Author's Note
I hope you enjoy this one. New chapters will be out weekly, and they may be longer and more detailed.
Remember to put this in tracking so you don’t miss out on a new chapter every week!!
Hey, Rainbow, you think the people will like this?
sure, I do, but even if they don’t, it’s fine because not everyone has to like it.
*Lets out heavy sigh* I guess, you are correct.
look, Artist, I get it that not everyone likes you, but your friends sure do, so do the characters you write about.
*Looks at Rainbow with a bewildered look, and chuckles* I have no idea what you’re talking about, Rainbow.
looks at her son. You do, don’t you bud?
The Rejection
As Rainbow Dash walked down the busy Vanhoover street, ponies of every size, race, and color shoved past her, too caught up in their own business to care about what she was doing right behind her, her son followed close, making an active effort to step out of the way, every so often, uttering an "excuse us..."
He was a sturdy young stallion. A pegasus, just like his mother.
He sported a dark blue coat and wings, which were tightly clinging to his back, covering up half of his cutie mark; a rainbow hidden among a sea of clouds. He wore his long, wavy rainbow mane swept back over his ears, with just the frontmost red strand draping down between his left eye and his nose.
Rainbow turned to look at her son. "Ready for your first day on the job, bud?"
He looked up at her, his cyan eyes betraying his irresolution behind an otherwise blank expression. Still, he put on a brave face and nodded as they approached the weather factory.
The weather factory was a very modern-looking building. It had a very modern look to it. It was quite impressive.
The door to the big building opened and Rainbow and her son stepped inside. The inside of the building looked modern with various machines, chugging away, making clouds, and ponies working at their stations.
“Hello!” Rainbow said to no pony in particular, keeping a firm grip on her son’s shoulder as they slowly walked through the large building.
“Well, hey there,” A friendly-sounding voice said suddenly.
Rainbow whipped around to see a pegasus mare coming with a brown coat and some color mare out from behind one of the tables that lined up against the far wall.
“I assume you’re here for a job, ain't ya, sugar?” She addressed the stallion.
He just remained quiet and slightly rocked where he stood.
“Yes, this is Sky Dancer, my son, we are here for a job interview with Ruth Pointer, is that by any chance your name?” Rainbow asked her.
Ruth nodded enthusiastically and motioned for them to follow her. Rainbow briefly wondered if she was related to Pinkie Pie the way she bounced around and was so energetic but quickly dismissed the notion when they were led to a brown door.
Sky stuck to his mother like glue when they entered the room that lay beyond the brown door. Ruth sat down at a large desk and began rifling through paperwork
“Let’s see now,” she said, briefly looking up at Sky with a small smile, riffling through more paperwork on her desk before holding up a large stack of papers and placing them back on her desk very neatly. “So, I see here, that Sky is autistic, do tell me what he can do?”
“Well, he is very good at shaping clouds into different shapes, he’s also good at drawing, isn’t that right, buddy?” Rainbow nudged her son.
Sky simply nodded as he rocked back and forth, not looking at anything in particular.
“Well,” Ruth scratched the back of her head. “I don’t know, we’ve never had an autistic pony before, I guess we could give it a try for a day.”
Rainbow’s ears dropped slightly, as she looked at the older pony in disbelief. “What?” She whispered.
“I’m sorry, ma’am but we are not equipped to handle ponies with autism, I wish I could do more,” Ruth said, getting up and walking to the door, and opening it for Rainbow and Sky Dancer. “Again, I’m sorry.”
Rainbow’s demeanor shifted from surprise to anger as she stomped her hoof.
“Not equipped, what’s that supposed to mean?” She asked, trying to control her anger.
Ruth looked sympathetically at her, shutting the door and sitting back down at her desk.
“Please, keep your voice down, what if your son has a meltdown, who’s going to handle him?” She said softly.
“So, what you’re telling me is that just because my son might have a meltdown you are not going to hire him?” Rainbow almost shouted. “JUST BECAUSE HE IS DIFFERENT?”
Sky flinched at the sound of his mother’s voice, he wanted to ask why she was yelling, he didn’t understand why she was so upset. He sat there quietly rocking back and forth, looking at the ground.
“Come on, Sky,” Rainbow said, getting up and briskly walking to the door. “We’re going home, after all, we’re not wanted here.”
Sky got up to follow his mother, glancing back at Ruth before following his mother out the door.
Ruth let out a heavy sigh as the door slammed, looking down at her hooves.
Once they were outside of the building, Rainbow turned to her son. “Look kid, not everyone understands ponies like you, some ponies are just really ignorant.”
“No job?” He quietly mumbled. “Want to make clouds!”
“I know, you do, but we have to find something else for you to do, ok?” Rainbow said, as they flew off in the direction of their home. “Not even a trial run.” She angrily modeled to herself.
As Rainbow unlocked the door to their house, she let out a loud sigh and pushed it open. A filly bounced them up, she had a yellow coat and her mother’s multi-colored hair, her tiny wings fluttering in excitement.
“Mom, Sky, you’re home, you’re home!” The filly smiled. “How did it go?”
“It…didn’t!” Rainbow said to her daughter as she walked inside.
The filly looked up at her mother with a confused expression on her tiny face. “Why?” She asked.
“It’s complicated, kiddo,” Rainbow admitted.
“But Mommy, I don’t understand why Sky didn’t get the job, did he do something wrong?” The filly asked.
Sky, who had been watching this interaction, made a beeline for the couch, his sister climbed onto the couch beside her older brother.
“No, he didn’t do anything wrong, but you remember when I told you that your brother is different, right?” Rainbow asked, knelt down beside her daughter and son.
“Yeah, he doesn’t talk like you and me, right?” She asked. “He's autistic?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean he’s less special, we love him and we love you too,” Rainbow said, ruffling her daughter‘s mane.
The filly nodded and smiled up at her brother who was fidgeting with his hooves.
“Breeze come and help daddy in the kitchen, ok?” Soarin’s voice called.
“Yes, daddy,” Breeze answered, getting up and zipping into the kitchen.
As Rainbow watched her leave, she couldn’t help but grin at her daughter’s enthusiasm for helping her dad. She must’ve been the luckiest pony in all of Equestria to have such wonderful kids.
“Sky, we need to talk about something, ok?” Rainbow said. “And I need you to listen.”
Sky simply nodded as he sat there. “Ok.” He said with a smile tugging at his lips.
“So I was thinking if we can’t get you a job here, maybe we should look for one in Ponyville, how does that sound?” Sky’s mom asked him.
“Sound,” Sky nodded in agreement. “Good!”
“We’re going to Ponyville?” Breeze asked, coming back from the kitchen.
“Yup, I think Sky needs some time off from job hunting,” Rainbow said.
“Cool, we're going to see Aunt Twilight!” Breeze wowed, jumping up and down in excitement.
“To see Aunt Twilight!” Sky echoed in excitement.
Back when Breeze was born, Rainbow worried that taking care of another baby would take time away from Sky, but Soarin reassured her that everything would be fine. “Sky still needs you,” He had told her one evening after they put Breeze to bed.
Pushing the memory aside, Rainbow zipped around the house, collecting items that they might need for their trip.
Sky, who was sitting on the sofa, watched his mom zip, back-and-forth between the living room and the upstairs.
Rainbow’s thoughts whirled, like the items she was collecting—a few necessities that they might need on the trip—such as an old scarf that Twilight had given her when Sky was five years old and a few blankets.
“Hey, Sky, get your sister and go upstairs and choose a few of your sensory toys you would like to take with you,” Rainbow instructed.
Sky looked at his mother and nodded flying out of the living room and to the kitchen, he came back a short time later with his sister in tow and they both flew up upstairs.
Rainbow watched her son and daughter disappear up the stairs, the faint sound of their wings flapping filled the air. Her husband came out of the kitchen and stood beside his wife.
“Think they’re gonna take forever?” He asked, wiping his hooves on a dish towel.
Rainbow shook her head, “Sky’s pretty good when it comes to his stuff, he can keep focused when he’s on a task that is simple.”
Upstairs, Sky and Breeze landed softly in their shared room. Their beds were pushed against opposite walls and in between them, was a small shelf with an assortment of sensory toys and items that helped Sky stay regulated when he got unregulated. Some were soft, others were squishy and still others were very hard.
Sky stood in front of the shelf with his wings outstretched as if he were protecting something very valuable.
“How about this one?” Breeze piped, holding a stuffed wonderbolts plushy that their Aunt Twilight had given Sky some years ago.
Sky walked over to his sister and took the plushy from her, putting it in his saddle bag, he reached for a cloud shaped sensory toy and put it in his saddle bag.
Breeze watched her brother with wide, curious eyes as he selected each item carefully. She didn’t always understand why Sky needed sensory toys and what she understood was that he was special.
“All done!” Sky announced happily as he trotted out of their room, his sister followed him downstairs where Rainbow was waiting for them.
As Sky and Breeze came downstairs, Rainbow approached them. “Ready to go?” She asked.
“Yes, we are ready to go!” Breeze shouted, bouncing up and down in place.
“Alright, I think we have everything, and if we forgot something, we can always buy it in Ponyville,” Soarin said.
As the small family got up to leave, Sky took one last look in the direction of his room and followed his sister outside onto the porch.
“All set?” Rainbow asked, ruffling her feathers as she prepared to take off.
With a quick nod Sky spread his wings, and took off after his mother with his sister and father doing the same.
As they soared through the sky, the wind rushed past their faces. Sky felt a familiar sense of calm wash over him, he quite enjoyed the sense of flying, he enjoyed the freedom it gave him. He enjoyed the way his wings flapped.
Rainbow glanced back to make sure that everypony was following, her eyes lingering on her son. She could see the serene look on his face and it made her smile. Sky might not speak, but she could always tell when something was bothering him.
Breeze, on the other hoof, was already excitedly chatting to her father about all the places they could visit in Ponyville. Her energy was contagious and even Sky couldn’t help but feel a bit of excitement for the upcoming adventure that would await them.
As they approached Ponyville, Sky’s mind wandered, wondering what new and exciting adventures could await him with his aunts, as they came in for a smooth landing, Sky looked at his surroundings in bewilderment, nothing had changed over the four years he had lived in Vanhoover.
“I’m so excited we’re here!” Breeze announced happily, jumping up and down.
As they walked down the street that led to Twilight’s castle, Sky couldn’t help but wonder what sort of job would be awaiting him here.
As they passed by a café, a beautiful melody emanated from the interior of the café, Sky stopped to listen, the café was called the Blue Note and it had opened its doors after a pair of young up-and-coming musicians decided to open a café for Ponyville’s residence.
Sky wandered inside the café, and stood in the entryway, looking up at a stage, where a pink mare, her long pink hair swaying rhythmically to the beat of the music.
The inside of the café was tinged in a blue light, there were rustic old wooden chairs at the bar with some patrons sitting on the chairs drinking various drinks.
“Sky?” Rainbow called, coming inside the café. There you are, you shouldn’t wander off like that, come on, let’s go see Aunt Twilight!”
Sky didn’t budge; he was too fixated on the young musician on stage to hear what his mother had just said to him. “No!” He shouted, pushing his mother out the door.
“Look, you wanna see Aunt Twilight or not?” Rainbow whispered.
Sky thought for a moment before nodding, but stayed rooted to the spot and glanced up at the young jazz musician on the stage.
When the song had ended the announcer pony, a big burly stallion, came up on stage and took the microphone from the young musician.
“That’s Billy Harmony, everypony, why not give her a round of applause?” The announcer shouted, causing Sky to cover his ears with his wings.
Rainbow looked toward the stage where Billy Harmony was packing up her instrument and heading backstage, the cyan pegasus swore that she knew her from somewhere, then she remembered seeing an old poster for a show here in Ponyville featuring jazz musicians.
“Go to see Aunt Twilight?” Sky asked when he had taken his wings off his ears and folded them back at his side.
“Yes, we are going to Aunt Twilight,” Rainbow said as she and her son walked out of the café.
As they continued to walk down the street towards Twilight’s castle, Rainbow couldn't help but wonder if Sky would have a chance at a job or if he’d be just shut down by potential employers who might not understand he’s autistic, how could they handle him if he had a meltdown?
She let out a sigh of frustration at her own frustrating thoughts, she looked at her son and put on a fake smile but her eyes were wet with tears as she looked at him.
She wouldn’t ever admit it but she was worried about Sky’s future, if he would never get a job, like normal ponies.
Sky walked beside her, his wings twitching slightly as he repeated a line from one of his favorite songs under his breath. He didn’t notice the way Rainbow’s smile didn’t reach her eyes or how she blinked her eyes to keep the tears at bay.
Twilight’s castle loomed in the distance, the sun glinting off its crystal walls, Rainbow swallowed her emotions and focused on the reason why they were here—to ask Twilight for help.
