Sugar Belle winced at the flash outside the window, then started counting the way her grandmother had taught her back when she was just a filly. "One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand..." The dull rumble shook the aged wood of the farmhouse and she sighed with worry. The storm getting closer, building in strength.
Big Mac should have been home hours ago.
She stared hard out the window towards the dark path the led from Sweet Apple Acres to Ponyville proper, very nearly willing the form of the great red stallion to materialize from the growing gloom. They'd known about this storm for weeks, hadn't they? Hadn't they, with the rest of the farming community, voted to approve one last big storm before the end of growing season?
Maybe he just got held up running his errands, she told herself. If that was the case, then she knew he'd seek shelter. He knew it would be safer to ride out the storm in the home of a friend. She racked her brain for the names of ponies he might hide out with until the storm lessened to a drizzle. The Cakes? Burnt Oak? Perhaps even the Castle of Friendship itself? A stray doubtful thought flitted across her mind before she could stop it.
Maybe he's with Fluttershy.
She shook her head to chase away the irritating thought. She had no reason to be suspicious of Fluttershy. The wildlife warden had never been anything but decent to her. Kind from the moment they'd met. She'd heard the rumors, that was all. Rumors that the butter yellow pegasus had pined for years after the stallion she now called her husband. But, as far as she'd been able to glean, there'd been no actual action taken from either party of the crush. In all the interactions she'd had with Fluttershy since the wedding, mostly animal-based emergencies on the farm, she'd shown no signs of lingering jealousy or envy. No, she had nothing to fear from Fluttershy.
But what about the others?
Sugar Belle stomped her hoof irritably. She hated herself for feeling this way. She'd heard the stories of course. How could she not? Yes, Mac had been one of the most pursued stallions in Ponyville from the moment he came of age, but wasn't that to be expected? Setting aside the wide disparity of mare to stallion in the backwoods village, Mac was still what any pony with a functioning brain would call a catch. He was gentle, kind, strong... and heir to Equestria's greatest exporter of apples. The total package, all things considered. And yes, she'd heard how Mac had... perused the proverbial available stock. But she could hardly blame him for that. He was a stallion, and stallions had needs. Wasn't it better that he had sowed those oats long before she'd first set eyes on him and fallen so hard? The past was the past.
But then... there was one.
The mare with the flowers on her flank.
Goddesses, she even smelled like flowers anytime she came near. That one gave her a feeling. She couldn't quite put in into words. Apparently, everything between them had sprung up from some incident involving a 'love poison,' whatever that was. They'd been on-again, off-again for years after that, or so she'd heard. But she hadn't come to the wedding. She'd claimed illness and sent flowers the next day. Sugar Belle wasn't blind. She'd seen the pointed looks, the lingering touches. She had little doubt that that one would leap at the chance to snatch her husband away from her if the social contract of her position in Ponyville didn't expressly forbid such an action.
Yes, that one she did worry about more than she cared to.
Not that she didn't trust Mac, of course. But a mare with a desirable mate always had to be careful. Certain things had to be done to ensure a rival didn't try and get too cozy. That's why now things were going to be different. She'd been to the hospital. She'd seen the results. And that was why she was here, lost in her thoughts and staring out the window, so she could run out and tell him the good news.
Another flash, and she started counting on instinct. "One one thousand..."
BOOM!
The first drops of rain spattered against the glass, and she saw the distant trees beginning to sway in the growing wind. It was nearly on top of them. She swallowed hard, her heart racing. Where was he? Was he hurt? Did she have time to run out and find him? A particularly strong gust hit the house, and she shuddered. What she wouldn't give to have him here, beside her, holding her as the heavens poured down...
THERE! There he was. The great red stallion was ambling down the path at a slow and thoughtful pace, in no hurry despite the tempest that loomed overhead.
She raced to the front door. As she turned the handle, the wind caught it and blew it hard against the wall with a CRACK, but she paid it no mind. She bounded down the stairs and galloped towards him. She could hold it no longer. She had to tell him now! Then, laughing together, they could run inside before they were drenched to the bone. The wind buffeted her from all sides as she drew close. "Big Mac!" She cried, her smile threatening to cut her head in half.
But he didn't smile back. His eyes were clouded, she could see, but with what she did not know. An expression of sorrow covered his face like a veil. What was wrong? What did it matter? He'd be smiling soon enough.
She slid to a halt just ahead of him and opened her mouth to tell him the good news. "Big Mac, I'm preg..."
A stray gust of wind blew past him. It carried the good smell of his coat to her nostrils. Apples and hay and... something else. Something familiar.
Flowers.
The wind carried the smell of flowers to her, and she knew. The good news died in her throat, and she just stared at him. She knew the scent of those flowers…
…and her stallion reeked of them.
She looked into his eyes, confused and scared, and silently begged him to tell her it wasn't true.
He looked away, and it was all the answer she needed.
In the dark clouds above, the thunder rolled.
And then the rain began to fall.
