Chapter 4 – One More Visit

“Hey Mustang! How are the veggies coming along?” Turbo Dash asks his newly appointed sous-chef as he starts sautéing the onions and garlic in a frying pan.

“All chopped and ready to be cooked, Turbo!” Ford salutes to his head chef after laying down the chef’s knife aside.

It’s late in the afternoon, and Ford Mustang just finished his task of cutting the remaining vegetables after stacking the cutting board with a colorful, chopped variety of eggplants, bell peppers, squashes, and tomatoes. Together with Turbo Dash, they are making ratatouille as the main dish for Rainbow Dash’s birthday dinner.

“Not bad, Ford!” Turbo praises him. “You’re certainly quite a chef, aren’t you?”

“Speak for yourself, Turbo!” Ford comments right back. “You can probably give some high-class chefs a run for their money!”

“Well, when you raise an aspiring filly like my Dashie, cooking meals such as this tends to become a must-have for any single father such as myself!”

“Speaking of which, where is Rainbow?” Ford asks as he looks around the room. “I haven’t seen her in awhile.”

“Oh, she’s… visiting somepony important today.” Turbo hesitates on his answer.

“Who?”

“...Her mother.”

Ford instinctively clamps his lips shut after the mention of Rainbow’s mother. In the midst of the disturbingly dead silence, the younger Pegasus keeps his uncomfortable gaze away from Turbo’s as the older Pegasus continues to stir up the soon-to-be-delectable dish.

“Ford?” Turbo breaks the silence gently.

“Uhh… y-y-yes?” he stammers in response.

“Could you pass me the eggplant and thyme?”

“Oh! S-sure!” Ford says startlingly as he separates the sliced eggplant from the large cutting board before passing the purple vegetable along with the thyme to Turbo. For the next step, the head chef adds the two ingredients to the frying pan before continuing his stirring.

“I don’t think Rainbow ever told you about her, did she?” Turbo inquires while he is still focused on his cooking.

“It… wasn’t my place to ask something like that from her.” Ford responds softly.

“It’s okay, Ford, and I appreciate that.” Turbo gently smiles at him.

“Is it… alright if I ask you then?”

“Go ahead, Ford.”

After a brief moment of hesitation, Ford finally asks, “What happened to Firefly?”

Turbo didn’t answer right away. He took a moment to compose himself before answering Ford’s question impassively, “She died during childbirth.”

“I’m… truly sorry, sir.” Ford says as best as he could to humbly offer his sympathies to Turbo. “I honestly can’t imagine how hard it was for both of you.”

In response, Turbo Dash just smiles and nods at Ford before going back to his cooking.

In a minute of unsettling quietness, Ford speaks once again, “May I ask just one more question?”

“Sure.”

“How did you manage into raising such a wonderful daughter all by yourself?”

Turbo takes a moment to think on his answer before he replies with uncertainty. “It’s… kind of hard for me to explain.”

“You don’t have to say anything--!” Ford tries to take back his previous question hastily.

“That’s not exactly what I meant, Ford.” Turbo chuckles a little at Ford’s confusion. “What I mean is that… it’s kind of difficult for me to describe it for you. How can I put this…? In a way… Firefly hasn’t truly disappeared from this world.”

“How so?”

“Because I kept her alive in my memories.” Turbo Dash smiles to himself softly before he reminisces his past to Ford.

“When Firefly died that day, I was truly a wreck with myself. My life felt so empty without her warming presence. I practically didn’t care just about anything since that unforgettable day.

Until one day, when I was wallowing in my own misery, I heard somepony else crying. I realized that it was my newly born daughter who was crying. Immediately, I rushed to her crib, and did my best to comfort my poor, baby girl. As she started to calm down, Dashie made the most adorable and beautiful smile I have ever did see. The way she was smiling at her daddy made me think back to all those wonderful memories I’ve shared with Firefly. Just seeing that tender smile helped me rekindled my appreciation for life once more. And from that smile, I saw a little resemblance of my dear, sweet Firefly. I swore to myself on that day, both to Rainbow and to Firefly, that not only was I going to be the best father for our little girl, but I was going to keep my memories of Firefly alive and well no matter what!

And so, life began anew! I shaped myself up! I took on more responsibilities than I could have ever had imagined such as cooking, cleaning, and financing! I was so determined to not let my Firefly down after all she has done by bring forth our newfound bundle of joy into my life!

Eventually, when Dashie was a little older, she asked the inevitable question on what happened to her mommy. Reluctantly, I told her the truth about Firefly. At first, she was really sad, not just from the fact that her mom was gone, but she believed that it was her fault that Firefly passed away. I made certain that Rainbow understood that it was never her fault, and that Firefly would give anything to have her brought into this world because of how much she loved her so much. As a way to make her feel better, I would tell her stories all relating with her mother: how we met, what were her greatest accomplishments in her lifetime, how we fell in love, and how much we wanted to start our own family together. Soon enough, it became one of our favorite pastimes together before we went to bed as I regale to my Lil’ Dashie on more and more stories about her mother.”

“It certainly was a lot of hard work for both of us to get by without Firefly, but in the end, it was well worth it to see what an astounding mare Rainbow Dash has become now!” Turbo Dash concludes with a fulfilling smile.

After attentively listening to Turbo’s story, Ford just smiles warmly to himself as a few tears escape from his watery eyes. “That was… quite beautiful, Turbo.” he says to the older Pegasus while wiping away his tears. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

“Hey, now! Why are you crying all of a sudden?” Turbo teases with a small chuckle as he rubs something from his eyes as well. “If you start crying, you’re gonna get me crying too!”

“I’m… not crying!” Ford retorts with a chuckling smile as he continues to rub away his remaining tears. “It’s… those blasted onions! They’re stinging my eyes!”

“Y-Yeah! Damn onions! Why do we even eat these things if all they ever do is make us our eyes watery whenever we cut them?!”

Ford takes awhile to come up with his answer, until eventually he finally says, “Because they taste so good with just about anything we cook them in?”

Turbo startlingly stares at Ford before he laughs out-loudly and responding with a grin, “Damn right they do!” The two stallions share a good laugh together before they reassume with their cooking. For their next step, Ford hands over the sliced tomatoes, peppers, and squashes to Turbo, and the self-appointed head chef places them in the frying pan before stirring them.

“Say, Ford…” says Turbo Dash after adding the required spices to the dish.

“Yeah?”

“Why don’t you go see Rainbow Dash right now? I’ve got it from here.”

Ford is surprised to hear Turbo suggest that. He isn’t sure if that’s a good idea or not. “I… I don’t know, Turbo.” he responds uncertainly. “Wouldn’t she want to be by herself for now?”

“Trust me, Mustang.” Turbo turns his head before giving Ford an approving smile. “She would really appreciate it if you were there with her.”

Ford takes a while to think about this, but eventually with a soft smile, he nods and says to Turbo, “Okay then… where may I find her?”

After being given directions, Ford Mustang swiftly makes his way to Rainbow Dash’s current location under the partly-cloudy sky as the divine rays of light ranging between yellow and orange shine through the purple clouds. Luckily, it isn’t that far from Turbo’s house compared to Cloudsdale.

In the corner of the neighborhood region, Ford spots his destination: the memorial garden. This place is far different than what Ford has expected for a traditional cemetery. From what he has heard from Turbo Dash, Pegasi don’t usually bury their dead on the ground. Tradiationally, they would cremate them, whether it’s conducted during the memorial service or not, and build statues in honour of them. Usually cemeteries would creep Ford out initially, but this memorial garden has a… welcoming presence to it.

After strolling around the garden while glancing at the beautifully crafted statues along the way, Ford finally finds his marefriend. In a more-opened area of the cloudy garden, Rainbow Dash sits on her hindquarters as she looks up at a graceful statue of a Pegasus mare that looks just like Rainbow, except the statue has a Cutie Mark that features two simple lightning bolts on it. On top of the pedestal, there is a ceramic bowl holding a flickering, pink fire right in front of the standing statue. With his sharp eyes from afar, Ford can read what’s on the pedestal’s golden plaque:

Ford smiles to himself after reading that nice and short memoir. He thinks about approaching Rainbow, but he decides to wait on that when he starts to hear Rainbow saying something to the statue representing her departed mother.

“…and then dad had the nerve to show those baby pictures of me to my coltfriend while I was away! Ugh! Can you believe that! I was so embarrassed!” Rainbow Dash complains before smiling to herself. “Of course, I’m sure you would gush over them too, huh?”

“Still, with the way things have turned out, I’m happy that dad and Ford are getting along quite well with each other. They’re at home right now preparing a big dinner together in honor of my birthday this week! Can you believe it?! Two of my favorite cooks are collaborating on a meal together just for me!”

“Speaking of which, I had a really great day with my birthday yesterday! I finished off the last day of our Wonderbolts tour in a most spectacular performance, but what really made my day special was when Ford Mustang managed to come and see me after the show! I… I just couldn’t believe it! I was so surprised and happy to see him, that I… well… I better not go over the explicit details with you!” Despite the great amount of distance from each other, the two Pegasi share an embarrassing blush as they quickly recall their night together yesterday. “Either way, having Ford being there for me on my birthday was the best surprise I could have ever asked for!”

“After that…” Rainbow Dash continues. “...Ford and I went out to meet with the rest of the Wonderbolts so that they can treat me to dinner! And just like Spitfire promised, the servers had to sing that obnoxious birthday song when they brought out my dessert!” she groans at this reminder. “I pleaded to them that I would gladly tip them if they didn’t sing for me, but Spitfire countered it by doubling what I was going to offer! It was a lost cause, but they did serve a pretty good cake over there!” She shakes her head while chuckling to herself before she continues her reminiscing.

“You know, when one of my coworkers told me to make a wish on my birthday candle, I think back to all those candles I’ve blew in the past. I could have wished for a lot of things back then. Most of the things I already have right now: best friends, becoming a Wonderbolt, and surprisingly enough, having my special somepony! But if there is one thing I will always wish for no matter how impossible it may be…” she admits as tears begin to flow uncontrollably out of her eyes. “…is that I always want to see you just for one time in my life. I just… want to tell you on how much I miss you so much, mommy! How much of an inspiration you are to me! How much I want to feel you in your tender hooves as you hug me closely! And just… to simply tell you… that I always love you for all that you have done for me! I just… I just…!”

As Rainbow struggles with the emotional dam that’s breaking up inside of her, Ford couldn’t bear it any longer to just sit by and watch her suffer alone. Quietly, he hovers right behind the grieving mare before making a soft landing. Instinctively, his big wings steadily wrap around Rainbow Dash as he pulls her closely to himself. Initially surprise by the gesture, she already knows whose gentle wings they belong to. She turns around to face him as her tearful eyes gaze into the sympathetic, stoic eyes of her coltfriend. They don’t need to say anything to each other as their eyes did all the talking for them. Without holding back, she continues pouring out her sorrow as she presses her face into Ford’s chest. Steady as a rock, he continues to embrace the weeping mare closely into his wings and fore hooves while he strokes her mane and back gently. Time is irrelevant as they continue holding into each other’s hooves, but that didn’t matter to Ford. He is willing to continuously comfort his anguished marefriend for as long as she likes. After an immeasurable amount of time, Rainbow slowly breaks their hug as she looks at her comforting coltfriend with watery yet gratifying eyes and a soft smile.

“Thanks, Ford. I… I really needed that.” she says to Ford as she wipes the tears away from her eyes.

Satisfied on doing a job well done, Ford leans forward to give a soft kiss on her forehead before saying to her, “Anything for you, my beautiful, blue angel.”

After her tears dry away, she begins showing off her usual, cheerful self before asking Ford, “So… how’s dinner coming along?”

“It’s going great!” he replies happily. “Everything should be ready in a couple of minutes!”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” she exclaims in hungry delight as she prepares her flight home. Surprisingly, she halts her takeoff as she turns around to face the statue. “Hang on! Just one more thing!” she says to Ford.

With a raised fore hoof, she kisses it lightly and places her hoof on the statue’s pedestal whilst she looks up at the carved face of her smiling mother.

“Don’t worry, mom. I’ll be sure to come by and visit you next time.”

After saying her goodbyes, Rainbow Dash walks past Ford as she prepares her takeoff once more. “Come on! I’ll race ya!” she grins at him before immediately kicking off from the clouds as she rockets to the sky.

Before he can try to catch her, Mustang turns his head around as he blankly looks at the statue of Firefly. After staring at it for a brief moment, he mutters softly, “I promise, Firefly. I’ll look after her no matter what.”

He stares at the statue for a bit longer before a hovering Rainbow Dash breaks him out of his trance by shouting out to him, “Yo, Mustang! What’s the hold up?! Dinner’s gonna get cold if you keep standing there like that!”

“Hey, what happened to a signal first?!” he retorts with a smile.

“You want a signal? Fine!” she responds sharply. “READYSETGO!”

After the rapid countdown, Rainbow speeds off into the sunset before Ford can even prepare his liftoff. With a chuckling smile and his head shaking at her shenanigans, he finally takes off as he hopes to give Rainbow a run for her money this time.