(SiC) Part 9 - Sailing Through The Storm

by Brian Jacko

That's Not Your Momma

Rarity came home from her group study. She was concerned about Pinkie and couldn't stop thinking about how scary she was to be around. She saw that her parents were busy making dinner and she noticed that they had put her foal in the crib. She looked around for Sweetie Belle but figured that she must have been out with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Hopefully, she would be back before the rain started. Rarity needed to get busy on some dresses that she was working on since she had so many orders put in, but she hadn't touched her son all day. Her parents had been there for her and they came back specifically to help her through all of this. Rarity stood there and stared at her foal as she thought about what to do. She jumped a bit when a voice from behind her startled her.

"He's been waiting all day for you," Rarity's mother said. "Go on, pick him up."

Rarity's mother got closer to her daughter and put her front hooves on the crib.

"Momma," Strong Faith said.

"Oh, look! He wants you, Rarity. Pick him up."

Rarity smiled and put her front legs near him so that he might crawl up to her.

Strong Faith completely ignored her and crawled over to Rarity's mother. "Momma!" the baby cried.

"Oh, dear. I think he might be a little confused who the real mommy is." Rarity's mother scooped up the foal and he became relaxed in her hooves. "Here, you hold him, darling."

Rarity took her son and he began to cry.

"Momma!" the foal screamed!

"Mommy's right here," Rarity said.

The foal began to kick and become more upset. "Momma!" he cried again. He lashed out and began hitting her.

Rarity's mother took the foal back and Strong Faith instantly calmed down again. "Rarity, maybe you should take some time to work on your dresses. I think Strong Faith needs a diaper change."

Rarity paused for a moment as the awkwardness kicked in. "You know, I probably should change him since I haven't been around and I don't think he recognizes me as his mother."

"Nonsense, Rarity. You have too much on your hooves and I'll take care of this. You can play with him later on when he's more calm. He's probably just having a bad day. Go on," Rarity's mother commanded as she pointed with her front hoof. "He'll be here for you when it's dinner time."

Rarity sighed and walked away. "You would think after all this time that you would be a better mother and you might actually spend more time with your child instead of working on dresses," she muttered to herself. "You're nothing but a spoiled, rich snob who has her parents do everything for her." Rarity walked into her room and looked at her list of orders. It was going to be a long day, but perhaps after work, there would be some dark chocolate ice cream therapy for her in the freezer.

In the kitchen, Rarity's father was busy making a stew for dinner. He looked and noticed that his wife that was working on chopping the veggies was not there. He found her putting their grandfoal back in the crib. He walked over to her and asked. "Honey, didn't I just hear Rarity walk in the door?"

"Yes, she just got home from her group study," she answered.

"Don't you think that perhaps she should spend a little more time with her foal? I mean, she hasn't even been going to her special group therapy anymore."

Cookie looked at her spouse and replied, "You know what she went through was very traumatizing and she's so young. She has also been extra busy with her business; I don't want her to feel overwhelmed."

"I understand, but I just think it would be wise if she were to spend just a little extra time with her son. I think it might be better for the both of them."

Cookie frowned a bit. "Maybe later on. Did you see all her orders that she has to get done? I mean, she barely had the time to make it to her Bible study today."

"I suppose so. I hope things settle down. I understand that she's going through a lot of stuff right now. Let's discuss this after dinner and see if we can perhaps resolve this situation later."

In her room, Rarity did not begin working but sat down on her bed and looked out the window. A great feeling of hopelessness and despair plagued her mind as she watched the storm clouds come in. She thought she was mature and responsible enough to take care of this foal on her own without the help of her parents, but it was clear that she was still not ready for that. Right now she desired two things. A gallon of ice cream and crying, but she was too tired for either and her head was aching from all this stress and worry. Rarity was in the mood to give up. To just lay on her bed and wallow in whatever ponies were supposed to wallow in. She grabbed her necklace that her parents gave her and put it around her neck in hopes that wearing it might change her darkened mood. She then glanced at her table beside her bed and looked at the sticky notes she made. She used her magic as she sorted through each one. Each note had a Bible verse on it about raising a pony to be strong in the Lord and various other verses about being a strong mare in the Lord. These verses used to strengthen her spirit, but now reading them seemed to sap the life out of her and actually hurt her feelings greatly. She knew that the hurt was coming from the truth about how her life was now and that she would need to try harder in life. Her past regrets crept into the back of her mind and crippled whatever morale she had left in her. The painful reminders of her past brought tears to her eyes and now the Bible that once comforted her, left her feeling hurt and alone. She began to wish things in her mind that left her feeling more hurt, including wishing that her son was never born. Rarity was ready to throw in the towel for the day. She had enough and wanted to surrender the good fight that she had tried to fight. She grabbed her night time sleeping mask and put it over her eyes and tried to go to sleep, but no matter how hard she tried to rest, her mind would not let her be at peace and she lay there in misery.

A sudden knock at her door startled the white unicorn.

"Rarity? May I come in?" her mother asked.

Rarity took the red velvet sleeping mask from off of her face. "Yes, I suppose."

The door opened and Cookie came in and sat on her bed. "Rarity, dear, why are you in bed? I thought you had a lot of work to do."

"I do," Rarity answered. "But I'm not in the mood to do anything."

"Oh, would you like to talk about it?"

"Not now," Rarity said. "Why did you come to me anyway?"

"I just wanted to let you know that dinner is ready."

Rarity turned her back to her mother and looked at the window. "I don't want to eat now. My belly hurts for some reason."

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Cookie asked.

"Yes. would you mind going out and picking up a gallon of my most favorite ice cream?"

"I suppose I can do that for you, but I hope you may have some dinner as well." Cookie looked at her daughter with a bit of concern. "Is there anything else I may do for you? You appear as if there's something bothering you."

"Yeah," Rarity said. "You can let me be."

Cookie put her head down and closed her eyes. "Very well," she said before getting off her bed and walking over to the door. "If there's anything you want to tell us later, your father and I are always here for you." Cookie took one last look at her daughter before she closed the door quietly.

Rarity listened as the sound of her mother's hoofsteps faded away in the distance. She began to weep as she put her two front hooves on her stomach. Her stomach only bothered her because her mind was plagued with so much guilt and depression. This was a battle that she would not be able to fight on her own, yet she was too ashamed to ask for help. The tears made her light-blue makeup run down her cheeks and stain her white fur. "I am no longer beautiful," Rarity said to herself.

Rarity curled up in a fetal position and listened to the sounds of the trees rustling in the wind. The relaxing sounds of the wind made her not worry so much and eventually helped her to drift off to sleep.