The Goddesses of Ice and Fire

by Foal Star

Chapter Four: Rainbow Dash The Big Sister

Rainbow Dash groaned; as she slowly got up from bed, she turned towards the window and saw that it was still night out. The daredevil mare was nervous…in fact, she wanted to just go to Mrs.Harshwhinny and tell her she wanted to quit. The mare was somewhat unsure if she should judge the competition due to her being biased and having a solid relationship with Scootaloo. The two bonded before but never like this, and it was evident that it would make it hard for her to grade them. The daredevil mare slowly trotted to the kitchen, where she took her vitamins and made herself a cup of herbal tea. As Rainbow sipped her tea, she thought things over, wondering if there was any way she could do this without making Scootaloo feel bad. The daredevil mare groaned, slamming a hoof to her face, "shut it! It shouldn't matter even if Scootaloo was my sister! I have to grade her and her friends as if they were any other pony."

She drank the rest of her tea, feeling more resolved to see bring a judge though as the mare walked over to make waffles for herself and Winter. Her marefriend then got up much later and, with a smile, came over and nuzzled Rainbow. "Wow, breakfast, huh? You got up early."

"More like I couldn't sleep," Rainbow yawned as she stretched her hooves up and then severed herself and Winter as they ate her marefriend asked, "so you going to still be a judge for the competition?"

"Yeah… I've calmed down…." Rainbow grumbled as she took a bite of her waffle.

"Hmmm, I think it would be better if you didn't, but I'll let you be you," Winter grumbled irritably.

Rainbow narrowed her gaze with a glare at her marefriend and snapped back, "what do you mean by that!"

Winter glared back and responded, "Well, because you and Scootaloo are friends, and you obviously have a bias to her team to carry the flag for Ponyville."

Rainbow Dash was starting to get irritated and slammed a hoof down and shouted, "so what!? I can be subjective!"

"Oh yeah, like how you were last night, come on, you need to find a replacement." The light blue coated mare grumbled irritably.

"Seriously!? This isn't up for debate! Besides, it's not like they're going to find a replacement on the day of the competition." The daredevil snapped.

Winter rolled her eyes, and they just finished their meal in silence. Rainbow had enough of this as she got up, "oh great, there you go, giving me the silent treatment! Alright, I gotta get going." She then got up and flew off out of the house she needed to cool her head before heading to the Crystal Empire.

---

Rainbow Dash spent the rest of the morning just flying around Ponyville she was still rather angry from her fight with Winter and was muttering and cursing under her breath. She eventually found the three cutie mark crusaders at the schoolhouse. Rainbow scratched the back of her mane, wondering why they were there as she flew down to see the three fillies were talking to Cheerilee; the mare's face was bright pink, and she could see the teacher sweating profusely as she stammered, "loo...look, I think that we can talk about this later."

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow asked out loud.

Cheerilee turned to her with a glare at her and grumbled, "oh yes, what are we talking about? I think you forgot you told these foals to ask me about the birds and the bees?"

Rainbow scratched her mane, now feeling somewhat embarrassed, and apologized, "Oh um, sorry about that..."

The teacher gave a sigh, "it's fine; I've been planning a class about blep education, but I feel the foals are still too young."

"Awwww," The crusaders all groaned.

Cheerilee then continued, "we can talk about this in class when you're older; for now, you all need to get to the train before it leaves without you."

"Ok," the three foals replied in unison as they scurried off.

Rainbow Dash was going to do the same, but Cheerilee held up a hoof. "Are you sure you're doing ok? You're not going to have any more outbursts, right."

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine!" Rainbow cried out as she waved a hoof and then flew off after the three fillies and then led them to the train station. When they got to the station, the cutie mark crusaders started to argue amongst each other. The daredevil mare rolled her eyes and just made sure the rest of the foals made it on the train; she glared at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon as they went on board; it took a lot of self-restraint to keep her calm to not just explode at her. Once she was sure every foal was accounted for, she went inside the train, where she plopped down on the benches and then laid her head back. The mare was already starting to feel more exhausted than she usually did and wanted to take a nap on their way to the Crystal Empire. But then she saw Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom enter the train and noticed Scootaloo wasn't with them and asked, "hey? Where's Scootaloo?"

"Oh, she decided to stay," The two grumbled irritably.

"What!?" Rainbow Dash cried out in surprise; her heart almost stopped upon hearing the news. She then got furious, glaring at the two fillies, and stomped a hoof, "how could you just leave her like that!"

"But...but...but." The two fillies stammered, being somewhat scared of her.

"No buts, we're going to go back, find Scootaloo, and you two will apologize to her, understand?" Rainbow scolded them as if they were her foals.
.
"Yes, mam." The other two fillies responded once again.

Rainbow took the two by the hoof as they flew off together through the air from the train as they headed to the train station.

"Aww, looks like the cutie mark crusaders aren't going to be at the competition after all," Diamond Tiara jeered.

"Hey! You watch your mouth, young lady!" Rainbow shouted, making the filly squeak as she jumped back from the window.

The daredevil really wanted to give Diamond a piece of her mind. But, she needed to focus on finding Scootaloo and getting her back on the train. She soared along through the air and eventually came to the train station. Rainbow and the two fillies looked about but saw that she wasn't there.

"Where can she be?" Rainbow Dash asked out loud.

"Maybe she's heading back home? I mean, school's canceled for the day, and it's not like there's anything else going on?" Apple Bloom suggested.

"And she came here by scooter; there's got to be tracks!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

Rainbow ruffled the manes of the two fillies and complimented them. "good thinking, you two, let's follow the tracks; maybe we'll catch her before she reaches her house."

The daredevil mare flew towards her house; she caught Scootaloo on her scooter heading home by herself. She flew right in front of her and held a hoof out, making the little, orange-coated filly squeaked as she braked in front of her. Scootaloo skidded the scooter bringing up a cloud of dust right before she hit Rainbow Dash. When the dust cleared, the angry little filly shouted, "Hey, what ya doing! You almost got hit!

Rainbow was feeling very peeved with her as she thought she got through to her the night before and snapped, "what I'm doing, what are you doing? You just gonna bail on your teammates like that?"

The orange filly glared at her and shouted, "stop acting like my mom! Ugh, what's gotten into you!"

"Yeah, stop holding our hooves!" Apple Bloom snapped, pulling her hoof from Rainbow's hoof.

The daredevil mare blinked she stepped back, seeing she was definitely acting more strangely than usual. It was clear they all needed a break and something to cool themselves off…literally. The daredevil mare then apologized, "Look... I'm sorry ok? You're not the only one dealing with issues…how about we all get some ice cream and talk things over? My treat?"

The fillies all shouted, "sure!"

The mare gave them a smile as she led the three foals down the street as they headed to Sugarcube Corner.

---

Once the three foals were settled at a table, Mrs. Cake came over to serve them, "good morning; what do we have today?"

"Vanilla ice cream milkshakes!" The cutie mark crusaders all exclaimed at once.

"Wonderful choices!" Mrs. Cake chirped cheerfully; she then turned her attention to Rainbow, who was pondering what she wanted. She was having her odd cravings as she cleared her throat and asked, "I will have a strawberry milkshake mixed with hot fudge, along with a drizzle of hot sauce and topped with jalapenos."

Mrs. Cake blinked as Rainbow snapped, "just let Pinkie make it, ok?"

"Yeah...sure…" Mrs.Cake whispered as she wrote down the odd order; she then blushed and added, "oh um, congrats on the baby. If you need anything, I got plenty of foal supplies to spare."

The cutie mark crusaders all snickered, but Rainbow wasn't really in the mood for jokes about her pregnancy and grumbled, "Yeah, save it, ok!? I'm not going to raise the baby," Mrs. Cake nodded and gave the mare some space, "right, sorry to intrude, I'll go get your orders."

The big blue mare then went off to fetch their shakes. Rainbow settled in her seat as the three fillies all were sitting around, anxious for details about her pregnancy.

"Ok, you want to know how I got pregnant too right?" Rainbow grumbled.

Sweetie Belle scoffed, "we don't want to know how you got pregnant; yeah, Scootaloo told us all about that? Are you getting fatter? Rarity said she's making you some outfits when you get bigger."

"Well, yeah, eventually, but I don't need to wear any special outfits," Rainbow snapped.

Apple Bloom chirped, "I've seen cows get pregnant before, and their udders are huge! Ya gonna grow udders!?"

"No! I'm not going to grow udders!" Rainbow scowled.

Scootaloo snickered behind a hoof. "Oh, that would be hilarious! Rainbow would have big rainbow-colored udders!"

The fillies all burst into laughter, making Rainbow snicker along with them; she could picture herself with rainbow-colored udders.

"Alright, sweethearts, here's your milkshakes!" Mrs. Cake exclaimed. She then placed the vanilla milkshakes down for the foals and then gave Rainbow Dash the crazy (rather disgusting) looking milkshake to her. The fillies all stared at Rainbow Dash who took her milkshake and started to slurp it up. She moaned as the flavor of the ice cold ice cream hit her tongue along with the flavor of the hot sauce and jalapenos melding together. She continued drain her milkshake without realizing everypony else was watching.

Scootaloo was the first to tease her. "Wow I've never seen ya drink a milkshake like that before? Must be those crazy cravings pregnant mares get?"

Rainbow looked over at the orange filly with her cheeks flushing pink as she replied, "yeah something like that..." She also figured these new cravings were a result of her pregnancy but she was still unsure. Everything was feeling like a hurricane of emotions; she was frustrated at Scootaloo but at the same time wanted to do what she thought was best for her. She turned her attention to the small orange filly once more and continued, " look, I have to apologize to you for my behavior. Being pregnant is not an excuse for how I'm letting these crazy emotions control me. Still, it's hard to control how I feel...especially around you. I mean, I'm not trying to be your mom...maybe more like an older sister."

Scootaloo finished her shake, then gave her a smile and replied, "right...I...I would like you as an older sister."

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both blushed and dawwed, "awww, that's so cute…."

"Shut it!" the two pegasi exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash then sat back in her seat and sighed, "ok, now we need to talk about you being self-conscious about your flying. I thought we talked about this last night?"

Scootaloo lowered her head and grumbled, "right...I mean, how can we have a team with a pegasus that can't fly? It's still bothering me…"

Rainbow got up, seeing that she should let the three talk this out without her. "Well, I think that I did everything I could, and I think you should talk amongst yourselves; when you make a decision, let me know, and I'll zip you guys to the Crystal Empire myself."

"Ok!" the three fillies chirped as she walked off out of Sugarcube Corner. She looked upward, knowing that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both will somehow get Scootaloo to change her mind. But at the very least, it would be their decision, not hers. Mrs. Cake came over with a smile, "I saw you; you're a natural with those foals."

"What! No, I wasn't...I... I'm just…ugh, I don't want to be a mom like you, ok!" Rainbow shouted.

Mrs. Cake held up a hoof, "I get it; I'm not trying to pressure you into giving up your dreams for a foal. But, I'm just saying I think you would be a wonderful mother, is all."

"Sure...look... It's not like when I have this foal, I'm gonna bail on her...I just don't feel ready ...and I don't know...maybe I was taking out my emotions of not wanting a foal with my marefriend. Then with Scootaloo maybe I was taking out my emotions with her…I don't know what I want." The mare ranted; her cheeks flushed pink at the realization she was talking out loud.

"Hmm, sounds like you just need to take your time making a decision," Cupcake responded as she placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Trust me, you think I was ready for foals? Especially twins?"

Rainbow Dash snickered, "probably not, heck; we were all surprised! Pinkie kept telling us you guys had one foal for weeks!"

She paused and then started to shake all over as the image of her holding two screaming baby alicorns came into her mind then exclaimed. "W...what if it's the same for me? What if I have twins?"

Mrs. Cake blinked looking unsure then replied, "I thought you said the spell that made you pregnant would only make you have one baby."

Rainbow Dash slammed a hoof to her face. "Ugh, like we know anything about magic! I need to be sure! I mean, what if that's why I'm having these cravings of wanting ice-cold food and spicy food mixed together!"

Mrs. Cake held up a hoof. "Woah, slow down; we don't know anything yet, and you're jumping to conclusions."

The Rainbow coated mare took a few deep breaths to get her bearings, then whispered. "Yeah, you're right; I'll look into it later."

She then saw the cutie mark crusaders burst through the front doors and head off down the dirt road singing a song together. Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle, "It looks like they're back and ready to kick blep!

Mrs. Cake then headed back to Sugarcube Corner and replied, "go after them and stop worrying about your choice right now; when the time comes, you'll make the right decision that's best for you and your foal...or foals."

The daredevil mare gave one deep breath she was ready to go and be the best less emotional judge and whispered, “thanks Mrs.Cake."

Rainbow was going to speed off after the trio but stopped as she realized that Mrs.Cake maybe the only mare she knew who had foals recently and could help her out. She gulped before asking, "before I go...you wouldn’t mind if I ask you advice on um...being pregnant?”

“It would be my pleasure,” Mrs. Cake snickered as she bowed then Rainbow Dash with a smile flew off after the fillies feeling much, much more confident and with a clear head.