//------------------------------//
// 23. Her Smile 
// Story: Raising Rainbow 
// by Pizzema Forte 
//------------------------------//

     Rainbow Dash smiled as the cold, refreshing liquid ran down her throat. The sweet, citrusy taste awoke her taste buds and made her crave the delicious flavor more by the second. Within five seconds flat, she’d already gulped down the delicious juice. She set the glass down with a gasp and wiped her upper lip of the orange residue. 
“Why don’t we get orange juice more often?” she asked her father, who was sitting across from her, reading a newspaper and sipping on freshly brewed coffee. 
“Because when I do you drink it all in like, a day.” 
“So? That means it’s good.” 
Rainbolt chuckled. “If you can make this gallon last a week, I’ll buy some more, okay?”
Rainbow frowned and sighed. “Okay…. You have way too high of expectations, though.” 
The stallion did nothing but roll his eyes. 
“Okay, Rainbow… Just remember what’ll happen if you drink it all too quickly, alright?”
The filly nodded and went to the fridge with a broad smile. 
“What are you doing…?” Rainbolt asked hesitantly. 
“Gettin’ more orange juice.”  
“You’re going to run out by tomorrow, you know…” 
“No I won’t! I’m going to save some at the bottom and not drink it for a week!” 
“Well what if I drink it?” 
Rainbow paused for a moment. “That would be your fault, now wouldn’t it?” 
“Yeah, but still.” 
Rainbow took the large gallon of the sweet, orange liquid out of her fridge. After only the short day they’d had it, it was already a quarter of the way gone. The little filly always gulped down orange juice as if it were nothing. 
Slowly, the filly picked up the gallon and made her way back to the table. She hovered above her glass and tilted it forwards. The golden waterfall of goodness began filling the plastic cup. Slowly, the liquid started filling the cup. When Dash saw it was halfway full, she tilted the gallon jug backwards. Unfortunately, some of the orange juice ended up spilling out of the lid and onto the dining table. Dash set the galloon back down. 
“I’ll clean it!” Rainbow reassured quickly, not giving her father a second to respond. The stallion simply smiled with a nod. 
“Also, if you want it to last, you should probably space it out a bit more.” 
“I will…” she said, rushing into the kitchen and pulling a hoof towel from the counter. She dashed back and started cleaning the miniature puddle she created. The towel soaked up the juice and even picked up a few abandoned crumbs. “But I’ll just be more conservative later in the week.” 
“Alright, Rainbow…” 
The little filly screwed the cap back on the juice and picked it up along with the used towel. She went back to the kitchen and threw the used, filthy rag onto the counter. She then proceeded to open up the cool fridge and place the orange juice back inside. The little filly then made her way back to the table and swallowed down some more of the sweet juice. After taking a couple big gulps she set the large, plastic cup back down on the wooden surface. Her tongue glided across her upper lip where she was given a sticky, orange mustache. She then looked to her father, who’d already given his attention to the black and white print again. 
“Hey, Dad…?” she asked hesitantly. 
“Yeah…?” he replied, never once looking away from the article before him.
“Since it’s spring break, do you think we could maybe go to a park, you know…later this week. Or today…” 
Rainbolt removed the newspaper from his vision and stared at his little filly on the other side of the table. She was wearing a large, innocent smile and cute, sparkling eyes. 
“Maybe not today… It’s the only day I have off of work.” 
“But Dad! You work at night! Besides, that only makes a better reason to go! It’s when you’re not that busy!” 
“Rainbow… I’ll think about it, alright?” 
“Okay… Please, though…” 
“Dash, I said I’ll think about it. Also, I won’t take you anywhere if you don’t shower…” 
The little filly crossed her hooves and huffed angrily. “Ugh… I don’t like showering…” 
“When was the last time you showered…?” Rainbolt asked hesitantly, barely being able to remember himself. 
“Umm… I don’t know… Wednesday or something….” 
The stallion took a moment to count the days in his head. 
“Rainbow! You’ve gone three whole days with no shower!” 
“So…?” 
“So, you’re going to take one today!” 
The filly’s face twisted into a frown. “If I do will you take me to a park?” 
Rainbolt sighed. “Dashie… You shouldn’t have to be rewarded for something as simple as showering… but if you really want to go today….” 
Without warning, the little filly sprung from her chair and tackled her dad with a wide smile. Her hooves wrapped around his torso and she dug her head into his fluffy chest. 
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You’re the best dad ever! I love you!” 
The stallion sighed and then smiled. Gently pushing Rainbow away, he chuckled. “Alright, Sweetheart. We’ll head up there sometime soon, but you have to take a shower...” 
Rainbow nodded with a wide grin and dashed off. She flew out of the kitchen, down the hall, and into the restroom. Rainbolt smiled in satisfaction when he heard the door click shut. 
 Well, Rainbolt, you now have some time all to yourself… Although, she’ll probably be done five minutes from now… Eh… A few minutes is better than nothing….
     The periwinkle pegasus smiled and picked up his little, white mug of fresh coffee. Steam rose and entered his nostrils. He took in a deep breath of the dark, delicious liquid. As the mug rose and the ivory rim touched his lips, he heard three loud knocks at his front door. He gently set the caffeinated drink down. 
Well, there goes my five minutes of me time…
     The stallion sighed and rose from the stool. He trotted over to his front door. Before he made it halfway out of the kitchen, another impatient knock rippled through the house. 
“I’m coming, I’m coming…” he called as he picked up speed. He didn’t want to keep his uninvited guest waiting. 
As the stallion finally opened the door, his eyes met with a bright pair of dark blue ones. The mare wore her multihued mane in her usual, uncombed style swept to one side. Her light pink coat was radiant with no effort. She smiled widely and welcomed herself into the home with no invitation. 
“Umm… Come in…?” 
Prism did nothing but chuckle. “Oh, come on, Rainbolt. You act like you actually care or something.” 
“I don’t mind you coming in…” the stallion closed the door as his confident sister entered. “I just wasn’t expecting you…” 
“What? You’re big sister just can’t drop in every once in a while?” 
“Never said that...” He smiled and turned to her. “So what’s the news?” 
“Just because I drop by suddenly means I have news, huh?” 
“I assume. Normally if you want to catch up with me you just send a letter.” 
Prism Streak chuckled. “Okay, you got me. Mom’s sixtieth birthday’s next Saturday. Me and the rest of us are planning her party.” She smiled. “If you have any spare time, you should help us. Sunshine’s cookin’, I’m decorating, Moonstruck’s letting us use his house, and we’re each gettin’ her a little something.” 
Rainbolt cocked his head. “Wait… This will be at… Moonstruck’s house… as in, he’ll be there and stuff?” 
She grunted. In her heart, she knew her little brother would be completely turned off by having to spend time with his brother. She was hoping, however, he wouldn’t make a huge deal over it. 
“Come on, Bolty! You can only turn sixty once! What if this was Mom’s last birthday, and you weren’t even there to celebrate with her? What if the family reunion we had a while back was the last time she got to see Dash?” 
“Actually, Mom came to visit last Hearth’s Warming…” He sighed. “Listen… you know how Moonstruck and I are… And you know how I feel about letting him near Dashie. I know we’ll all be around family, and he won’t do anything weird… Also, he might be a tiny bit angry when we talk about the letter Dash was supposed to write him…” 
The mare did nothing but smile at her brother and roll her eyes. “You’re being silly. I know you’re still a bit scared of him, but he hasn’t hurt anypony since his rehabilitation…” 
“That we know of…” 
Prism giggled and wrapped a hoof around her brother. “Listen.. . I won’t force you to do this, but it would mean a lot to the family… And Dashie. I’m sure she’d love to see some of her other family members… Oh! And if you come you’ll get to meet my marefriend.” 
Rainbolt almost smiled. “You have a marefriend now?”
“Yep! What about you?” 
The stallion looked away. “Well… There’s a mare who likes me and she’s really nice and everything. She’s pretty, too, but-“ 
“So where is Rainbow, speaking of the little kid. You know I haven’t got to see her with her cutie mark yet.” 
The stallion blinked after being rudely cut off by his sister. 
“Well… She’s in the shower right now…” 
“Oh, I see… So… I’m not in a rush to get home anything. Wanna catch up?” 
Rainbolt smiled genuinely. “Sure. I have to take Rainbow to the park later, but I don’t have any other plans until then.” 
“Good! I didn’t spend twenty minutes flyin’ up here just so you could say no…Also…Is it a yes or a no?”
“Is what a yes or a no?” 
With that, Prism brought her hoof up to her forehead in a swift motion and grunted at her brother’s stupidity. It was then the stallion realized his mistake.
“Oh! You meant about Mom’s birthday… Gee, I don’t know…” 
“Please?” 
“I… Don’t… I mean, I’d like to, but…” 
It was then that Rainbolt’s ears swiveled and perked up. Down the hall, he could hear a very familiar voice calling “Dad” over and over again. 
“That’s Dash…” he confirmed aloud. “Sorry, Sis, I’ll be right back… Gotta go see what she wants.” 
Prism nodded and Rainbolt zoomed away from her, down the hall, and stopped at the bathroom door. Inside, he could here Rainbow still calling his name. The volume and urgency in her voice escalated each second. With little hesitation, the stallion knocked on the bathroom door and the calling stopped. 
“What’s up, Sweetheart?” 
Slowly, Rainbow poked her head out of the bathroom door. Her rainbow mane was sopping wet and her coat had darkened by a shade.
“There’s no towel in here… I remember last time I got out without drying off first, you were kind of upset…especially when I got your bed wet…”
The stallion chuckled. “Thanks for telling me this time. It shows you’re learning and maturing.”
Rainbow blushed, and beamed with pride from her father’s compliment. 
“What took you so long?” Dashie asked before her father could retrieve a towel. 
“To what?”
“To come when I was calling…” 
“Oh! Your aunt Prism’s over and-“ 
“My aunt’s over?!” the filly asked in excitement. 
“Yeah, but-“ 
The stallion couldn’t finish his sentence before his little filly burst out of the restroom and zoomed down the hall, still soaking  wet from head to hoof. She dashed down the hall, through the kitchen, and smiled widely when she set eyes on her aunt. She flew with all her might, and tackled the mare down in a wet, loving embrace. Prism gently pushed the excited filly away. There was a large wet spot on her chest. 
“Rainbow!” she snapped. “You got me all wet!” 
“Sorry… “ 
The mare made an attempt to wipe some of the liquid out of her coat to no avail. 
“You’re so lucky you’re not my child…” the mare grumbled under her breath.  
“I said I was sorry… Why’d you visit?” 
“Trying to change the subject, eh?” The mare’s frown turned into a little smile as she thought of herself as a little filly. “Well, I was going to invite your dad to your grandma’s birthday party…” 
Rainbow’s pink eyes lit up. “So… I’ll get to see Grandma and Grandpa again?”
Prism streak nodded affirmatively. “And your aunts and uncle.” 
The filly’s wings shot out in excitement, sending a few droplets of water flying. Her smile grew wider as her father entered the scene with a look of disappointment on his face. In his mouth, he held a white, shabby towel. 
“Daddy, did you hear? We get to see our family!” 
Without responding, Rainbolt threw the towel on his daughter. Temporarily, she stumbled over her hooves, blinded and struggling. Her father grabbed the towel and started roughly rubbing the little filly’s body. She screamed out as the rag vigorously dried her. Prism curiously watched as the scene unfolded before her. 
“I thought you were getting mature, but no…” her father teased as he continued rubbing her. Rainbow struggled as the towel ruffed up her coat. 
“I’m dry! I’m dry!” she cried out. It was then the towel stopped and she was taken into a loving embrace. Rainbolt ruffled at her mane and she let out a long whine. 
“Don’t do that again, okay?” 
“Okay, Dad.” 
“So…” Prism interrupted. “Are you going to help with Mom’s birthday, Rainbolt?” 
Rainbolt grew a tad bit angry with his sister at that moment. By the sly smirk on her face, he could tell she was mentioning the topic in front of Rainbow on purpose. They were both well aware of her brilliant plan. 
“Can we, Daddy? Please? Please? Please? I really want to see the family again!” 
Rainbolt stared down  into the watering, pink eyes of his daughter. Her lower lip was trembling as she put on the cutest beggy face in history. It was at that moment he knew he was defeated. 
“I guess…”

Unlike her father, Rainbow Dash was gushing excitement and joy for the occasion. Rainbolt however, was dreading the approach of his brother’s house more every second. Yes, Prism did have a point when she said it was possible it’d be his mother’s final birthday, and that she would be disappointed if one of her children show, but that didn’t make him any more comfortable with visiting his brother. Maybe if he tried hard enough, he would be able to avoid Moonstruck without acting like he was trying to. 
At the time, both ponies were walking. Rainbolt carried a large container on his back. Inside was a cake for his mother’s birthday. He used an old recipe he found in one of his cookbooks. The cake itself was yellow, moist, and sweet to the tongue. The frosting that masked the top was butter cream. He’d made it himself, with Dashie as a taste tester. Rainbow, however, was carrying a small box on her back. Inside was a bottle of perfume that smelt like lilac. Although neither Rainbow or Rainbolt were fond of the smell, he knew his mother would like it, anyway, and that’s all that mattered.
“Are we almost there?” the little filly asked as they continued to walk through a dark neighborhood of Manehattan. 
“Yes, Rainbow…” he said with a sigh. “We’re almost there. He only lives a few more blocks away.”
Unfortunately.
     “Oh… Dad, you’re not going to get into it with Uncle Moonstruck again, are you?” 
“I’ll try… But I can’t promise anything.” 
It was silent for a moment, before Dash and her father smiled at each other unsurely. They continued down the street silently for a good minute. Rainbolt made a few curves as he slowly started to recognize the area more and more. Each moment, the dread in the stallion’s heart grew. 
“Dad?” Rainbow asked as they grew nearer to Moonstruck’s home at the end of the street. 
“Yeah?” 
“Why do you hate Uncle so much?” 
“I don’t ‘hate’ him, Sweetheart… We’ve just had a lot of complications in the past… I’ll tell you more when you’re older, okay?”
“Okay.” The filly agreed. “I think he’s nice… I mean, he seems nice… I guess…” 
Rainbolt unsurely stared at his daughter a moment. In some ways, it was hard to believe that the greatest thing that had ever come into his life loved the worst thing to have ever come into his life. Maybe one day, he’d tell her the truth about his brother. Until then, he didn’t want her to fear her very own family. 
“He has his moments…” Rainbolt hesitantly responded. 
Rainbow walked a few more feet before smiling brightly. At the very end of the street rested a small, yellow house. It seemed to be constructed of brick and was a bit old-looking. 
“Is that it?” 
The stallion nodded.
“Alright!” she cheered. “I can’t wait!” 
Without the consent of her father, the Dash flapped her wings and bolted ahead. Rainbolt went agape before getting a little bit frustrated with his filly.  
“Rainbow!” he called. “Come back here! I didn’t say you could go ahead!” 
Dashie ignored her father’s calls and continued to fly ahead. Not wanting to drop the load on his back, the stallion attempted to walk at a slow enough pace. 
“Rainbow! Stop! Now!” He shouted loudly to his daughter, who continued to speed ahead with a certain sense of pride building within her. She smiled widely as her wings continued to beat with every second. 
“Rainbow Dash!” He called in the most assertive tone he could force. The new anger in her father’s tone caused the little filly to stop in her tracks. She turned back. From where she was, her father had shrunken dramatically in size. “Get back here right now or you’re grounded!” 
With that, the little filly turned around in disappointment. It wasn’t her fault her daddy was so slow… she just wanted to get ahead and not go two miles per hour. Her ears flopped down and her head hung low as she continued down the path. 
“Sorry, Dad…” She apologized as she approached her not very pleased father. 
“Sorry? Come on, Rainbow! You know I hate it when you run ahead of me like that!” His worried tone soon turned to anger. “Don’t ever do that again! I don’t care where we are, what we’re doing, or anything! If you get too far ahead, you could get kidnapped! You know how paranoid I am about that, Rainbow! If this happens again, I’ll ground you with no warning!” 
“Okay…” The filly sighed and continued on next to her dad in disappointment. “I don’t see why it’s such a big deal. You could see me from where you are…” 
“I don’t care, Dash. It still worries me.” 
“You act like somepony’s just gonna come down from the sky and take me away. I’ll never get kidnapped, Dad. Never have, never will!” 
Rainbolt let out a sigh as he continued down the sidewalk. 
Yeah… I thought the exact same thing…

The periwinkle stallion felt his heart rate dramatically rise as he stood before his brother’s door. Beads of sweat rolled down his face and his insides twisted and twirled within him.
“Can I knock on the door?” Dash asked with a smile on her face. Even if it was faked, it was still the first smile she’d put on since she’d got yelled at by her father. 
“S-Sure, Sweetheart…” 
“You…okay?” 
“Yeah… I’m just a little bit nervous is all….” 
The filly shrugged it off. Why her father was so scared about visiting family was beyond her. With a smile, she lifted her hoof to the door and gave it three loud knocks. Inside, there was a bit of shuffling heard. Rainbolt  froze as his ears perked up to the sound of hoofsteps approaching. When the door was answered, however, his heart stopped for a brief moment. There, a white pegasus stood with a smile on his face. His blood red mane was swooping downward and was worn in a style that reflected Rainbolt’s. His purple eyes pierced through his flesh and deep within his soul. 
“It’s so nice to see you two decided to show.” he greeted in a surprisingly pleasant tone. “Please, come in. Both of you.” 
With the invitation given, Rainbow flew into the room with a smile. Her dad made his way in a bit nervously. As he passed by his brother, he could hear his own heartbeat over everything in the room. Inside his house was lively, which was an expected relief for Rainbolt. His sister was setting up some trays of delectable snacks while Prism Streak was blowing up a balloon. There was a rather large pile of balloons gathered in one corner. Some were filled with helium, while the majority only held air. Balloons weren’t the most appropriate decoration for a sixtieth birthday, but they worked well with the big, colorful banner hanging at the top of the room. 
“Where can I put this?” Rainbow asked, holding the sloppily wrapped gift up for Moonstruck to see. He smiled at the young filly, who smiled back widely. 
“There’ll be a corner in the living room for that. Just ask one of your aunts.” 
“Thanks, Uncle!” 
Rainbow smiled as she set the present down and wrapped her hooves around her uncle. Not expecting the sudden signs of affection, he flinched and blushed a bit, but quickly wrapped his hoof around her back.
“Alright, alright… Go socialize while you can.” 
Rainbow nodded and quickly trotted off to the living room with a smile.
Her smile… In Moonstruck’s eyes, Rainbow had the most beautiful smile in the world. When she smiled, he smiled. It was the only smile that wasn’t fighting against all his faults… It was the only smile that was completely unaware of anything he’d ever done wrong….
There, she abandoned her father, who was still within a foot of his brother. His heart rate sped up again. And to think it had been going down for a minute…. 
“Ah, such sweet innocence…” the stallion behind him said with a smile. “You were the cutest little thing when you were her age…” The pegasus chuckled, looking back on fond memories. “Too bad you had to grow out of it.” 
“I, umm…thanks, I guess…” The stallion’s voice was timid and his eyes remained glued to the floor. 
It was then, Rainbolt felt a gentle, but strong hoof wrap around the back of his neck and stop at his shoulder. A shiver went up his spine as he felt the heat of his brother’s breath against his cheek.
“Come on, now, there’s really no need to be shy. If there’s something bothering you, you should just tell me…” 
“Nothing’s bothering me…” Rainbolt lied. “I, umm… Just need a place to set this…”
“Ah, gotchya. Just find a cleared space on a counter. I have candles, if you didn’t bring any.” 
“No… it’s fine… I already put some on…I’ll just go now…” 
Quietly, the stallion trotted into the kitchen with the semi-heavy cake weighing down his back and wings. Quickly, he found an opened space to set it on. He made his way to the counter and extended his wing. He tilted his torso, and allowed the large container to gently slide onto the counter. He pushed it further back away from the edge with his hooves. 
Alright…Talking to Moonstruck again wasn’t that bad, but…it can always get worse from here…
     The stallion proceeded to leave the kitchen and make his way into the living room, that was just outside of it. Unsurprisingly, Dash was flaunting her cutie mark to certain relatives who were yet to see it. Sunshine Blue seemed impressed by it. She was smiling at the little filly, and telling her how amazing it looked on her. Prism was giggling on the couch with a mare wrapped in her hooves. Moonstruck wasn’t in the scene, which made it a bit more comfortable. Rainbolt simply chuckled. Rainbow wasn’t the most modest pony, but she was still a good kid. Besides, his relatives didn’t seem to mind too much. Every foal brags when they’re talking about their cutie mark. 
“So, how’d you get it?” Sunshine asked in curiosity. 
“Oh, this is good!” Rainbow started proudly. “It all started at Summer Flight Camp, and these two colts were talking bad about my friend Fluttershy, so that’s when I swooped in and told them to stop pickin’ on her!” 
Rainbolt smiled and shook his head at the exact same story he’d heard nearly twenty times at that point in his life. Although hearing it again wouldn’t be harmful, the repetitive tale wasn’t something he looked forward to sitting through again. 
Slowly, the couple on the couch rose to their hooves and walked up, heading towards Rainbolt. One he easily recognized as his sister, and the other looked oddly familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he’d seen her before. Her light pink eyes were glittering under the light. She had a snowy white coat, and was a pegasus just like his sister. Her wavy, white mane neatly boarded her face and had a dark pink stripe in the front of her silky-looking locks. 
“Rainbolt…” Prism started with a smile. “This is my marefriend. Her name Cherry Pop.” 
“Hi…” Rainbolt greeted with a smile, and held out his hoof. She gladly took him in for a hoof shake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you…” 
“You too….” She stared at the stallion for an odd number of seconds. She cocked her head and squinted her eyes. “You look…really familiar…” 
“Umm… You do, too…” 
Prism stared with a confused expression on her face as the two’s eyes remained glued on each other’s faces. 
“Rainbolt went to Manehattan Flight School, if that helps…” 
Cherry Pop continued to stare at the stallion, and he looked back. Both weren’t quite sure what to say. When neither could place their tongues on where’d they previously met, they gave up and sighed. 
“Oh well…” Rainbolt started. “I’m sure we just bumped into each other in public by accident or something…” 
“Yeah… probably…” 
The moment became awkward and heavy as the room filled with unnatural silence. All three ponies stared at each other, none knowing what to say to one another. 
“Alright, well… Me and my mare are goin’ to go grab something to snack on. We didn’t exactly get lunch or anything…” 
Cherry glared at her marefriend for a moment. “Maybe we would have if somepony wasn’t rushing us.” 
Prism returned the angry glare. The disapproving stare lasted for nearly ten seconds before they simultaneously smiled at each other. 
“Okay, Sweetheart. Let’s get somethin’ to eat.” 
“I already said that!”
Both were giggling as they left the kitchen. They lovingly fell into each other, smiling as their hearts were consumed by love for each other. Rainbolt smiled to see his sister that happy. Being in love really was great… It certainly wasn’t an emotion that could easily be replaced. 
Almost a second after the two ponies left, Moonstruck entered to replace the void. Rainbolt felt his heart instantly flee at sight of his brother. He wanted to run and hide, but remained stiff in his place. 
“Why are you in the kitchen alone?” was the stallion’s first question. 
“Well… I was… Prism and her marefriend… I was going to the living room, but then Prism Streak and Cherry came in and distracted me, and then they left…Which speaking of the, umm… living room, I think I should get back there…” 
Rainbolt turned away with a forced smile. As the stallion rotated his body a full one hundred-eighty degrees, he heard his brother clear his throat behind him. Rainbolt’s body and heart froze. 
“Bolty… We need to talk….” 
Rainbolt felt sweat forming on his face and nervousness building in his heart. He wanted to…talk with him…? Coming from his brother, Rainbolt knew it wouldn’t be good… Slowly, he turned back around and met eyes with his brother. Rainbolt gulped and smiled. 
“T-talk? About what? Can’t w-we just chat in here?” 
“No, talk in private.” 
Private…There’s no way this can be good… Maybe this has to do with the letters, or me, or him…or Dashie… I hope this doesn’t have to do with Dashie.
“I…would rather not…” 
“Rainbolt!” he snapped in a whisper. “We’re going to my bedroom, now… There’s something very important we need to discuss…” 
“Moonstruck…I….” 
The tone in his brother’s voice didn’t leave much room for argument. Whatever he wanted, he wanted badly. Moonstruck always won their miniature battles or arguments. Rainbolt had learned by then, he wasn’t going to win that one, either. 
“Okay…” The stallion finally agreed. “I’ll go…” 
“Good…Now…” 
Moonstruck lead Rainbolt down the hall. In his kitchen, there were three exits and entrances. One was accessible when one entered the door, and was one of the first things one saw when they entered his house. The next exit led to the living room, and was on the opposite side from the entrance near the front door. The final exit was to a hallway, which had Moonstruck’s room, a restroom, and a guest’s room. Unfortunately, that was the exit Rainbolt was led down. His brother’s room was the first door on the left when he left the kitchen. Slowly, the pegasus opened his bedroom door. He tossed his brother an emotionless expression as he held the door opened for him. Slowly, Rainbolt walked inside. His room was an impressive size, being nearly fifty percent bigger than Rainbolt’s. It had a large bed in the center, along with a dresser, a shelf, a nightstand, and a closet. The stallion felt a shiver run up his spine as his brother closed the door behind him. 
“Now…Rainbolt, you know I love you sincerely.” 
 Yes, you love me so, so much… Because over all the years I’ve lived, you’ve  shown it in so many way… Really, Moonstruck? I knew you were sadistic, but I never thought you’d be liar, as well… Actually… Ugh, nevermind…
“I love you, too…..” 
Rainbolt felt as though he had to force the words off his tongue. Not even he could tell if he were lying or telling the truth. 
“And, listen… I’m not stupid. I’d believe you didn’t send Rainbow’s letter to me over a dumb excuse like it got lost in the mail. I know you’re trying to keep Dashie and I apart! That’s sort of obvious.” 
“How do you know that? Maybe Rainbow was just lazy and didn’t send a letter!” 
Moonstruck smirked. “Is that what she’d tell me if I asked her personally?” 
“Well…I… No, but…I…” 
Rainbolt stopped himself from continuing the sentence. There was no possible way he could wiggle himself out of that one. 
“Exactly! Now, be honest with me; why?”
“Because… I don’t know, you’re kinda sadistic and stuff… I just don’t... Based on the stuff you did to me as a colt, I don’t think I could trust you sending letters to my daughter… I don’t know what you’d say to her and how you could influence her… I just don’t trust you…” 
Rainbolt’s tone had been unnaturally shaky. Telling his brother everything bluntly seemed like the right -and wrong- thing to do. He was being honest, but he had hoped he wasn’t harshly honest. 
“Alright… I can respect your decision…” 
The stallion was almost shocked at his brother’s answer. It was so casual and so accepting… It seemed so out of his character. If he were any younger, he would have sworn he’d be hit with an object over the head for saying something like that. 
“You…really?” 
Moonstruck nodded. “If you don’t trust me, there’s nothing I can do to stop you… You’re just being a parent…” 
“Gee…thanks, Moonstruck… That’s really…wow…” 
Before Moonstruck could properly reply to his brother’s response, he was cut off by his bedroom door being swung opened. There, Prism was smiling widely. 
“Hey, you guys! Aunty Silver just arrived! She said Momma’s on her way with Sunshine!” 
The little mare smiled and bolted away from the room with excitement filling her heart. 
“Well…” Moonstruck said with a smile. “Looks like we’re ready…” 

“Alright…we’re almost there…” Sunshine coaxed her parents closer and closer to the front door of their eldest son’s house. Her smile was huge and bright as they entered the porch. 
“You made us come all the way to Moonstruck’s house because…?” 
“A reason…” she said hesitantly. 
“Why’d I have to bring Spectrum?” 
“Yeah, why’d I have to come?” her father asked in a teasing manner. 
“Just…for some reason…” 
Her mother sighed with a smile and shook her aging body. Water flew off in all directions as she stepped closer to the house. 
“Well, at least the rain stopped...”
“Haha, yeah…” 
With a smile, the light blue pegasus opened her brother’s front door. The inside of the house was pitch black, which confirmed both of the parents' suspicions. Sunshine smiled as she flipped on a light switch on the wall. It was then six ponies exposed themselves from individual places and shouted “SURPRISE!” in a loud voice. 
The set of parents both tried to act as surprised as they possibly could at the scene before them. Although they knew what was going to happen the moment Sunshine was short of an explanation, it was still a great way to end their evening. 
“Oh my goodness!” the birthday mare said with a smile. “You are the greatest kids a mother could ask for!” 
The mare entered the home along with her husband. Both were smiling from the great surprise. All of their children huddled around them in a big, sweet group hug. Even Dashie tried to push herself into it. The mother was happily smiling as she was huddled by her priceless gems. 
“I love you all so much!” 
When they all broke away, their delicate mother was on the verge of tears. 
“You guys didn’t have to do this… I mean, you’ve already all done so, so much for me…” 
“Oh, nonsense!” Prism said with a smile. “We couldn’t do any less for the greatest mother who ever lived!” 
“Aww… you’re so sweet…” 
Prism Streak then received a tender kiss from her old mother on the cheek. 
“Thanks, Mom… How was your trip?” 
“Eh, pretty good…Except we did go through a little bit of rain on our way here…” 
It was Moonstruck who spoke up to that comment. “I’m not blaming anypony specifically for that, but Rainbolt works in weather….” 
Moonstruck smirked at his brother, who glared at him back.
 Yeah…we’ll see who’s smiling when I drench your house in rain next week…
     “Hey, leave your brother alone! I’m sure he didn’t mean any harm!”
“I’m just joking around, Mom…” 
“Still…” 
“Alright…enough bickering.” Spectrum butted in. “We still have a whole night ahead of us to celebrate your mom’s birthday!” 
Quickly, Spectrum landed a soft kiss on his wife’s lips. Rainbow Dash gagged in disgust at the sight. Rainbolt nudged his daughter as a way of telling her to behave. 
“Alrighty, then. Let’s get this started!” Prism chimed sweetly. “And I know just how Mom loves to spend all of her birthdays…” 
With that sentence, the majority of the ponies in the room let out a long, distasteful grown; all except Rainbow and her grandparents. 
“Photo album!” Sunshine said with a smile as she held up her own personal copy of the old, dusty book. 

The first half of the evening was fun, embarrassing, amazing, and involved a lot of reminiscing. They looked back on photos of Rainbolt, his parents, and siblings. The stories behind many of the photos were shared as well. Most of them were positive, some were negative, and a few were utterly embarrassing. One photo of Dash’s grandparents getting married even made the mother cry. After a long session of hugs and comforting, she stopped. For the most part, however, it was fun. There were even some photos of Dashie from the previous family reunion. 
After the ponies were finished going through the photo album, they cut the cake. Rainbolt received many compliments on his baking skills, and how well he was improving. His mother loved the cake. She always had a thing for vanilla and the sweet taste of sugar. The only pony who wasn’t too pleased with the cake was Rainbolt’s aunt, Silver, who couldn’t stand anything remotely sweet. Her loss. 
The final event was one everypony had anticipated the most; gift opening. The entire family gathered in the living room and looked to the mother, who was very appreciative about the things she received from her children. There, she sat in the middle. Her smile was wide, but she almost felt embarrassed to be in the center of everything. She always felt embarrassed when she was given presents. Her family, however, was beyond eager to present their gifts to her. 
“Alright, everypony!” Prism spoke up with a smile. “We’ll give her our presents one at a time! When you’re ready, go ahead and give them to her! I assume most of us are mature enough to handle this!” 
With that, Prism floated to the ground with a wide smile. 
“I’ll go first, considering I did most of the planning for this party!” 
With nopony objecting, the pink pegasus smiled and retrieved her present. Hers was neatly wrapped in multicolored paper and had a nice little bow placed on the top. Her mother blushed as it was set in her lap. Everypony stared at her with wide eyes as she was about to open her present. She placed her hooves on the top and ripped away some of the wrapping paper. The inside revealed a cardboard box. The mare continued ripping deeper into the present and placing the ripped paper to the side. She smiled as she flipped opened the flaps of the cardboard box. When her yellow eyes rested on the treasure within, her smile grew. 
“Oh, Sweetheart…this is so meaningful…” Slowly, the mare pulled out a large bottle of bubble bath. She flipped up the cap and deeply inhaled the sweet, berry scent. “Man, that smells nice… Come here, Sweetheart.” 
Prism stood and approached her mom, who was resting peacefully in her chair. With a smile, she wrapped her hoof around her daughter and kissed her on the cheek. 
“Thanks, Mom… I love you…” her face was lit up as her mother kissed her with soppy, wet lips.      
“Can we go next?” Rainbow blurted out. 
“Rainbow! Just let everypony else take their turn!” her father reminded in the nicest tone he could force. 
“Oh, don’t be like that, Bolty! Mares and foals first!” 
After her grandmother’s kind words, Rainbow sprung up and gave her the poorly wrapped present. The wrapping paper was sticking outward at all corners. Tape was twisted around the square item as a whole. 
“Awe, did you help your daddy wrap, Sweetheart?” 
“Nope!” she said with a smile. “He did it all by himself!” 
At that moment, the entire room couldn’t help but burst into volatile laughter. Rainbolt blushed heavily and hid his reddening face behind his hoof. As if embarrassing foalhood stories and pictures of him as a teenager weren’t enough humiliation for one day…. 
“Okay, okay….” The sixty year-old pegasus said with a smile. “Let’s just see what you got me…” 
Slowly, the mare unwrapped the present with a smile. The tape made it rather hard to be undone, but she managed. She ripped the wrapping paper away until the dark-blue shell was completely eliminated. Inside was yet again a cardboard box. It was dull and brown, but as she opened the flaps, she smiled widely and pulled out the item within. A small, transparent bottle with a good amount of liquid in it was revealed to the family. She read the label. 
“Awe, this was so sweet, Bolty! Come on, hug your mother!” 
Rainbolt blushed heavily. With his mother, hugs and kisses were always inevitable. 
Slowly, the stallion rose and made his way to his mother. He took her in for a hug and received a tender embrace in return, along with a sloppy kiss on the cheek. As soon as it was possible, he broke away and wiped the wet mark his mom gave him. 
“Hehe… I love you too, Mom…” 
Rainbolt and his happy daughter sat back down. 
“Alright, who’s next?” Prism asked. 
For a good, long moment, the room was completely silent. Nopony volunteered or even spoke up for the longest time. At long last, Moonstruck sighed and shattered the silence. 
“Alright, I guess I’ll go…”  
Everypony smiled as Moonstruck got up off the couch. He was already holding his gift, which he hadn’t wrapped, but put in a gift bag with tissue paper. He set it on his mother’s lap, who tossed him a smile. A smile that was only as real as it seemed….
After another awkward pause, the mare placed her hooves in the bag and dug deeply into the sea of tissue paper. What she pulled out made her gape and then smile brightly. 
“Oh my gosh, Sweetheart…” 
The mare pulled out the mystery item at last. It was a little, pink jewelry box with artificial gems decorating the boarders. She smiled and opened it. The inside was spacious, and had tons of little compartments for individual items. Her eyes sparkled as she stared at the little masterpiece. She looked back up to her son, who was wearing a heavy blush. He approached her once more. 
“Yeah, yeah… Just kiss me or whatever….” 
Without hesitation, the loving mother took her son in for a long kiss on his cheek and a tender embrace. He didn’t put that much of an effort into hugging back, but was relieved when she finally let go. 
Awkwardly, Moonstruck sat back down in his original seat and glanced at Rainbow, who tossed him a wide smile. Her smile…was so real… 
“Rainbolt!” The white-coated pegasus stood from his seat. “Come to my room, we need to discuss something!” 
The whole room was a little shocked by his actions, but nopony said a word. Rainbolt looked up a bit confused. 
“Ummm…okay…..” he agreed, not wanting to make a scene. 
Slowly, the two brothers went into the kitchen, down the hall, and back into Moonstruck’s room. For the second time that day, he’d been brought in there. The first chat hadn’t gone too bad, so that one would be just as good…hopefully. 
Even though Rainbolt wasn’t too nervous, he still felt a little rush go up his body when the door clicked closed. 
“Rainbolt…” Moonstruck started. “Can we talk about Rainbow….?” 
Rainbow? What could he possibly need with Rainbow? The sudden bringing up of his daughter made Rainbolt feel slightly less comfortable. 
“Rainbow…?” 
“Yeah, I mean…you know…your daughter…” Still a bit confused, Rainbolt slowly nodded his head. “Well… you haven’t told her about…all the bad things I did to you when I was younger, did you…?” 
“Well…Not yet…” He paused. “But I plan to.” 
“Oh, no, no, no! You can’t do that!” 
The stallion’s confusion then turned to shock. 
“Why shouldn’t I?” he asked in an almost aggressive tone. “You treated me like crap the majority of my life!” 
“I know, I know…and I’m sorry…” 
The tone his brother was giving off was definitely not something he was used to… It was gently, timid, and almost sensitive… Why was he acting so….sweet all of a sudden? 
“You’re…sorry…?” 
“Yeah…for everything… Just, please don’t tell Rainbow about all the things I did to you!” 
“Why…? If you’re a bad pony, she at least deserves to know…” 
“I’m not a bad pony!” Moonstruck snapped at his younger brother in rage. “Do you know what those damn pills have done for me? Nothing! I’m only trying to act better! Seriously, does it make one a bad pony to imagine violently murdering somepony or internally laughing at the sound of tears?”
“Umm….I don’t know…” 
“No! It doesn’t! What made me a bad pony was giving into those urges!” His tone grew quieter. “Rainbolt…I love you… And I’ll admit it, I love seeing you hurt… but I don’t hurt you anymore, because I know it’s wrong… I resist every urge in my body when it comes to this… I’m resisting now, to be honest…” He chuckled, and Rainbolt grew nervous. “I’m sorry… I hurt you a lot… I wanted to, and I still want to, but given the chance… I wouldn’t…. Even if there were no consequences afterwards….” 
Rainbolt thought for a moment. “That’s umm…well… I don’t know… I’m sorry…”
“Just don’t tell Rainbow… When she smiles at me, it’s so real… Everypony else…When they look at me, I see something else in their eyes….They're thinking of every bad thing I'd ever done... I know they’re all just hiding it, but…. Dashie’s is so real… If she found out the truth, she wouldn’t smile at me like that anymore…  Sometimes, I miss seeing genuine smiles with nothing behind them… A lot of times, I can't even see authenticity in Mom's smile....That hurts...." He sighed and fought back tears  forming in the corners of his eyes. Rainbolt had never once seen his brother that emotional. "Can’t you just promise me you won’t tell her…?” 
“I…Moonstruck, I don’t know…” 
“I can’t force you to do anything, but…” 
Rainbolt stared at his brother for a while. He couldn’t believe the way he was acting…It was all so unlike him… At that point, he didn’t know… After everything his brother did to him, it only seemed fair Dashie knew. Then again, he was being apologetic…. 
“Okay, Moonstruck… I’ll make you a deal…” 
“Yeah…?” 
“If you can manage to never do something cruel or awful to another pony ever again…I won’t say a word, but the moment I hear you do something wrong… I’ll tell her….” 
Moonstruck did nothing but nod. “Okay… I might be able to do that…So, you promise none of it will get out to Dashie if I’m on my best behavior…?”
Rainbolt smiled. “I promise…”