//------------------------------//
// Preparing for the Future 
// Story: The World Beneath Her Wings 
// by Void Chicken 
//------------------------------//

Rainbow Dash sat on her rump, forelegs crossed. "You know I don't want to be here."

"Yes, dearie," Rarity replied, "you've said that every ten minutes since we got here."

"Trainers, sure. Ponies to check out my flexibility and strength and tell me how I can get more awesome? Bring them on. But doctors to tell me I'm not being pregnant right? Hate it." She tapped her hind hoof against the carpet.

She looked around the small office. Only one other couple was there: a nervous-looking mare and a stallion trying his best to comfort her. She averted her eyes to the variety of charts and pictures of smiling mares on the walls, all of them looking more pregnant than Rainbow.

Turning back to Rarity, she sighed. "First Captain Spitfire tells me my four months in the outside formations are up and benches me, and now this. Can today get any duller?"

The far door opened and a unicorn stallion poked his head out. "Misses Rarity and Rainbow Dash?"

The couple stood and followed him through a short hallway into an examination room. Inside, he turned to them and gave a slight bow.

"I'm Doctor Tender Care." He looked at Rarity and motioned to the metal exam table. "Why don't you lay up there and I can have a look at you."

Rarity's eyes widened and her lips pursed.

Glancing between them, Rainbow cut in, "Actually, I'm the one carrying it." She stepped forwards.

"Of course." He motioned again to the table. "Tell me what's going on."

Rainbow climbed up and rolled onto her back. The metal surface was as cold as it looked. She rolled her shoulders in an attempt to get comfortable. A look at Rarity confirmed that she wasn't yet in a mood to talk, so Rainbow figured she had to say it.

"Well, I'm seven months along, and..." She waved her hoof over her belly, which was still flat. "Rarity's been reading a bunch of books that all say I should have something by now. I don't think it's that big of a deal, but she's getting worried so here we are."

"Okay, let me see what's happening." Doctor Care lowered his head, laying his horn flat across Rainbow's stomach. It lit up and the doctor hummed quietly.

Sitting up, Rainbow said, "Hey wait a second. Twilight said pony wombs blocked magic and stuff. Something about not hurting the foal. What are you doing?"

Rarity's ears perked up.

The doctor looked Rainbow in the eye. "It's true that I can't see into your uterus. But what I can do is check its exterior, its size and shape and muscle tone and so on."

Rainbow laid back again. "Oh, that makes more sense."

"Just be careful with it, okay?" Rarity said.

Turning her head to look at her, Rainbow answered. "He's a doctor. Also? This was your idea."

She looked back to see the doctor's glowing horn across her belly again. He closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"I bet this is your first foal," he said.

"Yeah," Rainbow answered, trying her best to hold still. "How can you tell?"

The horn moved forwards and backwards across Rainbow's underside. "Your body's never stretched out like this before, so you're still very firm. Your foal is the right size for how far along it is, but your abdominal muscles are very strong, so they're holding your uterus up high inside you. To be honest, I've only ever seen this with earth ponies.

"If I feel around a bit..." He paused and Rainbow felt a strange pressure inside her. She shifted her weight a little.

Doctor Care continued: "I don't feel anything out of the ordinary with your uterus. I could even take a guess at your foal's race."

"Please don't," Rainbow answered.

He laughed. "All right, I won't. But overall, I'd say you're doing just fine."

"So." Rainbow took a moment to think. "It's going to get even bigger, right? Are my abs going to squish it or something?"

Moving around to table to Rainbow's side, he replied, "No, nothing like that. As it grows, it'll simply run out of room and push its way down. You'll fill out before you know it."

"Hear that, babe?" Rainbow turned to Rarity. "I'm filling out."

"Yes, Rainbow, I heard."

Rainbow climbed down off the table.

Approaching the doctor, Rarity said, "Thank you so much for seeing her. It's a relief to hear she's doing well." She and Rainbow headed towards the door.

"It's no problem at all." He paused. "Although, I have to say your names sound familiar. Are you the couple who conceived with the experimental spell?"

Rainbow grit her teeth. "Ugh, I'd almost forgotten how that felt."

"Yes, we are," Rarity replied for her.

Doctor Care reached up and shook Rainbow's hoof. "Then I'm happy to have met you. I've read the papers and you're doing a great thing for the field."

"Uh yeah," Rainbow answered, "thanks. See you around."

Rainbow followed Rarity out of the office, through the hospital, and outside into the late winter snow. 

Just past the hospital grounds, Rainbow spoke up. "That wasn't so bad. Good to know—"

Rarity raised a hoof and slammed it into the ground, causing Rainbow to jump.

"The nerve of that stallion!" she shouted.

Rainbow's ears went back. "Wha?"

"Looking at me and thinking that I was pregnant! When you're the one who eats three times as much as I do and craves something new every week!" She snorted. "He said you weren't showing because of your muscles. I don't have muscles like yours. Am I showing?"

Rarity presented her flank. Rainbow looked her wife's body over. "To be fair, babe, me not looking pregnant is why we came. But uh, no, you look the same. And—" She reached up and prodded Rarity's side. It easily yielded to her snow-covered hoof. "—yeah, nothing."

Turning away and stomping through the slush, Rarity said. "Exactly! How could he think that I'm pregnant and you're not?"

Hesitating, Rainbow could only say, "Um..."

Rarity spun around.

Rainbow could only give the first reply that came to mind "Pickles!" She forced a smile. "Let's get some pickles." She opened her wings and hovered just above the ground. "I don't even feel bigger, really. Totally understandable. But some pickles will let the foal get nice and big inside me so everypony can see how pregnant I am. I'll meet you at the restaurant, babe."

Raising a hoof, Rarity answered, "Don't fly too fast, Rainbow. You are with foal, remember."

Rainbow turned away to keep Rarity from seeing her sour expression. She took off towards her next meal, spewing snow in her wake. A left bank aimed her just past the corner of a building.

"Rainbow!" Rarity chastised.

With a look back, Rainbow said, "Rarity, would you—"

An impact to her wing interrupted her reaction. Rainbow hit the snow, tumbling several feet across the terrain. "Ow ow ow."

A moment later, Rarity was at her side. "Rainbow! I just told you to be careful. Are you okay?"

Her wing throbbed. Rainbow got to her feet. Looking over, she opened and closed her wing a few times. "Not broken. That's good. Geez that smarts." She looked at Rarity but decided against arguing. "Let's... let's get those pickles."

---

The morning sun woke Rainbow up as it always had. She rolled out of bed and gave a yawn. Outside the bedroom window, the first greenery of spring glistened in their dew. At Rarity's insistence, Rainbow hadn't participated in Winter Wrap-Up that year. She chalked it up as another perk of pregnancy.

Rarity walked out of the bathroom, her mane wrapped in a towel. "Good morning, dearie."

"Mornin', babe." Rainbow stretched herself out.

She heard a gasp. "Rainbow!"

"Huh? What is it?" She looked at Rarity.

Pointing her hoof, Rarity said, "Stretch again! I see a bump!"

"What, really?" Rainbow straightened herself out and turned to look. Right at her navel, her belly curved outward just a little. She stared at it. "Woah. Hang on, lemme get a better look."

Rainbow climbed onto the bed and rolled onto her side, stretching herself out to produce the bump again. Rarity clambered up next to her.

Running her hoof across her stomach, the bump felt hard. "There it is. That's freaky."

A white hoof set itself on the blue fur. "That's our daughter."

Rainbow relaxed, allowing the bump to vanish. She prodded the area and felt its resistance again. "Wow."

Stroking Rainbow's belly, Rarity said, "I think it's time to celebrate our new arrival."

"With breakfast?" Rainbow lifted her head up. "Because there's these little chocolates that Bonbon makes with bits of alfalfa in them and—"

The hoof moved from Rainbow's belly to her lips. "After breakfast, of course, we should go shopping for everything the foal will need."

"Like a crib and stuff? I'm not due for another, uh"—she did some mental math—"three and a half months. Isn't it a little early for this stuff?"

Climbing off the bed, Rarity said, "It's never too early to be prepared. Besides, I promised myself I would wait until I saw the bump."

Rainbow relaxed, sprawling herself out on the sheets. "Cool. You go shopping, I'll stay here and watch the foal grow."

"Rainbow." Rarity's eyebrows dropped.

Returning a smile, Rainbow said, "Well we can try it the other way around, babe, but I don't think that'd work."

Rarity rolled her eyes. "You need to come too. As the foal's mother—"

"—father—"

"—you need to have some say in her room."

After taking enough time to groan, Rainbow rolled off of the bed. "Yeah. Fine, whatever. But I gotta eat something first. I'm starving."

Rarity sighed. "And to think you'll need to eat even more when you're nursing."

---

Rainbow sat backwards on the wooden chair, hooves crossed on top of its back. She rested her chin on her forelegs and watched Rarity meander her way around the furniture store.

Eyeing one of the cribs up and down, Rarity said, "If the foal is anything like me, she'll want the fanciest, most-decorated crib she can get. Something tasteful for her to look at while she's in it."

Moving only her eyes, Rainbow answered, "And if she's anything like me, she'll want it to be sleek and light, with racing stripes on it. Also a latchable cover if she's a pegasus."

Rarity walked to another. "Speaking of, we'll need a magic-resistant latch if she's a unicorn. I suppose we could get one after she's born if we had to."

"Good morning." The store's owner, whose name was Wooden something, approached Rainbow. "It looks like your wife's expecting an addition to your family."

"Yeah," Rainbow said. "She's doing all the expecting. I'm just pregnant with it."

Spinning around, Rarity shouted, "What did he just say about me?"

Rainbow raised her head an inch. "He wants to know what kind of crib we want, babe."

Rarity glared at him suspiciously for a second before turning back to the inventory. "I was thinking a tasteful white, as I expect our daughter will be light-shaded."

"Ah," Wooden replied, "but you have to consider that your newborn foal will be very messy, so if the paint getting stained will bother you, you'll be doing a lot of cleaning."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, I won't be bothered by a bit of dirt," Rarity said with a wave of her hoof.

"You totally will," Rainbow commented.

After clearing her throat, Rarity said, "Perhaps something darker would suit us better."

Fifteen minutes later, Rainbow and Rarity emerged from the store, magically levitating a dark wooden crib, a small mattress, several sheets, and a washing basin.

"You know, babe," Rainbow said, looking at their purchase, "I can carry that. My wing stopped hurting a week ago."

With a smile, Rarity answered, "I know. But you're already carrying something very important."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. They walked a short way before Rainbow said, "Oh yeah, that reminds me. How's this sound: 'Hope you enjoyed the trip, but you're flying yourself from now on.'"

"I'm... sorry?" Rarity turned her head towards Rainbow.

Trotting forward to move by Rarity's side, Rainbow said, "Well, so many parents say something cheesy like 'You're so beautiful' or 'Welcome to Equestria' that I figure we mix it up a little, you know? So that one if she's a pegasus. How about this for a unicorn: 'With all the magic that went into making you, you'd better become a wizard.' Get it? Magic?"

Turning her head forwards again, Rarity said, "Maybe you should let me handle the introductions, dearie."

"Oh I got one! 'Hey, yours isn't the first horn I've had stuck in there.'"

Rarity stopped in her tracks and faced Rainbow again. "I will not have the first words our daughter hears be a sex joke!"

Rainbow backed up a step. "Okay, fine, I'll come up with something else. If it's a pegasus, I can say 'Wow you flew right on out of there!' What if it's an earth pony, though?"

While Rainbow thought, they walked a few more steps.

"'So that what all the kicking was about!'"

Rarity stopped again. "Is it kicking?"

"Um..." Rainbow paused to think. "I felt something this morning, but it might have been gas."

Moving towards the Boutique's front door, Rarity said, "If it was an earth pony, it would certainly explain all the fruit you've been eating."

"I can work with that."

Rarity opened the door. "Dearie, while I put these away, why don't you head to the next store? I'll meet you there."

"Sure thing, babe." She turned and left.

---

A staggering array of items sat on the shelf in front of Rainbow: bottles, toys, diapers, a few thermometers, magic doodads claiming to be the only way to keep a foal safe, and anti-magic doodads claiming to be the only way to keep a foal safe.

She heard Rarity's voice approaching. "Have you gotten everything already?"

Without a word, Rainbow looked at Rarity, then back at the shelf.

"Seriously, dearie, it's not that difficult." Random items took on a magic aura and levitated towards them. "We'll need bottles to feed her, a pump for your milk, a thermometer to check on her, some extra towels, a night light or two, ooh this toy looks just delightful!"

Rainbow looked at it all. "See, this is why you're going to be Mom. I'm completely lost here."

"Good morning," an orange pegasus said, approaching them. "Are you two shopping for a newborn?"

"Oh yes, dear," Rarity answered, flashing a smile. "We have a filly on the way and we're stocking up."

"Congratulations!" The clerk looked at Rarity. "When are you due?"

Rarity tensed up straight. The hovering inventory fell to the floor. A bottle bounced off of Rainbow's snout.

"That's it!" she shouted, "I am going on a diet, and we are not doing any more foal shopping until you're the size of an apple cart!"

Rarity stomped out of the store. Rubbing her snout, Rainbow looked at the aghast clerk. "Sorry. Hey, wait!" she called out, "Rarity, you have the money! How am I supposed to pay for these?"

After scooping up a bottle and placing it on the shelf, she turned back to the poor pegasus.

"I-I'm sorry, I thought I heard you say she was the mother, so I assumed—" She shifted backwards.

"Yeah, I get it, it's cool." Rainbow patted her side. "It's in here, though." She returned another bottle to the shelf. The clerk placed a few items next to it. "Not looking forward to getting home."

After everything was back in place, Rainbow turned to leave. Looking behind her, she said, "See you again when I'm the size of an apple cart, I guess." She smirked. "Wonder if I'll fit through the door."