The Wonderful Life of Ford Mustang

by RoyalRainbow

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Main 6, Romance, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Comedy
Length: 220502

Shortly after their wedding, Ford Mustang and Rainbow Dash have already made plans to have their first foal together. But when he starts to receive terrible visions about his pregnant wife, can he find a way to prevent them from ever coming true?

Shortly after their wedding, Ford Mustang and his wife, Rainbow Dash, have already made plans to have their first foal together. With each passing month, they go through the usual joys and struggles from starting their own family as they cherish what they have from their friends and family. But as his beautiful, blue angel goes through her pregnancy, Ford starts to receive terrible visions that may determine the ultimate outcome of Rainbow Dash's fate. Mustang has gone through many challenges in his previous adventure, but can he find a way to change her fate in time or will he have to accept the inevitable in the end? Don't miss out on the final chapters that will ultimately conclude the Trilogy of Ford Mustang!

Published 2015-02-06 02:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-11-05 11:18:26 UTC

Chapter 2 – A Trip to Paradise

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Chapter 3 – Vinyl Scratch & Octavia’s Wedding

Chapter 3 – Vinyl Scratch & Octavia’s Wedding

Two Weeks since Ford & Rainbow’s Wedding…

~ Mid of August ~

A week has past since Ford Mustang and Rainbow Dash got back from their honeymoon in the Delphi Isles. As soon as they got back, they were quickly informed about Vinyl Scratch and Octavia’s wedding date, which would happen a week later. And to Ford’s astonishment, he was chosen to be Vinyl’s best stallion out of all the ushers she picked, Rainbow Dash included.

Now early of this evening, the Kingdom of Canterlot is having another wedding, and this time, it’s for the two famed musicians. As before, each of the brides-to-be has their own private suites to get ready with their respective bridesmaids and ushers. Inside Vinyl’s suite, her four out of five ushers are helping her out on her big day as they are already in their individual, black tuxes. Despite being a bride herself, Vinyl is happy enough to wear a sharp, sleek suit with a red rose serving as her carnation compared to going through the hassles of an over-the-top bridal gown. And instead of a usual, black bowtie, she’s been given the honor to wear her bride’s personal, pink bowtie.

“This is it! This is finally it, isn’t it?!” the blue haired Unicorn grinned ecstatically as she anxiously bounces up and down. “I’m about to get married today!”

“I know! Isn’t this exciting?!” Pinkie Pie concurs with a wide, toothy smile.

“Dagnabbit, Vinyl! Stop fidgetin’ around already!” Applejack grumbles as she is busy trying to apply hair gel to the tomboyish bride’s mane. “Honestly, why am Ah always the one to spruce you ponies up on your big day?”

“Would you rather be in Rarity’s place instead?” Lyra Heartstrings giggles with a knowing grin.

Imaging her fiancée’s position when it comes to dressing up Octavia in her extravagant wedding gown, Applejack shrugs with a small smile, “Eh, good point.”

After the orange farmpony finishes her task with smoothing out Vinyl’s untamed hairstyle, the green mint Unicorn offers her assistance as she says, “Here. Let me take care of the rest for you, Applejack.”

“Much obliged, sugarcube.” AJ kindly thanks her before they switch places. “You know, this is something a best stallion should be doing in the first place.”

As Lyra uses her gold-colored magic to fix up Vinyl’s collar and bowtie, Applejack is mockingly staring at the lone stallion, who is sitting at a table and going over numerous flash cards and notes in regards with his other important task today besides being Vinyl’s best stallion.

A bit shook up by Applejack’s kidding, he apologizes humbly, “Sorry, AJ. I really wanted to get our special performance tonight to go without a hitch, so I’m trying to memorize our routine as much as possible.”

“Relax, Ford. I’m just messin’ with ya.” she reassures with a warm chuckle. “Ah know how much effort you and RD have put into this for Vinyl and Octavia.”

“Yeah, Mustang!” Vinyl agrees with a comforting smile. “Whatever it is that you two came up with, I know that it’s gonna be so cool!”

“Mm-hmm!” Pinkie Pie nods feverously. “And it will be 20 percent cooler with some extra help from Dashie! Then we can get on with the ultimate party and eventually dish out the wedding cake!”

“Mmmm… cake~!” the DJ muses with a drooling smile.

“He-heh! Simmer down, Sally-girl.” AJ chuckles while playfully patting the bride on the shoulder. “Marriage first. Cake later.”

“By the way, has anyone seen Rainbow lately?” Ford asks the mares as he looks around the room for her.

“Ah think she might be using the lil’ filly’s room.” Applejack answers before she trots toward the exit. “Here, Ah’ll go check on her for ya, hon.”

“Thanks, Applejack.” he smiles with gratitude before she leaves the room in search of her friend.

BLAARGH!!

Meanwhile, in the mare’s restroom, Rainbow Dash takes a break with heavy breaths from her unexplained vomiting before she flushes the toilet and exits out of there. Then, she approaches one of the sinks and proceeds to wash her fore hooves and mouth. After splashing some water on her face and drying it off with one of the exclusive, fluffy towels, she gets a good look of herself in the mirror as she tries to figure this out.

This morning, she received a rude awakening when she felt an urgent need for the toilet; of course, her means of relieving herself is far different than usual. Not only that, but just recently, this is the third time she had to use the toilet like that. Still, she is uncertain on why she is suffering from such an unusual symptom at a time like this. In either case, she can’t let a little sickness bring her down when ponies are counting on her on this important day for Vinyl and Octavia.

As she opens the door to leave the restroom, she is nearly startled by the appearance of one of her friends, Applejack, who is about to enter it herself. And luckily for AJ, the pony she is looking for is right in front of her.

“There you are, sugarcube!” she greets Rainbow with a smile. “We’ve been worried sick about ya!” Then with squinty eyes, the observant Earth Pony examines the startled Pegasus once she notices some bags underneath her eyes before she adds with concern, “Come to think of it, you don’t look so good yourself. Is everything okay?”

Hastily, Rainbow breaks into a wide grin as she casually leans on the restroom’s doorway before she proclaims boldly as ever, “Yep! Never better!” Unfortunately, her hasty reassurance isn’t enough to convince the steadfast farmpony as the Element Bearer of Honesty raises a skeptical eyebrow toward her fellow usher and best friend.

Seeing how there is no reason to beat it around the bush, Dash then asks in a deadpan tone, “Not buying it, huh?”

“Nnnope.” AJ answers with a winning smile.

With a defeated sigh, Rainbow sheepishly admits her own cover-up, “Okay, look. I… might have been a little sick since this morning, alright?”

“Then what the hay are ya doing out here?” Applejack demands in a worrisome yet firm tone. “You should be at home gettin’ some rest this instant!”

“And miss out on Vy & Octy’s big wedding? No way!” she retorts with renewed conviction. “Besides, Ford and I still have our routine to perform tonight! I can’t let him and the newlyweds down now!”

They fiercely stare at each for a bit before Rainbow Dash continues in a softer voice, “Look, I got most of it out of my systems already. I can still do this. No problem.”

Slightly unsure by her friend’s assurance, AJ shakes her head and responds indecisively, “Ah don’t know, RD. Ah still think yer just pushin' it a little too hard on yerself.”

“I won’t. I promise. Just… please don’t tell Ford about this.” she pleads to a great extent. “I don’t want him to worry over nothing with the performance he planned out for us.”

Applejack gives it some more thought on Rainbow’s desperate plea, but finally, she expresses her approval with a small smile and replies earnestly, “Alright. Ah won’t say a word to him. But if you start lookin’ pale around the gills, then yer going straight to bed, missy, and that will be the end of that! Got it?”

Thankful that the equally stubborn mare lets it slide this time, Dash responds with a carefree smirk, “Yeah yeah, I got it.”

“Well, come on then!” AJ insists with a grin as she leads the Pegasus back to their dressing room. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

At the hour of twilight, the seats at the royal chapel are packed to the fullest. As a special request from the couple, Princess Luna is given the privilege as master of the wedding ceremony. As Vinyl would say, it’s a way to give the princess some credit for keeping the nightlife so lively for everypony. Standing on Luna’s left side, is a jittery Vinyl Scratch along with her best stallion, Ford Mustang, and the rest of the ushers in the following order: Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Lyra Heartstrings.

“Hey, Vinyl. You nervous?” Mustang asks once he notices the bride’s restlessness.

“Me? Nervous? Nah!” she answers with a huge grin as she keeps on bending her knees in a bouncy manner. “I’m just so excited, that I could hardly contain myself!”

“Hey, I wanna bounce up and down too!” Pinkie Pie whines humorously as she quickly squeezes between Vinyl and Ford.

“Me three!” the beaming Lyra concurs as she squeezes right next to Pinkie.

In sync, the three ecstatic mares bounce in a very giddy fashion as Applejack rolls her eyes while she mutter to herself, “Heh, Ah knew Ah shouldn’t have left my lasso at home.”

“Oh, lighten up, AJ.” Rainbow playfully nudges the orange farmpony. “Let them have their fun. It is Vinyl’s big day after all.”

“Yeah, come on!” Vinyl insists joyfully. “Join in the fun already!”

Then Pinkie and Lyra start chanting with semi-creepy smiles stretching across their faces. “Join us~! Join us~!”

Rainbow Dash gives it some consideration on joining the trio’s merriment, but dreading that all that bouncing will just churn her stomach the wrong way, she gently declines their invite with a sheepish grin, “Uhh… that’s okay, girls. Gotta save up my strength and energy for our big show tonight, you know.”

“Excuse me for the interruption, Vinyl Scratch.” Luna interrupts with a gentle smile. “But I believe that everypony is ready to begin the ceremony as we speak.”

Vinyl blinks a bit from the princess’s emphasis as she responds in raspy anxiety, “R-really?! O-okay, well… let’s get started, shall we?”

As the tomboyish bride quickly pushes Lyra and Pinkie back to their proper places, Luna signals with a nod to the musicians, and they begin their first score. With the orchestrated music playing on cue, the guards open the door and allow the bridesmaids to go in first, with Beauty Brass, one of Octavia’s dearest friends and fellow musician for their ensemble, leading up front as the maid of honor with the rest of the bridesmaids following in line: Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Lyra’s wife, Bon-Bon. Each of them is wearing an elegant dress that matches the bold purple color of the upcoming bride’s eyes.

While the bridesmaids are steadily walking down the aisle, Rainbow Dash suddenly starts to sweat as she loosens her collar while whispering to her husband, “Phew! Is it just me, or has it gotten a lot hotter in here all of a sudden?”

“Hmm… I don’t feel any different.” he answers casually. “Why do you ask?”

Afraid that her sweating may be the result of her repetitive sickness, she dismisses that with a shake of her head and adds, “Huh, I guess it must be the suit I’m wearing or something.”

But the blue-and-yellow haired stallion eyes her carefully and inquires softly, “Now that I think about it… you’ve been acting a bit different lately. Is everything alright?”

“Y-y-yeah, no problem! Honestly, you worry too much sometimes!” she answers hastily with a light punch to the stallion’s shoulder.

“I guess.” he responds quietly even though he isn’t too convince on his wife’s awkward behavior.

As soon as the bridesmaids stand on the other side of the altar, the musicians finish their first score. After a brief pause, the ensemble begins the recognizable bridal chorus as the guards open the grand doors once again to let in the awaited bride. Vinyl is completely thunderstruck by Octavia’s majestic appearance as she gazes at her beloved cellist. The warm gray Earth Pony is wearing a complete bridal set with a silky veil, white leggings, and a one-of-a-kind gown featuring pink ribbons and bright violet trimmings. Her long, black, polished mane lies elegantly over her shoulder, and her affectionate eyes feature a touch of light purple eye shadow. Accompanying the blushing bride is her proud father, who is a tall, bulky Earth Pony with a slightly scruffy beard and short, wavy, comb-backed hair. Vinyl’s ruby eyes sparkle upon the lovely slight of her soon-to-be wife as her awestricken smile widen significantly.

As the more feminine bride makes her way to join her partner at the altar, Rainbow Dash once again feels that unpleasant feeling, which is churning inside her stomach. She subtly cringes from her upset stomach as her sturdy legs nearly cave in, but her prideful resolve refuses to let her displeasure get the better of her as Rainbow ignores the pain and re-straightens her posture.

Once Octavia reaches the same platform as Vinyl, the smiling cellist shares a gratifying kiss with her father before the large stallion embraces his future daughter-in-law in a bone-crushing hug. After that, he walks to his rightful seat as he sits down next to his smiling wife, who bears a strong resemblance of their daughter. With the chorus coming to its end, the attendees sit down in their seats, and Princess Luna begins the commencement once things have gotten quiet.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Vinyl Scratch and Octavia Philharmonica!”

But once again, the agonizing sensation Rainbow Dash is experiencing is resurfacing as her weakening legs tremble terribly and more beads of sweat seep out of her blue coat. And to make matters worse, that awful feeling is creeping its way from her stomach and toward her mouth. Uncertain if she can restrain herself long enough before the brides could complete their vows, Rainbow struggles with a difficult decision she will have to make.

“If there is anypony here who has a reason on why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your--!”

But then, Luna’s speech is abruptly interrupted when a flash of rainbow colors desperately leave the altar in a thunderous boom, and she swiftly breaks through the chapel’s doorway. The immense crowd stares speechlessly at the sudden departure of one of Vinyl’s ushers before Luna awkwardly finishes her sentence.

“Umm… peace?”

Equally confused as everyone else, Ford stammers in a distressing tone, “R-Rainbow?”

"Ya better go after her, Ford.” Applejack urges him. “She hasn’t been feeling too well lately, so you might want to start with the restroom first.”

“Got it.” And he immediately takes after his wife.

Outside of the royal chapal, Ford Mustang quickly scans for the closest restrooms nearby. Luckily, it didn’t take that long to find them, and he flew to the closed entrance of the mares’ before knocking on its door.

“Rainbow?!”

His call goes unanswered, so he halfhearted decides to enter the supposedly forbidden territory. Thankfully, there are no other mares present inside, so the situation wouldn’t be as embarrassing as he leads it to be. Suspecting that his wife might be in one of the occupied toilets, and he gingerly walks by them and calls out to her once more.

“Rainbow?!”

“Here!”

After pinpointing the familiar yet worn out voice from the closed door of the lavatory, Ford knocks on the door and asks kindly, “May I come in?”

“Just… give me a minute.”

Following with her wish, he turns his back and patiently waits for her. A minute later, he hears the flushing of the toilet and Rainbow steadily exits out of confined facility. From maintaining eye contact, the stallion can see how exhausted she looks after such a short time in front of a toilet. Low on energy, she collapses into Ford’s forelegs before they sit on their hindquarters as he greatly comforts her by gently stroking her colorful mane.

Rainbow, are you okay?” he sweetly asks her as he continues his steady brushing. “Why didn’t you tell me that you were sick today?”

“I… I didn’t want it to distract you from the performance you’ve worked so hard on.” she answers shamefully as she looks at his concerned face with pitiful eyes. “And I didn’t want to let everypony down on Vinyl & Octavia’s wedding day.” Then, she face-hoofs herself in great aggravation before exclaiming out loud, “Oh Celestia! I must have made a complete fool of myself out there!”

With a sympathetic smile, Ford pulls Rainbow in closely and kisses her on the cheek before reassuring her tenderly, “Dashie… nothing you do will ever let me down. And besides, your well-being always comes first over my little fireworks show, promise or no promise.”

From gazing at her husband’s considerate eyes and tender smile, she bears a soft smile and responses with a light chuckle, “I guess that means I can’t be your lovely assistant for tonight’s act, huh?”

“Maybe not, but at the very least, you’ll still get the best seat alongside the newlyweds to witness that magnificent stallion of yours.” he brags in an amusing manner.

Rainbow rolls her eyes as she smirks sarcastically, “Oh gee, I wonder who that could be.”

After sharing a brief laugh together, the reunited Pegasi carry with their embrace as Rainbow happily snuggles against Ford’s neck. In the midst of their quiet moment of affection, gears inside Mustang’s begin to turn before his eyes widen on a possibility to his wife’s sudden sickness.

“Hang on a second… when did you start feeling sick anyhow?”

“Uhh… this morning. Why?”

“And how long has it been since we got married?”

“Two weeks. But what does that have to do with--?” Suddenly, her pupils shrink drastically as her eyes become just as large as Ford’s. Following up with that, a broad smile slowly stretches across her face as she inquires anxiously, “Wait… you don’t think…?!”

“I don’t know… but I’m going find somepony who does!” With a smile just as hopeful as hers, he gives Rainbow a quick kiss on the muzzle before saying to her as he darts out of the restroom, “Hang on, I’ll be right back!”

Back inside the chapel, the ponies and guests are still flabbergasted on the abrupt departure of Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang. As they wait for the two missing ushers, Princess Luna looks at the two equally baffled brides and asks for their insight.

“So… umm… should I… continue?”

Octavia looks at Vinyl to hear her opinion, and the white Unicorn simply shrugs in uncertainty. So it’s up to the cellist to make the call for them. “I… guess.”

“Well as I was say… if there are any objections--!”

But once again, Luna’s speech is interrupted by a loud noise. This time, coming from Ford Mustang when he slammed the doors opened before he immediately shouts out loud.

“IS THERE A DOCTER HERE?!”

Despite his urgent shout-out, nobody responds right away as most of them look at each other in bewilderment. Just when Mustang starts to feel dismayed by the silent response, somepony does steps forward. In actuality, it is a female zebra, who is wearing a lovely, bright yellow gown that goes well with her golden earrings and the rings around her neck and left foreleg. Much to Ford’s delight, it is Zecora who has come to heed his request as the local herbalist approach him.

"Though I may not have doctor’s degree, my expertise should make up on what you might need.” she kindly offers her services with a warm, friendly smile.

With a sigh of relief, he nods to her while expressing his sincere gratitude. “Thank you, Zecora! Please, this way!”

At once, Ford flies back to the restrooms while leading the galloping Zecora to their location. Back on the altar, the ponies in place worry greatly as they begin to fear on what has become with their rainbow-haired friend.

“Oh dearie me! You don’t think it’s something serious, do you?” asks Rarity.

“I don’t rightfully know, sugarcube.” Applejack answers with soft sincerity.

“Maybe we should go check on Rainbow Dash ourselves.” Fluttershy suggests quietly. “If that’s okay with all of you, of course.”

“Well, I would feel a lot better if we knew that our friend is going to be okay.” Octavia agrees softly.

“Say no more, Tavi!” Vinyl reassures with a bold grin as she quickly picks up her Octavia by surprise with her Unicorn Magic. With the fully dressed bride saddled to her back, the DJ turns to the audience and announces in her radio-persona voice, “Folks, we’re going take a short break! In the meantime, please enjoy some music played by Octavia’s fellow band members!”

As Vinyl gallops across the aisle with the bridesmaids and usher following behind, the saddled cellist corrects her mate, “I keep telling you! It’s an ensemble! Not a band!”

“Same thing really!” she replies in a carefree grin.

“No it isn’t!” she snaps with predictable annoyance.

Outside of the mares’ restroom, the two brides and their respective attendants wait anxiously for the Zecora’s diagnosis on Rainbow Dash as Ford Mustang vigilantly stands in front of the closed door.

“Ford, what’s going on?” Twilight Sparkle asks delicately. “Is everything okay?”

“Well… yes and no.” he answers with a puzzling smile.

“Come again?” AJ perplexes with a tilt of her head.

“Just wait until Zecora finishes with her examination first. Then you’ll see what I mean.”

Then, Pinkie Pie taps the blue Pegasus on the shoulder before she pleas with an agonizing expression as her fore hooves crossed in-between her shaky hind legs, “Umm… this may seem like a bad time, but I really have to go right now!”

“Well… you’re welcome to use that one over there.” he says as he points to the stallions’ restroom next to him.

“But I can’t go in there! That’s meant for colts only!” she argues in a childish whine as she rapidly bounces in desperation.

After a soft, tiring sigh, Ford gently offer his suggestion to his pink friend, “Look, if there are no other stallions inside, will you be okay with that if I stand guard and watch the door for you?”

“Hmmm… yeah, I guess that would do.”

But before Ford checks the other bathroom himself, the main door opens up in steady creak as Rainbow and Zecora step outside. Realizing that there is no need for an alternative, Pinkie quickly dismisses it with a perky smile.

“Oh wait, nevermind!” And she hastily zooms right above the two exiting mares before occupying one of the toilets with a quick slam of its door.

Ignoring how Pinkie defies the laws of physics once again, Ford stares at the expressions of his wife and her makeshift physician. While Zecora acts very impassive, Rainbow bears a softer expression as her lips quiver lightly while her big, magenta eyes start to get watery. From seeing her tearful gaze, Ford begins to assume the worst as it looks like their initial hopes earlier was all for nothing. But just as he is about to comfort her, Rainbow swiftly tackles him for a strong embrace while planting her softly sniveling face against his coat.

“Rainbow Dash, are you quite alright now?” Rarity asks cautiously as she leans toward the Pegasus couple.

In the midst of their hug, Rainbow lifts her head up to look at Ford and her supportive friends. While Rainbow Dash is still a bit teary, her face is glowing with such a positive smile as she replies in overwhelming joy, “Far from it, Rarity! I’m better than ever!”

A bit surprised by his wife’s perplexing statement, the deadpanned Mustang blinks a few times before finally gets her meaning as his smile grows just as wide as Dash’s. Speechless by this strong indication, he looks back between the Rainbow and Zecora before his quizzical gaze locks firmly on to the zebra and ask of her, “Then… does that mean…?”

With an all-knowing grin, Zecora lightly chuckles to herself before she happily makes this announcement to everypony present, “Yes, I hope this doesn’t sound so droll… but congratulations! You two are having a foal!”

As soon as Zecora announces this, a flush is heard from inside and the bathroom door rapidly swings open before Pinkie hollers in a high-pitched voice, “WHAT?!”

All at once, the ecstatic ponies tighten their circle of friends as they warmly embrace and congratulate Ford and Rainbow on this exciting news. Mustang especially is completely overjoyed by this as he hugs and kisses his equally joyful wife. Of course, once his unrestrained lips touch hers, he promptly pulls them back after inadvertently tasting what his wife had gone through since this morning. As the stallion gags exaggeratedly, Rainbow chuckles a little over his brief misfortune before they share a contented smile over their first foal’s confirmation.

“Oh my stars, darling! That’s simply wonderful!” Rarity shrieks in overwhelming delight.

“Yes, we’re all so happy for you two!” Fluttershy adds with a gentle smile.

Applejack chuckles heartily as she firmly embraces Ford with a strong one-foreleg hug while smirking to him, “Looks like all that foolin’ around has finally paid off in the end!”

Without delay, Rarity grasps Rainbow by the forelegs and stares intensely into the Pegasus’s eyes with her large, sparkling, blue gaze before she beseeches to a great extent, “Oh, you must let me be in charge for your baby shower! I would consider it an honor if you trust me with this enormous task!”

“Uhh… okay. Sure. Why not?” the blue mare complies nonchalantly.

As Rarity smiles extremely once she receives Rainbow’s blessing, Pinkie Pie jumps in and requests in an adorable whine, “Ooo! I wanna help too!”

“Well of course you can help, Pinkie!” the seamstress nods to the pink pony’s cooperation. “We can even host it at the Carousal Boutique!”

“Speaking of festivities, we should probably get back on track with the wedding right now.” Twilight informs them.

Upon that reminder, Rainbow rubs her colorful mane as she apologizes to the brides with a sheepish smile, “Oops. Sorry about that. I hope I didn’t ruin anything for you two because of this.”

Understandably, Octavia shakes her head and replies with a pleasant smile, “Not at all, Rainbow. We’re all very happy for you and Ford today. In fact, it’s quite a nice surprise for us.”

“Yeah! No biggie, Dash!” Vinyl chimes in with a welcoming grin. “We’re just super stoked that we’re the first ones to learn about this ourselves! Congratulations, you two! But in all seriousness, we really should get back to the chapel and continue where we left off. I’m not the kind of gal who likes to leave my audience hanging in suspense for far too long, especially when it’s comes to my lovely bride-to-be.” she emphasizes with an alluring grin when she leans closely to her blushing, smiling bride.

With a smirk of his own, Ford then remarks, “Well then… Wedding of Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, Take Two.”

Several minutes later, everypony at the altar is in place once more, including the brides, the bridesmaids, and ushers. With Princess Luna standing in the center of the party, she finally carries on with her royal duties from where she left off.

“Now, if they are any further objections to this marriage…?”

From that subtle emphasis, the dark blue Alicorn glances at Rainbow Dash with an all-knowing, witty smirk as the Pegasus mare briefly looks away with slight embarrassment before her husband silently eases her by wrapping her tail with his. Smiling with satisfaction, Luna directs her gaze between the two brides.

“Good! Then I believe our two mares have prepared their own vows for each other. So, who would like to go first?”

“Ooo! Ooo! Me! Me! Me! Me!” Vinyl answers willingly as she anxiously waves her foreleg like a schoolfilly wanting to answer a teacher’s question.

With a chuckling smile, Luna nods, “Very well. Go right ahead, Vinyl.”

Promptly, Ford pulls out a folded piece of paper from the inside pocket of his suit and gives it to the tomboyish bride. With her written vows in hoof, Vinyl faces her smiling bride as they hold each others’ hooves before she begins.

“So Octavia, I know what you are thinking right now: ‘how the heck did I end up with this crazy mare in the first place?’” This earned the grinning DJ a lot of good laughs from Octavia and guests before the more confident Vinyl carries on with her speech. “And you know what? I can’t help but wonder on how I ended up so lucky with the most wonderful and beautiful pony in the world? And to an even greater surprise, no matter how loud or annoying I can be, or how many times you to try to knock some senses into me with that accursed frying pan of yours, you will still prefer my company and will always love me for who I am.”

Suddenly, Vinyl starts to get choke-up as she continues. “You are the perfect opposite to complete the missing half of my soul. Without you scolding me for not cleaning up my room for the millionth time or for making me wear an evening dress despite telling me how beautiful I would look in it, my life would be so empty without you in it. To me, you always are the life of my party, and I will see to it that the party won’t stop so as long as I have you at my side, now and forever.” With a wide, affectionate grin, the blue-haired Unicorn sheds a few sentimental tears before she brings her declaration to a close. “I love you, Octavia, and I can’t thank you enough for making this awesome day possible for me.”

With the conclusion of Vinyl’s speech, Octavia couldn’t help but cry immensely over how touching that was as she smiles tenderly over her kindhearted bride. Once she wipes away most of her emotional tears, she turns to her maid of honor, and Beauty Brass hands the vows to the Octavia. Once she is more composed with herself, the beautifully dressed Earth Pony re-grasps Unicorn’s fore hoof and begins to make her own pledge.

“Vinyl, meeting you on my first day of school was the best day of my life. Even since you became my friend, you would always look out for me and manage to cheer me up whenever I feel sad with myself. And it wasn’t until we became roommates in Ponyville where I discovered on how much I really love you. At first, I was afraid that our difference in personalities and lifestyles wouldn’t make us compatible, but I was glad to see how wrong I was when you shared those same feelings for me.

You may not believe this, but you are the one who helped me become a better pony, and I owe you so much for always being there for me when I need it the most. That’s why on this special day, I will make this pledge by loving and supporting you for the rest of my life. Because after all, no pony else can put up with your ridiculous shenanigans as much as I have since I love you that much to go through all of that again with you.”

Despite getting all sentimental over Octavia’s wedding vows, the tearful Unicorn couldn’t help but break into a hearty, chuckling smile over the last sentence of that speech as the rest of the crowd laughs alongside her. With the brides’ vows completed, Princess Luna proceeds with the next step of the wedding ceremony.

“Well said, my little ponies.” the dark blue Alicorn commends them with a soft nod. “Now then, may we have the rings please?”

Just as the princess requested, Ford Mustang pulls out a jewelry box that was secured in his suit’s other inner pocket and showcases the brides’ individual wedding rings that match each of their eyes: an amethyst gemstone for Octavia and a ruby one for Vinyl. With the best stallion presenting the glistening rings to the Princess of the Night, she lightly levitates them before addressing to the brides one at a time.

“Vinyl Scratch… do you take Octavia Philharmonica as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

“I do.” she answers eagerly as she does the honor to slide the amethyst ring on Octavia’s left foreleg.

Then, Luna turns to the cellist next. “And do you, Octavia Philharmonica… take Vinyl Scratch as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

A bit hesitant from getting so emotional from all of this, the tearful yet smiling cellist gladly takes up that pledge, “I do.” And she too slides the ring on the other bride’s fore hoof.

Finally, Luna blissfully brings the wedding ceremony to its anticipated conclusion, “Then by the powers vested in me, and with the blessing of the moon and the stars, I now pronounce you mare and wife! You may now kiss the bride!”

With a happy wag of her short, blue tail, Vinyl beams with a very big grin and wide, ruby eyes as she has been looking forward to this moment for a very long time. However, the smirking Octavia beats her partner to it by using her strong fore hooves to pull her in by surprise and giving her a really deep kiss to her newly appointed wife. In the midst of the breathtaking smooth, the grinning Unicorn melts in the Earth Pony’s embrace and wraps her forelegs around her equally passionate wife while the audience cheers ecstatically for the contented newlyweds.

Later on that night, where Princess Luna made sure that it will be one of the most beautiful nights this evening, the wedding reception is being held outside at Canterlot’s prized royal gardens. After enjoying their main entrées, they move on with the speeches from the newlyweds’ maid of honor and best stallion. After Ford finishes his speech, he begins to take his stance so he can fulfill his promise to the newlyweds by performing a spectacular display of fiery magic.

Thanks to lots of practice with his Draconic Magic and his wife, Rainbow Dash, who served as his supervisor, choreographer, and assistant, his routine tonight goes off smoothly. First, he starts it off with a simple, lively fireball that he is able to control with his will as he makes it dance and spiral around him just like those fire dancers back on Delphi Isles. Then, he progressively amps it up by spewing out more fireballs as they join in the fiery waltz. Lastly, he takes all of his fireballs and directs them up toward the sky before they collide together and explode into clusters of fireworks, and their shimmering sparkles gently cascade onto the awestricken crowd below.

In the middle of the starry sky, Ford continues his extraordinary one-pony show by breathing trails of fire to create loops and spirals while doing all kinds of aerial tricks through them. Next, he makes use of his streams of golden fire to serve as his skywriting as he creates large images of a treble clef and a mirrored, two-bridged eighth note which matches the brides’ respective Cutie Marks before he encloses them in a big, blazing heart. And finally, to cap off his climax, he soars at an incredible attitude and finishes it off with a Sonic Rainboom. As the gold-and-blue shockwave expand across the twinkling sky, the brides and their guests cheer wildly for Mustang’s personal show before he is awarded with a sweet kiss from the proud-smiling Rainbow Dash.

Afterwards, when they have finished their delicious wedding marble cake, Ford and Rainbow decide to take their leave as the mare is starting to feel more tired than usual. Once they said their goodbyes to their friends, they go up to Vinyl and Octavia to give their farewells for them as well.

“Mustang! Dash! You’re leaving right now?” Vinyl exclaims while her face is stuffed with lots of marble cake.

“Afraid so, Scratch.” Ford responds.

“Well, thank you so much for coming to our wedding.” Octavia says with a grateful smile as she exchanges hugs with the Pegasus couple. “And congratulations on your pregnancy once again, Rainbow Dash.”

“Thanks, Octy. You two have fun on your honeymoon, you hear me?” she insists with a clever smirk.

With a hearty chuckle, Vinyl reassures with a grin as she embraces her slightly rosy wife, “With me around, that wouldn’t be problem.”

“I’ll hold you to that, dearie.” Octavia adds with a grin of her own before she pecks Vinyl on the cheek.

As Ford and Rainbow turn around to head on out, Vinyl calls out the stallion real quickly, “Mustang, wait!” Once he faces her again, Vinyl speaks again, but this time, in an unusually flustered manner. “I just wanna say again that you were totally awesome with that light show of yours earlier, and I can’t thank you enough for doing all of that for us. And I don’t know if I ever told you this before, but it’s all thanks to you that has led me to making this wedding the greatest day of my life.”

Then, all of a sudden, the blushing Unicorn gingerly leans forward and gives Ford a simple yet appreciative kiss on the lips. This rare act of femininity that was coming from Vinyl Scratch catches not only Ford by surprise, but also their respective wives for that matter.

After that act of gratitude, Vinyl expresses herself with a blushing smile. “So thank you, Ford. You truly are the best pony I can ask for as my best stallion this evening.”

Speechless at first, the humble stallion smiles back and replies warmly, “You’re very welcome, Vinyl.”

“Ahem! I’m right here, you know.” Rainbow intervenes with a small smirk and a cocked eyebrow.

Resuming her typical persona once more, Vinyl remarks with her trademark grin, “Oh, don’t be hating, Dashie! I can’t help it if I’m a better kisser than you!”

“Octy, you better control that mare of yours before you end up as a widow right away!” she recommends in a mockingly threatening tone.

“Oh don’t you worry.” Octavia replies with a smirk as she firmly tugs Vinyl back to her side. “I’ll see to it that she’s on her best behavior from now on.”

In response, Vinyl dismisses that claim with a lighthearted chuckle, “As if you can tame me that easily!”

Then, a devious thought comes to Ford’s mind before he shares it with the cellist. “Hey Octavia, do you remember that one wedding gift I got for you?”

With a very shrewd smirk matching that with Ford’s, the cellist answers in mocking ignorance, “Oh, you mean the one that’s shaped like a frying pan?”

Once he sees Vinyl subtly cringing at the mention of that taboo instrument, Ford nods cheerfully, “Yep, that’s the one!”

“Wait, that was you?!” Vinyl screeches in a panicky tone from recalling that unforgettable shape out of all the wedding presents at the gift table.

“Mm-hmm! And it not only has the best sturdiness that money can buy, but it literally has your name on it, Vinyl Scratch! I’ve made sure it was specifically engraved just for you.”

Ideally, the giant frying pan Ford got for the newlyweds is simply a joke present compared to the other gifts that he and Rainbow offered to the table. Still, he definitely wants to take this grand opportunity to see the usually happy-go-lucky Vinyl Scratch shivering in fear as he, Rainbow, and Octavia take great enjoyment out of this.

“Ooh… I can’t wait to test it out!” Octavia states in a very cryptic, devious manner as she creepily nuzzles her petrified wife.

Once she shakes off her own uneasiness, Vinyl mockingly glares at the grinning Mustang as she restates with tiny, irrepressible smile, “Okay, scratch what I said earlier! I hate you so much right now!”

“He-he! Love you too, Vinyl!” he giggles in responses.

After sharing a good laugh and saying their goodbyes with the newly married couple, Ford and Rainbow exit out of the wedding reception. Once they are outside of the entranceway to the vast garden party, the rainbow-haired Pegasus playfully nudges Ford to the sides as she asks in a cheeky smirk.

“So… is she a better kisser than me?”

Instead of a simple answer, Mustang playfully taps his chin with a fore hoof before answering with mischievous grin, “Hmm… I don’t know… I’m going to need a second opinion before making my final call on this one.”

Following along with that cheeky ploy of his, the equally grinning mare goes up to him and offers the awaiting stallion a pleasantly affectionate kiss. Their lips remain in contact for a roughly minute as they close their eyes and lightly moan in ecstasy from this simple pleasure of theirs. Eventually, their tender lips part ways slowly and Rainbow waits for Ford’s final verdict.

“Well…?”

“Yep, you still take the gold in my book!” As Rainbow rewards his answer with some snuggling against his neck, Ford couldn’t help but mutter a little joke in mind, “Though a little mouthwash wouldn’t hurt every now and then.”

Unfortunately, she clearly heard him saying that, and she swiftly smacks him on the back of his head with a firm fore hoof. While rubbing his temporary sore head, he apologizes with a giggling smile, “Ow! Kidding! Kidding!”

And with renewed smiles, they finally take flight and head on home.

Author's Note

I have to admit, this is one of most struggling chapters I have to write in this story. I think most of struggle comes from either writing the dialogue from so many characters or writing so many scenes transiting one after the other. Either way, it can be quite a chore for me sometimes.

Originally, I was to going to have some dialogue between Ford and Lyra over their discussion with hands. But I dismissed that because it felt like it wasn't going anywhere and the fact that it was never introduced on whether he revealed his human origins to the mint-colored mare or not.

Also, the description for Octavia's father is based off of my favorite interpretation for the cellist's dad in "Two's a Company, Three's a Crowd", a well-known OctaScratch story that unfortunately hasn't been updated in a very long time.

Chapter 4 – A Break from the Act

Chapter 4 – A Break from the Act

Ten Months Remaining…
~ Late of August (4th Week) ~

After enjoying another big breakfast together, Rainbow Dash excuses herself to take a shower first while Ford Mustang would clean up the dishes. Awhile later, the stallion is in the midst of rinsing and scrubbing the plates in warm, soapy water before Rainbow silently approaches him from behind and gives him a surprise kiss on the cheek.

“Well I gotta go!” she says to him cheerfully before taking her leave. “See ya later, Mustang!”

“Okay, have a good--!” But as soon as he turns around to see her off, he is surprised to see his wife fully dressed in her Wonderbolt flight suit with her goggles on top of her mane that sticks out of her skintight hood.

Puzzled by this, he asks, “Wait, where are you going again?”

“I’m going to work, duh!” she responds bluntly with a sharp smirk. “The Wonderbolts are getting back on track with their new tours coming up, so HQ is calling all available recruits this morning. So see ya!”

As Rainbow prepares her significant takeoff, the alarmed Mustang quickly takes off first from the kitchen, and he immediately blocks her from the main doorway before the Rainbow stops herself in a screeching halt.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Wait a minute! You shouldn’t be going to work!” he protests greatly.

Confused by this sudden objection, Rainbow asks, “Why not?”

“Because you’re pregnant, Rainbow!”

While they are hovering in place, the Wonderbolt blankly tilts her head down to look at her belly. It’s already been two weeks since Zecora’s diagnosis on her pregnancy during Vinyl Scratch and Octavia’s wedding, and Rainbow Dash can hardly see any development to her abdomen just yet.

With a carefree shrug, she comments with a conceited grin, “So I might gain some weight overtime. Big deal. Like that’s gonna slow me down.”

In response, Ford shakes his head and retorts, “Rainbow, I don’t think you understand the kind of risk you are taking for yourself and for our foal.”

Once the couple lands on the cloudy floor, the mare glares at her husband with very inquisitive, narrowed eyes. “Are you saying that I’m reckless or something? Is that what you are implying?”

Frozen before Rainbow’s petrifying gaze, Ford carefully makes his statement without her taking it the wrong way or causing any offense by accident. “Rainbow, I know that you are much better flyer than you were before. Believe me when I say that I’ve seen you progress so much over your stay in Ponyville, but just as a precaution, you should take a break from this until the baby is born, okay?”

Despite using his gentle voice and displaying an honest yet nervous smile, they aren’t enough to convince her otherwise. “I knew it!” she snaps in accusation. “You don’t trust me that I can handle all of this, do you?!”

Seeing how being gentle isn’t going to change her mind, Ford instinctively tries a more firm approach, “Dangit, Rainbow! Will you stop thinking that this is all about you for just one second and start listening to me for a change?!”

“You think that I’m doing this just for myself, and not for our baby?!” she growls immensely as she takes that comment as an offense while she hovers fiercely to line up her piercing eyes with his. “How shallow do you think I am?! My career is what’s bringing food to our table! Without me, how else will we support our family in the years to come?! And not only that, but I have my responsibilities to the Wonderbolts as well! I can’t let them down in anyway if I’ve got a kid along the way!”

“That may be true, but you have an even greater responsibility at home, with our baby! With our family! Which is why you should take it easy for a change and ask Spitfire for time off this instant!”

“Oh, and I suppose you will be able to take care of us from now on, huh?! Is that it?!” she counters in harsh sarcasm. “With all of your little arts and crafts?! What, you gonna draw up a masterpiece that will magically solve all of our finances in one felt swoop?! 'Cause I would really love to see that!”

They take a pause in the midst of their heated argument. Rainbow maintains her scorching glare on him as she waits for his counterargument. And while Ford is fuming just as much as her, he knows that slinging unintended insults back won’t allow her to see things his way. So, he inhales deeply before he lets it out slowly in order to resume his cooler composure, and he replies back in a much calmer manner.

“No, you’re right about that. But maybe I can go back and work as a weatherpony in the meantime.”

Rainbow is shocked to hear her husband’s more rational response. So shocked in fact that her once-boiling anger starts to disperse automatically. Once she has calmed down as well, she thinks back to the last thing she just said and realizes her terrible mistake from unintentionally mocking Ford’s art talent. Feeling really bad about that, she slowly lands before her stallion and lowers her head in shame. Despite winning this argument, she didn’t feel so triumphant in the end.

“Ford, I’m sorry.” she apologizes quietly as she looks at him with deeply regretful eyes. “I didn’t mean to--!”

At once, Mustang pulls her in with a caring foreleg for a tender hug and reassures her in a hushed tone and with an honest smile, “I know, Rainbow. I know that you didn’t mean those things. I’m sorry for losing my cool too.”

Thankful that Ford isn’t holding anything against her, Rainbow tightens her embrace as she firmly interlocks her forelegs around his immobile body whilst they enjoy the comforting silence for a brief moment together. In the midst of their own tranquility, she lets out a soothing sigh while she endearingly nuzzles against the stallion’s strong neck with a very broad smile. Unfortunately, that fleeting moment couldn't last much longer as the mare reluctantly lets go of her husband.

“Look, I’m going to be late as it is.” she states it in soft disappointment as she gingerly walks out of the doorway. “We can talk about this later once I get back home, okay?”

With an accepting smile, he agrees with a slight nod while following her outside, “Okay, Rainbow. Just… please be careful with yourself, alright?”

“I will. I promise.”

“I love you, angel.”

“I love you too, Mustang.”

Promptly, they end their hesitant farewell with quick yet affectionate kiss before Rainbow finally leaves their floating house and heads off to work in a fast yet steady speed.

Some time later, Rainbow Dash makes her arrival to the main base of operations, the Wonderbolt Academy. The same place from where she first trained as a cadet a couple years ago from the famous team’s boot camp styled training. From breaking through the vast amounts of clouds, the flying mare beholds the sight of the giant mountain plateau, featuring the various obstacle courses, a large runway that stretches from one side to the other, and a very tall rainbow waterfall that pours onto the flat mountaintop where it splits into a colorful creek. Surrounding the plateau are magically constructed clouds that serve as floating foundations of the academy’s buildings.

At one of the cloudy platforms that consist of hangars and another runway, Rainbow sees most of the other Wonderbolts hanging around as they meet and greet each other, including one of the leading members of the team, Fleetfoot. Considering that this is a good spot for their initial meeting, the Ponyvillian Pegasus makes a smoothly landing before the white-haired, blue-coated speedster notices and floats over to her with a wide smile.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash! Good to see you again!”

“You too, Fleetfoot!” she says pleasantly as they exchange a proper hoofbump with one another.

The other Wonderbolts turn heads to the arrival of Rainbow Dash as they nearly all at once go up to her so they too can welcome her. After some friendly exchanges between the fellow coworkers, Fleetfoot then brings this up to everyone’s attention.

“By the way, we’ve already heard the exciting news about your pregnancy weeks ago! Congratulations, Dash!”

From confirming this exciting news, a lot of the gathering ponies gasp before they warmly congratulate the slightly blushing Rainbow Dash before she responds in a modest smile, “Aww… thanks, you guys!”

“Actually, we were just wondering if you were ever going to show up or not.”

From Fleetfoot’s latest comment, Rainbow assumes that there is something she just missed as she slightly tilts her head in confusion, “Wait, what do you mean--?”

But her inquiry is interrupted by the swift appearance of Soarin when he lands right between the two mares and notifies the most recent professional flyer of the two, “There you are, Rainbow Dash! We were expecting you!”

“Yeah… sorry if I’m late, Soarin.” she apologizes sheepishly while rubbing the back of her mane. “I’ll try to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”

“Not at all.” he shakes his head with a comforting smile. “In fact, we’re glad that you here right now. The Captain wants to see you in her office as soon as you have arrived.”

Imaging on getting chewed up by her commanding officer, Rainbow lets out a somewhat tired sigh before she prepares her takeoff and answers with a smile, “I’ll get right on that. Thanks, Soarin.”

With ease, Rainbow navigates through the hallways and floors of the office building until she stops in front of Spitfire’s office. Gently, she opens the door and sees her commander-in-chief sitting patiently behind her desk. Like the rest of their comrades, the fiery-haired Wonderbolt is also wearing the iconic, blue-and-yellow flight suit.

“You wanted to see me, ma’am?” Rainbow salutes to her.

“Ah, Rainbow Dash! Thanks for coming over here!” Spitfire greets her with a smile. “Close the door, will you?”

After she does that, Rainbow then says in an apologetic tone, “Look, if this about me being late, Captain, I just wanna say--!”

“Relax, I didn’t call you in for something as tedious as that.” she dismisses it with a casual wave of her fore hoof. “And please, there’s no need to address me as ‘Captain’ when it’s just the two of us.”

Feeling more relax now, Rainbow walks closer to the Captain’s desk and asks coolly, “Okay… so what’s up, Spitfire?”

“Well first of all, I want to give my congratulations on your first foal, Rainbow.”

“Thanks.”

“Which is why starting right now, I am taking you off the team until--!”

Quick as a whip, Dash snaps in immense shock and anger, “Wait what?! You’re firing me?!”

A bit surprised by younger mare’s snappy interruption, Spitfire tries to restate the misunderstanding, “Rainbow, please! Let me finish me--!”

“No, I see what this is all about!” she interrupts once more as she flares uncontrollably. “You think that just because I’m pregnant, I’ll simply slow down the whole team altogether, don’t you?! Why is everypony on my case about that?! I can’t believe you would do this to me! After everything I've done for this team, for you! I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and you’re a damn fool from even considering on laying me off like that--!

SLAM!

“RAINBOW DASH!”

Abruptly, the fuming mare ceases her outburst momentarily once she heard the thunderous slam of the desk, and she turns to piercing voice of her superior, where she stands upright with her forelegs holding her up. Silently, the two Wonderbolts glare each other with infuriated eyes as they engage in an intense staring contest.

Once she finally gets Rainbow’s attention, Spitfire enunciates in a calm yet growling tone, “Do not… interrupt me until I finish what I have to say first. Got it?”

Without keeping her fierce eyes off of her, Rainbow halfheartedly follows that order of familiar authority after letting out a heavy sigh of aggravation, “Yes, ma’am.”

"Good. So listen up and listen good.” Spitfire warns firmly as she sits back down before she begins her lecture as calmly as possible. “As Captain of the Wonderbolts, it is my responsibility to look after the well-being of every member on this team. Do you have any idea on how dangerous of the risk you’re taking from continuing your job while carrying a foal inside of you?! The speeds you clock in make roller coasters look like they were steady carriages! A simple crash to the ground may not do much to a pony like you, but comparing that kind of impact to a developing fetus… I sadly can’t say the same for him or her.” she says uneasily as she sadly shakes her head before resuming her firm demeanor. “So in short, I am not firing you; I am putting you on maternity leave immediately, and I am not going to take ‘no’ as an answer, even if I have to so much as to restrain your wings and ground you myself.”

Silently, Rainbow reflects on her commander’s words carefully. Despite her initial anger, she begins to understand Spitfire’s composed reasoning, but what really grabbed her attention was when older Pegasus mentioned on what could happen to her foal if she got into a serious accident, whether it was by her own actions or not. Startled by this grim realization, Rainbow plays the countless, frightening scenarios in her head that revolves with her unborn child. From those various fatal results, the foal could suffer a permanent disability or even worse… die prematurely.

Unable to bear thought over the lost of her child, Rainbow collapses on her hindquarters before she weeps tremendously to herself. Spitfire is surprised by this. She knew that Rainbow can handle harsh criticism before, but this is the first time she made the blue mare cry like that, and she never wanted that in the first place. From noticing this sudden change in her lamenting colleague’s behavior, Spitfire drops her strict manner as she gallops over to Dash’s side and comforts her to the best of her abilities.

“Oh come on, Rainbow! Don’t do that!” Spitfire pleads with a caring smile as she continues to cheer her up. “I’m just looking out for your own good, alright? I know it sucks that you won’t be take part in all of the action for awhile, but it’s not like you’ll go empty-hoofed. The Wonderbolts will certainly provide you paid leave during your pregnancy as well as 15 weeks of unpaid leave after that so that you and your husband can take care of your newborn. And sooner or later, you’ll be welcomed back onto the team in no time.”

Rainbow controls herself a little as she wipes away a majority of her tears before she responds softly, “It’s… not about that, Spitfire. I just couldn’t believe I didn’t think about the kind of danger I would have put my foal in! I feel so stupid right now from having to endanger my kid like that!”

She resumes some of her crying as Spitfire carries on with her reassurance by patting Rainbow on the shoulders with a gentle wing. “No no. Of course not, Rainbow. I’m just looking out for you, that’s all.”

“Yeah… just like Ford was.” Dash mutters to herself.

“And besides…” Spitfire continues. “…I commend you on this big step you’re making for yourself.”

“Why’s that, Spitfire?” she asks while wiping away her remaining tears.

“Because I wish I could take that step myself.”

A bit taken aback by the Wonderbolt’s openness, Rainbow inquires in bewilderment, “Well, why don’t you? You and Soarin have been married for a while now, so what’s holding you back?”

“My job, that’s what.” she answers in a chuckling smile. “To be honest, I was a little hesitant to pursue a relationship with somepony like Soarin. I mean, I’ve always like him. We’ve known each other since we were kids. But ever since I was made Captain, I was afraid that a possible relationship would ruin both of our careers. And even though we’ve manage to overcome that threshold, I’m now just a little reluctant to having my first kid someday until I could find a suitable, temporary replacement for myself first.”

“Maybe somepony like yours truly?” Rainbow jests in a boastful smirk.

Amused by seeing Dash returning to her cocky self, Spitfire lets out a lighthearted giggle before answering with a clever grin of her own, “Tell you what, kid… If you let me know on how the rest of your pregnancy goes from here, then we’ll talk.”

Once they share a good laugh among friends, Rainbow gratefully hugs Spitfire as she says to her warmly, “Thanks for everything, Captain.”

“You’re welcome, Rainbow Dash. Now… dismiss.”

Back at home in Ponyville’s airspace, Ford Mustang spends a lot of his free time to work on his drawings and paintings. Sometimes they’re for commissions, and other times they’re just for himself. As of now, space and art supplies are limited since he doesn’t have his own personal room for this sort of thing, so he mainly occupies one of the living room’s couches as his temporary art studio.

While staring at his unfinished drawing from his sketchbook, his sharp ears suddenly pick up the main door being opened. Curious by the sudden intrusion, he closes his sketchbook and flies toward the doorway. Since there are only a handful of those who can reach their house, he assumes that it must be one of his Pegasus friends, or a surprise visit from an Alicorn Princess, or even Pinkie Pie. But to his amazement, it is Rainbow Dash, who seems to have arrived fairly early from work today.

Standing in front the staggered stallion, Rainbow is still fully clad in her Wonderbolt uniform as she expresses a soft sadness within her magenta eyes. But before he can question that, the distraught mare charges forward and longingly hugs her husband with all of her heart. Briefly surprised by this need of affection, Ford nevertheless welcomes it as he wraps her up with his wings and fore hooves in a gentle embrace.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you again so soon, but shouldn't you be at work right now?” he asks with a small smile.

"They… let me go once they heard about my pregnancy.” she states it uneasily.

From interpreting that response as something else, Ford shakes with fury before he makes this promising threat, “If they fired you because of that, I’m going have words with them--!”

“Easy, Mustang.” she reassures him with an amusing grin as he pats him on the chest. “They only forced me take maternity leave until our kid is born. They’re even going to pay me during most of my absence.”

A bit embarrassed by that misinterpretation, Ford shrugs it off with sheepish grin, “Oh, well… I’m glad to hear that, Rainbow.”

After giggling to herself, she then brings up on what they talked about earlier, “Ford, I’m so sorry for everything this morning. I should have listened to you in the first place.”

"It’s okay, Dashie. I already forgave you, remember?”

“But why weren’t you harsher with me about that?” she questions him persistently. “If you were just as hard on me as Spitfire was, I would have listened to you eventually.”

“Well… I’m that very good when it comes to being hard on someone.” he admits with an awkward smile. “And I certainly didn’t want to cause harm to that fragile pride of yours. It is part of your charm after all.” he adds with a witty smirk.

“Heh, even as a famed hero, you’re still just a softy, aren’t ya?” she kids lightly as she rubs Ford’s cheek with a fore hoof.

“What can I say?” he shrugs with a clever smile. “I’m more of a lover than a fighter.”

Despite feeling more relax from the stallion’s sense of humor, she couldn’t help but cringe from her dark thoughts on what would happen if Ford or Spitfire didn’t stop her from doing her job while she is still pregnant. From re-imagining those grim possibilities, she tightens her hold around her husband and confesses her most recent fear, “Hey, Ford… I’m really scared.”

“You? Scared?” he gasps exaggeratedly. “I never would have guessed!”

“Funny.” she deadpans with a small, sarcastic smile.

Being more serious now, he caresses his wife and steadily strokes her lovely, multi-colored mane before he softly inquires about her concern, “What are you scared about, Rainbow?”

“I’m afraid that I’ll do something really stupid along the way that will endanger my foal.” she admits in trembling anxiety before she shoves her face into Ford’s furry, blue coat to shield her watery eyes. “Just like how I almost did today.”

After giving her sometime to let it all out, Ford gently lifts her head up so that her nearly tearful eyes can look into his soft gaze, and he shares his opinion with a warm, honest smile, “Now you listen to me, Rainbow Dash. You are not an idiot, and you are not as careless as you make yourself out to be. And the one trait that I always admire about you is that you always put others first before yourself. And your foal is definitely not an exception. Besides, you don’t have to burden yourself with this enormous task on your own. You have our friends, you have your father, you have the Princesses, and you will always me at your side. And trust me, I am just as new to this parenting thing as you are. Sure, we might make some mistakes along the way, but we’re a team, Rainbow. And no matter what happens, we’ll get through all of this… together.”

Unable to contain herself from Ford’s usual sentimentality, Rainbow releases all of her happy tears as her smile broadens extremely. Without restraint, she lunges forward and pulls Mustang in for a deep, comforting kiss. They moan in absolute ecstasy, and sooner or later, their satisfied lips separate from one another before he points something out in a shrewd smirk.

“You know, there is a bright side to your big break from the Wonderbolts.”

“And what bright side would that be, Mustang?”

With an all-knowing grin, he whispers in an alluring voice, “That we get to spend a lot more time together.”

She blinks a few times before her blank, wide-eyed face gradually breaks into very wide smile. “Oh! Oooh! Ooooooh~!”

After her grin matches that with Ford’s, he then asks in a crafty smile, “So… now that you no longer have to go to work for awhile, is there anything you would like to do in the meantime?”

Following up on that subtle hint, she leads her stallion into the living room while purposefully swaying her luscious hips and tail. At one of the fluffy couches, she jumps onto the furniture with a soft plop. With her back facing the cloudy cushions, she slides her hood off and shakes her head to swing her flowing, rainbow-colored hair. Then, she gazes at Ford with her gorgeous, bedroom eyes as she teasingly plays with the zipper at the top of her suit’s collar while displaying a masterfully seductive smile on her face.

“Well first of all, you can start by helping me out of this suit.”

Wanting to fulfill his wife’s command, the grinning Mustang gracefully crawls on top of her like a cat, and he mischievously pulls down the zipper of her flight suit after complying with an equally devious smirk.

“With pleasure!”

Author's Note

Arguing can be a difficult thing to going through, even when you write it in a story. I mean, I try my best to not justified one side over the other, especially for Rainbow Dash in this chapter. However, writing the couple's first argument in this story is something that's necessary for character development and a way for them to compromise with one and another. So this was an interesting take on my end.

Chapter 5 – Dinner for Two

Chapter 5 – Dinner for Two

Nine Months Remaining…
~ Late of September (8th Week) ~

For the next month, Rainbow Dash has been enjoying the easy life with her extensive break on her maternity leave, thanks to one of the many benefits of being a Wonderbolt. She gets to sleep as long as want, spend as much time with her friends, and more importantly, be in the company of her ever devoted husband.

But despite having as much free time as she wants, this afternoon is incredibly boring today. She doesn’t feel like taking a nap as of now since she had plenty of sleep in the past month. She can’t recall any one of her friends that she needs to visit right now. And to her slight disappointment, Ford Mustang is out of town helping out the weatherponies when they are in desperate need for volunteers. Normally, she would happily assist the weather team as well, but she and Ford both know that she didn’t want to do any strenuous to herself, especially when she is pregnant by two months at this point.

So as of now, she’s just lying on the fluffy couch as she is waiting out the time until her husband comes back home. Normally, she would read a book in the meantime, and there are plenty of choices to choose from. But to her surprise, she’s not in a mood for any “Daring Do” books. And as for the baby and parenting books they rented from the Golden Oaks Library, she would usually read them alongside Ford so they can interpret the context together. So without him around, reading these kind of books seem like a chore to her.

“Gah! I never thought I would say this, but lounging around is SO boring!” she grips out loud. “And it sucks even more so without Mustang keeping me company!”

While the impatient mare lies back on the couch, her loyal pet, Tank, hovers above her with the use of his magic-propelled helicopter rotor that’s strapped to his shell before he gently lands on top of Rainbow’s slight baby bump. Once she notices the tortoise’s presence, she breaks into an amusing smile before she kindly pats him on the head.

“Well at least I still have you, Tank.”

After receiving a soft croak of appreciation from the smiling tortoise, Rainbow reclines on her couch to stare at the ceiling as she muses to herself, “There’s gotta be something I can do in the meantime. But what?”

Looking for someway to help his owner, Tank steadily bends his long neck to look around and his beady eyes lock on to the bookshelf nearby. With Rainbow Dash distracted, Tank hovers off of his cushy spot to fly toward the books before he slowly grabs one with his strong jaws and pulls it off its shelf. With the book firmly secured, he hovers back to Rainbow and lands softly on her furry belly.

“Whatcha got there, buddy?” she asks once the tortoise gets her attention.

Using her hooves, she grabs the book from her devoted pet and reads the cover for herself while reminiscing with a smile, “Hey, look at that. This is the cookbook that Fluttershy gave me for my birthday last year. Heh, I rarely had a chance to try these recipes myself.”

Then, a stroke of genius enters her mind before she gasps with a huge smile, “Wait, that’s it! Tank, you’re a genius!” she compliments him while rewarding him with some nose rubbing before going over her plan with an extensive grin. “While Mustang is away, I can take charge of tonight’s dinner! Granted, I haven’t touched the stove in a very long time… but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost my touch when it comes to cooking! Heck yeah! This will be my perfect chance to show off my awesome cooking skills!”

Highly motivated by this idea, she opens the cookbook while musing to herself, “Now what to choose…?”

After looking through several pages under the “entrée” section, she stops at one page and smiles with approval, “Hey, this looks good enough. ‘Sautéed Asparagus, Onions, and Peppers.’ Yeah, this should definitely be a cinch.” But after making her first choice, she displays a blank expression while pondering to herself, “But I should definitely add something more hardcore in return. Something that will really blow Ford’s mind with pure awesomeness!”

With a couple more turn of the pages, she ends up in the “dessert” section until she stops on a picture of a fluffy-looking treat. The unique dessert is labeled as an “Orange Soufflé”, and after skimming through its ingredients and directions, Rainbow Dash breaks into her trademark grin.

“Yeah, now that’s I’m talking about! This soufflé will do just nicely!”

With a plan in motion, she first starts with the soufflé since it’s the harder of the two recipes for tonight’s meal. Granted, there are a few problems along the way, such as separating the eggs’ yolks and whites, deciding on when the sauce reaches its proper boiling point before adding the orange zest and liqueur, or beating the egg whites and remaining ingredients well enough until its peaks look stiff enough from the foam-like batter. Nevertheless, she is relieved that she manages to press forward and got the complex dessert ready for baking before pouring it into two small baking dishes and sliding it into the preheated oven.

After setting a timer for the soufflé, she works on the veggies for the medley dish next. Simply enough, all she needs to do is chop the onions and bell peppers into their proper slices. From completing her latest task, she looks back at the timer. To her surprise and satisfaction, a few minutes have passed since she putted the soufflé dishes in the oven. There is roughly 15 minutes left until it’s ready.

“Whew! Cooking sure does take a lot of out of you!” She says with a tired smile while wiping her forehead. Then, she lets out a big yawn before adding, “Maybe a quick nap will do during my break.”

Happy from reuniting with her cloudy sofa, she gets really comfortable on her plushy couch before her dreary eyelids start to become heavy as they steadily close them shut.

“Oh yeah, Ford… that’s it! Lick Me! Lick me all over!”

While talking in her brief sleep, she broadens with a smile as her face is being licked by her supposed husband. From those numerous licks, she starts to open her eyes, but is shocked to see that isn’t Ford providing the unusual affection; it is Tank instead as he continues his slow and steady licks on her face. From finally realizing this, Rainbow wakes up immediately as she gags repeatedly from those sloppy, wet kisses.

“T-Tank?! What the heck?!”

From that outlandish awakening, her ears pick up on a loud, ringing sound that is coming form the kitchen. And not only that, but her nose detects a strange, burning smell with a hint of sweet citrus. Following up with the indication of her senses, she promptly rises from her couch and hastily heads to the kitchen.

“Oh crap! The soufflés!” she screeches in alarm as she opens the oven where some thick smoke vents from within. With a pot holder in-between her teeth, she grips the hot metal sheet tray that holds her two soufflé dishes with her protected mouth. Once she places the tray on a cooling rack, she gets a better look at her dessert. All she could see from the top is their surfaces, which is charred in an ugly, orange-brown color.

“Well, it can’t be that bad on the inside, right?” she reassures herself in an awkward chuckle, but her sense of humor isn’t enough to prevent a painful wince from escaping her lips.

Leaving her finished desserts aside to cool off, she directs attention to her main course. After turning the stove on, she places the large pan on the heating eye and gets her chopped vegetables and spices ready.

While she is preparing her next dish, Tank looks out a window and notices a familiar Pegasus out in the far distance. Alarmed by this, the magically propelled tortoise rushes back to the pre-occupied Rainbow Dash and pulls her rainbow-colored mane to direct her to the window he was looking through.

“Ow! Tank! What are you doing?!” she scowls him as he leads her away from the stove. “I’ve got important stuff to do right now!”

But once she glances through the nearby window, her enlarged eyes freeze in shock and horror as she sees Ford Mustang heading on home from completing his services today.

“It’s Ford! He’s coming home real soon!” she dreads immensely in a trembling voice. “B-b-but I haven’t completed my surprised dinner just yet! Quick, Tank! You’ve got to distract him for me!”

Following the command of his owner, Tank swiftly heads out of the door as Rainbow retreats back to the kitchen. Once she is facing the stove, she contemplates on how to speed things up for her vegetable medley dish.

“Okay, it’s cool, Rainbow.” she calms herself down. “I’ll just turn this up a notch, and dinner will be done in record time.” And renewed with a confident grin from her improvisation, she turns the stove’s dial to heat up the selected eye to a higher degree of temperature before she places the veggies onto the heated pan.

Outside, Ford is get to close to his beloved cloudhouse in the sky before the surprisingly speedy tortoise charges head-on and rams him upon impact. After recovering from that surprise tackle, he is then greeted with leisurely licks from his pet.

“Oh hey, Tank! Good to see you too!” he responds with a giggling smile as he continues to receive long licks from the tortoise. “Okay okay… down boy! Honestly, when did you get so affectionate all of a sudden?”

Once he finally makes his way to his house, he opens the door and announces his arrival out loud, “Honey, I’m home--!”

But his clichéd announcement is interrupted with a swift appearance of his wife as Rainbow delivers a firm yet welcoming smooch that hushes him up excluding from the delightful moan that escapes from his preoccupied lips.

After that, Rainbow ends her surprise kiss to her truly astonished husband as she greets him tenderly, “Welcome home, Mustang!”

“…Wow!” he exclaims with a wide, satisfied smile. “If this is how I’m greeted every time I leave for something, then I should do this more often!”

“So, how did it go with the weather team today?”

“It was fine. We just had to add some more clouds into the sky. No big deal.”

“That’s cool I guess. Hey, you must be exhausted right now!” she exaggerates with a toothy smile as she leads him into the living room. “Why don’t you just sit here right and relax for a bit, hmm?”

“I don’t know, Rainbow… I don’t feel that exhausted--!”

Abruptly, his wife interrupts him as she mightily tosses him to a couch in the form of a martial arts throw. With the staggered Mustang lying on his belly, Rainbow slams on top of him before she leans down and whispers into his ear in a stern yet very alluring voice.

“I said… relax~!”

But before he can protest, he starts to moan in surprise and eventual delight when Rainbow firmly presses her hooves into his back and rubs him tenderly. As her hooves creating soothing circles around his shoulders, Ford loosens up greatly as he slouches on the couch.

“Ooh… Dashie~! This feels SOOOO Good~!” he praises her with an extremely goofy smile.

“I’m glad that you like it, champ!” she chuckles with a proud grin as she carries on with her work.

“So, Rainbow… does this massage come with a happy ending?” he kids with a clever smirk.

“Maybe~!” she answers shrewdly.

As Ford Mustang unwinds from Rainbow Dash’s extraordinary massage, he suddenly lifts his nose up and sniffs something in the air before asking his personal masseur, “Say… do you smell something?”

Rainbow pauses from her task and also takes a whiff of that aroma before answering, “Yeah, it smells like--! GASP! OH NO!”

From this dreadful realization, she immediately ceases the massage before Ford inquires with concern, “Is something wrong, Rainbow?”

“Nope! Nothing at all!” she reassures with a hasty smile before she gives a quick peck on the cheek. “Just sit tight and I’ll be right back!”

With a quick burst of speed, she races back to the kitchen to verify the situation. From seeing how the vegetable medley is starting to become black, she quickly moves the pan onto one of the unheated eyes and turns off the stove. After that, she looks at her latest culinary creation and sighs in slight disappointment. While the overly cooked vegetables don’t look completely charred, they still bear some black markings on them. Hoping for the best, she transfers the veggies to three plates, including one for Tank. Next, she takes them to the dining room and sets them on the table. And on cue, Ford enters the scene as he is increasingly distraught with worry.

“Okay, Rainbow Dash… what’s going--?!”

He pauses from what he is about to say as he stares with deadpan eyes at what Rainbow has been making while he was away. Eventually, he directs his blank gaze to his wife as she displays a nervous smile for him.

“Umm… surprise!” she addresses awkwardly.

Slowly, the speechless stallion looks back at his dinner plate and then at his wife before he asks in a stammering voice, “Did… did you make all of this… by yourself?”

A bit flabbergasted on how to explain herself, her fears over the failure of a simple dish takes hold before she snaps in frustration, “Yeah, I did, alright?! I just wanted to surprise you with an awesome dinner since you’re usually responsible for all of our meals! You always do such an amazing job with them, that I figured I can return the favor for a change!” And with an extreme grump, she crosses her fore hooves and tries to hide her obviously hurt feelings. “But you know what?! That’s fine! You don’t have to eat it if you really don’t want to! I know that my cooking skills can’t measure up to yours! So I’m not upset whatsoever… I’m not!”

Despite her denial, her emotional eyes fail to hide the tears that are building up as she looks down in great shame. Ford doesn’t say anything in the meantime. He once again looks at his plate before he reaches his decision. Without a word, he grabs a fork with surprisingly skillful dexterity despite no longer having any fingers when he was human, and he picks up a mix of asparagus, peppers, and onions. And without hesitation, he shoves them in his mouth.

Carefully, he chews the tender veggies as he reflects on his opinion. And once he swallows his first bite, he smiles with approval and proceeds to take another bite out of the vegetable medley.

“Mmm! Rainbow, this is really good!” he says with an honest smile.

With pitiful eyes, she looks at him and responds in a sniveling voice, “You’re just saying that to make me feel better!”

“No, I really mean it!” he insists kindheartedly. “Here, give it a try and see it for yourself!”

Following on her husband’s assurance, she turns on her head toward Tank to see what he thinks. To her surprise, the tortoise breaks into an extremely slow smile as he steadily munches on his portion. Then, she looks at her own dish and decides to give it a try herself. From a closer inspection, she takes a couple of sniffs from her plate and verifies that it’s not as over-cooked as she first assumed so. With curiosity taking over her reluctance, she takes a bite of her veggies, and she too smiles with startling satisfaction.

“Hey, you’re right!” she concurs gleefully. “This doesn’t taste that bad at all!”

“See? Told ya!” he responds in a chuckle. “It may be a little burnt on the outside, but in all honesty, it still tastes pretty good! But you know what makes this even tastier?”

“What?”

“Because you made it for me, Dashie!” he explains earnestly. “You took the time and put a lot effort and love into this all just for me. So thank you, Rainbow Dash… for making tonight’s dinner really special this evening.”

From listening to her husband’s usual sentimentality, Rainbow couldn’t take it anymore as a few tears escape from her eyes. Along with that, she also couldn’t help but smile widely as she is glad that her dinner isn’t a total disaster after all.

From suffering from all of these sappy emotions, Rainbow snaps sarcastically with a chuckling smile, “Dang it, Mustang! Why are you the only one to make me cry and happy like this?”

With a sheepish grin, he answers softly, “Because I’m such a romantic fool and you love me for that?”

With another hearty chuckle, she flies to the stallion’s side and gratefully hugs her big, strong Mustang while grinning boldly, “You’re damn right I do!”

Ford wraps his hooves around Rainbow as they carry on with their nice, heartfelt hug. As they embrace one and another, he says to her, “You know, it got me thinking about something. I didn’t realize until now that maybe I’ve been hogging the kitchen all to myself.”

“Hey, that’s not true!” she retorts to set his mind at ease while looking at him. “I’m mostly away whenever I’m on active duty with the Wonderbolts, so I usually don’t cook much for myself! And besides, I love your cooking, Ford! I just wanted to return the favor, that’s all!”

“Well still, since we can spend some more time together, would you… like to help me out with our meals from time to time?”

Rainbow Dash is startled by his offer before she inquires in an unusually bashful manner, “You… really want me to cook with you?”

“Sure." he nods with a smile. “I mean, you taught me on how to fly when we first met, so I would be honored to do something just for you in return.”

The blue mare gives it some thought before she requests in such a soft, cutesy manner, “Can we… start our first lesson with some pancakes tomorrow morning?”

“Of course!”

“With chocolate chips?” she adds with big, pleading, magenta eyes and a growing, hopeful smile.

“Whatever toppings you like!” he giggles with a grin.

With a huge gasp, the ecstatic Rainbow snuggles closely against her stallion as she beams in childish delight, “Then sign me up, coach!”

“And so the Master becomes the Student.” he mutters to himself with a chuckling smile.

After that is settled, Ford, Rainbow, and Tank continue with their meals and eat happily in peace. When they finally finish their medley dishes, Rainbow takes their plates and places them in the sink before returning to her seat.

“So… what’s for dessert?” Ford asks with a sly smirk.

“Umm… well…?”

As she is unable to find the right words regarding with her other surprise dish, she hears a high-pitched, deflating sound from the kitchen. From inspecting this herself, she is shocked to see her two soufflé dishes being less inflated than before. With a heavy sigh, she carries them to the dining room and places one of them right in front of Mustang.

“Ta-daaa~!” she smiles in sarcastic excitement.

“A soufflé, huh?” he verifies casually before he lets out a whistle to showcase his high regard for her. “Wow, Dashie! I’m very impressed! I’ve never expected you to pull off such a gutsy move as making a soufflé this evening!”

With an egotistical smile, she rubs his chest with a fore hoof as she mildly boasts in return, “Clearly, you have once again underestimated my level of awesomeness!”

After they share a good chuckle, they begin to dig into their dessert. After gulping a spoonful of her treat, she surprised by how unsatisfying it is. Sure it’s sweet and has a taste of orange in it, but it isn’t as grand she would expect from such a fancy dessert as this.

Hoping if Ford has the same opinion as hers, she asks of him, “So… what do you think?”

His expression is the same as hers: it shows neither disgust nor satisfaction. But he briefly covers it up with a smile as he hesitantly expresses his opinion without hurting Rainbow’s feelings, “It’s good, but… don’t get my wrong! It has nothing to do with you of course! It’s not as… flavorful as I would expect when it comes to soufflés in general.”

Relieved to hear that from him, she agrees, “Yeah, you’re right… it’s not that fulfilling either.”

They silently stare at their unfinished desserts with mildly disappointed faces, Rainbow Dash especially. All that work she put into such a complex, embellished dessert becomes a complete waste of her time as its taste is nothing but mediocre to them. Luckily, she knows how to remedy that as she eagerly makes a suggestion to Ford, who would no doubt comply on a whim.

“Wanna get some ice cream instead?”

“Definitely!”

During a lovely,orange sunset with purplish-blue clouds in the sky, Ford and Rainbow visit the local ice cream parlor to make up for their sweet-indulging taste buds with some rich, sweet, delicious ice cream. In a large glass bowl, the Pegasi share one of the store’s colossal signature creations: “The Monster’s Cookie Jar.” This monstrous treat is piled up with large scoops of pure vanilla ice cream. It is meshed with lots of toppings including warm, soft cookie dough, gooey fudge brownies, peanut butter cups, multicolored, candy-coated chocolate pieces, and black-and-white cookie sandwich crumbs. And lastly, it is drizzled in hot fudge sauce and topped with dollops of whipped cream.

From the very first bite, Ford and Rainbow are in absolute bliss over their jumbo substitute of their soufflé as they partake on their humongous ice cream together. Half way through their dessert, the continuously smiling mare hardly slows down with each spoonful she gorges for herself. But then, she notices her husband barely touching the other side of their frozen treat as he stares aimlessly at the ground.

“What’s wrong, Mustang? Don’t tell me you had enough already!” she teases lightly.

Once he breaks out of his stupor, Ford chuckles in response, “Oh far from it, Rainbow! It’s just that… well…”

From noticing his hesitation, Rainbow puts her spoon aside so that he gets her undivided attention. “Come on Ford, what’s eating ya?”

Hesitant once again, he then addresses what’s on his mind in a soft tone, “…Have you ever considered on moving closer to the ground?”

A bit speechless at first, she questions him in a shocking manner, “Wait, you better not be suggesting what I think you are suggesting, are you?!”

“What? Oh no, sorry! I should have phrased that better!” he apologizes with a soft giggle. “I meant to say if you ever thought about literally moving our house closer to the ground?”

A bit calmer from that misunderstanding, she ponders on that idea before she answers very frankly, “Hmm… no. Can’t say that I have.”

“Oh, okay.” he mutter with mild disappointment.

“Hey, hold on!” she retorts before explaining herself. “Just because I never gave much thought about in the first place, doesn’t mean I wouldn’t show any interest at all! Now come on, what’s up?”

“Well… I just figure that it would be better if we move our cloudhouse closer to the ground so we can stay more in touch with the rest of our friends, that’s all.”

“Oh come on, Ford!” she dismisses with a carefree chuckle. “We’re not that detached from our friends just because we live among the clouds!”

“Oh really?” he challenges that claim with a smirk. “Name one visitor the last time he or she came to our house that wasn’t a flyer!”

She flusters while trying to come up with an answer. “Oh well… there’s--!”

“Except Pinkie Pie!” he adds sharply.

After grumbling to herself from the dismissal of using her pink-haired friend as a suitable answer, she humbly admits her defeat with a casual smile, “Fine. You got me there. But moving our house seems like a lot of a hassle to just receive more friendly visits. I mean, lots of them would have to imbue with Cloudwalking Spells in order for that to happen.”

"Well actually, it’s not our friends that I’m mostly concern about.” he responds in a soft, more solemn tone. “It’s mainly about our foal.”

Her eyes widen from the mention of their baby as she inquires in a similar manner, “Like what?”

“Like… what if our baby is born as an Earth Pony or a Unicorn instead of a Pegasus? Then he or she can’t live with us unless we apply a Cloudwalking Spell on a daily basis. And even if our first kid is a Pegasus, what if our foal can’t fly just yet and we are unable to pick it up from school? Or even worse, what if our little guy somehow falls of the edge and is unable to fly at all? I know I’m probably worrying for nothing, but I just want to make sure that our baby will be safe and happy once we bring it into our home.”

While the apprehensive stallion trembles subtly from bring this up, Rainbow silently processes on Mustang’s statement as she looks down at her slightly bulgy belly. Instinctively, she rubs it with a delicate fore hoof to not only give her unborn foal some motherly comfort, but in some ways to reach out to her little one on what’s best for him or her. After contemplating this for a short period of time, she looks back at her husband and bears a soft smile while sharing something interesting in mind.

“You know… there is a way to make our entire cloudhouse more stable enough for even non-Pegasi without them falling right through the clouds.”

Ford is amazed to hear this tidbit of information as he inquires with a growing smile, “There is?”

“Yeah totally. Of course, it’s going to take a lot of time for our house to be renovated, and not to mention a lot of bits from the amount of help we have to hire.” she informs with more solemn expression and tone.

From hearing her firm response, he assumes that it will be her objection as he replies in slight dismay, “Oh… I see.”

Suddenly, she breaks into a soft giggle while shaking her head before displaying a more pleasant smile as she adds, “But… I think it’s a worthwhile investment if this will be what’s best for our little tyke someday.”

Shocked to hear her changing her mind like that, he responds in a shocked manner, “R-really? You really mean that?”

“Of course I do, Ford.” she nods with loving earnestness. “And I’m glad that you’re the one to give this some thought as well as sharing this with me. Tomorrow, I’ll make some contacts with our contractors so we can begin renovations right away.”

After being speechless momentarily, Mustang breaks into a large, appreciative smile, and he slides closer to Rainbow Dash before giving her a short yet very affectionate kiss for her. “Thanks, Dashie. I really appreciate that.”

With a small, blushing giggle, she coolly replies, “No problem, Ford. But once they get started, we need to crash somewhere in the meantime. It could take up to a month before it’s finally done.”

Once he gives it some thought on temporary housing, he then offers his two bits. “Hmm… I doubt the Apple Family would have any room in their house, considering that Fluttershy and Rarity live there right now. How about the Golden Oaks Library instead?”

“Yeah, that’s sound good.” she nods with approval. “Let’s be sure to ask for Twilight’s permission just in case.”

With a determined grin, he gives a quick salute to her. “I’ll take care of it first thing tomorrow morning!”

After that, they carry on with the demolition of the unfinished, cookie-and-candy-flavored mountain of ice cream. While greatly indulging on what’s left of their massive treat, an extraordinary idea crosses Rainbow Dash’s mind. Something that may have to do with special somepony’s birthday in mind! And she knows just what to do when she contacts the renovators tomorrow morning!

Author's Note

Regarding with Tank the Tortoise, it is shamefully to say that I didn't think of any good moments for him in the previous stories. So thankfully, I gave him some screen time within each of those little moments of his.

Chapter 6 – A Heated Family Get-Together

Chapter 6 – A Heated Family Get-Together

Eight Months and Three Weeks Remaining…
~ Early of October (9th Week) ~

In the middle of the day, Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang are leisurely flying toward Sweet Apple Acres where they have been invited to a family dinner this evening. Tagging along with the Pegasus couple is Rainbow’s Number One Fan, Scootaloo, whose tiny wings flap mightily to keep up with her idol as they fly a few feet off the ground.

“How are you holding up, Scootaloo?” Ford asks with concern when he looks back. “Do you want us to slow down for you?”

“She’s fine, Ford!” Rainbow reassures with a bold grin before winking at the orange filly. “She’s getting better with each passing day! Right, Scoots?”

Through soft pants, she responds back to not disappoint her role model with a confident smile, “Don’t mind me! I can do this all day long!”

But her bold claim didn’t hold up for long when her fluttering wings lose speed as she steadily descends toward the ground. From noticing this, Rainbow makes a swift dive toward Scoots and safely catches the purple-haired filly with her back.

With the smaller Pegasus saddled to the blue mare, Scootaloo concedes tiresomely with a sheepish smile, “Well… maybe not the entire day at least.”

“Why don’t you take a break, champ?” Rainbow insists with a proud smile. “You’ve earned it.”

“Thanks again for allowing me to come with you guys for dinner at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“No problem, Scootaloo.” Rainbow grins warmly. “Anything for my favorite sister.”

“I’m your only sister, Rainbow.” she points it out with an amusing smile.

“All more the reason why you are still my favorite.” the mare responds with a witty grin.

Then, Ford adds, “Plus, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle will be there tonight, so we can’t have the Cutie Mark Crusaders without all three of them.”

“I think you mean former Cutie Mark Crusader.” Rainbow corrects her husband with an all-knowing smirk.

The adult Pegasi and Scootaloo look at her orange flank as it bears her Cutie Mark that she earned nearly a year ago. It displays a red wheel that's similar to the one from her scooter as it's lit ablaze with light purple fire that matches with her mane. This Cutie Mark not only reflects her incredible talent from riding on her scooter, but also her promising skills when it comes to mechanical repairs.

“Doesn’t matter.” the stallion shrugs with a smile before winking at Scootaloo. “Once a Crusader, always a Crusader! Am I right?”

“Right!” she confirms cheerfully. Next, she turns back to her big sister and asks with a curious smile, “So Rainbow Dash… what it’s like having a baby?”

From pondering on that question, she answers with an earnest smile, “Well I’m not gonna lie to you. It kind of sucks that I have to be more careful when it comes to flying now, but there are some perks in the process. For example, and you can eat as much ice cream as you want!”

As Scootaloo licks her chops from that appealing thought, Ford rebukes his wife with a sharp smirk, “Hey now! Don’t give her any ideas!”

Then, she leans closer to Scootaloo’s ear and whispers to her with a clever smirk stretching across her face, “And tasking your husband into anything you want isn’t that bad either.”

While that earns Rainbow a barely suppressed giggle from the smiling filly, Ford is able to hear that sly comment and states with a smirk of his own, “Yeah… and how is that different before you became pregnant again?”

Leaving her husband’s smart remark aside, Rainbow finishes her statement with bold grin before leaning her head and lightly nuzzling her smiling stallion, “But in the end, it’ll be totally worth it.”

“So once the foal is born, will that make me an aunt someday?” Scootaloo asks in anticipation.

With a hearty chuckle, Rainbow answers while playfully rubbing the smiling filly’s purple hair, “It sure will, Scoots.”

“Cool!”

Inside the kitchen of Sweet Apple Acres’ main house, several mares are at work with their individual responsibilities for tonight’s dinner. Granny Smith’s the self-appointed head chef and matriarch of the Apple Family, pulls out her famed apple pie from the oven, which is just baked to perfection. Satisfied over the completion of her signature dessert, the spunky, elder mare leaves it aside on the edge of an opened window to let it cool off for a while. Then, she turns her attention to one of her helpers to see how things are going from her end.

“How them taters coming along, Rainbow?”

Once she places the peeler onto the cutting board with her mouth, Rainbow Dash salutes to her commander-in-chief and answers with a proud grin, “Gotten the peeling all taken care of, Granny Smith!”

Granny leans forward to examine the younger mare’s work. On the large cutting board, there are nearly a dozen of perfectly skinless potatoes with tons of leftover peels left aside.

With an approving smile, she praises Dash’s handiwork, “Woo-doggy! You certainly live up to your speed, Rainbow! Now let’s see if you’re just as fast into slicin’ them up as you are into peelin’ them!”

“You got it, boss!” she complies with a smile before she grabs the chef’s knife nearby by and begins the slicing process.

Along with Rainbow Dash, Granny also enlists the aid of Rarity and Fluttershy, two of the newest members of the Apple Family. With Rainbow being tasked with the scalloped potatoes, Rarity is working on tonight’s salad by mixing up the dressing in a jar first while Fluttershy prepares the butternut squashes by first spreading butter on the halves. As Granny Smith is preoccupied from shucking the corn, Rainbow resumes the conversation with her two friends.

“So girls, about what we were talking... are you two in or what?”

“Oh absolutely!” Rarity answers gleefully. “It will most assuredly be a marvelous surprise gift for his birthday party!”

Fluttershy agrees as well, “Yes, I think he will certainly love it!”

Then, Rainbow leans closer to the purple-haired Unicorn and stammers with a mild blush on her face, “And uhh… Rarity… about my other idea… you’ll keep this under wraps, won’t you?”

With a soft giggle to herself, Rarity guarantees it with a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry, darling. I Pinkie Promise to never reveal this to anypony! It will be our little secret and no one else’s! Besides, it will be disgraceful of me to reveal something like that from one of my dear customers.”

“Good.” Dash nods with a grin.

Then Rarity adds cheerfully, “Oh course, I will need you to come in every once in a while so I can get the measurements just right.”

Despite being reluctant on that suggestion, Rainbow gives in with a heavy groan, “Sigh… fine. I’ll stop on by whenever I get the chance.”

“Oh, is it another surprise gift for Ford?” Fluttershy asks with a curious smile.

Uneasily, Rainbow answers with her eyes drifting away from her Pegasus friend, “You… could say that, Fluttershy.”

“May I ask on what it might be?”

Persistently, Rarity pleads to Rainbow with big, blue eyes and a wide smile, “Well… should I tell her then?”

With a deadpan sigh, Rainbow permits the seamstress, “Alright. If you must.”

Eagerly, Rarity steps right next to Fluttershy and whispers for a great length of time into her ear. Once the Unicorn finishes her plan for Rainbow’s next surprise gift, Fluttershy blushes like mad as she briefly takes all of this in.

“O-o-oh! Oh my!” the timid mare exclaims with a flushed smile.

“But make sure you don’t tell this to anypony else, alright?” Rainbow Dash implores to a great extent in hopes to secure this semi-embarrassing surprise from her husband and the rest of their friends.

“Oh, I won’t! I Pinkie Promise!” Fluttershy ensures before she timidly asks in an embarrassing blush. “But umm… if you have the time… could you… let me know on how it turns out? I… would like to consider that idea for myself someday.”

Rarity and Rainbow are quite surprise by what their dear Fluttershy has in mind in a potential future as the two silently stare with large eyes at their yellow Pegasus friend while Fluttershy bashfully hides her flushed face with her long, pink hair. In the midst of their awkward pause, Granny Smith kindly gets their attention to get them back on track with their cooking duties.

“Girls, Ah don’t mean to interrupt your chit-chat, but Ah do have a dinner to run here.”

“Oh, sorry!” Fluttershy apologizes humbly.

“Right away, Granny!” Rarity acknowledges in a sweet tone.

“On it!” Rainbow salutes once more.

From that reminder, the three mares immediately resume their respective chores before Applejack hurriedly enters the kitchen.

“Alright! Ah’m here!”

“Applejack! Where have you been?” Rarity warmly greets her fiancée with a kiss on the cheek.

“Sorry, sugarcube. Had to uhh… put on the finishing touches over something Ah was working on.” AJ explains in a slightly edgy tone before subtly clearing her throat and displaying a big smile. “But anyway, Ah’m here now and ready to help!”

“Aww… thank ya kindly, Applejack…” Granny Smith replies sweetly to her eldest granddaughter. “…but we’ve already got enough help to feed an entire platoon here.”

With droppy ears, Applejack lets a nearly childish whine, “But… Ah always help out when it comes to dinnertime.”

“Oh sorry, dearie, but this here kitchen is packed enough as it is.” Granny explains while she gets the water boiling in her large cooking pot for the corn she just shucked.

Unwilling to stand still and do nothing, the Applejack looks around the kitchen and asks her grandmother and friends if they are in need of any assist from her, “You sure y’all don’t need any help? Anything whatsoever?”

“Nnnope.” Granny answers simply once she brings the ears of shucked corn closer to the pot of boiling water.

“Sorry, darling.” Rarity apologizes with a sweet smile as she begins to toss the salad with the proper utensils thanks to her levitating magic.

“I’m good as well.” Fluttershy states with a soft smile while she sprinkles brown sugar on the butternut squashes.

“Yep, same here.” Rainbow agrees as she carries on with slicing the potatoes.

AJ walks over to Rainbow’s side to observe her process on the scalloped potatoes. With a firm grip of her mouth, the blue Pegasus steadily cuts the potatoes into reasonably sized slices. During her observation, Applejack determinedly offers her assistance to her rainbow-haired friend, “You know, Ah can show ya on how to cut those taters a lil' faster, RD.”

Dash gently places the knife aside and thinks about it before she casually replies back to her, “Hmm… no thanks. I’m good from here.”

But Applejack becomes persistent as she tries to switch places with Rainbow. “But yer cuttin’ them too thick! Here, let me show you how it’s done!”

“No I’m not!” Rainbow Dash retorts as she pushes the orange Earth Pony away from her before she calls out to Granny Smith in an adorably childish whine, “Granny~! Applejack won’t leave me be~!”

“Now now, sugarcube.” Granny intervenes as she directs Applejack in a playful manner. “Rainbow can take care of things from here. Why dontcha go on into the living room and play with the colts and fillies, hmm?”

As Granny Smith gently shoves her reluctant granddaughter toward the living room, Rainbow comically waves her Earth Pony friend off with a teasing smile, “Yeah, us mares got it cover from here. Go on and be with the rest of the boys.”

AJ stops in her tracks briefly before she sharply turns her head toward her grinning friend and snaps back at her, “Hey, yer more tomboyish than Ah am!”

“True, but at least I’m the one who got to wear a dress on my wedding day.” she replies with a clever smirk and her wiggling eyebrows.

But before the fuming Applejack is able to come up with a comeback for that remark, Rarity walks up to the orange mare and says to her kindly, “Oh darling, I know what you can do for us!”

“Yes?” Applejack responds with a growing smile.

“Could you bring these refreshments out into the living room for me please?” the Unicorn asks sweetly as she levitates a carrying tray with an iced pitcher of apple juice, several empty glasses, and straws. “I completely forgot to bring out the drinks they asked for.”

A bit disappointed by a simple task, she nevertheless complies with a tiny smile, “Sure thing, sugarcube.”

With the drinks saddled to the Earth Pony’s back, Rarity rewards her noble sweetheart with a kiss before saying to her with gratitude, “Thank you, dear!”

While displaying an uneasy blush on her face, Applejack replies, “Anytime… dear.”

As Applejack is about to leave the kitchen with the drinks firmly secured, she hears Rainbow Dash calling out her name, “Hey, AJ!”

Once the cowpony turns around, she sees Rainbow grinning like a hyena as she sharply waves her foreleg like she was cracking a whip as she replicates its sound, “Whpish!”

From figuring out the subtle meaning, AJ growls under her breath before stomping out of the kitchen. After Dash snickers to herself from her own clever joke, she hears somepony getting her attention where Granny Smith is giving her the stink eye for her recent shenanigan.

“Ahem! Sugar, while yer doing a mighty fine job here, Ah expect you to focus more on yer cookin’ than on teasin’ my granddaughter like that.”

Feeling ashamed for her own actions, Rainbow droops her head low and apologizes in a remorseful tone, “Oh… sorry, Granny.”

Satisfied over Rainbow’s earnest apology, Granny shifts into a warm, motherly smile before she reassures the younger mare, “That’s alright, dearie.” Then, the eldest mare pulls Rainbow in a one-foreleg hug and suggests to her with a wink and a smile, “Now what’d ya say we grate some cheese and pop this bad boy into the oven, hmm?”

With a broad smile, Dash salutes to Equestria’s coolest grandma with renewed enthusiasm, “Yes, ma’am!”

From entering the living room, Applejack approaches the ponies in the center as they are playing a friendly board game. The board game itself is an entire map of Equestria with many colorful game pieces resembling train pieces stretching across the various, well-known cities, including Canterlot, Manehatten, Baltimare, Appleloosa, and Ponyville.

On one side of the board game are the two stallions, Ford Mustang and Big Macintosh. And on the other side are the three fillies, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom. Like Scootaloo, her two friends also have their own Cutie Marks. Sweetie Belle’s Cutie Mark is a two-colored bell that matches her pink-and-violet mane with a small, black musical note next to it that symbolizes her musical talent as a singer. And as for Apple Bloom, her Cutie Mark displays a tiny apple seed that sprouts a lovely, pinkish-white flower, which signifies her potion-making skills corresponding with her farming.

Once she draws near to the ponies in the middle of their game, Applejack slides the tray onto a table nearby and offers each of the players a glass of fresh apple juice. Once Mustang receives his, he greets the orange mare with a grateful smile, “Hey AJ. Thanks for the drinks.”

“No problem, sugarcube.” she responds pleasantly.

“Ah’m kinda surprised to see ya out here, sis.” says Big Macintosh. “Usually you would be helpin’ out in the kitchen like always.”

“Don’t remind me.” Applejack groans lightly to herself before she shifts into a more pleasant smile. “So… whatcha y’all playin’ right now?”

“‘Train Tracks!’” Apple Bloom answers cheerfully. “It’s a really fun game!”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo chimes in. “It’s where each of us is a hotshot tycoon that is trying to build as many tracks on the map of Equestria with matching colored cards and train pieces!”

“Mm-hmm!” Sweetie Belle confirms with a grinning nod. “And you can also earn extra points by completing destination cards or having the longest, continuously connected set of routes. The one with the most points by the end of game wins!”

“That’s nice.” says Applejack. “So who’s winning so far?”

“Well Ford is leading ahead of us…” Sweetie Belle replies. “…but Apple Bloom is doing pretty well for herself.”

“Eeyup.” Big Mac affirms simply with pride over his little sister.

“Too bad it will be the last turn for this round.” Ford points it with a confident grin. “And I have the longest route on the map right now.”

Scootaloo is still deciding on what do with her last turn before she asks the blue stallion in a demanding tone, “Hey, how are you so good at this? You’ve said that you’ve never played this game before!”

Ford reflects back to his days as a human being where one of his favorite board games is similar to Equestria’s counterpart, but he doesn’t bother to share that secret with the players as he replies with a sly smirk that’s similar to his wife’s boastful nature, “I guess I’m just that good when it comes to games in general.”

“Hmph!” Scootaloo grumps over Ford’s teasing response before she folds her remaining cards, which signifies the end of her last turn.

Next to the orange filly, Sweetie Belle places her some of her train cars to claim one of the colored routes, which earns her a few points for her final turn. Lastly, it’s left to Apple Bloom to make her move.

“Okay, it’s your turn, Apple Bloom.” Ford states to her with a winning grin.

All eyes are turned to the red-haired filly as an impassive Apple Bloom silently looks over her remaining cards. Then, her gaze looks up to meet with Ford’s as a broad, devious smile stretches across her muzzle. With Mustang ponders on what the remaining player is scheming, the grinning Earth Pony lays down her remaining cards for all to see: five cards that depict a red train car on each of them and a rainbow-colored wild card with a gold locomotive that allows the player to pick any color to match with. As the bewildered ponies stare at the displayed cards, Apple Bloom places six of her train pieces onto a red-colored route with six slots on it.

Once the game pieces align up with claimed route’s slots, Apple Bloom boldly declares her final, decisive move to the stunned spectators, “Ha! Read them and weep!”

As the rest of the ponies carry on with the speechlessness, Scootaloo is the first to break out of that silence as she exclaims with an impressive smile, “No way! She just merged both separate routes into one!”

Shocked by Scootaloo’s announcement, the other ponies examine the Apple Bloom’s latest ploy carefully. While Ford’s continuous route stretches right in the middle of the map from one side of Equestria to the other, Apple Bloom manages to connect her western and eastern routes with the last route she just claimed. Now her newly formed, unbroken route extends from nearly all sides of Equestria, except the south side.

“And by the looks of it, Apple Bloom now has the longest route in the game!” Sweetie Belle beams just the same as her Pegasus friend.

From forgetting about the last player’s once-divided routes, he jokingly smacks his face with a fore hoof and smiles in mocking disbelief, “Auugh! She got me good!”

“Eeyup!” Big Mac confirms with broad smile after he calculates the final scores with a notepad nearby. “And from tallyin' it up all together, Apple Bloom’s the winner!”

“YEE-HAW!” Apple Bloom hollers in triumphant over her first victory.

“Nice comeback there, AB!” Applejack congratulates her with a proud smile.

‘Yeah! Well played, Apple Bloom!” Ford commends to the winner as they exchange a courteous hoofshake.

“Thanks!” the little filly responds from the praises she’s receiving before asking her big sister, “Hey sis, do ya wanna play with us?”

“Ah don’t see why not.” AJ shrugs with a smile before sitting down next to adults.

As they clear the board to reset the next game, Ford asks the farmpony next to him, “So AJ… how’s the wedding coming along?”

“It’s… going well as it is.” she answers in slight hesitance.

Mustang is surprise to hear the lack of enthusiasm from AJ’s voice. But before he can think of way to question her properly about that, Apple Bloom has something she wants to ask from her big sister.

“Hey Applejack, I’ve been thinking about something.”

“Shoot, AB. Whatcha need?”

“Well… if you and Rarity are gettin’ married, what does that make me and Sweetie Belle then?”

“Yeah, does that make us family to each other as well?” Sweetie asks with equal curiosity as her Earth Pony friend.

Applejack gently taps her chin with a fore hoof while thinking of a proper answer to the inquisitive fillies. “Well let’s see, Sweetie Belle… if I’m marrying your sister, then that would make you my sister-in-law, right? So in a way, you two will practically be sisters-in-laws with one and another.”

“Really?” Sweetie Belle gasps with joy. “That’s so cool!”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom agrees in the same manner. “I’ll not only gain Rarity as a sister-in-law, but Sweetie Belle as well!”

“Which means we’ll get to be each other’s sister!”

As the two bounce up and down with excitement, Scootaloo slumps in disappointment, “Ooooh… I wish you girls were my sisters too.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle cease their merriment before the latter approaches the discouraged Pegasus with a reassuring pat on her shoulder. “Oh, don’t feel too bad, Scootaloo.”

“Yeah, you’ll always be a sister to us no matter what.” Apple Bloom adds with a smile which manages to cheer Scootaloo up.

Then, Ford jumps in the conversation and says to Scoots, “Actually, if Applejack’s correct, than you should be a sister to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as well.”

“What makes you say that, Ford?”

“Well first off, you have Rainbow Dash as your big sister. And since I’m married to her, that means you’re my sister-in-law.”

“Right… but how does that make me a sister to my two best friends?” she tilts her head in slight confusion.

Apple Bloom gasps with a bright smile and verifies something to the Pegasi, “Ah think Ah get it! It’s because yer already part of this family, right Ford?”

“That’s right!” he nods with a pleased smile before turning his attention back to Scootaloo. “So technically speaking, you’re already Apple Bloom’s sister. And once Rarity is married into this family…”

“Then all three of us will finally get to be sisters together!” she concludes with a smile as big as her friends’.

The adults take great joy and amusement over the fillies’ delight on their newfound sisterhoods as the founders of the Cutie Mark Crusaders engage in a big group hug and proclaim out loud, “YAAAAY!!”

With everything ready, the ponies gather in the dining room and sit in their proper seats before they serve their plates with the following dishes: roasted butternut squashes that are glazed in brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter, succulent corn on the cob, fluffy dinner rolls, cheesy, scalloped potatoes, and an elegant apple and spinach salad.

With everypony set, they dig right in on this wonderful dinner. As they are eating, Rainbow Dahs take a keen interest on her husband’s reaction as he dives right into his scalloped potatoes first. As she has anticipated with a sly smile, Ford moans in pure bliss from savoring the extraordinarily cheesy flavor from one of his favorite dishes.

“Mmm! These scalloped potatoes are as delicious as ever, Granny Smith!” he graciously compliments the family’s matriarch.

“D’aww… yer as sweet as ever!” she responds warmly before giving credit to the one truly responsible for that delectable dish. “But you should lay yer sweet-talking to yer wife for doing such a rootin’-tootin’ job on that casserole right there!”

With wide-eyed surprise, he turns to Rainbow where she blushes right away from his astonished gaze as he breaks into an impressive smile. “Really?”

“Eeyup!” elderly, green mare confirms with a sharp nod and a grin. “She may be a bit of a whippersnapper, but she sure can whip them taters lickety-split!”

From this realization, Ford pulls Rainbow in with a strong wing and tenderly embraces her while offering his praise, “Oh, Dashie! I’m so proud of you! I knew that you’ll be a talented chef in no time at all!”

With a huge smirk, she couldn’t help but be proud over her latest, culinary accomplishment as she shows off for a bit in mocking smugness, “Well, all it needed was just a dash of awesomeness, and who better to spice things up than yours truly!”

“Heh, I thought they tasted even better than ever!” he chuckles with a clever smirk as he leans forward to award his proud wife with soft yet affectionate kiss.

After that, Rainbow giggles spontaneously while she snuggles with her husband, which earned her a few chuckles from Rarity and Applejack. From hearing the AJ’s snickering closest to her, Dash turns her head sharply to glare at the grinning Earth Pony before orange Earth Pony states slyly, “Never thought Ah would see RD acting this girly before.”

In response, Rainbow simply sticks out her tongue at the amused farmpony before Rarity playfully scolds her counterpart, “Now now, Applejack. Behave. I think it’s nice to see Rainbow Dash being honest with herself without putting on such a huge show in front of it. Especially when it’s so rare to see her acting this cute right now!”

This sly response causes nearly everypony in the room to giggle at once while Rainbow’s face turns beet red before she crosses her forelegs and dismisses that claim in an adorably pouty manner, “Hey, I’m not cute! I’m awesome!”

“I have to disagree, Rainbow. You are pretty cute when you need to be." Ford casually says with an amusing grin before the flustered Rainbow Dash glares at her smiling husband. "Why, I still remember this one picture your father once showed me where you were pretending to be a cute, little kitty and--!”

But his reminiscing is cut off short when he feels a very sharp kick to his left hindquarter. There, he subtly winces in pain while trying his best to prevent himself from making a scene in front of the bewildered guests, excluding Rainbow Dash as she resumes her meal with a mockingly innocent smile.

Once most of his pain has subsided, he turns to his left and glares at his wife as she continues to eat her dinner with surprising chivalry while looking at him with a devious grin. Then, his frown gradually flips into a small smile as he makes a witty comment to her, “Well… you’re certainly as feisty as a cat, that’s for sure.”

A while later, as most of them are nearly finished with their dinner, Rarity then asks her blue Pegasus friend, “So… how’s the little darling doing so far, Rainbow?”

“Well enough as it is.” Rainbow answers with a satisfied smile as she runs her hoof across her slightly curvy belly. “If the little tyke is able to speak right now, he or she would definitely say ‘thanks’ for the awesome meal you’ve provided for us, Granny.”

“Oh shucks, honey! Think nothing of it!” the Apple matriarch says with a comforting grin, “Anything you need from the family, you come runnin’ toward us and we’ll be there for ya!”

“Oh! I almost forget!” Rarity gasps in a cheerful tone, “I have been receiving several replies back from our guests, and they seem to be okay with the change of plans in mind!”

“Wait… what change of plans?” Applejack pauses from her meal.

“That our wedding will now take place in Sweet Apple Acres this season!” the seamstress announces gleefully.

“Now wait just a daggone minute!” Applejack gripes so suddenly before anyone else can express their joy over this news. “When did this happen all of a sudden? Ah thought you wanted us to get married in Canterlot like you always dreamed of!”

“Well… I had a chance in heart recently, so I wanted use to get married right here instead!” Rarity answers nonchalantly.

“But that was my suggestion when we first decided on where we should get married! So why did you change yer mind like that without consulting with me first?!”

Rarity is a bit startled and perplexed by AJ’s sudden frustration, so she explains herself in a timid voice, “I… wanted to surprise you, darling. Do you not like it?”

“It’s not Ah don’t like it! Ah just… can’t believe that you didn’t consider my idea in the first place!”

The local fashion designer could verify the amount of hurt coming from her fiancée’s response, so she apologizes in a very modest manner, “You’re right, I didn’t give much thought to your original idea, and for that I’m sorry. But please believe me that I am only thinking on what’s best for you.”

But to everyone else’s surprise, Applejack didn’t calm down one bit as she retorts in a sarcastic, scornful tone, “Oh, you mean like how you were deciding on what we should wear for our wedding… or what we should eat for our reception… or where we should go for our honeymoon?! Were you really thinking on what’s best for me or were you actually thinking on what’s best for you instead?!”

From AJ’s harsh words, Rarity begins to fume gradually as she glares at the equally angry farmpony. Their staring contest is so intense that everypony else in the room is feeling the sizzling heat that’s coming from those two.

So, in a vain attempt to divert it to something, Ford intervenes as he speaks up with an awkward smile, “Hey, maybe we should change the subject into something else, hmm? Let’s see… Oh, Fluttershy! Sweetie Belle told me that you are taking her under your wing in your musical group! What was called again…? 'Pony Tones', right?”

Getting the hint from him, Fluttershy follows along with his plan, “O-oh! Yes, of course! She’s doing such a wonderful job, aren’t you Sweetie?”

But before Sweetie Belle can reply, Rarity carries out her retort in a furious tone towards Applejack, “How dare you consider me on being so self-absorbed like that! I’m the one who was willing to move in with you and your family! I’m the one who’s making all of these important decisions here regarding with our wedding!”

“Right, decisions that you don’t bother to share or bring me along apparently!” Applejack replies in an apparent grump.

“Apple Bloom! How’s Zecora doing by the way?” Ford quickly asks to the Earth Pony filly. “I've heard that you’re doing very well as her assistant!”

But once again, the two arguing ponies pay no attention to what’s around them as Rarity ridicules in a sarcastic manner, “Well maybe if somepony wasn’t so busy on the farm everyday and would bother to accompany me every once in a while, then I wouldn’t have to make all of these decisions by myself! And while we are on the subject, Applejack… where were you when Granny Smith requested us for help in tonight’s dinner, hmm?”

Applejack halts her anger for the moment as she shifts into a state of immense surprise while everypony else stare at the speechless farmpony before she explains herself uncomfortably, “Ah was… workin' on something, alright?”

“Oh really?” Rarity questions her suspicious fiancée as she raises a skeptical eybrow. “Care to elaborate with us, Applejack?”

With her eyes unable to look at her doubtful partner, Applejack remains firm as she answers in discomfort, “Ah… Ah can’t say anything at this point.”

“And why not?”

“Just… because, okay?!” she snaps out loud. “Can we just drop it already?!”

“Unacceptable!” The Unicorn snaps right back before she makes her demand. “Applejack, you will tell me on what you are hiding from me this instant, or you won’t set one hoof into our bedroom this evening!”

“Oh, so just because you share my bedroom, means you get to claim like it’s your own room, huh?! Well you know what?! That’s fine by me!” Applejack grumps mightily before she storms out of the dining room and heads toward the front door. “Ah’d rather be buckin' some apple trees all-night long than havin' to put up with you for one whole night!”

Furious as ever, Rarity exclaims to the departing mare, “Well if you love apple trees so much, then why don’t you just marry one already?!”

“Maybe Ah will! At least unlike a certain fashion diva, they’ll actually listen to me!”

And with a firm slam from the door, the ponies winch from such a loud racket. Then, all eyes are turn toward Rarity as they wait for her reaction. At first, it looks like she’s about to blow her fuse, but instead, she is on the break of tears as she does her best to compose her before excusing herself from the table.

“Ahem. Excuse me everypony. I… think I will turn in early this evening.”

As soon as she is out of sight from everyone else, Rarity gallops up the staircase while weeping heavily over her recent heartbreak. Soon the sobbing is cut short from the rest of the ponies to hear once the distraught seamstress shuts the door to her room. The dining table is filled with dead, uncomfortable silence as guests are unable to touch another bite of their food for the moment.

Author's Note

Again, writing an argument can be challenging sometimes, especially if you don't want to "antagonize" one person/pony over the other such as for Applejack and Rarity's case. Of course, with how those two bicker in the show, it should be natural for me to write that out. :ajbemused::duck:

Chapter 8 – Applejack & Rarity’s Wedding

Chapter 8 – Applejack & Rarity’s Wedding

Eight Months and One Week Remaining…
~ Mid of October (11th Week) ~

It is lovely day in Ponyville, especially when there is a very special event being held at Sweet Apple Acres. In a very wide clearing with the apple trees serving as its pleasant background, there is a huge gathering for an outdoor wedding as hundreds of guests fill the seats. Most of the guests consist of the local residence of Ponyville and the very extensive Apple Family. Right between the seated aisles is a white, long floor covering with pretty flowers lining up on each side as it stretches between two fairly new structures. On one end of the covering is an artistically crafted gazebo decorated with lush flowers and silky, transparent curtains that drape around the columns and headers.

On the other end of the stretched covering is Sweet Apple Acres’ latest addition, the “Petite Boutique”, as christened by the upcoming newlyweds as their own special wedding present for themselves. It shares a similar overall design to Rarity’s inspired shop, the Carousel Boutique, except this one is roughly half of the original store’s size. Along with its soft, cool colors, it is mingled with splashes of orange, which symbolizes the lovers’ unity over the workshop’s collaboration. And thankfully, with additional help from their good friends and family members, they’ve managed to complete it on the day before their wedding.

Right now, Rarity is occupying the Petite Boutique, along with her bridesmaids, as she gets herself ready for the ultimate unveiling in her latest and most spectacular dress. As for the other bride, Applejack, she is already suited up in her black tuxedo with a bolo tie instead of a usual bowtie and her golden, ponytailed mane fashioned in an elegant twist. With the Stetson-wearing farmpony standing in the center of the gazebo, she is accompanied on her left by her ushers in their own black suits, including her best stallion, Ford Mustang, Rainbow Dash, Big Macintosh, and Vinyl Scratch. And standing alongside Applejack on her right is Ponyville’s local princess, Twilight Sparkle, who is given the honor once again as the master of the wedding ceremony. For those standing at the altar, everypony waits calmly for the other bride’s arrival… all except Applejack however.

“Oh, where is she?” she frets hectically as she takes a brief moment to fan herself with her own hat. “Y'all don’t think she might have changed her mind in all of this, do ya?”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but chuckle over her friend’s distress, and she reassures the tomboyish bride in her own way, “Calm down, AJ. You know how much time she’s like to put into one of her fancy dresses.”

“Yeah, especially if it’s on her wedding day.” Vinyl agrees with a giggling grin.

With a gentle fore hoof on the Earth Pony’s shoulder, Ford comforts her with a sincere smile, “Trust us, Applejack. Rarity wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

“Eeyup.” Big Macs concurs with his usual response.

Feeling less nervous thanks to her fully clad ushers, Applejack lets out a soft sigh before saying with a small smile, “Ah guess so.”

With vigilant eyes, Twilight notices the Petite Boutique’s door cracking slightly and silently. Meekly, Fluttershy peeks out of the doorway until her gaze falls unto Twilight’s. Then, the beaming Pegasus signals a silent wave to her Alicorn friend, and Twilight nods in returns before whispering to Applejack with a broad smile.

“Oh hey, Applejack! I just found out that everypony else is ready! We can finally get started!”

Filled with anxiety once again, Applejack hastily sets her treasured hat back on its proper place as all eyes at the alter turn towards the doorway of Rarity’s newest workshop. With the ensemble playing the first chorus, the bridesmaids make their cue and steadily exit out of the Boutique and onto to the floral floor covering. Matching that with fall’s vibrant leaves, each of the mares wears a dress with a different warm color: pleasant orange for Fluttershy, bright yellow for Pinkie Pie, lovely red for Coco Pommel, and rich brown for Octavia Philharmonica. Once they arrive at the altar, they take their places on the Princess’s right side before all eyes turn once again to the doorway.

And with the beginning of the bridal chorus, the doors to the Petite Boutique open up once again to allow the other bride to make her appearance. As expected, the flower girls skip forward first with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo assuming their roles once more. After the initial spread of flowery petals by the three, cheerful fillies, Rarity finally makes her grand entrance with her father right beside her.

As the Unicorn bride gracefully walks down the aisle, she wows the crowd with the gown that Coco made exclusively for this special occasion. Applejack especially is utterly speechless with her earlier fears completely forgotten as she is too mesmerized by what her future wife is wearing right now. The renowned fashionista has her glossy, purple mane arranged lovingly with a simple bang of her coiled hair hanging over her forehead and her signature ponytail nicely fluffed up to its perfection. Sitting on top of her mane is a silver crown that features three diamonds at the center to signify her Cutie Mark and has a silky, shimmering veil attached from behind. The long, flowing dress itself is simple yet very elegant as the white, breathable, sparkly fabric fits perfectly with Rarity’s natural curves.

As the smiling seamstress continues her steady pace while gazing into her lover’s emerald eyes, right alongside the approaching bride is her beloved father, who, despite receiving stern protests from his eldest daughter on how tacky he looks, is wearing a tropical shirt underneath his suit and his wide-brimmed straw hat. Finally at the altar, Rarity and her father share a nice goodbye kiss before he gives Applejack a big, warm hug and sits right beside his emotionally smiling wife in one of the privileged front row seats.

With the two brides at the gazebo altar, Twilight begins her customary speech with a more confident smile than the last time she took this ceremonial role. “Fillies and gentlecolts, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Applejack and Rarity! And on this glorious day, it doesn’t give me greater pleasure than to unite two of my best friends in holy matrimony! Now, if we may proceed with the brides’ weddings vows, who would like to go first?”

With a humble smile, Applejack asks from her wife-to-be, “If it’s alright with you, sugarcube…”

“Please, go right ahead, darling.” Rarity insists tenderly.

Promptly, Ford Mustang pulls out a folded piece of paper within his tux and hands it over to Applejack. Gingerly, she unfolds her written vows and gently grasps her bride’s lovely fore hoof before beginning her speech.

“Rarity, it’s hard to believe that we knew each other since we were lil' fillies. And it’s even harder to believe on how much has changed since then; from best friends to marefriends and soon enough, we’ll be each other’s wife. It’s pretty funny now that Ah think about it. We often bicker like a married couple, and now we’ll get to become just that. And honestly, Ah wouldn’t have it any other way as long as Ah'm with you.”

After the constantly smiling Rarity lets out a subtle “ooh” to herself, Applejack takes a pause from her speech before continuing in a sheepish manner, “Ah don’t think Ah’ve ever told ya on how Ah fell in love with you in the first place. Do you remember on how disastrous that day was when we first went to the Grand Galloping Gala? How neither one of us got what we wanted by the end of that night?” Once she receives a knowing nod from Rarity, the orange Earth Pony carries on with that unforgettable night of theirs. “Well… when we got back to Ponyville, you made some very distinct comments about my overall appearance, such as my smooth, orange coat, my fetching, emerald green eyes, or my silky, golden mane. Nopony has ever commented me on my own beauty before like you had, and Ah know for certain that you weren’t trying to pull a fast one on me with those sweet words of yours. But ever since then, Ah was head over hooves for you.

Even after discovering these new feelings myself, Ah had a difficult time with them because Ah was so afraid to share them with you. Ah sought to hide them for as long as Ah can, but you know how well that turned out in end. Either way, Ah’m really glad that lil' slip-up happened because right now… Ah’m about to marry the most beautiful, kindhearted pony Ah could ever ask for.

Ah’ve seen a lot of gorgeous apples in my lifetime, but you Rarity… will always be the apple of my eye… now and forever!” From hearing such sincere, sentimental words, Rarity as expected couldn’t help but weep immensely with a truly affectionate smile over such sweet devotion from the heartfelt farmpony.

Meanwhile, on AJ’s side, Rainbow Dash leans close to her husband and whispers with a clever grin on her face, “So, I take it you had a hoof with that last line in Applejack’s speech?”

Smirking all-knowingly, Ford chuckles in response, “Nothing gets pass you, huh Dashie?”

“Puh-lease!” she waves it off with a casual wave of her fore hoof before adding with a smirk of her own. “I can easily detect your sappiness from a mile away!”

Next up, Fluttershy fulfills her role as maid of honor by giving the next set of written vows to Rarity. With the use of her Unicorn Magic, the other bride brings her unfolded parchment down to her eye level before grasping Applejack’s hooves and beginning her own declaration of love for her.

“Applejack, I’m sure that you are well aware on how I used to ramble about having the perfect wedding since I was just a filly. How I dreamt that some prince would ask me for my hoof in marriage and take me to his majestic castle. Looking back on that, I could not believe how silly I was to act so simpleminded when that very special pony I have been looking for has been right here in Ponyville all this time.

You know, when we were returning to Ponyville after our first Grand Galloping Gala, I still remember all that we talked about along the way home. How we laughed at our own misfortunes. How I broke down into thinking that I wasn’t as attractive as I led myself to believe. How you would pick me back up and remind me on being true to myself. But the one thing I would never forget is how you told me that I was not only beautiful on the outside, but also on the inside. Never has anypony said such kind words to me like that before you did. Although I didn’t realize this myself right away, I think at that moment I began to admire you as well.

You used to doubt yourself that you weren’t good enough for me, but I assure you, darling, that you are far better than any dreamy noblepony I could have ever imagined, especially as somepony as noble and gallant as you, my beloved diamond in the rough! So as long as you remain true to yourself, I will always love you with all of my heart!”

With tender hooves still holding on to each other’s, Applejack is the one crying right now over Rarity’s everlasting devotion as a huge, trembling smile expands across her orange, freckled face. With both of the brides’ vows well said and done, Twilight moves on to the next phrase in the wedding ceremony.

“With their vows completed, may we now have the rings pleases?”

As requested by the princess, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle step at the altar where they are given the honor as their sisters’ respective ring-bearers. Saddled to their backs are pillows that are holding the brides’ individual hoof rings. Sweetie Belle is securing Rarity’s wedding ring, which has a polished, silver band with a purple gemstone that houses a holographic, orange apple in the center. And Apple Bloom is securing a similar wedding ring for Applejack, except it has a band of polished gold and an orange gemstone that accommodates a holographic image of a purple diamond that matches Rarity’s Cutie Mark.

After levitating the rings before her, Twilight hands Rarity’s to Applejack as she inquires to the suit-wearing bride, “Applejack… do you take Rarity as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

“Ah do.” AJ answers enthusiastically as she properly slides the purple gemstone ring onto Rarity’s delicate fore hoof.

Next, Twilight turns to the other bride and asks the same question, “Rarity… do you take Applejack as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?”

While a bit emotional at first, Rarity gleefully answers with absolute conviction, “I do!” And with her own hooves, she slides the orange ring onto Applejack’s left foreleg.

Happily, Twilight Sparkle brings the ceremony to a close by announcing to the crowd, “Then by the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you mare and wife! You may now kiss the--!”

But Twilight never gets the chance to finish the closing statement as Rarity and Applejack take immediate action to seal their newfound marriage status with an extraordinarily deep kiss. From the newlyweds’ overly affectionate smooch, guests gasp with ecstatic smiles as a multitude of Applejack’s relatives holler cheerfully like a pack of wild coyotes.

From being distracted by observing the ongoing kiss of the preoccupied mares, Twilight shrugs with a chuckling smile and rolls her eyes while saying to herself, “Okay! Well… never mind then!”

After a long night of country-style dancing and overabundant wedding cake, Applejack and Rarity decides to call it a night early as they retreat to the improvised suite of the Petite Boutique. While constantly giddy over what’s in store this evening, the two restless mares firmly close the entrance door and engage in another deep kiss. With their lips unwilling to separate and their tails closely intertwined, they ascend the staircase in an unhurried pace until they reach the exclusive bedroom. Like most of the rooms in this smaller variation of the Carousel Boutique, the bedroom features a mix of pleasantly soft orange and cool violet colors, ranging from its wallpaper to its lavish decorations and furniture.

Once they take a break from their breathtaking kiss, Rarity makes a request to her newly appointed wife with a blushing smile, “Umm… Applejack darling. Before we get down with the ‘main event’, I have a little surprise for you~!”

“Well, what’s the surprise?” Applejack asks in mild excitement.

“Just look behind that screen and see it for yourself!” she points it out giddily to one corner of the room.

From following the direction of her wife’s fore hoof, Applejack sees a large folding screen standing upright as it sits next to a wardrobe nearby. Gingerly, the suit-wearing farmpony approaches it and takes a peek from what’s behind the screen. From just a mere glimpse of her surprise, Applejack nearly jumps back in shock before leaning her head forward to verify her unexpected gift as her face is frozen with wide-eyed amazement.

In complete disbelief, she murmurs out loud, “Rarity… you didn’t…!”

“I did~!” Rarity beams in a shrill, sing-song voice.

“B-b-but why?! Why would you do all of this just for me?!”

Without saying a word just yet, Rarity walks up to her startled wife and eases her with a soft kiss before answering with a very earnest smile, “Because you’re worth it, darling! And to tell you the truth, I was rather curious and really want to see you in it myself!”

Applejack could hardly believe that Rarity would do all of this in only two short weeks. Of course, this is the Element of Generosity she is married too, so she should have seen this one coming. But from now knowing that the seamstress that would go to such great lengths just for her and her alone, AJ couldn’t help but smile broadly over her wife’s unquestionable devotion.

“Th-this might take awhile, you know.” she admits sheepishly.

“Take as much time as you need, Applejack.” she reassures sweetly.

As AJ slowly steps behind the screen, Rarity lies down on the plush covers of the queen-sized bed and waits for her lover in the meantime. Several minutes later, the Unicorn asks her preoccupied wife in a caring tone, “Do you need any help, dear?”

“N-n-no thanks. Ah think Ah almost got it from here. Dagnabbit… Ah knew there was a reason why Ah chose a suit in the first place!”

Rarity couldn’t help but giggle softly from hearing her wife grumbling to herself. A short while after that, Applejack calls out to her patient mare in an unusually meek manner, “O-okay, Ah think Ah’m ready now.”

Excitedly, Rarity responds, “Well, come on out of there and let’s see!”

Hesitant at first, Applejack steps out of the screen as Rarity beholds her newly dressed lover with wondrous, sapphire eyes. Standing before the awestruck seamstress is the flustered farmpony, who is no longer wearing a black tuxedo, but an incredibly elegant bridal gown instead. Her prized hat is replaced with a sleeker, white variation with a few flowers around the headband and is attached with a translucent veil from the back. And her more traditional, white dress features a brown saddle on top, a layer of rich, orange fabric underneath, and thick, braided, golden trimmings around the edges of the beautiful gown.

Catching her breath, Rarity compliments her blushing bride with an extremely broad smile, “Oh my stars, Applejack… you look even more beautiful than I have imagined!”

“Th-thanks.” AJ replies humbly before looking at herself. “Do you really think Ah look beautiful in this thing?”

“Oh absolutely! Here! Take a look at it yourself!” she insists greatly as she directs her wife to a full-figure mirror.

From gazing herself in front of the tall mirror, Applejack’s eyes grow as large as the prized apples she presents in country fairs. Her astonished gaze shifts to every detail in her bridal gown. She marvels at how much time and thought Rarity has put into it for quite some time in secret. With the addition of her beautified mane, the Earth Pony is completely flabbergasted at how much of a difference it makes to her appearance with a simple change of clothes.

“Land’s sakes…! Is this… really me?” Applejack mutters in amazement.

“Indeed it is, Applejack!” Rarity nods with constant excitement. “And I must say, I can see why you were so indecisive to begin with! You look equally just as good in a suit as you do in a dress!”

After spending some more time looking at her own reflection, Applejack turns to face Rarity and says with a grateful smile, “Ah don’t know how to thank you for makin' this for me.”

“Well I’m just pleased that I’ve finally manage to squeeze you in a frou-frou dress for a change.” she kids mildly.

“It’s more than the just the dress.” AJ replies as her emotional, emerald eyes start to get watery. “It’s for makin' me feel… well… like a real lady. Thank you for makin' this happened, Rarity. For this is the day Ah will always remember on why Ah will never stop lovin’ ya, darling.”

Truly touched by Applejack’s sincere gratification, Rarity gently brushes the leaking tears from her wife’s eyes and offers her a simple kiss on the lips before saying to her in poetic fashion, “And neither will I, sugarcube.”

Renewed with giddiness, the gown-wearing mares engage in another extensive kiss as this one is much longer and rougher that the previous one. In the midst of their latest kissing, their fore hooves caress each other tenderly as their stroking ranges in-between their clean coats, their silky dresses, and their beautified manes.

With a wet smack, they separate once again as they catch their breath before AJ’s lips shift into a devious grin and comments wittily, “But just because Ah’m a lady, doesn’t mean Ah have to act like one!”

And before Rarity has a chance to respond, Applejack strongly lifts up her startled wife with her head and neck and the thunderstruck Unicorn slides on the Earth Pony’s saddle. With her baffled wife secured to her back, the grinning Applejack trots over to the bed and launches the fidgety fashion designer off of her well-toned flanks until Rarity lets out an “oof” once she bounces on thick, plushy covers. And with a mighty bound, Applejack leaps forward and lands on top of the Rarity, who squeaks out in excitement by her wife’s usual roughness.

Huffy at first, Rarity breaks into an amusing yet sultry smile as she states shrewdly with a raised eyebrow, “Well I wouldn’t expect anything less from my rough-and-tumble farmpony of a wife, now would I?”

With their grinning muzzles inches away from another kiss that will ignite their impending passion, Applejack chuckles heartily before replying back with a clever smirk, “That’s my girl!”

Author's Note

Not much to say. Just want to bring some closure to Applejack and Rarity's subplot that's all.

Chapter 9 – Surprise Surprise!

Chapter 9 – Surprise Surprise!

Eight Months Remaining…
~ Late of October (12th Week) ~

Fall certainly has been lovely this time of the year, especially with the town of Ponyville getting ready for Nightmare Night, which is only a few days away from today. High above the rooftops, Rainbow Dash takes a leisurely flight back from an important appointment late this morning as she enjoys the sights down below. Thatched houses are embellished with appropriate holiday decorations such as goofy creatures of the night, tons of fake spider webs, various ornaments of Nightmare Moon, and plumb pumpkins, which some of them are carved into unique Jack-O-Lanterns.

But it wasn’t the upcoming holiday that has gotten Rainbow Dash in such high spirits. In fact there are a lot of reasons on why she is so particularly cheerful today. But one reason in particular is that today it’s her husband’s birthday. Giddy with anticipation over with everything set according to her agenda, she gleefully flies to their temporary lodge, the Golden Oaks Library.

Upon her arrival to the treehouse, she meets up with Ford on the library’s main floor, and at once, she rushes in to give her husband a big kiss for reasons unknown to him. Satisfied enough, she lets go of the stallion whilst leaving him completely breathless.

“Wow! I guess that your visit to the doctor went that smoothly, huh?” he verifies with a goofy smirk plastered on his face.

“Yeah well… you could say that today is definitely going to be a special day!” she states with an all-knowing grin.

“Oh really?” he responds with a curious smile. “Care to tell me on what’s so special about it?”

She blinks speechlessly at him as she wonders if Ford knows that today’s his birthday or not. “You mean you don’t remember on what today is?”

Carefully, he thinks to himself while tapping on his chin before he comes up with his answer in a casual manner, “Nnnnno, can’t I say have.” Then, he breaks into a sly grin as he pulls his wife in with a right wing and embraces her closely while saying to her wittily, “Unless of course it’s where I get to spend another wonderful day with my beautiful, blue angel! Then everyday would be a special day just for me!”

A bit thankful that Mustang is oblivious about his own birthday, Rainbow just chuckles and goes along with it to not ruin the surprises in stored for him as she replies heartily, “You’re as sappy as ever, Ford!”

“Maybe, but like sap itself, you pretty much stuck with me, and I don’t tend on letting you go any time soon!” he adds humorously as he draws her in closer for a stronger embrace.

Leaning in closely to Ford’s muzzle, she responds back with a witty smirk matching that with his, “I’d never asked you to let go of me in the first place.”

“Heh, now who’s being sappy around here?” he chuckles lightheartedly.

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

Abiding by his wife’s command, Ford gives her some sugar with a rewarding kiss while still embracing her within his wing. But as soon as they finished making out, a sudden realization comes to mind as he finally recalls it out loud, “Wait, I think I remember now! It’s where our remodeled house will finally be ready, right?”

Thankful once again for him not remembering his birthday at the moment, which will increasingly amplify the surprises that are yet to come, the grinning mare concurs with him right away, “Yep, you got it!”

“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s start packing and see our newly refurbished home!” he suggests with a keen smile as he turns around to head towards their temporary bedroom.

“Wait!” she shouts all of a sudden as she hastily flies in front of him while awkwardly displaying a toothy smile. “Let’s not get too hasty here. We’re in no hurry to see our house right away.”

“We’re not?” he perplexes with a raised eyebrow.

“No, of course not! There’s still other cool stuff we can do in the meantime!” she insists greatly in an extravagant manner before thinking up some ideas on the fly. “Like… going out to a nice restaurant for lunch today! I’m in a mood for something fancy this time around.”

“Really?” he responds with increasing skepticism. “But… you usually don’t like fancy food. You would get impatient on how long they would take for them to bring out our meals and complain on how they are not as fulfilling as their high prices make them out to believe.”

Despite Ford bring up some good points on why she doesn’t partake in fancy restaurants that much, Dash doesn’t want to let up on her means to allow time to pass by in order for her husband’s surprise birthday party to be ready this evening. So she maintains her resolve by snapping on impulse, “Hey, I’m pregnant, and my cravings vary from time to time! And right now, I say that I’m in a mood for some fancy food, got it?!”

“Y-yes, dear.” he obeys in a trembling voice over her wife’s unyielding demand.

Easing up her expression after that, she lightly nuzzles her stallion to reassure him as she states in a cheeky tone, “And besides, it doesn’t have to be that fancy. In fact, I was thinking that we could go to Hoofington this afternoon and have a nice lunch at a little place called… ‘Four Brothers Pizzeria~!’”

Her clever smile broadens significantly as the wide-eyed stallion comprehends that supposedly subtle hint, which referred to one of his favorite Equestrian restaurants of all time. After letting that sink in for just a little while longer, he stammers over his response.

“F-F-Four Brothers Pizzeria?”

“Mm-hmm!” she nods knowingly.

“The same place where they serve the most delicious, brick-oven deep dish pizza ever?” he exaggerates with a growing smile over the pizzeria’s signature dishes.

“Yep! That’s the one!”

As Ford remains frozen in place, the giggling mare takes immense joy over her husband’s melodramatic reaction as he could barely process words while his gargling mouth allows some drool hanging out in the open. He can practically taste the unforgettable pizza’s thick layer of gooey cheese with rich and hearty marinara sauce underneath it. Tempted to press his buttons even more so, she leans close to his ear and adds with a very sly smile.

“And after that, maybe we can stop by the mall and check out their costume emporium, so we can get some ideas for this year’s Nightmare Night.”

Knowing full well that Nightmare Night is one of his favorite holidays in Equestria since it’s similar to Earth’s Halloween, Ford’s body rattles with excitement over the chance to come up with ideas for his next costume this year. Filled with so much enthusiasm over their recommended trip to Hoofington, Ford swiftly disappears in a flash. And as Rainbow begins to wonder on where Mustang went off to, she then spots a trail of blue-and-yellow zooming past her and notices her husband waiting by the door with their light saddlebags all packed up as they contain only a few of their necessities such as toiletries and towels.

“Well then… I’m ready whenever you are!” he proclaims with a childlike smile and a happy wag of his long, blue tail.

Amused by Ford’s eagerness, she mutters to herself with a proud smirk on her face, “He-heh! Hook, line, and sinker~!”

Time certainly has flied by as Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang spent the whole afternoon in Hoofington. After chowing down on some really scrumptious pizza, the two Pegasi went to the Hoofington Mall so they can check out some of the stores in the meantime. Most notably, they went to the costume emporium as promised. From there, they took their time leisurely to try on as many costumes as possible. Mostly it was just for laughs as they tried on various outfits. Eventually, they made their purchases and stroll around the mall for a bit longer. As some point, they came across a bookstore where Ford took enjoyment from their graphic novel section and other illustrated books, which Rainbow gladly took the opportunity to buy the ones he has taken an interest in. And lastly, they stopped by at the arcade where they participated in several awesome video games ranging from co-op brawlers to competitive fighting games.

After a long afternoon in Hoofington, the two Pegasi return to their hometown and finally arrive at their newly refurbished home. With the renovations completed, there are a few major changes that have been made to their one-of-a-kind cloudhouse. A most notable example is how the floating castle has drastically descended from its original high altitude. From the ground up, the height to its foundation is roughly the size of a two-stored house. And from the edge of the base is a ramp made out of the same magical clouds that connects with the grassy fields down below.

From reaching the cloudy surface, Ford is the first to land with saddled bags from his shopping trip and what was packed for their temporary residence. But once Rainbow Dash makes her landing as well, she takes a moment to turn around and gaze at what’s before her. Curiously, Mustang joins her side and shares her perspective. From the distance, they see warm lights radiating from the main town square of Ponyville in the midst of the calm twilight hour. Dash has never seen Ponyville from her home like this before its recent renovation. But from observing such a wondrous sight right now, she couldn’t help but sigh all lovey-dovey as she leans her head against Ford’s neck.

“You know… the view isn’t so bad once you get use to it.” she grins lightheartedly.

With a smirk matching that with Rainbow’s, he nuzzles right back and responds wittily, “I figure you might enjoy the down-to-earth approach from up here.”

After that, they make their way to the entrance of their home. Along the way, Rainbow could hardly contain herself with her hardly repressed giggling as Ford wonders on what has gotten into her while he opens the door.

Once he gets it opened, Ford hears a couple of loud bangs and whistles like some of those well-known noisemakers. And from turning to the source, he catches a mere glimpse at what is inside before he is briefly blinded by a white light. From that flash, he rears back and falls back onto the floor before Rainbow helps him up. After getting back up, his eyes readjust themselves as he hears several individuals shouting out loud and all at once.

“SURPRISE!!”

From that unanimous greeting, Ford’s eyes widen at the unexpected welcome party he is receiving. Virtually, all of his close friends from Ponyville are there to celebrate this momentous occasion that Mustang has been unaware of since he woke up this morning. Carefully, he takes the time to examine the room as he verifies on the cause for celebration. Some of his friends are wearing party hats. The living room is decorated with streamers and other party decorations that are mostly in blue and gold colors. But the biggest clue of them all is when he spots a big banner hanging from the ceiling that says in big, colorful letters:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FORD MUSTANG!

“Wait, is it really--?! Oh, man! I can’t believe I actually forgot my own birthday today!” Ford exclaims as he facehoofs himself hard for his own absentmindedness.

“Haha! Yeah, you pretty much tripped yourself on that one!” Rainbow comments with a chuckling smile as she wraps a foreleg around her husband. “But your reaction was well worth it in the end! Pinkie Pie, please tell me you’ve managed to capture that for me!”

“Right here~!” Pinkie replies merrily as ever.

In a flash, the party pony extraordinaire hands over a photograph from her instant camera, and the grinning Rainbow Dash hastily grabs it to take a look at it herself. Hovering over his wife’s shoulder, Ford takes a peek at it himself before he gapes in shock at the petrified, silly look on his face that’s plastered onto the photo. Rainbow couldn’t contain herself as she nearly loses her balance while she is laughing like an uproarious hyena.

“BWA-HAHAHAHA! Oh this is definitely going into the album!” she chuckles with a devious grin.

After rolling his eyes, Ford resumes a wide, pleasant smile as he is still overjoyed that everypony else has remembered his own birthday this evening. “I… I still can’t believe that you guys managed to set all of this up just for me!”

“Now you should know better than to doubt yer friends and family like that, Ford!”

Recognizing that country accent anywhere, the stallion of the evening faces two mares he didn’t expect would be here today, even on his own birthday: Applejack and Rarity, who just got married a week ago and spent their honeymoon trip in Equestria’s variation of the Big Apple.

“Applejack! Rarity! You’re here too!” Ford smiles in surprise by their appearance. “I thought you would still be in Manehattan finishing up your honeymoon over there!”

“Oh that’s already been taken care of, dearie!” Rarity waves it off with a carefree smile. “Besides we didn’t want to miss this for anything!’

“Especially when we have other surprises in stored for you!” AJ nods with an eager grin.

Upon hearing that statement, Rainbow flaps in the air with excitement as she makes her announcement, “Oh yeah! Now that the birthday boy has arrived, we can finally get down with Ford’s presents right now!”

Mustang anxiously looks around the room for his presents, but is puzzled to see that there are none in sight. “Well where are there? I don’t see them anywhere.”

“Don’t worry.” Rainbow reassures with a mischievous grin as she lands right next to him. “You’ll see them soon enough. But first, we’ll have to blindfold you to not ruin the surprise just yet.”

Once he is handed a long, narrow cloth, he chuckles to himself before pointing something out knowingly to his wife, “You know that I can still see even with the blindfold on, right?”

“Hey, no dragon powers now!” she firmly objects with a wave of her fore hoof. “Otherwise no presents!”

“Fine fine.” he complies with a chuckling smile, and he wraps the headband over his eyes before Rainbow tightens the knot for him. Once he is ready, Rainbow hovers right next to him and grabs his foreleg before leading him to his next surprise while the other guests follow right behind them.

After going up the staircase and steadily walking through the hallway for some time, the blindfolded stallion lets out a playful whine to his seeing-eye mare, “Are we there yet?”

“Almost. Just a little further.” she answers with a hint of giddiness. “Okay, now turn left.”

Following her advice blindly (sort of speak), Ford makes a sharp left and slams into the wall unexpectedly. Thankfully, the wall isn’t that solid since it’s made out of clouds, but it did startled Ford enough to bounce back and plop right onto the cloudy carpet.

Awkwardly, Rainbow lets out a sheepish chuckle before apologizing to her husband, “Oops! Sorry… too soon.”

“Yeah, you think?” he smirks slightly in response while he checks on his muzzle with a tender fore hoof.

“Oh quit your whining! You’re almost there anyhow!”

With Mustang standing up once again, Rainbow is careful this time to direct her husband into a room that is definitely unfamiliar to the birthday boy. Then, the Pegasus couple stops right in the middle of the room while their friends gather around as they gasp and awe ecstatically at where they are standing right now. Ford’s ears perk up on the sounds of the guests’ giddiness as he assumes that they have arrived at his big surprise that’s just waiting right in front of him.

“Okay, we’ve stopped. Can I see my presents now?” he asks with increasing eagerness.

“Okay… now!” Rainbow Dash shrieks with irrepressible joy as she swiftly removes Ford’s blindfold.

Unable to contain his suspense, he opens his eyes and hardly takes a moment to blink at what he sees before him. The room that was never there before has been turned into a full-fledged art studio!

From either side of the added room, there is nothing but countless art supplies. To Mustang’s left is a large drawing table with an attached lamp and a drafting chair right underneath the table’s surface. To his right, a spacious cabinet and drawer which no doubt house some more goodies inside. And facing the wall opposite from where Ford is standing is a bookshelf with a sturdy easel sitting at a corner nearby.

Speechless as a kid walking through the most luxurious toy store, the flabbergasted stallion walks around his new studio as he gazes at all of its features with wondrous eyes while asking his wife behind him, “Rainbow Dash… is this… my very own art studio?”

“I don’t know… you tell us!” she replies with a playful, all-knowing grin.

He then opens the cabinet doors and gapes exceedingly at the wide variety of materials including acrylic paint, watercolors, soft pastels, and an assortment of brushes.

“And… this is all for me?” he inquires with an ever-so awestricken expression.

“Down to the very last smudge of paint!” Vinyl Scratch answers with a bold grin.

Next, he opens drawers to see if there are any more gifts to find. From sliding the top drawer opened, he spots stacks of drawing paper. And in the bottom drawer, there are canvases ranging in various sizes.

“H-how…? How did you manage all of this?” he asks in complete disbelief.

In response, Rainbow gladly answers that for him, “Well… when I made contact with our contractors weeks ago, I asked them in advance to also install a new room just for you!”

“Quite right.” Octavia agrees with a smile. “So once we heard from Rainbow Dash about your own studio as a birthday present, we made up our minds to set up a huge list and buy you art supplies as additional gifts to perfectly go with that.”

Then Fluttershy adds warmly, “And everypony here contribute on all these wonderful gifts just for you.”

“Eeyup.” Big Mac acknowledges with a simple nod. Everypony else nods along with the confirmation towards Ford’s collaborated birthday present include Spike, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. Whether they paid a little or a lot of bits, everypony has contributed in their own way.

“Of course, all of the credit goes to Rainbow Dash for coming up with this brilliant idea in the first place.” Twilight Sparkle verifies with a bright smile.

Astonished as ever, Ford faces his surprisingly bashful wife and says to her, “I… I don’t know what to say…!”

With an uncomfortable blush, Rainbow smiles sheepishly as she does her best to avoid his warm gaze. “D’aww… no need to thank me, Mustang. Though showing me a little gratitude every now and then wouldn’t hurt either.”

From taking notice of her cheeky comment, Ford makes a devious grin as he approaches his mare while responding back, “Oh-ho… you want a little gratitude, eh?”

But before Dash has a chance to react her husband’s shrewdness, she is immediately pulled forward, and he gives her lovely wife a deep sign of gratitude by kissing her passionately on the lips. Ignoring all of her gawking friends, Rainbow melts into Ford’s strong, warm embrace as she fully accepts the appreciation her stallion is offering to her.

After parting his lips from hers, he quips with a cheeky grin, “There! How’s that for gratitude?”

Once she recovers from that breathtaking kiss, she smiles boldly and shrugs with her shoulders in a teasingly cool manner, “Eh, I suppose that will do for now.”

Joking aside, he gives his wife a more tender hug as he softly speaks to her with a sincere smile, “Thank you, Dashie. This is truly the best present I could ever ask for.”

“Oh, I think you might have spoken too soon, Ford.” she states that boldly before she adds in a sultry whisper. “Because once the party’s over, I have a few more surprises for you by the end of this night.”

“More surprises, huh?” he smirks while subtly shaking in anticipation for what’s to come later in the evening. “Well then, let’s not waste anymore time.”

Suddenly, the ecstatic Pinkie Pie steps between the two Pegasi and asks eagerly as ever, “Ooo! Can I say it? Can I? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“Hey, no fair!” Vinyl intervenes with an immature whine. “I wanna say it too!”

“Girls girls… please be reasonable.” he jokingly disciplines him. “Tell you what… since it’s my birthday, both you can say it at the same time.”

Then, the two well-known party ponies of Ponyville looked at each other silently before they break into approving grins as Pinkie asks her DJ friend, “Ready?”

“Ready!”

And at once, Pinkie and Vinyl make their grand announcement together to the crowd around, “LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!”

After a long night of food, games, and dancing, the birthday party had come to an end when the guests make their departure nearly all at once. So now, the roster has been reduced down to two: Ford Mustang is downstairs is finishing the last bit of clean-up, and Rainbow Dash is getting ready for the stallion’s next surprise upstairs. Finally, with his task done, Ford anxiously flies upstairs, but while doing his best to control himself in a steady pace. Once he faces the closed door of their bedroom, he knocks on the door three times and waits for the mare’s response.

“Come in~!”

From receiving his wife’s permission to enter, he grins eagerly and opens the door while inquiring in a smooth voice, “So… where’s this next surpriiiiiiiiiiiii…?!”

But his slack-jawed mouth is unable to finish that staggered sentence as he stares with great, big eyes at what’s in front of him. Sitting on their bed is Rainbow Dash, who greets her flabbergasted husband with a seductive smirk as she lays on her side in a very sexy pose. Her right fore hoof sits underneath chin, her left foreleg drapes around her chest, and her curvy flanks are sticking out front while her hind legs cross over one and another.

But it isn’t just the pose that is so captivating to Mustang’s eyes… or that sultry smirk… or those dreamy bedroom eyes of hers. No, what really grabbed Mustang’s full attention right now is what she is wearing on this special evening of theirs: it is a complete set of dark-colored lingerie with vibrant trimmings!

On all of her four legs, she is wearing silky, black stockings with frilly, elastic bands that share a hot magenta color that matches with her mesmerizing eyes. And fitting snuggly with her beautifully exposed ass is a black thong completed with the same frilly edging as her stockings and a small, reddish-pink bow tie that lines up in the center of her groin.

While Mustang is still unable to continue where he left off, Rainbow amusingly answers that disconnected question for him with a very bold and voluptuous smirk, “You’re looking at it!”

FOOMPH!

Predictably, his wings span out with throbbing excitement (much like the rest of his body), and eventually, he takes a moment to close his gaping mouth before softly asking with keen curiosity, “Rainbow… where in Equestria did you get that?”

“Oh… just a little something that Rarity made for me.” she states in mocking casualness as she brushes her fringes in a significant swoop while flicking her colorful tail enticingly. “I take it that you like what you see?”

"If only I can get a picture of this to capture the moment!" he states with a budding grin.

But then, out of nowhere, a flash of light engulfs the room for a split second as it left the stimulated couple temporarily blind. Ford is the first to recover from that, and he quickly turns around to see where that light came from. From peaking out of the doorway, he can only catch a glimpse of a familiar, pink, puffy tail as it swiftly exits out of the hallway and descends the staircase. Once he faces Rainbow Dash, who is just as confused as he is, a floating photograph gently lands right on his nose before he examines it himself. With the mysterious photo in hoof, Ford's eyes expand significantly as the instant picture reveals itself, for it captured the same titillated moment of his incredibly sexy, lingerie-wearing wife that he was just talking about.

"Oh-ho-hoo! I am SO keeping this!" he chuckles deviously as he teasingly waves the scandalous photo in front of Rainbow.

Realizing on what that picture is, she blushes like mad and warns him sternly, "Y-you better not put that in the album, Ford!"

"I might consider that thought." he counters with a shrewd shrug and an amusing grin. "What's to stop me otherwise?"

"Depends... would you prefer the photo itself or getting your hooves on all of this?" she says with an enticing smirk as her left fore hoof glides teasingly across her curves before she lays a nice smack on her ass.

Renewed with so much arousal by Rainbow's tempting offer, his lustful eyes are glued to his alluring mare as he answers with childlike modesty, "Yes please."

Satisfied by his timid response, she re-positions herself by lying on her back and spreading legs widely so she can present her increasingly wide-eyed stallion a good, clear view of her panties. And in that come-hither voice of hers, she commands the completely enthralled Mustang with an alluring grin, “Then come on over here and get your present, big boy~!”

Without a moment to spar, he carelessly tosses the photograph aside, and his fluttering wings carry him over to the bed before he carefully lands on top of his enticing lover. Once they are in within close proximity, they warmly embrace one and another as they share a very romantic kiss while Dash’s leggings wrap around Ford’s body. After some time from their extensive smooching, they take short break as Mustang gets a good look at his incredibly sexy wife while stroking her soft, multi-colored mane.

“I like your choice of colors.” he compliments grinningly on her exceedingly eye-catching lingerie. “It really brings out that naughty side of yours.”

“You should know by now that I’m always a naughty filly!” she responds with a devious smirk. But then, she lets out a soft groan as she mumbles to herself, “Of course, I bet I would look even better in this thing if I wasn’t so fat.”

“You’re not fat, Rainbow.” he consoles her with a giggling smile. “You’re just pregnant, that’s all.”

“I fail to see the difference, Mustang.”

“That’s because you don’t have much attention to detail like I do. If you were really fat, it would have affected every proportion of your body.”

“Oh really? Pray tell!” she retorts with a sarcastic smile.

“For example, you wouldn’t have such a gorgeous face as of now…” he points it out before affectionately kissing her, starting with her lips, then her cheeks, and dispersing them across her neck. Then, he slowly trails towards her right foreleg with more quick pecks along the way.

“…or these well-toned yet elegant muscles that would make any athlete green with envy…” he carries on ever-so sweetly whilst he snuggles against the silky fabric on Dash’s legging. From the nestling and countless pecks, Rainbow does her best to contain her various moans and yelps of barely concealed approval of ecstasy, especially when Ford tenderly touches her sensitive hooves, which she forbids from everypony else to the special privilege. Soon after, the affectionate Mustang continues his trail of never-ending kisses across Dash’s pregnant belly, which earns the pleased stallion some subtle signs of satisfaction from his cooing wife.

“…or these marvelous and perfectly curved flanks of yours!” he concludes with a crafty smile as he slyly lifts up her hindquarters before his mischievous fore hooves press firmly against Rainbow’s butt cheeks, which causes the astonished Rainbow Dash to let out an absolutely adorable squeak of surprise and delight.

“EEK! Geez… enough with the sweet-talking and just get with the unwrapping already!” she begs impatiently.

“Hey now, you’re my present this evening, so I say the leggings stay on!” he replies with a devious smirk as he teases her even further by repeatedly kissing Rainbow’s inner hind leg, which causes the mare to squirm and giggle uncontrollably.

After toying his wife long enough, he moves his muzzle inch by inch toward his bow-tied present as he declares to her with a wicked grin before using his teeth to grab the frill of her panties, “But these on the other hoof… oh, they are definitely coming off!”

“Okay, that… was definitely the best present I have ever received!” he praises Rainbow Dash with a goofy yet very grateful smile stretching across his face.

Presently, the two Pegasi are laying side by side as they are completely contented from their latest act of lovemaking while affectionately snuggling in each other’s forelegs. While underneath the bed’s cozy covers, Rainbow Dash is still wearing her black-and-magenta lingerie, minus the panties Ford tossed aside earlier.

“Oh it’s not over yet.” She replies with a crafty grin. “I still have one more surprise for you.”

“One more?! Rainbow Dash, I don’t think my heart can take any more surprises!” he jests lightly.

“Then you better get ready for this one because it’s a doozy!”

After a soft sigh, he complies with a smile, “Alright, I’m ready. Lay it on me, Rainbow. What’s the surprise this time?”

“Well… let’s just say… we’re might need some room for one more.” she hints with an all-knowing grin.

“‘Room for one more…?’ Are we getting another pet or--?” Suddenly, he pauses in the middle of his response as his eyes widen to such a degree that they look like they’re about to pop out of their sockets. While Mustang is momentarily speechlessly, Rainbow is greatly amused over Ford’s expected reaction as her cunning grin stretches exceedingly.

“Wait… don’t tell me!” he utters in complete astonishment as he verifies the connection from earlier today. “That visit to the doctor’s office this morning… does this mean that you’re…?!”

With a hasty yet excited nod, she confirms the best surprise of them all in a shrilling voice, “I’m carrying twins, Ford!”

For a second there, his heart nearly skipped a beat as he processes that simple yet overwhelming response from his grinning wife before he finally replies with an increasingly enthusiastic smile, “Oh Rainbow Dash… that’s… that really is the best surprise ever! Excuse me for a second, but I need to faint right now.”

“Don’t you dare!” she imposes to him.

“I’m kidding!” he says with a lighthearted chuckle before taking all of this in once again. “But still… wow! I mean… WOW! I’m going to be the father of not just one… but two foals! You know what that means, right?”

“More diapers that need changing?” she answers in a mocking groan.

“…Well yes, there’s that too. But I was going to say that it means one foal for each of us!”

“Hey! No favorites now!” she jokes in comedic sternness.

“Of course, of course!” he nods with a happy-go-lucky smile before getting emotional from all of this. “I would never pick one over the other because I’m going to love each and every one of them, just as much as I love you! Without a doubt, this… this truly is the best birthday ever! And it’s all thanks to you, my beloved Rainbow Dash! For this will be one of the many reasons on why I will always love you, my beautiful, blue angel!”

Touched by his sentimentality as always, she leans in to give her husband a genuinely warm kiss before responding with as much affection as her stallion, “And I will always love you, my big, strong Mustang.”

With a perfect way to end Ford’s birthday, the snuggling couple gradually succumbs to their needed sleep with fully contented smiles over the wondrous news regarding with their newly announced twins. Blessed with so many wonderful things that has happened to him on this special day of his, Ford Mustang just can’t imagine on how life could get any better than this.

Author's Note

*INSERT YOUR FAVORITE "DUN-DUN-DUN" VIDEO LINK IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.*

You know the one! :rainbowdetermined2::trixieshiftright::trollestia:

Chapter 10 – A Waking Nightmare

Chapter 10 – A Waking Nightmare

This is it. The day that Ford Mustang has been looking forward to for quite some time. Practically since the day he married the most wonderful mare in all of Equestria.

But right now, at this very crucial moment of his life, something feels… off.

Very off!

In general, he’s not the biggest fan when it comes to hospitals, especially those on Earth. Mostly, it’s because of the color in the walls. Their palette choices are usually so bland, so ugly, and for lack of a better term… so utterly lifeless. But the room he is in right now is literally devoid of any form of color. In fact, there was nothing around him whatsoever. Just a black, foggy atmosphere with a shade of deceptive red. And all he can hear in this dismal fog is the loud and irritating sound of a rhythmic beeping noise.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Then, a bloodcurdling scream echoes in the bleak darkness. A familiar outcry that Ford dreads most of all. It is the sound of his wife, Rainbow Dash. Frantically, he searches his surroundings on the horrifying screams of his beloved angel, but in this awful, foggy gloom he is in right now, he can’t find her anywhere.

Suddenly, the frantic stallion sees the abrupt appearances of two well-known associates of Ponyville Hospital, Doctor Horse and Nurse Redheart. But just as he is glad to see some familiar faces, he is shocked to see something truly spine-chilling: their faces are completely blank as they lack eyes and mouths.

Startled by the colleagues’ literally blank expressions, Ford is about to question their missing features, but once again, he hears the unpleasant screams of his wife. As he begins his hysterical search anew, another pony appears out of nowhere right in front of him. This time, it is the pony he’s about to search for: Rainbow Dash, reclining on a hospital bed. And thankfully, unlike the faceless doctor and nurse, she still has her mouth and magenta eyes.

As relief starts to set in, he attempts to call out her name, but to his never-ending shock and confusion, no words could escape from his gaping lips. And before he can ponder on this increasing bewilderment, he sharply turns his attention to far more important matters due to the agonizing cries of his wife once again.

From glancing downward, he sees that Rainbow’s pregnant belly has expanded significantly since the last time he remembered; especially when she’s carrying two foals inside. At once, the faceless Doctor and Redheart take their positions as Dash shrieks in unimaginable agony while going through the final stages of her labor. As she goes through her contractions, her cries get louder and more dreadful with each passing minute as the inexplicably mute Mustang can only hold Rainbow’s right foreleg tenderly and delicately nestle her screeching head.

In the midst of her struggle, Rainbow temporarily ceases her shrieking and pants heavily while pleadingly looking at her husband in the eye. Ford wants to comfort her so much right now. He wants to assure her by saying that everything is going to be okay. Yet he feels so utterly helpless due to his suddenly unexplained, muted voice, so all he can do is gently pat her mane as he kept his gaze unto her and pointlessly mouths out the words “It’s going to be okay” over and over again. But when he keeps up with his desperate chanting, the horrific beeping noise gets even louder as its chimes beat at a faster pace.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Soon enough, the rapid ringing throbs drastically into his mind, and Rainbow’s pain-stricken screams echo at its highest pitch. And as soon as Ford is on the verge of not taking the horrific noises anymore, the nauseating sounds finally die down and are replaced with a new one… a far more soothing sound. Two sounds to be exact. The sounds of new lives being born!

At that moment, he glances at the two faceless medical practitioners that are holding his newborn twins. He can’t see their little faces since they are securely wrapped in their individual blankets, but just knowing that their first cries are as lively as ever, he couldn’t help himself from smiling like an overjoyed idiot as this is the happiest day of his life.

But as he turns over to Rainbow Dash, his jubilant smile dissolves right away as he looks at the deprived state of his extremely exhausted wife. Her tiresome eyes have heavy bags underneath them. And her painful wheezing could only let out short, raspy breaths. Yet, despite how poor she looks right now, she has enough strength within her to bear that winning smile of hers for her ever-so concerning husband.

Kneeling down right next to her, he gently strokes her fatiguing wife’s face while displaying a caring smile on his face. But as he is tending to her, he notices that not only has the sound of the infernal beeping is beginning to grow softer, but its regular pace is rapidly diminishing as well.

BEEP… BEEP… BEEP…

From figuring out the connection of that haunting beeping noise, Ford greatly fears for the worst, and he alarmingly sees Rainbow’s eyelids starting to get heavy as they slowly make their way to shut her vibrant eyes for the very last time. At once, he desperately calls out to her despite how he is still unavailable to produce any sound as he clings onto her worn-out body while shaking her up to keep herself awake. But to no avail, Rainbow’s eyelids continue their slow, final descent. And while maintaining that heartfelt smile of hers, the false sense of comfort did nothing to prevent her from succumbing to her sleep… never to wake up ever again.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP…

As the motionless mare lies on her final resting place, the haunting sound transforms into nothing more than a screeching flat line. Soon, the earsplitting noise is merged with the cries of the newborn twins as they instinctively weep over the loss of their mother who never got the chance to see Dash's face. Ignoring the sounds around him, Ford gloomily reflects over this unforeseen tragedy right before his very weeping eyes. Lamenting heavily over the death of his beloved, the heartbroken stallion silently says his final farewells by leaning forward to his fallen angel and offering one last kiss on her unnaturally cold lips.

Seven Months and Three Weeks Remaining…
~ Early of November (13th Week) ~

“AAHHH!!”

From that piercing scream, Ford Mustang finally breaks free from that nightmare as he sits straight up in full alarm. There, he catches his breath rapidly as he is drenched in sweat. With a left fore hoof pressed against his forehead, he takes a moment to reflect on what that dream was all about and why it felt so real to him. It’s only been a couple days since Nightmare Night, and he hasn’t receive dreams this disturbing since his intense training days under the guidance of Hindel, his late dragon friend and the one who gifted him Draconian Magic to begin with.

As he contemplates to himself, he feels somepony else stirring right next to him when Rainbow Dash gets herself up from her side of the bed as the semi-drowsy mare mumbles in alarm, “Huh! Wha…?! What’s the matter? Is Equestria under attacked again?”

Realizing that his own scare caused the unnecessary disturbance to his 3-month pregnant wife’s rest, Ford apologizes with a sheepish smile. “Oh, uhh… sorry, Dashie. Just… a bad dream, that’s all.”

With barely opened eyes, she stares blankly at her husband before shrugging without a care and complying tiresomely, “Ugh… alright whatever. Goodnight, Ford.” And she resumes her sleep while getting underneath the cover and her back facing the stallion.

“Y-yeah, goodnight.” he stammers awkwardly as he attempts to go back to bed himself.

But sleep won’t come so easily for him. His restless mind couldn’t help but wonder on the recent dream he just had. Could it really just be a simple, horrible dream, or… is there something more to it than that? Whatever the case may be, he can’t let that bother him throughout the entire night as he seeks to get his rest while easing his mind and heart as best as he can.

Yeah… it was… just a dream, Ford.

Just… a dream.

Author's Note

When I considered on making this sequel, I didn't want it to be too short compared to the other two, and I have to figure out a great obstacle/challenge that Ford and Rainbow will have to face and overcome. So, that's how I came up with this inciting incident.

Chapter 11 – Soothing the Weary Soul

Chapter 11 – Soothing the Weary Soul

Seven Months and Two Weeks Remaining…
~ Mid of November (14th Week) ~

The following morning, Rainbow Dash rouses from her bed and gives herself a nice stretch after a goodnight’s rest. Then she turns to her left and is surprised to see that Ford Mustang’s side of the bed is empty. It’s starting to become really strange for her. Most of the time, her husband is the first one to wake up first even before she got pregnant. Even if he does wake up before her, he would often stay in bed and snuggle very closely to her like always. But ever since last week, he gets up much later than usual, and now her stallion is no longer there right beside her.

Hovering down the stairs, Rainbow assumes that Ford is just getting breakfast ready for her. It’s one of his favorite romantic clichés to do the whole “breakfast in bed” thing, which she won’t deny on how sweet he is to always treat her like some noble lady. But once she is downstairs, she is puzzled on how there is no breakfast being made as her nose couldn’t pick up anything.

Okay, if he’s not in bed… and he’s not in the kitchen… then where is he?

Instinctively, she glides into the living room as she contemplates on the whereabouts of her husband. But it didn’t take long for her to find him as she stops in the midst of her search and gazes at the couch in front of her. Stretching across the cloudy furniture is Ford Mustang, who is still asleep and without any covers over him.

Despite wanting to question him, Rainbow Dash bears a thankful smile over her missing stallion, and she quietly leans over and gives Ford a simple yet sweet morning kiss. From feeling the warm sensation on his lips, he drowsily breaks into a smile before he begins to open his eyes. Once he catches a glimpse of his wife, he startles on impulse and breaks from their kiss.

“Oh! G-good morning, angel.” he greets her in surprise.

Filled with concern, she asks in a gentle tone, “Ford... have you been sleeping on the couch last night?”

“Wha…? N-no!” he reassures hastily. “I simply woke up earlier than usual, so I took a moment to take a nice flight outside.”

“And the reason you were on that couch is because…?” she inquires in mild skepticism.

“I guess that early morning flight took a lot out of me. That’s all.” he shrugs with an awkward smile while rubbing the back of his head with a fore hoof.

In truth, he did not just wake up earlier than usual; he woke up right in the middle of the night. And the cause of his recent insomnia is from that recurring dream he keeps having since last week. The one where he is in that dark and gloomy room of the hospital, where he is alongside Rainbow Dash as she agonizingly gives birth to their twins, and where she dies right after that while the brokenhearted stallion hears that dreadful flat line echoing the vast room. The nightmare has become so frightening to go through that he decided to spend the rest of the night on the couch so he doesn’t have to disturb his wife in anyway.

Of course, his means to keep this a secret is put on the line when Rainbow sits right next to him and questions him once again, “Are you sure about that? You look like you hardly got much rest last night.”

Not wanting to lie anymore since it will just make his cover up all the more suspicious, he answers with a soft sigh, “Yeah… you’re right. I haven’t been getting much sleep for awhile. I just feel so… edgy.”

“Maybe you should get some tea for yourself.” she suggests sincerely.

“Yeah, that might help.” he nods to her before getting himself up. “Here, I’ll get us some breakfast in the meantime.”

Quickly enough, Rainbow blocks his way before retorting with a sharp grin, “Oh no! You go ahead and get your tea, and I’ll prepare our breakfast this time!”

In response, he gives in with a chuckling smile, “Okay okay!” And they happily enter the kitchen together.

From there, Rainbow gathers the ingredients from the fridge to make a hearty omelet, while Ford flies up to one of the cabinets to prepare his tea. Unfortunately, from looking through the cupboard, he is disappointed to see that there is no more tea to be found.

“Ah dangit! I forgot that I ran out of tea for quite some time. Guess I should probably pick some up from the store, huh?”

While working on their breakfast from cutting the veggies to go with their omelet, Rainbow makes this recommendation with a bright smile, “Hey, why not stop by Zecora’s place instead? Fluttershy loves those exotic flavors, and I bet she can hook you up with some really good brew over there!”

“Hey yeah! That’s a really good idea!” he agrees very cheerfully before giving his wife a warm, gratifying hug. “Thanks, Rainbow! I’m so lucky to have such a smart and awesome mare like you in my life!”

Yeah… I am pretty smart and awesome, aren’t I?” she boasts lightheartedly.

Then, the grinning stallion leans close to her ear and purrs in a sultry whisper, “And sexy too if I might add!”

After a very satisfying means to start his day, he ventures out into the Everfree Forest in search of Zecora, the local Zebra shaman and herbalist. Even though there is a safe route that cuts right through the supposedly cursed forest, there are only a handful of residents from Ponyville who would dare to tread that path. Even before his discovery of Draconian Magic, he would know just as well as anypony to tread lightly in the mysterious forest. But now, he barely has anything to fear from what lurks within the trees, especially when he completed his epic training within the dark heart of the Everfree Forest. Even still, Ford Mustang can’t help but admire the untamed beauty of the exotic trees and plants as he trots past them.

Eventually, the blue Pegasus reaches the gnarled treehouse that serves as the lovely hut of Zecora. Once he approaches the entrance and knocks on it, the wooden door opens before him in a gentle push, and Ford is greeted by a familiar, little filly with a creamy yellow coat and a mane as red as an apple.

“Oh, howdy Ford!” she squeaks with an adorable smile. “What brings you in these here neck of the woods?”

“Hello, Apple Bloom. Is Zecora home?”

“She sure is! Come on in!”

From being welcomed by the young potion maker, Ford steps inside to wait in the main room of the Zebra’s home. Its inner sanction is decorated with lots of trinkets and decorations from the owner’s homeland. Exiting out of the kitchen, Zecora walks in the larger room to greet the stallion with a friendly smile.

“Well well… what a surprise. A well-known guest right before my eyes.”

“Hi, Zecora.” he greets right back before making his request. “Do you have any tea that might be able to help me? I haven’t been sleeping so well as of lately.”

“If lack of sleep is the cause of your gloom, then why don’t I leave this one to Apple Bloom.” she says as she nods to her apprentice.

With a wide smile over the task she has been entrusted, Apple Bloom gallops to a cupboard nearby and opens it up. Using her mouth, she reaches for a small, knotted bag and brings it before Mustang.

“Here you go, Ford. This lil’ bag contains chamomile and lavender, and they’re perfect for any late-night cup of tea before bed. Ah even picked them myself!” she declares giddily with pride.

Upon accepting the bag of tea leaves, he offers his thanks to the young filly, “Thanks, Apple Bloom. I'm sure this is just what I need for a goodnight's sleep.”

With his bag of herbal tea securely tucked in his wing, he is ready to make his departure, but suddenly, he stops himself as a new thought crosses his mind. Regarding with his troublesome dreams about the grim fate of his wife, he ponders if Zecora may have something that can help Rainbow. After all, her wisdom is well-known within the community.

With that in mind, he faces Zecora once again and asks, “Actually… since I’m already here… there’s something else I wanna ask.”

“What else can we do for a stallion like you?” she says in her accustomed rhymes.

“Do you… have anything that can help Rainbow Dash with her pregnancy?” he requests timidly.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Apple Bloom asks with great worry. “She’s not sick, is she?”

“No no, of course not, Apple Bloom.” Ford reassures with gentle smile with a soft pat on her mane. “It’s just… a means of precaution, that’s all.”

Zecora didn’t say anything regarding with Ford’s request as she simply stares at him nonchalantly. After that, she turns to her promising apprentice and instructs her sweetly, “Apple Bloom, why don’t you go in the back and work on that brew, so we can have a nice lunch of hearty vegetable stew.”

Without questioning her teacher, Apple Bloom nods with a smile before trotting into the kitchen and resuming where Zecora left off regarding with their lunch to come. After the little filly is out of an earshot, the zebra turns toward the Pegasus and inquires with a small, sharp smile, “Now, what’s really on your mind, Ford? Surely it’s more than just tea that’s in stored.”

Entrapped by the inquisitive gaze of the clever shaman, Ford isn’t ready to share his personal dreams with anyone just yet. He didn’t want to burden others with his own concerns. So he explains himself in a simple yet very timid manner, “It’s just that… I-I want to make sure that everything goes smoothly with her pregnancy, and that she isn’t in any poor condition when that big day arrives, that’s all.”

While displaying a sheepish smile, he isn’t sure if his answer is enough to convince the attentive zebra from dismissing her inquisitive eyes on him. But as he starts to feel tense under Zecora’s questioning gaze, she slowly turns around and heads toward one of her cabinets while muttering to Ford, “Hmm… give me just a moment or two, and I’ll see on what I can do.”

Carefully, she inspects all of the potions before her until she finds what she is looking for. With a tender grasp of her mouth, she grabs the elegant bottle of bright yellow-orange liquid and brings it before Mustang.

“This herbal supplement right here has a delightful taste of lemon and honey.” she explains the contents within the glass bottle. “With one sip a day, your wife will be all the more positively sunny.”

With a delighted smile, the anxious stallion reaches for the potion with a fore hoof, but suddenly, the bottled medicine is retracted away from him before Zecora gives a firm warning to him.

“But please, let me be the one to ensure that this is not some miracle cure. Whatever may come to pass is beyond my power once Rainbow Dash reaches at her utmost crucial hour. Do you understand, Ford Mustang?”

A bit distracted by how that last sentence had nothing to rhyme with, he understands the seriousness behind Zecora’s warning. So after taking Zebra’s counseling into some consideration, he complies with a slightly coy smile, “Y-yes, I understand, Zecora. Thank you for all of your help nonetheless. How can I ever repay you?”

“Friends do not owe each other’s debt.” she replies with a small chuckle as she hands over the potion to Ford. “A lesson that you should never forget.”

Upon receiving the honey-colored elixir, he tucks it underneath the same wing where his nighttime tea is stored. But once he thinks that their business is done, Zecora gets his attention by making a small, humble request to him.

“But if it’s not too much to ask before you say ‘goodbye,’ perhaps you can indulge me with some sweet potato pie.” she says as she delicately licks her chops from the suggestion of her favorite treat.

Now, knowing for a fact that Zecora loves one of his well-known desserts since sweet potatoes hark back to her native homeland, Ford Mustang couldn't help but break into an amusing smile before complying with her simple yet acceptable request.

“I think I can work that into my schedule before our next visit.”

After that, Ford Mustang retreats back to his floating home by walking up the long, cloudy ramp while securing his two items within his folded wings. Once he is inside, he closes the door and calls out to his wife cheerfully, “Hey, Rainbow! I’m back!”

“So, did you get whatcha need at Zecora’s?” she asks whilst she flies toward him.

“Yep. And I got something for you as well.”

“Oh really?” she piques with curiosity. “Well, what is it?”

Within his folded wing, he pulls out the bottled elixir and shows it to Rainbow Dash. “Here. It’s an herbal supplement that should make your pregnancy go smoothly.”

Rainbow gawks at the foreign object. Her questioning eyes shift at Ford, and then back at the medicine until she scrunches her muzzle and displays a very sour face at it. “Wait, you got me medicine? Yuck!” she emphasize with a gag of her tongue. “You know how much I dislike taking that myself!”

“Come on, Rainbow!” he pleads with a slight whine. “This is not only for your own good, but it’s made with lemon and honey.

“But I feel fine as it is. It’s not like I’m sick or anything, so I don’t need any of that nasty stuff right now.”

“Either way, you should at least take it just as a precaution. You only need just one sip a day anyhow.”

Giving it some thought to Ford’s plead, Rainbow takes a cautionary step forward while her foreleg reaches for the potion. “Well… if you really want me to… I guess that you…”

But just when her hoof is inches away from the bottle, she passes by it and boops Ford right on the nose before finishing it off with a playful grin, “…will have to catch me first!”

And with the game of tag set in motion, Rainbow Dash rockets away from the speechless stallion before he retorts out loud with a stomp of his hoof, “Hey! Rainbow, get back here!”

“No way, Mustang!” she giggles heartily as she flies around him in circles. “If you want me, you’ll have to come and get me!”

“Rainbow! I’m being serious--!”

“Yeah! Seriously getting your flank left behind!” she grins with a roll of her eyes. “Come on, Ford! Flap those wings and give in the chase already!”

Without moving from his spot, Ford calls out her name in a stern tone, “Rainbow!”

But his words go unheard as the chuckling mare continues to fly around the room in merriment. So he tries again.

“Rainbow!”

And still, the playful Rainbow Dash continues to provoke her nonparticipating husband while hoping that he will join in the fun already. But Ford is in no mood for these games, especially when he so focused on his wife’s well-being. Following on impulse, he roars out her name in one last desperate act.

“RAINBOW DASH!!”

The thunderous call-out is enough to shake Rainbow up where she freezes in mid-air. She looks down and expects to see a very irritated Mustang, but to her shock, she sees Ford expressing some entirely different: not one that is filled with anger and annoyance, but an awfully gloomy look with immensely begging eyes as he desperately pleads to her in a very quiet tone.

“Please take it.”

From hearing that abnormally gentle plea, Rainbow silently ponders Ford’s sudden change of expression as she floats on down. Without putting much of a fuss for Mustang’s sake, she snatches the medicine and grumps lightheartedly, “Sigh… alright fine. Geez, way to take out the fun out of everything.”

“S-sorry, Dashie. I’m just… tired.” he replies pitifully as he is unwilling to admit his true plight.

“Hey, I’m only kidding with you, Ford.” She comforts him with a smile. “Yeesh, you really are on the edge, aren’t you?”

Once she unplugs the capped cork from its hinge, she takes a careful sniff of the bottle first. Despite being surprised by the lovely, sweet scent of lemon, she is still hesitant from taking a sip out of it as she looks back and forth between the questionable concoction and her beseeching husband.

“So… just one sip, right?” she asks while scrunching her muzzle in uncertainty.

“That’s right.” he nods softly.

With one final glance at the potion, she gives a subtle shrug and takes a quick swig of it. After that, she smacks her lips in humorous fashion while closing the hinged cork and slowly processing the aftertaste. And while Ford is anxiously waiting on his wife’s final verdict, Rainbow’s eyes start to bulge out widely as she involuntarily drops the bottle on the cloudy carpet.

“GAK-ACK-UGHHH!!”

Suddenly, she gags exaggeratedly as she keels over on the floor. Deeply alarmed by Rainbow’s anguish, Ford hastily grabs hold of his wife and cries out in desperation for her recovery, “Rainbow?! RAINBOW?! OH GOD NO! PLEASE DON’T… PLEASE DON’T DIE ON ME NOW!”

As the stallion laments greatly over this, his crying comes to an abrupt end when Rainbow tries to muffle her snickering. But all at once, she lets out an uproarious laugh while Ford blankly stares at her in complete disorientation.

“HA-HA-HA! Oh, you should have seen the look on your face!” she comments in-between her uncontrollable laughter. “It doesn’t even taste as bad as I expected! HA-HA! I can’t believe you would actually fall for that!”

“DAMMIT, RAINBOW! THAT WASN’T FUNNY!”

Startled by her husband’s sudden burst of anger, she gets back up and snaps back at him, “What’s the matter with you all of sudden? You’re acting edgier than ever!”

“Oh, well excuse me if I don’t find you dying something worth laughing about!” he retorts sarcastically in unamused frustration.

“Ford, I’m sorry.” she expresses regretfully in a very coy manner. “I didn’t mean to upset you like that. I was only kidding with you.”

Noticing her heartbreaking demeanor, Ford softens up immediately before turning away from her in shame and apologizing right back, “N-n-no, I’m the one who should be sorry. I… should have never snapped at you like that. I’m sorry, Rainbow. I… guess I really need that tea right now.”

And as the ashamed stallion slowly leaves for the kitchen to get his tea ready, Rainbow mutters softly to herself, “Yeah, I guess so.”

The next half-hour is spent in disturbing silence. Ford Mustang is in the kitchen where he is leisurely sipping his tea, and Rainbow Dash is in the living room reclining on one of the sofas as she reads a book. Soon enough, Ford is finished with his sweet, citrusy beverage, and he enters the family room to notify his wife.

“Hey, Rainbow? Is there anything you need from me?” he asks of her sweetly. “I feel the need for another nap right now. “

“No, I’m good as it is.” she responds tenderly. “Good catch your Z’s already.”

“Thanks, Dashie.”

And after giving his thoughtful wife a lovely peck on her cheek, Ford hovers up the staircase and makes his way to the bedroom. Upon setting his sights on the cushiony bed, he plops right onto the mattress and sighs heavily over the possibility of a good sleep at last. But while he gets comfy over his nap, he didn’t even notice Rainbow Dash making her appearance as she silently stares at her husband.

“Hey Mustang?”

“Hmm…?”

“You got room for one more?”

Once he looks behind him and sees the adorable display of his wife’s puppy-dog eyes, he breaks into a small grin and extends an opened wing for her while he answers wittily, “I always have room for my favorite snuggle buddy.”

Happy from receiving the friendly invitation, Rainbow flies toward her husband and is warmly embraced within his wings. Whilst they snuggle underneath the bed sheets, Rainbow looks at the heavy-eyed stallion as she has one last thing to address.

“Ford?”

“Yeah?”

“You know that I’m not going away, right?” she delicately reassures him. “I’m always going to be right here with you, okay?”

Smiling on that tender reassurance, Ford warmly kisses her on the forehead before embracing her even further and sluggishly replies to her, “Yes, I know, Rainbow… I know.”

Author's Note

You know, in the beginning of Season 1, I used to think that Apple Bloom's talent was in architecture or designing in general from how she repaired the clubhouse in the episode, "The Show Stoppers." But that idea was quickly dismissed by a more likely possibility: potion making. And it goes all the way back to how she first met Zecora. She was the one to allow Apple Bloom to help with the cure for Poison Joke as well as receive friendly visits from her after that. Not to mention on how Apple Bloom was practicing on her potions under Twilight's tutelage. Hopefully, in the next season or so, we would see more progress on Apple Bloom's potion making skills so that her talent would blossom into full bloom.

Chapter 12 – What Dreams May Come

Chapter 12 – What Dreams May Come

Seven Months and One Week Remaining…
~ Mid of November (15th Week) ~

Once again, he tries to get a goodnight’s sleep.

Once again, he has to face that same never-ending nightmare.

Once again, he has to hear those horrifying screams and the infernal beeping sound.

Once again, he has to relive the death of his loved one.

And once again, he wakes abruptly in the middle of the night to escape that traumatizing dream.

Despite his once-again, rude awakening, Ford Mustang has managed to keep his voice down without disturbing his sleeping wife, Rainbow Dash. It’s been two weeks since the first time he had that dream, and he’s never been able to escape from its haunting imagery and almost realistic sounds. Quiet as a mouse, he excuses himself from the bedroom and hovers downstairs to get another cup of tea.

Once he is in the kitchen, Ford gets his bag of tea that Apple Bloom and Zecora offered to him a week ago and prepares his late-night beverage. With no need for a tea kettle since its whistling will most likely wake up Rainbow Dash, he breathes out a steady flicker of golden fire to heat up his cup of water before dunking a filter cup that holds his herbal tea leaves. Of course, No matter how much tea he drinks, before or after his sleep, it didn’t help him overcome that waking nightmare. But at the very least, it will give him some time to reflect on this while savoring the hot beverage’s soothing flavor.

With his tea ready, he takes gradual sips of it while sitting at the kitchen’s table as he contemplates on how he can end this recurring nightmare once and for all. Seeing how he can’t get rid of the nightmares on his own, he figures that he needs to turn to someone else for aid this time. The only question is who should he turn to first? Although one thing’s for certain: he can’t drag Rainbow into this mess since this may startle her just as much as it did to him. And he surely didn’t want make things more complicated for her especially when she’s the one carrying twin foals.

After drinking some more tea, a perfect candidate finally comes to mind. Immediately, he reaches for a sheet of parchment and an enchanted ribbon from a drawer nearby and places them right before him. Once he gives it some careful thought on what he intends to write on there, he sets the tip of the inked quill on top of the paper and begins his hoof-writing by inscribing the letter’s introduction.

Dear Princess Twilight…

The following morning, Rainbow wakes up at her usual time with a big yawn and a nice stretch, but once again, her husband is not beside her in bed. After sighing in disappointment, she notices how Ford’s pillow cloud is way damper than usual. From examining it closely, she takes a quick whiff of the pillow and recognizes it as Ford’s sweat. She starts to wonder if Ford has been having some bad dreams lately, which may be the cause of his restlessness.

Overtime, she’s being piecing it all together since the previous week regarding with her husband’s strange behavior. She’s been trying to be patient with him and not let her hotheadedness get the best of her, but being left out of the loop like this is starting to make her worry, both for herself and for Mustang’s sake.

After getting out of bed, Rainbow flies downstairs to search for her husband once again. This time, she checks the living room first, but to her surprise, she doesn’t find him sleeping on the couch like before. So she seeks to find him in the kitchen next, but as soon as she turns around, she is greeted by a surprise kiss on the lips by Ford Mustang.

“Morning, Rainbow!” he addresses in a chirpy tone.

“Ah! Good morning--!”

But she pauses as she gets a good look at her husband. Through her eyes, Ford looks like a complete mess. His toothy smile is stretched to such uncomfortable limits. His bed hair looks way messier than usual with some of its strains sticking out of place. And his pupil-shrunken eyes look quite large and are slightly bloodshot as well… twitchy even. Truth be told, Rainbow is a little creeped out by how… crazy he looks right now.

“Want some coffee?” he asks in a high-pitched voice.

In response, she answers in slight discomfort, “Uhh… I guess--!”

And in a flash, Ford disappears into the kitchen while leaving his wife utterly speechless once again before he comes back in the same haste and holds two cups of coffee within his fore hooves.

“Here you go!” he says with an unusually broad smile as he hands one of the cups to Rainbow Dash. “Nice and hot!”

“Wow! That was… umm… quick?” she responds both in surprise and bewilderment by how he has prepared the coffee so quickly.

“Yep! With two spoonfuls of sugar and a touch of cream!” he chirps with pride. “Just the way you like it!”

They take a moment sip their individual drinks, but in midst of their drinking, Rainbow notices something is off when she observes her husband taking a huge swig of his own cup of coffee.

From almost doing a spit-take, she stammers out her obvious observation, “Wait a minute... are you… drinking coffee as well?”

With blank look on his face, he blinks just a few times before looking at his coffee. Then, he looks back at Rainbow with an unusually casual smile and confirms with a nod, “Why yes… yes I am!”

“But… you don’t like coffee.” she adds in complete bafflement. “You would always prefer tea instead.”

“Well it’s not that I dislike coffee entirely!” he shrugs nonchalantly in response before he heads toward the kitchen. “I do enjoy the fragrance of various coffee flavors, but it’s such a pain to measure out the right amounts of cream and sugar for myself!”

“Okay then, so why are you drinking coffee right now?” she inquires with an arched eyebrow while following her husband. “What about the tea that you got from Zecora’s place?”

“Well… the tea wasn’t doing much for me, so I figure that if I can’t get enough sleep for each night, then I might as well stay awake for as long as I--!”

But as he sets aside his empty cup, a strange urge is building up between his stomach and his esophagus. It is almost like a belch ready to come up. Once he makes the connection between this strange phenomenon and his Draconian Magic, Ford desperately holds his breath which puffs up his cheeks as he turns away from his concerned wife.

“Uhh… Ford? You okay there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine!” he reassures hastily while leaving the area. “Just… gotta use the bathroom right now! Excuse me, Rainbow!”

Immediately, he darts upstairs and enters the bathroom before locking the door. Once he is all alone, he burps out a small burst of fire, and emerging from that magical flame is a rolled-up letter with a royal seal that displays the Cutie Mark of the princess that Ford has contacted earlier. Without delay, he unwraps the letter and reads it to himself silently.

Dear Ford Mustang,

I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble regarding with your lack of sleep. The dreams that you have described for me are quite disturbing, and I hope to help you out in anyway I can. Please meet me in the Golden Oaks Library at 10 o’clock sharp today so we can sort this out together. If you wish to bring Rainbow Dash along, that’s up to you. I understand if you choose otherwise.

Sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle

Happy to receive such a swift reply from the young Alicorn Princess, he is definitely looking forward to their eventual meeting. But before he intends to exit out of the bathroom, he suddenly releases that he needs to dispose this letter so that Rainbow Dash doesn’t find it later.

With some quick thinking, he brings the letter over a toilet and puffs out some fire to incinerate the paper where its ashes drift into the toilet bowl. With the ashes scatter within the small pool of water, he flushes the toilet to rid out of the evidence and washes his hooves from the sink before exiting out of the bathroom.

With a contented smile, Ford goes back downstairs where Rainbow Dash asks, “Is everything alright up there?”

“Oh yes, just… had too much tea and coffee to drink, I guess!” he lies with a sheepish smile.

Well then, let’s have some breakfast already.”

“Sounds good to me!”

But as Ford follows his mare back into the kitchen, a familiar urge swells in-between his hind legs as he just realizes that he didn’t take the opportunity to “drain his lizard” when he first excused himself to use the restroom. So to his dismay, he has to excuse himself again.

“Uhh… Rainbow, I’ll… right back! Nature calls once again!”

“Wait, I thought you got most of that out of your systems!”

“Like I said: had too much tea and coffee to drink! Sorry!” he explains hastily as he uncomfortably heads up upstairs once again.

With a roll of her eyes, Rainbow remarks with a grin, “Okay, fine… well, while you're taking care of business up there, I’ll go on ahead and start on our breakfast. I’ll be sure to knock on the door once everything’s ready.”

“Thanks, honey! Love ya!”

Later on that day, Ford Mustang makes up his cover to Rainbow Dash by going out of town to pick up some groceries. But before he can take care of his proposed errand, he has important task to fulfill first. On time at 10 o’clock this morning, the light blue Pegasus arrives in front of the famous treehouse, which served as the town’s library and a former home of their local princess, Twilight Sparkle.

After he knocked on the library’s door, Twilight opens it up and welcomes him with a warm hug and a smile, “Oh, Ford! Just in time!”

“Hi, Twilight! Thank you so much for responding to my letter so quickly!”

“Of course! Anything for a friend! Oh! And I hope you don’t mind, but I brought somepony here with me, who may be a great help towards us!”

With Twilight stepping aside, she allows Ford to enter the main floor of the library where he is taken by surprise with the appearance of another pony. Of course, this one is no ordinary pony; to Ford’s amazement, it is none other than the Princess of the Night herself, Luna.

“Princess Luna!” Ford exclaims in immense shock. “Wh-what brings you all the way out here?!”

“Twilight Sparkle has told me about your predicament and has sought my insight on this most peculiar matter.” she explains herself. “As Princess of the Night, it is my duty and privilege to aid those in need when it comes to understanding their own dreams.”

“I am truly honored that you along with Princess Twilight would take the time to aid me like this!” he bows humbly before the presence of the taller Alicorn Princess.

“Arise, Sir Mustang of Ponyville.” she insists respectfully. “For there is no need for such etiquette amongst friends. And besides, it is I who shall have the honor on being at your service, Ford.”

“Well, since we are all here…” Twilight intervenes with a gentle smile. “…why don’t we all sit down and see if we can solve this dilemma together, hmm?”

Once all three ponies take their seats, Ford shares his on-going problem with the princesses to go over more details with his personal dream. After some time of explanation, the dark blue Alicorn shares her opinion over this subject.

“So, this same dream has been going on for two weeks, correct?”

“Yes.” Ford answers simply.

“And… you didn’t have any worries or concerns regarding with Rainbow Dash before this had happened?”

“No.” he confirms with certainty. “Before that, everything was going fine. I had the best birthday bash ever, and this year’s Nightmare Night was pretty great too. So… no, I didn’t have any worries in mind.”

“This is so strange.” Twilight adds to the conversation with a shake of her head. “Nightmares are usually the result of fear or anxiety. Sometimes that can be spontaneous too, but I’ve never heard of adult cases where recurring nightmares that could last more than just a week!”

“Indeed, Twilight.” Luna agrees with a simple nod. “And if we are going to get to the bottom of this, then we’re just going to have to dig a little deeper.”

“And how are we going to do that, Luna?” Mustang asks.

“Oh, it will be quite simple actually. But first, you will need to go sleep before we can get started.” With the use of her magic, she gently levitates Ford from the floor before carefully placing him on a sofa.

As the stallion reclines back on the cushiony furniture, Ford comments in a timid manner, “Well… I can try, but I had so much coffee today that I won’t be able fall asleep right away--!”

“SLEEP.”

And upon her command, Luna lightly taps Ford’s forehead with her glowing horn. From that magic touch, Mustang’s eyelids become very heavy as his increasingly unresponsive body begins to slump backwards. And in an instant, he is out like a light.

Upon opening his eyes, he finds himself in that familiar darkness with the addition of that ugly, red haze as he steadily gets himself up. Trapped within the haunting fog once again, and he quickly looks around as he hopes to find some company this time from either one of the princesses.

“L-Luna…? Luna?! Twilight?! Can anyone hear me?!”

Eventually, he hears something within the dreamy void, but it’s not the sound that he hopes to hear. From pinpointing the source, the nightmarish fog clears away from his viewpoint as it showcases a rerun of his never-ending nightmare all over again.

Unable to turn away, Ford is able to witness not only screaming Rainbow Dash lying on the hospital bed, but also another pony next to the screeching mare that looks exactly like him. This isn’t too much of surprise to him since Ford has witnessed a copy of himself before in previous dreams. And in this dream, not only are Doctor Horse and Nurse Redheart there once again, but they have their faces this time. The only things that are missing from the practitioners’ facial features are the pupils and irises, making their expressionless eyes nothing more than blank, white orbs.

As the pregnant mare’s screams and the irritating noise of the beeping electrocardiogram continue to get louder, Ford covers his ears tightly as he cries out in desperation from enduring all of this once more, “N-no…! No! Not this again! Please Luna! Somepony help me!”

While Mustang whimpers like a child as he is on all fours, he feels a gentle hoof resting on his shoulder, and he hears a sweet, comforting voice from the princess he has been calling out for, “It’s alright, Ford. I’m here for you.”

From looking up at her soft, cyan gaze, Ford inquires in an apprehensive voice, “L-L-Luna? Are you seeing this as well?”

“Yes, Mustang.” she confirms. “I can see and hear everything that is going on right now.”

Then, they turn to the scene at play where it moves to the final act where the dream variation of Rainbow Dash dies right before Ford’s mental counterpart as grieves right beside her deathbed. Trying to ignore the infernal flatlining, Mustang faces Luna and pleads to her softly, “Is there anything you can do to make this stop once and for all?”

“I can’t say for certain, but I will see on what I can do from here.”

At a careful pace, Luna’s horn emits a bright beam towards the ongoing scene but is astounded to see that the dream sequence is being blocked by an unknown, invisible force field as Luna’s magic creates ripples against the psychic shield’s surface. Despite that setback, she pushes forward as she applies more power to her spell. But all it's done is create more ripples as the magical beam maintains the contact with its obstacle.

"Ugh…!”

“Luna, what’s wrong?” Ford asks anxiously.

“Something’s… not right!” she verifies in the midst of her struggle. “I can’t alter this dreamscape to my very will!”

No matter how much power she amplifies in her magic, it only causes her to gradually lose her fatigue as her knees begin to lose balance while the steadfast psychic barrier causes the unnatural ripples to extend throughout the rest of the dreamscape as well as creating white, hot sparks. And just as Luna is about to give up, the mysterious means of protection counters back in a seemingly violent fashion by igniting an explosion of blinding light that engulfs the two ponies and everything else within the hazy dreamworld.

In the midst of this session, Princess Twilight Sparkle has been watching over the unconscious bodies of Princess Luna and Ford Mustang. Shortly after that, the observant, purple Alicorn perceives signs of distress from the two restless ponies based off of their subtle groans and tiny beads of sweat seeping from their heads.

But as the worrisome Twilight remains indecisive on how to help them, Ford and Luna’s abrupt awakening greatly startles the younger princess as the dark blue mare propels herself back at a great distance from encountering such an immense force from that psychic counter-blast. After Ford promptly arouses from his mandatory nap, he and Twilight turn their attention toward Luna as the older pony lies on the wooden floor.

"Princess!” Twilight exclaims in alarm as she and Mustang hurry towards the toppled Luna.

“Princess Luna! Are you hurt?” Ford asks with great concern over her well-being.

“I’m… I’m alright, everypony.” Luna reassures as she shakes off her throbbing head while she steadily gets back up. “I haven’t faced a dream like that in a very long time. But right now… I believe I have found something that I must share with all of you, especially you, Ford Mustang!”

“R-really? Well what is it?”

“Whenever I enter somepony's dream, I usually have control over them, but there a few exceptions which can resist my magic. Ford, what you have been experiencing for the past two weeks straight is definitely no ordinary dream, but a vision!”

From Luna’s incredible discovery, the other two ponies’ eyes bulge widely before Ford takes the time to speak up first as he stammers out loud, “A-a-a vision?!”

“Please forgive me, Luna…” Twilight says in modest disbelief. “…but I thought visions usually occur to those who are Alicorns or ones who possess extraordinary amounts of magic!

“Yes, that is true, Twilight Sparkle.” Princess Luna acknowledges with a nod before carrying on with her explanation, “But remember, Ford Mustang already possesses powerful magic within him; one that even overshadows his Pegasus Magic.”

After a very short time from contemplating this, Twilight then answers with a sharp gasp, “…Draconian Magic!”

“Exactly.”

In the midst of this realization, Ford recalls his time from mastering this extraordinary magic with his friend and mentor, Hindel. Upon recollecting his dragon friend, Ford makes a startling revelation for himself that he seeks to share it with the two mares in the room.

“Wait a minute… Hindel! He was the one who gave me Draconian Magic in the first place, but… I remember something else about him.”

“What exactly are you referring to, Ford?” Luna asks with curiosity.

“Hindel was once known as the ‘All-Seeing Dragon’ because he possessed the ability to see visions within his mind’s eye, including the future! So what if… what if… I inherited that as well?”

From considering that possibility, the three ponies let that sink in for awhile as they contemplate to themselves. Twilight shivers in fear over the grim fate that awaits one of her best friends as she stammers in a quiet voice, “Then… does this mean… that Rainbow Dash... will actually--?”

“NO!!”

But Ford wouldn’t allow Twilight to finish that sentence as his outcry shocks both of the princesses. Staring at the floorboard, he heaves out his breathing before shaking his head and carrying on with his denial over his hypothesized vision.

“No… I refuse to believe that. I won’t believe it! There must be way to save her! There must!” Quickly on all knees, he desperately bawls out to Luna and Twilight, “Please Princesses! I beg you! Help me save Rainbow Dash! Help me save our children! Please… just save her. I don’t think I can bear the thought of losing her.”

Compassionately, Princess Luna assures him in a bold yet gentle tone, “Of course, Ford. We will do everything in our powers to prevent this from happening to her. And I believe the best course of action is to bring this up with my sister so that we can decide from there.”

“Yes, that’s true!” Twilight chimes in. “With the inclusion of Princess Celestia, we can surely find the solution together!”

Then, a strange idea comes to Ford’s mind as he makes this suggestion, “Hey wait… what about Discord? Surely he can help us out as well, right?”

Hesitantly, Luna instinctively looks away from Ford as she isn’t too fond on the idea on turning to Discord, the Master of Chaos and her former enemy, for help, even as a last resort. Instead of sharing her opinion on that subject, she turns to her fellow princess and waits for her answer first. Twilight definitely gives it some careful thought, but after a quiet moment to herself, she looks up to face the two awaiting ponies and answers with an assuring smile.

“Well… he may be a trickster, but I do believe that he has a good heart in all of this. Yes, I am fairly certain that he would be happy to aid us.”

“Sigh… Very well. I will bring this to his attention as well. Hopefully he will be more cooperative once we address this serious matter to him.” the complying Luna mutters as she tries to not hold her breath on this one.

While walking away to give herself some distance from the other two, the Moon Princess says to the stallion with a pleasant smile, “Now then, not that I don’t enjoy this visit, Ford, but I really need to get back to Canterlot so I can take care of this matter right away. And besides… YAWN! It’s late as it is, so I need my beauty sleep.” she kids lightly after making that exhausting noise.

“Oh, of course. Thank you once again for coming all this way just for me, Princess.” he says to her graciously.

With a friendly smile, she nods in return, “You are quite welcome, Ford. Fare thy well, Sir Mustang. Until next time.” And with that said, Princess Luna disappears in a bright, blue flash of light, probably to return to her private chambers back in Canterlot Castle.

With only one princess left in the room, Twilight decides to stay in Ponyville for a little longer as she says to Ford, “Well since I’m already here, maybe I can stop by and see the rest of my friends before returning to the castle.”

But before Twilight can reach for the library’s exit, Ford rushes in front of her and immensely pleads to her, “Wait, Twilight! Before we leave, I need you to promise me that you will never tell any of this to anypony! Not even Rainbow Dash!”

With an understanding smile, she guarantees to keep her word for him, “Don’t worry, Ford. I promise you that I won’t tell this to any one of our friends. I certainly don’t want them to be upset over this until we can rectify the situation ourselves.”

“Right… thanks for doing this for me, Twilight.” he adds sheepishly. “And uhh… thanks again for setting all of it up this morning. I really appreciate it.”

“Of course. I’m glad that I can be of assistance in any way possible. Thank you very much for bring this to my attention. I assure you that I will do whatever I can to see that we can change Rainbow’s fate for the better.”

Feeling more optimistic about the growing situation, they leave Golden Oaks Library with hopeful smiles as Twilight Sparkle informs one last thing to Ford Mustang, “Anyway, I’ll alert you through a private message once the Princesses are ready to meet with us. I’m quite certain that we will solve this important matter in due time.”

“Sigh… For Rainbow’s sake, I sure hope so.”

Author's Note

Originally, it would have been just Twilight to aid Ford on this personal dilemma of his. But I figured it would better to include Luna in this, since she is the expert when it comes to dreams. Even from deciding to include her earlier, I almost considered to have Luna visit him through his dreams during his ongoing nightmare. But I ended up with both Twilight and Luna meeting up with him at the same time; mostly, it was just to save time for myself from having to write a separate chapter for each of the princesses.

Chapter 13 – Appealing to the Gods

Chapter 13 – Appealing to the Gods

Seven Months Remaining…
~ Late of November (16th Week) ~

At the house of Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang, the latter is getting ready to leave so he meet up with Twilight Sparkle and the other two Princesses along with Discord for a very important meeting in Canterlot over the stallion’s accursed visions. While his wife is taking a nap on one of the couches in the living room, Ford silently sneaks toward the exit. But as he is about to grip the handle to the door, Rainbow calls out to him after waking up from her nap.

“Ford?”

Freezing in place, he turns around and greets her sleeping beauty in stuttering surprise, “Y-yes?”

“Are you going somewhere?” she asks as she hovers toward him.

“Oh, yeah. I’m just… going out for a visit today.” he answers awkwardly.

“Oh really? Well, who are you seeing?”

“Uhh… Twilight Sparkle. She has developed a great interest in my Draconian Magic, so she wants me to meet up with her at Canterlot and conduct some tests over there.”

“Hey, that sounds like fun.” she perks with an excited smile. “I’ll come with you.”

“NO!”

The alarming response causes Rainbow Dash to nearly jump out of her skin as Ford stands completely still with equally wide eyes as hers while he mentally wants to kick himself for that slip up. While Rainbow is still shocked bu the sudden outburst, Ford takes the moment to come up with something before he hastily explains himself with a toothy smile.

“Uhh… I mean… you don’t want to come along with me! It will completely bore you out of your mind! You know how Twilight is when it comes to science and stuff!” he adds with a weak chuckle. “Total snooze-fest!”

To Mustang’s relief, she complies to his excuse, but in an unusually quiet manner, “Yeah… I guess you’re right. But are you sure you don’t want some company anyway?”

“No thanks, Rainbow. I’m good as it is.”

“Oh… okay then.”

“Well, I’ll see you later.” And after giving her a quick kiss, Ford makes his way to the door in a leisure pace. But Rainbow has something else on her mind as she calls out to him once he reaches the door again.

“Mustang?”

“Hmm?”

“Am I… becoming a burden to you?”

Her troubling concern is enough to cause Ford to freeze in his tracks as he opens the door. Pushing his own agenda aside, he shuts the door before turning around to face his wife and is horrified to see such a sad look on her face. Unable to stand such a heartbreaking expression, he rushes to her and attempts to comfort Rainbow from her woes.

“N-no, of course not, Dashie! Why would you say that about yourself?”

“You just seem... rather distance for quite some time.” she states it in sincere sadness. “I hardly see you that much at home lately.”

With a comforting foreleg, he hugs his wife very closely as he reassures her in a tender tone, “I’m really sorry, Rainbow. I didn’t mean to make you feel so left out. I’ve been… very busy for a while. I’m just… trying to do whatever I can for you and for our foals.”

Eventually, Rainbow shifts into a tiny smirk before she says to him with a nod, “Alright, I get what you’re saying. Just don’t forget that your wife has needs too, you know.”

Happy to see her smiling once more, he inquires with a grin of his own. “Well, since I’ll be going to Canterlot, is there anything you would like for me to get while I’m over there?”

“Well… now that you mentioned it, I could go for some of those tasty sweets at their famous candy district.” she answers as she smacks her lips hungrily.

“Sure, anything in particular that might entice your taste buds?”

“Hmm… let’s see… maybe some fudge. No wait! Caramel! Oh, hang on… pralines! Definitely pralines! Ehh… on second thought… I’ll just stick with the fudge! Ooo… but which kind to have?!”

As the giddy mare goes over a list of various fudge flavors, Ford smiles to himself over Rainbow’s renewed liveliness and suggests to her, “How about I buy you a wide assortment of some of your favorites and you can eat them till your heart’s content?”

With a massive grin, she gives him a big hug and an appreciative kiss before she blissfully squeaks her approval, “Deal! Don’t keep me waiting now, you hear?”

“As you command, milady!” he chuckles while giving a bow before her.

“And say ‘hi’ to Twilight for me!” she adds as her husband exits out of the house.

“Will do!”

An hour later, Ford Mustang arrives at the kingdom of Canterlot. Eventually, he spots Princess Twilight Sparkle on the ground with a couple of her guards accompanying her as they wait outside the castle’s main entrance. From there, the Pegasus makes a graceful landing next to her, and the princess warmly greets him.

“Ford, I’m so glad that you are finally here!”

“Me too, Twilight! I certainly hope that we can finally solve this dilemma together!”

As they walk through the royal courtyard, Twilight asks delicately, “So… are you still getting those nightmares?”

“Sigh… yes.” he confirms dishearteningly. “Honestly, I don’t know how much more I can take of this. I’m still having trouble sleeping, and it’s even more difficult without disturbing Rainbow Dash as well. Even when I take naps throughout the day, these visions keep coming back to me.”

“Well once this is eventually resolved, then the visions should go away as well.” the purple Alicorn assures with a gentle smile. “Anyway, I’m sure that the Princesses along with Discord will be able to share some good news for a change!”

Renewed with a bright smile, he responds eagerly, “Well, let’s not keep them waiting!”

Once Ford and Twilight approach the large doors to the throne room, the armored Unicorns standing guard open the doors for them. Inside, the two ponies walk through the majestic corridor that is filled dozens of stained glass windows, which most of them depict the adventures of the Mane Six. There is even one stained glass window that features Ford Mustang’s triumph against Arrogon the Destroyer along with Pegasus’s allies. At the end of the walkway are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in their respective thrones. In addition, Discord is there in presence as he stands right in-between the two sisters.

“Welcome, Sir Ford Mustang.” Celestia greets with a pleasant smile. “Thank you for being here on our behalf.”

“Of course, your Majesty.” he replies modestly as he bows before them. “Thank you all for having me here today. So… I take it that you are all aware on what’s been going on?”

“Yes, that is correct. My sister told me and Discord on what has been plaguing you for a while and the three of us went into a great discussion over this grave matter.”

“Great.” he says with an eager smile. “So this means we have time to save Rainbow Dash before these visions come true, right?”

But as he expects a positive response, he is baffled by the Princesses and Discord’s silent reactions. Most of them avert their gazes away Ford’s as their deadpan faces barely show anything uplifting to the Pegasus’s plight.

“…Right?”

But once again, he is met with complete silence as Celestia, Luna, and Discord look at each other with great uncertainty until the dark blue Alicorn decides to speak up first despite mild hesitation. “Ford… you have to understand. We’ve… looked at this situation from every angle we can think of. But you see…”

Seeing how Luna is at a lost for words, Discord steps up and continues where she lefts off. “Without any clues as to the cause of her predetermined demise, especially if it falls under anything regarding with magic, we… have to determine it as… natural. And well…”

“We are unable to help you or Rainbow Dash at this point if she dies from natural causes.” Celestia finishes that sentence in a mild yet heartbreaking tone.

This unexpected news leaves the throne room in dead silence as Twilight Sparkle and Ford Mustang are utterly speechless over this disturbing information. Despite her faith in the Princesses, especially in Celestia, Twilight finds all of this inconceivable as there seems to be nothing anypony, not even the Princesses, can do to save one of her very best friends.

But before her emotions start to get the best of her, she turns her attention to Ford as she can only imagine that he is handling this even worse than herself. However, she is surprised to see the wide-eyed stallion expressing little to no emotions as he stares down at the extensive, red carpet.

Eventually, he speaks out his mind in a soft, monotone voice, “I… I… I don’t believe this…”

“I am so sorry, Ford.” Luna apologizes sincerely. “I really wish there was more we can--!”

But suddenly, he interrupts her in a sharp outburst, “No! I don’t believe this! I can’t believe that you three would simply give up and let Rainbow Dash die like that! Especially you, Discord!” he exclaims as he points his accusing fore hoof at the startled trickster. “You have the power to bend the very fabric of reality itself, and you wouldn’t even bother to lift a finger for her!”

In response, Discord meekly taps his forefingers together as he clarifies in an earnest yet timid tone, “I’m sorry, Ford. But not even I can tamper with the boundaries of life and death.”

But Ford scoffs at the Draconequus as he rebuts harshly, “Oh yeah, sure! You’re welcome to mess around with the laws of physics and nature! And yet surprisingly enough, the very concept of death completely eludes you! Ha! Some Master of Chaos you are!”

As Discord is literally feeling small from such backlash, Luna attempts to discipline the Pegasus for his unnecessary behavior, “Ford! That’s enough! I know that you are upset--!”

“Upset…? Upset?!” he exclaims before readdressing himself in mocking casualness, “Oh no, I’m not just upset… I’M BUCKIN’ FURIOUS!!” And he proves his point by slamming his forelegs hard onto the marbled floor. While his angry outburst did not damage the red carpet, the shockwave from his thunderous stomp did create a massive crack underneath the floor covering.

A bit scared by Mustang’s rare display of intense anger, Twilight tries to reason him softly, “Ford, please. There’s no need to take it out on anypony.”

“You’re right… I shouldn’t take it on anyone… except for YOU, Celestia!” he emphasizes his next accusation as he points at Celestia, which causes everyone present to go wide-eyed in shock. “You, who have lived for countless years and having a vast knowledge of magic, can’t so much as lift your sorry flanks off of that cushiony seat of yours and actually do something worthwhile for a change! I mean, think about it! She sends six mares to go on these extremely dangerous missions, and all she needs to do is kick back and relax while the real heroes do all of the dirty work for her!”

In the midst of the confrontation scene at play, Discord, who is just as petrified as Luna and Twilight, quietly mutters to himself, “Ooh… this won’t end well.”

Then, with a snap of his finger, he conjures up a handbook with a mushroom cloud depicted on its cover. After putting on his small reading glasses, he flips through several pages as he skims through them for the passage he is looking for.

“Let’s see here… ah-ha! Here it is! In case of a solar flare that may be caused by Princess Celestia or any one of her darker incarnations that’s equivalent to Nightmare Moon, use one of the following selections as a means of an emergency shelter. Trenches… Bunkers… Vaults. Ooo! The fans would get a kick out of this!” he lightly chuckles to himself.

Meanwhile, Ford carries on with his rant against the thunderstruck Celestia. “But then again… none of this really matters to you, does it? After all, our short, fragile lives are practically meaningless compared to yours! Why should you bother to waste your precious time and save one of your loyal subjects from their imminent deaths when you can just easily replace them once they’re gone from this world?! Huh?!”

As Mustang vents out his passionate fury against the Princess of the Sun, his body impulsively radiates a golden aura of his Draconian Magic. Upon seeing the stallion glowing intensely as he crouches in an aggressive stance, Celestia finally shifts her expression into a piercing glare and stands up straight before stomping down the steps.

Along with Twilight Sparkle and Luna, Discord is deeply alarmed by the possibility of a physical confrontation, and he firmly closely his personal survival handbook before making up his mind. “Okay, pop culture reference it is!”

In a flash, Discord gathers up the other two princesses and flies a good distance away from the two glaring powerhouses. In speedy, cartoon fashion, the Master of Chaos constructs a colossal hatch labeled “STABLE 2” right on top. With no time to lose, Discord flings the two mystified Alicorns into his makeshift fallout shelter and slams the vault shut once he quickly enters inside himself. Once inside, a periscope rises up as Discord’s eyes pop out of its lens to observe the intensifying situation from a now-secured location.

In the meantime, Ford and Celestia are engaging in an intense staring contest as they wait for each other to make the first move. As the glaring princess looks down at the scowling Pegasus, she takes a moment to close her eyes and draws a deep breath before she exhales it gently and reopening her eyes to display a much softer expression.

And in a firm yet surprisingly calm manner, Celestia finally comes up with her response to the fuming stallion, “And if I do have to power to save somepony from death, won’t others before her deserve a second chance in life as well?”

This counterargument clearly catches Ford off-guard as he begins to ponder on that one question. The first thing that comes to mind are AJ’s parents. How much it would make so much of a difference if they were ever brought back to life to see not only Applejack and Big Macintosh, but also Apple Bloom, who has grown up so much since their passing and hardly has any memories of them.

But then, his contemplating shifts to another deceased pony, Firefly, the mother of Rainbow Dash. He remembers that heartrending incident from his first visit of Rainbow’s father, Turbo Dash, where he overheard Rainbow’s grief at a local graveyard on how much she misses her mother so much since the day she died during childbirth. The fact that Rainbow may suffer the same fate as her mother is frightfully eerie once he notices the similarity. Either way, the thought on how there are others who have suffered the lost of their loved ones snaps Ford out of his needless outrage, and he breaks down into tears while his magical aura disperses.

“Princess… I…! I’m so sorry!” he weeps heavily as he plops his haunches onto the floor. “I was being selfish, and I spoke out of line. I just… I just… I just want to save her.”

Without looking up to see Celestia’s reaction, he feels a strong yet gentle wing pulling him closely towards the white Alicorn Princess as she gently reassures the sobbing Pegasus while warmly embracing him, “Ssshh… no need for that, dear. Just let it all out.”

Within the comfort of the kindhearted princess, Mustang complies and clings on to her chest like a son seeking desperate consolation from his mother. In the midst of Ford’s sobbing, Twilight, Luna, and Discord peek out of the vault as they verify that the situation has not escalated as badly as they thought it would be once they see the touching scene in front of them.

After calming down from his sniveling, he looks up and asks Celestia in a pitiful tone, “Princess, may I ask you something?”

“Of course, Ford.” she nods with that sweet, motherly smile of hers.

“How do you go through all of this… heartbreak… especially for someone like you?”

A bit surprised by such a curious question at first, she replies in her ever so calm voice with a small yet earnest smile. “I won’t lie to you, Ford. I have made friends from countless generations, and each one of their passings is as painful as the last. But despite going through that never-ending cycle, I’ve always manage to move forward without ever forgetting about them, so long as I keep them alive in my memories and in my heart.”

And she demonstrates her point by placing her armored fore hoof over her chest, where her heart is located. Ford mimics her gesture and he takes a moment to listen to the beats of his heart, which has given him a moment to finally calm down after his tantrum and breakdown. And after a brief moment of silence, Celestia continues in a more solemn and sympathetic tone.

“I’m sorry that our answers aren’t what you were seeking from us, Ford. But I promise you, if there is anything we can do for Rainbow Dash in the midst of her pregnancy, please do not hesitate to ask for any favors from us.”

Finally, a tiny smile shows itself on Ford’s face as he expresses his humble gratitude for the benevolent princess, “Of course. Thank you so much for your time, Princess Celestia.”

With the coast clear, Discord swings the hatch open to his personal vault and pouts lightheartedly while resting his chin on the palm of his right claw, “Oh, poo. What a waste of a perfectly good fallout shelter. Sigh… and here I was hoping we might do a proper crossover once an apocalypse settles in.”

“Oh come on, Discord.” Twilight Sparkle dismisses his claim with a nervous chuckle. “Princess Celestia wouldn’t go that far to do something so rash.”

But then the giggling jester breaks into that less-than-reassuring smirk, as he pokes fun at her whilst he pinches the younger Alicorn’s cheek, “Oh Twilight, you naivety is simply a-dork-able!” As the unamused Twilight grumbles lightly with an immense frown from Discord’s teasing, the tall trickster turns to the other bunkered princess and asks, “Princess Luna, do remember that awful day when we decided to pull a prank on one of Tia’s cakes?”

Upon that grim reminder, Luna face-hoofs herself and groans in response, “Don’t even remind me! Ugh! I can’t believe you talked me into that!”

Baffled by what they were hinting at, Twilight inquires in a panicky state, “What in Equestria did you two do to her?!”

A bit hesitant to tell the younger Alicorn Princess at first, Luna answers in a slightly nervous tone, “Let’s just say… we all learn a valuable lesson when it comes to getting in the way between my sister and her precious sweets.” And the surprisingly scared-stiff Discord agrees to that with a hasty nod.

A while later, Twilight Sparkle, who has accompanied Ford Mustang to a local candy shop after their meeting, has just received her massive purchase of an assortment of fudge, and she pays the confectioners handsomely for their service. Afterwards, she uses her magic to levitate her delectable gift to her absent-minded Pegasus friend.

“Here you go, Ford.” she gets her attention warmly.

“Oh, uhh… thank you, Twilight.” he response with a humble smile as he accepts the sweets from her. “But you didn’t need to pay all of this for me.”

“Of course I do. It’s the least I can do for you and Rainbow. I hope that she’s like them.”

“Trust me, she’s going to love them!” he reassures with a chuckling grin. “Heck, I may not get a chance to lay a hoof on them before she eats them all herself!”

They have a good laugh, but that is unfortunately short-lived as they share a dreadful silence over the unfulfilled meeting they just had with the Alicorn Sisters and Discord. In the beginning, they are certain that they can save Rainbow Dash from such a cruel fate if they turn to the most powerful beings on the planet, but not even the almighty trinity can aid them now.

As they slowly walk toward the kingdom’s main entrance, Twilight eventually speaks up first in a trembling, cheerless voice, “Ford… I’m sorry. I didn’t expect that it would turn out this way.”

Composed to the best of his abilities, Mustang shakes his head and replies softly in disheartenment, “It’s not your fault, Twilight. I’m the one who should be sorry for snapping at Celestia and everyone else like that.”

“…So who else can we turn to if not the Princesses or Discord?”

“Sigh… I don’t know.” he answers with great uncertainty whilst he aimlessly looks up at the sky. “I wish Hindel was still alive though. He could provide some answers to my Draconian Magic as well as these visions.”

“Oh, I wish I can help you out with this…” she adds in a dejected voice. “…but I don’t have much knowledge when it comes to that kind of field of magic. Not even from my own experience when I raised Spike ever since he was a hatchling.”

From their talk over Draconian Magic, some inspiration strikes Ford like lightning as this stroke of brilliance leaves him thunderstruck while Twilight observes him with puzzlement and concern. Gradually, he breaks into a small, yet hopeful smile as he may have come up with a last ditch effort to save Rainbow Dash’s life.

“Maybe… there is someone else I can turn to instead!” he states with a growing smile before turning his head rapidly to face the startled princess. “But first, I need to ask you something. Have you and the others come up with a date for Dashie’s foal shower?”

A bit taken back by Ford’s sudden confidence, Twilight then informs him, “Yes, we have. It will be two weeks from now. Why?”

“Then that’s when I will make my move and seek out the only one who can help me at this point!” he confirms with a grin before making his request with grave importance. “Twilight, I hate to ask you this, but I need you and the girls to keep the foal shower going for as long as possible for Rainbow Dash until I get back. I’ll try to finish my visit as soon as I can.”

After a brief moment to give his request some more thought, Twilight agrees with a considerate smile, “Okay, Ford. I understand. But if I may ask, who exactly are you referring to?”

“…Wagner the Inferno Dragon King.”

Author's Note

Before I published this story, I would add something to the Author's Notes for each chapter I completed. Recently, I realized that I forgot to write something this chapter's Notes, so I figure I would take the time to address something that's been bugging me since the story's premiere:

Stars Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. :facehoof:

When "The Wonderful Life of Ford Mustang" was first Featured, I received a surprising amount of negativity, far more so than even my 1st story, "The Arrival of Ford Mustang." And I don't believe that most of it comes from how my OC is named after a car, or the fact that this is another HiE story. I believe the majority of those dislikes come from how I wrote the story's Long and Short Descriptions. Apparently, when I wrote about Ford Mustang receiving visions during Rainbow Dash's pregnancy, a lot of readers automatically thought about Episode III and assumed the worst out of this story. And yes, sad as it is, I do see the similarities myself.

But has anyone even considered why I made that approach for this sequel? :rainbowhuh:

I know I stated in the Author's Notes of Chapter 10 that Ford's visions serve as an inciting incident, but there's more to it than that. For those who read the previous story, "The Epic Quest of Ford Mustang", he received his Draconian Magic from his blind, scaly friend, Hindel the All-Seeing Dragon, who can see many things through his mind's eye, past, present, and future. So, with what Ford inherited, it would seem fitting that he too can see a glimpse into the future. That idea, was to not only make his dragon powers much harder for him to deal with, but to add more conflict to the overall story.

So you see, I made that decision to emphasis the downside and misfortune of Ford's Draconian Magic, NOT because of Revenge of Sith. And if people want to keep making comparisons to that atrocious, asinine, overabundent CGI mess of a prequel, ~~which practically ruined what made Star Wars so wonderful to begin with...~~ so be it.

And finally, just to make things perfectly clear without giving anything away, I know how this story is going to end, and I can assure you... it's not going to end like Revenge of the Sith. :ajbemused:

Update to the Author's Notes (2/17/15):

I like to apologize for taking too much of my frustration on Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, in which at the end of that passage I called it an "atrocious, asinine, overbundent CGI mess of a prequel." Mostly, it's because I realized that Episode III isn't that terrible of a movie as I had exaggerated. In truth, there are some good moments in it that I do enjoy. My favorite moments involve nearly every scene featuring Palpatine, including the opera scene. Regarding with calling it "atrocious" and "asinine", those slanders are mostly directed at the whole love story of Anakin Skywalker and Padme, especially with their development in Episode II.

I know this update would make me sound like a hypocrite from my previous statement, but it would be shameful for me to lie on the things that I do enjoy. So again, I'm sorry for getting a little bit carried away with that rant, and I will try to be more careful next time.

Chapter 15 – The Phantom Menace

Chapter 15 – The Phantom Menace

From recognizing that unmistakable face of his in the midst of the intense snowstorm, the suddenly livid Ford Mustang sprints forward without hesitation, and he makes a direct tackle toward his dark adversary. In the midst of their tumbling, the unexpected challenger pushes Ford off with a quick kick. From that separation, the Pegasus makes a quick recover in mid-air before landing on all fours and engaging in a heated stare-off with his shadowy opponent. Ford just couldn’t believe it with his own exhausted eyes, but there is no doubt in his trembling heart.

Arrogon the Destroyer has returned!

“Hello, Ford Mustang.” the dark stallion greets ever-so smugly. “Long time no see, eh?” Ford remains silence and still as he keeps his still-attentive glare on the conceited pony. So Arrogon continues in a droll manner, “What’s the matter? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“Arrogon! How did you survive?” the growling Mustang inquires unfathomably.

“Come now, Ford. Don’t act so surprise.” he responds with a carefree shrug. “I’ve kept myself alive for over 500 years. Did you really think that you can put me down that easily?”

“Then I’ll just have to make doubly sure that you stay down for good!” Ford declares in a snarl.

“Oh really?” he remarks with amusement. “You think you can take me on right now? Your friends won’t be able to save you this time you know.”

“Neither will your captive gods in that stupid amulet of yours.” the Pegasus taunts right back.

Surprising enough, Arrogon takes no offense to Ford’s witty retort as he lets out a faint chuckle before saying in a casual manner, “Well, I guess we’re both evenly matched then, huh?”

“Not for long.”

And after his determined declaration, Ford charges forward once again and prepares to unleash one of his earth-shattering punches. But as he lets his almighty fore hoof loose, Arrogon does the same and their hardened hooves come into contact where they create a massive shockwave that knocks the surrounding snowflakes several feet away from them.

Once the falling snow resumes its intensity, Ford throws another punch at Arrogon, but the confident villain dodges the next one with ease. Following up on that, the blue-haired stallion pulls off a combo of swift kicks and punches, but with each attempted strike, the dark Earth Pony evades them all in unusual gracefulness. From Ford’s latest kick, Arrogon blocks it this time with his firm, left foreleg. And with the Pegasus being caught off-guard by his failed attacks, the Destroyer delivers a powerful kick to the gut, and it propels Ford far away before he plummets right into the thick snow.

As Mustang gets up from the first strike he just received, Arrogon openly taunts him, “Hmph! Pathetic! Look at you! You’ve really let yourself go, haven’t you? You have all of this power, and you’re already out of practice! I can’t even imagine how you will be able to protect those wretched friends of yours in your current, pitiful state… especially that pretty, little wife of yours!”

“What did you say…?” he says in a quiet, staggered tone as his troubled eyes swell up to their extreme limits.

“Oh yes… I’ve kept a very close eye on you.” Arrogon confirms in sickening delight. “And I know everything that has been going on with that ‘perfect’ married life of yours. Including Rainbow Dash’s grim predicament.”

Unable to comprehend all of this, the thunderstruck Mustang asks in skepticism, “H-how?! How could you possibly know that?!”

“Silly pony.” And in an incredible burst of speed, Arrogon darts forward and give a swift punch to Ford’s jaw as he continues his grim dialogue while the staggered pony loses his balance. “I am the thing that keeps you up at night.” Then, he delivers another punch, which slams Mustang into the snowy ground hard. “The evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind.” he carries on melodramatically as he lifts Ford off the ground with his levitating magic before he leans forward and finishes his speech in a sinister whisper. “I will never rest, and neither will you.”

In the midst of the pummeling, Ford starts to recall those nightmarish visions he’s been having for over a month. And with the unforeseen return of his most hated enemy, a new, terrible thought comes to mind as he believe to have found the last link to his ongoing conundrum.

Once he comes to from his inner thoughts, he snaps into action and bashes Arrogon’s skull with a fore hoof, which frees him from the ex-tyrant’s magical grasp. While Arrogon lies on the ground, Ford screeches at him with so much fury in his voice, “It was you all along, wasn’t it?! You’re the one responsible for all of this! What did you do?!”

As Arrogon sits there in a strangely casual position, he cackles in a spontaneous manner as his reluctance to reply gets on Ford’s nerves increasingly. “Answer me, Arrogon! What have you done to her?!”

But instead of a response, Arrogon’s cackling turns into that menacingly loud laughter. Failing to see on what’s so funny regarding with his adversary’s dark sense of humor, Ford has all he can take, and he lets out a tremendous breath of fire as the golden flames engulf the laughing demon completely. However, the Destroyer leaps out of the blaze with his newly conjured, fiery wings like a bat out of hell and pounces on the opposing stallion.

After Ford kicks him up in the air, Arrogon maintains a steady attitude and attacks from above with his own fiery blasts. Nimbly, Mustang dodges the first breath attack with a dive and roll, and he too takes the ongoing fight into the skies with his own pair of wings. From there, their battle literally becomes a firefight as they light up their densely hazy sky with their opposing fire-breathing techniques. Nimbly, they counter each other’s attacks with their evasive maneuvers and strong hits, and their respective energy missiles scatter across the mountains where they explode upon contact.

From releasing so much Draconian Magic without keeping himself in check, Ford quickly lands on the side of a nearby mountain as Arrogon follow suit by landing a cliff close by. From their positions, Arrogon looks down on his strenuous opponent as he asks in mocking concern, “Are you alright there? You look like you could use a break.”

As he pants greatly to catch his breath and energy, Ford manages to stand firm and he retorts assuredly, “I’m going to end this, once and for all! And then you will never be a threat to Rainbow Dash ever again!”

“Aahhh… but that’s the beauty of it!” Arrogon counters with twisted enjoyment. “I didn’t need to lay a single fore hoof on her myself! And why would I need to when you’ve already done that for me?”

“…What?”

“Think about it, Ford.” he continues his explanation in his usual smugness. “You and I possess the might of the dragons. With such dangerous magic in tow, you didn’t expect that things will go wrong during Rainbow Dash’s conception, did you? Don’t you see? You are the one who brought this on her yourself!”

Ford isn’t sure if he can trust Arrogon’s twisted words, and unfortunately for him, the slithering statement is getting the best of him as it begins to sink into his conflicting soul. “N-n-no… no… no! That’s not true!” he denials in desperation. “My Draconian Magic would never do that her!”

“Deny it if you wish.” Arrogon shrugs nonchalantly. “It won’t change anything. Everything has already been set in motion, thanks to you, of course.” Then, he snickers to himself as he continues in despicable glee, “It’s quite funny, isn’t it? You seek to save the one you hold so dear, yet in the end, you will literally be the death of her! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

As Arrogon carries on with her diabolical laughter, Ford is completely shook up before his unbridled anger takes hold of him, and he knocks the dark pony off the edge of his cliff with a monstrous dragon’s roar. With the Destroyer propelled into the air, Mustang pursues his target and plunges his forelegs deep into Arrogon’s chest. And after giving himself enough space in the stormy sky before making a sharp turn around, Ford pushes himself to the extreme by increasing his speed into overdrive, and he manages to pull off his second Sonic Rainboom on the same night.

KA-BOOM!!

With Arrogon stuck in the driver’s seat, Ford forcefully shoves the demonic stallion right into a mountainside as the immeasurable might of the Sonic Rainboom allows him to drive the villain all the way through until they burst out of the other side of the mountain. Once they come closer to the ground, Ford slings Arrogon forward with his monstrous, rage-fueled strength and slides across the snow in the midst of landing while the ex-tyrant severely tumbles across the uneven surface like a flimsy ragdoll.

With the Destroyer down for the moment, the incredibly tiring Mustang calls out to his fallen opponent, “I don’t care what you say, Arrogon! I will save Rainbow Dash! Whatever it takes!”

“Hmph… whatever it takes, eh?” Arrogon replies sarcastically as he steadily gets himself up. “Even if you have to go up against your precious rulers, like what you almost did to Princess Celestia a couple of weeks ago?”

“What…? N-no!” he rejects frantically from that reminder. “I would never do that to the Princesses, nor anyone else!”

“ So you say.” he chuckles deviously as he slowly walks toward the deeply disoriented Pegasus while he continues to speak more maliciously. “It seems we have more in common than you realize. Whether it’s to seek ultimate power or to save a loved one, we both will go to such extreme lengths to achieve our goals, won’t we? As they say: the ends justify the means, right?” And once he is inches away from Ford’s unsettled face, Arrogon caps it all off by rubbing it right in front of him. “Face it, Ford. We’re simply two sides of the same coin. And in due time, you become just… like… ME!”

And as he enunciates his last word, Arrogon swiftly changes his appearance through a flash of blue fire, which completely snaps Mustang out of his bewilderment, and he immediately takes a step back. But once the demonic flames die down, Ford’s eyes shot wide-open as he stares in disbelief on what is standing before him.

It was mirrored version of himself with the most wicked eyes imagined and a very psychotic grin plastered on his face.

While the real Ford remains completely frozen in fear, confusion, and uncertainty, the twisted variation of himself starts to laugh like a maniac as its malicious laughter echoes across the mountain range. As the Bad Mustang carries on with his ruthless hilarity, Ford shakes tremendously as he could barely contain his indescribable hatred at the unrelenting instigator. And probably for the first time in his life, he simply lost it.

“SHUT UP!!”

Upon his explosive outburst, Ford knocks his twisted doppelganger with a powerful punch, which thankfully ceased his sinister snickering, and Arrogon loses the disguise while he harshly slides across the frigid snow. But as he gets himself up in an abnormal way, Arrogon resumes his masquerade and stares at Ford with pupil-shrunken eyes that signify his sickening joy while also bearing that disgusting smile of his.

As the absolutely livid Mustang stomps toward him, the sadistic imitator simply laughs off the presumed pain as he goads him without end, “Yes, that’s it, Ford! Let it all out! It feels good, doesn’t it? This power! Show me more of that wonderful wrath of yours! Give in to the fury!”

“SHUT! UP!”

And once again, Ford knocks Arrogon down with another rage-intensified punch to the head as it disrupts the antagonist’s mocking disguise again. The impact from where the Destroyer hits the ground creates a nicely sized crater as it demonstrated the Pegasus’ unrestrained power. As he stands on top of the vile villain, Ford starts to literally beat himself up in a very crude manner.

“I am not like you!”

POW!

“I wouldn’t be like you!”

POW!

“I will never be like you!”

POW!

From each ruthless hit he received, Arrogon loses his disguise momentarily before regaining in a fraction of a second. This only causes Ford keep on pummeling him even further in an increasingly rapid rate. Hit after hit, the breaks between each punch become shorter as the forms of Arrogon and the evil version of Ford look like they are merging into a one hideous being. Either way, this did not stop the wild stallion as he seeks to wipe that smug pony from the face of this world.

However, something did rein Ford’s wrath as he hears a raspy yet familiar voice, “Mustang… stop.”

From hearing that feminine outcry, Ford pauses from releasing his next punch once he catches a glimpse at who he is about to strike next. Instead of Arrogon or an evil version of himself, it is the one pony whom he holds so dear… the one pony who would be the last thing he would ever want to hurt… Rainbow Dash.

Freezing in place, Ford stares down with immense horror and fear at his beloved wife, who lies on the frozen ground and looks completely injured. The knife in his heart twists even further when the utterly frightened mare locks her pitiful, teary gaze with his as she convincingly pleads to him in soft, trembling voice.

“Why? Why are you doing this to me? You’re hurting me.”

Ford tries to ignore the hurt expression on that heart-wrenching face of hers. He tries to convince himself that it’s just one of Arrogon’s illusions to play with his emotions. He tries to remind himself that the real Rainbow Dash is among with her friends and is safe at home. He just needs to look past that convincing façade and keep on pounding the Destroyer until he is no more.

But… he didn’t. He just couldn’t do that to Rainbow, illusion or no illusion.

Defeated and completely distraught, he steps away in an unstable manner and drops on all four legs before weeping in self-pity and misery on all that is plaguing him, begging that this nightmare will finally go away and leave him be. As Mustang sobs to himself, the fake Rainbow Dash gets herself up casually as she finally drops the act, knowing that her deception was a complete success, and that he, Arrogon, is the true victor of their rematch.

“All too easy.” the false mare addresses to the broken stallion with the repulsive voice of Arrogon. “No matter what you do, you will fail to save her. Her inevitable death will lead you to plummet into your own turmoil and despair, and it’s all… your… fault.”

Taking a break from his sobbing, Ford hears some haunting chanting from his surroundings, and he takes a moment to verify on where that eerie unison is coming from. One by one, many of his pony friends step from the dense haze of the blurry snowstorm as they slowly walk toward the startled Pegasus. Every one of them expresses complete disappointment, probably to indict Ford’s failure from preventing Rainbow Dash’s foreseen demise. The scowling ponies continue their steady march as they encircle Ford like a pack of wolves closing in for the kill whilst they carry on with their creepy chanting.

“It’s your fault… your fault… your fault... your fault… your fault.”

As they repeat the same words over and over again, the glaring eyes of the phony ponies are gradually lit ablaze as they share the same demonic, fiery gazes at their dark puppet master. Ford tries to ignore the scornful company by shielding his eyes and clamping down his ears, but the repetitive chanting keeps getting louder and louder. Unable to bear it any longer, Ford lets out a tremendous outcry as he impulsively unleashes an enormous, wide-ranged dragon’s roar.

“STOP IT!!”

The powerful outburst knocks the wind out of the magical doppelgangers as they all fall down simultaneously. From catching his breath, Ford gasps in silence at the appalling scene of his fallen friends as he contemplates on what he has done in the midst of his unsettled mind. As Mustang continues to gaze at the scene with immense dread over his actions, the magical doppelgangers disappear one at a time in a burst of dark, blue fire.

The only pony remaining besides the distressed Mustang is the twisted copy of himself as he gets himself up before dismissing his disguise and revealing his true self, Arrogon the Destroyer, the very pony responsible for all of this madness. Renewed with unbridled anger, he has all he can take from the arrogant deceiver, and the Pegasus charges head-on to confront his adversary… one last time.

Suddenly, a colossal creature dives in between the two challengers as the quaking impact splatters lots of snow that showers over the shook-up Mustang. After he quickly brushes off the excess snow, Ford narrows his eyes at the large, winged shadow to get a better idea on who the intruder’s identity. Gradually, the Pegasus notices some familiar features on this gargantuan creature: bulky body frame, rough, armor-like scales, dark red coloring, broad spiky jaw, and glowing, green eyes. This is the very dragon Ford’s been looking for: Wagner the Inferno Dragon King.

“W-W-Wagner?!” he exclaims in overwhelming shock.

“Geez, all this ruckus from just one little pony!” the scarlet dragon grumps in usual fashion.

“Wagner, thank goodness you’re here! It’s Arrogon! He’s back, and he’s right over there!”

After the Pegasus points it out with a shaky foreleg, Wagner turns to his head to see what Ford is pointing out. To Mustang’s confusion, the elder dragon hasn’t fidget from his spot as he frantically keeps shifting between his scaly friend and the motionless Destroyer. Finally, Wagner twists his head to face the edgy pony as he bears a blank look on his face before sharing his startling statement to him.

“Ford… I don’t know how to tell you this, but he’s not there.”

The apprehensive stallion takes a moment to blink his bloodshot eyes in disbelief before he scolds at Wagner, “What are you talking about?! Can’t you see him?! He’s right behind you!”

“FORD, LISTEN TO ME!” he commands in a booming voice before he restates himself as gently as possible. “There is no Arrogon. And he’s long gone from this world.”

But he’s right there! How can you even say that?!”

“I’ll show you. Close your eyes, Ford.”

“But if I do, Arrogon will--!”

“Forget about him! Trust me, he won’t interfere. I'll make sure of that. Now close your eyes.”

Hesitant at first, Ford decides to follow on Wagner’s advice and he gradually close his eyes. Once they are shut, the Inferno Dragon King carries on with his guidance in a surprising soothing manner similar to their deceased dragon friend, Hindel.

“Clear your mind, let go of your fears, and allow yourself to see your surroundings through your mind’s eye, just like Hindel has taught you.”

Recalling his days from Hindel’s training in the Everfree Forest, Ford practices his steady breathing as he finds some peace within the tranquil darkness of his mind. Eventually, he starts to see the glowing sources of energy painting his mental canvas. First, he sees his own golden aura shaping his body. Then he sees Wagner’s form, which is composed of his bright, red Draconian Magic. And finally, his energy field perception reaches to Arrogon’s stationary position.

But once Ford sees Arrogon through this unique form of sight, he notices something entirely different than the Arrogon he faced nearly half of a year ago. One incredible difference is that the villain does not possess his overwhelming aura of dark blue magic. Instead, it has a smaller glow of purple-colored energy. And not only that, but it’s not shaped like a pony at all; it just bears a ghostly form in its place.

“Now tell me, do you still see Arrogon?” asks Wagner.

“N-no…” Ford flabbergasts from his incredulity. “This aura… it’s definitely not his.”

“Good, now open your eyes and see the imposter for what it truly is.”

Once he opens his eyes, Ford is amazed to see Arrogon still standing in place. But knowing what he saw through this second sight he was taught by the All-Seeing Dragon, he is fairly certain that this can’t be the same Arrogon that is standing before him. With his mind finally able to see the truth of this whole charade, the very last illusion begins to fade away as Ford bears witness to the reveal of this pretender. With its final delusion disappearing like a evaporating steam, it finally shows it true, ghastly form: a floating, specter-like creature with a black, intangible body and big , glowing, purple eyes.

“What is that thing?!” Ford asks in complete bafflement.

"A Dream Eater.” Wagner explains. “A nasty, little sprite that feeds on energy from victims that are asleep or extremely fatigued. They do this by giving you nightmares or creating illusions to make it easier to absorb the psychic energy.”

As Ford flabbergasts on how he could have mistaken Arrogon for such a small, abnormal creature, the Dream Eater bobbles energetically as it takes pride and snickers in a high-pitched, childish manner from not only getting his fill of the pony’s succulent energy, but from also taking twisted joy over the success of its deception.

Annoyed by the dark sprite’s obnoxiousness, Wagner snorts out a large burst of fire at the snickering fiend, which jumps back in alarm, and the gruff dragon warms it very sternly, “Begone, you filthy parasite, lest I snuff you out myself!”

With no illusions to save it out of this one, the Dream Eater takes heed to Wagner’s warning, and it yips away in fright while it hovers away at incredible speed before it disappears within the dense haze of the ongoing storm.

With the Dream Eater out of sight, Wagner turns back to his pony friend as he mildly makes fun of him. “You know, I'm quite surprised that you would fall prey to such a pitiful creature. I thought Hindel trained you better than that.”

“Thank you, Wagner.” he says with a tiny, grateful smile. “But how did you find me in this awful snowstorm?”

“Well, someone was causing so much uproar that it was enough disturb my hibernation. So I made it my duty to investigate this so I can resume my sleep and to ensure the safety of my clan. Who would think that you out of all things in this world would be the one to disturb my slumber though?”

“S-sorry, Wagner.” he apologizes timidly. “But you see… I came all this way to seek your help on something. It’s imperative that I talk to you.”

Wagner eyes at the shivering Mustang for just a bit longer before he lets out a soft sigh and comply with his request, “Well, let’s get this over with. But first, let’s find a proper cave to get ourselves warm.” And he evidently points it out with an immense shiver coursing through this massive body. “Brr! Dragons aren’t built for this kind of cold weather, you know.”

Back in Ponyville…

Sometime later, Rainbow Dash begins to calm down a bit from her endless crying as the lamenting Pegasus lays her head on Twilight Sparkle’s lap, the only friend present at this time to serve as Dash’s means for comfort and sympathy. As Rainbow snivels lightly, she feels the gentle brushing from Twilight, who uses her fore hoof to stroke the multicolored mane. Eventually, Dash speaks up to the attentive Alicorn through her constant sniffling.

“I… I knew something was up, Twilight. I knew there was something going on with him. But I thought if I was patience enough, he would tell me all about it. Why won't he just tell me? Doesn’t he trust me at all? I thought I matter to him!”

“You do matter to him, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight responds cooingly. “More than you will ever know.”

Then, Rainbow looks up and fixates her big, tearful gaze at her purple friend as they were practically begging for more words of comfort, or the very least, some answers on what’s been going on with Ford all this time. Unable to tell Rainbow everything on what she knows as it would just break her heart to reveal the potential tragedy that may come in the near future, the young princess uneasily reassures the beseeching mare as best as she can.

“Look… I know I can’t… provide all of the details on what’s been going on, but I can assure you, he thinks this whole world about you. He loves you, Rainbow, and he would anything to keep you and your foals safe and happy.”

At last, a tiny smile breaks through on Dash’s grief-stricken face before she replies in a weak chuckle, “I would be even happier if he were here right now so I can hug him first and then strangle him for leaving me like this! Gah, why am I this emotional at a time like this? Stupid pregnancy hormones.” she grumbles to herself as Twilight giggles lightly on seeing her friend being more expressive than just being sad all-night long.

“I just… can’t believe it!” she continues her sulking. “He promised me… he Pinkie Promised that he would be here by the time I get back! And he went up and broke that promise!”

Unexpectedly, the door to the cloudhouse is swung wide-open. And as Rainbow and Twilight lift up to their heads in alarm to see who it is, to their surprise however, a suddenly fuming Pinkie Pie darts into the living room, and she screeches in demand to her two best friends, “He did WHAT?!”

A bit startled by Pinkie’s sudden appearance, Rainbow repeats herself softly. “Umm… well… Ford Pinkie Promised that he would be here by the time I get back, but he’s not here and--!

“Oh no! No-no-no-no-no-no-no!” the pink mare irritably interrupts her friend’s confirmation as she stomps around the room in circles while letting out her personal aggravation over this heinous transgression towards a sacred oath among friends, “It’s one thing to break a Pinkie Promise, but to break a Pinkie Promise to his own wife, that’s--!” But she couldn’t finish sentence as she literally turns red in the face while her pupil-shrunken eyes twitch like mad as Rainbow and Twilight stare at their animated friend with bewilderment and worry over Pinkie’s reaction.

Without blowing her top off, the Earth Pony twists her whole body around and faces Rainbow Dash before she determinedly swears to her, “Well don’t you worry, Dashie! I see to it that he will live up to that promise no matter what!”

“But how?” Twilight interjects in puzzlement. “We have no idea on where he is right now!”

Pinkie Pie narrows her eyes, rubs her chin slowly, and exaggeratedly hums to herself before an idea comes to mind. “Hang on! Give me a sec!”

With her muzzle glued to the cloudy floor covering, Pinkie begins to act like a dog as she rapidly sniffs around the room in a hasty pace. A bit distracted by their friend’s strange yet expected behavior, Twilight and Rainbow are caught by surprise when the sleuthing Pinkie Pie pops behind the couch. Her sniffing continues as her curious nose explores Rainbow Dash, much to her confusion and discomfort. First her coat, then her wings, and lastly her colorful mane.

Once she locks onto the scent she was looking for, the perky Pinkie Pie leaps over the couch and her friends before she maintains a cartoonish pose of a pointer dog before announcing out loud, “Ah-ha! I got it! Be right back!”

And before her two friends have time to response, Pinkie Pie leaps into action as she bolts out of the floating house and springs off the edge like she is jumping off a diving board with such poise and control. Defying all physics as usual, the Earth Pony dives right into the thick snow, and she speedily burrows up north while leaving an expansive trail behind. From the entry hole, the rest of the friends from Rainbow’s foal shower, who have just arrived outside of the ramped cloudhouse, stare speechlessly at Pinkie’s latest antics.

Breaking the awkward silence first, Gilda just has to state the obvious, “Did Pinkie Pie just dig into the ground?”

“Eeyup.” Applejack answers simply with a nod and casual smile.

Baffled as ever on what she just witnessed, the wide-eyed griffon inquires even further, “How?”

“Trust us, darling.” Rarity implores with a knowing grin. “It’s best to not ask and just simply accept her for who she is.”

Realizing that some things are best left unexplained, Gilda breaks into an amusing smirk in response, “Rrrrright.”

Meanwhile, in the Talos Mountains region, Ford Mustang and Wagner find a suitable, unoccupied cave nearby to carry on their conversations, one that is big enough for the scarlet dragon’s monstrous size. After they sit themselves down, Wagner arranges a ring of small stones before he ignites the center with a big burst of his red fire.

After their indoor campfire is setup, Wagner insists to the shivering pony, “Here. Eat this fire. It will help you warm up a bit.”

Seeing how he has been out of the cold for far too long, Ford nods in a shaky manner before he closes his eyes and concentrates. Calmly, he breathes in and out in a steady manner as the crackling flames gradually draw towards the stallion before they are absorbed into his skin. As the gentle flames enter his body, Ford can fill the incredible warmth of that familiar draconian fire as it completely warms him right up.

“Better?” the dragon asks.

“Ahh… much better.” Ford nods with a smile of relief. “Thank you.”

“Now then, why are you all the way out here in the middle of an ongoing blizzard? If you wanted to see me, you could have waited until winter was over just to save both of us the trouble.”

From detecting the dragon’s subtle grumpiness, Ford follows it up by saying in a timid, edgy manner, “I apologize, Wagner, but I had to see you as soon as possible. I need your help now more than ever! You’re the only one I can turn to at this point!”

“And why would that be?” he inquires with an arched brow.

“Well you see…” Ford explains himself hesitantly. “I’ve been having… these visions… premonitions about my wife. Six or seven months from now, she would give birth to our first two foals. And when that happens… sh-she’ll die.” he stammers from saying something so unpleasant before continuing. “When I first I had them, I simply dismissed them as nightmares that may have been the result of some kind of anxiety or just mere coincidence. But overtime, they kept repeating each and every night, and they kept getting worse and worse!” he dismays as he shakes his head in frustration. “I turned to anypony I can think of back at Equestria, but none of them could help me in my cause! Then, he takes a heavy breath to calm himself down before concluding himself in a very meek manner. “So… that’s why I’m here, Wagner. To seek your aid immediately.”

“I see.” Wagner says very simply.

“And so I was wondering… since I was given these dragon powers from Hindel, is it possible… that I inherited his gift of foresight as well?”

The red dragon takes a moment to think to himself before he can answer Ford’s question, “Yes, I do see that as a distinct possibility.”

“Then it’s just as I feared.” Mustang murmurs with a heavy, disappointing sigh before he proceeds with his next question, “Well then, if that’s the case, could you teach me any Draconian Magic that could save Rainbow Dash’s life?”

Wagner becomes awfully quiet for a minute before he replies more uneasily from answering the next question, “I’m sorry, Ford. But I can not.”

Desperately, he pleads to the supposedly steadfast dragon with all of his might, “Wagner, I’m begging you! I know you forbid to teach any outsiders regarding with your magic, but please just make this an exception for me, and I’ll--!”

“No, Ford. What I meant was…” he restates himself in a cumbersome manner. “…it’s not possible to teach anyone something like that, be it dragon or pony. Though my race prides itself on our extraordinary abilities, not everything can be solved with our magic. Not even revivification. And other than some of my own healers back in the clan, Hindel was the best of them of all, so surely he must have taught you everything there is to know when it comes to healing.”

Thinking back to his former master, most of the things that Hindel has taught Ford when it comes to healing in general was self-regeneration. From Wagner verifying on the dire circumstances on not being able to learn a more powerful Draconian Magic spell, Ford’s dire need to save his wife is fading fast as the realization of his hopeless efforts begin to fill up in his poor-throbbing heart.

“Then… there’s nothing I can do, is there?” the stallion asks in a trembling, melancholy voice.

“I’m sorry, Ford.” Wagner apologizes with pity as he gentle shakes his head. “I wish there was more I can offer. But… the way I see it, for you to receive these visions so early, you could see them both as a curse and as a blessing.”

“How?!” Mustang snaps at the sympathetic dragon. “How is that a blessing knowing that your loved one will die someday?!”

“Because this will give you the opportunity to make the most of the amount of time you have with her.” the dragon replies in a gentle, calm manner. “Not everyone is given an exact date on when their time will come. Life is precious, Ford Mustang. So treasure it and make it count, not just for yourself, but for her as well.”

Ford is a bit surprised by Wagner’s uncanny words of wisdom. He wouldn’t expect that coming from a tough and often ill-tempered dragon like the Inferno Dragon King himself. Still, this does allow Ford to give some careful consideration on what he can do at this pivotal moment.

After contemplating that, he couldn’t help but break into a chuckling smile as he comments to Wagner, “Heh, you know… you’re starting to sound like Hindel now.”

Wagner blinks speechlessly by Ford’s remark when compared to his old, perceptive friend. Nevertheless, he welcomes it as he displays an amusing yet proud grin on his face.

Suddenly, Wagner spots something at the cave’s entrance as he exclaims in shock, “What in the world?!”

Once he turns his head around to see what it is, Ford becomes just as perplexed and shocked as Wagner as they try to verify the unknown intruder at the mouth of the cave. The massive creature is made up of nothing but snow with a vague face featuring two hollow eye sockets and a large gaping mouth. It looks more like a gigantic blob than anything else. And as the snow monster slouches its way into the cave, it surprisingly speaks in a slow, creepy voice that echoes the cavern walls.

“MUSTY WUSTY~!”

From recognizing that one-of-a-kind nickname, the horrified Mustang gulps to himself once he figures out on who is underneath all that snow. “Uh-oh…”

As the abominable snowman inches closer to the modest campfire, the snow that holds itself together begins to melt away. Strangely enough, the snow is melting faster than expected. And in under less than a minute, all of the snow that made up the strange creature evaporates right away which reveals the true source of its literal meltdown: a very infuriated Pinkie Pie, who is so mad that her inexplicable heated body radiates a very hot pink color that causes her to blow intense steam out of her nose and ears.

Once her disguise has melted away, she screams right in front of Ford’s face, You broke your PINKIE PROMISE!!”

From her high-pitched, up-close screeching, Ford is knocked on his hindquarters, and in a state of panic, he tries to explain himself, “Wait Pinkie! Listen, I can--!”

“Oh no! Don’t even think you can get weasel your way out of this one!” she immensely scolds him while pressing a hard fore hoof against his chest. “You were expected to be at home by the time Dashie was done with her foal shower! And yet here you are, carrying on a conversation with some big, scary, grumpy dragon when you’re supposed to be to be tending to your wife right now!”

Standing in the middle of the two conversing ponies, the deadpan Wagner mutters to himself over Pinkie’s comment. “I’m… not sure if I should take offense to that or not.”

With renewed, bulging eyes, the groaning stallion smacks his with a firm hoof as he berates himself for his severe lack of punctuality, “Oh no! I lost track of time! I need to get home now!”

Frantically, he gets himself up and prepares his takeoff. Unfortunately, because of his mindboggling battle earlier, he loses most of his strength in his wings, and he quickly crashes onto the hard, cold floor. Noticing his failed launch, Pinkie Pie shifts from anger to worry, and she rushes to the fallen stallion to help him up.

“Hey, what’s the matter, Ford?” she inquires with soft tenderness.

“Sorry, Pinkie.” he staggers weakly. “I’m just too weak to fly right now.”

“Well, as much as I enjoy the idea on having a slumber party in a big, spook cave, we need to get you home fast!”

With a reluctant sigh, Wagner gets himself up and offers his services to them, “Well… since I’m already up, I guess I could offer you two a ride back home then.”

“Gasp! Really?” Pinkie squeals in overwhelming delight.

“Sigh… yes, really.” he answers in a reluctant grumble.

“Really really?”

“Really really.”

“Really really really--?”

“ENOUGH!” he snaps in a roar. “Do you want a ride or not?!”

“WHEEEEEE!” And with a mighty spring, the cheerful, pink pony jumps on top of Wagner’s head while the dragon gives Ford a lift up with his claw.

Once his Equestrian passengers are secured, the grouchy dragon warns them sternly, “But you ponies better not tell this to anyone! Got it?! I’m only making this as an exception for you two!”

“Don’t you worry your pretty, scaly head.” she reassures him with a carefree smile and a pat on his head. “I Pinkie Promise to not tell this to anyone. Now let’s fly!”

With everything set, the Inferno Dragon King leaves the cave and muscles through the ongoing snowstorm before he makes a grand takeoff. As they leave the vast region of the Talos Mountains, the weather gradually shifts to a calmer manner. With the ride now becoming nice and smooth from here on out, Pinkie Pie takes this opportunity to suggest a favorite activity in mind.

“So… who wants to do a sing-along~?”

Extremely annoyed by that silly suggestion from the happy-go-lucky, pink pony, Wagner heavily groans to himself in an aggravated growl, “By the gods, what did I get myself into?”

Back in Ponyville, the remaining friends from this evening's foal shower party are hanging outside of Rainbow Dash’s house as they wait for answers regarding with stressful situation involving Rainbow Dash. The only one that is missing amongst the company is Fluttershy, who is with Twilight Sparkle at the moment to ease some of Rainbow’s anguish. Eventually, Twilight steps out of the front door and gingerly approaches her friends.

“So how’s Dash holding up?” Spitfire asks concernedly.

“Sigh… a bit better I suppose.” she answers with mild uncertainty. “Of course, it’s mostly thanks to Fluttershy in there.”

“Is there anything we can do right now?” Fleetfoot adds.

“Girls, I… think it’s best we just let Rainbow and Ford sort this out themselves.” Twilight replies apprehensively.

“Well where in Equestria can he be?” Octavia asks with a hint of worry.

“Probably with another mare right now.” Gilda suggests bluntly.

At once, all of the mares turn their heads to display unamused glares at the lone griffon for even thinking such a thing. In response, Gilda dismisses their disapproving frowns with a shrug, “Hey, I’m just saying.”

“Gilda, that’s not what’s been going on!” Twilight chastises sharply. “I know that for a fact!”

“Then what is going on here, Twilight?” Applejack questions her sternly. “What is it that you and Ford are not tellin’ us?”

“I… I can’t tell you right now.” she answers uncomfortably as she avoids the farm pony’s hardhearted gaze. “I promised Ford that I won’t reveal this to anypony until the time is right.”

Then, AJ’s wife, Rarity, offers her opinion as modestly as possible. “Well, Rainbow Dash is still pretty distraught as we speak, so now would be a good time to enlighten us, darling.”

From hearing the seamstress’ sensible outlook, Twilight Sparkle takes a moment to reconsider as she looks back at the house where Rainbow is still moping. Seeing how Rainbow is still pre-occupied at the moment, maybe it’s the right time for Twilight to inform her friends about what she and Ford have been going through for Rainbow’s sake. With her mind made up, she lets out a steady breath of air and perhaps to share the grim essentials on Dash’s foredooming fate.

But before she could speak, the Alicorn is cut off abruptly when Applejack asks the group with her ears perk up, “Hey, do y’all hear that?”

Following up on the orange Earth Pony’s vigilance, Vinyl Scratch tilts her head to the source of the noise as she too picks up something with her very sharp ears. “Yeah, it’s coming from up there.”

With Vinyl pointing the direction of the sound with a foreleg, the rest of the girls look up to the dark, moonlit sky as they too hear what sounds like the steady, heavy flapping of wings. Then, they see a dark speck in front of the bright, blue moon. Eventually, the blemish gets bigger as it forms a shape of a large, frightening creature with very expansive wings. The startled ponies have a hard time to figure out the shadow’s silhouette, but Gilda is able to recognize it with wide eyes as she blurts it out loud.

“Wait a second… that’s Wagner!”

As the rest of the mares are completely bamboozled by the Wagner’s sudden appearance, the great, red dragon makes a soft landing on the cloudy surface, and he bows modestly before the astonished ladies.

As most of them recover from their own bewilderment, Octavia looks up and notices a familiar fluff of pink, curly hair sitting up top before she stutters out her perplexity, “And… is that… Pinkie Pie?!”

“Yep! I’m baaack~!” the lively Earth Pony greets to her friends down below before sliding off Wagner’s head and making a perfect, bouncy landing on the cloudy front yard.

Energetic as her pink friend, Vinyl Scratch bounds forward and hugs the party pony as she glees ecstatically with a vibrant grin, “No way! Pinkie Pie! You got to ride a dragon?! Ugh, I’m so jealous!” Then, she approaches the enormous dragon and childishly pleads to a great extent. “Can I have turn, Mr. Wagner, sir? Pleeeeease! I’ll pay whatever you want for just one ride!”

“No!” he refuses in a cranky tone, which earns him a playful whine from the disappointed DJ. “I’ve humiliated myself enough as it is for just one night! Anyway, I’m only here to drop some lost cargo off. And I believe this one belongs to you as well.”

And after he crouches down, Wagner places his head down on the clouds, and the missing stallion carefully gets himself off the bighearted dragon before he lands with a soft plop that nearly makes him lose his footing.

“Hello.” Ford addresses with a weak grin.

“Oh my stars, darling! What in Equestria happened to you?!” Rarity speaks up cooingly as she greets him with a tight embrace before letting him go and getting a better look at him. “Your mane and coat are absolutely dreadful!”

“Yeah, I’ll say!” Gilda adds who is just as taken aback as the rest of the mares. “You look like went through Tartarus and back! What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?!”

Ford takes a moment to look at himself. While there are no visible damage on him such as cuts and bruises, his coat looks like an absolute mess considering how ragged his fur is from his so-called battle with the fake Arrogon.

Not wanting to go into any details over what he has encountered, he answers very sheepishly, “I… rather not talk about that.”

“Well ya certainly got a lot to answer for!” Applejack demands sharply as her growling face is inches away from the petrified Mustang. “Rainbow is in there right now, and you seem to be the cause of her recent misgivings! Care to explain yourself, mister?”

From that stern reminder, everyone else stares intensely at Ford as they expect a good explanation from him. Except Twlight Sparkle of course, who stares at the cloudy ground with an ashamed look on her discouraging face.

Noticing how Twilight’s expression is far different than everyone else’s, Ford mildly asks of her, “Twilight, does she know yet?”

“No, not yet.” she answers as she shakes her head delicately. “She wanted to talk to you about that, but you’ve been gone for so long that she’s been completely upset when she found out that you were missing.”

“I see.” he responds quietly as he assumes this would happen at some point despite his best efforts. Leisurely, he turns around to face his dragon friend and offers his soft gratitude to him, “Wagner, thank you for everything this evening. I may not have the answers I was hoping for, but your words certainly gave me a lot to reconsider.”

“Then I’m glad to be of some assistance towards your cause.” he breaks in a welcoming grin before nodding to the grateful stallion. “Farewell, Ford Mustang. May fortune smiles upon your favor.”

And as the red dragon prepares to take flight, Pinkie Pie waves him off with a big smile, “Bye, Wagner! Thanks again for the flight back home!”

“Ughhh… the clan would never let this one down if they even catch wind on how much I’ve degraded myself this day.” he murmurs to himself before he launches into the air and makes the long trek back home.

“Ahhhh… I should do something to cheer up that grumpy face of his.” she pouts briefly before she instantly brightens up with an idea. “Ooo, I know! Maybe I can throw a surprise party for him!”

“Maybe you want to hold on that until spring comes around.” Ford suggests with a sheepish yet meaningful grin. Then, he faces the rest of his friends before apologizing to everyone present. “Girls, I’m sorry for all of this. I really meant to be here by the time the foal shower was over. I just never expected to be back so late.”

“Well… Ah’m just plum grateful that yer back safe and sound.” Applejack ensures with a comforting smile as she hugs him warmly. ”Now Ah’m not gonna ask on what’s been going on between you two, but Ah highly recommend that you sort this whole mess out with your wife. And the sooner, the better. Trust me, Ah know from experience.” she winks with a knowing grin from the last time the two had a heart-to-heart conversation.

Seeing the irony from AJ’s sound advice, he smirks to himself before responding back, “Sigh… Well, I guess there’s no sense from avoiding this anymore. Anyway, thank you all for looking after Rainbow Dash for me. I cannot tell you on how much I appreciate that.”

After one big group hug, Ford says goodbye to everyone and each of them go their separate ways to their respective homes. The only one to stay behind with Ford is Twilight Sparkle.

After a brief silence while Mustang gathers his thoughts on what’s to come, Twilight coyly asks of him, “Ford, are you sure you want to do this?”

In response, Ford takes a moment to inhales deeply before he lets it all out slowly, and he answers with unsettling certainty, “I can’t keep this up any longer, Twilight. I think it’s time I just admit my defeat and fess up already.”

A bit shock to hear such a disheartening tone from him, Twilight manages to bear a small, hopeful smile, and she establishes with confidence, “Well… even if that’s your decision, I’m still going to do all I can for our friend. We still got time until her expected delivery date. Maybe I can find something that can save her before that day arrives.”

With a small smile, Ford commends her, “Then hopefully your luck will turn out better than my own.”

Casually, Twilight walks away to give herself enough space before taking her leave. But Ford stops her as he forgets to say something to her. “Twilight, wait! I… haven’t properly thanked you for all that you’ve done for me. I won’t have gotten this far without you helping me along the way.”

In response to Ford’s humbleness, she smiles tenderly as she says to him, “Of course. Thank you for entrusting me in the first place. It means a lot that you would give so much consideration for her like that.”

“Goodnight, Princess Twilight.” he nods to her.

“Goodnight, Sir Mustang.” she nods right back.

And once they said their goodbyes, Twilight disappears in a flash of bright, purple light to head back to her room in Canterlot. Once the Alicorn is gone, he hovers toward his house and gently opens the door. Peaking around the corner of the living room, Fluttershy spots Ford from outside and immediately flies up to give him a big hug over his return.

“Oh, Ford! Thank goodness!” she states with a grateful smile. “We were so worried that you may not have made it back tonight!”

“Well, I’m here.” he announces amusingly before asking in a lighthearted manner. “So, is it safe to come in yet?”

“Yes, she’s in the living room right now waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy.”

But as he is about to say his goodbyes to Fluttershy, she stops him with a foreleg forward. “W-wait! There’s… something I have to say first.”

“Okay…” her arches an eyebrow in uncertainty as he waits for her to speak her mind.

Nervously, she flusters on what she needs to say before she gradually composes herself on what’s to come. “Umm… well… I first want to say… I’m sorry for this.”

“Sorry? For what--?”

SLAP!

In a flash, Ford’s head twists sharply to his right after that unexpected, hard smack to the face. As he slowly readjusts his head to face forward, he could hardly comprehend on what just happened: Fluttershy slapped him. Fluttershy… the most gentle and passive pony imagined… gave him a firm slap right on his left cheek. Granted, he would have expected Rainbow Dash or Applejack to slap for leaving his wife in such disarray while he was gone, but never Fluttershy for that matter.

As the wide-eyed Mustang stares back with a gaping, flabbergasted face, the unyielding Fluttershy, who still has her disciplining fore hoof stretched out, maintains her own unique stare on him. But this teal-colored stare is fairly different than her infamous ones. It didn’t show any anger, but it did show a chilling, commanding expression that mothers would display when scolding their children over their mischief: disappointment.

“That… was for leaving Dashie like that.” she emphasizes coldly as she places her striking fore hoof back on the ground with a soft stomp. “And I trust this will never happen ever again.”

Once those simple yet harsh words sink in, Ford collects himself before apologizing in a sincere, considerate manner. “You’re right, Flutteshy. I didn’t live up to my promise earlier, and I swear that I won’t do that to her again.”

Knowing on how Ford is being straightforward from reflecting his actions, Fluttershy immediately shifts to a brighter disposition as she smiles in response, “Good. Then I’m glad we could reach an agreement together.” With all things said, the yellow Pegasus mare walks pass him as she sweetly bids him goodnight. “Well since you’re here now, I better head home as well. Macintosh is probably worried sick about me.”

“Yes well… I certainly don’t want to earn your husband’s wrath as well, that’s for sure.” he chuckles with a hint of fear on Big Mac doing the exact same thing as Fluttershy if he was in her place. Dismissing that dreadful thought, Mustang takes the time to offer his gratitude once again. “Thanks for looking after my wife while I was away, Fluttershy.”

“Of course, sweetie. Have a goodnight, Ford.”

“You too, Fluttershy.”

After seeing the yellow mare off and waving her goodbye, he closes the door quietly and lets out a heavy sigh over how all that has happened since this afternoon. And unfortunately, this hectic night is far from over… not when there is one more thing to take care of.

Grudgingly, he takes off his treasured, colorful scarf with a tiring tug and hangs it over the same hook that he took it off originally. And when he turns around, the first thing he notices in this dark home is Tank the Tortoise as he gazes at his co-owner. Slowly, the hard-shelled pet tilts to his head and points in the direction of the living room, where Rainbow Dash currently at. Knowing on where he needs to be, Ford offers to pat the tortoise for his devotion. But to the stallion’s surprise, Tank snaps his head away to dismiss Ford’s affection, and he retracts his limbs and head so he could retreat to the private sanctum of his big, green shell.

Ford feels hurt by that silent treatment, but he knows that this is what he gets for breaking his promises to Tank and the others, especially Rainbow Dash out of all ponies. He just can’t imagine on how this will all turn out for him once he confronts his distressful wife. However, there is no turning back now, and one way or another, he has to get this over with.

Ashamed and fearful on what’s to come, he walks into the living room like a death row inmate walking to his own execution as he softly calls out to her, “Dashie?”

Once he is able to look Rainbow in the eye, Ford is frozen with fear over her expressive features. She sits upright on one side of the lengthy sofa with her forelegs tightly crossed over each other. Her muzzle displays a heavy scowl that stretches into a semi-perfect downward arc. But nothing can compare to the untold fury that blazes within her unforgiving, magenta eyes along with the countless tears that stained her twisted face.

And after a subtle yet difficult gulp to swallow, he pitifully starts off their inevitable conversion, “H-how was the foal show--?”

“We need to talk… NOW.”

Author's Note

You know, I often wonder if I need to extend the phantom fight scene between Ford and Arrogon in this chapter. Mostly, I was just focusing on their dialogue rather than the action itself. Also, it could have been that I was rushing on this chapter. I mean don't get me wrong, the phantom confrontation plays a important role, but like I said, I can't help but wonder if it needed more in that scene.

I don't know. What do you guys think? Was it fine as it is, or was there more that I should have done?

Chapter 16 – Truth and Acceptance

Chapter 16 – Truth and Acceptance

On a dark, cold night, the two married Pegasi are placed on opposite sides of the living room. At the entryway, Ford Mustang, who had just returned from his fruitless journey in the Talos Mountains, is standing in place with a fearful expression on his face. And on one of the couches, Rainbow Dash is staring at her nervous husband with her forelegs crossed and an intense frown that displays her cold resentment for his recent actions, mostly for keeping a secret that he’s been holding on to for far too long.

“I don’t suppose this can wait until tomorrow morning, can it?” he pleads sweetly with an awkward smile.

As expected, Ford receives his answer with Rainbow narrowing her icy glare at him before she responds in a surprisingly calm yet monotone voice, “No, it can not.”

With no way out, he approaches her glaring wife carefully, and he takes his seat on the same couch as her while making sure he gives himself enough space from the expressionless mare. Once he is situated on his side of the sofa, he proceeds to carry on their conversation.

“So… what would you like to talk about?”

“Where were you?”

“I… went out to see a friend.” he answers cryptically.

“Who?”

“Oh… just a friend… who lives far away from here.” he continues to stretch the truth.

“Another mare perhaps?” she emphasizes with a heavy scowl.

Surprised by that shrewd remark, Ford shifts in an unamusing frown as he replies in a low growl, “That’s not funny, Rainbow.”

But then, she snaps right back in full force, “Yeah? Well neither is breaking your Pinkie Promise and leaving me home alone for hours! Now tell me, who was it?!”

“Alright fine, it was Wagner!” he retorts out loud. “I went to see Wagner, alright?!”

“Why?”

“Because… I had some questions that needed to be answered.” he responds with renewed hesitation as he averts his eyes away from his wife’s inquisitive glare.

"Well then, if that was all you needed to do, why didn’t you tell me that earlier?"

“I… didn’t think I would take too long.” he mumbles in shame.

“But you did.”

From receiving that short, spiteful comment, Ford re-looks at Rainbow in the eye before he explains himself with increasingly annoyed eyebrows, “That wasn’t my intention, I swear.”

“Oh, and I take it that keeping secrets from me wasn’t your intention either, huh?” she keeps at it with her sharp, snappy remarks.

Getting really tired of her snappiness, Ford counters with an instinctive, loud gripe, “Look, I have my reasons for keeping them to myself, so just be grateful that I didn’t bother you with my share of troubles! Besides, you have no idea on what I’ve been through--!”

“WHAT YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH?!” she screams at the top of her lungs, which was enough for her startled husband to clamp his mouth shut as she carries on with her unrestrained, emotional rant. “Have you even tried to imagine on what I’ve been through?! I’m the one who’s pregnant here and carrying our twin foals for us! Do you have any idea on what I have to sacrifice to go through all of that?! I feel overly lazy from barely doing anything around here, I get weird cravings every now and then, my body is becoming sore and completely out of shape, and to top it all off, I can’t fly at such high speeds anymore without putting my foals in jeopardy! So don’t you dare say that you’re having a worse time than me!”

As Rainbow takes a break from her long-overdue outburst, Ford silently contemplates on what his wife just stated to him. He had no idea that she was feeling this down over the course of her pregnancy. And the fact that he was this oblivious to what she has being going through, it only adds more guilt and shame to that big heart of his.

With the ashamed Mustang looking down in disgrace, Rainbow tilts his chin up with a gentle forehoof. And once he has the nerve to look into her eyes, he is surprised to see a softer expression from her as she continues where she left off.

“But you know what? Even if I had to be grounded throughout my entire pregnancy, I would have been totally cool with it! Do you know why? Because I had you!” she confirms strongly, which causes Ford to go wide-eyed in surprise by her declaration. “Believe it or not, this gave us the chance to spend more time together, and I was really looking forward to that! But since last month… you no longer share the same bed with me every night, you’re hardly at the house anymore, and you’ve put so much distance away from me!”

As Ford Mustang becomes heavyhearted for all he done to her without realizing it himself, fresh tears attempt to break through from her diluted eyes as she presses on with what she had to get off her chest, “I don’t know what’s been going on with you, but I wish you could talk to me about it. I… want to help you in any way I can, Ford. But for you to keep pushing me away like this, it just… makes me feel completely useless to you.”

Her latest act of self-pity causes the figurative knife to twist even further as Ford could barely stand to see her suffer like this while all he is doing is just standing there and gaping like an idiot. But as he struggles with how to ease her immense self-doubt, the melancholy Rainbow Dash continues her emotional breakdown.

“I thought with all the things we’ve shared together, you would trust me enough on what’s been troubling you. But I feel so hurt right now, that I’m starting to doubt if you even love me--!”

Unable to stand this any further, Ford immediately pulls Rainbow in and gives her a big, heartfelt hug if this will stop her from belittling herself like that. Refusing to let go of her, he protests in a firm, yet shaky voice, “Don’t you dare finish that sentence! Not now and not ever! How can you think of such a thing after all we’ve been through… what I’ve been through… for you? I love you, Rainbow Dash! And I love you more than life itself!”

Within the strong, warm embrace of her overemotional stallion, the tearful mare trembles over her conflicting feelings, and she wraps her forelegs around him ever-so tightly while she beseeches to him greatly in a sniveling voice, “Then why?! Why haven’t you been talking to me at all?!”

“…Because I don’t want to scare you, just like it has scared me.”

From hearing that soft yet straight answer from him, Rainbow lifts up her head and is slightly startled to see Ford’s quivering face as pitiful tears leak out of his big, blue eyes. Gently, she strokes his face as she asks cooingly, “What has gotten you so spooked, Ford? You know I would never make fun of you like that.”

“I know, Rainbow. It’s just that… I hoped to resolve this myself without having this discussion in the first place. But as of lately, I’m nowhere close to solving this dilemma all on my own.”

With her left fore hoof, she delicately grasps Ford’s right one, but while doing so, she examines her wedding hoof-ring that is embedded with the shimmering Prismatic Diamond. From seeing her treasured possession, Rainbow shares something in mind with her disheartening stallion.

“You know, Ford… I used to think like that… being a one-pony show. Always believing that I can do everything all by myself. But every since we first found the Elements of Harmony, I’ve learned that not every problem can be solved by yourself. In fact, I’m pretty graceful to share those awesome adventures with my friends. I’d never know where I would be without them… or without you for that matter.”

Then, she takes both of her fore hooves to press against his and steadily lifts them up so both of them can see each other’s ring as she continues, “So on the day we got married, I swore that I will always be by your side. Don’t forget that we’re a team, Ford. And as a team, we’re an unstoppable pair together as long as got each other’s back.”

While Mustang is flabbergasted by her surprisingly heartfelt words, Rainbow gives him a short yet affection kiss before she pleads to him in a sweet, modest tone, “You’ve always been there for me whenever I need it the most. So please, Mustang… let me be there for you this time.”

Reluctant at first, Ford eventually gives in with a subtle nod as he answers in a shaky voice, “Okay, Rainbow. I’ll tell you… I’ll tell you everything.”

Before he begins, he takes a moment to get comfort on his seat as Rainbow Dash slides closer to him as a sign of her support and comfort. With Ford re-positioned on the sofa and his wife wrapping a tender wing around him, he takes one deep breath before he slowly but surely tells her the whole story.

“About a month ago, I… had a terrible nightmare.”

From him mentioning that, Rainbow briefly recalls something like that from that one night when Ford abruptly woke her up with a sudden shriek. Figuring on when it all started, she insists in a delicate manner, “What was this nightmare about?”

“It… it was the day where our twin foals were going to be born. You were on the hospital bed, and I was by your side with my foreleg enwrapping around yours. But that place… it was far different than most hospitals. It was very dark, foggy, and there was a lot of… red. And things got even stranger when I was unable to say anything, and everyone I encountered in that dark room was practically faceless. The only ones who still had their faces were just you and me. It was… far different than any other nightmare I ever had in the past.”

“So… what happened next?”

“Well… soon enough, you went into labor, and you’re making these bloodcurdling screams while you were giving birth. I tried to give you some words of encouragement, but because my voice was cut off, all I could do was just stand and watch as you went through so much pain for the sake of our foals.”

“I hope it’s not too late to say ‘sorry’ in advance for all of the screaming that’s to come.” she chuckles awkwardly as she hopes to ease off some the tension.

“Hey, it can’t be helped, right?” he giggles lightly in response before maintaining a more somber demeanor as he continues his woeful tale. “Well actually… there was a far more worse sound than your constant screeching. It was this really high-pitched beeping sound that was monitoring your heart rate. As you were contracting, the beeping grew louder and chimed faster. But finally, all of the horrifying sounds were replaced by two new sources… when the twins were finally born.”

She gleams with a bright smile over the mention of their newborns as she inquires ecstatically, “Did you get a good glimpse of them?”

“Sadly, no.” he answers much to her dismay while shaking his head. “All this time, there were wrapped in their individual blankets.”

“Dangit!” she mutters briefly in disappointment before she shrugs with a leisurely smile. “Well, at least it all ended well, right?”

But her laid-back attitude is cut short when she perceives the disturbing silence coming from her husband as he remains frozen on the edge of his seat while he stares aimlessly at the carpet floor with wide, trembling eyes. Realizing that his story is not over yet, Rainbow asks of him as she gently shakes him out of his own apprehensive daze.

“Ford… what else happened?”

“I don’t know if I can say it, Rainbow.” he mutters in hesitation.

Despite dreading on what’s around the corner, she implores to her husband once more, “Ford, please tell me. I need to hear this no matter what. What happened in the end?”

“Y-y-you… you… you died.”

After those stuttering words escape from his trembling lips, dead silence fill the room as the two Pegasi let those haunting words sink in. Ford cringes immensely on letting that dark truth come out despite trying to conceal it for so long. As for Rainbow Dash, she’s a bit shook-up by the grim possibility of her dying during childbirth.

Trying to case fears aside, she turns attention back to her shaky husband as she inquires even further, “So… did you have these bad dreams again?”

Once he composes himself, Ford persists from there, “Yes. In fact, I had the same nightmare each and every night. Sometimes our friends would be there, but without their faces. Other times the hospital background becomes clearer. But no matter, it would always end the same way. So I sought help in order to put an end to these sleepless nights of mine. I went to Zecora first. Then Twilight Sparkle, who also brought along Princess Luna. It was from our private meeting that I learned something far worse than just nightmares. The reason why I kept having the same terrible dream every night was because they weren’t just nightmares… they were visions as well.”

“V-visions?”

In response, Mustang nods very coyly before continuing, “Apparently, I inherited Hindel’s gift of foresight through the dragon powers he originally gave me, so what I’ve been experiencing were not just dreams, but visions all month long. Believe me, I turned to every source I can think of so I can prevent them from ever coming true. Twilight, Luna, Celestia, Discord, and finally, Wagner. But no matter what I do, I always ended up with nothing.”

From reaching the end of his story, Ford depresses even further with his strenuous eyes about to break into tears, and he covers his ashamed face with his fore hooves while he expresses his anguish tremendously, “I don’t want to lose you, Rainbow. I’m trying my best to save you from this fate, but I just don’t know what do anymore. What kind of husband am I, let alone a father, if I can’t protect the very pony I love?”

As he weeps over his hopelessness, Rainbow gently pulls her despairing husband in to give him a tender, reassuring hug. Impulsively, Ford accepts her loving embrace and presses his grief-stricken muzzle against her soft chest while she kindly strokes his back. As she carries on with her loving support, she contemplates on all that she has learned from him; and granted, it’s certainly a lot to take in for her. But as she thinks to herself on how to react to all of this, she looks down and examines her stretched-out belly where her unborn twins are still nestled inside. And after a couple smooth rubs against her pregnant belly, one important question does comes to mind as she feels the need to address this to her sulking stallion before she can express her overall outlook in this grave matter of theirs.

“Ford, I need you to honest with me on this one.” she gets his attention softly. “In your vision, did our foals survive in end?”

From being brought out of his gloom momentarily, Ford thinks carefully about his recurring dreams before he timidly shares his honesty with his wife, “Well… I heard them crying, and they sounded very healthy to me. So… yes, I think it’s safe to say that they did survive.”

From hearing that reassuring answer, Rainbow lets a gentle sigh of relief over this before she prepares herself with her ultimate decision. “Then… I’m okay with that.”

“…Wh-wh-what?”

“If they survive through it all of this, then I’m okay with giving my life for them.” she repeats herself with a small yet determined smile this time.

Caught off-guard by the mare’s unexpected resolve, the distressed stallion frantically says to her, “R-Rainbow, don’t say it like that! I’ll find a way someday! I swear, I will!”

With a strangely contented smile, Rainbow dismisses Ford’s worries with a shake of her head before she tries to make him understand her reasoning. “Ford, listen to me for a minute. My mother, Firefly, gave it her all to have me born into this world, even if it costed her very life. It’s one of the reasons why she’s such an inspiration to me. So if I should share the same fate as my mother, then at the very least, my foals will get the chance to experience how awesome life really is. It may not exactly be the way I hope things would end for me, but it will be the kind of sacrifice I will be happy to make just for them.”

Astounded by her surprisingly strong resolve, the sentimental stallion is truly touched by her determination and unquestionable courage, and he praises her ever-so affectionately while caressing her face tenderly, “Oh, angel… you really are bravest, most loyal pony of them all!”

From receiving that heartfelt compliment, Rainbow feels more at ease from husband’s tender stroking, and she happily returns the needed affection by nuzzling against his caressing fore hoof. But then, she ceases her nestling as she halts Ford’s hoof before saying to him a firm, somber tone.

“But Mustang, you have to promise me one thing. Promise me that you will look after our foals no matter what happens to me. And if there’s a choice between me and them, you’ll always pick them before me, okay?”

A bit scared by that difficult decision in mind, Ford hesitates greatly on making such a promise for her while averting his eyes away, “Rainbow, please don’t make me say it! I really don’t want to think--!”

But she won’t allow him to turn away from this important pledge, as she forces Mustang to face her by grasping his face so that his nervous eyes are fixated with hers. “Please, Ford! I know you’re just as scared as I am, but I need you to say it just once for me!”

Indecisive at first, Mustang finally gives in and declares his oath before her, “Okay, Dashie. I promise… I promise with all of my heart and soul to look after them no matter what!” But he doesn’t stop there as he immediately grasps her hooves and holds them up before extending his sacred pledge even further. “But I’ll do more than just that, Rainbow! I’m going to share all of your greatest adventures with them! That way, when they are all grown-up, they will always remember on how awesome their mother truly was! I will always keep you alive in my memories and will see to it that no one will ever ever forget you, Rainbow Dash!”

Moved by his sappy devotion as always, Rainbow could hardly contain herself as more tears seep out of her magenta eyes before she lunges forward and tightly embraces him, which Ford openly accepts. In the midst of their cuddling, the tearful yet joyful mare expresses her appreciation in the form of a whisper, “Thank you, Ford. Thank you.”

Happily, they carry on with their interwoven snuggling in peace… until something truly unexpected happen that is enough to interrupt them out of their blissful moment.

“Oof!”

Alarmed by her wife’s sudden yip, Ford asks with concern, “Are you alright, Rainbow?”

Wide-eyed, the bewildered mare looks at Mustang first, then at her belly, and then back at him before she stutters on the amazing experience she just had, “I… felt it. I felt it. Ford, I felt it!”

“Felt what?”

“The baby!” she beams with irrepressible excitement. “I felt the baby’s first kick!”

Thunderstruck by this astonishing news, Ford eventually reacts with overwhelming excitement, “Y-you did?! Well, was it from one foal or two?!”

“So far just one. Maybe the other one will kick next--!” And right on cue, she feels a second soft kick to her stomach. “Oh, there it goes! I definitely felt it that time!” Then, she endures a couple more subtle kicks after that, which causes her to become positively giddy from this experience. “Hey, I think both of them are kicking at the same time!”

“Does it hurt when they do that?”

“No, not really.” she shrugs if off with a giggling smile. “In fact, it’s kind of ticklish when they do that.” But as soon as she said that, she undergoes another stronger kick that must have hit a funny bone since it causes her to giggle some more. “Oh! Easy on mommy, kids.” she comments with a grin as she gently pats her bulgy belly.

“Can I feel them for myself?” he asks of her with curiosity and eagerness.

Without a word, the smiling mare brings him in closely, and she delicately lays his head against her pregnant belly. With his face pressed alongside her bare stomach, he patiently waits for the unborn foals to start kicking again. And soon enough, he too feels their faint kicking from within.

“Rainbow, I can feel them! I can feel them kicking as well!” he beams ecstatically.

“See, I told you, didn’t I?” she informs with a merry chuckle.

Wanting to feel more of their developing babies’ movements, Ford presses his head against Rainbow’s belly even further. But from doing so, he receives a surprisingly strong hit that momentarily knocks him off of the expectant mother.

With a rub of his chin, he comments with an amusing smile, “Oh man, that was some kick! Would have knocked my jaw off like that.”

“Guess at least one of them will get their strength from their dad, huh?” she kids with a chuckling grin.

Sighing in content, he re-positions his head back on her rounded belly as he remarks with a very dreamy smile, “I… can’t believe it. We’re been through so much in one night, and now… we get to share this moment with our precious foals together.”

Equally thrilled as her husband, she smiles down on him and their twins as they bask in this wonderful moment of theirs. While he tenderly strokes her belly with one fore hoof, Rainbow lays a gentle hoof of hers on top of his as they continue to enjoy this blissful experience for just a little while longer.

After an immeasurable amount of time to themselves, she delicately interrupts their tender moment with a tiring smile, “Well, it’s pretty obvious that these tykes are getting restless right now, so I think it’s high time we get some proper shut-eye.”

Equally worn out as her, he lets out a big yawn before agreeing with a sluggish grin of his, “I’m with you on that one, Rainbow.”

After he gently helps her up from the couch, Rainbow tightens her grasp around Ford’s foreleg as she insists with a witty yet persistent grin, “And this time, I expect my big, strong Mustang to stay in bed with me by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, got it?”

With a clever smirk matching that with hers, he responds without a fuss, “As long as I have my favorite cuddle buddy with me, I’m not going anywhere!”

And after they seal off their deal with a tender kiss, the drowsy yet well-contented Pegasi flutters up the stairs and make their way to the bedroom. At the end of this long, strenuous night of theirs, they have now come to grips with a severe, life-changing event in the near future, but at the very least, they will face this together.

One day at a time.

Author's Note

Okay, so that's it for the daily updates. For now, I'll update a new chapter as best as I can and try to keep it on a weekly basis.

Maybe bi-weekly at best.

And depending on how much content there is.

Chapter 17 – Where Do We Go From There?

Chapter 17 – Where Do We Go From There?

The following morning, things have calmed down considerably in more ways than one ever since last night. It’s still cold outside, but no longer is it snowing as hard as it had since the start of this month. At the very least, things are much warmer inside the cloudhouse outside the town of Ponyville, especially for what’s underneath the covers in the master bedroom.

Surprisingly enough, the first one to stir from those covers is Rainbow Dash as she slowly but surely wakes up from her slumber. After a big yawn and a couple of groggy smacks from her lips, her mind begins to recall all that has transpired from last night. As she recollects on the horrifying truth from the reveal of Ford’s grim premonitions, she cringes slightly on the thought that she may die on the day the twins will be born. But when she looks down at her stomach, she couldn’t help but smile to herself on what she vowed to do for her beloved twins as she affectionately reaches out to them by rubbing her curved belly.

Feeling a bit better now, she looks to her left and smiles even further upon the sight of her sleepy husband, Ford Mustang. As he promised, he stayed in bed throughout the entire night. But it’s not just him laying in bed beside here that puts a smile on her face. It’s from noticing a welcoming change on him. With his eyes still closed, he displays a more peaceful smile, one that indicates a sense of tranquility he hasn’t felt in a long time. Sure, he still looks like a complete mess from his own agenda to see Wagner the Inferno Dragon King last night, but at least he's finally fast asleep.

Carefully, the grinning mare leans forward and gives her husband a simple yet loving kiss, which steadily rouses him from his sleep. Eventually, his eyes open up, and his warm, half-lid gaze is met with Rainbow’s.

“’Morning, sleepyhead.”

“’Morning, Dashie.”

“So… did you sleep better this time?”

Knowing on what she is referring to, Ford takes a moment to ponder on any dreams he might had last night. But to his surprise, he can't recall anything, not even his terrifying visions of the impending future. For the first time since last month, he was able to sleep soundly.

Surprised by this, he answers with a smile, “You know what? I actually did.”

Amazed as her husband, she then asks, “Really? No nightmares… no visions whatsoever?”

“No. That’s the strange part. I didn’t undergo any of the visions at all.”

“Huh… weird." she states in mild astonishment before she breaks into a grateful smile and hugs him warmly. "Well, whatever the case may be, I’m just glad that you finally got some sleep for a change.”

“All thanks to you, angel.” he responds as he graciously kiss her.

“Come on." she insists with a grin as she pulls him out of the covers. "Let’s go have some breakfast. I’ve got a lot to share with you about my foal shower last night.”

“Well then… I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

Over a stack of hot blueberry pancakes, some fresh fruit, and scrambled eggs, Rainbow Dash shares all of the details from her foal shower with husband, including the surprise visits from Celestia, Luna, and Discord, the extraordinary gifts she received, and some of the shenanigans that went down. But one thing did catch Ford by complete surprise as Rainbow shares some exciting news on Fluttershy's end.

“No way!" he gapes exaggeratedly with big, bulgy eyes. "Fluttershy is pregnant too?!”

“Yep." she giggles with a nod. "She just found it out recently.”

“Heh, I wonder how her husband, Big Mac, will handle the news?”

“Who knows, but my bits are on him fainting right away.”

After sharing a chuckle with his wife, Ford then states with renewed amazement, “Still, that’s amazing! If I knew about that beforehand, I would have congratulated Fluttershy last night. You know, right after she slapped me at least.”

From him casually mentioning that, Rainbow is now the one to become completely startled before she responds in staggering bafflement, “Hold on, did I hear that correctly? Fluttershy… SLAPPED YOU?”

“Oh yeah." he answers with a sheepish smile. "I guess you didn’t hear that when she slapped me right across my face, huh?”

“Nuh-uh, I don’t believe it!" she retorts with an amusing grin. "There’s no way she would do something like that!”

“Oh really? I think I still have a hoof print on my face somewhere.”

“Here, let me see.”

Complying to her request, he tilts his head to the right to showcase his left cheek as Rainbow hovers toward him. Once she is in close range, she gently presses her fore hooves against his face. After parting a portion of his worn-out coat aside, she can see faint, purple bruise as a well as a vague imprint of somepony's hoof. To confirm her inspection, Dash carefully presses her fore hoof against the tender area, and Ford automatically winces from the pain.

“Oh wow! She got you good, huh?" she acknowledges with a giggling grin. "I never would have imagined somepony as delicate as her could pull off a mean hit like that.”

“You and me both, Rainbow.” he agrees with a slight chuckle of his own.

“But why in Equestria would she do that to you?”

“Well just like you, she wasn’t too happy with me breaking my Pinkie Promise like that.”

“Just be grateful that it wasn’t me in her place instead. Otherwise, I would be far less merciful than her.” she clarifies with a mockingly menacing smirk.

A bit intimidated by her deceptive grin, he covers that up with a chuckling smile as he says to her, “That I am.”

With their breakfast finished, Rainbow takes their dishes and brings them to the sink. As she is preoccupied in the kitchen, Ford is glued to his seat as he is lost in his own thoughts. From there, he recollects some of the statements from his encounter with the Phantom Arrogon.

“Think about it, Ford. You and I possess the might of the dragons. With such dangerous magic in tow, you didn’t expect that things will go wrong during Rainbow Dash’s conception, did you? Don’t you see? You are the one who brought this on her yourself!”

“Deny it if you wish. It won’t change anything. Everything has already been set in motion, thanks to you, of course.”

“No matter what you do, you will fail to save her. Her inevitable death will lead you to plummet into your own turmoil and despair, and it’s all… your… fault.”

Despite the haunting words plaguing his mind, he tries to dismiss them as figments of his imagination since this was all mentally conjured up by that pesky, illusion-inducing sprite. However, he can't ignore the one startling revelation that he never considered before. What if his Draconian Magic is the cause of his wife's predetermined fate? And if that's true, how can he or anyone else reverse the potential effects from her?

Once Rainbow Dash is finished cleaning the dishes, she turns around as Ford gathers most of his composure before sharing his troubling thoughts with her. “Rainbow?”

“Hmm?”

“What should we do right now?”

Rainbow is briefly taken back by that simple yet complex question before she clarifies in response, “You mean regarding with your visions, right?”

He nods gingerly before continuing, “I mean, should we tell your friends and father about this? I don’t want to frighten them based off a recurring dream I had, but… I have to trust Hindel’s extraordinary abilities, and I wonder if we should prepare for the worst.”

Ford eyes carefully on her reaction as he waits for her to make the final call on this decision. Standing still in place, she takes the time to consider her options before casting her vote. Sensing the uneasiness from her contemplation, Mustang gently reassures with a comforting smile.

“Whatever your decision is, Rainbow. I will stand by you no matter what.”

After inhaling a soft, deep breath, she at last makes up her mind and shares her opinion with him. “Let’s… not tell them. At least… not yet. I don’t want to bring such a downer during the holidays. For now, let’s just wait until some time later.”

Satisfied with her reasoning, he complies with a nod, “Right… I understand.”

Despite taking care of one matter, the next topic in mind is something Mustang is more hesitant about. With eyes as sharp as a hawk, Rainbow Dash can see the hesitation on his face as she says to him, “Ford… you’ve got something else on mind, do you?”

“It’s nothing, Rainbow." he covers it up with a smile. "I’m just probably worrying over nothing, that’s all.”

Refusing to buy that obvious lie, she sits down next to him as she professes sharply, “Hey, don’t think you can pull the same stunt on me twice! Now please, tell me what else is bothering you.”

Reluctant at first, he yields to her request over his recent, inner plight. “During my flight to see Wagner yesterday, I ran into someone. Someone I never thought I would see ever again.”

“Well, who was it?”

Hesitant once again, he mutters out the name, “It was… Arrogon the Destroyer.”

From the mere mention of that infamous name, Rainbow Dash's body goes on full alert as she flies up and screeches at the top of her lungs, “HIM?! Why didn't you tell us sooner?! We need to report this to Twilight and the Princesses fast!”

Hastily, he correct himself from the unintentional false alarm, “No wait! It wasn’t really Arrogon! I mean, it looked and sounded like him, but it wasn’t him.”

“Mustang, you’re not making any sense.” she states her confusion with a knitted brow.

“Sorry, I… engaged in a fight against a Phantom version of Arrogon. Something about a Dream Eater playing with my mind or whatever.”

A bit calmer right now, she hovers back down and allows Ford to continue, “So, was this ‘phantom fight’ the reason why you came back so late?”

“Actually, it was the intense blizzard that caused my delay, but during that encounter, his words really got underneath my skin.”

“Well phantom or not, you shouldn’t listen to whatever that arrogant jerk says to you!” she reassures with that cocky yet comforting grin of hers.

“I know, Rainbow. But you see, he said something that even I didn’t considered beforehand. It’s probably the reason why I put you in this horrible mess in the first place.”

“Ford, what are you trying to say?”

“I think… my Draconian Magic is the cause of all of this." he explains further in a more apprehensive tone. "For all I know, it could have happened during our wedding night. But don’t you see? If it weren’t for me, I wouldn’t be having these accursed visions, and you wouldn’t…"

But he couldn't bring himself to articulate on his wife's supposed demise. His reluctance to express such a dreadful thought causes him to cease in silence. As her husband remains silent, Rainbow displays an emotionless expression at first before she intends to break Ford out of his own funk.

“Wow… that is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard from you!”

A bit startled by her somewhat vulgar response, Mustang reprimands her, “Rainbow Dash, I’m being serious--!”

“And so am I!" she retorts right back. "Do you honestly think that your dragon powers will be the death of me?! Well that’s where you’re wrong, Ford! Don’t forget on all that you have accomplished with your battle against Arrogon… and more specifically, on how you saved me. It was your powers that freed me from that creep’s mind-controlling spell. And it was your powers that helped us save the world. It’s what got you a Cutie Mark in the end, right? You truly have a special gift, Mustang. And you shouldn’t disregard it so lightly.”

Despite feeling appreciated by his wife's bold words of encouragement, Ford still holds on to the uneasiness of his problematic powers, “But Rainbow, I--!”

Immediately, she shuts him up by shoving a fore hoof against his mouth as she remains firm on this matter. “But nothing! You’re not to be blamed for my death if that happens, and we'll hear no more of that!”

Gently, he removes her hoof away from his muzzle as he decides to get back on track on what he wants to verify. “Okay, but how can we be so sure? I mean, can pregnant mares suffer from problems if they have too much magical build-up?”

After puzzling on that particular subject, she shakes her head and answers with uncertainty, "I don't really know that myself. Those kind of cases are mostly for Unicorn mares.”

"But still… can't the hospital conduct some tests just to be sure? I only want to make sure that no stone goes unturned if it means for you and the foals' well-being."

Touched as ever by Ford's determination to look out for her, she lays a hoof around his husband and concurs with a gracious smile, "Okay. I’m sure we can arrange something for one of my upcoming appointments."

Grateful for her complying with his request, Mustang offers her a gratifying kiss before saying with a soft smile, "Thank you, Dashie."

Then, she wraps her other fore hoof and pulls him in for a strong hug as she inquires with a humorous grin, "Now, can we just put that aside and simply enjoy the holidays for the time being?"

With an amusing grin as well, he gives in and sighs in mocking disappointment, "I guess so."

"Good, because you still got a lot to make up after what you put me through last night." she states with a meaningful smirk.

"Well then, whatever can I do to make amends for that?" he quips with a grin.

"Oh don't you worry. I'll put you to good use soon enough." Then, she leans in closer and adds with a sensual smirk while her hooves rub into his messy, blue-furred chest. "Perhaps something will come to mind once we get you all cleaned up, hmm?"

Having a pretty good idea on where this is going, he abides by his alluring mare without question, "Whatever you say, angel."

Three Months and 3 Weeks Remaining…
~ Early of March (29th Week) ~

The winter months have passed on by as the residents of Ponyville had their fair share of wholesome holiday cheer, whether it was Hearth's Warming Eve, New Year's Eve Celebration or Hearts and Hooves Day. But eventually, spring is sure to follow as the ponies partook in their annual Winter Wrap-Up last week to make way for the next season.

Now, in the first week of spring, Rainbow Dash is in one of the rooms of Ponyville Hospital as she waits patiently on the examination table she's sitting on. Her bulgy belly is roughly twice its size since three months ago. It would be no surprise if average ponies mistaken her for reaching her last trimester, but little do they know is that she has two growing foals inside instead of one.

Accompanying her as usually is her husband, Ford Mustang. But unlike her, he is acting very anxious like always as he trots madly in place from one side of the room to the other.

"Ugh! What's taking them so long?" he grumbles to himself as he continues his never-ending march.

"Mustang, would you stop doing that?" she demands despite breaking into an amusing smile. "You pacing around the room isn't going to get results faster."

Stopping in place, he turns around to face her before he points it out in a soft grump, "You know, this should have been taken care of months ago."

"Hey, it can't be helped, Ford." she responds with a carefree shrug. "Ponyville suffered a massive flu epidemic this year, so there was no way for them to schedule this sooner. Now come over here and sit next to me."

And after she gestures her stallion with a couple pats on the table, the pouty Mustang hovers up and lands beside his wife with a soft plop. With a subtle giggle over his pouting, Rainbow stretches out her left wing and uses it to pull her husband closer to her. This simple tenderness causes Ford to forego his frowning and shift into a small smile. While looking at his wife, he is a bit surprised to see her so calm in all of this, despite what they had planned since December. Astounded by her unusual serenity, he couldn't help himself from letting out a spontaneous giggle, which Rainbow Dash is able to catch that right away.

"What?" she questions him with a cocked eyebrow.

"Since when did you become this patient all of a sudden?" he replies in the midst of his giggling.

Realizing this change of character herself, she breaks into a chuckle as well before answering with a sharp grin, "I guess you've been rubbing off on me."

"I could say the same thing to you too." he chuckles alongside her before breaking into a mischievous grin. "And speaking of rubbing…"

Following up on that sly remark, he stretches out a fore hoof and begins to gently rub her swollen belly. Caught by surprise from feeling that soothing sensation, she lets out a subtle squeak. "Ooh! Wait, Ford! Not here!"

"What's the matter, Dashie?" he coos to her shrewdly. "Don't you like my belly rubs anymore?"

As he continues to make slow circles with his fore hoof across her curvaceous stomach, she begins to feel very weak from the comforting touch as she lets out some soft, uncontrollable moans while sharply criticizing him, "You know exactly where this is going to lead up to if you keep at it!"

"Maybe, but I still haven't heard any objections from you yet." he remarks with a clever smirk.

Rainbow wants to protest this unique form of petting before somepony steps in unannounced. She didn't want to die from embarrassment if they were caught in the middle of the act. And yet… against her better judgment, she loves it. The wonderful, thrilling sensation she is currently experiencing is almost too good to pass up.

"I hate it when you're this devious sometimes." she mutters in a groan.

"Eh, just another wonderful characteristic I picked up from you, of course." he comments lightheartedly.

"Shut up and keep going before I come back to my senses."

Abiding to her somewhat sour response, the grinning stallion leans closer, which causes his wife to gently recline back on the table, as he carries on with the task at hoof. With Ford increasing the circular motions of his soft caressing against her stomach, the mare on the receiving end begins to go limp as she is overwhelmed with so much bliss. She loves the excitement of the risqué situation she is in right now. She loves the welcoming boldness of her teasing husband. And she loves how attentive he is toward her beauty from the way he caresses her seven-month pregnant belly. It's no wonder she is becoming complete putty in his capable hooves.

But just as things were about to get raunchy, the two hear the knocking on the closed door, and the flustered Pegasi immediately cease their frisky business by hastily letting go of each other and sitting up straight. As the rattled couple remains completely still while doing their best to diminish their intense blushing, the door begins to open, and a white Earth Pony mare, who has her pink mane arranged in a neat, professional bun and is wearing a nurse's cap, enters the room.

"Sorry for the delay, Mrs. Dash." Nurse Redheart apologizes with a modest smile. "I hope we didn't keep you waiting for too long."

"Oh, no need to apologize, Nurse Redheart. You're welcoming to take as much time as you want." Ford says with a slightly sly smile. From recognizing that hint of shrewdness, his blushing, unamused wife nudges him hard to the side with an elbow, which earns her a subtle whine from him.

Ignoring the couple's tomfoolery, Redheart readdresses herself, "In any case, we finally have the results on her current magic levels, and everything appears to be reading normal."

"See, what did I tell you?" she grins to her husband knowingly. "Nothing to worry about."

Not fully convinced, Ford asks the nurse, "So… no magical build-up or anything like that?"

"That's correct, Mr. Mustang. Regarding with her magic readings, she and the twins are in good health. Although… we did detect a tiny anomaly from viewing the results."

Renewed with concern, the wide-eyed stallion flabbergasts over this update, "An anomaly? Is that… bad?"

"No need to fret, sir. The anomaly poses no threat to her or the foals. It's simply an unknown source of magic that isn't Pegasus-related."

"Nurse, I believe that may belong to me due to my Draconian Magic." he admits uneasily.

"I see. Well it is common for copulating mares to share some of the magical properties from their male partners." she casually informs them, which causes Ford and Rainbow to blush automatically. "But like I said: it's nothing to worry about. I assure you. Of course, with Mrs. Dash's permission, we can reexamine her magical stability for the rest of her monthly check-ups."

"Hey, if it will please Mr. Worrywart over here…" she says with a carefree grin as she points toward her husband with a tilt of her head. "…then sure. Why not?" In response to her teasing, Ford simply rolls his eyes and bears a small smirk.

"Very good." the nurse nods to Rainbow's consent. "I'll notify the staff and technicians about this. Oh, that reminds me. Today we have our ultrasound equipment all set up. We're ready whenever you are, Mrs. Dash."

From Redheart mentioning this, Rainbow's startled eyes expand widely before she can verify in a quiet, trembling voice, "Y-you mean… I'll get to see my foals for the very first time?"

"Absolutely." the nurse practitioner answers with a grin. "Would like you to get started?"

Briefly speechless by this opportunity, the pregnant mare offers her approval in squeaky delight, "Yes!"

"Great. I'll go ahead and get the technician right away."

After Redheart leaves the room to fetch her assistant, Rainbow Dash remains still on the examination table as she trembles lightly with excitement as she could hardly contain her eagerness. With a lighthearted giggle, Ford wraps a wing around her before he displays a very crafty smirk as he comes up with something foolish in mind.

"So… since we still got some time, you wanna continue where we left--?"

Then Rainbow stops him with a mere glare as she berates him in a sharp tone, "Do it and you'll be sleeping on the couch for the next month."

"Shutting up now." he complies right away to that soft threat before clamping his mouth shut.

Shortly after that, Nurse Redheart reenters the room as she presents her associate to them, "Mrs. Dash. Mr. Mustang. Allow me to introduce you our ultrasound technician, Echo."

Stepping forward is a Unicorn mare with a purplish gray coat, ocean blue eyes, and a two-colored mane of lavender and blue tied in a long ponytail. Signifying her skills in ultrasound, she wears a white lab coat and has a Cutie Mark of an encircling, silhouetted dolphin leaving a trail of white sparkles.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." the unicorn greets politely as she shakes hooves with the Pegasi.

"Same here." says Rainbow Dash. "So, we will really get the chance to see them from the inside?"

"That is correct, Mrs. Dash. We just need you to lie back and relax for us before we apply the gel on your belly."

"Excuse me, Echo." the stallion intervenes gently. "But could you please tell me what the gel is for when it comes to ultrasound?"

"Certainly." Echo nods toward him before explaining herself. "This special gel acts a solid bond between the mare's skin and my horn. My specialty is transmitting pulses of ultrasound through my horn that will travel through the body and will reverberate back to my horn. The gel makes it easier for me to send those pulse waves as well as to receive them. With the sound waves gathered through my horn, I can make a mental recording of that transmission and show them as projected images."

"Cool!" Rainbow beams with renewed enthusiasm. She then reclines back on the table as Ford stands on one side right next to his wife so he could steer clear of the two medical practitioners.

After putting on a latex sleeve over her foreleg, Nurse Redheart presses the covered fore hoof in a thick, clear gel from its special container before she informs Rainbow the first step in the procedure. "Now just so you know, this gel is pretty cold once I apply it on your coat."

"Go ahead." Rainbow insists with a mild boast. "Lay it on me, nurse. I can take it."

Upon command, Redheart applies the gel on the patient's exposed stomach, but despite her boastful remark earlier, Rainbow feels the intense chill of the gelatinous substance and exclaims out loud, "A-a-ah! Wow, that's cold!"

While Ford keeps his chuckling to himself, Redheart carries out her task and smoothly rubs the gel all over Rainbow's large belly. Once she is done, Redheart goes over to a proper trash can to dispose her plastic sleeve as Echo trades places with her.

Echo then explains the next step, "Okay Mrs. Dash, I will lightly touch your belly with my horn to transmit the sound waves. You might feel some light vibrations, but they are completely harmless."

With one deep breath, Rainbow says to Echo, "Okay, I'm ready."

"Good, now just relax and take nice, steady breaths."

As instructed, Rainbow composes herself by taking nice and easy breaths while Ford softly wraps a fore hoof around hers to offer his support. Once the Pegasus mare is ready, Echo gently probes her horn against the patient's skin and proceeds to emit the magical sound waves. From there, the soft, rapid pulses create tiny ripples across Rainbow's gel-covered belly as they travel inward and back. After maintaining physical contact for a few good minutes, Echo ceases her echolocation spell and pulls her head back up.

"Very good, Mrs. Dash." the technician compliments her. "I've gathered enough to form a 3D projection."

"So, how long will it take before we can see them?" Rainbow asks anxiously.

"Not too long. Just need to concentrate so I can project them out of my horn for you. Annnd… it's showtime!"

And for the final step of this exceptional form of ultrasonography, Echo's horn lights up brightly as it projects the recorded images. Eventually, the amorphous cluster of light particles takes shape and showcases the distinct features to the anxious couple until at last, they see the first image of their unborn twins.

Secured within the expansive belly of their beloved mother, two tiny foals are curled up in their individual amniotic sacs as they nestle all comfy and cozy in there. Sometimes, the adorable, little things would wiggle in place as they carry on with their blissful, undisturbed sleep. Despite the recording's grainy texture, the images are as clear as day.

As the 3D projection plays out for them, Rainbow's heart swells up to immense proportions upon seeing the first sight of her beloved twins as countless tears pour out of her big, magenta eyes while her heartfelt smile keeps getting bigger and bigger. She even gasps lightly in awe every time she sees one of the twins squirming around in such an adorable manner.

As Rainbow is head over heels for her twins, she excitedly tugs her equally ecstatic husband as she points them out, "That's… that's them! Our babies!"

"Mm-hmm." Redheart agrees with a pleased smile before she points something out with a foreleg. "And from the looks of it, the twins' development are coming along quite nicely. Look, you can even see the formation of their tiny wings." Following the direction of nurse's fore hoof, Ford and Rainbow also see the small stubs growing on the backs of their foals.

"Gasp! Wings!" Rainbow exclaims with renewed enthusiasm and an even wider smile. "Did you hear that, Ford? They're Pegasi! We're gonna have twin Pegasi!"

"Yes… no doubt they're going to be strong flyers, just like mommy." he says to her while he lovingly nuzzles her.

With their cheeks pressed together, the tearful yet overjoyed mare leans against her big, strong Mustang as the two expectant parents maintain their lovely-dovey smiles before Rainbow Dash speaks up coyly, "Hey Mustang?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you… kiss them for me?" she pleads softly in a cute, blushing manner.

A bit surprised by her request, the smiling stallion is more than happy to abide her wife's command, "Of course, angel… one for each of them."

And following up on that sappy response, Ford hovers above Rainbow's belly and warmly kisses it, one for each side where the twins are bunking. After that, he retreats back to his wife and affectionately wraps his forelegs and wings around her before Rainbow awards him with a sentimental kiss of her own. Relaxing in each other's embrace, they continue to enjoy the rest of the show in complete, contented silence.

After the 3D projection comes to an end, Ford and Rainbow give their thanks to Echo and Nurse Redheart, and they head out of the room. As the Pegasi leisurely walk down the hallways, their long tails remain intertwined as they maintain their beaming faces over what they just witnessed today.

"I can't wait to tell dad about our two new flyers!" she expresses with constant excitement. "He's going to be so psyched about this!"

"Somehow, I wasn't that surprised when they turned out to be Pegasi." he states casually.

As she looks at him, she pauses and hums to herself, "Hmm..."

"What?" he inquires with an arched eyebrow.

"Nothing. I just noticed that you're smiling more than usual."

"Speak for yourself." he reacts with a chuckle. "You were making far more goofy smiles today than me."

"Whatever, you big goof." she retorts with a giggling grin as she playfully shoves him before acting more sincere. "But still, I haven't seen you smile like this in awhile."

He ponders carefully on Rainbow's words as he didn't realize how very tranquil he was acting once he saw the images of their precious twins. It was such a wonderful, blissful moment for him, that not even the nightmarish visions he had months ago could ruin it for him. With the medical imaging of the foals still fresh in his mind, he resumes to smile like a happy-go-lucky fool.

"I guess you could say that I'm just feeling... hopeful."

From hearing that simple yet encouraging statement from him, Rainbow smiles over her husband's sense of serenity and offers him a warm kiss on the cheek. After their tenderhearted moment together, they continue their walk through the hallway. But once they exit out of the main doorway and into the lobby, their thoughts are interrupted by the screeching of a loud mare as she gets in a heated argument with the receptionist behind the desk.

"Hey, you gotta tell me! I need to know what's been happening!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am." the receptionist apologizes in a monotone voice. "But we can't disclose confidential information without their permission."

"I'm her buckin' wife!" the Unicorn mare emphasizes with a firm slam against the table. "I have every right to know what's going on!"

From a closer look, Ford and Rainbow begin to recognize the rowdy pony, with her wild, vibrant, blue mane, her light cream-colored coat, her cropped tail, and her piercing, ruby eyes. With the addition of her trademark, purple shades on top of her horn, the two Pegasi know right away that this rebellious mare is none other than Vinyl Scratch.

"Vinyl? What's wrong?" Ford asks as he and Rainbow approach her. "Is everything alright?"

Recognizing the stallion's voice, Vinyl sharply turns around to face her friends. Strangely enough, her red eyes are really puffy, and her whole body is shaking uncontrollably. Upon facing her Pegasus friends, Vinyl starts to get really emotional before she can explain herself in an increasingly distressed manner.

"I… I can't find her… I can't find Tavi anywhere!"

Author's Note

Sorry I didn't have anything special regarding with Hearth's Warming Eve or Hearts and Hooves Day. No good ideas relating with those holidays came to mind in this story unfortunately.

Chapter 18 – The Missing Musician

Chapter 18 – The Missing Musician

After hearing Vinyl Scratch’s grief-stricken exclamation about her missing wife, Ford Mustang and Rainbow Dash walk their Unicorn friend out of the hospital’s lobby as the stallion gently asks, “Okay Vinyl, just take your time and tell us what’s been going on with you and Octavia.”

Once she takes a deep breath, Vinyl explains herself as calmly as possible, “Well… Tavi wasn’t feeling too good lately. She spent more time in the bathroom than usual. So she decided to go see a doctor and figure this out. I asked her if she wanted me to come along, but she said she’ll been fine and presumed she caught the flu or something. So I waited and was chillaxing in my studio to help pass the time. Usually, at some point, Tavi would come in and tell me to turn down that racket. Hehe… She’s so cute when she gets all cranky like that, you know.” she reminisces with a small, chuckling smile before resuming her story in a more distraught manner. “But that’s the thing… she didn’t! By the time I finished up my recording, Tavi hasn’t come back home yet! She’s been gone for hours! Once I realize this, I immediately ran to the hospital and… well you know the rest.”

With the light-colored Unicorn feeling discouraged once again, Rainbow goes up to her and pulls her in a one-leg hug while saying to her in a reassuring voice, “Don’t worry, Scratch. We’ll find Octavia together.”

Her husband follows it up with a nod and a smile, and Vinyl breaks into a grateful smile as her red eyes start to get watery. At once, the emotional Unicorn squeezes her rainbow-haired friend and says to her softly, “Thank you.”

Once their hug has ended, Rainbow hovers up and instructs the two, “Alright, we’ll cover more ground if we split up. Ford, you go with Vinyl and check out any of Octy’s favorite hotspots. I’ll go solo to see if I can spot her from the air.”

Truth be told, Ford cringes on that plan as he lightly rebuts her, “W-wait, you’re going by yourself? Rainbow, I would feel more at ease if I can manage the sky for you instead.”

Understanding his constant concern, Rainbow shakes her head and explains herself, “Mustang, I’m not gonna do any reckless up there. Believe me, a search like this requires flyers to take things slow as they do a wide, thorough scan on the ground below.” Then, she pulls her stallion in closely and whispers to him, “Besides, I think it’s best you stick with Scratch for now. She could really use the company and you’re better at this than me.”

Ford looks back at Vinyl and observes the pitiful expression on her face. So he faces Rainbow once again before nodding to her request. “Okay, I’ll follow your lead, Rainbow. But let’s meet back at Vinyl’s house in about an hour if none of us can find Octavia by then.” he advices as he points to a clock tower nearby.

“Yeah, sounds good.” Rainbow responds as she and Vinyl nod simultaneously.

“Just… please don’t strain yourself.” he pleads to his wife while stroking her cheek tenderly.

“I won’t, Mustang. I promise.” And they end it with a quick farewell kiss before Rainbow flies up and begins her aerial search at a steady pace.

With a heavy sigh to relieve his worries, Ford faces his DJ friend and issues with a determined smile, “Let’s go, Scratch.”

Sharing with the same enthusiasm as him, Vinyl agrees with a grin, “Right. Follow me.” And she leads the expedition by galloping ahead as the volunteering Pegasus follows her behind.

High above Ponyville, Rainbow Dash does her best to take her time to scout the area as her continuing search gives her a bird’s eye view of the whole town. From up there, she can see every distinct detail from the bustling ponies down below thanks to her very sharp eyes. But after covering most of the opened streets, she extends her search outside of town, and the next place she checks out is the public park.

From there, she examines a lot of leisurely activities that can found at the park on such a lovely spring day, including kite flying, having picnics, and playing outdoor games such as Frisbee tossing. But the vigilant mare couldn’t get too distracted by such things at this point. She has a missing pony to find, and she isn’t going to let Vinyl down now.

Suddenly, she spots a likely candidate on a lone bench next to a big, shady tree. But Rainbow had to make sure this is the one without making a fool out of herself as she quickly goes over her mental checklist.

Warm grey coat: Check!

Long, raven-colored mane and tail: Check!

A treble clef Cutie Mark: Check!

An amethyst-encrusted wedding ring: Check!

And for absolute certainty, a white collar with a pink bowtie attached to it: Double Check!

Displaying a big, accomplished smile on her face, Rainbow flies down and makes a soft land right beside Octavia, which greatly startles the cellist out of her subtly low-spirited trance.

“Octy, there you are!” the hovering Pegasus greets with a broad grin.

Still alarmed by Dash’s arrival, Octavia responds in a panicky tone, “O-oh! Rainbow Dash! What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you, of course!”

“M-m-me?”

“Yeah! Vinyl said you were really sick and had to go to see a doctor. So Ford and I decided to come look for you.”

“O-oh… is that right?” she stammers in response as she averts her nervous eyes away from her friend.

“Hey, are you okay?” Rainbow asks once she notices Octavia’s strangely timid demeanor. “You’re awfully quiet than usual. Here, you stay right there and let me fetch Scratch--!”

“NO!”

The cellist’s high-pitched reaction nearly breaks Rainbow out of her flying, and shook-up Pegasus stares with frozen eyes at the equally wide-eyed Earth Pony while Octavia tightly covers her muzzle up with her fore hooves. In their awkward silence, the grey mare gradually lowers her forelegs and she diverts her flustered gaze away from Dash once again before speaking up in a hesitant voice.

“I mean… not yet… I just need more time.”

Renewed with concern, Dash sits down next to the dismayed musician and meekly asks, “Octy, what’s going on with you? Did something happen at the hospital?”

Reluctant to answer, Octavia lets out a heavy sigh and vaguely explains herself. “I don’t know how this could have happened to me in the first place.”

“Come on. Talk to me, Octavia. What exactly are you referring to?”

“Oh Rainbow Dash, I feel so conflicted! I’m not even too sure on how I should feel right now!” But before she gets a little too carried away like before, she reverts back to a flustered manner and finally comes clean with her plight, “I just found out that I’m… I’m pregnant.”

Moments after they split from the hospital, Vinyl Scratch leads Ford Mustang on a frantic search for her wife as they explore the possible locations that Octavia would be. They check out her favorite restaurants and places to shop. They even ask some of their friends they pass by. But nobody can verify on when they last saw Octavia recently. With no ideas for the time being, Ford directs the increasingly agitated Vinyl to one of the benches that encircle the town square’s watering hole.

“Ugh! It’s no use!” Vinyl grunts as she plops heavily on the seat. “We just asked Lyra and Bon Bon and checked nearly every place in Ponyville, and we still can’t find her!”

“Hey, don’t give up just yet.” Ford says as he sits down next to her. “We still have time to find her.”

“I shouldn’t have let her go by herself!” she criticizes herself as she shakes her head furiously. “I should have stand beside her if she learned something life-threatening!”

“H-hey, come on. Don’t say it like that--!”

“But it’s the only explanation I can think of, Mustang!” she retorts in a severely hysterical voice as fresh tears begin to leak out of her big, ruby eyes. “If I were there by her side when that happened, I would have been able to comfort her or something! And now she’s out there! Alone! Completely freaked out on the grave news she was given, and I’m unable to be there where I’m needed the most! I’m such a useless pony!”

As the distressed mare weeps nonstop over her futility whilst covering her sorrowful face, Ford gently pulls his grieving friend in for a comforting embrace before he reassures her softly, “Oh Vinyl, please don’t be so hard on yourself. You are definitely not as useless as you make yourself out to be. And believe me, I know what it’s like to feel like an absolute failure to somepony you truly love.”

After calming down a bit, Vinyl puzzles on his latest statement before saying to him, “What do you mean by that, Ford?”

A bit indecisive at first by what he is indicating, Ford reluctantly answers her question with another question, “Do you… recall what happened at the end of Rainbow Dash’s foal shower?”

Vinyl ponders on that recollection before she casually replies, “A little, yeah. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well you see… I have reason to believe that Rainbow… might not make it in the end.”

From hearing that unanticipated response from the reluctant stallion, Vinyl’s eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets before she screeches in immense shock, “What?! Mustang, how can you even say such a thing like that?!”

“Let’s just say… my Draconian Magic allows me to see things that I didn’t want to see in the first place.” he answers uncomfortably.

“What, you mean like seeing into the future?”

Grudgingly, he quietly nods to serve as his response, and the stunned DJ attempts to take it all in before she eventually comes up with a proper reaction to this disheartening news, “Oh my gosh… Ford, I-I had no idea! Wait, does Dash know about this? And what about the twins? Are they gonna be okay?”

Understanding her growing concern over what he just shared, Mustang answers with a small yet reassuring smile, “Yes. We talked about this months ago. And as far as I know, the twins will be fine. But we weren’t certain on how to share it with everypony else just yet.”

“Then why are you sharing this with me?”

“Because I want to share with you on something I’ve learned from my own troubling experience. If Octavia is diagnosed with something fatal, then you should spend as much time with her as you can. Make them count for her, show her on how much you love her, and cherish those precious moments for as long as possible. It’s the very least you can do for her before her time comes.”

Taking his advice to great consideration, Vinyl Scratch engages in such rare deep thought over this important matter of hers. But as her discouragement begins to build from the inside, Ford lays a soft hoof on her shoulder as he bears a comforting smile for her.

“And we will find her, Scratch. Don’t you worry about that.”

From such welcoming reassurance from him, Vinyl displays a small yet positive smile, and she pulls the Pegasus in for grateful hug while expressing her deep gratitude, “Thanks, Mustang. You really are the best friend a gal like me could ask for.”

Happy to see her smiling at last, he tightens their embrace slightly as he responds with a friendly grin, “And you’re the coolest friend a guy like me could ever ask for. Well, second to Rainbow Dash, of course.”

“Phooey!” she pouts humorously before she shifts in a more serious manner. “Thanks for sharing all of this with me. I really hope that Dash will pull through in the end.”

Smiling over her consideration, he concurs with her, “Believe me, I wish for the same thing.”

“Hey, I almost forgot. Why were you and Dash at the hospital to begin with? Did you two… find the cause of her affliction yet?”

“Well, that was half of the reason why we were there, but no, she’s still in good health thankfully. Actually, the other half was because we got the chance to see the twins for the first time thanks to their sonography.”

Her eyes widen with excitement as she grins with delight, “That’s great, Mustang! What was it like?”

“Oh, it was so cool, Vinyl!” he answers with much enthusiasm. “There was a Unicorn who used ultrasound to show us a 3D projection of the twins! I’ve never seen anything like that before, not even with ultrasound! Ah, and the way they wiggle inside… so cute!” he squeaks in a strangely adorable manner.

“Wow! A spell to uses sound to create pictures, eh? Hey, that does sound pretty well-suited for my own skills! Still, I’m super stoked for you guys! Oh, what I would give to share a moment like that with Tavi! Well… if we ever get that chance to say the least.” she adds in a mildly dejected tone.

“Hey hey, none of that, Scratch.” The grinning Mustang shushes her with a fore hoof. “Let’s find Octavia first before we jump into conclusions, alright?”

Smiling once more, she chuckles a little, “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Now, let’s think about this some more. If Octavia needed a nice, quiet place to herself, where would she be?”

“Well… when it comes to peace and quiet, she would often take her cello outside to practice if I get a little carried away with my jams and such. Mostly she would be at the park and--!”

At the mention of that one location, Vinyl becomes completely speechless and slowly but surely, she brightens up with that big, toothy grin of hers before fully expressing her optimism, “Wait… THAT’S IT! I know where to look! Come on, Mustang! There’s no time to lose!”

“Whoa whoa what?!”

With Dash’s delayed response, the Pegasus stares in complete shock at the silent Earth Pony as Octavia blushes unnervingly while once again diverting her eyes away in shame.

“B-But how?! I mean unless--!” Then Rainbow stops herself from saying that one possibility in mind before she gazes suspiciously at the cellist. “Octy, you didn’t…!

“No, I would never do that to Vinyl!” she retorts furiously at that accusation. “How dare you even considered that I would cheat on her like that!”

Hastily, Rainbow holds her hooves up in defense and takes back what she just said. “Okay okay! My bad! I didn’t mean step on any hooves like that.”

From receiving the Pegasus’s swift but earnest apology, Octavia calms down and replies in a softer tone, “Sorry. It’s just… I still can’t believe this. I’m carrying somepony else’s foal, and I don’t even know how I became pregnant to begin with!”

“Hey, not to be so blunt or anything, but you’re not too upset about this, are you? I mean, compared to Vinyl, I thought you would look forward to being a mother someday.”

“Well… that is true.” She admits with a small smile. “I’ve always dreamed on having a little foal of my very own. But even with my pregnancy being unintended, that’s not what I’m so worried about. Vinyl Scratch loves me, and she trusts me with all of her heart. So if I tell her about this, she’ll fell completely betrayed and will never forgive me for this. So that’s why I’m here: trying to figure out how I became pregnant before I can explain myself to her.”

“But no matter what I’ll say to her, it wouldn’t be enough to convince her!” she carries on her heartache as she gradually breaks down in tears. “I’m so scared on what she will say to me and what’s going to happen to our marriage! I simply can’t bear the thought of losing my wife over something like this!”

As the devastated mare carries on with her heavy grieving, Rainbow begins to feel rather uneasy in the situation she’s in. It’s not that she doesn’t want to help out with Octavia’s stressful dilemma; she just doesn’t considered herself that good over talking about somepony else’s feelings, no matter how schmaltzy they can be. That kind of comforting is usually her husband’s shtick. Still, she came this far just to find Octavia, and she not going to give up from the mission she was entrusted.

“Hey, it’s okay, Octy.” Rainbow says gingerly as she gently strokes the lamenting Earth Pony’s back with a soft, feathery wing. “I understand where you are coming from. Really, I do. But you’re forgetting that this is Vinyl Scratch we’re talking about!” she addresses with an upbeat grin. “Ponyville’s DJ-PON3 who is just as cool and awesome as me!”

Once she takes the time to wipe some of her tears, Octavia responds in a cynical, sniveling tone, “I doubt she will be that levelheaded once she finds out about this."

“You’re wrong, Octavia. For somepony who has known her for years, you still have no idea on much that mare loves you. You know, I still remember the times me and Scratch would hang out together at the late-night clubs, whether she was running the gigs or not. But often times, when we shared some drinks, she would always bring you up at some point in our conversations.”

“Really? What did she say about me?”

“Oh you know, the usual.” she shrugs with a witty smirk. “How fussy you can be sometimes. How cute you look every time she provokes you.”

To Rainbow’s gratification, her lighthearted quip is enough to cause Octavia to break into a giggle as she agrees with a budding grin, “Yep, that’s definitely my Vinyl.”

“But yeah, I can tell right away that she was head over heels for you. Yet she could never bring herself to finally admit it to you. That is, until my husband came along. Still, she thinks nothing but the world of you. Even if you did find somepony better than her, she only wants you to be happy no matter what.”

From hearing Rainbow’s strong, encouraging words over her wife’s devotion for her, the cellist’s worries begin to die down as a calming smile stretches across her face. From noticing that positive change from the local musician, Dash smiles with confidence as she wraps a foreleg around Octavia whilst bring her statement to a close.

“So trust me, Scratch will be a damn fool if she even thinks about divorcing you over something like this. Plus, if she is that stupid to do that to you, I’ll just have to knock some sense in her myself.” she adds with a crafty chuckle.

Matching with Dash’s clever smirk, the cellist offers with as much shrewdness as her winged friend, “I can always lend you my frying pan if it ever comes to that.”

Impressed by Octavia’s deviousness, Rainbow grins alongside her as she compliments her with a wink, “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. So, ready to go find her?”

Feeling much better now, the smiling Earth Pony answers with a soft nod before she is about to stand up from her seat. But suddenly, she stops in place as she and Rainbow Dash turn to their left once they hear a familiar shout from the distance.

“TAVIIIII!!”

Octavia knows where that is coming from. She can recognize that rambunctious outcry from just about anyway. Galloping at full speed across the meadows is none other than Vinyl Scratch, making a mad dash towards her bewildered beloved as she leaves a trail of irrepressible tears from her extremely emotional eyes. And catching up with her is the remainder of her search party, Ford Mustang, who is flying right behind her.

“V-V-Vinyl--?”

But the Octavia's opening statement is abruptly cut short when Vinyl nearly tackles her off the bench she is sitting on. Once she recovers from that head-on grapple, she looks down and her gaze is met with Vinyl’s, whose continuously sniveling face looks just as juvenile as the little filly she would act from time to time.

“Why didn’t you come home right away?!” Vinyl exclaims in-between her sniffling. “Do you have any idea on how long you’ve been gone?! I was worried sick about you! Don’t you ever do that to me again!”

Sobbing uncontrollably, the Unicorns shoves her face into the cellist's soft, furry chest and squeezes her mare tightly, refusing to let go of her while she continues to let it all out. A bit touched by her wailing wife’s constant worry, Octavia pulls her in warmly and strokes her wild, blue mane while apologizing softheartedly, “I am so sorry, sweetie. I didn’t mean to take so long. I won’t ever leave you alone like that again. But Vinyl… there’s something I need to--!”

“I know.” she replies sobbingly.

A bit taken aback by her quick response, Octavia stammers in response, “Y-you… you do?”

“Yeah. Okay, well not exactly.” she clarifies with an awkward grin before readdressing herself in more serious tone, “But I know that you’ve been going through a rough time right now, and I want you to know that whatever happened at the hospital, I will always be there for you no matter what.”

As Vinyl grasps her wife’s hooves tenderly, Octavia beams greatly over the DJ’s never-ending devotion before returning the reassurance right back, “Oh Vinyl, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that from you. But don’t worry. I’m not going to die anytime soon.”

From hearing this extraordinarily good news, Vinyl’s eyes take a break from the waterworks before she verifies in a stuttering voice, “Y-you’re not? Really?”

“Far from it actually.” Octavia answers with a subtle giggle. “In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I just didn’t know how to share this with you.”

With her initial worries put to rest, Vinyl lets out a heavy sigh of relief before she breaks into her signature, carefree grin, “Well if it’s good news, how bad can it really be--?”

“Vinyl, I’m pregnant.”

Like its namesake, Octavia’s eye-opener leaves Vinyl Scratch wide-eyed and deeply flabbergasted, which caused her grin to shrink drastically before she comes up with a simple yet proper response to her wife’s earthshattering news, “…Say what?”

“I’m… pregnant.” she repeats with more reluctance this time.

Ford Mustang is just as equally shock as Vinyl, but he is even more surprised when he notices his wife not reacting much to this at all. With a bewildered look, he silently gazes at Rainbow Dash for a confirmation on this, and she answers with a simple nod before they look back at the ongoing scenario between the two musicians.

Breaking the awkward silence first, Vinyl shrieks in amazement, “YOU ARE?! Are you absolutely sure--?!”

“Yes, I’m certain!” Octavia snaps before explaining all that she knows. “I made them run the tests again, and the results were still the same! But I swear, I don’t know how this could be possible! I would never do something so cruel like--!”

“Whoa, hold on a second!” Vinyl interrupts her in an urgent manner. “How long has it been since you were with foal?”

“Over two weeks.” she admits halfheartedly before her nerves get the best of her. “But I can’t remember on anything I did that could cause--!”

But once again, the cellist stops her allegation, not because Vinyl was interrupting her this time, but because of the expression on her face. Octavia expects her wife to be horrified, hurt, or even angry on what she has to confess, but definitely not happy based off of those big, jubilant eyes and that overstretched, gaping smile of hers.

And just before Octavia can question her wife about her sudden change in outlook, the spontaneously cheerful Unicorn literally springs into action as she bounds energetically around whilst she fully expresses herself in unrestrained jubilation.

“YEEESSS!! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!”

As the overjoyed DJ continues her constant frivolity while she bounces around the bench like an energetic bunny, Octavia, Rainbow, and Ford are completely baffled by the Unicorn’s random behavior. In the midst of their combined stupor, the Earth Pony is the first one break out of that as she inquires with concern and bewilderment.

“V-Vinyl! Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? You’re taking this unbelievably well!”

But the grinning mare is too distracted by her own merriment as she laughs out loud, “YES, IT WORKED! IT REALLY WORKED!”

“What worked? What are you talking about?” the other musician asks with her patience running thin.

At once, Vinyl grabs Octavia by the shoulders as she points something out with a continuous grin, “Tavi, don’t you remember what we did on Hearts and Hooves Day this year?”

“I… remember some aspects of that night.” she answers mildly with a growing blush consuming her face.

“You know~!” Vinyl replies shrewdly with a teasing, sultry smirk. “Where I did that thing… with my horn--!”

“Okay, Vinyl! No need to go into full details in front of everypony!” she hushes her up with a maddening blush. “But what does that have to do with--?!”

But then, she stops herself as she recollects on that unforgettable night of theirs. How her eager wife persistently made that one particular request that was so unorthodox. Yet her curiosity and Vinyl's usual puppy-dog eyes got the best of her and she permitted the anxious Unicorn to carry out the deed. And truth be told, she enjoyed a lot better than she had anticipated. But more importantly, their night of intimacy happened over two weeks ago, roughly the same time where she was mysteriously conceived.

Once she believes to have found the best, possible answer, the dumbfounded Octavia says to her ever so grinning wife, “Wait… you're saying that…?”

Seeing how Octavia is realizing this, Vinyl nods knowingly as she says with a proud smile, “Yep. I did a lot of research on magically-induced conceptions ever since Princess Celestia nearly blurted it out at Dash’s foal shower. And once I found the right spell for us, I wanted to make this Hearts and Hooves Day just as special for you as it was for me. You know, as a gift for both of us.”

“Then… what we did that night… is the result of my… p-pregnancy?”

“Yeah, don’t you see, Tavi? It’s not just your baby; it’s our baby!”

From hearing Vinyl’s strong emphasis, the cellist shakes like an autumn leaf as she stammers out her indescribable astonishment, “Our b-b-baby?”

The ecstatic Unicorn nods once more to confirm what she says is absolutely true. And as Octavia processes this staggering revelation, the flabbergasted Earth Pony looks at her smooth stomach before she strokes it lightly. Knowing on what is growing inside of her, Octavia bears a shaky yet contented smile as she quietly repeats to herself.

“Our… baby.”

Overwhelmed with so many mixed feelings, Octavia breaks down immensely as fresh, overflowing tears pour across her flustered cheeks, and Vinyl approaches her with renewed concern, “Hey, what’s the matter, Tavi? Aren’t happy about this? This is what you wanted, right?”

“Y-y-yes, of course!” the overly emotional mare answers in a blubbering manner. “I’ve never been this happy since the day I married you! But I thought I was carrying somepony else’s foal, and I was so afraid that you might hate me for that as well as… leave me.”

Sensing her wife’s fear, Vinyl bears a compassionate smile as she gently pulls her weeping mare in closely whilst comforting her, “Oh Tavi. I could never do that to you. I know you better than that. Even if the foal isn’t mine in the first place, I would be more than happy to raise it right alongside with you.”

Secured within the DJ’s warm embrace, the sniffling Octavia looks up and locks her pitiful gaze with Vinyl’s soft, crimson eyes and her kindhearted smile. Unable to contain herself from how truly fortunate she is to have Vinyl in her life, the trembling Earth Pony wraps her forelegs around her wife’s neck and smothers her with lots of kisses while whispering her deepest gratitude for everything.

“Thank you. Thank you.”

As the two mares carry out their tenderhearted moment, Ford lightly sighs from this as he is relieved that everything has worked out in the end. Then he glances at his equally smiling wife and could have sworn he sees something leaking from her one of her magenta eyes.

“Hey, is that a tear I see?” he says with a shrewd smirk.

“Y-yes--NO!” she restates sharply as she quickly wipes whatever was on her rosy cheek. “It’s just… my allergies, that’s all.”

“Funny. I figure your hormones might serve as a better excuse for you than that.” he criticizes lightheartedly with a chuckle.

As expected, Mustang earns himself a playful punch to the shoulder from the flustered Rainbow Dash before they share a brief giggle, and he pulls her in with a wing with her leaning against him. As the Pegasi continue to bear witness on the overjoyed couple, the two musicians break into spontaneous laughter as they shed a few more blissful tears over their now-confirmed foal on the way.

But then, Octavia ceases her jubilation so suddenly as she remains completely still while displaying an expressionless look on her face before asking her wife, “Wait, so you knew about this concept all along and didn’t bother to tell me?”

Vinyl Scratch also stops her joyous laughter before she answers with a sheepish grin, “Well… more or less. I wasn’t too certain if it will work or not, so I figure I would just leave it as a nice surprise for you if it did work.”

“So all this time, I’ve been worrying myself to death… for NOTHING?” the cellist emphasis in a shaky yet agitated tone.

“Yeah, I guess so. Heh-eh, it is pretty funny when you think about it, isn’t it?”

“Hilarious.” the deadpan mare replies with a subtle growl.

Vinyl may be oblivious to notice her wife’s threatening tone, but Ford can recognize it since the first time he spent the night at the musicians' house. Instinctively, he takes a few steps back, and Rainbow looks at her slightly cautious husband with a puzzled brow. But before Dash can question him, the two Pegasi are taken by surprise when Octavia quickly lifts up her staggered wife with her strong forelegs and flings her onto her back. With the dumbstruck Vinyl Scratch saddled in place, Octavia walks up to the two Pegasi and presents a courteous smile to them.

“Thank you so much for the consolation, Rainbow Dash. It was certainly nice getting a chance to know you.”

“Likewise.” she smiles right back. “We should hang some more.”

“Agree. Perhaps I can interest you in some lunch this Friday?”

“Why, that sounds simply delightful!” she accepts in a fake aristocrat accent.

The two mares share a good laugh before Octavia gives her thanks to the stallion as well, “And thank you for your help as well, Ford.”

“You’re welcome, Octavia.” he replies with a gracious smile. “And congratulations on your first foal.”

After nodding to her two friends, Octavia turns to her speechless wife with a deadpan stare and begins her long march towards their home. “Let’s go, Vinyl. The three of us have a lot to talk about once we get home.”

“Th-three?” she asks nervously.

“Yes… you, me, and the frying pan.”

With the mention of that foreboding tool from her evil-smiling partner, Vinyl’s red irises shrink drastically in fear, and she frantically squirms in place like a fish on dry land while desperately calling out for aid.

“HELP! HELP! SOMEPONY HELP ME! SHE’S A MAD MARE I TELL YA! A MAD MARE!!”

But the pleas from the mare crying wolf go unheard as the two musicians leaves the park’s premise while Ford and Rainbow wave goodbye to them.

“Well… that was a pretty eventful day, wasn’t it?” Ford says with a clever smile.

“Yep!” Rainbow agrees before going down the list with a humorous grin. “We got to see our twins for the first time, went on a wild goose chase, another set of friends are having a kid on their way, and Vinyl Scratch is about to get the pounding of her life!”

From Dash’s double entendre, he adds with a witty chuckle, “With those two, I’d say it’s an everyday occurrence for them.”

They have a nice laugh at the expense of Scratch’s expected plight, but as their laughter dies down, so does Ford’s smile before he hesitantly confesses to his wife, “Dashie, I have to tell you something. I… told Vinyl about my visions.”

“Oh, how come?” she asks with mild curiosity.

“Because I was trying to comfort her when she assumed that Octavia had a terminal illness. So I thought it would have been best to share my own understanding on that matter. I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that, mind you.” he states shamefully.

“Hey, it’s cool, Ford.” she reassures with a forgiving smile. “You only did what you thought was best, right? I won’t hold that against you.”

A bit relieved from her reassurance, Mustang figures it might be best to bring this up, “So speaking of which… are we ever going to tell the rest of our friends and your father about this?”

“I… I guess so.” She says halfheartedly. “Just give me some more time about this. I’ll let you know soon enough.”

“Of course.”

After they take flight and head on home, a strange thought crosses her mind and she shares it with her husband, “By the way, do you have any idea on what Scratch was talking about when she said ‘magically-induced conceptions?’”

A bit taken back from such a curious subject, Ford pauses for a moment and recalls his time as a human on Earth where he used to read various fanfiction involving his favorite Background Ponies. From that recollection, he develops a very uncomfortable blush, and he turns his head away from Rainbow’s inquisitive gaze while replying in a very cryptic, bashful manner.

“I… might have a general idea about that.”

Author's Note

I'm going to do my best to update them as soon as possible, but the future chapters may take longer than usually. Mostly some new ideas came to mind, so it may take awhile before they're fully developed. I hope at best I can make those updates biweekly, but we'll just have to wait and see.

In any case, thank you for your patience as always.

Chapter 19 – Planning for the Future

Chapter 19 – Planning for the Future

Like most leisurely mornings, Rainbow Dash enjoys these moments where she doesn’t need to wake up so early or have to worry about that annoying alarm clock of hers. And with nothing important in mind for the morning to come, she can enjoy the rest of her sleep with ease.

But something does disturb her. It’s very faint, but Rainbow can definitely hear that. And the fact that the unidentified noise is so low is what’s so annoying. The faintest sound can be enough to disturb the serene silence that she is trying to enjoy for herself.

Grudgingly, she slowly opens her sleepy eyes before she can verify the source of that annoyance. But once she does, Rainbow notices something different about her bedroom. In fact, she’s no longer in her room, or in her house for that matter. And yet, despite the change in location, she still recognizes it. How could she forget such a place where she married the stallion of her life?

Canterlot’s Royal Chapel.

However, her fond memories of this sanctuary are replaced with discomfort and confusion when she notices that everything in this setting is in a depressingly grayish-blue color scheme. Not to mention that the chapel is disturbingly dim, not even the once-colorful stained glass windows provide any light to this unsettling situation.

With a couple jerks of her head, she verifies her surroundings as she walks down the main aisle. There are countless ponies present in each row she passes by, but they hardly show any distinguished features nor do they possess faces. But those faceless ponies are not as disturbing as what Rainbow sees at the altar in front of her.

An opened glass coffin with a lifeless mare inside that she knows all too well: herself.

Slowly, she approaches the golden casket to make sure that one lying on its thick, soft mattress isn't just some twisted illusion. But despite her skepticism and the fact that the intact corpse's colors are replaced with that grayish-blue scheme, she is quite certain that this deceased pony is a complete duplicate of herself. The exact replica is lying there motionlessly with her forelegs crossed over each other, her ears are drooped down in a very loosened state, her closed eyes are shut heavily to signify her eternal sleep, and a strangely serene smile is cemented on her inanimate face.

Fear grips Rainbow like a snake strangling its prey as she gulps lightly on what she sees before her. She just can’t understand on how can there be two Rainbow Dashes at the same time. Unless… it has finally happened just as Ford has envisioned, which means she’s already… dead.

Still, this is too freaky and unbelievable for her to accept. She remembers the visit to the hospital with Ford as well as meeting with Octavia and Vinyl Scratch afterwards like it was yesterday. In fact, it should have been yesterday. So how can she be dead already? She still has a few months left to enjoy, right?

As she tries to assess the dire situation, Rainbow hears that awful sound again. Eventually, the noise becomes clearer, and she begins to make out on what she is hearing. It was a noise she hates most of all: crying. And the worst kind of crying was coming from her dear, sweet friend, Fluttershy.

Accompanied by her strong and silent husband, Big Macintosh, a very tearful Fluttershy hovers lightly above the immovable copy of Rainbow Dash as she carries a bouquet of flowers in her hooves. Just like the background and everything else, Fluttershy and Big Mac are in that ugly blue color. Gently as she can be, the trembling Fluttershy lays her bouquet next to the stationary mare, and the long-haired Pegasus thrusts her greatly grieving face into Big Mac’s chest.

After the large farmpony softly hugs her weeping wife, he leads Fluttershy away while the real Rainbow struggles greatly to reach out for her best friend. Yet no words could come out of her. A bit baffled by her sudden muteness, she then rushes to Fluttershy to get attention directly. But the departing couple phrase right through Rainbow without disruption as it leaves the ghostly Pegasus completely dumbstruck by the reveal of her own incomprehensible intangibility.

As frustration and confusion begin to build up from inside, her negative emotions are put on hold when a new pair makes their appearance. This time, it is Gilda and Pinkie Pie. It is quite surprising for Rainbow to see the two opposites so close together with Gilda laying a large, brown wing over the smaller Earth Pony and the latter clinging on to the griffon’s left foreleg very tightly. Compared to Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash is used to seeing her in tears, but one look at the severely depressed Pinkie Pie is simply too much to bear. No longer is she like her usually cheerful self, with her long, deflated hair as straight and smooth as an ironed-out sheet and her big, pitiful eyes that could hardly stop her cascading tears.

Like Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie also had a bouquet of flowers in her hooves. She tries to present the flowers herself, but her unrestrained emotions were too much to handle as she bawls loudly before she immediately muffles her cries with Gilda’s feathery chest. With a wing still wrapped closely around the crying mare, Gilda gently takes the bouquet from Pinkie and leaves them right next to the doppelganger’s corpse. And as the two friends depart from the opened casket, the sad griffon takes one last look over her shoulder before she continues to lead the heavily weeping pony away. Once again, the ghostly Rainbow Dash tries to stop her friends by waving her forelegs frantically in the air, but as expected, her desperate antics go unnoticed as Pinkie and Gilda leave the scene.

Then, Rainbow Dash meets another pair after the last one: Applejack and Rarity. AJ has her treasured hat like always, even though she's not wearing and is holding it against her chest with a right foreleg, but Rarity, on the other hoof, is wearing a very traditional, black funeral attire, complete with long leggings and very wide-brimmed hat with a lacy veil covering her face. Even with the veil covering the seamstress’s face, Rainbow can still see the agony on Rarity’s face as she desperately tries to hold back her tears. Each of them has their own flowers to contribute with Applejack using her mouth and Rarity using her Unicorn Magic. One at a time, the Earth Pony leans over and places hers, and the Unicorn does the same with her magic. As they take a good, long look at Rainbow, Rarity make a couple of sniffles as she levitates a handkerchief to wipe her tears while Applejack struggles with the lone tear that creeps onto her cheek. Unable to get her tear back where it belongs, Applejack wipes it away with a free fore hoof, and the grief-stricken couple eventually make their leave.

After the last pair left, Princess Twilight Sparkle is up next and gracefully steps forward. Like the others before her, the barely composed princess presents her own bouquet to Rainbow. Along with the flowers, Dash also notices her Alicorn friend wearing her customary crown to signify her royal duty. But much more to Rainbow’s shock, Twilight’s right fore hoof is holding a particular golden necklace very close to her chest, one that bears a red, lightning-shaped gem at its center: the Element of Loyalty. Seeing her own element before her causes the blue Pegasus to cringe immensely on the dreadfully possibilities if she’s no longer around. With her gone, who’s going to fill that gap to complete the Elements of Harmony? While Dash dreads on the future for her friends, Twilight lays her bouquet with the others as she shed soft tears that cascade across her face before taking her leave.

Next up is somepony Dash doesn’t want to see, or rather, to not see her like this at her own funeral. Mustering all of her strength in her small legs and tiny wings, Scootaloo climbs over the casket as she holds a few flowers in her mouth while expressing very big, tearful eyes that can give Fluttershy a run for her money when it comes to sad, crying faces. Carefully, she places her small arrangement of flowers before getting one last look at her fallen idol.

But as Scootaloo prolongs her weepy gaze, she couldn’t bear it any long and wraps her forelegs tightly around the immobile mare. Rainbow Dash’s heart could barely take it any more once she is sets her sights on the deeply upset filly. She so desperately wants to call out to her little sister, to let her know that she’s here and that everything’s okay. But because of her bizarre circumstances, Rainbow wants to curse herself for not being able to do anything at this point. All she can do is just float in place and watch this heartbreaking scene in play. Eventually, the parents pull their weeping daughter away as poor, little Scootaloo wail hysterically while trying to reach out to her big sister, with Dash wanting to do the same thing for her.

Things became even more heart-wrenching for Rainbow when her father, Turbo Dash, stands before the casket. Trying his best to stay strong for his presumably deceased daughter, Turbo is unable to contain his emotions as never-ending tears pour of his old, tiring eyes. Rainbow wonders if this is what he was like when her mom passed away years ago. From placing his flowers right next to the others, Turbo leans in closer to brush some of the motionless mare’s hair before giving her a loving kiss on her forehead. Gradually, Turbo walks away in subtle anguish as Rainbow mentally cries out for her daddy in desperation.

And finally, to make it more heartbreaking than the last, Rainbow comes face-to-face with her husband, Ford Mustang. Unlike the other ponies before them, Ford is hardly showing any emotion at all. His eyes look very heavy, and there are faints trails of dried-up tears underneath them, but his emotionless, stone-cold face looks like that all of the life was suck right out of her. And seeing how so detached he is over her death, that is what truly terrifies Rainbow Dash.

Without a word, the impassive Mustang presents his own unique bouquet and gently places it right between the crossed forelegs of his fallen wife. Curious by the more diverse flowers, the ghostlike Rainbow Dash looks over her husband’s shoulder to verify them herself. She can’t tell much due to the lack of color, but she recognizes them as the exotic wildflowers she and Ford came across when they first met as well as the time they went on their first anniversary night where he made the first attempt on his proposal for her.

After securing the distinctive flowers within her forelegs, Ford takes a moment to longingly gaze at his wife before he offers one last kiss on the lips. But as Mustang is preoccupied with his last farewells, the observant Rainbow Dash seeks a way to console him by giving him a loving kiss on the cheek. Even though her intangible lips can’t touch his coated skin, the despairing mare puts as much heart into it in hopes she will finally be noticed by him. Unfortunately, her attempt is meaningless as Ford retracts his head back while Rainbow is petrified by her actions going completely unnoticed like before.

And as she sees her husband turning around, the immensely tearful mare tries with all of her might to call out to him, even though the words she is trying to articulate are all in her head. In the midst of her fruitless effort, Ford stops and slowly turns his head back. For a second, Rainbow feels certain that she is able to communicate with her stallion. But all Mustang could give her is that same, uncomfortable, blank stare, and all of her hopes are dashed away when the now-widowed stallion walks out of her stationary sight.

With her oblivious husband leaving Rainbow Dash behind and completely heartbroken, the hopeless mare collapses on the floor as she laments heavily on what she had to go through. Even when she closes her eyes very tightly, they could do nothing to stop the never-ending tears from pouring out of them.

But upon reopening them, Rainbow suddenly finds herself in the same spot as her departed doppleganger. From there, she tries to move from her spot. But to her increasing dismay, she can’t budge an inch; not even half of an inch. She’s practically glued to the somewhat comfy mattress she’s on. And not just her back that is stuck, she is also unable to move her entire body, including her legs, her head, and her eyes. Every muscular fiber in her body is in complete paralysis. She isn’t able to unhinge her jaw so she can call out for help.

Completely distraught by what is going on, Rainbow once again tries to break free her from his invisible restraints as she desperately calls out to anyone who can hear her, no matter how hysterical she might sound. But as she frantically cries out in quiet agony, a glass case for her coffin firmly slams shuts before her, and two ponies loom over the panicky mare, this time, they are the Alicorn sisters, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. As Rainbow Dash is a bit startled by the princesses’ sudden appearance, the two silent sisters reach for something underneath them and pull up a very large, dark-colored sheet, no doubt to drape it over the casket once the memorial is over. In a last desperate act, Rainbow attempts to call out to the princesses for their aid, but as before, her words go unheard as the large sheet conceals her vision, leaving the tormenting Rainbow Dash trapped in her own darkness.

Now brought back in a state of despair similar to the mental, dark void that Arrogon the Destroyer once trapped her in, Rainbow Dash increasingly loses her nerve as she take quick, heavy breaths instinctively. As hopelessness takes over her unstable demeanor, a bright, orange glow gradually lights up the darkness all of a sudden.

But as Rainbow starts to feel some relief from the unexpected glow, she starts to feel very uncomfortable from its drastically increasing heat. It’s become so unbearable for her that she begins to sweat very intensely. And suddenly, the source of the heat gradually reveals itself as flickers of flames dance and surround her.

It’s there she discovers the terrible realization: she is being incinerated alive.

Trapped within her own cremation, Rainbow panics uncontrollably as the flames grow bigger and hotter. And as she desperately screams at the top of her lungs, the overwhelming blaze becomes so large that it progressively blocks her field of vision with its blinding, hot light until finally… it consumes her whole.

“NOOOOO!!”

As the deeply terrified Rainbow Dash flares her legs wildly on her side of the bed, her husband wakes up in full alarm before he quickly notices the distressed mare. With the worried stallion fully awake now, he immediately pulls his wife in closely and tries to stir her out of her stressful sleep-talking by shaking her lightly.

“Rainbow, wake up!”

“LET ME OUT! SOMEPONY LET ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE!”

“Honey, please wake up!”

After his screeching pleas and a few more shakes, Rainbow gradually wakes up from her own nightmare. With her awakened eyes wide-open, the completely petrified mare looks around the bedroom frantically so she can verify that this is not all part of her dream. Then, her terrified gaze locks on to Mustang’s concerning eyes before she breaks down into pitiful, overflowing tears and weeps heavily while she lunges for a hug from him.

With the grieving mare tightening her trembling forelegs around Ford, he too wraps his forelimbs around her gently while he whispers to her cooingly, “It’s okay, angel. I’m here for you.”

“Oh Celestia, it was awful!” she howls in a heartbroken tone. “No, it was more than awful! I mean…!”

“Shhhh… take as much time as you need, Rainbow.” he insists tenderheartedly as he softly strokes her mane.

Without breaking away from their embrace, Rainbow tells Ford everything about the nightmare she just experienced, from beginning to end. Throughout her narration, her initial composure deteriorates, and she breaks down like a whimpering baby towards the end of her story.

“…And then there was smoke… an-an-and fire! It really felt like I was burning alive in there!”

“Hey hey… calm down.” the stallion implores in a touching tone as he hugs her closely. “You’re safe now. It was only a bad dream.”

Taking a breather from her story, she feels more relax within her husband’s comforting embrace. But after a moment of silence, the disturbing fear begins to resurface in Dash’s heart before she takes the time to confess her worries.

“Ford?”

“Yes, Dashie?”

“I’m scared.”

“Of… dying?”

“A little, yeah. But I’m more scared on what’s going to happen with everypony else when I’m gone. Like, who’s going to take over my spot in the Wonderbolts? Who’s going to keep an eye on Scoots for me? And more importantly, who’s going to be the next Element of Loyalty if I’m not around anymore?”

With each question she addresses, Rainbow trembles ever more as she tries to hold back any more tears from leaking. But as she shivers and snivels, she looks up at her husband with big, expressive eyes as if she expects some hopeful answers from him. A bit taken back by her pitiful gaze, Mustang takes his time to contemplate on this important matter before he shares his thoughts with her.

“Sigh… I don’t know all of the answers myself, Rainbow.” he admits softly with uncertainty. “But maybe… it’s time we make some preparations for ourselves. You know, writing our wills and figuring out on who should be our foals’ godparents. And… perhaps we should tell our friends and your father on what we know so far.”

Once Ford states that with hesitation, Rainbow’s eyes widen in dismay before she averts them away in shame. Without needing to ask, he readdresses himself with an understanding smile, “I know you don’t like the idea as much as I do, but I really think it’s best to not leave them in the dark for too long. And don’t forget, I’m always here for you, no matter how little my help may be.” he concludes as he gently tilts her head with a fore hoof so she could face him once again.

Seeing that warm gaze and compassionate smile of his, she gradually brightens up with a small grin before responding to his reasoning, “Big or small, you’ve always been a great help to me. Sigh… but maybe you’re right, Ford. Maybe it is time I tell my friends about this. But can we save this until morning?”

Happy to see her smiling once more, he agrees without a fuss. “Sure thing. Can I get you anything to help you sleep more soundly? A nice, soothing drink? Maybe a bedtime story I can read for you?”

“I’m a full-grown mare, Mustang. Not some little filly.” she replies with sharp wit before she reverts back to an adorably shy manner. “But maybe… you could stay up all-night for me until I fall asleep first?”

Surprised at first by how cute Rainbow is acting when making such a simple request, he giggles to himself before drawing his wife in by having her lay on top of his chest and wrapping her up in his wings and forelegs. Once he pulls the covers up with his teeth, he then answers with a clever, considerate smirk, “Not a problem, angel. And while I’m at it, I’ll keep an eye on those big, scary monsters for you that lurk underneath the bed as well as in the closets.”

From hearing on how silly that sounded, Dash couldn’t help but burst into a hearty yet well-needed chuckle before she replies with an amusing grin, “You’re terrible, Ford.”

“I know.”

Despite the very abrupt disturbance she had in the middle of the night, Rainbow Dash is able to enjoy the rest of her sleep. So after they wake up, eat their breakfast and clean up, they spent the rest of the morning to work on a plan if Rainbow will indeed meet her predetermined fate. For the most part, they come up with lists for their individual wills. And around lunchtime, they believe they got all the necessities they need before they get in contact with an attorney to finalize them. For Rainbow, it felt very tedious for her, but she reminds herself that this is for her family’s sake, and the sooner it was taken care of, the better. But before they go over their next idea, which is to decide on the foals’ godparents, Rainbow decides to take a well-deserved break from this and goes out for a nice flight for herself.

As she flies nice and steady around town, she comes across her favorite filly, Scootaloo, who is outside of her house and working on her dissembled scooter, with parts laid around her and a toolbox right next to her. With an open-end wrench in her mouth, the orange Pegasus tightens a bolt that connects the handle bar’s stem to the base of the board. Smiling over Scoots' handiwork, Rainbow hovers over to her little sister in hopes to spend some time with her.

“Hey, Scoots! Whatcha working on?”

Upon hearing her role model greeting her, the surprised Scootaloo drops her tool and replies with a big grin, “Hi, Rainbow Dash! I’m just fine-tuning my scooter here. You know, give this baby some juice and make it more agile before I do some serious shredding today!”

“Sweet! Can’t wait see this baby in action myself! Mind if I help you out a bit?”

A bit startled by how her role model wants to offer her assistance, Scootaloo redisplays her enthusiasm as she gladly accepts it. “Uh… okay, sure! Can you give me that socket wrench over there?”

“You got it, boss!” Rainbow salutes playfully. “One socket wrench, coming up!”

With one, quick swipe, Rainbow pulls out the first wrench she sees from the toolbox and presents the selected tool proudly. But Scootaloo stares at it with a bewildered look before she hesitantly corrects her new assistant.

“Umm, Rainbow… that’s a pipe wrench.”

A bit shocked by that statement, Rainbow looks at the wrench she just pulled out as she could hardly tell the difference between the two. To cover up her obvious mix-up, she breaks into an awkward yet smug smile as she shrugs it off coolly, “Oh, I knew that! I was just testing you, that’s all.”

Of course, Scootaloo isn’t buying that as she simply replies with a knowing smirk, “Riiight…”

With a lucky guess, Rainbow pulls out the requested ratchet this time, and hands it over to Scootaloo. As the purple-haired filly tightens a fastener to one of the scooter’s wheels, Rainbow then asks with curiosity, “So, where’s Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom? I figure you three would be hanging out today like always.”

Focused on her work, Scootaloo answers nonchalantly, “Oh, they’re getting ready for the Sisterhooves Social by training with their big sisters.”

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?” Rainbow shouts in astonishment as she totally forgot about that event. “We should be doing some serious training ourselves!”

“Well I did considered that, but… you know.”

Unwilling to state the obvious, Scootaloo sheepishly points at Rainbow’s stomach, and the older mare looks down to see her extremely bulgy belly. Realizing on the amount of physical strain she would put herself and the twins through from the event’s famed obstacle courses, her initial eagerness is shot down and feels pretty foolish for questioning that.

“Oh… right. I guess I really outweigh the competition, huh?” she jests with a weak chuckle.

“Hey, it’s okay, Rainbow.” the younger Pegasus reassures as she fastens the next wheel. “We can always do it next year, right?”

Rainbow Dash freezes in place as that awful dread begins to build before she mutters in faintly disheartened manner, “…R-r-right.”

With Scootaloo thankfully distracted with her work, Rainbow recalls on that awful nightmare she just had last night, especially on how completely miserable Scootaloo was when she attended the dreamscape’s funeral. Rainbow isn’t sure on how she can tell the awful truth to her number-one fan, but she definitely hopes to spend as much time with her as possible. And the Sisterhooves Social seems like the perfect opportunity for them. But now, she will miss that chance and will never get that again before her foals are born. Intensely, Rainbow tries to think of an alternative, something that will wow her little sister and will be just as awesome as the yearly event itself.

But after some time on concentrating some of the most awesome things ever, a grand idea finally comes to mind, and a bold grin stretches across her face while she anxiously declare it out loud, “You know what? We don’t need some social gathering to have our own bonding time together!”

“We don’t?” the filly responds with confusion and surprise.

“Yeah! We can do something way cooler than the Sisterhooves Social this year!”

Excited by that extravagant suggestion, Scootaloo inquires even further, “Really? Like what?”

With a very clever smirk, Rainbow ruffles her little sister’s mane as she asks playfully, “How would like to spend time with your big sister this weekend at the Wonderbolts Academy?”

Author's Note

This chapter along with the next two after this are some of the more recent ideas I came across while I was working on this story. At the very least, it will allow Rainbow spend some time with her friends outside of the Mane Six, specifically Spitfire and Scootaloo.

Chapter 20 – Take-Your-Sister-To-Work Day

Chapter 20 – Take-Your-Sister-To-Work Day

Scootaloo could hardly believe it. It’s something that she has dreamed of for so long. It’s one thing to hang out with her esteemed role model and figurative big sister, Rainbow Dash, all day long, but to be taken to the same place where Rainbow trains and performs with the best of the best, that sounds almost too good to be true.

When Dash proposed this idea to her a few days ago, Scootaloo could hardly contain her childlike excitement as she dropped everything she was working on regarding with her scooter and immediately flew into the house to enthusiastically share it with her parents. Of course, the overly eager filly was practically begging to go with Rainbow this weekend, even as so far as doing additional chores once she gets back. But there was no need for her to go the extra mile as her mom and dad offer their permission to their child and Rainbow Dash, whom they do see as a responsible mare that knows on how to look after their daughter.

After that was settled with Scoots’ parents, Rainbow had her own priorities to take care of after that, where she sent a letter to Spitfire to inform her commander about her plans and how she wants to give her biggest fan the best experience the Wonderbolts can offer. And after a couple days later, Rainbow Dash received a letter back, which Spitfire gladly gave her approval in her reply. With their trip all set up, Rainbow just needed to prepare herself on something else she needs to address once she sees her favorite aerobatic team this weekend.

Now, on a clear Saturday morning, Rainbow Dash packs some of her stuff in her saddlebag, says her goodbyes to her husband, picks up Scootaloo at her house, and the two of them take the express train that is on route to the base of the Wonderbolts Academy. Granted, Rainbow would get there faster if she was allowed to fly, but the train ride itself wasn’t all that bad and they are making great time for themselves.

Once the train stops at the station that’s adjacent to the massive plateau, the two Ponyvillians are guided by a couple officials from the Wonderbolts, who lead them to an exclusive elevator that accessible to those who can’t fly. Despite their inability to fly at such a high attitude, Rainbow and Scootaloo get to enjoy a great view of the scenery from the glass-cased lift as it takes them up even higher.

After passing through the layer of clouds, the two passengers exit out of the elevator and Scootaloo gapes excessively with wide, astonished eyes as the grinning Rainbow Dash gladly provides the introductions to her place of work.

“Scootaloo, welcome to the Wonderbolts Academy!”

At once, the anxious, little filly takes in on all of the wondrous sights before her, featuring surrounding clouds that house the complex’s facilities and a towering, cloud-made waterfall that’s pouring an endless stream of rainbow-colored water into the mountaintop’s creek. Dozens of Pegasi fly around the plateau with their individual responsibilities, including those training in the various obstacle courses and challenges.

As the massive pupils in Scootaloo’s eyes expand to their limits, Rainbow Dash is amused by the little pony’s speechlessness as she asks with a grin, “So what do you think of this place?”

“SO… AWESOME!” she utters with a very wide, squeaky smile.

“I know, right? And it’s gonna get even more awesome once I show you the ponies I hang out around with! Ah, right on time!”

And as Rainbow points it out with a fore hoof, the all-star trio approaches from the sky above and lands before the well-received visitors. The three Wonderbolts have their individual sunglasses and are all wearing their respective military uniforms outside of their trademark flight suits: Spitfire with her navy blue jacket, Soarin with his light blue collared shirt and black tie, and Fleetfoot with her grey, fur-lined collared leather jacket.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash! Good to see you again!” Spitfire says warmly as she hugs her pregnant friend before getting a good look at her. “Wow! You’ve gotten a lot bigger since the last time we met!” she adds with a giggling grin. “You sure you don’t have another one in there?”

“Come on, Spitfire. Give me a break, will ya? These are some growing foals I’m dealing with here.” She responds lightheartedly as she pats her stretched out belly. “Anyhow, I believe there’s no need for introductions, right Scoots?”

“Yeah, who’s doesn’t know these three?” the filly beams ecstatically. “They’re almost as famous as you are, Rainbow!”

The three Wonderbolts are speechless by the fan’s bold statement, and Spitfire glances at the awkwardly smiling Rainbow Dash before asking with a smirk and an arched eyebrow, “Almost, huh?”

From her commander’s teasing, the sheepish mare from Ponyville replies with a toothy grin, “Well, what can I say? The kid really looks up to me.”

“So, this must be the filly Dash keeps bragging about.” Soarin says with a friendly smile as Scootaloo lightly blushes from the attention she is receiving.

“D'aww! What a little cutie!” Fleetfoot gasps joyfully as she gets a closer look at the filly. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

Bashfully, she answers, “Umm… S-Scootaloo, ma’am.”

“Tee-hee… There’s no need for formalities, Scootaloo. Please, just call me 'Fleetfoot' like everypony else.” she insists sweetly as she offers a fore hoof to shake, which the young Pegasus gladly accepts.

“So, ready for your big tour today, Scootaloo?” Spitfire asks with a big grin.

From that reminder, Scootaloo hops up and down with renewed enthusiasm. “You bet I am!”

“Good! Because we’ve got a lot in stored just for you!”

Throughout the rest of the morning, The Wonderbolts lead Scootaloo around the academy’s campus as they enlighten the orange filly on the daily routines the members partake in. Their latest stop in their scheduled tour is checking out the hangers on top of the cloudy runway.

“Wow! And you get to do this everyday, Rainbow?” Scootaloo asks in continuous excitement after soaking in all of that she has learned from them.

“Pretty much.” Rainbow answers with a casual shrug. “Well, there are also tours and military duties we have to take care of, but this is where we all meet for our usual practice and meetings.”

“That’s right, Dash.” Fleetfoot agrees before the company stops as the white-haired Pegasus points the tour's next attraction. “Here, Scootaloo. Take a look at our famous air obstacle course over there. It’s where our recruits practice their flying and challenge themselves with adapting in different weather environments.”

Then Soarin adds, “Yeah. We cover all the basics from rain, snow, heavy winds, thunderclouds, and on special occasions, hail.”

Up ahead the tour group is a setup of the various obstacles. The first obstructions are a trio of purple, tuba-shaped cloudmakers with volunteers on standby to pour the right concoctions to make the clouds. Next up is a multitude of small clouds that are molded into aerial rings, but after that, is a huge cluster of dark thunderclouds. And towards the end is a row of ginormous machines in the shape of strange-looking hair dryers that are blowing large gushes of winds.

As Scootaloo gazes at the obstacle course’s features, Spitfire softly breaks the filly out of her trance as she asks with a smile, “Wanna give it try yourself?”

Scootaloo’s eyes widen from the mention of Spitfire’s offer before she stammers in response, “M-m-me?! Really?!”

“Sure. We’ve even prepped it up all up just for you.”

The orange pony pauses even further before making her decision as she alternates her speechless gaze between the four older Pegasi. Then she looks at her small wings as they flap rapidly, which causes her confidence to subside before she gives her answer with a humble yet nervous smile.

“O-oh, there’s no need to do that for me. I mean, I’m not even a Wonderbolt Cadet, so I really shouldn’t--!”

“Oh come on, Scoots!” Rainbow interrupts with a confident smirk. “There’s no need to be so modest! Just one fly for us!”

“But Rainbow Dash!” the nervous filly interjects quietly in shame. “My wings… they're not big enough--!”

“So what? I started out with small wings myself when I was a filly like you, and look how awesome I turned out! Plus, I know this really big guy with wings as tiny as yours, who’s been here as a Cadet alongside me, and he did pretty well for himself here.”

Despite the role model’s reassurance, Scootaloo still feels ill at ease from participating in the Wonderbolts’ famous air obstacle course. So Rainbow kneels down closely where their foreheads nearly came into contact and brushes the pony’s mane gently while carrying on her encouragement for Scoots.

“And besides, would I really put you on the spot like that if I knew you couldn’t handle it yourself?”

“You really think I can do this?” Scootaloo inquires softly with a small, budding smile.

Confident as ever, Rainbow Dash arches a shrew eyebrow as she maintains her bold grin before replying, “Scoots, when have I ever let you down before?”

After giving it some more thought, Scootaloo finally bears a more confident smile before saying with a nod, “Okay, I’m ready to give it a shot.”

“That’s the spirit!” Rainbow grins with pride before facing her comrades. “You heard her, Wonderbolts! Get ready for launch!”

With their salutes, the Wonderbolts do a quick check-up on the obstacle course while Rainbow Dash preps Scootaloo up by giving her a pair of googles as well as giving her some quick tips. “Remember: don’t think too much about this. Nopony is going to time you, so it’s not a race. Just imagine this as your usual runs with your scooter. Or better yet, just think of all the times we’ve practiced together.”

After everything was checked out, Spitfire approaches the two Ponyvillians as says with a smile, “Okay, we’re all set now. Anytime you’re ready, Scootaloo.”

With a quick hug, Rainbow adds one last thing with a wink and a reassuring grin, “Trust me, you got this.”

With her confidence boosted from her favorite pony, Scootaloo takes one last breath to dismiss what’s left of her nerves and places the googles over her eyes while displaying a determined grin. With everything set and ready for launch, the novice flyer breaks into a gallop on the runway and leaps in the air to begin her trial.

The first major obstacles are the hovering, pink clouds, which are transformed into miniature thunderclouds thanks to volunteer flyers who charged them up with some good kicks. Despite how intimidating the field of aerial mines are, Scootaloo passes through them with no problem thanks to her small size and smooth turning. To the poised, little filly, these hazardous clouds were no different than how she would navigate through the makeshift obstacles when she rides on her scooter.

After zigzagging through pink, charged-up clouds with surprise ease, the junior speedster takes a break through the series of hoop-like clouds. Just like before, navigating through those hoops didn’t provide much difficult for the young stunt flyer, but the same can’t be said for the massive storm up ahead.

Within the dark, cloudy tunnel, the obstacle course’s midpoint is filled with heavy rain, crackling thunder, and bright lightning, but those were only minor distractions compared to Scootaloo’s biggest challenge in her trial run: the strong winds blowing against her direction. Due to the storm’s heavy gusts, the Pegasus’s flying is cut down short tremendously as she gradually loses speed.

It is just as Scoots feared, her wings are not big enough. But just as her fears start to get the best of her, she recalls on Rainbow Dash’s encouragement as well as all of the private training she went through under her big sister’s tutelage. Her wings may be small, but that doesn’t mean they’re not as powerful as they were before Rainbow took her under her wing. With that reminder in mind, Scootaloo rebuilds her confidence and drastically increases her flapping, which allows her to drive through the harsh winds. And thanks to her tough tenacity, she eventually reaches for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Once she exits out of the storm, the self-assured Scootaloo breezes through the last obstacle as she loops above and below the large airstreams from the air-blowing machines. And after overcoming every challenge in her trial run, the tenacious flyer beams with pride as she gets closer to the runway’s finish line with the Rainbow Dash cheering and waiting from the other end. Unable to contain her enthusiasm on what she just accomplished for herself, Scoots speeds up to cross the finish line, and the ecstatic Rainbow Dash cushions the head-on collision with a well-deserved hug.

“Rainbow Dash, did you see that?” Scoots asks with a gleeful smile. “I did it! I really did it!”

With a very proud smile, Rainbow coolly answers, “I had no doubt about that.”

In the midst of Scoot’s triumph, the other Wonderbolts approach the pair as Spitfire offers her own congratulations with a grin, “Nicely done, Scootaloo. You did pretty well for a filly at your age.”

“Really?” she gasps ecstatically. “Did I break any records?”

“No.” Spitfire responds simply, which earns her a small, adorable pout from the filly. “But you certainly did much better than most Cadets who ran the course the first time.”

“Yeah, it was still really impressive.” Soarin adds warmly. “Not many Pegasi can demonstrate such smooth control.”

“Where did you learn to make such tight turns like that?” Fleetfoot asks with keen interest.

“Well, I do pick up after my big sister here.” Scootaloo boasts lightly with a smirk as she directs a meaningful gaze at the Rainbow.

As much as she likes to boast, Rainbow can’t take all of the credit and she pulls Scootaloo in for a playful noogie while praising her efforts in return. “Hey, that was all on you, sis. You were a natural out there.”

The three Wonderbolts are speechless by the sisterly relationship between the two before Fleetfoot is the first to break from her stupor as she comments to her friend, “Rainbow Dash, I didn’t know you had a sister. Though I do see a bit of the resemblance from you two.”

“Well we're not exactly related, but she is the best thing to have for a sister, figurative or not.” she states with pride as she pulls the beaming filly for another victory hug.

After Scootaloo’s victory over the obstacle course, Spitfire then suggests they take a break from their tour as it is getting close to lunchtime. So the three tour guides lead Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash through the main office building, which causes the orange filly to ponder on why they’re being taken here when the dining hall is next door.

“Wait, aren’t we going to have lunch at the mess hall?”

“Better than that, Scootaloo.” Spitfire gladly answers with a clever grin. “We’re giving you exclusive access to our private lounge!”

Just as Scootaloo gasps with joy once again, Fleetfoot adds with equal enthusiasm, “Oh, you’re going to love it! We have everything and more! We even have a pie buffet!”

Then Rainbow leans closer to the filly’s ear as she whispers with a crafty smirk, “Originally meant for Soarin, of course, thanks to a pie industry he once sponsored.”

But the rest of the Wonderbolts catch Dash’s whispering, as the mares giggle to themselves while Soarin is dumbstruck by that assumption before he whines out loud, “Hey, come on, guys! I don’t like pies that much!”

“Oh, what a shame.” his fiery-haired wife pouts in mocking disappointment. “And they just added coconut pie as one of today’s specials.”

“Ooo! My favorite!” he squeaks in anticipation over his preferred treat, which earned a few more muffled giggles from the mares once again.

After Rainbow’s laughter dies down, a thought comes to mind, and she quickly gets the captain’s attention, “Hey, Spitfire? Can we stop by your office real quick? There’s something I need to discuss with you.”

A bit surprised by Dash’s sudden urgency, Spitfire answers with a modest nod, “Sure. Soarin, could you and Fleetfoot lead our special guest to the lounge for me?”

“You got it, Captain.” Soarin salutes to his commander.

“Thank you, sweetie.” she responds by giving her husband a gratifying kiss, and she and Rainbow begin to turn around.

But before they head off in the opposite direction, Rainbow notices Scoot’s slight confusion and reassures the filly, “You go ahead and help yourself. I’ll be back before you know it. And be sure to save a big slice for me, will you? Don’t want Soarin to hog all the pies, you know.” she ends with a lighthearted wink.

After Scootaloo nods to her big sister, she follows Fleetfoot and Soarin while Rainbow and Spitfire make their way to the latter’s office. Once they are inside the captain’s work place, Rainbow gently closes the doors behind her as Spitfire turns around to face her coworker.

“So what’s up?”

In response to Spitfire’s casual inquire, the yellow mare is met with brief silence as Rainbow takes a deep breath before she turns around to face her respected leader. But instead of answering her commander, Rainbow silently walks past Spitfire before she reaches for something inside her saddlebag and places it on the older Wonderbolt’s table. Looking over the other mare’s shoulder, Spitfire is shocked to see what Rainbow just laid down. Folded neatly on the table is Rainbow Dash’s very own Wonderbolt flight suit.

Completely startled by the recognizable item, Spitfire stutters in bewilderment, “Wha…? What’s this all about, Rainbow?”

“I figure since I may no longer need this anymore, I might as well turn this in early while I get the chance.” the sheepish mare answers cryptically while nervously rubbing the back of her head.

This vague response continues to leave Spitfire completely baffled as she inquires even further, “You-you’re… you’re quitting the team? But why? This is what you’ve wanted for so long, right?”

“Of course, Spitfire! Being a Wonderbolt is like a dream come true for me!”

“Then why--?”

But she suddenly stops herself as a terrible thought crosses her mind. Trembling subtly on such an awful idea, Spitfire then ask in a lightly quivering voice, “Rainbow Dash… is everything okay with you?”

“It’s… complicated.” she admits uneasily.

“Rainbow, please tell me what’s going on. This isn’t like you at all.”

“You know about my husband’s dragon powers, right?”

“You mean where he emits that golden, magic glow and breathes fire? Yes, I’ve seen it firsthoof before. Why?”

“Well… a few months ago, he discovered a new power… where he can see into the future.”

Puzzled by where Rainbow is going with this, Spitfire asks, "So, what did he see?"

"Well… umm… he saw something… happened… during the birth of our twins."

"Like a complication that may prevent you from going back to the Wonderbolts?"

"Ehh… something like that, yeah. But a lot worse than that. He saw that I… I…"

As Rainbow struggles from revealing the grim possibility in her future, Spitfire pieces it all together on what her dejected teammate is trying to say, so she saves her the trouble by muttering it herself, "That… you might not make it in the end?"

Feeling choked up in her own articulation, Rainbow gives her answer in the form of a weak nod, and Spitfire gasps faintly while her eyes widen in immense shock from this upsetting news. The two mares pause in the middle of their unsettling conversation as the staggered Spitfire walks over to her chair behind her desk and plops right on her seat. After taking a moment to let all of this sink in, Spitfire looks at her equally distressed teammate with wide eyes and offers her consideration to the best of her abilities.

“D-Dash, I’m so sorry to hear that. I… don’t know what else to say.”

Rainbow offers a small smile in return for her team captain’s concern. But as they resume their silence, Spitfire looks at Dash’s blue-and-yellow uniform that’s still sitting on the table, staring back at fiery-haired pony, waiting for her to accept the inevitable outcome. Taking a break from staring at that suit in front of her, the veteran Wonderbolt closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath. Once she exhales, she opens her amber eyes as they display her usual levelheadedness. And to Rainbow Dash’s surprise, Spitfire gently pushes the uniform back before continuing in a calmer manner.

“However, I can’t accept this.”

Baffled to see her commander acting this way, Rainbow responds in a sharp tone, “Spitfire, I’m trying to do you favor--!”

“Well so am I, so listen up!” Spitfire retorts as she lightly slams her fore hooves onto the table. “What happened to the death-defying mare I first met at the Best Young Flyer Competition? The one who saved my life as well as the others while pulling off the Sonic Rainboom? The same pony who is just as much an inspiration to me as I am to her? The Rainbow Dash I know isn’t one to quit without a fight! Because if there’s anypony I know who can pull off miracles, it will be you, Rainbow!”

As Spitfire emphasizes her points, Rainbow is deeply shocked to hear such admiration from her biggest role model, especially the part on how much she inspired Spitfire. With the blue mare startled by these words of appreciation, the yellow mare gets out of her chair to walk towards her friend as she continues in a gentler tone.

“Until that happens, I can’t accept your resignation just yet.”

And once their faces are inches apart from each other, Spitfire quickly pulls the increasingly startled Rainbow in for a big, constricting hug. Petrified in the older mare’s embrace, Dash suddenly feels something wet around her right shoulder and neck as Spitfire tightens her fore hooves even further. And It didn’t take long for Rainbow it figure out as the barely contained tears seep out of the mare’s tightly shut eyes before the lead Wonderbolt ends her statement with a heartbreaking plea.

“So please, Rainbow… don’t you dare give up, not on me and not on yourself.”

After the grief-stricken Spitfire finishes what she had to say, Rainbow Dash quakes with so much emotions building up inside her, not just from hearing her role model’s strong words of encouragement, but also from knowing on how much Spitfire truly cares about her. Overwhelmed by so many feelings, Rainbow gradually breaks into soft tears and wraps a foreleg around the embracing mare before she simply whispers her gratitude in Spitfire’s ear.

“Thank you, Captain.”

Despite their flowing tears, the two Pegasi bear big smiles for each other’s comfort, and eventually, they break free from their emotional hug while composing themselves. In the midst of wiping away their tears, Rainbow adds in more casual manner, “But still… you should be prepared for the worse just in case.”

“I’ll considered it later.” Spitfire assures as she finishes up drying her eyes. “So… are the twins going to be okay at least?”

“As far as we know, yeah, they’ll make it in the end.”

“Sigh… that’s a relief.” Spitfire replies with a relaxing smile.

“Yeah, tell me about it. Hey, I hope this hasn’t freaked you out too much.”

“What makes you say that?” she perplexes slightly.

Then Rainbow breaks in a very shrewd grin and remarks in a sing-song voice with a wiggle of her eyebrows, “You know~! When you and Soarin make a baby someday~!”

Taken back by Dash’s strangely welcoming quips, Spitfire lets out sheepish giggle as her blushing is as intense as her fiery mane. “Come on, Dash! Don’t bring that up at a time like this!”

“Awwww! But I want one of my foals to have a worthy rival someday!” Rainbow pouts excessively as she bashes her big, cute puppy-dog eyes. “Plus, we can even re-establish our own rivalry on who’s the coolest mom ever!” she adds with a persuasive grin.

“You mean who can spoil their kid the most as well as brag on all of their latest accomplishments?”

“Yep!”

Despite displaying a deadpan look on her face, Spitfire could hardly keep up her playful act for long as she breaks into a very amusing grin before she shakes hooves with the equally smirking Pegasus to seal on their deal. “You’re on, Rainbow!”

Feeling much better now, the two friends share a good, well-earned laugh to break from their recent, nerve-wracking discussion. But suddenly, their moment to relax gets interrupted by an abrupt plop and soft “oomph” from the doorway. And once the adults turn around to see the sudden intrusion, Rainbow Dash becomes scared stiff by the appearance of the one pony she isn't ready to confront just yet.

Scootaloo.

Chapter 21 – Passing the Torch

Chapter 21 – Passing the Torch

Following up with that abrupt intrusion, Scootaloo gets herself up from the floor while softly groaning to herself, but once she opens her eyes, her petrified gaze locks on with Rainbow Dash and Spitfire as their startled eyes are just as wide as hers. In the midst of them freezing in place, Rainbow suffers a mental meltdown as she didn’t anticipate Scoots walking in Spitfire’s room so suddenly, let alone listening to their conversation. But as she anxiously tries to gather her thoughts, the blue Pegasus notices something even more upsetting just by looking on how watery Scootaloo’s eyes are.

Eventually, the little filly is the first to break out of their simultaneous daze as she hastily wipes her eyes and apologizes frantically, “O-oh! Sorry! I forgot to ask on what kind of pie you wanted, and… well…!”

Despite telling the truth initially, Scootaloo couldn’t help but look down in shame as she is indeed caught by the two older mares for her unintentional eavesdropping. After blinking speechlessly for a couple more times, Rainbow inhales a soft, deep breath to compose herself before she turns to her commander and asks for her permission.

“Hey Spitfire? Mind if we use the room for just a minute?”

With an understanding smile, the yellow mare nods to her comrade’s request, “Sure. I’ll see you two at the lounge.”

After walking past the other two Pegasi, Spitfire gently opens the door and quietly closes behind her. Once it is just the two of them, a brief moment of silence passes by before Rainbow faintly clears her throat before she questions her little sister in a very tender voice.

“Scootaloo? How much did you hear from us?”

From Rainbow’s soft inquiry, Scootaloo shakes tremendously as she stammers in fear, “I-I-I didn’t mean to eavesdrop like that!”

With a soft shake of her head, Rainbow gently readdresses herself, “I’m not mad at you, Scoots. I swear. Just… please tell me.”

Of course, Scootaloo is too afraid to respond, not because of Rainbow Dash herself, but because she didn’t want to confirm what she just heard behind the closed door. The mere thought over the foretelling death of her idol is too much for her to accept as she hesitates even further before she utters her response in a very quiet voice.

“It’s not true, is it?”

Almost as shook up as her favorite filly, Rainbow Dash becomes quite hesitant to answer such a simple yet difficult question. So, Scootaloo asks once again, “Y-y-you’re not really going to die, are you?”

After swallowing a heavy gulp, the nervous Rainbow attempts to explain herself, “Scoots, try to understand--!”

“NO! I DON’T WANT TO BELIEVE IT!” Scootaloo snaps out loud as she breaks down in tears like a ruptured dam. “You’re the most unstoppable pony out there! How can you simply die on us when you’re supposed to be there with our friends, with our family, with me?! There's just so much you can teach me over the years to come, and all of the cool stuff we’ll get to do together, and how I will make you proud of me someday, and… and…!”

As the tiny Pegasus loses focus on what else she wants to say as well as her voice, Rainbow silently stares at poor Scootaloo while feeling absolutely terrible from hearing her little sister expressing such disheartening thoughts. With the older mare still thunderstruck from all of this, the constantly weeping filly rushes toward her and pretty much tackles her with a hug.

While clinging to Rainbow’s chest so desperately, Scootaloo then whimpers very quietly, “Please… don’t leave me, sis.”

Dash’s heart is on the verge of breaking apart from such heartache after hearing Scoots’ soft, desperate plea while her blue fur coat is soaked in the filly’s never-ending tears. It is what she feared when she had that nightmare about her funeral days ago where she observed her friends’ grief-stricken reactions, including Scootaloo’s. She remembers how utterly helpless she felt from not being able to comfort the one pony who always looked up to her. But right now, she can at least make amends by carefully wrapping her big, blue wings around the small, wailing pony and gently stroking her purple mane with a fore hoof.

A moment later, Scootaloo’s crying has subsided to a softer magnitude, and Rainbow continues her delicate brushing while responding in a tenderhearted voice, “Oh, Scootaloo. I don’t want to leave you either. I’m so sorry for all of this. Believe me, I never want to hurt you like this. It’s just that… life is like… a roller coaster.”

Scootaloo pauses from her lamenting as she look up with moist, mystifying eyes. “A… roller coaster?”

“Yeah, why not?” Rainbow replies with that usual, laidback smirk of hers. “Sure, it’s got its ups and downs, and there are some moments can be quite scary for others, but past all of that, you feel an overwhelming surge of happiness and excitement as you enjoy the ride all the way through. That’s what makes life so thrilling, Scootaloo. And I tell you, I’ve been having the best ride ever!”

From listening to her big sister’s offhand philosophy, Scootaloo’s eyes cease her tears thankfully before she replies in an uncertain tone, “I guess I can see that. But what am I going to do when you’re gone, Rainbow?”

“That’s up to you, Scootaloo. But you know what? I’ve already got that taken care of!” she states proudly with a clever grin. “Somepony who would be perfect to take my place someday!”

Curious by Rainbow’s optimism, Scootaloo asks, “Really? Who?”

“You, of course!” she answers with a well-meant chuckle.

“M-m-me?”

“Uh, yeah!” she answers with a sharp smirk as if it’s that obvious to Scootaloo. “I mean, who else have I taken under my wing and shown them all of my awesome and secret moves?”

“Well, there’s Ford, remember?”

From forgetting that tidbit of information, Rainbow chuckles heartily at her own mistake before she praises Scoots for catching that for her. “Okay, you got me there! But you’re my first protégé, so you still get top billing! So yeah, someday my ride will come to an end eventually. Maybe in a few months. Maybe in a hundred years. Who knows? But in my place, your ride in life will become the biggest attraction the world will ever see!” she envisions with big, starry eyes as she emphasizes her bold declaration with a wave of her foreleg.

Scootaloo brightens with a smile as well from Rainbow’s high expectation, but it quickly diminishes when she voices her dismay over something that will be missing in her future, “I still wish you will be there to watch me though.”

Understanding the filly’s plight, Rainbow displays the ever-so comforting smile as she pulls Scootaloo in for a closer embrace while saying to her, “Listen, whether it’s this life or the afterlife, I will always watch over you, Scootaloo. Always.”

Feeling so secure in Rainbow’s wings and forelegs, Scootaloo feels more at ease as she retightens her hugging. After another moment to themselves, Rainbow looks at her favorite filly and asks with a teasing smile.

“Hey, who’s the toughest filly in town?”

But instead of responding, the unamused Scootaloo puffs her cheeks and groans lightly to herself while turning her frowny face away from the smirking mare.

“Come on~!” Rainbow goads lightheartedly. “Who’s the toughest filly in town?”

“I am?”

“Don’t know. Are you the toughest filly in town?”

“I am.” she speaks up a little louder in a childish whine.

“That’s better.” Rainbow chuckles as she ruffles the filly’s mane like always.

Smiling a bit more from the older sister’s usual playfulness, she then admits halfheartedly, “I don’t feel so tough right now.”

“Hey, there’s no shame in that.” She comforts Scoots with a carefree smile. “Strong mares can cry too sometimes. Just not as much as the rest of the ponyfolk. But hey, let’s keep that to ourselves, alright?” she says with a wink before the filly agrees with a soft nod.

Once things have settled down for now, Rainbow is the first to stand up as she adds, “Ok, let’s take a break from all of this schmaltziness and get something to eat, hmm? My foals are getting pretty demanding as they are right now!” And she demonstrates her points with a soft pat against her pregnant belly.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Scootaloo states in sudden shock. “I was about to tell you on what kind of pies they have for today!”

“Yeah? Well, don’t keep me in suspense, squirt! What’s the lineup?”

“Well, along with coconut pie, key lime pie, and sweet potato pie, they have something I’m sure that you’ll really love: Zap Apple Pie!”

As excited as the younger Pegasus, Rainbow smirks with hungry anticipation, “No kidding? Well we better get going! With Soarin around, they’re might not be enough pie left for everypony else!”

After a very nice lunch at the Wonderbolts’ lounge, they continue what’s left of their tour for the rest of the afternoon, and they finish it off with a special preview of a spectacular aerobatic routine that Spitfire, Soarin, and Fleetfoot have in store for one of their upcoming events. Basically, it is a reenactment on how the Wonderbolts came to be as their dynamic performance creates magical lightning bolts right before the astonished eyes of Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo.

At the end of the tour, the five Pegasi stand in front of the exit that leads to the plateau’s lift where Scootaloo offers her tremendous appreciation to the Wonderbolt trio, “Thank you so much for all that you have done for me today!”

“It was our pleasure, Scootaloo.” Spitfire welcomes with a nod and a warm smile. “I truly hope we’ve made a worthwhile experience for you.”

“Oh yeah! Definitely! The most fun I have in a while!” the happy filly confirms as she bounces up and down.

“Good.” Soarin says as he brings something else in mind. “Because we’re planning for our first ‘Junior Wonderbolts Summer Camp’ that season, and we really hope to see you there this year.”

From this invitation, the wide-eyed Scootaloo gets even giddier than ever as she asks in surprise, “Really? I get to be just like a Wonderbolt?”

“Of course you can.” Spitfire confirms before she quickly adds to that proposition. “With your parents’ permission, of course.”

Once Spitfire stated that, Scootaloo lets out a subtle pout before Rainbow reassures her with an amusing grin, “Don’t worry, Scoots. I’m sure that won’t be difficult to obtain once we get back home.”

Despite that minor requirement, the filly shifts back into a sunny disposition, and she goes up to the three for a big hug while expresses her gratitude once more, “Well, thanks again for everything! You guys really are the best of the best! Just only second best to my big sister, of course.” she ends with a meaningful smirk.

In the midst of their group hug, the older Pegasi giggle over the filly’s amusing claim before Soarin responds with a laidback smile, “I guess second place is good enough for me.”

“Hey, that’s quitter talk, Soarin!” his wife retorts playfully. “We’re just going to have to really impress her the next time we see her again!”

“Ooh! Please do come back soon!” Fleetfoot insists cooingly. But as they finished their hug, Fleetfoot suddenly gets all wide-eyed as she quickly gets her multicolored friend’s attention, “Oh, Dash! Before I forget! Since you’re on your way back to Ponyville, would you mind… delivering this for me?” And as she develops a growing blush on her light arctic blue face, Fleetfoot reaches for something from the inside pocket of her jacket and pulls out an envelope.

Once she receives Fleetfoot’s letter, Rainbow replies casually, “Uh, okay sure. Who’s it for--?”

But then, she stops herself as she has a pretty good idea on who this letter is for. With that in mind, Dash breaks into a very wide, devious smile as she says to Fleetfoot with sly, narrowed eyes, “Ooooooh, I know who this is for! It’s for your little ‘Rosebud’, isn’t it?”

As expected, the flustered Fleetfoot blushes like mad from Rainbow’s witty assumption, and she replies in a stammering, firm tone, “Th-that’s none of your business, Dash!”

“It is my business if I need to know who I’m delivering this for!” she counters with a proud, crafty smirk as she delicately waves the letter in front of the aggravated Fleetfoot. “Oh wait, don’t tell me! You’ve come up with something really sappy to sweep her off her hooves, didn’t you? What did you write for her? A love poem perhaps? Or maybe it’s some fancy invitation for a romantic get-together, hmm?”

While Rainbow makes silly, kissy faces as she takes wild guesses within the contents of the letter, Fleetfoot glares at the aggravating pony with piercing, fuchsia eyes and snarling teeth while Spitfire and Soarin try to hold back their snickering. In the middle of it all, Scootaloo puzzles who they are referring to until she recalls somepony back in her hometown.

So just to make sure on her assumption, she taps on her sister’s leg and asks, “Hang on, Rainbow. Is that the mare Roseluck keeps talking about?”

From the mention of that name, Fleetfoot foregoes on whatever she is angry about and redirects her attention to the filly by grasping her by the shoulders and shaking her tremendously while asking in a high-pitched, demanding voice, “She has?! Quick, Scootaloo! You have to tell me what she thinks of me right now! It’s imperative!”

Fearful on her comrade’s obsession taking it out on the little filly, Rainbow Dash firmly interjects, “Hey hey! Easy on my sister there, Fleetfoot.”

Realizing on how carried away she was, Fleetfoot ceases her shaking and sets Scootaloo down gently while apologizing in a meek, caring voice, “S-sorry, Scootaloo. Are you okay? I didn’t shake you too hard, did I?”

While her mane is a bit wilder from all of that shaking, Scoots simply laughs it off with a cheerful smile, “No, I’m okay. It was kind of fun actually.”

Unable to contain herself from Scootaloo’s adorableness, Fleetfoot pulls her in for one last hug as she whispers sweetly, “Oh, Scootaloo. You’re too good for Rainbow.”

After Fleetfoot releases the smaller Pegasus, Rainbow Dash steps up to exchange her goodbyes as she hugs them one at a time. “Thanks a lot for arranging all of this for me, you guys. I couldn’t have pulled this off without you.”

“Of course, glad we can help.” Soarin nods to her.

“It’s been wonderful seeing the two of you.” Fleetfoot states with a smile.

And saving the best for last, Spitfire gives a great, big hug for Rainbow as she insists with a warm, gentle smile, “Take good care of yourself, Rainbow Dash.”

“I will. And thanks again for the pep talk, Spitfire.”

Once they all said their farewells, the two sisters head over to the Academy’s exclusive elevator as they wave goodbye to their Wonderbolt friends. As the large lift gradually takes the two guests down, Spitfire shudders spontaneously as she feels her heart getting heavy over the thoughts on Rainbow’s well-being. It felt so gripping for her that her amber eyes start to get all watery.

When Soarin notices that gradual change in his wife’s expression, he asks softly, “Are you okay, honey?”

Caught off-guard by her husband’s concern, Spitfire brushes it off by rubbing her eyes quickly as she reassures him, “I’m fine, Soarin. It’s just that… I’ll tell you guys about some other time.”

“Sigh… that Rainbow Dash is so lucky, you know?” Fleetfoot utters with a knowing grin.

“Yeah, with Scootaloo and her twins on the way, I’m a bit jealous myself.” Soarin admits with a subtle giggle.

From hearing her husband mentioning that, Spitfire remembers her deal with Rainbow Dash earlier and decides to finally put that plan into motion by sliding up close to Soarin and emphasizes with a very alluring smile, “You know, we could fix that ourselves.”

Following up on that hint, the wide-eyed Soarin starts quivers with anticipation as he responds nervously, “O-oh really?”

“Mm-hmm.” she purrs affectionately as the grinning captain lovingly nuzzles against her husband’s neck while carrying on with her act of seduction. “Tonight, I have a very special assignment for you, Soarin. And you’re the only pony capable of completing such a task for me.”

As Spitfire offers her tempting offer for the thrilled stallion, she slyly wraps her long tail around his and uses her right wing to impishly caress his backside. Feeling really tense in every part of his body, his wings rattle in excitement as he gapes excessively in an inarticulate manner, “Uhhhh…”

“That’s an order.” she adds in a firm yet sultry tone.

Amused by how Spitfire is handling her husband, Fleetfoot playfully nudges Soarin to break him out of his own stupor as she grins to him, “You heard the mare. Captain's orders. Hop to it, soldier.”

With his mind back on track, he gives off a quick yet earnest salute to his grinning wife as he says out loud, “Yes, ma’am!”

Without further delay, he mightily lifts up his mare and cradles the now-blushing Spitfire in his strong forelegs. And with his privileged passenger safely secured, the very enthusiastic stallion takes immediate flight and the couple dart straight to their home. After waving goodbye to the stimulated couple, Fleetfoot eventually notices on how alone she is right now and lets out a heavy sigh of mockingly self-pity for herself.

“Oh, I hope Roseluck gets my letter in time. With everypony else fooling around, I’m starting to feel left out from all of this.”

On their train ride back home in the midst of a calm, orange sunset, Rainbow reclines leisurely on her cushiony seat while Scootaloo sits next to her and looks through the window as she sees how small the plateau for the Wonderbolts Academy is getting with each passing minute.

Feeling mighty proud of herself with what they did today, Rainbow turns to Scoots and asks with a grin, “So, did I tell you that today was going to be way cooler than Sisterhooves Social or what?”

“Oh yeah! Way past cool!” she agrees wholeheartedly.

Satisfied on her answer, Rainbow lets out a soft giggle before responding, “Glad to hear that, Scoots.”

Then, it gets awfully quiet between the two of them as Scootaloo redirects her attention to the window to gaze at the passing scenery while Rainbow tries to get comfort in her sitting position. However, the silence begins to gnaw her as she recollects on the upsetting discussion they had earlier at Spitfire’s office. Rainbow can only hope that their distraught moment didn’t ruin their big trip overall.

Hesitant at first, she gentle calls out to the filly, “Hey uhh… are you going to be okay?”

Despite the older mare not phrasing that clearly, Scootaloo understands what Rainbow Dash was implying as she turns to her concerning sister with an ambiguous look on her face. Once she sits down on her seat properly, Scoots takes a moment to contemplate on her mixed feelings before she answers with honest uncertainty.

“…I think so. Are you?”

Like her protégé, Rainbow thinks over her response before she replies with a bold, reassuring grin, “Don’t you worry about me, Scootaloo. Whether I make it or not, I’m as tough as they come.”

Then, she realizes on one last thing she wanted to do for Scootaloo as she states it while reaching inside her saddlebag, “Oh here. I wanna give you this. Something of a memento from me.”

After finding what she is looking for, Dash pulls out a shiny, gold badge that depicts a profile headshot of a Pegasus with a fully expanded wing upfront and a large, flowing mane. The overall shape is kind of like a lightning bolt similar to the Wonderbolts’ symbol, except the outline is much smoother. From receiving her gift, Scootaloo eyes it with wondrous delight as her fore hooves get a good feel of the badge’s smooth, carved surface.

“Cool! Is this something from the Wonderbolts?” Scootaloo asks with amazement.

“Yep. It’s the Lead Pony Badge I earned for myself at when I was a cadet at the Wonderbolts Academy.” Dash explains cheerfully. “And someday, you’ll get your very own badge just like this one.”

Suddenly, Scootaloo stops examining the badge’s details as she aimlessly looks down with her smile diminishing. Then, she glances at her idol and asks cautiously, “Hey, Rainbow? Will you… be disappointed if I don’t want to be Wonderbolt?”

A bit surprised by how her biggest fan doesn’t want to follow in her hoofsteps, Rainbow breaks into a honest, comforting smile and eases the filly’s worries, “Not at all, Scoots.” This makes the younger pony smiling once more, even if it’s just a little one, and Rainbow then asks with keen interest, “So what is it that you want to be someday?”

Scootaloo ponders on that thought-provoking question for a bit before answering, “Hmm… I’m not too sure myself. Hopefully it will be something where I can put my scooter to good use, but for the most part, I want to be a hero, just like you, Rainbow Dash.”

Never getting enough on how much Scoots really looks up to her, Rainbow displays a big smile as she pulls her in closely with a wing while assuring her, “Scootaloo, whatever you decide, I know you’re going to turn out just as awesome as me.”

As Scootaloo relaxes in the embrace of Rainbow’s wing, the latter warmly recollects on their times together and asks with a reminiscing smile, “Hey, do you remember that day where we went camping at the Winsome Falls with AJ, Rarity and your Crusader friends?”

From that reminder, Scootaloo brightens with a big smile, “How could I forget? It’s where you became my big sister!”

“Well, I don’t think I ever told you this before, but I’m an only child from where I come.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. So when you ask me to take you under my wing, I was somewhat shocked to hear that from you considering I never had a sibling before. Yet… at the same, I was quite thrilled on the idea. I mean, we’ve got a lot in common already when you think about it. We’re both tough, hardcore mares. We’re two of the coolest ponies in Ponyville. And we’re both known for our slick moves and radical stunts. You really are the toughest, coolest little filly I could ever ask for; the perfect sister I always wanted! You asked yourself if I will be proud of you someday. Well, you should already know that I’m already proud of you! No, scratch that, I have always been proud of you!”

Scootaloo is a speechless from hearing such earnest words from Rainbow Dash. They were so overwhelming to grasp that the little, orange filly could barely hold back her tears. So in order to prevent Rainbow Dash from seeing her acting so emotional once again, Scoots shoves her face into Dash’s chest as soft tears leaked out of her eyes. With a sympathetic smile, Rainbow wraps Scootaloo up in a gentle wing while the filly finishes what's left of her soft crying.

But as the two mares feel more at ease within their sisterly embrace, Rainbow endures a sudden kick from her exposed stomach and exclaims out loud, “Ooh!”

Alarmed by Dash’s shrieking, Scoots asks in a panicky tone, “What’s wrong, Rainbow?”

“Oh, it’s nothing really.” Rainbow reassures with a hearty chuckle. “It’s just my foals’ way on wanting to meet their new aunt.” Then, she pulls Scoots in closer until her face is touching her pregnant belly and insists with a grin, “Go on, say ‘hi’ to them.”

With her cheek pressed against Rainbow’s bulgy belly, Scootaloo says to them gingerly, “Umm… hello?” And to her surprise, she feels a couple of soft kicks stirring from within Rainbow, and Scoots announces cheerfully, “Hey, I think they’re responding to me!”

Rainbow giggles over Scoot’s joyous reaction and replies humorously, “Yeah, they can be just as restless as their mom, that’s for sure!”

As Scootaloo stays close to Rainbow’s stomach to feel any more of the twins’ kicking, she looks up at her role model’s beaming face and asks with high expectation, “Do you think I’ll be a great aunt someday, Rainbow?”

With an even wider grin, Rainbow Dash guarantees Scoots without a doubt, “The best aunt ever!”

After dropping the exhausted Scootaloo at her parents’ house as well as dropping off Fleetfoot’s letter to Roseluck’s residence, Rainbow makes her way to back home as it is now dusk by this point. Upon her arrival, she’s surprised to see that her husband hasn’t come to greet her right away, but she is welcomed to the luscious aroma of freshly made soup. In any case, she has a pretty good idea on where she may find him. With no need to hurry, Rainbow flies upstairs and peaks into the studio room where Ford Mustang, as expected, is preoccupied at the moment with his latest project.

“Hey, Mustang! I’m home!”

From Rainbow’s sweet greeting, the surprised stallion turns around and smiles upon Dash’s return. Setting his work aside, he flies toward his mare and responds with a pleasant kiss for her.

“Hey, welcome back, angel! How was your trip with Scootaloo today?”

“Awesome as always!” she declares boldly with an excited grin. “Ah, you should have seen Scoots in action at their obstacle course today! She was amazing out there! I tell you, Ford! That pony is destined for great things!”

“I’m sure that she is, Rainbow.” he smiles over Rainbow’s enthusiasm before he walks past her and asks if she wants to join him. “Hey, you didn’t get any dinner yet, did you? I’ve got some soup ready we can have for--!”

But then, he stops in place when he notices his wife not moving an inch from her spot as she aimlessly looks down at the floor. Cautiously, he walks back toward the mare’s side to see what’s the matter. But before he can question her, Ford’s face droops drastically as he gazes with immense dread at Rainbow’s sudden emotional breakdown. With all of her inner barriers crumbling at once, the blubbering mare sobs relentlessly as she fruitlessly shuts her eyes where multiple streams of tears pour out of there.

“Rainbow Dash… what’s wrong?” he asks mildly.

In between her sniffling, she expresses her deepest grief and regret regarding with her grim future, “It’s… it’s not fair! I’m never going to see Scootaloo all grown up, or the twins for that matter! I’m gonna miss out on all of the awesome things in their lives! I’m gonna miss out on everything!”

Ford is about to saying something, but nothing comes out of his gaping mouth. In fact, what could he say to her without building false hope? With nothing good in mind to say, all he can do for the moment is hug her tenderly and allow her to just let it all out. With time left unchecked, Ford holds on to his wife for as long as she needed as her spontaneous lamentation gradually dies down thanks to her husband’s strong, warm embrace.

Eventually, she feels much better as if a tremendous weight has been lifted off her back, and she faces her husband with an appreciative smile as she chuckles over her pitiful display earlier, “Sorry you had to see me like that, Ford. I guess I’ve been holding back the waterworks far longer than I should.”

“I can imagine.” he responds understandingly before he restates his previous offer. “So, would you like me to pour a bowl of soup for you?”

“Yeah, I would like that very much.”

After they enter the kitchen, Ford gets their soup ready as Rainbow sits down at the kitchen table. While waiting on their meals, she contemplates on what to do next. So far, she already shared her premonition with Spitfire and Scootaloo, so maybe it’s high time to let her best friends on this as well.

But she didn’t just want to simply tell them about her predicament. She wants to do something special for them; something to show them on how much she really appreciates their friendship. With that mind, she grabs a notepad and a pencil nearby and begins to jot down her thoughts.

IDEAS ON SPENDING TIME WITH EACH OF MY FRIENDS

Fluttershy

Author's Note

Despite envisioning on Spitfire and Soarin having a foal someday, I wasn't sure on when they would copulate. However, I was mostly inspired to hint at it in this chapter thanks to a comment by Sidetrack from a previous chapter that a lot people favored for.

Chapter 22 – A Day with Fluttershy

Chapter 22 – A Day with Fluttershy

Three Months and 1 Weeks Remaining…
~ Mid of March (31st Week) ~

On a lovely, quiet evening in the far outskirt of Ponyville, where there is a sliver of bright orange at the horizon of a concluding sunset, the hovering Rainbow Dash leads Fluttershy to a special place she planned out for quite some time. It took a lot of time and research to find that spot she was looking for, but Rainbow is just as anxious to reach there as her friend.

Well… more or less to say the least.

“Are we almost there, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy asks in her usual, timid manner.

“Not too far, Fluttershy!” she confirms excitedly. “Just a little further!”

But the yellow Pegasus didn’t share her friend’s enthusiasm as she admits in a fretful tone, “Okay, well... I hope I don’t sound too fussy, but umm… couldn’t we come out here when it’s daytime, and not when it’s… gulp… night?”

“No way! The best time to be out here is when it’s completely dark outside!”

“Sigh… I was afraid you would say that.” she mutters mostly to herself.

“Come on, Fluttershy. This isn’t your first time venturing out at nighttime. What’s there to be afraid of?”

“That’s what I’m afraid to find out.” she answers halfheartedly.

“Hey, don’t worry, pal.” Rainbow Dash reassures as she wraps a foreleg around the nervous mare’s shoulders. “You got me here to protect you, right? And you’re a lot tougher than you give credit for.”

“What makes you say that, Rainbow?”

“Well, you certainly set my husband straight that one time when we abruptly finished my foal shower months ago.” she replies nonchalantly with a chuckling smirk.

This catches Fluttershy by surprise as the speechless pony becomes extremely wide-eyed before stammering out her response, “Y-you knew?! I’m so sorry, Rainbow! I-I-I didn’t mean to hurt him like that! I was just so mad at him for leaving you in such a miserable state like that and I… well…!”

“Relax, Fluttershy. We’re not mad at you.” she eases the discomforting mare’s mind with an amusing smile. “In fact, we were quite amazed on how you were able to pull off such a mean hook like that. So I doubt anypony would want to mess with two pregnant mares, especially two angry ones for that matter.”

As Dash states that, she knowingly points it out with a fore hoof at Fluttershy’s exposed stomach. Comparing the two of them, Fluttershy has a small yet noticeable baby bump since her pregnancy’s confirmation three months ago. But for Rainbow Dash’s case, she is in the final stage of her pregnancy as the curved surface of her bulgy belly nearly reaches her kneecaps.

“Hey, this is it! We’re here!”

Upon Dash’s gleeful announcement, the two Pegasi stopped in front a large field of unidentified flowers. It’s hard to tell much on what kind of flowers they are since their floral heads are fully closed up. While Rainbow smiles over their destination, Fluttershy is slightly puzzled by all of this as well as over her best friend’s reaction.

So Fluttershy asks mildly, “Okay, but what exactly are we supposed to look for?”

“Wait for it~!” she grins slyly.

As Fluttershy stares at the flowers with continuous bewilderment, Rainbow Dash keeps her eyes on the twilight’s horizon instead. Soon enough, the sliver of orange sunlight vanishes completely, and the entire sky gradually shifts into a dark, bluish-purple color with hundreds of stars scattered across the nightly canvas.

And with the closing of nightfall, something begins to stir the sleepy flowers as they gradually open up. Slowly but surely, their blossoming heads take the shapes of bells as they emit a soft, blue light. With the nocturnal flowers fully bloomed, Fluttershy gapes with amazement over the flora’s sudden development as her big, teal eyes light up as much as the fluorescent flowers.

“Oh my goodness!” she gasps in astonishment with a wide smile. “These are Luna Bellflowers, aren’t they?”

“Yep.” Rainbow Dash confirms with a simple nod. “They’re one of the few flowers in Equestria that only bloom at night.”

“Oh thank you, Dashie! They’re so beautiful!”

Rainbow stares at Fluttershy with deadpan eyes and an arched eyebrow before she snorts out a short laugh and clarifies sharply, “What? I didn’t bring you out here for some pretty flowers!”

This causes Fluttershy to perplex greatly over Dash’s vague reaction, and she expresses her confusion gently, “You… you didn’t? Then what are we here for?”

With a clever grin, Rainbow Dash aims her foreleg up and simply answers, “That.”

Following Rainbow’s pointing foreleg, Fluttershy looks up at the nightly sky to see what her friend is referring to, but all she could see are the twinkling, little stars. But all of a sudden, they see something moving in the background as a large cluster of stars become animated. Steadily, the supposed living stars come closer to the field of glowing bellflowers, but once they are close enough, the two mares see some distinctive features on these fluorescent creatures. Most notably are their fluttering wings that encompasses glowing green with thin, bright, blue outlines around them and gleaming, yellow markings centered on each wing. Most of the yellow shapes resembling moons ranging from full to crescent.

Upon the majestic creatures’ graceful landing, Fluttershy remains completely awestruck with extremely wide eyes, and eventually, she inquires in the form of a soft whisper, “Rainbow Dash? Are those what I think they are?”

“I don’t know.” Rainbow replies with a sarcastic, silly giggle. “You’re the animal expert here, so you tell me.”

And after a moment to compose herself, Fluttershy lets out a huge gasping smile as she happily reveals the identity of these delicate creatures, “Luna Butterflies! I-I can’t believe this! There are so many of them! How in the world did you know that they would be here?”

“I did some reading in my spare time.” Rainbow mildly shrugs with a smile, “They’re a bit tricky to track down since they migrate at nighttime and only gather together to feed off of these flowers right here. But with a little research, I found a whole field of Luna Bellflowers nearby, and as luck would have it, it’s that time of season for these little guys.”

“But why would you go to such great lengths just for me?” she baffles in disbelief.

“You mean besides the whole ‘because you’re my best friend’ shtick? Well… I was kind of a bit of a sourpuss to you the last time you took me on a butterfly migration.” Dash confesses with regret over that event. “So I figure I should return the favor by taking you to this one.”

Overwhelmed with so much joy and gratitude, Fluttershy quickly wraps Rainbow in a great, big hug, and the blue Pegasus hugs her overjoyed friend in return with a few soft pats on the back. Afterwards, the surprisingly ecstatic Fluttershy strongly pulls Rainbow Dash into the blooming meadow to frolic amongst the butterflies.

In the middle of the native garden, Fluttershy oohs and awes over the marvelous spectacle of the Luna Butterflies while Rainbow Dash gradually enjoys herself from seeing the wondrous beauty of these astonishing insects as well. Seeing these rare butterflies certainly reminds Dash on the times she used to spend with the fireflies, whether it was a time when she was just a filly chasing after them with her dad or during that fateful night where she and Ford Mustang enjoyed their moment while it last during their first anniversary as a couple.

No too long, the glowing insects warm up to their new visitors, especially with Fluttershy’s animal magnetism. As Fluttershy sweetly nuzzles some of the butterflies, one of them lands right on Rainbow’s nose. This briefly catches her by surprise, but Rainbow casually laughs it off, especially how ticklish it felt on her muzzle. Soon, more Luna Butterflies gather around the multicolored mare as they make individual landings on Rainbow Dash. At first, she didn’t mind the few butterflies sitting on top of her, but eventually their numbers grew and now there are dozens of them nearly covering the top portion of her body, stretching from her mane and all the way to her tail. From seeing this silly display, Fluttershy takes mild amusement over the butterfly-clad Rainbow Dash, but the opposite could be said for the blue, deadpan mare. And having all she could take, she shakes them off like a dog drying itself off and the butterflies leave her be to reassociate with each other.

With things calming down, Fluttershy turns to her friend and expresses her deepest gratitude, “Oh Dashie, I can’t thank you enough for doing all this for me! I’m sorry you had to go through all of this trouble since you would consider this to be… well… boring.”

“Hey, it’s no trouble at all, Shy. Really.” she replies with a reassuring smile. “And besides, I don’t see this as boring. It’s kind of pretty actually. But don’t tell this to anypony else, okay? This is our secret spot and nopony else’s!”

“Of course, Rainbow.” she nods after stifling her soft giggling. “I promise.”

As Fluttershy resumes to watch the Luna Butterflies, Rainbow Dash becomes hesitant on what she needs to say, but eventually, she speaks up to gently get her friend’s attention, “You know, since we’re already out here, there are a few things I need to tell you.”

“Oh, like what?” she inquires softly.

“Well… I’ve been giving this a lot of thought lately, regarding with the twins, I mean.” Rainbow says in a slightly sheepish manner. “On what could happen if Ford and I are longer around to take care of them. So, we talked about this, and we decided… to make you and Big Macintosh our foals’ godparents.”

From hearing that unexpected revelation, Fluttershy stutters in shock, “M-m-me?! A godparent?!” In response, Rainbow nods simply, which causes the yellow Pegasus add in stammering disbelief, “B-b-but why me?! I mean, why not anypony else? Most of our friends already have some experience when it comes to taking care of foals! And my first foal will not be born for another several months!”

“Yes, but you’ve looked after foals before like the Crusaders for instance.” Dash explains with a casual smile. “Plus, your husband is a pretty caring guy since he along with Applejack took care of Apple Bloom ever since she was born. Not to mention you’re an awesome caregiver when it comes to tending all kinds of animals, so tending foals shouldn’t be a problem for you. And above all else, you’re the kindest pony I’ve ever known; it’s your Element for pony’s sake. So Ford and I know that you and Big Mac will be the perfect candidates as our twins’ godparents.”

After taking all of this in, Fluttershy breaks into a trembling yet very ecstatic smile and she happily accepts her friend’s offer, “I’m… truly flattered that you would think so highly of me, Rainbow Dash. So yes, I would be honored to be your foals’ godmother! Of course, I would have to talk to Big Mac about this first. Umm… you don’t think he will disagree with this privilege, do you?” she asks with a tiny hint of worry.

“Does he go on a day without saying ‘eeyup’ at least once?” Rainbow Dash comments with a crafty smirk.

This causes Fluttershy to giggle alongside Rainbow before she says with a smile of relief, “Well, it’s not something I should be too worried about at this point. After all, it’s not like anything bad is going to happen to you or Ford at any time soon, right?”

Of course, that involuntarily inquire makes Rainbow Dash cringe subtly, and she looks away before sheepishly rubbing the back of her head while responding in an awkward manner, “Yeah… about that. There’s else something I need to tell you.”

Fluttershy notices the hint of uneasiness in Dash’s tone and replies with dreadful confusion, “Wh-what…?”

“Now I’m not one-hundred percent certain about this…” Rainbow states strongly to make sure it’s not taken the wrong way before continuing in a slower, quieter manner. “…but there is a somewhat strong possibility that I might not make out alive when the twins are born.”

Fluttershy pauses on what she just heard from Rainbow Dash as her eyes widen in horror, and not much to the Dash’s surprise, the sensitive mare frets in quaking fear as she asks, “B-but does that mean I might die from childbirth too?!”

Frantically, Rainbow waves her forelegs in a rapid motion as she assures in a panicky tone, “No no! You’ll do fine, I’m certain of that!” Then, she takes a quick breath to calm herself down before explaining in a softer voice, “It’s just that… well… remember what happened after my foal shower? Well you see, the reason why my husband was acting so distant was because he had this recurring vision a month earlier, about me well… dying. So, we talked about this months ago, and recently, we decided to make some preparations for ourselves, including our choosing for godparents.”

There is a longer pause between the two as the thunderstruck Fluttershy contemplates on this earthshattering information she just received from the shamefaced Rainbow Dash. And as Dash expected, Fluttershy breaks down into soft, heartfelt tears over to this troubling revelation, but thankfully for Rainbow’s sake, this didn’t turn out as bad as a similar confrontation she had with Scootaloo a week ago.

While Fluttershy gently weeps to herself, Rainbow wraps her kindhearted friend in a warm embrace and adds in a considerate tone, “Look, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I figure it’s best to let you know about this as soon as possible.”

Much to Dash’s relief so as to not suffer as much heartache as the last time she shared this with someone, Fluttershy ceases most of her crying as she sniffles out her response while wiping away her remaining tears, “I do understand, Rainbow Dash. I really do. But how am I supposed to carry on with my life without you? You’ve given me so much strength over the years that I would never achieve it myself!”

“You’re wrong, Fluttershy!” she retorts strongly toward the self-doubting pony’s claim. “I may have giving you a leg up every now and then, but you were the one to find your own courage, not me! Remember how you discovered your Element of Kindness by removing that thorn from that Manticore’s paw?”

“Oh, that poor thing was in so much pain that I was merely compelled to help him out!” Fluttershy clarifies sweetly over that memorable incident.

“Or how you stood up against that dragon when his smoky snoring became a major hazard to our health?”

“Well I couldn’t allow him to hurt anyone of my friends, so I had to be firm with him!”

“And who could forget on how you manage to convince Discord, the Master of Chaos, to turn over a new leaf?”

“Well… I was only doing what Princess Celestia commanded from me, and I didn’t want to let her or anypony down. But thankfully, I was glad Discord saw the error of his ways and became friends with us in the end.”

“Still, you’ve come a long way since you were a filly at flight camp. Believe me, I’ve seen you change so much since then! I can’t tell you on how lucky I am to have you as one of my best friends!”

From Rainbow’s strong examples of their adventures together as well as her latest declaration over their friendship, Fluttershy smiles gradually over this recollection as she realizes on how much has changed since she was a scrawny, little filly. And truth be told, she felt a little pride over that fact, but not too much to overtake her usual humbleness.

Happy to see her friend smiling once again, Rainbow Dash then pleads to her, “So please, for my sake, don’t lose that pluck of yours. Because even I do leave this world someday, I want that part of me to live on inside you for always.”

After a quick moment of thinking to herself, Fluttershy beams reassuringly to her friend’s request, “Okay, Rainbow Dash, I promise to be brave for you no matter what.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

Without a second thought, Fluttershy follows the usual motions of that sacred promise with a cross of her fore hoof and then placing that same hoof over her eye before answering with a comforting smile, “Pinkie Promise.”

Satisfied upon hearing that, Rainbow uses her wing to give the yellow Pegasus another hug as she says contentedly, “Thanks, Fluttershy.”

Wrapped in each other’s embrace, Fluttershy redirects her attention to the mesmerizing swarm of Luna Butterflies, and in a meek voice, she asks with a humble smile, “Dashie? Can we stay here for just a little bit longer?”

Unable to refuse such a softhearted pony, even if she attempted to do so otherwise, the grinning mare complies with that simple request, “Sure thing, pal. We can stay here for as long as you like.”

Silently, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy resume their observation over the magnificent display of these rare-sighted creatures as they enjoy their special time together. With no need to keep track of time, the two Pegasi carry on with their personal activity before the butterflies make their leave sooner or later. All in formation of one big line, the Luna Butterflies flutter towards the heavens as their soft radiance in their florescent wings become smaller, until finally, they disappear into nightly sky… almost merging with the twinkling stars themselves.

With the migration of the Luna Butterflies completed, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash get up from their seats and steadily fly back to their homes in Ponyville. In the midst of their smooth flying, a thought crosses Rainbow’s mind before she asks her friend for something.

“Hey Fluttershy. When do you and Rarity have your weekly spa get-togethers?”

“Umm… next Friday I believe. Why?”

With a small, meaningful grin, Rainbow Dash intends to carry out the next item on her list. “I’m going to need to ask a favor from you.”

Author's Note

Originally, it was going to be Luna Moths instead of butterflies. You know, like how the show features Fruit Bats but are not portrayed like the actual animals in our world. Anyway, upon my research, I was looking into on what Luna Moths eat just to make sure if putting them in a field of flowers would seem legit or not. But through my research, I found a disturbing fact about them and moths in general.

Adult Luna Moths do not eat at all. In fact, they don't have mouths to begin with once they finished their pupae phrase. :twilightoops:

Oh, and get this, once they reached their recognizable adult forms, they only have a few days to live, roughly less than a full week. So basically, they spend the remainder of their short lives to find mates and have the females lay their eggs before they die and beginning the cycle anew.

So yeah, that's the reason why I made these nocturnal, glowing creatures into butterflies instead of moths like I originally intended. :applejackconfused:

On a more positive note, I am opened to any suggestions in mind for Rainbow and Rarity's day at the spa! :twilightsmile: The more ideas you share with me, the easier it will be for me to write the next chapter down! :raritywink: Also, I'm considering on a location on where their spa day should take place. Should it be in Ponyville, Manehatten complete with a shopping spree, or at the privileged Canterlot where they get the Princess-treatment? Help me out on which would seem like the best location for them. Thanks.

Chapter 23 – A Day with Rarity

Chapter 23 – A Day with Rarity

Three Months Remaining…
~ Late of March (32th Week) ~

Just like with Fluttershy last week, Rainbow Dash has everything planned out for her next activity in mind before visiting another one of her best friends. On a nice spring morning, the Pegasus flies toward Sweet Apple Acres to meet up with her next friend off of her list. And after a modest knock on the farmhouse’s front door, she is welcomed by a well-known member of the Apple Family.

“Howdy, Rainbow Dash!” Applejack warmly greets with a friendly smile and a tip of her hat. “Heh, hard to believe you would be here this bright and early today.”

“Hey, AJ. Is Rarity up yet?”

“Hmm… not sure.” she answers casually with a tap on her chin before using the same fore hoof to gesture Rainbow inside. “Come on in and let’s see.”

As the orange farmpony guides her feathery, blue friend upstairs, AJ then adds with a meaningful grin, “So, Ah take it that yer here to fill in for Fluttershy today?”

“She told you that, huh?” Rainbow reacts in with a deadpan face.

“Eeyup.” she answers simply with a smirk.

“And you didn’t tell Rarity about this, did you?”

“Don’t worry. Ah didn’t wanna ruin what’s in stored for her.” she reassures with a chuckling smile. “Still, never thought Ah would believe that you out of all ponies would take somepony out on a day at the spa.”

Despite the friendly teasing from her good friend, Rainbow responds back sharply with a humorous smirk, “Yeah yeah. Keep it under your hat, will ya?”

Once they arrive at her room, Applejack gently opens the door as she presents her still sleeping wife to Rainbow, “There she is.”

Beneath the very luxurious, quilted covers, the snoozing seamstress stretches across the beautifully crafted bed with her sleepy eyes shut tightly and her curly, purple mane covering most of her face. From seeing her wife’s sleepy demeanor, AJ lets a soft, lovey-dovey sigh for herself while Rainbow suppresses a giggle over the silly display of the sleeping Unicorn.

“Well, go wake her up!” Rainbow whispers with a smirk as she lightly nudges AJ with an elbow.

With a sly smile, Applejack creeps toward the bed and slowly climbs on top of the mattress. With her muzzle line up with Rarity’s, the Earth Pony gives her wife a simple yet affectionate kiss on the cheek before beckoning her in a sweet tone, “Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!”

While this sweet gesture slightly stirs her, it isn’t enough to wake Rarity as she turns toward her side while muttering in her sleep, “Nooooo~! Five more minutes~!”

From hearing that usually childish whine, Rainbow Dash muffles her snickering, which Applejack signals the Pegasus to hush up before she continues to coax her wife out of bed while nuzzling her gently, “Come on, hon! You don’t wanna miss out on this beautiful day, do ya?”

“Then you will just have to make me get up, won’t you?” Rarity replies with a witty giggle.

Applejack pauses to mischievously stare at a faintly giggling Rainbow with a cocked eyebrow and a shrewd smirk before she turns her attention back to Rarity and inquires sarcastically, “Oh ho, is that so?”

“Mm-hmm!” the seamstress nods with a big smile.

“Well then, I might have ways to rouse you from your sleep.” the farmpony whispers in a sultry manner as she inches closer to her giddy wife.

This time, Rainbow stops her muffled laughter once she heard AJ’s subtle innuendo as the wide-eyed Pegasus bears witness to the odd couple’s supposed tomfoolery it's leaning towards. Then, her blue, speechless face shifts into an intense shade of red, which she is unsure of herself if she’s just become uncomfortable or excited by the increasingly lewd situation in front of her.

After shivering with anticipation from the feel of her wife’s steamy breath against her neck, Rarity asks anxiously, “Mmm… And do pray tell on how you will wake me up this time?”

“Like this!”

And as quick as a whip, Applejack draws in a huge amount of air and blows a mighty raspberry on Rarity’s exposed tummy.

PFBBBBBTT!!

Caught off-guard by her wife’s sudden mischief, Rarity squirms wildly as she begins to get up from her bed while desperately pleaded in-between her irrepressible giggles, “No Applejack! Not like that! You’re supposed… to…!”

With the fashionista fully awake, she eventually catches wind of somepony else in the room, one that is laughing uncontrollably. With a half-lid gaze, Rarity turns to the source of the disturbance before her eyes expand to significant proportions as she stares in shock at Rainbow Dash standing at the doorway and laughing her flanks off. Completely dumbfounded by the appearance of the cackling mare, Rarity slowly tilts her head to face her grinning wife as Applejack greets her with a playful wiggle of her eyebrows.

“Gotcha, sugarcube.”

Flabbergasted and embarrassed beyond belief, Rarity’s face boils into immense rage as she just couldn’t believe on how Applejack made a complete fool out of her, in front of Rainbow Dash out of all of ponies. So in response to AJ’s guile, Rarity immediately grabs a large pillow nearby with the use of her Unicorn Magic and mercilessly beats her with it while berating in a piercing voice.

“YOU UNCOUTH, COUNTRY BUMPKIN! I CAN NOT BELIEVE YOU WOULD TEASE ME LIKE THAT! AND IN FRONT OF OUR FRIEND NO LESS!”

As the deeply flustered Rarity screams her head off, she continues to pummel Applejack with the pillow as the country mare attempts to make her escape while apologizing poorly in a hearty chuckle, “Sorry, darlin’! Maybe next time! See ya downstairs!”

And before the laughing farmpony is able to bolt out of the bedroom, the fuming Unicorn is able to score one last direct hit when she socks AJ from behind using the second pillow. With the irritating Earth Pony out of sight, Rarity’s fury gradually dies down as she lets out a heavy sigh while squeezing the first pillow very tightly. Once her anger has diminished, she looks back at the ever-so grinning Rainbow Dash, realizing that she is still present in her bedroom.

With that realization, Rarity clears her throat and fluffs her messy but still pretty mane to make herself look proper enough before she says with a humble smile, “Oh! Sorry you had to see all of that, darling. If I knew you were coming over, I would make myself more presentable.”

“You mean after your wife 'arouse' you from your daily beauty sleep, right?” Rainbow asks knowingly with a sharp smirk.

From that reminder, the blushing Rarity ignores Dash’s sly remark as she jumps out of the bed and walks toward the splendid mirror. Once she sits in front of it, the fashionista levitates one of her elegant brushes and uses it to smooth out her mane while purposefully shifting the topic in their conversation.

“So anyway, what brings you here so early this morning?”

“Well, I’m here to take you on today’s spa get-together!”

Rarity stops her mandatory brushing abruptly as the magical aura surrounding the object pops in midair before it hits the wooden floor. Following up from that momentary pause, the fashion designer breaks into a spontaneous giggle as she faces her slightly bewildered friend.

“Oh-ho-ho! Rainbow Dash! You always know how to put a spring in anypony’s steps!”

Despite assuming that the Pegasus was simply pulling her leg, Rarity notices the unamused frown on Rainbow’s face and readdresses herself in an apologetic tone with a sheepish smile, “Forgive me for laughing like that. I’m mean, it’s usually an activity that Fluttershy and I partake in every week. But you’re more than welcome to join us today.”

Understanding the fashionista’s mix-up, Rainbow bears a friendly smile as she restates her plans for today, “Actually, I’m here to fill in for Fluttershy this week.”

“Oh my! Is she not feeling so well today?” she frets with worry.

“Nah, she’s fine. I just wanted to do something special so we can hang out together.”

“D’aww, that’s awfully considerate of you, Rainbow!” the Unicorn beams over Dash’s invitation before giving this some more thought on this change of plans. “Well, it is true that we usually don’t spend much quality time together. Okay, I’m in! Just please tell me that your idea for a spa isn’t some mud hole you made up using some dirt and a hose!”

Following up with Rarity’s joking, Rainbow Dash responds melodramatically, “Gasp! Why Rarity, I am shocked! Appalled! Wounded even! Besides, that sounds like something AJ would come up with at the drop of a hat.”

“I heard that!” Applejack calls from downstairs in mocking annoyance.

After the two share a brief chuckle over Applejack’s sharp response, Rarity offers in a well-mannered tone, “You know, I can always spare a day without a trip to the spa if you have something else in mind for today.”

“Oh, I think you might regret those words, Rarity.” The grinning Pegasus says shrewdly. “Because I’ve booked us the perfect place for our spa day, and it’s going to be the best spa treatment you can ever imagined!”

Surprised to hear such enthusiasm from Rainbow Dash, especially over a spa session for that matter, Rarity’s curiosity is piqued significantly as she speaks with fascination, “My my! Those are some bold words indeed, my dear! And may I ask on where such a place would be?”

“Guess!” Rainbow replies with a teasing smile.

For her first guess, Rarity goes for the most likely answer. “Oh I don’t know… Ponyville?”

“Ehh… Nope.” Rainbow responds nonchalantly.

So for her next guess, Rarity has high hopes on a location more suited for her taste. “Gasp! Manehatten?”

“Nope.”

Dismayed from that sharp rejection, Rarity just makes wild guesses from there. “Umm… Fillydelphia?”

“Nope.”

Now her patience begins to grow thin as the seamstress says all of her remaining guesses at once. “Hoofington? Trottingham? Las Pegasus? Baltimare? Cloudsdale? The Crystal Empire?”

“Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Annnd… nope.”

Tired of Rainbow’s cryptic shrewdness, Rarity groans in defeat, “Oh, out with it already, Rainbow Dash! Where else could it be?! I mean the only other place I can think of is Canter--!”

Without the need to utter that last syllable, Rarity gapes considerably and the pupils nearly consume all of the white in her bulgy eyes. As the wide-eyed Unicorn freezes in place while having trouble processing this unbelievable possibility, Rainbow’s crafty smile stretched across her face even further as it looked like her friend finally hit the nail on the head.

Once she regains some of her senses, Rarity asks in a stammering tone, “Rainbow Dash… you can possibly mean…?”

“Yep, I do!” she nods grinningly. “You always wanted to be treated like a princess, right? Well, today is your lucky day because you’re about to get the same treatment as our beloved Princesses!”

Upon that confirmation, Rarity’s body quivers lightly before she maintains some self-control and insists in a quiet, trembling voice, “I-I-I need a moment to prepare myself.”

And immediately, she rushes into the bathroom across the hallway and slams the door shut. With sound of rushing water behind the closed door, Rainbow calls out to her preoccupied friend, “No problem! We can go anytime you’re--!”

But before Dash can finish her sentence, the bathroom’s door suddenly swings wide open as it launches a massive burst of steam into the hallway and the bedroom. As the thick steam disperses, Rarity steps back into the bedroom as she maintains her typical, conceited stance with such poise and grace. And not only that, but that impossibly quick shower she just had was enough to restore her usual beauty.

Feeling fresh as a daisy, Rarity announces with a bright smile, “Done!”

Completely baffled by how unbelievably fast it was for Rarity to beautify herself when it would usually take much longer than that, Rainbow is compelled to ask, “Wait a second… did you just take a shower in there?”

“Well, I certainly can’t go anywhere without freshening myself up, now can I?” Rarity states like it’s that obvious, which just whizzes right pass the continuously dumbfounded Rainbow Dash. “Anyway, let’s go!”

With Rarity leading the charge, Rainbow is suddenly encapsulated by the Unicorn’s magic and the truly enthusiastic mare rushes downstairs while dragging the mystified Pegasus along for the ride. From nearly passing the dining room, Rarity skids to a halt and makes a quick detour to the large table where Applejack, Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, and Apple Bloom are gathered together for a wholesome breakfast of apple cinnamon pancakes.

“Oh hey!” Applejack welcomes in surprise. “You two are just in time… for umm… breakfast?”

But AJ’s initially perky greeting dies down gradually as Rarity hastily uses her magic to multitask by grabbing a stack of pancakes, smothering them in maple syrup, and then shoving them right toward her mouth. Within the first, quick bites of her pancakes, the rest of the family members gawk in disbelief as they bear witness to the seamstress’s rare display of unsophisticated table manners.

After swallowing her latest, big bite, Rarity explains herself in a frantic manner, “Sorry, darling! In a rush! Mmm! Delicious!” And immediately, she refocuses on the consumption of her meal.

Still trapped in Rarity’s magic bubble, Rainbow feels increasingly annoyed from being left out and suspended in midair against her free will as she shouts out her discomfort, “Hey, I wants some food too--MMPH!”

Right away, Rarity forcefully shoves a small stack of sweet pancakes into Rainbow’s mouth. While the blue Pegasus slowly starts to chew her food, Rarity just finishes her stack with quick yet modest wipe of her napkin and gives the still speechless Applejack a swift kiss on the lips before saying her quick farewells, “Thank you! Gotta go! Love you! Ta-ta!”

And with another quick burst of speed, Rarity immediately dashes out of the house to get started on her day at Canterlot’s royally exclusive spa while continuously pulling Rainbow Dash along, even though she is still in the middle of eating her pancakes. After the abrupt departure of the two mares, the rest of the ponies in the dinner room remain completely stun on what they just witnessed, unable to eat their breakfast for the moment. Soon enough, Fluttershy is the first to speak up as she states a simple observation to her husband, Big Mac.

“Well… there’s something you don’t see everyday.”

“Eeyup.”

After a quick train ride to Canterlot, Rainbow Dash leads the continuously ecstatic Rarity through the paved streets of the Equestrian Kingdom and enters the castle grounds. Recognizing the two Element Bearers of Harmony, the guards they spoke to were more than happy to be of service as they direct the two mares to a much more secured corridor that leads to the lower levels of the palace. Whilst walking through the large, well-light tunnel, Rarity’s excitement continues to build and build as they inch closer to their destination. For Rainbow Dash's case, it's like taking a very energetic child to her favorite amusement park.

“I can’t believe it~!” Rarity squeals in never-ending delight as she bounces with every step she takes. “We’re actually going to get the same royal spa treatment as our Princesses! Ooo, this is so exciting, isn’t it?!”

“Yeah, it’s cool, I guess.” Dash shrugs casually.

Surprised to hear such an emotionless response, Rarity criticizes in usual, dramatic fashion, “You guess?! Rainbow Dash, you are clearly missing the big picture here! Haven’t you ever wonder on how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna maintained their majestic grace and magnificence for so long? It is this legendary place that holds the secret to their eternal beauty, and we've been presented with the greatest experience of a lifetime!”

As the smiling seamtress’s eyes light up with twinkling sparkles, Rainbow simply rolls her eyes with a grin as she takes mild amusement over Rarity’s typical exaggeration. But suddenly, the Unicorn’s gaping smile disappears as she ponders on how this all led up to such an exclusive location.

“Now that I think about it… how did you arrange all of this? I know you do pretty well for yourself as a Wonderbolt, but it must have cost you a fortune to get exclusive access here.”

Caught off-guard by Rarity’s sudden questioning, Rainbow hesitates with nervousness creeping within before she quickly covers it up with a levelheaded grin. “Actually, all I had to do was make a simple request with the Princesses, and well… there you go.”

Astonished by such a simple, cool response, Rarity blinks speechlessly before she ask in puzzlement, “Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Rarity is too skeptical by the daredevil’s answer. Sure, she can believe that Rainbow Dash can earn special favors from the princesses to use their privileged spa. Even for herself, she could probably make such an enormous request if she had the courage to do so without feeling so guilt-ridden from accepting the princesses’ generosity. Still, Rarity has her suspicions that there is more to it than just some trip to a spa, especially when one of her friends doesn’t take many visits herself.

But Rarity’s thoughts are pushed to the far corner of her mind once she and Rainbow Dash approach a set of shimmering, golden doors. And once they enter inside, Rarity lets out an almighty gasp as if the gates of heavens were opening right before her very eyes. Within this vast, extraordinary place, the majestic spa lights up the entire facility in a rich, golden light. Mostly it’s thanks to the dome’s oculus high above as it baths the lobby in a warm, yellow color. In contrast to the warm-colored setting, there are fountains and indoor waterfalls that display a shimmering, blue radiance. While the constantly astonished Rarity is lost in the ambience, the two mares from Ponyville are approached by the spa’s all-female staff as all of them are wearing white, short-skirted togas that serve as their uniforms to the luxurious spa they represent for.

Then, one of the spa attendants steps forward to greet their privileged guests with a polite smile and a courteous bow, which the rest of the staff does the same almost at once. “Welcome, Mrs. Rarity… Mrs. Rainbow Dash. We are truly honored to be at your service for today. Please, right this way, ladies.”

As the attendants escort their guests, Rarity marvels at all of the well-preserved décors she passes by, ranging from marbled columns, tiled flooring, and the magnificent collection of longstanding mosaic paintings. In the next room, there are several stations that provide various services, including hooficures, massages, and hair salons. And the first activities they partake in are massages.

As Rarity climbs on her massage table with ease, Rainbow hesitates on the table adjacent her friend’s as she is uncertain on how to position herself due to her eight-month-old pregnant belly. Noticing her client’s hesitation, the other kindhearted masseuse directs the Pegasus to an alternative station in mind.

“Mrs. Dash, we took great consideration once we heard about your pregnancy, so with this chair, we can provide you a safe and secure massage for you.”

Rainbow eyes with puzzlement at the strange contraption in front of her as the masseuse assists her in the proper sitting position. Despite its similar appearance, the Pegasus perplexes even further when she sits in reverse compared to how she normally sits on a regular chair. Noticing how the memory-foamed pads are arranged, she positions her limbs and face in their proper resting places. Her legs rest on the kneeling pads on each side of the chair. Her forelegs wrap around the thick anterior cushion that her chest is pressing against and lay upon the special armrest. And finally, her face squeezes through the face cradle’s elastic hole.

Once Rainbow Dash is situated, her masseuse begins her duty and gently presses her fore hooves against the Pegasus’s bare back. Carefully, the professional massager kneads around Dash’s cherished wings as she as presses a bit firmer in her techniques. From the receiving end, Rainbow feels some subtle pops from within as the enduring aches in her back gradually fades away.

With most of the kinks worked out in her back, the masseuse moves her rubbing hooves around the neck and shoulders as Rainbow bears a goofy smile while moaning in satisfaction, “Oh yeah~! That feels SO GOOD! This is just what I need!”

Meanwhile, Rarity unwinds completely on her massage table as her masseuse performs a firmer technique while the rapid vibrations from mare’s hooves course throughout the Unicorn’s body. Evidently, the beaming Unicorn expresses her approval as well, “Mmm… Yes! Nothing like a good massage to relieve all your troubles away!”

“You said it, sister!” Rainbow agrees with a grin as more of her backaches disappear.

After a very good massage session, Rainbow and Rarity are directed to a different station: a pair of luxurious chaise lounges with two attendants waiting on hand as each of them have their own set of specialized hoof files.

With no need to ask on what’s next on their spa agenda, Rarity sighs with a blissful smile, “Ahh, hooficures! My favorite!”

As Rarity gets herself comfy on the elongated chair before the start of her hooficure, Rainbow Dash eyes her friend with disinterest before declining with a shrug, “Yeah, you go on ahead without me. I’m gonna sit this one out.”

“Come now, Rainbow!” the purple-haired mare insists with a giggling smile. “You shouldn’t knock it unless you try it first!”

“Hey, I tried it once back at home!” Rainbow snaps as she flies up on impulse.

“Darling, you barely allowed the file to touch you.” she counters with a deadpan frown.

“Yeah, and look where that got me: in an article of Gabby Gums!” she emphasizes in a grump while rolling her eyes. "Plus, I got a reputation to keep, you know."

“That was years ago, darling. And besides, this is one of the Princesses’ private inner sanctums. Nopony else will be able to barge in here just to get some dirt on you.”

Hesitant at first, Dash stumbles over her next excuse, “Yeah well… I just… have sensitive hooves, alright?”

“Come on, Rainbow Dash. Where’s that laidback attitude of yours?” Rarity goads with a crafty smirk. “Your sense of adventure? Surely you’re not afraid to allow anypony to touch your hooves.”

“Hey, I do allow one pony to touch them!”

“Really? Who?”

“M-M-Mustang.” she mutters with a growing blush.

“Oh-ho! Now we’re getting somewhere!” she grins very shrewdly over this revelation.

“Look, it’s not that big of a deal, Rarity!” she snaps with a mad blush before reverting back to a more bashful tone as she lightly rubs her forelegs together. “He’s just… so affectionate when he touches my hooves like that. Always saying such sweet and sappy stuff about my well-toned muscles or blue, fur coat.”

Once Dash states that, Rarity believes to have found a way to persuade her friend as she makes one more attempt to change her mind, “Well then, darling. Imagine what would happen if you get a hooficure right now, then Ford will be all over your hooves like a… badger on honey! Or is it a bear instead? Oh dear, I wish my wife was here right now! She can come up with better phrases than myself.”

As Rarity’s hooficure carries on where her assistant moves on to the next hoof, Rainbow Dash hesitates on her decision even further before her resolve gives in and permits with a heavy grump, “Alright fine! I’ll give it one more try! But whatever happens here better not escape those gossiping lips of yours once we leave this place!”

Satisfied, Rarity agrees with a winning smirk, “Deal!”

Gradually, the reluctant Rainbow hovers down before landing on the vacant chaise lounge adjacent to Rarity’s. Once she reclines back, her own helper approaches her with a nail file, which causes Rainbow to shake subtly in nervousness.

Noticing her friend’s reluctance, Rarity informs Dash’s assistant with a faintly shrewd smile, “Oh, do be gentle on her, won’t you, dearie? It is her first time after all.”

As the spa employee abides to Rarity’s command with a nod, Rainbow glares intensely at her devious friend for her sly innuendo as the flustered Pegasus grumbles inaudible curses underneath her breath. Wanting to prove her bravado, the tense, blue mare stretches one of her hind legs to ready herself on the overly imagined torture that is to come. Slowly, the assistant moves forward with the supposedly intimidating tool as the suspension is killing Rainbow.

Once the file comes in contact with the exposed hoof, the mare makes one soft stroke of her tool as the strange sensation sends shivers across Dash’s spine. From that unfamiliar feeling, Rainbow desperately wants to pull her shaky leg back, but against her better judgement, she didn’t want to back down from this. Not just to prove herself over Rarity’s dare, but to also impress her husband if this hooficure actually works to her advantage. So to her dismay, she has to endure it for a little while longer.

As Rainbow tolerates her on-going session, her assistant carries on her task as she maintains a steady pace where her file moves back and forth in a nice, gentle rhythm. Overtime, Dash eases up as she realizes that this hooficure isn’t as bad as she made it out to be. It certainly isn’t as excruciating as those hook-shaped scraping tools those dentists use to grind your teeth away. As the blue Pegasus feels more relaxed, the young mare finishes one hind hoof and Rainbow Dash willingly presses the other one. Unbeknownst to the pregnant mare however, the observant Rarity takes considerable joy over Rainbow’s change of attitude when it comes to hooficures as she bears a self-satisfied smile for herself.

Once all their hooves were nicely filed and giving them a nice buff in-between, the two guests are being led to another room in the vast spa resort. Hovering right alongside her Unicorn friend, Rainbow Dash is too distracting by her own fore hooves as they were never this smooth and shiny before.

As the absent-minded Pegasus lightly rubs her hooves together, Rarity interrupts Rainbow’s distraction by saying with a know-it-all smirk. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Taking the hint from Rarity’s smugness, Rainbow grows an immense blush on her face while hiding her right fore hoof behind her back before she uses the other one to point harshly at the conceited seamstress and retorts in a shaky growl, “Y-you better not say another word about this to anypony, got it?!”

Unaffected by Dash’s poor display of intimidation, Rarity chuckles to herself before she assures with a broad grin, “Don’t worry, darling. I wouldn’t even dream to share this moment with anypony else.”

After entering through a large doorway, the two mares from Ponyville gasp in amazement at the sudden change of scenery. In front of them is a very expansive and magnificent grotto with sandstone cavern walls and flooring, several, luxurious hot springs, and natural-looking waterfalls that cascade into some of the vibrant, turquoise pools. There are even a couple of additional caverns that serve as saunas and a vast opening in the background where guests can enjoy the natural landscape of Canterlot’s outer regions.

Nearby is a modest-sized mud bath, which is where Rainbow and Rarity will take part in after their helpers arranged their manes in neatly tight hair buns. Once that’s done, they slowly step into the pool of soft gray-colored mud as they gasp from the warm, slightly bubbling feeling.

With her forelegs stretched across the muddy spring’s edge in a relaxing position, Rainbow allows herself to sink in until the mud reaches close to her chin and sighs with a contented grin, “Ahhhh! Now this is more to my liking!”

“For once, we actually agree on something.” Rarity says with an equally pleased smile as she applies cucumber slices over her eyes before arching her neck back until her head lays against the thick towel that cushions the rim of the pool.

“Not that I’m complaining here, but I just don’t see what’s the big deal with these mud baths.”

“Well darling, it’s thanks to the rich volcanic ash mixed with the hot spring water that can soften your skin, remove toxins from your body, and improves your circulation.”

“Is that so? Well, I think you’ve missed a spot.” Rainbow points it out with a budding smirk.

“Where?” Rarity puzzles slightly. “I thought I’ve covered myself up pretty good.”

“Here, let me get that for you.” she offers with a suppressed giggle as she scoops up some mud with her fore hooves.

“Why thank you--!”

But her expression of gratitude goes unfinished when a blob of mud splats Rarity right in the face. Shook up by the sudden, direct projectile, Rarity hastily wipes her face to clear away the mud from her eyes as well as the cucumber slices so she could immediately confront her assailant. But it didn't take too long to find out who the culprit is as the Unicorn glares at the lone Pegasus, who is laughing like an uproarious hyena.

“Rainbow Dash, really?!” Rarity scolds her in a parental tone. “Can’t you at least act your age for a change?!”

“What?” the giggling mare shrugs without care. “I thought you like mud masks, Rarity.”

While Rainbow is too busy laughing at her own joke, the glaring Unicorn suddenly displays a very mischievous smile as she uses her magic to levitate a spherical glob of mud right beside the Pegasus’s blind spot. “Oh, so you like to get down and dirty, eh?”

Without giving her any time to react, the levitated ball of mud slaps Rainbow right across her face, and eventually, she whines over Rarity’s retaliation. “Hey!”

But the smirking seamstress dismisses Rainbow’s whining with a shrug of her own as she mimics her friend’s witty response earlier, “What? Just returning the favor, dearie.”

Seeing on where this is going, Rainbow breaks into an amusing smirk and prepares to scoop up her next shot while declaring out loud, “Oh, it is so on!”

And with their declaration of war, the two mares engage in an all-out mud fight. Back and forth, they fling their muddy projectiles at each other. Along with use of their hooves, Rarity employs her Unicorn Magic for precise strikes while Rainbow makes good use of her wings for monstrous waves in return. Despite how clay-faced they have become, that doesn’t stop them from laughing and playing like the little fillies they once were, and they continue to make good of the grand time they’re having.

Once they had enough in fun in the mud bath, Rarity and Rainbow Dash take nice, quick showers to rinse off all of that excess mud, and they moved into a cavern sauna afterwards once they had their manes wrapped in their respective towels. Like the grotto, the interior of the concaved sauna is very cave-like, but seats and walls are very smooth to sit and lean against. In the center of the room is an opened pit with prearranged hot stones in it. Next to Rarity, is a wooden bucket containing their supply of water. With a simple flick of her magic, the courteous mare pours some water over the burning rocks, and it creates a huge puff of steam that engulfs the room whilst making that satisfying, sizzling sound. Thankfully with the carved out vents high above them, the heat doesn’t become too intense for them, especially for Rainbow Dash’s case due to her condition. With the temperature set to a perfect degree, Rainbow and Rarity are well-situated in their sitting positions as they simultaneously breathe in the warm, moist air and slowly exhale with smiles of tranquility.

“Rainbow Dash, I can’t thank you enough for bring me here to such a divine place!” Rarity says with exuberant gratitude. “Everything they have to offer is beyond my wildest expectations! Sigh… I’ve never felt so rejuvenated in all of my life!”

“I’m glad to hear that, Rarity.” Rainbow welcomes with a nod and a gratified smile. “This is your spa day after all.”

“Well, this is your spa day too, but I’m certainly glad that I could share this day with you, Rainbow. I can’t believe we don’t do this much often. We really need to hang out some more. Thankfully, we have plenty of time ahead of us to make up for that.”

Upon hearing that poor choice of words, Rainbow is reluctantly reminded on why she wanted to schedule some alone time with Rarity in the first place. With another intake of that breath of soothing steam, Rainbow speaks up in an increasingly ginger manner, “You know, now that we’re all alone, there’s… some important I need to tell you.”

Oblivious to Rainbow’s hesitation, Rarity replies with a well-mannered smile, “Oh, well you’re always welcome to talk to me about it, Rainbow. Is it something you need help with?”

“No no, it isn’t like that… it’s umm… I just to want to let you know… that something big might happen in a few months.” she continues with further uneasiness.

Perplexed by where her friend is going with this, Rarity then asks, “Isn’t that when your foals will be born?”

“Y-yes, but the tradeoff is that… I might not make it out alive.”

From hearing that quiet response, Rarity’s eyes grow massively at such a shocking statement and gasps in alarm, “Wh-what…? Why would you assume such an awful thing like that?!”

“Well, my husband apparently had these visions due to his Draconian Magic, so we’ve been preparing for the worst if they ever do come true.” she admits with her head hanging low in shame.

Still shook up by this unforeseen, distressing news, Rarity does her best to compose herself before she inquires in a trembling voice, “H-how long have you known about this?”

“Remember how we ended my foal shower months ago?”

“Why yes, I remember--!” From that reminder, Rarity recalls on that abrupt end to their party and how that was settled once Mustang returned from his exceedingly delayed trip. “Wait… was that what you and Ford discussed afterwards?”

“Sigh… yeah.” Rainbow acknowledges while averting her guilt-ridden eyes away from Rarity.

Besides the sizzling noise from the scorching rocks, the steamy room become silent as Rainbow waits on Rarity’s reaction while the latter takes more time to reflect on all that she has learned. For Dash’s case, she can imagine on how over-the-top Rarity will get once she finally articulates.

“Dash, I-I-I can’t believe you…” she stammers in a quiet, shaky voice.

“Look, I know it’s a lot to take in--!”

But Rarity didn’t get a chance to finish what she had to say as she restates in an abruptly irritated tone, “I can’t believe you would hold out on this kind of information from us like that!”

Rainbow Dash is completely startled by Rarity’s sudden outburst. She certainly expected her Unicorn friend to express herself in such a melodramatic fashion, but not where she would react so harshly. So she sharply clarifies herself, “What?! I wasn’t trying to hold out on you!”

“Then why didn’t you bother to share this with us months ago?!” she demands in a huff.

“Because we were in the holiday season, Rarity!” she snaps in response before her snippiness get the best of her. “Would you really want me to drop such a major bombshell in the midst of our celebration by saying something like, ‘Oh hey, guess what? I’m dying! Happy Hearth’s Warming Eve, everypony!’ ”

Unamused by Rainbow’s harsh sarcasm, Rarity turns away with a tilt of her head as she lets out a harrumph, “Ugh! You’re as crude as ever!”

Increasingly annoyed as ever, Rainbow asks, “Well, what would you do instead?!”

Matching with Pegasus’s cynicism, Rarity exclaims, “Well, I certainly would tell my friends right away so I wouldn’t leave them in the dark for so long!”

Trading one sarcasm for another, Dash screeches out her irritation in an exaggerative manner, “Oh, so me withholding my own predetermined demise for the sake of my friends makes me a bad guy, huh?! Is that it?!”

“No, that’s not it all!”

“Then what is it, Rarity?! What is it that you’re giving me so much grief about?!”

Stumbling on her own words, Rarity does her best to express her true feelings as loudly as possible, “I don’t know! I just… feel so hurt from how you didn’t tell us in the first place because you didn’t trust that we can help you out in some way! How could you keep something like that as a secret for so long without even considering us, let alone me?!”

As she concludes her statement, the emotional Rarity breaks down into tears, which evaporate rather quickly thanks to the sauna they are in. Still, even without tears, Rainbow Dash can see just how heartbroken her friend is as Rarity states the awkward dismay she’s putting herself in.

“Oh, look at me! I’m pouring out my heart to you, and I can barely make out any tears because of this luxurious sauna we are in right now!”

In the midst of Rarity’s heartfelt crying, Rainbow feels guilty and pities her friend for all of the mixed emotions she is going through. Without making a sound, the Pegasus slides closely to the weeping Unicorn before placing a gentle wing on top of fashionista’s back and expressing her condolence very softly.

“Rarity… I’m… I’m sorry. I had no idea you would feel this way. I never meant to hurt you like this.”

From receiving Rainbow’s act of kindness, Rarity takes a moment to calm herself down and wipes away the tears and sweat from her eyes before responding in a remorseful manner, “N-no, Rainbow Dash. I’m the one who should be apologizing here. Please forgive me, darling. I shouldn’t be acting this immature when you are the one who has a lot more to deal with compared to me.”

“It’s fine, Rarity.” she reassures with small smile.

“Have you… told this to anypony else?”

“We have. Regarding with the Elements of Harmony so far, Ford already informed Twilight about this so they can get the Princesses’ aid, and I told Fluttershy a week ago.”

“And I take it nothing has been resolved as of yet?”

“Trust me, we turned to anyone we can think of, including Discord and one of Ford’s dragon friends, Wagner.”

Rarity sighs over the bleakness in Rainbow’s situation and softly expresses her sympathy, “I wish there was something I can do to aid you in your future dilemma.”

As Rainbow gives it some thought, she suddenly recalls a scene in that nightmare of her own funeral on what Rarity was wearing at that time. So Rainbow proposes one thing in mind for her friend, “There is one thing you can do by making a Pinkie Promise for me.”

A bit ecstatic by the possibility to aid Rainbow in any way possible, Rarity urges strongly, “Anything, dear.”

“Promise me that you wouldn’t wear black at my funeral. It’s SO not a good look on you.”

From that sly emphasis, Rarity breaks into a spontaneous giggle before she gladly makes that Pinkie Promise by using her fore hoof to cross her heart and place it over her eye. “Consider it done, Rainbow Dash.”

Grateful for Rarity’s willingness to make that sacred promise, Rainbow pulls the fashion designer in for a gratifying hug and says with a modest smile, “Thanks, Rarity.”

After holding on to their hug for just a little while longer, Rarity gently ends their embrace as she makes a humble suggestion to Rainbow Dash with a meaningful grin, “Now, what do you say we get out of here and continue what’s left of our spa day? All this stress and steam isn’t too good for one’s complexion if we stay here for too long.”

“Sigh! Nothing like a day at the spa to make you feel like a new mare again!” Rarity states her satisfaction with a very vibrant grin.

“Have to say, that place wasn’t that bad at all.” Rainbow Dash admits beamingly before adding to her claim with a mild blush on her face. “I feel so… girly… but in a good way.”

After finishing their long day at the royal spa facility, the two equally contented mares decide to spend a little more time at Canterlot before heading back to Ponyville. In the midst of their walk, few bystanders turn their heads sharply as they notice the exuberant beauty emanating from Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

Towards the end of their spa appointment, they capped it off with professional stylists that did an extraordinary job on the two clienteles’ mane, tail, and coat. For Rarity, her gorgeous, purple mane is wrapped in a lovely hair bun with her traditional front piece swaying in elegant fashion and her white coat is so shiny that any gawking pony may go blind if they stare it for far too long. As for Rainbow Dash, her blue coat is also polished to perfection, but in addition to her multicolored mane being fluffier and smoother than usual, she also has some glossy eye shadow applied to her eyelids at Rarity’s suggestion. She doesn’t take the time to beautify herself as much as Rarity does, but truth be told, she does enjoy the experience every now and then.

“Thank you once again for taking me to such a marvelous place for our spa day!” Rarity says with a joyous smile. “I had a really good time from not just receiving the best spa treatment ever, but from also hanging out with you for a change. And umm… I’m terribly sorry for losing my temper like that when you were telling me about your grim predicament.” she apologizes in a softer, more ashamed manner. “I should know better that you were only thinking on what’s best before you decided to share the truth with us.”

Knowing that Rarity is being very considerate, Rainbow wraps her sympathetic friend in a hug whilst replying back with a reassuring smile, “Thanks for understanding, Rarity.”

A bit relieved to receive some sympathetic comfort, Rarity then hesitates as she asks cautiously, “Do you… want me to this share this with Applejack?”

Rainbow quietly ponders on that soft inquiry before she answers with a casual shrug, “Nah. I rather take care of this myself. Just need to think of something really cool for her.”

“Well maybe I can help find that out for you.”

“I would really appreciated that, Rarity.”

“Think nothing of it, Rainbow Dash. It’s the least I can do for all that you have done for me.”

“Hey, all I did was take you out to some fancy spa.”

“I’m not just talking about that, Rainbow. I meant for all the times you’ve aid us, and more specifically, me. The one thing I will never ever forget is how you saved my life during the Best Young Flyer Competition. I not only learned a valuable lesson from getting so carried away with my own vanity, but I also learned on how truly fortunate I am to have you as one of my best friends. And from there, I will always be eternally grateful for your friendship.”

As Rarity leans closely to give a nuzzling embrace to Rainbow Dash, the latter reflects back to all of the good times they shared and responds with a grateful smile, “You know? Looking back on all we’ve been through together… I’m really grateful for our friendship too. And not just the awesome adventures we shared, but for all of the cool stuff you’ve done for me as well. Like how can I forget all of those cool dresses you’ve made for me? Especially that one you made for my birthday so I can impress Ford at the Grand Galloping Gala!”

“And now thanks to the Princesses’ exclusive spa, you will be able to show off your stuff with those stunning, good looks of yours!” Rarity points it out with a sly, giggling grin.

Catching on Rarity’s clever implication, Rainbow responds back with a mischievous smile and a soft nudge to the seamstress’s sides, “And what about you, huh? No doubt you’re thinking the same thing with AJ, am I right?”

“Well, she does owe me for what she pulled off this morning, but I think it’s only fair for me to give Applejack a taste of her own medicine first.” she replies with an equally deceitful smirk.

With that said, the two shared a good, hearty laugh before their merriment is briefly interrupted by a low, growling noise. Looking down, Rainbow figures out that the sudden disturbance was coming from her stomach as Rarity pinpoints the source of the sound as well. Understandingly, the Pegasus didn’t get much to eat this morning as well as the fact that their spa session ended early this afternoon.

With a sheepish chuckle, Rainbow makes light of her own bodily needs, “Geez. Who would have thought all of this relaxation could make a pony this hungry?”

After a subtle giggle to herself, Rarity greatly insists with a charitable smile, “Here, you’ve done enough to treat me as it is. So allow me to be the generous one this time.”

Later that Evening in Ponyville…

In Ford Mustang’s inner sanctum, which is his art studio, the lone stallion is deeply attentive with his latest and perhaps his biggest project yet. On a big canvas board that’s resting on an easel, he already got a basic, good pencil sketch of his wife, including her iconic features: eyes, wings, six-striped flowing mane and tail. He thought about this for a couple weeks now, and he wants to get this ready before that big, fateful day. Now at this point, all he needs to do is sketch up a background and make the pencil lines in the portrait bolder and clearer before he can start painting.

But that next step will have to wait for another time as his sharp ears perk up from hearing the front door being opened. Presuming that it must be Rainbow Dash, he quickly sets his tools aside and covers up the easel with a big sheet of cloth. With his big, secret project secured, Ford flies down the steps to welcome his wife home.

“Hey, angel! How was your trip to the spaaaaaaaaaaa…?”

But his warm greeting is put to a slow, grinding halt as the slack-jawed stallion stares with wide, speechless eyes at the even more stunning mare in front of him. Almost as if time slows down, Rainbow Dash coolly flicks her brightly colorful mane as she sways it back and forth while her husband is truly entranced by the slow, glistening motion of her alluring hair.

While Ford is completely distracted by the unforeseen allure, Rainbow answers nonchalantly, “Pretty awesome actually! I tell you, those masseuses really know on how work out those kinks in-between! I almost feel as light as a feather after an intense session like that!” And she demonstrated her lightness by fluttering up in the air and landing back down very gracefully before tossing her hair back which inadvertently entices her wide-eyed stallion even further.

Once she notices flabbergasted husband, the grinning mare giggles in a feminine manner and she flashes her newly mascaraed eyes while asking in mocking ignorance, “What? Is there something on my face--?”

But her teasing remark gets interrupted when Mustang rockets forward and smashes his lips against Dash’s. Despite the surprise kiss attack, Rainbow almost at once lets herself go as she moans in ecstasy while their tongues intertwine with each other’s. And just as things are starting to heat up between them, Ford suddenly breaks free from their kiss as he shifts into an apologetic manner.

“S-sorry! I didn’t mean to act so hasty like that! I just… haven’t seen you this radiant since our wedding day, so I--!”

However, she didn’t want to hear any of that as she quickly pulls Ford back in to resume their insatiable kiss. Seeing how his eager wife has made decision for both of them, he seeks to put more effort in his smacking lips and probing tongue as they tenderly wrap their fore hooves around each other’s body before they slowly recline on the cloudy floor.

With the couple laying on their sides, they continue to make out for another minute or two before Ford takes a breather and draws his wife’s fore hoof closer to his face. Then, he rubs against it like a cat nuzzling it owner affectionately as Rainbow Dash pants over Mustang’s familiar, soothing touch.

After giving her delicate hoof a few more kisses, he notices something different about them as he says to her softly, “Dashie, your hooves… they feel much smoother than before.”

Rainbow freezes from the mention of Ford’s observation as a growing, red blush consumes her guilt-ridden face. After he takes a closer look at the hoof he was snuggling with, he inquires with further interest, “Did you… get a hooficure today as well?”

Dash is scared that if Ford or any of her friends found out about this, they would just simply laugh at her for all the times she refused anypony come near her precious hooves. Despite being certain that her husband would think otherwise, her fears are getting the best of her as she frantically explains the situation.

“Well… R-Rarity couldn’t shut up about them, so I pretty much gave into peer pressure! And well… I kinda sorta maybe like them! I mean, I am a mare, so it’s not that weird for me to enjoy one every now and then, alright? So don’t even think about giving me crap about--!”

But her frantic words die down once Mustang silence her with another kiss, this time, it is much softer than the first surprise attack earlier. After their lips smoothly depart ways for a bit, Ford clarifies with a witty smirk, “Do you hear me complaining about them?”

A bit flabbergasted at first, Rainbow eases up with an amusing smirk stretched across her face and brings her husband in for another fulfilling kiss. Resuming where they left off, their greedy lips are firmly connected with one another as their hooves caress around their respective partners’ bodies, unable to get enough of each other.

Without their feverous lips breaking away from contact, Rainbow Dash carefully climbs on top of her stallion whilst keeping in mind of her very bulgy belly that’s in-between them. Again, they take a break when the pregnant mare sits up straight as Ford takes a moment to ask just to be absolutely sure where this is leading up to.

“Say, shouldn’t we get some dinner first before things escalate beyond our control?”

Staring back down at her sheepishly grinning husband past her stretched out belly, Rainbow shakes her head as she answers with a very crafty and hungry smirk, “Dinner can wait, Ford. For now, I’m going straight for dessert.”

And with that said whilst licking her chops impatiently, she resumes what’s left of her meal, intending to get her fill… one way or another.

Author's Note

I'll be honest, when it came to these recent chapters, I often worry that their reactions to Dash's terrible news would all be the same. So I try to make sure to mix it up every now and then. That's why I had Rarity being angry at first because she felt hurt from not learning about this sooner.

Anyway, the next chapter will involve Pinkie Pie, and this time I really need your help on this one because Rainbow and Pinkie will be going on a pranking spree. The problem I'm facing is that I can't think have any appropriate pranks in mind for the moment for some of the respective characters. So I really need good suggestions on some ideal pranks and who they're targeted at.

For example, I want to do a prank which targets Applejack, and I want Rarity to participate in it just to get back at her from the previous week. Maybe involve pears in some way. :ajbemused::raritywink::pinkiecrazy::rainbowlaugh:

Chapter 24 – A Day with Pinkie Pie

Chapter 24 – A Day with Pinkie Pie

Two Months and Three Weeks Remaining…
~ Early of April (33th Week) ~

One fine morning on the upper level of Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie is snoozing cozily underneath the thick, party-balloon-themed covers. Soon enough, she gets herself up as she lets out a nice, long yawn. But after smacking her lips a couple of times, her drowsy, half-lidded eyes immediately widen with sudden perkiness by the surprise that’s waiting for her.

Engulfing her entire party-filled room are thousands of plastic, colorful spheres, making her bedroom into one giant ball pit. Normally, ponies would question on why their bedroom has been suddenly transformed into a gigantic playroom.

“WEEEEEEE~!!”

But that doesn’t bother Pinkie one bit as she dives right into the pool of colorful orbs. Once she resurfaces, the playful, pink mare spits out a stream of balls like it was water before she splashes and jumps around her personal playground like a happy-go-lucky porpoise. After spending some time in the sea of spherical plastic, Pinkie Pie hears somepony else giggling as she turns her head to the source. Hanging right outside one of the Earth Pony’s window is the crafty pony responsible for the room’s alteration as she displays a big, amusing smile over her friend’s usual playfulness.

“Morning, Pinkie Pie! Having a ball over there?” Rainbow Dash asks with a witty grin.

“Yep, I sure am! In fact, I have tons of them!” Pinkie replies happy as ever as she tosses the spheres up in the air. “I’ve got to say, this is definitely a nice surprise! I’m impressed that you were able to pull this off so efficiently!”

“Well, I do learn from the best.” Dash responds with a proud smile before she jumps into the ball pit and creates a mighty splash with her cannonball.

After Dash reemerges, Pinkie Pie inquires with a soft smile, “So what’s the special occasion for today, Rainbow?”

“Oh nothing much.” Dash replies sly with mocking casualness as her irrepressible smirk gets bigger. “Just came by to see if you want to tag along and go on a pranking spree with me.” Then, with the saddlebag strapped to her torso, Rainbow pulls out a familiar book as she shares it with her fellow prankster. “I even brought over the book you gave for me for my birthday so we can come up with some ideas together.”

With a very wide, toothy smile, Pinkie Pie nods ecstatically as she replies in shrill delight, “Yeah, that sounds like super fun! But… can we stay in the ball pit for just for a little while longer?”

From that humble yet playful plea where the slightly pouty, pink pony displays her big, bright blue eyes and lightly quivering lips, Rainbow Dash giggles to herself while answering with a humorous grin, “Okay. But let’s not take too long now. We’ve got a schedule to keep, you know.”

As part of their usual morning routine, Octavia is taking a lovely, steamy shower to start her day afresh while her rambunctious party pony of a wife, Vinyl Scratch, is still in the middle of her snoozing as she lightly snores in such an adorable manner. But unbeknownst to the preoccupied cellist, the ever-so sneaky Pinkie Pie pulls off a miraculous appearance when she slowly emerges from a nearby toilet whilst cladded in her skintight spy suit and snorkeling gear.

Carefully, the outlandishly clever spy steps out of the toilet bowl before verifying her surroundings. Presently, Octavia is still absentminded from her shower as the curtain barricades the two Earth Ponies in-between, only to reveal the cellist’s silhouette from Pinkie Pie’s line of sight.

With the musician distracted for the moment, Pinkie Pie puts her plan in motion by pulling out a plastic bottle from her special sachet. Then, she snatches a hair product from the counter next to her and squeezes out the gel to pour into the empty container she carried with her. Next, Pinkie quietly pulls the curtain a bit until she spots another bottle of shampoo that’s similar to the one she just refilled. And with a quick sleight of her hoof, the lovable trickster switches the two bottles without the humming musician noticing it. Once the switch has been made, Pinkie Pie obverses Octavia’s outline from the shower’s curtain as the latter picks up the shampoo and applies it to her mane.

Meanwhile, in the musicians’ bedroom, Rainbow Dash silently finishes up her own prank as she tightens a knot to an object that is attached to it. Hanging from the ceiling is a long rope that is dangling a familiar frying pan inches away from Vinyl’s sleepy face.

With her trap all set, Rainbow notices Pinkie Pie peeking out of the bathroom’s door, and she pulls a foam hand that displays a thumbs-up. Once she receives the Earth Pony’s signal, the smirking Pegasus gives her friend a quick nod and a salute before she lands softly on the ground first. Then, she gently pulls a stray feather from one of her wings and resumes her careful hovering right beside Vinyl Scratch.

Steady as possible, the grinning Pegasus uses the feather clutched between her teeth to lightly brush the DJ’s muzzle. At first, the slumbering Unicorns swats it away without her sleep being disrupted. But from Dash’s second attempt, the ticklish feeling is enough to cause Vinyl sit up straight while trying to swat the pesky feather away once again. Unfortunately, from lifting her head up, she hits her face directly into the hanging frying pan.

BONK!

The echoing slam of the flat-surface object is enough to disturb the groggy Vinyl Scratch from her sleep as she rubs her eyes and forehead while wincing in pain, “Ow! What the…?”

But as she begins to open her ruby eyes, Vinyl can see the circular outline of the frying pan and eventually, her blurry vision dies down when she can see her own name engraved on the bottom of the cooking tool. And from recognizing the accursed instrument, her eyes swell up to considerable proportions, and frantically, she scooches against the headrest before raising her shaky hooves up to protect her face from any more damage that may come.

“WAIT TAVI! I CONFESS! I WON’T USE YOUR CELLO STICK THINGY AS A BACKSCRATCHER EVER AGAIN!”

Upon her screeching confession, the jumpy Unicorn hears a couple of snickering, so Vinyl Scratch peeks with one eye to see where the muffled laughter is coming from. From there, the laughter gets a little louder as Scratch is surprised to see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie in her bedroom. Then, the bewildered DJ looks up and sees how the notorious frying pan is hanging by a long string in front of her. With her two friends continuing their snorting laughter, Vinyl finally figures out their ploy as she frowns with a mild blush over their amusement.

“Oh ha ha. Very funny, you two.” she mutters underneath her breath sarcastically while crossing her forelegs to signify her grumpiness.

“Ah, don’t feel too bad, Scratch.” The blue Pegasus reassures in the midst of her giggling. “I’m sure you’ll appreciate what’s in stored for your wife over there.”

Vinyl raises an eyebrow as she wonders what Rainbow meant by that. But before the Unicorn could ask her friends about that, the trio see Octavia stepping out the bathroom with loads of steam seeping from behind as the gray Earth Pony dries her mane with a towel.

“Vinyl! Is everything alright?” the cellist asks as she takes off the towel from her head before wrapping it around her shoulders. “I heard you screaming and--!”

But she pauses with wide eyes as Octavia notices the unexpected appearance of her two friends, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. As for the other three mares, there are equally wide-eyed as Octavia, but from seeing on what’s so different about her.

Instead of that long, flowing, black mane of hers, it is replaced with very wild hairstyle with strands sticking out in every which way like the prickly quills of a porcupine. In fact, unusual style of her mane looks similar to Vinyl Scratch’s. With the combined characteristics of the two musicians’ manes, her new hairdo resembles that of a glam rock star.

As Rainbow and Pinkie desperately try to hold their chuckling in, Octavia speaks once again to warmly greet the two in surprise, “Oh, Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie! What are you two doing here?”

“Oh nothing much.” Rainbow answers softly with an uncontrollably silly smile. “Just thought we would drop in and say ‘hi.’ ”

“Yeah! Love what you did with your mane, Octy!” Pinkie emphasizes her compliment, which nearly cause her and Rainbow to lose it from holding in their laughter for too long.

“Oh thank you, Pinkie Pie.” the other Earth Pony responds chivalrously. “But it’s nothing too special really. It’s how I normally condition my hair--!”

But her obliviousness didn’t last for too long as she starts to observe the two visitors’ faces puffing up with such ridiculous smiles and rosy cheeks. Then, Octavia turns to her wife to see why their friends are acting this way. But to the cellist’s bewilderment, Vinyl’s expression is far different than Rainbow’s or Pinkie Pie’s. Still sitting in her bed, the infamous DJ-PON-3 bears big, sparkly, ruby eyes and a very huge, toothy smile, one that showcases her barely contained excitement on what she sees in front of her.

Confused as ever by their reactions, Octavia shifts her head to a long mirror nearby to see what they are looking at. But with just a simple glance at her reflection, she finally sees the results of her once-pristine mane as it has been transformed into absolute mess.

With the completely thunderstruck mare starring in disbelief at her own reflection, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash finally let it all out as they burst in uproarious laughter. As the two tricksters try to catch their breaths from their infectious snickering, Octavia finally breaks out of her frozen stance as she screams in shock and horror while her fore hooves desperately try to smooth her hair down to its usual style.

“EEK! MY MANE! H-how did this happen?! It looks just as atrocious as Vinyl’s!”

Upon hearing that, Vinyl breaks from her own daze as she whines out loud, “Hey!”

From taking a break with her constant chuckling, Rainbow Dash implies slyly, “I dunno. Maybe you used a new conditioner.”

“That’s impossible!” Octavia retorts over Dash’s implication. “It’s the same one I use every--! Wait…?”

But then, she pauses on a sudden thought in mind before heading back into the bathroom to verify something real quick. After she swiftly slides the shower curtain, she grasps the bottle of shampoo she was using earlier to examine its content. From unclipping the lid, she takes a couple quick sniffs and recalls a similar smell, one that is normally associated with her wife’s fragrance. With a twist of her head, Octavia spots a half-empty tube of Vinyl’s special hair gel that she knows full well on whom that one belongs to.

That’s when it hits her.

With bulgy, infuriated eyes, she charges out of the bathroom and demands in a thunderous roar, “YOU TWO SWITCHED MY SHAMPOO WITH VINYL’S HAIR GEL?!”

Without even flinching, Pinkie Pie pulls out the cellist’s bottle of shampoo she switched earlier from her secured pouch and confirms with an upbeat smile, “Yepperoni~!”

At once, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie resume their laughter as they begin to lose their balance from laughing too hard. Unable to stand this mockery any longer, the enraging cellist notices her frying pan hanging by a string. Ruled by her growing aggravation, Octavia quickly takes her instrument of destruction with a mighty snap of its string and immediately charges forward at her two hecklers.

“LOOK OUT!” Pinkie Pie gasps in tremendous fright. “SHE’S GOT A FRYING PAN!”

Terrified just as much as her pink friend, Rainbow Dash issues their retreat, “BAIL! BAIL!”

As the mad mare flails her frying pan around wildly, she chases Pinkie and Rainbow out of the house through an opened window, and they amscray as far away from Octavia’s reach as possible. With the two pranksters out of sight, the disgruntled cellist lets out a heavy sigh as she sits along her grinning wife before setting her frying pan aside on their bed.

“Can you believe those two? Ugh! It’s going to take hours to get all of this out of my mane!” she whines as she gently tugs her spiky, black mane to try to get it straight once again.

Still as ecstatic as ever, Vinyl shares her opinion shrewdly, “Oh I don’t know, Tavi. I think it’s a pretty good look for you.”

Octavia stares at her grinning wife with an unamusing frown, but despite her intimidating glare, she couldn’t maintain it for long as she bears a tiny, amusing smirk in the midst of her response, “You are such a narcissist, Vinyl Scratch.”

Not taking any offense to her wife’s remark, Vinyl pulls Octavia in for an affectionate hug as she adds with a giggling smile, “And you’re as cute as ever when you use big words like that.”

“Sigh… what am I going to do with you?” she asks with a cynical smile as she softly shakes her head.

“Well… I could think of a few things in mind.” she purrs with a seductive grin as she playfully wiggles her eyebrows.

Following up on Vinyl’s sly implication, Octavia chuckles to herself before she gives her rascally wife a warm, welcoming kiss on the lips. After sharing that pleasant smooch, the grinning Earth Pony adds, “Alright. But only if I get to brush your hair for a change.”

“Why? ‘Cause it’s that atrocious, right?” Vinyl responds in mocking sternness as she raises an eyebrow.

Caught off-guard by Scratch’s sudden firmness, the ashamed cellist does her best to explain herself, “N-no! I just thought it would be funny to see what your mane would look like if it were mine and…! Sigh… I’m sorry, dear. I shouldn’t have exaggerated like that. I really do think you have such lovely hair no matter how much of a mess it is.”

Unable to see her mare bear such a pitiful look, blue-haired Unicorn gives her wife a reassuring kiss on the Earth Pony’s forehead and eases her with a comforting grin, “It’s alright, Tavi. I was only messing with you. I know you didn’t mean any harm.”

“So… may I?” Octavia beseeches softly in such a cute manner.

“Go for it.” she permits with a chuckling smile. “But don’t go too crazy. I got an image to keep, you know.”

As Scratch turns around to present her mane, the ecstatic Octavia quickly reaches for a hoof-held brush before repositioning herself right beside her wife and complying with a giggling smile, “I will try my best to restrain myself.”

Wanting to relish this moment for as long as possible, Octavia begins her brushing in a nice, slow manner as Vinyl Scratch feels more relaxed from her wife’s soft stroking. But as the cellist carries on with her delicate task, a random thought crosses her mind as she scarcely recalls her wife’s screeching earlier. Overtaking by her curiosity, Octavia stops her brushing for the moment as she inquires in a soft yet firm tone.

“By the way… what were you saying about my cello bow earlier?”

From hearing her wife’s insistent tone, a disturbing chill travels across her spine as Vinyl Scratch responds in ever-increasing fear, “N-n-nothing!”

A while later, Ford Mustang comes back to his floating house from his morning errand as his saddlebags are stuffed with tons of groceries. And after putting the items in their proper places, he heads upstairs to carry on with his work in the meantime. But once he enters his studio room, Ford freezes in place as he is lost in words on what has befallen to his private sanctum.

“What in the world?!”

With his mouth hanging open like it was weighing a ton of bricks, he stares up in immense disbelief on how his art studio is literally turned upside down. Nearly everything: his cabinets, his drawers, his easel, his table… everything is inconceivably stuck to the cloudy ceiling. And not much to his surprise, Pinkie Pie is magnetically stuck up there too as she greets the flabbergasted stallion with her big smile and an energetic wave of her fore hoof.

“Hi-yee~!”

Then right on cue, Rainbow Dash comes around the corner and enters the scene before she leans against her still speechless husband whilst explaining in a hearty chuckle, “Hope you didn’t mind us tidying up around here. We figure it could use a little spring cleaning.”

“Tee-hee! From up here, I’d say that he’s pretty pleased with our work.” Pinkie Pie adds with a giggling smile as she points out on how Ford’s gaping mouth looks like an overjoyed smile from her inverted point-of-view.

“Please tell me you didn’t use super crazy glue to pull this off.” Mustang pleads in a quiet voice.

“Oh don’t worry, Musty-Wusty. We only used special adhesive pads.” The giggling Earth Pony reassures, and she pulls up one of her forelegs with an audible pop to demonstrate one of those sticky pads underneath her hoof. “See, I’m like a spider! But I’m also a mare! Ooo! My Pinkie Senses are tingling from a little ditty coming to mind~!”

And once she positions herself in a crouching stance, the cheerful Pinkie Pie hums a familiar tune that Ford knows all too well as she crawls around the crowded ceiling.

After the Pegasus couple takes a moment to watch their pink friend’s latest antics, Ford shakes his head with a smile and says to the two mares, “Well, I’m glad you two had you fun with all of this. So would you mind helping me take all of this off?”

Sharply enough, Rainbow picks up Pinkie Pie off of the roof and replies in hasty, witty manner, “Sorry, hon! Places to go! Pranks to pull off!”

“Byeee~!” Pinkie Pie adds gleefully as the two grinning mares leave the house right away.

Leaving the speechless stallion alone in his art studio that’s still topsy-turvy, Ford Mustang takes a moment to examine his wife’s latest prank. And from seeing the hectic amount of work will be required to remove all of his stuff from the ceiling as well as to rearrange them in their proper places, he lets out a tiring sigh before muttering himself with a small smile.

“Sigh… figures.”

Hours later, in Sweet Apple Acres, Rarity just finished pot of ooey-gooey caramel as she sets it aside from the stove’s heated spot. With a graceful twirl of her spoon, thanks to her Unicorn Magic of course, the seamstress continues to stir her melting pot whilst waiting for the final ingredients to arrive so she may complete her treats. And right on time, her two friends enter the kitchen as Rainbow Dash carry a bushel of apples whilst Pinkie Pie carries something in her saddlebag.

“Hey, Rarity! We’re back!” Rainbow grins excitedly as she sets aside the apples on the table nearby. “Got the caramel ready?”

“Mm-hmm! All set!” Rarity nods beamingly. “Did you two get what you need?”

“Right here!” Pinkie Pie answers with an equally enthusiastic smile as she pulls out a different produce altogether.

In Pinkie’s grasp is a pear; a simple, innocent-looking fruit for a very devious prank to come. With the use of her magic, Rarity levitates the pear in mid-air and skillfully cuts the top portion of it with a knife. Next, the dexterous Unicorn jabs a wooden stick into circular-carved fruit and then carefully dips it into the warm pot of freshly made caramel. Now, the perfectly modified pear has taken the shape of a scrumptious-looking caramel apple.

“Thanks again for helping us out with this prank.” Rainbow says with a grateful smile.

“Of course, darling.” Rarity replies with a giggling grin as she continues to make more caramel apples with the real apples this time. “I’m certainly glad I could join on the fun just to see the look on Applejack’s face.”

“Yeah, this is going to be so rad!” Dash agrees with a very mischievous chuckle as she alongside Pinkie Pie help out with the apple dipping.

As the trio share a good, quiet laugh over Applejack’s expected reaction, Pinkie Pie’s sharp ears pick up the sound of somepony clopping down the stairs and she quickly shushes her friends’ merriment to not spoil the fun, “Shh! I think Applejack’s coming downstairs!”

Immediately, the three grinning mares hush up as the orange farmpony enters the scene while greeting them with a smile, “Howdy, girls. Whatcha makin’ down here?”

“Just enjoying some good, old-fashion caramel apples.” Rainbow Dash implies with an impish smile as she grabs one of the real caramel apples from the cooling tray to indulge one for herself.

Promptly, Pinkie Pie grasps the fake caramel apple and presents the alluring treat to AJ with a big, persuasive smile, “Care to try one?"

Without second guessing the deceitful fruit in front of her, Applejack responds with a hungry smile, “Don’t mind if I do!” And without hesitation, the farmpony snatches the caramelized pear and takes a huge bite out of it.

While the three tricksters suppress their uncontrollable giggles to the best of their abilities, Applejack is too distracted to notice the trio’s bottled-up emotions by the mouthwatering taste of the sweet, sticky caramel that coats the unorthodox fruit. But as AJ begins to savor the actual fruit, she pauses in the midst of her chewing as she tries to verify its unusual taste.

“Hmm...”

“What is ever the matter, darling?” Rarity asks with mocking concern as she playfully bashes her deceiving eyelashes.

Once she slowly chews her first bite a little bit longer, she finally swallows it before responding with great uncertainty, “Don’t know. This here apple is much mushier than usual.”

While munching on her own caramel apple, Rainbow suggests with a devious smirk, “Well, maybe you hit a soft spot or something. Try taking another bite.”

Despite her indecisiveness, Applejack shrugs her shoulders before she proceeds to take another bite of her caramel pear, which earns her some more muffled laughs from her crafty friends. But just like her first bite, AJ still can’t quite figure out its puzzling flavor as she expresses a sour frown over this conundrum.

“Nah, it still tastes funny. What kind of apples did you use anyway?”

After having another case of the giggles, Pinkie Pie answers shrewdly, “Oopsie. Sorry, I must have accidentally slip something else in there.”

“Really?” Applejack puzzles even further as she continues to chew on her second bite. “How could you honestly mistake an apple for something else?”

“Oh, it’s no big deal really.” the pink pony reassures with an irrepressible, sly smile. “Just a pear, that’s all.”

And with the reveal of that forsaken fruit’s identity, Applejack’s pupils shrink drastically to the size of raisins. And right away, she darts to the nearest trash can to spit out the unbearable mush in her mouth.

“GACK! BLAH! PTOOEY!”

As AJ continues to hunch over the wastebasket whilst she repeatedly gags out what’s left of the pear she just consumed, her three friends couldn’t hold it in any longer as they topple over each other and laugh uncontrollably at the farmpony’s anticipated reaction. In the midst of their overwhelming laughter, Rainbow is the first pony to catch her breath as she openly mocks her friend’s exaggerated plight.

“So AJ, how did you like your first caramel pear?” she asks knowingly before resuming her over-the-top cackling with her two giggling friends.

Once is certain that she has expelled as much of doppelganger treat as possible, Applejack turns to face her instigators with a stone-cold glare and answers in a cold, cynical tone, “As much as Ah love filthy, apple-thievin’ varmints!” Then, she shifts to her icy gaze to the tray of caramel apples nearby and before hurtling towards them while adding in sharp wit, “Here, let me show ya!”

And with her ammunition ready, the infuriated farmpony rapidly throws the candied apples at Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie while Rarity lunges for cover without getting caught in the mess.

As Dash hovers in mid-air to dodge the incoming projectiles, she retorts with a humorous grin, “Yeesh! Learn to take a joke, will ya?”

As Rainbow and Pinkie make their necessary retreat, the latter snatches up as many caramel apples as possible to store them in her saddlebag while adding in a giggling manner, “Yeah, it’s not like you’re allergic to them!”

“Ah might as well be!” Applejack snaps without a second thought as she continues to fling her coated apples at the fleeing tricksters. “Get back here, you rotten, backstabbin’ scoundrels!”

Of course, the two snickering mares pay no mind to AJ’s threats as they dash outside and away from the farmpony’s shooting range. After pausing at the kitchen’s doorway, Applejack lets out a tiring grump and trots back into the center of the room. Then, she locks gazes with her grinning wife, who just got out of her makeshift shelter.

“Was this payback from last week, Rarity?” Applejack asks with a deadpan sigh.

“Hmm… possibly.” Rarity answers with a shrug and a very shrewd smile.

In response, the country pony lets out an unamusing pout before stomping towards the counter as Rarity lightly scolds her wife with a chuckling smirk, “Oh, do lighten up, darling. It was only a pear.”

After pulling an empty mug from the cupboard above her, Applejack sets it next to the spout of a micro barrel inside the refrigerator as she remarks in a sharp, grumpy tone, “Rarity, that there’s the forbidden fruit of Tartarus! And Celestia have mercy on me if Ah forsake myself like that again!”

Once her mug is filled to the brim with that sweet nectar of hers, Applejack chugs it down quickly like a shot of tequila. And with a firm slam of her cup, she sighs with immense satisfaction over the sweet, familiar taste of her family-owned cider.

“Ahh! That’s the stuff right there! Ah’m gonna need like a whole barrel of this just to wash the awful taste out of my mouth!” And right away, she pours herself another cup of cider and finishes her second glass in the blink of an eye.

“Ooh, you poor thing~!” Rarity pities her grouchy wife in a lighthearted manner as she nuzzles her closely and giving her a light peck on the cheek. “Tell you what, darling. Help me clean this mess up as well as finish coating the rest of these apples in caramel, and if you’re a good, hardworking filly, I might make a delicious apple galette just for you. Will that be enough to make up for today’s atrocities?”

AJ thinks about her playful wife’s proposition for just a moment, but it didn’t take too long as she replies back with a growing smile, “Ah guess so. But there’s no need to go the extra mile just to make an apple pie all fancy-schmancy.”

As the married couple begin their clean-up together, Rarity reiterates in a sharp yet sophisticated tone, “It’s a galette, Applejack. Not a pie. It only tastes like an apple pie but with half of the calories.”

“Whatever you say, sugarcube.” AJ shrugs with a hearty chuckle. “As long as it doesn’t have pears in it, that’s good enough for me.”

After a long morning of wholesome pranking fun, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash takes a break from their harmless practical jokes when the pink Earth Pony brings a picnic basket she packed earlier from Sugarcube Corner, so they can enjoy a nice lunch in the park together. In a more secluded spot, the two mares indulge on their afternoon meals in peace as they reflect on all they have accomplished in their little band of merriment.

“Woo! What a day!” Pinkie remarks with a frivolous smile. “We haven’t had this much fun since our first pranking spree together!”

“Yeah, those were some good times we shared, huh?” Dash mutters with a small, reminiscing smile.

As the pink prankster happily chews on what’s left of her lunch, Rainbow becomes awfully quiet as she takes a moment to gather her thoughts before she once again reveals her grim secret to another one of her best friends. From recollecting over the nightmare of her own funeral, she can still visualize the absolutely disheartening look on Pinkie Pie’s face. With her unsuspecting friend almost done with her meal, Rainbow inhales a deep yet soft breath before she gets her friend’s attention gently.

“Hey, Pinkie. I’ve got something important that I need to talk to you about.”

After swallowing what’s left of her food, Pinkie responds perky as ever, “Sure, Dashie. Whatcha need to tell me?”

“Well… umm… first you got to Pinkie Promise me something before I tell you.”

“Of course, Rainbow. You know how important it is for me to uphold Pinkie Promises. Whatever it is you need to say to me, I won’t spill it to anyone, not even one syallable.”

“I know I can count on you when it comes to keeping secrets, but for this Pinkie Promise, you need to promise me that no matter what I have to say, you will never stop being that wonderful, perky, random self of yours.”

Before Rainbow can receive her answer, there is a short pause between the two of them as Pinkie Pie stares at her increasingly uncomfortable friend with curious eyes. But then, she gentles shakes her head as she reassures with that optimistic smile of hers.

“Rainbow Dash, nothing is going to bring me down that easily. But very well. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

And after Pinkie completes her promise with a hoof over her eye, Rainbow smiles in relief before she prepares herself on what needs to be said for her friend. “Okay, here it goes.” And after inhaling another deep breath, she says in a solemn tone, “Pinkie Pie, I am led to believe… that I might die once the twins are born.”

After getting straight to the point compared to last time, there is another longer, more dreadful pause between them as Pinkie Pie’s eyes become as wide as saucers while her pupils shrink slightly. In the midst of the disturbing silence, Rainbow Dash braces herself on the expected, heartbreaking reaction from the speechless party pony. But as Dash could hardly handle the suspension any longer, she notices a slight alteration on her friend’s face.

Pinkie Pie… is smiling.

But it becomes more than just a smile as subtle giggles seep from the expansive mouth of the pink pony. And eventually, she breaks into a bizarre fits of laughter. As Pinkie snorts and chuckles out loud, Rainbow is completely dumbfounded by the Earth Pony’s unpredicted reaction. But as Rainbow Dash continues to puzzle over her friend’s sudden hilarity, Pinkie finishes most of her laughing as she wipes away a tear from her eyes before responding in a still giggling manner.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash! That’s so funny! You nearly had me there!”

Baffled beyond belief by Pinkie’s confusing response, she tries her best to clarify herself in awkward hesitation, “Pinkie, I’m not making it up. I really think that I might not make it out alive on this one.”

But Pinkie pays no mind to the bewildered Pegasus as she restates in mild amusement, “Come on, Dashie. That’s enough kidding around. You shouldn’t make a habit of repeat the same joke over and over again.”

“Pinkie Pie, I’m not joking here!” Dash retorts in an increasingly peeved manner. “I’m being serious--!”

And out of nowhere, Pinkie’s usually cheerful demeanor shifts drastically to its opposite self as the bright, pink colors in her mane, coat, and tail de-saturate into duller variations while her usually poofy hair deflates into much straighter strands. And just as her appearance has shifted, the demented Pinkie Pie lunges for the startled Rainbow Dash before shaking her shoulders and shrieking at the top of her voice.

“BUT IT HAS TO BE JOKE, RAINBOW DASH! IT HAS TO BE! A JOKE THAT GRIM AND TERRIBLE CAN’T POSSIBLY BE TAKEN THAT SERIOUS AT ALL! IT JUST CAN’T BE!”

After Pinkie’s shrieking hysteria, the wide-eyed Pegasus is completely petrified within the Earth Pony’s trembling grasp as the latter depresses even further by expressing big, watery eyes and quivering lips. Unable to contain herself, the bawling Earth Pony shoves her teary face into Rainbow’s furry chest as she hugs her winged friend very tightly with her sobbing eyes closed shut. Then, Dash hears a faint whisper from Pinkie’s constant weeping.

“P-please… just stop kidding around.”

As heartbreaking as that was to hear it from her, Rainbow Dash needs to be strong for her friend. So after hugging her whimpering friend for a just a little while longer, Dash fully realizes the dramatic change in the Earth Pony’s appearance and states in a sharp tone, “Hey, wait a minute, Pinkie Pie! You Pinkie Promised me that this won’t bring you down, no matter what I say!”

Gazing into Rainbow’s eyes with a very pitiful look on her extremely gloomy face, Pinkie replies back in a sniveling tone, “I… I… I know I said, b-b-but… I’m having second doubts and--!”

“Nuh-uh! I won’t let you do this to yourself!” Rainbow retorts firmly as she shakes Pinkie up a bit to hopefully snap her out of her own melancholy. “You yourself made a Pinkie Promise, and nopony breaks a Pinkie Promise no matter what!”

“B-but… but…!”

“No buts! Who’s gonna put smiles on my kids’ sad faces if their Auntie Pinkie is no longer there to cheer them up?”

From the mention of that potential, bleak outlook, Pinkie Pie ceases her sniffling as she contemplates on how much she hates to see such sad faces on others, let alone on colts and fillies, and that her being sad all the time won’t help her bring smiles onto others. With the party pony looking down on the ground aimlessly, Rainbow Dash seizes the moment by tilting Pinkie’s chin up gently as the Pegasus bear big, expressive eyes and delicately pouty lips before softly pleading to her friend once again.

“Please, Pinkie. Don’t just do this for me… do it for my foals. …Please?”

As Dash maintains that unbelievably loveable, beseeching expression of hers, Pinkie Pie stares at it for a long period of time. But just like before during the previous momentary pause, Pinkie Pie breaks into a sudden case of the giggles. But as Rainbow begins to fret for the worst, she sees a more positive change in the giggling mare’s physical appearance. Her pink mane and tail puffs up to its welcoming, frizzy state, and her coat brightens up to its pink brilliance. Despite Rainbow’s confusion earlier, she’s thankful to see Pinkie Pie back to her usual, cheerful self.

“He-hee-hee! Sorry, it’s just that… I never thought I would see you, the coolest pony ever, pull off such an adorably cute face like that!”

After hearing Pinkie Pie’s giggling remark, Rainbow Dash blushes from that comment as she frowns immensely while sharply turning her head away in a harrumph. Regardless of her own discomfort, Dash breaks into a contended grin as she is more than happy to have back the Pinkie Pie she knows and loves.

“So... you’ll keep your promise then?”

“I… I never faced a promise that’s so demanding like this one before.” Pinkie answers unassuredly at first. “But… I will keep my word and never break from that Pinkie Promise, no matter what.” she guarantees with a big, bold smile.

Happy to hear the party pony extraordinaire renewing her sacred promise, Rainbow Dash pulls her smiling friend for a big, warm hug while saying to her with soft, heartfelt gratitude, “Thanks, Pinkie. That’s means so much to hear you say that for me.”

After maintaining their tender embrace for a bit longer, the two best friends resume what’s left of their picnic as Pinkie Pie pulls out a couple of candied apples and offers one to Rainbow Dash.

“Care for another caramel apple?” she asks with a subtly shrewd grin.

“Thanks.” Rainbow accepts without question as she is unware of whatever mischief Pinkie Pie has up her sleeve.

And from that first bite, Dash experiences an sudden burst of extreme sourness. Immediately, she spits out the contents before examining the tarnished treat for the cause of such a bitter flavor.

“UGH! What the--?!”

“What’s the matter, Dashie? Too sour for you to handle?” Pinkie goads with a very mischievous smirk.

“Hey, I can handle anything! It’s just that this one tastes more like an--!”

From that bite mark, Rainbow sees dozens of rings and quickly figures out the fake caramel apple’s true contents: a fresh onion, which still has that atrocious smell that’s so strong it causes the Pegasus’s eyes to get all teary.

As Rainbow Dash cover her nose before the overwhelming smell makes her watery eyes even worse, the sly Pinkie Pie declares her conquest with a winning grin, “Tee-hee! Gotcha!”

As the joyous, pink trickster laughs over the success of her latest scheme, the Pegasus is speechless from having to fall for such a trick as she didn’t even pay any attention on when Pinkie Pie brought that onion as well as dropped it in the caramel with that one pear and the rest of the apples. For all Dash could gather, the playful trickster could have planned this from the very beginning.

All the same, Pinkie Pie got Rainbow Dash good, and the Pegasus laughs alongside her smiling friend in as she acknowledges the party pony’s playful ruse with a respectful, chuckling grin.

“He-heh! Good one, Pinkie Pie!”

Author's Note

So, the next chapter will be focusing on everyone's favorite griffon, Gilda. I already have in mind on some of events that will play out, but you are more than welcome to offer suggestions.

I could use a few ideas on what the Gryphus, the capital city of the Griffon Kingdom, would look like. So far, I envisioned it like it's a massive acropolis with characteristics similar to Ancient Greece or Rome. My other inspiration for the towering city is Minas Tirith, the capital city of Gondor from "Lord of the Rings" series. Again, any suggestions are welcomed in the Comments below.

Chapter 25 – A Day with Gilda

Chapter 25 – A Day with Gilda

Two Months and Two Weeks Remaining…
~ Mid of April (34th Week) ~

“Come on, Ford! Can’t I just stretch my wings for just a little bit?” Rainbow Dash whines out loud.

“Sorry, Dashie. I can’t let you risk that.” he says to his complaining passenger. “Just wait until we land first, then you can flap ‘til your heart’s content.”

“But I’m SO BORED!” she pouts without end. “It’s bad enough that I have to be straddled to this carriage we rented, but it’s even more unbearable that we’re going this slow!”

“Come on, Rainbow. You know the rules. I have to fly at a steady pace to ensure you and the twins’ safety.”

“Sigh... yeah yeah… I getcha.” she grumbles in defeat as she plops her head on top of her forelegs that rest on the rail of the flying cart.

It’s been a few hours since they left Ponyville early this morning, and a while ago, they passed through Equestria’s borders as they are now in a vast range of mountains. With Ford Mustang at the flying chariot’s harness, he effortlessly flies across the clear, blue sky without the need to take a break for himself. Rainbow Dash however, isn’t enjoying much of the ride herself. Despite feeling the wind in her face and mane, it’s not the same experience if she was allow to fly at such speeds and a long length of time anymore. Still, she keeps in mind to bear it for the sake of her twin foals, and if been forced to sit in the back for hours while having her husband pull the carriage is the only way to meet one of her longtime friends, then so be it.

Soon enough, Ford spots something in the far distance. It looks just like one of the mountains surrounding it, but its peak definitely doesn’t look as natural as its landscape. It consists of several, tall layers stacked on top of another, and at the center of this towering city is a fortified citadel with a grand spire that takes a shape of a large bird spreading its ginormous wings.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash. Is that it?” Mustang ask just to make sure.

With a mere glance of her sharp eyes, Rainbow breaks into a wide smile as she answers with excitement, “Yeah, there it is! The Griffon Kingdom’s capital city, Gryphus!”

“I still can’t believe that Gilda was able to respond your letter so fast in just a few short days.” He comments with a chuckle.

“Well, it’s thanks to the collaboration of Pegasi and griffons that we establish a swift mail system between our two races.” She states with a proud grin.

“Either way, it’s pretty exciting to see what their city looks like. And I’m just thankful I get to come along with you to see it for myself.”

At the large, lower ring of the mountainous city, the two Pegasus are directed by two griffon officials on where to park their chartered carriage. Once their mode of transportation is secured and they trade their bits for proper currency, the ponies call for an air taxi, and the 8-month pregnant mare gives directions to their first destination in Gryphus.

As their driver flies them through the scaling city, the visiting couple gazes at their surroundings. Everywhere they look, hundreds griffons fly in every which way, whether they are soldiers patrolling the skies or mail carriers taking care of their routine duties. Down below, the capital’s lower section consists of various shops and markets judging by their decorative canopies, tarps, and banners as they serve as the ideal location for distribution and trade goods. And each level is separated up by a very tall, thick wall with dozens of towers spread out evenly amongst the fortified divider.

Past a few levels up, the intermediate rings is mostly made up of countless homes. Like the shops in the previous rings, the houses are mostly made up of white marble. Ironically enough, through Ford’s eyes, most of them look like oversized birdhouses judging by their rectangular walls, circular openings, and sloped roofs. Some of the residences are stacked on top of another like a mishmash of apartment complexes, while others are constructed alongside the soaring walls.

At one of those elevated houses, the ponies’ air taxi lands on a very large porch which doubles as a landing platform. Once their paid taxi flyer leaves the scene, Rainbow approaches the door with her husband right beside her, and she gives a couple knocks on the its smooth, wooden surface. And shortly after that, their griffon friend swings the door open and bears a huge smile over her two expected guests.

“Dash! Mustang! You guys made it!” she beams as she hugs her Pegasus friends.

“Would expect any less from two of the fastest Pegasus alive?” Rainbow asks with a smirk.

“Hmph! Speak for yourself, Rainbow.” the stallion adds in a mocking grump. “I was the one doing all of hard work to get us here.”

Playing along with her husband’s whining, Dash playfully pats him on the head as she coos to him in an immature tone, “Aww, poor baby~!” Then, she gives him a nice peck on the cheek, which causes Ford to crack into a small smile.

“Well in that case… perhaps these might cheer you up!” Gilda suggests in a sly tone before she quickly goes back inside and immediately comes back outside to show three tickets in the grip of her right claw.

“What are these… tickets?” the stallion asks as he steps forward for a closer look.

“Oh, not just any tickets, Ford!” Gilda replies grinningly. “These are exclusive passes to this season’s Rumble-Mania!”

The mention of that local event passes over Mustang’s head, but the same can’t be said for Rainbow Dash as she breaks into a wide, gaping smile before shrieking in a shrill voice, “Gasp! Rumble-Mania?! You mean where the greatest gladiators compete in the Griffon Kingdom’s biggest tournament at the coliseum?!”

“The same!” Gilda nods with a grin.

“Sweet! How did you get these tickets anyway?”

“Just one of the few perks from being a royal guard.” she shrugs in mocking casualness. “Now come on! We’ve gotta get going before it’s jam-packed over there!”

On a nearby level is Gryphus’s illustrious coliseum, but due to its ginormous dome with its arched metallic braces interwoven with each other, it’s earned a more infamous name: The Birdcage. Within the caged arena, tens of thousands of seats begin to fill up in an instant, just as Gilda expected. Luckily enough, she and her two pony friends get to their reserved seats with ease despite the growing crowd.

“Oh, this is going to be so awesome!” Rainbow squeaks in shaky anticipation. “I haven’t been here since our days at flight school!”

“Wait, your school actually took you here?” Ford asks in surprise.

“Well no. But during some of my breaks, I would come by and hang out with Gilda at her place.”

“Yeah, that certainly brings me back, doesn’t it?” Gilda adds with a reminiscing smile.

“So, who’s competing this year?” Rainbow asks. “Anyone in particular that I know?”

As Gilda shows Rainbow the event’s brochure, the latter lists a few of them out for her, “Well here’s the star roster for today’s tournament, including some well-known celebrities like Hawk Hogan, The Rawk, Eagle Raptor, TJ Thunderbird, El Pollo Loco, Fowl Play, and my personal favorite of them all, The Scarlet Owl!”

Upon the mention of that last combatant’s name, Dash’s pupil-shrunken eyes bulge greatly before she stammers out in surprise, “S-Scarlet is here?! No way! I thought she would have retired by now!”

“Ha! Fat chance! That bird is still at her prime and kicking!” Gilda confirms with a proud grin. “One time, she came by our training grounds and became our special guest instructor for a whole month! It was so cool!”

“He-heh! I bet you were fawning over her like an obsessive fangirl, weren’t you?” Rainbow responds with a shrewd smirk and a cocked eyebrow.

“N-no I…! Shut up!” she retorts with a maddening blush. “You’re just jealous ‘cause I got to meet her before you did!”

“Pfft! Whatever!” the smirking mare dismisses that claim with a roll of her eyes and a wave of her foreleg. “I’ve got the Wonderbolts, and my lifelong hero, Spitfire, is both my drill instructor and one of my best friends over there!”

As the two headstrong friends debate over who’s got the better perks in their respective jobs, Ford hears one of the vendors shouting out loud, “Sausages! Get your hot sausages right here!”

From the mention of that meaty word, the wide-eyed stallion sharply twists his head to the source of that nostalgic call. Several bleachers down on a wide strip of stone-carved flooring, one of the many sports vendors is dishing out linked sausages that are all coiled within a portable hot box strapped around his chest. One of the younger griffons flies up to the vendor and presents some coins to pay for the delicious treat. Once he received his payment, the merchant pulls out a thick sheet of paper from his side pouch to wrap it around the big, juicy sausage he is able to cut with the simple use of his talon and presents it to the delighted customer.

With the red, hot sausage in his tiny claws, the happy-go-lucky cub takes a ferocious bite out of its end and gleefully enjoys its juicy flavor. As the gaping Mustang obverses the tormenting act from afar, he softly whines in great anguish as he tries to imagine and dredge up that mouthwatering taste the little griffon is fortunate enough to experience for himself. The very smell of that plump, juicy meat is just as agonizing as its luscious sight to behold as drool involuntarily seeps out of the pony’s gaping mouth like a steady fountain.

But his hunger-driven daze is cut short when the announcer declares to its spectators, “And now, let’s get started with our first two combatants: Fowl Play versus The Scarlet Owl!”

All eyes are turned towards the sandy arena as the two gladiators meet each other at the center of the ring. On one side of the battleground is a lanky, male griffon, whose head has dark gray feathers, has a rich brown coat for its feline body, and a long, yellow, jagged beak that displays a wide, creepy smile. Leather straps around his chest holster a variety of knives, and he has two daggers strapped around his hindquarters.

And on the opposite side of the ring is a female griffon with a white head and bright red coloring for her lioness coat, wings, eyeliner, and the tips on her feathery fringes. Like her namesake, her face resembles that of an owl due to her fluffy roundness, small, black beak, and large, piercing eyes. For her armor, she wears a scale mail breastplate with metal shoulder pads. And her weapon of choice is a broad longsword.

“Holy crap! It really is her!” the smiling Rainbow Dash gasps in a squeaking voice. “And check out her sword! It still looks just as sharp as the day I first seen it in action!”

“Yep! And not a speck of rust to bloat out its shine!” the grinning griffon adds with a nod.

From realizing that this is a gladiatorial fight they are witnessing, dread begins to creep in Ford’s heart as he notices the authenticity on the fighters’ weapons. “Wait… are they actually using real weapons?”

“Uh yeah!” Gilda smirks brashly in response. “The Scarlet Owl never goes into battle without her trusty blade at her side!”

“B-but does that mean these matches are going to be… gulp… fatal?” he asks hesitantly.

With a hearty chuckle, the carefree griffon reassures her edgy friend, “Relax, Mustang. No one really dies in the coliseum anymore. Death matches have been outlawed for like centuries. Look, see the belts they’re wearing?”

As Gilda points it out with a claw, Ford follows the direction of her talon and takes a closer look at the belt around Scarlet’s waist. On its large, flexible strap are several unrecognizable symbols that emit a bright, purple glow.

With Mustang perceiving this, Gilda continues to explain the belts’ special functions, “They have magical runes, which provide a special protection spell for each of the combatants, inscribed by our own mystics. Also, the belt serves as a gauge for their stamina. Once either one is knocked out, the loser’s belt will signify the end of the match. Sure, there are still cuts and bruises here and there, but nothing too serious mind you. Still, they can suffer the full, blunt force from an opponent’s strike. But hey, that will take most of the fun out of the games, right?” she concludes with a wink and a broad smile.

“Guys! Shush! Scarlet’s match is about to start!” Rainbow interjects sharply as she hushes them up.

From that reminder, the three friends redirect their eyes on the upcoming fight before them, and soon enough, with the sound of the large gong ringing out loud, the first match begins.

At once, Fowl Play makes the first move and quickly lunges toward Scarlet while pulling out his twin jagged-edge daggers. Instantly, the seasoned veteran readies her heavy blade and promptly blocks the double-dagger attack. From stopping the first attack, the crimson warrior knocks the gangly griffon back before charging forward to deliver a mighty swing of her sword. But Fowl Play narrowly escapes the earth-shattering strike with a backflip and propels himself into the air.

From high above, the male assailant tosses a few of his throwing knives, which Scarlet briskly dodges them with an evasive roll. Then, she launches herself with a mighty flap of her wings to chase after her opponent. In the midst of their aerial skirmish, their individual blades chime nicely from each clash they make as the gaping spectators smile widely with their wondrous eyes glued on the ongoing fight.

Abruptly enough, Fowl Play breaks away from the midair conflict and plunges toward the sand pit. But instead of landing on the sandy terrain, the dark-colored flyer perform a very rapid spin as he conjures up a sandstorm. From that expanding twister of sand, the concealed combatant unleashes a flurry of knives in random directions. Thankfully, with the coliseum’s magical force field installed between the arena and seats, the audience is perfectly safe from any incoming fire. The same cannot be said for the Scarlet Owl as she remains on-guard whilst deflecting the bladed projectiles.

However, thanks to that deceptive tactic of his makeshift dust storm, Fowl Play swoops right behind the distracted Scarlet and slashes her right in the back. From that backstabbing move, a light purple aura that matches the belt’s glowing rune blocks the fatal blow, but Scarlet still suffers a severe amount of pain as she plummets toward the ground. Again, her shielding belt prevents the older griffon from suffering permanent damage from that fall.

From witnessing the surprising turn of events, a majority of the crowd boos and hisses at Fowl Play, including Scarlet Owl fans like Gilda and Rainbow Dash. But the smirking griffon relishes in the attention he is receiving as he showoffs his dastardly daggers around in a flashy manner. Once he is done showboating, he eyes his wounded opponent down below and displays his sick satisfaction by licking his long, grinning beak. Eying on his prize, Fowl Play nosedives forward to claim his first victory in the tournament with his serrated blades poised for the kill.

But to everyone’s surprise, the vigilant Scarlet Owl cunningly reaches for one of Fowl Play’s throwing knives nearby with the use of her flexible tail and swiftly hurls it at the nose-diving opponent. Following on his instincts, the alarmed Fowl Play blocks the incoming knife with one of his daggers. And thanks to that interference, Scarlet uses the opportunity to lift up her sword and delivers a mighty swing that slams Flow Play right across the back as he passes by her.

While the crowd awes exceedingly at Scarlet’s clever ploy, the greatly battered Fowl Play slams into the ground and harshly slides across the sand. And as he remains incapacitated from that recent injury, Scarlet seeks to finish this fight once and for all by leaping mightily into the air, and plunges her longsword right into her fallen opponent without the tip of the blade going through his body, thanks to his still-active, protective belt. However, the immense pain is too great for him to endure any longer, and he is rendered unconscious. As Fowl Play is down for the count, the centerpiece of his belt lights up significantly and it blares out a loud sound.

With the sound of the horn from the defeated warrior, the announcer of Rumble-Mania declares the winner of the first match to The Scarlet Owl, and she holds up her mighty sword to pose in triumph. With the first fight over and Scarlet advancing to the next round, the vast crowd breaks in thunderous cheers as Gilda, Rainbow, and Ford go wild over their favored gladiator’s stunning victory, unable to contain their excitement on how the rest of the tournament will play out.

After the conclusion of the Birdcage’s seasonal attraction, Gilda then leads her Pegasus friends through the marketplace nearby. Even this late in the afternoon, the bazaar is swarming with so many griffons as they flock around the individual shops for food and other assortments.

“Wow! That was so awesome!” Rainbow continues gush with a very big smile over what she just experienced. “I can’t believe we actually got to meet with THE Scarlet Owl, and after she won the champion belt no less! She even gave me one of her feathers and signed it for me!”

As the beaming mare admires her bright, red feather that serves as a necklace, Gilda giggles over her friend’s childlike expression as she makes a shrewd remark, “Heh, now who’s the obsessive fangirl?”

Ignoring her griffon friend’s shrewd remark, Rainbow then asks, “So anyway… I hope you’ve picked a good place for us to get something to eat, ‘cause I am starving.”

With a warm chuckle, Gilda replies with a confident smirk, “Come on, Dash. Have a little faith in me, will ya? I still know a few good places that cater to ponies like yourself. Then again, you and Ford are far from the norm, aren’t you?”

“Hey, I doubt we’ll have any objections with what they have to offer, right Ford?”

When she didn’t receive a response from her husband, she turns around, but doesn’t find him nearby. As worry begin to settle in, she rapidly turns her head in all directions to locate him.

“Wait, where did he--?”

But as she looks around the crowded marketplace, Rainbow Dash begins to realize the vast difference between the one in her hometown and a standard griffon market. Everywhere she looks there is a wide variety of meat, whether they are hanging on display, being prepared by the individual cooks, or consumed by the satisfied customers. And while this doesn’t bother Rainbow that much, she knows that her pony friends like Fluttershy will likely faint at the sight of dead, cooked animals. But knowing full well on Ford’s human origins, she can’t imagine on how this can turn out if he exposes his inner carnivorous needs in front of the public.

“…Oh no.”

For the young griffon cook named Casper, it is just another day for him to prepare his massive slab of marinated pork that’s skewered on a vertical rotisserie as it’s evenly grilled over a small pit of glowing embers. With another order in mind, the light gray griffon shaves off some of the tender meat and spreads it on a piece of flatbread before adding red tomatoes, sautéed onions, and thick, homemade fries. Once his latest order is up, he hands it to the awaiting customer, who happily chows down on it.

After the departure of another satisfied consumer, Casper smiles with gratification over his usual handiwork before getting back on track with his usual routine. But as he turns around, he is completely startled by the sudden appearance of a Pegasus Pony. For a local cook like Casper, it is certainly a rare sight to see a pony in his fair city. And it’s not that much of a surprise for ponies to express disgust and fright over the griffons’ way of eating. But from seeing this Pegasus with blue-and-yellow hair so up-close, the gray griffon begins to feel very uncomfortable as the pony continues to lean on the counter with a big, uncanny smile while he continues to longingly gaze at the thick slab of pork like a kid window-shopping at a candy store.

“Umm… can I… help you, sir?” Casper stammers in a polite tone.

Ford Mustang blinks a bit from his interrupted trance before responding in a modest smile, “Oh, sorry. Don’t mind me at all. Please, continue with your work.”

“Okay then…” he responds awkwardly as he slowly turns back to his work.

Casper does his best to ignore the strange pony hanging around his shop as he serves another gyro to the next customer. But his uneasiness around the lone stallion is starting to get to him as Ford keeps bearing that eerie smile while he continues to silently observe the griffon’s culinary arts. As the anxious cook tries to figure out the best way to dismiss the uncanny Pegasus, Ford is the first to break up this awkward silence as he has a question in mind.

“Forgive me, kind sir… but may I ask on what do you call this delicacy of yours?”

A bit surprised by Mustang’s politeness and curiosity, Casper feels compelled to answer that in mild hesitation, “Oh well… it’s a pork gyro where we serve it on flatbeard stuffed with roasted tomatoes, onions, and fries.”

“Uh-huh…” Ford responds simply as he maintains that goofy smile of his and half-lidded gaze.

Despite explaining the contents of his signature dish, Casper becomes puzzled by how undaunted the pony is from the mere mention of pork. So the gray griffon has to ask just to be sure. “You… do know what pork is, right?”

“Oh, all too well~!” He answers cryptically with an increasingly dreamy smile

Casper is stunned beyond belief by what he just heard from Ford. Usually ponies would take their leave right away from the very sight of meat, but this smiling stallion remains steadfast as he bears that unusual grin over something that’s supposed to be forbidden in Equestria.

Unable to contain his curiosity for long, Ford leans closer to the spinning slab of pork, which causes Casper to subtle shake in alarm. Without touching the delicate piece of meat, the Pegasus takes several sniffs of it. Once he gets a good whiff of its luscious smell, Ford inquires on one particular ingredient that stands out from the rest.

“Is that… honey mustard I smell?”

Surprised once again, Casper confirms with that with small yet growing smile, “Why yes, it is. It’s one of my family’s recipes that we use to marinate our pork, but with a touch of more sweetness than usual.”

“Mmm… you don’t say.”

“And along with that, we also season it with some of our traditional spices.”

“Wait, let me take a guess.”

After Casper permits him with a nod and wave of his claw, Ford resumes his examination as he takes more sniffs of the marinated pork from different sides. In between his sniffing, he answers to the best of his abilities on some of the other ingredients he picked up.

“Sniff sniff! Hmm… let’s see… onion, garlic, salt and pepper, of course… thyme, oregano, rosemary, and wait…! Sniff! I detect a hint of strong fruitiness. Could it be… cider vinegar perhaps?”

Casper blinks in utter speechlessness over the Pegasus’ sharp analysis before he commends him with a wide smile, “Yes, that’s correct! Wow, you even got the vinegar, right! You certainly got quite a nose, don’t you?”

In response, the humble Mustang smiles right back, “Well, I do take pride when it comes to cooking myself, but nowhere does it compare to your league, sir.”

“You flatter me.” Casper bows lightly with a warm chuckle over Ford’s admiration. “It’s not often I receive compliments from an outsider, let alone a pony from all things.”

“Well I can assure you, I’m far from your average pony.” he states that with a very shrewd grin.

Feeling more comfortable around the Pegasus’s presence now, the chivalrous cook wants to offer a small reward in return for Mustang’s consideration. “In that case, may I offer you a free sample?”

The simple act of kindness shocks Ford to very core as he is indecisive on whether or not to accept the griffon’s kind gesture. It’s been over two years since his abrupt departure from Earth, and he made peace with the fact that he may never touch meat ever again once he accepted his new pony form and his permanent stay in Equestria. But now, from being surrounded by all manners of cooker meat as well as with the ever-so alluring pork right in front of him, his shaky resolve is deteriorating fast. After looking back to see all of the griffons passing by him, he feels even more uncomfortable if there are others witnessing him commit such a taboo act.

“Oh, I-I-I couldn’t! I shouldn’t!” he stumbles over his refusal as modestly as possible. “I mean… I really really want to, but I… umm…!”

As Mustang looks down in shame, Casper offers a comforting chuckle as he reassures the indecisive pony, “Don’t worry. It may not happen as often, but you’re not the first pony to be enticed by our cooking, you know.”

“So… it’s okay then?” the stallion inquires very shyly.

“Please, I insist.”

With Casper’s reassurance, Ford begins to brighten up with a smile as it looks like he might have made up his mind. “Well maybe…”

“FORD!”

But just as he is about to accept the griffon’s free sample, the stallion hears his name called out, and he sharply turns around to face his approaching wife, Rainbow Dash, hovering in mid-air. Once Dash lands close to him, she lets out a sigh of relief, both from finding her husband and from taking a break with her search.

“There you are! Geez, you shouldn’t be wandering around like that!” she scolds him lightly. “Now come on! Gilda and I have been looking for you!”

Once they take off with Ford following closely behind Rainbow this time, he looks back and sees the dumbstruck cook looking back at him. As he drifts further apart from the pork gyro stand, the gaping stallion expresses very big, dejected eyes from losing the chance to relive his days as a carnivore as he stretches out a fore hoof to metaphorically reach out for the sweet, succulent taste of meat.

Soon enough, the two Pegasi finds Gilda hovering above the crowd as Dash gets her attention, “Hey Gilda! I found him!”

With the group back together, they find a small, open clearing on the street and land over there while Gilda says to the deeply dismayed stallion, “Why did you fall behind like that, Ford? We thought we lost you for good!”

With pitiful eyes, Ford takes a moment to look at her wife and friend before apologizing in a guilt-ridden tone, “Sorry, girls. I guess… I got so distracted by all the… sights and s-s-smells.”

“Yeah, I guess that was my bad, Ford.” She responds in a somewhat sheepish manner as she lightly scratches her cheek with one of her talons. “I shouldn’t have drag you through this market without realizing that you’ve never been here before. I hope you weren’t too traumatized by all of this.”

“N-no. I’m fine, Gilda. Really. I didn’t mind it at all.” he stutters in meek reassurance.

To ease up on his own shamefulness, Rainbow pats Ford on the shoulder and gives him a comforting smile over his plight. With no need for words, Mustang smiles over his wife’s sympathetic gesture as Gilda ponders more on her idea for lunch before asking for their consent.

“Well then, if you two are up to it, I think I know of a good place for us to get some grub.”

Inside of a local, cozy shack, Gilda, Rainbow, and Ford are all seated at a table as the latter gets a better glimpse of the restaurant they are currently in. He knows that Gilda mentioned it’s a good place to grab some grub, but he didn’t imagine she meant that in a literal sense. Then again, seeing griffons eating roasted insects shouldn’t be that much different compared to a bird’s standard diet. And judging by the aroma, it reminds him of seafood, but it smells a bit different than any fish or crustacean he has eaten before.

“I should have known that this is what you had in mind all along.” Rainbow Dash chuckles with a smirk.

“Well, I didn’t hear any objections from you or your hubby, now did I?” Gilda shrugs with a sharp grin.

Eventually, their waitress comes by and greets her guests, “Hello everyone! May I take your orders?”

Realizing that he hasn’t made up his mind already, Mustang looks back at his menu to decide which one is best to try first. They certainly have a wide selection to choose from: be it ants, beetles, worms, tarantulas, or scorpions.

“Hmm… I’m not too sure on what to order just yet.” he replies indecisively.

Understandably, their waitress makes a respectful suggestion to Ford, “Well, we do provide meals that cater to our pony guests in case you are interested.”

But before Ford or Rainbow can respond, Gilda interjects sharply with a wave of her claw and makes the decision for themselves. “Nah, we’re good. These ponies don’t shy away that easily. Here, we’ll take this one.”

Once their waitress sees what Gilda is pointing at on her menu, the beaming attendant nods to their selection and turns around to place their order in the kitchen. With their server gone, Ford looks at his griffon friend and inquires with knitted eyebrows.

“So, what did you decide for us, Gilda?”

With a devious chuckle, the smirking griffon answers very shrewdly, “He-hee. You’ll see~!”

“Hey, I trust you.” Rainbow adds with a slightly cynical smirk.

Then, Gilda turns back to Ford and says, “You know, I’m still surprised that you’re this eager to try insects for a change.”

With a more laid-back smile, he shrugs in response, “Hey, as they say from where I come from: if it looks good, eat it.”

“Well I’ve gotta give it to you, Mustang. You certainly show a lot more enthusiasm than Dash did when I got her to try bugs for the first time.”

Following on that sly implication, Rainbow retorts to defend her bravado, “Hey, I took your challenge head-on!”

“Really? That’s not how I remember it.” Gilda replies very shrewdly.

Back in the Days of Rainbow and Gilda’s Junior Speedster Flight Camp…

Like most camps, the teachers and camp counselors would take their classes to places outside of their campgrounds for their field trips. But for the Junior Speedster Flight Camp’s case, they decided to go for a more traditional camping trip as they set their campsite in a nearby forest right underneath the floating city of Cloudsdale. Here, fillies and colts got to engage in some of the outdoor activities like fishing and how to start a campfire. It was also the best place for young Pegasi to explore their surroundings and enjoy this unique experience that they couldn’t find in their homes above the clouds.

However, not everypony fully embraced this rare opportunity as one little, blue filly with frizzy, rainbow-colored hair stomped around the forest as she remained unimpressed by what she saw around her. No longer was she a free spirit that is one with the wind and the vast, open skies. Here, she was a prisoner, entrapped by the countless trees and trending on the earthly ground that doesn’t have the same wonderful texture as the soft, fluffy clouds.

“Ugh! Can you believe this, Gilda?!” the young and ever-so brash Rainbow Dash complained with disgust and disappointment. “I thought our field trip will take place somewhere really cool, but it’s nothing more than a nature walk!”

Meanwhile, up ahead of the grumpy filly, the lone griffon cub of the group was too preoccupied with a moss-covered log in front of her as she used her right claw to reach for something inside while replying back in a lighthearted manner, “Oh, I don’t know about that. The food’s pretty good around here.”

From the mention of food, little Dashie brightened up with a big smile, and she flew right next to Gilda. ”Really? Well let me have some!”

Right away, the griffon turned around and displayed what’s in the palm of her claws: a slimy cluster of crickets, beetles, and worms. From glancing at such an unpleasant sight, Rainbow flew back in alarm and openly expressed her shock.

“Gilda! What are doing?!”

Upon seating herself on a log, Gilda casually flicked a beetle up in the air and caught it with her beak before munching on it and replying back, “Having a snack. What does it look like?”

“By eating bugs?! Really?!” Rainbow emphasized her disgust even further.

“Hey, don’t knock it ‘til you try it.” she shrugged without a care and resumed on her tasty morsels.

Unable to understand Gilda’s fascination when it comes to eating bugs, Rainbow turned around and said to her friend with a sharp wit, “Fine, you go right ahead and enjoy your little smorgasbord. I’m going to look for some real food around here.”

“What, don’t tell me that you’re that squeamish when comes to creepy crawlers?” Gilda grinned in a teasing manner.

Facing her smirking griffon, Rainbow retorts brashly, “Hey, I can handle anything, no matter how creepy they are!”

“Anything, huh? Okay then.” With a free claw, the smirking griffon picked out a long, wiggly earthworm from the log’s breached cavity and held it up in the air as she declared her challenge to Rainbow Dash. “I dare you to eat this worm, right here… right now!”

Startled by such a dare at first, Dash slowly descended at the level of the wiggling worm as she half-heartedly agreed, “S-sure. No prob.”

As the grinning Gilda waited patiently for her friend to make a move, the reluctant Rainbow Dash braced herself from the dare she just accepted. She attempted to unhinge her jaw, but the mere sight of the still active worm caused her to lock her gaping jaws in place.

“What’s the hold up, Dash?” Gilda asked with a provoking smirk. “Don’t tell me you’re going back down already.”

“Ha! You wish!” the filly answered sharply while mustering up her courage. “I’ve never better back down from a dare before, and I’m not going to start that right now!”

“Well go on! Eat it already!” the giggling griffon goaded even further.

“I will!” she snapped at once with an immense frown. “Just… give me a minute to prepare myself!”

While Gilda still sitting on her log with a smug smile, Rainbow redirected her gaze at the dangling worm that’s still clutched between the griffon’s talons. And after some further hesitation, the trembling mare closed her eyes tightly and quickly gulped down the limbless creature from Gilda’s claws.

With the earthworm still squirming inside her mouth, the appalled filly hesitated once again before she got her jaws to start chewing. In her mind, Dash tried to imagine that the worm was nothing more than a piece of spaghetti. But her method of concentration deteriorated rapidly as she was too distracted by the worm’s constant wiggling and the awful taste of leftover dirt. Slowly but surely, the invertebrate was reduced to mush and Rainbow grudgingly swallowed it with a very difficult gulp that sent nasty shivers all over her body.

With the completion of her dare at last, Rainbow repeatedly gagged to a great extent as Gilda laughed her butt off so much, she fell back over from the log she was sitting on. After spitting out most of worm’s sliminess and specks of dirt, the frowning filly glared intensely at her snickering friend.

“There! Happy?” she asked in a grump.

After much of her laughter died down, Gilda got herself back up and replies with an amusing smirk, “Very.”

“Good! Because now it’s my turn!” she declared with an evil grin. “Gilda, I dare you too--!”

“Eww! Gross! Did you see that?!”

From the interruption of Dash’s dare, the two friends turned their heads to the source of the intrusive voice and saw two of their classmates stepping out of the shadows. Both of them were fillies at the same age as Gilda and Rainbow, but they were more feminine looking based of their elegant hairstyles and fashion sense. They’re more likely the daughters of more privileged families based off of their snooty approach and conceited smiles.

“Yeah, totally!” the other filly agreed with her friend. “I don’t know which one of them is grosser: the griffon and Rainbow Dash!”

“Either way, those two are such freaks, aren’t they?”

And of course, the two mean girls laughed at their own joke, to which the two tomboyish classmate didn’t find it amusing at all. So Gilda stepped forward and made a threat to them, “Watch it, brats, or we’ll--!”

“Hey, don’t even think about laying a claw or hoof on us!” the first bully warned with a wave of her fore hoof as she along with her friend took a few steps back.

Then, the second one backed that up with an additional warning. “Otherwise, we’ll tell on both of you!”

“But hey, don’t mind us! We’ll let you continue your disgusting habit in peace!”

Feeling pleased as punch, the two snobs walked away and snottily laughed over the tomboys’ anguish. Rainbow let out a loud snort to express her annoyance over the snot-nosed sissies. As much as she wanted to kick their flanks, Dash knew she couldn’t resort to violence since her daddy taught her better than that. Still, she wanted to get back at those two, one way or another.

Rainbow then turned toward her griffon friend, but her resentment was put on hold when she noticed Gilda’s face expressing a faint, gloomy look. She and Gilda are most hardcore flyers around, but Dash could see right through her silent friend that those subtle insults could still leave grave wounds from within.

Wanting to break the griffon out of her funk, the steadfast Rainbow Dash gave her a playful punch to the shoulder as she comforts her pal to the best of her abilities, “Hey, don’t listen to them, Gilda. Those prissy ponies don’t know how cool it is to have you as a friend, even if it came and bit them on the--!”

Suddenly, Rainbow paused from her encouragement as her wide-eyed gaze locked on the bug-infested log next to them. And from starring at it for a little while longer, a marvelous idea came to mind as a devious grin stretched across her muzzle while she rubbed her little fore hooves together.

“Hey Gilda, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Following up on Rainbow’s subtle proposition, Gilda was momentarily confused by what her friend was hinting at before looking back at the log that was still swarming with insects. But once that idea clicked in her head as well, Gilda’s reaction was just the same as Dash’s as she too displayed a very wicked smile on their perfect revenge for tonight.

“Way ahead of you, Dash!”

Later that Night…

“Rainbow Dash! Gilda! Will you two come out here for just a minute?” After the teacher called out to them, the two campmates unzipped their tent and approached the adult Pegasus.

“Yawn! What’s going on?” Rainbow asked wearily. “We heard somepony screaming.”

“Yeah, we were trying to sleep here.” Gilda remarked groggily as she rubs one of her eyes.

“Sorry for the disturbance, girls…” the female teacher apologized to them. “…but there is a matter we need to discuss with you two.”

Emerging from behind their instructor, the two bullies that Rainbow and Gilda encountered earlier that day stepped forward as they displayed deeply sour faces at the tomboyish pair. Of course, Rainbow and Gilda were too distracted by the snobbish fillies’ poorly dismantled manes. Most notably, their once-prettified manes are littered with several squirming bugs. From seeing the pair’s gruesome hairstyle, the blue filly and griffon cub tried their best to muffle their uncontrollable snickering.

“That’s them alright!” one of the prissy ponies accused right away with a firm fore hoof. “They’re the ones who did this to us!”

“Oh, it was you two screaming earlier, huh?” Gilda verified with a deadpan stare. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Then, the shrewd Rainbow Dash pointed out the obvious with an irrepressible, giggling smile, “Uhh… girls? You got a little something in your mane.”

“Don’t play dumb with us!” the other brat snapped over their accusation. “You two placed those bugs in our tent on purpose!”

Gilda and Rainbow took a moment to look at each other with mild puzzlement before the latter faced the two accusers and said with the same deadpan annoyance as her griffon friend, “You’re kidding, right? We’re camping in the middle of the woods! Those critters must have snuck in there by accident!”

“Nuh-uh!” The one filly whined to their teacher. “We discovered a hole in our tent! That filthy griffon must have cut one opened before sending those nasty critters on us!”

“Yeah!” the other one agreed in a shrilly wail. “We even caught them eating those disgusting creatures this morning! Yuck! What a repulsive sight that was!” she added while gagging out her tongue to prove her point.

“Is this true, girls?” the teacher asked firmly as she looked down at the defendants with a stoic expression on her face.

The two suspects averted their eyes away from their inquisitive teacher as the prissy ponies smiled in smug satisfaction over their likely victory at hoof. And just as it looked like the supposed jailbirds are about to sing, Gilda nervously stepped forward a little with her head hanging low before she had something in mind to confess first.

“Sigh… Yes, it is true that I eat bugs on occasion. And yeah, I get where this is going. I know that I’m not like all of the other ponies around here. Believe me, it’s been tough for me to fit in when I’m the only griffon around here.” As she told more about her own hardships, her big, remorseful eyes seemed to get more watery, and she looked up at her teacher while concluding her self-pity plea, “But now, I’m being accused for something I didn’t do… all because on how… different I am.”

As the instructor was startled by this rare display of emotion coming from the miserable, little griffon, Gilda huffed in rapid breaths as she tried to hold back whatever tears may leaked out of her big, pupil-swollen eyes. Noticing on her friend’s expected sobbing, Rainbow Dash took her cue to pull the griffon in for a comforting hug as she gave Gilda a shoulder to cry on.

While the cub carried on with her soft sobbing, Rainbow looked back at her teacher as she frowns in disgust over such mistreatment that her griffon friend had to endure. “Can you believe this, teach? She has it rough with snot-nosed jerks like these two picking on her and calling her names! But to be blamed for a crime she didn’t commit in the first place? Where’s the justice in that, I ask you?”

With the accusing fillies flabbergasted over the sudden turn of events and Rainbow Dash whispering words of comfort to the weeping Gilda, their attentive teacher felt her heartstrings being pulled hard from seeing such a heartwarming sight of the integrated friends hugging in friendship and support. Feeling so emotional in all of this, the teacher kneels down and gives the little cub a reassuring hug while softly expressing her sympathies.

“Oh, Gilda. I had no idea it was so rough for you. Don’t worry. Neither you nor Rainbow Dash will be held accountable for this accident.”

After the teacher declared her judgment in this case, Gilda began to feel a whole lot better as her sniffling stopped while Dash gasped with a huge smile. The same cannot be said for the plaintiffs as they felt cheated from the justice they wanted.

“ ‘Accident?!’ But they--!”

“That’s enough!” the adult pony interjected in a snippy tone of authority as the two prudish fillies shut up immediately before she carried on with a proper scolding. “You two should be ashamed for picking on Gilda like that. I expected better from the two of you.”

With the female instructor carrying out with her lecture, which made the former accusers feel great shame for their rude actions earlier, Rainbow and Gilda rubbed their victory right in the bullies’ faces as they silently make extreme, silly faces behind the teacher’s back.

As the snobbish fillies growled immensely over the mockery of the clever tricksters, the teacher concluded her verdict in a softer tone, “Sigh… Let’s just set you up another tent, and then starting tomorrow morning, you’ll be helping out with some of the chores.”

“Chores?!” the wide-eyed bullies complained in an ear-piercing whine. “But that’s not fair!”

“Then maybe some hard work will teach you to be more tolerant towards others next time. Come on, let’s go clean up your manes and get your new tent set up. Sorry again for all of the trouble, Gilda and Rainbow.”

As the teacher escorted the two disgruntled fillies away, Gilda zipped up the opening of their tent before sharing a knowing glance and a growing smirk with her fellow prankster. And within the security of their own sleeping quarters, the duo burst into unbridled laughter as they lost their balance right away.

As they lied on their backs, the rambunctious filly declared their success of their deception while facehoofing herself. “Oh Sweet Celestia! I can’t believe the teacher actually bought that!”

“Yeah, thanks to my awesome acting, of course!” the giggling griffon states with a boastful smirk.

“I’ll say! You nearly had me fool! Either way, best prank ever!” she confirmed with chuckling pride as the friends share a well-deserved fist/hoof bump.

“You said it, Dash! This calls for a little midnight snack!”

And right away, Gilda uncovered her sleeping bag as it revealed a bucket partially full of leftover bugs. As the grinning griffon reclined back with her bowl of lively insects on her belly, Rainbow stared at her friend with a mild frown over her means of celebration.

“What? Want some?” Gilda offered with a casual smirk after she caught Dash staring.

In a slightly flustered manner, Rainbow shook her head rapidly and replied back while crawling in her own bed, “No thanks. I had enough bugs for one day as it is.”

“Well then, nighty night!”

“Night, Gilda.”

“Sleep tight!”

“I will if you keep your snacking down.”

And as Rainbow started to get cozy from her well-deserved beauty rest, Gilda leaned close to the filly’s ear and whispered in a very playful tone, “Don’t let the bedbugs bite~!”

Dash’s eyes bulged to a great extent over such a dreadful possibility as Gilda quietly laughed to herself whilst resuming what’s left of her snack before the agitated Pegasus responded in a menacing grump, “You better not get any ideas, featherbrain!”

“I’m tempted.” Gilda shrugged with a cryptic yet carefree smile before she flicked a colorful beetle up in the air and caught it once again with her ravenous beak.

“And yet, here we are… having bugs for lunch apparently.” Gilda states with a meaningful smirk.

After he finishes his soft chuckling over the girls’ story, Ford Mustang then asks his wife, “So it’s been that long since you tried bugs, huh?”

“Actually, I tried some more every now and then whenever I hanged out with Gilda.” Rainbow Dash answers with a casual smile. “That’s why I am more tolerable when it came to seafood later on.”

“You forgot to tell him on some of the other stuff you developed an acquired taste for?” the griffon implies with a very clever grin.

“Really?” he smiles in response. “What else is there besides crustaceans and insects?”

Rainbow hesitates on her answer as a growing blush creeps across her face while she shifts her cautious eyes around the room before she utters her response in a very nervous manner, “Ch-ch-chicken.”

Despite her murmuring, it did not go amiss from Ford’s sharp ears as he stares at his flustered wife with immense shock over that astonishing fact. After blinking his speechless eyes a few times, he soon enough responds in a sharp cry, “Seriously?!”

As the flushed Rainbow Dash remains silent from revealing such a strange secret, Gilda leans closer to the dumbfounded Mustang as she confirms that startling fact with an amusing grin, “Yep! And get this. I didn’t even dare her to try it in the first place. Her own curiosity got the best of her. And she loved it!” she finishes it off with a playful whisper.

Astonished ever further by this disclosure, Ford quickly twists his head to face his mare and inquires in an overly beseeching tone, “And you didn’t tell me?!”

Knowing full well on what her whimpering husband has in mind based off that greatly imploring face of his, Rainbow Dash sharply replies back, “Hey, it’s not something I want to share with the whole world nor do I want to make a habit out of it! Especially with Fluttershy around!”

Realizing that Dash makes a good point as it would cause more problems back in their hometown if they eat chicken on every occasion, Ford lets out a heavy sigh before complying in a soft pout, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

Gilda pauses from her observation over Mustang’s most peculiar reaction before she perplexes over this matter, “Wait a second, Ford. Have you… ever tried chicken before?”

From the griffon’s curious questioning, Ford’s eyes widen in fear as it’s his turn to be in the hot seat. Within the corners of his mind, the flustered stallion struggles on how to answer that and whether or not he should reveal his own human origins to Gilda.

“Well I… umm… oh hey, look at that! I think our food has arrived!”

And thankfully, Ford is able to put that matter on hold for the time being as he points out their waitress coming back with a massive tray over her shoulders. Once she arrives, the fluttering server places the tray at the center of the guests’ table, and the party gets a good look at the steamy platter that Gilda picked out for them.

On each four corners of the massive plate are tiny, crispy mealworms, glowing honeypot ants, golden brown cockroaches, and stingless scorpions. And at the center of this mishmash is a pile of plump, roasted beetle grubs.

“Mm-mmm! Just like how mom used to make them!” Gilda glees while licking her chops.

And at once, the eager griffon grabs a big, juicy grub from the center and immediately chomps it down with an ecstatic smile. Then, she looks at her stallion friend and notices his indecisiveness before she permits him with a playful grin, “Well, what are you waiting for, a signal? Dig in already!”

“Okay, but which one should I start with first?” he asks as he remains unsure over the combo entrée in front of him.

“Ooo! Tries these first! They’re a personal favorite of mine!” And she offers him a fat, scrumptious grub from the very top of their platter.

After accepting the griffon’s personal preference, Ford eyes the ugly, plump bug before he shrugs his hesitation off and slurps it up in one fell swoop. With the beetle larva in his mouth, he begins to chew this new delicacy very slowly. And in the midst of his chewing, he stops for a brief minute as his eyes widen in surprise. Not because it’s as disgusting as its appearance, but because its experimental taste bears a strong resemblance to a thick cut of greasy bacon. Truly, this is a blessing in disguise for him.

Astonished by such an extraordinary flavor, Mustang resumes his chewing, but with more gusto this time. And once he swallowed his first bug, he announces his critique with a sly, satisfied smile, “Slimy… yet satisfying.”

And immediately after his first bite, he grabs another tasty grub to savor its fatty flavor a little bit longer. Then, he moves on to sample the other insects. Like its namesake, the honeypot ants contain a sweet, syrupy nectar within their bulgy, transparent abdomens; they’re just like candy with a very light crunch and a gooey center in each of them. The fried mealworms are similar to shrimp. And despite their horrible reputation back on Earth, the roasted cockroaches possess a clean taste, and as cliché as it might sound for him, they do taste like chicken. But surprisingly enough, his most favorite out of the five entrées are the fried scorpions, for their taste resembles that of soft-shelled crabs. As Rainbow Dash gradually takes her time with her meal, her ravenous husband keeps shifting to the different courses as he greedily gobbles them down.

This doesn’t go unnoticed by Gilda’s sharp eyes as she informs him with a playful chuckle, “Whoa! Slow down, Mustang! You’ll give yourself a tummy ache if you eat like that!”

While taking a short break from his consumption, Ford stares at her with the Are-You-Serious look and retorts with a very shrewd smirk, “What’s the matter, Gilda? Afraid I’ll outmatch you?”

Her playful smile droops down for a brief moment from catching that goading remark, and in return, she humorously glares at the smirking stallion before accepting his challenge head-on, “Oh, you are so going eat those words, Ford!”

“Maybe, but not before I finish that platter before you do!” he jests with smile as bold as Gilda’s.

And in an instant, the two resume their meals at a very rapid pace while Rainbow Dash sits on the sidelines this time while observing the now-competitive eaters. Usually, she would join in on the fun with her husband and griffon friend, but long ago, she learned her lesson from trying to out-eat a griffon from a shared meal like this. Plus, she needs to watch what she eats due to her pregnancy. So for now, she will take her time with the remainder of her food as she silently enjoys the eating competition in front of her.

Minutes later, they finish their platter, leaving nothing more than tiny pieces of the devoured insects. As for the contented guests, their stomachs, namely Gilda and Ford’s, nearly swell up as much as Rainbow Dash’s pregnant belly. Between the two aggressive eaters, it is hard to say on who ate the most of their shared dish.

Impressed by Ford’s ferocity, Gilda comments to him with a sharp smirk, “I gotta say… you sure got guts, I’ll give you that. You sure you weren’t a giffon in a previous lifetime?”

“Eh, who could say?” he shrugs with a cryptic smile.

But as they wait for their check to arrive, Ford feels an unpleasant stir in his stomach as he groans from eating too much of the unaccustomed cuisine. Apparently, he overestimated himself when it comes to stuffing his face on dozens of meat-flavored insects.

“Uh-oh! Looks I spoke too soon about the whole guts thing.” Gilda states wittingly with a victorious smirk as Rainbow Dash chuckles alongside her.

Ignoring the girls’ amusement, the groaning stallion then asks for the proper directions, “Gilda, would you mind--?”

“The restroom is down that way, on your right.” she directs with a grin.

“Thanks.” And in a flash, he frantically rushes to bathroom before he literally loses his lunch.

“Here, place him on that couch over there.” Gilda instructs Rainbow Dash as they help Ford Mustang inside the griffon’s house. Gently as possible, the two friends lay the feeble stallion on the long sofa, and he gently reclines back on the furniture’s plushy cushions.

“Thanks, girls.” he says to them with weak smile.

After sitting alongside her husband, she gently strokes his mane as she asks with a comforting grin, “How are you holding up, champ?”

“Ugggh… like they are eating me from the inside out.” he shudders exaggeratedly as he curls up on the couch.

“That’s what you get for biting off more than you can chew.” Gilda remarks with a sharp chuckle as she plops right next to stallion on the other side of the couch.

As they lounge on the same couch together, Rainbow notices a framed photo on the coffee table across from her. Curious by the familiar picture, she grabs it for a closer inspection of it. Once she brings it up close for Ford see it as well, she smiles warmly on the photographic memory before her. Taken during the Junior Speedsters’ competition of a tag-team race, the young filly, Rainbow Dash, and her best friend, Gilda, are flashing their big, winning smiles over the gold medals they just won as the griffon pulls the equally grubby Pegasus in for strong, one-armed hug.

“Hey, you still kept it after all!” Rainbow says to Gilda as she passes the photo to her.

With the picture in hand, Gilda gets a good look at it and she too smiles over the fond childhood they shared together. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

A bit flustered by that casual remark, Rainbow replies in an uneasy tone, “Well I mean… I thought that after what happened the first time you came to Ponyville…! Y-you know…”

From that uncomfortable reminder, Gilda becomes a bit shaken up before she responds in a sheepishly manner while scratching her head lightly and averting her eyes away in shame, “Oh… right. I was mad for sure, but… I still didn’t want to forget all of the good times we had back then.”

Understanding her bashful friend’s consideration, Dash agrees with a soft, sympathetic smile, “Me neither.”

As silence fills the room, Ford and Rainbow share a knowing glance with each other as they figure it’s time to let Gilda know on why they wanted to see her in the first place. So after a short moment to compose herself, Rainbow starts the inevitable conversation with mild hesitation.

“Hey Gilda. We need to talk to you about something.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Do you want me to tell her this time?” Ford interjects his wife softly as he sits himself up straight.

She pauses over her husband’s kind offer before she gently declines it with a wave of her fore hoof, “No no. I want to do this myself.”

“Guys, what’s going on here?” Gilda with an increasingly nervous smirk. “You’re kind of freaking me out.”

The Pegasus couple share a worried look with one another before Rainbow Dash takes a moment to draw in a heavy breath before she exhales it out slowly and braces herself on what she needs to say, “Gilda, when the twins are born, I… may not make it out of alive from this one.”

As expected, the griffon is completely stunned by the unexpected and disturbing news as she expresses big, frozen eyes with her mouth gaping slightly. After letting that sink in for a little while longer, Gilda eventually responds in shaky disbelief, “R-Rainbow Dash… you can’t be serious! You’re only joshing me, right?”

“No Gilda, we’re not.” she deadpans in response.

“But how could you know something like that ahead of time?!”

“A few months ago, I inherited Hindel’s gift of foresight.” Ford explains in delicate discomfort. And… well… I’m sure you can figure the rest out from there.” And as Gilda is about to say something regarding with the grim matter, he quickly adds to his previous statement, “And before you ask, we already turned to the others for help, including the Princesses.”

This additional testimony leaves the flabbergasted griffon with her beak hanging open before she sooner or later closes it back up while she remains extremely doubtful in all of this. “This is… this is so unreal! I just can’t believe this! You’re like the toughest pony I know, Rainbow Dash! You can’t just keel over and…!”

As she carries on with her fuming skepticism, her hidden emotions betray her as tears threaten to break away from her diluted eyes. From noticing on how difficult Gilda is making it for herself, Rainbow approaches her struggling friend and warmly hugs her. Within the embrace of her closest friend, Gilda finally caves in as a few soft tears seeps from her tightly closed eyes while she gently wraps her forelimbs around the comforting mare.

“I’m sorry for bring this up like that, Gilda.” Rainbow apologizes tenderheartedly. “We just thought it would be best to let you know ahead of time.”

After wiping away her few, fleeting tears, the griffon lets out a couple soft snivels before she bears a small, uplifting smile for the two Pegasi, “I know, and I really appreciate that from you two. You guys are the coolest friends I could ever ask for.”

Touched by her sincerity, Mustang joins in for a group hug as they unwind in this tender moment of theirs. Eventually, they shift back to their original sitting spots as Gilda asks with slightly troubled curiosity, “So… what will you do until then?”

“Well, I still got a few things off of my list to take care of first.” Dash answers with a casual smile. “And then… I’ll just take it easy and enjoy the amount of time I have left.”

With a gentle use of his wing around his wife, Ford pulls her in closely and reassures with a small, confident smirk, “And I’ll see to it that she makes the most of it.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” she remarks with a bold yet affection grin as she lays a tender fore hoof over his.

Enwrapped in their own schmaltziness, the married couple shares a pleasant kiss as the observant Gilda mockingly gags in front of them before she gets herself off of the couch and makes her way to the kitchen. “If you guys are done on being such saps, how about we chow down on some dessert I made recently?”

“Thanks, Gilda. What kind of desserts are they?” Ford asks with an eager smile.

Once she comes back from the kitchen, Gilda answers very slyly, “Oh, just your standard chocolate-covered crickets, that’s all.”

And from the mention of another bug dish, Ford Mustang becomes extremely wide-eyed as the grinning Gilda presents her guests a tray of chocolate treats that are vaguely shaped like crickets. Unable to bring himself to decline someone offering food without even trying it first, he rolls his eyes as he remarks sarcastically with a slightly queasy smirk.

“I had to ask.”

After sharing some of Gilda’s chocolate-flavored crickets, without Ford overeating them this time, the Pegasus couple extend their stay at the griffon’s house until it’s early in the evening. After saying their heartfelt goodbyes, Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang decide to take a walk through the immense city, just so the latter can take it easy for a bit before he makes his long drive back home.

As they walk through the less-crowded marketplace once again, Ford suddenly hears someone calling out to him.

“Hey mister!”

Once the Pegasi turn around, Mustang is surprised to see the light gray griffon cook named Casper once again as he flies toward them from his currently unoccupied shop nearby.

“There you are!” Casper greets him with a smile as he lands in front of them. “I was wondering if you were ever going to show up again. So I saved this just for you in case you pass by again.”

In his left claw, Casper unwraps the paper-covered item slightly as he exposes a pork gyro he made recently. From seeing the savory, meaty treat once again, Ford’s startled eyes grow extensively upon its luscious sight as he shifts his gaze between the gyro and its creator.

“F-for… for me?” he stammers quietly, to which Casper responds with a welcoming nod.

In a complicated bind once again, the shaky stallion hesitates greatly as he struggles on whether or not to give in to his meat-craving desires. So the pouty Mustang turns to his wife with very big, beseeching eyes as he prays that Rainbow will give him permission on committing an act that is supposedly forbidden amongst ponykind.

Able to read Ford’s tormented expression, Rainbow shakes her head lightly before she permits him with a giggling grin, “Go ahead, Ford. Don’t let me stop you. Just hopefully you won’t lose your lunch this time.”

A bit surprised that his pleading actually worked, the overjoyed Mustang lets out an almighty gasp before he rushes in and gives his beautiful, supportive wife a massive kiss to express his overwhelming gratitude. After that is settle, Ford happily accepts the cook’s gift and takes a moment to inhale the enriching aroma of tender pork and roasted vegetables.

Wanting to literally savor this moment for as long as possible, the eager stallion takes his first bite gingerly and intends to enjoy it very slowly. As he steadily chews on it, his taste buds are blown away by the overpowering taste of sliced tomatoes, grilled onions, and greasy fries, but they pale in comparison to the welcoming flavor of barbequed pork. From experiencing this happy reunion over a long-forgotten sustenance, Ford’s exuberant eyes start to get very watery as his ecstatic grin stretches from one stuffed cheek to another before he ultimately swallows his morsel and relishes in its aftertaste.

“MMM-HM-HMM~! SO… GOOD~!”

And after he moans out his admiration in pure, euphoric bliss, Ford could hardly contain his ravenous indulgence any further and immediately wolfs down the rest of his pork gyro without restraint. As he munches loudly on his hot sandwich in absolute ecstasy, Casper stares at the ongoing consumption with amazement and disbelief while Rainbow Dash chuckles to herself on how over-the-top her husband is acting right now.

Once his sandwich is completely devoured, Mustang still bears that goofy yet extremely satisfied smile as he licks his lips to taste anything that’s left of that mouthwatering gyro just to allow its flavor to linger on his palette for little while longer. Then, he faces the griffon cook responsible for providing such a praiseworthy meal and pulls Casper in for a big, gratifying hug while the overdramatic stallion whispers his appreciation in a sniveling manner.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

As Ford sobs softly over the griffon’s shoulder, Casper remains completely still in the pony’s tight embrace. Completely baffled on why this overly affectionate stallion is reacting in such a strange way over an everyday dish, the silent Casper locks his gaze with Rainbow’s as he hopes to hear an answer from her. Of course, the mare simply shrugs her shoulders before she says to the bewildered griffon with a cheerful smirk.

“Don’t mind him. He’s always this eccentric.”

From receiving the mare’s carefree remark, the speechless griffon decides to forego his puzzlement over this strange phenomenon as the melodramatic Mustang carries on with his hugging while he wails out loud in constant joy.

“I never want to leave this place!”

Chapter 26 – A Day with Applejack

Chapter 26 – A Day with Applejack

Two Months and One Week Remaining…
~ Mid of April (35th Week) ~

On a train ride from Ponyville, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are chillaxing in one of the passenger cars as the latter looks out from her window to see the change in scenery. Despite the resemblance of a desert with its yellow, sandy landscape and colorful canyons, they are a variety of apple orchards spread throughout the sunny location. From recognizing the familiar settings, Rainbow turns to her Earth Pony friend as she is resting very casually with her Stetson hat over her eyes.

“So… we’re getting really close to Appleloosa.” Rainbow emphasizes.

“Eeyup.”

"And you’re still not going to tell me on what’s over there?"

“Nnnope.”

“Ah come on, AJ! Tell me already!” Rainbow whines very childishly.

“Nnnope. Ah ain’t sayin’ one word until we get there.” Applejack responds firmly as she tips her hat up.

Seeing how there’s no point in convincing the steadfast farmpony, Rainbow impatiently crosses her forelegs and reclines back on her seat as she faces her smirking friend with a mild glare, “Hmph! You’re having a lot of fun with this, aren’t you?”

“Eeyup.” she nods with a continuous grin.

As Rainbow Dash resumes her pouting, she thinks back to how it all led up to this. A few days ago, she was busy trying to think of a good activity to share with AJ. The closest thing she could think of was a rodeo show. Then one day, Applejack came by to her house and invited her on a special trip they can take together. It was very strange that her friend will be the one to plan out their surprise trip for them, but considering that she couldn’t think of anything solid just yet, she’s more than happy to go along with it.

Eventually, the two friends from Ponyville arrive at Appleloosa’s train station, and they get their saddlebags ready before they exit the train. Once they make their way to the town’s main entrance, Applejack stops Rainbow from advancing as she reveals the western-style town’s big activity.

“Rainbow Dash, welcome… to Cider Fest!”

From the grinning mare’s opening greeting, Rainbow Dash freezes in place as her flabbergasted mouth drops like it weigh a ton of bricks and her astonished eyes bulge excessively. In the midst of her over-the-top speechlessness, Rainbow takes the time to examine her surroundings. The townhouses and stores are decorated with lots of colorful signs and flashy neon-lights. The packed streets are lined with dozens of booths that sell a wide variety of frosty beverages and other souvenirs. And the main banner has big, bold words in fancy, Western-style letter reading “Cider Fest.” And right in-between the two words is a picture of a foamy mug with a slice of an apple sticking out from its froth.

Once the wide-eyed Rainbow Dash regains most of her senses, she stammers out her immense surprise, “C-C-Cider Fest? As in an entire festival where I drink nothing but cider all day long--?!”

Suddenly, the beaming mare pauses on her exclamation as a startling thought crosses her mind. For festivals like these, they usually focus on alcoholic beverages like beer and wine. And for an event that focuses on cider, it could be very likely that they serve hard cider instead of the non-alcoholic variety. This terrible consideration causes Pegasus to drop her once-overjoyed smile as she restates herself in trembling hesitation.

“W-Wait a minute, Applejack! They don’t serve only hard cider here, do they?! I-I can’t drink any form of alcohol here! You know that, right?!”

A bit surprised from seeing Dash quivering in fear, AJ shakes her head with a soft giggle to herself before she pulls the panicky Pegasus in for a one-forelegged hug and eases her worries with a lighthearted grin, “Rainbow Dash, really! Do you honestly think Ah would drag ya all the way out here just so we can turn around empty-hooved over something like that? Cider Fest is a family event here in Appleloosa. No alcohol allowed whatsoever, Ah promise.”

Upon that friendly reassurance, Rainbow’s initial fear disappears from her mind as she picks up her earlier perkiness in an instant before she takes the lead ahead of Applejack.

“Oh, well in that case, what are we waiting for?! We’ve got some cider that needs drinking!”

Hours of frivolous fun later, and Rainbow Dash still hasn’t her fill when it comes to trying nearly every sampled beverage available. Whether it’s a mixed-fruit variation, sparkling cider, or cider made out of specific apple. But at her latest stop at a different stand, Rainbow develops a very mischievous smile as she hopes to share this latest sample with her orange pony friend.

“Hey, AJ! You’ve got to try this!”

And after Rainbow hands her free commemorative mug that came from the purchase of her ticket, Applejack eyes the borrowed cup while asking her friend, “Whatcha got there, RD?”

“Here, see if you can figure it out yourself and then I’ll tell you.” she insists with a persuasive grin.

With a casual shrug, Applejack takes a quick sip of the sampled drink, much to Rainbow’s grinning satisfaction. And after smacking her lips a few times, the impassive Earth Pony makes her call with mildly sour face for some reason.

“Hmm… Ah can’t quite point my hoof on it, but it’s definitely not like any cider Ah’ve ever had before.”

“Oh, that’s because it isn’t cider at all.” Rainbow clarifies with mockingly casual smile.

“It’s not? Well what is it?”

And after taking a moment to suppress her snickering, Dash answers with a proud smirk on her face, “Sparkling pear juice.”

Upon the mention of that forbidden fruit, the flustered farmpony instinctively tosses the rest of the atrocious substance like it was made out of the foulest thing on earth. And as the cackling Rainbow Dash carries on with her personal amusement, the greatly aggravated Applejack shoves the foul mug back to her snickering friend.

“Dagnabbit, Rainbow Dash! Will ya stop tryin’ to poison me with that stuff?!” she screeches in unbridled rage.

Once her chuckling begins to die down, Rainbow feels compelled to ask the story behind such fury. “Seriously, Applejack. What is the deal with you and pears anyhow?”

After letting out a heavy sigh to cool off her anger, Applejack then shares her backstory with Rainbow. “When Ah went to Manehatten as a lil' filly to see my Aunt and Uncle Orange, Ah attended one of their fancy parties. At their dessert table, they had what looked like to be a scrumptious apple pie. And Ah was really lookin' forward for a slice of home. But once Ah took that first bite, Ah was gravely deceived by the lack of apples as they were replaced with the awful, mushy taste of… ugh… pears!” she shivers from that unpleasant memory before continuing her story. “Of course, with everypony watchin', Ah couldn’t just throw it away, so Ah had to suck it up and eat the rest of that deceptive treat. And that’s why Ah never want to touch another pear ever since then! Of course, my mouth will be forever tainted thanks to jokers like you!” she ends with an intense scowl at her grinning listener.

Unaffected by her friend’s repeated glare, Rainbow simply responds with a witty smirk, “Knowing you, Applejack, I’m sure you’ll live another day.”

Afterwards, they walk around town a little bit longer to see what to do next. But right in front of them, a major event is underway as participants and spectators gather around together at one of the festival’s stages.

“Hey, look at that.” Rainbow points it out. “There’s something big going on down there.”

“Huh, must be some kind of cider drinking competition.” Applejack adds once they see the flyers that are sponsoring the upcoming event.

“Whoa whoa whoa! You mean they actually have a contest where you can chug as much cider as you want?!” she gasps in disbelief before displaying an enthusiastic smile over such a rare opportunity. “Come on, AJ! This sounds too good to pass up!”

As Rainbow Dash hovers excitedly in mid-air, Applejack however isn't too enthusiastic herself as she shares her concerns with the ever-so eager Pegasus, “Ah don’t know, RD. Are you sure wanna do this to yerself? No offense sugarcube, but yer about as bloated as the country fair’s most prized watermelon.”

With her excitement taken down a notch, Rainbow looks down at her eight-month pregnant belly as Applejack observes her friend’s expressionless face to see what her reaction might be. To AJ’s surprise, Dash then looks up and bears a wide grin before she shares her own opinion.

“Oh I see… you just want me to call it quits before the competition even begins, huh?” she states it shrewdly.

“What?! That’s not it at all!” Applejack retorts over that provoking response.

“Hey, it’s okay, Applejack.” the Pegasus shrugs with a sly smile. “If you’re that scared to go head-to-head with yours truly, I understand.”

Following up on that goading remark, the Earth Pony glares at the instigator and responds with a confident smirk, “Oh really? You think ya can outdrink me?”

“Yeah! I mean, who else enjoys cider more than me?” she boasts strongly.

"Hey, Ah practically grew up on that stuff way before you even tried your very first sip at Ponyville!” the farmpony states that with pride. “If anything else, yer the one who’s out of my league!”

“Ha! You can’t even hold your own drink during my birthday party two years ago!” Rainbow chuckles lightly with a roll of her eyes. “Heck, I bet you didn’t have the nerve to woo Rarity without some liquid courage in you first!”

Aggravated even further by Rainbow’s constant teasing, Applejack narrows her irritated eyes as she inquires in a low growl, “Ya callin’ me yellow?”

Without losing her cool, Rainbow nods with a teasing smirk, “As yellow as your mane.”

“Alright, that’s it!” she snaps with a firm stomp on the ground. “Ya wanna throwdown? Then let’s throwdown! But you gotta promise me that if they forbid you from enterin’, then you’ll leave it at that for yer own good!” she adds in a more serious tone. “Ah’ll even withdraw my own application if it comes to that. Besides, it would be easy pickings for me if Ah didn’t have my biggest competitor around to keep me at the top of my game. Deal?”

With an audible spit on her orange fore hoof, AJ extends a friendly yet drenched foreleg forward while Dash is speechless by how very considerate Applejack was to look out for her health despite their playful rivalry. So in return, Rainbow mimics her friend’s gesture by producing a wad of spit on her own fore hoof, and with a bold grin matching that with AJ’s, they seal their agreement with a wet smack of their hooves.

“Deal!”

After their agreement is settled, the two walk towards the table upfront to sign up for the drinking competition. Once the Ponyvillians answer the attendant’s questions as well as receive approval regarding with Rainbow’s pregnancy, the latest competitors sign up their names as well as pay their entry fees before joining the others.

On stage, there is a very long table filled up with other contestants. The competition is not only made of various ponies, whether they’re local or out-of-town, but it also includes a couple of massive buffalo, whose intimidating sizes may pose as a challenge to the smaller contestants. But Applejack and Rainbow Dash didn’t care much on who the rest of their competition is as they are more focused on each other due to their extensive rivalry.

With all of the participants’ seats filled up, several helpers get on stage as they get the cider ready for the competition by providing tons of barrels and dozens of mugs on standby. Every massive barrel is stocked with freshly preserved cider and comes with a dispenser for easy-access pouring. And each of the contestants has three mugs already filled up with the good stuff and a large, empty bin in front of their station for disposal and to keep track of their emptied cups, which will help tally up the scores in the end.

Once everything is all set and there is a big enough crowd swarming around the prepped platform, an announcer gets on stage to welcome everyone present as well as telling the contestants the rules, such as drinking one mug at a time or being disqualified if they don’t completely finish their latest cup before moving on to the next one. With all of the rules explained, the announcer gets an hourglass ready, which is designed as a three minute timer that features marked lines to indicate each passing minute. And after declaring a standard, three-second countdown, he flips the hourglass upside-down and thus the cider drinking contest begins.

All at once, the aggressive competitors chug down their first cup while the attentive crowd holler in all of the excitement. As expected from Ponyville’s biggest cider fanatics, Applejack and Rainbow Dash start off strong for themselves as they take big, rapid gulps before they simultaneously slam their first finished cups down and immediately grab the next one. Right away, the frantic helpers for the face-paced contest push the empty mugs into the contestants’ respective bins and replace them with more cider for the persisting participants.

One minute later, and AJ and RD are still in the lead as each of them has finished five cups of cider. As the spectators continue their wild cheering, a few of the contestants begin to drop out of the race. More specifically, they couldn’t stomach on the endless amounts of cider as they either call it quits, keel over in agony, or run to the nearest trash can. Halfway through the race and already half of the competitors are eliminated.

One by one, more contestants drop out of the competition, and by the time they hit the two-minute marker, only a handful remain. But in the final stretch of the race, all eyes are turned towards the two leads, who are still neck-and-neck since the beginning of the event, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Considering they are way ahead from everyone else, they each have consumed nine cups of cider and are still going strong. With one minute left, the spectating ponies constantly chant out the word “chug” in fanatic fashion, and the two rival mares keep on their never-ending drinking feverously. It is an intense duel to behold, all the way down to the hourglass’s very last grain of sand.

“TIME’S UP!”

And with that said, the contest is over as Rainbow Dash and Applejack cease their fifteenth mug at the same time before they placed them on the table. As their latest cups are left aside, the announcer approach the two finalists as a couple of helpers bring forth a scale to measure the remaining contents. First, Applejack’s mug is placed on the scale before the judge writes its weight down. Then, they switch it with Rainbow Dash’s to do the same thing. Once he have noted the individual weights, the recorder takes a moment for final calculations as everyone else wait in restless anticipation for the ultimate tiebreaker to be announced. At last, with the final scores all tallied up, the announcer is ready to make the call.

“From a total of 14.97 cups of cider with a mere difference of .02 from the runner-up, the winner of the First Annual Cider Drinking Competition goes to… RAINBOW DASH!”

As Applejack and Rainbow Dash are stunned in their own ways with the announcement of the latter’s victory, the crowd cheer tremendously over the Pegasus’s triumph and on such an amazingly close finish between the two. And once Rainbow fully processes on her latest achievement, she flaps and yelps wildly in joy as she embraces her friendly rival, Applejack, who is also happy for her friend’s recent victory as well as for sharing this wonderful occasion with her.

After being presented with their respective medals and prize money, the two finalists slouch over to a picnic table nearby to bask in the glory of their latest achievements… and to take a breather from the heavy amounts of cider they just ingested. For Rainbow Dash, it’s quite hard to tell a significant difference on how big her belly has grown since she is over eight-months pregnant with two kids on the way. As for Applejack, her stomach is more noticeable before the contest began due to the slight bulge she developed.

“Ahhhh… Now that was a fierce competition!” Rainbow sighs with a very contented smile as she lightly pats her very exposed belly.

“You said it, Rainbow. Congratulations on your win once again, sugarcube.” Applejacks says with a modest smile before it shifts into a very sly grin. “Though granted, it was only thanks to the fact that you had some inside help in all of this.”

From that meaningful hint she just received, Dash rolls her eyes while responding with a wide, amusing smirk, “Oh, here we go again! You’re never going to let this go, are ya?”

“Ah’m just sayin' that you were able to narrowly win this time ‘cause ya had three stomachs to fill in there.” the witty farmpony points it out with a foreleg aiming at Rainbow’s big, blue belly.

“Hey, those buffalo we faced earlier have like four stomachs each, and they still didn’t have what it takes to beat the two of us!”

Surprised by that piece of information, AJ abides with an awestricken smile, “Huh, Ah didn’t even considered that fact. Well said, RD.”

“Thank you. And besides, my babies are growing foals, and they need their proper nutrition.” she comments heartily as she lightly rubs her occupied belly to show her affection and praise for the twins inside of her.

“Sigh… let’s just hope for their sakes, they don’t inherit your crazy fixation on cider either.”

But just as they are sharing a good laugh over their playfulness, an overwhelming urge coils Rainbow’s insides tightly as she groans over her sudden discomfort, “Ooohhhh… and now my babies need to use a proper restroom, like right now!"

Despite imagining the awful feeling from her friend, AJ can’t help but chuckle over Dash’s plight, “He-he-hee! Looks like all that cider you drank up is hankerin’ for a way out! Oh-oh-ohh! Ah spoke too soon!” she remarks frantically as she too experiences the excruciating agony between her hind legs.

“Just help me look for a bathroom already!” she snaps impatiently, and they immediately gallop to the nearest set of restrooms they can find.

Once they find them however, they gape in agony and horror as all of the lined-up porta potties are currently occupied at the moment. As the suffering pair become increasingly agitated on whether they should wait for one or hurry for different bathroom somewhere else, a mare casually steps out of one of the bathrooms as it is now vacant for use.

With one bathroom finally available, Rainbow and Applejack share a blank look with each other before the blue Pegasus boldly declares out loud, “Race ya!”

“Yer on!”

At first, Rainbow gets a good head start once she made that declaration, but out of the blue, the orange Earth Pony begins to pass her as the struggling Pegasus tries to gain some more speed, but due to her pregnancy and the fact that she drank several pints of cider recently, she can’t push herself any further. And much to Dash’s dismay, Applejack reaches for the opened stall first, and Rainbow nearly runs into the door that’s slammed right in front of her.

“NOOOOO! I was so close!” Rainbow whines immaturely from having to endure the tightening feeling for a bit while longer.

“Too bad~! Ah win~!” Applejack boasts childishly from within her recently secured sanctum.

Unable to accept that tremendous lose, Rainbow paws at the door like poor puppy trying to going outside as she begs in desperation, “Come on, Applejack! Show mercy on me!”

“Just wait until the next stall is available, Rainbow!”

“That’ll take forever! Seriously, AJ! I’m gonna explode out here!” she exclaims she bounces frantically in place.

“Just take deep breaths and think on calm things… like fountains… and waterfalls… and ice, cold lemonade… or cider if that’s more to your likin'.”

Knowing full well that AJ is purposefully mocking her as well as making her unbearable discomfort worse, Rainbow Dash immediately becomes red-hot, boiling mad as she angrily knocks on the door while yelling out to her cruel, jeering friend, “APPLEJACK! YOU GET OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW!”

“Can’t hear ya, sugarcube! Too busy enjoying the moment right now!” she goads in pure bliss and mocking ignorance. “Hoo-wee~! Ah can’t even describe on how relieved Ah am to be here!”

“Then hurry up already!”

“Ah will if somepony can learn some manners and keep themselves from interrupting me!”

“AJ! If you don’t hurry it up in there, I’ll… I’ll bust down the door!”

“Pfft! You’re bluffin’! Ain’t no way yer gonna pull off a crazy stunt like that!”

“Wanna bet?!”

“Try me!”

“Okay, that’s it! On the count of three then! One… Two… THR--!”

But before Rainbow could make a move on her threat, she hears a door opening, not from the stall Applejack is still using, but from the one next to her as a mare steps out of there. With fortune finally smiling upon her favor, Dash’s immeasurable wrath disappears in an instance as she restates to her preoccupied friend in a hasty manner.

“Oh wait! Never mind!” And unable to contain herself in so many ways, the overjoyed Rainbow Dash rushes to the next vacant bathroom while nearly bumping the exiting pony aside, “Gangway! Pregnant mare coming through!”

SLAM!

Moments later, the portable lavatory’s door is swung wide open as a much lighter Rainbow Dash exits out there with an immense smile of unimaginable relief plastered on her face. And waiting for her silly-smiling friend is the smirking Applejack, who finished her needs minutes ago.

“Heh, took ya long enough.” she says with a chuckling grin.

“Shut up, you.” the glaring Pegasus growls with a mild blush consuming her face.

Having enough fun with her, Applejack lightly nudges her winged friend and makes a suggestion in a friendlier manner, “Come on. Let’s go hang out on that hill over there.”

Seeing how they still feel a bit wobbly from drinking all that cider from the contest, as well as from their desperate need to use the restroom afterwards, Rainbow nods with a grin, and they walk over to a hill where a big tree sits on top. Then, the two sit comfortable underneath the shady tree as they set their individual saddlebags aside. From there, they take a moment to enjoy the view on the ongoing festivities in Appleloosa as the sun casts a lovely sunset while its rays bathe the town in a warm, orange glow.

“Thanks a lot for taking me out here, Applejack.” Rainbow Dash says in modest gratitude. “This has been a really nice surprise for me.”

“No problem, Rainbow Dash.” she responds with the ever-so humble smile. “Figured that you of all ponies would enjoy this as much as Ah would.”

“And I’ve never been happier.” Rainbow assures with a lighthearted grin.

Then, there is silence between them as they resume their viewing of Appleloosa. In the midst of the calm quietness, Rainbow figures that this will be the right time to go through the usual procedure as she braces herself on breaking the bad news to the only friend that hasn’t received it yet.

“AJ… there’s something I need to--!”

"Ah… Ah already know, sugarcube.”

From AJ’s soft interjection, Rainbow’s eyes shot wide-open as she is shocked on what she just heard from the solemn farmpony. “Kn-know what?”

“About yer… ahem… passing.” she delicately clarifies as she continues to avert her half-lidded eyes away in shame.

“H-h-how did you find that out already?!” she inquires in stuttering surprise.

“Well, Ah’ve been aware on how you’ve been spendin’ some time with each of our best friends, so when Ford came by Sweet Apple Acres one day, Ah… asked him on what was really going on.” She answers sheepishly.

“So you made him spill the beans, huh?” Rainbow deadpans with a skeptical eyebrow.

“Hey, Ah didn’t force it out of him, if that’s what yer implyin’!” Applejack retorts over that blunt remark.”

“Heh, could have fooled me.” she shrugs sarcastically.

“Why do think Ah would do something like that to him?”

“Remember that time when he knocked down your precious apple tree by accident?”

From that stern reminder, AJ feels a little flushed on how carried away she was and how her outrage deeply troubled Mustang back then, so she expresses her regret while reassuring Rainbow with a sheepish smile. “Okay, Ah may have lose my cool there, but that’s water under the bridge between us.”

“Maybe, but I think he fears you more than Arrogon himself.” She states with an amusing grin.

“Anyway, once Ah got the gist of the story, Ah reckon that Ah should be the one to treat you this time.”

“Ah shucks, AJ. You didn’t need to do all that for me.” Rainbow says with an appreciative smile.

“Think nothing of it, sugercube.” she insists humbly as ever.

Despite how surprised she was that Applejack was able to figure this out beforehand, Rainbow is amazed on how the Earth Pony is taking the distressing news so unbelievably well. But as she is admiring the farmpony’s inner toughness in the situation, Dash nearly forgets on one thing she has to do as she reaches for something important in her saddlebag.

“Oh here, AJ. I want to give this to you before we call it day and head on home.”

“For me?”

Once the item is located in her bag, the Pegasus pulls it out and hands it to Applejack. With the item in hoof, the Earth Pony looks down and sees a marvelous horseshoe that’s made out of pure gold metal.

“Well, if it ain’t the prettiest horseshoe Ah’ve ever did see.” Then, AJ notices engraved letters on the shiny trinket and begins to read them out loud, “Hey, what does this say? ‘For the 1st Annual Iron Pony Champion in Ponyville… Applejack!’ ”

Her face is frozen with shock on the polished horseshoe’s lettering before she tips her still-gapping head up to stare speechlessly at the smiling Pegasus responsible for such an unexpected gift.

“I figure since we never came up with an award in our first Iron Pony Competition, I might as well as well make one up myself.” Rainbow explains nonchalantly while bearing a warm yet awkward smile for her flabbergasted friend.

“B-but why does this have my name on there instead of yours?” AJ stammers in response. “You were declared the winner in the end.”

“Well… I have come to realize … that maybe… I might have bent the rules just a bit.” she admits sheepishly as she lightly scratches the back of her mane.

“You mean how you cheated by using your wings, right?” she verifies sharply while raising a knowing eyebrow at the guilt-ridden Pegasus.

“Hey, I already told you, we didn’t set that up as a ground rule to begin with!” she retorts as a desperate excuse.

“Considered that you weren’t grounded in the first place.” AJ harrumphs mildly.

“Anyway, I realized how unfair that was to you, so… I’m revoking my title and giving it to somepony who truly deserves it more than me, somepony who is a more worthy athlete than myself, especially when that pony is one of my closest and honest friends.”

From that sincere and humble gesture, Applejack is astonished to hear such kindhearted words from one of her best friends, especially from one that is willing to swallow her pride with no regrets. Speechless as ever, AJ looks at her remarkable trophy and then back at Rainbow Dash before she takes a moment to respond with heartfelt gratitude over such a splendid gift she just received.

“Thanks, Rainbow Dash. That’s… mighty thoughtful of y-you--!”

But as she stumbles over her appreciativeness, her body starts to trembles as her lips begin to quiver slightly. Then, her emerald eyes are diluted to the brim as several tears make their escape from their tear ducts. Once she realizes on how rampant her shaky emotions are acting up, Applejack does her best to conceal her grief-stricken face with the use of her hat as she apologizes to her stunned friend in an increasingly sniveling tone.

“Ah’m… sorry you have to see me like this, sugarcube. A-Ah thought Ah’d be strong enough to bear of all this in for ya, but Ah just… Ah just can’t stand the thought of losin’ you someday!”

As Applejack continues her poor sniffling, the understanding Rainbow Dash walks up to her miserable friend and brings her in for a much-needed hug. As the struggling farmpony timidly accepts the Pegasus’s warm embrace, Rainbow reassures her sobbing comrade in a soft, sympathetic tone and a pat on the back.

“Hey, no need to hide that from me, Applejack. You’re the Element of Honesty for pony’s sake. You shouldn’t bottle up your true feelings like that.”

From the gentle reassurance, AJ begins to feel a whole lot better after letting it all out. Once she wipes most of her tears away, she then asks in a modest manner, “Hey, RD?”

“Yeah?”

“I-If by some miracle you make it out of this one, we should… have another Iron Pony Competition someday. Y’know, for old times’ sake.”

“…I think that sounds awesome.” Rainbow replies with a warm smile before her boastful nature takes hold. “And then once I kick your butt, I’ll be the next Iron Pony Champion!”

“Just be sure to restrain yer wings next time, otherwise Ah’ll restrain them for ya.” Applejack advises with a sharp smirk.

Ignoring the playful threat, Rainbow simply responds with a chuckling grin, “Promise.”

With the day coming to a close, Applejack and Rainbow get themselves up from their personal hilltop with her saddlebags strapped and secured, and they casually walk back to the train station. Along the way, the Pegasus has one little request in mind that she would like to ask from the farmpony.

“Say umm… AJ? When we get back home… can I have some of your cider please?”

Surprised at first to hear such an adorable plea from Rainbow Dash out all of ponies, Applejack responds with a hearty chuckle over how unquenchable her friend’s thirst really is when it comes to cider. “Rainbow Dash, you drank nearly every kind of cider today and you still haven’t enough?”

“Yeah, but their drinks pale in comparison to yours!” she retorts with a bit of whine. “They just lack the one important thing that you won’t find anywhere else, not even at Cider Fest!”

“And what would that be, Rainbow?” she asks with an amusing smirk.

“…They don’t taste like… home.”

Applejack is dumbfounded to hear such a simple yet strong response from Dash’s admiration over one of the Apple Family’s signature commodities. Either way, since they may be one of Rainbow’s final requests, AJ is more than happy to grant that wish as she answers with a very earnest smile, “Sure thing, sugarcube. You can have as much as ya like when we get home.”

From hearing those magic words, Rainbow’s magenta eyes brighten up significantly as she grins uncontrollably over Applejack’s most charitable offer. But then, her nonstop grinning becomes more devious as she seeks to make good on that one-in-a-lifetime deal.

“I might have to take your word on that, AJ.”

Chapter 27 – A Day with Twilight Sparkle

Chapter 27 – A Day with Twilight Sparkle

Two Months Remaining…
~ Late of April (36th Week) ~

As the sun begins to a make its appearance to signify the start of a brand, new day, Rainbow Dash and her husband, Ford Mustang, are waiting at Ponyville’s train station for the first train to arrive. And comparing the two Pegasus on how they handle themselves when it comes to sunrises, Ford is as fresh as a daisy while Rainbow is barely awake in all of this.

“Thanks again for accompanying me to the train station, Mustang.” she says to him after letting a mighty yawn. “It’s a bit of a pain for me to wake this early in the morning.”

“No problem, angel.” he replies with a smile. “It’s pretty understandable considering on what you have in mind for Twilight today.”

“Sigh… yeah, this would be so much easier if I was allowed to fly instead.” she adds with a mild groan over that self-reminder.

Suddenly, they hear a sharp whistle from the far distance, and they see the expected train approaching from the horizon. With the sight of the oncoming train, Rainbow shifts into a perky smile upon its arrival. “Ah, finally! Well, I’ll be heading off to Canterlot soon.”

“Hold on a minute, Rainbow Dash.” He stops her with a soft tug of her multicolored tail. “We need to talk about something first.”

“Well, what is it?” she asks in slight annoyance.

“When are we going to visit your father?”

From that soft yet firm inquiry, Rainbow’s eyes widen upon that reminder as she begins to tense up before answering in a shaky tone, “S-soon. Very soon, I can guarantee that.”

“I would feel a whole lot better if you can decide a good time for me.” he insists with a small, gentle smile.

“And we will, maybe… tomorrow, alright?”

Knowing full well that his wife is trying to avoid this conversation, Ford drops his smile and shakes his head while sternly pressing this matter even further. “No, Rainbow. We need to decide now. I know you’re scared to tell him yourself, but we can’t delay this any further--!”

“Hey, I’m not scared about that!” she snaps in defense.

“Bull crap! You’ve been at this for a while now!” he retorts back before providing examples to his claim. “You haven’t responded to any of his letters since your first ultrasound! And every time I asked you about this, you pushed that aside by distracting yourself with other matters in mind! You’ve already shared this with your closest friends, so tell me why you are so hesitant about this?!”

Feeling back into a corner, Rainbow sharply turns her head around as if she was looking for a way to escape this inevitable conversation. Despite how empty the train station is, she has nowhere to go, and she aimlessly looks down at the ground while struggling to collect her thoughts before responding. But as she hesitates from fessing up to her own fears, her squinted eyes desperately hold back any tears that could leak out of them as she confesses out loud.

“Because I can’t stand the thought on having my dad go through with this all over again, that’s why!”

As her stallion remains startled from her emotional outburst, Rainbow pauses for a couple of seconds before continuing in a more somber tone, “My daddy has done so much for me ever since mom passed away just when I was born! How am I supposed to him that his one and only daughter is going to die in a matter of months?!” she shouts rhetorically as her overwhelming tears make their escape. And after taking a moment to clear up most of her sniveling, she then adds in a soft whimper, “I just… don’t want to hurt him.”

Ford feels terrible for causing his wife to cry so sincerely like that. So he wraps his big, blue wing around the mare and brings her in for a warm, comforting hug before apologizing to her in a gentle manner.

“I’m sorry for putting so much pressure on you like that, Rainbow. But please believe me, it will be easier for all of us if we share this with Turbo Dash as soon as possible. You understand that, right?”

And after looking into Ford’s soft, turquoise eyes, Rainbow finishes her sniffling as she softly nods to his suggestion. “Y-you’re… you’re right. I rather tell him sooner than later.”

From their conversation, the Pegasi barely notice that the train has just arrived, and the steam engine gets their attention by letting out a blaring whistle. Once she gets back on track on why she’s here in the first place, Rainbow turns back to Ford and speaks once again, “Look, I’m gonna miss the train if I don’t get to Canterlot in time. Let’s… discuss this tomorrow morning, okay?”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

With a soft sigh, Ford nods with a contented smile, “Okay then. Tomorrow it is. Well then, have fun on your trip, angel.” he bids his farewell with an affectionate kiss on the lips.

“Thanks. See you later tonight, Mustang.” she replies with a grin before entering the passenger car adjacent to her.

With all of the passengers secured, the train lets out one more whistle before making its departure. With the locomotive picking up speed, Rainbow Dash looks out of her window and waves goodbye to her husband as he does the same for her. Eventually, the passenger train is out of Ford’s sight, and he casually takes off from the platform.

But as he hovers in mid-air, he stops suddenly as he pauses on where he should head off to next. Normally, he would go home or hang out with friends, but with a new thought in mind, he takes it into great consideration before making his decision. With his mind made up, Mustang resumes his flying with a greater burst of speed as he heads in the opposite direction of his home…

…where Cloudsdale lies up ahead.

An hour or so later, and Rainbow Dash makes it to the kingdom of Canterlot. And once she asked enough ponies on where she may find Twilight Sparkle, she makes her way to the most likely place on where to find her nerdy friend: the royal library.

After she quietly opens the massive door, Rainbow gasps briefly on how massive the exclusive library is. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of bookshelves tower at such extraordinary heights like the skyscrapers in Manehatten. The extremely spacious room is divided up into five floors, which can by ascended by the various staircases. To Rainbow, it feels more like a labyrinth rather than an ordinary library.

As she explores the ground floor, she tries to figure out on where’s the best place to find Twilight. And knowing on how diligent and absent-minded the princess can be over her studies, Rainbow seeks to try the study rooms first. And thanks to her hunch earlier, she finds a row of study rooms lined up at one end of the library.

With a peek at the only occupied room at the time, Rainbow grins with success over the location of Princess Twilight Sparkle. And as expected, the studious Alicorn is completely focused on her latest reading material as her room is cluttered with stacks of books. And to Dash’s surprise, there is a luxurious bed nearby, making the study room more like a cozy bedroom than anything else.

“There you are, Twilight!” the Pegasus greets with a broad smile, “Heh, I thought I would never find you in this maze of a library!”

Alarmed by her friend’s sudden appearance, Twilight yelps in surprise as she swiftly closes up her latest book, “Ah! Rainbow Dash!” What a nice surprise to see you here!”

“Hitting the books as usual, I see.” she grins knowingly.

“You know me.” Twilight chuckles awkwardly.

“So… whatcha reading?”

“Ooh… just some research, that’s all.”

Rainbow leans closer to examine the books herself. From their titles and illustrated covers, most of them focus on various cities in Equestria and locations outside their country.

“Seems to me that you’ve got big plans for the whole world.” she states over her quick analysis.

“Well, as a princess, it should be my duty to establish international relations with other countries as well as extend my friendship to them. So I make it my priority to learn as much about their culture as possible.”

“Hmm… makes sense, I guess.” she nods casually before informing Twilight with renewed excitement. “Anyway, did you hear the exciting news on what’s been going at Applewood lately?”

“What, another movie in production?”

“Oh, not just any movie!” Dash states with a wide, cryptic smile. “It’s actually a serial film, and it’s going to be so awesome once they hit theaters!”

“Well, what’s the film called?” Twilight asks with piqued interest on the film’s identity.

“Only the best film adaptation ever!” Rainbow answers with an uncontrollable grin.

“Is it a musical film?”

“No.”

“Hmm… a detective series?”

“No.”

“Ooo! The legendary chronicles of Star Swirl the Bearded?!” Twilight makes her final guess with a broad smile and pupil-swollen eyes that sparkle immensely.

With a light chuckle over her friend’s wild guessing, Rainbow answers with an enthusiastic grin, “No, Twilight! They’re going to put Daring Do on the big screens!”

From the mention of their favorite book series being adapted on film, the Alicorn’s pupils shrink drastically as she barely comprehends the phenomenal news. So once she regains her senses, she stumbles over her incredulity, “Daring Do is going to premiere in motion pictures?! H-how did I miss hearing about that?!”

“And you call yourself a Daring Do fan, Twilight. For shame.” Rainbow mocks lightly with an amusing smirk as she shakes her head before getting back on track on what’s in stored for today. “But yeah, get this! You and me are going to take a trip to Applewood today and get exclusive access to the upcoming film’s set! And from what I heard regarding with their props, they use authentic artifacts provided by the museums, which may have some historical value to them.” she states that with a sly smile as she knows it will greatly entice the lovable bookworm’s fascination with history.

As Dash expected, Twilight Sparkle shakes in great anticipation as she could barely contain her growing smile. But then, she stops her juddering all of a sudden as her smile is reduced into an impassive frown.

With her eyes averting away from Rainbow Dash’s, the young Alicorn Princess gently declines the Pegasus’s offer, “Oh… I-I really would love to go, really I do! But I’ve got so much work to do ahead of me.”

Unwilling to buy that excuse, Rainbow asks with a skeptical eyebrow, “And how long have you been stuck here?”

“Uhh… maybe an hour or so. I usually lose track of time sometimes.” Twilight admits sheepishly.

“Uh-huh. And why is there a bed in the middle of the library?” she deadpans even further as she points out the elephant in the room.

Once Twilight stares at the deluxe bed in her personalized study room, she replies in hesitation with an awkward smile, “For… naps in-between?”

“Okay, that’s it! You really need to get your nose out of those books and go outside some more!” Dash instructs sternly as she pushes the reluctant Twilight away from her recent studies.

“B-but what about my work?!” she stammers as she holds up one of the books with the use of her Alicorn Magic.

“That can wait!” Rainbow interjects sharply as she carelessly tosses the levitated book aside. “Besides, I don’t want us to miss our train to Applewood.”

“Oh there’s no need to catch a train, Rainbow. I could ask some of the guards to fly us over there--!” Abruptly, her mouth hangs out widely when she leaves her sentence unfinished before she breaks into a thrilling smile over a sudden idea in mind. “Ooo! Wait, I have a better idea!”

And before Rainbow gets the chance to ask on what’s got Twilight so excited, the anxious Alicorn teleports right away with her usual spell. And as the baffled Pegasus begins to wonder on where her friend has gone off to, Twilight immediately returns in a flash of light with a small chest levitated in her magical grasp.

Whilst floating in the princess’s magical, magenta aura, the chest opens up and reveals a pair of golden necklaces. Each of them has a turquoise sphere with its perpendicular lines intersecting with another like the latitudes and longitudes of a globe.

“Here put this on!” Twilight insists gleefully as she hands one of the necklaces to Rainbow Dash. “This is what I have been working on for a while!”

“Cool accessories, Twilight.” she says nonchalantly as she puts hers on. “But how will they help us get to Applewood?”

“These necklaces operate the same way as my teleportation spell.” Twilight explains as she puts her necklace on as well. “Except they are also capable for long-range. Basically, they can transport you to nearly any place in the world. Of course, I need to set the coordinates myself, but as luck would have it, I already inputted Applewood into its index as an example. Also, I made two of them so they will interlink with each other on whoever activates their necklace first.”

“And I take it they have been tested and approved by the Princess of Friendship and Checklists herself?” Rainbow grins amusingly.

“Of course! I’ve rechecked them countless times to ensure their safety!” she reassures in an edgy voice. “I made them especially so that they’re safe for pregnant mares like yourself, Rainbow Dash!” Once she mentions that, she suddenly tenses up as she is afraid that she might have slipped something out by accident.

However, her impulsive tenseness goes unnoticed by her Pegasus friend as she asks with mild surprise, “Wait really?”

After a quick moment to catch her breath, she confirms that fact in a calmer yet still jumpy tone, “Y-yes! Why wouldn’t I? I mean, I wanted to make sure these necklaces wouldn’t have any negative effects on whoever uses them, and you are no exception!”

“D’aww… thanks Twilight. That’s awfully nice of you.” Dash coos with an appreciative smile as she hugs her charitable friend.

From that tender embrace, Twilight eases up a bit as she sighs with a thankful smile from Rainbow not questioning her subtle slip-up earlier. Once they finish their hug, Twilight insists with renewed giddiness, “In any case, with you here, we can test them together and get to Applewood in no time at all!”

Liking this method of transportation way more than going on another tiresome train ride, Rainbow shares in the princess’s enthusiasm as she asks with an eager smile, “Sweet! So, how do we get them to work?”

“Here, I’ll show you.” Twilight says while she uses her magic to pull out one of the rolled-up maps before unrolling it on her desk, and she directs Rainbow Dash to lean closer to show her the illustrated map of their chosen destination. “Let’s pick out a specific location in Applewood. The more specific you are, the easier it will be for the necklaces to pinpoint the right location for us. Let’s see… ah-ha! Here!” she exclaims with joy as she taps a fore hoof on a particular spot. “The famous Neighponese Theater! This will be a perfect starting point for us!”

With their location in mind, Twilight quickly rolls the map up before turning back to her waiting friend and standing close to her while stating the next step in activating their magical jewelry. “Now I just need to hold the button on my necklace and say the location before releasing it.”

With a hoof pressed against the globe-shaped button, it lights up as she holds it place before she clears her throat and announces their destination clearly, “Ahem…! Neighponese Theater in Applewood!”

After that is said, Twilight lets go of that button and both hers and Rainbow Dash’s blink several times. A few seconds later, the blinking stops as the glowing globes remain still. And in perfect synchronization, their necklaces enwrap their passengers in individual spheres of light before they pop in a flash, with the two participants vanishing without a trace.

From Rainbow’s perspective, the bright light only lasted in a mere second, but she blinks on impulse when that happened. With her eyes closed, she definitely feels a sudden change in terrain. Right underneath her hooves, she is no longer touching the velvety carpet of the library’s study room as the ground is hard and grainy. Along with where she is standing, her ears pick up countless noises, ranging from the galloping of pony-drawn carriages to the talkative tourists passing by. This is definitely a far cry from the library’s quietness she was just used to.

Once she opens her eyes, her vision takes a moment to readjust before she scopes out their new location. As her sharp senses have already picked up, they are indeed hundreds of carriages crowding the glitzy streets and dozens of ponies swarming around her and Twilight Sparkle. Most of them are gossiping at the sudden sight of an Alicorn Princess and one of the Elements of Harmony.

Barely paying any attention to the swarming ponies around her, Dash turns around and gasps mightily at what’s looming before her: the one and only Neighponese Theater.

In-between two massive box-shaped towers with a pair of golden spires on each of them, the irreplaceable theater towers its awestricken visitors at 90 feet-tall as it’s held together by two gigantic, red columns, which supports the multilayered, extensive roof made out of bronze and iron. It’s embellished with truly authentic decorations, including two magnificent statues of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing guard on each side of the golden gates and a 30-feet tall eastern-style dragon craved in painstaking details from a massive slab of stone that hangs above the main entrance.

As Rainbow continues to gape at the Neighponese Theater’s utter magnificence, Twilight Sparkle bounces around in circles like a happy-go-lucky filly as she proudly announces her latest achievement, “Ha-ha! Success! The final test run was a complete success!”

Once Rainbow breaks out of her awe-inspiring trance from noticing Twilight’s very own happy dance, she bears a chuckling grin as she comments wittily, “Never doubted you for a second, Twi. Still, this is so awesome! We not only got here in ten seconds flat, but we also got plenty of time to kill before our movie studio tour starts!”

Abruptly, Twilight stops her bouncing as she responds in surprise, “Wow, you’re right! I should have considered on bring a guidebook with me before we teleported here.”

“Well, just use that doo-hickey to magic yourself back to your room and come back here in a no time.”

“While that sounds like a good idea, I don’t want us to overdo these special necklaces.” she points it out knowingly. “If we misuse them, they may take a long time to fully recharge themselves before reactivations. Besides, since Applewood is a well-known hot spot for tourism, we can easily find a guidebook somewhere close by.”

Without a fuss, Rainbow agrees with a nod, “Good thinking, Twilight. And while you’re at it, maybe you can find us a good place to get us something to eat. It’s hard to get up so early when you’re on an empty stomach you know.”

After an enjoyable late breakfast from a renowned diner’s big, scrumptious donuts, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle take to the streets to spend a few hours in Applewood before heading over the studio. In the midst of their sight-seeing, they take their time to explore the Neighponese Theater some more, examine the names on Applewood’s very own Walk of Fame, and check out a few exhibits that are showcasing some of the most iconic movies and celebrities.

Hours later, they arrive right on time at the studio to begin their big movie tour. And waiting right outside for them is a beige-colored mare with her navy mane tied in a neat hair bun. In appropriate fashion to indict in her position as a film director, she is wearing dark, round glasses, a black beret, and a white collar with a red ascot tucked in-between.

“Ah! Princess Twilight Sparkle! Rainbow Dash! Welcome!” she greets with a broad smile as she shakes hooves with them. “I’m Miss Dolly, director of the Daring Do films, and I’m so honored that you two could make it here today!”

“No problem. Thanks for having us here.” Dash responds modestly.

“Yes, it is a privilege to be at your wonderful set.” Twilight adds with a light bow.

“Oh, you flatter me, princess.” Miss Dolly smiles as she returns the courtesy. “Well then, let’s not waste any more time, shall we? Please, right this way!”

As the director leads her privileged guests inside, Twilight asks in a whisper, “By the way, Rainbow Dash. How did you arrange all of this for us?”

“Well I have Princess Celestia to thank for that as well as for arranging all of this for us.”

“P-Princess Celestia did all of this?!” Twilight stammers in shock. “But how did she find out about the upcoming Daring Do films?”

“The newspaper, of course.” She answers with a casual smirk.

“…O-oh.”

From seeing her friend getting all flushed like that, Rainbow comments with a chuckle, “Geez, Twilight. For an egghead that likes to read a lot, you really need to get with the times more often.”

After frowning slightly over Dash’s sly remark, Twilight turns her attention to her surroundings as her friend does the same. All around them, there are numerous sets on display, mostly taken out of an ancient temple setting. And while there is no filmmaking at the moment, that doesn’t mean no one is standing around and doing nothing. For actors, their getting their appropriate makeup and costumes on while cameraponies set up their filming and lighting equipment for the next shot to come.

“Excuse me, Miss Dolly?” Twilight asks kindly. “Is it true that most of these props are actual artifacts?”

“That is correct, princess.” Miss Dolly nods to Twilight’s question. “With approval from the museums that donated them, we established these ancient relics as part of our sets to help give our movies more authenticity as well as draw our audience more into the adventures we’re creating here.”

Then, they stop in front of a colossal head statue of a stone-faced pony as the director points it out as an example, “This monument is one of our most prized contributions as it was loaned to us by Manehatten’s Natural History Museum.”

With eyes lighting up like a foal getting presents on Hearth’s Warming Eve, the Alicorn princess is completely mesmerized by the well-preserved statue as she approaches it gingerly before placing her hooves on the stony sculpture’s face. Gently, she rubs against the head’s gritty, carved surface as she admires the extraordinary feeling in a lovey-dovey manner.

“Yes, I see! You can definitely see and feel the corroded details on this magnificent statue that you can’t replicate on any movie props!”

As the captivated Twilight continues to caress the statue’s grainy features, Miss Dolly steps forward and informs the distracted princess in a quiet, respectful tone, “Uhh… Forgive me for being so upfront, princess, but we try our best to not touch the artifacts ourselves.”

From that startling realization, Twilight freezes in the midst of her stupor before she retracts her curious fore hooves right away and apologizes with a blushing, sheepish smile, “Oops. Sorry. I just can’t help myself when actual pieces of history are right in front of me! Sigh… I’m never going to wash these hooves again!” she whispers to herself as she gently rubs her fore hooves together to recapture that wonderful sensation she just experienced.

Please tell me she’s only kidding. Rainbow dreads slightly on that thought before dismissing that notion with a question of her own. “So anyway, do you guys film off-location as well?”

“As a matter of fact, we do.” Dolly answers with a smile. “For our first string of episodes, we’ve captured a lot of fantastic scenery from some of Equestria’s breathtaking jungles.”

“Cool! It’s like an adventure of its own!” Rainbow comments with a captivated smirk.

“That is one of the enjoyments when it comes to filmmaking. Ah! There she is!” the director declares with a wide grin as she points out a particular pony in front of them. “Princess Twilight. Rainbow Dash. I would like you to meet… Daring Do!”

Upon that announcement, the presented pony turns around and poses in a confident posture while Rainbow and Twilight gasp in amazement over the remarkable resemblance of their favorite fictional pony, especially for Dash’s case, from her light gold coat, her multi-striped, grayscale hair, her olive green, collared shirt, and her trademark pith helmet. Indeed, the one and only Daring Do is stand right before her gaping fans with a winning grin.

Soon enough, Rainbow Dash enters in full-on fangirl mode and rushes to her favorite idol with an uncontrollable smile. “Oh my gosh! It’s her! It’s really her! It is such an honor to meet you! And I am such a huge fan of your work!” she gushes nonstop as she hastily shakes hooves with the famed archaeologist.

Despite taking joy over her friend’s squealing gushiness, Twilight walks up to her and informs her with a chuckling grin, “Rainbow Dash, I hate to burst your bubble, but she is just an actor playing as Daring Do.” Of course, she couldn’t contain her inner fangirl for different reasons as she gets a better look at the Pegasus’s appearance from different angles. “Though I must say, her resemblance is truly extraordinary! The makeup artists responsible for this certainly outdid themselves!”

“Actually, I’m the one you should thank for this stunning transformation of mine.” Daring Do clarifies with a lighthearted smirk.

“Really? How does somepony like your accomplish such an amazing feat by yourself?” Twilight asks.

With a lighthearted giggle, she answers slyly, “It’s a quite simple feat actually…”

From that pause, the well-known character is suddenly consumed in a burst of green flames, which catches Twilight and Rainbow off-guard. And as the magical fire quickly disappears, a new creature takes Daring Do’s place. Judging by her insect-like features, such as her forelimbs riddled with holes, jagged wings attached to her carapace, slightly curvy horn, and black body, the actress must be a changeling. However, the are some features that are more distinguishable from the rest of her race, mainly the bright magenta coloring in her eyes, wings, tail, and webbed mane that drapes over one side of her face.

“…when that pony isn’t a pony at all.” She finishes her sentence with a bold, toothy grin.

“Oh my! You’re a changeling, aren’t you?” Twilight exclaims.

“Yes, I am. And the name is Mirage by the way.” She introduces herself respectfully whilst shaking hooves with the two ponies. “Nice to meet once again you, Princess Twilight. Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh, nice to meet you too, Mirage.” Twilight responds politely in return. “I must say, you really surprised me, but at the same time, I want to kick myself for not seeing this possibility myself.”

“Wait, have we… met before?” Dash tilts her head slightly in confusion.

“We have.” Mirage nods. “But we never spoke with one another during Cadance and Shining Armor’s wedding.”

With a tap of her left fore hoof on her chin, Rainbow tries to ponder from remembering a changeling named Mirage in that fateful battle of theirs. Unfortunately, nothing comes to mind. “Nnnnno. Doesn’t ring a bell, considering that all of you look the s--!” But before she could finish saying something stupid, she immediately shuts herself up by stuffing her mouth with a fore hoof before taking a moment to apologize in a hasty, shameful manner. “Sorry! That sounded way less insensitive in my head!”

In response to Rainbow’s embarrassment, Mirage chuckles lightly before reassuring the Pegasus with a considerate grin, “It’s fine. I know that we didn’t meet on the best of circumstances, but hey, that’s all in the past. Right now, I have shining future to look forward to.”

Then Twilight Sparkle asks, “May I ask on how did you come in contact with this movie?”

“Of course. It’s thanks to Queen Chrysalis and Princess Cadance’s exchange program where my Colony gets to integrate with Equestria’s society and make good use of our talents. As a former agent of espionage, I saw great opportunity in Applewood’s film industry.”

Then Director Holly adds with a nod, “Yes, and thanks to Mirage’s masquerading abilities and acting, we were able to incorporate our very own Daring Do into our films.”

“And best of all, I get to have all of the love I can eat!” the changeling squeaks with a hungry smile.

“Without overindulging yourselves or thoroughly draining our charitable contributors, of course.” Miss Holly comments with a knowing eyebrow.

“Of course.” she agrees with a hearty chuckle.

“Wait, I heard that Ahuizotl will make an appearance in the first movie.” says Rainbow Dash before she looks around for him. “Does that mean that he will be played by another changeling too?”

“Yes, that is true.” Mirage confirms before she spots the said character nearby. “In fact, there he is right now.”

Close by, the Ahuizotl look-alike paces frantically around in place as he continues to silently mouth his dialogue from the script he is reading in his right hand. Like the portrayal of Daring Do, her chief villain looks just like his fictional counterpart, including his enormous, black-and-blue body, his monkey-like limbs, and his distinguishable third hand attached to his long, thin tail.

“Hey big guy!” Mirage shouts out to him. “How long are you keep staying in character like that? We took a break from filming a while ago!”

With a harrumph, the male doppleganger responds with his head held up high, “As long as it will take whenever they need Ahuizoti to take the stage once again and strike fear into the hearts of his enemies and spectators alike!”

“Oh give it a break, Trapjaw!” Mirage groans with a roll of her eyes. “Even you can’t keep it up for that long!”

While Rainbow Dash’s eyes widen slightly on how familiar that name sounded, the fake Ahuizotl sets aside his script on a table nearby and stomps toward his changeling comrade before retorting with a stern finger pointing at her, “Do not act so high and mighty with me, Mirage! Only the Royalty may have the authority to push me around like that! I still outrank you and demand the upmost respect I deserve!”

“Whatever you say, commander.” She shrugs with a cynical smile. "Now get out of that costume already! We have important guests to meet!”

With a soft snort, the disguised changeling complies and diminishes his get-up with his unique, fiery magic. Once the green flames died down, the changeling returns to his true form with his size cut down in half from his Ahuizotl persona as he displays his notable features: a box-faced head with a pointy chin and jaws lined up with rows of razor-sharp teeth.

“Ah, the fair maiden, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and the brave and bold Rainbow Dash!” Trapjaw announces as he politely bows before them. “What an honor it is to have you both grace our presence once again!”

“Hey, I know you!” Rainbow says to him. “You were with Chrysalis at my wedding last summer!”

“You are correct, and I can see that you and Sir Mustang have been very busy since then.” he states that knowingly as he glances at her nine-month pregnant belly. “My sincerest congratulations to both of you.”

“Thanks. By the way, that’s pretty cool of you to take the form of something as big and exotic as Ahuizoti.”

“Yes, especially with how you can shape and bend those fingers of his with such dexterity!” Twilight compliments him as well.

“But of course!” Trapjaw grins with pride before demonstrating his proud abilities by only transforming his tail in Ahuizotl’s and wiggling its blue fingers at the awestruck visitors. “Second to the Royalty herself, I am truly confident in my shapeshifting abilities as a proud representative of my changeling brethren!”

“Plus, his melodramatics seem like a perfect choice for the role of Daring Do’s recurring adversary.” Mirage whispers shrewdly as he leans close to Rainbow and Twilight. “Also, it will give our Queen a much-needed break from his constant annoyance every once in a while. “

“Huh, an over-the-top character playing the role of an over-the-top villain. Hmm, seems fitting enough.” Dash nods with a sharp grin matching that with Mirage’s.

Taking the hint from the changeling and Pegasus’s shrewdness, the Trapjaw remarks with a mild pout while turning his head away from them, “Hmph, say what you will! I am only here as ordered by my beloved Queen and to do service for the Colony itself! Though I must say, the experience here is very… rewarding to say the least.” he admits softly to himself.

As the mares chuckle lightly at Trapjaw’s awkwardness, they suddenly hear a slight crash nearby. Once they examine the cause of the noise, Rainbow and Twilight stare in shock and disbelief on a familiar face right before their very eyes. Next to a volunteer pony operating a huge flatbed cart filled with puppets of skeleton warriors is a brilliant azure Unicorn mare with long, smooth, light blue hair and a star-shaped magic wand as her Cutie Mark.

“Careful with those puppets over there!” the disgruntled Unicorn scolds the one pushing the cart for her. “How can the Great and Powerful Trixie bring life to these skeletal minions if you keep horsing around like that?”

“Trixie?”

From Twilight’s quiet interjection, Trixie’s violet eyes shot up in great astonishment from that familiar voice, and once she sharply turns her head around to verify the source, she gapes in shock from the unexpected appearance of her once-bitter rivals.

“O-oh! P-P-Princess Twilight! I… had no idea that you and Rainbow Dash would be here today!” Trixie stammers nervously.

“Hey, Trixie! Long time no see!” Rainbow says with an upbeat smile. “I haven’t see you since you did that magic show at Canterlot right after our battle with Arrogon. Though from your version, I don’t seem to recall you being the one to take down the Destroyer yourself.” She adds with a knowing smirk.

From that clever reminder, Trixie explains herself with a sheepish grin, “Oh well… Trixie might have stretched it out just a little bit to give it more pizazz for a widespread audience.”

“Right… anyhow, you seem well-suited with your latest niche here.”

“Naturally. I mean, who else can ponies turn to for providing such dazzling effects if not the Great and Powerful Trixie?” she proclaims with pride as usual.

Miss Dolly confirms with a chuckling smile, “Despite her boastful nature, she certainly is the best when it comes to our pyrotechnics and puppetry.”

“By the way, Rainbow Dash… are you expectant by any chance?” Trixie asks modestly as she stares at the Pegasus’s exposed belly.

“Yep. In fact, I’m carrying two foals right now.”

“Twins, huh? Well, I can see that you will definitely have your hooves full there. Best of luck I’d say.”

“Thanks.”

“So Trixie, do you operate these all by yourself?” Twilight inquires with keen interest as she walks over to the flatbed of inanimate puppets. “It must take a lot of magic to manage even one of these puppets.”

With a proud smirk, Trixie walks over to her puppets and offers them a preview of what’s to come, “Perhaps you two would like to witness a firsthoof demonstration from the Great and Powerful Trixie herself!”

As Trixie concentrates on her horn, one of the skeleton puppets gradually comes to life as its hollow eyes light up with the same pinkish glow as the puppetmaster’s magic. In a very convincing manner, the undead puppet crawls off the cart and plops onto the floor before it wobblingly stands on all four hooves.

“Voilà!” Trixie caps it off with an accomplished smirk.

“Whoa, look at that!” Rainbow beams at the lifelike skeleton. “It’s like it’s moving all by itselves! And the way their hollow eyes are all glowy like that… so cool!”

Twilight is just as ecstatic as her winged friend as she awes at puppet’s masterful manipulation, “Amazing! And it’s even not enwrapped in any form of magic! How did you do that?”

“Now now… a true magician never reveals her secrets.” Trixie giggles with a teasing grin.

“Not even if it’s a direct order from the princess herself?” Rainbow counters with a witty smirk.

As Trixie flusters on changing her mind if she receives orders from royalty herself, Twilight lightly scolds her smirking friend, “Rainbow Dash, you know I would never impose others with sheer authority like that!” Then, she softens up as she asks Trixie in a polite, shy manner, “But umm… it will sate my curiosity if you will be so kind to share this with me.”

Trixie blushes lightly from Twilight’s courtesy and coy smile, so she clears her throat to maintain her composure and complies with the young princess’s request, “Well… since you ask, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to reveal some of my tricks with you. Here, look up and see if you notice anything different.”

Once Trixie points up with a tilt of her head, Rainbow and Twilight look up as well and see several intangible orbs of the stage magician’s magic hanging up high in mid-air. But strangely enough, there is nothing within the magical spheres.

“That’s weird.” Rainbow comments with slight confusion. “I can see your magic aura, but I don’t see what exactly they’re holding in place.”

“It must be quite baffling to figure this out yourself, isn’t it?” Trixie goads with a bragging smile. “Well then, allow The Great and Powerful Trixie to shed some light and reveal it to you--!”

“I got it!” Twilight gasps with a brilliant smile. “It’s the strings! You’re simply pulling their strings, aren’t you?”

A bit surprised and impressed by her supposed rival’s sharp observation, Trixie acknowledges it in a light grumble, “Y-yes, that’s correct.”

After hovering up to get a closer inspection at the hidden strings, Twilight then comments with further amazement, “But I’ve never seen strings as transparent as these before.”

“That’s because these threads are produced by the finest spinners in our Colony.” Trapjaw explains with a proud, toothy grin. “A single strand is invisible to the naked eye, but it’s strong enough to operate one of their joints.”

“I see!” Twilight concurs with a bright smile. “Because of their lightweight, transparency, and durability, they serve as the perfect substitute for puppet’s strings, especially when captured on film!”

“And if you think that’s impressive, you should see what happens when the Great and Powerful Trixie can operate a dozen puppets at once!” Trixie brags mildly.

In response to the magician’s swagger, Rainbow Dash goads with a smirk, “Oh yeah? Prove it.”

With a light harrumph, Trixie abides to the Pegasus’ challenge and concentrates more on the rest of the puppets while the magical glow on her horn intensifies even further. One by one, the fake skeletons come to life as they join up with their first animated associate. With all of the skeleton warriors lined up in menacing poses, Trixie lets out a soft sigh over her latest feat and wipes some of the sweat off her brow.

Then, she turns back to the now-speechless Rainbow Dash and smirks with self-satisfaction from shutting the her up. “There. Satisfied?”

Realizing that she has left her lower jaw hanging out in open, the flabbergasted Pegasus clamps her mouth shut, before brushing it off with a casual grin, “Okay, not bad, I’ll give you that. But I bet Twilight can do a much better job than you!”

But just as Trixie frowns over Dash’s goading, Twilight Sparkle steps in and lectures her friend for speaking in her place, “Rainbow Dash, you leave her be! Trixie has every right to be proud of her remarkable abilities! And to be honest, I don’t think I can manipulate something as complex as these puppets myself, especially all at once.” After that is said, Twilight faces Trixie, who remains thunderstruck by the princess’s noble interjection earlier, and expresses her gratitude with a modest smile, “Thank you very much for sharing that with us, Trixie. It was very enlightening.”

In the midst of her astonishment, a growing blush lights up her blue cheeks as she reflects over the humble praise she just received from her former rival. Keeping her cool as best as possible, Trixie keeps her head down to avert his gaze and cheeks from the smiling Alicorn and warmly accepts the gratitude in a stammering tone.

“O-oh, you’re quite welcome, Princess.”

“Twilight is just fine, please.” she insists with a nod.

A bit startled from accepting such a lack of etiquette, the blue Unicorn eventually agrees whilst nodding right back, “O-okay then, Twilight it is.”

“Where did you learn such advanced puppetry like that?” she asks with wondrous eyes.

In response, Trixie lightly rubs her chest with a fore hoof in a boastful manner as she answers with a cryptic smile to maintain her usual persona, “When you’re a traveling magician like myself, you tend to pick up tricks of the trade from here and there.”

“In that case, would you like to come by in Canterlot and share them with me?” Twilight offers with a hospitable smile. “I would very much like to give it a try myself. I’ll even provide some books for you if you ever want to try some new spells yourself.”

From receiving such a rare invitation from a princess no less, Trixie shakes over her indecisiveness, as she hesitates in an exceptionally humble manner, “Oh, well… that’s quite generous of you, Twilight. But umm… I doubt you want to waste your precious time with somepony like me.”

“Nonsense! You’re my friend, and I always make time with my friends.”

Being considered as a friend of Twilight Sparkle sounds so foreign to Trixie. And yet, the idea of such companionship becomes more and more promising as it resonates in every corner of her mind. With a mild blush consuming her face once again, she decides to take a chance on this opportunity and eventually agrees with a tiny, meek smile.

“I suppose I can work that in my agenda this week.”

“This is going to be so great!” Twilight beams with excitement as she claps her hooves in an adorable manner. “We’ll get to read books, compare notes, study new techniques, and trade spells with each other! It will be like our very own study date together!”

“D-d-d-d-date?!”

Trixie freezes in place after her impulsive shout-out as a hot, pink blush replaces all of the blue in her flabbergasted face. From that misunderstanding, vivid visions play out in her mind as she imagines on what kind of activities they will do together on their very first “date.” With every new fantasy becoming increasingly suggestive than the last, a silly smile creeps across her brightly flushed face.

Misinterpreting Trixie’s strange reaction for something else, Twilight frantically apologizes for her unintended foolhardiness, “Oh, sorry! I hope I don’t sound so imposing!”

“No no, it’s fine, Twilight!” the blushing Unicorn hastily reassures her Alicorn friend. “I would be honored to go on a date with you--! I-I-I mean… to study with you! …Yes.”

Suddenly, Mirage stands next to Trixie to take a couple of sniffs of her before a famished smile stretches across her muzzle as she shrewdly comments over a new change in the Unicorn’s character, “Mmmm… My my, Trixie. I didn’t think you would have an ounce of love in you.”

As Trixie is startled by how close Mirage is, she is cornered by another changeling from the other side as Trapjaw displays a toothy grin with a bit of drool seeping out of his numerous, sharp teeth. “Yes, perhaps you wouldn’t mind if we take just a little nibble of this rare treat ourselves.”

Entrapped by the two ravenous changelings, the Trixie quickly initiates one of her tricks by summoning up a smokescreen and making her quick getaway to her cart before piling up with the skeleton puppets she demonstrated earlier. With all of her puppets placed back on the cart and accounted for, she turns back to her visitors and excuses herself with a sheepish grin.

“I uhh… should probably get back to my priorities. These puppets aren’t going to move by themselves you know. So I’ll… see you before you leave then, Twilight?”

“Of course, we’ll be sure to catch up with you later.”

“Great! Well then… enjoy the rest of your tour. And umm… congratulations once again, Rainbow Dash.” And after her modest yet awkward goodbye, Trixie makes her hasty exit as she gets back on track with her job.

With the blushing unicorn making her departure, Rainbow Dash remarks nonchalantly over what they just witnessed, “Well, that was a nice surprise, wasn’t it? I wouldn’t expect the Great and Powerful Trixie acting so humbly in the end, let alone being all friendly with you like that.”

“Oh, I don’t mind it at all.” Twilight responds with a carefree smile as they continue their tour with the director leading the way. “I think it’s wonderful to see Trixie change for the better since our last encounter. Besides, it will be nice to be reacquainted with her and get to know her better.”

“Mm-hmm~!” Rainbow mutters with a very wide, clever grin.

From that simple response, Twilight stares at the smirking Pegasus with a very bewildered look on her face as she questions her with a raised eyebrow, “What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

Without ruining it for her, Rainbow lets out an irrepressible chuckle as she comments with increasingly shrewd smirk, “Geez, for an egghead, you sure can be clueless sometimes.”

Perplexed even further by Dash’s sudden all-knowingness, Twilight demands in a frantic tone, “Wh-what is that supposed to mean?!”

Taking great joy over the Alicorn’s typical restlessness, Rainbow lets out another chuckle and vaguely answers with a meaningful grin, “Give it time, and I’m sure you’ll figure it out eventually.”

Towards the end of their tour, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle are given a sneak peek at a few completed short films that are packaged into one story. For somepony like Twilight, she can see several differences between the film and the book as well as a few things that were cut out or alter from its original source. But that doesn’t stop the two mares from gushing over the absolute awesomeness the adventure films are portraying in the end.

After saying their goodbyes to Miss Holly, Trixie, and the rest of the film’s crew, Rainbow and Twilight take the time to have a nice dinner in Applewood before teleporting back to Ponyville. Upon their arrival at the outskirts of Dash’s home, it’s already nighttime as the stars above shine as brightly as the moon itself. From looking up at the nightly, blue sky, Rainbow gets an idea and asks Twilight if she wants to look at the stars with her. A bit surprise by Dash’s sudden interest in stargazing, the lovable bookworm gasps with a big smile and happily agrees.

There, they lay on the soft, green grass and casually enjoy their nightly activity together. In the midst of their stargazing, Twilight points out the most well-known constellations as the Pegasus attentively listens to the best of her abilities. At the end of Twilight’s very own Astronomy 101, Rainbow recollects some of the constellations she just memorized.

“Okay, I think I got it this time!” Rainbow says as she points to the first constellation in mind. “That there is Scorpio!”

“Right!” Twilight confirms with a bright smile.

“And over there is Taurus!”

“Yes, you got it!”

“And that must be… Draco, right?”

From Dash’s reluctant guess, Twilight corrects her with a gentle smile, “Actually, that’s the Hydra.”

“What? How can you tell the difference between the two?” she pouts over her first mistake.

“They may look the same, but there are ways them apart.” she addresses as she uses her magical horn to point them out by drawing bright lines that connects the constellations’ stars. “For example, they may have a similar pattern, but the Hydra has more of a jagged line while Draco has a sharp curve around its neck. Also, the Hydra has fourteen stars for its constellation while Draco consists of only eleven stars.” she adds as she lights up the individual stars that make up the two starry arrangements.

After the Alicorn’s review, Rainbow Dash blinks speechlessly before rubbing her aching head from her brain overloading as she comments with a light grump, “I guess, but you’re just too good for this. I still say they hardly resemble them in my opinion.”

“Well, it’s nice of you to give astronomy a try yourself.” Twilight nods with an understanding smile. “In fact, I say you’ve done a lot better than the average pony.”

“Even so, I just like looking at the stars from time to time. It’s pretty relaxing to say the least.”

“Yes, it is.”

As silence fills the air whilst they continue their stargazing, Twilight can’t help but fret on what’s to come for her winged friend in the just a few short months away. While Rainbow is preoccupied from looking at the stars, the concerned princess shifts her head to face the Pegasus before she halfheartedly asks the vexing question in mind.

“Rainbow Dash?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you… going to be okay with what’s ahead?” she cringes from ask that.

From that implication, Rainbow contemplates to herself by looking back up at the nightly blue sky before she answers with a surprisingly casual grin, “I think so. At the very least, I know that my foals will be in good hooves if it comes to that.” she confirms with a soft stroke of her occupied belly.

Surprised to receive such a calm answer, Twilight concedes with a small smile, You really are as brave as they come, Rainbow Dash. I only wish that there was more I can do for you.” she dejects over her own guilt.

From noticing her friend’s wretched demeanor, Rainbow tries to cheer her up with an upbeat smirk, “Come on, Twilight. You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. You and Ford did everything you can for me, and that’s more than enough for what I can ask from--!”

“But it’s not enough!” Twilight exclaims in overwhelming self-pity. “I’m supposed to a princess! I should be more prepared for something like this! And yet, I feel so helpless from not doing anything at this point! How can I bear to sit idly by when I’m going to lose one of my best friends someday?!”

As the young Alicorn carries on with her uncontainable melancholy with countless tear pouring out of her poor, dejected eyes, Rainbow Dash gently pulls Twilight in for a comforting hug before the sobbing princess tightly squeezes her consoling friend, hoping to never let go.

Once Twilight tones down her crying a bit, Rainbow speaks up in a gentle, sweet tone, “Twilight, I know it’s not going to be easy for you, but it’s thanks to you especially that I count myself lucky in all of the awesome adventures we shared together. And more importantly, I feel more closely with the rest of our friends ever since you first arrived at Ponyville.”

From that warm reminder on how their first friendship came to be, Twilight bears a gradual smile, and she takes a couple of sniffles to clear her voice before responding back to Dash’s assurance, “Thanks, but if anything else, the real credit goes to you on how we became best friends in first place.”

Astounded by Twlight’s claim, the Pegasus expresses her confusion by letting out one simple word, “Huh?”

“Don’t you remember when you shared your Cutie Mark story with us?” she explains even further with a reminiscing smile. “It was thanks to your first Sonic Rainboom that all six of us got our Cutie Marks back when we were fillies. You, me, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. If it weren’t for you, who knows where our lives may end up. Either way, it’s because of that one special connection we shared back then that made us the very ponies we are today.”

Once Twilight emphasizes her point, Rainbow gives it some more thought on how her special talent brought them all together and concurs with a chuckling smile, “Yeah, I guess it is pretty cool when you think about it.”

“Maybe that’s why I’m so worked about all of this.” Twilight admits with soft dread. “If you’re gone, then I’m afraid that I will lost that connection as well."

Seeing how her studious friend is worrying over nothing, Rainbow Dash shakes her head with a lighthearted giggle and assures with a bold smirk on her face, “Twilight, you out of all ponies should know better than that. No what happens to us, our friendship will never disappear from this world. Just as long as you don’t forget that, of course.”

Still enwrapped of the grinning Pegasus’s embrace, Twilight finally breaks into a relaxing smile and knowingly replies back, “Trust me, Rainbow Dash. That will never happen no matter what.”

And with that said, they turn their attention back to the cool, nightly sky and spent the rest of the evening admiring the shimmering stars above.

Many Hours Earlier…

It’s been awhile since Ford Mustang saw his wife off at Ponyville’s train station, and now, he is standing before the familiar house in one of Cloudsdale’s luxurious neighborhoods. The reluctant stallion has lost track of time on how long he has been standing in front of that house. But during that period, Ford takes one last moment to carefully gather his thoughts before he enters the lion’s den all on his own.

With a deep breath, he lets out a heavy sigh before he quietly apologizes to his faraway mare, “I’m sorry, angel. But I’m doing this for your own good.”

With his mind set on the important task at hoof, he slowly but slowly walks up to the front door and rings the doorbell. Eventually, the door opens up and Mustang comes face to face with the elder stallion, who still bears a strong resemblance from his daughter, mainly from his wild, rainbow-colored mane and bluish coat.

“Hey, Ford! Long time no see!” the older Pegasus greets with a welcoming grin.

“Hi, Turbo Dash.” he greets back with a soft smile. “May I come in?”

Author's Note

It took a while to figure out on how a movie studio will incorporate Daring Do and Ahuizotl especially onto film. At first, I thought I would make Trixie play as Ahuizotl by having her use her theatric-based magic to create the villain's body/shell for her to operate and to have her change her voice while acting out her lines. However, I quickly dismissed that idea because I didn't think she was that powerful enough to do all that stuff at once, and even if she can, it would have exhausted her greatly. So I gave the role of Ahizotl to the overdramatic changeling from the previous story, Trapjaw.

So anyway, Rainbow's father is up next, and even though I have a general idea on how it will play out with Ford's visit and eventually his chance to spend time with Rainbow Dash, feel free to share some of your ideas if any of them strikes a cord for me.

Chapter 28 – A Day with Turbo Dash Part 1

Chapter 28 – A Day with Turbo Dash Part 1

“Sure sure! Come on in!”

From Turbo Dash’s welcoming gesture, Ford Mustang gingerly steps inside the father-in-law’s house as he slightly hangs his head low. However, Ford’s awkward disposition goes unnoticed by the older stallion as Turbo leads his guest toward the living room with renewed giddiness in every step he takes.

“So… how’s my baby girl doing back home? I haven’t heard from her since the ultrasound. Can you believe how quickly time flies by since the last time we saw each other during Hearth's Warming Eve? And to think, we only have a couple months left before the twins finally arrive! Oh, I can’t wait to spoil those little tykes to no end! Just you wait, Mustang! I’m going to be the coolest grandpa they will ever have!”

From expressing his never-ending enthusiasm over his upcoming grandfoals, Turbo displays a big, toothy smile that stretches all across his face. But once he faces his son-in-law, his proud smile droops drastically as he finally takes notice of Ford’s impassive, quiet demeanor.

“Ford, what’s wrong?” Turbo asks with a soft concern. “You’re awfully quieter than usual.”

“S-sorry.” He responds in a timid tone. “It’s just that… I need to tell you something really important.”

“Sure.” he nods with an empathetic smile as they enter the living room. “Have a seat.”

Upon the command of the hospitable stallion, Ford takes his seat on one of the sofas as Turbo Dash follows suit by sitting across from him.

Once they are seated, Turbo then asks, “So, what’s on your mind?”

“Well you see… I…” But Ford is already choking up on his own words due to his rapidly deteriorating composure as well as his growing fear on what Turbo’s reaction might be. So he dismisses his hesitation with an awkward chuckle as he explains himself with a fore hoof smacked across his forehead. “Oh man, this is a lot harder than I imagined! I thought I could do this without her! I’m sorry. It’s just that… I don’t know where to begin with this.”

“It’s okay, Mustang.” he reassures in a gentle tone. “Take your time.”

Taking his time as carefully as possible, the still edgy stallion takes a deep breath first before he restates himself on what he wanted to share with the elder Pegasus in the first place. “Turbo, I… I really wish that I wasn’t in this predicament right now, but you see… Rainbow Dash and I… have been through a lot as of lately.”

“You and Dashie aren’t having a marriage dispute, are you?” Turbo asks with a hint of worry.

“No no! Nothing like that!” Ford answers with a frantic wave of his fore legs. “Everything’s been going really great for us!”

“Then what is it that you need to talk about?”

Once again, Ford recomposes himself before he clarifies in a quieter tone. “Well umm… this might sound unbelievable, but a while back, I… had these… visions, which strangely enough were the result of my Draconian Magic. And in these… visions, they showed me… something terrible that will happen in the near future.”

From the reluctant Mustang’s cryptic clarification, Turbo takes a moment to reflect on what the younger stallion just said. But after sometime on figuring it out himself, immense dread comes to mind as his gold-colored eyes dwindle drastically from having to think on such an awful possibility.

“Do they involve… Rainbow Dash in some way?” the older stallion utters in subtle dismay.

Hesitant as ever, Ford eventually responds in a whisper and with a shaky nod, “Yes.”

Despite his growing anxiety over his one and only daughter, Turbo Dash couldn’t help himself from inquiring even further with a subtle yet difficult gulp. “Wh-what will happen to her if these visions do come true?”

And after inhaling another deep breath, Ford reveals his wife’s predetermined fate in a very fainthearted tone, “When the twins are born, sh-sh-she… dies.”

As Ford cringes from having to share this awful truth with Rainbow’s father, everything in Turbo Dash’s body seems to come to a complete standstill as he displays a look of frozen terror on his slack-jawed face. With Mustang staring uncomfortably at the petrified stallion, the younger pony is filled with immense worry as if his news is too much for the older Pegasus to bear.

And just before Ford could express his concerns by asking on the older gentlecolt’s well-being, the expressionless stallion lowers his head and mutters in a slightly cold tone, “Ford, how could you…?”

“Turbo, I--!”

But Ford’s remorse is severely cut short when Turbo Dash lunges forward and harshly tackles the younger stallion off his seat. And as Mustang grudgingly gets himself up, Turbo grabs him by the collar and bring the younger stallion up close to his face. From this extreme closeness, the startled Mustang locks his wide-eyed gaze with Turbo Dash’s dark, petrifying glare.

“HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME ABOUT THIS SOONER?!” he demands in an uncontrollably infuriated tone.

“W-we wanted to!” Mustang replies in stammering fright. “I wanted to! But Rainbow wasn’t ready just yet so I--!”

“How long have you known about this?! How long?!” he repeats himself in a louder voice as he shakes Ford up a bit.

“Since… November.” he admits in quiet hesitation.

“NOVEMBER?!” he screeches in uproar as his twisted face turns into a fuming shade of red. “You’ve known about this for months and have done nothing since then?!”

Taking insult on that implication of laziness, Ford snaps back with an increasing scowl, “Hey, I’ve done more than you can imagine!”

“Really?!” Turbo dismisses that claim with sharp sarcasm. “Because from the way you’re acting, I’d say you’ve already given up! Did you even bother to consult with the Princesses about this?!”

“Yes I did!” he retorts with conviction as he lets out a mighty stomp on the cloudy carpet floor. “In fact, I went above and beyond that by asking the one dragon who could have helped me figure out these visions for me! What more could you ask from me?!”

“THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH, DAMMIT!”

And from that almighty exclamation, Turbo slams his fore hooves onto Ford’s chest while the latter remains firm in his towering posture. But just as the younger stallion expects their confrontation to get even more brutal, he feels Turbo’s hooves shaking gradually as he could barely hold his stance. With their eyes continuously locked on to each other’s, the older Pegasus’s glare with gnashing teeth begins to shift into one of unbearable sadness as his grating frown loses most of its muscles’ strength where his lips are trembling tremendously. And soon enough, the fire in his golden eyes is gradually extinguished by the massive, impending tears that are threatening to break away.

With his anger and composure deteriorating fast, the severely downhearted stallion breaks down before the other Pegasus and hides his tear-stricken face against Mustang’s chest before he repeatedly beats his hooves against the light bluish coat while cursing to himself.

“Dammit! Just… just… dammit!”

As Turbo Dash continues to let out his unimaginable frustration, Ford Mustang remains still as he hopes this will relieve help the elder stallion in any way possible. Eventually, Turbo’s strength fades away, and he slouches forward while Mustang holds him up with a foreleg.

“Why? Why do I have to lose her over something like this?” Turbo asks with a heavy, grief-stricken tone. “I already lost one special pony! Why must I lose another? It’s just… too cruel, I tell you! Too cruel!”

Feeling utterly helpless over Turbo’s heavyhearted plea, all Ford can do for the moment is wrap the tearful stallion in a one-foreleg hug and allows the weeping pony to let it all out. However, his own self-guilt starts to get the better of him as he collapses alongside Turbo, still holding him with a tender yet shaky embrace.

“Turbo, I am so sorry.” Ford says in a soft, remorseful tone. “Believe me, I went to every source I can think of to prevent this from happening, including the Princesses and Discord.”

“Wh-why can’t they aid us?” he weeps in a pleading manner. “Surely with all that Rainbow Dash has done for them they can at least make it an exception for her!”

“I’m sure they would. But you see… when I described my visions to them, they ruled out that Rainbow Dash may die from natural causes, so they can’t use their magic that may dispute the natural balance in this world.”

“I guess.” Turbo shrugs with a soft snivel. After he calms down from his emotional outburst, the two ponies break away from their hug as Turbo looks up and asks in an increasingly trembling voice, “How’s Rainbow Dash holding up with all of this?”

“Surprisingly well.” Ford confirms with a small smile.

Stunned by the earnest response from his son-in-law, Turbo stammers in surprise, “R-really?”

“Yes. For weeks now, she’s been spending some one-on-one time with her best friends as well as treating them to some of the things they like to do together.”

Amazed by his daughter’s commitment towards her friends, Turbo finally bears a warm smile and wipes away his remaining tears while commenting with pride, “She is such a good girl. Always putting others first before herself.”

With a subtle chuckle, Ford agrees with a grin, “Yep, that’s the Element of Loyalty for you.”

“And you…? How are you holding up?”

Hesitant at first, he replies earnestly, “I’m… still a bit shaky to say the least. I mean, we made a lot of preparations since we talked about this, and I’m trying to be hopeful to the bitter end… b-but… I just don’t know if I’m ready to let her go yet.”

“Sigh... believe me, I know the feeling.” Turbo acknowledges quietly before he recollects on a time where he too was in a similar position like that long ago.

Many Years Ago in Cloudsdale’s General Hospital…

Waiting right outside of the occupied room in the maternity ward, Turbo Dash continued to walk around the hallway in a very frantic pace as he waited in anticipation over the delivery's aftermath. This was a day he was looking forward to, and yet with each passing minute, it’s been nothing but torture for him to wait out here and do absolutely nothing for his pregnant wife, Firefly, especially when he was forced to wait outside while she went into labor.

From the thick, closed doors, the panicky stallion picked up a lot of muffled noises from the inside, and a majority of them came from Firefly’s bloodcurdling screams in the midst of her delivery. With every horrific shriek, Turbo silently cursed himself for not being at Firefly’s side in all of this.

Suddenly, there was a break from that as the rainbow-haired Pegasus eventually heard a new sound from within those heavy doors. It was more crying, but this one sounded different, less painful, and more importantly, so full of new life. Knowing full well that it was the sound of a newborn foal, Turbo Dash finally broke into a very bright smile as it looked like the worse was finally over and their lives could begin anew with the welcoming of their first foal.

But as the very proud stallion felt complied to bounce around in celebration, the doors opened up slowly and cut his jubilation short for the moment. Stepping outside was the doctor in charge of the recent delivery as she removed her surgical mask to speak to the long-awaiting Pegasus.

“Mr. Turbo Dash, your wife and newborn daughter are ready to meet you.”

Despite hearing how slightly solemn her tone was, Turbo couldn’t help himself from beaming in joy once again over the successful birth of his first daughter. Not wanting to waste any more time, he brushed pass the doctor and entered the room.

Once inside, he came to a halt to gaze at his beloved wife. On her reclined hospital bed, a severely exhausted Firefly laid motionlessly underneath the various covers as she panted in a very raspy, quiet voice. And in the mother’s fore hooves was their new bundle of joy wrapped in a soft, pink blanket, which concealed her identity.

In the midst of Turbo’s observation, he noticed some of the expressions from the doctor’s assistants. Despite them still wearing their masks, their faces looked almost ashamed and ill at ease as a few of them averted their worried gazes away from newly announced father in the room.

Ignoring the apprehensive stares around him, Turbo Dash hovered toward Firefly’s side and leaned his head close to the heavy-eyed mare. With his muzzle close to her face, he gently kisses her on her unexpectedly cold cheek.

“Firefly?” he whispered to her in a beseeching tone.

From that soft plead, Firefly gradually opened her tiresome eyes, and with a half-lidded gaze, she turned toward her concerning husband and flashed a slow, warm smile from his welcoming presence.

“Dashie… look.”

Following on his wife’s whispery command, Turbo leaned closer as Firefly slowly unwrapped the blanket covering their newborn baby. And with the unveiling, Turbo gasped in amazement on how much the tiny filly resembled him. In place of her father’s pale pastel blue, her brand-new coat was a very light cerulean that matches with the bright, blue sky. But most notably, both father and daughter shared the same six-striped, multicolored hair that’s as vibrant as the rainbow itself.

From Turbo’s continuous amazement, a trembling, joyous smile expanded across his speechless face as he commented to his wife over their daughter’s striking appearance, “Oh Firefly… she’s so… beautiful.”

“She’s clearly your daughter, Turbo.” she chuckled weakly. “She’s got your rainbow mane and blue coat.”

Then, for a brief moment, the drowsy filly woke up and gave her parents a sneak peek at her gorgeous, magenta eyes. So Turbo remarked with a sly smirk to his wife, “Yes, but she’s definitely got your mesmerizing eyes.”

“Here… I think she wants to meet her daddy.”

Reluctant at first, the nervous stallion carefully received the wrapped-up filly from her mother and delicately held her in his tender hooves. Within the cradle of the stallion’s forelegs, the tiny foal reopened her eyes to get a better look at her father. With their sights locked on with each other’s, Turbo cringed subtly on how his little girl will react from seeing his face, but despite his fears, the baby broke into an adorable chuckle as she waves her forelegs up to reach for her daddy.

From that overwhelmingly cute response, Turbo displayed a quivering smile that stretched all across his overjoyed face, and he presented a fore hoof to his giggling daughter so she can touch it herself while he said in a choked-up manner, “I-I can’t believe this is finally happening. I’m a dad… a real dad.”

“She’s just… so perfect.” Firefly beams softly as she lovingly caresses the newborn filly’s colorful mane. “Our beautiful baby girl.”

“Yes, our very own little Dashie.” he whispered with an exhilarated smile as he gently kisses her soon-to-be sleepy daughter on the forehead.

Firefly was speechless from hearing her husband’s rare display of sentimentality as he handed their beloved daughter back to her. And with the baby back in her hooves, the smiling mare affectionately nuzzled her sleeping filly as she repeated the perfect nickname for their one and only little girl.

“Dashie… my little Dashie.”

But within that lovely moment, Firefly abruptly felt something squeezing her tightly against her throat and chest as she desperately gasped for more air. In addition with her heart monitor beeping at a much slower pace than before, Turbo Dash entered a state of panic as he leaned very close to his hyperventilated mare.

“Honey? Honey are you okay?”

“Sir, you have to understand.” The doctor from earlier stepped forward as she explained herself. “We’ve done everything we can for her.”

“Wh-what do you mean by that?!” Turbo asked frantically. “What’s going on here?!”

“Mr. Turbo Dash. Your wife has suffered from severe postpartum bleeding.”

The unexpected news pierced him like a knife to the chest as he demanded out loud, “Well then, stop the bleeding already!”

“We already provided the proper medication to initiate more clotting, but she’s already lost too much blood in the procedure. There’s… nothing more we can do for her.”

From there, the figurative knife twisted even further as it dug into his cavity like it was skewered him right into his beating, bleeding heart. The awful feeling in his chest made him pant repeatedly as his renowned, athletic body felt like it collapsed on itself where he could barely hold himself together from the sheer weight of Firefly’s grave distress.

As expected, he couldn’t handle the heartbreaking news, nor did he want to accept that as he rapidly shook his head in denial while expressing his strong disbelief through a mix of rage and misery, “N-n-no… NO! You can’t just give up on her now! You have to do something to save her!”

“Turbo…”

From the soft, beckoning call of his ill-fated wife, the tearful stallion twisted his body and rushed back to her side before reassuring her with barely composed smile, “I’m here, Firefly. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

Carefully, he stroked the mare’s pale, pink face, and she feebly smiled from his frantic yet comforting gesture before she placed her fore hoof over his and pleaded to him in a quiet, raspy voice, “Please… take good care of our baby girl… no matter… what. Please…?”

After bring her tender hoof close to his face, Turbo kissed it while still grasping on to her extended foreleg, and he answered hysterically in a beseeching, tearful tone, “Of course, sweetheart! I will… I will look after her! Just please… please don’t die on me! Please don’t leave me like this!”

But then, their daughter whimpered from all of the unsettling noise around her, so the still smiling Firefly gently brought her little one close to her muzzle and tenderly kissed the filly on the cheek. This act of pure, motherly love was enough to cause the little foal to settle down as she displayed a tiny, tranquil smile on her face whilst adding a small, adorable giggle to go with that.

“Don’t worry, Dashie.” Firefly whispered in a motherly tone as she caressed her daughter’s bright, colorful mane. “Mommy will be with you… even if you can’t see me… and I will always love you… always…”

From that soft yet strong reassurance, all the filly did in response was coo inaudibly as she still had that wonderful smile whilst Firefly grinned even more so despite her very grim circumstance. Even Turbo Dash, in spite of bawling without end, couldn’t help but smile over the lovely yet equally tragic union between mother and child.

And in her dying breath, Firefly came up with the perfect name for their darling, little angel.

“My little Rainbow… my beautiful… Rainbow… Dash…”

As he retells the tragic origins of his one an only daughter, Turbo Dash involuntarily sheds a few more fresh tears from reliving such a heart-wrenching experience. And after he is done sharing his story, he wipes his weeping eyes as he concludes in a heartbreaking tone.

"In that moment, it was the happiest day as well as the saddest day of my life."

From listening to Turbo's gut-wrenching tale, Ford Mustang becomes just as emotional as the other stallion. And once again, his guilt catches up to him as he responds in a sorrowful tone while shaking his head over his personal failure.

"Turbo, I am so sorry for all of this. Believe me, if I found a way, or even if I had these visions before we ever decided to have foals ourselves, I would--!”

But just as Mustang nearly breaks down in tears, Turbo rushes up to him and gently strokes his back while comforting him in a soothing voice, “Shhhh… Ford… don’t say things like that. No one’s blaming you for this, and no pony can ever expect any more from you. You took the best course of action and sought to sort this out with Rainbow Dash. You’re a good stallion through and through. Never tell yourself that otherwise.”

After taking a moment to reflect on Turbo’s comforting words, Ford starts to feel a bit better with himself as he displays a tiny smile of relief. But then, the older stallion continues on what else he has to say in a more solemn tone.

“But Mustang, if what you said to me is true, then you need to promise me one thing when that fateful day arrives.” As the son-in-law waits for him to continue, Turbo takes a very deep breath before he exhales it out in a slow yet quivering manner and states his request.

“Don’t ever leave by her side, no matter what.”

In response to his father-in-law’s only wish, the younger Pegasus takes a moment to blink his speechless eyes a few times before he bears a poised smirk to reassure on that promise.

“I don’t plan on doing that in the first place, Turbo Dash.”

Satisfied on Mustang’s confident answer, the other stallion presents an appreciative grin and shows his silent gratitude by giving Ford a couple pats on the back. Once everything has been settled between the two, they get up from the floor and pick up the couch they knocked down earlier.

As they reposition the large piece of furniture, Ford makes a mild recommendation to his fellow stallion, “You know, just as a small suggestion, maybe you would like to spend some quality time with Dashie yourself.”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Thanks, Mustang.” he responds with a grateful grin before he gasps with excitement from an idea that suddenly pops into mind. “And I know just where to go! You wanna come along?”

“Sure, I got time.” he nods to the invitation.

As they make their way to the front entrance, Turbo Dash comments with a casual smirk, “You know, I’m actually kind of envious of your situation, Ford.”

“Huh? Why’s that, Turbo?” he ponders on that remark.

“Because if I knew what was going to happen to my dear, sweet Firefly before her imminent death, I would have done so much more for her in those last days we shared together.”

A bit worried that the older colt is being too hard on himself, Ford replies with a reassuring smile, “I’m sure you and Firefly still made some wonderful memories together, no matter how big or small they are.”

Thankfully, Turbo lets out a comforting chuckle for himself to dismiss his supposed gloominess from resurfacing as he mutters with a soft, warm smile. “Yes, we did.”

Then, Ford realizes something he should have addressed before they left Turbo’s house, “Actually, that now that you mentioned it, I nearly forgot the other reason why I wanted to see you myself.”

“Really? And what would that be, Ford?”

Hesitantly, Mustang makes his personal request in a mild manner, “What were some of your favorite hotspots as a world-class racer?”

A bit stunned by Ford’s questioning at first, Turbo displays a big, knowing grin as he has a pretty good idea on what the younger Pegasus has in mind… especially if it’s for his precious daughter.

The Next Day in Ponyville…

It’s been a long day for the two Pegasi back in their floating cloudhouse, especially for Rainbow Dash’s case since she came home so late last night. So once they are both awake, they make a big breakfast as always and share a well-balanced meal together.

As her husband finishes up with cleaning their dishes, Rainbow remains seated at the kitchen table as she goes over on what’s to come this morning. Truth be told, she’s not looking forward from having to confront her dad with the impending truth of her fate, but she reminds herself that her dad deserves to know it for himself in hopes that it will allow him to have a peace of mind if everything transpires from what her husband predicted.

With Ford finally done with the dishes, he turns around to face his awaiting wife while drying his fore hooves with a clean towel as she says to him nonchalantly, “So, I guess you’re ready to talk about our plans regarding with dad, huh?”

“Oh, there’s no need to do that anymore, Rainbow.”

From the cryptic yet casual response, the dumbfounded mare expresses her sudden confusion with an arched eyebrow, “Wait, what do you mean by that?”

DING-DONG~!

“Huh, who could that be at this hour?”

But her probing gets disrupted by the sudden ringing of the doorbell. With the suspiciously smirking stallion leaning against the kitchen counter in a leisurely manner, Rainbow floats over to the front door and seeks to answer it before she turns her attention back on her ambiguous stallion.

But once she answers the door, she gasps in complete shock over the reveal of their unexpected visitor in front of her. She originally felt prepared for what’s needed to be taken care of today, but she sure isn’t ready to face her own grinning father just yet.

“Hello, Dashie!”

Author's Note

Ideally, the reason why I split the Turbo Dash chapter into two parts is because this one will mostly take from Ford's visit with him while the next one will focus on Turbo and Rainbow.

Also, there's wasn't going to be a flashback scene over Rainbow's birth and Firefly's death in the original draft, but thanks to Rated Ponystar's suggestion, I reconsidered and I'm very grateful he made that recommendation for me.

Chapter 29 – A Day with Turbo Dash Part 2

Chapter 29 – A Day with Turbo Dash Part 2

“D-D-Dad! What are you doing here?!” Rainbow Dash inquires in a panicky tone.

“What do you mean?” her father, Turbo Dash, replies with a shrewd smirk. “Can’t I see my baby girl whenever I get the chance?”

“O-of course you can, dad! Come on in!”

Frantically, Rainbow leads her grinning dad inside her home as her husband, Ford Mustang, exits out of the kitchen to meet up with his father-in-law. With the trio of Pegasi all at the same place, the two smirking stallions share a knowing glance with each other as they exchange their simple greetings.

“Ford, good to see you as always.”

“You too, Turbo.”

After that, Ford turns to his wife, and his eyes are locked on with that icy-cold glare of hers. In response to her suspicious stare and mild frown, Mustang shrugs with a chuckling grin, “What?”

Rainbow Dash narrows her eyes even further as she remains unconvinced on what Ford is hiding from her. So, in order to find out herself, she faces her father with a hospitable smile and asks in a sweet tone.

“Dad, would you mind waiting in the living room for us? There’s something I need to discuss with my husband for just a minute.” she emphasizes in a subtle growl that is directed at the nervous Mustang.

Without so much of a fuss, Turbo complies with an amusing grin, “Sure. Take as much time as you need.”

As the older stallion heads toward the living room, the stomping Rainbow Dash leads her now-in-trouble husband into the kitchen so they can keep their private discussion just between the two of them. Once they are in the sanctum of their kitchen, they face each other with Rainbow maintaining her icy glare and Ford trying his best to ease the tension with an awkward chuckle.

“Come on, Dashie. Why are you glaring at me like that?”

Unamused by these games of his, Rainbow Dash cuts to the chase by simply saying to him, “You told him already, didn’t you?”

Surprised to hear his wife figuring it out already, he eventually admits in a soft, defeated manner, “Sigh… yes.”

“I can’t believe you!” she screeches to him as quietly as possible without her dad hearing them while swiftly shoving him in the chest. “After lecturing me from yesterday about not telling dad about this sooner, you went behind my back and told him without me!”

“I know! I know!” he responds apologetically as he speaks in the same quiet manner as her. “And I’m sorry for doing that to you!”

“Then how could you?!” she demands in a hurt yet infuriated tone. “Don’t you trust me enough to have this conversation with you and dad in the first place?!”

“Of course I trust you!”

“Then why?”

“Because I…” He pauses before letting out a heavy sigh and continuing in a guilt-ridden voice, “I thought it was best if I told him myself instead of you. I remember you stated how scared you were from telling this yourself, so I… went to see Turbo Dash by myself after seeing you off yesterday. I’m sorry if I made you feel like you weren’t trustworthy. I just assumed that I could bear the burden for you this time.”

Near the end of his softhearted apology, his shameful eyes look up to see what Rainbow’s expression would be like from hearing all of this. To his luck, her face has softened up as she no longer looks angry, but her deadpan expression makes it hard for Ford to tell on what she is contemplating right now. As Ford remains edgy from the still silence between them, Rainbow lets out a sigh of her own before replying back in a soft yet impassive tone.

“Ford, I really appreciate that noble heart of yours, but you should have let me accompany you in the first place. I didn’t want you to face my dad alone. We’re a team remember, and we need to look out for each other.”

“I know.” he concurs as he diverts his shame-ridden gaze back on the ground.

Then, he feels a fore hoof on his chin to tilt his head back up, and his wife gives him a kiss on the cheek before adding with an appreciative smile, “Still… that’s awfully nice of you to do that for me.”

Happy to see that tenderhearted face of hers, Ford asks with a clever smirk, “Would you expect anything less from the biggest sap in the world?”

“No, I guess not.” she answers with a giggling smile.

“So… we’re cool?”

“Yeah, we’re cool.”

And they end their discussion with a simple yet affectionate kiss before they walk out of the kitchen side by side and head towards the living room. From noticing the younger ponies entering the room, Turbo gets up from his seat and stands before the approaching couple.

“So dad, I take it you’re here for a reason this early in the morning?” his daughter asks mildly.

“What? Didn’t Ford tell you already?”

From her dad’s shrewd remark, Rainbow twists her head and redirects her inquisitive glare at the falsely suspicious husband, who begins to sweat from the pressure, and she articulates in a soft yet firm tone, “Tell me what exactly?”

Despite his amusement from seeing his son-in-law quivering in fear, he saves him from trouble and he verifies with a casual grin, “About the big blitzball game that’s going on at Cloudsdale! The Cloudsdale Chargers are facing off the Canterlot Cavaliers today!”

From the mention of that playoff, Rainbow quickly turns her head back to her dad while displaying a speechless look on her face. Then, she shifts into a gaping smile as Ford expresses puzzlement over this unfamiliar sport.

“Blitzball?”

“Oh yeah. I guess you never heard of that sport before, huh?” Rainbow remarks casually before explaining it herself in an exciting tone, “It’s a well-known game for Pegasi where the players rush in for the ball, full of tackles, passes, and touchdowns!”

"Mm-hmm! And Rainbow Dash here was the star quarterback on her high school blitzball team!" Turbo brags with a broad smile over his daughter's achievement as he pulls her in for an appreciative hug using his wing.

Getting the gist of the game’s premise, Ford nods with a well-known comparison in mind, “Oh, so it’s like football.”

This time, it is Rainbow and Turbo’s turn to be confused from hearing such a foreign word as the daughter of the two tilts her head and takes a guess herself, “ ‘Football?’ You don’t mean hoofball, do you?”

“No, football is a sport back in my homeworld.” He clarifies before chuckling a little fact he knows based off of his wife’s confusion earlier. “Actually there are two different sports based off of the same name--!” But seeing how he might get off-track, he ceases the supposed exposition while shaking his head with a smile. “Eh, nevermind.”

“Anyway…” Turbo continues where he left off as he pulls out two tickets from the saddlebag he's carrying. “…I’ve got two tickets to today’s game, and you and me are going to have a good old fashioned father-and-daughter bonding time together!”

“Wait, Ford’s not coming along?” she inquires in mild disappointment.

“Hey, don’t mind me.” Mustang shrugs before enwrapping her with a tender wing. “You go on and have fun. Don’t want me to get in the way of your special get-together, now do I?” he reassures with a wink and a grin.

Pleased by his son-in-law’s insistence, Turbo grins widely as he begins to head out the door while calling out his daughter, “Well you heard him, kiddo! Let’s go! I’ve got a carriage all ready for you!”

Despite her initial hesitation, Rainbow beams greatly over Mustang’s consideration and gives him a heartfelt kiss to show her appreciation before heading outside. Parked in front of the married couple’s house is Turbo Dash’s personal chariot. Once the nine-month pregnant mare is secured in the cozy carriage, she exchanges one last kiss with her husband while the older stallion secures the harness around him. And with the driver and passenger all set, Turbo gallops across the makeshift runway as Ford waves them goodbye.

“Have a good time, you two!”

Soon, the flying chariot takes off from the ground and makes their way to Cloudsdale. And once Rainbow and Turbo are finally out of sight, Ford casually heads back inside and gently closes the door behind him.

“Now then…”

From that soft musing to himself, he makes his way back to the kitchen as he uses his seclusion as an opportunity to address something important in mind. From one of the drawers, he pulls out an enchanted ribbon and a sheet of parchment and sets them on a table. Once he sits himself down, he begins to write his letter to the very pony he has been collaborated with for many weeks up to now.

Dear Princess Twilight,

I would like to make a few suggestions on what we discussed the last time we met...

As Cloudsdale is the founding city of the Pegasus-exclusive sport, it would seem fitting that their blitzball games will be held at Cloudsdale Cloudeseum. From the majestic, longstanding structure, countless ponies line up to gain access inside the magnificent architecture, so they can get themselves seated for the big game today.

Before approaching one of the attendants at the gates, Turbo Dash presents one of the tickets to his daughter and says with a grin, “Here you go, Rainbow! The best seat on the house!”

Once she receives her gift, Rainbow takes a moment to read the contents on her tickets. To her surprise, the ticket she is holding in her hoof is one of the most exclusive seats the stadium offers in their seating arrangement.

Still astonished from receiving such a privileged seat, Rainbow is a bit hesitant from accepting such a rare treat. “Dad, you didn’t need to get skybox seats just for me.”

“Oh come now, Dashie.” Turbo replies with a steadfast grin as he ruffles her mane like old times. “No price is too great for my little girl.”

“Yeah, but it takes away some of the action up-close.” she remarks with an amusing smile.

“Hmm… true. But you still get a pretty good view of the game altogether, not to mention the most comfortable seats you can ever imagine.”

From her dad’s persuasive statement, Rainbow nods with a lighthearted smirk, “Alright, you’ve convinced me. Thanks, dad.” And she shows her gratitude by giving him a light kiss on the cheek before adding in a sharp, witty tone, “But they better not have any of those fancy-schmancy hors d'oeuvre! I’m still entitled to have all of junk food I can eat, you know!”

From his daughter’s snappy remark, he replies with a hilarious grin, “Well we certainly can’t have that, now can we?”

After presenting their tickets to the attendant, the two Pegasi make their way up to the highest floor in the coliseum, from reaching that level, Rainbow Dash gripes lightly, “I really hope we don’t have to share the skybox with some obnoxious noblepony! They’ll never the get the gist of the game and ruin the whole thing for us!”

Despite sympathizing with his daughter’s complaint, Turbo couldn’t help but chuckle lightly on the upcoming surprise that’s wait for her. “Oh don’t worry, Rainbow. From what I’ve heard, these are the kind of ponies you’ll get along with just fine.” he implies with a wink and a sly smile.

As she puzzles on what her dad meant by that, they arrive at their destination and enter their exclusive clubhouse. Once inside, Rainbow pushes her puzzlement aside and stares with amazement at what the lounge has to offer. Tables are lined up with all kinds of tasty treats you would find at most blitzball games, including buttery popcorn, bags of chips with their proper dips aside, roasted vegetables, and hot-out-of-the-oven pizza. The place also features a bar where a bartender is behind the counter to provide any non-alcoholic drinks available, including a wide variety of sodas.

As Rainbow eyes with a drooling smile at all of the delicious food lined up, she notices the familiar décor in her surroundings. The tables are covered with blue linens that have yellow trimmings fashioned in a shape of a continuous lightning bolt. Not to mention some of the decorations feature a symbol she knows all too well: a lightning bolt with a pair of wings.

And once Rainbow Dash makes this astonishing connection for herself, she turns attention swiftly with the sudden appearance of another Pegasus, who is exiting out of skybox seating section. Of course, even without that distinguishable flight suit, Rainbow would recognize her yellow-coated friend with the fiery, orange mane anywhere.

“Gasp! Spitfire!”

“Rainbow Dash! Glad you could make it!”

In a flash, the two ecstatic mares rush in for a big hug before Rainbow breaks away to warmly express her immense surprise over Spitfire’s presence, “What are you doing here? I’ve never thought I would see you take a break from the action like this!”

“What, haven’t you been keeping track with today’s schedule?” she jests lightly. “The Wonderbolts are performing for the halftime show.”

“Really? Ah geez! I can’t believe I didn’t notice that earlier!” Rainbow exclaims while face-hoofing herself before she wonders about the other. “Hang on, where’s the rest of the team?”

“They’re just getting ready to make a pass during the game’s opening. Don’t worry, they’ll be here soon.”

“Wait, then why are you still here? Shouldn’t you be leading the charge like always?”

“I would if I could, but I’m in no condition to do it myself this time around.” she answers with a giggling smile.

“What, are you sick?”

"Well I was a few weeks ago, but my stomach still feels more bloated than ever.”

And from her sly response, the grinning Spitfire lightly pats her bare belly. Rainbow shifts her pondering gaze between the yellow mare’s implying smile and her exposed abdomen. Then, as Rainbow recalls back from the last time they met, she becomes extremely wide-eyed from a particular conversation they once had.

Utterly speechless by this startling realization, Rainbow stammers out her curiosity to confirm that matter herself, “Spitfire… are you…?!”

With giddy excitement, Spitfire flutters her wings in joy as she announces with an irrepressible smile, “I’m pregnant!”

A bit thunderstruck by the exciting news, Rainbow Dash gasps with a big, broad smile, and she shares in the joyous occasion by giving the newly announced expectant mother a great, big hug as she replies with ear-piercing delight.

“EEEEEEE! Spitfire, that’s awesome! I’m so happy for you! And it’s about time too if you asked me!”

Then, Rainbow’s father approaches the two jubilant mares and offers his best wishes with a well-mannered grin. “Congratulations, Mrs. Spitfire.”

“Thanks, Turbo Dash.” she humbly accepts. “Nice to see to you once again.”

“Wait, you’ve met my dad before?”

“Well yeah.” Turbo Dash answers nonchalently. “When I went to get tickets at the blitzball stadium yesterday, Ford and I ran into Spitfire as her team just arrived in Cloudsdale.”

“Mm-hmm.” Spitfire agrees with a nod. “And it was my idea that you two join us at the skybox we reserved for ourselves.”

Deeply touched by this nice surprise from her friend and father, the beaming Rainbow Dash brings them in for a gratifying hug as she says to them, “I can’t believe this! I get to hang out with my dad and the Wonderbolts at this season’s biggest blitzball game! Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Anything for our favorite Wonderbolt.” Turbo Dash replies with an earnest grin.

After the three Pegasi maintain their warm embrace for quite some time, Spitfire hears the announcer signifying the game’s opening and gradually breaks away from their hug while alerting the Dash Family, “Oh hey, we better get in our seats! The game’s about to start!”

Renewed with enthusiasm over today’s match, the trio rush to their seats, just in time for Cloudsdale’s anthem as well as for the Wonderbolts’ grand entrance.

Minutes later, Rainbow, Spitfire, and Turbo are well situated in their seats as they continue to enjoy the first quarter of the game from their private skybox. The counters in front of them are piled with a multitude of food and drinks, which they have been indulging to their hearts’ content, especially for the two pregnant mares.

Eventually, the rest of the Wonderbolts arrive from the completion of their awe-inspiring flyover. And once Rainbow Dash hears them coming in, she breaks into a big smile as she trots over to them.

“Soarin! Fleetfoot! Everypony!”

And in return, they simultaneously shout with glee, “Rainbow Dash!”

As thrilled as their returning friend, the teammates welcome her with open hooves as they engage in some light conversations, such as how Rainbow is done regarding with her pregnancy or what she has missed since her maternity leave many months ago.

In the midst of their pleasant chitchat, Spitfire pulls her husband in for a tenderhearted embrace as she warmly comments on Soarin’s performance as team leader, “Nicely done out there, Captain.”

“Thanks, honey.” he responds before asking in a timid manner, “You really think I did okay as team leader?”

“Believe me, hon, you were fantastic!” she reassures with an uplifting smile as she hugs him strongly. “I knew you could do it if you put your mind to it!”

“Well, I do have you and our baby to thank for driving me to where I am today.” he acknowledges with a meaningful grin.

“Oh, come here you!” And with a mighty tug, she pulls her stallion in for a big, affectionate kiss, to which Soarin melts within Spitfire’s loving embrace.

Of course, the couple’s sentimentality gets interrupted when Rainbow Dash gags out loud, “Ugh! Can you and Mama Spitfire take it somewhere else? We’re all trying to watch the game here!”

From Rainbow's teasing, the Wonderbolt couple breaks away from their kiss as Spitfire raises an eyebrow while responding in a sharp tone, " 'Mama Spitfire?' Really?"

"Yep, it's quite catchy, isn't it?" Dash remarks with a humorous smirk.

With a roll of her eyebrows, Spitfire replies with a disinterested smile, "Yeah, like that's going to catch on."

Alongside his pregnant wife, Soarin stares at the mocking mare with a sarcastic grin, “Nice to see you too, Rainbow Dash.”

“Yeah yeah, nice to see you--! Oh wait, hang on! They’re about to snap the next pass!”

From that abrupt declaration, they immediately rush to their seats as Rainbow Dash and Spitfire resume their seats while Fleetfoot sits next to them. Once the Pegasi are all situated, the Cloudsdale Chargers snap the latest play while the mare trio provide their own commentary.

“Come on! Throw it! Throw it!” Spitfire shouts out loud as she repeatedly slams her hooves on the counter.

The quarterback is hesitant as he gives himself enough distant while offense struggles to keep the defense at bay. Annoyed by the hesitation, Rainbow barks in a demanding voice.

“What’s that quarterback waiting for?! Throw the ball already!”

It seems that the throw isn’t going to be made as two Canterlot Cavaliers break through the line and charge for the quarterback. But in a split second, he finally throws the ball high into the air before being tackled to the cloudy yard.

“Ugh, finally!” Rainbow groans with a roll of her eyes.

“Beautiful pass though!” Fleetfoot compliments coolly.

To that, Spitfire acknowledges with a nod, “Mm-hmm!”

As the ball spirals perfectly in mid-air, Rainbow points it out giddily as it looks like the projectile will reach the long-distance receiver. “Look! It’s good! It’s good! It’s--!”

But her high expectation is cut short when one of the Cavaliers cut off the receiver, causing the ball to miss just inches away from the player’s grasp.

This interference causes the majority fans to groan in disappointment, including Fleetfoot as she says to herself, “Uhh! So close!”

But Spitfire’s sharp eyes manage to catch something earlier as she exclaims in a furious voice, “Oh, what the hay?! That guy was holding!”

This sudden outcry causes Rainbow Dash to react in alarm, “What?! When?! I missed that!”

Shortly enough, a yellow flag was thrown onto the field, and a referee steps forward to declare the illegal restraint, which gives the Chargers an automatic first down as well as allowing them to advance by five yards.

As she proclaimed earlier, Spitfire readdresses it to her two friends, “See see! What did I tell you?! Holding!”

“Hmph! Typical Cavaliers!” Rainbow grumps openly over the rival team. “They act all noble and such, but that’s to cover up on how dirty they play out on the field!”

“You said it, sister!” Fleetfoot agrees as she and Rainbow Dash share matching smirks and a proper hoof-bump.

Meanwhile, Soarin and Turbo Dash are completely speechless by how extremely passionate the mares are when it comes to watching blitzball. Nevertheless, the latter of the two smiles with delight on how much Rainbow Dash is truly his daughter in so many ways. And thus, the two stallions join in on the fun as they continue to watch the ongoing game.

Towards the end of the game, everything has been really awesome for Rainbow Dash, from hanging out with her dad just like they used to do when she was a filly to reliving the awe-inspiring experience when she saw the Wonderbolts performed at the spectacular halftime show.

At the last remaining seconds of the game, everypony was on the edge of their seats as the Canterlot Cavaliers were leading ahead by a few points. Luckily, the Chargers still have the ball even though they’re at fourth down and roughly 30 yards away from the goal line. From there, it’s possible for their kicker to make a field goal, therefore tying the game and forcing them into overtime. Everything is riding on their last play.

But to everyone’s surprise, the Chargers pull off a fake field goal as the sky runner takes the ball and squeezes right through the defense’s tight gap. The opposing players scramble for the desperate run as the crowd cheers passionately over the Chargers’ dicey attempt for one last touchdown. Halfway through, the offense manages to keep the Cavaliers off of the halfback’s tail.

However, at the 10-yard line, one of the linebackers is able to catch up with the runner and dives forward for a swift, strong tackle. Rainbow Dash and company gasp mightily as they see the ball-carrying Charger slide right on the edge of the goal line. Of course, it’s left to the referee to make the final call as he inspects on where the ball has landed. And once he makes his decision, he turns toward the highly anticipating crowd and declares his final decree by holding his two forelegs high in the air.

From that recognizable gesture, the fans and Chargers alike go completely wild as the home team embrace and lift up their star player for pulling off the ultimate touchdown while Rainbow Dash, her father, and the Wonderbolts shriek and bounce with excitement over the Chargers’ stunning victory.

Eventually, with everypony else leaving and the Wonderbolts finishing up by packing their flight suits away, Rainbow, Turbo, and their friends walk around the city of Cloudsdale while they reflect back to the blitzball game they still couldn’t get over with, starting with Spitfire.

“Whew! What a game, huh?”

“Tell me about it!” Fleetfoot agrees with a nod and a smile. “I thought at the very least it would have ended in overtime!”

“Ha! I knew the Chargers would pull through in the end!” Rainbow remarks with a bold smirk.

“Yeah right!” Spitfire dismisses that claim with a friendly chuckle. “You were biting your nails to the very core!”

After sharing a laugh with her teammates, Rainbow Dash pulls Spitfire and Fleetfoot in for a welcoming hug as she joyfully states it to the rest of the team, “It’s so good to hang out with all of you. It feels like ages since we’ve done something like this.”

“Likewise. Still, it’s not the same without a Sonic Rainboom to add in the mix.” Fleetfoot adds with a giggling smile.

“Nah, you guys are still the best of the best, even without me.” she remarks with a hearty grin.

“Yes well, it certainly wouldn’t be same without--!”

But Fleetfoot stop herself on what she is about to say as she immediately covers her mouth with a fore hoof. As the mortified Fleetfoot freezes in place, she glances at all of the wide-eyed stares she is receiving from everypony else. From that slip-up over Rainbow’s presumed fate, Fleetfoot starts to choke up as she turns away from her friends while brushing her watery eyes.

“I’m sorry.” She apologizes with a fake smile. “I just… got something in my eye.”

From sharing a meaningful glance with Spitfire and Soarin, Rainbow Dash begins to realize that her Team Captain has already shared the bitter news with the rest of the Wonderbolts, judging by their somber expressions. So not wanting to bring such a gloom to their own party, Rainbow wraps a soft wing around Fleetfoot and attempts to cheer her up.

“Hey hey, don’t get all emotional on me now.” she jests with a lighthearted grin. “We’re all here to have a good time, remember?”

Feeling a bit better from the comfort of her dear friend, Fleetfoot finishes drying her almost weepy eyes and assures with a tiny smile, “R-right, of course.”

Wanting to shift to a more positive note on their get-together, Turbo Dash makes a friendly suggestion to his daughter and friends, “You know, all this excitement is making me hungry. Who’s up for some hay fries and milkshakes?”

Knowing full well that her dad is referring to one of their favorite hotspots in Cloudsdale when she was a filly, Rainbow Dash anxiously waves her foreleg in the air as she answers like the little kid she once was, “Ooo! Me! Me! I am!”

After giggling over his daughter’s silly antics, Turbo turns to the Wonderbolts and asks once again, “How about it, kids? My treat, of course.”

The famed flyers look at each other as they are indecisive on accepting such an overly generous offer from the older stallion, so Spitfire speaks for them in a humble manner, “Oh Turbo, you don’t need to do that for us. We can cover it ourselves.”

“Nonsense!” he retorts with a bold grin. “I’ve got plenty to spare! I’m the world-renowned ‘Rainbow Speedster’ himself, Turbo Dash, after all!” he boasts lightheartedly while drumming on his chest.

Thanks to his insistence, the Wonderbolts eventually agree to his hospitable invitation and they all go together for an after-game snack.

At a well-known, classic diner, the band of acrobatic flyers partake in their delicious, creamy milkshakes and hot, greasy hay fries. From there, the large group engage in some more engaging conversations, including some of Turbo Dash’s own adventures as a world-renowned racer, which the Wonderbolts are quite fascinated with hearing from such a legendary veteran.

Once the sun begins to set, the gang decides to depart ways as they say their heartwarming goodbyes to each other with Rainbow Dash ending it with a endearing hug from Spitfire.

"Take good care of yourself, Mama Spitfire." she teases one last time.

Knowing that her new nickname will never go away due to some of her teammates' subdued laughter in unison, Spitfire shakes her head with an accepting smile before responding softly in the midst of their hug, "Thanks. You too, Rainbow Dash."

And after that, the Dash Family waves them goodbye before the two head back to their parked chariot.

As they walk back to their carriage, Turbo asks her daughter, “So Rainbow… is there anything like you do before we head home?”

Rainbow gives it some careful thought before she realizes that there is one important thing she would like to do before they leave Cloudsdale, “Can we stop by and see mommy?”

Not too surprised by that humble request, her father agrees with a sincere smile, “Of course, Dashie. We always have time with that.”

Along the way, Turbo Dash notices a floral shop that’s just about to close up for the night, and he quickly takes the opportunity to make a last-minute purchase. Fortunately, he gets what he needs in the form of a wrapped-up bouquet and they resume their leisurely walk.

At their chariot, Rainbow steps into her seat with the flowers secured next to her as her father attaches the harness around his torso. With everything set, they fly off into the sunset and head towards their final destination this evening.

From her chartered flight, Rainbow begins to rest on the flying chariot’s rail as she drowsily recalls the first time she went to that hallowed place long ago.

It was just another ordinary day for the two rainbow-haired Pegasi. Turbo Dash would finish up work at the weather factory early enough to pick up his 5-year-old girl from kindergarten. Then once they got home, dad would prepare a nice dinner for the two of them as Lil’ Dashie would tell her father all the fun stuff she did at school.

But to Turbo’s surprise, Rainbow hardly said anything about school, or anything else at the very least as she wasn’t her energetic self like usual. But it wasn’t until Turbo was working on the dishes after their dinner that his little filly finally had the courage to speak her mind.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, sweetums?”

“Did I ever have a mommy?”

From that innocent yet timid question, Turbo immediately ceased his dishwashing before he turns around and replied with a slightly composed smile, “O-of course you did, sweetie. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just that… I’ve been hearing about some holiday called Mother’s Day, and my classmates are required to bring their mommies this Friday.” she answered in an unusually shy manner.

“O-o-oh. I… nearly forgot about that.” he remarked with a nervous chuckle as he sheepishly brushed his colorful mane with a fore hoof.

“So… what ever happened to my mommy?”

With that question restated once more, Turbo froze in place as he contemplated very carefully on how to answer it to the best of his abilities. He knew this day would come at some point in his life, but honestly, he wished he could tell her when she’s just a little bit older. He prayed that he would be able to explain it as delicately as possible to his little girl, who was only 5 years old at that time.

Finally, an idea struck his mind as the grinning stallion shared it with his daughter, “Would you like to see her yourself?”

"Gasp! Really?” she smiled with juvenile delight.

“Yeah. Come on. Let’s go for a flight.” he issued with a wink before he led his extremely bouncy filly out the door.

In the midst of a heavenly sunset, where it was a bright blend of pink, yellow, orange, and purple colors, Rainbow Dash was flying alongside her father as her tiny wings flapped mightily to keep up with Turbo’s casual pace. Once they landed on their destined location, Turbo took a moment to praise his daughter’s latest accomplishment.

“Wow, I’m amazed, Dashie! You’ve manage to catch up without taking a break this time!”

“See! I told you I can keep up with you!” Rainbow proclaimed with a triumphant smile.

Amused by her boldness, her dad pulled in her with one of his big, strong wings and tenderly nuzzles her while responding with a proud smile, “I’ve never doubt that you would.”

After their tenderhearted hug, Rainbow escaped from the comfort of her dad’s wing as she eyed the place in front of her. Shiny, elegant gates towered over her as the celestial rays from the sunset greeted her from the unlocked entranceway. Passed the golden gates were countless statues crafted in the likeliness of various Pegasi.

“Whoa, cool! What is this place?” she asked with wondrous eyes.

“It’s a memorial garden, where we honored the greatest Pegasi in Cloudsdale.” Turbo answered simply enough.

“And mommy’s here?”

“Yes… she’s here.” he claimed in a quiet, reluctant voice.

“Well come on! Let’s go find her!” she insisted with renewed exhilaration, and she immediately rushed inside the memorial garden, giggling all the way.

“W-wait, Rainbow Dash!” her dad shouted out for her apprehensively. “Wait up!”

Right away, he flew after his enthusiastic daughter, but for a minute, he lost her in the maze of individual statues and due to the filly’s small size. And just when panic began to fill his throbbing heart, he came to a screeching halt when he finally spotted his daughter. He considered himself pretty fortunate to find Rainbow remaining still for a good minute, especially for her extremely energetic nature. But once Turbo stepped closer, he soon found out the reason for her sudden quietness.

In front of the aspiring filly is a statue that Turbo Dash knew all too well: it is a memorial statue of his wife and Rainbow Dash’s mother, Firefly. The pink-colored flame that resided in its ceramic bowl on top of the pedestal lights up the statue’s features as it illuminated Firefly’s warm, smiling face and gentle gaze.

“Who’s this, daddy?” Rainbow Dash asked with wondrous eyes.

And once Turbo Dash sat next to his little filly, he answered mildly, “That’s Firefly.”

“She’s very pretty.”

“Yes… she is.” he concurred with a small, reminiscing smile as he looked at Firefly’s beautifully carved face.

“I don’t know why, but I feel like I know her somewhere.”

“Well you should.” he verified with a somewhat sly grin. “She’s your mother after all.”

“She is?!” Rainbow gasped with an overly excited smile as she frantically turned her head around to look for her. “Well, where she is? You said mommy will be here, right?”

Reluctant once again, Turbo diverted his eyes shamefully away from his inquiring daughter. So after he composed himself with a heavy sigh, he began share the tragic tale by asking a subtle question first.

“Rainbow Dash… do you know what a memorial garden is?”

She pondered with a tap on her chin as she looked around her surroundings before she sheepishly made her best guess possible, “Umm… a garden filled with pretty statues?”

In response, Turbo giggled subtly to himself over his daughter’s guessing before he clarified in a solemn tone, “Close, but it’s a pretty much a cemetery where ponies substitute graves with statues.”

There was a disturbing pause between the two of them as Turbo became increasingly nervous if he needed to break it down even further. Then, Rainbow turned around to face the statue of her mother. And after looking at it for a while, she finally made the awful connection for herself before she refaced her edgy father to verify that dreadful revelation.

“Then… that means… mommy’s gone?”

Hesitantly, Turbo confirmed the truth by nodding his head and answering in the form of a whisper, “Yes.”

“Why did mommy have to go?” she asked with massive tears building up in her poor, magenta eyes.

“Believe me, she didn’t want go either.” he assured in a choked up tone as he gently wrapped a wing around his woeful, little filly. “But you see... when you were born, Firefly… your mother, became very sick afterwards. The doctors could do nothing to revive her. So, once you were brought into this world, she… passed away into the great beyond.”

Another moment of uncomfortable silence was settled between the two of them, but eventually, that silence was shattered when Rainbow Dash could no longer hold her immense tears as they poured out of her grief-stricken eyes while she said in a heartbreaking tone.

“Then… it’s all my fault.”

Surprised to hear such awful self-pity from his weeping daughter, Turbo hastily reassured her, “What…? Rainbow, don’t say that--!”

“But it’s true, isn’t it?!” the poor, little filly cried out loud, “Mommy’s gone because of me! And if I wasn’t born, she would still be--!”

As she continued to sob relentlessly, the panicky stallion started to become indecisive on how to calm his weeping, little girl down until he took the best course of action by pulling her toward his sturdy, fuzzy chest. From there, Rainbow carried on with her heavy sobbing as her sniveling muzzle rubbed again her dad’s soothing coat. From that familiar comfort, she started to diminish her sobbing before Turbo Dash took his chance to gently lift her chin up so he could get her attention and encourage her with an uplifting smile.

“Now you listen to me, Rainbow Dash. Mommy loves you just as much as I do, and that will never change no matter what. Firefly was willing to give everything she got just to see you born, even at the cost of her own life. Besides, she was the one who gave you your pretty name with her very last breath.”

“Sh-she did?” she exclaimed in surprise as her soft sobbing came to a halt.

“That’s right.” He nodded with an earnest grin. “That’s how much mommy loves you. And even though she is no longer with us, she is still among us.”

From her dad’s soft yet strong reassurance, Rainbow finally ceased her remaining tears as she turned around to face the statue of her mother. Then, she faced her consoling father again and clarified in an innocent manner.

“So… she’s like an angel, right?”

“Yes, she’s your very own guardian angel.” Turbo agrees with a big smile over the filly’s brilliant yet adorable comparison of her mother. “Even as we speak, she’s still watching over you, like the time you snuck one of the last remaining cookies before bed.” He added with a clever smirk.

From being found out so suddenly, the nervous filly turned away her guilt-ridden eyes from her all-knowing father as she her muzzle scrunched up while making up a less likely excuse for her alleged actions.

“Oh… umm… I think you’re mistaken me for somepony else.”

“Yes, what other little filly has a bright blue coat and frizzy, rainbow-colored hair?” he countered with a witty yet insightful grin.

Feeling cornered by her grinning interrogator, Rainbow pulled off one last trick as she displayed the most innocent smile she could mustered. “An evil doppy-ganger, maybe?”

Amused by her latest lying tactic as well as her adorable mispronunciation, Turbo lets out a subtle chuckle for himself before softly patting her on the head and saying with a warm smile,“ ‘Doppelganger’, sweetie. All kidding aside, mommy will always be with you and she will always love you, Rainbow Dash… always.”

Once again, she turned back to the statue before asking her dad, “Do you think mommy can hear me if I talk to her?”

A bit surprised by that purehearted suggestion at first, Turbo replied with an approving grin, “I don’t think it will hurt to give it a try.”

Happily, Rainbow fluttered toward the lovely statue of her mom before she slowed down to a halt as her nervousness caught up with her before she started things off sheepishly, “Umm… hi, mommy. It’s me… Rainbow Dash. I hope you can hear me, because I just want to say… thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I mean, I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for you. So uhh… thanks again for everything, and that I love you too, mommy.”

After finishing her endearing speech with a lovable smile, Rainbow Dash turned to her grinning father, and he gave her a “well-said” nodding gesture. But from sharing a meaningful glance with her dad, Rainbow started to act all nervous as she refaced her ever-so watchful mother before apologizing in a meek manner.

“Oh, and umm… I’m sorry for taking the last cookie before my bedtime. I was really hungry, and those were some really good cookies that dad baked for me. Plus, I’m a growing filly. You understand that, right mommy?”

From overhearing his daughter’s confession, Turbo couldn’t but giggle over the cute filly’s reasoning. Then, he felt something pushing him forward, and he twisted his head around to see that it was Rainbow shoving him from behind. From all of her mighty pushing, she stopped herself before provoking her dad to take his turn next.

“Well go on!” she insisted with a light grump. “Say something to mommy!”

“Oh, right!” he complied right away before he sheepishly stepped forward and looked up at his wife’s stone-carved gaze and smile. “Umm… well… hello, Firefly. It’s been awhile, hasn’t?” he stated with an awkward smile. “I hope I haven’t worried you too much since the last time I came here. Anyway, I’m sure you must have been just as impressed with our Dashie’s flying as I am. I tell you, that feisty, little filly of ours is going to make a name for herself someday.” he commented with a self-assured grin before calling out to his daughter forward. “Here, tell mommy what you want to be someday.”

Standing next to her proud father, Lil’ Dashie proclaimed loudly with a big, bold smirk, “I’m gonna be a Wonderbolt!”

“See?” he giggles heartily. “Only five years old, and already she’s got big dreams for herself!”

“It’s not a dream, daddy! It’s a fact!” she retorts boastfully in a mighty grump. “I am gonna be a Wonderbolt and the very best flyer in all of Equestria!”

With another chuckle, the grinning stallion pulled his sour filly and playfully ruffled her frizzy mane. “And I know that you will, sweetheart.” And after that lighthearted exchange, he wrapped up their conversation with the imaginary Firefly, “Anyway, we gotta get going, hon. It was nice talking with you again. Say ‘bye-bye’ to mommy, sweetums.”

“Bye-bye, mommy!” Rainbow smiled enthusiastically while waving goodbye. “See you soon!”

As they walked toward the exit, she then said to her father, “Hey daddy?”

“Yes angel?”

“Can we stop by and see mommy again this Sunday?” she implored softly. “I think it’ll be a nice surprise if we wish her a Happy Mother’s Day for her.”

Amazed to hear such a thoughtful suggestion from his imaginative filly, Turbo smiled extensively and complimented her daughter’s goodhearted nature. “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea, kiddo.”

Once they were outside the gates of the memorial garden, the stallion is briefly thunderstruck with a brilliant idea in mind and he eagerly shares it with his daughter, “Hey, I got an idea for tonight’s story.”

“Really? What kind of story, daddy?”

“How would like to hear on how mom and I first met?” he asks with an ingenious grin.

From that suggestion, Rainbow Dash gasps with a happy-go-lucky smile as she replies in a bouncy manner, “Will it have some awesome adventures in it?”

“Well… in some case, it is an adventure all on its own, but it will have some comedy in it as well as romance.”

“What, that mushy stuff? Bleah!” she gagged to express her disgust over such schmaltziness.

“Okay okay, we’ll tone down the mushy stuff.” he assured with a giggling smile. “After all, you’re too young to hear most of it.”

“Nuh-uh! I can handle it!” she whined childishly. “I’m a big girl after all!”

“One day, you will be, but no matter what, you will always be daddy’s little girl.” And he finished it off by giving his daughter a big, warm hug as well as lots of ticklish kisses, which earned him an adorable case of the giggles.

“Dashie, we’re here.”

From her father’s soft nudging, Rainbow Dash wakes up from her short nap as she just finished up her trip down memory lane. Once she is fully awake, she steps out of their carriage and faced the memorial garden’s heavenly gates. At this time, the sunset is almost over, as there are still some splashes of pink and yellow colors amongst the nightly blue sky.

With a bouquet in the stallion’s foreleg, the two effortlessly make their way through serene memorial garden with the torches for each monument lighting up the way. And soon enough, they stand before the statue of their favorite mare: Firefly. Even after all these years, the golden plaque that features the deceased’s engraved memoir is still as polished as ever, and it’s everlasting pink flame lights up all of the statue’s angelic features while casting a warm, celestial glow on it.

“Hi, mom. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” Rainbow greets with a budding smile. "Oh, here! We got you something!”

On cue, Turbo hands over the bouquet to his daughter, and she delicately unwraps them for her mother to see. “They’re Fire Lilies. Your favorite, remember?”

Like its namesake, the exotic flowers display a bold orange color with vibrant streaks of yellow and red giving its illusion of fire. Carefully, Rainbow places the half-dozen of Fire Lilies at the base of the tall pedestal before she steps back a few paces and resumes her talk whilst looking back at her mother’s stone-carved face.

“So, I guess you already know what’s been going on since the last time we met, huh? I know you must have been worried sick about me with the big day coming around the corner. You know, I wonder if you ever had premonitions like this before I was ever born. If that’s true, that you really are the most courageous mom I could ever ask for, and why you’re still such an inspiration to me, even when you are still gone.”

“And truth be told, I’m still a little scared myself.” She admits with a slightly nervous chuckle before recomposing herself. “But believe me, I’ve made peace with myself if it comes to that. Plus, if it does happen, then I’ll finally get the chance to see you, and we can catch up on all of the awesome stuff you’ve missed since then.” she states with a lighthearted giggle in order to look on the bright side in all of this.

Then, she takes a moment to pause for a bit to look at her dad behind her before turning back and adding in a slightly more serious tone, “Besides myself, Ford Mustang, and the twins, I’m more worried about dad over here.” This catches Turbo Dash off-guard from that added statement as his daughter continues sincerely, “He’s been through so much since you passed away, mom. And I hate to see him go through it all over again. Please help me watch over him. Because my foals need their cool grandpa around whenever Ford needs a break, or when they need to take lessons on how to become incredible speedsters like yours truly.”

After hearing his daughter’s sincerity, some of his tears begin to build up in his gold-colored eyes, and he does his best hold them off for later use with a few sniffles in-between. With his composure sustained for the moment, he goes up his cherished daughter before he lays a comforting wing around her and joins in the private conversation whilst chuckling with a reassuring grin.

“I doubt they’re going to need that much training since they’ll become such naturals like the rest of our family. But don’t you worry about me. This old colt will get by, one way or another.”

In a more heartfelt manner, he then addresses with a passionate smile, “Anyway, I think that I speak for both myself and Firefly when I say that I am so proud on having such a wonderful and awesome daughter like you, Rainbow Dash.”

And from her father’s sentimentality, Rainbow starts to get very emotional as her magenta eyes get very watery. With tears cascading gradually across her smiling face, she nuzzles against the stallion’s strong neck as she expresses her admiration for him, “And you’re the coolest, most dependable dad I could ever ask for.”

And in return for Rainbow’s heartfelt affection, the now-tearful Turbo Dash adds his other wing and fully wraps his precious daughter in his increasingly tender embrace while Rainbow does the same by wrapping his fore hooves around his torso. With no one else disturbing them, they silently carry on with their warmhearted cuddling as they exchange a few, simple words of their everlasting love between father and daughter.

“I love you, my one and only Lil’ Dashie.”

“I love you too, daddy… always and forever.”

Chapter 30 – Around the World

Chapter 30 – Around the World

After a long, emotional day by spending time with her father, Turbo Dash, the two Pegasi made it back to her home in the middle of the night. And once they share a touching, farewell hug, Rainbow waves her father goodbye as he drags his now-empty flying chariot back to his own residence in Cloudsdale. Afterwards, Rainbow lets out a big yawn and she eagerly heads inside to get herself some proper rest.

“Mustang! I’m home!”

Strangely enough, there’s no answer in return, so she assumed that her husband is already tucked into bed. But as she is about to head upstairs, she stops all of a sudden as she notices something on the floor. With curious eyes, she sees a postcard right next to her, and picks it up with her mouth and places it on her fore hoof.

Upon closer inspection, she reads a familiar slogan that’s depicted in big, fancy words on a white, diamond-shaped sign as it features neon lights and ends its alluring phrase in bold, red letters:

“Welcome to Fabulous Las Pegasus.”

After reading that recognizable logo, she flips it to see who sent this to their door, but to her confusion, no one has written anything on its backside. As she ponders on the vibrant postcard’s blank message, she then sees another postcard right next to the staircase.

With her curiosity taking hold, she goes up to the next postcard as she tucks the first one underneath her wing. Once she picks up the next card, she reads it in cursive writing, “Prance” as it depicts the city’s most iconic tower in the background. Again, the back of the card is entirely blank just like the previous one.

Then, she lifts her head up and sees a trail of postcards lining up the stairs, each of them portraying a different, exotic location. With a disgruntled sigh, Rainbow tasks herself to pick each and every one up as well as tuck them beneath her wings. And with every postcard she picks up, they’re all share the same blank message as the last one.

Soon enough that trail leads her straight to her bedroom, which is closed before her. And once she opens the door, the lights suddenly come up as a voice rings out loud.

“SURPRISE!”

And from that startling announcement, Rainbow lets out a short, high-pitched squeak in surprise as her ruffled wings span out on impulse, which showers her with the postcards she was just collecting. As the postcards descend gracefully like autumn leaves, the slack-jawed mare remains completely still as she takes the time to verify the surprise that Ford Mustang has planned out for her.

On the foot of the bed next to the ecstatically grinning stallion is a colorful collaboration of luggage and novelties. Some of these tacky trinkets are just stuff you would find at a party store such as a tiki cup with an umbrella and a silly straw, an inflatable tube in the shape of a smiling, big-eyed sea monster, and some goofy-looking shutter glasses. And in front of the luggage are lots of traveling brochures with locations matching that with some of the illustrated postcards Rainbow picked up earlier.

Once she regains her composure, the wide-eyed Rainbow Dash asks in a stuttering tone, “Wh-what… what’s all this, Ford?”

“Oh, nothing much.” he replies with a very shrewd smile, “Just an exclusive, all-expense-paid, 30-day trip around the world for my favorite mare in all of Equestria!”

“Around the world?!” she exclaimed with even more surprise.

“Uh-huh!” he nods with constant giddiness. “While you were spending time with some of your best friends, I’ve been collaborating with Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Princesses on this idea I had for a while. And with their help, along with Turbo Dash’s, I’ve picked out several vacation spots all across the map!”

Giddy as ever, he pulls out a small box from a suitcase and reveals its contents to his astonished wife. “And see! We can just use these to get to our destinations in an instant!”

Rainbow gasps lightly to herself once she sees the familiar items within the box: a pair of golden necklaces with globe-shaped spheres on them.

“Wait… I’ve seen them before.” she utters quietly.

This catches Ford by surprise as he stammers in response, “Y-you have? When?”

“Since yesterday, when Twilight tested them out for us so we can get to Applewood in a flash.”

“Oh, you didn’t find out about all of this ahead of time, did you?” he asks with a hint of worry that his surprise was ruined.

“No no! Of course not!” she reassures strongly. “This is definitely a nice surprise altogether! Huh, now that I think about it, that does explain a lot when she was researching those maps and books earlier.” she mutters mostly to herself.

Happy to hear her reassurance, he wheezes in relief as he replies with an awkward smile, “ Well, that at least saves me the trouble from explaining them.” Then he continues with renewed enthusiasm, “But yeah, with these beauties, we can go anywhere we want as long as the coordinates are all set. And thanks to your father’s suggestions from his day as a world-class racers, Twilight was able to input a few more good locations outside of Equestria. Think of it as your early birthday present from me to you!”

As the wholehearted stallion displays his big, toothy smile, the surprisingly silent Rainbow Dash takes a moment to contemplate upon receiving such an overwhelming gift before she responds in a flabbergasted tone, “Ford, I… I don’t know what to say…”

“Well, if you are in need of some ideas on how to show me some gratitude, I would be more than happy to give you a few suggestions in mind.” he implies with a sly smirk.

But as he is expecting said gratitude such as his wife smothering him with lots of kisses, Rainbow remains inexpressive as she aimlessly averts her eyes away from her concerning husband. So he asks softly, “Honey, are you okay?”

“S-sorry.” she apologizes coyly. “It’s just that… this is all… so sudden.”

Startled to hear such a bewildering response, he droops his head and ears as he replies dismayingly, “B-b-but… I thought you might like what I’ve planned out for you. Did I do something wrong?”

Saddened to hear such a disheartening tone from her husband, Rainbow does her best to ease his mounting worries, “No! Not at all! This trip of yours sounds really awesome! The best present I can ask for!” But her encouragement is gradually replaced with her own worries. “It’s just that… we may be gone for quite a while. How am I going to tell me friends here? What if there are… complications along way?”

Brief silence fills their bedroom due their uncomfortable uncertainties over their big surprise trip before Mustang is the first to speak up as he comforts his still unsure wife in a gentle voice, “Believe me, angel, I’ve given this a lot of thought and consulted Twilight about this first before we started making plans. That’s why we made sure to add our house and Ponyville Hospital into the necklaces’ codex first in case of emergencies. Plus, we don’t have to stay at a hotel overnight. We can always return home whenever you want to rest up or take a break.”

Then, he tenderly grasps Rainbow’s fore hooves to bring her closer as he pleads to her softly, “Please, Rainbow Dash. Let me do this for you. You been through so much since your conception, I just want to make up on how much you’ve sacrificed for our foals, especially with your restricted flying. So please, wouldn’t to share this adventure with me?”

As he lets his imploring question sink in, he locks his deeply beseeching eyes with Rainbow’s magenta orbs. From their fixed gaze on each other, she gives it some more thought as she reconsiders her hesitation earlier. And from looking into Ford’s cool, turquoise eyes for a little bit longer, she finally makes up his mind as she breaks into a trembling, joyous smile before making her response.

“Oh, how can I say ‘no’ when you make a face like that!” she remarks with a hearty chuckle.

Almost shocked to hear such an exuberant answer, he then inquires in a timid voice, “So, does that mean…?”

“Yeah, let’s go see the world together!”

And after hearing that robust reassurance, Ford gradually beams into an overjoyed, gaping smile, and he expresses his jubilant admiration by flying up to Rainbow and smothering her with lots of gratifying kisses while hugging her strongly.

“Oh thank you, Rainbow! Thank you! You’re not going to regret this, Dashie! I promise you!”

Amused by her husband’s usual sentimentality and expressive gratitude, Rainbow bears a giggling smirk as she tries to pry him away from his constant kissing, “Oh right! Take it down a notch, you romantic fool!”

And after he finally lets her go from their embrace, she lets out a mighty yawn before she recommends with a tiring smile, “Right now… I need some proper shuteye. So help me get this stuff off our bed first.”

“You got it.” he salutes with an obedient smile as he swiftly shoves the luggage, pamphlets, and other accessories off of their bed.

As Ford works on that, Rainbow then adds, “Also, for tomorrow morning, I wanna send letters to my friends and dad first before we commence our big getaway together, just so they at least know where we will be for the next month.”

“Right, of course.”

And after their bed is free of the clutter, they slide underneath the covers, give each other a goodnight kiss, and gradually succumb to their much-needed sleep. But Rainbow Dash doesn’t sleep that easily tonight. After all, she can hardly wait see what her big, strong Mustang has planned out for her.

The next morning starts off just like any other morning would at the Dash/Mustang house: waking up in each other’s forelegs, having a big breakfast, and taking a nice, steamy shower together.

And after they freshen up, Rainbow Dash goes back downstairs to the kitchen while Ford Mustang finalizes some of their packing for today’s trip. From there, she prepares her letters to her best friends and dear, old dad. Minutes later, she finishes up the last letter, which is addressed to her father, and wraps it with the specially enchanted ribbon before activating its magical seal. And thanks to its enchantment, the last written letter disappears in a puff of smoke.

With her task done, she walks back upstairs to meet up with her husband. As she walks inside the bedroom, Ford is also done with his own task as zips up his own fanny pack.

Once he notices her presence, he asks her, “So… are you all set now?”

“Yep, all set!” she confirms with a cheerful smile.

With everything taken care of this morning, Ford gives Rainbow her own fanny pack as well as one of magical necklaces for extremely long-range teleportation use.

As she puts her necklace and fanny pack on, she asks her designated tour guide with a witty smirk, “So tell me, my dear captain, what’s our first destination?”

With a cunning grin matching that with hers, Ford simply presses the globe-shaped button on his necklace and answers with sly conviction, “Las Pegasus!”

And once he releases that button, the two eager Pegasi disappear in their respective balls of light as their necklaces take them all the way to the Entertainment Capital of the World.

At "The City Where the Sky’s the Limit", Rainbow and Ford take moment to enjoy the vibrant sights from the famous Strip. With Mustang leading the way, he takes his wife to their first activity: a gondola ride at the Grand Canal. Gently down the stream and underneath the bright, blue sky, their leisurely cruise takes them down the aquamarine channel as they pass by the charming shops, hotels, and cafés. And as they cross underneath a few bridges, their friendly gondolier sings up a stirring, love song for the couple. From hearing such a beautiful voice over such a sappy melody, Rainbow blushes intensely from the over-the-top sappiness and she hides her extremely flushed face underneath her husband’s wing. With mild amusement over his flustered wife, the smiling stallion pulls her in a closer embrace as they enjoy the rest of the ride.

After eating some good, wholesome pasta for lunch at one of the Grand Canal’s nearby restaurants, they go to a big prizefight with tickets already reserved for them. This is definitely more to Rainbow’s liking as she can’t wait to see the top two contenders beat the ever-loving snot out of each other. With the first ringing of the bell, the boxer face each other at the center of the ring and begin their pummeling. With every hoof-punch and kick throw, the massive crowd cheers fanatically as Rainbow and eventually Ford jumps right into the ongoing craze.

With their excitement and adrenaline building over the course of match, the hard-hitting boxers carry on their battle ferociously. And countless rounds later, one of the hard-hitting combatants could stand no longer and makes a mighty impact on the ground. And with the fall of a defeated contender, a new champion is declared as Rainbow, Ford, and the rest of the crowd holler in overwhelming joy.

For their next destination, they head to the Big Apple of Equestria, Manehatten. They start off with something simple: a walk around the city’s very own Central Park. It has a lot to offer that cannot be found in much smaller parks: botanic gardens, a zoo, there is even an outdoor, public theater where ponies can see dramatic plays for free. And while Ford admires the spirited actors on stages, the same cannot be said for Rainbow’s case as she nearly falls asleep for the most part. But at least there are other things that are more active, like trotting through the very scenic trails, boating on the park’s largest lake, and flying a kite over the ground’s expansive lawn.

For the following couple of nights, they spend each evening to see a musical on Bridleway. One particular show that Ford knows Rainbow will definitely like is a rock-and-roll musical. The story is simple enough, but everypony knows they came there to listen to its rocking soundtrack. With all of its jamming musical numbers, flashy effects, and dynamic choreography, Rainbow is certainly having a blast as she behaves just like any screeching fangirl would at a rock concert. And despite not being as expressive as his wife, Ford also enjoys the electrifying songs as they certainly remind him of the classic, catchy tunes back on Earth.

As for their final night in Manehatten, Mustang picks out their last show to see, which surprisingly shares the same title as Broadway’s variation, “The Phantom of Opera.” Admittedly, Dash is less enthusiastic to see it herself, especially if it relates to anything with opera, but for her husband’s sake, she is willing to give it a try as she hopes it wouldn’t put her to sleep before the second act. To her amazement however, the story is quite gripping and its extraordinary music is both powerful and elegant to listen to. For Ford’s case, he is certainly surprised on how similar it is to Earth’s counterpart, especially with its big musical numbers. But as he is nearly entranced when one of his favorite musical numbers plays out, he suddenly notices Rainbow’s speechless reaction to its captivating performance. From her listening to the Phantom’s sweet, angelic voice, Rainbow Dash is completely spellbound by the song’s haunting melody as she is nearly brought to tears by how truly beautiful the score really is. Not wanting to spoil the moment for her, Ford simply lets out a knowing smile as he grins with pride on picking out the perfect show to end their night in Manehatten.

Heading further out east, the couple hits Mustangia at their next vacation spot. As recommended by Rainbow’s father, Turbo Dash, the coastal city is definitely one of the best places for some fun out in the sun with its white, sandy beaches and shimmering, blue seas. But this port town isn’t just known for its lovely, oceanic scenery. It also features some magnificent architecture with its white marble houses and very colorful landmarks. Its most colorful attraction of them all is a unique park that’s filled with the most spectacular mosaic sculptures Ford has ever seen in his life. Everything around the naturalistic park is so appealing to look at as every shade of color can be found in the countless, ceramic tiles, ranging from its animal statues, smooth benches, and various murals on the floor and walls. All of these bedazzling works of art are in perfect harmony with the nature that inspired the organic creations in the first place.

From there, Rainbow and Ford has a lot of beach activities to choose from: volleyball, swimming, sand-castle building, and snorkeling. But what the eager mare really want to take part in is surfing. Truth be told, Ford is reluctant to allow surfing as he fears on how dangerous it would be for his nine-month pregnant wife. But after talking it over with some of the locals and instructors, he learns that surfing can be a leisure activity for pregnant mares, so as long as they set proper limitations for themselves. So to Rainbow Dash’s delight, Ford permits themselves to take part in some surfing, but from following the other surfers’ advice, they only limit themselves to less-crowded waters and gentler waves. Despite those limitations, Rainbow is having the time of her life as she rides out some of the nicely sized waves. Even Ford is happy to see how active his ecstatic wife is, despite her pregnancy. They even shared a surfboard to catch a magnificent wave together. And for lunch and dinner, the happy Pegasi indulges in the city’s plentiful variety of seafood.

For the next week, the married couple went to more foreign countries, but to Ford’s surprise by the amazing coincidences, some of them are quite similar to the European countries back on Earth. A most notable example is Pearis, Prance. And just like Paris, this Equestrian world has its own Eiffel Tower as well as numerous art museums to choose from.

Another example of a similar European city is Marelin, Germaney. Some of its most famous attractions are the castles to take tours at. While half of them are still occupied by their respective owners, the rest of them are quite ancient, but all of them look like they are taking straight out of fairy tales. And even though Marelin is another great place for some delicious, local food, Mustang knows of only one place that will really wet Rainbow Dash’s appetite: a grand tour at the city’s famous chocolate factory. From inside the factory, visitors are treated to the marvelous process to some of the world’s most delicious chocolate ever. To Ford's perspective, this would have been the closest thing to a visit at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Once they make their way to the expansive kitchen, Ford and Rainbow indulge in the sights and smells of the mouthwatering chocolate that are being made right before their increasingly hungry eyes. And finally, at the end of their tour, they are treated to a wide variety of chocolate to sample and enjoy. Every piece they tasted is a succulent experience on its own, ranging from creamy milk chocolate to rich dark chocolate. Satisfied to their fullest, they decide to buy a few boxes on some of their favorite flavors to indulge for a later date.

By far, the most unique country they have visited so far is Cervidas, the homeland of the deerfolk. If Ford were to make a comparison on how to describe their wide-ranging country, it shares similarities to the British Isles, especially with Ireland and Scotland due to Cervidas’ very green pastures. But there are lots of forests that occupies the deer country, which some of the cities reside there as well. As for the locals themselves, the deer are very in tune with nature in a lot of ways, whether its from their agriculture, professions, or magic. At one of their bigger cities, they host a massive festival, similar to a Renaissance fair. From there, the Pegasi took part in a lot of festive activities, such as games and workshops. But Rainbow’s favorite part in the festival is their traditional stag fights, a fighting tournament that’s like a mix of wrestling and jousting, where bucks and stags show off their antlers and engage in some fierce competition with one and another. No matter who wins in the end, Dash definitely gets herself a great amount of entertainment from the adrenaline-pumping action.

After that, they travelled to countries that are far exotic than the previous ones. Just like Saudi Arabia back on Earth, Saddle Arabia is a famous desert country, as it features some impressive landmarks like royal palaces, monuments, and pyramids. But one of its hidden treasures is a truly extraordinary piece of paradise simply called Oasis City. Once found by travelers that were lost in the endless stretch of deserts, it’s been turned into a blissful utopia as the owners take full advantage of nature’s beautiful lagoons. It’s like the spa that tops all spas as it features luxurious massages and soothing springs.

Then, they head further south to visit Zecora’s homeland, Zebrica. Like the deerfolk in Cervidas, the zebras share deep respect and care for their native land. Their devotion and hard work are paid in full as their food markets and villages are stocked with delicious fruits and vegetables. Some of them are fairly exotic based off of their strange appearances, but all of them are uniquely packed with juicy, tasty flavors. In the midst of their week in Zebrica, the couple partakes in the country's well-known safari tour as they gaze with awe at the golden savannah’s extravagant wildlife. At one village they stopped by afterwards, the zebrafolk invite the Pegasi for a big feast that evening. And from there, it becomes a full-blown party as the villagers get into full swing with their dancing that matches perfectly with the drums’ rapid beats. From the natives’ rhythmic music, the giddy Rainbow Dash feels compels to join in the fun. And while Ford is a bit shy to mingle in such fast-paced dancing at first, his wife will have none of that as she pulls him along and eventually, they gleefully dance the night away.

And finally, to end their month-long world tour, Rainbow and Ford spend their last week together in the far-off lands of Neighpon. Within the misty mountain region, the ponies stay at a magnificent resort, where they are treated to an abundance of well-prepared food, including a wide variety of sushi rolls and noodle dishes. And throughout their pampered stay, they get to bathe and relax at the inn’s exquisite outdoor hot springs. For their last night in Neighpon, they participate at the local festivities from a nearby village. And after a day’s worth of carnival games, Neighponese fair food, and theatrical shows, the festival ends the night with a spectacular fireworks show. And thanks to Ford’s heavylifting, the Pegasi gets the best seats from one of the rooftops, and they gaze with immense wonderment at the fireworks’ colorful vibrance. As they continue to watch the fireworks going off in various occurrences, Rainbow Dash sighs with a contented smile on what a fun-fulfilled vacation she’s been having since last month, and she silently expresses her gratitude by leaning her head against her husband’s neck whilst they carry on to share this wonderful evening together.

Three Weeks Remaining…
~ Early of June (41st Week) ~

After spending a leisure afternoon on their last day in Neighpon, Ford Mustang and Rainbow Dash pack up their things and prepare to make their swift departure back to Ponyville. Thanks to their magical necklaces, they instantly teleport themselves back home. With their vacation finally coming to an end, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but breath a sigh of relief, knowing on how good it feels to be back at home. With their wings over each other, they walk together back to their cloudhouse with completely contented smiles stretched across their faces.

As they enter the outer perimeter of their home, Rainbow comments with a casual grin, “You know, after a month’s worth of trips, have to say… there really is no place like home--!”

But then, out of nowhere, their floating house literally lights up with big, neon signs and decorative lights as party cannons and whistles are fired out loud to signify the mare’s arrival. And right away, many unexpected guests step out of their hiding spots as they announce with tremendous joy.

“SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RAINBOW DASH!”

From that announcement, the guest of honor is in complete shock by the massive surprise waiting for her. As she catches her breath, she gets a better look of her surroundings. For one thing, her friends and father are all there to celebrate this momentous occasion. And not just her friends from Ponyville, but also those from out of town, including the Wonderbolts and Gilda.

The other thing is how she didn’t even notice the party that is set up before her. Considering on how early the evening is, the latest sunset has colored the sky in a pink-purple gradient as its nightly shade provided enough concealment for all of the tables, displays, and decorations. Along with the flashy signs, the place is lit up with trails of decorative lights in the shapes of lightning bolts matching that with the birthday girl’s Cutie Mark. In addition to the picnic tables and a buffet line, the outdoor setting is filled with tons of games and attractions to choose from. They even have a jumbo-sized balloon shaped like Rainbow Dash as it’s being escorted by dozens of handlers.

Once her closest friends and dad gets close enough to welcome back their favorite flyer, Rainbow Dash finishes catching her breath as she greets them with a chuckling smile, “Geez, for a second there, I thought I might go into labor here!”

“Yeesh, Rainbow! Don’t even joke like that!” Applejack scowls mildly.

Realizing that herself, Pinkie apologizes in a remorseful tone, “Oh! Sorry, Dashie! I didn’t even considered that possibility!”

“You okay, honey?” Ford asks over the concern of his wife.

“Yeah, I’m good, everypony. Really, I am.” Rainbow reassures with a lighthearted grin. “It’s going to take more than some surprise party to bring me down.” And as the gathered company are relieved by Rainbow’s soft reassurance, she starts to get emotional by all of this as she beams uncontrollably, “Still, I… I can’t believe it…! All of my friends… my dad… they’re all here!”

“Well you can thank this lovable sap of yours for suggesting this to us in the first place.” Turbo Dash states with a knowing grin as he playfully nudges his son-in-law’s shoulder.

“Oh come on, Turbo. You’re giving me too much credit.” Ford replies with a sheepish giggle while rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. “All I did was send out letters ahead of time while we spent our last vacation days in Neighpon to give you guys enough time to prepare the party once we get back home. That’s all.”

Realizing that her emotions are getting way out of hoof, Rainbow Dash rapidly shakes her head to redisplay her cool attitude, and she implies to everyone present with a very sly smirk, “Well then, are we all just going to stand here, or are we here to party?!”

With that said, everypony’s favorite disk jockey, DJ-PON-3, cues the opening music from her personal turntable, and they commence the ultimate birthday party ever.

Throughout Rainbow Dash’s biggest birthday bash ever, she and her guests have one heck of a party they will never forget. Along with a buffet featuring Rainbow’s favorite treats and a colossal birthday cake, they engage in a lot of party games and other fun-filled activities in-between, including a variation of Twister, Pinatas, and a full-on dance party, courtesy of Vinyl Scratch of course.

And after a long night of cake, games, and countless presents, Rainbow Dash bids everyone goodnight, and they all go back to their respective homes while Rainbow and Ford does the same thing. A while later, Rainbow goes downstairs to fetch her husband from the living room as she lets out a very big yawn along the way.

“Ford, are you ready for bed yet or what?”

“Sorry, I’m just setting aside the photographs we’ve taken over our trip.”

Sitting on the couch, Ford examines the photos they’ve taken over the course of their month-long vacation. No doubts he’s got a lot to sort out over their photo album the next day or so. Curious by his efforts, Rainbow joins by his side and looks over the photographs herself. From her observation, she smiles alongside her husband as she looks back on all of the fond memoirs they've shared together.

“We sure made lots of good memories, didn’t we?” she comments warmly as she leans closer to her stallion.

“Yes, we did.” he agrees with a reminiscing smile.

For a couple more minutes, they silently continue to look at each of the photos as they relive those experiences in their own way. But suddenly, their silence gradually deteriorates as Mustang hears some subtle sniffles from his mare nearby. Once he turns his head to the side, he sees his wife weeping spontaneously as soft tears descend across her face.

Startled over her spontaneous crying, he addresses his worries as gently as possible, “Angel, is everything okay?”

Surprised by his soft concern, she responds in a strangely casual manner, “Y-yeah, of course. Why’d you ask?”

“You were crying.”

A bit wide-eyed by his modest testimony, she wipes some of the tears from one of her cheeks to examine the dampness herself. Thunderstruck by this, she lets out an awkward chuckle to explain her mixed feelings, “O-o-oh! Am I? I don’t know why I’m acting this way at a time like this! I’m just… so happy right now!”

Without a response to vague reaction, Ford simply bears a smile for her, and he wraps his wife with one of his wings. And in return for that comforting gesture, Rainbow places her forelegs around his neck to pull him in for a closer embrace. With their eyes lock on to each other’s, Dash is the first to speak her mind in a very tenderhearted tone.

“I love you. You know that, right?”

A bit dumbfounded by her straightforward sentimentality, he replies with a casual, earnest smile, “Of course, Rainbow Dash. I love you too--!”

“W-wait, just… hear me out for a second, Mustang.” Following up on that shaky intervention, Ford simply replies with a nod before she continues in a hesitant voice, “These past few weeks… everything you’ve done for me since last month… it’s everything I ever wanted from going on a worldwide adventure myself. But most important of all, I got to share all of these awesome moments with you, my most favorite stallion in the world. You’ve always been with me every step of the way. And that’s why… I will never stop loving you, my big, strong Mustang.”

Despite how mushy she was sounding, she felt it was necessary for her to fully express herself so her stallion will know firsthand on how much she truly loves him. Granted, her words of affection has touched the very core of his sentimental soul as he gently brings her face closer to his and offers her a soft yet affectionate kiss. From there, they hold on to that simple act of affection for a little while longer before he softly lets her go and offers his own simple words of admiration in return.

“And I will always love you, my beautiful, blue angel.”

Giddy as ever, the lovey-dovey mare pulls her stallion back in for another kiss, but this time, their kissing is taken up a notch as their hungry lips repeatedly smack and gasp in-between. From their rougher make-out session, they let out some subtle, euphoric moans as they lightly tighten their embrace in the midst of that.

And after holding on to that latest kiss for a bit longer, their ravenous lips let each other go as they take a moment to catch their breaths. From that momentary pause, the breathless mare bears a voluptuous smile as she makes a sly suggestion to her stallion.

“You know… we still have time to make some more memories before we call it a night.”

Having a good idea on what his crafty wife is up to, Ford takes caution on that alluring proposition as he inquires in a humble tone, “Y-you’re sure? I don’t want to do anything that might strain you in the end.”

“Come on, Ford. It’s still my birthday.” she implores with a chuckling grin before she readdresses herself in a seductive manner. “So let’s make this a night we’ll never forget, hmm? Or… are you trying to say that you no longer find me attractive anymore.

With her right fore hoof, the grinning mare teasingly guides it across her body, starting at her neck. With wide, fixated eyes, the spellbound stallion follows her hoof as it slowly glides downward. From her neck, it curves around her perfectly curved, 10-month pregnant belly, and then it descends toward that voluptuous flank of hers. In the midst of the smirking seductress tracing the outline on her body, Ford flusters up greatly with his wings expanding and throbbing to their limits. And after directing his speechless gaze back to Rainbow’s bedroom eyes and enticing smile, he comes up with the best response in the form of witty smirk.

“Oh, how can I say ‘no’ when you make a face like that.”

Hours later, Rainbow Dash suddenly feels compelled to open her eyes in the middle of the night as she steadily rises from her bed. It’s not like she’s having trouble sleeping or anything like that; she just feels a sudden need to wake up for a brief moment. In the midst of her rousing, she looks at her still sleeping husband as he continues to maintain that goofy, satisfied smile of his since the aftermath of their passionate lovemaking earlier. Amused by the stallion’s silly expression, she leans forward to give him a soft kiss before she quietly excuses herself to get herself a proper midnight snack.

From the kitchen, she serves herself another slice of leftover birthday cake and a tall glass of milk. And even after indulging on that delicious treat as well as cleaning up her mess, she still didn’t feel like it was enough to put her back to sleep, so she decides to go outside and watch the stars.

Out on the front entrance, Rainbow takes a moment to inhale the cool, crisp air as a calm smile spreads across her face. But instead of gazing at the stars like she originally planned, her eyes are directed to the quiet town of Ponyville. And in the midst of her gazing over her favorite town, she unexpectedly feels some light tussling in her belly. And knowing full well that it can’t be her stomach since she just ate, she looks down and figures it has to the be twins make all of that commotion down there.

“Oh. Hey, little guys. I see that you two are wide awake as well, huh?” she smiles toward them as she lightly pats her occupied belly. “Sorry if I disturbed you from your slumber. Hopefully that cake would make up for that.”

In the form of an answer, she receives some more light tussles from them and she chuckles in response, “Yeah, I figure that it would.”

As she tenderly caresses her belly to give her twins some motherly comfort, she redirects her soft gaze back on her hometown, and eventually, she addresses to her unborn foals once again in a cooing tone.

“You know something? I really think the world of you two. I really do. And so does your dad and everypony else. You see, this town… it has so much to offer here. So many adventures to go on. And I can’t wait for that day when you two are born in this world of ours. Because from there, you’ll get to see it yourself on how awesome life can really be. Isn’t that right, babies?”

In response, she feels a soft kick from one of them, but is mildly disappointed to feel just one, so she teasingly scolds the other one, “Hey, I only received one kick with that response. That means you too.”

Right away, she receives another ticklish kick from within, presumingly from the other twin. And in return, Rainbow nods with a lighthearted grin, “That’s better.”

And as she continues to soothingly stroke her belly, she finishes it off with a determined promise towards them, “Just remember this… no matter what happens to me in the end… I will always love the two of you.”

Satisfied on having this private conversation with them, she lets out a soft yawn, which indicates that it’s time for her and the twins to head straight to bed. And as she turned around to head back inside, she freezes in place once she notices her husband standing at the doorway.

“Rainbow… is everything alright?” he asks worriedly.

With a comforting, contented smile, the now tired mare gives Mustang a reassuring kiss and replies in a leisurely tone, “Nothing to worry about, hon. Everything’s just fine.”

Author's Note

In regards with the "A Day with Gilda" Chapter, there originally wasn't going to be one. Instead, Rainbow and Ford's visit to see Gilda would have been featured in the vacation montage of this chapter. I can't really remember on why I changed my mind along with the other additional chapters, but I am glad to have made that change, such as including a flashback scene revolving Gilda and Rainbow's childhood.

Now, on a different subject, I have some good news and some bad news...

The good news is that there are only 6 Chapters remaining, including the Epilogue. :raritystarry:

The bad news is that I will take a break from updating them. :raritydespair:

Now, that doesn't mean I'm not going to stop writing these chapters in the midst of this break. And once these chapters are all set, I will update each of them, one day at a time, just like I did for this story's first dozen chapters.

Chapter 31 – It’s Time

Chapter 31 – It’s Time

A Few Hours Remaining…
~ Late of June (44th Week) ~

“Rainbow, come quick! You’ve gotta see this!” Ford Mustang says with an enthusiastic grin as he anxiously leads his wife to his studio upstairs.

And lumbering right behind him is Rainbow Dash as her 11-month pregnant belly looks like it's almost touching the ground. “What? What is it?” she asks with a keen chuckle.

“I’ve finished it! I’ve finally finished it!” he declares in bouncy fashion.

“Well, what exactly did you just finished?”

“This!”

And from his giddy announcement, he points out his surprise once they enter the studio room. Following the direction of stallion’s extended foreleg, Rainbow notices a big easel at the corner of the room with a blue sheet covering it.

From that observation, she makes a sarcastic remark as she grins shrewdly, “Oh wow… sheets. My favorite. You shouldn’t have.”

Following up on that sarcasm, he quips in return as he steps closer to the concealed easel, “Well if sheets aren’t to your liking, then I guess I’ll just have to remove them then, huh?”

“I guess so.” she shrugs mockingly.

With an eager smirk matching that with Rainbow’s, he uses his teeth to grab one end of the sheet before he mutters out his question with a toothy smile, “Ready?”

“Well come on!” she nods and grins excitedly. “Get with the unveiling already!”

And without further ado, he gives the sheet a mighty pull. And with the draw of the curtain, Rainbow silently gasps with awe at the reveal of Ford’s surprise. Standing on top of the easel is a very large portrait of the mare herself. The painting’s setting depicts a gorgeous sunrise with celestial, warm-colored rays beaming from above. And at the center of the painting is a full-body rendition of Rainbow Dash, hovering in an upright, proud manner with her trademark, winning grin stretching across her radiant face.

“Well, what do you think?” Ford ask his wife with an anticipating smile.

Despite hearing her stallion’s question, the gaping mare continues to remain awestruck as her big, astonished eyes are still glued to the vibrant, highly-detailed portrait of herself. And sooner or later, she pulls herself together so she can make her own critique to the exquisite artwork in front of her.

“Ford… this is… this is… the best portrait ever!” she grins with neverending, upbeat excitement. “I just can’t believe on how much you have improved since the last time you’ve done a portrait like this for me! Seriously, when are you going to start hosting a gallery already?”

After a short giggle over Dash’s exaggeration, Ford replies with an amusing smirk, “Hey, these things take time, Rainbow. Never rush on a work of art, that’s what I would say. Besides, I have no intention on selling this one as it’s a special gift for a very special pony.”

“Oh really?” she inquires with a witty smile. “And what led you to create this latest masterpiece in the first place?”

Mustang takes a brief pause from answering her question as he reflects back to his original intent with his recent creation. Truth be told, he wanted to create this as a memorial portrait, especially for the supposed funeral that may happen in just a matter of days. But since he doesn’t want to share that with his wife if it will make her upset, he decides to go with his second reason as a proper answer and as a cover-up with his original objective.

“Oh... just wanted to created something for our anniversary next month, that’s all.” he shrugs with an awkward smile. “But I was so excited once I completed it today, that I couldn’t wait any longer to show it to you myself. I hope I didn’t ruin the surprise already.”

Thankfully, Rainbow doesn’t question him any further as she wraps her forelegs around his body to pull him in closer before responding with a wide, gratifying smile, “Well it is a nice surprise, and it is an awesome present for that matter.”

As he beams with satisfaction, they openly express their appreciation for each other by sharing a nice, long kiss. Once they are contented with their latest act of affection, their lips gently part ways, and the stallion turns around to face the finished portrait while asking his wife behind him.

“So anyway, where should we hang this beauty? I was thinking we can should hang it over the fireplace. What do you think, Rainbow?”

However, he doesn’t receive a response from her, so he asks again as he turns back around, “Rainbow?”

But once he faces her, his expression is frozen with confusion and dismay as his wide eyes are locked on to his wife’s suddenly distressing position. Crouched on the ground, Rainbow Dash heaves greatly as she hunches forward while laying a fore hoof on her fully stretched belly.

Filled with increasing concern over his mare’s sudden, pain-stricken demeanor, he quickly leans toward her and asks in a soft, worrisome tone, “Rainbow, are you okay?”

In her shaky stance, Dash takes a moment to look up as she locks her poor, beseeching eyes with her concerning husband, and she utters in a desperate, whimpering voice, “M-M-Mustang… I think… it’s time.”

“I-i-it’s time?” he repeats in a stammering tone.

And after she lets out a high-pitched moan and a hasty nod in return, Ford’s dumbfounded gaze is soon directly downward as his eyes widen even further while his pupils shrink significantly once he finally notices the cause of Rainbow’s sudden plight. Right underneath her, is a very damp spot that slowly expands across the cloud-made floor, and it doesn’t take long for him to figure out on what just happened.

Her water just broke.

“OH GOD, IT’S TIME!” he panics on impulse before he quickly recomposes himself so he can maintain control of the dire situation, and he softly reassures his wife to the best of his abilities. “Okay! Okay okay okay! I’ve got this! I’ll get our things, and then I’ll be back for you! Okay?”

“Mm-hmm.” she answers with a simple nod in the middle of her first contractions.

Thankful over her patience and endurance, he gives her a quick peck and then says to her, “Be back in a flash!”

And right away, he shoots off like an arrow and darts toward the bedroom. Once there, he immediately spots his pre-packed saddlebags nearby, which were already made ahead of time for such a spontaneous emergency as of right now. After he quickly straps the saddlebags on, he then grabs the special teleportation necklaces that were lying on top of the chest of drawers.

“Okay, let’s see…” he mutters frantically over his mental checklist. “Got our bags… our necklaces. Just need one last thing.”

Hastily, he opens one drawer at a time as he screeches in a state of panic, “Come on! Where is it?! Where is it?!”

“Ford!”

A bit distracted from hearing Rainbow’s desperate outcry, he pulls the right drawer and finally finds the last item off his list: a scroll that’s wrapped in a red ribbon and fastened with a magical seal.

“Ah-ha! Found it!” he exclaims with a triumphant smile as he pulls it out.

“FORD!”

With another cry for help from Rainbow Dash, Mustang gets back on track and quickly presses the crucial scroll’s enchanted seal while responding to his agonizing mare, “Coming! Coming!” And as the urgent letter disappears in a flash of light and a puff of smoke, Ford immediately heads back to the studio room, where his hunched wife is still immobile from the constant pain she’s enduring.

“There we go!” he says with a soft smile as he gently fastens the magical accessory around the whimpering mare’s neck. “Now then…” And as he presses the icon on his own necklace, he swiftly makes his command in a clear voice, “Ponyville Hospital!”

Upon command, the necklaces transport both him and Rainbow Dash in flashes of light, and in an instant, they arrive in the hospital’s lobby. While a couple of attendances that are behind the reception desk are initially startled by the Pegasi’s sudden and unorthodox appearance, Ford breaks them out of their stupor as he frantically shouts out loud.

“HELP! MY WIFE IS GOING INTO LABOR!”

Right away, the attendances call for an additional help before they carefully settle Rainbow on one of the readied stretchers, and once the fully pregnant mare is secure in her method of transportation, the nurses briskly take her through the emergency room with her anxious husband following right behind them.

Several Minutes Earlier in Canterlot...

“Alright then, let’s see your latest progress on your teleportation spell.” Twilight Sparkle asks of her student.

In the private sanctuary of her elegant room, the young Alicorn Princess waits for her trainee to get started as Trixie isn’t feeling like her Great-and-Powerful self when under the presence of her privileged instructor.

“O-oh, are you sure about this, Twilight?” she asks in a rare display of stage fright. “I seriously doubt I’ll hit it right on the marker this time.”

“It’s okay, Trixie.” she nods with a understanding smile. “That’s why I am to help you out along the way. Besides, I have a good feeling that you’ll nail it this time.” she reassures with a wink as Trixie bears a tiny, blushing smile in return.

But then Twilight adds with a sly smirk, “Or are you trying to tell me that the Great and Powerful Trixie isn’t up to the task at hoof?”

From exploiting over Trixie’s pride, Twilight’s clever ploy works just as she planned when Trixie retorts with her head up high and an egotistical smirk stretching across her face, “Nonsense! The Great and Powerful Trixie is always ready to take any challenge head-on!”

Happy to see her friend assuming her more confident persona, the grinning Twilight goads even further, “Prove it.”

“With pleasure!” she replies with a more determined smile as she preps herself for her latest test.

In front of the blue Unicorn is the target of her teleportation spell: a plushy pillow that’s several feet away. After she exhales out a soft breath for herself, Trixie closes her eyes and focuses on the targeted pillow through her mind’s eye. As she concentrates, her horn glows a pink aura of magic. And once she sets her mind on today’s objective, the concentrating horn enwraps the magician in a sphere of light before it instantly bursts like a popped balloon.

Immediately after that, Trixie reappears in a flash with her eyes still closed since the start of her latest spell. A bit hesitant at first, she peeks with one eye to verify on how close she came to her destination. But after that one peek, her eyes widen in amazement when she notices that she is standing right on top of the pillow she just teleported towards.

“I… I did it. I really did it!” she stammers with astonishment as she faces the grinning Alicorn next to her.

“Yes! I knew you would if you set your mind to it!” Twilight states with a giggling smile.

Despite her initial disbelief, Twixie begins to beam ecstatically as she hollers with tremendous joy over her latest accomplishment, “WOO-HOO! I did it~! I did it~!”

And as she bounces around while gleefully announcing her recent achievement, the jubilant mare begins to teleport around the room on impulse. Regardless on how happy she is for her friend, Twilight worries that the giddy Unicorn may be getting little carried away with herself.

“Trixie, slow down!” Twilight cautions her mildly. “You might ram into some--!”

But before she can finish up her warning, Trixie teleports right in front of Twilight and trips over her. From that mishap, the blue mare lays on top of the purple Alicorn. And once she snaps out of her dizziness, Trixie suddenly freezes in place when she realizes that she is inches away from her secret crush’s face… most notably her lips to say the least.

Nearly distracted by her own infatuation, she hastily backs away from submitting to such an appealing thought as she blushes like mad while apologizing in an embarrassing manner, “Oh my goodness! Twilight, I’m so sorry! Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m okay.” Twilight reassures with a pleasant smile as she accepts Trixie’s shaky hoof to get herself up from the ground. “Well done, Trixie.”

“Well what can I say?” Trixie smirks lightly to cover up her embarrassment earlier. “I have a good teacher.”

After the completion of Trixie’s latest trick, Twilight casually walks to her table to look over some of their books as the other mare remains completely still while she is lost in her own thoughts. For Trixie, she just couldn’t believe on how much time she has spent with Twilight since they met in Applewood weeks ago. But as much as she was enjoying the princess’s company, she can’t help but wanting more than just her friendship. So knowing that she can’t bottles these newfound feelings forever, she decides that now would be the perfect time to see if the oblivious bookworm share in those same feelings as well.

“Twilight?”

“Yes?” she responds with a leisurely smile as she faces her barely composed friend.

“I-I don’t believe I had the chance to thank you for that you have taught me in the past month or so.” she says in a strangely humble manner. “These new tricks will definitely come in handle for my next show.”

“Think nothing of it, Trixie. You yourself taught me some wonderful techniques as well, such as advanced puppetry and fireworks. Plus, it’s nice to have a study buddy that I can relate with.” she admits nonchalantly.

“Well… maybe I can treat you for some dinner sometime.” Trixie suggests subtly as a massive blush consumes her face once again.

“Hmm… yes, dinner sounds nice.” she nods to Trixie’s suggestion much to the latter’s surprise and immense, inner joy. “It’s been awhile since I went out to a nice restaurant. Ooo, maybe we can invite some friends to come along too!”

A bit speechless from Twilight misunderstanding her suggestive invitation, the flustered Unicorn attempts to clarify her true intentions despite her own hesitation, “A-actually… I was wondering if it’s just the two of us. You know… as a d-d-d--!”

“TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT!”

Not sure if that untimely interruption is a blessing or a curse, Trixie puts her invitation on hold as Twilight’s faithful assistant, Spike, enters the room unannounced. Like mad, he rushes toward the young princess as he frantically waves a scroll in his claws before he screeches to a halt in front of the two mares.

“Spike! What’s wrong?” Twilight asks over the young dragon’s urgency.

As he catches his breath, Spike shows her the important scroll that Twilight needs to see for herself. “Here! An urgent message from Ford Mustang!”

“What?!”

Immediately, she grabs the scroll from the short-winded assistant’s grasp with the use of her expertise magic. And with a quick eye, she recognizes the ribbon’s bright red color before she hastily unwraps it to see what it says. With the reveal of Ford’s letter, Twilight’s nerve-racking, pupil-shrunken eyes widen to drastic sizes as she reads just two simple words that hold a very heavy meaning behind her friend’s call for emergency.

It’s time.

“...Oh no.” she mutters lightly in horror.

As Trixie remains stupefied on what’s gotten Twilight and Spike so spooked all of a sudden, the small, purple dragon hesitates while nervously pressing his index claws together before he inquires to confirm his caretaker’s suspicions, “Twilight, is that what I think it is?”

Halfheartedly, Twilight gives him a slight nod and confirms in a mildly calm voice, “Yes, Spike... it’s time.”

Her assistant cringes and gulp on that subtle implication as Trixie gingerly steps in and asks with soft concern, “Twilight, is everything okay?”

“Sorry Trixie, I’ll explain everything along the way.” she says to her concerning friend with a somewhat composed smile before she sharply turns back to her awaiting assistant and instructs him in a more authoritative voice, “Spike! Send out all of the letters like we originally planned immediately!”

“Right! Already on it!” the faithful dragon complies without a second thought as he turns around to swiftly retrieve them right away. But then, he stops in his tracks and looks back while asking Twilight in slight puzzlement, “Umm… which one should I start out with--?”

“ALL OF THEM!”

Hours Laters at Ponyville Hospital…

In one of the spacious maternity ward rooms, the silent yet uneasy Ford Mustang remains by his wife’s side as he glances once again at her current predicament. Reclined on her hospital bed with a green sheet covering her perfectly rounded belly, Rainbow Dash continues to remain in a completely sour mode with her forelegs impatiently crossed over one another and an unmistakable frown stretching across her pain-stricken face. Confined to her bed, she is also hooked up to a few wires that help keep track of her heart rate by a cardiac monitor along with a nasty IV needle stuck within her elbow joint on her left foreleg. At the very least, things have calmed for a while now since her last contraction, but that doesn’t do much with Rainbow’s patience running thin.

“H-how are you feeling, Dashie?” he inquires with a timid, sweet smile.

With a deadpan glare, Rainbow shifts her gaze to her concerning husband before she scoffs in an increasingly cranky, sarcastic tone, “Well, let’s see… I’ve got a huge needle skewered into my foreleg, my stupid contractions keep going on-again-off-again, and by the end of this, I might wound up dead! But yeah, other than that, I’m just fan-buckin’-tastic!”

After wincing from her sharp, harsh response, he quietly apologizes on behalf of her continuing discomfort, “Sorry.”

“And where’s that blasted doctor?!” she continues her short-tempered griping. “He should have been here the moment I first arrived!”

“He’ll be here soon, Rainbow.” he meekly reassures her. “Nurse Redheart went to look for him just a moment ago.”

In response, the disgruntled mare lets out a subtle grump as awkward silence once again fills the room, minus the soft, steady beeping sounds of the heart monitor. Over time, Rainbow’s grumpiness begins to recede as a new feeling takes hold of her, so eventually, she shares it with her equally quiet stallion.

"Ford?"

“Yes, angel?”

“...I’m scared.” she whispers in a discouraging manner.

From seeing the fear in her big, expressive eyes, Ford lays a comforting hoof on Rainbow’s right foreleg and sympathizes by sharing his own fears in all of this, “I know, I’m scared too.”

“What do you have to be so scared about? You’re not the one giving birth over here!” she jokes halfheartedly to relieve some of the neverending tension.

“I meant… I’m scared on how I will hold up without you.” he rephrases in a quiet, disheartening tone while averting his eyes away from his wife in shame.

And after a momentary pause between them, Rainbow tilts her husband’s chin up so he can direct her shameful gaze back at her, and she reassures him with a small yet bold smile on her face, “You’ll do fine, Ford. You’ll make a great dad, with or without me.”

Weakly, he bears a warm smile in return for her strong faith in him. And after giving the mare’s caressing fore hoof a light kiss, he says with absolute devotion towards her, “Whatever happens, I will always love you, my beautiful, blue angel.”

From hearing those heartwarming words of his, Dash’s smile grows a bit bigger as she brings the stallion’s forelimb closer to her face just to nuzzle it a little bit longer before she replies in a heartfelt manner, “And I will always love you, my big, strong Mustang.”

Renewed with such earnest passion despite what’s to be expected from tonight’s inevitable turning point, the affectionate couple engage in a very romantic kiss. With their impassioned lips staying in contact for quite some time, an indescribably warm, soothing feeling is shared between the two of them, maybe it’s from Ford’s Draconian Magic, maybe it’s from their body heat radiating between each other, or maybe just a little of both. But whatever the cause may be, they try to hold on that immensely soothing sensation for as long as they can… especially if these are going to be their last moments together.

However, their passionate kissing gets interrupted by the appearance of Dr. Horse and his assistants, including Nurse Redheart, as he greets his patient upon his arrival, “Hello, Rainbow Dash.”

Annoyed by the doctor’s late arrival and for disturbing her tender moment with Ford, she abruptly ends their kiss as she glares with renewed intensity while snapping out loud, “What the heck took you so long?! I was practically dying over here!”

A bit startled by Rainbow’s apparent displeasure, the doctor explains himself in a professionally calm manner, “Umm… yes… sorry for the delay, Mrs. Dash, but I assure you, we are all set for tonight’s delivery.” And after clearing his throat, he then direct his attention to the only other stallion in the room. “Anyway… Mr. Mustang, if you would like, you can wait outside while we take care of things from here.”

But after sharing a knowing glance with his silent, beseeching wife, Mustang twists his head back to the doctor and firmly declares his decision in a stern tone, “No, I’m staying right here.”

“I understand, sir, but I think you should reconsider--!”

But then, Rainbow Dash gets her say in the matter as she reiterates on Ford’s behalf in a menacing growl, “HE SAID, ‘HE’S STAYING.’ ”

Assessing from Dash's threatening tone and unmatched death stare, Doctor Horse knows better than to agitate a pregnant mare, especially in regards of her own health during her most crucial hour. So, he abides the couple's wishes without any further persuasion and nods to their unwavering resolve.

“V-very well then… just… please let us do our jobs, sir.”

As Ford sighs with satisfaction from being here where he is needed the most, Rainbow on the other hand replies in a restless, cranky mood, “Well then, hurry up already! I feel like I’m going to burst any sec--! AH-AH-AAAHH!!”

But her latest outburst is abruptly cut short as another stronger contraction hits her like a thousand jolting cramps hitting her back and abdomen all at once. From noticing the patient’s unpleasant posture and agonizing reaction, Doctor Horse uses his Unicorn Magic to pull the green cover up, and he and the nurses examine down below to assess the situation before the medical practitioner states his current analysis on Rainbow's critical condition.

“Hmm, it looks like the dilation has expanded even further. Alright, stations everypony!”

Following their procedures, the other medical assistants get everything ready in a jiffy as Ford leans closer to his wife from the right side of her bed and offers some last words of encouragement to her before the delivery can begin. “You’re going to do great, honey. I just know it.”

Despite the ongoing pain she’s still dealing with, Rainbow is able to give her supportive husband a weak yet courageous smile before refocusing her efforts on the twins’ delivery. With everypony set, Nurse Redheart stands on the expectant mare’s left side and offers her instructions in a most composed manner.

“Okay, Rainbow. Whenever you are ready, give us a big push.” Following on the nurse’s gentle command, the struggling mare replies with a shaky nod before Redheart gives further instructions on Rainbow’s first push, “On three. One… two… three!”

At once, Dash lets out an immense groan as she forces her body to push out her first foal from within. And after her first attempt, she takes a moment to catch her breath rapidly as Redheart waits until Rainbow Dash is ready once again.

“Again. One… two… three!”

For her next attempt, she puts a little more effort this time, but she is once again met with more pain than ever as it makes it more difficult to bear than the last time.

With another break in-between, Rainbow asks the doctor in the midst of her rapid breathing, “Anything yet?”

“Sorry, not yet, Mrs. Dash.”

“Ughhh! This is hopeless!” she exaggerates with her head reclining back on the bed’s pillowed headrest. “I don’t know how I’m going to keep this up! Somepony just cut me up already!”

“It’s alright, Rainbow.” Redheart reassures in a comforting tone. “Just take a break, and we can try it again."

In the middle of Rainbow’s timeout session, Ford is a bit shocked to hear such discouragement coming from his wife. So while she is still taking a breather, he does his best to provide some pep talk for her.

“Rainbow Dash, I’m surprise to hear that from you!” he says in a slightly firm manner. “I thought you were made out of tougher stuff than that!”

Unamused by her husband’s sudden shift in attitude, she glares at him and retorts with a tiring frown, “Hey, I have every right to gripe all I want from here, so I don’t wanna hear that from you!”

“Really? Sounds more like quitter talk if you ask me!” he quips with a tiny, sly smile.

“Good, ‘cause nopony was asking you! And who are you to call me a quitter?! I am no quitter!” she rebuts in a sharp whine.

“And how are you going to prove that then?” he implies shrewdly with a broader smile. “You’re going to give up just like that?”

Having a good idea on where Ford is going with this, Rainbow Dash smirks slightly in a cynical voice, “Oh, you really wanna go there, huh?”

“Yeah, so what are you going about it, hmm? Don’t tell you’re ready to quit before we even get to the second half of tonight’s match!”

“Oh-oh-hoo! I haven’t even begun to give it my all!” she proclaims with a much bolder, energetic grin.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah! You’re about to see a real mare in action!”

Happy to see her confidence restored, Ford awards her with a loving peck and concludes his pep talk with a soft yet proud smile, “That’s more like it!”

Seeing how Rainbow is finishing up her latest break, Redheart mildly asks of her, “So, ready to try it again, Mrs. Dash?”

“Yeah, let’s do this!” she answers while feeling more zealous than ever.

“Okay then. Just as before. One… two… three!”

Once more, she pushes with all of her might as she lets out a very loud grunt. This time, she can feel something moving from within her womb as it slowly makes it way towards the exit. Feeling some progress at last, Rainbow redoubles her efforts as she keeps pushing harder than before.

“Good! Good! The head and fore hooves are coming out very nicely!” Doctor Horse comments as he sees the first baby’s tiny features sticking out from the expanding opening.

With Rainbow done catching her latest breath, Redheart continues to coach her through it, “Just need one more push, Rainbow. Ready? One… two… three! Push!”

With a even louder cry, Rainbow literally and figuratively pushes through all of the pain to make this one count as she greatly squeezes the foal out of the birth canal. And thankfully, her laborious efforts have finally paid off as not only is the birth of her first foal a great success, but she is acknowledged of its existence by hearing the newborn’s first cries of life.

Summoning up what’s left of her strength, Rainbow looks up as she and Ford try to have a look at their first newborn baby. Despite Rainbow’s somewhat inflated stomach being in the way, Doctor Horse eventually raises the tiny foal up so the anxious parents can get their first glimpse at it.

“Well done so far, Rainbow Dash! You first foal is a girl!” The doctor confirms with a smile as he proudly shows the couple their very own little filly.

Rainbow and Ford gasp simultaneously as they stare with immense awe at their beloved firstborn. Safely secured in Horse’s magically improvised cradle basket, the tiny filly bears a lovely midnight blue coat and a four-striped color pattern of violet, green, pink, and red in her smooth mane and tail. Altogether, her color scheme is almost similar to the shimmering lights of an vibrant aurora.

As Doctor Horse levitates the dark blue filly into the care of the nurses so they may clean her up thoroughly, Ford comfortingly rubs his wife’s shoulders as he exclaims with an uncontrollable smile, “Rainbow, did you hear that?! Our first foal is a baby girl!”

Despite her fatigue, she was equally as gleeful as her husband by displaying a wide, trembling smile and panting out a shrewd remark towards him, “There... see… I told you I could do it.”

Having no doubt of her brave efforts, Ford gives her a rewarding kiss as he replies with a smirk matching that with hers, “I knew you would.”

As Rainbow Dash take a long-deserved break with her first foal being born, Doctor Horse and his nurse carry on with their respective tasks as Ford helps out in his own way by wiping off some of the endless sweat from Rainbow’s brow with a clean, absorbent cloth.

Once most of the sweat is cleared off, Ford takes a moment to gently caress his wife’s even more wild yet still beautiful mane as he asks with a tenderhearted smile, “How are you holding up so far?”

For a moment, she stares at him with disbelief before she snaps in a spontaneous chuckle, “You’re seriously asking me that at a time like this?!”

“You know what I meant, Rainbow.” he emphasizes with a mild grin.

Being more serious now, does a quick evaluation over her own well-being before she gives her best answer while adding some sharp wit to go with that statement, “Well… I don’t feel like I’m dying just yet, so that’s a good thing.”

While mildly amused his wife’s dry sense of humor, Ford is at least relieved that things don’t look they are taking a turn for the worst. But his sense of hope is cut short when Doctor Horse has something important to share with the couple after he conducted a thorough checkup over her current condition.

“Mrs. Dash, there’s something we need to address with you before we proceed further.”

“Can’t it wait until after all of this is over first?!” she complains in a cranky tone as she hopes to get this over with.

“Mrs. Dash… we discovered a small tear in your uterus.”

This latest development renders both Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang speechless as this is what they fear the most. And as the pregnant Pegasus remains silent by the possibly grim outcome she may face in the end, Ford is the one to speak on their behalf as he reluctantly asks the ultimate question.

“Is it… fatal?”

“No Mr. Mustang, for most pregnancies, it’s not. However… this situation is much different since Rainbow Dash is delivering two foals instead of one.” he admits this uneasily before continuing his educated assumption. “If she were to give birth to her second foal, then her tear will get bigger, and ultimately… her chances for mortality will increase significantly.”

“Isn’t there anything we can do to prevent that from happening?” Ford inquires in a pleading manner.

“Well for now, we can do a blood transfusion as a precaution, but it can only provide so much at such a steady flow. We could also provide medication to initiate clotting, but considering that she’s still in the middle of her labor with her second foal, it could make the final delivery more difficult.”

Disturbing silence fills the room as all eyes are turned to Rainbow Dash, waiting for her compliance. A bit startled by all of the stares she is receiving, she simply shrugs it off with a chuckle as she quips with a lighthearted grin, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s keep going.”

A bit surprised by Rainbow’s strong willingness, Doctor Horse wants to make absolutely sure before they continue with the rest of the procedure. “Then you are aware on what’s at stake here?”

“Hey, I’ve come too far to stop at this point, and as long as both of my foals are alive and well, I’m willing to see this thing to the bitter end!” she confirms with a very courageous smile.

“…Very well then. Nurse, commence the blood transfusion please.”

“Right away, doctor.” says one of the nurses as she gets bag of donated blood ready before a steady stream flows through the IV’s elongated tube and into the patient’s veins.

As the medical ponies reassume their proper stations, Ford holds on to Rainbow’s right hoof once again as he asks with a quick-witted smile, “Ready for Round 2, angel?”

“Always.” she replies with a confident grin.

With everypony ready once more, Redheart resumes her sweet-tempered coaching routine, “Once again, Rainbow. One… two… three! Push!”

Following on that command, Rainbow maintains her vigorous pushing just like before while ignoring the increasing amount of unimaginable pain. Of course, in the middle of this excruciating process, she can feel the accursed, bleeding tear gradually splitting apart even further, causing her more pain than ever. But that doesn’t matter right now. There’s no way to turn back at this crucial moment, and Rainbow Dash intends to give birth to her final foal, matter what happens to her in the end.

From her latest break to catch her breath from her pain-stricken labor, the doctor informs the backbreaking mare on her second foal’s progress, “You’re doing great, Rainbow. You’re almost there.”

“You hear that, honey?” Ford encourages her with an excited smile, “You’ve got this! Just one more big push!”

From feeling how close she is from completing her final delivery as the remaining twin’s head is sticking out in the open, Rainbow Dash gathers up all of her strength and courage as she announces with a big, bold smirk, “Alright, here it goes! Double time!”

And in the final stretch of her second delivery in a row, the worn out Pegasus pushes her last foal with all of her might as she lets out a bloodcurdling scream. And just when she’s reaching her extreme limits while also using her last ounce of strength, it’s finally over… Rainbow Dash has just giving birth to her remaining baby pony as the new infant’s cry reverberates across the now still room.

“Congratulations, Mrs. Dash!” Doctor Horse announces with a relieving smile over another successful delivery, “It’s a boy!”

Using his magic just like before, the Unicorn holds up the second newborn foal so that the proud parents can gaze at their little baby boy. Compared to his twin sister, he only consists of warm colors as his coat bears a bright orange. But like his slightly older sibling, he too has a four-striped pattern in his mane and tail, except they comprised of red, orange, yellow, and pink.

With an uncontainable, goofy smile over the sight of his baby boy, Ford openly expresses his overwhelming joy as he turns to his wife, “A boy! Can you believe it? We now have a boy and a girl! You did it, Rainbow! You finally did--!”

But his call for celebration is abruptly cut short when he sees his beloved mare’s poor state after delivering her twins, one after the other. From using up all of her strength in the very elongated process, Rainbow Dash could barely move a muscle as it was evident enough when she was unable to lift herself up to gaze at the newborn colt she just delivered. Along with that, her breathing has deteriorated rapidly as she desperately breathes for what little air she can gather into her system.

Fearing for what’s to come, Mustang tries to call out to her in sweet tone, “R-Rainbow?”

With no response from the seemingly lifeless mare, the grave situation becomes even worse as the dreadful beeping from the nearby heart monitor deceases gradually.

Alarmed by the patient’s weakening state, Doctor Horse knows that their work is far from over as he promptly call for assistance, “Nurse, get me the Oxytocin stat!”

As the doctor and nurses do everything they can to revitalize the fatiguing mare, the chilly fear continues to grip the helpless Mustang on what he can do in this grim situation he has dreaded since the first time he foresaw this. Then, from the realization that his wife hasn’t gotten the chance to see her newborn foals up close, Ford frantically calls out for the nurses’ aid.

“Quick, let her see the twins, please!”

Following on the stallion’s desperate plea, the nurses quickly finish up the colt’s cleaning, and then, they carefully place the twins to the mare’s motionless forelegs. With the fidgety foals secured in their mother’s hooves, Ford leans close to his extremely drowsy wife and lovely nuzzles her to hopefully get her to stay awake.

“Rainbow Dash, look!” he whispers to her ever-so sweetly as he continues to nuzzles her weary face. “Look who’s here to see their mommy!”

After Ford nestles with his wife some more, Rainbow slowly regains her consciousness as her exhausting eyes begin to open up in a flickering manner. With a barely half-lidded gaze, she peeks down to get a closer look at her two newborn foals. And once her eyes are able to adjust for better clarity, her tiring gaze widens from feeling such unquestionable adoration on this life-changing experience as she weeps fresh tears to showcase her indescribable joy for her beloved, little ones.

“Th-they’re beautiful!” she praises in the form of a raspy whisper as a quivering, proud smile spreads across her face.

As the tearful yet joyous mare takes a moment to cuddle with her twins, Ford smiles alongside his wife over her motherly affection. Almost forgetting about Rainbow’s grave predicament, they take the time to embrace this sentimental moment together over their newest family members.

Then, Rainbow slowly faces her equally beaming stallion and speaks softly to him with a warm yet wearying smile, “Mustang… thank you… thank you for everything.”

As Ford cringes over Dash’s subtle implication, he picks up the haunting beeping noise from the heart monitor as its rhythm gets slower by every second. Despite knowing what’s to come based off of the nightmarish visions he used to have, he is unable to accept this grisly outcome as he frantically calls out to his dying wife.

“D-don’t talk like that, angel! We’ve got so much to do after this! We’ve gotta give them names, welcome them to our home, and get them situated in their new crib!”

However, Rainbow’s eyes keep getting heavier, so Ford continues to list out on all of the wonderful things to look forward time with an increasingly shaky smile, “And of course, we’ve got a whole future to plan out for them… like taking them to school or helping them reach their own dreams! And before long, they might have their own families someday, and we’ll be grandparents before we even know it!”

But no matter how appealing his suggestions are on a more hopeful future together, they seem to go unheard as Rainbow’s could barely keep her eyes open while her breathing is reduced to nothing more that low-pitched wheezing.

In a last, desperate attempt, he pours his heart and soul into an immense plea for her while countless tears begin to pour out of his grief-stricken eyes. “P-P-Please, Dashie! Don’t give up just yet! Think about all of the ponies who will miss you terribly… you friends… your father… your twins… m-me! You have so much to look forward to with our newest family members! Don’t you want that as well?!”

As the hysterical stallion waits for a more promising answer from the unresponsive Pegasus, she is eventually able to break into a heartfelt smile to show her immeasurable love for her big, strong Mustang. And after inhaling a couple of short, raspy breaths, the smiling Rainbow Dash is able to come up with her hesitated response in just three simple words.

“That… sounds… awesome.”

With her exhausted eyes unable to hold up for long as they finally close shut, the infernal, beeping noise instantly transforms into a screeching flat line while the lifeless mare is still able to maintain that warm, earnest smile of hers.

And thus… it is finally over.

Rainbow Dash has just passed away.

With the beeping blaring out in an unbreakable pitch, Ford silently lets Rainbow’s death slowly sink in until finally he could not hold back any longer as he breaks down uncontrollably with endless tears streaming down his completely disheartened face. He still could not believe this is finally happening just as his vision foretold. He had pray nearly every night that this would turn out for the better and that this bleak premonition would never come true. But as of right now, his hope is completely shot down as the sniveling stallion lowers his constantly weeping head close to his recently departed wife while the newborn twins join in their father’s woe by crying instinctively alongside him.

As the recent tragedy plays out, the medical practitioners at present cease their hopeless efforts as they let the burden over the loss of life weigh heavily on them. With a hushed sigh, Doctor Horse turns to his head nurse and ask of her in a downhearted tone.

"Call it."

Despite her reluctance, Nurse Redheart nevertheless complies in soft, disheartening manner, “Time of death: 9:35pm.”

Author's Note

I know a lot of readers aren't looking forward to this moment. So... just bear with me, folks. That's all I ask.

Chapter 32 – The End of a Rainbow

Chapter 32 – The End of a Rainbow

The waiting room.

No one really likes to be stuck in the hospital’s waiting room. Especially when they feel so helpless and utterly clueless over their loved ones’ current medical conditions. So the idea on just waiting for countless hours on an update can be quite torturous for them. And this is no exception for Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang’s friends and family gathering together at Ponyville General Hospital.

Collaborated by Ford Mustang and Twilight Sparkle long ago, the latter’s letters arrive nearly all at once just as soon as the stallion alerted the princess about his wife’s labor. In their own way, the ones who received those letters arrive at the hospital as soon as possible. But for those who live outside of Ponyville, their exceptional letters are attached with a special enchantment that allows them to be teleported to the hospital in an instant.

Amidst their agonizing waiting, the gathered ponies remain quiet and apprehensive with each passing minute. An example of such disheartening silence are the downhearted couples as they do their best to comfort their respective spouses. For Rarity’s case, she lays her melancholy face on Applejack’s lap as the orange farmpony soothingly brushes her wife’s lavish, purple mane. As for Fluttershy, who is six-months pregnant, she is just as distraught as her Unicorn friend as she clings onto her husband, Big Macintosh, who tenderly embraces her in return. As for the other expectant mare, Octavia, she distracts herself from her own worries by softly caressing her three-month pregnant belly, and soon enough, Vinyl Scratch places a comforting fore hoof on her wife’s curved stomach as they smile on the thought of having their own little foal someday.

And in one corner of the room, Gilda is sitting next to her usually unorthodox friend, Pinkie Pie. Normally, the lone griffon would expect to be annoyed by the pink party pony’s randomness and constant giddiness. However, considering that they all learned about Rainbow Dash’s grave premonition beforehand, Pinkie’s unintentional annoyance is far from what’s on Gilda’s mind right now. Instead, she is a bit concerned by how Pinkie is acting recently as the severely depressed Earth Pony keeps inflating and deflating her usually curly, puffy mane every time she huffs and snivels in-between.

“I must keep my promise. I must keep my promise. I must keep my promise.”

A bit distracted by Pinkie’s literally animated hair, Gilda tries to get the pony’s attention in an awkward manner, “Uhh… is your hair okay? It’s acting a lot weirder than you are right now.”

But her slight teasing falls on deaf ears as the absentminded Earth Pony keeps mutter to herself, “I must keep my promise. I must keep my promise. I must keep my promise.”

Disturbed by Pinkie’s fanatic chanting, Gilda tries to break her out by waving her claws in front of the pony’s face as she calls out to her, “Hello, dweeb! You in there?”

“I must keep my promise. I must keep my promise. I must keep my promise.”

Having enough of Pinks’ creepy talk, the annoyed griffon grabs the pony by the shoulders to forcefully face her before she gets her attention by slightly shaking her up and snapping in a firm, screeching tone, “Pinkie Pie, listen to me! Dash is going to make it! You hear?!”

Finally, Pinkie looks at Gilda with big, pitiful eyes as she responds in a hesitant whimper, “B-b-but… how can you be so sure? I-I mean… we were all prepare for this moment and--!”

“Hey, come on, Pinkie Pie!” she strongly reassures with a bold smirk. “This is Rainbow Dash we’re talking about here! Do you really think that she will keel over something like that? Trust me, that mare is as tough as they come!”

Much to Gilda’s relief, her encouragement seems to be working as Pinkie begins to smile at last while her crazy hair maintains some of its frizziness. Satisfied on her part, Gilda crosses her forelimbs and holds her head up with pride whilst concluding with a confident grin, “You’ll see. Dash will pull through this one.”

As Pinkie Pie feels more hopeful due to her friend’s bold reassurance, she wipes her nearly diluted eyes as she giggles with a tiny smile, “Y-you’re right. I guess I’m just overreacting here, huh?”

“Yeah, I'll say.” Gilda chuckles with a sly grin.

After having a mild laugh together, silence falls between them as Gilda looks the other way before Pinkie speaks up in a modest tone, “Hey Gilda?”

“Yeah?”

From Gilda facing her once more, the pink pony pulls the griffon in by surprise for a strong hug as Pinkie comments with a grateful smile, “I’m so glad that we’re friends.”

A bit flabbergasted by the pony’s sincere remark, Gilda gradually breaks into an earnest grin as she lightly wraps a gentle wing around her hugging friend before she states in a simple response, “Me too, Pinks.”

Meanwhile, on another side of the waiting room, Twilight Sparkle and Trixie are sitting right beside Rainbow’s father, Turbo Dash. Before the older stallion’s arrival, Twilight took the time to inform her Unicorn friend over what she knows regarding with Rainbow’s dire situation. From hearing all of this, Trixie just couldn’t believe on what may happened to one of Twilight’s dearest friend. Sure, Trixie and Rainbow started off as bitter enemies from their first two encounters, but everything seemed to simmer down between them since then, especially with Rainbow and Twilight’s visit at Applewood, so Trixie was kind of looking forward to getting more acquainted with the usually bold Pegasus. Unfortunately, from what she just learned over Dash’s predestined demise, that may never happen.

As for Turbo Dash himself, he’s been awfully quiet since his arrival at the hospital. Although he knows that his son-in-law will be at Rainbow’s side, he hates sitting on the sidelines while his only daughter is facing her own mortality. To feel so powerless to do anything for his beloved filly is truly excruciating for him.

“Mr. Dash, is there anything we can do for you?” Twilight offers in a gentle, hospitable manner.

A bit startled from his distressing silence be disturbed, he meekly replies with a small smile, “N-no thank you, princess. I’m fine as it is.” Then, he breathes in a heavy sigh before he softly laments to himself, “I just can’t believe I have to relive this moment all over again.”

From his own grief, he leans forward as he covers his gloomy face with shaky fore hooves. Trixie was about to question on what Turbo meant by “reliving that moment”, but then, she suddenly has a good idea on what that was implying, so she turns her ashamed face away in order to prevent herself from blurting it out unintentionally.

After gathering her thoughts, Twilight places a comforting hoof on Turbo’s shoulder and says in a tenderhearted voice, “I know it’s something we all don’t want to believe ourselves, but I just want to say on how grateful I am to have Rainbow Dash as one of my very best friends. Without her, I may not be where I am today.”

Once he regains some of his composure, he gazes at the benevolent princess and replies with a small smile of gratitude, “Thank you, princess. That means so much to hear you say that.”

“Please, call me Twilight, sir.”

“So long as you call me Turbo, ma’am.” he counters with a tiny, witty grin.

And just as the anticipating company start to feel more positive, their waiting comes to an end when Doctor Horse and Nurse Redheart step into the lobby, each bearing a subtly expressionless face. From just hearing the door swinging, the only awaiting ponies along with one griffon in the room rushes toward the medical practitioners as they anxiously prepare themselves for the inevitable results.

“Good evening, Princess Twilight.” Doctor Horse greets her with a light bow and a smile. “I take it that you are all here for Rainbow Dash this evening?”

“Doctor, tell me what’s going on?!” Turbo demands in a very frantic voice as he steps in front of everyone else. “How’s my daughter?! Is she doing okay?! What about the twins for that matter?!”

With so many questions thrown at him at once, the doctor decides to start with the good news first. “Their deliveries were a complete success, Mr. Turbo Dash. Your grandfoals are in perfectly good health, and they are now in the newborn baby nursery as we speak.”

From this uplifting announcement over the newborn twins, the group briefly casts aside their worries as they display breathtaking smiles over this wonderful news. Friends and family embrace one another in this moment of celebration as the staggered Turbo Dash displays a trembling, wide smile over his newfound status as grandfather.

As Gilda notices this positive change in the elder stallion’s attitude, she wraps him in a strong, forelimbed hug while congratulating him with a teasing smirk, “Congratulations, grandpa.”

From that typical playfulness, Turbo giggles right alongside his daughter’s griffon friend as he along with everyone else remain ecstatic in all of this. However, with one look at the deadpan doctor and nurse, Turbo’s happiness is eventually consumed by his fear over his daughter’s well-being, and from that grim reminder, he halfheartedly asks in a quivering voice.

“A-and Rainbow Dash? How is she doing right now?”

From Turbo’s soft inquiry, the rest of the gang ceases their cause for celebration as they nearly forgot something else that needs to be addressed before they can resume their jubilation. However, that fleeting moment may not come to pass once again as the apprehensive party notices the hesitation on the doctor’s face before he takes a deep breath and resumes his composed summary.

“Everypony… Mrs. Dash undergone postpartum bleeding in the middle of her second delivery. We did everything we can immediately after that, but I’m afraid that--!”

But suddenly, Doctor Horse stops himself as he gazes at the listeners’ faces. As a professional doctor, it’s his job to lay the bad news to the recently deceased’s friends and family. So he is used to seeing such overwhelming sadness on their faces. But from this recent tragedy, he sees something a little bit different in their grief-stricken faces. It is almost as if they were not only expecting this grave news beforehand, but they have already prepared themselves for the worst as well.

And to confirm his suspicions, Fluttershy is surprisingly the one to finish his grim statement in a delicate, dejected manner, “Sh-sh-she’s gone… isn’t she?”

“…Yes. I am so sorry.” he acknowledges dishearteningly as he and Nurse Redheart lower their heads to express their sympathies for them.

Once it is finally said, the devastated news take their toll on those who have been prepared for this ill-fated outcome for so long. Nearly all at once, they break down in the response to the tragic end of their beloved Rainbow Dash. For most of the couples, they have each other to hold and to comfort as they weep heavily over the loss of their dear friend. Even for those who were not married, like Pinkie Pie, she desperately felt the need to cry on someone’s shoulder as her hair loses its bright. warm colors and curly elasticity, which is in sync with her very expressive demeanor. So the surprisingly impassive Gilda offers her deeply troubled friend a wing, and the weeping Earth Pony gladly accepts the silent, friendly gesture as she buries her sniffling muzzle into the griffon’s feathery chest. But Turbo Dash took it the worse as he eventually collapses on the ground with countless tears pour of his pitiful eyes. Crying until no end, the heartbroken stallion mutters in self-pity and denial over the death of his one and only daughter.

“No. No. No. No. No.”

Sharing the same emotional pain as the older stallion, the remarkably calm and collective Twilight Sparkle sits right next to the hunched Pegasus and uses her wings and forelegs to wrap Turbo in a gentle, sympathetic embrace, to which he gradually accepts as he continues to pour out his sorrow onto the princess’s smooth coat. Trixie considers on giving the stallion a considerate hug as well, but she hesitates nervously as she feels it isn’t her place to offer her condolences like that.

After a great deal of time from lamenting amongst themselves, Twilight gently pulls the sobbing stallion away from their embrace as she turns to the doctor and asks of him in a softhearted voice, “Doctor Horse. May we see her please?”

“Of course.” he complies with a caring smile. “Nurse Redheart can lead you to her room.”

With an agreeing nod, Redheart says to Twilight and friends, “Please. Come this way.”

And in one huge line, the group follows the leading head nurse as they make their way towards the room of Rainbow Dash.

After a long, steady trek, the company finally reach the room where the fallen Pegasus still resides in. Once they reached their destination, Nurse Redheart gives them a light bow and excuses herself before checking on them later. Reluctant at first on what they know is behind that looming door, Twilight decides for herself to step forward and open the door for them. With a gentle push, the Alicorn Princess gingerly steps inside before she stops herself on such a heart-wrenching sight before her.

While the hospital room is nearly pitched black due to the fall of night outside, one source of light shines brightly from an overhead lamp as it casts its brilliance over the two Pegasi in the room. On the right side of the hospital bed is Ford Mustang, who is staring with a tired, fixated gaze at his recently deceased wife. And at the center of the spotlight is the lifeless body of Rainbow Dash with her once exhausted eyes still shut very tightly and a permanent smile plastered across her slightly pale face.

From finally noticing the presence of his friends and father-in-law, Ford turns his head around and stares at the arriving company with slightly startled eyes. Upon staring back at the lone stallion in the very dim room, the rest of the group can clearly see how much heartache he has been going through lately as his cheeks are stained with streaks of dried-out tears.

Soon after, Ford softens his heavy-lidded gaze as he welcomes them with a very faint smile, “Hello, everyone.”

“May we come in, Ford?” Twilight asks cautiously.

“Please.” he permits in the form of a whisper.

One at a time, they enter the dimly lit room and encircle around the mare's deathbed. From their gathering, they silently gaze for a lengthy period of time at their dearly departed Rainbow Dash. In the midst of this wretched silence, the ponies resume their soft lamenting as they hold close to their respective loved ones. The only exceptions during this moment of immense grief are Ford Mustang, who seemed to have run out of tears a while ago, and Gilda, who shakes feebly to herself as a toothy frown slowly spreads across her beak.

Applejack, who remains more composed than her grief-stricken wife, Rarity, takes a moment to walk over to Ford’s side and carefully place a foreleg around his shoulders before expressing her warmhearted sincerity to him, “Sugarcube, Ah’m so sorry. Ah hope you know firsthoof that we’ll always be here for ya.”

Inspired by AJ’s thoughtfulness, Vinyl Scratch approaches from the other side, she too places a hoof over Mustang’s other shoulder before concurring with an earnest grin, “Mm-hmm. That goes double for me too.”

Deeply touched by the support of his two close friends, he wraps his feeble forelegs around the two embracing mares as he hugs them very closely while responding with a faint yet warm smile, “Thank you, girls. That means a lot to me.”

After that much-needed hug from the country mare and DJ-PON-3, Ford turns back to his deceased wife and joins alongside the other ponies as they continue to pay their respects for the fallen mare. A short time later, Fluttershy wipes some of her tears to get a better look at one of her oldest and dearest friends before she comments in a soft-spoken voice.

“She looks… so peaceful right now.”

From Fluttershy’s casual remark, Rarity also takes a break from her crying to thoroughly gaze at Rainbow’s frozen yet tranquil smile before coming to an agreement with her sensitive Pegasus friend as she smiles at last whilst complimenting in poetic fashion, “Yes, just like a beautiful angel.”

The ponies allow seamstress’s simple yet sentimental words to sink in before they each bear the same heartfelt smile as Rarity’s. But then, out of nowhere…

BANG!

…a loud slam shakes the room as it causes the rattled guests to enter a state of panic. Alarmingly, Ford and company turn around to see the cause of that abruptly loud noise as some of them exit of the room to see what the commotion is all about. But from peeking out of the doorway, Ford is especially shocked to see the one who caused that disturbance since she stepped outside of the room just a little while ago without anyone noticing it.

With her talons still clutched very tightly, Gilda continues to hold his instable pose fast as her shaky, clenched fist remains at rest on the nearby wall she just slammed it against. From her frozen stance, the severely emotional griffon continues to shake violently as her barely suppressed tears seep effortlessly out of her heavily shut eyes.

“Damn it, Dash!” she murmurs in a choked-up voice. “I thought you were stronger than that! I really thought you would pull through with this one! Why did you have to croak like that? Just… why…?”

In the midst of her own self-anguish, Gilda suddenly feels somepony touching her shoulder, and instinctively, she sharply turns around with a heavy, growling scowl to face the disrupting pony. But as the intimidating griffon maintains her messed-up demeanor, the heartrending Pinkie Pie retains a steady, comforting fore hoof on her friend’s shoulder while displaying a soft, understanding expression. From reading the subtle empathy on Pinkie’s face, Gilda gradually drops her guard and brings the Earth Pony in for a desperate hug with her strong forelimbs wrapping around the equally mournful Pinkie Pie as they shed a few more tears in-between.

As the latest, emotional scene plays out between the griffon and pink pony, Twilight Sparkle goes up to the Pegasus stallion and asks of him, “Ford, if you don’t mind, I just need a moment to contact the princesses about this.”

“Please, go right ahead.”

After giving a nod to show her thanks, Twilight Sparkle excuses herself before leaving the hallway while Trixie anxiously follows right behind her. Once Mustang goes back to the room, he sees that his father-in-law is still at his daughter’s side as he compulsively brushes the mare’s still colorful mane.

Hesitantly, Ford joins at his father-in-law’s side and apologizes in a fainthearted voice, “Turbo, I’m sor--!”

But in a swift move, Turbo shushes up the younger stallion with a feathery wing of his as he replies in a soft, reassuring voice, “Stop. You have nothing to apologize for.”

After complying with the older Pegasus’s meaningful gesture, Ford and Turbo resume their silent gazing at their beloved angel. In the middle of their respectful silence, Mustang looks back at the stallion next to him as he sees Turbo carrying with his own melancholy. From seeing Dash’s emotionally torn expression, Ford contemplates on how to relieve his some of his sorrows before he comes up with the best reassurance in mind.

“You would have been so proud of her, Turbo. She put up an amazing fight like you wouldn’t believe.”

Despite Ford’s initial worries over his choice of words, he then sees Turbo letting out a soft sigh before he confirms with tiring yet contented smile, “I am, Ford. I am proudest father in the world right now.” And he wraps up that sense of pride of his by brushing his daughter’s forehead aside and giving her a lovely kiss to show his deep, fatherly affection for her.

Happy to see a proud smile on the stallion’s face, Mustang wraps the smiling stallion with a foreleg around his shoulders and adds with a promising, witty grin, “And now, you’ll get to be the proudest grandfather in the world.”

From that favorable reminder, Turbo lets out a warmhearted chuckle as he agrees with an equally cheerful grin, “Yes, that’s true.”

With tensions relieved for the moment between the tender bonding of father and son-in-law, Octavia gently intervenes as she asks in a humble manner, “Umm, speaking of which… how are the little darlings doing right now?”

Nearly forgetting about his newborn twins, Ford eventually answers that with a question of his own as he presents a clever smirk, “Would you like to see them yourself?”

Following up with that necessary change of scenes, the gang eagerly follows right beside Ford Mustang as they are all led by Nurse Redheart once again. Soon enough, they make their way to the room they are all looking forward to: the newborn baby nursery. With his friends standing behind the glass window that separates the room, Ford enters the nursery as he brings Turbo Dash along to witness this wondrous occasion up-close and personal. As his friends stare anxiously from the other side of the room, the grinning Mustang waits no further as he gently unwraps the twins’ respective blankets so the guests can get a better look at their cute, little faces. And with the proper unveiling of his two, precious foals, everyone gasps and awes ecstatically over their naturally born cuteness.

In comparison to their brand-new coats, the now-sleepy twins are as different as night and day, with the filly’s nightly, cool blue and the colt’s bright, warm orange. The only things they seem to share in regards with their coloring are the two streaks of red and pink in their respective, four-stripe-patterned manes, whereas the filly’s other two stripes has violet and green in hers, the colt has yellow and orange instead. And yet, despite their differences, their individual colors shine just as brightly as their mother once did.

“Oh my stars, Ford… they’re just so… perfect!” Rarity sums in up with an overjoyed smile as her eyes lights up with amazement over such beauty.

Following up on that Unicorn’s admiration, everyone else beams with renewed, broader smiles as they continue to observe the absolutely adorable foals in front of them. For those who are heavy with foals like Fluttershy or Octavia’s case, they embrace their respective spouses as they too can’t wait to share this wonderful experience someday. And while Pinkie Pie is a bit unresponsive at first, the good-natured Gilda nudges the depressed Earth Pony slightly with an elbow so she can look up and see the twins for herself. From just a mere glimpse at the two tiny Pegasi wrapped in their snuggly baby blankets, Pinkie Pie manages to push aside her own gloom as she bears a wide, goofy smile while her once-straight mane inflates slightly to its original, curly shape. With her spirits raised up thanks to the sights of the adorable foals, the smiling, pink mare affectionately leans her head against the griffon’s shoulder as Gilda smirks from seeing her pony friend no longer depressed for the moment. As for Turbo Dash, one look at his newborn grandfoals, and already he’s grinning with so much pride while his irrepressible eyes shed a few more tears to demonstrate his overwhelming joy of them.

A while later, Vinyl Scratch asks the proud father of two, “So, have you given any thought to their names yet?”

From that casual inquiry, Ford pauses from his own jubilation as he gives it some deep thought before he lets out a soft, depressing sigh and answers in a dejected tone filled with shame, “I… haven’t even considered them just yet. I kind of hoped that Rainbow and I will get to decide on them together--!”

Unable to finish his melancholy response, Ford averts his ashamed eyes away from the group while Vinyl feels bad for asking that in the first place. So her wife, Octavia, comforts her with a gentle pat on the back while Turbo Dash also does the same by using his wing to gently pat his downtrodden son-in-law as he says with a reassuring smile.

“It’s okay, Ford. We’ve got a lot to do in just a few short days anyhow. You don’t have to decide on that right away.”

Feeling more at ease with his father-in-law’s mild suggestion, he smiles back and offers his soft-spoken gratitude for him, “Thanks Turbo.”

Then, Twilight Sparkle and Trixie rejoins the group, and the young Alicorn Princess calls out to Mustang in a tender tone, “Excuse me, Ford. But Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are here to see you right now.”

“Thank you, Twilight. I’ll be there soon.”

But before he exits out of the nursery, he turns back to his twins, who are still in the middle of their first ever trip to dreamland, and eyes them with a growing smile over their cutesy manner. And after taking the time to tenderly caress their soft manes, he gives each of the foals a kiss on the cheek before saying his simple farewells to them.

“Goodnight, my little Moon and Sun. Daddy will see you two first thing in the morning. I promise.”

And whether it was from his soothing words or those simple kisses he just presented, the little filly and colt display blissfully squealing smiles from their father’s affection as Mustang widens his heartfelt smile once he bears witness to the twins’ adorable reactions. And reluctantly, the blue-haired stallion takes his leave to meet up with the princesses.

Outside, on such a calm, cool night, Ford Mustang exits out of Ponyville General Hospital as he meets up with the two eldest princesses, Celestia and Luna, who were waiting patiently for the stallion’s arrival.

“Good evening, Ford Mustang.” Celestia greets with soft yet warm smile as she along with her younger sister bow before him.

“Princesses.” he replies in quiet humbleness whist returning the courteous gesture for them.

“Sir Mustang… we first would like to offer our condolences on what you and the others have been through recently.” Luna says in a meek, modest manner as she delicately steps forward before placing a fore hoof over her chest and lightly bowing once again. “You have our deepest sympathies.”

“Thank you, Princesses.” he accepts with a gracious smile. “I truly appreciate that.”

Then, he spots a very large, sophisticated wagon next to the princesses as it is being looked after by some of Luna’s famous Bat Pony platoon, the Night Guards. But what really grabs Ford’s attention is the precious cargo that the wagon has been carrying since its trip began. On top of the lavish cart is a very luxurious, golden casket with a crystal-clear glass lid closed shut. To Ford’s amazement, it’s hard to determine on how long it took to create such an amazing work of craftsmanship.

A bit distracted by the coffin’s exquisite beauty, Mustang turns to the princesses and asks the obvious question in a stuttering tone, “Is that… for her?”

“Yes, this glass coffin was specifically made to preserve her body in time for her funeral.” Celestia answers matter-of-factly.

“Rest assured, we will take very good care of her, Ford.” Luna adds with soft conviction. “You have our word.”

“Thank you once again for arranging all of this with us.”

“Of course. Tis our privilege to provide our services for one of our honored heroes.”

In a delicate manner, the two elegant sisters wrap the stallion up in a tenderhearted hug using their big, beautiful wings as Celestia whispers in a motherly tone, “Take good care of yourself, Ford. Your foals are going to need you now more than ever.”

With his gentle hooves around each of the princesses, Ford replies with a knowing grin, “Believe me, Princess. I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”

And after that lovely exchange, the Alicorn sisters use their magic to effortlessly lift up the glass coffin and they carry it with them whilst they enter through the hospital’s main entrance. And some time later, the rest of Ford’s friends meet up with him before they say their heartfelt goodbyes and offer their deepest sympathies once again.

As the downhearted ponies leave one by one, Turbo Dash approaches the younger Pegasus and asks with a sheepish grin, “Say, Ford. You don’t mind if I stay over for a while, do you?”

“Of course not, Turbo.” he answers with a welcoming smile. “You’re always welcome to stay at our house.”

Then, Gilda steps in-between them and asks for the same thing in an awkward, grinning fashion similar to the older stallion’s. “Hey, got room for one more? I kinda need a place to crash as well before the day of the funeral.”

But before Mustang can offer his opinion on how to accommodate his griffon friend’s need for sleep, Gilda suddenly feels a tug on her forelimb as she sees Pinkie Pie holding her firmly while she quietly offers her hospitality with big, pleading eyes, “Y-you can stay at my place… if you like that is.”

A bit surprised by Pinkie’s open invitation, Gilda couldn’t ignore the pony’s fainthearted plea, and she eventually complies with a tiny grin, “Sure, I’ll take you up on that offer. Thanks, Pinks.”

With everything settled, Gilda walks alongside the Pinkie Pie as they slowly make their way to Sugarcube Corner while Ford and Turbo follow the same motion by turning the other way and heading towards the younger stallion’s home.

At the now individually-owned cloudhouse, Ford finishes getting the bed all set up and notifies the other stallion about his now available guest room. After Turbo thanks him, Mustang begins to head out of the door. But then, he feels a gentle fore hoof stopping him, and he turns around to see his father-in-law bearing a soft yet reassuring smile for him.

“Hey. We’ll get through this together, Mustang. You’ll see.”

Despite feeling doubtful on Turbo’s well-meant reassurance, Ford is at least responsive by smiling just a little and replying in a discreet tone, “Right… well, goodnight Turbo.”

“Goodnight, Ford.”

After that little exchange, Ford heads towards his own bedroom in a slow, gloomy pace before he eventually reaches his destination and flops onto his bed without a care. Steadily, he gets underneath the covers and tries desperately to go to sleep. But as expected, sleep will not come so easily for him as he aimlessly stares at the ceiling above him whilst reflecting back to all the heartbreaking and emotional moments involving Rainbow Dash’s predetermined death.

Then, on a whim, he turns to his left and places a right fore hoof on the spot next to him. But from that impulsive gesture, Ford suddenly realizes that other side of the bed is completely empty. From staring at the unoccupied spot, the grim reality over his wife’s death hits him hard as he gradually breaks down with fresh tears seeping down his tiring, worn-out face… literally crying himself to sleep.

“Dashie~!”

“Dashie~!”

“…Nnnnghh.”

“Wake up, my Little Dashie~!”

"Noooo~! It’s too early~! Just five more minutes~!"

“Hehehe! You really are your father’s daughter. Though thankfully, you do inherit my brains and beauty to go with that brashness and speed of his.”

From that unfamiliar yet angelic voice, Rainbow Dash gradually wakes up from her rather pleasant nap. From her awakening, she experiences a lot of different yet welcoming sensations. For one thing, she feels entirely weightless, as if she’s as a light as a feather. For another, she is no longer in excruciating pain from her recent foal-bearing as she feels an indescribable warmth from within her inner being while it soothes her entire body.

And as her once-tired eyes retain some her vision, she begins to see color… lots of colors to be exact as the vibrant, rainbow specks dot the nightly, starry sky like splashes on the most gorgeous watercolor painting imagined.

But it isn’t the nebula-infused scenery that’s so distractingly beautiful, for in front of Rainbow Dash are huge blotches of pink and blue. Soon enough, the colors took shape as the blue coloring formed a pony’s stylish mane while two orbs of magenta expand across the lovely shade of pink. With her clarity getting better by the second, Dash can then see the formation of more refined details, especially the mysterious mare’s warm, magenta-colored gaze and angelic smile. In the midst of their gazing, Rainbow begins to feel a welcoming touch as the greeting mare continues to soothingly brush her multicolored mane with a gentle fore hoof whilst the blue Pegasus remains still on the other pony’s comfy lap.

And after Rainbow stares at the smiling, familiar mare for just a bit longer, her eyes widen with tremendous shock as she once recalls a mare that looks just like her, even if those memories come from photographic images and stories that her father have told to her on so many occasions when she was just a filly. Unable to keep her astonished eyes off the blue-haired, pink Pegasus, Rainbow steadily gets herself up, and from figuring out the identity of the angelic mare in front of her, she stumbles greatly over her immediate response.

“Y-Y-You’re… I-I mean… are you really…?”

And after a soft giggle, the beaming mare confirms the younger Pegasus’s suspicions with a nod and a smile, “Yes, Rainbow Dash. I’m your moth--!”

But her composed introduction gets interrupted when the Rainbow Dash rushes in and tightly squeezes the barely announced mare. As the startled Pegasus remains frozen in the younger pony’s tight grasp, Rainbow trembles tremendously as she refuses to let go of her before she finishes the reveal of the older mare’s identity in a very tearful yet overjoyed manner.

“M-Mommy.”

Despite the countless amount of tears running down her cheeks, Rainbow is extremely ecstatic over the reunion of her long-lost mother, Firefly. Enwrapped in all of the high expectations and emotions, literally and figuratively of course, Firefly gradually loses her once strong composure, and she too joins in the rapture by wrapping her severally emotional daughter up with her gentle forelegs and angelic wings.

“Shhhh… it’s okay, sweetie.” Firefly issues in a gentle, motherly tone as she holds her weeping daughter very closely to her chest. “Just let it all out. Mommy’s here for you now.”

Without wanting to pull away from her mother’s tender embrace, Rainbow continues to weep in immense, unrestrained joy as she whispers in a constantly sniveling voice, “I missed you so much, mommy.”

Unable to hold back anymore, tears start to pour out of her equally emotional eyes as Firefly affectionately nuzzles her precious daughter and replies back with a quivering smile, “I missed you too, Dashie. More than you will ever know.”

It’s hard to say on how long they hold in each other’s forelegs, but Rainbow Dash doesn’t care about that at this point. She doesn’t care if anyone else is present at the moment. Right now, nothing is getting in the way between Rainbow and Firefly’s long-awaited reunion as the former continues to savor this affectionate, motherly love for as long as she can.

Finally, they gradually pull away from their long-overdue hug as their moist, magenta eyes lock on to each other’s before Firefly comments in pure delight while stroking her daughter’s hair, “My goodness, just look at you! I can’t believe on how much you have grown since I last held you in my hooves!”

“Forget about me! Look at you, mom!” Rainbow exclaims with a chuckling grin. “You look like you haven’t changed at all!”

From that compliment, Firefly lets out a playful giggle as she touches her cheek like she is blushing over her own beauty before she responds in a clever manner, “Well, I guess it’s one of the perks on having an eternally young face.”

After sharing a good, hearty chuckle with her mom, Rainbow Dash takes the time to examine her surroundings. All around her, she sees nothing but space as the colorful atmosphere is filled with countless stars, shimmering nebulas, and faraway galaxies. And below them is an invisible, self-made bridge made up of small, illuminating orbs that share the same radiance as the twinkling stars above. Of course, to Rainbow’s amazement, she could hardly feel the cosmic bridge beneath them due to her weightlessness.

“So… I guess this is it, huh?” Dash inquires softly to confirm all that has happened to her recently. “I really bit the dust on this one, right?”

“Afraid so.” Firefly answers in a slightly reluctant voice. "Though I always wanted to meet you someday, I had hope you would enjoy your life a bit longer than that."

As the younger Pegasus continues to let this realization sink in, she thinks back to all of her friends and family she unfortunately left behind. She just knows it’s going to be hard for them to move on, especially for her husband, Ford Mustang, and their two children. But even so, she’s confident that they will pull through and not let her death be a heavy burden on them. So, once she accepts her fate, she lets out a heavy sigh before she displays a more casual smile towards her concerning mother.

“Well, not much we can do about that now, am I right?” Dash shrugs with a well-meaning grin. “But hey, at least I finally get to meet you like I always wanted!”

A bit amazed by the younger pony’s strong resilience, her mother bears an optimistic smile as she replies with an excited nod, “Yes, and we have so much catching up to do! And look at it this way, Rainbow… we now have all the time in the world. But before we start from the beginning, can you do something for me first?” she asks in a more steady tone.

“Of course, mom!” she compiles without question. “Anything!”

A bit hesitant at first, Firefly carries out her request in a bashful manner as she clasped her fore hooves together, “Could you… become a little filly just for me? You know, where you used to have such wild hair back then? Please?”

A bit shocked by Firefly’s sincere pleading as her big, expressive eyes maintain her persuasive gaze for a just little bit longer, Rainbow Dash gives in, but is unsure on how to fulfill her mother’s request. “I would if I could, mom. But I don’t know how to do that in first place.”

Happy to hear her daughter’s compliance, Firefly eagerly goes over simple instructions on how to make such an age-regressing transformation happen. “Well here in the afterlife, it’s quite simple actually. Just imagine it, and it will come to be.”

Following up on her mother’s advice, Rainbow Dash closes her eyes and concentrates really hard by thinking back to all of her fond, foalhood memories: going to flight camp, making her first friends, and all of the wonderful times she shared with her daddy. From reliving her own nostalgia, she can feel the gradual change within herself as everything starts to shrink around her. Once the shrinking process comes to an end, Rainbow opens her eyes and asks in a more squeaky, bashful tone.

“Like this, mommy?”

From Lil’ Dash’s startling transformation, Firefly remains completely still as she poorly tries to cover her wide, trembling smile with shaky fore hooves while her expansive, awestricken eyes is on the verge of breaking down into more heartfelt tears. And once she is unable to hold back any further, the lone, mature mare rushes forward and pulls her baby girl in for a great, big hug whilst she is unable keep her motherly emotions in check.

“Oh, yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” Firefly squeaks with absolute delight as she continues to shake her much smaller daughter around in her tightly-woven embrace. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to hold you just like this! You really are just the cutest, little filly imagined!”

Unable to break away from her mother’s constant gushiness, the tiny, wild-haired filly starts to feel really embarrassed as she gripes in a loud, juvenile whine. “Come on, mom! This is embarrassing! Let go already!”

“Nope! Never!” she refuses in a giggling manner. “I’ve waited too long for this moment, and I’m never letting you go! Never ever ever!”

“Mom, seriously! You’re choking me to death over here!” Rainbow exaggerates greatly to an extent.

“Sorry, hon! That won’t work on me and you know it!” she counters lightheartedly with a playful, clever smirk.

From that counterargument, the flustered filly realizes the irony of the situation as it looks like it’s useless to break away from mommy’s grasp. But as she remains fastened to her mother’s warm, furry chest, Rainbow Dash foregoes of her own humiliation and gives in to this welcoming embrace. From this motherly affection, a broad, contented smile spreads across her adorable cheeks as she gratefully nuzzles against the smiling mare’s soft fur coat.

To be in held like this in her mother’s tender hooves… this is truly heaven.

Author's Note

Just want to say thank you to all of my faithful readers out there for your patience on the long awaiting chapters. This along with my previous stories wouldn't have gotten off the ground without all of your constant support.

Chapter 33 – A Day Without Rainbows

Chapter 33 – A Day Without Rainbows

In the following morning, rays of sunshine pierce through the bleak gloom of Ford Mustang’s bedroom as the celestial beams cast their light on the lone stallion, who is still slumbering from his restless sleep. But eventually, the somewhat welcoming light stirs him up from his dreary slumber, and he gradually rises up to face the brand new day ahead of him.

As he groggily sits up on his bed for a matter of minutes, he slowly turns his head to his left side, and once again, the vacant spot next him serves as a grim reminder on what happened last night is certainly no delusion: Rainbow Dash is no longer amongst the living after giving birth to their two beautiful foals. And after staring at that empty spot for a little while longer, the impassive stallion lets out a steady, heavy sigh before he faces the other way and sluggishly exits out of the bedroom.

As he steps outside of his room, something gets his attention as his keen nose picks up a wonderful scent: cooked eggs, onions, and peppers… probably the working of a omelet downstairs… the smell of breakfast. With more of a spring in his steps, the now smiling stallion flies leisurely as he uses his nose to follow the cooking omelet’s vapor trail.

Once he lands in front of the kitchen, Ford’s assumptions are correct as he sees a familiar stallion still working on a large omelet filled with sliced onions and chopped bell peppers. And after adding a few slices of cheese to his culinary creation, he turns away for a stove once he notices the presence of the younger stallion that has just entered the room.

“Oh, good morning, Ford.” he greets with a cheerful smile.

“Morning, Turbo.” he responds with a simple smile of his own.

“I hope you don’t mind me using your kitchen this morning.” Turbo Dash explains himself as he turns his attention back on the nearly completed omelet. “You must has been completely tuckered out since last night, so I figure I could help myself to the kitchen by cooking a delicious breakfast for us today. Hope that’s cool with you.”

“No, please. Go ready ahead.”

As Turbo Dash continues to watch over the omelet, Ford sits himself down at the table nearby as he examines all that the older stallion has already prepared for them. The setup includes a tray of sliced oranges, grapes, and bananas, a plate of toasted bread for each of them with butter and jelly on the sides, a couple glasses of orange juice, and a small pot of freshly brewed coffee, no doubt for Turbo in particular since Mustang hardly drinks the stuff himself.

“Alright. Here you go.” the older stallion announces as he places one half of the hearty omelet in front of Ford.

“Thanks for preparing all of this.” he offers with a grateful smile. “Everything looks really good.”

“Anytime.” Dash nods with a welcoming grin as he sits himself down on the opposite end of the table. And once he takes a good sip from his cup of coffee, he then asks in a more serious tone, “So, Ford… how did you sleep last night?”

Unwilling to answer on how deeply distressing his night was, he averts his shame-ridden eyes away from Turbo’s soft, inquisitive gaze as he couldn’t bear to tell the elder stallion on how difficult it was for him get some sleep after all that has happened to him since last night. However, there is no need for Mustang go into any detail as Turbo can practically read everything from the heavy, somber look on the younger Pegasus’s face.

“Sigh... Yeah, me too.” Turbo acknowledges with a small, sympathetic smile.

Compared to the two of them, Turbo Dash is a lot more cheerful much to Mustang’s surprise, so he points it out in a slightly shrew manner, “I could hardly tell difference myself.”

“Trust me, I’m used to this by now.” he responds with a light chuckle to himself before he gets himself up and places a comforting hoof on Ford’s shoulder. “Though I have to say, you’re at least handling this a lot better than me when my wife passed away years ago. But anyway, like I said last night: we’ll get through this together, Ford. I promise.”

Though he didn’t come up with a proper response to Dash’s reassurance, Ford at least took those comforting words into great consideration as a much more appreciative smile begins to emerge across his face. Along with that budding smile, he gently pats Turbo’s reassuring hoof as a welcoming gesture while the older stallion continues to bear that promising smile of his.

Then, with a playful nudge, Turbo insists with a wink and a lighthearted grin, “Now come on, eat up already. Don’t want a well-balanced breakfast to get cold and go to waste, you know. Besides, you’re going to need all of that energy when we see the twins again this morning.” he states it knowingly as he resumes his seat at the table.

And with hungry grins, the two stallions indulge in their big breakfast together. But halfway through their hearty meal, Ford recalls a fond memory over his beloved angel and he lets out a small chuckle before sharing with his father-in-law across the table.

“Heh, I still remember the times when Rainbow and I used to cook together.”

“Oh yeah?” Turbo responds after taking another bite from his buttered toast. “I bet with you as the head chef around here, she didn’t have to worry with the hassle of running the kitchen herself.”

“Actually, there were moments when she had done some cooking by herself.”

Dash stares at him with wide eyes before he giggles with a tiny smirk, “You’re kidding me!”

“What, you don’t believe me?” asks Mustang with an arch of his eyebrow.

“It’s not that really, it’s just that… she would always have a hard time making a proper meal for herself.” Turbo answers with an awkward smile.

“Well get this. During Rainbow’s maternity leave, she decided to cook a meal for us while I was out with the weather team that day. And I have to admit, she did an admirable job for herself.”

“Really? Do you remember what she cooked that day?”

“Well, I remember it was some type of asparagus dish for dinner, but as for dessert, she decided to make a soufflé for us.”

The mention of that ambitious dessert really leaves Turbo Dash speechless before he says something to indicate his absolute astonishment over this matter, “Okay, now you gotta be kidding me!”

“I kid you not.” he counters with a knowing grin.

“Huh.” Turbo mutters to himself as he gradually lets that sink in despite his own initial disbelief. “Rainbow Dash is always the brash one, but I would never imagine her to even attempt to make a soufflé all by herself! Even I wouldn’t dare to create such a delicate dessert like that!”

“Well... it wasn’t entirely perfect, but it was still edible to some degree. We both decided in the end that the soufflé didn’t meet to our expectations. Still, her skills in cooking grew exponentially after that. I can still remember the delicious scalloped potatoes she made for me this one other time.” he confirms with a faint lick of his chops over such cheesiness.

Amazed as ever, he swells up with pride over his daughter’s personal accomplishment as he offers a sincere smile to his son-in-law. “Wow… I never knew my baby girl became just an outstanding cook for herself. Thanks for sharing that with me, Ford. That means a lot for me to hear from you.”

Without a word, the smiling Mustang nods right back to him, and eventually, they resume what’s left on their plate. After that’s finished, they clean up their dishes and set them aside to dry overtime before Turbo Dash faces the younger Pegasus to establish what’s next on today’s agenda.

“Well then, now that breakfast has been taken care of, what do you say we go ahead and pay a visit to our two favorite foals in the world, hmm?”

With a sophisticated grin matching his, Ford Mustang cheerfully complies in an instant. “Yep. Sounds like a plan, Turbo.”

Meanwhile, in the celestial heavens, Rainbow Dash and her attentive mother, Firefly, spent countless hours of catching up without any need to take a break or rest. It's hard to believe that the younger mare could talk for so long, but without her physical body weighing her down, that didn't distracted her from sharing an extensive, tenderhearted moment with her mother like she always wanted for so long.

“So yeah, that pretty much sums up my life, mom." Rainbow finishes her overly extensive tale before she decides a catch a breather for herself. "Whew! I can’t believe we were able to talk for that long.”

“Yes, and to think it’s morning already.” Firefly confirms nonchalantly.

“Wait… It’s morning already?!” Dash exclaims in immense shock from losing track of time.

“Oh yeah… I guess you can’t tell much when time is pretty much irrelevant here, huh?” the older mare states with a mild chuckle before she perks up on something important in mind. “Ooo, that reminds me! We should stop by Ponyville Hospital to see your newborn twins today! I never got the chance to see my grandfoals up-close last night!” she states in a very gleeful tone.

As much as Rainbow loves the idea herself, she is a bit unsure on how that's possible. “But how? We can’t ever go back to the world of the living, right?

“Now who says that we can’t?” Firefly asks with a shrewd smile spreading across her face.

"Huh?"

With no need for Firefly to clarify her cryptic statement, a white light tears through space and creates a pony-sized portal behind them. Unfazed by the bright portal's sudden appearance, Firefly continues to grin cleverly from seeing her daughter staring at it with increasingly bewildered eyes.

“Again, huh?!” she restates her question with an exaggeratedly gaping face.

After a brief giggle over the younger mare's continuous stupefaction, Firefly happily clarifies that conundrum for Rainbow, “Well we may be intangible spirits that are invisible through the eyes of ponies, but we can practically go wherever we please. How else was I going to keep a close eye on you? I am your guardian angel after all.” she concludes with a wink.

A bit relieved over the magical portal's timely appearance, a new thought crosses Dash’s mind as she contemplates on what her mom just said. And after giving it some more thought, her eyes widen once again with a massive blush consuming her face this time over a horrifying realization in mind.

“Wait if that’s true… then does that mean you’ve been watching me the entire time?!” she demands in a flustered manner.

A bit confused by her daughter’s spontaneous outburst, it didn't take long for the pink mare to figure out on what Rainbow Dash is implying as she too shares the same flushed manner as her daughter.

“No no! Of course not!" she hastily reassures her. "I know when I need to stay out of your own private affairs.”

But as Rainbow is about to sigh in relief from dealing with that kind of humiliation, Firefly then adds in a very sly manner, “Though I have to say… your husband does have such a nice bod.”

As expected, a blush resurfaces on Dash’s face over her mother's somewhat vague comment over Mustang’s looks. Of course, Firefly didn’t stop there as she continues her devious ploy with a knowing grin and a playful wiggle of her eyebrows.

“And I have to admit, I am a bit jealous of your little ‘escapades’ with him every now and then.”

Without any need to go into any further disclosure, Firefly's teasing emphasis worked out quite well for her as it earns the clever mare a completely horrified look from her mortified daughter as Rainbow’s blush lights up as brightly as one of the astral plane's countless stars. Shaking like mad and embarrassed beyond belief, Dash fully expresses herself like any daughter would over her mother's intended snooping.

“MOM~!! I thought you said you stayed out of my affairs!” she whines in an extremely ear-piercing voice.

Unfazed by her flushed daughter’s expected outburst, Firefly simply laughs it off before countering in a clever, casual manner, “Well I didn’t say all of the time.”

Unable to find any words to counter-argue that sly statement, the annoyed, blue mare begrudgingly accepts her defeat as she grumbles underneath her breath while maintaining an increasing scowl against her still amused mother. And once she has her share of a good laugh at her daughter’s expense, Firefly lightly nudges Rainbow out of her grump as she knows of a way to cheer her up.

“Now come on. I’ll race you.”

Almost immediately, Rainbow forgoes her grumpiness earlier as she breaks into her usual, confident smirk, which matches that with her mother's, before she gladly accepts the challenge head-on. “You’re on, mom!”

And simultaneously, mother and daughter rocket towards the mystical portal, where they marked Ponyville Hospital as their finish line for today's race.

As they fly through the town of Ponyville, Ford and Turbo notice a slight change in the residential scenery. It seems that word has spread out a lot faster than they would expect as dozens of rainbow-striped banners and flags hang out in the open, no doubt indicating over the recent passing of Rainbow Dash from last night. As some of the flags showcases Rainbow’s face or Cutie Mark, all of the them bears the same rich, multicolored pattern as the recently deceased’s mane and tail. Along with that, there are flyers posted all across town as they promote Rainbow Dash’s funeral scheduled for tomorrow morning. From one of the flyers, it not only details the location of the funeral, which will be held at Canterlot’s royal chapel, but it also promotes times for train rides and certain locations where trained Unicorns will provide free access to their magical portals for instant access. Clearly, the princesses spare no expense for this type of memorial service.

Soon enough, the two Pegasi stallions arrive at Ponyville General Hospital and are led by one of the medical associates to see Ford’s one-day-old twins. But rather than meet up with them at the nursery room like last time, they are instead led to a specialized playroom for baby foals in particular.

After standing around for a short period on the colorful checker-covered floor, the wait is over when Nurse Redheart delivers the anticipating twins in one of the staff’s baby carriages. And right on time, Rainbow Dash and Firefly make their ghostly appearances by passing through the wall after finishing up their close-finish race. Once everything is set, Redheart excuses herself as the stallions lean closer to admire the tiny foals for a little bit longer

“Sigh… little angels.” Turbo states with a doting smile over his brand-new grandfoals.

“Yeah… just like their mommy.” Ford agrees with a lovey-dovey smile of his own.

Sharing the same warm expressions as their respective husbands, Rainbow and Firefly bear overwhelming smiles for the newborn twins, both for their natural cuteness and on how heart-wrenching it is from being unable to interacting with them. As the older Pegasi continue to cherish the always adorable faces of the warm orange colt and midnight blue filly, Turbo Dash eventually notices his son-in-law’s hesitation from laying a single hoof on his son and daughter just yet, so he gently nudges him out of his personal daze before he asks of him.

“Well…? Aren’t you going to hold one of them?”

From that mild suggestion, Mustang continues to hesitate before he lowers his head and nervously admits in a soft manner, “I… I never held a foal before. I never held a baby for that matter.”

Understanding Ford’s own fears as a first-time parent, the older stallion bears a considerate grin as he helps the younger Pegasus by passing along his own wisdom from one father to another. “Well you’re gonna have to start somewhere, Ford. Here, I’ll show you how, and then you can try it out yourself.”

With Mustang watching very closely as he stands right next to Turbo, the more confident stallion picks up the colt first by using his right fore hoof to hold him by the bottom and using his left fore hoof to secure the baby’s head. As he brings his grandson up close, both Turbo and Ford are amazed to see the baby boy opening his eyes for the first time as they display a brilliant blue that completely contrasts with his warm-colored coat and mane. From the older stallions’ combined amazements, their astonished smiles broaden even further over the beaming colt’s first reveal of his eyes.

After recovering from the heartwarming moment in front of him, Turbo then turns to Ford and verifies with a casual grin, “See? You just gotta gently scoop it from the bottom with one hoof and use the other to help support their head. Simple as that. Now you try.”

Despite his renewed reluctance, Ford complies with a faint nod before he turns his attention to the little filly remaining in her wheeled carriage as it looks like she is still in the middle of her nap. Steadily, the blue-haired stallion reaches forward and mimics Turbo’s methods carefully. But once his daughter is in his slightly shaky yet tender grasp, the closed-eyed filly starts to feel uneasy all of a sudden as she lets out increasingly upsetting whimpers, which causes Mustang to fret even more than before.

“Turbo, she’s crying!” he informs in a gradual state of panic. “D-did I do something wrong here? What should I do now?”

“Shh… don’t panic.” he assures in a soft, calm voice as he continues to cradle his grandson. “Just relax and stay cool. She probably doesn’t know it’s you just yet. Here, bring her close to your chest and try talking to her. It help you bond with your baby better.”

Following on Turbo Dash’s advice, Ford does his best to calm down his nerves before he gently brings the softly sobbing filly closer until she is touching his warm, fuzzy coat. With his daughter in close proximity of his chest, Ford then rocks his baby in a calming manner while whispering to her in a kind, reassuring tone.

“Hey, it’s okay, sweetie. It’s only daddy, remember?”

Whether it was his softhearted words or his soothing method of cradling the baby, his daughter gradually ceases her crying as the sniveling filly takes a moment to look up to see who it is. It is from this brief period of time where Ford Mustang gets the first glimpse at his daughter’s eyes: a lovely, vibrant shade of pink that nearly matches with the hot pink streak in her four-striped mane. As they silently stare at each other, Ford displays a warm, heartfelt smile for his little girl as he gently strokes her soft, colorful hair.

Then, much to the father’s relief and joy, the little, dark blue bundle of joy breaks into a toothless smile whilst giggling in an ever-so adorable fashion. With her squealing in delight, she lifts her wobbly forelegs up as a means to get close to her daddy. A bit taken back by his daughter’s incredibly cute reaction, the highly emotional stallion couldn’t control on how watery his eyes are getting, and he gladly complies to his baby girl’s request by bring his smiling face close to hers so they can happily embrace one another in this touching father-and-daughter moment.

“Yes, that’s right.” he whispers in a joyous, sentimental voice in the midst of their cuddling. “Daddy’s here, sweetheart. Daddy’s here.”

As father and daughter blissfully carries on with their silent snuggling, Turbo Dash has been observing their ongoing affection as he smiles with satisfaction over their special bonding time together. Not only that, but his contented smile broadens a bit more when he recalls the same heartwarming reaction he once had years ago from bonding with his beloved daughter, Rainbow Dash, after his wife’s passing.

Suddenly, his observation gets interrupted as his nose picks up a stench, and once he pinpoints the source of the somewhat familiar smell, he turns to the source of the foul odor and sees the baby colt in front of him that he still holding. A bit distracted by the colt’s somewhat innocent smile, Turbo wants to confirm his suspicions as he takes a couple whiffs just to be sure.

“Sniff Sniff… Whew!” he exclaims sharply once he verifies the smell before he faces his pre-occupied son-in-law with a meaningful grin. “Well… now that you got that one down, we can move on with your next lesson in Parenting 101.”

“And what lesson would that be, Turbo?” Ford inquires with an arched eyebrow.

“He-heh… changing diapers.” the elder Pegasus adds with a knowing smirk.

And from the grinning stallion’s shrewd answer, Ford’s eyes widen greatly on the mere thought on what’s to come. But despite his own inner grossness, he couldn’t help but chuckle in a mockingly deadpan response, “Oh… joy.”

As the stallions begin their lesson in diaper changing, Rainbow chuckles lightly over her husband’s mild hesitation for what's to come. But after her amusement dies down, she turns to her mother and is slightly perplexed by Firefly's very clever smile.

"Well, aren’t you going join him?" the pink Pegasus asks with extreme shrewdness.

With a noticeable blush beginning to make its appearance, Rainbow is a bit startled to reply back before she answers with a sheepish grin, "Eh, no thanks. I'm good as it is."

Of course, that hesitant response doesn’t pass by Firefly as she maintains her knowing smirk before she implies in a teasing manner, "What’s the matter, Dashie? You're not feeling a bit squeamish about this, are you?"

"N-no!" the younger Pegasus replies in a sharp, flustered tone. "I just... don't think it’s no longer necessary for obvious reasons."

"Well it didn't stop me from seeing Turbo making his first attempt at changing your diaper." Firefly shrugs with a persistent smirk as Rainbow’s blush grows excessively much to her increasing, understandable discomfort. "In fact, it made quite an amusing anecdote when you started getting all fussy. Would you like to hear about it?"

There is a momentary pause between the two spirits as Rainbow glares at her grinning mom before the narrowed-eyed daughter mutters with a defeated sigh, "You're going to tell me anyway even if I say 'no', aren’t you?"

"Oh yeah." her mother responds right away with an unyielding smirk.

"Ughhh... Somepony kill me please!" Rainbow groans extremely as she covers her intensely flushed face with her fore hooves.

After a well-deserved hearty chuckle, Firefly gladly points out the obvious, "I think we're way past that at this point. Now... where do I begin~?" she mockingly asks with her ever-so devious smile broadening even further much to her daughter’s constant anguish.

After going over the twins’ wonderful experience of making “boom-boom”, their father and grandfather move on to their next activity: their babies’ first steps. Carefully, they place the foals on the soft, colorful mat, where they just sit on their flanks for the time being as they are unsure on what to do from there. And of course, Rainbow and Firefly continue to observe this from close proximity thanks to their ghostly intangible forms.

“Uhh, are you sure it’s okay for them to walk on all fours at this point?” Ford inquires with mild uncertainty. “They were just born yesterday, you know.”

“Nonsense.” Turbo dismisses that question with a casual grin. “Ponies are supposed to walk from the moment they are born. So it’s important for them to get started as soon as possible.”

From forgetting that little fact despite living in Equestria for over two years, Ford simply responds with a mildly blank face, “Huh, I guess I keep forgetting that they’re actual ponies and not human beings.”

“Are you disappointed by that fact?”

“What, you mean them not being human?” Ford replies with a tilt of his head to verify Turbo’s simple questioning.

“Yeah. Just curious, that’s all.”

And after a quick glance at his children’s adorable, big-eyed faces, Mustang merely shrugs it off with a carefree smile, “Eh, not really. Besides, foals are way cuter than human babies!” he proclaims with sentimental joy as he hugs his equally amused twins.

“Alright alright. That’s enough cuddling for now.” Turbo insists with a lighthearted giggle as he resets the twins back on the mat. “Let’s see them walk.”

As the foals sit idly on the soft, matted floor, they take the time to verify their colorful surroundings before the oldest of the two (by only several minutes) decides to take the initiative first. A bit wobbly at first, the midnight blue filly is able to stand upright all by herself. Then, she moves one of her forelegs forward to take a cautionary step for herself. And once her first hoof is firmly planted, she moves on with her next one while the stallions and their self-proclaimed guardian angels watch with giddy anticipation. And after she quickly picks up a pattern for herself, the giggling filly literally runs in circles around her ecstatic family.

Gleefully, Ford picks up his baby girl and praises her with a proud smile, “Yay! You did it! Who’s daddy’s little girl? That’s right! You are~! You are~!” he coos exceedingly as he warmly nuzzles his giggling daughter.

“Ok, tough guy!” Turbo grins to his grandson as he playfully ruffles the little colt’s mane. “It’s your turn now!”

From processing on what he just witnessed from his twin sister, the colt eagerly gets himself up and enters a full gallop much to Ford and Turbo’s surprise. But as the rambunctious baby gallops around the room, he suddenly trips on his own hooves and falls over with his face hitting on the soft mat.

As the older stallions gasp in fright over the colt’s accident, Rainbow quickly swoops in to rescue her colt, not realizing that because of her astral body, she phases right through him. The Pegasi’s horror increases even further when the baby boy lifts his head up, and his big, pitiful eyes pour out tons of tears to fully express his first ordeal in pain. Just seeing her son crying like that while being unable to do anything to help him is pure agony for the heartbroken mother.

Alarmed by his son’s distressing cry over his most unpleasant experience, Mustang immediately rushes to his baby boy’s side and lies on the ground with his muzzle aligning up with his. As his crying gradually calms down for a bit, the whimpering foal looks up and locks his tearful eyes with his father’s warm gaze and comforting smile. From there, Ford tenderly nuzzles with his colt as the latter begins to feel much better by breaking into a small, pleasant smile.

And when the baby boy lays his tiny fore hooves on Mustang’s nose, the stallion lifts his head up slightly which causes the startled colt to anxiously grab his dad's muzzle as he stand on his two hind legs. With his father standing very still in his crouched pose, he waits for his little boy to take his time as he slowly places his two forelegs back on the ground. After the tiny colt stands on all four hooves once again, Ford stands upright as well before he takes one step back. From watching his father’s subtle movements, the curious colt looks down at his own hooves before taking a step forward for himself.

“Yes, that’s it. One foot in front of the other.” Ford advises in a hushed, encouraging voice as he repeats his previous actions by taking another step back with his other hoof.

And following up the stallion’s gentle encouragement, the baby boy keeps mimicking his daddy’s movements. With every step backwards Mustang takes, his son would take another step forward. And renewed with so much enthusiasm, the now giggling colt picks up the pace with every step he takes as his father struggles to match with the baby’s increasing tempo.

Ironically enough, Ford is the one to trip over his own feet as he falls backwards. And while he lies on his back, his ever-so giddy son hops right on top of his dad’s belly. Despite feeling the soft stomp on his exposed stomach, Mustang couldn’t be any prouder or happier for what his beaming son has recently just accomplished for himself. As for the invisible mares, Rainbow especially smiles in relief and joy over the constant good nature of her dependable husband.

But their moment of giddiness is put on hold by several visitors at the door. And from looking up, Ford is surprised but extremely delighted by the appearance of his friends: Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, Pinkie Pie, Gilda, Vinyl Scratch, and Octavia. At the doorway, all the leering guests stare at the speechless stallion with very amusing grins, especially Rarity for that matter.

“I hope we’re not interrupting anything.” she greets in a knowingly shrewd manner.

“Of course not, Rarity.” he responds with a lighthearted grin as he sits himself up while holding his baby boy in-between his forelegs. “You’re all just in time for the show.”

And following up that cue, the eager guests all join in on the twins’ playtime, and each of them engages in a wide variety of playful activities together. For Pinkie Pie and Vinyl Scratch, they recreate some classic baby games such as Vinyl’s form of hide-and-seek by hiding and revealing her ruby-colored eyes with her thick, trademark shades or Pinkie’s very own “Where’s Pinkie Pie?” game. Along with that, the comedic entertainers showcase some of their goofy faces, which rewards them with some more of the foals’ adorable giggles.

Next up, Rarity and Octavia are more focused on the babies’ grooming as they brought their own specialized brushes to smooth their delicate manes and coats. And of course, the ecstatic seamstress brought some of her sampled baby clothes so that the more-sophisticated mares can play dress-up with the twins. And while the smiling filly didn’t mind it at all on how pretty she feels in her frilly dress, the same thing cannot be said for her immensely scowling brother as he is clearly unamused with her cute cap and little, blue suspenders.

After that, much to the colt’s relief with the removal of his first set of clothes, Gilda and Big Mac involves in something more engaging by taking the giddy foals on their equivalent of pony rides around the room. Along with that, they engage in fun activities involving them “flying” through the air such as the gentle, red Earth Pony lying on his back and holding up each of the babies up with his big, brawny hooves or the grinning griffon using her large, strong wings like it’s a seesaw or a slide much to the foals’ amusement.

Eventually, it soon becomes lunchtime as Nurse Redheart brings the twins’ baby formula. With the baby bottles delivered right on time for their lunch, Applejack and Fluttershy gladly volunteer to take care of things from here as each of them cradles one of the foals in their tender forelegs before they proceed with the bottle-feeding process. Happily, the two naturally gifted caretakers carry on with their voluntary tasks as the babies happily suckle on their bottles' teats.

In the midst of their bottle-feeding, Applejack turns to Ford and says with a hospitable smile, “By the way, Rarity and Ah have already talked it out with the rest of the gang, and we were hopin’ that you and Turbo would join us for dinner tonight. Ya know, in honor of Rainbow Dash.”

With a momentary glance from his son-in-law, Turbo gives his answer to AJ’s invitation with a nod and courteous smile before Mustang complies with a grateful smile of his own, “Thanks, AJ. We’re definitely be there.”

“You know, all this talk of food is making me hungry!” Vinyl chimes in with her trademark, enthusiastic grin. “Can we get something to eat as well?”

“Not unless you care for a bottle of baby milk instead.” Gilda jests with a mild smirk.

Playing along with the griffon’s kidding, the blue-haired Unicorn mare gives it some thought with a rub of her chin before she turns to the orange farmpony and asks with an almost serious face, “Hmmm… Hey, AJ, can I take a sip over there--?”

“Nnnope.” Applejack replies bluntly as ever whilst continuing to feed the still hungry baby colt.

Unamused by the Earth Pony’s straightforward response, Vinyl merely shrugs it off and turns to the yellow Pegasus instead. “Fine. I’ll just ask Fluttershy instead. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind--!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Vinyl Scratch. But uhh, no.”

A bit astonished by Fluttershy’s kind yet surprisingly harsh answer, Vinyl breaks down into her usual crocodile tears as she whines out loud in an overdramatically whimpering tone, “But I’m hungry~!”

In the midst of her wife’s pity party for one, Octavia rolls eyes and groans over her partner’s overemotional shenanigans, “Sigh… It looks like I’ll have two babies to care of instead of just one.” And with the cellist’s dry sense of humor, she receives loads of laughs from her friends at the expense of Vinyl Scratch’s usual tomfoolery.

“Hey, Mustang. You ready to go?” Turbo asks.

“Almost. Just gotta say one last goodbye to them.” Ford replies in a hearty manner.

After saying goodbye to their friends, whom they will meet up later at Sweet Apple Acres, the two stallions and Nurse Redheart walked back to the nursery, with the babies in tow. Of course, Rainbow Dash and Firefly are not too far away as they hope to get one last look at the twins before they call it a day and go back to the heavens.

Once the tiny foals are well-situated in the their respective cribs, their father says to them in a cooing voice, “Alright, little guys. Daddy has to go, but I’ll be back to pick you two up tomorrow evening once we’re done with your mommy’s funeral.”

As he continues to gently brush the smiling twins' manes, Ford nearly loses his composure with his heart starting to ache over the thought of his recently deceased wife. So he seeks to share inner feelings to his children with a slightly emotional smile.

“God, I wish your mother was still alive to see this. She would love seeing you interacting with all of our friends. He-he! Especially with Rarity and Octavia’s whole dress-up session considering that that she wasn’t too used to being the seamstress’s model herself.” he adds with a giggling grin.

After listening to that bit of lighthearted teasing from her husband, Rainbow Dash would have to agree on that claim. And at the same time, the baby boy can sympathize with her mother's distaste in fashion by blowing an adorable raspberry with puffy cheeks and his tongue sticking out. From the adult ponies' reactions, they all giggle from the colt’s means to express his disregard for clothes before Mustang lightly pats his son on the head while saying to him with a hearty chuckle.

“Yep, you’re definitely Rainbow Dash’s son, that’s for sure.”

Then, he turns to his little filly and warmly nuzzles her whilst adding with a clever grin, “Well, I guess that makes you daddy’s little girl, huh?”

After another case of their infectious giggles, fatigue takes hold of the foals as each of them lets out a soft yawn before they get cozy in their individual blankets. As the little ones drift to sleep, Ford carries on with his delicate caressing as he wraps it up with a deeply sincere smile.

“Still, I know that your mommy is watching over the two of you as we speak, and she will always love you just as much as the rest of our family.”

From listening to her husband’s touching words, Rainbow Dash is nearly on the verge of breaking down into tears. But at the same time, she is suffering from great anguish over her constant inability to interact with her remaining family members due to the lack of mortality.

“Sigh… I hate this… feeling so helpless and not doing anything about that.” Rainbow admits in a sulky manner as she lowers her head dejectedly.

Of course, Firefly can relate with that kind of helplessness as she comforts her daughter, “Believe me, I know that feeling all too well. When I passed away, I was worried sick over your father with how he initially handled my death. But with you around, that was no longer necessary for me to keep looming over his shoulders. And I believe it’s because of you that has helped shape Turbo’s life around for the better.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and I believe that same thing could be said for your twins as well.” she points it out with a knowing smile.

From following the direction of her mom's gaze, Rainbow observes the latest affection of Ford Mustang as he gives each of the twins a goodnight kiss on the forehead. And from seeing the warm, tranquil smile on Ford’s face, Rainbow also bears a grin of her own and says with growing confidence.

“Yeah, I think you’re right.”

After a good day’s worth of playtime and bonding with the twins, Ford Mustang and Turbo Dash head off to Sweet Apple Acres early this evening. And after a leisurely flight through the apple orchards, the two Pegasi land on the farmhouse’s front porch before one of them knocks on the door. And soon enough, Rarity answers the door and greets the stallions with a mannerly smile.

“Ah, welcome! Glad you two could make it!”

“What, and turn down on sharing a big meal with my favorite family in the whole world? I wouldn’t miss this for anything!” Ford proclaims with a witty grin.

“Yes. Thank you once again for inviting us over, Rarity.” Turbo nods politely with a humble smile.

“ 'Twas our pleasure, dearie.” Rarity waves it off with a modest chuckle. “Now then, why don’t you wait in the living room with the others, and we’ll have dinner ready in a bit, hmm?”

Following with the Unicorn’s instructions, the two stallions head toward the living room. But upon entry, they stop for a bit as Ford especially is alarmed by the presence of particular pony in the room. Along with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo sits on one of the couches as they are in the midst of their light conversation. But with the arrival of the two older stallions, the trio’s exchange is put on hold as they stare at the new arrivals.

“Hello, girls.” Mustang utters in a quiet, humble voice.

“Oh hey.” Apple Bloom greets right back in the same awkwardness as Ford. "Didn’t hear y’all coming in here.”

In the middle of the quieting discomfort, Ford notices Scootaloo’s disturbing silence as she aimlessly looks at the ground with a subtle yet clearly heartbroken expression on her face. Next, he turns to the other two fillies and shares an understanding look with them, which thankfully, Apple Bloom reads his silent, hinting expression right away as she turns to her Unicorn friend while heavily suggests to her in a shrewd manner.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle? What do ya say we check in the kitchen to see if they need our help with anything?”

Quickly enough, Sweetie takes the hint and replies with a wink and a knowing smile, “Oh, right! Good idea, Apple Bloom!”

And following up on their cue, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom trot to the kitchen where they leave the two stallions alone in the living room with Scootaloo. Carefully, Ford and Turbo sit on the couch with the little, orange filly right in-between them before the former begins to speak up in a soft, hesitant voice.

“H-hey, Scootaloo.”

“Hey.” she responds in a quiet, dull tone without facing either one of them.

Once again, Ford faces uncomfortable silence from the unresponsive filly as he turns to his father-in-law for any advice in this awkward situation of his, but all Turbo can offer is a subtle shrug of his shoulders. As the blue-haired stallion contemplates on ways to cheer up the impassive Scootaloo, he notices something in her cerise mane. A golden hair clip in the form of a familiar badge that’s in a vague shape of a lightning bolt with features of the head and wings of a Pegasus.

“Say, I’ve seen that before.” Ford points it out from his observation. “It’s a Lead Pony Badge, isn’t?”

A bit startled from Mustang noticing her self-made accessory, she impulsively brushes the right side of her mane where her hair clip resides, and she confirms it in a slightly bashful manner, “Mm-hmm. Rainbow Dash gave it to me during our trip to the Wonderbolts Academy.”

“It looks really good on you.” he acknowledges with a sincere smile.

From that simple flattery, the orange Pegasus lightly blushes with a smile as she turns her head away despite being unable to keep her eyes off of her complimenter. And once Mustang gets Scootaloo’s attention, a realization hits him as now would be a good time for introductions.

“Oh, that’s alright! I’m not sure if you guys ever met before, huh?” he says with a more optimistic smile as he directs the smaller Pegasus to the other stallion next to her.

“Not directly, no. But I certainly heard a lot about this cool, little filly.” Turbo Dash clarifies with a knowing grin.

Bewildered by the rainbow-haired stallion’s acknowledgment, Scootaloo inquires in a stammering tone, “Y-you… you have?”

“Mm-hmm. And I always did want to have some one-on-one time with my ‘other’ daughter someday.” he replies with a wink and a witty smile.

Scootaloo is a bit baffled by what Turbo is hinting at, but as she stares at the grinning Pegasus for a little while longer, things start to click in her head as she notices familiar characteristics to her recently deceased role model, from his pale blue coat to his multicolored hair matching that with his daughter’s. And once she finally makes that connection, her purple eyes grow widely as she couldn’t believe who is speaking before her.

“Wait… you’re Rainbow’s dad, aren’t you?”

“Yep, The name’s Turbo Dash.” he answers with a lighthearted grin as he extends a friendly fore hoof before her. “Nice to meet you, Scootaloo.”

Completely speechless by this unexpected encounter, the wide-eyed filly slowly reaches forward and gladly accepts the good-natured gesture from the elder stallion. And after their hoofshake, Scootaloo immediately smacks her forehead with the same hoof she just shook with earlier as she groans over her obliviousness.

“Oh geez! I should have noticed that earlier!” she scolds herself humorously.

“It’s alright. Must ponies don’t see the connection right away.” Turbo reassures with a comedical chuckle over the irony of his witty statement. “But we’re getting off track here. I heard on how much time you and my daughter have spent together, and I can’t tell you on how thrilled I am to meet Rainbow Dash’s little sister. I can definitely see why she took a shine on you.”

Scootaloo’s awestricken smile broadens even further with how her big sister has talked so much about her as well as from Turbo Dash’s own admiration for her. Ecstatic to see the beaming filly more lively than before, Ford scoots a little closer to her before he lays a gentle wing over her as he seeks to address himself in a softhearted tone.

“Scoots, I know there’s no way I can measure up to Rainbow Dash’s awesomeness nor can I replace her as your big sister for obvious reasons.” he adds in a quick-witted manner before being acting more serious once again. “But I hope you know this yourself that you’re still part of our family, and nothing will ever change that, no matter what.”

As Scootaloo remains startled from Mustang’s wholehearted reassurance, Turbo does the same thing as his son-in-law by laying a wing to embrace the speechless filly before speaking up wholeheartedly as well.

“And I know you already have a family yourself, but since you are Rainbow Dash’s sister after all, perhaps you can from time to time accept me as a… second father. Maybe we can hang out some more, and I can teach you some sweet moves along the way. And I don’t mean to brag, but I did taught Rainbow Dash everything there is to know about being awesome, you know.” he boasts mildly as he rubs his chest with a fore hoof while a lighthearted smirk stretches across his face.

Overwhelmed by the positive reinforcements from the two supportive stallions, Scootaloo is completely astonished from processing all these sentimental feelings as she asks in a stuttering tone, “Y-you… you really mean that?”

“Yes, really.” Ford nods with a kindhearted smile.

And once she receives Mustang’s softhearted reassurance as her answer, Scootaloo couldn’t hold back her own withdrawn emotions anymore as she shoves her suddenly tear-stricken face into the middle-aged stallion’s chest. With her sniffling muzzle glued to the his absorbent coat, Ford maintains his smile over Scootaloo’s openness as he fully envelops the emotional filly with his wings and fore hooves while Turbo joins in and does the same. Despite overflowing tears seeping out her closed eyes, a warm smile blossoms across her face as she remains still within their tender grasp.

After some time in their tranquil moment together, they gently break away from their compassionate hug, and Ford then adds with an amusing grin toward his sister-in-law, “Plus, how am I going to take care of twins without their favorite aunt around?”

Once she wipes away her remaining tears, Scootaloo takes the time to compose herself before she inquires something in mind that causes her to subtly cringe in slight disgust, “I don’t have to change diapers, do I?”

Amused by Scoots' understandable reaction, Mustang reassures her with a chuckling smile, “No, but I may ask you to babysit every now and then when they get a little order.”

“And... I take it that I’ll get paid for my services as well?” she asks with an increasingly sly smirk.

Surprised by Scootaloo’s shrewdness and means to negotiate over a fair deal for her services, the grinning stallion shrugs comically in response, “I suppose I can spare a few bits every now and then.”

“And I can bring my friends along?” she bargains even further.

“As long as they’re willing to share the responsibilities with taking care of the twins of course.” he abides once again.

“As well as a boyfriend?” she implies ever-so slyly.

"Sure--! Whoa whoa whoa! What’s this talk about a boyfriend all of a sudden?!” Ford reacts in alarm as he nearly agreed to Scootaloo’s latest term before he narrows his eyes at the smirking filly. “Do your parents know about this?”

Unaffected by Mustang’s supposedly intimidating, parental stare, Scootaloo breaks into uproarious laughter as Ford eventually figures out that she was just getting his goat in all of this. Of course, even when Ford grins over the joke played on him, Turbo Dash is already laughing alongside the clever filly as he playfully ruffles her mane to demonstrate his pride over her cheekiness.

“I’m liking this girl with each passing second.” the elder stallion praises her with a smirk of his own as his compliment earns him some more hearty giggles from Scootaloo.

In the midst of the trio Pegasi’s merriment, Rarity peeks from the entrance to the living room and announces in a cheerful voice, “Everypony! Dinner!”

From that announcement, everyone gathers at the very extensive table as all the prepared food is placed before them. For tonight’s meal, they have apple spice muffins, sautéed asparagus, bell peppers, and onions, mashed red-skinned potatoes, corn on the cob, and strawberry-spinach salad. And as a special treat, much to Ford and Gilda’s joy especially, the chefs cooked up a succulent, broiled salmon. And of course, you can’t complete an Apple Family dinner without some wholesome apple pie for dessert later on.

Once everyone is seated in their assigned seats, Rarity commences their huge banquet with an opening statement. “Tonight, we gather together to commemorate this wonderful feast in honor of everypony’s favorite daring Pegasus, Rainbow Dash.”

“Eeyup.” Applejack concurs with the same modest smile as her wife as she carries on from there. “And Ah think it it’s only fittin’ if we share our thanks on how lucky we are to have RD into our lives. So, Ah’ll go first by sayin’ just how plum grateful Ah am to have such a fun friend for some of our friendly competitions. Ahem. Despite how offhoof things get between us sometimes.” she adds sheepishly with a muttering chuckle.

Then, the smiling seamstress speaks up as she shares her own fond memories of Rainbow Dash, “Well as for me, I am truly grateful for the times I get to make some of those breathtaking dresses for her.”

Seated right next to Rarity are the Cutie Mark Crusaders as it becomes Apple Bloom’s turn to think of something. And after tapping on her chin a couple of times to ponder her thoughts, the red haired Earth Pony perks up with an idea in mind.

“Ooo! Ah know! Ah’m thankful for Rainbow Dash drivin’ me into my search for a Cutie Mark!”

“Hey yeah!” Sweetie Belle responds to that claim with a cheerful smile. “If it wasn’t for her, then maybe Scootaloo and I wouldn’t have run into you and become the bestest friends as well form the Cutie Mark Crusaders! I’m grateful for that too.”

Following up with her friends’ proclamation, Scootaloo nods as she gradually brightens up with a smile of her own, “Well, along with that, I’m thankful for having her as the big sister I always wanted.”

As Ford and Turbo smile warmly from Scoots’ heartfelt declaration over her esteemed role model, Granny Smith takes to time to think on her say in the matter as she delicately strokes her chin. “Uhh… well now let’s see… umm… Ah’m thankful to have such a hearty mare who has just as much love for apples as the rest of my kin. Heh, even it’s through guzzlin’ gallons of cider and sleepin’ on nearly every apple tree around here.”

That bit of wisecracking from the spunky, elder mare causes the guests to break into worthwhile laughs as Applejack agrees with a hearty grin, “Eeyup. That’s our Rainbow Dash right there. What about you, Big Mac?”

“Hmm… Ah’m thankful for all the help she would provide every now and then.” the red stallion answers simply enough.

“Well… for me, I am so thankful to have Rainbow Dash as my very first best friend since we were fillies.” Fluttershy states with a shy yet sincere smile.

From the yellow Pegasus’s gentle statement, Gilda nods with a grin as she shares her thanks as well. “Yeah, like Fluttershy said, I too count myself lucky to have such a cool mare like Dash as my best friend when we went to flight camp together.”

Right beside the grinning griffon, Pinkie Pie takes her turn next as she says with a growing smile, “Well other than being friends with the coolest pony ever, I’m truly thankful for the times we pulled off some of our biggest pranks together!”

“Hey, me too!” Gilda adds with piqued interest. “Dash and I used to pull off some the best pranks ever!”

“Really?” Pinkie gasps with an overjoyed smile as she faces her friend with a sharp turn of her head. “I wanna hear all about it!”

“Oh, you gonna love what we did back then! In fact, one of my favorite pranks was--!”

But then Rarity interrupts them delicately by clearing her throat before she suggests with a mild smile, “I hate to put your delightful conversation on hold, dearies, but let’s say our ‘thanks’ first before we eat and carry on with our stories from there. Vinyl, I believe it’s your turn now.”

“Oh that’s easy.” Vinyl replies with a laidback grin. “I’m thankful for having such a awesome friend who knows on how to party and is just as cool as I am!”

Next, all eyes are shifted toward the disc jockey’s pregnant wife as Octavia is a bit surprised by all of stares she is receiving before she contemplates on what she say for herself. “Oh, is it my turn now? Well let’s see… hmm… Oh! I’m certainly grateful for Rainbow Dash checking up on me when I first discovered I was pregnant.” she comments warmly as she lightly pats her curvy belly with an appreciative smile. “Plus, it finally gave us something in common for a change.” she adds with a lighthearted chuckle, which can be shared amongst the other guests.

From nearly going around the entire table, it is down to just two ponies left: Turbo Dash and Ford Mustang. And since the oldest stallion is next to last pony that just spoke, he takes his time to compose himself before he sums his paternal affection in one, simple sentence.

“All I have to say is that I am truly thankful for having the greatest daughter I could ever ask for.”

Despite shedding a tear or two from saying his share of sentimentality, Turbo still holds his head up high with a quivering yet proud smile. Figuring that he needs a shoulder to cry on, the gray Earth Pony next to him is more than happy to offer one as Octavia tenderly pulls him in for a consoling hug. And once the two adjacent ponies end their softhearted embrace, all eyes are turned toward the last remaining guest that hasn’t spoken up just yet.

In the midst of the company’s patient anticipation, Ford acts very nervous from all of their stares as he looks down at the floor while trying to decide on what he is thankful the most regarding with his beloved, blue angel. And after overthinking it for quite some time, he eventually speaks his mind in a soft, reluctant tone.

“I… uhh… sigh… I can’t think of one right now.”

From Mustang’s indecisive response, the rest of the dinner guests are stunned by the widowed stallion’s quiet reluctance as they unsure on how to react to that, but none are more surprised as Gilda as she responds in sharp annoyance, “Seriously?”

“Gilda, shh!” Pinkie hushes as to prevent any tensions happening at the dinner table.

But as the harrumphing griffon is unwilling to look at Ford in the eye, Applejack, who is sitting next to him, lays a comforting fore hoof on the stallion’s shoulder and reassures him with an empathetic smile, “It’s okay, sugarcube. We all understand on how hard it must be for you.”

But much to AJ and the guests’ confusion, Ford breaks into a smile as he mildly shakes his head before he gently clarifies himself for his indecisiveness earlier. “That’s not exactly what I meant. I mean… I have so many things to be thankful for that I just can’t decide which one tops them all. From our first meeting together... to her showing me around town and meeting all of you… for taking me under her wing and teaching me on how to fly... for accepting and loving me for who I really am… or for making me the happiest stallion alive when she became my wife.”

With Mustang listing out the heartwarming examples, his friends beam increasingly from seeing the blue-haired stallion acting more lively. And as he feels more positive from reliving those precious memories of his, Ford lifts his head up and concludes with a more comforting smile.

“I guess to sum it all up, I’m just… so thankful for having her into my life.”

With the final pony saying his thanks at last, everyone else at the dinner table feels more uplifted than before thanks to Ford’s encouraging words, and the smiling Applejack showcases her compassion before pulling the equally contented stallion for a sympathetic hug. And with everything settled down once they said their thanks, they begin to serve their plates to at last enjoy tonight’s bountiful food and each other’s company together.

After a wonderful evening from sharing a great meal with friends and family as well as telling stories over their fond memories of Rainbow Dash, Ford Mustang and Turbo Dash return to their cloudhouse, and each of the stallions makes their way towards their own bedrooms. In addition with their family dinner, Ford certainly had a fun time seeing and playing with his two children earlier this morning. All in all, it was a pretty good day for him considering with all he went through the previous night. Still, at least he will expect a better night’s worth of sleep compared to last time.

With his eyes closed and a calm smile that still spreads across his tired face, he begins to drift off into slumberland. But gradually, in the midst of his sleep, something starts to fester in his mind’s eye and familiar haunting noises begin to ring in his head. The first thing he hears is the soft wailing of his twin foals.

“Huh! Babies?!”

Following up with his parental instincts, he wakes up right away to pinpoint the twins’ crying, but from looking all around the dark, spacious room, the cries just suddenly ceased. With everything going quiet right now besides his own rapid breathing, Ford begins to reason himself that what he just experienced was all part of some dream. Though strangely enough, the soft cries he just heard sounded like the real thing.

Once things begin to settle down, he pushes that matter aside as he steadily reassumes his sleep. But once he does, he gradually enters the dreary dreamworld once again as more sounds play out in his mind. Along with the cries of his presumed foals, Mustang hears a more awful noise as the irritating sound of a flat line rings out loudly in his ears. And as the struggling dreamer tries to push through the imaginary noises, something begins to appear in the dark red mist.

Much to Ford’s confusion and horror, he soon realizes that he is reliving the terrible visions he had many months ago as he sees a perfect replica of himself staring gloomily at his deceased wife on her death bed. And as the cries and flatlining sound continue to resonate in the dark, dreamy void, the vision plays out just like before as the melancholy Mustang leans forward to give his recently departed mare one last kiss. However, the real Mustang is unable to bear this reenactment any longer as he wakes up once more while letting up a mighty gasp to catch his breath.

“Wh-wha... what is going on here?” he mutters quietly to himself as he continues to huff and puff from what he is going through recently.

He just doesn’t understanding on why he is experiencing all of this. The point of his visions was to forewarn him on what will happen to his Rainbow Dash. And one way or another, they all prepare for this moment if it will ever happen. And now that everything has come to pass much to his misfortune, there was no point for his haunting visions to continue any further. So what’s the point for them to reappear like that?

Hoping that this is all just some coincidence, he makes one more attempt to get some much-needed sleep this time. Sadly, even with his eyes barely closed, the visions reappeared from where they left off as Ford sees himself inching closer to his still dead wife as the cries of their unseen foals and the earsplitting sound of the heart monitor ring out even louder than ever. And with Ford Mustang’s lips remaining completely still on Rainbow Dash’s, the deafening noises get worse by the second. And unable to stand this any further, the struggling onlooker seeks to break out of his unbearable nightmare as quickly as possible.

“DAMMIT! WHY THE HELL DO YOU WANT WITH ME?!”

From his piercing outcry, he impulsively grabs one of his pillows and swiftly tosses it across the room to demonstrate his anger and confusion over his relentless visions. However, his outburst is short-lived as he bawls out in an instant while curled up in a fetal position. Shortly enough, Turbo Dash barges in a brisk pace as he approaches the increasingly mournful stallion.

“Mustang, what happened? Is everything okay?”

“N-no! It’s not okay!” he wails in response as he continues to sob over his recent ordeal. “My visions… they’ve come back… they’ve come back and I don’t even know why!”

Carefully, the elder Pegasus crawls on the bed and wraps the whimpering stallion in a comforting hug before he attempts to console him in a soothing voice, “Shh… it’s okay, Ford. It was only a nightmare, that’s all. It’s only natural on why you’re still having trouble sleeping after all you’ve been through.”

“I miss her, Turbo. I miss her so much.” he whimpers while desperately clinging on to the closest thing he can associate with as a father in this world.

Know full well on what Mustang is going through, Turbo does his best to hold back his own tears as he gently tightens his tender embrace around the weeping Pegasus before he replies back in a softhearted tone, “I know, Ford… I miss her too.”

For the next minute or so, the two stallions carry on with their undisturbed hug as Turbo soothingly pats Ford on the shoulder. Eventually, he becomes much calmer than before and softly confesses his fear to the older Pegasus.

"I thought… I thought I was strong enough to overcome this. I thought I was prepared for this to happen and move on with my life. B-but now… I just don't know anymore."

As the wretched stallion quivers in the Turbo's tender grasp, the latter eventually speaks up to hopefully help his son-in-law from his own insomnia. “Listen, I know it still must be tough for you. Believe me, I know what it's like. But please, you need to pull yourself together... for your friends, for your family, and more importantly, for Rainbow Dash. Anyway, you need your sleep. We both have a very important day for tomorrow, and we all need you to be there.”

A bit unresponsive at first, Ford knows that Turbo Dash is looking out for his best interest at heart, so the younger stallion complies to his father-in-law’s tenderhearted suggestion with a subtle nod and a tiny smile. Happy to see his son-in-law feeling a bit better, Turbo then asks if there is anything else he can do for him.

“Can I get you anything to help you sleep easier tonight?”

Ford take a few seconds to consider on Turbo’s kindhearted offer before he makes a small request with a humble smile, “Some tea would be nice.”

“I’ll get right on that.” he complies with a hospitable grin as he hops off the bed to head towards the kitchen downstairs.

But then, Ford stops him as he calls out to him softly, “Hey, Turbo? Thanks for checking up on me.”

With a turn of his head, Turbo nods lightly as he replies with a considerate grin, “Of course, Ford. That’s what family is for. We look out for each other, right?”

“Right, of course.” he agrees with a faint chuckle to himself.

Once Turbo leaves the room to get that cup of hot tea, Ford takes the time to reflect on those visions he was forced to deal with recently. He still can’t understand on why he had undergo all of that, even after their premonition came true from the previous evening with the death of Rainbow Dash and the birth of their twins. Either way, he can’t let these visions keep getting in the way of his sleep nor can he allow them interfere with his important attendance at his wife’s scheduled funeral tomorrow morning.

But one thing's for certain… tomorrow is definitely going to be long day for him.

Author's Note

3 more chapters to go~! :trixieshiftright:

Chapter 34 – The Wake of Rainbow Dash

Chapter 34 – The Wake of Rainbow Dash

In the following day, hundreds, if not thousands, of grief-stricken ponies gather together at Canterlot’s Royal Chapel for a truly heart-wrenching event that most guests didn’t see coming: the funeral of Rainbow Dash. It's hard to believe that nearly a year ago where Rainbow and Ford got married in the same chapel, and now, the majestic sanctuary is the setting for the fallen mare's funeral. To say the least, no one was ready for this jarring moment, with the exception of those who were closest to Rainbow, namely her best friends as they prepare themselves for their respective roles in a separate room right across from the chapel.

However, only two important ponies were missing from their private assembly, and Princess Twilight Sparkle volunteered to go look for them thanks to her mastery of teleportation. But a half hour later, she returns back in a flash of light as her anxious friends gather around for an update on the two missing stallions.

“Twilight, did you find them yet?” Trixie asks eagerly.

“Sigh… no, I searched through their home and the hospital to see if they were checking on the twins. But I couldn’t find Ford nor Turbo anyway.” the purple alicorn answers much to her dismay.

“Oh, where could they be right now?” Fluttershy asks with increasing worry. “I hope they are alright.”

“Dagnabbit!” Applejack gripes loudly as she expresses herself with a soft stomp on the floor. “Ah knew Ah should have checked on them first before headin’ off to Canterlot this morning!”

“Well, Mustang did say they will meet us here.” Rarity adds as a reminder. “I just never expect them to be this late.”

“Wh-what we do now?" Fluttershy asks anxiously as she looks back at the door that leads to the chapel. "All the aisles are nearly filled up, and it’s almost time to start our services!”

Twilight enters a brief, deep state of thought to figure out a plan before she looks up and shares her suggestion with her awaiting friends. “Well, Ford was supposed to be the first pony to give his eulogy before us, so until he and Turbo arrive, I guess we can carry on with our own eulogies for now."

With that said, everyone nods in unison to the slight change in plans. But despite agreeing with everypony, Gilda couldn’t help but grouch over the remaining stallions' tardiness.

“Hmph, they better not take their sweet time! This is Dash’s funeral we’re talking about here!”

“Hey, come on, Gilda." Pinkie Pie comments sharply with a reassuring smile. "They would never do that to us. I'm sure they’ll just appear out of nowhere and arrive here at a timely fashion.”

“Ha! As if!" Gilda scoffs with a roll of her eyes. " ‘Cause if they even considered to chicken out from this, I’ll--!”

But before the grumpy griffon finishes her threat, a new flash of light bursts in the room, where it knocks the extremely spooked Gilda off her feet while startling everypony else. Once the sudden burst of light diminishes away, it reveals the two missing Pegasi they were just talking about. With Turbo Dash right next to him, Ford Mustang is holding a wrapped-up bouquet in his left foreleg as each of them has the enchanted, globe-shaped necklaces, which helped them teleport to the very room they’re standing right now in an instant.

“See? Told ya~!” Pinkie emphasizes with a sly smile as she helps Gilda up. Again, the griffon rolls her eyes, but with a complying smirk this time.

“Fashionably late, I see.” Rarity comments wittingly over the two stallions’ arrival.

“Yeah, you can say that again.” AJ agrees with a slight grin.

“Sorry everyone.” Ford apologizes with a sheepish smile. “Had to pick up some flowers first.”

“Yeah, and we would have gotten here sooner if Ford wasn’t so picky about it.” Turbo teases lightly toward his son-in-law.

“Hey, these were important!” the younger stallion explains himself in a sharp, childish manner. “I had to pick out the right ones!”

“Well in any case, we are all glad that you two were able to make it here in time.” Rarity says with a smile of relief.

From facing his fashion-forward friend, Ford takes a good look at what Rarity is wearing today. To his amazement, she isn’t wearing a traditional, black attire that is commonly seen in most funerals. Instead, she is wearing a pure white dress and a matching, wide-brimmed hat with a lovely, colorful scarf wrapped gently around her neck.

“You look really nice as always, Rarity.” Ford compliments to her.

“Thank you, darling.”

“I’m actually surprised you didn’t choose black for this occasion.” he states with a slight, knowing smirk.

“Well I did make a promise to Rainbow Dash that I would wear something more colorful today. Besides, wearing black in funerals is so last year.” she replies in a lighthearted manner, which earns her a few chuckles from her friends.

And with everyone finally attended to carry out with today’s funeral, Twilight Sparkle directs her associates with a modest smile, “Well then, shall we get started?”

Thanks to the efforts of Canterlot’s weatherponies, today’s funeral will maintain a perfectly sunny day as its heavenly light emits through the numerous stained glass windows, which cast their brilliant colors throughout the magnificent chapel. As the attendees maintain their seats where they’re facing the altar, two more ponies enter the extensive passageway. However, the guests are unable to see who they are as Rainbow Dash and her mother, Firefly, continue to maintain their bodiless forms, who are still invisible through the eyes of living mortals.

“Hey, thanks for coming along with me, mom.” Rainbow says gratefully.

“Of course, honey.” Firefly nods in return with a gracious smile. “I would never miss any occasion featuring my daughter.”

As they pass by the fully-seated aisles, Rainbow glances from both sides as she notices a wide variety of guests attending her own funeral, including notable figures like Discord, Princess Cadance, Shining Armor, and even faraway leaders such as Queen Chrysalis and Wagner the Inferno Dragon King in his specially made batpony disguise.

From seeing on how jam-packed the chapel is today, Rainbow states with amazement. “Wow, I can’t believe on how many ponies have shown up here just for me!”

“Well you’ve certainly made quite a name for yourself, Rainbow.” Firefly comments with a knowing grin. “I mean Element Bearer of Loyalty… recreator of the Legendary Sonic Rainboom… an aspiring member of the Wonderbolts. You’ve become quite the legend, you know. But even with those accomplishments aside, I can't tell you on how proud I am on what an amazing pony you have become.”

After her mom caps it off with a sincere grin and a soft embrace from one of her wings, Rainbow blushes with a moving smile from receiving such motherly praise and appreciation from Firefly. Suddenly, the older Pegasus of the two notices a couple of ponies stepping to the side of the altar to reach for their respective instruments: an upright cello for Octavia, and a keyboard-infused pipe organ for the cellist’s wife, Vinyl Scratch.

“Oh hey. It looks like they’re just about ready.” Firefly informs her daughter in a mildly excited tone. “We best get into our seats before they get started.”

Of course, being nothing more than ghosts, they can sit where ever they want, so the two ghostly mares can sit as close as possible whilst they can get a good, clear view of the funeral service. And once they along with the rest of the attendees are well-situated in their respective seats, the two famed musicians from Ponyville play their music together as their soft, heavenly melody signal the start of Rainbow Dash’s funeral.

From that commencement, the grand doors open up as the two majestic princesses, Celestia and Luna, enter first while using their combined Alicorn Magic to levitate their precious cargo behind them. With everyone standing up from their seats, they look back and gaze at the floating golden casket with its only passenger behind the crystal clear glass. Accompanying the glass coffin are Spitfire, Soarin, Fleetfoot and a few other privileged Wonderbolts, where all of them are in their formal military suits instead of their usual, skintight flight suits. And right behind them are those who will carry out with today’s services: Ford Mustang, Turbo Dash, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.

As the casket passes by the intangible ponies, Rainbow Dash gets a good look at her motionless body as the empty shell still maintains its eyes completely shut while a tranquil smile remains fastened across its slightly pale face. Just like her nightmare she had months ago in the spring, it still feels eerie for Rainbow to see at her own dead body as she continues to cringe subtly just by looking at it.

Soon enough, her husband begins to pass by her as Rainbow stares at him. From her closer inspection, she can definitely see the faintly heavy sags in Ford’s eyes, and unlike some of his weeping friends beside him, he somehow retains a somewhat impassive face, mostly from the fact he’s done his share of crying from last night. With the spirit and widow crossing paths, she is about say something to him, but she chokes on her own words as she realizes her efforts would be entirely fruitless as whatever she wants to say will only fall on deaf ears. Reluctantly, she remains silent as the inattentive Mustang along with her friends continue to make their way to the altar.

Before the Princesses ascend the steps with the casket still afloat, Spitfire and her Wonderbolts immediately take up their positions to form a passage on the short staircase. Once they hover in place, the Wonderbolts give off their salute to their fellow, fallen comrade as the Alicorn Sisters make their gentle ascension with the glass coffin in tow. Once they finish ascending the steps, the two tall Alicorns carefully place the occupied casket on a very sturdy base that was already situated on top of the altar. And right beside it is a large, magnificent portrait of Rainbow Dash that her husband originally made for this occasion.

Once the duet’s opening music reaches its end, the chapel is filled with silence with the exception of a few sniffles here and there as the accompanying ponies take their proper seats while Ford Mustang is the first speaker to walk up towards the podium. With his fore hooves resting on the stand’s surface, he then places his speech on top of the podium. As he takes the time to gather his thoughts, he tilts his head to the left to get one look at his wife within the glass coffin. And once he turns back toward the silent crowd before him, he take a very deep yet calm breath before he gains enough composure to begin his opening eulogy.

“Today, we gather together to not just celebrate the life of one pony, but the life of a hero. A hero whose feats are legendary and has done so much good for her community and for her country. And although her life was suddenly cut short, the accomplishments she left behind will last forever… both in our history and in our hearts.”

Within the brief pause, a majority of the audience gradually breaks into their respective tears over the reflection of Rainbow’s abrupt passing. And once some of grieving softens up, Mustang continues his soft-spoken speech with a smile gradually blossoming across his slightly worn face.

“Most ponies knew Rainbow Dash in life for her bravery and loyalty. But for me, the best way I can sum up her character is on how much of an inspiration she is… and not just to me, but to all of you as well.” he gently points it out with a wave of his foreleg.

“To some, she inspires those who don’t enough courage for themselves.” he states as he shares a knowing glance with Fluttershy, who despite her crying is able to muster a sympathetic smile over the stallion’s statement.

Then, Ford shifts his soft gaze towards Scootaloo as he speaks his next sentence that mostly directs at the young filly. “To others, she inspires them to more than what they are led to believe no matter what their limits are.” From hearing that, Scootaloo broadens her smile significantly as she does her best to hold back her own tears from leaking out right away.

“And I for one can attest to those circumstances for all that she has done for me especially. If it wasn’t for her, I may never have become the very pony that I am today.” And from turning his head towards the casket with his wife lying to her eternal rest, he stares at her frozen yet warm smile as he continues with a even more budding smile of his own, “I owe her everything for that, and I can’t thank her enough for making me into such a better pony. Just like how she made better ponies out of you, one way or another.”

Once he re-faces the awe-stricken audience, fresh tears seep from his cool blue eyes as his radiant smile comes into full bloom while he wraps up his deeply heartfelt speech, “To me, she will always be my muse… my beloved wife… my beautiful, blue angel, Rainbow Dash.”

With his moving speech concluded, the crowd breaks into more of their tears, but this time, a majority of them smile warmly from reflecting Mustang’s stirring words. Once he is done, he steps from the podium and walks toward his empty seat next to his father-in-law and friends. However, upon his steady march, his composure gradually deteriorates as more tears pour out of his big, emotional eyes. And upon reaching the company of his friends and family, Turbo goes up to him and pulls Ford in for a welcoming embrace to showcase his sympathy and pride for the heavily grief-stricken stallion.

Meanwhile, in the spiritual plane of this world, Rainbow is completely astounded by how sweet Ford’s continuous devotion was towards her as well as from learning on how much of an impact she has left on him. And just like her husband, she too breaks down into heavy, heartfelt tears.

On cue, Firefly wraps her heavily emotional daughter with her strong, pink wings as she comments with a kindhearted smile, “You must be very fortunate to have such a wonderful husband in you life.”

“I am.” she snivels in-between with an affectionate smirk spreading across her quivering, tear-stricken face. “The sappiest, most wonderful stallion I could ever ask for.”

After Ford’s eulogy, they move on with the rest of the eulogies. Each of them is as touching and heartbreaking as the last. Especially when Turbo Dash and Scootaloo took their respective turns. From hearing each of the speaker's genuine words, Rainbow sobs uncontrollably the same ways as when she first heard her husband’s eulogy.

With all of the heartfelt speeches taken care of, they move on to the guests lining up to pay their utmost respects, whether they just take one last look at her, giving off some of their departing words to her, or offer their flowers around the golden casket. Countless ponies later, and they reach near the end of that extensive line. And all that is left are deceased’s closest friends, her father, and her husband.

As Rainbow observes the final exchanges between her loved ones and her soulless body, she is amazed on how things are so much different than that awful nightmare she once had months ago. Sure, it looks like it’s playing out the same way as her dreadful dream, which also took place in her own funeral, but based off of her friends’ reactions, they look more positive and less distraught than Dash imagined. Fluttershy continues to shed her sincere tears of course, but she is more at peace with a broad smile expanding across her gentle face. The same thing could be said for Pinkie Pie, except her mane is no longer straight as she still maintains some of her usual frizziness. As for Rarity, she kept her promise by wearing something more colorful for the funeral as her attire perfectly matches with her more tranquil demeanor.

When it is Scootaloo’s turn, she continues to shed her tears as she approaches Rainbow’s body, but at least she is more acceptant with the dreadful loss over her sister than what Rainbow had envisioned. Gently, she places her flowers right alongside the others that surround the casket before she goes up and gives one last big hug to her big sister. From seeing Scootaloo’s heartfelt gesture, Rainbow smiles from this as she proud to see on how much Scoots have grown up since they first met.

Next, Turbo Dash present his own bouquet of flowers: Fire Lilies, the same ones he presented to his wife. From seeing this, Firefly chokes up on her own tears from the touching gift her husband is presenting for their dearly beloved daughter. After offering his gift, Turbo whispers some sweet words of farewell before giving his daughter a one last fatherly kiss on her cheek.

And last but certainly not least, Ford Mustang steps forward before the lifeless body of his wife with his wrapped up bouquet still secured in his own foreleg. Of course, Rainbow Dash pretty much knew what he is holding based off her dream she was recounting as her husband unwraps it to reveal it before the general public: a diverse, colorful bouquet of wildflowers, which can be found in the same spot as the first place they met a couple years ago.

After he carefully places the delicate flowers in-between his wife's fore hooves, he says to her in a tenderhearted tone, “I picked out these wildflowers just for you, Rainbow. They not only serve as a reminder of our very first encounter, but they also remind me so much about you. Untamed… vibrant… beautiful.”

From listening to her husband’s ever-so sentimental words once again, Rainbow Dash just couldn't help herself as more relentless tears pour out her eyes. Yet even with her constant bawling, it didn't stop her from bearing a wide, trembling smirk over Mustang’s usual sentimentality as she mutters with an erratic chuckle in-between.

“Heh, that big, lovable sap!”

As Firefly warmly comforts her sobbing daughter, Ford continues stare at the pale, smiling face of his wife as he gently brushes her still colorful mane. And once he is nearly done with having one last look at her, he does his best to suppress his tears for a little longer before he shares his final, wholehearted words with her.

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash... for making my life just as awesome as yours. Well, almost as awesome as yours to some degree." he adds with a small, awkward chuckle. Then, he steadily leans forward with his face coming fairly close to hers as he affectionately whispers one last thing to her, "I love you, my beautiful, blue angel."

And with that said, he sends off his final farewell kiss once his lips comes into contact with hers. It was a strange sensation when he continues to hold on to that simple, tender kiss of his. He expected her wife's lips to be colder due to her recently deceased state; in fact, they are unusually warm that what he is led to believe.

Meanwhile, the spiritual form of Rainbow Dash gingerly approaches her preoccupied stallion, and offers him her own farewell kiss on his cheek, even though it won't help make her ghostly presence known to him. Once she is done with her sweet gesture first, she instinctively replies back with her own affectionate farewells with a few more tears cascading across her face.

"I love you too, my big, strong Mustang."

And once Rainbow lets him go, Ford eventually does the same as his lips gently pull back. Reluctantly, the spirit of Rainbow Dash gradually walks back to her awaiting mother as the sniffling mare wipes what's left of her tears.

“Well… I guess we should get going, huh?” Rainbow assumes in a mildly disheartened tone.

Surprisingly, Firefly didn’t bother to confirm on her daughter’s presumption as she blankly stares at the younger mare. But then, the pink Pegasus displays a small yet amusing smirk as she responds in a strangely shrewdly manner.

“Oh, I think it’s too soon to leave just yet.”

In response to her mother's cryptic shrewdness, Rainbow illustrates her confusion by simply saying, “Huh?”

Without giving anything away, the still smirking Pegasus directs her baffled daughter with a nod, and Rainbow turns around with knitted eyebrows to face her husband once again. As for Mustang, he begrudgingly walks away from the golden casket while Princess Celestia and Princess Luna approach the glass coffin to officially end today’s memorial themselves.

Ba-bump.

But out of nowhere, something stops Ford dead in his tracks as he thought he just heard something... or rather... he felt something.

Ba-bump.

There it is again. It was very faint, but he knows what he is sensing isn't a mere coincidence. So he closes his eyes to only concentrate on that strange yet familiar sensation. At first, he considers that it came from his own beating heart. But no, it's more than just a heartbeat. And it came from somewhere close by.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

At last, he has found the source of that throbbing sensation as the steady pulse is coming right behind him. And with eyes still closed, he can something blossoming through his mind's eye. It is awfully tiny, but its warm radiance is as bright as any source of fire. In addition, the fiery light is pulsating very steadily, which perfectly matches with the subtle throbbing he just heard earlier. And not only that, but the small, lively flame bears every color in the rainbow.

Almost like...

Gasp! Rainbow Dash!

From that startling realization, Ford swiftly turns his head around to pinpoint the source of the faint, flickering glow, which is coming from the seemingly lifeless body of Rainbow Dash, where the princesses have just close the lid on the glass coffin.

And as he stares at his motionless wife while he continues to monitor that inner, lingering light within her, sudden visions begin to flow into his mind. But these visions aren’t as ear-splitting as last night's. This time, they consist of memories stemming from his connection with his Draconian Magic.

Whether it was from that time when Hindel, his former master and elder dragon friend, was able to revive him with his "breath of life" technique after his first deadly encounter with Arrogon the Destroyer...

To how he broke Arrogon's mind-controlling spell from his beloved Rainbow Dash by pouring his purifying magic into her with that breathtaking kiss...

To sharing that one deep kiss with her after being infused with so much power from the Elements of Harmony and the aiding dragons before he took off to confront his adversary one last time.

In-between his flashbacks, he is once again shown multiple repetitions of the vision that has haunted him for months. Except this time, the mental replay is set on a loop as it only plays out the last scene where he offered his final kiss to his recently deceased wife.

Despite being overwhelmed with so many visuals at once, Ford tries to make sense on they might be telling him. In regards with the specific memories, they somehow share a theme between the life-infusing Draconian Magic and the way it's exchanged from one individual to another. But as he starts to piece it all together, a familiar, deep voice echos in his mind as it recites a line of dialogue from long ago.

"Remember all those who've cared for you... the ones who've helped you become what you are today. Let their everlasting love for you add more fuel to the fire of your soul. If you can master that emotion's unfathomable power, you can achieve anything!"

From taking heed to Hindel's words, Ford places a fore hoof over his now steady-beating chest as he once again relives the vision's last scene where and his deceased angel share their last kiss together. But this time, he maintains his heartfelt kiss for much longer than anticipated, and from doing so, their bodies radiate an expansive, golden light that finally banishes the red, misty darkness surrounding them.

At last, with his visions coming into fruition, a broad, bright smile stretches across his suddenly rejuvenated face as an overwhelming sense of hope resurfaces like a phoenix rising from its ashes.

However, that moment of optimism has to put on hold once he realizes that the two princesses are nearly with their duties by reaching for a velvety sheet to cover up the glass coffin. And praying with all of his might that he's not too late to change this fate, Mustang immediately rushes over to Alicorn Sisters and urgently interrupts them from proceeding any further.

"WAIT STOP!"

From Ford’s swift intervention, Celestia and Luna freeze in place before they were about to place the cover as they completely startled by frantic stallion’s immediate outburst. All eyes, including the countless attendees, are turn towards the blue-haired Pegasus as Ford begins to feel really intimidated by all of the stares he's receiving. But he can't let his bashfulness get in the way of this critical moment of his as he readdresses himself in a humbler tone for his imperative request.

"P-please princesses. Just... give me one more minute with her. Please?"

With very big, pleading eyes, Ford desperately waits for the princesses' approval as the two sisters look at each with blank stares. And shortly after that, they turn back to Ford and bear understanding smiles for him while Celestia kindly nods to his request.

"Of course, Mustang. Take as much time as you need."

Overjoyed to receive their permission, he hastily nods right back with a gracious smile for the two humble princesses. And as he makes his way to the golden casket to lift up the crystal-glass lid, Twilight Sparkle approaches him as she asks out of concern.

"Ford, is everything alright?"

Not wanting to waste any more time on what he has in mind, he turns around to face her and beseeches to her in a soft yet stern manner, "Twilight, whatever happens, do not stop me no matter what."

Twilight is a bit uncertain by that simple yet vague request of his. But she didn’t come up with a proper response as she is a bit distracted by the sudden confidence in Ford’s eyes. Having trust in her friend, the speechless princesses merely abides with a nod and takes a few steps back to give him some room.

After displaying a grateful smile for Twilight's cooperation, Ford turns back to the motionless mare and closes his eyes while taking deep, calm breaths. From maintaining a steady rhythm in his breathing, he begins to emit a fiery glow that surrounds his entire body. As the golden radiance expands even further, the dumbstruck audience gasps in wonderment at what's happening before their very eyes.

With his concentration ready, the immensely glowing stallion leans forward where his muzzle is inches away from Rainbow's as he says to her in a confident voice, "Dashie, I know you're not one to give up so easily, and I'm not ready to give up on you just yet. You gave it your all with the birth of our beloved twins, so I'm willing to do the same thing just for you, angel."

And after inhaling the deepest breath he can muster, he firmly presses his lips against hers and pours his heart and soul into the ultimate gamble of his life. From that desperate, breathtaking kiss, Mustang infuses his Draconian Magic into the very core of Dash's body in hopes to rekindle the inner fire he's been sensing earlier. And as he continues his extensive discharge, the two bodies produce an expansive amount of light as their soothingly warm brilliance reaches throughout the entire chapel while also shining right through the stained glass windows.

With the room engulfed in the on-going magic's illumination, Rainbow continues to remain baffled by what she is witnessing, and she asks her mother once again, “Wha…? What’s going on here?”

“Hmm, it seems the dragon’s prediction came true after all.” Firefly mutters with a surprisingly calm, casual smirk.

At first, she isn’t sure on what her mom was referring to, but it didn't take long to figure that out before she confirms that herself, "Wait, you're referring to Ford's dragon friend, Hindel, aren’t you?"

"Yes, that's him." she acknowledges with a nod and a grin. "I had a chance to speak with him before you passed away. He told me that this may happen."

Astounded as ever, Rainbow turns back to Ford as he continues with his self-appointed task while she asks once again in a more impatient tone, "So, what's happening right now?"

After a brief chuckle over her daughter’s bewilderment, Firefly decides to not delay the surprise any further. "Don't you see? You're getting a second chance at life."

As the older, grinning mare expected, the unexpected news leaves her daughter completely thunderstruck as she has trouble processing the overwhelming eye-opener. And truth be told, it's kind of hard for her to fully accept all of this in, so she asks her mother just to make doubly sure.

"...I-l-l am?! R-really?!"

"Yes, Dashie." she reassures with a hearty giggle over her daughter’s skeptical reaction. "And it’s all thanks to your husband over there."

Once again, the young, speechless mare turns to her husband as he surprisingly keeps on maintaining his lips to continuously pour his rejuvenating magic into her body in one whole breath. And as she witnesses the miracle before her, a smile begins to grow across her face as she gradually realizes on all the things she'll get to enjoy out of life once again.

"Then... then that means... I'll get to rejoin with the Wonderbolts! I'll get to be with my friends! I'll get to be with my family--!"

But from the mention on how extremely excited she is from reuniting with her foals as well as the the rest of her family, a sudden realization causes Dash shift to a more dejected manner once she grasps that only one pony won't be attending the ultimate family reunion. Slowly, she faces her mother with a mildly pouty expression, and Firefly displays a comforting smirk for her concerning daughter.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. This is what you wanted, right?"

“...Will I ever see you again, mom?”

“Someday, Rainbow. I promise. But hopefully not too soon this time around. You’ve got your own life ahead of you after all.” she wittily adds with a wink and a grin.

"Anything you want me to say to dad for you?"

Firefly gives it some thought before she replies with an affectionate smile for a particular stallion in mind. "Yeah, there is...tell your father that I still love him with all of my heart, but he should really cut back on those sweets every now and then, especially on those donuts he would pick up on the way to the flight camp he volunteers at. Oh, and if he tells you that he only bought those to share it with his coworkers, then tell him his generosity doesn’t excuse him for his own snacking habits. Besides, he knows better than to distribute junk food to the camp’s counselors."

From listening to her mother's fussy remarks over her father, Rainbow snickers for a bit before she abides with an amusing smirk, "He-heh, sure thing, mom."

After sharing one good laugh together, they suddenly notice how Rainbow looking more transparent than usual as it starts with her lower body fading away. While Rainbow is a bit alarmed by this, Firefly hardly displays any surprise to her daughter’s gradual development as she sighs with a mildly composed smile.

"Well... it looks like it’s time for you to go."

A bit hesitant on how she has to leave her mother so soon, she asks in a very timid voice, "Can I... have one last hug before I leave?"

Surprised at first, Firefly starts to get all choked-up as she welcomes her little mare with open hooves and wings. "Of course, Rainbow. Anything for my precious, little angel."

And right away, the equally emotional Pegasus dives forward and fully embraces her mother one last time while Firefly does the same for her beloved daughter. With softly weeping eyes and warm-hearted smiles, they seek to hold on their unbreakable hug for as long as they can as Rainbow Dash can feel herself disappearing with the fading process beginning to reach up towards her torso.

"I'll never this forget this, mom." she assures in a very tearful manner. "I... I love you so very much, mommy."

Despite how hard it will be to let go of her daughter once more, Firefly couldn't be happier over her only child getting this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for herself as she expresses her everlasting love with a tearful yet overjoyed smile for her.

"And I love you, my beautiful Rainbow Dash... always and forever."

Once the blinding light fades away, Rainbow Dash begins to open her mildly groggy eyes. No longer is she in the heavenly embrace of her mother nor does she feels as light as a feather. Instead, she is resting on something that resembles a thin yet cushiony mattress, and her body weighs a lot more than what she was getting used to. Though granted, she does feel a lot lighter than usual compared to all those months when she was pregnant with her twins.

Slowly but surely, she rises up to verify her surroundings and to make sure she's in the right location. And once her eyes adjust better, the first thing she sees is hundreds of ponies staring at her with extremely wide eyes and immense, gaping faces. Practically everyone, the guests, her friends, her father, and even the princesses, share the same overwhelmingly shocked expression as all eyes are directed towards Rainbow. It is almost as if they are seeing a ghost, which is just as believable as seeing one pony rising from her grave.

Almost as dumbfounded as the gawking crowd, Rainbow carefully addresses herself as she display an exceptionally sheepish grin towards them, "...Umm... I'm back~!"

Despite her best efforts from her awkward opening greeting, she is met with disturbing silence once again. The only exceptions that briefly break that silence are a few ponies fainting dramatically in the background, and surprisingly, one of those ponies isn't Rarity.

After stepping out of her opened coffin, Rainbow once again waits for a proper response, even from one of Pinkie Pie's makeshift parties to welcome her back to the living. But to her dismay, no one, not even her friends, dares to take a another step as Rainbow Dash begins to feel really uneasy in all of this.

However, only one pony is brave enough to confirm Dash's status as a fully resurrected mare: Scootaloo. Timid at first, the orange filly inches closer to her now-revived big sister before she cautiously attempts to verify the older mare's identity.

"R-R-Rainbow Dash... is that... is that really you?"

At first, Rainbow didn’t answer her little sister's question right away as the blue Pegasus is too caught up on how happy she is to see Scoots actually interacting with her. But eventually, she composes herself before acknowledging the filly's imperative question with a well-recognizable, cool smile of hers.

"The one and only, kiddo."

And after staring at her grinning role model for just a little more, Scootaloo couldn’t help herself any longer as she lunges forward for a big, welcoming hug. A bit jumpy from the desperate embrace, Rainbow nevertheless accepts Scootaloo’s hug completely as both Pegasi begin to feel highly emotional in this heartwarming reunion of theirs. Soon enough, they break away from their sisterly embrace as Scoots smiles ecstatically over the miraculous return of Rainbow Dash.

"It is you!" Then, Scoots turns around to gleefully announce before the still shocked audience. "Everypony, it's her! It's really her! See?"

Unfortunately, the crowd doesn’t take Scootaloo’s word for granted as they continue to remain hesitant from approaching the resurrected mare themselves. But soon, another pony steps forward as Rainbow’s father, Turbo Dash, walks up towards her to get a closer look for himself. Once he is close enough, the hesitant stallion lightly brushes her daughter’s face with a gentle fore hoof to make sure what he's feeling is totally real and not some cruel delusion before his very eyes. Without so much a fuss, she allows her dad to touch her fuzzy cheeks and flowing hair, to which both her mane and her coat retain their healthy, vibrant colors upon her resurrection. Finally, after Turbo’s closer inspection, he anxiously pulls Rainbow in for a great, big hug of his own and tearfully embraces his one and only daughter.

"I never thought I would get to hold you in my hooves like this ever again, Dashie." he whispers to her in a sniveling yet overjoyed tone.

Weeping just as much as her heavily emotional father, she simply responds with a chuckling grin, "Never say never, daddy."

After a good minute or two with their father-and-daughter embrace, Rainbow thinks she'll get a chance to take a breather. But that is only a fleeting moment when Pinkie Pie ecstatically calls out her name as she literally springs into action.

"DASHIE~!!"

And from pink pony's highly energetic shouting, she jumps on top on the unprepared Pegasi, and one by one, the rest of their closest friends mimic Pinkie’s energetic gesture where they all engage in a one huge dog pile. Despite struggling with the immense weight of her friends, Rainbow Dash couldn’t be any more happy than to be in the tenders hooves of her loved ones.

In the midst of their tremendous group hug, Fluttershy is the first to speak in a tear-stricken yet jubilant voice, "Y-y-you're alive! You're really alive! I'm just s-so happy right now!"

"Y-y-yes, that makes two of us, darling!" Rarity agrees in the same weeping-in-joy manner as her yellow Pegasus friend.

"Come on, girls!" Rainbow attempts to calm them down with a trembling grin before their highly infectious crying starts to get to her as well. "If you start crying, then I'm gonna cry and--!" But her resistance is short-lived as fresh tears pour uncontrollably out of her eyes before she gives in and shrugs it off with a care. "Ah, who cares! I'm at my own funeral for pony's sake!" And to emphasize her unbridled joy over their tear-jerking reunion, Rainbow broads her grasp to hug as many of her friends as possible.

"You dimwitted jerk!" Gilda remarks sharply to her returning friend in the midst of her constant bawling. "Pulling off a terrible prank on us like that!"

"Yeah, Ah’ll say!" Applejack concurs with an equally amused yet weeping smile. "Dontcha ever pull off anything as crazy as that ever again!"

"Trust me girls, that’s a one time stunt I may never pull off ever again." Rainbow reassures with a lighthearted chuckle of her own.

As Rainbow Dash and her best friends carry on with their heartwarming group hug, the rest of the crowd begin to ease up as they gradually accept miraculous return of Rainbow Dash. Of course, there are a few ponies who remain mystified in what they just witnessed.

Trixie is one of those ponies as she expresses her astonishment, "I-l-l just can't believe it! How did Ford pull off a trick like that?"

"You got me, Trix." Vinyl Scratch answers with a shrug who is just as baffled as the blue Unicorn next to her.

"Wait a second... did you just shorten it to a nickname?" Trixie retorts as she sharply twists her head towards the the laid-back Unicorn.

"Yeah, what of it?" the deejay answers with a carefree grin, much to Trixie's increasing annoyance.

But before that little scuffle could get out of hand between the two Unicorns, the tear-stricken Octavia gently intervenes as she warmly comments over Trixie's question earlier, "It's a miracle... simple as that."

Touched by the cellist’s simple, moving words, Vinyl and Trixie display acceptive smiles as DJ-PON-3 lovingly embraces her wife before complying with Octavia’s heartfelt response, "Yes, it is."

On the other side, the chosen Wonderbolts are just as thrilled as everyone else over the return of their teammate as joyful tears continue to cascade across Spitfire's face while she comments with a chuckling smirk, "See, did I tell you that mare can pull off miracles, or what?"

Without any need to answer his wife's rhetoric question, Soarin warmly embraces her with a strong, gentle wing as they continue to behold the uplifting moment in front of them. In the middle of their observation, Soarin bears a lighthearted grin as he shares it with his equally smiling mare.

"You know, she's going to be really disappointed on how we were planning to commemorate a huge statue in her honor."

"Shh! She doesn't need to know that!" Spitfire whispers with an sharp, clever smirk as Fleetfoot and the other listening Wonderbolts snicker along with the couple.

Back in the massive group hug with Rainbow Dash at the center, Twilight just has to asked the obvious question, "H-h-how..? How did you come back to life?"

With a chuckling smirk, Rainbow answers very cleverly, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

In the midst of her tightly embracing friends, Rainbow pokes her head up in hopes to find her knight in shining armor. However, once she spots her husband at the far corner of the golden casket, she notices something off about him as he lies there without budging an inch. So she attempt call him out from his little nap.

"Ford?"

No response from the motionless stallion, so she attempts to reach out to him once again in a skittish tone.

"F-Ford?"

With no response from the suddenly unconscious Pegasus, fear gradually grips Rainbow’s recently resuscitated heart as she dreads on the awful possibility over the cost of her recent rejuvenation.

Showing as much concern as just about everyone else, Twilight Sparkle flies over to Ford's side before conducting a quick exam over his physical condition. Carefully, she presses a tip of her fore hoof right underneath Mustang’s lower jaw to check his pulse. And after counting for 15 seconds to keep track of the number of beats, her eyes shrink drastically in response to her immense horror on how serious Ford's condition is right now.

"Oh no." And immediately, the panicky princess turns toward the crowd and cries out in desperation. "Quick, somepony call a medic! H-he's not breathing!"

Author's Note

Okay, I think at this point it's safe to say about the development between Chapters 31 and 34. Originally, there wasn't going to be Chapters 33 through 34. Instead, the first idea is basically where Ford Mustang is able to revive Rainbow Dash during the same night at the hospital where the twins were just born.

So why I did make that change?

Well, it's all thanks to Rated Ponystar.

Speaking of which, the attached illustration to this chapter is also thanks to Rated Ponystar for commissioning it.

I'm not going to over the great details of our discussions, but long story short, he did eventually persuade me to extend it a little further, and honestly, I am grateful for that. I did enjoy experimenting moments on what it will be like for Ford and the rest of the ponies to coop with Rainbow Dash's death, even for a just a brief period of time.

Chapter 35 – Altogether Now

Chapter 35 – Altogether Now

It’s been a very long day for all those who were present at Canterlot’s Royal Chapel this morning. All them expected a grand funeral for the supposedly deceased Rainbow Dash. But all of their expectations were completely shattered when the widowed husband, Ford Mustang, performed an illuminated kiss, which miraculously brought Rainbow back to life while the risky procedure literally takes his breath away.

At Princess Twilight Sparkle's urgent beckoning, the medics immediately transported the unconscious Mustang away as the recently revived Rainbow Dash along with her friends and family follow closely behind. And from a glance, it looked like today’s funeral may not go to waste after all.

Hours later, at Canterlot Hospital, two Pegasi wait outside of a room with the door closed in front of them. And while Turbo Dash demonstrates as much patience as possible, his daughter is still on the edge over her husband’s grave situation as she carries on with her increasing restlessness by flapping back and forth.

As she paces frantically in the hallway, she continues to mutter in an increasingly grumpy tone, "Come on! Come on! Come on!"

"Dashie, please calm down." Turbo urges in a gentle voice. "You shouldn't get so worked up like that."

"But those doctors have been in there for too long!" Rainbow gripes out loud as she ceases her march to face her father. "What the heck is taking them to find out on what's been going on with Ford?"

"Dash, these things take time." he responds softly in a pleading manner once again. "You can’t rush these careful procedures."

"Hmph!" she replies simply enough with her fore hooves cross over one another to further demonstrate her annoyance of the situation.

"And neither should you for that matter." Turbo carries on with his insistence in a firmer tone. "You need to learn to take it easy right now."

"Dad, I already told you, I'm fine!" she retorts in a dismissive attitude. "The doctors already did a checkup on me, and I'm as healthy as a newborn filly! In fact, I feel better than ever!"

To demonstrate her point, the smirking Pegasus mare increases the flapping of her strong wings as she flies around in circles while doing a few simple, aerial tricks in front of her worrisome father.

"See, I've been out of commission for only two days, and look at me now! I'm already at the top of the game!" she boldly declares with an energetic, giggling grin. "Heh, wouldn’t the Wonderbolts be in for a surprise on what I can really--!"

"RAINBOW DASH, STOP!"

With a booming voice that could give the Wonderbolts' coaches and leaders a run for their money, Rainbow immediately ceases her tomfoolery. And from her father's stern command, she obeys him without question as she slowly makes her descent before coming to a soft landing. Once his daughter is much more submissive with her head lowered to the ground and her big-eyed, pouty expression showcasing on how truly sorry she is, Turbo inhales a deep breath in order to soften up before explaining himself in a gentler demeanor.

"Rainbow, you were pronounced dead for two days. And now seeing you alive and fully active is a bit... much for ponies to take. And that's what scares me." he admits in a faintly shaky voice.

"But dad, it's still me. The real me." she humbly says with great, big, beseeching eyes as she timidly steps forward to be closer to her father. "Y-you're not scared of me because of that, are you?"

"No no, of course." he reassures softheartedly as he wraps his daughter in for a comforting embrace. "You're still my one and only baby girl, and nothing will ever change that."

From dad's warm and protective embrace, Rainbow affectionately hugs him back as a broad, pleasant smile spreads across her muzzle. Being in the hooves and wings of her devoted father brings back some very fond memories from receiving the same kind of affection from her own mother in the heavens. Afterwards, Turbo breaks away from their hug momentarily so that he can get his daughter’s attention once again before he continues to make his case for her.

"But please, try to understand. No pony expected you to suddenly rise back from the dead. This is just something that's so unbelievable that not even the Princesses themselves have ever accomplished this in their lifetimes. I still can't tell you on how happy I am to have you back into my hooves." he reassures with renewed, emotional eyes and a joyous smile. "But please... for my sake... do take it easy for the time being."

From listening to her dad's heartfelt plea, she gives it some more thought compared to how careless she was acting earlier. So soon after that, she nods to Turbo’s request, and she answers in an emotional voice, "I'm sorry, daddy. I didn’t know it had such an impact on you. I'll take it slow from now on. I promise."

Happy to hear her compliance, the stallion pulls her daughter in for another tender hug as he whispers to her with a grateful smile, "Thank you."

Once again, they relish in their father-and-daughter embrace for a brief moment of peace together. But in the midst of their hugging, a smirk begins to creeps across her face as she remembers that she has a message to deliver to her father.

"By the way, mom said 'hi.' "

A bit taken back by that casual statement, he stares at Rainbow Dash with surprise as he stutters in response, "She... she did?"

"Yep. She wanted me to let you know that she stills love even to this day."

From hearing that, an overjoyed smile blossoms across his face as he gleefully inquires even further, "Anything else she said for me?"

And right on cue, she breaks into a crafty smile as she answers in a mischievous manner, "Yeah, she also said that you need to cut back on your little donut run every now and then."

From her grinning daughter revealing his long-kept secret, Turbo Dash's nervous eyes bulge slightly before they shift away from Rainbow’s inquisitive gaze as he stammers in response, "Uh well... I--!"

"And don't even think about using that excuse on doing it for the camp counselors." she adds sharply with a knowing smirk. "You may be retired, but you're still an upstanding flyer towards others, so act like one."

A bit speechless for a little longer by Rainbow’s sudden knowledge over his secretive sugar rush, he then lets out a hearty laugh before he comments with a chuckling smirk, "Heh, you really know on how to act like your mother sometimes."

"Well, I do take after from two of the greatest flyers ever." she remarks with a witty grin.

Once again, the chuckling stallion pulls his equally amused daughter for a great, big hug as he replies with a proud smile, "Yes you do."

After a while longer, their tenderhearted moment is interrupted when somepony purposefully clears their throat to announce their arrival in a slightly shy yet familiar manner. From turning around, Rainbow Dash is a bit surprised from seeing the large gathering of her friends. And standing right in front of them with the same strangely eager smile as the rest of their friends, Fluttershy gleefully announces in a sing-song voice.

"Dashie~! Look who's here to see you~!"

And from her cheerful disposition, Fluttershy steps aside to allow her husband, Big Macintosh, to move forward. Once Rainbow Dash sees what the big, red stallion is carrying on him, she gasps mightily over what her dear Pegasus friend was referring to. For what's strapped to Big Mac's specially made double-harness saddlebags are two of Dash's most precious cargos imagined: her twin foals.

As Rainbow is completely petrified by the twins' sudden appearance, Fluttershy carefully removes her godfoals from their harnesses and places them up front. Then, with a gentle nudge of her nose, the godmother ushers the twins toward the still thunderstruck Rainbow Dash with a persuasive smile.

"Go on, little ones." she insists cooingly. "Go on over to mommy."

From there, it is nothing but silence as the attentive audience waits for the mother and her two foals to make the first move. With their mom remaining as stiff as a statue, the twins look back and forth between the anxious company and the motionless mare. But soon, they get up from the ground as they get a better look at their mommy.

As Rainbow constantly locks her wide gaze on her twins, fear begins to hold her back as she worries that despite her short absence, her babies may not recognize their mommy at all. But after an extensive stare-off between the reunited family, the twins gradually make their first steps forward with their stubby, little hooves. From practicing with what they learned from yesterday, they continue their march towards their ever-so speechless mom as they giggle along the way at a wobbly yet stable pace.

And from seeing her foals inching closer towards her as well as their big, toothless smiles, Rainbow Dash just couldn't take it any more as her heart hits a breaking point of overwhelming emotions. With irrepressible tears and an unbridled, trembling smile, Rainbow rushes for the approaching twins and immediately embraces them in a warm, motherly hug.

From their highly anticipated reunion, the tearful yet joyous mare snuggles with her twins very closely as she rubs her cheeks against theirs. She doesn't care if she's making a complete fool of herself by bawling in front of others with constant tears pouring out of her uncontrollable eyes. All that matters for Rainbow Dash at this point is that she is right where she belongs: with her two favorite foals in the world.

"Y-yes... that's right." she whispers to them with a quivering, affectionate smile. "Mommy’s back, babies. And this time... she’s not going anywhere."

As the tear-stricken Rainbow Dash is lost in the midst of her nestling with her beloved twins, her friends and family continue to observe this tenderhearted moment together with emotionally blissful smiles. From there, they embrace their respective loved ones as most of them begin to weep upon impulse; even for someone who acts tough like Gilda couldn’t help but shed a few tears of joys as she tightly wraps the equally emotional Pinkie Pie in a hug. But one thing is for certain: no one would even dare to break up this heartfelt reunion between a mother and her children.

Suddenly, the door to Ford's room begins to creek softly as it slowly opens up. And stepping out of the room is the one of the lead doctors in charge of his patient.

"Mrs. Rainbow Dash?"

From hearing her name called out, she hastily wipes away her relentless tears before turning away and facing the male practitioner whilst responding in a faintly sniveling voice, "H-h-how is he, doc?"

"Well, despite the earlier circumstances, your husband is stabilized and his breathing has returned shortly after he lost consciousness."

From receiving that comforting answer, Rainbow along with her company smile and sigh with bliss over Mustang’s current recovery. However, the Canterlot doctor's smile droops significantly as he has much more to say to them.

"However, I can’t say for sure on when he will wake up."

The additional statement causes most of Rainbow’s initial hope to diminish rapidly as she pulls her twins closer to her chest before she gulps and asks in a slightly trembling voice, "You mean... he's in a coma?"

"Honestly, it's hard to say." he admits with uncertainty as he looks back at his bedridden patient. "He could wake up at this very moment or in a matter of weeks. But rest assured, we will do everything we can to see to it that he will make a full recovery."

Feeling more at ease with the doctor's reassurance, she then asks, "Okay, well... may we see him?"

"Yes, of course." he nods to her humble request as he steps aside to let visitors through. "Please come in."

With her foals still held securely within her forelegs, Rainbow Dash hovers into the room first with her father and friends waiting outside. And once she sees her husband for the first time since her resurrection, she gasps quietly to herself as she stops in mid-air whilst laying her wide eyes on him.

Confined to his bed, Ford Mustang continues to lay there unresponsively as cords and tubes remain strapped to his motionless body. Along with being hooked to a heart monitor and an IV bag, the slumbering stallion has an oxygen mask fastened to his muzzle.

Once the doctors and nurses politely excuse themselves from the room, Rainbow and her accompanying foals steadily float over to her husband’s side. And after she gently lands right next to his bed, the first thing she did is offer his sleeping prince a simple, loving kiss on the cheek. And granted, despite how sappy that was, she had hoped that level of schmaltziness would be enough to coax him out of his seemingly endless slumber. After that sincere token of affection, Rainbow takes a moment to gather her thoughts while fixing her longing gaze on her still unconscious stallion.

"Ford, I hope you can hear me right now." she speaks to him in a soft, tenderhearted tone. "Because... well... just saying 'thanks' isn’t enough for what you've done for me out there."

Suddenly, she takes a moment to pause and compose herself as she starts to choke up over her own words of affection with a few tears seeping out of her unrestrained, emotional eyes. "You really are the sweetest, bravest sap of a stallion I have ever met, and there aren't enough words to tell you on how much I love you right now."

All of a sudden, the little, orange colt becomes restless in mommy's hooves, so she sets him down on the bed. Anxiously, the baby boy walks on top of his father’s belly and hops on it in a giddy manner. However, to his surprise, his childish antics aren't enough to wake up his father. So he looks at his mom and pouts heavily with emerging, tearful eyes.

Understanding her son's frustration, Rainbow gives him with a comforting nuzzle as she reassures him with a cool smile, "Don't you worry, kiddo. Your dad is as tough as they come. He'll pull through in the end. You'll see."

And after Dash ruffles the little boy's mane just for extra comfort, he begins to brighten up with a smile of his own. Then, a small chuckle escapes from her lips as she remarks with an amusing grin while she redirects her warm gaze towards her husband.

"Still, you better not take too long out there. 'Cause you already pulled that fake death stunt on me before, and it’s not going to work on me this time."

With a gentle fore hoof, she scoops up her son and brings him back into her tender embrace right alongside his twin sister before she wraps up her statement with a confident smirk, "And besides, you've got two wonderful foals waiting to see their daddy coming home with us, and we're not going anywhere without you."

It's hard to say for how long Ford Mustang lost consciousness since his literally breathtaking kiss. For all he knows, he could be dead at this point given the circumstances of his sudden weightlessness and lack of physical ground. But sooner or later, his eyes open up in order to verify his grim suspicions.

From opening his eyes, his blurry vision is greeted by splashes of soft, soothing colors and twinkling lights. As he gets himself up with his eyesight getting better by the second, his surroundings seem to be much clearer as the slightly bewildered Pegasus finds himself in the vast reaches of outer space. Yet for some strange reason, just staring at the cool-colored nebulae seems so nostalgic for him.

"Huh, this place... it's so familiar."

He can't quite put his hoof on it. He is certain that he has seen this mesmerizing scenery before.

But where?

"Yes, I believe this is similar to that one place near the end of the last episode you saw on Earth. What was it called again..? 'Magical Mystery Cure' was it?"

"Yeah, that's it--!"

Despite feeling pleased as punch from that reminder over the final episode in Friendship is Magic's Season 3, his merriment is abruptly put on hold when he realizes that his answer came from an anonymous, deep voice. Startled by the presence of an unknown visitor, Ford hastily looks around any sign of his unexpected guest.

"Wait! How did you--?"

In the midst of his search, he stops dead in his tracks as he sees something taking shape in the starry sky above. At a first glance, it looks like a huge cluster of stars. But soon enough, the stars move on their own as the living constellation makes its smooth descent while it gradually reveals more of its true form. First, bright lines magically connect the stars together to create the ginormous creature's outline. Next, bright colors fill in the empty space of the silhouetted figure. And from seeing the individual's distinctive features such as its colossal wings and shiny, golden scales, it didn't take long for Ford to figure out the creature's identity as the he stares with wide-eyed amazement while the towering beast comes in for a soft landing before boasting mildly with a clever, toothy smirk.

"Well... they don't call me the 'All-Seeing Dragon' for nothing."

As the grinning dragon waits for his friend's response, the Pegasus continues to remain agape by the giant reptile's sudden appearance. And steadily, his swollen eyes begin to fill up with so many reserved tears on standby as he starts to hiccup a few times before he lunges forward while calling out his name.

"Hindel!"

And in a flash, the sentimental stallion wraps his forelegs around the dragon’s neck and tightly embraces him. Though not as overly expressive as his pony friend, Hindel is equally joyful over their reunion as he lowers his large head to lightly nuzzle the embracing Pegasus on the back.

"It's nice to see you too, Ford. And I do mean that in a literal sense mind you." Hindel adds with a chuckling grin.

From hearing that amusing remark, Ford ceases his hugging to get a better look at Hindel. It takes a while for him realize it, but once again, he stares with amazement over the dragon’s most noticeable change. No longer are Hindel's eyes entirely blank to indicate his blindness. Instead, the whiteness in his eyes are replaced with black, slitted pupils and pure blue irises that showcase his gentle, cool demeanor.

"Oh wow! I can't believe it!" Ford exclaims over this revelation. "Hindel, your eyes...! You can actually see!"

"Yes, once you shed your mortal coil, blindness is no longer a hindrance to me anymore. Plus, I get to maintain a more prime physique for myself." he comments in a mockingly boastful manner despite the Pegasus not being able to tell the difference himself when facing the centuries-old dragon.

With a roll of his eyes, Ford responds back with a teasing smirk, "Yeah, but I bet you're still a heavy sleeper as you were in real life."

"Well, there's so much to do around here. Can you blame me if I need a day's worth of sleep every now and then. Besides, at least I don't have to deal with rude awakenings from a certain pony." the dragon implies with a very crafty smile.

"Yeah, until now that is."

From their exchange of shrewd remarks, the two friends share a good laugh together just like old times. But once their laughter dies down, Ford glances around to see the celestial heavens that completely surround him.

"So, I guess this is it, huh?" he comments in a surprisingly calm tone. "I'm officially dead, aren’t I?"

"Hmm... not necessarily true." Hindel acknowledges with a constant knowing grin. "This place we are standing in is merely a bridge between many realms, both for the living and for the dead. Your wife and her mother were here just a moment ago."

"Rainbow Dash was here?" Mustang inquires frantically over the mention of his wife. "Where she is?! Did it work or--?!"

"She's back among the living, safe and sound. All thanks to you, Ford." Hindel confirms with a nod and a comforting smile.

From receiving the answer he has hoped for, the startled stallion begins to shake up from this tremendous news before he eventually cools down and sighs with a broad, relieving smile, "Then it did work."

"Yes, you finally figured it out."

"Hindel... did you have something to do my visions?"

"No, not at all. You may have inherited my powers, but those visions were yours alone. Admittedly, I was worried at first if you were able to handle them yourself. But thankfully, you pulled through in the end as I knew that you would."

Although Ford feels a little pride over his latest accomplishment, he couldn’t help but be humble in all of this before he begins to show his appreciation in a slightly choked-up voice, "Hindel... I... don't know how to thank you for all of this."

"I didn’t do anything, Ford." he shrugs nonchalantly. "You the one who deserves all the credit yourself."

"I'm not just talking about that, Hindel." he gently shakes his head in response with an ever-so gracious smile. "I mean... it's because of your Draconian Magic that has gotten me here to where I am today. From arriving in Equestria... to defeating Arrogon... to saving the one I love most. I owe you everything for what you did for me."

Then, a faint sigh escapes the pony's lips as he expresses some regret in a softly somber manner, "I just only wish that I was able to save you back then."

Of course, Hindel isn't going to have any of that mopiness as he reassures his friend with a comforting grin. "Hey, that was my decision to make, and I was more than happy to give my life for that. Just like how you were willing to give up yours for Rainbow Dash."

Thankfully, the dragon’s encouraging words is enough to bring forth a smile across the stallion’s face. However, Hindel has much more to say as he displays a more serious demeanor for some reason.

"But listen to me, Mustang. There's something you need to know on what you did back there before you leave this place and return to the world of the living. No one has ever used that much Draconian Magic before in one breath, at least from a pony such as yourself. So by doing that, you may have completely exhausted what's left of it."

From listening attentively to Hindel's words, Mustang is a bit shocked over this startling disclosure as he inquires in a hesitant voice, "So... does this mean... I can no longer use Draconian Magic anymore?"

Reluctant at first, the dragon eventually admits in an halfhearted tone, "Afraid so."

As silence fills the endless, astral void, Hindel looks down at his much smaller friend with inexpressive yet canny eyes as he can see that Ford is lost in his own thoughts over what he just learned. Keenly, the elder dragon leans closer to the pondering Pegasus as he implies with subtle shrewdness.

"That's not going to be a problem, is it?"

Meanwhile, Mustang continues to contemplate over what he had to sacrifice in order to bring Rainbow Dash back to life. Strangely enough, he doesn't seem to express any regret or doubt over his noble decision, so of course, once he looks the awaiting dragon in the eye, his resolve remains steadfast as he replies with a confident, clever grin.

"Who even needs magic when I've got friends and family on my side?"

Not too surprised by Ford's crafty response, Hindel lets out a hearty chuckle before he answers back with a proud, acceptable smirk, "Heh, good answer."

Then out of nowhere, there is a shift in Ford’s spiritual form as he starts to glow all of a sudden. And to the stallion’s increasing puzzlement, he notices parts of his illuminated body disappearing gradually, starting with his tail and hind legs.

"Well, guess it's time for us to part ways then." the golden dragon remarks with a small grin.

Knowing that his time is short, Ford rushes in for one last hug from the big-hearted dragon as he warmly expresses his eternal gratitude one last time, "Thank you, Hindel... for everything."

With a softhearted smile, the dragon returns the heartwarming gesture by placing a gentle claw around the floating stallion whilst replying back in a heartfelt tone, "Take good care of yourself, Ford Mustang. You’ve got a wonderful life ahead of you."

With his vanishing body engulfed in light, Ford closes his eyes and lets out a faint chuckle to himself over Hindel's choice of words before he responds with a contented smile, "Yes... yes I do."

Slowly but surely, Ford Mustang opens his eyes once again. No longer does he feel entirely weightless or free of pain of discomfort. Instead, his extremely worn-out body feels like it weighs like a ton of bricks as his throat is nearly parched from thirst. So given the circumstances from feeling pain and soreness once again, it's pretty evident that he's back among the living.

With heavy, exhausted eyes, the stallion weakly opens them up to see where he is at this time. Little by little, his weak gaze becomes clearer as he verifies his new surroundings. First, he sees the ceiling. Then, he looks to his right to gaze at the tall glass windows with velvety curtains. From looking outside and noticing the dark, cool colors in his room, he realizes that it's nighttime right now.

Overtime, he hears two rhythmic sounds: a faint, raspy breathing and a familiar yet more soothing beeping noise than what he was used to in the past. It's quite clear that the first noise is coming from his own breath as a oxygen mask is strapped around his muzzle. And to confirm his suspicions on the second audible source, he looks to his left and sees a heart monitor with multiple patches stuck to his chest.

As he faces the other direction, he then sees a familiar pony watching over him. At a first glance, Ford thinks it might be his wife, Rainbow Dash, due to the rainbow-colored mane. But with better clarity than before, he then realizes that it's her father instead, Turbo Dash, as the older stallion stares back with huge, astonished eyes over his son-in-law's recent awakening.

"Ford! You’re awake already?" he bellows out in surprise before he bears a chuckling smile. "He-heh, you really are full of surprises today, aren’t you?"

"Turbo... where am I?" he asks in a feeble voice as he removes his oxygen mask before he tries to reach for some water.

Without causing Ford to strain himself, Turbo is more than happy to lend a helping hoof as he pour some water into a cup and hands it over to the younger Pegasus while answering his question, "You're at Canterlot Hospital."

With a few mighty gulps, his glass of water is enough to quench his thirst and clear his throat. Then, he anxiously looks around the room as he asks in a desperate voice, "Rainbow Dash... what happened to her? Is she..?"

"She's alive and well." Turbo replies with a soft, reassuring smile as he tries to gently push Ford to make him recline on his bed. "Thanks to you."

Once he received the confirmation he had hoped for, Ford plops back on his bed as he momentarily loses sensation in his body from the overwhelmingly ecstatic news. But gradually, his emotions escalate like an gushing geyser as tremendous tears pour out of his sentimental eyes while a quivering smile spreads across his face. From making such a pitiful expression in front of his father-in-law like that, the emotional stallion tries to cover his tear-stricken face with a foreleg as he snivels in a hushed yet extremely grateful tone.

"Thank God."

Shortly after that, Mustang recovers from his emotional breakdown while wiping away his overflowing tears and taking a few sniffles in-between. Once he is more composed, he sits back up while attempting to remove the heart monitor's patches from his chest.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Turbo inquires concernedly.

"What does it look like?" Ford sharply replies as he continues remove the sticky pads with his teeth. "I'm getting out of bed to see her."

After the removal of the patches, he set his sights on the IV needle stuck within his left foreleg. But before he does something irrational, Turbo presses a firm fore hoof on Ford’s chest to push him back on the mattress as he stops him in a mildly bossy tone.

"Whoa! No you're not! You need to get your rest first. You had a rough day as it is."

"Come on, Turbo! Let me up already!" he gripes out loud.

"No! You need to stay put until the doctors says so and that's that!"

"I don't care!"

As he begins to lose his patience and temper, Mustang puts up more of a fight to get out of bed while Turbo responds in full force to hold the younger Pegasus back. In their own variation of tug-of-war, both of the stallions try to overpower one another to determine if Ford will get out of bed or not.

"Stop... fussing around!" Turbo scolds in a parental manner. "You're making it worse for yourself!"

"Never!"

However, Mustang’s depleted strength couldn't measure up to his fiery determination to see his now-alive wife as Turbo Dash is able to achieve victory by pinning the younger Pegasus back on the bed with two strong hooves. In a desperate attempt, Ford tries wrestle himself free from Turbo’s grasp. But because of how weak he is from performing such a miraculous feat at the cost of his Draconian Magic, he is as helpless as an infant. Feeling utterly powerless and defeated, fresh tears seep out of his pitiful eyes as he makes a desperate plea to his father-in-law in a soft, heartbreaking manner.

"Please... I need to see her myself."

Understanding Ford's beseeching plight, Turbo eases up on his grip as he replies with a sympathetic smile, "Okay. If you stay put, I'll go fetch her in your stead." But just as Mustang starts to feel ecstatic over the older stallion's proposition, Turbo has something else to add in a more stern tone, "But I have to warn you: she may be a bit preoccupied at the moment."

"Huh, with what exactly?" he perplexes with an arched eyebrow and a tilt of his head.

Strangely enough, a noticeable blush consumes the older stallion's face as Turbo becomes hesitant to answer right away as he turns his face away before he responds in a very sheepish tone, "She's... ahem... nursing."

It takes a while for Mustang to process on what he just heard from the awkward stallion. But after letting that sink in for just a little bit longer, Ford's expression mirrors that with Turbo’s as a massive blush spreads across his face while he too shifts into an awkward, speechless manner.

"O-o-oh!"

"Yeah, we decided to bring the twins over as a nice surprise for our Rainbow Dash." Turbo explains further with an awkward grin. "And overtime, they got hungry, and Fluttershy offered to help her out, so... yeah."

After an uncomfortable moment of awkward silence between the two flustered stallions, Turbo Dash is the first to break that silence by clearing his throat and turning the other way while saying to Ford, "A-anyway, I'll be sure to be tell her about your awakening, and she'll see you once she gets the chance."

"Thank you, Turbo." he replies with a grateful smile.

Suddenly, the elder Pegasus freezes in place once he heard Ford’s gracious words. And after a slow turn to re-face the other stallion, Turbo charges head-on and pulls Mustang in for strong, appreciative hug, for there aren't enough words to express on how indebted he is towards Ford's actions for bringing his precious, little girl back to life. So for now, the eternally grateful stallion has to settle on a more simple response.

"No... thank you, Ford."

Within the embrace of his father-in-law, Ford returns the heartwarming gesture by wrapping his forelegs around the embracing stallion and giving him a few soft pats on the back. Once he is finished with his exchange of gratitude, Turbo lets go of the younger pony and excuses himself before he flies out of the room in search of his preoccupied daughter. All that's left for the bedridden Pegasus to do is wait.

Normally, Ford can be quite patient at times. But with all that he has been through in order to bring Rainbow Dash back to life, he's starting feel rather edgy over her anticipated reappearance. To him, one minute of waiting is the equivalent of one whole hour. Every second passing just keeps extending his self-induced agony. And just when he reconsiders to go look for her himself, a Pegasus swiftly appears at the doorway to his room, and it is the very pony he's been waiting for: Rainbow Dash.

Upon their long-awaited reunion, both of them share long, yearning stares for each other as they practically hold their breaths. As the wide-eyed Pegasi continue their longing stares, they each remain hesitant to approach one another, considering it's like looking at a ghost of their respective spouse appearing right before their very eyes.

Unable to hold back any longer, Ford is the first to steadily move from his spot. However, his wife beats him to it in one felt swoop by dashing forward at breakneck speed and tackling her startled husband with full force.

Upon contact, her ravenous lips collides with his as she tightly wraps her hooves around her beloved stallion. A bit stunned by Rainbow’s insatiable affection, Ford welcomes the much-needed embrace as he gladly offers the same amount of tenderheartedness in return. Through their passionate kissing, their eager lips keep pressing with one another as they barely gasp for breaths in-between. And in the midst of their lip-smacking passion, endless streams of tears pour uncontrollably out of their emotional eyes. But it doesn't matter how over-the-top their means to express their love for each other. They're back in each other’s warm embrace, and that's all that matters.

After an extensive time of making out with one another, they finally take a break as they respectively catch their breaths. While they continue to stare into each other’s eyes lovingly, Ford helps wipe some of Rainbow’s tears as both of them begin to giggle spontaneously. With broad, giddy smiles, Ford is the one to speak up first as he gently strokes his wife's soft, colorful mane.

"How are you feeling?"

"...I never felt more alive." she answers with a witty grin. "And you... how are you holding up?"

"...I felt like I died and gone to heaven." he replies back in the same cleverness as his wife.

"Haha... sappy as ever, I see." she chuckles heartily.

"You know it." he winks with a giggling smirk.

After sharing a good laugh, there is a brief moment of silence between them as they can hardly keep their eyes off one another. But after sharing another heartfelt kiss, Rainbow is the one speak up this time.

"Ford... how am I ever going to repay you for everything you've done for me today?"

"You don't need to even consider that, Rainbow." he reassures while gently caressing her emotionally smiling face. "You being here with me is more precious than any other gift I could ever receive. Well... with the exception of the twins, of course."

"Of course." she agrees with the same amusing smirk as her husband. But from the mention of their two children, she perks up with a bright smile as she adds, "Oh, that reminds me! Hang on for just one second!"

And after giving him a quick peck, Rainbow zooms out of the room and makes a sharp turn down the hallway. Ford is a bit unsure on what's gotten Dash so excited, but thankfully, he doesn't have to wait for too long as his wife comes back at a much slower pace with two special visitors secured in her hooves.

"Look who's here to see daddy~!" she announces gleefully.

From looking at what Rainbow is holding, Ford gasps lightly at the sight of their two precious foals, each of them fast asleep and cradled in their mommy's forelegs. Feeling highly emotional from seeing the twins again, Ford could barely control on how watery his sentimental eyes are getting as he displays a gushy smile over their loving presence. Once Rainbow sits next to her husband, she carefully hands the midnight blue filly to Ford while she holds on to the sunny orange colt.

"Sorry they couldn't be awake for this warm-fuzzy moment of ours." Rainbow explains as she grins over the foals' still sleepy faces. "These little guys are a bit tuckered out once they had their fill from yours truly."

"BURP!"

From hearing the slumbering colt’s unique means to express his compliment, Ford and Rainbow smile and awe over the baby boy’s first burp. And after that, Mustang then notices his little girl snuggling against her daddy's furry coat like it's her personal blanket. This causes the proud father to widen his smile even further over the twins' abundant cuteness.

With a soft giggle, the dewy-eyed stallion replies to his wife with a tenderhearted smile, "Not at all, Dashie. Right now, everything's just... perfect." And he demonstrates his schmaltziness by give each of his foals a kiss on the forehead.

As the reunited couple get cozy by snuggling closer to each other, Ford suddenly diverts his eyes away from Rainbow’s as he looks down at his own dragon-shaped Cutie Mark. From noticing her husband’s sudden absentmindedness as well as a fainter smile on his face, Rainbow seeks to find out on what's on his mind herself.

"Something up, Mustang?"

"Huh, funny. I thought my Cutie Mark would disappear once I woke up." he comments in a casual tone.

Confused, she inquires even further, "Why would you think it would?"

A bit hesitant at first, he explains himself in a mild tone, "When I met Hindel on the other side, he told me that I used up all of my Draconian Magic in order to bring you back to life. So with no more dragon powers, what's the point on having this Cutie Mark? I would be better off having a Blank Flank once again." he adds with a weak chuckle.

Not liking where this is going, Rainbow gives him a light, playful punch to the shoulder to snap him out of his supposed funk as she retorts with a sharp, lighthearted smirk, "Hey, you better not get all mopey on me over something like that."

Thankfully, there's no need for her to fret in the first place as Mustang reassures her with a more confident grin, "Don't worry. That's a thing of the past for me. Besides, I've got everything I need right here." he adds knowingly as he looks down at the ever-so adorable twins.

While happy to see Ford not beating himself up, Rainbow feels compelled to assure him even further. "You know, just because you can no longer breath fire or do any of that cool dragon stuff, that doesn’t make you any less awesome of the stallion I fell in love to begin with. And besides, your magic isn't truly gone from this world."

A bit baffled by his wife's slightly cryptic statement, the grinning mare takes the stallion’s free fore hoof and places it on her chest. At first, he can only feel Dash's gentle heartbeat pulsating from within. But sooner or later, he detects something else in particular: a very familiar warmth that's radiating from the same location as her throbbing heart. Astonished by this phenomenon, the gaping stallion looks back at Rainbow with wide eyes, and she confirms Ford’s suspicion with a nod before clarifying for him with a softhearted smile.

"See? That part of you now resides within me. And just like your love, it now holds a special place... right here... in my heart."

Astonished at first by Rainbow’s encouraging yet sentimental words, Ford then lets out a lighthearted giggle before saying to her with a clever grin, "Wow, Rainbow. I never knew you had it in you to be this sappy. I'm so proud of you!"

And as he snuggles with his wife very closely, Rainbow flustered up as she replies with a sharp, amusing smirk, "Hey, don't expect that kind of sappiness from me anytime soon! That's your shtick, not mine!"

With another chuckle, he responds back in an ever-so witty manner, "I'm not going to hold my breath on that one. I already did it once, and look where that got me."

After sharing one more giggle together, Rainbow caps it off by bring her face closer to his as she says with a devoted smile, "Either way, I’ll never stop loving you, my big, strong Mustang."

Captivated as ever by the mare's mesmerizing, magenta eyes, Ford returns the favor by saying with a lovey-dovey smile, "And neither will I, my beautiful, blue angel."

And after that is said, the Pegasi share one more kiss to demonstrate their everlasting love for each other. From finishing their simpler yet still affectionate kiss, they then prepare themselves for a well-deserved good night's rest with the already sleeping twins nestled securely in their parents' forelegs. But before they turn in for the night, Rainbow has one last thing to address.

"You know... there's one thing we need do before we call it a night."

"What's that, angel?"

"Coming up with names for our two little angels of course." she acknowledges with a knowing smirk.

...

"D'OH!"

The Next Day in Ponyville...

Word spreads fast over Rainbow Dash’s revival since yesterday morning. And Ponyville especially is completely ecstatic over the miraculous return of their hometown hero. And while the townsponies make plans on collaborating on the ultimate welcoming party, Pinkie Pie of course is one step ahead of everypony as she along with her closest friends prepare a party of their own. With Rainbow, Ford, and the rest of their family still at Canterlot Hospital, Pinkie and friends gave themselves a head start and spent a good chunk of their time setting up one of Pinkie’s super-duper, patented surprise parties right inside the Pegasi’s cloudhouse.

Through the combined culinary skills of Applejack, Spike, and Octavia, they prepare quite an exquisite banquet, including party mixes, nachos, mini-pizzas, various sweets, and fizzy, fruit-flavored punch. Meanwhile, on one side of the room, Trixie is nearly finished with her special project by putting up a modest-sized theater for her upcoming puppet show thanks to the help of Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Big Macintosh. And in the middle of it all, Gilda, Fluttershy, and Vinyl Scratch are decorating the room with colorful banners, streamers, balloons and other essentials with Pinkie Pie leading the charge in energetic, bouncy fashion as usual.

"Ooo! I can’t wait for Dashie and Musty-Wusty to see what we have in store for them!" Pinkie Pie exclaims with non-stop excitement as she literally bounces around the room. "They are going to be in for a real treat once they see this super-duper, awesome surprise party!"

"I must say, a party does sound like a marvelous idea after all we have been through yesterday." Rarity agrees with a positive smile as she smoothes out any tiny wrinkles on the theater's curtains.

"Yeah, from a funeral on one day to a welcomin' party on the next. Just another typical day here in Equestria Ah suppose." Applejack chuckles mildly while shaking her head.

"Well, joking aside, I can’t tell you on how wonderful it is to have Rainbow Dash back into our lives." Fluttershy says with a radiant smile as she and Gilda grabs the last banner to hang up on the ceiling.

With his handy tools put away after the puppet theater's construction, Big Mac agrees in a hearty manner, "Eeyup."

"You can say that again." Gilda concurs with a grin while she and Fluttershy finish fastening the final banner.

Once the decorations are all set up, Pinkie looks around the room, and she praises everyone's efforts while saying with wondrous eyes and a feverish smile, "Wow-wee! Everything looks great, guys! Now we just gotta keep an eye out for Dashie and her family before we get into our hiding places and yell out--!"

"Surprise~!" a female, raspy voice calls out of nowhere.

With a small yet high-pitched "eep" from the lead party coordinator, the astonished guests turn around sharply to face the main entrance as they stare with startled eyes on who's at the door already. Standing at the doorway are a trio of adult Pegasi: Turbo Dash, Rainbow Dash, and Ford Mustang. And riding alongside their father thanks to the double-harness saddlebags Big Mac lent to him earlier are the parents’ precious twins.

"Wait a minute, you guys are already here?!" Pinkie shrieks in surprise. "B-but you're not supposed to be here for at least another hour!"

"Yeah, what gives?" Gilda asks sharply.

"Sorry everyone." Ford apologizes with a slightly sheepish smile. "The doctors at Canterlot gave us a clean bill of health before letting us go earlier than we've expected. So we just couldn't wait to get home with our little ones."

"Still, this is an awesome party you've planned out for us nonetheless." Rainbow Dash confirms with a pleased grin as she gets a good look at the party before them.

"But... we haven't even gotten to our hiding places yet~!" Pinkie Pie whines childishly.

With a giggling smile, Rainbow offers her sympathies to her pink, pouty friend, "Sorry, Pinkie. We should have known better than to show up early for one of your patented surprise parties. But hey, we've got a surprise of our own to share with all of you." she adds with a clever grin.

This perks Pinkie's interest right away as she gasps with a big smile, "Really?!"

"Yep. Two surprises in fact." Ford nods to his wife's claim.

With Turbo Dash's help, he unbuckles his grandfoals from their harnesses as Rainbow explains further, "Since last night, we finally came up with names for our two coolest foals ever."

Soon after, Turbo hands one foal to each of their parents, the dark blue filly for Rainbow and the light orange colt for Mustang. Side by side, the grinning parents could barely contain their enthusiasm as their equally excited friends gather around for the grand reveal of the twins' names. With everyone gathered together, Rainbow carries on with their big announcement with an increasingly passionate smile.

"So... without further ado..."

"Say hello to our newest members of the family!" Ford promptly says on cue as they unveil the twins' names together, starting with their little girl first.

"Midnight Dash!"

"And Apollo Mustang!"

Right away, the guests beam ecstatically over the twins' first official introductions with Rarity squealing with never-ending delight, "D'aww! What darling little names!"

"Yes, where did you two come up with such charming names for them if you don't mind me asking?" Octavia asks politely.

"Well, we did agree that each of us would pick a name for our foals. I call dibs on the filly, of course." Rainbow acknowledges with pride.

Then, Ford takes his turn as he explains himself in a humble manner, "And to go with the twins' motif on night and day, I thought of a name based from one of my favorite mythologies back from where I come from. Apollo is associated with many things such as art, music, and athleticism. But more importantly, he's well-known for his horse-drawn chariot that moves the sun around on a daily basis."

"Hey, kind of like Princess Celestia when she moves the sun and all." Vinyl states with a grin before she chuckles over an interesting idea in mind. "Heh, who knows. Maybe when Apollo's all grown up, he could take over for Celestia and give her a break every once and awhile."

"Well, I doubt I'm going to allow my son to fly that close to the sun. Otherwise I would have called him 'Icarus' instead." he giggles at his own joke much to Vinyl and some of their friends' confusion as he playfully pats Apollo on the head. "Either way, I know without question that Midnight and Apollo will make big dreams for themselves one of these days."

Chuckling alongside her husband, Rainbow lays a comforting wing over Ford as she nuzzles against his cheek whilst adding with an upbeat smirk, "And whatever they have in mind, we know that they’re going to be awesome!"

"Ah yes, big dreamers… just like their mommy no less." Turbo Dash comments warmly whilst hugging his equally proud daughter.

After the loving embrace between the Dash/Mustang family, Twilight brings this up before everyone's attention, "Well, now that everyone's here, I believe Trixie would like to have the honor of starting this party with a puppet show for Midnight Dash and Apollo Mustang. Isn't that right, Trixie?"

From being mentioned by her favorite princess, Trixie flusters for a brief moment while answering with a blushing smile, "Oh, Y-yes of course!" Immediately after that, she clears her throat to maintain her usual boastful persona. "Ahem! Gather around everypony and be amazed at the theatrics of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"

With a more confident smirk, the Unicorn entertainer makes her way to her little theater as Midnight and Apollo giddily follows right behind her once their amused parents place them on the ground. And as everyone else gets seated for Trixie's puppet show, something causes Pinkie Pie to stand completely still before she spontaneously laughs all of a sudden. As she is too caught up in her own case of the giggles, Gilda notices this from her snorting friend and feels compelled to ask.

"What's gotten you laughing all of a sudden?"

As most of her laughter dies down, Pinkie tries to explain herself with an emotional, giggling smile, "It's just that... I should have known that this will all end well with a happy ending."

"Yeah, what tipped you that off?" the griffon asks with a sarcastic smirk.

"Well duh! This story didn’t have a 'Sad' or 'Tragedy' Tag attached to it, remember?"

While Pinkie Pie bears a big, toothy smile, Gilda becomes completely flabbergasted by her pink friend's strange yet innocent remark as if it's supposed to be that obvious for her or anyone else for that matter. Of course, the staggered griffon recalls what her other pony friends used to say when it comes to processing one of Pinkie’s random statements. So without overthinking it, Gilda shrugs it off by shaking her head with a roll of her eyes and a carefree smirk. And with one of her big wings, she tenderly embraces the innocent-smiling Pinkie Pie as they direct their soft gaze towards Trixie's magic theater whilst Gilda replies with a simple, amusing grin.

"Heh, whatever you say, Pinks."

Author's Note

This chapter's featured illustration is commissioned by Mariacheat-Brony.

In the Author's Notes for Chapter 2. I stated that there's a special meaning behind the name "Delphi", which was the name of the island where Ford Mustang and Rainbow Dash had their honeymoon over there. Anyway, Delphi is referring to the ancient site in Greece, where it was held as place of worship for one of the famous Olympian Gods, Apollo. That was meant as a clue to one of the foals' names announced in this chapter.

Epilogue – Memories

Epilogue – Memories

5 Years Later...

Ding!

The sound that Ford Mustang has been waiting for. Leisurely, he opens the oven and is greeted by the warm fragrance of his latest culinary masterpiece: eggplant parmesan. Once he secures his mouth with an oven mitten, he effortlessly lifts the casserole and places it on a cooling rack nearby. With his main dish fresh out of the oven, the contented stallion takes a well-deserved whiff of his baked eggplants to savor its luscious smell of gooey cheese and homemade marinara.

Soon after, he glances around the kitchen to double check everything he has prepared for tonight’s meal. The salad and dressing are already tossed. The still steamy, noodle-like strains of spaghetti squash are resting in their strainer. The garlic bread is still warming up in the toaster oven. And tonight’s dessert is still cooling off to the side. Everything is all set.

And with a few minutes to spare before his expected guest arrives, Ford has enough time for a little break for himself. From entering the living room, he plops on one of the couches as he lets out a contented sigh. In the midst of his relaxation, he then notices the family photo album sitting on the coffee table right in front of him. Figuring out a way to help pass the time, he leans forward to reach for the big, thick book before he opens it up.

With each passing page, a warm, reminiscing smile graces across the stallion’s face as he looks back on all of the wonderful memories he and his wife have captured in the past, from all of the exotic places they've been to during their trips and vacations to their grand wedding that officially bound them for life.

But it isn't until one photograph where he stops and takes a long, good look at it: Midnight Dash and Apollo Mustang's 1st birthday party. Courtesy of Pinkie Pie for both the party and for taking pictures, they got a perfect group photo of friends and family as they gathered together around the table while the guests of honor were just about to partake in their first birthday cake.

A lot has happened since their twins' birth, especially with the expansion of the respective families. One notable example is Big Macintosh and Fluttershy’s very own baby boy, Red Delicious. Curled up in his mommy’s tender forelegs is a small, sleeping Earth Pony colt with a red coat slightly darker than his upstanding father's. Granted, he started off as a foal who was slightly tinier than either Midnight and Apollo when they were born, but years later, he grew up fast and fittingly earned the nickname "Big Red."

A few months after Big Red's birth, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia welcomes their own little foal into the world: a cobalt blue Unicorn filly with raspberry-colored eyes and a black mane featuring bright blue streaks named "Rhapsody." Strangely enough, Vinyl was the one to suggest that music-themed name much to Octavia’s surprise and delight. Of course, the catch was that the grinning DJ will be allowed to nickname their daughter as "Raz." But that doesn't bother the cellist that much, especially when the musician couple discovered their filly's habit to chew on other ponies' mane. And to Octavia’s amusement, Rhapsody tends to favor Vinyl's vibrant, blue mane the most as evident in this group picture where their gleeful daughter continued to tug on Vinyl’s mane much to the pain-stricken Unicorn’s discomfort as Octavia observes this with a fore hoof covering her silent, giggling smile.

Also attending the party were Spitfire and Soarin with their newborn foal, Silver Mercury, a cool gray Pegasus colt with wispy mane. Right away, even as babies, Mercury and Apollo became fast friends. And just like their Wonderbolt mothers had anticipated, the colts also became the best of friendly rivals.

With so many foals springing to life, Applejack and Rarity especially felt inspired to have a little foal of their own. So with a special amulet that can temporarily change one's gender thanks to a little help from the Princess of Love herself, Cadance, the couple got their wish. As seen in the photograph at the time of the twins' party, Rarity was 10-months pregnant whiles she affectionately snuggles with her equally tenderhearted wife. And one month later, the seamstress gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, in the form of a peach-colored Earth Pony filly with gorgeous, blonde hair and shimmering, turquoise eyes named "Annabelle Apple."

In-between some of the ponies are Twilight Sparkle and Trixie as the cheerful princess embraced the blushing, blue Unicorn with one of her Alicorn wings and their cheeks pressed together. It took a while for Trixie to finally make a move, but despite Twilight flustering in embarrassment over how clueless she was for not noticing the magician's subtle advances earlier, the open-minded princess was willing to give it a shot much to Trixie's overwhelming delight. Truth to be, it was hard to maintain that kind of relationship especially with Twilight's royal duties, but sure enough, they manage to work it out in the end when the two got married over a month ago from today.

Of course, no one expected the most unlikely couple of all to pair up with one another. For in one corner of the photograph is the always bouncy Pinkie Pie tightly squeezing the ever-so grumpy Griffon, who is blushing like mad from such uncomfortable proximity while expressing sourly with a roll of his eyes. Granted, their commitment didn't happen at the time of the twins' birthday party, but much to everyone's surprise, they decided to enter a steady yet committed relationship together. Now at this point, it's only a matter of time on when one of them will pop the ultimate question. Though if Ford's was a betting pony, he put his bits on Gilda.

Of course, what Mustang is more focused on is what's at the center of the picture: Midnight Dash and Apollo Mustang sampling their first cake together with the orange colt still digging in like a hungry wolf while his twin sister looks at the camera with a very messy yet adorable smile as her muzzle is covered in frosting and cake crumbs. And standing right behind them are the proud parents of the two, Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang, each with a completely contented smile on their faces and a tender wing draped over one another. As he stares at that picture for little longer, Ford continues to maintain a smile that's similar to his photographic counterpart.

WHOOSH!

But that moment of tranquility is quickly put on hold when a pair of brightly colored streaks zoom pass him as they zigzag across the living room. Not much to his surprise, the strangely calm and collected stallion can easily identify who those colorful streaks belong to. The one with violet, green, pink, red, and dark blue belongs to Midnight Dash while the other multicolored streak with red, orange, yellow, pink, and brighter orange belongs to Apollo Mustang. Despite being only five years old, the twins have become naturally gifted flyers as they continue to zip around the room in the midst of their latest game.

"Tag! You're it!" Midnight exclaims as soon as she touches her brother.

But Apollo quickly tags her back as he shout right back, "Nuh-uh! You’re it!"

"Tag!"

"Tag!"

"Tag!"

"Tag!"

In a continuous loop, their vibrant streaks merge with one another, almost creating a spiraling rainbow, as the twins constantly tag one another. From observing this ongoing struggle, Mustang couldn’t help but chuckle to himself over the times he and Rainbow used to play their variation of tag. And seeing how this is going nowhere fast, Ford rolls his eyes with a smile before he intervenes this latest tussle himself.

"Alright kids, that's enough playtime for now."

Almost immediately, the little speedsters cease their tomfoolery as they face their father with Midnight responding first with a whine, "Aww, but dad~! We haven't finished our game of tag yet!"

Following suit with his twin sister, Apollo agrees in similar fashion, "Yeah, and we don't even know on who's 'it' right now!"

"Well then, how do you think we can resolve this? Hmm?" Ford implies with a shrewd smirk.

As the grinning father waits for their answer, Apollo and Midnight look at each other while figuring it out themselves. But after sharing a knowing glance with one another, they suddenly bear mischievous smiles. And before Mustang can question what's their latest scheme, the twins quickly bop Ford on the nose as they declare their decision out loud.

"Tag! You're it, dad!"

A bit dumbstruck by the giggling foals' playfulness, Ford nevertheless goes along as he closes up the photo album whilst complying with a smile, "Okay, I'll play along. But once I catch you two, you'll have to come down and sit next to me, alright?"

Without a second thought, they nod to their dad's request as Apollo confirms with a perky grin, "Yeah, we promise!"

"Okay then... Five second head start, go!"

Right away, the twins disperse from their dad's starting position and split up in opposite directions. From darting across the room, Midnight giggles all the way. But suddenly, her merriment is cut short when she runs into something. Thankfully, it was soft enough to cushion her crash. Unfortunately for her, she lands right into her daddy's fore hooves.

"Careful, Midnight." he advises her with a lighthearted smirk. "You need to watch where you're going."

"Hey, how did you find me so quickly?"

"I could hear you laughing all the way across the room, silly." he answers without a doubt as he strokes her mane, which causes the smiling filly to giggle some more. "Well then... one down, one to go."

With his daughter in tow, Ford continues his search for the other twin. But after quickly searching through all of the rooms on the first floor, he finds himself back in the living room where he started in the first place.

And just when he is about to resume his hunt for the elusive colt, something catches Ford's eye as he spots something in the corner of the room. For underneath one of the curtains are a couple strands of hair featuring four strips of warm colors.

Recognizing that tail from anywhere, a very mischievous grin spreads across Ford's face as Midnight lets out a quiet giggle to herself from noticing her brother's presence as well. To not spoil for what's to come, the smirking stallion brings a fore hoof to his lips as a signal to his daughter, and she abides with a nod and a muffled chuckle. Then, Ford leisurely creeps forward as he continues this game of cat and mouse in an amusing fashion.

"Hmmm... I wonder where your brother could be hiding right now?" he asks rhetorically to his equally amused daughter. "Where o' where can he be?"

From Mustang’s exaggerated statement, the hidden colt quickly pulls rest of his tail out of sight to fully conceal himself. But it was too late for Apollo to make that little adjustment as the grinning dad inches closer to his target.

"Could he be behind... this curtain?"

From that drawn-out exclamation, Ford briskly opens one of the curtains. Of course, he purposefully opens the wrong one just to make Lil' Mustang squirm and give him a false sense of security.

"Huh, guess he's not here after all." Ford says in a casual manner before giving himself a mockingly defeated sigh. "Oh well, we'll just have to look for him somewhere else."

As Mustang turns around, he could have sworn that he could hear his son snickering to his supposed cleverness. But right on cue, Midnight halts her dad's advances to knowingly bring something to his attention.

"Wait, daddy! You forgot the other curtain!"

Playing along with his daughter’s shrewdness, the melodramatic stallion lightly bops his forehead to indicate his mocking cluelessness as he responds with a lighthearted grin, "Oh, you're right! How careless of me."

As Ford anticipated, he can hear Apollo letting out a subtle "eep" behind the shivering curtain. And just like a predator closing in on his prey, Mustang creeps toward the overly stuffed drapery as he states a with teasing smile.

"Let's see what's behind Curtain Number Two."

And from being cornered, Apollo attempts to make a breakaway despite being momentarily ensnared by his own concealment. But once he breaks free from the binding curtain, the frantic colt flies off in a hurry. Unfortunately, he is too slow as his dad grapples him in mid-air before they tumble on the ground.

"Gotcha!" Ford declares with a giggling smirk.

"No fair!" Apollo whines in defeat. "She ratted me out!"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Midnight snaps in response. "You just didn't picked a better hiding place for yourself."

"Ha, says the pony who was caught earlier." Apollo grumbles with small, clever smirk.

From hearing that, Midnight growls as she bares her teeth at her teasing brother. Seeing how this could get ugly between the two siblings, Ford gently pulls them apart to give them some space before he issues in an amusing tone.

"Okay, that's enough, you two. There's no sense in being a sore loser in all of this, now is there?"

Knowing that rhetorical question is mostly meant for him, Apollo complies with a mild grump, "Yes, daddy."

"And besides, Apollo... you would have done the same thing if you were in your sister's place." Ford adds with a wink and a witty smile.

This causes the young colt to softly admit with a tiny grin, "Yeah, I guess so."

After that is settled, Ford brings his two children back to the same sofa he sat on earlier as he says to them, "Now, come on over here and let's take a break. Your mother should be home at any minute now."

From that reminder, Midnight and Apollo display big, optimistic grins and take their seats on the couch, sandwiching their dad in-between. With a renewed sense of peace, Ford reaches for the photo album once more and picks up where he left off. As the smiling Mustang looks back on the foals' first birthday, the twins become curious themselves as they lean forward for a closer look.

"Whatcha looking at, daddy?" she asks in an innocent yet bouncy manner.

"Oh, just looking back on some fond memories." their father answer before he sets the book down so the twins can see it for themselves. "See? That's you two eating your first birthday cake together."

"I hope it was good as it looks." Apollo inquires with a hungry grin.

"Trust me, when you two demolished that cake, Pinkie Pie already got another one ready in its place."

"Aunt Pinkie Pie always throw the coolest parties, huh dad?"

"Yes she does." Ford confirms with a chuckling grin.

Then, he flips to the next page and spots something his daughter should be able recognize herself. "Hey look, Midnight. You know who this is, don't you?"

From a closer inspection, Midnight Dash sees a picture of herself when she was around two years old. And right next to her is Annabelle Apple, Applejack and Rarity's one year old daughter back then. Together, the two fillies enjoyed a friendly activity of coloring with crayons and sheets of paper spread across the floor. From there, Annie used her mouth to grasp one of the crayons while Midnight demonstrated her unique dexterity by grasping her crayon with a fore hoof; no doubt a trait she inherited from her father of course.

"Yep, that's my best friend, Annie!" Midnight points it out with a beaming smile.

"That's right." her dad concurs with a grin. "You two became quite the inseparable pair ever since you first shared those crayons I got for you." Then, he lets out a modest chuckle as he adds in the midst of his reminiscing, "Of course, we had to put those away for the time being when Annabelle's moms caught you two scribbling on Petite Boutique's walls."

"Ha-ha, you got in trouble~!" Apollo ridicules his sister with a broad smirk.

Pushing aside her brother's annoyance, Midnight places her tiny forelegs on top of her dad's for better elevation as she implores him with big, beseeching eyes, "I wasn't in trouble, was I?"

"No, of course not, sweetie." he cooingly reassures her whilst brushing her mane. "It was an honest mistake, that's all. But poor Rarity." Despite his reassurance, he couldn't help but laugh and shake his head over the memory of Rarity's over-the-top reaction. It was unlike he has ever seen or heard from the drama queen herself.

As Apollo lets out another snicker much to his sister's irritation, Ford flips to a couple pages until he spots a picture that he has to gush over. "Oh, and look what we have here? Why it's Lil' Apollo in last year's Nightmare Night out on his first night of trick-or-treating!"

In one photograph, the four-year-old Apollo Mustang was dressed up in dark-colored armor featuring gold trimmings and a red plume for his helmet. Strapped to his side was a propped sword made out of cardboard and spray painted in silver and gold. And from looking at the camera with one eye peeking from his oversized helmet, Lil' Apollo had a big toothy smile with a half-full trick-or-treat bag clenched between his teeth.

"Oh, you look so cute in your Commander Hurricane costume!" Ford continues to gush like any proud parent would.

Embarrassed as ever, Apollo retorts in a pouty manner, "I'm not cute! I'm awesome!"

"Then I guess that makes you awesomely cute, huh?" he teases his son even further as he lightly ruffles the grumpy colt’s mane.

"Te-hee, you look like a dork with that helmet on." Midnight adds with a humorous smirk.

While the filly pays no mind to her brother's glaring, the same cannot be said from dad's humorless yet meaningful expression as he reminds his daughter in a soft yet stern tone, "Midnight Dash, you know better than to call ponies names like that."

Feeling ashamed for displeasing her dad like that, her ears droop down in response to showcase her own remorse before apologizing in a form of a soft whimper, "I'm sorry, daddy."

"That's okay, sweetie." he accepts with a forgiving smile. "But I don't think I'm the one you should be apologizing." he adds as he tilts his knowing gaze toward his son.

"Right... sorry Apollo."

Despite Midnight's humbleness, the smirking colt couldn't help but act smug from seeing his sister in such a demoted disposition. Of course, his smugness is short-lived when his eagle-eyed father coax him with a soft nudge of his elbow as the towering stallion expects the same amount of modesty from his son as well.

So Apollo eventually responds with a casual smile, "Eh, it's cool, sis."

As there is a fleeting moment of peace between the two siblings, Ford can hear something outside in the far distance. With perked ears, he detects the distant sound to be similar of a roaring fighter jet. Of course, knowing full on who's the one particular Pegasus with that kind of speed, Ford brings this up to the twins' attention in a playful manner.

"Hey, do you two hear something?"

Following on dad's mocking curiosity, the two foals climb on top of the couch to verify the sound for themselves. From looking through a window, Midnight and Apollo can see a very tiny Pegasus heading towards their home. But more noticeably, they can see how the approaching flyer is leaving an extensive, distinguishable trail with every color of the rainbow.

Realizing on who that vibrant, colorful streak belongs to, Midnight and Apollo gasp with big, joyous smiles, and they demonstrate their immense joy by flying around in circles as they chant out loud, "Yay! Mommy’s home! Mommy’s home!"

Once he closes up the photo album, Ford directs his kids with a lighthearted grin, "Alright, places everypony!"

Without delay, the energetic speedsters race towards the main entrance and land several feet from the doorway. As their father stands right next to them from the sides, the devious colt tries to give himself a slight advance by shuffling forward in a sly manner. However, that doesn’t go unnoticed from the sharp-eyed stallion as Ford directs his son back to the imaginary starting line.

"Uh-uh-uhh. Don't even think about giving yourself a head start, Apollo Mustang."

Once the grouchy, orange colt shuffles back to his starting position, the smirking, blue filly feels justified to stick out her tongue at him just to add more salt to his wound. Not wanting to see another bickering match play out between them, the grinning stallion instructs them in a gentle manner.

"Now stay put, you two. Your mommy will be here any second now. We don't want ruin the surprise that's in stored for her, now do we?"

From that witty reminder, the twins immediately get into their pouncing positions as their tiny, beating wings flutter in the same way a racer would rev up a car's engine. Seeing how overly eager his two children are, the shrewd stallion raises a foreleg up to serve as a makeshift flag and waits for the right moment before they begin their liftoff.

"Wait for my signal." Ford says in a low voice.

In the midst of their waiting, the twins begin to fidget one way or another, whether it's by beating their wings once again or by scraping the ground with a fore hoof like an angry bull would before making its charge.

"Steady..." he ushers in the form of a whisper.

Still as they can be, all three of them keep on listening to the thunderous sound of the approaching Pegasus as she is getting closer than ever. Soon enough, the rocketing noise dies down as Ford and the others are well aware that she has slowed down for a soft landing in front of the floating cloudhouse. Now, there is nothing but quietness outside since the front yard in entirely made out of clouds and thus would muffle any sound if she were to walk over there instead of flying like usual.

"Steady..." he repeats himself quietly to not allow the twins to jump the gun already.

With each passing second, their anticipation is killing them over her impending arrival. But finally, their patience has paid off as the door swings wide open. And standing at the doorway is the proud, smiling mare with a coat as blue as the morning sky she adores and her trademark, rainbow-colored mane and tail. Along with her belongings secured in her saddlebags, she is dressed in newly appropriate clothes for her recent promotion, which consists of a navy blue, formal jacket adorned with many medals, a red-corded whistle around her neck, and her favorite pair of cool, black sunglasses.

"Hey, I'm home--!"

But Rainbow Dash’s greeting goes unfinished when her grinning husband swing his raised foreleg down, and at last, the two anxious foals spring into action with tremendous speeds. With little to no time to react, Rainbow is completely caught off-guard by the twins' double takedown.

"OOF!"

Once she is tackled on the ground, she recovers from that surprise attack as she lifts up her shades to get a better look at her two tacklers.

"Welcome home, mommy!" they greet in unison with bright, cheerful smiles.

Just one look at their bouncy, smiling faces always causes the mother to break into a warm, heartfelt grin, and she graciously pulls her children in for a much-needed hug while saying to them in a hearty manner, "D'aww... thanks squirts. Geez, you guys came at me like a freight train out of nowhere!" she adds with a chuckling smile.

"Were you surprised, mommy?" Apollo asks enthusiastically.

"Very surprised." Rainbow answers with another chuckle. "What have you been eating lately to get this strong?"

"Well daddy's the one who's been feeding." Midnight replies bluntly.

"Oh really?" Rainbow grins cleverly as she raises an eyebrow while sharing a knowing glance with her husband.

"Nothing but the best for my awesome family." Ford boasts mildly with a smirk and a brush of his chest over his culinary skills.

In the midst of the welcoming, motherly hug, Apollo is one to ask with a cheeky grin, "So, which one of us was faster, mom? I bet it was me of course."

"You wish! I'm the fastest one here!" Midnight scoffs at her brother's remark.

"Yeah, says who?" he grouches in response to that challenge.

"Says me, your big sister!" she emphasizes with a winning smirk.

"You’re only older than me by a lousy five minutes!" he gripes even further. "Besides, if you're bigger than me, than all of that weight would have slowed you down in the first place! So that means I'm faster than you are!" And the smirking colt ends it with his tongue sticking out directly at her sister.

Feeling like she's going to blow a gasket from her brother's insults, Midnight directs her anguish toward their mother as she demands in a whine, "Come on, mommy! Tell us! Who was faster?!"

As the twins present their persuasive, pouty expressions by showcasing with their big eyes, puffy cheeks, and scrunched-up faces, Rainbow just smiles at their desperate attempts before she draws out her verdict in a clever manner with a rub of her chin. "I don’t know. You guys were as quick as lightning, so it's kind of hard for me to tell. Oh well... guess we're going to have call it a tie." she shrugs nonchalantly.

Of course, her two children were disappointed by their mother's decision as Apollo complains childishly, "Awwww! You always say that, mom!"

"That's because you two are getting faster with each passing day." she explains with a giggling smirk as she affectionately ruffles the twins' equally colorful manes. "Which makes you both winners in my book."

From mommy's praise and playful affection, both Apollo and Midnight forego their little scuffle as each of them receives the same amount of attention and love from their inspiring mom. And after giving them another hug, Rainbow remembers something regarding the kids' very own big day.

"So, how did my two favorite Pegasi in the whole world do on their first day at kindergarten?"

What am I, chopped liver here? Ford frowns a little after hearing her wife's remark. Though thankfully, he didn’t think it out loud as it would be difficult to explain that carnivorous phrase to his pony family.

"It was awesome, mommy!" Midnight answers first with a joyous smile.

And right after that, Apollo happily shares his experiences as it shifts between the two siblings. "Yeah, we met all of our friends there!"

"And had arts and crafts!"

"And played games!"

"And read stories!"

"And nap time! That's my favorite of them all!" Apollo stresses with a very broad, pleasant smile.

From seeing her son's lazy smile, Rainbow giggles over his antics, and she ruffles his semi-spiky mane whilst agreeing with a grin, "Mine too, kiddo."

"Okay, I think it’s time we get off of mommy so we can get ready for dinner." Ford gently issues to his two children. And once they get up, he then gives each of the twins a soft nudge with his nose to direct them back inside. "Go wash your hooves and wait for us at the table so I can show you how to set it up."

Energetic as always, the giddy foals spirit away towards the nearest sink first, leaving the two adults outside on the cloud front yard. As Rainbow and Ford stare at each other with sly smiles, the latter offers her a helping hoof to help her up as he inquires with a sharp tongue over that comment he overheard earlier.

"So... only two favorite Pegasi, huh?"

"Well, being in third place isn't so bad, now is it?" she counters with a cheeky grin as she accepts the stallion’s fore hoof before he pulls her up.

"Hmm, that's true I guess." he admits with a shrug and a carefree smile. "Better to bring home a medal than no medal at all."

Once she is off the ground, the shrewd mare wraps her forelegs around the stallion’s neck until her muzzle barely touches his before she quips with a captivating smile, "Well I don't have a bronze medal on hoof. So how about I offer you this instead?"

Though not much to the equally grinning Mustang’s surprise, he gladly accepts Dashie's gift in the form of a extended, heartfelt kiss. Through faint moans, the embracing couple relishes that longing kiss as like most of the times whenever Rainbow Dash returns from one of her extensive Wonderbolt trips is enough to rekindle the fires of love that will never truly die, no matter how far or for how long apart they are. Eventually, they take a break from their first of many kisses to come as Ford bears that always goofy, contented smile before he comments in a witty manner.

"Mmm... if that was for third place, then I can’t wait to see what happens if I go for gold."

After the exchange of giggles between them, Mustang takes a fore hoof and gently strokes Rainbow’s beaming face. From coming into contact with that tender, familiar touch, she affectionately nuzzles it like a friendly kitten brushing against its owner, almost making subtle, purring noises without her noticing it herself. In the midst of her snuggling, Ford gets a good glimpse of his smiling wife's mesmerizing, magenta eyes staring right back at him, full of passion, playfulness, and admiration for her one and only stallion.

"You're looking good as always, my captain." he compliments with an earnest yet shrewd smile.

"You always says that every time I come back from work." she responds with a smirk.

"What can I say... I do love mares in uniform."

As Rainbow chuckles over Ford's wordplay, he gets a good look at what she's wearing before asking with a shrewd smile, "So, is this one actually yours, or did you borrow it out of Spitfire's closet again?"

"Nope, this one is tailored just for me." she confirms with a humorous smirk as she looks at her own sets of threads. "But it sure does bring back some memories, doesn’t it?"

"Oh-hoo... how could I forget?" he confirms with a knowing grin.

"Like how you hoped to keep me company during one of my late-night shifts at Wonderbolts Academy?" she hints with a cryptic smile as she slides closer to him.

"Or how you 'borrowed' Spitfire's uniform and another stallion’s flight suit for me to try on?" the grinning stallion implies with a wink.

"And how you were playing the role of the timid yet hunky stallion of a rookie while I was your assertive and awesome commander taking charge of your "physical exam?" she indicates even further in a purring voice with a flirtatious rub against his chest.

"And how Spitfire walked in on us near the end?"

From Ford’s slip-up, both of them are rendered speechless over that embarrassing moment when Rainbow Dash’s fiery-haired commander found both of them doing Celestia-knows-what on her table. As intense blushes consume their frozen faces, Ford then admits to the whole affair with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah... that was really awkward."

Strangely enough, the equally flushed Rainbow Dash displays a cocky grin as she boldly replies, "But worth it."

A bit surprise at first by Rainbow’s reaction, he couldn’t help but agree with a hearty chuckle, "Oh yeah, totally worth it!"

After sharing another laugh together, Rainbow brings something up to Ford's attention. "You know, this suit isn't the only thing I picked up from the tailors recently."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I may have picked up a specially made flight suit that's just your size." she implies ever-so slyly as she directs her gaze at the saddlebags she's carrying.

"Really?" Ford smiles with piqued interest.

"Mm-hmm." she nods with a sultry grin as she leans close to his ear before enticing his curiosity even further with that voluptuous voice of hers. "And I was thinking... when the kids are having a sleepover or something, maybe we can conduct another "physical exam" together just like old times. Have to make sure my stallion is in peak physical condition, you know."

Almost paralyzed by the grinning mare's alluring words and a soft, teasing touch to his chest once again, a faint yet pleasant shiver travels across the wide-eyed stallion’s body before he uses his large wings and forelegs to pull his wife in for a closer embrace. Once his muzzle nearly touches hers, he then happily complies with a clever suggestion in mind.

"Only if I get to be captain next time."

"We'll see, rookie." she considers with an amusing smirk.

And upon their agreement, they seal it with another heartwarming kiss. However, their latest act of affection ends much shorter than what they were going for as they can hear their nosy kids protesting from afar.

"Mom! Dad! What's the hold up already?" Midnight demands with an impatient whine as she along with her brother peek from the opened doorway.

"Yeah, quit acting gross and sappy so we can eat already!" Apollo agrees in the same sour expression as his sister.

As Rainbow takes amusement from the twins' overreacting from the parents' schmaltziness, Ford simply rolls his eyes over their meddling. And once he turns around to face his snooping children, a faint, devious smile spreads across his face as he makes up a proper response for them.

"Keep that up and you two won't get any mixed-berry apple pie for tonight."

Not wanting to take their dad's playful threat lightly, the suddenly quiet foals keep their lips tightly shut to prevent themselves from saying anything foolish that may cost them tonight’s dessert, so their best course of action is to hastily retreat back to the dining room and wait for their parents like they were originally told. Smugly, the proud stallion displays a triumphant smile over his parenting skills while Rainbow is thoroughly impressed from what she just witnessed.

"Not bad, Ford." she acknowledges with a simple smirk. "You managed to keep those little rascals in check without anypony's help."

"Well somepony needs to keep those two in line while you're away." he remarks with a knowing grin.

"Speaking of which, mind telling me what's for dinner tonight?"

"Ooh... nothing too special really." he comments with a sarcastic smile. "Just eggplant parmesan with spaghetti squash and garlic bread, that's all."

From hearing for what's to come, the grinning mare lightly lick her chops as she openly expresses her delight, "Mmmm... You certainly know on how to work a girl's appetite."

"So umm... about scheduling that appointment we were just talking about earlier..." he shrewdly inquires over their last interrupted conversation they just had.

"Another time, Mustang." she insists with a teasing smirk as she gently pushes the mildly disappointed stallion aside. "Right now, it's dinnertime, and I'm starving!"

And with a hungry smile, Rainbow Dash flies into their home with her husband not far from behind.

After a wonderful family meal together, Ford Mustang is busy cleaning up the dishes while his wife and their two children spend some quality time together in the twins' bedroom. Sure, he could have asked for Rainbow’s help, but knowing full on how jam-packed her schedule is as a Wonderbolt, let alone as a team captain, Ford wanted her to spend as much with Midnight and Apollo as possible. Thankfully, his chores didn’t take as long as he expected when he finishes drying the last dish before putting it back in its proper place. With all the recently cleaned dishes, utensils, and cookware back where they belong, Ford eagerly flies upstairs to rejoin with his family.

Upon entering the doorway, he stops himself to gaze at the touching scene between a mother and her two foals. Bereft of her uniform, Rainbow Dash continues to entertain her exuberant foals with recent tales to demonstrate her awesomeness as the Wonderbolts' newly minted captain.

Seeing his two children cuddling up with their mom really warms Ford's heart as it's hard to believe that over five years ago, he nearly lost her forever. It's hard for him to imagine how it will all turn out at this point if he didn't discover the means to save her and sacrifice his Draconian Magic in the process. But that nagging thought is swiftly swatted away as he continues to observe this heartwarming moment before him. As far as he is concerned, everything he needs is right before his very eyes.

Eventually, Rainbow is the first to notice the smiling stallion’s presence, and she greets him with a playful smirk, "Hey, there you are. It's about time you showed up, slowpoke."

"He-hee! Yeah, slowpoke!" Apollo Mustang says as he and Midnight Dash giggle heartily over dad's teasing.

"Well maybe next time, one of you can help clean the dishes with me after dinner." Ford counters with a clever smirk.

Once again, the twins are rendered silent over their grinning dad's suggestion from doing additional chores. Luckily for them, the amused Rainbow Dash saves them from their awkward discomfort by bring up tonight’s standard activity together.

"So now that dad's finally here, who's ready for tonight’s story?"

Right away, the twins express their boundless excitement by bouncing up and down on the bed as they shout in unison, "Yay! Storytime!"

With a giggle over the foals' constant joy, Rainbow hops off the bed to approach the nearby bookshelf, and she scans through the collection while asking, "Okay, let's see... which one of Daring Do's awesome adventures shall we read this time?"

But as she reaches for one of her favorite books, she hears Apollo saying in a slightly bored tone, "Eh, can't we read something else besides Daring Do, mommy?"

This startling response causes the wide-eyed Pegasus to freeze in place as the book she just pulled out falls right out of her grasp. Ford covers his giggling mouth with a fore hoof over his wife's over-the-top expression as the motionless mare is still having a hard time to comprehend what she just heard. Soon or later, she breaks out of her own paralysis by making a sharp one-eighty turn to face the young, orange colt who dares to speak such blasphemy in her domain.

"What?! That doesn't sound like our foals at all!" she screeches in a melodramatic fashion while maintaining a suspicious gaze at the accused. "What kind of kid would turn down a story featuring the coolest explorer ever?"

"We don't hate Daring Do, mom. We just want something new for a change." Midnight explains like it's not that much of a big doubt much Rainbow’s increased shock over her daughter’s confession.

"Yeah, what she said!" Apollo agrees with an innocent smile.

Soon after, Ford decides to play along with his wife as he stands next to her while he too exaggerates in dramatic fashion, "Gasp! And they're actually agreeing on something too? This does seem very suspicious!"

"Yeah, you're right. They could be changelings for all we know." Rainbow agrees with a mocking glare at the young offenders.

"Hey, we're not changelings!" Midnight retorts over such accusations.

"Well then... there's only way to prove if you're changelings or not." their mother responds in a surprisingly cool manner.

As the accused twins remain unease by their parents' stoic behavior, Rainbow gradually breaks into a mischievous smirk before she extends her wings in full span. Uncertain at first, Midnight and Apollo realize on what their mother has in mind as their eyes grow as wide as saucers. And once the crafty mare can see the fear in their eyes, Rainbow lunges forward before the skittish twins could make their getaway. With her trapped foals having nowhere to go, the evil-grinning mother subjects them to her cruel methods of interrogation by tickling them with her extremely dexterous wings.

"Mommy, no!" Midnight squeaks in the midst of her constant giggling.

"Come on now!" Rainbow demands with an impish grin as she carries on with her feathery tickling. "Where's the real Apollo Mustang and Midnight Dash?"

Pinned down by one of mommy's wings, Apollo tries his best to convince her despite his non-stop laughing in-between. "We told you, it's us! Honest!"

Much to the twins' relief, Rainbow takes a momentary break to inform her husband on the amusing situation. "It's no good. No changeling can resist a good tickle this long without revealing their true form to us."

"In that case... we just gonna have to double our efforts, won't we?" Ford coolly replies with a puckish smile as he too spans out his wings in one swift motion.

Even more petrified than ever, the twins once again have to endure the merciless tickling as their father joins the fray. With both parents conducting the mocking torture session together, they each grab hold of one of the foals so they can double the efforts by using both wings at the same time. As Rainbow carries on with her ruthless tickling just on her son, Ford is settled on some one-on-one time with his daughter as he puts his big wings to good use.

"No! Not you too, dad!" the filly protests out loud as she endures the laugh-inducing tactics from her own father.

Soon or later, the tag-teaming parents give up on their relentless tickling as it allows the smaller Pegasi to finally catch their breaths.

"Huh, guess they're not changelings after all." Ford casually shrugs with a mocking grin.

"See, told you!" Midnight grips in-between her raspy breaths.

"Well they certainly are as tough as they can be, so I guess I'll give them a pass." Rainbow comments with an amusing smirk.

"Just you wait, mommy." Apollo glares while resting in his mother's hooves. "We'll get you back for this someday."

Unfazed by the grumpy colt’s threat, Rainbow Dash lets out a simple chuckle as she playfully ruffles the pouty pony's mane while saying with a winning smile, "When you get big, strong wings like yours truly, then we shall see about that. So then... what do you want us to read for tonight besides boring, old Daring Do?" she exaggerates with a silly grin.

The twins give it some more thought over what they want to hear for tonight’s story. But shortly enough, Midnight Dash makes up a suggestion that's more directed towards her dad.

"How about daddy comes up with a story for us?"

"Yeah, make up a new story, daddy!" Apollo agrees with a bouncy smile.

"M-me? Well, I would like to, but I don't have a prepared story on hand." Ford replies in a coy manner.

"Don't you mean 'hoof', dad?" Apollo's ask with hint of confusion.

From his son correcting the proper equine grammar, Ford becomes dumbfounded at first before he breaks into a sheepish giggle and stammers awkwardly, "Y-y-yes. That's what I meant to say. Thank you, Apollo."

"Well if I can make suggestion, I know of a story you can tell them for tonight." Rainbow indicates with a bright grin.

Desperate for some ideas, the imploring stallions asks, "You do?"

"Mm-hmm." she nods and turns towards her foals to ask them with a smile. "Hey kids, how would you like hear about the time where your daddy saved Equestria?"

Instantly, the twins bright up with big, dazzling eyes and broad, gaping smiles as they simultaneously gasp with glee, "Really?"

"Oh come on, honey. It's not that big of a deal anymore." Ford brushes it aside with a humble smile. "You saved the world like dozens of times compared to me."

"Yeah I know. I'm awesome like that." she replies with a mild boast before continuing in a more earnest manner. "But your tale of heroism is just as awesome as one of my own. And it's a favorite of mine too." she adds while tenderly nuzzling against her smiling husband’s face.

Interrupting their parents' sappy moment, the twins grapple their dad as they childishly demand to hear the suggested story, starting with Midnight first, "Come on, daddy! Tell us already!"

Following it up with Apollo's very own pleading. "Please please pleeease~!"

Unable to say to "no" to his beseeching foals, especially when they make those big-eyed, adorable faces, he of course gives in to their demands as he complies with a chuckling smile, "Okay okay. I'll tell you."

After a simultaneous "yay" from the ecstatic twins, they frantically get seated before Mustang can begin his story. Apollo is already settled within the embracing forelegs of his mother. But as for Midnight, she quickly grabs her favorite stuffed animal in the form of little, white owl named "Snowy" and flies over to lay right next to mommy’s lap, to which Rainbow Dash uses her long, multicolored tail to serve as her daughter’s blanket. Once everypony is situated, all eyes are turned toward tonight’s storyteller before Ford is ready to begin.

"Alright, everypony get cozy. Because I'm about to regale you with a tale I like to call, "The Epic Quest of Ford Mustang!"

As he announces the title in dramatic fashion with a wave of his fore hoof, the bedazzled twins gape with huge smiles over what's to come based on the name only. Rainbow Dash on the other hand couldn’t help but laugh in a rambunctious manner before she takes it down a notch and interjects with a teasing smirk.

"Wow... you really outdid yourself on that one. That title had more cheese in it than your eggplant parmesan."

From his wife's lighthearted ridicule, Mustang blushes up a little before he retorts with a sour, pouty expression, "Hey, it's the best I could come up with, alright?"

Without any words, Rainbow maintains her humorous grin as she twirls her fore hoof to serve as a sly gesture on allowing her husband to continue. And after clearing his throat so he can muster a proper voice for his narration, Ford then proceeds at the beginning of his story.

"Anyway, it all started with how your mother and I first met. On the outskirts of Ponyville, I found myself in a field of wildflowers before Rainbow Dash literally crashed right into me. And from our first head-on collision, it was love at first sight." he exaggerates with a grin and fluttering eyelashes.

This time, it's Rainbow Dash's turn to fluster, and she clarifies with a sharp smirk, "Okay, that totally did not happened, and you know it!"

"Come on, Dashie." he goads with a whimsical smile. "You can't deny that there was something special about me when you couldn’t keep your eyes off of my captivating, good looks." And the grinning stallion emphasizes his point with a soft stroke of his blue-and-yellow mane and a comedic wiggle of his eyebrows.

Alongside her foals, Rainbow lets out an uncontainable chuckle over Ford’s silly antics before she replies back with a roll of her eyes and a giggling grin, "Yeah, I think you got that backwards, Prince Charming. Just get on with your story already, you big goof."

"As you wish." he consents with a lighthearted smile before getting back on track with his story. "Now where was? Ah yes! So one year from that fateful encounter, I got an idea to propose her from the same spot where we first met. However, things didn't go according to plan when we received an unexpected guest in the form of a terrifying pony with a coat as black as soot, mane and tail set ablaze in blue, raging fire, and great, flaming eyes! And this villainous fiend went only by the name of Arrogon the Destroyer!"

With the dramatic reveal of the infamous villain, Midnight and Apollo shudder with fear and excitement as they huddle closer to their grinning mother. And from seeing the look on the twins' faces, Ford smiles to himself over his initial success in storytelling as he feels more inspired than ever to continue his story from there.

"...And like the dark puppet master that he was, Arrogon forced the brainwashed Rainbow Dash to attack me without mercy! It was without a doubt the toughest challenge I have ever faced! But I came too far to give up at that point! I knew there had to be a way to free her from Arrogon's mind-controlling spell! So after a long, intense struggle with her, I came up with the best situation in mind! And once I was within close proximity of her, I took a very deep breath to gather up my energy and pulled her in for--!"

"Uh, Ford?"

"Shh! Not now, Rainbow! I'm just getting to the good point!"

"Yeah... I hate to interrupt your epic tale, but I think we have to put that on hold for another time."

With Ford Mustang staring at her with a blank look on his face, the smiling Rainbow Dash simply directs her knowing gaze downward as the dumbstruck stallion follows her line of eyesight. From getting carried away with his passionate storytelling, Mustang fails to notice earlier on how sleepy his two children have become despite trying their best to stay awake throughout the story.

"Nuh-uh. We're fine, mommy." Midnight Dash reassures with a heavy, half-lidded gaze. "We wanna hear the rest."

Mirroring that with his twin sister, Apollo Mustang adds with a soft yawn in-between, "Yeah dad. Keep going."

With a faint, chuckling smile to himself, Ford acknowledges with Rainbow’s reminder as he says to them, "Sorry kids, but your mom's right. It's way past your bedtime." And after a subtle whine from the twins, their father reassures them, "Don't worry. We'll continue where we left off for tomorrow night."

Reluctantly, Midnight complies in an increasingly tired voice, "Okay, daddy. If you say so."

As Ford picks up his sleepy daughter, Rainbow does the same with her son still cradled in her tender fore hooves. Gently, they tuck the drowsy foals underneath the covers while Ford carefully places the "Snowy" owl doll in-between his daughter’s forelegs.

Once the two children are well-situated in their bed, the Pegasus family exchange their good-night hugs and kisses as the twins say, "Goodnight, mommy. Goodnight, daddy."

"Goodnight, angels." Rainbow replies with a tenderhearted smile.

"Sleep tight, my little ones." Ford warmly adds as he gives each of them one final nuzzle for the night. "Love you."

"Yawn... love you too." is all Apollo could say as sleep finally take hold of him and his twin sister.

With heartfelt smiles, the parents watch their foals fall fast asleep as they embrace one another with a tender wing across their respective partner's back. And after a minute or two, they quietly head out of the room before they take one last look at their slumbering children while carefully closing the door behind them.

As they steadily make their way towards their own bedroom, Ford says in a mildly disappointed voice, "Sigh... I was really looking forward to finishing up that story. And I was so close to reaching its climax."

With a light chuckle over her husband’s melodrama, she says to him with a comforting grin and a soft pat of her wing, "I know. You were really getting into it, huh? But hey, at least we both know on how it all turned out in the end, right?" she adds knowingly before plopping on one side of the bed.

As they get underneath the covers, Ford inquires with a raised eyebrow and a sly, sarcastic smile, "Oh really? And how would you wrap up a story like that?"

"Like this." she replies matter-of-factly whilst leaning closer to her husband's face.

Following up with that witty remark, they share a seemingly simple yet deeply affectionate kiss. And once they relish that breathtaking kiss for as long as possible, their lips gently part ways as they look at each other with enraptured eyes before the grinning Rainbow Dash sums it up with the perfect phrase in mind.

"And they all live happily ever after."

Despite being taken back by his wife's corny yet devoted words, Ford couldn't help but laugh as he points it out with a hearty chuckle, "Hahaha! Now that was cheesy, even from you."

With a subtle blush, Rainbow gives her husband a playful punch to the chest as she retorts with a funny smirk, "Shut up. You love it and you know it."

Unwilling to deny his soft spot for such sentimentality, the ever-so sappy stallion embraces his equally amused wife and gives her a heartfelt peck on the cheek before replying with a charismatic smile, "Not as much as I love you, my beautiful, blue angel."

Within each other’s warm embrace, the married Pegasi maintain their peaceful smiles as they eventually doze off to sleep together. No one can say for sure on what the next day will bring for them. But no matter what the future may hold, Ford knows that with his family and friends at his side, they will face it head-on and treat it as another grand adventure together. Because life is an adventure itself, and for Ford Mustang’s case based on all that he has shared with Rainbow Dash so far...

...it will be an awesome one.

THE END

Author's Note

Geez! Compared to my other stories' epilogues, this one is just as long as my previous chapters. :twilightblush:

So yeah, this is finally it! Have to admit, it's very exhausting and time-consuming for me to complete this, and originally, I didn't think it would have this many chapters compared to the previous stories. But I am thankful to finally complete it to the best of my abilities.

Special thanks to my pre-readers, Mariacheat-Brony and Rated Ponystar, for all of their help. And of course, thanks to all of my readers and followers for your constant support in my Ford Mustang stories. :twilightsmile:

Chapter 1 – Mad Dash for Baltimare

Author's Note

And just so you know (though you probably figured this out already), no, this has nothing do with the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life." If you want some holiday cheer, you can read my previous story, "The 1st Hearth's Warming Eve of Ford Mustang."

Also, I want to point something out regarding with the "Human" tag for my Ford Mustang stories for those who are new in this series. Though the namesake OC is no longer a human in these stories, the tag must remain since this is technically a "Human in Equestria" story. Just FYI, mind you.

Special thanks to Mariacheat-Brony and Rated Ponystar for pre-reading my chapters for me.

Chapter 1 – Mad Dash for Baltimare

Chapter 1 – Mad Dash for Baltimare

Floating high above the outskirts of Ponyville is a small yet humble castle in the sky. Its central tower is magnificently sculpted out of the same clouds as the natural ones it’s built on top of. And a weaving rainbow arches over the tall, narrow building while the foundation’s small colorful pools trickle over the cloudy edges which create such elegant waterfalls to showcase their shimmering brilliance. This one-of-a-kind structure originally housed only one owner, but now, it has two owners in which they proudly call their home. Of course, their joint ownership became officially permanent ever since their very special day yesterday.

Inside the master bedroom, covers as fluffy as the clouds themselves begin to stir as somepony emerges out of the cushiony surface. It is a tall Pegasus stallion with a light bluish coat and a rich, cerulean blue mane with a golden yellow streak on each side. And on his flank is a recently earned Cutie Mark: a silhouetted headshot of a dragon that shares the same rich, blue color as his mane and tail. This Cutie Mark not only symbolizes his extraordinary Draconian Magic, but it also represents his unquestionable heroism for his most valiant deed when he was facing against his ultimate enemy. For this humble stallion happens to be Ford Mustang, former human being of Earth who has earned himself some impressive titles recently: Vanquisher of Arrogon the Destroyer, honorary knight of Ponyville, and now, a happily married stallion to the mare of his dreams.

Sitting upright on his side of the bed, he lets out a big, soft yawn before his turquoise eyes gradually open up. With half-lid eyes, he verifies his familiar surroundings. His slick, black suit, white shirt, and loose bowtie are piled alongside of the bride’s sparkling gown and other fashion accessories. The discarded clothes serves as a warm reminder to Ford on the extensive amount of passionate lovemaking they went through last night. He also chuckles to himself on how much of scolding he would receive if their wedding fashion designer and good friend, Rarity, finds out on how they treated their wedding clothes so carelessly. Then, he turns to his right and smiles tenderly over his new wife, Rainbow Dash.

Silently, the smiling stallion enjoys the wondrous sight of his lovely, blue angel. He first glances at the dazzling Prismatic Diamond Ring on her left fore hoof, which was a precious gift given to him by his deceased master and friend, Hindel the All-Seeing Dragon. Then, he looks with admiration at Rainbow’s gorgeous, multicolored mane as its long, vibrant strands drape around her neck and shoulder while her somewhat messy hair still maintains some of that smoothness and shine. And finally, his gaze locks on to her adorable, sleepy face and that completely contented smile of hers.

With a broader smile, he carefully leans forward with his chest brushing against her back, holds her left fore hoof with his own that has a golden wedding ring on it, and gently kisses her on the cheek. From that simple affection, she steadily awakens from her own slumber as she lets out a short, adorable yawn. Turning her head to face her husband, she lifts her eyelids up slightly, which still had some mascara from yesterday evening, until her gorgeous, magenta eyes lock on with Ford’s warm gaze.

“Good morning, Mrs. Mustang.” he greets to her with a playful grin.

“Good morning to you too, Mr. Dash.” she greets right back in the same manner.

“I sure hope you’re not confusing me with your father, Rainbow.” he states it with a very shrewd smile. “But then again, if it’s just between the two of us, I won’t mind being your daddy every now and then.”

In response to that raunchy remark, Rainbow playfully smacks Ford for such crude humor. Quickly, he embraces her firmly as they start to giggle all of a sudden. After their silly laughter dies down, they share a deep, welcoming kiss to start off their first morning together as a married couple.

Once they have their first morning kiss, Mustang then asks, “So… did you get a goodnight sleep, angel?”

“Mm-hmm!” she nods gleefully as she nuzzles against his neck. “Best sleep ever!”

“That’s kind of surprising to hear.” he chuckles lightly. “Considering that there was hardly any rest for us after what we just did last night.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” she agrees with a chuckle of her own. “But you see? I told you that I was more than a match for you!”

He leans closer to his proud wife and compliments her with a tender smile, “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Rainbow Dash.”

From receiving such praise, she offers a quick kiss to him. And after a quiet giggle to herself, Rainbow surprisingly becomes very quiet as she looks down while her face shifted in a more solemn expression.

“Hey, Ford?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think… that was enough… to have our very own foal someday?” she asks with a hint of worry as she lightly rubs her belly.

Sensing the severity from her soft inquiry, Ford wraps her concerned angel with his fore hooves and wings before he reassures her with a sincere yet witty smile, “I don’t know, Rainbow. But that doesn’t mean we simply stop trying just for one night, right?”

As he states that, his left fore hoof glides right alongside Rainbow’s until he caresses her soft belly. From receiving that soothing touch of his as well as from hearing his strong yet simple reassurance, her smile widens significantly at the comfort of his big, strong Mustang. With a quick burst of strength, the grinning mare shoves the staggered stallion onto the bed and pins him to the mattress. Flabbergasted, he looks up and stares at the grinning Rainbow Dash, sitting on top of him.

“Then the game is still on!” she states boldly with that clever grin of hers.

With a smile matching that with hers, Ford pulls her in and seals it with a longing kiss. As they carry on with their extensive make-out session, their hooves caress one and another. While things are about to get serious, Rainbow takes a brief break as she murmurs something out of curiosity.

“By the way, what time is it?”

With a glance at the clock on the nightstand to his left, he answers, “It’s roughly ten-fifteen right now.”

“That’s nice…” she mumbles nonchalantly before she resumes where they left off. But as their kissing is about to be taken to a whole, new level, a sudden realization pops into her head as she abruptly ends their cuddling by sitting up straight with a deeply horrified look on her face.

“OH BUCK ME!!”

Despite hearing that piercing screech, Ford couldn’t help but breaking into an amusing smirk as he impulsively teases her, “Oh-ho~! Already up for another round, eh? I had no idea you can be this frisky in the mornings.”

In a deeply flustered manner, she retorts with a furrowed brow, “No, not that, you featherbrain! Don’t you know where we’re supposed to be right now?!”

With a blank face, he blinks a couple of times before he drifts his eyes upward as he tries to recollect on what today’s schedule is. Once he realizes on where they need to be, his face matches that with Rainbow’s earlier, wide-eyed expression as he exclaims in a similar manner as hers.

“OH BUCK ME!!”

“Later!” she responds sharply as she hastily jumps out of bed. “Right now, we’ve got to get ready to meet our friends in the Baltimare Harbor at eleven o’clock sharp before we board our cruise today!”

Frantically, she goes over a mental checklist as she paces around the room while trying to plan all of this out loud. “Okay, let’s see… we need to pack our stuff! Well, that shouldn’t be too much trouble compared to Rarity’s case. Then we definitely need to take a quick shower! Probably grab something to eat after that! Definitely have to make sure we have our cruise tickets, and take Tank--!”

Then, her eyes bulge out greatly as her pupils shrink significantly before she enters in a complete state of panic while searching for her devoted tortoise. “Wait a minute, where’s Tank?! We need to take him to Fluttershy’s animal shelter before we leave for the harbor! Ford, help me find him! Tank, where are you?!”

Instead of assisting her, Mustang is just sitting on the bed as he blankly stares at his panicky wife before shaking his head and chuckling to himself, “Heh, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was married to Twilight Sparkle instead.”

Annoyed by her husband from not moving an inch from that spot, she snaps at him, “Ford, don’t just sit there! Help me out over here! We can’t be late no matter what!”

In a carefree smile, Ford leaps out of his bed and lays her hooves on her shoulders to ease her unnecessary worries before reassuring her in a calm voice, “Rainbow, relax. Everything else has been taken care of. We already dropped Tank at the shelter on the day before our wedding.” Then, he hovers to their large saddlebags that are sitting on one corner of the room as he points it out to her. “Our bags are fully packed as well, and our tickets are right here in the outer zipped pockets.” he says as he pulls out the two tickets from the pocket he said they were in. After putting the tickets back where they belong and securing them, he glides right back to the thunderstruck Rainbow Dash as she began to remember all of the things that Ford just mentioned to her.

Despite feeling foolish on forgetting that all was taken care of days ago, she sighs in relief before pulling Ford in for a loving embrace and lightly kids with him, “Oh. Well… I knew there was a good reason why I married you.”

“You mean besides the fact that I saved you from a terrible fate at the hooves of an evil tyrant, right?” he counters with a smirk and an arched eyebrow.

“Oh yeah. There’s that too.” she shrugs in mocking nonchalance with a smirk matching that with his.

After having a brief giggle with each other, they share a short, sweet kiss before the stallion gently insists to his mare, “Come on. Let’s take our shower first, and we’ll have some brunch with our friends once we get there.”

“Yeah, sounds good." She then says to him firmly even though she's displaying a playful grin on her face. "But remember: we can’t take too long in there. So don’t get any funny ideas, alright?”

With a clever smirk of his own, he only says to her, “I only promise to do my best.”

In the midst of soaring through the nice, blue sky, Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang are flying at a very brisk pace with their respective luggage strapped to each of the Pegasi. For awhile, they’ve been very quiet to each other, mostly it’s because Rainbow is still ticked off at Ford for their supposed delay. For now, there are only a few minutes left before it becomes eleven o’clock since both of them didn’t leave as early as they originally intended.

“Come on, Rainbow! You’re not still at mad at me, are you?” he asks in an awkward chuckle.

“Of course I am!” she snaps with an angry brow. “This is all your fault you know!”

“Hey, I was just offering my services to wash your body, that’s all!” he rebuts in mocking innocence with an irresistible, sly smile.

“Don’t try to play so innocent with me, Ford!” she retorts as she harshly points an accusing hoof at him. “We would have been at the harbor minutes ago if you didn’t get so carried away as always!”

“Well, you’re the one who kept demanding more than that! Besides, you didn’t say 'stop' whatsoever, so you are equally to blame as I am!” he adds with increasing amusement as a bold smirk expands across his face.

Unable to come up with a proper response to the witty stallion, Rainbow Dash lets out a grouch and refocuses on the task at hoof in an increasingly panicky state. “Whatever! At this rate, we’re never gonna make it there in time!” Oh, we’re gonna be late! We’re gonna be late! We are SO going to be late!”

“Rainbow, it’s fine.” he says as gently as possible while he tries his best to calm her down. “So what if we’re going to be a few minutes late? Nopony is going to hold it against--!”

“We have to use the Sonic Rainboom.”

From hearing that sudden suggestion, the impassive Mustang stares at Rainbow with wide eyes before he reacts in alarm, “…Wait what?!”

“We need to unleash our Sonic Rainbooms at the same time!” she clarifies once again in an anxious manner. “It’s our only chance to meet our friends on time!”

Still with a blank look on his face, Ford exhales a heavy sigh before he shares his opinion in a weakening, steady voice, “Rainbow… I love you and everything, but that is without a doubt the most reckless thing you could have ever suggested! Never have we done two Sonic Rainbooms simultaneously before! Plus, I'm fairly new to this! So we are definitely not going to pull off such a dangerous stunt like that just for the sake of punctuality! Besides, what could have possessed you to recommend something as insane as--?!”

“DAMMIT, FORD! WE PINKIE PROMISED, REMEMBER?!”

From hearing her startling exclamation, Ford’s mind instinctively recalls the scene where his bride impatiently gives in to Pinkie Pie’s pestering by Pinkie Promising that she and Ford will make it to the Baltimare Harbor by eleven o’clock today. And as a former fan of Earth’s fictional show that’s loosely based off of the Mane Six’s actual adventures, he knows full well that no one, pony or otherwise, ever breaks a Pinkie Promise no matter what.

Seeing how they hardly have any other opinions to consider with what little time they have left, he eventually gives in and softly nods to Rainbow Dash, “…The Sonic Rainboom it is.”

Before they put their last minute plan into action, Rainbow extends a right fore hoof to Mustang, and he grasps it firmly with his left one. Once their hooves are secured to each other, she says to him, “Don’t let go, okay?”

“Never!” he assures boldly with a soft smile.

After smiling back to her ever-so devoted stallion, Rainbow makes a subtle gulp before she begins their countdown together, “Okay, on three. One…”

He cringes for what’s to come as the two coordinated Pegasi pick up incredible speeds for a daring feat that’s never been attempted before.

“Two…”

A Couple Minutes Earlier at the Baltimare Harbor…

At a local café that’s right alongside the city’s famed harbor, a lot of Rainbow and Ford’s friends are already there, including Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Big Macintosh, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Spike, Apple Bloom, Sweet Belle, and Scootaloo. While the adults wait for the two missing Pegasi as some of them enjoy their snacks and drinks underneath the tables’ parasols, Scootaloo looks up as she anxiously scans the sky for any signs of her figurative big sister and brother-in-law.

“Ugh! Where are they?” she worries immensely as she flutters her tiny wings rapidly. “They should have been here by now!”

Twilight Sparkle walks up to the little, orange filly and reassures her with a gentle smile, “Don’t fret, Scootaloo. I’m certain those two wouldn’t be late for their own honeymoon cruise.”

“Yeah.” Spike agrees with confidence. “You know how those two like to make their dramatic entrances.”

“I can understand Rainbow Dash for being fashionable late sometimes…” Rarity adds to the conversation. “…but I never would expect the same from Ford Mustang since he’s the more punctual of the two.”

The fashion designer’s fiancée, Applejack, giggles before she states with a sly smile, “Ah bet those two are still in bed and are continuing to have the time of their lives!”

Then, Apple Bloom steps forward and asks her big sister with innocent curiosity, “What would they still be doing in bed at this late in the morning, sis?”

A bit surprised by her younger sister’s questioning, Applejack has a difficult time answering that until she says, “Oh… well ya see… Ah… Ah’ll tell ya when yer older, Apple Bloom.”

Unable to accept that kind of repetitive excuse, Apple Bloom places her hooves on the table that Applejack and Rarity are sitting at and begs in a cutesy whine, “Awww! But you always say that! Why won’t you tell us? Dontcha trust me?”

With the younger Earth Pony’s pleading eyes locking on to Applejack’s uneasy ones, the older sister becomes hesitant before she assures the little, yellow filly, “Well of course Ah trust you, lil’ sis! It’s just that…!”

But once again, Applejack is at a lost for words as she tries to come up with something in mind that will prevent her from explaining that kind of education to a bunch of underage fillies. Unfortunately, due to her honest nature, she could hardly lie her way out of anything even if she tried. While AJ is still flabbergasted over this, the rest of the (former) Cutie Mark Crusaders join in with Apple Bloom as they push their pleading a little further with their big, adorable eyes, and pouty lips.

“Come on! Tell us!” Apple Bloom pleads once again.

Then, Scootaloo adds, “Yeah, we’re big ponies! We can handle it!”

And lastly, Sweetie Belle asks, “Please?”

With the Crusaders’ combined powers of their natural cuteness, Applejack is falling into their elaborate trap as the older mare finds it more and more difficult to say ‘no’ to the three fillies. So, the orange farmpony turns to the closest support she can find, which in this case, would be her future wife.

“Rarity, help me out over here, will ya?”

Amused by all of this, the deviously smirking Rarity ignores the farmpony’s pleas before sipping on her drink. “Sorry, darling. You’re on your own on this one.” She is certainly thankful that she isn’t in the same boat as Applejack is if she were to try to explain it to her own little sister.

After glaring at the grinning seamstress, AJ turns to her big brother across from her as she pleads desperately, “Big Mac? A little help please?”

Startled at first, the big, red stallion responds firmly to his blonde-haired sister, “Nnnope. Ah ain’t touchin' this one.”

Just when Applejack is about to give up, Vinyl Scratch steps into the fray as she lays a hoof on the Earth Pony’s shoulder before she eases her worries with a confident grin, “Don’t worry, AJ! Let Aunt Scratchie handle this!”

As Applejack is puzzled by Vinyl’s generous assistance, the three fillies turn to the white Unicorn mare with the two-toned, electric blue mane and beam widely with hopeful smiles before the DJ begins by clearing her throat first. “Ahem! You see kids… when a mare and a stallion love each other very much--!”

“Vinyl!” Octavia interjects sternly as she stands next to her. “Don’t say it like that!”

“Oh, you’re right! How careless of me!” DJ-PON-3 responds to the cellist’s commands with a casual grin. “Here, let me rephrase that… when two respective partners of either gender love each of very much--!”

WHACK!

“Ow! Hey! I was getting to the good part!” Vinyl states with a chuckling grin as she rubs the back of her head that just received a swift hit from her disgruntled fiancée.

Wanting to preserve the fillies’ innocence, Fluttershy quickly changes the subject as she asks in a quiet voice, “So umm… do you think Ford and Rainbow are lost or something?”

With a cheerful, carefree smile, Pinkie Pie reassures the group with absolute confidence, “I wouldn’t be too worry about those two. They should be arriving ANY second now!” Then, her responsive, pink body spontaneously shakes like a jackhammer as she confirms with delight, “Ooo! In fact, they should be arriving in three… two… one…!”

KABOOM!!

Suddenly, the friends from Ponyville along with the citizens of Baltimare hear an earth-shattering boom as they sharply turn toward the source of the thunderous noise in the sky. From looking upward, the Ponyvillians gasp extremely as their truly astonished eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. Of course, Pinkie Pie isn’t that surprise like the rest of her friends as she is able to see that one coming a mile away thanks to her Pinkie Senses.

For beyond the horizon, there is an extraordinary sight to behold on the outskirts of Baltimare. High amongst the clouds, an enormous blast of vibrant colors expand across the sky. While most of the city’s citizens try to figure on this unforeseen phenomenon, everypony else, including those from Ponyville, knows exactly on what it is: the Sonic Rainboom! But the legendary supernova is a little different somehow. Based off its waves of multiple colors, the Sonic Rainboom looks like it belongs to Rainbow Dash, yet merged within the multicolored explosion, there are hundreds of streaks that either feature a bold blue or a brilliant gold. And considering that there are only two known ponies that can pull off Sonic Rainbooms, it didn’t take long for the Ponyvillians to figure out on whom that second Sonic Rainboom belongs to.

“Wait, is that…?” Twilight asks in a startling manner.

“No way!" Apple Bloom gasps mightily.

“It can’t be!” Sweet Belle responds in the same manner.

But as for Scootaloo, her purple eyes grow just as widely as her smile as she announces with boundless excitement while energetically jumping up and down, “YES, IT’S THEM! THEY’RE HERE!”

As the Ponyvillians awe at the unique spectacle, two streaks of different sets of colors exit out of the merged supernovas. Upon their arrival, the long-awaited Pegasi make a smooth landing as their hooves skid across the improvised runway before they gradually stop in front of the café that their friends are hanging out at. After making their grand entrance, the two winged ponies stand up in different postures; for Rainbow Dash, she stands up tall with her chest held up high with pride and a cheeky smile stretched across her muzzle, but as for Ford Mustang’s case, he is hunching forward with his wobbly hooves spread far apart and is left completely breathless.

“Hey, ya crazy lovebirds!” Applejack greets with a welcoming smirk. “Y’all finally made it!”

“Mm-hmm! And just in the nick of time too!” Pinkie Pie nods with a smile.

“D-did… the two of you performed a Double Sonic Rainboom just now?” Rarity asks in a stammering surprise.

“Yep! We sure did!” Rainbow Dash confirms with a proud grin. “Didn’t we, Ford?”

In response, Ford lets out a heavy groan to serve as his compliance as he is still out of breath from that hasty Sonic Rainboom he just pulled off. Compared to Rainbow Dash however, she hardly broke a sweat from that.

“Ohmygosh! That was SO COOL!” Scootaloo exclaims excitedly as she gleefully hovers around the two latecomers in countless laps. “You two are as amazing as ever! You not only pulled off one but two Sonic Rainbooms at the same time!”

“Hey, Pinks?” Vinyl nudges to her with a knowing grin. “Isn’t this where you make one of your random pop culture references or something?”

Pinkie thinks about this while rubbing her chin, but then she shrugs it off with a nonchalant smile. “Hmm… nah, not really. We’ve already made the 'Double Rainbow' reference in the two previous stories anyway.”

Then, Twilight steps in and inquires in a disapproving manner, “What in Equestria would possess you two to pull off such a dangerous stunt like that?!”

“That’s… what I… said!” Ford pants in-between.

Sheepishly, Rainbow answers, “Well… we Pinkie Promised to be here by eleven o’clock, remember?”

The other ponies turn to Pinkie Pie with baffled expressions as they wait for the pink Earth Pony’s response. Then, she giggles in merriment before she explains to her friends as cheerful as ever, “Oh don’t be silly! I would never hold it against you two for not being here right on time! Jeez Louis! You two take things so literally sometimes!”

While the wide-eyed Rainbow Dash blankly stares at the smiling party pony, Ford Mustang is completely slack-jawed by that innocent response as he stammers in disbelief, “You mean… we did the Double Sonic Rainboom… for nothing?”

“Eeyup. That pretty much sums it up.” Applejacks nods with a clever grin.

Unable to comprehend this, Ford gives in to his fatigue as he faints heavily before he collapses on to the floor. With his momentarily limp body, he looks up to his concerned wife and asks of her in a worn out voice.

“Never again, Rainbow! NEVER… AGAIN!”

After Ford’s quick recovery from his overdramatic exhaustion, he and Rainbow Dash join their friends as the newlywed couple enjoy a very hearty brunch from the café’s delectable selections. From there, the ponies reminisce on the good times they had from Rainbow & Ford’s wedding last night.

Roughly a half-hour later, the cruise ship nearby lets out a loud whistle to serve as a signal that it is time to board. After Ford and Rainbow say their farewells to their friends, they eventually board the enormous vessel and drop off their luggage at their luxury suite before they make their way to the railing. Once all of its passengers have boarded, the ship blows another whistle before it makes its gradual departure out of the harbor. From the railing, Ford and Rainbow wave to their friends down below as they wave right back at the couple.

“Have a wonderful trip, darlings!” Rarity waves with a pleasant smile.

“See y’all in a week!” Applejack tips her hat to them.

“Bring back lots of souvenirs!” Scootaloo calls out happily.

“And you featherbrains better be back in time for our wedding!” Vinyl shouts out with a grin. “‘Cause if not, I’m gonna drag you back myself so you wouldn’t skip out on the promise you made for me!”

Instinctively, the blue-haired unicorn felt a shiver when she can practically feel the deadpanned Octavia glaring at her. So she quickly rephrases herself with a sheepish grin, “I mean for us! I meant to say ‘for us’ of course!”

Luckily for Vinyl, the cellist breaks into an amusing smile as she wittily says to her before kissing her fiancée on the rosy cheek, “Of course.”

Eventually, the friends from Ponyville are out of sight as the cruise ship leaves the Horseshoe Bay. With their ship setting sail to the famed Delphi Isles, Ford and Rainbow share a brief kiss to commemorate their long-awaited voyage as they can’t hardly wait to begin their honeymoon together.

Chapter 7 – Cooling it Off with Some Dessert

Chapter 7 – Cooling it Off with Some Dessert

Eventually, they carry on with the rest of their meals before they clean up their plates and reside in the living room. From there, they wait for Fluttershy to return, who volunteered to check on Rarity and see if there is any way for the sweet Pegasus mare to help out her Unicorn friend from her recent troubles with her fiancée, Applejack, who is currently outside venting out her frustration through applebucking.

Sooner or later, Fluttershy slowly walks down the stairs and joins the rest of the ponies before Rainbow Dash flies up to her and asks, “Any luck yet, Fluttershy?”

Sadly, she shakes her head and answers softly, “Sigh… no. She’s just too upset to come out right now.”

“You don’t think the wedding is going to be off now, do you?” Sweetie Belle asks with worry.

Granny Smith, who is sitting with the three Cutie Mark Crusaders on the same sofa, reassures the Unicorn filly as she gently strokes her pink-and-violet curly mane, “Now don’t you fret for nothing, Sweetie Belle. It’s only natural for couples to argue like that sometimes. Applejack just needs to let off some steam, that’s all.”

Unable to sit still and do nothing, Ford Mustang gets himself off the couch and heads toward the door while declaring out loud, “That’s it. I’m going to talk to her.”

Despite his big size, Big Mac hurries at breakneck speed to block Mustang from exiting the house as he states in a steadfast yet gentle voice, “Ehh… nnnope. Ah wouldn’t recommend that, Ford.”

“Why not?” the blue Pegasus asks to the equally tall stallion.

“Just listen and you’ll see what Ah mean.” Big Mac responds as he directs him to the door. From pressing his ear against the wooden surface, he can hear the soft, rhythmic sounds that are like distant thunder. Assuming that’s Applejack outside applebucking with all of her might, Ford cringes on that thought as the red farmpony boldly points it out , “That’s why.”

Shaking those fears aside, Mustang goes around the other stallion and declares once more, “I’m still going outside.”

But as he touches the door’s handle, Rainbow flies up to her husband and insists greatly, “Wait, at least let me come with you!”

Granny steps forward and advises against that idea, “Uhh, sugarcube… Ah think it would best if he would take care of this himself.”

“What makes you say that?” Rainbow Dash inquires.

With a raised eyebrow, she cautions the younger mare, “Need Ah remind you about your snippy remarks earlier?”

From that stern reminder, Rainbow droops her head in a sheepish manner, “Oh… right.”

“I’ll be fine, Rainbow.” he reassures his wife with a determined grin as he warmly kisses her on the cheek. “I handled a great evil once, so I think I can handle just one mare on my own.”

But once he steps outside after opening the door, he stops in place as he cringes lightly on how bad his confrontation with Applejack could get before he mutters to himself, “Gulp… I hope.”

Out in the cool, crisp air of Sweet Apple Acres, Ford Mustang flies and weaves through the apple orchards as the sounds of Applejack’s thunderous bucking gets louder and louder. At the sight of the hardworking farmpony, the Pegasus makes a delicate landing before he gingerly approaches his preoccupied friend.

“Hey, Applejack.” he says to her meekly. “How’s it going?”

Without so much as looking him, she continues her bucking while responding in a grumpy, impatient tone, “What do ya want, Ford?”

“I thought that you might need some help out here.” he offers his assistance with a gentle smile.

“No thank you.” she grumps once again as she places another full basket of apples onto a nearby cart. “I can take care of things by myself.”

“Well then, is there anything you would like to talk about? It might help get what’s ever off your chest.”

At once, Applejack twists her head around to glare at the blue-and-yellow haired stallion and snaps at him, “Look here, Ah don’t have time to dilly-dally with you! Ah know what yer tryin' to do, and Ah got nothing to say to you! Besides, why is it any of yer business to get into mine?!”

A bit shaken up by that retort, Ford openly expresses his concern in a very humble manner, “Because I’m worry about you, AJ. And so is everypony else. We’re you’re family, and family is supposed to look out for one and another. You still regard me as family, right?”

As she listens to him, Applejack looks into Mustang’s big, turquoise eyes and is captivated by his earnest expression, which causes her anger to diminish right away. With soft, green, pitiful eyes, she reassuringly hugs her Pegasus friend as she answers him tenderly, “Oh, of course Ah do. Ah would never think of you anything less. Not after all that you have done for me.”

Feeling more relax from this embrace, they leisurely end their comforting hug before the humble stallion proceeds to get some answers from AJ, “So… may I ask on why you were so upset with Rarity earlier?”

Applejack becomes hesitant at first, but eventually, she reveals her reason to him in an embarrassing tone, “Ah… well… Ah guess Ah’m just… afraid.”

“Of what?” he gently inquires with a tilt of his head.

Too ashamed to look at Ford in the eye, Applejack aimlessly stares at the ground while explaining herself, “It’s just that… Ah’m afraid that Rarity is gonna try to take control of my life someday. You know, change my ways and such.”

“Well… has she made any permanent changes to your livelihood yet?”

“No, not really… but she always keep makin' decisions for me!” she verifies with renew aggravation, “Like deciding on what should we eat for our wedding!”

“Oh, so were you there with her for that?”

“Actually… no. Ah was… really busy.” she admits with mildly flushed face.

With a skeptical eyebrow, he points something out to Applejack, “What, with running the farm? I mean Rarity was willing to take the time off from her job, so why couldn’t you do the same for her?”

A bit surprised by Ford’s assumption, AJ chuckles lightly with a sheepish smile, “Okay, you got me there, Ford. But Ah really mean it! Ah was busy with something else!”

“With what exactly?” he asks as he remains skeptical about this.

With her face flushed immensely, she stammers in response, “It’s… too important for me to tell it to anypony, okay?”

A bit unconvinced at first, Ford leaves it aside and he says to her with a gentle smile, “Alright, I won’t question that any further. But back on the subject, did Rarity tell you later on what she decided for the reception’s dinner?”

“Yes.”

“And… did you disagree with anything she picked?”

“Well… no. Everything looked pretty good actually.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

"Ah… sigh… Ah don’t know.” she says in a defeated tone as she sits down on her hindquarters. “Ah guess Ah was just a little upset when Rarity changed the location for our wedding like that, considering that it was my idea in the first place to have our wedding right here at Sweet Apple Acres.”

After he sits down next to the troubled Earth Pony, he offers his counseling to her, “Listen, I get that you’re worried that Rarity might be a bit fussy every now and then.”

“‘A bit’ is fairly an understatement, sugarcube.” she corrects him with a chuckling smirk.

In response, Ford briefly shakes his head with a soft, giggling smile before continuing his statement, “But you’re forgetting that this is the Element of Generosity we’re talking about. Besides, despite how prissy can she be sometimes, how did you manage to convince Rarity to move into your home instead of the other way around?”

“Ah didn’t.” she answers sincerely as she recollects that major decision she and Rarity made together. “She said that she didn’t want to separate me from the farm, so she insisted that she should move in… with… me.”

As she halts the last few words of her sentence, Applejack freezes in the place as she remembers one of the many reasons on why she loves Rarity so much, and that she was fretting over nothing when it comes to her fiancée respecting her lifestyle.

From that realization, she face-hoofs herself as she expresses her shameful regret out loud, “Oh Sweet Luna, Ah’m such fool right now!”

Happy to see her realizing her mistake, Ford lays a gentle fore hoof on Applejack’s shoulder and subtly directs the next course of action for her, “Here, let me take care of that for you. I think we both know on where you should be right now.”

Grateful for his ever-so considerate help, Applejack pulls him in for a stronger hug and says to him with a big, warm grin, “Thanks for everything, Ford. Ah know Ah can always count you… little brother.”

With a deadpan expression, Mustang corrects her smirking friend, “I’m older that you are, AJ.”

Without breaking up their hug, Applejack replies back with a casual smirk, “Hush up and don’t spoil the moment.”

Complying with her demand, Ford breaks into a small grin and responds amusingly, “Fine… have it your way… big sister.”

A short while later, Applejack returns to her home and opens the semi-creaky door before gently closing it behind her. From inspecting that noise, Fluttershy gasps in surprise and delight over her friend’s return and tenderly welcomes her back.

“Oh thank goodness! Are you okay now?”

Feeling far less tense than earlier, Applejack replies with a very serene smile, “Ah’m alright, sugarcube. Sorry for makin' scene like that in front of y’all.”

“It’s okay, Applejack. I’m just thankful that you are feeling better right now.”

Then, Rainbow Dash joins her two best friends and asks, “Hey, wait a minute… where’s Mustang?”

“Oh, he’s outside right now.” Applejack answers as she turns her head and points in the direction that Ford’s at with her muzzle.

Imagining the worst for her husband, Rainbow glares suspiciously at the Earth Pony and warns her, “You better not have taken out your frustration with him, AJ. ‘Cause if I find him laying on the ground out there--!”

“Ah did nothing of that sort, RD!” Applejack replies angrily before calming down from her short outburst. “He was just kind enough to take the apples I just bucked into the cellar for me.”

After that is resolved, Applejack is welcomed by her little sister, Apple Bloom, as she gallops from the living room to give a big hug to the taller, orange mare. Soon, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Granny Smith, and Big Macintosh join the rest of the gathered ponies.

“Applejack! You’re back!” Apple Bloom squeaks with a huge smile. “Does this mean that you and Rarity aren’t gonna have a divorce?”

AJ chuckles to herself over her little sister’s innocence before patting the filly's red mane and answering with an amusing smirk, “Apple Bloom, we’re not even married yet.”

A bit embarrassed from forgetting that fact, Apple Bloom then adds, “Oh! Well… so you two are still havin' your wedding then, right?”

“Of course we will, AB. It’s going to take more than a spat like that to separate the two of us.” she grins with a wink. Then, she looks around and asks, “By the way, where is Rarity anyhow?”

“She’s upstairs in her room and hasn’t come out of there since you left the house.” Sweetie Belle answers with concern over her big sister.

Knowing that she isn’t out of the frying pan just yet, Applejack lets out a heavy sigh before she approaches the staircase as she states mostly to herself, “Alright… Ah guess Ah better head up there and settle this myself.”

“Hold your horses, sweetie.” Granny Smith stops her eldest granddaughter before presenting her a plated slice of homemade apple pie. “You should probably take this with ya as a peace offering.”

Gently, Applejack balances the plate with a fore hoof and says to her thoughtful grandmother with a grateful smile, “Thanks, Granny. Yer the best.”

Carefully, Applejack finishes her climb on the stairs with the plated pie secured on her fore hoof. Afterwards, she gingerly approaches the closed door of the bedroom that she and Rarity shares. Once she takes a very deep breath, the orange farmpony delicately knocks on the door and prepares for the worst.

“Rarity, may Ah come in?”

“Go away, Applejack!” a sniveling voice resonates from within the locked bedroom. “I’m in no mood to speak with you right now!”

“Please, sugarcube!” she desperately calls out to her. “Ah’m awful sorry for what Ah had said to you earlier! Please let me make it up to you! Ah’ve even brought ya some pie!”

“Don’t even think you can win me over with just sweets!” Rarity retorts with a mighty harrumph. “And for that matter, you can sleep in a barn for all I care!”

Disappointed to hear that her fiancée won’t budge an inch toward the door, AJ looks at her delectable apology gift and contemplates on a way to gain entry to their room. From looking at the big slice of warm, apple pie, she breaks into very sly smile as she intends to play Rarity like a fiddle.

“Okay… if you say so. Though Ah am a little surprised that you would turn down a slice of delicious, homemade apple pie. Especially if it’s made by Granny Smith. She just loves makin' pies. It’s what earned herself a Cutie Mark when she was just a filly, you know. Eeyup… there’s hardly anypony who would refuse to try one of Granny Smith’s famous apple pies. Of course, Ah understand if yer not hungry right now. Though it will break her poor, old heart when she hears you refusin' one on of her prized desserts. She certainly takes a lot of pride when it comes to her cookin'. Especially all those long, weary hours she spent slavin' on this--!”

“ALRIGHT FINE! YOU WIN! JUST COME INSIDE ALREADY!”

As Applejack smiles in triumphant, she hears the door being unlocked as it magically opens by itself. But her proud smile dies right away as her green-colored gaze locks with her future wife’s. Though maintaining her usual, glossy hairstyle, the seamstress’s purple mane has several frizzy strands sticking out. And the blue eyes of her ice-cold glare look worn out from her excessive crying; even the stains from her dried-up tears were slightly visible on her snow white face.

Without a word, Rarity steps aside and gestures the guilt-ridden farmpony inside. Silently, Applejack offers the pie to the expressionless fashionista before the two sit on the bed’s luxuriously soft, quilted cover while giving each other reasonable space between them.

With the use of her magic, Rarity takes a fork and breaks off a modest piece of the apple pie. In a graceful manner, she eats her first bite and chews on it slowly. From savoring its rich flavor of apples drench in a thick sauce of sugar and cinnamon with bits of flaky pie crust in between, Rarity couldn’t help but moan to herself from its deliciousness as she smiles broadly. Unable to contain herself, she quickly goes for another bite to relish its scrumptiousness, and she moans in delight once again.

“Mmmm! It’s still as delicious as ever!” she compliments with a wide smile and puffy cheeks.

“He-heh… Ah tend to forget how adorable you can be sometimes whenever you make faces like that.” Applejack mutters with a giggling grin.

While her face is stuffed with more of her delicious treat, Rarity reestablishes her icy glare at the farmpony, and Applejack retracts her smile into a more docile position. Once she swallow her latest bite, Rarity scowls at her, “Don’t think that you are off the hook just yet, Applejack. I’m still mad at you for all the things you’ve said to me this evening!”

Feeling blameworthy once again, Applejack removes her treasured hat and gently places it aside before she nervously begins to express her sincere remorse, “A-Ah know… and Ah shouldn’t have said things that Ah never meant to say in the first place. Ah let my temper get the best of me, and Ah'm really sorry for takin' it out on you like that. Ah guess Ah got a little bit carried away because… well… because Ah was afraid that you wouldn’t respect my lifestyle and try to take that away from me someday.”

As AJ shamefully looks down, Rarity finishes her plate and uses her levitating magic to set it aside on a nightstand nearby. Then, she slides closely to her remorseful lover and nuzzles her slightly while expressing her opinion in a very gentle tone, “Applejack, I know that we have our fair share of differences from one and another, but please believe me when I say that you have nothing to worry about over something as petty as that. I will never ever dream of changing you into something that you are not comfortable with. Don’t forget that I love for who you are no matter what.”

Gingerly, Applejack looks at Rarity and sees the soft benevolence from those big, gorgeous, blue eyes of hers. With a tiny smile, the Earth Pony asks humorously, “No matter how dirty Ah might get from my job?”

In response, Rarity grins wittily, “I believe a certain farmpony once told me that being covered in dirt at the end of the day is the value of a hard day's work.”

“Or how stubborn Ah can be sometimes?” she inquires with a growing smile.

“I would consider myself a hypocrite if I wasn’t the same as well.” she giggles to herself.

Feeling much better over Rarity’s forgiving nature, Applejack affectionately snuggles with her and apologizes once again, “Ah’m sorry from ever doubtin' ya, Rarity.”

“Apology accepted. But in return, I want your honesty this time for my next question.”

“Alright, ask away.”

Hesitantly, Rarity asks, “Are you… really happy with wearing a suit for our wedding, or do you prefer a bridal dress instead?”

Applejack gives it some careful consideration over Rarity’s question as she taps her chin. Then she answers in honest indecisiveness, “Hmm… well the truth is… Ah don’t really care what Ah would wear as long as my blushing bride gets to wear a beautiful wedding gown like she always wanted to.”

Despite blushing with a smile from AJ’s flattery, Rarity reverts to a pouty expression as she inquires, “Then how come you didn’t express your preference when we saw Coco Pommel in Manehattan that day?”

While scratching the back of her mane, Applejack replies in a sheepish manner, “Because you said that Ah would look good in a suit, so Ah guess Ah just went along with it.”

“I thought that you might have hated me for decided that for you when you got mad earlier.” she whimpers softly.

Noticing how watery her fiancée’s eyes are, Applejack leans in and warmly kisses her on the cheek before apologizing once more, “Ah’m awfully sorry for makin' ya feel that way, Rarity. Ah said some unnecessary things to you that Ah deeply regret.”

“I believe you, darling.” she reassures with a renewed smile. “But please, for my sake, do share your feelings with me from now on. I don’t want to you to feel like that your opinion doesn’t matter to me at all.”

“Ah will, Rarity.” she nods in response. “Ah promise.”

Grateful over their settlement of their latest dispute, they settle their resolve to literally kiss and make up. With their tender lips glue to one and another, their forelegs caress each other as they softly recline on their bed with their heads resting on the pillows.

From taking a break with their kiss, Applejack chuckles to herself and says with a reminiscing smile, “Heh, Ah forget how comfy this bed really is when you were tryin' to convince me to replace the old one.”

Rarity chuckles along as she rolls her eyes, “Yes, I still remember how headstrong you were from replacing that old thing you had since you were a filly.”

“Oh come on. It wasn’t that bad of a bed.”

With deadpan eyes, Rarity squabbles, “Applejack, it had tears and springs sticking out of it. A mattress like that won’t do you any good for a pony who would break her back on a daily basis.”

“It didn’t matter anyway since Lil’ Miss Generosity decided to get me a new mattress right under my very nose.” Applejack adds with an all-knowing grin.

With a smirk matching that with AJ’s, Rarity cleverly responds, “Well I certainly didn’t hear you complaining about it the next morning when you were sleeping like the adorable filly that you are. I even had to wake you up myself considering that you didn’t get up at your usual hours.”

“I guess it shows that change can be a good thing sometimes.” Applejack giggles with a smile.

When things start to get quiet between the two, Rarity is about to deliver another warm kiss for her fiancée. However, she misses her marker when Applejack sits up and gets off the bed much to the seamstress’s disappointment. But her pouting only lasts for a brief period when Rarity becomes curious on what the farmpony is pulling underneath the bed. Once she retrieves it with her mouth, Applejack springs back on their bed and places the large scroll of blue pieces of paper right in front of her bewildered beloved.

“Here, since we talkin’ about makin' some promisin' changes for ourselves, there’s something Ah’ve been meanin' to show ya.”

“Is this what you have been working on in secret?”

“Eeyup.”

Rarity shakes her head lightly and politely declines to AJ, “You don’t have to show that to me if it’s that important to you, darling.”

“No way, sugarcube.” Applejack insists greatly. “Ah’ve hid this for far too long, and Ah certainly don’t want this secret to put a damper between us when this project is meant for you in the first place.”

Astonished to hear Applejack say that, Rarity inquires with wide-eyed surprise, “It is? May I see it then?”

“Go right ahead.” Applejack permits with a smile.

With great care, Rarity unveils the scroll and takes her time to look at the sheets of paper. The special surprise that Applejack has been working on for quite some time has a set of plans, including elevation drawings, floor plans, and detail drawings. But as the seamstress flips through the large pages, she notices that the overall structure looks very familiar, especially from its elevation viewpoints.

“This… this looks just like my Carousel Boutique.” she confirms in slight confusion.

“Mm-hmm.” she nods slowly with a very keen smile stretching across her muzzle.

“But why have you been working on blueprints based off a shop I already have?”

Grinning with anticipation, Applejack answers, “Because this will be yer own personal workshop right here in Sweet Apple Acres.”

With eyes as big as saucers, Rarity flabbergasts in disbelief from the reveal of Applejack’s surprise wedding gift for her as she looks at the blueprints once again. Then, she gazes back at AJ and verifies in a trembling voice, “You mean to tell me… that you have been planning on making another shop… just for me?”

“Darn tootin’!” she confirms grinningly. “Ah had this idea as a wedding gift when you were so insistent to move in with me. And Ah know that you still have your regular job to go to at your Boutique. So I figure that if you have any personal projects to work on, you can do it right here and it will be in walkin' distance from our house.” As Rarity remains completely speechless, Applejack goes through the floor plans and clarifies some of the building’s features, “See, this room will have yer sewing equipment, and over here is where yer materials and mannequins will be. Oh, and this ‘Petite Boutique’ will even have a spare bedroom. That way, if yer feelin' exhaustive or wantin' to take a nap, you’ll be as fresh as a daisy in you very own--MMPH!”

But her presentation is cut short when Rarity pulls her thoughtful lover in for an extremely deep and appreciative kiss. Though the sudden affection catches AJ off-guard, she eventually gives in to the raw passion that her adoring fiancée is providing for her. Once their lips finally separate, Applejack remains incredibly dumbstruck while Rarity bears a loving smile and emotionally tearful eyes as she professes her gratifying love to her country sweetheart.

“Oh Applejack! I LOVE IT! ILOVEIT! ILOVEIT! ILOVEIT! ILOVEIT!”

Once she recovers from that breathtaking kiss, Applejack asks in shock, “Y-y-you do? You really mean that, Rarity?”

After quickly wiping her eyes with a tissue, Rarity replies with an overly ecstatic smile, “Well of course I do, darling! Out of all of the nicest things you have done for me, this is truly THE! MOST! NICEST! THING!”

“Does this mean Ah won’t have to sleep in a barn tonight?” she inquires with a hopeful smile.

“Heavens no!” she exclaims in a fretful tone, “I don’t want you to spend the whole night outside on some pile of hay! Even if our squabble was never resolved, I would have worried myself sick if I didn’t at least provide you a warm blanket at least!”

“So… we’re good then?”

With their muzzles touching each other, Rarity confirms with a giggling grin, “As good as apple pie!”

Smiling in relief, Applejack offers her lady a deeply affectionate kiss as Rarity happily accepts it. In the midst of their kiss, Applejack can fell the soft, tingling Unicorn Magic touching her ponytailed mane as it leisurely removes the hair band until her golden yellow hair expands into long, flowing elegance. With her mane suspending so freely, Applejack is then forcefully shoved with her back hitting the quilted covers, and Rarity climbs on top of her staggered lover while she displays a very mischievous look on her face.

“And speaking of which, I could go for another slice right about now.” she states with a very hungry smile.

“Well Ah can go back downstairs and fetcha some more.” AJ responds simply as she is unaware of the Unicorn’s ulterior motives.

“Actually darling, I’m craving for a far more different apple pie in mind.” she emphasizes with a very sly smile as she licks her lips in an unusually devious manner.

From figuring out Rarity’s subtle meaning, Applejack’s pupil-shrunken eyes grow immensely as she quietly utters in trembling excitement for what’s to come for her.

“Whoa nelly~!”

Author's Note

This second-parter (of course, I guess this the second chapter out of a three-parter to this sub-plot) is the one I was looking forward to just because of Applejack and Rarity's exchange of dialogues on how they resolve their argument from the previous chapter.

Especially towards the end of that scene, that's for sure! :trollestia:

Chapter 14 – Rainbow Dash’s Foal Shower

Chapter 14 – Rainbow Dash’s Foal Shower

Six Months and Two Weeks Remaining…
~ Mid of December (18th Week) ~

This afternoon, at the residence of Ford Mustang and Rainbow Dash, the latter of the two is getting ready for her foal shower that is being hosted by her dear friends in Ponyville. With a scarf secured around her neck, she heads out of the door with her husband following right behind her. Though for some strange reason, she was a bit hesitant to head off for a party in honor of her.

“Okay, well… I guess I’m going to the foal shower now.” she declares to her stallion halfheartedly.

“Hey, don’t let me keep you waiting!” Ford insists greatly in a chipper tone. “You go out and have fun!”

“Are you sure you don’t want to come along?” she asks with a small smile. “I’m sure the girls won’t mind you being there.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.” he casually dismisses her generous offer. “This is something for you to enjoy this evening. You and the girls have a good time tonight.”

Once they have a good clearing outside of their own floating home, the distracted Rainbow Dash freezes on the cloudy surface as she stares at the fluffy ground while Ford lightly sways in place as he anxiously waits for his wife’s takeoff.

Once she lifts up head up, she turns around to face Ford, who immediately ceases his swaying as she asks of him with big, pleading eyes, “Ford… promise me that you will be here by the time I get back.”

In response, he breaks into a chuckling grin as he reassures her, “Wha…? Rainbow, I’m not going anywhere--!”

“Then promise me!”

Following with his wife’s exclamation, Ford reacts in surprise with wide eyes by her sudden worry. But despite being startled, he shifts into a comforting smile as he gives his word to her, “Okay, Rainbow. I promise to be here by the time you get back.”

“Do you Pinkie Promise?” she adds solemnly.

After crossing his heart with a foreleg and placing it over his eye, he makes his promise once again, “Yes, Rainbow Dash. I Pinkie Promise.”

With a sigh of relief, she finally feels more at ease and says with a smile, “Good. Well, I better get going.”

“Wait, hang on! Aren’t you forgetting something?” he asks in a smirk.

She thinks on she might be missing before replying nonchalantly, “Nnnnno… can’t say that I have. Why?”

With a giggle to himself, he approaches his wife and answers wittily, “Here… let me refresh your memory.”

With a sharp tug, he pulls her in and gives Rainbow a big surprise smooch. Despite being caught off-guard at first, she breaks into a relaxing smile as she melts in Mustang’s hooves while loosely wrapping hers forelegs around him. The warm feeling she had longed for quite some time has been rekindled by that passionate kiss.

Once their tender lips part ways, the smitten mare grins like a coyote as she chuckles lightheartedly, “Oh yeah! Now I remember!”

With a chuckling smile as well, Ford responds warmly, “Love ya, angel.”

“Love you too, Mustang.”

And with a very satisfied smile, Rainbow Dash takes off like a rocket and finally heads off to the town of Ponyville. After waving her goodbye and making sure she is not turning around in case she might forget something, Ford quickly flies back into their house and prepares his own departure as well. With a saddlebag already packed with supplies and rations, he firmly straps it to his torso before heading towards the door.

But suddenly, he feels a strong pull that stops him in place. Once he turns around, he is surprised to see that it’s Tank the Tortoise who has halted the Pegasus by clamping on the stallion’s tail with his jaws. Once the reptile releases the pony’s yellow-striped, blue tail, Ford studies Tank’s expression as he can see great concern stretched across his wrinkly green face.

With no need to ask, Ford crouches down and pets the tortoise’s head while reassuring him with a gentle, honest smile, “Don’t worry, Tank. I’m not going to take too long. I just need to see someone real quick, that’s all.”

Reassured by his co-owner, Tank displays a slow yet accepting smile before going back to his business. With that taken care of, Ford makes his way to the doorway to begin his own personal errand. But before he touches the door, he spots something to his right as he realizes something truly important he nearly forgot.

On one of the hooks that is hanging on the wall is a long, beautifully woven scarf, which shares the same color and strip pattern as his wife’s gorgeous mane. This one-of-a-kind article of clothing is one of the things that Ford truly treasures because not only is this the 1st Hearth's Warming Eve gift given to him by Rainbow Dash, but what makes this gift even more special is that it’s made out of her own genuine hair.

With a warm, reminiscing smile, he take a brief moment to relive that tender moment when the two exchanged their presents for each other as he gently rubs the soft fabric against his fuzzy cheek. Then, he snuggly secures the scarf around his neck before gazing at it one more time upon its completion as he speaks softly to himself.

“I’ll be back before you even know it, Rainbow. And that’s a Pinkie Promise I intend to keep.”

And with that said, he darts out of the house and finally makes his departure. Of course, as opposed to Rainbow Dash, he flies in the other direction as he heads up north with his next destination in mind: the Talos Mountains.

Hearth’s Warming Eve is only a couple weeks away, and Ponyville has already got into the spirit of the season with its lights and decorations hanging on practically every house on the square. Plus, the town is covered in a feet thickness of snow as it’s been getting pretty cold since last week. Rainbow Dash flies across the snowy streets as she heads off to the location of her foal shower: the Carousel Boutique. After making her landing with her hooves digging into the bank of snow, she knocks on the door and is immediately greeted by Ponyville’s party pony extraordinaire, Pinkie Pie.

“Dashie! You made it!” the pink mare squeaks with her ever-so cheerful smile as gives a big, warm hug to her Pegasus friend.

“Whoa there! Easy on the hugs, Pinkie.” Rainbow jokes mildly before softly patting her four-and-a-half month pregnant belly. “Expectant mother here, remember.”

“Tee-hee! Oopsie! Sorry!” she giggles with a broad yet sheepish smile. “Well, come on in! Everypony else is here!”

After being welcomed inside, Dash friends turn their heads as they express beaming faces with her arrival. Among the guests are Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, and Rarity, the one who initially set up this event for Rainbow. In the hostess’s shop, the first floor is decorated with lots of soft colors such as pink, yellow, and light blue, including the main banner, balloons, and streamers; no doubt the handiwork of Pinkie Pie, of course. On several of the clothed tables, plenty of luscious treats and drinks are neatly arranged along with the proper and very elegant dishware and utensils; a perfect collaboration by Applejack’s cooking and Rarity’s sophistication.

“Rainbow Dash! Welcome!” Rarity greets with a broad smile as she and the rest of their friends approach the guest of honor.

“Heh! And it’s about time too if you ask me!” a gruff yet familiar voice speaks out from behind.

From recognizing it, Rainbow hovers up in the air to get a better look. And with beaming astonishment, the Pegasus swoops down toward the unexpected guest once she sees the sharp smirk on her griffon friend, Gilda.

“No way! Gilda!” the energetic mare chuckles mightily as she embraces Gilda first before sharing a proper fist-bump with her. “Hi ya doing, you grumpy sack of feathers?”

“A lot better than you are apparently.” Gilda remarks with a chuckling grin as she points a claw at Rainbow’s exposed belly. “Normally baby showers aren’t my thing, but I’m willing to make this an exception just for you, Rainbow.”

With a roll of her eyes, Rainbow responds back with a sarcastic smirk, “Geez! I’m so lucky to have a party crasher like you, Gilda!”

“Then today is your lucky day, Rainbow! ‘Cause now you have three!” another familiar, female voice calls out to her.

Right beside the two reunited friends, Rainbow Dash turns her head to the other source as she is taken aback once again with two more unexpected guests. This time, it’s her two celebrated colleagues, from the world-renowned flight team, The Wonderbolts.

“Hey, Spitfire! Fleetfoot!” Rainbow announces in excitement as she hugs the two mares. “Good to see you two! So, is this the part where you desperately beg me to come back to the team?”

Matching a cocky grin with hers, Spitfire teases back with a small chuckle, “Hardly. We just figure that we ought to stop by and let you in on all the fun you’ve been missing since your maternity leave.”

“Plus, you know… free food.” Fleetfoot adds with a shrug. Then, she reaches for something close by and presents an envelope and a beautiful boutique of flowers, which has a variety of colorful carnations. “Oh, here’s a card from all the Wonderbolts to congratulate you on your twins, and I also got you these flowers.”

“Thanks.” Rainbow says as she accepts the thoughtful gifts. “Where did you get them?”

“From… the local flower shop nearby.” the white-haired mare answers in mild hesitation as a rosy blush flourishes across her arctic blue cheeks.

Once she notices the Wonderbolt’s face sudden change in color, Rainbow asks with an arched eyebrow, “Wait, are you blushing?”

“N-n-no! Why would I need to?!” Fleetfoot retorts as her blush intensifies while her fuschia eyes shift nervously from one corner of the room to another.

Unable to contain herself, Spitfire interjects as she enlightens the mother-to-be with a very crafty, chuckling smile, “Oh don’t mind her, Dash. She’s just crushing on that cute redhead who gave us the flowers out there.”

With her longtime friend spoiling her secret in front of Rainbow and the other guests, Fleetfoot snaps instantaneously at the grinning, fiery-haired mare, “I am not ‘crushing’ on her!”

Then, Fluttershy steps in to gently verify something, “Wait, was it Roseluck you met earlier?”

Abruptly, Fleetfoot shifts from angry to delight once she heard the name of the flower girl. “Oh, that’s her name?”

Without a moment to spare, the cackling Spitfire jumps on this opportunity to further her teasing against Fleetfoot, “Well would you look at that. You only met her once, and you’re already a lovesick puppy dog to her.”

Soon enough, Rainbow Dash joins in with her commander as they snicker at Fleetfoot’s misfortune, which was all she could handle as she shouts out loud, “Shut up, Spitfire!”

Of course, the grinning Spitfire ignores her friend’s outburst as she insists on telling the whole story to everyone present, “You should have seen it! Figuring that we need some flowers to go with the card, Fleetfoot leans forwards and takes a whiff of them. But what she didn’t realize was that her muzzle got really close to not only the flowers but also the shopkeeper’s tail! Fleetfoot got so embarrassed from being so close to this mare’s flanks that she was trying to apologize and get this… she pretty much blurted out on how lovely she smelled!”

Gaping with a huge smile, Rainbow enunciates in shock and amusement at the incredibly flustered Fleetfoot, “OH! MY! GOSH! YOU! DID! NOT!”

“Yep! Poor girl.” Spitfire adds with an irrepressible chuckle. “Her face became just as rosy as her mane. But then again, Fleetfoot was equally as flushed as her.”

As Spitfire concludes her tale, she is quickly joined in a chorus of laughter by Rainbow Dash, Vinyl Scratch, Applejack, Gilda, and Pinkie Pie while Rarity, Octavia, Twilight, and Fluttershy either try to muffle their laughs or turn away in a blushing manner. In the center of it all, Fleetfoot’s face turns into an extreme shade of red, both from her complete embarrassment and her increasingly immense rage towards her team captain.

“I was referring to the flowers, Spitfire.” she growls at her with piercing, fuchsia eyes.

Unaffected by Fleetfoot’s cold glare, Spitfire responds teasingly with a very shrewd smirk, “Yeah, sure you were~!”

With the arctic blue Pegasus maintaining her death stare, the carefree Spitfire decides to call it quits on her playful joking, and she wraps a friendly fore hoof around the pouty mare’s shoulders. “Aww… come on, Fleetfoot. It wasn’t that bad. You two had a nice conversation after that, and she helped you pick out the perfect ones for the foal shower. She even tried to offer you a discount on those flowers too.”

From that reminder, Fleetfoot calms down considerably as she shifts in a warm smile before saying in a fairly flustered manner, “I couldn’t allow her to do that. She’s a really nice girl, so I gave her some extra bits instead.”

“D’awww! That’s so sweet of you!” Fluttershy signs with sentimental delight. “If you like, I can give you Roseluck’s address if you would like to write to her someday.”

“R-really?!”

Fleetfoot’s squeaky response causes the whole room go silent as everyone else stares at the white-haired mare, who blushes once again from that slip-up. While the rest of the guests are startled by that high-pitched shout, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire couldn’t help but break into sharp, clever grins that stretch across their smug faces.

Trying her best to ignore the devious smirks on her two impish friends, the ever-so flustered Fleetfoot takes a moment to make a subtle cough for herself and clarifies to Fluttershy in a poorly cool manner, “I mean… yeah sure, that’s cool, whatever.”

Wanting to get back on track with the party she has planned for months, Rarity gets everyone’s attention by clearing her throat first. “Ahem! Well, since everypony is present and accounted for, we can finally begin Rainbow Dash’s foal shower--!” But her announcement gets interrupt by a soft knock on the door.

“Huh… who else could it be?” Rarity ponders with mild curiosity.

“Ah’ll get it!” Applejack offers with a smile as she trots toward the door. But once she opens it, AJ freezes in her tracks with wide, petrified eyes, not because of the frigid air outside, but because she is under the unexpected presence of visiting royalty.

“P-P-PRINCESSES?!”

Applejack’s stammering exclamation causes nearly everyone to head towards the doorway as they are deeply astonished by the two ponies are standing before them: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. At once, they all bow right away before their princesses. Gilda hesitates in confusion for a brief second before she does the same out of respect.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!” Twilight shrieks hysterically. “Wh-wh-what brings you all the way out here?!”

“I’m terribly sorry for the intrusion, ladies.” Celestia bows courteously to her subjects. “But we heard about your foal shower, Rainbow Dash, and we hope to come on by and bear gifts for your party.”

“Forgive me, Princess Celestia…” Twilight approaches them gingerly. “…but how did you hear about that?”

On cue, another familiar face pops around the corner of the doorway as Discord waves to them with a big, toothy smile on his face. “Hello~!”

With a heavy frown over the trickster’s sudden appearance, Twilight murmurs to herself, “Sigh… of course.”

“May we come in please?” Luna asks politely.

“Oh! Of course!” Rainbow welcomes them with an ecstatic grin. “Who doesn’t want two of the coolest princesses into the party?! Come right in!”

And after Dash lets them in with a wave of her fore hoof, the Alicorn sisters bow graciously before walking inside while Discord casually struts right behind him. But the Draconequus is halted by a firm hoof pressed against his slender belly before he looks down as the steadfast Applejack giving him the stink eye.

“Whoa, hold it right there, partner! Who says you can come on in?” Applejack inquires with a judgmental gaze.

“Oh sure, allow these party crashers to barge in here, but never invite little old me~!” he pouts exaggeratedly in self-pity while showcasing a quivering lip and big, expressive eyes.

Rarity steps next to her wife and addresses in a refined yet stern tone, “I hate to burst your bubble, dearie, but this is a foal shower. And that means this party is for mares only.”

After blinking his deadpan eyes a couple times, Discord bears a cryptic yet conceding smile as he shows himself out of the door. “Oh yes! Of course! How silly of me!” And once he is outside, he turns around to face the farmpony while making his skin turn ice blue, his crossed arms shivering like mad, and having few icicles drip from his horns, goatee and nose. “Well then I’ll just be on my way… out in the bitter cold… probably gonna freeze myself to death… with nopony who wants me any--!”

SLAM!

Unamused by Discord’s antics, Applejack slams the door in front of him before turning to her wife with a playful smirk. “Hmph! And here Ah thought you would be the one takin’ the cake for being melodramatic sometimes.”

Despite the lighthearted quip aimed at her, Rarity didn’t take any offense to that remark as she responds with a giggling smile, “Hmm… true true.”

“Oh, are you sure we can’t let him for just a little while?” Fluttershy pleads kindheartedly.

“Sorry, darling, but it’s tradition.” Rarity replies unwaveringly. “No stallions are allowed to the foal shower what’s so ever.”

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Taking a good guess on who’s knocking on the door, Applejack stomps froward as she grumbles to her friends, “Grr… Ah’ll handle this.” With a mighty swing of the door, she grunts at the expected intruder, “Look here, Discord, we don’t--!”

But her outburst is cut short when she notices something different about him. Or should she say… her. More specifically, this female variation of Discord has a lot more curves and a surprisingly feminine face, including her striking eyes with eyelashes and wild yet flowing, white hair.

“Aww… you ruined it! You were supposed to say ‘Who’s there?’” the female trickster remarks with a smirk at the speechless Earth Pony.

Once she composed herself, Applejack face-hoofs herself in aggravation as she asks the painfully obvious question, “Sigh… Discord, why are ya wearin’ a getup like that?”

“‘Discord?’ Why I’m not Discord!” the Draconequus declares in sarcastic shock.

“Right… and Ah’m the Apple Fairy.” the deadpan farmpony replies sharply. “Please to meetcha. Now goodbye.”

But before Applejack can shut the door again, the taller individual stops it with a goat-hoofed leg as she readdresses herself with an egotistic smile, “Hold on there, cowpony! I haven’t even introduced myself. My name is Eris, the Mistress of Chaos! And I am the older sister of that devious yet equally charming trickster whom you are referring to as Discord.”

With her patience running thin, Applejack sets trickster straight once and for all, “Now you listen here, ‘Eris’… Ah don’t know what kind of ruse yer pulling off here, but there is no way yer gonna into this here party! It’s exclusively for mares only!”

“Ah-ha, but you see, I am a mare!” Eris points it out with a winning smirk. “Well… a fraction of a mare to be exact. And according to tradition, anyone who is a female is allowed to be part of a baby shower! So there!” And she ends it by sticking her tongue out.

As Applejack grits her teeth and maintains her glare at Eris, Rainbow Dash interjects sharply, “Oh just let him--!”

“Ahem! ‘her.’” Eris corrects smugly.

“Fine. Let HER inside already!” Dash rearticulates in a grump. “You’re letting all the cold air in anyway.”

With great annoyance, AJ stands aside, and Eris flies right inside with a triumphant grin. Then, she bounces on a large, luxurious sofa and uses her arms to stretch across the room and pull everyone else in to place them on the same sofa or nearby furniture. Once the perplexed guests are situated in their respective couches, Eris starts things off with their first activity.

“Soooo… who has any juicy gossips to share with us?” She asks with an eager grin while tapping her mismatched fingers together in a very devious manner.

But Applejack remains skeptical as she mutters underneath her breath, “Yeah, probably to blackmail or embarrass us no less.”

“Well umm… I wouldn’t say it’s that juicy of a story, but I… do have something in mind to share.” Fluttershy speaks up in her usually quiet voice.

After all eyes are turn toward Fluttershy, the blushing, yellow Pegasus becomes hesitant to share her news before she speaks once again in an increasing shy manner, “You see… umm… well… I’m… pregnant.”

Unable to hear her timid friend, Rarity requests in a well-mannered tone, “I’m sorry, darling. Could you speak up just a little louder?”

“I’m… pregnant.”

“A little louder please?” the seamstress sweetly asks once again.

“I’m pregnant.”

“Oh for crying out loud!” Gilda screeches in a tiring grump. “Just spit it out already!”

“I’M PREGNANT!!”

After that high-pitched declaration, the embarrassed Fluttershy covers her muzzle quickly with her forelegs as everyone else in the room stare speechlessly with wide eyes at the extremely flustered Pegasus. Of course, the silence didn’t last for long when Rarity is the first react in overwhelming joy over this surprising yet astonishing announcement.

“OH MY STARS, DARLING! That’s wonderful! Why didn’t you tell us sooner?!”

“Yeah, we could have ourselves two foal showers at the same time!” Pinkie Pie declare in a very broad and excited smile.

“Sorry.” Fluttershy apologizes meekly as ever, “I just found this out today.”

“This is so cool!” Rainbow Dash asserts with an equally ecstatic grin as the rest of her friends as she gives Fluttershy a great, big hug, “How did all of this happen?!”

“Umm… well… do you remember what you, me, and Rarity were discussing from the last time we had dinner at Sweet Apple Acres?” Fluttershy responds timidly with big, rosy cheeks. From that reminder, Rainbow Dash’s face nearly turns the same shade of red as her winged friend. But after that flustering moment, Dash breaks into her winning grin and praises the shy Pegasus for her rare display of audacity.

“Wow, Fluttershy… I never would take you to be so sly like that. Still, that’s awesome! Congrats! Now we’re both going to be mothers, huh?”

“Yes, I guess so. GASP! Do you think our foals will be the best of friends?!” Fluttershy asks with a huge, hopeful smile.

“I don’t see why not.” Rainbow responds with steadfast grin.

“In any case, we all wish you the best on your journey through motherhood.” Princess Luna states with a modest smile as she offers her own congratulations to the younger mare.

Then, Princess Celestia does the same thing as her younger sister, “Yes, truly this is indeed a blessing to have. Congratulations once again, Fluttershy.”

“Th-thank you, Princesses.” Fluttershy replies with an ever-so humble smile as she shyly brushes her long, pink hair. “But umm… I can’t help but worry that I may not live up to such expectations.”

“Oh Fluttershy, you have no idea on what a wonderful pony you are.” Eris insists with a very warm smile as she gently embraces her first true friend closely. “Trust me when I say this: if you can tame the Master of Chaos, then surely raising a kid or two will hardly be a problem if they have a mother like you.”

A bit staggered by the vote of confidence from the Mistress of Chaos, Fluttershy responds with a broad, appreciative smile to her Draconequus friend, “Thank you, Disc--! I mean Eris! You’re very sweet to say something like that for me.”

“So… does this mean I get dibs on being your foal’s privileged godmother?” Eris asks as she leans in closely with a playful smirk and a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“Umm… well… I didn’t really think--!”

But Rarity sharply steps forward to interrupt Fluttershy's response from fearing that she will be taken advantage of her kindness. “Now wait just a minute, Eris! You can’t just demand up front to be somepony’s godmother!”

“Puh-lease! Who better to quality for such a privilege than an actual goddess herself?” Eris remarks with a smug grin as multiple, flashy signs pop out of nowhere as they all point at the confident trickster with taglines such as “PICK ME”, “VOTE FOR ERIS”, and “BEST GODMOTHER EVER.”

“If that was the case, I can think of two more competent candidates in mind.” the unimpressed Twilight Sparkle mumbles as she directs her gaze at the Alicorn Sisters.

“I’ll… let you know at some point once we decide on that.” Fluttershy states with an uneasy smile as she didn’t want anypony to fight over the right to be her future foal’s godmother.

“Oh, very well.” Eris agrees with a casual sigh. “I am willing to push that matter aside for the time being. Actually… all this baby talk has jogged my memory on something that I too want to share with all of you. For you see… I… oh mercy, this is… rather embarrassing!” she exaggerates as she fans herself. “There’s no easy way to say, but I’m… I’m… I’m pregnant.”

Like Fluttershy’s announcement, everyone is completely speechless once again over Eris’s own outrageous proclamation. Only this time, their surprised reaction is stretched to their extreme limits with their gaping mouths drop like they each weigh a ton and their eyes expand significantly. But as they are trying to comprehend all of this, Eris has one more thing to add to her claim.

“And it’s yours.” she says softly as she directs head to one pony in the room as the rest soon follow her line of sight. Staring with great disbelief and confusion, all eyes except Eris’s are now turning to the one pony as the sudden shift in the center of attention: Princess Celestia.

“WHAAAT?!”

After the Sun Princess’s surprisingly unsophisticated shriek, Luna demands out of her, “Sister! How could you?!”

“Luna, I had nothing to do--!” she flusters over her denial.

“No I mean… how could you even do that?!” she restates herself in complete bewilderment.

“I agree, Princess!” Twilight interjects as well. “Is that even possible?!”

“Well technically, there are certain ways--!” But Celestia’s regal composure gets the best of her before she quickly shakes her head and states it out loud, “Wait a minute, I’m getting off track here!”

“Whoa whoa whoa! I wanna hear this myself, Princess!” Vinyl Scratch cuts in suddenly.

Surprisingly enough, Octavia steps in as well as she inquires persistently with a mild blush on her face, “Y-yes, I quite agree! This kind of information could be quite vital! I mean if it was possible for you and Discord--!”

“NOTHING LIKE THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED BETWEEN US!”

Following with Celestia’s tremendously loud objection, everyone else remains silent as they recline as far back against their respective seats as possible. Only Luna was brave enough to respond slyly towards her sister’s hysteria.

“Hmph! Not yet at least.”

However, the aggravated Celestia is able to pick up on Luna’s mumbling with her sharp ears, and she stares at her younger sister down with an infuriated glare while Luna shuts her lips tightly as she couldn’t bring herself to look at her older sister in the eye.

But before things can get out of hoof, the intense stare-down is interrupted by some aggravating snickering. Then, that shifts into up uproarious laughter as Eris couldn’t contain her hilarity while she squirms on the couch uncontrollably.

“OH-HO-HO-HOO!! Oh just look at all of you! Your reactions are simply priceless! I can’t believe you all took that so seriously! AH-HA-HA-HA-HA! EE-HEE-HEE! Ha-ha-ha! Oooooh…!”

But her amusement is cut short when Eris opens her eyes from all of her laughing as the mischievous prankster is face-to-face with the completely enraged Celestia while everyone else shares the same annoyance toward the trickster as the Sun Princess does.

“Eris… I swear to myself, I will send you to the sun if you even attempt to provoke us like that ever again!” Celestia vows in a growling tone.

Seeing how dangerous it is to take Celestia’s mercy lightly, Eris simply shrugs with a toothy smile as she got enough fun out of their reactions. “Eh, dully noted.”

On one couch, Spitfire, Fleetfoot and Gilda bear witness to the recent events as their flabbergasted faces are frozen with big, bulgy eyes before Spitfire asks in perplexity, “Is this… normal in Ponyville?”

“Yep! Pretty much!” Rainbow nods with a proud smile.

But her griffon friend breaks from her speechlessness as she chuckles with an amusing grin, “Okay, I take back what I said earlier. This is shower is pretty neat after all!”

Later on, they get on with the presents for the foal shower, much to Rainbow Dash’s delight. First up are Spitfire and Fleetfoot as they present a bunch of Wonderbolt merchandise meant for the foals, including jerseys, hats, and other articles of themed clothing. Along with that, they also present a plushie doll that bears a strong resemblance to Rainbow with her Wonderbolt garb and goggles on.

“Hey, these clothes and this plushie doll of myself are pretty sweet! Thanks girls!” Rainbow grins with appreciation.

“No problem, Dash.” nods Spitfire. “Figuring that their mother is a Wonderbolt herself, they might be genuine fans of the team themselves.”

“Well… I guess I’m up next.” Gilda steps ups with a sigh as she gives her Pegasus friend a gift bag. Once Rainbow pulls her next present out of its bag, she gasps with a smile as she holds up another adorable plushie doll. But this time, it’s a little snow owl with specks of black across its wings, a small black beak, and cute, beady eyes.

“Hey, I know this little guy!” she declares with glee. “This was what you brought over during our days at flight school, wasn’t it?”

“Sigh… yeah, it is.” Gilda admits with a mild blush as she lightly scratches the back of her head. “She was… kinda like my only friend at the time… before I met Rainbow Dash when we were kids.”

“D’aww! What a darling little owl!” Rarity squeaks with delight as she makes a kissy face at it. “Does she have a name?”

“Yeah, she does. Her name is… well… S-S-Snowy.”

“Aww… I think it’s cute!” Fluttershy comments with a sweet smile.

Instinctively, Glida develops a maddening blush as she twists her head and petrifies Fluttershy with her death stare while she retorts at her, “You mocking me?!”

And just like their first confrontation in Ponyville, the sensitive Fluttershy expresses big, emotional eyes and she whimpers in response, “I-I wasn’t! I swear!”

With a pat on the griffon’s shoulder, Rainbow reminds her in a soft yet stern tone, “Gilda… be nice.”

“S-sorry.” Gilda apologizes awkwardly to which Fluttershy accepts with a nod and smile. Feeling more at ease, she readdresses her gift to Dash, “Anyway, I figure it would be better if the little tykes had it instead of me.”

“Thanks, Gilda. I’m sure the twins will love her.”

“But you better take good care of Snowy for me!” Gilda warms with ruffled feathers and a massive blush consuming her face. “I better not find her torn apart if those little munchkins fight over her! Got it?!”

“Yeah yeah, I got it!” Rainbow reassures with a chuckling smile and a casual wave of her foreleg.

“Ooo! I guess I’m up next!” Eris exclaims with an enthusiastic grin, and she flies off to a nearby room in a flash before pulling something out of there, which is a cart on wheels and a large, domed lid concealing what's on top. “Hope you’re hungry because I have a real treat for all of you!”

As Eris hovers in mid-air while wearing a black-and-white maid’s uniform, she lifts the lid off of the cart and showcases her present. From a distance, it looks like a white cake, but in actuality, it is a ginormous stack of toilet paper rolls that’s arranged and shaped like a colossal cake. From the looks of it, this strange gift must have consisted of dozens of paper sealed rolls.

“Bon Appetite, everyone!” Eris announces with a toothy smile to the gawking crowd.

“Umm… Eris? Those are diapers.” Rainbow states the obvious with a deadpan face.

“A diaper cake, Rainbow Dash.” she corrects with an amusing grin. “Heard they are all the rage at baby showers these days. Although I was almost tempted to make it more realistic if I had some chocolate frosting on the side.”

From the mention of frosting, Pinkie Pie anxiously waves her fore hoof in the air as she insists out loud, “Ooo! I might have--!”

But Applejack and Rarity already knew what the naughty prankster was referring to as they hastily halt Pinkie’s eagerness in a synchronized state of panic and disgust, “NO!!”

“Well, at least you won’t have to worrying about buying diapers for a long time.” Fluttershy offers to Rainbow in an awkward smile.

With a hearty giggle, Rainbow agrees with her close friend, “That’s true.”

Next up, Celestia and Luna step forward as the younger sister presents a sealed envelope with the use of her magic, “Here you go, Rainbow Dash. From me and my sister.”

“Thank you very much, Princesses.” she nods graciously before accepting their gift. Gingerly, Rainbow opens her envelope and pulls out the letter. Once she unfolds it, Rainbow takes the time to read it herself before sharing it with her friends. But as she reads through it, her eyes expand significantly as her pupils shrink drastically at the reveal of the Princesses’ gift to her. Once she finishes her letter, she stares at the two Alicorn sisters with an immensely shocked expression before stuttering out her response.

“I… I… I don’t know if I can accept this.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight Sparkle criticizes her sharply. “You shouldn’t reject a gift from the Princesses like that!”

“It’s not like that, Twilight! Just… look!”

At once, she passes the letter to Twilight before the purple Alicorn reads it out loud to everyone, “In this solemn pledge, we will prove your children all-expense-paid scholarships to the very college of their choice once they are accepted. In substitute of colleges, we will also include…!

As Twilight continues to read the passage and lists the other possible means of further education to all of the gaping listeners, Rainbow turns back to the smiling Alicorn sisters and tries to refuse their charitable gift as respectfully as possible, “Seriously, Princesses! This… this is way too generous, even from you!”

“Well what better time to bear gifts than this holiday season.” Celestia remarks with a giggling smile.

Then Luna adds in a friendly manner, “Besides, we wish to ensure a promising future for your twins.”

Unable to turndown the princesses’ generosity, Rainbow gradually expresses her deepest appreciation for the royal sisters by bowing repeatedly and practically groveling at their hooves, “Thank you! Thank you so much!”

As Rainbow finishes her deep sign of gratitude to the princesses, Rarity softly clears her throat before stepping forward to present the next gift, “Well… I can’t say that we’ll be able to measure up to the Princesses’… but there’s no sense as to giving it a shot once we present our final gifts!”

“Ooh, a grand finale, huh?” Dash perks with a very excited grin. “Well let’s see it!”

“Ask and ye shall receive!” the seamstress beams giddily as she walks over to one of fabulous curtains where she would showcases her latest lines in fashion. “Behold! The ultimate gift package ever conceived!”

With a pull of the cord with the use of her magic, Rarity unveils what’s behind the Curtain Number One. And with the reveal of the remaining presents, Rainbow gasps with immense astonishment as she gazes at her friends’ latest collaboration. In one big pile, there are tons of assorted gifts, including, but limited, some neatly stacked baby clothes, several stuffed animals, a pile of illustrated books, lots of baby toys, and a record player with a few albums next to it.

But at the center of this heap of wonderful gifts stands a magnificent structure that towers over the rest: the baby’s crib. The large infant’s bed is colored in a soft violet color. The corners are decorated with wooden cutouts featuring very light blue clouds and bright yellow shooting stars. The crib’s mattress, blankets, and small pillows share the same color as the clouds. And on one side of the crib is a music mobile with an hinged attachment that hangs over the twin-sized bed.

As Rainbow continues to stare at her present in absolute amazement, Rarity is more than happy to carry on with the presentation, “You see, each of us have contributed to this showcase in our own special way! For example, I made dozens of cute baby clothes for your adorable, little foals to try on!”

“Ah created a voucher where you can receive a large stock of free, wholesome baby food, provided by none other than Sweet Apple Acres!” Applejack grins with pride.

“I provide some of my favorite children’s books for you and Ford to read for the twins!” Twilight states with a smile.

“I provide lots of games and toys for the little tykes to play!” Pinkie says ecstatically.

“I provide lots of cute, stuffed animals to cuddle up with!” Fluttershy squeaks with a cutesy face.

"And we provide several records for a soothing ambiance for the little ones!" Octavia declares with delight.

“Plus a record player of my own creation!” Vinyl adds with a proud smirk.

“And as our final gift…” Rarity proclaims in barely contained giddiness as she points at the handcrafted bed. “…the crème de la crème… your very own crib! This one-of-a-kind bed is designed and orchestrated by yours truly!”

“And followin' up on my wife’s designs, Ah’ve carved this here lil’ beauty myself!” AJ remarks with renewed pride.

“Ooo ooo! I helped out as well by painting it!” Pinkie Pie states in her usual excitement with a rapid wave of her fore hoof.

“And I provide the softest, most cushiony blankets I could find at Cloudsdale!” Fluttershy says with a cooing smile.

“And this little doo-hicky is an invention of mine: a musical mobile to help the twins sleep easily!” Vinyl comments with another proud grin.

“With music hoof-picked by me, of course!” Octavia emphasizes strongly.

“I’m telling you!” Vinyl retorts to her wife with a chuckle. “Rock and Roll is perfect for them! They’ll love it!”

“Maybe when they’re older, I might allow it.” the cellist consents with a small smirk.

But the DJ pushes it even further by leaning against her and pulling off her usual puppy-dog eyes. “Say for their first birthday by any chance?”

However, Octavia counters her wife’s lighthearted plead as she emphasizes it even stronger, “MAYBE.”

Then Twilight steps forward as she take great, zealous joy from explaining from her own contribution, “And attached to their musical mobile is my very own contraption: it’s a magical device that depicts a hologram of our solar system!”

And the overly excited Alicorn shows how it works by pressing a button on the hanging contraption. In a near-instant, the projector emits countless, tiny lights as they form different celestial bodies, including twinkling stars, patterned constellations, a warm, yellow sun, and a cool, blue moon. And in the center of this micro-universe is the ponies’ variation of Earth, which shares the same blue-and-green color scheme as Ford’s native world.

“See, here’s our world!” Twilight continues with an ecstatic smile as she feverishly points each of them out, “And here’s the sun and the moon… and here are thousands of stars that depict every known constellation! Oh look! There’s Capricorn! And over here, you can see Libra! Ooo, and right next to it is--!”

But before the fervent Twilight gets carried away with her presentation, Applejack gently nudges her Alicorn friend to break her out of her trance, and the farmpony implies with a sly smirk, “Uhh, Twilight, Ah don’t mean to interrupt, but let’s just save astronomy for another time, ‘kay?” And in response, the Twilight breaks into a sheepish grin before she awkwardly hovers right back into the circle of friends.

“So darling, how do you like our gifts?” Rarity asks the blue Pegasus with as much high hope as the rest of the contributors.

Rainbow Dash is still flabbergasted by all of the gathered presents before her. In a rare, slow pace, she walks forward to get a better look at each of her gifts. As her friends wait anxiously for her response, the deadpan daredevil carefully examines each one of her presents before diverting her awestricken gaze at the crib in the center. After taking all of this in, she finally utters out her response in a very quiet voice.

“I… I… I Iove them.”

Then, she turns her head around as she expresses big, emotional eyes and an increasingly overjoyed smile to her friends before she lets it out in an explosion of excitement while she flies in circles around her gifted collaboration.

“I LOVE THEM! ILOVETHEM! ILOVETHEM! ILOVETHEM! ILOVETHEM! ILOVETHEM!”

And after expressing her immense appreciation over her final gifts, she dashes right up to her Ponyville friends and immediately pulls them in a big group hug while she carries on with her ecstatic gratitude for them.

“OH THANKYOU! THANKYOU! THANKYOU! THANKYOU! THANKYOU! You girls are like the coolest friends a gal like me could ever ask for!”

Feeling like she got most of it out, she feels back to her one-of-a-kind crib and gracefully slides her fore hoof across its smooth, wooden surface just to get a good feel of it. As she continues to admire the bed that will someday be for her foals, Rainbow mutters something else in mind in barely contained anticipation.

“Oh, I wish Ford Mustang was here right now! He would have loved all of this!”

Meanwhile, Thousands of Miles Away…

Pass the borders of Equestria and into the Griffon Kingdom's territory, Ford Mustang flies through the thick, gloomy sky like a bolt of lightning as he seeks to gain an audience with clan leader of the Talos Mountains, Wagner the Inferno Dragon King.

Despite his own preparations beforehand, he never would have considered how treacherous the weather would be in this mountain region. Ponyville and most of Equestria was hit with a major snowstorm, but the blizzard Ford is currently enduring is even worse than the first time he went to see Wagner. The chill is mercilessly intense. The haze is so thick that he could barely see the silhouetted mountains. And surprisingly enough, the snowflakes are large, relentless and almost as sharp as razors. Despite the drastic change in weather, the bold stallion manages to press forward without those harsher conditions slowing him down.

However, the same thing can’t be said for the ferocious wind the Pegasus is confronting head-on. Not only is it making more difficult for him to see through the vicious storm, but its incredibly strong winds are managing to decrease his blazing speed. Though Ford’s magical aura protects him from the snow, it’s not enough to push through the storm’s intensity.

But no matter how strong the howling winds are, they’re not going to stop him from! He has come too far to turn around at this point, and there is no way Mustang is going to give up now! Not just on himself, but also on his wife, Rainbow Dash, whose very life may be hanging by a thread!

With his perseverance renewed and burning with desire, Ford rages against the storm and pushes his Equestrian body even further than before. A familiar vapor cone begins to form in front of him, but that’s just an initial phase for what’s to come. And before long, he breaks that once-aggravating barrier and unleashes the full force of his Sonic Rainboom!

KA-BOOM!!

With an additional boost of tremendous speed, Ford smashes through the ruthless wind and bolts through the storm like it is nothing now! But as his boldness grows from flying at such an incredible pace, he almost fails to notice a colossal mountain right in front of him. Immediately alarmed by this, the Pegasus makes a miraculous, sharp turn away from the mountain without facing a head-on collision with it.

But even with that close call, Ford didn’t give himself time to react from heading right towards a really tall, pine tree. From that impact, he breaks off the top part of the tree, and it completely messes up his flying. As he descends toward the ground, he twists and turns uncontrollably before he lands on the thick layer of snow. Unable to regain his balance or control of his body, he tumbles all the way down as he bounces across the frigid valley. Finally, he comes to a gradual stop, and he lands face first on the snow.

Feeling drained from his stressful nights and significantly sore from his crash landing, he attempts to pull himself up as he still has an important task to fulfill. But at his current state, all he can do is lift his head up groggily before his face collapses right on the thick layer of snow he just landed in.

Back in Carousal Boutique, Rainbow Dash’s foal shower has been going really well as the hours passed by. They already finished their big meals and have moved on to their desserts. On one side of the lounge room, Twilight Sparkle observes Rainbow from afar as she cheerfully carries on with a conversation with some of her friends. Twilight sighs in relief as she smiles on how the party is going along smoothly.

Then, she turns her head to her right and observes a grandfather clock. According to the ticking clock’s time, it’s been hours since the foal shower began as it is nighttime right now. From this observation, Twilight’s nerves start get to her as she worries increasingly on whether or not Ford Mustang has finished his task and made it home in time. But soon, her inner thoughts get interrupted by the soft-spoken voice of her former mentor, Princess Celestia.

“Is everything alright, Twilight?”

“No--! I mean yes! Everything’s going great! Why wouldn’t it be?!” the younger princess reassures nervously with a very awkward smile stretching across her face.

After Princess Luna joins the two, Celestia comforts the uneasy Alicorn, “Twilight, I understand your concern over our unexpected arrival, but I assure you, we are only here to just show our support for Rainbow Dash and nothing else."

“Besides, we wouldn’t even dare talk about anything that could jeopardize her happiness.” Luna says sincerely. “Does our presence trouble you by any chance?”

“No no! Of course not!” Twilight responds frantically. “I am always pleased to be with you two! It’s just that… did you really have to bring HIM along?” she emphasizes as she glares at Eris, who is busy entertaining her friends.

With a lighthearted giggle, Celestia replies to her dubious, former student, “Trust us, Twilight Sparkle. It would just complicate things if he didn’t come along with us. It would be best to keep a close eye on him at all times.”

Then Luna adds, “Plus, we made him promised us to never reveal anything that can expose our previous conversations.”

“Hmph! That’s reassuring.” Twilight grumps to herself sarcastically.

Suddenly, a flash of light teleports Eris right in-between the conversing princesses as the grinning she-devil couldn’t help but butt in their discussion. “Excuse me, ladies, but I couldn’t help but wonder on whoever you are talking about.”

“Well in case you are wondering, we were just talking about you.” Twilight answers sternly.

“Me?” Eris gasps exaggeratedly before pleading her supposed innocence before them. “Well what did I do? We’ve never even met in the first place.”

Having all she could take, Twilight seeks to put an end to the trickster’s charade and snaps out loud, “Okay, cut the act, Discord! I know what you are up to, and I’m not going to let you spoil it in front of Rainbow Dash!”

Surprisingly enough, Eris remains firm with her act on as she responds, “Well then, you should it take it up with my brother instead of me.” And as she points her thumb towards a window behind, Another Discord, this time, a male duplicate, pops up and teasingly waves from outside. And after casually waving back to her male counterpart, Eris turns back to face the now-bamboozled Twilight and adds with a crafty smirk, “Besides, I have no idea on what you are talking about.”

After shaking away her confusion, Twilight snaps once again, “Don’t toy with me! You know full well on what I’m referring to!”

“Nnnope. Still don’t have a clue.” Eris replies while shaking her head.

“About our conversation two weeks ago!” Twilight reminds the female Draconequus sharply.

“I’m sorry, you’re gonna have to more specific, dearie.” the provoking trickster asks in mocking ignorance.

“You know, with Ford Mustang?!” the aggravated princess clarifies even louder than the previous sentence.

“Who?” the instigator goads even further.

“YOUR ATTENDANCE WITH FORD MUSTANG, THE PRINCESSES, AND MYSELF WEEKS AGO, REMEMBER?!”

As the aggravated Twilight catches her breath from her outburst, Twilight expresses a mixture of annoyance and bewilderment as she stares with puzzlement at the suddenly silent Eris, who breaks into that irritating yet all-knowing smirk of hers. Perplexed by the disturbing silence, she looks around to see the other ponies’ reaction. The first reactions she glances at are the two sisters where Celestia freezes in place as if she was trying to reach out for Twilight before it was too late while Luna face-hoofs herself from seeing where this is going.

Alarmed by the princesses’ reactions, Twilight cringes as she nervously faces the other direction to see if what she has dreaded has come into full swing. Just as she feared, every one of her friends stare in shock over the Alicorn’s sudden flare-up; but more importantly, Rainbow Dash is even more wide-eyed than the rest, and she is the first to break out of her speechlessness where she inquires on the shocking fact that was never brought to her attention before.

“Wait, what did you say, Twilight?”

But as the flustered Twilight clamps her mouth tightly to prevent anything from slipping out any further, Celestia glares at the crafty prankster and demands in a stern tone, “Eris… Explain yourself.”

“What? Don’t look at me!” Eris contradicts with an uncontrollable grin plastered on her face. “Ask Princess Blabbermouth over here!”

From that reminder, Twilight feels even more ashamed as her guilt-ridden face hangs low to the ground. From seeing such a dejected face on her protégé, Celestia sharply turns back to Eris as her glare intensifies on the trickster while her flowing, multicolored mane flares up gradually. From seeing such rage building up from the usually composed princess as her whole body glows a brightly yellow aura, the surprisingly frightened Eris realizes the dreadful promise that is to come, and decides to make a hasty retreat while waving goodbye to her friends.

“Oh well would you look at the time! I really need to head on home right now! I think I hear my brother calling out for me! Thank you so much for the lovely party, everypony! We should really get together over a cup of tea or something like that! Umm… TA-TA~!”

And in an instant, Eris snakes her way out of the Carousal Boutique as the infuriated Sun Princess screeches out for the fleeing trickster, “DISCORD!” And she disappears in a flash of bright light to chase after him.

Feeling very awkward in this situation, Princess Luna decides to take her leave as well while saying her own goodbyes to everyone in a modest manner, “Uhh… Please excuse me, everypony. I… better go after them in case of… damage control. Congratulations once again, Rainbow Dash!” And she too disappears in a flash of light to catch up with the other two.

With the Alicorn sisters and the disguised Discord gone, the room resumes its unsettling silence until Rainbow Dash asks once again, “Hang on… I thought Ford went to see you to conduct some research over his Draconian Magic! Why were the Princesses and Discord there as well?”

Realizing that she still back in a corner, Twilight quickly comes up with the best cover-up in mind as she bears a huge, sheepish smile, “Oh… umm… well… they… want to bear witness over the results of our findings! Y-yes, that’s it!”

Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash doesn’t buy it entirely, so just to make sure, she turns to the expert on honesty, “Applejack? Is she telling the truth or not?”

Feeling really uncomfortable with being prod as a lie detector, Applejack takes a moment to gather her thoughts before coming up with her best response, “Ah… reckon it’s best that Ah stay out of this one.”

Understanding the hidden meaning behind AJ’s answer, Rainbow sharply turns back to Twilight with a heavy frown and hovers toward her while she interrogates the edgy Twilight even further, “What is it that you are not telling me, Twilight? What are you hiding from me?”

Paralyzed by Rainbow’s cold glare, Twilight is running out of options to prevent herself from telling the horrifying truth to one of her dearest friends. As she is greatly frets herself on this conflicting situation she is in, her purple eyes begin to get very watery, and she couldn’t handle to pressure anymore.

“I… I can’t, Rainbow! I just can’t! I promised Ford that I wouldn’t tell you on what’s going on, and I can’t bear to tell it myself!”

As Twilight breaks down from her remorseful confession, Rainbow takes the time to comprehend this as her frowning shifts to a blank expression. Once she is composed, the Pegasus takes a nice breath before exhaling it out gently and says to her distraught Alicorn friend softly, “Alright, Twilight… I won’t force it out of you.”

A bit surprised by Rainbow’s composure and empathy, Twilight Sparkle is about to sigh with relief, but that moment is sharply interrupted when Dash continues in a suddenly angry approach, “So I’ll force it out of my husband instead!”

And without a moment to lose, the peeved Pegasus zooms past her greatly startled friends as Twilight desperately cries out in protest, “Wait stop! You can’t go out there!”

“Watch me!” she retorts as she hastily puts her scarf on before she opens the door.

But with quick reflexes, Rarity conjures up her magic to grab the Dash’s tail in time before the hostess pleads to her, “Rainbow Dash, please be reasonable! It’s absolutely dreadful out there! You are in no condition to go out there by yourself!”

After scowling at Rarity for her intervention, the hovering flyer looks at the windows near the doorway and notices how much the snow has picked up since this afternoon. Then, she looks down at her growing belly and great concern replaces her anger momentarily as she didn’t want her impulsiveness to cause anything fatal to her unborn foals. As she makes a soft, reluctant landing, Rainbow starts thinking of alternative on how to confront her husband before she turns to the lone Alicorn with a firm gaze fixated on her.

“Twilight, you can teleport me over there, right?”

Afraid on where this might lead, Twilight pleads once again, “Rainbow, please! Just… let me fetch Ford for you and I’ll--!”

“Take me over there right now, or one way or another, I’ll get there myself!”

And after that grave warning from the growling Rainbow Dash, the room becomes awfully quiet once again as the party guests shift their gazes between the blue Pegasus and the purple Alicorn to see who will make the next move in their intense confrontation. Until finally, Twilight gives in and softly complies with Dash’s request.

“Sigh… very well.”

And after taking the time to conjure up her magic, the dejected Alicorn casts her spell unto Rainbow Dash and herself and both of them were instantly transported to the front side of Dash’s cloudhouse. As soon as they were teleported, Rainbow makes off in a mad dash while Twilight is too breathless to stop her. With a very strong kick, the livid, pregnant mare knocks the door open hard and yells out for her missing husband.

“MUSTANG! We need to talk right now!”

With no response, Rainbow zips through each of the rooms on the lower floor as she angry calls out to him once again, “Ford, you better not be hiding from me!”

Once she couldn’t find him downstairs, she carries her search upstairs and rushes through each of second floor’s rooms, including the master bedroom and Ford’s art studio. Once she searched through the latter room, she cries out for him one more time in a mix of aggravation and worry.

“Ford, where are you?!”

After searching through every room in the house, she flies back downstairs in a sluggish pace. Once she’s back on the first floor, she spots her pet tortoise, Tank, looking up at her, and decides to question him for Ford’s whereabouts.

“Tank, do you know where he is?”

Slowly but surely, the reliable reptile turns his head to point at the coat-hanger next to the doorway. Once his owner looks at Tank’s direction, she notices something was missing as she hovers toward it to make doubly sure on her speculation. And to her dismay, Ford Mustang’s prized scarf that she gave to him on their 1st Hearth’s Warming Eve is missing off of one of the hooks.

Once Twilight enters insides, she calmly consoles with Rainbow, "Okay, I know you’re upset about this, but please… take it easy--!"

Having all she can take from running around in circles, she snaps at her concerning friend, “No more games, Twilight! WHERE’S... MY... HUSBAND?!”

Startled once again by Rainbow’s piercing, sizzling stare, Twilight takes the time to collect her thought before she timidly shares what she knows about Ford’s whereabouts in a defeated tone, “He… he went off to see Wagner. Said that he had something really important to discuss with him. But I have no idea on what’s taking him so long! He should have been back by now, I swear!”

As Twilight has just feared, Rainbow gradually shifts into unimaginable rage as the emotional mare frowns immensely and grits her teeth harshly. Her anger looks so intense right now that the bookish Alicorn is fearful that her Pegasus friend would explode at any second time. Instinctively, Twlight turns her head away while closing her eyes and lowering her ears to brace herself from the anticipated eruption that is to come.

But to her bewilderment, Twilight doesn’t hear any form of rage emitting from Rainbow Dash. There was no shouting. No cursing. No stomping. Nothing. But instead, she hears something else that is equally disturbing: crying.

Once she perks her ears up and takes a peek at her friend, Twilight’s eyes expand significantly as she witnesses something truly heartbreaking right in front of her. Rainbow Dash is sobbing uncontrollably as she her big, expressive eyes lets out so many tears that they look like they merged into miniature waterfalls cascading across her pitiful face. In the midst of her crying, Rainbow is able to take the time to ask one simple question.

“Why? Why would he leave me like this?”

With her question going unanswered, Rainbow Dash breaks down hard as her lamenting over her missing husband grows even louder. With nothing else to say to her, Twilight expands her large, purple wings and gently pulls the deeply distressed Rainbow in for the kind of comfort she can offer at this point. As she warmly embraces her distraught friend, Twilight takes a moment to look outside and observes the heavy snow while growing more worried on the one pony that Rainbow desperately needs right now.

Oh Ford Mustang… where are you right now?

It’s hard to say on how long he was knocked out cold, but eventually, Ford Mustang groggily gets himself up from his sheet of snow and tries to figure out on what’s his location at the moment. But all he can see in his surroundings is indistinct silhouettes of jagged mountains and snowy hills as the entire landscape is casted in an ugly, bluish gray color with tons of heavy snow blurring his vision. And the accursed wind is howling even louder than before.

Once he is up, Ford verifies himself. His natural coat is a mess and his body feels sore, but there are no serious injuries on him at least. As for all of the supplies he packed earlier, they were all ripped from his saddlebag as they are scattered and lost amidst the ongoing snowstorm, probably buried underneath all that snow. The only thing that has remained intact thankfully is his prized, rainbow-colored scarf, which is still secured around his neck. After verifying his situation, the lone stallion seeks to get moving and to decide whether he should continue to search for Wagner or just return home as he has lost track of time.

But before he can make his decision, he suddenly sees something in the very far distance. It is pretty vague, but it looks like another pony. But this pony look different the other ones, and yet… at the same time, there’s something… familiar about this one.

“Hello!” Ford calls out to the stranger. “Is anyone out there?!”

But the shadowy figure did not move from that faraway spot nor did respond to Ford’s calling. So the Pegasus tries again. “Hey! Can you hear me?!”

At first, all Ford can hear is the atrocious wind and his own echo from the vast mountain range that he is entrapped in. But finally, the unknown pony responds, but it isn’t what Ford is expecting. The mysterious stranger starts to laugh spontaneously. It starts out small, and gradually, it becomes more uproarious. In fact, it cackling is so loud and so hysterical that it’s actually starting to give Mustang the chills rather than getting it from the really cold weather itself.

Despicable chills he hasn’t felt in a very long time.

And as Ford to try stop himself from shaking off from this very bad feeling, he notices something else from that laughing shadow. Something that completely freezes him in his tracks! Something he never expected to see nor would he want to see ever again!

Without warning, the menacing shadow is suddenly lit ablaze, but only on certain parts of its body as the flames display a sickening, blue color: a long, flaring tail, a huge, wild mane of fire, and most unforgettable of them all… two great, big, flaming eyes!

“YOU!!”

Author's Note

This was definitely a difficult chapter for me to make. Not just because on how long it is, but because of the choices I made. For example, I had to decide the right kind of gifts on what they will give to Rainbow Dash. Also, originally, it would have been Fluttershy who would have comfort Rainbow Dash once she found that Ford Mustang was missing, but that was only if Twilight didn't spill the beans first.

But my toughest decisions were to choose which surprise guests will attend for Rainbow Dash's foal shower, including Gilda, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Discord, Luna, and Celestia. I know I didn't include others like Princess Cadance, Chrysalis, and Shining Armor (although, he won't be allowed there anyway), but that meant I have to come up with additional dialogue for that chapter; and doing something so forced (especially when I couldn't think of anything good for them) just doesn't do it for me. And speaking of which, those three will not make any appearances in this story. So... sorry.

Lastly, there are two scenes referring to my other stories. The first scene where Ford puts on his multicolored scarf is from "The 1st Hearth's Warming Eve of Ford Mustang." The second scene involving a flustered Fleetfoot and her encounter with Roseluck is a personal reference to "Tales of Apple Scratch: Roseluck & Fleetfoot." I had so much fun with this pair I came up with, that I figure it would be a perfect opportunity to hint at it in this series.

Bonus Chapter – Somepony to Hold

Chapter 32.5 – Somepony to Hold

Twilight Sparkle & Trixie

After a long, strenuous night at Ponyville General Hospital as well as from saying goodbye to their equally distressed friends, Twilight Sparkle and Trixie teleport to the former’s room in Canterlot. From the completion of Twilight’s teleportation spell, they arrive at the same spot where they originally teleported from in the first place. And upon their return, Spike rushes up to them before expressing his overwhelming concern over their visit.

“Twilight! Trixie! You’re back! So, what happened?! Is Rainbow Dash okay?!”

From Spike’s questioning, the two mares share a meaningful, heartwrenching look with each other before the reluctant Twilight steps forward and answers in a quiet, disheartening voice, “Spike… I’m… I’m sorry. Sh-she didn’t make it.”

The subtle news hits the young dragon hard just like it did for the first time Twilight and the others had to handle that at the hospital earlier. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t hold back some of his tears as he weeps in disbelief and anguish.

“N-N-No… no. It can’t be…!”

As Spike wails softly over the recent tragedy, Twilight walks up to him and embraces him sympathetically. With his figurative caretaker as his closest source of comfort, he pours out all of his sorrow into the young princess’s soft, purple coat.

Eventually, his self-misery begins to die down before he looks up and asks Twilight in a grief-stricken voice, “W-well… what about the twins? Are they okay at least?”

With a small smile, she reassures him softly, “Yes, Spike. They are alive and well.”

“Sigh… th-that’s good to hear.” he responds with a contented smile over the success of their births.

“Spike, why don’t you get some sleep?” she suggests gently. “We’ve got a lot to do, you know.”

“R-right, of course! I’ll be up bright and early tomorrow morning!” he assures with a brighter smile.

But before he heads straight to bed, Twilight suddenly calls out to him, “And Spike?”

“Yes, Twilight?”

And once he turns around, the Alicorn Princess wraps him in a motherly hug with one of her wings to pull him in closely before she whispers to him in a very tenderhearted tone, “I love you.”

A bit flabbergasted by this sudden embrace and her simple yet heartfelt words, Spike nevertheless returns the sincere affection as he hugs the compassionate mare once again whilst responding back in an equally gentle voice, “I love you too, Twilight.”

After their quiet exchange, Spike retreats to his bedroom as Twilight and Trixie are the only two occupants left in the vast living room. And from feeling pretty awkward in the disturbing silence of theirs, Trixie decides it’s best to say her farewells before leaving the castle.

“So umm… I should probably take my leave as well.”

But from the subtle touch of Twilight's fore hoof on her shoulder, Trixie freezes in places as she stares back at her friend, who bears a very beseeching look on her face before she implores in an hospitable manner, “You’re welcome to stay here if you like, Trixie. It’s already getting late as it is.”

Surprised at first, Trixie tries to decline the kindhearted invitation as mannerly as possible, “I don’t want to impose if it’s too much trouble for you.”

In response, Twilight shakes her head as she reassures the humble Unicorn, “It’s no trouble at all. Really. Besides, it will make me feel more at ease if you stay here for the night.”

Despite her hesitation and best intentions, Trixie couldn’t find it in her heart to turn down such a generous offer from the pleading princess as she timidly accepts it, “Well then… I guess I’ll help myself to one of the couches her--!”

“Actually, you’re more than welcome to share my bed with me.”

From Twilight’s sharp yet casual response, Trixie almost has a hard time to comprehend that before she lets the suggestion fully sink in, and almost right away, her completely startled face lights up with a massive, hot-pink blush. With a frozen, wide-eyed expression, various, raunchy fantasies flood from her wild imagination and play out in her mind.

And as the dumbstruck Unicorn remains lost in her faraway thoughts, the observant princess mistakes Trixie’s discomfort for something else as she rephrases her offer in a frantic, flustered state, “I-I mean… it’s certainly big enough for two ponies, but if you’re not comfortable with that, I can--!”

Quickly enough, Trixie reassures the equally flushed Twilight strongly, “No no, not at all! Why would I be?! Ahem! Well then, shall we?” she adds with a sheepish, witty smirk. “A princess needs her proper beauty sleep you know!”

Leaving it at that, they slowly make their way towards the princess’s bedroom and prepare their much-needed rest. And soon enough, the two mares are situated on opposite sides of the large, luxurious bed with their backs facing each other’s as the still flustered Trixie makes sure to give themselves enough space from each other.

But as she tries to get some sleep, Trixie begins to think back to a particular moment of their time together when they were at Ponyville Hospital. It was when Twilight Sparkle had to excuse herself to notify the princesses about Rainbow Dash’s recent death. And after she sent the letter, Twilight decided to wait outside for the Alicorn Sisters’ arrival.

And in the midst of their waiting, Trixie, who is standing alongside Twilight with nothing better to do, quickly noticed the silent Alicorn Princess shaking slightly to herself. Cautiously, she slowly approached her shivering friend before she stopped herself and stared in shock over Twilight’s sudden change in demeanor.

With her eyes tightly shut and a quivering bite of her lip, tears rained down her checks without any restraint. As Trixie observed this sudden, emotional breakdown, she was surprised by this in so many ways. Since the letter she received from Ford over Rainbow’s recent labor, Twilight has remained so composed and strongminded as others openly expressed their grief in this unfortunate night of theirs. But at that point, with nopony else around besides Trixie, she could finally push aside her own inner barriers to let all of it out.

At first, the observant Unicorn led herself to believe that Twilight Sparkle needed to act so collected to handle her friend’s death due to her status as an upstanding princess. But then she reconsidered that thought when she realized that she is just as much a pony as she was, even before her ascension. And it is because of that display of humility is one of the reasons why Trixie admires Twilight so much.

Unable to see the weeping Alicorn endure so much heartache, Trixie made up her mind and decided to step in to offer her sincerest sympathies. She could only hope that she wasn’t stepping any boundaries on what she was about to do. And without a single word, the hesitant Unicorn wraps a tender fore hoof around the melancholy princess before leaning a soft cheek against hers. In the midst of her crying, Twilight was a bit startled by the unexpected embrace from her friend. But as Trixie almost considered on ceasing her well-meant affection, Twilight surprisingly returned the heartfelt gesture by wrapping her trembling fore hooves around the sympathetic Unicorn as a small smile spread across her grief-stricken face. Seeing how the embracing mare is feeling more at ease, Trixie smiled to herself and continued to carry out her task as Twilight’s only comforter.

From that recollection, Trixie turns her head to look at Twilight, who still has her back facing her, and she quietly calls out to her, “Tw-Twilight?”

Despite not receiving any response from the purple mare, whether she is still awake or not, Trixie continues to speak her mind in a bashful manner, “I know this has been a very rough for you. But just I hope you know that if there’s anything I can do, you can always count on me, Twilight.”

Once again, Trixie is met with silence from the seemingly unresponsive mare. But before the blue Unicorn is about to face the other way once again, Twilight finally twists her head back and catches the Unicorn off-guard by bearing not only an affected, purple gaze that is about to break into tears, but also a grateful smile for the thoughtful magician's consideration. And as Trixie remains bewildered by the young princess’s mixed reaction, Twilight twists her entire body around and wraps her hooves around the startled Unicorn mare before whispering in a heartfelt, appreciative tone.

“Thank you, Trixie. I’m so glad to have you at my side.”

With the now serene Twilight Sparkle snuggling closely to her newly acquaited sleeping buddy, Trixie, despite blushing like mad from such close tenderness, beams with satisfaction as she maintains the tenderhearted embrace between the two of them. She isn’t sure on where their future may be in their status as ongoing friends. But for her, to be seen as a personal consoler by Twilight Sparkle herself… this is more than enough for her.

Applejack & Rarity

Down the hallway, Rarity slowly makes her way towards her own bedroom. But along the way, she stops herself when she is about to pass by Fluttershy and Big Macintosh’s room as she notices a crack in their door. With but a peek, the purple-haired Unicorn takes a momentary glance to see how her yellow Pegasus friend is holding up recently. And as Rarity expected, Fluttershy is still not holding up so well over the death of their dear friend, Rainbow Dash, as she continues to cry softly while she is curled up in the strong yet gentle hooves her ever-so caring husband.

From resuming her stroll, Rarity thinks back to how overwhelming things have been since their emergency visit at the local hospital. Even when they make it back to their home, Sweet Apple Acres, they ended up being the bearer of bad news for Granny Smith and Apple Bloom. In their own way, the elder mare and little filly didn’t take it so well as they too shed tears over this unbearable tragedy of theirs. Sooner or later, when things have calmed done for the moment, they all retire to their respective chambers for some much-needed sleep.

Upon entering her own room, Rarity is briefly startled when she sees her wife, Applejack, staring silently at a golden horseshoe. Along with that, the seamstress detects something watery in those soft, emerald green eyes of hers. But when the subtly distraught farmpony notices her wife’s presence, Applejack panics all of a sudden as she anxiously hides the horseshoe in the drawer next to her.

“O-o-oh! Rarity! Ah-Ah didn’t hear ya comin’ in!” Applejack greets with a very sheepish grin.

“Sorry, Applejack.” the Unicorn apologizes sweetly as she joins the orange Earth Pony’s side. “I didn’t disturb you, did I?”

“No, not at all! Ah was just… surprised, that’s all!”

As Applejack maintains her unusual awkwardness, Rarity sits next to her wife on their bed and delicately asks out of concern, “Darling, is everything okay?”

Feeling mighty unease from the subtle inquiring, Applejack replies with a very sour expression on her face as she averts her guilt-ridden eyes away from Rarity’s soft yet piercing gaze, “A-Ah’m… Ah’m fine, sugarcube! R-Really Ah am!”

Of course, from knowing Applejack for so long, especially on how bad of a liar she is, Rarity places a caring fore hoof on her wife’s hind leg as she responds in a mild, sympathetic tone, “It’s okay, darling. You don’t need to hide your feelings like that for my sake. Please, let me be your rock this time.”

A bit surprised by Rarity’s gentle-toned advice, Applejack can clearly understand the weight of Rarity’s thoughtful words, and gradually, she reveals her true emotions by allowing her eyes to fully express the immense grief that she has been holding back for so long. As earnest tears flow out of her eyes, the sniveling Earth Pony lunges forward and pulls Rarity in for a hug. In the midst of the strong embrace, the kindhearted Unicorn continues to hold her weeping mare in place as the Earth Pony carries on with her own melancholy.

“Ah still can’t believe that she’s really gone.” she admits in a tear-stricken whisper.

“I know, darling… I know.” she replies softheartedly as she tenderly strokes the farmpony’s back.

After Applejack finally lets it all out, she begins to calm down before bearing a small smile to show her token of appreciation over Rarity’s comfort. Then, she reaches the drawer and pulls out the shiny horseshoe she was looking at earlier. With the horseshoe back in her hooves, she slides closer to her wife and shows it to her.

“You know, RD gave this to me during our trip at Cider Fest.”

With a closer look, Rarity smiles at the polished trinket before sharing her own thoughts on it. “It’s a very lovely memento.”

“Heh. Yeah, it is.” she comments simply.

On AJ’s prized horseshoe it still reads the engravement that Rainbow Dash personally wrote to her: “For the 1st Annual Iron Pony Champion in Ponyville, Applejack.” From re-reading that lasting momento, the farmpony broadens her smile a little more as she softly caresses the engraved letters while the seamstress smiles as well over her wife’s more positive demeanor.

With a slight smirk to herself, Rarity remarks in a witty manner, “I certainly hope you don’t plan on using that for your next game of horseshoes.”

With a grin of her own, Applejack replies in a hearty chuckle, “Trust me, Rarity. This one’s earned a special place in my trophy room.”

Once things have settled down between the two of them, AJ places the engraved horseshoe back in the drawer as Rarity brings something else in mind, “Say darling, I’ve been thinking… I know Rainbow Dash’s funeral is only two days away. But maybe for tomorrow evening, we can invite Ford Mustang and Turbo Dash over for dinner and commemorate it as a tribute to our dearest friend, Rainbow Dash.”

“Ah think that’s sounds dandy, Rarity.” she concurs with an approving smile. “We should also invite Scootaloo to come along. Goodness knows that lil’ filly loves the blue daredevil more than anypony else.”

“Agreed. Plus, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom will be there too, so at the very least, she’ll have somepony to associate with in this troubling time of ours.”

“Then it’s settled. Thanks for the idea, darling.”

“Anytime, sugarcube.” Rarity returns the lightheartedness with a welcoming grin.

After that, they seal their agreement with a goodnight kiss before tucking themselves into bed. And as they get themselves nice and cozy together, Applejack then says with a somewhat shy yet appreciative smile, “Oh, and uhh… thanks for being my rock as well.”

“Glad I could help.” she giggles warmly as she snuggles against her mare.

Then, AJ’s grin shifts slightly to one side of her cheek as she inquires in a witty tone, “Let me guess. You got that idea from yer fling with Tom, didn’t ya?”

At first, Rarity is unamused by that clever remark as she lightly scolds her wife for bring up that embarrassing reminder over their past confrontation with Discord, “I thought we agreed to never speak of that again.”

Ignoring the subtly threatening tone from the glaring mare, Applejack shrugs it off as she playfully strokes her chin while responding in an all-knowing tone, “Funny. Ah don’t recall agreein’ to anything like that. Do you?”

And seeing how she can’t stay mad at the sassy farmpony for too long, Rarity eventually breaks into a subtle smirk and commends AJ in simple fashion, “Hmph. Cheeky.”

Vinyl Scratch & Octavia

After freshening herself up, Octavia leaves the restroom and heads straight to bed. And surprisingly enough, her more nocturnal wife is already in bed as Vinyl Scratch stares aimlessly at the ceiling with frozen, deadpan eyes. Noticing on how the Unicorn mare is more absent-minded than usual, Octavia gingerly approaches her preoccupied wife, and she lays next to her before she asks in a delicate tone.

“Are you okay, Vinyl?”

“I don’t know.” she simply responds in a very faint voice.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” she inquires in a cautious manner.

“I guess.” she answers quietly with a mild shrug.

“Is it something to do with Rainbow Dash?” Octavia inquires even further.

“More or less.” She replies as cryptically as ever.

“Vinyl, please. Talk to me.” the Earth Pony pleads softly while nuzzling against her disturbingly hushed mare. “It may help you cope with the pain.”

As Octavia patiently waits for her wife’s response, Vinyl Scratch takes a moment to inhale a deep breath before she lets it out as gently as possible, and soon enough, she gradually confesses her fears to the attentive mare next to her.

“I’m scared of what may happened to us… to you.”

“To me? What do you mean by that--?” But her confusion is but a fleeting moment as she quickly figures out on what has gotten Vinyl Scratch so shook up recently. “Wait… you’re afraid that the same thing could happen to me, don’t you?”

Reluctantly, the mute Vinyl is able to confirm that fear by nodding in a shaky manner. Once she receives the Unicorn’s silent response, Octavia pulls the subtly whimpering mare closer to her warm, gray chest before she tries to ease her wife’s growing concern.

“Vinyl… I know what happened to Rainbow Dash recently is truly unfortunate, but the chances like that to happen for another pregnant mare are relatively slim.”

But stating that simple statistic didn’t to do well to diminish the Unicorn’s fears as she frets uncontrollably, “And what if it does happen?! What if my magic will be the cause this time?! What then?!”

From exclaiming out her unanswered questions, Vinyl breaks down hard as her sobbing intensifies. Like a sniveling foal, she tightly wraps her trembling fore hooves around to her closest source of comfort, namely Octavia. And just like any caring mother would, the Earth Pony embraces her weeping partner as she tenderly caresses Unicorn’s vibrant, blue mane.

“I just… don’t wanna lose you, Octavia.” Vinyl whispers in a tense, quivering voice.

“I know, dearie.” the cellist acknowledges in the same volume as her softly panic-stricken mare.

In the middle of this quiet moment of theirs, Vinyl continues to pour out her soft-spoken sorrow onto the Earth Pony’s soft, warm coat as Octavia carries out her delicate, soothing brushing. And after a short time has passed, Octavia is able to gather her thoughts before she does her best to set her wife’s mind at ease.

“Vinyl, I know it’s difficult for you to accept this, but please believe me, you shouldn’t worry yourself like that. Instead of thinking of the worst thing that could happen, try thinking of the more positive things that could happen. Like you… me… and our baby.”

As Octavia finally gets Vinyl’s attention with that heartwarming recommendation, the smiling Earth Pony brings one of Vinyl’s fore hooves close to her belly so she can feel the developing foal from within. From feeling the growing foal within Octavia’s three-month pregnant belly, a hopeful smile begins to stretch across her face as Vinyl Scratch is liking the idea with each passing second.

“Like… sharing our love of music with the little tyke?” Scratch suggests in a cute, timid manner.

“Mm-hmm.” Octavia warmly nods to that claim.

Then, another question comes to mind in a more upbeat attitude. “Or… seeing our foal playing his or her first instrument?”

“Yes.”

“Or sneaking him or her into their first rave party?”

“Exactly--! Wait no!” she screeches in an instant over the grinning DJ’s shrewd suggestion, which causes Vinyl to chuckle out loud over her wife’s swift dismissal over that idea.

And from having a good laugh over getting Octavia so flustered up, the hearty, Unicorn mare pulls her somewhat groaning wife in for a lovely embrace as she says with a giggling yet sincere smile of gratitude, “Thanks, Tavi. I’m feeling better already.”

Pushing aside her own gripes from her wife’s teasing nature, Octavia bears a relieving smile over Vinyl’s restored optimism as she affectionately snuggles against the grinning mare’s plushy cheek while responding back with an amusing smirk as well, “Happy to be of service.”

As they recline back on their cushiony mattress, Vinyl gives a tender stroke of the cellist’s cheek whilst saying with an affectionate grin, “Love you, Tavi Bear.”

In return, she replies with the same lighthearted tenderness as her mate with a pet name as well, “Love you too, Cat Scratch.”

And after sharing a heartwarming kiss together, Vinyl Scratch turns her attention towards Octavia’s curved belly and offers a meaningful kiss for the baby sleeping inside mommy’s womb before the grinning DJ expresses her love for their foal in her own unique way, “And of course, much love to you as well, Cubby Bear.”

Pinkie Pie & Gilda

At Sugarcube Corner’s guest room, Gilda lays on her bed as she aimlessly stares at the ceiling with her forelimbs behind her head. It’s not like that there is anything wrong with the bed that was provided by Pinkie Pie and the Cake Family. It’s merely because she has too much on her mind to sleep right away; more specifically, dealing with the death of her best friend, Rainbow Dash.

However, that’s not the only thing that’s keeping Gilda up at night. Ever since she got into her own bed, she’s been listening to a soft yet dreadful cry next door, and she has a good feeling on where that might be coming from.

Seeing how she’s already wide awake, Gilda decides to step outside her bedroom and investigate the slight disturbance herself. After small stroll down the hallway, she stops in front of the room next to hers before she gently opens the door and takes a peek inside.

As the griffon suspected, she spots her pink pony host curled up in her bed and on top of the covers. As Pinkie Pie lies there in a fetal position with her back facing Gilda, she carries on with her renewed gloominess as she sniffs repeatedly while countless tears rain down from her tightly shut eyes. And of course, her once-curly pink hair resumes its depressing straightness that strongly reflects with the whimpering mare’s emotions.

Once she steps closer to Pinkie’s bed, Gilda asks in a quiet yet concerning tone, “Pinkie Pie? You okay over here?”

From hearing the voice of her friend, Pinkie Pie sharply turns around and stares at the griffon with a frozen, tear-stricken gaze before she apologizes in a blubbering tone while she desperately tries to wipe away her watery eyes. “Oh! S-s-sorry Gilda! Was I disturbing you?”

“Uhh… a little, yeah.” Gilda answers with an awkward smile. “Do you… want me to get you something or do you wanna talk about it or what?”

“No no, I’m good!” Pinkie replies shamefully with a broad yet fake smile. “I’ll try to be quieter! I promise! Oh, here! These might help you!”

Hastily, she reaches for something in the drawer next to her and pulls out two ginormous corks. Bewildered as ever, Gilda stares at the amusingly large objects for a minute or two before she eventually points it out the obvious.

“Umm… Pinkie Pie? Griffons don’t exactly have ears, you know.”

And to demonstrate that, the slightly smirking Gilda points it out with a tilt of her neck and gently taping the side of her head with a one of her talons. From that simple yet sly gesture, Pinkie Pie is dumbfounded by such an obvious fact before she breaks into a sheepish giggle.

“Oh, oops! Must have slipped my mind! Here! Let me fetch you some earmuffs instead!”

“Ugh! Forget about them!” Gilda snaps out loud as she smacks the corks out of mare’s fore hoof.

Completely startled by the griffon’s sudden, sharp outburst, Pinkie reacts in tremendous fear for unintentionally angering her friend like that as she winces upon instinct before apologizing in a panicky tone, “I’m sorry, Gilda! Did I do something wrong--?”

But Gilda didn’t want to hear that as she quickly grabs the thunderstruck mare and pulls her toward her thick, fluffy chest. With the staggered Earth Pony caught in Gilda’s tuff of feathers, the griffon then wraps up Pinkie Pie with her large wings as they lay on the same bed together.

In the midst of this unexpected snuggling, Gilda carefully embraces the wide-eyed mare as she clarifies in a somewhat pushy attitude, “Here. If you’re going cry all night long, you can do it through here. Plus, it will keep your sniveling down so I can sleep much easier this way.”

Without question, Pinkie Pie eventually gives in and submits to the griffon’s extraordinarily soft plushness. From succumbing to such softness, the preoccupied Earth Pony sighs in a pure bliss as her expressive hair inflates some of its curliness due to the amount of joy she’s feeling right now.

As the smiling mare continues to snuggle against the griffon’s pillowy chest, Pinkie Pies murmurs with a more tranquil smile spread across her cheeks, “Thanks, Gilda. I’ll try not to cry so much. You really have such soft and pretty feathers, so I’d hate to have them drenched in tears because of me.”

From that strange yet casual remark, it literally and figuratively causes the blushed griffon to get her feathers ruffled as she responds in an extremely flustered manner, “Wh-wh-why do you gotta say idiotic things like that?! Just go to sleep already, you big doofus!”

With a slight giggle to herself, Pinkie Pie complies right away, “ ‘Kay.”

Despite feeling embarrassed for what she’s putting herself through, it didn’t stop Gilda from breaking up from their cuddling. And sooner or later, sleep finally takes hold of them as they still remain in each other’s embrace.

But before the heavy-eyed Earth Pony enters her deep state of sleep, she lets out a soft yawn and mumbles with a goofy, sleepy smile, “Heh, you know, Ford’s right… you really do have such nice breasts.”

As Pinkie finally goes into sleep mode, Gilda’s eyes widen in shock by that random tidbit of information as she couldn’t believe she just heard that. It’s been almost a year since she met Ford Mustang when he too mentioned her chest like that. So she finds it hard to believe on how her normally happy-go-lucky friend would repeat the same thing in such a nonchalant manner like that as questions begin to plague the extremely flustered griffon’s mind, starting with the most obvious one of them all.

Why do ponies keep saying that?!

Author's Note

Basically, this Bonus Chapter would give a glimpse on where Twilight and Pinkie Pie may find love for themselves since this would not be fully development as with the previous subplots from the 1st story, "The Arrival of Ford Mustang." Also, given the title of this chapter, I thought it would be best to explore some of the other couples with how they handle the death of their friend. So I figure this chapter would serve as a collaboration of four short stories into one.

8/16/15 - I mistakenly hit "Publish" when I was editing this chapter, so from noticing that mistake, I quickly "Unpublished" it as it was not ready yet. Sorry for the confusion if people caught that in their alerts.