Quibble stared with tired, desperate eyes at the tiny foal in his hooves. The rise and fall of his son's gentle breathing had put him in some sort of trance, and he had been unable to break his gaze away from the baby for what seemed like hours. Quibble felt he had hardly taken a breath himself as his heart raced when a voice from behind him nearly startled him out of his wits."You know, new dads need just about as much sleep as babies," Rainbow teased, peering over his shoulder to look at their little bundle in blue. She smiled warmly as Quill Feather twitched his nose, murmuring softly at the broken silence.All Quibble could manage was a quiet rumble in his throat as he snapped his attention back to their baby, running his eyes all over his small frame. Rainbow nuzzled Quibble's mane affectionately, placing a hoof on her husband's shoulder."Hey, what's going on, babe?" she asked softly, eyeing him with concern."...It's nothing, I just... Never mind," Quibble croaked, his voice hardly above a whisper in fear he'd stir Quill from his nap.Rainbow frowned as she settled next to him, poking his shoulder gently. "Quibble, half of the time I have trouble getting you totalking, and now you have nothing to say? C'mon, talk to me."He sighed, resting his head on hers. There was so much he was thinking about, and so few words to explain the deep pit in his stomach that made him fear... this. The tiny bundle dozing quietly before him. The role he was meant to play in shaping this young mind, raising this small foal. Would he be able to do it? He was bound to make a million mistakes, who was he kidding? Quill would probably hate him, just as much as Quibble hated his own father."I don't know if I can do this," he said quietly.Rainbow furrowed her brow, her lips curling into that pout she always made when she felt a challenge coming on. "Of course you can," was all she responded with. Quibble began to shake his head, the fear mounting up from his gut to his throat."No, I can't, I don't know the first thing about being a father, and I don't know how to-"Rainbow Dash cut him off with a swift nip to the ear, making him wince and exclaim in surprise. Quill stirred for a few seconds before settling down once more. Rainbow fixed Quibble with a deadly glare."Quibble Pants, no one knows how to be a parent until one of these," at this she jerked her head at their son,"pops into their lives. I certainly didn't know how to be a mom when Iris and Sunny came along, Celestia knows. Sure, there are books an egghead like you could read, but you don't learn how to be a parent by reading- you learn by doing."Quibble remained silent, tense under his wife's gaze. He still hadn't managed to look away from Quill, forcing Rainbow to snap his head to look at her in the eyes. She stared at him for a few more hard seconds before her gaze softened and her voice grew gentler."I know you're scared, and I know you were nervous about this from the start, but trust me, ygot this. We both got this. You're going to be an awesome dad." She smiled tenderly at Quibble, the confidence in her voice helping to ease some of the fright away from his mind. He spoke after a while, his voice still quiet, but much more steady than before."I-I'm sorry, it's just, thinking about this, about him, it just... makes me scared I'll become my father, I guess."Rainbow leaned on his shoulder as Quibble slumped against her, taking their son into her own hooves gently. They both stared as Quill Feather shifted, wiggling a little in his blanket. She smiled fondly at their baby, remembering when her twins used to be this small, too."You're gonna do just fine, Quib. I've got plenty of experience for the both of us, so if you ever doubt yourself, you got me to lean on." She said quietly, finally turning her attention back to Quibble. His eyes were closed, his breathing calm. Not much different from the sleeping baby in her arms. Rainbow rolled her eyes fondly as she adjusted herself into a more comfortable position while making sure Quill was alright before settling down herself, exhaustion catching up to her."Moms gotta sleep too," she mumbled quietly before happily dozing off with her two boys.--Whew, I don't normally write that much! I was in the mood to draw something QuibbleDash related, so here we are! Also, introducing their son, Quill Feather! I mostly wanted to focus on Quibble himself here, though, and his anxiety in becoming a parent before and after the birth of Quill. I'll delve more into Quibble's backstory later on, but the basic idea is Quibble had a terrible relationship with his father, so much so that, at least in Harmonyverse canon, he was thrown out by him during his near-adult years. It left a dark impression on Quibble, which mostly manifested in his weariness to become a father himself.While Quibble was dating Rainbow after she got divorced from Zephyr, he remained a little distant from her kids Iris and Sunny. He interacted with them as much as he was comfortable with (Rainbow Dash never pushed him) and he genuinely liked them a lot, since they all got along very well, but he was always scared the kids would start to see him as a father figure in their life, so he tried to keep certain boundaries up (not as if Iris and Sunny began to ever look up to him as a father figure during the early stages of RD and Quib's relationship- they both liked Quibble just fine and were happy their mom was happy, but Quib was too much of a nerd for them to ever think of him as their new papa while they were still teens, heh). After he and Rainbow Dash married, and while he had already settled comfortably into the Dash family lifestyle, he was still more than nervous when the subject of children came up. He loved Rainbow Dash, no question about it, but he was still hesitant to put himself in that position (he was just getting used to being responsible for Iris and Sunny, who he had finally gotten closer to). Rainbow, knowing Quibble's anxiety, had never meant to make him a father until he was ready for it, but sometimes things can't be controlled- cue RD getting pregnant with Quill. RD's pregnancy floored Quibble- both the good and bad way. He was thrilled he would be having a baby with Rainbow, but also terrified at the implications of having to raise a child. Throughout the pregnancy and through several years of Quill's growing up, Quibble doubts himself a lot- but that's to be explored and developed more next time!I really wanted to go a little further with this piece since I wound up liking it a lot, hence the rare shading and highlights I threw in- it's not perfect, but it's nearly 5:00 AM here, so I'm not going to judge myself too harshly. I had a lot of fun in drawing a rattled and disheveled Quibble! He ought to shave soon, hehe. Also, the colors from his mane are fading out- poor guy hasn't had the time to dye his mane since Quill popped into his life, haha!Alrighty, I think I'm getting much more into the swing of things, if drawing well into the wee hours of the morning is any implication of that. Good night/morning, folks- enjoy!Harmonyverse and art belong to me.MLP:FiM belongs to Hasbro.