Epilogue – Memories

Ding!

The sound that Ford Mustang has been waiting for. Leisurely, he opens the oven and is greeted by the warm fragrance of his latest culinary masterpiece: eggplant parmesan. Once he secures his mouth with an oven mitten, he effortlessly lifts the casserole and places it on a cooling rack nearby. With his main dish fresh out of the oven, the contented stallion takes a well-deserved whiff of his baked eggplants to savor its luscious smell of gooey cheese and homemade marinara.

Soon after, he glances around the kitchen to double check everything he has prepared for tonight’s meal. The salad and dressing are already tossed. The still steamy, noodle-like strains of spaghetti squash are resting in their strainer. The garlic bread is still warming up in the toaster oven. And tonight’s dessert is still cooling off to the side. Everything is all set.

And with a few minutes to spare before his expected guest arrives, Ford has enough time for a little break for himself. From entering the living room, he plops on one of the couches as he lets out a contented sigh. In the midst of his relaxation, he then notices the family photo album sitting on the coffee table right in front of him. Figuring out a way to help pass the time, he leans forward to reach for the big, thick book before he opens it up.

With each passing page, a warm, reminiscing smile graces across the stallion’s face as he looks back on all of the wonderful memories he and his wife have captured in the past, from all of the exotic places they've been to during their trips and vacations to their grand wedding that officially bound them for life.

But it isn't until one photograph where he stops and takes a long, good look at it: Midnight Dash and Apollo Mustang's 1st birthday party. Courtesy of Pinkie Pie for both the party and for taking pictures, they got a perfect group photo of friends and family as they gathered together around the table while the guests of honor were just about to partake in their first birthday cake.

A lot has happened since their twins' birth, especially with the expansion of the respective families. One notable example is Big Macintosh and Fluttershy’s very own baby boy, Red Delicious. Curled up in his mommy’s tender forelegs is a small, sleeping Earth Pony colt with a red coat slightly darker than his upstanding father's. Granted, he started off as a foal who was slightly tinier than either Midnight and Apollo when they were born, but years later, he grew up fast and fittingly earned the nickname "Big Red."

A few months after Big Red's birth, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia welcomes their own little foal into the world: a cobalt blue Unicorn filly with raspberry-colored eyes and a black mane featuring bright blue streaks named "Rhapsody." Strangely enough, Vinyl was the one to suggest that music-themed name much to Octavia’s surprise and delight. Of course, the catch was that the grinning DJ will be allowed to nickname their daughter as "Raz." But that doesn't bother the cellist that much, especially when the musician couple discovered their filly's habit to chew on other ponies' mane. And to Octavia’s amusement, Rhapsody tends to favor Vinyl's vibrant, blue mane the most as evident in this group picture where their gleeful daughter continued to tug on Vinyl’s mane much to the pain-stricken Unicorn’s discomfort as Octavia observes this with a fore hoof covering her silent, giggling smile.

Also attending the party were Spitfire and Soarin with their newborn foal, Silver Mercury, a cool gray Pegasus colt with wispy mane. Right away, even as babies, Mercury and Apollo became fast friends. And just like their Wonderbolt mothers had anticipated, the colts also became the best of friendly rivals.

With so many foals springing to life, Applejack and Rarity especially felt inspired to have a little foal of their own. So with a special amulet that can temporarily change one's gender thanks to a little help from the Princess of Love herself, Cadance, the couple got their wish. As seen in the photograph at the time of the twins' party, Rarity was 10-months pregnant whiles she affectionately snuggles with her equally tenderhearted wife. And one month later, the seamstress gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, in the form of a peach-colored Earth Pony filly with gorgeous, blonde hair and shimmering, turquoise eyes named "Annabelle Apple."

In-between some of the ponies are Twilight Sparkle and Trixie as the cheerful princess embraced the blushing, blue Unicorn with one of her Alicorn wings and their cheeks pressed together. It took a while for Trixie to finally make a move, but despite Twilight flustering in embarrassment over how clueless she was for not noticing the magician's subtle advances earlier, the open-minded princess was willing to give it a shot much to Trixie's overwhelming delight. Truth to be, it was hard to maintain that kind of relationship especially with Twilight's royal duties, but sure enough, they manage to work it out in the end when the two got married over a month ago from today.

Of course, no one expected the most unlikely couple of all to pair up with one another. For in one corner of the photograph is the always bouncy Pinkie Pie tightly squeezing the ever-so grumpy Griffon, who is blushing like mad from such uncomfortable proximity while expressing sourly with a roll of his eyes. Granted, their commitment didn't happen at the time of the twins' birthday party, but much to everyone's surprise, they decided to enter a steady yet committed relationship together. Now at this point, it's only a matter of time on when one of them will pop the ultimate question. Though if Ford's was a betting pony, he put his bits on Gilda.

Of course, what Mustang is more focused on is what's at the center of the picture: Midnight Dash and Apollo Mustang sampling their first cake together with the orange colt still digging in like a hungry wolf while his twin sister looks at the camera with a very messy yet adorable smile as her muzzle is covered in frosting and cake crumbs. And standing right behind them are the proud parents of the two, Rainbow Dash and Ford Mustang, each with a completely contented smile on their faces and a tender wing draped over one another. As he stares at that picture for little longer, Ford continues to maintain a smile that's similar to his photographic counterpart.

WHOOSH!

But that moment of tranquility is quickly put on hold when a pair of brightly colored streaks zoom pass him as they zigzag across the living room. Not much to his surprise, the strangely calm and collected stallion can easily identify who those colorful streaks belong to. The one with violet, green, pink, red, and dark blue belongs to Midnight Dash while the other multicolored streak with red, orange, yellow, pink, and brighter orange belongs to Apollo Mustang. Despite being only five years old, the twins have become naturally gifted flyers as they continue to zip around the room in the midst of their latest game.

"Tag! You're it!" Midnight exclaims as soon as she touches her brother.

But Apollo quickly tags her back as he shout right back, "Nuh-uh! You’re it!"

"Tag!"

"Tag!"

"Tag!"

"Tag!"

In a continuous loop, their vibrant streaks merge with one another, almost creating a spiraling rainbow, as the twins constantly tag one another. From observing this ongoing struggle, Mustang couldn’t help but chuckle to himself over the times he and Rainbow used to play their variation of tag. And seeing how this is going nowhere fast, Ford rolls his eyes with a smile before he intervenes this latest tussle himself.

"Alright kids, that's enough playtime for now."

Almost immediately, the little speedsters cease their tomfoolery as they face their father with Midnight responding first with a whine, "Aww, but dad~! We haven't finished our game of tag yet!"

Following suit with his twin sister, Apollo agrees in similar fashion, "Yeah, and we don't even know on who's 'it' right now!"

"Well then, how do you think we can resolve this? Hmm?" Ford implies with a shrewd smirk.

As the grinning father waits for their answer, Apollo and Midnight look at each other while figuring it out themselves. But after sharing a knowing glance with one another, they suddenly bear mischievous smiles. And before Mustang can question what's their latest scheme, the twins quickly bop Ford on the nose as they declare their decision out loud.

"Tag! You're it, dad!"

A bit dumbstruck by the giggling foals' playfulness, Ford nevertheless goes along as he closes up the photo album whilst complying with a smile, "Okay, I'll play along. But once I catch you two, you'll have to come down and sit next to me, alright?"

Without a second thought, they nod to their dad's request as Apollo confirms with a perky grin, "Yeah, we promise!"

"Okay then... Five second head start, go!"

Right away, the twins disperse from their dad's starting position and split up in opposite directions. From darting across the room, Midnight giggles all the way. But suddenly, her merriment is cut short when she runs into something. Thankfully, it was soft enough to cushion her crash. Unfortunately for her, she lands right into her daddy's fore hooves.

"Careful, Midnight." he advises her with a lighthearted smirk. "You need to watch where you're going."

"Hey, how did you find me so quickly?"

"I could hear you laughing all the way across the room, silly." he answers without a doubt as he strokes her mane, which causes the smiling filly to giggle some more. "Well then... one down, one to go."

With his daughter in tow, Ford continues his search for the other twin. But after quickly searching through all of the rooms on the first floor, he finds himself back in the living room where he started in the first place.

And just when he is about to resume his hunt for the elusive colt, something catches Ford's eye as he spots something in the corner of the room. For underneath one of the curtains are a couple strands of hair featuring four strips of warm colors.

Recognizing that tail from anywhere, a very mischievous grin spreads across Ford's face as Midnight lets out a quiet giggle to herself from noticing her brother's presence as well. To not spoil for what's to come, the smirking stallion brings a fore hoof to his lips as a signal to his daughter, and she abides with a nod and a muffled chuckle. Then, Ford leisurely creeps forward as he continues this game of cat and mouse in an amusing fashion.

"Hmmm... I wonder where your brother could be hiding right now?" he asks rhetorically to his equally amused daughter. "Where o' where can he be?"

From Mustang’s exaggerated statement, the hidden colt quickly pulls rest of his tail out of sight to fully conceal himself. But it was too late for Apollo to make that little adjustment as the grinning dad inches closer to his target.

"Could he be behind... this curtain?"

From that drawn-out exclamation, Ford briskly opens one of the curtains. Of course, he purposefully opens the wrong one just to make Lil' Mustang squirm and give him a false sense of security.

"Huh, guess he's not here after all." Ford says in a casual manner before giving himself a mockingly defeated sigh. "Oh well, we'll just have to look for him somewhere else."

As Mustang turns around, he could have sworn that he could hear his son snickering to his supposed cleverness. But right on cue, Midnight halts her dad's advances to knowingly bring something to his attention.

"Wait, daddy! You forgot the other curtain!"

Playing along with his daughter’s shrewdness, the melodramatic stallion lightly bops his forehead to indicate his mocking cluelessness as he responds with a lighthearted grin, "Oh, you're right! How careless of me."

As Ford anticipated, he can hear Apollo letting out a subtle "eep" behind the shivering curtain. And just like a predator closing in on his prey, Mustang creeps toward the overly stuffed drapery as he states a with teasing smile.

"Let's see what's behind Curtain Number Two."

And from being cornered, Apollo attempts to make a breakaway despite being momentarily ensnared by his own concealment. But once he breaks free from the binding curtain, the frantic colt flies off in a hurry. Unfortunately, he is too slow as his dad grapples him in mid-air before they tumble on the ground.

"Gotcha!" Ford declares with a giggling smirk.

"No fair!" Apollo whines in defeat. "She ratted me out!"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Midnight snaps in response. "You just didn't picked a better hiding place for yourself."

"Ha, says the pony who was caught earlier." Apollo grumbles with small, clever smirk.

From hearing that, Midnight growls as she bares her teeth at her teasing brother. Seeing how this could get ugly between the two siblings, Ford gently pulls them apart to give them some space before he issues in an amusing tone.

"Okay, that's enough, you two. There's no sense in being a sore loser in all of this, now is there?"

Knowing that rhetorical question is mostly meant for him, Apollo complies with a mild grump, "Yes, daddy."

"And besides, Apollo... you would have done the same thing if you were in your sister's place." Ford adds with a wink and a witty smile.

This causes the young colt to softly admit with a tiny grin, "Yeah, I guess so."

After that is settled, Ford brings his two children back to the same sofa he sat on earlier as he says to them, "Now, come on over here and let's take a break. Your mother should be home at any minute now."

From that reminder, Midnight and Apollo display big, optimistic grins and take their seats on the couch, sandwiching their dad in-between. With a renewed sense of peace, Ford reaches for the photo album once more and picks up where he left off. As the smiling Mustang looks back on the foals' first birthday, the twins become curious themselves as they lean forward for a closer look.

"Whatcha looking at, daddy?" she asks in an innocent yet bouncy manner.

"Oh, just looking back on some fond memories." their father answer before he sets the book down so the twins can see it for themselves. "See? That's you two eating your first birthday cake together."

"I hope it was good as it looks." Apollo inquires with a hungry grin.

"Trust me, when you two demolished that cake, Pinkie Pie already got another one ready in its place."

"Aunt Pinkie Pie always throw the coolest parties, huh dad?"

"Yes she does." Ford confirms with a chuckling grin.

Then, he flips to the next page and spots something his daughter should be able recognize herself. "Hey look, Midnight. You know who this is, don't you?"

From a closer inspection, Midnight Dash sees a picture of herself when she was around two years old. And right next to her is Annabelle Apple, Applejack and Rarity's one year old daughter back then. Together, the two fillies enjoyed a friendly activity of coloring with crayons and sheets of paper spread across the floor. From there, Annie used her mouth to grasp one of the crayons while Midnight demonstrated her unique dexterity by grasping her crayon with a fore hoof; no doubt a trait she inherited from her father of course.

"Yep, that's my best friend, Annie!" Midnight points it out with a beaming smile.

"That's right." her dad concurs with a grin. "You two became quite the inseparable pair ever since you first shared those crayons I got for you." Then, he lets out a modest chuckle as he adds in the midst of his reminiscing, "Of course, we had to put those away for the time being when Annabelle's moms caught you two scribbling on Petite Boutique's walls."

"Ha-ha, you got in trouble~!" Apollo ridicules his sister with a broad smirk.

Pushing aside her brother's annoyance, Midnight places her tiny forelegs on top of her dad's for better elevation as she implores him with big, beseeching eyes, "I wasn't in trouble, was I?"

"No, of course not, sweetie." he cooingly reassures her whilst brushing her mane. "It was an honest mistake, that's all. But poor Rarity." Despite his reassurance, he couldn't help but laugh and shake his head over the memory of Rarity's over-the-top reaction. It was unlike he has ever seen or heard from the drama queen herself.

As Apollo lets out another snicker much to his sister's irritation, Ford flips to a couple pages until he spots a picture that he has to gush over. "Oh, and look what we have here? Why it's Lil' Apollo in last year's Nightmare Night out on his first night of trick-or-treating!"

In one photograph, the four-year-old Apollo Mustang was dressed up in dark-colored armor featuring gold trimmings and a red plume for his helmet. Strapped to his side was a propped sword made out of cardboard and spray painted in silver and gold. And from looking at the camera with one eye peeking from his oversized helmet, Lil' Apollo had a big toothy smile with a half-full trick-or-treat bag clenched between his teeth.

"Oh, you look so cute in your Commander Hurricane costume!" Ford continues to gush like any proud parent would.

Embarrassed as ever, Apollo retorts in a pouty manner, "I'm not cute! I'm awesome!"

"Then I guess that makes you awesomely cute, huh?" he teases his son even further as he lightly ruffles the grumpy colt’s mane.

"Te-hee, you look like a dork with that helmet on." Midnight adds with a humorous smirk.

While the filly pays no mind to her brother's glaring, the same cannot be said from dad's humorless yet meaningful expression as he reminds his daughter in a soft yet stern tone, "Midnight Dash, you know better than to call ponies names like that."

Feeling ashamed for displeasing her dad like that, her ears droop down in response to showcase her own remorse before apologizing in a form of a soft whimper, "I'm sorry, daddy."

"That's okay, sweetie." he accepts with a forgiving smile. "But I don't think I'm the one you should be apologizing." he adds as he tilts his knowing gaze toward his son.

"Right... sorry Apollo."

Despite Midnight's humbleness, the smirking colt couldn't help but act smug from seeing his sister in such a demoted disposition. Of course, his smugness is short-lived when his eagle-eyed father coax him with a soft nudge of his elbow as the towering stallion expects the same amount of modesty from his son as well.

So Apollo eventually responds with a casual smile, "Eh, it's cool, sis."

As there is a fleeting moment of peace between the two siblings, Ford can hear something outside in the far distance. With perked ears, he detects the distant sound to be similar of a roaring fighter jet. Of course, knowing full on who's the one particular Pegasus with that kind of speed, Ford brings this up to the twins' attention in a playful manner.

"Hey, do you two hear something?"

Following on dad's mocking curiosity, the two foals climb on top of the couch to verify the sound for themselves. From looking through a window, Midnight and Apollo can see a very tiny Pegasus heading towards their home. But more noticeably, they can see how the approaching flyer is leaving an extensive, distinguishable trail with every color of the rainbow.

Realizing on who that vibrant, colorful streak belongs to, Midnight and Apollo gasp with big, joyous smiles, and they demonstrate their immense joy by flying around in circles as they chant out loud, "Yay! Mommy’s home! Mommy’s home!"

Once he closes up the photo album, Ford directs his kids with a lighthearted grin, "Alright, places everypony!"

Without delay, the energetic speedsters race towards the main entrance and land several feet from the doorway. As their father stands right next to them from the sides, the devious colt tries to give himself a slight advance by shuffling forward in a sly manner. However, that doesn’t go unnoticed from the sharp-eyed stallion as Ford directs his son back to the imaginary starting line.

"Uh-uh-uhh. Don't even think about giving yourself a head start, Apollo Mustang."

Once the grouchy, orange colt shuffles back to his starting position, the smirking, blue filly feels justified to stick out her tongue at him just to add more salt to his wound. Not wanting to see another bickering match play out between them, the grinning stallion instructs them in a gentle manner.

"Now stay put, you two. Your mommy will be here any second now. We don't want ruin the surprise that's in stored for her, now do we?"

From that witty reminder, the twins immediately get into their pouncing positions as their tiny, beating wings flutter in the same way a racer would rev up a car's engine. Seeing how overly eager his two children are, the shrewd stallion raises a foreleg up to serve as a makeshift flag and waits for the right moment before they begin their liftoff.

"Wait for my signal." Ford says in a low voice.

In the midst of their waiting, the twins begin to fidget one way or another, whether it's by beating their wings once again or by scraping the ground with a fore hoof like an angry bull would before making its charge.

"Steady..." he ushers in the form of a whisper.

Still as they can be, all three of them keep on listening to the thunderous sound of the approaching Pegasus as she is getting closer than ever. Soon enough, the rocketing noise dies down as Ford and the others are well aware that she has slowed down for a soft landing in front of the floating cloudhouse. Now, there is nothing but quietness outside since the front yard in entirely made out of clouds and thus would muffle any sound if she were to walk over there instead of flying like usual.

"Steady..." he repeats himself quietly to not allow the twins to jump the gun already.

With each passing second, their anticipation is killing them over her impending arrival. But finally, their patience has paid off as the door swings wide open. And standing at the doorway is the proud, smiling mare with a coat as blue as the morning sky she adores and her trademark, rainbow-colored mane and tail. Along with her belongings secured in her saddlebags, she is dressed in newly appropriate clothes for her recent promotion, which consists of a navy blue, formal jacket adorned with many medals, a red-corded whistle around her neck, and her favorite pair of cool, black sunglasses.

"Hey, I'm home--!"

But Rainbow Dash’s greeting goes unfinished when her grinning husband swing his raised foreleg down, and at last, the two anxious foals spring into action with tremendous speeds. With little to no time to react, Rainbow is completely caught off-guard by the twins' double takedown.

"OOF!"

Once she is tackled on the ground, she recovers from that surprise attack as she lifts up her shades to get a better look at her two tacklers.

"Welcome home, mommy!" they greet in unison with bright, cheerful smiles.

Just one look at their bouncy, smiling faces always causes the mother to break into a warm, heartfelt grin, and she graciously pulls her children in for a much-needed hug while saying to them in a hearty manner, "D'aww... thanks squirts. Geez, you guys came at me like a freight train out of nowhere!" she adds with a chuckling smile.

"Were you surprised, mommy?" Apollo asks enthusiastically.

"Very surprised." Rainbow answers with another chuckle. "What have you been eating lately to get this strong?"

"Well daddy's the one who's been feeding." Midnight replies bluntly.

"Oh really?" Rainbow grins cleverly as she raises an eyebrow while sharing a knowing glance with her husband.

"Nothing but the best for my awesome family." Ford boasts mildly with a smirk and a brush of his chest over his culinary skills.

In the midst of the welcoming, motherly hug, Apollo is one to ask with a cheeky grin, "So, which one of us was faster, mom? I bet it was me of course."

"You wish! I'm the fastest one here!" Midnight scoffs at her brother's remark.

"Yeah, says who?" he grouches in response to that challenge.

"Says me, your big sister!" she emphasizes with a winning smirk.

"You’re only older than me by a lousy five minutes!" he gripes even further. "Besides, if you're bigger than me, than all of that weight would have slowed you down in the first place! So that means I'm faster than you are!" And the smirking colt ends it with his tongue sticking out directly at her sister.

Feeling like she's going to blow a gasket from her brother's insults, Midnight directs her anguish toward their mother as she demands in a whine, "Come on, mommy! Tell us! Who was faster?!"

As the twins present their persuasive, pouty expressions by showcasing with their big eyes, puffy cheeks, and scrunched-up faces, Rainbow just smiles at their desperate attempts before she draws out her verdict in a clever manner with a rub of her chin. "I don’t know. You guys were as quick as lightning, so it's kind of hard for me to tell. Oh well... guess we're going to have call it a tie." she shrugs nonchalantly.

Of course, her two children were disappointed by their mother's decision as Apollo complains childishly, "Awwww! You always say that, mom!"

"That's because you two are getting faster with each passing day." she explains with a giggling smirk as she affectionately ruffles the twins' equally colorful manes. "Which makes you both winners in my book."

From mommy's praise and playful affection, both Apollo and Midnight forego their little scuffle as each of them receives the same amount of attention and love from their inspiring mom. And after giving them another hug, Rainbow remembers something regarding the kids' very own big day.

"So, how did my two favorite Pegasi in the whole world do on their first day at kindergarten?"

What am I, chopped liver here? Ford frowns a little after hearing her wife's remark. Though thankfully, he didn’t think it out loud as it would be difficult to explain that carnivorous phrase to his pony family.

"It was awesome, mommy!" Midnight answers first with a joyous smile.

And right after that, Apollo happily shares his experiences as it shifts between the two siblings. "Yeah, we met all of our friends there!"

"And had arts and crafts!"

"And played games!"

"And read stories!"

"And nap time! That's my favorite of them all!" Apollo stresses with a very broad, pleasant smile.

From seeing her son's lazy smile, Rainbow giggles over his antics, and she ruffles his semi-spiky mane whilst agreeing with a grin, "Mine too, kiddo."

"Okay, I think it’s time we get off of mommy so we can get ready for dinner." Ford gently issues to his two children. And once they get up, he then gives each of the twins a soft nudge with his nose to direct them back inside. "Go wash your hooves and wait for us at the table so I can show you how to set it up."

Energetic as always, the giddy foals spirit away towards the nearest sink first, leaving the two adults outside on the cloud front yard. As Rainbow and Ford stare at each other with sly smiles, the latter offers her a helping hoof to help her up as he inquires with a sharp tongue over that comment he overheard earlier.

"So... only two favorite Pegasi, huh?"

"Well, being in third place isn't so bad, now is it?" she counters with a cheeky grin as she accepts the stallion’s fore hoof before he pulls her up.

"Hmm, that's true I guess." he admits with a shrug and a carefree smile. "Better to bring home a medal than no medal at all."

Once she is off the ground, the shrewd mare wraps her forelegs around the stallion’s neck until her muzzle barely touches his before she quips with a captivating smile, "Well I don't have a bronze medal on hoof. So how about I offer you this instead?"

Though not much to the equally grinning Mustang’s surprise, he gladly accepts Dashie's gift in the form of a extended, heartfelt kiss. Through faint moans, the embracing couple relishes that longing kiss as like most of the times whenever Rainbow Dash returns from one of her extensive Wonderbolt trips is enough to rekindle the fires of love that will never truly die, no matter how far or for how long apart they are. Eventually, they take a break from their first of many kisses to come as Ford bears that always goofy, contented smile before he comments in a witty manner.

"Mmm... if that was for third place, then I can’t wait to see what happens if I go for gold."

After the exchange of giggles between them, Mustang takes a fore hoof and gently strokes Rainbow’s beaming face. From coming into contact with that tender, familiar touch, she affectionately nuzzles it like a friendly kitten brushing against its owner, almost making subtle, purring noises without her noticing it herself. In the midst of her snuggling, Ford gets a good glimpse of his smiling wife's mesmerizing, magenta eyes staring right back at him, full of passion, playfulness, and admiration for her one and only stallion.

"You're looking good as always, my captain." he compliments with an earnest yet shrewd smile.

"You always says that every time I come back from work." she responds with a smirk.

"What can I say... I do love mares in uniform."

As Rainbow chuckles over Ford's wordplay, he gets a good look at what she's wearing before asking with a shrewd smile, "So, is this one actually yours, or did you borrow it out of Spitfire's closet again?"

"Nope, this one is tailored just for me." she confirms with a humorous smirk as she looks at her own sets of threads. "But it sure does bring back some memories, doesn’t it?"

"Oh-hoo... how could I forget?" he confirms with a knowing grin.

"Like how you hoped to keep me company during one of my late-night shifts at Wonderbolts Academy?" she hints with a cryptic smile as she slides closer to him.

"Or how you 'borrowed' Spitfire's uniform and another stallion’s flight suit for me to try on?" the grinning stallion implies with a wink.

"And how you were playing the role of the timid yet hunky stallion of a rookie while I was your assertive and awesome commander taking charge of your "physical exam?" she indicates even further in a purring voice with a flirtatious rub against his chest.

"And how Spitfire walked in on us near the end?"

From Ford’s slip-up, both of them are rendered speechless over that embarrassing moment when Rainbow Dash’s fiery-haired commander found both of them doing Celestia-knows-what on her table. As intense blushes consume their frozen faces, Ford then admits to the whole affair with a sheepish smile.

"Yeah... that was really awkward."

Strangely enough, the equally flushed Rainbow Dash displays a cocky grin as she boldly replies, "But worth it."

A bit surprise at first by Rainbow’s reaction, he couldn’t help but agree with a hearty chuckle, "Oh yeah, totally worth it!"

After sharing another laugh together, Rainbow brings something up to Ford's attention. "You know, this suit isn't the only thing I picked up from the tailors recently."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I may have picked up a specially made flight suit that's just your size." she implies ever-so slyly as she directs her gaze at the saddlebags she's carrying.

"Really?" Ford smiles with piqued interest.

"Mm-hmm." she nods with a sultry grin as she leans close to his ear before enticing his curiosity even further with that voluptuous voice of hers. "And I was thinking... when the kids are having a sleepover or something, maybe we can conduct another "physical exam" together just like old times. Have to make sure my stallion is in peak physical condition, you know."

Almost paralyzed by the grinning mare's alluring words and a soft, teasing touch to his chest once again, a faint yet pleasant shiver travels across the wide-eyed stallion’s body before he uses his large wings and forelegs to pull his wife in for a closer embrace. Once his muzzle nearly touches hers, he then happily complies with a clever suggestion in mind.

"Only if I get to be captain next time."

"We'll see, rookie." she considers with an amusing smirk.

And upon their agreement, they seal it with another heartwarming kiss. However, their latest act of affection ends much shorter than what they were going for as they can hear their nosy kids protesting from afar.

"Mom! Dad! What's the hold up already?" Midnight demands with an impatient whine as she along with her brother peek from the opened doorway.

"Yeah, quit acting gross and sappy so we can eat already!" Apollo agrees in the same sour expression as his sister.

As Rainbow takes amusement from the twins' overreacting from the parents' schmaltziness, Ford simply rolls his eyes over their meddling. And once he turns around to face his snooping children, a faint, devious smile spreads across his face as he makes up a proper response for them.

"Keep that up and you two won't get any mixed-berry apple pie for tonight."

Not wanting to take their dad's playful threat lightly, the suddenly quiet foals keep their lips tightly shut to prevent themselves from saying anything foolish that may cost them tonight’s dessert, so their best course of action is to hastily retreat back to the dining room and wait for their parents like they were originally told. Smugly, the proud stallion displays a triumphant smile over his parenting skills while Rainbow is thoroughly impressed from what she just witnessed.

"Not bad, Ford." she acknowledges with a simple smirk. "You managed to keep those little rascals in check without anypony's help."

"Well somepony needs to keep those two in line while you're away." he remarks with a knowing grin.

"Speaking of which, mind telling me what's for dinner tonight?"

"Ooh... nothing too special really." he comments with a sarcastic smile. "Just eggplant parmesan with spaghetti squash and garlic bread, that's all."

From hearing for what's to come, the grinning mare lightly lick her chops as she openly expresses her delight, "Mmmm... You certainly know on how to work a girl's appetite."

"So umm... about scheduling that appointment we were just talking about earlier..." he shrewdly inquires over their last interrupted conversation they just had.

"Another time, Mustang." she insists with a teasing smirk as she gently pushes the mildly disappointed stallion aside. "Right now, it's dinnertime, and I'm starving!"

And with a hungry smile, Rainbow Dash flies into their home with her husband not far from behind.

After a wonderful family meal together, Ford Mustang is busy cleaning up the dishes while his wife and their two children spend some quality time together in the twins' bedroom. Sure, he could have asked for Rainbow’s help, but knowing full on how jam-packed her schedule is as a Wonderbolt, let alone as a team captain, Ford wanted her to spend as much with Midnight and Apollo as possible. Thankfully, his chores didn’t take as long as he expected when he finishes drying the last dish before putting it back in its proper place. With all the recently cleaned dishes, utensils, and cookware back where they belong, Ford eagerly flies upstairs to rejoin with his family.

Upon entering the doorway, he stops himself to gaze at the touching scene between a mother and her two foals. Bereft of her uniform, Rainbow Dash continues to entertain her exuberant foals with recent tales to demonstrate her awesomeness as the Wonderbolts' newly minted captain.

Seeing his two children cuddling up with their mom really warms Ford's heart as it's hard to believe that over five years ago, he nearly lost her forever. It's hard for him to imagine how it will all turn out at this point if he didn't discover the means to save her and sacrifice his Draconian Magic in the process. But that nagging thought is swiftly swatted away as he continues to observe this heartwarming moment before him. As far as he is concerned, everything he needs is right before his very eyes.

Eventually, Rainbow is the first to notice the smiling stallion’s presence, and she greets him with a playful smirk, "Hey, there you are. It's about time you showed up, slowpoke."

"He-hee! Yeah, slowpoke!" Apollo Mustang says as he and Midnight Dash giggle heartily over dad's teasing.

"Well maybe next time, one of you can help clean the dishes with me after dinner." Ford counters with a clever smirk.

Once again, the twins are rendered silent over their grinning dad's suggestion from doing additional chores. Luckily for them, the amused Rainbow Dash saves them from their awkward discomfort by bring up tonight’s standard activity together.

"So now that dad's finally here, who's ready for tonight’s story?"

Right away, the twins express their boundless excitement by bouncing up and down on the bed as they shout in unison, "Yay! Storytime!"

With a giggle over the foals' constant joy, Rainbow hops off the bed to approach the nearby bookshelf, and she scans through the collection while asking, "Okay, let's see... which one of Daring Do's awesome adventures shall we read this time?"

But as she reaches for one of her favorite books, she hears Apollo saying in a slightly bored tone, "Eh, can't we read something else besides Daring Do, mommy?"

This startling response causes the wide-eyed Pegasus to freeze in place as the book she just pulled out falls right out of her grasp. Ford covers his giggling mouth with a fore hoof over his wife's over-the-top expression as the motionless mare is still having a hard time to comprehend what she just heard. Soon or later, she breaks out of her own paralysis by making a sharp one-eighty turn to face the young, orange colt who dares to speak such blasphemy in her domain.

"What?! That doesn't sound like our foals at all!" she screeches in a melodramatic fashion while maintaining a suspicious gaze at the accused. "What kind of kid would turn down a story featuring the coolest explorer ever?"

"We don't hate Daring Do, mom. We just want something new for a change." Midnight explains like it's not that much of a big doubt much Rainbow’s increased shock over her daughter’s confession.

"Yeah, what she said!" Apollo agrees with an innocent smile.

Soon after, Ford decides to play along with his wife as he stands next to her while he too exaggerates in dramatic fashion, "Gasp! And they're actually agreeing on something too? This does seem very suspicious!"

"Yeah, you're right. They could be changelings for all we know." Rainbow agrees with a mocking glare at the young offenders.

"Hey, we're not changelings!" Midnight retorts over such accusations.

"Well then... there's only way to prove if you're changelings or not." their mother responds in a surprisingly cool manner.

As the accused twins remain unease by their parents' stoic behavior, Rainbow gradually breaks into a mischievous smirk before she extends her wings in full span. Uncertain at first, Midnight and Apollo realize on what their mother has in mind as their eyes grow as wide as saucers. And once the crafty mare can see the fear in their eyes, Rainbow lunges forward before the skittish twins could make their getaway. With her trapped foals having nowhere to go, the evil-grinning mother subjects them to her cruel methods of interrogation by tickling them with her extremely dexterous wings.

"Mommy, no!" Midnight squeaks in the midst of her constant giggling.

"Come on now!" Rainbow demands with an impish grin as she carries on with her feathery tickling. "Where's the real Apollo Mustang and Midnight Dash?"

Pinned down by one of mommy's wings, Apollo tries his best to convince her despite his non-stop laughing in-between. "We told you, it's us! Honest!"

Much to the twins' relief, Rainbow takes a momentary break to inform her husband on the amusing situation. "It's no good. No changeling can resist a good tickle this long without revealing their true form to us."

"In that case... we just gonna have to double our efforts, won't we?" Ford coolly replies with a puckish smile as he too spans out his wings in one swift motion.

Even more petrified than ever, the twins once again have to endure the merciless tickling as their father joins the fray. With both parents conducting the mocking torture session together, they each grab hold of one of the foals so they can double the efforts by using both wings at the same time. As Rainbow carries on with her ruthless tickling just on her son, Ford is settled on some one-on-one time with his daughter as he puts his big wings to good use.

"No! Not you too, dad!" the filly protests out loud as she endures the laugh-inducing tactics from her own father.

Soon or later, the tag-teaming parents give up on their relentless tickling as it allows the smaller Pegasi to finally catch their breaths.

"Huh, guess they're not changelings after all." Ford casually shrugs with a mocking grin.

"See, told you!" Midnight grips in-between her raspy breaths.

"Well they certainly are as tough as they can be, so I guess I'll give them a pass." Rainbow comments with an amusing smirk.

"Just you wait, mommy." Apollo glares while resting in his mother's hooves. "We'll get you back for this someday."

Unfazed by the grumpy colt’s threat, Rainbow Dash lets out a simple chuckle as she playfully ruffles the pouty pony's mane while saying with a winning smile, "When you get big, strong wings like yours truly, then we shall see about that. So then... what do you want us to read for tonight besides boring, old Daring Do?" she exaggerates with a silly grin.

The twins give it some more thought over what they want to hear for tonight’s story. But shortly enough, Midnight Dash makes up a suggestion that's more directed towards her dad.

"How about daddy comes up with a story for us?"

"Yeah, make up a new story, daddy!" Apollo agrees with a bouncy smile.

"M-me? Well, I would like to, but I don't have a prepared story on hand." Ford replies in a coy manner.

"Don't you mean 'hoof', dad?" Apollo's ask with hint of confusion.

From his son correcting the proper equine grammar, Ford becomes dumbfounded at first before he breaks into a sheepish giggle and stammers awkwardly, "Y-y-yes. That's what I meant to say. Thank you, Apollo."

"Well if I can make suggestion, I know of a story you can tell them for tonight." Rainbow indicates with a bright grin.

Desperate for some ideas, the imploring stallions asks, "You do?"

"Mm-hmm." she nods and turns towards her foals to ask them with a smile. "Hey kids, how would you like hear about the time where your daddy saved Equestria?"

Instantly, the twins bright up with big, dazzling eyes and broad, gaping smiles as they simultaneously gasp with glee, "Really?"

"Oh come on, honey. It's not that big of a deal anymore." Ford brushes it aside with a humble smile. "You saved the world like dozens of times compared to me."

"Yeah I know. I'm awesome like that." she replies with a mild boast before continuing in a more earnest manner. "But your tale of heroism is just as awesome as one of my own. And it's a favorite of mine too." she adds while tenderly nuzzling against her smiling husband’s face.

Interrupting their parents' sappy moment, the twins grapple their dad as they childishly demand to hear the suggested story, starting with Midnight first, "Come on, daddy! Tell us already!"

Following it up with Apollo's very own pleading. "Please please pleeease~!"

Unable to say to "no" to his beseeching foals, especially when they make those big-eyed, adorable faces, he of course gives in to their demands as he complies with a chuckling smile, "Okay okay. I'll tell you."

After a simultaneous "yay" from the ecstatic twins, they frantically get seated before Mustang can begin his story. Apollo is already settled within the embracing forelegs of his mother. But as for Midnight, she quickly grabs her favorite stuffed animal in the form of little, white owl named "Snowy" and flies over to lay right next to mommy’s lap, to which Rainbow Dash uses her long, multicolored tail to serve as her daughter’s blanket. Once everypony is situated, all eyes are turned toward tonight’s storyteller before Ford is ready to begin.

"Alright, everypony get cozy. Because I'm about to regale you with a tale I like to call, "The Epic Quest of Ford Mustang!"

As he announces the title in dramatic fashion with a wave of his fore hoof, the bedazzled twins gape with huge smiles over what's to come based on the name only. Rainbow Dash on the other hand couldn’t help but laugh in a rambunctious manner before she takes it down a notch and interjects with a teasing smirk.

"Wow... you really outdid yourself on that one. That title had more cheese in it than your eggplant parmesan."

From his wife's lighthearted ridicule, Mustang blushes up a little before he retorts with a sour, pouty expression, "Hey, it's the best I could come up with, alright?"

Without any words, Rainbow maintains her humorous grin as she twirls her fore hoof to serve as a sly gesture on allowing her husband to continue. And after clearing his throat so he can muster a proper voice for his narration, Ford then proceeds at the beginning of his story.

"Anyway, it all started with how your mother and I first met. On the outskirts of Ponyville, I found myself in a field of wildflowers before Rainbow Dash literally crashed right into me. And from our first head-on collision, it was love at first sight." he exaggerates with a grin and fluttering eyelashes.

This time, it's Rainbow Dash's turn to fluster, and she clarifies with a sharp smirk, "Okay, that totally did not happened, and you know it!"

"Come on, Dashie." he goads with a whimsical smile. "You can't deny that there was something special about me when you couldn’t keep your eyes off of my captivating, good looks." And the grinning stallion emphasizes his point with a soft stroke of his blue-and-yellow mane and a comedic wiggle of his eyebrows.

Alongside her foals, Rainbow lets out an uncontainable chuckle over Ford’s silly antics before she replies back with a roll of her eyes and a giggling grin, "Yeah, I think you got that backwards, Prince Charming. Just get on with your story already, you big goof."

"As you wish." he consents with a lighthearted smile before getting back on track with his story. "Now where was? Ah yes! So one year from that fateful encounter, I got an idea to propose her from the same spot where we first met. However, things didn't go according to plan when we received an unexpected guest in the form of a terrifying pony with a coat as black as soot, mane and tail set ablaze in blue, raging fire, and great, flaming eyes! And this villainous fiend went only by the name of Arrogon the Destroyer!"

With the dramatic reveal of the infamous villain, Midnight and Apollo shudder with fear and excitement as they huddle closer to their grinning mother. And from seeing the look on the twins' faces, Ford smiles to himself over his initial success in storytelling as he feels more inspired than ever to continue his story from there.

"...And like the dark puppet master that he was, Arrogon forced the brainwashed Rainbow Dash to attack me without mercy! It was without a doubt the toughest challenge I have ever faced! But I came too far to give up at that point! I knew there had to be a way to free her from Arrogon's mind-controlling spell! So after a long, intense struggle with her, I came up with the best situation in mind! And once I was within close proximity of her, I took a very deep breath to gather up my energy and pulled her in for--!"

"Uh, Ford?"

"Shh! Not now, Rainbow! I'm just getting to the good point!"

"Yeah... I hate to interrupt your epic tale, but I think we have to put that on hold for another time."

With Ford Mustang staring at her with a blank look on his face, the smiling Rainbow Dash simply directs her knowing gaze downward as the dumbstruck stallion follows her line of eyesight. From getting carried away with his passionate storytelling, Mustang fails to notice earlier on how sleepy his two children have become despite trying their best to stay awake throughout the story.

"Nuh-uh. We're fine, mommy." Midnight Dash reassures with a heavy, half-lidded gaze. "We wanna hear the rest."

Mirroring that with his twin sister, Apollo Mustang adds with a soft yawn in-between, "Yeah dad. Keep going."

With a faint, chuckling smile to himself, Ford acknowledges with Rainbow’s reminder as he says to them, "Sorry kids, but your mom's right. It's way past your bedtime." And after a subtle whine from the twins, their father reassures them, "Don't worry. We'll continue where we left off for tomorrow night."

Reluctantly, Midnight complies in an increasingly tired voice, "Okay, daddy. If you say so."

As Ford picks up his sleepy daughter, Rainbow does the same with her son still cradled in her tender fore hooves. Gently, they tuck the drowsy foals underneath the covers while Ford carefully places the "Snowy" owl doll in-between his daughter’s forelegs.

Once the two children are well-situated in their bed, the Pegasus family exchange their good-night hugs and kisses as the twins say, "Goodnight, mommy. Goodnight, daddy."

"Goodnight, angels." Rainbow replies with a tenderhearted smile.

"Sleep tight, my little ones." Ford warmly adds as he gives each of them one final nuzzle for the night. "Love you."

"Yawn... love you too." is all Apollo could say as sleep finally take hold of him and his twin sister.

With heartfelt smiles, the parents watch their foals fall fast asleep as they embrace one another with a tender wing across their respective partner's back. And after a minute or two, they quietly head out of the room before they take one last look at their slumbering children while carefully closing the door behind them.

As they steadily make their way towards their own bedroom, Ford says in a mildly disappointed voice, "Sigh... I was really looking forward to finishing up that story. And I was so close to reaching its climax."

With a light chuckle over her husband’s melodrama, she says to him with a comforting grin and a soft pat of her wing, "I know. You were really getting into it, huh? But hey, at least we both know on how it all turned out in the end, right?" she adds knowingly before plopping on one side of the bed.

As they get underneath the covers, Ford inquires with a raised eyebrow and a sly, sarcastic smile, "Oh really? And how would you wrap up a story like that?"

"Like this." she replies matter-of-factly whilst leaning closer to her husband's face.

Following up with that witty remark, they share a seemingly simple yet deeply affectionate kiss. And once they relish that breathtaking kiss for as long as possible, their lips gently part ways as they look at each other with enraptured eyes before the grinning Rainbow Dash sums it up with the perfect phrase in mind.

"And they all live happily ever after."

Despite being taken back by his wife's corny yet devoted words, Ford couldn't help but laugh as he points it out with a hearty chuckle, "Hahaha! Now that was cheesy, even from you."

With a subtle blush, Rainbow gives her husband a playful punch to the chest as she retorts with a funny smirk, "Shut up. You love it and you know it."

Unwilling to deny his soft spot for such sentimentality, the ever-so sappy stallion embraces his equally amused wife and gives her a heartfelt peck on the cheek before replying with a charismatic smile, "Not as much as I love you, my beautiful, blue angel."

Within each other’s warm embrace, the married Pegasi maintain their peaceful smiles as they eventually doze off to sleep together. No one can say for sure on what the next day will bring for them. But no matter what the future may hold, Ford knows that with his family and friends at his side, they will face it head-on and treat it as another grand adventure together. Because life is an adventure itself, and for Ford Mustang’s case based on all that he has shared with Rainbow Dash so far...

...it will be an awesome one.

Author's Notes:

Geez! Compared to my other stories' epilogues, this one is just as long as my previous chapters.

So yeah, this is finally it! Have to admit, it's very exhausting and time-consuming for me to complete this, and originally, I didn't think it would have this many chapters compared to the previous stories. But I am thankful to finally complete it to the best of my abilities.

Special thanks to my pre-readers, Mariacheat-Brony and Rated Ponystar, for all of their help. And of course, thanks to all of my readers and followers for your constant support in my Ford Mustang stories.