The tranquillity that hugged the peaceful countryside like a comfy duvet was ripped rudely away, as an orange pegasus flashed over the hedge at the end of a field and dipped down again until she was just skimming the tips of the oats ripening in the field. She giggled as she looked behind her and saw the cyan blue of her pursuer, still not getting any closer to catching her.
“Come on, try and keep up!” she called over her shoulder, “Old timer!”
“OK Squirt” replied the pegasus with the rainbow mane, “I’m heading back to the Academy now. I’ll let you have this one, but don’t think I’ll be so easy on you next time!”
With that, the cyan mare abandoned the chase and soared up into the sky, bleeding off speed and turning slightly to align herself with the mountain plateau on top of which stood the Wonderbolt Academy. Having seen Rainbow Dash end her pursuit, the orange pegasus gave out a loud whoop and pirouetted up into the air cheering enthusiastically in an elaborate victory display.
“OK kid” muttered Rainbow under her breath, “Don’t milk it.”
Still giggling at her hard won success, Scootaloo slowed down to a more sedate pace and drew up close to her mentor, respectfully taking the place of her wingpony. They flew up to the plateau and got into their circuit, landing side by side on the runway.
“Some race, huh?” bubbled Scootaloo, “Still can’t believe I left you behind!”
“Wait till you’ve got to fly with one of these inside you” protested Rainbow, pointing down to the pronounced bump she was carrying in her belly.
“Got any names yet?” she asked as they began their walk back towards the Wonderbolts HQ.
“No - not yet. Still don’t know if it’s a colt or a filly.”
“You could name her after me.”
“What? Unbearable show-off?” replied Rainbow with a grin.
“Hey, I learned from the best.”
“You’re not too big for one of these” said Rainbow playfully, gripping her protégée's neck and giving her a playful noogie.
“Hey, watch the mane!”
“What is it with kids today?” asked Rainbow, “I never bothered with my mane and nopony ever got on at me about it …”
“What about Rarity?” interjected Scootaloo.
“Yeah, well, nopony other than Rarity ever got on at me and I’m on literally all the Wonderbolts posters, so I guess that proves my point.”
A light blue pegasus stallion with a lightning bolt cutie mark and dark indigo mane strode out to meet the two returned fliers, looking troubled.
“Hey, you shouldn’t be doing all this exercise in your condition” he chastised. His tone was light hearted, but the sincerity underpinning it was born of genuine concern, “How long you got now, two weeks?”
“A bit less” replied Rainbow, casually, “But somepony’s got to keep squirt here in check.”
"You should really start slowing down, you know."
"Nah, you had. Soon as it's born I'm back to flying" countered Rainbow casually, "You'd better get ready for being a stay-at-home Dad; I haven't got a maternal bone in my body."
Just then, she stopped in her tracks and doubled over.
“Rainbow!” called Soarin, rushing to hold her in case she fell.
“I … I think it’s coming …” she gasped.
“OK, everything will be fine” he said, totally unprepared and not having a clue what to do for her.
“Scoots, go get a medic!” he instructed.
“Where from?” she asked, her eyes growing wide.
“Canterlot, of course!” he exclaimed.
“I don’t know where to find a doctor there!” Scootaloo retorted, almost screaming.
“In the castle!” he ordered, “There’s bound to be a whole lot of medics there to look after the Princesses and all the staff - now go!”
The orange pegasus sprang into the air with only one aim in her mind and dived over the edge of the steep plateau scanning for the distinctive outline of the castle, building speed. She felt guilty for having pushed Rainbow too hard earlier and for cheeking her as well; she shouldn’t have done it. Right now, she knew the only way she could repay her mentor for teaching her to fly and for coaching her to get into the Wonderbolts was to get medical help. She did not want her legacy to be a lifetime of remorse.
She pushed harder and with more urgency than she had ever known in her life, and started to feel a strange resistance in the air as it struggled to part around her. She stretched out a forehoof and gritted her teeth, her lips being pulled back by the force of the airspeed, pushing harder, ever harder. Suddenly there was a flash and she was in clear air once more, but this time moving very fast as Canterlot grew in front of her so much more quickly than she had ever experienced before. Once she had got over the shock, she suddenly realised what had happened and let out a loud cheer.
Down in the city, ponies looked up to see what had caused the flash and saw a rainbow trail across the sky. Up at the Academy, high on the plateau, ponies gasped; only one flier had ever managed that feat before, and she was currently laying on the ground letting everypony know that she wanted the pain inside her to stop.
Just for a moment, Rainbow caught a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of her eye. It was the first time she had ever seen a sonic rainboom and not been at the front of it. She allowed a weak smile to creep over her muzzle. The late developing pegasus she had nurtured from an insecure filly had finally showed everypony her mettle; the critics who had teased her, the friends who had never lost faith, and most especially her adopted sister, who loved her more than any of them.
“Nice moves, kid” she whispered to herself in between contractions.
“Hey Rainbow” said Flitter who was keeping a close eye on events as the foal started to make its first appearance, “The forehooves are out.”
“You’re doing really well” commented Cloud Chaser reassuringly.
“This isn’t a freak show y’know!” shouted Rainbow, “Can’t I get a bit of privacy?”
“Well, firstly Flitter has helped with delivering foals before, and secondly, you did choose a rather public place.”
Rainbow growled, but even in her condition could tell that somepony with even a little medical knowledge would be a whole lot better than nothing. Besides, there wasn’t a great deal she could do about it anyway, so stopped complaining and let out a sharp cry as she felt another contraction and the foal’s forelegs edged a little further out.
Scootaloo had never had to slow down from such a speed before and found herself hurtling towards the castle uncomfortably fast. She had aimed for a landing point just in front of the guards at the main gate, but now she was beginning to appreciate that it took a little longer to slow down when you were going that fast. She may not have been the best at math, but worked out pretty quickly that at her current rate of slowing, she would be twenty to thirty feet the other side of a solid stone wall before she stopped, so instead wisely decided to abort the landing and pulled up fast, skimming over the wide-eyed guards and heading up the side of the wall.
The guards craned their heads up to see the orange pegasus careen vertically up the castle wall and loop back round before having lost enough speed to land in front of them.
“Lucky you didn’t hit that wall” commented one guard, “That’s solid stone ten foot thick, that is.”
“Heh heh!” chuckled Scootaloo more out of nerves than bravado, but sounding uncannily like Rainbow Dash, “Thought I’d put on a little display for you guys.”
The two guards nodded pensively before one said, “Yes Miss, but I’d be careful; some guards not as alert as us could have raised a weapon and hurt you.”
“OK, I’ll bear that in mind” acknowledged Scootaloo, starting to shake from the delayed shock, “Look I’ve got to get medical help; Rainbow Dash is having a foal and needs a doctor.”
“Of course, Miss” the guard replied, “Third turning on the right, second on the left.”
“Says 'Court Physician' on the door” his colleague chipped in.
“Thanks, you guys” said Scootaloo gratefully before springing into the air and flying into the castle.
“No flying in the castle, Miss!” the other guard called after her.
“I don’t think she heard” remarked his colleague, casually returning to his duties.
Ponies with startled expressions pressed themselves against the corridor walls as a very determined orange pegasus hurtled past them. She pivoted on her wingtip, taking blind turns at intersections in an unshakeable belief that nopony would dare be in her way, before backwinging furiously when she reached the door that had a big red cross on it.
She didn’t so much open the door as burst through, only remembering to knock once she had got in and stood with an embarrassed grin on her muzzle, tapping gently on the open door as a dozen pairs of startled eyes alighted on her at once.
“Young lady!” demanded the impatient looking unicorn physician clearly in the middle of a meeting, “What is the meaning of …”
“It’s Rainbow Dash!” interrupted Scootaloo, the words tumbling out between breaths, “She’s having a foal! Up at the Wonderbolt Academy! Now!”
“Very well” he replied, “In that case, Fleetwing you are excused.”
A white stallion pegasus with a blue and green mane stood and bowed to the Court Physician before turning towards Scootaloo and picking up a black bag.
“And next time Miss, knock first” instructed the Court physician, peering disapprovingly over his glasses, “There may have been a patient in here and it could have been royalty, do I make myself clear? Now be on your way.”
The two pegasi trotted down the corridor, then Fleetwing looked at his clearly frustrated young companion and turned his trot into a take off run, Scootaloo following happily along behind. They burst out through the large front doorway and watched as the two shocked guards drew aside, Fleetwing offering some sort of apology that was ultimately lost to the wind.
“No flying in the castle!” called one of the guards after them.
“I don’t think they heard” remarked his colleague again, casually returning to his duties.
“Hey thanks for getting me out of that lecture” said Fleetwing, “It was dull, dull, dull. All about some discredited historical theories, yugghh! It’s great to be on my way to some real emergency where I can actually help somepony in need instead of just listening to that old stuff!”
“Hey, glad you could make it!” replied Scootaloo cheerfully, already warming to this flying doctor, who seemed to be so much like her when it came to learning about theory.
“Is it really the Rainbow Dash?” he asked, flying as fast as he could.
“Yep, she’s like a big sister to me …”
“I know” he bubbled excitedly, “I’m such a big fan! I’ve read up on all of you! I always wanted to be a Wonderbolt; hey, what colt or filly doesn’t, right? But I didn’t make the cut, so I took up medicine instead.”
Scootaloo was positively bursting with pride at not only finding a pegasus doctor, but one who knew all about them, including her.
“Sorry you didn’t get in, but at least you’ll get to meet all the guys today, ‘cos I’m sure none of them is going to want to miss this!”
“Hey, you don’t think that someday you might do a sonic rainboom?” he asked.
“Um, maybe I did one already …?”
“NO WAY!”
“WAY …”
The journey to the Academy flew by as they grew comfortable in each other’s company, and they soon found themselves approaching the runway, with a crowd of ponies just off to one side.
“Well, no prizes for guessing where the patient is” said Fleetwing descending carefully to the centre of the crowd, Scootaloo by his side.
“Patients, don’t you mean?” she chipped in, “There’s going to be two of them; maybe three!”
“If all goes well” he replied, a more serious look on his face, surveying how far the foal had already emerged.
“Hi, Doctor!” said Soarin, standing to greet the two pegasi, “Thanks so much for coming. We’ve done what we can, what with Flitter having some experience and all, but it sure is great to have you here.”
“Hello Doctor” said Flitter, tearing herself away from the scene of the delivery, “It’s all gone well so far …”
Just then, Rainbow screamed and shouted some words that were only usually reserved for when she was giving somepony a really serious telling off. Flitter returned her attention to the foal and commented, “The head’s just coming out, Doctor.”
“So I see” he noted, going round to check on the birth, then to the assembled crowd in general, “Get towels, warm water, pillows and a sponge for the patient’s muzzle, now go!”
Having satisfied himself that the foal was healthy, he thanked Flitter and turned to have a word with the cyan mare herself.
“Hello Rainbow Dash, I’m Doctor Fleetwing. Everything’s going quite normally. Tell me, how do you feel?”
She turned her sweat covered face towards him and growled, “When I get hold of that Soarin, I’m going to show him what real pain feels like!”
“I see. So he’s the father then? He is clearly very concerned about you.”
Rainbow grunted and screamed again as more tears added to the streaks already etched on her muzzle.
“Get it out!” she cried between gasps.
Fleetwing waited until the contraction had passed before responding, ”I’m afraid you’ve still got more to go yet, but don’t worry, it’s all normal.”
“Yeah, well it’s not normal for me!” she shouted.
Fleetwing stood and addressed the crowd, “Thank you all for your concern, but the patient would like some privacy. Friends and family can stay, but I would request everypony else give her some space.”
Nopony moved. They were all her friends, after all.
“OK” he asserted, “Midwife Flitter, Soarin and Scootaloo stay. The rest of you, please respect Ms Dash and give her some space. You will all be invited back when she is ready.”
A reluctant, “Awwww” rose from the Wonderbolt fliers, ground teams, administrators, and all the ponies at the Academy, all of whom loved and respected Rainbow in their own way.
“Come on” said Thunderlane, taking control, “You heard the doctor, all of you back to the HQ at the double!”
Begrudgingly, the crowd began to disperse and Thunderlane called out a cheery “Good luck!” before leading the ranks of spectators away. A cluster of ponies met them going the other way with the items that Fleetwing had requested and set about making Rainbow as comfortable as they could as her foal inched out further, its true colours still masked by the opaque membrane that surrounded it.
Just then, Rainbow felt another contraction and she let out a loud scream that tailed off into uncontrollable sobs as the head emerged and she fought for her breath.
“I’m going to kill you, Soarin!” she shouted as soon as her lungs would let her, before breaking down in tears. Although the foal’s head had hurt her more than any flying injury she had ever had, she could tell that something even bigger was waiting to come out and felt very frightened.
“Well done Rainbow” said Fleetwing supportively, “You’re doing a great job. Now, prepare yourself, because the shoulders are going to come through next and that might hurt a bit …”
“A bit? Do you think the rest of this has been easy?” she retorted sharply.
“… But don’t worry, I’ll be watching closely to make sure everything’s fine, OK?” he reassured, completely unfazed by her outburst.
Rainbow was going to shout something back in response, but the words were lost as another contraction took over.
“You’ll feel a few more of those before the shoulders are ready” he reassured, but from where she was, it felt like the foal had grabbed hold of at least two bowling balls from somewhere and wanted to drag them out with her.
“Doc …” she whispered softly through her tears, “Doc, I’m scared.”
Soarin moved the sweat soaked pillow under her head and cradled her gently.
“Hey, thanks” she said, looking up at him, “You know I don’t really want to kill you; not yet anyways …”
He stroked her trademark multicoloured mane lovingly away from her face, “I love you, Rainbow Dash.”
She writhed uncomfortably as another contraction pushed the foal one step nearer.
“If you did, you wouldn’t have done this to me!” she cried, “The shoulders are going to come this time – I know it! Hold me, just hold me!”
She was right. Fleetwing and Flitter were watching closely and knew as well. Scootaloo felt the tension and looked away, tears in her eyes, in case she saw something unpleasant that would live with her.
Rainbow let rip a scream that sounded like the air itself was being split wide open and had no air left in her lungs to continue for the length of the contraction, only just able to croak out little sobs. Scootaloo pressed her forehooves together as hard as she could and wept at the pitiful sound being made by her adopted big sister, while Soarin kept cradling her and looking into her eyes admiringly.
Rainbow was barely able to breathe or even think, as the foal’s body gradually continued its slow passage to the waiting world, inch by painful inch until its hips were ready to be pushed through. By now, Rainbow no longer felt fear; in fact she barely registered feeling anything except for the never ending pain, her only connection with the passage of time being the arrival of her regular contractions.
Soarin was doing his best to comfort her and sponge down her face, but felt more powerless than he had ever done in his life. Scootaloo still couldn’t look and kept her tear filled eyes screwed tightly shut as she prayed to Celestia and Luna for a safe delivery. Meanwhile, Fleetwing and Flitter kept a close eye on progress and when they weren’t checking for complications, found themselves getting on very well together.
Rainbow was physically and emotionally exhausted as she finally ejected the new life in one last push onto the grass beside the runway and started sobbing uncontrollably.
Fleetwing and Flitter got to work taking care of the final necessary details and shortly presented the parents with the deepest bond of their love, a light blue colt, whose mane was indigo on one side, transcending into rainbow colours on the other.
Rainbow opened her eyes to catch her first glimpse of their foal and held him to her, ever so gently, the pain of his birth now all but forgotten.
“Scootaloo” said Fleetwing, “You can get the others now; they’ve waited long enough to come and meet the newest Wonderbolt.”
“How do you know he’s going to be a Wonderbolt?” she gasped, surprised.
“Well, with two expert fliers as parents, what do you think?”
Scootaloo gave a whoop of delight as she flew off to where the others were watching from the windows of the HQ building. They could tell as soon as they saw her coming that it was good news, and started spilling out of the doors and windows as they raced over to congratulate the parents and get their first sight of the foal.
In no time at all, a happy throng of ponies was jostling each other to get a view of the new arrival. From somewhere, bottles of champagne were being distributed and a party atmosphere had descended. Soarin propped up Rainbow so she could sit up and cradle their newborn, looking up occasionally to the happy faces in the crowd, and then lovingly back down at him.
Their work done, a young doctor and a display flier with a lilac bow in her mane took a moment to themselves and exchanged addresses with a promise to meet up again.
“Can I hold our colt now, please?” asked Soarin.
“What? After what you’ve put me through?” said Rainbow with a wry smile, snuggling her precious bundle fondly, “I've had to work for this moment. Besides, I'm a responsible Mom now; I'm not going to give him out to just anypony I meet!”
"Not maternal, huh?" teased Soarin, giving her a loving hug, "I think our foal is in the best hooves."
