> Being Outcasts
>  by kleec13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Being Outcasts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Mama!” the toddler foal exclaimed hearing Rarity come back from the doctor.
The little filly always gave the best greetings, even if one of her parents was gone for a short while to pick up medical exam results. Rarity was halfway done with the pregnancy and as such, had some important tests done.
“Hello my darling!” Rarity said. “Where’s Mommy? We should tell her your little sibling is growing nice and strong, hm?”
“I’m right here!” Applejack said, coming from around the corner with a grin. “So. You got your bloodwork results from your appointment last week.”
“Yes! Come, you can see,” Rarity said, levitating the papers out of her saddle bag with her magic.
“Uh later,” Applejack said quickly. “As long as the baby’s good, that’s all I need to know for now. I’ve got dinner going. Why don’t you two lovely mares wash up?”
Rarity sighed as Applejack turned to go around the corner towards the kitchen wondering what was going through her wife’s mind to make her not want to know about the appointment. But then her daughter’s magic lightly tugged at Rarity’s mane.
“Wash hooves, Mama.”
“Sorry, sweetheart. I guess I’m gonna have to have a chat with Mommy after you’re in bed. Let’s eat.”



“She’s finally asleep!” Applejack said to Rarity that night.
“How many books tonight?” Rarity asked.
“Three. That’s usually my limit,’ Applejack said.
“Same here. Good problem to have, I suppose. There are worse things a child can love than books, certainly.”
“And we have Twilight to thank for that,” Applejack said. 
Rarity nodded in agreement, but then changed the subject.
“So about those results,” she said. “We have a break from being parents to talk about them.”
Applejack’s demeanor tensed.
“Later,” she insisted. “I don’t know if I’m ready. It’s part of why I didn’t go with you today in the first place.”
Rarity did wonder why Applejack didn’t want to come when she had been to every other appointment when she could, but chalked it up to being a parent taking a lot of time.
“Why wouldn’t you be ready? You know the baby’s fine,” Rarity asked.
Applejack grimaced as she got ready to blurt out what she was going to say.
“I don’t want to know if the kid’s a unicorn or not, alright?!”
Rarity’s eyes widened slightly as things started making sense. Applejack had reacted in ways the white unicorn didn’t expect once she found out she was pregnant. She remembered one particular time she had once done some major cleaning while Applejack was away with a lot of help from her magic. Instead of thanking her, Applejack protested that she could have done it herself. 
“If the baby’s a unicorn, then that’s it,” Applejack continued. “We’re not planning on having any more kids. I’m the only one without magic in the house.”
“Not to make total light of what you just said, but there would be disadvantages of me being the only unicorn, too. At least on my end,” Rarity said, chuckling at the thought of all the magic she’d need to use to help the rest of her hypothetical family that didn’t have any.
“Yeah,” Applejack said, laughing along with her wife. “And I know how we decided to make a family was the right choice for us.” Just the thought of being pregnant made Applejack sick inside. “And I’ll love the foal no matter what, of course. I know the most important thing is that the baby’s healthy and you’re healthy. It’s just been something that’s been on my mind.”
Rarity understood and Applejack was definitely not the first Earth pony to feel this way. But Rarity was caught off guard.
“And again, not to dismiss what you just said, but I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised," Rarity confessed. "You always seemed to be so proud to be an Earth pony.”
“I was! And well, I still am," Applejack assured. "But when you're surrounded by magic all the time, it's hard not to get jealous. Even being friends with an alicorn and knowing a few others, I didn’t live with them."
“Being an outcast in your own home can be lonely,” Rarity said softly. “I didn’t expect them to, but the fact that my parents didn’t even acknowledge the opening of any of my three boutiques was a punch to the gut.”
“How did you deal with that loneliness?” Applejack asked.
“Well, in some ways, I… didn’t,” Rarity admitted. “I’ve made some amends with my parents… but you know how complicated things are. But as they say, you need to focus on what you can change rather than what you can’t. Easier said than done, but if I couldn’t get my parents to accept that I didn't meet the expectations they had for me, then I needed to meet the expectations I had for myself.”
“And so instead of waiting for anypony’s help or approval, you built your fashion empire all on your own,” Applejack concluded. “You should be proud of that.”
“Well, not all on my own,” Rarity corrected nicely. “But yes. Even though I’m still going through this journey in the fashion industry alone, I still have ponies who love me. My parents included. And I get a perspective that some other designers don’t. And perhaps you’d give us a perspective that we wouldn’t have otherwise as the only Earth pony.”
“That’s true,” Applejack said.
“And you know, if the baby’s a colt, they’re the only stallion in the house,” Rarity said.
Applejack agreed again, understanding what Rarity was trying to say. Sure, being an Earth pony in a household full of unicorns wouldn’t always be easy, but those bridges wouldn’t be impossible to cross with support.
“Speaking of stallions, perhaps I should talk to Big Mac, though he isn’t much for opening up about this stuff,” Applejack said. “Funny how the Apple family tree was entirely made of Earth ponies, and then Big Mac and I go off and marry unicorns.”
“I think talking to him would be a lovely idea,” Rarity said with a grin. 
Mentioning the sex of the baby made Applejack something think of something else also.
“Wait,” Applejack told Rarity. “If you had the results all this time, it’s possible you’ve known the species, and sex, of our baby this whole conversation.”
“Well…” Rarity said, smirking to herself a little.
“Well?” Applejack asked anxiously, now more than ready to know. At this, Rarity’s smirk then turned into a sheepish smile.
“The nurse just briefly explained what all the medical jargon means and that everything’s good,” she said. “I wanted to wait to know more. You’re this foal’s mother too, after all. Come. Let’s look together.”