A Dash of Love Soared Through the Skies

A Dash of Love Soared Through the Skies

By: Crystal Heart

Chapter 17: Reunited

It was a pleasant morning in Ponyville, Princess Twilight and her four friends were gathered in the Castle of Friendship for a big pancake breakfast.

"Darling, could you please pass the syrup?" Rarity asked Applejack, who was busy munching on some strawberries. Applejack shrugged, and tossed the bottle over to the unicorn.

Rarity grimaced at the mare's uncouth way of handling things, but nevertheless accepted the bottle, pouring a little on the large plate in front of her.

"Ooo!!! This is so exciting! Guess what? I actually created a special pancake for today! Enough for the five of us, plus a few more if any pony decides to join!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, starting to jump up and down with excitement. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the energetic pony.

"And what exactly is so special about it?" she asked. Pinkie Pie giggled, and revealed a stack of pancakes from underneath the table. Fluttershy let out a scared little whimper, as she slammed her pink hoof down onto the table.

"Take a look for yourself!" Pinkie said, displaying the cake to her friends.

It was a simple pancake, clearly made with blue food coloring, it had a large rainbow on the front, and more-

"Oops! Wrong one!" Pinkie said frantically, pushing the pancake out of the way, staring at her friends with a nervous look. The rest of them were staring at the spot where the pancake once was, with shocked expression. "Hehe..."

"Pinkie... why would you make a pancake like that?" Fluttershy asked, looking over to the party pony. Pinkie released an awkward chuckle, as she bit her lip, and looked away.

"Um... I was... saving it for when Dashie decided to come home..." she mumbled. Her friends all gasped, and backed away from the table. Applejack reluctantly put her hat over her eyes.

"Pinkie Pie... After eight years, I don't think she's going to come back, no matter how much we wish," she said, looking at her hooves with a saddened expression. Twilight sighed, and nodded.

"I'm afraid Applejack is right. At least, I think she is. Argh. All this stuff is confusing," she said, shaking her head, and pounding it with her right hoof. Pinkie nodded, and looked towards the door, hoping that by some miracle, Rainbow Dash would just walk in.

Suddenly, Pinkie's tail started twitching. The others looked at her with confused looks, and then at her tail. They gasped, and started looking around them for doors. But the only one in sight was the entrance to the dining hall.

"Uh... Pinkie?" Spike asked, raising an eyebrow at the pink pony's continuously twitching tail. Pinkie tried to stop it, but it wasn't working! She glanced over to the front door, just in time to see the knob start to turn.

The door burst open to reveal a very frazzled looking cyan mare, accompanied with a baby-blue stallion, and two little children. One of them, the filly, was jumping on the mare's back, as the colt zipped around, eyeing his surroundings.

Stronghold Skies gasped as he saw the five ponies, and dragon in the room, and immediately made his way over to the tall purple alicorn mare. He eyed her up and down.

"SANDSTORM! I THINK I FOUND HER!" he yelled into Twilight's face, as Rainbow Sandstorm flew up besides her brother.

"Uh... excuse me?" Twilight said in confusion, looking at the foals.

"OH MY GOSH! YOU'RE PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Sandstorm exclaimed, jumping onto her, and wrapping her hooves around her neck.

Twilight instantly lept up into the air, spreading her wings in surprise. She picked Sandstorm off of her, and gently set her down on the table. Pinkie Pie was the next one to speak.

"AWEEE! Aren't you just the cutest little thing? Oh hi Rainbow Dash! Twilight! Isn't this little filly so-" she started, before her eyes widened, and she stared at the door, where Rainbow Dash and Soarin were currently standing, wincing as their children made a mess of the castle.

Fluttershy instantly jumped out of her seat, and ran right into Dash, tacking her, and pinning her to the ground.

"RAINBOW DASH!" she yelled, not changing her position. Dash struggled from underneath the yellow pegasus' grasp, and tried her hardest to break free.

"Ah! Fluttershy! Let me go!" she yelled, finally able to move. Fluttershy backed away slowly, and glanced over to Soarin, who was helping his wife up.

"DASHIE!" Pinkie Pie suddenly yelled, leaping at the cyan mare, and tacking her in a ferocious hug. Dash chuckled, and wrapped her hooves around the mare.

Rarity came up next, wiping away some tears from her eyes, as she embraced the pegasus after Pinkie let go of her.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash! We missed you so much!" she exclaimed, letting the tears fall freely now. Dash sniffed a little, and nodded into her friends back.

"I missed you too, Rares. I missed all of you!"

"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked in disbelief. Rarity let go of Dash, and let her go see her old friend. Twilight and Dash looked at each other for a few seconds, before jumping into each other's hooves, crying silently.

"Twi! I missed you so much!" Dash said, as she felt Twilight nod.

"I missed you too, Rainbow Dash!" she exclaimed, slowly letting go of her.

"Rainbow Dash," a new, southern voice interrupted. Dash looked over Twilight's shoulder, and met the eyes of Applejack, who's hat was off her head, and her mouth was curved into a slight frown. Dash cautiously stepped up to her.

"AJ!" she sighed in disbelief.

"Why'd you leave us?"

Rainbow Dash was not expecting this. Applejack could have done anything at that moment. She could have hugged her, told her caring words, but she sprung a question like that the first time she saw her in almost nine years?

"Uh..."

"Answer me. Why'd you leave?"

Dash bit her lip, and glanced over to Soarin, who took his queue, and hovered over to his wife. Soarin and Dash looked at the orange farm pony.

"I left because... because I wanted to get married to Soarin," Dash said simply. Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"Couldn't you have done that here? You didn't have to leave us! You didn't have to make us all feel rejected, alone, and miserable!" she exclaimed. Dash took a step back.

"What are you talking about?"

"After your parents told us the news, the news of your foolish departure... me and the rest of the girls were absolutely BROKEN! How could you do that to us? I thought you were our friend!"

"I am!"

"Then- god help me here- why the hay did you leave?"

"AREN'T YOU LISTENING? I WANTED TO GET UNITED WITH THE ONE I LOVE!"

Applejack took a step forward, as did Dash.

"You love Soarin, huh? What about us? The friends who were always there for you? Almost your entire life?"

"What about them?"

Applejack's small glare suddenly hardened.

"Once you left, we were all desperately waiting for SOME means of contact from you! But no! No letter, no call, no NOTHING! You completely left us in the dust!" Applejack continued. Dash's eyes widened, as she took a few steps back. Twilight came up to them, and placed a hoof on Applejack's shoulder.

"Applejack. Quit being so stubborn. She's here now, isn't she? And I thought you two were the best of friends!"

"We WERE!" Applejack suddenly yelled, stomping her hoof on the ground. Dash's eyes began to water up, as she bit her lip, and looked towards her kids.

"Come on, Sandy, Strongy. It's time we showed you two my house from back when I used to live in Ponyville," she said, gesturing for them to take to their parent's backs. Stronghold climbed onto his mother's, as Sandstorm did the same with her father.

"Rainbow Dash... are these your foals?" a tiny voice piped up. Dash and Soarin turned to see Fluttershy with an awestruck look on her face. Dash's tearful face filled with a small smile.

"Yeah. This is my daughter, Rainbow Sandstorm, and my son, Stronghold Skies," she said, gesturing to the colt and filly. Fluttershy squished her cheeks, and grinned.

"Awe... they're absolutely adorable!" she exclaimed. Soarin smiled.

"Thanks, Fluttershy," he said, turning to his wife. "Ready to go?" he asked. Dash gave him a tiny glare, signaling that she wasn't at all ready to go. That she was broken inside.

"Yeah. Let's go," she said, though her eyes read the opposite. Soarin stared into them, desperately searching for answers, as he bent down, and started to flap his wings, Dash doing the same.

Suddenly, Dash felt a tug on her tail. She turned around, to see a frowning Applejack holding her back from moving any further. Dash stopped mid-flight, as she lightly pressed Stronghold off her back, letting him fly freely off her.

"What?" she spat harshly. Applejack winced, as she pulled the cyan mare down to the floors of the castle. Applejack then pulled her hat back down to cover her eyes.

"Um... you have cute kids," she said softly. Dash's eyes widened, as she internally gasped. She huffed.

"Well, thanks, is that all?"

Applejack shook her head, being pushed slightly to the right by Twilight, who was gesturing for her to continue. Applejack gulped, as she looked down.

"Uh... I'm... oh forget it," she said, pulling Dash in for the tightest hug the two had ever shared.

Rainbow Dash squeaked in surprise, as she felt the strong hooves wrap around her. She let out a soft chuckle, as she hugged the mare back with all her strength.

"Sorry, Rainbow Dash. I guess my emotions kinda took off without me...." she said, pulling away. Dash inwardly smiled, and nodded, as she shrugged nonchalantly.

"Thanks, AJ. I missed you too," she said, hugging her quickly once again. Applejack smiled, as she pulled away for the second time.

"Eight years. We haven't seen each other for eight years," she said. Dash sighed, and nodded.

"I'm so sorry, for leaving. I just couldn't stand my father and his petty insults anymore. I'm so sorry, everypony," she said. Applejack and the four other mares all nodded. Dash turned to them, before gesturing to her family.

"Meet my family," she said, as the mares all instantly targeted the twins. The five all crowded around Sandstorm and Stronghold, as Soarin backed away, and frowned.

"Hey! Where's my love and adoration?" he asked childishly. When none of them answered, Rainbow Dash flew up besides him, and pecked him on his cheek.

"I think you already get plenty of it from me," she said. Soarin didn't avert his eyes, as he smiled softly.

"You glad to be back home?" he asked. Dash instantly nodded, and pulled Soarin to face her.

"More than you could ever know," she said, glancing at her children, and best friends as they all swooned over them. Soarin grinned, and nodded, before his expression became a lot darker, and he looked away. Dash frowned. "Soarin? What's wrong?"

"I think it's time to face the Wonderbolts."