//------------------------------// // A Pregnant Silence // Story: The Sunshine Chronicles // by TwilightUCrazy //------------------------------// Rarity sighed exhaustively and stretched her back as she slouched back into her seat. The train rocked and swayed back and forth in a hypnotizing motion, as though a cradle rocketing along at sixty miles an hour. "Ah, the thought of home…” the fashionista sighed. “I always wonder whenever I go to Canterlot why in Equestria I would ever want to leave. And then there are moments just like these to remind me. Hopefully Opalescence and Sweetie Belle weren't too bored without me.” Fluttershy yawned in reply. “I can’t wait to see Angel-bunny. I hope he and Spike got along today.” “I can’t wait to see Gummy! I just hope he didn’t get into the sugar again. He gets hyper if he eats too many sweets.” Applejack heard none of her this as she leaned against Rainbow Dash. The pair sat quietly by themselves on a nearby bench, the conversations and activity around them long having faded into the background. The train car may as well have been empty except for the two of them. They leaned against each other, eyes closed, oblivious to the rest of the dark, moonlit world as it flashed by on either side of them. The earth pony's eyes peered out the flashing windows, out to the silvery fields illuminated by Luna's moonlight. Fireflies flitted between the reeds like speckled stardust, and Saddle Lake shown like an ocean of silver in the distance. She looked up to her mate. It would have been romantic if they had been alone. Rainbow looked down at her, giving a quick nuzzle after glimpsing around to make sure they wouldn't be noticed. A smile crossed Applejack's lips and she cuddled closer, enveloping the pegasus in her forelegs in spite of her wife's uncomfortable squirming. The pegasus bit her lip and wrapped her wing around her, an indigo color crossing her cheeks. “Sooo…” she said, “does this mean I’m out of the doghouse?” Applejack blinked obliviously. “Doghouse? What do you mean?” she asked suspiciously. "Y-y'know... f-for what happened earlier, and all that." A clueless moment passed for the earth pony. Rainbow's eyes crossed and she bit her lip. "Uhhh... n-never mind." Applejack's brow wrinkled, then smoothed over with realization. A smirk adorned her lips, giving her cheeks their distinctive dimples. "The fashion nonsense?" Rainbow winced and chuckled nervously. Applejack felt her gulp. “Y-yeah… that.” Applejack shrugged. “I dunno, sugarcube… that was a pretty lousy thing to get us dragged into. Sure made a right big mess of things, y'know? We nearly landed half the Royal Guard in the hospital. Not to mention I'm probably gonna have my face plastered all over every fashion magazine from Tall Tale to Neigh York City...” The pegasus pouted in that irresistible manner. "It wasn't all my fault, y'know..." The farmgirl frowned. "Come again?" "If I remember right, you were the one that dragged us backstage. “But…” she continued, snuggling closer, “ya did earn some brownie points, judgin’ from all the mumbo-jumbo Luna said…” Rainbow brightened. “Brownie points… brownie points are good. Everypony likes brownies.” Her wife grabbed her and hugged. She then paused, stroking her chin a moment and donning a sly smile. “B-but I’d prefer apple brown betty points…” she whispered into her ear. Applejack sat up and looked at her with a knowing smirk. “Flattery’ll get ya nowhere, sugarcube.” "I have no idea what you're talking about," her wife said with a broad grin. "Yeah, I bet you don't. All you think about anymore is when ya get yer next nookie." "Hey! That's not true! I think about a lot of stuff!" Applejack raised her eyebrow. Rainbow paused. She grinned. "In addition to nookie." The earth mare leaned against her wife and chuckled – slightly louder than she had intended to – prompting the pegasus to do the same. The duo settled into a lasting silence. Miles went by like ticks on the clock, and the pair got lost in the embrace of one another. The rest of the train car staring variably at them went unnoticed. By the time the silence between the two of them ended, the flickering golden lights of Ponyville shimmered on the horizon. Applejack looked up with a happy sigh, eyes weighed down by the time and exertion of wakefulness. Rainbow's pelt felt like a plush blanket against her thin coat, and the earth pony danced on the verge of sleep. "The kid's really working one over on ya, huh?" her mate whispered softly, stroking a hoof through her mane. Applejack yawned and breathed in, taking in the musky aroma of her wife's oily coat. "Just need somethin' to eat," she protested. "Then I'll be lit up like a firecracker." "Didn't you already eat a huge dinner at the palace?" She felt the soft grazing of feathers supporting her heavy-feeling body and keeping her upright. "It wasn't a huge dinner. It was normal-size..." Rainbow giggled. "Yeah... for a cow." "Hey!" "Sorry. Didn't mean to insult the cow..." Her mate winked playfully. Applejack blinked and scowled at her. "What's gotten into you? Are you askin' to be put back in the penalty box?" Blocking her wife's smack to her forehead, Rainbow's chuckling faded as she engulfed her in her hooves once again. "S-sorry... just... thoughts, y'know?" The earth mare's eyes softened. "Thinkin' about what, darlin'?" Her mate shifted uncomfortably. "About you... the baby. All the stuff that happened today. I... I dunno..." Rainbow looked at her, ears sagging. "Are you sure you wanted it to be me, AJ?" A pregnant silence settled between the two. Brushing her hoof down her wife's fuzzy chest, Applejack nuzzled against the soft cyan coat. The smell of fresh rainfall filled her nostrils. "I ain't sure what you mean, sugarcube. You were the one I said yes to, right?" "Y-yeah..." Applejack raised her ear, revealing a small gem glowing in a rainbow of colors. The apple-shaped ear piercing glittered in the soft light. "And you were the one who gave me this, too." She looked the pegasus in those magenta eyes of hers and leaned in to kiss her muzzle softly. Rainbow blushed, looking to make sure they hadn't been spotted. To her paranoid eye, somepony from Ponyville lurked in every shadow of the train car. "Well... I guess as long as you don't think I'm a complete screw-up..." "You ain't seriously gonna let that mess in Canterlot get ya down, are ya?" Applejack asked with a chuckle. Rainbow fidgeted. "Hey... if I bucked up there... what if I buck things up with... well... y'know...?" Applejack's expression mellowed. "Sweetheart, it's okay. I'm gonna be right there beside ya the whole way. Don't get all panicky on me now." The pegasus glared. "I'm not getting panicky!" Rainbow blushed and lowered her voice. "But... what if I'm no good at, AJ? What if I can't do this... this parenting thing? What if I completely screw up everything and our kid winds up hating me, or something? W-what if–" Applejack interrupted. "Darlin'... if life's taught me one thing since I met you and Twilight and the girls, it's that life's nothin' but a bunch of 'what-ifs' strung together. If ya go and keep wonderin' all about the 'what-ifs', then yer never gonna have the time to find out the answer." Rainbow blinked at her. The earth pony grinned inwardly at her wife's ever-amusing cluelessness. "I'm sayin' it's way too early to start worryin' about the future already, sugarcube. Let's just let it take care of itself for now..." She pressed her head up in the space between her mate's jawline and her neck. "Let's you and me focus on how we're havin' a baby. Together. Let's focus on bein' happy about that." The pegasus averted her eyes and wrapped her up in the soft texture of her cyan wings. "Y-yeah... g-guess I'm just making a big deal out of nothing, right?" Satisfied with her mate's answer, Applejack's eyes didn't see the lingering worry just beneath the surface, nor did she feel her anxious shifting. To her, the train was as serene as her foal's cradle as it whisked the pair gently home. Her thoughts returned to the distant cries of children and the warmth found in the promise of family. And Applejack smiled, blissfully unaware of Twilight's inquisitive stare as she drifted off to sleep.