About a month into pregnancy...
Today was going to go down exactly like Rainbow Dash had planned. Ever since the day that she and her wife came to an agreement over who carries the foal, she had been doubting her own ability to be a good 'father figure' and was unsure if she would even like having a foal to take care of. A few days ago, she came up a plan that to her, was a harmless and sound test to clear up some of the doubts in her head.
It was very straight-forward. She had asked the Cakes' for the days when Pinkie Pie would be too busy taking care of the twins. Thursday was the closest time. The plan was to pretend that she had been wanting to hang out at some place with Pinkie Pie. When Rainbow Dash gets turned down like expected, she will instead offer to hang out at her place and help take care of the twins. Not only would she learn a few things about taking care of a foal, she would be able to find out if she really was meant to raise a foal with Fluttershy.
The idea of lying to one of her close friends about her intentions seemed unreasonable. However, Rainbow Dash didn't want Fluttershy to hear anything about her self doubts. Normally, she was able to talk to her understanding wife about almost anything at all. This was something that she couldn't bring up. The last thing that Fluttershy would want to hear was that she didn't like foals-at least that's what Rainbow Dash had thought.
Only one problem stood in the way of her practical idea: Fluttershy was starting to feel exhausted and there was no way in Equestria that she was leaving her alone. One the books had suggested that in order to deal to with fatigue, Fluttershy was to get as much rest as she could and take short walks on a daily basis. Rainbow Dash was going to have to stay home to tend to her wife.
Rainbow Dash let out a sigh. She put her down book and got out of a chair which she had moved upstairs into their bedroom. She had been reading another book from her favorite series out loud to Fluttershy. Now the timid pegasus was sleeping peacefully and it was time for Rainbow Dash to get both of their daily chores done.
She walked downstairs into their living room and picked up a piece of paper that was lying on their table. On it was a list of the animals with a brief instruction on what to feed them and how much. Reluctantly, Rainbow Dash grabbed bags of feed and slowly dragged them out of the cottage one-by-one. For the several animals that lounged around in the cottage, she poured out a generous amount of green pellets in the middle of the room.
As Rainbow Dash approached the animals and fed them, they showed some approval of their temporary care-giver but gave no affection at all. She made her way around the outside of the cottage, switching between feeds for the large variety of animals. After ten grueling minutes of checking the list and feeding each animal, she was certain that her job was done.
Wiping some sweat off her forehead, she said, "Phew! I'm glad that's all over!" out loud to herself and released a long sigh of relief.
"Rainbow Dash!" a familiar voice called out.
Off in the distance was a purple unicorn heading towards her. For a second, she thought that Twilight was coming to yell at her again for something that she did wrong. A few days ago, Twilight found out that Fluttershy never had scheduled an appointment with her doctor for a prenatal visit.
Yesterday was the day that Fluttershy finally saw her doctor. It wasn't a good time for Rainbow Dash because she had to wait with her wife in her least favorite room, the waiting room. When they did see the doctor, he went on and gave the same advice that the books offered. He concluded that Fluttershy was indeed a healthy pony and that there were no signs of any problems so far.
"Twilight? What do you want?" Rainbow Dash asked as the unicorn approached her.
"Oh, I just wanted to say hello. I saw you feeding the animals earlier and decided to not bother you while you were busy," Twilight said in a warm and friendly voice. "Is Fluttershy okay?" she asked with some concern in her voice.
Rainbow Dash took a quick glance behind herself. "She's just feeling really tired and sore right now. I tucked in her bed not so long ago," she replied.
Before Twilight could talk, the creaking sound of a door slowly opening distracted her. Both of them turned around to see that Fluttershy was in the doorway. To their surprise, she looked quite lively instead of exhausted. There was that small, warm smile on her face which told them that she was in a pretty good mood.
"Fluttershy, what are you doing here? I thought you were sleeping the whole time I was feeding the animals," Rainbow Dash said, raising a curious eyebrow.
The shy pegasus hurried to her wife and gave her a quick hug. "I'm sorry, Rainbow! I don't know what's going on with me. I woke up after you left and took a hot shower. It felt so soothing and then after a while, my muscles weren't aching or anything," she quickly said.
"It's cool, Flutters," Rainbow Dash simply said. An idea popped into her head. "Hey, I gotta run some uh.. errands to run. Maybe you can take a walk with Twilight while I'm gone," she suggested.
"Oh, I wouldn't mind going on a brisk walk," Twilight said.
Fluttershy awkwardly rubbed her foreleg. "Are you sure, Rainbow Dash? You usually want me to wait for you before I go on my walks," she said.
"Yeah, don't worry about it," Rainbow Dash replied.
"Okay then," Fluttershy said and turned to look at Twilight. "Let me get a little something to eat. Would you also like a snack," she offered.
"I suppose so," Twilight replied.
Rainbow Dash waited for them to disappear back into the cottage before taking off to the sky. Before she went to Sugarcube Corner, she needed to get the sky clear of clouds like usual. Unlike taking care of the animals, this was the one job which she enjoyed the most. Flying was her way of dealing with stress, anger, or unhappiness. It was also something that gave her much joy in her life.
She sped through the sky, bucking the clouds in a zigzag path. Her mane shook wildly in the wind as she turned or stopped. After there were no clouds left to remain, she decided to do a few flips in the air before softly landing down in front of Sugarcube Corner.
"I don't think I've ever liked foals to begin with. They've always seemed to be annoying and stuff. I've heard ponies complaining before how much of a hassle it is to care for a newborn foal," Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she knocked on the door.
The swung wide open to reveal an excited Pinkie Pie. "Rainbow Dash! Whatcha doing here?" she asked, bouncing up and down in the middle of the doorway.
"Um.. nothing," Rainbow Dash lied. "Wanna hang out?" she quickly added.
"Sure thing!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
Rainbow Dash shook her head in confusion and worry. "Wait.. no.. I thought that you were busy. I mean, I thought that you meant here. I had no idea about this. Y'know the twins and that. I.. we can hang out here, right?" she rapidly rambled.
Pinkie Pie stuck a hoof over Rainbow Dash's mouth. "What are you talking about you silly pegasus? I didn't understand anything you said!" she told her.
The confused pegasus let out a sigh. "Look, I really should just tell you the truth. I came here because.. I wanted to help you out with the twins today," she said.
"Help?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I don't see why you'd think that I need help. I've gotten quite used to this. I know the routine and I'm trained in a number of stuff. There's first aid, CPR, cleaning, snack-ology, lullabies, dancing.."
"Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash shouted, interrupting her.
Now Pinkie Pie was the one who was confused. "What?" she innocently asked.
"I needed help," Rainbow Dash admitted.
"What?" Pinkie Pie asked again. She sounded even more confused.
Rainbow Dash hesitated and looked around to see several ponies behind her, going on with their normal lives. "Can you just let me in so I can explain?" she asked.
Pinkie Pie moved out of the way. "Sure thing, Rainbow Dash," she replied.
As Rainbow Dash hurried inside and made herself at home, Pinkie Pie closed the door behind them. The twins were sitting right in the middle of the room, playing with a few stuffed animals. Keeping her distance, Rainbow Dash sat down and watched them play. Pinkie Pie sat down with her and gave a curious look.
"Do you think that I was meant to raise a filly with Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash suddenly asked.
Pinkie Pie put a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, I couldn't say it was like prophesied but I think that you and Fluttershy would do a great job raising one," she said in a much calmer tone.
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I don't know. I'm not exactly that fond of foals. They look cute but there's so many downsides to them," she explained.
"Hm.. well, there's always going to be a downside. I'm guessing that you don't really know any of the upsides, do you?" Pinkie Pie asked.
A few minutes of silence followed as Pinkie Pie gave Rainbow Dash time to try to think. They watched Pound Cake roll over on the floor and tackle his teddy bear. It seemed to amuse them a little. Pumpkin Cake on the other hoof, was just sitting there and staring at the two ponies who watched over.
"Not really," Rainbow Dash said, giving up.
Pinkie Pie jumped up as an idea came into her head. "Well, there's one way that you could find out!" she said and nudged Rainbow Dash to get up on her hooves.
"Help out?" Rainbow Dash guessed.
"Yes, indeedy!" Pinkie Pie replied.
Pinkie Pie brought out a table and laid out many supplies on it. She intended on not only convincing Rainbow Dash to gain faith in herself and Fluttershy, but to also teach her how to care for a foal. It was inevitable that they were going to have a foal, so she figured that it wouldn't hurt to learn some things ahead of time.
"So, what's the first thing that you want me to learn?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Feeding. Luckily for you, the twins are still taking milk by bottle," Pinkie Pie answered.
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Easy enough," she said.
"Okay, fill up these bottles," Pinkie Pie said, pointing to the empty bottles on the table.
Leisurely, Rainbow Dash opened a milk gallon and grabbed it in her mouth. She poured the milk until the bottles were almost full. Fortunately, she managed to not spill at all. Using her hooves instead of her mouth, she picked up the tops and placed them on.
"Done," she announced.
Pinkie Pie stopped her. "Wait, make sure the lids are on tight," she requested.
Sure enough, the lids felt loose and needed to be adjusted. Rainbow Dash made the necessary changes by pushing down with more force and twisting the top on. She checked again to make sure it was properly on. This time, they were secure enough to handle the punishment of a young foal.
"That looks good enough. Let me give them the bottles," Pinkie Pie said.
Rainbow Dash watched as Pinkie Pie approached the twins with the bottles. She gave each one a bottle and held them up in her hooves. They rested there with their milk bottles, making soft suckling noises. When it seemed like they were finished, Pinkie Pie lowered them down to the ground.
"Oh, by the way, you also have to remember to burp to your filly. Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake here are old enough and don't need it anymore," Pinkie Pie said.
"Burp? I have to make it burp?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yeah, you have to pat her on the back until she burps," Pinkie Pie replied.
Rainbow Dash laughed. "It feels so weird talking about this when the filly isn't even ready to be born yet," she said and laid down on the floor.
Something started to poke her right wing. She turned and saw that Pound Cake was examining her rather large wing compared to himself. She nervously shuddered at the contact and tried to move away. He persisted to touch her soft feathers with curiosity in his eyes.
"Heh, um.. what are you doing?" she tried to ask him.
Pinkie Pie cooed. "Aww.. I think he likes you Rainbow! It must be 'cause you're a pegasus. He's really interested in your wing," she said, giggling at her.
"Bleh!" Rainbow Dash said, sticking her tongue out. "I don't need somepony getting all mushy or touchy," she said and tried to gently nudge the foal away by opening her wing.
"What about when I saw you and Fluttershy snuggling by the pony-made pond?" Pinkie Pie innocently asked, batting her eyes.
"You were spying on us?" Rainbow Dash asked and sat up. "Do you ever keep your nose out of other ponies' business and leave them alone?"
"Hey, I did nothing wrong," Pinkie Pie defended herself. "Also, that was when I going for a quick jump in the water to cool off from the heat. I saw you guys there already and decided to let you have some peace," she explained.
Pound Cake tugged at Rainbow Dash's hoof, causing the pegasus to look down. She looked at the little colt in a funny way and tried to picture the filly from her dream in his place. If she had to choose what it looked like, it would have a light blue coat just like hers. Her mane would be pink and cut in a similar style. Also, she hoped that it would have beautiful teal eyes.
She snapped back to reality and gazed back at the little foal. "What do you want?" she softly asked.
The foal babbled something that sounded like 'blue' but probably had meant something else. It was most likely that he didn't understand what Rainbow Dash was asking. She tousled his mane for a second and gave a little smile. Pinkie Pie held Pumpkin Cake and sat next to her.
"See, what's so bad? Who wouldn't want to have their very own foal?" Pinkie Pie asked.
Rainbow Dash nodded her head. "I guess that they're not that bad. I can see why Fluttershy was so eager for me to have one," she said.
"What?" Pinkie Pie asked incredulously. "I didn't know that she wanted you to have it in the first place. How did she end up being the one to carry the filly?"
"It's 'cause we agreed that she would make a better birth mother. I'm too careless and I can't stand being grounded. She was healthy enough anyway to do it," Rainbow Dash explained.
Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes in a silly matter. "Oh.. that makes sense!" she said.
"Yeah, um.. what's the next thing that you wanted me to learn?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Well, I guess there wasn't a lot of things that I had to teach you. I kind of want to do something with you. Maybe we can play a board game or something. I'll show you some other things later," Pinkie Pie offered.
Rainbow Dash had no objection to this. "Sure," she replied.
They pulled out a few board game boxes and other some other stuff. Pinkie Pie laid them out on a clear table in one of the booths. Rainbow Dash tried to make up her mind and choose. It was between Sorry! and Battlecloud. Both sounded like quite a bit of fun to play. In the end, she choose Battlecloud to play. So, they engaged in a tense battle but made sure to keep a watchful eye out for the twins.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy was still walking with Twilight. They had a pleasant time so far, talking about different things like their favorite season, food they really enjoyed, some phobias that they had, and other things. The Fall weather usually felt nice on a day like this. Even though the Running of the Leaves was over a few days ago, it still was nice walking on the path.
"Don't you just love the pretty colors of the leaves?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah," Twilight agreed. "It looks very nice." she said, looking around.
Fluttershy stopped trotting. "I can't help but wonder what Rainbow Dash is doing. We had no errands that we planned together for today. She seemed so eager to leave without giving a clear answer," she complained.
Twilight slowed down a little too. "Well, she might have seemed to be acting a little differently but I'm sure that it's nothing to be worried about," she reassured her.
"Well.. I probably should tell you something," Fluttershy said, hesitating.
"What?" asked a concerned Twilight.
Fluttershy sat down in the middle of the path. "I think that she's been feeling.. well.. I think that she doesn't believe in me," she shamefully admitted.
Twilight hurried over and offered her a comforting hug. "Don't think like that! We both know that Rainbow Dash believes so much in you," she said, trying to convince the distraught pegasus otherwise.
"No, she doesn't!" Fluttershy cried, accepting the hug. "She's been treating me like fragile pottery all these weeks! I'm not weak and useless!" she said and sobbed.
"Fluttershy, why are you acting like this? I'm sure that whatever she's done for you is out of courtesy, affection, or care. Pregnancy isn't something to be taken so lightly. Pegasi are more vulnerable than any other pony when they're pregnant," Twilight tried to explain.
Suddenly, Fluttershy angrily pushed her away. The unsuspecting unicorn toppled over and gasped at this outburst. She looked up to see the pegasus curled up a little in the grass by the side. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. Twilight tried to draw reasons why she was acting so abnormal. Only one reason made sense. She was being 'hormonal' and wasn't quite used to the changes that were happening inside her.
Curled up in the grass and her mind filled with confusing feelings and emotions, Fluttershy sobbed as Twilight kept her distance and waited for her to calm down. After a minute, the unicorn finally approached her with caution to not only her safety but her own as well. She looked up at the pony who seemed to tower over her and cowered.
Twilight did her best to put on a warm smile. "Just listen to me, Fluttershy. You need to calm down. I know you're probably not used to all these changes that are going around in your body," she said, trying to diffuse the situation.
"I don't like this. Why is this happening?" Fluttershy quickly said back.
"Just try to relax. It's normal, Fluttershy," Twilight reassured her. "I think that's enough walking for today," she murmured to herself.
After another minute, Fluttershy was breathing in a steadier pace. She was at a loss of words but wanted to retreat back to her cottage for comfort and privacy with Rainbow Dash. Standing up with shaky hooves, she nodded at Twilight and the unicorn hurried over to help her get back home.
"I'm sorry, Twilight" she apologized, putting a hoof on her shoulder for support.
"Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Let's get you back home," Twilight said.
They trekked back to the cottage. Upon arriving, Fluttershy plopped herself on the couch to rest. Instead of deciding to look around for Rainbow Dash, Twilight decided to take it upon herself to give the shy pegasus some company. She couldn't leave her behind to go on some chase for her wife. Until Fluttershy falls asleep, she won't bother to check with her other friends about her wife's whereabouts.
Back at Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash was having a good time. She beat Pinkie Pie two times in a row without a single loss. Unlike her, the pink pony had showed no regret over losing and instead found it funny when she lost. Rainbow Dash for looking to spend a little more time there so she could pick up some more helpful advice other than just simply putting a milk bottle together and feeding. However, the Cake's had returned rather early.
"Well, this kinda stinks. I was hoping to learn more from you," Rainbow Dash said as she got up.
Pinkie Pie cheerfully smiled. "You really don't need to know this stuff until after she has the filly. Don't you know that? Besides, I think you're great with foals. You probably were just misinformed," she carefully explained.
"Yeah, I guess that you're right but uh.. thanks for the help, Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow Dash graciously thanked her before making her way out.
"No problem! Next time I'll be sure to beat you in Battlecloud for once!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she opened the door and disappeared into the bright sunlight.
Rainbow Dash felt slightly dissatisfied that she learned little about actually caring for a foal. Though, she was able to take comfort in knowing that disliking foals was no longer an issue. Nothing really had happened at Sugarcube Corner but that was probably the point. She had nothing against foals and that was all she needed to find out.
Upon returning home, she opened the door and stumbled upon Twilight and Fluttershy. Her wife seemed to be tired and sore again just like much earlier. Twilight was sitting down in a chair, chatting to her while she lay on the couch. Worry was the one feeling that was starting to fill her body.
"Is everything okay?" Rainbow Dash asked and quickly crouched over her wife.
Twilight stood up and approached her. "She's fine, Rainbow," she answered for her.
"I don't get it. Did something happen?" Rainbow Dash asked.
The unicorn pulled her away to whisper something in her ear. "She got pretty hormonal when we were talking and lost control of herself, sort of to speak. She got really upset over nothing," she whispered.
Rainbow Dash said nothing but nodded her head.
"Look, I'll leave you two alone then. We'll talk later under better conditions," Twilight said, excusing herself from their cottage to give them some much needed privacy.
Now alone with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy spoke up and said, "I'm sorry, Rainbow. I never meant to say those things when we were walking."
Without a clue what Fluttershy was talking about, Rainbow Dash brushed her wife's mane with hoof. "Just hang in there, pal. I'm here for you. I'll always be there for you," she told her.
Fluttershy said nothing and tried to fall asleep. One of the books had said that the first trimester was more difficult than the second to get through and it seemed to be already true. As Rainbow Dash tried to make her as comfortable as possible, she wondered if it was worth putting her own wife through the trouble instead of herself.