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What's in a Name?

by IcarusFics

Chapter 17: Chapter Fourteen

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Author's Notes:

As promised, here is chapter 14 as well as a little bonus that I drew myself as both an exercise and an apology for taking so long. Again, sorry for taking so long to deliver on this chapter. Life stuff sucks.

I shivered slightly and pulled the blankets tighter against my body. The late autumn chill was well and truly in the air, and there was definitely not enough blankets to keep me warm. In my still mostly asleep state, I blindly fumbled for the normal source of warmth that shared my bed with me, Lily. My hooves came into contact with nothing but air and I slowly opened my eyes.

She wasn't there! I jolted upward and looked around the room, seeing no sign of my fiancé around. Lily pretty much never got up before me, why would she now? I froze as I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Wait those weren't footsteps, they were…

“Mrnrng, Rrsh!” Lily greeted, her speech muffled by the fact that she was holding a tray in her mouth. On it was two cups of steaming tea and some freshly toasted toast. She carefully walked over and placed the tray up on the bed before jumping up.

“I decided to get up early today and make you some breakfast. I mean, I owe you for all the times you've brought me breakfast in bed, and it's the least I could do.”

“You're so sweet, Lily.” I blushed at her words and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She giggles happily and lays the tray down before crawling up and lying down next to me. I looked over at her nervously, the events of last night returning to me.

“L-last night was… Pretty awesome.” I smiled apprehensively.

“You’re pretty awesome.”

“Stooooop.” I said, hiding my blush and playfully shoving her. She laughed and grinned at me before grabbing a piece of toast and taking a bite.

“So, I saw mum down stairs.” Lily stated and I froze.

“Sh-she didn’t s-say anything, d-did she?”

“Uh…”

------

I quietly stepped down the steps to our room, cautious both to not wake Rose up, but I would also rather avoid seeing Jenny right now. I shook my head, attempting to dispel any fears. She was… pretty much my mum now. I was willing to welcome her and Stephen into my life, if not as my real parents, at least as parental figures. She wouldn’t hate me for wanting to be with her daughter intimately, would she? That’d be silly.

I walked softly to the kitchen, my hooves making quiet clops as they contacted with the wooden boards. I eventually reached the kitchen and stopped. Crap, I knew where pretty much nothing was in this house. The toaster was on the bench, but the kettle was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the stuff I needed to make tea or toast with.

I walked over and searched through the pantry, eventually spying a breadbox on the fourth shelf up. If I had been the size of a regular human, or even a child, reaching the breadbox would be no problem at all, but my height definitely put me at a disadvantage. I grimaced to myself and slowly began to place my hooves on the first shelf, eager to climb up to reach my goal.

I struggled as I pulled myself up onto the first shelf, then onto the second. I was about to pull myself up to the third when I happened to glance downward and felt my stomach sink. I was so high up! Looking down at the floor like this was disconcerting to say the least. At least houses in Equestria were normal sized…

I turned around and pulled myself up to the third shelf, making sure not to look down again and freak myself out even more. How the hell was I even gonna get down from here without looking down? I really should try to have better foresight.

As I reached for the fourth shelf to pull myself up to my goal, I heard a voice call my name from behind.

“Lily?”

“Gah!” I shouted, a hoof missing it’s mark as I lost my grip. I felt my body tip backward and a sense of dread filled me. I closed my eyes, preparing my body to smack into the hard wooden floor when I felt something very soft against my back instead. I glanced upward and saw the worried face of Jenny looking down at me.

“Lily! Are you alright?” She said, slowly lowering me to the floor and allowing me to land softly on all fours.

“Th-thanks, Jenny. I mean, mum.” I said, my heart still beating from the fall.

“What were you doing in there?” She scolded.

“I was trying to make some breakfast and tea for Rose, but the bread was all the way on the fourth shelf.”

“Lily, that’s very dangerous! What would you have done if I wasn’t there?”

“Hey, I’m not completely helpless. I can still help out.”

“You helped out plenty with the garden yesterday. Please don’t be afraid to ask for help doing something that you can’t exactly do. What were you going to do when you wanted the kettle? It’s all the way in the top cupboard.”

“Sorry, mum. I just kinda… you know after you walked in last night, I didn’t really want to bother you. Plus, it would be really awkward if you brought it up.” I said, freezing afterward as I realized that I was the one to have brought it up.

Jenny shook her head and smiled at me. I smiled apprehensively back, not knowing exactly what the smile was for.

“Come on,” She said, walking back toward the kitchen. “I’ll help you make Rose some breakfast.”

-

We worked in silence for a few minutes as I slowly prepared the ingredients. Rose liked her toast with jam and butter, so I would make it like that for her. I tried picking up the kettle in my hooves and pouring into the cup, but it was a lot bigger than the kettle at Rose’s apartment, so I struggled to even hold on. Jenny snickered quietly and picked it up out of my grasp before pouring the water for me.

“Th-thanks, mum.” I smiled up at her.

“Lily, I’m sorry I walked in on you and Rose last night.”

“Wh-what?” I stepped back.

“I… I’m sorry.” She said, an apologetic look on her face. “I should have… I should respect your privacy and knock. She always used to get so annoyed when I didn’t knock on her door.” Jenny laughed to herself, her face still apologetic.

“I-It’s okay, we shouldn’t have been-”

“Don’t say that, Lily. You two are in love. I just… I always have this vision of Rose being such a pure, innocent little boy. She was always so… I guess you could say “disinterested” in that kind of thing. She never had any partners, never had any girlfriends, and before we could blink, she was grown up and out of the house. I should have made the connection that you two would want to be together like that.”

“I-if you want us to stop-”

“Lily, stop saying things like that! I am the one at fault. I should have made the connection, but all I could do was worry.”

“Thank you, mum.”

“Why? I didn’t do anything except ruin your night.”

I laughed and waved a hoof in dismissal. “You didn’t ruin the night. We were… d-done by the time you came in anyway, just maybe knock in the future.” I continued my smile at her and she smiled back.

“I promise I will. No parent really wants to walk in on their kids doing the deed anyway. Let her know that I’m sorry?” She nervously laughed and I nodded in response. “Now, let’s make that beautiful daughter of mine, and beautiful fiance of yours, a lovely breakfast.”

------

“S-so she doesn’t mind?”

“No, she just never really put two and two together.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. I mean, even if she didn’t “approve” of it, we’d still do it, but it was good to have the pressure off of my mind. I finally let myself relax and began to eat the toast that Lily and my mother had prepared for me. It was a little cold, as we had let it sit while we talked, but it was still crunchy and delicious. Two pieces was enough for me and I sighed in satisfaction, rubbing my pregnant belly. I had to make sure I was eating enough for two now as well, so I forced myself to consume another half piece of toast while finishing my tea.

“So what did you feel like doing today?” Lily said resting her head on my chest after finishing her own breakfast.

“I don’t know. I have some… private things to talk about with Luna, so I’d like to have a chat with her.”

“Is this about last night?”

“No way, I’m avoiding that topic if at all possible. It’s just about the baby.”

“Do you mind if I come along?”

“I’d rather not, it’s a little… personal.” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Okay, if you’re sure. You know I’m here for you, right?”

“I know, but it’s nothing bad. I just have a few queries for her.” I said, trying my hardest to reassure her. I knew she cared about me, but I did not want her to have to sit through my conversation with Luna. It was going to be awkward enough asking a gosh darn monarch about this, let alone having Lily there as well.

------

“Luna?” I whispered, the door to her room creaking open slowly. Luna had taken up residence in the guest room next to my parents room downstairs, so if she was awake last night, she most definitely would have heard our… Ahem, activities.

“Luna? Are you awake?” I called out a second time to the darkened room. The blinds were pulled across the window and it was almost impossible to make out the silhouette of Luna, bundled up in her bed sheets. I slowly walked over to the window and slid open the blinds, filling the room with the morning light. Immediately, Luna shot up, her usually spectral mane now frizzed up and messy from her sleep. It was also light blue, and honestly, quite pretty.

“Huh? Wha…?” I giggled as she looked around the room, her eyes squinting from the light flooding in.

“Sorry, Luna, it’s almost ten thirty. You asked me to wake you last night.”

“Huh?” She looked at me, confused for a second. “Oh! Oh, yes, I did. Sorry, Rose, I’ll be up shortly.”

I watched as she stretched outward and yawned sleepily, drawing another giggle from my mouth.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Oh, s-sorry, Luna, just... “ I paused to laugh again. “I’ve never seen you be this… non-royal.”

She glanced at me and folded her forelegs.

“Even royalty is allowed to take a vacation sometimes, Roseluck.”

“Sorry,” I smiled at her. “I just didn’t realize your mane looked like that either.”

“My mane?” She gasped, shocked. “Oh gosh!” Her horn lit up and her mane transformed from it’s frazzled look to it’s usual sparkling, flowing form.

“Sorry, Rose. I forget to cast the spell again some mornings.”

“Spell? I kinda thought that it looked like that naturally.”

“Well, it does for my sister,” She said with mock spite. “but my magic is a little less passive than hers. I have to cast it every morning to get it to look like this. Quite the hassle, really.”

“Why don’t you just, you know, not cast it?”

“Not cast it?” She gawked at me like I had shot a deer. “Rose, I have to uphold an image! This mane is a sign of power, and if I show weakness to my subjects, they will lose faith in me.”

“Well, I doubt that would happen, but why do it here? You’re on holiday. Relax a little.”

“R-Rose, I can’t exactly… Just… Well, it’s like this, uh…”

“You don’t have a reason!” I said, pointing a hoof at her. “Luna, I know you’re a princess and all, but… you’re also a friend.”

“A friend…?”

“Yes, silly! I have no doubt in my mind you can do some pretty powerful stuff, and if you want me to act more… like a subject once we get back to Equestria, then that’s fine, but right now, you should be relaxing.”

“L-like a subject? It’s n-not that I want you to act like that, it’s j-just…” She trailed off, glancing around the room as her mind searched for answers. “You… really want to be my friend?”

That took me a little by surprise.

“Of course I do, Luna! Besides the fact that you’ve helped Lily and I so much, you’re the only pony - or person - I can talk to that isn’t my fiance or my parents.”

“So you… won’t think I’m weak if I keep my mane like n-normal?”

“Of course not. Luna, you could be a normal, regular pony and I would still want to be your friend. In fact, I kinda like your mane like it was before. The light blue is very nice.” I smiled up at her and earned myself a shy smile back. Her horn glowed once more and her frazzled, regular mane returned. Once it was back, her horn glowed again and her mane smoothed itself out, ridding itself of its bed hair. Luna looked over to the mirror on the wall and smiled.

“See?” I said, jumping onto the bed next to her and offering her a friendly nuzzle. “You’re just as wonderful like that too.”

“R-really? You really think so?”

“Of course!” I beamed at her. “In fact, I would say that your subjects would relate with you even more if you looked like this. Your sister can be the great and powerful princess, why can’t you be the kind and relatable princess?”

“I-I don’t know about that, Rose… I still have to keep my image up.”

“Just think about it, okay?”

“I… Okay. I will think about it.”

“Yay!” I said, hugging her. She froze at my touch initially, but returned the hug after a short while. We separated after our hug and we both made our way down off of the bed.

“So, I’m afraid we’ll have to abandon our friendly conversation for a more… professional one. You mentioned that you had a few questions for me relating to your pregnancy?”

-

Luna, after having a cup of tea and some toast for breakfast, brought me back into her room, where she had turned on the lights and set up a few chairs facing each other, almost exactly like what you would see in a doctor's office, if it weren’t for the bed and vanity taking up the other side of the room.

“Now!” Luna said cheerfully, sitting down onto her chair as I crawled up onto mine. “What questions do you have?”

I immediately felt my stomach sink as she said that. I knew this was coming, and I knew I had to tell her, but that didn’t make any of this less awkward or scary, especially after our heart-to-heart this morning.

“I… I have a… problem. Well, it’s not so much a ‘problem’, as it is gross. I have no idea why it’s happening, but it’s weird. I might be just paranoid, but I just want everything to be alright, and I want Breeze to be safe, and I want me to be safe, and I don’t want to worry Lily with something that might be bad, but I have no idea, because I’ve never ever ever had a baby before and-”

“Rose, Rose! Slow down!” Luna stopped me with a smile. “Take a deep breath and calm down. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Remember that our scan found nothing wrong with the baby or yourself before, okay?”

I took her advice and breathed in and out slowly, feeling my heart rate slow and the sinking feeling in my stomach reduce. I could do this. No matter how… Icky.

“I have this weird white stuff coming out of my vagina.” I blurted out and closed my eyes. I kept them tightly shut as I waited for a panicked gasp from Luna, only for her to quietly chuckle.

“D-Don’t laugh at me!” I said, heat rushing to my cheeks. “It’s g-gross, and icky, and weird!”

“I apologize, Rose.” Luna said, still smiling. “The “white stuff”, as you call it, is perfectly natural. It’s called leukorrhea, and is there because of an increased amount of estrogen in your body, as well as an increased blood flow to your vagina. It’s very common, and nothing to worry about at all. Nearly every pregnant mare will experience increased vaginal discharge while pregnant.”

I cringed at the up front and scientific description of what it was, but was glad to hear that it wasn’t anything particularly out of the ordinary.

“So… I’m not dying?”

Luna giggled again. “No, Rose, you are not dying. If anything, it’s a sign that your body is adapting well to your pregnancy. There are a few other minor and harmless side effects that I would like to inform you of, if you would like to hear them?”

“Sure.” I nodded. Nothing could be more disgusting than that ‘leukorrhea’ stuff, right?

-

WRONG. SO, SO WRONG.

I stepped out of Luna’s room with her in tow, my face pale. I had almost thrown up half way through her explanation and had to take a fifteen minute break for a drink of water. After our “appointment” was done, I quickly rushed out of the room, glad to have that over with.

I stepped into the living room and found that Lily was smiling happily and chatting with my parents. I walked over to Lily and jumped up onto the couch next to her, my face still grim.

“Hey, Rose, how was your talk with Luna? And why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Lily asked, letting out a nervous chuckle.

“You… You don’t want to know.”

“Don’t worry, Lily, Rose is fine.” Luna said, taking her own seat on a chair between my parents and I. “She just learnt a few of the more “icky” parts of having a foal.”

Lily giggled again and offered me a hug which I gladly took.

“Princess, your hair looks very nice today!” My mum spoke up, placing her cup of tea on the coffee table to address Luna.

“Oh, th-thank you, Jenny.” Luna smiled, looking at me before back to my mum. “It was Rose’s idea.”

“Well, I think it’s lovely.” My mum continued. “No offense, but your mane, as much as it was beautiful before, was sort of distracting.”

“Mum!” I shouted to her. “Please don’t make her feel any more guilty.”

“Any more guilty?” My mum raised an eyebrow. “Why would she feel guilty at all?”

I froze, but saw a way I could turn my slip of the tongue around.

“Exactly.” I said, glancing at Luna. “She should not feel bad at all for wearing her mane how she likes it.” I said, Luna giving me an appreciative look afterward.

“So!” My dad said, breaking away from the awkward conversation. “I’ve planned us a little something that I’m sure you’ll all enjoy!”

“What is it?”

“We’re going on a picnic!”

Next Chapter: Chapter Fifteen Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes
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What's in a Name?

Mature Rated Fiction

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