Corkscrew's Return

The next morning, Nick stood outside, with Ananasrenette, waiting to see if Cloudburst would show.

"It's 3:50, oh well! He's not coming! Let's go back to bed!", Nick smiled.

"Dad! You promised!", Ananasrenette exclaimed, tugging on Nick's paw.

"I know, sweetie. I was just kidding.", Nick said with a chuckle.

Sure enough, Cloudburst was walking towards us with a couple of suitcases 5 seconds later.

"Am I late, Mr. B?", he asked, hope in his eyes.

"Yeah.....you should have been here about 3 hours ago....", Nick said.

"Dad!", Ananasrenette exclaimed again.

"I'm just pulling your leg, Ana! And no, you're not late! You actually have 10 minutes to spare!", Nick smiled, kissing his daughter's forehead.

"Really? When do I start, Mr. B?", Cloudburst asked with glee.

"Well, don't get mad, but today is Saturday. So we all go back to bed!", Nick yawned, going into the farmhouse.

"You get to sleep with me!", Ananasrenette grinned, hugging Cloudburst.

Cloudburst saw Nick giving him a "Don't even think about it" look.

"I promise! Nothing will happen!", he mouthed to Nick.

Nick gave him a thumbs up, before went and hopped into bed with Octavia.

Octavia snuggled up to him and smiled, "So?"

"He showed up, just like I knew he would.", he replied.

"And......"

"He's a good guy, there I said it! Are you happy?", Nick sighed.

"Not yet.....wrap your wings around me.", she grinned.

Nick wrapped his wings around Octavia as she smiled, "That's better.....", as she dozed off.

A few hours later, everyone got up for breakfast.

"Well good morning, Cloudburst! I trust ya slept well last night?", Granny smiled as she put an apple cobbler on his plate.

"I slept great! A lot better than back at that old rundown apartment! Not to mention I had Ananasrenette to keep me warm.", Cloudburst smiled back, before turning to Nick, "So what's on the plate today, Mr. B?"

Nick grinned, "Well, the Apple Family Reunion is 3 days from now, and you're going help me set it up!"

"Sounds great!", Cloudburst exclaimed, eating his cobbler.

There then was a knock at the door.

"Fanfiction......I'm home!!!!", shouted a voice that sounded familiar to Nick, "Oh for crying out loud! It's a flipping sequel! Say my name already!"

Fine. It was an OLD GRAY Corkscrew, and Nick opened the door to.....

"Now wait a minute! I'm still blue! It's a lighter shade, but I'm not THAT OLD!", Corkscrew retorted, as he walked in and sat in a rocker, glaring at the sky while the Apples and Cloudburst stared at him.

No, you're old, you're gray. It's that simple! One more outburst, and I swear to Celestia, I'll write you a death scene!

"Go ahead and try! I'll tell everyone about your secret sequel for a certain pair of friends. Of course....I'd gladly forget about it, if you leave me blue.....", Corkscrew grinned slyly, before turning to the reader, "That's right, you guys! I'm back! Which means a whole lot of sweet wall breaking!"

Oh for the love of.....fine. It was an old BLUE Corkscrew that Nick greeted at the door.

"Thank you. Now was that so hard?", Corkscrew smiled, before looking at Nick and Octavia, "Well, I see you two finally got back together, didn't you?"

"Corkscrew!", Nick and Octavia exclaimed, charging him with a hug.

"Dog gone, Corkscrew! Where ya been all these years?", Applejack beamed.

"Well, I had to go back to the Dragonlands to shed some scales, and that took forever! Luckily, I won't have to do it again for another 50 years.", Corkscrew grinned.

He then saw Ananasrenette, Doray, Mifa, Sola, and Tido.

"Well I'll be darned! You and Octavia had kids while I was gone! Might as well make myself comfortable, because you have a long story to tell me!", he laughed.

So Nick told him about what happened after he ran away from home, and Corkscrew told Nick about what happened while he was in Manehatten.

"Wow, I guess we both were a couple of widowers with children, weren't we?", Corkscrew smiled, "Well, at least I still am! I'm not saying you're not happy with Octavia, I was just saying....."

"We know what you were saying, Corkscrew. We know.....", Granny laughed.

"Well, I better get going, I told the girls we'd go camping. Flutters wants to see the Breezies, Dashie wants to tell scary stories, and Scoots wants to go fishing with her old man!", Corkscrew smiled, before whispering to Nick and pointed to Cloudburst, "Who is that dork?"

"He's Ananasrenette's boyfriend, he may not look it now, but he's a little loopy.....", Nick snickered.

Octavia smiled, "Ahem....shouldn't you be going, Corkscrew?"

Nick and Corkscrew stopped their laughing.

"Uhh....yeah! See ya!", Corkscrew said, before dashing out the door.

"Nick.....you know better than to make fun of Cloudburst....", Octavia frowned.

"I know....I'm just giving him a hard time....", he replied, kissing her cheek.

So Nick, Cloudburst, Applejack, Big Mac, Ananasrenette, and Applebloom started setting it up, by the end of the day, they were finished.

Applejack turned to Nick and asked, "You know, I've been thinking.....if we always get it set up in one day when you or Ananasrenette is in charge, why don't we wait until the day before the reunion?"

Nick thought really hard about this, "Well.....truth be told, I really don't know......I've never actually thought about that....."

"Eeyup!", was all Big Mac had to say.

"Hey at least we got it done, right, Mr. B?", Cloudburst grinned.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Cloudburst. You're right.", Nick smiled.

"Hey, Dad? Is it alright if we go take a walk?", Ananasrenette asked.

"Sure. But no making out in the barn! Or I'll start selling tickets! Cmon! Step right up! See my daughter make out with her boyfriend! Cmon! These tickets are buy one get one free!", Nick said mockingly.

"We get the point, Dad....", Ananasrenette laughed, kissing his cheek, before they left.

As they walked away, Applejack put her hoof around her brother and smiled, "You know EVENTUALLY they're going to need some alone time, right?"

"Not when you're dating! Of all the fillies I dated when I was younger, how many of them have you ever caught me making out with?", Nick groaned.

"Well....there was Aloe....no wait, never mind......but still....you have to let kids grow up on their own, you've got to let go....", Applejack sighed.

"I know....but I'm not ready to let go yet....I don't know if I ever will be......."