//------------------------------// // Hasty Solutions Lead to Awkward Situations // Story: Even Rainbows Fade // by Pracca //------------------------------// Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Like a fog lifting from a cold, wet morning, Rainbow Dash slowly felt her consciousness returning. She was… in bed. Right. But how did she get there? She remembered the party at Pinkie’s place, but not much of anything else. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. And what was that noise? Was it her heart? Or maybe— THUMP THUMP. “Owww…” It was her head. How much cider had she been drinking last night? Truth be told, she didn’t really care to remember. One of her eyes lazily let itself drift open, and catch a glimpse of the world outside her own aching skull. The sun was peeking in through the window; at least she’d gotten some decent sleep. The feel of the soft, warm bed brought a smile to her lips as she re-adjusted her hoof around her wife. Or, rather, she tried to. It had been seven years, and that was plenty of time for the pegasus to get used to the feel of that plump purple mare’s body lying next to hers; today, she wasn’t there. “Twi?” Rainbow Dash lifted herself up and looked around a bit. Sure enough, Twilight was nowhere to be seen; she was all alone in their room. That worried Dash more than a little; as much as she might have loathed it, there was a strict schedule to the mornings, and Twilight NEVER woke up before her. At the very least, she’d have woken her up too. Normally, Dash would’ve been grateful for the extra sleep, but right now all breaking the schedule did was let her know that something was very wrong with her beloved. She shot out of bed like a rocket, and if she ever brushed her mane she would have forgotten to do it that morning, and she came down into the main room, where Twilight’s little dragon helper was already at work. “Spike!” Rainbow called out as she trotted out into the center of the room. “Any sign of Twi? She got up before me, but she didn’t leave a note, or a list like she usually does.” “Oh!” The little dragon replied, leaning back from his ladder. “Right, she headed out about an hour ago, but you might wanna watch out, becau—w-WHOA!” The assistant librarian had neglected to watch his foot, and slipped when his balance shifted. The entire stack of books he’d been carrying came down with him into a grand pile arrayed at Rainbow’s hooves. Spike rubbed his head and wobbled a bit in the process of standing. The weatherpony took that opportunity to appreciate how much larger the former hatchling had gotten. He stood nearly up to her shoulder, and his plump body had started to thin out a little around his legs. Rarity couldn’t be calling him “little Spikey-wikey” much longer. “Aaaaanyways,” Spike continued, pushing the books away with his foot to remove the embarrassing moment from memory. “I saw her heading out for the market about an hour ago; but, she looked really down, y’know? I tried talking to her, but she kind of snapped at me.” “Snapped?” Rainbow asked, dreading the thought of confronting her wife in one of her “moods”. “She took away my moustache from the party last night…” Rainbow Dash couldn’t keep up a straight face for more than a second after that one. Her entire torso shook and convulsed as she laughed at the top of her lungs, falling onto her back and rolling around as Spike tried to recover his dignity with various protests. They fell on deaf ears, though, and the pegasus couldn’t feel anything but relief. It couldn’t be that bad if Twilight still had what little humor she had about her. It took a while, but she finally calmed down and got back on her hooves. “Oh-ho, wow… thanks, Spike, I really needed that.” “But I’m being serious!” Rainbow stifled another giggle and moved for the door. “No, seriously, stop! I’m gonna die if I do that again.” She opened the door and trotted out. “I’m gonna go find Twi, okay? See ya!” The door slammed shut, leaving Spike standing alone in the library shaking his head. “Well,” he said with a sigh. “I tried to warn her…” Rainbow Dash soared through the sky, her wings carrying her as effortlessly as a leaf on the wind. Ponyville moved underneath her like waves, going by so fast she could hardly make it out. She had really come to cherish those morning flights; being married to a grounded pony made it seem kind of rude to be flying up in the clouds all the time. But a pegasus—and an aspiring Wonderbolt at that? No way they’d give up their freedom entirely, so the blue mare had compromised: Fly when alone, walk when with Twilight; and since she was only searching for Twilight, and not actually with her, it was fly-time. That little taste of wind was far too short for her tastes; over at the local sandwich shop, a distinctive purple unicorn was sitting at a table; and all by herself, at that. A perfect opportunity, Rainbow thought, for a charming mare like herself to swoop in. A rainbow trail cut through the air, and ended as she neatly landed in the cushion next to her wife while sporting the most horrid attempt at an alluring grin anypony had ever witnessed. If Twilight noticed her, she didn’t speak up. The unicorn’s expression was something between irritated and sleepy, staring down at the drink she’d ordered with no signs of movement. Dash paused, and sighed internally; she’d have to make the first move. Again. “So, uh… hey.” she said, still using that awful grin. “Hi, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said back, in her lowest droll. Dash bit her lip, and decided to lay on an extra helping of cheese to her horrid acting; Twilight might actually have been depressed about something. “So, yeah, I woke up this morning all alone. Kinda weird, don’t ya think?” She wrapped a hoof around Twilight’s neck and dragged herself a bit closer. “I mean, there wasn’t even a chore list or anything left for me; have I earned myself a break day, or what?” “Oh. No.” Twilight told her, still not looking up. “I just didn’t really feel like digging out the schedule today.” Rainbow’s heart sped up a bit as her panic mode set in. She grabbed her wife’s face and, a bit more forcefully than she’d meant, pulled it up to look her in the eye. “Twi, you always feel like digging out the schedule. What’s wrong?” Twilight sighed, and tried to pull away. “It’s nothing that you need to concern yourself with, Dash. Don’t get worried over me.” “Uhhh, hello? I’m your wife. It’s kinda my job to worry about you.” Rainbow tried her best at an actual smile, and gave Twilight a peck on the nose. “Now tell me what’s up.” Twilight sighed and shrugged, almost like she was embarrassed to talk about it. After a moment’s pause, she pointed a hoof out to the other side of the market. Rainbow’s eyes followed the hoof, and saw Fluttershy. But not just her; specifically, the foal with her. A little brown colt, just beginning to test out its new wings, was flitting about behind the yellow mare and tugging at her tail with its toothless mouth. The young mother looked back at her little charge and laughed, flicking her tail to send him up over her and onto her back. It had only been a few weeks since Fluttershy and Caramel had had their first foal, and she’d just gotten out of the hospital with him yesterday. In fact, that was why Pinkie had thrown last night’s party. As the mother and her foal walked away, Rainbow felt a cold sweat starting up. “Y-you’re… you’re jealous of Fluttershy and Caramel, aren’t you?” Twilight nodded. “Yeah. That.” She pointed again at the foal for emphasis. “That’s the one thing we can never have, Dash.” What?! Rainbow Dash’s mind nearly imploded processing that. Twilight wanted foals? “I-I-but,” Rainbow stammered. “if you wanted foals, then why did you—“ Twilight shook her head and placed a hoof over Rainbow Dash’s mouth. “Dash, please, don’t get me wrong. I love you, and I’m happy with you. But this has only been reality for me for a few years. I’ve had my whole life to think about being a mother. I’ll get over this, I’ll… I’ll just need a little time.” An icepick, or its metaphorical equivalent drove through Rainbow Dash’s chest as she saw the pitiful flicker in Twilight’s eyes as she returned her eyes to her drink. This was bad. She needed to think this through. Dash pondered it all as quickly as her thoughts permitted. She was awesome at a lot, and she meant a lot of things; but being a mom? That had never really been on her to-do list. She’d probably get a poor little thing like that killed! Plus, all the responsibility would pretty much ruin her chances of being a Wonderbolt. She sighed, and grunted, frustrated. Her dreams meant everything to her; but it wasn’t even worth weighing, Twilight meant more. OK, she could do this. If Twilight wanted to have a foal, then Rainbow would figure it out. The pegasus, still sitting next to Twilight, slammed a hoof onto the table. “Okay.” she began. She took a deep breath; she could do this. “I’m not sure if this is such a good idea or not; but, during my last hospital trip I overheard a few of the nurses talking. They’ve got this… this ‘surrogate’ thing, where if you find a stallion to, uh, ‘donate’, they can handle the rest.” The purple mare stared at her, almost aghast. Apparently she knew of the procedure already. “Dash, I—I appreciate the thought, but I couldn’t ask you to do that!” “Then don’t!” Rainbow replied. “If we’re doing this, then that deal’s on you! But, if it is what you want, I’ll… I’ll condone it.” A brief moment of hesitation was followed by Twilight’s eyes lighting up as the possibility of a dream she’d given up on suddenly returned. She nearly broke Rainbow’s back squeezing her in the tightest hug her legs could manage. “Oh my gosh, I love you so much, Dashie! You have no idea how much this means to me!” “I--*ack*--think I can measure it in pounds per square inch!” Twilight realized she was crushing Rainbow, and let her wife go with a guilty bit of laughter to herself. Rainbow returned the sentiment, while covertly rubbing the sore spots on her back. As that little moment died down, though, Twilight’s eyes glazed over as a horrible prospect occurred. “Oh, Celestia. We have to find a surrogate to do this.” A short rapping on the door of Applejack’s home caught the farmpony’s attention. “Ah’ll get it!” she shouted to the ruckus going on in the next room over, and quickly trotted over to the door. When she swung it open, Rainbow Dash and Twilight were waiting for her and wearing very curious expressions. “Well, howdy lovebirds!” AJ exclaimed, moving aside to let the mares inside. They quickly walked in, and Applejack shut the door behind them. “What brings y’all out here so early? Figured you’d be sleepin’ off that cider, Rainbow.” “Uh, yeah…” Rainbow trailed off as Applejack led them into the living room. Currently, it was assembled into a simple arrangement with enough couches gathered in a circle to seat the whole Apple family were they to show up. The mare couple sat themselves side by side on a bright green sofa while Applejack took the seat opposite them. “Uh, yeah, what?” Applejack asked. “Don’t get me wrong, Ah’m happy t’ see you both. But somethin’ tells me this ain’t a simple visit.” “It’s definitely not.” Twilight said, unsure of how to continue. “We were, um, kind of hoping your husband would be here to talk about this with us as well?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. Her own circle of friends didn’t interact with her husband all that often, so asking for him specifically was something of a noteworthy occurrence. “Well, all right, if you say so. He’s just putting the foals down for a nap ‘fore we get back to buckin’ apples.” She got up and stuck her head out into the hallway. “Whooves!” She shouted. “How ya doin’ back there?” The faint sound of crying foals could be heard, as well as the panicked whimpers of one stallion in way over his head. “Um, just fine, love! Be out in a minute—Fuji, Fuji no! Put that down right—“ SMASH “—now…” Applejack turned back to face Dash and Twilight, and tried to rid herself of her sheepish expression. “He’ll, uh, he’ll be just a minute. In the meantime, can y’all give me a hint why you came out here?” “Well, uh…” Rainbow saw Twilight choking up as she tried to explain. Great. She’d have to explain this herself. She took a deep breath and dove right in to the whole story. “OK, so Twilight was acting really depressed this morning, so I tried to get her to tell me why, and it turns out that all this time she’s wanted foals, but I’m a mare so I can’t exactly DO that, but I was thinking that if we found somepony to be a surrogate father then it could work, so I figured we’d come and ask you and Whooves for help…?” Her confidence waned as the story wound down, and she saw the shock and disbelief on Applejack’s face. “Is that… is that as bad an idea as I’m starting to think it is?” The simple farmpony sat there trying to process that influx of information for quite a while, before blurting out “Surrogate?!” “Surro-what?” came a voice from out in the other room. Doctor Whooves walked in, a fresh tray of sliced apples balanced on one hoof. He sat it down on the coffee table between them all dutifully, but never once let the confused and overall exhausted expression leave his face. Applejack silently stood up and leaned over, whispering the explanation into his ear. If his mane hadn’t already been so spiked it would have stood on end if one were going by the look on his face. “W-what?!” he asked, apparently unsure of what he just heard. “One of OUR foals? Oh, no no no. Trust me, I’d be MORE than happy to help you—“ “Hey!” “Not like that, Apple, dear! They’re friends, is all! But really, trust me, you do NOT want one of our foals! For the last two years it’s been nothing but ‘Daddy, daddy, do this! Change my diaper, daddy! Play with me, daddy! Take me to Canterlot, daddy! Allons-y, daddy!’ Oh, my word, the stress!” He leaned in close to Rainbow and Twilight’s faces. “Trust me, that is a curse you do not want!” “A-HEM.” An orange hoof placed itself firmly on Whooves’ shoulder and carefully nudged him away from their guests. “You’ll have’ta excuse him, girls; it’s a bit frazzlin’ getting those foals to bed. But in a way Ah think he had a point. Even if you go through with this, it won’t be both’a yours. It’ll be one’s, and some other pony’s.” Rainbow’s eyebrows furrowed. “Hey, if you’re trying to insult me then—“ “Oh, for Celestia’s sake, calm down and let me explain!” Applejack insisted. “Ah’m just saying, if you’re okay with it not being BOTH of yours, maybe you’d be okay with it being neither? Y’know, adoption?” Twilight leaned her head over onto Rainbow shoulder as she thought about that option. The pegasus thought it a bad time to bring up, but she made a mental note to tell Twi how much she loved when she did that. “I… guess that’s not such a bad idea.” Twilight said, a smile creeping onto her face. “We’d have a foal to raise, and an orphan would have parents.” “Sounds awesome!” Rainbow exclaimed, running a hoof through Twilight’s mane. She didn’t say it out loud, but honestly she was just glad that the other, more… awkward option was off the table. “So where’s the closest adoption, er, place?” “I think it’s in Canterlot. Oh, that’s perfect!” Twilight exclaimed as she hopped to her hooves. Her horn lit up, and a borrowed bit of scroll descended from one of the Apple family’s shelves. She grabbed a quill from the same shelf and began to write a letter onto it. “I can have Spike deliver this letter to the Princess, and we’ll be on a train tomorrow morning! Come on, Dash, we should get this delivered right away!” With a newfound spirit, the purple mare walked to the door, barely remembering to say goodbye to Applejack and Whooves before leaving. Rainbow moved a bit more calmly, going up to the exit alongside her longtime rival. “Say, um, thanks for the idea there, AJ. Don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner.” “Sugarcube, neither do I. Really, Ah wonder sometimes what you girls’d do without me.” She opened the door for Rainbow and let her out. “Take care now, all right? An’ when you come back I wanna be the first to greet the foal to Ponyville, you hear me?” “Yeah, yeah, I hear you.” Rainbow told her, chuckling. The air around her exploded into rainbow light as the pegasus darted off to catch up with Twilight. That trip took all of five seconds, and the young couple spent the rest of the day and night preparing for the next day’s big trip. Very soon, they just might be parents, finding the perfect foal for them. Perhaps even sooner than they anticipated.