The Life of a Rainboom

The long song of a thousand years. Most know it, and most do not. In any case, that is what is known as my soul song. That is, at least from what my parents told me when I was little. Who am I you may ask? My name is Rainboom. I know that might sound strange to some, and believe me, I've thought a couple times. I've always wondered as to why was named after something so strange sounding. That is.....until I experienced one. That my friend, is a long story. But a story, you will soon know.....

I mentioned my soul song being somewhat........unique. I believe my parents thought this as mine, because that song played on the day that I was born. One quiet little village, known to the ponies of Equestria as Hollow Shades. It is a small town over the Foal mountains.

In this small town, the light of Celestia's golden sun shines through the general hospital. In this hospital, a couple sits behind closed doors. A young purple unicorn mare lying in bed, and blue pegasus stallion standing beside her. In her forelegs, she held a newborn foal, sleeping peacefully. The purple mare sighed longingly.

"Isn't he beautiful Astral?" she asked.

"He's very beautiful, Nighty. Almost as beautiful as you." her husband replied.

"He's got your eyes"

"Well he's got your mane color." They both looked longingly into each other's eyes. Another chapter in their lives was about to unfold, and their futures seemed to finally be looking up. Suddenly, a unicorn doctor bursts through the narrow door.

"Ah, Astral Thunder and Starry Night. I'm sorry to disturb you," he said.

"Don't be," replied Astral, a smile on his face, "I'm too happy to care."

"Just be lucky you didn't have to give birth to this foal darling," retorted Starry Night, with a slight snort. Her husband knew this all to well. As if on cue, the small foal slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey there sleepy head," said Starry Night, smiling brightly and widely at this little foal.

"Anyways," said the doctor, levitating a clipboard, "I hate to trouble you, but our records are going to need a name for the paperwork. Have you two thought of one for him?" The couple looked to each other and nodded. They knew exactly what to name him.

"Yes doc, we have," said Astral. He looked at his wife, and she slowly nodded his head. He nodded back, and resumed his gaze with the doctor, "His name will be.......Rainboom."

"Rainboom?" asked the doctor quizzically, "What's a Rainboom?"

"Yes," said Starry Night, "We were sitting in a field one day while I was pregnant. We saw what looked like a sonic boom, and a rainbow happening at the same time. It was so beautiful.........almost like a beacon of hope. So........we decided to name him Rainboom, to always remind our son that he's our hope for a better life......a better future."

"My word," said the doctor, a small tear forming in his eye, "What a beautiful story. All right then, Rainboom it is." He then levitated his pen over and wrote it down on one of the papers on his clipboard.

"Rainboom is a beautiful name for him," said Starry Night in a longing manner, "Rainboom." The little foal reached his little hooves out of the blanket he was wrapped in, and reached for his mother. He was giggling happily, and smiling brightly, his eyes wide with wonder.

"Hey," said Astral, "He knows his name already. And I think he likes it." The foal didn't do anything but giggle, and kept his little legs in the air. Suddenly, the blanket fell off of him and reveled a tiny green, earth pony body.

"Huh? He's an earth pony," said Astral, "Neither my wings or your magic."

"We'll still love him all the same," said Starry Night, "He's our baby, and deserves love." Astral looked to his wife, then to the little foal, sitting in his mother's forelegs with a big smile on his little face.

"You're right dear," he said, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

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"But mommy, daddy! Noo!!! Please don't go!" the little child called, clinging to the forelegs of his mother.

"I'm sorry Rainy," said Starry Night, "But mommy and daddy are going out tonight. Ever since you were born, most of our time has been focused on you. Now mommy and daddy need some time to focus on ourselves." Rainboom said nothing; he just lowered his head.

"Hey, look at me," said his mother. Rainboom did as requested. "Daddy and I will be back okay? We would never leave you forever." Rainboom didn't say anything, merely nodded his head. "Astral! Come in here and say goodbye to your son!" Soon, the blue pegasus came into the room, wearing a black bow tie and a very strong fragrance.

"I'm coming honey," he said, "Just had to find a way to get this damn bow tie on." Starry Night just stared at her husband, whiffing the smell coming off of him.

"Darling," she said, smiling with half lidded eyes, "You put on your Wrangler?"

"Yep, never go out in public without spritzing it," he replied.

"Anyways, come say goodbye to your son." Astral walked over to the little green foal, and picked him up. He then pulled him into a tight hug.

"Goodbye Rainy," he said, "I love you." Rainboom hugged his father back, a few tears streaming down his little face.

"I love you too daddy," Rainboom said between sobs. Astral then put him down. Starry Night then came over to him and hugged him, resulting in a little colt clinging to his mother again. "I love you mommy!"

"I love you too Rainy," she replied. The colt was then removed from her dress and placed him down.

"You will be back won't you?" asked Rainboom.

"Yes honey," replied his mother, "We will be back. I promise. But we're not leaving you alone at the age of 5." Suddenly, there came a ring from the doorbell.

"And there she is," said Astral.

"Who?" asked Rainboom.

"Your foal sitter," said Starry Night. She opened the door to reveal a pink alicorn pony with lavender eyes, yellow lavender and pink shaded hair in a pony tail, and a crystal heart cutie mark.

"Ah, Cadence," said Starry Night, "So nice to see you again. Please come in."

"Thank you," replied Cadence, stepping into the room, "It's nice to see you too Ms. Night. I came as soon as possible. Wow, you guys have a lovely home! Now, where is the little guy?" Astral scooped up Rainboom and carried him over to Cadence.

"Here he is," replied Astral.

"Aww! Aren't you a cutie!" exclaimed Cadence, picking him up and pulling him into a hug, "You're so cute I could squeeze you to death!" She lightly giggled before setting him down, "I'll gladly look after him for you two. He's in good hooves."

"Glad to hear it," said Astral, "Ya hear that son; you've got a new friend." Rainboom didn't know how to feel. But......he managed a small smile.

"Rainy, I think Cadence would like to see your toys," said Starry Night, "Why don't you show her."

"Oh yeah," said Cadence, "That would be nice." She winked at Starry Night, mouthing the words 'I'll take very good care of him'. Astral took his wife by the hoof and the two walked out the door. It then closed behind them with an audible slam. A short silence plagued the room.

Soon, Cadence spoke up again, "So, your mommy says you have cool new toys huh?" She smiled at him. Rainboom did nothing but shyly back away while his head was turned a different direction, rubbing one of his forelegs.

"Y-y-yeah......I do...." he managed to utter, unsure of what he was supposed to say with a new pony in the house, whom he had never met before.

"Well why don't you show me?" she asked, "I won't break any, I promise." He blushed lightly, and started walking off towards the back rooms of the house. There appeared to be a cluster of doors, scattered about the hall. Two however, were on the left side. The first door, Rainboom opened. Inside was a a large box shaped like a treasure chest, that had the word 'toys' ascribed on the front in rainbow lettering. There were also shelves that holstered a variety of delicate models from trains to boats and air crafts.

"Wowza," said Cadence, "You have quite a lot of toys in here."

"They're not all mine......" Rainboom replied shyly, "Those ones on the shelves are daddy's. We're not allowed to touch them without him here."

"Ah, I see," she responded, nodding her head slightly, "So your daddy plays trains with you, does he?"

"Sometimes......when he's not busy with working.......which he must do a lot, since he's not at home a lot." Hmm, said said Cadence to herself, Must be why they're having this date night then.

Rainboom walked over to the toy chest, and started digging through the massive sea of toys that lay inside. He eventually pulled out a small blue train and a smaller green train. They also appeared to have their own wagons attached to them as well, "These ones are mine. Daddy says they're better for me, cause they can go anywhere and don't need tracks." He looks at them, then back at Cadence, before pushing the green train along the ground to her. It stops when it hits her hooves, "I only gots two but, you can have this one." He smiled brightly at her.

-3 hour later-

The lovely couple re-entered their home late that night, Starry Night being carried on Astral's back. "Starry?" said Astral, in a somewhat seductive tone, "Starry, wake up! We're home now~" Starry Night opened her eyes.

"I don't wanna get up.......five more minutes......" she replied teasingly.

"Well we have to check on our son," said Astral.

"Alright, alright. I'm awake." She hopped down, and the two walked down the hall, and turned the corner into the living room. Cadence was there, on the couch, reading a small novel. She looked up to see them.

"Ah, you're back!" she said, "Hope you two had a fun time."

"We did," replied Starry Night, "The meal was amazing! Thank you for recommending it by the way."

"No problem," Cadence replied

"How's my boy?" asked Astral, "Did he do anything bad for you?"

"Oh, no no!! He wasn't any trouble at all. . He was a little shy at first, but soon warmed up to me. We had so much fun, and I made sure he ate a healthy dinner. But I tired him out, so I tucked him in, and now he's asleep. I must say, you've raised a wonderful colt."

"Why thank you," said Starry Night.

"Now," interjected Astral, "I do believe you'll be wanting your pay." He reached into his jacket to grab his wallet.

"Oh no, that's all right," said Cadence, "I can come back at the end of the week to pick it up."

"Oh....okay then." Astral looked to his wife, and she looked back at him. After a few moments, he turned back to Cadence, "Wait, so you're becoming our go-to foal sitter?"

"Hmm...........I'll have to think about it," said Cadence, "But I can definitively do this week. I would like to help you both though with him, if Aunt Celestia can help me cover the train fair."

"Excellent," said Starry Night, "We look forward to hearing from you." Cadence smiled, and gathered her belongings. She said her goodbyes and headed out the door.

Astral and Starry then headed towards the room of their son. Astral's hoof slowly turned the door nob and the door opening with a slight creak. The room was very dark, but Luna's moon out the window helped to brighten it up a little. The bed sheets were neatly tucked around the little colt, who was laying peacefully in his bed.

"Awe, he's sleeping," said his mother, "Let's not wake him up." All of a sudden, there came a slight yawn, and the little colt turning over to the other side of the bed in his sleep. Little hooves made their way up to his little eyes, and started to rub them. The eyeballs soon slowly opened up.

"Mommy......Daddy?"

"Hey sport," said Astral, "Sorry we woke you up."

"It's alright," Rainboom responded, still a little sleepy. The two adult ponies soon walked over to the bed where he was in, each on a side.

"Did you enjoy your time with Cadence honey?" asked his mother.

"Yes mommy, I did. But um.........mommy? Daddy?"

"What is it son?" asked his father.

"Are you guys going away tomorrow night?'

"Why son," asked Starry Night, "What is it?"

"I was wondering........can I play with Cadence tomorrow?"