One more time Rainbow told herself as she inhaled deeply. Feeling pressure on her back, she flinched each time the zipper emitted an unusual sound from its journey to the neckline of the jumpsuit. Finally, the assistant announced that she had completed her task and stepped back with the other CEOs along with the Wonderbolt's manager, Top Boss.

"It's a little snug," Savvy Sarah commented raising her eyebrow and turning to Top Boss, "Did we receive the right measurements?"

"I checked with my secretary and he said yes," he answered, patting down his moist forehead with a handkerchief.

"Hm, well I guess then it's a mistake on our part," Pinstripe interjected, "After all, these are the trial suits. We'll have to talk to our tailors about that."

"Boy, is it me or is it getting hot?" Rainbow exclaimed, tugging at the turtleneck. She said her statement partially to get the suit off so that she can breathe normally again but also because she really did feel warm. And nauseous.

"Turn towards us, Miss Dash," Pinstripe ordered, twiddling his hoof. "Now stand still for another photo." The camera barged into her view and the lens reflected her exhausted face. The assistant pony commanded her to smile in a sing-song tone with little result from the Wonderbolt. Top Boss noticed her change in behavior. Normally, the young Pegasus would be enthusiastic in front of the photo device but this morning she almost seemed impatient. A bright flash burned into her retinas and caused her to blink several times and twitch her ears from the ringing. As her irises returned to normal size, stumbled slightly over her hooves from lack of balance.

"Whoa there, be careful now," Savvy Sarah warned, "Have the suit taken off of her please." The two business ponies huddled with Top Boss.

"I like what I see, I think this could be a great campaign for us," Pinstripe observed.

"Oh yes, the girl has great charisma," Savvy Sarah concurred, "The sales could go through the roof with her as our model."

"Alright, stay still," the helper told Rainbow. She struggled with the zipper and rested her torso on the athlete's back to get a closer view of it. Suddenly, Rainbow's heart pounded against her chest and filled up in her head. Her peripheral vision became engrossed with small spots that circled in the air. Hurry up, hurry up, Rainbow thought. She heard the sound of the zipper sliding down.

"That's not fast enough," she blurted, desperately fiddling with the neckline. "Get it off. Get it off!" Grasping the front of the suit, she pulled off the outfit, breaking the zipper and collapsed onto the ground. The three horses turned to face her with concern expressions.

"Are you OK?" Pinstripe asked, "What happened?"

"Oh, I, uh, took it off too soon," she explained between breaths. She faced the assistant who had a slight view of annoyance on her visage. "Anyway, it's off!" Giving an apprehensive giggle, she watched the ponies turn back around with confusion.

"Alright, Mr. Boss," the male pony continued, holding out a paper, "do we have ourselves a deal?" The tiny stallion dashed to his desk, rummaging through the drawers. He quickly jotted his name and ferociously shook Savvy Sarah's hoof.

"Of course we do! Of course we do!" he proclaimed, beaming ear to ear.

"Ahem, Rainbow," Savvy called out, slipping her hoof from Top Boss's to fix the flying strands from her bun, "If you could just sign the dotted line here and here, please."

"R-right," she agreed, reaching for the pen to sign the contract. Helping herself up, she sauntered over to Pinstripe.

"Excellent, looks like we have a new spokepony!"

"We'll just see ourselves out," Pinstripe informed, nodding to his assistant to open the door.

"Yes yes, it was an honor to meet you two!" Top Boss pronounced, wringing his hooves together, "We should have lunch sometime! Get to know each other better, huh?"

"Sure," Pinstripe responded nonchalantly, shutting the door behind him. After the doorknob clicked closed, the manager ran his hoof through his comb over excitedly as he sprinted to his desk chair.

"I'm tellin' ya, Dashie baby, you're the biggest thing in town! You're earnin' me millions, dollface!"

"Yes I can tell by your wings, Boss," she murmured, slightly turning her head.

"You OK, Dashie? You've been quiet all morning and that little incident you had back there didn't look so good." She told him she was fine and that there was nothing to worry about. Staring at her, he jutted his jaw forward and squinted suspiciously. There was a stifling stillness that made her squirm in her seat. "Have you gained weight?" Letting her guard down, she admitted maybe she did, probably since she had a big breakfast. "But I thought you told me you skipped breakfast today." She gulped, her eyes fidgeting.

"I-I meant the day before," she corrected.

"I know what's going on," he determined, his voice low, "Dashie, you don't have to be ashamed of it. I've seen it happen several times before."

"Y-you have?" she probed, quivering. Covering her mid-section, she blew a deep breath.

"It's a hard thing. Mares in the past have dealt with it here, even my best ones. It's terrible how much the media can affect this process."

"Really?"

"It especially shows in the tummy, you know, for biology reasons or one another."

"But how did you know?"

"I told ya, kid, I've seen it before. It happened to some of the best mares and colts I know."

"Yeah, I guess…wait, colts?" Top Boss raised his eyebrows as a response. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Stress," he clarified, unaware of Rainbow's anxious behavior. "I'm surprised you lasted this long. Stress of being a professional athlete and celebrity can take a toll on a pegasus's weight. None to worry about, I've got just the solution for you." Clapping his hooves four times, the door swung open with a large silhouette in the doorway. "Have you ever had a personal trainer before?"

"N-no."

"Then Dashie, baby, meet Cardio Carl." The robust figure stomped up to the cyan mare, hovering over her. His shadow engrossed her, causing her to shrink back slightly. Looking into his mirror glasses, she saw her reflection and her face dropped a little. Boy do I look like a mess, she thought. "You've never had any professional training so this plan should whip you back in shape in no time."

"When you say whip, do you mean figuratively or literally?" she quipped.

"How you doin'?" he greeted, "My name is Cardio Carl. I've worked with the best of the best of the best in this business. We're gonna do squats, stretches, lunges, weight trainin', boxin', and aerial trainin' and that's just for this week. You're gonna wake up sore every mornin' and you're gonna love it. You're gonna be ripped cause that's how we do it New Jockey style. You promise me you won't give up and act like a wimp and I promise Imma let you live. Kapeesh?"

In the words of Fluttershy, she could only muster, "Oh my."

……………………….

"Oh I wish I could've been there," Rarity gushed, splashing the water in the hottub, "A fitting! With the Roca-pony founders!" The two unicorns had listened in awe while Rainbow described her morning. Normally, Rainbow wasn't one for pampering but she couldn't resist the offer of a free massage.

"I didn't know you liked sportswear," she replied, sinking down a little further into the water to reach a jet.

"Oh I wouldn't be caught dead wearing one of those atrocities but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate their company that they came from. Roca-pony is one of the most acclaimed labels in the world of fashion!" Rainbow ignored the designer's diversion.

"It doesn't stop there. I got really dizzy when I was trying on the last suit. I don't know what happened there, but I almost got a panic attack and tore it off. I broke the zipper doing so!" Her friends gasped at her news.

"Are you feeling better now?" Twilight questioned, leaning closer to her.

"Yeah, I am now. But I'm showing already! I could barely fit any of the samples they brought in! It's not fair!" She slapped the surface of the water, getting some of Rarity's mane wet.

"Watch it! I just had my hair done!"

"Why is this all happening? I'm at the height of my career and this stupid foal comes along! I hate this! I hate all of this! And now I have a personal trainer coming in the morning-"

"Wait, hold up," Twilight interrupted. "A personal trainer?"

"Yeah, a personal trainer," Rainbow snapped, sighing, "My genius manager assigned one to me after the fitting. He thinks that stress is causing my weight gain so he's having some big macho dude from New Jockey come by my house in the morning to work out at the gym. This guy is, like, the real deal, too. Crew cut, hard accent, muscled-up, death threats and everything."

"You cannot allow a personal trainer into your life right now," Rarity cautioned, "You're in a delicate stage right now. Your foal is growing and you can't risk its life."

"Rarity's right, you need to tell your manager you can't do this. Think of the foal and its health."

"You already risked it with that race you have two days ago. Who knows how much more it can take!"

"Would you two stop it with the foal?" Rainbow barked, "What about me? I'm your friend and your friend is going through some deep stuff right now! At this point, I don't even care about the foal! I'm my own priority right now." Twilight and Rarity exchanged worried glances and faced Rainbow again.

"We do care about you," Twilight said, ducking her head a little.

"Maybe you should talk to Braeburn," Pinkie Pie suggested, popping out of Twilight's head towel which made the lavender unicorn scream in shock. "Twilight, you should be more calm around an expecting mare, duh!"

"I haven't seen him since the day we left Apploosa," she remembered, "Although it's not his reaction I'm worried about."

………………..

"HOW COULDJA HAVE RACED IN YOUR CONDITION!" Applejack yelled in front of her barn with her cousin standing next to her. Taking off her hat, she swatted Rainbow with each word. "You. Said. You. Were. Visitin'."

"I was! I was!" Rainbow shrieked, dodging.

"Ah thought ya meant ya were makin' an appearance! Not actually racin'! Ah thought this was common sense! With the way ya zoom around, ya coulda hurt yourself!"

"And what are you doing exactly?" she spat back irritably, moving once more to the side to avoid another swipe of her hat. The country mare pushed the hat back on her head and snorted.

"Ah don't want to come off as bossy, but ya should know better!" She turned to Braeburn, her emerald eyes glaring. "Talk to her. This should be between the parents of that unborn foal. Ah'll be in the back." Waiting for her gallops to simmer down, he stepped closer to the winged pony with a warm grin.

"That's our Applejack," he jested much to Rainbow's chagrin, "So ya wanted to tell me somethin'?"

"It's nothing major but my boss wanted to assign me a personal trainer," she retorted, "I haven't been feeling too hot lately so I'm going to turn him down and tell him that I'm pregnant."

"Ya haven't been feelin' well?"

"Um," Rainbow whispered. With the look of distress in his expression, she wanted to spare him the alarm and decided not to go into detail of the past two days. "Just, y-you know, the usual stuff. Nothing bad." She giggled in hopes to bring up the mood. "And the personal trainer is crazy ripped. He's like from New Jockey or something."

"New Jockey? Did he say anythin' to ya?" Braeburn asked. Rainbow had to step back from the sudden change of tone in his voice. It went from consoling to protective, almost angry-like.

"N-no, he was totally appropriate. I mean, it was in a professional environment after all."

"Ah just know how those hoof-pumpin' New Jockey acts are like," Braeburn continued, "If he says anythin' to ya that makes ya feel uncomfortable, Ah'll settle him straight."

"That'll be a show for me to see," Rainbow joked, dropping her head, "Anyway, I'm probably going to look into some of the adoption agencies and parents this week."

"It's weird to hear that. Considering that it already has two parents." She exhaled heavily in frustration.

"But it needs real parents, Brae. Two parents who love each other and a stable home. We couldn't do that."

"Fair enough," he reacted, furrowing his eyebrows. "I suppose your right." His eyes shone sadness and she refused to believe his words. But she figured she was unable to cure his grief and kept silent.

"So, um, I'm going to take off now," she brought forth, "Tell AJ I'll see her around." As she lifted off, she peered down to the blonde stallion. He nudged an apple with his foreleg and headed to the barn slowly. They caught eye contact again and he forced a smile. She returned the favor. Turning back around, she flapped her wings into the clouds. The air became cooler so her body adjusted to the heat. There's still no air like the country air she told herself. The freshness always seemed to make her at ease and carefree. Spotting her house from a distance, she landed on the clouds ahead of her and shook off the vapors in her coat.

"I'm home Tank!" she yelled out, searching for her pet as she let herself into her home. She found him by the plant near the sink in her kitchen. "You hungry buddy? What's in the fridge, huh? Let's look." Opening the refrigerator, she examined the shelves and reached for the vegetable rack. As she tossed the head of lettuce onto the counter for the tortoise something caught her eye. It was the cake from the welcome back party her friends had threw the days prior. "Huh, they must've left some for me." Suddenly an idea came to her and she slammed the refrigerator closed after clutching the leftover pastry. Tank leisurely raised his head, his look bewildered. "C'mon Tank, we're gonna say hello to an old friend."

……………………………..

"I wasn't expecting you, Rainbow," Fluttershy noted, passing a plate to her companion, "No t-that I'm complaining or a-anything."

"I know," Rainbow added, cutting a slice, "I just have a lot on my mind right now that I want to talk about."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh." The sound of the clock ticking filled the room for several heartbeats.

"I've already told the others, but Braeburn's the father. That's why I had to go to Applejack with Apploosa." Fluttershy eyes grew larger then returned to normal size as she tilted her head downwards. Rainbow took noted of the negligible response of her timid counterpart and resumed her conversation. "Applejack is, like, on our backs about it. I mean, on the ride back, she wanted us to not stay up too late and was making sure we were in different rooms and all that junk. Weird huh?" Fluttershy nodded her head, her lips curving upward minutely. "And I'm not even interested in him or anything. And he's not into me either. Sure, I'm having his foal, but we're not emotionally attached to it or anything. Well, he is, but I think it's just the idea of being a father for him that excites him or something. You know, rather than the foal itself."

"Maybe she's just being protective," she proposed meekly.

"Was she like this with you and Big Mac?" The pair of quiet ponies had been seeing each other for a little over a year now. Rainbow never understood how they could be together for such a lengthy time when they were so introverted. But perhaps, she concluded, that was one of life's many mysteries.

"A little. But I think she wasn't so much because he's her older brother and I'm the same age as her. Plus our lives are more stable. B-but you're younger and more rowdy and so is Braeburn." Again, silence filled the atmosphere. Fluttershy hadn't even touched her cake. Rainbow traced her plate to the yellow pegasus's glassy eyes.

"You've been awfully quiet lately. And not like Fluttershy quiet, but like death quiet."

"S-sorry."

"Don't apologize. Why are you apologizing?"

"I don't know. I-it's a bad habit."

"Well, cut it out! We've been friends since flight school. You don't need to be quiet around me." Shoveling another bite, she clicked her fork on the glass a couple of times and set it down. Applejack's words chimed in her ears from the fight they had in the kitchen on the caboose. "In fact, I should be saying sorry. For not keeping in contact with you all this time. So…sorry." It may not have sounded as heartfelt as she intended it to be, but Fluttershy smiled larger at her friend's efforts.

"I'm not upset about that at all," she admitted, pushing her plate back. Rainbow knew it would be impossible to get any more information from her so she let the subject go. But she swore that she saw a little more life in her cohort.

Abruptly, the reminder of the personal trainer came back into her mind.

"Hey, Fluttershy? Do you know what I miss?" She asked her what she missed. "The sleepovers we had."

…………………………

The mares held their torsos as they guffawed loudly. Tank joined them under the blanket that covered them.

"And then…and…then," Rainbow continued, catching her breath, "His toupee flew off! Just whoosh!"

"Oh poor guy!"

"That's my manager for ya!" Their snickers died down and Rainbow's face turned grave. "I'm gonna miss it. The Wonderbolts."

"Aren't you taking a maternal leave? That means you'll be back, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. This is just an annoying obstacle that I have to deal with I guess. I just don't want to tell Top that I'm knocked-up." Fluttershy said a muffled word. "What?"

"I said 'enceinte'. It's much nicer than the term 'knocked-up'. I-I don't like that term."

"Enceinte? What's that?"

"It's means pregnant. It's in another language."

"Must be that fancy talk Applejack talks about."

"It's a beautiful word. I like using it because there's something very…delicate about it."

"Hmmph. Sure doesn't fit me. I stand by using knocked-up for myself. It's crude, brass, and unexpected. Perfect for me."

"Oh, but you can't look at it like that, Rainbow. A pregnancy is a wonderful experience. Even if you don't want the foal like you've been saying, you're still giving life to another pony. Another pony can live in this world and can do what it wants to do. Maybe it'll be the next great pioneer. Or an adventurer. Or a famous innovator. Or even a Wonderbolt. This is a blessing. You may not think so, so but it's a blessing for somepony."

"Yeah…" she trailed off. Feigning a yawn, she stretched out her arms over her head. "I'm beat! Think I could sleep on your couch tonight?"

"What about my bed? You can take it and I'll sleep in the couch. You need a comfortable place for your condition."

"That sounds awesome," she thanked, giving a genuine yawn this time. Getting up, she held out Tank to her friend. "Say goodnight, Tank." Fluttershy chuckled as she planted a kiss on his shell.

"Have a good night, 'Mommy'," Fluttershy called out, climbing onto the couch.

"Oh please," Rainbow teased, rolling her eyes. Entering Fluttershy's room, she set Tank on the bed as she sprawled across it. Enceinte. "And 'mommy'." She looked at the reptile. "If you could talk, would you call me mommy?"