-o-Anniversary Mayhem-o-
-o-Chapter 2-o-
-o-A Big Surprise-o-

As the entourage of ponies reached Cloudsdale (Shining Armor had put the Crystallux on autopilot early on, so he could talk to the others more easily), Twilight Sparkle was fervently wishing she had learned a “mute my surroundings” spell. That way, she wouldn’t have had to listen to her brother and friends trade embarrassing stories about her on the whole trip.

“…And that’s why Twilight can never have alcohol,” Shining Armor finished his story.

“…Darn it, Shining, what about the pineapple?” Pinkie Pie suddenly asked. “Why am I the only one who cares about the pineapple?”

Shining thought for a moment. “You know, we never DID figure out where the pineapple came from…”

Twilight decided it was time to change the subject. “So, Rainbow Dash, about your parents. I don’t think I’ve ever met them. What are they like?”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Wait, you’ve never met them? Everypony else here has…” She grinned. “Well, you already know about my dad, Prism Flash, and how he was in the Royal Guard… He ended up retiring as Captain about ten years ago after he broke his wing in a training exercise with some new recruits. It wasn’t one of those ‘never fly again’ scenarios, though; he was already planning to retire at that point. The accident just hastened his retirement.” She laughed. “Y’know, I never would’ve expected that my dad and your brother knew each other. Though now that I think about it, he DID mention a unicorn colt that gave him a lot of trouble in his last couple years. My mom, Firefly, always joked that that particular colt was probably an ulterior motive for his retirement.”

Shining Armor pretended that he didn’t hear the last part of Rainbow Dash’s explanation. “So, Dash, I was hoping to park this right outside your parents’ house,” he said as a sign labeled “Wind Whistler Whisps” came into view. “What street is it on?”

“Better put the brakes on now,” she replied. “It’s the first house in the neighborhood.”

“Got it,” Shining noted as he switched back to manual, slowed down the engines and brought the chariot to a halt. Rainbow Dash’s parents’ house was a typical Cloudsdale home: A two-story house with Romane-style architecture enchanted with pegasus magic to sit on clouds despite its huge mass. The front door was just a few feet away from where Shining parked the chariot.

Twilight, her friends, and Shining Armor got out of the chariot, the cloud-walking spell allowing the non-winged ponies to walk on the clouds with no difficulty. Shining Armor knocked on the door, and a pink pegasus mare with violet eyes and a blue mane and tail styled identically to Rainbow Dash’s opened it, smiling.

“Sparky! How lovely to see you!” she addressed Shining, who blushed at the nickname. “We weren’t expecting you all to arrive until the afternoon! Did you actually get out of bed on time or something?”

“I’ve gotten a lot better about that, Firefly,” Shining replied.

Twilight looked at him. “ ‘Sparky?’” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“It’s… a long story,” Shining answered.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash pushed the two out of the way and gave Firefly a big hug, surprising Twilight, who rarely saw Rainbow Dash show such affection towards anypony.

“It’s so good to see you, Mom!” Rainbow said, her smile widening.

“Good to see you too, Dashie,” Firefly replied, smiling back at her daughter. Then she adopted a serious expression. “Have you been behaving yourself in Ponyville? Keeping up your flight practice? Changing your-”

“MOOOOM!” Dash yelled, blushing.

Applejack was struggling not to laugh. “Oh, she’s been no trouble at all. After all, she’s got all of us to keep her in line, doesn’t she?” She gestured at her other friends, who nodded. “Nice to see you again, Ms. Firefly.”

Firefly nodded. “Indeed it is.” She then looked at Twilight, and gave an exaggerated bow. “And you must be Twilight Sparkle—or should I say, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash talks about you in her letters all the time, but I believe this is the first time we’ve ever actually met. It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness.”

Twilight blushed. Even though she had recently gained her own castle and the title of “Princess of Friendship,” she still had a little trouble with ponies addressing her as such. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. And please, before I was a princess, I was simply Rainbow Dash’s friend. Just Twilight will do.”

“Understood, Just Twilight!” Firefly joked, winking at her and lifting her hoof to her forehead in mock salute. “Anyway, you should all come in. I’m sure it’s not every day that half of you get to see the inside of a pegasus home.”

The inside of the house was much simpler than the exterior suggested. As it turned out, there was only one floor, though Twilight noticed that it seemed to be rather large anyway. In the living room where they entered, she noticed an indigo pegasus stallion with a rainbow mane nearly identical to that of Rainbow Dash’s closing up a suitcase.

That must be her father, Twilight thought. I can definitely see the resemblance. She walked up to him, saying, “You must be Rainbow’s father, Prism Flash. I’m--”

“I know who you are,” he interrupted her, looking up at her with his violet eyes. His voice sounded very deep and calm, like he had seen so many unusual things that nothing fazed him anymore. “You’re Sparky’s sister and Dashie’s friend, Twilight Sparkle, aren’t you?” He smiled warmly. “Still can’t believe that I’ve met all of my daughter’s friends except you. Well, until today, anyway…”

Twilight smiled back. “Yeah, funny how that works. Sometimes you have a special connection to your friends even before you’ve met them. Though THIS is one I never would have expected.” She laughed. “Heck, next you’ll be telling me she has an older sister in the Wonderbolts! Wouldn’t THAT be a surprise?”

“Did somepony say… SURPRISE!” a new voice came, and Twilight suddenly found herself hit by a white and yellow blur and knocked on the ground. She looked up and discovered the source: a white pegasus mare with a short yellow mane and purple eyes. Three purple balloons adorned her flank, and she had a huge grin on her face.

“Hiya! You must be Princess…” the new arrival frowned, tapping her chin. “What did Dashie say your name was? …Oh yeah! Twilight Sparkle, right? Wow, I don’t believe it! Never would’ve thought my little sis would become friends with a princess. Then again, three years ago I never would’ve expected her to help save Equestria multiple times—has it been five times or six times now? I lost count—but then again… Oh I almost forgot! I’m Surprise! Nice to meet you!” She held out a hoof.

Mother of McCarthy, it’s a pegasus version of Pinkie Pie… Twilight thought as she dusted herself off. “Nice to meet you, Su—” she was cut off when she grabbed Surprise’s hoof and suddenly felt a small jolt course through her body.

“Hah!” Rainbow Dash laughed. “The old joy buzzer! Classic one, sis!” She gave a hoofbump to her sister, being careful to make sure she went for the hoof without the buzzer.

“Yeah…” Twilight muttered. Her eyes widened. “Wait, Surprise? The Surprise? The youngest pegasus to ever graduate from the Wonderbolt Academy?”

“Yeah, that’s her all right!” Rainbow Dash said, grinning like a schoolfilly. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“I don’t get it, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. “I’ve known you for, what, three years now? How come you never told me you had a somewhat famous older sibling until now?”

Silence filled the room as all of her friends stared at her.

“…Really?” Dash said, her voice almost deadpan.

“Uh, Twilight?” Applejack said. “You’re… not exactly one to talk there. You didn’t exactly talk about YOUR older brother all that much before he got married.”

“Wait, what?” Shining Armor asked. “What do you mean she never—”

“ANYWAY!” Twilight nearly shouted. “We should probably start heading to the Empire. We don’t want to keep Cadance waiting too much longer.”

“I’ll say!” Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up next to her despite have been several feet away moments before. “It feels like it’s been way, WAY longer than just a couple hours!”

“I know, right?” Surprise said. “I feel like I’ve already known all you girls for months now!” The two of them both laughed.

“I had a feeling you two would get along great,” Rainbow Dash said. “But Twilight’s right. We should get back to that crystal dragon thingy Shining has and get going.”

“What took you guys so long?” Scootaloo complained as Shining, Twilight, and the rest of them got back into the Crystallux.

“Oh, we just got caught up in introductions, squirt,” Rainbow Dash said, patting her on the head.

“Ooh, is this that Scootaloo filly you’re always talking about?” Surprise sat next to them in the chariot, which had now widened slightly to accommodate the three additional passengers. “I’m Surprise. I’m Rainbow Dash’s older sister! And if you’re her honorary little sister, then I guess that makes you MY little sister too!”

Scootaloo got starry-eyed. “Cool!”

Shining Armor started the engines. “This trip will take a little bit longer, so why don’t Prism and I share a few stories on the way?”

Prism grinned. “Oh, I’ve got plenty of stories to share… I think I’ll start with the story of the Twistornado Technique. See, I was giving Shining a training exercise…”

Author's Note

That took even LONGER than the first chapter. I swear I will at least get the next chapter out by the end of this year, hopefully sooner.

Anyway, next chapter they'll arrive in the Crystal Empire and we'll meet up with Cadance. It will also establish one of the subplots I've got planned.