Prelude - The book.

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In mere moments the sun would rise ending a lovely and clear night for Ponyville. It was the sort of lovely night that helped ponies forget the nightmare that had occurred but one week ago... the nightmare that had been Tirek. Yes, there wasn’t anything going on in Ponyville, unless one counted the ponies moving books into the new giant Crystal Castle and its unrevealed mysteries, or the chase that had occurred mere hours ago.

The chase was understandably easily forgotten. Even so, Ponyville was under frequent monster attacks and experiencing other paranormal activities. It had left the average citizen at least a little hardened against all of the excitement. So no pony took a great deal of notice of the robed stallion the princess had been chasing, or how he had managed to lose her in a series of teleportation spells.

The streets were silent as a pegasus trotted confidently out from behind an alley. His purple mane was slicked back, and his coat and wings looked professionally maintained. Ponies that glanced at him, as he trotted along the streets, gave him no second glance. He looked like he belonged there, like he could have been Filthy Rich’s brother from Canterlot. His only blemish was a faint layer of sweat on his orange coat, which was hardly noticeable in the early dawn.

Well, that could have gone better, the stallion grumbled to himself as he looked back at his ruffled saddlebags, with their now broken latch. And, without hesitation, he unceremoniously dumped the runic stones from his left saddle bag onto the streets with a bitter huff. With that, the stallion took several, deep sighs, before he continued to walk into the mostly empty market district.

The things I do to protect my family’s way of life. The stallion continued to think and scowl as he passed a couple of stands where eager vendors had already begun to set up for the day. This is our family’s last hope, the stallion thought bitterly as he looked back at his right saddlebag. It’s all the chicken’s fault that our power and prestige are slipping, the stallion mentally whined, like a child in tantrum, behind his award winning smile and swagger.

A voice shouted to him from a nearby flower stand. “Southern Cross? I didn't expect I'd see one of the most important ponies in all of Equestria here in Ponyville. And oh my! you seem chipper this morning, going to see your wife?” Southern Cross couldn’t help but flinch a little at the new voice, interrupting his internal tantrum.

Slowly Southern Cross turned around to face the source of the voice, the mare who ran the flower stand. Carefully, and with much diligence, he gave the mare his most impressive smile and wave, as if he really cared about her... But internally, he was sizing her up. It was important to be able to know everything about a pony at a glance, at least once somepony had reached the level of prestige and power that his parents had gifted him with.

She most likely wants to sell me flowers. Well, I'm not going to waste my money on her, he thought bitterly. Despite the murderous glare he was shooting her internally, externally he gave her a well performed blush, a faint smile, and a subtle nod of his head. Even his words were charmingly scripted, “Why thank you – Rose. But, I am saving my money for a very large surprise for the misses, and simply cannot stop to buy one of your most beautiful roses today.”

“Oh, well if it is for love... Here have a free one.” She gave him a large smile.

“Why, how generous of you. Thank you.” The words sounding soft, but passing them through his throat felt like he had just coughed up a massive spiked ball from his stomach.

The sun was fully up by the time the stallion very casually trotted over to the train station. Nonchalantly he took a quick glance around the station. What he saw, though, made his heart sink. Guards everywhere, they were swarming the station, stopping and searching every pony that went past.

I should have known that Equestria's filly princess of friendship wouldn't be slow to put Ponyville on lockdown. He swallowed hard. I have two choices. I could try to throw my weight around, and bypass the checkpoint... But, that would raise eyebrows. The stallion let out a long sigh, his breath coming out heavy in a thick cloud. I guess I'm going to have to go home to my beautiful wife and that blasted chicken for a day or two, he grumbled to himself. His once sunny smile turning into a cloudy day of disappointment.

***

A white mare stormed up the stairs in a huff, her fuchsia mane flowing around her withers and brushing against her sterling white horn as it flailed about in the winds of her fury. Her hooves fell hard on the stairwell as she scaled its steps. She was angry, and rightfully so. Her good-for-nothing daughter was going to be here when her important guests arrived. She couldn't afford to have the chicken anywhere near her or her guests. The orange dodo had already cost her and her husband their life in Canterlot. And now with Blueblood launching a “special news article”, she stood to lose any power she and her family held.

That dunce couldn't figure out how to treat the bearer of the Element of Generosity, but he somehow managed to figure out that the chicken was ours? She huffed, and shook her head as she lamented how poorly her day was starting. With each stomp she managed to cool her frustration a little. She had to keep control, she could not afford to lose it. After the laborious climb, she finally arrived at her daughter's bedroom. Like the rest of the house, it was average. They had moved here for the same reason they had bought it. No pony gave the unassuming house a second glance. No pony would look here for her, and no pony would find out her secret. The secret that she was the mother of a flightless bird.

She prepared to kick the door off its hinges, and drag the filly down the stairs, only to stop herself. She took a deep breath. Regal Sunbird, don't mistreat the animals! Don't forget the guards take a rather dim view of abusive parents, she reminded herself. Instead, she opened the door, and scanned the room. It was clean, with no toys on the carpet or scooter marks on the walls. Of course it’s clean, she knows better than to make a mess, she reminded herself. Besides, she doesn't have a lot with which to mess up the room. We only gave her a couple of simple paintings, a basketball, a teddy bear, and that scooter. The rest of this clutter is from that Rainbow Dash or those friends of hers, she thought with a sigh.

She passed the homey greens on the walls, and the two paintings filled with pink hearts, and gently shook the filly in the bed. Once the filly began to open her eyes, the matriarch retreated to a safe distance from the filly. “Time to wake up dear, it’s the crack of dawn, and I need you out of the house by five. Why don't you hang out with your friends, or play with your scooter, or even pester that Rainbow Dash.” She said with a soft voice, and the most love she could fabricate, even though she would rather be chewing the filly out.

“Yes mom.” She said dutifully. The filly sported her dad’s orange coat and purple eyes, and her mom’s fuchsia mane. She paused for a moment. She held her forelegs, with a bit of need in her eyes... clearly the filly wanted a hug. But, those days were over, and gone. As far back as any pony could tell, love in both the Sunbird, and the Cross family had always been conditional. And the filly was not meeting the mark. She couldn’t fly, she didn’t excel in school, and she was devoid of charisma. She just didn’t fill the role that was expected of her.

Regal Sunbird heaved a long sigh. When her daughter had been born she and her husband had payed for a display case to hold all of the trophies for flying their daughter was sure to earn. It would have looked so nice between the display case that Southern Cross had filled and Regal Sunbird’s trophy case in magic. It wasn’t any different from how Southern Cross and Regal Sunbird’s complemented their parents’ and grandparents’ overfilled cases. For as many generations as anypony could remember, the two families had impressed the common pony with their superior breeding, as well as their social and economic power. But now twelve doctors in a row were saying that Regal Sunbird’s daughter would be unable to get more than five inches off of the ground.

To make matters worse, the filly had grown to be a bigger and bigger problem as the years went on. With each passing day, she seemed to be trying more and more reckless stunts, often in the direct vision of Regal Sunbird, or Southern Cross. Perhaps Rainbow Dash is a bad influence? Regal Sunbird considered.

Last year, they had more or less given up on her ever growing into her wings. But, that had left them at an impasse. They couldn't pawn the filly off on friends or relatives. Mostly because they had no actual friends, and their family wouldn't even talk to them.

Then came the suggestion of sneaking the filly into an orphanage, but that particular gamble was too risky. If somepony had figured out the filly was theirs, it would have lead to some nasty questions. And of course Blueblood would have used it as a tool to bludgeon their reputations into a smear on the proverbial floor.

She could already hear the campaign Blueblood would have run, “Blueblood a noble pony, and nephew to Princess Celestia herself, he knows family and friendship. But, Southern Cross and Regal Sunbird hate family and friendship… they callously discarded their own daughter without any care or hesitation.”

Shipping her off to a distant boarding school was out the question for much the same reason. The filly would be less likely to be discovered in a distant boarding school. But, if she was, it would have been just about as disastrous for them as the orphanage plan would have been. Blueblood had a large number of friends in the Academic circle. He was, after all, from one of the oldest regal families in Equestria. And, that meant that just about any dean, from just about any school, would be sure to tell him if Regal Sunbird’s daughter ended up living there.

And of course kicking the filly out to the street, or hurting her in general, really, were just plain out of the question. If they got caught doing that, they would be facing a lifetime in Celestia's dungeon, if they were lucky. And for once in their lives, their power, wealth, and prestige would not be able to save them.

And what did all this mean? It meant that she still had to keep the ‘filly’ happy, or at least happy enough, as it would look bad to be neglectful of her daughter. So, she swallowed hard, and gave the filly a platonic pat on the head and filled her voice to the brim with ‘love’, as much love as she could fake. “Well princess, I made you and I some breakfast. So go eat some before it gets cold,” she cooed, before gracing the filly with the biggest fake smile she could muster. The very same faux smile she had given that ponce Blueblood the day before, when she had described him as “the closest thing to a brother I have”. The filly smiled a little, yet Regal Sunbird could see the doubt in her eyes. Did the filly know it was fake? Not possible… that smile had fooled far more studied politicians, there was no way she could see through her smile.

As the filly walked down the stairs, Regal Sunbird took a moment to ponder how long her guests might be staying. She had to make sure the ‘filly’ didn't come back too soon, lest her daughter would manage to humiliate her in front of her guests. She thought quickly for an excuse before an obvious one came to her.

“Scootaloo, isn't today Twilight Time?” She cooed, as kindly as she was able.

“Yes it is mom. I might be staying a bit late. I'll probably be back by dinner, though.” Scootaloo affirmed.

“Well no hurry, my guests will be staying till six, so I plan to have dinner at seven tonight. Please feel free to enjoy your lessons until then. And remember, I don't want you to come back before my guests leave at seven, ok?” She said with her sappiest voice.

“Ok.” Scootaloo said as she looked down. Regal Sunbird swore she could make out a bit of disappointment in the orange pegasus' face.

Regal Sunbird carefully entered the kitchen, followed closely by Scootaloo, who climbed onto one of the stools so that she could sit at the table. Not that Regal Sunbird was paying that much attention, because she was carefully spooning a serving of oatmeal into each of the bowls.

After that was completed, she joined Scootaloo at the dinner table. However, Regal Sunbird’s mind wasn’t in it today, and instead she allowed it to wander, just for a second, over the previous days events with Prince Blueblood. In truth, it was all a careful attempt to avoid a conversation with the Campbell Teal.

Yes, the papers would be hitting the store shelves any day now, she was sure. And with them, everypony would know their family’s terrible dark secret… That their daughter was a failure who would never fly and a black spot on their family’s record of excellence… But, she’d not admitted defeat yet! No, she’d taken advantage of a spat that the bearer of generosity had with the ‘ridiculous clown prince’ the day before. Now, every pony was sure to talk about what the prince had “done” to the fair and innocent Rarity.

***

Scootaloo sat at the table, and carefully lifted her spoon up to her muzzle, and ate her oatmeal dutifully. It was so quiet, like eating breakfast in the morgue. Throughout the whole meal her mother never once looked up at her. She never asked how she slept, or what she dreamt of. No -- her mother had avoided eye contact at all costs, even using her fancy unicorn horn to grab any utensils or food items she needed. Where had the love gone? And when would it ever return? Perhaps she just wasn’t impressive enough? Rainbow Dash was bound to get around to some serious flight training any day now.

Scootaloo labored through the meal, and with each bite she found her spoon grew ever heavier. Till finally, she somehow managed to choke down the very last spoonful of the icky white food, despite how it heavy it felt, and its texture akin to that of mud.

She allowed her spoon to fall into the bowl with a clink, and looked up, part of her hoping that would wake her mother up. Maybe the love had been simply asleep for the last few years. But no, if anything, she watched Regal Sunbird dropping her muzzle even lower into the paper she was reading. A paper that had been delivered an hour earlier, mostly because of the importance of Regal Sunbird and her husband... At least they tipped their papercolt well.

At some point Scootaloo saw her mother slowly raised an eyebrow. This small motion usually indicated something had just gone wrong, and no doubt she would not be seeing her room for a few days. Scootaloo allowed herself to frown, her face practically sagging with disappointment.

“Well Scootaloo, it seems something came up during your father's last trip, and I'm going to need you to stay with a sitter for a few days…” Regal Sunbird said with a calm demeanor and straight muzzle. “Cheerilee? No, she just watched her. Rainbow Dash? Nah, she’s too big of a bad influence. Perhaps Applejack? Nah, she’s started to ask too many questions. Hmm -- Maybe Rarity?” The mare mused, a forced smile forming on her face. “I know how much you like staying with your friends. Oh, and if you are lucky, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom might come to visit, wouldn't that be fun.” She gave Scootaloo an even bigger grin, doubtless something other than her daughter’s enjoyment on her mind. “You can think of it as a ‘sleep over’, dear!”

Scootaloo gave a silent groan. She wasn't allowed to have her friends over, with the exception of that one time when her parents let Rainbow Dash come and convince her to try out for the Equestria Games flag waving. But as her parents had seemed to have important guests over at least once a month. She found herself frequently staying with either Cheerilee, Applejack, Rarity, or even Twilight, on occasion, depending upon who she’d stayed with recently. It was so bad that some months she spent a whole week away, sometimes more. She wasn't homeless, at least, thank goodness for small blessings.

“I hope you are done with your Oatmeal, dear, because we simply must hurry off! I'm afraid it is already quarter to five, and there simply isn't time to let you finish. We'll just have to explain things to Miss. Rarity when we see her,” Regal Sunbird explained as she straightened her face. Now, she was all business.

The walk there had been an extremely boring one. The most exciting thing she could hear was the quiet clop of their hooves as the two ponies walked along the cobblestone streets of Ponyville towards The Carousel Boutique. At this early hour nopony had even gotten up, except for the guards busy patrolling around Ponyville. Scootaloo couldn't help but wonder what was going on. Perhaps there was a Changeling invasion going on? After all, nopony had seen the Changelings since the royal wedding, and it was only a matter of time before those monsters tried a counter attack.

Despite the guards, though, they had met no other creatures during the walk, and the only smile had been devoid of any kind of character, really, and the only smile that ever graced her mother’s face was when Regal Sunbird smiled to some of the ponies that she met on the road. Otherwise, she didn't show a smile... especially not to Scootaloo. This left Scootaloo wondering, as she angrily kicked a pebble off to the side of the road, why can't I have a mother that loves me? Even Rainbow Dash shows me more love than my own mother does. And, Rainbow Dash and I barely hang out, at all. Scootaloo lamented to herself in her own thoughts.

***

Applejack shifted her jaw so that the spoon would make another lap around the pot of oatmeal. Stirring, like a lot of other mouth centered tasks, took a while to learn. But, it was effective, at least until a pony learned how to hold things by pinching them in their pastern, or even better, the highly advanced skill of “hoof grip”, which was a talent that took quite a bit of hard work to learn. And, it was even harder to explain how a pony could magically hold anything with their rigid hooves… unless, of course, one actually studied magic.

However, there was one fatal flaw with holding tools in one’s mouth, anything from sneezes to yawns would cause the pony in question to drop the tool. And Applejack was fighting hard to avoid the latter. She hadn’t slept very well the night before, even though she couldn’t really explain why. Just a bad feeling… Not that Applejack was superstitious enough to believe that instincts were the same as clairvoyance.

Then again, it hadn’t helped that she’d been contemplating Apple Bloom’s punishment. A thermodynamics Cutie Mark? Where did Apple Bloom get such a dumb idea from? Applejack contemplated, as she slapped her forehead with one of her hooves. Applejack probably would have let it go, except that Apple Bloom had single handedly blown up a good portion of the clubhouse, and set the rest on fire. It seems that certain chemicals tend to explode IN FIRE when you mix them together. Applejack wasn’t about to let Apple Bloom do anymore “home study” on chemistry without Twilight’s supervision, that was for sure.

She’s got to learn to be careful with her crusading. Applejack thought, decisively, or she’s gonna get herself killed. The problem was how to best do that. It had taken a herculean effort for Applejack to not spank Apple Bloom as soon as they’d dragged her out of the burning clubhouse. After all, one thing Granny Smith had taught her over the years, despite Granny Smith’s own temper, is that punishments needed to be decided on, and carried out with a calm mind.

Instead, Applejack had sent Apple Bloom straight to bed, with the threat of punishment in the morning. However, despite having all night to think about it, Applejack still wasn’t sure if the punishment she came up was a good one or not. What she wanted was a good way to impress upon Apple Bloom the importance of thinking thoroughly before she did something.

I wish Granny Smith was going to be home before tonight. Applejack thought with a long haggard sigh. Granny Smith’s punishments are always fair. Applejack thought as she began to stir the oatmeal faster, her frustration pushing into her cooking. The spoon whisked around the bowl at high speed, as if the spoon was trying to chase itself.

A sudden slamming of the door to the kitchen took Applejack by surprise, her mouth dropping the spoon. The slamming door was followed by another sound. “Applejack, ah got my chores done!” Apple Bloom shouted as she eagerly entered the barn. Applejack would have been impressed to see Apple Bloom so dedicated, her saddle bags full of various tools and produce that she had probably used or obtained during the course of her chores. “So you don’t need to punish me, ‘cause ah punished myself,” Apple Bloom added, with an eager smile.

Applejack took another couple of deep breaths. “Sugercube, ah wish it were that easy, but the point ain’t to wrangle more work out’a you. Ah need you to think before you act. You and your friends have been gettin’ in a heap of trouble,” Applejack pointed out as she walked over to look Apple Bloom in her eyes.

“Am Ah grounded?” Apple Bloom asked, as her ears and tail noticeably drooped. Apple Bloom’s disappointment only seemed to grow as Applejack gave a firm nod. “Can ah at least show my friends this nifty book ah found while ah was out in the fields?”

“Maybe if you see them.” Applejack pointed out calmly.

“If ah see them?” Apple Bloom asked, her eyebrow lifting up in surprise. “‘Cause ah thought you were gunna ground me.”

“Yeah, except ah gotta drop you off at a foalsitter while Mac and ah run some pie deliveries. Which means ah can’t be sure your friends won’t be there, but ah’m certainly gonna try to find a place where you won’t see them,” Applejack pointed out, with a slight scowl. Gonna be hard... what with this being the last minute, and all, Applejack thought, a vague frustration returning to the back of her mind.

“But we all agreed ah could be trusted to stay home alone!” Apple Bloom objected, a definite look of betrayal crossing her face.

“Ah did, but that was before you blew up the clubhouse.” Applejack pointed out cooly, her scowl growing larger. “This is your punishment. You gotta prove you can be trusted to be by yourself, all over again.” Applejack explained, as she ignored the look of anger growing on Apple Bloom’s face.

“But that ain’t fair!” Apple Bloom whined, “You’re gonna treat me like a foal over one mistake?”

“It ain’t just a tiny mistake. You could’a been killed.” Applejack said sternly, a growing anger in her chest demanding release… an anger she wasn’t going to let out. “And it ain’t just this time. You and your friends have been doin’ all kinds of reckless things. Don’t think ah didn’t hear about that ‘skydiving’ cutie mark you were going to try to earn by jumping off of a bridge, neither.” Applejack half-whispered, her voice dangerously close to a low growl.

“But, ah’m seven years old. Aren’t ah old enough to, at least, be grounded like an adult, not babied?” Apple Bloom growled quietly, her voice taking on all the warning signs of an impending fight.

“If’n you act like a foal, ah’m gonna treat you like a foal.” Applejack pointed out sternly. “And if’n you act like a baby, ah’m gonna treat you like a baby.” Applejack snarled, her low tone slowly getting louder. “It’s what mah and pah would have done to you, if it were them.”

“But you ain’t my mah!” Apple Bloom shouted, her Apple family temper finally controlling her actions, leaving all niceties and pretenses behind in a maelstrom of frustration.

“When Granny ain’t here to fill in for our mah. Ah gotta be your mah.” Applejack shouted her temper finally overcoming her. “Now this here conversation is over!” Applejack shouted as she stormed over, and lifted Apple Bloom by the scruff of her neck, using her mouth. “Ah’m gonna drop you off at the foalsitter now.” Applejack mumbled as she pulled Apple Bloom out the door.

***

Sweetie Belle slowly awoke, her eyes creaking open. Is it morning already? She asked herself as she slowly rolled out of bed. She loved mornings, because it meant that there was a wonderful sunny day ahead of her. A day that might possibly yield her cutie mark. She diligently made her way across the hall and to the bathroom. She couldn't hear her mother or father just yet. Sounds like I woke up before mom and dad. She giddily giggled to herself, as she opened the bathroom door and went inside, closing the door behind her.

She moved over to the bathroom mirror, she pulled out a mane brush, and began to curl her two tone pink and purple hair. Her green eyes looked at her mane in the mirror, the slight curls in her mane definitely looked nice, she decided.

She had already began to think about cutie mark earning ideas when a soft, loving voice interrupted her. “Sweetie Belle, are you already awake?” The voice asked.

A pink mare with the blue and light blue mane slowly creaked open the door, taking a quick glance inside, her blue eyes staring down at her daughter with a deep love, and a profound sadness, as she reached out and gave her little girl a huge hug, holding her daughter tight.

“Yes mom. I didn't hear you or dad, where were you?” Sweetie Belle asked with curiosity.

“Packing. We have another emergency at work, so your dad and I have to leave you at your sister's for about three months.” There was a definite sadness hidden in her normally bubbly tone.

“Is it really that bad?” Sweetie Belle looked down at the floor, her voice filled disappointment. She loved her sister, and it was nice to stay with once and awhile. But one thing she had learned during her frequent stays there, was that her older sister was boring. Especially when she got caught up in her work, which happened frequently. Besides, she was hoping to spend time with her parents.

“Well, it’s an ugly mess, don'tcha yah know. We won't even be reachable during the whole time. So, remember your emergency contacts: your sister, Rarity; or Princess Twilight Sparkle... And, if you can't find them, Fluttershy or Miss. Cheerilee. And don't forget if that doesn't work, you can always go to the Apple Family,” she said, her motherly tone holding a fair amount of concern. After a few precious moments, the pink mare swallowed hard, and allowed herself to relax a little.

”But, you'll enjoy your time with your sister. And, your father and I will be counting the days till we see you again, “ she said with a strong smile. “So hold your head up high, and remember to have fun,” she continued, giving a forced smile.

“Can't I come with you?” Sweetie Belle said, her mind filled with an unlikely hope.

“I'm sorry, but it isn't a safe place for fillies,” her replied, shaking her head. “But, We'll get you a postcard. Don'tcha know. Let's see if your father is done packing for you?” Cookie Crumbles gave Sweetie Belle a quick hug, and began to walk back towards Sweetie Belle's room.

“Hondo, are you done in there?” Cookie Crumbles asked, her voice showing a bit of impatience over how long things seemed to be taking.

“We're all set,” a male voice replied. “ Just let me get these in the cart, and we can be on our way,” The white stallion with the brown mane continued, as he looked quite pleased with himself for how fast he had managed to pack this time. “Sweetie come here, and give your dad a good morning hug,” he said, his forelegs beckoning for her.

Sweetie Belle walked over, she smiled a little. At least I have this, she thought to herself, giving her dad a nice long hug. After the two had finished, the stallion began to carry the luggage out to the cart.

With that, things once again became quiet. And that quiet allowed Sweetie Belle some time to ponder the profundities of the universe. It's too bad mom and dad are so busy. I was looking forward to some time with them. I seem to be at Rarity's more than mom and dads. I swear, I'm at Rarity's home so much, I practically live there. At this rate, Rarity will have raised me and not my mom. Would that make Rarity more my mother, than my own mother?

***

Rarity rolled over in her bed for the fifth time, trying to sleep despite the rude, and rather loud knocking on her door... The very same knocking that threatened to tear apart the sanctity of her home. It had to be practically five in the morning. At first she tried to ignore the knocking, as she needed to get her beauty sleep, after all. But after it persisted, she gave a loud groan, finally deciding to silence the racket the old fashioned way. She stormed down the stairs and threw open the door. Her mouth opened wide and drew a large amount of oxygen in her lungs, with which to chew out the pony at the door. However, when she got a good look at the pony at the door, the words in her mouth faltered.

“Uhh. Mrs. Sunbird,” she said, with a polite chuckle. “What brings you here to my boutique,” Rarity said politely, before her ears and voice drooped, “so early in the morning?” Rarity whispered, her voice as polite as she could make it. Regal Sunbird might live in Ponyville, but she and her husband were very important ponies in Canterlot, and so Rarity didn't want to offend.

“Oh I am terribly sorry to wake you miss. Rarity,” the unicorn mare replied, apologetically. “But, I got word that my husband will be visiting from Canterlot, and I expect that he will be bringing some very important ponies with him, and I don't want Scootaloo to be underhoof. So, I would humbly request that you foalsit Scootaloo for a week.” She requested, with a polite bow. “I know it's short notice, but I would be extremely grateful to you.” She added, her face held high with a certain confidence that comes with being important. But her voice still sounding courteous.

“Well, I do have a lot of work to do.” Rarity said, hesitantly, her left hoof brushing a bit of her mane that had fallen out of place. “But for you, I suppose, I can make some room for Scootaloo.” Rarity said, with a smile, as she tried to let as little of her frustration show in her voice as she could.

“Thank you miss. Rarity. I will be sending a pony down later with some of Scootaloo's belongings. Don't worry though, it won't be more than a couple of things.” Regal Sunbird said, her voice sounding like a mother trying to reassure their foal.

“Yes, thank you.” Rarity said, her face still bearing a forced smile.

“Well Scootaloo, we simply must be getting inside.” Rarity said calmly to Scootaloo, as her hoof applied a light pressure to the filly’s withers. “I'm sure your mother is very busy,” Rarity continued, her voice sounding a bit hurried.

“Thanks again Rarity,” Regal Sunbird said gracefully. Next, her gaze quickly turned to Scootaloo. “And good-bye my little princess.” Regal Sunbird said. Her words sounded sincere for Rarity. But, Scootaloo could hear the forced nature of the words aimed at her.

As Rarity walked back into the boutique she carefully closed the door, with a dear wish to, simply, go back to sleep. But, she knew full well from experience that Scootaloo, like the rest of the Crusaders, was a highly energetic filly and would probably be bouncing around the room till Rarity forced her to go to bed. Rarity sighed silently, she would clearly not be getting enough sleep today.

“Miss. Rarity? May I go to bed please?” Scootaloo asked, her muzzle staring at the floor, and her body trembling almost imperceptibly. Something was clearly wrong, Rarity could see it. This was certainly not Scootaloo's usual style. No! Normally she and the Crusaders always said “Rarity”, and were anything but polite. What could have possibly got into the filly?

“What's the matter dear? Are you feeling ok?” Rarity asked, her voice filled with concern. It was obvious to Rarity that something was wrong. After all, Scootaloo’s behaviour was very out of the ordinary.

“I'm not feeling well. And, I was hoping to go to bed for a minute.” Scootaloo admitted, her eyes seemed to be reflecting a little extra light off them.

“Of course, I think you can sleep in Sweetie Belle’s room. It’s the --” Rarity didn't get to finish her sentence, as Scootaloo slowly walked past her and up the stairs.

“You know where it is?” Rarity asked the orange pegasus with curiosity.

Scootaloo simply nodded, her hooves coming down sluggishly as she walked up the stairs. Not until after Scootaloo was completely up the stairs, and out of earshot, did Rarity let out a relieved sigh. Well it looks like I shall be getting that sleep after all, she thought to herself, her face curling into a big grin.

Unfortunately, Rarity's sleep did not last, because after perhaps two hours she heard banging on her front door again. “Can't this wait till later?” Rarity grumbled to herself, as she got back up out of bed, and shuffled down the stairs, and went to the front door.

“Can I help you?” She asked, her eye twitching a little. She had to put a large amount of focus on not exploding at the pony that was rudely knocking on her door.

“Well good morning Rarity.” Applejack smiled with one hoof on Apple Bloom’s wither as she held the filly right in front of her. Rarity couldn’t help but notice that Applejack kept looking down at the filly, as if she was bound to disappear at a moment’s notice.

“Applejack? What brings you by this early in the morning?” Rarity struggled hard to not chew out her friend.

“Well, ah kinda have a bit of a foalsitting issue.” Applejack said with a nervous chuckle, her flaming cheeks further showing her embarrassment at asking someone else for foalsitting help. “Ah need somepony to watch Apple Bloom while Granny is out, and Mac and ah are each running a very important pie run. And, ah’ve been having a hard time finding any of our friends that can do it.” Applejack added, her hind leg nervously scratching her other hind leg, her head looking downwards.

“Ah yes, Fluttershy is out of town for the day, as is Pinkie Pie. And, I believe Twilight has been extremely busy grabbing books from that old castle.” Rarity pondered. ”But, why would you even need me to foalsit her? Surely Apple Bloom is responsible enough to watch herself.” Rarity pointed out.

“Except that she’s grounded.” Applejack grumbled, her eyes migrating over to look at Apple Bloom, who sat on the ground -- her bow drooping, and her face pouting. “She decided to try for her ‘thermodynamics’ Cutie Mark, and blew up the clubhouse, very nearly burning herself alive.” Applejack said sternly, her eyes not straying from Apple Bloom for several tense moments, before she looked back to Rarity.

“Oh yes, I see.” Rarity grimaced, this sounded very familiar, except the Sweetie Belle had only been slightly burned from the explosion that took out Rarity’s old bedroom. “Well, I do suppose I could see why you might want to punish her. But, I’m afraid, I’m not really good with foals.” Rarity insisted. Why did anypony ask her to foalsit anymore?

“Ok Rarity, ah’ll see who else ah can find.” Applejack said with a long sigh, as she turned around. “Come on Apple Bloom. We gotta go.”

Rarity could hear the desperation in Applejack’s words. Rarity felt a pinch of guilt at turning her desperate friend away so thoughtlessly. And while Applejack could surely make do without this pie run, Rarity had been in her position before. It had happened to her on more than one occasion where her parents had dropped Sweetie Belle into her lap, despite her having an important order to create.

Rarity took a long hard sigh. “I suppose I could watch Apple Bloom.” Rarity said somberly, as she raised one foreleg in a gesture that suggested she was trying to stop her friend from leaving. “I am watching Scootaloo, after all.”

Applejack paused. If she left Apple Bloom with Scootaloo, it wouldn’t be much of a punishment. Then again, she wasn’t going to make this pie run if she dallied much more looking for foalsitters.

Applejack’s face exploded into a large smile. “Thank you Rarity, ah owe you one.” Applejack exclaimed, as she gestured for Apple Bloom to come back towards the door. “And don’t you worry about Apple Bloom, she’s grounded, so she shouldn’t be playing around, anyway.” Applejack pointed out, as she reached out and shook Rarity’s foreleg, gratefully.

“Yes of course.” Rarity said with a forced smile, as she pulled Apple Bloom into the boutique. “But, I really need to get back to work.” Rarity said as she slowly closed the door. Applejack giving them both one final wave, as the door finally shut.

Now that the door was finally shut, Rarity turned to face Apple Bloom. “Ok. I'm supposed to make sure you don't leave the boutique. But, I really want to sleep a bit. So I'll give you two choices. One, you can go upstairs to Sweetie Belle's room, and take a nap -- Scootaloo is already there, so please be sure not to wake her, though. Your second choice is to do something quiet, but not terribly risky -- I’ll let you decide what, so long as it’s safe enough that I do not get chewed out by Applejack for letting you go do something stupid. Am I clear?” Rarity asked, giving Apple Bloom a stern look.

“Yes ma’am,” Apple Bloom replied, looking down at the floor, still looking visibly upset, her voice coming out monotone.

“Great! Then I shall be returning to my bed,” Rarity remarked, turning around to walk up to her chambers, only to be interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Rarity grumbled silently as she turned around to open the front door.

With a deep frown, Rarity threw the door open, only to see her sister and parents on the other side. “Hello mother, and hello father, “ Rarity said, patiently. “ I am guessing that Sweetie Belle is here to stay the night.” Rarity said, her voice coming out sweet, despite her frustration. Please say no. Rarity silently begged them.

“Why yes, your father and I have another emergency at work, and we will have to leave her here for three months. So, It'll be fun for you two.” Cookie Crumbles said cheerfully, followed by a nervous laugh.

“Three months! That's the longest yet!” Rarity remarked mouth falling wide open, and her eyes bulging a little.

“This emergency is a doozy. It requires us to go to practically the middle of nowhere, so we won't be reachable, don'tcha know.” Cookie Crumbles added. The pink mare still held her smile, but there was a definite disappointment in her eyes.

“Are you sure you can't take her with you?” Rarity begged.

“I'm afraid not… Foals don’t tend to survive where we are going.” Cookie Crumbles pointed out. The smile then faded from her face, and was replaced by a sullen demeanor.

“Well, I suppose it was inevitable,” Rarity said with a sigh. “I already have Apple Bloom and Scootaloo staying the night. I guess it can be like a cutie mark crusader sleepover, or something.” Rarity continued, becoming further resigned to foalsitting.

“Well that's great. You know the emergency contacts.” Cookie responded, her smile bouncing back, but not as big as it had been. Finally, she looked down at Sweetie Belle. “Be good for your sister Sweetie. And, see you soon,” Cookie said, with a reluctant smile, as she looked down at the filly.

“Don't forget your father and I love both of you,” she continued, this time to both Sweetie Belle and Rarity in unison. Her husband confirming his agreement to the statement.

With that she and Hondo Flanks left the way they had come, leaving Rarity standing next to Sweetie Belle. Rarity looked down at Sweetie Belle, and gave a faint smile. “Ok. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo is sleeping upstairs in your room -- please don't wake her. Apple Bloom is grounded, and can't crusade, but, you two can do anything else you want as long as it is safe, quiet, clean, and is confined to the boutique,” she said, counting something with her hoof. “I shall obviously not be getting any sleep, so I'll be working in my inspiration room. Please do not disturb me,” she asked, giving the final rule.

With the final statement Rarity walked towards the back of her house, where her inspiration room was situated, and closed the door behind her, as she entered.

Once Rarity was gone, Apple Bloom sat on the floor, and sulked. After a few moments, her face brightened, a mischievous expression enveloping it. “We cain still crusade!” Apple Bloom cheered out, her good mood returning with a vengeance.

“But Rarity said you aren't allowed to crusade.” Sweetie Belle pointed out with concern.

“Nope…” Apple Bloom said, putting a hoof on one of the chairs in the room. “She said we could do anything we want inside of the boutique as long as it’s safe, quiet, and clean!” Apple Bloom pointed out eagerly.

Sweetie Belle stood there a bit confused, her face looking at the yellow filly like she'd lost her mind. “But what sort of cutie marks can we get done doing nothing?” she asked curiously. “When Rarity says clean and safe, she means bland and boring.” Sweetie Belle pointed out.

Apple Bloom pulled out a massive tome out of her saddle bag.

“This.” Apple Bloom said with a massive grin.

“Celeris The Massive Winged?” Sweetie Belle asked, in utter perplexion, as she started at the cover of the book.

“He's the stallion that wrote this book, I think. But that don't matter,” Apple Bloom continued, confidently. “I think we can read this!” Apple Bloom said, her grin not faltering.

“We're going to get book reading cutie marks?” Sweetie Belle looked back with complete confusion, or perhaps more likely, disappointment.

“Not book reading cutie marks, silly! This book has spells in it. Ah saw it hit my window last night… Ah think a strong wind knocked it up into the air.” Apple Bloom pointed out eagerly. ”Ah guess Twilight must’ve dropped it when she was visitin’ the farm yesterday. An’ ah was going to give it back to her today anyways, but ah bet we could get our spell casting cutie marks, in the meantime!” Apple Bloom said, looked up eagerly, her master plan now laid out for all to see.

“That won't work. Most spells are dangerous when cast by novices. And, I'm still struggling to master telekinesis, the most basic spell.” Sweetie Belle pointed out.

“Well, maybe we could find one that is safe? One that we all can cast?” Apple Bloom looked up hopefully.

“I suppose it's worth a shot,” Sweetie said, with a nod. “Let’s start at the beginning. I wonder which one we could do?” Sweetie Belle pondered, looking through the endless lists of incomprehensible gibberish that filled the pages of the tome.

“What's worth a shot?” Both fillies turned around to see that their orange friend, Scootaloo, had come out of Sweetie Belle's bedroom.

“Apple Bloom thinks we can get spell casting cutie marks.” Sweetie Belle re-iterated.

“But, I thought only unicorns could cast spells?” Scootaloo asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Ah think there are some in here we could cast. As ah was lookin’ through earlier, ah thought ah saw one that said all the tribes could use it,” she said flipping through the pages. “But ah just couldn't understand most of it, because of that fancy ancient writin'.” Apple Bloom pointed out.

“Why don't we go outside and crusade, instead?” Scootaloo inquired, curiously.

“'cause Applejack grounded me.” Apple Bloom huffed, her face squinting, and her cheeks growing red.

“Oh.” Scootaloo shuffled her hoof in embarrassment.

Scootaloo's embarrassment quickly evaporated, as Apple Bloom's words finally sunk in.

“Wait! You saw one we could all cast!? Well, let's see it,” she said, pushing her way in between the two other fillies to get a closer look. “I bet Rainbow Dash would be impressed with me flinging magic.” Scootaloo's eyes grew to the size of saucers, as she imagined herself impressing Rainbow Dash with a impressive display of magic.

The three crusaders then began to flip through the pages at a fevered pace. Their eyes flying down the pages, as they skimmed each one for the specific spell Apple Bloom had mentioned.

“Ah found it!” Apple Bloom said, the air electric with her excitement, as her hoof pointed at the page, her face still bearing a larger than life grin.

“Well, let me see.” Sweetie Belle said, pulling the book closer to herself, and out of Apple Bloom's hooves.

“Ok, so Twilight just taught me how to read Unicornian,” she said, her eyes travelling up and down. “now my translation might not be perfect, but, I think it reads: I will reveal destiny,” Sweetie Belle said, her eyes squinting, as she struggled to put the words together.

“Destiny! Like our cutie marks!” Scootaloo cheered. Their eternal quest to find out who they were was about to be over.

“And we can all cast it!” Apple Bloom's face exploding with joy as the realization of what Scootaloo was getting at became clear.

“But it's probably some super duper advanced spell.” Apple Bloom said, her big dreams being crushed under the oversized hoof of reality. “Twilight keeps telling us there isn't a spell to reveal our marks, so, this is probably some ancient secret hidden spell, that takes like 1,000,000 unicorns to cast.” Apple Bloom said as she turned around to trot away at the realization at just how unlikely this plan was. She and her friends had been struggling for so long to find out their special talents. And then there was all the constant teasing from Diamond Tiara. So it was only natural that they had all shouldered secret fears that they simply didn't have a talent.

Sweetie Belle frowned, but continued to read down the page. With each word, she seemed to smile wider and wider. Until finally her grin became massive.

“It’s a super easy spell!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, with a small green spark shooting out of her small horn, hyperactively.

“It is?!” Scootaloo and Apple Bloom said in unison, their grins now massive, and their eyes big as saucers. They began to stare at Sweetie Belle expectantly.

“It says here: I will reveal destiny. All three tribes can cast this spell. In fact, this spell cannot be cast without a member of each tribe to cast it. But be warned the price of this spell is _____.” Sweetie Belle stopped, as she tried to read the missing letters. She tried and tried again, but simply could not divine what letters had once graced that page.

“Uhh, the next part is missing. I wonder what the price was.” Sweetie pointed out.

“If it’s a simple spell, the price can't be that steep,” Apple Bloom said, waving her hoof nonchalantly. “After all, remember what Twilight said: the more advanced the spell the higher the price. So ah figure, the simpler the spell, the lower the price.” Apple Bloom reasoned.

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Scootaloo said from where she sat on the floor, her body curled up a bit in a thinking position.

“Well ok...” Sweetie Belle said with a hint of hesitation.

“The rest is: I warn you, once the spell starts it absolutely cannot be stopped. Have all three casters draw a spell circle, that looks like this.” Sweetie Belle said, pointing at the diagram on the page, a rather bland and simple looking, circle with a few random looking glyphs in the center.

“And then, have all three casters think of the destiny that they wish to reveal and chant the following incantation.” Sweetie Belle continued, she then began to say a bunch of incomprehensible words.

“And then the spell is cast.” Sweetie Belle finished.

“Uh, I thought you said it was a simple spell. Those words were complete and total gibberish.” Scootaloo complained.

“Well, it takes a bit of practice to say them correctly, but I think if we practice we can probably cast it by the time we see Twilight! Won't Twilight be impressed with us for finding our cutie marks by magic?” Sweetie Belle's attitude changed from apprehension to happiness. A part of her always wanted to impress her teacher.

“Ah don't have much else to do. I'm grounded IN the boutique until our lesson from Twilight.” Apple Bloom sulked.

“Yeah, and I can focus long enough to get my cutie mark.” Scootaloo agreed.

“Okay, the first word is 'aperio'.” Sweetie Belle started.

Chapter 1 - accidents will happen

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Rarity took a moment out of her busy day to walk the crusaders over to Twilight's castle, although it was more a matter of curiosity than necessity. Rarity couldn’t help but wonder what the big project Sweetie Belle and her friends had been working on so intently. It had been, surprisingly, a pleasant and uneventful day, one where she hadn’t had all that many interruptions by the crusaders at all. It was a relief that the only interruptions they had dropped on her were requests for art supplies, and food. She had fully expected to be bothered by them breaking something, or that they’d decided to play indoor ice hockey, or some such thing.

Rarity had to laugh to herself. It seemed the crusaders were actually wrapped up in their homework, or whatever that large and unimpressive book was that they were carrying. Rarity had to admit she was a bit skeptical at first, but after she had found herself checking on them a couple of times, for fear they were lulling her into a false sense of security, she now knew that something miraculous had happened -- something she wished she could bottle and sell.

She gave a delicate and ladylike knock on the door, while she waited for Twilight Sparkle to answer. When Twilight finally answered the door, she gave Rarity a large smile. “Good afternoon Rarity,” she said, greeting her friend, warmly. “It's good to see you, and Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo!” she said, turning her head to the fillies. “Are you three ready for Twilight Time?” She asked, stooping her head down to their level.

Rarity smiled back, a graceful smile for a close friend. “Why yes, do you mind if I sit in on Twilight Time today? I have to admit I'm curious about what you have been teaching them. And I thought maybe I might learn something as well. After all, I’ll admit that I really wanted to know what they’ve been learning from that book you gave them!” she said with a friendly chuckle. And I need to see how Sweetie Belle is advancing... she added, silently.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, but it didn’t stay rissen long. “I can’t see why not! Come on in everypony.” Twilight said, with a smile, motioning the four other ponies into her crystal tree castle.

“So did you fillies do your homework?” Twilight asked with a friendly voice and welcoming smile, as the three fillies blew past her.

“Yes we did, Twilight!” Sweetie responded eagerly. “But we also learned a new spell that we were hoping to show you.” Sweetie Belle continued, presenting a very proud smile.

“Oh?” Twilight asked, in surprise, eager to encourage her student’s independent studies. “What does it do?” Twilight asked with a bit of curiosity.

“It's a secret. But I think you are going to love it!” Scootaloo intoned next.

“Well... ok..." Twilight responded hesitantly. “You're sure it's safe, right?” She asked, her face turning a bit skeptical. “Because I don’t want you to cast something dangerous..” Twilight reminded her.

“Of course!” came the answer from the three fillies, in unison.

“Ok!” Twilight responded, trotting over to a nearby chair, and carefully watching as the three crusaders got chalk out of their saddle bags and began to draw some kind of weird spell circle in the middle of the room.

Maybe I worried for nothing, Twilight thought to herself with relief. A spell circle of that shape and size can't generate much power. Perhaps the spell is low level? Twilight asked herself as she secretly began to power up her horn with the spell dissipation spell, a useful spell that would be able to cancel any spell that the crusaders could attempt to cast… just in case.

After the circle had been drawn, the three crusaders stepped into it and began to chant some form of spell. At once an unimaginable amount of magical energy began to emanate from the three fillies. Where is this power coming from? Twilight asked herself, in dismay. There is no way that a spell circle of that size can generate this much energy... Unless... Twilight's face turned pale as she started to recall a worrying concept she’d discarded earlier. She quickly launched her spell on the circle, which evaporated into nothingness, but the power continued to flow.

“Girls, you need to cancel this spell now!” Twilight became very stern, very fast.

“We can't... The spell says it can't be stopped once it starts.” Sweetie Belle shouted , the power in the spell still building.

“Where did you get this spell? I need to stop it, now!” Twilight began to sound urgent, a bit of fear leaking through her voice.

“What is going on Twilight?” Rarity hesitantly asked, her eyes becoming more focused, as fear began to fill her.

“It’s in the book in my saddle bag. I think it was written by some pony named Celeris The Massive Winged.” Apple Bloom said her face starting to look pained.

“The missing book by Equuleus the Mad!” Twilight started to look pale, as a panic started to show on her face.

Without any further provocation, Twilight’s horn lit up brightly. A purple aura quickly surrounded the bag, and sent it rocketing towards Twilight’s feet. From there the aura began to violently shake the bag’s contents out, until a rather large and unimpressive looking book fell to the floor, and was immediately surrounded by the same purple aura as the bag. It rocketed towards the alicorn. She began to feverishly scan the pages until she found a very specific page.

“Ok... Girls whatever you do, don't tell me what you are seeing. If you don't tell me your destiny, the spell can't finish.” Twilight yelled at the fillies.

Twilight's horn lit up a bright purple and the three fillies became covered in the purple aura.

She then turned to Rarity. “We need to hurry, the spell will inevitably force them to finish it...” Twilight said, shaking her head slightly. “I'm going to try to slow the spell's progress.” She said, her head turning to face Rarity. “Rarity, I need you to remove one of the fillies from that maelstrom of magic, before the spell completes...” Twilight insisted, her voice filling with urgency.

Rarity didn’t need to be asked twice to cause her to run towards Sweetie Belle, her voice growing ever more desperate as she went. “Twilight what is going on? Why can't we let the spell to finish?” she asked, her voice filled with both confusion and fear.

“I don't know all the details of this spell,” Twilight shouted, her rational side hiding the waves of panic that threatened to overtake her. “but this is definitely a spell that is powered on life force. And if this spell finishes... the girls will die!” Twilight shouted back.

“Well then, I best hurry!” Rarity replied bravely, pointing her horn at Sweetie Belle, and attempting to lift the filly with her magic. However, the aura around Rarity’s horn didn’t seem to translate into any lift on Sweetie Belle.

“That won't work,” Twilight exclaimed, turning to the white unicorn. “The spell will disrupt other magic fields!” she pointed out.

“Well isn't that peachy.” Rarity growled, as she reached her fore-hooves into the maelstrom of magic, only to yank them back with a large gasp. Some of her pristine white fur had been burned completely off where she had stuck her forelegs into the swirling maelstrom of mana, where the spell circle had been drawn.

“It's hot as a furnace!” Rarity whined.

“I was afraid of that...” Twilight admitted grimly between deep breaths, as she struggled to slow the maelstrom in the middle of the room. “It’s not actually generating heat, it’s the pure amount of magic in the maelstrom.” she said. Her horn began to kick into overdrive, her teeth grinding together as she poured as much magic as she could into slowing the crusaders’ spell.

“I wish the other girls were here. Even just two more could turn this around.” Twilight managed to get out between pants of exhaustion.

As if to answer a prayer, there was a crash at the door. “Hey Twilight, what's with the light show!?” A familiar voice protested. “I can't nap with you lighting up the whole city.” came the irritated voice of Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash, I couldn’t be happier to see you!” Twilight shouted, a large smile growing on her face. “Your timing couldn’t be better, we’re in the middle of an emergency here.” she finished, her face contorting as she struggled to continue her spell.

“What’s going on? How can I help?” Rainbow Dash asked quickly, her body snapping to attention. “Is there some bad guy we need to clobber?”

“It’s more --” Twilight started, only to be interrupted by another voice.

“Hey Twilight, ah don’t mean to interrupt this big… whatever you’re doing. But, ah wanted to apologize to Apple Bloom right quick.” Applejack called out, as she trotted in from the door that Rainbow Dash had flung open moments earlier. “Ah kind’a rushed my pie delivery, when ah realized ah wasn’t fair to Apple Bloom.” she pointed out, a look of shame crossing her face.

“Applejack, perfect!” Twilight said, a relieved look crossing her face. ”All three of you can help me stop this spell.” Twilight shouted, earning a look of confusion on Applejack’s face. However, Twilight didn’t wait for her to ask what was going on, instead she continued to talk. “We're almost out of time,” Twilight explained urgently. “I need all of you to hold hooves, and reach into the magic maelstrom over there. We need to pull one of the crusaders out of the maelstrom before it’s too late. Or all three of the girls there will die!” Twilight yelled.

She could see the three fillies struggling to not talk. Their mouths opening and closing on their own.

Now all three mares found themselves running between the three fillies, trying to all converge on a single one of them that they could pull out easily.

Rainbow Dash finally give a huff of frustration, as she vocalized a complaint. “Why are we holding hooves? Why can't I just yank one of them out?” she asked, her voice sounding arrogant.

“Because you will get burned!” Rarity pointed out, her skin deep red and her fur still missing where she had tried to reach into the maelstrom.

“Holding hooves will help with that?” Rainbow Dash looked back skeptical.

“Yes, it helps spread the magic out.” Twilight explained in her lecturing tone, between deep labored breaths.

”I don’t mean to interrupt this lecture.” Rarity said with a subtle agitation in her voice. ”But, aren’t we out of time for questions? We need to get one of them out, now! Every pony get Sweetie Belle out of the maelstrom, as she is closest to the outside of the field.” Rarity added sternly, her eyes shining, sharp and focussed.

The three mares grabbed each other's hooves in a hurry, and with that Applejack and Rainbow Dash reached their free hooves into the maelstrom to try to yank Sweetie Belle out. And true to Twilight’s claim, the maelstrom wasn't burning them anymore, instead it was simply uncomfortably hot. Still, they muscled forward, the air inside the circle felt thick, like they were reaching into gelatin.

Just as it seemed like they would reach Sweetie Belle in time, her expression glazed over and she began to speak. “Rarity, I see my cutie mark!” Sweetie said, looking, sounding like she was half asleep.

“No no, Sweetie, I don't wish to know. Just don't say anything.” Rarity pleaded, wishing she had free hooves to cover her ears.

“It's beautiful, it’s a pink heart over a pink ribbon. And I see it is surrounded by tiny purple stars. It’s so beautiful.” With that there was a large flash, and Sweetie Belle was simply gone.

“Sweetie Belle! No! Please come back.” Rarity wept, bitterly.

“Hey, we can still save two of them,” the Rainbow Dash announced, her confidence not visibly shaken. “Let’s go for Scootaloo next, she's the next closest!” Rainbow Dash pointed out. The three mares made a dash for the orange pegasus.

“Rainbow Dash! I see my Cutie Mark… I see it...” Scootaloo mumbled, her eyes completely glazed over.

“Hey, stay with me squirt. I don't believe in quitting.” Rainbow Dash said, as she tried to pep talk the filly into holding on a bit longer.

“My cutie mark is... It’s... It’s... A Large fuchsia and brown heart shaped butterfly, and two tiny orange butterflies!” Scootaloo said, her face contorting into a massive frown, and a look of utter and complete disappointment. And with that, she was gone in a flash of light.

“Scootaloo, I'm sorry!” Rainbow Dash managed to stop herself from crying, only leaving a faint trembling.

Twilight frowned on the inside, one would think that with two less fillies the spell would be easier to control… But… If anything, it grew ever more difficult to regulate...

“Apple Bloom! Just hold on a bit longer. We'll get you out.” Applejack said tears streaming down her face as she could already see where this was going.

“Ah'm tryin’...” Apple Bloom struggled, her teeth gritting and her eyes crying.

Applejack rushed over to the side of the room, quickly grabbing her other friends’ hooves, only to hear those words she had hoped not to hear.

“My cutie mark, it's a heart shaped red apple,” the filly announced, as Applejack’s heart sank. “It’s only got one leaf on the stem... Ah knew my talent would have to do with apples, ah just knew it.” Apple Bloom admitted in monotone, her eyes staring ahead unfocused and unfeeling. And with that, the filly vanished and the spell fizzled out.

Rarity was the first to break down, the tears streaming down her face, as she trembled, completely unresponsive to the world. Applejack followed closely behind, as she somberly pulled her hat over her eyes, and trembled silently, faint tears could be seen rolling around the rim of her stetson. Finally, Rainbow Dash simply locked up, and seemed to shudder, her body struggling to not cry at all.

Twilight looked on in shock. “It’s all my fault…” Twilight said, her voice completely in shock. “I’ve never lost a friend before...” she added as her body shuddered. “No, there’s got to be a way to fix this!” she said stubbornly, as she yanked the book closer to herself.

Applejack snapped back, her voice filled with vitriol. “Don’t ya’ have somethin’ better to do then look at that piece of trash?” She asked, sounding like she’d just trot over and burn the book in Twilight’s hooves.

Twilight remained undeterred as she kept frantically searching. After a few moments, her face became manic. “It can't be over yet! Some vaporization spells are not immediate. Maybe there’s a counterspell… or a way to re-constitute them in here! Surely he contemplated an eventuality like this and wrote a solution in here!” Twilight began to hurriedly shuffle through the spell book, the very same book that contained the spell that had vaporized the crusaders. Eventually she let out a loud “ah ha!”

“We can do it. Here's the spell we need.” Twilight waved the book in front of her friends’ faces.

“We can?” Rarity looked back hopefully. Applejack showed agreement, by raising her stetson a little, and peaking out of the new opening. Her freckled face sporting a small grin. Rainbow Dash simply stopped trembling, and her face exploded into a massive smile.

“Let me see….” Twilight said, clearing her voice slightly for the words to come. “To reconstitute a victim of vaporization, you must donate life force... Have each donor hold an item that ties the victim to this world. Note, this spell works with its most power if the donor is a mare and is close to the victim. The closer the better. Also, one donor cannot safely donate to two or more victims. You only have thirty two minutes to make this spell work, and you must get it right the first time; retrying is not possible…” she read in a monotone voice.

“Well, that's unusual. We have very little time, so we won't have the opportunity to get their parents. Instead, grab your sister's cutie mark crusader cape, and return here in a hurry. Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry, but you are going to have to act as Scootaloo's family for now.” Twilight said, a bit of anxiety in her voice. They didn't have much time to solve this.

“As if I wouldn’t do it.” Rainbow Dash said with a hint of confidence as she raced the other two mares towards the castle’s front door. Her sprint proved to be a little bit slower than Applejack’s, who managed to rocket past her.

Within a few minutes the three mares were back with time to spare. Each was holding one of the cutie mark crusader capes. “Great,” Twilight said, taking a peek at the page she’d been studying for the last twenty minutes. “Stand still, and hold up the cape for your sister, or honorary sister, in Rainbow Dash’s case. All you need to do is keep a vision in your mind of your sister reappearing, holding onto or wearing their cape.” Twilight explained as she walked towards an already drawn up spell circle. Inside the circle sat three smaller circles. “Girls, stand inside one of the smaller circles. I’ll cast the spell from here.” Twilight instructed. And with that all three mares took their positions and began to hold up their capes. Without any further warning, Twilight began to cast a spell, her horn glowing a strong purple.

Twilight could feel it work almost immediately. She could feel the room begin to fill with the magic signatures of the crusaders, however, something wasn't quite right, as all three of her friends started to look uncomfortable, and Twilight could see all three of them crossing their hind legs, as they squirmed like a filly having to go to the bathroom.

Before Twilight could ask what was wrong, Rarity broke the silence. “Twilight Dear, are you sure you are performing the spell right?” She asked, uncomfortably. “I wouldn't think it would cause tickling in my… ” Rarity gulped, as she searched for the most ladylike way to put it, finally managing to choke something out, “Special Filly Place...” She said with a huge blush across her face… at which point, she gently bit down on her lower lip with her upper teeth, an uncomfortable look plainly on her face.

Twilight quickly re-read the section in question, even while she continued her spell -- a skill learned at Celestia’s knee. She looked back at her friends with a bit of sympathy. “I'm sorry girls, but it says here that the spell may cause an uncomfortable, or even painful sensation. But that the spell finishes quickly, so we just need to keep focused until the spell finishes in about 90 seconds.” Twilight said, her voice filled with as much confidence as she could provide to her friends -- after all, she didn’t wish to panic them, lest they lose the necessary concentration.

All three mares continued to hold the capes high, though it became obvious to Twilight that something had gotten worse, as all three mares now seemed to be clenching their teeth, or sweating. “20 seconds. We're almost there girls.” Twilight cheered. She could feel the presence of the crusaders growing stronger by the second. They were practically in the same room now. Twilight couldn't say why she couldn't see them yet, though. Her best guess is that they would appear out of thin air once the spell finished.

“I'm sorry to whine Twilight, but the tickling is not only moving up towards my lower barrel, but it seems to be slowly growing more painful.” Rarity whined. The other two mares seemed to share the sentiment, but they managed to hold in any complaints.

“Ten seconds, we are almost done.” Twilight cheered.

“The … Pain … Is... Excruciating. It’s in my lower barrel... Twilight, can we speed this up somehow...” Rarity struggled. Her face showering tears, now. Even rainbow Dash and Applejack, mares who always stood toughly, seemed to be crying.

“Almost... Five … Four … Three... Two....” Twilight's count was interrupted as Rarity let out a scream of pure anguish, followed by her collapsing onto the floor, her face completely pale. With that the spell matrix suddenly blew apart, causing all four mares to be thrown across the room in an explosion.

Twilight was the first to awaken, her whole body hurt, but that pain was really more of a dull throb, compared to her true pain. She had just failed to save three ponies, not once but twice. And to make matters worse, she knew how hard it would hurt her friends. She let out a long sigh. She couldn't break down now, she had to be strong. There was much that had to be done.

Ok, priorities Twilight. She reminded herself.

“First, I need to make sure that Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash get sufficient comfort, they will most likely be distraught. Second, I need to notify the rest of the crusader's immediate kin. It would not be fair to expect Rarity, or Applejack to have to explain to their families what happened when it was my failure. The same applies to Rainbow Dash, except that she isn't actually related to Scootaloo in anyway. Third, I will have to prepare a funeral, all of my books suggest that a proper funeral aids in the healing process because it brings closure.” Twilight said out loud, mostly to allow herself to focus on the task ahead, and not become distracted.

Carefully Twilight guided her friends back to the center of the room. From there, she simply sat and allowed them a chance to grieve. While Rarity’s hysterical crying was expected, and the usually strong Applejack’s tears were understandable, Twilight couldn’t help but be surprised by how bitterly Rainbow Dash was weeping. It just went against the image she always worked so hard to cultivate… Then again, Rainbow Dash was a pony too, and even she needed to cry once in awhile.

They simply sat there for a while. Twilight couldn’t really say for how long, but long enough for Spike to come down the stairs and join them. Eventually her friends had time to calm down, and that left Twilight with the opportunity to deal with her next priority: notifying the next of kin. “Spike, could you wait here with our friends, while I inform Applejack, Rarity, and Scootaloo’s families?” Twilight said with a sad sigh.

Spike spoke no words, instead he gave a solemn nod and went back to patting Rarity on the back. Twilight hesitantly walked over towards the door, shooting one final somber look over her withers at her friends, before she opened the doors and left the castle to perform her unpleasant task.

***

The door to the Sweet Apple Acres barn closed slowly. That was not a good experience. Twilight thought with remorse. Big Mac and Granny Smith had taken the news of Apple Bloom’s passing pretty hard. Then again, it had gone about as well as Twilight had expected. However, this didn’t make it any easier to do.

It actually hurt Twilight to see another pony in that much pain. Now, it wasn’t that death was a new thing in Equestria, nor was it new for a princess to have to inform the next of kin of a death. It’s just that this was Twilight’s first time.

How does Celestia keep herself so calm? Twilight pondered. She’d watched the solar princess deal with the death of a member of the guard on more than one occasion. But Twilight wasn’t sure she could keep nearly as calm as her mentor did, when dealing with such matters.

And this pain was on top of the frustration she felt with herself. She wasn’t able to save the crusaders. And she wasn’t even able to reach Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s parents. The stallion and mare really were, as Rarity had told her they would be, unreachable. This meant that Twilight would need to figure out another way to reach them. Maybe she could ask Princess Celestia or her sister Luna for advice?

I suppose that just leaves one more set of ponies to contact. Twilight decided as she moved down her mental list to the last family. In many respects Scootaloo’s family was the wildcard. It was well known that the couple was one of the most powerful and influential families in Equestria. Other than that, though, nopony knew much about their personalities, or personal lives.

And with this lack of information, Twilight didn’t know how they would react… Other than being grieved that they’d lost their only child. Then again, was there any family in Ponyville that wouldn’t grieve over a lost family member. Still, she needed to get this done, so Twilight carefully took a mental note of where she’d heard Scootaloo’s family lived.

And just like that, Twilight was back on the trail, opting now to trot instead of gallop, as It would seem that the next two meetings didn't need to be rushed. And it was quite a walk to Scootaloo's house, as the couple lived on the outskirts of town where there were only a few houses near them. Once Twilight had finally arrived at the house, she noticed that her heart was pounding and her hooves was shaking, as she tapped on the door with trepidation. It took a fair amount of time before a white unicorn mare with a fuchsia mane answered the door.

The mare noticed the princess, and gave a hasty bow. Her face seemed to go a bit pale, however she quickly recovered and then began to speak, even while she still faced the ground in an uncomfortably formal gesture. “Well good evening Princess Twilight Sparkle, what brings you here this fine afternoon.” The mare gave the princess a large smile.

“Just call me Twilight Sparkle, please. I have some bad news Mrs. Sunbird: there has been an accident.” Twilight said, her heart beating harder. She didn't want to have to see the mare's despair. She was also afraid of the accusations the mare might send her way.

“An accident, your highness? Is Scootaloo okay?” the mare asked, her face barely leaving a neutral expression, although quite a bit of color returned to her cheeks. Only a small amount of concern seemed to be written on her face, and in her voice at all. If Twilight didn’t know any better, it seemed like the mare was sizing her up.

“I'm sorry. But, Scootaloo and her friends were vaporized by a spell they were attempting to cast, and I was unable to rescue them.” Twilight's resolve to not become to emotional barely holding. Her eyes filled with tears instead. “I’m sorry…”

Tears now graced the white mare's face, as she looked back at the princess, with as strong of a face as she could muster. “I understand Princess. At least you did the best you could..." she said, turning away. “I just need some time,” she said, with a sullen expression, closing the door behind her. With that, Twilight turned around and contemplated a means to get in contact with Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents.

Twilight couldn't see it, but once the door was closed, Regal Sunbird's tears had suddenly dried and a small smirk had replaced them as she went upstairs to tell her husband what had happened.

***

Dream walking was such a different experience from anything that Twilight experienced in the waking world, and walking through dreams was a whole different thing from being in one. It felt more like walking through pudding, as though the dreamscape seemed to warble and bubble.

Twilight had been wandering aimlessly since she had first arrived on this strange new alien plane.

“Twilight Sparkle? How is it that we see thee here?” came the voice of Luna, her voice filled with a hint of confusion, despite her best attempts to remain regal and unconcerned.

“I don't know.” Twilight admitted, her face looking a bit concerned. Twilight swallowed a little. “I was trying to see if I could use some harmony magic to reach Rarity's parents and I woke up here. I guess the magic doesn't work correctly, without all six of us.” Twilight said, scraping her hoof with a bit of embarrassment along the “ground”. In truth, it was very obvious in hindsight. But Twilight had been a bit panicked, seeing as reaching the couple had been proving surprisingly difficult.

“Hark it is dangerous to wander the dreamscape. ‘Tis best if thou followest us. Finding specific ponies in the Dreamscape ‘tis difficult. But, mayhaps we can help thee find them.” Luna pointed out.

They had been wandering for what seemed like hours before Twilight finally worked up enough courage to ask the question that had been churning within her mind. “How did you find me and my friends so easily, but these ponies are so hard to find?”

Luna nodded calmly, “Tis easier to find the bearers. Thy magic stands out like a beacon in the night. Tis not impossible to find other ponies, however. Ahh here, Rarity's mother is over there.” Luna pointed, having centuries of experience to guide her. The two walked a bit longer, the pudding like dreamscape seemed to grow softer and more realistic, until the two ponies crossed over into a dream.

Immediately Twilight could see it, a pink mare playing with two white fillies. Immediately she could perceive Rarity, though the mare appeared to be quite a bit smaller and younger, but she was still easily recognizable. Twilight gave a gulp, before she approached the pink mare.

“Mrs. Crumbles, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I have been trying to reach you. There has been an accident, and...” Twilight began, only to be interrupted by the mare.

“Oh, it’s so good to see you princess. What brings you here this fine afternoon?” She asked with a large smile, the two fillies coming into view, and stood by their mother, giving Twilight a polite bow.

“Actually you are asleep, and It has been difficult for me to reach you during the waking hours, so I had hoped to reach you here by another means.” Twilight pointed out, her face becoming dour.

“Oh how nice. Please tell me what you needed to tell me.” Cookie Crumbles replied, giving the princess another smile, followed by a look right into Twilight's eyes. The two dream fillies next to the mother, also looked on in fascination, their eyes twinkling.

Twilight gulped, if she didn't yet have an inkling as to what she was about to hear this would be very difficult. “Mrs. Crumbles, I was just saying there was an accident. Your daughter Sweetie Belle was vaporized, and is … gone...” Twilight started, her voice hitching a little.

“Did you hear that Sweetie Belle, they think you were vaporized. Isn't that silly?” The mother said to the smaller of the two white fillies, with a chuckle.

“It's true, though!” Twilight protested. “I tried to save her, but I failed, and then, I failed to reconstitute them with magic.” Twilight choked on the words. Part of her was tempted to let the mother wallow in her delusions.

“This is definitely the weirdest thing I've ever heard from a princess. What do you think Rarity?” the mare asked the other white filly, who shrugged her withers cutely.

“This tis a dream. What we say tis the truth.” Luna said, her voice filled with seriousness.

“Well, this is a funny prank princess. But, I really must be going. Come along Rarity! Come along Sweetie Belle!” The pink mare said, to her ‘foal’s’, her voice filled with joviality.

“But, this is a dream! You need to know that the truth is...” Twilight tried to plead, only to find herself being tossed into the air by some unknown force, and found herself finally regaining focus. But, she was no longer in Cookie Crumbles dream, instead she found herself in her castle. She must have woken up. she thought to herself. This was a reversal that she didn't want to have, but for now, she would have Spike send Luna a letter, and hopefully, the princess could spare a guard or two to find Cookie Crumbles and Hondo Flanks, and tell them in person.

***

It hadn't been more than a week since Princess Twilight Sparkle had appeared at her doorstep, but Regal Sunbird had been quick to take full advantage of the old expression ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’. And it had been a wonderfully full week of fake tears and condolences.

So today, Regal Sunbird and her husband, Southern Cross, trotted down the road, surrounded by a few members of their entourage. Their destination was the Apple family farm, or more specifically outside some stupid old clubhouse, where the memorial service was scheduled to be held. It was not surprising that Regal Sunbird had been secretly very disappointed when the service had been declared to be held at the farm. It wasn't a very glamorous location and it certainly wouldn't flatter her very important guests, but the bearers had been absolutely adamant that the crusaders had several of their most important moments there.

So, as Regal walked along the road, she could be seen laughing and talking to her political advisor -- quietly of course. The old stallion knew quite a bit about how to handle public opinion. “So, we've gotten five thousand letters so far from concerned citizens from Cloudsdale alone. Can you imagine? One week ago, they wouldn't have touched us with a nine foot pole because our little girl couldn't fly. And now, our poll numbers have increased by 20%” She gave a quiet chuckle.

As Regal walked along, she noticed that ponies were entering eye shot and quickly sagged her head, starting to cry on cue. No pony could tell she was acting, her acting was simply that perfect. And they walked like that, till they had a chance to break from the group and enter the bathroom inside the old farm house. Once inside, she began to fix her makeup using the mirror on the wall, so as to look ‘presentable’ for the ponyrazzi.

“So what was so funny?” Came a male voice, causing Regal Sunbird to give off a loud scream of terror as she wheeled around to face the voice.

“Oh relax,” the voice said, calmly. “I'm not going to hurt you! In fact, if I wanted to hurt you, they couldn't stop me, because ‘in the bathroom nopony can hear you scream’. No wait... that was space, silly me...” the voice continued. She could recognize that voice! She had heard that stupid laugh last year.

“Discord,” she hissed, in frustration.

The chimera himself appeared out of thin air, strangely in some kind of plaid spacepony suit.

“Now, I was wondering what you found so funny,” the chimera hissed. “You see Fluttershy and her friends have been beside themselves with grief, and you seem to be having the time of your life.” He said, frowning at her, like she was a naughty filly.

“I am sad!” she said, her eyes crying a little. When she noticed the Draconequus' skeptical look, she continued “And you of all ponies, shouldn't be chastising me!” she warned. “I seem to recall your little deal with Tirek. And, you didn't seem to care how many ponies could have died!” she yelled back, her face turning red.

“Well, since you enjoy a good joke, let me tell my own.” Discord said, his face turning more happy-go-lucky.

Regal Sunbird looked back in frustration. What is that idiot going on about now. She thought to herself in a moment of fury… Mostly because of the strange divergence from the conversation.

“The spell Twilight cast has a twist ending. Can you guess the punchline?” Discord said, his face turning a bit more sinister.

“Did you mess with Twilight's spell, did you murder those fillies?” She said, not so much with anger, and more with a careful eye, the type of eye she used when she looked for dirt on a rival.

“Oh no, I didn't need to do anything to the spell. It was funny enough on its own..." he replied nonchalantly. “Oh, and I think you should grow a heart.... Ta Ta.” Discord continued as he vanished in a flash of light.

“Grow a heart?” She replied, with incredulity. “I do have a heart, I care lots about my supporters!” She yelled to no pony in particular. Maybe I should talk to Celestia about reigning in that monster, she thought to herself with a huff.

***

The farm was surprisingly packed, with several ponies sitting in some form of black suit, or dress, although some ponies came in simple formal attire. The field was full with all six bearers of the Elements of Harmony, Cheerilee, Big Macintosh and Granny Smith, Scootaloo's parents, their entourage of about eight additional ponies, several members of Ponyville, the most noteworthy being Diamond Tiara and her family (especially Filthy Rich), Silver Spoon and her family, several other students from Cheerilee's class such as Dinky Doo and her sister Amethyst Star and their mother Ditzy Doo. There were several other ponies who happened to know the crusaders or their families personally, and as many Apple family members that could make it, including Babs Seed and aunt and uncle Orange. Disappointingly, Rarity and Sweetie Belle's parents hadn’t made it. As Twilight understood it, the two parents were in shock and had refused to even believe that Sweetie Belle was deceased, even when Luna's guards came in person. Twilight hoped that they would come around soon.

It hadn't been too tough for Twilight to pick the speakers for the memorial service. She had chosen Cheerilee, Fluttershy, Granny Smith, Regal Sunbird, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity, in that order.

Cheerilee's speech had been mostly about their behavior at school, and had been fairly short -- ending with the lament that she would never see them bloom into the ponies they could be, like her other students.

Fluttershy had been put there for an outsiders perspective on the fillies. She had shared what she knew of their crusading, and had also mentioned what they were like to babysit. This was the first time she had admitted to Rarity just how hard the crusaders really were for her to babysit.

Granny Smith had gone on about Apple Bloom's home life, mentioning as much as she knew about the filly. Which was, not surprisingly, quite a bit. Her final closing had been about how Apple Bloom had been an Apple family member to the end.

Regal Sunbird had focused mainly on Scootaloo's tomboyish attitude and had pointed out that the filly hated mushy things, like crying. And how the filly would want them to be strong and move on.

Rainbow Dash was next to take the stage. Her eyes were completely dry, but Twilight noticed how weak and wobbly her legs looked. She also noticed that the dare devil's eyes seemed to be more red than usual. It would appear Rainbow Dash had been crying where nopony could see her do it. She cleared her throat, looking as neutral as she could. Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke, but she was able to stay strong. “Scootaloo was a tough filly and a daredevil at heart. And I have to admit,” the cyan mare said, with a slight pause ‘for emphasis’. “She pulled off some stunts on her scooter that I think were almost as awesome as my best flight stunts. She was the head of my fan club, and she wanted desperately to be like me. And, I think she came very close.” Rainbow Dash cracked a weak smile. “Some of you thought the filly was an orphan. But, she did have a family. Her parents spoke not too long ago... But, she also had me, and I promised to be her one and only sister. Hey, I promised to be her big sister and to take her under my wings and teach her to fly!” she exclaimed, starting to look down with a sense of shame, her face even seemed to leak a faint tear or two, but mostly Rainbow Dash kept it looking dry. “If I had even one regret, it would be that I never fulfilled my promise to be like a big sister to her.” Rainbow Dash explained, her face looking more dower than before. ”Because I was always too busy to spend time with her, and as a result, I never got a chance to train her. She would have made a great flier once her wings grew in. I don't care what the doctors said, she was going to grow those in eventually,” Rainbow Dash finished saying as she stepped down from the podium, a tear finally trickling down her cheek, despite her best efforts. She gave a quick hiccup, before she whispered to her friends, “I'm … not crying … it’s the onions... Somepony needs to stop cooking those...”

Applejack took her speech in stride. She knew full well there weren’t any onions nearby, but she just gave the cyan pegasus a nod before she took the stage, not looking much better than Rainbow Dash. Her face showed obvious signs of crying. Furthermore, she looked tired. Twilight had heard complaints from Granny Smith that she’d had to force Applejack to stop working. It seemed the farm mare was on the verge of working herself to death in an attempt not to think about her sister's untimely passing.

The apple farmer took her stetson down and pressed it against her chest to allow herself to show some reverence for all three of the deceased. She took a hard swallow to clear her throat, and then allowed herself to speak loud and strong. “Ah know y'all heard granny tell ya’ll about how Apple Bloom was an Apple. But she didn't tell y'all that she never knew her ma or her pa -- our parents died shortly after Apple Bloom was born. It's a big part of why ah went to Manehatten to live with the Oranges, but, when ah came back, ah stepped up to the plate. Ah wasn't just running the farm, ah was looking after Apple Bloom. Ah suppose sometimes ah tended to treat her more like a daughter than a sister. And that ultimately led to her death. My final regret is that my last words with her were angry ones, an’ ah wish we could have had more time to patch things up, because Apple Bloom might'a had the Apple temper, but she also had the Apple forgiveness, too.” Applejack finished, putting her stetson over her face to cover tears that had begun to form there.

Once Applejack had calmed down a little, she put the stetson back on her head, and simply tipped it down to cover her eyes a little. She walked slowly back to her seat and sat down. Rarity then stood up, and walked over to the podium. Rarity didn't hide her mourning at all. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her makeup had run. The poor mare sometimes wasn't great at hiding her emotions, and it seemed she simply couldn't at the moment.

The white mare cleared her throat, and began to speak with a definite sadness. “Sweetie Belle, like all her little friends, was energetic. She liked to do all kinds of dirty and messy things. But, she also spent a lot of time at my boutique. With mom and dad always so busy just trying to make enough money to keep Sweetie Belle properly cared for, I had to help raise her. And while I raised her I started to see her take on some of my interests as well. She took on art projects, one of which I’ll forever regret yelling at her over. And she began to take an interest in fashion. Such as those... interesting... costumes she made for the talent show, or for her most recent play. Yes, I will miss her dearly. My biggest regret was not being more generous to her. I could have spent so much more time with her.” Rarity finally stepped down and she sat next to her friends.

With that Twilight gave a few closing words, and the memorial service was over. It was time for every pony to now move on.

Chapter 2 & 3 - When something odd is happening

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The sun slowly peeked through the window of Rainbow Dash’s cloudominiom. A beam of light slowly, deliberately, and maybe even maliciously crept along the walls and then the floors, as it made its course straight towards the mare sleeping in her nice, soft bed. However, Rainbow Dash was unaware of the danger to her sleep. Rather, she slept soundly.

As expected, the sun’s slow creep turned to a sprint as it noticed its target turn over to face it. And without further notice, Rainbow Dash found herself suddenly being awoken by the errant beam of light blinding her in the face. An annoyed snort followed by a grumble came from the cyan mare, as she tried to pull her blue blanket over her face.

However it proved surprisingly difficult to get the blanket over her face in time. With quick thinking, Rainbow Dash began to kick her hind legs forward in an attempt to push the blanket to her face faster, only to regret it as one of her hind legs tapped one of her teats.

Rainbow Dash groaned, her teats had always been sensitive and easily irritated, But, recently they’d been a bit swollen and even more sore to the touch than usual. “Ok, I’m up!” Rainbow Dash grumbled, as she succumbed to the whims of the sun, and began to roll into position to get up.

Rainbow Dash slowly rose from her bed as it was time for her to get up, anyway. Still, she cast the rising sun one final bitter glare before she finished rolling out of bed. Rainbow Dash took several deliberate steps as she marched over to her bathroom. While it was not unheard of for the seemingly lazy pegasus to rise after ten, it didn’t mean she always showed up late. No, if her friends or coworkers needed her early, she would be there by dawn.

Rainbow Dash fumbled for her brush, her tired mind not quite able to remember where she had put it. Finally, her hoof brushed along the tooth brush. With a practiced hoof, and even without opening her eyes, Rainbow Dash fed the toothbrush with toothpaste, and began to brush her teeth. Don’t forget about the stunt, Rainbow Dash’s mind reminded her, bringing back the events of the past month and a half.

With her morning routine out of her mind, Rainbow Dash could focus on her current life’s mission. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and took a long hard look at the picture that now hung from her bathroom mirror. The small filly in the picture was seven years old, her orange muzzle was picked up into a massive smile. Her smaller than normal wings stood out straight.

I’m gonna fulfill both our dreams, and become twice the daredevil that either one of us could have been, Rainbow Dash silently assured Scootaloo’s picture. The last picture that had been taken of the filly, it had been taken only a couple of days before her death… The day Rainbow Dash had promised her that they would begin flight training the very next week.

We both know that wasn’t going to happen, Rainbow Dash chastised herself bitterly. For somepony who had promised to take her flying, they hadn’t flown very much… well ever. She was always so busy training for the Wonderbolts, or practicing her stunts, or saving Equestria. It just didn’t seem like Scootaloo was ever going to get her flight training.

I’ll make it up to you, Scootaloo. I got the biggest stunt ever, and it’s only taken six weeks to plan, Rainbow Dash assured herself, more than Scootaloo. Many ponies would be surprised to know that not all of Rainbow Dash’s impressive stunts were impromptu. No, there were several that were planned ahead, especially the ones she didn’t want to mess up.

A rumble emanating from Rainbow Dash’s stomach reminded her of one simple fact: it was breakfast time. OKAY, a quick breakfast. Then I’m going to practice the most awesome stunt ever, Rainbow Dash confirmed. Eagerly she trotted down the stairs to her front door, followed by her taking several quick steps onto the cloud lawn. Clouds feel weird today, Rainbow Dash admitted, as she felt the normally springy clouds seem to melt around her hooves.

It’s probably nothing, she decided, as she spread out her wings, nice and large. With several hard flaps, she was skyborne. Although the air seemed thinner today, and thus harder to fly in, Rainbow Dash still found flying to be as enjoyable as ever.

Buildings and trees breezed past below her, as Rainbow Dash flew over to Sugarcube Corner. Usually Rainbow Dash would have grabbed a couple eggs and some hay and started the day off with a small breakfast. But today she had another reason to drop by Sugarcube Corner…

***

The small bell over Sugarcube Corner rang as the door sprung open followed closely by the clattering of hooves, as Rainbow Dash briskly trotted into the establishment that morning. Without a warning, she trotted up to the counter, and began to feverishly ring the small bell on the counter. “Hello, is anypony there? Can I talk to Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash shouted, as she craned her head to try to look around the wall behind the counter.

“Hey Dashie!” Pinkie Pie called out, as she trotted out from the kitchen. “Didn’t expect to see you here so soon! What are you up to?” Pinkie Pie’s grin grew manic, and her eyes squinted as she giggled out her next sentence. “Oh I know, you got a prank you want help with. Well, when it comes to pranks… I’m your Pie.”

“No, not today” Rainbow Dash admitted as she nonchalantly leaned herself against the counter. “I’m going to do the ultimate stunt to end all stunts, and I wanted a second pair of eyes to help me hammer out any issues with it… Not that there will be, I am the best flier in Equestria, after all” Rainbow Dash blustered, as she made a couple of poses to prove her point.

“Stunts! I’m in,” Pinkie Pie yelled, her lips curling up into a massive smile. “I’ll get the binoculars, and the loud speaker!” Pinkie Pie eagerly yipped, as she practically disappeared in a puff of smoke, her body blurring with how fast she was running.

“Oh, and a Scone!” Rainbow Dash shouted over the counter, in a last ditch attempt to get her friends attention. I’m going to make it all up, Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash thought with a whistle.

“Sorry, Rainbow Dash. We’re all out of scones,” Pinkie Pie apologized from somewhere, as she came zipping back. She was carrying a plate covered in some kind of pastry, held tightly in her mouth. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure she recognized the pastry, it somewhat resembled a cake, but it was shorter, and had a much thinner crust then she was used to. Finally, its filling looked soft but springy, like some kind of custard.

Before Rainbow Dash could ask what it was, her nose was quickly assaulted by the strong scent of roses. Usually she found the aroma lovely, and roses were something she enjoyed snacking on from time to time. But right now, the scent turned her stomach. She felt like she’d just flown through a hurricane. Her head was spinning along with her stomach. Her vision had begun to collapse into a tight tunnel, as she dove for the nearest trash can she could find.

“Are you ok, Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie Pie said with concern, as Rainbow Dash emptied her stomach into the trash can that her entire muzzle now rested in.

“Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash croaked irritably as she slowly let her stomach settle. “You put too much rose in that pastry” Rainbow Dash groaned.

“No way, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie disputed with a shake of her head, her objection coming out firmly but not harshly. “These are the Yorkshire curd tart we made in honor of Sir Vale of York. And he said they tasted scrumdiddlyumptious,” Pinkie Pie commented as she walked over and began to pat Rainbow Dash’s back, in an attempt to help her stomach settle faster.

“Whatever” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she forced her head up, despite the turning of her stomach and the sudden sense of vertigo. “I got to practice a stunt… Just forget the food,” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she stumbled to the door.

Once she had reached the outside world, Rainbow Dash hastily spread her wings. The air seemed even thinner, as she spent the next several seconds flapping effortlessly. Come on, Rainbow Dash shrieked in her own mind, as she pushed her wings all the more harder. Still, the sky slowly succumbed, albeit stubbornly, to Rainbow Dash’s efforts, as she got airborne. Hastily she climbed several stories.

I’m not going to let weird pastries or a little nausea stop me from flying, Rainbow Dash decided, before she was hit by another sense of nausea… This one was even worse than the last, causing her to quickly vomit all over a nearby cloud.

Or maybe not… Rainbow Dash moaned in her mind, her face covered in embarrassment as she slowly and instinctively hovered back to the ground below.

“Umm… Maybe you should see the doctor,” Pinkie Pie said with a hint of concern, from the door to Sugarcube Corner.

***

Big McIntosh silently and methodically climbed out of bed. There was a lot to do, it was May after all, and he needed to get an early start on all of his chores. Calmly, with years of practice, he walked down the stairs to the kitchen. Today was the day he was going to cook breakfast. Not because it was his task, but because he wanted to.

Cooking was Applejack’s job, but he couldn’t let her, not today. She needed sleep. Sleep that she had been denying herself. When their parents had died, Applejack had simply shut down and left for Manehattan in an attempt to avoid the pain.

But this time, she was a workaholic. She was pushing herself far too hard. Big Mac doubted she was getting much sleep at all. And her body was starting to show it. His sister hadn’t shown any signs of Estrus in over a month, a concerning development. Twilight had admitted this was concerning symptom, but she was still sceptical that there was any need to worry, yet…. And that wasn’t to mention that there were other symptoms as well.

Then there was the onset of her fatigue. She just seemed to tire out frequently now. Not that her lack of sleep wasn’t a factor, but this was more than that. It just seemed like her body grew exhausted faster than it normally did.

We need to find a way to get her to face her grief, Big Mac decided, as he snuck into the kitchen, one of his hooves gently prying the icebox open. If she doesn't sleep, she’s gonna kill herself, Big Mac added as he gently pulled the eggs out.

Maybe this’ll be a healthy reminder to her, that ah can do chores too, he considered with a smirk, as he carefully trotted over to one of the cupboards to pull the sack of flour down.

And maybe ah can find a way to let her sleep a bit later this morning, Big Mac pondered with a sneaky smile, as he considered ways to help his little sister rest. Granny wasn’t generally too keen on sleeping in, or chicanery, but Applejack had done enough work to have earned at least a couple hours of sleep… And, she needed it, if she wanted to rest or not.

The faint sound of running water followed by the clop of hooves into the kitchen quickly put a stop to that thought. “Big Mac? What are you doin’ cookin’? That’s my job!” Applejack growled irritably, as she shuffled over slowly to scowl at Big Mac.

“You need your sleep,” Big Mac responded with a shake of his head. He could vaguely hear his little sister’s objections, and complaints… He could also feel her trying to push him away from the food. But, he wasn’t going to budge this time. He was bigger than her, figuratively and literally, and he didn’t have to be moved unless he wanted to.

“Mac, stop babyin’ me!” Applejack shouted, as she quickly found that her big brother refused to budge away from the stove. “Ah’ve got chores to do.”

“Nope,” Big Mac disputed with a shake of his head. Carefully he ignored the scowl on Applejack’s face. She could be intimidating when she allowed herself to be, but his concern for her health far outweighed his fear of her temper at the moment.

“You’ve done enough chores for one day,” his baritone voice whispered, his voice serious, but not stern. “Let yourself get some sleep. You ain’t well,” he added, as he began to stir the pancake batter. His eyes intentionally ignoring the increasingly sour looks Applejack was mustering.

“Ah’m fine!” Applejack snapped, as she struggled to reach the spice cabinet around Big McIntosh’s body… Or more specifically the bottle of paprika that was in it. In truth, she’d had the weirdest cravings recently, like the pickling spices she’d tried to put in her applesauce the day before.

“You can’t even stay out of the bathroom,” Big Mac added what was probably the last statement for the argument. If she didn’t listen to that, she probably wouldn’t listen to anything else he had to say.

“It’s just nerves,” Applejack refuted, as she dove for the stove, a small opening becoming available as Big Mac made a beeline for the milk in the icebox. “Ah figure it’ll pass in a day or two,” Applejack insisted as she planted her legs into a defensive stance, the stove was hers again, and she wasn’t going to be moved.

Big Mac didn’t bother to say anything this time, instead he shook his head gently, and simply pushed her with one of his forelegs. “No fair!” Applejack screamed as she felt the treasonous floor gently slide under her hooves.

A stern look from Big Mac was enough to tell her everything, however Applejack wasn’t going to give up that easily. “Ah’m fine Mac, it’s probably just a little cold. Nothing a little hard work won’t burn off” Applejack objected, weakly, even though her mind found this statement unlikely.

Big Mac sighed. He didn’t want to bring this up, he really didn’t. “You ain’t been goin’ into heat like you’re supposed tah, You tire out too easily, and you’ve been eatin’ weird stuff recently. You either need to get a lot more sleep…” Big Mac added with a shudder, only to get quieter as a more disturbing thought crossed his mind. “Or, you need to see a doctor.”

“If ah take the day off an’ go see the doctor, do you promise to let it go,” Applejack bartered, her mind struggling to regain some semblance of calm.

“Only if you do what he tells you to do,” Big Mac conceded, much to Applejack’s frustration.

“Fine, but if he don’t see a problem, ah expect you to get out’a my way,” Applejack hissed as she stormed off, only stopping to eat a pancake that she promptly smothered in Pickling salt and paprika.

Big Mac gave a solemn nod of agreement. The doctor was sure to take his side, to tell Applejack that she needed to sleep, and to grieve… Not to work until she dropped.

***

Rarity tossed and turned in her bed. She wanted to get up, she really did. But it had been so hard to find the drive to get up these past few mornings. Perhaps it was still guilt over Sweetie Belle’s death? She couldn’t be sure. With one final yawn, Rarity managed to embolden herself to get up. Sweetie Belle would want you to give of yourself for Ponyville she wouldn’t want you wallowing, Rarity reminded herself as she picked herself up.

To be fair, each of Rarity’s friends had taken the loss of the crusaders in different ways, and with different levels of sorrow. Twilight had been blaming herself, but she’d buried herself in some kind of project to keep herself active. Rainbow Dash had been even more wild than usual, pushing herself to do more stunts then she ever had. Applejack had become a workaholic. Pinkie Pie seemed to be taking it in stride, and Rarity couldn’t be sure if her sudden emphasis on baked goods might be a sign of a deeper issue.

And Fluttershy… well… nopony had really been able to see her since the whole thing had happened. She was still alive, they knew that. But, she’d rolled herself up into a small ball, and was unwilling to see anyone recently. It was extremely concerning.

I’ll try to get her to come to the spa again this week, Rarity decided, as she set her mind to checking on her flighty pegasus friend yet again. I mean, it would be nice to get back to the spa, Rarity decided, as she walked down the stairs to the ground floor and, more importantly, the kitchen. It had been simply too long since she had gone to the spa. However, her heart just hadn’t been in it. There were several reasons, but one of them was a general feeling that Sweetie Belle’s passing was all her fault. If only she’d been tougher… If only she’d held out for even five more seconds.

It’s not fair! Rarity whined, as a sudden wave of despair hit her. How could i have failed Sweetie Belle so badly? Isn’t my inner strength just not as big as my friends? Rarity contemplated through the bitter tears which flooded her eyes and poured down her cheeks. And of course the tears only made her task harder as she carefully lifted the carton of eggs from the ice chest.

What am I thinking?! Rarity thought, with a mental slap, which quickly abated the shivers of despair that had been creeping up on her. Where did all of this drama come from? She pondered with a shake of her head.

Moving forwards, Rarity decided, as her magic floated the egg carton towards the kitchen table. It was weird, recently Rarity had had the strangest obsession with eggs. Eggs for breakfast, eggs for lunch, and eggs for dinner.

Sadly, her magic suddenly began to sputter out. “No!” Rarity gasped, as she watched the eggs fall in slow motion. With remarkably quick thinking, Rarity reached out her magic to grab the fallings eggs. However, her magic refused to work, as only sparks flew from her horn. “No No No!” Rarity screamed as the carton turned upside down, causing the eggs to slam into the floor, with yolk and egg white splattering against the nice clean floor and kitchen fixtures.

This is fixable, Rarity reminded herself, as she reached out for a cloth to use to clean this mess up… Only for her horn to continue to fail to work. “Stupid horn!” Rarity screamed in fury, as she began to beat on her malfunctioning horn. “Why aren’t you working!” She continued to scream, her face turning red with fury. Without a hint of consideration or concern for her image. Her fury refused to abate, evan as she began to stamp, and otherwise trample the egg carton. And of course, all her tantrum did was aggravate the problem, spreading more eggs across her floor.

“Rarity, are you in here?” Called out a gentle voice, interrupting Rarity’s sudden and unexpected tantrum, as well as familiar voice. “I just heard great news, and I had to come to talk to you,” Fluttershy’s voice sung eagerly, her excitement completely wild and unchained, as she called out for Rarity a second time.

Rarity gave a cough, as she struggled to suppress her embarrassed blush. “I’m in the kitchen Fluttershy, dear. And might I add, it is such a pleasure to hear from you again. Please feel free to come in so we can talk,” Rarity added, as she tried to listen for Fluttershy’s dainty, ninja like steps. However, Rarity couldn’t hear Fluttershy’s hooves, instead she suspected that the yellow pegasus was probably on her way.

Rarity could hear the small gasp of the yellow pegasus, signaling that her initial theory had been correct. “Please pardon the mess, darling. I seem to be having a bit of trouble activating my magic,” Rarity admitted with a soothing sigh, as she carefully swallowed the humiliation burning in her face.

“It’s ok, you are pregnant, after all,” Fluttershy cooed, as she gently flew over linen drawer to grab a washcloth.

“I Beg your pardon?” Rarity said with a look of confusion, and a raise of her eyebrow. “Fluttershy, darling, what ever are you talking about?” Rarity asked, cautiously.

“Discord told me all about it,” Fluttershy pointed out with a smile, as she gently began to dampen the washcloth with water from the faucet. “You see, I was so sad about the crusaders… especially considering how it might have been different, if only I’d been there.” Fluttershy said with a slight regret in her voice. “And then Discord told me the good news… And well, I had to run down and see you.”

“Fluttershy, you can’t listen to every word that comes from that trickster’s mouth,” Rarity groaned, as she carefully picked up the fallen egg carton between her two hooves, her face twisted into a look of revulsion. “I know you two are starting to be quite the couple, but don’t let a crush cloud your judgment,” Rarity added, with a long, soothing breath.

“We’re just good friends,” Fluttershy insisted behind a very large blush. Rarity rolled her eyes, but decided to let it go, for now. After all, Fluttershy was still rather sensitive around stallions, and she wasn’t likely to do anything… foolish.

“And don’t forget, I would never mate with a stallion before I married him. And we all know that’s the only way to get pregnant,” Rarity pointed out as she carefully batted a lock of mane away from her eyes. “Unless Discord has been up to something he hasn’t been telling me about,” Rarity hissed as she squinted eyes. “He didn’t do anything… did he?” Rarity pleaded, as she walked over to stand closer to the yellow pegasus.

“Oh no,” Fluttershy whispered with a shake of her head. ”This is not something bad. It’s something wonderful,” Fluttershy whispered, as she shook the horrible thoughts from her mind. “It makes everything better,” Fluttershy pointed out, as she began to wipe the the egg off of the floor. “Your foal, it’s Sweetie Belle,” Fluttershy cooed, as her face beamed with a bright smile.

***

Applejack sat numbly in the waiting room, her eyes staring blankly into space. How is this possible? Every filly knows there’s only one way to get pregnant, and ah ain’t been with a stallion. It’s just not possible, it just ain’t, Applejack moaned, her mind struggling to solve this enigma. She might not have been a scholar in magic, like Twilight Sparkle, but she knew enough to know that magical pregnancies were a magical myth.

“Miss. Applejack,” spoke a calm voice, drawing Applejack’s mind back to Equestria. She numbly looked up to see the nurse that the voice belonged to. “We have the results from the second test you requested. But, I’m afraid the doctor won’t be able to see you for a few more minutes. Is that ok?” the nurse asked gently. Applejack could only nod her head.

Applejack’s musing was cut short as somepony arrived, stomping and shaking the floor. The stomping was quickly followed by shouting. “I’m waiting out here until you get me another doctor, because I’m not pregnant!” shouted the undeniable voice of Rainbow Dash.

It wasn’t more than a moment before the shaking in the floor stopped, as Rainbow Dash slumped into the chair next to Applejack. The cyan pegasus was pissed, Applejack could see that. She sat in the chair with her forelegs crossed, and her cheeks a very deep red.

“Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked, grabbing the attention of her pegasus friend.

“Applejack? What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked, her eyes wide open with surprise.

“Same thing as you, ah recon,” Applejack mumbled quietly, as she looked down at her hooves. She almost sounded like she was ashamed to admit it. “You’re pregnant, and you can’t explain it, either?” Applejack whispered, as she continued to stare down at her hooves.

Rainbow Dash went silent, her eyes darting around for quite some time. However, after a painfully long pause, she finally spoke again. “Maybe...” she whispered, non-committally. Applejack gave a somber nod, she was afraid of that.

“Well, ah think Twilight will know what’s goin’ on,” Applejack decided, her eyes turning rigid, as the doubt turned to purpose. “We need to talk to her after we get done here,” Applejack decided, before she went quiet. She didn’t have much more to say about the matter. All there was left to say was to quibble over what other ponies would think or say, if they knew. And, at the moment neither she, nor Rainbow Dash needed to prove their chastity or honor to other ponies, let alone each other.

***

Twilight Sparkle carefully shuffled through the tome in front of her. She’d spent the past several days trying to figure out how to help her friends through the grieving. Now she had a new project, to figure out why Fluttershy was claiming Rarity was pregnant with Sweetie Belle.

“So, Fluttershy, what makes you think that Rarity’s foal is Sweetie Belle?” Twilight asked gently, as she shifted through the spell book in front of her.

The yellow pegasus raised her head, her eyes filled with more determination and less timidity than usual. “Because Discord said so,” she admitted stubbornly, as she looked back at Twilight. “And, I think he’s telling the truth. After all, why would he lie about something as wonderful as this?” Fluttershy added, her resolve quickly fading after this admission.

“But, if that were true, then this would be nothing short of a miracle,” Twilight pointed out, as she opened one book, and floated it next to Fluttershy. “And even if it were true, what caused it to happen? Discord’s magic is odd and not well understood. But even this is beyond his abilities. There is a reason, after all, that magical pregnancies are a magical myth.” Twilight lectured, as she carefully pulled out the final book in her stack, the tome by Celeris The Massive Winged.

“But… But it would fix everything,” Fluttershy sobbed, with a shudder of her body. Twilight could feel her heartbreak. Fluttershy had been hit the hardest of all of her friends, filled with the most guilt and grief.

“Well, Rarity would seem to be pregnant,” Twilight admitted, as considered the evidence she had been given so far. While magical pregnancy scans were not as accurate as the clinical tests, they were very reliable. And if you added the other symptoms, it did seem to make a very sound case.

“Twilight, are you here?” shouted the unmistakable voice of Applejack from the staircase.

“Yeah, egghead! We need you to put that brain of yours to work explaining the next biggest mystery since the last Daring Do novel!” Rainbow Dash’s voice added. It sounded like the voice came from a bit closer point, like the top of the ballister. It seemed both ponies were traversing the castle rather quickly. If Twilight were to guess, they were galloping. But, she couldn’t be sure.

It can’t be, Twilight thought, her eyes growing wide as she felt her heart dump into her stomach. Twilight swallowed hard, and took a deep breath. “I’m in the throne room!” Twilight yelled out so both ponies would know where she was.

“Darling, you wouldn’t think it’s possible, would you?” Rarity slowly and hesitantly asked. Twilight gave a reluctant shrug, but she already suspected the answer was “yes”.

“It’s like I told you, all the crusaders are alive!” Fluttershy whispered, as she peeked out from under her mane. “And what’s even more wonderful is that Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack get a chance to be mothers,” Fluttershy cooed, as she gave Rarity a wide, eager smile.

“What did you say?” Rainbow Dash shouted, as she and Applejack busted into the room. “Twilight, what’s this all about?”

“Applejack, Rainbow Dash are you pregnant?” Twilight stated dryly, as she shot each mare a scrutinizing glance.

After a few tense moments, Applejack broke the silence. “Neither Dash or ah can explain it, Twi,” Applejack softly whispered, her eyes glancing back nervously. “So, we wanted to know how we got pregnant.”

“I’m not sure yet,” Twilight objected, as she flipped through the tome in front of her, her magic stopping at the page for the last spell she had cast from it. “The spell we cast was supposed to save them. There is nothing in here about pregnancy,” Twilight insisted, as she floated the page in front of each pony.

“How do you know? Did you even have time to read it?” Rainbow Dash insisted, as her patience waned.

“Of course I read it,” Twilight huffed. “I’m never sloppy with my spell casting.” Twilight insisted, as she began to point to various places on the page. “Here’s where the incantations are described. Here’s where the various warnings and notes are,” Twilight explained, her hoof finally hovering over and then pointed towards an elaborate set of mathematical formulas, “and here it describes the failsafe.”

“A failsafe?” Rarity asked, curiosity ruling her voice, and a look of uncertainty gleaming in her eyes.

“Yes, most spells have them,” Twilight lectured dryly. “In fact nearly ninety five percent of failsafe spells are designed to protect the caster and target from magical backlash,” Twilight explained, only to notice the room being full of blank stares. Twilight intently began to explain herself. “You see, failsafes are factors in spells that are designed to cause something to happen if various spells fail” Twilight explained, as she gladly entered lecture mode. While the lecture might have seemed pointless, it provided Twilight a chance to think. “They were first theorised of by Celeris the Massive Winged, Star Swirl the Bearded’s brother. However, they weren’t implemented until Star Swirl the Bearded figured out how to turn the theory into a reality.”

“Well, what does this failsafe do? The spell did fail, after all,” Rarity pointed sensibly, as she considered what was being said.

“It might not hurt to cross reference the spell form with other similar spell forms,” Twilight conceded, as she pulled the book closer to herself using her magic.

“But, it could be true?” Rainbow Dash asked, as she bit her lip. Her face was the picture of barely contained enthusiasm. Her wings quivered, and her body shook a tiny bit, with excitement.

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Twilight cautioned the cyan pegasus. “Girls, wait just there while I get some books out.” Twilight explained while she walked out of the room, and down the hall.

“Could it be true?” Applejack mumbled, as even she was having trouble containing her excitement. All the ponies in the room looked at Fluttershy, who was looking like a filly looking at her birthday presents, tentatively.

However, the sound of several books hitting the floor hard, rattling the crystal walls spoke even louder. It seemed Twilight had just had the surprise of her life.

***

Rainbow Dash bit her lip, she couldn’t contain her excitement, and everypony looking could tell. “Regal Sunbird is going to be so stoked, when we tell her Scootaloo is alive!” Rainbow Dash ranted, as she looked at Twilight. “Although, I’m going to have to leave the egghead explanation to you,” Rainbow Dash added eagerly.

“Well, it’s complicated, but the explanation is fairly straight forward,” Twilight explained, as she looked into the distance. The sunbird house was just over the next hill, this explanation would have to be kept short. “After the girls cast their prophesy spell, their bodies were transformed into pure magic,” Twilight stated casually, her mind working overtime to help her keep this as brief as possible. “The spell we cast was supposed to take that magic, and use it to reconstitute them. Now, the failsafe is where it gets interesting,” Twilight’s face seemed to beam, as she struggled to contain her building enthusiasm, this was one of the most amazing magical feats she had seen, outside of the Elements of Harmony, or Celestia and Luna moving the sun and moon.

“You see, Celeris conceived the possibility of his spell failing, so he made the spell store the target’s essence somewhere. That’s where the pregnancy comes into the story. You see, when the spell failed, the girls were already being stored in your wombs. And this is why the spell explicitly called for mares,” Twilight lectured, as the two ponies arrived at Regal Sunbird’s house. The first thing they noticed was that ponies were moving in and out of the house, emptying it into a moving carriage.

“Hello Princess!” Regal Sunbird called out, with a big smile, as she waved at Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash. “What brings you by my humble abode this morning,” she asked with a grin.

Rainbow Dash zipped up, so that she could stand next to Regal Sunbird. “Have I got great news!” Rainbow Dash shouted into the pleased mare’s face. The cyan pegasus’ grin was large, nearly as big as Pinkie’s most manic grin.

“Yes, of course...” Regal Sunbird responded with a forced smile. “However, please make it brief, I need to finish packing. I need to move into my husband’s house in Canterlot,” Regal Sunbird added, as she lit up her horn, to move a small box on her back into the truck.

“Scootaloo is alive!” Rainbow Dash shouted, giddily. Her expression turning more confused, as she saw the twinge of fear flash across Regal Sunbird’s face. “Is something wrong?” she inquired.

“T-that isn’t possible. You’re delusional,” Regal Sunbird stuttered, her face turning slightly pale, as she imagined her plans of restoring her prestige in Canterlot going up in flames. “I mean.. the princess said they vaporized themselves!” Regal Sunbird insisted. “And everypony knows resurrection spells are just as much of a myth as magical impregnation,” Regal Sunbird bartered, a slight layer of sweat dripping down her brow.

“Well, the spell we cast to try to save the girls isn’t a resurrection spell, technically,” Twilight Sparkle explained, as she walked over to catch up with Rainbow Dash. “It’s more that we tried to reconstitute them, but when that failed, their essences were restored into Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack,” Twilight lectured, her mind not noticing Regal Sunbird looking more and more desperate by the second.

“But that isn’t possible,” Regal Sunbird stuttered, her veneer of sophistication melting away. “Do you have any evidence?”

“Well it’s more of a hypothesis,” Twilight Sparkle admitted, with a slight blush. “But we have a fair amount of evidence, and the explanation seems plausible. Considering there isn’t an explanation to reveal how three of my friends ended up pregnant at once. That isn’t to say that it isn’t outside of the realm of plausibility. But Rarity and Applejack are very zealous about ‘marriage before mating’. And while Rainbow Dash has been known to flirt with the stallions, she can’t afford to mate outside of wedlock, either,” Twilight Sparkle lectured, as she began to spell out her thoughts on the matter.

This is not looking good, Regal Sunbird thought, despite the distracting pounding of her heart. “W-what are you suggesting,” Regal Sunbird stuttered, her body still trembling a little, but her composure returning, as her mind ran over ways she could salvage the situation.

“That Rainbow Dash is pregnant, and her foal is --” Twilight started, only to be interrupted.

“Rainbow Dash’s foal!” Regal Bird blurted out, interrupting the lavender princess. However, after that outburst she seemed to regain her complete composure. Her face turned less scared, and more tear ridden. As well as her body being wracked with sobs. “I mean, the poor dear may not remember her past life, and she’ll imprint on Rainbow Dash in the first five minutes… So, I would hate to take a foal away from its mother, especially for selfish reasons,” Regal Sunbird wept, as she switched into a full acting mode.

“What!” Rainbow Dash shouted, her body growing rigid, her wings spreading in a defensive stance. “You can’t be serious! Scootaloo loved you, and you’re just going to dump her like she’s trash?!” Rainbow Dash shouted at the white unicorn.

“I’m not dumping her, I’m doing what’s best for her,” Regal Sunbird growled, in an extremely soft whisper. “Miss. Dash, you do not want to make a scene of this,” Regal Sunbird said warningly. “Consider what this pregnancy would do to your chances with the Wonderbolts,” Regal Sunbird continued to whisper, only into the pegasus’ ear.

“Are you threatening me?” Rainbow Dash snarled back, as she trotted over to stick her forehead against that of the unicorn. Both mares stared each other, hostility in their eyes.

“Not at all,” Regal Sunbird cooed. “It’s just that, as the role models to most of Equestria, the Wonderbolts have a strict code of honor. And mating out of wedlock is an offense that leads to being removed from the team. And I would hate for you to be removed from the team over Scootaloo,” Regal Sunbird cooed, her voice turning smooth and compassionate, despite the subtle warning tones in it.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight snapped, causing both mares to startle. Both mares then looked at Twilight in surprise. “We should be going,” Twilight stated sternly, causing Rainbow Dash to reluctantly walk over to stand next to the alicorn.

“And besides, picking a fight with a grieving mare will just make things harder on everypony,” Twilight said softly, as she started to walk off, causing Rainbow Dash to run to catch up.

“She’s faking it!” Rainbow Dash snarled. “She’s tossing Scootaloo away!” she added, her face red with fury.

“Even if she was, it won’t help Scootaloo to force Regal Sunbird to take her back. Especially considering that Scootaloo may not remember anything.” Twilight admitted, earning a look of surprise from Rainbow Dash.

“Why wouldn’t she remember?” Rainbow Dash insisted, a hurt look crossing her face.

“It depends upon where memories are stored, and how they are accessed,” Twilight explained, casually, as she went over what she knew. “If knowledge is stored in the soul but accessed by the brain, for instance, then the memories will be there, but the girls won’t be able to remember. It’ll be like amnesia,” Twilight explained.

“But, they will remember, right?” Rainbow Dash insisted, her heart not able to handle the possibility that she’d still lose Scootaloo.

“We’ll need time to tell.” Twilight admitted, as she shook her head sadly.

***

I’m glad mom and dad are coming back early, Rarity thought with a smile. She was usually glad when they came back, but this time especially. She needed to explain to them what was happening, and this would be the perfect time. All the events of the current day had been hectic and tiring. Rarity was sure she would sleep well tonight.

Rarity impatiently adjusted everything on the kitchen table. Her parents were going to be there any minute, and she was going to have a lot of explaining to do. They were supposed to be there by 5, the perfect time for dinner. But, they were running late... again... Rarity gave a sigh, and sat down at the counter.

As she waited, she began to read through the pamphlets for expectant mares that the doctor had given her. After which, she would have to read that book Twilight had given her, and then get some advice from Fluttershy. It was all just a huge hassle, and she still wasn't quite sure just how she was going to make this work. After all, she couldn't rely on her parents to actually be there to raise Sweetie Belle, seeing as she had a business to run, and that left her with very little time for foals.

“But worry not, dear! I'll do it all for you Sweetie Belle.” She said while patting her lower barrel. She loved her sister, and would find a way to make it work. After all, she wouldn't represent generosity if she denied her sister a good life. Finally, after a few more seconds, she could hear knocking on her front door. “Were they just waiting for me to say that?” she asked herself with a chuckle, at the timing of her parents arrival.

Rarity gracefully walked over to the door, and slowly opened the it to find the two ponies she had been expecting. “Mother, father I am so glad you could make it for dinner,” she said, formally. “I do hope you are hungry, because we have much to discuss,” she said, smiling at both the pink mare and the white stallion, as she began to daintily trot towards the kitchen table. She pulled the chair out with her magic, and prepared herself to sit down… only, to get stopped by something she hadn't expected to hear.

“Oh I can't wait to see Sweetie Belle, too,” Cookie Crumbles replied. “But, I don't see her here, or in the kitchen. Rarity, is she upstairs cleaning her hooves?” she asked, her voice more filled with confusion, then concern.

Rarity froze, and looked back with a grave face. “You didn't hear?” she asked her parents, Cookie Crumbles and Hondo Flanks, who both shook their heads. Rarity took a deep breath to calm down -- this would just make things easier. “Well, that's part of what I want to talk about.” she said with a calm demeanor.

“She's at her friend's house, how nice,” Cookie Crumbles smiled.

“Mother… father… please have a seat, I really want to get started on dinner before dinner gets cold,” Rarity pleaded. or I get cold feet, Rarity she silently added.

With that Rarity's parents shrugged, and had a seat. Hondo began to dig into his food right away, but his wife took a bit more time to cut her food and chew on it. During a lull in conversation, Rarity decided to spit things out. “Now then, it seems the rumors of Sweetie Belle's demise were greatly exaggerated. She is, in fact, quite alive,” Rarity said, her tone still formal.

“Well of course dear, she's been staying with you for a month and a half. And, we knew the princess was playing a prank on us... We know nothing bad could happen to her when she's with you,” Cookie Crumbles said with a massive smile.

Rarity bit her lower lip, the truth hurt. “Well, you see, she was vaporized by a spell that she and her friends cast.”

Cookie Crumbles looked back in confusion. “If she was vaporized then how is she still alive?”

Rarity spent a second to think how to address the issue, before she decided to put it bluntly. “We attempted to cast a spell to try to save her life, and it failed -- but not completely. And now I'm pregnant with Sweetie Belle.”

Cookie Crumbles looked back with a smile. “Oh you’re pregnant? Who's the sire?” She asked, enthusiastically. “When did you get married? When do we get to meet him? Is it that Trender Hoof stallion that you kept going on and on about?”

Rarity shook her head, her mother clearly wasn't paying attention. “Mother didn't you understand what I just said? The foal is Sweetie Belle, there isn't any sire!”

Cookie Crumbles let out a blush. “I don't think I follow, dear. You said Sweetie Belle was vaporized by magic, but she's alive, and that made you pregnant?” her voice sounding a bit empty as she tried to figure out the cryptic message Rarity was giving her.

Rarity took a moment to look away, her teeth grinding. Sometimes her mother was oblivious. But this seemed just seemed a little too clueless. It seemed the dear was either completely lost or in utter denial. She hated to do it, but her mother couldn't live in denial forever. She took a second before she managed to regain her composure, and put on a fake smile.

“Mother, perhaps a visual aid would help?” Rarity asked with a voice that was as smooth as silk, just like she'd practiced.

The pink mare nodded, her face bearing a smile. “Oh yes, that would be a big help,” Rarity’s mother replied, with a nod.

Rarity took a stroll down to another part of the boutique and grabbed a scrap book out of a book shelf. Walking back to the kitchen table, she took a seat, and opened the scrap book. “Here is a picture of what my foal will look like,” she said with a fake smile, pointing a hoof at a familiar picture of Sweetie Belle.

Cookie Crumbles sat there perplexed. “Ah yes, I see the resemblance. She has your lovely coat.” Cookie Crumbles said with a big smile, before her smile seemed to hesitate for just a moment or two, “But she looks an awful lot like Sweetie Belle, too.”

Rarity nodded, her body language remaining neutral. “Oh, and I have pictures of the father.”

She flipped through the pages to a familiar picture of her father. She pointed at the picture in question.

Hondo Flanks having noticed the odd conversation had looked up and gave a soft chuckle. “He's a handsome devil,” he said, proudly. “He looks just like me...” he then took a drink of orange juice. He sat there for maybe a second before he spit out the orange juice he had just started drinking. “Hey, that is me.”

“Oh yes, and here is a picture of the mother,” Rarity pointed to a pink mare standing next to the white stallion in the picture.

“Oh that's not a good picture of you, dear…” her mother said, shaking her head. “it looks just like me...” the pink mare said, her face turning dark. “It isn't me, right...” her eyes looking back, almost pleading.

“Mother, I know you've been avoiding this, but in about nine and a half months, I'm going to give birth to Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, giving a tortured sigh. At least she was finally making progress.

Cookie Crumbles began to shiver, quiet sobs leaving her mouth. She simply leaned over and gave Hondo Flanks a big hug. The stallion reached back and returned his wife's hug, as he looked over at Rarity remaining seemingly unfazed, although his usual never-ending smile seemed to be missing. “Rarity... Is Sweetie Belle going to be okay?”

Rarity frowned, this was not going to be easy to say. “As long as the pregnancy goes properly,” she replied. “She should come out no worse for wear... Just about seven birthdays younger, that’s all. As for mentally, we don't know. She may very well be starting her life all over again.”

Cookie continued to cry into her husband's chest. The stallion nodded solemnly. “At least she will be ok, and you know that your mother and I will help you through this. We promise you that you’ll never have to raise Sweetie Belle alone! But, could you at least tell us how it happened? I'm afraid we didn't pay Princess Luna's guards enough attention.”

Rarity sighed, this was going to be a long story to tell. She wasn't really surprised though, she had been expecting this. The hard part would come later, when she tried to figure out how to take care of a newborn foal. And, it wasn't going to be much easier for Applejack or Rainbow Dash.

Chapter 4 & 5 - Time isn't always kind.

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Rainbow Dash frowned as she took out some of her pent up aggression on the next cloud. She'd already started the day off on the wrong hoof. Everything had been frustrating and confusing. Between the official letter from the desk of admiral Hardliner - Spitfire's commanding officer - saying she was off the team, to Soarin' flying down to tell her she was still on the team.

The whole matter was both confusing, and frustrating. Rainbow Dash begrudgingly understood admiral Hardliner's reasons. The Wonderbolts were the role models for most of Equestria, after all. And, that was not mentioning the safety considerations for Scootaloo.

It's Soarin's sudden contradiction of Hardliner's decision that had confused the cyan pegasus -- not that she was complaining, mind you. When asked, Soarin' had been noncommittal about his answer. He'd first mentioned how everypony had been surprised to hear she was pregnant. Then, he'd added that it seemed out of character for any recruit, especially one as diligent as Rainbow Dash, to throw away her Wonderbolt's position so carelessly. Next, he'd suggested that Spitfire may have discussed the issue with Princess Celestia off of the record. Finally, he'd added that Celestia had vaguely stated that Rainbow Dash's case was unique, and required special considerations.

Rainbow Dash kicked yet another cloud, growling to herself. However, her kick was a bit too hard, and it sent it careening out of control. It headed straight past the next ten clouds and almost hit Thunderlane. He ducked out of the way just moments before it would have hit his head.

"Hey, watch where you're kicking that thing!" Thunderlane shouted, with a shake of his hoof. He slowly raised his head back to its original position. "Those mood swings are going to get somepony hurt if you're not careful," Thunderlane grumbled as he continued to glare. He kept shaking his clenched hoof at the rainbow maned pegasus.

"I'm six months along! I do not have mood swings anymore!" Rainbow Dash shouted back, her cheeks puffing and her face scowling in a clear sign of discontent. In truth, the humiliating symptoms and instability of her magic had abated. Those had been recently replaced by a rather noticeable and all too embarrassing baby bump. It made her look like she'd put on twenty or so pounds - much to her chagrin. Unfortunately, a lot of her previous symptoms would probably return when she hit her tenth and final month because Scootaloo would do most of her development in that month.

"A selfish and arrogant mare like you is going to make a terrible dam. I feel sorry for that foal," Thunderlane grumbled in hushed tones. However, his whispered words weren't quite quiet enough to go unheard.

"Says you! I'm going to be the best darn dam ever!" Rainbow Dash shouted back, her fur bristling. She suddenly dropped the argument when everypony began to look at her with looks of concern and pity. I don't like those looks, Rainbow Dash thought with a shudder, noticing that she'd become the center of attention and not for her abilities.

The rest of the day went by in a blur as Rainbow Dash's fury slowly abated with each cloud she cleared away and every rain cloud she set off. It seemed work could indeed be therapeutic, after all. At least it was better to take her aggressions out on clouds, rather than the ponies irritating her. Then again, she'd much rather be pulling stunts at the moment. But, she had to begrudgingly admit that Soarin' was right - if she crashed, then it could kill Scootaloo, and that was a risk she never wanted to take again.

Even as her anger receded, Rainbow Dash became acutely aware of another emotion. She'd spent the last four and a half months trying to ignore it - namely, doubt. She hated to admit it, but she did wonder if she had it in her to be a good mother. Her mother had died giving birth to her, and that left Rainbow Dash with no experience in mothering.

Come on Dash. You never fail your friends. Why should you think you'll be a bad mother? She attempted to convince herself, despite the crawling tentacles of doubt pulling on her heart. I mean, name one time that you proved yourself arrogant or selfish? She continued to insist, even as fear blackened the back of her mind.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel her ears flick, as she heard the giggling of fillies below the cloud she was resting on. Carefully she peaked through the cloud to find two fillies and one colt playing around on the ground. All three wore familiar purple bodysuits, dark purple capes and cowls, dark purple leg wraps, glass lenses, purple tando hats and a stylized "M" insignia on their chests. Maybe I should talk to Applejack? After all, I can count on her to give me an honest answer, right? Rainbow Dash thought with a gulp, as she made a beeline for Sweet Apple Acres.

***

Rainbow Dash carefully scanned the fields of Sweet Apple Acres from the sky. Her eyes were scanning for just one pony in particular. While she could have probably gone up to the front door of the Apple Barn and asked where Applejack was, she wanted to find her, ask a question and leave quickly -- preferably unseen.

There she is! Rainbow Dash thought with a smile, as she spotted a tired and bedraggled Applejack emptying a cart of apples into her apple cellar. Rainbow Dash hastily pulled her wings in and dove towards the ground. Once she was a mere foot from the ground, Rainbow Dash pulled her wings out and pulled up, gently landing in the tree nearest to Applejack.

Despite her haste, Rainbow Dash sprawled out and pretended to sleep in the tree's branches as if she wasn't there for any particular reason at all. Rainbow Dash waited patiently for Applejack to walk over to the tree she was laying in. The orange apple pony quickly wiped her brow and then looked up at the tree's fruit as she tried to gauge how ready it was to pluck. A lot of ponies were astounded by the raw magic that Applejack's family held, and the way it allowed the family to harvest fruit clear up until the start of winter itself. But, Rainbow Dash had stopped being amazed by that after the first time she'd seen the orange farmer harvesting.

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doin' sleepin' in my trees?" Applejack shouted up at the cyan pegasus as she took a moment to prop herself up against the tree Rainbow Dash was 'sleeping' in. "How many times do ah gotta tell ya not ta go sleepin' in my trees!" Applejack continued between subtle pants.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you a question. I figured it would be the fastest way to find you," Rainbow Dash admitted as quietly as she thought she could without Applejack being unable to hear what she was saying.

"Well shoot, you know you can ask me anything. Why are you being so shy about it?" Applejack shouted back up at the tree.

"It's a bit embarrassing," Rainbow Dash whispered as she took off from the tree, and landed next to Applejack. "And, I didn't want anypony else to know about it," Rainbow Dash added reluctantly.

"Well, Ah ain't good at keepin' secrets, " Applejack admitted, "But, Ah don't mind answerin' your question -- whatever it is. So, why don't ya spit it out already?" Applejack offered as she looked at Rainbow Dash intently.

"Applejack, do you think I'm going to make a good mom for Scootaloo?" Rainbow Dash whispered her question with a long gulp, and a slight tremble in her eyes as she struggled to swallow her doubt. "I mean, is it true that I'm some kind of selfish, and egotistical jerk?" Rainbow Dash whispered with a crack in her voice.

"Well... you got a selfish streak. And, your arrogance can be a problem. But, Ah ain't worried about your personality," Applejack admitted reluctantly as she absentmindedly looked up into the sky. "Your heart is always in the right place. And, all that loyalty 's gotta be good for somethin'," Applejack continued. Her statement earning her a hint of a confident smile from Rainbow Dash. "No. Ah'm worried you ain't as prepared as you think you are," Applejack explained sternly. With that stern statement, Rainbow Dash's confident smile dissolved right into a look of bemusement. "You see... You ain't bought supplies. You ain't setup any baby furniture. And, you ain't made plans for how you're gonna care fer Scootaloo when you can't be home," Applejack stated with a slight frown growing on her face with each item.

"You sound like Soarin'," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she looked down at her front hooves. "It's like I told him, 'I'm the fastest flier in Equestria. I'm too awesome to hurt myself in a show. And, I'm quick enough to care for her while on tour. I'll just fly back and forth... you know, I'll give her a bottle, do a stunt for the crowds, fly back and burp her, and so forth.'" Rainbow Dash blustered despite the look of fear growing on Applejack's face.

"You ain't bein' honest with yourself. That won't work, and you know it," Applejack objected sternly. "And, what are you gonna do if, Celestia forbid, you get sent into battle? Are you really going to take Scootaloo into combat? And, where would you keep her? Would you tuck her under your wings while you fought dragons, monsters, or Celestia knows what?" Applejack warned as she poked Rainbow Dash lightly.

"But..." Rainbow mumbled as she struggled to come up with a quick rebuttal.

"Rainbow Dash! Now you're bein' selfish again. You need to think about these things, even if it means you won't be able to fly with the Wonderbolts," Applejack insisted hotly. Her words only managing to stir even more uncertainty into her cyan friend's heart.

***

Rainbow Dash frantically ran between the changing station, the pan on the stove, the vacuum cleaner, and the performance playbook as she tried to change Scootaloo's diaper, cook her dinner, vacuum the cloudominium, read up on the next show's routine, tap dance, lift a dumbbell with her tail, spin two plates by two straws on her head, and spin a hula hoop with her tail. Rainbow Dash hated to admit it, but she was already winded from all of the running around.

A sudden rapping on the door was the final straw. "Oh come on!" Rainbow Dash growled as she stormed over to the front door. If the cloud floors had been made of wood, it would creak under each of her steps. Upon arriving at the door, Rainbow Dash furiously threw it open. Her gaze promising death to whichever pony happened to be on the other side. Her fury suddenly faltered as she found, much to her surprise, Spitfire on the other side of the door.

"Rainbow Dash," Spitfire stated coldly and clinically. "Equestria is at war with the gök börü of the far east. And, we're mobilizing the Wonderbolts to make the first strike," Spitfire explained as she stood stoically at the door.

"Yes Ma'am," Rainbow Dash acknowledged with a quick salute. "Just let me get a sitter for Scootaloo and..." Rainbow Dash hastily added, before Spitfire sharply cut her off.

"You aren't ready?!" Spitfire rebuked with a definition agitation. "Equestria needs you to be ready at a moment's notice. And, you aren't ready?!" Spitfire growled as her voice grew cold. "Maybe it was a mistake overriding admiral Hardliner's orders after all!" Spitfire shouted as she turned around, and started walking out the door. "Forget it Dash. You can't help Equestria because we can't even rely on you to be ready." Spitfire fired back one last time before she slammed the door behind her.

"But I can be help..." Dash screamed, even as the world collapsed around her into a single point.

"...helpful!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she awoke with a start. Carefully she wiped the sweat from her brow. She shakily stumbled over to the bathroom. Once there, she looked herself in the mirror. She was still pregnant. Thankfully, it had all been a bad dream.

What a dream, Rainbow Dash moaned as she splashed her face with water in an attempt to wash the sweat off. This is the tenth or eleventh night in a row, Rainbow Dash grunted as she trotted over to look out her window at the location of the sun. Rainbow Dash would never have thought that the things Thunderlane and Applejack had said could get this far under her skin, but apparently, it had.

Looks like it's eight in the morning, Rainbow Dash pondered as she trotted down to the kitchen. Gotta make some breakfast, and get my head in the game, Rainbow Dash decided as she reached into the icebox to pull out some strips of hay bacon, and a couple of eggs.

The sound of knocking on the front door to Rainbow Dash's cloudominium drew her attention away from the food in her hooves. With a sigh, she quickly put the items on the counter and fixed her attention on the source of the sound. Who could that be at this hour? Rainbow Dash asked herself as she stumbled over to the front door.

"Hello?" Rainbow Dash curiously asked as she slowly opened her door. Rainbow Dash's eyes shot wide open when she saw who was on the other side of the door. "Spitfire?!" Rainbow Dash gasped as she saw the yellow pegasus.

"Rainbow Dash, Firestreak retired unexpectedly. And, we need you to fill his position in the routine," Spitfire stated in a commanding tone.

"Hay yeah! I'm in!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she pumped a foreleg in the air. However, her excitement quickly stalled as something came to mind. "What happened to being sidelined till after the pregnancy? I thought you said it was for the safety of Scootaloo, and the reputation of the Wonderbolts?" Rainbow Dash slowly asked as she pondered the sudden change of direction.

"We changed our mind. Now, we need you in your uniform, stat!" Spitfire insisted hastily with a gaze that screamed impatience.

"Heck yeah! Let me get my uniform. And, we'll --" Rainbow Dash started, only to find herself suddenly standing on stage with the other Wonderbolts. Fans were flocking to each and every Wonderbolt. Each fan was cheering, pleading for autographs, shaking their hooves, saying all kinds of compliments, and avoiding Rainbow Dash entirely.

"Spitfire, what's going on?" Rainbow Dash whispered in confusion to the yellow pegasus. Her words transforming into a gasp as Spitfire, the other Wonderbolts, and the entire audience disappeared one at a time into thin air.

"Why do you always do these reckless things? You put your school works second to your dangerous and reckless stunts. Don't you care about your future or your health?" growled the chastising voice of a dark blue stallion with a rainbow mane. "You almost killed yourself, just last week. And now, here you are coming home late. We both know what you've been doing," the stallion snarled accusingly.

"Dad, I wasn't up to anything. I was just practicing," Rainbow Dash insisted. Her mind no longer was able to notice that she was a teenager, or that she was now in her father's house.

"Lies! We both know what you've really been up to," the stallion grumbled as he circled her. His accusing eyes carefully scrutinized every inch of her. "You've been mating, haven't you? You just couldn't wait, could you?" he continued to accuse her as he circled her like an angry wasp.

"Dad, I'm telling the truth!" Rainbow Dash pleaded as tears slowly formed at the corners of her eyes. "Blitz is just a friend," she insisted as she walked forward towards her father. Her pleas were pointless, as the eyes of the stallion had taken on a deadly glare.

"Well, there isn't anyplace anywhere for a whorse like you! Why don't you get out of here, go hide under your little rock in the middle of nowhere, and --" the stallion started, only to vanish with the rest of the room.

Rainbow Dash stood in a daze. The only thing able to filter through her sorrow addled mind was that the whole world had turned into a vast starry field of nothing.

"That'll be enough of these nightmares," Luna commanded as she walked over to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow Dash, thou art heavy burdened. Why doth thou not entreat thy friends for assistance? Will they not make thy yoke lighter?" Luna pressed as her visage softened, and she gave Rainbow Dash a motherly look.

"Because I want to help them, not transfer my difficulties to them. What sort of friend would I be if I asked them to care for a foal that they have no better way to care for then me? And what about Scootaloo? Wouldn't I be just as bad as Regal Sunbird if I passed her off on my friends?" Rainbow Dash asked as her voice cracked, and her confidence melted away.

"And thy family? Surely thy father hath much help to offer?" Luna offered as her horn lit up. In the blink of an eye, a more friendly apparition of Rainbow Blaze, Rainbow Dash's father, appeared on the dreamscape. "Art thou still troubled by the events of thy last meeting?"

Rainbow Dash anxiously stared down at her forehooves. "But, what if he's still mad at me? Or, he doesn't understand? What if he doesn't believe me?" Rainbow Dash blurted out as her groggy mind found it difficult to say every fear, and thought that plagued her mind.

"Mayhaps he will bring thee aid?" Luna suggested. The statement caused Rainbow Dash to pause where she was standing. "Let thy friends help thee write an entreaty to thy father for aid. Mayhaps he will come swiftly?" Luna calmly suggested. Rainbow Dash breathed a long, deep, and soothing sigh. Perhaps Luna was right? It certainly couldn't hurt to send a letter. At the very least, it would get the uncertainty off of her chest.

"I could try..." Rainbow Dash admittedly weakly as she rubbed her two hind legs together. Her face was a mirror of the torrent of uncertainty in her heart.

***

A nippy breeze blew between the apple trees of Sweet Apple Acres. The wind bearing a reminder that it was late October, also known as apple bucking season. However, the serenity of the rows and rows of trees was suddenly interrupted by the loud sturdy thwack of hooves against wood. The thwack quickly followed by the relentless thumps of a rain of apples falling into carefully placed wooden buckets.

The air was then disturbed by three weaker thwacks. Each new thwack was followed by only a few apples hitting their designated buckets. "consarnit!" shouted an agitated feminine voice. The shout being followed up by another anemic thunk of hooves against wood.

What's wrong with me today? Applejack grumbled to herself, between hard pants. Her normally sturdy body was drenched in an abnormally large layer of sweat. Applejack hadn't felt so helpless since Tirek had stolen her magic and used her, and her friends as bargaining chips. And, that was followed closely behind by when she'd looked down at Sweet Apple Acres after a week of pouring her blood, sweat, and tears into harvesting the entire orchard solo, only to find that she'd only managed to harvest a quarter of Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack took a long labored breath to regain her strength and relieve her frustration. In truth, the sudden and unexpected fatigue was easier to ignore than her frustration at her sudden, and unexpected weakness.

"You ok?" Big Mac fretted as he craned his neck over to look at his sister. His mouth then falling wide open moments later.

"Ah'm fine!" Applejack snapped back along with a stomp of the ground as her frustration boiled over. She knew her brother could dote on her, just like she had sometimes doted on Apple Bloom. But, this was just getting to be too much. "Ah ain't overworking! Yes, ah know workin' too hard, or gettin' too stressed could kill Apple Bloom. And, ah ain't workin' that hard so get offa my back!" Applejack snarled between pants from her heavy overworked lungs. "Instead, you should focus on helpin' me to get this here farm harvested. 'Cause we gotta focus on Apple Bloom's new nursery next. We've already burned six months, an' we've only gotten it three-quarters of the way done," Applejack added as she ignored the horror written behind her brother's mask of zen-like calm.

"Your Cutie Mark," Big Mac warned in a voice that contained as much calm as possible.

"Ehh?" Applejack asked as she craned her neck, and shifted her faded green eyes backward to notice that the only thing sitting on her flank was orange fur. "W-what happened to it?!" Applejack stuttered as she could feel the throes of panic washing away her anger, and frustration. Quickly fear took root where Applejack's anger had previously been.

"Maybe... Possibly... It could be... " Applejack stammered as she tried to rack her brain around a logical explanation. However, nothing came to Applejack, except an increasing feeling of weakness in her body. A weakness that was not from stress, although the dizzying fear and pounding of her heart were not helping her.

"Mac, get Twilight," Applejack commanded as she struggled to keep herself standing. Desperately she fought the weakness in her legs. "Ah'll just have a seat here..." Applejack explained through grit teeth, and a deep resolve to stay calm. Perhaps by good luck, she didn't even notice that her fur had begun to pale in the same way her eyes had discolored.

"Eeyup," Big Mac said with resolve as he swallowed his panic, and pretended to be that strong, and calm big brother that his sister needed desperately at the moment. "Have a seat, and Twilight'll fix you right up," Big Mac assured his sister.

Big Mac turned around to make a sprint towards Ponyville's new crystal castle, only to look back in horror as he watched his little sister drop to the ground, her side thankfully hitting the softish grass, and not the harder tree next to her.

***

Fluttershy merrily hummed a tune as she daintily placed one last hoofful of acorns into the last feeding bowl. With that lengthy task completed, she trotted over to her couch for a nice little rest. Fluttershy couldn't help but smile as she sat down, and watched her small animal friends eating their lunch.

I probably should get up in a moment. After all, the soup should be just about ready, Fluttershy reminded herself as she took a subtle sniff of the pleasantly simmering vegetable soup. That very same soup, in fact, that she had started right before she began the long task of feeding all of her animal friends.

First, a cup of tea, Fluttershy decided with a nod as she daintily rose up from her brief rest. Daintily she walked towards the kitchen. Naturally, she wasn't just going to get some soup. She had her mind on her a pot of tea she started for just this moment.

Fluttershy was halfway to the kitchen when a solid rapping on her front door interrupted her. I wonder who that is? Fluttershy pondered as she casually walked back to the front door. Her mind buzzed as it ran over possible names, and reasons for the unexpected visit.

Fluttershy whimsical shrugged as she reached out, and slowly pulled the door open. "Hello?" Fluttershy gently added in her best efforts not to startle the pony behind the door.

"Hey Fluttershy," squeaked the familiar voice of Applejack. Fluttershy rubbed her ears in a subtle attempt to understand what Applejack had just mumbled. Even before Fluttershy could see Applejack, she could already hear the distinctive whisper of embarrassment. "May ah come in and talk with you for a moment?" Applejack added with a clear blush, and embarrassment practically written on her face.

"Oh, you can talk to me about anything," Fluttershy assured Applejack gently as she gave her orange friend a reassuring smile. "Applejack, feel free to come in and have some tea. Well... that is, if you want to," Fluttershy humbly offered. "I mean, it's so seldom you get a chance to visit my home. And might I add, I hope everything's ok."

Applejack reluctantly nodded as she held her hat in hoof, and opened her mouth. "Fluttershy, please forgive me fer bein' a bit nervous," Applejack apologized as she nervously shuffled into Fluttershy's cottage. "Ah mean... You know ah don't like to talk about myself, or my problems. It just that, ah can't hold this in anymore," Applejack added as she stared at her forelegs, and nervously scraped her hind legs together.

"It's really ok," Fluttershy assured her as she walked over to her couch. Applejack reluctantly trailed a short distance behind the butter colored pegasus. "I really don't mind hearing about whatever is on your mind," Fluttershy continued with a look backward, and a confident gaze into Applejack's eyes. "I just hope I can be helpful. I mean, I think Big Mac, Rarity, or Twilight Sparkle would be better qualified for solving your problem. And if you just want to feel better, you would be better off seeing Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy admitted.

"Well, ah didn't want to trouble my family with it," Applejack admitted as she carefully sat herself down on Fluttershy's couch. "And, ah can't tell Pinkie, Twilight, or Rarity 'cause, ya know they'll jus' wanna try ta solve my problems. And frankly, it ain't a problem they can solve," Applejack continued as she, and Fluttershy meandered into the kitchen. Fluttershy offered an understanding nod as daintily poured both ponies a full cup of tea. "Instead, ah just need somepony to listen," Applejack admitted as she looked away in shame.

"Well, I don't mind listening," Fluttershy explained as she gave her orange friend a warm, and inviting smile. "And might I add, you look much better than when I saw you last," Fluttershy added with an approving eye.

"Not that much better," Applejack grumbled as she looked deeply into her cup of tea. "My Cutie Mark is still half invisible. My eyes are only halfway to their proper color. And, my strength and stamina are still lousy," Applejack groaned as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Still, a little progress is better than no progress," Fluttershy cooed as she offered Applejack a cup of cream, and a small bowl of sugar for Applejack to use in her tea.

"Ah suppose," Applejack admitted as she took a couple of quick breaths. "Fluttershy, do you know what happened to Apple Bloom, Big Mac, and my mah?" Applejack asked cautiously as she carefully stirred a single spoonful of sugar into her tea. Applejack didn't need to look at Fluttershy to know that the pegasus had just shaken her head.

It wasn't a big surprise. What happened to Applejacks parents wasn't usually discussed outside of the Apple household. That wasn't to say that there was a prohibition against it. It simply wasn't something anypony wanted to talk about. "Well, every time mah had a foal, she'd get weak... Really, really weak. So weak, in fact, that she couldn't lift anything, And, she could barely move." Applejack somberly explained as she heard the gasp come from Fluttershy. "And it wasn't just her strength, neither. Mah didn't heal well. And, she seemed to get injured easier."

Applejack struggled to suppress the bad memories with another shaky sip of tea. The memories of her mother's struggle to carry Apple Bloom were just too painful. "Pah used to call it the 'Orange Curse.' He said that childbirth managed to claim the life of every mare from the Orange family, as far back as we got records," Applejack shook her head as she paused for a moment, or two to gather her thoughts. "And, that's what claimed mah's life. She managed to survive birthin' Mac and me. But, Apple Bloom didn't work out as well," Applejack explained with a deep frown. "Ah don't really know why she died. Ah wasn't old enough to really follow what was going on. But one day mah got sick, and died," Applejack added with a frown as small tears rolled down her cheeks.

Applejack quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. "Now it turns out they got some kind of fancy scientifical-type name for what mah had. Twilight called it Sine Magicae -- somethin', or another. Ah didn't really follow all that medical mumbo jumbo. But anyway, it turns out ah got it too," Applejack admitted with a shudder and a deep self-loathing frown.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy said with a gasp as she covered her mouth with her hooves. "Are you going to be ok?" Fluttershy fretted with a worried expression.

"Ah don't really know," Applejack admitted openly as she shakily took a sip of tea. "Now Twilight explained it to me as best she could. But, ah might have some infermation wrong. Ah had a little trouble followin' all of it... Well, you know how hard her lectures can be to follow," Applejack added, earning a knowing snicker from Fluttershy. She'd been a part of more than one of Twilight's lectures herself. "But, she said that foals take magic from their mother, it's just a part of development. But for some reason, ponies like me and mah give more magic to our foal then our bodies can produce. Now that's bad enough, but at least you can function without magic. But, it's even worse for mares like me. You see, our bodies push themselves harder, and harder to try to make up the difference. Eventually, they wear themselves out."

"I bet that's worse for an Earth Pony. I mean, isn't your physical strength tied to your magic," Fluttershy worried as she flew over to give Applejack a comforting hug.

"Yeah, it messes up our ability to work and to heal," Applejack admitted as she reached over and weakly lifted her teacup. "Usually they tell mares like me to just 'pinch out' the foal. But, ah can't bring myself to do that... not to Apple Bloom," Applejack openly wept as her best efforts to stay strong began to break down. "Twilight thinks Zecora's potions might help. But, Twilight insists that ah get a doctor to work with Zecora. And worse still, Twilight doesn't think it's safe to use any potions while ah'm carryin' Apple Bloom. So, she says ah'll have to live with this condition till Bloom's ready to come out," Applejack grumbled bitterly.

"Oh Applejack, I'm sorry to hear that," Fluttershy whispered as she gave Applejack a stronger hug. "What are you going to do about the farm? Surely Big Mac can't handle all of Sweet Apple Acres on his own."

"Ah don't know, ah've sent a few letters to our kin to see who can help. But, ah ain't holdin' my breath. They all got land of their own to tend. The only pony who's responded was cousin Babs. She sent me a letter sayin' she wanted to come up and help wherever she could. And while ah'm thankful for the offer, ah don't think she can help me after the birth. You see after Apple Bloom is born ah'll need time to get my strength back. And, ah don't feel right askin' Babs, or anypony else to stick around to help me for that long. And, it might be a little while... Twilight was sayin' that ah might need magical strength trainin' to get me back in shape faster. 'Cause, that'll help me restore my magic levels faster," Applejack grumbled, as she remembered the humiliating point that Twilight made.

"Magical Strength Training? Oh, that's no fun," Fluttershy mumbled with a frown as she carefully grabbed her tea cup from the other side of the table. "When I was a little filly, my wings were extra weak. So weak, in fact, that I couldn't even fly. And, no matter how hard we trained them, they didn't seem to be getting stronger. Everypony knows a pegasus can't fly without our magic. But, fewer ponies know that our wings generate our magic. So, the worse the shape of our wings, the less magic they make. It's a bit like Earth Pony magic in that way. After all, an Earth Pony's magic makes them stronger. But, Earth Pony magic tends to generate in proportion to a pony's strength."

"Oh I'm sorry, I got off topic..." Fluttershy admitted with an embarrassed blush. "We were talking about magical strength training... So, since I couldn't get my wings into shape, my parents decided it was best to have a doctor put me through a few rounds of magical strength training. And well, it's... not pleasant," Fluttershy explained with a grimace, her hoof absentmindedly reaching out and rubbing her wing as if it was sore.

"So, they won't just move my legs for me or somethin'?" Applejack pondered. She'd figured it would be humiliating, but Fluttershy's reaction suggested the experience wouldn't be pleasant for another reason.

"No," Fluttershy explained as she shook her head gently. "I can't explain what it feels like... sorry," Fluttershy admitted with a soft apologetic look. "All I can tell you is: afterwards it feels like you just flew through a hurricane going against the wind... It's like you put your body through the most extreme workout of your life," Fluttershy added with a shudder.

"Well shoot, that really don't sound like fun," Applejack mused as she took a second to consider what the whole thing must really feel like.

"It's not," Fluttershy admitted with a frown. She then carefully poured some more tea into Applejack's cup. "I see why you might be frustrated though. You've always been proud of how hard you work, and how much you get done. And, to be told that you can't rely on yourself to do them... Well, it must hurt" Fluttershy whispered as she started to pour her own cup.

"I think that's about the sum of it," Applejack admitted as she took a long sip of tea. With that admission, the conversation slowed to a trickle. Neither pony had much else to say.

***

The crowd of ponies were hushed as they intently listened to every word Rarity said. Their minds eagerly absorbing every word she said. Twilight had been right, accepting the lecture on dressmaking at the Canterlot University of Arts had been a magnificent idea.

Surprisingly, Rarity had enjoyed the whole lecture up until the current point. She'd looked lovely in her modified gala dress. Naturally, she was grateful that it covered her well because she was six months pregnant. That, of course, meant that Sweetie Belle was now eighteen pounds. And, that had left her with a noticeable, and embarrassing pudge... Furthermore, that pudge would steadily grow as the pregnancy continued.

As for the lecture itself, it had been a chance for Rarity to describe the process of dress design and construction. And more importantly, it was a chance to show off some of her newest designs. Rarity had been pleased with the murmurs of how beautiful her dresses looked. Naturally, Rarity had soaked all of that praise up. She loved to show off her designs, just as much as she loved to see other ponies look their best in them.

However, the lecture was running a little longer than she expected. It was all due to one tactless filly, who had questioned the whole point of clothing in the first place. "Now then, some ponies believe that the eloquence of the dress is simply in its ability to proclaim a pony's social status, or profession non-vocally," Rarity stated with a frown as she made a point to look at each member of the audience. "Just because mares have evolved specialized skin and muscles that both conceal and protect our 'private place' doesn't mean that clothing doesn't have a use outside of mundane functionality," Rarity explained with as much tact and eloquence as possible. "Rather, there are several ways for clothing to draw attention to, and build upon a mare's natural beauty," Rarity added with a flip of her mane, and a turn of her head.

"For example," Rarity added as she carefully walked back to her clothesline. Once there, she pulled two particular dresses out of it using her magic. "Two very close friends of mine are six months pregnant. And, some inconsiderate ponies might think that they can't look lovely in their current situation. But, I beg to differ," Rarity stated with an exaggerated cry and a melodramatic wave of her hoof. "This is why I made these two maternity dresses. They distract from any embarrassing traits, and embellish on several positive traits."

Rarity suppressed a smirk as she watched the filly who had asked the rude question sink into her chair. The poor filly's face was contorted into an awkward combination of humiliation, and red hot fury. "Now then, are there any other questions?" Rarity asked the rest of the audience as she smiled, and scanned the room. Surprisingly, it was an older filly sitting next to the previous filly that raised a foreleg. "Yes?" Rarity kindly asked as she gave the new filly her full attention.

"Miss. Rarity, I heard you were going to be canceling the opening of the Canterlot Carousel. Is this correct?" the filly asked in a strangely extra sweet voice as she stood up.

"Well," Rarity admitted with a blush as she nervously rubbed one hind leg against the other one. "I wouldn't say canceled... Merely delayed. You see there have been some complications that are taking precedence over Canterlot Carousel," Rarity admitted with a heavy heart. It was frustrating how she had to be Sweetie Belle's sole parent. But, it was unlikely that her own parents were going to be able to raise Sweetie Belle. They were just too busy trying to make ends meet. "But, I can assure you that the plans for Canterlot Carousel will be resumed once these issues have been resolved," Rarity assured her with a definite certainty in her voice.

"What complications are those?" the filly asked with a subtle sneer as she shot the filly next to her a cryptic glance. If Rarity were to guess, it was a conspiratorial glance.

"Well, I'm afraid that I cannot talk about..." Rarity calmly started. However, her explanation was cut short as a flash of magic lit up the room. "What was that?" Rarity asked with a wide-eyed look of terror. However, the looks of dismay on the faces of the crowd, and their stares quickly gave Rarity an idea about who had been the target of a magic spell. "Who cast a spell? And more importantly, what did they cast?" Rarity shouted with her words coming out fast, and loud as a definite panic filled her mind, and words.

Rarity desperately wished for a mirror at the moment as she hurriedly looked herself over to see whatever changes the spell had made. My fur is still white, Rarity noted with a relieve sigh. Carefully her scrutinizing gaze moved to her mane. My mane is still the right shade of purple, Rarity acknowledged with relief as she looked down her barrel towards her dress.

Rarity stifled a scream. White fur was all she could see where her dress was supposed to be. "I've got to go, sorry," Rarity mumbled through a forced smile, and grit teeth as she hastily reared up, covered her chest with one hoof, covered her teats with the other foreleg, and hastily slid off stage.

"Would being pregnant be one of those 'complications'?" the older filly shouted with a cruel chuckle. Although most of the audience sat there dumbfounded, there were enough laughter to echo through the large room noticeably.

"That'll teach you for embarrassing my sister," the older filly mumbled under her breath with a huff as she watched Rarity duck behind the curtains.

***

Rarity dejectedly stared at the small menu cradled in her hooves. She'd never felt so exposed in her entire life. She felt like a Kobold who had forgotten to wear their clothes. It was a silly way to feel. After all, nopony could see a mare's private place... unless, of course, she was about to mate.

Then again, being laughed off the stage had not helped. Rarity had spent so much time keeping the whole pregnancy to herself because she didn't want a bunch of gossipers and rubberneckers talking about it. And, because she was afraid what other ponies... especially the noble ponies of Canterlot... would do.

Come on Rarity, take a deep breath, Rarity reminded herself between long drawn out and forced breaths. It'll be ok. You're overreacting... she added with more soothing breaths. Surely, this will be quickly forgotten... After all, it didn't make that big a stir, Rarity decided as she put the menu down so that she could tell the waiter she was ready to order.

"Miss. Rarity, it's so good to see you," greeted a familiarly suave voice. Rarity's ears to perk up in surprise as her mind processed the familiar voice.

"Fancy Pants?" Rarity asked rhetorically. In truth, she knew who it was. Instead, she was quite surprised to see him. He was the most important pony in Canterlot and a very busy pony. And, that was not mentioning how Rarity had found herself working more with the stallion through orders she had fulfilled for Fleur Dis Lee.

"Indeed. And, it's such a great pleasure to bump into you today," Fancy Pants acknowledged with a suave smile as he looked down at her with a warm smile. "I hope you've been well," he added graciously.

"Oh yes, everything is going quite well," Rarity lied through her best stage fright concealing smile. "And, I hope that things are going well for you as well," Rarity added as she subtly attempted to shift the conversation away from herself.

"Oh yes, things have been going quite well. Thank you," Fancy Pants acknowledged cordially. His eyes then shifting from a friendly, and confident one to an unfamiliar look of concern. "I hope that little scene at the academy hasn't been too big of a problem," he added, earning a slight flinch from Rarity.

"You heard about that, did you?" Rarity asked with a grimace and a weakly hidden frown.

"Fleur Dis Lee's sister was there. And, she had a lot to say about it," Fancy Pants admitted as he gave the white mare a sympathetic look. "Miss. Rarity, please don't let it get you down. I can assure you, not too many ponies were laughing," Fancy Pants confidently assured her.

Rarity let a long sigh of frustration escape her muzzle. "It's not just that. This was really the proverbial last straw," Rarity admitted as her eyes stared down at the table, and away from Fancy Pant's concerned gaze.

"I'm pregnant. And, I'm worried about what that'll do to my reputation and business," Rarity whispered with a deep frown. Fancy Pant opened his mouth, only to be quickly cut off by Rarity. "And, don't say it doesn't matter. I've met mares in similar circumstances who have found ponies here in Canterlot to be quite cruel, and even confrontational to them,"

"Then there's how frustratingly bad my 'little black book' has been. I never thought a book full of highly compatible stallions could be filled with more lemons than a lemon farm," Rarity grumbled as she looked away. She could remember well over a hundred terrible dates right off the top of her mind. "And, then there's the matter that I need a husband to protect my reputation. So, I'm working on a frustratingly short timeline," Rarity finally whispered with five months of frustration and failure written on her brow.

"I see," Fancy Pants admitted calmly, his voice hinting at a lingering concern. "While I can see your hurry. You really shouldn't hurry. A good partner is like a great friendship they take time to build," Fancy Pants explained as his voice, and face lit up with a new look of resolve.

"I suppose," Rarity conceded in a hushed voice. "But, what about my reputation? I'll never be able to buy Carousel Canterlot if nopony wants anything to do with me," Rarity cried as her mind failed to contain her fears any longer.

Fancy Pants breathed a long sigh before he quickly regained his composure. "Miss. Rarity," Fancy Pants said chipperly, "would you like me to set you up on a date with a real gentlestallion?"

"Well, it might be nice to date a pony who is not a louse in person," Rarity admitted as she rubbed her chin, and considered the statement.

"And, he's the brother of a princess and a pony that I've recently come to acquaintance with. And might I add, he seems like just the sort of pony you would be looking for," Fancy Pants eagerly added as he watched Rarity's eyes start to twinkle.

"Which of Cadance's brothers is it?" Rarity asked through a barely restrained excitement. However, her enthusiasm quickly evaporated as a crushing realization came to mind. "Please tell me we aren't talking about Prince Blueblood," Rarity dryly stated with a stern frown. "The last time I talked to him I had to toss him out. You see, he came to my boutique spouting a bunch of flattering words to me. You see, he was trying to butter me up so that he could convince me to let him talk to my sister, Sweetie Belle. As it turns out: he wanted to talk to her about her friend Scootaloo. To say I was insulted would be a bit of an understatement. And then, when I told him to ask somepony else, he had the audacity to go around commanding me to do it," Rarity said dryly, as she remembered all the yelling she had done... followed by the stallion running from her boutique for dear life.

"Heavens no," Fancy Pants said with a polite chuckle. "I said he was a gentlestallion, didn't I? And, Prince Blueblood is hardly a gentlestallion."

"Well, who is it then?" Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow and a barely contained curiosity.

"Let me make it a big surprise. But, let's say that I think you'll like him when you meet him," Fancy Pants assured her as he gave her a warm smile. "Now, I need some time to get in touch with him, and make plans. But, I'm sure he'll love to meet a sophisticated mare such as yourself," Fancy Pants assured her.

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm not curious to meet him, at least," Rarity admitted as she considered the opportunity.

"Great, then I'll set you two up on a blind date," Fancy Pants said with one final suave grin.

***

The Tape-à-l'œil was a relatively new Prench restaurant in Canterlot. The whole restaurant was a meager two decades old. However, what it lacked in age it made up for in ambiance, pizazz, and -- more importantly -- the sort of price tags that screamed "I'm wealthy! I'm important! And, I spent fifty bits on the appetizer at Tape-à-l'œil!"

The restaurant was ornate. Its every wall was carefully sculpted from brick, and arrayed with intricately placed paintings, mirrors, and candles. Furthermore, each table was made of beautiful oak, covered in carefully positioned plates, wine glasses, and candles. At certain points in the restaurant there were strategically placed end tables -- no doubt for the staff to stage platters on. Even the ponies at the establishment looked to be Canterlot's finest nobles. Each pony was arrayed in the priciest of dresses, and suits.

To say Rarity felt a little daunted was an understatement. Sure, she'd brought her unmodified Gala dress. But, even a dress that was designed for the Grand Galloping Gala, one of Equestria's most prestigious parties, still felt cheap by comparison. Rarity gulped quickly as she rallied her enthusiasm. After all, she relished attention and crowds. She loved impressing other ponies with her clothing designs. And, getting intimidated by these fancy ponies was just silly. She wanted to be like them, after all.

He must really be a prince to afford this, Rarity decided as she eloquently walked up to the finely dressed maître d' at his podium. "Hello, sir. I'm Rarity the Unicorn. And, Mr. Fancy Pants told me that you would show me to my date," Rarity stated gracefully with a well-rehearsed flick of her mane.

"Quite," the stuffy looking brown stallion said flatly with a huff and a doubtful roll of his eyes. Studiously the stuffy stallion looked down and began to flip through the large book on the table in front of him. After a few pages, the stallion pointed to a page on the book. "Ah yes, here you are," the stallion blandly stated blandly without even looking at Rarity. "You are at table 47. Please come this way," the brown stallion offered as he rose up from his seated position, and outstretched a foreleg in a sign for Rarity to follow him.

Rarity followed the maître d' as gracefully as she could. All the while she couldn't help but wonder what her mystery date was like. Was he really a true gentlestallion? Was he handsome? Did he like fashion? Either way, Rarity found herself not paying much attention to the various ponies she and the maître d' passed by. Instead, her mind was fantasizing about what she wished the stallion would be like, and how she hoped the meeting would go.

The two ponies passed through two rather large rooms before stopping in a medium sized private room with a couple of tables in the back. The waiter then led Rarity over to one of the tables and stood next to it as he waited for her to catch up.

"Please have a seat madam," the maître d' stated politely. His words snapping Rarity out of her fantasies.

"Thank you, good sir," Rarity said with a hint of a blush as the stallion diligently positioned the cushion on the floor so that Rarity could sit comfortably at the table. Carefully Rarity sat on the cushion and picked up the menu placed in front of her.

"Your date should arrive shortly. I will be leading him here to meet you when he arrives," the pony stated matter of factly as he casually walked away. This left Rarity with some time to look around the room. The room was just as lavishly laid out as the rest of the building. Also, it had the same style as the other rooms except that it was smaller. If Rarity were to guess, the smaller size made it a private party room.

A waitress had come by Rarity's table to get drink orders, and then returned to bring Rarity's glass of mineral water by the time Rarity heard a male voice squeak, "Rarity?"

Rarity recognized that voice. It belonged to a male she'd seen around Ponyville a few times. "Spike?" Rarity asked in surprise, and with a wide-eyed stare. She couldn't help but gawk as she saw the small dragon standing there, and arrayed in a handsome tux, and holding a single flower.

"Spike, dear, what are you doing here?" Rarity asked with a definite surprise in her voice.

"Fancy Pants -- you know, that important pony I made friends with while I was doing odd tasks for Celestia -- said I was supposed to meet my blind date here," Spike explained as his surprised face slowly turned into an enigmatic expression. If Rarity was to guess, there was a certain look of eagerness hiding behind his poker face.

What about a date would make him so eager? Rarity pondered as her mind went about noodling out this enigma. "Spike, please, tell me the truth. Is this date a prank you two decided to set up?" Rarity stated calmly as she raised an eyebrow, and put Spike under her scrutinizing gaze.

"No," Spike anxiously said with a wave of both of his claws, and a frantic shake of his head. "If it is, it's all on him. He just said that I needed to try to go out on a date or two. He added that he was going to help me get a date... Well, he said 'practice date,' but what's the difference? You see, I've never been on a date before," Spike explained as his voice slowly grew less frantic, more somber, and quieter. "And with you looking so fervently for a husband... My odds just didn't seem very good," Spike solemnly mumbled incoherently.

"What did you say, dear?" Rarity asked as she rubbed her ear. When Spike continued to stare down at his napkin with no words coming out of his mouth, Rarity decided to ease the mood a bit. "Well, I suppose he does have a point.... Though I shall have a conversation with him later..." Rarity assured him gracefully as she decided to push the awkwardness away. "How about we make time to do some practice dates from now on, perhaps once a month? It seems like it would do you some favors to leave the library and Twilight's service, and meet ponies once in awhile," Rarity explained as she gave Spike a friendly look.

The young drake slowly looked up. The tension from his face noticeably leaking away. "Now, let's enjoy this 'date,' and let me just show you a thing or two about 'going out on the town,'" Rarity assured him as she patiently waited for the waitress to return to take their order.

"Thank you Rarity! You won't regret this," Spike added as his face exploded into a strangely hopeful smile. "And besides, Fancy Pants said he was going to pay, so it would be rude not to eat something," Spike added with a devilish grin, earning an eye roll by Rarity.

And who said Cadance was the only pony good with children, Rarity thought with a silent giggle as she noticed the sudden spike in the wyrmling's mood. It's always cute when children try to emulate adults, Rarity mentally noted. It was something she'd seen Sweetie Belle do once. The poor little filly had seen Rarity go on a date and had tried to emulate her big sister... except that she had failed in ridiculous fashion at it. At least she'd taken a classmate out, and not some random pony as Scootaloo had suggested.

"Item number one Spike. Don't overspend," Rarity retorted through a soft giggle and a relieved sigh. Perhaps the point of this had been to remind her that there was a time and place for letting go? Rarity couldn't be sure. But, it seemed like the most likely explanation, especially since she'd never pegged Fancy Pants as the prankster sort.

Chapter 6 - Happy Birthday

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The sun may have gone to bed hours ago, but that didn't mean that the lights in the Apple barn had gone out. Heck no! It wasn't uncommon for the family to work well past dark, especially around harvest time. And, today had been an especially taxing one, and some of the residents still needed to unwind before bed.

Big McIntosh casually sat at the kitchen table. His face was frozen in a look of deep concentration. Casually, and somewhat carelessly the red stallion rocked the kitchen chair back and forth. What the stallion was thinking about wasn't clear. But, anypony looking at him could see his head tilted towards the ceiling.

"You're worried about her, ain't ya?" Granny Smith's quivery voice whispered from behind him. Big Mac didn't even flinch; instead, he rocked his chair even further back, so that he could stare at the ceiling directly.

"Eeyup," admitted Big Mac nonchalantly in his baritone voice as he stopped rocking for a moment. "Today was the worst yet," he added as he slowly returned to his silent rocking.

Granny Smith slowly limped over and stood by the chair across the table from the lumbering red stallion. "At least she was able to stand today," she pointed out as she slowly pulled the chair out.

Big Mac nodded hesitantly. "But, she couldn't lift the silverware," he mumbled with a small wish that this was an exaggeration. But, it wasn't an exaggeration. Rather, It was a deeply concerning sign, especially considering how similar Mandarin Orange's condition had been the day before she passed on.

"Do you think she's gonna suffer mah's fate?" Big Mac dared to whisper as he continued to stare at the ceiling. Pictures of his little sister's life flashed before his worried eyes.

Granny Smith's eyes and muzzle slowly lowered down towards the table. Her look of concern was barely hidden by an otherwise convincing poker face. "Ah don't know," she conceded quietly -- almost as if she afraid to vocalize her words out loud. "Ah figure we'll find out soon, though. 'Cause, Ah reckon Bloom's gonna come out any day now," she pointed out contemplatively as she stared at the table below her.

"Eenope," Big Mac responded calmly with a shake of his head. "It's too soon. Tomorrow's only Hearts and Hooves day," he objected in a soothing tone. "She's still got a couple of weeks," the stallion mused as he temporarily paused his rocking. "Probably more," he added as he resumed the gentle rock of his dining room chair.

"It ain't gonna be that long!" Granny Smith announced with an obstinate shake of her head. "Ah cain see it," she stated softly with her quivery voice. "Ah've been around long enough to know when a mare's ready," she pointed out as her eyes glazed over. Her mind went through all the symptoms she'd seen that day. "She didn't eat. An', she can't stop sweatin'. An', that's not ta' mention the fact that she couldn't hold still," Granny Smith said as she pointed one hoof at the other. In some ways, it looked like she was counting something on her hooves.

Big McIntosh's ears stood straight up. He swore he could hear a distant thump and a loud cry. "Ah'm gunna check on her," he finally stated as he carefully rocked the chair back into a seated position. His statement was then followed by him carefully getting up and walking back towards the stairs.

Ya worry too much! Big Mac thought to himself in a futile attempt to calm his mind. They said her odds of survival were fair to good, he considered as he smoothly trotted up the stairs. His gait was quick, though not as quick as the subtle worry in his mind felt it should be. But on teh other hoof, 'doc thinks she'll need some time ta get back into shape, he pondered as he made it to the top of the stairs.

His mind was drawn back to the task at hoof as another faint moan sounded out from down the hall. Quickly he picked up his pace. He trotted over to his sister's room and started pushing on the door. "Ya ok?" he hastily asked as he noticed his sister laying on her side on the floor. However, he doubted it, considering her face was covered in a definite look of pain.

"Mac, Ah think... Ah think... Ah need to get to the hospital," she moaned as her face flushed into another pained expression.

"Ah'll help ya up, sis," Big Mac assure her calmly. Carefully he picked up his sister with his strong neck. And, only after his sister had slid down onto his back, did the red stallion began to briskly, and confidently trot down the hall towards the stairwell. Don't let her see you worry, was the only thought on his mind as he began to make the trip to the hospital.

***

Spike struggled to ignore the pained look that adorning his beloved white mare's face as he struggled to carry her on his shoulders. Perhaps to the outside observer, it would be an absurdity to see the much younger, and smaller drake giving a full grown mare a pony ride. But to Spike, it was a matter of grave importance -- so much so that he found that he could actually carry her -- ok... barely carry her! But, he could carry her nonetheless.

"I'm so terribly, terribly sorry Spike!" Rarity whispered through gritted teeth. The pained look on her face suggested that she was feeling another cramp from another contraction. "I didn't mean to ruin your evening like this," she mumbled as her face scrunched into a look of terrible discomfort.

"I honestly thought they were just cramps," Rarity apologized. Spike returned her apology with a nod of understanding. There's no way anypony could've seen this coming. After all, Sweetie Belle wasn't supposed to be coming out for another couple of weeks. And furthermore, Spike couldn't help but feel bad for his lady love. The mortified look of humiliation that crossed her face had almost been too much for him to bare.

"It's not your fault Rarity!" Spike tried to assure her as he struggled against the burning in his muscles from the heavy load he was carrying. Still, dragons were stronger than they looked. Naturally, this was quite impressive considering how strong they looked to be. If anypony could, he could find the strength to carry a pony. "Nature does what she wants when she wants to," Spike assured her. A small part of him dared to hope that Rarity hadn't noticed that he had borrowed this line directly from Fluttershy.

"But my water broke right in the middle of the cafe!" Rarity moaned as her face turned beat red in humiliation as her mind recalled the horrible public spectacle. "Mark my words, they shall be making fun of me for months," she cried bitterly. Her whining didn't last, however; instead, they slowly turned into the soft pants of a mare struggling to suppress grunts of pain. Her contractions were definitely speeding up. And, that gave Spike another reason to worry.

"Almost there, Rarity," Spike assured her as he struggled to keep his voice from sounding tired due to the heaviness of his tired lungs. Spike wouldn't admit it, but he was glad that he could see the hospital over the horizon! He was beginning to doubt whether, or not he could hold her much longer.

"Thank you for being such a good friend," Rarity replied softly as she fought back against the burning, and squeezing pain of labor. "Few friends would even want to be near me after... soiling myself in such an undignified way," she whispered with a look of shame written across her face.

"I'd do anything for you," Spike pointed out as he crossed the threshold into the hospital. His resolve never wavered, despite the buckling of his legs. He'd never admit it to her, but he was disappointed. After months of simple 'test dates' and 'friend dinners,' he'd finally managed to work up the courage to ask her to become his marefriend and not just his friend who was a mare. Now, however, he remained painfully friend-zoned as Rarity's attention had been rather rudely drawn away by the sudden onset of labor.

"Thank you." Rarity whispered through grit teeth. Spike nodded as he staggered the remaining distance to the check-in station for the maternity ward. "I just wish you didn't have to! It would have been so much easier if my parents were in town today," Rarity admitted in a low grumble.

Spike absentmindedly shrugged as he carefully waddled over, and gently set Rarity down -- as if she were a fragile flower -- in front of the check-in station. Then without a lick of tack, he mercilessly slammed his claw repeatedly against the side of the station. It wasn't just his panic, though. His head was simply not tall enough to clear the desk. "Hello is anyone there?!" Spike called out loudly.

"May I help you?" a nurse gently asked as she stretched her neck over the station to look down at Spike.

"She needs your help!" Spike shouted urgently as he waved a hand frantically at Rarity. No pony could miss the pained expression written on her face as she futility tried to pick herself up.

"Don't worry. I'll get some help right away," assured the mare behind the station as her horn lit up. "There we go," she confirmed compassionately. "some nurses should be here shortly to help your friend," she added with a comforting smile.

Spike couldn't help but squeeze Rarity's hoof one final before the doctors took her away. "Can I be here to watch over her?" Spike pleaded. However, the answer to his question was a simple shake of the head from one of the nurses.

"I'm sorry, but only family is allowed to be with her," she apologized with a sad expression on her face. "But, you can wait in the waiting room. We'll come get you when she's done," the nurse added calmly. Spike could only frown silently, and look down dejected as he was forced to wave goodbye to Rarity. His frown only grew as the nurses carefully hoisted her onto a stretcher, and wheeled her away.

***

A dark blue stallion with a rainbow mane gingerly trotted into the hospital. The stallion was seemingly oblivious to the objections of the mare on his back. Instead, he continued walking forwards with his steely focus locked onto his goal. However, some of her objections did, in fact, reach his ears, despite his attempts to not let on; instead, he set his mind to getting his beloved daughter, his only child, to the hospital on time.

"Dad, I can still walk!" She objected loudly. Each word came out between pants. Her wings spasmed, and her teeth clenched as each wave of contractions hit her.

"But my little flyer, you can't even fly," The stallion whispered gently into her ear. The admission caused her to blush in humiliation. Her cries quickly went quiet as she became painfully aware of the accuracy of his statement. This hasn't been the reunion I had planned for, Rainbow Blaze thought with a slight disappointment written on his face boldly.

His original plan had been to come into town about a month before the birth. And then, stay with his daughter for a few months to help her get everything settled. But instead, he had barely gotten in the door when he had seen her struggling with labor. Her wings had completely refused to follow her commands. Then again, this was common. It was hard for a mare to fly when she was in that much pain.

"Hey somepony! My daughter's in labor!" he shouted as his eyes scoured the room looking for any signs of the nurses. His search was interrupted when he heard an 'umm,' and felt somepony tap his withers with their hoof. The adult stallion could only blush when he realized that he'd overlooked the staff in his haste to find the staff.

"Dad!" Rainbow Dash objected as the nurses gently helped her onto a gerni. "You're overreacting," she protested loudly, despite the fact that she was actually glad the old stallion had been so understanding. He'd never once mentioned her premarital pregnancy, nor had he made any catty remarks about her. Nor had he, thankfully, demanded to know which stallion friends he could blame, either... which was even better, considering she had deprioritized stallions so far down her list that she wasn't likely to date, let alone get married until she was approaching middle age.

"Don't worry sweetheart, your dad is here," he cooed in her ear as he followed her down the hall, and into the delivery room.

This wasn't to last as, mere minutes later, the large stallion was unceremoniously plopped onto a couch in the waiting room by a pair of rather large orderlies. "What? I was just trying to encourage her to push harder!" the blue stallion objected. His face bore a poorly hidden embarrassment. Perhaps, his strategy for cheering her like his favorite Buckball team was not such a good one, after all...

--------

"Push! Push! Push! Push! You can do it Dashie!" Rainbow Blaze chanted, even as a Rainbow Dash looked more and more flustered.

"Ssshhh," shushed one of the other ponies in the room. However, Rainbow Blaze didn't hear them over his own chanting.

"You're almost there Dashie!" Rainbow Blaze continued to chant, even though she had been at it for perhaps sixty seconds.

"I think you need to wait outside," softly said a rather large stallion as he unceremoniously picked up the smaller pegasus stallion by the neck like a foal, and carried him out the door.

--------

Carefully the stallion marched around the room to sit next to the two other gentlecolts in the room -- or in this case, a stallion and a wyrmling. "You look familiar," the young dragon said as he eyeballed the stallion up and down. After a few moments, a look of realization seemed to hit the dragon. "Are you Rainbow Dash's dad?" he asked casually.

The large stallion could only nod as he looked down at the dragon. Well he knows her, but he doesn't look like he's 'the one.' Maybe he's that fan she wrote about? The stallion decided as he casually took a seat in one of the waiting room's chairs. "Sure am," Rainbow Blaze admitted. "She sure is a chip off the old block," he boasted with a chuckle. "Now, you wouldn't happen to know who her stallion friend is, would you?" he asked with a shifty chuckle. "I'd sure like to meet her special somepony," he added with a forced smile.

"I don't know," the drake admitted with a shrug. "She's a friend of mine, but I don't pretend to know her choice in stallions. You wouldn't know, would you Big Mac?" Spike asked as he turned his head over to look at the red stallion. The red stallion didn't seem to notice right away, as his eyes remained fixed at the door with a worried gaze.

Rainbow Blaze squinted his eyes. If Rainbow Blaze were a golem one would swear they could hear the following thoughts echoing through his mind: Big Stallion, devilish good looks, strong body... Obviously the coltfriend! Objective located! Initiate mission: eliminate jerk who knocked up daughter!

"So, how long have you known her?" Rainbow Blaze asked through grit teeth as he carefully sized up the red stallion. "And more importantly, how long you two been steady?"

"Ah ain't the foal daddy," the large red stallion replied calmly.

Big Mac's answer quickly succeeded in throwing Rainbow Blaze's composure off. Had he been that obvious? "W-what makes you say that?" Rainbow Blaze stuttered as his focus, and composure quickly deteriorated. Big Mac simply shook his head and resumed his vigil on the door ahead of them.

"Dude, you need to be less paranoid," Spike interjected. "Get comfortable, it's going to be a while," He plainly stated as he got up to pick up a hayshake from the cafeteria. Some anthropologists have said that Horses, the ancestors of ponies, could finish their labor in half an hour. However, ponies are much more highly evolved. Horses emphasized speed in their birthing, but ponies had gone for a much safer, and slower rate of labor. This meant that their labor could take well over three to five hours.

***

"This is all your fault Rarity!" Doctor Dove heard the cyan pegasus scream through the wall. The pegasus' wings wildly flailed as she struggled to birth her foal. Doctor Dove continued to move on. That wasn't her patient. No, she was being handled by one of the midwives.

"I'm sorry for passing out!" came the muffled shouts of the white mare in the next room. Doctor Dove could only shake her head. Both mares were clearly getting testy from the long period of pain and exertion. Still, if they still had strength to chew each other out, they probably had quite a ways to go yet.

"And, maybe you had this coming. After all, you did leave me in the middle of the desert!" the mare's screamed back. However, her screams grew quieter as doctor Dove walked down to the third room. Inside was her patient, an orange mare with a blond mane. The mare's mane was carefully tied into a braid by a hair tie. But, her tail tie and her Stetson had been given to her grandmother for safekeeping.

A few hours ago, the orange mare had come in with her grandmother and brother. However, her brother had been seen out of the room after he passed out in response to his sister's water breaking.

Even from the door, the doctor could swear she could hear the mare mumbling something between shouts of pain. It sounded faintly like a mantra. Although, "for Apple Bloom" wasn't what she'd expected to hear.

Doctor Dove shook her head and focused on the issue at hoof as one of the nurses walked over to stand next to her. "What's the status?" The doctor whispered into the nurse's ear. Carefully she looked back at doctor Dove with a mild concern showing in her eyes.

"She was already showing signs of severe fatigue when we brought her in. So, I had her drink 30 fluid ounces of Vitae elixir," the pink pegasus mare explained as she carefully raised her foreleg so that doctor Dove could better get a look at the clipboard pinched in her pastern. "But, she's already beginning to show signs of a relapse," the nurse added.

"How long has she been at this?" Doctor Dove asked in a hushed whisper.

"She started pushing about thirty minutes ago," the nurse explained as she turned her attention from the doctor to the other midwife, who was busy coaching the expecting mare.

Doctor Dove carefully nodded her head. Her mind was already going over the details that had been supplied so far. "Let's try upping that to 40 ounces," Doctor Dove added as she walked over to stand next to Applejack. Doctor Dove could already see her head sag. The poor mare was burning a lot of energy awfully fast.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Dove. And, I'm here to monitor, Applejack's progress, " she stated with the utmost professionalism to the patient's grandmother. "I'll be helping however I can, as your granddaughter completes her labor," Doctor Dove explained. Doctor Dove couldn't help but notice the orange mare's head and ears drooping again. The only signs of life were the look of exertion on her face as she struggled to push her foal out.

"Applejack, how are you feeling?" Doctor Dove asked calmly, and carefully with an eager expression.

"Ah... uggg..." Applejack grunted through gritted teeth as she suppressed a scream of pain. Thankfully, the burning passion seemed to return to her eyes as she obtained a second wind. "Ah'm fine." Applejack stated plainly through her still grit teeth. "Is... is Apple Bloom going 'ta be ok?" Applejack inquired with a slight pause as her face contorted into a look of excruciating pain.

"Breath," a nurse whispered into Applejack's ear. Applejack shot the nurse a sour look, but she still complied. One couldn't tell by the contorted look of exertion on the Applejack's face. But, Doctor Dove could see it. She was tired. Her muscles were growing weaker, and she wasn't pushing quite as hard as she previously was.

Doctor Dove kept that to herself, however; instead, she gave Applejack a reassuring smile. "Don't worry you're doing a fine job all by yourself," she assured her as she contemplated how much, and how often to give the orange mare elixir if surgery turned out to be necessary. "I just prescribed a bit more elixir to help you get your strength back," Doctor Dove explained with a smile.

"Thanks, Ah've been mighty..." Applejack started, before being interrupted by a scream. "... tired recently. Ah jus' don't feel too good," she admitted with a concerned look on her face. Doctor Dove could see it, the mare's normally orange coat had begun to pale.

"Why didn't you give her more earlier?" Granny Smith's quivery voice growled from the other side of Applejack's bed. "Ah reckon, it wouldn't have worn off if you'd had given her enough," Granny Smith pointed out as she waved a hoof in frustration. Her temper carefully hiding the look of concern buried at the back of her eyes.

"While the elixir's boost to strength and vitality is proportional to the amount used. After a certain threshold, the duration exponentially declines with amount," Doctor Dove explained as the nurse from earlier returned with a large glass of elixir.

"Say what?" Granny Smith asked with a look of confusion written plainly on her face.

"If we use too much, it wears off more quickly." Doctor Dove explained simply as she carefully lowered the glass down to Applejack's lips. Unfortunately, the elixir was only there to help Applejack. In truth, it would all come down to how well her body could handle the damage and lack of magically endowed strength.

Carefully, Applejack drank the elixir before she gave a quick gag from the nasty tasting combinations of magically enchanted fruits, vegetables, herbs, and plants hitting her tongue. "This tastes nasty!" Applejack pointed out as she stuck out her tongue. Still, the elixir proved to be effective as Applejack's head seemed to perk up, and her contractions grew stronger.

Doctor Dove gave an approving nod. "Yes, yes, that did seem to help," she said with a smile.

"I guess so..." Applejack admitted before she winced and suppressed another scream.

"And, don't worry. I'll be here to make sure everything goes as planned," Doctor Dove encouraged as she walked over to the cabinet, and began to pull out some equipment to monitor Applejack's health.

***

Rainbow Blaze found himself pacing the room. A room that suddenly felt extremely small. His blue wings fidgeted with anxiety as he continued to make laps around the room. How was his daughter doing? Would she be ok? Would he ever find the jerk that knocked her up? He'd been waiting here for so long, that he just couldn't take it any longer.

And he wasn't the only one, either. The big red stallion, Big McIntosh -- Or, so he'd heard -- kept looking at the door with a grave expression. It was like he didn't expect the other mare to return. And, the purple wyrmling didn't look much better. In fact, he'd gotten so antsy that at some point that he'd gone out and brought back three other mares: a pink earth pony mare, a yellow pegasus mare, and a lavender alicorn mare.

"Applejack will be ok," Twilight assured Big McIntosh. "Zecora herself has been making the potions, and if anypony knows how to make a Zebric elixir of Strength and Vitality right she would!" Twilight assured him. Twilight's face beamed as she lectured the red stallion on all the advances in medicine that had occurred since Zecora had come to town.

"The princess is right! Your Wife will be --" Rainbow Blaze interrupted bluntly with a large smile gracing his face as he mused about how his cheery words would surely help the younger stallion feel more at ease.

"Sister." Big McIntosh said coldly as his eyes squinted in a look of agitation.

Rainbow Blaze blushed heavily -- his face practically turning red -- as he wheeled around from his inward thoughts. "Ohhh... Ummm... sorry," he stuttered as the implications of the mistake became clear to him. Big McIntosh did not return the sentiment, however; instead, he silently returned his vigil of the door. This left the room in an awkward silence.

"Do you think Rarity and Sweetie Belle will be ok?" Spike asked Fluttershy as the drake continued to fret, and paced the room for the seventy-five thousandth time. "Sweetie Belle is so early. Will that make it harder for Rarity? Maybe that's why it's taking so long?" He continued to worry. His worried mind spiraling as he considered darker and darker possibilities. "What'll we do!" he shouted desperately as he shook the yellow pegasus by the withers.

"I don't know," Fluttershy softly admitted. "I don't think Sweetie Belle's early arrival is what's making it take a while," she mused. "It's just harder for a first-time mother," Fluttershy admitted as she gently patted Spike on the back.

"How long do I have to wait?" Spike whimpered as images of Rarity crying all alone assaulted his mind. "What if she needs me? I can't help her from here," he whined.

"I'm sure she's fine," Fluttershy assured him with a warm smile. "And, once she and Sweetie Belle have had some time to rest, I'm sure you'll get to see them. I mean, it was like this when the cakes had their foals," Fluttershy admitted as she gave Spike a reassuring smile.

Spike nodded forlornly. "What if she never..." Spike started, only to be cut short by a new sound.

"Mr. Spike?" called a nurse as she pushed the doors open. Spike raised his head in surprise as he looked over to see a nurse standing in the doorway. "You can see your friend now," she said simply as she took a look around the room.

"She's ready?" Spike practically shouted as he ran up to the nurse. "Is she ok? How's Sweetie Belle?" he rambled as he peppered the poor nurse with questions.

"She's fine!" The nurse replied with an even smile. "In fact, she asked for you to see her personally," the nurse explained as she carefully stepped to one side, and held the door open. "So, please come this way," the nurse added with a wave of her hoof, in a gesture that read 'you first.'

Spike gratefully nodded his head, gave all of his friends in the waiting room a quick wave, and waddled down the hall behind the larger mare. Doorways and halls passed by with the only side track being a room where a unicorn stallion cast some kind of decontamination spell on him.

Finally, Spike was led to one of the delivery rooms. He pushed the door aside eagerly and walked into the room. The first thing that caught attention was a nasty odor. Quickly Spike scrunched his nose and focused his attention on what he could see.

Rarity was standing at one side of the room. Her mane was rumpled and covered in sweat. Her fur seemed disheveled, especially near her tail. A small pang of worry crossed Spike's mind as he saw some blood on the previously white fur of Rarity's hind legs.

"Spike!" The mare exclaimed as she eagerly greeted the drake. "Please come in Darling," Rarity encouraged him. This small statement drew his mind away from his new worries. "But first, please be a dear and close the door on your way in. I don't want anypony to see this," Rarity explained, as her attempts to close the door with magic ended in only sparks shooting out of her horn.

Rarity gave a hard blush. "I'd do it myself, but I'm a bit tired. That and, Sweetie Belle is distracting me," she admitted with a sullen sigh.

Hastily Spike closed the door behind him as he practically bound into the room. "What's she doing? I thought she was already born." Spike asked in a loud voice as his mind tried to follow what was going on.

"Spike!" She whined. "Please, be a bit quieter, I don't wish to startle her," Rarity said sternly. Her silent chastisement earning an apology from Spike. This, however, also served to draw attention straight to Rarity's eyes. They looked tired with definite bags under them. That tiredness was further accentuated by her lack of eyeliner, which had likely rubbed off at some point. "And, if you must know Spike, she's on the other side of me feeding," Rarity said with a protracted blush.

"She is?" Spike said curiously as he waddled around Rarity to Rarity's left side. Much to his expectations, he found a very tiny Sweetie Belle standing up against Rarity's left side with her small muzzle hidden behind Rarity's left hind leg, angled upwards towards Rarity's barrel, and pressed up against what Spike suspected was one of Rarity's teats. "That's gotta feel really weird," Spike said with a slight shiver as his mind was left to imagine what it must feel like.

"Not so loud!" Rarity whined, as loudly as she felt comfortable. "I don't want to draw attention to this... undignified... matter," she said with a frown. "I'm simply doing this for Sweetie Belle's health, and for no other reason." Rarity replied plainly in little more than a whisper. She then nervously batted a bit of her ragged mane back into place. "But yes... It feels really, really, really weird," Rarity reluctantly admitted in a soft whisper.

"Sorry Rarity," Spike whispered with a blush. "Can I get a closer look?" he asked eagerly. He'd already waited over ten months for this moment, and he couldn't wait any longer!

"You may," Rarity said simply with a graceful nod. "However, be sure to give the dear plenty of space! A newborn foal tends to be easily panicked, and I don't want to scare the darling!" Rarity admonished him.

Spike nodded and cautiously tiptoed as close to Sweetie Belle as he dared. Once there, he bent down to the tiny newborn foal's level so that he could better look at her from eye-level. She looked about the same as Spike remembered. She still had her white coat, although it was tinged slightly red.

"Why's she covered in blood?" Spike could only ask as his throat clenched on the words.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Rarity apologized with a frown. "But, it's generally considered best to let the foal feed, if possible, before they clean us up, or do any thorough examinations." Rarity explained as she quoted the doctors. Her face, also, contorted into a frown at the idea of all the dirt covering Sweetie Belle and her bodies.

"OK...." Spike trailed off as he shook his head, and tried to ignore the thoughts bubbling up from the back of his mind; instead, he continued to look Sweetie Belle over carefully. She still had her horn and her signature pink and purple mane. But, it looked like her mane was only composed of small tufts of hair at the moment, instead of the long curly mane she had been so proud of. Furthermore, she seemed both smaller, and skinnier than the cake twins had been. She looked almost gangly. "Is she ok? She's looking awfully small," Spike pointed out as his eyes fixed on Rarity. Silently he begged her to give him good news.

Rarity bit her lip as a definite look of worry crossed her face. "Well, she's about two weeks early, that's all. She just needs some time to build up her strength, and grow her mane and fur out," Rarity explained as she darted her eyes about, and she struggled to leave out any of the unpleasant possibilities that currently plagued her mind. "... After all," she said, with a nervous smile. "She's standing ok... and she seems to have a healthy appetite," Rarity pointed out through a somewhat tense smile and a nervous chuckle. "And, it only took five whole minutes to find my teats.... Not that I counted of course... And I'm sure that's normal. And, that probably means that she's very healthy," Rarity with a slightly less forced smile.

"Well, she certainly looks like herself," Spike said with a smile. "And, I bet she even recognizes us," Spike added with a growing smile as he slowly crept as close to Sweetie Belle as he could, and turned to meet her face to face. Gently Spike waved, and whispered in a soothing tone at the all too fragile looking filly, "Hello Sweetie Belle. Happy Birthday," he eagerly cooed.

However, his smile quickly faded as Sweetie Belle didn't seem to regard him at all -- either with a wave, or a smile. "You'll have to forgive her Spike," Rarity apologized through a forced smile and a look of hurt in her eyes. "She's just not recognizing us... yet..." she explained with a subtle frown. "Hopefully she'll be more responsive in a couple of weeks when we can take her home," Rarity said with a long-suffering sigh.

***

Rainbow Blaze could feel his temper rising. He'd been waiting so long that he'd had enough time to run down and get a congratulatory balloon, and come back without getting called by the nurse. It had been hours since he'd --

"Minutes." A hyperactive pink mare cheered. The sudden sound drew his attention away from his internal fuming, and to the new mare.

"Say what?" Rainbow Blaze couldn't help but ask as a look of confusion crossed his face.

"My name's Pinkie Pie," The mare added casually. "And, you were about to say how you'd been waiting hours since Spike left, but it's really only been minutes. I mean, if it had been hours, then the sun would have risen and set by now; instead, the clock's only moved that far," Pinkie Pie pointed out as she moved her hoof over a few inches. "I mean sheesh... " she added, with her voice growing hyper. "It's only like two in the morning," Pinkie Pie continued with a shrug and a quick yawn.

"Wh-where did you come from?" Rainbow Blaze couldn't help but stutter as he looked at the enigma that had seemingly dropped out of nowhere.

"I've been setting up the 'it's a filly' parties," Pinkie Pie said with a roll of her eyes, and a large smile. "Or, do you mean before that? 'Cause if you do, I was ending my shift at Sugarcube Corner when Spike rushed up and told me that three of my bestest-best friends went into labor. So, naturally, I rushed on down here as fast as I could -- " she announcing running in place as she pantomimed her 'race' down to the hospital. " -- to give them moral support, only to be escorted out and told that I needed to wait here in the waiting room... Some nonsense about me being too stressful for the patients...." Pinkie Pie rambled. Rainbow Blaze could already feel a headache coming on.

"I know, silly right!" she rambled her words coming at a mile per minute. "So instead, I've been busy planning out the foal shower, even if that's a few days away... For some reason, they won't let the foals leave the next day. But anyway, you gotta start early, at least if you plan to make a big 'Hey welcome back to the land of the living! Here's a late foal shower/happy zero plus five monthiversary birthday/happy eighth birthday minus eight plus five months' party!" She explained before taking a long large breath of air from the long manic rant she had just given.

"And, that's not to forget about the 'you just had a foal party!' I mean, who doesn't love streamers and balloons that read 'it's a colt,' or 'it's a filly'? I mean, I love them. And hay, when I get a stallion friend, and we have a foal. I want to have one of those parties!" Pinkie Pie continued to rattle, despite the uneasy look Rainbow Blaze was giving her. "But you know that balloon isn't the right -- " The mare said as she froze in place, and her body shook inexplicably.

"Uhh... Sure," Rainbow Blaze said with a rough smile as he quickly moved his chair over a few feet.

"Oh wait... rumbly tummy, itchy ear, sore throat! Here's the nurse! Say hi to Dashie for me!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a smile and a wave.

Rainbow Blaze carefully prepared his eyes for a big eye roll. However, his epic eye roll was interrupted by the door flying open on the other side of the waiting room. "Mr. Rainbow Blaze, your daughter is ready to see you," yelled a nurse loudly.

Rainbow Blaze shot the manic pink pony a bemused glare. He then shook his head and walked towards the nurse. "I'm right here," he told the nurse as he raced halfway between the two of them.

"Please follow me," she said with a simple smile as she pulled the door open for the stallion to enter.

"So, where's she at? Is my grandchild a colt, or a filly? How's Rainbow Dash? I bet she broke a record in birthing a foal!" he exclaimed with an eager chuckle. "Can we walk a bit faster? I mean, we aren't getting to her very fast!" Rainbow Blaze stated eagerly as his impatience showed in his wings -- which stood straight out and quivered with excitement.

"It's a filly, and you'll see how both are doing when we get there... And, I'm taking you to her now." The nurse said with a forced smile and a subtle sigh. And, that was just the start of his nervous ramblings. By the time she'd reached the delivery room, that Rainbow Dash currently resided in, the nurse had just about reached the limit of her patience. She'd expected the baby dragon to have this sort of energy. It was just another part of being young. But, the grown stallion's impatience was more grating -- perhaps because she hadn't expected it. Then again, some ponies did tend to overcompensate for fear. And, from what she'd been told, this wasn't the first time that the stallion had disrupted the otherwise peaceful hospital.

"BUT!" She stated sternly as she pressed her muzzle to his, and looking him straight in the eyes with her bloodshot eyes. "I MUST insist that you keep quiet, and don't disturb either the mother or her daughter!"

"S...Sure..." he hesitantly replied with sweat dripping down his brow as he attempted to back up. Unfortunately for him, he found his back was against a wall.

"I'm glad we have an understanding then," the nurse said with a gentle smile and a nod. With that, her previous expression washed away, as suddenly as it had appeared. "Now come this way." The nurse added with a gentle wave of her foreleg. "We're almost there."

Who would'a thought nurses could be so intimidating, Rainbow Blaze thought with a blush as he followed the nurse down the last few doorways, and stopped at the end of a hallway.

"And we're here," she said softly as she opened the door for Rainbow Blaze to come through.

Were we that close? He pondered in confusion. Quickly he shook his head and deciding to focus on his little filly and her little foal. "Hello my little flier" Rainbow Blaze exclaimed with a smile as he clutched the congratulatory balloon he was going to give her. "I brought a balloon for you," he added with a grin as he showed her the small blue balloon.

"Why does it read 'congratulations! It's a colt'?" Rainbow Dash groggily grunted. Her grumpy words showing her lack of sleep. The cyan mare's mane looked even more scraggly than ever. And, sweat covered not just her mane, but her coat as well. She looked tired, but she also seemed to be in good shape, all things considered.

"Uhh... Well, I didn't know which it would be, and since half of all foals are colts... I figured it was a good a guess as any," Rainbow Blaze admitted with a blush.

Rainbow Dash's mouth opened widely to chastise the stallion for not paying attention before she was quickly interrupted by the stallion's Pinkie Pie like continuous banter. "Also, I see you're teat feeding her. I never thought you'd do that... Considering you have sensitive teats, and all." The stallion admitted a bit too loudly.

"DAD!" Rainbow Dash yelped as her face turned beet red. "Don't tell the whole hospital that!" she moaned with a shake of her head, and some frustrated deep breaths to calm herself down. "Besides, Twilight said newborn foals need the first milk. So, I'm not gonna let Scootaloo down -- Even if it is a bit... uh... what was the word Rarity used? -- unpleasant. That was it. Even if it is a bit unpleasant,"

"Right," Rainbow Blaze admitted as he blushed, and quickly looked for some kind of distraction... His eyes probing the room for some way to change the subject. "Hey, why are you holding your filly like that?" Rainbow Blaze blurted out as he suddenly noticed something.

Rainbow Dash craned her head to the left so that she could take a quick look at Scootaloo, who was gently cradled by Rainbow Dash's left hind leg. "Scootaloo... That is her name, in case you don't remember that either... is too weak to stand," Rainbow Dash admitted with a solemn croke. Tears of concern finally trickled from her eyes, as her carefully sculpted facade failed. "The doctors think that her muscles, or bones might be a bit... on the weak side," she said as she looked away. " But, they think she'll grow out of it if we get her the right exercise, and attention," Rainbow Dash pointed out with a weak smile.

"Well, she is a bit on the scrawny side," Rainbow Blaze admitted as he walked over to look at her. "And what's with her wings?" he asked curiously. "Those are the smallest pair I've ever seen in a newborn foal."

"The wings... We're not sure about," Rainbow Dash admitted. It was something she'd known was possible for months. Scootaloo's wings were always small for her size. But, if these were as small as they got, then they'd probably grow in... eventually.

"As for the rest of her, the doctor's are pretty sure she'll grow to normal size. She just needs a bit of exercise. She should be standing strong in no time. So in this case, she just left the oven too soon," Rainbow Dash pointed out as she struggled to regain her composure. She wanted to, no needed to restore her facade of perfect confidence.

"Well, she does kind of look like you did when you were her age... And, she's got your hunger," the stallion snickered as he watched the small orange filly suckling away at one of Rainbow Dash's teats. "I bet she'll be quite the daredevil when she grows up," he admitted as he craned his neck in to get a better look at the thin filly. The next thing he saw, was her thin, and silky purple mane. "That means your mother's legacy lives on for another generation," Rainbow Blaze cheered with only a hint of pain crossing his face as he remembered the late mare.

"I know she will. I knew her from back when she was seven," Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. "She reminded me of... well... me. 'Cause she was strong, and never ever backed down. And, I know she'll be just like that when she grows up," Rainbow Dash blustered, despite Twilight's warnings that that was not necessarily the case.

"Huh?" Rainbow Blaze said in confusion. "Did you have some kind of future vision or something? Does your element of Loyalty do that often?" He stuttered as his mind failed to comprehend what she'd just said fully.

"Dad, you did read my letter, right?" Rainbow Dash groaned with a tinge of frustration in her voice as she raised one eyebrow, and rubbed the bridge of her muzzle with a hoof.

"Uhhh... No. I just... kind'a skimmed it," Rainbow Blaze admitted as he rubbed his rainbow mane with the foreleg that was still holding the balloon he was going to give to his daughter. "You know I've never been one for reading! I'm more of a stallion of action." Rainbow Blaze reminded her with a blush of his face and a series of poses that hinted at his 'awesome moves'... Clearly, he'd missed something important.

Rainbow Dash groaned and ran a hoof down her brow and over her muzzle. "Dad, there was an accident. And, not the 'whoops, the protection failed' sort of accident." She groaned. "Listen up Dad. There isn't a foal daddy -- as if it wasn't obvious! I haven't even dated a stallion yet... sheez! It just hasn't been very high on my bucket list," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she continued to rub the bridge of her muzzle. "Especially considering the Wonderbolts are at the top of my list! No, what happened is this --" she stated with a slight agitation in her voice as she started retelling the tale.

***

Big McIntosh carefully trotted around from behind the nurse. His time had finally come, and he couldn't have been more relieved to hear that his sister was still alive. But then again, that wasn't proof that she was safe, but it was something. And, he needed some kind of comfort right now.

Not a word was shared between the nurse or Big McIntosh. He simply didn't have anything to say. Oddly, she seemed surprised that he was so quiet. Though, she shouldn't have been surprised. Why should he ask questions? A picture is worth a thousand words, after all.

All he knew was that they'd moved his dear sister, for some reason. Something to do with her condition... But without much more information, he wouldn't be able to say. Time seemed to drag on slowly as he, and the nurse meandered the hallways. It's just your imagination. We ain't takin' the scenic route, he reminded himself as the images of his mother still haunted his memory.

"She's in here," the nurse said daintily as she opened the door to let Big McIntosh in.

Big McIntosh carefully took note of the new room. It was a bit larger than the room they had been in earlier. Granny Smith sat deathly quiet in a corner at one side of the room, next to the bed. Carefully she held onto Applejack's stetson. Both Applejack's mane and tail ties sat on a small table next to her. Finally, there was large metal frame in the middle of the room. A metal frame that Applejack seemed to be laying on. Her legs dangled over the side, just barely brushing the floor. And, if Big McIntosh hadn't seen the metal legs of the contraption clear as day, then he might have thought she was standing.

The stallion let off a long gulp. Applejack just lay on the metal frame, unmoving. Her unrestrained mane was draped ragged, and untamed over her face and muzzle. It almost looked like a tattered shroud. Her normally vibrant orange coat was muted and almost seemed to glow in the dark from how white it had become. Furthermore, she wasn't moving. And yet, in the ghostly scene, something stopped his musing... Was it... It couldn't be... It sounded like the distinctive sound of suckling! He chose to disregard it for a moment. He would care for Apple Bloom after this.

With a look of sorrow crossing his face, Big Mac reached out a hoof to poke his little sister. He scarcely dared to hold onto the small dim hope that his sister hadn't died between the time the nurse had gotten him, and now.

"Watch it! You're gonna wake her up," Granny Smith suddenly chastised the stallion, causing him to pause the stretching out of his hoof. "She passed out dead asleep just as soon as they got her standin'. Ah reckon she'll be asleep for hours," Granny Smith added with a sigh.

With a hint of hope daring to twinkle in Mac's heart, he took a deeper, and longer look at his little sister. Despite her ghostly appearance, Mac thought he saw something move... Something other than Apple Bloom, who Mac was sure he could see hiding on the other side of Applejack.

Mac began to look her over. Studiously he tried to find what had moved. With a careful eye, he scanned every inch of her until he finally saw it: her barrel expanded a bit under her. She was breathing -- even if ever so slightly. And in turn, Big McIntosh let off a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"She wore herself out faster than your mah did." Granny mused, quietly. "They kept feedin' her that elixir near the end. Ah reckon it ain't just a lot up front that makes it wear off quickly," Granny Smith hummed as she sat idly on her chair, and focused her eyes on Applejack, and Apple Bloom.

Big Mac pointed at the metal frame after his words failed him. Despite his best efforts, he struggled to think of the best way to ask the question that was on his mind.

"That's there's ta let her feed Apple Bloom, without her havin' to exert herself on standin'!" Granny said with a gentle smile. "It was either that or a bottle. But, Applejack was too stubborn to take the easy way out," she admitted with a soft, and deep chuckle.

Big McIntosh then carefully began to walk a bit closer to his sister. Delicately he looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze. His eyes locked intently on her as if he feared that without constant supervision she would disappear without a moment's notice.

"She's ok, at least for now," Granny Smith admitted with a long sigh. Now that Big Mac's fear was abated he had the chance to notice that Granny Smith looked tired. She looked like she'd been up for more than the last night. Clearly, she had been as worried about Applejack, and Apple Bloom as Big Mac had. "The doctors want to keep her, and Apple Bloom a while to keep an eye on 'em. But, the doctor's pretty sure she'll recover, especially if they can keep her strength up," Granny Smith pointed out. Her admission earning her a long relieved sigh from Big McIntosh.

Big Mac quietly tiptoed like a fox to the other side of Applejack. Once there, he intently craned his eyes downwards towards Apple Bloom. Without a single sound, he looked her up and down. She looked strong. Very strong in fact. Although her mane and coat were short, and her body looked fragile, her eyes were sharp. It looked like she was ready for life.

"Doc says Bloom's doin' pretty good. Some fancy schmancy medicine talk 'bout how foals from mares that are under stress do better... Ah jus' figure she's doin' ok 'cause all of Jackie's magic was goin' to her." Granny Smith pointed out. Big McIntosh absentmindedly nodded in agreement.

"She almost looks like the day she was born," Big McIntosh whispered as he finally found the words he was looking for. Big McIntosh's whimsical words quickly turned to a long hard chuckle as his mind relaxed, and his fears were replaced by a rather amusing thought.

"W-What? Ehh? Just help me stand Doc, Ah'll feed Apple Bloom good and proper," muttered Applejack, as Big McIntosh's loud laugh managed to rouse her somehow.

"Now you've done gone and woke her," Granny Smith growled at Big Mac. The stallion looked back at her with a look of shame and drooping ears.

"Sorry Granny..." He mumbled to Granny Smith. He then turned to face Applejack. "Sorry to wake ya, sis," he apologized.

"A-Ah wasn't asleep." Applejack vacantly grumbled. Her every word coming out soft and brittle. "Ah was just restin' my eyes here while Bloom was feedin'," Applejack disputed as her mind groggily came to the realization that Apple Bloom was still feeding.

Applejack slowly craned her head over to face Apple Bloom. Although her ears drooped like she was half asleep, her eyes and smile seemed to perk up at the sight of the small yellow foal. "Heh... She looks just like the day she was born. Ah cain't wait to get her bow and --" Applejack cooed with a large smile, before her words faltered, her eyes closed, and her head fell to hang limply in front of her. Before Big Mac could worry much, he caught the distinctive sound of her breathing.

"What was so dang funny you had tah wake her fer?" Granny Smith grumbled as she looked at Big McIntosh with the most chastising glare he had seen in years.

"It's Hearts and Hooves day," Big Mac whispered. "Most ponies will be gettin' flowers and chocolates... My sister and her friends just got foals," Big Mac added as he struggled to stifle another laugh.

Granny Smith's lips twisted up a bit in a silent snicker. However, her laughter had no sound, at all. "Don't let your sister hear that," she cautioned. "Ah reckon she won't find it as funny as you," Granny Smith pointed out with an ominous tone.

"You know cousin Jack Apple ain't gonna let it go. He's gonna be making cracks about it for years to come," Big Mac pointed out with a slight scowl as he remembered the crass, and rude behavior of their 'whimsical' cousin.

"And others too, I'm sure," Granny Smith sighed as she remembered some of the ruder jokes that Winter Jack had shared with Jack Apple. Those two twins had always been wayward pranksters. And with age, they'd only mellowed enough to tell crude jokes, instead pull cruel pranks.

Chapter 7 - Sleepless at home

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Quills, parchment, needles, thread, and cloth zipped around Rarity's work room. Each item was held aloft by the blue aura of Rarity's magic. And, as each item of Rarity's work made its migration to their various stations, she carefully stood behind the baby fence and fed Sweetie Belle. Rarity grit her teeth as she struggled to ignore the odd feeling of Sweetie Belle suckling on her teats, and the nauseating sound. Instead, she labored to put her mind on the work floating behind the protective fences.

Rarity let off a tired yawn as she waited for Sweetie Belle to finish feeding from her teats. Teat feeding was not something that she had wanted to do a lot of. It just seemed too unsophisticated. However, Twilight Sparkle had made a rather compelling argument for it. She'd argued that, even after the colostrum had run dry, there were still added health benefits to teat milk. And more importantly, Twilight Sparkle had suggested there were cost savings to teat milk over formula. And, money was something Rarity dearly wanted to save at the moment.

Then again... After having Sweetie Belle home for four days, there was something else Rarity wanted: sleep. Sweetie Belle was eight days old -- Or, at least Rarity thought she was. It was hard to tell, considering the days had bleed together into one giant marathon of sleeplessness.

What time is it, anyway? Rarity asked herself as she snuck a look out the window. However, this only caused her to regret looking quickly. The sun was only, just now, peaking over the horizon. Rarity let out a long groan of frustration. It's dawn. And, I couldn't have gotten more than four hours of sleep last night. Rarity silently whined as she felt Sweetie Belle's suckling slow to a stop.

Rarity carefully lifted Sweetie Belle to her withers, so that she could help burp her baby sister. Now that Sweetie Belle was no longer distracting her, Rarity could focus her attention on her work. Or rather, the incomplete status of her work. Rarity could feel her heart pounding, and her panic growing as she looked over all of the unfinished orders. It's ok... It's ok, Rarity assured herself as she swallowed hard in a vain attempt to swallow her growing panic. I will grab a quick nap when Sweetie Belle goes to sleep. And then, I'll continue the current order when Sweetie Belle feeds next... That'll be enough time -- right? Rarity assured herself, despite her growing doubt.

A small burp reminded Rarity of one small fact. Sweetie Belle was probably ready for sleep. Good... good. It's almost time for a nice nap, Rarity reminded herself with a thankful smile. Then I can sleep. After which, it can then be followed by a frantic rush to get my orders done... all while caring for Sweetie Belle, Rarity added as she could feel her panic build, and her optimism plummet.

A sudden, and loud crying coming from Sweetie Belle burst Rarity's panic attack. "Sweetie Belle, what's wrong?" Rarity asked as she patted, and cradled Sweetie Belle. "Are you ok? Is something scaring you, Sweetie?" Rarity inquired as she continued to try to ease this sudden disruption of the quiet of her boutique.

Rarity softly shushed Sweetie Belle. "It's ok, Sweetie Belle. Mommy is here," Rarity cooed. "Urr, your big sister is here," Rarity corrected herself as she could feel her cheeks light up in embarrassment. Mommy, what was I thinking? Rarity thought with a slight pang of guilt. She'd almost taken her mother's title away from her...

Despite Rarity's efforts, Sweetie Belle's frown only seemed to grow, and her wailing only seemed to get louder. "No... Sweetie Belle, please don't cry," Rarity whispered in a panic as she found herself growing more flustered. "Mommy is here... Mommy is here... Don't cry," Rarity begged as she struggled to find some words that would alleviate Sweetie Belle's sudden crying spell.

Rarity's mind hastily came to a solution. "Sweetie Belle, there's no need to cry. I got Pochica," Rarity assured her sister turned daughter as she reached out with her magic to grab something from Sweetie Belle's old play chest.

Within moments, a yellow mouse teddy bear was flying through the boutique. The white stomached toy being carried along, forcefully by Rarity's blue magic. Within moments the small toy was sitting right above Rarity's withers. The petit teddy bear floated close enough for Sweetie Belle to make out its every detail, from the big ears to the fluffy pink hair, and pink tail fluff.

"See Sweetie. It's your favorite toy. You remember, don't you?" Rarity half pleaded as she floated the small mouse close enough for Sweetie Belle to grab onto it. However, when the white unicorn filly failed to calm down, Rarity could feel her heart drop. "What's wrong? Don't you remember Pochica?" Rarity asked as she felt a ripple of doubt cross her heart. "But, Pochica always made you calm down when you were a foal. Please, tell me you still love her," Rarity pleaded as she pressed Sweetie Belle a bit closer to her heart. The small gesture serving to both calm Sweetie Belle faster, and to assure Rarity that her sister really was cradled between her forelegs.

Minutes passed before Sweetie Belle's anxiety slowly faded, and her crying faded into the soft sighs of sleep. Rarity let off a long sniffle and swallowed hard. Bitter tears of concern poured from her eyes as she watched Sweetie Belle sleep. It's ok. She's asleep. She's still here. Don't forget: she may just need more time to remember. She'll be her old self before you know it, Rarity assured herself as she gently wiped the tears from her eyes with a small handkerchief.

Rarity found herself sneaking into her bedroom. While it was proper to let Sweetie Belle sleep in her crib, which sat in her old bedroom -- Rarity just needed to hold her little sister close. Maybe more correctly, she wanted to be close. Sleeping in the same bed would give her a chance to handle any needs Sweetie Belle could want, without having to walk over to the nursery. It also gave her a chance to hold her sister and let her fear bleed away with the familiar comfort.

***

Rarity's short nap was interrupted by two things: a knock on her front door, and a shrill cry from Sweetie Belle. "It's ok, Sweetie Belle. I'll feed you in just a moment," Rarity assured her with a gentle shush.

"Who is it?" Rarity shouted out her window as she sat Sweetie Belle on the floor. Within moments, Sweetie Belle had walked up to Rarity's hind leg, raised her head to Rarity's teats, and begun suckling.

"Rarity, it's me," shouted back the recognizable voice of Spike. "I know you said you didn't want me coming by every day to help you. But, I want to help you. Are you sure there isn't something I can help you with?" yelled Spike with a resolute voice.

I hate to have him do so much free work for me... But, I need the help desperately, Rarity decided with only a small tinge of guilt. "Spike, yes please. Please let yourself in, and we can talk about it," Rarity called back as she breathed a sigh of relief.

Rarity silently listened for the wyrmling to toddle up the stairs to her bedroom. Much to her surprise, it didn't take long for Spike to clear the distance between the front door and Rarity's bedroom.

"So, how can I help you?" Spike asked eagerly, even before he had entered the room.

"Well, could you care for Sweetie Belle? Even just a couple of hours would give me some time to get started on an oh so important dress orders," Rarity stated calmly as she watched the wyrmling waltz over to look her in the eyes.

"Do you want me to buy some formula, too?" Spike asked as his mind considered the request.

"Yes please," Rarity acknowledged. "And might I add, I am so grateful to you for coming by every day to help. And, I'm sorry I was so short with you yesterday. But, I still feel a bit guilty for taking your generosity for granted. You see, all I see is you do is give," Rarity explained with a somber frown.

"I want to help you," Spike stated resolutely as he gave Rarity a confident smile. "Especially since your parents aren't here. Speaking of which..." Spike started as he gave her his usual eager gaze, "When are they getting home? I thought you said they were going to help too," Spike asked as his smile turned into a concerned frown.

"They are supposed to come back tomorrow," Rarity explained with a long sigh. "I appreciate that they planned to be with me a week before Sweetie Belle was born... But, I'm a bit frustrated with them for not considering the possibility of Sweetie Belle being premature," Rarity grumbled in a low whisper. In truth, she wasn't that mad. But, her lack of sleep had frayed her nerves pretty badly. And, she dearly wished she had the extra support at the moment.

"It's ok, you have me," Spike assured her with a warm smile.

"That's true," Rarity stated with a beaming smile, "You are here practically as much as a husband would be," Rarity considered with a giggle.

I wish, Spike thought as his smile faltered yet again. "Well, maybe more like a boyfriend?" Spike hinted with a gulp. He didn't want her to catch the hint... And yet, he wished she would catch the hint.

"What?!" Rarity half shouted before she quickly swallowed her rising tone. "I mean, are you asking to go on a date-date? Like a romantic date-date, not a casual test-date?" Rarity asked through her wide open mouth and bulging eyes.

"Uhh... If you'd let me..." Spike admitted as he nervously twiddled his thumbs. Carefully he stared down at the floor and pretended that she wasn't about to shoot him down. But, he couldn't help but worry that Twilight was right. Maybe he didn't stand a chance with Rarity, after all.

"But... But, you're so young... I mean... maybe... I suppose," Rarity stuttered as her mind struggled to separate her mental picture of Spike the baby dragon, from Spike's more adult personality. "If you are sure you want to," Rarity conceded with a gulp.

"I'd like to try at least," Spike admitted with a long gulp.

"Then, we shall have a date," Rarity assured him. "In a few weeks, once things calm down enough for me to get a decent foalsitter," Rarity added as she watched Spike's face light up.

***

"And there, Apple Bloom, is our farm. You recognize it, don't you?" Applejack asked cheerfully, not bothering to look back at the yellow filly sitting in her her foal carrier bags. Applejack couldn't help but feel a large grin grow on her face. She'd been away from the farm for over three weeks, and she couldn't help but miss it.

"Sweet Apple Acres is quite a beauty ain't it?" Applejack rambled as she strolled up to the main gate. This time Applejack looked back to look at Apple Bloom, and give the three-week-old filly a big smile. When Apple Bloom returned the smile, Applejack continued her rant. "Now don't you fret. Nothin's changed since you cast your spell. Of course, our main crop is still apples. And, we still grow corn, spinach, eggs, truffles, and other vitals on the side," Applejack rambled as she tried to ignore the ache in her muscles. For once in the last six months, the ache wasn't just from using her muscles either. A fair amount of aches and pains were from the doctors using magic to help rebuild some of her muscle tone.

Applejack gleefully strolled to the side entrance of the barn, and let herself inside. She took two quick conspiratorial glances around the kitchen. And, when she noticed nopony was there, she shot Apple Bloom a conspiratorial smile. "Now Apple Bloom, try to keep quiet. They don't know we're comin' home early. And, ah want to surprise them," Applejack jovially ordered -- even though she wasn't sure that her sister understood what she was saying.

Sneakily Applejack snuck up to the top of the stairs. After a few quick glances around the banister, she snuck past the bow and hat closet. Her tiptoeing ending only once she'd reached Apple Bloom's room. "Let's get you your favorite bow," Applejack whispered to Apple Bloom. As silently as a mouse, Applejack pushed the door to Apple Bloom's room open. She then tiptoed into the old bedroom.

Applejack's sneaking came to a screeching halt as she noticed the room was completely empty -- save for Apple Bloom's old closet. "What the hay?" Applejack asked herself in befuddlement. Maybe Big Mac moved Apple Bloom's crib to my room? Applejack considered as she took several calming breaths. "You're favorite bow better still be in your closet, or Mac's gonna get an earful," Applejack muttered to Apple Bloom as she walked over to Apple Bloom's closet.

Carefully Applejack pulled open Apple Bloom's old closet. When she was greeted with a closet full of Apple Bloom's old outfits and a few bows, she gave a relieved sigh. "Ah guess ah won't be yelling at Big Mac after all," Applejack admitted with a relieved chuckle. "Now, let's get you into your favorite bow," Applejack cheerfully told Apple Bloom with a glowing smile.

Applejack reached up into the closet and daintily pulled down a charred pink bow from one of the hangers. Applejack carefully reached back and took Apple Bloom out of the foal carrier. She then placed Apple Bloom down on the floor with the same caution she would use for fine china.

"See Apple Bloom, here's your favorite bow," Applejack gleefully chattered as she showed Apple Bloom the pink bow. Apple Bloom looked at the pink bow with a look of curiosity, but with no recognition what so ever. "What's wrong Apple Bloom? Don't you like your old bow? Ah know it's a mite charred 'round the edges -- what with you vaporizing in it, and all. But, it's still mostly intact," Applejack gulped. She could feel a sinking feeling in her chest. Rarity had entertained the thought of Sweetie Belle having no memories, but Applejack had never entertained the thought. But now, Applejack was starting to worry.

Applejack waited several seconds with baited breath. However, the small foal offered no 'ah ha' of recognition. "Maybe you just need a nap," Applejack considered as her disappointment left her aware of the burning in her legs and the heaviness of her eyelids. "Come on. Let's get to bed. And after that, ah figure you'll be ready to eat," Applejack conceded with a defeated sigh as she picked up Apple Bloom in one foreleg, doubled back, and headed for her bedroom.

Applejack barely looked or thought as she marched to her bedroom. Contemplativeness had replaced her playful mood from earlier. She didn't pay anything a single mind until she absentmindedly pushed her bedroom door open. While she wasn't surprised by Apple Bloom's crib being in the room, or her bed being there. She did find something surprising: the whole room had been foalproofed. Practically everything was covered in pillows or bubble wrap. While Applejack would reluctantly agree to pad around Apple Bloom's crib, but there was no reason to also pad around her own bed.

"What the hay?!" Applejack growled in a slightly raised tone. "Has Big Mac gone nuts? Ah don't need all of this foalproofing," Applejack groaned as she rubbed the bridge of her muzzle. Applejack's rising temper was quickly doused as she noticed the growing look of fear on Apple Bloom's face. "It's ok Apple Bloom. Ah ain't mad anymore," Applejack gently cooed as she soothingly rocked Apple Bloom with her foreleg. "Ah'm just gonna need to give Big Mac an earful after our nap," Applejack assured Apple Bloom as she continued to rock her sister, turned daughter, to sleep.

***

Applejack's nap and Apple Bloom's latest feeding were practically over by the time Applejack heard somepony tromping up the stairs. "Big Mac is that you?" Applejack asked loudly from her bedroom.

"What are you doing here, baby sis?" Big Mac's uncharacteristically worried voice asked from the hall as his hooves trotted quickly to Applejack's bedroom. "The doctors wanted to keep you for at least another week to make sure your stitches were healing well. Ah don't want you endin' up like mah," Big Mac added with a hint of panic as he galloped into the small bedroom.

"Ah was sick of their magic workin' my muscles. Ah can work out just as good without them using their magic! Ah'm sick of feeling 'the burn' in muscles ah didn't even know ah had," Applejack grumbled as she tried not to get angry at Big Mac for his mother-henning. "And, the doctors let me walk home if ah promised not ta over do it. That and, ah have to look out fur a few symptoms," Applejack explained as she took a few deep breaths in an attempt to keep calm, and not transfer her agitation to Apple Bloom. "So, since ah'm feelin' fine, they let me go."

"Are you sure you ain't bleedin'? Or, feelin' faint? What about exhaustion? You just walked a long way to get home?" Big Mac continued to chatter in his odd state of panic.

Applejack took one long, and final deep breath. She actually knew why he was so worried. Not only had their mother died after childbirth, but Applejack had had a couple of close calls herself. A couple of those coming after Apple Bloom was born.

"Mac, ah promise ta tell you if there's a problem," Applejack retorted calmly. "Now, ah need to get a breath of fresh air 'fore ah lose my cool," Applejack explained as she pushed past her older brother, and made a beeline for the exit to the family barn.

"Are you sure you ain't tired? Ah could take care of Apple Bloom for you for a bit?" Big Mac suggested one final time. Applejack simply shook her head and continued her march down the stairs, and outside. Her march was only temporarily interrupted as Applejack grabbed the clean picnic blanket from the closet.

Carefully Applejack laid the blanket out on the grass and set Apple Bloom down on the blanket. After that was over, she sat down as well. "Mac means well, but ah've had more than enough sleep at the hospital," Applejack softly explained to Apple Bloom. "Ah just want to get some work done. It's been far too long since ah could help out. And, ah feel mighty bad for that," Applejack added as she watched two ponies march up the road to Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack squinted a little as she tried to see who was coming up the path. A few moments later, she gave Apple Bloom a big smile. "Heh... looks like Filthy Rich and his daughter are coming up to Sweet Apple Acres," Applejack chuckled as she watched the two ponies near the gates.

"I don't know if you remember your classmate or not, but ah bet it'll come back to you after you've met them," Applejack told Apple Bloom with a big smile. Applejack's smile continued to hold as she waved at Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara.

"Howdy Mr. Rich. It's so good to see y'all," Applejack stated cheerfully.

"Hello miss. Applejack. It's good to see that you and Apple Bloom are looking well," Filthy Rich admitted as he gave Applejack a polite nod. "Now, I hope you will excuse me. I can't stay and talk. I have a lot of important business to discuss with Granny Smith," Filthy Rich diligently explained. Applejack casually gave a knowing nod.

"Is that Apple Bloom?" Diamond Tiara asked with a slight snicker as she broke off from following her father, and walked over to Applejack, and Apple Bloom. "She looks so small, and weak," Diamond Tiara added as she shot Apple Bloom a subtle teasing smirk.

Before Applejack could answer, Apple Bloom suddenly broke into a loud crying fit. "What's her problem?" Diamond Tiara whined as she put a hoof to each ear in an attempt to block out the loud noise.

"Ah guess you scared her?" Applejack admitted with a confused scratch of her head. Carefully she reached down and picked Apple Bloom up.

"But I didn't do anything!" Diamond Tiara insisted through her grit teeth as she continued to hold both ears in pain.

"Well, how else do you explain it? After all, she hasn't shown any indication that she remembers you," Applejack pointed out sensibly as she started to gently rock Apple Bloom back, and forth. Carefully she made sure that the small yellow filly was held as close to her chest as possible. "It's ok Apple Bloom. Ah'm here. Your big sis... Uh, mother? Is here," Applejack tried to assure Apple Bloom as her mind pondered the proper title she should use when relating herself to Apple Bloom.

***

Outwardly, Rainbow Dash's Cloudominium floated silently above its usual resting place. However, the inside of the cloud house was anything but calm. There was the definite clatter of dishes hitting a hard wood floor as one pony chased another one through the kitchen. "Quick! Tank stop her!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she chased after the quickly running orange filly.

Unfortunately for the cyan mare, the slow moving tortoise failed to do anything more than slowly stick his neck out, in a weak attempt to block the hyperactive-month-old filly. Instead of being stopped, the orange filly instead performed a small hop over the tortoise's neck. Once she had cleared the obstacle, she continued to gallop along the floor with her small wings buzzing frantically, and a playful giggle coming from her lips.

"Scootaloo, it's not playtime right now!" Rainbow Dash sternly shouted as she attempted to catch the filly without either flying past the filly or falling behind her. Almost got her, Rainbow Dash assured herself as she reached her forelegs out to grab the filly.

She could practically see her forelegs wrapping around the small orange foal until the filly darted to the left with a playful giggle. Rainbow Dash growled as Scootaloo's fast change of direction managed to evade her grip.

Ugg... Rainbow Dash groaned as she noticed her month old daughter had evaded her grasp. Dad's going to pay for leaving me in a lurch, Rainbow Dash reminded herself with a growl as she shifted her wings to fly after Scootaloo. Hastily Rainbow Dash considered what she could make her dad clean as a punishment. Rainbow Dash picked up her pace as she veered onto a new arch.

Scootaloo giggled merrily as she looked over her shoulder at the pursuing blue blur. Her laughter was quickly coming to a stop as she found herself being picked up by the fast flying cyan mare.

"OK, that's enough of that. I need to take you to the doctor. At least, Twilight insisted I had to," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she struggled to contain her frustration. "When your granddad gets home, I'm going to remind him that he promised to help me raise you... Followed by a nice long nap," Rainbow Dash explained as she watched Scootaloo give her a playful blink, and smile. "Scootaloo -- just between the two of us: I miss napping almost as much as I miss sleeping," Rainbow Dash whispered conspiratorially into Scootaloo's ear as she struggled to cover up a long yawn.

Hastily Rainbow Dash took the quickest way out of her house: she flew out of one of the windows. Let's see... After the appointment, it'll probably be time for her to eat. Then, I promised to do some weather jobs. I wonder how I'm going to pull that off? Maybe I can keep one eye on her while I do them in a jiffy? And, I need to train. I haven't gotten a lot of time to fly in way too long, Rainbow Dash considered furiously. Her face scrunched up, and her head began to hurt from her furious pondering. Finally, she let off a long sigh. There was a lot to do. And, unless she burdened one of her friends, she needed to figure out how to juggle Scootaloo and her work.

Oh, forget it... I'll figure this out after I get done with the appointment, Rainbow Dash decided with a huff as she sped up her pace. She wanted to get to Doc Top before she missed Scootaloo's checkup.

***

Rainbow Dash squirmed in the small chair as she struggled to keep patient. A nurse had shown her, and Scootaloo into the examination room a while ago. Then she'd told them to wait there for doctor Top. Come on, show up already! Rainbow Dash silently grumbled as she absentmindedly fidgeted her wings and all four of her legs. I need to do something. I'm tired of sitting around, Rainbow Dash mentally added as her eyes shot back from Scootaloo to the examination room's door.

A faint whimper like grunt brought Rainbow Dash's eyes immediately back to Scootaloo. She could see the growing look of fear on the small orange filly. "No, no... Don't be scared," Rainbow Dash whispered hastily as she struggled to think of what to say. What would Rarity say in this circumstance? Heck! What would Applejack say in this situation? Maybe she'd rock Apple Bloom, or something? Rainbow Dash asked herself as started to rock Scootaloo back and forth gently.

Much to the cyan mare's frustration, the small orange foal's face continued to sour into a bigger and bigger look of fear. "No, no squirt... Everything's fine. See..." Rainbow Dash said as she made a point to show Scootaloo her best fake smile. Thankfully the small pegasus didn't notice the obviously forced smile -- with it's clenched teeth, and unnaturally wide grin. Instead, she cooed and returned Rainbow Dash's smile.

Phew... Crisis averted, Rainbow Dash thought with a release of the breath she didn't know she was holding. We just need doctor slow poke to show up, and then maybe we can get out of here, Rainbow Dash reminded herself as she heard a faint click from the door, indicating somepony was turning the door knob. Finally! Rainbow Dash cheered.

Casually doctor Top waltzed into the office. As he stepped in, he made sure to shoot both Scootaloo, and Rainbow Dash his best smile. "Good morning Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo," he chirped despite the angry expression Rainbow Dash was shooting him. "Oh, it looks like someone's cranky," he cooed as he noticed Rainbow Dash's face was silently promising him a painful punishment for making her wait so long.

"Has somepony not been sleeping well?" Doc Top cooed at Rainbow Dash in a way that made her feel like he was treating her like a foal.

"What do you think?" Rainbow Dash grumbled as she continued to shoot doctor Top various sour looks. "She's eating like every three hours. And, when she isn't waking me up to eat, she needs a new diaper, or some attention," Rainbow Dash groaned. In truth, she wasn't really telling him, more than complaining about the stupid question. "I haven't even had enough free time to work, let alone fly. And, I need to fly!" Rainbow Dash added with a specific emphasis on her desire to return to flying.

"Oh yes, it's hard at first," doctor Top admitted as his tone shifted from less condescending to more sagely. "But, you both will get into the swing of things soon. And, you'll figure out some arrangements. Everypony does eventually," he admitted as he took off his glasses and began to polish them casually. "Although, I bet her magic bursts might be making things harder at the moment," he pondered as he gave a small chuckle. "At least she's not an Earth Pony. Otherwise, you'd need to buy new furniture," he added with a small chuckle.

"Uhh... Well..." Rainbow Dash mumbled as she held Scootaloo a bit tighter, and looked downwards. "She hasn't started flying yet. I think maybe her wings are too small for her size. At least, that's what I thought her problem was, back when she was seven," Rainbow Dash admitted with a nervous twitch of her wings.

"She hasn't expressed flight yet?" Doc Top hesitantly asked as he dropped his glasses. "Not even a little?" he asked again as he struggled to bury the stunned look on his face.

"No," Rainbow Dash admitted in a hushed whisper, and a look of concern crossing her face. "She'll hop a little, but that's about all the lift she gets," Rainbow Dash conceded as she continued to rock Scootaloo back and forth absent-mindedly. "But I mean, her magic works. She can stand on clouds and things. So, she just needs to grow her wings in... Right?" Rainbow Dash pressed as her tone turned from concern to a forced hope.

"Possibly," Doc Top conceded with a slight uncertainty to his tone. "But, I think I should refer you to a professional. Because, it could be a sign that she could have 'Feburary Cherry Blossom syndrome," doctor Top somberly stated as he carefully wrote a few things on Scootaloo's chart.

"She could have what now?" Rainbow Dash asked with a confused blink. Her eyes were glazing over as she tried to recognize what Doc Top was referring to.

"It's a fairly rare disease," Doc Top admitted reluctantly with a shake of his head. "But, eleven years ago it was hardly unheard of. And, while it could theoretically occur naturally, it usually occurs to foals who went through magical prenatal growth rate adjustments -- an extremely expensive procedure that nopony does anymore," he explained with a shake of his head. "Not that I'm not saying you would do that to your foal. But, that's where it usually occurs," doctor Top added as he lifted his forelegs up in a defensive stance.

When Rainbow Dash continued to stare off blankly with a look of confusion -- instead of lashing out at the doctor -- he continued his impromptu lecture.

"It was a procedure that was mostly popular among the highest, and richest of nobles. The procedure is supposed to adjust the foal's body to grow a certain way. Its purpose is to encourage certain traits or aspects to grow at certain predefined rates... Usually to enhance certain 'desirable' traits," Doc Top explained as he walked over to the cabinets, and pulled some forms out of them.

"Unfortunately a lot of the foals that underwent this procedure usually ended up with odd or even unexplainable abnormalities in their growth. The most common symptoms are undersized wings and horns, or precocious puberty. However, quite a few also experienced an underdevelopment or even an absence of development in their mana systems," doctor Top finished with a sigh as he handed Rainbow Dash the pamphlets held in his pastern. "And of course, if the mana system of the foal isn't working properly, then they cannot use their magic properly, or even at all," Doc Top concluded with a slight frown. He'd been lucky not to see any examples of this disease in Ponyville, but he'd heard enough about it to keep an eye out for it.

"So it's not her wings," Rainbow Dash asked with a gulp. She dearly hoped that she was hearing him wrong. Or, she misunderstood him, because she didn't like where this was going.

"Well... We cannot be sure without sending you to a specialist," Doc Top conceded while he placed the pamphlets on a table at the side of the room. "Before we talk about a specialist, let's make sure her overall health is ok," Doc Top added with a smile. His sudden change of mood serving only to snap Rainbow Dash out of her growing funk.

"Yeah, let's get this done... I have work to do," Rainbow Dash snipped as she put her mind towards putting the whole matter aside for now.

***

Pinkie Pie's bedroom/party room was abuzz with chatter as the final two of her nine guests arrived. "I'm sorry I'm late," Rarity apologized as she waltzed into the room. Daintily she pushed a stroller in front of her. Carefully she walked over to the playpen on the other side of the room. "Sweetie Belle was a bit grumpy today," Rarity apologized with a blush as she carefully placed Sweetie Belle down in the playpen so that she faced Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.

"No need to worry Rarity!" Pinkie Pie chirped as she danced over, and handed Rarity a plate with a piece of pie on it. "After all, it's your baby shower, too. You should be happy!" Pinkie Pie added with a giggle as she dashed around handing Rarity a party hat, and a cup of punch.

"Well, it would be nice to unwind for a bit," Rarity conceded as she took a dainty sip from her cup of punch. "So, what were you girls talking about that I missed?" Rarity asked as she carefully readied her fork to take a small piece off of her cake.

"Ah was askin' Twilight why Apple Bloom doesn't seem to be showin' any signs that she remembers anythin'," Applejack explained as she walked over to pick up a refill on her drink. "And, Ah'm worried that Apple Bloom ain't goin' ta be rememberin' anythin," Applejack added as she shot Apple Bloom a worried look.

"That's been worrying me too..." Rarity admitted with a slight frown.

"Well, I was just telling Applejack that it could be a couple of things," Twilight Sparkle explained as she absentmindedly studied her slice of cake. "It could be possible that the memories are inaccessible, or even lost. Or, the girls simply cannot remember because their brains aren't developed enough. Naturally, if that were the case, I would expect you to start to seeing recognition very soon," Twilight stated as she looked down at her plate with a contemplative look written on her face.

"Well, I don't think it's that big of a deal if they don't remember," Rainbow Dash hissed quietly, with a shrug, as she looked back at Scootaloo. "I mean, maybe it's better this way? Scootaloo's parents were complete jerks. And well, maybe she's better off not remembering that?" Rainbow Dash suggested nonchalantly.

"But, don't you want things back the way they were?" Rarity sternly shot back. "She loved you like a sister. Why wouldn't you want her to have that back?" Rarity pressed.

"And, I got a daughter -- even if I wasn't ready for one. Maybe it's an upgrade?" Rainbow Dash hesitantly rebutted. Her eyes were giving away a slight uncertainty on her part.

"Please don't fight," mumbled Fluttershy with a definite fear forming in her voice, and showing in her eyes. In the playpen nearby, the babies began to look anxious, mirroring the butter pegasus' anxiety.

"Yeah, don't fight girls. This is a baby shower. And look, we got all kinds of gifts," Pinkie Pie shouted eagerly with a foreleg pointing to a large pile of gifts on one side of the room.

"Gifts?" Rainbow Dash asked eagerly with wide open, and sparkling eyes, her bad mood suddenly disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Oh yeah. And, we even got gifts from the Sunbirds," Pinkie Pie added as she pointed to a few gifts at the bottom of the pile.

"They actually sent us something?" Rainbow Dash asked skeptically as she flew over and grabbed a few gifts from the pile.

Rainbow Dash curiously ripped the first of the packages open. "What do you know... Here's a scooter," Rainbow Dash pondered with a slight smile growing on her face. "And here's a teddy bear, and a heart poster. Oh, and some Wonderbolts flags and posters... These are pretty choice stuff," Rainbow Dash admitted as she pointed at the rare Wonderbolts memorabilia. Her smile slowly grew. And, her skepticism of Scootaloo's parents slowly shrank.

"And, they even have a signed..." Rainbow Dash said, as her voice suddenly grew less optimistic. "Rainbow Dash poster!" Rainbow Dash groaned as her face turned decidedly less happy, and absolutely angrier. "This is Scootaloo's old stuff!" Rainbow Dash growled as her expression suddenly became belligerent. "I'm going to beat them like a pinata!" Rainbow Dash screamed as her two front hooves shook with fury.

"A pinata?!" Pinkie Pie shouted eagerly as she bounced over to one side of the room, and came back with something in her hooves. "Don't forget the mask! You cannot bash a pinata without one! And, you got just the one to use, Dashie! It's from the pony who doesn't feel any fear!" Pinkie Pie rambled as she pulled out a black mask.

"Pinkie Pie! I was talking about whooping the Sunbirds. And, how am I supposed to do that in a mask without eyeholes in it?" Rainbow Dash grumbled as her eyes shot Pinkie Pie a frustrated look.

"Oooohhhh..." Pinkie Pie hummed with a growing understanding. "Well, you would use your other senses Dashie. Here let me show you," Pinkie Pie eagerly pointed out as she slid the hood over her mane, and eyes so that it touched her muzzle. She then feverishly began to flail her arms out in a weak attempt to find Rainbow Dash by feeling the air for her.

"Nevermind... This isn't going to work," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she looked away, Her face bearing a definite look of shame on it.

The whole scene serving no purpose other than to earn several giggles by Spike, and the rest of their friends.

Chapter 8 - That motherly feeling

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Sweetie Belle giggled and incoherently babbled to herself as she played in the small playpen positioned in the middle of Rarity's bedroom. Merrily she used both of her forelegs to shake Pochica. The small white filly held no fear on her face because she could hear the familiar humming of her mother in the nearby bathroom. However, the small unicorn couldn't help but sneeze as the sweet smell of perfume tickled her muzzle.

"Gesundheit," Rarity cheerfully stated as she peeked her head out from the adjoining bathroom. Carefully the white mare trotted over, and made sure to give Sweetie Belle a hug as she daintily positioned her hoof against Sweetie Belle's forehead. "No fever. Good," Rarity added with a smile, and a relieved sigh. "I'd hate to miss my first actual date with Spike," Rarity pointed out as she carefully flipped her mane back into place.

Rarity wouldn't admit it, but it was a strange thought for her to give the small drake a serious date. Perhaps it was just because he wasn't even tall enough to reach the top of her chest, but Rarity couldn't help but feel like he was just another foal. Still, Spike had been very diligent about coming by every day to help Rarity care for Sweetie Belle. And, if he were that dedicated to being that responsible, then Rarity would at least give him a chance to show her how much of an adult he actually was.

"Although..." Rarity mumbled with a concerned look as her eyes quickly peered out the window at the setting sun. "If your grandparents don't make it back on time from their trip to Griffonstone, I won't be able to go out at all," Rarity fretted. Three times now, her parents' business trip to Griffonstone had been extended. That meant that they'd already missed the first two months of Sweetie Belle's life. And, Rarity didn't blame them. Hondo Flank's work tended to be "feast or famine." He was either galavanting off with Cookie Crumble's on site -- often to an emergency... or "vacation" as they liked to call them -- or he was sitting on the dock fishing. That meant that when he had work, it tended to be all consuming.

Rarity could hear the faint chimes as somepony opened her front door. Please Celestia, let that be them, Rarity mentally pleaded. "I will be right back, Sweetie," Rarity assured the small filly as she gave Sweetie Belle a quick kiss, and trotted down the stairs. Rarity couldn't help but hold her breath as she took a turn around the corner towards the showroom.

"How may I help you?" Rarity asked calmly, despite her silent pleading that this wasn't a customer, or Spike arriving early.

"You could give your parents a big hug," chuckled the warm voice of a very familiar stallion. "After that, could you show us to Sweetie Belle? Your mother's been dying to see her," Hondo Flanks added as he quickly trotted over, and put Rarity in a tight hug. Carefully Rarity reached her foreleg around the stallion, to pat him on the withers.

Rarity turned to her mother and held out her forelegs in a warm invitation. The pink mare eagerly took the hug and returned the embrace in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry for being this late," Cookie Crumbles somberly apologized. "Your father's trip went poorly, and everything was delayed for an extra month and a half. I would have come back without him to help you, but your father needs my bakery to keep his team fed... So, I couldn't make it. After all, ponies need food to work," Cookie Crumbles added with a hollow laugh, and a look of fatigue crossing her face. A look that Rarity couldn't see over the tight hug. After a few seconds, Rarity's mother pulled away from the hug. "You've lost a lost of weight. You'll be back in shape in no time," she assured Rarity with a smile before she patted herself on the barrel. "It's a shame we don't all get to keep our fillyish figure," she added with a warm laugh.

"Well... I'm still young, so it's a bit easier. And well... I've still got a lot of weight to lose. And, you don't look that bad," Rarity assured her mother as she tried to give her a convincing look. While Rarity's mother still looked round, Rarity couldn't help but notice the deep bags under her eyes and ruflfled mane. She looked haggard. "Speaking of which, you seem to have lost some weight too," Rarity added as she tried to remain positive, despite her concern for her mother’s health. Cookie Crumbles usually had a hard time losing weight.

"Thank you, dear," Cookie Crumbles stated with a warm smile, and a look of exhaustion crossing her face. This one did not go unnoticed... "Now, where's Sweetie Belle? I haven't seen her in well over a year, and I simply can't wait another moment to see her," Cookie Crumbles requested with a foal-like eagerness.

"She's upstairs playing in her playpen. It's in my bedroom," Rarity started to explain, only to watch her mother eagerly trot down the hall, mid-sentence. Rarity gave a soft sigh and shook her head whimsically. Well, at least she loves her dearly, Rarity thought happily, before turning her attention to her father. "Father, is Mother ok?" Rarity asked cautiously as she looked into her father's eyes with her concerned eyes. "She looks like she hasn't eaten or slept well in days... or possibly even weeks?"

"Don’t worry about us,” Hondo replied dismissively. “How are you and Sweetie Belle doing? Has she been feeding alright? Sweetie Belle didn't take to her mother's milk as the doctors would have liked," Hondo Flanks chuckled with his usual casual tone, and knowing smile.

Rarity glared, annoyed at her father’s obvious attempt to dodge her question. The matter with her parents must be graver than she’d first thought and instead of alleviating his daughter’s concerns, his careless remark only fueled her suspicions. Though this was often within his nature, she couldn’t forgive him this time. She was going to get to the truth.

Rarity smiled dangerously at her unbeknownst father, and decided to use this opportunities to vent some of her ‘motherly’ frustrations. After all, he did ask. "Sweetie Belle has been eating quite greedily for a foal who was two weeks early," Rarity complained, rubbing her sore teats. "I can't seem to satisfy her appetite and I have a hard time walking as it is."

Rarity stole a quick glance at her father. He stood idly as his jaw dropped, somewhat taken aback by her frank response. "That's great," he replied hesitantly with a strained smile.

Rarity rolled her eyes but secretly smiled at her father’s reaction. Hondo Flanks was what you called a ‘stallion's stallion’ and wasn't too keen on talking about a ‘mare's issues’ as he liked to call them. She watched him squirm for a few seconds more, before ending this feministic torture. Placing a hoof to her cheek, she sighed. "Aside for that, I suppose I am doing well, considering the circumstances.," Rarity added as she made careful note of the look of relief on the stallion's face. "Now.... about mother?" Rarity pressed, earning another look of fear crossing her father's face.

“It’s-

"And no, I will not be dropping it," Rarity insisted as she watched her father's eyes dart about shiftily.

Hondo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly in a last ditch effort to put on a brave front. But, he couldn't escape his daughter's piercing gaze as she stubbornly stared at the reluctant stallion. He looked at her once more before letting out a defeated sigh. "Things ... aren't going well with the bakery," he admitted bitterly.

Rarity bit her tongue as she listened intently. Without any interruption, her father continued.
"Sales are way down, and taxes have gone up in Manehatten, again. And, that's not to mention that a few of the employees quit, and we don't have the money to replace them... Instead, your mom's been taking some pay cuts, and working more hours to try to cover the difference," Hondo Flanks whispered softer as if he was afraid that Cookie Crumbles could hear him from upstairs.

"Are things going that badly?" Rarity asked as she gave the stallion a concerned look. "Are you still able to contract her bakery when you go on site? Surely her catering for your trips can help pay the difference," Rarity proposed as her mind ran over the situation.

"It's not been enough," Hondo Flanks replied shamefully. "And, your mom invested some of her personal funds into the bakery. So, if we go bankrupt, it won't just shatter her dreams by taking the bakery away, but it might also mean we lose our home," Hondo Flanks admitted in hushed tones.

"Oh dear," Rarity gasped as she placed a hoof over her mouth. Rarity took a deep breath and swallowed. "How can I help?”

Hondo looked at his daughter with a proud but sad smile. “Rarity.”

“Maybe I could provide some of my personal funds?" Rarity mused as she looked at her father with concern. “Or I can talk to some of my friends surely-”

Hondo held his hoof to Rarity’s lips, stopping her in her tracks. He gazed into her eyes warmly as she begged to speak.

"Honey, please. Don't forget about yourself. Your mother and I would feel even worse if we jeopardized your dreams," Hondo Flanks retorted. Before she could say another word, he gave Rarity a long hug, signifying his desire to end the discussion there. "Now, let's go upstairs, and see Sweetie Belle. I've missed her too," Hondo added, interrupting Rarity's objection, as he slowly broke the hug.

Rarity looked at her father briefly. He had been more open to her than he ever had before and although she desperately wanted to help them, she begrudgingly accepted her father’s wishes.

"Shall we go upstairs then?" Rarity asked with a weak smile.

Hondo Flanks nodded eagerly. Carefully Rarity led the stallion up the stairs, and to her bedroom.

"I still want to help you. You know," Rarity whispered as she and her father finished their march to her bedroom. "But for now, I suppose we can discuss that after you've had some time with Sweetie Belle," Rarity added as she placed her hoof on the closed nursery door.

Rarity pushed the door open slowly but stopped suddenly as she was greeted by the soft sound of singing against Sweetie Belle’s cries.

Rarity watched the pair tentatively, but her attention was diverted elsewhere as she switched her gaze to her father standing beside her. Her father's smile couldn't hide a hint of sadness as his wife held their child who was struggling in her forelegs.

No. Not their daughter. Their grandchild.

"Hush now! Quiet now! It's time to lay your sleepy head," somberly whispered Rarity's mother as she gently cradled Sweetie Belle in her forehooves. The tears streaming down her cheeks struck Rarity as she felt her heart sink.

Quickly Rarity wrapped her forelegs around Sweetie Belle and her mom lovingly, catching her off guard. "It's ok Sweetie Belle. I'm here. There's nothing to be afraid of," Rarity whispered into the small filly's ear. As Sweetie Belle slowly calmed down, Rarity turned her attention to her crying mom.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Rarity whispered as she attempted to console her mother, by patting the withers of the sullen mare. For the longest time, Cookie Crumbles continued to tremble silently. Slowly she turned her head and looked Rarity in her eyes.

"She doesn't recognize me," the pink mare whimpered as she tries to stifle her tears. "My baby, Sweetie Belle … to her ... I'm just some stranger..."

Rarity stroked her mother’s mane loving as the tears fell. Rarity’s own heart was breaking but she remained strong for her mother.

"She's afraid of me. I don't understand, why?" she whimpered Cookie Crumbles. “Why?”

"I'm so sorry mother," Rarity lamented as she struggled to suppress the guilt building in her heart. “Sweetie Belle is still a foal. She just needs to spend some with time with you. I’m sure she’ll remember you.”

Despite Rarity’s reassurances however Cookie Crumble shook her head.

"Of course she wouldn't remember me... I've been a terrible mom," Cookie Crumbles sobbed as her voice grew less quiet, and she began to shudder with each sob. "I'm never home. I'm always away working on my bakery," Cookie Crumbles continued to wail as Hondo Flanks pulled her into a tight conciliatory hug. Gently he began whispering into her ears sweet words of encouragement, but the pink mare wasn't hearing it. "She's seen so little of me, that I'm just a complete stranger," she lamented from her deep grief.

"Don't say that mother. You've been a loving mother, who has always cared deeply for her daughters," Rarity assured Cookie Crumbles as she added herself into the group hug. "You worked hard because you cared about us, not because you were obsessed with your bakery."

"I wanted to have the bakery there for when you girls were ready to take it over... I wanted to share it with you. But, all I've done is hooked myself up to a heavy yoke. I cannot care for you or your sister. I can't even care for myself," Cookie Crumbles wailed hard. Her words were coming out completely incoherent.

Rarity bit her lip hard. She dearly wanted to tell her mother that they'd work it out. But, she wasn't even sure how they would make it work. It seemed like her parents would either: spend hours away from Sweetie Belle to make the bakery work, or they'd end up raising her in destitution without it. Rarity looked up to see if her parents had anything more to say, but right now they simply were crying their eyes dry. Once again her desire to help burned a hole in her heart. She had to help. She couldn't live with herself if she didn't give something. "I could care for her," she offered, earning a shocked look from her parents. "She doesn't remember you now. And, she may or may not remember you later, but that doesn't mean you cannot be a part of her life now," Rarity suggested in a soft whisper.

Cookie Crumbles raised her head in an apparent attempt to shake it. However, she just didn't seem to have the strength to do it. She then opened her mouth in an effort to object, but she couldn't find the words... Instead, she sagged her head in defeat. "It... It... It might be for the best," She choked out between sobs. "But, can we at least stay with her tonight?" Cookie Crumbles pleaded quietly.

"Of course you can, mother. I do believe you promised to watch her while I was on my date with Spike," Rarity confirmed with a slightly forced laugh from her clearly forced smile. "And, I do believe that grandparents tend to babysit their grandchildren," Rarity added as she struggled to find the right words to console her mother.

"Well, I did always want to be a grandmother..." Cookie Crumbles acknowledged through an empty laugh, and a thin smile.

"Grandparents at our age that's got to be some kind of record," Hondo Flanks joked as he gave his wife the warmest and most convincing smile he could do.

"Oh hush you," Cookie Crumbles said with a scowl. However, her scowl slowly melted away to a weak smile. Furthermore, warmth was slowly creeping its way into her empty laugh as she pulled far enough away from the hug so that she could give her husband a playful and sarcastic tap to the foreleg. "You're not helping," she sternly added, despite her obviously relieved laughter.

"You see, it doesn't have to be that bad," Rarity assured her parents. However, the warm scene didn't last as a loud rapping on the door indicated somepony else was looking to come into the boutique.

"Oh dear. I'm late for my date," Rarity panicked as she charged straight into the bathroom, and struggled to use her magic to finish up her makeup while she continued trying to calm Sweetie Belle from her earlier scare.

"Well, we might as well meet our potential son in law," Hondo Flanks chuckled as he urged his wife to follow him down the stairs. "I know she told us a bit about him in her letters. But, I have to meet him," Hondo Flanks added. Cookie Crumbles couldn't help but nod, and giggle as she put the previous tension behind her, and set her mind on this small distraction from the bigger issue.

Eagerly the two ponies trotted down the stairs, and to the front door. With a flick of his forehoof, Hondo Flanks opened the door. Both ponies could only gape in shock as they saw the small drake standing in the doorway before them. The diminutive purple dragon sat in a handsome tux and tie, carrying a beautiful bouquet of roses, and wore a handsome top hat. "Rarity's parents?" he stuttered to the two ponies in confusion.

"Rarity's upstairs finishing her makeup," Cookie Crumbles whispered into the small drakes ears. "You know how that goes," she added with a giggle. "Now, you gotta tell us about yourself," she eagerly stated as she pointed towards Rarity's kitchen in the back of the boutique.

"Besides the fact that you work for the princess," Hondo Flanks added jovially.

***

The Apple family table was alight with chatter as Applejack, Granny Smith, and Big Mac carried on a lively conversation... Well, Granny Smith, and Applejack anyway. Big Mac did contribute his normal non-verbal communication, though. "So Granny, Apple Bloom's four months old today, and ah reckon it's almost time to let Apple Bloom try something other than my milk," Applejack suggested as she felt the odd sensation of Apple Bloom suckling at one of her teats.

"Well, aren't you starting to sound like a mother," Granny Smith responded with a deep chuckle. "Ah guess you're already starting to feel like one too, eh?" Granny Smith added with a smirk.

"Well, ah wouldn't say that," Applejack admitted with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Ah'm actually pretty torn. Ah know she needs a mother, an' all. And, ah got these new instincts telling me that she's my foal. But, in my heart she'll always be my little sister," Applejack added with a long sigh. She hated to admit it, but she found herself losing sleep over the whole issue. She simply didn't feel right calling Apple Bloom her foal, but she also felt wrong not doing so. It was a frustrating conundrum because either way it felt dishonest somehow.

"Ah think it's just simpler this way," Granny Smith retorted as her quivery hoof lifted a spoonful of oatmeal to her mouth. "And, there ain't no reason not to call her your foal. It's not like she remembers the way things were, anyway," Granny Smith pointed out sensibly. Her words being backed up by a nod of agreement from Big Mac.

"Ah know," Applejack admitted forlornly. She'd spent days going through Apple Bloom's old possessions trying to find something that Apple Bloom remembered. However, nothing seemed to trigger that look of recognition that Applejack was hoping for. She'd shown her sister turned daughter everything from her old bows to her old outfits, to her Filly Scout uniform, and even her Flower Filly dress. Nothing worked. And with each item, Applejack's heart and hopes had dropped a little more.

With that solemn admission, the room went silent. Nopony said a word, even as Apple Bloom finished feeding, and was carefully placed in her highchair by Applejack. The silence persisted until the distinct sound of babbling came from Apple Bloom.

"Mmm... ummm... mmm," the small filly mumbled, earning a smile by Applejack.

"That's right Apple Bloom, keep it up. Ah reckon your first words are just around the corner," she eagerly cheered. Her words inadvertently managing to lighten up the mood in the room a notch. "Now if you'll excuse me, Apple Bloom. Ah got to get the pan down from the cupboards," Applejack added with a smile. However, her smile quickly faltered as she noticed the concerned look painted on Big Mac's face. "Mac, ah've already been over this...", Applejack complained with a long sigh. "Ah'm gettin' stronger every day. Ah can already lift a full soup pot -- well the small soup pot, but still..." Applejack mumbled into the silent room of concerned looking ponies. Quickly she shook her head and decided to push the conversation forward. "And, it won't be long till ah'm liftin' the big ones! After that, ah'm gonna get back to trainin' for the rodeo. Eeyup, ah'm going to get back in shape before you know it. Ah'm already loads stronger than mah was when ah was Apple Bloom's age."

Big Mac's hesitant nod didn't go unnoticed by the orange mare, but she decided to push it far from her mind so that she could focus on the few chores she could get done before her stamina gave out.

Instead, Applejack returned to her original plan. She would march down to the kitchen, and start cooking the soup. After that, she needed to care for Apple Bloom and work on her chore list. It was a lot of work to do. But, Applejack still hated the fact that it was a lot less then she was used to doing. It still made her feel kind of useless, though -- like dead weight. A lot of that had to do with her lower magic levels. But, the bulk sum of it was Big Mac's over protectiveness. He just didn't seem to feel comfortable allowing her to have any work outside of simple chores.

A sudden knock on the door drew Applejack away from her current task. "Who could that be?" Applejack asked as she turned around and started walking back towards the doors to the outside.

"That's probably your cousin Babs," Granny Smith stated as she lifted her head up from her breakfast.

"She's visiting? Why did nopony tell me she was visitin'?" Applejack grumbled as she looked back to Granny Smith.

"'Cause somepony begged me to keep it a surprise," Granny Smith stated as she shot Big Mac a sideways look. "She's supposed to be here to help out around the farm for a few months, while you get better," Granny Smith explained with a clear disapproval in her voice as her eyes shot Big Mac an angry expression. "Ah'm surprised miss. Cheerilee didn't tell you, though. She's already gotten Babs enrolled in one of her classes for a couple-a months," Granny Smith admitted with a shrug.

Applejack sighed long and deep in an effort to push her frustration out of her body. "Big Mac... Didn't ah tell you ah didn't need any help? Ah take a little while to get back in shape, and you go and panic on me," Applejack grumbled as she finished her march towards the barn doors.

"Well hello, cousin Babs," Applejack warmly greeted as she opened the doors, and gave the pony behind the door a warm smile.

"Hey cousin Applejack," Babs Seed chipperly stated as she darted around Applejack, and began to look around the kitchen eagerly. "So, where's cousin Apple Bloom? I've been dyin' to see her again!" Babs Seed added as she continued to search every nook and corner of the room.

"She's over there in the high chair," Applejack explained as she pointed a hoof towards the kitchen table. "Now cousin Babs, ah know you've got your Cutie Mark, and you're feeling older now. But, you shouldn't have come here alone... even if Big Mac invited you," Applejack chastised the light brown filly.

"I didn't come alone," Babs Seed corrected her from the other side of the room before she turned her attention to Apple Bloom. "Is this Apple Bloom? Wow, she really is a baby," Babs pondered in amazement as she looked at her smaller cousin.

"Don't get too close! Apple Bloom's lost her memory, and she probably won't recognize you," Applejack cautioned. "So be sure to give her a second to get to know you," Applejack continued as a new thought crossed her mind. "Cousin Babs, you said you didn't come here alone. Who brought you here?" Applejack cautiously asked as she tried to consider who could have escorted the younger filly all the way to Sweet Apple Acres. "Was it Pinkie Pie?" Applejack considered. Her pink friend could be a bit of a busybody at times...

"Oh. It was cousins Winter Jack, and Jack Apple," Babs Seed stated casually as she playfully waved a hoof in front of Apple Bloom's face.

“Oh no!” Applejack muttered as she felt her heart plummet into her chest. Mechanically she looked back at the door she had turned away from, to see her least two favorite relatives standing at the door. Their sadistic grins as wide as a cat’s.

"I can't believe she took this long to notice us," Jack Apple cackled as he nudged his brother with his knee.

"Well, she is a mother now," Winter Jack responded with an equally immature laugh. "It's distractin'... What with her havin' to keep an eye on her foal at all times," Winter Jack announced with a long hard laugh.

"Now you two behave," Applejack dryly commanded as she suppressed her desire to chase the two pranksters off -- preferably with a pitchfork -- without giving them the chance to do something humiliating. The two brothers were crass and tended to say inappropriate or even demeaning things, but they really didn't mean it. It was simply their annoying sense of humor.

"Now... Now... Cousin," Winter Jack said with a faux strictness. "You should be more neighborly, what with us havin' brought you a baby shower gift," Winter Jack explained as he proudly strolled into the kitchen as if he belonged there. Then once he had reached the other side of the door, he dropped off a bag of seed, which was almost as big as Applejack herself, just to the right of the doorframe.

"Thanks," Applejack mumbled as she tried to show some emotion, other than her desire for the brothers to go away quicker.

"You're welcome," Jack Apple eagerly stated as he strolled in, and pushed his brother aside. He then dropped another bag of seed next to the one his brother had left behind. "Also, congratulations on your new foal," Jack Apple generously added as he reached out and grabbed one of Applejack's forelegs, and began to shake it vigorously.

"Yeah, congrats," Winter Jack added. His face then turned into a twisted smirk. "Now, you gotta let us meet the colt that knocked you up -- and at your age no less!", Winter Jack added as he struggled to suppress his prankster's smile. "And, he gave you a foal on Hearts and Hooves day, no less. Now that's a real sign of love," Winter Jack snickered. "You see, Jack Apple and I have just been dyin' to congratulate him with a small personal showin' of our comedy act... just for him and his friends," Winter Jack continued as he shot his brother a conspiratorial look. His brother quickly returned the expression with an additional snicker.

"Ain't y'alls' comedy show involve live pranks?" Applejack stated dryly. It wasn't so much a question, as it was a warning. Applejack tried hard to suppress her eye roll as she watched both stallions wave their hooves, and give her the most innocent expressions their faces could fabricate. "Besides... If Y'all recall from my letter, there ain't a coltfriend," Applejack sternly stated as she made sure to keep an eye on the two brothers, in case they decided to prank her.

"Oh, you don't remember... Well that just ain't right! Cousin Applejack, how many times do we gotta tell you not to drink so much... Applejack?" Winter Jack barely managed to say between snickers as he ribbed his brother with his knee.

"Ha... Ha..." Applejack grumbled sarcastically , as she walked over to pick up one of the sacks of seed. "Enough of that teasing you two. Ah ain't no filly," Applejack insisted as she tried to lift the bag of seed. However, no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't raise the bag of seed. After several seconds of extreme exertion simply failing to budge the first sack, Applejack found herself panting and gulping in air, with the biggest blush on her face yet. "Dang strength ain't all there yet," Applejack grumbled silently.

Winter Jack and Jack Apple shared a quick look that screamed concern, embarrassment, and panic. Winter Jack then gave his brother a knowing look as he quickly decided on a way to try to relieve Applejack's humiliation. Winter Jack then cackled immaturely followed by his brother. He then opened his big mouth. "Well cousin Applejack, why are you tryin' to lift that? Don't you know? Liftin' heavy stuff is stallion's work," he stated with a clear sarcasm in his voice.

"Let Mac lift that," Jack Apple eagerly added as he finished his brother's thought. "You gotta take care of your daughter," he concluded, even as Applejack shot him a scowl that would have counted as their second warning.

"Ah can take care of myself," Applejack growled before she tried to collect herself. "And, Apple Bloom's my sister," Applejack corrected them sternly as she made a point to scowl at both brothers before she walked over and ruffled Apple Bloom's mane gently. "Ain't that right, Apple Bloom?" she asked Apple Bloom with a big smile. Applejack's statement earning an incoherent babble from Apple Bloom, and a distracted nod from Babs Seed -- who continued to play with Apple Bloom.

"Yep," Jack Apple agreed with a sagely nod. "Lot'sa sisters carry their sister in their womb for 310 days," Jack Apple concluded with another snicker and a big wink to his brother.

Applejack craned her neck back, grit her teeth, and gave both brothers a big scowl causing both brothers to flinch back a little. Applejack opened her mouth to chastise the two stallions, only to be interrupted by an unexpected sound. "Mmm... mmmm... Mmmaaahhhh.... Mama," Apple Bloom cooed. Applejack turned to face the baby foal smiling and giggling away. “Mama,” she repeated. Applejack’s heart melted away with pride as a beaming smile crossed her face and a hoof placed over her chest. Her first words.

“Ain’t that the sweetest,” came a snort.

“The sweetest,” repeated the other.

An otherwise precious moment was ruined as she suddenly remembered the company she was with. Her eyes darted around nervously at each brother who were struggling to contain themselves. Her face was beet red with a huge blush.

"Ahhh...Is that her first word?" Babs inquired innocently.

Bab’s words were not quite able to snap Applejack out of her stupor but instead caused each brother to roar with laughter.

Big Mac ignored the spectacle, trotted over and gave Babs Seed an eager nod of confirmation. Big Mac then gave Apple Bloom a large, adoring smile.

"Sister, yup," Jack Apple managed to say between laughs, his cheeks beginning to turn white as he laughed away his air supply.

"Dada!" Apple Bloom cooed as she said her second word. As she finished saying her word she raised her forelegs a couple of times with a triumphant smile. This statement earned an even harder laugh from both brothers, who found themselves on the floor completely unable to stand from how hard they were laughing.

Big Mac sputtered for a few seconds as he struggled to regain his composure. "Eenope," is all Big Mac managed to get out as he shook his head vigorously.

"Hey Big Mac, wouldn't Applejack being Apple Bloom's new mom, make you Apple Bloom's uncle?" Babs asked. Her words earning an enthusiastic nod from Big Mac, who nodded so frantically, that it looked like his head was about to fall off.

Babs Seed nodded, and then walked in front of Apple Bloom to look her in the eyes. "Uncle," Babs Seed enunciated slowly, and deliberately. Babs then pointed at Big Mac, while keeping her eyes looking into Apple Bloom's eyes. "Uncle," Babs slowly repeated as she pointed a hoof at Big Mac.

Winter Jack opened his mouth to both get air into his lungs, and to crack another joke, only to be interrupted by Granny Smith. "That's enough of your bad jokes," Granny Smith told both stallions sternly. The icy inflection in her voice quickly quieting the two pranksters, who both nodded their acceptance with a definite look of fear on their faces.

"When are you two leaving, anyway?" Applejack managed to ask the two brothers, in a barely contained grumble.

"We probably should be going now," Winter Jack admitted, shooting a sly wink to Jack Apple. "We gotta catch the 6 o'clock train to Canterlot for the show," he explained as he bowed to Applejack. "It's been fun cousin', but we ain't got any more time to crack jokes with Y'all. Gotta get to Canterlot to crack jokes at the audience, and hit a few ponies with pies," he explained as Jack Apple performed a similar bow. Both stallions then left out the front door.

"Good riddance," Applejack grumbled as she shook off her frustration.

***

Applejack tossed and turned in her bed. The storm outside was loud and would occasionally shake the barn. Another lightning strike streaked the sky in an attempt to remind everypony that the storm was still going on. It always sucked when the Pegasus ponies decided to schedule storms like this. But, it wasn't the main issue this time. No, she found herself, once again, losing sleep over the conundrum that was her relationship with Apple Bloom.

The brothers might have been joking with her, in their inconsiderate, and crass manner. But, they did make some good points. Apple Bloom's relationship with Applejack had changed. But, she couldn't bring herself to accept it... Not if it meant that she was replacing her own mother.

Another clash of lightning, and a roll of thunder, paired with the dark room, reminded Applejack of a faint memory from when she was very, very small. So small, in fact, that she could remember almost nothing else from that point in time. She remembered lying in her bed. It was a stormy night, just like the current evening. She remembered being scared by a roll of thunder, and the flash of lightning.

Momma, Momma! Where are you? Came a faint memory. Even now, she could feel the extreme loneliness. The bitter taste of fear, shaking her entire tiny body. Applejack could then remember the soothing sounds of --

Another clap of thunder rolled across the skies. This one was powerful enough to shake the barn itself. Applejack's ears perked up as she heard loud wailing coming from Apple Bloom's nursery. Applejack felt a familiar pang of sympathy cross her heart. Her little Apple Bloom was afraid. Applejack made sure to trot faster so that she could reach her sister's room faster.

Applejack quickly pushed the door open. Apple Bloom was still crying as Applejack trotted up to the crib. She could see her sister balling in her crib. Her face streaked with tears of fear. Applejack carefully reached down and picked up Apple Bloom.

Applejack began to hold Apple Bloom closed to her chest carefully. The sound of her heart would help to calm, and reassure Apple Bloom. Even as Applejack held Apple Bloom, her mind dutifully reminded her of that faint memory.

In the hazy memories, Applejack's position had reversed. She lay in her bed wailing and terrified. Her heart only finding some relief as she heard the faint, and clumsy footsteps of her mother staggering into the room. "It's ok, Applejack," Clementine had assured the orange filly. The yellow mare looked tired and worn out. Her body was taking a long time to recover from Applejack's birth, but she needed to be there for her daughter... even if it was too much for her. Applejack could help but feel the relief, even now. She had needed her mother, and then she'd shown up. And in the same way, Apple Bloom needed her mother.

"It's ok, Apple Bloom," Applejack whispered softly into her baby daughter's ear. "Your momma's here," Applejack cooed as she gently rocked the filly back to sleep.

"Applejack, is Apple Bloom ok?" whispered the groggy voice of Babs Seed as she wobbly walked into the room.

"Yeah she's ok. She just got scared, and needed her momma," Applejack answered with a soft smile as she looked back at the brownish filly. "Sorry, if she woke you up. But, baby foals need more attention when they're this little," Applejack explained as she gave a soft chuckle.

"OK," Babs conceded as she turned back around to leave the room, only to turn back to look back at Applejack. "Also Applejack, I'm glad to see Apple Bloom has a mom now," Babs admitted with a slight blush. "She used to write about what she imagined her mom was like," Babs revealed before her wobbly steps took her back to the guest bedroom.

Applejack gave a quiet smile. It was true... It was nice to have a mom, especially when you are young.

***

Rainbow Blaze diligently tore the lettuce leaves off of the head of lettuce. Carefully his mind ran over each and every ingredient and step in making the lettuce rolls. It wasn't a dish he'd prepared before, but that green mare with the lyre Cutie Mark had spoken very highly of it. His thoughts only being interrupted as he heard the door to the Cloudominium slam open. He carefully turned his head to see his precious daughter come staggering in, carrying her daughter.

Rainbow Dash looked exhausted. Her hooves scraped the floor as she practically dragged herself into the living room. "How did the doctors' appointments go?" Rainbow Blaze optimistically asked as he watched his precious filly's face contort into an exhausted frown.

"Terrible," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she barely managed to get Scootaloo into her highchair before she slumped into a kitchen chair. "Five 'specialists,' and they all said they same bad news," Rainbow Dash groaned as she slowly raised her head to look at her father.

"That bad, huh," Rainbow Blaze asked sympathetically.

"Yes," Rainbow Dash admitted before she gave Scootaloo a sympathetic look of her own. Her eyes then quickly turned to resolve as she forced herself to get up. With a firm resolve, she marched over to the cupboard, so that she could pull a bottle of foal food out. Rainbow Dash didn't say much else as she pulled down the small jar of green foal food, which read "broccoli, and brussel sprout foal food," on it.

Rainbow Blaze gave Rainbow Dash a big smile. He could see she was trying hard to be a good mother. Even when she was tired, she still worked hard. "At least you've gone the extra mile for her," Rainbow Blaze encouraged as he watched Rainbow Dash look back with a hint of a smile on her lips.

"Of course, dad. If I'd never leave my friends hanging, how much more would I do for my daughter?" Rainbow Dash bragged before her wings, ears, and face sagged as she pulled a bowl out of the cupboard and carefully poured the baby food into it. "But, I think Applejack and Rarity are doing more," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she placed the bowl in front of Scootaloo.

Rainbow Blaze couldn't help but feel his heart sink at this uncharacteristically vulnerable statement from his generally driven daughter. "I mean, all I've done is see a few specialists," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she took a spoonful of the foal food, and tried to get Scootaloo to eat it. However, the orange filly showed her displeasure by clamping her mouth shut and looking to the side.

"Come on squirt," Rainbow Dash cooed her plea as she tried to reposition the spoon for a second entry into her eight-month-old daughter's mouth. "You gotta eat your veggies... Even if they are icky," Rainbow Dash admitted with a disgusted look on her face, and her tongue hanging out to add to the emphasis.

"You shouldn't doubt yourself," Rainbow Blaze encouraged her. "After all, you're the best mother ever!" he eagerly shouted, despite the fact that Rainbow Dash failed to even acknowledge his enthusiasm. It almost looked like the words had bounced right off of Rainbow Dash's barrier of depression. "Come on now honey, don't be like that," Rainbow Blaze softly pleaded as he put the food he was working on down. "What's gotten you so down? Surely it can't be something that 'the Rainbow Dash' can't handle," he tried again.

"It's Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash admitted in a hushed whisper. "All five doctors agreed. She's got that growth disorder... February, whatever, Syndrome," Rainbow Dash admitted as she looked back at Scootaloo with the somber look of sympathy and disappointment. "The doctors say her chances of flying are about 10%... Talk about a lousy lot," Rainbow Dash grumbled as she shook her head, and tried to focus on getting Scootaloo to eat the spoonful of veggie goodness.

"What are you going to do?" Rainbow Blaze asked as his faux enthusiasm gave way to concern.

"I'll probably moore the cloudominium. There's little point in having it in the air if Scootaloo can't fly in or out of it," Rainbow Dash casually explained as she waved her spoon around a few times like it was a flying pegasus.

"That's a shame. It's a sad fate for such a nice cloud house, to tether it to the ground," Rainbow Blaze admitted somberly.

Rainbow Dash simply shrugged. "I've had to do it before. And, I'm still not ready to say it's forever. After all... I still think she'll be flying in no time, if we give her the right amount of encouragement and love," Rainbow Dash optimistically stated as she started making odd sounds as she whisked her spoon around in the air. "Spitfire does her best moves, and makes a beeline for the flaming hoop," Rainbow Dash whispered as she whisked the spoon towards Scootaloo's now open mouth.

"If anypony can do it, you can," Rainbow Blaze insisted in one of his most optimistic cheers. However, his face darkened a bit as he noticed that hint of doubt in his daughter's face. "And, if by some fluke that doesn't work, you got three princesses, and a -- whatever Discord is -- to use their freaky magic to fix it," Rainbow blaze pressed earning a smirk from Rainbow Dash.

"Still, it would suck to be a pegasus who cannot fly," Rainbow Dash admitted as she loaded Scootaloo's spoon with another mouthful of food. "Not that it matters, mind you. I'll love her a bunch no matter what... It's just; I'll feel bad if she cannot at least see the sky. It is her birthright as a pegasus," Rainbow Dash added as she gave Scootaloo another smile and another mouthful of food.

Rainbow Blaze stood quietly for a second, his mind searching for a quick way to ease the tension that was lingering at the fringes of the room. Rainbow Blaze's musing quickly turned to a slowly growing smile as a thought struck him. "Then take her to the sky," he pointed out eagerly as he looked back at Rainbow Dash to watch her response.

Rainbow Dash sat there for a while, as she considered the statement. However, her thinking didn't last long as her face quickly lit up. "Yeah, we could fly her to Cloudsdale, or Rainbow Falls... or wherever," Rainbow Dash practically shouted with excitement, her wings flaring out, and her hind legs stamping eagerly at the idea. "But, where should we go?" Rainbow Dash pondered as she held the spoon full of Scootaloo's baby food in the air for a moment or two.

"Well, let's see the Wonderbolt's academy," Rainbow Blaze said eagerly. "I've always wanted to visit," Rainbow Blaze added as he watched Rainbow Dash nod enthusiastically.

"Yeah, let's do it. Nothing will raise Scootaloo's resolve more than seeing the Wonderbolts," Rainbow Dash agreed eagerly.

***

Rainbow Dash could feel a familiar sense of wonder and pride as a familiar mountain plateau came into sight behind a wondering cloudbank. "Do you see this Scootaloo?" Rainbow Dash eagerly asked as she looked back at her foal carrier bags -- or more specifically, the orange filly sitting in them. "This is Wonderbolts Academy. This fantastic academy was founded by General Firefly so that any pegasus could be trained to be the best," Rainbow Dash pointed with a growing grin. "But none of that is important," Rainbow Dash added with a shrug, and her tongue sticking out of her mouth in a satirical expression. "What's important is that this is where the Wonderbolts train, and practice their routines," Rainbow Dash added loudly with a big grin and a positively electric disposition.

An eager coo, and babbled ooh came jovially from Scootaloo's lips. "You think that's amazing? I broke several of the records when I was attending classes here," Rainbow Dash blustered with a huge smile. A smile which she made a point to direct in Scootaloo’s direction as she gently pulled into a landing along the Wonderbolt Academy's runway. "This was the second proudest day of my life," Rainbow Dash added as she made a point to trot around some of the obstacles littering the mountain plateau. "The first, of course, was when I got my place as a member of the Wonderbolts' reserve," Rainbow Dash pointed out proudly. Hopefully they'll still let me back on the team, once we've got this whole thing figured out with Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash thought with the cold serpent of concern wrapping itself tightly around her heart. However, Rainbow Dash didn't allow herself to show her concerns. Instead, she took a moment to swallow the bitter pill.

Rainbow Dash's fears were quickly interrupted as she heard the familiar sound of her father's enthusiastic voice. "Oh, is this the Wonderbolt's barracks?" he shouted while pausing for only a second before he just went ahead and trotted into the large building as if he belonged there.

"Dad wait!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she took off at high speeds in order to clear the distance between herself, and her father. She had a definite rainbow contrail following close behind her as she flew into the barracks, and right past her dad so that she could stop on a bit right in front of him. "Dad," she growled. "You can't just waltz right in here uninvited. This is where the Wonderbolts' sleep. And, I doubt they want random ponies wandering around their stuff," Rainbow Dash sternly pointed out as she looked around anxiously for any Wonderbolts that may have noticed the intruders in their private space.

"Oh come on, I'm sure they don't mind," Rainbow Blaze retorted with a shrug. "And besides, your mom was almost a Wonderbolt," Rainbow Blaze added eagerly. I wonder if Firefly would have been a Wonderbolt if I'd married Windy Whistles instead? Rainbow Blaze couldn't help but ponder as he considered his wife's unfortunate fate.

Rainbow Blaze shook his head, and then trotted past Rainbow Dash as if she was standing still. "And besides, I just wanted to see the trophies," Rainbow Blaze explained as he trotted over to look at a couple of the trophies.

"Well, they are pretty awesome," Rainbow Dash admitted with a longing look before she shook her head. "But, I'm already having a hard enough time convincing Wind Rider that I'm not some kind of whorse that doesn't have a clue how to care for a foal, without making my chances worse by making them think I'm some sort of klepto," Rainbow Dash growled as she tensely chewed out her father.

"I'm actually surprised he's that uptight," Rainbow Blaze considered with a shrug. "All the ponies I asked about before I came up to see you..." Rainbow Blaze started, only to interrupt himself with a blush, and a frantic wave of his forelegs. "Urr... my research said he was the least uptight of the senior commanders," Rainbow Blaze amended as he took a moment to look back at Rainbow Dash.

"Nopony knows," stated a new voice, causing both ponies to turn around to look behind them at the speaker. Rainbow Dash was the first to gulp as she noticed the yellow pegasus, with the flame-colored mane, and tail standing behind them. Rainbow Dash's mouth fell wide open, and her eyes narrowed to pinpricks as panic consumed her mind. "I'd thought he'd be the most eager, considering you're the only recruit in the last ten years that stands even a chance of surpassing his record for the Mustang Run," Spitfire admitted with a shrug.

Either Spitfire didn't notice Rainbow Dash's incoherent attempts to explain herself, or she simply didn't care as she trotted over to Rainbow Dash's flank to look at Scootaloo in her foal carrier bags. "Cute filly," Spitfire admitted with a smile as she playfully dangled a hoof in front of Scootaloo's eyes. "Is she yours Rainbow Dash?" Spitfire inquired as she looked back and forth between Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo in an attempt to gauge just how similar the two looked.

By this point, Rainbow Dash had had a chance to rally her wits and put up a strong facade. "Sure is, she's a chip off of the old block," Rainbow Dash bragged as she struck a pose.

"I have to admit: I'm curious what your story is. The princess doesn't frequently get involved in the Wonderbolts' matters, let alone suggesting we actually make a special exception to our code," Spitfire admitted as she gave Scootaloo a warm smile. If Rainbow Dash had been in a less stressed mood, she might have actually been surprised to see the normally commanding Wonderbolt acting so casually. "But, I'm not going to ask if it's too painful," Spitfire admitted as she turned to face Rainbow Dash, and gave the cyan mare a consoling look.

"Not so painful, as it is long," Rainbow Dash grumbled. "It's a fairly long story, and it's apparently confusing too," Rainbow Dash admitted. It'd taken her hours -- or maybe it was minutes... it was hard to say -- to explain the situation to Rainbow Blaze. While the stallion's attention span wasn't the most spectacular, it seemed to be the suspension of disbelief that had been the biggest hurdle to his comprehension.

"Maybe another time then," Spitfire decided with a shrug. "Because, I bet you're itching for a chance to run the course for old time sakes, rather than tell me some long-winded tale," Spitfire admitted with a smirk as she gave the pegasus a subtle wink.

Rainbow Dash could feel her optimism returning. This was her chance to remind the Wonderbolts' own captain, Spitfire, that she was still in shape and ready to fly with the Wonderbolts. "Hay yeah!" Rainbow Dash shouted her agreement, with a pump of her foreleg. "Anytime, anywhere," Rainbow Dash eagerly added as she made sure to shoot another pose.

"Great," Spitfire said with a subtle smirk on her face. "But first, you should get into uniform," Spitfire added, earning a wide-eyed look of surprise from Rainbow Dash. "Don't look so surprised rookie. I do believe I had Soarin' say you were still in the 'bolts. So, I expect you to be able to both fly like and look like one," Spitfire added as her expression morphed from the casual smile to a more commanding tone. Her body standing rigid, with her wings clamped securely to her sides in a way that commanded respect.

"I'm ready captain!" Rainbow Dash eagerly added as she stiffened into a rigid stance.

"Good," Spitfire calmly responded as she trotted over to the exit of the barracks. "I expect you to be in uniform, and out at the course in fifteen," Spitfire dryly stated as she trotted out the door.

Rainbow Dash noticeably relaxed as she slowly released the breath she was holding. "Hey dad, can you watch Scootaloo while I get ready?" Rainbow Dash calmly requested before she turned to give Scootaloo a big smile. "Better watch me closely, half-pint. I'm about to do some awesome new moves," Rainbow Dash bragged as she carefully sat down on the ground so that she could get her foal carrier bags off, and then help transfer them to her father's back.

***

Moments later Rainbow Dash marched out onto the grass field of the mountain plateau. However, every few steps, anypony looking could see her shake a leg as if she was trying to get the flight suit to unbunch from around the given joint. Awkwardly she marched towards Rainbow Blaze, Scootaloo, and Spitfire. However, when she was only halfway there, Spitfire trotted up to meet her. When Spitfire had reach earshot, Rainbow Dash reached her head over and whispered a small complaint to Spitfire, "I think you provided the wrong size of flight suit, this is too tight to be a size 4."

"Don't let that stop you," Spitfire retorted as she suppressed the desire to snicker. "You got an audience," she added as she pointed to Scootaloo and Rainbow Blaze. Followed by her pointing at a few members of the Wonderbolts, who stood on the field a few feet away.

"Right," Rainbow Dash said as she licked her lip, and gathered her focus. Gotta do my best, she added as she slid her flight goggles over her eyes, and gave her dad and Scootaloo one final look to ensure they were watching her. Rainbow Blaze, noticing Rainbow Dash looking his way, held up a Rainbow Dash flag, and waved in her direction. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but subtly return the wave, and then give a warm smile to the two... especially Scootaloo.

With that, Rainbow Dash put her full focus on her wings and gave a quick lift off with a couple of beats of her mighty wings. As the cyan mare rose into the air, Spitfire marched towards the other Wonderbolts, stopping for a moment to encourage Rainbow Blaze to follow her. Once the three ponies had joined the small gathering of Wonderbolts, Spitfire looked up at Rainbow Dash.

"This is going to be good," Rainbow Blaze bragged before he made a point to look at each of the Wonderbolts standing in the small grouping. The most notable being the three Wonderbolts' commanders: Spitfire, Soarin', and Fleetfoot. Rainbow Blaze eagerly watched as Rainbow Dash pulled up to prepare the start of her routine. However, there was one question on his mind that he couldn't help but ask. "What are you all doing out here? I thought this was just some spur of the moment thing."

Spitfire shrugged before she spoke up. "It was, but we've been aching for a chance to see if Rainbow Dash is getting back into shape or not. And, this was just an excellent opportunity to talk her into showing us her moves," Spitfire admitted as she watched Rainbow Dash feverishly fly between several clouds. "That's not to say we still don't want her to prove she's got foal support. But since you're here, I'm guessing that it won't be that hard," Spitfire added with a faint smile as she watched Rainbow Dash pull several tight loops in the air.

"So, she's going to be a Wonderbolt after all?" Rainbow Blaze asked with a blatant undertone of hope which was poorly hidden by him biting his lower lip and looking back expectantly.

"Once Fire Streak retires... Oh, and we get the paperwork done," Spitfire admitted with another shrug.

Rainbow Blaze let off a loud cheer. "Rainbow Dash is going to be so stoked," he pointed out as he continued to hop around eagerly. "She's going to be so happy," he managed to say between cheers. Cheers, mind you, that were loud enough to be heard by Rainbow Dash in the middle of the air. She couldn't help but blush at another example of her father's lavish enthusiasm

"Well, everypony wants to be a Wonderbolt," Soarin' admitted with a chuckle.

"Well, it's not just because it's her dream," Rainbow Blaze revealed as he paused in the middle of a jump. "She's been hoping to inspire Scootaloo and well...” Spitfire followed Rainbow Blaze’s hoof to his granddaughter. Earlier she had been chattering away an incoherent babble to Soarin, but now her eye watched her mother intensely as she soared through the clouds. Rainbow Blaze smiled. “this is a good chance for her to do just that"

The other Wonderbolts give a sagely nod as each shifted their gaze between mother and foal in turn.

"Well, inspiring ponies is what the Wonderbolts are all about," Spitfire pointed out as she went back to mentally critiquing Rainbow Dash's routine. "It's why we have functions outside of the EUP. Training and inspiring ponies to greatness is the whole point of the Wonderbolts."

Rainbow Blaze gave one final chuckle before a proud tear rolled down his cheek. He looked down at the foul now bouncing excitedly on the spot. “Hehe, I don’t think Rainbow Dash is going to have a hard time convincing Scootaloo to eat her vegetables anymore.”

“Probably not,” Spitfire added as she gave an approving nod in response to Rainbow Dash finishing her routine with a Sonic Rainboom.

Chapter 9 - Time with mom (Rarity)

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Rarity poked at the next page from her photo album. While she had initially opened it to help her muse over her next dress order, her mind had quickly derailed at all of the photos that had accumulated from the last three years. The first several pages were of Sweetie Belle in diapers and an exhausted looking Rarity, as well as a very frantic looking Spike. When she hadn’t been losing sleep, she’d been overwhelmed by how much she needed to do to raise a foal in diapers and keep her dress shop running. Spike’s help had been a Celestia-send during that time. That was for sure.

The next several pages were of Sweetie Belle’s terrible twos. That had been quite the difficult period for Rarity. Thankfully, Sweetie Belle’s new found stubbornness had been counterbalanced by Spike’s diligent help, and her parents surprisingly finding the occasional day to come over and help raise Sweetie Belle. While Rarity might have had some beef with her parent’s lack of tact and etiquette, she had no complaints when it came to their advice. The two really had a lot of wisdom to impart… at least when they weren’t busy embarrassing her in front of Spike.

Speaking of her parents being over… Rarity’s mind slowly returned to current events as she vaguely registered her mother animatedly describe some fanciful story from her current work week.

“And, that’s when I discovered that I’d accidentally made the cake too big. You see, the cake was supposed to be 6 inches tall, but don’tcha know, I accidently made it six feet tall,” Cookie Crumbles eagerly recounted with a manic smile as she stood up, and raised one of her forelegs to approximately 6 feet off of the ground. “And, when I figured out what happened I was like:” Cookie Crumbles reported as she opened her eyes cartoonishly wide, and dropped her jaw practically to the ground.

Sweetie Belle gave off a loud giggle as she imagined the ridiculous events that Cookie Crumbles was busy claiming was the events of the current week. “Well, it sounds like you had a busy week,” Rarity agreed as politely as she could. But, her mind wasn’t really focused on the conversation. It wasn’t that her mother’s story wasn’t interesting, but Rarity had found herself very distracted by her current upcoming dress order.

“Oh yeah, but it get’s worse,” Cookie Crumbles added with wide eyes as she went back to describing the events of the last week. While Cookie Crumbles could be a bit clumsy at times, Rarity suspected that she was just trying to put up a good story to entertain Sweetie Belle. It made sense, really. It would have been much less interesting for Sweetie Belle to hear about how long Cookie Crumbles’ work week was, or how much overtime she did for it. Still, Rarity was thankful that Cookie Crumbles had found time to show up today. Her babysitting Sweetie Belle left Rarity time to work on her dresses, and then -- Celestia willing -- go out on another date with Spike.

Rarity’s mind continued to wander as Cookie Crumbles finished her story, and started grilling Sweetie Belle for as much information about her day as she could get out of the filly’s short attention span. Meanwhile, Rarity’s mind returned to the risks of her current design idea. You see, she’d actually designed the dress line loosely off of Spike’s scales, and their coloration. There was a real risk that this design would prove too daring for the common pony.

“Grandma, can I bake with you?’ Sweetie Belle’s voice chirped out, drawing Rarity’s attention away from her fretting.

“I don’t see why not,” Cookie Crumbles quickly retorted, despite the vigorous, and frantic shaking of Rarity’s head and the waving of her hooves.

“Now, what have you been up to, honey?” Cookie Crumbles asked Rarity as her attention was now drawn to the white mare. “Have you and that stallion -- Spike, I think it was -- been getting along well? I figured you two must be serious if you’ve been dating for as long as you have,” Cookie Crumbles proposed with a girlish giggle.

Rarity took a deep breath, and decided to move on and answer the question… Silently she crossed her hooves and hoped that Sweetie Belle would quickly forget that baking was even mentioned. “Well, I’ll admit he’s quite responsible and can be charming when he gets serious. But, we have both decided to take things slowly -- particularly since he seems to be currently going through a growth spurt,” Rarity started to explain, only to be interrupted by Sweetie Belle.

“I saw Mommy and Daddy kissing!” she eagerly shouted with a huge grin and wide eyes.

“No, no, no…” Rarity sputtered through her wide open mouth, and flaming cheeks. “We’re still dating… We both agreed to wait until later to have a serious commitment,” Rarity insisted, despite the playful snicker her mother was having at her expense. “Mother, could we please just drop it,” Rarity finally pleaded as she managed to regain a bit of her self-control.

“Well, I suppose so,” Cookie Crumbles admitted with a playful smile. “If you agree to let Sweetie Belle help me bake,” Cookie Crumbles added, earning a cheer from Sweetie Belle, and a shudder from Rarity.

“Mother, she’s only three. I don’t think she’s old enough to...” Rarity started, only to feel her heart sink as she watched both Sweetie Belle, and Cookie Crumbles shoot her their best pleading puppy dog stares. “But… But… Burnt… Juice...” was all Rarity managed to stutter out until her fortitude gave out completely to the onslaught of cuteness. “I suppose one can never start too soon with the learning process,” Rarity reluctantly conceded with a concerned look and a worried sigh. “But, I expect her to follow my directions to the letter,” Rarity ordered sternly, earning a nod of acceptance from both Cookie Crumbles and Sweetie Belle.

***

“Now then Sweetie Belle,” Rarity lectured in her most elegant tone of voice. “The important thing to remember when preparing any kind of food is order, purpose, and cleanliness,” Rarity added as she marched back and front in front of the kitchen’s sink and prep area. To a fly on the wall, it might look like Rarity was guarding her kitchen fixtures, utensils, and pots and pans from unwarranted interactions.

“So, we start by lining all of our ingredients neatly in a nice line, based upon when we need them,” Rarity calmly explained as she lit up her horn. Carefully she arranged the butter, the bag of sugar, the carton of eggs, the bottle of vanilla extract, the bag of flour, the box of baking soda, the salt shaker, a couple of mixing bowls, and several cooking utensils in a neat, and even line along the kitchen table. “The prench unicorn’s called this mise en place,” Rarity explained despite the uninterested look on her mother and daughter’s faces.

“See, Sweetie Belle, we are now ready to begin working on the cookies,” Rarity pointed out to Sweetie Belle, who seemed to impatiently squirm while she waited for Rarity to give her a task to do. “Now, we must check the recipe book to see what steps we need to perform to make this recipe correctly. Be sure to memorize each one of them before we start,” Rarity concluded as she gracefully trotted over to the kitchen table, and placed her hoof on the first page of the book.

“Now, let’s see: first you need to melt the butter,” Rarity read out loud before she moved her hoof down to the next instruction. Intently she began to stare at the page, and memorize its contents. “Then, we shall mix the melted butter in a bowl with sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla,” Rarity continued, her focus never wavering from the page, even as her mother carelessly melted some butter with her horn, and threw the butter into a mixing bowl with the other ingredients. She then handed Sweetie Belle a large wooden spoon.

“Remember to let the butter cool,” Rarity continued to command, despite the fact that no pony was paying her a lot of attention at the moment. Instead, Sweetie Belle had gotten up from the table, and taken the bowl with her, so that she could get a better leverage with the spoon and bowl.

“In a different bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt. Then --” Rarity added only to noticeably flinch when she was interrupted by the loud crash of a bowl slamming into her pristine tiled kitchen floor.

“What was that?” Rarity asked with a hint of concern as she turned her head so that she could look at the cooking bowl sitting on the floor, surrounded by a small circle of splattered egg, butter, and vanilla slurry. Next to the bowl sat Sweetie Belle, who was covered in batter and looked up at Rarity with some tears in her eyes, and a look of guilt written in the despair on her face.

“Mommy, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drop the cookie mix,” Sweetie Belle apologized profusely between sniffles, even as Cookie Crumbles was already helping her clean up the mess.

“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity moaned. “Why didn’t you wait for me to help you?” Rarity chided, albeit with a soft tone. It looked like Sweetie Belle was already regretting her brash decision, but she needed to understand that Rarity’s instructions were law.

“That would be my fault,” Cookie Crumbles admitted with a guilty look on her face. “But, your lecture was really boring… And, I figured Sweetie Belle would rather learn hooves on,” Cookie Crumbles explained as she looked down at the floor with a look of shame…

Rarity breathed a long sullen sigh. “Well, I suppose I can forgive you two this time. But, Sweetie Belle I expect you to follow my instructions. Am I clear?” Rarity softly, but sternly asked again.

“Yes mommy,” Sweetie Belle conceded as she looked at Rarity with her sullen doughy eyes moistening with tears.

“You are forgiven,” Rarity stated calmly with a warm smile and a happy nod. “I suppose it would not hurt to do some hands on learning,” Rarity conceded as she trotted over to Sweetie Belle with the cooking book levitating a couple of feet in front of her.

Sweetie Belle breathed a noticeable sigh of relief. Her muzzle slowly curled up into a cute smile as her regret slowly ebbed away. Finally, she intently watched Rarity assumed her position next to her.

“Now then, I have the bowl. And here is the spoon. Let’s try stirring this again,” Rarity proposed to Sweetie Belle as she levitated the spoon into Sweetie Belle’s waiting hooves, and levitated the bowl over to float in front of the two.

“That’s looking much better,” Cookie Crumbles stated matter of factly as she watched Sweetie Belle and Rarity work together to get the wet ingredients mixed. While she didn’t say she was doing it, Cookie Crumbles carefully mixed the flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl.

Thankfully there were no more hiccups in the cookie making. However, Rarity’s plans to waltz off and start work on her dress order had been delayed as Sweetie Belle had spent the next twelve minutes asking Rarity if the cookies were ready. Rarity couldn’t say why Sweetie Belle had decided to bother her, and not Cookie Crumbles. But whatever the reason was, it was just another mystery.

By the time the cookies were ready to come out of the oven, Rarity had reached the end of her patience. “Sweetie Belle, perhaps a nice song will help the cookies cool faster?” Rarity suggested with a long sigh.

“Sing?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously.

“Of course,” Rarity assured her. “Nothing eats time faster than a nice quiet song,” Rarity added as she patiently waited to see what Sweetie Belle would choose. If Rarity were to guess, it was probably going to be a botched rendition of “the wheels on the cart go round and round.”

Sweetie Belle sat there for several moments as her young mind tried to come up with something. What finally did come out of her mouth was more a lyricless song or a sung hum. But whatever it was, those “dees,” “dos,” and “dums” seemed to form a vaguely familiar song. Unfortunately, Rarity just couldn’t place the lyrics either. But, it was definitely something she knew she’d heard. And, she was sure it had been popular at some point. But, she just wasn’t sure where she’d heard it last.

However before she could place the tune, the oven dinged. This told the two ponies that the cookies were ready. Which, of course, meant that Sweetie Belle dropped the song like a hot potato so that she could gallop over to the cookie racks, and grab a cookie.

“Whoa, careful!” Rarity commanded hastily. “Those might still be hot,” she warned.

***

Spike hummed a merry tone as he skipped up to Rarity’s front door. Upon arriving at the door, the purple dragon made a quick point of licking his palm and using it to straighten the scales on his head. He then re-arranged the flowers in the bouquet he was holding for the fifth time, and fluffed some wrinkles out of the suit coat he was wearing. Finally, he knocked on the door.

Casually, he continued to hum as he waited for Rarity to come greet him at the door. When they had first started dating, Spike had been very apprehensive. He’d spent a fair deal of time worrying about whether his lady love would reject him. Now, though, he’d grown comfortable with their relationship, and didn’t spent nearly as much time walking on eggshells.

Gracefully the doors to the Carousel Boutique outwards to reveal Rarity in all of her glory, complete with her pink Galah dress and golden tiara. Even now, Spike could still feel his heart stop for a moment or two. Rarity was still the epitome of beauty to his eyes, even after three years of dating.

“Hello Spike, darling,” Rarity greeted the purple drake with a large smile. Rarity then looked Spike up and down, before she gave an approving nod. “And might I add, I love the tux you chose. It compliments your colors exquisitely,” Rarity complimented the teenage dragon, who now stood nearly as tall as Rarity herself. If Rarity were to guess, it wouldn’t be too much longer until the previously small drake stood about as tall as other teenage dragons, such as Garble. While Spike could hardly be seen as an adult dragon, but he was tall enough and muscular enough to look like an adult pony to Rarity. And while it was almost impossible to see Spike as anything but a foal earlier, now it was hard for her not to see him as an adult.

“Thank you, Rarity,” Spike admitted with a slight blush and a small smile. “But, I really need to thank Fluttershy, she was really helpful with selecting the outfit,” Spike conceded with a slightly bigger blush. His blush coming, partly because he had never expected the shy Pegasus to have an eye for fashion, and partly because the outfit she had chosen for him had been a tad bit dated -- with its long coat, scarf, and tall top hat, it kind of reminded Spike of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

“But, your outfit looks perfect,” Spike asserts as he took a moment to admire Rarity’s dress. His tongue was sagging a bit out of his head as he gave Rarity that smitten look that she had grown to understand was his deep affection for her… Rarity gave the drake a good poke with her hoof to wake him up. “Sorry,” Spike admitted with a deep blush and regretful look. “I didn’t mean to go all loopy on you again,” he conceded, earning a forgiving nod from Rarity, “Hey Rarity, are you ready to go to dinner?” Spike asked the white mare as he shot her his best smile, and tried to set the last embarrassing moments behind him.

“Of course,” Rarity agreed with a polite smile and a nod. “We should probably hurry, or the restaurant will get busy,” Rarity added, earning a panicked look from Spike as he realized the time. Hastily, he and Rarity half galloped -- or sprinted in Spike's case -- and half walked to the restaurant.

***

“Well, my mother, and father are still extremely busy. But thankfully, they’ve been finding some time to foalsit Sweetie Belle on occasion,” Rarity casually explained as she took a dainty sip from the fluted glass of sparkling cider that previously sat in front of her, and now was levitated into the air. “Speaking of Sweetie Belle,” Rarity continued as she gently lowered the fluted glass back down to the table. “I didn’t think it was possible, but she actually made something without burning it,” Rarity admitted with an awed look on her face. “I know mother, and I didn’t let her touch the stove or oven… But still, she actually managed to cook something without burning it. I don’t think she’s ever been able to do that before,” Rarity added with a proud smile before a small look of loss wrinkled the corners of her lips.

Spike nodded his agreement before he grabbed his glass of water, and began to swallow it quickly. When he first started these dates, he had simply let Rarity talk, because it gave him time to oogle. But as more and more time passed, he found a better reason to let her talk about her day, her job, and her life. When she had time to talk about everything that was on her mind, it tended to put her in a better, and more relaxed frame of mind. And from that frame of mind, she was more open to hearing what Spike wanted to talk about or do something else with Spike, like see a movie, take a moonlight stroll, or even do something really fun -- like go karts, sledging, or even light tag.

“But what about you Spike? Here I’ve been talking all about my week, and I haven’t heard you say a thing about yourself,” Rarity asked with a tinge of guilt prevalent in the soft remorseful words coming from her mouth.

“I don’t really have too much to add, really. When I’m not helping you, I’m busy helping Twilight around the castle” Spike glumly admitted as he looked down at his glass of water. He didn’t want to admit it, but he still felt it… That bitter taste of self-doubt. Every time he thought he was over it or had buried it alive with whatever confidence he could build… it would find a way to dig its way back out of 40 feet of soil. Nervously Spike rubbed his sore back, where wing bones had burst their way out of his shoulder blades. If it weren’t so painful, he would be ecstatic to brag about how he was growing those wings that every other dragon had.

“Oh dear. Spike, are those new wings still hurting you,” Rarity asked with a definite worried expression on her face as she raised a foreleg out to reach for Spike’s shoulders.

“A little...” Spike admitted as he quickly dropped his claw away from the sore spot. “But, I wish I was more help to you,” Spike admitted as he absentmindedly poked at his food with the fork in his other claw.

“Nonsense. You have been a great help,” Rarity insisted as she lowered her raised foreleg so that she could place a consoling hoof on Spike’s claw. “While you can be a bit childish at times. You’re a caring dragon, who’s shown himself able to be, and willing to be responsible when others need your help. And, you’ve already been so helpful to me that you could practically be confused for my hus...” but before she finished her sentence, Rarity stopped abruptly and pulled her hoof away. Thankfully, her Freudian slip went unnoticed by the purple dragon who was still playing with his food.

After regaining her composure, she nervously rubbed her other hoof across her head, just behind her horn. “It’s funny really...” Rarity added with a nervous and slightly hollow laugh that was tinged with a touch of embarrassment. “A few years back I was in a hurry to get a husband. But now, it’s been three years of dating, and it’s me that just keeps dragging my hooves...” Rarity added as she looked down at her food, hoping to hide a tinge of red that was starting to appear on her cheeks. “Do you think …”

Spike suddenly turned to look at Rarity. His feelings of self-doubt melting away as he listened carefully to every word she had to say. And, although he didn't mean to stare, but he couldn't help it. She just looked so beautiful. His emerald eyes gazed upon her, causing Rarity to blush harder as she struggled to admit her feelings as an internal battle of logic and love raged inside her heart.

She had been preparing for this moment but was only recently able to grip what her heart truly longed for. For whom her heart had longed for. She swallowed, gathering the courage to ask what had plagued her mind from the beginning of tonight's date. “Do you think we’d make a good couple? Maybe that husband I’ve been looking for has been waiting right here for me patiently for years?” Rarity said shyly as she raised her head a bit to look at Spike.

“Are you suggesting we get married?” Spike stuttered as he felt his heart flutter, and a smile growing on his face. Quickly Spike fought to suppress the goofy heart smitten grin on his face. He didn’t want to give Rarity too much emotion… Not if it meant embarrassing her.

“Well… I might be interested if you’re…” Rarity admitted with a growing blush as she made a point to pretend to blot her face with a napkin.

Rarity’s statement was quickly followed by two long, strong scaly arms wrapping around her in a snug hug.

Chapter 9 - Time with mom (Rainbow Dash)

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“Fillies and Gentlecolts, remember to check below your seat to see if you won a fabulous prize!” a voice boomed as Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight Sparkle walked into the Wonderbolts stadium in Canterlot.

“Look Scootaloo; your friends are here!” Rainbow Blaze cheered and pointed towards the two fillies who had walked into the stadium with their mothers.

Scootaloo enthusiastically blew the dog whistle that Rainbow Blaze had given her to cheer Rainbow Dash with, and waved eagerly at her two best friends. To say Scootaloo couldn’t have been more excited, would be an understatement. Not only was the filly excited to see “The greatest air show ever” -- or at least that’s what her grandfather called it -- but this was her first chance for her to do an event with them. Eagerly Scootaloo gave each of her friends a warm hug.

“Is it really necessary to make that much noise?” Rarity asked with a noticeable wince as her ears pinned themselves back.

Applejack shrugged as she took a moment to curiously check under her seat to see if she’d won “a fabulous prize.” She then noticeably raised an eyebrow as she pulled up a small manila envelope emblazoned with the Wonderbolts’ insignia.

“Of course! This is Rainbow Dash’s first show! If anything we need to be even louder!” Pinkie Pie shouted eagerly, drawing all attention to her, as she made a point of equipping a foam “#1” finger onto her left hoof.

“Well, a fair amount of shouting does tend to be the traditional behavior at these sort of events,” Twilight Sparkle pointed out as she read from a book entitled “Parties and events.”

“Now that’s the spirit!” Rainbow Blaze cheered as he made a point to hand Apple Bloom a pair of cymbals, and Sweetie Belle a gong. “Come on girls; we gotta show Rainbow Dash just how awesome she’s doing!” Rainbow Blaze manically pointed out as he made a point to unpack his bullhorn.

“A don’t think I can cheer loud enough,” Fluttershy anxiously whispered as she looked downwards.

“Ehh don’t worry about it,” Applejack encouraged her yellow pegasus friend as she put the small manila envelope under her hat for later inspection. “Ah figure it’s the spirit that counts,” Applejack added before she reached down and gave Apple Bloom a small primer in how to use her pair of cymbals.

“Well, I shall simply clap politely,” Rarity grumbled before she reluctantly gave into the pleading look that Sweetie Belle was shooting her. “You just hit the golden part with the fuzzy part of that stick,” Rarity quietly whispered to Sweetie Belle as she pointed to the golden gong, and then to the stick with the fuzzy ball at the end of it.

The entire audience silently, and patiently sat in the stands waiting for the Wonderbolts to do their big entrance. Their silent vigil was eventually rewarded as five Wonderbolts quickly flew down from above the stadium, and made a point to fly along the front of the stands. Well, the audience was silent save for two specific ponies.

“Come on, Bolts! Let's start this thing!” screamed a deep blue stallion with yellow eyes, and a rainbow mane and tail as he spun his hoof in circles in the air. Rainbow Blaze boisterous enthusiasm was obvious to see. But not as obvious as his Wonderbolt’s commemorative t-shirt. Or, his flowing Rainbow colored scarf. Or the loudest of all, his Rainbow Dash Brim -- which proudly bore not just Rainbow Dash’s core colors, but also a picture of her face on it.

The chanting was quickly followed by the loud tweet of a dog whistle from the whistle held in the lips of a hyperactive four-year-old orange filly. She, like the stallion next to her, was decked out in Rainbow Dash paraphernalia. In her case, the Wonderbolt’s t-shirt was replaced by a simple dark blue shirt with a yellow v-collar. Finally, instead of wearing a Rainbow Dash brim, she instead bravely wore a beanie with purple eyes which looked like it was modeled after Rainbow Dash’s head -- complete with a rainbow colored mane.

The yelling, and the dog whistle were boisterously bolstered by Pinkie Pie waving her foam finger and giggling, and the sound of a gong and cymbals. The noise quickly being followed by the giggling of Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle.

“That’s my granddaughter,” Rainbow Blaze cheered eagerly, as he patted Scootaloo on the head. “You’re doing great, girls. C’mon let Rainbow Dash know how great she’s doing!” Rainbow Blaze added encouragingly, earning an eager smile from Scootaloo, and her friends.

Scootaloo enthusiastically blew her whistle, and her friends played their instruments another time as Rainbow Dash, and the Wonderbolts plowed through the low-hanging cloud floor in the center of the stadium. Her eyes were wide and enchanted with the flashy display the Wonderbolts were putting on. “Rip it up and tear! It! Down!” Rainbow Blaze shouted, adding to the cacophony of Scootaloo’s whistle, Sweetie Belle’s gong, and Apple Bloom’s cymbals, as he reared up, and waved his forelegs up and then downwards.

Scootaloo’s eyes lit up brighter as the Wonderbolts finished their show by creating a replica of their insignia in the air using their contrails, and then busted it apart in a well-choreographed show of their synchronicity. And, with each new twinkle in her eye came a new blow of her whistle in her frantic cycle of whistling.

“Woo! Yeah! Uh-huh, uh-huh! Go go go! Yes! Go, Rainbow Dash! Best Wonderbolt ever!” Rainbow Blaze shouted as he dragged in his loaner cannon… He’d wanted to bring his personal fireworks cannon, but Rainbow Dash had gone and hidden that somewhere. But, that nice pink mare in Ponyville had been nice enough to give him a loaner to rectify the situation.

“Grandpa?” Scootaloo asked as she nudged Rainbow Blaze nervously, drawing him away from loading his loaner cannon with the special fireworks canisters Pinkie Pie had given him to use… She’d called them “Party canisters…” odd.

“What’s up Scootaloo?” He absentmindedly asked as he pushed hard on the pink and white striped canister with a bow on top into the cannon.

“Can you show me how to fly like that?” Scootaloo begged as she shot Rainbow Blaze her best puppy dog stare.

Rainbow Blaze froze in place. Quickly, his mind shifted from loading the cannon to answering this difficult conundrum. Rainbow Dash still stubbornly held onto hope that Scootaloo would fly one of these days. But, there still was the question about what to say if the doctors were right… “You’re still a little young to fly,” he elusively explained as his eyes darted to and thro. “But, if you’re really good...” Rainbow Blaze softly cooed albeit a little too slowly as he tried to come up with the best way to address the question. “... during our breakfast with my old and dear friend Windy Whistles tomorrow. Then, I suppose I could dust off that scooter your mom’s saving for you. It’s a great way to practice.,” Rainbow Blaze offered as he waited to see if he had successfully dodged the more difficult part of this question.

“A Scooter?!?!” Scootaloo shouted with a massive smile and wide eyes. Eyes that were almost as wide the look she had been giving Rainbow Dash’s performance earlier.

“You bet,” Rainbow Blaze said with a warm smile and a cocky laugh. “Now watch these fireworks,” he added as he pulled the string on the cannon, only to stare in shock with his mouth gaping as the cannon launched out a barrage of confetti and glitter high into the air… “Huh… I think this isn’t a fireworks cannon,” Rainbow Blaze admitted with a hum as he rubbed his mane nervously.

“Whoops… I gave you a party cannon,” Pinkie Pie admitted with a giggle as she looked over the stallion’s withers to see the confetti covering the ponies that had lined themselves along the railing.

Scootaloo rapidly bounced up, and down next to her two best friends, and in front of her cyan mother. “Mommy, that was amazing!” she shouted for the fifth time as she continued to pogo just in front of Rainbow Dash. Her face bore the biggest grin since her birthday. And, her eyes twinkled like a million stars. Finally, her small wings fluttered furiously as even jumping up and down failed to exhaust the pure levels of excitement that had built up in the small orange filly during Rainbow Dash’s first ever air show with the Wonderbolts.

“Yeah, that show was really good Rainbow Dash! You were like: zoom!” Pinkie Pie agreed as she made a quick lap around Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and their friends. “And then: Blam, right through the giant lightning bolt shaped cloud!” Pinkie Pie added as she took a small leap, only to land face first in the dirt.

“Well, I don’t like to brag,” Rainbow Dash retorted with a smug look on her face, and a foreleg stretching out to place a hoof on her chest. “But, that show was really good,” Rainbow Dash agreed as she reached down and ruffled her orange daughter’s fuchsia mane.

“That was the greatest air show ever!” Scootaloo insisted with more eagerness as she continued to bounce around. “Don’t you agree, Sweetie Belle? Or, how about you Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo asked her friends as she dashed a bit in front of Rainbow Dash, and then dashed back to continue walking with her mother.

Both Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom gave a happy smile and a big nod. However, it was Applejack who spoke. “That was pretty good Rainbow Dash,” Applejack agreed with a smile. “Ah’m mighty proud of you. It must’ve been a lot of work to get back into shape. What with your dad being so busy with work,” Applejack added with a hint of reverence.

“Non-sense. I had you, girls, to help me,” Rainbow Dash insisted as she made a point to stop, and shoot a smile at all six of her friends. She then turned back around and watched her daughter continue to bounce alongside her less springy friends -- who instead of bouncing, simply had a spring in their steps. “I don’t think I could have done it without you. Especially considering all of the things going on… I mean, tomorrow’s the big autograph signing in Canterlot,” Rainbow Dash conceded as she considered how difficult it was going to be to keep an eye on Scootaloo, and one on the various ponies coming down to Canterlot to see the Wonderbolts.

“Well, it’s a bit easier since Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo get along so well. It just means that we have three close friends to foalsit, and not three foals going off in three different directions,” Rarity encouraged as she smiled at how happy the three foals looked together. It was a miracle that their friendship hadn’t been affected by their apparent reset. “Speaking of which, you are still foalsitting Sweetie Belle today, aren’t you?” Rarity pressed. Her question, quickly, earning a nod of agreement from Rainbow Dash.

“Hey AJ, do you want me to foalsit Apple Bloom too?” Rainbow Dash casually asked as she looked over to her orange friend.

“Nah, Bloom and I will be working today,” Applejack pointed out calmly as she ignored the disappointed look on Apple Bloom’s face.

“But, you won a free lunch with one of the Wonderbolts? Why would you turn that down?” Rainbow Dash objected with a gobsmacked look on her face.

“‘Cause Ah don’t really care about that sort of stuff,” Applejack said with a casual wave of her hoof. “‘Sides, Ah don’t see any reason that eatin’ lunch with Soarin’ would mean anything to me,” Applejack pressed.

“Oh come on AJ,” Rainbow Dash pressed. “Lots of mares would love to…” Rainbow Dash continued only to be interrupted by Rarity.

“Just let it go Rainbow Dash,” Rarity stated sternly. “If she doesn’t want to go, she won’t go,” Rarity added. “But, if she changes her mind… well, she knows who will be foalsitting today,” Rarity added as she shot a subtle, almost sneaky smile, towards Rainbow Dash. “Anyway, I have a couple of things to talk to Granny Smith about before I drop Sweetie Belle off,” Rarity added as she made a beeline down a second path.

“Rarity, what are you up to?” Applejack called out as she watched Rarity migrate towards Sweet Apple Acres, and galloped off to catch the white mare.

“Speaking of dates,” Twilight Sparkle interrupted. “Are we still going to come by my castle in a couple of days? I really wanted to run some more magical scans on Scootaloo to see if her DNA has changed at all since conception. It’s so incredible that all three girls seem completely unaffected by any apparent environmental factors,” Twilight continued as she continued to contemplate some theory or another.

“Whatever you want Egg-head,” Rainbow Dash snarked with a playful smile. “Just as long as you are still going to look at her wings. Because, I know Scootaloo’s been dying to learn how to fly,” Rainbow Dash insisted as she ruffled Scootaloo’s mane again. This small gesture managing to regain Scootaloo’s attention. “You still want a flying lesson, don’t ya?” Rainbow Dash asked. After a few seconds, the fish-eyed stunned look on her face faded. Instead, she gave a hearty nod.

“Of course she does,” Pinkie Pie interjected gleefully. “Who wouldn’t want to fly like you --” Pinkie Pie continued only to interrupt herself with a playful snicker. “Exception Dash,” Pinkie Pie finished with a snort and snicker.

“Ugg, Pinkie… Why did you have to remind me about that dumb nickname?” Rainbow Dash huffed as she crossed her forelegs. “I mean, they make one itty-bitty exception to the rules… And then, they never let me forget it,” Rainbow Dash grumbled.

“I’m sorry they gave you a bad nickname,” Fluttershy whispered as she walked over, and tried to comfort Rainbow Dash with a gentle pat. “At least they didn’t call you Rainbow Crash,” she whispered.

“Don’t give them ideas,” Rainbow Dash shouted with comically large eyes. Earning a laugh from everypony, but Fluttershy -- who looked down with embarrassment, instead.

Rainbow Dash casually reclined under one of the fruit trees outside of her house. A small smile formed on her face as she watched all three fillies running around with butterfly nets trying to catch the butterflies that had settled outside of the grounded cloudominium.

“That had to have been the most awesome show ever!” Scootaloo eagerly mimicked her grandfather’s enthusiasm to her two friends as she brought the net down towards a butterfly, only to miss by a mile. “I’m going to be just like her someday. Watch me fly just like her!” Scootaloo continued as she and her friends slowly dashed out of earshot.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but give a playful giggle. Even now, she still adored it when ponies sang her praises. And, it only meant more when it came from the filly that meant the most to her.

Rainbow Dash continued to watch the three fillies intently, even as they dashed far enough away from her that she couldn’t make out what they were talking about. If Rainbow Dash’s home didn’t currently sit on the floor of a flat valley, she would probably have stopped them from running so far out. But, with the flat ground, she could see them clearly, even this far out.

Lazily Rainbow Dash kicked a hoof back and forth as she watched the three foals stop chasing butterflies, and then begin to talk animatedly. Scootaloo’s wings noticeably rapidly buzzed as she talked to her two best friends. Whatever they were talking about, had Scootaloo pretty excited.

Scootaloo then noticeably crouched, before she took a big hop forwards, and buzzed her wings frantically. What’s going on there? Rainbow Dash asked with a hint of concern as she got up so that she could walk over to the three fillies.

Something’s wrong! Rainbow Dash decided as she watched Scootaloo continue to hop around, and flap her wings. With each hop her smile seemed to fade more and more, her wings seemed to buzz that much faster and faster, and her movements seemed more and more frantic. Furthermore, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle’s faces dropped at approximately the same rate as Scootaloo’s smile was. With each frantic movement, Rainbow Dash’s walk slowly grew faster, until it was a slow trot.

“I can do it! I can be like mommy!” Scootaloo stubbornly insisted as Rainbow Dash trotted into earshot. “Pegasus’ fly, it says so in my bedtime book!” Scootaloo added through grit teeth, and a few tears. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle seemed frozen in fear, as both of the fillies’ young minds failed to figure out what to do about their friend’s growing distraught attitude.

“Scootaloo, stop.” Rainbow Dash commanded as Scootaloo took another jump into the air. The filly’s head turned to look at Rainbow Dash with a look of surprise. Then, she face planted into the ground, because her eyes were not on the landing.

“Ouch!” Scootaloo moaned as she rubbed her sore nose and Immediately began to bawl, her small eyes pouring tears. Rainbow Dash trotted over so that she could reach out and pat the crying filly. However, rather than being comforted, the filly seemed to cry more bitterly.

“What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I fly?” She wept bitterly. Both Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle seemed to break down at the same moment, their eyes seemingly reflecting their friend’s pain and despair. In a way, it almost looked like they felt their friend’s pain.

“It’s ok Scoots...” Rainbow Dash insisted as she carefully scooped up the filly and placed her over one of her withers.

“Now... you’re going to hate me… Because… Fly!” Scootaloo continued to bawl, her words growing fractured and incoherent through the bitter tantrum.

“I don’t know who told you that horse….” Rainbow Dash started to say, only to interrupt herself with a cough. “...Urr nonsense. But, I will never hate you,” Rainbow Dash assured the filly as she made a point to motion for Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to follow her into the cloudominium.

After all four ponies were in the building, Rainbow Dash made a point of locking the front door and motioning for Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle to play quietly in the playpen, while she took Scootaloo into the next room.

Once they were in the kitchen, she carefully took a seat on the nice clean kitchen floor and patted Scootaloo gently on the withers. Several minutes seemed to fly by as the filly continued to bawl and weep. However, after a while, she seemed to calm down enough to talk coherently.

“Why can’t I fly? I just wanted to fly like you, mommy...” Scootaloo finally managed to ask through a soft sniffle.

Rainbow Dash frantically pondered whether she should try to tell the filly about her 90% likelihood of not flying... Or, her 10% likelihood of flying. Should she tell the filly that the world wasn’t always fair? Or, should she fill her with a possibly vain hope? “I don’t know,” Rainbow Dash decided to explain. “Sometimes a filly is like a butterfly,” Rainbow Dash explained as simply as she could to Scootaloo. “They take a long time to turn from a caterpillar into a butterfly… But, when they finally take flight, they are beautiful,” Rainbow Dash added with an encouraging smile. Scootaloo seemed to pause at that. Her young eyes blinked a couple of times as she considered the statement.

“And sometimes, the world is cruel, and it never lets a butterfly fly…” Rainbow Dash explained with a heavy, and sympathetic voice.

“Like that butterfly that Fluttershy was caring for when we visited her last?” Scootaloo asked. The poor thing had broken a wing or something… And, Fluttershy had been caring for it so diligently.

“Yes… But, either way. You’re a beautiful butterfly, who I love a lot,” Rainbow Dash encouraged the little filly with a tight hug. “And, I won’t stop loving. No matter what!” Rainbow Dash added as she wrapped Scootaloo into a tight hug. “So, don’t let anypony tell you otherwise,” Rainbow Dash insisted as she silently promised a painful retribution on whatever pony had told Scootaloo that she wouldn’t be loved without flight.

The crowds were lined up clear across the block as Rainbow Dash gently landed in her seat next to Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Soarin’, and Surprise. Rainbow Dash’s face bore a happy smile. Rainbow Dash loved events like this. She was, after all, twice the extrovert that even Pinkie Pie was.

And, that wasn’t counting the fact that not only did she have an audience, but her daughter and father had joined her for the autograph signing… Even if they had to stand a bit down the block to allow for autograph seekers to have room to talk to Rainbow Dash, and the present Wonderbolts.

However, Scootaloo’s new scooter -- the one that Rainbow Blaze had given her -- was making this a little harder to enjoy… What with the filly riding it in front of the crowd, like a little glory hound.

“Mommy! Look, mommy! Look at what I can do! Mommy!” shouted the persistent, repetitive calls of Scootaloo as she buzzed back and forth in front of the autograph table, almost knocking over the pink mare with the yellow mane that was next in line. Each word was coming out of her mouth being barely audible as they flew by at supersonic speeds. That, however, did not mean that Rainbow Dash didn’t get the gist of what the filly was saying: she wanted some attention.

“Doing good Scootaloo! Way to scooter! Scootaloo, best scooter rider ever!” Shouted Rainbow Blaze manically from somewhere off to the side, which added a significant bit more noise to the cacophony of Scootaloo’s persistent pestering for attention. “Rainbow Dash! You’re doing great with that autographing… Best autographing ever! But, you gotta see what Scootaloo’s doing! It’s awesome too!” Rainbow Blaze continued to shout… His voice was almost as persistent as Scootaloo’s nagging.

Rainbow Dash’s smile quickly grew rather forced as she struggled not to rub her muzzle. Deep breaths, Rainbow Dash mentally chanted as she recited that exercise Rarity had suggested she do whenever she had to deal with her noisy family.

With a couple of labored breaths, Rainbow Dash looked up to see Scootaloo racing by on her scooter… Or, perhaps racing was not a good way to put it. Her pace was laboriously slow as her small wings generated barely enough thrust to push the larger scooter forward at all. Furthermore, Scootaloo’s small body still didn’t have the good balance to keep her from teetering a little, causing Rainbow Dash to grit her teeth in concern. However, her fear was brief, as the filly quickly regained her balance.

“Looking good Scootaloo!” Rainbow Dash loudly encouraged the orange filly, with a congratulatory pump of her hooves. “Now, be sure to stay close to your grandad. I don’t want you to hurt yourself,” Rainbow Dash sternly added, before she shuddered a little. When did I become such a fuddy-duddy? Rainbow Dash fretted as she realized how maternal that had sounded.

“You got a cute niece there. Fillies are just adorable at that age,” oohed and awed a third voice. Rainbow Dash looked back in surprise to see the smiling face of the mare in line that Scootaloo had almost run down with her scooter. “And wow, she’s a natural with that scooter,” the mare added in amazement. “My sister wasn’t that good until she was seven,” she concluded with a large smile.

“Niece?” Scootaloo mumbled as she froze in place. Her flapping stopping as a strangely haunted expression darkened her face. And, without Scootaloo’s weak thrust, her scooter quickly rolled to a complete stop. It almost looked like it froze in place to match Scootaloo’s deer in the headlights expression.

“Actually... she’s my daughter,” Rainbow Dash whispered conspiratorially into the mare’s ear, as she covered her muzzle with her foreleg. However, Rainbow Dash’s whispering was not quite quiet enough to not be heard by Scootaloo, who clearly relaxed at the statement. And, it was also heard by Spitfire who shot Rainbow Dash a sour expression.

“She’s your daughter?” the mare asked with a clear confusion in her voice, and an even more perplexed look on her face.

“Don’t worry about it,” Spitfire assured the mare, before she hastily wrote something on a piece of paper, and handed it to the mare. “Your autograph is free,” Spitfire added as she handed the paper to the mare, and then leaned over to whisper into Rainbow Dash’s ear. “Dash, we agreed to keep this matter to ourselves, unless we actually needed to talk about it,” Spitfire chastised her. “Don’t forget: the less controversy, the better.”

“That’s just Wind Rider being stupid,” Rainbow Dash whispered back bitterly into the yellow mare’s ear. Any pony looking could see that she was complaining, despite her attempts to be quiet about it. After all, Rainbow Dash’s crossed forelegs pretty much spelled out her disagreement.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” interrupted a white unicorn mare with a fuschia mane as she cut in front of the pony in the front of the line. Each pony in line eagerly stepping aside for the new mare. The whole crowd then formed a circle a few feat around the table, so that they could all gawk at the unicorn with expressions that looked like she’d just descended from the heavens themselves. “But, I was taking care of a couple of matters with my good friend Fancy Pants, when I saw the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, herself, sitting here. Well, I just had to say hello,” the mare added with an award-winning smile, and a high-minded posture.

“Regal Sunbird?” Rainbow Dash growled through grit teeth, despite the warning shush Spitfire sent her way.

“Why yes, I’m glad to see you again as well Rainbow Dash,” Regal Sunbird added with a gentle flip of her mane. “Oh, and what a sweet daughter you have there,” she cooed as she pointed at Scootaloo, who was off to the side making small laps on her scooter around Rainbow Blaze.

“Well, she is a chip off of the old block. She’s going to amount to great things,” Rainbow Dash made sure to enunciate as clearly and slowly as possible.

“Why yes, I can see the family resemblance,” Regal Sunbird agreed with a lavish smile. “And might I add: it’s so honorable of you to keep her around, despite the fact that she’s obviously a flightless cripple,” Regal Sunbird whispered so quietly that only Rainbow Dash could hear. Furthermore, the words coming out of her smiling face were slow and carefully enunciated.

“She’s not crippled!” Rainbow Dash started to scream as she jumped onto the table and raised a foreleg in a clearly offensive move, only to yelp at the subtle pain of a hoof kicking her in the cannon. “I mean… You’d be surprised how much she’ll accomplish with the right amount of encouragement,” Rainbow Dash asserted slowly with a slight sense of warning in her voice.

“Well, I cannot wait to see what the daughter of The Rainbow Dash accomplishes,” Regal Sunbird chipperly added as she gave Rainbow Dash another pointed smile. “After all, you know what they say: actions speak louder than words,” she concluded with one final smile and a regal wave of her hooves.

“I’ll show you actions,” Rainbow Dash growled as she shook a hoof in the unicorn’s direction, only to be interrupted by a very peeved sounding “ahem” from Spitfire as the yellow mare pointed to the line of ponies which was slowly reforming as Regal Sunbird pushed her way through the circle of curious onlookers.

“Oh… right sorry,” Rainbow Dash mumbled as she jumped back down to the floor so that she could smile and stamp the next fan in line’s card.

Chapter 9 - Time with mom (Applejack)

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It was still dark out when Apple Bloom arose before Celestia’s lazy sun. She was awake, after all, so it must have been morning. And, morning meant two things: one, it was playtime; and two, it was the day she and Sweetie Belle would be watching the Wonderbolts airshow with Scootaloo.

While Apple Bloom had never seen the Wonderbolts, Scootaloo had been excitedly talking about them for days now. And, if she had that much enthusiasm about them, then they had to be amazing. After all, the small orange filly hadn’t stopped talking about it the whole time she, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle had spent at Sweetie Belle’s house.

With an eager giggle, she pulled the string on the light by her bed and bathed the room in a much-needed commodity: light. With the room now illuminated, she jumped off of the bed and looked over the small lake of toys on her floor. While several things looked amusing, she decided to play with her toy hammer and the pegboard.

Giddily she giggled to herself, as she drove the small multicolored pegs of wood into the pegboard. She loved the pegboard. It allowed her to pretend that she was building things like her mom, or her uncle, Big Mac. Someday, she wanted to be able to repair things around the farm like her uncle. She was going to be a -- whatever they called a pony who worked on a farm and repaired stuff on it.

Minutes seemed to pass before Apple Bloom heard her door fly open. “Apple Bloom, it’s the middle of the night,” A frazzled looking Applejack groaned as she stood in the doorway, and looked sternly down on Apple Bloom. “Go back to bed.”

“No it ain’t,” Apple Bloom objected. “It’s already day out,” she insisted as she pointed to the barely blue sky that was just started turning from darkness to light as Celestia raised her sun slowly in the east.

“Well, the sun’s getting up now… So, Ah guess it’s time to get up anyway,” Applejack conceded with a disappointed shake of her head. “Come on Apple Bloom. You cain help me make breakfast,” Applejack consented with a smile as she beckoned Apple Bloom to follow her with a wave of her hoof.

Eagerly Apple Bloom followed Applejack as she walked down the stairs to the kitchen. The little filly’s mind was filled with so much curiosity. What were the Wonderbolts like? How could she help Applejack? But, she was a patient filly… She managed to wait thirty whole seconds before asking Applejack the first question on her mind.

“Mommy, are the Wonderbolts really good?” she chipperly asked Applejack.

“Darn tootin’ they’re good. They’re the among best fliers in Equestria,” Applejack boasted as she gave Apple Bloom a huge grin. “‘Course Ah don’t know much about that. Ah’ve always been a big fan of the rodeo,” Applejack admitted as she whimsically remembered the days when she had graced the rodeo circuit herself. “Ah even competed in some myself,” Applejack added before she quickly felt a sullen sigh building up in the back of her throat.

Applejack missed the days when she used to grace the rodeo stage. She missed the days where she felt like she was the best athlete in Ponyville. Unfortunately, she’d been out of the rodeo circuit for five whole years. And, it had been such a struggle to get back into shape -- so much so that Applejack couldn’t help but feel the burning doubt that she would be lucky to make a bronze ribbon nowadays.

“What’s the rodeo?” Apple Bloom asked innocently. Applejack’s mouth hung so low that it practically looked like it was about to fall off. “Ah never told you about the rodeo?” Applejack asked with a stunned silence accentuating the question.

Apple Bloom simply blinked a couple of time, and then asked, “Mommy, could you tell me about the rodeo?” she asked innocently.

“Can do Apple Bloom,” Applejack offered as she waved a foreleg in an exaggerated gesture for Apple Bloom to follow her. “I’ll do better than tell you. Ah’m gonna show you,” Applejack added as the pair trudged back up the stairs until they reached a specific closet.

“Now, let me get my ribbons, and the rodeo album out’a the memories closet here,” Applejack explained, only to be interrupted as Apple Bloom’s quivering body gripped onto Applejack’s leg, and began to hide behind it.

“Don’t open that closet, mommy. The monster is in there,” Apple Bloom quivered.

“What are you talkin’ about Bloom?” Applejack puzzled as she craned her head down to look between her forelegs, and at her right hind leg -- which Apple Bloom had in a death grip.

“There’s a monster in there, and it’ll eat you!” Apple Bloom panicked, despite Applejack’s best efforts to contort herself in some way that allowed her to reach the terrified filly. “Don’t let it swallow you!” she continued to babble.

“Come on Apple Bloom, don’t be scared. There ain’t no monster in our memories closet,” Applejack tried before she finally gave up. About that time, Granny Smith had come out to see what all of the fuss was about.

“What’s all this yellin’ about?” Granny Smith grumbled as she slowly walked down the hall towards the two ponies.

“Apple Bloom’s afraid of the memories closet,” Applejack explained, earning a knowing nod from Granny Smith.

“She’s not old enough for most of that stuff anyway,” Granny Smith explained with a shrug. “It’ll just confuse her. You should just grab the stuff you want out, and meet us downstairs,” Granny Smith added as she walked over, and carefully pried Apple Bloom from Applejack’s leg. “Come on Apple Bloom. Let’s go make some breakfast. And, don’t you go worryin’ about your mom, it’s gonna take more than a coupl’a goblins to eat good old Applejack,” Granny Smith offered with a hearty cackle as she carefully loaded Apple Bloom onto her walker, and slowly pushed herself towards the stairwell.

Foals really do worry about some silly things, Applejack considered with a shrug of her withers. Carefully she pulled out the items she needed from the memories closet and closed it behind her.

Thankfully, Apple Bloom had completely forgotten about her panic attack by breakfast and instead had promptly worked herself into an excited frenzy by the time they had made it to the Wonderbolt’s airshow. Though the filly had, thankfully, managed to exhaust a large supply of her energy by the time the show was over.

Now, she was skipping along with the rest of Applejack’s friends at about half of her previous energy. However, Applejack couldn’t enjoy it as much. Instead, she sat there trying to figure out what mystery prize she had won from the Wonderbolt’s. Carefully Applejack pulled the small prize card out of her hat and began to look at the writing written on it.

“Wow, Applejack, you won the free dinner with Soarin’,” Rainbow Dash shouted into Applejack’s ear, causing her to hop a small distance into the air in surprise. “You are so lucky,” Rainbow Dash added as she squeezed her cheeks with her hooves.

“This here’s a dinner ticket?” Applejack asked as she rubbed her ringing ears, and squinted harder at the small offending slip of paper.

“Yeah, it’s probably the closet you can get to a date with him. That stallion always plays hard to get,” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she puffed her cheeks, and looked down at her hooves.

“Huh, well that’s interestin’,” Applejack mumbled as her mind slowly considered whether she even wanted to go on a date -- even if it wasn’t actually a date, per say -- with a Wonderbolt. It wasn’t that she wasn’t into stallions, dating, or fancy dinners. But, she just didn’t feel like they’d have anything in common. She was a farm mare, whose number one priority was family, and number two was farming. He was a hotshot pegasus, whose number one priority was being the best flier. It just didn’t seem like their relationship would fly -- for lack of a better phrase.

While Applejack pondered, the conversation drifted away from her ticket, and to Rainbow Dash’s performance. Of course, Applejack would throw out a compliment, or a comment here or there. But, her main train of thought was really on the best way to back out of this “date”. And then…. everypony wanted to talk about it. And no matter how hard Applejack tried to end it, it just wouldn’t die. Then Rarity decided to butt in…

“Just let it go Rainbow Dash,” Rarity stated sternly. “If she doesn’t want to go, she won’t go. Anyway, I have a couple of things to talk to Granny Smith about before I drop Sweetie Belle off,” Rarity added as she made a beeline down a second path.

“Rarity, what are you up to?” Applejack called out as she watched Rarity migrate towards Sweet Apple Acres, and galloped off to catch the white mare.

Quickly Applejack galloped after the white mare. “Rarity, I don’t want you getting involved in my pers...” Applejack started as she was within grabbing range of Rarity, only to watch her disappear in a flash of light, and a puff smoke. “Hey now! Teleporting ain’t fair!” Applejack objected with a huff. Try as she might, Applejack couldn’t seem to find Rarity anywhere along the trail back to Sweet Apple Acres. It seemed, Rarity had gotten pretty good since Twilight had shown her that spell.

Applejack stormed into the house and made a point of searching it high and low for Rarity. “Rarity, where are yeh at?!” Applejack shouted as she turned the whole farmhouse upside down… Meanwhile, Apple Bloom couldn’t help but laugh and laugh, as she saw the whole event as one giant case of tag, and hide and seek. Eagerly she would shout suggested search locations into Applejack’s ears.

Applejack finally found the mare talking to Granny Smith in the kitchen. “Rarity, what are yeh up to?” Applejack grumbled as she stormed over to look the white mare in the face.

“She was here tellin’ me how you ain’t gonna meet that stallion, Soarin’,” Granny Smith shouted as she waved a hoof with a faint agitation. “Now you know Bloom needs a pah. But, you won’t find her one if you don’t go out and meet ponies,” Granny Smith continued as she gave Applejack a reprimanding gaze.

“Granny, Ah got way too much work to do for that. Ah got a ton of chores to do,” Applejack objected. However, Granny Smith seemed unfazed by Applejack’s argument.

“Don’t you give me that. You ain’t gonna be gone longer than an hour, an’ the chores ain’t goin’ nowhere!” Granny Smith chastised. “So, Ah’m ordering you to go down there and eat with that stallion. And, don’t come back till your dinner is done, you here!” Granny Smith ordered.

“But, who’s gonna watch, Bloom?” Applejack insisted as she struggled to find some way out of this situation.

“Well darling, I seem to recall that Rainbow Dash offered to foalsit,” Rarity said behind a rather unladylike smirk. “It seems to me that you could drop her off, and then be back before dinner,” Rarity tittered.

“See, so git over there, and drop Bloom off,” Granny Smith ordered.

Applejack’s tail, ears, and head drooped as she realized she’d lost the argument. However, she couldn’t help but shoot Rarity a furious look on the way out. She would get revenge one of these days.

Applejack grumpily tore a chunk off of one of the complimentary slices of bread. She was furious with Rarity, and Granny Smith for lassoing her into this. She was too busy to date stallions at the moment. In a way, the farm was her husband, and Apple Bloom was her life.

Enigmatically, Applejack also felt nervous. Once again, she couldn’t help but feel like there wasn’t any way in Tartarus this date couldn’t end badly. And, strangely the thought of a bad date hurt… This ain’t even a date. It’s a marketing stunt, Applejack chastised herself.

Applejack continued to huff as she absent mindedly ran one of her hooves down the green train of her gala dress -- It wasn’t like she was trying to straighten any wrinkles out of either… Really. Why am Ah even dressed like this, anyway? It ain’t like this is some kind’a fancy event, Applejack mentally grumbled. Her statement feeling empty before she even thought it, as she quickly noticed every stallion, and mare decked in their finest attire. Of course, the name of the restaurant could also have been a statement to the contrary: Fantaisie.

“Woohee… Maybe this is a might fancy?” Applejack mumbled with a nervous whistle as she blotted her forehead with the cloth napkin that previous had sat on the table in front of her. Suddenly, her previous anger had drowned with the onset of this sudden wave of self-consciousness.

“Yeah, somepony in marketing must have overdone it again,” whispered a male voice. Applejack couldn’t help but flinch at the new voice. Once Applejack had managed to slide her decorative saddle back into place and removed the stetson from her eyes, she managed to see the stallion in question. It was a light grey pegasus stallion, with a dark blue mane and the goofiest smirk on his face that Applejack had ever seen… Her ‘date’ had arrived. “Either that or somepony in high places owes old-stallion Milburn a favor again,” Soarin’ continued his conspiratorial whisper as he sat on the pillow, which sat comfortably on the floor across the table from Applejack.

Applejack couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Yeah, that kinda figures,” Applejack conceded as her laughter slowly cooled down. “The names, Applejack. And, it’s mighty nice to meet you, Soarin’,” Applejack offered as she reached both of her forelegs out to offer the gray stallion a hoof shake.

“Good to meet you too, Applejack,” Soarin’ agreed as he reached both forelegs out, to match Applejack’s massive hoofshake. Once that was over, the stallion casually reached out for one of the menus on the table, and began to read it intently.

Unfortunately, Applejack had already decided upon an item, minutes ago. Now, she had nothing to do, but sit still and listen to the sound of silence. It was about this point that Applejack remembered one reason she hated idleness. There wasn’t anything but the skin-prickling, ear-itching, and icy-cold sound of silence to the room. Everypony was too busy with what they were doing, to notice that she had nothing to do. Well, now what? Applejack mentally asked herself. That wasn’t to say she couldn’t stay idle for a bit, but if the whole evening was going to be silent like this, she was going to go crazy to the sound of Soarin’ chewing his food.

Therefore, it was about the time that the waiter had grabbed the menus that Applejack decided to try to break the ice. “So… urrr… what do you do for fun?” Applejack asked -- as casually as she could -- as Soarin’ slowly lowered his menu.

Soarin’ waited there for a moment or two. Finally, he raised a foreleg and began to rub his mane. “You know, that’s actually a good question,” Soarin’ admitted as he continued to rub his mane, and give Applejack the most puzzled look possible. “I don’t tend to get a lot of free time. I pretty much give all my time to the Wonderbolts,” Soarin’ submitted before he went silent as he kicked his mind into full gear to consider the question.

“Yeah, Ah got the same thing. Ah pretty much spend my whole day tendin’ the family farm, and raisin’ my daughter,” Applejack admitted with a weak chuckle as she continued to watch Soarin’ slave over her first icebreaker. Ah think Ah just made my problem worse, Applejack mused as she slapped her foreleg with one of her hooves -- thankfully she had remembered to remove her cowboy boots from her forehooves when she sat down to eat.

Silently Applejack wished she’d brought something to entertain herself with. But, both Rarity and Granny Smith had vehemently forbidden her from taking anything with her, other than the meal ticket. The awkward clinking and talking going on at other tables, only helped Applejack to notice the methodical, and even malicious ticking of the large wall clock up against one of the walls.

JUMPING HORNY TOADS! DID THAT CLOCK TICK BACKWARDS?!

Applejack nearly jumped out of her skin before she rubbed her eyes, and gave the clock another scrutinizing gaze… No, it, in fact, was moving forwards in time, and at an oddly methodical, and slow pace. With that Applejack attempted to get the conversation started a second time, “So… ummm…. Where did you grow up?”

“Hmmm?” Soarin’ mumbled as his trance seemed to break. “Oh...” Soarin’ continued to struggle as a large blush grew on his cheeks. “Well, that’s a reasonable question,” he finally acknowledged, although Applejack could see how awkward the question was to him now. “I grew up at the Wonderbolts’ academy. They turned my life around when I pretty much troublemakered -- troublemade? -- my way out of every orphanage that tried to care for me,” Soarin’ admitted with a blush.

“Sorry, Ah asked,” Applejack mumbled with a huge blush on her face. Again, the room went silent, but Applejack wondered if it was because Soarin’ now thought she wanted the quiet. This only made the quiet twice as awkward as before. Because this time, Applejack couldn’t help but feel like she deserved it.

“So you like any books or pieces of art?” Applejack tried one final time when the crippling silence had reached the point of driving her completely insane.

“The Legend of the Mighty Rockhoof!” Soarin’ answered without a moment’s hesitation -- it seemed Applejack had finally found an easy question for the stallion to answer. “I mean, what isn’t more amazing than a stallion that gives his all for his family, and then gets buff for his sacrifice?” Soarin’ contributed with a huge, and fawning smile. His eyes actually sparkled at this.

For once, Applejack was speechless… She wasn’t sure if it was a pegasus that didn’t answer “Flash Magnus,” or if it was that Soarin’s answer sounded a lot of ways like her own. Perhaps it was because of being flustered, but this time Applejack was the one holding up the conversation as she sat at the table boggling over how she could keep the conversation going…

“Ah knew Ah should’a let Rainbow Dash take this date,” Applejack finally moaned as her head hit the table. “She and you would’a hit it off… not messed it up like me,” Applejack mumbled as she silently pounded her head against the table.

“No, we wouldn’t have,” Soarin’ asserted softly with a sympathetic tone. “As a member of the ‘bolts, Rainbow Dash is like a sister to me. So dating her would have been really, reeeeaaaaalllllllyyyyy, REEEAAAAALLLLY awkward for me,” Soarin’ countered before craned his neck out, and whispered into Applejack’s ear, “you know: trying too hard just leads to stage fright? Just let it all go, and just enjoy the food,” Soarin’ counseled before he casually sat backwards on his cushion, and grabbed a pie off of a passing waiter’s dessert cart.

For the second time, Applejack couldn’t help but laugh. This time, embarrassment was written clearly on her face. “You got me dead to rights… Ah don’t even know why Ah wanted it perfect, you know? It ain’t like we know each other. But, Ah just couldn’t take the silence, Ah guess,” Applejack mussed as her body noticeably relaxed, sending a foreleg crashing onto the side of the table, which immediately tipped it sideways. The table then launched Soarin’s pie across the room to slam into the face of a dark pink earth pony with a two-tone purple mane, green eyes, and diamond ring cutie mark.

Even before Applejack could get up and apologize, the snobbish pink pony had already stormed over to the table. “How dare you!” is all she said. But, the way she said it spoke volumes. Her words were slow and methodical, carrying the weight of 1,000 curses.

“Ah’m terribly sorry about that,” Applejack apologized with her best smile and manners. “Here, let me make fix that right up,” Applejack offered as she grabbed one of the cloth napkins from the table, and feverishly bathed it in her water glass. She then reached up with the soaking cloth to try to help clean the smeared crust and apple pieces off of the pink mare’s fine dress.

“Don’t touch me you… you… redneck!” she furious spat as she swatted Applejacks hoof away, with enough force to cause the orange mare to flinch.

“Well now, there ain’t no need to get unneighborly,” Applejack said softly with as much grace as she could… Even though she would rather be shouting that.

“Where’s the manager! Tell them that Spoiled Rich, herself, demands these country bumpkins be removed from my sight ASAP!” She shorted.

“Now honey, you’re making a scene,” warned a third voice, one Applejack was sure she should recognize but wasn’t able to place at the moment -- mostly because it was her turn to see red.

“Who are you calling a country bumpkin!” Applejack growled threateningly.

“You. I thought that was clear enough,” the mare said matter of factly as her wish for management was being answered by a stallion in an Armani suit, and two rather large looking bouncers. “Since you are slow. How about this then: I’m talking to the dirty whorse with the bastard foal that’s standing right here in front of --” Spoiled pressed, despite the warning signs, and the frantic shushing of her currently unseen husband -- who Soarin’ suspected might have dove shrewdly under one of the tables for safety.

“I’ll show you who’s dirty!” Applejack growled as she suddenly tackled the pink mare to the floor. The sudden outburst, managing to catch everypony by surprise, who then seemed to watch the scene with a look of both morbid horror, and morbid curiosity. The only one who didn’t look like a pony watching a train wreck was Soarin’ -- who seemed to be pretty impressed watching Applejack manage to pin Spoiled Rich in the most impressive stranglehold he’d seen since Mystery Mare took on The Funeral Director at the Manehatten Gardens arena. That wasn’t to say the slender pink mare wasn’t trying though, some of those kicks and bites looked fairly painful, but….

As the smoke cleared, Applejack stood shakily on her hooves with long puffs of smoke exiting her nostrils. Her opponent, on the other hoof, lay in the most uncomfortable looking pretzel on the floor.

“Uhh…. We probably should run,” Soarin’ counseled Applejack as he dumped a bunch of bits on the table, grabbed Applejack by the hoof, and dragged her a bit towards the back door of the bistro.

One could watch the twisted look of anger, and victory wash off of Applejack’s face and get replaced by a dawning look of horror as she noticed what she’d just succeeded in doing. “Probably should git before Mr. Armani over there recovers from his shock,” Applejack conceded with a horrified look still painted on her face.

Frantically Soarin’ nodded. With that, the two ponies jumped to a sprint so fast that they left behind two identical looking silhouettes of dust, which then quickly faded away as the dust cleared. It was about this time that Mr. Armani woke up. “Cement Shoes! NO! WORSE! Lawsuits!” he shouted with a point of his hoof towards the doorway.

Thankfully the two ponies were significantly faster than the two goons chasing them. The only problem lay with Applejack’s dress, which managed to trip her right at the threshold of the restaurant. The treacherous clothing managing to rip off and become tangled in her hind legs. “Shoot!” Applejack shouted.

Hastily Soarin’ doubled back and ripped the clothing further apart to free Applejack’s legs from the clothing. “We probably need to keep going until we got more space,” Soarin’ frantically pointed out as he helped Applejack to her feet, and started running with/dragging Applejack by one of her forelegs.

Once the two ponies were a way down the road did Soarin’ stop, and let himself catch his breath. “We better lay low for a few days until Mr. Armani calms down,” Soarin’ pointed out between shuddering breaths. “I know the guy… He’ll get over it, eventually,” Soarin added before he nervously shook his head. “But, he’s going to give Spitfire an earful,” Soaring’ lamented with a shudder.

“Sorry about that, sugarcube, Ah guess Ah really messed up the evening after all,” Applejack apologized to the normally goofy grey stallion.

Soarin’ seemed to pause in place before he turned to face the orange mare. “It wasn’t that bad.”

Applejack turned to look at the stallion, who could barely contain himself. “Alright, it wasn’t great but it was fun and certainly one of the more memorable ones.”

“Yeah right,” dismissed Applejack, “you’re just sayin that to humorin me.”

“No I mean it,” asserted Soarin. “Every mare puts on this facade, like she thinks she needs to be cool to impress me or something. Honestly, it’s freshin’ to see a mare, just let it all out. Plus not every first date ends with me ripping the mare’s dress. Shame, cause you looked really pretty in it.”

“Huh, what this stuffy old thing?” chuckled Applejack looking down at the torn shreds , “A friend of mine made it for me. Ah’m more worried how she’s going to react when she sees me tomorrow.”

“Not as bad as Spitfire, I bet.”

“Heck, you only did it because I made such a mess in there. If I hadn’t lost my temper and all-"

“Are you kidding? That was the best part.. In case you didn’t notice, you hit Spoiled Rich in the face with a pie. And well, trust me when I say: she deserved it,” Soarin’ assured Applejack with a small laugh. He understood hosting private parties, but she was always such a mule about it. Often she had even gone so far as demanding the Wonderbolts drop whatever they were doing, and fly a personal show for her little daughter, just because she’d won some school election -- or something.

“What I’m really sorry for is that pie,” Soarin’ explained gloomily.

“What about it?” Applejack couldn’t help but ask.

“That was a sorry waste of such a wonderful Apple Pie. It’s deliciousness wasted on the world’s most rotten pony,” Soarin’ lamented with an actual sniffle and a definite look of sadness on his face.

“Well shoot. We got the best apple pie in Equestria at Sweet Apple Acres. Why don’t you come over, and Ah’ll cut you a slice,” Applejack offered with a warm smile, and a slight snicker. “While you’re there, you can meet my daughter Apple Bloom,” Applejack concluded as she gestured for the stallion to follow her back to Sweet Apple Acres.

“Really? That’d be great!” the stallion acknowledged with a huge childish grin and the eagerness of a school cult. Applejack barely managed to suppress a snicker. Instead she gave him a sagely nod as she glanced back at him from over her shoulder.

rebuilding a crusade

by LavendarRegards

Prelude - The book.

Chapter 1 - accidents will happen

Chapter 2 & 3 - When something odd is happening

Chapter 4 & 5 - Time isn't always kind.

Chapter 6 - Happy Birthday

Chapter 7 - Sleepless at home

Chapter 8 - That motherly feeling

Chapter 9 - Time with mom (Rarity)

Chapter 9 - Time with mom (Rainbow Dash)

Chapter 9 - Time with mom (Applejack)