//------------------------------// // Chapter 35: Happy Birthday Blaze // Story: Happiness and Tears // by flaminkomage //------------------------------// Happiness and Tears Ink Mage Chapter 35: Happy Birthday Blaze Rainbow Dash smiled as she walked into the house with her sister besides her. The two of them had just returned from the long trip to Ponyville to visit their father's grave. "We're home!" Scootaloo called out, a small colt coming into view. Stronghold walked up to his mother and embraced her. Scootaloo grinned, sending her nephew a wink. "You're back already?" Stronghold said, leading them into the family room. Rainbow Dash nodded. "Yes, honey. We just went to visit Grandpa and come back. We weren't going to stay there forever," she said, placing her and Scootaloo's bags on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "Really? Spectrum told me that you guys were going to go for a week!" Stronghold said innocently. Scootaloo's eyes widened as she sheepishly grinned. "Oh don't mind him, Strongy... he was just teasing you," she said. Stronghold tilted his head. "Are you sure? He sounded really confident with himself," he said. Rainbow Dash shook her head. "He might have just gotten the wrong information or something," she reasoned, giving her little sister a pointed look. The mare in question gave a nervous giggle, before sighing in defeat. "Alright, I may or may not have accidentally pulled a prank on Spectrum," she groaned out. Rainbow Dash smirked victoriously, beginning to walk further into the house. "Anyway, now that that's been settled, is anyone up for some lunch? I've made our annual family meal," she said, the other two following her. Speedy suddenly walked in front of them, his eyes wide and his cheeks red. He quickly looked towards Scootaloo with an accusing stare. "You told me you'd be back in a week!" he said, pointing his hoof at her. Scootaloo rolled her eyes, walking past him with a huff. "Oh grow up, it was just a harmless joke," she said. Speedy gaped at her. "Are you serious?!" he exclaimed. "You got me so worked up about spending a week with Soarin! How dare you! You're so mean, Scoots!" he exclaimed. Rainbow Dash and Stronghold looked at them with amusement in their eyes. "You're such a colt, Spee- I mean, Spec! Lighten up!" Scootaloo said, quickly correcting her mistake. Luckily, it didn't seem like anyone had caught on. "Yeah yeah, says you!" Speedy said childishly, sticking his tongue out at her. Scootaloo suddenly gasped. "Hey! I just noticed! What happened to your mustache?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at his upper lip, which was, to her surprise, mustache-less. Speedy groaned. "I decided to... uh... get it cut off. You know, with what Soarin told me a few weeks ago. I don't want to seem like some tiny forty year-old stallion," he said. Scootaloo could hardly contain her laughs. "I-I told you!" she wheezed. Speedy rolled his eyes, leading the three of them into the room where Soarin was sitting. Rainbow Dash trotted up to her husband and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, before turning to her family. "Now that we're all here, I just wanted to..." "Forgetting about someone already?" a new voice chimed in. Lilian was slowly walking up to them, her back hunched and a warm smile on her face. "How was the trip to Blaze's?" Rainbow Dash laughed. "Oh, sorry, Lilian," she said, pulling her mother-figure in for a hug. "It's been a while." "Yeah, you have no idea how quiet it's been for these past twenty-four hours," Lilian joked, eyeing Speedy. She still was a little unsure about him; he felt too familiar. "Relax, the amazing Rainbow Dash and her awesome little sister are back and ready for action!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, putting an arm around Scootaloo. Scootaloo smiled at Lilian. "Anyway, that aside, it was relaxing, to say the least. It's been a year since we last went to visit him and all," she said. Speedy suddenly cleared his throat. "Uh... look, sorry to interrupt, but I still have no idea what's going on. Scoots didn't tell me where she and Rainbow Dash went yesterday, so I just assumed they went on something business related... but now I'm hearing something about visiting someone?" Rainbow Dash smiled sadly. "Yeah, it's my father's birthday today. Scootaloo and I always go up to Ponyville this time of year to visit his grave. He... he died a while ago from heart failure." Speedy's mouth opened and closed. Of course, he knew about how Rainbow Blaze's death took place all those years ago, but hearing about this ritual Rainbow Dash and her sister had to remember him was really touching. "That's... that's nice of you... I'm really sorry for your loss," he consoled, before sighing, sneaking a quick glance at Soarin. "It's my mother's birthday today, actually." Soarin's ears perked up. He quickly looked over at Speedy in shock. Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrows. "Really? Wow... what a coincidence. It's Soarin's mom's birthday today as well," she said thoughtfully. "Don't mind him, Spectrum. Soarin's always a little down in the dumps on this day. He... he had quite the history with his parents before he married me." Speedy coughed uncomfortably. "I can imagine..." he said softly, "my older brother didn't get along very well with our parents either... it just took one mistake on his part for everything to crumble." Scootaloo was watching him speak. The way his lips quivered and his eyes shut as he remembered the terrible talk with his mother before coming to Manehattan. She had almost forgotten that Cloudy Quartz and her father shared a birthday. In fact, she even remembered Rainbow Dash talking about how she and her friend had crashed Cloudy's birthday party all those years ago, and had gotten into bad terms with Spectrum Skies. Soarin got up from his seat on the couch. He obviously didn't want to talk about this anymore. "It's getting late. We should all go to bed. Come on, Strongy," he said quietly, leading his son upstairs. Scootaloo nodded, gesturing for Lilian to follow her to their respective rooms. Only Rainbow Dash and Speedy remained. "Uh... Rainbow Dash?" Speedy said softly, looking at the older mare. Rainbow Dash smiled. "Yes, Spectrum?" she asked. "I was wondering if it wouldn't be too much to ask you to write a letter to my parents... they've been wanting to know about the kind mare who allowed me to stay with her and her family for a while now." Rainbow Dash blinked, before breaking into a huge grin. "Of course, Spectrum." She nodded. "I'd be happy to." "Thank you so much," Speedy said, as he followed her to the desk in the corner of the room. Rainbow Dash lit a candle and dipped the quill into the large pot of ink on the table. "Oh, and... could you not mention the family and anyone's names in it? I wouldn't want them to be intimidated with you guys being ex-Wonderbolts and all." Rainbow Dash nodded. As she began to write, Speedy watched her from a few feet away with tears in his eyes. This was one of the first steps in his plan. To get Rainbow Dash and his parents speaking again, without them actually knowing. Once she was finished, she handed the letter to Speedy with a yawn. "There you go, let me know if you need to change anything. I'm going to bed," she said, turning around. "Good night." "Good night... thank you," Speedy whispered, watching her retreat up the stairs. He sighed, clutching the letter and opening it. Hello; So you're the parents of this wonderful stallion. It's very nice to meet you. I am from a small town in Manehattan and I live with my husband, little sister, mother-figure, and my nine year-old son. We've all managed to make ourselves at home these past few years, and when my sister told us your son was coming to stay, I was overjoyed to see her happy again. My sister and I come from another town, and it's been hard for all of us to adapt to these new conditions and landmarks around us. My husband is a past professional flyer, but he gave up on that dream long ago when we had our son. We've made our own little world here, and for now, we're happy. Your son has been a wonderful addition to our family, and it's been great getting to know him. Don't worry about him, he's just fine. You should be proud of him, Mister and Misses. Oh and, Happy Birthday! -Rainbow & Family