After an hour of tears and apologies to Cumulus' sleeping body, Rainbow stopped. She then sat there and waited for her to wake up, she wanted her to be the first pony Cue heard when she came back to the waking world. Rainbow never let go of Cumulus' hoof as she lay there; Rainbow's friends even came in to check on them after two hours. They had all went to get some Get Well Soon gifts for her within the past two hours and Rainbow could not be more grateful for their consideration. Twilight got her a journal, Applejack got her some gingerbread cookies, Pinkie got her 3 balloons saying 'Get Well Soon,' Fluttershy got her a soft plush bunny and Rarity got her a hairbrush which she used to brush the sleeping Cumulus' hair. Rainbow even had the urge earlier to brush her platinum hair, even though she had zero interest in vanity. But at the same time, she appreciated the gesture.
Rainbow and the others waited for the rest of the day, feeling the same pain and worry as her. This was their only niece and they loved her just as much as Rainbow. The Doctor came in around 9 PM and addressed Rainbow, "Ms. Dash, you need to get some sleep, why don't you go home and you can come back tomorrow?"
She looked at him bitterly and said with a cracked voice, "What if she wakes up and I'm not here?"
The Doctor shrugged and walked away, not wanting to argue with her, especially after the display in the waiting room. Rainbow felt her eyes drooping around 11 PM, she soon fell asleep crouching over the bed with her head laying in her crossed arms. Twilight put a blanket over her as she instructed the others to quietly exit the room. They would come back the next day to check on them, as they left Twilight looked back hoping that Rainbow wouldn't be too harsh on Cue.
The next morning, Cumulus felt her body aching with pain. She tried to move her stiff muscles but found it was even more painful to do so. The smell of the hospital let her guess what had happened, she remembered the heat, the burning, the pain and finally the wash of relief she felt when she heard her mother's voice.
'Mom...Mom!!' she exclaimed in her thoughts. Was she alright? Did she make it? How did she find her?
She found her strength in her unbroken arm, she reached out and found the soft frazzled mane of Rainbow who was fast asleep on her bed. Rainbow felt this and thought one of her friends was waking her up, she opened her eyes and saw the movement coming from Cumulus. She sat up and resisted the urge to smother Cumulus with all of her feelings of happiness.
"Cumulus?" she asked in urgency while gently placing a hoof on the side of her face.
Cumulus began to stir and her eyes slowly began to flutter open.
"Baby?"
Cumulus heard and recognized that raspy voice, that was her mother's voice!
"Cue? Honey, can you hear me?"
Cumulus groaned, "Mommy?"
"I'm here Cue." Rainbow sighed with relief, she now knew that Cue was going to be alright.
"I'm here." Rainbow said placing a hoof on her shoulder. Cue stiffened then relaxed as Rainbow stroked her mane and tears began to form in her eyes.
"Wha-what happened?"
Rainbow explained everything, from the fire to how she found her and got her out. It all made sense now, her mother saved her life.
"M-mom I-I was so scared..." She began to cry.
"Shh shh shhh," Rainbow hushed softly as she gingerly climbed into the bed wary of Cue's injuries and pulled her into her chest as she wept.
"I was scared too...I thought I would never see you again...I-" she faltered as her emotions came flooding forth as she began to cry tears running down her cheeks falling onto Cumulus. "I-I may not be you real mom but...I will always love you as my daughter Cue you are forever my baby...adopted or not...."
Cumulus now knew the answer to her question: her mother loved her and always would.
"Cue, why did you run away?"
"I...I didn't mean to scare you, I just needed to be alone to wrap my head around all of it. I went to Zecora's for advice but I wasn't ready to face you yet. I thought that maybe you took me in because you...felt sorry for me."
Rainbow took a deep breath, "Listen to me...and listen carefully, from the moment I first saw you. I didn't know at first you were blind, but, from the moment I set eyes on you...I have loved you. I have always loved you, even when you were a bit stubborn at times."
Cumulus had to giggle, because it was true.
"I think I kind of rubbed off on you," Rainbow joked.
Cue laughed again, but Rainbow was serious again. "Cumulus, you were brought into my life for a reason. Before I met you, I wasn't really...well, mother material. But, as time went on, I learned. You taught me about love, parenting and most importantly...not to look down on other ponies because of their problems."
"I taught you that?"
"You did."
More than anything, Cue wished she could see her mother. She wanted to see the love for her in her eyes, but quickly dismissed it, she felt her mother's love from Rainbow holding her and her happy tears soaking Cue's mane. Cumulus snuggled into her mother's chest and Rainbow stroked Cue's mane as both mother and daughter fell asleep.
Later that day, the rest of the 6 came in to see how they were doing, when they opened the door to Cue's room, they saw them asleep together on the bed. Rainbow was laying on her back with one hoof over Cumulus' mane and the other over her back. Cumulus had her head laying on her mother's stomach and her unbroken leg around her waist and it looked like she was smiling while she slept peacefully. They had to smile with their eyes misting, they had forgiven each other. Twilight put a blanket over them decided to give them some peace, after all they both had deserved it. Twilight was the last to leave the room when she heard Rainbow's voice whisper, "So does this make me mother of the year?"
Twilight turned to her with a smile and said, "If anypony loves a daughter like you do...then yes, yes it does."
Rainbow smiled and nodded once, feeling a sense of pride as Twilight left. Rainbow nuzzled the top of Cue's head. She would never know how much she loved her.