Postie couldn’t exactly remember what had happened. He vaguely recalled a conversation with Rainbow. He barely remembered that he had been a blubbering wreck. He could remember... He shot to all fours in the darkness, wide-eyed and panicked. He had told her. He had told her everything... and she had been there the whole time, comforting him, making him feel better. She had never left his side as he poured out all the pain he had been hiding for years.
He smiled as he lay back down again, only now noting how dark it was. He guessed it was some time in the early hours of the morning. He crawled closer to Rainbow, who had managed to sleep through his awakening. He closed his eyes as he rested his head on Rainbow, closing his eyes and waiting to fall asleep again. Try as he might, there was strange noise at the edge of his hearing that made it completely impossible. He glared at the shadows as he tried to identify it. Eventually, he realised that it was something he had heard before, the sound of... creaking bed springs. His dry-retched as he reluctantly came to the only possible conclusion.
Tranquil Sky was a little surprised to see Post Haste awake when she went down to the kitchen the next morning. For a given definition of ‘awake’, anyway. He was sitting at the table, face planted firmly on the table, a cup of black coffee steaming away gently next to him. As she got closer, she heard him mumbling something incomprehensible. “Are you okay, dear?” she asked carefully, still a little upset about what had happened yesterday.
“I’m awake, I’m awake!” the mailpony said, suddenly sitting straight and looking around. He noticed Tranquil looking at him. “Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” she said, smiling warmly. “Did you sleep well last night?”
“For a while. Then I woke up at some point and couldn’t get back to sleep.” As if to prove his point, he yawned. He took a sip of his coffee and pulled a face. “Wow that’s strong.”
“Would you like something to eat?” Tranquil asked, approaching the pantry.
“No, I’ll be - ” He was cut off by his stomach protesting his stupidity. “Yes please,” he muttered as he blushed.
As Tranquil set about mixing up the batter for haycakes, Rainbow stomped downstairs. “Hey mom,” she said, rubbing at her eyes. “You okay?” she asked Postie as she sat at the table.
“A lot better,” he replied, leaning over to nuzzle her.
“You two make a cute couple.” They both turned to see Tranquil looking at them with a warm smile.
“Mooooooooom,” Rainbow groaned, having turned a little red, as had her coltfriend. Tranquil turned away, smiling at having gotten her usually-brash daughter to show such a reaction. As she made the haycakes, she tried to make conversation. “Neither of you had dinner last night, did you?” In response, the stomachs of both the younger pegasi growled. At the same time.
“That was strange,” Postie commented as Tranquil laughed.
As she began to stir the batter, the older mare was suddenly interrupted. “Tranquil Sky, I... I wanna apologise.” She turned to see Postie looking at the ground, ashamed. “What I said, and how I reacted yesterday, it was out of line. I’m sorry.”
Tranquil looked at the stallion for a while before going over and giving him a hug. “Don’t worry about it, dear. I shouldn’t have pushed you.” She couldn’t help but smile when he hugged back. “If you ever want to tell me, though...” she added tentatively. She still wanted to know why he had reacted the way he had and her only option seemed to be patience.
“Mom, just leave it,” Rainbow said loudly, ruining the moment for all. “He’ll tell you when he’s ready.”
Tranquil rolled her eyes as she went back to preparing breakfast. Before long a small stack of haycakes were sitting in front of Post Haste, whose mouth was watering. “Where are mine?” Rainbow asked demandingly.
“You’ll get yours in a minute,” Tranquil replied a little harshly. “Heaven forbid you make your own, you’d just ruin them and I’d have to make them for you anyway.” Rainbow groaned at this chastisement. “Maybe if you tried to learn how to cook you wouldn’t have to wait.”
“Not a good idea,” Postie replied through a mouthful of haycake. He swallowed before continuing. “Last time she tried to cook she - ”
“Postie!” Rainbow said loudly. “I thought you promised not to tell anypony about that kitchen fire!”
There was a brief pause as she realised what she had just said. Then there was another while her mother processed that. “But I thought you still lived in that cloud house,” Tranquil said hesitantly.
“Yep!” Postie said cheerfully.
“How did you do that?” Tranquil asked her daughter, shocked and confused by such an improbable event.
“I have no idea!” Rainbow replied. “And I thought you said you weren’t gonna bring that up!” she said angrily as she faced her coltfriend.
“It gets better,” Postie said, ignoring his fillyfriend’s frustrations. “She started that fire with a bottle of tomato juice, an onion and a spatula.”
Tranquil just stared at her daughter. Rainbow smacked Postie in the back of the head, sending him face-first into his breakfast. Postie continued to eat, seemingly unaware of this distraction. “Rainbow!” Tranquil said loudly. “Don’t you hit him!”
“But mom! He said he wouldn’t tell anypony about that!” They both turned to Post Haste, who was still face-down in his breakfast. “Uh, Postie?” she asked, shaking him with a hoof.
Postie pulled himself up, his face covered in haycake and his eyes a little unfocused. “You do know that hurts, right?” he asked as he rubbed the back of his head.
“You said you wouldn’t tell anypony!” Rainbow yelled, Tranquil rolling her eyes as she returned to the haycakes.
“But I didn’t,” Postie replied smugly as he continued eating. “You did.”
“What?” Rainbow asked flatly, seeming far from amused.
“Besides, you never said I couldn’t go into the details if they did know.” He finished his coffee and picked a bit of haycake off his face. “I think I need to wash my face.”
Rainbow just glared at him. Tranquil burst into laughter as soon as she was sure he had left the room. “Where did you find this one?” she asked when she recovered.
“The hospital,” Rainbow grumbled.
“That’s a strange place to find somepony, isn’t it?” She flipped a haycake over and moved it to a plate. “How did that happen? Did you injure yourself again?” She gasped dramatically. “Were you sharing the same room?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes at how her mother was making the whole thing out as some big scandal. “No, mom. He crash-landed at Sweet Apple Acres. Busted a wing.” Both mares shared a shudder. Injuring a wing was one thing pegasi feared most, akin to a unicorn damaging their horn. Rainbow was especially fearful of the idea, having once been hospitalised with a wing injury herself. “I offered to help him start flying again. He was grounded for more than a week, after all.”
“I’m sorry, did I hear that right?” Tranquil turned to face her daughter. “Rainbow Dash, my daughter, who thinks herself higher than the Princesses, helped rehabilitate an injured pony?”
“I do not think myself higher than the Princesses!” Rainbow retorted. “Okay, sometimes,” she said as her mother glared at her. “And the only reason I helped him was because I knew what it was like.”
“And...?” Tranquil asked, putting the plate of haycakes in front of her daughter and nudging her with a wing.
“And well... he was nice to me. He didn’t just treat me like a tomcolt, or see me like I was some floozy. He actually wanted to get to know me. It felt... good.”
“It always is when a stallion looks at you for a reason other than your mane,” Tranquil said knowingly. “Or your body.”
“He does that too,” Rainbow said. “Not that I mind,” she smirked.
“I can’t say I blame you,” Tranquil replied, making her own breakfast now. “After all, you did get your looks from me.”
“A good thing too.” Thunderhead had just entered the kitchen and had decided to join the conversation. “If you looked anything like me, I’d be wondering how you even got a stallion in the first place!” he said with a loud laugh.
“Dad!” Rainbow said through her smile.
“Where’re mine?” the older stallion asked as he approached his wife.
“Wait your turn,” Tranquil said calmly as she continued with the task. She let out a yelp as her husband slapped her flank with a wing. “Thunderhead!” she said loudly, rounding towards the stallion.
“You were perfectly fine with me doing that last night,” he replied slyly. He didn’t get a chance to get any further though.
“I’m right here!” Rainbow said loudly, looking disgusted by the display she was witnessing.
Author’s Notes:
Definitely can’t be pleasant hearing the potential future in-laws going at it like a pair of rabbits, huh?
And Rainbow pulled a Pinkie Pie. Or a Homer Simpson, you choose.
And I guess I kinda based Tranquil Sky and Thunderhead off of my grandmother and grandfather. None of that slap-and-tickle though. At least, I hope so...
