• Published 16th Dec 2013
  • 9,533 Views, 1,839 Comments

Raising Rainbow - Pizzema Forte



After an accidental pregnancy, Rainbolt is left raising an adorable, sweet and spunky little filly named Rainbow Dash. Love will bring them closer, and time will leave them permanately embossed in each other's hearts.

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11. The Dating Game

Rainbolt smiled at himself confidently in the mirror. His rainbow mane was flattened and his bangs evenly fell in front of his eyes. He wore a collar and a black bowtie around his neck for more appeal. He had to admit, he did look better than usual. He looked nearly five years younger, too!

The stallion took in a deep breath and walked out of his bathroom. He felt confident, clean, and ready for the long night ahead. He passed his daughter’s bedroom as he went down the hallway and knocked gently on her door three times.

“Hey, Dashie? You almost ready?”

“Yeah…” He heard his daughter’s voice coming muffled through the door. “Just a minute!”

While Rainbolt attempted to find a pretty mare to date, he’d send his daughter over to Fluttershy’s to sleepover. What a night this would be. He hadn’t had a marefriend since he was dating Firefly, so getting a new one definitely seemed exciting. He didn’t know if he’d be getting the mare of his dreams that night, but chances were he’d be searching for his future beloved more than just this week. It may have taken a few weeks, or even a few months, but he knew it would be well-worth it if his daughter was happy and he was in love.

What Rainbolt was actually looking for in a mare, he really didn’t know. At this point, he wanted somepony nice, loyal, with a good sense of humor, and responsible with kids. He was pretty vague on what he wanted excluding those traits. Maybe somepony a little more delicate, and not too sex-obsessed. Basically, he was looking for somepony that was like the opposite of his ex marefriend.

Dashie finally came out of her room. She had her sleeping bag she’d normally bring to work strapped to her back, a plastic bag filled with toiletries and snacks, along with some popcorn for the fillies to share.

“Are you ready, Dash?”

The cyan filly nodded cutely at her father. “But you’re not!”

The stallion gave Rainbow a confused look. She held her hoof up with a wide grin. “Wait here!”

Rainbow zoomed in to her room and closed the door. Rainbolt stood there in wonder, only for Dash to return moments later with a black fedora. The little hat had a white stripe going through the middle of it, and a little, pink rose attached to the side.

“Mr. Dreamscape gave it to me yesterday! I told him you were going to find a marefriend, and he said he had the perfect accessory to make you look classy!”

Without a notification of consent, the excited filly forced the hat onto her father’s head. It fit uncomfortably, but did make him look slightly good. He smiled at his daughter.

“That’s really sweet, Honey, but I don’t want to overdo it…” Rainbolt took the hat off and placed it on a nearby counter. “I don’t want the mares to think I’m trying too hard, and it hurts a little…” He rubbed around the edges of his head where the small hat had tightly embraced his head.

“Awe, but it made you look sexy!”

Rainbolt blushed. “Rainbow, you don’t even know what sexy means!”

“Sure I do! I heard Mr. Dreamscape call Ms. Dewdrop that when I went to Fluttershy’s the other day, and he said it meant good-looking.”

“Well, thanks, I guess…” He smiled at his daughter sheepishly. “Just don’t say that to the wrong pony… they may take it the wrong way.”

“What am I supposed to do? Call ‘em ugly?” She asked with big, pink eyes.

“No, just be careful, alright Sweetie?”

“Okay, Daddy!” She chimed adorably and gave her daddy a quick kiss on the forehead. He returned her kiss to her left cheek and smiled.

“I can’t wait! I hope you bring me back a mommy!”

The nervous father and daughter started trotting towards the exit of their home, ready to start the night. Rainbolt giggled.

“Don’t get too excited, Sweetheart… The mare has to actually like me back, remember.”

“Why wouldn’t she like you back? You’re smart, talented, sexy, and so, so nice!”

Rainbolt blushed from the little storm of compliments. “Thank you, Sweetheart. I’m just really nervous… what if I can’t find anypony? You wouldn’t be sad, would you?”

Rainbow frowned. “I don’t know… I guess things would just be like how they always were.”

“Yeah…. I mean, you like your life don’t you? You enjoy living with me, going to work with me and so on, but are you that sad about not having one more pony in your life?”

Rainbolt held the door opened for his toddler, and she gladly exited. She was excited for her sleepover, but far more excited for the news she’d hear the next morning.

“Daddy, I love you, and I’m happy to be your Dashie, but I want a mommy like everypony else…”

Rainbolt sighed. “Understood… Now, remember, be good for Mr. Dreamscape. He’ll tell me if you weren’t on your absolute best behavior!”

Rainbow smiled. “Of course I’ll be good! Why would I ever be naughty?”

With that said, Rainbow smiled widely and an invisible halo appeared above her head.

“You sure she won’t be too big of a problem?” Rainbolt asked for nearly the millionth time that evening.

Dreamscape rolled his light blue eyes and smiled. “I’m sure Dashie won’t be any trouble. She’s a sweetheart. If she is a problem, I’ll send her to a corner for a few minutes and tell you about it the next day, where you can take care of her. I’m sure she won’t be a problem, though.”

“She’d better not be… Well, thanks again for looking after her. I’ll pick her up tomorrow morning after work.” Rainbolt smiled and turned, but had a sudden remembrance and looked back at his nice friend. “One more thing; thanks to you Dash called me sexy.”

Dreamscape stared for a moment. His eyes lacked all expression until he suddenly remembered. It was then he burst into shrill laughter. He’d remembered that day, and took a moment to imagine the scene Rainbolt had just told him about.

Rainbolt sighed, rolled his eyes, and continued onward to the most unpredictable evening of his life.

When Rainbolt finally arrived at his desired destination, he took in a breath and nervously smiled. Jitters filled his belly and made his heart pound. He went to the one place singles went when they were in desperate need of somepony else in their life. It was a social bar where two ponies would sit down, have a chat, and get to know each other. The point was to meet somepony one had never met and see how compatible they were together. Rainbolt had never had confidence speaking to mares, so he started off increasingly nervous.

There was a large room full of small round tables. Each round table had a small, green, red, or blue cloth in the center, and only two chairs at the sides. Some tables had a mare and stallion talking, others had a lonely mare or stallion waiting for somepony to come to them, others weren’t occupied at all, and others had two mares or two stallions. It was all rather cute, but also made Rainbolt even more nervous than he already was. He saw nearly eight mares sitting alone with bored faces. This was his chance to be a stallion and find the perfect mare for his little girl. He took in a deep breath and entered the large, threatening room after adjusting his little, black bowtie.

The first mare he noticed had a wavy, white mane with a pink stripe going next to her face. Her bored eyes were a light pink, and her coat was a beautiful, snowy white. She was sipping on tequila and reading a magazine. He blushed heavily as he approached the mare’s table.

“Hi, um… I’m-“

“Go away, I’m a lesbian.” She stated bluntly and continued sipping her alcoholic beverage.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to have bothered you…” Rainbolt shyly smiled and slowly backed away from the table.

“Well…that went well….” He muttered to himself as he walked away.

The next pretty mare he noticed was smiling as she sipped on a soda. She seemed quite giggly as she read through a little comic book. She had a green mane with dark purple streaks, and very light purple coat. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of ruby, and gleamed like the precious jewels, as well. Rainbolt shyly approached her and gulped.

“Hey… is it alright if I sit here?” He asked in a timid tone.

The mare put down her comic book and smiled at the stallion. “That’s fine, have a seat!”

Rainbolt sat at the seat across from the young mare. He blushed heavily and she smiled at him.

“I love your mane!” She commented lightheartedly.

“Oh, thanks. I grew it myself.”

Rainbolt blushed heavier at his pathetic attempt at a joke, but the little mare giggled anyway.

“That’s a bit corny, but it’s cute. So, what do you do in life?” She asked, tossing her comic book to the side.

“I work at the Weather Factory, but I really like whittling. I also enjoy reading about astronomy. I think it’s kind of interesting.”

“Oh, cool. I’m an actress.” She rubbed her flank where her cutie mark was tattooed. It was two masks, one laughing and the other crying. “I do shows locally, but one day I’d love to be a big actress and perform at the Canterlot Opera!”

“Wow, that’s really cool! I could never act! I have awful stage fright, you know?”

“That’s a shame… So, are you looking for a relationship, somepony to be with you a while, and maybe slip into a relationship later on, or are you lookin’ to get married soon?”

“To be honest… I’m not really sure. I’m mostly trying to look for somepony that would be a good mother for my kid.”

The little mare’s face sunk in disappointed. “Oh… listen, I’m really sorry… You seem like a really nice stallion, I just can’t be a mother yet… I’m really, really sorry.”

Rainbolt forced a smile. “No, it’s fine… I guess I should maybe depart ways?”

The mare nodded. They both slightly guilty; Rainbolt for trying to force the whole mother thing on her, and the mare for rejecting him like she did. Each split and went their separate paths. Rainbolt’s lead him to a little mare in the corner. She had a pretty, black mane and grey body. Her eyes were a deep shade of magenta and her pupils were scanning through a photo album. Maybe, just maybe, this mare would somehow prove to be different. He approached her quietly.

“Excuse me, ma’am… Is it okay if I have a seat with you?”

The pretty mare smiled at the stallion. Her eyes briefly examined him and nodded in approval.

“Go ahead, tell me about yourself.”

Rainbolt smiled and sat across from the pretty mare. She wore a pearl necklace and a pretty, black dress. Her hair was done neatly in rows of cascading braids. She was obviously way out of his league, but he didn’t care. He smiled nervously before her esthetic beauty.

“M-m-my name is Rainbolt. I work at the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale. I’m a single parent and I-“

“Single parent? Really?” She closed the photo album and gave him all her attention.

Rainbolt nodded. Her tone didn’t seem too turned-off by the fact, and that eased any nervousness within him.

“I am too. My husband left me after our first kid.” She sighed. “My little colt has been fatherless his whole life, practically.”

“Same thing with my little filly! She’s been pretty sad about it lately, though.”

“Yeah… My name’s Moonlight, by the way.”

“That’s a very beautiful name for a very beautiful mare.” Rainbolt’s face lit up crimson as he complimented the pretty, young beauty.

“Thank you very, very much!” Her face lit up a light hue of pink.

“Maybe our kids could have a little play-date and we could have some time to get to know each other. If all works out, my daughter could earn a mommy, and your son could earn a father. You seem nice enough.”

The mare thought for a moment. “Sounds like a plan. I suppose my little boy could definitely use a play-mate and father. There aren’t a lot of single dads out there to fill the void.”

Rainbolt shyly smiled. This may have actually been it.

“So… how about my house this Saturday?”

“Rainbow, listen, I know you’re not used to acting sophisticated, but there’s a mare coming over who may or may not be interested in being part of the family, and I expect your best behavior.”

The stallion forcefully sprayed a little squirt of sweet-smelling perfume onto his little filly. She gagged and waved her hoof around to force the smelly liquid away from her.

“Daddy! I don’t want to be girly!” She whined.

“I’m not asking you to be ‘girly’. Just be polite, smile, and try to act decent. Do you want a mommy?”

Rainbow sighed and nodded. When she first heard a mare would be coming over, she was overwhelmed with joy, but this whole “try to act sophisticated” nonsense was really starting to dig under her fur. Why should she act sophisticated? If she really was going to be her mommy, then she’d have to actually know what she was like. And she was nowhere near a fancy little filly. She was messy, gruffly, and tough. Her father even made her comb her mane. Just the thought of it made the poor filly shudder, but when he went to actually put the comb to her head, it hurt like a bitch to get all the annoying, disobedient tangles out.

Rainbolt’s ears perked up at the sound of loud thuds from the door.

“I think that’s her, Sweetie. Just be good, okay?”

Rainbow sighed in an irritated tone and nodded.

“Adda girl.” He leaned down and gently connected his lips to his daughter’s soft forehead before fleeing off to answer the knocks.

Rainbolt opened the front door and smiled at the pretty mare. Oh, that wonderful night they’d talked for hours. She was absolutely perfect. She had an appreciation for the finer arts, knew a great deal about science, and to his surprise, was lower middle class. She admitted to receiving a few necklaces and gowns from her grandmother, but her appearance seemed much fancier than what was beneath.

The pretty mare wore her black mane in a bun, instead of the beautiful style he’d previously seen it in. He wouldn’t complain, though. She had the same pearl necklace from the previous night around her neck, but was naked otherwise. She came accompanied with a little colt. He had her pretty eyes and gray coat, but instead of a black mane, had a dark brown one that covered his left eye. He seemed to be at least a few years older than his very own child, and had a black lightning bolt on his flank to prove it.

“Please come in. This little guy must by Zapper, right?”

She nodded with a smile. “Say hello, Zapper.”

The little colt smiled awkwardly. “Hello, Sir…It smells nice in here.”

His mother gave him a light nudge on the shoulder. In her mind, it was rude to compliment the smells of a friend’s house if they were cooking. It implied that you wanted whatever they were eating. Earning a scold from his mother only seconds after they walked in the door was beyond embarrassing.

“I’m sorry, Sir…” He apologized and hung his head in shame.

Rainbolt smiled. “There’s no need to be sorry. It was a compliment.”

It wasn’t a second later his very own cyan filly rushed down the hall. He neatly combed mane was already starting to stick up from fast flying. She landed on the plush, cloud ground and swept her messy mane back.

“And… I suppose that’s your child.” Moonlight commented in an unsure tone.

“It is. I know she’s a bit younger than your colt, but she’s still….there.”

Rainbow gleefully smiled at her daddy’s guest. “I’m Rainbow Dash!” She got off her hooves and speedily flew over to her, holding out her front hoof to be shook. She leaned to her father, and with a smile and a volume just loud enough for the mare to hear said, “You got a really sexy mare, didn’t you?”

Moonlight's magenta eyes went wide, not even knowing what to say. She decided to ignore the comment and cautiously, the mare met hooves with the filly. Rainbolt's cheeks were burning in embarrassment.

“She’s really… active for a girl, isn’t she?”

Rainbolt and his daughter seemed rather confused by her statement.

“She is a rather speedy filly. Athleticism runs in the family.”

“Oh…” Was Moonlight’s only reply.

Rainbolt didn’t know how to react. He decided to announce that night’s menu.

“We’re having candy carrots with broccoli and veggie salads for dinner. I hope you guys like that.”

“That sounds pretty good. Thank you for inviting us.” Zapper said with a smile.

“You’re welcome. It should be done any second now.” With that line, there was a high-pitched ding from the kitchen. “Well what do you know?” He said with a half-smile.

Nervously, Rainbolt flew to the kitchen and took a boiling pot off the stove. There was already a streamer in the sink, where he tilted the pot and separated the broccoli from the boiling water. There was a large bowl of salad pre-prepared in the center of the neatly set kitchen table. The candy carrots smelt like maple and were on a large plate to be served. He’d put some effort into this meal, not a ton, but more than he usually did. He was beyond nervous for the upcoming night. He only hoped Rainbow would make a good impression.

Rainbolt put the then steaming broccoli in a large bowl for serving.

“Dinner’s served!” He announced.

Rainbow Dash had been socializing with the little colt. He seemed rather timid, even for being years older than her. At the call, they both trotted into the kitchen with growling tummies and small smiles. Everypony sat at the tables. Rainbow and Rainbolt took their usual seats. Moonlight sat right next to Dash, and Zapper to Rainbolt.

“Thank you so, so much for this wonderful meal, Rainbolt.” Moonlight sincerely spoke.

Her son quietly muttered, “thank you”.

“It’s no problem, go ahead and serve yourselves. Mares and foals first.”

Moonlight blushed a little and accepted. She took a nice plateful of salad, candy carrots, and steamy broccoli. Zapper was next to get his serving. When Dash took her serving, she only took a little plate of candy carrots, though. Rainbolt finally got his serving of everything and the pending family started eating. Moonlight, for the first couple minutes kept making awkward glances at Dash as she woofed down here candy carrots. Rainbolt didn’t even seem to be concerned with the fact she was only going for the sweet stuff.

“Umm… Rainbolt?” She finally questioned.

The stallion swallowed his previously taken in bite and stared at the mare. “Yeah?”

“Aren’t you even going to make her eat something more than candy carrots… or at least chew with her mouth closed?”

Rainbolt and Rainbow stared at the mare. Both were blushing heavily.

“Dashie doesn’t like salad or broccoli… she’s a bit of a picky eater.”

“Oh yeah? Well you make her eat healthier than!” The gray mare's tone became intimidating and a bit scary.

Rainbolt seemed to be a bit shocked at the mare’s surprisingly aggressive tone. “You just can’t force food down a child’s throat!”

The mare stared at Rainbolt with a smirk, and took Dash’s plate from beneath her. Her precious candy carrots… were stolen. Rainbow remained to look at the table beneath her, and when her ivory plate was returned, it had not only carrots, but weird, green, leafy stuff.

“Ew!” Was her first response.

“Don’t ‘Ew’ it! Now eat it!” Her tone was firm and quite intimidating.

Rainbolt just stared. He’d never been than aggressive with Dash to actually force her to do something she didn’t want to.

The anger building in the mare’s voice caused Dash to fearfully take a bite of the icky lettuce. There was absolutely no room for argument in her tone.

“See? It’s not so bad.” She smiled at the little filly, who was painfully gulping down her dinner. Moonlight’s eyes met with Rainbolt’s. “Look, it’s not that hard to be aggressive with them. Children are really easy to train.”

“I…I don’t know…” He looked at his daughter, who was practically forcing the nasty lettuce down like medicine. “It just doesn’t feel right to force your children to do stuff they don’t want to do.”

“They’re kids.” Moonlight argued. “What they want and think doesn’t matter.”

That line stung Rainbow in the heart. That was one of the cruelest things she’d ever heard off of anypony’s tongue. Her father always listened to her. Always. Now that she was being told the exact opposite…. It really hurt. Her eyes started swelling with tears.

Rainbolt didn’t respond and continued eating his food. She seemed so nice, but as a parent, she was a bit mean… Why was that? Even he found her a bit scary. Rainbolt let it go, and continued to eat. For a while, their meal continued in silence. The heavy tension between Rainbow and Moonlight was so realistic one could almost pluck it like a string on a violin. Moonlight finally decided to break the awkward silence.

“So…” Moonlight started. “Rainbow Dash… do you have any talents?”

Rainbow thought for a moment. “I can burp the ABCs backwards and fly really fast.”

Rainbolt blushed heavily. The whole ‘try to act like a lady’ concept flew out the window. She was who she was. and he supposed he couldn’t change that. Even Zapper seemed a bit shocked by her answer.

“How lady like.” Moonlight murmured to herself sarcastically.

How perfect. Any chance Rainbolt may have had with the mare was gone, but in some ways, he was happy about it. That whole night they’d bonded so tightly, but… she didn’t seem to be the most fit mother for Rainbow. She didn’t understand Rainbow like he did, and it didn’t seem like anything in the world would. Not even five minutes had passed before Moonlight noticed another imperfection about the little filly. She was sitting with her legs hugging the legs of her chair.

“Does she…always sit like that?”

Rainbolt curiously ducked his head under the table and saw her legs spread and wrapped around that chair’s.

“Uh… I don’t know. Maybe. Why?”

“It’s very inappropriate for a young filly to sit that way. She looks like a boy.”

Oh, how wonderful. More criticism. Frankly, Rainbolt was starting to get annoyed with her.

“It’s just a style of sitting. If you haven’t noticed, my daughter’s not exactly the most lady-like filly in Equestria.”

“No doubt about that. When I was growing up I either sat like a mare or I didn’t sit for weeks.”

Rainbolt gaped. He didn’t know who started that traditional ‘Mares do this and colts do this’ but it was highly irritating and shallow-minded. If he would have known she was so ignorant, he would have never ever invited her over.

“That’s kind of mean,” Rainbow stated. “Daddy normally just grounds me from toys or flying, but he’s never not allowed me to sit. It’d be kind of hard, too. I think my legs would ache after a long while.”

Moonlight was gaping from what she’d just heard. Was she stupid or just trying to be funny?

“You don’t spank your kid?” She asked, almost as if he were crazy.

Rainbolt took in a long breath. He was going to love saying this. Rainbow perked her ears up, never have heard the word before. Zapper on the other hoof, flinched looking back on memories.

“No, I don’t. Do you know why? Because I don’t have to! Rainbow listens to me and has proved to me she can be obedient without bodily harm! If I don’t need to hurt her, then why the hell should I? Just because I don’t parent like you, does not mean I’m a bad parent! My daughter may not be clean, or feminine, or even lack all table manners, but she’s perfect that way. I love her, and she’s amazing! If you don’t love her the way she is, then you’re not fit enough to be a parent. A real parent accepts their child no matter what!”

Moonlight stood, gaping at the stallion. Her eyes were wide and her heart pounded in anger. Rainbow was smiling cutely at her father for standing up for her.

“You know what? Do what you want! A real parent teaches their children to be fine, young gentlecolts and young mares!”

“Well, how about I be the classy gentlecolt I am, and escort your arse out of my home?”

Author's Note:

So, tomorrow and the day after I'm going out-of-town. I may not be able to post another chapter for a few more days because of it. I will be trying to get another chapter in before then, though. Sorry the made-up names in this chapter were kind of crappy. As I said before, I'm not the best at names.
Thanks for reading! Have a nice evening/day/morning/night!