It was yet again, another perfect day in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash woke up feeling well rested but had no desire at all to leave her bed so soon. She kept her eyes closed and continued to lay in bed. It was so comfortable and easy on her back that she never had any problems adjusting when she moved in with her wife. Right then, she felt out of place as if something were missing. She rolled over, trying to get over this strange feeling. Finally, she gave up and opened her eyes.
Immediately, she realized what was missing. It was really who was missing that had been making her feel so weird this morning. Fluttershy was no longer there in bed next to her. Rainbow Dash tried to think to back to the other day when they went to bed early. All the little details were missing and it was starting to confuse her. She only had a glass of wine but even that didn't make her tipsy.
Now that she was thinking about the wine, she remembered that Fluttershy was the one who didn't have any at all and instead had a cup of milk. It was odd. Nopony else seemed to notice or pointed it out. Suddenly, it hit her and she sprang out of bed. Today they were going to get a pregnancy tester from a nearby drugstore and see if Fluttershy were pregnant or not.
Unsure if Fluttershy already had left, Rainbow Dash walked into their bathroom to brush her teeth. Fluttershy was sitting on the floor, holding a pregnancy tester in her hooves. Her eyes were fixed on the answer that it gave her. Rainbow Dash stood, awaiting for a response from Fluttershy. She was anxious to hear whether or not "it" had worked out. They had gone through a lot of trouble just to make it possible and it had been their only shot. Twilight had so generously offered this chance and now it was time to hear if it was wasted or not.
"Are you okay, Flutters? What does it say?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Fluttershy nodded and managed to squeak out, "Yes."
"Yes?" Rainbow Dash asked. Her heart was starting to pound. "Yes, what? Did it work?" she pressed further from the timid pegasus.
"It did," Fluttershy replied.
Rainbow Dash let out an excited squeal and lifted her forelegs in the air. Fluttershy just meekly smiled at the sight of her wife getting so happy. She tried to push all her fears away but now she was starting to get a headache for reasons that she did know of. It was too late now to reconsider their options anyway. She was going to have this foal and they weren't going to back down anytime soon.
"This is so awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed and gave her a hug.
Fluttershy dropped the pregnancy tester on the ground and hugged back. "Yes, it's.. wonderful, Rainbow," she weakly said without much effort.
"Hey, are you sure you're okay?" Rainbow Dash asked with concern in her voice.
"Well.. not really.. my head is hurting now," Fluttershy complained.
Rainbow Dash pulled away. "Oh.. is there something that I can do then? I know we're out of medicine for that but maybe I can buy some more," she offered.
"Could you? I don't want to bother you too much though," Fluttershy replied.
"It's okay, I don't mind at all," Rainbow Dash said.
She got up and left to get her saddlebag and some bits for the medicine. As happy as Rainbow Dash was, now knowing that she was also the biological parent, Fluttershy was in distress. It was her job now to comfort her and tend to whatever needs that she had. She came back to the bathroom and helped Fluttershy get onto their couch to rest her head during her absence.
"Are you going to be fine alone?" Rainbow Dash inquired.
"Yes.. thank you for helping me up," Fluttershy said and tried to get comfortable.
Rainbow Dash left in a hurry. She flew relatively close to the ground, trying to find the drugstore which sold the over-the-counter medicine that her wife needed. Only Fluttershy had gone there and she probably had also gotten the pregnancy tester from there too. A familiar voice called her name and she stopped to turn around. It was none other than Twilight Sparkle and Zecora.
"Twilight? What do you want? I'm kind of in a hurry here?" Rainbow Dash stated.
The unicorn scratched her head. "What's wrong? Oh! Did it work then, by the way?" she asked.
"Yeah, Fluttershy is pregnant now but she's having this terrible headache. So, being the awesome wife here, I decided to go out and fetch some medicine for her," Rainbow Dash quickly explained.
"What a lovely thing to do! However, I can do a favor for you!" Zecora offered.
Rainbow Dash narrowed her brows. "What's that?" she asked.
"I've been gathering some ingredients with the help of Twilight. If we were thorough enough, there's no need for Fluttershy to try to be tough," Zecora explained and dug through her own saddlebag. She pulled out a yellow flower and some kind of green herb with a minty fragrance. "Have her eat this with food and she'll be back in a better mood."
"Thank you so much, Zecora!" Rainbow Dash said and scooped up the plants.
"It won't take much effect on an empty stomach, I..."
Rainbow looked at Zecora with a puzzled expression. "Yes?"
"Um, uhh... " Panic began to spread through her, desperately searching her mind for any word at all. This only seemed to earn more puzzled looks from Rainbow Dash and Twilight.
"Are you sure you're okay, Zecora? You're looking kinda pale," Rainbow Dash commented.
"...so have her eat it with food and it only take a sec. Yes, I did it!" With a solid thrust of her hoof in the air, Zecora walked off with a satisfied grin on her face. "That was close to chaos, for I could not find the proper... oh no."
Rainbow Dash and Twilight glanced at Zecora as she walked away. Shrugging off the strange outburst from the zebra, they turned and looked at each other.
"Well, I better go then," Rainbow Dash said and spread her wings.
"Tell Fluttershy that I said hello and congrats," Twilight requested.
Rainbow Dash nodded at Twilight before taking off. She was very grateful that Zecora had given her own herbs to help out her wife with the headache. Quickly, she deviated from her path and sought to clear all the clouds while she was outside. It only took half of a minute to get it done. The sky was now clear and she could spend the whole morning with Fluttershy.
When she got back, Fluttershy was sprawled on the couch with a hoof on her forehead. Rainbow Dash hurried into their kitchen to whip up something quick to go with the medicine stuff. She pulled out some bread, daisies, and lettuce leaves and quickly put together a sandwich. An idea came into her head and she put the flower and the herb into the sandwich as well. She came back to the side of her wife and offered the food.
"I.. I'm not hungry," Fluttershy whimpered. "Where's the medicine?" she asked.
"Look, it's right in here. Zecora gave me this stuff and said it would be help if you ate it with food. All you have to do is eat this sandwich," Rainbow Dash explained.
"Just forget it. I can't eat. I don't feel like it," Fluttershy complained.
Rainbow Dash groaned. "Just take a bite! You're not going to feel any better unless you eat this," she said, getting irritated.
"I feel really sick. I don't think that would be a good idea," Fluttershy whimpered. "I'll wait it out and let it pass over."
"Not even a nibble?" Rainbow Dash pleaded.
Fluttershy sighed loudly and looked into Rainbow Dash's magenta eyes. She could see the worry and concern in her eyes. The headache was getting even worse. She nodded her head and allowed Rainbow Dash to bring the sandwich close to her mouth. Tentatively, she took one of the smallest nibbles out of it.
"Just a little more," Rainbow Dash encouraged her.
Trying to fight the overwhelming headache and sickness, she quickly opened her jaws wide and took a large bite out of the sandwich. Rainbow Dash patted her on the shoulder and waited for her to swallow. It was tough for Fluttershy to do that because the sickness made her try to resist. She swallowed it down and tried to take another bite. This time it was a little easier and didn't require so much willpower.
"Do you feel it working yet?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Fluttershy leaned up from laying on the couch and sat up on it. "A little," she said and took the sandwich from Rainbow Dash's hooves.
Rainbow Dash sat up on the crouch next to her. "Take your time. I guess I shouldn't rush you or you might throw up," she said, moving her foreleg out to rest on her wife's shoulder.
"It's okay. I don't really feel sick but the headache is still there," Fluttershy said and took another bite.
After a minute, she had finished her sandwich but still had a little headache. Rainbow Dash let Fluttershy rest her head and forelegs on her lap as she gently stroked her pink mane. Neither of them had another word to say but this was the perfect time for a moment of peace. Rainbow Dash shifted to get herself into a more comfortable position and rested her head against the back of the couch. Even though she had ample sleep last night, Rainbow Dash started to doze off with Fluttershy and closed her eyes.
A knocking at the door almost surprised Rainbow Dash enough to disturb Fluttershy in her peaceful sleep. She looked around in confusion and then back down at her beloved. Unwilling to move the snoozing pegasus off of her, Rainbow Dash ignored it and closed her eyes to go back to sleep. The knocking continued, forcing her to take action. Carefully, she moved Fluttershy's head off her lap and gingerly set it down on the couch.
Rainbow Dash hurried to the door, annoyed that somepony was ruining their pleasant nap. "What do you want?" she hissed as she opened the door slightly.
"Hi there," Pinkie Pie said with Applejack standing nearby. "Are you busy?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah I am," Rainbow Dash said flatly.
Applejack leaned over to talk through the small space. "Well, we kinda heard from Twilight that Fluttershy wasn't feeling herself and.. heh.. uh-" she tried to say.
Pinkie Pie cut her off. "It's alright. You can tell her the truth," she said.
"Ah was going to say.. me and Pinkie here.. well.. we kinda had been organizing this congratulations party for ya'll and it was going to be a surprise but Twilight said today we shouldn't cause she wasn't doing so well," Applejack explained, scratching the back of her neck.
"So, we came to see if she was feeling well enough now for the party!" Pinkie Pie said, spreading her forelegs out in the air.
"Well, I'm sorry but she's not and I'm not in the mood really to celebrate," Rainbow Dash stated.
"Shoot! We'll have to reschedule.. but then it won't be a surprise! Oh well. There's always next week, I guess," Pinkie Pie said and shrugged.
An idea came over Rainbow Dash's head as she tried to get them to leave. "Say, instead of it being like a surprise party, why not have a "dinner" party?" she suggested. "You said the other day that you wanted to do something like that with all of us. Would that make up for party pooping?"
"Oh my gosh! What a great idea! You don't have to make up for that but okay! I would love to set that up! AJ, do you have the food covered? Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up and down.
Applejack sighed. "Ah suppose ah could prepare a feast.. again," she muttered.
"Great! Hey, Rainbow, can I come in and say hello to Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie asked.
"No! Look, we were taking a nap together and I would like to get back to it-in peace, not with somepony to bother us. Okay? Also, FYI: she's pregnant now. So, leave her alone for now," Rainbow Dash replied.
"Oh.. I'm sorry, Rainbow. We'll leave you alone then," Pinkie Pie whispered.
Rainbow Dash sighed. "I don't mean to be rude but now just isn't the time," she explained.
"It's okay, sugarcube. We understand. Don't worry about this. You can go back to your little nap. We're going now," Applejack said and slowly closed the door for Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy had woken up and was stretching her hooves out on the couch. The headache was mostly gone and the sickness was no longer there but in their place was drowsiness now. She let out a quiet yawn and curled up. Rainbow Dash eagerly joined her back on the couch. She wasn't hungry and could wait to eat later. She curled up too with Fluttershy and rested her head on her smooth back.
This was only the beginning for both of them. Ahead of them were numerous bumps in the road. Many challenges awaited to test the couple's strength, hearts, and courage. Fluttershy knew things will get uneasy eventually and she would have to face one of her greatest fears. Rainbow Dash was certain that she would have to overcome her own doubts about herself down the path too. For now, they simply rested and prepared themselves for the challenges ahead.