Rainbow had just turned three a few months ago. Nothing severely exciting had happened since then, but Rainbow was definitely growing. Her little wings had grown a full two inches. Her height increased by three whole inches. Her legs were noticeably getting thicker, and her mane was getting longer. Even her smile was growing wider and prouder as long months passed. Her personality was developing, and she was becoming beyond lovable.
Since Rainbow turned three, their lives had changed slightly. One big difference was Rainbow had moved into her own room. When Rainbolt first bought the house, he’d made sure it had two rooms for that exact reason. She didn’t get to move into her room until her dad successfully saved up enough to buy her a bed of her own. Both of them had to admit; it felt very uncomfortable to sleep in separate rooms the first week or so. Slowly, they both grew used to the unusual feeling.
It was a regular Sunday afternoon when Rainbow successfully made her first real friend. Rainbolt was at the dining table, sipping warm coffee and reading the newspaper. He skimmed through the individual pages. The black and white print was hypnotizing and some stories even sparked his interest. His eyes froze upon one that read; “School Filly is Sent to Emergency Room After a Fight”. Rainbolt thought back to when Dash rammed herself into the side of the earth pony he’d had a conflict with. He then looked at his daughter, whom was at the time wrestling with a tuff of cloud she’d ripped from the floor beneath her. She was biting its fluff and growling at it menacingly. He silently turned back to his paper, hoping his daughter would turn out okay.
Not too far into the morning, Rainbolt and his spunky daughter’s ears went erect at the sound of a thumping.
“I’ll get it, Daddy!” Rainbow chimed and flew in the direction of the front door. She opened it with a smile. A light blue-coated stallion stood there with his shy, little filly by his side.
“Mornin’ Daddy’s friend!” Rainbow greeted.
Dreamscape giggled. “Morning, Rainbow Dash. Is your father home?”
“Daddy! The pony I can never remember the name of is at your door!”
“Dreamscape, Sweetheart.” He reminded her.
“Dreamscape!” Dash yelled into the house. Rainbolt came to the door within little time.
“Good morning, Dream. Is there a reason you’re here so early?”
“Yeah…I was maybe wondering… You see, my wife’s at her mom’s house for a family reunion. Fluttershy didn’t want to go…She hates being in room full of ponies she doesn’t know. And well, I have to work. You know how I have weather duty a lot; Cloud busting and such. Could you maybe look after Fluttershy for a while? It would mean a lot to me.”
Rainbolt smiled. “Of course I will. I mean, I’ve been raising my little trouble maker for three whole years. I think I can handle Fluttershy. She’s a sweetheart. “
“Did you hear that, Fluttershy?” Dreamscape said sweetly to his daughter. “Mr. Rainbolt is going to look after you for a while.”
Fluttershy looked up at the strange stallion sheepishly and tried to hide her face behind her pretty, pink locks.
“It’s okay, Sweetheart.” Rainbolt spoke quietly in a reassuring tone. “I won’t bite. I’m only here to look after you. You can even play with Dashie if you’d like.”
Fluttershy let out a few squeaks and nothing more. The little pegasus was a full year and a half older than Dash, but towered over her as if it were nothing. She had a pretty pink mane, and large, teal eyes. She was kind-hearted and sweeter than the vast majority of foals their age.
Dreamscape looked down at his she offspring. “Rainbolt? Would you give me a minute with her?”
The stallion gave his coworker a quick nod and gently shut his front door.
“Daddy…?” Rainbow asked “Is Fluttershy going to stay here a while?”
“Yeah, why?”
“But…we were supposed to go to the park today. You promised! We can’t take Fluttershy to the park with us!”
“Rainbow, listen. Our guests come first. Fluttershy doesn’t like the outdoors too well, and you need to respect that! I’ll take you this evening!”
“But Daddy!” She whined.
“No buts! If you keep it up, we won’t go at all!”
On the outside of their house was another father daughter duo speaking to one another.
“Fluttershy, listen… I know you hate being around ponies you don’t know too well, but I assure you, Mr. Rainbolt is a good stallion. He has a daughter, too. You’ve even met Rainbow before. I think you two could turn out to be really good friends if you gave her a chance.”
“I know, Daddy… I-It’s just, I’ve never really been to another pony’s house. I-I don’t know how to act or anything… What if they don’t like me?” She spoke in a timid, quiet whisper.
Dreamscape nearly laughed. “Sweetheart, why in the name of Celestia would they not like you? You’re an amazing, amazing little filly.”
Fluttershy squeaked, not knowing what to say.
“Come on, Sweety… I promise, this won’t be as bad as you think.”
Fluttershy’s teal eyes shot up to her dad. He slightly smiled at her, and for one moment, she smiled back.
“O-okay, Daddy… just because I love you…”
“Awe, that’s my girl!”
Dreamscape gave Fluttershy a quick kiss on her head and knocked once more on Rainbolt’s front door. He almost instantly answered.
“She’ll be staying over. She won’t be any trouble, I promise.”
“I believe it. If anything, that one’ll give me a hard time.” Rainbolt pointed to his daughter, who was grumpily lounging on the couch.
“Whoa, what got into her?” Dreamscape question. “Moments ago she was all cheerful.”
“Yeah, she’s just angry because she won’t get to go to the park as soon. Ignore her.”
Oh no… Fluttershy’s heart started to beat quickly. She’d already messed up somepony’s afternoon before she even walked in the door. She really disappointed herself at times.
“Come on in, Fluttershy. Make yourself cozy.”
Upon receiving Rainbolt’s invitation, Fluttershy awkwardly walked inside the cloud house and shyly looked at both of the vibrantly colored ponies she’d be staying with.
“Have fun, Sweetheart! I’ll see you when I get off of work! It’ll probably be a little after four.”
“Bye-bye, Daddy!” Fluttershy cooed quietly.
Dreamscape closed the front door and flew off to attend his shift. Fluttershy was left in a room of a familiar stallion, and a little filly who wasn’t too happy with her.
“Fluttershy…” Rainbolt started after a long moment of silence. “Is there anything I can get you to make you feel more at home?”
Fluttershy shook her head. She was craving a nice, cool glass of water, but she didn’t want to be thought of as impolite to ask for it. Rainbow Dash continued lying on the couch, relishing her own self-pity.
“Rainbow Dash, why don’t you and Fluttershy play a board game or something?” Rainbolt suggested, trying hard to lift both of their spirits.
Rainbow simple grumbled. She was a sweetheart, but man could she be grumpy if she didn’t get her way. She stared at the ceiling.
“Rainbow, answer me when I speak to you.” Rainbolt commanded in a firm tone.
Rainbow sighed and looked at her dad. “I don’t want to.”
“Ugh. Freaking kids.” The stallion turned to the shy little pony. “Fluttershy, if you’d like to hang out with me, you can.”
Fluttershy hid her face behind her butter-colored hooves. “N-no… that’s fine, you don’t have to… I can just do something else…”
“It’s fine. Normally I’d just be playing with Rainbow Dash, anyway. She doesn’t seem to be in the mood to do anything fun at the moment, though.”
“Oh..well, alright...”
“Awe, that’s the spirit, Sweety. There’s no need to be shy. What would you like to do?”
Fluttershy looked back at the ground. “Whatever you’d like is fine. Really…”
Rainbolt thought for a moment. “Would you mind playing a board game? Rainbow never plays them with me because she finds them too mentally challenging.”
Rainbow perked her ears up and looked at her dad and Fluttershy. They were really going to hangout? Without her? Her father rarely did anything outside of work without her. They ate together, played together, cleaned together, and flew together. The only things they wouldn’t do together was bathe and sleep. How could he so easily not include her in playtime?
“Oh, that sounds fun. I’m pretty good at Monopoly.”
Rainbolt smiled. “Really? That’s one of Rainbow’s least favorites! I haven’t played a good game of Monopoly in a long time! Hold on! I’ll go get it!”
Fluttershy smiled at Rainbow’s dad and the stallion shot off into his room, only to come out minutes later with a little, decorated box. Rainbow couldn’t read the words on it, but her father had explained to her what it meant multiple times. She hated that game so much. It was about finances and life and stuff. She’d much rather stay in her own life, where nothing cost money and she didn’t go to jail for no reason.
Rainbow watched curiously as her daddy removed the lid from the rest of the box. At her angle, she could only vaguely see a black, flat surface, a small collection of glistening silver, and multicolored, fake bits. She really hated that game.
“Which piece would you like? We have a horseshoe, a cow, a wagon, a dress, a-“ Rainbolt picked up a little metal piece and examined it for a good minute. “What’s this ugly thing?” He tossed the horrendous thing aside and continued on. “Don’t know how that got there…anyway… which would you like to be, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter, really….I…I guess I could use the horseshoe… Mommy tells me they’re good luck…”
Rainbow perked her ears up at the word ‘mommy’. She’d always heard Fluttershy refer to her, and she’d even met her a few times. Rainbow could never actually put her mind around who Mommy was. She assumed she was a friend of her father’s. Maybe Mommy was like a second daddy to Fluttershy. She would sometimes wonder what having two daddies would be like. When Rainbow snapped out of her trail of thought, she saw that their game had already been set up and prepared to play.
“Alright then. I’ll be the wagon, then.” Rainbolt announced with a smile. He put the two pieces at ‘Start’ and handed Fluttershy the die. “Fillies first.”
Fluttershy shyly accepted the die from her friend. She took it in her hooves, shook the white and black cube around, and let it gently fall onto the game board. She didn’t announce that she’d started off with a six. Rainbolt smiled as he saw the young filly move her piece up six blocks.
“C-could you read the space for me… I can’t read too well.. Only simple things.”
Rainbolt giggle. “That’s fine, Sweetheart. Rainbow doesn’t know how to read at all, yet. I think I’ll teach her here soon, though. How would you like that, Darling?”
Rainbow huffed and grumpily stared at her dad. Her ears flopped down and her frown remained. “Ew.”
“Ugh, Rainbow. You’re so cute when you’re mad. Whenever you want to lighten up and play some Monopoly with us, we’ll gladly let you.”
“No!” She turned her back to her dad and friend.
“Whatever. Who needs her?” Rainbolt tilted his head. “Ah! You get to pick a chance card.”
Fluttershy smiled and picked up a card from the neatly-stacked pile. She stared at it for a moment, and then turned it around for Rainbolt to read.
“Chance! Move forward three spaces.”
Fluttershy grabbed her piece and moved it onward three whole spaces. Rainbolt proceeded to take the die and move on with his turn. Rainbow, however, continued to grumpily sit in the back corner. She glanced back distastefully at Fluttershy. First she stole her trip to the park, and now her daddy’s attention.
“That’s it!” Rainbow grumpily squealed. “I’m going to nap! If anypony wants me I’ll be sleeping!”
Rainbolt and Fluttershy both watched as Rainbow flew off the couch and into her bedroom. Her door closed with a loud bang. In the living room, Fluttershy seemed a bit sad.
“I-Is she mad at me?”
Rainbolt stared down the hall and sighed. “She’s just upset because I didn’t take her to the park. Just ignore her, she’ll get over it!”
Fluttershy shyly looked down. “A-Alright…”
Dash awoke with blinking eyes. Her face had a trail of crusted drool and there was sticky residue on her pillow beneath her head. How long had she been asleep…? Her head turned and her eyes met with a nearby clock, mounted on the wall. It read one in the afternoon.
“Ugh… I bet what’s-her-face is still here. The love stealer…”
After Rainbow left the living room with a heart full of anger; she marched into her own little bedroom, and shut the door. She made sure the door made a loud slam to make them aware of her anger. How could Daddy just sit there and play games with Fluttershy? While she was upset? Little voices echoed in her mind that gave her a cruel reminder.
“Would you mind playing a board game? Rainbow never plays them with me because she finds them too mentally challenging.”
Already making her feel bad about herself? And then Fluttershy had to go accept his invitation! She was just doing that so she would seem like the better child! He seemed so happy when Fluttershy accepted his request…. She hadn’t seen that glimmer in his eyes in a long while. Why couldn’t she make that happen? The line that absolutely stung the most wasn’t stated until a little bit after him and Fluttershy started playing.
“Whatever. Who needs her?” Echoed from Rainbow’s daddy’s lips, into her mind, and became permanently embossed in her aching heart.
“I thought Daddy needed me…” Rainbow said, cuddling into her soft blankets . “He said he needed me… Now he doesn’t. It’s Fluttershy’s fault for being too perfect…”
Rainbow wouldn’t have confessed it to anypony, but at that moment, she started crying. Tears trickled down her face and onto the pillows beneath her. She stroke her blanky and quietly wept until her salty tears lead her into sleep.
Rainbow Dash shook her head, and tried to forget about the awful things said about her before her nap. She got out of her soft bed and yawned loudly. She stretched out her body, making her neck and back pop. She took one step out of her room and was immediately attacked by an amazing smell. She took in a strong whiff and instantly recognized chocolate, sweet sugar, and melty butter. It was the smell that was only typically smelt on holidays, birthdays, and occasionally before a picnic. She took in another strong whiff and smelt delicious, sweet, chocolate chip cookies. Drool formed in her mouth and made her instantly feel hunger.
With a new, bright smile, Rainbow happily galloped down the hall and into the…kitchen… There was her father having a joyous little chat with her enemy.
“You’re mom taught you how to make this recipe?” Rainbolt questioned, stuffing a cookie in his mouth.
“Oh, yes, sir! My mom’s a great cook! I’m sure if you asked her, she wouldn’t mind sharing some recipes with you.”
Rainbow growled behind her corner, watching the two. She shared his love of board games, was respectful, and a great cook. How could she ever match up to that?
“Dashie doesn’t normally cook with me. She doesn’t like cooking too well. She does like eating, though!”
Oh great, not only was Fluttershy the greatest child ever, but Dash was uninterested in her father’s passions and fat! He had spent the whole afternoon bonding with a filly that was superior to her in every way… She was prettier, smarter, more respectful, more talented, and had more similarities with Rainbolt. How could she ever compete with that? Her dad might as well permanently replace her with the amazing, little filly.
Rainbow wondered off into the opposite direction, heading back to her room. She opened her door, and slammed it so loud the picture on her dresser fell down on its face. Rainbow sighed and went over to her dresser, picking up the fallen photo. The picture clearly displayed her and her father hugging and smiling. Their eyes were filled with the compassion they shared for each other. Just looking at it made the little filly’s pink orbs swell with salt water and sadness.
“Daddy….” She cooed softly under her breath. “I love you….”
As loud as Rainbow had slammed shut her bedroom door was as loud as it slammed opened.
“Rainbow Dash!” A familiar voice boomed from behind her. “I want to hear a damn good explanation for your behavior! You’ve been rude to our guest, rude to me, and now you’re slamming doors. This is not how I except a young mare to act in my household!”
How wonderful… now he was angry. Rainbow’s tears started dripping down her face. “D-daddy….I feel awful about myself.”
“I don’t feel sorry for you, Rainbow…” His volume had lowered, but he was still pretty pissed-sounding. “I expected way better behavior from you. All because you didn’t get what you wanted!”
Rainbow couldn’t take another second.
“THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT FREAKING PARK! This has to do with Fluttershy being so much better than me that you love her more and plan on replacing me because I’m stupid and fat and don’t share as many interests as you! You don’t love me anymore because Fluttershy’s ten times better than me! You said you don’t need me anymore!”
Rainbow’s sudden explosion of anger and tears shocked Rainbolt, and left his mouth hanging agape. Tears began to flow heavier out of her eyes. She instantly realized her mistake.
“I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry for yelling…B-but…”
Rainbolt didn’t know what to say. After a minute of awkward staring, he closed his mouth.
“Rainbow, Sweetheart… “ He flew down and gently wrapped a wing around his heartbroken daughter. “I would never, ever replace you… You’re an amazing young filly! I love you almost too much, in fact. Why would you think that I didn’t?”
Dashie sniffled. “B-because she played Monopoly with you… And during the game you said ‘Who needs her?’ I’m her… And she’s a better cook… and you barely even noticed how upset I was…”
“Rainbow… I didn’t ignore you because I wasn’t concerned. I ignored you because I thought you were just having a hissy-fit over the whole park thing….I didn’t know you were actually feeling down…”
“I-It’s okay, Daddy…”
“And Rainbow; there is not a single filly on the face of this earth that I’d replace you with… You’re perfect how you are. I love every inch of you. There’s just so much about you that’s irreplaceable…”
Rainbow’s watery pink eyes looked up at her father. “R-really? You mean it?”
Rainbolt nodded. “There’s not a thing in the world truer than how much I love you.”
Rainbow smiled, and stuffed her face into her father’s chest. She started crying new tears; these ones full of joy. “I-I love you, too, Daddy!”
The stallion lightly patted his daughters back, and gave her a little kiss on the forehead. “There, there…. It’s okay… I forgive you…”
Rainbow threw her head up and looked up at her dad. “Do you think Fluttershy will forgive me?”
Rainbolt smiled slightly and nodded. “There’s only one way to find out, though…”
Rainbow crept out of her father’s embrace and left the room with guilt and joy eating away at her haggard heart. She ran into the kitchen with a confident smile. Her father proudly followed close behind her. Fluttershy was sitting on the floor, nibbling on a freshly baked cookie.
“Fluttershy…” Rainbow started, in a soft tone. Fluttershy said nothing, and waited for the pegasus to continue with curiosity in her eyes. “I-I’m really sorry about how I treated you today… I just got jealous of all the attention my dad was giving you.”
“Oh… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to take your dad’s attention away.”
“I know… Can you forgive me?”
“Of course I can… What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t…”
They were… friends? Rainbow was only close to her father, and a few of his coworkers along with his boss. Nopony her age ever told her that they were friends. She smiled at Fluttershy.
“Thanks, Flutts…”
Rainbolt watched as the two slowly embraced each other as Rainbow’s apologies were given out and accepted. They looked so cute in that little embrace. Rainbow smiled as she looked over Fluttershy’s shoulder. That’s when something silver glimmering in the distance caught her eye.
“What’s that…?” She asked herself more than anypony else in the room.
The cyan filly broke away from the hug and went over to the little spot where she’d seen the shimmering object. A closer inspection gave her a simple conclusion; it was the weird Monopoly piece her father had thrown aside earlier that day. He was correct, too; it was quite ugly. It had a semi-pony head and one singular fang. Instead of hooves, the strange creature possessed a talon and a paw. It’s legs was a deer hoof a reptilian leg. He had a skinny body, and two wings. He also had one horn that looked as if it belonged on a mythical creature, and the other that seemed to have come right off a deer. She held the shiny, silver object in her hoof and stared it.
“Rainbow… What do you have there?”
Rainbow looked up at her daddy and shrugged, she then looked back down on the object that had seemed to… vanish….