The Masked Mare of Mystery

Two days earlier.

Rainbow Blaze was in his office when he heard a loud splash. He looked out to see what had happened. He gasped at the sight in front of him. His father was in the rainbow mix pool, struggling not to drown.

“Hang on Dad!” Rainbow Blaze called.

He raced over to the mix pool before anypony else could, managing to pull his father out of it.

“Somepony get a medic and a fill in for my father!” He ordered.

A mare named Rainbowshine raced off to do just that. The other workers gathered around Rainbow Blaze as he laid the older stallion on the ground.

Rainbow Blaze looked down at his father. “What happened Dad?” he asked.

“Oh son, I tripped over my own hoof and ended up in there.” Rainbow Strike said weakly.

“Somepony called for a medic?” a voice asked.

“Yes, over here.” The rainbow maned stallion called.

“What happened?”  the medic asked.

“My father fell into the spectra mix pool.” Rainbow Blaze explained.

The medic grew silent. Direct exposure to the spectra that make a rainbow have fatal effects on a pony’s body. Pinkie Pie was only so lucky not to have tasted some without getting her tongue burned off.

“Somepony call an ambulance, he need to get to the hospital.” The medic ordered.

While a stallion did so, the medic did what he could, which wasn’t much. He injected Rainbow Strike with some magic potion, which did seem to help, but not that much. Fortunately, the ambulance arrived and RS was rushed to the hospital.  Rainbow Blaze could only watch helplessly as the ambulance raced away. He would have to wait until after his shift to see his father again. Unfortunately, they didn’t let him see his father that day due to the degree of operation he was undergoing. He could see his father the day afterwards either because he was having the potion the medic used earlier pumped into him all day. Apparently Rainbow Strike consumed a dangerous amount of the spices.

Present Day, 4:30.

“We’d like to see Rainbow Strike.”  Rainbow Blaze told the receptionist.

“Down the hall, first room on the left.” The receptionist replied, not even looking at the couple.

“She was rather rude.” Firefly snorted as she and her husband made their way down the hall.

They arrived at the room. Inside they saw a light blue stallion with the trademark Rainbow Family mane. He also bore a three color lightning bolt cutie mark, hence his name, Rainbow Strike.

“Son, come closer” the old stallion said weakly when he noticed the two pegasi standing at the door.

The two younger ponies approached.

“Where’s Dashie?” he asked.

“Ponyville Dad.” Blaze replied.

The old pony sighed. “I need all three of you here, don’t worry about me, I’ll hold on for another day, bring Rainbow Dash with you tomorrow.”

Both husband and wife looked confused by this, but before they could ask their father what he meant, a nurse came in and told the married couple to leave him to rest.

“What did he mean by “I'll hold on for another day?” Firefly asked her husband.

“I can take a guess…” Blaze said quietly.

“No, …, he can’t…not yet!” the pink pony said alarmed when realization hit her.

Blaze said nothing. He turned and continued on. Firefly sighed and followed him home.

The First Day of Cider Season

Two ponies where making their way to Ponyville. When they arrived, they were surprised to see ponies going the same direction. Bifröst stopped a blue unicorn with an hourglass cutie mark.

“Excuse me, where is everypony going?” he asked her.

“To Sweet Apple Acres for cider season.” Minuette replied.

“Can you lead us there?” Firefly asked.

“Sure, follow me.” The unicorn replied.

She led them to the large apple farm. Once they had gotten there, the couple thanked Minuette and searched for their daughter, calling out her name.  Looking through the line until they got to the front, they saw an orange earth pony wearing a cowboy hat stood behind a stand.

“Yall lookin for Rainbow Dash, she’s over there with Big Mac.” Applejack said, pointing to Rainbow and Big Mac running on a treadmill connected to a machine juicing apples. They went over to them.

“Dash” Firefly said.

The speedster looked over at her parents.

“Hey Mom, Dad.” She said cheerily.

“We need to talk to you, it’s a family matter.” Rainbow Blaze said seriously.

Rainbow could tell something was up. “Go on without me, this may take a while.” She told the big red stallion.

“Eeyup.” Was the short reply

The Rainbow Family walked over to an empty space.

“What’s up?” Dash asked.

“My father is on his deathbed, he needs us all there, mostly likely to tell us something important.” Blaze said.

“WHAT!? Grandpa is dying!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Yes, and we have to go see him now.” Firefly explained.

Dash looked sad. “Let me explain what’s going on before we go.”

The parents watched as she walked away and called her friends together, two unicorns, two earth ponies (one of them was the orange earth pony from earlier), and a Pegasus they recognized as Fluttershy.

"Guys, we have situation. My grandfather is dying in the hospital and by the sounds of it, he doesn't have much longer." Rainbow explained.

Gasps came from the other five mares.

"Oh Daring, that's horrible, I'm so sorry." a white unicorn with a royal purple mane said.

"Thanks, my parents and I have to go see him before..." Dash started before she was cut off.

"Take all the time you need Sugarcube, losing a family member isn't any easy thing to get over. Ah was pretty down in the dumps after Grampy died." the orange earth pony said understandingly.

"Dash, if you need anything, we're here for you." a lavender unicorn said encouragingly.

"Yeah, if you ever need a cheering up party..." a pink earth pony said quietly,

"I know, thanks guys." the rainbow haired pegasus told them.

After a group hug, the others remained quiet as they went back to work, leaving Dash and Shy alone.

"Sorry if..." Dash began.

"Dashie, it's okay, don't worry about us. What's important is you go spend some time with your grandfather before his time is up." Fluttershy said softly.

"I love you Fluttershy." Rainbow said quietly.

"I love you too Rainbow Dash" Fluttershy replied.

Both  ponies leaned in and shared a kiss, much to the surprise of Blaze and Firefly.

“Alrighty, let’s go.” Rainbow called as she made her way back to her parents.

Her parent starred dumbfounded at her. At first Rainbow was confused, but then realized they saw her kiss a mare on the lips, and not just any mare.

“Yes, I’m gay and I love Fluttershy, I was going to tell you  sooner or later, but…” Dash sighed before she was cut off.

“Now’s not the time, let’s get going.” Rainbow Blaze said with a huff as he took off.

RD looked at her mother. Firefly sighed at smiled at her.

“Come on!” RB called from above.

The two mares took off after him.  The trip to Cloudsdale was a quiet one.

“So Dashie, how did you two fall in love?” Firefly asked, trying to make conversation as the trip was getting boring.

A grunt came from the stallion.

“Well, it’s like this. Fluttershy told me she liked me asked me out on a date. It could have gone better, but that's besides the point. Our relationship was getting on her pet bunny's nerves and causing tension between them, then it came to a head one day and Fluttershy offered him a chance to leave, which he took. After that, Flutters was devastated, so I search for her pet bunny and brought him back. When she asked why I did it, that's when I realized I loved her. ” Dash explained.

Firefly “Awwed” at the story.

“Dad, I know that…” Dash started.

“It’s okay, I would prefer you to be straight but, if you like mares, who am I to stop you.” Blaze said in an annoyed yet tolerant tone.

Rainbow was relieved her father accepted the fact she was lesbian. She had been worried he parents would disown her for her sexuality, but now she could breathe easy about it. However this good feeling didn’t last long. When they reached Cloudsdale, Dash couldn’t help but shutter.