To Find a Rainbow

*Six Months Later*

The doors of the Ponyville general hospital burst open like a shot as I rushed through. I had run all the way here from my cottage, a decent ten minute hike normally, though today I'd made it in five. I had just been eating some breakfast when Applejack came by to tell me the news and, panicked and worrying, I wasted no time in hurrying over.

Everypony turned to stare in shock as the doors closed behind me but I paid them no heed as I made for the front desk. A white-coated earth pony mare wearing a small nurse's cap had been filling in paperwork on a clipboard before her, though she looked up to give me an unimpressed stare as I skidded to a halt.

"Nurse Redheart, where is she?! How's she doing?!" I asked breathlessly. It never even occurred to me that she might not have known who I was talking about. But either Nurse Redheart was psychic or she was simply very astute as to who knew who around our small town as she didn't need to ask.

She flicked through a second clipboard on the desk for just a moment before finding what she was looking for. In her eternally worn-out voice, she said, "She's doing just fine, Mr. Harkin. She's already been moved up to room 218. You may visit her, if you like."

I barely remembered to shout my thanks over my shoulder as I tore off down the hallway, barely paying any attention to anything or anyone around me. Walls, gurneys and ponies flew by me as I rushed down one hall after another and then up the stairs. Finally, I came upon the right room and I skidded to a halt once more.

Afraid to disturb things inside, I knocked as quietly as I could before letting myself inside.

The lights were off, leaving the room illuminated only by the faint bits of sunlight coming through the drawn curtains. I could barely take my eyes off the mare sleeping on the bed as I inched inside, hardly daring to breathe. She was lying on her side with only her back and flanks covered by the blanket over her. Her breath came in slow and shallow, each rise and fall of her chest seeming to take longer than it should have.

It was unreal seeing her like that. Normally so full of vim and vigor, her listless, prone form was almost like something out of a nightmare.

"Hey, Will," muttered an exhausted voice.

I nearly jumped at the sudden noise. It was only then that I noticed a second pony in the room: a stallion sitting on a less-than-comfortable-looking armchair next to the bed. He had deep bags under his eyes and his voice was hoarse like he'd been up for days, yet his voice carried a quiet pride that in itself allayed most of my fears.

"Hey, Written," I whispered, taking a few more cautious steps into the room. "How's she doing?"

He smirked as he shook his head. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

I glanced down only to see that the mare I'd thought was sleeping was very much awake, even though her eyelids were fluttering like she could barely keep them open. She was wearing that same indifferent frown she always had, even if it rang a little hollow with how weak she looked at the moment.

"What're you doin'... not workin'?" she mumbled so quietly I almost didn't hear it. It was almost adorable how much more pronounced her accent became when she was too tired to try to hide it.

I kneeled down beside the bed, both so I could hear her better and also so that she wouldn't have to look up at me. "It's Saturday. You don't pay me to work on Saturdays."

"Damn straight..." she grumbled, though a grin broke out on her face as she did. "You here to... ogle my body as I... feed my daughter?"

"I-what...?"

With a noticeable effort, she lifted a hoof and lazily pointed down the bed where I finally noticed a small pink blanket bundled next to her belly.

"Is that...?" I asked, half in awe.

"That's her," Written spoke up, his expression and tone shining in the dim room. "Will, we'd like you to meet our daughter, Marigold."

A soft green glow lit the immediate area and lifted away a corner of the blanket, revealing a golden mane like sunflowers in summer. Her coat was the paler yellow of wheat. She was lying along Carrot’s belly with her eyes closed, nursing away contentedly. Through the curls of mane she had obviously inherited from her mother, I could see the tiny nub of a rounded horn.

“Oh guys, she’s beautiful!” I cooed quietly. She was one of the most adorable things I’d ever seen; resting so peacefully with her tiny hooves brushing her mother’s coat.

Carrot couldn’t stop a tired smile even as she rolled her eyes. “Y-you’re such a sap…” she trailed off with a deep yawn. As she finished, she nestled her head deeper into her pillow and let her eyes close. “But yeah… she is pretty special, isn’t she? She’s got her daddy’s eyes, you know.”

“But her momma’s coat and mane,” Written whispered, leaning down to kiss Carrot’s temple. She just grinned and let out a happy sigh as he sat back up. Then he turned to me. “Would you like to hold her?”

A flash of panic went through me at the thought. “O-oh no,” I stammered. “I… I’d hate to interrupt her eating!”

“She actually stopped eating a while ago…” Carrot mumbled, already only half-awake. “She’s just been suckling for a while.”

“A-are you sure? I don’t know if I should… What if I scare her?” I muttered. Why in the world would anyone trust me with their baby? The huge weird alien thing.

Written wasn’t about to take no for an answer, however. "Nonsense! She'll love you." With another flash of his magic he lifted her up and towards me. I reached out to take her instinctively, and before I could have even processed what happened, she was in my arms.

The first thing I noticed was how light she was. Barely larger than a newborn puppy, she couldn’t have weighed more than a couple of pounds. Just the effort of holding her up felt like enough to break her, yet she continued to snooze away without a care in the world.

“She’s so beautiful,” I said again. There was no other word to describe how breathtakingly amazing she was. This tiny little pony was Carrot and Written’s daughter. They were parents now. It was a very alien thought.

She suddenly squirmed in my arms and gave a tiny, high-pitched whine. I struggled to readjust her to better support her and she calmed back down. Her little forehooves stuck out the front of the blanket and hugged it close, and I brushed a finger against them, feeling the silky softness of her coat.

“She takes after her mother,” Written stage-whispered, leaning in closer to me but looking out of the corners of his eyes at Carrot. “She needs plenty of support and has to be tended to just so or she’ll complain your ear off.” Carrot’s ear flicked and she gave a half-hearted displeased groan, but said nothing. She must really have been exhausted.

“Well, she’s amazing. Congratulations, guys,” I said. “But I should probably go, let you all get some rest.”

I made to hand the baby back over, Written just smiled and pointed down. At the same moment, something grasped my finger. “I dunno, I think she likes you, Will.”

When I looked down, two small yellow hooves had wrapped around my finger, clasping it close. It was so weak, I should have had no trouble prying my hand away and giving her back to her parents and yet…

I just wasn’t strong enough to break that grip. This baby; this tiny, fragile, wonderful baby had me by the finger and I didn’t care.

“M-maybe I could hold her just a couple more minutes,” I said.

Carrot let out a throaty giggle as the sound of racing hooves started coming up the hall. “She’s already got you wrapped around her hoof… If you spoil her, you’re fired.”

“Like you guys aren’t going to spoil her enough,” I countered as Written leaned down to fuss over Carrot’s mane again.

“Dear, you should be trying to sleep. You need your rest,” he admonished, to which she just harrumphed.

She might have come up with a more witty reply had the door not suddenly slammed open. The loud noise startled the baby out of her napping and she started to fuss. I did my best to calm her as I turned to see a young pegasus mare in the doorway. Her face was stricken with panic as she galloped over to slide into place by my side.

“Is Carrot Top okay?! How’s the baby?!” she asked, not even shouting and yet a thousand times too loud. Marigold started crying aloud and I gently bounced her in my arms, murmuring quiet nothings until she started to calm. At the same time, Written spoke.

“Scootaloo, please try to keep it down, alright?” he reproached. “They’re both doing just fine.”

Scoots clapped a hoof over her mouth as her eyes went wide in realization of how loud she’d been. She shrunk into herself as she mumbled, “Sorry! I was just worried about them.”

Written’s expression softened. He wasn’t the type to stay mad at anypony for long. “It’s quite alright, Scootaloo. So what do you think of her? Looks just like her mom, doesn’t she?”

I think it was only then that Scoots even noticed what I was holding. She went deathly quiet, peering into the bundle of blanket in my arms like she thought it might explode at any moment. She inched closer, a half-step at a time, until her nose was hovering just inches over Marigold’s hooves, until a sleepy shift made her jump. Written and I tried to stifle our laughter as best we could, though Scoots still glared at us in return.

“She’s so awesome!” she cooed as she turned back to the baby. “What’s her name?”

“Marigold,” Written said proudly.

“Aww, that’s pretty,” Scoots said. “I like it. It fits her. And she’s a unicorn! Are you excited to get to teach her magic someday?”

“I would have loved her no matter what she was,” he said with every bit of sincerity. I didn’t doubt him for a moment. But then he leaned forward slyly. “Though I’ll admit, I am rather excited!”

Giggling, Scoots raised a hoof to play with Marigold’s like I had done. “Yeah… If I ever have foals, I hope I have a pegasus.”

“Making plans a bit early, are we?” Written asked, looking between Scoots and I with a knowing grin.

“W-what?! No!”

“Scoots. Shh,” I warned.

“Sorry! But no, we’re not planning anything like that! It’s way too early! I just meant, you know… someday. In the future. The distant future!”

“Alright, alright, I get what you mean,” Written said, grinning as he held up a placating hoof. “But would you like to hold her?”

“I, uh… wha-”

I didn’t even give her time to finish the thought before I all but shoved the baby into her forelegs. Scoots went rigid, her back going straight as a board and her limbs almost trembling with the strain of staying still. She looked like she thought Marigold was going to fall apart at any second.

“Here, support her head more,” Written said, using his magic to carefully adjust Scoots’s hooves. “That’s better.”

“And relax!” I whispered in her ear as I reached out to rub her shoulders. “You’re not going to hurt her.”

“R-right,” she said, slowly rolling her shoulders and letting the tension melt out. After a moment she even smiled.

“Hi there, Marigold,” she whispered warmly. “My name’s Scootaloo. I’m your uncle Will’s mare friend. You’re a lucky filly, you know? You have a bunch of really cool people looking out for you.”

At that exact moment, Marigold gave a little whine and lifted her hooves upward, groping around for something or other. Written sat up like he was going to take her back, but before he could do anything, Scoots leaned down to bump her muzzle against the searching hooves. Marigold latched on to Scoots’s nose, her whimpering immediately dying off as eagerly accepted her nuzzles.

“That was good. You’re a natural at this, babe,” I whispered to her.

“I just thought she wanted to know somepony was nearby,” she mumbled as she carefully withdrew her face. The way she smiled down at the precious bundle in her hooves left her positively glowing. “She’s adorable. Heh, I almost don’t want to let her go.”

Written grinned as he lied back in his chair, trying to find a comfortable spot. No doubt the exhaustion was catching up to him. “You can hold her a little longer, if you’d like.”

And hold her she did. By the time I thought we were about to overstay our welcome, I practically had to drag Marigold out of her hooves. But after I laid her down beside her sleeping mother, we bid our goodbyes and saw ourselves out. It was at a much more sedate pace that we made our way back through the hospital hallways, side by side with her head leaning against my thigh. Once we’d stepped out into the light of day, she sighed dreamily and fluttered up to peck my cheek.

“Hey, Will? Can I ask you something?”

“Sure. What’s up?”

Still hovering in the air, she leaned so close I could feel her breath ticking my ear. “Someday... Can we have one?”

A pleasant warmth flooded through me at the thought. Pausing only to give her a kiss in return, I whispered so that only she could hear. "I'd love nothing more."