I going to be an aunt?" The look of excitement on Fluttershy's face seemed ten times more genuine at that.
Rainbow shrugged. "I don't know, I was sure drunk enough. Then again, it could be Soarin's or Thunderlane's. By Celestia, I feel like such a tail chaser." Rainbow Dash pressed her face into her forehooves and sighed.
Fluttershy hugged her tighter. "No you're not, Rainbow Dash, you should be happy, this is a good thing," she reassured her and Rainbow sniffed.
"I know that Fluttershy, I am happy. But I still wanna know more about how it happened and what to do and... Well, I really don't know how to do it," Rainbow finally relented, looking at her smiling friend.
"Well, I promise I'll be here for you and I'm pretty sure the girls will always be there too. Oooo, they're going to be so happy for you too." Fluttershy squeezed Rainbow a little tighter, rubbing her belly.
Rainbow Dash had to the battle the urge to purr like a kitten at the sensation as she took a deep breath and smiled. "Thanks, Fluttershy, I'm pretty sure it's time to tell them all too." Rainbow looked down at her stomach and smiled. "You wanna come?"
"As long as you promise not to lie to anypony about it anymore," Fluttershy stated with a smirk.
"Well, so long as you promise to make sure that thing stays as far away from my butt as possible," Rainbow Dash retorted, jabbing a hoof at the thermometer.
Fluttershy giggled. "Don't worry, it's only an animal thermometer, it's not even for ponies," she admitted and Rainbow looked off in bewilderment. At least for a few seconds before her face contorted and her rear legs crossed.
"Oh, there's one other thing Fluttershy." Rainbow leaped up, hopping from side to side as best she could. "I really need to use your bathroom."
Fluttershy rolled her eyes as Rainbow disappeared into another room in as much a flash as she could manage. The yellow pegasus then trotted over to the thermometer and picked it up before moving back to the bag. There she was met by a white rabbit sitting on the chair arm and peering into the bag. Angel turned around, took one look at Fluttershy and then at the thermometer. His face paled, ears drooping.
"Don't worry Angel, it's all going away now," she told the rabbit, dropping the thing into the bag and clipping it closed.
The bunny relaxed, then looked at the bag before his eyes moved to where Rainbow Dash had vanished. He smirked as he finally glanced back at Fluttershy.
The pegasus smiled. "I know it may have been a little mean. She needed to admit it to herself before I said anything about how obvious it was though." She placed the bag back up in a cupboard and fell to the floor beside the rabbit, patting his head. "But the good old thermometer trick works every time," she said with a wink.
Author's Note
Once again just a little story idea I had after briefly seeing an image of a chubby Rainbow munching on some flowers. The thermometer thing was also from a funny image I saw with Fluttershy and Angel ages ago, so I just threw them both into a story for a bit of a laugh. Even if I know Rainbow's situation here is hard. Still, she awesome horse for a reason, she can handle anything.
Thanks for reading!
