Glorified

I felt dehydrated with a headache in the morning, but after a shower and about a gallon of water, I was back to normal. The show at noon went pretty much exactly as planned, even though Pigeonhole had to correct course a couple times during the performance. This one was mostly basic aerobatics, a few Wonderbolt synchronous spins, and a ‘low’-altitude color drag at the end, spelling out ‘C Team 2028.’

All things considered, it could’ve gone much worse, and though they weren’t happy about not being the lead, Nightingale and Typhoon made it through without an argument. Siccoro has a good amount of star power in his own right, but for Goddess knows why, I got spotlighted once during a group maneuver. It was annoying, but I improvised into one of Dad’s tricks since he was in the audience and that got a cheer from the crowd.

Other than that, all things went according to plan. All my family, save Haze, had shown up for this one. I met them outside the arena after we were released. “Hey!” I called.

Mom jumped and practically tackled me to the ground. “Ah, my baby did his first show as a Wonderbolt! I’m so proud of you, buddy!”

I managed to stabilize before we hit the ground with Mom rubbing her face against me while Dad helped catch us. “Geez, Dash, relax.” He patted my shoulder though, a smile on his face too. “You did good though. I’m proud of you too, buddy.”

“How can I relax!” Mom popped off me, pointing herself at Dad. “He did the thing! He’s in, for real! It’s all real now!” She rubbed her forehead in disbelief. “I said this would happen months after he came out of me, and now… oh, Goddess, it’s been almost twenty years.” She teared up. “He’s a Wonderbolt!”

And then Dad caught Mom to hold her while she cried. “Yep. He sure is.”

Grandpa Bow and Grandma Windy came up next. “Look at you, champ!” the old stallion said. “Another rainbow mane in the Bolts already! I’d say I could hardly believe it, but given who your parents are, I can’t say I expected anything else. Well done.”

“Rainbow, please, you’re embarrassing your son,” Grandma said.

“I’m not crying, you’re crying!” Mom said, still crying.

Grandma Windy rolled her eyes, then came over and hugged me. “Whether or not anypony expected anything, don’t forget that you are the one who made it here. It’s nopony else’s work but yours that earned you this spot. I’m proud of you, Prism.”

Grandma Downy, Grandpa Hang, and Sweet Wing all approached next. Grandma Downy said, “Kiddo, that was great! That was one of Soarin's tricks you did when they spotlighted you, wasn’t it? You told me what you called it before, but…”

“Oscillating screw turn, Mom,” Dad said. “It’s just a screw turn with a vertical elliptical added to it. I don’t think I ever taught him that in particular, though.”

I shook my head. “No, but I was watching some of the early practice recordings the other day. You used to do it a lot.”

Grandma Downy nodded. “He sure did. He always loved to copy the screw turns they’d do in the Trottingham shows even when he was a little thing.”

“You…” Grandpa Hang began. “You had… a great performance, Prism. You really are a talent.” He rubbed at his chin, not sure what to say. “Did you know they were going to spotlight you? There were a few things in the performance that felt a little odd, but that seemed wholly out of line with the rest of the show.”

Oh boy, another land mine. “It… was a late addition. My sponsor wanted this added in so Captain Spitfire made it happen.”

Grandpa nodded. “I see, I see. You made good use of it, I suppose.”

Sweet Wing clapped her hooves. “I thought you were wonderful, Prism! Soarin’s first performance here was a lot like yours way back when.” She held her cheeks, grinning at the thought. “Ah, no matter how much time passes, I never get tired of seeing these. Your team has a lot of talented performers. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many stars on one team.”

Stars, that’s a word for them. “Yeah, well, we didn’t really even practice much for this performance anyways. Captain Spitfire was sure we would be ready and we only spent a couple days on it. The next one ought to be a lot more… involved.”

And by 'involved,' I meant that we’d be recreating a historical battle having Raptor and I lead the two groups while we did tandem maneuvers. Tandem maneuvers I would have to do… with Raptor. Not looking forward to it.

Grandma Downy sighed. “Oh, that’s too bad. I would’ve liked to see it, but these things are just so dang expensive.” She pulled at the cloudwalk band on her neck. “Got to return it to the rental company when I get back to Ponyville. Does the C-team ever perform outside of Cloudsdale?”

A familiar, loud, raspy voice answered from above us. “No, they only take races in other places. A-team rarely performs at home and B-team has about an even split.”

Mom hopped up in the air to hug her old friend. “Captain! What are you doing here?”

Spitfire hugged her back. “I saw you guys in the audience. Thought I ought to come say hi. It’s been a while, huh?” She and Mom sank to the floor together. “Is this the whole family? I thought you said you had a brother, Prism.”

Mom practically had a panic attack. “Uh, he’s at home back in Ponyville. He’s… afraid of heights, ya know. Haze… doesn’t need to be up here.”

Dad coughed. “Yeah, that. You’ve met my parents, right, Spitfire?”

The yellow mare stared at the yellow stallion for a long time, then looked at both Grandma and Sweet Wing, one after the other and back again. “I… don’t think so.”

Dad scratched at his mane, irritated. “This is my mother, Downy Snow.”

The old earth pony smiled. “Hey, nice to meet ya.”

“Likewise.”

“And this is my Dad and Stepmom, Hang Glider and Sweet Wing.”

Spitfire blinked. “Oh! You’re… nice to meet you.”

Grandpa and Sweet Wing shook her hoof in turn. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she was confused by Grandma Downy and Sweet Wing standing next to each other, but Grandpa Hang had all her attention. He nodded. “Nice to meet you too.” There was a short pause. “Thanks for taking care of my son over the years.”

I’d never seen Spitfire so stunned in front of anypony. It’s like she was seeing a ghost. Eventually, she did tear herself away to talk to Sweet Wing. “You work at Cloudsdale General Hospital, don’t you?”

“Ah, yes, I do. I remember seeing you in performances with Soarin, but have we met outside of that?”

Spitfire looked like she had a lot she wanted to say, but didn’t. “Probably. I’ve been in and out of there a lot over the years.”

“You have?” Mom asked.

As if she’d forgotten she was there, Spitfire jumped at Mom’s question. “What? Oh, yeah. Mom’s got some…” she shook her head. “Uh, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She turned to me and gave me a quick pat on the back. “You did good today. Next one isn’t for a month, but we’ve got a 300 race coming up in a couple weeks. Have your fun, but I expect you to win when we get back to work, got it?”

I saluted. “Yes, Captain.”

“Good.” She waved to everypony. “It was nice seeing you all! Hope to see you again at our future events.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll be there,” Mom said. “See ya later, Captain!”

Spitfire tried to smile but couldn’t seem to make it happen. “Yeah. See ya, Dash.” Then she took off.

Grandpa Bow put a wing around me. “So she’s your Captain too now, huh, champ? Spitfire’s been in the business for a long time, hasn’t she?”

“She’s not actually a ‘captain’ anymore,” I explained, “it’s just that I’ve only ever really known her as ‘Captain’ Spitfire. She’s the head instructor.”

The old rainbow stallion nodded. “Right, right. She seems to think a lot of you if she expects you to win your next race. Must be nice to have a trainer that believes in you, huh?”

Well. “You could say that, Grandpa.”

Grandma Windy joined the wing hug. “As long as you’re happy, we’re happy, Prism. How about we go have that dinner we talked about the other day? We can celebrate your first performance and your upcoming wedding all at once!”

My eyes shot open and I looked around to make sure none of the team heard that. For their safety, they definitely don’t need to know about it. I didn’t see anypony I knew in the crowd leaving the arena, so I let out a breath of relief.

“Sure, Grandma. You guys go ahead, I’m gonna go shower and I’ll meet you at the restaurant in a bit.”

Our lunch at a fancy place in downtown Cloudsdale went fairly well, and Grandma Downy seemed to get along real well with Grandma Windy and Grandpa Bow. Those three talked while the rest of us listened. Mom would chime in every now and again to talk about me or Haze or how things used to be in the Bolts, but the rest of us stayed quiet. It wasn’t as if yesterday magically hadn’t happened, and Dad was having a hard time looking at Grandpa Hang or Sweet Wing.

When we split up, I went home with Mom, Dad and Grandma Downy since I was off tomorrow. It’d been a long week and I was ready to be in the forelegs of my wife-to-be for a few hours. After dropping Grandma off, when we got home, Chesette’s car was already in the driveway, right next to the second ‘family’ car, which was really just Dad’s excuse to get one for Haze.

“We’re back!” Mom announced, kicking the door open.

“Hey, Mom,” Haze said.

“Hey, Mom,” Cheesette said. They were at the dining room table playing the King of Games trading card game, also known as KOG TCG.

A shiver ran through Mom from her head to her tail like in a cartoon. “Ugh, Cheesette, please.”

Dad and I pushed through from behind her and I joined them at the table.

“What? It’s true in like a week now, right?” Then Cheesette turned to me. “Hey, babe, I saw the performance!” And she kissed my cheek.

Mom sat, rubbing her temples. “He’s a Wonderbolt, he’s getting married! What happened? Weren’t your dad and I tossing you around on the floor like a little while ago?”

“Dash, your ‘little while ago’ was like fifteen years ago. Legally speaking, he’s an adult now. Also, shut the door please? AC isn’t cheap down here.”

Mom put a hoof on the door and slid with it as it shut, falling to the floor. “I feel like I’ve been in a coma or something. You used to be so little! You all used to be so little! Where did the time go?”

“Uh, if memory serves me correctly,” Haze answered, “about twelve years were devoted to fretting over me, and the rest was only about half devoted to fretting over me. Does that sound right to everypony?”

“Yep.” We all agreed. I’d never say Mom neglected me or anything, but up until Grandma Downy became a big part of our lives, she was pretty much glued to Haze.

But the scene earlier was priceless. “You should’ve seen how she froze when Captain Spitfire asked if you’d come to see me perform today.”

My little brother put his chin on his hoof and stared at Mom. “I was perfectly willing to go…”

Mom shot up and raced to the table. “No! No, no, no! Not in a million years! Never again!” She’d just about wrapped herself around him. “I let you drive, I let you go wherever you want in Ponyville, but Cloudsdale is off the table! I don’t care if the cloudwalk bands work or if there are nets or any of that! Once is enough! Never again!”

Haze untangled her from himself. “It’s fine, Mom. Your feelings are allowed to be more important than facts for about…” He looked at his phone. “One year, seven months and twelve days.”

She was offended. “Wha—! You’re just gonna up and abandon me the minute you turn eighteen, too?”

I threw my hooves up. “Who said I was abandoning you?”

Cheesette wrapped her forelegs around my shoulders. “Me, I did. You’re mine now. She can have you, but only when I say so, ya dig?”

Haze cackled. “Damn, she just came out and said it!”

Mom fell to her knees, laying her face on the table. “See? You’re leaving me! Nopony said you could do that!”

Dad came around and wrapped himself around her. “Dash, Dash, Dash. They were bound to get taken away the minute they were born. I mean, come on, they look like me. How could the mares resist?”

“You’re lucky I like your stupid face,” Mom grumbled.

“I like your stupid face too.” And Cheesette stuck her tongue in my mouth, and my whole family was right there, and my body was very confused.

Mom covered her face. “It’s over, it’s so over!”

Dad put a hoof on the table. “Like, I’m the father of the son, I more or less support this, but you shouldn’t be doing that in front of your dad. Probably wouldn’t fly so well.”

She pulled off, licking her lips and then pressing her cheek to mine. “He can fight me for all I care! Ah, one more week and he’ll never bother me about you again! You’re not gonna be able to fly straight for a while.”

Haze cringed. “Dude. Keep it to yourselves.”

Mom sure had a point. The reality of it all is setting in and no amount of years getting off to videos on the internet was going to prepare me for what happens next week. “Y-yeah.”

Cheesette rolled her eyes and picked her cards back up. “Oh, don’t be such a spoilsport. It’s about you today, but it's about me next week!” She put a card down and then picked up her deck. “Anyways, I play Snake-eyes Ash.”

“Ash Blossom effect!” Haze responded.

She put the deck down, then put another card on the field from her hoof. “Called by the grave.”

“Psy-Framegear Delta!”

“Ash Blossom.”

Haze dropped his cards and covered his head. “It’s so over.”

Chessette nodded. “You wanna enter the scoop phase, buddy?”

My little brother sighed, picking up his cards and putting them back on his deck. “I really thought I had you this time.”

She shrugged. “What can I say? You can prepare all you want, but if you don’t get a little lucky, a psy-frame tech isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

I blinked. “I don’t understand this game anymore.”

Cheesette patted my head. “It’s okay, it’s… way more complicated than it used to be. I’ve been playing KOG online on stream lately, and it’s been doing really well.”

“It’s that streamer money,” Haze declared. “I couldn’t afford anything like your deck. I’m playing with tier 2 rogue garbage by comparison.”

Cheesette chuckled. “Sounds like you need a job, dude.” Then she clapped her hooves. “Speaking of jobs, we need to go see Miss Rarity!”

“We do?” I asked.

“We do! I got a suit picked out for you, but we need to make sure it fits.”

Dad frowned. “He already has a suit, doesn’t he?”

Cheesette shook her puffy pink mane. “Not for my wedding he doesn’t!”

“Oh.” Dad rubbed at his neck anxiously. “Uh, do I need to—?”

“Nah, she owes Mom big time, so this one is on the house.”

He sighed in relief. “Whew. We’re friends and all, but even with the discount, the last suit I had to buy from Rarity was… not cheap.”

Cheesette rolled her eyes. “Well, neither is catering a last-minute event for about thirty very rich ponies. I get a dress, he gets a suit, and accounts are squared.”

Mom pulled her head off the table. “Oh, yeah, I remember that. Pinkie complained about it for like a week afterward. Everypony in this town seems to get their knees dirty for Diamond Dust.”

Before she could even make the joke, I put my hooves over Cheesette’s mouth. “I’m here, so should we go now?” And I let her go to respond:

“Yes!”

Dad got up and moved to the couch. “Alright, have fun, guys. Are you coming back here, or… what’s the plan?”

Mom pointed a hoof in Cheesette’s face. “And no funny business! Cheese and Pinkie were insufferable back when they were getting married, and it’s a wonder that she wasn’t pregnant before the fact.”

Cheesette smiled darkly. “Oh, but funny is my business, Mom. We’re gonna cover this house in grandfoals. How about that?”

Something about bricks. Mom could’ve fallen to the floor. “G-g-g-grandfoals!? I-I… no! No, no, no! I’m only in my forties, how…? But…? No, no! It can’t be!”

“Babe, you’re gonna kill her, give her a rest,” I said.

Her eyes had gone wide, and she was blushing and panting. “There will be no rest! Unprotected, X-rated, everywhere, all the tim-mmmm—”

She was too hyped up to be stopped now, so I just covered her mouth and threw her over my shoulders. Cheesette was a… full-figured mare, and being an earth pony, she was the heaviest of the pony races. I wouldn’t call her light, and she certainly weighs more than me. Still, I could manage carrying her well enough. “Yeah, we’ll probably come back for dinner, Dad.”

He turned on the TV to the sports channel. “Yeah, buddy, just let me know.” Then he thought for a minute. “And, not that I care, but it would be better for you mentally if you waited until after the ceremony. We’re ritualistic creatures, so ceremonies mean something to us. I wouldn’t stop you or anything, but you shouldn’t deprive each other of the first night of your lives together.”

“Yes, sir.”

Shakily, Mom made her way to the couch, curling up next to Dad. “Me…? A… a… a grandmother?”

“Yep,” Dad said. “Crazy how that happens, huh?”

“Grandfoals? But… but it just can’t be!”

“Given the way she talks on stream,” Haze began, “I’m honestly surprised you don’t already have them.”

“But that can’t be!”

The original building that was Carousel Boutique, the very first one anyways, was a small, totally round two-story building that looked a lot like a two-tiered cake. These days, it served mostly as a relic of the old Ponyville, and when Miss Rarity wanted to get away to work on things, she would disappear up to the top floor here.

The interior was mostly filled with storage containers and this place acted more like a warehouse for the much larger Rarity’s Boutique stores found within Neon Dreams and at the base of her office building within District 4. Forgotten, but not by everypony—there were a hoofful of clients Miss Rarity would take and serve here, specifically in her upstairs workroom.

As the story goes, when she’d just moved out of her parents' house and had this building made with a loan she took from one of the oldest real estate tycoons in the city, one Filthy Rich, she actually lived up here. She eventually paid the loan back and made enough to buy herself a small house, but the bed she originally had in this place was still here in the event she ever burned herself out working on something.

It was on this bed that Cheesette and I sat as we watched Miss Rarity put the finishing touches on my new suit.

“So… what about your dress?” I asked.

She looked around the old workshop. Other than a hoofful of mannequins wearing half-finished ensembles, boxes and shelves full of fabric and thread, and the old mare with her sewing machine, there was nothing else in here. “Well, it was here.”

“Ah!” Miss Rarity scoffed. “You can’t just show him your dress! He’s not supposed to see it until you’re in it on the altar!”

She frowned. “Is… is that right?”

“Of course, it is!” Miss Rarity pressed a button, then draped a very shiny cerulean blue vest over a mannequin. “There’s a procedure to follow here! It's a tradition, and a good one at that!”

Cheesette giggled behind her hoof. “Interesting thing for you to say…”

Miss Rarity rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes, poke your fun! I was a teenager once, I know all too well what I did and how I was." She leaned against the mannequin for support. “You’re still teenagers and already this. Ah! What a cruel world it is. Happily married parents and whole families and already their children are pairing off. Prism, was being a genetic miracle not enough for you?”

“Apparently not.”

She sighed, gathering all the pieces of the suit. “Ah, and brash confidence. If only I’d been twenty years younger.”

Cheesette’s hoof started to rise and I could feel her dark aura spilling out.

I grabbed said hoof and pulled it back down. “Well, it’s too late anyways. I’m taken.”

“Right you are. Now, come here and try this on. Rainbow sent me your measurements, but I only trust her so far with these sorts of things.”

“I mean, Mom is good with math.”

Miss Rarity huffed as she passed me a black button up. “Oh, she is now, but that was not always the case. I can’t tell you what a mess it was the first time I tried to make a dress for her with her specifications. The whole thing was awful, an entire bolt of fabric in the trash, totally unsalvageable. Imagine, your mother twenty years ago trying to tell me she had a figure like Applejack. I even accounted for the lie and it was still horribly baggy!”

I got the shirt on and it fit nicely, so that was a good sign. It was very soft and felt good against my coat. Easy to get my wings through and not too stiff either, but it kept its shape. “Mom was never known for her honesty.”

“Isn’t that the truth.”

The pants were navy, and though they looked like regular dress pants, they were also sort of stretchy and easy to move in. If I had to work or something, I could probably do it in these. The shiny vest was next and it had slots and buttons on the back for my wings. It felt ‘silky’ which probably meant it was made of silk. I kinda liked how shiny it was. It was about the same color as our Wonderbolt’s uniform. She had me put on a pure white tie in a windsor knot, and then the navy blazer. The buttons on it were in the shape of my rainbow-block fortified tower cutiemark.

“Well? How is it?” Miss Rarity asked.

Looking myself over, I had to say, this was a lot better than my black suit. That was a normal one that I wore with a white button up like everypony else, but because my coat is near white, I always felt like it clashed with me a lot. The black shirt with the navy suit looked better against my coat, and the shiny cyan vest and white tie really went together well with my mane. I’d never worn a vest before either, but I think I really like this one.

“It feels good.” I turned to Cheesette. “Does it look good?”

She had her hooves over her face and she was pulling on her lower lip. “I hope the castle has a good mop…”

“Wow! I didn’t need to hear that!” Miss Rarity circled around me. “Spread your wings for me, darling.”

I did as I was told, and she checked both sides, top and bottom. “I suppose that does it, then.” She stared at the suit, shaking her head. “Married at eighteen in this day and age. And a Wonderbolt to boot. You really are something special, Prism dear.”

I don’t know why, but that made me feel good. She really helped us out navigating all that mess at the beginning of this and I’d always thought she was impressive for managing everything she does. It’s not like when somepony tells me that because I’m a Wonderbolt or I fly well. This was for something more important than any of that.

“Thanks, Miss Rarity.”

She smiled and patted my shoulder. “It’s my pleasure. Now, take that off and go take care of your mare.” She used her magic to bring her tablet to herself. “And wrap it up! The world only needs so many pearls and whiskies.”

Ooh, awkward.

Even more awkward, a couple little plastic packets flew into Cheesette’s lap. “You might as well make use of these. I certainly don’t need them anymore. Now then, hop to it, I’m not quite done with this yet.”

Feeling my cheeks, I quickly disrobed and returned the suit. After thanking her, we both awkwardly made our way to Cheesette’s car. She put the key in and turned the engine but didn’t go anywhere. She stared blankly out the window with her hooves on the wheel. The packets had found their way into the bottom of the cupholder.

It was still early, only about four in the afternoon. Dinner would be around six, and we had time to kill. I could feel my pulse everywhere. The blowing AC and the rumbling engine of the finely tuned car were nothing to the beating of my own heart.

She would do it if I asked. If I said the word, we could even do it here. There would be no consequences. We were getting married in a week anyways. What would it hurt if we did it now? But this is exactly what Dad was talking about before we left the house. What did he mean by ‘the first night of our lives together’? We’ve had lots of nights together. We never went all the way, but we’ve done other things before. What would happen if we didn’t wait? How would it be if we just… did it now?

I swallowed. “Do you—”

She put her hoof on mine. “Yes.” And she looked me deep in the eyes, down and through, beyond to my most inner parts. “But we should wait.”

Her eyes fell and drifted to the wheel. “We’re forever. We’ve got plenty of time. We’re not gonna make a pearl or a whiskey. Our kids are gonna grow up in a full house with lots of love and nothing to worry about. No struggle to restart a dying orchard, no empty home just for them. I’ll be there, and you’ll be there, and we won’t have to lie to them about anything. And I don’t want to lie to them about my first time for real, either.”

For once, rather than excite me, her touch had a cooling effect. Warm with love, not burning with lust. The last throbbing embers left with a breath. “Yeah.” I deflated into the seat, taking in all the cool AC. “I don’t want to lie to anyone about anything either. With as fucked as Grandpa’s family is, the last thing I want to do is set up a rock to trip over later.”

“Oh?” She put the car in reverse. “Why don’t you tell me about that while we go for a drive? It’s been a while since we just went for a loop around the city. This’ll be… the last time we get to do it before we share names.”

“Alright.”