DISCLAIMER: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Hasbro), Rainbow Dash (Hasbro), Apple Jack (Hasbro), Apple Bloom (Hasbro), Snails (Hasbro), ninty-five percent of the characters in this story (Hasbro unless otherwise stated at end of chapter) or Give To Good Home (Cubette). All I own is this story, the other things I have written, Annie Elizabeth Apple, Jonathan Apple, Oliver Apple, Pixie Crunch Apple, Snails' unnamed parents, Carol and Pink Sparkle.
Summary: AB and Snails are expecting their first child. They just didn't expect how much would happen in those eleven months.
Chapter Five: Month Five
"No, Apple Bloom. Ah'm sorry but ah don't want ya to help out with Winter Wrap-Up tomorrow. Ya have a foal to take care of." AJ insisted, "Think of it as a maternity leave."
Apple Bloom's face that was once full of annoyance was slowly giving way to confusion.
"What's a maternity leave?" the pregnant mare asked curiously.
"It's when a pregnant mare takes a leave from work so they can focus on keepin' their baby safe and returns a few months after it's born. Me and Rainbow both took one when we were." the orange mare explained.
"Fine." the younger sister finally gave in.
The conversation with her sister ran through her mind fifty times at least. She was out of her mind stir crazy. Everyday it had been the same for the last week: wake up, eat breakfast, get the foals off to school, practice breathing exercises, make lunch for everypony, eat lunch with everypony, pick the foals up from school, help the foals with homework, make dinner for everypony, eat dinner with everypony, go to bed. Sure it was busy but the majority of them didn't involve moving around.
At least she had an appointment with Stable tomorrow morning and then the whole afternoon with Snails. It would be a good change of pace for the expecting mare. She was a little worried about Sparkle as she had been very active since she first started fluttering. Snails assured her it was fine and that just meant she'd be more athletic than other fillies.
"Ya said she shouldn't be kickin' a whole lot yet but she is. Is that bad?" the expecting mother asked her doctor with the father at her side.
"Really? No, if anything that means she, just like yourself, is getting a little stir crazy and she'll probably be an early bloomer." the doctor replied.
He then proceeded to take a 4-D sonogram to see how she was moving. After seeing it, he had a look of pure surprise.
"She is very active indeed! It's very unusual to find a fetus this active, especially this early in a pregnancy!" the doctor exclaimed, "Yes, she'll definitely be a very strong, athletic filly if she keeps this up"
"So, has her due date changed?" asked the father-to-be.
"Yes, it shall probably be around hmmm.... I'd say August twenty fourth." the doctor replied.
After the appointment had come to a close, the sweethearts headed off to hang out in their place, the old dead apple tree on the top of the hill. The love birds sat down with hind legs crossed. Snails gently placed his hoof on his beautiful's hoof.
"Snails, Stable got me thinkin'. Did you like bein' as early bloomer or did you wish you had been a blank flank a little bit longer?" Apple Bloom asked.
"I definitely wished I hadn't found it as early as I did, but I have a family of early bloomers." answered her fiancé.
"Well, my family is full of late bloomers. Ah wonder what that will mean for Spark." Apple Bloom thought out loud.
"I personally hope she's a late bloomer like her mom." the lanky unicorn replied.
"Why's that, Sugarcube?" she asked.
"Late cutie marks always look more detailed and unique than early cutie marks." he explained motioning to their cutie marks.
It was true. Her apple shaped paint palette with it's rings and paint drop splatters was truly something compared to the very common cutie mark of a simple purple snail with a orange-yellow shell.
A/N: Sorry I didn't address this earlier in the story. I already said she was no longer a crusader but I never said what her cutie mark was. I hadn't even remembered until I talked about Spark being a early bloomer.