Author's Note

Another chapter! Yay! I actually finished this last night, so technically I guess that makes three chapters in one day.

I enjoyed this chapter. Very fun and cute. I hope you guys like it too.

Enjoy!

Golden Slumbers Fill Your Eyes

Spitfire woke up around an hour later, and momentarily forgot where she was, until she felt a slight movement in her lap. She looked down and saw Rainbow Dash laying there, and then she remembered. She moved only slightly. The weight in her lap had numbed her legs and flank. Rainbow stirred, but did not wake, and she was glad. Rainbow Dash needed a lot of rest for what she was going through. She was feeling peckish, but she did not leave. She wanted to stay. And stay she did. She stayed until Rainbow woke about half an hour later. Rainbow squirmed as she yawned and blinked open her eyes.

“Hey, Baby Bolt.” She said.

Rainbow smiled tiredly and snuggled in deeper to Spitfire. “Hi Mama.”

“You feeling okay?” She asked.

“Mmmm…” She mumbled. It looked to Spitfire like she didn’t feel up to talking yet. But that was fine with her. She thought about what to do next, and then, the idea came to her.

“How about I tell you a story?”

Rainbow nodded and listened.

“Once upon a time, there was a caterpillar. And the caterpillar ate and ate, until it was finally ready to become a butterfly. But first, it had to become a chrysalis. And as it hung there, it thought about it’s life. It seemed to the caterpillar that all there was to life was to crawl and eat. That caterpillar never saw life beyond it’s leaf. Didn’t think there was anything else to it. Until the chrysalis began to break. The caterpillar had turned into a butterfly. And for the first time, as it came out of it’s cocoon, it saw it’s colorful wings. And it realized that it could be so much more than what it thought it could be. The butterfly started to fly, reaching higher than it ever had in it’s life, as it stretched toward the sun. It flew away, and started a beautiful new life among the flowers and trees. And it lived happily ever after. The end.”

Rainbow smiled and giggled, seemingly a little bit more awake. “Pwetty.”

Spitfire whispered, “You want to know a secret?”

Rainbow nodded. “Uh huh.”

Spitfire whispered in her ear, “Mama’s the butterfly.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened. “Weawwy?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Mama pwetty buttewfwy.” She said. Spitfire grinned.

“Thank you, sweetie.” She said.

“Mmmm…” She said, before smacking her lips.

Spitfire reached down to the bag by the bed and pulled out Rainbow’s pacifier. If she wasn’t up for talking, she figured this would be good. By the looks of things, she was pretty close to putting her hoof in her mouth again. She accepted the pacifier, and suckled happily.

Spitfire wasn’t really sure what to do after that. She sat there, just enjoying the quiet. Rainbow too seemed content with this, although Rainbow was eventually moved from her lap and onto the bed again, simply so Spitfire could move her legs again and get her circulation back. For a while there was quiet, interspersed with occasional growls from Spitfire’s stomach. Then, a knock came at the door. Rainbow hid her pacifier and pulled up the covers, and froze, while Spitfire put on her Captain face.

“Who’s there?” She barked.

“It’s me.” Said Soarin.

“Come in.” She said, shoulders sagging in relief.

Soarin poked his head inside. “She awake?”

Rainbow waved. “Hi.”

Soarin stepped in. “How are you doing?” He asked, before shutting the door.

Rainbow easily slipped into her little headspace again. “I good, bubba. Tiwed.”

Soarin nodded, smiling a bit at the term of endearment, then turned to Spitfire. “Any serious injuries?”

“Just a minor concussion.” She replied. Soarin breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness. ‘Lane is with the others in the mess hall. He’s pretty worried. Everypony else is too, actually.”

“And you’re not there because…?”

Soarin shrugged. “Wanted to check in.”

“Alright. Can you keep her company while I get something to eat?”

“Yeah, sure. No problem.”

“Thanks.” She turned to Rainbow. “I’ll be back soon. Soarin will keep you company, okay?”

“‘Kay, Mama.”

Soarin saw the glint in her eyes as Rainbow called her that. But, like a shooting star, it quickly faded. Spitfire nodded, looking at Soarin once before she left. She shot him a look that he interpreted as “Take good care of her or you’ll have bathroom duty for a month”, and he was good with that. Spitfire exited, shut the door, and Soarin turned to Rainbow Dash.

“So, what have you and your Mama been up to, Little Bit?” He asked.

“She give me food an’ sing me song, an’ wead me story. An’ cuddwes.” She said.

“Oh, that sounds fun.”

“Uh huh.”

Soarin paused for a second. Then: “Anything you wanna do?” She asked.

Rainbow pondered this for a minute. “Can we pway?”

“Hmmm… not sure what we can play from a hospital bed, but we can sure try!” She smiled.

“‘Kay!” She cheered.

“Oooh, I have an idea. Let’s see who can make the silliest face! First one to laugh wins!”

Rainbow smirked, and for a moment she looked like her adult self. “I gon’ win.”

“We’ll just see about that.” He said.

Soarin pulled down his eyes and made a fish face. Rainbow responded by smushing in her cheeks, sticking out her tongue and went cross-eyed. The funny face war was on. Both parties did their best faces to one another, but in the end, Soarin folded. Rainbow had managed to get one leg behind her head, mouth agape, tongue out, eyes crossed, and other back hoof in her cheek. Soarin bust out laughing, and Rainbow broke her pose and started clapping.

“I win! I win!” She cheered.

When Soarin composed himself, he conceded. “Alright, alright, guess you got me, kiddo.”

“We pway ‘gain?”

“Sure.”

They made funny faces, they played peek-a-boo, and they had a tickle fight or two, though it was definitely was toned down from what it could have been because of Rainbow’s condition. When Spitfire came back, they were still laughing. She smiled to herself and nodded.

“Did you have fun?” She asked Rainbow.

“Uh huh! Bubba an’ me made siwwy faces. An’ did peek-a-boo, an’ tickwes.” She said.

Spitfire smiled and looked at Soarin. “Sounds like you’ve got a good big brother.”