From the Mouths of Fillies
Rainbow Dash is the coolest foalsitter ever!
I would know, ‘causelots of ponies have tried foalsitting for us lately, ever since the day Miss Twilight picked me up from school and said that Mommy was sick. Normally I’m not supposed go home with anypony other than Mommy, but Miss Twilight had been teaching me about magic, so I knew she was okay. We went back to the library and she said that we could have a slumber party, just me and her and my big sister Sparkler. Oh, and Spike too!
Everything started off okay, ‘cause she wrote to Princess Cadence about foalsitting. Princess Cadence was her sister-inlaw, which is kinda weird—I know what an outlaw is, but I’ve never heard of an inlaw before. I think that means she’s some sort of sheriff or something. When I told her that, Miss Twilight laughed and said she’d tell me what an inlaw was later.
She never did, though. I asked her how Mommy got sick, and Spike tried to explain to me that she has a can-sir, whatever that is. I think he was gonna say something else too, but Miss Twilight stopped him. I guess he forgot to do something, ‘cause wow she was mad at him! After that, she told me that Mommy was sick and getting better in the hospital.
It was kinda scary, waking up without having Mommy around. It wasn’t too bad, though, ‘cause Miss Twilight made us pancakes for breakfast, and later Rainbow Dash came to take us to see Mommy. She said she’d Pinkie-Promised to take us to visit her in the hospital every day, and we did!
I miss having Mommy home, but Rainbow Dash is really cool about foalsitting while she’s sick. She moved down to our house while Mommy is getting better. I thought it would be cool to stay at Rainbow Dash’s place, but we can’t ‘cause it’s made of clouds. That’s why she stays with us.Sometimes me and Sparkler have slumber parties at other ponies’ houses though, ‘cause Rainbow Dash would be busy. It was okay, though, ‘cause I like slumber parties! We stayed at Sugarcube Corner and Carousel Boutique, and even Sweet Apple Acres!
They were all nice enough I guess, and hanging out with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom is always fun—but Rainbow Dash was the coolest. She spent the most time with us, and she was the only one who stayed with us at our house. After a few weeks she brought over her Wonderbolts stuff for me to play with! She brought over some books too, but I told her I don’t like books. She laughed at that and said she used to be the same way.
Sometimes Scootaloo would get to come over too, and that was really fun! We’d play Battle Clouds and talk about the Rainbow Dash Fan Club and even eat s’mores! Well, we only ate s’mores once. The floor wasn’t too burned after the candle tipped over, but Rainbow Dash told us that we were only supposed to make campfires outside.
I just don’t know what went wrong.
Mommy laughed when I told her about that. It made me feel better, ‘cause I know it made Mommy feel better too. She always says laughter is the best medicine. She always smiles when we came in to see her. She asks us about our day, how I was doing in school, if anypony had stopped by, and how Sparkler’s coltfriend was doing (Ick! Cooties!). Then we play board games, tell stories, and eat the muffins Mister Cake always made for us.
The last few times we came to visit had been different, though. Mommy was really tired, and some of her feathers and the hair in her mane were falling out. Then one day when we came to visit, her mane was totally gone! She was still happy to see us and asked us about our day, but Miss Redheart came in and said something to Rainbow Dash, and we had to go home early. I didn’t wanna go, but Mommy said Rainbow Dash was the boss until she got better.
But I didn’t leave before I gave Mommy a get-better hug. Pinkie Pie told me that those work for everything, even on cooties, so it was a good thing that Sparkler made her hug really long.
We had to wait for a bit yesterday. Miss Redheart talked to Rainbow Dash for a whole ten minutes before she let us see Mommy. Ten minutes! I asked her later what she’d been talking about, but she just said something about “grown-up stuff.” I’ve heard that a lot lately. I tried listening in on them talking about grown-up stuff once, but it was boring!
It was okay in the end, though, ‘cause yesterday was really cool! Usually we bring presents to Mommy, but this time she had presents for us! Miss Rarity was waiting with her, and they had necklaces for me and Sparkler. Miss Rarity told us she had made them by putting a grey feather on a chain for each of us. They were really pretty feathers. Rainbow Dash must’ve thought our necklaces were pretty too, ‘cause she stared at them really long before taking Miss Rarity into the hall. They didn’t have to go, even though Rainbow Dash said they did.
Mommy pulled me and Sparkler really closeand said that what she was going to tell us was important, so I listened extra-carefully. “I want you to take good care of these for me, okay? And always keep them with you. These necklaces are very special.”
“Everything you give us is special,” I told her.
“Thank you, Muffin. But these are my pinfeathers; they’re extra-special. They let me stay with you, even when you can't be with me.”
“So they’re like magic?”
Mommy nodded. “Yes. It’s pegasus magic. A piece of me, for you.”
We put on our necklaces and showed them to Mommy, and she looked really happy to see how pretty they made us.
Somepony knocked at the door, and Rainbow Dash came back in and sat down with us. We made room for her, and Mommy pulled her close and talked to her for a bit.
“...Dinky likes everything, but banana-nut muffins are her favorite. And she’ll need her mane brushed every morning until she learns how to use her magic—tell Twilight I said thanks again for helping her.”
“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Mommy was quiet for a bit. “I ... I know Sparkler was looking for a job earlier. Do you think that’ll be enough to help you—”
“Don’t worry about that.” Rainbow Dash made her hug extra-tight. “I’ve got a lot saved up that I wasn’t really using anyway.”
“Okay. Th-thank you so much—”
“Comes with being a godmom, right?” Rainbow Dash hugged her. “Don’t worry, I’ll take ‘em from here.”
Mommy let go of Rainbow Dash and looked at me and Sparkler. I giggled as her left eye slowly drifted up.
“Mommy, your eye’s being silly again!”
Sparkler must have thought it was funny too, ‘cause she was shaking when Mommy hugged us both real tight. Mommy got real tired after that, and Miss Redheart came back in and said we had to go home early. I didn’t want to go just yet, but Rainbow Dash wrapped her wings around me and Sparkler.
“C’mon girls. Let’s head home.”
We passed Miss Rarity in the hall on the way out. She didn’t look so good. Her eyes were all red and she sounded stuffy. I asked if she was okay, and she said something about aller-jeez. I asked if they were contagious—I couldn’t see Mommy if I caught aller-jeez. She said no, but Rainbow Dash took us home just to be safe.
Sparkler was really quiet when we got outside. She was looking at Mommy’s necklace, and I think she was catching Miss Rarity’s aller-jeez ‘cause she sounded really stuffy too. I talked to her and Rainbow Dash about how pretty our necklaces were, and Rainbow Dash said that they were really special too. She said pinfeathers were an air-loom, whatever that was, and that I should take really good care of it. I asked her if air-looms were what made pegasi fly, but I don’t think she understood what I meant. Maybe I should ask Miss Twilight instead.
We stopped by Sugarcube Corner to pick up dinner ‘cause Rainbow Dash can’t cook very good. I know it’s not nice to say, but she said it first, so that makes it okay, right? When we got our dinner, Mrs. Cake gave us some cupcakes for free. How cool is that? Rainbow Dash said we’d save some for Mommy, ‘cause she’d really like those!
Miss Fluttershy was there too, so I showed her my new necklace. I guess aller-jeez are contagious, ‘cause she got them real bad after she told me how pretty it was.
Sparkler went to bed when we got home, so it was just me and Rainbow Dash for a while. We played a few games of Battle Clouds, but I kept getting distracted by my new necklace. It was okay, though—she was really bad at Battle Clouds! It was always real easy to rain on her Cumulus, and she always put her Weather Pony in Sky Five. Mommy’s friend, Miss Cloud Kicker, came by a little later, and she played Battle Clouds with me too. She was better than Rainbow Dash, but I still won. It was a lot of fun. I put the game away when we were done, and Rainbow Dash set it by the door when it was bedtime so Mommy and I could play when we went to see her.
I got up real early today, and it looked like it would be even cooler than yesterday. Rainbow Dash said I didn’t have to go to school—and that meant we could go visit Mommy all day long! She helped me brush my mane so I’d look extra-pretty. Sparkler usually does it for me ‘cause Mommy went to work before we got up, but it looked like she had aller-jeez really bad this morning. I took the cupcakes out of the icebox (Sparkler wanted to carry them, but I didn’t want her to get aller-jeez all over them), and Rainbow Dash grabbed the box for Battle Clouds under her wing on our way out.
Miss Redheart met us inside when we got to the hospital. She started talking to Rainbow Dash, and I rolled my eyes. Great; more grown-up stuff. I didn’t wanna wait to see Mommy! Why was signing some dumb piece of paper so important? We could tell Miss Redheart we came to see Mommy on our way out. But no, Rainbow Dash said we had to check in at the front desk first. I blew a raspberry.
“Wait just a sec, Dinky,” Rainbow Dash said.
I looked at Sparkler, but she didn’t look back at me. She was tapping her hoof a lot. Maybe somepony left gum on the floor? I sighed and stomped my hoof. I wanted to see Mommy!
Rainbow Dash frowned at me. “Cool it, kiddo.” She sighed. “Sorry, I’m sorry, that was—look. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but this really is important, okay?”
It wasn’t important—what was important was that I wanted to see Mommy now! I gave Sparkler the cupcakes and told them I was gonna go to the potty. I’d have to say sorry later for fibbing, but that was okay. I went into the fillies’ room and waited for a bit. Then I pushed the door open and sneaked out. Pinkie Pie had taught me how to be sneaky when me and Sparkler spent the night at Sugarcube Corner, and I was really good at it. We’d been here enough that I knew just where to go.
I couldn’t find a cardboard box like Pinkie Pie said I should use, so I had to be extra-careful sneaking by the front. I didn’t see Rainbow Dash, but Sparkler was still there. The plants made sneaking really easy though, so it didn’t take that long. I thought Sparkler saw me when I was about halfway there—she breathed in really loud, but when I looked at her she wasn’t even facing me. I guess Sparkler’s aller-jeez were back, ‘cause Miss Redheart pulled her into an extra-long hug.
Careful, Miss Redheart! You could catch those aller-jeez!
Sneaking wasn’t hard after that. The hospital is usually pretty empty, which was kinda scary sometimes ‘cause your hoofsteps sound like somepony was sneaking up on you. But this time, I was the one sneaking! I’d have to tell Pinkie Pie about it later.
I almost got caught again when I got to Mommy’s room. I was reaching for the door when it opened itself! Scary, huh? It’s okay, though, it was just Miss Tenderheart. I pressed myself against the wall like Pinkie Pie taught me, and it worked! Miss Tenderheart didn’t see me at all! I guess somepony had spilled something though, ‘cause she looked at the floor the whole time!
I wondered if Mommy’s necklace helped hide me. She said it wasmagic.
Miss Tenderheart breathed in really loudly, like Sparkler did. Wow, these aller-jeez were everywhere! I waited until she went down the hall and went in to see Mommy.
She was asleep when I went in, so I closed the door behind me to keep the light out. I was a little sad she wasn’t up yet, but it was okay. Sparkler still had the cupcakes, and we could play Battle Clouds later. It wasn’t too dark, but I tried to remember what Pinkie Pie told me about sneaking anyway. Walk slow so you don’t run into things; always keep the Sneaky Theme in your head, but don’t hum it—humming isn’t sneaky; and breathe softly to minim- minu- min-uh-mize any sound.
I have trouble with long words, so Pinkie Pie told me to think about it like this: I had to be vewy qwiet, like a wascally wabbit. She also told me to say it just like that. Pinkie Pie is a little weird sometimes. But she was cool, too—not as cool as Mommy or Rainbow Dash, but still pretty neat.
Pinkie Pie also tried to teach me about her Pinkie Sense when we were staying at Sugarcube Corner, but I could only remember some of it: twitchy tail means something’s falling, itchy neck means somepony’s watching you, and creaky knee means you’re about to step on something sharp. Oh yeah, and a wall to the face means you’ve found the wall.
I didn’t need the Pinkie Sense too much, though, ‘cause I knew where everything was. I’d been here a lot. Mommy had her own room, so the bed wasn’t very far from the door. I jumped up onto it, but I had to scramble my back hooves before I got all the way up. My hooves banged against the side of the bed a little bit, which wasn’t okay—I remembered how tired Mommy had been yesterday and I didn’t wanna wake her up.
She had her blanket over her head, so I took it off for her. I had that happen to me a few times with my blanket, Favorite, and it was really hard to breathe like that! Moving the blanket got some light on her face. Maybe that’s why she had it there? It’s always hard to sleep when you’ve got a light shining in your eyes. Mommy must have been tired, ‘cause the light didn’t wake her up. I think she was having a bad dream, ‘cause she was frowning and looked real sad. It’s okay, Mommy, I’m here now. I gave her a quick hug.
Wow she was cold! Mommy must be really sick. I gave her another get-better hug and looked for an extra blanket. I saw one in the closet, but I still couldn’t do lev- levitato- levit—floating magic yet, so I had to get off the bed to get it. I tossed it up on the edge of the bed and got back up, banging my hooves against the frame again. I said sorry to Mommy, but it was okay ‘cause she was still sleeping. I spread the blanket out over her, but left enough room for me to climb under the covers and snuggle up against her. It was kinda hard—Mommy’s legs were really stiff, and my necklace almost got caught on them at one point. It wasn’t too bad, though; it felt like an extra-tight get-better hug. She needed lotsa those so she could come home.
It was nice snuggling next to Mommy. Somepony had turned off those things around the bed. One time we came, Mommy said that they were really noisy and made it hard to sleep, but Miss Redheart said they had to stay on. I guess she’d changed her mind.
I heard somepony walking outside in the hall. It sounded like Rainbow Dash, but it was kinda weird—like she was breathing really heavy after flying for a long time. But that didn’t make any sense, she’d been with me and Sparkler all morning. The door opened, and Rainbow Dash came in.
“H-hey Ditzy,” she said. “It’s me—y’know, Rainbow. I’ve been keeping an eye on the girls for you . . . um—I want you to know I’ll keep doing that, okay? Like I said yesterday, I’ll take care of 'em.” She looked . . . sad? Scootaloo said that Rainbow Dash only gets sad when she’s really scared, but Scootaloo would call me a liar if I ever told her how scared Rainbow Dash must have been right then. I didn’t know what she was scared of, though. Catching aller-jeez?
“Hi Rainbow Dash,” I said really quietly, so Mommy wouldn’t wake up. Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide.
“Dinky?” she whispered. Rainbow Dash made an ‘o’ shape with her mouth, and she looked really sad at Mommy. I didn’t get why. I looked up at Mommy too, but I didn’t see anything. I said sorry for being sneaky and fibbing about it.
“It’s not that, kiddo, it’s so-some-” Rainbow Dash tried to say something else, but for some reason she had to stop for a minute and breathe real deep. She laid her head really close to me. “Look, Dinky, I—um . . . it’s gonna b-be okay, all right? You and Sparkler are gonna be okay, I’m gonna—”
“Shh.” I snuggled closer. “Mommy’s sleeping.”
