“Momma!”
Rainbow Dash groaned and covered her head with a pillow to block out the small, excited voice.
“Momma!” came the voice again, followed by two small hooves pressing into her side and shaking her through the covers.
“...what is it, Cobalt?” she asked from beneath the pillow.
“Fly, Momma!”
She lifted the pillow and peeked out to see the outline of a small colt framed by the dim light coming in through the window. His coat matched his namesake color and his dark mane danced as he shook her again.
“Fly, Momma! Fly!”
“Cobalt...”
She let the pillow drop back down and stretched out, reaching over to the empty spot where Soarin should have been. With her husband out of town for the week she had the entire bed to herself, something she had planned to enjoy for as long as possible. But apparently the other occupant of the house disagreed with her plan as a second later his small head wormed its way underneath the pillow until he was so close she could feel his warm breath on her nose.
“Momma," he said. “Fly.”
She drew in a breath and blew it out, sending him into giggles as the air rushed over his face. He retaliated and her face scrunched up as air and droplets of moisture hit her.
“Ugh... you’re annoying, you know that, kiddo?” She gave him a quick kiss on the muzzle. “I guess I did promise though...”
“Promise!”
“Okay, okay... I’m up.”
She picked the pillow up and rose to a half sitting position. Eying her son, she smirked and dropped the pillow on top of him. A moment later his head popped out and his blue eyes met hers.
“Fly?”
“Yeah, Kiddo. We’ll fly.”
He let out a cry of joy that made her smile and then leaped to the floor where he dashed as fast as he could to the bedroom door and out into the hallway.
“Breakfast first, Cobalt!” she yelled.
* * *
A half-hour later and they were out the door. Dash squinted and yawned as the early morning sunlight struck her face.
“I’m never promising anything again...” she mumbled, shaking her head to wake up as they stepped onto the cloud.
Cobalt raced ahead to the edge where he popped his wings open and leaned out to look at the ground.
“Uh uh, Kiddo. Wait for momma,” she called to him, quickening her pace to a trot. He turned to look at her when she caught up.
“Fly?”
“Patience my little winged wonder.” She tussled his mane and grinned as he tried to push her hoof away. “Now come over here and let momma stretch first, okay?”
With that she led him a little ways back from the edge and launched into a quick series of stretches. Cobalt followed along, stretching one leg after another in time with her. She showed him the correct way to stretch and then laughed when he lost his balance and fell over while trying to pull a foreleg across his chest.
“Looks like you inherited your father’s balance,” she said as she picked him up and placed him back on his feet. “But once your older all those skills you picked up from your mom will kick in and you’ll be a wonderbolt like her, won’t you, Kiddo?”
“Wonderbolt!” he said, throwing his hooves in the air.
“Yep! You’ll be so good you might even break my own records.” She crouched down and nuzzled him, rubbing the side of her face against his and then scratching his neck with a hoof. “Just imagine it. Cobalt Streak, son of the great Rainbow Dash and almost great Soarin, blazing through the sky over a packed stadium while the crowd below roars! You’ll be the best flyer ever! Well, after me of course. Right?”
“Fly?”
“Hold on, we gotta stretch those wings out first.” She sat up and snapped out her wings.
“Momma, wings,” Cobalt said, pointing up at one.
“Yeah, they’re pretty awesome.” She wiggled her wingtips, eliciting a giggle from him. “Now show me those wings, Kiddo. Which one’s your left wing, huh? Show me your left wing.”
He stuck his right wing out.
She snorted and shook her head. “You are definitely your father’s son. Now show me your other wing, your left wing.”
He looked at his right wing in confusion.
“Left wing, Kiddo. Left.”
He looked left and extended his other wing before turning back to her.
“That’s it, Cobalt! Great job!” she said, his face lighting up in a smile. “Now let’s finish stretching so we can go fly, okay?”
“Fly!”
* * *
Minutes later found them at the edge of the cloud. Rainbow Dash lay down and put a wingtip on the cloud.
“Climb on up,” she said.
He scrambled up her wing and stood on her back with his forehooves on her head.
“Fly momma! Fly!” he said, pointing off into the sky.
“You asked for it! Now grab momma’s neck and hang on!”
As soon as he had wrapped himself around her neck she leaped over the edge. Cobalt gasped and his grip tightened as she swept her wings down and propelled them into the sky. Up and up they went, until her cloudhouse was but the tiniest dot of white against a carpet of green that stretched from horizon to horizon.
She did a few easy flips and rolls, listening to her son squeal in delight each time they went upside down. Her eyes closed and the world became just the air rushing over her wings and that warm little colt around her neck. At moments like this, had somepony asked her which she enjoyed more, her flying or her son, she wouldn’t have able to answer. Before Cobalt was born flying had been everything to her. Everything. Every moment of every day had been spent training for the Wonderbolts, planning for training for the Wonderbolts, or napping on a cloud while dreaming of the Wonderbolts. And she’d made it.
She let the memory of last week’s show play in her mind as she flew. Twists and turns, loops and rolls, all while maintaining those three inches between her and her teammates as they arced over the crowd. Not to mention her solo flight. There was nothing like the roar of ten-thousand voices crying her name as she blew by a packed stadium trailing a rainbow shockwave that sent hats and popcorn flying. Absolutely nothing.
“Loop, Momma! Loop!”
Except that.
She canted her wings and arched her back, carrying them into a shallow loop as Cobalt’s cries filled her ears. At the apex of the loop she leveled off and shifted him around to her chest.
“Alright, Kiddo. You’re turn. Put those wings out and let’s see you fly!”
With two hooves she lifted him up, grinning as his little wings popped out and caught the air.
“I fly, Momma! I fly!” he cried, spreading his wings and legs out as far as they would go.
The sight of the sheer joy on his face turned her grin into a full smile. Time lost its meaning as they soared through the blue sky. It was just her and her son. Closer than lead and wing pony could ever be. She took them through a dozen different aerial maneuvers and before long she noticed he was pulling his wings in little by little.
“Tired?” she asked.
He looked down at her and shook his head.
“Yeah, you’re tired,” she said, “Just a few more minutes and we’ll head-”
She was interrupted by his body unexpectedly lifting up off her hooves. For a moment she just stared at him. He was flying. For the first time. Bobbing up and down in the air above her with only the wind under his wings to hold him up.
“You’re flying!” she cried, waving her hooves to show he was holding himself up.
His eyes widened at the sight of her hooves no longer carrying him.
“Momma I fly!” he cried. “I fly! I fly!”
“You’re flying!” she said, her voice suddenly squeaky and high pitched. “Ohmygosh you’re flying!”
A feeling, like she’d just won first place in every event in every sport ever invented, grew within her. It was in her chest. It was in her stomach. It was the the driving force behind the smile on her face, the biggest smile she’d ever given, and one that would have given Pinkie Pie a run for her money.
She drew her hooves back and, after he failed to fall out of the sky, spiraled through the air around him.
“Keep it up! You’re doing great, Cobalt!”
She didn’t know how long they flew, him gliding along while she cheered. It could have been minutes. Hours. It was only when one of his wings buckled that she swooped in and caught him before he could fall. She embraced him, squeezing his body to hers and feeling his chest heave from exertion.
“Momma... I fly...” he panted.
“You did, Kiddo! And you were awesome!”
She leaned in and nuzzled him, getting a weak nuzzle in return before he lay his head on her chest. He trembled from exhaustion and only had one of his wings folded up. Looking around, she spotted a cloud in the distance and veered towards it. When they arrived she fell on her back and sank partially into the surface.
“I am sooo proud of you!” She planted a long kiss on his muzzle, right above his nose.
He smiled up at her with half-lidded eyes and then yawned.
“I think it’s time for nap. Okay?”
He nodded and tried to stand, but his legs were wobbly from being held up in flight for so long and he stumbled off of her chest before collapsing at her side.
Dash rolled over and bent her head down. Using her mouth she carefully folded his wing back into place and fixed a few of the small feathers sticking out. When she was done she just stared, watching as sleep quickly overtook him. That feeling when he’d risen out of her hooves had only grown stronger. She wanted to take off, to fly around Ponyville and throw open every window and every door, to let it flow out of her and into everypony she could find so they could share in that wondrous feeling.
She closed her eyes and basked in the memory, remembering the joy on his face and the sight of his little wings holding him aloft, and the feeling within her built until she felt she would burst. A sniffle caught her unawares and when she rubbed her eyes her hoof came away with moisture on it.
She was crying? For a moment her eyebrow flicked up in confusion. She was happy, not sad. Then she gave a little snort as the realization hit. She hadn’t believed anypony could be so happy they would cry. That was for love stories and movies, not real life. No one acted like that. Or so she’d thought.
She looked down at her son, so small, yet so much bigger than the day she’d heaved and squeezed and pushed him into this world. The feeling behind her eyes shot up even higher and she inhaled sharply as her vision clouded over. She squeezed her eyes shut as her feelings overflowed and poured down her face.
After a few moments she opened them and looked back down to where Cobalt lay. That was it. That was his first flight. It would never happen again. One day he’d truly fly, not just glide, but this was his first step towards going out into the world on his own. His first step towards growing up. Leaving.
“Oh, Cobalt...” she whispered, bending down and nuzzling him, gathering him in her forelegs and pulling him to her.
One of his wings fluttered and slapped her in the face.
“Yep.” She spit out a small feather. “Just like your father.”
Author's Note
Random short story to keep my writing skills up.
Next chapter is Fluttershy's, by the way.
Bunnies, Bunnies, Bunnies.
The spring sun shined steadily down on Fluttershy, warming her face as she flitted around the outside of her cottage, humming to herself and sprinkling water from a green watering can on the small gardens of sprouting flowers set on the outside of each window. Other than her own soft humming, the only sound in the late morning air was that of a little purple filly that ran to and fro on the ground below.
A delighted shriek rang out and Fluttershy turned to see the filly being chased by a white and brown collie wearing a red collar. Fluttershy giggled to herself when the collie caught the filly, sending her tumbling into the grass and then attacking her face with a series of licks. Fluttershy fluttered to the ground and set the watering can down before trotting over to the pair of playmates.
“Momma! Help!” the filly squealed between licks. “Winona got me!”
She was caught on her back with Winona standing over her, the collie chasing her face around with a wet tongue as she moved back and forth. The filly tried to push Winona off but the collie was far too heavy for her.
“What’s wrong, Breeze? I thought you liked playing with Winona. She’s just telling you she likes you.”
“But it’s wet!” Breeze laughed.
“Well it is a tongue, sweetie. It’s supposed to be wet.”
“But it’s too wet!”
Fluttershy lay down in the grass beside her daughter. “Too wet? Oh my... that sounds serious. Do you want me to save you?”
“Uh huh!”
“What about you, Winona? Do you think I should save her?”
Winona paused in her licking and looked at Fluttershy. She gave a single bark and launched another assault on the filly, this time on her ear.
“Momma!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Breeze. But I don’t think Winona wants me to save you.”
Breeze shrieked again and latched onto Fluttershy. She pulled herself to her mother and buried her face in the yellow fur of Fluttershy’s chest.
“Don’t let her get me!” came a muffled cry.
Winona came close and tried to push her nose in between Breeze’s head and Fluttershy’s chest, causing the older pegasus to suppress a squeal of her own as the nose found a ticklish spot under her foreleg. After a few moments of searching, Winona gave up on the filly. She pulled back and stared at Fluttershy with her head cocked to the side. With a sudden bark she darted forward and Fluttershy found her own face now besieged by a slobbery tongue.
“Oh no!” Fluttershy said as she rolled over in a futile attempt to get away.
The two pegasi rolled around, laughing and shrieking, but their laughter was cut short when a sharp crack sounded out. Winona yelped and where an adult collie had just stood, a small puppy now sat, looking around in confusion.
Another crack sounded and an odd looking creature appeared over Fluttershy. It was a tall creature, with a long, thin, serpentine body that ended in a snake’s tale. Using a hand like a bird’s talon, it stroked at a long white beard coming from a gray pony’s head. With its other hand, a lion’s paw, he reached down and snatched the puppy up by the scruff of her neck.
“Is this mangy, flea-ridden beast bothering you, Fluttershy?” he asked with a crazy grin that revealed a single fang. “Just say the word and poof! No more doggie!”
Winona whined and tried to lick the creature’s face, but her tongue was several inches too short and she did nothing but lick at the air a few times before giving up.
“Discord!” Fluttershy said, smiling up at the draconequus. She picked herself up off the ground and fluttered up to his face before pulling him into a hug. “It’s so good to see you! What have you been up to?”
“Oh, you know. A little chaos here, a little discord there... the usual,” he said. She gave him a look and he added, “Only for good of course! This absolutely magnificent draconequus body is too perfect to sit around on display as stone for those snotty Canterlot nobles again.”
“Well that’s nice. Now, as cute as little Winona is as a puppy, could you change her back now? Applejack’s coming to pick her up in a few hours and I don’t think she’d like to see Winona like that.”
Discord dismissed her idea with wave of a talon. “Oh, no worries, Fluttershy. She’ll be back to normal in an hour or two. Just long enough for your little munchkin here,” he nodded to where Breeze sat in the grass below, “to have some fun. Isn’t that right... uhh... Breeze, is it?”
The filly nodded. “Autumn Breeze!”
“Ah yes! That’s it, isn’t it. I’m so sorry my silly filly, but your dear Uncle Discord has been away for a dreadfully long time, hasn’t he, Fluttershy?” He set Winona down in front of Breeze, who immediately pounced on the puppy.
Fluttershy giggled at her daughter’s antics and said, “Oh, yes. It’s been so long since you’ve been around. You even missed Breeze’s third birthday party.”
He gasped and looked genuinely surprised.
“Oh no! I did, didn’t I!” He clapped his hands together and grinned. “Well, I guess that means I’ll have to make it up to her. I wouldn’t want the poor dear to think her favorite uncle doesn’t care about her!”
“Oh, it’s okay. I’m sure she didn’t mind, your her only uncle after all and-”
“Now now, no arguing, Fluttershy,” he interrupted, waggling a finger at her. “Uncle Discord still owes you for befriending him all those years ago. So! Time to have a little... fun!”
“Oh no...” Fluttershy squeaked.
He brought his hand up. Two of his lion’s paw fingers snapped and she found herself lying on her back beside him on the grass next to her cottage. Breeze was lying next to her, holding puppy Winona with both forelegs. A single cloud floated directly above them. But not just any cloud. Instead of being a random, puffy blob, this one was shaped like a creature she was very familiar with.
Discord raised a talon and pointed up at it. “Tell me, Breeze. What does that cloud look like to you?”
“It’s a bunny!” she said, pointing a hoof up at it.
“Indeed it is! How smart you are!” he said. “Now, a few things, Fluttershy.”
He reached over and pulled her so she was snug against his side. Looking down at her, he raised his other hand and counted off on his fingers as he spoke.
“One. The bunnies aren’t real, so don’t worry about them. Two. They’ll dissappear in a few hours, more or less. And finally...”
“Finally...?”
“Three,” he said, bringing a third finger up. “You’re the one in charge, so remember to have a little fun! You should take a few lessons from your oh so chaotic little pink friend and throw caution to the wind every now and then! Besides, I guarantee you this is the only time you’ll ever have this happen in your life. So you better enjoy it while you can, got it?”
“Got it,” she squeaked.
“Excellent!” He clapped his hands together. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I must be going. Celestia just works me to the bone, you know.”
“Well you try not to work too hard, okay?” She looked up at the cloud. “And... uhh, try to come around a little more often. If it’s not a bother, of course.”
“A bother? For you, Fluttershy? Never,” He reached down, hesitated a moment, and then swept her up into a hug. “Thank you. For being so kind to this terribly old god of chaos.”
With that they broke apart. Discord bowed low to Fluttershy, waved goodbye to Breeze, and then was gone with a flourish of his arms and a snap of the fingers.
As soon as he’d left a low rumbling thunder came from bunny-cloud and it darkened, going from fluffy white to a dark gray over the span of a few seconds. Fluttershy gulped. She had just started to get up off the ground when something fell from the cloud and landed on her stomach.
It was a bunny.
“Oh my...” she said.
Another rumble sounded and a second bunny fell to the ground next to her. Then another. And another. She covered her head with her hooves as the bunnies fell faster and faster, until they rained from the cloud like raindrops in a heavy thunderstorm.
“Momma!” Breeze said from somewhere nearby. “Bunnies!”
Soon the deluge stopped and Fluttershy peeked out from behind her hooves. A sea of white covered her front yard. Bunnies hopped about in the grass, the mass of white like a carpet of roiling and boiling fur. A trio of bunnies nibbled at the yellow and blue flowers in her garden nearby.
“Oh no!” she cried out at the sight of her beautiful gardens being eaten. “Stop!”
As one, the three bunnies stopped nibbling and turned to face her.
“Umm... could you please get out of my garden?”
They hopped forward, out of the garden and back onto the grass.
She got to her feet and looked at the mass of bunnies hopping about in her yard.
“Stop?”
Immediately the bunnies stopped, turning to face her with their ears erect, as if waiting for instructions.
Turning, she met Breeze’s eyes and they both smiled.
* * *
“More tea, Momma?”
“Oh, yes please! It’s delicious!”
Fluttershy watched as Breeze giggled and turned to a bunnie standing next to her. They were sitting on a blanket in the back yard with a full tea set in front of them. Surrounding them were a half-dozen bunnies, all standing on their hind legs with their backs straight, ears folded neatly behind their heads, and dressed in matching tuxedos. A few dozen other bunnies were spread about the yard or in the house doing minor chores.
Breeze brought her hooves up and clapped them together twice. “More tea for Mother, please.”
The bunnie closest to her bowed deeply. He came up and spent a moment straightening the white bowtie at his neck before dashing off on all fours into the cottage. A few moments later he calmly walked out the back door, a silver tea kettle in his forepaws. Steam whisped out from the kettle, leaving a trail from the doorway and across the yard as he walked.
Bowing, the bunnie poured Fluttershy a new cup of tea and then set the kettle down on an empty plate nearby. He then straightened up, bowed once more, and stepped back to his place next to Breeze.
Fluttershy thanked him and picked up her tea. The smell caught her nose as she lifted the cup and she paused a moment to take in the pleasant aroma. Faintly bitter and leafy, the scent reminded her of pleasant times spent at her grandmother’s house as a filly.
“Drink your tea, Momma!”
Fluttershy giggled and took a sip. The tea was hot. Gloriously hot. Right at the border between just tolerable and too hot. The perfect temperature. She closed her eyes and savored the feeling as it burned its way down her throat to warm her belly. A content sigh escaped her just as a giggle erupted from Breeze.
“What is it, sweety?”
“You look like a princess when you drink your tea, Momma!”
Fluttershy smiled and set her cup down.
“You know, I think I remember the first time I had a tea party. It was at my grandmothers house near Fillydelphia when I was around your age.”
“Did she have bunnies?”
“No bunnies,” Fluttershy said, leaning forward to lie on her stomach. She took a quick sip of tea before folding her forelegs together and pressing on. “She made the tea and dessert herself, without anypony else but me to help her.”
“Were you a bunny then?”
“No, but I’d have made the cutest little bunny if I’d been one!”
“With big ears?”
“The biggest!”
They both laughed.
“You know, all of this used to be hers.” Fluttershy nodded at the table. “All of it. The kettle, the teacups, the plates, even the tea is the same kind. I remember that first time she made tea for us. I sat across from her and watched as she picked up her teacup, closed her eyes, and then sniffed at her tea. Then she opened one eye and looked at me and said, “The taste isn’t the only thing the tea has to enjoy,” right before sipping her tea. And you know what she looked like right then?”
“A bunny!”
“Oh my, no!” She said with a giggle. “Not a bunny!”
“A princess?”
“Just. Like. A princess,” she said, punctuating each word with a nod of her head.
Fluttershy sat up and took another sip of tea. A silence fell over her and she was content to sip her tea and watching as Breeze alternated between gulping her own tea and playing with the bunnies. They were perfect playmates, these fake bunnies. They obeyed Breeze’s every command; playing tag with her, hiding in the grass during hide and seek, with their white ears just poking out to give her an edge, and even carrying her on their backs when she decided to play princess.
Fluttershy had just finished her third cup of tea when a voice called out from the other side of the house.
“Fluttershy! Winona!”
Fluttershy choked on the last bit of tea. Coughing and sputtering hot liquid from her mouth, she leapt to her hooves just as Applejack rounded the corner.
“Oh! Applejack! You’re early!”
“Well hey there, Fluttershy! You get a few extra rabbits while we were gone?” Applejack asked, looking around the yard at the bunnies.
“Oh my, no. They’re just... guests.”
“Guests, huh? Well anyways me and Mac got back into town early so I figured I’d drop in early and take Winona off your hooves to spend some time with the girl.”
“Oh, um, well...”
“Is something wrong?”
“Umm, no, not really.”
“Not really? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It’s just that... well..”
Applejack gave her a stern look. “Fluttershy. Where’s Winona?”
Fluttershy sighed and pointed a hoof towards where Breeze and the bunnies were playing tag in the grass. In the midst of the group, a white and brown puppy with a red collar ran, chasing first one bunny and then another in play. This continued until one bunny, dressed in a tuxedo and holding a top hat to his head, led her around a large rock where he lost her by jumping on top and then leaping into a nearby bush.
Winona came around and skidded to a stop. She spent a few moments looking around in confusion before sighting another bunny nearby. Letting out a high-pitched bark, she launched herself forward and the two ran off out of sight behind her cottage. A few seconds later Winona rounded the corner and slowed to a walk, searching for the missing bunny.
Applejack looked at her, then back at Winona, and then at Fluttershy again. “Uh, come again?”
“That’s Winona.”
“That’s Winona?”
“Yep.”
Applejack's eyes widened. She ran to Winona and picked the puppy up.
“Fluttershy, what’ve you done to my dog?!”
