//------------------------------// // Chapter 21 // Story: Player Number Three // by Candy-Sweets_12 //------------------------------// Sweetie Belle stared at the ceiling above her, wondering about the future ahead of her. She thought about how different her life would be with a foal, and how much it had already changed. She continued to stare as the sunlight from the rising sun flooded the room. 'I wonder what my foal will look like.' Sweetie Belle thought. She didn't care what the gender would be, or what it would look like, it didn't mean she didn't wonder about it. She patted her stomach, still not too used to it being so big. The skin stretched as her foal; now clearly visible, grew each day. Her thoughts drifted to how close the deadline was, now only about seven weeks away. 'I just can't believe it.' She thought. She hardly left the house anymore, always wanting to lie down or usually found sleeping somewhere. She hardly ate anymore, barely able to fit a cupcake in her stomach anymore. She patted her stomach, her thoughts went to her trio to Manehattan, how her friends constantly wanted to touch and listen to her belly, always giggling and shrieking in joy whenever they felt a kick. Sweetie Belle didn't mind when her friends or family did it, they did it all the time actually, Sweetie Belle's dad especially. "I can't believe my little Sugar Belle's all grown up." He had said once he saw her the day before. Wiping a tear away from his eyes as the others flowed to his gray streaked mustache. "Oh Dad." Sweetie Belle replied, having to comfort him and hug him to stop him from balling his eyes out. Sweetie Belle felt differently towards other ponies, whenever strangers came up to her, or fans, she always felt awkward whenever they did, ignoring their gossip with their nearby friends, or having to say no at times when she was in a hurry. She giggled an event that occurred in Manehattan, when a group of friends came over to them while they were walking freely, wanting autographs and to take pictures with the trio. It took a lot of effort for Scootaloo not to snap at them, but it was completely obvious to the group, with her big cheesy grin and all. 'Just wait until my foal's born.' She thought. At this, she froze. 'When it's born. I haven't come up with any birth plan! I can give birth at any moment-I' She rushed out of bed as fast as she could, nearly sprinting down the stairs as she passed Button, who was working away at character designs. "Where are you going?" He asked. "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and realized that we haven't come up with a birth plan. I can give birth at any time between now and the deadline, and we won't be even a little prepared for when it happens. I'm going to ask Rarity for help, since according to Twilight, handled the labor the best next to Fluttershy and herself." She spat out, in a rush as she pace in place. "You have a good point." Button agreed. "You want me to come?" "No, you can stay, I'll write notes." She said, summoning a notebook and pencil jokingly. "You want to eat anything then?" He asked. "No, I'll eat when I come back, I won't be gone for long." Sweetie Belle said before parading at a much slower pace than her burst of energy before. She trotted through the late summer morning, seeing a light yellow leaf on the path every once in a while as she slowed down from her speeding trot to a slow walk. 'Maybe I'm overthinking this, how can anyone be prepared for a labor if it can happen at any time? Maybe I should go back home, Button looked rather worried back there. But I've come too far, and I want to make sure I don't mess anything up with this, I don't want to freak out when my water breaks. But maybe I should-' She tilted her head upwards, where her furrowed brow unfolded and she found herself in Rarity's house, turning around to see Fancy Pants by the door with a knowing look on his face. "I'm assuming you're here to see your sister?" He asked. Sweetie Belle stood taller and blushed, nodding her head. "I'll go get her dearie." The stallion said before disappearing behind the door to a room, where a lot of noise Sweetie Belle hadn't noticed before came from. There was a brief silence before Rarity came out, her smile shining as bright as the sweat on her brow, her red glasses perched on the bridge of her nose as she trotted out of them, her mane not as well kept as it had been a few days before. "Am I interrupting something?" Sweetie Belle said aloud, backing away a bit towards the closed door she entered. "Not all, come, come, I'll make us some tea!" She said pushing her sister into the other room, not before closing the door to the room where a bunch unfinished attire sat. "So what's bothering you Sweetie Belle?" Rarity asked, pouring hot water into a tea cup and adding honey to her sisters. Sweetie Belle smiled at the kind gesture, remembering the days they would spend together when they were younger. Blowing on it, Rarity gave the cup to her sister, waiting patiently for her to start. "Well, I've been thinking about my last miscarriage," Rarity froze, seeing it was a lot more serious than she thought. She turned her head and closed the door with her magic. "Go on dear." She said. "Well, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I know that my foal can come at any time, it's happened before, it' just, I want to be as prepared as possible so that nothing will go wrong." Sweetie Belle said, her tea quietly awaiting for Rarity to say something. "Well Sweetie Belle, my main suggestion would be for you to try to be as calm as possible once your water breaks, and to stay relaxed until your foal's delivered.Though that's difficult for first time moms. Not to mention that could take sometime between twenty minutes to days." Sweetie Belle swallowed a lump forming in her throat. "Though, I should tell you that early births is a common thing in the family." Rarity said. "They are?" "Yes, in fact, mother delivered both of us at most three weeks before the due date, and I delivered both of my children two weeks before the due date. And when you were in the hospital for..." Rarity cleared her throat "Mother pulled me to the side to say that it is known for a miscarriage to happen in the family on her side every generation or so. She decided it was best that you weren't told yet until you ever asked about it. But since she and father are visiting grandmother, well here we are." Rarity said, gesturing to the table in the middle. 'This explains so much!' Sweetie Belle thought to herself. 'I'm glad that I came here.' "Thank you Rarity for letting me know. I still have a few questions though." Sweetie Belle replied. "And what might those be?" The older equine asked, drinking her tea primly. "When do you know you're going to go into labor?" "Honestly, it happened out of nowhere, I was just walking through the house and felt water trickle down my legs, the first time, I was embarrassed about it and cleaned it up, but that's when I felt the contractions, and I knew my water broke then." The mare blushed at her sister, who showed no signs of humor on her face, but instead curiosity. "Fancy Pants rushed me over to the hospital, and I can't lie Sweetie Belle, it was dreadful." The mare said. Sweetie Belle nodded knowingly. "I know it will be painful, but do you have any tips so that it can go as smoothly as possible?" "Well, no matter what, you want to make sure you stay calm. Freaking out will just stress you, and your emotions will only get worse. And we don't want a remake of what happened to my brother-in-law a few years ago to happen to Button." It was Sweetie Belle's turn to blush now, making her sister crack a smile. "Anything else?" The pink and purple maned equine asked, leaning in a bit too close to Rarity, making her sister worry that she would fall out of the chair. "Well, for one thing, you should do something calming. Like writing in your song book, or walking around the room whenever you get your contractions." Rarity suggested. "I was, what else, sewing and knitting." "Oh yeah, you were able to finish that dress you had for the wedding quicker than expected." Sweetie Belle said, Rarity shrugged. "And baby clothes mind you." The two giggled. It was the first time in months that Sweetie Belle really laughed now that she knew the truth. "Oh, yes, be sure to sleep whenever you can, and I wouldn't eat anything with ranch unless you're baby ends up overdue." "How come?" "Well, mother said that when her mother ate a salad with ranch, her water immediately broke at a restaurant. And she doesn't want us to take any chances." "How does that work?" Rarity shrugged. again, causing the two to erupt into laughter again. "But make sure Button's with you the whole time. I was most calm whenever Fancy Pants was with me, and I'm positive that he'll help you." Rarity beamed at her sister, her glasses gleaming in the early morning sunlight that flooded the room. "How do you know when they're contractions you're feeling?" "You'll feel a tightening on your stomach and back, and the frequency will only become more rapid as time passes. Not to mention you'll feel pain in your back and legs." Rarity said. "Ok, thank you Rarity." Sweetie Belle said, standing from the table. "Oh! Before I forget," Rarity summoned a large box and set it on the table, a blue aura still wrapped around it even when her horn was no longer lit. "Wha spell are you casting?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I'm making sure you don't open it on you're way home, this is for you and you're friends. Could you give the right items to them please?" Sweetie Belle nodded. "Thanks Rarity." She said, lifting the heavy box easily with her magic, leaving the room as her sister followed. "You're always welcome Sweetie Belle." She said, waving from the front door. Sweetie Belle smiled at her, heading towards home with the box. Apple Bloom's ears perked up once she heard a knock at her door. setting down her book, she walked to the door where an anxious Sweetie Belle stood with a box enveloped in blue and green magic. "Hey Sweetie Belle, what'cha got there?" She asked, pointing a hoof to the box. "Rarity gave this to me yesterday, I have a feeling it's baby clothes, but she wanted Scootaloo to see it too. I called for her to come over. She's on her way." Apple Bloom moved to the side, allowing Sweetie Belle to set the box down on the dinning table in front of her. "Where's Pipsqueak?" Sweetie Belle asked curiously. "Oh, he's off buying me some more art supplies, and baby things." She explained, plopping down in a chair. Sweetie Belle sat next to her, helping herself to an apple from the fruit bowl, enjoying the scent of apple blossoms that wafted through the house. She knew Apple Bloom wouldn't mind what she was eating, after all, whenever she came over to her house, she either let herself in, devoured half of the sweets when she and Scootaloo would visit, or be found asleep on the couch on days she wanted to get off of the farm. They heard a knock on the door, Sweetie Belle wordlessly opened it with her magic, chewing the apple as Scootaloo stepped in. "Hey guys, what's the big deal?" "Rarity sewed us some baby clothes, we wanted to look at them with you." Apple Bloom explained while Sweetie Belle nodded. "Ok then, let's crack this thing open. She sat with them at the table and the blue aura faded away, making Apple Bloom open the box to reveal an array of clothing with unique designs. Scootaloo lifted up a pinkish purple garment with lighting light purple lighting bolts on the sides, coming from the holes for the wings. Underneath it was a blue outfit with yellow in the pattern of lighting bolts were sewn together, looking identical to a Wonderbolts costume. Underneath were light orange jumpers along purple baby clothing with dark gray streaks in the middle in a lighting bolt pattern. Apple Bloom picked up an Autumn orange jumper, and another one had green on it that resembled leaves, she even found a yellow and orange one coved in red spots, and another one light yellow with a pink bow sewn on it. Small apple designs were sewn on in a precise pattern on several. Sweetie Belle opened her to reveal light pink, purple, light and regular orange, and emerald green ones, four having several notes on them, while the other ones had what looked like pixelated swords and gems on them. "These, are..." Scootaloo said, letting the clothing speak for itself. They were beautiful, and it didn't take a genius to see how much time and effort went into each article of clothing, especially the ones which ranged from darkest to lightest. Apple Bloom gave a little tug on one of the garments, quickly noticing the stretchable garment. Sweetie Belle looked back into the box, noticing a note at the bottom. "Dear Sweetie Belle I hope you like these, they may not be my best, but I spent a lot of time on these to make them as perfect for my sister and her friends. I made them with stretchable material, and made them with a comfortable material so that it will fit your, and your friends foals. I know that you three are worried about them considering what has happened in the past, but I'm sure that once they come, that it'll fit them well, and that they'll be happy with them. With Love, Your Sister, -Rarity" Sweetie Belle smiled warmly at the letter, hugging it closely to her chest. Glad that her sister was confident in her and her friends.