A Birthday Wish

Truly, there is nothing better in the world than being a parent. The timeless journey of the parent is one of great turmoil and hardship yes, but it is also the path to such indescribably rapturous joy as to make even the most fearsome hurdles encountered along the way feel as insignificant as a passing breeze by comparison. So many incredible, heartwarming moments lie upon that path, moments more precious to those fortunate enough to experience them than all the treasures in the world. Looking upon the face of your child for the first time, hearing their first sputtering, infantile giggles, listening with awe as their unpracticed lips first call out to you, all memories to hold onto and cherish in one's heart for years and decades afterwards.

Although, perhaps the ache in your lower back after laboriously cleaning up after your daughter's seventh birthday party was one memory that you could afford to let go of.

So thought Bow Hothoof as the man carefully lowered his weary body down onto the plush seat of the little breakfast nook of his kitchen. The soft cloud within it felt heavenly on his hindquarters, eliciting a long, drawn-out sigh from him as he reclined against the back cushion. He slowly stretched out his legs under the kitchen table, leaned his head back against the wall behind him, and allowed his eyes to fall closed.

"You alright over there, sweetie?" came the sound of a delightful, feminine voice.

A soft chuckle made its way up and out of him as he raised his arms and rested them upon the back of the long, couch-like seat. "Never better," he said in his usual deep, easygoing tone.

"Did you finish in there?" spoke the feminine voice.

"Yep!" he said, his voice triumphant, yet weary. "Bow, one; living room, zero. Another victory for The Hothoof!" He punctuated this remark with the raise of a victorious fist.

Even with his eyes closed, he could still see her roll her eyes at the usage of his old football nickname. "My hero," she said, her smile clearly audible.

A moment later, he cracked his eyes, and allowed his head to roll to the side, letting him peer across the kitchen to where she stood. Windy Whistles was positioned before the kitchen sink, busily scrubbing bits of cake and ice cream from the pile of dirty plates beside her, one at a time. His eyes slowly wandered up and down her petite body, taking in her short, reddish-orange hair, her mustard yellow t-shirt, and the pair of blue-feathered wings folded neatly against her back. He especially paid attention to the worn jeans that snugly hugged her motherly hips, her perky little bottom, and those slender legs of hers. As he watched her, she began to sway slightly to the tune of a song she was humming, seemingly unaware of his eyes on her.

As he had learned many times over the years, however, his wife was much more perceptive than she let on. So it was that, seemingly unprovoked, she slowly glanced back over her shoulder, locking eyes with him.

"What are you looking at, Mr. Man?" said Windy, her teasing tone making it clear that she already knew the answer to her question.

Bow opened his eyes fully, taking in her slender, feminine face, the smattering of freckles on her cheeks, and the flirtatious sparkle in those big, magenta eyes of hers.

Despite having been caught in the act, Bow made no excuses for his wandering eyes. "I'm looking at my beautiful wife, that's what," he said confidently.

Windy had been expecting such a response from him, but that didn't keep her heart from fluttering at the sound of those words. Momentarily dropping the act, she allowed her own eyes to go on a little sightseeing trip of their own, making their way down from Bow's golden-brown eyes and the messy, rainbow-colored hair atop his head, past the strong, masculine chin covered in stubble, down to the matching masculine body that lay beneath. She took in the broad torso covered by a mint green t-shirt with a sports logo, the two muscular arms, and the long, thick legs covered by a pair of worn sweatpants.

Bow watched her, chuckling inwardly, letting her get a good look before interrupting. "Now, what are you looking at?" he said, smiling.

Windy's eyes darted back up to his, giving him an unapologetic look. After the two exchanged knowing smiles, Windy turned and faced forward again.

"I'm keeping an eye on our daughter," said Windy in a mock-indignant tone.

As she resumed washing up, Windy did indeed glance out of the window above the sink, as she had been doing frequently for a while. On the other side of that window, out on the neatly trimmed lawn of cloud before their home, she saw two little girls playing together. One of these girls, a girl with soft pink hair and wearing a pretty yellow dress that matched her wings, ran along the lawn, trying to keep up with the other. The second girl, the one who received the vast majority of Windy's attention, wore shorts and a white t-shirt that bore the image of a rainbow. This girl's sneaker-clad feet repeatedly kicked off the cloud beneath her as she zipped along on a brand-new cloudboard, her long, rainbow-colored hair trailing behind her as she went.

A loving smile appeared on Windy's lips as she watched her little Dashie go, silently remarking on how quickly her daughter had taken to her birthday present. She had heard that cloudboarding was easier to learn than the skateboarding that more earthbound people took part in, but she still found herself marveling at how effectively her daughter was maneuvering across the cloudy turf already. Of course, she shouldn't have been surprised, she thought to herself; Rainbow Dash had always been good at sports and games.

"And how is our little Dashie, then?" said Bow.

"Why, I think she's the best little cloudboarder in Cloudsdale!" said Windy proudly.

Bow laughed heartily. "That's my girl!" he said. "Rainbow Dash: number one cloudboarder in Cloudsdale. No, no, wait...number one cloudboarder in Equestria!"

"She sure is," chuckled Windy.

Windy watched as Rainbow Dash zipped about their front yard, smiling gleefully as her little friend Fluttershy giggled and ran along behind her. Rainbow had offered to let Fluttershy take a turn on the board, of course, as she had with some of her now-departed party guests, but the timid girl had declined, seemingly preferring to merely watch. Windy shrugged inwardly. If Fluttershy was having fun, then the girl was more than welcome to chase after Rainbow Dash until her parents arrived to pick her up.

Tearing her eyes away from her precious little girl, Windy glanced westward, looking over at the sun, which was growing ever-closer to the horizon. It wouldn't be long before the princess would end the day and bring forth the night, she estimated. She just hoped Fluttershy's parents arrived to pick her up soon; she knew the poor girl was afraid of the dark.

Thankfully, it was only a few minutes later that Windy saw the familiar couple making their way down the cloudy lane towards her house. She saw the scrawny little man with his little mustache and his little knitted sweater walking happily alongside his shorter, much plumper wife, the woman dressed in an adorable little shirt-and-skirt combo that Windy made a mental note to ask her about later. She also saw, being pushed along in a cute little stroller by his father, a toddler with beautiful, sunny-yellow hair.

Windy's smile faltered as she looked upon that little boy, watching him gaze at the world around him curiously.

Such a beautiful little boy. She's so lucky.

Her smile widened once more as she saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy catch sight of the approaching trio and run to meet them.

Not as lucky as me though. I already have the best child any mother could ask for.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy reached the couple and their son as they arrived at the end of the front yard. Windy watched as Rainbow greeted Fluttershy's parents enthusiastically, no doubt regaling them with tales of her birthday party. They were too far away for Windy to hear their conversation, but watching Rainbow's exuberant body language, she could easily imagine what her daughter was saying. Standing beside her, Fluttershy expressed her own satisfaction with the party, albeit in a much more reserved fashion.

Not long into the exchange, Rainbow Dash's attention was drawn to Fluttershy's little brother, whom she leaned in towards to examine. Together, she and Fluttershy fawned over the child, which giggled and grabbed at their hands, seemingly adoring Rainbow Dash's attention. Likewise, Rainbow adored the little tyke, smiling as widely at his babyish antics as she had when she had been on her cloudboard, maybe even more so.

She looks so happy.

Windy watched them, a bittersweet feeling coming over her as she gazed upon her daughter's smiling face. The feeling was momentarily forgotten when she saw Fluttershy's mother look up at the window, smile at her, and wave a hand in greeting. Windy smiled back at her warmly, returning the wave.

Eventually, Fluttershy's parents put an end to the merriment, no doubt taking notice of the darkening of the evening sky. After the group had said their goodbyes, Fluttershy rejoined her family, and the four of them began their walk back home. Rainbow Dash watched them for a few moments, giving them a parting wave, then turned and jogged happily back across the lawn, clutching her cloudboard lovingly.

A few moments later, the sound of the front door being opened and quickly shut again echoed through the house.

"Mommy!" came the loud, excited cry of the young Rainbow Dash. There came the clatter of a cloudboard being haphazardly deposited onto the tiled floor of the entryway, then the patter of two little feet as they hurtled towards the kitchen. "Mommy, Mommy!" A moment later, Rainbow appeared in the entryway to the kitchen, rounding the corner and hurtling straight on in with a wide smile on her face.

Windy had a mere fraction of a second to prepare herself before that little rainbow-haired lightning bolt flapped her wings, sprang into the air, and leapt right into her mother's arms. Fortunately, Windy was used to being on the receiving end of such enthusiastic displays of affection, and so was successfully able to catch her daughter, staggering only slightly from the impact.

"Did you see me?" cried Rainbow, hugging her mother with both her arms and legs. "Did you see me on my board? Did ya? Did ya?"

Recovering quickly, Windy smiled and returned the embrace, squeezing just as firmly. "I did see you," she chuckled. "I did see you, my little Dashie. You were so amazing out there. The best little cloudboarder in Cloudsdale. Isn't that right, Bow?"

"In Equestria!" Bow corrected.

At the sound of her father's voice, Rainbow's attention instantly shifted, the girl seemingly just realizing that he was in the room. Rainbow quickly released her mother, who allowed the girl to drop down onto her feet again. Her shoes had hardly touched the floor before Rainbow turned, zeroed in on her father, and ran towards him, performing yet another fluttering leap that sent her hurtling towards the broad expanse of his torso.

Unfortunately, Bow was not quite as quick on the draw as his wife, and so could do nothing to prepare himself before Rainbow's loving tackle hit home. He grunted as the collision forced the air from his lungs, but quickly recovered, smiling and chuckling as he listened to his daughter.

"Daddy, Daddy!" cried Rainbow as she wrapped her little arms around her father's thick neck. "Did you see me? Did you see how fast I was?"

"I sure did," he said, hugging her back. "You were amazing! Ha! They oughta let you join the Wonderbolts right now!" He had, of course, borne witness to his daughter's first ride on a cloudboard, taking an entire album's worth of pictures and shedding more than his fair share of liquid pride before begrudgingly departing to see to his parental duties.

Rainbow gasped, pulling back to look her father in the eye. "You mean it?" she said. "You really mean it?"

"Sure I do!" he said. "You're the fastest little filly in Cloudsdale!"

"In Equestria," Windy smugly corrected as she fixed a refreshing glass of water for her husband.

Bow shot his wife a look before Rainbow once again hugged him tightly, nuzzling him lovingly.

"Oh, it was so, so fun!" said Rainbow. "I'm gonna...I'm gonna do it every day! And I'll get really, really good! And then...and then the Wonderbolts will see me...and then...and then..." She trailed off, the girl's tongue unable to keep up with the myriad of fantasies no doubt running through her head.

Windy chuckled as she strode across the room towards her two favorite people in the world. "Take it easy, sweetie!" she said, reaching out and caressing her daughter's head. "You have a long time to practice for the Wonderbolts. Don't push yourself too hard now." She set the glass of water down on the table, within Bow's reach.

"Bah, she'll be fine!" said Bow, grasping the glass and raising it to his lips. He took a quick sip, then spoke again. "Besides, she probably used her birthday wish on that. They have to let her in now!"

Rainbow Dash suddenly pulled back, sitting up straight atop one of Bow's thighs. "Silly Daddy!" she said. "I didn't wish for that!"

Bow was taken aback. His daughter, the girl who wanted to fly with the Wonderbolts more than anything in the world, hadn't used her birthday wish on that? He quickly glanced over at Windy, whose perplexed expression mirrored the one on his own face.

"You...didn't wish to be a Wonderbolt?" asked Windy.

"Nope!" said Rainbow, shaking her head.

"Well then...what did you wish for when you blew out your candles?" ventured Bow.

Rainbow looked at Bow as if he had said something stupid. "Daddy," she said, "I can't tell you! It won't come true if I tell!"

Bow, however, was a persistent man, and so did not simply drop the subject. "Oh, come on!" he said, giving her a friendly smile. "You can tell us! We're your parents! It doesn't count if you tell your parents. Right, honey?"

"That's right!" said Windy, clearly just as interested in hearing her daughter's wish as Bow. "And we promise we won't tell anyone else. Isn't that right?"

"Right!" said Bow.

Rainbow looked back and forth between her parents, considering their words carefully. "You...You won't tell anybody?" she said.

"We won't," said Windy.

"Cross our hearts," said Bow.

"And...I'll still get it?" said Rainbow, visibly concerned at the potential consequences of revealing her secret desire.

"Dashie," said Bow firmly, "whatever you wished for, if Daddy can make it happen, then you'll get it! That's a Hothoof guarantee!" He flashed her a smile as he raised his glass to his lips once more.

Rainbow mulled over the proposal, her little face reflecting the deep thought she put into it. Eventually though, her lips stretched into a smile, and she looked up at her father as he drank deeply from his glass.

"Okay!" she said cheerfully. "I want...I want a little brother!"

The room was immediately filled with the sounds of violent hacking and sputtering as water simultaneously made its way both down and up Bow's throat. Meanwhile, Windy stood as still as a statue, a smile frozen on her lips, and her unseeing eyes staring off into nothingness. The sounds of her husband's distress quickly roused her, however, and Windy sprang into action, leaning Bow forward and planting a hearty smack on his back. Bow reflexively swallowed, clearing his airway, then took several heavy, gasping breaths. He slowly leaned back again, looking back to his daughter as he gradually caught his breath. Rainbow smiled back at him from where she sat on his lap, seemingly oblivious to the effect her words had had on her parents.

"D-Dashie," said Bow, "I...I don't think I heard you right."

"No," said Windy in an uncharacteristic monotone, "you heard her right."

Bow looked up at his wife, seeing the far-off look in her eyes, then back at Rainbow.

"You...You want a...little brother?" said Bow.

"Yep!" said Rainbow. "Just like Fluttershy has!"

A thousand and one questions raced through Bow's mind at hurricane speeds, chief among them being...

"Why?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Because having a little brother would be so fun!" said Rainbow. "We could play together, and fly together...and we could ride our cloudboards together! Oh, oh! We could join the Wonderbolts together too!" Her expression suddenly grew serious. "But it has to be a little brother, not a little sister! If I had a sister, she'd want to do dress-up and dollies, and I don't want to do that, so it has to be a little brother. Okay, Daddy?"

Bow listened intently to Rainbow, but her words seemed to him to be muffled and far-off, as if his ears were filled with cotton. Eventually, his flustered brain managed to produce a response, and his limp tongue slowly pushed it out of his mouth. "Uh...s-sweetie, a....a little brother is...well, that's quite an ask!" he said, throwing in a chuckle, although he did not know who or what it was directed at.

"Dashie," said Windy, visibly struggling to come up with a more helpful response to her daughter's request, "are you...are you sure that's what you...really want?"

"Uh-huh!" said Rainbow, looking up at her mother and nodding vigorously.

Windy pursed her lips, seeing clearly the conviction in her daughter's eyes. "Well...a little brother is...well, it's a...it's a difficult thing to...to get, sweetie. We might not be able to...I mean..." She trailed off, then sighed heavily. "Maybe you could...wish for something else?"

"No! I can't do that!" said Rainbow. "That's against the rules; you can't change your wish!" She looked back to Bow, her smile returning. "But that's okay! Daddy said he'd get it for me, and Daddy can do anything! Right, Daddy?"

Bow sat there, petrified by the sight of that little face, that face with the big, sparkling eyes and the wide, toothy smile brimming with the pure hope of a child. He sat there, unable to move or to speak, as the silent seconds awkwardly dragged on. He sat there, watching as the shadow of doubt slowly stretched across that face, and that beautiful little smile began to fade.

"You...You can do it...can't you?" said Rainbow.

If Bow had been a different sort of man, perhaps he would have given his daughter a very different sort of reply than he did. Perhaps he would have explained to his daughter, as best he could, why one could not simply conjure up a baby boy as easily as one could blow out a septet of birthday candles. Perhaps, if he had felt that his daughter was capable of understanding, he would have even explained why he and his wife had not already given her that which she desired a long time ago.

For better or worse, Bow was not a different sort of man. He was Bow Hothoof. He was the high school football champion of Cloudsdale. He was the husband to the most beautiful woman in the entire world. Most important of all, he was the father to the most amazing, the most incredible, and the most perfect little girl in the entire universe, a girl who meant more to him than his own life, and a girl whose smile he would have climbed the highest mountains or battled the fiercest monsters to protect.

Bow's gaping mouth set into a hard line, then curled into a smile. "Yes," he said quietly, yet firmly. "Yes, I can."

The effect was immediate. Rainbow Dash's smile returned, wider than ever, and her eyes sparkled like the brightest of stars. He had only a moment to savor the indescribable joy that smile gave him before the one it belonged to launched herself at him yet again, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" squealed Rainbow, her body trembling from excitement.

Rainbow's infectious joy quickly spread to Bow, who wrapped his arms around her and chuckled softly. He planted a kiss on his daughter's neck as she began babbling about all of the hundreds of things she would do with her little brother once he arrived. He listened for a few moments, caring not so much for the words as for the happy little heart that inspired them. Eventually, he looked up at Windy, and found the beauty of that moment suddenly forgotten.

He had never seen such a look on his wife's face before, not in all of the years they had been married, not even in the many years they had known each other before then. He had seen her angry. He had seen her sad. He had seen her afraid. He had seen her disappointed. He had seen all of those on her face before, just as he saw them then, them and a dozen other emotions he could not have begun to put words to. That face struck him to the core, shocking him from his joyous stupor like a plunge into a frozen lake.

"Rainbow Dash," said Bow, still looking at Windy. "I think...it's time we get ready for bed."

Rainbow paused in her fantasizing, leaning back to look Bow in the face. "Aww...really?" she groaned.

"Yes, Rainbow," said Bow, looking back at her.

"But I'm not even..." began Rainbow, trailing off as a great yawn forced her mouth wide for a few moments. "I'm not sleepy."

"Rainbow Dash," said Windy, her voice soft, but tinged with an unmistakable tone of authority. "Bedtime."

Both father and daughter looked up at her, seeing the neutral expression on her face; only the father, however, saw through that mask.

"Aww...okay," said Rainbow. She wriggled her way off of Bow's lap and back down onto the kitchen floor.

"Go get your jammies on," said Windy. "We'll be right up."

"Okay," said Rainbow as she slowly made her way out of the kitchen, rubbing her tired eyes.

They watched her go, and when the last strand of multicolored hair had disappeared around the corner, Bow looked back up at Windy. She did not meet his gaze.

"Windy, I..." Bow began.

Windy opened her mouth as if to speak, her trembling lips forming the beginnings of words, but only silence flowed from them. Finally, she closed her mouth again, clamped her eyes shut, then swiftly walked out of the kitchen.