//------------------------------// // Waking Up // Story: A Day With Dad // by MyOpinionIsSuperior //------------------------------// A young pegasus colt woke suddenly in his cloud bed. Spiky hair arranged in a full rainbow spectrum lay twisted on his head in several directions, defeated by his pillow over the night’s course. He stretched his pale blue limbs, eventually bringing them to his green eyes to rub the sleepiness away. The colt’s raspy voice reverberated in his throat as he grunted to fight the sleep away. His pillow seemed to beckon him to seek comfort in its loving embrace. Shaking his head violently, the colt jumped out of bed and landed in front of his mirror. Pointing at his reflection, he spoke aggressively to himself. “No! Today is too important! These days are gonna happen only happen once a month; twice if I’m lucky. Today it starts; this is going to be the best. Day. Ever!” Rushing over to the restroom, the colt went about his morning rituals, albeit rushed due to the day’s circumstances. Emerging from the restroom with a styled spiked mane, the colt galloped out into the hallway, pausing in front of the door at the very end. Creaking the door open slowly, he tip-hoofed toward the bed, careful not to wake its inhabitants… yet. A large grin threatened to completely overtake his face as he tried to contain his excitement. The colt fluttered his tiny wings, raising himself vertically to view the two inhabitants. A loud, masculine snoring emanated from the single lump in the bed. Wait a minute?! One lump?! Where is she? The colt’s face’s immediately dropped into a panicked frown. Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! What if she forgot?! What if she left already? Didn’t she know how important today was? Tears began to well up in his eyes, despite his mental protests. Don’t cry, don’t cry! Only weak ponies cry, and you’ll be strong just like she is. The tears began to spill over despite the colt’s best efforts. His throat contracted as he tried his best to restrain a sob. DON’T CRY DON’T CRY DON’T CRY! *CRASH* The sound of shattering porcelain interrupted the colt’s train of thoughts. Grinning again, he wiped the tears off of his face and landed on the ground, tip-hoofing out of the room. He then proceeded to trot towards the kitchen, ready to begin his best day ever. “Aw horseapples, that was my favorite mug! I guess I’ll have to ask Pinkie for another one,” Rainbow Dash sighed, sweeping up the shattered debris. She looked at a clock. Eight huh? Looks like I won’t be having my coffee this morning. Dumping the remains into the trashcan, she turned around and almost tripped over a very excited little colt. Rainbow Dash smiled; he was giving her the most excited, happy look she had ever seen. “Mornin’, Rainbow Blitz. Watcha’ doing up so early?” Rainbow Blitz gave her a quizzical look. “What do you mean what am I doing? What are you doing? You and Dad like to sleep in.” Rainbow Dash yawned and reached up with her hoof to rub the crust off her eyes. “I do love my sleep Blitzy, but I love my friends more. I’ve gotta head all the way to Ponyville today. Twilight’s book club starts at ten and the flight takes me about an hour if I push myself.” Rainbow Dash’s attention fell completely on her son. The colt’s face had contorted into a wicked scowl, and tears were falling freely onto the floor. “What’s wrong, Blitzy? Can’t Mommy be an egghead from time to time?” As Rainbow Dash reached towards her son’s face to wipe the tears away, Blitz quickly backed away from her reach. He pointed an accusing hoof toward his mother and spoke in broken sobs. “You… you f-forgot, didn’t you?! J-just like how you f-forget my favorite c-color, my favorite i-ice cream, my-“ “I’d never forget my little future Wonderbolt’s first flight lesson.” Rainbow Blitz stopped, looking up at his mother with teary, hopeful eyes. He let Dash wipe the tears off his cheeks this time and even allowed her to pick him up and cradle him, despite how ‘uncool’ he would normally think it was. Dash spoke to him in a tone she never would have thought she was capable of prior to becoming a mother. It was too similar to how Fluttershy spoke. “Shhhh, it’s okay, Blitzy. I may forget some things a mommy shouldn’t forget, but I’d never forget about your first flight lesson.” Rainbow Blitz was not entirely convinced. Looking up, he managed to control his sobbing and speak with his raspy little voice. “Then why are you going to Ponyville today?” “Oh, I’m not giving you your first flight lesson. Daddy is!” Rainbow Blitz’s jaw dropped, his facial features revealing pure shock as he broke free from Rainbow Dash and hovered in midair. “Dad?! DAD?! What the heck is Dad gonna teach me? How to eat an entire pizza in fifteen minutes? How to come up with jokes that won’t even make his five-year-old son laugh? How to do something silly on a daily basis, like when he put paper in the oven and almost set the entire kitchen on fire? Why can’t you teach me? Mom, you’re the greatest flier in Equestria! The only one to do the Sonic Rainboom! If anypony should be teaching me it should be you!” “RAINBOW BLITZ, THAT IS YOUR FATHER YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!” Blitz fell to the ground, stunned by his mother’s outburst. “He may be a goofball, but he is still your father and one of the greatest fliers in Equestria. They don’t just let anypony into the Wonderbolts, and he’s been in a lot longer than I have,” Rainbow Dash responded, her glare piercing even more than her voice. Rainbow Blitz shrunk further down, trying to hide into the cloud despite his pegasus magic keeping him in plain sight. “I-I didn’t mean it like that, Mom! I know Dad’s a great flier, and I love him, but he’s not as serious about flying as you! He’d probably cut the lesson short if it meant getting to the bakery sooner,” Blitz said, finishing his rebuttal with a sigh. Rainbow Dash chuckled; her son spoke the truth. Patting Blitz on the head, she spoke more casually. “Heh, you’re probably right about that one, Blitzy. But I really think you’ll learn better from your father than me. You might be surprised to find out he knows more of the technical aspects of flying than I do.” “Really?” Blitz asked, his voice carrying his hope… or was that excitement Rainbow Dash detected? Rainbow Dash decided to go along with her argument’s momentum while she still had a chance of convincing her son. “You bet! He even taught me a bunch of stuff I didn’t know! Trust me Blitzy, Daddy will teach you so much you’ll be beggin’ for more lessons.” “Well… I mean if he taught you some stuff…” Rainbow Blitz muttered, shuffling a hoof on the ground in attempted modesty. Rainbow Dash smiled; he was on the verge of compliance and she knew exactly what she needed to say to finalize her son’s decision. “And I’ll even let you wake him up this morning so that you two can get an early start.” “Really?!” Blitz asked. His powerful smile faded into uncertainty. “But what if we woke him up with our yelling?” “If your father could sleep through the first thirty minutes of my contractions, he definitely slept through our little argument,” Dash said. A disgruntled frown formed on her face as she relived the memory. “What’s contractions?” Blitz asked. “Oh! Uh, I’ll tell you when you’re older,” Rainbow Dash fumbled. “But Moooooom-“ “If you stop asking about it you can have the last piece of pie in the fridge,” Dash said, panic in her voice. Blitz covered his muzzle with his front hooves and nodded. Clearing her throat, Rainbow Dash continued. “Besides, your father has to have oatmeal for breakfast from now on. Doctor’s orders, and I am not letting any husband of mine retire from the Wonderbolts because of weight problems. Now give Mommy a kiss goodbye.” Rainbow Blitz obliged, giving his mother a peck on the cheek and receiving several from her. She left nothing but a streak of rainbow in her wake, leaving Blitz staring in awe at her speed. Closing the door, Rainbow Blitz turned around with an evil grin on his face. He had a father to wake up.