Post Hurricane's Way · 8:26pm Jan 29th, 2016
Y'know, I didn't really think Hurricane's Way would get that much attention, but it's kinda cool people enjoyed it so much. Little thought blurb below the break.
I have no reason to include this in the blog other than "perfect Rainbow Dash smirk/lip bite combo. So, deal with it.
The idea came about last year around Valentine's Day. Or maybe it was just after. I can't quite remember. Either way, the idea was that pegasi are so connected to the sky by nature that they feel as if they have to share it with their non pegasus lovers. Like, they experience living on the ground (or close to it, in Dash's case) every day around earth ponies and unicorns, so it's a big thing to take them to Cloudsdale for a visit. Of course, there are some circumstances where lovers have already taken trips there (Ohai, Best Young Flyers competition), but the important part of it is supposed to be the experience of seeing Cloudsdale and its occupants as the pegasi who live(d) there do. Or, at least, as pegasi in general do.
Blah-de-blah, think of it as their pilgrimage to Mecca. But, instead of religion, for lovers. Because that is how I roll.
Random person: But, Uncle Zommykins! You could've easily made it about Sassaflash and—
That is how I roll, random person.
Kidding aside, no. I couldn't. The original idea was brained, in its entirety, as TwiDash. Therefore, writing it as TwiDash was necessity. Not for added flare.
The addition of the Pizza ponies, Thunderhead Alley/the seventy-five climb, and Dash's parents being factory workers were all entirely on the fly (sorry, TD, but the pun was completely and totally unintentional). The story of how Piazzo became "the Pizza Pony" was heavily based on how a local pizzeria in town became "Pizza Man" in my family.
Here it is: the place is called Alfonso's Pizzeria. I was about... three? Four? Whatever. I was young. I couldn't pronounce the name Alfonso, so, I looked at the logo (a guy and a slice of pizza) and dubbed the place "Pizza Man". That was about twenty years ago, the name is stuck.
In short, I had a little fun inserting a bit of my own life for you all to enjoy.
I will admit, a few of the recent comments about Rainbow having a tragic backstory with her upbringing were... unexpected. I get it, mort d'auteur and all, but... eh, fuck it.
No.
Rainbow Dash's parents are not dead, nor were they absentee parents. They were just factory workers. In fact, if you want the inspiration behind why they're so busy, go listen to "Working Man" by Rush. The first verse is as follows:
Well, I get up at seven (yeah!)
And I go to work at nine!
I got no time for livin' (yeah!)
'Cuz I'm workin' overtime!
It seems to me I could live my life
A lot better than I think I am!
I guess that's why they call me...
The working man!
As far as I'm concerned, Rainbow's parents are alive, well, and love her very much. They work long hours and come home tired, but content, and are happy to be greeted by an energetic little ball of energy, babbling about how she learned a new trick while practicing in alleyway behind their friends' restaurant. The Pizza ponies are just family friends to them.
That said, like most kids with working parents, Rainbow spent her days either playing with her friends, or hanging out with the Pizza ponies at the Cloud Bistro. Why? Because it's better than sitting alone at home and there's less chance for her to get into trouble that way.
Not really tragic, y'all.
As for why I didn't continue on to show Twilight meeting Rainbow's parents, my reasoning is quite simple: I felt the story could end where it did.
Seriously, how many times have we seen the whole "meet the parents" thing play out? A lot. I'm not counting it. I'm far too lazy. We can guess how it goes. In fact, have your own headcanon for it. The reason behind it wasn't so much that I was afraid of ruining people's vision of what the other M6's parents were like, but simply because I felt it was best to end shortly after Rainbow had told Twilight the story and offered her everything.
For the ending, I wanted to use the whole "It's tradition" bit as a bit of a bookend, if you will. The chapter starts with Rainbow being stubborn because "It's tradition" and Twilight ends it by teasing her and throwing the line back. It seemed cute. Dunno why, but it did.
With all that said, I have no intention of writing a sequel to this. At most, I may revisit the Hurricane/Clover bit and write something about them getting together or coming to respect each other in the post Unification days, but that remains to be seen. I have plenty of other things to keep me busy in the meantime.
Thanks for reading and enjoying Hurricane's Way, everybody! You were a lovely audience! And thanks for reading me ramble about my own fic (what sort of a wanker am I?) for a little while.
Pictured: all of you for the duration of this blog.
Sweet! Rush is best inspiration.
That ending pic is entirely accurate.
You're just lucky I'm on the bus and I've read all these adverts before.
You know, I'm actually going to follow you just for your blog posts.
Because every time I scroll down to comment, I'll see that hilarious Syndrome image on my right.
3721735 the blog it's from is glorious. And yay
Whenever I read your work, I always find you so incredibly interesting. In Hurricane's Way, their are parts to the story thag just seem so natural. The occasional banter, the cute nicknames, diavolo!
I always invest myself in your characters and the story about the Pizza man in your town exemplified how your stories have that personal touch.