Rain drops of the past.

"Sweetie?" A smooth voice called over the classical music - her favorite, by a famous stallion who had apparently been tone deaf - that came from the study. It was raining outside now and he'd already taken his tuxedo coat off, though his bow was still on. He knew the music only played for a few reasons;

One, she was stressing over the newest photoshoot, which had finished weeks ago and she had received a copy of the published magazine just yesterday. Like always, the photos of her were stunning and she was normally allowed to keep her favorite dress from a shoot, in this case a low cut, deep purple and silver trimmed gala dress that suited her to a tee.

Two, she was simply relaxing while reading a book, and he hoped it was this one. And finally....he shivered heavily at the thought of it, but he knew it had to be. It was around that time of year that it had happened, after all.

"Dear? Are you alright...?" Stepping into the library, the unicorn was relieved to see his wife curled up by the fire in an overstuffed armchair, book in hoof and a glass of red sitting next to her with the bottle. Looking up from her book, he was once again reminded of her beauty when she smiled. Placing the book aside, the mare slid from the chair and within a few steps, was standing in front of him.

"How was the concert?" She asked as she settled on her rump and lifted her front hooves to undo the red bow tie around his neck. "I wished I could have come to see it but you know I haven't been feeling well......" He chuckled softly and captured her lips in a gentle kiss.

"I know and I hated every minute, knowing you were here while I was entertaining a bunch of rich fools," He mumbled as he pulled away, forgetting he was one of those rich fools too. "How are you feeling anyway? Any better?"

"Still a little queasy, but the doctor said it should be gone within a few days." She smiled weakly as she finally managed to tug his tie away from him. "I would rather like to be better but I'd be lying if I said I'd have loved to be there tonight beside you. Those upper classes are just so boring, I can't stand it. But at least you are home now." Nuzzling underneath his chin, she stepped back with a smile as little hoof steps could be heard running down the hall and soon enough, shrieks of "Daddy!" and laughter filled the large home as a little filly Pegasus tackled her father to the carpet.

Her mother watched on with a bemused look as the two rolled around on the carpet, only joining in when they turned on her. She playfully tried to run away, falling lightly when her husband caught her and pushed her to the ground.

Only later, when they were laying in bed together, with their filly fast asleep down the hall, did he ask about the wine.

'She never drank wine, only once a year did she drink it.' He pointed out. Both knew what it stood for and when she started sobbing into his chest, his hooves around her shoulders, nothing more was said as they fell asleep to her crying.

~*~
It was overcast and already wet the day they met. They were merely walking the streets of his neighborhood, she focused on her inner thoughts and he on the music sheets of a new song he was learning. He was a singer, though not a famous one and incredibly shy in front of crowds or new ponies in general when it came to an attempt.
Dizzily, he looked up into the worried face of the mare he bumped into. Her lips were pursed together as her eyes darted over his body to see if there were any obvious injuries. He couldn’t help thinking that such a beautiful mare like her must have been a model and thus caused him to wonder why such a high rise pony was in a scummy place like this.
His mind was jolted into reality when a small chuckle escaped his companion's mouth.

"I am not a model," She said kindly, her purple eyes twinkling. "But thank you for the compliment." His breath hitched when he realized he had said his thoughts out loud. She saw his distress and quickly said; "It was very kind of you to say so though." Breathing out a sigh of relief he hadn’t realised he was holding in, he smiled nervously and she offered a smile back, just as timidly.

With a sinking heart, he knew it was time to apologise and part ways. So he opened his mouth to say so, but she beat him to it.

"I would very much appreciate it if I could buy you a hay and daisy sandwich in apology." She said almost shyly as she felt heat rising in her cheeks. "I feel terrible bumping into you and making you drop your music sheets. It is the least I owe you." Standing there stock still, his brain still muddled from the fall and from her words, the thought processed as to why this mare, this beautiful not-model-but-should-be would offer to buy him a sandwich in apology and feel like she owed him that. That wasn't right. He was the clumsy one. The one always tripping over his hooves and stammering over his words when he talked.

She waited patiently for his reply, flicking her tail absently when a fly flew too close. Finally, words seemed to sprout from his mouth. Elation filled her heart when she heard them.
"That sounds delightful. But it wouldn't be fair for you to buy just me a sandwich. I am just as much to blame bumping into you as you are into me," He reasoned without falter, not noticing until much later that not once did he appear weak with his words or voice in her presence. "Why don't we split it? I'll pay for you and you pay for mine?" His ears flickered at the strange noise coming from her mouth, startled before realizing it was her laughter.
How he wished to hear it again once it stopped. Her eyes sparkled as the giggles bubbled down before she nodded.

"That certainly sounds fair to me," She agreed warmly to him, her head bowing as she reached around into her saddle bags. Drawing her head back after a moment of ruffling threw them, there was a piece of cardboard in her mouth. Leaning forward to take it from her, their noses brushing momentarily, he drew away and looked at her questionably. "That is my card. It has my address on it. Come by tomorrow morning around ten and we will see about those sandwiches." She explained with a smile. "But now, I really must be going. I am late for an appointment with my friend." With that, she trotted off around the corner and vanished without a trace. He stayed there in that stop until she did, the card tucked between his teeth and mind still reeling from what just happened as he stared at the ground in front of him.

was that a dream? His mind whispered softly. Was it indeed a dream? But there he was, a little white and purple card clutched between his teeth just as it was about to rain again, the first droplets hitting him on the head before he remembered what the cold water meant and bolted rest of the way down to road towards his home just as it pelted down and thoroughly soaking his fur, his saddlebags and contents and most importantly, the card with her address and name.
When morning finally came around, she was already awake and preparing for the day. He pulled himself out from under the covers, peering outside to see the rain had been cleared and it was now sunny. Heading for the open balcony doors, he took in a deep breath of cool air, loving the scent of freshness. The countryside rolled out before him, its greenery looking bright after last night's downfall. It had been lucky he had managed to get inside just as the rain had finally been released from heavy clouds. His tuxedo had been new and he didn't want to be ruined as he hurried indoors as the carriage was pulled to its proper place. Even with his tuxedo though, he remembered feeling the chill of the air in his breath and the mist that wandered from his mouth. that only meant one thing.....

It was only the faint brushing up against his side that he finally noticed her beside him and he smiled down at her.

"How are you this morning?" He nuzzled her mane, breathing in her smell. Wild flowers and clouds, if they had a smell. She obviously has been up since early this morning and flying, though how she always smelled of both clouds and wild flowers at the same time always baffled him, since he knew her shampoo and conditioner were nothing of the sort and neither were her many perfumes.

She leaned against him with a small smile.

"Better. I only felt sick and wasn't actually sick," She confessed to him. "I'll be glad when it's all over and I can get back to feeling and being normal. Hoity Toity Jr is supposedly meeting with the board executives next week and they want me to be there as an example of good employment." She felt before she heard his laugh and was reminded why she fell in love with it. It was deep but comforting and she sighed softly.

"And they can't have somepony else?" Shaking her head, she grinned up at him.

"Apparently, I have a way with words." She joked with a nudge to his shoulder.

"Which is true," He agreed with her, knowing that she always did. "Now let's go wake our daughter. We promised to take her to school together today."

~*~

The next morning, he woke up with a splitting headache and a soreness for not getting out of bed but he dragged himself out, not bothering to tidy up the linen on it as he slowly walked downstairs.

He currently lived alone in the great expanse, his old house mate, Jacob having moved out shortly after becoming engaged to his longtime girlfriend, GadFly*. She was a unicorn with the ability to give other unicorns and earth ponies wings, at least temporarily, so they could visit friends or relatives in places like Cloudsdale. He had always found her ability interesting and had once asked how she had found it, she had smiled as she answered;

"When I was a filly, I heard a story that one of The Elements, Twilight, had found and attempted a flight spell on one of her fellow friends, Rarity, so they could join Fluttershy in cheering on Rainbow Dash in a race that was being held in Cloudsdale. It gave her friend wings but being her first try, she could only do one pony and later found just a simple cloud walking spell to use on herself and the others. It worked but I found it fascinating, the ability to give a flightless pony wings to otherwise fly." A dreamy look had crossed her face by this point as she recounted how she gained her cutie mark. "Everyone told me it was impossible; walking on clouds belonged to Pegasus and the Princesses, not ordinary folk like ourselves and to get my head out of the clouds. Of course, that just drove me to keep it up there and prove them wrong. Which I did of course," At that, she finished her tale by showing him her flank.

He had blushed and looked away at that point, because Jacob had been with them and he didn't want any trouble. But both just laughed, Jacob saying it was fine to look just this once. So he did and saw her cutie mark. It was a black silhouette of pony rearing, white wings sprouting from its back.

She explained that the pony most likely represented a flightless earth pony and the white wings the fake bewitched wings that gave the pony flight.

His own was simple of course, just a single bar of music notes. He was a singer most of all, but he loved anything to do with music so he could also play a wide variety of instruments. But when up on stage, in front of all those ponies.....sometimes, all he could focus on was his singing.
Sometimes, at night when he couldn't sleep, he'd imagine what his cutie mark would have been had he taken his musical career further then just his singing. A Cutie Mark that showed how talented he was with everything musical? It sadden him sometimes, knowing he had a talent that crossed many things but every pony thought it was only singing he was good at.

But then, he'd remind himself that at least ponies got part of his talent. Gadfly had to explain hers to every new pony she met, not that she seemed to ever mind making herself breathless and dreamy eyed at the memories.

Author's Note

Italics indicate flashbacks/dreams, meaning you're reading what happened in the past.

The Husband is called Rhythmic Nightbeat (Deep blue coat/Blonde Mane/tail) and he's a unicorn while his wife is a Pegasus named Lucille Aria (Also nicknamed StarSong by friends/family. Light grey coat with curly dark grey and deep purple mane/tail) and their daughter hasn't got a name just yet (I've been tossing around a few but none fit yet). Rhythm (as I call him) is a Singer, while Lucille is a model, though she was something quite different when she was younger. That, however, will be revealed later in the story.

If anyone would like to offer name and/or cutie marks suggestion to the filly, then please do. I'm thinking that she'll be good at something along the lines of navigation or exploring. She has a short wavy blondish grey mane/tail and her coat is a light lavender, with red eyes.

Nothing belongs to me apart from the characters and this plot. All rights reserved to rightful owners.

*Guess where I picked this little treat up and you'll get a cookie from The Cakes!

Any wrong doings of grammar/spelling/etc, are more then happy to be pointed out to me!

I may/may not add onto this chapter at a later date, and story, depending on if this chapter is well received or not. The story is set several years after the show, as you've probably guessed by one name drop. So that explains Gadfly's story.