1
A Proud Day for the Dash Family
At the corner of a one way road at the north end of Ponyville sits a very odd house. The first two floors are of Victorian design, with a modest but well groomed yard in front. It is fenced off by iron bars, rusted with time, separating the grounds from the sidewalk. What makes this house odd is the third story, which is made of clouds. The walls there are made of cumulonimbus, floors are made of stratus, the roof is a stratocumulus with a few cirrus forming peaks, and the roof is topped with a rainbow fountain.
This cloud-crowned house is home to three amazing ponies: Forcast, Ponyville's head weather pegasus pony; Bow Tie, an earth pony of unmatched beauty; and Rainbow Dash, the strong-willed rambunctious daughter of Forcast and Bow Tie. Although they don't know it yet, today is a very special day for this family.
"Dear," Bow Tie addressed her husband, who was setting his fresh coffee and yet-to-be-read paper down on the table.
"Yes, hunny?"
"I do wish you would stop encouraging Rainbow to try so hard to be a flyer."
"Now sugar, we've talked about this. It's what she wants to do and it's our job to be there for her."
"I know, I know!" "But what if…what if she can't keep up? I'm an earth pony, and you've heard the stories. She's lucky she can fly at all."
"But-" Forcast was interrupted as his wife continued. She had a tea cup in front of her that she kept moving around with her hoof as she talked.
"On the other hoof," Bow Tie said, "She is very beautiful, and with some work she could surpass even me. Just think of it! Our little Rainbow, voted the most beautiful pony of all Equestria!"
Forcast smiled. His wife took great pride in her looks, but not, he thought, to the point of vanity. This was not something he could say of the ponies she competed against.
He took a sip of his coffee before responding. "Dash is already the most beautiful pony ever. I don't need someone else to tell me that. How could she not be with you as her mother? What she wants to do is fly, and she is as strong-willed as you, and I've never seen you fail at something you put your mind to. And whether or not she succeeds, I do not want to be accused of not being there for her."
"But," Bow Tie protested, "I just don't want her to get her hopes up, only to be crushed by something she can't help." At the last part, she looked at her own wingless back. "And I saw those fliers you got for that flying school. What if she fails and hates me because I'm just an earth pony?"
Forcast set his drink down and gave his wife a stern look.
"I did not marry just an earth pony, I married Bow Tie, the pony who didn't care about social stigmas. The pony who inspired a lazy rookie to become the best weather pony this side of the Everfree forest. And did I mention that I married the most beautiful pony I have ever seen? Dash may have gotten my wings but she has your spirit, and that's what'll take her to the top."
Bow Tie smiled and stopped fidgeting with her tea cup.
"You always know what to say. Must be why I love you," Bow Tie said with a wry smile.
The sound of hoofs on the sidewalk echoed in through the window. They were moving fast, followed by an extra loud clop signaling a pony jumping the fence.
"Speak of the devil," Bow Tie said. "She's moving fast." Her eyes widened and she shouted out "Sweety! The screen doo-"
*cash* *bam* *smash*
"Never mind."
"I'm ok!" Rainbow Dash called from the front room. "Daddy! Daddy Daddy Daddy!" she shouted jubilantly as she ran into the room. "I got my cutie mark!"
Sure enough, there on her flank sat a cloud with a dramatic rainbow-colored lightning bolt firing from it.
"Oh, sweetie!" her mom cooed. "Im so proud!" She grabbed Rainbow up in a hug, squeezing the air out of her.
"Yeah, yeah," said Dash as she pried herself from her mom's embrace as Bow Tie started blubbering on about her little girl growing up.
"Guess how I got it! Guess!"
Forcast brought his hoof up to his chin, pretending to think. "Is it a reward for good grades?"
"Ha!" "Yeah right, Dad, like I get good gra-" She stopped short when she saw the look her mom gave her. "No, see what happened was, these mean colts were picking on Fluttershy -- you remember her, right? She's my friend, and she's really shy – anyway, they were picking on her and it was ticking me off, so I challenged them to a race. So we started racing and I was going fast -- I wish you could have seen me, Daddy -- but I felt I could go faster, so I started flapping my wings, and I kept going faster and faster and as I was thinking I couldn't go any faster, suddenly-" She paused to take a breath. "There was this huge bang and zoom and I went even faster and there was a rainbow colored trail behind me! It was so awesome!"
Bow Tie looked at her husband, confused. "What did she do?"
Forcast had a big smile on his face, proud as only a parent can be. "Our little girl broke the sound barrier!"
Dash looked from her mom to her dad. "What is that? Does that make me cooler?"
Forcast nodded, "It certainly does make you cooler."
"Really!? How much cooler?"
"Oh, I'd say at least 20 percent cooler, with a chance of awesomeness!"
"So, does this mean Rainbow will be a good flyer?" Her mother asked.
"Good? No," said Forcast. "Great! Dash may become one of the greatest flyers ever. Very few ponies can do what she did, and none I've heard of could do it so young!"
"Eeeeeee!" Bow Tie squealed as she grabbed Rainbow in another bear hug. "I love you so much!"
"Mom!" Dash complained as she tried to wiggle loose.
