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[Cloudsdale]To Where it All Began.(Blueblood)


IceStorm

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~~~Wind Dancer~~~Morning Dew~~~Water Wing~~~

 

Recognizing the colt from her class today, Morning Dew let out a loud cheer herself when she watched him take to the skies. He wasn't going to break any records, but he was doing pretty okay in her book. That was until he clipped his wing on one of the loops and started to spin out. Thankfully, the colt had paid attention in her class today and was able to quickly right himself before skidding to a stop. She gave an even bigger cheer and she saw the colt finish. "Woo! Way to nail it Skipper!" she said with a loud cheer making her husband start digging at his ear a bit. "Eheheh... Sorry... But I'm so proud. We literally just went over how to get out of a spin in class today! I think he should get bonus points for that!" She said with a smile before watching Scarlett look around before letting it a sigh of relief when she saw his parents. She said that she was a bit worried when she didn't see them but then realized they'd know he'd need something after the exam bet saying how proud she was. "It is a pretty good experience watching the ponies that you care for succeed," she said getting ready to turn to Windy. To her surprise, Wind Dancer was already starting to make her way over to the family.

 

Wind Dancer smiled as she approached Skipper and his family. "Hey there little guy. You're a pretty amazing flier you know? It takes a lot of resilience and endurance to push through adversity, but believe me when I say that I see a pony that could be pretty amazing when they grow up," she said leaning down to him. "My name is Wind Dancer. What's your name?" she asked him.

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The colt's eyes were shining and happy as Wind Dancer came up to greet him, though it was clear from his expression that he didn't recognize her.  "I'm Skipper Skid, but most call me Skip for short."  He took another gulp from his juice, looking back up to see the other ponies come in behind her.  "Oh, hi Miss Scarlett!  Did you see me out there?  I did it!"

 

"Yes you did."  The red-coated mare reached down to ruffle his mane under the indulgent gaze of his parents.  "I always knew you could."

 

While Skip may not have recognized Windy, his father did.  "Well, looks like our hometown celebrity's come back to her roots!  It really is inspiring to see you here, but I didn't know that you knew miss Scarlett here."

 

The older mare beamed.  "Well, we were formally introduced today, when she kindly informed me she was to be my new daughter-in-law!"

 

His eyes widened at that.  "What?  That's incredible!  Is your boy back home too, then?"

 

"Yup, and he's back with his dad, setting up for a little post-race show for you all!"  The proud mothers couldn't be prouder today, it seemed.
 

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~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

Wind Dancer smiled at Skip as he introduced himself to her. She could tell that he was quite happy, and she wasn't entirely surprised that he hasn't heard of her. She wasn't really expecting many of the younger ponies here to. When she heard his father speak up though, it was clear that he'd heard of her, saying that their hometown celebrity had finally made her way back home, inquiring how she knew Miss Scarlett. Scarlett gave the answer and she smiled happily as he asked about Sky and Scarlett told him that they were prepping for a show. 

 

"Indeed! When Scarlett suggested the idea of coming to support Skip here, I got the idea to put on a small show for the little ones here. Speaking of which," she said turning back to Skip. "I was also planning on letting all the fillies and colts dance with me in the performance, though the announcer probably doesn't know that yet. I kinda reached that decision while sitting in the stands," she giggled. "What do you say? Wanna come and dance with me and the other fliers from the exam?" She asked holding her hoof out as she heard the announcer call out the last flier of the day. 

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Skip still wasn't quite up to speed on the fact that a celebrity had basically decided to make his school exams cooler by an older of magnitude, but dancing sure sounded like fun!  "Sure!  I should have my energy up by then!"  And to regain said energy, he returned to his juice with exaggerated slurping noises, no doubt calculated exactly to both annoy and reassure his parents in equal measure.  Ah, to be young again...

 

Once the final racer had finished, the announcer left some pause for the requisite congratulations before announcing, "Before you leave for the day, I have a special message: the famous pair of Las Pegasus enternainers, hometown ponies both of them, Wind Dancer and Sky Sailing, will be putting on a special show for the students!  Now that you all have passed your examinations, feel free to go out into the arena if you wish to have some dancing room!"

 

Sky had just finished setting up his keyboard, waving at Windy as she returned.  "Just as dad thought, I left the duck Crystals in.  A regular piano too, and a calliope, so it should be perfect!  Any special requests?"  He grinned, seating himself behind.  "Also, after an introduction like that, well probably spend the rest of the afternoon signing autographs."

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~~~Wind Dancer~~~Morning Dew~~~

 

 

 

Wind Dancer smiled as the colt sounded eager to join. This was going to be so much fun. Her attention turned to the sky though as she heard the announcer call out the final racer had finished and was making their introductions. "I do believe that's my cue. I better go check with Sky and get ready. You should go and meet up on the clouds of the arena with the rest of your friends. We'll be starting soon!" Wind Dancer said to the colt as her parents made their way over as she took off to go over to where Sky was setting up. "Hey Sky! I had a couple ideas for the show! Well, actually just two. Do you have enough effects to do your Hello Seaddle Remix? I don't know when we're going to get to do our festival that we wanted, and something new and powerful like that I'd like to debut in front of our parents. You know, make this moment as special as the ponies that brought us here are," she said winking a bit to Sky's father. "The other is that the first two songs we do completely improv on the spot.  I'm really hoping that you still have those duck sounds loaded. I have so many ideas that I think will let the fillies and colts that will be joining have so much fun! Although if we do Hello Seaddle, they will have to be off of the main cloud floor before we start it. We don't want anypony getting hurt," she said with a smile. "The only thing that would make this better would be if I had a duck costume! but I think it would be a bit short notice to get something like that, that would still fit."

 

Morning Dew however, remained back with Scarlet, Water Wing, and the parents of Skip. She smiled as she watched Wind Dancer fly over to sky and start talking before she started speaking herself. "You know, you've got a nice little one here that reminds me a lot of how Windy used to be herself, and it's good to see that she's grown up keeping her head out of the clouds so to say, and Sky as well. Skip looks like he has a strong heart just like they do. Don't let anypony take that away from him," she smiled to Skips father, moving to the stands once again. If there was one thing that she remembered from Windy's letters, she did not want to get stuck in one of her performances and she'd have something up her hoof.

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Skip's father smiled down at his son, ruffling his mane as his mother rolled her eyes at his straw-slurping.  "Thank you.  We will be sure to, don't worry.  It's the heart that makes a pony extraordinary more than anything else."  That reassurance given, the family moved away to let Skipper rejoin his friends, as Morning and Scarlett rejoined their husbands in the stands.

 

Twisting one of the Crystal knobs to adjust the tuning, Sky let one of his feathers brush the keys to let out a "Quack!" pitched to D#.  Grinning at Windy, he replied, "Yup, I probably won't be able to make up a very long song for that, but we can repeat the chorus a few times if we need to.  And speaking of-"  He ducked underneath the setup to produce a simple duckbill mask.  "That's all we got, but that should be enough.  Can't remember what I was originally planning to use this for.  Strings a little old, so it might fly off if you headbang to hard."  Sky chuckled.  "Besides that... two songs might be enough.  A lot of these families probably planned to meet up and celebrate after the test, so I don't want to take up too much of their time, you know?"

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~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

Wind Dancer nodded to Sky Sailing when he said two songs seemed to be perfect. He added that most of these families probably had their own plans to celebrate the day for their little ones so they didn't want to hog all of their time. "That makes sense. I hope we have enough to where we can get to the downburst part of the routine. I'm super excited to be able to show Mom and Dad how strong my wings have gotten!" Wind Dancer smiled before she watched Sky present her with a duck bill. "Sky that's perfect!" she said with a giggle before she put it on trying to mimic the quack that she heard. She giggled a bit more before taking one of the crystal headset pieces from one of the announcers.

 

"I would like to give everypony here a warm thank you for staying. Before we begin though, there are a few words that I would like to say. The path to get where Sky and I both are today, wasn't an easy one. I'm sure everypony here that's old enough to remember when that rogue storm tore through Cloudsdale so many years ago. I know I sure do. Things could have ended up way differently than they did, We would like to thank each any everypony here for helping shape us, and letting us grow back into our roles at our own pace. None know this better than our parents," she continued pointing to where they were sitting. "That is why I felt that we had to do something at little special for today. Sky and myself will be performing two songs today. For the first song, I would like to invite all participants out to the center of the arena for the Lucky Ducky Dance. I won't lie, this one is probably going to be made up on the spot, but feel free just to do whatever comes natural. I know that I'm planning on being a Lucky Ducky for it,"  she said pausing for a moment.

 

"However, once the first dance concludes, I would ask that all fillies and colts return to their parents, as Sky and myself debut a new part of our Las Pegasus act that hasn't been performed before. A moment so special, that it deserved to be shared with the ponies that help make it special. And that's all of you. The Ponies of Cloudsdale! Where no matter how hard the winds push us down, we get back up again! Just like my parents who raised me, and just like the parents here now that raised all of these amazing little ones who are the bright and shining futures of Equestria. And the most important thing to remember for anypony going forward, and is a lesson that took me far too long to learn myself. There's always a top to every storm, and where that top is we can rise above it, to new heights and beyond!" she said with a warm smile before looking back to Sky to see if he had anything to add before they started.

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Sky was sitting back while Windy was talking to the crowd.  He wasn't nearly as crowd-shy as he used to be, but Wind Dancer still had more flair and practice in talking with an audience, not to mention a rather more dramatic inspiring story.  Sky was just a working-town artist who'd made good, but Windy had crashed lower and soared higher.  Besides, more talking would have just meant more time spent not dancing or listening to music, and that wasn't something Sky was going to inflict on the young foals!

 

"I think you've said it all, love!"  He called back, just as the last of the young fliers gathered around.  "So let's start this up, Ducky!"  He winked at Windy, wondering if that little nickname was going to stick.  Depended on how well this song went, he supposed.  There were only a limited number of sound crystals in this keyboard, a piano, calliope organ, and duck quacks.  With the cranking sounds of a carnival colliding into a flock of migrating mallards, Sky launched into a song, relying on a half-remembered tune from his father's record collection to anchor the melody:

"Here comes waddling now the Lucky Ducky,

Green-tipped feathers and a slicked-down back.

He comes talking 'bout a pretty mallard,

And just you wait 'till you hear him quack!

 

He got the webbed feet, he got the billed beak,

Oh yeah, the bird can fly!

Don't make him landbound, just let him swim out,

Up from the pond and into the sky!

So dance like the drakes and the mallards,

And sing about your luck!
Cause after all life throws you way,

You're still lucky ducks, you're still lucky ducks!"

He played out a repeat of the intro bars, until his brain caught up to give a verse for the fillies as well as the colts out there,

 

"Here comes waddling now the lucky ducky,

Polished beak and the shiny wings!

She comes talking 'bout the drake she met here,

He can dance and he even sings!

She got the webbed feet, she got billed beak,

Oh yeah, the bird can fly!

Don't make her landbound, just let her swim out,

Up from the pond and into the sky!

 

So dance like the drakes and the mallards,

And sing about your luck!
Cause after all life throws you way,

You're still lucky ducks, you're still lucky ducks!"

 

It was a fun and high-tempoed tune, and Sky was happy to keep repeating the chorus until the dancers tuckered out, which didn't take all that long, considering they just came from their flight examination.  Some of the adults, listening into the lyrics, might have detected a bit of biography in them, but who's to say?

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

 

Wind Dancer couldn't help but giggle back at Sky when he called her Ducky, only responding in kind. "Quack!" she said, making her best impression. He didn't have anything to say either so she nodded as well when he said that they should get this started. The tune that Sky chose to use with this was one that she was only vaguely familiar with. She was happy that she told everypony that this one as going to be made up on the spot, cause she didn't think that they timing was going to be very good on her part, but that wasn't the point here. As the music started she began to waddle to and fro. Despite having wings of her own she had no qualms about making chicken wings with her forehooves and twirling and dancing with a few fillies that were doing the same, adding her own "Quack! Quack! Quack!" between lines. Pretty soon all the fillies and colts were mimicking the same dance moves and they were all dancing together. As much as she wanted to she knew that she couldn't let herself go in this song. She did however make just enough wind in between each dancer to make a tiny interlocking swirling effect on the cloud around them. The winds weren't strong at all, barely above a stiff breeze as the group of children and herself twirled and danced and quacked. 

 

The words themselves seemed rather silly at first, which was the nature of the dance. However, she did kind of piece a few things together from just they way that they were arranged. She couldn't help but smirk back at Sky, blowing him a kiss from one of her twirls. Trust her husband-to-be to incorporate the two of them into the smallest things. Of course she loved that about him. It was a further reminder that no matter how busy they were ever going to get, there was only one thing that ever truly mattered. Though she and their families knew that was about to be two things for the both of them. At this particular moment though, the only thing she was surrounded by was the adorable laughs and cheers of the young ponies around her having an amazing time. She was a little sad when she heard the last note and she came to a stop. She knew that she had to though otherwise she would keep the little ponies here all day dancing with them. Considering that this was a surprise performance, they probably had their own celebrations to get to. As the music faded she smiled.

 

"Thank you fillies and gentlecolts. This has been quite fun and I would love to do more with the little ones, but now I must ask for all the little ponies to returned to their parents in the stands. This next part of the performance is for professionals only and some of the moves of this routine are very dangerous. Please for your own safety, please do not try to do anything that you're about to see at home," she told the crowd before moving over to Sky. "Do you have enough here to be able to do that? Will we need the recording that we made? I really want to be able to do this for them... It would be the perfect homecoming..." she commented, waiting for an answer.

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Sky himself just couldn't help but smile as he watched Windy wrap up the song and dance to the delighted sounds of fillies and colts.  His imagination drifted a little, wondering about what their own foal would be like, all the times they would dance together as a family...

 

He must have drifted a bit, because it only felt like a few blinks later that she was in front of him, asking about their second song.  "I can do the piano intro live, but the rest is recorded.  Might not be the highest fidelity, but I think they'll be paying more attention to you than me."  He said in a low tone, adjusting the keyboard again so it wouldn't insert any inappropriate animal noises into the next song.  "We're ready to go!"

 

The first few piano notes of the song were soon to follow Windy back onto the stage.  This was one of their standout collaboration pieces, having a real arc from a soft and slow beginning to a modern club-inspired jam that would really allow Wind Dancer to show off her moves to the greatest extent.  This was also the first time that their parents would see them performing together, he realized.  Sky could only hope that they would take it as a good sign of their family's future...

 

Spoiler

 

 

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~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

Wind Dancer squeaked happily when she heard Sky say that they did have a recording of the song with them, but that he could also do the piano intro live as well. "Yay! You're the best!" she said with a smile before she took off to get herself into the position that she needed to be in to start. Normally this would be the third song in the set so she would already be posed for it.  She was standing in the center of the stage with her head down, and both her wing wrapped around in front of her. As she heard the music begin fading in from the recording, the ponies along the front rows would feel a gentle breeze pick up. When the piano started, she moved her left wing in a circular motion until it made it's way a full cycle and remained extended and angled down as the echo of the part triggered the same effect with her right. Her right wing though remained up when the cord hit. Through the space of the note her head would slowly rise. As it did, so did the force of the wind. Bits of the cloud under her were getting pulled up into the vortex surrounding her, giving of a swirling effect. It was almost as if they were wisps of smoke in how they swirled.

 

She had it specifically timed by this point to here she was at her peak when the next segment came in. When it did, she tilted her body and shifted through the wind, letting the ballet part in her shine as she twirled clockwise in a circle out of the vortex. With another set of ballet pirouettes she passed through what was left of the vortex, changing the direction to counter-clockwise as she passed through it. Thanks to the clouds, the ponies would be able to see the central swirling vortex combined with a similarly swirling figure-eight. As the piano intro continued, so did the pirouettes as they started taking on more of a gliding effect as she started skating across the cloud tops to and another layer of swirling clouds to the figure-eights. This would end with four of the figures one in side of another with the largest of them extending almost directly to the stands. In fact if somepony in the first row reached out with their hoof or wing they could probably feel the wind flowing even harder than the breeze that they were getting from it.

 

She would pause for effect as the more synthy part of the song started fading in while the strings still soared above. As it started getting louder, the winds would start pushing Wind Dancer higher into the air. After the fifth time, the winds began pushing her more, turning her in it's grasp as she continued to climb. After the seventh she stopped climbing and then, after a few more spins when the heavy synth chords started. At each chord pop, Wind dancer would pop one of her wings out to send of gust of wind out through the vortex. Her limbs moved out in snaps as well, making her almost seem robotic, but still flowing. Ever snap transitioned into another, and when the reverse cymbal started to sound she began going into a very tight and fast twirl, making a quick strong horizontal vortex that seemed to pull from the top of the other one. In fact, it looked like the same vortex had made a ninety-degree turn. 

 

At the first mention of "Hello Seaddle" she let out a small micro-burst that would hit the stands in the west side of the arena as she skated towards the east in a wide sweeping arc. Instantly though, they could tell that this wasn't normal figure-stile skating. Wind Dancer was skating through the skies and essentially break-dancing as she was doing so. Even through the sky, and the assortment of limb transitions ponies would be able to tell that there was one transition point. As Wind Dancer twirled she would start with her front left hoof, spin onto her left wing inverting herself completely before transitioning to her right wing, back to her right front hoof, to her left hind hoof and ending the twirl on her right hind hoof. She would repeat this sequence a few times, changing the order of the limbs would be moving in all while maintaining perfect control of her flight and drifting back to the center of the arena as "Hello Seaddle" sounded for the second time.

 

Even more impressive still, Wind Dancer was still building her winds as she started looping around the other direction with some hoof kicks and some heavy sway in her flank and wings. The way that she was moving a pony would be able to tell there would be other things that she would be moving around, al while her hoofwork was getting faster and faster as she moved back to the center for her favorite part of the routine. She got back to the center in time for a very fast quad-axial before she dropped through the swirling vortex. All of the wind that she had been generating was completely dispersed throughout the entire arena in a massive downburst. She was pretty sure she saw a few hats go flying.

 

When the bits of rolling clouds had cleared from the down she would be seen sweeping back across the surface of the cloud, and doing so on her wing tip, specifically the wing tip of her left wing. She left most of her body flow to the beat above as she glided, but her wing tip stayed strong and firm as she coasted back around to the center of the arena once more and came to a stop. A more melodic line started playing and she started moving the top half of her body in beat with the slower melody while her flank and hindlegs were still in time with the faster background before the music instantly slowed down and made a few sweeping motions with her forehooves and wings before pointing them back towards Sky. It was clear that this portion of the song was meant to be a synth solo and Sky's time to shine on the keyboard were he to have the right equipment for the song and this not be a recording. Windy also knew it to be a designed breather for her before going into the next part of the routine.

 

When the synth solo ended, Windy was back on the move, this time every movement ended with a clap as they built the energy back up. And it wasn't normal clapping. Sometimes it would be a wing clap, a hoof to wing clap, or a front to rear hoof clap, depending on the pose that she was in. She was hoping to get the crowd clapping along before going back into the break-dance mode at the minor bass drop. This time she stayed in one spot as the winds build up around her again and at the next mention of "Hello Seaddle" she burst from the ground like a rocket creating another microburst that pulled all the wind and air into an updraft. She broke out of the burst and made a few rings over the crowd high-hoofing anypony in her line that had their hooves up before making her way back towards the center as the final recording of "Hello Seaddle" played, and she slowly drifted to the ground as the music faded into the original position that she started the routine in. Her heart was pounding. She could only hope that everypony here enjoyed it, but most importantly, her parents and her soon to be parents enjoyed it.

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It wasn't often that big-time performers came to Cloudsdale, aside from the Wonderbolts, of course.  Playing to an audience that was automatically restricted to just one out of the pony tribes rarely made economic sense.  Besides that, few in the audience had the time or money to travel so far as Las Pegasus, so seeing Wind Dancer go all out, or as much as she could in the school arena, was a real treat.  They'd watched with indulgent smiles as she danced with their foals, but now... they'd see why she headlined the Mareage!

"Whoa, I didn't know a pony could dance like that in the air!"  Scarlett, seated by her husband now, watched her future daughter in law breakdance after the first downburst, "ooh"-ing along with the crowd at her graceful frenzy.

 

"It's the wind control that impresses me."  Nor'Easter replied, his weather factory experience giving him some inner knowledge of just what kind of control was involved in the show before them.  As the minutes continued, though, both were struck speechless by the display as Windy and Sky crescendoed their display of synced virtuosity.  

 

But that was only the first peak of the music, as Sky launched into his synth solo, both felt themselves able to breathe.  "I remember when he was first building that thing.  Needed me to hold the couplings for him as he tuned it.  Stayed up near all night because I didn't want him to give up.  And now look where he is!"  Nor'Easter's eyes held no small amount of 'liquid pride' as the show built towards its second climax.  Like the rest of the crowd, they rose to their hooves and cheered at it's conclusion, though when she swept around the crowd for high-fives, Scarlett would leap up to try and catch her in a hug!

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~~~Morning Dew~~~Water Wing~~~

 

 

Morning Dew sat back in the arena as she and her husband watched everything start getting set up. They were genuinely excited as this was the first time that they themselves were actually getting to see Windy perform. Even if most of it was impromptu, it would set the stage for some of the performances that they would see later. Morning was already rocking back and forth in her seat like she was a filly in a candy store.

 

"Now, now honey... calm down before you wear a groove into the bleachers," Water Wing said stifling a laugh. He shared his wife's excitement, but he was able to keep himself a bit more contained than she could. But that's always how she's been though. She was the ecstatic eccentric one of the family, and Water knew without a doubt that Morning was where Windy got her never-let-die outlook on life. And he couldn't be more proud of her that she was able to pull through this. Sure it might have taken a bit of outside help, but Windy always knew that she was destined for greatness. There was one thing that she was wrong about though. She was already great, she had already found it right here. However, becoming a big time celebrity in Las Pegasus was definitely a major boon.

 

The two of them watched as all the fillies and colts from earlier started moving to the center of the arena and they listened as Windy spoke. She started off by thanking everypony that was staying and went on to explaining the path that they had taken to get here. There were quite a few grimaces from the older ponies in the audience as she brought up the memories of that terrible storm, Morning Dew and Water Wing included. She went on further to thank everypony for their support along the way and then pointed them out as she thanked them as well. "Same old Windy. Never forgetting where her roots are," Water Wing said.

 

"She definitely gets that from you," Morning said as she leaned against Water. She would then listen as Wind continued. Apparently she was going to be debuting a new piece today as well. This news renewed the excitement that Morning had and she was practically stomping her hooves in excitement now. "Oh my gosh! She's showing us something she hasn't even performed in Las Pegasus yet!!! Oh this is so exciting!" she proclaimed as Windy finished speaking.

 

With a nod, the two performers started and Morning Dew and Water Wing watched as all of the little performers had fun doing their own little dance. A few of them started watching Windy and were mimicking what she was doing, and soon just about everypony was doing the same variation of dance, most wanting to be just like Windy. They even included the little quacks that Windy was letting out. The sight it self was so precious and Morning could feel it being etched into her soul. This would be a moment that she would remember always. She couldn't help but snap a picture or two for the scrapbook of Windy getting swarmed by the little ones when the song was finished.

 

When that song finished though, Morning's anticipation grew. Wind Dancer had gotten back onto the intercom and was instructing all of the fillies and colts to return to their parents and gave the warning that most performers give about them being professionals and to not try anything they were about to see at home, at least not without extreme supervision. She then went over to talk to Sky about something and she watched then as Wind took her spot in the center of the arena. The music started, and morning was instantly left speechless. "This is Sky's music?" she said quietly to her husband, who hushed her immediately. Normally she might have been peeved about that, but in this instance, she understood and just enjoyed the show. She watched as Windy moved with practiced Elegance, and she could also watch as the winds seemed to follow her. She knew that Wind Dancer always had the ability to control wind, and it was part of what caused her accident to begin with... but her ability to control it had reached elite levels. If she had this kind of control when she was a filly, then she might have actually succeeded. Still, no sense in dreading that day anymore. Windy was well, well beyond that.

 

At the final stretch of the eights, Morning could actually feel the wind rushing next to her. She wanted to reach her hoof out and touch it, but with as fast as it was moving she wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not, or if it would disrupt the image that Windy was going for. Then quite suddenly almost without warning, she and her husband were hit by a massive wall of wind, much like the rest of the crowd. Morning found herself holding on rather tightly from the bleachers as the wind died back down and they could see Windy... combining breakdancing with figure skating? That was certainly new. Then something else caught her attention... most of those moves... were being done with Windy's left wing as it's focal point. That meant that it was supporting most of the weight, even in the sky that was a lot of stress on that joint. "Look, look, look!" she said in an excited whisper. "She's on her wing! That doctor that worked on her must have been one of the best in Equestria to allow her to put her full weight into it like that!"

 

"Well, our little girl did say that Golden Bit spared no expense for making sure that she was able to get back in the air and give the ponies an amazing show. I can safely say that her goals were accomplished," Water replied as he wiped a bit of his own liquid pride away from his eyes. He draped his wing over Morning Dew and the couple remained like that for the rest of the performance and watched as their daughter did a few laps around giving high-hooves to the audience before watching Scarlett jump up and catch her in a hug.

 

After seeing that, Morning Dew couldn't resist either and Water Wing knew that if he wanted his wing back he'd clear it from Morning as she too practically pounced her daughter. "Oh Windy! I'm so very proud of you," she said, letting the tears of happiness flow freely.

 

 

 

~~~Wind Dancer~~~

 

 

Hearing the crowd was always, always the one thing that made Windy continue her performances. Hearing all the cheers and the happiness that her show had brought somepony was the entire reason why she did this. She took a brief bow before she started going around the arena once more to pick up the ponies that she had missed before, and she was caught off guard a bit as both her mother and mother-to-be pancaked her in a hug. One that she caught both of them in and laughed a bit before landing back down so that she wouldn't crash with all three of them, four technically. She also noticed that the crowd had gathered a bit more as well, as other ponies decided to come and check out the music and saw the performance so they stayed. She blushed a bit when she heard her mom tell her how proud she was. "Mom..." she replied nuzzling into her, and doing the same with Scarlett. "So, what did you think? Come on, be honest," she told them.

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Having spent the show behind the keyboard, it was Sky that was left to say the goodbye's as Wind Dancer flew into the crowd.  "Thank you Cloudsdale; it's been great to see you again.  To everypony who's taken their test today, welcome to the skies!  Have a great day!"  He packed up his instrument to the sound of the last round of applause, and the crowd was already breaking up by the time he'd gotten everything stowed away.  It took him a bit to get back to his family, though, as one or two foals asked him for an autograph.

 

Scarlett, meanwhile, found herself as one of the bread pieces on a Wind Dancer sandwhich, but didn't mind, only pressing in further to the group hug.  "The dance with all the little ones was adorable, but that second show was amazing!  You and Sky make such a great team!"  Nor'Easter nodded in agreement from behind his wife, though probably only Water Wing would be able to see it.  "You must have been practicing that for a while; how long have you two been working together again?"

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~~~Wind Dancer~~~Morning Dew~~~Water Wing~~~

 

 

 

Wind Dancer would smile back to Scarlett as commented on how adorable her dance was with the little ones, and couldn't help but brighten said smile when she talked about how amazing the second part was. She gave her another hug following her saying that she and Sky worked so well together. She spoke up when she heard Sky's father ask how long that they had been working with each other. "Oh, pretty much since the first day we met! I met sky when he knocked a leaf out of a tree and brought him back to my place, cause a Las Pegasus park is... not the safest place to fall asleep in, and that morning he rode the wind that I was making while I was practicing and bumped into me. After that we started sharing music with each other and the first time that he showed me the work that he did, I started dancing to it. It was then that we got the idea to do a collab, and from there everything else just took off sooo a few years at least!" she finished still wearing her smile.

 

Morning Dew would squeeze her daughter and then beckon for Sky over as well. "Well I for one think you both are the perfect couple. IT was like you two were molded for each other. A brilliant musician and a beautiful dancer entertaining the world and becoming the most wonderful family in Equestria. Kinda doesn't have a nice ring to it doesn't it?" she said turning to Scarlett.

 

Water smiled and looked at the scene and was about to say something else as he spotted a small group of ponies approaching them. No doubt they were some fans that were looking to get an autograph, or new fans looking to meet the star dancer and musician for the second first time. Among the group was an older stallion with a grey coat and what looked like a chart for a cutie mark. It was the doctor that had given up on Wind Dancer after her crash. "Well, look what the cat dragged in," he spoke in a very curt tone. "Here to see what the successes of a real doctor looks like?"

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"Sleeping in a tree?"  Scarlett asked, only partly surprised.  "I know some ponies think we're all part bird, but that really takes the cake!"  Nor'Easter just laughed.  "Boy really is a lucky duck, finding the love of his life just by taking a nap.  Why, I had to work up my nerve for *months* to ask the pretty red filly if I could help carry her books home."  Scarlett giggled at that.  "I wish I could say I was just waiting on you, but really, it was a good thing you did, because I wasn't thinking much about colts at all at the time.  Good thing you were there when I did start, though!"

 

Gliding in with a smile as he saw his parents nuzzle each other over how they first met, Sky touched down next to Morning Dew.  "It sure does; the nicest possible ring to a belle and beau."  One had to keep in practice with wordplay, in his style of composition.  Looking over Morning's shoulder, he could see the approaching group.  Not being familiar with any of them, he assumed they were here for an autograph.  Hence, why the stallion's remark puzzled him.  "I mean, yeah, the Los Pegasus surgeons did do good work.  I suppose our shows are practically advertisements for them, now that I think about it.  Not really the main point, though, I should think."

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~~~Wind Dancer~~~Morning Dew~~~Water Wing~~~

 

 

Wind Dancer could only laugh a bit herself at the comment that Scarlett made about most ponies thinking that they were part bird. It wasn't the first time that she'd heard that recently, and she doubted that it would be the last. There were definitely some similarities between the two that gave the claim some validity anyway. The hollow bones being one of them, as well as some of the random sounds that they can make. She knew for a fact that they could very much trill like a bird, and she could very easily remember making those sounds herself. She felt herself blush a bit from that memory.

 

When she heard Nor'easter tell her that it had taken him months to work up the nerve to ask Scarlett out, she smiled and nodded back to him. "Honestly, I had to feel the waters a bit myself. I had opened myself up to a couple ponies before, but later found out that they were your typical ponies that you find in the Las Pegasus streets. They were there for me up until I got them where they needed to go, and then I wasn't worth their time anymore. I took things quite a bit slower with Sky until I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wasn't that kind of pony. After that, it was a matter of finding the right moment. Of course, you give to creators time to plan something and we both end up planning the same idea," she said, pausing as she heard her father speak up. This made her turn her head around to see the group of ponies that was heading towards them, and among them, was a face that she could have done without seeing again.

 

"I came, to pay my respects. Doctor's don't work for free, but that still doesn't excuse how I acted. I know that there's nothing I can say that will make things right. Especially when my refusal to help you was the source of most of your pain. All I can do is apologize for my shortsightedness of the past. Whatever doctor had performed the work on your wing, is truly a master at their craft. I'm not going to lie, with as much damage that had been done to your wing, when I saw you on my table, I thought you were a lost cause, and you'd never regain full use of that wing again even if I did everything in my power to fix it. I was honestly just trying to save you and your family from a lifetime of heartache," The doctor spoke.

 

"Well, as you can see, my daughter is now as spry as a daisy, and her wing looks beautiful, and is well on her way to starting a beautiful family. Perhaps she wasn't the lost cause that you thought she was, just because we couldn't all of the expensive treatments and therapies," Morning spoke.

 

"Regardless..." Wind interjected. "Look, Doctor Grey, I appreciate the apology. What happened all those years ago... I've put it behind me. I did that when I first got here this morning. At one point I'm not going to lie, I really wanted to lay into you, and call you every vile name I could think of, but honestly, what's that going to change? Nothing. I just hope that my successes can be a reminder to you that no pony is ever worth giving up on. Even if the odds are one in a million of recovering. That single pony lying on that gurney could be that one, as long as you have enough fight to try," Wind Dancer commented, watching as the other ponies that followed were waiting for them to finish.

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A pacifist by conviction and by nature, Sky Sailing was relieved to find that the tension he'd belatedly noticed in the air was resolving itself with an apology and... something close enough to forgiveness.  All that said, he wasn't really sure what he could add to the situation, other than standing beside Wind Dancer with a wing wrapped around her in affection and support.

 

His father, on the other hoof, was a little more forthcoming, with a perspective more tempered by experience than Windy's.  "There's a real temptation, when you see a task you can't do, to declare that it can't be done, but that's two different things entirely.  A bad or mediocre job is sometimes worse than none, since it can preclude a real solution.  I've had to deal with my share of busted pipework from overconfident engineers, and wings are even more complicated.  Not to say I approve of preserving one's ego over telling the real truth, but... it's an entirely fair point.  Even if he hadn't given up on you, no guarantee his work would be as good as what you got, and only the best would have gotten you as far as you did."  That was about as much as Nor'Eastern had said in one go since his son and daughter-in-law came to visit, and he seemed a little bashful after he finished.  "Leastaways, that's how I see it."

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~~~Wind Dancer~~~Morning Dew~~~Water Wing~~~

 

 

 

Wind Dancer listened as Nor'Eastern  spoke and said his piece on the matter. Hearing him talk about how they're was a real temptation when your see something outside of your skill range to say that it couldn't be done. But that was still vastly different than just not being able to do it. He also added that a mediocre job often times is worse than not attempting at all. Often times it can preclude a real solution. He's dealt with enough busted pipes from engineers that thought they were better than what they were. Only the best would have gotten her where she was now, and that was more important than anything else. "That is true. After all, part of the procedure I had to go through was to rebreak everything because it all healed incorrectly," Wind commented. "But like I said, what's been done is done. We can't go back and change it. Just, like I said there's a lesson here for everyone, and no one is ever a lost cause," she said looking to the other group of ponies. "Now, who was wanting autographs!?" Wind asked with a smile to the others trying to put the slightly sour note behind them.

 

Doctor Anatomy watched and listened as they spoke. "It may have been wrong for me to say, but it was my honest opinion on the matter. In all my years as a doctor I had never seen a pony recover from that much wing damage. There have been a lot of improvements in medicine, but I'll be the first to admit that I don't think that I could have gotten any where close to what this doctor had gotten. I for one, am glad to have been proven wrong. I've long since retired, but I will make sure that all doctors here in Cloudsdale hear your story, and not make the same mistake I did. I for one would love an autograph," the doctor said holding it an old brochure with her picture on it. "This is... The first ad from the Mareage. It was the first show you were headlining," the doctor added.

 

Wind Dancer nodded and she signed the brochure with her name. She was half tempted to add in 'the one that got away', but that would have been a bad taste and she didn't really want to punish the doctor anymore than he probably already had been. "It's amazing how fast we can come when the sky is the limit, and you can that in your teaching seminar to," she says before she motioned for sky to come over to add the group began to form around them. Almost all the fillies from the show were watching autographs now that their parents told them who they were.

 

Morning on the other good wasn't as forgiving as Wind Dancer was. How could she be? This doctor is who caused Windy's hardships. Technically... It was Windy's crash that started everything, but he was the doctor that said no, and didn't even consult anypony else for other options. Above all, he wanted to cut it off! And now he was here thinking he could make everything better with a few words now that Windy had made a name for herself!? Morning Dew didn't say anything, but the look on her face said everything that needed to be said. 

 

"Easy there sugar cube," Water said. "Windy's right, and so is Nor'. If he wasn't actually capable of fixing her, and he tried, that could have actually damaged her wing beyond repair. Besides, we're forgetting something important here. The only reason we're even mad is because Windy found a doctor and a group of friends to help her blossom into what she is. None of this would have happened without that. We should be made and upset about a pony that said no, but relishing the fact that we are even able to have this discussion right now," Water said as he watched their daughter and future son in law started signing autographs. 

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Seeing his fatherly advice being taken, Nor'Easter stepped back, letting Sky and Windy take center stage.  Scarlett was beside him, watching the proceedings at first with trepidation, and then with a smile.  "Even through the storm, our little songbirds are flying right."  It was a privileged sense of validation experienced by good parents, seeing their foals grow up to be adults with healthy bodies and good spirits.  And knowing that they would pass this along, both to their own foals, and to countless others who would hear their songs and see their dance?

No better feeling in the world.

Sky Sailing came over as he was beckoned, having cemented the scene into his mind.  He nuzzled Windy as he came up, whispering, "Well Done."  In her ear, before turning a smiling face to the first little filly to ask for his autograph.  Already, in the back of his mind, a song was forming to mark this occasion, chorus ringing in his head:

"And from the ashes of your burning bridges;

Comes your spirit rising like a pheonix.

Spread your feathers, touch the edges of the canyon,

And we'll be meeting there across the wingspan!"

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