> Family Traditions > by randomkid > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Meeting up > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Come on Fluttershy! We have to get moving." Rainbow called from outside Fluttershy's cottage. "I'll be out in a minute. I need to say good-bye to all the animals." Fluttershy called back. "Well hurry up! It's freezing out here." Rainbow replied. The cold winds whipped at Rainbow's coat and the snow beneath her hooves chilled her. "Besides, I don't want to be late again. Last year my parents thought I was eaten." The door finally swung open to Fluttershy revealing her layers upon layers of jackets and scarves. "I'm ready." Rainbow rolled her eyes. It was always like this. Fluttershy would always put on way too many layers and it would slow them down. "I tell you every year Fluttershy, it's never that cold. You act like we're beening attacked by windigoes." "It never hurts to be prepared." Fluttershy said confidently. "You never wear enough." She said pointing to Rainbow. Rainbow smiled. "Whatever. Are you sure you're ready?" Fluttershy nodded. "Ok good. Now try to keep up!" Rainbow shouted before taking off slower than usual so she doesn't leave Fluttershy miles behind. Rainbow felt good to be in the air again, she hated walking in the winter because of all the snow freezing her hooves. Sure she still loved winter but she also avoids the ground most of the time. After a few minutes Fluttershy caught back up with Rainbow, panting. "Aw, I would have thought you'd be able to keep up this year." Rainbow said jokingly. Fluttershy was too tired to speak, not to mention all the stuff she was carrying and the fact that her flying was extremely resricted due to her multiple layers. "Here, I'll take the bags. You look like you're gonna pass out." Rainbow said grabbing Fluttershy's bags. Fluttershy squeeked a "Thank you" to her as the weight was lifted from her back. "Yah know you don't need to bring this much stuff right? My parents always bring extra clothes." Rainbow told her. "That's only because you kept forgetting to bring clothes." Fluttershy said. "Besides what if they didn't bring enough?" Rainbow wrapped a hoof around her yellow friend. "You're such a worry wort Flutters. What would you ever do without me?" Rainbow asked, giving her a noogie. "Yeah what would I EVER do without you Rainbow." Fluttershy joked rolling her eyes. "Hey Rainbow Dash!" The two pegasi heard a young voice call out. The two looked to see a small orange pegasus filly on the ground. "Hey where you two goin'?" She asked. "Oh hey Scoots. Me and Fluttershy here are headed out to Cloudsdale for Hearth's warming." Rainbow told her number one fan. "Cool. I was just running to the store and thought I'd see what you two were doing." Scootaloo told them. "What happened to your friends? I would have thought you'd be with them." Fluttershy said. "Oh. Well, both Apple bloom and Sweetie Belle are away for the holidays this year." Scootaloo said frowning slightly. "But that gives me more time to spend with my dad! He comes back from gaurd duty every year to check up on me and mom." "Well I hope you have a good time with your dad." Rainbow told Scootaloo. "We, however, need to get to Cloudsdale. I'll see yah around!" Rainbow and Fluttershy started to fly away. "You two too!" Scootaloo shouted as she waved. "See you later Rainbow!" Rainbow and Fluttershy waved before they disappeared into the sky. A little while later... "Hey I can see the house right there!" Rainbow shouted pointing to the house of her childhood. "Come on Fluttershy! Everyone is waiting for us!" The two landed on the front step and Rainbow knocked on the door. "I'll get it!" A stallion's voice called out from inside. The door swung open to reveal a light purple coated stallion with a similar Rainbow mane. "Dashie! It's good to see you!" Rainbow Blaze said giving his daughter a hug. "Thanks pops. But you don't need to be so mushy." Rainbow said hugging back. "How's mom?" "She's great. She's inside right now making dinner." Blaze let go of his daughter and noticed a familiar yellow pegasus. "Ah Fluttershy it's good to see you. Always the quiet one. Well come in, come in." Blaze welcomed them in. "Thank you Mr Blaze." Fluttershy said entering the cloud house. The two were instantly greeted by a purple coated mare with a puffy pink mane and the same colored eyes as Rainbow. "Rainbow, Fluttershy, It's good to see you two again." The mare pulled the two into a hug. "How have you two been?" "Hey mom, I've been doing awesome! I got to perform with the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow told her. "Oh I'm so happy for you!" Rainbowshine said giving her daughter another hug. "And how about you Fluttershy, anything interesting?" She asked turning to Fluttershy. "Oh I'm doing lovely miss Rainbowshine." Fluttershy said smiling. "Oh but um where are my parents and brother?" "Yes them. They are meeting up with Soarin's dad and are going to be here shortly." Blaze said joining the three mares in the living room. "Wait they're usually here by now." Rainbow stated. "What's taking them so long?" "Oh Soarin's dad is bringing his famous spicy bean dip. You know how long it takes for him to get it just right." Shine told Dash. "Wait Soarin's dad is bringing the bean dip?! Yes! I love that stuff!" Rainbow shouted. "Is that the sound of an annoying little sister I hear?" A male voice called from upstairs. "You know it is!" Rainbow shouted to her older brother upstairs. Rainbow climbed the stairs to see Rainbow Blitz sitting on the bed in his old room. Blitz held his infant son in his hooves as he tried to rock the colt to sleep. "Did yah miss me?" Dash asked. "Damn it Dash. You always wake the baby when you're here." Blitz said holding his baby Rainbow Prism. "Aw he's fine with it. Little prisy loves me." Rainbow said as Prism took Rainbow's hoof and stuck it in his mouth. "And watch your mouth around the baby." Dash said lightly slapping her brother with her free hoof. Prism laughed seeing Blitz get slapped. "Great. He can't even think for himself yet and he's siding with you." Blitz complained. "See, the kid knows what's up." Rainbow laughed. "It's good to see you again Blitz." "Yeah you too." Blitz said pulling Dash into a hug. "Why is everybody so huggy today?" Rainbow asked. "So is Fluttershy here?" Blitz asked completely ignoring his sister's comment. "Oh yeah she's still down stairs. She's still talking to mom and pops." Rainbow told him. "So, when do I get to take this little one out for a test flight?" Rainbow asked grabbing Prism from Blitz's hooves and raising the colt up to look at him. Prism smiled and laughed at the silly pony holding him. "When I'm sure Prism won't end up half-way through a wall." Blitz said taking Prism back. "When you were a kid we practically had to keep you on a leash to stop you from jumping off anything remotely high." "Aw but the kid will have so much fun." Rainbow said fake pouting. "When you have your own kids then you can let them get as many concussions as you want." Blitz said jokingly. Dash was about to say something but was interrupted by Prism yawning loudly. Prism curled up to Blitz and fell asleep. "Well now that he's asleep we can-" Blitz was whispering when a voice shouted. "Dashie! I'm here!" The voice came from downstairs. Then Prism woke right back up. Needless to say he wasn't to happy and decided to express that by crying. "Soarin!" Rainbow shouted flying down the stairs and leaving Blitz in the room by himself. "Dash wait!" Blitz called out... but she was already gone. "Damn it Dash" He said trying to rock Prism back to sleep. Rainbow ran down the stairs and tackled the visitor. "Hey Soarin!" Rainbow said sitting on her favorite stallion's stomache. "Hi Soarin." Fluttershy said popping her head into his view. "Hey girls. How's it going?" Soarin asked, his breathing restricted. > Filler with some bonus story stuff > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Thanks for deciding to show up." Dash said snarkily. "I'm not that late. Besides, I have a reason for being late." Soarin said smugly. "That's more than I can say for-" Dash interupted the stallion beneath her with a kiss. "I missed you." Dash said lifting her head back up. "I missed you too. But could you please get off me? I kinda need to breathe." Soarin replied. "Fine, fine." She said climbing off Soarin. "What next? Do you need food and water too?" Dash joked. "Pfft. Whatever," Soarin scoffed. "Hey Flutters, it's good to see you." "Yeah, it's good to see you too." Fluttershy said as Soarin pulled her in for a hug. "So, what's up with you two?" he asked releasing Fluttershy. "Oh my Celestia it was so awesome! You know the CMC I told you about back at Canterlot? Well they finally got their Cutie Marks, and they're awesome!" Rainbow said excitedly. "Really? That's awesome! With what you told me about them, I thought they'd never get those marks." "Honestly, I think everyone thought the same. Oh and me and Scoots entered in the sisterhooves social and utterly destroyed the competition!" Rainbow boasted. "I swear that kid is amazing." "Awesome! Anything else?" "Well nothing really. Anything else worth metioning I already told you about at Canterlot." Rainbow told her. "Aren't you forgetting you're little outburst?" Fluttershy spoke up. Rainbow covered Fluttershy's mouth with her hoof and quickly stated, "Oh you must be confused Fluttershy." Rainbow turned and gave Fluttershy an angry look. "Nothing else happened." Fluttershy calmly removed Rainbow's hoof from her mouth and replied, "but wasn't there that whole issue with you trying to stop winter?" "Wait what?" Soarin said in confusion. "Sorry it seems that me and Flutters here have some talking to do." Rainbow pushed Fluttershy with her to a nearby room to talk. Rainbow had an embarrassed look on her face as she did so. "I'll be out in a minute." She said before closing the door. Soarin, confused by the situation, just decided to see what the others were doing. Soarin wandered a bit and passed by Dash's parents and greeted them. Soarin then walked upstairs to see Blitz, still holding the little colt. "Hey Blitz how ya-" Soarin was immediately interrupted by Blitz shushing him. Soarin did as told and watched Blitz place Prism in the crib. "Let's talk outside." Blitz mouthed. Soarin shook his head and exited the room with Blitz behind him. "Just got him to sleep huh?" Soarin asked. "Actually, he was asleep until you showed up. I finally got him back to sleep." Blitz said sighing. "Whoops sorry. Guessing the single parent life isn't treatin' you well." "No, not at all. You have no idea how hard it is to raise a foal on your own. Not to mention, his mother refuses to pay foal support so I have barely enough money to scrape by." Blitz said sadly. He looks back at the room he just left. "But, I just love Prism so much I can't part with him." "You know you can ask for help. You've got your parents, you've got Dash, Flutters, and you've got me. So stop sulking about the baby and let's party! I haven't seen you in what a year? Let's go while Prism is still asleep." Soarin said attempting to pull Blitz off the ground. "You'll really help me with Prism?" "Why the hell wouldn't I? We've been friends since we were colts. Now, get up and let's celebrate Hearth's warming!" Soarin finally managed to pull the stallion off the ground. The two stallions started to walk down the stairs but Soarin, of all ponies stopped them. "Wait, there is something I wanted to tell you. I have a certain present for your sister and I want your advice." "Shoot," Blitz said calmly. Soarin nodded and proceeded to take a small box out off his sadle bags. Blitzs recognized that type of box and knew instantly what Soarin intended to do. "You're going to propose to Dash?!" He said louder than expected. "Shush!" Soarin said putting his hoof to his mouth. "Yes but don't be so loud. Well possibly, I don't know. Do you think it's time?" Blitz gave Soarin a cynical look and a raised eyebrow. "Seriously? You've been secretly dating for 5 years now. We were worried you'd never end up doing it." "Really?" Soarin asked. Blitz nodded. "Okay yeah whatever, going back to my original question, when should I do it? Should I do it today or tomorrow? What will make it more special?" "Hmmm" Blitz rubbed his chin. "For now, keep it a secret. Meet back here after the race." "Got it" Soarin nodded and with that, the two pegasi trotted down the stairs to enjoy Hearth's warming. > Race time! (Wait an update?!) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, this was it! The big family race! Rainbow thought to herself as she stood at the starting line with her family and Soarin. Come on! Let's bring home a win! It was the next morning and everypony was getting ready for the first event. the annual family race. Fluttershy's family arrived a few minutes after Soarin and his dad yesterday. She looked over at Soarin and his dad doing their ritual stretches. Soarin's dad's coat was a slightly darker shade of blue than Soarin and his mane was more well kept. His mane was starting to grey and he had dark brown eyes. Despite being around the same age as her father, Soarin's dad aged a lot worse and looked a lot older than he was. Soarin noticed Dash looking at him and his dad and waved. Then he started mouthing the words, "you're going down," to her. Rainbow jump gave him a cockey grin and turned back to her family. The others participating were her father and her brother, as mom had to watch Prism and she usually sat the race out to begin with. Rainbow saw Fluttershy's mom sitting off on the sidelines with her mother just chatting away. Rainbow internally gagged when she saw Zephyr making googley-eyes at her. The Shy's also rarely joined the race, except that one time that Zephyr tried but gave up a quarter of the way through. Whatever. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. Rainbow thought as she refocused her efforts on her stretches. The race was in about a minute and she needed to be ready if she wanted to beat Soarin. Last year he really gave her a run for her money and, even then, she barely won. This year was only going to be harder. Soarin was a Wonderbolt and was getting better every day, but Rainbow was no slouch either. She was ready. "Okay everypony! Let's get to our places," Rainbow heard her mother call out. It's time. Rainbow thought as she got ready. "Okay everypony. Like always, I want a nice clean race. No bumping into eachother, no dirty tricks and Rainbow," she said looking at Rainbow directly. "No tornadoes this year." "Oh come on that was one time." Rainbow said jokingly. Rainbowshine just shook her head and looked down. "In any case I just want to reiterate, this is a friendly race, not a competitive race. We are long past those days." Rainbowshine looked at her husband and Soarin's dad as if to make sure they knew exactly what she meant. "Well, now that that's over, fliers, get your wings ready! On your marks. Get set! GO!" And just like that, all five racers zoomed off at the same time. Rainbow heard the cheers of her mother and her friend's family which only made her want to win more. She flapped her wings even harder and zipped past her brother and father. She looked ahead to see that she was catching up to Soarin's dad and passed him with ease. Now was the hard part, trying to get past Soarin. Sure she could catch up to him but he always somehow knew how to out maneuver her. She saw the light blue pegasis dead ahead of her and tried to zoom right past him. That didn't work out to well as he swiftly dodged out of the way and sped up as he easily caught up to her. "Ah Rainbow, you're as predictable as ever," Soarin said flying right next to her. "What was that?! I couldn't here you over the sound of me winning!" She replied speeding up. Soarin instantly adjusted to the new speed and this time passed Rainbow outright, sticking his tongue out as he did so. Rainbow tried to get past him but Soarin kept moving in her way, easily predicting her moves before she did them. "Face it Rainbow, you can't beat me this year. I know you too well," Soarin said as he blocked her again. "Soarin, I'm gonna kill you after this race!" Rainbow said in frustration. "What was that?! I can't hear you over the sound of me winning!" He shouted back mimicing her words earlier. "Oh you are SO gonna get it tonight," Rainbow whispered under her breath. She had to think fast. She could see the finish line just up ahead and Soarin was still in front of her. Quick Rainbow, think of something! Rainbow thought franticly, trying to find a way to pass Soarin. Ah-hah! That's it! Rainbow smiled as she readied herself for what she was about to do. Rainbow opened her wings out losing a lot of speed and putting some distance between her and Soarin. When she got far enough she flapped her wings extra hard to fly right over Soarin's head. Soarin tried to block her but wasn't quick enough and she flew right over him. When Rainbow got in front of Soarin she used her wings to slow him down while simultaneously speeding herself up. Soarin tried to recover but it was too late, she had already crossed the finish line. "And the winner is Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy's dad shouted out as Rainbow crossed the finish line. Rainbow landed and turned around to see Soarin, dumbstruck, looking at her with his mouth wide open. "What was that about being predictable?" Rainbow asked with a big smile on her face. Before Soarin could speak Rainbow put her hoof up to his mouth. "Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah. Now what do you have to say for yourself?" "I've got a number of things to say but my dad told me to not say anything if I didn't have anything nice to say," Soarin replied. "I know I know you can only blame yourself," she said dramatically. "Why are we dating again?" Soarin asked. "Because you know you love my ego as much as I do," she said kissing him on the cheek. She turned around and sat on the cloud floor waiting for the rest of the racers to cross the finish line. Soarin smiled as he looked at the mare in front of him. It was true he did love her and that ego much more than she knew. Soon she would find out just how deeply he loved her on Hearths Warming Day when he would change the tradition. > The short chapter before the end > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Soarin sat as he watched his brother-in-law, to be, pant furiously, trying to catch his breath. Blitz had come in dead last, like usual, this year, but he seemed to be even more out of shape than usual. "Really dude?" Soarin asked with a confused look on his face. "The race wasn't even that long. How are you so out of breath?" "Shut... up," Blitz said looking back at him through heavy breathes. "I'm sorry... I'm not a freak like you and Dash. I have a kid now, so I don't get a lot of time to practice. Not to mention the fact that we don't get to wear any clothing during this stupid race," he said, finally catching his breath. Soarin shook his head. "Sooooo, you said you had an idea?" Soarin asked. "Yeah. You were wondering when you should propose to Dash right? Well, my idea was, when all the gifts are open, you pop the question and BOOM! The mare is yours," Blitz said enthusiastically. "Really? Just like that? I'm not too sure about this. Do you really think Dash will fall for my mushy words and awkward proposal?" "Come on dude, my sister loves you more than she'd ever admit. She'll accept your proposal no matter what you do!" Blitz wrapped his hoof around Soarin. "Believe me. If there's one thing I know, it's my sister." Soarin looked at Blitz to see the sincerity in his eyes. Blitz had always been a good friend and wingman. Heck, if it wasn't for him, Dash and Soarin wouldn't be together. "Thanks Blitz, you're a true friend." "Yeah I know. Now, let's get going. We don't want you to be late for raising the flag with Dash," He said trotting off in the direction of the family house. "Besides, it's freezing out here." Blitz said as his body finally cooled down from the race. "Wait for me!" Soarin said chasing after his friend. * * * "And the flag goes to Rainbow Dash this year!" Rainbowshine announced loudly to the small group of ponies that were her family, " and because he came in second this year, Soarin will be joining her in raising the hearthswarming flag!" The ponies around her clapped their hooves together as the two ponies flew over to the flagpole. The two ponies looked at each other before looking at Rainbowshine. Shine handed the flag to Rainbow Dash, who hooked it up to the rope on the pole. Together the two ponies used the rope to raise the flag. The flag flapped in the breeze as the ponies beneath it stared in awe. "Now that the flag is up, it's time to open the gifts!" Rainbowshine said. "Follow me to the tree please." As everypony followed Shine, Dash looked back to Soarin. "Ready for your gift Soar? I got you something EXTRA special this year," she said biting her lip and smiling evilly. Soarin blushed at the very idea of whatever it was that was getting Dash so excited. "Now you're scaring me," he told her. Dash giggled. "Oh don't worry too much. You'll see." Soarin gulped. He watched as she headed on forward to the present room. "Okay Soarin, now's the big day!" Soarin whispered to himself. He took the small box out of his bag again and looked at it a little. "Now's no time to back out! Let's do this!" And with that he charged into the room, ready to face his destiny. > Yay! Ship time! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rainbow Dash gazed at the tree, stunned by how many presents there was this year. So many little boxes wrapped up with paper and string. This was definitely Dash's favorite holiday, not just because of the presents but because of what they meant. They were signs that showed that the people she called family cared enough to spend time, effort and money on her. Dash was so caught up with admiring the tree, that she was caught unaware as her brother stuck a red and white santa hat on her head. Before she could even react, Blitz also threw a blue and white striped scarf around her neck. "You're handing out the presents this year sis," Blitz said, in a mocking tone. "Oh damn it," Dash swore, under her breathe. Dash walked over and picked out the first present and read the name on the small package. "We got one for little Prisy," she called out and handed it to Blitz. "Okay, next up." * * * Dash was getting a little fed up with this whole gift giving routine. She still hadn't found her gift for Soarin and most of the presents were gone. "Okay, really?!" Dash mumbled to herself. Suddenly, her eyes detected as small green box with blue ribbons wrapping around it. "Found you!" "Found what, Dashie?" Soarin asked, looking at the evil grin on Dash's face. "Oh, I just found my present for you." Dash picked up the box and handed it to Soarin. "I think you'll really like them," she told him, smiling even wider. "Dash, what did you do?" Soarin asked, worried about what he'd find in the box. "Just open it and find out," Dash said turning around to the next gift in front of her. She watched intensely as he slowly opened the box. He pulled out one long Rainbow stocking. At first, he was a little confused. He looked at it up and down. He even tried it on his left hoof to see if there was anything special about it. Suddenly, a bunch of naughty images popped up in his head of him and Dash as he remembered one of the less conventional uses for stockings. His face lit up and he shoved the stocking back in the box. "They're for exactly what you think they're for," Dash whispered in his ear. Soarin's wings pomfed up and he couldn't put them back down. "Stop torturing the poor stallion. You might break him before he could even use those," Blitz called out. "Fine, fine. I'll keep going," Dash replied, turning back around to the gift in front of her. The tag said that the gift was for her and it was from Soarin. She decided to hand out the other present before she opened this one. The last gift was for Fluttershy and it was a sewing machine. Dash had decided to buy it for her because she would sometimes see Fluttershy sewing in her house when she was not helping the animals. Also, Dash kind of accidentally broke Fluttershy's other one. Finally, with all the presents handed out except one, Dash looked at the last gift. It had red wrapping paper and a yellow ribbon on it. She ripped it open to find a plain white box. She was shocked when she opened the box to find a smaller black box inside. It looked familiar. "Soarin, what's this?" Dash turned to Soarin. Soarin just took the little box out of the case and bowed before Rainbow. "Rainbow 'Danger' Dash, I have enjoyed every moment I've spent with you. We've flown together, we've cried together, we've done so much together. I want us to do everything together, for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?" Soarin opened the box to reveal a beautiful engagement ring. Various gasps were heard from around the room. Dash was quiet for a second. But when she finally did say something, it wasn't what Soarin was expecting. She started laughing. She was laughing so hard that she fell backwards on to the ground. Soarin got up, fearing she was going to say no, but stopped when Dash finally spoke through her laughter. "Oh my god Soarin! That was so cheesy!" She continued laughing. "So, is that a no?" Soarin asked, practically deflated. "No you big goof! How could I possibly turn you down! I never said I didn't like cheesy from my coltfriend," she said, recovering from her little laughing fit. "Now get over here and kiss me you goofball!" Soarin gladly obliged, pulling the mare of his dreams into his hooves and a passionate kiss. It was the best kiss they've ever shared because now, they had agreed to be with each other forever. The kiss was followed by uproarious cheers from their family and friends. The kiss felt like it went on forever. The two ponies separated but held each other in a loving embrace. Dash looked in those big green eye in front of her. Soarin somehow looked even more handsome than before. "Dashie, I love you," Soarin said quietly to her. "I know. I love you too," she said back before pulling him into another deep kiss. The end.