A Cloudsdale Reunion

by Darkmetroidz

Chapter 1

Fluttershy sat, paralyzed with intimidation, before her father's residence. She had been raised in this same great structure, but all the same, she felt like an insect standing before it. The Commander's hall was fronted with a great staircase, and giant white pillars that watched over the palace like silent titanic sentinels. The doors were huge, easily three times her height. She weakly knocked, barely loud enough to be audible. Just before she decided that no one was home and that she should return home, a handsome young pegasus opened the door. His coat was black, and his mane a deep orange. "Sis, is that you?" He asked.

Fluttershy's eyes flashed, her face spreading into a huge smile, "Afterburner? Oh my, you've gotten so big!" She ran up to her brother, who wrapped her in an embrace with his wings.

"Fluttershy, I'm so glad you're home!" He smiled, "Hey Gale, come here, Fluttershy made it!"

A minute later, another pegasus, this one taller than Afterburner, showed up at the door. His coat was a similar hue to hers, but slightly darker, and his mane was green. He looked every bit as mighty as a Lieuntenant of the Pegasus Expeditionary Force, the position his dress uniform and gleaming medals attested to. "Big sis, I can't believe it's been so long!" The second brother, the elder, Gale Force, joined in on the hug. "Dad can't wait to see you. Come on inside."

"He can't?" Fluttershy asked, surprised.

"No, he's been looking for you for ten years. But you've kept quite the low profile. At least until you got involved in this business in Ponyville. He's read all about you sis. He thinks you're a hero!"

Fluttershy nervously laughed, "Gosh, I don't know about that."

The interior of the house was more or less as she remembered it. Big, lofty, fancy, and intimidating. The eyes of the portraits of countless former commanders staring at her. But it was home. And Fluttershy could feel something unlike anything she'd felt in it before; Love.

They ascended a double staircase, and stopped at the door atop it. "Dad's in his office, waiting." Afterburner whispered. "Go on in."

Fluttershy pushed open the door. Inside sat her elderly father. His coat was the same buttery yellow as hers, and his mane, which had once been so vibrant green, had gone grey. His eyes, shaded as they were behind his aviators, still showed the signs of pleasant surprise when she entered the room. But still, when she looked him in the face, all she saw was the stone-cold expression that had kept her from ever coming back, all those years ago.

"Um, if you want, I'lll go-" Fluttershy meekly stammered. Before she could finish, she saw the tears in his eyes.

"My sweet, sweet daughter. How I've missed you all these years. I'm sorry I didn't bring you home sooner." He gave his daughter a wing-hug, holding onto her dearly, refusing to let go, "I'm sorry the way I treated you when you were a filly. Your brothers made me realize that I was the reason you never came back after the accident."

The apology brought forth a torrent of tears from Fluttershy. She clung tightly to her father, basking in his embrace.

Afterburner and Gale Force joined in, snuggling around their dad and sister, "I reckon we're finally a family again!" Afterburner gleefully cried.

"Why did you finally ask me to come home?" Fluttershy asked.

Flutterfury was genuinely apologetic, something she had never seen before. "Truth is, I meant to bring you home ages ago, but you had dissapeared off the face of the earth. Nopony could find our young Ms. Flutter. Then, one day, the Equestria Daily printed an article about you and your friends confronting Nightmare Moon. I didn't believe it at first, but then a while later, I saw another article, featuring you. What's this I hear about you reforming a deity of chaos?"

"Oh, Discord? He really isn't so bad once you get to know him," She cheerfully remarked.
"Well, two things happened after that. First, I knew where to find you, so I could finally get a letter to you. Second, I realized I misjudged you as a foal. I never thought you would amount to anything. Was I ever wrong." An admission of wrongness. Fluttershy wondered if she was dreaming. "I realized that you really are a Flutter by every sense of the word."

Afterburner brought out a wrapped box the size of a small foal, "Open it!" He excitedly said, nudging it in front of her, "After all, it is your birthright."

Fluttershy opened the crate and gasped at its contents. Inside was a polished suit of armor, forged from steel and silver, crafted to Fluttershy's form. On the breastbone was, in gleaming pink ruby, a butterfly worked in the fashion of her cutie mark. "Luckily, that Unicorn stylist from Ponyville had your measurements so we could have this made." Gale winked.

A suit of decorative Pegasus armor. It was custom among Pegasus nobility to wear such armor for important occasions, such as rallies or weddings. Having one of her own erased all doubts in Fluttershy's mind. She was part of the family. Accepted. Loved. She had proven herself to her father. And she could not be happier.

Flutterfury removed his sunglasses, "Fluttershy, I want to make something absolutely clear. Even if you had never done any of those things we read about, you would still be here today. I realized how much of a fool that I was to allow you to slip away from me. I am proud of the things you have done, but more than that, I am proud of you. I consider myself the luckiest old stallion in Equestria to have a daughter as nurturing and kind as you are."

"When we first found out where you were, I went down to Ponyville to ask around about you." Afterburner said, "I talked to some of your friends. They all said that you were, without a doubt, the biggest-hearted pony they had ever known. We wanted to invite you home for reunion season, but Dad was afraid you wouldn't want to. I talked to that Unicorn, Rarity. She said she would put in a good word for us."

Fluttershy blushed. So that was why she had talked so highly of her family.

"Your brother had a big announcement he wanted to make." Flutterfury revealed, "But he didn't want to say anything without you here."

"Oh my gosh, congratulations! Who are you marrying?"

Gale grinned, "Well, my boss at the academy wants to set me up with his daughter. Truth is, she's a bit of a maverick, but he says she's beautiful, and very talented. He says she needs some discipline and order in her life, and I'm just the pony who can provide it."

"Who's your boss?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Captain Inferno Dash of the P.E.F." Gale declared.

Fluttershy gulped as the realization dawned on her. This was going to be an awkward reunion season.

Comments

[Archivist Nightwatch]

This is gonna go so funny.

[peace corps general]

Oh no this is gonna be awkward for rainbow and flutters