The Element of Honesty
”I can’t wait for this morning sickness to go away,” Rarity said to herself, flushing her vomit down the toilet, which has been part of her morning routine for the past 8 weeks: every morning, she wakes up and rushes to the bathroom to vomit, then brushes and washes her mouth out while checking herself in her mirror. Although it’s only near the end of her first trimester, her stomach was already showing signs of her pregnancy.
After cleaning herself up in the shower and brushing her mane and tail, Rarity went down stairs to grab a little breakfast and ready herself for her doctor’s appointment. It’s quiet in the boutique, seeing as how Sweetie Belle is spending the weekend with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knocking on the front door.
“Now who could that be? It is Saturday, after all; most ponies would either be spending time with their families or sleeping in,” Rarity thought to herself as she opened the door with her magic. The white unicorn was greeted by the site of Applejack and Fluttershy.
Rarity smiled at them and said, “Why, hello, girls! What a wonderful surprise!”
“Hello, Rarity. Is it okay that we stopped by?” the pegasus said in her usual soft voice, “I didn’t know if you were still asleep or something, and I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Oh no, it’s quite alright, darlings; I was just headed to the hospital for my usual checkup,” replied Rarity sweetly, “I know, why don’t you two come along? If you aren’t busy, that is.”
“Oh, I’d love to Rarity,” Fluttershy replied simply.
“Well, Ah ain’t doin’ nothin’ till later, so why not?” Applejack said while adjusting her Stetson hat a little bit.
“Oh, how wonderful. Just let me lock up and we’ll be on our way!” Rarity said happily, not showing how truly glad she was to not be going the hospital alone for once.
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This checkup was one of the few short ones Rarity had: Dr. Feelgood simply wanted to make sure the baby was developing alright, and that both the baby and Rarity were healthy and fine.
Then the unicorn had an idea. “Applejack, Fluttershy, what would you ladies say to having lunch together? My treat,” Rarity asked, hoping to have an excuse to be out of her shop. Usually, she didn’t mind staying in; it gave her the chance to finish any dresses or projects. But lately, she’s been feeling lonely and hasn’t really had the energy to work on anything.
Fluttershy responded somewhat hesitantly. “Oh, umm, I would love to Rarity, but I have to go check on my animals, a-and I promised Rainbow I’d go watch her practice. I-I’m really sorry.”
The fashionista’s mood dropped a little bit. Slightly depressed, she told Fluttershy that it was alright while waving to the departing mare. She then turned to Applejack and asked, half-hopeful, “What about you, darling?”
“Well, I do have work to do on the farm,” the farmpony began to say, but then, noticing the look on her friend’s face, she added, “but what they hay; I’d love to, Rare.”
“Oh, how wonderful! And where would you like to go?” Rarity asked, trying not to prance about with joy that she finally gets to spend time with one of her friends.
“Well I don’t know.” Applejack took a look around them. She noticed a small café a little ways away and pointed at it. “How ‘bout over there?”
“Very well then, let’s go!” Rarity said while starting to trot towards it.
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Near the end of their meal, Applejack noticed Rarity was starting to become slightly depressed and wasn’t as talkative as she was earlier. Concerned, she asked, “what’s wrong there, sugarcube?”
Rarity snapped out of her slight trance. “What? Oh, nothing’s wrong,” she stammered, “why would anything be wrong, darling?”
“Because usually ya can’t go five minutes without talking about fashion or styles or other fancy-shmancy stuff,” Applejack replied bluntly, “fer the past 20 minutes, y’all’ve just been sittin’ there and starin’ off ta space. So, Ah’ll ask again, what’s on yer mind?”
“Well,” the unicorn sighed a little and placed a hoof gently on her belly as she continued, “I was just thinking about all that’s been happening for the past 3 months, and... I’m kind of.. scared.” She said the last part kind of quietly, but Applejack still heard it.
“About what?”
“About a lot of things, but mainly about the baby’s father and if I’d be a good enough mother for it.” Rarity saddened a little bit and looked back down at her empty plate.
Applejack got a small grin and walked up next Rarity and sat down. Putting a comforting arm around her friend, Applejack looked at her and said, “look here, Sugarcube, I may not completely know or understand how yer feeling, but what I do know is that ya shouldn’t be worryin’ ‘bout what kind’a mother ya’ll be.”
The white unicorn sighed. “But, what if the baby doesn’t like me, or I’m too tough on it, or not tough enough. What if I don’t spend enough time with it and it becomes unruly and resentful, or worse..”
The blonde Earth Pony nuzzled her friend and hugged her. “Ya can’t be worryin’ bout the ‘what ifs.’ Right now ya’ll should be worryin’ ‘bout just makin’ sure you and your baby stay healthy an’ strong. But, if you every have any doubts, ya just need ta remember one thing.”
“What is that?” Rarity asked, looking at her friend.
“You’re the Element of Generosity; it’s in your nature. And ya also got us, yer friends. We’d all love ta help ya if ya asked fer it.”
Rarity’s eyes started sparkling from the buildup of tears. “Thank you Applejack.” she simply said, giving her friend a hug.
“Anytime Sugarcube,” Applejack assured in return. She then noticed what time it was and said, “shoot, Ah gotta get back ta the farm now. Take care, Rare!”
“I will; you do the same. And again, thanks.”
The two ponies gave each other another hug, and then went their separate ways. On the way to her boutique, Rarity couldn’t get past the feeling like she was being watched. She kept looking around her, but all she saw were ponies walking around, talking with each other or trying to buy things. What she didn’t know was how right her gut was; she was simply looking in the wrong direction, for up in the clouds, a pair of bloodshot, crimson eyes watched her. And the look they contained was a mixture of lust for the beautiful white pony, and despise for how the same pony treated him the last time they met.