A father should always be there for his children...his daughter...

He's supposed to teach her what to do in this world, how to live. He's supposed to stand by her side if she ever needs help...

So why in Equestria was his daughter so fast? Why was he constantly forced to be so far behind her? Who had decided to bless her so that...so that she would never need him?

He did not resent his daughter for this though, she was truly the most important part of his life...but he couldn't help but wish that he could be a more important part of hers.

She was so small when she was born, they never really tell you how small a newborn foal is. Movies always manage to get it wrong, maybe it was more dramatic if the foals were larger, or maybe the camera just added ten pounds...he didn't know. Books on the matter would always be more truthful, but simply reading about something and seeing it in person were two entirely different things.

The sight had actually made him worried. Seeing that small bundle held gently in the hooves of his wife caused him to instantly picture a young frail Pegasus, so unsure of herself, so unready to take the leap of faith that would lead to her first chance at life.

Well he was determined that his vision would never come to pass. He made a promise to himself that he would make his daughter the greatest flier Equestria had ever, and would ever, see.

He had been so naive with that promise.

It was almost as if she was racing to get out her crib. They would so often find her galloping through the clouds surrounding their home, far faster than him or his wife had expected. Time passed and she only grew faster, stronger. It seemed as if everyday she was begging him to teach her how to fly, to take the first leap into the vast blue sky.

"Not yet," he would always tell her. "One day at flight school and I'll take you out as much as you want." He was so excited to see her fly, but he wanted to make sure she would be safe as well.

Soon the day of reckoning came and he was sending off Rainbow Dash to school.

"Now be sure to pay attention and learn everything you can about flying. Make me proud, okay?" he grinned down at her.

"As long as you promise to be ready to teach me how to fly!" she returned, her gaze determined.

"I promise Dashie," his daughter groaned a little at the nickname before jumping on the sky chariot that would take her to school. As it pulled away he stood there, waving and waiting diligently until it disappeared from view.

He walked back home to find his wife just getting out of their bed. Being in charge of the nighttime weather routine took quite the toll on her sleeping schedule.

"Oh...I missed it didn't I?" she said as he waked into the room, ending the sentence with a massive yawn.

"Don't worry, she understood. Besides, there will be more school days," he nuzzled against her neck. "I just hope her first day will go well for her."

"What do you mean?" his wife said, sounding a little more awake now.

"Well...if they still do things the same as when we went then the first say is all about safety. All the things that can go wrong when flying and how to avoid them. I hope it doesn't make her afraid of flying..."

At that, his wife began to chuckle. A light hearted silly thing that he had always loved. Though he did love it a little more when it wasn't directed at him.

"And what is that for?" he said, pulling away slightly.

"Just wait for Rainbow Dash to get home later today. I think you'll see," was all she told him.

"Let's go dad!" Rainbow Dash announced, already so sure of herself. She hadn't even bothered to go inside after the sky chariot had dropped her off at home, instead rushing to the edge of the clouds nearby.

Almost stunned at her eagerness, he found himself nodding at her. Without a moment's hesitation she crouched down and leapt off of the edge of the cloud.

Her wings spread out into the calm afternoon breeze, a little too quickly he noticed, she'd lose some speed from drag, but still very good for a first attempt.

"Careful now," he called back. "I don't want to lose sight of you." His own wings spread out and he quickly joined her in the air, making sure to stay close just in case she needed him.

Well, at least he tried to stay close.

"Come on dad, how am I gonna get lost? It's the sky, there's just clouds and stuff up here," his daughter said, drifting slowly back and forth, still a little unsteady. "Besides, there's no way you're gonna be able to keep your eyes off of...this!" With that she rushed straight down in a powerful dive, going from a nice safe speed to impossibly fast in just a few seconds.

He nearly cried out in fear, quickly going into a dive of his own to try and catch up with her. He was drawing closer with Rainbow Dash suddenly twisted in mid-air, completely altering her direction. She'd turned her massive boost of speed into a spiraling corkscrew through the air.

It was by no means perfect, he could see that her trajectory was off center. But still...it was something he never would have expected.

He hovered in the air, silent, as his daughter flew back over to him.

"So what did you think dad? Pretty awesome huh?" she asked, obviously eager for his answers. He simply sat there for a few seconds, stunned.

"Did you learn that at school?" he finally said.

"Yup! Well...sorta," a sheepish grin grew on her face. "The teacher spent so long talking about proper wind safety and wing care, but at the end she pulled out a projector and showed us this amazing film of some Pegasus flying through the air! She let the class out for recess or something but I asked her if I could watch the film again. Well she let me watch it three more times and I got a pretty good idea of how to pull off the trick."

"But c'mon dad, it was cool right?" she asked again.

"Yeah...it's great," he found himself saying. "Keep it up and one day you're gonna be an amazing flier.

"You really think so?" she said, fluttering a little high in excitement.

"Yup, just keep being...perfect."

And life went on.

Rainbow Dash continued to go to school and he would always be there to wave her goodbye, even when it got to the point that she told him it was embarrassing.

"Don't you know? That's one of a Dad's jobs, to embarrass his kids," he'd said with a goofy grin. Rainbow Dash had rolled her eyes, but he could tell she wasn't as upset anymore.

Sometimes his wife managed to wake up early enough to see her daughter off, sometimes now, but she tried and he didn't think she minded that much.

Then after School Rainbow Dash would be waiting outside the home, ready to show him all the great tricks she'd learned in school just by seeing them, or even just hearing about them. All he had to do was sit and watch her, watch her in all of her splendor.

He was so proud...

Yet seeing it all hurt him in a way he had never imagined.

She didn't need him, from the very beginning she hadn't needed him. It almost didn't seem fair, he was so prepared to be a father, to be someone who could teach his children everything they needed to know...

That had been taken away from.

Every day as he observed these great tricks, as Rainbow Dash grew stronger and stronger without him, he found himself wishing, wishing with a small quiet voice in the back of his mind.

Wishing that just once, his daughter needed help with something, that she might fail at something.

He hated that voice, he hated that wish, he tried everything he could to quiet it down. To try and make his love and pride outweigh such petty jealousy. But as time went by, he found it harder and harder to stick to that vow.

One specific moment was when he found himself sitting at home after Rainbow Dash had left and his wife was still sleeping. He was dutifully cleaning the house up, ensuring that his family would always return to a welcoming home.

While double checking for dust residue he thought he heard something, a strange far off 'popping' sound in the distance. He had all of two seconds to ponder the sound when a massive shock wave seemed to shake through the house, rattling all of their shelves.

He rushed to his bedroom to make sure he wife was okay only to find her sitting up in bed, seemingly fine.

"Are you all right dear?" he said just to be sure.

"I'm fine...but look," she raised a hoof to point out towards the window. Following it, he could not believe what he was seeing.

A massive rainbow was stretching across the sky, growing larger every second. At the end of it it almost looked like there was a...pony helping to trace it through the open air.

"A sonic rainboom..." his wife whispered. "I thought that was a just an old mare's tale..."

"I guess not," he said, in just as much awe as her.

"Who do you think made it?" his wife asked.

"No idea, but I doubt it will be a secret for long," he said to her, but the small voice spoke up in the back of his mind.

You know who caused it, after all, who else could've done it?

He found himself wishing the voice was wrong...

It wasn't.

Everypony wanted to talk to him afterwards, wanting to hear about the miracle his daughter was able to perform. They invited themselves into his home, barraging him with so many question about how she pulled it off.

He could not answer them, because he truly had nothing to do with it.

Of course they refused to understand such a simple statement, absolutely sure there was some secret technique him or his wife had taught her, some old family secret.

Eventually he couldn't stand it any more and simply stopped answering questions, locking the door when any more curious ponies came to the door.

That took care of one thing, they still needed to figure out what to do with Rainbow Dash.

Their daughter was absolutely ecstatic, proudly showing off her new cutie mark, along with a veritable mountain of letters she'd received.

So many flight camps had heard of her amazing feat and were clamoring over themselves in an attempt to enlist her. She was a little young, to be honest, but they were ready and willing to look over it.

"Where do you think I should go dad?" his daughter asked, spreading the letters out on their kitchen table. "I think there's one here all the way from Manehattan! Can you believe it?" She was positively beaming.

"Pretty believable considering the letter is right in front of me," he slowly scanned his eyes over the pile. "Do you want to go to Manehattan?"

"Well...it does look really great but I was thinking more like this one," digging through the letters she pulled out a brochure and passed it over.

"Junior Speedsters," he read before examining the brochure. "What made you choose this one?"

"Well I heard that some of the Wonderbolts went there! You know...before they were Wonderbolts. It'll be full of a bunch of other really cool Pegasus and even some griffons!" Rainbow Dash stepped back a little, looking down at the floor. "Plus it's pretty close to Cloudsdale so I can come back home in case...well just in case I want to come home or something."

There was something in those words...but he wasn't quite sure what it was. He tried to get a better look at Rainbow Dash but in the next moment she was all smiles again.

"Well I'll need to talk to your mom, but it does sound like a good camp," he placed the brochure down and was immediately blindsided by a flying hug.

"Thank you! You're the best dad in the whole world!" his daughter said, her face buried in his chest.

"Y-yeah..." was all he could say.

The decision was practically made at that moment. His wife had little to say on the matter, simply giving the brochure a quick look over before nodding her approval.

Before he could say 'Have a nice trip' Rainbow Dash was packed and out of the door, leaving things...a little bit emptier.

Without his daughter around everything seemed so much more...quiet, like there was simply less energy in the air.

But he was still able to admit to himself, without her there things were easier. Fewer ponies came around in an attempt to get an interview, there were no more perfect performances to watch, to were no more reminders of a greatness that had needed no help from him.

Part of him felt happy, relieved.

And the other parts felt guilty for being so happy.

He did receive several letters as the weeks passed, packed full of all the great things she was learning, how he wouldn't believe the awesome tricks she could do now.

How he was gonna be so proud of her.

Then a letter arrived that was not from his daughter, it was from the camp itself. An invitation.

The students were putting on an aerial show to display their new skills and the parents were cordially invited to view the wonderful fliers the camp had shaped their children into.

He found himself standing over the trash-bin, the letter in hoof. How easy it would be to say he'd never gotten the invitation, to apologize that he missed out on her show.

So easy...

"Honey, we've got a letter," he gently shook his wife awake, smiling as she blinked the sleep from her eyes.

The crowd was certainly a unique one, Pegasus and griffon parents happily mingling together, waiting to see their darling children perform.

They'd gotten there a bit late and were forced to sit near the edge of the crowd, but he didn't mind. With the sky as their theater, he doubted they'd miss much.

The show was about the started when he noticed a Pegasus stepping towards the crowd. Was that one of the staffers? And were they moving closer to them?

They were.

Obviously trying to appear nonchalant they stopped next to his wife and leaned down to whisper in her ear. Without another word his wife stood and walked off.

Now what was that all about.

He stared after them, watching as they disappeared into one of the buildings. After a few minutes they stepped back out and his wife made a beeline for him. Drawing closer he was able to pick out a strange look on her face.

She looked absolutely determined.

"You need to speak to your daughter," she announced, almost glaring down at him.

"Wait, why? What's happening?" he tried to asked, but she was having none of that. She practically dragged him out of the crowed and pushed him over to the building. He stopped by the door and looked back at her for some sort of explanation. She simply gestured at the door, staying silent.

Sighing, he pushed through the door.

"Um...hello?" the inside seemed completely empty. He almost thought this was some sort of practical joke when his ears managed to catch something.

Sniffling.

Following the noise he was led to the corner of the room, where a cyan colored rainbow maned Pegasus sat, her head turned away from him.

"Dashie?"

"H-hey dad...I was hoping mom wouldn't get you," she turned around, viciously rubbing her eyes with a fore-hoof. They were bright red, from tears.

"Oh Dashie, what happened?" he whispered.

"Oh you know...allergies. Did you know the clouds store pollen, so it's way worse up here than down on the ground...or something," it was a pathetic excuse, and he could tell that she didn't even believe it.

"Rainbow Dash, You can tell me, it's okay," she paused for a bit, seeming to think it over. Finally she took a deep breath and started talking.

"I'm afraid dad. They asked me to lead this huge show and I know I'm gonna make some mistake and ruin everything!" she shook her head. "I don't want you to see how bad I am..."

Now he was even more confused.

"What are you talking about? Not once at home did you ever mess up on your tricks. Why would you ever think that you'd mess up?" he said to her, taking a seat on the floor.

"Because...you always saw me after I was done practicing the trick! At flight school I spent every second making sure those tricks were great. It...didn't always go well," she explained. "The other students thought up a nickname for me, 'Rainbow Crash.'"

"But I didn't listen to them. I worked harder and harder and harder just to show them, and I did! I did a sonic rainbow, I made the impossible possible!" she seemed to smile at this, pulling herself up, before suddenly dropping back down. "But that didn't help for long. Everyone expects so much from me now, I'm doing so many tricks in this show I can barely keep them all in my head!

"Rainbow Dash...why didn't you tell me this before? You looked so happy, I could have tried to help you..." he said, though the words didn't seem to sound right to him.

"I put on that happy face so you wouldn't be disappointed in me dad. Whenever I did my tricks for you it always felt like...you thought I could better. But now I'm trying to do so much stuff I don't think...I don't think I can anymore..." she looked away from, down at the floor.

Well congratulations, you got your wish. She finally needs some help. Does that make you feel better?

"Not at all," he whispered to himself. The noise pulled Rainbow Dash's attention back to him.

Slowly, softly, he pulled his daughter into a hug.

"Oh Dashie, I have always been proud of you. You are the greatest flier in all of Equestria, even if you weren't I would still be proud. You are so strong, determined, and willful. I don't think any father could be as proud as me," he told her. "You gave all you could to be the best you could be."

"You did it without help from anyone."

"You were there dad, don't you remember? You were there at my first lesson, telling me to learn everything I could. You were there to wave at me every morning before I went to school. "

"You gave me everything I needed."

They sat like that for awhile, so content in their need for each other. But soon they had to pull away.

"Are you ready to fly?" he asked.

"Promise you'll still love me if I mess up?" a silly grin covered her face.

"I will love you no matter what..."

He sat in the crowd, awaiting the show.

It was perfect, she was perfect.

Everything was finally perfect.

Author's Notes:

Did you know my original plan was to have these chapters be a thousand words? Haha...I'm bad as guessing story lengths...

I wrote this very fast so spelling errors are probably very prevalent, but I wanted to get this up before vacation started...still I do apologize for it.

Tell me what you think about this dad and take a guess at what chapter I'm looking forward to writing the most. What chapter are you looking forward to the most? We've got 5-ish chapter left after all.