• Published 6th Feb 2015
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The Wonderful Life of Ford Mustang - RoyalRainbow



Shortly after their wedding, Ford Mustang and Rainbow Dash have already made plans to have their first foal together. But when he starts to receive terrible visions about his pregnant wife, can he find a way to prevent them from ever coming true?

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Chapter 28 – A Day with Turbo Dash Part 1

Chapter 28 – A Day with Turbo Dash Part 1

“Sure sure! Come on in!”

From Turbo Dash’s welcoming gesture, Ford Mustang gingerly steps inside the father-in-law’s house as he slightly hangs his head low. However, Ford’s awkward disposition goes unnoticed by the older stallion as Turbo leads his guest toward the living room with renewed giddiness in every step he takes.

“So… how’s my baby girl doing back home? I haven’t heard from her since the ultrasound. Can you believe how quickly time flies by since the last time we saw each other during Hearth's Warming Eve? And to think, we only have a couple months left before the twins finally arrive! Oh, I can’t wait to spoil those little tykes to no end! Just you wait, Mustang! I’m going to be the coolest grandpa they will ever have!”

From expressing his never-ending enthusiasm over his upcoming grandfoals, Turbo displays a big, toothy smile that stretches all across his face. But once he faces his son-in-law, his proud smile droops drastically as he finally takes notice of Ford’s impassive, quiet demeanor.

“Ford, what’s wrong?” Turbo asks with a soft concern. “You’re awfully quieter than usual.”

“S-sorry.” He responds in a timid tone. “It’s just that… I need to tell you something really important.”

“Sure.” he nods with an empathetic smile as they enter the living room. “Have a seat.”

Upon the command of the hospitable stallion, Ford takes his seat on one of the sofas as Turbo Dash follows suit by sitting across from him.

Once they are seated, Turbo then asks, “So, what’s on your mind?”

“Well you see… I…” But Ford is already choking up on his own words due to his rapidly deteriorating composure as well as his growing fear on what Turbo’s reaction might be. So he dismisses his hesitation with an awkward chuckle as he explains himself with a fore hoof smacked across his forehead. “Oh man, this is a lot harder than I imagined! I thought I could do this without her! I’m sorry. It’s just that… I don’t know where to begin with this.”

“It’s okay, Mustang.” he reassures in a gentle tone. “Take your time.”

Taking his time as carefully as possible, the still edgy stallion takes a deep breath first before he restates himself on what he wanted to share with the elder Pegasus in the first place. “Turbo, I… I really wish that I wasn’t in this predicament right now, but you see… Rainbow Dash and I… have been through a lot as of lately.”

“You and Dashie aren’t having a marriage dispute, are you?” Turbo asks with a hint of worry.

“No no! Nothing like that!” Ford answers with a frantic wave of his fore legs. “Everything’s been going really great for us!”

“Then what is it that you need to talk about?”

Once again, Ford recomposes himself before he clarifies in a quieter tone. “Well umm… this might sound unbelievable, but a while back, I… had these… visions, which strangely enough were the result of my Draconian Magic. And in these… visions, they showed me… something terrible that will happen in the near future.”

From the reluctant Mustang’s cryptic clarification, Turbo takes a moment to reflect on what the younger stallion just said. But after sometime on figuring it out himself, immense dread comes to mind as his gold-colored eyes dwindle drastically from having to think on such an awful possibility.

“Do they involve… Rainbow Dash in some way?” the older stallion utters in subtle dismay.

Hesitant as ever, Ford eventually responds in a whisper and with a shaky nod, “Yes.”

Despite his growing anxiety over his one and only daughter, Turbo Dash couldn’t help himself from inquiring even further with a subtle yet difficult gulp. “Wh-what will happen to her if these visions do come true?”

And after inhaling another deep breath, Ford reveals his wife’s predetermined fate in a very fainthearted tone, “When the twins are born, sh-sh-she… dies.”

As Ford cringes from having to share this awful truth with Rainbow’s father, everything in Turbo Dash’s body seems to come to a complete standstill as he displays a look of frozen terror on his slack-jawed face. With Mustang staring uncomfortably at the petrified stallion, the younger pony is filled with immense worry as if his news is too much for the older Pegasus to bear.

And just before Ford could express his concerns by asking on the older gentlecolt’s well-being, the expressionless stallion lowers his head and mutters in a slightly cold tone, “Ford, how could you…?”

“Turbo, I--!”

But Ford’s remorse is severely cut short when Turbo Dash lunges forward and harshly tackles the younger stallion off his seat. And as Mustang grudgingly gets himself up, Turbo grabs him by the collar and bring the younger stallion up close to his face. From this extreme closeness, the startled Mustang locks his wide-eyed gaze with Turbo Dash’s dark, petrifying glare.

“HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME ABOUT THIS SOONER?!” he demands in an uncontrollably infuriated tone.

“W-we wanted to!” Mustang replies in stammering fright. “I wanted to! But Rainbow wasn’t ready just yet so I--!”

“How long have you known about this?! How long?!” he repeats himself in a louder voice as he shakes Ford up a bit.

“Since… November.” he admits in quiet hesitation.

“NOVEMBER?!” he screeches in uproar as his twisted face turns into a fuming shade of red. “You’ve known about this for months and have done nothing since then?!”

Taking insult on that implication of laziness, Ford snaps back with an increasing scowl, “Hey, I’ve done more than you can imagine!”

“Really?!” Turbo dismisses that claim with sharp sarcasm. “Because from the way you’re acting, I’d say you’ve already given up! Did you even bother to consult with the Princesses about this?!”

“Yes I did!” he retorts with conviction as he lets out a mighty stomp on the cloudy carpet floor. “In fact, I went above and beyond that by asking the one dragon who could have helped me figure out these visions for me! What more could you ask from me?!”

“THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH, DAMMIT!”

And from that almighty exclamation, Turbo slams his fore hooves onto Ford’s chest while the latter remains firm in his towering posture. But just as the younger stallion expects their confrontation to get even more brutal, he feels Turbo’s hooves shaking gradually as he could barely hold his stance. With their eyes continuously locked on to each other’s, the older Pegasus’s glare with gnashing teeth begins to shift into one of unbearable sadness as his grating frown loses most of its muscles’ strength where his lips are trembling tremendously. And soon enough, the fire in his golden eyes is gradually extinguished by the massive, impending tears that are threatening to break away.

With his anger and composure deteriorating fast, the severely downhearted stallion breaks down before the other Pegasus and hides his tear-stricken face against Mustang’s chest before he repeatedly beats his hooves against the light bluish coat while cursing to himself.

“Dammit! Just… just… dammit!”

As Turbo Dash continues to let out his unimaginable frustration, Ford Mustang remains still as he hopes this will relieve help the elder stallion in any way possible. Eventually, Turbo’s strength fades away, and he slouches forward while Mustang holds him up with a foreleg.

“Why? Why do I have to lose her over something like this?” Turbo asks with a heavy, grief-stricken tone. “I already lost one special pony! Why must I lose another? It’s just… too cruel, I tell you! Too cruel!”

Feeling utterly helpless over Turbo’s heavyhearted plea, all Ford can do for the moment is wrap the tearful stallion in a one-foreleg hug and allows the weeping pony to let it all out. However, his own self-guilt starts to get the better of him as he collapses alongside Turbo, still holding him with a tender yet shaky embrace.

“Turbo, I am so sorry.” Ford says in a soft, remorseful tone. “Believe me, I went to every source I can think of to prevent this from happening, including the Princesses and Discord.”

“Wh-why can’t they aid us?” he weeps in a pleading manner. “Surely with all that Rainbow Dash has done for them they can at least make it an exception for her!”

“I’m sure they would. But you see… when I described my visions to them, they ruled out that Rainbow Dash may die from natural causes, so they can’t use their magic that may dispute the natural balance in this world.”

“I guess.” Turbo shrugs with a soft snivel. After he calms down from his emotional outburst, the two ponies break away from their hug as Turbo looks up and asks in an increasingly trembling voice, “How’s Rainbow Dash holding up with all of this?”

“Surprisingly well.” Ford confirms with a small smile.

Stunned by the earnest response from his son-in-law, Turbo stammers in surprise, “R-really?”

“Yes. For weeks now, she’s been spending some one-on-one time with her best friends as well as treating them to some of the things they like to do together.”

Amazed by his daughter’s commitment towards her friends, Turbo finally bears a warm smile and wipes away his remaining tears while commenting with pride, “She is such a good girl. Always putting others first before herself.”

With a subtle chuckle, Ford agrees with a grin, “Yep, that’s the Element of Loyalty for you.”

“And you…? How are you holding up?”

Hesitant at first, he replies earnestly, “I’m… still a bit shaky to say the least. I mean, we made a lot of preparations since we talked about this, and I’m trying to be hopeful to the bitter end… b-but… I just don’t know if I’m ready to let her go yet.”

Sigh... believe me, I know the feeling.” Turbo acknowledges quietly before he recollects on a time where he too was in a similar position like that long ago.

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Many Years Ago in Cloudsdale’s General Hospital…

Waiting right outside of the occupied room in the maternity ward, Turbo Dash continued to walk around the hallway in a very frantic pace as he waited in anticipation over the delivery's aftermath. This was a day he was looking forward to, and yet with each passing minute, it’s been nothing but torture for him to wait out here and do absolutely nothing for his pregnant wife, Firefly, especially when he was forced to wait outside while she went into labor.

From the thick, closed doors, the panicky stallion picked up a lot of muffled noises from the inside, and a majority of them came from Firefly’s bloodcurdling screams in the midst of her delivery. With every horrific shriek, Turbo silently cursed himself for not being at Firefly’s side in all of this.

Suddenly, there was a break from that as the rainbow-haired Pegasus eventually heard a new sound from within those heavy doors. It was more crying, but this one sounded different, less painful, and more importantly, so full of new life. Knowing full well that it was the sound of a newborn foal, Turbo Dash finally broke into a very bright smile as it looked like the worse was finally over and their lives could begin anew with the welcoming of their first foal.

But as the very proud stallion felt complied to bounce around in celebration, the doors opened up slowly and cut his jubilation short for the moment. Stepping outside was the doctor in charge of the recent delivery as she removed her surgical mask to speak to the long-awaiting Pegasus.

“Mr. Turbo Dash, your wife and newborn daughter are ready to meet you.”

Despite hearing how slightly solemn her tone was, Turbo couldn’t help himself from beaming in joy once again over the successful birth of his first daughter. Not wanting to waste any more time, he brushed pass the doctor and entered the room.

Once inside, he came to a halt to gaze at his beloved wife. On her reclined hospital bed, a severely exhausted Firefly laid motionlessly underneath the various covers as she panted in a very raspy, quiet voice. And in the mother’s fore hooves was their new bundle of joy wrapped in a soft, pink blanket, which concealed her identity.

In the midst of Turbo’s observation, he noticed some of the expressions from the doctor’s assistants. Despite them still wearing their masks, their faces looked almost ashamed and ill at ease as a few of them averted their worried gazes away from newly announced father in the room.

Ignoring the apprehensive stares around him, Turbo Dash hovered toward Firefly’s side and leaned his head close to the heavy-eyed mare. With his muzzle close to her face, he gently kisses her on her unexpectedly cold cheek.

“Firefly?” he whispered to her in a beseeching tone.

From that soft plead, Firefly gradually opened her tiresome eyes, and with a half-lidded gaze, she turned toward her concerning husband and flashed a slow, warm smile from his welcoming presence.

“Dashie… look.”

Following on his wife’s whispery command, Turbo leaned closer as Firefly slowly unwrapped the blanket covering their newborn baby. And with the unveiling, Turbo gasped in amazement on how much the tiny filly resembled him. In place of her father’s pale pastel blue, her brand-new coat was a very light cerulean that matches with the bright, blue sky. But most notably, both father and daughter shared the same six-striped, multicolored hair that’s as vibrant as the rainbow itself.

From Turbo’s continuous amazement, a trembling, joyous smile expanded across his speechless face as he commented to his wife over their daughter’s striking appearance, “Oh Firefly… she’s so… beautiful.”

“She’s clearly your daughter, Turbo.” she chuckled weakly. “She’s got your rainbow mane and blue coat.”

Then, for a brief moment, the drowsy filly woke up and gave her parents a sneak peek at her gorgeous, magenta eyes. So Turbo remarked with a sly smirk to his wife, “Yes, but she’s definitely got your mesmerizing eyes.”

“Here… I think she wants to meet her daddy.”

Reluctant at first, the nervous stallion carefully received the wrapped-up filly from her mother and delicately held her in his tender hooves. Within the cradle of the stallion’s forelegs, the tiny foal reopened her eyes to get a better look at her father. With their sights locked on with each other’s, Turbo cringed subtly on how his little girl will react from seeing his face, but despite his fears, the baby broke into an adorable chuckle as she waves her forelegs up to reach for her daddy.

From that overwhelmingly cute response, Turbo displayed a quivering smile that stretched all across his overjoyed face, and he presented a fore hoof to his giggling daughter so she can touch it herself while he said in a choked-up manner, “I-I can’t believe this is finally happening. I’m a dad… a real dad.”

“She’s just… so perfect.” Firefly beams softly as she lovingly caresses the newborn filly’s colorful mane. “Our beautiful baby girl.”

“Yes, our very own little Dashie.” he whispered with an exhilarated smile as he gently kisses her soon-to-be sleepy daughter on the forehead.

Firefly was speechless from hearing her husband’s rare display of sentimentality as he handed their beloved daughter back to her. And with the baby back in her hooves, the smiling mare affectionately nuzzled her sleeping filly as she repeated the perfect nickname for their one and only little girl.

“Dashie… my little Dashie.”

But within that lovely moment, Firefly abruptly felt something squeezing her tightly against her throat and chest as she desperately gasped for more air. In addition with her heart monitor beeping at a much slower pace than before, Turbo Dash entered a state of panic as he leaned very close to his hyperventilated mare.

“Honey? Honey are you okay?”

“Sir, you have to understand.” The doctor from earlier stepped forward as she explained herself. “We’ve done everything we can for her.”

“Wh-what do you mean by that?!” Turbo asked frantically. “What’s going on here?!”

“Mr. Turbo Dash. Your wife has suffered from severe postpartum bleeding.”

The unexpected news pierced him like a knife to the chest as he demanded out loud, “Well then, stop the bleeding already!”

“We already provided the proper medication to initiate more clotting, but she’s already lost too much blood in the procedure. There’s… nothing more we can do for her.”

From there, the figurative knife twisted even further as it dug into his cavity like it was skewered him right into his beating, bleeding heart. The awful feeling in his chest made him pant repeatedly as his renowned, athletic body felt like it collapsed on itself where he could barely hold himself together from the sheer weight of Firefly’s grave distress.

As expected, he couldn’t handle the heartbreaking news, nor did he want to accept that as he rapidly shook his head in denial while expressing his strong disbelief through a mix of rage and misery, “N-n-no… NO! You can’t just give up on her now! You have to do something to save her!”

“Turbo…”

From the soft, beckoning call of his ill-fated wife, the tearful stallion twisted his body and rushed back to her side before reassuring her with barely composed smile, “I’m here, Firefly. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

Carefully, he stroked the mare’s pale, pink face, and she feebly smiled from his frantic yet comforting gesture before she placed her fore hoof over his and pleaded to him in a quiet, raspy voice, “Please… take good care of our baby girl… no matter… what. Please…?”

After bring her tender hoof close to his face, Turbo kissed it while still grasping on to her extended foreleg, and he answered hysterically in a beseeching, tearful tone, “Of course, sweetheart! I will… I will look after her! Just please… please don’t die on me! Please don’t leave me like this!”

But then, their daughter whimpered from all of the unsettling noise around her, so the still smiling Firefly gently brought her little one close to her muzzle and tenderly kissed the filly on the cheek. This act of pure, motherly love was enough to cause the little foal to settle down as she displayed a tiny, tranquil smile on her face whilst adding a small, adorable giggle to go with that.

“Don’t worry, Dashie.” Firefly whispered in a motherly tone as she caressed her daughter’s bright, colorful mane. “Mommy will be with you… even if you can’t see me… and I will always love you… always…”

From that soft yet strong reassurance, all the filly did in response was coo inaudibly as she still had that wonderful smile whilst Firefly grinned even more so despite her very grim circumstance. Even Turbo Dash, in spite of bawling without end, couldn’t help but smile over the lovely yet equally tragic union between mother and child.

And in her dying breath, Firefly came up with the perfect name for their darling, little angel.

“My little Rainbow… my beautiful… Rainbow… Dash…”

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As he retells the tragic origins of his one an only daughter, Turbo Dash involuntarily sheds a few more fresh tears from reliving such a heart-wrenching experience. And after he is done sharing his story, he wipes his weeping eyes as he concludes in a heartbreaking tone.

"In that moment, it was the happiest day as well as the saddest day of my life."

From listening to Turbo's gut-wrenching tale, Ford Mustang becomes just as emotional as the other stallion. And once again, his guilt catches up to him as he responds in a sorrowful tone while shaking his head over his personal failure.

"Turbo, I am so sorry for all of this. Believe me, if I found a way, or even if I had these visions before we ever decided to have foals ourselves, I would--!”

But just as Mustang nearly breaks down in tears, Turbo rushes up to him and gently strokes his back while comforting him in a soothing voice, “Shhhh… Ford… don’t say things like that. No one’s blaming you for this, and no pony can ever expect any more from you. You took the best course of action and sought to sort this out with Rainbow Dash. You’re a good stallion through and through. Never tell yourself that otherwise.”

After taking a moment to reflect on Turbo’s comforting words, Ford starts to feel a bit better with himself as he displays a tiny smile of relief. But then, the older stallion continues on what else he has to say in a more solemn tone.

“But Mustang, if what you said to me is true, then you need to promise me one thing when that fateful day arrives.” As the son-in-law waits for him to continue, Turbo takes a very deep breath before he exhales it out in a slow yet quivering manner and states his request.

“Don’t ever leave by her side, no matter what.”

In response to his father-in-law’s only wish, the younger Pegasus takes a moment to blink his speechless eyes a few times before he bears a poised smirk to reassure on that promise.

“I don’t plan on doing that in the first place, Turbo Dash.”

Satisfied on Mustang’s confident answer, the other stallion presents an appreciative grin and shows his silent gratitude by giving Ford a couple pats on the back. Once everything has been settled between the two, they get up from the floor and pick up the couch they knocked down earlier.

As they reposition the large piece of furniture, Ford makes a mild recommendation to his fellow stallion, “You know, just as a small suggestion, maybe you would like to spend some quality time with Dashie yourself.”

“Yeah, that sounds pretty good. Thanks, Mustang.” he responds with a grateful grin before he gasps with excitement from an idea that suddenly pops into mind. “And I know just where to go! You wanna come along?”

“Sure, I got time.” he nods to the invitation.

As they make their way to the front entrance, Turbo Dash comments with a casual smirk, “You know, I’m actually kind of envious of your situation, Ford.”

“Huh? Why’s that, Turbo?” he ponders on that remark.

“Because if I knew what was going to happen to my dear, sweet Firefly before her imminent death, I would have done so much more for her in those last days we shared together.”

A bit worried that the older colt is being too hard on himself, Ford replies with a reassuring smile, “I’m sure you and Firefly still made some wonderful memories together, no matter how big or small they are.”

Thankfully, Turbo lets out a comforting chuckle for himself to dismiss his supposed gloominess from resurfacing as he mutters with a soft, warm smile. “Yes, we did.”

Then, Ford realizes something he should have addressed before they left Turbo’s house, “Actually, that now that you mentioned it, I nearly forgot the other reason why I wanted to see you myself.”

“Really? And what would that be, Ford?”

Hesitantly, Mustang makes his personal request in a mild manner, “What were some of your favorite hotspots as a world-class racer?”

A bit stunned by Ford’s questioning at first, Turbo displays a big, knowing grin as he has a pretty good idea on what the younger Pegasus has in mind… especially if it’s for his precious daughter.

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The Next Day in Ponyville…

It’s been a long day for the two Pegasi back in their floating cloudhouse, especially for Rainbow Dash’s case since she came home so late last night. So once they are both awake, they make a big breakfast as always and share a well-balanced meal together.

As her husband finishes up with cleaning their dishes, Rainbow remains seated at the kitchen table as she goes over on what’s to come this morning. Truth be told, she’s not looking forward from having to confront her dad with the impending truth of her fate, but she reminds herself that her dad deserves to know it for himself in hopes that it will allow him to have a peace of mind if everything transpires from what her husband predicted.

With Ford finally done with the dishes, he turns around to face his awaiting wife while drying his fore hooves with a clean towel as she says to him nonchalantly, “So, I guess you’re ready to talk about our plans regarding with dad, huh?”

“Oh, there’s no need to do that anymore, Rainbow.”

From the cryptic yet casual response, the dumbfounded mare expresses her sudden confusion with an arched eyebrow, “Wait, what do you mean by that?”

DING-DONG~!

“Huh, who could that be at this hour?”

But her probing gets disrupted by the sudden ringing of the doorbell. With the suspiciously smirking stallion leaning against the kitchen counter in a leisurely manner, Rainbow floats over to the front door and seeks to answer it before she turns her attention back on her ambiguous stallion.

But once she answers the door, she gasps in complete shock over the reveal of their unexpected visitor in front of her. She originally felt prepared for what’s needed to be taken care of today, but she sure isn’t ready to face her own grinning father just yet.

“Hello, Dashie!”

Author's Note:

Ideally, the reason why I split the Turbo Dash chapter into two parts is because this one will mostly take from Ford's visit with him while the next one will focus on Turbo and Rainbow.

Also, there's wasn't going to be a flashback scene over Rainbow's birth and Firefly's death in the original draft, but thanks to Rated Ponystar's suggestion, I reconsidered and I'm very grateful he made that recommendation for me.

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