Rainbow Dash walked down the stairs, still shaking the morning grogginess from her head. The smell of pancakes drifting from below reminded her that she was hungry.
Arriving at the table, Rainbow pulled up a chair.
"Good morning, dearie," Rarity said, levitating a heaping plate. "You have excellent timing; I just finished making these."
Mouth watering, Rainbow asked, "They have strawberries?"
"Of course," Rarity said, setting the first helping in front of her.
"I love you so much." She took a bite. Rarity sat down across from her, smiled, and began to eat her own.
It had been several weeks. The foal had grown to the point where it showed prominently again on Rainbow's flanks, with an appetite to match.
Once Rainbow's mouth was full, Rarity looked into her eyes. "Dearie, I'd like to ask you something, and hear me out before you say no."
Through her mouthful, she said, "Mm?"
"Pinkie Pie is throwing the Spring Bloom today. I know you don't like to go to that kind of thing, but I would appreciate it if you came along with me. I get so inspired by the arrangements the ponies come up with, and having you there would make it just a little more special. If you don't want to, I understand, but it would mean a lot to me." Rarity gave her that smile and little tilt of her head she always did when she wanted something.
"Didn't we—" Rainbow swallowed. "Didn't we already have that, like, last—oh right, time travel. It sounds real boring, but if it'll make you happy—wait I remember that! That's where—oh man I am there!" Shoving another pancake into her mouth, she said through her food, "After breakfast."
Sounding substantially less enthused, Rarity said, "Did your vision of the future tell you something I should know about the Bloom?"
"Nah, nah." Swallowing again, Rainbow said, "It's better if it's a surprise. It'll be great, trust me." She returned to her pancakes.
---
The Spring Bloom was originally Applejack's idea. Multitudes of flower seeds were planted as part of Winter Wrap-Up, and the first blooms of the year got gathered up and put on display. Tables had been arranged all across the town square. Flowers of all colors glistened in the morning sunlight, some in pots or trays of dirt, some freshly cut.
Rainbow and Rarity walked past the outer perimeter of flowers. Springing up from behind a bouquet, Pinkie Pie landed in front of the couple.
Somehow, the crown of dark pink flowers on her head remained in place. "Rarity! Rainbow! You came!"
"Wouldn't miss this for the world," Rainbow said.
With a glance at her, Rarity added, "Yes, I like to find inspiration at these."
"But!" Pinkie reared up to show a flower crown hanging from each foreleg. "Everypony has to wear one. It's the rules." She scowled in a way that suggested this was not open to negotiation.
Pinkie tossed both crowns into the air. A ring of small sunflowers landed on Rarity's head, settling neatly around her horn. Rainbow received flowers of a whole bunch of different colors. Pinkie smiled for a second before gasping. "I forgot one! Stay right there!" she shouted before darting away.
Smiling, Rarity turned and looked into Rainbow's eyes.
"What?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, it's nothing," Rarity answered. "I'm just admiring you. The flowers really bring out your eyes." She took a step, putting her face inches away from Rainbow's.
Rainbow smiled back. "Yours, too." Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against Rarity's.
Their kiss was interrupted by Pinkie's return. Between her teeth, she delicately held a flower crown. It was so tiny, Rainbow would have had trouble fitting it over her ear. It had only four small flowers on it: two next to each other of orange and light blue, and two of white and purple.
Pinkie bounced to Rainbow's right side. Last time, Rainbow had sidestepped away from her. This time, Rainbow opened her wing to present her belly. Pinkie set the tiny crown against Rainbow's bulge and stuck a piece of tape to her fur to hold it on.
"Perfect!" she announced before prancing away.
Rainbow looked back at herself with a smirk. "Looks good on you, kid."
Looking at the miniature crown, Rarity giggled. "Yes, it does. Now if you don't mind, an orchid arrangement is calling to me."
"Sure thing, babe." Rainbow walked in the other direction to help refresh her memory. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Twilight hurrying up towards her.
Twilight's flower crown was a fancy double-layered thing of blues and purples that reminded Rainbow that she didn't know what most of the flowers there were called. "Rainbow!" Twilight called. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Hey, what's up?"
Looking into Rainbow's eyes, Twilight said, "I just wanted to keep you informed. We found the Roundhill creature and did some observations."
Rainbow straightened up. "You didn't use magic on it, did you?! You promised!"
Twilight raised a hoof. "I didn't actually expect to have to keep that promise. But we didn't use any magic on it, just around it. And I can say for certain that your Roundhill is dead."
Sighing, Rainbow said, "You said that last time. It's alive, but at least you didn't wake it up. Of course you didn't. We're all still here."
"I already know something isn't right about all this." Twilight paced back and forth. "Your vision, the creature, things aren't adding up. Your recollection of it is by far the most lengthy and detailed vision I've ever heard about, yet its literal interpretation is impossible, so deciphering its true meaning is proving difficult. But the message is clear: that creature is some kind of danger. We just don't know what."
"I know what," Rainbow grumbled.
Twilight looked at her. "Regardless, its body is under enough dirt to say that it's been undisturbed for tens of thousands of years, maybe longer. I think it's for the best that we let it lie until we figure out how to safely handle it."
"Thanks, Twilight." Rainbow hugged her. "You're the best."
Twilight hugged her back. "It's no trouble at all." She stepped away again. "Pinkie has me judging this year, so I need to get back to the flowers."
Perking up, Rainbow said, "Awesome. Looking forward to that."
Slowly, Twilight replied, "Okay." She walked away, glancing back as she went.
With a spring in her step, Rainbow made her way to a display.
"All right, kid, want to learn some stuff about flowers? I mean, I don't know the names of most of these... and you can't exactly see them from in there." She shook her head. "Whatever. Well, this one is called a rose. It smells nice but you have to be careful picking one up. Getting a thorn stuck between your teeth is the worst..."
---
The sun approached noontime, and Rainbow found it harder and harder to resist eating the flowers instead of merely talking about them. The fact that she had also run out of flower knowledge two hours before did not help. Her belly had been still for about that long, so Rainbow took comfort in the fact that her daughter was as bored as she was.
Rainbow took a few steps towards the same display of daffodils that she had just been at before Pinkie trotted up to her.
"Hey, Rainbow!" She situated herself at Rainbow's side, which was never a good sign.
Turning to look, Rainbow said, "What's up?"
"Can the foal really hear everything that's going on out here?" She leaned in.
Rainbow's ears moved back. "You heard Rarity saying that, didn't you?"
With a gasp, Pinkie said, "How did you know?" She pressed her face against Rainbow's belly. Using a volume more suitable for yelling through rock than flesh, she shouted, "Helloooo foal! I'm Pinkie Pie, your future foalsitter! Can you hear me?"
Rainbow dug her hoof into her ear. "I think my grandkids heard you." From the way it kicked, the foal shared her sentiments.
Hopping back to Rainbow's front, Pinkie said, "I know! I got plenty of books I can read to it! Won't that be fun?"
Last time, Rainbow had said, "Sure, why not, we can have some storytime."
This time, Rainbow said, "Oh, uh, you don't need to do that. Rarity and I have been reading to it plenty."
"Oh, okay. I'll find something else to talk to her about!" Pinkie bounced away.
Rainbow glanced back at her belly. "Daring Do saves the day again."
Looking forward, Rainbow spied Twilight making her way towards the temporary wooden stage. On either side, the stage was flanked by large bushes, and enormous sunflowers grew behind it in a large elevated trench.
"Attention everypony!" Twilight called. "I am pleased to announce today's winners!"
Rainbow gave her full and undivided attention, stifling a chuckle.
Twilight reached the stage, ducking her head under one of the bushes. Her flower crown caught on one of the low-hanging branches. As the other end hooked around Twilight's horn, her head was pulled back. Twilight spun around in an effort to stabilize herself, but her rump smacked into one of the supports of the sunflower trench. Just as Twilight had freed herself and turned again towards the stage, the supports collapsed, sending their contents onto the stage and onto Twilight, completely burying her.
Rainbow Dash burst out laughing.
"Yes!" she shouted, rolling onto her back. "Just like that!"
Emerging from the mess, Twilight's head wore sunflower roots on top of her dirt blanket. A few other ponies laughed, but none as hard as Rainbow.
Rainbow's hooves kicked the air as she struggled to breathe between laughs. "That was... that was so worth the wait! It's even better than I remembered!"
Through blurred vision, Rainbow saw Twilight unearthing herself. "All right, everypony," Twilight said, "that was just a little accident."
Rainbow got to her feet and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I wish you coulda seen that, kid."
"Hopefully without any further interruptions," Twilight said with a quizzical glance towards Rainbow, "I'll announce today's winners."
Rainbow didn't pay any attention to the flowers. She had already won the grand prize.