Confusion
Chapter 6
Confusion
When Rainbow Dash woke up the next day, she did so to the sound of a sturdy hoof knocking on the door. She groaned softly, as she groggily forced her violet eyes to open. She found her forelegs close to her face and her head pressed softly on a purple pillow. Slowly she raised her fore hoof then started slightly rubbing her left eye while her gaze move downwards to lingered on the front door at the far side of the library.
The knocking continued. Somepony was outside.
Still she refused to leave her borrowed bed. Not even on the third knock or the fourth would rouse her into action. She didn’t answer on the fifth either. The knocking continued. The pony at the door was persistent fellow and it appeared that neither Twilight nor Spike was going to answer the door either.
Where were they? Her sleepy mind asked. More community service? How many hours did Spike get for starting a fire?
Reluctantly she rose from the bed and fluttered her wings to carry her down the stairs and across the living room… or was it the public library. The two were one and the same in Twilight Sparkle’s home so it was hard to decide. She opened the door, only to see Macintosh standing out there.
‘What was he doing here?’ was her first thought. The next was coloured in red as bright as the stallion standing in front of her. How dare he show his face? Still that was not the problem. It was too early for anger… well almost. His eyes were fixed intently on hers, scrutinizing her, wide-eyed and fully composed like there was nothing wrong for him to do so, even after what he had said to her face just the other day. His bigger form shadowed her, blocking the late morning sunlight from reaching her eyes. But that was not the problem either.
"What ," she hissed, "are you," her slender blue hoof jabbed his chest, "doing here?"
No, the problem was that he opened him mouth and began to talk.
"Dash, take this." He reached down and picked up a scroll from his saddle bags.
Anger and curiosity warred in her ears. One hoof was ready to slap his face and throw the red stallion off Twilight’s door. He may have been one of the largest ponies in Ponyville but she had the rage to do it. The other hoof was curious, even traitorously relieved that Macintosh cared enough to be here.
Curiosity won out. She took the scroll from his mouth. Her lips came close to his. It was unavoidable. A flash of heat blossomed across her face. She quickly turned towards the scroll, trying hard to forget what she just felt.
The scroll was made of rich heavy paper and tied by even fancier ribbons. Carefully, she unfurled the scroll and began to read. The words printed in velvety red ink at the top squeezed the breath out of her chest. She blinked, her anger forgotten. It must have been a dream, a strange dream.
It was a betrothal contract!
Her eyes darted across the paper. The slew of official gibberish on the paper remained unchanging. It was definitely for her and Macintosh.
Betrothal …
Marriage…
Yeah, sure eventually. But like this? By putting her hoof print on a piece of paper in Twilight’s living room, which amounted to Ponyville’s public library?
Every little filly dreamed of forming herds with her best friends and marrying a stallion she could love and who would be loved in return. Even Rainbow Dash had to admit she wasn’t immune either. But that dream laid dormant in an old hatbox, unopened since she was a flightless cloud bound filly. It was way back before watching her first air show in the coliseum, before better and more awesome dreams had taken its place. Even so, she could remember it well enough if she tried.
There would be no grand ceremony that Unicorns seemed to enjoy so, nor the unending parade of friends and family both near and far that Earth ponies were liable to hold. It would be a typical Pegasi wedding, small and attended only by close friends. It would be held in the early months of summer just as the clouds were getting warmer and the wind filled with floating dandelions seeds. A small reception would follow afterwards by the climax of the wedding… the sky dance, a dance that would last a lifetime
It would be between herself, one other mare and their stallion. No outlandishly large herds as some families had. She could even remember some of the flight routines she had made up. The intervening years had made them look childish, simplistic, boring even… and none of it was going to happen. Not with an Earthpony stallion, not with Macintosh. There would be no passionate embraced between lovers on the wing. It would be Macintosh in a hot air balloon, floating stately upwards. It was an apt analogy; an uninterested stallion in a passionless marriage of convenience.
"Why?" Her voice came out strong, raspy, almost normal with the barest of hint of a waver to it.
There was a soft pause while he worked his mouth to speak. That was the only physical indication of his growing anxiety. "Isn't it obvious?"
Her eyes narrowed. "No, it isn't. That's why I am asking."
This was such a simple thing yet he couldn't understand why it was so hard for him to say what he meant. “That foal is mine.”
"And you care about the foal?" She ached to ask if he cared about her.
"Of course. Ah know I don’t have all that many bits but ah want to do the right thing. Ah want to be able to provide for our foal. Ah will not be allowing our foal be born illegitimate."
Just as she had thought, Rainbow Dash looked down at the scroll between her hooves. It all must have made perfect sense. He was at the very least partially responsible for this situation. But did he want to do it? Did he care about them or were she and the foal just another duty and responsibility that he was compelled to take care of? Maybe he did care for the foal after a fashion. Apple Jack made it a point. The Apple clan took care of their own. But what about its mother? Did he care for foal’s mother, for Rainbow Dash?
Damn him for being such a cold unfeeling bastard.
She tried very hard to make sure her voice didn't shake. It wouldn't be a good idea to cry right now. Hormones, they were getting to her. But she needed her wits about her.
"No." She reared back and threw the scroll at him. The scroll bounced off his nose and came rolling to his fore hooves. "I refuse to put my hoof print on that, scroll." She said the last word as if it were the worst kind of venom. Screw the wedding! If she was going to be married to somepony, it should at least be a pony that loved her.
She stepped away and he stepped forward to fill the space. The door clicked shut behind him. “Ah’m not forcing you into sign this." Macintosh lowered his voice. “This here betrothal contract is mah way of apologising. Ah’m sorry, ah didn’t make myself right clear when we last spoke. Ah’m saying that come what may, ah’ll help raise our foal. This’ll give our foal legitimacy even if we don’t marry.” Macintosh took a step closer.
“It doesn’t matter anymore.” She defiantly looked into his apple green eyes. “We won’t be having a foal.”
"What ‘ca mean by that?" His eyes narrowed and his mind worked furiously trying to understand her words. "Of course it matters! Our child needs a father, a family!” Macintosh took a step closer. "Are you saying you gona put our foal up for adoption?"
Rainbow Dash didn't move an inch.
“I am considering not carrying it at all.” Damn him, it was so much clearer before he came. “An abortion, since you won't be there to take an active role as the father, since this is all one big mistake that I can’t afford.” Maybe she was saying too much, but heck with him. She was very angry right now and there was only so much she could take from him.
He couldn’t believe his flickering ears. Dash couldn’t have meant that. "No.” His voice was low. Yet it sounded like his voice had thunder right across the closed space of the library. It was louder that he liked or intended.
Rainbow Dash found herself talking several steps back. Her rump was suddenly pressed against a bookshelf with not a step left to go. There was fire in his voice and it sounded dangerous in her ear. She was abruptly very aware that he was nearly twice her weight and a head taller in height. Big Macintosh was a very large Earthpony stallion and she was a Pegasus mare trapped in a confined space. Her wings were nearly useless. She closed her eyes tightly.
He was frightening her. The realisation stopped him cold. He had never done such a thing before. He quickly broke away from her with a frantic look in his eyes. “Ah’m sorry.” He retreated. "Give me a second chance." he said and there was a plea in his voice.
"Second chance?" Her eyes opened and they were big and wide. That question brought a wail to her chest.
"Second chance."
"Wha… Why should I?"
"Because our foal deserves her chance at life.”
"Well, there doesn't have to be a foal. She hollered, her anger returned. “You didn't want the baby in the first place! And you didn't want the mother, either!"
“The foal is mine too. Don’t ah have a say?” Something flickered in those deep expressive pools of his eyes. His eyes trailed down the naked length of her flank, watching her exposed blue skin all the way to her exposed cutie mark of a rainbow coloured lightning bolt. Although the memory was blurry in his mind, he had looked at her like that before, the first time on the night they made love.
Rainbow Dash inhaled deeply, the barrel of her chest rising and falling beneath her folded wings. The smell of him, his spicy apple scent made her head spin, and her insides twist. She took more deeps gulps of air, trying to calm her racing heart, only to breathe in more his scent.
"What am I supposed to do…?" She whispered, still clinging to the decision she made with Rarity the night before like a drowning Pegasus would a life raft. She was doing all that was possible to keep her life together. Her reputation. Her life. Her dream. She had been so damn close. How could he simply swoop in and do this to her? “I can’t afford her.”
“Ah'll help take care of our daughter. That Dash, is a promise. The farm ain’t rich but no foal of mine will ever have to worry about food on her table."
She roughly pulled back only to find his muscular body flush against hers, letting her feel all of him, and at the same time making sure she couldn't throw open her wide wings and run. It made her dizzy. "What do you think you are doing?" She rasped.
"Promise me, Dash. Promise me that we will at least talk. Promise me that you won’t do anything rash until our herd comes to a decision on our foal.” His voice was soft, yet demanding and his face a scant centimetre from hers.
That was when her in confused, anger hazed mind that Rainbow Dash figured something out. Did he use the term ‘herd’? Did he think that they could be a family? Her hind legs gave out on her causing her rump to fall heavily onto the floor. He did care for her and the foal! If so, he just wasn’t so apt at showing it. But he was showing it in his own way. Yet a cold thought lingered in her mind, if this was another mare would he treat her the same as he was her? Did they have a relationship between them, a Rainbow Dash and Macintosh? Would she ever have had one with him if she wasn't carrying his foal?
His lips came near her temple and then one words shattered her resolve. "Please?" It was a low halting request. Could she say no?
His bowed head came close to her face when in the next instant he kissed her. Macintosh didn’t know what he was doing but it felt right… like their first night together. His lips gently claimed hers. He pressed her chin down with his hoof that made her open her mouth, letting his tongues swirl around hers.
“What are you doing?” Dash managed a protesting squeak. Yet she couldn’t ignore that her traitorous body responded to him so quickly and fervently that she could barely contain a low moan. His tongue kept a tempo that made her heart canter in her chest. Her wings on her back arched franticly to stretch out for release. She was just about to reach out with one foreleg to wrap around his wither when he pulled away from her.
Rainbow Dash gave off a protesting mewl. The nerve he had to stop at a time like this, leaving her high and dry. She tilted her head up a little to look passed Macintosh red frame. She could almost see Twilight Sparkle from behind the door. A deep frown was etched onto the unicorn’s purple face and her horn was aflame with the glow of her purple magic.
“Leave Macintosh, if you know what is good for you.” Twilight Sparkle threatened.
*** ** ***
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Wow, two updates in a day?
Good for Rainbow Dash for telling Big Mac where he can take his contract. I'm sure some other reviewers might not like me saying this, but I hope she does end the pregnancy. I think it would be a lot more interesting and refreshing than the other 99% of when a character (surprisingly often Rainbow Dash) gets pregnant and they go through the same song and dance where she and the father, eventually, get together and learn to love each other and decide to have the baby and everything's wonderful. It's not that those stories are bad per se, but they've been done to death. Separating out one's own views on abortion in real life aside, it would make the story more interesting than other stories where the option is brushed over and forgotten.
I like this story for being a lot more emotionally intense and, dare I say, realistic, than the other stories I alluded to. The drama feels real and Rainbow's dilemma is really delved into more than in other stories. I'm very glad you updated and hope to see more of this impressive story.
Oh this is getting good! *ahem* GO MAC!!!
Twilights about to open a can of hurt on him.....
Yeah! Yeah!!!! Epic earth pony and unicorn fight! (probably not)
2281320
Whoa. When I said consistent, I didn't know this fic would update in the same day.
I can't say much except, I'd like seconds of seconds, please.
Oh, so there is some hope for the foal after all.
Whichever direction you're taking this; tragic, happy or some in-between ending, you're doing just fine~
I like the way this is shaping up. While I have read my share of stories that involve one of the mane 6 and unexpected pregnancy, yours has an air of seriousness about it that makes it a compelling and satisfying read, drawing me in and leaving me wanting more in a way that few of those other fics have accomplished. It has a somber air of gritty reality about it, which is most welcome.
I find it most refreshing that there is no love lost between Dash and Mac here, and the news of Dash's pregnancy isn't some magical cure-all that would suddenly prompt the two to get together and start up a happy family with real affection blossoming in no time. Instead they are two ponies who made a mistake and, perhaps, would rather have nothing to do with it. I like that you brought the financial situation up (although I'm not sure why Rainbow's house would cost her any money - it's made of clouds, clouds don't cost anything for a Pegasus that can manipulate them) and the fact you are seriously approaching the topic of abortion, and it's presented as a real option and not necessarily the worst one available (most fitting that Twilight would advocate this, being the science and logic incarnate that she is).
And honestly, I think I would prefer if this did end up going the abortion way. Stories where everything ends up happily ever after in a predictable manner are dime a dozen ... but what if love doesn't magically bloom between Dash and Mac here? What if the foal isn't a magical spark that would make it all better? What if Dash goes ahead with the abortion, instead of giving birth to a foal that ends up with a "family" as a formality, a responsibility to be looked after instead a life wanted?
Indeed, I would find that a much more satisfying and potentially deep (not to mention unique among its peers) story rather than having Dash and Mac somehow falling in love and everything being butterflies and rainbows in the end, as these things typically go. You have the skill to pull this off and explore the aftereffects nicely, I feel. Looking towards the next chapter, it has been a treat so far.
ohhhhh
You missed a quotation mark.
Also, why did you choose to go the route of polygamous herds?
2282217
Ditto.
Well, she doesn't have to end it, just do something that not every other story of the same vein has done.
2283585
Why is the route of polygamous herd present?
For a number of reasons
1 - In most crowd scenes of Ponyville, there are more mares to stallion. (At a ratio of about 4 to 1).
2 - Ponies do live in herds. The pants of the family is worn by the Boss Mare (Lead Mare)
3 - It would be another route that RD has to explore! (More drama and head scratching for RD!)
The story of the ponies like many stories is the story of us (humans). Yet they are different enough from being us that something a little different can be imagined.
(Although not that different.... if one checks Wikipedia what has been/is accepted as a marriage and family in human society can be rather... different)
2284381
I bring up that point because all account of marriage and partnership in the show have been monogamous and pony society generally mirrors that of America/western countries. But nevertheless, I'm not arguing against your decision. I'm just curious, is all.
2286619 Polygamy is legal in Equestria.
I thought this fic was dead. Good to see it isn't.
2286619 Cultural sensibilities of the target audience of the show means that the creators would have to depict traditional monogamous male/female pairs if they want to show anything at all.
But, from an evolutionary biology perspective, monogamy makes absolutely no sense given the conditions we've been shown of Equestria. If you want to get a really good explanation, Xenophilia and its derivative works (Xeno: Side Stories, Xeno: Further Tales, Xenophile's Guide to Equestria, No Room For Regret) go into lots of detail about the matter. Alternately, if you refuse to read that because of clop scenes (although Xenophile's Guide is clop-free), I could PM you a shortened justification.
Egads! It lives!
Interesting, interesting...
Ohhhh two very nice posts in one of my favorite drama stories. I thought this one was dead.
Also, I have definately been a fan of the 'Herd Family' mentality since reading a fic called 'Xenophilia' (warning: it does contain some clop... very well done clop with an intriguing story and world building behind it, but still clop). And so Big Mac and Rainbow still have a strong physical attraction... how interestinggg... Although I have to say that if Twilight doesn't turn Big Mac into a frog, this is gonna get very awkward. .
Hmn, another old story I'm surprised I've never run across.
This really feels like it could end badly any number of ways. If Dash goes ahead with an abortion, I don't see her relationship with AJ and the Apple family surviving (putting myself in AJ or Mac's horseshoes, I would find it very hard to forgive someone who aborted my niece or daughter). If Dash gets pressured against her will by Mac & AJ to keep the foal or at least bear it to term, I don't see the relationship between AJ & Twilight doing very well given how pro-choice Twilight is coming across as. Either way, I don't see the Element Bearers coming out of this as friends.
I do, however, find Dash's financial troubles a tiny bit hard to believe. She’s literally a world savior at least once over at this point (I don't remember seeing reference to Discord go by, so maybe this is season one continuity only), not to mention one of the ponies who saved Luna and reunited her with her sister. If that didn't come with some form of financial compensation I'll eat my emergency edible hat. And even if it didn't, I'm sure the right letter to Celestia could get some pulled together now that someone other than Dash knows how poor she is, maybe even some help with her school loans.
Anyway, very interesting story.
2284381>>2283585 what is the other route you guys are talking about? the only thing that comes to mind would be if there would happen to be a spell that could give Rainbow foal to another mare, but i don't know, i haven't read something like that yet, now you guys got me curious
as some has pointed before this story feels very intense, the drama and dilemmas that face the protagonist are very realistic, im loving your works PonyBlue
2327753
I'm not quite sure what you mean. The 'route' we were discussing PonyBlue's choice to use polygamous families (more than two spouses).
So far, the only options I see for RD are keeping the child, aborting it or putting it up for adoption (no need for a spell, just wait until it's born).
Loved it can't wait for the next
I just read through this the whole way in one night, only to end on a cliffhanger. You monster.
Love this story. So glad to see something where abortion is a serious option and the actual complications of the situation are discussed. I like your depiction of Equestrian society (hyper-conservative earth ponies etc.) which makes a change from the standard "modern western world but with magic!" setting so any fics go for. Financial costs and social stigma are a real issue, however loveandtoleratey the ponies are.
I wait desperately for updates. If you want any proofreaders let me know.
2429526
I completely agree with everything you just said
also might I just say that your avatar is perfect, both for your comment and this chapter
I'm waiting for an update!!!
I love the story and I'm ready for the next chapter!
is going to let that happen.
I really like that the realization that it has with the abortion as a option but I don't think big mac
They say "When a mommy and a daddy love each other very much..." I think that they've been wrong this whole time. It's "When a mare and a stallion are very drunk they have sexy time." That seems right.
In batman
Aww Twilight, it was getting to a good part!
Ok so....UPDATE!!!??
update plz
Just abort it dammit, the opinions of social conservatives are useless.
I need to know what happens next, I Must Know!!! Plz update
3909939 i know what will happen: he refuses to leave twilight zaps him which he stands through than they all have a heart to heart talk.
Is it wrong that my vote is for Rainbow to get an abortion?
4017120
well then the answer is no manny different people are comfortabe with different things.
My reaction to this comment:
I'm depressed, I'm sad.... It can only mean one thing......
I need more!!!!!!
I love this story. Although I am depressed, because I feel like I'll end up just like Macintosh.....
I'll give you.......
10/10.
is there gonna be more eventually??!!
i guess its gone....
interesting ending there
I like this story. Sure, it needs edits, and a new update, but damn, I'm hooked.
Its really good! I was wondering when will the next one be?
Its been thre yeras since its last update and as much as I want to see where this all goes either for good or for bad. I hope some other talented writer can use this story and be inspired to make their own story
This is a great story!! It got to the good part. Please continue
Pretty good read, though there's certainly some stuff in here that I don't agree with. This, for example:
No, you fucking don't, asshole, and neither does anyone else. It's her body and it's her decision. When carried out safely, abortion is a perfectly viable way to deal with this situation, and if she wants it, she doesn't need anyone else's say-so.