“Welcome to Carousel Boutique where every garment is chic, unique, and magnifique! May I help you find anything?”
Sugar Belle cocked her head and gave a polite smile. “Oh, I’m okay, I think. I was just looking for… Well, if it’s not any bother, would you happen to know if Rarity is here?”
The pony, who was quite pleasantly tall, shook her head briskly. “I’m afraid she’s not, sorry. I can leave a message for her if you’d like.”
“It’s alright, it wasn’t anything terribly important,” Sugar Belle admitted, waving a hoof in the air. “I can come back another time. Do you happen to know when she’ll be back? I wasn’t expecting her to be out.”
“Ah, it was a last-minute business call over to Manehattan. She should be back within a day or two, not to worry!” The mare, a unicorn with a mane that made Sugar Belle regret not doing more with her own, brought over a notepad with her magic. “What’s your name? I’ll make a note that you came to visit so Rarity can hunt you down when she gets back.”
Hunting her down did seem like a Rarity thing to do. Sugar Belle laughed a bit at the joke. “My name is Sugar Belle, I’m one of Rarity’s friends. She’s supposed to be helping me with my outfit for my foal shower.”
“That’s a lovely name, and congratulations, Sugar Belle!” the unicorn exclaimed as she jotted down the note. “My name is Sassy Saddles, and in light of this occasion, how about we find you something stylish and comfortable? Rarity has been experimenting more with maternal clothing. I assume she was inspired by you.”
Sassy Saddles. That was quite a nice name as well, and it definitely fit her, Sugar Belle thought. She blushed at the statement. “Oh, no, I’m okay. Besides, I can’t take credit for that. Pinkie Pie, I’m sure you know her, is a couple of months into her pregnancy. She’s already showing like there’s no tomorrow!”
“Pinkie Pie with a baby, huh?” Sassy snorted politely. “Well, she’ll definitely keep up with the foal. She’ll be a fantastic mother.”
“That, I’m sure of,” Sugar Belle agreed. She had seen Pinkie Pie in action with the Cake twins and they both turned out to be quite wonderful young ponies.
The two mares stood in silence for a moment, neither really knowing what to say. Sugar Belle wished the store had been a bit busier – if only because then Sassy would have something to do, but she supposed it was her own fault for coming in on a weekday before noon.
“So, if you don’t mind me asking, who are you expecting with? I assume it’s someone from Ponyville,” Sassy asked, breaking the silence. She put the clipboard away and slowly made her way to one of the seats in the store.
“I certainly don’t mind,” Sugar Belle responded with a giggle. She carefully got into the seat. “I probably would have ended up gossiping with Rarity anyway.”
“She is quite the gossip.”
“Anyway, I’m expecting with my husband, Big Macintosh,” Sugar explained. She smiled at the feeling of his name on her lips. “One of Rarity’s friend’s brother. Applejack, if you know her.”
Sassy Saddles lit up at the name. “Oh, Big Macintosh. He’s the red stallion, right?”
Sugar nodded.
“He’s very kind,” Sassy praised. “Doesn’t say much with words, but his actions speak louder. You are a very lucky mare, Sugar Belle.” She glanced around and leaned in with a small grin. “In many ways. He’s quite the catch, isn’t he?”
She could just imagine her Mac. Big, as the name entails, strong, rugged, stoic. His gentle eyes, his deep drawl… Sugar Belle sighed dreamily. “He very much is,” she mumbled with a goofy grin on her face. “Our little foal will be so lucky to have him as a dad. He’s been so excited, you know. He went and made a crib. From scratch!”
Sassy Saddles laughed and raised a hoof to her mouth. “Oh, well if he’s anything like his sisters, that doesn’t surprise me.”
“Yeah, but what did surprise me is the fact that he kept insisting it wasn’t perfect and making a new one.” Sugar Belle rolled her eyes in amusement at the memory. “Now we have seven cribs! One for each day of the week.”
“Oh my!”
“And Applejack was just about ready to yell his ear off,” Sugar recalled with a chuckle. “Said he was ‘worse than an antsy beaver working overtime.’ Or something like that.”
Sassy laughed. “Your foal is going to have the best ponies to take care of them.”
The Apples really were a fantastic family. Sugar smiled meekly and sighed in relief. “I’m just glad that the foal is going to have a whole bunch of loving ponies to look after them.” She glanced at her swollen belly. It wasn’t very noticeable, thanks to her added chub, but she definitely had a foal in there.
She could feel Sassy’s longing gaze. Sugar looked back at the unicorn and rotated in the seat a bit. “Would you like to see if the foal will kick?”
Sassy’s eyes widened as she glanced at Sugar’s belly, then back at her gaze. “Oh, I… I don’t know…”
“It’s okay if you don’t, but I thought you might like to,” Sugar told her. Sassy was clearly hesitant, but something was making her nervous. Sugar inched a little closer. Slowly, Sassy raised a hoof. Sugar smiled and nodded. “Yes, just gently on my belly there.”
The blue unicorn made gentle contact. Gingerly, she moved in closer. Her face lifted into a smile. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling for but this is amazing!”
“They haven’t even done anything yet,” Sugar joked. “Hold on, this usually gets them to move a bit in there.” She lit her horn and produced a beam of light. Angling it toward her belly, she felt a strange movement. “Oh! Did you feel that?”
“Wow, that was your foal?” Sassy asked, completely in awe.
“Yup, they’re still very small but they’re starting to move a bit,” Sugar explained. “The light usually gets them to move.”
“Amazing… Truly…” Sassy brought her hoof back and glanced down. “I’ve always wanted to have foals, but I never had the time for romance.”
“Why not?” Sugar asked, rubbing her own hoof slowly on her belly.
“I’m afraid that this line of work keeps us too busy to focus on that sort of thing,” she explained. “At least the way I do it.”
“Oh,” Sugar said softly. She felt for Sassy. “Well, I’m sure it’s not impossible! And it’s never too late. Plus, you can always adopt.”
“That’s true,” Sassy agreed softly. “But maybe in the future. I’m too committed to my work, and it would be unfair to take care of a foal only half as much as I need to.”
“I respect that,” Sugar agreed with a supportive nod. “I think it’s very thoughtful of you.”
Silence fell over them again, but it was more comforting than before. After a few minutes, Sassy stood and sighed. “Well, it was lovely to meet you, Sugar Belle. Thank you for the chat, and for… well, you know. I’ll be sure to let Rarity know you stopped by.”
Sugar Belle slowly stood and nodded. “It was my pleasure, Sassy. It’s nice to get out of the farm every once in a while. Rarity picked the right pony to take over here.”
Sassy blushed a bit. “I should get back to it. Rarity wanted me to meet with a client in twenty minutes.”
“Of course! And I should get back home before Big Mac decides to make seven matching high chairs,” Sugar Belle teased, giggling at her own joke.
“Have a fantastic day!”
After leaving the boutique, Sugar couldn’t help the smile on her face. It was nice to meet a fresh face, although entirely unexpected. Sugar trotted all the way home as fast as her own safety limits allowed. She hoped Sassy would find her own Big Macintosh someday. She really deserved it.
On her way in, she bumped into something. Something hard and… wooden… Sugar blinked back into reality, then shook her head into a double take.
One, two, three, four, five… six… seven…
She groaned and breathed in. “Big Macintosh!”
Author's Note
WOW!
Been a while, huh? I mean, like, wow. I’m so sorry guys I’ve just been SO defeated from college and in a general creative slump, but I’m really trying to pick up the pace here, so I decided to sign up for as many QnS contests as possible and I’m going to try to upload more frequently again. I hope y’all didn’t forget about me!
I know this story is a little bit more chill and a lot shorter than my usual fics, but I thought it’d be nice to get something small like this done. Any win is a win, right? It ain’t much and I ain’t expecting to win any prizes, but I wanted to put some effort in for sure.
Also, I’m sorry to do this after being gone for so long but I’m gonna plug my Ko-Fi here ‘cause I’ve been having a real hard time finding a job (I mean... not even Chuck E Cheese wanted me...) and I do need the money, so if you are a fan of my work, consider tipping me whatever you can if you so wish!
See y’all in the next story!!!
