Chapter 3
As much as Rainbow Dash wanted to perform in the air show, something inside her was telling her different----and kicking.
Rainbow Dash was the lead solo of the Wonderbolts, which meant she didn’t fly with the four team pegasi. She flew somewhat alone, and her job was to impress the crowd while the team regrouped into formation for the next stunt. She preferred to have all eyes on her (and to a lesser degree her friend Spitfire, who was the opposing solo) anyway.
She would normally be practicing the most out of the team, but this season she was reserved to the bleachers and was the emergency replacement for the understudy of her current substitute. Rainbow Dash felt like Lyra; she wanted to be supported by the air under her wings, not some “crummy bench”. While Rainbow Dash groaned, Spitfire landed beside her.
“What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash chuckled, “Is practice over already?”
“No, my partner sprained his wing, so he’s out today,” Spitfire said, “Now I’ve got the day off!”
Rainbow Dash laughed, “He can’t practice because he sprained that? I’ve sprained my neck and I still did my Fantastic Filly Trot.” As Rainbow Dash finished, something started to protrude from her abdomen. If it wasn’t flat, it probably would have gone right through her.
“He really wants to get out of there, doesn’t he?” Spitfire said, acknowledging the distension. Rainbow Dash laughed, looking down at her stomach.
“He? Ha!” Rainbow Dash said, “I think I would go crazy if it was a colt.” She wanted a daughter that was her dead ringer, one that, as she would often put it, was “as awesome as her”.
Her husband, Hailstone, wanted a nice strong hoofball star. Either way, Rainbow and Hailstone wanted the absolute best prenatal care for their daughter, even if it meant Rainbow putting her life on hold for a while. Even so, Rainbow Dash needed a helping hoof to perform her menial tasks while she exercised basic survival for her baby’s own.
Rainbow Dash had chosen Fluttershy as her midwife, and her job was to do just that. She was always glad to help her friend, who she found was much like taking care of any other animal. She needed help with grooming, gathering food, and even entertainment (it was too much to go to Twilight’s hut to get the latest Daring Do). She was almost always there.
This time, however; Fluttershy was taking Angel shopping for a collar. Rainbow was happy for her. She felt that she was stealing her friend’s time and effort away from her, and Fluttershy deserved a vacation.
“It’s a vicious cycle," Rainbow thought, “I take care of the baby, she takes care of me, which lets me take care of the baby, and so on. And when she’s not watching one animal, she’s watching the other. She really needs a vacation.”
Lost in thought, Rainbow Dash didn’t notice Spitfire was talking to her until an orange hoof rapped her on the shoulder.
“Hello, hello, Earth to Rainbow Dash, do you copy?” Spitfire laughed.
“Yeah, yeah,” Rainbow said, “I was just thinking of the baby is all.”
“Speaking of which,” Spitfire started, “have you got a name for him yet?”
“Dunno,” Rainbow Dash said, “although Hailstone wants him to be named ‘Buffy Puffy’” Spitfire nearly lost it, her voice cracking with every laugh.
“Really?” Spitfire said incredulously, “what kind of name is that?”
“I know, not cool at all,” Rainbow Dash said, “that sounds like something Fluttershy would name a sheep.”
Rainbow Dash laughed half-heartedly; now wasn’t the best time to mock Fluttershy. When this thought popped into her head, another object popped into existence.
A scroll had materialized out of the air and landed in her lap. She looked at the document’s seal. It was the Royal Equestrian Seal, altered slightly, an emblazoned star surrounded by smaller points of light under the Celestial sun. Rainbow knew that seal anywhere.
“It’s from Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said, “why does she always have to send me letters? Is it so difficult to talk to me in person?”
“Oh give her a break,” Spitfire said, waving off her friend’s comment, “you of all people should know she’s busy.”
“Oh please, I’m just as busy as she is, did you see our flight schedule this season?”
“First off, you can’t even fly,” Spitfire said, causing Rainbow Dash to pout, “and second, you aren’t the princesses’ personal advisor.”
“Well at least I work out.” Rainbow Dash was grasping at hay straws at this point. Spitfire rolled her eyes.
Spitfire picked up the scroll with her mouth and pulled on the ribbon with her teeth, causing the roll of paper to unfurl. Spitfire scrutinized the script, lifting an eyebrow as she did so.
“It’s blank,” Spitfire said, “there’s nothing here!”
“Here, let me see.” Rainbow Dash said. As she reached for the scroll, it began to move. It floated deliberately over to Rainbow Dash’s face, hovering a few feet in front of her eyes.
The magical aura surrounding the scroll was wispy lavender, sparkling and glossy like the night sky in which Twilight engrossed herself. The scroll did have ink on it, however. Rainbow Dash turned to her friend.
“I think you may have your goggles on too tight,” she said, “There are definitely words on this.”
“Oh yeah, Rainbow,” Spitfire said, “then what does it say?” Rainbow Dash cleared her throat and prepared to read, but was interrupted by a familiar voice whispering into her ear.
Rainbow, I wanted to make this message private, so I cast a spell so that only you can hear or see it. I need to talk to you in Canterlot immediately. Something has come up. I don’t have the time nor the space to tell you in this correspondence. Please come to my office in the Canterlot Palace West Wing, Room 101.
Yours truly,
Twilight Sparkle
Rainbow Dash stared at the message again, reading it over and over.
“That’s weird; Twilight never needs my help with anything! Why does she need me, especially when I’m not at my best?”
Spitfire looked at Rainbow Dash, “I bet you’re making that up. There was nothing on that paper, and I’m sure of it.”
“I’m serious Spitfire,” Rainbow Dash said, “Twilight really needs me for something!”
“I’m sure,” Spitfire rolled her eyes, “I guess you’ll be leaving to ‘help her’ now?”
“Yes, I should,” said Rainbow, “Good luck with tomorrow’s air show Spitfire!” Rainbow Dash said, turning around and opening her wings. She pushed off the ground hard and flapped her wings, but she hardly went ten feet of the ground.
“Damn this extra weight,” Rainbow thought as she climbed into the sky like a slug climbs up a wall.
Rainbow Dash always felt as though her pregnancy was a double edged sword; she was going to be a mother, and yet it hindered the thing she loved most. She just hoped that she didn’t gain ten pounds afterwards.
She began making her way to Canterlot, which was only a few miles away. In her prime, Rainbow Dash could have made it in no time. Now, however, she had to settle for a measly 10 knots, which would mean she would be there in about fifteen minutes.
“I wonder why Twilight needs me,” Rainbow Dash thought, “what can a pregnant pegasus do?” It wasn’t long until Rainbow had begun to feel thirsty. “Seriously? I can’t fly more than a mile without needing something to drink? Hey kiddo, if you can hear me, you better be worth all this trouble.” Rainbow joked.
She searched the clouds, scanning for just a slight glimmer off of a pool of rainwater. Up ahead, she noticed the recent cloud formed from Fillydelphia’s water reservoir. It was about an hour until it would be converted back into rain for use in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash suddenly had an idea.
“I’m sure one little sip can’t hurt,” Rainbow thought, and she climbed high in the air above the cloud, fighting gravity and her child.
“Buckle up, pipsqueak, you’re about to get a sense of real speed.” Suddenly, Rainbow Dash accelerated towards the cloud, gaining just enough speed to keep her child safe, while still exhilarating her. She felt herself again, and she was sure that her child was getting the ride of her life. When she reached the edge of the cloud, she hung her mouth open.
As she pierced through the cloud, stray water droplets shot onto her awaiting tongue, cascading through her taste buds and drenching her throat. The miniature monsoon not only wet her parched throat, but her mane and coat as well. Rainbow relished every spot of cool liquid as it splashed on her sides and streaked down her coat. It felt as though she were cutting through water, cleaving the air into two distinct halves before they collided back behind her.
When she reached the edge of the cloud, she took some of it with her. Pulling up to level herself, she left a fluffy contrail behind her, complementing the rainbow tailing her. It felt like she was on the Wonderbolts again, after months of being held to earth by the anchor in her womb, she had felt truly happy for the first time in those long weeks.
Rainbow realized that she was travelling at 35 knots, the fastest she had gone that season, and was able to reach Canterlot in less than 10 minutes.
As Rainbow Dash approached the landing pad, she noticed three shadowy figures awaiting her. As she landed on the stony outcropping, the center pony approached her. It was followed by an aura of darkness billowing from her cloak.
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