//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Rarity and Pinkie // Story: My Unexpected Gift // by Cinnamon Clover //------------------------------// My Unexpected Gift - Chapter Two Rarity and Pinkie Rainbow Dash trembled as she approached her next stop on the list of ponies she needed to see. Though slightly calmer than she was on the way to the library, the anxiety from whom she was about to have this discussion with was making up for it. It wasn't that she disliked Rarity, far from it really, but the white unicorn had a tendency to be rather... judgmental. Rainbow took a deep breath before opening the door to the boutique and sounding the shop bell. "One moment darling and then I'll be right with you!" the fashionista called out in a sing song voice from the back room. After a few minutes, she appeared from behind the workroom door. Her lenses were on, meaning that she had just been working on a design. "Hello darling, welcome to Carousel Boutique. How can I-" the designer started her generic custom greeting only to realize it was her celebrity athlete friend, "Oh my stars, Rainbow! I wasn't expecting you to come home from spring training this early!" "Yeah, I wasn't expecting to be back so soon either." Rainbow replied with an anxious chuckle, rubbing the back of her head with her fore hoof, "That's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about." Rarity placed her glasses on the counter and looked at Rainbow intently. The brash pegasus knew she had to get it over with, like Twilight told her as she was leaving, she would need her friends in the coming times. "You gotta Pinkie Pie promise me that you won't blab to anypony about this and we'll still be friends after I tell you." Rainbow pleaded, hoping her intuitive pal hadn't somehow already figured it out. While the unicorn could not tell the future like a certain pink party planner, she always seemed to see this stuff a mile away. Rainbow blamed it on a combination of mystery and romance novels. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Rarity chanted while doing the various movements. She would have normally been more reserved about agreeing to her pink friend's name given promise, but something in Rainbow's voice told her that this was really important to her. "Rarity," Rainbow took a deep inhale and let it out in an attempt to calm her rattling nerves, "I'm pregnant." Rarity looked rather bewildered for a moment, but elated the next. "Oh, that's wonderful, Rainbow! I have so many outfits for newborns that I know you'll just love! Who's the dad?" the stylist enthused. Rainbow took a sigh of relief only to be cut short upon processing her friend's last statement. This was the moment she was dreading. Breathing deeply, she answered. "I don't know." the Wonderbolt admitted rather ashamed of the events that lead to this. What her cyan friend said caught Rarity off guard. How could she not know the identity of the father? It wasn't like with the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well. "What do you mean you don't know?" Rarity whined, though she would have insisted it was complaining. Rainbow exhaled slowly, "I got wasted after our show in Manehattan and took a stallion back with me to the hotel." Rarity looked dumbfounded at her rainbow maned friend. She slept with a stallion she didn't even know! And she was intoxicated on top of that! "Rainbow..." the white unicorn exhaled, "I won't cease to be your friend because of one inebriated mistake." Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. "But that doesn't mean I agree with your reckless behavior! Maybe you should have stayed near your brother. He would never let some drunk off his hide stallion sleep with you, whether or not he himself was sober." Rarity chastised. "I know, Rare, I know." Rainbow muttered quietly. Overall, Rainbow was pleased with her friends' reaction to the news. It made Rainbow feel a beam of confidence about her next destination, Sugar Cube Corner. The only worry she had was that Pinkie would already somehow know and have a surprise party waiting for her. Oh, and making a mess with her stomach all over the bakery floor. Morning sickness is quite the drag, as she was quickly discovering. Rainbow Dash opened the door to bakery to find that it was operating as normal, much to Rainbow's relief. Mrs. Cake was at the register finishing up with a customer and the pegasus started towards her. "Thank you, Ditzy. Enjoy the muffins." the baker thanked her number one customer before turning to the next pony, "Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner, how may I- oh Rainbow! Your home earlier than usual! What can I help you with sweetie?" "Hi Mrs. Cake, I came to see Pinkie. She up in her room?" the pegasus greeted before motioning to the staircase. "Yes, you can go head on up. She said she was expecting somepony." Cup Cake confirmed before sending the daredevil up. The cyan mare gulped. Maybe she did already know. Rainbow went up the stairs and knocked on her pink friend's door. "Come in~n!" the hyper mare sang in a sing song voice. Rainbow took a breath and entered, part of her fearing what might be waiting for her. To her pleasure, and her stomach's revolution, it was just Pinkie and pan of freshly frosted cupcakes. "Hiya Rainbow! My Pinkie Sense told me you and a little you were coming over today! Wow, that's strange! It's only you! My Pinkie Sense has never been wrong before, except for once while visiting my parents, but that's a different story." Pinkie rattled off in one breath, making it hard for Rainbow to follow. While she might have been missing a few chunks of details, she got the basic idea. Pinkie's sixth mysterious sense told her that she pregnant, but the partying mare hadn't registered that's what her sense was saying. "Pinkie, please stay calm. I have something to tell you, but you need to keep it between us and the girls for at least a little a few days or so. I know you can do it, and I've seen you do it, even though it was really hard," Rainbow urged before taking a deep breath, "I'm... pregnant. I don't want the whole world to know yet." "Oh, that explains it! Would you like a cupcake? I remember when Mrs. Cake was pregnant with the twins, she ate a lot." Pinkie implored. 'Oh yeah,' Rainbow noted to herself, 'Mrs. Cake has first hoof experience. Maybe I could ask her for some tips or something.' "Y-yeah, I'd love one." Rainbow replied, trying her damnedest to keep a straight face, as she plopped one of the confections into her mouth. She did so only out of politeness. Her stomach was doing an impressive aerial stunt inside her and she was sure she was starting to turn green around the gills. "How do you like it?" Pinkie inquired in a bizarre happy yet subdued tone that she used only when she had seen through somepony, "I'm sorry I didn't ask first. You were looking really queasy, but the chamomile in that cupcake should help with that. It will make you really tired once it kicks in. I promise you it's safe for the foal, but it'll make you really drowsy." Rainbow wasn't sure how to respond to that. Of course she knew. PInkie probably knew the second she see her eyes on her friend, Rainbow's attempt to hide her unsettled stomach be damned. Pinkie, despite what everypony said, had nearly mastered the language of the body in all its nuances. "Thanks." It wasn't like she was planning on doing much else today. She was going to tell Fluttershy and Applejack when she knew no Crusaders were going to show up. "Can you please stay? It kicks in pretty fast and I don't want you to fly home if you are drowsy."