Chapter 4
Acrylic’s Parents
I shrunk back, pressed against what might have been the same tree trunk as before. She was coming for me, and this time, there was no escape. Her breath was hot, and stung my coat like venom. I lashed at her nose with my hooves, but there was no fight left in me. They pinged off like nothing. If anything, she almost seemed amused at my attempt at this point. Looking past her, I noted Rainbow’s crumpled form discarded into the shrubs. She wasn’t moving. So she wasn’t coming to my rescue, and I certainly wasn’t coming to hers. This was it. I shut my eyes again. I didn’t want to watch this.
I didn’t have to. Something hard and hot blasted into the manticore’s side. It was too stunned to make a sound as the force caused it to tumble. Then a pale blur shot out of the shadows, picking up the fight where we left off. I couldn’t recognize our mysterious hero; he moved too fast. But it was obvious he was a thestral by the pale yellow flames he emitted. I didn’t have time to ponder his identity.
While the manticore was distracted, I limped over to Rainbow, and tried shaking her back to consciousness. “Rainbow? Rainbow, get up!” A loud groan told me she was okay. “Dashie, we’ve got to get out of here!”
“Five more minutes,” she moaned.
“You can have all the time you want once we’re back in Ponyville. Get up!” I could only drag her further from the clearing to keep us from getting trampled. Whoever had come to our rescue was making short work of the manticore. Rainbow was finally fully awake, and hunkered down with me to watch. A couple of hedges provided enough cover. I soon realized why my attacks hadn’t had the desired effect: I was untrained. A real thestral guard was prepared and exact, always ready to take on whatever danger they were faced with. I hadn’t lived in the Everfree for years, and let my guard down. My attack was unstrategic and sloppy. This thestral acted with extreme speed and precision.
The pale form attacked in a recurring pattern: kick, spin, fly, repeat. Kick, spin, fly, repeat. This allowed him to elude the manticore with extreme cunning while still planting a few blows here and there. After what seemed like an eternity, the manticore had enough. She bellowed defiance before tramping back into the underbrush. Rainbow and I stepped out from hiding to give our thanks, but the figure still hadn’t turned around. He was pale blue with a short, windblown mane and tail. The outer edges were tinged with white, but the inner hairs were a light blue just slightly more saturated than Rainbow’s coat. I couldn’t tell much else about him with his back to us. He was breathing heavily from the exertion of the fight, looking after the manticore as if he couldn’t believe he’d won.
“Uh... sir?” I called, hoping to attract his attention. He perked up, remembering the foolish fillies he’d just saved. He straightened from his crouched position, revealing his deceptively towering height. He would probably be eye level with Torchwood, but he was much more buff than my fiancé. Strength rippled in his large frame, that much was evident. When he turned, I was faced with kind and familiar blue eyes. I almost choked.
“DAD!”
“Acry-?” He was cut off when I tackled him into a bear hug, teary eyed. He squeezed me right back, wings folded around me in protective embrace. “Don’t you know better than to mess with a fully grown manticore?” he playfully chided.
“I do now,” I answered, burying myself deeper into his arms.
“Where’ve you been all this time?” he pried me away so he could get a good look at my face. “Look at you! You’re all grown up.”
“I was grown up when I left, Dad,” I insisted.
“Of course you were. But you’re different. You look... older.”
“Gee, thanks,” I laughed.
“What’s this?” Something shiny caught his eye, and he fished my engagement ring out of my mane. I thanked Celestia the chain hadn’t broken or come loose in the mayhem. His eyes grew wide with realization. “You’re...”
“I’ve been trying to get ahold of you and Mom,” I said with a nod. “We couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“Honey, we haven’t moved an inch! Where’ve you been looking?”
“So you haven’t heard, then?”
“Heard what?”
“That thestrals are moving back into Equestria. All of them, not just in small groups like I did. The Princesses made it official and everything. There’s been a scramble to get thestrals placed in homes and stuff... I assumed you’d already been relocated.”
“Thestrals are back?”
“For good, this time.”
“That’s...” I wasn’t sure how he was taking the news.
“Dad?”
“That’s wonderful! I didn’t dare believe it when I saw the declaration. I assumed it was some colt’s idea of a prank. But I suppose this is yours, then?” I looked at the parchment he offered, recognizing it instantly as the lost document we’d come to retrieve.
“Uh, yeah,” I admitted, taking the troublesome scroll.
“You did it, then? You brought us back to the light, just like you said you would all those years ago?”
“With some help.” I remembered that Rainbow was probably awkwardly standing in the background, watching our reunion. I looked back to where she was standing, making her presence known and also accrediting her to assisting in our return.
“Hello, there,” Dad said, standing up. I moved out from underneath him to give him room, but still tucked myself under his wing.
“Dad, I’d like you to meet Rainbow Dash. Rainbow, meet my dad.”
“Mr. Wind Storm, it’s so good to finally meet you! Acrylic’s told me so much!” She eagerly shook his hoof when it was extended.
“All good things, I hope?”
“Very, very good things!” she assured. “You’re a really good flyer, right?”
“I like to think so,” he proudly confessed.
“I’d love to put that to the test sometime. If you don’t mind, that is,” she hurriedly added.
“Well, I don’t like to disappoint, but I’m afraid age is getting the best of me.”
“That’s for sure. I barely recognized you!” I playfully batted at a loose strand of white hair. The outer rim of his mane was once a glorious dark blue to match his eyes. Now, it had faded to its current cloudy color. He narrowed his eyes at the remark, taking it all in good humor.
“Well, old age or not, I have a reputation to uphold. It’s a date.”
“YES!”
“Where’s Mom? Back at the camp?”
“Along with a few others. We heard that there was to be a revolution; a thestral uprising, no less! Our numbers are dwindling since the recruitment of soldiers, admittedly, but a few remain.”
“I can’t wait to see Wild Flower again,” I squealed, happily trotting along after him. She was my sister, whom I hadn’t seen in years.
“Wild Flower?”
“She is here, isn’t she?”
“No. Shortly after you moved to Ponyville, Wild Flower decided to find her own way in Equestria too. I’d have thought she’d meet up with you out there.”
“I never saw her in Ponyville,” I shook my head. “Ugh! I tried so hard just to track you down. Now I have to go find her, too?”
“Well, she’s out there somewhere, I’m sure of it. We’ll have her rounded up before your big day. When is it, by the way? Goodness, I don’t even know who you’re engaged to! Is is somepony I know?”
“No, but he’s a thestral, too. His name’s Torchwood, from Midnight Armor Sector Two. He’s a fire dancer, and a good one at that. You’ll just love him!”
“We’ll see about that.” I didn’t like the tone of voice Dad had used.
“Come on, Dad. Just give him a chance.”
“It’s my job to worry about you. I wish you’d at least have introduced us before you decide to marry him!”
“I told you, I couldn’t get ahold of you guys. You never did write, you know.”
“Too risky. We couldn’t smuggle the letters in and out without raising suspicion. I guess that doesn’t matter now, does it?”
“Nope. I’ve even got a dragon friend, now. You can send your letters directly through him. Torchwood says that thestrals can send letters like they can. I tried to write to him once, but there was a magic barrier inhibiting them from being received.”
“A dragon?” Dad seemed surprised. “Where’d you find a dragon in Ponyville?”
“Not in Ponyville. You remember Ignition?”
“Of course I do! How is she?” The color drained from my face, and my expression told him exactly what had become of the dragoness. “Oh. Oh, no. I’m so sorry.”
“Me too. Well, Blaze was her youngest son. I promised to look out for him, so now he lives with me.”
“Doesn’t he have an older brother? Garble, wasn’t it? What’s become of him?”
“He’s ‘too cool’ for ponies. He moved back to the dragon flock.”
“Ah. I see.”
“Oh, I’ve just got so much to tell you and Mom! Hey, are we almost there? I don’t remember the trip taking so long.”
“You aren’t used to coming this way, either. And on hoof, no less. We speed demons used to cross the whole Everfree in five minutes. The trip takes a little longer down on the ground, you know. What do you say to a fly over?”
“I’m in!” Rainbow declared.
“I... can’t...” I sighed. Dad squinted, scrutinizing my frame more closely than before. The bloodied ankle and bent wing must have stood out like complimentary colors.
“Oh, what have you done to yourself?” he sighed, sitting me down before I could aggravate the wound any more.
“It was the manticore,” I indignantly huffed, wincing as he fooled with the gash.
“Your mother will be able to bandage this better than me,” he finally said. “Climb up.”
“What, on your back? No, thanks. I think I prefer to wal-” I was cut off when somepony yanked me off the ground and dropped me on Dad’s back. Rainbow smirked down from above.
“Hang on,” he ordered. I didn’t have much of a choice when his powerful wings lifted the both of us up into the air. I wrapped my hooves around his neck, taking care not to inhibit his flying ability. Rainbow was exhausted, but that didn’t keep her from chasing after us. She’d left the other scrolls wrapped safely in a cloud, so she made a quick detour to retrieve them. Dad was going fast, but not fast enough for Rainbow to take it as a race. I set my head on his, watching the treetops fly by. He didn’t seem to mind.
It wasn’t the same as flying myself, but I shut my eyes as the breeze sifted through my mane. It didn’t look like I’d be up here again any time soon with my wing busted as it was. Even so, I clung for my life. If he banked too hard one way, I’d be sent tumbling back into the trees. Of course, my flying expert knew this, and barely turned at all. In fact, instead of banking into the clearing as we usually did, he just sort of... dropped down. Hence, this wasn’t his most graceful landing. Rainbow came down in the proper manner with one clean swoop. Realizing the unusual circumstances, she made no comment about Dad’s clumsy landing. I hopped off without delay, glad to be back on my own four- er, three- hooves.
Dad wasn’t kidding. The clearing looked, well, clear. Most of the tents had already been taken down. Only a few sparse structures remained, spread throughout the clearing. The central bonfire still remained, currently ablaze with somepony’s deep purple fire. With such an open view, it was easy for me to identify our old tent. Mom’s pottery was still littered around the front. As if on cue, the mare shuffled out from behind the canvas structure with another new creation clutched between her jaws. Thestrals were nocturnal, so she must have been up late. This assumption was reinforced by her droopy eyes.
She wasn’t as tall as Dad, but still stood an inch above me. Her coat was pale yellow, but a shade brighter and just a touch more green than Fluttershy’s. Her mane was kept up in a green and pink swirled beehive with bangs bouncing over her eyes. Her tail was loosely twirled in on itself, but wasn’t really styled in any particular manner. She had beautiful emerald eyes, which were sometimes framed by stylish glasses. It was clear who I’d inherited my curled ears from, though her muzzle was small and petite like most mares unlike my pointed one. Her cutie mark depicted a simple red-clay vase.
“MA!” I called, dashing across the clearing on my three good hooves. Her head snapped around at the sound of my voice, and she dropped her latest creation into the grass. (Luckily, it didn’t break.)
“Acrylic!” She bolted to meet me halfway. Being so much larger than me as she was, she could have easily bowled me over. But I knew better. She was too gentle for that. She slowed down in plenty of time to scoop me into warm embrace. “I’ve missed you,” she sniffled through happy tears.
“I missed you too,” I choked.
“Let me look at you,” she smiled, taking a step back and releasing me from her hold.
“We do need you to take a look at her ankle, specifically,” Dad said, coming forward to greet his wife. Mom returned his nuzzle, peered down at the cut, and scowled at me.
“What have you gotten yourself into?”
“Oh, nothing big. You know... just a little skirmish with a... a manticore...” My voice got quieter and quieter in an attempt to muffle my answer. But there was no fooling Mother.
“A MANTICORE? You faced off with a manticore by yourself? Come, now! Your father drilled more sense into you than that.”
“Well, I wasn’t alone. Rainbow was with me.” I gestured back at my waiting pegasus friend. Luckily, Mom wasn’t fazed whatsoever by the fact that she was with me.
“Ah. I see we have company. Well, come in, come in! What kind of hostess would I be if I kept you all waiting out here? Now, we haven’t got much, but make yourself at home.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Storm, isn’t it?”
“It is, but I prefer Vase. Porcelain Vase. ‘Porcelain Storm’ doesn’t roll off the tongue quite so well, does it?”
“Sure thing, Mrs. Vase.”
“Rainbow Dash, isn’t it?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Well, it’s good to make your acquaintance, Miss Dash.”
“Aww, you can just call me Rainbow.”
“Very well, Miss Rainbow.” Dashie giggled at her formality. “As I said, make yourself at home. I’ll be back shortly. I need to find some bandages for this one here.” Mom gave me a gentle yet reprimanding cuff behind the ear with her wing as she walked by.
“Ow,” I quietly groaned, rubbing my head.
“You are lucky it wasn’t worse,” Dad reminded, setting himself beside me.
“Yeah, I know.”
“So, when do I get to meet this Torchwood of yours, hmm?”
“As soon as he finds us. He came along too, but got paired up with Twilight. She wanted a thestral in both groups in case we encountered... trouble.”
“Sounds logical,” he commented.
“Speaking of which, where are they? I’d have thought that sonic rainboom would have attracted their attention for sure.”
“That was loud enough to rock the whole forest! They must’ve heard it,” Rainbow mused.
“You don’t think they ran into trouble, do you?”
“I can go see if I can find them,” Rainbow offered.
“Perhaps I should go. After all, you raise a good point. If they have encountered some sort of danger, I will know better how to deal with it. And what’s more- not all of us who remain in the Everfree are aware of the peace treaty. If your friends have encountered more stragglers, they may become volatile. In self-defense, of course, but dangerous nonetheless. It would be best if another thestral were there to settle things down,” Dad pointed out.
“Torchwood’s a thestral,” I reminded.
“Yes. Torchwood.” Dad said his name slowly and critically, still wrapping his head around the fact that his little filly was engaged. “Still, better two thestrals than two of the... others.” He glanced at Rainbow Dash. I knew my father well enough to know that this was not a prejudice comment, simply implying fact. Rainbow, on the other hoof, didn’t know him quite so well.
“I can come along too. If you’re as fast as you say you are, we can have the whole forest covered in five minutes flat.”
“Can the race not wait?” Dad sighed. Rainbow now ignored him, determined to tag along and prove herself.
“I’ll cover the East end if you get the West. If you find anypony, just give a signal. How are you with fire displays?”
“Not the best, but not too bad either, I suppose. And you? Don’t tell me you have a flame-thrower on you.”
“I can do another sonic rainboom. Duh.” She took off to start covering the East side as she’d promised. She was a little weary, so I held Dad back another minute.
“Keep an eye on Rainbow. I don’t know if she has another sonic rainboom in her.”
“That I will. Don’t face off any more manticores while I’m gone, hmm?”
“I’ll do my best,” I giggled, giving him another farewell nuzzle. With that, his powerful wings carried him up to the Everfree skies.
This left me with nothing more to do than to curl up on the cushions inside the tent and examine Mom’s newer creations. I had been gone for so long that there wasn’t a single familiar pot in the whole place. That was fine by me. There was a whole new collection to be examined. I got my artistic talent from my mother’s side; we’d bred a long line of artists for generations. Even my sister, Wild Flower, was an artist in her own way. She always loved tending to her plants. I helped arrange her bouquets at first, but she’d come to do it herself over time. I cocked my head in thought. Speaking of which, I could think of no better pony to create the wedding’s floral arrangements than my dear sibling.