Chapter 4. Unforeseen Side Effects
"Ugghh" groaned Rainbow Dash, waking up. It had been only a week after the party, and Rainbow Dash has started getting sick. She would find herself clutching her toilet every morning. The worst part was, it wasn't staying in the morning. She would feel just fine a few minutes later and then get sick again a few hours after that. The first morning, Rainbow Dash believed she had some sort of flu, and so called in sick for practice that week. But when she called in, Spitfire picked up the phone…
"Hello, Spitfire here" said the Wonderbolt Captain, professionally, and unaware that her best performer was on the line.
"Ugghh…Spitfire," Rainbow moaned out, "Spitfire, I don't think I can come in this week, I think I caught something at my party a week ago."
"Hhaaahaaahahaa!" laughed Spitfire on the other line. Rainbow groaned again, obviously not thinking her situation was funny, she loved being a Wonderbolt, and only thing that could keep her away from it was if she couldn't stay away from the cloud throne. "It's not funny!" Rainbow managed to yell to her coach.
"I'm sorry Rainbow, but I thought you were ready for this?"
"Wha-ready for what?"
"Why, this is part of having a foal. This is one of those…unforeseen side effects. It's called morning sickness. I'm sure one of those huge books that your friend gave you at least mentions it."
Actually, Rainbow had never even opened the books yet. She was so used to being fast at everything she did, she never even considered to open them yet, figuring she'd have enough time to when she took her mareturnity leave.
"Well, uh… I actually haven't read them yet" said Rainbow, sheepishly. She hated getting caught. "Also, this doesn't just stay in the morning and it comes at odd on/off bursts."
"Well you better start, because I'm sure those books would have told you that. And I'm sure you'll have plenty of time now that you'll be on mareturnity leave."
"Wait, no way! I am not going on mareturnity leave! I'm not ready. I can still practice, I can-blauugggh!" objected Rainbow before being cut off by another round of sickness.
"Uh huh, suuuure" said Spitfire, sarcastically. "You're going on mareturnity leave and that's final."
"Bu-"
"No buts. You won't be in any condition to practice for a while. And I can't have you puking all over my field. Sky can still come in though; at least he's not clutching his toilet."
"Cool, thanks for being such a good friend Spitfire. And by the way, Sky insisted on staying home with me today."
"He what? Tell him he better get his flank back here tomorrow or else. And don't be getting all mushy on me now. I'll still need you in fighting condition when you come back."
"Yeah, yeah sure. I don't know what came over me. See ya Spitfire!"
"Just read your books and you'll be fine" said Spitfire as she hung up the ear cup to the phone.
"Ugggghhhh, I feel terrible!" moaned Rainbow. Then she had a stroke of inspiration, "Hey Sky!"
"Yes my Dashie?" answered Sky, poking his head in the door.
"Hey, stretch out your wings. I have an idea"
Sky and Rainbow flew out of their house, with Rainbow in the lead.
Hey Dash, where're we going?" yelled Sky, over the rush of the wind in his ears.
"I have an idea! We're going to Zecoras'!" Rainbow yelled back.
"What?" Why?" yelled Sky.
"You'll see!" shouted Rainbow, as she went into a dive, just for the fun of it. This turned out to be a terrible idea, as she came out of a barrel roll, slightly green in the face.
"Are you all right?" said Sky, as he flew up next to his mate.
"Ugggghhhh…I won't be doing that again" moaned Rainbow, burping as she suppressed another sickness spell.
"How 'bout we lay off the barrel rolls for a while?" suggested Sky, as he smiled wryly.
"Yeah, I think so" said Rainbow slowly, trying to make sure she didn't vomit, which while flying would cause it to fly right back into her face.
At this point they had been over the Everfree Forest for a few minutes now. Eventually, Rainbow Dash noticed the familiar twisted tree that was a home for the zebra sorcerous.
"There!" said Rainbow, pointing downward at the gnarled tree. She then dove downward, much more carefully this time, and landed carefully on the ground next to Zecoras' tree hut, with Sky landing next to her a few moments later.
Knocking on the rough wooden door, the voice inside called back in a strange accent, "Hold on, I will be there in a flash!" Opening the door Zecora instantly put on a smile, and greeted, "Oh, it is you, Sky rocket and Rainbow Dash. Please, come into my hut. I was just cleaning my fireplace of the soot."
Sky Rocket had never actually visited Zecoras' home before, and found the place rather intriguing. Most of the walls were carved with large, wooden, and strangely carved and colored masks of all different shapes. While another wall had a jumble of different colored stones, odd plants, some of which were familiar and others that were alien to him. Underneath these shelves was a counter that held a number of different sized pots and cauldrons, with the largest cauldron sitting in the middle of the house, on top of a large soot pile that Zecora was clearly cleaning out. In the far corner was a bed with a quilt woven in a foreign pattern.
"So, my young lady, what can I do for you today?" inquired Zecora in her strange rhyming language.
"Zecora, I was hoping you possibly knew of a potion to help with morning sickness?'
"In my shop I have many a brew, this one I can do easily for you" said Zecora with an air of confidence that put a smile on both Rainbows' and Skys' face.
"Thank you, Zecora!" yelled Rainbow with excitement. As Zecora got working on the potion, something suddenly struck Rainbows' mind. "Uh, Sky?"
"Mmm?" responded the palomino, who was busy admiring Zecoras' decorations.
"Yeah, Spitfire pretty much ordered me to tell you that you're going back to practice tomorrow."
"But, I want to be there for you" objected Sky, who almost looked as if his feeling had been hurt.
"Yeah I know, but I can take care of myself" retorted Rainbow Dash in her usual air of confidence.
Looking for a way to change the conversation, Sky suddenly tried picking up conversation with Zecora. "So, Zecora. Where are you from?"
"Ah, the answer to that you will find…" started Zecora as she, Rainbow, and sky struck up a conversation while they waited for the brew to settle.
Eventually, the potion was done, and at a perfect rate. Scooping it a ladle full, Zecora took a quick sniff and announced, "My friends, you'll be delight, that the brew is now just right."
Looking into the cauldron, Rainbow gave a "yuck!" for inside the giant pot was a liquid that didn't look too different from the same liquids she had been expelling this morning.
"Hurk-" belched Rainbow as she rushed out the door. With the sound of splattering coming from outside the door, Sky knew that she just had another bought of sickness.
"Rainbow, my dear, you must drink some of this here" said Zecora with a ladle full of the disgusting brew.
"Fine" said the stubborn pegasus, as she walked slowly back into the house. Drinking some of the liquid, it surprised Rainbow that the brew didn't taste nearly as bad as it looked. In fact, it tasted strangely like Pinkies' special cupcakes.
Filling several large vials of the liquid, at least a months' worth in Rainbows' eyes, Zecora boxed the vials in two small boxes and gave one to Sky. She then turned to Rainbow, and said in her usual rhyme, "Take one in the morning and one at night, and soon you'll find everything to be right."
"Thank you, Zecora. This was really nice of you to do" said Sky as Zecora gave the second package to his mate.
As the zebra led the couple out the door, she gave a short farewell to the two. "Now, once you run out of your supply, do not hesitate to stop on by."
"Thanks, Zecora" said Rainbow, as she and Sky took off.
"Ooohhh, Skyyyy" moaned Rainbow Dash as she rolled off her mate after another steamy session. It had been two months since she started taking the potion Zecora gave her, and she had not had nearly as much sickness since.
"Um Sky?"
"Mhh?"
"I just kinda thought of something."
"And that is?"
"Well, I was just kinda thinking that perhaps we should stop doing it for a while, ya know until the foal is born?"
"Really? But you love this."
"Yeah, but the thought of doing it where somepony is now kinda living in there now, it kinda grosses me out."
"Yeah sure if you think so. Yeah, we'll stop…" sighed Sky as he finally fell asleep.
"Ahhhh, goodnight Sky…" yawned Rainbow, suddenly overcome with exhaustion.
The next morning, Rainbow awoke at her usual Wonderbolt training time. She had gotten so used to getting up at that time, she just never stopped. Plus she kinda didn't want to get out of practice. As she got out of bed, she found herself hungry, and smelled Sky already cooking breakfast downstairs. As she fluttered down the stairs, she found an array of toast, hash browns, and pancakes on the table. There was only one problem; she wasn't hungry for any of it. She was in the mood for something odd, something…exotic. "Uh, Sky?" injected Rainbow, with some hesitation. He had gone through all the trouble of making breakfast for her, and he still had to go to practice that morning.
"Yes Dashie?" hummed Sky. Sky had been especially cautious due to Rainbow having her mood swings lately. There was no telling what could set Rainbow off, and she'd get over it as easily as it came. Because of this, rather than reacting to Rainbows' outbursts like he normally would have, he decided to just accept it as so to not stress out the pony forming in Dashes' belly.
"I hate to do this to you, but I'm not hungry for any of this" spoke Rainbow, not sure how to make the statement.
"What? Then what are you hungry for?" said a befuddled Sky. "Uh-oh. I hope it's not this again."
"Um, honestly, I think I'd like a kumquat" said Rainbow, sheepishly and out of character for her.
"It is." Thought Sky Rocket In reality though, did not know what to say. Rainbow Dash had never turned down a big meal like this for something as arbitrary as some fruit.
"Are…are you sure about that?" asked Sky Rocket, not sure if his mate was just messing with him this time.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, it's just that I've never seen you turn down a ton of food like this for some fruit."
"I guess, I'm not in the mood for it all."
"Dashie, do you even know what a kumquat is?"
"Well, all I know is that it's a fruit."
"Well, I'm afraid I don't have much time for-" started Sky before he was cut off be a pleading look from Rainbow. "Fine" said Sky, defeated.
"Thanks" said dash, as she gave Sky a deep kiss.
Sky flew out the door, and flew to the market in Ponyville as fast as he could. It was imperative that he get this. Rainbow had been having weird cravings all week now, and the last time she had them she had him fly out to buy some kiwis in the middle of the night. He ended up having to raid the Apples' fruit garden, which he did not feel right about and so secretly left a pile of bits under the tree he took them from. Through all the trouble he went through getting them, Rainbow spat the piece she bit out as soon as the fuzzy brown food touched her tongue. Now she was making him get kumquats!
Arriving at the Ponyville market, he went up to the nearest fruit booth he saw, and found of all sellers, Apple Bloom.
"Well, howdy there Sky! Nice ta see ya thi s'mornin'!" greeted the apple farmer.
"Oh, hey Apple Bloom, say do you know where the nearest stand is that sells cumquats?" asked Sky, sweating in anxiety.
"Well, there's my cousins' stand over there," said Apple Bloom, pointing to a pony with the same fur color as Apple Bloom, but with curly orange hair who was running a fruit stand that seemed to be loaded with different kinds of oranges and other citrus. "I think she has some. But ya wanna hear sumthin' odd?"
"Uh, not right now Apple Bloom" said Sky, but Apple Bloom didn't seem to hear him.
"Well, Ah wen' out ta pick some fruit from the garden thi s'mornin' and Ah found some kiwis gone and a pile o' bits at the base of the trunk, hehe ain't that the funniest thing?"
"Yeah sure" said Sky, as he rushed over to the citrus stand Apple Bloom pointed out to him.
Arriving at the stand, he asked in exasperation, "Doyouhaveanykumquats?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that" spoke the pony.
"I said, 'do you have an-" Sky started restating, but stopped when he noticed who the pony was. "Hay, I know you, you're Golden Harvest" said Sky curiously. "I didn't know you were the Apples' cousin."
"These things happen" said Golden Harvest, a bit unimpressed.
"So, do you have any kumquats?" said Sky, a bit slower this time."
"Why yes, we do. They're half a bit each."
"Thanks" said Sky as he handed over three bits. He was a bit more certain that Rainbow would like these a lot better than she did the kiwis. Grabbing the bag full of the miniature orange-like fruits, he quickly flew back to his and Rainbows' cloud home. Arriving at the door, he quickly burst in, panting, "Here's…your…kumquats." Before slumping down to the ground.
"Ooohhh! Thanks Rock-it! But now I've also got a taste for some pomegranates too."
"Oh come on!" breathed Sky who was so tuckered out and already late for work.
"Sorry!" said Rainbow. They both knew she couldn't help it. And when he would get to practice that day he knew he'd get teased by all the other male team members. That day, the only one that gave him sympathy was Soarin, who had to go through mareturnal cravings with Spitfire when she was pregnant only four years prior.
This routine of random cravings went on for the next five months, along with the occasional especially explosive mareturnity sickness which not even Zecoras' special brew could hold back.
Finally, by the seventh month of Rainbows' pregnancy, things leveled out. She was pretty bulgy by now, and some of her friends even teased her with the possibility of twins, something she was not looking forward to after hearing the horror stories that Pinkie Pie told of when she had to babysit the Cake twins.
That day, Rainbow had another scheduled checkup with Nurse Redheart. She would be seeing if the third trimester was engaging correctly or something like that. What Rainbow was concerned with was that she and Sky could find out the gender of the foal and Sky and Rainbow would finally be able to start thinking of names. Sky was even able to get out of practice for the occasion.
Ponyville Hospital…
"So, Mrs. Dash, how are you and your little joy feeling today?" said a joyful Nurse Redheart.
"Oh we're doing fine. Thanks" said Rainbow as she laid in the table, slumped due to the lump in her belly. In truth, she was not fine. Sky had forced her to give up acrobatic flying until the baby was born. As expected, Rainbow was not at all happy about her "grounding" one bit. She could still fly of course, but she could no longer do tricks like she always liked.
"Good, good" replied the nurse.
"Well, there is one thing" said the pregnant pegasus.
"Yes?" asked Redheart, with worry clearly expressed in her voice.
"Well, Sky here grounded me from tricks" said Rainbow as she shot her mate a dirty look. This caused Sky to slink back and blush slightly while somewhere in the background, a sheep bleated.
"And I think that's a very good idea" said Nurse Redheart with the worry no longer in her voice. The white-furred nurse pony started with her stethoscope. She would pause every now and then to make a note on her clipboard and make an "M'hm" noise that made Rainbow and Sky more and more nervous with each second.
"Well, I have good news for you. It seems Rainbow has entered her third trimester just fine. Have you two thought of any names?"
"Well, no. We were waiting to learn the sex of the baby before we started thinking of names" stated Sky.
"Ah good. Well, I'll find that out for you now" said the Nurse as she pulled out a device that was glowing with magic. As Nurse Redheart waved the device over Rainbows lower abdomen, it made little chimey noises and slowly a symbol started to appear at the top. "Ah, here we are. So, would you like to hear the gender?"
"Yes!" "Yes please!" Sky and Rainbow said together. At that moment Nurse Redheart leaned into the couple and told them the two the gender.
"Ohh really! Awesome!" shouted Rainbow, who was then shushed by Nurse Redheart.
"Thank you, we're gonna get started on names right away!"
The two left the hospital chatting it up joyously. They had so much to talk about names, baby room colors, and even toy types; specific genders got specific types of toys. They were so excited they could hardly stop, as they flew off to their home.
A/N-Yes, that was a Cupcakes reference. So much as I despise that fic, i just couldn't help myself. And don't worry, I don know the name and gender of the baby. I'm not stalling, I just want to keep you guessing. You'll just have to read the next chapter to find out! HA! HA! HA! Also, I wanted to write up to Rainbows' water breaking, but seeing I already had written 8 pages on Word, I felt I had enough. Plus, I gotta give ya something to read other than the birth next chapter.