“Okay,” Twilight began after settling down with a stack of recipe books on the sofa. Spike had just left for his play date, and she and Rainbow were beginning Day Two of their cooking experiments. “Now that we know thanks to Spike that ‘proofing’ dough means something other than what we originally thought, I think it’s safe to say that we can move on to another project. Especially as the last batch of rolls turned out rather well if I do say so myself.”
Rainbow Dash nodded while munching on one of the rolls. “It’s gotta be cool, though. I mean the rolls are good, but c’mon. They’re rolls. We need something that makes ponies stop and stare!” She was grinning and hovered several inches off the sofa due to excitement.
Twilight was dubious that mastering dinner rolls precluded the necessity to continue with a more basic program, but the deal she and Rainbow had worked out was that they would alternate choosing projects. As yesterday’s subject was Twilight’s decision, today would be Rainbow Dash’s. “But there aren’t any other ponies here, Dash, so why not just focus on mastering basics before we move to something spectacular?”
Immediately, the pegasus looked crestfallen. Her wings drooped, and she drifted back to her seat. Twilight was surprised to see her friend look as if she might cry. Rainbow Dash never cried.
“I dunno, Twi,” the pony said quietly. “I just wanna do something neat.”
The cyan pegasus was being so unlike the usual Rainbow that Twilight didn’t have an immediate response. She put a comforting hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder and with as much reassuring cheer she could muster said, “Sure thing! Why not be ambitious? It’s still early in the process, so if it doesn’t work out, we’ll just scale it back, right?”
Rainbow surprised her with a strong hug. “Yeah! That’s the spirit!” She immediately dived into the cookbooks looking for something appropriately awesome.
This didn’t ease Twilight’s worry, though. Something had been off with Dash for several weeks at least. Perhaps Twilight had been too preoccupied with her studies, or simply not observant enough, but she was becoming increasingly worried; however, she was also highly aware that Dash could be especially prickly when confronted of late. Twilight reasoned she would need to be as careful and as subtle as possible discussing whatever was going on with the pegasus, assuming Rainbow even realized she was acting out of sorts. It was the least she could do, she felt, as Rainbow had been so wonderful yesterday when Twilight had opened up to her.
Twilight watched Rainbow flipping through the pages of the books and discarding them almost as quickly. She had no idea what the pegasus would settle on, but she found herself eager to see. She smiled thinking about how enthusiastic and trusting Rainbow Dash was. Twilight truly admired her. Dash had now settled on a book and was turning the pages at a much slower rate. It was interesting watching her read. Twilight handled books so differently, with a delicate deference, but Rainbow’s eagerness was pleasing to her. She felt a bit of an emotional twinge at that moment while sitting on the sofa watching Rainbow. She was worried for Dash, but was also truly enjoying this time. Before she could dwell on it further, Rainbow Dash flew into the air triumphantly.
“Got it!” the pegasus cried holding the cookbook above her head and doing a midair pirouette. She zoomed down and sat beside Twilight. The unicorn could feel the heat of excitement from Rainbow Dash’s body now that she was close. She smiled again as this was the usual Rainbow Dash she knew and loved.
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
“Bananas Celestia!” Rainbow answered with a wide grin handing the cookbook to the lavender unicorn.
Twilight took the book offered from Dash and skimmed the recipe. Dessert named in honor of the sun princess... bananas... ice cream... caramel sauce... flambé tableside to the delight of your guests... Flambé? Alarm bells went off in Twilight’s head. “Um, Rainbow?” She asked with hesitation.
The pegasus narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, Twi?”
“You do realize we have to flambé the dish?”
Rainbow tilted her head. “That means ‘set it on fire,’ right? It’s not a trick word like ‘proof’ is it?”
Twilight nodded as her hope dwindled that Rainbow simply didn’t fully comprehend the inherent dangers of purposefully lighting food on fire inside a house made out of a living tree.
“Yeah!” Rainbow responded throwing a leg around Twilight’s shoulders and leading her in the direction of the kitchen. Perhaps the cyan pegasus’ enthusiasm was infectious as the unicorn didn’t seem to mind so much setting a fire in her own home containing several hundred beloved books as Rainbow walked with her squeezing her shoulder in a most reassuring manner. “You’ll see! Everypony will look at our awesome dessert and go ‘Whoa! That’s like the coolest dessert of all time!’ We’ll be the hit of the picnic!”
“Okay, Dash! Let’s do this!”
The enthusiasm was short-lived. They had decided to forego making the ice cream from scratch this time as Twilight argued that would make this two projects, deciding instead to use Spike’s ice cream reserves along with bananas from the pantry. That left only the sauce to make. Looking over the recipe, it seemed fairly straightforward, but this proved not to be the case. The first attempt ended with the caramel sauce far too runny. Then it was so thick that after a few stirs, the spoon wouldn’t move, nor could it be removed. The third attempt ended with a multitude of small sugar lumps stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Twilight could almost feel the palpable waves of frustration emanating from the pegasus. “Dash, why don’t we take a break for a second and give this another try in a few minutes?” she asked hoping to head off a meltdown.
Dash stared grimly at the several failed caramel sauce attempts littering the kitchen. She nodded and wordlessly stomped out of the kitchen. Twilight quickly joined her.
“Are you okay, Dash?” the unicorn asked once her friend had settled on the couch with her front hooves crossed and a grumpy expression fixed on her face.
Rainbow sighed loudly. “Yeah. Just annoyed. I like stuff working the first time.”
Twilight was puzzled. “You were so patient with me yesterday when I was ready to give up. Has something changed?” She was scared that maybe Rainbow Dash didn’t want to cook with her any longer. Had she been too emotional yesterday? Had she managed to mess things up without even realizing?
“Nah,” Rainbow answered. For a second, Twilight was confused wondering if Dash had been able to read her mind and had responded to her unasked questions. She quickly realized that Dash was saying that nothing had changed. The pegasus continued, “I’ve always been better helping others get through stuff than I’ve been at not getting it right myself. My flight school instructors always told me I was way too hard on myself, but you know, Twilight? You don’t get awesome by settling.”
“Sure, but we’ve only been trying to do this for a little under an hour.”
The pegasus shrugged. “You’re right. Want to give it another try?” She jumped up and began making her way to the kitchen.
Twilight let out a sigh. She supposed this was as much break as she could manage. Hopefully, Dash would be a little more forgiving if the next attempt didn’t work.
“Hey, Twi?” Rainbow called from the kitchen.
Twilight stood and made her way there as well. “Yes, Dash?”
“Got any more apples? I’m hungry again. Feeling a bit jittery, too.”
“Sure,” Twilight responded. As she entered the kitchen, she found Rainbow had already started heating the sugar mixture.
Rainbow immediately went into the pantry once Twilight arrived to get some fruit while Twilight began carefully stirring the sugar as it was starting to liquefy at the edges. She glanced at the counter to make sure the butter was ready to create the sauce and was pleased to see Rainbow had set it out in preparation.
Twilight realized that she was witnessing another instance of Dash’s odd recent appetite. She decided it was time to see if she could get to the bottom of the mystery. “I don’t mean to pry and tell me to mind my own business if you want—” She stopped unsure of how to proceed.
“Spit it out, Twilight,” Dash responded as she came out of the pantry eating an apple.
“Well, your mood has been a bit up and down lately, and you’re really hungry, at least when I’ve been around.”
Rainbow chewed and talked at the same time. “So?”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit odd?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Dunno. I don’t think about stuff. I just do stuff.”
Twilight gave a laugh. “If I didn’t know better, I might think you’re pregnant.”
Rainbow stopped chewing. Twilight was alarmed at how unnaturally pale the pegasus instantly became.
Twilight took Rainbow’s hoof in hers. “Are you okay? You’re as pale as a ghost.”
The pegasus didn’t answer.
“Rainbow? You aren’t... are you?” Twilight’s eyes were as wide as saucers. It had been an offhoof joke. Surely, Dash couldn’t be pregnant.
Rainbow only shrugged in answer.
“You might be?” Twilight squeaked out.
“Uh.”
“Well ,when was the last time you were—” The unicorn stopped, unsure of how to proceed. She fidgeted about while waiting on Rainbow to respond.
“Had sex, or had my time of the month?”
It was Twilight’s turn to go pale. “Either?” she asked hoping that her friend at least kept a basic schedule of her periods.
“A few weeks.”
“Which one?”
“Both I think.”
“You think?” The unicorn responded in shock. It wasn’t that she judged Rainbow’s seemingly very active dating life, but that not having every part of every single day organized and scheduled and entered into multiple lists with redundancies to catch irregularities and the occasional error was inconceivable to her.
“I don’t really keep track, you know?”
“Of either one?” Just contemplating a life lived without mapping out every detail of a pony’s day overwhelmed Twilight to the point of existential crisis.
Rainbow just shrugged again.
“And I thought worrying about a flambé setting the house on fire would be the highlight of my day,” Twilight quipped, trying to hide her nerves. “Should you go to the doctor?”
“I dunno. What would you do?”
“Me? I think we established yesterday this wasn’t really ever going to be an issue I would have to deal with.”
Rainbow nodded, not looking comforted. “Well, how about what would a pony do in general?”
“I suppose you go to the doctor and get tested.”
“Okay.”
“Do you want to go right now?”
“No.”
“Later?”
“Maybe.”
“When?”
“Maybe when I can breathe again, Twi. I hadn’t thought about this before you asked.”
Twilight nodded. “That’s a plan. Plans are good. I like plans. I’m happy to be a part of the planning process if you want. How about we go over the basics?” Despite how much she wanted to be strong for Rainbow, the unicorn could feel panic fraying the edges of her thoughts. She desperately hoped the pegasus would be willing to formulate some sort of plan; otherwise, chaos. That’s what life without plans ended up being. Chaos.
It was Rainbow’s turn to nod.
“Okay,” began the unicorn. “When was the last time you had... relations?” Good, she thought. One step at a time.
“Uh. A couple weeks ago, maybe?”
“Maybe?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. Precisely how a pony might not remember such an event escaped the unicorn.
“I was a bit drunk, but I think we... um... sealed the deal.”
“Oh.”
“By ’a bit drunk’ I mean I could barely remember my own name.”
Twilight could feel her anger rising.
It must have shown because Rainbow asked, “What? Are you mad at me? I mean it’s not like I do this all the time or anything."
“I’m not mad at you. I don’t think intimacy with other ponies is wrong on any level, but you were drunk. That means he took advantage of you.”
The pegasus snorted. “I was way better off than him. I had to carry him half the way to his apartment.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Um, do I know the father? I mean the potential father?” Twilight recovered quickly. She felt vaguely nauseous. She had no idea why the idea of Rainbow carrying somepony’s foal would cause her to feel this way, but frankly that was a matter for another time. What was important was making her friend feel secure and supported and loved.
“Er... I don’t think so. It was in Cloudsdale. Breeze something or something Breeze. I didn’t really catch his name. Maybe it was Wind instead of Breeze. Dunno.”
“What?” Twilight asked. Her voice came out as a high squeak. She coughed, trying to sound a little less like Pinkie Pie. “I take it you didn’t use any protection?” At least she sounded normal now.
“No, we did... but... “
“But?”
“Like I said, we were both plastered, but yeah we sorta used protection.”
“I’m confused.”
“Well, he made a hat out of it.”
“A what now?”
“A hat. Like a balloon animal hat... out of the... you know...”
Twilight stared at Dash slack jawed.
Rainbow shrugged again. “It was funny at the time, and he was hot, so we just sort of went with it. It was fun.”
“I need to sit down.”
“Me, too.”
They both walked wordlessly back to the sofa. For a few peaceful yet painful minutes, they sat quietly recovering.
Twilight broke the silence. “You should go to the doctor.” Firmness was the answer. Rainbow was frightened, so she needed a firm hoof to guide her. Twilight was very willing to be that hoof for the pegasus.
“I should.”
“Will you?”
Rainbow didn’t have the energy to pretend. “I don’t know.”
“Would you like me to go with you?” She had no idea if she wanted Dash to say yes or no.
“Would you?” Rainbow answered with a hopeful look at Twilight.
Twilight gripped the pegasus in a strong hug. She felt Dash let out a deep breath.
“Of course. Why not go now? Just get it over with?”
Rainbow whispered, “Okay. Sure we shouldn’t try and get the caramel right first?”
Twilight chuckled and gave her one last squeeze before releasing the pegasus. That was when she and Rainbow simultaneously realized that the caramel was still cooking on the stove. The black smoke billowing out of the kitchen indicated that wasn’t going so well. Both the unicorn and the pegasus sprinted toward the smoke hoping to at least prevent a complete disaster. Twilight opened a window and Rainbow removed the smoking pan from the heat and ran cold water over it. The smoke worsened at first, but Twilight used her magic to blow the smoke out the window. They were left with a blackened lump welded to the pan.
“Let’s put this on hold for now, and make that doctor’s visit,” Twilight declared.
* * *
The trip to the doctor’s office was pleasant. The sun was bright and warm, and if Twilight Sparkle tried hard enough, she could just feel like this was a nice stroll with a friend on any sunny summer day, not her taking her friend to visit a doctor to find out if she was having somepony else’s foal.
Arriving at the doctor’s office, Twilight sensed that Rainbow was ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. She put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder and smiled. “You know if you aren’t ready for this, we can put it off for a little while?” She wanted Dash to go to the doctor, but she wasn’t willing to completely panic her friend when a day might not matter in the grand scheme of things.
Rainbow shook her head. “Nah, it’s always better to just jump headfirst into things. That way you don’t spook yourself before you get going.”
Twilight didn’t think that was a universal premise, but decided now wasn’t the time for debating semantic logic.
Twilight opened the door, and they entered. In short order, Dash was checked in, and the two friends waited in silence until Dash’s name was called. Twilight briefly wondered if she should offer to go in with her, but Rainbow didn’t ask and was through the door with the nurse before the unicorn could work up the nerve. She settled on flipping through a vapid gossip magazine while she waited.
When Dash returned, the clock indicated only half an hour had passed, but it seemed like hours to Twilight. She cleared her throat and spoke to the obviously nervous pegasus. “So how long before the test results come in?”
Rainbow sat down beside her and answered quietly which bothered Twilight more than it should have. “She said to give her a few minutes. You unicorns and your magic,” Dash tried to joke before drifting into silence.
Twilight nodded and realized that Dash had taken her hoof and was squeezing it. She gave her best smile to the pegasus and settled down to wait.
A few more minutes passed before the door opened and the nurse poked her head out. “Rainbow Dash? If you’ll follow me.”
Dash didn’t move a muscle.
The nurse gave her a reassuring smile and asked, “Do you need a moment?”
Still no movement.
Twilight asked, “Would you like me to come with you?”
Rainbow gulped and nodded. Together the two friends walked to the nurse and were led to an empty examination room. The nurse told them the doctor would be along shortly and shut the door behind her as she left. They waited wordlessly. Twilight wanted to be reassuring. She wanted to do for Rainbow Dash what the pegasus had done for her the day prior, but she couldn’t find words at this particular moment. She wished she could be as good a friend as Rainbow. She settled for continuing to hold Dash’s hoof as a gesture of solidarity.
The doctor arrived with a chart in tow. “Thanks for waiting, Ms. Dash,” she said as she took the remaining seat in the room. She turned to Twilight asking, “Good afternoon, I’m Doctor Cart.”
Twilight shook her hoof and gave her name in return.
The doctor turned back to Rainbow. “I won’t keep you in suspense, but we need to discuss some important matters.”
Twilight gripped her friend’s hoof as she felt Rainbow tense up.
“To start, I need to let you know that you are not pregnant.”
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. But then why did the doctor need to discuss something important?
Dash had also relaxed. “Jeez, Doc. You had me going! I thought you were serious for a moment!”
The doctor coughed gently and looked at the pegasus with a kind but stern expression. “I apologize, Ms. Dash. I didn’t intend to give the wrong impression, but I am being serious. You aren’t pregnant; however, our tests did find an anomaly. I put the secondary blood sample through the test as well to confirm, which is why there was a longer-than-usual delay.” She paused to look at the chart before resuming. “I’m afraid I have to let you know that you have Type II Pegasus Diabetes.”
Twilight wasn’t familiar with that, but she knew it had to be bad because Rainbow was trembling.
Dash shook her head as if to deny the diagnosis, or just erase it completely. “No. Oh, no. No.” She closed her eyes and kept repeating “No.”
The doctor tried to talk to her. “I can see you’re familiar with the condition. I realize most pegasi have a lot of assumptions about this diagnosis and how it can impact your life. What I would like to do—”
She was interrupted by Rainbow jumping to her hooves. “The Wonderbolts,” she said in a shocked murmur, before quickly shouldering past the doctor and bolting out the door before either the doctor or Twilight could move.
“What?” Twilight asked confused. She looked at the doctor. “What’s going on?” The unicorn was torn by wanting to learn more about what her friend faced and wanting to chase after her.
The doctor looked at Twilight kindly. “It’s not a disease that affects unicorns or earth ponies. Pegasi are prone to it, but it’s still uncommon. Her body doesn’t process insulin correctly, and it can have a great impact on her physically. It also explains the mood swings she indicated as part of her symptoms as fluctuating blood sugar levels can easily cause fluctuations in mood.”
“But the Wonderbolts?” Twilight was still confused.
The doctor looked down at the ground, frowning. “Your friend is the local weather mare that wants to join the Wonderbolts, yes?” She looked back up at Twilight who could sense the pity behind her eyes.
Twilight nodded.
The doctor continued. “I’ve heard of her. She’s something of a celebrity around here since she comes into the hospital with crash-related injuries from time to time.” She paused briefly. “This particular condition makes extended athletic competition problematic. It’s quite possible that she won’t be allowed into the Wonderbolts. There used to be a great deal of prejudice in the pegasus community against ponies who have diabetes because rather unfortunately they were seen as disabled for not being able to contribute to traditional pegasus vocations, but it’s gotten much better for the most part as treatments have progressed and as ponies have learned to better accept others’ differences.”
Twilight didn’t know how to respond. She could only stare out the door through which Dash had fled.
She felt a hoof on her shoulder now. “Will you take the information packet to her? Also, please encourage her to make another appointment. I need to get her started on a treatment plan as soon as possible. Untreated this can be quite dangerous.”
The lavender unicorn nodded. She numbly took the packet and left, but Dash was nowhere to be seen.