//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - Overcast Irony (2/2) // Story: Visiting Hours // by Bud Grazer //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash walked down the corridor, towards the back of the house where her mother’s workshop was set up. Before she reached it, she heard Firefly’s voice through the door. “Wait! Be careful with the–” “Gyah!” Scootaloo’s yelp was accompanied by an electric noise. “... storm clouds,” Firefly finished flatly. A curious expression on her face, Rainbow peeked around the edge of the doorway. Only a pegasus could possibly have made any sense of the room Firefly used as her workshop: the material she used for her sculptures being the same that constituted the floor, the walls, the ceiling and most of the furniture, any other type of pony would have been completely unable to tell what was part of the house and what was part of her cloud reserve. Instinctively, any pegasus knew the difference, allowing Rainbow Dash to see not a messy clump of clouds, but a room containing a table, neat stacks of untouched clouds, shavings piled in one corner and a lot of sculptures, either finished or still in-progress. And in the middle of all of this was an orange filly with a mane looking like a purple porcupine. A few black stains covered her body and hair, and a few wisps of smoke still rose from her singed fur. “Are you okay, kid?” Firefly asked. “These clouds are pretty heavily charged.” “I’m fine,” the filly answered in a shaky voice, “all good…” “Nice manecut, squirt!” Dash entered the room, a broad grin on her lips. It only went wider when Scootaloo went cross-eyed, trying to get a look of her hair from below. “Don’t tease her, Dashie…” Firefly took on a scolding air, but it didn’t last for long, as she began to snicker at the sight of Scootalo’s purple afro. “Good thing pegasi are lightning-proof… At least, now you know why you have to be really careful with storm clouds.” “Got it,” the filly said with an embarrassed grin. Firefly let out a tiny giggle, like a delicate bell tingling before turning back to Rainbow Dash. “Is everything alright? I thought I heard you yelling.” “Yelling?” Dash blinked a few times, trying to remember how loud she had been when arguing with her father… She dismissed the thought with a shake of her head. “It’s nothing, don’t worry.” “If you say so,” Firefly said, shrugging. “Anyways, Scootaloo,” she continued with a gentle smile. “That’s it for my workshop. Do you like it?” “It’s cool,” the young filly answered. “Your sculptures are really nice! Everypony must want to buy them.” “Oh, I don’t sell them,” the pink pegasus said. She walked in front of a half-finished statue of a dragon, about the same size as Scootaloo. Its head was only a rough and round block of cloud but he already seemed to stand proudly, his wings flared in an intimidating display. A fearsome monster guarding jealously his own corner of the worktable. “You don’t?” Scootaloo’s head tilted to one side. “I make a living handling storm clouds for Equestrian Electric. If I did this,” she showed her sculptures, “for money, it would be a job... That would take all the fun out of it.” Rainbow Dash smiled when she saw the familiar expression on Firefly’s face: the glint in her eyes, the twitching of her ears, the lips forming a pensive pout… While anypony watching the cloud would see only a lump of cloud, for that one pink pegasus, it was already something else. Something beautiful about to appear. A flower bud, eagerly waiting to blossom… Staring intensely at the statue through narrowing eyes, Firefly started working on the cloud. With her hooves, she pressed on the white fluff, squishing some of it and forcing it a little further. Progressively, one prod at a time, she formed a rough shape. She then started using her extended feathers to smooth and flatten some parts or pull and stretch on others. A quick swipe cleanly cut one bit away. A puff of air sent the cloud shaving away… Hooves, wings and mouth worked together, slowly transforming the clump of cloud into a dragon’s head. Sharp spikes, scales, even the serpentine eyes were there, so lifelike that one could have expected the strange little white dragon to fly off on its own. After several long minutes of work, Firefly stepped back and gave her work a critical look. Although Rainbow Dash could only consider it as perfect, the pink mare hummed and turned to her stock of storm clouds. Delicately, she bit a minuscule piece off and headed back to her sculpture. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash exchanged a brief, curious look before focusing again on Firefly. Still holding the tiny tuft of storm cloud between her teeth, she approached her mouth from the dragon’s maw and carefully, with slow and precise moves, inserted it inside the sculpture. Firefly blew gently to drive the cloud deeper inside the throat. And as in a fantasy tale, the creator instilled life into its creation… At least, that was the impression Rainbow Dash got when the storm cloud started rumbling and flashing, sending miniature bolts of lightning out of the sculpted dragon’s mouth. Firefly stepped back, nodded in satisfaction and touched her wings to the cloud, smoothing an almost imperceptible lump on the back of the dragon. After a few seconds, she walked away. “There!” she said while a proud smile took its well-deserved place on her lips. “Wow…” Scootaloo seemed unable to say anything else. Her mouth was gaping in wonderment and her eyes were practically sparkling, mesmerized by the cloud dragon. Firefly chuckled. “Not bad… What do you think, Dashie?” Rainbow Dash allowed herself a moment to examine the work of art, letting her impressions sink in first. Then, she meticulously selected the words that could appropriately describe her feelings: “Wow…” “Aww thanks!” Firefly chirped. “That’s what I was going for.” “Yeah… You’re still the best, mom.” “Did you doubt it?” She gave her daughter a playful wink, then wrapped a wing over her back and pulled her close. “Thanks, Dashie.” The two mares smiled as they watched Scootaloo stand up, her forehooves propped on the edge of the table to examine Firefly’s masterpiece more closely. The young filly had her ears flattened on her head and was holding her breath, probably expecting the slightest breeze to unravel the sculpture. “You can touch it if you want,” Firefly said with a chuckle. “It’s set now, it won’t budge anymore.” Scootaloo gave her a curious glance for a few seconds, then turned back to the cloud dragon. She poked it with the tip of her hoof, pulling it back immediately. Like a kitten experimenting with a new toy, she became bolder with every prod, slowly realizing that the once delicate cloud had become as solid as rock. “How did you get it to do that?” Scootaloo asked, scratching the back of her head while her eyes remained glued to the statue, perhaps expecting to see the difference. “It’s overcast iron… Don’t you kids learn about clouds at school?” “Ponyville is an earth pony town,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Oh, right… Well, it’s the same process as with construction clouds, like the walls or ceiling.” Firefly stomped a hoof on the floor a few times, illustrating her point when it failed to go through. “To keep things simple: pegasus magic can make clouds harder, even as tough as stone or metal. You actually need a jackhammer to break them apart, so don’t worry about my statue!” “This is so cool…” Scootaloo’s eyes widened in wonder. “I didn’t even know that pegasi could do that. Can I do that?” “Of course, it’s the same magic that lets you walk around the house. Do you want me to teach you?” The little filly nodded so hard that Rainbow Dash actually worried about head falling off her neck. Firefly chuckled. “I’ll show you the basics, then. You can always ask Dashie if you want to know more, later… But first things first. You should really clean yourself up. You look like a spent firework.” Scootaloo gave herself a quick look, then grinned sheepishly. “Bathroom is the second door to the left.” The filly did not need to be told twice and darted out of the room. Firefly let out a nostalgic kind of sigh. “She reminds me of you, when you were her age…” “She is kinda awesome,” Dash said. “Not as much as me, obviously, but she’s on the right track.” “Heh heh. You should be careful Dashie,” Firefly said in a sing-song voice while a lopsided grin appeared on her face. “She’s younger than you, it’s only a matter of time before she surpasses you.” “Yeah, right. That won’t happen before I’m so old I won’t have any feathers left.” “Oh, I don’t know… I think she’s already got you beaten in some areas.” “Huh? Like what?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Adorableness. Cuteness…” “Pffft. These aren’t awesome.” “I think they are. Foals are awesome, don’t you think?” “I dunno.” Dash shrugged. “I’ve never thought about it this way.” “Maybe you should. I know I’m thinking about it…” “About foals?” Firefly answered with a hum, making Rainbow Dash stare at her with a curious face. “What do you mean?” “Oh, nothing. It’s just that seeing that little pony running around brought back some memories… Sometimes I wish I could have another foal at home.” “A– Are you trying to tell me… that you want to have another baby?” “Nah… I’m getting a bit old for that. Plus, I don’t think you father would agree.” Firefly shook her head. “No, this is a young pony’s game… A young, athletic and awesome pony’s game.” Rainbow Dash stared at her mother, who was pretending to inspect one of her sculptures with an air of pure innocence. The only thing missing was the nonchalant whistling… Rolling her eyes, Dash decided to respond with a little pretending of her own. “I guess you could always adopt, then…” “Maybe, but I would prefer if it was in the family. You know? Somepony close to me.” Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin in thought. “Like a cousin, then? I’m sure Jetstream will have a foal soon. He got married last year, right?” Firefly’s tone remained casual, but Dash could detect the first signs of impatience in her voice… “He also moved to Fillydelphia. I won’t get to see much of his babies…” “What do you want me to tell you, then… Go with the adoption.” “You know Dashie, when I said that I was too old, I meant for raising a foal, not for making one. Why, even last night, your father and I–” “Aaaaaaah!” Rainbow jumped to stuff her hooves in her mother’s mouth before she had a chance to say anything that would be eternally impossible to forget. “Mom! I don’t want to hear that!” “Hmmmpf hmmpf!” “Alright, no more beating around the bush,” she said with a frown. “I got the hint. I’m not having a foal, mom.” Firefly furrowed her brow, then pushed her daughter away to answer. “Why not?” “First, I’m single. Second, I don’t have time for that. I would have to stop training for… What? A year? How am I supposed to make it into the Wonderbolts like that?” “What are you saying? That you’ll never have a family? Is being a Wonderbolt so big that it should take up all your life?” Dash snorted. “I have a family. You’re half of it.” “You know what I mean…” “I do, but I want to be a Wonderbolt. You know that! And I will be one.” She gave a shrug. “Maybe I’ll find a decent guy and have some foals after that… And even if I don’t, so what? There’s no rule saying that I have to have kids, is there?” “Well, no…” Firefly answered quietly. She looked down at her hooves. “It’s just that I don’t want you to wake up one day and find out you’ve missed out on your life.” She laid her violet eyes on her daughter, looking at her tenderly, but with worry. “Time flies, Dashie. It flies faster than you think. Faster than you…” Rainbow Dash snorted at that comment, but her mother only kept talking. “It’s great to see you pursue your dream. It really is… But don’t you think there oughta be more to you than the Wonderbolts?” “It’s not the only thing, mom…” “What else is there? I know you don’t care about your current job…” “There are my friends!” “I’m glad they’re there for you… And you should really introduce us to them by the way. You’ve been talking about these five mares for years and all I’ve seen of them is the pictures in the papers every time you guys save the world! You’re not hiding us from them, are you?” “Of course not,” Rainbow Dash replied, rolling her eyes. Firefly patted her daughter’s head with a wing, coaxing a nostalgic smile out of the young mare who felt like a little filly for a second. “If you become a Wonderbolt–” “When I become a Wonderbolt.” “Right, right… When you become a Wonderbolt, you’ll be traveling over Equestria year-round.” “Yeah? So?” “You won’t have much time for your friends… I’m not saying that it’s a bad or a good thing. That’s just the way it is. You know that, don’t you?” Rainbow Dash only frowned and did not answer. “Being a Wonderbolt is a full-time job,” Firefly said softly. “As full-time as full-time can be. You’ll be lucky if you can do anything besides stunt-flying.” “It’s what I want to do,” Rainbow Dash answered quietly. “Is it the only thing you want to do?” The young mare bit the inside of her cheek… “I just want to be sure that you realize what kind of sacrifice you’ll have to make.” “I–” Dash’s voice stumbled inside her throat, coming out as only a croak. She did not get much time to fight against her disobedient vocal cords, as Scootaloo came back, looking much cleaner as before and just as excited. She hopped and bounced around while chatting about clouds, giving Rainbow Dash a chance to excuse herself, explaining vaguely that sculpture did not have enough action for her. The young mare walked away, her eyes fixed on her hooves and pondering her parents’ words. In some kind of trick that Discord may have been proud of, they were wrong and right at the same time… More than a decade of exhausting training, efforts, sacrifices… The same stunts practiced hundreds or thousands of times… So many crashes that she could have had a designated bed at the Ponyville hospital… Some ponies said that Dash bragged too much about her skills, but after everything that she had done to earn them, didn’t she deserve it? After all, she had already accomplished a lot. But it still hadn’t paid out. When Rainbow Dash lifted her eyes again, it was to an unexpected sight. Instinctively, she had walked into her old room. Sweeping her eyes over the room, she saw the many mementos spread around, as many seeds in a field of memories. Many of those sprouted as soon as she saw them and remembered every detail about how and when she had obtained them. Her room was like a encrypted book telling her whole life in a way that only her could decipher. There were trophies, medals, ribbons and prizes… Each one spoke of a race or another contest that she had participated in. The oldest ones were participation prizes, then the following were bronze and silver medals. As soon as the first gold trophy appeared, the lesser prizes became rarer and rarer. Dash’s eyes stopped on a poster hung on the wall, showing three Wonderbolts in their flight suits and autographed by Rapid Fire. A long time ago, she had decided that one day, she would be the one signing posters for over-excited little pegasi. She was close now. Very close… Not quite there yet. Trophies and medals. Congratulations and vague promises. Words… That was all she had earned by then. Rainbow Dash had proved time and again that she had potential. Rainbow Dash sighed and threw herself on her old bed. The plushy cloud wrapped around her back like an old companion while she lazily watched around the room, wondering what made it feel somehow different from how it used to be… One of her poster, which used to be crooked for as long as she could remember, was now hanging straight. The magazines that always lied in a mess on the floor were stacked into a neat pile. There wasn’t a speck of dust on her souvenirs and the old action figures that she never stored away were nowhere to be seen, most likely packed in one of the boxes that were sitting in the corner. Somepony who would have seen the room may have concluded that it belonged to a very clean and organized pony, two adjectives that didn’t really fit Rainbow Dash. In truth, the room didn’t really belong to anyone anymore and was kept nice and clean through the efforts of her mother ever since she had moved out. A room kept almost intact. The room of a foal who dreamt a foalish dream: being a Wonderbolt… Rainbow Dash held a leg above her eyes. She saw a strong limb, lean and sculpted by the muscles rolling under her skin. Big, strong legs. Adult legs… “Hey!” Dash swiveled her head to the side, seeing her father standing in the doorway. “Can I come in?” Rainbow snorted. “It’s your house, dad.” “It’s still your room,” he said while walking in. “It doesn’t feel like it,” she muttered. Rainbow Storm sat next to her bed and gave her a slightly worried look. “Are you still mad at me?” Rainbow sighed for what felt the hundredth time that day. She folded her arms under her head. “I wasn’t mad at you, dad. It’s just that… I dunno…” Her efforts to find the right words did not yield any results, letting Storm speak up. “I wanted to let you know,” he said softly, “that I’m not trying to tell you what to do with your life. Whatever decision you make, I’ll always be there to help you when you need it. And I know your mother feels the same way. I just… get worried about you sometimes. You’re my only foal and I want you to be happy. That’s all.” A slightly bitter smile tugged the corner of Dash’s muzzle as she said a short thank you. For a while, both ponies dove into their own thoughts and the room became so quiet that their simple breathing sounded deafening. Keeping her eyes straight above her, Rainbow Dash eventually spoke up. “Say, dad… Do you think I’ll make it?” He took a couple of seconds before answering. “I don’t know the future…” “But what do you think?” she insisted. “I think you can do it. But I also know that things sometimes don’t go the way they’re supposed to.” “Gee, thanks for the encouragement, dad.” “I’m being honest,” he said, so quietly that it was almost a whisper. “You’re not a foal anymore, Dash. I’m not going to sugarcoat the truth.” “Yeah, I’m grown up now, aren’t I?” Rainbow Dash frowned. She couldn’t help but think of Scootaloo’s parents. Her mother and her boxing career that ended before it even began. Her father and all the years of his life that his mistakes had cost him… The young mare turned her head to look into her father’s golden eyes. “Is this stupid?” she asked. “Is this just a stupid foal’s dream? The Wonderbolts… Now that I’m an adult, should I just give that up and live a ‘normal’ life?” Rainbow Storm hummed in thought and let his eyes wander over the many trophies in the room. “I don’t think it’s that simple,” he finally answered. “Being an adult doesn’t mean not doing what you did as a foal. It just means that you have to make your own decisions and think about the consequences by yourself.” “If I make it, I’ll be one of the most famous ponies in the world. If I don’t, I’ll just be an idiot who’s wasted ten years of her life for nothing…” “That’s often how it works, unfortunately,” the stallion answered. “Nopony cares about the losers… That’s why we all want to be winners, I guess.” “Yeah…” Rainbow Dash let herself fall on her back again. “So, what do I do?” “Find a way to turn your foal dream into a grown-up dream.” The mare reflected on this advice for a silent moment, her eyes fixated on the cloudy ceiling but not really seeing anything. Her father’s face appeared in front of her, bringing her mind back to reality. He brushed her mane away with a hoof and, as gently as a butterfly landing on a delicate flower, he placed a kiss on her forehead. Rainbow Dash stared at his smiling face a moment, until her lips were sporting a smile of her own. This moment was the one that the stallion’s stomach chose to practice it’s impression of a roaring dragon. Rainbow Storm chuckled embarrassedly. “Your mother’s decided that we need to go on a diet,” he said. “I just got one lousy salad for lunch… Hey!” His face suddenly lit up, like a foal’s on Hearth Warming Eve. “Why don’t you stay for dinner? Firefly will make us a real meal if you’re there!” Rainbow Dash giggled. “I’d love to, dad, but I have to take Scootaloo back to Ponyville. I think her mom would literally kill me if I brought her home late.” “Awww…” The pout on his face was almost enough to make Dash accept her father’s offer, but she stayed true to her word. “Sorry. Besides, you could afford to lose a little weight. You’re getting chubby, daddy.” Rainbow Storm sat back on his haunches and looked down at his barrel, indeed quite round and healthy-looking. “I’m not fat,” he said poking a hoof in his gut. “And anyways, a little padding only makes me more comfortable. They don’t call these ‘lovehandles’ for nothing!” The stallion grabbed his belly and shook it. “I’m plushy!” he said with a silly grin. Rainbow Dash only rolled her eyes at another of her father’s antics, wondering which of the two pegasi was the most grown-up. “Well, I think I’ll go see what my lovely wife is up to now. Are you coming with me?” “In a minute, go ahead.” After tousling up her mane with the tip of his wing, Rainbow Storm stepped out, leaving Rainbow Dash alone with her thoughts. Nothing had changed. Her room was still the same flying-obsessed pegasus’s room. Her father was still the same kind and goofy stallion. Her mother was still the same hard-headed but devoted mare… Nothing had changed, but everything still felt different, as if something forgettable but important had been moved, just enough to disturb her, but not enough to be obvious… Dash let out a weary groan and jumped to her hooves. She walked towards the door, dragging her hooves as if the floor’s clouds were a batch of highly sticky cotton candy holding her legs down. As she passed the doorframe, Dash gave her old bedroom one last, melancholic look and left with a frown. Back in the living room, she found Scootaloo and both of her parents, chatting about this and that. The little filly beamed when she spotted Rainbow Dash, almost exploding in excitement. “Rainbow Dash! Look!” She pointed an orange hoof at the table. On top of it, a small cloud sculpture was standing: a wheel with a pegasus wing attached on each side, a three-dimensional version of Scootaloo’s cutie mark. It was flawless, the fluffy cloud having been smoothed and polished until it looked like a piece of marble. “Cool,” Rainbow Dash said with a little smile. “Nice work, mom.” “I didn’t do it alone.” Firefly patted Scootaloo’s head. “Your little sister is pretty good at cloud sculpting, in fact.” “And she was just telling us how she earned her cutie mark,” Rainbow Storm added. “Sounds like she likes high-speed stunts just as much as you do.” Firefly smiled kindly at the orange filly. “She fits right in with the rest of us.” She laughed. “Nothing but crazy flyers and race ponies in the family tree.” The four pegasi discussed and ended up into a contest of sorts, each telling the others stories of their most outlandish and exciting stunts. Rainbow Dash’s many flights through Ghastly Gorge gave made her a strong competitor, but it was hard to tell if Firefly’s night flight into a storm cluster -because of a stupid bet- was more or less insane… The biggest surprise was probably that Scootaloo would have definitely won, if the Cutie Mark Crusaders could have pulled out some of their most ambitious plans. Maybe not so unfortunately, they had been unable to get their hooves on some necessary components, including high-yield explosives and a giant jar of marmalade. How those were supposed to help get them their cutie marks had been lost to time and the less said about the marmalade, the better. While they talked, Rainbow Dash couldn’t shake the strange feeling in her gut… The feeling that something was just a little bit wrong. Something impossible to find at the time, but that would look completely obvious in hindsight… Until then, she was stuck with that uncomfortable impression. As she looked around the room to try and find a clue as to what was causing her malaise, she noticed that the sun was already well on its way down to its nightly retreat. When she told Scootaloo that it was time to leave, the look of disappointment on the filly’s face almost made her heart stop. “Sorry, squirt,” Dash said, feeling like a complete monster in front of her puppy eyes. “I don’t want to know what your mom would do to me if I didn’t bring you back.” “But we just got here.” “It’s been hours already and I don’t want to fly in the dark. We just gotta go now.” “Okay…” “Don’t feel down, Scootaloo.” Rainbow Storm nudged her with a hoof. “You can come visit us any time you want. How does that sound?” The filly managed to smile again. “That sounds great.” Firefly clopped her hooves together. “Perfect. And make sure to get Rainbow Dash to visit her poor, lonely parents more often,” she said with a wink. The aforementioned pegasus only roller her eyes, something that proximity to her parents seemed to cause quite frequently. After making a few promises to come back soon, Rainbow Dash walked outside and after some final wavings, hugs and nuzzles all around, let Scootaloo climb on her back. She walked to the edge of the cloud that held her parent’s house. “Alright, squirt,” she said over her shoulder. “Let’s go home.” As she was about to jump down, Rainbow Dash suddenly heard the words she had just said and froze. “Uh… Rainbow Dash? Aren’t we going?” “Wha– Oh, yeah. Of course…” “Is something wrong?” “I– I’m just tired… But don’t worry, it’s just gliding down to Ponyville from here.” “Okay, then.” Dash leaned forward and let gravity take her the rest of the way. One second later, the pegasus and the smaller pegasus riding her were soaring through Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash only paid minimum attention to her surroundings, too busy thinking about the house she was leaving behind her. She had finally figured out what was different, but it only left her with a bitter feeling. “Huh?” Scootaloo jerked a little on her back. Rainbow Dash cleared the lump in her throat before speaking. “What’s wrong back there?” “I just felt a drop of water… Is it raining?” Dash sniffled, keeping her head facing in front of her. “Yeah. Must be the rain...” The floating city of Cloudsdale was made of only two things: water and magic. A mathematician had once calculated that if every cloud in the city was to precipitate at the same time, the downpour would create a small sea in the middle of Equestria, over fifty meters deep. Of course, that was a purely hypothetical scenario, since Cloudsdale’s population had absolute control over the weather, more so than in any other part of the country. A pony who’d never lived there might not know it, but it never rained in Cloudsdale. The drops of water flying in Rainbow Dash’s wake had another source: the simple yet disturbing realization that the house that she had just left, the house where she had grown up, was not her home anymore. Nothing had changed there. Not the building. Not its occupants. Not the neighborhood. Nothing except Rainbow Dash. “Hey, Rainbow Dash?” The blue pegasus hummed in answer as they reached the edge of Cloudsdale. “Thank you.” “For what?” “For today. I got my cutie mark, I got to hang out with you, visit my dad, see Cloudsdale…” Scootaloo hugged Rainbow Dash as best as she could from her position. “Today was the best day ever!” “Heh.” Dash felt a little of the weight lifting from her chest, a small, timid smile even finding its way on her face. “My pleasure, kid. My pleasure…”