A Cloudsdale Reunion

by Darkmetroidz

Chapter 4

Author's Note:

I'm not as fond of this chapter as i have been of the others. Please comment with your opinions, what you like and what you didn't. If there is strong enough a response, I will do a revision of this sometime in the future. For now, there will be an epilouge coming soon to explain a bit more about Inferno Dash and Morningdew. However, before that happens, I have another project coming this way, and I hope you are all as excited as I am for it.

Rainbow Dash spent the rest of her week in Cloudsdale, mostly in the company of the Flutter siblings. Inferno had eased up on her significantly, not even mentioning a curfew or raising a word of objection when she happily declared she was going to attend a Wonderbolts show. The show and accompanying race ran long, not ending until well past midnight.

Rainbow crept into her house. She hoped that everypony inside had already gone to bed, but as she opened the door, she saw the sight that was the dread of her childhood. There sat Inferno Dash, copy of the Cloudsdale Examiner in hand, sitting stoically in his armchair.

Years of nerves got the better of her as she started stammering, "Dad, I'm so sorry, the show ran long and-"

Inferno chuckled a deep, hearty laugh, "You're a grown mare Rainbow Dash. You don't need to explain yourself to me."

Rainbow Dash flicked her ear, and made sure it was not obstructed, "Did I just hear you right?"

Her grayed father nodded, "I said that I think you've grown up into a fine young lady. I was very impressed how maturely you handled yourself at the restaurant. I talked to Commander Flutterfury, and he is very proud of both of you for making the choice that you felt was right for you, even though you were probably worried we'd be angry." He took his daughter in his hooves, "I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last few days. Seeing my daughter so happy is the greatest feeling in the world. I think you'll make a fine Wonderbolt."

Rainbow's eyes glimmered, "So you approve?"

"I don't agree with your decision, but I can't argue that it's what you want to be. It's written plain as day on your flank." He pointed a yellow hoof at her cutie mark. "Cutie marks don't lie."

Rainbow Dash could not resist herself. She threw herself at Inferno, enveloping him in a passionate hug. He flinched at first, but gradually returned the embrace.

After a minute, he removed Rainbow's iron grip from his body, "Come upstairs, your mother wants to see you."

Rainbow solemnly trekked up the stairs. She knew her mom was hoping the marriage would go through. She thought Morningdew would be disappointed.

She was mistaken. Inside the master bedroom, Morningdew Dash was propped up in her bed, the warming smile from Rainbow's foalhood emblazoned on her face. She still looked ill, but the improvement in her health was staggering. She had returned to reality from the brink of death, and in the dark room, radiated life and hope. "How was the show dear?" She asked.

"It was awesome! Gale and I got great seats, and we even managed to get Soarin and Spitfire's autographs!" Rainbow Dash's typical enthusiasm for the Wonderbolts had brought her wings into a flurry, leaving her absentmindedly floating above the ground.

Morningdew smiled, "I'm glad you and Gale Force are spending time together. That's the only way a stallion and a mare can get to know each other. Right dear?" She turned to Inferno and smiled. The old stallion blushed. "I wanted to tell you that I'm feeling much better. The doctor came by earlier today. He said I'll still be in bed for a while, but my condition has improved by leaps and bounds."

"When your mother is better we'll be taking a family vacation. Either to Germarey, or Prance."

"I can't wait." The young mare walked to her mother's side, and took her and her father in her hooves.

"I have never felt so much love in this house," Morningdew said, "Has something gone on between you two?"

Inferno and Rainbow both laughed awkwardly, "Well, I suppose you can say we've gained a newfound respect for each other's views." He grinned.

Morningdew clapped happily, "I am so proud of you two." She looked at the clock and gave the same warm, motherly smile as did Princess Celestia. "It's so late. You both had better be off to bed."

Rainbow Dash slept until ten the next morning, and immediately went over to Gale's house. Fluttershy answered the door, "Oh, hello Rainbow Dash. Are you looking for Gale Force?"

She nodded, "Yeah. I'm going to be leaving for Ponyville this afternoon and wanted to say goodbye."

"Um, out of curiosity, what are you planning on doing about Twilight when you get home? I hope she isn't mad that you have a coltfriend."

Rainbow Dash felt her eyes swell to the size of dinner plates as everything that was good in her life suddenly died. How could I forget about Twilight? She must hate me after what happened! There's no way I can bring Gale to Ponyville! Rainbow Dash tried in vain to recompose herself. She tried deep breathing, counting, and a little bit of yoga for good measure. Nothing could calm her racing nerves. "Oh Celestia, what am I gonna do?" She wailed, "Twilight's gonna hate me for kicking her out and then coming home with a guy!"

"Maybe if you just apologize?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm sure Twilight will forgive you."

Rainbow shook her head, "After what happened, she'll never want to talk to me. Remember what happened when Rarity got ditched a few years ago?"

The memory sent shivers down Fluttershy's spine, "Oh gosh, do I! I had to host a charity meeting in a torn dress because Rarity wasn't working. Everypony was staring at me, it was awful!"

Teeth were ground and hooves were madly stomped as Rainbow Dash desperately tried to think of a solution, "I got it!" She shouted, "I'll send you to scope things out before I come into town. That way, I'll know how to handle things."

"Do you think that would work?" Fluttershy asked apprehensively, "I don't want to accidentally upset Twilight."

Rainbow Dash gave a reassuring nod, "This is the best chance we have not to hurt her feelings. Don't worry, just ask how she's doing, and when you're done, come talk to me."

The two mares were seen off by their families at Rainbow Dash's house. The fathers and brothers stood on the front stairs, and Morningdew waved from the window. They took off and cruised at a respectable speed, slow enough for Fluttershy to keep up, but fast enough to return to Ponyville before dark. They agreed to use Fluttershy's cottage as their meeting point. Rainbow opened the house and waited inside, while Fluttershy set course for the library.

The sky was clear this day in Ponyville. The sun hung lazily just above the horizon, painting the town a magnificent shade of orange. Fluttershy examined the streets, looking for the alicorn in question. Her search did not take as long as she had expected. She saw Twilight within minutes, strolling down the street with Big Macintosh. Fluttershy swooped in a little closer. The two seemed awfully close to be friends. Then she saw it. She gasped. This changes everything! She thought excitedly.

* * *

Rainbow Dash poked around the cottage. There really wasn't anything there to do, so Rainbow occupied herself with scrutinizing every detail of the house. There was a note taped to the cupboard in her kitchen. She took it off and read it.
Dear Fluttershy,

Hope your flight home was alright. I know you aren't as fast as your friends, but just keep trying your best! Anyway, I made a pie for you. It's a new recipe I'm trying out. Eighty-seven berry surprise. You wouldn't believe how many countries I had to visit to get eighty seven different kinds of berry. I went out for my spa appointment with Pinkie Pie, I should be back before ten. Pie is on the counter.

Love, Discord

Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder, and surely enough, there was an admittedly beautiful looking pie on the counter. The smell was enough to start her drool reflex, as was the rainbow of berries that could be seen through the fine decorations Discord had worked into the crust. She found another note on the pie.
Rainbow Dash,

This pie is not for you. However, if you are hungry, there is one ready for you. Turn around.

Love, Discord.

She turned around just quickly enough to see the cream pie smash into her face. She fumed with anger. She had no idea how Discord could manage to be everywhere at once, messing with her meanwhile taking a relaxing soak in a chocolate milk hot tub with Pinkie across town. She licked the cream off her face. At least the god of chaos had the common courtesy to use homemade cream in his pranks.

* * *

Fluttershy cautiously approached Twilight. Her friend smiled as she landed, "Hi Fluttershy. How was your trip?"

"Oh, it was wonderful. I had a very nice time with my father and brothers." She was still giddy from how affectionately her father had treated her, and the joy was pervasive in her speech and body.

"I'm glad to hear that." Twilight's causal expression dropped into a scowl. "So. How's Rainbow Dash?"

Fluttershy released a slight eep. Twilight hadn't wasted any time asking the off-limits question. Her brain went into overdrive trying to formulate the least-angering answer she could manage. Or she tried. Instead, her brain-to-mouth connection was set to instant message, and she wound up saying what happened without any dressing-up. "Rainbow Dash likes my brother but the two of them decided they aren't going to get married! They decided they wanted to get to know each other first!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "So, she ditches me the first chance she gets for some handsome stallion?"

Fluttershy was reduced to a cowering mass, "She feels really bad about this Twilight. Please don't be angry."

Twilight giggled. "I guess I can't be too mad. Right after she dumped me, a certain dragon arranged a little date for me and this handsome stallion." Big Mac blushed.

"So you aren't upset?" Fluttershy asked hopefully.

Twilight shrugged. "A little bit, but I'll get over it. After all, we were only together for a day. And if it hadn't been for her, I would never have ended up together with Big Macintosh."

Macintosh nuzzled Twilight. "The two of us are off to the farm. Applejack is runnin' herself ragged tryin' to set up for the family reunion, so Ah thought Twi might be able to lend a hand. She and Spike are gonna be honorary guests this year."

"That's so wonderful!" Fluttershy piped, "I'll go tell Rainbow-"

"No need Fluttershy." Rainbow Dash said as she descended to the ground. "By the way, Discord made you a pie." Fluttershy couldn't help but notice a few stains of Discord's famous clotted cream all over her front.

Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight squarely in the eyes, "Twilight, I'm so sorry with what happened in Cloudsdale. I let my dad intimidate me into making you leave. I should have fought back."

Twilight looked back with understanding and compassion in her soft, purple eyes, "I understand. Sometimes you really can't argue with your parents. Besides, it was his house, what was I going to do, force my way inside?"

"I guess not." Rainbow laughed, "So, are we cool?"

Twilight nodded, "Yeah. I think you've learned a valuable lesson from this."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Yeah. Do you want me to write a letter to the Princess?"
"I don't think that's necessary. All in all, everything turned out all right for both of us. You're dating Fluttershy's brother, and I'm dating Applejack's brother." She deadpanned as she realized the implications. "If Pinkie is really Applejack's cousin, the family reunions are going to get strange in the future."

"Well, we aren't exactly 'dating'," Rainbow awkwardly laughed, "I'd prefer to say that we're friends. But I don't want to think about anypony getting married right now. We're still young, we have time to take things slow."

Twilight turned her head, "Rainbow Dash? Are you okay?"

She nodded, "Couldn't be better."

The couple walked past, and Fluttershy flew home, leaving Rainbow Dash alone in the evening sun. Spike came running past, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Rainbow Dash. "Hey Rainbow," he waved.

"Hey Spike. What's the matter, do you not want to kill me anymore?" She joked.

The little dragon shook his head, "Nah. Twilight got over things pretty fast. She and Big Macintosh really hit it off."

She smiled, "You know, I'm happy for them."

Spike grabbed Rainbow's mane and pulled her head down to his level, "But if you ever hurt Twilight again, I will-" he didn't finish the threat, instead puffing a burst of fire dangerously close to her face and showing off his sharpened claws.

"SPIKE, hurry up!" Twilight shouted from down the road, "Applejack still needs our help, and I'd like to be there before dark!"

"Coming!" He yelled. Spike ran down the trail, every now and again shooting a glare towards Rainbow Dash.

She smiled. Absentmindedly, she started rifling through her saddlebag, which she had never bothered to take off. She found a paper inside, one she hadn't known was there.

To the jewel of my eye,

I could write poem and prose about your mane
Which gleams with prismatic splendor.
Or about your eyes, with starlight twinkle,
Or your wings, supple as silk.
But that belays my true reason
And that would be treason,
For loving a mare such as you.
For Rainbow Dash makes my heart beat true,
And that is because you are you.
Pardon my words, but it is the truth.
For my love, I cannot lie.
To all of the norms, you are aloof,
For normalcy, you give
Not a hoof.
You are one of a kind
Unique among mares
And your wonderful soul
Does always remind
That despite what I've seen
I have yet to glean
From the Earth
A gem as beautiful as you.

Love, Gale Force Flutter.

Rainbow Dash smiled as she returned the letter to her bag. She made a mental not to ask Rarity to translate some of the language for her, but it set her heart aflutter just the same. Not that good my ass. She thought, as she returned home as the sun dipped below the horizon. He was a heartthrob, and was certainly more in love with her than she was with him. But that could always change. She still was unsure about him, but Rainbow Dash had a good feeling about this.

Comments

[nightwalker]

Since you asked, biggest complaint is easily that that there seem to be a lot missing between the end of chapter 3 and this chapter.

The biggest complaint is RD's and Gale's relatoionship. We go from first date meeting at the end of chapter 3 to "we'll just be friends and date" without seeing any of what happens in between. Seriously, I had to go back and reread the end of previous chapters because I was sure I missed something. They had miniscule development, at best. I mean, lying to each other over dinner? That was it? Then there's the whole sexuality switch. RD being very gay was a rather prominent factor of the first few chapters, kinda gets glossed over. I was half expecting some scheme involving Fluttershy fighting for her "marefriend's" honor, having Dash go with her instead to preserve the marriage between their families, what with the whole prominent show of the custom suit of armor you had for her earlier on. This whole ending reads like you just said "Heck with it! Finish!" and couldn't be bothered to write the 1-2 other chapters that the story seemed to call for.

Everything up to this point was good; the setup was good, the characterizations were good, the conflict (while it has been seen before) was being handled well. Then the ending is so rushed and out of nowhere, I won't be surprised if I'm not the only reader that was like "Wait, what?" at multiple points during the beginning.

So there you go.

[badninja]

Everything up to this chapter was good and I was enjoying the direction you seemed to be taking it. The sudden change in feel through me for a loop and it feels that you changed how you saw Rainbow Dash in the last chapter.

For the entire fic you had Rainbow Dash as a gay and she is suddenly bi? It seems to me that it feels like "pray away the gay". I would recommend a rewrite to explore why she becomes attracted to Gale and the issues of how she was responding during the dinner. You have given RD's father a victory over his child my forcing her into his mold, not who she was at the beginning, he gets away with everything here. I wanted her father to have some recompense for bullying his daughter for a majority of her life. It had potential but this last chapter just became a train wreck by a rushed ending. You have at least 3 chapters of materiel here and it could be a better fic.

[Darkmetroidz]

With the consensus being what it is so far, I think I will work on revising this sometime in the future. However, please understand that my current fic and the novel that I've been working on will be taking precedence, so please don't expect it in the immediate future.

[InkingWell]

Twilight can get dash pregnant with MAGIC