A Cloudsdale Reunion

by Darkmetroidz

Chapter 2

It was a rare occasion indeed. The infallible Rainbow Dash was nervous. Her father had that effect on people. The stallion named Inferno Dash (or just 'Sir Yes Sir!' to the cadets) was a yellow pegasus with a mane streaked red and orange. He was famous around Cloudsdale for the way he flew. He did not do stunts like the Wonderbolts (he detested stuntponies such as them) but he looked like he was on fire when he flew. Rainbow Dash had, as a filly, thought it would be incredible to see him performing tricks, but he had balked at the notion. That little statement had grounded her for a week.

She hadn't even seen him yet. She and Twilight stood before the door of the Dash residence. Rainbow was having trouble working up the courage to knock on the door. Twilight was rapidly becoming cross. "Rainbow Dash! Just knock already. It's starting to get cold up here and we aren't wearing clothes."

"Alright, alright!" Rainbow yelled, her hoof shaking as she knocked on the door. The end result was a knock more like Fluttershy's than her own. Rainbow normally didn't knock at all. She usually just barged right inside.

Inferno Dash opened the door to see a shaking cyan mare and a purple alicorn. "Rainbow Dash, welcome home," Inferno cordially nodded. He looked at Twilight critically. "Who is this?"

Rainbow sidled up along Twilight, "This is Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"It's so nice to meet you," She smiled, giving a graceful little bow.

"Rainbow Dash, could I speak to you privately?" Inferno pulled his daughter inside. "Who is that?" He angrily whispered.

"I told you, she's Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Inferno knitted his eyebrows angrily, "I got that. Why is she here?"

"She's my date." Rainbow Dash stammered.

The twitch in Inferno Dash's right eye signaled pure, unbridled rage. "Date? What did I tell you about bringing mares here?" He shouted.

"Dad, she's right outside." Rainbow gestured toward the door.

"I don't care! I told you to never, EVER bring other mares around here. You mother is on her deathbed right now. You'll put her in her grave flaunting your little marefriend around here."

"I can't just tell her to leave! She's a PRINCESS!" Rainbow stood firm, planting her hoofs in the ground defensively.

Inferno's nostrils flared with anger. "I don't care if she was Princess Celestia herself. I cannot allow her to be here. We are going to dinner tonight to meet a special young stallion that I want you to meet."

"Dad, you can't make me do this!" She yelled, "I don't want to go to dinner, and I don't want you to set me up with ANYpony you've met at the academy."

Her father just kept getting angrier, "Gale Force is a dutiful, charming, and well-mannered stallion. You need some order in your life. I don't know anypony more qualified."

Now it was Rainbow Dash whose nostrils flared, "I don't need order in my life. I'm a grown mare and I can make my own damn choices."

"You cannot even begin to comprehend how disappointed I am that you didn't enlist in the Pegasus Expeditionary Force. You broke a line of eighteen generations of Dashes enlisting and commanding in the force. You marrying Gale Force will at least save the family from disgrace."

"But I don't have any interest in stallions!" She defiantly screamed.

"I go through the trouble to find you a husband who, quite frankly, I would rather have as a child than you. You will at least show your father the courtesy to meet him and make a decent impression." The comment stung. Rainbow Dash was no stranger to spats with her father, but he had never gone so far as to say something like that.

Rainbow's tail went between her legs, a clear sign of submission. She might have had an iron will, but her father was made of even tougher stuff. "Fine." She sighed.

"You will have to tell your 'marefriend' to leave. I will not have her staying under my roof."

"But dad-"

"Now Rainbow Dash." He commanded.

The door creaked open. The pegasus' ears were drooping, her eyes glued to the ground. "Twilight, I'm so sorry, but you can't stay here. You should just go home."

"I'm sorry, what?" Twilight was understandably irritated. She had flown all the way out to Cloudsdale for Rainbow Dash, and now she was being sent home after being there for less than a couple of hours.

"I'm sorry Twilight. My father won't let you stay."

"Fine, I'll leave." Twilight unfurled her wings. "Spike was right about you." She flew off, tears streaming down her face. Rainbow Dash shuddered. Normally, Spike did not represent any kind of threat to her, but judging by how protective of Twilight he was, Rainbow Dash had reason to be concerned. She had no clue what kind of freaky powers baby dragons had, but she had a nagging feeling she would become uncomfortably acquainted with them.

Rainbow Dash went back into the house. Her father stood before the door, glaring at her unsympathetically, "You should never have brought her here. Now come upstairs. Your mother has been waiting to see you."

Rainbow walked inside, and up the small staircase to the right of the front door. The house's upstairs had multiple doors, three of which were bedrooms, the fourth being her father's office. Rainbow Dash nudged open the door to the master bedroom, which her parents normally shared, and walked to the bedside.

Morningdew Cloudrunner Dash, in her prime, looked much more like her daughter than did Inferno. Her coat was a similar shade of cyan, but given her illness, looked much duller than it had been when Rainbow was a child. She had once been the talk of Cloudsdale, the most sought after mare, because of her exquisitely beautiful mane. It had been almost platinum, and shone with a brilliance that nopony had ever seen before. But her beautiful hair had fallen out, leaving the bedridden mare looking a shadow of her former self.

"Rainbow Dash, is that you?" She hoarsely croaked, struggling to turn to see her daughter. "I've missed my little troublemaker so much..."

Inferno laid his hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. "Our girl is home, Morningdew. We were invited to dinner tonight to meet that young suitor I've been telling you about." He removed his hat and sunglasses as he spoke.

Morningdew smiled, "I had hoped I could live to see our baby's wedding day."

"Well, she isn't sure about going quite yet." Inferno commented. Now Rainbow Dash was on the spot, in front of her dying mother.

"Oh, is that so?" The disappointment was palpable in her voice.

Rainbow groaned on the inside, "No, I'll go. Dad, what did you say his name was?"

Her father's reaction was a mixture of surprise and pleasure. "His name is Gale Force Flutter."

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped, "Uh, dad-"

"Wonderful!" Her mother's cheers were weak and hoarse. Rainbow Dash sighed. She couldn't find the heart to say what she wanted in front of her mother.

"I hoped you'd come around." Inferno's voice had relaxed significantly since their confrontation at the door, "We had a dress made for you for tonight. That Unicorn in Ponyville sure knows her stuff.

Rarity. Rainbow groaned, Why in the name of Celestia does she never tell me things like this.

Inferno looked at the clock that hung on the side of the bed that he normally slept on, "You had best get ready. Our reservations are for six o'clock. Everything you need is in your bedroom.

Rainbow Dash kissed her mother before leaving. Inferno followed suit, and went into the guest room, where he had been sleeping since Morningdew's illness had became serious. "You've made your mother very happy," Inferno said. "She isn't going to be around much longer, but she wants grandfoals before she dies."

Rainbow nodded as she opened the door to her bedroom. The room was exactly as she had left it. She looked under her bed. The box of Wonderbolt toys she had stashed there since she was a filly were still there. She looked around. The room was so plain. She had a small cloud bed that was not half as wide as the gigantic mattress she had back in Ponyville. The only decorations on the wall were scattered decals of clouds. She had one bookshelf, loaded with texts her father had put there. She rooted through the shelf. Surprisingly, half of the Daring Do series was on the shelf, scattered around. Rainbow couldn't believe the series had been under her nose for so long, and it took hospitalization to get her to give it a chance.

Laid gently on her bed was a dress undeniably made by Rarity's hooves. She groaned. The dress was a very wispy white, stitched to look like a veil of clouds. It had none of the pizzazz or coolness Rainbow demanded on the rare occasions she was forced to wear clothes. She put it on anyway. It seemed Rainbow Dash had met her match. Inferno was quite possibly the only pony in all of Equestria with a will stronger than hers. Something about the middle-aged pegasus inspired fear and awe in those around him. That intimidation factor had kept Rainbow Dash in line as much as possible while she was young, but at the first chance she got, she left Cloudsdale for Ponyville, looking for a new home where she could be herself.

Being myself. She shuddered. The first time she had told her father she wanted to be a Wonderbolt, not a soldier, she had been spanked, grounded, and set to bed without dinner. The first time she had brought a mare around the house, her father kicked her out for a week. Only her mother had been able to calm him down enough to allow her to enter the house again, but their relationship was never the same. There was always an unspoken animosity between the two that kept Rainbow Dash far away from home whenever she came to Cloudsdale.

She looked at herself in the large mirror that, like everything else, had been there since she was a filly. She could barely recognize herself. She looked... ladylike. Like a blue Rarity with wings. She thought. She did have to commend herself for the job she had done styling her hair. She had, somehow, managed to impose order upon her mane, tying the usually uncombed rainbow into a braid that looked sophisticated enough.

Her father came in a few minutes later, "You look perfect." He smiled. Inferno could be nice enough, as long as Rainbow Dash didn't step out of line, an event that was all too frequent. Rainbow cautiously took her father's hoof as they walked outside to their chariot-taxi. As soon as they sat, the two strong stallions began pulling the chariot off toward Cloudsdale's center, where most of the city's restaurants were situated.

They pulled up to the fanciest establishment in the sky; The Aerolounge. Great. Just finding something I can pronounce is going to be hard enough. She thought, annoyed. Forget finding something I like. Saying Rainbow Dash has a sophisticated palette is a bit like saying that Rarity has a fondness for dirt. You can say it all you want, but it does not become any less false.

The two pegasi entered the restaurant, which was predominately black with occasional green accents. Her father talked to the host standing before an ornate podium. She could not make out what they were saying, until the brown, suited employee nodded and addressed her, "Right this way Miss." He called.

She looked around the restaurant, until she saw Fluttershy sitting with what she assumed to be her family. It's going to be a weird date, that's for sure. She thought.

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Comments

[bluebelle]

This is excellent! I love awkwardness! Ohmygosh can Flutterdash happen?!?

[The Yaoi Mistress]

I rather like Twilidash than flutterdash, not offense everyone!

But I kind of disappoint in RD character, she give up to soon. But will see what will happen later