//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Cloudsdale Part 2: A Talk With The Wonderbolts and A Surprise From Friends // Story: Secrets Hidden and Told // by My Rainbow Dash //------------------------------// The sun had shown through Rainbow’s window the next morning and she squeezed her eyes tighter as the light flew right for her eyes. As she got used to the amount of light, the new queen remembered that her daughter still had school. Rainbow dragged herself out of bed towards the shower. The warm refreshing water felt wonderful on her coat and released all the stress and tension she had in her body. After the shower, she dried herself, brushed her mane and tail, and walked over to her daughter’s room. Once she opened the door and walked inside, she smiled. Her daughter was still fast asleep, her mouth open with drool falling from the side of her muzzle. Rainbow snickered to herself and nuzzled Scootaloo awake. “Morning, Scoots. Time to get up or you’ll be late for school. Wouldn’t want that now would we?” Scootaloo groaned. “Nooo! I don’t wanna go to school.” Dash smiled. “Well if you get up now and get ready, I’ll let you hang out with your friends after school for however long you want. But you have to wake up now.” Scootaloo’s eyes shot open. “Really?” Rainbow nodded. “But you need to get ready first.” Scootaloo immediately jumped out of her bed and started getting ready for the day ahead of her. After a quick breakfast with her mom, she grabbed her saddlebag and galloped towards the front of the castle. But right as she got there, she was held back with a magical aura. She turned around to see her mom walking towards her. “And where do you think you’re going?” “Uhh, to school?” Rainbow smirked. “And you think that you’re gonna get to Ponyville from here by yourself?” Scootaloo hesitated for a moment before understanding her mother’s point. She looked up at her. “Can I have a ride?” Rainbow giggled and lowered herself down. “Hop on, kiddo. We’ll be back in Ponyville in no time.” Scootaloo instantly climbed onto her mother’s back and held on tight as they took off to the town that they used to live in. As the small earth pony down came into view, Rainbow cast a spell that hid her horn and her swollen abdomen. The rainbow maned Queen landed in front of the school and hugged her daughter goodbye. “Bye Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow understood why she did that. She didn’t want anypony else to figure out that the one and only Rainbow Dash was her mother. Rainbow smiled and took off for Cloudsdale. She took off so quickly that she didn’t hear her friends call her name. ~/\~ Once Cloudsdale came into full view, the rainbow maned Queen removed the spell that hid her horn and her swollen abdomen and flew towards the castle where she was greeted by Thunder Wing. “Your Highness.” He cried. “We’ve been worried. We didn’t know where you went.” Rainbow put a hoof up. “It’s alright. I just brought my daughter to school. I’ll give you a warning next time.” Thunder Wing nodded. “Thank you, Your Highness.” Rainbow nodded and walked back into the castle with Thunder Wing trailing behind her. But as soon as she entered the throne room, she froze. There, standing in front of her, were the Wonderbolts. “Oh Celestia. Help me now.” Rainbow thought to herself. ~/\~ Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Blaze, High Winds, Misty Fly, Surprise, Soarin, Fire Streak, Lightning Streak, Rapidfire, Silver Lining, and Wave Chill were all standing in the throne room. Rainbow swallowed the large lump in her throat. This wasn’t good. Spitfire stepped forward. “You wanna explain something to us, newbie?” Dash sucked in a deep breath and then let it out. “Alright. You know the history of the King of Cloudsdale as well as the ruler of the pegasi, right?” All of the ‘bolts nodded. “Right. So after he died, his blood ran through the blood of lots of ponies but they forgot about it. Of course, we all know that lots of other pegasi took over, like Commander Hurricane, but they didn’t have as much power. Apparently, the Kong’s blood ran through my family and ended up stopping at me. I was born an alicorn and now have to hold this position. It’s my responsibility to rule Cloudsdale and the Pegasi in all of Equestria. Sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” While she was talking, Rainbow went from standing in front of the doors to sitting down on the throne. The Wonderbolts said nothing the entire time. They could only stare at what their friend had become. Rapidfire spoke first and stepped towards the Queen. “Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight. You’re now, the ruler of the pegasi, the Queen of Cloudsdale, the element of loyalty, the fastest flier in all of Equestria, the only pony who can pull off a Sonic Rainboom, and has saved Equestria dozens of times now.” Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, that’s about it.” She smiled. She looked at the rest of her teammates who still stared. “So what now?” Spitfire asked. Rainbow shrugged. “To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. I haven’t even told my friends about this.” The room became quiet. Fleetfoot walked towards the Queen. “Hey, Dash?” Rainbow looked up at her friend. “Don’t you have a little sister? Should she be here too?” Rainbow smiled. “Believe it or not but, she’s not my sister. Or at least, non-biological sister. She’s actually my daughter.” Dash gave them a sheepish smile. They all stared. “YOUR DAUGHTER?!??” Rainbow gave a sheepish nod. “Yeah. Ex boyfriend problems. I was a pregnant teenager. Ten years without telling her. She got really mad once I told her a month ago. Now I’m pregnant again. Yeah, my life’s awesome. Not really.” She let out a small chuckle. She heard a snort and looked up. “Yeesh, Crash. We always knew your life had lots of problems in it, but these are probably the worst.” Misty Fly snorted. The rainbow maned Queen rolled her eyes. “Yeah, thanks. Very nice.” The mares snorted and the stallions chuckled. “Oh haha very funny.” The ‘bolts broke out laughing. Rainbow joined in. ____________Back In Ponyville____________ Scootaloo was eager for school to end. She’d decided that it would be fun to bring Applebloom and Sweetie Belle up to Cloudsdale with her. A few minutes later, the school bell rang and all the fillies and colts emptied the class. “Hey, girls,” Scootaloo called when she and her friends met up. “Oh, hi Scootaloo.” Sweetie Belle greeted her friend. “Did ya fun out who yer mom was?” Applebloom asked. Scootaloo nodded. “Yeah, but you have to keep it a secret.” The other two fillies nodded. “My mom is Rainbow Dash.” They stared. “Yer serious?” Applebloom asked. Scootaloo nodded. “I was very upset after she told me, but after a month I decided to see how she was doing. She didn’t look too good. Her coat and wings were a light gray, her mane and tail were a dark gray, nearly black, and she looked very sick. When I apologized for what I said to her, her colors came back and she forgave me. She even apologized for not telling me sooner. We made up, but what shocked me was that." Scootaloo looked around to see if anyone was watching, “ she had a horn on her head. Mom’s an alicorn. In fact, she’s the Queen of Cloudsdale and the ruler of the Pegasi. You should come by the castle. It’s awesome!” Sweetie Belle put a hoof to her chin. “Hey, how about we go there now?” Applebloom nodded. Scootaloo hesitated. “Slight issue there. Cloudsdale is far from Ponyville this time of year. In order to get there, we need to ask for a teleportation spell from Twilight.” “So what are we standin’ around here for?” Applebloom cheered. “Yeah. Let’s go now!” Sweetie Belle followed. “Alright. I’m gonna grab my scooter and the extension so you two can join me.” Scootaloo stated. “But wait. We’re not Pegasi. We can’t walk on clouds.” Sweetie Belle claimed. “That’s why we’re asking for a teleportation spell and a cloud-walking spell,” Scootaloo explained. The other two nodded and the CMCs ran for Twilight’s castle as fast as they could. Scootaloo knocked on the door. Spike peaked his head out from behind it. “Oh. Hey girls.” He greeted. “Hey, Spike. Is Twilight here? We need to ask her about something.” Sweetie Belle spoke. Spike nodded. “Yeah, she’s here. Follow me.” The three fillies followed the baby dragon to the Map Room where all the element barriers were sitting. “Ah still don’t get it.” They heard Applejack speak. “It ain’t like her.” “I have to agree with that, darling. Rainbow Dash represents the element of loyalty. She wouldn’t leave us behind or push us aside.” Rarity followed. Scootaloo stepped forward. “Umm, Twilight? Can you do us a favor?” Twilight’s face was wearing a frown when she turned to the fillies but changed once she saw who was speaking. “Oh hi there, Scootaloo. Do you need anything?” “Umm. Yeah, we do.” Scootaloo hesitated. “Can you, by any chance, put a cloud-walking spell in Sweetie Belle and Applebloom and teleport us to Cloudsdale?” She sheepishly took a step back from the princess. “We wanted to go up and meet the Queen of Cloudsdale who’s also the ruler of the Pegasi. I already met her and I think that Applebloom and Sweetie Belle should as well.” Twilight froze once she heard “Queen of Cloudsdale and ruler of the Pegasi”. “I’m sorry. But could you say that again?” “Umm. I wanted Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to meet the Queen of Cloudsdale who’s also the ruler of the Pegasi.” Scootaloo shrunk back. Scared of what would happen next. Twilight took a deep breath in. “Alright. But if you’re going, so are we.” “Mom isn’t gonna be happy about this.” Scootaloo thought to herself. ___________Back in Cloudsdale __________ The talk with her former teammates was fun, but they needed to get back to their headquarters for practice. “Thanks for the talk, Crash.” Spitfire waved her hoof. Rainbow nodded. “Drop by anytime, Cap.” Spitfire chuckled. “Cya, Crash.” Rainbow saluted and Spitfire saluted in return. The other ‘bolts waved to their queen and Rainbow returned it. Once the ‘bolts left, the rainbow maned Queen sighed and leaned back in her throne. “That was an amazing talk. Too bad I’m not part of the team anymore. But hey, at least I can boss them around now. I guess I could visit them from time to time. Seems fun. And I could get special seats in their shows now. Heh. This life is pretty awesome now.” The Queen closed her eyes but they opened once there was a knock on the door. Rainbow Dash groaned. “Who is it?” A female guard entered the room. “Your Highness. Your daughter, her friends, and your friends have arrived.” Rainbow froze. ”Oh goodness, no.” ~/\~ After being teleported to Cloudsdale, Scootaloo was jittery the entire way to the castle. She led them through different streets to get to their destination. Once they reached the entrance, the mares, fillies, and dragon were in shock. “Oh my! This castle is simply divine!” Rarity spoke in awe. “You’re darn tootin’ right ‘bout that, Rarity,” Applejack added on. “Oh goodness. It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Fluttershy pointed out. She had been born in Cloudsdale, yes, but she’d never seen the castle before. “Wowie!” Pinkie exclaimed. “There was nothing about this in the books I’ve read.” Twilight continued. “I have to agree with you there, Twilight.” Starlight pushes into the conversation. The two fillies and dragon had no words. Cloudy Skies stepped forward. She noticed Scootaloo immediately but saw the motion that she was making. It was to tell her not to call her Princess Scootaloo. The mare nodded and turned to everyone else. “I take it that you are here to speak to her highness the queen?” Twilight nodded. “Indeed we are. Could you take us to her?” Cloudy Skies her head. She turned to Skylar Winds who was standing next to her. “Would you mind telling the Queen?” Skylar nodded and flew away to tell the Queen. Scootaloo’s heart was rattling inside her rib cage. Cloudy walked up to Scootaloo. “We won’t tell, but I believe it would be best if you went over to your mother.” Scootaloo nodded. The guard turned to the others. “Please, follow me. We shouldn’t keep her highnesses waiting.” She led the ponies through the halls to the throne room, but along the way, Scootaloo broke apart from the others and took a shortcut to the room her mother was in. Once she was inside, she saw her mom pacing the room. “Mom?” When she said that word, the mare turned to face her daughter. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to bring Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, but Twilight forced that she’d bring everyone. Is it okay if I say that we’re just sisters?” Rainbow smiled and walked over to the throne. “Whatever you want peanut.” She ruffled Scootaloo’s mane playfully. There was a knock on the door. “Your Highness.” Rainbow took a long breath in. “Send them in.” Cloudy Skies and Skylar Winds opened the doors and in walked two fillies, six mares, and a baby dragon. Once they saw Rainbow Dash, the throne, the wings, and the horn, they froze. The Queen gave a sheepish smile and a light chuckle. “Hey, guys.”