Parenthood

“Scootawoo’s gonna foalsit us! Scootawoo’s gonna foalsit us! Scootawoo’s gonna foalsit us!”

A young pegasus filly bounced across a light blue cloud floor around a navy blue table in the middle of the room, repeating that line over and over again. The pegasus filly bounced around with the world’s largest smile on her red face, her red, orange, and yellow mane bouncing along with her, and her tiny red wings fluttering.

At the Rainbow Dash was trying to eat her supper, a tomato sandwich and some carrots, despite her daughter’s constant babbling and the clop sound the white slippers she was wearing made when she touched the ground, but she was having difficulty. With a sigh the cyan pegasus delved deep into her last shard of patience and tried to keep on eating. That sigh was noticed by her husband Soarin’ to her left, her adopted daughter Scootaloo to her right, and her son, a light blue pegasus colt with a blue, green, and violet mane, across from her, who all looked at her.

“Corona Flare,” Rainbow Dash said as calmly as she could to her daughter. “Yes Scootaloo is going to be foalsitting you. We get it. Can you please come back to the table now and eat your supper? The faster you and Cool Breeze get done with your supper, the faster Soarin’ and I can leave and the faster Scootaloo can start.”

Corona Flare stopped her bouncing and looked up to her mother. “Alright, fine,” Coronal Flare said in a disappointed voice. She trotted around the table until she reached her place at the table, to Cool Breeze’s right, and sat down.

“She does know Scootaloo lives with us right Soarin’?” Rainbow Dash asked her husband in a soft voice.

“Yeah but you know why she’s so excited,” Soarin’ told her. “Scootaloo’s usually out of the house for either school or friends but now she’s pretty much forced to stay with the kids. And you know they love her. Just look at Cool Breeze.”

Cool Breeze, who was normally strangely quiet and reserved for his age, was smiling while he ate. It wasn’t as large as Corona Flare’s smile but compared to Cool Breeze’s normal neutral face it said a lot. It was easy for his parents to tell he was really looking forward for the night.

Scootaloo finished off her supper first a few minutes later. Both of the adults noticed this and nodded to Rainbow Dash’s right in the direction of the living room, and Scootaloo figured that meant meet them there. Scootaloo pushed herself away from the table and did a one eighty to walk into the living room.

Rainbow Dash’s living room was a medium sized room that had a good view of Ponyville from the windows across the room. Also across the room there was a small bed where their pet tortoise, Tank, spends most of his time when he’s not out in the town. To the right was a blue couch for three ponies, on the other side that were two chairs, one red and the other green, that went between the door to the main entryway. In most of the corners there were wooden cabinets. There was a yellow and violet chair on the side with the door to the kitchen. In the center sat an oval shaped rainbow ringed rug.

Scootaloo walked over to the couch and sat on there to wait for Rainbow Dash and Soarin’. It took the two a few more minutes to get there, with Scootaloo always being done for a while at suppers, leaving her sitting there bored for a while. The teenage pegasus wished she was out hanging with her friend, or even her coltfriend, but she promised she would do this for them so she was going to do this.

Eventually Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ finally walked into the living room. Soarin’ proceeded to pack up for the night while Rainbow Dash gave Scootaloo her instructions for the night.

“Alright Scoots, here’s the deal,” Rainbow Dash said.  “Just keep a close eye on Cool Breeze and Corona Flare. If they get hungry I’m pretty sure you can feed them, and if their thirsty get a drink for them, but keep an eye on them. Especially Corona.”

“Don’t worry, I will,” Scootaloo said.

“Alright,” Rainbow Dash said. “Make sure both of them get to bed at a good time. I.E. not when you go to bed.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it,” Scootaloo said with a wave of her hoof. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got this. You two go and have fun.”

“Are you sure?” Soarin’ asked.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Scootaloo said.

Corona Flare, now finished with her dinner, rushed into the living room at speeds that would make Rainbow Dash proud and ran in between Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash to look at Scootaloo. She had a large smile on her face, a face filled with anticipation for the night ahead.

“See there you go,” Scootaloo said with a small smile on her face. “Something tells me I’ll have no problem keeping an eye on her.”

“Alright,” Rainbow Dash said. “If you’re so sure.”

“Go on guys!” Scootaloo said. “I’ve got this.”

Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash both took one last look at Scootaloo, Corona Flare, and Cool Breeze who was just walking in the living room, before nodding to each other.

“Well…see ya,” Rainbow Dash said.

“By mommy!” Corona Flare said. “By daddy!”

“By mom. By dad,” their Cool Breeze said as he plopped down on the couch next to Scootaloo.

“By kids,” Soarin’ said.

With the goodbyes out of the way, Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash both left the house for their date.

~

Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ started their date with a nice, slow, easy fly together side by side in the orange lit sky over a flat grassy plane in the direction of the town. They were very close together, so much that their wings had to beat within rhythm of each other to avoid smacking each other with a feathery hit. It was something nice and easy, something not too strenuous, and usually something the two would do just to relax.

“Hey Dashie?” Soarin’ asked.

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and faced her husband. “Yeah Soarin’?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Anyplace you specifically want to go?” Soarin’ asked.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes again and let in a large breath. “You know me,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile. “Anyplace cool is fine by me.”

“I thought you’d say that,” Soarin’ said with a smile. “The sandwich shop?”

“The sandwich shop,” Rainbow Dash agreed.

Soarin’ looked around for a sandwich shop he knows very well on the outskirts of Ponyville and adjusted his flight path a bit to the left to go there. Rainbow Dash, without opening her eyes and without Soarin’ telling her anything, proceeded to change her direction in sync with Soarin’. For a few more minutes the two flew slowly through the sky until they both began their decent into the outskirts of Ponyville.

The sound of hooves on cobblestone sounded as they both made their landing a trotted a few feet in front of them from inertia. At that point Rainbow Dash finally opened her magenta eyes and looked to her left to the small wooden sandwich shop to her left, just past where Soarin’ was also standing. With nopony else standing in their path the two walked straight into the sandwich shop.

The sandwich shop was very small, rustic shop, with only a dozen tables lining around the shop, all of which were empty when Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ walked in. It was also not a very well-known shop—being that it just got started a few years ago—which the two pegasus liked about it.  It was a place where the two were able to go without having to worry about crowds or fans surrounding them. It was also the only place that would just let them sit there and talk, mostly because they knew the owner so well.

“Hey Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash!” the owner, a white earth pony stallion with a cream colored mane, called out in a gruff gravelly voice from behind the counter on the right side. “You here ta talk or eat?”

“Talk for now!” Rainbow Dash called back. “We just had supper! We might eat something later though.”

“Alright,” the owner said. “Just make sure ta holler when you need somethin’.”

Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ both walked to the tables in the back corner of the room and sat down there, each on the other side of the table. Rainbow Dash sat back in her red wooden chair, her back going as far as she could and she once again closed her eyes. The chairs weren’t the most comfortable places in the world, and certainly not as comfortable as a cloud, but that didn’t seem to bother Rainbow Dash.

“You know, it’s pretty nice of him to let us do this,” Soarin’ said. “Most restaurants don’t let ponies loiter.”

“Yeah it is pretty cool of him,” Rainbow Dash replied without opening her eyes. “But he can say that his restaurant is frequently used by the Wonderbolts. So us being here kinda helps him out as well.”

“Yeah I guess,” Soarin’ said. “You know, it’s funny. Most ponies would assume would assume we would go to Sugarcube Corner because we know Pinkie. Not some random sandwich shop.”

“Yeah they would but…well I love Pinkie, but she can’t ever take the hint that the two of us want to be left alone. She’d bug us the entire time and I want to just be alone and talk. Plus I’ve got better things to do then keep an eagle eye on you to make sure you don’t eat too much.”

“I don’t eat too much!” Soarin’ said quickly in his defense.

Rainbow Dash smiled before opening up her eyes to glare directly at Soarin’. “And those five pie containers I found hidden were what then?” Rainbow Dash asked. Soarin’ stuttered for a few seconds as he obviously tried to find an explanation for it, which Rainbow Dash chuckled at.

“Soarin’, I’m your wife,” Rainbow Dash told him, as if he needed the reminder. “You can’t hide anything from me. By the way, in case you were wondering where most of the pieces went well…the rest of the Wonderbolt crew thank you.”

Soarin’ rolled his eyes, hurt but expecting nothing less from her. She did care about his health so he had nothing to really complain about. Even if she could be very annoying at times with it.

“Alright I get it,” Soarin’ said.

“Still, kinda glad Rumble started taking Scootaloo to this place for their dates,” Rainbow Dash said. “It give us a nice place to chat too.”

“Just so long as they don’t end their dates the same way we do,” Soarin’ mumbled, trying to keep it to himself, but Rainbow Dash heard him loud and clear.

“You don’t trust them do you?” Rainbow Dash asked, her voice not giving away her thoughts.

“Scootaloo I trust, but that colt…” Soarin’ said. “Well…I made sure he understands how I feel.”

~

Rumble was at the base of Soarin’ and Rainbow Dash’s house, bringing Scootaloo back home after their date. Soarin’ watched from high above as the two parted, and waited for Scootaloo to fly into the house. Once Scootaloo was in and before Rumble flew away on his own Soarin’ quickly flew down to meet him.

Rumble took a quick step back out of surprise when Soarin’ landed loudly on the soft grass. He didn’t waste any time getting real close to Rumble with as much of an intimidating look as possible. Considering Soarin’ was usually calm seeing him so deadly serious had a good effect on Rumble.

“Alright Rumble, since you and Scootaloo have been getting pretty close lately I want to tell you something,” Soarin’ said threateningly. “Now you know I’m a pretty relaxed guy. I don’t like to be angry. I like to be relaxed. But I’m warning you now, if you hurt Scootaloo in any way or push her to do something she is not ready for, then I will get angry. And you don’t want to know what I’ll do when I’m angry. Do you understand me?”

A loud gulp could be heard from the teenage pegasus as he nodded.

“Good,” Soarin’ said as he flew back into his house leaving Rumble all alone.

~

Rainbow Dash laughed for a few seconds at Soarin’s story. “Dang Soarin’,” she chuckled. “Trying to scare off the poor colt?”

“Well somepony has to do something,” Soarin said. “I’m sorry Dashie, but I feel you’ve been way too lax with those two.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “You know, Applejack’s been telling me the same thing for a while now. Actually, I’ve heard that a lot. But you know what, no matter everypony says, I trust Scootaloo. Maybe I’m wrong to, but this is my choice. I remember always hating when my parents didn’t trust me and I want to be different. I trust Scootaloo to make the right decisions.”

“Besides,” Rainbow Dash continued with a chuckle, “Scootaloo isn’t the type to let anypony push her around.”

“I…sure hope so,” Soarin’ said. “I don’t want to see Scootaloo make a mistake she’s going to regret.”

“Don’t worry Soar,” Rainbow Dash said. “Scootaloo’s a smart filly. Unlike a certain pony we know.”

“Anyways,” Soarin’ said quickly to change the subject before it went in the direction he knew it was going to go. Unfortunately, Soarin’ had no clue what he was going to change the subject too which caused him to look like a fool.

“Uhh…” Soarin’ continued trying to change the subject. “So…I like how patient you were with Corona earlier. You’ve really come far, you know that?”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Well, thanks Soar,” Rainbow Dash said. “Not like I had had much choice. Hard not to gain some patience when you adopt a kid and have two foals.”

“And you don’t regret it one bit, do you?” Soarin’ asked.

“Nah, I don’t,” Rainbow Dash said. “Sure having foals is much harder then I seriously expected, but I’m still glad we did it. Even if it’s difficult sometimes. Even if I spend most of my time worrying about them. Especially…”

Rainbow Dash lowered her head and Soarin’ know exactly what she was going to say next.

“Corona Flare,” Soarin’ finished for her. “You’re still worried about her, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash said softly.

“So what’s wrong?” Soarin’ asked. “Corona’s healthy, she’s relatively happy.”

“…I’ve heard some rumors,” Rainbow Dash started.

“So what else is new?” Soarin’ asked chuckling. “I figured you’ve ignored the rumors ponies make about us when they’ve got nothing better to do.” His smile faded though when his attempt at humor didn’t get his wife to smile.

“Yeah, I stopped listening to the rumors about us but this isn’t about us,” Rainbow Dash explained. “It’s about our kids. Specifically Corona.”

Soarin’ closed his eyes and sighed. He knew he wouldn’t like what he heard next but he also knew Rainbow Dash would be worrying about this until she gets whatever it was off her chest. So after bracing himself for a few seconds Soarin’ opened his eyes and said “what are they saying?”

“They’re…they’re saying Corona Flare is part changeling,” Rainbow Dash growled as her face contorted to anger. “Just because her coat changes color they say she’s part changeling.” Rainbow Dash finally looked up with fire in her eyes. Her voice kept rising as she kept talking. “They keep saying that me, the Element of Loyalty, had an affair with a changeling and Corona came from that. How the heck could they seriously be that stupid?! I swear, if I find out who’s been writing that, somepony better hold me back before I wring their necks!”

Rainbow Dash lifted a hoof to bash the table in front of her, but then she remembered where they were and she lowered it. “Corona Flare has unicorn magic inside her despite being a pegasus,” the cyan pegasus said in a much softer, but still grudging, voice. “That’s why she keeps changing colors. Her magic doesn’t have anywhere to go so it changes her body. Twilight said she’s actually lucky, the magic she can’t use could have done much worse to her. But of course they don’t care about that. All they care about is what ponies they drag down.”

“It’s an attempt to attack me, but you know what? I don’t care about it!” Rainbow Dash continued, going into full on rant mode. “Nopony who knows me will actually believe that crap! But Corona’s going to go to school in a few years! She’ll already have enough to deal with just because she changes colors, so I don’t want her to deal with the kids in her grade saying she’s half-changeling also! Especially since…” Rainbow Dash’s head lowered, her eyes closed, and her voice got softer, “I can’t prove she isn’t.”

Soarin’ opened his mouth to speak, but he immediately closed it, waiting for Rainbow Dash to explain herself before intervening.

“Corona has half of my mane, and not even Twilight knows what he actual coat color is,” Rainbow Dash said. “So what’s there to suggest she’s your foal?”

There was silence for a few seconds after Rainbow Dash’s rant. Soarin’ looked at her for a few seconds before silently slipping out of his chair. Stealthfully, Soarin’ walked around the table to Rainbow Dash’s side and slipped in the chair with her. Soarin’ lifted his left wing and wrapped it around Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes in surprise and looked at him.

“Hey Rainbow Dash, do you mind if we fly a couple towns over?” Soarin’ asked.

“Where exactly?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I want to pick something special up from my parent’s old place in Hoofington,” Soarin’ said.

“Hoofington?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What’s there?”

“You’ll see when we get there.”

Soarin’ scooted out of the seat and walked a bit towards the exit. He stopped after only a few steps to make sure Rainbow Dash was following him before he continued out of the exit. Once outside he waited for Rainbow Dash to walk out before spreading his wings.

“You know Hoofington is about an hour flight right?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Not for the two fastest fliers in Equestria!” Soarin’ announced. “Or has the great Rainbow Dash gotten slow in her old age?”

“Old?!” Rainbow Dash asked, her pride being called into question. “Oh you asked for it! Prepare to eat my dust!”

Rainbow Dash hopped into the air without a second word leaving her trademark rainbow trail behind her. Soarin’ chuckled for a second before joining her in the sky. Rainbow Dash waited for him to join her…only to immediately fly north as soon as he reached her level making sure she was far ahead of him.

They passed out of Ponyville quickly, being greeted by green scenery that flew by two quickly for either of them to take in. Rainbow Dash naturally stayed ahead, but Soarin’ kept close behind her the entire time. In a straight line race Soarin’ knew he was outclassed but he didn’t mind. Whatever lifted her spirits was fine by him.

~

After about half an hour of flying with the sun slowly falling they both flew over the small town of Hoofington. When Rainbow Dash reached the center of town she smiled back at Soarin’ he quickly joined her above the town. They both stood there hovering, the sound of their wings and pants filling the dusk.

“Looks like I’m still the fastest,” Rainbow Dash bragged after catching her breath.

“Yeah, you might be the fastest, but you haven’t won yet,” Soarin’ called back. “After all, do you remember where my parent’s house is?”

“Uhh…” Rainbow Dash mumbled.

Soarin’ chuckled. “I thought so. See ya later Dashie!” Soarin’ flew down towards the west side of Hoofington as fast as he could.

“Hey, no fair!” Rainbow Dash called as she flew after him.

Soarin’ landed in a cul-de-sac with the hard clack of his hooves and walked to the house the farthest away from the road. Rainbow Dash landed quickly after him and ran past Soarin’ reaching the house he was walking for first. Once there she jumped into the air and did a backflip in victory.

“Ha! I still win!” Rainbows Dash announced.

“Uhh…my house is the one next to it,” Soarin’ commented.

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash scratched her right hoof to her right ear. “Ehh…call it a tie?”

“Sure Dashie,” Soarin’ chuckled as he walked to the right house. “Wait out here.”

Rainbow Dash lifted up her right hoof and was about to ask why, but Soarin’ was through the door before she was able to ask anything. So that left Rainbow Dash outside waiting impatiently outside the house for Soarin’ to get done with whatever he was doing, tapping her right forehoof constantly. After a couple of minutes Soarin’ came out of his parents’ house with a blue saddle bag to his side and a photo in his mouth.

“Who’s that a photo of?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Soarin’ walked close to Rainbow Dash and placed the photo on his right hoof. “Why don’t you look and find out?” he said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and looked at the photo. The photo was of a bright yellow pegasus mare with a long white mane. She was facing forwards so her cutie mark wasn’t visible but what was visible were her eyes.

“Those eyes…they look just like Corona’s!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Who is that?”

“That’s my late grandmother,” Soarin’ explained. “You’ve never met her since she died long before I met you, when I was just a teenager. She was pretty much the only member of my family that actually put up with me when I was still a jerk as a colt.”

“So yeah, I never once doubted that Corona’s ours,” Soarin’ finished as he placed the picture in his bag. “Not with those eyes. I’ll be honest Rainbow Dash, the day Corona was born after she stopped crying and finally opened her eyes I nearly cried myself. I really missed my grandma when she was gone and seeing just some part of her again was great.”

Rainbow Dash was silent for a few seconds as what she learned sunk in. Her eyes went between Soarin’s and the bag where he placed the photo in. After that few seconds she looked Soarin’ in his eyes and finally spoke.

“And you didn’t tell me this before because?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

Soarin’ took a step back. “Well…I kinda did,” he said nervously. “The day Corona was born I told you her eyes were the same as my grandma’s.”

“You know that day is pretty much a blur to me!” Rainbow Dash growled.

“Well…yeah…but it never came up otherwise,” Soarin’ said backing up slowly as Rainbow Dash advanced. "And well…I kinda thought you know and…” Soarin’ ended up back against the wall of his house with Rainbow Dash still advancing “well…if you told me you were worried about that before…I would have…”

Before Soarin’ was able to finish Rainbow Dash covered his mouth with hers as she gave him a kiss. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and she felt Soarin’s mouth smile when he realized Rainbow Dash wasn’t out to kill him. They stood there like that for a few seconds before they both parted.

“Thanks for showing that to me,” Rainbow Dash said sincerely. “That’s really a load off my back.”

“No problem Rainbow Dash,” Soarin’ said. “And I’ve got the photo now just in case we ever need to prove to Corona that she’s ours. Anyways, we should probably head back to Ponyville before it gets too dark.”

“Yeah, let’s get going,” Rainbow Dash agreed as she took to the skies with Soarin’ soon following.

~

Night had fully fallen while the two pegasus ponies flew through the skies. They both were taking their flight causally this time, not trying to outspeed one another, just going at whatever pace they wanted, while listening to the beat of their partner’s wings. Their sight was very limited with only the light from the moon and the starts above to guide them.

“Hope Scootaloo’s put Cool Breeze and Corona to bed already,” Rainbow Dash said, breaking the near silence.

“I just hope nothing bad happened while we were away,” Soarin’ said.

“Heh, I’m not too worried about that,” Rainbow Dash responded. “Scoots is old enough that she shouldn’t have too much trouble.” She sighed with nostalgia, her head lowering a bit. “You know, it’s kinda funny. Scootaloo’s only a couple years away from being technically an adult. Boy how the time has flown.”

“Yeah,” Soarin’ agreed. “Seems only yesterday we adopted her.”

“Scoots is growing up, Cool is starting school soon and Corona right after him,” Rainbow Dash listed off, “I’ve been in the Wonderbolts for almost ten years.”

“Yeah, and I’ve been there longer.” Soarin’ closed his eyes and sighed. “Actually…there’s something about that I wanted to tell you for a while now.”

Soarin’ glided to the left to close the gap between him and Rainbow Dash, allowing the only distance between them to be the length of their wings. “Rainbow Dash…after our summer tour for the Wonderbolts, I’m going to retire.”

“WHAT?!” Rainbow Dash yelled her wings snapping up. Of course with her wings no longer flapping for less than a second she lost altitude and had to flap quickly to get back up. “What?” Rainbow Dash asked again when she regained altitude.

“I’m going to retire from the Wonderbolts after our summer tour,” Soarin’ said once again. “Cool Breeze starts school next year and I’m sure you’re going to want to put him in Ponyville Elementary. So I want to be here so we don’t have to constantly drag him between Canterlot and Ponyville every day so he can go to school, like what we did with Scootaloo.”

Rainbow Dash looked at him for a few seconds, letting the white pegasus’ words sink in. After a few seconds Rainbow Dash looked forwards, closed her eyes and sighed. When done her lips parted into a smile.

“I figured that’d happen eventually,” Rainbow Dash said calmly. “Alright, I’ll have to see if I can get my old weather job again.”

It was Soarin’s turn to nearly fall to the ground out of surprise. “Wait I…I never said you had to retire!” Soarin’ declared when he got back up. “I just said I was going to! You can still stay for a few more years if you want to! I mean, I know how much you love being in the Wonderbolts and I don’t want you to quit just because of me.”

“Yeah I love being in the Wonderbolts,” Rainbow Dash admitted, “and yeah I’m going to miss it when I’m done. But I’ll be honest I’ve been thinking about retiring myself. It’s been fun, but I kinda agree with you. I want to be there, and right there, when Cool and Corona go to school so if something happens during the day I’ll be there for them.”

“Plus I’m sticking with my family no matter what,” Rainbow Dash finished. “I’m not going to be all the way in Canterlot with you guys all in Ponyville.”

Soarin’ sighed. “Alright then, I guess both our times with the Wonderbolts is ending soon. I guess it had to happen eventually. We’ve already been in there longer than most Wonderbolts make it. Most of the ponies I started up with have already retired or got some injury that forced them to retire.” Soarin’ chuckled. “In a way, I’m kinda glad we’re both retiring, before something like that happens to us.”

“Pfft, like that would ever happen to us,” Rainbow Dash stated confidently. “Anyways, we’re home.”

Through the limited starlight the two pegasi saw their home on the horizon closing in closely. They both accelerated when it came into sight closing the gap between them and the house quickly, it only taking them half a minute to reach the front patio. Once they reached the patio Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched her wings.

“I miss being able to go on night flights like this,” she said.

“Well you know, we could have asked your friend Fluttershy to foalsit Corona Flare and Cool Breeze more often,” Soarin’ pointed out.

“Yeah, and I’m sure Fluttershy wouldn’t mind, but she has two foals of her own,” Rainbow Dash reminded him. “I’ve got better things to do then force my friend to take care of four foals at once.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Soarin’ admitted.

“Still, we should really do this more often,” Rainbow Dash continued. “Maybe if Scoots did a good job we can rely on her more and have more time to ourselves.”

“I’m good with that,” Soarin’ agreed. “But for now, I think I’ll call it a night.”

“Yeah, same here,” Rainbow Dash said.