Chapter 13 – Appealing to the Gods

At the house of Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang, the latter is getting ready to leave so he meet up with Twilight Sparkle and the other two Princesses along with Discord for a very important meeting in Canterlot over the stallion’s accursed visions. While his wife is taking a nap on one of the couches in the living room, Ford silently sneaks toward the exit. But as he is about to grip the handle to the door, Rainbow calls out to him after waking up from her nap.

“Ford?”

Freezing in place, he turns around and greets her sleeping beauty in stuttering surprise, “Y-yes?”

“Are you going somewhere?” she asks as she hovers toward him.

“Oh, yeah. I’m just… going out for a visit today.” he answers awkwardly.

“Oh really? Well, who are you seeing?”

“Uhh… Twilight Sparkle. She has developed a great interest in my Draconian Magic, so she wants me to meet up with her at Canterlot and conduct some tests over there.”

“Hey, that sounds like fun.” she perks with an excited smile. “I’ll come with you.”

“NO!”

The alarming response causes Rainbow Dash to nearly jump out of her skin as Ford stands completely still with equally wide eyes as hers while he mentally wants to kick himself for that slip up. While Rainbow is still shocked bu the sudden outburst, Ford takes the moment to come up with something before he hastily explains himself with a toothy smile.

“Uhh… I mean… you don’t want to come along with me! It will completely bore you out of your mind! You know how Twilight is when it comes to science and stuff!” he adds with a weak chuckle. “Total snooze-fest!”

To Mustang’s relief, she complies to his excuse, but in an unusually quiet manner, “Yeah… I guess you’re right. But are you sure you don’t want some company anyway?”

“No thanks, Rainbow. I’m good as it is.”

“Oh… okay then.”

“Well, I’ll see you later.” And after giving her a quick kiss, Ford makes his way to the door in a leisure pace. But Rainbow has something else on her mind as she calls out to him once he reaches the door again.

“Mustang?”

“Hmm?”

“Am I… becoming a burden to you?”

Her troubling concern is enough to cause Ford to freeze in his tracks as he opens the door. Pushing his own agenda aside, he shuts the door before turning around to face his wife and is horrified to see such a sad look on her face. Unable to stand such a heartbreaking expression, he rushes to her and attempts to comfort Rainbow from her woes.

“N-no, of course not, Dashie! Why would you say that about yourself?”

“You just seem... rather distance for quite some time.” she states it in sincere sadness. “I hardly see you that much at home lately.”

With a comforting foreleg, he hugs his wife very closely as he reassures her in a tender tone, “I’m really sorry, Rainbow. I didn’t mean to make you feel so left out. I’ve been… very busy for a while. I’m just… trying to do whatever I can for you and for our foals.”

Eventually, Rainbow shifts into a tiny smirk before she says to him with a nod, “Alright, I get what you’re saying. Just don’t forget that your wife has needs too, you know.”

Happy to see her smiling once more, he inquires with a grin of his own. “Well, since I’ll be going to Canterlot, is there anything you would like for me to get while I’m over there?”

“Well… now that you mentioned it, I could go for some of those tasty sweets at their famous candy district.” she answers as she smacks her lips hungrily.

“Sure, anything in particular that might entice your taste buds?”

“Hmm… let’s see… maybe some fudge. No wait! Caramel! Oh, hang on… pralines! Definitely pralines! Ehh… on second thought… I’ll just stick with the fudge! Ooo… but which kind to have?!”

As the giddy mare goes over a list of various fudge flavors, Ford smiles to himself over Rainbow’s renewed liveliness and suggests to her, “How about I buy you a wide assortment of some of your favorites and you can eat them till your heart’s content?”

With a massive grin, she gives him a big hug and an appreciative kiss before she blissfully squeaks her approval, “Deal! Don’t keep me waiting now, you hear?”

“As you command, milady!” he chuckles while giving a bow before her.

“And say ‘hi’ to Twilight for me!” she adds as her husband exits out of the house.

“Will do!”

An hour later, Ford Mustang arrives at the kingdom of Canterlot. Eventually, he spots Princess Twilight Sparkle on the ground with a couple of her guards accompanying her as they wait outside the castle’s main entrance. From there, the Pegasus makes a graceful landing next to her, and the princess warmly greets him.

“Ford, I’m so glad that you are finally here!”

“Me too, Twilight! I certainly hope that we can finally solve this dilemma together!”

As they walk through the royal courtyard, Twilight asks delicately, “So… are you still getting those nightmares?”

“Sigh… yes.” he confirms dishearteningly. “Honestly, I don’t know how much more I can take of this. I’m still having trouble sleeping, and it’s even more difficult without disturbing Rainbow Dash as well. Even when I take naps throughout the day, these visions keep coming back to me.”

“Well once this is eventually resolved, then the visions should go away as well.” the purple Alicorn assures with a gentle smile. “Anyway, I’m sure that the Princesses along with Discord will be able to share some good news for a change!”

Renewed with a bright smile, he responds eagerly, “Well, let’s not keep them waiting!”

Once Ford and Twilight approach the large doors to the throne room, the armored Unicorns standing guard open the doors for them. Inside, the two ponies walk through the majestic corridor that is filled dozens of stained glass windows, which most of them depict the adventures of the Mane Six. There is even one stained glass window that features Ford Mustang’s triumph against Arrogon the Destroyer along with Pegasus’s allies. At the end of the walkway are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in their respective thrones. In addition, Discord is there in presence as he stands right in-between the two sisters.

“Welcome, Sir Ford Mustang.” Celestia greets with a pleasant smile. “Thank you for being here on our behalf.”

“Of course, your Majesty.” he replies modestly as he bows before them. “Thank you all for having me here today. So… I take it that you are all aware on what’s been going on?”

“Yes, that is correct. My sister told me and Discord on what has been plaguing you for a while and the three of us went into a great discussion over this grave matter.”

“Great.” he says with an eager smile. “So this means we have time to save Rainbow Dash before these visions come true, right?”

But as he expects a positive response, he is baffled by the Princesses and Discord’s silent reactions. Most of them avert their gazes away Ford’s as their deadpan faces barely show anything uplifting to the Pegasus’s plight.

“…Right?”

But once again, he is met with complete silence as Celestia, Luna, and Discord look at each other with great uncertainty until the dark blue Alicorn decides to speak up first despite mild hesitation. “Ford… you have to understand. We’ve… looked at this situation from every angle we can think of. But you see…”

Seeing how Luna is at a lost for words, Discord steps up and continues where she lefts off. “Without any clues as to the cause of her predetermined demise, especially if it falls under anything regarding with magic, we… have to determine it as… natural. And well…”

“We are unable to help you or Rainbow Dash at this point if she dies from natural causes.” Celestia finishes that sentence in a mild yet heartbreaking tone.

This unexpected news leaves the throne room in dead silence as Twilight Sparkle and Ford Mustang are utterly speechless over this disturbing information. Despite her faith in the Princesses, especially in Celestia, Twilight finds all of this inconceivable as there seems to be nothing anypony, not even the Princesses, can do to save one of her very best friends.

But before her emotions start to get the best of her, she turns her attention to Ford as she can only imagine that he is handling this even worse than herself. However, she is surprised to see the wide-eyed stallion expressing little to no emotions as he stares down at the extensive, red carpet.

Eventually, he speaks out his mind in a soft, monotone voice, “I… I… I don’t believe this…”

“I am so sorry, Ford.” Luna apologizes sincerely. “I really wish there was more we can--!”

But suddenly, he interrupts her in a sharp outburst, “No! I don’t believe this! I can’t believe that you three would simply give up and let Rainbow Dash die like that! Especially you, Discord!” he exclaims as he points his accusing fore hoof at the startled trickster. “You have the power to bend the very fabric of reality itself, and you wouldn’t even bother to lift a finger for her!”

In response, Discord meekly taps his forefingers together as he clarifies in an earnest yet timid tone, “I’m sorry, Ford. But not even I can tamper with the boundaries of life and death.”

But Ford scoffs at the Draconequus as he rebuts harshly, “Oh yeah, sure! You’re welcome to mess around with the laws of physics and nature! And yet surprisingly enough, the very concept of death completely eludes you! Ha! Some Master of Chaos you are!”

As Discord is literally feeling small from such backlash, Luna attempts to discipline the Pegasus for his unnecessary behavior, “Ford! That’s enough! I know that you are upset--!”

“Upset…? Upset?!” he exclaims before readdressing himself in mocking casualness, “Oh no, I’m not just upset… I’M BUCKIN’ FURIOUS!!” And he proves his point by slamming his forelegs hard onto the marbled floor. While his angry outburst did not damage the red carpet, the shockwave from his thunderous stomp did create a massive crack underneath the floor covering.

A bit scared by Mustang’s rare display of intense anger, Twilight tries to reason him softly, “Ford, please. There’s no need to take it out on anypony.”

“You’re right… I shouldn’t take it on anyone… except for YOU, Celestia!” he emphasizes his next accusation as he points at Celestia, which causes everyone present to go wide-eyed in shock. “You, who have lived for countless years and having a vast knowledge of magic, can’t so much as lift your sorry flanks off of that cushiony seat of yours and actually do something worthwhile for a change! I mean, think about it! She sends six mares to go on these extremely dangerous missions, and all she needs to do is kick back and relax while the real heroes do all of the dirty work for her!”

In the midst of the confrontation scene at play, Discord, who is just as petrified as Luna and Twilight, quietly mutters to himself, “Ooh… this won’t end well.”

Then, with a snap of his finger, he conjures up a handbook with a mushroom cloud depicted on its cover. After putting on his small reading glasses, he flips through several pages as he skims through them for the passage he is looking for.

“Let’s see here… ah-ha! Here it is! In case of a solar flare that may be caused by Princess Celestia or any one of her darker incarnations that’s equivalent to Nightmare Moon, use one of the following selections as a means of an emergency shelter. Trenches… Bunkers… Vaults. Ooo! The fans would get a kick out of this!” he lightly chuckles to himself.

Meanwhile, Ford carries on with his rant against the thunderstruck Celestia. “But then again… none of this really matters to you, does it? After all, our short, fragile lives are practically meaningless compared to yours! Why should you bother to waste your precious time and save one of your loyal subjects from their imminent deaths when you can just easily replace them once they’re gone from this world?! Huh?!”

As Mustang vents out his passionate fury against the Princess of the Sun, his body impulsively radiates a golden aura of his Draconian Magic. Upon seeing the stallion glowing intensely as he crouches in an aggressive stance, Celestia finally shifts her expression into a piercing glare and stands up straight before stomping down the steps.

Along with Twilight Sparkle and Luna, Discord is deeply alarmed by the possibility of a physical confrontation, and he firmly closely his personal survival handbook before making up his mind. “Okay, pop culture reference it is!”

In a flash, Discord gathers up the other two princesses and flies a good distance away from the two glaring powerhouses. In speedy, cartoon fashion, the Master of Chaos constructs a colossal hatch labeled “STABLE 2” right on top. With no time to lose, Discord flings the two mystified Alicorns into his makeshift fallout shelter and slams the vault shut once he quickly enters inside himself. Once inside, a periscope rises up as Discord’s eyes pop out of its lens to observe the intensifying situation from a now-secured location.

In the meantime, Ford and Celestia are engaging in an intense staring contest as they wait for each other to make the first move. As the glaring princess looks down at the scowling Pegasus, she takes a moment to close her eyes and draws a deep breath before she exhales it gently and reopening her eyes to display a much softer expression.

And in a firm yet surprisingly calm manner, Celestia finally comes up with her response to the fuming stallion, “And if I do have to power to save somepony from death, won’t others before her deserve a second chance in life as well?”

This counterargument clearly catches Ford off-guard as he begins to ponder on that one question. The first thing that comes to mind are AJ’s parents. How much it would make so much of a difference if they were ever brought back to life to see not only Applejack and Big Macintosh, but also Apple Bloom, who has grown up so much since their passing and hardly has any memories of them.

But then, his contemplating shifts to another deceased pony, Firefly, the mother of Rainbow Dash. He remembers that heartrending incident from his first visit of Rainbow’s father, Turbo Dash, where he overheard Rainbow’s grief at a local graveyard on how much she misses her mother so much since the day she died during childbirth. The fact that Rainbow may suffer the same fate as her mother is frightfully eerie once he notices the similarity. Either way, the thought on how there are others who have suffered the lost of their loved ones snaps Ford out of his needless outrage, and he breaks down into tears while his magical aura disperses.

“Princess… I…! I’m so sorry!” he weeps heavily as he plops his haunches onto the floor. “I was being selfish, and I spoke out of line. I just… I just… I just want to save her.”

Without looking up to see Celestia’s reaction, he feels a strong yet gentle wing pulling him closely towards the white Alicorn Princess as she gently reassures the sobbing Pegasus while warmly embracing him, “Ssshh… no need for that, dear. Just let it all out.”

Within the comfort of the kindhearted princess, Mustang complies and clings on to her chest like a son seeking desperate consolation from his mother. In the midst of Ford’s sobbing, Twilight, Luna, and Discord peek out of the vault as they verify that the situation has not escalated as badly as they thought it would be once they see the touching scene in front of them.

After calming down from his sniveling, he looks up and asks Celestia in a pitiful tone, “Princess, may I ask you something?”

“Of course, Ford.” she nods with that sweet, motherly smile of hers.

“How do you go through all of this… heartbreak… especially for someone like you?”

A bit surprised by such a curious question at first, she replies in her ever so calm voice with a small yet earnest smile. “I won’t lie to you, Ford. I have made friends from countless generations, and each one of their passings is as painful as the last. But despite going through that never-ending cycle, I’ve always manage to move forward without ever forgetting about them, so long as I keep them alive in my memories and in my heart.”

And she demonstrates her point by placing her armored fore hoof over her chest, where her heart is located. Ford mimics her gesture and he takes a moment to listen to the beats of his heart, which has given him a moment to finally calm down after his tantrum and breakdown. And after a brief moment of silence, Celestia continues in a more solemn and sympathetic tone.

“I’m sorry that our answers aren’t what you were seeking from us, Ford. But I promise you, if there is anything we can do for Rainbow Dash in the midst of her pregnancy, please do not hesitate to ask for any favors from us.”

Finally, a tiny smile shows itself on Ford’s face as he expresses his humble gratitude for the benevolent princess, “Of course. Thank you so much for your time, Princess Celestia.”

With the coast clear, Discord swings the hatch open to his personal vault and pouts lightheartedly while resting his chin on the palm of his right claw, “Oh, poo. What a waste of a perfectly good fallout shelter. Sigh… and here I was hoping we might do a proper crossover once an apocalypse settles in.”

“Oh come on, Discord.” Twilight Sparkle dismisses his claim with a nervous chuckle. “Princess Celestia wouldn’t go that far to do something so rash.”

But then the giggling jester breaks into that less-than-reassuring smirk, as he pokes fun at her whilst he pinches the younger Alicorn’s cheek, “Oh Twilight, you naivety is simply a-dork-able!” As the unamused Twilight grumbles lightly with an immense frown from Discord’s teasing, the tall trickster turns to the other bunkered princess and asks, “Princess Luna, do remember that awful day when we decided to pull a prank on one of Tia’s cakes?”

Upon that grim reminder, Luna face-hoofs herself and groans in response, “Don’t even remind me! Ugh! I can’t believe you talked me into that!”

Baffled by what they were hinting at, Twilight inquires in a panicky state, “What in Equestria did you two do to her?!”

A bit hesitant to tell the younger Alicorn Princess at first, Luna answers in a slightly nervous tone, “Let’s just say… we all learn a valuable lesson when it comes to getting in the way between my sister and her precious sweets.” And the surprisingly scared-stiff Discord agrees to that with a hasty nod.

A while later, Twilight Sparkle, who has accompanied Ford Mustang to a local candy shop after their meeting, has just received her massive purchase of an assortment of fudge, and she pays the confectioners handsomely for their service. Afterwards, she uses her magic to levitate her delectable gift to her absent-minded Pegasus friend.

“Here you go, Ford.” she gets her attention warmly.

“Oh, uhh… thank you, Twilight.” he response with a humble smile as he accepts the sweets from her. “But you didn’t need to pay all of this for me.”

“Of course I do. It’s the least I can do for you and Rainbow. I hope that she’s like them.”

“Trust me, she’s going to love them!” he reassures with a chuckling grin. “Heck, I may not get a chance to lay a hoof on them before she eats them all herself!”

They have a good laugh, but that is unfortunately short-lived as they share a dreadful silence over the unfulfilled meeting they just had with the Alicorn Sisters and Discord. In the beginning, they are certain that they can save Rainbow Dash from such a cruel fate if they turn to the most powerful beings on the planet, but not even the almighty trinity can aid them now.

As they slowly walk toward the kingdom’s main entrance, Twilight eventually speaks up first in a trembling, cheerless voice, “Ford… I’m sorry. I didn’t expect that it would turn out this way.”

Composed to the best of his abilities, Mustang shakes his head and replies softly in disheartenment, “It’s not your fault, Twilight. I’m the one who should be sorry for snapping at Celestia and everyone else like that.”

“…So who else can we turn to if not the Princesses or Discord?”

“Sigh… I don’t know.” he answers with great uncertainty whilst he aimlessly looks up at the sky. “I wish Hindel was still alive though. He could provide some answers to my Draconian Magic as well as these visions.”

“Oh, I wish I can help you out with this…” she adds in a dejected voice. “…but I don’t have much knowledge when it comes to that kind of field of magic. Not even from my own experience when I raised Spike ever since he was a hatchling.”

From their talk over Draconian Magic, some inspiration strikes Ford like lightning as this stroke of brilliance leaves him thunderstruck while Twilight observes him with puzzlement and concern. Gradually, he breaks into a small, yet hopeful smile as he may have come up with a last ditch effort to save Rainbow Dash’s life.

“Maybe… there is someone else I can turn to instead!” he states with a growing smile before turning his head rapidly to face the startled princess. “But first, I need to ask you something. Have you and the others come up with a date for Dashie’s foal shower?”

A bit taken back by Ford’s sudden confidence, Twilight then informs him, “Yes, we have. It will be two weeks from now. Why?”

“Then that’s when I will make my move and seek out the only one who can help me at this point!” he confirms with a grin before making his request with grave importance. “Twilight, I hate to ask you this, but I need you and the girls to keep the foal shower going for as long as possible for Rainbow Dash until I get back. I’ll try to finish my visit as soon as I can.”

After a brief moment to give his request some more thought, Twilight agrees with a considerate smile, “Okay, Ford. I understand. But if I may ask, who exactly are you referring to?”

“…Wagner the Inferno Dragon King.”

Author's Notes:

Before I published this story, I would add something to the Author's Notes for each chapter I completed. Recently, I realized that I forgot to write something this chapter's Notes, so I figure I would take the time to address something that's been bugging me since the story's premiere:

Stars Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

When "The Wonderful Life of Ford Mustang" was first Featured, I received a surprising amount of negativity, far more so than even my 1st story, "The Arrival of Ford Mustang." And I don't believe that most of it comes from how my OC is named after a car, or the fact that this is another HiE story. I believe the majority of those dislikes come from how I wrote the story's Long and Short Descriptions. Apparently, when I wrote about Ford Mustang receiving visions during Rainbow Dash's pregnancy, a lot of readers automatically thought about Episode III and assumed the worst out of this story. And yes, sad as it is, I do see the similarities myself.

But has anyone even considered why I made that approach for this sequel?

I know I stated in the Author's Notes of Chapter 10 that Ford's visions serve as an inciting incident, but there's more to it than that. For those who read the previous story, "The Epic Quest of Ford Mustang", he received his Draconian Magic from his blind, scaly friend, Hindel the All-Seeing Dragon, who can see many things through his mind's eye, past, present, and future. So, with what Ford inherited, it would seem fitting that he too can see a glimpse into the future. That idea, was to not only make his dragon powers much harder for him to deal with, but to add more conflict to the overall story.

So you see, I made that decision to emphasis the downside and misfortune of Ford's Draconian Magic, NOT because of Revenge of Sith. And if people want to keep making comparisons to that atrocious, asinine, overabundent CGI mess of a prequel, which practically ruined what made Star Wars so wonderful to begin with... so be it.

And finally, just to make things perfectly clear without giving anything away, I know how this story is going to end, and I can assure you... it's not going to end like Revenge of the Sith.

Update to the Author's Notes (2/17/15):

I like to apologize for taking too much of my frustration on Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, in which at the end of that passage I called it an "atrocious, asinine, overbundent CGI mess of a prequel." Mostly, it's because I realized that Episode III isn't that terrible of a movie as I had exaggerated. In truth, there are some good moments in it that I do enjoy. My favorite moments involve nearly every scene featuring Palpatine, including the opera scene. Regarding with calling it "atrocious" and "asinine", those slanders are mostly directed at the whole love story of Anakin Skywalker and Padme, especially with their development in Episode II.

I know this update would make me sound like a hypocrite from my previous statement, but it would be shameful for me to lie on the things that I do enjoy. So again, I'm sorry for getting a little bit carried away with that rant, and I will try to be more careful next time.