//------------------------------// // Reflections[Family] // Story: Shifting Ballads // by Rain-M24 //------------------------------// Let's skip forward a bit now. It has been about three years since Melody got to work with Iron Hoof, and she couldn't be happier. By now, she's already grown up to the age of a pony's life that they aren't considered a filly or a colt anymore. Unlike other mares, Melody already has a lot of bits saved up from her job. She's been using these bits from work to liven up things at her and her mom's apartment rooms. Since she went to work for Iron Hoof, Melody has been accompanying Flame and the band on tours around Equestria to witness their rising popularity. ----- After returning from an Iron Hoof concert in the Crystal Empire, Melody made it up to the second floor of her apartment building and pushed her door open with her hoof. As she let out a sigh and trotted into her apartment room, she heard a shriek from the neighboring room. "Scarlet! SCARLET!!" The figure of a full-grown mare galloped into Melody's room. Her fur was cyan blue, her mane was multi-colored, and there were tears streaming down her fushia eyes. "Mom..?" Melody faced her mother, her expression filled with fear and worry. "...What happened?" Rainbow Dash wiped the tears from her eyes with her hoof. "Scarlet, it's..it's your father. There was an accident in Ponyville during his business trip..." "You mean he's..?" Scarlet galloped into the arms of her mother in an uncontrollable fit of crying. "Don't worry..we get to see your father one last time. Now, hurry up and get ready." ----- Rainbow and Scarlet rode the train from Filly Dephia to Ponyville. Once they arrived, they decided they had to ask directions to find how to get to the funeral. Rainbow spotted somepony in particular that she recognized from when she was around Scarlet's age. "Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow cried out, calling the attention of a full grown mare with pink fur and a lighter-pink fluffy mane and tail. Pinkie recognized that mane from anywhere and gasped once she saw her."OHMYGOSH RAINBOW DASH!" She galloped up to the two pegasi. "We have sooo much we need to catch up on! You know, i'm in charge of Sugar Cube Corner, right? Mr. and Mrs. Cake were thinking of letting Pound and Pumpkin Cake take over, but they got cutie marks that didn't have anything to do with baking, and I already baked lots and lots of cupcakes and cakes and other things before, like that one time when I baked the Marzapan Marzkapon Marang Madness. Anyway, they trusted me with the shop. Isn't that cool?" Pinkie took a big breath once she finished, after saying all of that in one breath. "Yeah, Pinkie...great.." Rainbow sighed, as she tried to get her mind back onto her original purpose in calling the earth pony over. "We were actually wondering if you could give us directions to...where we could find Soarin'." Pinkie gave the statement some thought, then lead Rainbow and Scarlet to the funeral home herself. The pink earth pony then decided to hide under their seat, as if somepony would suspect she wasn't close enough to Soarin' to be his friend. Rainbow smiled a bittersweet smile at the thought of Pinkie's antics, knowing that she hasn't changed that much from when they were fillies in Ponyville. ----- After the funeral session, Pinkie came out of under the seat. "Aww, so I guess this means you two will be heading back to Filly Delphia now, huh?" "I guess so, Pinkie." Rainbow looked over to her side, where Scarlet was sitting next to her. "Are you ready to go back to Filly Dephia, Scarlet?" The red pegasus nodded her head, and they trotted out of the funeral home with Pinkie. "Pinkie, you can't come with us." "But Rainbow, we haven't seen eachother in sooo long. I'm sure the others would really want to see you again, too. Oh, especially Twilight, since Spike grew up and she had to give him away before he became super nasty since we all know what happens when a dragon grows up, so she lives alone with Owlicious, and Owlicious can't even talk." "Way to make me feel bad for going back, Pinkie." ....... "Pinkie?" Rainbow stopped trotting and turned back to face Pinkie Pie, stopping Scarlet from going farther than her. The pink mare's face was covered in tears. "Pinkie, I didn't try to hurt your feelings. Please...stop crying. I didn't want to make you feel bad. I just felt bad for Twilight." Sigh. Rainbow put her hoof over her face. "Look, Pinkie. If I stay here in Ponyville, will you stop crying?" Pinkie's face lit right up after that question left Rainbow Dash's mouth. "I'm not just doing this for you, either. I want all of my friends here to be happy. Scarlet's old enough to make friends all on her own, too." Scarlet looked up at Rainbow Dash. "You..mean it, mom? I'll be living all alone in Filly Delphia?" The cyan pegasus only nodded her head. ----- "Be careful, dear." Rainbow was waving her hoof to her child, who was boarding the train back home. Scarlet got in and looked out of the door to her mother, hoding a case that contained Soarin's old Wonderbolts uniform, crying. "I will. Don't worry, mom. I'll come visit when I can." The two pegasi waving, the pink earth pony sobbing while holding tight a yellow pegasus, the purple and white unicorns wiping the tears from their eyes respectfully, and the whole Ponyville Apple family sending Scarlet off, ends our story.