The Crew

Wind whistled past his ears, the force of it pressing his pristine emerald green scales tighter against his face. Adrenaline flowed freely through his veins, the intoxicating sense of weightlessness seeming to course through his body. It felt as though a field of butterflies were floating around inside of his stomach, giving him one of the greatest feelings in the world.

The bottoms of his pants flapped freely in the wind, brushing up against his bare feet. The scale tight jet black tank top that he wore seemed, if at all possible, to cling tighter against him. He took a deep breath of the free air as he pulled his wings in even tighter to his body, accelerating his decent from the high heavens above to the ground below.

Laughter was heard dancing upon the back of the wind, prompting his dark emerald green eyes to chance a glance to his right. Floating beside of him was the most beautiful creatures that he had ever had the chance to look upon. Her amber fur glistened in the air, merging with her sunshine yellow and fire red mane, making it seem as though an en-trail of fire was following her matching tail.

Emerald eyes meet cyan as they gazed upon each other with naught but love and trust being shared between them. His razor sharp ivory white teeth were put on display for her as he joined her in her joy, loving that he could share this feeling with her.

Up here in the sky was where he felt like he belonged more than anywhere, where he felt truly free, where the world didn't seem to matter. All that mattered was the beautiful mare beside him, his true love, his mate.

Looking back down to the ground, he grinned as he used his tail to move closer to her until their outstretched hands touched. It brought a familiar warmth to his body when their fingers curled around each other, feeling her complete trust in him as they continued to rapidly descend towards the ground. His eyes made their way back to her, seeing just the slightest fire in her cyan eyes, and knowing that she wanted to enjoy this experience with him as long as they could.

Through their joined hands he swore he could feel her heart beating in sync with his own, and just like him, she was calm and collected, having absolute faith that he would not let anything bad happen to her.

As the ground grew closer, so did they. Inch by inch they pulled themselves closer to each other until his chest was pressed firmly against her shoulder blades, his hands going around her slightly swollen stomach. He payed it no mind as he tightened his grip around her until he felt his fingers digging into her matching black skin tight tank top. The bottoms of her dark ash gray sweat pants brushed against his own feet, letting him know that they were in perfect alignment.

Time seemed to slow down as they closed their eyes, waiting together for just the right moment, the right break in the air, the right spot to spread out his wings and soar together above the land. He tightened his grip slightly as he felt the break, spreading his wings out like a majestic eagle before flight. There was a sharp tug against the thin, leathery membrane of his wings as the air rushed underneath of them to slow their decent.

After a few seconds, he began to flap his massive wings, steadily climbing back up into the sky so that they could soar over the vast grassy plains of Southern Equestria. Far below them, they could barely make out the blades of grass as they danced with the wind, moving as if enticed by some unforeseen song. It was open in all directions, showing that they were utterly alone.

Far off to the North was a collection of mountain ranges that twisted and curled like a snake with the land. To the South was a wide open lake that stretched across to the mouth of a river, where it went downstream to a forest, then out to sea. To the West was all open, stretching out to the Badlands, dragon territory a few miles away. To the East was the great city of Canterlot by some few hundred miles.

It was serene where they were, floating a few hundred feet above the land. A smile danced across her lips as she scanned all around them with her eyes, loving the wind as it brushed past her exposed fur, tossing her mane as though it was a piece of cloth. She felt a deep warmth in her heart as she glanced up at her chosen mate, seeing his emerald eye looking back down at her.

The sky was his domain, his land, his territory, and she felt honored that she could share it with him.

A sigh escaped his lips as he tore his gaze from her and angled them towards the North, heading to the mountains, whose peaks seamed to stretch up until they touched the sky.

Towards the base of the first mountain was a tall standing structure that, from their distance, only he could see clearly. Though he couldn't make out all of the shapes that were moving to and fro in front of it, he could still see the building itself as if he was standing before it.

Standing erect in the shadow of the mountain was the Cloudsdale Flight Academy, where creatures from all over came to train as pilots for the Equestrian Defense Force. It was there that they learned to pilot that massive star ships and cruisers that flew throughout space, traveling from planet to planet searching for minerals, life, and whatever else they could find. It was there that they were currently enrolled, where he was training to be a pilot, and she was training to be a navigator.

As they drew closer, he was able to catch sight of various ponies and gryphons running around, looking as though they were chickens missing their heads. He chuckled as he watched them, most being fresh recruits trying to make it to their final class on time. He sighed as he remembered those days, having to try and figure out where his classes were, making sure that he passed all of his tests. Now, all he had to do was make sure that he kept up his rep as one of the two best pilots to have ever come through the academy.

The mare brushed her furry foot against his scaled one, making him look down at her. Her eyes were watching to their left, where he glanced to see a rainbow streak making its way across the sky towards them. Good ol' Rainbow Dash. He thought as he focused back on their destination.

Coming out from the front gates of the academy was a dirt road, which forked a few feet out and split off, one road towards the West, another to the East. The first road led around the side of the mountain to some more buildings that were erected further up the mountain, the freshman dorms. Unlike them, he never had to stay there.

The second road led away from the mountain and towards a forest, which stretched back through an opening in the mountains like a deep cut valley. It was within the forest that the dorms resided for the various crews that had been selected, cadets who were in their final two years of the academy. His crew was in their final few weeks, having one test left to pass, and then the final simulation. Once they passed that, they were ready to be given their own ship.

Dust skirted up around them as he alighted their feat with the ground, dropping down softly in the grass beside the dirt road at the first thicket of trees. Looking down, he could see the road continuing until it reach a tall oak tree, then swirling around deeper into the interior of the forest.

His gaze was brought back to the mare in his arms as she spun around to face him, her arms going around his neck as she pulled him into a kiss. Sparks danced across their lips as they held their embrace, warmth seeping into their chests as they held each other. He was in utter bliss as her soft lips caressed his own, feeling as though she was putting her heart on display for him.

“I love you Sunset Shimmer.” He whispered when they broke apart. His voice was course like gravel, yet it was filled with love and warmth like honey.

“I love you too Rain.” Her voice sounded as though it was serene like a brook, though it still was a little rough like sandpaper. Whatever she was going to say next was cut short as she pressed a hand to the betrothal necklace that was around her throat, feeling the elegantly made carving that dangled from the golden yellow and black silk. His eyes were drawn to it, seeing the emerald that had been cut away and designed to look like a dragon wrapped around a pony, the design having been touched with sapphire to enhance the design so that it was more easily seen.

They pressed their heads together for a brief moment before they started walking down the dirt laid road, their destination being at the end in a clearing.

Bright golden yellow scales reflected the setting sun, casting beautiful sparkles across the trees as the dragoness stood there staring at the massive structure before her. She was garbed in a pair of dark brimstone black pants with an equally dark shirt, over which she wore a loose running jacket. Slung across her back was her pack, everything that she owned. There wasn't much.

Through an archway of trees she came to see a massive building that was to be her new home. It was beautiful in every sense of the word. The first thing that she saw was the concrete stairs that lead up to the front door, two oak doors that were decorated with wonderful carvings. The first was of a dragon, coiled around an every present sun, acting as though it was a guard. Beneath of it was a gryphon flying above the peaks of a mountain range, looking as though it was hunting. To the left was a changeling, standing tall and regal with its wings stretched out, casting its glance over a legion of soldiers. Above it was the final carving, the royal pony sisters with their backs pressed together, sitting atop their thrones looking out past Canterlot to the lands beyond, looking as mighty protectors.

On the wall beside of the doors were various windows, each one housing a different array of flowers, hanging from the window sills. Beneath of the bottom ones on either side was an expansive garden, where she could see all kinds of fruits and vegetables being grown, some looking as though they were ready to be picked.

“Pretty cool, huh?” Beside of the dragoness was a mare with cyan blue fur, her rainbow colored mane and tail thrown out behind her haphazardly. She was dressed in a pair of low cut red track pants, sporting a loose fitting muscle shirt that dropped past her waist. Her wings were folded loosely across her back as she put her arms behind her head, leaning back until with an audible 'pop', her back cracked. “Come on, I'll show you around.”

There was a sense of enthusiasm in her voice, though it was masked slightly by her course boyish voice. There was no doubt in her mind that this cyan mare was a tomboy. “I guess so.” The dragoness replied shyly.

With the mare leading her, she went through the elegant oak doors to the foyer beyond. It was a sight to behold for sure. The floor had a dark raven blue carpet, twin lines of black making their way beyond to the hallway. To either side were a set of stairs that spiraled in a crescent shape up towards the second floor, where she saw that the snow white painted railing connected above the hallway to a balcony that overlooked the foyer. Beside either stair case was a single wooden table, sitting atop was a flower pot with lilies.

The dragoness let her golden eyes take in the sight, feeling slightly put off by all of the elegance of the home, and she was just in the foyer. There was no telling how big the home actually was on the inside. A little voice in her mind told her to flee, that she didn't belong here, but there was a louder voice that told her this is what she signed up for.

“So, this is what egghead calls the 'foyer'.” She used her first two fingers on either hand as air quotes. It made her laugh. “This isn't even the good part of the house. This is just soo boring.” She almost whined the last part as she hunched over like she was going to be sick.

It didn't last long and she immediately straightened up, pointing towards the hallway ahead. “Just like all of the other dorms, this house has all of the fun stuff downstairs, all of the rooms are upstairs. We'll head up there after I show you around down here.” The dragoness merely nodded her head.

“Alright, moving on.” The cyan mare led the dragoness down the hall to the first door on the left. “Obviously this is a supply closet.” She opened the door to illustrate her point.

They moved on down to the second door. “Another supply closet?” There was a ghost of a smile as she eyed the door, waiting for the mare to make some smart remark.

“No actually. This is the study.” She led the way inside. To say that it was a library was an understatement. Against the back wall was a tall bookcase, stretching up all the way to the ceiling, then it wrapped around the entire room, forming a rotunda. Towards the left was a massive window, with a giant curtain pulled back, letting in what remained of the sunlight.

Before her was a wooden table, various books strewn about. There were four black leather chairs around the table, two of which were occupied. Sitting with her back to her was a mare with bright yellow fur, having her pink mane in a braid with flowers stuck in at various places. Across from her was a lavender alicorn, a golden crown nestled into her indigo colored mane, having one streak of pink and another of royal purple. She was garbed in a flowing dark amethyst purple dress, an open book in her lap.

It took a moment for the dragoness to realize who the mare was, her eyes going wide when she did. Almost immediately she dropped to her knees and bowed, unaware that the cyan mare was rolling her eyes and the lavender mare had yet to look up from her book. “Yo, egghead.” The dragoness shot a glare at the cyan mare, but otherwise remained where she was.

“What Rainbow?” There was a pause as the mare motioned to the dragoness on the floor, feeling herself blush when she saw her. “Please don't do that.” The dragoness chanced a glance up, seeing that she had motioned for her to stand up.

“Meet Princess Twilight Sparkle, or egghead for short.” The cyan mare started to laugh at the joke, but neither the dragoness nor Twilight shared in her merriment.

“Pleased to meet you your highness.” The dragoness spoke in a dignified manner, keeping her eyes glued to the floor.

“Please don't do that either. I'm not here to be a princess. Here I am just a student like you. Speaking of, who is this Rainbow?”

“Glitter.... something. Forgot her last name.”

“Glitter Summerwinds your high... Twilight.”

“Better. Are you my new pilot?”

“Yes ma'am.” Twilight set aside her book to walk over to the dragoness.

“You can go Rainbow, I want to talk to her for a minute.”

“Gotcha eggy.” Rainbow Dash started to laugh again as she left the study, closing the door as she did so.

“Please, have a seat.” Twilight led Glitter to an empty chair, finding that the yellow mare was looking at her. “This is Fluttershy, she is one of our doctors. She's spent a lot of time with animals as a vet, as well as a trainer. Just like the rest of us, she had skills that help us outside of our fields.” As she spoke, the lavender mare took her own seat, noticing that the dragoness had looked at Fluttershy, but still refused to meet her gaze. “You don't have to be formal around me while we are here Glitter. You are a friend.”

Finally, she managed to raise her eyes to the princess, seeing that there was a smile spread across the mare's face. “Sorry, I'm not used to being around royalty.”

“That's alright, to be honest, I never really wanted it myself.”

Glitter looked back at the yellow mare, seeing that she had pulled her mane around so that she could hide her face from the dragoness. Twilight noticed this as well. “Fluttershy is really shy around new people, just give her some time, she'll warm up to you.” The dragoness just nodded. “So Glitter, tell me a little about yourself.”

“You want to know about me?”

“Well yes, I am the Commander of the crew, seeing as how it will be my ship, I want to know my crew. I consider all of you my friends.”

“I'd rather not talk too much about my past is that's alright.” Twilight nodded her head to show her understanding. “I am an excellent pilot, fifth best in the school. Not really a starfighter pilot like Rainbow Dash, but more of like a dropship pilot.”

“Okay, that means I can spare my other pilots as often as I need to. What about any other skills?”

“Well I was ranked as top shot with a blaster, specifically a long range rifle. I managed to hit a five meter target from almost two thousand meters away.” She noticed that the lavender's eyes went wide for a second.

“That will come in handy. What about any other positions or special skills, for example, I am fluent in almost every spoken language in Equestria, Fluttershy can tame any animal, Rainbow Dash is a fast runner, the fastest I have ever seen actually, as well as the fastest flier in all of Equestria. She can actually pull off a Sonic Rainboom.”

“Well I can't do anything like that. All I can really do outside of fly and fight is track really well, hunt. I've been able to track nearly everything in Equestria.”

Twilight put a hand to her chin as she thought, “I'm sure that there is more than you can do, we just have to find out what it is.” The lavender mare looked back towards Fluttershy. “Why don't I introduce you to everybody?” Glitter only managed a nod, not really wishing to meet everyone right away, but figured that she might as well get it out of the way now.

“Great, follow me.”

Twilight led the dragoness back out into the hallway and down a few doors. Like the study, there was no label on the door, leading her to believe that they must have lost their way numerous times before they remembered where everything was. “This is our exercise room.”

It was a small room to be sure, but it was filled with equipment. Against the far wall was a rack that housed dumb bells of varying size and weight. Along the adjacent wall were four benches with a bar stretched across, while on the opposite wall was a vast mirror, in front of which were several pull-up bars. In the center of the room was a collection of four large blue mats, on which two figures were wrestling.

The first was a dragon with topaz orange scales, having a single black strips that ran from the tip of his muzzle to the end of his tail, sporting matching lines on both of his arms from the shoulder to the back of the hand, and she could only assume that the same went for his legs. He was bare chested, showing off his toned chest, while he wore only a pair of light forest green sports shorts. When she finally managed to catch a glimpse of his topaz colored eyes, she could see both a hint of playfulness, and a fierce determination to win.

Atop the dragon was a mare with a dirty coat of sunset orange fur, garbed in only a black sports bra and wearing a pair of blue jean shorts. She had put her long blonde mane and tail into a tight ponytail, using a pair of red bands at both the tip and end to keep its shape. It took only a moment for the two to turn over, giving her a glance at the forest green eyes that held within them an ocean of stubbornness, but also of a friendly nature.

“Mm.” Twilight mused as she watched her friends wrestle. Upon seeing no end to their competition in sight, she cleared her throat, forcing the two to look over at her. Their laughter echoed off the walls as they say their guests, keeping their smiles when they managed to disentangle themselves from each other. “This is Glitter.” Twilight motioned to the dragoness as she spoke.

“I'm Ryder.” The topaz dragon said as he shook hands with the dragoness. “I'm the better mechanic.” There was still a playful glint in his eyes as he spoke. “Also very skilled at fixing almost anything that has an engine or motor. Ask her highness, she knows.” Twilight shook her head at his playful nature, knowing that they were going to be there for a while.

“Ah'm Applejack.” The sunset mare came to shake her hand, though she felt it odd that the mare had such a strong grip. “Ship's weapons specialist, and farmer. Ah can grow nearly anythin' under Celestia's sun, if the land is fertile for growin'.”

“Glitter is going to be a pilot for us, mostly flying the drop ships.” Both Ryder and Applejack had ignored her to get back on the mat, taking merely seconds to resume their battle. “Alright, moving on.”

Twilight led the dragoness further down to the end of the hallway. To her left it broke open into a nearly breathtaking room. There was a giant window that looked out upon a deep cut valley further from the home, a body of water nearly kissing the edge of a cliff. Inside of the window was an indoor pool, though it was barely three feet deep, but that was because pressed against the window was a small bar, where she could see various drinks on the shelves. Past the bar were stools that were sitting in the water, while to either side was a small opening, just large enough for someone to use the water running our as a slide to the pool outside. A smile crept across her lips as she saw Rainbow Dash lazily floating in the water outside.

“This was here before we were given the home, otherwise I would have objected against the bar being built. None of us actually drink, except for Rarity, but she drinks wine with her boyfriend. They usually drink it with dinner, and on a special occasion.” Glitter was at a loss of words, having always loved the water, and she had never seen it both inside and outside of a home.

“This way.” She was led inside a room that she hadn't seen when they came in. It opened up to the kitchen, past that was the dinning hall.

The kitchen was fairly simple compared to how elegant the home was. A stove, two ovens set into the wall, and a dual sink with dishwasher. There was an island counter, but that was covered with flour and sugar at present. A bright hot pink mare rose from behind the counter, a bowl of spilled eggs in her hands. If it was at all possible, the dragoness would have sworn that her mane and tail were made from cotton candy, and that there was nothing natural about it. She was wearing a pair of dark ocean blue shorts with a flamingo pink shirt, a white apron covering most of it, though it didn't stop all of the flour and sugar from covering it.

“Glitter, this is....”

“Pinkie Pie! Hi!” The pink mare had somehow managed to place the bowl on the counter and envelop her in a hug in the fraction of a second. “Oh... This means we need to throw a party!” Before she could object, the pink mare was out of the room, headed to Celestia knows where.

“Don't ask, just go with it. Pinkie is something else.”

Continuing on, they came to the dinning room, where there was an open window against the far wall, a large oak table spread out from there to nearly where she was standing. It could easily fit a total of eighteen students, but at present, it had only two.

Sitting at the head of the table was a silvery-white mare with a long violet mane, seemingly curled to perfection. She had donned a light gray tube top, sporting a similarly colored skirt. Beside her was an amethyst purple dragon, his nearly lime green spines coursing down his back. Like the topaz dragon, he was shirtless, displaying his defined muscles for anybody to see, while he wore a pair of black pants, the bottoms wrapping around the boots he was wearing.

From their distance, she could see that he was holding the mare's hand, and they were lost in their conversation, oblivious to the two of them. “The mare is Rarity, she's our other doctor, even though she doesn't like to get dirty if she can help it.” Glitter gave her a quizzical look. “I've given up trying to figure everyone out. She's also good at making anything feel like home, and surprisingly, one of the best at setting up defenses when we make camp.”

“Mmm.” The golden dragoness mused as she watched the dragon lean in to kiss the mare.

“The drake is her boyfriend Spike, our other mechanic. He is the adopted son of Princess Celestia, therefore by extension his time with her has made him a great, shall we saw, emotion reader. If there is one thing that he is good at it's interrogation. He can always tell when someone is telling the truth, and when they are lying.”

“If you'll follow me, there are three crew members that you still need to meet.”

Sweat dripped from his brow, his breath coming in raged, shallow gasps as he lied there staring at the ceiling. Lying beside of him was his mate, her mane all strewn about, her fur clinging to her naked body in certain places. Her head was resting on his chest, listening contently to his beating heart, while her arms were around his torso. A leg was placed over his, their tails have yet to become untangled. Despite their previous activities.

His fingers danced along her spine as they lie their together, neither one wanting to leave their state of constant bliss. She had taken to placing kisses on his bare chest until she had reached his throat, where she gently nibbled on his scaly flesh. Happiness was all that either of them felt as they let silence fall between them, occasionally glancing at each other before kissing. In here they were away from the world, away from everything else. This was their second home, the sky always being their first.

“I love you Rain.”

“I love you too Sunset.” Another bought of silence passed between them, the only sound was their slowing heartbeats.

“Rain, there is something that I need to tell you.” She raised herself up so that she could look into his emerald pools of love, knowing that there was nowhere else he would rather look than at her. “A week ago I was feeling really sick.”

“I remember, you were having a hard time keeping food down.”

“Ya, and we thought that I had a stomach bug. A few days ago when I went, I...” She trailed off as she looked down to her stomach, feeling the slight bulge that he had failed to notice rubbing against his side. “I had an idea as to what was causing it, so, I had the doctor run another test, asking her to keep it a secret. So far, I have only told Princess Celestia about it.”

She could see the look of hurt in his eyes. He was upset that she had talked to Princess Celestia about it before him. “Sunset, you know that you can trust me with anything.”

“I know, but I wanted it to be a surprise.” His hurt vanished in an instant, and she could see that he was starting to piece together what she was about to tell him. She swore that tears had started to form in the corners of his eyes. “It came back positive.” Without saying anything more, she brought his hand down to her stomach.

“Sunny...” Tears started to flow from his eyes as he pulled her into a deep kiss, breaking apart when she tried to push him away. “I love you so much...”

“Well, I hope you have enough love for more than one. Daddy.”

“I have more than enough love for you, and how ever many children we have.” Sunset felt a wave of relief wash over her. She had prepared herself for him being upset that it wouldn't be just them anymore, that he would have to quit the academy to be with her, that he would never get to go up into space, but he was happy. She knew that she had nothing to fear, but the lingering sense was still there.

“How far along...”

“Three weeks. I had them check that out two. Princess Celestia has offered to assist in any way that she can.” She could see that although he was happy at the thought of being a father, he was still trying to work out the rest of their lives in his head. “Princess Celestia has said that we can still go into space, that our jobs will not harm me or our children in any way. Although, this has never happened before, so there are some tests that they want to run every few weeks to check and see if the baby or babies are healthy.”

Rain wanted to say more, but he was cut off from a soft knock at their door. “Bro, its me.” The voice was rough, slightly deep even, but it was still soft, and it sounded as though the speaker was upset, crying maybe. Without a word, the couple pulled away from each other to put clothes on before he opened the door, catching a cobalt blue dragoness standing there. She was garbed in a dark crimson red sports bra and dark indigo sleeping pants. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she entered the room, embracing the drake.

“Shh. It's alright sis. Your big brother's here.” Using his tail to close the door, he led the dragoness over to the bed, sitting down with her as she cried into his bare chest. Sunset came to sit beside of the dragoness, letting her soft furred hands brush her scaled shoulders.

“I-It still hurts....” A few weeks ago the love of her life, Sweetie Belle had broken up with her, not wanting to pursue a long distance relationship while she was setting off on her singing career. Rain was still upset with the mare for doing that, but he wasn't nearly as upset as Rarity had been when she found out. It was a long week for all of them afterword, with the dragoness missing classes and refusing to eat. It was a daunting task trying to get her to open up, but she only ever talked to her brother about it.

“I know it does Cobalt, but it will pass in time. It's going to take time, but you'll find someone else, someone who is not afraid to commit. Someone who loves you as much as you love them.”

“Sweetie B-Belle was the closest to her.” She managed between sobs. He knew she was referring to the dragoness that she had been engaged to, Glitter Summerwinds. It was a long time ago, but by the time that the two had decided to get married they had to flee for their lives. Their city was under attack and they thought that the dragoness had been killed during the fight. It took her nearly a year to finally come out of her shell then.

Cobalt was a tough dragoness, ever since they were children she's had to be strong. She was a punching bag shortly after their parents had died, especially when the other dragon children found out that she was into the same sex. It was a rough time for her, and she had to develop a strong exterior, to the point where she never opened up or displayed any emotion other than anger to anyone besides her brother. Glitter was the first that she had, and they had fallen in love over the course of their friendship until the point that they had started dating.

After the attack, Rain thought that she was going to remain in her shell for the rest of her life, but it changed when she became friends with Sweetie Belle, and before long, she had fallen in love again. He had thought that the mare had felt the same way, but a couple of weeks ago he was mistaken.

“Just let it out sis.” The drake held his younger sister close as she balled up her hands into fists and cried into his chest, letting out all of her hurt. Even though Sunset was there, she didn't care. She was being held by her brother, and Sunset was his chosen mate and wife, thus she was her sister in every sense of the word.

Sunset managed to pull one of her hands away and slip her hand inside, their fingers tightening around each other as she felt the mare hug her from behind. With them she felt safe, she felt like nothing could hurt her anymore. Though she was still tormented by the memories of both Glitter and by Sweetie Belle, she took solace in her brother's words, knowing that he was right. He had told her after Glitter that she would find someone else, and she had, she had found Sweetie Belle. It was going to still hurt, but she knew deep down that he was right.

“Thank you, both of you.” She said when she pulled away, wiping away the remaining tears. “I love you both so much.” They embraced in a family hug, Cobalt feeling their love vibrating through their very arms into her heart.

When they finally broke apart, she could see that Sunset and Rain were eyeing each other, smirks on their faces. “What?” She was wondering what they were up to when Sunset nodded, nothing being spoken between them, but the mare seemingly knew something that she didn't.

“Sis, we've got something to tell you.”

“Okay?”

“It's nothing bad, in fact, I think it will even brighten up your day.” Cobalt was still confused, but just waited for her brother to continue. “There is something special that we need you to do for us, well for Sunset more, but also for me.” She could see that the amber mare was giddy with excitement about something, and the longer that he dragged out what he was going to tell her the more that she became a little frustrated.

“Oh for Celestia's sake, just tell her.”

“Alright, sorry. Just wanted to build the suspense.” They shared a smile before they both turned to look at Cobalt. She eyed them both carefully, her cobalt blue eyes trying to dig past the surface and find out what they were hiding. Rain's eyes went towards Sunset, or so she thought, until she saw that his gaze was drawn to her midsection, or more specifically, her stomach.That's when Cobalt could see that the mare's stomach was just barely pass the rim of her sleeping pants. A million thoughts went through her head as to what was going on with her, but the one that stuck out the most was concluded when she still saw the giddy grin that she refused to get rid off.

“That's right Cobalt, you're an aunt.” The dragoness just pulled her brother in for another hug, Sunset soon joining in. Their moment was short, but both parents could feel her happiness. “Sunset is going to need help when I'm not around out there. If she needs anything and I'm not there, can you help her out?”

“Of course. I'll protect her as if she was my wife.” Their laughter filled the room at her joke. Rain knew that his sister would protect her and help her in any way that she could, this was her sister and her nieces or nephews, and she was going to die before anything bad happened to her or them.

“Thank you sis.”

Cobalt flashed a toothy grin to her brother as she tried to hide her face.

From beneath the door to the room came a scent that made both Cobalt and Rain's eyes widen slightly. It was an old scent, but it was familiar to both of them, more so to the dragoness than her brother. Crushed juniper berries with the faint touch of freshly fallen pine needles. A few tears came to her eyes as her nose took in the welcoming scent, bringing back happy memories, as well as painful ones.

Rain rested a hand on his sister's shoulder for comfort. She turned back towards him, trying to will away the pain that the scent brought with it.

Sunset looked from the siblings to the door as it swung open, revealing a beautiful golden yellow dragoness. A single tear was in her eyes as she looked from the mare to the dragon siblings, or more importantly, to the dragoness. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, a burning love in her eyes, and strangely, a flicker of fullness.

The emerald drake cast his glance over to the dragoness, feeling his breath catch in his throat. In a near silent whisper, he said, "Glitter?"

Cobalt's head jerked around from her brother to the dragoness, her heart leaping into her own throat, her voice failing her as more tears came to her eyes. For the first time in a long time, the dragoness felt weightless, like a field of butterflies was fluttering around in her stomach. Gradually, she slipped away from the bed to stand, eyeing the golden dragoness as though she was a lost trinket.

Glitter swallowed the lump in her throat and finally found her voice, ignoring Rain and Sunset as she steadily crossed the room towards the cobalt dragoness. "Cobalt?" Her voice was a faint whisper, but to Cobalt, it was more beautiful than a perfectly performed sonnet.

The golden dragoness felt tears in her own eyes as she finally found the strength to throw her arms around the cobalt dragoness, pulling her in close. Both of their hearts were beating rapidly as they held each other. Neither one felt as though it was anything but a dream, but the contact felt real.

Cobalt pulled away from the dragoness so that she could look into her shimmering pools of gold, seeing all of the pain that she had gone through since they were apart. She could see the endless flames of love that burned brightly, the overwhelming joy at seeing her again. She knew that the same things could be seen in her own eyes, among other emotions.

As if acting on instinct, their heads began to grow closer, their eyes falling shut, as their lips brushed against each other. A burst of sparks flew between them, their arms going tightly around each other as they held onto one another for dear life. Neither one had ever felt happier in their life, and neither one wanted it to end.

Rain scooted back on his bed, watching his sister with her first and only ever real love. He felt happy for her, but at the same time, he felt worried. Where had Glitter been all of this time? What drove her to attend Cloudsdale Flight Academy? What bothered him the most, was how she was still alive?

An amber hand rested upon his shoulder, making him turn to look at his beloved mare. "Everything is going to be alright." She promised, planting a kiss on his cheek.

The emerald drake turned back towards his sister, who was now leading Glitter by the hand out of his room and into the hallway. He watched as they brushed past a confused Rainbow Dash, who just looked back at him and asked, "What was that all about?"

He still felt worry gnawing at his bones, but he brushed it aside as he rose from the bed. He sighed as he saw that Rainbow Dash was now in his doorway, awaiting an answer. "Technically, that was her dead fiance...."

Author's Note

I feel like this rewrite was well worth the wait