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// 5. The Night Shift 
// Story: Raising Rainbow 
// by Pizzema Forte 
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     Three long, tiring months had passed since Firefly vanished from the household. Things had changed quite a bit for Rainbolt over the course of those long months. He had felt very, very different at the beginning of the month. It wasn’t at all depression as he planned, however. He noticed he was going through the same five steps one would experience when they were coping with a death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It was something he studied briefly through his teen years. He went through each one steadily and through time. He started out denying that she’d ever left, and that she’d come back eventually. She was only gone on a trip, or picking up other hours at work. Maybe if her parents hadn’t hated him so much, he actually would have done something. For nearly a week proceeding that, he was pissed. His stress had risen dramatically. He even screamed at Rainbow when she was crying. She only cried hard, and became confused at why her daddy would yell at her. Rainbolt easily realized his mistake and cuddled Rainbow until her tears faded. He was apologizing for days after it happened.  He then went through a series of things he could do to somehow get her back, like taking care of the baby full time or only seeing her occasionally. It was hard to blow those considerations off. He then slipped into nearly two long weeks of depression. He hated living, and he never remembered crying more in his life. Tears would pour out of his eyes at the slightest thought he had of Firefly. He cried all the time around his daughter. His depression eventually rubbed off on her, and that’s when Rainbolt tried to hide it. Hiding it had actually helped him get over it. Then, at that point in time, he accepted it. It took way longer than it should of, but it happened and he was proud when it was over. 
Another not-so-dramatic change was bringing little Dashie to work with him. His work hours ranged in between ten in the evening to seven in the morning. Rainbow would normally be sleeping in a little, portable bed Rainbolt had invested in for her. She’d seldom awake, but when she did she’d cry in need of food, a diaper change, or attention. Rainbolt worked at the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale where he lived. He was in charge of not deciding the weather, but assigning the number of clouds, the time they’d be sent out, who was in charge of what, and what specific areas there’d be rain, snow, or hail. Figuring it all out while making sure nothing damages anypony’s property, crops, or environments was semi-challenging. The rest of the night he’d spend cleaning up around the large industry and making sure certain machines were ready to work in the morning. He rarely ever found problems, but his boss was pretty strict about certain things. 
That evening, Rainbolt was assigned to make heavy snow in several parts of Equestria. It was mid December, and many farmers had just had a large harvest to prepare for the winter. Rainbolt was in his office, at his regular desk. He was making “X”s on a very detailed map for cloud placement. Dash was in her little bed, curled up in a soft, blue blanket and muttering in her sleep. 
“Now….” He whispered to himself. “If I put ten more clouds in the center of Canterlot, Ponyville will have to have a total of 238 clouds… Ponyville always receives thirty percent more snow than Canterlot….Wait!” 
Rainbolt grabbed the pencil with his mouth again and scribbled down a few more numbers and symbols on his nearby sheet of handy paper. He did another calculation and dropped his pencil. 
“Aha! I can add ten more clouds to Canterlot, and leave Ponyvill with only 220 clouds! That way Canterlot has its absolute minimum while Ponyville doesn’t exceed its maximum!” 
Rainbolt may have made his announcement a bit too loud. He heard annoyed grumbles from his sleeping daughter in the corner. Oops… 
When the faint mutters subsided, Rainbolt went back to his work, checking different locations across the map. His mind created the most logical and amazing idea a second before a wooden door slammed opened on the other side of the room. He turned around to meet eyes with a green-coated mare whose dark blue mane was twisted in a French braid, and her blue eyes shimmered behind her red glasses. Clouds of rain and lightning tattooed her flank and reflected her personality. 
“Evening, Mrs. Skies.” 
“Rainbolt.” She greeted simply as she trotted into the room, leaving the door wide opened. “How’s the snowfall schedule coming?” 
“Pretty well, I guess.” 
The pegasus flew above the stallion and examined his work, math, and overall work area. Her eyes lacked all emotion as she scrolled over his work. She didn’t speak for a good minute. Rainbolt grew a bit nervous at her silence. She wasn’t always the nicest when it came to criticism. 
“Looks good… Just….” She took the lead-end of the pencil in her mouth and erased a couple Xs placed to the east of Manehatten. “That’s right over a wildlife preserve. Don’t get too much snow there, or you could harm the health of certain animals.” 
“Yes, ma’am.” He replied in a soft tone. Nearly every year he forget about that damn, uncharted wildlife preserve. 
“Other than that, it looks pretty good. Keep up the good work.” Her tone almost seemed sweet for a moment. 
“Thank you, ma’am.” 
“Don’t forget to lock up when you leave, and triple check all the machinery. We have a very busy day ahead of us tomorrow!” 
“Yes, ma’am!”
Mrs. Skies smiled and nodded to her employee. She turned and saluted the stallion as she left the room, closing the door very gently. Ever since Rainbolt became a single father, she’d been treating him… differently. She gained a little respect for him and went easier on him at times. He wasn’t complaining, but it did seem odd of her. 
Rainbolt took in a breath as the mare left the room. He had the entire night ahead of him to get this done, but so desperately wanted to go home and crash. He envied his daughter. She could get twelve whole hours of sleep easily. 
Rainbolt sighed and looked at his unfinished work. What a headache! He looked up for a moment, and a shimmering glimpse of something caught his eye. He turned and then immediately turned back to his work to concentrate. It was a picture of him, Firefly, and Rainbow a month after she was born. Why he didn’t throw the damn thing away already, he hadn’t the slightest clue. His mind, after only a minute was again fully focused on the assignment he was given, trying as hard as he could to finish it in the least possible time. 

Rainbolt yawned and cracked his hooves, neck, and back. How much time had passed? An hour? Two hours? Maybe longer. He had his mind engaged in the weather for tomorrow, and completely lost track of time. On the bright side, however, he was two thirds of the way done. His head turned with a crack as he looked at the clock. 
“One in the morning?” He muttered to himself. “Man, this is taking forever!” 
He yawned and longed for a little break. He’d do anything to get his mind off weather for a while.
“Wonder how the kid’s doing…” 
He turned and saw her little bed. It was shielded with a veil to keep distractions away There were little lumps of blue blanky visible from certain angles. Rainbolt quietly pulled back the veil, in hopes not to awake the sleeping foal. The veil was slowly moved to reveal… an empty void. 
“R-Rainbow?” 
The nervous stallion moved the blanket out of the way. Nothing. 
“Rainbow?” He called in a nervous voice, as if he expected an answer. “Come out, Sweety! This isn’t funny!” 
When a moment of silence revealed no answer the stallion’s eyes filled with tears. The little foal could be anywhere in the huge, gigantic, factory. She could drown in the liquid rainbows! Or get a limb stuck in the machinery! She could leave the factory and fall to earth and be squashed! Oh, how long had she been away? Rainbolt’s heart beat fast and his breathing increased. 
“Wh-what kind of awful parent am I? I lost my baby in this a-awful place!” 
He raced out of his office and into the center of the factory. There were several machines and many doors at the boarders. Chances were, Rainbow would have been in this room. There were no windows, and all of the doors were locked. Unfortunately for Rainbolt; that was the largest room in the entire factory. 
“DASHIE?” He cried with tears in his eyes. “Sweetheart! Please come out!”
He started his search in the very back. That area contained a machine and many shelves. That machine was responsible for making hail. It had rigid teeth like knives on the inside where it would chomp up the ice. Rainbolt didn’t even want to imagine how awfully it would mangle the delicate body of his sweet, little foal. He looked inside and inspected the teeth. No blood or hunks of torn pony flesh. He knew it was impossible for that outcome to happen, seeing as how the machine hadn’t turned on since he started his shift, but he was still worried nonetheless.
“Rainbow! Dashie!” 
His call was answered with dead silence. 
Rainbolt moved onto another section of the large room. His panicked heart motivated him to move quickly as he ducked his head into yet another machine; one for producing power for lightning. The electric bulbs on the inside of the machine were untouched like the blades of the previously searched robot. He left that machine and went on to the next one responsible for the production of heavy winds. No little foal was found yet again. 
“Rainbow!” He called, crying out. “I’m so, so sorry! Please come out!” Tears were falling down the side of his face at that point. What if he never saw his baby girl ever again? 
Rainbolt checked another machine that helped make heat waves. If it were on, little Rainbow could’ve been roasted to death. Checking the machine thoroughly, he once again had no luck finding his baby.
The breaking stallion proceeded to check shelves full of documents, in some wish that she’d be there, but nopony was found. 
Rainbolt, after a long, hopeless search decided to expand his boundaries. He flew into one of the doors connected to the large room. It was a large supply closet full of dangerous tools. A quick scanning confirmed the obvious likelihood that she wasn’t there. His next door lead him to the bathrooms, which both lacked any signs of a rambunctious foal. He proceeded to open a door that lead him to a completely different room. There was only stations for pegasi to inspect clouds and make sure they were healthy. 
“Dashie?” He called, in hopes his daughter had managed to slip into the large, unoccupied room. After a short examination of looking under tables, chairs, and desks, he gave up and ventured back to the original room. He sighed and his heart broke into two shattered pieces. He fell to the cloud floor and uncontrollably began sobbing. He covered his face with his hooves and tears began to fall down his face, hug his chin, and drip to the ground.
“I-I’m so sorry, Rainbow…Poor baby….She could be bleeding, or crying, or hurt, and it would have been my fault! I-I’m so irresponsible!” 
Rainbolt didn’t stop crying at all, but he did pick himself up and head to his office. Maybe, by a miracle or granted wish, his little foal would be quietly sleeping in her crib like a good little baby. She’d be cuddled in her blankets, sucking on her hooves and drooling everywhere. Rainbolt heaved himself into the quiet room and immediately turned his attention to the unoccupied crib in the little corner, where his daughter should have been. Rainbolt fell to his knees in misery and began crying like a spanked child. Tears were flowing down his face much harder than before. 
It was all his fault. His daughter was lost, scared, hurt, or dead, and it was his fault. He was too irresponsible to look after her. He was too distracted by his work that he’d forgotten his main responsibility in life; caring for his angel. 
His uncontrollable sobs and explosive crying suddenly stopped as his ears perked up to a familiar sound… giggling. He wiped a tear from under his eye and looked up. A little foal rested safely on top of a large filing cabinet with a wide grin on her face. At the moment, she was completely naked. How she got her diaper off was a mystery, but that detail didn’t seem important to Rainbolt at all. All of his tears subsided at that very moment and his heart felt at ease, then burst with joy. 
“Dashie!” he cried and grabbed the little filly off the ledge where she stood perched and giggly. “I was so, so worried about you! Please don’t run off like that ever again….I’m so sorry for not watching you better.” 
Rainbow snuggled into her daddy’s fur as he hugged her securely. A tear of joy ran down his face as he held her. 
“This place is so, dangerous, Sweetheart… please don’t go running off…. You could get hurt and Daddy would never forgive himself.” 
Rainbow replied with a joy-filled giggle and a squeal, that’s when Rainbolt’s eyes went wide as he heard the cutest thing in his life. 
“Dada!” she said with a squeal. 
“Did you…just call me ‘Dada?” he asked in shock. 
“Dada!” she repeated cheerfully. 
“AWE!” Rainbolt sang as he nuzzled his daughter gently, admiring her very first words. 

Rainbolt blinked several times. At first his vision was blurred, but it quickly regained clarity. He was in a dingy, little office with a clattered desk. The wall clock read approximately 8am. He shook his bubbly head and stood onto all fours. He looked to his desk where his previously placed pile of work went missing. Employees started coming to work at what? 7:30? His boss must have already picked up his assignment. 
“Ugh….” Rainbolt grunted and stretched, popping his back. 
A lighthearted, cute gurgling noise came from a baby bed in the corner near where he’d passed out. Rainbolt smiled. 
“Dashie must be up.” He confirmed as he wiped back the veil. Thankfully, this time it revealed a gurgling little foal with spit dripping from her chin and a glimmer in her eyes. 
“Dada!” She chimed brightly. 
“Awe…” Rainbolt picked the little foal out of her comfy bed and held her in a warm embrace. “Does Dashie forgive me for what happened yesterday?"
Rainbolt’s reply was a sweet, cute wail. Lately, Dashie had some way of answering just about anything he’d ask her. Sometimes he’d even ask her meaningless questions to get a little gurgle out of her. 
Rainbolt proceeded to lie onto his back and cuddle with his offspring lovingly. He rubbed his hoof across her back and scratched behind her floppy ears. She admired the attention with short giggles and squeaks. 
“I see you two are getting along nicely.” A gentle, but masculine voice bellowed from behind him. Rainbolt looked up from the cloudy ground. A light blue stallion with a yellow, frizzy mane and blue eyes looked down at his friend with a smile. His wings kept him several feet off the ground.
“Hey Dreamscape…We are… She almost got lost yesterday… I looked in her bed and nopony was there. I found her on the filing cabinet a bit later, to my luck.” 
“The filing cabinet?” Dreamscape asked, agape. 
“Uh-huh.” 
“Wow….Did she fly up there?” 
Rainbolt continued cuddling his wet, drooling baby. “Hell if I know. She was naked when I found her, if that helps.” 
Dreamscape’s jaw dropped and Rainbolt seemed confused. “What?” 
“This morning Mrs.Skies found a diaper clogging the hail machine. It was stuck in between two gears. Nopony knows how it got there, but Mrs.Skies assured us she’d give you a stern talk later on.” 
The stallion gaped and then sighed. “Oh, boy. Better get out of here before she catches up to me.” 
Dreamscape smiled. “I’m really impressed, though. My little Fluttershy’s going on two and she hasn’t even attempted to fly. This one on  the other hoof probably already started.” 
Rainbolt stared at his daughter and spoke in an obviously false, authority-filled voice. “Were you flying around last night Dashie? Huh? Were you?” 
Rainbow let out cute whine and beamed brightly. Rainbolt “awe’d” and nuzzled the baby kindly. She half-attempted to nuzzle him back. 
“Well, thanks Dreamy…” Rainbolt gently set Rainbow back in her bed. “I’d better be going… Dashie gets hungry when she first wakes up.” 
“Nice talking to you!” He stated, hugged his friend briefly, and went off to work like he should have been in the first place. 
Rainbolt took his daughter’s bed in his mouth. It came attached with a handle so it was easy to carry around. The stallion made his way out of the large, noisy room as quickly as possible. He was lead to the inspection room, which lead to the main lobby, which was inches away from beautiful exit from that damn factory. He was merely centimeters away from the door when he hears a loud, angry female voice shout his name. 
“RAINBOLT!” 
Rainbolt froze in place where he was and gulped. “Oh, no….” 

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The small, foal wearily laid in her soft, comfy bed. Her ears flopped down and her heart thumped softly against her chest. The soft blanket hugged her and kept her warm. Her eyes drifted closed as she ventured into a land of dreams. 

A loud, sudden band awoke the little filly. Her ears shot up erect and full attention was on whatever was happening at that moment. 
“Evening, Mrs.Skies.” She heard a very familiar stallion say. 
“Rainbolt.” An unknown female voice greeted. 
In confusion, Rainbow squirmed in the bed until she was upright on all fours. She turned and poked her head out of the bed. Her eyes gazed upon a female pony floating near her daddy. Their backs were turned towards her. She couldn’t make out what was happening easily. The mare wasn’t the last thing to catch her attention, though. As the foal turned to cuddle into her warm bed, she noticed an open door letting in a bold streak of light. Beyond the door were large machines she’d always seen. Except this time they were exposed. She could literal touch them, they were so opened; and that’s exactly what she planned to do. 
The little foal stumbled out of her bed with an ambitious heart and raced towards the large, metal monsters. She galloped freely as she entered the room. All of the creatures from her dreams were now alive. She approached the hail producer and looked at it with the eyes of a hungry predator. It was supported by large, iron legs. If only there was some way to get a better look…aha! 
Daddy always used a trick when he wanted to levitate. He moved the thingies on his back and then floated. Rainbow excitedly tried to levitate as she vigorously flapped her little wings. At first, only her lower section began to rise, then her upper section. She slightly wobbled in the air, but easily gained balance. She chirped out brightly as she discovered a new and more convenient means of transport. She smiled as she closely examined the machine. Its wheels and gears were interesting to her, but looked awfully dangerous. She flew upwards and beyond them, but on her way up, a hook on the edge of the machine grabbed her diaper and wouldn’t let go. She flew as hard as she could, and eventually was let free, but left with a naked butt. 
Rainbow was free, and explored many other regions. She went to the lightning producing machine and discovered one thing; light bulbs didn’t taste good. After her discovery, she went off to look at more machines. She snuck inside the large pipe of the machine responsible for creating large winds. All she saw was dark, which bored her very much. She flew all around the factory with high spirits and joy. She loved flying. It was far more entertaining than when Daddy carried her around and flew.
Eventually, however, the foal got bored of everything. She’d peered at all the machines, snooped through some boxes, and went through some shelves. To top it all off, her wings grew tired of carrying her. The little foal perched herself on top of a shelf, and eventually drifted into sleep. 

“Rainbow! Dashie!” 
The familiar cries from a loving stallion awoke the young female and widened her eyes. Oh, no… Daddy was shouting her name. That could only mean one thing; he was upset with her. He was in that room searching for her. He must have been angry that she flew off. In fear, Rainbow Dash shyly made her way into her father’s opened office. Maybe if he found her in there, he’d think she had always been in the office and that he just hadn’t searched hard enough. Rainbow perched like a bird on some filing cabinets. The cool metal sent a shiver down her spine. She awaited for her father’s return with great patience.