//------------------------------//
// Wonderbolts 
// Story: Scarlet Foal 
// by Collins4112 
//------------------------------//

A/N:Well, Welcome back. I was issued a challenge to find a unique solution to the problem. Well that was hard to do, and I had to a lot of thinking really late at night. 
The next day.

Ditzy woke up in a cold sweat. She had the dream again. The sun had just started to peek through the window. Ditzy rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom; she turned on the faucet and splashed water in her face. 

Macintosh got out of bed and walked into the doorway. He usually got up early so he didn't look tired. He had a slight smile on his face. "Y'all were talking in your sleep...and your stiff wings kept on pokin’ me in the sides. Ya have an interesting dream?" 

He had put inflection on 'interesting.' Ditzy froze, she really hoped she hadn't said anything incriminating. Macintosh had his normal relaxed mood, so Ditzy felt she had been in the clear. She felt bad that she was...fantasizing about Peashooter. 

"Nah. It's one of those dreams that you can't remember." Ditzy felt terrible, she had just looked him in the eye and lied to him. He shrugged as he walked past her and into the shower. Ditzy stared at herself in the mirror for several minutes before the steam from the shower clouded over the mirror. Macintosh stuck his head out around the curtain. 

"Would ya like to join me?" He asked. He had a sly smile on his face. Ditzy thought about it for a second, but shook her head no. Macintosh shrugged again and retreated back into the shower. Ditzy walked out of the bathroom, unable to share the room with Macintosh and her shame. 

She heard Carson stir through the foal monitor. She trotted over to his nursery, and watched him as he woke up. It was early for him to wake up. His crooked eyes fluttered open and stared curiously up at his mother. He cocked his head, and then started to give his usual bubbly smile. Ditzy smiled warmly back and picked him up when he held his legs out. 

"Good morning Carson." Ditzy said and, set him down on her back. His small wings fluttered a bit before settling back down. Ditzy walked slowly to keep Carson balanced on her back. Macintosh was already eating his breakfast when she got to the dining area. He looked up from his meal and smiled. Ditzy set Carson in his high chair as she went to fetch his baby mush. 

"Y'all going to head down to the show today?" Mac asked. Ditzy poured the baby mush into a bowl and brought it over to Carson. She picked up a spoon and started to spoon feed him the mush, rather than let him dig in. 

"Yeah. I'm going to take Dinky and Carson. Hopefully he'll behave himself.” Ditzy said. Carson seemed like he was in a good mood, but Ditzy knew first hoof how fast that could change. 

"Ah hope ya have fun." Macintosh said with a warm smile. 

"Anything interesting going on in your day?" Ditzy asked, feeding Carson another spoonful of mush.

"Work mostly. Ah heard my cousin Braeburn is coming to town, says he's meanin' to talk to me about something'." He said. Ditzy took a second to remember which one of his cousins was Braeburn. She remembered quickly who he was. She wasn't sure how she could forget his... excitable cousin. It was surprising how different Macintosh was from Braeburn.

"What would the somethin' be?" Ditzy inquired. Ditzy put the spoon into the bowl, and then realized it was empty. 

"Ah don't know it must be important." Macintosh said finishing, his plate of food. He stood up and kissed Ditzy on the cheek, then Carson on the forehead. "Ah'll see ya later." 

"Bye Mac." Ditzy responded. She quickly made herself some breakfast, and ate it. She pulled Carson out of his high chair, much to his delight, and set him on the ground. She heard a knock on the door, and went to go answer it. She opened the door to see Peashooter, a rose held in his mouth. 

"Oh hey Peashooter...What's with the rose?" Ditzy asked nervously. She tried to hide the nervousness, but a little managed to flow into her voice. 

"As I recall the rose was your favorite flower." He said, giving her the flower, and she blushed. She wasn't sure what to do with it. The gesture was suspicious to Ditzy. He seemed to read her thoughts when he said: "I got it from some mare on the way here, so I thought you might like it." 

Ditzy breathed a sigh of relief. Calm down Ditzy. He's just being friendly...just control yourself. I love Macintosh. Ditzy thought to herself. Peashooter stood in front of her, a confident smile on his face. Ditzy gave him a hug in thanks for his gift. 

"Shouldn't you be preparing for the show?" Ditzy asked as she set the rose aside, and gestured for him to come in. 

"I've already done the stretches. So I thought I'd come over to visit." He said. "Oh, hey there Carson!" 

Ditzy heard her son's wings buzzing right behind her. His wings were growing to be very strong for somepony of his age. Peashooter's grin grew wider. "I still think your boy could be a Wonderbolt one day." 

Carson buzzed slowly into a crash landing. He wasn't very good at landing yet, but he was doing surprisingly well for somepony as clumsy as he was. Ditzy heard Dinky get out of bed a few rooms away. 

"So, I couldn't happen but notice you're not the mail mare anymore… what happened?" Peashooter asked. Ditzy sunk back. She gave him a look that told him that she didn't want to talk about it. He pulled her into a hug and whispered: "Alright...we won't talk about it." 

Ditzy sighed. The hug felt good, and the way he whispered, quiet but with underlying support that made her stomach fill with butterflies. The feeling scared her, and she thought: Why? I shouldn't be feeling this way. As much as she hated the feeling it still comforted her. Peashooter released the hug as Dinky walked into the room. 

"Good morning mommy." Dinky said with a yawn. "Hey Peashooter." 

Carson crawled over to his sister and wrapped her small leg in a big hug. Ditzy felt her heart almost melt at the pleasant scene. Peashooter voiced his thoughts: "Well, isn't that just the cutest thing you ever saw." 

Dinky was trying to hide a smile as Carson bear hugged her leg. As annoying as her little brother could be sometimes, she really did love him. She tried to shake him off her leg but he seemed to be glued on. 

"So you're coming to the show right?" Peashooter asked. Ditzy nodded her head yes. 

"Do I have to?" Dinky whined. She didn't enjoy flying or watching others fly, and that was part of the reason Ditzy rarely flew. 

"Muffin-" Ditzy started to say, but she was cut off. 

"You don't like flying?" Peashooter trotted straight to Dinky and looked her in the eyes. His face serious. 

"N-no..." Dinky sunk back. Peashooter picked them up and put them on his back in one swift movement. Carson looked confused by the new event. 

"Well, I'm going to change that." Peashooter said, and he started to galloped outside. Ditzy didn't say anything, she was curious to see what he was going to do. As soon as he was outside he took off at breakneck speed. Ditzy giggled to herself as she heard Dinky scream in terror and Carson laughing, happy as could be. Ditzy knew he would keep them safe so she just watched as he did a few tricks in the air, nothing too fancy, but it was still like a mini Wonderbolts show. 

After a few minutes he came into a running landing. Peashooter put Carson on the ground, who crawled over to his mother. Dinky still sat on his back, mane blown back. Her eyes wide and face emotionless. 

"So what do you think of flying now?" Peashooter asked. Dinky climbed off his back, face still emotionless. 

"That was.... awesome!" She yelled. "We were going so fast and those backflips. I want to do that again!" 

Dinky was surprised at her daughter's reaction to the fast paced flying. Now she would probably get non-stop requests to go flying, but Ditzy couldn't go close to the speed that Peashooter could. 

"Well, maybe later today. I have to go get ready for the show." He said, and took off. 

_______
"And then we were like whoosh. Then we spun around and went into a backflip and it was like swish, and then-" Dinky was telling Ditzy the flying story for about the hundredth time since it had happened an hour before. 

"Yes, sweetie, you told me this before." Ditzy could only take so much of the same story, but Carson seemed to like the story: after about the fifth time she had told the tale he had fallen asleep on Ditzy's back as they waited for the Wonderbolts show to begin. 

The show was going to take place above a large field to the west of Ponyville. A lot of ponies had gathered around and were looking up into the air, waiting for the Wonderbolts to streak across the sky. Ditzy shifted Carson on her back to get him into a comfortable position. 

"Do you think we can have Peashooter stay longer? He can stay with us, can't he?" Dinky asked excitedly.

"I wish he could." Ditzy said. She really did want him to stay longer, but with the... dreams, she just wasn't sure. "But I'm sure he has lots of important things to do." 

Ditzy heard the rumble of thunder in the distance; she looked up and saw the dark streaks coming over the field. Dinky climbed on Ditzy's back, taking no caution and accidentally stepping on Carson. With the speed of an experienced mother she got Carson before he started to cry. She calmed him down, then set him on her back again. 

Ditzy turned her attention back to the sky just as the Wonderbolts came overhead. They came across in groups of five, four groups in all. Everypony looked up in awe as they performed arial tricks started easy and built up in difficulty. Ditzy spotted Peashooter, but he was moving too fast to follow; then she caught him doing his signature nose dive, picking up speed to break the sound barrier. Right before he touched the ground he did a twist, then he was galloping on the ground at near sonic speeds before he opened his wings and caught the air, finally creating a sonic boom. 

The crowd cheered as each Wonderbolt did a unique trick. Ditzy and Dinky were totally focused on the show. Carson was just watching the pretty streaks of color across the sky, clapping his little hooves together and giggling, but he soon got bored with watching the colors and buzzed off his mother's back. He wanted to go fly with Wonderbolts. 

He buzzed towards the fast moving, athletic pegasi. It only took Ditzy a moment to notice the lack of Carson's weight missing. She looked around frantically for her boy. 

"I didn't know Carson was in the show." Dinky said. Ditzy's eyes went wide as she spotted Carson flying in the flight path of the Wonderbolts. Ditzy knew she couldn't just fly into the show, she would end up getting hurt and hurting whoever crashed into her, but Carson was going up a lot higher than he had ever before. Ditzy tried to push through the crowd but no pony would budge. 

A heavy gust blew in from the east, and Ditzy looked up in horror as Carson was blown off balance and started to plummet the ground. What was worse was that he didn't know he was in any danger, because his mother always caught him when he stopped flying, so he didn't even try to regain flight. Ditzy was frozen, eyes wide in terror. Then a flash of green passed over Carson and he was gone. 

Next thing she knew Peashooter was standing in front of her holding Carson. She took Carson in her hooves and in a flash Peashooter was gone. Ditzy held Carson: she felt like crying in relief. Carson just looked confused on how he had gotten into his mother's legs. 

"Wow! Did you see that? He just ... whoosh, and then he was in front of us! That was so awesome!" Dinky shouted from Ditzy's back, and went on watching the show. Ditzy couldn't focus on the show, she just held Carson tight, not letting him go again. 

The show went on for another hour, Ditzy holding Carson tight the whole time. After the show, Dinky got herself a Peashooter action figure. Ditzy didn't even know he had one; not everypony on the Wonderbolts was famous. They were all great athletes, but not all of them had the star quality that Soarin' or Spitfire had. 

Ditzy walked home, keeping a close eye on her son. Dinky rattled on: "And then he did another sonic boom!" 

She was starting to get tired of Dinky retelling things they had just seen. As she arrived at the house, Peashooter landed beside her. The smell of sweat hung on to him. Ditzy wrapped him in a hug and gave him a kiss on the cheek. It lasted a little longer than she meant it to. 

"Thank you." She whispered. She felt herself starting to get hysterical. 

"Hey, hey... It's alright." He said calmly. He smiled but his eyes showed concern. Luckily, Dinky was there to break up the moment before Ditzy got too upset. 

"That was awesome! You guys were flying so fast!" Dinky praised. Peashooter ruffled her mane. 

"You mind if I use the shower here?" Peashooter asked. 


"Sure, go ahead." She said, and he nodded his thanks. He walked inside her home making a beeline to the bathroom. Ditzy sighed and followed. She put Carson in his playpen to give herself a moment of rest. She heard the shower start and went to the kitchen to start making a lunch for four. 

Dinky ran around playing with her new Peashooter figure. Ditzy found it strange to have a toy of him and the real thing in the same house. She shook herself from her thoughts. She was making a some salad for Dinky and herself, but a more substantial meal for Peashooter.

Right as Ditzy finished making the meal, Peashooter came out from the bathroom. 

"Smells good." He said, as he sat down and Ditzy put his plate of food in front of him. He ate like he hadn't eaten in a few weeks. Dinky was complimenting him over and over about his tricks during the show, and Ditzy sat quietly eating her lunch, and Carson wasn't at the table: he had fallen to sleep in his playpen. 

"So when can you take me flying again?" Dinky asked. 

"He just came from a show, I'm sure he's tired." Ditzy said firmly: she didn't want Peashooter to overexert himself just to take Dinky flying twice in one day. 

"I am a bit tired." Peashooter said, and Dinky groaned in disappointment, causing Ditzy to give her a stern look. "But I'll take you flying later today." 

"So where are you going to do a show next?" Ditzy asked, swallowing a bit of tomato. 

"I'm glad you brought it up. A few of the older Wonderbolts are retiring this year, and we're going to spread out to look for ponies that could potentially replace them." He said. Ditzy had a feeling she knew where this was going. "So I volunteered to look here and Cloudsdale for some eligible pegasi. So I was wondering..." 

Before she realized it she said: "Of course you can stay with us." 

"Yay!" Dinky shouted loudly. Ditzy sighed as the loud yell woke Carson in his room, and he started to cry. 

"I got it." Peashooter said, and he took off to Carson's nursery. Ditzy was going to get up, but suddenly the crying stopped and he came back. 

"How did you do that?" Ditzy asked, surprised. Even she couldn't get Carson to stop crying so fast. Peashooter half smiled. 

"Well, I've learned a few tricks in my time." He said mysteriously. 

"How would you know anything about taking care of a foal?" Ditzy asked. She saw the sly smile on his face, and knew what he was going to say, but didn't speak fast enough to stop it.

"I took care of you, didn't I?" He said, and got a punch in the shoulder in return. 

______
Ditzy sat on the couch, reading, because Peashooter was taking a nap, and Dinky had gone out to share her stories with her friends. She didn't read very much, and she would never admit it, but she was reading a book meant for someone of Dinky's age: Daring Doo. She found them when cleaning her daughter's room, and now they were the only thing she read regularly.

She closed the book as she heard the front door open. Big Macintosh walked in. He looked like he had something important to say: it didn't look like it was bad news, but it interested her. 

"Hi, honey. I'm glad your home." Ditzy greeted warmly. Macintosh gave her a half smile. 

"Howdy, Sugar Cube." Macintosh said in his stoic but affectionate way. He took a seat next to her. 

"So what did Braeburn want?" She asked. Macintosh looked like he just remembered something. He wrapped a leg around her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"He offered me a job." He said. Ditzy looked up, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Not a permanent one, but the harvest has come early, and he didn't have time to find good farm workers, so he hired me." 

"How long will you be gone?" Ditzy asked. She wished that he had talked to her before he accepted the job. 

"Ah'd say about a month." He said. 

"I'll miss you Mac." Ditzy leaned into him. He nuzzled her gently. "I should probably tell you Peashooter is going to stay with us." 

Macintosh raised his eyebrows. She knew exactly what he was thinking, and she felt kind of offended that he didn't trust her. 

"You trust me Mac?" She asked him, and he gave her a gentle look in return. 

"Of course Ah do, Sugar. It's not you Ah don't trust, it's him." He said quietly. 

"You can trust him, Mac. He took care of me in my time of need, and he's been my friend for longer than Carrot Top." She told him. He sighed. 

"Alright, Ditzy, if ya trust him... Ah guess Ah can too." He said, and Ditzy smiled up at him. Dinky ran into the room. 

"Daddy!" She shouted as she wrapped his leg in a hug. 

"Howdy, Sugar Cube. How was your day?" He asked, and Dinky told him all out Peashooter's tricks. After about five minutes of Dinky talking about Peashooter, Macintosh interrupted: "Would ya like do something? Ah got to go away for a while tomorrow. " 

"No thanks, Peashooter's gonna take me on another flight." She said. Ditzy looked over at Macintosh. He looked disappointed and a little bit hurt. 

"Ya have fun now." He said, trying to put a lightheartedness in his voice, but Ditzy caught the hint of hurt in it. 

"I will." Dinky said as she left the room. Macintosh grunted and pulled himself up from the couch. He was going to go to the kitchen, when Peashooter bumped into him. 

"Oh, hey Big Mac." Peashooter said cheerfully. 

"Howdy. So I hear ya had quite a show today." Macintosh attempted to make conversation. 

"Yeah. Hey, thanks for letting me stay here." Peashooter held out a hoof, and Macintosh reluctantly took it. 

A/N: Thank you for reading. Thanks to my Beta Reader BlackRoseRevan