Rainbow shifted under the bed's covers. Slowly, her mind registered that it was still before sunrise and she therefore should be asleep.
"Rainbow, dearie." It took another moment to realize that Rarity's voice was probably why she had woken up.
"Not now, babe," Rainbow groaned. "I still have to..." Unable to come up with a verb, her subconscious simply gave up.
She heard a chuckle. "I'm just letting you know that I'm about to leave for Dodge Junction. I have a special delivery to make for Cherry Jubilee's get-together, and I'm going to get some new gems while I'm there. I'll be back before sundown." Rarity kissed Rainbow's cheek. "Make sure you take care of yourself, okay?"
"Sure thing," Rainbow mumbled. "Love you."
Only vaguely aware of Rarity's hoofsteps, Rainbow drifted back to sleep.
Hours later, Rainbow awoke to a bright spring morning. She rolled herself out from under the covers, landed on her hooves, and stretched herself out. Another minute later, she remembered that Rarity had left that morning. Rainbow did the only reasonable thing and trotted downstairs.
After a generous breakfast, she stepped outside and took to the skies to revel in her day of freedom. She let herself climb into the clouds, then drop again. A tilt of her wings sent her into a tight curve. Immediately, the weight in her belly threatened to rip itself out of her body. Before she could think, her wings adjusted to widen her maneuver, taking Rainbow through a large arc in the sky instead.
She could feel her foal giving its opinion of her trick. "Fine, sheesh," she grumbled. "Taking after Rarity already, aren't you?"
The next couple hours saw Rainbow enjoying herself in a gentler manner than she'd have liked. Despite the lower intensity workout, she still found herself getting winded. Her eyes landed on Twilight's castle.
"Hey kid," she told her belly, "want some real Daring Do? I've been wanting to read Daring Do and the Elephant's Escapade again. No spoilers, but it's a good one."
She let herself descend through the window to the library. Within, she discovered that almost its entire contents had been emptied onto the floor and stacked into piles. Twilight and Starlight each had a book open and were paging through them.
In the corner, Pinkie Pie had set up a book fortress, complete with book armor plating, book artillery, and book anti-air ordinance.
"Hostile pegasus! Give me one good reason not to shoot you down," Pinkie announced, aiming a surface to air mystery novel.
Rainbow briefly considered telling her to bring it on. Instead she showed her underside to Pinkie. "Because I have a passenger."
Pinkie squinted, pausing long enough for Rainbow to wonder if she really was going to fire a book at her. Then Pinkie smiled and said, "You're cleared to land, Rainbow One!" She giggled and added, "I mean, Rainbow Two!"
"Thanks, Pinkie." Rainbow landed and turned to Twilight. "Is it reshelving day again already?"
Twilight looked up. She had those dark lines under her eyes she always had when she hadn't gotten enough sleep. "We've been trying to find information on the creature we discovered last week, and there isn't any documentation on it anywhere."
Starlight's magic waved an envelope. "I asked Sunburst to look through the Crystal Empire's library, but it didn't have anything either."
"And I've gone through the Canterlot Archives twice," Twilight said. "Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have never heard of it. Round Hill shows up as a footnote in geological journals, but there's nothing about the Roundhill itself."
Rainbow tilted her head. "The what?"
Closing one book and opening another, Twilight said, "The Roundhill. It's what we're calling the creature until we find out its real name. If it has one."
Rainbow hovered up to an empty shelf. "Hey, where'd the Daring Do books go?"
Motioning to one of the piles, Starlight said, "Twilight thought Daring might have encountered something like it."
"She didn't," Twilight added.
Looking at the pile, Rainbow walked in a circle. "Do you know where Daring Do and the Elephant's Escapade is in here, or should I start digging?"
Twilight's horn illuminated, half the pile rose into the air, a single book popped out, and the pile returned to the ground.
Holding the book to her chest with a foreleg, Rainbow said, "Thanks, Twilight. Good luck figuring that giant weird thing out."
She flew out the window she came in, while Pinkie shouted something about takeoff clearance behind her. Within moments, she was back on her bed.
Rainbow opened the book. "All right, kid, let me read you a real story."
---
"With the Titanium Trunk secure and Ahuizotl's evil plans foiled again, Daring Do flew into the sunset on her way to her next thrilling adventure! The end."
Rainbow closed the book and looked over at her body. "See? Wasn't that so much more awesome than the junk Pinkie's been reading you?"
She put her hoof on her belly and slowly stroked it. "Heh. I could imagine a little pony curled up next to me listening to that."
A few moments passed in silence.
"You know," she said, "it was nice hanging out like this. I mean, besides that we've been together your whole life. We should do this more often once you're out, all right?"
Laying back, Rainbow looked out the window. Outside, the stars twinkled in the night sky.
"Huh, that's odd. Wasn't Rarity supposed to be home by now?" She looked at her belly, almost as if she was expecting an answer. "Oh, I know. She must have missed the train."
Stretching out on the bed, Rainbow said to herself, "She'll be on the late night train. Wonder if she'll wake me up when she gets home."
She got back to her feet. "I figure we got a few more hours before bedtime. Feel like another story? Let me tell you about the first time I did a sonic rainboom..."
---
The first rays of the new day's sun shone through the window. Rainbow Dash stirred in bed before rolling out of it. After shaking herself off, she stumbled out of the bedroom.
"Morning, babe," she said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
There was no reply.
Rainbow poked her head through a nearby doorframe. "Rarity?"
Nothing.
Nervous, Rainbow crept downstairs. Not only was there no sign of Rarity, everything was exactly as it had been when she'd gone to bed.
"Where is she?" she asked the empty room.
Rainbow opened the front door and took off. Ponyville stretched out below her. Eyes darting around the landscape, Rainbow scanned for any sign of her wife.
Looking up, she saw Twilight's castle ahead of her. Rainbow entered the same window she did the day before. Inside, the piles of books stood smaller, and many of the shelves had been restocked.
On the ground, Twilight and Starlight were mid-conversation.
"Maybe the Roundhill's not a single creature," Starlight suggested. "It might be a particularly large colony of smaller creatures that built the shell around themselves."
"There'd still be some magical signs of life from the net effect," Twilight answered. "Unless they all died."
"It's possible that the colony grew too large to sustain itself and died out as a result."
Twilight closed one book and opened another. "Maybe, but that still doesn't explain the disturbances."
Starlight scratched her chin. "A few members of it might still be alive?"
"Yeah yeah whatever," Rainbow said, landing next to them. "Have either of you seen Rarity?"
Twilight looked over. "Not in the last two days. Why?"
Pacing back and forth, Rainbow answered, "She left yesterday morning for Dodge Junction to deliver some stuff. She said she'd be back by last night, but she isn't and I'm really getting worried."
Twilight set her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "I'm sure Rarity's fine. She probably just got caught up in some details. You know how she is when it comes to that kind of thing."
"Besides," Starlight added, "How often does one of us go somewhere without something coming up that takes forever?"
Rainbow took a breath. "You're right. I shouldn't work myself up over nothing. I'm going to get breakfast. After I'm done, do you need help with—" She looked at the books. "Actually, this looks boring. I'm going to hang out."
Flying out the window, Rainbow Dash headed home for some chow.
---
Hanging out with Pinkie Pie demanded stirring, whipping, mixing, blending, and other ways of saying the exact same thing. The best part was all the taste-testing. Rainbow wouldn't have minded more of that.
Not all of it was enjoyable.
"And then Daring Do slowly pushed open the door to the teacher's lounge and inside she saw Mister Math's—" A bell interrupted Pinkie's narration.
Bouncing to the oven door, Pinkie announced, "I have a bun in the oven!" She opened it and pulled a tray out. Atop was a fresh loaf of bread a foot and a half long. "And here it is!" It was the eighth bun that had been in Pinkie's oven that day.
Pinkie spun around, pushing the oven closed with her rump. With the tray in her mouth, she bounced her way to the counter on the other side of the room. On one particularly vigorous bounce, the bread bounced off of the tray and off of Rainbow's side.
Eyes wide, Rainbow jerked away. "Hot! Hot!" She rubbed her side.
Pinkie dropped the tray on the closest counter and swooped to Rainbow's side. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that! Are you okay? Is she okay?"
Relaxing again, Rainbow said, "Um, yeah, she's fine."
"Let Nurse Pie make it better." Pinkie laid a series of kisses along where the bread had hit her.
"All right, that tickles." Rainbow sidestepped away. "It just startled me, that's all." With a laugh, she added, "Good thing it was just bread. If the foal got hurt, Rarity would kill us both."
Pinkie took the tray back and scraped the bread off of the floor. "I feel just awful though. Is there anything I can do to make it up?"
A scent made its way through Rainbow's nose. "How about you put one more bun in your oven?" She licked her lips. "And I can put it in mine."
Before long, Rainbow was walking out of Sugarcube Corner. Her stomach felt so full, there wasn't enough room inside her for anything else. She plodded her way back home.
Opening the front door, Rainbow called, "Babe? You home yet?"
There was no answer.
Rainbow turned back outside. Overhead, the mid-afternoon sun shone past the sparse clouds.
Pacing back and forth, Rainbow mumbled to herself. "Still? I don't like this." She stopped and took a deep breath. "She would have written. No, no, it's only been a day. It's like when I told her I was pregnant; she'd be back before the letter arrived. What'd she say yesterday morning? She was delivering dresses and looking for gems. She wouldn't spend extra time doing that, would she?"
Slowly, she walked away from the boutique. "Maybe everything's okay. Maybe Twilight's right and I'm worrying myself over nothing." She walked faster for a few steps, then flew low to the ground. "No. Something's wrong."
Before long, Rainbow found herself at the train station's ticket counter.
"One for Dodge Junction."
---
Lit by the orange of the setting sun, the train pulled into Dodge Junction. Rainbow Dash stepped off, feeling the crunch of the dirt beneath her hooves.
"All right," she told herself, "she was giving those dresses to Cherry Jubilee."
With a burst of dust, Rainbow took to the air, easily finding the cherry farm in the fading light. She swooped down, landing in front of the farmhouse. Rainbow raised her hoof and rapped on the door, mentally phrasing how she'd ask.
The door opened. "Rainbow Dash? My, what an unexpected pleasure!" Cherry Jubilee stood in the doorway. "Why, just yesterday your friend, pardon me, your wife Rarity was here telling me all about you. And is that...?" She walked around to Rainbow's side. "Why yes it is! Rarity told me you were with foal and I see you clearly are! Congratulations!"
"Yeah, thanks," Rainbow said. "Speaking of, have you seen Rarity?"
"Well that's an odd question. I just said she was here yesterday with those darling dresses of hers. I thanked her plenty for 'em, but you thank her again for me, would you, dear?"
Rainbow grit her teeth for a second. "I mean, she didn't come back home. Do you know where she is?"
Eyes widening, Cherry said, "Oh. No, I haven't seen her since she left yesterday. She said she was going into the Badlands to find dig up some gems, since there are some beauties out there. I gave her some canteens of water, on account of it getting so hot this time of year. Rarity said she'd bring 'em back, but she never showed up. I figured she forgot, but I didn't mind, seeing as she's such a sweet mare."
"Badlands. Got it." Rainbow looked to the south. "Anything else?"
Cherry paused for a second. "There's a whole mess of salamanders that moved into the caves a few months ago, but they ain't much for conversation. They don't like us ponies for some reason. I never bothered asking why, myself. They never come round here and we don't go bother them."
Opening her wings, Rainbow said, "Cool, thanks. I gotta go."
The sun dipped below the horizon.
Cherry put her hoof to her mouth. "Dearie me, you're going to look for her at night? You'll never find her in the dark."
"Look." Rainbow stared her in the eye. "If she's hurt or in trouble, then I have to find her now." She stamped her hoof.
"Can't say I blame you," Cherry Jubilee said. "All right, good luck."
Rainbow took a breath and sent herself skyward.
---
Below her, the Badlands were bathed in the pale light of the moon. Rainbow's eyes darted from rock to hill, looking among the shrubs, hoping to see a pony-sized white patch. However, the expanse of dirt and rock stretching out below was all she was able to see.
"Come on, Rarity," she whispered, "don't do this to me. Where are you?"
A flicker out of the corner of her eye caught Rainbow's attention. She looked to the east and saw a distant spot of firelight, all but washed out by the rising moon. Flapping her wings for speed, Rainbow flew towards it.
As she approached, the spot resolved itself into several, then took shape. Two rows of balconies had been carved into the cliffside, with light shining outwards from most of their rooms. Below them, torches flanked a large double door.
Rainbow landed just inside the circle of light. On either side of the finely-carved wooden door was a large reptile, shiny black with brown spots. Each stood upright, about as tall as Princess Celestia. They wore polished armor, decorated with gold. And in one hand, they each held a spear of smoothed wood and a silver tip.
Stepping forward, Rainbow said, "Uh, hey. You must be the salamanders Cherry Jubilee told me about."
The salamander on the left looked at her, then looked back up into the distance.
"I'm looking for my wife. She was out in the Badlands here looking for gems. Maybe you've seen her?"
Neither responded.
Rainbow looked from one to the other. "White unicorn, purple hair, dark blue eyes, three gems on her flank, real pretty? Come on."
"Not another one," the left salamander muttered.
"Ssh!" the right one whispered. "Don't provoke it!"
Rainbow took another step. "So you have seen her! I gotta know where she went! Please!"
"Now you've done it," the right said to the left. "Dealing with one of these things is enough of a headache."
Ears perking up, Rainbow said, "You do know where she is! Just point me in the right direction and I'll leave you alone, okay?"
"I'll take care of this." The left salamander stepped forward. He swung the blunt end of his spear, smacking Rainbow in the shoulder. "Shoo! Shoo!"
Rainbow scrambled backwards, then rubbed her shoulder. She snorted, backing up out of the firelight. Looking between the guards and the door, she weighed her options. They knew where Rarity was, and judging by their attitude, they'd know if she was in danger and not care enough to say so.
Glancing up, she decided on a different approach. Rainbow took off and hovered at a distance away from the row of balconies. Slowly, away from the light, she moved to look inside the rooms. The lit ones each had one or two salamanders in them, all dressed in fine-looking clothing. Some read a book, one painted, one room had a couple dancing.
Rainbow located a lit, empty room and touched down inside as quietly as she could. It was well-furnished, with wooden chairs, a plush bed and two full bookshelves. Several small statues lined the top of the bookshelves, as well as another shelf on the wall. A painting of an important-looking salamander hung on the wall. A closet door hung open, and Rainbow could see several intricate outfits hanging inside.
"All right," she whispered, "I just have to either find her or find someone more willing to talk. These salamanders are so fancy, it's no wonder she'd—"
Suddenly, a door opened. A black and dark green salamander walked through, holding a towel but wearing nothing. Rainbow stared at the salamander. The salamander stared at Rainbow.
The salamander screamed.
Holding the towel in front of herself with one hand, she reached for a statue with the other. "Out!" She threw the statue at Rainbow.
"Whoa! Hey!" Rainbow ducked out of the way.
"Filthy beast! Get out!" The salamander threw a book and grabbed another. "Get out!"
As quickly as she could, Rainbow scrambled for the door opposite to the balcony and threw it open. A book hit her rump. Rainbow rushed through the door just before the salamander slammed it behind her.
"And stay out!" the muffled voice shouted.
Rainbow leaned against the wall to calm herself down again. She looked in both directions down the hallway, which itself was as well-decorated as the room had been. If she hadn't seen the place from the outside, she'd never have believed that she was in a cave.
No other salamanders were in sight. Rainbow picked a direction at random and walked. She figured the other doorways on that side also led to rooms with upset salamanders, so she walked a short ways until she came across a doorway on the other side of the hallway.
Taking a breath, she opened it. Inside, the room was decently fancy but not as furnished as the others so far. Four salamanders were seated around a scroll-laden table. All were dressed, and none of them screamed. Rainbow figured it was already an improvement.
Closing the door behind her, she said, "Hey. Have you seen another pony around here? Her name's Rarity and from the looks of this place she'd really like—"
They stood up.
Rainbow scowled and dropped into a low stance. "Okay, that's it. My wife's lost or in trouble, and you all have been nothing but a roadblock. I know you know where she is, and I'm going to get some answers. And I don't care what I have to do to save her."
The salamanders advanced on her.
"You want to start something?" Rainbow tensed up. "You think just because I'm ten months pregnant means I'm going to be a pushover? Bring it on; I haven't had a good fight in a year."
The smallest salamander lunged at her. Rainbow turned and bucked, her hooves landing somewhere in the salamander's gut. She could hear the air being driven from her lungs. The salamander collapsed, wheezing.
A large one threw a punch, which connected with Rainbow's ribs. She sucked in air between clenched teeth at the pain. Rainbow delivered a kick to his shin in response. Her wings helped her jump over him and deliver a follow-up kick between his shoulder blades. She landed on the table, kicking a few scrolls aside. Two salamanders remained upright, a male and a female if Rainbow had their body types figured out right.
The male reached for a chair. Rainbow shot over to him, throwing a forehoof at his chest. He moved to dodge, but Rainbow was too fast for him. Her hoof hit his ribcage, prompting him to shout. In that moment, she spun around and delivered a hind hoof to the other side of his chest. He dropped to the ground, both hands on his chest and his teeth clenched.
Rainbow landed on the floor and looked at the last salamander. She pawed the ground. "Me and you, one on one. Let's go, show me what you got."
The salamander reached behind herself, opened the door that Rainbow had come in, and ran through it.
"Ha!" Rainbow laughed. One salamander was wheezing while staring at her, one was face-down on the floor, and the last had his eyes clenched closed and was groaning. "You're not so tough after all. There's plenty more where that came from!" She looked between them. "Excuse me a second."
Rainbow slipped through another door, finding herself alone in a small closet. She collapsed against a wall, her chest heaving. Putting a hoof on her belly, she said, "You sure take a lot out of me, you know that?" Under the hoof, the foal kicked like she was trying to fight the salamanders herself. The corners of Rainbow's mouth tugged upwards. "That's the spirit."
She took a breath and emerged into the room again. "All right." Rainbow strutted towards the winded salamander. "Start talking."
The salamander said nothing, but continued to wheeze.
Rainbow stood over her. "Where's Rarity?"
"The other beast..." the salamander gasped, " is... down..."
The sound of distant running interrupted them. The clinking of armor soon joined it.
"Down. Got it." Rainbow jumped up and hurried out of the room.
"There it is!"
She turned to see the salamander that had escaped earlier, along with an armored, spear-wielding salamander. Rainbow flew the other direction.
"Down, down, down," she told herself, glancing through every open doorway she passed. "There!"
Rainbow darted down the stairwell. On the bottom, she came across a large foyer before two more guards blocked her way.
Turning around, she flew back up the stairs. Within moments, she was between the original and the two new guards. Thinking quickly, she opened a door to one of the rooms with a balcony. Before she could go through, a salamander slammed into her side, knocking her to the ground.
Finding herself on her back, Rainbow looked up to see three spears pointing at her chest, as well as four very angry-looking salamanders.
"You... you wouldn't hit a pregnant mare, would you?"