My Little Rainbows

Chapters

2 Months
7 Months
3 and a half
6 Years
6 and a half
A couple months later
7 Years - Swirl
7 Years - Dash: Part I
7 years
7 Years - Shine
8 Years
8 Years - part II - TEASER
8 Years - Part II - EDITED!
Hospital
7 Years - Dash: Part II

2 Months

It has been two months since the three Rainbows were born. Rainbow Swirl is not sure if she has slept.

Sass was with Rainbow one afternoon, like a lot of them before. Rainbow needed all the help she could get, triplets were hard work after all, and she lived on her own ever since her husband left her.
They were sat in the grass in the garden, watching Swirl, Shine and Dash try to fly around and get into the large oak tree, with little success.
Dash had managed to get a little way up the trunk but couldn’t get any higher and fell, but she never cried when fell, just shook it off and tried something else.
Shine, on the other hoof, fell not half a foot and ran straight back to her mummy, bawling her eyes out.
Rainbow didn’t mind, in fact she loved it when it happened. Not her daughter hurting herself, of course, but comforting her when she did was a wonderful feeling that took over her mind and heart.
Shine came galloping towards her as fast as her little legs could carry her and buried herself in her mother’s chest. Rainbow wrapped a leg around her and hugged her. Her heart still pounded every time she did. The hype of daughters hadn’t quite died down yet.
“Oh Shine, don’t cry,” she pleaded. “Let’s have a look shall we.” Rainbow moved her daughter’s leg to look at it. It was nothing but a small graze.
“Aww, c’mon. That’s nothing. Shall I kiss it better?” she asked hopefully, there was something about the act of kissing a wound better that she found very desirable to do. But no, Shine just cried harder.
Rainbow snorted. “Typical, isn’t it Sass?” she asked but expected no answer.
“Um-hm,” she said with a little shake of her head.
Rainbow yawned, really loudly. “Y’know Sass,” she said through the yawn. “I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in so long.”
“I know what ya mean Sugar. When I had Honey I didn’t sleep for a week, and when I did finally sleep it was only a few hours.”
Rainbow let out a derisive chuckle. “I don’t mean to be rude, Sass, but not only was Honey your second child, she was only one. And you had a husband to help you.”
“Heh. Like he did much,” she jested.
“Sass. I have three of them and nopony to help whatsoever. And do you have any idea how loudly they snore?!”
“They… snore? That can’t be good. You should probably take them to the doctor.”
“Nah, it’s fine. It runs in my family. My Mum, my sister, my brother. We all had a little… err… throat thing, when we were young, but we grew out of it.”
Rainbow looked down at Shine, who had now stopped crying and was now doing something which her mother was most envious. Sleeping.
“But anyway, what was I saying? Oh yeah! Not only do they snore, but Rainbow Dash has wing spasms every so often, and it makes an incredibly high frequency fluttering noise. It’s terrifying when you’re asleep and get woken up by it. And the night time feedings are such a task as well. Three little things, draining the milk from ya all at once. I’ve never felt so sore in my life!”
“Uh- huh,” Sass said tiredly, she has heard nothing but moaning coming from Rainbow for the past two months and couldn’t be bothered with it anymore. Although the bit about breastfeeding was new.
Rainbow looked up. Horror quickly came to her face. “Rainbow Dash! Spit that out!” she shouted as she saw her daughter with a butterfly grasped between her gums.
Dash didn’t understand what she had said, but the voice was loud, so she assumed what she was doing was wrong and let go of the butterfly, which flew away very quickly. Butterflies were never seen again in Cloudsdale.
“Good girl,” Rainbow said in a congratulatory way, making Dash smile as it was a much friendlier tone. Dash ran up to Rainbow and worked her way in between Shine and her mother. She made a strange kind of gurgle sound before nestling down against her sister, in a rather rude manner, almost lying on top of her, and fell asleep.
Rainbow bent her neck and nuzzled the top of Dash’s head. “How come you always sleep perfectly fine in the middle of the day but never at night?”
Dash squirmed against her mother’s touch, trying to get away from it, with limited success.
“Alright. Fine! I’ll leave you alone then. It was your fault anyway, you were the one who wanted to lay next to me. But hey, suit yourself.”
Rainbow kissed her on the top of her head as a final act of affection before leaving her alone, but something made her not retreat her head. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to look closer at Dash’s scalp. She rubbed her lips against the fidgeting filly a little more before pulling her head back with a huge smile on her face.
“YES!” she whispered in celebration.
“What’s got you so happy all of a sudden?” Sass asked curiously as she saw her friend’s new emotion.
“Feel her head. I think she’s finally growing hair!” her voice squealed quietly at the last few words. She was getting a little worried about having a bald daughter, but this was a good sign.
Sass gently rubbed Dash’s head, she was met with much angered groaning as Dash tried to bat away the inquisitive hoof, but this didn’t stop the determined Sass. She felt the start of some hair forming.
“That’s good. I was thinking she would never get any.”
“Same here!”
“Now all you can hope for is if it’s also rainbow coloured.”
Panic flooded Rainbow’s system. “Oh Celestia. What if it’s not? I would have to change her name, wouldn’t I? But I like Rainbow Dash, it suits her so well!”
“Don’t worry, Sugar, it’ll be fine. It’s unlikely that it wouldn’t. I mean, you have rainbow hair, the other two do, and you all have blue coats. I don’t think there is any of their father in them.”
“I should hope not. He doesn’t deserve to be involved with a hair on Dash’s head, let alone all three of them.”
Rainbow grimaced as the image of her adulterous ex-husband came to her mind. She never thought she could ever hate anypony so much as she did him.
Her mind swam back to his walking out on her almost a year ago.

Rainbow had been feeling terrible now for a few days. Always sick after waking up, a constant feeling of tiredness now matter the time of day, she soon decided to go to the doctors.

One day, she got up and actually managed to hold onto her stomach. For a little longer than usual anyway. She galloped into the bathroom and quickly allowed her body to try and rid itself of the thing causing it with the most horrendous noise imaginable. Once she was finished she could hear her husband’s voice shouting from downstairs.
“You alright?” he shouted with little sympathy.
Rainbow spat the residue from her mouth before replying. “Yeah. I'm fine,” her voice was almost sarcastic.
“Do you think you should see a doctor?” the colt downstairs shouted again.
“Yeah, maybe. I just don’t seem able to shift this damn bug!” Rainbow pushed herself onto her hooves and proceeded to brush her teeth, just to try in vain to get the taste out of her mouth. Afterwards she went downstairs to see her husband.
“Good morning!” she said with as chipper a voice as possible before kissing him on his crimson cheek, and getting tickled slightly by his start of a beard.
“Morning. Did you have a good sleep?” he asked, his voice now much friendlier.
“Well, besides from the horrible sick feeling keeping me up until three in the morning, yes.”
“You should really go see a doctor. It can’t be good to feel this dreadful for as long as you have.”
“Yeah, I know. I will have some grub then get going. I have to go to town anyway for groceries and that so I might as well.”
“And make sure you don’t forget,” he spoke with much authority, as if he was talking down to her.
“Yes sir!” she said sarcastically with a salute before trotting off into the kitchen. Her husband chuckled to himself and then followed after her.

Rainbow opened a cupboard to look for some food. “Do we have anything good to eat? I'm tired of that boring old diet cereal.”
Her husband ignored her, but instead spun her around to face him and surprised her with a pleasant and passionate kiss.
Once finished, he pulled away to look into Rainbow’s rose coloured eyes and smiled sweetly. She looked at him and smiled back… briefly. In an instant her face soured and contorted as she released her stomach all over her husband’s face, showering him in horrible, viscous, yellow fluid.
Luckily, he managed to shut his eyes and mouth in the nick of time. He risked opening his eyes again, and he saw his wife leaning on him, doubled over, and gasping for breath.
Rainbow would look back at this memory fondly, she would even wish she could have a picture of the precise moment it hit his face, just so she could enjoy it whenever she liked.
“You’re-.”
“Going to the doctor’s, I know.” She picked herself and washed her face. Her husband followed suit.
Moments later, the two of them left and headed towards the Doctor’s Surgery. Unfortunately, they had to walk; Rainbow had tried flying but it put far too much strain on her stomach.

“Well Doc, what’s wrong with her?” the husband asked eagerly.
“Hm,” the Doctor mumbled as he rubbed his chin with deep thought. “So, you say this has been going on for…”
“Four days now,” Rainbow filled in.
“Right. And you say you’ve been exhausted for all of them?”
“Yep.”
The Doctor’s brow furrowed. “Well… I have theories.”
“Yes?” Rainbow urged him to continue with her anticipated voice.
“There just theories for now. I don’t want to get you all worked up for no reason.”
“What?” Rainbow replied nervously, her mind thinking horrible things.
“Oh don’t worry, nothing bad. I just don’t think I can act without evidence. And on that note, I would like to take a blood sample.”
Rainbow jumped back out of her chair, knocking it over in the process, and pressed herself against the wall. The terror in her eyes was worrying, and she never broke eye contact with the doctor.
The Doctor gave her a confused look before the husband explained.
“It’s a needle thing. She hates them.”
“Ah. That explains it.” He stood up from his chair to go and comfort Rainbow, but she just kept backing away from him until she got trapped in a corner.
“C’mon, honey. It’s just a little needle,” her husband tried to comfort her, but with no success. In fact, he made it worst as she started to whimper.
The Doctor knelt beside her and took her hoof in his. “Rainbow Swirl, don’t worry, I won’t force you.”
His hoof reached secretly into his lab coat pocket and retrieved a small blood sampling needle. He quickly and sharply jabbed her in the leg.
Rainbow yelped.
“That wasn’t that bad now was it?” the Doctor asked condescendingly.
Rainbow looked down at her leg and saw the small vial fill with her own blood, and then fainted.

Rainbow woke up a small amount of time later and saw the sight of her husband looking worriedly at her, but then he sighed with relief as he saw her eyes open.
When aware of her surroundings, she lunged forwards and wrapped her forelegs around his neck. Her eyes were still wide with fright as she hugged uncomfortably tightly.
“W-what did he do to me, Red?” she asked still terrified. Her heart began to race, pounding frantically, and near painfully, against her chest as her body shook uncontrollably.
“Don’t worry Swirl, he just took a little blood sample.” He rubbed her back in an effort to calm her down.
“I'm sorry Rainbow, but you know you would never agree to it.” The Doctor went to pat her on the shoulder in a friendly manner, but she just jumped at his touch with a small gasp. The Doctor retreated from the situation.
“Okay, anyway, I should have some results for you in a couple days. I will give you a call as soon as I have some information for you.”
“Thanks,” Red said as he helped his wife to her hooves. He started walking out of the office with Rainbow under-wing.
Rainbow didn’t say goodbye to the Doctor, instead she glared evilly at him for as long as possible until the door closed behind her and her husband.

It had been two days since her blood was forcibly taken from her by the doctor, and Rainbow still didn’t feel any better. If anything she felt slightly worse.
She was on her own in the supermarket, picking up some supplies for her and her husband. She was trying to reach something on the top shelf, but because her stomach still hurt every time she tried to pick herself up into the air she couldn’t reach it.
She had just about given up on having fine coffee for the week when a friendly hoof reached out in front of her and took the packet of coffee for her.
Rainbow followed the hoof as it brought the coffee down and into her trolley. She then noticed that the hoof belonged to the Doctor. She was still very sour about the whole surprise blood sampling thing, so she barely looked at him, quickly averting her gaze in a moody fashion.
“Thanks,” she murmured quietly and bitterly.
“Look, I'm sorry about the other day, but you know as well as I do that taking you by surprise would have been the only way,” he tried his hardest to sound apologetic, yet his annoyance was still apparent.
Rainbow didn’t say anything, she never liked admitting that she was wrong.
“And by the way, the results came back.”
Rainbow suddenly perked up and drew her full, nervous attention to the Doctor. “Really? What did they say?!”
“Well…” the Doctor said quietly as his gaze fell to his hooves.
Rainbow gasped. “Oh no. what is it?” she asked, although she didn’t want to hear the bad news.
He looked back up with a huge smile.
“You’re pregnant.”
Rainbow’s face froze as the pleasant shock of not hearing anything bad hit her. “What?” she said emotionlessly.
“You’re pregnant!” The Doctor practically jumped for joy after giving the good news.
Rainbow finally heard his words. “I-I'm… pregnant?” her voice started quivering with excitement.
The Doctor nodded happily, he loved this part of his job.
Rainbow started shaking as happiness built up. Seconds later she released it and started bouncing around emitting a high pitched squeal of absolute joy.
“Yes!” she shouted over and over again, drawing the attention of all the other Ponies around her, but they didn’t judge, they were made happier just by the sight of her.
Rainbow spun around and kissed the Doctor’s cheek. “Thank you so much!” she told him before bolting out the door to head home to tell her husband the outstanding news.

“RED!” Rainbow shouted as soon she barged the door open. “GET YOUR FLANK DOWN HERE!”
Red poked his head over the banister, his face would have be red from physical exertion if he wasn’t already red. He was also coated in sweat.
“Rainbow? What are you doing back so early? And why are you shouting like that?” he panted.
“Oh nothing,” she said nonchalantly. “I just heard that I'm PREGNANT!”
Red choked on nothing. “What? seriously?”
“YES!”
Red said nothing more for he decided to lunge over the banister, swoop down to his wife and embrace her in a tight hug.
“I'm really pregnant. I'm gonna have my own child,” Rainbow spoke with tears starting to form and fall from her beautiful eyes.
“This is… wonderful,” his voice shook with doubt.

A while had passed, the two of them just stood, rocking back and forth in each other’s loving grasp, with Rainbow crying slightly.
“Red?” Rainbow whispered.
“Yeah?” he whispered back, not really recognising he was being spoken to.
“Why are you so sweaty?”
Red tensed up completely and his heart pounded against his chest. “Err… I was working out.”
Rainbow was so happy that she believed him.
Looking back, she realised one major flaw in his story… he never worked out.

It had been another two weeks now, and Rainbow had grown a slight bump. She was being led by Sass across the town centre with a scarf wrapped around her eyes, which Rainbow couldn’t but help think was incredibly dangerous, considering the altitude of Cloudsdale.
“Where are you taking me Sass?”
“Don’t worry, Sugar. We’re almost there now.”
Rainbow couldn’t help but giggle with giddy excitement, she loved surprises.
Sass stopped suddenly, causing Rainbow to nearly trip.
“Here we are, Rainbow!” Sass undid the scarf and stood back with a flourish.
Rainbow looked up at the building presented before her. Her mouth dropped to the floor.
Sass laughed. “I thought you’d like it.”
“Seriously? Cloud 9? This is, like, the most expensive spa in Cloudsdale!” she spoke excitedly.
“I know, but me and the girls thought we needed to celebrate the good news, so we pulled together and got us in here for the day.”
Rainbow turned and jumped onto Sass to hug her. “Thank you so much!”
“You’re welcome, Honey. Now we just need to wait for those other two to get here.”
Rainbow let go of Sass and started bouncing on her hooves excitedly. “Who else is coming?”
“Cloud and Dove Wings.”
“Aww, that will be nice. Dove deserves to be pampered.”
“What about the rest of us?” Sass pretended to be insulted, but it didn’t work as she started smiling instantly.
“HI!” shouted a dark blue mare, waving a hoof frantically in the air. She was being followed by a sunny yellow mare who also waved, although less enthusiastically.
“Heyya Cloud. Hi Dove!” Rainbow shouted back and waved before trotting over to them and taking them both in a hug. “Thanks so much for organising this!”
“It’s our pleasure Rainbow,” Dove replied. “And besides, we all get something out of this.”
“C’mon girls,” Sass started sternly. “We can get all this outta our systems later. Let’s get inside and have us some massages.” She shuddered with anticipation as the idea came into mind, she couldn’t wait.

“Hello, and welcome to Cloud 9. How may I help you?” said the receptionist with an unbearably airy voice, and to top things off she was wearing just a little too much makeup.
“Hi there, Darling. I'm Sass, we should be on the register.” Sass was so confident with her words.
“Hold on a moment please, let me just go and check.” The mare behind the counter turned and went to find the appointment book.
Sass leant down to Rainbow’s ear. “I think she’s got a face on her makeup,” she whispered.
Rainbow had to hold back her laughter as the receptionist returned, but this only made it harder to do so and so she brought up a hoof to her mouth to assist.
The mare dropped the book on the counter with a loud thud. “Okay then, Sass… Sass… Sass…” she muttered to herself as she tried to find the name. “A-HA! Here it is! Sass and three others.” She rang a bell on the counter top and summoned a spa worker.
“Yes?” said the stallion as he walked through the doors. He was very tall. Dove nearly swooned at the sight of him.
“Please can you take these customers off to the gold section.” Her smile as she said this was eye cringing.
“Gold section, ay?” He looked at the mares in the lobby, all of whom were staring dreamily at him. “You lucky mares. Please, follow me.” He turned elegantly, creating a little draft with his flared wings.
Rainbow and her friends watched him as he started walking, transfixed by his rugged good looks and strong, powerful legs as they moved his body forward. He was nearly through the door before they realised they should be following and not just watching. They quickly trotted after him.

The four mares were lying on the massage tables, being massaged away to heaven. They could see where their money was going.
Rainbow couldn’t believe how much she was enjoying this, she didn’t even know it was possible to feel so good.
“Oh Sass,” she said dreamily.
“Yeah Honey?” she responded with just as little focus.
“This is the best gift ever. Thanks so much,” Rainbow tried to say, but her words were muffled by her own lack of coherence at that point.
Rainbow’s eyes suddenly widened from their previous, almost closed state. She felt incredibly wrong. She had forgotten her glasses. She felt so exposed without them.
She groaned and gestured for the masseuse to stop, who did so courteously. Rainbow pushed herself into a sitting position.
“Sass, I need to go get my glasses.”
“Okay,” she mumbled, waving a hoof in Rainbow’s general direction. She didn’t even think about questioning the need for glasses at a spa.
“Will you be here when I get back?”
Sass couldn’t respond anymore, she was too far gone into the realms of bliss.
“Sass?”
“I’ll tell them where you’ve gone, and we will still be here. I don’t want you to miss out on our finest massage,” said the masseuse politely.
“Thanks. I shouldn’t be long.” Rainbow jumped of the table found her way to the reception area.
“Is everything alright, Miss Swirl?” asked the receptionist with an ear gratingly happy tone as she saw the pregnant Pegasus leaving early.
“Yes, everything’s fine, thank you. I just need to pop home for something. I shouldn’t be too long.”
“Okay, I will see you when you return. Take care now.” She smiled broadly.
Rainbow wanted to punch her, she was infuriatingly cheerful. But she resisted the urge and smiled back before leaving the spa.
She put on a fast pace, wanting to miss as little of her spa day as possible.

Rainbow was enjoying her walk back immensely. She liked being pampered and all, but the crisp fresh air made was a pleasant break, revitalising her before she got lost again in heaven.
It wasn’t too long a walk, she was back in little over half an hour. She walked through the front door of her house, humming a tune.
“Hey Red? It’s just me. I forgot my gla-.” She stopped dead in her tracks. She saw the sight of her husband, in the living room, having sex with the mare next door.
She was so angry thoughts escaped her. Her body had frozen completely with such rage, the sight and sounds of the two Pegasi only fuelling her inexorable wrath. Every grunt coming from her husband was like another betrayal, and that mare she once considered a friend had a new place in her heart. A place where only hatred and lava existed.
Rainbow did something she hadn’t known possible until just then. She raised her hoof and swung it around. A whip of storm cloud formed and cracked a bolt of lightning right between the beast with two backs making a mess on her carpet.
They stopped abruptly, both panting as their breath was being caught. Red knew exactly who it was, he didn’t even turn around to face her.
“Hello dear,” he said menacingly.
Rainbow ignored him, instead she stormed up to the pair and grabbed the mare by her mane. She pulled her hard, nearly ripping out a huge clump of hair from her ugly head.
She shuddered as she accidentally glanced down at the disgusting sight between those two Pegasi; it made the whole thing more real. She couldn’t look at either of them as she tried to compose her thoughts.
Once thinking clearer, she turned her gaze to the mare she had by the mane as she raised her to her eye level.
“Get out of my house you stuPID WHORE!!!!” Rainbow roared at her right in her disgusting little face.
Her mane seemed to spark with electricity as she dragged the mare through the living room and threw her out the door with phenomenal strength. Her body quaked as she watched the heap of Pony collide with the hard road outside, making a delightful crashing sound which Rainbow found so incredibly satisfying.
Red sighed exhaustedly at Rainbow, but not because of the vigorous workout he had just been doing. He turned slowly to face her. “I thought you’d be home later,” his voice was quiet and emotionless.
“I thought you’d be loyal to me,” Rainbow retorted angrily.
“I was. For the first year or so. But then you got frigid. I had to get action from somewhere, now didn’t I?” he spoke with such anger and condescension that Rainbow could have punched a hole straight through him.
“Actually, I seem to recall that it was YOU that went frigid. I remember asking you many a night, but no, you just said you were tired and went to sleep.
“I was tempted so many times to cheat, and it wouldn’t have been hard, I’ve seen the way colts look at me. And who could blame them? But no, unlike you I can keep a vow. Unlike you I have strong enough willpower to overcome such stupid temptations. Unlike you, I am LOYAL. But hay, I bet you don’t even know what loyalty is.” Rainbow visibly shook as each of these words left her lips.
“Well, unlike YOU, I know an opportunity when I see one.”
This was one step too far for Rainbow. She raised her hoof and brought it down with all her might and anger against Red’s traitorous face, with the tip of her hoof cutting his cheek badly.
Red tapped his hoof against his cheek and winced in mild pain as he felt the fresh, tender cut. He looked at the blood on his hoof and then to Rainbow. A rage boiled inside him now. He stood up and walked in front of her. He drew his hoof back and then launched it forward.
Rainbow stumbled backwards, clutching at her eye. She could already feel it becoming bruised.
“I didn’t even want children.”
Rainbow’s mane lit up with lightning. Never before had she been that angry.
“You. Absolute. Unfaithful. Bucking. Bastard.” Her heart pounded, adrenaline coursing through her body in such massive quantities she felt like she was going to erupt into flame.
“Yeah yeah, I know,” he said as if bored with her.
“You would have made a terrible father.”
“And YOU would have made a terrible mother,” he growled at her.
This was the last straw for Rainbow. She raised herself up onto her hind legs to bring them down again and crush his idiotic head. But Red was too quick for her as he moved his hoof to punch her again, only this time in her chest.

Rainbow stumbled backwards and fell to her haunches, clutching at her chest. She found it hard to breath for a moment, she thought he had done something with more permanent damage, other than just winding her terribly.
She couldn’t believe what he had just done, she stared at him in disbelief, and he wore an evil smile. She could feel tears starting to form in her eyes. She looked back to her now ex-husband, her eyes glazed with tears that started spilling down her cheeks, yet her voice retained a powerful and commanding tone.
“You are to have nothing to do with my child. I do not want any money from you. I do not want any contact with you. I do not want you to even know my child’s name. As from now, you are no longer allowed to say you have taken any part in my child. You are not allowed to ever see or speak to my child. As of now, my child has no father.
“Now, get the buck out of my house. I never want to know of you again.”

Red said nothing, he just smiled with relief and walked straight out of the door without so much as a thought to look back.

The door swung closed gently and clicked into place. Rainbow remained sat on the floor motionless for a while. It was some time before she did anything.

“My mum bought me that rug,” Rainbow said out loud to herself. “I really liked it as well… And now I have to burn it.”

7 Months

Dash, Swirl and Shine were up to something. The kitchen was empty of Ponies, save for the three, seven month old fillies, and the target was in sight. It was a cupboard at the top, where their mother kept things she didn’t want them to get their hooves on.
Silently, they careful pushed a stool across the floor, making sure to not make a sound, as they would wake their mother. Once in position, Dash climbed onto Shine’s back and then jumped up onto the stool, with Swirl steadying it.
Dash jumped onto the worktop, carefully avoiding hitting anything likely to make a sound. A mischievous smile curled to her lips as she began sneaking, pressing her body close against the surface.
She reached her first target, the cutlery draw, which she opened and took three spoons in her mouth. She threw them down onto the floor, making a clattering sound against the tiles.
Their mother stirred slightly. The three fillies froze instantly as they heard her, gasping slightly with fear of being caught.
They couldn’t hear their mother move anymore, no hooves on the ground could be heard. They assumed it was safe to carry on.
Dash looked around for things to climb. She decided on the toaster. She jumped up delicately, her hooves barely making a sound on the metal device.
She looked around again, sizing up her task ahead of her. She hunkered down again, licking her lips with her eagerness. She raised the wings, giving them a little but strong flutter. She readied herself, raising her flank as she prepared to pounce.
She jumped, pumping her little wings as hard as she could, managing to extend her jump just far enough so she could grab hold of the cupboard handle in her mouth.
She gripped strongly in her newly formed teeth, not wanting to let go; she had worked too hard to get there to fail now. She glanced down at her sisters; they were smiling at her, their mouths watering as they thought of the imminent treat.
Dash pumped her wings again as hard as she could, causing the door to swing open with her attached to the handle. She giggled; their mission was almost a success.
Shine and Swirl smiled bigger as they saw the object of their desire, glistening in the sunlight. They ran off and got the broom, returning moments later with it tucked under their wings. They positioned themselves, Swirl standing in front on her back legs, balancing on the stool, with Shine behind her and using Swirl’s shoulder as a pivot.
With a surprising amount of precision for a seven month old filly, Shine knocked the box out of the cupboard. It fell to the floor, creating a white cloud in the air, colouring their coats.
Dash fell afterwards, using her wings to slow her descent.
The three of them each grabbed a spoon and went wild at the box of icing sugar.

The box of sugar was nearing emptiness when Shine sneezed.
Rainbow’s eyes shot open as she heard her daughter. She fumbled herself into a sitting position on the sofa.
Dash, Swirl and Shine gasped slightly as they heard their mother wake up. They looked between each other nervously before darting under the nearby dining room table. They huddled together in the corner, their now white coats blended into the cloud floor giving them some good cover.

Rainbow looked around confusedly. “How long have I been asleep? I could have sworn I just shut my eyes.”
She looked up at the clock and gasped. “Oh Celestia, it’s four o’clock, and I haven’t given the girls lunch yet!” Panic washed over her face.
“Oh Sweet Celestia where are they?!” She looked around worriedly, gnawing at her hoof with nerves, but she quickly calmed herself as she knew they would be fine.
She stood up from the sofa and stretched her tired limbs before going in search of her daughters.
“Now, where are you?” she called out through the house.
She walked into the kitchen and saw the mess. “What’s been going on here?”
She looked at the abandoned box of icing sugar and the three spoons beside it. She felt slightly angry at them, now they wouldn’t want to eat their tea later. But then she saw everything else; the stool in position by the work surface and the broom strewn upon the floor.
She walked to the open cupboard and shut it, feeling the small teeth marks in the handle. She laughed.
“Oh you clever little fillies.” She was impressed by them. “If it weren’t for you eating all the icing sugar I would have given you a treat for your ingenuity. But no, now I have to punish you,” she said in a friendly, playful manner.
Rainbow put on a mischievous smile. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” she sang childishly.
She started walking around slowly, peering into cupboards.
“Are you in… HERE?!” she said as she pulled open the cupboard under the sink. “Drat.”
She moved out of the kitchen. “Where are you?” she sang again.

The three fillies started shaking as their mother approached the table slowly. They knew they were about to be caught.
Rainbow’s eyes looked under the table and scanned over the floor. Her children blended in too well in the shadows for her to see them, so they were safe for a little longer.
They sighed quietly with relief as their mother walked away.
Dash stood up silently and started to creep out from cover. Her sisters tried to pull her back but there was still no tail to grab hold of.
She sneaked into the kitchen, being careful to not to make a sound. She wanted more icing sugar, so she planned on carefully lifting the box and taking it back with her under the table for her and her sisters.
Dash lifted the box, spilling a little more sugar onto her already white coat.
“There you are,” said the voice Dash knew all too well.
Dash froze.
“Come here you.”
Dash didn’t move, hoping that she wouldn’t see her anymore.
Rainbow approached Dash, and broke down into laughter. “Look at you! You’re completely white!”
Dash smiled at her, not hearing her mother’s angry voice was relieving.
“We better get you in the bath.”
That was the wrong choice of words. Dash’s face soured and contorted as she started screaming. She ran through her mother’s legs, avoiding capture, and through the dining room, where she was joined by her sisters.
The three of them now ran, all screaming at the prospect of a bath, leaving a trail of white powder hanging in the air as they did so.
“Come back here!” Rainbow laughed as she started chasing them. Somehow, their screaming was adorable.
Rainbow ran after them into the living room, gaining on them.
The three fillies tried to run faster, but their mother was too fast for them.
Rainbow jumped and grabbed her children, rolling to the ground and onto her back, with her daughters on her chest, struggling to fee themselves. She started laughing.
“Oh you silly fillies! It’s only a bath!”
Rainbow carefully placed a daughter under each wing, holding them tightly against her sides. She then stood up and held the third with a leg.

She carried her squirming children up the stairs and into the bathroom, making sure to lock the door behind her before letting them go.
“There, no escape now. You’re going to have to take a bath now! HAHAHA!” she said with a playful tone of an evil genius.
She trotted over to the bath and started the taps running. But when she turned round, she couldn’t help but giggle.
Shine stood at the bottom, with Swirl on her back. Dash took a little run up and jumped from Swirl’s back to the latch, gripping it in her mouth. She then carefully pushed herself across the door and unlocked it. She reached up with a hoof and tried to pull down on the handle, but was struggling with it.
“No you don’t,” Rainbow said defiantly as she marched up to Dash and grabbed her. She slid her daughter back across and locked the door using her mouth.
“You’re not getting away that easily.” She gently put her daughter back on the ground and moved the other two away. She moved a plant pot to where they were standing, blocking the door with a heavy plant and a large amount of leaves.
“Try escaping now,” she challenged, although she shouldn’t have, because Dash tried valiantly to move it by charging at it head first.
Dash fell back and started rubbing her injured head. She was on the brink of tears.
“Oh you silly girl,” Rainbow said affectionately yet sternly as she bent down and picked her up. She placed her over her shoulder and hugged her. “Don’t cry,” she whispered caringly into her ear. “Do you want mummy to kiss it better?” she asked hopefully.
Dash nodded her head slowly, drying her eyes on her hoof.
Rainbow smiled, only Dash ever seemed to accept that offer, the other two hated the idea. Rainbow kissed Dash’s forehead with a slightly exaggerated kissing sound, making her giggle in the way only a small child could do.
“There we go, all better,” she lied; she could already see a bump forming. She then carefully set Dash down with her sisters.
She looked to her three daughters, all of which were looking forlornly at the bath slowly filling with water. The thundering of the water did not inspire confidence in them.
“Oh I know what will cheer you up,” she said with a grin as she found the bubble bath and poured a large amount into the water.
Her children’s faces lit up as they saw the tower of bubbles rising above the rim of the bath.
Rainbow saw them and lit up herself. She went through a lot of that particular bath product, but it was worth it just to watch them play in it.
She tested the water with a hoof. “Perfect,” she commented as she turned the taps off. “C’mon girls, hop-.”
She was interrupted by the three of them lunging past her and into the bubbles, splashing water all over the bathroom, except for Shine, who struggled to get over the rim of the bath, trying to pull herself over with great effort.
Rainbow chuckled and gave her nudge, and she fell in with a splash and a laugh.

Rainbow sat on the floor, leaning on the edge of the bath with her face resting on a hoof, and her other hoof swirling lazily in the water as she watched her three daughters have a bubble fight. She wished she was still that young, just so she could join in; it looked so much fun.
A large collection of high pitched, childish laughs came from the three fillies with every splash of water or throw of a bubble.
Dash would hit the surface of the water and throw it everywhere, laughing constantly as she did. Swirl grabbed huge amounts of bubbles in her hooves and blew them everywhere, creating yet more laughter.
Shine wouldn’t get involved as much, she generally preferred watching her sisters do everything and laugh at the results.
Rainbow never understood why they hated having baths when they clearly had so much fun. It appeared to be far more enjoyable than anything they would do outside of the bath, and Rainbow found it so entertaining that she never realised the time passing.

Rainbow looked to the clock once she noticed the amount of bubbles in the bath decreasing rapidly, and her face fell into a frown. It had been 45 minutes, they shouldn’t have baths that long, and she had been told it wasn’t good for them, even though she could never tell why.
She frowned, and moved her hoof to top up the bath with hot water, causing the sound of childish happiness to cease instantly.
The three fillies watched as the water cascaded from the tap and into the bath. That glee they had in their eyes disappeared in seconds and their faces became solemn. They knew what this meant.
Rainbow was saddened by their sudden lack of excitement.
“Don’t get all sad, you knew that this moment would come. Why else did you think you were having a bath?” she asked them, expecting no answer, and getting precisely that.

“Stop squirming, Dashie,” Rainbow said through gritted teeth as she wrestled Dash in her grasp. “C’mon! Now you have some mane I'm going to have to wash it at least once a week. Just like your sisters.”
Dash wasn’t having any of it; she pulled herself away from her mother’s hooves and swam away to safety at the other side of the bath.
Rainbow scowled and launched her hoof forward, grabbing her daughter’s leg and pulling her back to her.
“Dash. Stop it,” she said authoritatively, like a parent.
Dash didn’t like it when her mother spoke like that and still tried to swim away, but as valiant as her attempts might have been, she was momentarily back under the hoof of her mother.
“I promise it won’t hurt, Dashie,” she said in her more caring voice that Dash preferred. “But only if you stop struggling.”
Her daughter hesitantly calmed down and let her continue to wash her mane.
Rainbow gently massaged the scalp of her daughter, washing her newly formed mane. Rainbow was so happy to see that her mane was actually rainbow coloured, and was now about a quarter of a hoof long. She couldn’t wait to see her tail.
Rainbow filled a jug with warm water and rinsed her daughter’s mane, gently pouring the water over her head and stroking her hoof through the hairs and removing the foam.
“There,” she said softly once she finished. “Is that better?” she asked, although she didn’t know why, seeing as she couldn’t talk.
“Mummy,” said Dash. Rainbow stared wide eyed with shock at her daughter. It was so sudden, she hadn’t shown any signs of starting to talk, and barely a syllable ever left her lips.
“Mummy?” the other two fillies took in turns to say in a confused tone, looking to Dash as they did.
Dash pointed her hoof to Rainbow. “Mummy,” she reiterated.
Shine and Swirl looked at each other. “Mummy?” they said together.
“Mummy!” Dash repeated, trying to get the point across.
Shine and Swirl looked back to their mother, and after a moment of consideration, the sudden realisation dawned on them and they started smiling.
“Mummy!” all three fillies shouted in perfect unison.
Rainbow started laughing, tears of joy rolling down her cheeks. She reached forward and took her daughters from the bath and held them tight against her chest, not caring about getting wet.

“Oh you three,” she said with a few leftover giggles escaping her system. “I love you so much. Go on, say it again,” she asked.
All three of them furrowed their brows as they tried to comprehend what she had said. In the end, they all shrugged their shoulders and instead just hugged her.
Rainbow didn’t mind that either. She hugged back just as tightly. She hadn’t been so happy since she gave birth to them; that’s only seven months ago but she was having the best time of her life with her children. Before then it would have been when she found out it was she was having triplets.

Sass knocked on the door and walked in. “Rainbow?” she called out through the house.
“I'm up here!” Rainbow shouted down from upstairs.
Sass trotted up the stairs, stopping at the top. “Rainbow?”
“In here!” Rainbow shouted from the spare room.
Sass followed the voice, which had resumed its melodic humming.
Sass walked through the open door. “Heyya Rainbow. It’s time to-!” she stopped mid sentence, distracted by the sight.
“Hey Sass,” Rainbow said from atop the stepladder she was perched as she spun round to see her friend, with a paint palette in one hoof and a brush in the other. Her coat was splattered in paint of all colours, yet somehow it looked fashionable.
“Wow, Swirly, this room is amazing,” Sass was awestruck.
“Hey, only Nana can call me Swirly,” Rainbow said while pointing her brush at the Pegasus with a serious scowl on her face
“I'm sorry, I know. But still, this room is…” she couldn’t find the word.
“I know, it’s awesome, isn’t it?” Rainbow said with a huge sense of pride. She looked at her work which she had been doing for the past few weeks.
“What was even like before?”
“It was a dull beige before. We- no, I only ever used it for storage, so I thought it would make an awesome nursery.”
“You’re not wrong there, Sugar.”
“Y’see, what I was going to do all over the room was like on the wall over there.” Rainbow pointed to wall opposite. Painted on it was a plain of grass, with a few mountains in the distance. There were also many flowers painted over it. None of it was done to less than a professional standard; it was far beyond the skill range of a normal Pegasus, but that’s understandable seeing that is one of her special talents.
“You know how much kids like grass and flowers.”
She turned on her seat on the ladder to face the wall behind Sass. “And that one,” she said as she pointed to it. “I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing, I just went crazy with the paints.”
“I can see that. But it looks good.”
The wall in question was striped diagonally for half of its length in a repeating sequence of rainbows separated with strips of snaking sky blue and white, but after that it became semi-chaotic with flicks of paint and random splodges all over the place, but somehow the two styles flowed seamlessly into each other.
She turned once again to face the third wall. “I knew what I was doing here this time. And I just had to paint one, didn’t I?”
This wall was sky blue with masterfully painted clouds scattered about it, and rainbows linking them together and giving a wonderful sense of perception and distance.
Sass let out a laugh. “I can see you like rainbows,” she jested.
“Of course I do,” Rainbow retorted. “They are in my name after all.”
“But why?”
“What? Why does my name have rainbow in it? Haven’t you seen me?” She said while arrogantly swishing her mane back. She may have been trying to be sarcastic, but with a mane like hers she couldn’t possibly achieve that.
“No. I mean why all the colour?”
“Oh. Yeah.” She giggled sheepishly. “Well, I was thinking, the usual colour for girls is pink, isn’t it. I was gonna do that, but it’s so dull, so I decided for something more colourful.”
“I see your still hoping for a girl.”
“Yep.”
“Have you ever thought of what’s gonna happen if you have a boy?” Sass asked in a serious tone; her friend had been going on for the past two months about having a daughter, and was worried how she would react if it was a colt that she birthed.
“I'm having a girl, Sass, I can feel it,” Rainbow stated confidently.
“Okay, Sugar. But please, remember that there’s still a possibility that it won’t be a-.”
“Sass,” Rainbow interjected. “I know. But I want a girl so bad.”
She sighed. “I don’t know why, but I do. I just love the idea of having a little filly I can raise to be just like me. I wouldn’t know what to do with a colt, if I'm honest. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still love him, but he’s just not a filly.”
“Okay, Rainbow. But I know what you’re feeling. I wanted a filly as well but then Coal was born. I wasn’t prepared for a colt at all, but you will adjust to it, Sugar, and it won’t take long either.”
“Yeah, I know. But I can always hope, can’t I?”
“You sure can, Sugar,” Sass replied with a much more enthusiastic tone. “Now tell me, what about this here fourth wall? It’s still blank.”
“Well this.” Rainbow turned back to the wall. “This is going to be my masterpiece!” she shouted confidently, throwing her forelegs out to exaggerate her point. “What I'm gonna do is paint a magnificent sunrise, so my child will always wake up to something beautiful no matter what the weather is.”
Rainbow looked at the blank wall. A smile slowly spread over her face, getting wider and wider, as she imagined the layers of paint being applied to the wall, gradually becoming thicker and mixing together to create the masterpiece she envisioned.
“Sounds good.” Sass looked to a clock in the centre of the room. “Damn. C’mon Rainbow, we need to get going. Your scan’s in half an hour. And we need to walk to the hospital seeing as that pregnant belly of yours can’t handle the strain of flying.”
“Yeah! I love it!” she beamed and wrapped her hooves around her stomach, hugging it almost. She loved it, and felt strangely proud to be pregnant.
“C’mon Rainbow. We need to get going.”
“Yes Mother,” Rainbow said sarcastically. She jumped down from the ladder with a dainty thud and swept her mane out of the way of her eyes.
“Also, I also plan on doing with the fourth wall, “Rainbow continued. “Is, when she’s old enough, paint my daughter in the corner, standing on a cloud all dramatic like, looking into the sun.”
Sass looked down at her, judging her again for her insistence on having a filly.
“Just… shut up,” Rainbow muttered with a giggle.

They arrived at the hospital a little over half an hour later, panting as they jogged through the front door and up to the reception desk.
“Hi… Nurse… phew!” she panted, struggling to breath now and thinking how she should probably get a little more exercise.
“Are you alright, Miss?” asked the nurse with great concern.
Sass raised a hoof to dismiss her, allowing Rainbow to step forward and talk since she had almost recovered.
“Hi. Sorry we’re late. I'm due for a scan.”
“Alright then. What’s your name?”
“Rainbow Swirl.”
“Okay, just give me a sec.” She started rummaging papers strewn upon her desk. “Here we are!” she said triumphantly while holding up a piece a paper and sliding it across to Rainbow. “Sign here please.”
Rainbow nodded and took a pen in mouth and signed her name with extraordinary elegance. She gave the sheet back to the nurse.
“Thank you. Now if you would please go down the corridor and take a left, in room 5 Doctor Nurse is waiting for you.”
“Thanks,” Rainbow chirped happily and headed excitedly to the room with Sass following at a much slower pace, still trying to recover from her physical exertion.

Rainbow found the room easily. She was about to walk in, but she hesitated when she looked round and saw a lack of yellow Pegasus.
“Sass?” she called out down the corridor.
“I'm coming,” came a tired voice in reply. “Just go in, I’ll be there in a sec.”
Rainbow smiled, even though Sass couldn’t see, and walked in.

The doctor looked up as he heard the door open and hoofsteps on the hard floor. “Ah. Miss Rainbow Swirl , I presume.” He raised an eyebrow at her that screamed annoyance and aggravation.
“Yep, that’s me!” she chirped happily. “And sorry I'm late,” her voice became lower and more serious. “I was painting and got a little carried away, and I’m finding it hard to fly with this pregnant belly.”
The doctor chuckled. “I can see that!”
Rainbow scowled. “And just what is that supposed to mean?” she asked mildly peeved. “Are you saying that my no flying is making me fat?” She tried to keep a straight face but it failed as it curled into a smile.
“No, not at all,” he replied with the same chuckle. “I was saying you’re spattered in paint,” he said while gesturing at her multicoloured coat.
Rainbow looked down at her body. “Oh yeah,” she said in a slow voice as she just realised the paint on her coat. “I never noticed.”
“It’s okay. Now, please have a seat,” he said politely as pointed to the hospital bed.
Rainbow smiled at him and jumped up onto the bed, sighing slightly as she took the weight off her hooves.
“Now, Miss Rainbow, just relax,” he said calmly as he pushed his seat next to the bed. “Lie down, please.”
Rainbow nodded and rolled onto her back.
“Thanks,” he said before he stretched some latex covers over his front hooves.
“A-are those really necessary?” Rainbow asked nervously. “It’s only a scan; you’re not going to do anything else, are you?”
“Don’t worry. It’s just health and safety. I have to, by law, wear these stupid things for everything. Even blood tests!” he stated exasperatedly.
Rainbow tensed up at the thought of blood tests
Doctor Nurse looked up and saw her face flooded with horror. “Don’t panic. You don’t need a blood test,” he said reassuringly. “Just relax.” He placed his hoof on her shoulder.
Rainbow winced at first when she felt his hoof, but quickly relaxed once she felt the affection in the appendage.
Sass walked in. “Sorry I'm-.” She stopped dead her tracks; her face was awash with confusion as she saw the position they were in and the panic-stricken faces they both wore as she walked in.
“Should I come back later?” she jested.
Rainbow laughed a little. “Oh Sass, stop it.”
“Yes,” Nurse was not amused. “Please, have a seat,” he pointed to another chair.
Sass took the chair and pushed to Rainbow’s side, and sat on it, placing a hoof on Rainbow’s as she did.
“Alright, Miss Rainbow, before we start, how has it been going?”
“Well, apart from the inability to fly, pretty good actually.”
“That’s good to hear. But the flying thing is a little… peculiar.”
Rainbow became worried. “How so?”
“Well, you’re two months pregnant, aren’t you?”
Rainbow nodded.
“The usual time for Pegasi to find it hard to fly is six months, but it varies from Pony to Pony, of course. It’s nothing to worry about, but tell me, why? How do you feel when trying to fly?”
Rainbow screwed her face up as she thought hard about flying. She hadn’t even tried for a few weeks. “I don’t quite remember. It just feels… tight, I think…”
“Where?”
“Here,” she said as she moved her hoof over her stomach, outlining a wide strip across the centre of her bump.
“Hm.” Nurse moved his hoof and gently pressed into her stomach. “Definitely feels very firm.”
“Is that good?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes, it’s nothing to worry about. Is there anything else you have to tell me?”
“Like what?”
“How are you feeling? Any cravings? Any mood swings?”
“Mood swings? I don’t think so.”
Sass let out a single, incredible loud laugh, making Rainbow give her an evil stare.
“Are they bad at all?” Nurse asked Sass.
“Not really. Pretty damn mild if ya ask me. Nowhere near as bad as me with my kids.”
“Oh yeah,” Rainbow said as she remembered Sass’s pregnancies. “That just got scary.”
Nurse smiled slightly, but fortunately Sass didn’t realise it.
“But cravings, yeah,” she admitted embarrassedly.
“Really?” Nurse asked with a smile quickly appearing in his face. He had heard so many weird cravings it became an amusing part of his job. “Like what?”
“Well…” Rainbow looked side to side nervously. “Y’know… pigs…?”
“What?” He hadn’t heard that one before. “Pigs?”
“Yeah.” She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “I don’t know why, but I just want to get a pig, get a big chunk of it, and roast in the oven with lots of garlic and potatoes in an inch of butter. And then smother it in gravy and eat it with plenty of fresh vegetables.” Rainbow licked her lips at the thought of eating a pig.
“That’s… a weird one. You haven’t, have you?” he asked nervously.
“What?” she was slightly insulted by the idea. “Oh Celestia no! I wouldn’t dare do that!”
“But… you’ve clearly put a lot of thought into it.”
“So? I have a lot of free time. I just let my mind wander and it just ends up there.”
“I see…” Nurse eyed her suspiciously for a second before shaking away his thoughts; he couldn’t help but think that the idea of a bit of roasted pig sounded appetising and he didn’t like thinking that at all.
“Anyway,” he said suddenly. “Let’s get this scan done and then we can go home!” he said enthusiastically and spun his chair to the side. He pulled a large screen in front of him and grabbed tube.
He turned back to Rainbow and started squeezing the gel onto her stomach.
Rainbow jerked and giggled. “That’s cold,” she laughed.
“Please, try to stay still.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll try,” she said, still giggling slightly.
Nurse placed the tube down and rubbed the gel in slightly before grabbing the probe and switching the machine on. It began sending out loud pulses of sound at regular intervals.
“That’s louder than I expected,” Rainbow said as she tensed up slightly with nervousness.
“Don’t worry, Miss Rainbow, it will be done in a jiffy,” Nurse reassured her. “Now just relax.”
He gently pushed the probe into Rainbow’s stomach.
Rainbow felt a strange sensation as the sound powered through her body, resonating inside her stomach. She couldn’t tell if she enjoyed it or not. “This feels so weird,” she said in a slightly pleased voice.
Nurse chuckled and started moving the probe around her stomach.

His eyes didn’t leave the screen for a few seconds as he scanned the image before him. Eventually, about half a minute later, he spoke again. “There you are,” he said largely to himself.
“How is it, Doctor?” Rainbow asked, but was silenced by the doctor’s hoof and a small hiss.
His eyes narrowed as he focused on the screen. His brow furrowed as he judged the information the scan gave him. He eventually started nodding to himself.
“Good. That’s good!” he announced.
Rainbow sighed with relief. “That’s fantastic!”
“Do you want to see?” he asked, but he didn’t wait for an answer as he knew it would be yes. He turned the screen to face her.
Rainbow craned her neck forward show she could see it. The smile on her face quickly soured slightly.
“What am I looking at?” she asked as if ashamed she had to ask.
Nurse leaned round the screen and took a pen in hoof, and touched it to the screen. “Don’t worry, most Ponies don’t know what to look at.” He moved the pen across the screen. “Here,” he said as he started to tap the glass.
Rainbow squinted at the screen. Through the fuzziness, she could just make out the vague shape of a Pony. She smiled. “Wow,” she said on the brink of laughter. “That’s my baby.”
“Yep. And here.” He moved the pen a couple inches away. “Is the second.”
Rainbow’s face lit up. “What?”
Nurse let out a little laugh. “And here!” he moved his pen again. “Is the third.”
“What?” she said with great disbelief. She focused on the screen again; she could now see three Pony shapes. “Seriously? Triplets?”
Nurse nodded, trying to gauge her reaction to the news.
Rainbow’s face broke into a smile. “Triplets!” she shouted excitedly. “Oh sweet Celestia TRIPLETS” she shouted once again.
Nurse broke out into a hearty laugh as he watched Rainbow smiling uncontrollably and starting to shake with happiness.
“SASS! TRIPLETS!” she shouted again, throwing her legs forward and hugging her friend tightly. “Triplets,” she repeated again but in a much quieter tone, with tears to start to fall down her cheeks.
“I know, Rainbow,” Sass replied, happy for her friend. “I know.”
“Do you know what that means?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Sass tittered. “Three kids.”
“And not only that. It TRIPLES the chance of having a filly!” she said agitatedly, now starting to bounce in her seat as she thought of her increased odds.
“I could tell you the sex of them, if you want?” Nurse said quickly, already starting to look at the screen to determine their gender.
“No,” Rainbow replied swiftly, shocking him with the sudden seriousness in her voice. “I don’t want to know yet.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I like the anticipation. And also, if they were all colts, I don’t want to know yet. I want, at least, a few months to live in hope for at least one filly.”
“Fair enough. But I you change your mind, just let me know.” He turned back to the screen and satisfied his own curiosity. He had to keep his face as straight as possible now. He couldn’t wait to see her after giving birth, just so he could see how happy she will be after having three fillies.

Doctor Nurse passed a towel to Rainbow. “Here. Wipe that gunk of. It can get horribly slimy on your coat.”
Rainbow was still smiling with the thought of triplets swimming in her mind as she took the towel and wiped her stomach. “Thanks.”
“I’d still have a shower if I were you.”
“Okay.”
He looked around idly. “Well… I believe we’re done here.”
“Thank you, Doctor!” Rainbow said happily. She jumped down off the bed and walked round to the doctor. She hugged him, if not awkwardly, and whispered to him. “Really, thank you so much.”
“It’s no problem at all,” he whispered back. He pulled back from the hug. “And if you have any problems or questions, please, don’t hesitate to call me.”
“I won’t.” Rainbow turned back around to leave. “Bye Doctor!” she called happily.
“Bye, Doc,” Sass said as she followed her friend.
“Your scan will be at reception if you want it.”
“Thanks Doc,” Rainbow said over her shoulder. “Bye!”
“Bye,” he said after her.
Rainbow turned to Sass. “Triplets!” she squealed quietly.

3 and a half

“So then we take all the elephants from all over the world, and put them in the zoo,” Shine said instructively to her mother, signalling the moving of elephants with her forelegs.
“Right,” Rainbow said with a little giggle. “Then what do we do with them?”
“We will have to look after them very carefully,” she added extra emphasis on the last two words. “They need a lot of food because they’re so big and fat, and they get very dirty and so need to have baths at least every other day.”
“Okay then, that’s the elephants sorted.” Rainbow adjusted her position on the sofa. “But what about the monkeys?”
Shine burst out into hysterical fits of laughter. “Don’t be so silly, Mummy. They live in the trees!”
“But why can’t they live in the zoo with the elephants?”
“Because there are no banana trees in the zoo so the monkeys won’t have any food!”
“Ah, I see.” Rainbow nodded along to her daughter’s plans. “What would we do next?”
“Then comes the dangerous part,” she said in hushed tones. She looked side to side and gestured for her mother to come closer, who happily complied. She started whispering into her ear.
“Speak up, Shiny. I can’t hear you,” she sang.
Shine giggled and spoke at normal volume. “We move the lions in with the elephants!” she said triumphantly, throwing her hooves upwards victoriously.
“Hm.” Rainbow rubbed her chin as she thought about this. “That sounds very dangerous. And I don’t think they would get along with each other very well.”
“Nah.” Shine dismissed her mother’s doubts with a wave of her hoof. “We will send them to the naughty step if they do anything bad.”
“Aaah,” Rainbow said as the epiphany came to her. “That’s sounds like a plan. But how would we get them to the zoo?”
“Now that’s the clever bit,” she said proudly. “What we do is send all the lions invitations to go on holiday and have a big, humungous party! And then, when they arrive, we lock ‘em up! And then we give them food and drink and throw the party so they will be happy.” Shine sat back with a smug look on her face.
“I see, the old fake invitations trick. But don’t you think that would be mean? Tricking them like that then locking them up? I'm pretty sure the lions wouldn’t like being tricked like that.”
Shine gave her mother a very stern look. “They’re only lions, Mummy. They are not as smart as us. They probably wouldn’t even notice.”
“But they notice when they’re having a party?”
“Of course!” Shine shouted in reply. “Everything like parties!”
Rainbow felt rather foolish now. “Okay, I see your point. But my next question is: what are they going to eat?”
“Well duh, grass!” she said condescendingly.
“Don’t say ‘duh’, Shine, it’s rude. But lions don’t eat grass.”
“We can teach them.”
“But how? I only think they like eating other animals.”
“EWW!” Shine exclaimed. “That’s disgusting!”
“I know, but they do.”
“Hmph,” she sighed. “I guess we’re going to have to make them lots of fancy meals to make them like grass. Eventually they will eat it off the floor like sheep and cows and giraffes.”
“But I thought giraffes eat from the trees?”
“I thought I told you not to be so silly, Mummy,” she said angrily. “If giraffes ate all the trees, where would the monkeys live?”
Rainbow’s brow furrowed with concentration, she couldn’t argue with that. “Good point. Now what’s next on your plan?”
“That’s all I got at the moment,” she said ashamedly.
“Well it’s a good start.” Rainbow affectionately rubbed her daughter’s mane, making her giggle like only a child could do. “I can’t wait to hear the rest of it.”
“Me neither!”
Rainbow hung her head down and breathed a quiet sigh of relief now that her daughter her stopped talking her ear off. She enjoyed her conversations with Shine, sure, but after half an hour of hearing a plan about a zoo it just got tiring.
“Mummy?” Shine started shyly.
“Yes, Shiny?” Rainbow winced as she awaited the reply.
“When’s lunch?”
Rainbow sighed again, although a little too exaggeratedly, as she heard the question. “Lunch?!” she asked in disbelief.
Shine nodded excitedly.
“But you only had breakfast an hour ago.”
“I know but I'm huuuuungry,” she moaned, rubbing her stomach to emphasise her statement.
“Hmm,” Rainbow hummed as she concentrated, with her lips pursing with thought. She took to the clock on the mantelpiece. “It’s too early for lunch now.”
“OH!” Shine whined.
“But I tell ya what,” Rainbow whispered mischievously.
Shine moved in closer. “What?” she whispered back with intrigue.
“Why don’t you have a yoghurt?”
Shine gasped and beamed with childlike glee.
“Go on. Go help yourself. But remember, save the last strawberry one for Rainbow Dash.”
Shine jumped of the sofa and trotted excitedly to the kitchen.
“I don’t tell your sisters!” she called after her daughter, who entered sneak mode as soon as she heard her mother’s words.
Rainbow chuckled to herself as she watched her daughter crawl into the kitchen, with her stomach tight against the floor and a mischievous smile on her lips.

Rainbow fell back on the sofa with a loud, tired sigh, her head fell against the soft, cloud armrest and she shut her eyes.
She rested in the mid-spring sun as it shone through the windows, with her mind swimming of animals thanks to her animal loving daughter.
She heard the clattering of cutlery coming from the kitchen and smiled.
Her mouth opened and released a loud yawn. She decided she could risk a little nap. Dash was in her room, most likely fast asleep, Swirl was sat in the dining room with her crayons and Shine was eating a yoghurt. She was certain they would wake her when they wanted something, most likely feeding.
She adjusted her position on the sofa until it became more comfortable, and drifted slowly from reality.

“Mummy?” Shine called from the kitchen.
Rainbow groaned and stirred awake with her daughter’s words. “Yes, Shiny?” she asked with a pained voice.
“Mummy?” Shine said a little louder.
“What?” Rainbow asked with a little more annoyance.
“MUMMY!” Shine screamed harshly.
Rainbow’s eyes opened instantly as she heard the small filly scream. She flicked herself up and over the armrest and galloped into the kitchen.
“Rainbow Shine! What’s wrong?!” she asked with sheer panic. She saw her daughter in the kitchen, standing on a stall by the sink, looking into the garden.
“Rainbow Dash is in the tree!” she shouted.
Rainbow spun around and darted through the door into the garden.

Swirl was standing on the edge of the small patio, looking up into the large oak tree with anticipation.
Dash stood on a high up branch, one that was slightly higher than the house, trying her best to look dramatic. Her short, almost colt-like mane blew back in the gentle breeze and her face pouting in a dramatic fashion.
“C’mon Dash,” Swirl cheered her. “JUMP!”
“NO!” shouted Rainbow as she stormed out behind Swirl. She looked down at her first filly. “Swirl, stand over there and be quiet.”
“Bu-.”
“Don’t you dare talk back. Go over there and stay quiet. I will talk to you later.”
Swirl’s eyes dampened after hearing her mother’s strict voice and then quickly followed her orders.
Rainbow watched her to make sure she was doing as she was told before turning her attention back to the high up filly.
“Rainbow Dash,” she shouted up to her.
“Hi Mummy!” Dash replied enthusiastically, waving a hoof and nearly losing her balance.
Rainbow gasped as she saw her daughter nearly fall. “Come down here now!” she shouted authoritatively.
“Okay!” Dash shouted back happily. She pushed her legs bags and ruffled her wings. She was about to jump when her mother realised her mistake a second later.
“NO DON’T!” she commanded. “Stay there. I’ll get you!” Rainbow jumped up and quickly reached the branch on which Dash stood. She grabbed Dash roughly and flew back down again, setting her down angrily on the patio after reaching it moments later.
She stood tall above her daughter, looking incredibly intimidating as she usually looked so calm and happy.
“Rainbow Dash,” she said in a calm voice that just oozed anger.
“Sorry Mummy,” Dash whimpered, now feeling terrified about her mother’s elusive wrath.
“What have I told you about the tree?” she asked her calmly.
“Sorry Mummy,” Dash whimpered again, too terrified to even say anything more.
“Dash, what have I told you about the tree?”
Dash cowered away from her mother, starting to cry.
“Dash. Look at me,” she ordered.
Dash looked up, if not hesitantly.
“What did I tell you about the tree?”
Dash’s lip quivered as she tried to speak, eventually she managed to formulate words. “We’re not allowed in the tree until we can fly.”
“That’s right. So what were you doing in the tree?”
“I-I flew there.”
“Don’t lie to me Rainbow Dash.”
“But she did!” Swirl interjected.
“Don’t interrupt, Rainbow Swirl,” she said angrily to the filly, combining the words with an angry expression.
She turned back to Dash after a few seconds of angered staring at her slightly eldest.
“Don’t lie to me, Dash. How did you get up there?”
Rainbow whimpered and started to properly cry.
“Alright, naughty step. Go.” She ordered, pointing in the direction of the staircase.
Dash looked up with pleading eyes.
“Naughty step. And I'm not going to ask you again.”
Dash looked hopefully at her mother for another moment, but saw no break in her cold, angry expression, and so she turned around and did the slow walk of shame to the step.
Rainbow followed her to the first step to make sure she did as she was told, with Swirl following her closely.

Dash reached the staircase, and gave one last, hopeful look to her mother.
“Sit,” she ordered.
Dash tensed as she heard the death sentence. She turned back to the step of shame and sat on it. She rested her head on the step above it and started crying loudly.
“I’ll be back later,” Rainbow said menacingly and left the hallway to leave her daughter to think.
Swirl laughed mockingly and blew a raspberry at Dash.
“Rainbow Swirl!” shouted her mother from the living room, being made angrier after hearing her daughter do such a rude thing.
Swirl froze with panic and fear.
Dash smiled with teary eyes and stuck her tongue out at her as her sister left to receive her sentence.

Rainbow was sat on the sofa, waiting patiently for her daughter to arrive.
“Sit down,” she ordered and gestured to the floor in front of her.
Swirl sat down obediently.
“I'm not happy with you either, Swirl.”
Swirl looked around, apparently clueless as to why.
“What you did was just as bad as Rainbow Dash.”
“But I didn’t do anything!” Swirl stated angrily. “She was in the tree, not me!”
“But, instead of coming to find me, like you sister did, you told her to jump. That is very naughty, Swirl. She could have really hurt herself, but you didn’t think of that, did you?”
Swirl stared blankly at her mother.
Rainbow sighed. “I thought as much.” She stood from the sofa and started circling the filly. “Now, you can redeem yourself if you tell me how she got in the tree.”
“She flew,” Swirl said quickly.
“Don’t lie to me. How did she get in the tree?”
“She flew! She really flew!” Swirl reiterated determinedly.
“Did you saw her fly?”
“YES!”
Rainbow scowled at her daughter as she contemplated this; Dash was at the right age to start flying.
“Fine. How did she fly to the tree?” she asked doubtfully.
“From the bedroom window.”
Rainbow considered it, it sounded plausible; the tree was at the back of the garden, and the branch she was on was high up and had no way to get to from the ground. There was no easy way to get there from the ground, so flying from a window seemed reasonable.
Rainbow decided she had to concede.
“Alright Swirl. You can go.”
Swirl jumped up excitedly and started to trot away quickly.
“But one more peep out of you, and you will go on the naughty step.”
Swirl nodded. “Can I have a yoghurt?”
“No. It’s almost lunch time.”
“But shine got one,” she said with pleading eyes.
“What did I just say about peeps, Swirl?”
Swirl quickly shut her mouth tight and continued to walk away.

Rainbow walked back into the hallway and to the staircase. She hated seeing her daughter like that; bawling her eyes out at the trouble she was in.
Rainbow sighed. She moved towards Dash, who looked up at her with fear in her eyes. She knelt down beside Dash, ensuring she was at the same level, and placed a hoof on her back and started rubbing gently.
“Dashie,” she started affectionately. “Stop crying.”
Dash ignored her and continued to cry, if anything she was now crying harder.
“Dash. Stop it. I want to talk to you.”
Dash sniffed and managed to hold back the tears enough for Rainbow to talk. She looked up to her mother and saw her loving face, which helped calm her slightly.
“Thank you, Dash. Now, tell me, how did you get in the tree?”
Dash looked away hurriedly.
“Dash. Tell me. I want to know.”
Dash sniffed again. “B-b-b-but you’ll shout at me again!” she said before starting to cry again.
“Dash, stop crying and listen.”
Dash stopped crying for her mother.
“Swirl told me you flew into the tree from the bedroom window. Is that true?”
Dash didn’t answer.
“Dash, let me tell you what’s going to happen. If you didn’t fly into the tree and got up there by some other means, you won’t be in any more trouble than you already are, and Swirl will be in lots more because she lied to me.”
Dash smiled at the idea of getting her sister into trouble.
“But, if you really did fly, and you can prove it, I will let you off the hook and give you a present.”
Dash looked intrigued. “A present?”
“Yes, a present. A Pegasus’ first flight is a very important thing, and it’s something that needs to be celebrated.”
Dash smiled bigger. “I flew up there!” she shouted proudly.
“Prove it,” Rainbow retorted while raising her eyebrow.
Dash stared at her blankly.
“If you can’t prove it, and you just lied to me, you will be in lots more trouble.”
Dash wiped her eyes and nose on her hoof. “Just wait right there,” She requested and quickly clambered up to the top of the stairs. She stood there, catching her breath after her tiring ascent.
“I'm waiting,” Rainbow sang impatiently.
Dash took a breath and prepared to jump. She unfolded her small wings and raised them high. She bent her legs and raised her flank, ready to jump. She flapped her wings as hard as she could, and launched herself off the stairs.
Rainbow gasped and prepared herself to catch her daughter, but she didn’t need to.
Dash’s face was screwed up in the effort to keep flapping. She hovered in the air, a little higher than her mother’s head, with one eye open as she tried to control herself into a slow descent.
Rainbow watched with a huge sense of pride and glee as she watched the first of her daughters fly. Her eyes followed as Dash descended to the ground before her eyes.
Dash landed delicately on the floor at her mother’s hooves, panting heavily and letting her wings fall down by her sides.

Rainbow squealed with joy and scooped Dash up in her hooves, giving her a large kiss on the cheek which Dash promptly and vigorously wiped off.
“Oh Dashie! That was awesome!” she shouted ecstatically. She pulled her daughter tight against her chest in a loving hug. “I'm so proud!”

A few moments later, Rainbow put Dash down on the floor again. “Okay Dash,” she said with a voice that shook with excitement and pride. “Tomorrow, I’ll get you a present. But for now, what do you say to ice cream for lunch?”
Dash’s face lit up and her smile grew huge. “Ice cream? For lunch?!”
Rainbow nodded excitedly.
“YES!” Dash shouted and jumped in the air, maintaining a small altitude with her wings.
“And you can have the biggest ice cream you can eat!”
Dash squeaked with joy.
Rainbow became serious for a second. “But Rainbow Dash, I'm still a little mad at you.”
“Why?” Dash asked sadly, floating to the ground again.
“Well, you terrified me when you were in that tree. I didn’t know you could fly, so I thought you were really going to hurt yourself. That’s why I was shouting, because I was scared, not because I was angry.”
“I'm sorry, Mummy,” Dash said in a very sincere voice.
“That’s okay, Dash. I forgive you. But don’t go in that tree again without me being there. You might be able to fly, but you’re not strong enough yet to go it alone.”
“Okay, Mummy, I promise.”
“Good. Now, get your jumper, it’s a little chilly today. I’ll get your sisters.”
Dash smiled happily and darted back up the stairs, pausing halfway up to fly the remainder of her ascent.
Rainbow watched and giggled before turning to rally the troops. “Girls! Who wants ice cream?!” she called out into the house.
She giggled once again after she heard their excited gasps and the sounds of hooves thundering closer to her.
Swirl and Shine stopped at her hooves, hopping eagerly on the spot.
“Go get your jumpers, my little Rainbows, and then we can go have some ice cream.”
“YAY!” they cheered as they charged up the stairs, tripping over their excited hooves.
Rainbow walked into the living room and found her handbag, returning to the hallway moments later to find her daughters, all wearing huge smiles and jumpers, waiting patiently.
Rainbow chuckled. “Alright, let’s go and get some ice scream!”

They arrived at the ice cream parlour, with the little fillies bouncing with anticipation.
Dash ran up to the counter. She flew up so she could lean on it and look at the frozen treats under the glass. She looked at it all longingly. She wanted it all.
Rainbow chuckled and stepped behind her.
“Good afternoon, Miss,” said the friendly, fairly young colt behind the counter. “How can I help?”
“Hi. I'm here for some ice cream, obviously. It my little girl’s treat for her first flight” She ruffled Dash’s short mane. “And so I said she could have the biggest ice cream on the menu.”
“Oh really now?” he said intriguingly. “Well that would be…” He took a few slow steps to the side with a raised hoof, ready to dramatically reveal the picture of what was effectively an oil drum of ice cream.
Rainbow glared at him, hoping he would understand what she was telepathically telling him.
Fortunately, he did, and so he kept moving along the line of pictures. He paused at one and looked to Rainbow for confirmation.
She nodded slightly.
He sighed. “The six scoop bowl!”
Dash gasped. “Six scoops!” She turned to her mother. “Really? I can have all of that?!” she asked excitedly.
“I did promise you didn’t I? Now tell the nice colt what flavours you want.”
Dash pressed her nose against the glass. “Err… I want… strawberry… chocolate… toffee… raspberry… mint and… pista… pisat… that green one there!”
“Alright, coming right up!” He began to eagerly fill a glass bowl with flavours she wanted.
Dash watched in awe as he piled the bowl high with ice cream.
“There we are.” He slid the bowl forward on the counter. “Is there anything else?”
Rainbow turned to her other daughters. “What do you two want?”
“I want the same as Dash!” Swirl shouted excitedly.
“I'm sorry, but I promised Dash she can have the most. But you can have five scoops.”
Swirl sighed. “Okay. Can I have the same as Dash but without the mint?”
“You sure can.”
Rainbow looked to the cashier and nodded. He nodded in reply and began filling a second bowl.
“And what about you, Shine?”
“Err… five of chocolate!”
“Are you sure? Because you can’t change your mind later.”
“Err… three chocolate and two strawberry.”
“Okay.”
Rainbow looked to the cashier who had already begun filling the third bowl.
“And I will have… a sundae, please.”
“Sundae’s take a few minutes. I will bring it to you when it’s done.”
Rainbow was confused as to why a sundae would take a while to be ready, but she didn’t question him.
She took her daughters’ ice creams to an empty table and sat down with them.
She distributed the ice cream to her children. “Tuck in, girls!”
The fillies went in with much childlike enthusiasm.

The cashier came over there table with a tray on his hoof, on which sat Rainbow’s sundae. He placed it in front of her.
Rainbow looked at the desert with slight puzzlement. She had not expected it to be that tall, or look so delicious. And the sparkler seemed a tad unnecessary, Rainbow thought.
Shine looked at it longingly, with her ice cream covered mouth which hung open in awe.
“Mummy?” Shine asked.
Rainbow sighed heavily, knowing full well what Shine was about to ask. “I asked if you were sure, and you said yes. So, no, you can’t have any of mine.” She stared at her sternly, not faltering in her look of certainness.
Shine frowned slightly, but quickly remembered the ice cream in front of her and returned to it with the appropriate amount of gusto.

“Dash, slow down,” Rainbow said for the fifth time, growing ever more annoyed with each time. “You’ll get a brain freeze!”
Right on cue, Dash dropped the spoon back into the bowl, her face contorted and she pressed her sticky hooves against her temples in the hopes to combat the pain.
Rainbow sighed and shook her head. “I told you, didn’t I?”
“Mummy?”
“Yes Swirl?”
“What’s wrong with Dash?”
“She ate her ice cream too quickly. So you two better slow down as well or the same will happen to you,” she warned, pointing a hoof accusingly at her other two daughters.
Swirl and Shine slowed down considerably to a snail’s pace with a frown.
Rainbow chuckled. “You don’t have to slow down that much. The ice cream will melt.”
The two fillies regained their smiles and sped up again to an appropriate speed.
Dash recovered from her crippling brain freeze and went back to her ice cream, but going at the slow pace of her sisters, as she did not want that to happen again.
Rainbow was now able to enjoy her sundae in peace, now her children were no longer in danger, when a mare approached them.
“Hello?” said the stranger in a friendly manner.
Rainbow looked up at her, and after less than a second of trying to recognise the Pegasus she gave up and smiled sweetly.
“Hi!” she said in a chipper tone.
“I'm Sun Beam,” the stranger introduced herself and offered her hoof for Rainbow to shake.
Rainbow took it. “I'm Rainbow Swirl. May I help you?”
“Oh, I was just walking past and saw your children, and how eager they are with their ice cream, and wanted to say hello. They are pretty adorable.”
“Why thank you,” Rainbow said proudly.
“Do you think you can introduce me to them?” Sun asked politely.
“Sure thing! This one is Swirl,” she said as she pointed to her fist child who didn’t even register anything other than her ice cream. “Named after me of course,” she added arrogantly.
She turned to her second daughter who, too, only focused on her treat. “This one is Shine.”
She turned to the filly beside her. “And this one’s Dash,” she finished with a fond smile. “Dash here flew for the first time today so we thought we’d come here to celebrate.”
“Aww, that’s nice,” Sun said. “It’s always nice to see a family all enjoying an achievement like that. How old are they?”
“Three and a half. They’re triplets, you see.”
“Oh,” Sun sounded amazed. “That’s a little peculiar to see two fillies and a colt to look so identical.”
Rainbow sighed exasperatedly.
Dash dropped her spoon with a clatter and looked up from her bowl, with her mouth covered in ice cream and an angry expression on her face. “HEY!” she shouted angrily. “I'm not a colt I'm a filly!”
“Oh.” Sun started blushing wildly. “I'm sorry. I just thought that… she has short hair like a colt,” she said sheepishly, trying to regain some respect.
“That’s because she was born with no hair, and it’s taking a while to grow,” Rainbow had repeated her well practiced speech. She hated how nopony could tell she was a filly, even though she was clearly filly shaped.
“I-I'm sorry,” she said awkwardly. “I’ll just be off then. I have to… go.” She immediately turned and walked quickly away from the scene.

Rainbow watched her leave the shop and turned back to her children.
“That was awkward now, wasn’t it?” she asked with a sarcastic smile.
Swirl and Shine laughed, making Rainbow giggle, while Dash just sat there, angrily pouting at her family.

6 Years

“I want to go home,” Shine whined.
“Quiet Shine, I have had enough of your moaning for one day.”
“But I don’t want to do this!” she screamed, on the brink of throwing a tantrum. “I want to go home!”
Rainbow growled quietly to herself and stopped walking. She turned and looked down to Shine.
“Shine. Listen to me and listen well. This is Dash’s day, so I won’t let you ruin it.”
“But air shows are boring!”
“Shine. One more word out of you and I will make you come back here tomorrow as well.”
Shine opened her mouth and took a deep breath, about to start screaming.
“Shine!” Rainbow shouted before she could start. “We do this every year. On you and your sisters’ birthday, we have a little party together.
“Then the first Saturday afterwards is Swirl’s day, and we went to the cinema like she wanted.
“Then the next Saturday is your day, and we went to the zoo like you wanted.
“And the third is for Dash, and she wanted to come here. And she didn’t like the zoo either, she found it boring, but she didn’t moan all day, she at least tried to enjoy it. So you WILL do the same.”
“But Mummy-!”
“NO! I don’t want to hear another word out of you for the rest of the day. Just try to enjoy yourself and you won’t be as bored, okay?”
“Bu-.”
Rainbow glared at her.
Shine receded, knowing she had been defeated.
Rainbow sighed with relief. She couldn’t handle another tantrum.
“MUMMY! MUMMY!” Dash shouted excitedly. “We’re here!” She started pointing frantically to the entrance gate.
Rainbow chuckled at her excitement. “Yes we are, Dashie. Are you excited?”
“YEAH!”
“Good. Enjoy your day, Dashie. It’s going to be awesome!”
“YEAH!” Dash charged forward into the crowd queuing to get in. “C’mon Fluttershy!” she shouted back, beckoning with a waving hoof.
Fluttershy smiled and ran after her best friend.
“Dash! Wait!” Rainbow ran after her.
“Fluttershy! Wait!” Airheart, Fluttershy’s mother, ran after her.
Sass sighed. “This is going to be fun,” she said sarcastically.

Rainbow and her six year old fillies walked through the surprisingly small commotion of the air show, with Rainbow and Fluttershy leading the pack. Sass and her family had split off from the group to go see some other attraction.
Rainbow watched her slightly youngest walking side by side with Fluttershy, her best friend since the start of school.
“You know, Airheart, it makes me smile those two together.”
“Really? Why?” Airheart replied curiously.
“Well, I don’t know, they’re just really good friends, aren’t they. As soon as I mentioned coming here for her birthday she asked if Fluttershy could come. That was her first question.”
“Really? That’s nice. I'm so glad my little Fluttershy made a friend, but for that friend to be Rainbow Dash is fantastic.”
Rainbow tittered. “Thanks, but why, exactly?”
“As you probably can guess, Fluttershy is very shy. But it used to be worse; she would only talk to me or her family, and never anypony she didn’t know. She would sort of cease up and freeze completely around strangers, and especially in crowds. But to be friends with Rainbow Dash, one of the most popular kids in her year, it gave her a huge confidence boost. Just look at her! She wouldn’t have dared to come to a place like this before Dash.”
“I'm glad Dashie had such a good influence on her then. And I must say Fluttershy’s been brilliant to Dash as well.”
“Really? How’d you figure?”
“She was really energetic before, and I mean really energetic. I was getting slightly worried, if I'm honest. I was even thinking of going to a doctor’s to see if she had that hyperactivity thing.”
“ADHD is what you’re thinking of. I was thinking of having Fluttershy tested for that!” Airheart laughed slightly.
Rainbow smiled and shook her head. “Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. Well, then she became friends with Fluttershy, and she calmed down massively. I mean, if Fluttershy hadn’t come about, do you know how hard I would have to be working to keep her under control here?”
Airheart shook her head.
“I wouldn’t be able to let her walk by herself, for a start.”
Airheart laughed slightly. “I'm glad they’re such good friends. They work well together, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. But I don’t know WHY?! I'm mean, Dashie is an energetic little speedster, Fluttershy a timid, shy Pegasus; they shouldn’t work at all.”
“I know what you mean, but I guess that’s why they do work.”
“I'm not even sure how they became friends.”
“Really? Dash never told you?”
“Of course not. She’s not like that; she’s too awesome, as she says, to go into detail. She just told me she made a friend called Fluttershy and that she’s awesome, that’s all.”
Airheart beamed at Dash’s compliment to her daughter. “Oh, you should have said earlier. Fluttershy told me all about it.”
Rainbow sighed. “It’s gonna be cute, isn’t it?”
“I think so. But then again, I may be biased, as she is my daughter…

Fluttershy always stayed at the back of the classroom, trying to avoid all attention. Even if she knew the answer she wouldn’t dare put her hoof up.
And when it came to playtime, the only difference was that she was outside, still she avoided attention.
She watched from a distance, all the other fillies and colts play various games together. She envied them, but was too scared to ask to join in. But then Rainbow Dash appeared in front of her one day.
“Hey Fluttershy!” she chirped excitedly.
Fluttershy jumped and cowered slightly. “Hi Rainbow Dash,” her voice drifted off into a less than a quiet mumble.
“Wanna play tiggy with us?” Rainbow asked hopefully as she pointed to a gathering of five or so children standing around impatiently.
“Um… I don’t know.”
“Oh come on! It’ll be awesome!” she egged on.
“I-I don’t know how to play,” she whimpered sheepishly.
“It’s easy. I’ll teach ya!”
Fluttershy glanced shyly upwards at the filly; she seemed friendly. “Um… O-okay then.”
She hesitantly got to her hooves and started walking with Rainbow Dash. “H-how do you play then?”
“It’s real easy. All you have to do is run away from it so he doesn’t catch you, and if he puts his hoof on you and shouts IT you become it, then you have to chase everypony else and tag somepony else. Sounds fun, doesn’t it?”
“Err…” Fluttershy wanted to say no, but she had already arrived at the group and they were already running.
“Thunderlane’s it,” Rainbow instructed. “RUN!”
She bolted off, leaving a confused and terrified Fluttershy behind.
Fluttershy looked around, frozen with panic, trying to formulate a plan, when she decide that trying to keep up with Rainbow Dash was her best bet for safety.

Ten minutes had past. Rainbow Dash was currently trying to out-fly Spitfire, and not doing very good at it.
She was distracted as a thought came to mind. Her wings slowed and Spitfire crashed straight into the back of her. They fell in a heap on the ground.
“Hey! Watch it!” screamed the angry yellow filly, her voice breaking midsentence. “That hurt!” She rubbed her nose to get the pain away.
“Where’s Fluttershy?” Dash asked, ignoring Spitfire and her problems entirely.
“Who cares?” she said menacingly. “She’s no fun.”
Dash scanned her eyes over the field. She picked out the small, yellow Pony at the other end of the field easily. “What’s she doing over there?” she asked herself.
“Who cares?” Spitfire said impatiently. “I tagged you, you’re it!”
“No,” Dash insisted. “That’s not fair, I was distracted.”
“That’s not my fault,” Spitfire said pompously as she walked away, holding her nose ironically high up in the air.
“No. I'm not it. I'm not playing anymore.”
“Just because you’re it!” Spitfire teased.
“No, I want to see if Fluttershy’s alright.”
“Fine. But you can’t play later then,” Spitfire stated sternly, stomping her hoof on the ground to emphasise her point.
“Oh,” Dash frowned.
“Okay. You can play. But not her.” She pointed to Fluttershy with a threatening hoof.
“Why not?”
“Because she’s not fast enough to keep up.”
“So? Neither are you!” Dash teased.
“HEY!” Spitfire roared angrily. “I'm a billion times faster than you!”
“Oh yeah?!”
“YEAH!”
Dash stared blankly at her for a second. “I'm bored. I'm gonna see Fluttershy.”
“Fine. Suit yourself.” Spitfire turned back to her gang. “Okay, Soarin’ is it!”
Dash ran off towards the shy Pegasus as she heard the annoyed moans coming from a weak willed colt.

Fluttershy heard the sound of hooves landing in front of her and looked up. Seeing Rainbow Dash and not an unfriendly face comforted her.
“Um… hi Rainbow Dash.”
“What are you doing over here? We’re over there playing tiggy not over here!” Dash said with a hint of mockery in her voice.
“I don’t… I don’t like tiggy,” Fluttershy mumbled.
Dash gasped dramatically. “You don’t like tiggy?!”
Fluttershy shook her head.
“But… but everypony likes tiggy!”
“I'm not… good enough to play tiggy.”
“Oh,” Dash frowned.
Fluttershy hid behind a hoof to save herself the embarrassment. She was waiting for Dash to just shrug and walk away to rejoin her friends.
She jumped as she felt the ground beside her shake, for Dash had just landed beside her with a thud.
“What do you wanna do then?” Dash asked.
Fluttershy looked baffled. She stared blankly at the other filly for a little too long for comfort.
“Err, Fluttershy? Hellooo?” Dash sang childishly.
The yellow filly jumped back to reality. “Err… I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
“Well I wanna play tiggy, but you don’t.”
“You can play tiggy without me, I don’t mind.” She did really.
“Nope. Tell me, what you wanna do,” Dash ordered.
Fluttershy shivered a little. “Err… I don’t mind.”
Dash glared at her.
Fluttershy went into a mild panic and managed to say something. “Do you know any jokes?”
Dash shook her head.
“I do. Do you want to hear one?”
Dash smiled and nodded frantically.
“Okay then. This is one of my favourites. Err…

“A colt goes into a bar and sits next to another. He sees a spider on the top and turns to the colt and says, do you want to hear something interesting about spiders?
The other colt says, sure!
“So the first colt turns back to the spider on the bar and tells the spider to walk over there, and the spider does. Then the colt pulls off one of its legs and tells the spider to walk back over there, and the spider does. He pulls off another leg and repeats this until he comes down to the last leg. He pulls it off and tells the spider to walk over there. The spider doesn’t move. He tells it again, and it still doesn’t move.
“So the colt turns back to the other colt and says, so here’s my theory, when a spider loses all its legs… it goes deaf.”

Fluttershy turned to face Dash with a smile on her face to see how she reacted. She so hoped she hadn’t made a fool of herself.
Dash thought hard for a brief second to understand the joke. And then a smile broke out over her face and a small laugh came from her.
“I love it, Fluttershy!” she laughed. “Deaf spiders! HA!”
Fluttershy started laughing now, feeling much more confident after making the popular filly laugh at her joke.

The bell rang, signalling for the children to head back to class. Everypony moaned simultaneously.
Dash jumped up and started a quick pace back to the classroom.
Fluttershy was waiting for everypony else to get in front of her before she moved, she didn’t like being in crowds.
Dash stopped once she realised the yellow filly was following her. She went back to collect her.
“Hey Fluttershy!” she called out loudly as she ran she jumped to a halt in front of the Pegasus. “Wanna sit with me at my table?”
Fluttershy lit up and nodded excitedly, happy to have made a friend. But she quickly realised that this meant she had to interact with other Ponies, which she would still rather not do. She bowed her head away shyly and didn’t move any further.
Dash sighed. “C’mon, Fluttershy. It’ll be fun! And I think Soarin’ likes you,” she sang childishly.
Fluttershy couldn’t deny she liked that particular colt, and so hesitantly walked forward and toward school.
“Um, but Dash, is there room on your table for me as well?”
“We can give Spitfire the boot. I don’t like her very much.”

Rainbow considered the story, pouting her lips as she thought hard. “That’s not as cute as I thought it would be,” she sounded disappointed.
“Well I did say I might be biased because, you know, Fluttershy and all. I guess I was just proud of her making a friend with such ease.”
“Yes but, y’know, Rainbow Dash and all.”
“True.”
“But I must admit, I nearly cracked up at that spider joke,” she admittedly rather ashamedly.
“I know what you mean. I don’t even know where she heard it.”
“Maybe she came up with it all by herself?” Rainbow suggested, but doubted that from what she knew of Fluttershy.
“It’s possible, but I doubt she would voluntarily make up a joke about dismembering a spider.”
“I suppose.”
There was a moment of semi-awkward silence.
“Hey,” Rainbow started. “Whatever happened to that Spitfire filly? Dash used to talk about her quite a bit, almost like an idol really.”
“I heard that she and Soarin’ got accepted into that oh… what is it? That Gifted Wings Flight Academy, or something like that.”
“Wow! Really?” Rainbow was taken aback slightly. “That’s impressive. They’re only what? Six?”
“Yeah, but you saw them at sports day that one time. The other children didn’t stand a chance.”
Rainbow tutted and rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, don’t remind me. Dash was throwing tantrums for a week afterwards. She hates losing.”
“I know, Fluttershy told me. You should have heard the language she used.”
Rainbow looked at Airheart. “Language?” she asked, already feeling angry at her daughter for using bad language.
“Yep. Nothing too bad, just something she shouldn’t learn until she’s a teenager.”
“Like what?” Rainbow insisted.
“Damn, I think.”
“Oh.” Rainbow looked away, she was disappointed for reasons she couldn’t explain, it was as if she wanted Dash to swear.
“I told you it was nothing bad. But don’t worry, Fluttershy told her off.”
Rainbow chuckled. “Really?”
“Yeah. Dash really listens to her.”
“That’s good to know. I could use that to my advantage one day.”
Airheart laughed a little. “Only if I can use Dash as an excuse to make Fluttershy be less shy.”
“Deal,” Rainbow said enthusiastically.
They shook hooves semi jokingly.

An announcement came over the sound system.
Dash lit up as she heard it. She spun round and talked at her mother.
“Mummy! Mummy! Can we see him?!” she asked excitedly.
Rainbow stumbled back a bit as her daughter was suddenly hovering mere inches from her face.
“Err… yeah, sure!” She composed herself quickly. “Who is it you want to see?”
“Jet Stream!”
“Who?”
“He’s an ex-Wonderbolt!”
“Really? I wonder how old he is?” she asked herself. Usually Wonderbolts only retire when they’re too old to fly or if the unthinkable happens.
Airheart pondered the question for a moment as well. “I think… I remember hearing about him a while ago. I don’t think he’s old at all.”
“Oh, alright.” Rainbow liked the sound of that.

They had managed to get a position at the front of the crowd, thanks to Sass, who had rejoined them, and her persuasive ways.
Dash hung on the rope barrier that separated a large portion of field. She would have been bouncing up and down if her hooves were on the ground.
“Shine, please, just stop looking so glum,” Rainbow pleaded once again as she saw the scowl on her daughter’s face.
Shine didn’t obey; instead she folded her forelegs and pouted harder, scowling at her mother with nothing but anger for dragging her there.
“You could at least pretend,” Rainbow suggested hopefully.
“Hmph,” Shine frowned, contorting her face angrier.
“If you keep pulling that face it will stay like that.”
“No it won’t,” Shine mumbled under her breath.
“A-ha! You finally spoke!” Rainbow celebrated sarcastically. “Now tell me, why aren’t you enjoying this?”
Shine looked away. “I don’t know,” she mumbled.
“Well, maybe, just here me out here, maybe… if you try to enjoy it, you will. How does that sound?”
Shine didn’t falter in her expression, she knew her mother was right.
“I thought as much, Shiny. So, will you try? For me?” Rainbow asked, smiling sweetly in the hopes to sway the moody filly.
Shine didn’t respond.
“I’ll take that as a yes then.” Rainbow turned back around triumphantly. She saw the stallion that got Dash all excited.
Her pupils dilated slightly as she saw she him and a tiny smile curled to her lips.
Sass noticed and tried her hardest not to laugh.

The stallion in the field looked up and shot a charismatic smile at everypony, none of whom felt anything, except Rainbow, who melted on the inside.
He looked back with a dramatically determined expression, looking up to the sun into which he was about to fly.
He raised his dark brown wings and ruffled them. He stepped a hoof back and leant back on it. He launched himself upwards and forwards with great speed.

He flew through the air at tremendous speeds, performing death defying stunts.
Rainbow almost jumped over the barrier to rescue him at one point as he rocketed towards the ground, nose pointing straight down. Rainbow thought he had fainted.
Her heart raced as she watched him plummet to the ground, but in at the perfect moment, he opened his wings and brought himself parallel to the ground and just over the crowds’ heads.
Rainbow dived to the ground as he nearly hit her head, but she looked back up to see him fly off again. She couldn’t help but think he looked good flying.

He continued to toy with Rainbow’s panicking heart for the next ten or so minutes. He so often looked as if about to crash, but he never did. Obviously this was because he was a Wonderbolt.
One particular move that impressed her was his high speed trot. She couldn’t believe he wasn’t breaking his legs with each step.
She could hear her daughter’s awestruck “whoa” over the roar of the crowd, which made her smile.

Jet Stream looked down to his adoring fans, managing to just hear their cheers and whoops over the rushing of wind past his ears.
He looped to a halt, showing off his strong winds proudly. He could get a proper look and listen of the crowd now, and he was slightly disappointed.
“I guess the wind made it seem louder then,” he mumbled to himself.
He looked down for a second longer, at all the faces looking back up at him, with mouths hanging agape and cheers falling from them, as was the norm. But one face caught his eye. It didn’t match the others, it wasn’t excited at all. It was just smiling at him, staring at him with the most beautiful eyes of rose.
He couldn’t help but smile back.

Jet Stream turned after another second of admiring the Pegasus mare below and rocketed off again.
He needed speed for his next trick, and a lot of it. He needed speed to break the sound barrier and, if he was lucky, the light barrier as well.
He flew rather lazily, he would admit, as if he couldn’t really be bothered anymore. He was so tired, but he couldn’t leave his fans with a half hearted performance, so he kept speeding up, deciding that the length of time it took would heighten the anticipation.
He looked down to his side and to the crowd, just to see if he could see her anymore. His attention, however, wasn’t focused on finding her amidst the Pegasi anymore, for a small filly was flying beside.
He looked away again to give the apparition a chance to disappear, and looked back. It was still there. A small, blue filly with a short mane of rainbow.
“Err… hi?” he said rather awkwardly, doubting she could hear him over the wind. But apparently she did, as she smiled at him.
“What are you doing up here?” he asked with both curiosity but mainly confusion.
The filly didn’t respond. Instead, her smile faded and her eyes drooped and shut lightly. Her wings stopped flapping and she started to fall from the sky.

Rainbow was dreamily watching the stallion in the sky, barely questioning why he had stopped. It wasn’t until she saw the faintest movement of blue against the equally blue sky when dread shot into her heart.
She looked down at the rope at where Dash was holding on.
Her eyes widened as panic flooded her system. She wasn’t there.
Rainbow looked back up at the sky, and could now make out the slight colour of a rainbow plummeting towards her.
“DASH!” she shouted as she erupted from behind the barrier, mustering all the speed she could to catch her child in time.

Jet Stream stared in wide eyed horror as the filly fell from him in slow motion.
It didn’t take him long to fly after her.
A series of vortex rings formed in his wake thanks to his huge burst of acceleration. He caught up with the falling filly in a matter of seconds.
He barely noticed the audience gasp.
He flew beside her, matching her speed before rolling into her and catching her, holding her tight against his chest so she wouldn’t slip from his grasp.
He beat his wings hard to slow his descent, coming to a gentle halt a few feet above the ground.
He landed on the field and fell to his haunches, cradling the child in his foreleg.
“Are you alright?” he asked her, but got no response.
“Dash!” shouted a mare.
Jet looked up and saw the beautiful Pegasus flying over to him a great speed. He braced for impact, making sure to shield the child.
Rainbow landed clumsily beside him. She quickly gathered her bearings and looked at her daughter. She could feel tears almost starting to fall.
“She’s okay,” Jet reassured her. “She’s just passed out.”
Rainbow started crying slightly.
“That wasn’t the best thing to say, was it?” he said to himself, practically calling himself an idiot. “What I meant was she’s tired. She was easily keeping up with me up there in the sky, so I imagine she’s just exhausted.”
Rainbow sniffed and dried her eyes. She carefully took her daughter back and held her gently in her forelegs.
“Thank you. Thank you so much,” she said in a teary voice.
“There’s no need to thank me. I wouldn’t have just let her fall now, would I?”
Rainbow didn’t pay any attention to what he just said as Dash had started to stir.
Dash wearily blinked her eyes half open and turned her head slowly to face her mother.
“Sorry… Mummy,” she whispered, her exhaustion slowing her talking to a snail’s pace. “Are you mad at me?”
“Of course not, Dashie. Of course not,” she whispered back and kissed her forehead.
Dash’s eyes drifted shut again as she fell back asleep.
“I think you should take her home,” Jet instructed. “I seen first hoof what that kind of exhaustion can do to a Pony. Plenty of bed rest is what she needs.”
“Thank you err… Jet Stream? Was it?” She didn’t really care if she was right at that moment, just as long as Dash was okay.
“That’s right. And you are?” he asked politely.
“Rainbow Swirl. Call me Rainbow.”
“That’s a nice name. And what about this little Pegasus?”
“Rainbow Dash.”
Jet snorted. “How very fitting. I must say, though, she is quite the flyer for a… six year old?” he guessed.
Rainbow nodded.
“Very impressive indeed,” he reiterated.
“Not unlike yourself,” Rainbow accidentally blurted out but didn’t care in the slightest
“Thanks.” He looked to the filly. “Y’know, I have a little girl like that.”
Rainbow frowned slightly. “Oh…”
“My niece Fleetfoot is always begging me to take her flying.”
Rainbow looked up again. “Your… niece?” she asked hopefully.
“Yeah. She’s over there with my sister, who is her mother of course.” He looked over to the crowd and waved at a small Pegasus filly.
Rainbow glanced over and saw a blue filly with a white mane, wearing flight goggles on her forehead, waving back enthusiastically. Behind her was a tall, cream mare, who just happily nodded in reply to Jet’s wave.
“So… do you have any kids of your own?” Rainbow asked curiously.
“Nope.”
“Ah… What about a wife? Or marefriend?” she asked, trying to sound cool and nonchalant, but not doing too well.
He sighed. “No.”
“Oh,” Rainbow sounded a little too happy for her liking, making her blush slightly.
Jet Stream looked back to Dash. A serious look spread over his face, which had a hint of relief in it as he was glad to move away from this topic.
“Can I just take a look at her for a second?” he asked.
Rainbow became worried and she looked at him with panicked eyes. “Why?”
“Her breathing looks a little slow. I just want to check her pulse.”
Rainbow nodded before slowly lessening her grip on her child in a jerky motion.
Jet lifted Dash’s foreleg out of the way and placed a hoof on her chest.
There was a short moment of silence as he counted to himself.
He pulled his hoof back and allowed Rainbow to take her child again. “It seems a bit low.”
“Is that bad?” Rainbow asked worriedly.
“No, not at all. She just needs some proper rest, in a bed and everything.”
Rainbow nodded and stood up so she could place Dash on her back. “Thanks for saving her. I owe you one.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“Trust me, I do.” She turned to leave. “I’ll hopefully see you around.”
“Yeah, you too!”
Rainbow shot him a smile before starting off walking at a careful pace, so as to not disturb her Dashie on her back.

Rainbow trotted back over to the rest of her entourage.
“C’mon girls,” she said to her remaining daughters. “We have to go now.”
“YES!” Shine celebrated. Swirl didn’t really care.
“I'm glad you’re finally in a good mood,” Rainbow jested as she ushered them through the slowly dissipating crowd.
Fluttershy looked up to her mother. “Mummy?”
“Yes, Fluttershy?”
“Can I go with Rainbow back to her house? I want to make sure Dash is okay.”
“I think you better ask Rainbow. Dash looks like she needs some rest.”
“Okay,” she said sadly, knowing that it was unlikely, but she asked Rainbow anyway.
“R-Rainbow? C-can I come round and look after Dash?” she asked nervously.
Rainbow considered it for a second. “I suppose you can, yes. But you have to let her rest, which means no talking or anything to her.”
“Okay, I promise I will be quiet.” Fluttershy smiled and trotted excitedly beside her.
“I better come too then, I guess,” Airheart decided.

They all flew back carefully. Sass had to part ways with her family at some point leaving Fluttershy and Airheart flying back the Rainbow’s house.
Rainbow landed delicately on the path by her house and quickly went to unlock the door. She fumbled around with her head in her bag for a second before pulling out a set of keys. Once inside she quickly flew up stairs and put Dash to sleep in her own, big bed.
She placed her down on the bed gently, and pulled the quilt ever her. Dash stirred slightly but Rainbow placed a hoof on her forehead and calmed her down.
“Ssh, now, Dashie,” she whispered tenderly. “You get some rest. You did some good flying today, and I dare say you’ll ache tomorrow. Sweet dreams.” She finished her words with a kiss on her cheek before standing to close the curtains and leaving the room, closing the door behind her with a gentle click.

Rainbow jumped slightly as Fluttershy had been waiting on the landing, with nary a sound coming from her, as usual.
“Oh, hey, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said quietly as she calmed down. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, thank you,” Fluttershy replied politely. “Can I see Dash? I want to make sure she’s okay.”
“Err… sure. Just make sure you don’t make a noise.”
“I’ll try.” She stepped forward to the door, but paused and looked up to Rainbow. “Could I nap with her? I'm very tired.”
Rainbow considered it for a second. “Okay. But remember, do not disturb Dashie.”
“I promise I won’t.”
“Good girl,” Rainbow praised with a little smile. She pushed the door open quietly and let Fluttershy tip-hoof in before shutting it again.
She let out a little titter as she heard the almost silent rustling of quilt as Fluttershy climbed under it with Dash.
She headed downstairs.

Airheart was sitting on the sofa, waiting for Rainbow to return, watching the other little Rainbows play in the living room.
She looked round as she heard hooves coming from the hallway. “Hey, is Dash alright?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s asleep.”
“Good. And what about Fluttershy? Didn’t she follow you up there?”
“She did, but she said she was tired and wanted to nap with Dash.”
“And you let her, right?”
“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind.”
Airheart sighed contemplatively. “Nah, it’s fine,” she said, but was obviously unsure. “She usually naps in the day, when she’s not at school I mean.”
“Same with my Dashie.” Rainbow moved to sit on the sofa, but paused. “Can I get you a drink, or anything?” she asked after suddenly remembering her manners.
“Oh, err… I’d love a cup of tea, if that’s alright.” She smiled sheepishly.
“Of course, I’ll go make us some.”
Rainbow trotted into the kitchen. Swirl followed her.
“Mummy?” she asked, elongating her words childishly.
Rainbow could tell that she wanted something. “What?” she replied in the same childish manner.
“Can I have a milkshake?” she asked with a convincing smile only children could pull off.
Rainbow sighed slightly and hung her head. “Okay,” she said in defeat. “What flavour?”
“Err… banana!”
“Okay. Ask Shine if she wants one.”
“What about Dash?”
“Leave her. She’s sleeping.”
“Okay,” she said as she started to skip merrily out of the kitchen.

Rainbow watched her daughter leave before turning to fill the kettle up.
She started to prepare to big mugs for her and Airheart, as well as the milkshakes. She knew full well that Shine would want banana as well.
She dropped the spoon with a loud clatter into a mug and waited, leaning on the side as she thought.
She began to think about her parenting that day. She couldn’t believe she got so distracted that she didn’t realise that her daughter had flown off and put herself in danger.
She felt a heavy shame press down on her, but this quickly dissipated as curiosity slowly filled her mind.
She looked up into the corner of the room as her mind pondered the question she was thinking. Her mouth fell open as she thought harder, and only became more puzzled.
“How long was she actually up there?” she asked herself out loud.

6 and a half

“Okay then, have you got your lunch?” Rainbow asked her daughters.
“Yes,” the three, six year old fillies replied, all of which were growing impatient and just wanted to leave and get to school already.
“Good. Have you got your books?”
“Yes.”
“Good, good. And Dashie, have you got Fluttershy’s coat?”
Dash stared blankly back at her mother.
“Go get it. And hurry.”
Dash nodded before shooting off up the stairs, with her wings making a strong fluttering sound as she flew.
She was back a second later with the thick parka in her mouth.
“Here, I’ll put it in your bag.” Rainbow quickly yet carefully stuffed the clothing into Dash’s bag, putting it on the brink of bursting. “Okay, I think that’s everything. You better get going; you don’t want to be late.”
The fillies ran to the door, with Rainbow following close behind.
“And Dashie, don’t fly off on your own again like yesterday,” she said sternly. “I want you to stick together, and you know full well that your sisters can’t keep up with you.”
Dash sighed with annoyance. “Okay.”
“Good. Now off to school with you lot!” she ushered them out of the door.
Swirl and Shine began walking excitedly, while Dash jumped in the air and hovered after them.
“See ya later, Rainbows. Have a good day at school!” Rainbow shouted after them, waving frantically as she did.

Rainbow watched until her daughters had gone from view before turning and heading back inside.
She shut the door behind her and sighed with relief.
Her children had finally left for school. Shine was always a trouble to wake up in the mornings, even with Dash and Swirl jumping on her bed.
But now she left them to walk to school on their own, Rainbow had very little to do. Usually, she would chat to other mothers in the playground for a while, and that took up a lot of time. It would happen again when she went to pick them up after school finishes. But now, she had nothing.
“I should really get myself a job,” she told herself. “But not today. Tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow.”

She looked around the house for things to do, but that list was small seeing as she had the same problem during the past week.
She tidied the kitchen of the breakfast aftermath, which didn’t take long, and made herself a cup of tea, hoping the sweet and the heat would wake her up some more. It did, to some degree.

She sighed as she felt a few stray tea leaves drift into her mouth, signalling the end of her drink with the horrible texture.
“Shower?” she asked herself. “I don’t think I can be bothered. A bath? Yeah, that sounds nice.”
She trotted upstairs to run herself a bath, but got distracted by all the toys on the floor, and so managed to elongate her walk with a little tidying.

She entered the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She was about to lock it when realised nopony was home, so there was no reason to close the door. She let it open again.
It made her feel a bit mischievous, which helped liven up the mundanity of her day.
She brushed her teeth first, just to stretch out the process of having a bath. She barely paid any attention to what she was doing; she spent roughly five minutes on the same spot before giving up.
“I’ll… I’ll finish later,” she told herself as she rinsed the toothbrush and threw it back into the jar on the windowsill.
She reached out to start the water gushing from the tap and into the large bath, but her hoof stopped as a thought crossed her mind.
“This needs music,” she concluded.
She turned and left the bathroom.

She entered her bedroom and paused, trying to remember where it was. She decided under the bed was the best place to check.
She stooped down and reached a hoof under the bed, feeling around the floor for the wooden box.
“A-HA!” she cheered as she felt the item she was searching for. She found the handle and pulled it back.
“Haven’t seen this baby in a while.” She clicked open the latches to the case and opened the lid. What she saw surprised and confused her.
“What?” She was lost for words other than that. She grabbed the handle and pulled it out. “A… Tommy gun?”
She inspected it closely. Inside the case, where her violin should be, were the components to a Tommy gun. She suddenly remembered and shook her head at her own stupidity.
“Oh, Mum. You’re one silly mare.” She smiled at the thought and this random gesture of her mother’s. Rainbow had forgotten that, when she was a filly and practicing the violin, her mother had once swapped the case for a fake containing a toy Tommy gun. She got in quite a bit of trouble at school, Rainbow did.
Rainbow spent a few minutes assembling the toy, and laughed at the results.
“This toy is just so… awesome!” she concluded.
After a little bit more laughter, she threw the toy gun on the bed and went in search of the real violin, which didn’t take long.
“There we are,” she said happily. She opened the case delicately. When she saw it, it made her feel all sentimental.
Her violin, one she had since she was a filly, one that belonged to her great grandmother, had always been precious to her. She regretted not playing it more.
She took it out of the case carefully and looked at it. Memories flooded her system. It mostly reminded her of her grandmother, who had passed it down to her and taught her to play. She had some very good, very fond memories of those lessons with Nana.
She smiled reminiscently as she looked at the instrument, turning it over in her hooves.
She ran her hoof over her name engraved on the back, under that of her grandmother’s and great grandmother’s. Rainbow Swirl was the first name, that of her great grandmother’s and also who Rainbow was named after. The second was Rainbow Star, or “Nana”, as Rainbow always called her.
She liked being part of the tradition. She couldn’t wait to teach one of her own daughters to play, but which one would be difficult to choose.

“When was the last time I played this?” she asked herself. “It must have been… my second wedding anniversary? That can’t be right.” She went over in her mind, trying to determine whether or not this was the case.
“Wow. That’s almost ten years now.” She was disappointed in herself. “Oh well. I can always make up for that.”
She turned and sat on the floor, with her back resting against the bed. She plucked each string and adjusted the tuning keys if need be. Once satisfied, she took the bow from the box and drew it over the strings.
The wooden instrument emitted a melodic sound that travelled through Rainbow, resonating in her.
She felt a weird emotion in her stomach, one that nearly brought tears to her eyes.
“Wow,” she said in quiet awe. “That was… strangely powerful.”
Rainbow shook herself back to her senses and began to improvise.

She played as cheerful a tune as she could manage, one somepony could dance to merrily. It felt good playing the violin, Rainbow thought; it was as if it let her escape into another world, and leave her worries behind.
She felt incredibly happy playing. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to stop. But she knew she had to.

She came to a natural end sometime later, finishing with a long, powerful note.
She felt tears roll down her cheeks.
She took the violin from her chin and looked at it in amazement. “This… is one powerful, emotional instrument. I'm not even sure why I'm crying. But it must be good. It must be the memories of Nana and Mum, and all the fun we had when having lessons. Ha. Like we actually did much violin then. It always just degenerated into fun conversations.”
Rainbow put the violin away for now; she didn’t want to bring about a nostalgia induced crying fest.
“Right. Bath time.” She started laughing at the memories of how those words struck dread into her daughters’ hearts.
“Silly fillies.”

She tested the water with her hoof. “Perfect,” she muttered to herself. “Nice and hot with plenty of bubbles.”
She dipped her hoof in, and quickly withdrew it. “Nope. Too hot. Ow…”
She reached forward to turn the cold tap, but decided against it.
“This needs music,” she said once again.
She went in search of a stereo, and found one quickly. She tuned it into a radio station which played fitting music and placed it in the corner of the bathroom on a low volume.
She dipped her hoof in the water again. “Ow. Still too hot.”
She took her hoof from the water and shook it. “Err… drink? Yeah, but what? It’s too early for wine. Coffee is too strong. Tea is just… wrong. Hot chocolate? Yeah, that sounds good.”
She trotted to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, she returned upstairs with an immaculate mug of hot chocolate, with marshmallows and everything.
“Shine would be jealous,” she giggled.
She took a sip, and gasped with delight as she felt the warmth travel through her on this cold autumn’s day.
“That’s good.”
She carefully rested the mug on the edge of the bath, and tested the water again.
“Perfect timing. As always,” she said arrogantly. “Just the right temperature.”
She removed her bath robe and climbed in the bath, shuddering as the heat slowly made its way through her legs and up her body.
She reclined in the bath, lying on her back, and shut her eyes.

She didn’t fall asleep, as she thought she would, instead she was being bothered by thoughts. She would have been annoyed but this did mean she could enjoy her hot chocolate before it became cold chocolate.
Rainbow sighed at that awful joke she just thought of.
She grabbed the straw in her mouth and took another long sip of drink. She was glad she brought a long, bendy straw for she didn’t want to move from the watery cocoon of warmth.

She looked at the opposite end of the bath.
“Red used to sit there sometimes with me,” she said solemnly. “I liked that.”
She let her head fall back and rest on the edge.
“What I wouldn’t give for some company right now. I’ve even resorted to talking to myself.”
She sighed.
“I want somepony to sit there again. A good looking stallion would be nice, just somepony to talk to and look at.
“One of my girls would be nice too, I guess. Just like when they were little.” A smile came to her lips as she reminisced about their bath times together, but it quickly went away when she realised they were probably a little too old to do that anymore.
“Anypony would do, actually. Even Dove, although she would be far too awkward. But to be honest, I think most Ponies would. Especially with their friends.”
“But the stallion, on the other hoof, wouldn’t be awkward at all.” Rainbow shut her eyes and drifted deeper under the water, just deep enough for her nose to be sticking out. A devious smile came to her face as she thought about the stallion opposite her.

She began to idly play with her wet mane, wrapping it around her hoof and remarking at how thick it was when coiled up.
“Not bad,” she criticised. “Better when it’s dry though. And when it’s styled.” She let it unravel from her hoof and fall back into the bath.
She took a sip from her straw. “Damn. Empty.” She frowned at the mug, and then at the bath. She had run out things to do in it.
She glanced down on the bathroom floor. She saw a rubber duck and started smiling childishly.
She plucked it from the floor and threw it in the bath.
It floated there, moving in the ripples caused by Rainbow’s movements. She nudged it curiously.
“I don’t see the appeal.”
She looked around the bath. Most of the bubbles had gone.
“Yeah, this has lost its appeal.” Rainbow grabbed the shower gel and a sponge and began washing herself.
Next came an arduous and laborious task: her long, thick mane. Washing it took ages. She was considering just forgetting about it, but she knew it was one thing she couldn’t put off any longer, seeing as it had been due for a wash for a few days now.
“So much shampoo,” she said sadly as she emptied a third of the bottle onto a hoof.
She lazily slapped it onto her head and began rubbing it in.
“When was the last time I had it cut?” she asked herself as she massaged her head. “It’s always been long and thick but this is just getting ridiculous.”
She pouted her lips as she tried to determine her last cut. “Bloody Tartarus! I don’t think I’ve had it cut since before my girls were born! That can’t be right.”
She paused washing her hair as she thought about it more. “I'm pretty sure Red was there to compliment me, although he never noticed. Typical colt.”
She put her hooves back on her head and continued to wash, now mildly more aggressively as she remembered the distinct lack of compliments from her ex-husband in the later times with him.

Twenty minutes later, and she was finally rinsing out the foam. She sighed with relief.
“Right, that’s that done.”
She took another bottle from the side. “And now for the conditioner.”
She sighed exasperatedly.

About fifteen minutes later, she had rinsed out the last of the conditioner.
“Finally!” she celebrated. “I can get out of the bath!”
She stood up and shook the water from her wings and coat, settling back down again with a satisfied breath.
She stepped out and removed the plug. She liked the sound of the water going down the plug, but she didn’t know why.
She listened as she wrapped a towel around her mane and body. She took a step forward, but no more.
A strange thought crossed her mind, one which made her heart race with excitement and made her smile mischievously.
She looked around to make sure nopony was looking, which was pointless as she was at home alone. She shook the towel from her body and threw off the one from her mane, showing off her still fairly wet body and still soaking mane.
She felt so wrong and naughty doing this; walking around after a bath with no towel. She liked being naughty when she didn’t have to be an influence to her daughters. It amused her.
She stepped forward with a little strut in her step, but she instantly regretted it.
When wet, her long mane drags along the floor. Without the towel concealing it, it was allowed to get tangled in her hooves.
So, naturally, Rainbow trod on her mane and tripped, letting out a little yelp as she did. She fell flat on her face.
“Ow.” She pushed herself back up again, rubbing her nose vigorously to massage the pain away.
“Stupid mane. I really need a mane cut. Tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow.”
She took a towel and slung it over her shoulder before heading to the living room to dry herself.

Her mane was still a little damp, but that was unavoidable, when she headed back upstairs to replace the towel in the bathroom.
As she ascended the stairs, her attention was grabbed by the panel in the ceiling.
“I wonder what’s up there.”
She couldn’t remember the last time she went in the attic, and was now curious as to what treasures from the past it held.

She pushed the panel open and flew inside the attic. She coughed harshly as the dust resettled one the on the floor.
She looked around.
“So many boxes. Where to begin?”
She grabbed the nearest box.
“Hearth’s Warimng Eve. How boring.” She threw it over her shoulder, wincing as she heard the shattering of baubles. “Oh well, they’re ugly things anyway.”
She grabbed another box and opened it excitedly.
She reached in and pulled out a smaller, metal tin with her name written on it.
“Oh wow. I haven’t seen this in ages!” She quickly pulled the lid off and threw it to her side. “It’s all still here! My diary, my sketchbook.” Her eyes widened.
“Dr Wingless!” she shouted as she pulled her old stuffed toy to her chest. “I forgot about you.”
She began reacquainting herself with him. “Just as I remember you. No wings, Unicorn horn, orangey mane, stupid name, it’s all there!”
She stared into his black beady eyes and began stroking him. She took him everywhere; even University, where he sat proudly on her bed. He never got far away from her.
She placed him gently back in the tin and took her thick, full sketchbook.
“Let’s see how good I was then.”
She began to flick through the pages. There was a noticeable progression of quality as she went through ages three to seven.
“For somepony who’s special talent is art, I was rather awful when I was younger. C’mon, even Swirl drew better than this, and she’s terrible.”
She shut the sketchbook and took her diary in hoof. “Let’s see what an eight year old filly writes in a diary.”
She fumbled around the box and found the key for the small padlock. “Why would even I bother lock this? As if anypony would want to read the ramblings of a little girl.”
She clicked open the lock and flipped to a random entry.
“Dear diary:”

I’ve never seen a Unicorn. I wonder what there like.

She paused to wince at the grammar.

They can use magic. I bet that’s fun. I want to use magic, and then maybe Starburst will like me.

“Oh my gosh. Starburst. I completely forgot about him. I wonder how he’s doing. I bet he’s gay, that wouldn’t surprise me.”
She tried to continue, but she could tell nothing interesting was going to happen, so she put the diary away again.
Rainbow found a folded slip of paper tucked under the other assorted childhood items. She unfolded it, and immediately started blushing.
“Starburst actually sent me a love letter? How cute!”
She read it quickly, and facehoofed.
“How embarrassing for the both of us is more like it…”
She folded it back up and put it back in the tin, placing the lid back on top tightly.
She move to the hole and dropped the tin through it, landing on the cushion she placed below beforehoof. “I’ll have a better rummage through that later.”

She looked around more, trying to decide on the next box to open, but she was distracted by an odd shape hiding in the shadows.
She approached it cautiously, being careful to avoid the various items strewn on the floor. She reached out and grabbed it. It felt like fake, plastic-like leather, so it was obviously just the case.
As she pulled it toward her, the shape of the object became into full view. She stared at it in amazement as it got closer towards her.
“Oh my gosh!” she said loudly as she unzipped the case. “My old BB gun! I haven’t seen this in years! I wonder if I have any ammo for it still.”
She looked around the floor, and spotted an old jar half full of small yellow pellets.
“That’s it I'm playing with this later,” she said determinedly as she placed the strap over her shoulder and rested the gun on her back.
She was excited now, she hadn’t had a good play around in ages, and she was once quite a good shot with the child’s rifle. She remembered the times she went hunting in Whitetail Woods on family days out, but she didn’t have the heart to injure any animals, so she just pretended and shot the trees.
She threw the jar over her shoulder and waited until she heard the dull thud of it hitting the cushion. She heard it, as well as the smash that came afterwards.
“How did that happen?” she asked with mild confusion, but she quickly shrugged it off.
She turned to step back over to the hole, but something caught her hoof and stopped her. She bent down and opened what happened to be a box. It was full of crockery.
She sighed disgustedly. “I forgot just how ugly my wedding china was. I left Red in charge of one thing, and he chose this rubbish. The moron…”
An idea struck her mind. She looked to the butt of the BB gun over her shoulder, and then back to the plates in front of her. She formed a plan.
“Looks like I know what me and Sass are going to do tonight,” she announced happily.
She closed the box and picked it up. She decided she would actually fly this box down herself, as she wanted to save their destruction for later.
“Maybe… just one,” she decided. She took a plate from the box and raised it high above her head. Her forelegs came down fast and hard, bringing the plate crashing against the floor. But much to her disappointment, the cloud cushioned the fall.
“Damn cloud. The one time I actually wanted something to smash, but no, you had to go all noble and protect the hideous plate. I'm disappointed with you.” The sudden realisation hit her. “What’s wrong with me I'm talking to the floor…?”

She re-entered the attic and chose a box at random.
“Hey, my old uni stuff!”
She found a few, badly aged notes that had somehow ended up in there.
“Why oh why did I do that art degree? I know, because I'm an artist, but why? It was soo boring!” She sighed at herself.
She found a large poster, tightly wound up with an elastic band. She unrolled it.
“That’s one old Wonderbolts poster. I'm not even sure if Captain Fireball is still alive anymore.” She rolled it up again. “I better give this to Dashie, I imagine she’d like it.”
She threw it through the hole behind her.
Her hoof reached down into the bottom of the box after a glint of glass caught her eye. She pulled the object up and pulled off the scrap of paper clinging to its front.
She fell to her haunches when she saw it.
It was a photo of her at nineteen, when she had first started going out with Red.

She looked at it for while. She thought about her first few years with him. He had been so loving and everything. She didn’t know where it all went wrong with him.
She hated to admit it, but when she saw that old picture of him, she missed him.
Not the adulterous him, but the sweet, caring him who actually loved her.
Her mind drifted back to that night in the picture. The first night she ever played with him. The first night she ever met him. The first night she ever kissed him.

“You alright Rainbow?” a considerably skinnier Sass asked over the roar of the audience, who eagerly awaited the next band.
Rainbow was breathing erratically and sharply, her body was quaking violently. “A little nervous, if I'm honest.”
“Don’t be nervous, you’ll rock the joint!”
“Rock the joint? Seriously? Rock the joint?” Rainbow spoke angrily at her friend. “I'm playing a freakin’ violin! You can’t rock with one of those!”
“Have you seen who you’re playing for? Actually, have you even seen who you’re playing WITH?”
“What?”
“They’re a rock band. They have an electric guitarist and everything.”
Rainbow stared at her blankly. “Shit.”

“Rainbow?” called the stage hoof. “You’re on. Is your band ready?”
“My… band?” she repeated, completely terrified.
“She’s with us,” shouted an impatient Pegasus from behind.
Rainbow spun around. It was a red stallion, taller than her, and rather handsome, she thought.
“Okay, are you lot ready then?”
“Just a sec.” The stallion turned to Rainbow. “You’re Rainbow Swirl, right?”
Rainbow giggled girlishly, but she quickly straightened up and told herself now wasn’t the time to be giddy. “Yes. Call me Rainbow.”
“Alright, Rainbow. I’m Red. The vocalist. That’s Rhythm on the drums and Strumbo on the guitar. You play violin, right?”
Rainbow nodded again.
“Good. We have music ready for ya on the stage. Sorry we couldn’t show you it before. It’s been a little bit hectic after Fiddle got feather flu. We just needed somepony who could play the violin, and Sass said you’re pretty good. Have you performed on a stage before?”
Rainbow shook her head.
“So I guess you’re pretty nervous then.”
“I-it’s okay. I should be fine.”
“Good. Now let’s get going. Oh yeah, and you’ll be starting the set.”
“What?!”
“Just a little intro, nothing too hard going.”
“O-okay.”
“Don’t panic. It’ll be fine,” he said encouragingly, but it didn’t help.
Rainbow laughed nervously.

Her band walked out ahead of her and got into positions.
Rainbow’s steps were stiff, her eyes were wide and she had the unmistakeable feeling of Ponies watching her. Which they were; she was a fairly distracting sight, what with her bright colours in the dark, dank student bar in which she was performing.
She walked to her position; right at the front, parallel to Red. That didn’t help with her nerves.
She took her violin from under her wing and rested it against the music stand.
“Ready to go, Rainbow?” Red asked eagerly.
“J-just give me a sec. I wanna read the music first.”
“Okay, just be quick.”
Rainbow nodded and set about reading the music in front of her. She quietly hummed what it would sound like. She frowned after the first few bars.
“This is awful.”
“What do you mean? Fiddle was writing that for weeks!” Red sounded a little insulted. How could she just turn up out of the blue and say his friend’s hard work was terrible?
“It’s not that bad. It just needs a few tweaks.” Rainbow took the pencil from behind her ear and scribbled a few notes on the page.

The crowd was growing restless.
“Rainbow. Hurry up,” Red whispered harshly.
“Aaaaaand done,” she said, finishing with a flourish. She placed the pencil back behind her ear. “That should sound better.”
Rainbow took the violin in hoof and raised herself onto her rear legs.

She began the new and improved solo.
Red and his band were stupefied momentarily, staring intently at the new violinist. They had only heard about her a few days ago, and now the first time she performed with them, with no practice at all, she already surpassed their resident violinist.
They missed their cue.
Rainbow had finished her solo and was now waiting for them to start their own pieces.
She sighed. “Alright then, let’s start again, shall we? But this time, stop staring at my flank, okay?”
She was rewarded by a little laugh from the crowd, which helped her nerves hugely.
The band collectively blushed and sheepishly prepared themselves to play.
“Good,” Rainbow said, and she started the intro again.

Their set ran on a little longer than planned since Rainbow edited each song beforehoof, but nopony cared, they were just enjoying the good music.
The four musicians trotted backstage with their hearts racing and a bounce in their steps.
“Oh sweet Celestia! That was AWESOME!” Rainbow cheered as she jumped on the spot in front of Red.
“I know, I know! I don’t think we’ve sounded as good as that before,” Red shouted happily. “And we couldn’t have done it without you, Rainbow. You’re just… fantastic!”
Rainbow beamed and lunged forward at him. She planted her hooves firmly on his shoulders and kissed him quickly yet passionately.
She fell back away from him, trying to hide her face behind a hoof as she blushed madly.
“I'm so sorry. I'm just- I'm just excited. I don’t know what came over me.”
She risked a glance upwards over her hoof, and was relieved when she saw Red standing there, smiling like an idiot, staring at her with large, unblinking eyes and even swaying slightly.
“You don’t need to be sorry. That was… that was good,” he said calmly, trying to sound cool at the same time, but failing spectacularly as his voice broke midsentence.
“Oh…” She slowly stood back up to her normal height. “That’s good then,” she said awkwardly.
She started blushing again as a thought came to her mind, which she shared with Red.
“Would you mind… if… I did it again?” she asked hopefully.
Red smiled bigger and nodded frantically. He wasted no time in stepping forward to allow her to kiss him again.
Rainbow, still fuelled by the adrenaline of a successful live performance, effectively pounced on him, almost pushing him to the ground if it weren’t for his strong legs managing to support the two of them.
She kissed him for an awkwardly long time for the rest of the band and Sass, who had to wait for them before leaving.
A long moment later, she pulled back from him. “Wow,” she said with an airy voice.
Red just giggled to himself.

Rainbow remembered the after party in that same bar they performed in. That was fun. She hadn’t got drunk before, but she remembered the night semi-vividly. She remembered that photo being taken especially, and how persistent she was for it to be taken, even though it was just a picture of her jumping and cheering and Red standing there, watching her happily.
She remembered how happy she was to be with that stallion. Despite only just meeting him she knew they would stick together for years to come.
The only thing she remembered more than that was waking up beside him the next morning.
She woke up to see his smiling face in the sunlight. His dark red eyes glinting the light into hers as her eyes wearily opened. She couldn’t have woken to a better sight.
She smiled back and delicately stroked his cheek with a hoof.
He moved his own and held her hoof against his face. He turned his head and kissed it lightly on the tip before moving it down to his chest.
She moved closer to him and cuddled him, nuzzling in against his chest and getting comfortable. She could feel his heart racing. She could hear it getting louder and faster the longer she cuddled, but it soon calmed down again to a slow, gentle, thudding beat. It comforted her.
He moved his forelegs around her and pulled her in tighter. He let out a content sigh as he rested his head on hers.
Rainbow had never felt so good.

Rainbow looked back at that moment. After Red had left her when pregnant, this memory would forever be ruined.
But Red was her first boyfriend.
Red was her first kiss.
Red was her first love.

Red was her only love.

A tear dropped onto the glass frame of the photo.
Rainbow shut her eyes tightly, and yet more tears started to form and fall.
She held the photo against her chest tightly.
She tried to fight it, but she couldn’t. She cried.
She missed him.

She looked further into the box which housed the photo. She found his old jacket.
She remembered the times he would drape it over her shoulders when she said she was cold. She remembered the countless dates they went on as a couple and the many walks they enjoyed together.
She held it against her face and took a deep breath from it. It still smelt faintly of an aftershave he often wore, reminding her of the effort he put in as a coltfriend to impress her, even though she didn’t need impressing.
She missed him so much.

Her crying grew louder and heavier as she hugged the jacket to her chest. Tears poured down her cheeks and fell down onto the jacket.
She tried with all her might to stem the flow of tears, but the effort of pushing the thoughts of Red out was too great, and only allowed more to enter, and therefore only making her cry harder.
She didn’t want to miss him, but that’s all she felt at that moment.
She wanted Red back more than anything.

She heard a noise coming from downstairs.
“Hello?” she called out in a croaky voice as she tried to stop crying so she could speak.
“Swirly?” replied a confused, elderly voice.
Rainbow recognised it immediately. “Nana?”
She quickly clambered back over the boxes and dropped down through the hole and onto the landing. She bolted downstairs, with the jacket still in hoof.
Nana heard the thundering of hooves down the stairs and turned around just in time to see her granddaughter stop dead in her tracks at the opposite end of the living room.
She instantly saw her red eyes. “Swirly, what’s wrong?”
Rainbow tried to talk, but the first few syllables were an incoherent mumble and the rest became tears as she fell to her haunches.
Nana didn’t hesitate. She moved forward and hugged her tightly and grandmotherly. “Let it all out, Swirly,” she said affectionately, starting to sway her gently in her loving grasp.
Rainbow did as she was told and sobbed loudly into her grandmother’s shoulder.

A long time had passed before Rainbow started to calm down.
“What’s wrong, Swirly?”
Rainbow sniffed. “I was- I was looking through the attic and I found this picture of us together and I just remembered what he was like and I want him back so badly!” she broke out into sobs again.
Nana sighed. “I was wondering when this would happen.”
“I miss him so much, Nana,” she spoke through the sobs. “I miss him so much.”
“Ssh, ssh, ssh, ssh. There’s no need to cry.”
“I know, Nana. But I just miss him. I want him back.”
“Swirly, Swirly, Swirly, you don’t want him back. He changed. You left him for the better.”
“But Nana-.”
“No buts, you know I'm right. You need to move on from that colt and find yourself another.”
“But I don’t want another. I want Red!” she screamed angrily, but she couldn’t bring herself to her push away her grandmother.
Nana sighed. “Swirly, listen to me.”
Rainbow managed to quiet down enough for Nana to speak.
“You don’t need Red anymore. You’ve already got what you need from him.”
“What?”
Nana pointed to the door and, as if on cue, the little Rainbows walked in from their walk home from school.
“Mummy?” the fillies questioned in unison as they saw their mother crying on the floor.
Rainbow looked up to Nana, asking with her eyes if she was thinking the same thing.
Nana nodded once and smiled sweetly.
Rainbow spun around slowly and faced her children. She held her forelegs out for them.
They approached her slowly. They were slightly confused but they didn’t hesitate in their steps.
Once close enough, Rainbow took them and hugged them gently. Her breath was still erratic as she pulled them tighter to her chest.
They hugged back after a brief second.
Rainbow sniffed and began crying softly.
She felt Nana’s hoof on her back.
“I’ll make a pot of tea,” she said quietly and trotted to the kitchen, with Rainbow watching her from the corner of her eye.

Rainbow turned her attention back to her daughters.
She sniffed. “So, how was school today?” she asked with a teary voice.
“Err… it was okay,” Swirl replied first.
“Bor-ing,” Shine sang childishly.
“It was okay. Fluttershy was off sick so I didn’t have anypony to play with at playtime,” Dash said with disappointment.
Rainbow chuckled. “Oh well. I'm sure tomorrow will be better. Why don’t you go put your bags in your room?”
They nodded and pushed themselves away, although Rainbow was reluctant to let go.
“I love you. You know that, don’t you?” Rainbow asked as she put them down.
They nodded before trotting up the stairs with childlike enthusiasm, except for Dash who had a question to ask.
“What’s that on your back, Mummy?”
Rainbow smiled at the curious filly. “It’s a toy of mine.”
“Oh. Can I play with it?”
“Later, Dashie… later…”
“Yay!” Dash cheered as she flew up the stairs to join her sisters.

Rainbow watched her leave before heading to the kitchen.
She watched as Nana poured the boiling water in the teapot and dropped a few teabags inside.
Nana heard hoofsteps on the tiled floor.
“Are you alright, Swirly?”
Rainbow didn’t answer, instead she wrapped a foreleg around her neck and hugged.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
Nana hugged back. “I’m a grandmother. It’s what I'm here for,” she whispered back.

Evening rolled on. Rainbow and Sass were sat in the garden, with a box load of crockery to break, a BB gun with plenty of ammo, and an adequate amount of gin and tonic.
Rainbow reclined on the decking under a blanket, watching blankly as Sass shot another hideous plate, absent mindedly swirling around in her drink in her hoof. The only time her expression changed was when she heard the satisfying shatter of china and the celebratory whoop coming from her friend.
Sass smirked at the wreckage of the plate falling into the growing pile before going to sit near the colourful Pegasus.
She sat down heavily, sighing with relief as she took the weight off her hooves. She slid the rifle across the ground and in between the two of them.
“Y’know, I don’t think this is a child’s BB gun.”
Rainbow jumped slightly at the sudden voice beside her slowly turned to face her. “Excuse me?” she asked wearily.
“Well, think about it. It can smash a plate with one shot. It’s big enough for us two adults to hold it. I think your parents must have got ya the whole hog here; a proper, full size BB rifle.”
“Yeah…” Rainbow replied without processing anything Sass had just said.
Sass’ expression became serious. “Are you alright, Sugar?”
“Yeah, I'm fine,” she lied.
“C’mon now, something’s obviously bothering ya. What’s on your mind?”
Rainbow turned back to face the tree and the pile of china. She raised her glass and took a nonchalant sip of the cold drink before starting to swirl it around again.
“I cried today.”
Sass snorted. “Is that it?” she asked, slightly disappointed. “Everypony can cry every now and then. ‘S no biggy.”
“I miss him,” Rainbow said calmly, not a single emotion entered her voice. She didn’t break eye contact with the tree.
“Miss who? Red?” she asked doubtfully.
Rainbow’s silence broke volumes.
“What?” she sounded slightly angered by this. “Seriously? You miss HIM? After what he did to you?”
Rainbow shut her eyes and hung her head down. “I miss him, Sass. I don’t know why but I do.”
She opened her eyes and looked up to Sass. “I guess I just liked him being around. And you remember how sweet he was, right? When I first met him?”
“Rainbow. You… need to find yourself a stallion,” Sass said with the utmost sincerity.
“What?”
“You don’t want Red, you want somepony to be you coltfriend.”
“Don’t be absurd. I don’t need just anypony. I want Red.”
“Me being absurd? Really?” she sounded mildly insulted. “C’mon, there must be somepony you had your eye on.”
Rainbow shook her head. “Nope. I didn’t look at a colt in that way when with him.”
“What about that Jet Stream guy at the air show a couple months back? I saw you eyeing him up.”
Rainbow blushed. “Nah. Don’t be daft. I wasn’t looking at him in any way,” she said a little too defensively.
“Besides, even if I was, and I'm not saying I was, he’s a world famous aerial acrobat daredevil Pegasus, or something. I doubt he would have time for me. He’s probably halfway around the world doing shows, or something.”
“He is not world famous, Sugar.”
“What?”
“Cloudsdale famous, sure, but definitely not world famous.”
“Oh.” Rainbow looked away as she considered this new information. “How do you know that?”
“I see him at the supermarket when I'm working there some days. Sometimes have a little chat.”
“Really?”
“Ye-huh. He remembers you.”
Rainbow suddenly perked up. “Really?” she asked excitedly.
“Yeah. I could give him your number, if ya want.” Sass put on an intriguing smile.
Rainbow considered it for a moment. “Nah, don’t do that. It’s embarrassing.”
“Why is it?”
“I don’t know,” Rainbow sang back childishly as she blushed.
“I’ll give him your number.”
Rainbow smiled liked a little filly with a crush, trying to hide away by looking at everything except Sass.
“Mummy?” said a little filly’s voice.
Rainbow turned around to see the source of the noise. “Oh, hey Dashie. Sorry, did we wake you?”
Dash shook her head. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Oh, why not?”
Dash shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, why don’t you come lie down by me, hmm?” Rainbow lifted the blanket up and gestured for her daughter to sit.
Dash did so happily, if not tiredly. She rubbed her tired eyes as she walked, and let out a large yawn. She lay down next to her mother and nestled into her side, letting out a content sigh once she got comfortable.
Rainbow let the blanket down and tucked the edge und her daughter, who she could feel squirming as she got even more comfortable.
“Is that better?”
Dash nodded and shut her eyes.
Rainbow smiled at her and pulled her in closer to her.
“And you say you couldn’t sleep,” Rainbow jested.
“I'm not ti-.”
A yawn interrupted her and finished her sentence for her.
“Well if you say so. You can stay here with me a little longer then.” Rainbow leant down and kissed the top of her head.
Dash nodded again and seemingly fell asleep.
Rainbow couldn’t take her eyes off of her. She loved watching her sleep. “You know, Sass. Why would you ever need a colt when you have children as great as this?”
“I bet I could think of… a couple of things,” she said slyly and with a suggestive smile.
Rainbow laughed quietly, and so did Sass. Rainbow could have sworn she saw Dash smiling as well.

A couple months later

Rainbow sat on the floor by the back door, looking out at the overcast sky, listening to the rain patter against the wooden decking, sipping delicately from her large mug of tea.
She found it calming. Her mind was troubled for a reason she didn't know.
She had a theory behind it, although she didn't want to believe it.

The inevitable had happened. They had asked about their father.
She sighed as she remembered their faces when they asked, all beaming with innocence. During dinner, all three had paused as Shine asked. They looked so curious and full of wonder.
She hadn't known but they talked about it amongst themselves when they should have been sleeping. They dreamt up magnificent tales of who their father could be.
Dash hoped it had been a Wonderbolt, of course.
Shine wanted him to be celebrity, which surprised her. Rainbow would have thought she wanted a father with something to do with animals, like a zookeeper.
Swirl said she wanted him to be handsome. She was the only one who was right.
"No," Rainbow whispered harshly to herself. "Don't think like that. It will make you miss him again. And you don't want to cry anymore."
She let out an aggravated sigh.
She wished she had thought about it more beforehoof. Her reasoning was sloppy and unbelievable.
She told them they had no father. She told them that that colt didn't actually exist.
While true, Rainbow thought as she had never even mentioned a father to them, the story wouldn't hold out for long. Teachers and classmates would tell them that that's impossible, and so they would soon ask again.
This made it harder. She would also have to explain why she lied, something she would punish them for if they ever did.
She was not looking forward to it.
She ideally wanted to tell them when they were older, when they could actually understand and be mature about it. She decided when they were twelve would have been good. But that was that plan out of the window.

She just about managed to remove those thoughts from her mind and returned her attention to the view outside.
It was still very early morning, but she couldn't sleep. The sun had risen some time ago, although when she had moved there it was still dark.
She raised a hoof and reached for the handle. She slid the glass, screen door across.
A gentle breeze blew inside, ruffling her mane, making the fur on her back stand on end.
The rain was louder now.
She shut her eyes and hung her head down, trying to listen to it intently.
Despite being such a bright, warm personality, Rainbow preferred the rain to sun when she felt like this. It had an almost sympathetic quality to it. As if the world knew how she was feeling and was showing it cared by paying attention.
She hated that reasoning behind her liking of rain, but it was the best she could come up with.
She glanced up at the clock. She hadn't realised the ticking until just then.
"Half five. Two hours before I have to wake the Rainbows up."
She adjusted her position on the floor, moving to lie down. She was glad she had brought a blanket with her.
She draped the cloth over her back and rested her head against the floor.
She watched the rain fall down, growing steadily harder. Her tree was being buffeted the many, heavy drops, creating a pleasant sound.
She lifted her head up to take another gulp of tea.
She shuddered as the cold liquid went into her mouth. She so badly wanted to spit it back into the mug but she had an aversion to spitting, and so managed to swallow it.
She pushed he mug away from her in the hopes it would prevent her from doing it again. It didn't.

Her mind was pleasantly blank as she heard the sounds of light hoofsteps on the tiled floor behind her.
"Mummy?" asked a young filly.
Rainbow recognised her voice."Hey, Swirl."
She turned around. She was suddenly scared as she saw her daughter's eyes were red.
"What's wrong, Swirl?" she asked worriedly.
"I had a nightmare," Swirl replied with a little catch in her throat.
Rainbow gasped slightly. "Oh dear," she said affectionately.
"I went to go sleep with you but you weren't in your bed," Swirl said as she started crying.
Rainbow felt terrible now. "I'm so sorry, Swirl. I was downstairs."
"I was in my bed for ages after I couldn't find you. I thought you had gone."
"I'll never leave you, Swirl," she said with absolute sincerity. "C'mon, come lie next to me."
Rainbow raised the edge of the blanket and allowed Swirl to lie next to her.
Swirl quickly went and snuggled into her mother’s side.
Rainbow tucked the blanket under her.
"What did you dream about, Swirl?" she asked curiously yet caringly.
Swirl buried her face into her mother's shoulder and began to cry softly.
Rainbow placed a foreleg around her and hugged her.
"Hey, don't cry," she whispered. "It's alright now. Nothing bad is going to happen. I'm here for you."
Swirl choked back the tears enough to talk.
"We were in the park and then a nasty, red colt turned up. He started picking on me and Dash and Shine but you were there and came to fight for us. But then he-he-he."
She started sniffing and was almost about to cry again.
"Hey," Rainbow whispered again. "The red colt isn't real. You can tell me what happened. You're safe."
Swirl picked up the courage to talk. "Then he stole you and flew away with you. We were left in the park, watching you go, but then you fell from the sky and nopony saved you. That's when I woke up."
Rainbow hugged her tighter. She felt like crying now, but she was also touched that her daughter found that to be a nightmare.
"That sounds like a horrible nightmare. But it's over now. You should try to get some sleep."
Swirl shook her head. "I'm too scared," she whimpered.
"You can sleep here next to me."
Swirl shook her head again.
"Swirl, listen to me," Rainbow said firmly yet softly.
Swirl looked up to her with bloodshot eyes.
"It was only a nightmare. It wasn't real. I'm never going to get stolen and I'm never going to fall from the sky. I promise I'll be right here when you wake up. Okay?"
Swirl sniffed and wiped her nose on her leg. "Do you really promise?"
"Of course I do."
"Can you hug me properly?" Swirl asked sweetly.
Rainbow nodded with a smile. She rolled to her side and grabbed the little filly with both forelegs.
Swirl hugged back tightly. Her crying had lessened significantly. Although Rainbow could still feel her coat becoming slightly damp.
Rainbow ran a hoof through her mane and hummed a peaceful tune to help calm her daughter to sleep.
Swirl fell asleep quickly. She wasn't troubled by dreams anymore.

7 Years - Swirl

“Shine’s not going to like this,” Rainbow said as she held the virtually empty jar of raspberry jam in her hoof.
“Maybe I could fool her. Strawberry tastes pretty much the same.”
She took the other jar from fridge and looked at it.
“What am I saying? Of course she’d notice. She’s like a jam connoisseur for crying out loud.”
She put the jar back solemnly.
“I’ll ask her when I go wake her up.”
She looked back to the worktop.
“Right, so that’s cheese sandwiches and a packet of salt and vinegar crisps for Swirl, salad-y thing and two oranges for Dash. At least they’re not so picky.”
“What else do I need to do?” she asked herself, tapping her chin with a hoof.
“Drinks. That’s it.”
She opened the dishwasher and took the three bottles out. She quickly filled two of the bottles with whatever squash she found first, but the third was always tricky.
“How does she like it?” she asked herself. “To be honest, it doesn’t really matter. She always moans that I do it wrong. I might as well let her do it. She knows how she likes it.”
Rainbow left the remaining bottle on the side and took the two full ones and placed it next to their lunches.
“And I think a little treat for them,” she chirped giddily, even though she always gave them a treat.
She trotted to the fridge.
“Let’s see. Err…”
She frowned.
“Damn. We’re out of chocolate bars. Not a penguin in sight.”
She looked up at the clock.
“And it’s too late to bake cookies. Oh well. They don’t need chocolaty, sweet things. Besides, Shine’s starting to get a little podgy.”
She heard the sounds of hooves coming down the stairs.
“They’re much earlier than usual. I usually have to wake them as well.”
She went to greet them.
“Morning, Mummy!” sang Swirl.
“Good morning, Swirl. Where are your sisters? I could have sworn I heard them coming down the stairs as well.”
“No. They’re just a bunch of lazy-flanks,” she said childishly.
Rainbow giggled. “I see. What are you doing up so early?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Oh dear,” Rainbow said concernedly. “Why not? Did you have a bad dream?”
“No. Just got bored of sleeping,” she said with a little dance in her hooves.
“I know that feeling. But seeing as you’re up, do you fancy some proper breakfast? We have plenty of time.”
“What kind of breakfast?”
“Pancakes?” Rainbow said with a raised eyebrow.
Swirl celebrated quietly with a little jump in the air.
Rainbow tittered. “I thought you’d like that. But don’t tell your sisters when they wake up.”
“I won’t,” Swirl sang.
“Go sit on the table and I’ll make us some, okay?”
Swirl nodded excitedly.

Rainbow went into the kitchen and started the preparations for pancakes.
Swirl hopped onto the chair and took a bit of material from under her wing. She stretched the white loop in her hooves, letting it return to it’s natural, elasticated state.
Rainbow looked over confusedly as she was breaking some eggs into a bowl.
“What you got there, Swirl?” she asked curiously.
Swirl shrugged as she continued to play with it. “Found it in the drawers.”
She pulled it onto her head and around her neck. She pulled it back up into her mane, propping it up in erratic manner.
“I thought it can keep my mane out of my eyes.”
It slowly fell down over her eyes, meaning she had to keep moving it again every minute or so.
Rainbow smiled at her. “If your mane keeps getting in your eyes we can go get it cut.”
“Nah.”
“Okay. I could give you a ponytail?” Rainbow asked hopefully. Swirl had the nicest hair of her daughters, and was so nice to brush.
Swirl’s face contorted with thought. She looked down to her flanks.
“But I already have one.”
Rainbow chuckled. “No it’s… never mind. You can wear that if you want. It looks cute.”

Rainbow poured some pancake batter in the pan.
“Did you have a good sleep?” she asked curiously.
“Yep,” Swirl replied simply as she started to rock in her chair.
“Don’t rock, Swirl,” Rainbow said firmly.
“Sorry,” Swirl said quickly and swiftly returned all four chair legs to the floor.
“Did you have any cool dreams?” Rainbow asked. She hoped Swirl did, she always had crazy dreams that never failed to entertain her.
“Yep. I was in space again, fighting aliens with my fire powers this time.”
“Sounds exciting.”
“Not really,” she said disappointedly. “I only got a couple before they ran away. But it did have awesome special effects. Especially when I was in hyperspace.”
“I see,” Rainbow said as she poured a little of the batter in the pan. She was disappointed in her daughter’s dream; it was nowhere near as entertaining as usual.
They were in silence as Rainbow watched the frying pan intently, timing when it would need to be flipped.
She decided it was time. She reached to the drawer and opened it. She took a spatula from its depths in her mouth.
She jiggled it under the pancake and was about to turn it over when her daughter interrupted her.
“Flip it!” Swirl asked eagerly.
Rainbow winced. “Do I have to?” she said exhaustedly.
Swirl pushed her headband back up and nodded.
Rainbow sighed. “Okay. But just this once.”
Swirl smiled excitedly, watching her mother take the panhandle in her mouth and step back for more room.
“You watching, Swirl?” she asked through the handle. She didn’t want her to miss it.
“Yep!” Swirl replied with anticipation.
“Okay, here we go!”
Rainbow flicked her head upwards and the pancake flew out of the pan. It did a few flips in the air before landing back in the pan perfectly.
“Whoo!” Swirl cheered loudly.
“Ssh!” Rainbow whispered harshly. “Keep your voice down or they’ll wake up. And that means less pancakes for us.”
Swirl’s eyes widened as she was told this. She wanted all the pancakes. She quickly zipped her mouth shut and pushed her headband up once again.
Rainbow chuckled. “Good girl. Here’s the first one,” she said as she placed the plate before her daughter. “I take it you want sugar and lemon juice?”
Swirl nodded.
“I thought so,” Rainbow said cockily as she went to retrieve said items. She placed them in the table and returned to the frying pan.
She quickly began frying a stack of pancakes for them to share.

Rainbow sat at the table with a plate of pancakes and a plate for herself.
Swirl took another with a greedy glint in her eye.
“Not too fast, Swirl. You’ll get a tummy ache,” Rainbow warned.
Swirl nodded as she poured on some sugar and lemon juice on the pancake before rolling it up.
“So, Mummy,” Swirl started. “What are you doing today?”
Rainbow looked up from the spoon of sugar she was taking from the pot and gave her daughter a puzzled look.
“Did you, Rainbow Swirl, just ask me, Mummy, what I'm doing today?” Rainbow asked her daughter with the utmost puzzlement.
“Yep,” Swirl said with a mouthful of pancake.
“Where’d the real Swirl go? Ay?” Rainbow jested.
Swirl looked to her mother with a look of pure contempt, which was ruined by her cheeks full of pancake. She gulped it down quickly.
“That’s a terrible and overused cliché, Mummy,” she said in a calm tone that oozed mild irritation.
“Ooh, look at you, getting all French on me,” Rainbow teased and quivered in her seat exaggeratedly.
“You’re just saying that because I'm more cultured than you,” Swirl said moodily, looking away to exaggerate her pompousness. All of which was ruined by her breaking out into a giggle.
Rainbow laughed slightly. “Oh, you funny little filly.”
She continued to put sugar on her pancake.
“So what are you doing today?” Swirl reiterated.
“Well, if you must know,” Rainbow said as she rolled her pancake up. “I am going to the post office to get a job,” she said proudly.
“I thought you already had a job,” Swirl said confusedly.
“What? No, I don’t. I sold a couple of paintings, if that’s what you mean.”
Swirl nodded.
“Ah, well that isn’t my job, more of a hobby. But anyway, I'm bored of living off benefits and staying at home all day every day, so I'm going to go for an interview with the post office. I should get it easily. I mean, just look at me,” she ended with a sarcastic swish of her mane.
Swirl giggled. She liked how her mother always joked about her looks.
“I'm sure you’ll ace it,” Swirl said confidently. “And what about you coltfriend?” she asked with a childish grin.
Rainbow gave her another confused look. “Coltfriend? I don’t have a coltfriend.”
“What about the colt I heard you talking to on the phone last night?” she said deviously.
Rainbow gave her an angry look. “Swirl, what have I told you about eavesdropping?”
“I didn’t mean to. You were gone for ages and I was getting worried, but then I heard you were in your room and I listened for a minute.”
“I see,” Rainbow said disappointedly. “But don’t eavesdrop again, alright?”
“I won’t,” Swirl skilfully lied with shifty eyes. “But are you going out with him?” she asked hopefully.
“Eat your breakfast, Swirl,” Rainbow said to avoid the topic. She was already blushing.
“Is he handsome?” Swirl asked hopefully.
Rainbow blushed harder. She knew the answer to that as soon as she saw him.
“What’s his name?” Swirl demanded. “Tell me!”
“No. You have to guess,” Rainbow challenged, knowing she would have to go to school before she could guess.
“Is it Jet Stream?” Swirl asked.
Rainbow was taken aback by this. “How did you know?”
“Yes,” Swirl celebrated. “I like him. He could really fly at the air show. Are you going with out with him?”
“No!” Rainbow defended herself. “No. Sass just gave him my number and we started talking.”
“Oh,” Swirl said in a pondering voice. “Will you go out with him?”
Rainbow’s silence spoke volumes. Fortunately Swirl wasn’t one for picking that sort of thing up, given her age.
“I don’t know, Swirl,” Rainbow said after a moment of blushing. “Maybe,” she accidentally let slip.
Swirl smiled giddily.
“Eat your pancakes before the others wake up and want some too.”
Swirl nodded and eagerly resumed a quick pace of eating.
Rainbow sighed with relief now that she distracted her daughter from that awkward topic.
A hoof tapped quietly on the tile floor behind Rainbow. She spun around to see who it belong to.
Her brow furrowed with confusion.
“Morning, Shine,” she said sceptically. Shine was never up early.
Swirl gasped dramatically. “Quick! Hide the pancakes!” she shouted before lunging over the plate and shielding the pancakes with a wing.
Rainbow tittered. “Get off the pancakes, Swirl,” she instructed before going over to Shine, who had frozen in the doorway.
She saw that her middle daughter looked more worried than ever before. She knelt down beside her.
“What’s wrong, Shiny?” she asked worriedly.
Shine gestured her to move closer.
Rainbow did so. “What?” she asked, but now with a sense of childlike curiosity.
Shine looked around quickly, to make sure nopony else was in earshot, before pulling herself up to her mother’s ear.
“I wet the bed,” she whimpered, sounding on the brink of tears.
Rainbow smiled with relief. “That’s okay, Shiny,” she whispered back. “Go put the sheets in the dirty basket and I’ll sort it out later.”
Shine nodded, dried her eyes, and turned to head back up stairs.
“And when you come back you can have some pancakes,” Rainbow said cheerfully.
Shine smiled back.
“Aww!” Swirl moaned.
Rainbow ignored her. “And wake Dash up too. It’d be mean if she got left out.”
“WHAT?!” Swirl moaned louder, staring at her mother in a way that practically called her an idiot for giving pancakes away.
Rainbow shook her head. “Don’t be greedy, Swirl.”

Rainbow had made herself as presentable as possible; she had actually combed her mane to some degree of standard for once. She had also found a rather fetching, chequered bowtie which seemed to suit her. She was ready for her interview.
She walked into the post office. There was a total of five Pegasi there, all of whom were talking amongst themselves.
“Excuse me?” Rainbow called out sheepishly.
A head popped up from behind a Pegasus wearing a puzzled expression. “Hi,” it said before trotting around to behind the counter. “What can I do you for?”
“Err…” Rainbow said, lost of all other responses. She decided to reach under her wing and produced a CV in her mouth, which she showed to the cashier.
The cashier took it and inspected it. “You here for the job?” she asked.
Rainbow gulped and nodded.
The cashier looked over the CV again. She then looked back to Rainbow and looked her up and down.
“You free tomorrow?” she asked.
Rainbow nodded. “After I take my kids to school, yes.”
“Alright, come back here tomorrow at nine and we’ll give you a trial day. Is that okay?”
Rainbow was taken aback by this; it seemed too easy. “Yeah, sure! That sounds great!”
“Good. Is there anything else?”
Rainbow shook her head.
“Okay. Have a nice day! And I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay. Bye!” Rainbow said before turning and leaving the post office.
Once the door shut behind her, she stood still for a second and removed her bowtie.
“That was easy.”

The school bell rang, signalling the end of the day. Swirl quickly grabbed her books and forced them into her saddle bags. She tried to get into the hustle and bustle of the leaving school kids but was stopped by the teacher.
“Rainbow Swirl,” the teacher called out, making the filly freeze in her tracks.
“Ticker,” the teacher called out again, making another, tea coloured filly stop beside Swirl.
The two fillies gulped and turned slowly, wearing sheepish smiles.
“Yes, Miss Doltish?” Swirl replied worriedly.
“You two come over here, please.”
The two small Pegasi walked over to her with their heads hanging low. Once by her desk, they looked up with hopeful, glistening eyes; a look the mischievous pair had a lot practice with.
“Now then,” she started authoritatively. “Your homework was not only abysmal, but you also copied-.”
“No we didn’t!” Swirl shouted in defence.
“Do not interrupt me, young filly. You also copied each other, which is a silly thing to do.”
“We didn’t copy, we were helping each other. Isn’t that right, Ticker?”
The other filly looked to Swirl before turning back to Miss Doltish and nodded frantically.
“Okay, fair enough. That’s good to know. But it’s still appalling. I know Maths isn’t either of your strong points, but six out of forty is shocking to say the least.”
“We’re sorry,” Swirl said sincerely. “We just found that homework really hard. We couldn’t do any of it!”
“If you two need help with the subject you can always ask. I could set up an afterschool session to go over the points you’re struggling with. How does that sound?”
“That sounds good, Miss.”
“Good. Now you can go, you two. See you tomorrow.”
“Bye, Miss Doltish!” Swirl sang childishly.
Ticker smiled politely.
They both ran off as fast as they could.
“That was a close one,” Swirl said loudly as they reached the classroom door.
“What did you say?” Miss Doltish asked quickly as she heard them.
Swirl panicked slightly and put on a little extra speed. Ticker easily kept up with her.

They made it to the playground, where all the parents gathered to pick up their children, and slowed their pace.
“Can you believe she fell for that?” Swirl said with a little laugh.
Ticker shook her head, smiling gleefully for managing to get out of trouble.
“Like we struggle at Maths. It’s easy-peasy!”
Ticker nodded in agreement. She paused to tap Swirl’s shoulder.
“Yeah?” Swirl said as she turned to face her friend.
Ticker moved her wings in a complex fashion, moving individual feathers and bending the limb occasionally.
“Yeah, you can come round still. I just have to ask Mummy.”
Ticker giggled and moved her wings again.
“Of course I still call her Mummy! What else should I call her?”
Ticker shrugged.
“At least I can call her things, you silly mute!” Swirl jested.
Ticker nudged her playfully and smiled.
Swirl giggled. “C’mon,” she said loudly and started running off. “Mummy’s waiting,” she said, adding emphasis on “Mummy”.

Swirl tumbled to a halt by her mother and impatient sisters. She looked up at them and giggled sheepishly.
“Hi.”
“Are you okay, Swirl?” Rainbow asked as she helped her daughter up.
Swirl brushed herself down and looked to her leg. There was a little blood on it.
“I'm fine. Just a scratch.”
“We better put a plaster on it when we get home,” Rainbow said sternly.
“Nah!” Swirl said, dismissing her mother with a wave. “It’s fine. Let it breathe. Can Ticker come round tonight?” she asked hopefully.
“Ticker? Who-?”
She was interrupted by a hoof tapping her shoulder. She looked down and saw a small filly smiling up at her. The filly was tea coloured with a brown, straggly mane that looked a little like strands of wool.
“Oh yes. Ticker. The infamous Ticker. I’ve been wondering when I’d meet you. Swirl’s always talking about the shenanigans you two get up to.”
Ticker blushed slightly.
“And since we’ve never been properly introduced. I'm Rainbow Swirl, but you can call me Rainbow,” she said with a smile, offering a hoof for the filly to shake.
Ticker shook it, although slightly confused by the idea of shaking a parent’s hoof.
“Actually, she can’t call you that,” Swirl stated simply.
“Oh? Why ever not?”
“She can’t talk!” Swirl said loudly. She broke out into a small fit of laughter at her “clever” joke.
“Oh…” Rainbow felt rather awkward now. “How do you talk to her then, Swirl?”
“She can do Wing Language!”
Ticker held her head up arrogantly.
Rainbow gave her daughter a contemptuous look. “But you can’t do Wing Language.”
“Yes I can,” Swirl stated, slightly insulted.
“Since when?”
“Ticker taught me.”
Ticker fluttered her wings proudly.
“When?”
“Ages ago.”
“Oh… why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t have to tell you everything.”
“I know but… I’d like to know,” Rainbow said sadly, swinging her hoof in the air slightly.
“Don’t look so glum, Mummy,” Swirl ordered.
“Oh alright then,” Rainbow said happily. “So, can you speak, or do rather, any Wing language?” she asked enthusiastically.
“Err… a little bit.” Swirl began moving her wings about with amateurish motions.
Ticker brought a hoof to her mouth to try and hold back the laughter.
Rainbow noticed the mute Pegasus trying not to laugh and grew slightly irritated. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing,” Swirl sang back childishly.
“Swirl!”
“I said you smell!” Swirl shouted excitedly and began to laugh.
“Oh…” Rainbow frowned. “That’s not very nice,” she said in moody, childlike voice.
“Just kidding, Mummy. You smell beautiful!” Swirl said as she nuzzled against her mother’s shoulder.
Rainbow let out a flattered giggle. “You little sweet talker, you. C’mon, let’s go home.”
Dash cheered quietly and they all began heading for the gate.
Ticker tapped Swirl’s shoulder and gave her an angry look.
Swirl jumped slightly. “Oh yeah!” She turned to her mother. “Can Ticker come round?”
Rainbow paused and turned round. “Didn’t I already say yes? Of course you can come round, Ticker.”
Ticker smiled and signed her wings.
“She says thanks,” Swirl translated.
Rainbow tittered. “Tell her she’s welcome.”
“She can hear you, she’s not deaf,” Swirl stated.
Rainbow shook her head and smiled.

The four fillies were sat around the table, all waiting for their dinner.
“Alright, girls, it’s ready!” Rainbow sang. She opened the oven and removed the hot dish, placing it on the worktop, where she began serving the food onto the plates.
“Okay, I’ve never made this before, and if I knew we were having company I probably wouldn’t have dared making it, but it looked nice in the recipe book, so I hope it tastes nice.”
“What is it?” Shine asked eagerly.
“Moussaka. It seems to be a bit like lasagne, but with courgettes and stuff. But it looks scrumptious so… let’s just hope.”
Rainbow placed a plate in front of each of the hungry fillies, each of whom eyed it up curiously.
Shine was the first to try it, as was expected. She nodded and began shovelling it in.
The other three, now with Shine’s approval, and therefore it must be delicious, began eating at a good pace.
“Slow down, Shine,” Rainbow ordered strictly, yet it had little effect.
Rainbow shook her head and went to sit between Dash and Swirl with her own plate.
“Is it nice then?” she asked hopefully.
The three fillies all nodded.
Rainbow sighed with relief. “Good.”
They were in silence for a couple of minutes, save for the numerous sounds of approval coming from the fillies. Swirl was the first to speak.
“Did you get the job, Mummy?” Swirl asked through a mouthful of food.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Rainbow said sternly.
Swirl gulped her food down. “Did you get the job?” she repeated.
“Kind of. I have to go do a trial day tomorrow, but that can’t be too hard. Right?”
“You’ll be brilliant at it!” Swirl said confidently.
“I'm sure I will. Besides, who could turn down a mare like me?” she said with a little shake of her mane and a raised eyebrow.
Swirl and Dash giggled, whereas Ticker was looking awkward and Shine was too busy eating to notice.

Rainbow trotted into the post office the next morning. Her stomach was full of butterflies and her heart pounded in her ears. She hadn’t been so nervous in years.
As she walked in, she was met by a short, strange looking Pegasus stallion.
“Good morning, Miss Swirl,” he called out as he saw her.
“G-good morning,” Rainbow spoke back nervously. “But please, call me Rainbow. It gets confusing as I have a daughter who I call Swirl.”
“I see. Well, Miss Rainbow, I'm the boss around here, Mr Parcel, but you don’t have say the Mr.”
“Oh, r-right.”
“Are you excited,” Parcel said enthusiastically.
Rainbow nodded. “I think so. I'm a little bit nervous, if I'm honest.”
“Don’t be,” he reassured her, with mild success. “Your interview yesterday went very well, or so I was told, so today is to only make sure you can do the job. I highly doubt I won’t accept you. Just having this trial day pretty much assures that.”
“Interview? What interview?” Rainbow started panicking, thinking she had missed the interview. She couldn’t remember being told about any interview, which worried her so.
“What? Cheque told me she interviewed you. What did she do exactly?”
“I handed the cashier my CV, she looked at it, then told me to come back today for a trial.”
“I see. Oh well, I'm sure you’ll do fine. It’s not too hard to get a grasp of.”
Rainbow sighed mentally. “That’s good. So, where do I start?”
“At a girl. I like your eagerness. Follow me.” He turned on the spot and walked behind the counter.
Rainbow followed nervously. It felt so strange going behind there.
He came to a stop by a chair and a cash register.
“Okay, it’s pretty self explanatory, really,” he said as he gestured for her to take a seat.
Rainbow sat down on the chair. “Comfy chair,” she remarked.
“Well, I wouldn’t let my employees suffer in discomfort now, would I?” he said with a raise of an eyebrow. “Now, let me explain how this works. Basically, if the letter is small enough and stamped, just put it in the big sack behind you. If it isn’t stamped, charge for a stamp, put it on and then throw it in the sack behind you.”
“How do I charge them?” Rainbow asked sheepishly.
“The button on the register that says stamp.”
“Right,” she said to herself.
“If it’s a parcel then place it on the scales and the register will do the rest of the work. Put the sticker it prints off on the side of the box, charge them, and then place it on the table behind you. You got all that?”
“I think so.”
“Like I said, it’s all pretty obvious.” He turned and left her, heading round to the front of the checkout. “It shouldn’t be too hard today. It’s a Wednesday, so most Ponies will be at work. If you need help, I’ll be in my office.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“No problem. And the mail mare should come in a bit later to get some more to deliver. She’ll help you as well if need be.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Good luck. It should all be fine.”
Rainbow smiled at him.
He smiled back and left for his office, closing the door behind him with a loud click.

Rainbow looked around. The post office was deserted at the moment. She could tell that boredom might become a serious problem.
She perked up as she heard the door open with a little ring of a bell.
She looked up, feeling incredibly excited to serve her first customer.
“Good morning,” she said in a painfully cheery voice, the likes of which made her cringe. “How may I help you,” she asked with a friendly smile.
“Err… yes,” the terrified looking colt replied as he shuffled through the pile of letters in his hooves. “I have… I have some-some letters to post.” He held them out sheepishly.
Rainbow tittered as she saw him stand in the entrance way, as far away from her as possible.
“Come here and let me have a look,” she said as she raised a hoof to beckon him over.
He approached nervously and placed the letters on the desk. His head barely came over the edge.
Rainbow took them and looked at them. “Do they all have stamps on?” she asked.
He nodded in reply.
“Good.” Rainbow turned and dropped them into the sack behind her. “Is there anything else?” she asked, but he had already run off.
Rainbow celebrated quietly to herself. “First customer was a success!”
Then she waited patiently for her second customer.

The bell rang at school, signalling the start of morning break time.
Swirl trotted out with Ticker by her side. Art had taken its toll on them and they were mentally drained from the boredom.
“I hate Art,” Ticker signed lazily.
“Same here.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. Tiggy?”
Ticker shook her head. “Not enough Ponies to play,” she signed disappointedly.
“Good point. And there’s not enough time to nap,” Swirl said moodily, taking her frustration out on a stone and kicking it at a colt, unintentionally of course.
“HEY!” the colt shouted as he stomped over to the pair of fillies.
“Sorry, Hoops.”
“You will be,” he said threateningly. He looked over his shoulder and tilted his head at his friends. Within seconds he was joined by two more colts.
Swirl and Ticker looked at each other.
Swirl cocked her eyebrow a couple of times and pushed her headband up.
Ticker couldn’t agree more.
They looked to the three colts before them, wearing malicious smiles. They scraped their front hooves over the ground, ready to charge, and flared their wings menacingly.
Swirl and Ticker could be quite vicious when the situation called for it, especially so when it concerned these three colts.
As usual, everything escalated out of hoof amazingly quickly.

The morning was drawing on in the Post Office, and Rainbow was growing impatient. It was now half eleven, and it had been two hours since her first and only customer had run away.
She had drained a pen of its ink by drawing a magnificent doodle on a sheet of paper by the time somepony else had walked in.
The small bell rang out, making Rainbow jump.
Rainbow looked up and saw a grey mare with simple, purple mane stand in the doorway.
“Hey,” she said confidently as she stepped further in the post office. “You must be the new mare.”
Rainbow gulped. “Yeah. I'm Rainbow Swirl, but you can call me Rainbow.”
“Alright. Hello, Rainbow. I'm Doo. Dizzy Doo. The mail mare.”
“Oh, hello.”
“So, how are you finding it so far?”
“Err…” Rainbow’s mind froze completely.
“Boring?” Dizzy hazarded a guess.
Rainbow nodded. “I’ve only had one customer.”
“That’s probably the most you’ll get for a while,” Dizzy informed. “It’ll pick up around lunch a bit. And much more so after work is out.”
“I see.”
“Is there any post, by any chance?” she asked, although felt rather uninterested.
“Err…” Rainbow thought. She hadn’t been prepared for this, so she improvised and took the letters that the colt had given her.
“I have these?” she said nervously as she held them out in front of her.
Dizzy came up to her and took them. She looked at the addresses of the three letters and smiled, as if about to laugh.
She turned her head and looked at her back. “I think you’ve got mail,” she whispered excitedly.
Rainbow stared at her, puzzled as to why she was talking to her back, but then she saw a small, grey hoof reach out and take them.
She heard the ripping of paper and a small giggle coming from the mail mare’s back.
“Who’s that?” Rainbow asked curiously.
“It’s my daughter. She got another letter from her secret admirer, by the sounds of it.”
“Aw, that’s cute!”
“It is, really.” Dizzy turned to her back. “Go on! Say hello!” she requested.
Her daughter shook her head.
“Oh go on. Don’t be shy. She’s nice.”
Rainbow watched as she saw a single, yellow eye slowly emerge from behind its mother’s mane before quickly hiding away again.
“Hello?” Rainbow asked. “Anypony there?”
“C’mon, Ditzy. Don’t be shy!” the mother pleaded. “She won’t bite!”
The filly giggled.
“Ditzy?” Rainbow questioned.
“Yeah, that’s her name. I would introduce you properly, but she’s being a little shy. She’s not very good around strangers.”
Rainbow smirked. “Who is?”
Dizzy turned to her back again. “C’mon, Ditzy. Do it for me?” she asked hopefully.
The filly couldn’t disobey now. She didn’t want to disappoint her mother. She leant round her mother’s neck.
“Helloo,” she called out sheepishly, yet waved enthusiastically.
Rainbow smiled childishly. “Aww! She’s adorable! Hello Ditzy. I'm Rainbow Swirl, but you can call me Rainbow.”
Ditzy smiled at her goofily, revealing some teeth that were in the process of being replaced.
“Good girl, Ditzy,” her mother praised.
Ditzy flew down onto the floor thanks to her confidence boost.
Rainbow looked at the filly on the floor and took in the details of her, making Ditzy feel a little uncomfortable since she didn’t like Ponies staring at her.
“You look a lot like your mother, Ditzy. Same grey coat. If only your mane was purple as well.”
Ditzy started to blush. She considered looking like her mother to be one of the best compliments possible.
“Yeah, she gets that a lot.” Dizzy ruffled her daughter’s yellow mane.
“And your eyes,” Rainbow noticed.
Dizzy look at Rainbow sternly, preparing herself to defend her daughter.
Ditzy looked away embarrassedly, trying to hide her eyes away.
“Oh don’t hide them. They’re beautiful. Such a wonderful gold colour.”
Ditzy looked back at Rainbow again, but smiled broadly at her at her.
“Thanks, Rainbow,” Dizzy said sincerely. “That means a lot. To both of us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well… she sometimes gets bullied about her eyes, don’t you?” she directed at the filly, who nodded slowly in response.
“That’s horrible.” Rainbow was saddened by this. “I don’t see why you would. They make you look even cuter than you already do.”
“Thank you, Rainbow!” Ditzy sang happily.
“It’s no problem at all, Ditzy. Say, how old are you?”
“Err…” Ditzy scowled as she tried to remember. “Nine!” she beamed with pride once it came to her.
“Nine, ay?” Rainbow looked away with confusion. “Shouldn’t you be at school?”
Ditzy looked away sheepishly, allowing her mother to step in.
“Yeah, she should be really. But she was finding it a bit hard today, weren’t you?”
Ditzy nodded as if ashamed with herself.
“And you threw a bit of a wobbly, didn’t you?”
Ditzy looked away from everypony.
“Oh… I see…” Rainbow felt suddenly awkward. “I think I understand. Is she a bit… you know… a few sandwiches short of a picnic?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that. She is a smart filly. Really smart. I dare say smarter than me sometimes. She just has a hard time getting to grasp with things. So you have to take it slow with her and have a lot of patience, but eventually she will understand perfectly. But if you don’t take your time and help her to the fullest she can get easily annoyed with herself for not being able to do it. And if you’re not careful she can get angry and a little violent.”
“Oh, I see…” Rainbow wasn’t quite sure what to say.
“That’s why I had to pick her up today. She was being rushed by her classmates and she got a little angry. She even knocked a few desks over. So the school rang me and asked me to pick her up before she hurt anypony. I'm so glad the school is so understanding.”
“Oh… and you’re not mad at her, are you?” Rainbow asked hopefully.
“Of course not!” Dizzy sounded slightly insulted by the idea. “Besides, you can’t be really, can you? It’s not like she can help it.”
“I suppose not.”
“And hay, that means I get to spend the day with her.” She beamed happily.
“Aw, that’ll be nice.”
“It sure will!”
Dizzy walked over to her daughter, who still looked a little upset, and picked her up. “I know others don’t think she’s perfect. In fact, I think quite a few think she’s far from it. But to me.” She brought her daughter into a hug, and she hugged back. “To me, she is perfect. And I wouldn’t change my little Derpy Hooves for the world.”

They spent a small, uninterrupted moment hugging before Rainbow broke the silence.
“Derpy Hooves?” she was a little puzzled.
“Yeah, that’s just my little pet name for her.” She put Ditzy back on the floor. “She’s really clumsy sometimes. Well… most of the time, actually. So I thought the name suited her really well.”
Rainbow chuckled. “It’s cute, really. I wish I could give my kids cute pet names like that. I just had to resort to modifying their real names.”
“You have kids?”
“Yep,” she said, proud as ever.
Dizzy nodded at her. “I’d thought you would. You have a certain… way about you that makes me think that.”
“Really? Like what?” Rainbow asked, clearly intrigued.
“I don’t know. Just the way you were when talking to Ditzy. It was very motherly.”
“Thanks, I guess. But anyway, I have kids.”
“What are they?”
“Well, I have three fillies. They’re triplets!”
“Oh really? That’s interesting. Must be hard work though.”
“Surprisingly no,” Rainbow said as if amazed by this. “They’re really well behaved, and they always listen to me.”
“That’s good. As long as they’re respectful to you early on they should turn out wonderfully!”
Rainbow smiled at her. “Thank you. That’s very kind.”
“How old are they?”
“They turned seven a couple of months ago. But it seems like they were born yesterday yet were always here.”
“I know that feeling. It’s the same with Ditzy.”
“What are their names?” Ditzy interjected loudly as she jumped up on the desk. She was clearly very interested.
“Well, there’s Rainbow Swirl, named after myself,” she said smugly. “Then there’s Rainbow Shine. And finally, Rainbow Dash.”
“Rainbow Dash?” Ditzy asked.
“Yep, that’s her name.”
“I like that name. Rainbow Dash,” she repeated with a giggle.
“Just wait here a second,” Rainbow instructed.
She ducked her head under the desk and found her handbag. She brought it to the top and removed her purse. She removed the few, small photos and placed them in front of Ditzy.
“Here are some pictures of them.”
Ditzy looked at them and smiled broadly. “Aww. They’re so cute! Which one is Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow tapped a photo, instinctively knowing it do be the correct daughter.
Ditzy picked it up and giggled at it. “She’s my favourite.”
“Hey,” Rainbow whispered. “You want to hear something funny about her?”
Ditzy nodded excitedly.
Rainbow gestured for her to come closer, and she did.
“Now don’t tell anypony, but when she was younger, she was completely bald,” Rainbow said childishly.
“Huh?” Ditzy replied confusedly.
“She had no mane or tail!”
Ditzy’s mouth fell open. “Really?
Rainbow nodded.
Ditzy looked back to the photo and looked at it for a second. She started sniggering.
“You can keep that picture if you want. I have a couple of them.”
“Thank you, Rainbow!” Ditzy said loudly.

A panicked Pegasus flew through the door, knocking the bell from onto the floor with a loud clatter, attracting the attention of the three Pegasi already there.
The new Pegasus ran to the desk and to Rainbow, panting heavily.
“Miss Rainbow Swirl,” he panted.
“Yes,” Rainbow replied both confusedly and worriedly.
The stallion took a short moment to catch his breath. “I'm…” he paused again.
“Just calm down and catch your breath,” Rainbow instructed.
The stallion did as ordered and quickly regained his composure. “I'm the deputy head of Cirrus Primary School. I'm afraid your daughter has had to be taken to hospital.”
Rainbow’s heart instantly started to race and a panic flooded her system. “What happened?”
“Your daughter, Swirl, got into a fight and broke her leg.”
“WHAT?!” she shouted. She could feel a panic attack come on and she almost started hyperventilating. Her mind was, naturally, presuming the worst.
“Rainbow,” Dizzy started firmly, bringing Rainbow back to her senses. “Go. I will cover you here. Just go.”
Rainbow nodded to her and vaulted over the counter.
“Which hospital?” she asked frantically.
“Cloudsdale General. The only one in Cloudsdale.”
Rainbow nodded and sped to the door.
Dizzy took a position behind the counter.
“Derpy, you guard the door,” she instructed.
Ditzy nodded and quickly trotted over to the door, where she took position, standing tall against those that came in and emitting a low growl with bared teeth.
“Thank you,” Rainbow quickly said before she rocketed out of the door and into the sky.

Rainbow arrived at the hospital as quickly as she could. It only took her a few minutes, which would amaze her later, but right now she was just too worried for her daughter.
She galloped into the lobby and over to the counter.
The nurse looked in time to see the Pegasus charging towards her.
“Ah, you must be the mother of that little, rainbow maned filly,” she said moodily.
Rainbow nodded frantically as she reached the desk.
“Good. I was wondering when a parent would get here.” She gave her a judgemental look, but Rainbow wasn’t paying attention. “Go up the stairs over there. Fifth floor, ward three. There are signs everywhere.”
“Thanks,” Rainbow said as she bolted down the corridors and followed the nurse’s directions. It wasn’t very hard to find.

She trotted quickly into the room. Her eyes darted around to find her daughter, but the school nurse saw her first.
“Rainbow,” the nurse called out from across the ward. “Over here.”
Rainbow walked over to her with great urgency.
“What happened? Is she alright?” Rainbow said panic-stricken. She was shaking, about to cry almost.
The nurse stepped over to her and placed her hooves on her shoulders.
“She’s fine, Rainbow,” she said in her comforting, soft voice. “We got her to the hospital as fast as we could. They gave her some painkillers and X-rayed her leg. Yes, it’s quite a severe break, I'm not gonna lie, but it’s easily fixed. We’re just waiting for surgery now.”
Rainbow managed to calm herself down a little with a few deep, harsh breaths, yet her heart was still pounding against her chest.
“Is she alright?” she asked with a catch in her throat.
“I'm fine!” Swirl said happily.
Rainbow looked past the nurse and at her daughter, who was lying in bed, wearing a huge smile and a leg guard.
“Swirl!” Rainbow exclaimed. She quickly trotted to her side and sat on the nearby chair. She rested her head on the bed next to her daughter’s and began stroking her mane, comforting herself more than Swirl.
“Are you okay?” she asked yet again.
“I'm fine, Mummy. Those painkillers are amazing. Tasted disgusting but just… wonderful!” She laughed giddily.
Rainbow turned to the nurse. “Is she alright?” she asked, but this time concerned for a new reason as well.
“Yes, she’s fine. Just taking the painkillers rather well.”
Rainbow nodded slowly before turning back to the broken filly in bed. “What happened, Swirl?”
“Me and Ticker got into a fight with those colts who call Rainbow Dash Rainbow Crash!” she paused to laugh. “That’s brilliant!” She laughed some more.
“Carry on, please,” Rainbow pleaded.
“Okay. We got into a fight and beat them up. And if you think this is bad you should see Hoops! I dislocated his wing,” she said smugly. “And Ticker nearly bit off another one’s ear!”
Rainbow’s face fell serious. She looked to the nurse again for confirmation.
The nurse nodded.
Rainbow turned back to Swirl with a hint of anger in her worry. “Swirl, that’s not good.”
“He started it.”
“I don’t care who started it, I just don’t want you getting into a fight again. I would have thought you learnt your lesson last time when you lost that bit of ear.” Rainbow tapped her daughter’s ear, where a semicircle was missing from it.
“I’ll try, Mummy. But fighting is fun.”
“If you like fighting so much, I’ll let you join a boxing club, or something, where it’s all controlled. I do not wanting you fighting like this again.”
“Boxing sounds good. But how about masked wrestling? That looks hilarious!”
“We’ll have to see, Swirl. But no more playground fights.”
“It was on the school field,” Swirl corrected.
“Same thing. But do you understand me?”
Swirl nodded. “I promise, Mummy. No more fighting at school.”
“Or outside of school,” Rainbow added as she saw that glint in her daughter’s eye.
“Aww,” Swirl moaned. “Okay, no fighting whatsoever. I swear.”
Rainbow smiled. She leant forward and kissed Swirl’s forehead. “Good.”

“Rainbow Swirl?” a doctor said as he approached the three Pegasi.
“Yes?” both Rainbow and Swirl replied, although Swirl was giggling.
The doctor raised an eyebrow at them.
“I'm her mother and we have the same name. Call her Swirl and me Rainbow. Y’know that’s the fifth time I said that today.”
“Right. Anyway,” The doctor said loudly to get everything moving along. “We’re ready to take her into surgery now.”
Rainbow suddenly felt panicked again. “O-okay.”
She kissed her daughter again. “I’ll be here when you wake up,” she said tenderly.
Rainbow moved back to allow a team of doctors and nurses to move her daughter onto a different bed.
They started wheeling the filly away.
“I love you,” Rainbow called out before her daughter left.

The doors to the ward swung closed. Rainbow felt like crying now. She had the worst knot in her stomach she had ever had and thought she was going to throw up.
The school nurse walked over to Rainbow and placed a hoof on her shoulder.
“I know my words are probably going to do nothing, but she’ll be fine. She’s seven, and children are practically indestructible with the rate at which they heal. I dare say she’ll be running around again in weeks.”
“I know she’ll be fine, I just… oh Celestia!” Rainbow broke down into tears.
The nurse moved round and hugged her. “Ssh ssh ssh. Don’t cry. Please. I'm not good with crying adults. Children yes, but not adults.”
Rainbow managed to chuckle.
The nurse fumbled about her wing and removed a coin, passing it to Rainbow. “Here, buy a cup of tea on me, and make it hot and sweet. Go to the waiting room and read a nine year old magazine about outdated fashion and try to relax. They’ll be done in a jiffy.”
Rainbow sniffed and nodded.
“Listen, I have to go back to school, I'm afraid. I said I’d wait until you got here, so I'm kinda running late.”
“That’s okay. I’ll be fine.”
“Good.” The nurse tried to pull away from the hug, but Rainbow kept her there a moment longer.
“Could you tell my daughters something?”
“Sure. What?”
“Tell them to go home with Fluttershy, please. I don’t know how long this will take. Tell Airheart as well.”
“Okay, I will.”
Rainbow let go of the nurse and they left the ward together in silence. The nurse decided to help Rainbow to the waiting room before heading back to school, which Rainbow was thankful for as she thought she’d get lost.

Rainbow was pacing around the waiting room, nervous and worried as she thought she should be. The cup of tea had no effect on her, and that magazine detailing some old model-whom-she’d-never-heard-of-‘s diet plan had lost what little interest it had.
She finally managed to sit down, after much asking from the nurse, but she was still fidgeting. She brought a large chunk of her mane down and began chewing on it nervously.
“I know you,” a stallion’s voice spoke in a pondering tone.
Rainbow quickly moved her mane out of her face and looked at who the voice belonged to.
Her heart skipped a beat.
“Hello, Jet Stream,” she said, feeling giddy like a filly with a crush.
“Hi, err… Rainbow Swirl, was it?”
Rainbow nodded. “It’s good to see you again. Come sit next to me. I could use a distraction.”
Jet snorted. “Same here.”
He went and sat on the chair next to her.
“What are you in here for?” Rainbow asked curiously, glad to finally have a friendly, and handsome, she thought, Pony to talk to.
“My niece needs a check up. She has diabetes, y’see. Fortunately it’s the good kind, if that makes sense. She doesn’t need the injections, is what I mean.”
“Oh alright. Makes sense. Injections just make me…” She shuddered at the thought and made a scared noise. “But riddle me this, why are you taking your niece to the hospital? Why not her parents?”
“She feels more comfortable around me when it comes to things like this,” he said smugly. “We’re kinda close, really. Almost like father and daughter.”
“That’s nice,” Rainbow said. She placed a hoof on his quickly, but swiftly removed it, feeling it inappropriate at that moment.
“What about you?” Jet asked before Rainbow could follow up on the relationship he has with his niece. “What are you doing here? You look just… distraught!”
Rainbow tutted and rolled her eyes. “I am. My daughter got into a fight and broke her leg.”
“Whoa. Is she alright? Besides the broken leg, of course?”
“Yeah. She apparently dislocated the colt’s wing, so it’s all good.”
“Nice,” Jet said in awe. “That’s pretty impressive. You’re daughter’s Rainbow Dash, right?”
“One of them, yes, but this one’s Rainbow Swirl. Named after myself, of course.”
“Ah. Must get quite confusing at home then, I imagine. What with all the Rainbows and all.”
“Not really. We call each other by their second name, y’know Swirl, Dash and Shine. People just call me Rainbow. And that’s the sixth time today.”
“Sixth time?”
“Sixth time I’ve explained that today. All to different Ponies as well.”
“Fair enough. And shine?”
“Rainbow Shine, my other daughter. Triplets, you see.”
“Oh, right. Interesting.”
A blue filly with a white mane, entirely braided, jumped in front of them, making them both jump. She laughed slightly.
Jet stream breathed a sigh of relief. “Hey, Fleetfoot. How’d it go?”
Fleetfoot shrugged. “Fine, as usual. Go in, talk a bit about stuff, blood test, leave. Same thing as always.”
“That’s good. When do you get the results back?”
“About a week. I don’t see how it could change at all. I watch what I eat, I exercise a lot. It’s all good in there!” she said arrogantly as she patted her stomach.
She looked up to the unfamiliar mare in the chair next to her uncle. A devious smile curled to her lips.
“Who’s this then?” she asked girlishly, tilting and swaying her body.
“I'm Rainbow Swirl. Call me Rainbow.” She turned to Jet Stream and whispered, “Seventh time.”
“Oh,” Fleetfoot said in a long voice of realisation, slowly turning to face Jet. “So you’re the mare he talked about ages ago.”
Rainbow turned quickly to face him and broke into a smile.
Jet Stream blushed wildly and tried to hide his face away.
“So is she going to be your new wife, then?” she asked mischievously.
Jet Stream’s face went solemn and pale.
Rainbow furrowed her brow. “New wife?” She asked confusedly.
“Yeah, I was married before. I don’t wanna talk about it.” He took a deep breath to clear his head. “So, Fleetfoot, ready to go?” he asked, glad to get off the topic.
“Not quite. I need the toilet, then I'm good.”
“Okay, you go then.”
Fleetfoot nodded and walked off.
Jet shook his head smiled. “Funny filly, she is. Turns thirteen in a few months. I can’t wait! I'm planning a trip to the Everfree. She loved it last time.”
“You used to be married?” Rainbow asked, feeling a little concerned by his response the first time she asked.
Jet stream waved a hoof at her. “I don’t want to talk about it. Too painful.”
“Oh, okay then.” Rainbow now felt guilty about keeping the topic going.
There was a small amount of awkward silence. A minute later, Jet Stream spoke.
“Listen,” he started nervously. “Do you wanna… I don’t know…” He started rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly.
Rainbow started blushing. “Lunch some time?” she suggested.
Jet sat back heavily in the chair. “Yeah, lunch,” he said to himself in order to understand the idea of lunch. “Wanna get lunch sometime?”
“Sure.”
“Cool.”
They sat for a moment in silence, trying to think of more to say.
“When?” Jet asked, not being able to think himself.
“I don’t know. I have work and now a broken filly to look after, so…”
“I have your number, don’t I?”
Rainbow nodded.
“I’ll call you later then.”
They heard a giggling come from behind. They both turned to see Fleetfoot nearly doubled over with restrained laughter.
“You heard that, I guess?” Jet asked, hoping the answer was no.
“Of course I did!” Fleetfoot replied through a small amount of laughter. “And I must say, very smooth.”
Jet facehoofed and was flooded with embarrassment. “You’re going to tease me about this for ages, aren’t you?”
“What do you think?” Fleetfoot replied with a childish smile.
Jet sighed. “Fair enough. C’mon then, let’s go.” He stood up to leave.
“I’ll see you later, Jet Stream.”
“Yeah, see ya, Rainbow. And I hope Swirl’s okay.”
“She’ll be fine. It’s only a broken leg,” she told him, and now she actually believed it, more or less.
Jet smiled sweetly before turning to leave.
Fleetfoot looked between the two Pegasi. “What? No kiss goodbye?”
Jet looked to her. “What?”
She tutted at him. “Have you never heard of romance before?”
He stared at her for a second. “Oh fine!” he said loudly.
He turned back around and quickly kissed Rainbow’s cheek.
Rainbow giggled girlishly.
Fleetfoot laughed harder. “I can’t believe you actually kissed her!”
“What?!” he shouted back.
“You barely know her and you kissed her! You idiot! Now she’s gonna think you’re all weird and stuff.”
Jet shook his head at her. “Damn you, Fleetfoot,” he said moodily as he started to walk off.
Fleetfoot followed and wrapped her forelegs around his neck and hugged him.
“C’mon, you can’t stay mad at me,” she said confidently. “So why try?”
Jet sighed in defeat. “You’re right, as usual.” He kissed her forehead. “I never can.”
They left the waiting room, and Rainbow’s fields of vision and hearing.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the hospital, Swirl was being wheeled out of the operating theatre.
The nurse by her side forced her awake.
Swirl woke up, feeling more groggy and tired than she would ever think possible.
“What’s your name?” the nurse asked mildly urgently.
Swirl, with less speed than a snail, turned her head in the direction of the nurse. She so badly wanted to say “go away” to her, but was far too tired.
“What’s your name?” the nurse insisted.
“Rainbow… Swirl,” the filly said with great effort, yet it was still barely a whisper.
The nurse nodded.
Swirl fell back asleep again.

Back in the waiting room, a nurse approached Rainbow.
“Excuse me,” she said politely. “I take it you’re Rainbow Swirl?”
“Yes I am,” Rainbow said. All the worry and panic she had lost rushed back to her in one go.
“Okay. You’re daughter is out of surgery an-.”
“Is she alright?” Rainbow asked quickly, jumping out of her seat.
“Yes, she’s fine.”
Rainbow sighed with relief. “Oh thank Celestia!”
“The operation was a success and the break was fixed easily.”
“Where is she?”
“If you’d like to follow me I’ll take you to her.”
Rainbow nodded. She hadn’t felt so relieved and happy in years.
They began walking down the corridors and towards the damaged Rainbow.
“Now, Rainbow Swirl,” the nurse started. “She’s just come out of surgery, so she will be asleep for some time.”
“I can still sit by her side, right?” Rainbow asked hopefully.
“Of course, but you have to let her sleep. Once she wakes up, a doctor will look at her and decide when to discharge her, then you can take her home.”
“That’s good.”
“Take it easy with her, though; try to make her fly more than walk. It will make the healing process faster.”
“Okay,” Rainbow said absentmindedly. She jumped in the air slightly, too happy to listen properly or behave maturely.

Rainbow landed outside of her home, with Swirl resting on her back, still feeling groggy from the anaesthetic.
“Now, Swirl,” Rainbow started firmly. “You need to go careful on that leg, ya hear me?”
“It’s fine, Mummy,” Swirl moaned wearily. “It’s encased in armour,” she said proudly.
“Well… still… err…” Rainbow couldn’t argue with that.
Rainbow pushed the door and was greeted by Shine, to her surprise.
“Mummy!” the little, wide eyed filly said urgently. “What happened? Is Swirl alright? Is she-?”
“Shine, stop worrying,” Rainbow said calmly. “She’s fine. She only broke her leg.”
Shine’s eyes couldn’t go any wider.
“What?!” she said panicked stricken.
Swirl jumped off her mother’s back and landed by her sister, stumbling to the ground as her cast caught her off guard.
“Hey, Shiny!” she chirped as she stood up. She turned so her protected leg faced her sister. “Go on. Hit it! Hit it really hard,” she challenged.
“Why?”
“Because it feels funny!”
“Shine, don’t-.” Rainbow’s warning came too late.
Shine swung her leg as hard as she could into the cast. She jumped back and began jumping on the spot, shaking her pained hoof. Tears had already started streaming down her cheeks.
Swirl fell back, laughing her head off.
Rainbow shook her head.
“Don’t do that again, Swirl,” she said with a little disappointment. Any other day and she would have laughed at Swirl’s antics, but she was feeling a little delicate at that moment and rather stressed, needing a good sleep.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” Rainbow asked Shine curiously.
Shine had stopped bouncing and was calm enough to speak, although there were still tears in her eyes.
“Fluttershy’s mother brought us back.”
“Is she still here?”
“Yes I am,” Airheart spoke as she walked into the hallway.
“Oh thank Celestia,” Rainbow exclaimed with relief. She stepped forward and wrapped a foreleg around her neck.
Airheart returned the gesture. “How are you feeling, then?”
“A little stressed, tired, worried, all of those words.”
Airheart sighed. “I know how you feel. Fluttershy had her appendix out when she was four and I was distraught, so… yeah. Tea?”
“Please.”
Airheart nodded and let go of Rainbow and headed to the kitchen.
Rainbow trotted into the living room, with Shine walking around her legs.
Swirl raced past them, already a master of running with a cast, something her mother would never be able to replicate.
Swirl jumped onto the sofa and moved into a comfortable position, which took a while as her leg proved uncooperative.
Rainbow joined her on the sofa, being careful to avoid sitting on Dash, who was asleep under a blanket. Fluttershy was sat by her head, swaying as if she was almost going to sleep.
“Is she okay?” Rainbow asked the yellow filly.
Fluttershy yawned. “Yes, she’s okay. She said she was feeling a little bit poorly so she decided to have a nap.”
“Fair enough.”
Shine gave Swirl a cold look before jumping on the sofa and sitting beside her.
“How did work go today?” Swirl asked eagerly.
Rainbow gave her a puzzled look. “Really? You wanna know about that?”
Swirl nodded.
“If you must know, it was going fine, really boring, actually. But at least I got to get off early.”
“Why?”
“Because your deputy head flew in and told me you were in hospital.”
“And you got a day off because of that?” Swirl asked in amazement.
“Of course I did. I'm going back tomorrow to talk to the boss and see what’s happening.”
“I'm sure you got the job.”
“I hope so.”
Swirl’s stomach rumbled, which could be felt by those next to her.
“I'm really hungry,” she moaned.
Rainbow looked to a clock. “Half eight? Wow, we were there for ages. Have you girls eaten yet?” she asked Shine and Fluttershy.
“Mother made us some spaghetti,” Fluttershy said.
“Oh, did she now?” Rainbow replied contemptuously.
Fluttershy nodded.
“And with my ingredients?”
She nodded again.
Airheart walked in from the kitchen, carrying two mugs of tea. She handed one to Rainbow and sat on another chair with hers.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” she said sheepishly. “We were all getting rather hungry so I made us some spaghetti. I made enough for you two for when you came back. Shall I warm some up for you?”
“Yes please. Want some, Swirl?”
Swirl stared blankly into the distance. “I feel funny.”
“It’s probably just the anaesthetic. Do you want some food?”
Swirl nodded.
Airheart nodded and went to warm some spaghetti.

Rainbow sniffed the food that had been placed in front of her. Her mouth started watering instantly.
“This smells delicious!” she praised. She took a forkful and placed it in her mouth.
She made a noise of approval as she began chewing the pasta. “This is just… scrumptious!”
Airheart smiled at her choice of words. “Thanks.”
“What even is it?”
“Just spaghetti cooked in the oven. Nothing special.”
“Could I have the recipe?”
Airheart snorted derisively. “Recipe? There is no recipe, really. Just get a knob of butter in a tin with tomato puree, put it on the hob, boil the kettle and fill with water, bring to the boil, add salt, pepper, herbs, spices and what have you to taste; put spaghetti in the tin and then put the tin in the oven until it’s cooked. Simple. I know Fluttershy likes it with parmesan cheese, but I personally can’t stand the stuff.
Rainbow nodded. “I’ll try making it one day.”
“There’s really nothing to it, just don’t overcook the spaghetti.”
Rainbow looked down to Swirl beside her. She was still staring into nothing, not even registering the food in front of her.
Rainbow nudged the damaged Pegasus gently. “Swirl?”
“Yeah?” the filly replied absently.
“Why don’t you go to bed?”
“Okay.” Swirl flew off the sofa and upstairs.
Shine looked up to her mother with hopeful eyes. “Mu-?”
Rainbow sighed. “You can finish her spaghetti if you want.”
Shine celebrated quietly and pulled the bowl in front of her.
“I better go check on her,” Rainbow said as she stood up. “And Shine, don’t eat my dinner,” she jested before trotting upstairs.

Rainbow found her daughter in her bedroom, looking incredibly confused.
“Swirl?” she asked concernedly.
“Which bed is mine?”
Rainbow shook her head and stepped over to the filly. She picked her up and placed her in her bed.
“Get some sleep, Swirl,” she said, although her daughter had already fallen asleep.
Rainbow kissed her forehead and left her to sleep.

Rainbow returned downstairs and continued her to eat her dinner.
Rain started to patter against the window, growing steadily heavier. Rainbow looked at it for a while.
“You okay, Rainbow?” Airheart asked kindly.
Rainbow nodded.
Thunder rumbled in the distance. Fluttershy suddenly came back from the brink of sleep and stared out the window. She started trembling.
“Come Here, Fluttershy,” Airheart said lovingly.
Fluttershy quickly darted to her mother’s side and shielded her face from the window.
Airheart draped a wing over her. “She’s scared of lightning,” she informed.
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Of course she is.”
“Would you mind if we stay here tonight?” Airheart asked hopefully. “What with this sudden storm at all.”
“Sure. You can stay.”
Shine rolled lazily off the sofa. “I'm going to bed, Mummy, she said wearily. “Nighty night.”
“Pyjama pyjama,” Rainbow replied instinctively as she watched Shine trot upstairs.
Airheart gave her a puzzled look. “What?”
“I don’t know. She started saying it and now I do.”
“That’s a strange one, I must admit.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Rainbow yawned. “Wow, I'm tired.”
“Go to bed then.”
“I think I might have to.” Rainbow stood up to take her bowl into the kitchen before heading up to bed.
“Before you go,” Airheart started. “Where can we sleep?”
Rainbow thought hard for a second. “Err… well, Fluttershy can sleep with Dash, I guess. As for you, I don’t know. Either the sofa or with me in my double bed.”
Airheart winced. “That would be a little strange wouldn’t it?”
“Not really. If Dash and Fluttershy can share a bed, why can’t we? We’re basically them just, like, twenty-seven years older.”
“Twenty-four,” Airheart replied, feeling a little insulted.
“Oh, sorry. I just assumed we’re the same age. But anyway, my point still stands. And we don’t have to spoon or anything.”
“That just makes it sound weirder.”
“You can sleep on the sofa. That was my first idea anyway. It’s just that this room get freezing in the night.”
“That settles it, then. If you don’t mind, that is,” she added sheepishly.
“Not at all. C’mon then, let’s get these to bed,” Rainbow said as she picked the sleeping Dash up.
Airheart picked Fluttershy up and they all went upstairs.

They placed their respective daughter’s in the bed, wishing them goodnight, before heading to Rainbow’s room.
Rainbow got into bed first and fell asleep near instantly thanks to her stressful day. She didn’t even notice when Airheart got in beside her.

The next morning, Rainbow woke up in her bed. She yawned quietly and began to rub her eyes. Once awake and open, they saw a confusing sight.
Rainbow’s heart started pounding and she couldn’t avert her gaze.
Airheart was lying next to her, with her nose mere inches from Rainbow’s.
Rainbow couldn’t remember for the life of her why Airheart was lying in bed with her.

7 Years - Dash: Part I

Rainbow couldn’t take her eyes off Airheart lying in front of her. She watched as the mare stirred and woke up slightly.
“M-morning,” Rainbow said awkwardly, letting out a small giggle.
“Morning, Sweetie,” Airheart replied wearily. She reached forward and kissed Rainbow square on the lips.
Rainbow recoiled slightly and her eyes went wide.
“Airheart?” Rainbow asked embarrassedly.
Airheart finished waking up and opened her eyes. She instantly recognised the mare in front of her. Her cheeks instantly reddened. She giggled girlishly.
“Err… w-why did you…?” Rainbow asked.
“I-I-I thought I was at home,” Airheart replied awkwardly.
“Right,” Rainbow started contemplatively, “But I thought you were single.”
Airheart squeaked sheepishly and went redder.
Rainbow stared at her for a second longer before rolling onto her hooves and climbing out of bed. “Okay, I'm just going to forget that ever happened,” she stated simply as she headed out of the room. “Tea? Coffee?” she called from the hallway.
“Tea, please,” Airheart muttered back barely audibly over the silence that reigned over the house.

Rainbow was preparing some tea for the two of them, but her mind was elsewhere.
She could not believe that Airheart kissed her, but what saddened her slightly was the fact that that was the first proper kiss she had had in over seven years.
What confused her even more was the fact it was a good kiss, but she put that down to being lonely. She didn’t particularly fancy becoming a lesbian.
Although, she couldn’t help but agree that Airheart had a certain appeal to her, with her pink coat and light brown mane. If any mare could-
“What the hay am I thinking?” she asked herself out loud before she could finish the thought.

Rainbow was dragged roughly from her mind by the sound of a small filly shouting her name.
“Mummy!” Dash shouted as she bounced by the mare’s side.
Rainbow jumped and looked down to the floor. It was blurry at first but she soon realised which of her daughter’s it was.
“Oh, morning, Dashie,” she yawned. “You’re up early.”
“I didn’t see you last night after you got back so I never got to show you this!” Dash said very quickly, almost unintelligibly, before producing a leaflet from under her wing.
Rainbow took it and placed it on the worktop. She scanned over the note, barely able to take in any information other than part of the title.
“Flight camp?” Rainbow asked wearily.
“Yep! Y’see, I’ve decided I'm gonna be a Wonderbolt so I need to get a lot of practice and get really fast before I can get on the team so I saw this at school and it’s a club that goes on Saturdays and it helps you get really good at flying and it looks really fun an Fluttershy says she’ll go if I can so can I go huh huh?”
Rainbow stared at the filly for a good few seconds as her tired mind tried to unravel the string of words her daughter fired at her. It proved too difficult.
“What?” she asked with an embarrassed smile.
Dash huffed angrily. “There is a club on Saturdays that will make me a stronger flyer, okay?” she asked slowly and loudly.
“Okay,” Rainbow replied in the same tone, but that was due to her trying to understand.
“And I want-no, will become a Wonderbolt, but I need to get really fast, okay?”
“Okay.”
“So, I want to go to this club so I can get really good at flying, okay?”
Rainbow, now fully understanding her daughter’s request, tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Does it cost anything?” she asked contemplatively.
“No, it’s free!”
Rainbow considered it for a bit longer, leaving Dash waiting impatiently.
“Well, Dash,” Rainbow said intriguingly.
Dash liked the tone of her mother’s voice and pushed herself onto her front hooves, with her wings flapping frantically.
“I think I will have to say yes.”
Dash jumped in the air and punched it. “YES!” she cheered loudly.
“On one condition,” Rainbow continued, making the excited filly lose the hope in her eyes and sink back to the floor.
“What?” she asked sadly and with a slight hint of terror.
“You have to help me clean the house when I ask you to.”
Dash tilted her head. “Is that it?”
“I could make it harder for you if you like?”
“NO!” Dash shouted, pushing her hooves forward to stop her mother continuing.
“Fair enough then. You can go to the club. When does it start?”
“First meeting is today at twelve o’clock,” Dash said excitedly.
“Okay then. That’s just enough time to help me clean the bathroom.”
Dash’s mouth fell agape as she heard this.
Rainbow chuckled warmly. “Don’t worry. It won’t take long. Also, we’re not doing it now. We’ll have breakfast first.”
Rainbow nodded. “I’ll go tell Fluttershy. She seemed really excited when I told her that we should go.”
“Okay. You run along. What do you want for breakfast?”
Dash had already left the kitchen and was halfway through the living room by then. She slowed her pace and looked over her shoulder.
“Err… scrambled eggs?”
“Okay. Ask the others if they want any.”
Dash nodded and continued her trek upstairs.

Dash barged into her and her sisters’ bedroom and quickly jumped to her bed.
“What did she say?” Fluttershy asked excitedly.
Dash got into a comfortable position before replying. “She said yes!”
Fluttershy squealed with joy.
“Oh, that’s wonderful!”
Swirl, who had been lying awake for some time, chose that time to make herself known.
“What’s wonderful?” she asked with a pained groan as she tried to rearrange herself into a seated position, but her cast was being uncooperative.
“Me and Rainbow Dash are going to join a flight camp so we can become better flyers.” Fluttershy smiled broadly and shook as she thought about it more. “Oh, I can’t wait. Just think, Dashie, with this extra help with flying I can get much stronger and not get picked on so much by the other foals.”
She lost her smile as she remembered that fact and hung her head down slightly.
Dash quickly raised her head again and smiled at her. “Don’t look so sad. They don’t bully you that much. And soon you can laugh in their faces when you cross the finish line before them at sports day.”
Fluttershy smiled again. “I can’t wait!”
“Pffft,” Swirl said with a scowl on her face as she stretched her headband over her mane. “Flight camp’s for sissies.”
Rainbow turned to face her with nothing but venom in her eyes. “No it’s not,” she shouted angrily, her voice breaking midsentence.
“Yeah it is,” Swirl corrected. “Mummy said yesterday that I can go to a fighting club, and there’s where all the really tough kids go.”
“Nuh-uh!” Dash retorted. “Flight camp’s better!”
“Fight club’s better!”
“Oh yeah?!”
“YEAH!”
“You won’t be saying that when I'm the world’s fastest Pegasus and the captain of the Wonderbolts, and all you’ll be is a-a-a… a Pony with weirdly muscle-y legs!” Dash shouted confidently to hide the fact she messed up.
Swirl stuck her tongue out at Dash, and Dash responded in kind.
“Eloquent as always, Dash,” Shine jested as she woke up and rolled on her side to face everypony.
“Shut up!” Dash shouted back at her. “At least I'm not fat!”
Shine frowned at her, giving her a look of pure malice. She sat up and picked her large, thin, circular glasses from the bedside table, placing them over her head afterwards.
“I'm not fat,” she said coldly. “I'm chubby. There’s a difference.”
She stomped her hoof on her bed to emphasise her point.
Dash and Swirl looked to each other.
“No there’s not,” they replied together before bursting out laughing, even Fluttershy struggled to hold back a giggle.
Shine folded her forelegs grumpily and pouted.
“Don’t be moody, Shiny,” Dash giggled. “Mummy’s making us some scrambled eggs!” she teased, thinking the prospect of food would make the rotund filly happy again.
Shine had to try her hardest to keep face. Scrambled egg was always her favourite.

Meanwhile, Airheart had joined Rainbow in the kitchen.
“Hey, Rainbow,” she said awkwardly as she stepped through the doorway.
Both Pegasi began to blush.
“Err… hi, Airheart,” Rainbow replied, trying her hardest not to make eye contact.
She placed a mug of tea on the breakfast table for the other mare and leant on the counter with her own mug in hoof.
Airheart sat at the table, barely making a sound, and took her own mug.
They were silent for a while, the only sounds being the occasional sip of tea.
It soon became unbearable.
“Airheart,” Rainbow said in a serious tone.
Airheart looked round, and saw that Rainbow was staring directly at her. “Y-yes?”
“Why?” Rainbow asked simply, knowing full well that that would be enough of a question.
Airheart winced and looked away. “I-I don’t know. It was just an accident.”
“Right,” Rainbow started. “But just let me ask you one question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Are you, y’know… that way inclined?” Rainbow asked, feeling far too awkward to use the actual word.
Airheart sighed. “Yep,” she said simply.
“Oh,” Rainbow replied, sounding surprised but slightly relieved.
“I’ve been that way inclined for ages now,” Airheart continued, regardless whether or not Rainbow wanted her. “I did have a couple coltfriends when I was younger and more confused, but it never seemed right. Plus, I really didn’t like the, y’know, ruder times with colts.” She blushed and smiled embarrassedly.
“So how long have you, then?” Rainbow asked curiously.
“Last coltfriend I had was when I was twenty, so after that is when I really came out of the closet. Fortunately my parents were really understanding, which is surprising, really, for their generation, but I guess it was pretty obvious when I think about it.”
“Interesting,” Rainbow said thoughtfully. “I’ve never been friends with a lesbian before.”
Airheart shrugged.
A thought struck Rainbow’s mind that made her smile childishly. “So, you kissed me. Does that mean you find me attractive?” she asked hopefully, yet she didn’t know why.
Airheart blushed and flashed her a smile. “Kinda…” she said girlishly, as if she were admitting a crush to somepony.
Rainbow giggled girlishly. “Well… that’s strangely flattering,” she said full of wonder. “I never thought I could pull a mare before.”
Airheart looked away and began rubbing the back of her head awkwardly.
“Not that I would want to, mind you,” Rainbow added quickly.
Airheart laughed slightly and returned to her mug of tea, facing away from the other Pegasus.
Silence returned for a moment as Rainbow began mixing eggs and milk for some scrambled eggs.
Another thought struck Rainbow’s mind, but this time her face became serious.
She turned to Airheart.
“You said you came out when you’re twenty, right?” she asked. She really didn’t want to make this mistake.
Airheart nodded. “Yep.”
“Not been with a single colt since then?” she asked, wanting to make sure that that was the case.
Airheart shook her head. “Nope.”
Rainbow’s mind worked furiously for a moment, and she came to the conclusion she hoped she wouldn’t.
“So does that mean you’re not Fluttershy’s-?”
Airheart turned to face Rainbow, silently interrupting her with a look on her face that pleaded, “Please don’t finish the question.”
She looked as though she was about to cry.
“Oh,” Rainbow said sadly as she continued to stare at her. She was still curious about it, but she felt too guilty about bringing it up to continue questioning her.
She went back to cooking some eggs.
Silence reigned once more, save for a few shouts coming from upstairs.
“Mummy?” said a soft voice from the kitchen doorway, breaking the silence.
Airheart, recognising the voice, looked round.
She sniffed. “Oh, morning, Fluttershy,” she said with a little catch in her throat.
“Are you okay, Mummy?” Fluttershy asked with great concern and affection. “You’re eyes are all wet. Have you been crying?”
Airheart shook her head and dried her eyes on her foreleg. “No, Sweetie. No…”
Fluttershy trotted up to her mother and jumped on the chair beside her. She looked at her mother, wanting to make sure she was okay.
Airheart looked back at her daughter and into her beautiful, blue eyes, and smiled.
“Come here, you,” she said as she picked her daughter up and hugged her.
Fluttershy happily complied and hugged back, resting her head over her mother’s shoulder.
They remained like that for a long moment, enjoying each others’ affection.
Airheart turned her head and planted a small kiss on her daughter’s cheek. “I love you, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy sighed contently. “I love you too, Mummy.”

Rainbow, once she had gotten over the adorableness of that loving moment between mother and daughter, went to collect her own children.
She was disappointed when she got no hugs or kisses from them.
The three rainbow maned fillies bolted downstairs and to the kitchen table. They all swiftly took their usual seats, except for Swirl, who stood in the doorway, glaring at Airheart who was in her seat.
“Just sit anywhere, Swirl,” Rainbow ordered in a friendly manner.
Swirl nodded and hobbled over to an empty seat, all the while watching Airheart suspiciously.
Rainbow promptly placed five of the six plates of scrambled egg and toast in front of each place on the table.
Airheart looked around worriedly at the number of chairs and of Pegasi. “There aren’t enough chairs for all of us,” she informed anypony who was listening.
“That’s okay, Mummy,” Fluttershy said quickly, looking up at her mother. “I can sit here with you, if you don’t mind, that is…”
Airheart cracked a smile. “Of course I don’t mind, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy smiled back and rearranged herself so she could eat. She sat on the edge of the seat, pressed against her mother’s stomach and being comforted at the same time.
Rainbow took the remaining seat next to Shine and began to eat. She just lifted a forkful of egg to her mouth when she was distracted.
“They called me fat!” Shine said loudly and angrily to her mother, pointing an accusing hoof in the direction of her sisters.
Dash and Swirl went wide eyed and let their mouths hang open slightly, trying to convey a sense of innocence. They both shook their heads slightly, pretending they knew nothing.
Rainbow turned and stared at them with a moody look in her eyes.
“That’s not nice, girls,” she said sternly.
“But she is!” Swirl screamed.
“Swirl!” Rainbow said in a very parent like voice, which her daughters didn’t like. “I know she might be, but it’s not nice to point it out like that.”
Shine smiled victoriously. “Yeah,” she gloated. “Wait, what?” she said, turning to her mother, once she realised what she said.
Dash and Shine started sniggering.
Rainbow winced and looked at Shine. “Sorry, Shiny, but you are getting a little podgy,” she said very carefully.
“Oh,” Shine said sadly and looked away.
“But it’s not a bad thing,” Rainbow added enthusiastically.
“Yes it is!” Swirl added.
“Swirl!” Rainbow shouted. “Stop talking and eat your breakfast.”
Swirl, now slightly scared by her mother’s tone, continued to eat in silence.
Dash joined her in doing so, also not wanting to incur her mother’s wrath.
“It’s not a bad thing, Shiny,” Rainbow continued in a much more affectionate tone. “But if you were skinnier, your asthma wouldn’t be so bad.”
Shine considered this for a moment. “I guess that makes sense. But food tastes nice.”
“If you slow down, you’ll eat less, and therefore lose weight.”
Shine nodded. “That’s sounds simple enough. And it’s good I don’t have to exercise. I hate sports.”
Rainbow tittered and continued with breakfast.
“Swirl,” Rainbow started in her usual, friendly tone.
Swirl looked up from her plate. “Yes, Mummy?” she whispered, still scared about getting into trouble.
“What exactly happened to the other kids in the fight,” she asked curiously.
Swirl perked up and pushed her headband out of her eyes. “Well, Ticker sprained her hoof really badly and also tore a ligament in her wing, and the other one got twisted. Hoops got his wing dislocated by me,” she said proudly, “and Ticker punched him in the face.”
Rainbow stared at her daughter in utter disbelief.
“And the other two got big bruises on their ribs and Dumbbell lost a tooth! But those two were cowards and ran away before we got really nasty.”
Rainbow sighed and shook her head. “That’s amazing,” she said, she was impressed despite the fact she shouldn’t be. “You two are really quite vicious, aren’t you?”
Swirl nodded arrogantly. “Yep! Nopony picks on us!”
“That’s good, I suppose…” Rainbow wasn’t quite sure about that though.
“So, Dashie,” Rainbow started, gaining the attention of her other daughter. “Tell me more about the Flight Camp.”
Dash gulped her mouthful down excitedly. “It’s called Summer Flight Camp, and is run by this Pegasus called Hot Summer, and now I'm seven I can join. The leaflet said it’s guaranteed to increase your wing power by at least fifty percent!”
“Really?” Rainbow said pretending to be as excited as her daughter.
“Yeah! That would make me even more certain to get into the Wonderbolts!”
“And I will be able to beat the other kids at sports day!” Fluttershy interjected excitedly.
Airheart looked to her daughter. “Are you still sure you want to go to this club? It sounds rather competitive.”
“I'm sure, Mummy. I want to be able to fly faster, and at this camp I should be able to get some one on one tutoring with an instructor and I really want to get better at flying.”
“Okay, Fluttershy. If you’re sure.”

It was midday, and a number of parents and their children of various ages were standing in the Cloudiseum.
Dash looked around in awe. Never before had she seen this building, and she didn’t know where to look. It was huge, for a start, and so pristine with white cloud and immaculate architecture. Set out in the large arena were numerous clouds at different heights, obviously used for some kind of exercises and drills.
“Mummy!” she whispered, barely able to contain her excitement. “I'm gonna perform here with the Wonderbolts some day!”
Rainbow chuckled. “You sure are, Dashie.”
An orange Stallion burst out from a cloud high in the air, with a stream of red and yellow following him, matching his streaky mane and tail.
He came to a halt, hovering in the air above the heads of the crowd below.
“Good afternoon!” he said enthusiastically. “I'm Hot Summer, but you can call me Summer. Except all you mares out there, you can call me Hot!” he said arrogantly, showing off his strangely muscular forelegs.
Rainbow leaned into Airheart and whispered, “I hate him already.”
Airheart struggled to hold back a laugh.
“Alright then,” Summer continued, “Me and my fellow instructors will teach you children how to fly as quickly and agile as possible while using a little energy as possible, and when we’re done with you, you’ll be able to fly faster than anypony else!”
Dash squealed with excitement.
“And now, to introduce my second in command and ex-Wonderbolt, I’d like you all to welcome Jet Stream.” He started rallying up a round of applause for his partner, with little success.
Rainbow perked up and looked around for the Pegasus, and it didn’t take long to spot the brown stallion hovering a little way above their heads.
She felt her heart flutter.
Jet Stream looked around the crowd, trying to spot anypony he knew. It wasn’t long before he picked out and became transfixed on the rainbow maned mare that made his stomach do back flips every time he saw her.
Summer pointed across at him, gesturing for him to start talking, but Jet was preoccupied.
Summer loudly clearly his throat, making Jet jump back to reality.
“Oh! Err… hi,” he said sheepishly, hoping nopony noticed him staring at a mare in particular.
He shook himself and regained his focus.
“Hello, everypony,” he said far more confidently. “I'm Jet Stream, and I’ll be taking on the children and teaching them about agility in the air.”
“That’s great, Jet,” Summer said condescendingly. He didn’t like the spotlight being taken off him. “I will be teaching them about strength and speed. While the co-founder and my wife will be teaching them all about the proper techniques of flying.”
A mare that almost matched Summer entirely in colour flew by and stopped by her husband’s side.
Rainbow gawked up at them. “You have a wife?!” she questioned loudly, and instantly shrank away once she realised that she had actually said that out loud.
Summer sniggered. “Don’t worry, I do have a brother.”
“There’s two of you?!” Rainbow said with just enough horror to make everypony laugh at Summer’s expense.
Summer looked around embarrassedly. He raised his hoof, commanding silence over the crowd, besides from a few giggles escaping here and there.
“This is my wife, Summer Breeze,” he said loudly and proudly. “But you can call her Breeze.”
Breeze waved to everypony. “Hello,” she said in a friendly manner, the likes of which made everypony in the crowd cringe slightly.
“Now,” Summer started, “we can get started. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask the parents to leave, but you can come back to pick your kids up at four.”
There was a murmur of general agreement from the crowd and parents began to wish their children good luck and leave.
Rainbow turned to face her daughter.
“Good luck, Dashie,” she said enthusiastically. “And remember, it’s all in good fun, so it doesn’t matter.”
Dash nodded. “See ya later, Mummy!” she shouted before darting of towards the instructors for her first day at Flight Camp.
Rainbow smiled and waved frantically at her daughter before walking off with Airheart.

Summer stood tall on the largest of clouds set up in the Cloudiseum, waiting for the children to form an orderly rabble and quieten down.
“Alright, settle down,” he said loudly over the noise of excited fillies and colts.
The crowd swiftly went silent.
“Okay then, before we send you off to your appropriate instructors, we will measure your wing power!” he said excitedly.
Most of the foals looked to the foals beside them with nervous looks on their faces, except for Dash, who looked up with an eager and confident smile.
Summer laughed slightly. “It’s nothing to worry about. All you have to do is fly over there as fast as you can,” he said as he pointed to a cloud halfway across the venue, “and a machine over there will calculate your wing power.”
The crowd remained in a state of confused silence.
“Okay then. Who wants to go first?”
The crowd shuffled awkwardly, looking at down at their hooves. They collectively moved backwards, leaving one small Pegasus standing there. The wind ruffled through her short, unkempt mane, and she wore a large, determined smile.
“I’ll do it!” Dash shouted confidently and trotted up to the large, orange stallion.
Summer smiled at her. He was glad to have a volunteer and not have to force an unwilling child.
“Good. So what’s your name?” he asked enthusiastically.
“I'm Rainbow Dash!” the filly shouted, puffing out her chest and flaring her wings to show off her obvious flying capabilities.
Summer chuckled. He could tell he was going to like Dash. “Alright, good. I like your enthusiasm. Let’s see if your body can keep up with your ego.”
“I bet my wing power is at least ten!” She shouted as she got into position at the edge of the cloud. “How much wing power do I have to have to be a Wonderbolt?”
“Typically the Wonderbolts will start paying attention when you have around twenty wing power, unless there are special circumstances.”
Dash chuckled confidently, yet it sounded a bit menacing, and raised her flank high in the air so she could get a good jump.
“Are you ready?” Summer said excitedly.
Dash narrowed her vision, eyeing up her target on the other cloud; a small fan.
Breeze was stood on the finish cloud wielding a chequered flag. She waved it frantically.
Dash exploded from the edge of the cloud and reached the finish in seconds.
She stopped as quickly as she started, barely panting to catch her breath.
“How fast was that?!” she asked, knowing it must have been incredibly high.
Breeze looked at the small dial on the fan. “Err… five point nine,” she said excitedly.
Dash scowled at her.
“Is that it? Is that it?!” she roared.
“That’s brilliant!” Breeze encouraged. “The average for a seven year old is only four, so you’re already fifty percent above average!”
Dash growled quietly. “It should be higher than that,” she muttered angrily.
“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Breeze said caringly, giving the moody a filly a pat on the back. “That’s what you’re here to do! Get faster and stronger!”
Dash grumbled. She knew Breeze was right.
“Good. Now go back with the others.”
Dash nodded and flew back to the other side solemnly.

Summer, once he saw the filly returning, turned to the crowd and held his head, smiling in a nonthreatening manner.
“Who’s next?” he asked.
Fluttershy jumped up in the air. “Me!” she shouted quietly. Seeing Dash go first had given her a huge confidence boost.
“Alright, step up, little filly,” Summer said kindly and gestured for her to step forward. “What’s your name, then?”
“Fluttershy,” the yellow filly said in her soft, quiet voice, which Summer struggled to hear.
“Alright, Fluttershy, you ready?”
Fluttershy nodded.
Summer looked to his wife a little way away and nodded.
Breeze nodded back and waved the flag.
Fluttershy erupted from the cloud as fast as her wings could carry her.
She arrived a short time later, panting and struggling to catch her breath.
“Well done, little one,” Breeze said congratulatory, giving her a pat on the back. “That was really good.”
“How high is it?” Fluttershy panted, hoping to at least be average.
Breeze winced. “Two and a half,” she said carefully.
“Is that good?”
“It’s… a little below average, but nothing a little training can’t sort out.”
Fluttershy smiled happily and flew back over to Dash.
“I got two and a half, Dashie,” she whispered excitedly, incredibly proud with herself.
The crowd around her giggled slightly at her expense, but Fluttershy didn’t notice it for once.

Meanwhile, back at home, Rainbow collected the mail that had just fallen through the front door.
She sighed. “I never get anything interesting anymore,” she said disappointedly as she rifled through the many bills and bank statements.
“Anything for me, Mummy?” Swirl asked as she ran up to her mother, with her cast making a loud thud on the floor.
Rainbow gave her a puzzled look. “Why would you get mail?”
Swirl shrugged.
Rainbow shook her head and went back to the mail in her hoof. “Looks like Shine got one though. How odd.”
Shine, upon hearing her name, walked into the hall.
“I got a letter?” she asked confusedly. “I never get letters.”
“I know, but it has your name on it.” Rainbow passed the envelope to her daughter.
Shine took it cautiously, confused beyond belief as to who sent her a letter.
She carefully opened the letter and removed the sheet of paper from within. She read it out loud.
“Dear Rainbow Shine, if my calculations are correct, you should receive this letter directly after your mother came home from dropping off Rainbow Dash at flight camp. First, let me assure you that I'm alive and well. I’ve been living these past few months in the year 1885.”
She stopped there, and gave the letter a scrupulous look. “I think this is just some junk mail,” she concluded and proceeded to place the letter in the recycling bin.
Rainbow shook herself and went back to the letters, one remained which she hadn’t looked at.
“This is from your school,” she told Swirl, who was still stood beside her.
She ripped it open and scanned over the writing. Her face soured once she finished, her brow had furrowed angrily and a frown replaced her smile. She looked down at Swirl, who cowered slightly.
“Looks like you’ve been excluded for a month,” she informed calmly, it was obvious she was angry.
“Huh?” Swirl said, tilting her head to the side.
“You savagely beat up a colt, so you’ve been excluded from school for a month. Meaning you have to stay home.
Swirl’s eyes went wide and she gasped slightly
“YES!” she celebrated, jumping in the air victoriously.
“I don’t know why you’re so happy,” Rainbow said calmly.
Swirl lost the glee from her eye and sank to the floor again, tripping over her cast as she landed.
“What?”
“This isn’t a holiday, Swirl,” Rainbow said sternly. “It’s not a reward for beating a kid up, and did you seriously not think there would be repercussions?”
“He started it!” Swirl shouted as she pointed in a random direction, thinking that would help her situation.
“I sure that’s true, Swirl, but still, you pulled his wing out of his socket! So, as punishment, you have to stay home for a month and work for me.”
“Oh,” Swirl moaned, sinking to the floor and lying down, hiding her face away.
“Oh yes, the school will even send round somepony with your homework.”
“OH!” Swirl moaned louder.
“C’mon,” Rainbow said as she trotted past her sulking daughter and headed towards the kitchen. “You can help me clean the kitchen today.”
Swirl stood up and solemnly followed her mother, dreading the next month greatly.
“It’s quite impressive, actually,” Rainbow started as a thought crossed her mind. “Only two weeks back after the summer holidays and you’re already excluded for month.”

The afternoon rolled on slowly, but eventually the time came for Rainbow to pick Dash up.
Rainbow flew to where the rest of the parents were waiting and waited with them.
Slowly but surely, a crowd of tired children trotted out. Their steps were slow and the breaths were heavy as the exhaustion of flying for hours on end had got to them. Every single one was knackered, except for Dash, who was glaring at the floor she stomped her hooves on as she walked.
“Hey, Dashie,” Rainbow said caringly as she saw her daughter’s expression. “What’s up?” she asked with a sympathetic tone.
“Five point nine,” Dash muttered back angrily as she stopped in front of her mother.
“What? Five point nine wing power?” Rainbow asked, her face slowly becoming more and more awestruck. “Dash! That’s amazing!” she congratulated.
“No it’s not,” Dash muttered back. She looked up with a moody expression and pouted lips.
“The Wonderbolts have at least twenty wing power, so I'm way off!” she shouted.
Rainbow frowned at the fuming filly.
“Dash. To have that high a wing power at your age is fantastic. I only have a wing power of just under ten and I'm almost five times your age. And that was done years ago, so I imagine that’s less now anyway.”
“Still,” Dash said moodily.
“Also, Dashie, you’re only seven, so it’s unlikely the Wonderbolts would take you on. I think the youngest Wonderbolt so far was twenty two, I think.”
Dash struggled to keep up her angry façade now. She knew her mother was right. “I guess.”
“Plus, that means you have plenty of time to practice and get better for them,” she said intriguingly.
Dash’s face cracked a smile, which she couldn’t hide.
Rainbow chuckled. “That’s better. C’mon, let’s go home.”
She lowered herself so Dash could climb on her back, and Dash happily did so; she was far too tired to fly.
“How about we stop off for an ice cream, huh?”
Dash smiled broadly and hugged her mother’s neck, nuzzling slightly as well.
Rainbow laughed slightly and jumped into the air. “I take that as a yes.”

Rainbow and Dash were sat on a bench in the park, both enjoying a cone of ice cream.
“So, how was your first day of flight camp?” Rainbow asked.
Dash turned to look at her mother before she spoke, and yawned.
Rainbow laughed as her daughter’s strawberry ice cream covered mouth opened wide and yawned loudly.
“I take it you’re tired?” Rainbow asked through a giggle.
Dash nodded as she yawned again. “I haven’t flown so much before. But it was really fun. Apparently I’ve been flying wrong all these years.”
“Oh? How so?” Rainbow asked curiously.
“Breeze, who’s really cool, said that kids fly just by beating their wings as fast as possible, but that’s wrong because what we really need to do is angle our wings. It felt confusing at first, I couldn’t get my head around it, but now I'm beginning to see it’s better and I can fly a bit longer now.”
“Interesting,” Rainbow said sincerely. “I never really thought about the technique behind flying before.”
“Breeze said I was really good and had huge potential and that if I keep it up I could be a really strong flyer,” Dash said quickly and excitedly before yawning again. “And Jet Stream is really cool!”
Rainbow felt a strange feeling in the bottom of her stomach at the mention of his name.
“Is he now?” she asked casually. To an older Pony it would have been obvious she was hiding something.
“Yeah! I really like him! And I think he likes you too,” Dash sang childishly.
Rainbow blushed. “What?” she asked with a small, embarrassed chuckle.
“He kept asking me how we all were and was especially interested when I talked about you.”
Rainbow giggled girlishly.
“Do you like Jet stream?” Dash asked with a devious, childish smile.
“Have you finished your ice cream, Dashie?” Rainbow asked to change the topic. Her cheeks were burning.
Dash laughed knowingly. “You love Jet Stream!” she teased.
Rainbow ignored and continued with her ice cream.
A few seconds had passed when Rainbow heard a splat coming from next to her.
She turned her head to see the source of it and burst out laughing, but quickly slammed her hooves over her mouth to quieten herself down.
Dash was sat on the bench, fast asleep, resting her head on her ice cream.
“Aww,” Rainbow chuckled. “We better get you home.”
Rainbow, still quietly laughing, picked the filly up and placed her gently on her back. She reached over her shoulder and pulled the ice cream cone of her daughter’s head and held it as she took off, just in case Dash woke up and wanted some more.
“It is about nap time for you, anyway.”

7 years

“Don’t be so glum, Dashie,” Rainbow said quietly and affectionately, rubbing her sad daughter’s back gently.
Dash didn’t move. She didn’t even throw off her mother’s hoof, even if it did bother her slightly.
She remained lying on her bed, lazing away the day with sadness in her eyes.
Rainbow repositioned herself beside her daughter and placed a foreleg over her back, hugging her slightly.
“I know Fluttershy’s-.”
Dash shrugged her shoulders and looked further away from her mother.
Rainbow sighed and bowed her head sadly.
Dash hadn’t been herself in the past weeks since getting her cutie mark. Usually such a happy occasion, but for her, it hadn’t been. Once Dash learnt that Fluttershy had fallen off Cloudsdale, she too had fallen, but into a pit of sadness. It took over a day for her to stop crying, Rainbow even allowed her to stay home on the Monday, something she wouldn’t do lightly.
What Rainbow never really noticed before was that Fluttershy was not only her best friend, but her only friend. At least Fluttershy was the only one she ever talked about or ever seemed to play with.
Dash hadn’t even gone to Flight Camp. She would barely fly anymore, instead she shuffle along the ground with bloodshot eyes.
“Dashie, look at me,” Rainbow asked her tenderly but sternly.
Dash did as she was told and looked into her mother’s loving eyes.
“Dashie, I know you’re still upset about Fluttershy, but you can’t keep being so sad all the time.”
Dash remained silent.
“I'm sure she’s alright, Dashie. She is a Pegasus after all, and even if she is a weak one, there’s no possible way she could not have flown to safety and land on the ground with absolutely no problem whatsoever.”
Something brightened in Dash’s eyes as she imagined Fluttershy flying in her own unique way.
Rainbow cracked a slight smile as she saw a glimmer of happiness return to her daughter.
“C’mon, let’s run you a nice, hot bubble bath,” Rainbow said quietly but with some enthusiasm. “With all this lazing around you’re getting a little smelly.” She smiled childishly.
Dash smiled in the way only a young filly could, probably finding the word “smelly” hilarious.
Rainbow stood up, and Dash followed in suit.
“Good girl,” Rainbow praised lightly. “A good bath will make you feel better.”
Dash nodded.
They both walked to the bathroom.

Water thundered into the bath, creating a pleasant sound that both Pegasi listened to in silence, staring at the waterfall, transfixed by the calm sounds and mesmerised by the bubbles rising up in the tub.
The sound of a distant doorbell brought them back to their sense, startling them and making their wings pop up involuntarily.
Rainbow managed to coax hers back down. She looked down at her daughter and tittered. With her small, flared wings and strangely long mane that hadn’t recovered from the Sonic Rainboom, she looked comically adorable. It reminded her of herself at that age.
“You keep an eye on the bath. I'm gonna go answer the door,” she informed her daughter.
“Okay, Mummy,” Dash replied back with a little more cheer than she had been using recently.
Rainbow left and headed down the stairs, hearing the door click closed behind her.

A quick turn of the lock and Rainbow opened the front door, and was met by a fierce chill in the November air as the wind blew in the house as well as a thin fog stretching over the city.
Her eyes widened in utter disbelief as she looked down at who rang the doorbell.
A small, yellow filly beamed up at her.
“Is Rainbow Dash here?” Fluttershy asked excitedly, practically wagging her tail with happiness.
Rainbow squealed ecstatically and lost control of herself. She grabbed the small Pegasus and hugged her tightly, probably too tightly.
“Oh, Fluttershy!” Rainbow said dreamily. “I thought you had died! I am so happy to see you!”
“Thank you, Rainbow,” Fluttershy replied happily, returning the hug with equal strength.
After an affectionate moment, Rainbow released Fluttershy and placed her back on the ground.
She looked up at Airheart a moment later. Once again she lost control and flew into her, almost tackling her to the ground. She hugged her with a great sense of admiration.
“I'm so glad you found her,” Rainbow muttered in a barely audible whisper. She could feel tears starting to roll down her cheeks.
Airheart hugged back with shaky forelegs, starting to cry herself. She tried to say something but it only came out as teary babbles, so she remained silent in her friend’s grip.

The moment in each others’ embrace seemed unending.
Rainbow’s mind was lost in the moment entirely. The feeling of Airheart’s soft, pink coat brushed against hers, the way her brown mane moved underneath her cyan hoof, the soft breath on her shoulder as her tears became gentle; it all filled Rainbow with very confusing feelings.
Fluttershy stepped towards the mare hugging her mother and gently prodded her leg.
“Err… Miss Rainbow?” she asked sheepishly, being very sure to be quiet and polite.
Rainbow looked down to her.
“Yes?” she asked in a croaky voice, making it obvious she had been crying.
“Can we go inside?” the little filly asked with hope in her eyes and her jaw starting to chatter her teeth together.
“Oh,” Rainbow said as she let go of Airheart. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hoof. “Sure.”
Fluttershy smiled and trotted into the house, keeping to a slow pace as to not appear rude.
Rainbow looked to back to Airheart and her still sad face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked tenderly, combining her words with the action of stroking the mare’s mane behind her ear, which she hadn’t meant to do at all.
“I’ll tell you later,” Airheart said quietly, hanging her head down to look at her awkwardly shuffling hooves.
Rainbow nodded, but still kept a curious eye on her.
They both headed inside after the yellow filly.

Fluttershy and her mother headed into the living and took seats on the sofa.
Rainbow remained at in the hallway, looking up the stairs at the shut bathroom door.
“Dashie, can you come down please?” she asked, trying with all her might to remain emotionless, with moderate success.
“I'm on the toilet,” Dash sang back in a childish manner.
Rainbow chuckled.
“Alright, but hurry up and come down when you’re done please.”
“I'm almost done!” Dash called back.
Rainbow nodded to herself and began to wait.

Shine walked through to the living room with a yoghurt and spoon resting on her back and in her teeth respectively. She headed towards her usual spot on the sofa, and was about to fly up onto it, when she realise it was taken.
“Oh… hello, Fluttershy,” she said with mild surprise. “I thought you moved.”
Fluttershy shook her head and patted the seat next to her, gesturing for the filly to sit next to her.
Shine jumped onto the seat and got into a comfortable position. She took her yoghurt and peeled back the lid.
“So what happened to you?” she asked while licking the lid of the excess yoghurt.
“I fell off Cloudsdale,” Fluttershy replied with a peculiar smugness in her.
Shine paused mid-lick and looked to her side. Her eyes were full of doubt as well as amazement. She gulped down the small amount of yoghurt.
“Really?”
Fluttershy grinned and nodded. “Yep.”
Shine lost all abilities of formulating sentences, and so remained silent for a while. Her mind racked with a question that seemed to have no answer, but she had to ask it.
“How did you survive?” she asked hopefully, begging for an answer.
“I landed safely on a flock of butterflies,” she said with a reminiscent smile.
“Wait, do you mean those little bug things? Like, the ones no big than a hoof?” Shine asked sceptically.
“Ye-huh?”
Shine stared at her confusedly with no idea what to say in return.
“Y’know, this raises far many more questions than it answers,” she informed the filly beside her.
She dipped her spoon into the yoghurt in front of her and began to eat it, the distraction allowed her mind to work on the puzzling question as to how a flock of butterflies could prevent a Pony from falling to their death.

Rainbow looked slowly towards the bathroom door as she heard the toilet flush and the lock click out of place.
The door swung open, and Dash flittered through it.
“Did you wash your hooves?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.
Dash circled round and returned to the bathroom without a fuss, and left it moments later with clean hooves.
“Good girl,” Rainbow said in a flat voice, since it was a reflex by then.
Dash smiled and flew down beside her mother, and landed with a gentle thud on the floor.
“What did you want, Mummy?” she asked with a voice full of innocent; it was obvious she thought she had done something wrong.
“Just go into the living room please,” Rainbow requested politely.
Dash jumped into the air and floated in to the room in question with an unusual, cloudlike grace.
Her eyes came round the corner of the doorway. First she saw Airheart looking very downbeat, and it made her terrified beyond belief.
Secondly she saw her sister, eating a yoghurt and obviously contemplating something.
Her gaze then fell upon the yellow filly, and she fell to the floor as her wings faltered.
She never knew she could smile so wide.
Fluttershy jumped from the sofa and land daintily on the floor. She looked up at the rainbow maned filly and smiled.
Dash sniffed as tears began to well in her eyes.
She exploded forward, leaving a small rainbow trail hanging in the air behind her, and almost forced the terrified filly into the sofa with the strength of her hug.
Fluttershy thought her eyes were about to pop out as Dash squeezed her tightly, but she ignored the sensation and hugged back, sighing contently in the progress.
A short minute later they pulled back from each other, allowing Fluttershy a chance to breathe, at looked into each others’ eyes.
Dash was crying slightly, with tears creating trails down her cheeks.
Fluttershy only smiled as she was far too happy to do anything else.
Dash gulped quietly.
“F-Fluttershy,” she whimpered. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, Dashie. C’mon, I have something to show you,” the yellow filly squealed excitedly.
Fluttershy, in a bizarre bout of assertiveness, pulled Dash up onto her hooves and ran with her upstairs and into a bedroom
Rainbow tittered and shook her head. With a prominent smile on her lips, she walked into the living room and to the now empty seat on the sofa. She sat down with a heavy thud that made the others on the sofa bounce slightly.
She ruffled Shine’s mane, which wasn’t registered with the filly as she was too preoccupied with her yoghurt.
She turned to Airheart and share her happy expression.
Airheart smiled back at her, but it was weak, as if she wasn’t happy at all.
Rainbow furrowed her brow slightly, and the smile faded into a concerned expression.
“What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly.
Airheart took a deep breath, and let it out with a long, quiet sigh.
“We’re moving, Rainbow,” she stated in a flat voice.
“What?” Rainbow gasped.
“We’re moving. I found Fluttershy on the ground in a woodland surrounded by little animals, and she loved it. You should have seen how happy she was. I’ve never seen her so happy before, it just warmed my heart.”
She began tearing up and her voice had become high pitched.
“So,” she continued, “we’re moving. I'm not sure where right now because I haven’t got much money at all. I’ll probably go back to Trottingham and stay with my parents for a little while until the house is sold, then I’ll find somewhere nicer.”
Rainbow stared at her with wide eyes and mouth hanging open slightly.
Shine had glanced to her side while she ate so she could listen in.
Rainbow managed to find her voice.
“You’re going to uproot your whole life for Fluttershy?” she said with a smile of pure admiration. “That’s wonderful!”
Airheart nodded. “How couldn’t I? I'm sure you’d do the same if Shine here looked as happy as my Fluttershy did. Plus, it was where she found her special talent.”
Rainbow perked up. “Wait. She has her cutie mark?” she asked in amazement.
“Oh yes, and it’s adorable. Three little butterflies that match her mane.” Airheart hugged her forelegs to her chest. “It fits her perfectly.”
“Butterflies? I’d almost forgotten they existed.”
Airheart ignored her and continued with more important matters. “We will be moving this week, hopefully. Just have to pack our lives onto the moving truck and then we’ll be off.”
Rainbow leant over her daughter and pulled Airheart into a hug.
“I'm going to miss you, Airheart,” she said quietly as she gently nuzzled the mare’s cheek. “I never thought we’d get along so well. No offence,” she added quickly with a small laugh.
“Same here,” Airheart replied in the same quiet tone, and returned the friendly nuzzle. “I only thought I’d be around you because of our daughters, I never thought I would be as involved as I am now.”
“And you know what?” Rainbow whispered intriguingly.
“What?”
“If I was in the right mood and with a hint of alcohol, you could’ve turned me,” Rainbow said with a childish smile. Her cheeks began to burn red.
Airheart shook her head and laughed. “Damn. I’ve missed my chance,” she said in a sarcastic tone that was only slightly serious.
Rainbow heard some hooves thundering down the stairs.
“They were quick,” Rainbow said to anypony who was listening.
From the hallway walked a singular, rainbow maned filly with a pillow grasped between her teeth.
Swirl took one look at her mother and Airheart and sighed mightily and full of anger. She stormed into the dining room, pulled out a chair and sat on it with a loud thud. She placed the pillow on the table and, after fluffing it up to make it comfier, rested her head on it. She let out a sigh as her ordeal was over and quickly fell into a nap.
Rainbow, who had seen the entire episode occur before her, looked after her daughter confusedly.
“That was random,” she remarked.

Meanwhile in bedroom of three fillies, Dash and Fluttershy were sitting on Dash’s bed.
“What did you want to show me?” Dash asked excitedly. She was barely able to stop herself from bouncing on the bed.
“I got my cutie mark!” Fluttershy squeaked happily. She turned her flank so Dash could get a good look at her mark.
Dash‘s eyes went wide. “I got mine too!” she shouted back with even greater excitement and turned so Fluttershy could look at hers as well.
“We got them together?!” Fluttershy asked with hope in her eyes.
Dash nodded as she grabbed the other filly’s shoulders and started bouncing on the bed with her.
Fluttershy responded in kind.
“How d’ya get yours?” Dash asked.
The bouncing ceased as Fluttershy began to explain.
“Well, there was this huge explosion that came from nowhere! And it scared all the little animals away. So what I did was go and tell them everything was okay and that they could come out. And they did!”
“You can talk to animals?” Dash asked in disbelief as she stared at the filly in awe.
“Well, no.”
Dash frowned.
“But I can communicate with them on another level, I think. So they trust me and they’re so cute!” Fluttershy said dreamily. “Especially the rabbits. I'm going to ask Mummy if I can get one.”
Dash hadn’t the heart or the desire to say that that was a lame way to get a cutie mark.
“What about you? How did you get yours?” Fluttershy asked eagerly.
“For being awesome!” Dash said with all the smugness in the world.
“I knew that’d be the case for you,” Fluttershy stated confidently.
“It was so cool! I even made a huge rainbow appear out of my mane!” Dash lifted a bit of her mane onto her hoof and held it out. “See? It got longer and everything!”
“Aw! That’s wonderfully, Dashie!” Fluttershy chirped joyously. “And you look really cute with a long mane.”
Dash snorted. “Cute?!” she shouted contemptuously. “I don’t wanna look cute, I wanna look awesome!”
Fluttershy giggled behind her hoof. “Oh, Dashie. I'm going to miss that about you.”
Dash lost all sign of glee and happiness from her eyes and her mouth went slightly agape.
“Miss me? Why are ya gonna miss me?” she asked worriedly.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you. I'm moving!” the yellow filly exclaimed ecstatically.
“W-what?” Dash asked, sounding confused and lost, but mostly saddened by this news. “You’re leaving?”
“Yep,” Fluttershy responded with a content look on her face as she seemed to not notice Dash’s tone. “Me and Mummy are moving to the ground.”
Dash remained silent. She looked to her hooves as she tried to comprehend.
Fluttershy looked at her friend and the way she seemed slumped and deflated. “Dashie?” she asked concernedly.
“You’re leaving me?” Dash asked solemnly. She looked up at her friend with shimmering eyes.
Fluttershy felt a weight in the bottom of her stomach that she didn’t like one bit.
“Oh, Dash,” she said apologetically. “I'm so sorry. I didn’t mean anything like that. We’re just… moving!”
Dash sniffed. “W-why?” she asked like all hope was lost.
“Oh, Dash,” Fluttershy said sadly. “I love it on the ground! Everything was so wonderful and beautiful that I had to sing a song!”
Dash laughed and smiled at her. “Really? How did it go?”
“Err… I don’t remember,” Fluttershy said forlornly. “It was something like being filled with wonder, I think.”
Dash’s smile grew wider and she dried her eyes on the back of her hoof.
“Do you really have to move?” she asked with hope in her eyes.
“Well, no,” Fluttershy said truthfully. “But I really want to, Dash.”
It felt like a dagger to Dash’s heart. She had never felt so bad.
“Why?” she asked with fresh tears appearing in her eyes.
“Because I’ve never felt so happy about it, Dash,” Fluttershy whispered.
“What?”
“I’ve never felt happier, Dash,” Fluttershy reiterated, only louder this time. “Up here in the clouds I felt hopeless and helpless, all because I can barely fly. But, down there, on the ground, I feel like I don’t have to. Before we flew back here we went to a place called Trottingham and I met my grandparents, and there were so few Ponies flying around. In fact, all of the Pegasi I saw were just walking, not flying.”
Dash could not comprehend the idea of not flying everywhere, as was made apparent by her expression of absolute confusion over her face.
Fluttershy giggled at her. “I know it seems silly to you, but to me it was… it was… I felt normal.”
“Huh?”
“I felt normal, Dashie, like I belonged there on the ground. Nopony was looking at me like the weak little Pegasus I am. Nopony was looking at me whatsoever, and for once I felt at complete peace with everything.”
Dash listened with complete focus, she took in as much as possible and tried her hardest to understand, which was hard for her.
“So you’re saying you prefer it on the ground?” Dash asked as she wanted to make sure she understood.
Fluttershy nodded. “Yep. The only times I’ve ever felt that good about things before were when I was with you. But even then the bullying never stopped.”
Dash looked straight into her friend’s eyes and took a deep breath.“Fluttershy, I want you to be happy, so if that means you have to leave here and go live really far away I don’t mind,” Dash said sadly, but it was definitely clear that she meant it.”
Fluttershy leant forward and hugged her.
“Thank you, Dashie, I'm so glad you understand and aren’t angry at me for leaving.”
“How could I be angry at you, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy laughed slightly.
“I'm gonna really miss you, Fluttershy. Like, really, really miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you loads as well, Rainbow Dash. But no matter what happens, you will always be my best friend. I will always treasure our friendship and you will always have a special place in my heart.”
They heard a loud, angry groan come from across the room which drew their attention.
“Did you guys have to talk about this mushy stuff in here?!” Swirl moaned loudly.
“Err-,” the other two replied, but were quickly cut off again.
“I'm gonna nap on the sofa,” Swirl said moodily as she grudgingly rolled off the bed and onto her hooves.
She looked at Dash and stuck her tongue out at her, and Dash responded in kind. She grabbed her pillow in her mouth and left the room with in a strop.
Dash and Fluttershy waited for the door to close before they broke into a small fit of giggles.
Dash looked back round to Fluttershy. She didn’t have time to react before Fluttershy dived forward and squeezed her tightly, and accidently forcing back onto the bed.
They laughed for a second before they sat back up again.
Dash had more time to prepare than last time, and so didn’t fall over when Fluttershy went for an unusually strong hug for the yellow filly.

Rainbow moved away from Airheart and relaxed back in her seat. She moved her hoof and began to play with her daughter’s mane without realising, but Shine remained entirely focused on the slowly emptying yoghurt pot in front of her.
“So, what’s next for you two?” she asked Airheart.
“What? After today?”
Rainbow nodded.
Airheart looked absently at a wall; she hadn’t thought that far through.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll go and pack up our stuff and head off to Trottingham. Probably be gone by tomorrow, if I can get a moving van on such short notice.”
Rainbow nodded along with her. She wasn’t quite sure what to say anymore, but fortunately for her, her final daughter and the yellow filly came downstairs.
Rainbow smiled with relief as she saw that Dash had regained the gleam in her eye.
“Are you okay, Dash?”
Dash nodded. “Yep. But Fluttershy is moving!” she said with a hint of despair.
“I know, Dashie. Airheart told me.”
“But we can go see her whenever, right?” Dash asked hopefully.
“Of course!” Rainbow stated enthusiastically. “If that’s okay,” she said as she turned to Airheart.
“Of course it is,” Airheart said with a little chuckle. “Just give us a chance to settle in and then you can come round whenever.”
Dash celebrated quietly with a pump of her hoof.
Airheart stood from the sofa and stepped closer to her daughter. “C’mon, Fluttershy, we better get going. We have a lot of packing to do,” she said with obviously fake enthusiasm and a false smile.
“Okay, Mummy,” said the small filly as she hopped to her mother’s side.
She turned to face her friend. “I’ll see you later, Rainbow Dash,” she said happily.
“Bye, Fluttershy,” Dash replied with as much joy as possible.
Rainbow stood from the sofa and went to show them out.

They stood by the open door, waiting for one of them to do something. It was Fluttershy, of all Ponies, who went first.
Fluttershy leant forward and hugged Dash quickly before letting go and standing back. She began screwing her hoof into the floor patiently.
Airheart exhaled loudly. “I’ll pop by tomorrow before we set off.”
Rainbow shut her eyes and nodded. “Okay. See ya later. Bye, Fluttershy.”
“Bye, Rainbow. And Bye, Dash.”
They turned and gracefully lifted off into the sky. As they flew off they waved at the Rainbows standing below them, and they waved back, before speeding off to their house.

Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief and turned back inside, with Dash right behind her. She shut the door with a gentle click.
“You feeling okay, Dash?” she asked casually.
Dash nodded. “I think so. I mean, I'm really sad that she’s moving, but she said she was so happy on the ground that she burst into song! And if she’s that happy then I don’t care where she is.”
Rainbow smiled. “That’s very grown of you, Dash. And rather touching.”
Dash chuckled in an arrogant way.

The next morning came and brought with it clear skies and a freezing chill in the air. The Rainbows were standing on the doorstep, much to Shine’s annoyance for she hates cold, wishing their farewells to Airheart and Fluttershy.
“I’ll really miss you, Airheart,” Rainbow said with a small catch in her throat. She wrapped a foreleg around her neck and brought her in for a hug.
“Oh, don’t you start,” Airheart said irritably as she returned the gesture. “It’s bad enough Fluttershy crying, but I expected nothing less of her.”
Rainbow forced a chuckle.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Dash and Fluttershy performing a very similar act to herself.
Fluttershy’s breaths were shaky and erratic as she tried to hold back the flow of tears.
Dash, on the other hoof, was smiling as if she was about to laugh. It was probably a defence mechanism to stop herself from joining the filly, Rainbow thought.
“Oh, Dash,” Fluttershy whimpered. “I'm going to m-m-m-m-miss you.”
Dash laughed slightly. “I'm gonna miss you more, Flutters,” she said cockily, as if it was a competition.
Fluttershy laughed, but this only enabled the tears to became stronger and come flooding down her already soaked cheeks once again.
Dash felt a twinge in her stomach as the fact her best friend was crying so badly, so she hugged harder hoping to get rid of the feeling.
The feeling lessened, but it still persisted. She knew what it was, but she didn’t want to appear weak in front of Fluttershy, and so forced herself not to cry. She’d save it for later, she told herself.
A gruff Pegasus stepped behind them and loudly cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the small gathering.
“Err, I don’t mean t’ intrude, but we can’t stand around her all day. We have a long trip ahead of us and we don’t particularly want to be in this cold to long.” He looked over his shoulder at a shivering collection of similar looking Pegasi stallions strapped to a cart which was piled high with cardboard boxes.
Airheart sniffed and nodded her head. “Okay.”
She slowly removed her foreleg from her friend’s neck, but she paused with her hoof gently touching Rainbow’s cheek.
Rainbow’s heart raced as her body was flooded with horribly confusing and very strong feelings. Her eyes darted between Airheart’s hoof and her smiling face. She expected what was coming, but she was not prepared in the slightest.
Airheart’s head moved forward quickly. Her lips hit Rainbow’s and took them both on a whirlwind of passion and great confusion, but the latter was mostly Rainbow.
Rainbow’s mind refused to work anymore. She was lost. She decided not to react at all and allow Airheart to continue.
She hadn’t had another Pony kiss her like that in eight years, and she didn’t know how she survived. She found herself weakening in the knees slightly and almost kissing back, but she fought both feelings. She wished it had been Jet Stream and not Airheart, but she couldn’t deny how good it felt.
Swirl looked at the pair with a look of admiration in her eyes.
Dash and Fluttershy looked up at them with confusion and bewilderment. They were not quite sure what was happening.
Shine had a faint look of disgust on her face as she watched another mare do something strange to her mother.
The stallions pulling the moving cart watched with raised eyebrows and smirks all round. Some even exchanged a hoof bump or two.
It ended a small amount of time later. Airheart pulled back and let her hoof fall to the floor. She looked at Rainbow with a satisfied smile and a loving look in her eye, and saw the exact response she expected; a look of complete stunned silence.
Rainbow stared at her as her brain recovered from the sudden rush of adrenaline and complicated emotions. Her eyes regained focus and she saw the girlish blush in Airheart’s cheeks.
“Err… I-I love you too,” she said patronisingly as she gave her an even more patronising pat on the head.
Airheart giggled as her cheeks became beacons of red. “I'm so sorry about that,” she apologised embarrassedly. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“No no no,” Rainbow said as she waved away her apology. “It’s okay. I can hardly blame you now can I?” she said in an arrogant voice as she tossed her mane back in a sarcastic motion, but regretted it immediately, considering what just happened.
“I-I think this may be an appropriate end to our goodbyes,” Airheart said quickly and politely.
“Yeah… I think I agree there,” Rainbow replied awkwardly.
Airheart breathed with relief and looked down to her daughter. “You ready, Fluttershy?”
Fluttershy shook her head. She turned back to Dash.
“Should we do that as well?” she asked as she tilted her head in her mother’s direction.
Dash shrugged.
Rainbow and Airheart stared at them, wide eyed with panic, immediately regretting what had just happened.
“Probably not,” Dash decided.
Rainbow and Airheart sighed quietly with relief.
“I think only grownups can do that stuff,” Dash explained. “But another hug couldn’t hurt,” she said with a smile that screamed “please hug me”.
Fluttershy read her friend’s expression flawlessly and the two of them hugged again.
The gruff stallion cleared his throat again.
Airheart had the sudden desire to give him a piece of her mind, but she decided against it. She knew a reduction in his tip would suffice.
She shot the stallion a dirty look before looking down to her daughter.
“Fluttershy,” she said kindly and gently placed a hoof on her back. “We better get going. It is a long way to Trottingham after all, and I want you to try to fly most of the way.”
Fluttershy nodded and let go of her friend. She sniffed. A fresh round of tears was approaching.
Dash stepped forward quickly and took hold of the yellow filly by the cheeks.
Panic reigned once more in the two mares. Both were sure they had just been very inappropriate in front of the two daughters, and they knew it would come back around and bite them in the flank.
Dash was fast as she moved forward and rubbed her nose against Fluttershy’s.
Once again, the panic in the mares subsided.
“Don’t be sad, Flutters,” she said in a chirpy, reassuring voice. “We’ll see each other real soon!”
Fluttershy broke down into sobs. All she could do was nod along and agree with her best friend.
“C’mon, Fluttershy,” Airheart said as she tried to gently push Fluttershy along. “We have to go.”
She picked her daughter up and placed her on her back.
“Bye, Fluttershy! Bye, Airheart!” Swirl shouted after them with a frantic wave as they trotted down the path.
“Bye,” Shine said unenthusiastically. She wasn’t particularly bothered by them moving away, although she had grown quite fond of Fluttershy.

They watched them all leave until they couldn’t see them anymore. With a heavy sigh from Dash and Rainbow, they turned and headed back inside.
As the door was shut behind them Rainbow bowed her head and exhaled deeply. She looked over her shoulder at Dash, who looked back up at her with a straight face and big eyes.
She smiled.
“You alright, Dash?” she asked in a casually manner.
Dash nodded.
“Good. Do you want to do something? Anything?” she asked in the same tone.
Dash shrugged. She felt slightly lost without Fluttershy. She didn’t know who else she could hang out with.
Rainbow pouted as she tried to think of what they could do. She looked at her daughter’s strangely long mane. It did not suit her at all.
“How about we get your mane cut?” she suggested, although she didn’t think she would say yes.
Dash shrugged again. “Sure.”
Rainbow was taken aback by this. She spun round and looked her daughter straight in the eyes. “Really?”
Dash picked up a length of mane on her hoof and looked at it for a second before dropping it to the floor again. “Yeah.”
“Oh… alright then. Let’s go get your mane cut.”
Hooves stampeded into the hall. Swirl stood next to her sister and looked up at her mother with as much adorableness as she could muster.
“Can I come?” she asked cutely, which made it obvious that she was trying to be persuasive.
Rainbow raised her eyebrow at her. “Why do you want to get yours cut? It really suits you at that length.”
“I know,” Swirl said as she began to play with her mane. “I like the length, but it’s getting a bit thick. So I think I need to get it layered and styled a bit to make it better.”
Rainbow stared confusedly at her daughter. This was an unusual turn for her. “What?”
“Trust me. I know what I'm talking about,” Swirl reassured her.
“Err… okay,” Rainbow said slowly. “Let’s go. Come on Shine!” she called out into the house. “We’re going to the mane dressers!”
“Oh!” Shine moaned back, as was expected.
Rainbow listened as the heavy hoofsteps became louder and louder.
Shine walked into the hallway with her head hanging low. She looked up to her mother with sad, quivering eyes.
“Do we have to?” she asked hopefully.
“I'm afraid so, Shiny. I can’t leave you here on your own. You wouldn’t have Swirl here to savagely beat up any intruders,” she joked.
Swirl laughed menacingly at the idea.
“Don’t worry, Shiny. We won’t be too long. Probably about an hour.”
Shine huffed loudly.
“C’mon, get your coats, girls,” she instructed.
Each of the fillies jumped into the air with varying degrees of enthusiasm and hovered up to the coat hooks on the wall. They took their respective coats and floated back down to put them on.
Shine pulled the fluffy hood up over her head so she could hide away from everypony, for she didn’t want to go outside in the cold let alone to a salon.
Swirl spent a moment adjusting her mane so it wasn’t trapped in her coat.
Rainbow grabbed her coat and scarf and put them on.
Now they all had to wait for Dash as she rolled on her back and struggled with the zip.
Rainbow took her bag over her shoulder and opened the door once Dash had finished with her coat.
She allowed her daughter’s to leave ahead of her so she could lock the door behind them.
Swirl burst out and stopped down the path.
“Come on you lot!” she shouted impatiently.
Dash was close behind her.
Rainbow watched as Shine slowly walked out while staring at her hooves.
Rainbow tittered. “Don’t mope, Shiny. It isn’t very appealing.”
Shine huffed once again.
“I’ll tell ya what, after were done with getting our manes cut we can go out for a nice lunch.”
Shine perked up noticeably.
Rainbow laughed. “It’s always food with you,” she jested.
She locked the front door before all of the Rainbows took wing and flew to the city centre.

As they flew, Rainbow felt a warmth in her heart spread through her entire body, where it ended with a broad smile. She was really looking forward to their outing.
This was the exact reason why she wanted fillies over colts, just so they could do girly things together like spend a while in a salon getting their manes done.
And her three fillies were the best, making this simple trip into the city all the more perfect.

7 Years - Shine

Rainbow hummed as she slowly walked upstairs. Shine was taking her time getting ready, which annoyed Rainbow slightly as she was looking forward to seeing Jet Stream again.
Their other attempts at dates had failed spectacularly. Both of them got the flu at different times, which removed quite a lot of available time, and other times work interfered. But not this time.
It was Fleetfoot’s birthday, and Rainbow was determined to go to the Everfree Forest to celebrate it with Jet.
Rainbow reached the door to the bedroom of the three fillies and knocked on the wooden surface.
“You ready yet, Shiny?” she asked politely.
“Almost,” Shine replied as if struggling with something heavy or tight. Something clicked into place and the filly let out a great sigh of relief. “There we go,” she said largely to herself.
The door swung open to reveal Shine, who wore a light blue jumper and some kind of utility belt.
Rainbow chuckled warmly. “You look very prepared, but don’t you think you’ll get cold with only that jumper on?” she asked a little condescendingly.
“Well,” Shine said as she shuffled sheepishly on her hooves. “Maybe. But my coat gets really hot when I fly and gets really uncomfortable.”
Rainbow furrowed her brow with thought. “Right. I’ll take your coat with me though, just in case.”
Shine smiled and nodded. “Good idea.”
Rainbow chuckled again. “Thanks. And what about your belt? What equipment do you have with you?”
“Well,” Shine started with a hint of smugness about herself, as if she’d prepared a whole speech about it. “I’ve got some tweezers to pick up samples, a collapsible net for catching bugs and that, a pouch to store things in as well as a couple of plastic dishes for the gloopy stuff, a magnifying glass and a pocket knife.”
“Ahem!” Rainbow said loudly with a stern expression.
Shine jumped before freezing solid with fear.
“Why, pray tell, do you have a knife?” Rainbow asked with a mild anger in her tone.
“Err…”
“Give it here,” Rainbow ordered calmly as she held a hoof out in front of her daughter.
Shine did not hesitate in the slightest and quickly began fumbling with the fitted strap of her belt as she tried to wrestle the knife from its confines.
Her breath was becoming heavy as she panicked.
“Calm down, Shiny,” Rainbow said calmly and caringly. “I'm not mad at you. Just give me the knife.”
Shine took a deep breath to relax herself, which allowed her to easily slip the item from its spot on the belt and give it to her mother with a shaking hoof.
Rainbow nodded. “Thank you,” she stated as she began to inspect the knife. It was more of a survival tool really, with can and tin openers for emergencies.
Rainbow smirked. “While I admire you preparedness for the wilderness, I am not happy with you having a knife. No matter the size.”
Shine nodded. “I promise I won’t have a knife ever again,” she said shakily but was definitely telling the truth. “Just wait right there,” she asked her mother before quickly scurrying off to her bed.
Rainbow watched with a curious smile as her daughter reached under her bed for something, but this smile soon changed to one of horror when she saw the item the small filly retrieved.
“I guess you’ll want this one as well,” Shine spoke through the sheath of a machete she held between her teeth.
Rainbow stared in horrified disbelief at the huge knife her daughter carried. “H-h-how did you even get that?!” she said in a panic.
Shine shrugged her shoulders before placing the machete on the ground by her mother’s hooves. “I found it.”
“Where?!”
“In the garden,” Shine state simply. “It was behind the tree. I saw the handle poking out of the ground so went to investigate.”
Rainbow carefully picked up the huge knife and looked at it. Engraved on the handle were a few words.
“He who shall pulleth the blade from the sky shall be destined for greatness beyond that of mere mortals.”
Rainbow looked at her daughter, who stared back at her with a relentless, soul piercing gaze, and tried to think how Shine could be destined for such levels of greatness.
She quickly decided to ignore it. “I'm going to put these in my room,” she informed anypony who happened to be listening before turning out of the door. She had the strange compulsion to add, “Until the time is nigh,” in a dramatic voice.
She placed the various knives on her bed for storing later and headed back to the bedroom, where Swirl had joined her sister to wait impatiently for them.
“C’mon, Mummy,” the new filly said loudly. “I wanna go already!”
“Be patient, Swirl. We’re almost ready.” Rainbow turned her attention to Shine and had to stifle a laugh when she compared the size of Shine to Swirl; it was quite noticeable.
“Shine, have you got your glasses?” she asked to make sure.
Shine adjusted her light blue spectacles on her nose. “Check.”
“And what about your inhaler?”
Shine lifted the inhaler that was tied around her neck on a piece of string. “Check.”
“And have you got everything else?”
Shine nodded. “Yep.”
“Good. Let’s go then!”
Swirl jumped up into the air to celebrate them leaving almost an hour later than they said they would.
Rainbow giggled before walking downstairs.

Rainbow spent a quick moment putting on her coat and scarf.
“Where’s Dash?” she asked as she put her forelegs into the correct sleeves. She felt a slight embarrassment at getting it wrong the first time.
The two fillies shrugged and shook their heads.
Rainbow sighed and went on the reluctant prowl for her slightly youngest daughter.
“Dash? Where are you?” she called out as she entered the living room. In reply she heard a quiet snoring coming from the sofa where Dash had inevitably falling asleep while waiting.
Rainbow laughed quietly before kneeling down beside the sofa and readying a hoof for a gentle poke.
“Dash,” she sang as she prodded her daughter’s stomach.
Dash snorted and rolled over onto her stomach.
Rainbow smiled at the adorableness of her sleeping daughter. She grabbed a small, feathery wing and stretched it gently. “Dash,” she sang in time with movement of the wing.
Dash rolled over once again onto her side, facing her mother.
Rainbow smirked as she got an idea. She reached her head forward and rubbed her nose against Dash’s.
The sensation spread through the filly’s nose, making it very uncomfortable to the point where she woke up.
Dash sat up and rubbed her nose vigorously to make it feel normal again. Once her eyes regained focus she noticed her mother in front of her with a gentle smile on her lips.
“What day is it?” the filly asked croakily before yawning loudly.
“It’s Saturday. And it’s about half seven in the morning,” Rainbow said affectionately.
Dash groaned and fell back onto the sofa. “Why do I have to be up so early?!” she asked angrily.
Rainbow felt a twinge in her stomach, she felt bad for having to wake Dash up so early on a weekend, seeing as it was rare for the filly to wake up before ten on a Saturday.
“C’mon, Dash. It’ll be fun. And you get to fly a really long distance,” Rainbow said with intrigue.
Dash looked up into her mother’s identical eyes. “Really?” she asked hopefully.
“Yep. And you get to fly around Everfree Forest. As long as you keep in sight, mind you,” Rainbow added quickly.
Dash rolled over and jumped off the sofa with nary a sound being made by her light hooves as they hit the floor. She eagerly trotted to the hallway to wait by her sisters and to grab her coat.
Rainbow trotted after her.

Rainbow stood tall in the hallway, looking determined and vaguely inspirational.
“Are you ready, girls?” she said in a peppy, inspiring voice.
“YEAH!” the three fillies shouted back enthusiastically. Although Shine was dreading the flight there, she was looking forward to both the barbecue and exploring a forest.
“That’s good to hear!” Rainbow replied with equal enthusiasm, but she quickly turned serious. “But, I have to tell you, the Everfree Forest can be a very dangerous place, so I do not want any of you leaving mine or Jet Stream’s sights. Do you understand?”
The fillies nodded back as they easily comprehended the order.
“Good. And Shine,” she started as she stooped down to meet her middle daughter’s eyes. “We’re going to be flying a very long way, maybe for a couple of hours at least. I know you might find it difficult, but I want you to try and fly for as much of the journey as possible, okay?”
Shine nodded.
“Good. But if you do need a rest, I’ll be flying right alongside you, so you can just sit on my back for a little while, okay?”
Shine nodded again.
“Good girl,” Rainbow said before gently nuzzling her daughter’s nose. She stood back up to her full height and opened the door.
“WAIT!” Swirl shouted before zipping off to her room, only to return barely a few seconds later with absolutely nothing changing about her.
Rainbow raised a curious eyebrow in her direction.
“I thought I forgot my camera but it was here all along,” Swirl explained once she saw her mother’s expression and tapped her coat pocket.
“Okay then,” Rainbow said as she grabbed her pre-prepared bag from the hallway floor. “Let’s go!”
The fillies darted out between her legs and waited on the cold path for their mother.
Rainbow left quickly and locked the door behind her. She took wing and jumped into the air, and her daughter’s followed suit.
They took to the skies and began the long trip to the Everfree Forest, where Rainbow hoped she could finally kiss the stallion that had been in her thoughts rather often lately.

The air was freezing as the Rainbows pushed on through it, yet they were working too hard to notice it. It was quite pleasant, actually.
Rainbow was miles away, trying to remember the most direct route to the meeting point but drifted from that as well, so when a sudden weight appeared on her back she lost focus and nearly fell from the sky.
She quickly recomposed herself from the sudden surge of panic that spread through her as she felt like she was about to die.
She looked round at her back and saw Shine sitting there, panting heavily and gasping for air.
Rainbow slowed her pace to allow her daughter some comfort. She emitted a high pitched whistle through her teeth, signalling for her other daughters to return from where they had flown off to.
Swirl quickly and simply appeared by her mother’s side with a bored expression. Dash, on the other hoof, was more elaborate in her return, as she barrel rolled and looped round to her mother’s other side.
Rainbow smirked at Dash’s theatrics before she started talking. “Right girls, we’re going to be taking it a bit slower for a little bit.”
“Aww,” Dash moaned.
“Dash, stop it,” Rainbow said wearily. “You know we have to wait for Shine and you know she’s not as strong as you.”
Dash tilted her head from side to side in agreement to that fact, and she decided to let the “slowing down” slide for that compliment.
Rainbow looked back at over her shoulder at the wheezing filly. “Are you okay?” she asked concernedly. “Remember your inhaler.”
Shine nodded as she gasped and brought the inhaler to her mouth. She pressed the top down and took a deep breath. The medicine inside did its job and soon Shine felt her lungs relax and she regained her full ability of breathing.
“Feel better?” Rainbow asked sweetly.
Shine nodded. “Yeah,” she said airily. She adjusted her position on her mother’s back and made herself more comfortable.
“You did really good, Shiny,” Rainbow said sincerely. “I'm impressed with how far you went on your own steam, and it’s only about a half hour away. You can ride on my back the rest of the way.”
Shine smiled weakly with relief and gave her mother a gentle hug around the back of her neck.
“Mummy?”
“Yes, Swirl?”
“What exactly are we doing in the Everfree Forest?”
Rainbow pouted her lips. She didn’t really know herself. “Err… nothing much. Just hang out, look around the forest, have a bit of a barbecue. Why do you ask?”
Swirl shrugged. “I don’t know. I was just wondering.”
“Fair enough. And if we’re lucky, we could see some pretty amazing wildlife.”
Shine made an excited sort of squeal. “I can’t wait,” she muttered eagerly.
Rainbow looked out in front of her as the clouds thinned out to in a dramatic fashion, bathing them in the warmth of the sun as well as revealing to them a large opening some distance off in the dense pack of snow-topped trees below.
She raised her hoof and pointed in its direction. “Looks, girls. That’s where we’re going. It’s known as Froggy Bottom Bog.”
Swirl carefully retrieved her camera from her pocket and took a picture of the picturesque landscape.
“A bog?” Dash asked with a slight disgust in her tone. “Why are we going there?”
“Well, Dashie, there aren’t many places which have such a large opening to have parties like this.”
Swirl suddenly sped in front of Rainbow’s vision, taking her by surprise. The filly quickly found a place next to her mother once again.
“Swirl?” Rainbow questioned curiously.
“I dropped my camera,” Swirl replied casually, but the slight redness in her cheeks gave away her embarrassment. “But I caught it!” she added smugly.
Rainbow tittered before starting a slow descent to the ground.

Rainbow’s hooves touched down in the snow, which crunched under the weight. She smirked. “I love that sound,” she remarked to anypony listening.
Dash landed next to her in a stylish flourish, and struck a dramatic pose for a second before looking up at her mother. “What sound?” she asked with childlike confusion.
“Y’know, the sound of-,” she started but never bothered to finish once she looked down and saw that Dash was standing on top of the snow as she wasn’t heavy enough to sink down thanks to her Pegasus child nature. “Never mind.”
Shine carefully perched herself on top of her mother’s back and prepared for disembarking. After quickly judging distances and other such things, she was ready to jump, with her mother watching over her shoulder with anticipation.
Just before she leapt to the ground, Swirl, who hadn’t landed yet, snuck up behind her and gave her a quick shove.
Shine yelped as fell and smashed into the snowy ground.
Dash and Swirl were already doubled over with hysterical laughter. Even Rainbow struggled to hold back a snigger.
Shine grumbled angrily as she pushed herself up. She wiped the snow from her face and shot her family a dirty look. “That’s not funny!” she screamed, making herself go red in the face.
“Yes it is!” Dash and Swirl shouted back, which only increased the laughter.
Rainbow tittered behind her hoof. “Calm down, girls,” she giggled. “Swirl, Dash; say sorry.”
“What did I do?!” Dash shouted.
“You laughed,” Rainbow stated simply.
“So did you!” Dash argued back.
“Well… yeah, but I did it quietly so she didn’t notice.”
“I’ll say sorry if you do,” Dash challenged with a triumphant smirk.
“Dashie, I'm a parent, I don’t do what I tell my kids to do.”
“Huh?” Dash said loudly with her head tilted to one side.
“You’re here!” said a new, much more masculine voice which made Rainbow’s heart flutter.
Rainbow spun round, almost slipping in the process, to see the brown stallion of her dreams.
“Hi, Jet Stream,” Rainbow said with a girlish blush appearing in her cheeks.
“You’re here just in time,” Jet said with a great sense of glee. “I just got the barbecue going, so it’s already nice and warm. Not too long until we can get some food cooking.”
“Good. Flying all the way from Cloudsdale really gets your appetite going.” Rainbow looked down at her stomach as it grumbled loudly at her.
She lifted the bag off of her shoulder and placed it on the ground. “I brought some cakey stuff. And I actually made some of it!”
Jet smiled broadly, since he couldn’t think of anything to say, before grabbing the bag and taking it to the rickety travel table. He removed the few plastic containers and placed it on the table. He opened the corner of one and took a peek inside.
“It looks good… whatever it is,” he said quietly as to not offend the mare of his dreams.
“Yeah, it’s supposed to be brownies, but I never got the hang of them,” Rainbow said embarrassedly as she trotted next to him. “But I’ve never got complaints from my girls, so they can’t be that bad.”
“I'm sure they’re delicious,” Jet said suavely, trying to flatter the mare, but Rainbow just quietly laughed at him, making him go red.
There was a moment of silence which steadily grew in awkwardness.
“So where’s the birthday girl?” Rainbow asked out of both curiosity and the desire to break the silence.
“I'm right here,” Fleetfoot said cockily as she jumped to a halt behind them. The beads tied into her mane clacked together pleasantly.
Rainbow turned around to face her and smiled sweetly at her. “Hi, Fleetfoot. Happy Birthday!”
“Thank you,” Fleetfoot replied with a girlish sway.
“So, thirteen, ay?” Rainbow asked before giving the conversation a chance to die down.
“Yep,” Fleetfoot stated simply.
The conversation took the opportunity to die down, much to the Ponies’ annoyance.
An idea struck Rainbow which would allow her to destroy the silence once and for all. She went to her bag and removed an envelope.
“Here,” she said as she passed it to the teenager. “Happy birthday.”
“Thanks,” Fleetfoot replied as she took the card. She opened the envelope and removed the card. She smirked at the joke on the cover. “Thanks,” she repeated once again and placed the card on the table.
She turned back around and saw a small filly looking up at her, completely awestruck. “Hi there,” she said with an air of arrogance about her.
“You are awesome!” Dash said airily in wonderment.
Fleetfoot smirked. “I am, yes. Lemme guess, you’re Rainbow Dash? Right?”
Dash nodded frantically. “Yeah!”
“I knew it!” Fleetfoot said smugly. “Jet told me about you. Apparently, you fancy yourself as a future Wonderbolt.”
“Yeah!” Dash replied arrogantly. “I'm gonna be the best Wonderbolt ever!”
“Not if I beat ya to it,” Fleetfoot said confidently.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah!”
“Prove it,” Dash challenged.
“Fine,” Fleetfoot said intriguingly. She flared her wings and hunkered down to the ground. “Race?”
Dash mimicked her actions and smiled menacingly. “Race.”
Before both of them jumped in the air, Rainbow quickly placed a hoof on Fleetfoot’s shoulder and looked at her with a very serious expression. “Please, keep an eye on her.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll know where she’ll be all the time.” Fleetfoot turned to Dash with a slightly malicious look. “She’ll be eating my dust.”
“Hey!” Dash screamed.
“C’mon then!” Fleetfoot shouted before blasting off in the sky with Dash hot on her tail.

Rainbow watched as her daughter’s rainbow trail went off into the distance with a smile on her face. A noise drew her attention away from the skies and to the stallion beside her. She looked round and saw Jet Stream unscrewing the cap from a large flask.
“What’s that you got there?” Rainbow asked curiously. Her eyelids suddenly felt heavy and she yawned.
“Just some tea,” Jet said as he poured some into the two plastic cups. “I don’t like coffee myself, so there’s isn’t any. Sorry,” he said sheepishly.
“Nah, that’s fine. I'm not in a coffee mood today.”
Jet smiled with relief. “Sugar?”
“Yeah?” Rainbow replied tiredly.
“No, I mean do you want any?”
“Oh.” Rainbow laughed embarrassedly and went a light red. “Err, yes please. Four please.”
Jet looked over at her with a puzzled expression. “That’s quite a lot.”
“Well, I am pretty sweet,” Rainbow joked.
Jet chuckled. “I suppose so.”

Jet Stream expertly flipped a burger into the air, in an attempt to impress Rainbow of course. The crisp, expertly cooked patty of vegetables turned in the air in a fast yet graceful movement, and descended back towards the grill. It slipped perfectly between the metal bars and slapped against the hot coals, sizzled loudly and began the slow process of burning to a crisp.
Jet bowed his head and sighed.
Rainbow chuckled. “Oh well. There’s plenty more where that came from.”
“Actually, no. I didn’t buy that many, and that was the last one,” Jet said solemnly as he furrowed his brow at the burger lost to the ages.
He carefully removed the other cooked burgers on placed them on a nearby plate. “Grub’s up!” he announced to the small gathering of Pegasi.
Shine eagerly trotted over to the table and began to prepare herself a tasty burger.
Rainbow followed suit and went to make one for Swirl. “What kind of burgers are they anyway?” she asked as she cut open a bread roll.
“They’re hay and carrot burgers. Nothing too fancy but they’re good,” Jet said confidently.
A loud, dull thud came from by the barbecue, drawing the attention of the Ponies, and made Shine squirt a line of ketchup right onto her jumper after losing focus on targeting with the bottle. Nopony noticed.
Dash and Fleetfoot stood on the ground with their heads low and their breaths heavy.
Fleetfoot playfully punched Dash’s shoulder. “You’re fast,” she panted.
“Told ya!” Dash said smugly.
“Looks like we’re just in time,” Fleetfoot said happily. “I'm starved!”
“Did you have fun, Dashie?” Rainbow asked as she cut another bun for her final daughter.
“Yeah!” Dash replied ecstatically. “Finally, somepony to give me a challenge.”
“Yeah!” Fleetfoot interjected. “I had a hard time keeping ahead of you!” she added with mild amazement. She turned to face behind her and looked at Jet with a slight smirk and shook her head. Jet managed to hide the smile on his face.
“Well that’s good,” Rainbow said idly, she was too focused on preparing her daughters’ food to make more of a conversation. “Here you are, Swirl,” she said as she passed the burger to the quietest and most bored of her daughters.
“Thanks,” Swirl said boredly.
“Chin up, Swirl,” Rainbow said in an upbeat tone. “Why so glum?”
“This place is boring. There is literally nothing to do here!” Swirl moaned.
“And what exactly would you be doing at home?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow. “I imagine pretty much exactly the same.”
“Well, yeah… but I have a comfy spot on the sofa at home. And Ticker!” Swirl added quickly and slightly moodily. She suddenly wanted to see her best friend more than anything in the world, indicated by her sour expression.
“I'm sorry she couldn’t come, Swirl, but you can hang out with us for the day!” Rainbow said enthusiastically, hoping her cheery tone would make her daughter more excited. It didn’t work.
“But you’re boring,” Swirl whined.
“We’re not that bad, are we?” Rainbow asked hopefully, playing along with her daughter and putting on a sad expression.
“No no no no,” Swirl insisted relentlessly once she saw her mother’s sad face, she thought she offended her. “I just want Ticker!”
“Well, you can see her tomorrow. As long as you finish your homework.”
Swirl kicked the ground moodily. She thought she had gotten away with not doing her homework again.
Rainbow chuckled before making a burger for Dash, who had been waiting impatiently for her to finish her conversation.

The six Pegasi were sat on the ground on a large blanket, enjoying some delicious failed brownies made by Rainbow.
Rainbow brought her plastic mug to her mouth and took a large gulp of the hot, amber liquid that only tasted slightly of the flask. She gasped with the relief and the burning sensation now coursing down her throat. It was pleasing on such a cold day.
She looked to her side and her heart started racing. There used to be a filly sitting there, but now there was only a small, paper plate with a half eaten brownie on it.
She looked frantically all around her. “Dash?” she called out into the opening.
There was no reply.
“Dash?!” she asked again, only with much more panic in her eyes. She stood to look around, but she couldn’t see a sign of her daughter’s rainbow mane.
Her breath was becoming faster and more panicked, but a stone hitting her nose made her lose track of everything and calmed her down.
She slowly looked up to the tree she was under. She breathed a huge sigh of relief when she saw the cyan hooves of her daughter draped over a branch. Rainbow chuckled.
“Hey, Jet,” she whispered as she poked the stallion beside her.
Jet looked at her before following her hoof which was pointed at the tree. He smiled.
“It’s amazing how they can balance even when they’re asleep, isn’t it?” Rainbow said in passing as she watched Dash and Fleetfoot nap in a tree.
Jet chuckled. “It’s strange, really. With most Pegasi who like to go fast, they always nap. I remember when I was a Wonderbolt and whenever our training lasted more than four hours we would always have a naptime in the middle.”
Rainbow laughed quietly. “Really?” she asked, completely uncertain as to whether or not it was true.
“Yeah,” Jet said simply. “We would just go to a large, empty room with our pillows and have a power nap.”
“You brought your own pillows?” Rainbow asked through a laugh. The image of a tough, powerful Wonderbolt carrying a small pillow in his mouth made her feel giddy. She quickly sat down before she fell over. “That’s so cute!”
Jet let out a small, embarrassed laugh. “Yeah. Kinda.”
It took a small moment for Rainbow to recover from her laughing fit. “I'm sorry,” she said as the last giggles left her system. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“Nah! It’s fine,” Jet said while waving off her apology. “It is kinda funny.”
Rainbow let out a loud yawn. “Y’know, I wouldn’t mind a nap right now. It looks fun.”
“Go ahead. I don’t mind,” Jet said sincerely, hoping to put it across to her that he really didn’t mind. It actually made him feel strangely excited.
“Oh no. I couldn’t. I have to make sure my girls are alright, so I can’t,” Rainbow said worriedly.
“That’s fair enough. But still, I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to nap. You can use me as a pillow too! If you wanted, that is,” he added quickly with a small, forced laugh, hoping to hide his enthusiasm from the mare. He already felt foolish.
Rainbow tutted and rolled her eyes. “If you insist,” she jested. She quickly repositioned herself and rested into Jet’s shoulder.
“Mummy! Mummy!” Shine chirped loudly as she hopped to her mother’s side.
Rainbow quickly sat up again and faced her daughter. “What is it, Shiny?” she asked curiously.
“Can I go exploring now?” Shine asked with a sad yet hopeful expression. It didn’t work on her though. There was something about her eyes that could unnerve anypony who looked into them. They were so large and black.
“Err… as long as Swirl goes with you,” Rainbow said authoritatively.
“Oh,” Shine moaned and kicked the ground moodily. “Like she would want to.”
“I’ll come,” Swirl said with a voice heavy with defeat. She stood up from the blanket with a pained groan. “This place is boring. I want to take some cool pictures to show Ticker.”
“Oh,” Rainbow said with mild surprise. “That was unexpectedly simple. Okay, you two can go out into the forest. But,” she said loudly to make sure they were listening. “You two have to stick together no matter what.”
“Okay, Mummy,” the two fillies replied in unison before trotting off into the dense mass of trees.
The sound of something like a springboard took both of the adults by surprise. They both looked up and saw the branch that once held two Pegasi was bare and oscillating with an unnerving rate.
“Looks like we’re all alone,” Jet pointed out needlessly.
“Yeah,” Rainbow said as she leant into Jet’s shoulder once again. “We are, aren’t we?”
The two of them fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the sun shine off the frozen bog.

Shine’s breathing was heavy. The terrain was less smooth than she anticipated, but she didn’t let that but a damper on her exploration of a new and exciting place.
“C’mon, Swirl,” Shine called eagerly over her shoulder, beckoning her sister to hurry up with a wave of her hoof. She jumped down from the exposed tree root and fell with a thud on the damp soil, but she remained excited to continue deeper into the forest.
Swirl ducked under the root cautiously, yet that wasn’t enough as she banged her head on the way up. She rubbed the pained part vigorously with a sour expression.
“This place is boring,” she moaned. “And it smells funny.”
Shine took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the forest, and exhaled loudly. “I know. It smells good, doesn’t it?”
Swirl stared at her with peeved confusion as her sister continued into the undergrowth. She followed after her with utter boredom.
“Swirl! Swirl!” Shine said loudly and excitedly. “Come look at this!”
Swirl stood by her side. “What?” she said wearily.
Shine fumbled around on her utility belt and pulled out a magnifying glass. She carefully held it over the thing on the ground, keeping her hoof as steady as possible so she wouldn’t scare it off.
“It’s a dung beetle!” she squeaked with glee.
“A what?” Swirl asked, although she was already preparing for the imminent disgust of the answer.
“A dung beetle. See that big ball thing it’s pushing along? That’s a ball of animal poo.”
“EWW!” Swirl exclaimed horribly and shut her eyes to hide the bug away. She already felt sick.
“I read about these,” Shine continued enthusiastically, unaware of Swirl’s discomfort. “They roll the dung back to their nests and then, I don’t know… eat it, I guess.”
Swirl threw up in her mouth slightly.
“Take a picture!” Shine commanded her sister as she gestured for her to step closer.
“Err, no,” Swirl said with a nervous giggle.
The beetle scurried away under the tree.
Shine huffed at the fact it got away. She quickly got over the loss and continued on. Swirl followed regrettably.

Shine walked through the tightly packed trees, looking around at the surroundings, all the while smiling in awe, especially at the gang of monkeys that swung through the branches overhead.
Swirl walked a few aces behind her sister, making sure to walk in her exact hoofsteps. Every single noise sent a bolt of fear running through her spine. Every creak of a tree and every squawk of a far off bird made her jump and whimper.
“Shine,” Swirl called out worriedly, all the while checking her back. “Aren’t we getting a bit too far away?”
Shine spun around to face her sister, smiling like she was about to laugh. “This must be a first. Swirl is too scared to venture where I am not. Come on. I saw something really cool.”
Shine grabbed her sister’s hoof and dragged her forward. She stopped a little further forward. “Look! Fire ants!” she said in awe at the long line of large, red ants walking across their path, all carrying stones and leaves.
“What?” Swirl said confusedly and with a slight hint of fear.
“Fire ants.” Shine took the tweezers from her belt and knelt down. “They’re really cool. They have this defence mechanism,” she said as she grabbed an ant around the middle. “When under threat, they spit this chemical that burns stuff.”
As if on cue, the ant sprayed some chemical on the ground, making the small patch of grass beneath burn and sizzle.
Swirl shuddered. “I don’t like it,” she said, sounding as if she was about to cry.
“Don’t be such a scaredy-flank,” Shine teased before releasing the ant and skipping off further into the forest.
Swirl followed, but her steps were hesitant and shaky.

The dense canopy of only grew denser as the adventurous filly and her terrified sidekick wandered deeper into the forest. The light reaching the floor was decreasing with every step forwards.
“Sh-Shine,” Swirl whimpered. “I don’t like this.” As her hoof stepped down she heard a cringe inducing crunch. She froze and her breath stopped. She didn’t want to look down.
Shine exhaled a heavy sigh. “C’mon, Swirl,” she said irritably. “I just want to go a bit further then we can head back.
Swirl yelped as a bug buzzed loudly past her ear. “What was that?!” she shouted as she spun round, trying to catch a glimpse of the monster that threatened her life.
“It was just a moth, Swirl,” Shine said contemptuously. “I thought you were supposed to be brave. Dash wouldn’t be scared.”
Swirl wasn’t paying any attention. She was spinning around at every slight noise, at every slight movement of a shadow. Her breath quickened its pace as panic and fear became firmly set in.
Shine gabbed Swirl’s shoulders and vigorously shook her. “Snap out of it!” she shouted angrily.
Swirl managed to slow her breathing to a safe level. “Okay,” she panted. “Okay. I think I’m okay now.”
“Good,” Shine said menacingly before slowly taking her hooves from her sister’s shoulders. She turned around so she could continue on her path, but she tensed up and stopped moving completely.
Swirl looked over her sister’s shoulder, trying to get a view of what made her freeze. She would have screamed if weren’t for Shine moving like lightning and lodging her hoof firmly in the scared filly’s mouth.
A snake had reared its head and had extended its ear flaps. Its tongue slithered and hissed at the fillies who had entered its territory.
“Don’t move,” Shine spoke quietly through the corner of her mouth. She stared at the monster in their path, hoping to convey her and her sister’s innocence and unthreatening ways, with little success.
The snake bared its long, shining fangs that oozed with its deadly venom.
Swirl couldn’t take anymore. She pulled away from her sister’s hoof and bolted from the scene, emitting a high pitch scream, and made an escape back to the clearing and back to her mother.
Shine sighed heavily and hoofed her forehead with disappointment.
The snake watched the terrified filly run away with a slight sense of confusion, giving Swirl a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the distraction.
The brave filly swiftly took a rock from the forest floor and lodged it into the snakes open maw, taking the snake by surprise.
The snake, in a puzzled state, slithered back into the undergrowth to find a way to remove the stone from its mouth.
Shine continued forward. Without a quivering sister beside her, her journey became vastly more enjoyable.
She looked around at her surroundings. It was too much to take in. Everything offered new intrigue yet she couldn’t look at it all, not until a flower drew her attention.
There was a large, purple flower growing in the single beam of light that penetrated the leaves of the Everfree.
“That flower’s beautiful,” Shine said in quiet awe. “I bet Mummy would love it.”
She made her way to the flower, being careful to not hit her head on the branches that blocked her path.
Once there, she pulled the flower from the ground, bringing the bulb from below with it.
She marvelled at it for longer. It smelled wonderful, and even cleared her asthma a bit. She placed it carefully in the drawstring pouch on her belt.
The floor shook with a low, deep rumble that resonated up her small hooves.
“What was that?” she asked curiously.

Swirl charged through the forest. Her eyes were shut tight and her mouth screamed with all the fear in the world. She took a deep breath and screamed again.
A tree came in her path, and she hit it at full speed, knocking her to the floor and onto her haunches.
It took a moment for her to regain her brain and its functionality from the mild head injury, although she wished it hadn’t.
A spider crawled down her face and placed its long, spindly, hairy leg on her lip. The sheer terror she felt almost enough to make her heart stop.
The spider continued its slow climb down Swirl’s face. A second leg stroked over her bottom lip, bringing the entire spider into view.
She could see and feel its bulbous abdomen slide between her eyes, tracing a line of web in its wake.
Screams escaped her.
A quiet, demonic ticking could be heard from above, slowly descending from the branches of the tree.
Swirl’s eyes swivelled slowly upwards. A black spider the size of her mother hung above her on a thin strand of grey, using its shining, sickly legs to lower itself from its web in the dark tree.
Swirl’s breath became shallow and erratic.
Something tickled her shoulder, and in a moment of intense fear her eyes darted across and saw the leg of a spider slowly reach out in front of her, stretching out to bend over her face.
The spider on her nose continued downwards. One of its legs took a stand on the tip of her tongue.
Swirl took a sharp breath in.
The scream pierced through the trees, and scared off the birds.

Rainbow could recognise the sound she never wished to hear, and it sent a horrible feeling of dread into every part of her body.
She hadn’t stood up so quickly before in her life.
“Swirl?!” she shouted out to the forest with more worry than she thought possible. She spun round as she tried to judge where it came from.
Jet Stream joined her in her panic.
The screaming drew ever closer, but Rainbow couldn’t do anything except wait for the worst.
Swirl broke through a branch into the bright clearing, still screaming, and began frantically to try and dust herself off.
Rainbow wasted no time and was by her daughter’s side in an instant. “Swirl what’s wrong?” she asked, completely stricken with panic.
Swirl couldn’t answer. She was still screaming and spinning as she tried to get them off.
Rainbow didn’t know what else to do. All that she could tell was that her daughter’s coat was terrifying her, so she swiftly ripped it from her body and threw it across the clearing.
Swirl felt the layer be removed and quickly looked around for the monster that did it, but when she laid eyes on her mother she never felt so relieved. She stopped her screaming and lunged at her mother. She hadn’t hugged so hard in her life. Tears streamed down her eyes like a waterfall.
Rainbow hugged back, trying to give as much comfort to her daughter as possible.
“I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t like it,” Swirl whimpered over and over again as she cried into her mother’s soft coat.
“Ssh ssh ssh,” Rainbow whispered affectionately into her daughter’s ear. “It’s okay.”
“I don’t like it, Mummy,” Swirl whispered back, although her words became a quiet squeak at the end.
“What don’t you like, Swirl?” Rainbow asked quietly.
“Sp-sp-spiders,” Swirl squeaked, and buried her head further into her mother’s shoulder.
Rainbow sighed quietly. She was glad it was something less severe than she thought. “Don’t worry, Swirl. There aren’t any spiders around here.”
“Are you sure?” Swirl asked hopefully.
“I'm sure. There are n-,” she was interrupted as she flicked a small spider from her daughter’s mane. “There are no spiders here whatsoever.”
Swirl managed to calm herself down and her breathing resumed a normal breathing pattern. “I don’t like spiders, Mummy.”
“That’s okay, Swirl. That’s okay,” Rainbow comforted. “You don’t have to go in the forest again if you don’t want to. You can stay here with me and Jet.”
Swirl dried her eyes on her hoof and nodded. She started shivering. “I'm cold,” she said as her teeth started chattering.
“Oh, yeah,” Rainbow said sheepishly. She picked up the small, filly sized coat from the floor beside her and held it up.
Swirl recoiled from the web covered fabric at first, but then she noticed the huge rip that tore the coat in two.
“Sorry, Swirl,” Rainbow said sadly, almost like a child. “You were screaming at it so I ripped it off you.”
Swirl didn’t respond as her body started quaking with the cold.
Rainbow quickly tried to hug some warmth into her. “Jet,” she called over her shoulder.
“Yeah,” he replied simply, like he was tired.
“Can you get that coat from my bag please,” she asked sweetly.
Jet nodded in reply and went to retrieve the coat for her.
Rainbow took the coat from the stallion and quickly set about placing it on her shivering daughter. It fit her like a tent, making Rainbow chuckle. She pulled the zip all the way up and hugged her again to make sure she warmed up quickly.
“This coat’s really comfy,” Swirl remarked as she shifted about within it. “It’s so soft and fluffy.”
Rainbow smiled at her. “Good. And I'm sure Shine won’t mind you borrowing it,” she said unsurely.
“Shouldn’t we go get her?” Swirl said worriedly. “She’s all alone and it’s really scary in there.”
“Don’t worry, Swirl. I know she’ll be fine,” Rainbow reassured her. “She’s a smart filly, and I know she’ll be okay. Besides, I imagine she’ll get hungry soon and come running back.” She smiled at her tease, but it made her feel bad on the inside.
“But you said she could only go in there with me and that we had to stick together no matter what,” Swirl said sternly.
“I trust Shine in the forest on her own. Like I said, she’s a smart filly. You were just looking so bored that I wanted you to do something.”
“Oh,” Swirl said slightly angrily. “Don’t you trust me then?”
“Of course I do, but you weren’t the one who really wanted to go in the forest. If anypony, I wouldn’t trust Dash, she’s far too brave and foolish for her own good sometimes.”
Swirl giggled.
“C’mon, let’s go sit on the blanket,” Rainbow said as she stood up and placed her daughter on the floor.
Swirl looked over at the blanket, and then into the tree above. There were some shining strands of web high up in the branches. “No, I-I'm okay,” she stuttered.
Rainbow sighed. “Suit yourself,” she said as she trotted over to the blanket. Jet joined her momentarily.
Swirl took her camera from her destroyed coat pocket, although her hoof shook with the idea that a spider might be waiting for her. Luckily for her, the one in there was far too small and scared to move in the way.
She wandered into the centre of the clearing, as far away from any trees as possible, and sat down heavily with a relieved sigh. She looked out over the bog, it was strangely pretty, so she took a picture of it.
She pulled the fluffy hood up over her head to act as a pillow and laid back on the ground so she could watch the clouds drift lazily across the sky.

Rainbow sighed contently. Resting on jet’s strong shoulder and looking over the frozen bog was her perfect idea of wasting away an afternoon at that moment.
“Y’know, this frozen bog in the middle of winter is surprisingly…” Rainbow couldn’t think of how to finish the sentence.
“Romantic?” Jet suggested hopefully.
Rainbow tittered. “Yeah, that’ll work.” She nestled into his shoulder more comfortably and sighed again. “Romantic.”
They were silent for a moment, just enjoying the company. That was until Jet shivered loudly.
“Damn, it’s cold,” he moaned and adjusted his position on the blanket. “I wish I brought a scarf.”
Rainbow was struck by a sudden bolt of inspiration. “Just hang on a sec,” she said eagerly.
Jet felt the weight leave his shoulder momentarily. He missed it, which he found to be a strange feeling. The next thing he knew a thick scar was being gently wrapped around his neck.
“There you go,” Rainbow said with a restrained laugh.
Jet looked down at the scarf and snorted. “This is really comfy. And it’s rainbow coloured, of course.”
“Yeah,” Rainbow sniggered uncontrollably.
“It’s so soft. Did you make it yourself?” Jet asked curiously.
“In a fashion, yeah.” Rainbow started laughing quietly.
Jet, puzzled by her laughter, looked over at the mare by his side, and started laughing himself. “You actually used your mane as a scarf,” he said as he shook his head.
Rainbow nodded and laughed harder, and Jet joined her.

Their laughter eventually died down to just a few, quiet giggles.
Rainbow looked out of the corner of her eye and saw her perfect stallion wearing her mane like a scarf. The sight spawned many a fluttering animal inside her stomach and made her breath shallower. Everything behind him was out of focus, making him stand out in her mind as if radiating a gentle light.
Jet turned to face her slowly, wearing the most charismatic and charming smile.
Rainbow melted. She thought a butterfly would fly out of her mouth if she opened it. Never before had she had such a strong feeling about another colt. Not even her ex-husband.
She couldn’t take it anymore, and apparently neither could he.
They moved slightly quicker than last time in the park in Cloudsdale, but it felt longer than anything imaginable.
Their breaths quickened with the anticipation of finally making everything more real. They couldn’t even focus their eyes on each other as they got closer, everything was shaking as adrenaline and excitement coursed through their bodies.
Rainbow couldn’t imagine a better scene for their first kiss.
They held their breaths as they got closer. They weren’t even a second away from pressing their lips together in a perfect, romantic, passionate moment.
Jet stopped and pulled back slightly. His eyes were wide with shock and fear.
Rainbow fell forward slightly, which made her jump due to the lack of contact. She was very disappointed that she was robbed off such a fantastic moment once again.
“Wha-?” Rainbow started, but Jet quickly and roughly pushed his hoof against her lips. She sighed into it irritably.
Jet stared straight into her eyes and shook his head ever so slightly. He was clearly terrified.
Rainbow tilted her head to the side and raised a confused eyebrow, but when she felt a horrible, warm, moist wind blow over her body she shared his horror.
Her lip started quivering behind the brown hoof and her eyes dampened.
Swirl skipped to a halt and dropped the brownies she was holding. Her head was pointed to the ground but her eyes looked up at the gargantuan monster before her.
The loud, ragged breathing of the four heads filled the clearing with its foul breath. The sound paralyzed them in their places as it shook the ground.
The four giant heads slowly waved on their long, slender necks monstrously, eyeing up the small prey on the ground in front of it.
Swirl, in a bizarre, confused moment, took her camera from her pocket to take a picture.
The small flash of light entered the monster’s eye, and infuriated it.
The beast took a deep, harsh breath and roared so loudly that the trees shook and the Pegasi went temporarily deaf. Its white mountains of teeth glistened white and red with blood
“RUN!” Jet shouted as loud as he could, but he didn’t have to tell Rainbow.
The rainbow maned mare bolted from the scene and straight for her fear-frozen daughter. She scooped up the filly onto her back and pelted as fast as she could away from the monster.
The Hydra walked after them. Each single step covered more ground than the Pegasi could run, and quaked the earth with each one that slammed into the forest floor, snapping the trees below like twigs.
Rainbow had never known fear like this. Each frantic step forward only made her more and more scared. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the situation was unfolding before her.
Swirl watched the monster behind them and screamed louder than before in her life, only it was dulled by the deafening roars and thunderous sounds of claws on the ground. Its four head made an attempt every second to swipe at them and snatch them in its huge, bloody mouths. Not even the slightly slapstick comedic values of the Hydra’s chase could lessen her crippling fear.
Jet was just about managing to keep a level head. He was used to death-defying stunts when he was a Wonderbolt, but none of them would ever have led to him being eaten alive by a ravenous behemoth.
He shunted into Rainbow and pushed her down a different path and up a hill.
The jaw of the Hydra snapped down on them, only to narrowly miss Jet’s short tail.

They ran towards a gorge, pursued by the giant Hydra relentlessly.
“Run!” Jet ordered as loud as he could. “Over the gorge!”
Rainbow just cried harder and Swirl screamed louder.
Jet barged into Rainbow again and pushed on course.
Rainbow nodded with the tears streaming back in the wind.
There was a small outcrop of rock that stretched across the gorge like a bridge.
“Over there!” Jet shouted.
The Hydra was closing the gap between them with each long step of its gigantic claws. It could smell their fear, which only encouraged it.
They made it too the bridge. It was barely wide enough for them to run across. Jet went first to make sure it was safe, and Rainbow stuck behind him like glue.
The Hydra reached the bridge and raised its monstrous claw above it. The next second it slammed down on the weak rock.
A crack shot through the bridge, and it shattered, leaving only a few tall pillars behind.
The bridge crumbled and fell from below Rainbow’s hooves and she fell. Out of sheer, dumb luck she managed to grab a hold of the remaining pillar in front of her. The shock allowed for a break in her crying and she screamed harrowingly.
Jet spun round to see the love of his life hanging on the edge over certain death, and her daughter hung onto her wings for dear life.
He reacted instantly and lunged to grab hold of her, but a stomp from the monster’s claw shook her grip and she slipped.
Jet watched in sheer horror as the mare of his dreams fell to her death, but he wouldn’t allow her to. His wings flared into action and he rocketed down after her.
The Hydra snapped its head at the brown Pegasus as he dived down with all the speed in the world, but the monster was too slow and dim-witted to pluck him out of the air.
With an extra surge of speed he fired downwards like a cannonball and at the rainbow maned fillies below.
He caught them in the knick of time, any longer and they would have slammed into the ice. He locked his wings and brought himself and the Rainbows into a steep ascent to the other side of the gorge, as far away from the Hydra as possible.

The Hydra opened its four mouths as wide as possible stretched its necks over the gorge. It unleashed a ferocious roar of anger and defeat at the prey that got away. It turned away and headed back to its den in the bogs of the Everfree.

Jet landed carefully on the rocky cliff and gently placed his passengers on the ground.
Rainbow wasted no time and jumped at him, taking him in a tight, teary hug.
Jet hugged back quickly, but he knew they couldn’t waste time. “C’mon, Rainbow,” he said sternly. “We can’t hang around here. We have to go find the others.”
He hated himself for doing it but he had to. He pushed Rainbow from him and picked up the violently shaking Swirl from the floor and placed her on his back. He forced Rainbow back onto her hooves and pushed her with his muzzle to get her walking.
Rainbow did as she was ordered and started walking, gradually picking up speed with each of Jet’s forceful shunts.
They ran onwards, but were quickly met by Dash and Fleetfoot.
“Jet Stream!” Fleetfoot shouted worriedly. She ran up to him and gave him a quick hug, she could tell when he was urgent. “Are you okay?”
Jet nodded. “Yeah. We’re fine,” he said venomously.
“We heard that-that THING roar and we jus-.”
Jet raised his hoof to silence his niece. “We need to get back to Cloudsdale. Get out of this goddamn forest NOW!” he shouted, his temper now lost.
Fleetfoot nodded. She knew now wasn’t a time to be uncooperative and jokey.
Dash quickly hopped onto Jet’s back to Swirl. “Swirl!” She asked fearfully. “Are you okay?”
“She’s fine, Dash,” Jet said coldly. “Just shock.”
Dash didn’t know how to react. Nopony was ever so blunt with here and it scared her. She jumped from Jet’s back and quickly trotted to her mother.
“Mummy?” she asked innocently. She felt lost. “What’s happening? Where’s Shiny?”
Rainbow gasped with horror and shot up. A new surge of adrenaline and fear blasted through her and she started to run away. “Take them back to Cloudsdale!” she ordered over her shoulder as she charged back to Froggy Bottom Bog. She launched herself into the sky and flew over the gorge in a heartbeat.
Dash tried to run after her, but Fleetfoot held her back.
“Rainbow! WAIT!” Jet shouted after her, but she was already gone.

Rainbow arrived back at the clearing where she had almost kissed him. She saw the print of the monster’s claw in the snow and the dirt. She hadn’t realised how big it was until then. She was amazed that it managed to sneak up on them.
She kept walking through the destroyed forest, over the torn down trees and the up pulled roots. She could hear it breathing; a low rumbling that shook the air around her.
Her breath quietened and became deeper as she tried to be as quiet as possible.
The scaly tail of the monster slid past a field of vision; a small, slow movement behind a screen of trees.
She crept along the ground, watching each step intently so she wouldn’t alert the beast to her attention.
The Hydra stopped moving and came to rest in its bog.
Rainbow kept moving, keeping one eye on the monster. She stepped on a twig.
The Hydra’s eyes shot open as its keen hearing picked up on the small sound of a snapping twig. It stood to its full height and its four heads swivelled round on their necks to face the tiny Pegasus mare.
Rainbow froze, hoping the lack of movement would mean it couldn’t see her. It didn’t.
One of the heads lowered to the ground, although it still towered above the rainbow maned Pegasus. It inhaled loudly, sucking Rainbow’s mane towards its nose. It opened its mouth, revealing its huge, gleaming, bloodstained teeth, and roared.
Birds flew off and the animals of the forest ran away.
Various things were blasted from its mouth. Rainbow cringed as the horrid, sickly saliva sped past her.
Something hit her face as the beast stopped, and she risked a glance at the item that fell to floor by her hooves.
Her eyes went wide with horror. She had the unmistakable feeling in her stomach of throwing up.
She reached down and picked it up. She grabbed the broken string in her hoof and slowly lifted the small, plastic container to her face. There was a small blue feather taped to the side and the word “Shine” scratched into it with a compass.
Her mouth started shaking as she held and stared at the small, blue inhaler in her hoof. The cap was missing, and it was scratched and red with blood.
She didn’t know pain like that could exist. It felt like somepony cutting her heart out over and over again.
A torrent of tears flowed down her cheeks and splashed onto the cold ground.
She shook her head in disbelief.
“No,” she whimpered.
She looked up at the Hydra which killed her daughter.
“NO!” she screamed painfully, loud enough to rival the Hydra. She felt like her lungs were being ripped from her throat.
She fell to the ground and broke into relentless sobs. She thought she would die.
The Hydra raised its head high into the sky and launched it down to the ground at the Pegasus.
A huge cracking sound ripped through the air as something collided into the Hydra’s head, forcing down into the ground beside the grieving mare.
Jet Stream landed painfully in front of Rainbow. He thought he may have broken something, but it didn’t matter at that point. He charged at the crying mare and tackled her up into the air.
“NO!” Rainbow screamed hoarsely as she fought back against him, trying to force her way forward and back to where she found out the worst news of her life.
“C’mon, Rainbow!” Jet shouted. He flared his wings and beat them as hard as he could, but not even his strength could make her move from danger.
Rainbow barged past him and fell to the ground. She grabbed the inhaler from the floor and hugged it to her chest. She only cried harder.
Jet saw her pick up the small inhaler and he was instantly reminded of his own pain of losing his child. He could have joined her crying, but the Hydra had reared its four, ugly heads and was glaring down at them.
Jet sprinted at her and grabbed her in his forelegs. He took them into the air and sped off to the sky and back home to Cloudsdale.

Rainbow remained curled up in Jet’s strong embrace as he flew them home. She cried all the way, holding the inhaler as tightly as she once held the child it belonged to. She knew it would be hard, but she could never possibly imagine just how hard it would be to tell herself she would never see her child again. How it hard it would be to tell herself that her daughter was dead.

8 Years

Rainbow laid in bed one night. Her eyes were shut lightly as she gently hugged her filly and stroked her mane. The blankets had been kicked off earlier, but she didn’t want to move to put them back over her filly, despite the cold, out of ear of ruining the tender moment.
“Mummy,” the filly whispered.
“Ssh ssh ssh,” Rainbow whispered back and hugged slightly tighter. “It’s okay, just sleep now.” She felt a damp patch suddenly form under her, but she didn’t let it bother her, for she was there for her daughter, and that’s all that mattered at that point.
“Mummy,” the filly whispered again.
Rainbow knew the filly wouldn’t let it go and go to sleep, so she had to humour her, but that made a horrible feeling of dread spiral into her stomach and grow with every movement of time. “What is it, Shine?” she whispered affectionately, hoping her peaceful tone would make the filly stop.
“Why did I have to die?”
Rainbow’s eyes opened and she looked down at the pool of blood beneath her and her daughter’s rotting cor-

Rainbow sat bolt upright in bed with such a sharp intake of breath that it nearly hurt her lungs. In an attempt to stop herself from screaming she bit down on her hoof so hard that she could taste blood. Tears followed soon afterwards as she broke down into relentless sobs, which she kept as quiet as possible. She knew how lightly her daughter’s would be sleeping on this night of all nights.
That was the worst dream she had had in a long time. What made it worse was that it was something she had missed so badly. The act of hugging her daughter to sleep whenever she needed comforting always gave her the warm, motherly feeling inside of her which made her daughters all the more perfect, and it wouldn’t be the same again.
She grabbed the pillow beside and hugged it as tightly as she could, hoping the softness of it could somehow match her daughter’s, which it didn’t even in the slightest. It hadn’t been so heart wrenchingly painful since the police had to call off the search or the funeral.

She remained motionless for a while; just letting her tears fall from her and soak the pillow. She knew it wouldn’t stop if she carried on like this. She needed a distraction, and she had the perfect one.
She looked slowly over to the clock, already smiling with what she knew she’ll see, and it only grew wider once she read it.
She sniffed. “29th of July,” she said quietly in her tear-induced, croaky voice. She dried her soaking eyes and cheeks on her hoof and stepped silently form her bed.
From under the bed, she pulled out a large carrier bag full of toys, the sight of which still made her feel a sense of childish glee.
It still made her feel a horrible emptiness in the pits of her soul, but the excitement and anticipation of the day to come balanced it out.
Once again she reached under the bed and took a roll of wrapping paper. She gripped it under her wing and grabbed the bag between her teeth.
The next part would be difficult; getting downstairs without her daughter’s noticing. She assumed they were lying awake in their beds, waiting to wake her up.
With careful steps, Rainbow made it downstairs in a moment, with barely a peep of a sound coming from her or the old house.
She sighed quietly as she placed the bag down on the living room floor before sitting down beside it. The act of wrapping birthday presents made her feel as giddy as her daughters when opening them.

Dash couldn’t sleep any longer. The small clock on the wall in their room read half past six. She squeaked giddily. She didn’t know what time she should go wake up her sister, let alone her mother.
She couldn’t wait any longer. She quickly fumbled with her blanket and threw it to the hoof of her bed. She jumped out of her bed and over to Swirl’s to wake her.
She bumped her head against her sister’s and they both fell to their haunches moodily.
They quickly glared and stuck their tongues out at each other before breaking out into a smile.
“I was gonna wake you up!” they said at each other.
“Swirl,” Dash started excitedly. “We’re eight!” she cheered as she threw her hooves up in the air.
“We get presents!” Swirl cheered back loudly and mimicked Dash’s movements.
“Let’s go!” Dash shouted eagerly. Both fillies charged from their room and to their mother’s room.
“Mummy?” Swirl said cautiously as she pushed the door open. She couldn’t see the mare. She turned to face her sister. “She isn’t there,” she said with a shrug.
Both fillies gasped as they both got the same idea. They turned as bolted downstairs. Their hooves thundered down the stairs like were about to fall through them.
They fell through the door that led into the living room and landed in a pile. They looked up and saw their mother sitting on the sofa with a huge smile on her face.
“Happy birthday!” she cheered loudly and threw her hooves in the air. “Come here, you two.”
The eight year old fillies ran up to their mother and jumped on her, forcing her down onto the sofa.
Rainbow laughed and hugged them for a long while. She gave them each a loving kiss.
“Are you two excited then?” she asked happily. Not being able to say three anymore hurt her, but she managed to hide the pain from her daughters to no less than a few tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Yeah!” both fillies replied together with great enthusiasm.
“Good. Now, you know the drill. You can each open one present for now, and you have to save the rest for later when everypony comes round.” Rainbow reluctantly released her children.
The fillies darted to the small piles of presents on the floor and found their respective heaps of gifts. They both rummaged around and took identical triangular prisms from the depths of presents, knowing exactly what it was.
They unwrapped it greedily to find just what they expected. They opened the boxes and unwrapped the foil. They both snapped off a triangular peak of nougat and chocolaty goodness and ate it slowly, savouring the rare treat of the fine sweet.
Rainbow chuckled. “I knew you’d do that. But don’t fill up on chocolate, you still have your special birthday breakfast to eat,” she said eagerly. “What do you want?”
The fillies gulped down their mouthfuls of chocolate and looked to each other. Both turned to their mother in perfect synchronisation and said loudly, “Pancakes!”
Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief. “I was hoping you’d say that.” Her mouth had already started watering. “When do you want them?”
“Err…” Swirl said thoughtfully. “Now?”
Rainbow celebrated quietly. “I was hoping you’d say that too!” She jumped from the sofa and headed to the kitchen. “Come on. Let’s get cooking!”
The fillies placed their chocolate back with their unopened presents and followed their mother.
“Y’know what,” Rainbow called from the kitchen. “I think you can open one other, little present.”
“YAY!” the children shouted gleefully and darted back for another present.
Rainbow laughed.

More Ponies than normal came to her daughters’ eighth birthday. Rainbow knew why, but she didn’t care, she was just grateful for the company. Her mother and Nana sat on either side of her on the larger sofa, and if she was honest they were the only ones who needed, but her father helped in his own ways by distracting the little Rainbows, and it was nice to see her lesser seen twin brother.
She would’ve ideally liked Jet Stream to drape a wing over her back and hold her close, but her family and friends would have to do.
“Here you go, little Swirly,” Nana said in her kind, grandmotherly voice as she passed Swirl a sealed envelope.
Swirl took it politely, trying to mask her impatience since she and her sister wanted the presents and not cards. She slipped her small hoof under flap and ripped through the paper, revealing the back of the card.
“Thanks, Nana,” she said sweetly as she pulled the card from the envelope. Before she had a chance to read the front, she threw it in the air with a small scream, raining the four bits that were hidden inside all over the floor, and dived for the safety of her mother.
Ticker, who was sat with her best friend, reached for the card confusedly, but she was beaten by another filly.
Derpy, who sat with her own mother on a large beanbag by the door, saw the distress of the card and quickly went to save it and protect it.
“What’s wrong, Swirl?” Rainbow asked worriedly as she cradled her daughter, whom she could see starting to cry slightly.
Derpy held up the card to Rainbow, thinking it would help solve the mystery.
Rainbow looked at the picture of a cartoon spider with googly eyes and sighed. She turned slowly to the elderly mare by her side.
“Nana, she’s terrified of spiders,” she said exhaustedly.
“Really?” Nana asked in disbelief. “Since when?”
Rainbow remained quiet and her eyes saddened.
“Ah…” Nana whispered awkwardly.
Rainbow looked to Derpy, who remained floating in the air with the card on display. “Thanks, Derpy. Could you put it on the mantelpiece, please?” she asked kindly. “And make it face the wall, please.”
Derpy nodded and flew over to the fire place. She carefully lined up a spot for the card and began the difficult job of placing it exactly right, but her small wings created a light wind in the room, so as she placed it on the hard surface the cards beside it blew off.
“Oh no!” she cried and went to catch them before they were hurt, but in doing so more fell off.
She gasped in horror and went after them as well, but ended up blowing them across the floor of the living room.
She looked at the desolate scene of paper chaos and shed a single tear.
Rainbow tittered. “It’s okay, Derpy,” she said affectionately. She looked to the cream stallion speckled with brown dots sitting on the ground in front of her mother. “Dad?” she asked simply.
“Sure,” he replied, knowing full well what she was going to ask. He forced himself up with a small groan and went to place the cards back on the mantelpiece.
Derpy celebrated her work well done and flew back to her mother, where she nestled back into a comfortable position by her side and was rewarded by an affectionate nuzzle on her mane.
Rainbow shook the scared filly gently, gaining her attention. “Are you okay?” she asked lovingly.
Swirl dried her eyes and nodded.
Rainbow smiled at her. “Good. Now, I believe some bits fell out of the card. Go get the- Hey! Where are they?” Rainbow questioned as she saw no glints of gold on the carpet. “Dash, what did you do with Swirl’s money?”
“What money?” Dash asked innocently, which failed as she obviously had some coins in her mouth.
Rainbow giggled at the filly. “Dash, stop being silly and spit them out.”
Dash did as ordered and spat out three gold coins.
“I remember seeing four,” Rainbow said with a raised eyebrow.
Dash blew the fourth coin from her mouth and fell to her haunches, feeling annoyed at being caught.
“I'm gonna wash them,” Swirl said with mild disgust as she left her mother’s side to pick them up. She trotted to the kitchen to clean her sister’s germs from the fortune of four bits.

The doorbell rang out in the house, which made most of the inhabitants jump.
“I’ve got it, Rainbow!” Derpy said confidently. She swiftly jumped up and went off to make herself useful.
The small grey filly opened the door to a large, panting, yellow mare.
Derpy stared at her confusedly. “I don’t know you,” she said dumbly.
“I don’t know you either, Sugar,” the large mare replied with her much deeper voice.
“Oh, my name’s not Sugar, it’s Ditzy Doo, but Ponies call me Derpy. Derpy Hooves for long,” the small filly said confidently.
The yellow mare chuckled loudly. “Sure, Derpy. Nice to meet you.”
“Who is it, Derpy,” the grey filly’s mother called from the living room.
“It’s a fat mare,” Derpy said simply.
Dizzy gasped. “Ditzy Doo,” she said angrily. “That is NOT nice. Apologise. Now.”
Derpy’s brain lost its ability to function, so it made the filly it controlled remain completely silent.
Rainbow perked up upon hearing the description. “Sass! Come in!” she said ecstatically and began watching the doorway intently.
Sass pushed past the frozen filly as politely as she could. “Thanks,” she said in her loud voice. She looked at the filly, who still stood with the door open in her hoof, and shook her head with a smile. “It’s okay, Derpy. I know you don’t mean anything bad. There ain’t a need to apologise.”
Derpy seemed to reboot from hibernation and become aware of all the heat she was letting in through the front door, and so shut it gently. She turned to the large mare and smiled at her.
Sass chuckled deeply and walked into the living room.
“Hi, everypony,” she said in her loud, friendly manner. She walked to the centre of the room where the two young fillies were sat. “Happy birthday,” she said kindly and gave them both a card from her bag.
“Thanks,” the little Rainbows replied together with a noticeable lack of enthusiasm from being giving something that wasn’t a present.
Sass paid no attention to their lack of gratitude and sat on the smaller of the two sofas, and nearly crushed her best friend’s brother in the process.
Derpy had gathered the courage to take the long walk back to her mother with her head bowed with shame. She stopped a few steps in front of her and started twisting her hoof into the floor embarrassedly.
Dizzy raised an eyebrow at her daughter in a moody fashion. She could see that the filly had been through enough and was clearly sorry, so she smiled and raised a wing invitingly.
Derpy smiled back and took her place under the feathery canopy happily.

The many discarded envelopes and ripped wrapping paper lay strewn over the floor, showing that there were no more presents to be open.
The little fillies, Ticker, and to some degree Derpy, were all looking around for something to do next. So many toys to choose from meant it was very difficult to think of what to do.
“Well,” Rainbow started intriguingly, drawing the attention of her friends and family. “I think there’s time for one more present each.”
Dash and Swirl looked at each other with a look that basically called their mother stupid. Both of them could see that there were no presents left.
Rainbow shot a crafty look at her brother, giving him the signal.
He nodded back and took his backpack from the side of the sofa. From its depths he removed two expertly wrapped presents.
Dash and Swirl looked longingly at them, for one of them was quite big and they both wished for that one.
“Okay then,” Rainbow’s brother started. “This one’s for… Swirl!” he said excitedly.
Dash smiled broader. This meant that the bigger present was hers.
Swirl took the box happily. It was still pretty big, so she wasn’t about to complain. She ripped into the paper greedily and gasped at the image she saw underneath. She quickly tore the remainder of the paper away to reveal the box of a brand new camera.
She looked to her mother with her mouth agape.
Rainbow giggled. “Yep. A new camera, just for you. Me and my brother went halves on it, so it’s definitely a good one. And it’s digital, so you don’t need countless rolls of film!”
Swirl couldn’t believe it. She ignored all the words her mother just said and focused on the picture on the box of the small, pink camera. She hurriedly opened the box and took it out.
“I charged it up for you last night, so it’s ready to go,” Rainbow’s brother told her.
Swirl looked over the device and found the power button in seconds. She squeaked excitedly as the lens extended from behind its automatic cover. It was already far better than her old one that she lost in the Everfree Forest.
Rainbow reached a hoof out politely. “C’mon, I’ll take a picture of you and Ticker.”
Swirl smiled and nodded excitedly. She carefully passed the small camera to her mother as if passing her child.
“Thank you,” Rainbow said politely as she took it and placed the hoof strap on, knowing full well that Swirl would shout at her if she didn’t. She lined up a shot of Swirl and Ticker and pressed the button.
“Lemme see!” Swirl said quickly as she reached for her camera.
“Hang on,” Rainbow said calmly. “Let’s get one of you and Dash. And Ticker, why not?”
Swirl nodded before grabbing her sister and her best friend and holding them tightly against her sides. Dash’s smile looked very forced, making Rainbow chuckle, but the other two looked genuinely happy to be in the picture.
“Smile!” Rainbow said cheerily as she looked at the image on the small screen.
Just before she could press the button, the grey filly across the room decided she wanted to be in the picture as well. So Derpy rocketed from her spot with her mother and flew over the floor, reaching the other children just in time to for Rainbow to take the picture of a grey and yellow blur obscuring the others. Although, there was a priceless reaction shot from Swirl, which Rainbow couldn’t help but laugh loudly at.
“H-here you go, Swirl,” Rainbow laughed as she returned the camera to its rightful owner, who took it gratefully.
Derpy quickly trotted back to the beanbag with her mother with a great air of pride about her, making her mother just smile and shake her head.
“Okay,” Rainbow’s brother said to gain the attention of the Ponies in the room. “Time for Dashie’s present.”
Taking after her mother, Derpy helped by delivering the present to correct owner, and made very few mistakes.
Dash took it greedily and shredded the paper from it in seconds. Her face lost its glee and her brow furrowed with confusion and slight anger.
“Lego?!”
Derpy gasped and looked to her mother, hoping to be allowed to play with it.
Rainbow’s father gasped and looked to his wife, hoping to be allowed to play with it.
Rainbow’s mother slapped her forehead and dragged her hoof slowly down her face in a slow, tired motion.
“Must you be so childish?” she asked wearily.
“It’s a guy thing. You wouldn’t understand,” he said condescendingly.
She sighed and decided to ignore him.
“What’s Lego?” Dash asked confusedly as she stared at the large box.
“I’ll show ya!” her granddad said excitedly and crawled over to the dumbfounded filly. He removed the lid hurriedly and poured the contents onto the floor between him and Dash. “Okay then,” he said as he laid on the floor comfortably. “This is how you do it…”

“Look! I made a spaceship!” granddad said as he rolled over to show his wife the crude model with a huge sense of pride.
She stared back at her husband with her mouth hanging open. She had been rendered speechless by his stupidity, but he turned back and carried on regardless.
Rainbow tittered and looked to her daughters, Ticker and Derpy, who were working together to build something.
“What you girls making then?” she asked curiously.
“I don’t know,” Dash replied simply. “But it has wheels, so probably a tank.”
“Ah, of course,” Rainbow said with a hint of sarcasm.
She shut her eyes and took a deep, quiet breath through her nose. “It’s now or never,” Rainbow thought.
She turned to her mother by her side. Her eyes had lost any hint of cheer and had a look of sadness.
“Mum,” she whispered. “I'm going out for a bit. I’ll be back later.”
Rainbow stood up and headed into the hallway silently, with her mother watching intently with some concern in her frown.
Rainbow grabbed her back that she had left in the corner since the morning and left the house before anypony noticed.
Dash and Swirl heard the door click gently and looked up from their toys.
“Where’s Mummy gone?” Swirl asked innocently.
“She’ll be back later,” their grandmother said with a sigh.
The fillies looked back at the door, feeling slightly saddened by their mother’s absence.

Rainbow flew for about half an hour before reaching the ground below Cloudsdale. She landed lightly on the grass by the entrance and stretched her stiff, tired wings.
She kept her head down. The sight of the sign would have been enough to make her cry.
Her steps were slow and solemn as she walked into the Cemetery.

The trees were thick and green, scattering the light on the pathway that led through the middle into a beautiful pattern. The smell of the grass and the leaves blew through Rainbow, waving her mane gently around her head, keeping it from her eyes.
The sounds of the birds were calming, but she still felt as bad as she thought possible.
It wasn’t long before she found the small, pristine headstone half cast in the shadow of a willow tree.

Rainbow looked around. She was alone.
Her breath was shaky as she approached the grave. Grass had already grown over it.
She laid down in front of the tablet of marble with a sigh and let her wings unfold in the warmth. Her eyes were already wet.
She watched as a pair of butterflies landed gently on the stone, admiring their beauty for a moment.
“Hello, Shine,” she sniffed as her attention drifted back to the shiny rock on which they perched. “Happy birthday,” she said with a small laugh and a smile. She rummaged her head in her bag and pulled out a small, card box.
She opened it and removed the small cake within and a candle. She placed it by the side of the headstone and lit the candle.
“Go on. Make a wish!” she encouraged before leaning in and blowing it out herself.
“Well done. I hope you like it. It’s your favourite. Chocolate and hazelnut cake.”
A bluebird flew from the tree, making Rainbow gasp at the surprise, and pecked at the cake.
Rainbow giggled. “It’s nice seeing you share for once.”
The bird flew away again with a piece of cake in its bill. Rainbow watched as it landed back in its nest high in the tree.
She smiled at the critter before looking back to her daughter.
She laughed awkwardly. Nothing came to her mind about what to say. It all felt slightly ridiculous to her, talking to a rock in the ground.

Time passed quickly. The sun had gone further through the sky, and was now warming Rainbow’s back, casting her shadow over the headstone.
“So,” she started a little loudly to break the silence. “I suppose you want to know how we’re all doing, no?” Rainbow asked before waiting for a reply.
The leaves rustled slightly.
“I thought so,” Rainbow said knowingly. “Well, Swirl twisted her hoof playing hoof ball last month, but she got better pretty quickly, as she always does. And Dash is getting better at flying.” She perked up as the topic came up. “And you should see her! She learned how to do loops and barrel rolls a few weeks ago and now she does them nonstop! It’s so awesome, just watching her zoom about the tree and pulling tricks that even I'm a bit jealous of!”
The smile she wore slowly vanished and was replaced by a look of sadness. “I wish you could see it.”
She sighed.
“I'm doing okay. It’s hard, but I'm managing. I try my hardest not to show Swirl and Dash how I feel, because they’re too young to understand and I don’t want to worry them. But they must miss you in some way. They seem less energetic without you around anymore.”
She bowed her head down slowly and shut her eyes. “But I miss you.”
She took a deep, shaky breath. “I-I miss you so much,” her voice cracked. She could feel herself about to cry again.
She shut her eyes as tight as she could, squeezing out the few tears that had begun to form, and looked away with a small growl at herself.
“No. I won’t cry again,” she ordered herself in a harsh voice. “I have to be strong for you.”
Her eyes remained closed and her face screwed up as she took several deep, forceful breaths. It was some seconds before she brought herself back to a state of calm.
She sighed once she returned to her sense and opened her eyes.
The words on the stone jumped out at her. The name Rainbow Shine hit her heart like a train, sending a terrible shiver coursing through her body and making the pain all the more horrible.
She began to break down again with a shivering breath and reached out to touch the name of her daughter, but her hoof fell before it reached.
The sudden realisation of what the stone meant rang clear in her mind and she fell forward, collapsing against the soft earth beneath. She couldn’t push it away again.
After a sharp intake of breath she let out her emotions and cried loudly. She could almost be heard from the entrance to the cemetery. It hurt her throat as the screams of despair left her, but she couldn’t stop. Every second she cried it only got worse as her mind reminded her repeatedly, “My daughter is dead.”

The grass went cool under her and her eyes became red, but she couldn’t stem the flow, only lessen it, but she sobbed quietly as the evening wore on.
She knew she needed to leave, she had been with her lost daughter for far too long, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave her side. Every time she tried to put weight on her hooves her legs went limp and she couldn’t stand.
An unexpected shadow fell over her, breaking her shell of sorrow with a twinge of fright. She turned her head slowly to see the cause of the darkness.
Cast in a silhouette stood the brown stallion that could make Rainbow’s heart leap even now. The dramatic pose Jet Stream struck. The way the breeze made his mane ruffle. His powerful body. It was enough to make Rainbow feel a little better. But his eyes betrayed this image. They were sunken and sad, almost as much as Rainbow’s.
Knowing he could feel bad like that didn’t help her. Rainbow opened her mouth to speak, but Jet simply shut his eyes and shook his head solemnly.
Rainbow watched as Jet walked to her side and silently lay next to her. She instinctively rested her head against his shoulder as he gently draped a wing over her.
His comfort was what she needed. As her breaths slowly returned to normal, the head stone began to be just a stone in the ground and no longer represented the loss of a loved one.

The sun was lower than before. Only a few hours left until the bright, blue sky was replaced by the darker red of dusk.
Rainbow and Jet Stream landed by the end of the path that led to the house. They could hear a few laughs coming from fillies inside as they got closer to the front door. Hearing it made Rainbow feel massively better. It even put a smile back on her face.
Jet opened the door and led her inside.
“Mummy!” the little Rainbows shouted in unison before galloping into the hallway.
Rainbow watched with an ever-growing smile as her daughters ran for her. She stooped down and picked them up as they reached her hooves.
“Hey, girls,” she said quietly. As she felt them against her, her troubles melted partially and she relaxed. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah!” they cheered back.
“We built a really cool err… thing out of Lego!” Dash said proudly.
“Awesome, Dashie. I’ll have a look in a minute.” Rainbow looked up as her mother, father and Nana filed into the small hall. Sass would’ve come as well, but there wasn’t enough room.
“Are you okay, Swirly?” Nana asked caringly with a sad look in her eyes. It was obvious that all the adults had guessed where she had been.
Rainbow nodded. “I'm fine,” she said truthfully as she placed her daughters back down.
However, nopony believed that it was entirely true, so her mother stepped forward gave her a tight hug. Although, if anything, it made Rainbow feel slightly awkward, seeing as Jet Stream was stood right next to her.
“I'm fine, Mum. Really, I am,” Rainbow insisted politely and pushed her mother away.
“So who’s this then?” her father asked with a sly smile.
Jet shook his head as he was brought from his dumbfounded state. “What?”
The father chuckled slightly. “Distracted by all the colour?” he asked knowingly.
Jet nodded sheepishly.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. I have a son in there with rainbows and blue as well, just to let you know.”
“Err… right,” Jet said awkwardly with a small laugh.
“So who exactly is this then?” the father reiterated, only slightly louder this time, gaining his daughter’s attention.
Rainbow looked round quickly and looked at the older stallion briefly with confusion, but she soon heard what he said. “Oh, yeah. This is Jet Stream.”
Rainbow’s mother turned quickly to face the new stallion with a knowing smile. “So you’re the one my daughter fa-.”
“Ssh!” Rainbow whispered harshly at her mother before she could finish. Her face went a deep shade of red, as did Jet’s.
Her parents started to giggle amongst themselves while Rainbow and Jet tried their hardest not to look in each others’ direction.
Dash and Swirl looked around at the taller Ponies with a look of annoyed confusion on their faces.
“What?” they asked angrily. They didn’t like being kept out of something funny.

A fortunately timed doorbell terrified the Ponies into a state of normality and racing hearts.
“Who could that be?” Rainbow asked as she turned to face the door.
She opened it slowly and cautiously peered around the edge to see who it was.
A young mare stood on the other side of the door, possibly only a teenager. She was light brown with a long, scruffy mane and several piercings in her ears and on her face. Rainbow thought her to be one of the few Ponies to be able to pull that look off. And if she were younger and a colt…
The mare sniffed with a distinct lack of grace. “Yo, is Ticker here?” she asked with a hint of uncalled for aggression.
“Err…” Rainbow mumbled as she was caught off guard by the question. Fortunately, she heard the sound of Lego being pushed out of the way and urgent hooves getting louder and louder.
Ticker ran up to Swirl and flapped her wings in a well practiced manner.
“Thanks,” Swirl replied politely before throwing her hooves around her and giving her a hug, which Ticker gratefully received. “See ya!” she chirped happily as she released the mute Pegasus, who held on just a little longer before letting go and waving.
The small, tea coloured filly trotted to the door and stopped by Rainbow. She made a small movement of her wings that Rainbow had learnt meant “thank you” and did a small curtsey, just to emphasise her point.
Rainbow chuckled. “You’re welcome, Ticker. And I’ll see you later.”
Ticker waved before heading off with the mare.
Rainbow watched intently for a moment in an attempt to figure out who it was, but before she could, Ticker had jumped on the mysterious mare’s back and they flew off quickly.
She shut the door quietly with her mind still trying to work it out, but it couldn’t, and so she had to resort to asking somepony else.
“Swirl, who was that?” she asked with a little too much worry.
“That’s Ticker’s sister,” Swirl replied simply.
“Oh…” Rainbow said with mild surprise. “I didn’t know she had a sister.”
“Yeah, she lives with her.”
“Really?” Rainbow asked with a little intrigue entering her voice. “What about her parents?”
“They don’t live their parents.”
Rainbow gave her daughter a shocked look. “Really? But she only looked about fifteen.”
Swirl nodded slowly, giving her mother a questioning look. “How did you know?” Swirl asked suspiciously.
“Just a guess.”
“Oh, well, yeah. But no, they don’t live with their parents.”
“Why not?”
“Their dad doesn’t like them very much. And he drinks all the time, Ticker said.”
Rainbow felt slightly sad about that.
“And their mum’s not with them anymore.”
Rainbow gasped slightly. “Oh, I'm sorry.”
“Yeah, she’s in prison.”
Rainbow jumped at the new information. “What?”
“Yeah, she robbed a shop and got put in jail,” Swirl said casually. “And she was supposed to get out again a bit later, but then she um… what did Ticker say…? She shanked somepony?” she questioned herself. “I think that’s what she said, whatever that means.”
“What?” Rainbow asked again, only now she was more worried for the filly her daughter was best friends with.
“So their mum’s in prison and their dad drinks a lot, so her sister moved out, took Ticker with her and now they live in Cloudsdale and now she’s my friend!” Swirl cheered happily.
“B-but how do they live? How can they afford living here?!” Rainbow asked urgently.
Swirl shrugged. “Dunno. Her sister said her special talent is cooking, but I’ve tried some of her food, and for somepony whose special talent is cooking she’s not very good. And she’s always smoking these really weird looking cigarettes,” she said as she tried to gesture their shape, with no success.
Rainbow’s mouth fell open slowly and her face became the picture of horror and panic. She quickly glanced between her family, all of whom were wearing the same shocked expression as her.
Swirl just continued to look at her mother, wondering why she was looking so distressed.
Rainbow couldn’t think of what to do, so she let her brain do it itself. “Cake?” she suggested without a conscious input.
The little Rainbows gasped and raced toward the kitchen, each trying to beat the other to get there first.
Rainbow chuckled and moved on after them. She sighed with great relief to be distracted by the story of Ticker’s life.

It was night time again, and midnight had long since past. Her family and friends had returned to their respective homes across Equestria, leaving Rainbow with her thoughts as she tried to sleep.
She couldn’t. She couldn’t keep strong anymore.
She sat on her bed, hugged her legs close to her chest and cried quietly. She had left the curtains open to see her tree, but it didn’t rain, making it harder. The world didn’t care.
In the stillness of the night, in the quiet, peaceful darkness only broken by the light of the moon, Rainbow could only think of the truth the day revealed, that she would always be missing one daughter.
She tried to stop herself, she knew she couldn’t keep crying, but she couldn’t stop it no matter how hard she wanted to.
She lowered her head down and shielded her face with her forelegs. She grew slightly louder as the image of last night’s dream flashed briefly in front of her eyes.
Light from the hall spilt into the room, illuminating her in the lamplight. Rainbow gasped and faced the door.
Swirl and Dash stood there side by side, holding the door open, and looking at their mother with more sadness than Rainbow had ever seen before.
“Mummy,” they started sadly.
Rainbow looked away quickly. One hoof tried to hide her tear soaked face and bloodshot eyes while the other tried to usher her daughters out of the room.
“Please go,” she whispered pleadingly. “I-I don’t want you seeing me like this.”
The fillies stepped further into the room. “Mummy,” they said again.
Rainbow shook her head to herself and bit down on her bottom lip in an attempt to stop her looking at her children, thinking it would help.
Dash and Swirl looked briefly at each other before facing their mother once again. “We miss Shine,” they whimpered, clearly about to cry.
Rainbow looked round again and faced her fillies. In the light of the moon their tears glistened.
In that moment, Rainbow felt a bolt of selfishness pierce her heart. She should have known they missed her. She knew they were smart enough to understand, but she hoped they wouldn’t be, because it made it too hard.
She held her hooves out for them to come closer, which they did so swiftly.
As the door swung shut behind them, Swirl and Dash jumped onto the bed, where Rainbow took them and hugged them tightly against her.
The feeling of their coats against hers and their need of comforting, which would normally give her the warm, motherly feeling inside, did not help her in anyway.
They hugged and all three began to cry as they wept for their fallen Rainbow.

A pale sun began to shine through the fine mist of summer, casting a dim light through the window of Rainbow’s bedroom.
Dash and Swirl were fast asleep. Dash stayed by her mother’s chest, as she always did, so she could be hugged. Swirl lay further down the bed from Dash, but still pressed against her, and hugged at the long rainbow mane of her mother for security, like she did when she was just a few months old.
Rainbow didn’t sleep. She couldn’t sleep. She stared straight ahead and let her mind continue doing whatever it wanted. She may have been completely emotionally drained, but still the fatigue was not enough for her to sleep past the barrier of what little emotion was left inside her at that time.
Dash was hugged, just as she wanted, with one of Rainbow’s hooves, while the other stroked down her daughters’ manes.
First over Dash’s scruffy mane, which was cut into an awesome style as the filly had demanded. It suited her so well, with her carefree, confident attitude.
Next was Swirl’s thick, perfectly combed mane, kept out of her eyes with the headband she always wore. It was the best mane out of her daughters, the only one anything like her own and it only added to her beauty.
But there was no third mane. No erratic curls of colour that sprang randomly from the head of a filly. No mane that made her think of the smart, chubby, asthmatic filly that always made her smile just by being there.
She missed that most of all.
Somehow, the rainbow seemed less bright now.

8 Years - part II - TEASER

The sky was turning to a deep orange as the three Rainbows walked back to their home. It had been a long day for the mother, and she couldn’t wait to fall asleep on the sofa. But her children were still full of energy.
Rainbow yawned loudly and let her head fall down. She could barely keep her eyes open anymore.
“Wake up, Mummy!” Swirl shouted cheerily.
“Huh?!” Rainbow said with a small jump. “Wha?”
“You’re falling asleep, Mummy,” Dash said through a mouthful of candyfloss.
Rainbow shook her head. “Yeah, sorry.” She took a deep breath, which woke her up slightly. “Did you enjoy the funfair?”
“Yeah!” Dash and Swirl cheered in ecstatic unison.
“Good.” Rainbow sighed. Dash seemed to have forgotten about the goldfish. “What did you like about it most?”
“Err…” The two fillies looked to each other and then to their toys they had won at Hook-a-duck.
Rainbow chuckled. She could tell what they were going to say. “Typical,” she mumbled to herself.
“Can we go to the zoo next week?” Dash asked hopefully. “I really wanna go.”
Rainbow laughed in disbelief. “Really?”
“Yeah!” Swirl interjected with a jump into the air.
Rainbow double-took at her other daughter. “But I thought neither of you liked the zoo. Every time we went you were always silently moaning to go home.”
“Yeah, but…” Dash tried to think of a reason but couldn’t at all.
“They have lions now!” Swirl said excitably. “And elephants!”
Dash gasped. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Swirl said smugly. “Ticker went with her sister a couple of months ago. And apparently they’re getting giraffes!”
Dash’s mouth fell open at the thought of what was essentially, in her mind, a very long-necked Pony.
Rainbow couldn’t help but notice now that Swirl kept mentioning Ticker’s sister quite often ever since she saw her.
“Can we go to the zoo, Mummy?” Swirl asked with shimmering, pleading eyes that filled her mother with a need to do whatever she wanted. “Please?”
Rainbow couldn’t help but smile at her daughter, and the giddy feeling in her heart was unbearable. “I-I’ll try,” she said determinedly.
“Yes,” Dash and Swirl celebrated as they bumped their hooves together.
Rainbow smiled at them. She could guess why they suddenly wanted to go to the zoo, and it made her feel even more proud of them. Also, if she were honest, it did feel weird not going to the zoo this year’s second birthday Saturday.

They made it to the street where there house was and the fillies put on a burst of speed.
“C’mon, Mummy,” Dash groaned as she tried to pull at her mother’s hoof to speed her up. “I need to um…”
“Shoot Swirl with your toy bow?” Rainbow suggested with a raised eyebrow.
“Err… no,” Dash said childishly.
Rainbow threw her head back and laughed a bit. “Yeah, right. Come on, then,” Rainbow said loudly and reared up on her hind legs before galloping down the path.
Dash laughed and kicked off the ground, sending her into the sky above her sister, who was knocked askew by the surprise gust of wind.

Rainbow looked back over her shoulder. A small, cyan missile was rocketing after her, making her fear for her life briefly as it was on a collision course, but Rainbow knew to trust her daughter’s flying capabilities.
The small filly barrel rolled around her mother, with the wind in her wake pushing the mare below off course, and zoomed into the distance, taking a sharp turn once she reached her house.
Rainbow had a brief chance to admire her daughter’s rainbow trail, induced by nothing but shear speed, and it sent a shiver running along her spine, but the wind had thrown her mane over her eyes. With her vision completely obscured she panicked, causing her to tread on her mane. She fell flat on her face, and through her groans of slight pain she could hear the dainty, little hooves of her other daughter speed past her, and she knew she had lost.

Rainbow ran up the path that led to her house, panting heavily and aching from the small physical exertion. She looked up and saw her daughter’s bouncing on the path, apparently completely fine and still full of energy.
She trotted up beside them and paused to catch her breath.
“You two are fast!” she panted in amazement. She didn’t even have to pretend to lose anymore.
The little fillies giggled to each other.
“You’re getting lazy, Mummy,” Swirl jested childishly.
“You will soon, don’t you worry,” Rainbow replied simply before walking past them and to the door, with her head rummaging through her bag to find the keys.
It was a second before the house key was in her grasp between her teeth. She went to place it in the lock, but instead she gasped and they fell to the floor. A shard of fear pierced her as she saw the busted lock of the front door and the cracked and broken wood that lay shattered on the doorstep.
The silence and stillness of their mother made the little Rainbows curious.
“Mummy?” Swirl questioned innocently.
“Ssh!” Rainbow whispered harshly. Her daughters went deathly silent, for they could tell she was afraid. “Stay right behind me, okay?” Rainbow ordered them as quietly as possible.
The fillies nodded and did as their mother commanded.
Rainbow, with a shaking hoof, slowly pushed the door open, trying with all her strength to do so silently.
The door swung open with an eerie creak, and Rainbow stood on the threshold to her house, with her hoof still hanging in the air. She didn’t want to go inside, but she knew she had to. All that could be heard were her quiet, terrified breaths in the silent evening.
She stepped inside hesitantly, placing her hooves on the floor as lightly as possible. Her breath shook with fear the further she walked in. She looked behind her; her children looked scared, and she didn’t like that one bit.
Instinct took her forward, towards the kitchen, the door of which had been left ajar.
As she got closer, the light that spilt from the room cast the shadow of a Pony on the floor. She knew she had shouldn’t go any further, but something within compelled her to, and she didn’t like it.
She pushed the door open fully, and as she stepped into the room she saw the large kitchen table and a tall, red stallion, wearing a long, leather coat, sat on one of the chairs.
Rainbow felt all the anger and hatred in the entire world boil within her. It was a physical effort to stop herself from lashing out and maiming him.
“Red,” she growled.
The ex-husband looked over his shoulder and snorted, with a sly smile forming soon after. “Hello, dear,” he said coldly.

Author's Note

I'm so sorry for the delay, and I'm afraid you'll have to wait longer still. This chapter is still under construction.

I have more than what I have here, but it all needs changing/rewriting in places, including this bit. If I'm honest I haven't been working on this since January, but it WILL BE FINISHED eventually.

I hope this keeps you happy/intrigued as to why Red is back until I finish this chapter. Rewrites of earlier chapters are also in the works, which should be easier to write.

Enjoy!

8 Years - Part II - EDITED!

The ex-husband looked over his shoulder and snorted, with a sly smile forming soon after. “Hello, dear,” he said coldly.
“What the ffff-,” even with her anger, Rainbow could not bring herself to swear in front of her children. “What are you doing here, Red?” she said calmly, yet the anger still flowed with her voice.
Red stood up and spun round to face her in one fluid motion and stepped closer.
Rainbow stepped backwards, keeping a hoof to her side to shield her daughters, and entered the hallway.
Red looked through Rainbow’s legs and saw the two fillies cowering in fear, and he smiled. “Ah, so these must be my children then?” he said menacingly.
Rainbow exhaled angrily through her nose. “They. Are not. Your children,” she said through gritted teeth.
Swirl and Dash looked to each other, sharing a confused look, before trying to look at the stallion their mother was talking to.
“Daddy?” Swirl whispered to herself.
Rainbow jumped as the soft, quiet words reached her ears. She looked back at her daughter with a serious look. “Swirl, he is not your father. Do not belief anything his says.”
Swirl nodded and sank back.
Rainbow turned back and gasped as Red’s face was barely an inch from hers. She slowly walked back, but the stallion kept close.
His black beard had grown considerably, making him look evil. “I realised something, Rainbow,” he said calmly, filling the mare with dread.
“No, Red,” Rainbow interjected before he could continue. “I don’t care about anything you have to say. I just want you to leave my house and never come back.”
“Your house?” Red asked sarcastically before chuckling menacingly. “Oh no, I think you’ll find this is our house.”
Rainbow glared at him. She had no patience for him anymore. “Get out. Now!”
Red’s eye twitched. “You see, Rainbow, we never actually got divorced, so this is still my house. And you are still my wife.”
Rainbow felt a strange surge of horror pass over her body at the last word he spoke. “No, Red. I am not your wife, and I wish I never had been. Now get OUT!” she roared and shoved him away.
Red bared his teeth at her and emitted a quiet growl. “Don’t talk to me like!” he shouted.
He brought a hoof up beside his head and launched it forward at great speed.
Rainbow flinched. She could feel the breeze coming from his hoof as it flew past, narrowly avoiding her eye. Terrified, she glimpsed through a squint. His hoof hung there, wrapped around some kind of rope going through the ceiling that she was certain wasn't normally there. “What?” she whimpered.
“I'm going to to do something I should have done a long, long time ago,” he whispered in mence. He gave the rope a great tug and stepped back with a flourish.

The walls came down, piling on the floor as soft curtains, and Rainbow found herself in a brightly lit studio that burnt the eyes. A huge audience was gathered in seats lining the walls to the rafter, and they and whistled for her.
“Rainbow!” Red shouted above the noise, suddenly sounding a lot more like a talkshow host. “Welcome to the show!”
Rainbow was on the brink of tears.
“Now everybody, you know what to say!”
The crowd, shouting in unison, went, “You've! Been! PRANKED!”
As the confetti blasted and fell over the Rainbows, Rainbow whimpered softly, beneath the chaos, “What was the prank?”
“We were all in on it! Me, Jet, your parents, Um... Ticker's sister too!”
The group of conspirators walked to Rainbow and showered her in affection for a prank well done.
“What's happening?” she asked, tears falling in the hysteria.
The audience began to quieten as Red started speaking. “It's great to have you on the show. I gotta say, this has been almost 5 years in the making, and it went off without a hitch! Now please, have a seat!”
Rainbow and her equally terrified children were led to a soft, oddly shaped sofa. The comfort bought some... comfort to them and helped calm their nerves.
“What's happening?” Rainbow asked in the calm, so she could be heard.
“Well... you've been pranked!” Red said, but didn't offer any further elaboration. “It's been a long time since you been on these screens, Rainbow, and boy, have we got a show for you tonight!”
“Show? What show?”
“We have special guests from around the world, including retired Wonderbolt Jet Stream and young Ticker. We have live music performed by...” his mind went blank.
The earpiece he wore hissed as the producer quickly said, “Sea Sick Steed.”
“Sea Sick Steed!” Red shouted before anyone realised his mistake. “But first, we have a special announcement from a certain green Zebra... The PatioHeater! What?” he said to the side, “Is that what he's actually called.
The crowd cheered again, not needing instruction from the large signs above them, as a green Zebra stepped on stage, and the band swelled an upbeat tune he danced to.
“Hi!” I shouted, only it was barely heard over the loud cheers of a crowd who was totally excited to see me. “You alright?”
The crowd quietened as he went to introduce himself more formally to the characters.
“Hi, I'm The Patio Heater,” I said as I gave Rainbow a handshake and a little kiss on the cheek. “I'm the guy who tells you what to do and say.”
“What?!” Rainbow screeched.
“Aw, look at you two!” I said as I grabbed the two fillies tightly. “So cute. Am I good or what?”
I took a seat beside them and ruffled Dash's mane.
“So, tell us,” Red started. “What have you been doing in the past few years?”
I put the mug down back on the table. “I have been quite busy, actually.”
“Really?” Red replied, feigning interest, just like the producer had told him to.
“No, not really. Not that much anyway.” I struggled to think of what I have been doing. Like, I'm sure quite a bit of stuff has actually happened. “Well. I graduated university a few years back. Fat lot of good that did me.”
The crowd chuckled heartily.
“I've got more work being a barista than I have as a graduate. Now I live in Manchester trying to break into the film industry, only that's harder than I thought it would be. But now I'm a baggage loader. That's right. I stack bags professionally.”
“Really? Fascninating,” Red lied, only the charisma masked it quite well. “But that's not all is it?” he asked me. “You've been recently working on something very special, haven't you?”
Rainbow sat there still, looking between the two people there awash with confusion.
I shrugged. “Not particularly. Got a few books I'm working on. Got a fantastic script going too, mate. Like, I really want, like, Netflix or something to take it up. Would be proper good, if not potentially very offensive if done badly.”
“That's not what I'm talking about.”
“Oh yeah. Sorry, you said something special so I assumed you meant it. Nah, I've also been working on this fucking pony shit.”
The fillies gasped at the bad language I was using, but it's not as if it actually matters.
“Well, I guess you'll be pleased to know that I have been working on... MY LITTLE RAINBOWS!”
The crowd were too in shock, the words took their time to filter through their ears, but when it did, oh boy, they lifted the roof off the place with their cheers. The poor guy on the sound mixing desk had to be replaced as he went temporarily deaf.
I sat there, waiting for you guys to shut the fuck up so I can continue. “Yep. I've been working on it this past month coz, you know what, it's actually been quite enjoyable. Apparently I'm a lot better at writing when I'm stressed. But anyway, I have all but finished it! 17 of 21 chapters are done! Save for a quick proof read.”
Red slammed his mug so hard on the table it shattered. “What? That wasn't the deal!”
I looked at him, unsure what he was on about.
“You said it would be finished by TODAY!”
“Relax, man,” I said tiredly. “Things came up. I couldn't work on it all the time. Besides, I can probably finish it in a week.”
“That's not good enough!”
“It's fucking tough!”
“Oh that's it,” Red muttered as he pulled his earpiece and microphone away from him and pounced at me. The chair fell back and we tumbled to the floor.
The scrap was more comedic than anything as he was controlled by me in some way and I've never thrown a punch in my life, but the crowd was cheering and egging us on, and the mariachi band made a nice touch.
Meanwhile, the producer in the production office was frantically looking for a solution, but there wasn't many as no other acts were ready.
“Quick! Cut to commercial!” He shouted
“Right boss,” the guy in charge of such things replied hurriedly. His fumbling hooves fumbled a tape into the machine and some horse advert played for, I don't know, spaghetti or something.
The producer wiped the sweat from his brow as he watched on the screen a few security guys seperate the two of us. Make up came to srpuce us up a bit and remove the evidence, while some stage hands rebuilt the set.
He tutted. “That Red. Always getting into fights.”
“Boss, commercial's nearly up.”
“Right, ready to cut back in on the title card. Ready camera 2 followed by one 1 after title. On my count 3... 2... 1...”
“We're back!” Red said happily. “Sorry about that folks. Just a slight technical glitch. Anyway, let's get on with the show. What say we get Jet out here?”
The crowd cheered as instructed as the brown stallion walked on.
Meanwhile the producer watched fondly on the screen showing Rainbow, who had calmed down considerably by now. He smiled as he played a hoof over her image. “You think you can handle it from here?”
His eager assistant nodded ferociosly quickly. “Yes, sir!”
“Good. I need to go outside for a bit.” He looked at the monitors, showing Jet piling affection onto the Rainbow family. He whispered beneath his breath, “Look after her.”

Outside the office he walked, towards a car, roof down, and a smoking hot babe sat on the bonnet. He smiled happily.
From under his mane he pulled on a hidden zip, removing the fake pony suit she had been wearing, before hopping down from the stilts inside with her.
She shook her mane, and the erratic, colouful curls all colours of the rainbow sprang out.
The mare on the bonnet chuckled and slid off. “Did you do it? Is she alright?”
Shine nodded. “They all are.” She hopped up to slap the mare on the butt. “Come on,” Shine said as she placed some dark sunglasses on her nose. “Let's ride.”
The engine purred into life. Shine sat back and placed a hoof around the mare's shoulder as they drove off to live a full, happy life.

HA!

GOT YA!

You thought I was... haha

But yeah. I've almost finished it. Just a few more chapters.

When I post this one I will put the new version through moderation, then post another update to let you know it's available.

The last chapters should be done soon.

Apparently I can bypass moderation... Who knew?

But the story is up! First 11 chapters are there! The remaining finished ones will be uploaded tomorrow and the others when they are finished, in the next week AND I ACTUALLY MEAN THAT THIS TIME! NONE OF THIS "HIATUS" BULLSHIT!

It's on my profile, called "My Little Rainbows 2: Rainbow Harder"

READ IT!

IT'S WHAT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!

Hospital

Hospitals. What wondrous buildings. So much happens within their walls that none can even begin to consider. But to most, this means nothing; they are solely focused on their own reason to being there and will have no desire to think of others. They have much more preoccupied minds…

A certain cyan and rainbow Pegasus was being brought into Cloudsdale General, about to give birth to three children.
She was already screaming in pain, just like on the journey there. And it only started a few hours ago. She was accompanied by one of her closest friends, called Audacious, or Sass to her friends. She is a mare a bit on the jolly side, dark yellow in colour and with a jet black mane in a tall spiralling style. She wore huge golden hoop earrings and many bangles around one of her front hooves, and a simple gold necklace which didn’t really match the rest of her.

“Excuuuse me, Honey. I think my girl here’s gonna be needing a room,” said Sass to the nurse behind the counter in a very condescending voice.
“Err… okay,” whimpered the nurse as she began to look for some documents. She found one and grabbed a pen. “Okay, err… what’s the nature of your emergency?” she squeaked, she was obviously new.
Sass gave her a very contemptuous look.
“Oh, right…” the nurse said with a nervous giggle. “J-just follow the signs to the Maternity Ward and they will deal with everything there.” she was visibly shaking as she pointed down a corridor to said ward.
“Thanks.” Sass took hold of the wheelchair the Pegasus was sitting in and ran through the halls with everypony diving out of the way of the determined Pony.
“It hurts so much!” screamed the Pegasus as she clutched at her pregnant stomach.
“I know Rainbow, I’ve been there. But just a little further and then we can get this whole business outta the way,” Sass managed to say in a friendly and calm tone, although it didn’t sound particularly natural.

She crashed through the doors of the Maternity Ward, bringing an unusual silence about the place. After some confused looks between doctors and patients somepony finally approached them. An experienced looking Midwife.
“By Celestia, she looks on the point of bursting, doesn’t she,” she said in an ear gratingly chipper tone.
“Why yes she is, Sugar,” Sass replied with great sarcasm. “Now can ya get us to a room?” her voice portrayed her doubt of the Midwife’s abilities.
“No problem. Just let me take that wheelchair and follow me.” The Midwife didn’t wait for a response and took command of the wheelchair. She walked quickly, Sass had trouble keeping up.
“So how much longer is mah mare here gonna be like this?” Sass panted in her efforts to keep up with the Midwife.
“That depends. How long has she been having contractions?” the Midwife had become much more professional now that she was on duty, losing any hint of compassion.
“A few hours now.”
“That sounds promising. Hopefully it won’t be much longer now then.” The Midwife took a sharp left turn into an empty room and quickly began the process of setting up Rainbow to prepare her for giving birth.
The midwife first heaved her onto the bed and tied a hospital gown around her. She made sure she was in a comfortable and practical position before setting about with attaching various electrodes to her body.
“What are you doing to her now?” Sass said with surprising anger, she was never fond of hospitals, especially with all the various machines they now decided to plug you in to.
“This is just a simple heart monitoring device. Now tell me, how many is she having?”
“I guess you mean babies, ‘cause that would be three.”
“Three?!” the midwife said as though impressed. “Well I wish you two the best of luck.”
“Oh no she didn’t! D’ya think we’re together like that, don’t you?” Sass was insulted by the accusation.
“What? Of course not! I was never insinuating anything of the sort! It just that one baby is hard enough… but three! Yeah this day isn’t going to be fun for either of you.”
“Well that’s just a lovely thing to say isn’t it?!” Sass now shouting with her building anger, stepping closer to the midwife threateningly.
“Leave it Sass,” Rainbow croaked up in a very tired and pained voice. “She’s not worth it.” She tried to force a laugh out, but nothing happened.
“Oh dear, look at you. I’ll go get a doctor; he should be able to give you something for the pain.” And with that, the Midwife left.

“You alright Rainbow?” Sass asked as she started stroking her hoof through Rainbow’s mane.
An ear piercing scream was emitted by the pregnant Pegasus, shaking the glass in the room.
“Oh my!” Sass shouted. She turned and ran out of the door, stopping just outside it. “Hey! Doctors! I don’t think we can wait much longer!” she shouted at the top of her naturally loud voice, meaning it was a very loud shout indeed.
A brown Pegasus in a lab coat flew through the air and landed next to Sass. “What’s the problem over here?” he asked, mildly annoyed at her shouting. But then he heard another scream.
“Okay. That makes sense now. NURSE!” he shouted over his shoulder and then gave a loud whistle through his hoof.
An entourage of nurses collected around him and awaited orders. He gestured for three of them to follow him and Sass back into the room.
“What’s the patient’s name?” he asked Sass.
“Rainbow-.”
He didn’t let her finish. “Alright Rainbow. Let’s have a look then.” Without hesitation he placed his glasses on his nose and then peered under the gown. “Alright, you’re definitely about to give birth.” He retracted his head and ordered the nurses to gather for him various medical equipment and supplies, and they did so swiftly.
“Sass? Sass?!” Rainbow shouted in a tired manner, desperately waving a hoof around for her friend.
Sass grabbed it. “I'm here, Sugar, I'm here,” she said whispered delicately.
“Good. I want to thank you so much. I couldn’t have done this on my own.”
“No worries mare. You’re my best friend, and I know you’ll return the favour if I ever asked.”
Rainbow was about to say something, but instead her mouth was taken over by a huge surge of pain as she started screaming again.
Sass used her remaining hoof to remove one of the sticks that kept her mane on place, causing it to fall slightly. “Here. Bite down on this,” she said as she placed the delicate porcelain stick between Rainbow’s teeth.
“GIVE ME THE DRUGS!” Rainbow shouted through the bar.
“Far, far, far, FAR too late for that,” the doctor said as he busied himself with some medical equipment that didn’t look particularly safe.
“Sorry Honey. looks like you’re going natural this time ‘round,” Sass said carefully, she knew all too well how angry mares can get during this time, her having two kids and all.

Rainbow had been hoping for a girl, she didn’t really know why but she did. When she first found out she was pregnant she didn’t really care, she was just too happy to be having a child. But it all started when her husband left her, only two weeks after they found out the tremendous news, after that she wanted a girl. She would have given her wings for a little girl.
She went for her first scan, Sass by her side, and when she found out she was having triplets she could have exploded, the chances of at least one of them being a girl were tripled.
She cried that night she was so happy, something she never thought she would ever do when being told the pain of giving birth would be tripled.
And now it was judgement day. Would life be kind on her and bless her with a little girl she could name after herself, or would it be harsh and give her a trio of colts. She wouldn’t have minded that either, to be honest, she’d still love them. But they’re just not fillies.

A whole half an hour past before the first one popped out. A crying mess, covered in red gunk, being vigorously rubbed in a towel before being taken to be cleaned properly.
“What is it?” she tried to ask, but the pain of the next one was there already.
The second was out in only ten minutes, in exactly the same state as the first. Although the third was being a little more troublesome.
“This is one persistent little bugger!” the doctor said through gritted teeth as he tried to work the baby out. It may have taken a shorter time to come out but it seemed the most uncomfortable to Rainbow.
The baby came out. Rainbow hadn’t felt such relief in all her life, as she signified with a huge sigh and a little tired laugh.
“Well done Sugar. I'm proud of you,” Sass said as she nuzzled her friend’s sweat soaked cheek.
“Well that’s… odd,” the doctor said as he looked at the third child.
“What?” Rainbow said, trying to sit up and look, but she was far too exhausted.
“This baby…”
“C’mon doc. What the hell’s wrong with it?” Sass said worriedly, if anything happened to Rainbow’s children after what she’s been through she wouldn’t know what to tell her.
“This baby… she has no hair,” he stated with the utmost confusion.
Rainbow didn’t her the whole thing, she just focused on one word. “She? I-it’s a girl?” she asked hopefully.
“Well, um… yeah, but-.”
“Oh YES!” she screamed. The joy she felt was incredibly. She didn’t feel tired or in pain anymore. “I wanna see her!” she said as she threw her hooves forward so she could be given her.
“Wait a minute so we can clean her up, and then we can bring you the others as well.” The doctor stood up with the baby wrapped in a towel resting in his foreleg.
Rainbow would never admit it be she didn’t care about the other two, she just wanted her daughter.
Sass caught a look at the filly as the doctor left the room, her face contorting with confusion. “Err… she has… no hair. Whatsoever.”
“What?” Rainbow said in an airy voice, she was just too happy to listen properly.
“Your daughter. No mane. Or tail.”
Rainbow looked up at Sass, a look of doubt across her face. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No. She really had no hair. Just the same blue coat as you.”
“Oh…” Rainbow looked down again, her brow furrowed. She had not expected that.
“C’mon Rainbow. Get some sleep,” Sass said sternly.
“But I don’t wanna sleep, I need to see my children.”
“There will be plenty of time for that after you get some sleep, Sugar.”
“But I'm not ti-,” she stopped mid-sentence thanks to a yawn, and fell asleep near instantly.
Sass chuckled warmly and left the room so Rainbow could sleep. Also, now she could go and look at the three new joys of her best friend’s life.

Several hours later, after Rainbow had some significant rest, she was now awake. She was on her own in the room, the staff and Sass decided to give her some time alone with her three new children.
It had been well over an hour now and she had only just stopped crying. The smile on her face was impossible to remove; the only thing that would do it would be to take away her children.
She couldn’t take her eyes off them. They were beautiful. They all shared her blue coat, and the other two had the same rainbow manes. Her daughter in the middle looked rather comical with no hair when compared to the other two, haired fillies sandwiching her. That’s right, three babies, three daughters. Her dream had come true.
She only needed one daughter to make her complete.
When she saw the first hairless one she could have danced she was that happy. Then they had brought the second one over to her, that’s when the unending smile started. And the third one just overloaded her. The happiness she felt was unimaginable; she could have exploded, but resisted the urge.
She burst into tears the moment her eyes laid upon her. She didn’t know what to do or say when all three of her new born daughters were laid in front of her.
The two with hair were twins, they looked identical in every way, and both had beautiful deep blue eyes.
The other hairless one was somehow not identical, not just because of the lack of mane but also a little different in shape. And her eyes matched her mother’s with the most beautiful of rose colours.

Rainbow started laughing quietly, her daughters just made her want to. There was also possibly the sense of “screw you” in her thoughts when her ex-husband popped into her mind. He would have hated having three daughters.
Eventually, her mind allowed her to think coherent thoughts again.
“Well… I should really give you names, shouldn’t I?” she asked them, although the only one which made any kind of response was the hairless one, who began to watch her mother intently, as if eager for a name.
“Let’s start with you on the left then.” Rainbow looked at the daughter on the left. “I should really name one of you after me, and after all, you’re clearly going to grow up quite a looker. Only seems right that you should be called Rainbow Swirl as well.”
Rainbow Swirl went to kiss her first named daughter, but her face refused to let her formulate the correct facial position, meaning she could only smile. So she just rubbed her muzzle against hers instead.
She turned to the other haired one. “And what about you?” Rainbow went into a deep concentration, trying to think of names.
Her ex-husband wouldn’t have let her use the name Rainbow and definitely would have refused to let her name their child after herself. So she worked furiously, trying to come up with any Rainbow based names she could think of.
“Hm… this is harder than I thought it would be. You look so much like your sister, I can’t think of any names whatsoever that would suit you other than Rainbow Swirl…” Her brow furrowed, she was growing annoyed at her brain. She thought this would be the easy part, but coming up with three names is tricky.
“C’mon brain, think!” she ordered, tapping her head with a hoof in the hopes to wake it up.
A moment later, she jumped as a thought came to mind. “OO! I know!” she said ecstatically. “Rainbow Shine! Perfect!” she said with relief; that was two of the three. She rubbed their muzzles together like she did with Swirl.
“And now you,” she said as she turned her gaze onto her and immediately started laughing again. “You look so stupid!” she laughed. The little hairless filly looked up at her with what seemed to be anger.
“Oh I'm so sorry, little one, but when you’re older you’ll understand.” Rainbow managed to calm herself.
“Right, now for the tricky one. The Third and final one. And what makes this harder is the fact you have no hair, so I can hardly call you Rainbow. What if your mane was a different colour?” she asked her, although the filly just gave her an evil look.
“Alright, alright. I’ll hurry up,” Rainbow said with a little laugh. She began to inspect every inch of the filly for inspiration before ending on her wings.
“Wow. Those are some lovely wings,” she said as she started playing with them gently. “And look, you’re already strong enough to hold them up yourself! I bet you’re gonna be a strong flier when you grow up. Perhaps join the Wonderbolts or something. And I have the perfect name for you. Pause for dramatic effect… Rainbow Dash.”
Dash smiled a broad toothless smile and held out her hooves for her mummy to pick her up.
Rainbow smiled more and took all three of them in her embrace, hugging them tightly yet gently.
“I love you, my little Rainbows,” she whispered, tears starting to form in her eyes again. Naming them had made them more real.

Sass walked in and even managed to stay quiet. She was followed by her two children, a colt and a filly, seven and five respectively. Although her husband must still be at work, thought Rainbow.
“Hi Sass,” she said quietly.
“Heyya Rainbow. How are ya holdin’ up, Sugar?” she said, trying to match her volume, and almost succeeding.
“I'm good thanks. I named them as well,” she said proudly.
“Really? Are ya gonna introduce us to them then?”
“Of course!” Rainbow lessened her hug on her children so she could show them off. She introduced each one individually, getting happier and happier as she did so.
“This one’s Rainbow Swirl, for obvious reasons. She’s clearly going to be beautiful, just like me,” she said arrogantly.
“This one is Rainbow Shine, because she looks shiny, I guess. If I'm honest, I actually don’t know why, it just seemed to fit…”
“And finally, Rainbow Dash,” she said with a cool tone in her voice. “She is going to be the coolest and most awesome Pegasus ever. Not to mention the fastest. Just look at her wings!” she said proudly.
Sass nodded approvingly. “Well they’re some mighty fine names. I'm sure your stallion won’t be to please at all,” she said with a sarcastic smirk once Rainbow had finished with the pleasantries.
“I should hope so!”
“Mummy?” asked Sass’s daughter. She matched her mother’s colour scheme, although her mane was short and curly.
“What is it, Honey?”
“Can I see them?”
“Of course!” Sass stooped down to allow her daughter to get on her back and raised her up to see them. The filly jumped off the bed and sat next to Rainbow so she could look at the newborns.
“Awww! They’re so cute!”
“Bleurgh,” this sound was made by Sass’s son. Sass just chuckled and shook her head.
“Don’t you wanna see?”
“NO!” he shouted. “It’s way too girly!”
“Suit yourself then.” Sass turned sarcastically moodily back to her friend and began to gawk at the babies.
“Why has that one got no mane?” asked the little filly, rather rudely pointing a hoof at Rainbow Dash.
“I don’t know, Honey,” Rainbow said with a giggle. “She just wasn’t born with one.”
“What?” said the colt. “Lemme see!” He barged his way through to in front of his mother to get a look at said hairless baby. He laughed really loudly. “She looks so stupid!”
“Now that ain’t nice, Coal!” stated Sass angrily.
“That’s okay Sass. She does look rather stupid,” Rainbow said calmly, as if pointing out the obvious.
Sass opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out, so she shut it again and had to agree. Rainbow Dash did look incredibly humorous.

7 Years - Dash: Part II

“Do I have to, Mummy?” Swirl moaned. “Homework’s boring.”
Rainbow sighed. “Quit complaining and do it. Your one month exclusion ends on Monday and you don’t want Miss Doltish to moan at you on your first day back.”
“Yeah but-.”
“No buts, Swirl. You shouldn’t have left it all to the last minute.”
“It’s not fair! Ticker only got one week exclusion,” the filly said sourly.
“That’s because she didn’t dislocate a colt’s wing.”
“She punched him in the face!”
“A black eye only takes a few days to heal, whereas I understand Hoops only recently got the use of his wings back.”
Swirl huffed and slumped over the table.
Rainbow tutted and shook her head. She reached into her daughter’s saddle bag and pulled out the various books and pencils onto the dining room table.
“Work, Swirl,” she demanded.
Swirl looked to her mother with sad, glistening eyes and quivered her bottom lip.
Rainbow gave her a stern look. “I know that look, Swirl. Now get on with it!”
Swirl scowled before moodily sitting back up in her seat and pulling an exercise book towards her.
Rainbow watched intently as her daughter scribbled on the page some simple maths questions.

Rainbow was miles away when the doorbell rang a few minutes later, bringing her back to reality with a start.
She got up and set off at a leisurely pace towards the door, pausing to ping the back of her daughter’s headband with a mischievous smile.
“HEY!” Swirl shouted angrily, giving her mother an evil look as she readjusted the white strap around her mane.
Rainbow giggled and continued to the door.

Rainbow opened the door and was surprised to see nopony standing there, but she quickly remembered to look down.
She sighed loudly and banged her head on the doorframe, barely noticing the slight pain.
“Shine, you live here, you don’t have to ring the doorbell,” she said tiresomely. It was at least the third time she had to explain this to her.
Shine started panicking, not able to think of something to say. Luckily for her, a small, tea coloured filly walked to her side.
“I was ringing it for Ticker!” Shine said loudly, trying to sound confident.
Ticker, who was used to going along with such impromptu lies with Swirl, nodded enthusiastically.
“Yeah, sure,” Rainbow said sarcastically. “Come in, Shine. Did you have fun at the park?” she asked, but Shine had quickly darted by her mother’s legs and to her room before she could have replied.
“What are you doing here, Ticker?” Rainbow asked.
Ticker smiled politely before burying her head in her school bag and retrieving a few sheets of paper.
Rainbow took them and looked at them.
“Ah,” she said with a little nod. She looked over her shoulder and spoke loudly, “Looks like some more homework for Swirl.”
Rainbow listened for a second, waiting for the inevitable.
A second later, Swirl shouted, “WHAT?!”
Rainbow tittered. She turned to Ticker once again.
“So, how’s your wing?” she asked curiously, with a little sympathy.
Ticker winced and began to unfold her wing painfully.
“Ah. I guess it hasn’t healed yet.”
Ticker shook her head sadly.
Rainbow pursed her lips and sighed. “Oh well, you’ll get better. Wanna come in?”
Ticker nodded sheepishly.
“Okay, come in. Swirl’s in the dining room doing the past month’s worth of homework.”
Ticker nodded before skipping her way inside.
Rainbow turned to head back inside, but her attention was grabbed by somepony shouting her name.
“Rainbow!” shouted a mare, sounding incredibly urgent.
Rainbow spun round quickly and saw it was Airheart, looking more panicked and worried than she had ever seen her before. What made Rainbow feel even more scared was how Airheart grabbed her by the shoulders.
“Airheart, what is it?” she asked urgently.
“Is Fluttershy here?” Airheart asked quickly.
“What? No. I thought her and Rainbow Dash were going back to yours after flight camp?”
“I went to pick them up and they had already left.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Summer said that Fluttershy ran off and Rainbow Dash followed her a few hours ago, but he just thought they were going home early.”
Rainbow’s heart started to race and panic flooded her system. “We have to go find them!”
Airheart nodded.
Rainbow turned back into the house.
“Swirl! Shine!” she called out loudly. “Stay here until I get back. I have to go look for Dash.”
She heard her daughters reply, “Okay,” and turned back out of the door. She pulled it shut until the latch clicked locked.
“Let’s go,” she said, and the two Pegasi flew off with great speed.

Dash flew over Cloudsdale, with panic in her heart and tears in her eyes.
“FLUTTERSHY!” she shouted at the top of her voice. “WHERE ARE YOU?!”
Her eyes scoured the clouds, trying to spot any sign of the small, yellow filly.
She stopped in the air, hovering high above the cloud city, looking around hopelessly. She almost broke down in tears out of fear of not finding her friend when she had a sudden jolt of inspiration.
She spun round and rocketed away, certain that Fluttershy would be there.

Dash land outside a small park, stumbling to the ground as worry prevented her from concentrating on landing.
She charged through the gate and into the park. She slowed as she caught sight of her friend sitting on the roundabout, weeping quietly.
She stopped closer.
“F-Fluttershy?” she said with a little catch in her throat.
Fluttershy didn’t reply.
Dash trotted in front of the yellow filly.
“Fluttershy?”
“Leave me alone,” Fluttershy whimpered.
Dash didn’t know what do to. She had never been in this situation before.
She started to walk backwards and do what Fluttershy told her to do.
“Don’t go,” Fluttershy pleaded. She looked up to Dash with red eyes and damp cheeks.
Dash, after a brief moment of confusion, stepped on the roundabout and sat next to her.
Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs around the rainbow maned filly and began to sob loudly. She buried her head into Dash’s shoulder and cried harder.
After an awkward moment, Dash hugged her back and began gently beating her wings to spin them slowly.
She could feel her shoulder getting damp with tears and began crying herself.

A long moment had passed, and the two fillies remained in the same position. Fluttershy was still pressing her facing into Dash’s shoulder, yet she no longer cried.
Dash, whose eyes were red from tears, pushed Fluttershy up so she could talk to her.
“What’s wrong, Fluttershy?” she asked, still sounding on the brink of tears.
“It’s awful, Dash. Awful!” Fluttershy wailed.
“What is?” Dash asked, now slightly scared.
“I thought going to this flight camp thing would make me stronger and stop the bullying. But no!” she roared. “It’s only gotten worse! I hate it, Dash. I HATE IT!”
Dash recoiled slightly. Never before had she seen Fluttershy shout.
Fluttershy broke out into loud sobs again.
Dash moved to hug her, but the yellow filly just pushed her away and turned to face the other way, not wanting her best friend see her like that.
“Fluttershy, please…” Dash pleaded, although she didn’t know what for. “It’s not that bad.”
“Didn’t you hear them?!” Fluttershy screamed. “What they were calling me?! What they were singing?!”
“Fluttershy, please stop,” Dash pleaded again. She could feel fresh tears build up in her eyes.
“Fluttershy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy can hardly fly,” she sang sarcastically, ignoring Dash’s plea. She broke out into sobs, collapsing on the floor and falling off the roundabout, where she remained lying down.
“It’s true!” she cried. “I can’t fly!”
“You can fly, Fluttershy,” Dash said through the tears. “You don’t need to prove anything to those bullies.”
She moved a shaking hoof and placed it gingerly on her friend’s back, only for it to be shaken off viciously.
“It never stops!” Fluttershy shouted. “At flight camp, they sing that stupid song. At school, they call me Klutzershy! I hate them all so much! It makes me wish I’ve never been born at all!”
Dash sped round in front of her. Under her tears she wore an angry face.
“Don’t you EVER say that, Fluttershy!” she shouted, poking Fluttershy’s nose. “Don’t you ever dare say that!”
“But it’s true!” Fluttershy whimpered back. “I wish I’d never been born!”
Dash laid down on the grass in front of her, level with her eyes and staring into them. Her breaths were short and erratic as she held back the larger sobs, yet her eyes still streamed with tears.
“Please don’t say that, Fluttershy,” Dash asked softly. “Please don’t. If you were never born, they we would never be friends.”
“You don’t need me to be your friend, Dash. I'm too slow for you. You should be friends with the other, faster Pegasi!” Fluttershy whimpered, barely audible over the sound of her tears. She looked away, thinking that if she didn’t see Dash walk away then it would be less painful.
Dash roughly yet gently placed a hoof on either side of her face and forced her to look at her.
“But I don’t want the other Pegasi, Fluttershy,” she assured her in an unusually soft voice. “I want you.”
She slowly reached forward, extending her neck, and placed a small, innocent kiss on the yellow filly’s lips.
Dash pulled back not even half a second later.
Fluttershy had stopped crying. Her breath was still shaky and tears still poured, but she was quiet.
“Why did you-?”
“Because you’re my friend, and I love you. I wouldn’t know what to do without you. And when I see you cry it makes me just want to cry with you. I didn’t know how else to cheer you up, so I kissed you.”
Fluttershy remained speechless for a few seconds, leaving them both in a teary silence. She eventually, if not slowly, wrapped her forelegs around Dash and hugged as tightly as she could.
Dash hugged back.
“You shouldn’t pay any attention to them, Fluttershy,” Dash said in a comforting one. “They don’t mean anything to you, and you don’t to them, otherwise they wouldn’t bully you. You don’t need to prove anything to them, because they don’t matter. You mean the world to me, Fluttershy, and I'm sure I mean the same to you, so nopony else matters. You don’t need to care about what anypony else thinks.”
“But Dash-!”
“No, Fluttershy, you don’t. As long as we care for each other, you don’t need to care for anypony else. And you don’t need to prove yourself to me either, because you’re perfect as you are and I love you, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy hugged tighter, not able to speak any words at that moment.

Rainbow, who had overheard the entire conversation, had stepped from her and Airheart’s hiding spot and quietly trotted over to them.
Neither filly noticed, as both had their eyes closed so they could savour the hug.
Rainbow knelt down beside her daughter and placed a hoof on her back.
Dash jumped and gasped slightly, scared about who the hoof belonged to. She twisted her head so she could see.
She sighed quietly with relief as she saw her mother, wearing a loving smile.
Rainbow moved closer and nuzzled Dash’s cheek.
Dash smiled and dried her eyes on the back of her hoof.
Fluttershy opened her eyes once she felt one of Rainbow’s hooves move away. She looked around to find a reason why. Once her gaze landed upon Rainbow, she smiled slightly.
Rainbow smiled at her and nuzzled her cheek as well.
“Are you okay, Fluttershy? We heard everything.”
Fluttershy nodded and dried her eyes. “Much better now, thank you,” she said politely.
Airheart walked out from the bush. Her eyes were wet and her cheeks looked soaked. It was obvious that Dash’s speech had moved her.
Fluttershy jumped up once she saw her and ran over to her, embracing her in a hug.
Airheart started crying softly as she hugged back.
“C’mon,” Rainbow whispered to Dash. “Let’s get you two home.”
Dash nodded and jumped on her mother’s back.
“Can Fluttershy come as well?” she asked in a voice that broke with tears.
Rainbow nodded. “Of course she can.”
Fluttershy jumped on Airheart’s back and the four Pegasi left for home.

Rainbow was at the supermarket, doing her weekly shop.
“Let’s see now, what’s left?”
She stopped with the trolley and took a sheet of paper. She looked over it, checking things off in her mind that she already picked up.
She furrowed her brow and tilted her head in a puzzled manner.
“Really? Is that everything?”
She looked back in her half empty trolley.
“I guess so. Better go pay then,” she said as she started pushing the trolley to the checkout.
The supermarket was surprisingly quiet, but it was a Wednesday in the early afternoon, after all.
Rainbow pushed her trolley up to the checkout and unloaded it onto the conveyor belt.
She looked up at the cashier and was taken aback by the sight of the yellow mare.
“Sass?” she asked with surprise.
“Hey, Sugar,” Sass replied with a small laugh.
“When did you get back from Baltimare?”
“A couple days ago. I did come round to see ya, but you weren’t in.”
“Oh…” Rainbow tried hard to think of a reason why. “I was probably at work. I work at the post office now.”
“Really?” Sass asked curiously. “It’s about time you got a job, Sugar.”
Rainbow snorted. “Yeah. So how was Baltimare?”
“It was fabulous. The sun, the sea, the drinks,” Sass said with a raised eyebrow. “I hadn’t had so much fun in years. And I swear I’ve lost weight.”
“I thought you looked a bit skinnier. What about Honey and Coal? Did they have fun?”
“I think so. But you know how teenagers are.”
Rainbow snorted. “Yeah. I can’t wait,” she said sarcastically.
“How are your three, then?”
“They’re okay. Swirl broke her leg.”
Sass gasped. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. She got into a fight and dislocated a colt’s wing, so it’s all good.”
“Right…” Sass wasn’t sure what else to say.
“Hi, there” said a third voice from behind them.
Rainbow felt her heart race, but she didn’t know why. That was until she turned around.
“Oh, err… hey, Jet Stream,” she said girlishly, starting to blush.
Jet looked over her shoulder. “Hi, Sass.”
“Why, hello, Jet. You good?” Sass asked politely.
Jet ignored her.
“Hey, err… Rainbow. I was wondering if you remembered that conversation we had a while ago in the hospital waiting room?” Jet asked casually, pretending to be calm.
“Oh, yes. Why?” Rainbow asked. A smile was slowly growing over her face.
“Well, I was wondering, because I'm free on Saturday, and I was wondering if you would want to, y’know, meet up, or something.” He started shifting his weight about his hooves awkwardly.
“Err… sure,” Rainbow replied, a smile now stretching from ear to ear.
“Great!” Jet said enthusiastically. The smile he wore soon fell away as he tried to formulate his next question, but struggled.
“How about half twelve? After I drop Dash of at flight camp?” Rainbow suggested.
“Err… okay,” Jet said, relieved he didn’t have to think of anything.
“I know a good café on Cumulus Square. How does that sound?”
“That’s sound good.”
“Good.”
“Okay then, I guess I will see you later,” Jet said as he started walking off. He kept looking at her and smiling suavely, he even waved slightly.
Rainbow waved after him. “Yeah, see ya.”
Jet tried to walk away and keep his cool, but the knowledge of what he had just done hit him and he went light headed. He stumbled out of the automatic doors, tripping over his hooves. Fortunately for him, the only Pegasus to see him was Fleetfoot, who was waiting outside for him.
“You better have done it this time,” the young mare said sternly.
Jet nodded and kept walking.
Fleetfoot sighed with relief. “Finally. That’s only the eighth time you tried,” she jested.
Jet wasn’t listening; he was in his own world, feeling strangely proud with himself.
Meanwhile, Rainbow turned to Sass, wearing a huge, idiotic smile. She squealed with excitement.
Sass chuckled.
“It’s about time,” she jested.

The end of the school day came, and Rainbow went to collect her children. She watched her daughters trot out onto the playground, paired up with their best friends.
Shine’s friend, whom Rainbow had never met, seemed to depart rather quickly, as if embarrassed for some reason.
Fluttershy had also parted ways with Dash, heading quickly to Airheart, who stood further away than usual. Rainbow could tell there was a little conversation between them, but whatever it was she couldn’t make out. The two Pegasi left abruptly, which worried Rainbow a little.
Swirl trotted over with Ticker glued to her side. She had that look in her eye that she had already gotten out of trouble, and it was only her third day back.
“Hi, Mummy,” she sang as she stopped in front of her. “Can Ticker come round?”
Ticker looked up at her with a polite smile.
Rainbow nodded. “Sure.”
Swirl and Ticker bumped their hooves together in celebration.
Rainbow watched as Dash approached her, with head hung down as if her heart was heavy.
“What’s up, Dashie?” she asked in a playful tone, hoping it would lighten her mood.
“Those bullies are getting to Fluttershy again,” Dash said solemnly.
“Oh dear,” Rainbow said affectionately.
“I hate them,” Dash said, kicking the ground with a hoof. “I wish there was something I could do.”
“Do you want me and Ticker to beat them up?” Swirl asked hopefully.
Ticker smiled excitedly at the prospect.
“NO!” Rainbow said sternly once she noticed the glee in her daughter’s and her friend’s eyes. She knew that Swirl would use her cast as a heavy blunt object, and was worried by the consequences it would most likely cause.
She looked to Rainbow. “Don’t worry, Dashie. I'm sure everything will turn out fine.”
“Hmph,” Dash muttered.
“Hi, Mummy,” Shine said exhaustedly.
Rainbow sighed. “Hey, Shiny. So what’s got you so downbeat as well, huh?”
“It’s Star Scream,” she said with a little sigh.
“Who?”
“My friend. He’s a colt I like, but he’s starting to act really weird.”
“Oh?” Rainbow asked, clearly intrigued. “How so?”
“I think he might be evil. Like, really evil,” she elaborated. “Like, takeover-the-world-evil-and-kill-everypony evil.”
“I see,” Rainbow wasn’t sure what say after that. Shine tended not to exaggerate things.
“I don’t think we’re going to hang out anymore.”
“Oh dear,” Rainbow said in a comforting tone. “Never mind. Let’s go home.”
The five of them lifted off into the air and set off for the house of Rainbows.

“Oh!” Rainbow said as she suddenly remembered something. “Swirl?”
She slowed down in the air so she was level with the filly.
“Yeah?” Swirl asked, panting slightly from the flying.
“I got a date!” Rainbow said excitedly.
Swirl went wide eyed. “Really? With Jet Stream?!” she asked excitedly.
Rainbow nodded frantically.
Swirl spun in the air in a celebratory manner. “WHOOHOO!” she screamed.
Rainbow chuckled; she knew Swirl would be excited by that. She picked up some speed and rejoined Dash at the head of the group.

Saturday rolled on quickly; Rainbow put that down to excitement, both from her and Swirl.

Rainbow arrived at the café and sat at a table. The October air was a bit chilly, but she still chose her usual table outside.
She shivered as a breeze past over her, but she refused to move from her spot to an ever so slightly warmer one inside. She couldn’t help but feel a scarf would be useful.
Rainbow hadn’t felt so nervous in a long time, and she wasn’t even sure why.
This was the first date she had been on ever, when she thought about it.
She never so much went on dates with Red- she paused to growl at his name- only hung out with him, but this was the first and she wasn’t sure what she should do.

A waitress approached her.
“Is everything alright, Miss,” chirped a young, enthusiastic mare. “Can I get you anything?”
“N-n-no. I'm w-w-waiting for somepony,” Rainbow replied nervously.
The mare smiled deviously. “A-ha. First date, I'm guessing?” she said with a raised eyebrow.
Rainbow nodded and began to blush.
“I knew it!” she said cockily. “So, who’s the lucky stallion?”
“J-Jet Stream,” Rainbow said sheepishly.
The mare’s eyes widened. “Really? You lucky thing. I wouldn’t mind a piece of that.”
Rainbow looked to the waitress with a puzzled expression. “Aren’t you, like-?”
“Half his age? Yep. But still, he’s hot!”
Rainbow looked away awkwardly.
“I'm sorry, I'm making you uncomfortable, aren’t I?” the mare said apologetically.
“A little bit,” Rainbow said with an uneasy smile.
“Sorry. I can get a bit carried away sometimes. I’ll tell ya what; I’ll give you and your colt a free cake, on me.”
“Thanks!” Rainbow said, slightly surprised by the kind gesture.
The mare smiled and trotted off to a new customer.
Rainbow returned to waiting nervously, but she was starting to grow excited.

The brown stallion landed a little way down the path from Rainbow. Jet Stream looked up and smiled, trying to look confident.
He trotted over to Rainbow, nearly stumbling over a stray bit of cloud on the path, making Rainbow giggle quietly.
“H-hello, Rainbow,” he said as he stepped next to her, pretending that he hadn’t nearly fallen over.
“Hi, Jet Stream," Rainbow replied.
Jet made numerous attempts to lean into her, but each one failed for he wasn’t sure if he should hug, kiss or shake her hoof. In the end he just sat down.
They remained silent for some time, not at all sure what to say. It may have only been a minute before either of them spoke, but it was the longest minute either had experienced in a long time.
“So,” Rainbow said, wanting to break the silence.
“So,” Jet Stream replied enthusiastically, glad that somepony else was starting a conversation.
There was another, much shorter moment of silence as Rainbow tried to think what to say next.
“How are you?” she asked.
“Yeah, I'm good. You?” Jet replied.
“Yeah, I'm fine.”
Silence reigned over them once again, which wasn’t broken until the waitress appeared besides them.
“Hi!” the enthusiastic mare greeted, making the other two Pegasi jump. “I’ll be you… err… Waitress! That’s it! I’ll be your waitress today, obviously,” she said with a chuckle.
“Right,” Jet said to fill in the silence. “Okay.”
“What can I get you?” the mare asked politely.
“Err…” the other two said together and they both went to grab the small menu on the table, only for them to pull their hooves away and smile awkwardly. They both laughed slightly.
“I’ll just have my usual,” Rainbow said to the mare.
The waitress stared at her, with mouth hanging open slightly. “Huh?”
“Oh, sorry,” Rainbow apologised, forgetting she hadn’t met her before. “Yes, err… a large cappuccino, hot and sweet, please.”
“Alright,” the mare said before scribbling it on a small pad of paper. “Not too unlike you friend here.”
Jet blushed and looked away, yet he felt rather flattered.
“And what about you, handsome?” she asked the stallion.
Jet laughed embarrassedly. “Err, I don’t know.” He took the menu and looked at it. “I think… I will have… a hot chocolate, please.”
Rainbow smiled and pressed a hoof against her mouth to stop her laughing.
Jet shot her a contemptuous look. “What? What’s wrong with getting a hot chocolate? It’s a hot drink and it’s a chilly day.”
“I know, but… I don’t know, it’s just not very… it’s girly.”
“To be fair, with all those countless kinds of coffee, coffee isn’t any better.”
Rainbow tilted her head back and forth. “I suppose.”
The waitress, spotting a gap in the conversation, began talking. “What about whipped cream? Marshmallows? Grated chocolate?” she asked Jet.
“Err… yes please,” Jet replied.
“Okay,” the waitress said with a small grin.
Rainbow sniggered under her breath.
Jet sighed slightly and shook his head.
“I’ll be back with your drinks in a jiffy,” the waitress said confidently, finishing writing the order with a flourish.
She pushed the paper pad into her apron and trotted back inside. She slowed, however, as she passed Jet Stream, so she could look at his flank. She sped up again after nearly halting and disappeared inside the café.
Jet turned his head to look inside after the waitress.
He turned back to Rainbow wearing a puzzled expression.
“Was she just-?”
“Checking you out? Yeah,” Rainbow stated simply.
They both laughed slightly.
The waitress returned with a tray grasped between her teeth. She placed it down on the table.
“Here you are,” she said as she removed the two plates from the tray. “Two big slices of chocolate fudge cake.”
Rainbow looked at the large slice before her and her mouth began to water.
Jet, on the other hoof, looked both hungry for it and confused.
“But we never-.”
“They’re on the house. I made your mare here feel rather uncomfortable so I thought it was decent compensation.”
“I see,” Jet replied. He would have questioned further about giving away free cake for no real reason, but the cake looked too delicious.
Rainbow pulled one of the two plates towards her and took a small forkful of cake. She placed it in her mouth and began to chew.
She made a noise of great approval. “This is scrumptious!” she praised loudly, covering her mouth with a hoof to hide the cake inside.
The waitress smiled.
“I’ll be back with your drinks in a minute or so.” She left them and returned to the café to take a few more orders from other customers.

Their drinks had been brought to them by the waitress. They said their thanks to her and then descended into silence again for a brief moment, with the only sounds being those of sips and quiet gasps as they drunk their drinks.
“Your hot chocolate looks nice,” Rainbow said as she looked at the beverage piled high with whipped cream and marshmallows.
“Not so girly now, is it?” he jested.
“No, it still is, but it does look good.”
Jet slid the tall glass over to her. “Try it, if you want.”
Rainbow smiled sweetly and took the glass. She took a small sip.
“That’s good. I can see why Dashie likes these so much.” She placed the glass down and pushed it back to Jet.
“You’ve got a little um…” he said, gesturing towards her nose.
Rainbow gently rubbed her nose with a hoof and looked at it. She saw a bit of cream on and quickly licked it off.
“Is that all of it?”
Jet nodded. “Do you come here often?” he asked curiously.
Rainbow nodded. “Yep. Why?”
Jet shrugged. “Just wondering. I take it it’s good then.”
“It is, rather. Savoury stuff isn’t that bad, but the deserts are just… scrumptious. And drinks are always huge and hot, and delicious, of course. Are you sure there isn’t anything on my nose?” She couldn’t stop wriggling her nose. She grabbed a napkin and rubbed her nose vigorously.
Jet smiled. “I'm sure.”
Rainbow sighed through the napkin before lowering it and placing it on the table. She tried her hardest to ignore the fact she was now completely aware of her nose.
“And I guess this Dashie is Rainbow Dash?” the stallion guessed.
“Yep.”
“I knew it,” he said cockily with a smug look on his face. “How is she? And the others, then?”
“Oh, they’re fine.”
“How’s… Swirl, was it? With her leg?”
Rainbow nodded and placed her mug back on the table. “She’s fine, really. No different at all. Still a little trouble maker, just has a bit of a limp because of her cast, but that should be off in a few more weeks. Was finally let back to school on Monday.”
Jet gave her a puzzled look.
“She dislocated a colt’s wing, so of course she was excluded from school, for a total of one month.”
“That must have been fun,” he said sarcastically.
“Y’know, it was, really,” Rainbow said as if amazed. “She’s always a laugh.”
“That’s alright then.”
“Yeah. And Dash is fine. No change there. Same little speedster as always.
Jet smirked. “Yeah. At flight camp she really puts a lot of effort in. Never happy with less than, as she says, awesomeness.”
Rainbow laughed slightly, almost spitting out some drink. “Typical Dashie.”
“If she keeps it up she could probably get into the Wonderbolts! Plus, with a mane like hers, she probably won’t have to be as fast as the others.”
Rainbow furrowed her brow slightly. “What?”
“Well, she looks the part. She looks kinda awesome, and that’s what Wonderbolts go for. I was amazed I got chosen when I'm just a dull brown colour.”
“Are you kidding?” Rainbow said as if annoyed. “It would be stupid if they chose anypony else over you!”
Jet laughed once. “Ha. Yeah, it would have,” he said arrogantly. “I don’t mean to brag, but when they chose me, I had a wing power of twenty nine,” he bragged, surrounded with a smug air.
“Really?” Rainbow asked, doubting him greatly. “I followed the Wonderbolts for pretty much all my life, and I know for a fact that the Captain when you were in only had a wing power of twenty four.” She pushed his shoulder playfully.
“Well, I did,” he said with a shrug. “But the Captain was definitely a better flyer than me.”
“Y’know,” Rainbow started thoughtfully, leaning her head on a hoof. “I don’t ever remember hearing about you in the Wonderbolts.”
Jet shrugged again. “I was never really noticed. Probably because of my boring colour scheme.”
Rainbow shrugged as well.
There was a small, quiet moment, as Jet thought.
“What about your third daughter?” Jet asked, not entirely sure if such a filly existed.
“Shine? Yeah, she’s fine. Boring as usual.”
“That’s a bit mean, isn’t it?”
“I know, but she is. Compared to the other two, anyway. A goody four shoes. Chubby and asthmatic.” Rainbow chuckled warmly. “But you got to love her. She’s just funny, y’know, just by being herself.”
Jet smiled and shook his head. “I can relate. I used to be like that, without the asthma, of course.”
Rainbow accidentally ignored him.
“What about Fleetfoot?” she asked, pretty sure it made sense to ask to him, of all Ponies. “How is she?”
“She’s fine, yeah,” he said with a smile. “She’s getting really excited about her birthday.”
Rainbow tittered. “I love how kids get like that. When is it?”
“Like, three months away.”
Rainbow’s face twisted with confusion.
“I know, I know. Probably my fault though. I said I’d take her to the Everfree for the day, and she got really excited for some reason.”
“The Everfree? In January?” Rainbow questioned, thinking it to be a preposterous idea.
“I know, I don’t know what I was thinking. But it’s too late now and I have to go. Y’know, last time we went we saw a Hydra!”
Rainbow’s eyes went wide as saucers. “Really? I’ve always wanted to see one of those.”
“I tell ya, they’re amazing. And so huge! Taller than the Cloudiseum by far!”
“Wow.”
Jet looked up slightly as an idea popped into his head. “Hey. How about you come with us?”
“Really?” Rainbow said with a little bit too much glee than desired.
“Yeah. Why not? Fleetfoot seemed to like you; she’s the one who got me to ask you out, for crying out loud! And you can bring your daughters as well.”
“I’d like that. We could bring a picnic or something!” Rainbow said excitedly.
“I think a barbeque would be better, since it’s gonna be cold and all.”
Rainbow nodded enthusiastically; she couldn’t wait now.
“It’s nice how you care so much for your niece. Really, it is,” Rainbow said with a fond smile.
He smiled back. “Thanks.”
“What does your sister think to you taking care of her?”
“She doesn’t mind at all. She knows the reason why.”
“Oh?” Rainbow said, clearly intrigued.
Jet’s face sunk and went solemn.
“Oh,” Rainbow said again, but only more guiltily this time for bringing something painful up. “I guess it’s something to do with your wife?”
Jet nodded.
Rainbow felt a familiar mix of feelings of awkwardness, sympathy but mostly guilt. “I see. You don’t need to explain.”
Jet shook his head. “No, I might as well tell you now that it’s been brought up. And it feels kinda good unloading the feelings.”
“I-if you’re sure,” Rainbow said tenderly.
Jet sighed and hung his head down. He shut his eyes. “About twelve years ago now, she died… obviously.” He managed a small chuckle.
Rainbow flashed him a quick, sympathetic smile.
“She was pregnant as well.”
Rainbow gasped quietly and brought a hoof close to her mouth. She could see where he was going.
His eyes started glistening and his breath became deep and shaky.
“Hey,” Rainbow whispered affectionately. She reached forward and held his hoof. “It’s okay.”
He looked down at Rainbow’s hoof as it touched his. He drew comfort from it.
“There was… something wrong with the baby, and it was affecting my wife. They needed to get the baby out as soon as possible. But it was too late. Neither of them made it. I lost a wife and a son in less than an hour.”
“I’m so sorry,” Rainbow said quietly. She could have cried. She could only imagine the pain of letting her children go like that, and that was more than enough.
“That’s why I quit the Wonderbolts. I just… couldn’t handle the stress.” He shut his eyes.
Rainbow could see he was about to cry. “Hey,” she whispered affectionately. She leant forward across the table and rubbed his shoulder. “It’s alright.”
“After it happened, I went back to our house. Seeing that big double and that empty cot was too much to bear. I had a headache so I went to get some paracetamol. I had a couple and went to but the bottle back, but I just held it in my hoof, staring at it for ages, I don’t even know how long. To this day I still don’t know what I was going to do.”
Rainbow felt her heart sink as he said it. “What happened?”
“I was so glad I had my sister. She helped me a lot. And I mean a lot. My sister walked in to check on me, and she found me in the kitchen with that bottle of pills in my hoof. I remember hearing her gasp in horror. She slapped the bottle away from me and hugged me, telling me it’s all going to be okay. I don’t remember much else after that.”
Rainbow didn’t know what feel, let alone what to say.
A smile curled to his mouth and he shook his head to himself.
“What I do remember, though, is waking up on my sister’s sofa in the middle of the night, and Fleetfoot was curled up against me, fast asleep. She was barely a year old, and so small and cute. I think she got scared in the night and just wanted to sleep there with me. I picked her up and hugged her against my chest. I felt a weight lift off my heart at that moment. I’ve loved her ever since.”
Rainbow smiled fondly at him and her eyes shined with tears.
“I stayed round her house, sleeping on her sofa, for ages! I just wanted to spend time with Fleetfoot. It got to the point where my sister had to kick me out.”
Rainbow’s brow furrowed with a small amount of anger. “Why?”
“Don’t worry, it wasn’t because she was angry or anything. She didn’t particularly mind me staying there. I helped around the house when I could and looked after Fleetfoot. She just couldn’t afford to feed four of us. Her husband included, of course.
“I still went round every day, mind you, just had to get my own food. Fleetfoot loved me coming round as well. Her father worked hard and had not as much time for her as I did, so I got to play with her and take her out and everything. So, yeah… that’s the story of how I lost and gained so much in so little time.”
He let out a deep sigh of relief, feeling a huge weight lifting from his mind.
Rainbow didn’t know what to say. She just wriggled his hoof slightly to get his attention and smiled lovingly at him.
“I remember, as well, the Captain of the Wonderbolts was really understating, as were the rest of the team. They said there would be a place for me on the team if I ever wanted to come back.”
“That’s nice of them.”
Jet chuckled. “Yeah, it was. But I can’t be bothered to go back anymore. I'm getting old. For a Wonderbolt, anyway. And, if I'm honest, I prefer just lazing around and living off my savings.”
Rainbow smirked slightly.
“And helping out at that flight camp is fun. It’s always good to pass on my talents. Although, I just can’t stand that Summer bloke.”
Rainbow chuckled.
Neither of them spoke for a while, but it wasn’t awkward, more like nothing needed to be said.

Their drinks had been drunk and their cakes had been eaten. Rainbow placed her mug down with a gentle clink.
“You wanna go for a walk,” Rainbow suggested, feeling slightly bored of the café.
“Sure. Where do you want to go?” Jet replied, also eager to leave.
“How about the park?”
“Okay. Let’s settle up here, then.”
Rainbow reached her hoof under the table and retrieved her handbag.
Jet lifted his hoof and waved it at Rainbow. “No, I’ll pay.”
“Are you sure? I really don’t mind.”
“I insist,” Jet said authoritatively. He reached into his jacket pocket and rummaged around for a second. He froze for a second before returning to his search with increased urgency.
He pulled his hoof out and used it to slap his forehead.
“I can’t believe it,” he muttered. “I left my wallet at home,” he admitted sheepishly.
Rainbow rolled her eyes and smiled. “Never mind,” she said in a friendly manner. “I’ve got this one. You can get the next.”
Jet looked up at her slowly. “The next?”
Rainbow blushed. “Yeah, the next.”
He smiled.
She dropped a couple bits on the table and the two Pegasi left.

They arrived at the park after a short flight across town.
Rainbow landed lightly on the ground, barely making a sound with her light hooves.
Jet Stream, on the other hoof, landed much more impressively. He stood to his full height slowly and dramatically. The wind blew through his short mane, ruffling it, and the sun silhouetted him.
Rainbow tittered.
“You can tell you used to be a Wonderbolt,” she jested.
Jet broke face and chuckled.
“Yeah, old habits and all that.”
They walked side by side through the large gate of the park.

The sun beat down on the ground, warming the air and destroying the chill it carried. The park was lined with trees that were slowly changing from a deep green to a wonderful combination of golds and browns. Leaves were scattered on the path, dancing around the hooves of the Pegasi that walked along it.
Rainbow loved this place.
She sighed contently. “I love this place at autumn,” she said largely to herself. “Inspired some of my best works.”
Jet came back from the depths of his mind and looked at her. “Your best works?”
“I'm an artist,” she said with very little arrogance. “Mostly paint, but I dabble with other media.”
“Are you any good?”
Rainbow snorted. “You better believe it,” she said with now appropriate levels of arrogance. “One of my paintings I sold to the gallery in Trottingham for seven thousand bits!”
Jet froze with awe, and his eyes shrank. “That’s… that’s pretty impressive.”
Rainbow turned to face him where he stood.
“Yep. That was my most famous and best works. Everything doesn’t look nearly as good as that one.”
“I'm sure they are.”
A small smile appeared on Rainbow’s lips. “Oh you,” she said playfully.
The warmth of the sun reached her back, soaking through her coat and filling her with a comfortable feeling.
She flared her wings, stretching them, and shook her body, rising onto her back hooves slightly. She sighed contently.
“The weather’s certainly improved,” she said largely to herself as she went on all fours again.
“It has rather,” Jet said, trying to keep the conversation going, and failing.
Rainbow glanced briefly in Jet’s direction, and then looked again for a while.
Jet could feel the eyes staring at him; it was becoming unbearable.
“What?” he asked with an annoyed tone, which was entirely unintentional.
“Sorry,” Rainbow replied quickly, looking away even quicker. “It’s just that… you’re shorter than you look.”
Jet turned to look at her. “Huh?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever stood next to you before, and you’re short!” she said childishly.
“Actually, I think it’s more the case that you’re tall,” Jet said confidently.
“No,” Rainbow corrected. “I'm only just taller than average, whereas you are almost a hoof shorter than me.”
Jet started blushing embarrassedly.
“Whatever,” he said to end the conversation topic.
They fell silent again, and remained that way for a while. They weren’t even trying to think of something to say.

Pegasi walked past them, enjoying company of loved ones or exercising, lost from the world with music blaring into their ears or with conversation.
Rainbow and Jet Stream remained standing next to each other, blissfully unaware of everything around them, despite the fact they were staring at everything that went by.
Rainbow wobbled on her hooves slightly, nearly falling over, but Jet was there to keep her from meeting the hard ground.
He pushed her back onto her hooves with a gentle shove.
She felt his brown coat stroke over her own, a feeling she wasn’t used to, save for when she hugged her daughters.
Her head started swimming and her stomach filled with butterflies; a feeling she hadn’t felt in so long.
She looked to Jet; he was smiling up at her. She couldn’t help but smile back. Her breathing became deeper yet silent.
They broke eye contact as soon as they made it, looking in opposite directions, and laughed slightly and awkwardly. It died down after a second.
They looked back at each other again, smiling as if they were still laughing.
Rainbow felt the feeling again only it was far more intense.
They lost their smiles as they looked into each others’ eyes and became completely detached from everything except each other.
Rainbow felt her head move closer to his. She almost pulled away, but then she noticed that he was leaning in as well.
It was the longest few seconds either of them had ever experienced, like a relentless drum roll. Their minds became a frenzy, unable to think coherently, only of the fact of what was happening. Their vision had blurred and gone shaky.
Rainbow could feel his breath on her nose. It tickled her and made her fur stand up on end both with excitement and nerves.
Their lips almost touched, but Rainbow pulled away just as she felt him brush against her. She looked deep in thought.
Jet didn’t notice, and so he almost fell and nearly kissed her shoulder instead.
“Is something wrong?” Jet asked, his mind still recovering from the rush of excitement.
Rainbow shook her head. “No. I just have the feeling something awesome is about to happen.”
“I think I know what,” Jet said suavely as he placed his hoof delicately yet firmly on her cheek.
Rainbow pushed his hoof away and began looking around for the feat of pure awesomeness.

Fluttershy stood on a cloud, looking up at all the other Pegasi in the sky, playing games and having fun. She wished she could join them, even if they were only flying through rings. Fear and embarrassment ran rampant through her, preventing her from flying, and keeping her wings lock tight against her sides.
She saw a ring that was in her reach, and if she could fly through it, then she could do anything, but, more importantly, she could join in with Dash and the others.
She unfolded her wings, setting the nerves in firmly, yet she tried her hardest to ignore them.
She jumped, fluttering her wings, but only to come back down again on her cloud.
She jumped again, but this time she beat her wings harder. A rush swept over her as she gained altitude, despite how little it was.
She flew up and through the wing.
“I did it?” she thought excitedly. “Oh my goodness! I did it!”
In her excitement, her wings lessened their speed, causing her to slowly fall.
Her hooves hit the ring, catching her off guard.
The surprise shot new fear into her system, locking her wings to her side and keeping them there.
She fell from the ring, falling down onto the cloud she once stood, only this time hitting the curved side.
She slid down the cloud, fear gripping her tightly. The cloud ended with a small lip, pointing upwards.
Fluttershy’s eyes dilated as she came to the lip. She sped off the end, as if it was a ramp, sending her flying through the air, and unable to stop.
She collided with a flag, becoming entangled and confused.
She hit the solid ground, buried under the small patch of cloth.
Unfortunately for her, this event didn’t go unseen.
Hoops and Dumbbell were hovering above her, laughing their heads off.
“Nice going, Klutzershy! Dumbbell laughed. Him and his friend flew down and landed in front of her. “They oughta ground you permanently.”
“HA! My baby brother can fly better than you,” Hoops mocked.
Both of the small colts began laughing in the face of the terrified yellow filly, finding her lack of strength hilarious.
Fluttershy had never felt so humiliated.
But then, out of nowhere, a rainbow maned filly zoomed past overhead.
The colts instantly stopped laughing. Their heads looked in all directions to see the source of the whooshing and the shadow that past over them, but before their eyes, Rainbow Dash landed in front of them, ready to defend her best friend.
“Leave her alone!” she ordered, all the while giving the colts her best evil stare.
“Ooh,” Hoops said sarcastically, pretending to be scared. “What are you going to do, Rainbow Crash?” he mocked.
“Keep making fun of her and find out!” Dash screamed back, her voice breaking midsentence with anger.
Dumbbell stared moodily at her. “You think you’re such a big shot.” He stepped closer to the speedy filly. “Why don’t you prove it?” he challenged.
“What did you have in mind,” Dash replied confidently. She was up for a race, especially if it would defend Fluttershy’s honour.

The three foals stood at the start sign, all eagerly awaiting the start.
Summer was particularly excited to see how they were getting on, and so he let them race.
Fluttershy was stood on a small cloud in the sky, holding the chequered flag in her mouth.
She wished Dash hadn’t convinced her to stand on such a precarious and dangerous place and that somepony else could wave the flag, but Dash’s logic was as sound as a seven year old’s logic could be.
It was Dash’s idea that it would add insult to injury for the Pegasus they constantly picked on to start the race in which they were destroyed.
The crowd was waiting for the start with great anticipation, for these three foals were some of the fastest at the camp.
Hoops turned to his foe to his side.
“You’re going down!” he threatened.
Dash turned and looked him square in the eyes. “In history, maybe.”
She turned and faced the start.
“See you boys at the finish line!”
Fluttershy was ready.
Dash raised her rump so she could get a good start, and her wings popped up. Her eyes narrowed, focusing entirely on her destination. She licked her lips with eagerness.
She could smell the victory already.
Fluttershy brought the flag up.
Dash waited, watching the flag in her friend’s mouth intently.
Fluttershy brought it down again and waved it.
The three foals exploded from the start line with such speed that nopony noticed Fluttershy fell from her cloud.

Dash rocketed through the sky. The force of the wind buffeted her small body, but she kept going, pumping her wings ever harder to gain as much speed as possible.
Everything around her became a blur as she only focused on the next ring that hovered in the air.
She zoomed past the countless spectators over Cloudsdale, from amazed foals to adults alike; they all looked on in complete awe.
She risked a glance over her shoulder. Hoops and Dumbbell were still behind, but not by much.
With a look of total determination across her face she beat her wings harder and easily gained more speed.
A sharp corner came up in front of her, but she skilfully banked right and curved around the cloud, passing flawlessly through the next ring.
Dumbbell wasn’t so lucky. He misjudged the time to break and collided with a column, getting his head lodged in it. He was out of the race, leaving only Dash and Hoops left.
“WAHOO!” Dash screamed in her head as she slalomed through the next set of hoops, zigzagging through the sky with a trail of rainbow behind her.
“This is so much FUN!”
She spun through the air, doing tricks like there was no tomorrow.
“I love this! I love this! I love this! I love this! I love this! I love this! I love this! I love this! I love this!” She shouted over and over again in her mind as she exploded through the sky. Never before had she raced so fast before. It was unreal.
The speed. The adrenaline. The wind in her mane. She liked this. She like this a lot.
In all the enjoyment, she had lost a little speed, and Hoops managed to catch up with her.
He barged into her side, knocking her off course.
“Ha! Later, Rainbow Crash!” he mocked one last time. He saluted in an insulting manner and rushed downwards to the final ring.
“HEY!” Dash screamed after him.
She curled her body up slightly, coiled like a snake, and then released the energy. She rocketed downwards with a speed she had never felt before.
The force of the air coming off of her spun Hoops off course, disorientating him to the point where he might as well have been out of the race.
Dash could see the ring getting closer and closer, but she didn’t dare slow down so she could safely zoom back up again.
She kept going faster.
The air was starting to put up a monumental resistance to her, but her small wings continued to beat harder and harder with each passing second, beating the sky into submission.
“Oh my gosh,” she thought to herself. “I. Love. WINNING!”
The sky gave up trying to stop now.
After a final push the air deformed around her, and Dash pierced the sky like and arrow. The result was a huge explosion, the force of which propelled her upwards back to Cloudsdale and stopped her colliding with the approaching ground.
The explosion radiated outwards in all the colours of the rainbow, leaving a huge disc of awesome colour in the sky.
Dash flew up. Her eyes wide as the huge noise and the massive increase in speed took her by surprise.
She looked back over her shoulder, and her face ripped in half with a huge smile.
She saw the disc of colour that caused the explosion. She couldn’t believe it. A Sonic Rainboom had been mere legend, thought to be impossible, but from that day on she knew she could accomplish anything, even the impossible.
She looked at the massive rainbow following her, seeming to flow straight from her mane. It was the brightest and most vibrant rainbow she had ever seen, and she loved it.
She looked back around and saw the finish line.
She cut through the chequered banner, being rewarded with the many cheers of her loving audience.
She didn’t stop there. She carried on going, speeding over Cloudsdale to share her magnificent rainbow with the rest of the Pegasi in the city.
She felt a tingling on her flanks, and she so wished that what she was thinking was true.

Rainbow and Jet looked up from the park. Their mouths were hanging agape as they watched the rainbow be painted across the sky.
“I told you something awesome was going to happen,” she teased, nudging his shoulder playfully.

Dash curled back round to the Cloudiseum, now that her rainbow had faded away. She landed on the largest cloud where most of the foals and instructors stood, and was immediately swamped with attention, which she loved.
Her mane was also inexplicably longer as a result, reaching down to her hooves, but she didn’t care.
She started bouncing high in the sky, above the heads of the instructors.
“YES!” she screamed ecstatically. “YES! I won the race AND got my cutie mark!”
She landed again and looked at her flank. “And it’s AWESOME! Look! Look!” she shouted excitedly, wanting anypony and everypony to get a good look and the rainbow lightning bolt on her flank.
She looked around for the yellow filly she did this all for. She want her to see it more than anypony else. She asked, completely oblivious to what happened to her, as was everypony else, “Where’s Fluttershy?”