The past week had definitely been one of the most hectic for the new parents. Spitfire had allowed Soarin to go on paternity leave, so he and his wife had been busy taking care of their new foals. However, Soarin was going back to work in the next few days, and Rainbow was getting worried about having to handle two foals on her own.

So far, there weren't a large number of issues. Feeding and naptime were rather routine at this point, so Rainbow had gotten used to it. Playtime with Bright Skies and Stratosphere was short, and both Rainbow and Soarin still had the slightest bit of hesitation when it came to diaper duty.

However, there was one issue that the foals were having, and it was starting to annoy Rainbow. There were times where Bright Skies and Stratosphere didn't seem to want to go to sleep at night. By then, Rainbow seemed to have done everything she needed to do for them. She fed them, got them changed (if necessary), and placed them in their crib. It worked whenever it was naptime, but at night, it wasn't always successful. Rainbow and Soarin couldn't quite figure out why this was going on, and they wanted that problem solved as soon as possible.

While Soarin was out, Rainbow stayed behind with the foals. It was late in the afternoon, which meant it was almost bedtime for Bright and Strato - nicknames that Rainbow and Soarin had chosen for their daughter and son, respectively.

Fluttershy was visiting at the moment. In preparation for her upcoming return to the Wonderbolts, Rainbow wanted to get the foals used to some other familiar faces, mainly Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, as she would be most likely leaving them with one or the other until she and Soarin got home for the day.

Right now, Rainbow was playing with Bright, while Strato was having a fun time with the yellow pegasus a few feet away. Rainbow was trying to test her daughter's strength by having her stack blocks, while Fluttershy was trying to get Strato to play Patty Cake with her. The colt didn't quite understand what his mom's best friend was up to, but he eventually decided to copy her actions and play along.

"There we go!" Fluttershy said in a baby-talk-like tone - as if she was talking to a baby animal at her cottage, "Good job, Stratosphere!"

"Smart kid," Dash remarked, impressed that her son had gotten into the swing of things.

"How's it going over there with Bright Skies, Dash?" the yellow mare asked her friend.

"She's doing pretty well, Shy," Rainbow responded as Bright attempted to stack a fourth block on top of a vertical tower of three more, "Looks like she's about to..." she paused when the little filly miscalculated her actions, sending the block in her forehooves and the two below it tumbling to the ground. "Whoops...Never mind," Dash said, blushing a little, which made Fluttershy giggle.

"Don't worry, Dash. I'm sure she'll get it eventually."

"Yeah, I guess."

Just then, both foals seemed to yawn in unison. Rainbow then looked over at a nearby clock, noticing that it read 7 in the evening. "Aw, shoot..." Dash said, not sounding very happy.

"What's wrong, Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked, concerned.

"Well, it's time for the foals to go to bed, but lately they really haven't been wanting to. I mean, I make sure to feed them and change them immediately beforehoof, and I make sure they're nice and warm in their crib so they can drift off peacefully. I'm just...Soarin and I are just exhausted from trying again and again to get them to go to sleep when we want them to. I mean, Pinkie was able to get the Cake twins to go to sleep on demand, right?"

"Well, I think they were actually faking it so they could play some more, from what I've heard."

"Alright, but that was a while ago. I just...I feel like something's missing. Is there something I'm not doing right?"

"Well, I think this is the first time I'll be seeing you put the foals to bed, so I can't really answer that until I see what you're doing."

Rainbow sighed. "Alright," she replied, reluctantly. She then picked up Bright Skies before scooting over a little to fetch her son. "Come on, Strato," she said in a calming tone, "Time for bed." The colt eventually complied, allowing his mother to scoop him up and fly him and his sister to their room.

Since Dash had fed and changed the foals about ten minutes ago, all she really needed to do was lay them in their crib, turn out the lights, and leave them be. She wished it could be as simple as that, but unfortunately, it wasn't.

While Dash held the foals in her forelegs, Fluttershy lowered the side of the crib, allowing Dash more room to lay them down. She did just that, and she subsequently brought the little white blanket over the foals, leaving their heads exposed.

"There," Dash said, "That's it. I figured they'd just go to sleep right after that, but they just won't." She was right. Even though they had just shown obvious signs of tiredness, Bright and Strato weren't going to sleep like their mother had wanted them to.

"They need time to wind down, Dash," Fluttershy said, "In fact, everyone needs to wind down before they go to sleep."

"Oh, that's right..." Dash remembered, "I think Soarin and I have just gotten so irritated on not being able to get them to sleep that we weren't really focusing on what really needed to be done. I guess we kinda figured putting them to bed at night would be just as easy as putting them down for a nap. I'm glad you know so much about this, Shy, even if it has more to do with baby animals than regular foals."

The yellow pegasus smiled. "It's nothing, Dash," she replied, "Here, how about I show you an easy way to get the foals to sleep?"

The cyan mare was more than relieved at the prospect of getting rid of her early troubles. "Thanks, Shy," she said to her friend, "What do I have to do?"

"Why don't you try singing them a lullaby? It works almost every time with the babies at my cottage."

Dash cringed slightly. "Yyyyyyeahhhhh...I don't know if I can picture myself singing a lullaby. It seems kinda silly."

"It's not silly, Dash. Here, I'll show you how easy it is." Fluttershy then picked up Stratosphere in her forelegs and sat on her rump next to the crib.

Part of Dash felt like she didn't need a demonstration. She knew how to sing a lullaby, but she just didn't think it was her kind of thing, much like her opinion of nursing before Nurse Redheart and Soarin convinced her to do so.

Dash looked at her yellow friend holding her son. Then, Fluttershy took a breath and began to sing in her softest voice:

"Hush now, quiet now. It's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, quiet now. It's time to go to bed..."

As Dash heard Fluttershy continue singing to her kids, she wasn't sure if it would work, but she was immediately proven wrong as a second seemingly simultaneous yawn came from the foals' mouths, followed by them closing their eyes and drifting off to sleep, just like the lullaby's lyrics suggested.

Once Fluttershy finished singing, she placed the now sleeping Strato next to his slumbering sister and pulled the blanket back over them. She smiled at the adorable sight of the week-old foals sleeping so soundly.

When the yellow mare turned around, she was met with a dumbfounded Dash. Rainbow's jaw was hanging low, her eyes were wide, and a feeling of complete and utter disbelief was thrashing wildly inside her head.

Fluttershy grew concerned when Dash hadn't said a single word since the foals went to sleep. In a whisper, she asked, "Dash? Are you feeling okay?"

Rainbow didn't respond. Too much was happening inside her brain. She couldn't believe after a seemingly endless week with barely any sleep and a harrowing, albeit manageable, routine with the foals, all she needed to do was sing them a simple lullaby to get them to sleep at night.

Dash began to close her mouth, but not all the way. At the same time, she lowered her head, her eyes gradually narrowing as a saddening thought came over her.

Right in front of her was not only her best friend, but somepony who seemed to know so much more than she did about parenting, and yet, she didn't even have any kids. At the same time, Dash couldn't help but think of a not-too-distant memory that happened on a day that changed her life forever.

"I'm not ready for a foal, Soarin. I don't even think I'd make a good mother."

At this very moment, the doubts Dash had from the very beginning were creeping back up on her, and seeing how Fluttershy seemed to be handling the situation much better than she was, she began to wonder...

Was she good enough for Bright Skies and Stratosphere?

Finally closing her eyes and mouth, Dash turned to her left and exited the nursery. This increased Fluttershy's worry for her friend, so, after lifting the bars of the crib as quietly as she could, she left the sleeping foals alone and went to look for her friend.

It didn't take long before Fluttershy found Rainbow laying belly-down on her living room couch, sobbing softly into her folded forelegs. The yellow pegasus couldn't quite figure out why Dash had gotten sad all of a sudden. She figured her friend would be happy to have finally found a way to get her foals to go to sleep when she wanted them to, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Walking up to her crying friend, Fluttershy placed her right forehoof on Dash's shoulder and asked, "Rainbow, what's wrong?"

Dash ceased her sobbing long enough to turn her head to the left and look at Fluttershy. However, the silence was short-lived, as Dash quickly tucked her head back into her forelegs and resumed her crying.

Fluttershy then climbed up onto the couch and turned around. Now facing her friend, Fluttershy lifted Dash's head with a forehoof so that her gaze met hers. She then said, "Dash, please tell me what's bothering you. You know how sad I get when I see you so upset."

Taking a long sniffle and wiping some of the tears from under her eyes, Dash finally said, "hhh...Okay, fine. I...hhh...I just...well...When I found out I was pregnant, I was doubting that I'd be a good mother. I thought I had been doing all I could the past week, but now here you are...hhh...showing me how much more you know about parenting than I do. I mean, you have so much experience that...I'm wondering if...if...hhh..."

"Come on, Dash," Fluttershy replied in a comforting tone, "You can tell me."

"I'm wondering if...well...m-my foals would be...b-better off...with you..." Dash trailed off, her voice getting quieter and quieter with each word that she spoke.

"Dash! Don't say that!" Fluttershy replied, nearly flabbergasted, "I could never be as great of a mother to those foals as you!"

"hhh...Why not?" Dash asked, still crying, "How can you say that when you take care of baby animals all the time? I mean...hhh...how different are they from actual foals?"

"Dash, that doesn't matter in the slightest."

"Why not? How am I the better mother in this case?"

"Dash, you're the first pony your foals ever came into contact with after they were born."

"So?"

"So...right after a foal is born - or, for that matter, any baby animal - the first thing they want to do is sniff their mother and father."

This caught Dash's attention, and she ceased crying. Confused, she asked, "Wait, what?"

"I know that sounds a bit odd, but I need you to hear me out on this one. Right from the beginning, they want to know who their parents both are. Once they smell you for the first time, they'll know who you are for the rest of their lives. They'll know that whenever that special scent is nearby, you're nearby as well, and that really makes them feel safe and comfortable."

Dash couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sure, she knew Fluttershy knew a lot about parenting, but this much?

"Is that really what's happening?" Dash asked amidst her revelation.

"Mmhmm," Fluttershy replied, "Also, the reason I suggested you sing a lullaby to them is because your voice is the most calming to them, because you're their mother. Your voice is probably the first they heard amidst their crying, and it's the one that's most familiar to them, so it, like your natural scent, makes them feel at ease."

"Wow..." Dash said, finally sitting up straight like the pegasus opposite her, "I didn't realize I was that important to them. I mean, I learned about a few early connections when Nurse Redheart convinced me to nurse them - which is actually kinda nice, by the way - but that was it. I didn't know about any of those other connections until just now." The cyan pegasus then paused for a few seconds before saying, "Thank you."

Fluttershy smiled and brought her friend in close for a hug. "You're more than welcome, Dash," she said, her kind, loving embrace putting the other pegasus at ease.

After what seemed like forever, Dash heard the faintest of sounds coming from the nearby hallway. She broke away from Fluttershy's embrace and looked down the hallway, not seeing anything out of the ordinary right off the bat.

"Do you hear that?" Rainbow asked.

"I think so," Fluttershy replied.

"I think I should go check on the foals."

"Good idea."

With that, the two pegasi hopped off the couch and went upstairs to the nursery. Once they arrived, the sound that was once faint was now very noticeable. Dash slowly opened the door and looked toward the crib. She turned on a nearby lamp and soon realized that Bright Skies had yet to fall asleep, and she was starting to get fussy. Instinctively, Dash floated over to the crib and picked her daughter up out of it. Cradling the newborn filly in her forelegs, Dash quietly said, "Shhhh...Don't worry, Bright. I'm here." Those words seemed to stop Bright from crying temporarily, but even while basking in her mother's comforting hold, the filly was still slightly distressed, so she began crying again, but not as loudly as a few seconds ago.

Rainbow hesitantly sniffed her daughter's rear, wanting to see if a diaper change was necessary. Thankfully, nothing had happened since the recent changing session, and that made Dash feel very relieved. She had also fed her and Strato right after changing them, so she didn't think they were hungry at all.

"Dash," Fluttershy whispered, "I think now might be your chance. Why don't you try singing to Bright Skies?"

Dash thought about what her friend said for a few seconds, and when she realized that nothing else was wrong with her daughter, she figured now might be the time to test out her lullaby-singing skills. However, since she wasn't all too interested in doing it before, she was still slightly hesitant to do it in front of one of her friends. At the same time, though, as a new mother, Dash didn't want to hear either of her kids crying.

Carefully floating over to the rocking chair, Dash sat herself down, Bright Skies still laying in her mother's forelegs. Dash began to slowly and gently rock the chair back and forth, all while keeping her eyes on her daughter. The motions from the chair seemed to calm the filly slightly, but Dash was sure that her daughter wouldn't be fully relaxed until a lullaby flew into her ears.

After taking one last look at Fluttershy, who was sitting on her rump in the middle of the nursery, Dash took a deep, but silent, breath and softly sang:

"Hush now, quiet now. It's time to lay your sleepy head,"

As she began singing, she realized that maybe the gentler side of her singing voice didn't sound that bad after all.

"Hush now, quiet now. It's time to go to bed..."

Fluttershy looked on as Dash continued singing the next few lines of the popular lullaby to the filly in her forelegs. She thought the two of them looked absolutely beautiful together, sitting on a rocking chair while the elder pegasus sang the younger one to sleep...and sing her to sleep she did.

Right as Dash finished, Bright Skies let out the cutest of yawns, and then she turned her head a little bit to her right and comfortably nestled herself into the fur on her mother's chest. After several more seconds, the aquamarine filly was asleep.

While Fluttershy gave a more-than-happy smile, Dash just sat there in moderate disbelief. It had actually worked. Fluttershy's advice had led her to successfully sing her daughter to sleep.

Soon, Dash gave Fluttershy an eager smile, and then she carefully hovered back over to the crib and placed Bright next to a still-sleeping Stratosphere. After tucking both foals in one more time with the sole blanket in the crib, Dash kissed each of them on the forehead before turning around and exiting the nursery along with Fluttershy.

As the yellow pegasus carefully closed the door, Dash - still whispering - said, "Wow, Shy! I can't believe I actually did it!"

"You did wonderful, Dash!" Fluttershy replied, also in a whisper, "I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks! Now Soarin and I won't have a whole lot of trouble at bedtime anymore! Well...at least until we move on to something else, and who knows when that's gonna happen?"

Fluttershy giggled. "Let's not worry about that right now, Dash."

Dash giggled in return. "Good idea, Shy."

After that, Dash and Fluttershy began to descend the staircase into the living room, and as they got there, the front door opened, and a certain aquamarine pegasus stallion waked in. Not immediately seeing the two mares upon entering, Soarin said, "Dash, I'm..."

"SHHHHH!!" Dash and Fluttershy said in unison.

"Oh. Uhhh..." Soarin responded in a quieter tone, "What's going on?" In reply, Dash nodded her head backwards twice, gesturing toward the door to the nursery upstairs. "Wait..." Soarin began again, "Did you get them to sleep already?"

"Yep!" Dash replied in a moderate tone, "And it's all thanks to Fluttershy!" As she finished, the cyan mare wrapped her right foreleg around the yellow mare's neck.

"Oh, it wasn't me, Dash," Fluttershy said in reply, "You were the one who eventually sang them to sleep."

"Well, I sang Bright to sleep. Strato wasn't the one who woke up after you sang to them initially."

"Oh, right..." Fluttershy replied, blushing slightly at her slight forgetfulness.

"So...You two sang them a lullaby?" Soarin asked, "Is that what we needed to do all this time?"

"We sure did!" Dash replied, "Fluttershy taught me that your voice and mine are the most comforting to the foals, and therefore most likely to get them to go to sleep. I guess now we have an answer to one of our problems!"

"Awesome!" Soarin replied, emulating his wife's catchphrase before turning to the yellow pegasus, "Thanks, Fluttershy. You don't know how much this means to us."

"Anytime, Soarin," Fluttershy replied with a smile, "Anyway, I should be getting home. Bye!"

"Bye, Fluttershy!" Dash and Soarin replied in unison as the yellow pegasus exited their home and flew off into the night. After that, thanks to a well-known lullaby, the new parents were able to enjoy the rest of the night without any worries, eventually going to bed when they wanted to. They knew that there would most certainly be times during the night where the foals would need something, but they were just happy that the one thing that annoyed them the most had finally been resolved, as they knew that getting the foals to go to sleep at night wouldn't be a problem anytime soon.

Author's Note

Hey, everyone. I guess I have a little bit of explaining to do.

I pretty much hit a wall while writing this chapter, meaning I got to a point where I didn't quite know how to write a certain part of the chapter, and after that, I nearly lost my drive to write completely. I have no idea why this happened to me, and I really wish I could have pitched this chapter out sooner. I already know that it probably wasn't worth the wait, and I'm sorry. I wanted to at least include a short chapter about early parenthood struggles before moving on to the other stuff I had planned from the very beginning.

I was going to post this chapter last night, but I burned my hand while making dinner and had to let it rest.

Hopefully getting this chapter out will give me the strive I need to continue this story in a timely manner. I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be out, but I promise it'll be sooner rather than later.