Pick Your Perspective: Between a Cowgirl and a Diva

Your tired eyes continued to stare at the passing road, and you were thankful that the sun was rising anywhere but in front of your vision as you drove the Dazzlings’ tour bus. The girls were all asleep. As the hours passed, that started to change, and you heard them yawning, moving around, and making breakfast for themselves; that is, you heard pouring cereal and brewing coffee.

At least now you could turn up the radio without waking them. While going through the channels, you happened to hear some announcer talk about an upcoming concert, and turned up the volume further so they would certainly hear it. “And in just three days, at Rich Concert Hall, the Dazzlings will be playing their last show of the year, and potentially for quite a while. Adagio Dazzle looks about ready to pop, and the future of the band is uncertain after that.” He kept going on, but you eventually got tired of the recycled talking points and flipped to some music.

“Here’s your coffee, daddy.” In your right peripheral vision, you could see a rather large and tan mass jutting out, and above it a hand holding a coffee mug. As much as you’d love to get a good look at her, you keep your eyes on the road as you she hands you the mug, which you immediately set in a cupholder so you can feel her up a little. You snake your right hand underneath her bump until it’s resting on the far side, and you lean over to rest your cheek against the near side; you gently pat her a few times too. She’s incredibly warm, and you smile further when you feel her left hand rubbing against your hair. Her laughter literally reverberates through you. You’re so looking forward to being a father.

“Alright, now go sit down. It’s not safe to walk to the front while I’m driving. If someone hit us, you’d get hurt.” You couldn’t see her rolling her eyes at you, but she did as you told her.

The girls were, for the most part, well-behaved this morning. You tried to follow along with their conversations, but it was hard while both driving and not being particularly interested in their topics, but just their voices were pleasant to hear when they weren’t yelling at each other.

“Are you listening to me?” Adagio called out, you now noticed.

You thought about taking on a halfheartedly apologetic tone before deciding against it. “No, sorry. Could you repeat that?”

“I was asking if you thought Allegro would be a good name for our daughter.” She put a particularly pleasant emphasis on the name there.

You thought for a moment. “Sure, that’s a pretty name, but what if we have a son?”

“Oh, I don’t think we have to worry about that.” Adagio laughed, but answered immediately. “But his name would be Bellicoso.”

You thought for another moment. “Alright. Do I get any say in this?” Adagio’s one-word answer “no” told you otherwise, and you chuckled at that. “Alright, fair enough.”

There was a big sign coming up on the side of the road, and you read it out to them. “Ponyville: A warm, self-sufficient village.”

“Ponyville, Ponyville, ah, bad memories.” Adagio almost sounded sarcastic in her phrasing, but not quite, leading you to ask about it. “What happened in Ponyville?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Well, whatever; it was probably nothing important enough to pry further.

“Why’s it called Ponyville?” Sonata always had a way of moving past the eggshells without stepping on any.

“I guess the founders really liked horses, or thought they could use them for marketing purposes at the least.” Sonata accepted the answer you’d made up on the spot without question.

For the first time since you’d joined the conversation, Aria spoke. “How much longer till we get there?”

You thought about the travel plan you’d reviewed earlier in the day and loosely did the math. “It looks like it’ll be another few hours, maybe five, and add an hour if we stop somewhere.”

“Hey, we should stop in Ponyville and eat something! They had some nice restaurants!” Sonata spoke up.

“Yeah, and we can show off a little.” Aria sounded.

“I don’t mind, but I want to stop at a buffet.” Adagio added.

“Don’t you eat enough, you cow?” That tone had returned to Aria’s voice. Adagio’s response was a simple “Fuck you.” and nothing more, without even raising her voice.

“Can’t we eat when we get there? I’m sure we can find something nicer than a small-town buffet.”

“C’mon, we’re hungry.” You couldn’t tell if Adagio were talking about her sisters along with herself, but the amusing thought didn’t matter anyway.

“Alright, alright, a buffet sounds great to me.” You didn’t really care. Sonata agreed, and Aria didn’t say anything further.

You really hated driving on these smaller, tighter, and worst-of-all unfamiliar roads with the tour bus, but you managed. Thankfully, traffic was sparse. You had the girls keep an eye out for the buffet while you focussed on driving, and it was only a little nerve-wracking when Sonata shouted in excitement, then in pain. You heard Adagio slap her on the back of the head while chastising her; well, it was probably the back of her head. You hope she’s gentler with your children.

Fortunately, it was early enough in the day that the buffet’s parking lot was mostly empty, and you parked the tour bus across the several parking spaces necessary in the back. Unfortunately, now there was a real argument.

“You’re not going to put on more clothes than that?” Aria’s voice was filled with its usual bile.

“You’re just jealous of how sexy I am, and everyone knows it.” You got your first good look at Adagio since she’d woken up, and had to agree. She was wearing a maternity dress with an open front and translucent frills, and the tight-fitting pants she usually wore, although you knew she’d had to buy a much larger size to still wear anything like them; the outfit vaguely resembled her pre-pregnancy attire in some ways. You kind of wanted to agree with Aria that she could be more modest, but your words would change nothing except Adagio’s temper, and it was still early enough that few people were at this buffet; it’s not like she wore much more on stage anyway. Your thoughts were interrupted by Aria continuing. “It’s disgusting.”

“Stop your seething that I got a husband first. If you behave yourself, I might let you have a night with him.” Aria blushed at Adagio’s suggestion, and when her eyes met yours for a split second, she looked away with a scowl, you noticed before you looked away too. It was time for you to diffuse this estrogen bomb.

You stood up, stretched for a few moments, and then opened the doors of the bus before stepping outside and waiting. They got the message and followed. Adagio was first, and you gently took her hand to help her step outside; she called you a gentleman and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. Sonata was next and, while you didn’t need to help her at all, it always made her happy when you did and Adagio didn’t mind; you gently took her hand as she exited the bus, and she was a smiling, giggling mess as she stepped out. She perhaps would’ve given you a hug, as she often did, but Aria was right behind her, still scowling, leaving no time for that. You offered Aria no help, not unusual, and she didn’t look at you while she quickly got out. You locked the door and followed the three inside, effortlessly catching up to Adagio despite her headstart.

Standing at her left side, you put your right arm around her, and rested your palm against her belly. She moved her right hand to rest over it, interleaving her fingers with yours; when she turned and looked up to smile at you, just a little, you smiled too, but much more noticeably.

The restaurant was predictably rather empty at such an early time of day. People in this town probably cook at home most of the time anyway.

The four of you paid and chose a booth; you ordered coffee as your drink. You didn’t feel too hungry, but you should probably eat just to help stay awake. Sonata sat across from you, Aria next to her, and Adagio blocked you in by sitting next to you. After your drinks arrived, only you and Adagio were sitting, while the other two got their food. Adagio chose to rest her head on your shoulder, as much as her hair would allow, before speaking.

“We can ask Aria to drive the rest of the way, if you need some rest, honey.” Adagio didn’t even suggest Sonata, or herself, knowing you’d object.

You yawned, weakening your stance. “No, I can drive the rest of the way. I just need some food.” The shitty buffet coffee was better than nothing, and you’d need to make more once you got back in the tour bus; they always made it too weak. “I think I’m going to bed early tonight. I’ll probably feel too tired to do anything else.”

“Really? Too tired for any fun?” She rubbed your leg closest to her under the table, waking you up just a little more than the coffee had.

“Well, maybe not that,” you yawned, “but have fun sightseeing without me.” You thought about them sightseeing in a big city, alone, for a moment before the fear set in your heart and made you even more alert. “On second thought, I’ll be able to accompany you girls. We can do something fun together.”

“Awww, is daddy worried about mommy and her sisters?” Adagio’s voice was drowning in sarcasm and sweetness. “You don’t have to worry about us, daddy. After all, I conquered you with my siren song, didn’t I?”

Always the siren metaphors with these three.

You tried to help Adagio slide out of the booth, but she playfully slapped your hand and stood up by herself. She offered to get your plate, and you told her to get whatever looked good. She knew what you liked, anyway. You kept an eye on her while you drank your third cup of coffee, leaving Aria to eat quietly, and ignoring the noises Sonata was making while she ate whatever mess she’d made.

Adagio was walking alongside the food, and you looked a little further to see some other pregnant woman doing the same. You took another sip of coffee while watching them. Things were quiet enough, and they were close enough, for you to listen in on them once they noticed each other. Maybe they’d congratulate each other, or something sweet.

They glared at each other for a moment, of course they glared at each other, although you have no clue why, and then Adagio spoke. “Oh, hello, Apple Bloom was it? I just need that slice of cake and I’ll be out of your way.” There was a single slice of chocolate cake on a plate behind the protective glass, on the far side of the display. Adagio hadn’t mentioned knowing anyone here earlier.

“It’s “Applejack,” and I was aimin’ to get that last slice if ya don’t mind.” Oh, she didn’t know her so well, it seems.

“That’s funny, because I do mind.” Adagio was always blunt before she got angry. She was hot when she was angry, but still.

Neither of them moved. Instead, they continued to glare at each other. Applejack’s hands were supporting her from behind, much like Adagio’s, but then she stuck out a finger accusingly. “Now listen here, Little Miss Popstar, I was here first, and I don’t plan on doin’ anything you want, in fact. You’ve got a lot of nerve showing yer face in Ponyville after everything you and those sisters of yours tried to pull.” Hey, that other girl wasn’t so bad when she got angry, either.

You sighed, downed your coffee, and stood up from the booth. You need to break this up before one of them starts yelling. You noticed they were so close they were touching, or at least their bumps were. If you’d been less tired, you probably would’ve been able to enjoy that sight, but you’ve also lost the taste for women fighting these past few years.

“Sweetheart,” you yawned after approaching Adagio from behind, and both of them turned their heads to look at you, “let her have it.” You yawned again, which was enough time for Adagio to retort.

“But I want it.” Adagio huffed. “Why does this hick,” Adagio almost sounded like she was about to spit with that last word, “get to have it?”

“Adagio, I’ll ask them to make another cake.” You thought of something to add to further dissuade her. “That cake’s probably been sitting there for hours, anyway.” You wanted to add a “come on” or a “please” to the end of that, but another yawn escaped you instead.

Adagio sighed for a moment. “Alright, honey, I’ll go ask them, and you get something for yourself.” The blonde girl took the cake and left, never taking her eyes off the two of you, and sat somewhere you couldn’t see. Adagio went to the counter and you loaded a plate with some crappy food.

Another estrogen bomb properly diffused.