After staying in the hospital for a few nights, Rainbow was finally able to return home with Violet. After a few weeks of settling Violet in her room in the upstairs of their new house, Rainbow decided to visit Soarin's grave with the new filly.
Holding Violet, who was now two weeks old, in her hooves, Rainbow flew around in front of Soarin's tombstone.
"Soarin, I know that you would be proud of me no matter what, but I am here to show you my greatest accomplishment... Well, our greatest accomplishment."
Showing the little unaware filly, she continued, "This is Violet, our little daughter. She is the one who will carry on your legacy. I know that she'll be amazing when she grows up. It won't be the same raising a filly without you, my love, but I'll manage."
Rainbow did feel silly talking to a tombstone, but she always hoped that there was somehow a way that Soarin would be able to hear her.
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As the weeks turned into months, Rainbow managed to raise Violet to the best of her ability. Of course, it was quite difficult doing it on her own, but with the help of her friends, she found it enjoyable. Scootaloo and Fluttershy were always ready and willing to foalsit at any given time. Also, because of Violet, Rainbow did not feel sad or lonely as much anymore. She was finally able to fully move on without any regrets.
That was especially apparent during Fluttershy and Big Macintosh's wedding, which took place that summer. It was a small yet sweet wedding, which was something that Rainbow had initially desperately wanted to share with Soarin. It's what she dreamed and hoped for every day that he was gone to war. Things didn't work out the way she wanted, and the war still continued, but Rainbow was happy for Fluttershy.
The look of sheer joy on both Fluttershy's and Big Mac's faces were so heartwarming to see. Rainbow did go through on her word to be the best mare, while Apple Bloom was the flower filly, and Scootaloo sat holding Violet in the small audience at the setup at Sweet Apple Acres.
Rainbow could hardly hold back the joyful tears as Fluttershy and Macintosh finally tied the knot. Their first kiss as a married couple was a little more passionate than the blue pegasus expected, but it was lovely nonetheless.
Along with the joys of being a new mother, there were the many challenges and sleepless nights. She didn't have a stallion to kick and tell 'it's your turn to get her' when she cried at three in the morning. Violet was also a very hungry little thing most of the time.
It is always expected for young foals to cry, though. But, for the most part, Violet was actually a very quiet baby, and her mother was extremely thankful for that. There were never any embarrassing outbursts when Rainbow would push the filly in her stroller to the store and back. Violet mostly just sat there in awe at everything she saw. The world is usually a fascinating place for creatures only seeing it for the first time.
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Rainbow tried hard to get filly Violet to walk all by herself. The first time she tried to teach the little thing was when she was only a few months old. The single mother stood on her hind leg with the help of her wings and, with her front hooves, she grabbed the hooves of Violet to help her walk on her own hind legs. It was a success, and Violet giggled all the way from the living room to the kitchen.
As progress was made and Violet could crawl and move around on the floor, Rainbow eventually taught the filly to walk on all fours at the age of one. The moment Violet took her first steps alone in their house was one of the happiest moments ever for the mare.
The whole year had just seemed to fly by. Rainbow had spent it solely on raising her filly. But when Rainbow's bits started to run out, she decided to ask Mayor Mare for her old job back as the leader of the Ponyville weather team. Her request was gratefully accepted, and Scootaloo accepted the job of being Violet's own foalsitter.
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Violet was a pretty quiet filly as she got older, as well. In some ways that was a good thing, but at other times it wasn't. Rainbow didn't have to deal with outbursts in the town square, as Violet wasn't a very needy filly. However, sometimes it was concerning because Rainbow could not figure out what was on the young filly's mind most of the time. Was she hungry? Was she bored? Did she miss having a father, or rather, did she even notice that she didn't have one?
Every night, Rainbow would still tuck the young filly into her bed and give her a good night kiss. The mare made sure that Violet's last words she heard of the day were, "I love you, my sweetheart."
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One warm day when Violet was two years old, and starting to look more like a pony than just a baby, Rainbow took her to see a hoofball match in Cloudsdale. Cloudsdale was hosting the Las Pegasus Galaxy. Violet had still not spoken yet to date, but that did not stop Rainbow from being a good mother for a second.
Even though the filly did not know what exactly was going on, she seemed to enjoy watching the match and listening to the crowd sing. Eventually, when Cloudsdale scored their first goal of the match, Violet had a face of genuine fear because of the noise of the crowd, but that quickly turned into a giggle when she looked at the smile on her mother's face.
Cloudsdale won the match three to two, and Violet thoroughly enjoyed her day in the warm sun with her mother.
The two of them went home later that night, and Rainbow showed Violet a new show on the television that she wanted to watch. It was called My Little Human, and it focused on six human girls from the magical land of Canada.
When 'bed time' had come upon them, Rainbow did her normal routine for tucking in Violet. She tucked in the filly in her new bed, which had Daring Do blankets and pillows, and gave Violet her good night kiss.
"I love you, my sweetheart," Rainbow said as she normally did.
Violet stared back at her with her big green eyes. She finally opened her mouth and spoke for the first time, saying, "I love you too, mommy."
Rainbow was shocked. Not only had the normally quiet Violet said her first words, but she said them perfectly. Also, this was the first time that Rainbow had ever been called 'mommy,' and she liked it. In fact, it was the sweetest thing she had heard in years. The mare leaned down to Violet and gave her a big hug. With a tear in her eyes, she said, "Thank you."
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Life went on much the same over the next few years. The war in Saddle Arabia kept going, yet things still remained relatively safe in Ponyville.
By the time Violet was close to five years old, she had made fantastic progress. Rainbow was raising her very well. Violet proved to be a very cute and sweet little filly, although much quieter than her mother ever was. Violet was very proud of her mother, and Rainbow would always tell her stories about how she used to be a Wonderbolt before the filly was born. Rainbow tried to avoid the topic of Soarin to the best of her ability.
The young Violet had yet to inquire about what had happened to her father, but Rainbow still dreaded the day that it would happen. Every day she worried about her daughter finding out the truth. The mare knew that it would only end up in two ways: either she'll have to tell the filly when she's ready, or Violet will find out by accident. The right decision was clear; the timing, on the other hoof, wasn't.
The day that Rainbow feared, however, ended up coming much sooner than she expected.
It was Violet's first day of kindergarten at Ponyville Elementary. The young Violet, who was now a normal, healthy pegasus filly, was nervous about it for weeks. She had no idea what to expect. She asked questions to her mother for weeks, like: 'Do I have to go? What will it be like? Will the other ponies like me?'
Dash gave her the best answers she could give. Eventually, Violet was satisfied with them, and she had a positive outlook towards her first real challenge in life.
Rainbow carried the young filly on her back as she took to the sky. Violet always loved it when her mother would take her for rides on her back. It reminded her if the times when Rainbow would take give her a ride and show her Ponyville from up high at night. The lights and the calming night sky is one of the few things that would calm the filly down when she occasionally would cry. This time, riding on her mother's back made young Violet ready and excited for her new challenge.
At school, Rainbow let Violet down slowly off of her back. Rainbow leaned into the filly and rubbed their noses together. "You be good! Make your mother proud. I love you, my dear."
"I love you too, momma," the little pegasus said as she leapt into her mother's grasp. As Violet turned around to go into the school, she couldn't help but notice that all of the other fillies and colts were dropped off by both of their parents. She thought it was a little weird that she had only one parent, but it didn't change her outlook on the day. She still entered the school with her spirits and hopes high.
After doing her work for the day at her job, Rainbow spent the rest of her day cleaning the house and getting a special cake from Sugar Cube Corner for Violet's first day of school. It was a cake that Pinkie Pie especially made for her. It was a white cake with plenty of frosting, and a picture of Violet on top that was also made of, yep, more frosting. Rainbow also invited the rest of her friends, as well as Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle, who were now in their final year of Ponyville High School. All of Rainbow's friends were like older aunts and uncles of Violet's.
As Rainbow came to pick up her filly, she held her forelegs out wide so that Violet could jump to hug her, which is exactly what the excited filly did. After the hug, Violet climbed on the mare's back for a ride back home.
"How was your day, baby?" Rainbow asked in her loving motherly voice.
Violet took a deep breath, and then screamed out, "It was awesome! I love my teacher and I love the other fillies and colts and school is so fun and I learned so much and I also played so much and I learned a new word I think it was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and I learned the days of the week and we played hoofball at recess and I scored a goal and-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa Violet," Rainbow interrupted. "You need to breathe! We're already home."
Rainbow landed on the ground, and Violet hopped off, full of energy. As the mare opened the door for the filly, Violet was in for the shock of a lifetime as all of the ponies in the house shouted, "Surprise!"
The filly's heart nearly stopped, or maybe it nearly burst with excitement; it was hard to tell. No matter what happened, Violet ran around the room looking at all of the ponies who were here to surprise her. There weren't any major presents, only a few small things, but she was just excited to see a cake with her own face on it. That was the biggest gift she had ever received.
The normally quiet filly actually enjoyed being the centre of attention on this day. Her party went on all night (which was actually only until nine, but that was late for the young Violet).
After all of the other ponies left and said their goodbyes, Rainbow engaged in her normal routine of tucking Violet in. After Rainbow have the filly her goodnight kiss, she turned around to leave the room. However, she could hear the filly making some noise, almost as if she was struggling to say something, but was unsure if she should say it. Rainbow sopped just before the door, and she heard the filly ask out, "Momma?"
"Yes, sweetheart?" Rainbow replied while coming back to the bed to see her.
Violet bit her bottom lip, and looked completely unsure about talking, but eventually asked in her sweet little voice, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course you can. You can ask me anything," Rainbow replied while stroking the blue part of Violet's mane with her hoof.
Violet paused for a few seconds, but then faced her mother and asked, "Why don't I have a father like all of the other fillies and colts?"
It was question that Rainbow dreaded the most. It was finally asked. She always knew her daughter would ask that, but she didn't think it would come at such a young age.
Do I dare tell her truth? Do I tell her that she will never see her father? Rainbow asked herself:
After a sigh, Rainbow decided that she would try to say the nicest thing possible, without lying outright. "Sweetheart, your father, Soarin, is actually a hero who went to serve in the war in Saddle Arabia. He used to be a Wonderbolt with me. When the war broke out, he was told to join the army, and he-"
"Will he ever come back?" Violet interrupted in a sad tone.
Dash gave Violet a soft pat on the head, almost like the softest noogie ever. She couldn't tell a lie, but he couldn't tell the young, delicate Violet the awful truth either. After a deep breath, the mare replied in the only way she thought was right to an innocent creature like Violet, "I… I don't know."