"Are you sure you're alright with this, Button? It's a big change for us."
"Of course. You're a great stallion, and you and mom love each other. I have no objection to this."
He put his hoof on the business pony's shoulder.
"Go get her!"
He stood aside, watching him talk to Button's mom.
There was a collective gasp in the crowd as Filthy Rich opened the ring box.
"Love Tap, would you marry me?"
Button mash smiled as his mom shouted "YES!" and hugged Rich in a tight embrace. He wiped a tear from his eye. He was glad to see her so happy.
It had been about a year and a half since he had been suicidal, and most days he was glad he had decided to live. There were, of course, bad days, but that was life, after all. And he had two ponies he could confide in, Sweetie Belle and princess Luna.
He remembered his last date with Sweetie Belle. They had gone to Canterlot that day to visit some colleges they were interested in, and were surprised to find that Rarity had not only booked them a room in a good hotel so that they didn't have to ride the train at night, but she also reserved them a table at one of the best restaurants in the city. After dinner, they came back to the hotel room and... Well, things got interesting. But that was nearly a month and a half ago. Time for another date.
He looked at the bracelet on his wrist. It was the same one princess Luna had given him in a dream, back when he was suicidal. He had taken to wearing it during the day, as a reminder of why he had chosen to live. It had become one of his most prized possessions.
He was startled out of his memories by a hoof on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, did I scare you?"
He turned around, and immediately bowed. It was princess Luna.
"No, princess, I was simply lost in thought."
She smiled. "Good thoughts, I hope."
"Of course. What brings you to my mother's birthday party."
"I was just in the area, and I thought I might look and say hi." she looked at the hugging couple and smiled. "Looks like I picked a good time."
"Yeah. The whole town's been expecting him to propose for a while now. Looks like he finally worked up the nerve."
"And how does this make you feel."
"Well, I may never call him dad, but I'm glad for mom, and he's become a pretty nice stallion."
Luna smiled, seeing sincerity in his face. "So, how's Sweetie?"
"She's alright. Or, at least, I think she is. She didn't show up, even though she was invited."
Luna thought for a second. "She probably just overslept. It's only 8:00, and it's a Saturday."
"Yeah, but she's very careful with her alarm clock. She's about as likely to oversleep as I am to win a weight lifting contest. Against Big Mac."
Her smile faded for a second, but then returned. "Well, I'm sure she has a good reason, whatever it is. I'll stop by Carousel Boutique and check up on her, if it'll make you feel any better."
"It would."
"Okay then. I'll stop by Carousel Boutique on my way home."
Meanwhile, at Carousel Boutique
Rarity watched her sister come down stairs, looking exhausted despite only having been up a couple of hours.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like I'm gonna puke. For the sixth time. This hour." She sat down at the kitchen table.
Rarity grimaced. She knew how that felt. She knew that from...
Wait! That couldn't be the case, could it. A frightening thought occurred to her.
She got up and went to the junk drawer in the kitchen. She rooted around for an object she hadn't used in years, prefering the old hoof-on-the-forehead trick. But right now, she needed to be absolutely sure. With a triumphant "Ah-ha!" she finally fished out a thermometer.
She floated it over to Sweetie Belle, who took it in her mouth. As she returned to the table, Rarity whispered to herself. "Please have a fever, please have a fever!"
The thermometer beeped. Rarity, trembling, took it in hoof. It read 98.6 degrees.
She looked at her sister, panic rising in her throat. "Sweetie, other than your stomach, is anything else hurting. Your head or throat, maybe?"
She raised an eyebrow. "No. Why?"
"When was your last estrus end?"
"A few weeks ago. Seriously Rarity, what's going on?"
Rarity fought back a wave of panic. "Sweetie Belle, I... there's... there's a box of pregnancy tests in the medicine cabinet upstairs. I... I want you to..."
A look of shock hit Sweetie's face. "You don't think..."
"I hope not, Sweetie."
Sweetie Belle ran upstairs.
"I hope you won't have to go through being a teen mom. Faust knows it was hard on me..."
Canterlot, 18 years earlier
Rarity stumbled down the alley in a drunken haze.
"Mom's gonna kill me if she finds out I went to that party!" she said to no pony in particular.
Her mom had forbidden her from going to that party, but she snuck out anyway. All her friends were there. And what was the worst that could happen? After all, she only drank a little. It's not like she was in any danger.
She stumbled over a full trash bag, but didn't seem to notice. "Oh, well. What she doesn't know won't hurt her!" She broke into giggles.
"That's true enough. But it might hurt you."
Rarity spun around, wobbling from side to side. "Who's there!?!"
A shadow moved forward. Faster than she could react in her drunken state, the shadow ran behind her, and pounced, tackling her, pinning her on her belly.
Even as drunk as she was, Rarity could figure out what was about to happen. She squirmed, trying in vain to get free.
"What's your rush, babe? We've got all night."
She heard a wicked laugh, as panic and fear overtook her...
