The Wonderful Life Of Ford Mustang

Chapter 33- A Day Without Rainbows

In the following morning, rays of sunshine pierce through the bleak gloom of Ford Mustang's bedroom as the celestial beams cast their light on the lone stallion, who is still slumbering from his restless sleep. But eventually, the somewhat welcoming light stirs him up from his dreary slumber, and he gradually rises up to face the brand new day ahead of him.
As he groggily sits up on his bed for a matter of minutes, he slowly turns his head to his left side, and once again, the vacant spot next him serves as a grim reminder on what happened last night is certainly no delusion: Rainbow Dash is no longer amongst the living after giving birth to their two beautiful foals. And after staring at that empty spot for a little while longer, the impassive stallion lets out a steady, heavy sigh before he faces the other way and sluggishly exits out of the bedroom.
As he steps outside of his room, something gets his attention as his keen nose picks up a wonderful scent: cooked eggs, onions, and peppers... probably the working of a omelet downstairs... the smell of breakfast. With more of a spring in his steps, the now smiling stallion flies leisurely as he uses his nose to follow the cooking omelet's vapor trail.
Once he lands in front of the kitchen, Ford's assumptions are correct as he sees a familiar stallion still working on a large omelet filled with sliced onions and chopped bell peppers. And after adding a few slices of cheese to his culinary creation, he turns away for a stove once he notices the presence of the younger stallion that has just entered the room.
"Oh, good morning, Ford." he greets with a cheerful smile.
"Morning, Turbo." he responds with a simple smile of his own.
"I hope you don't mind me using your kitchen this morning." Turbo Dash explains himself as he turns his attention back on the nearly completed omelet. "You must has been completely tuckered out since last night, so I figure I could help myself to the kitchen by cooking a delicious breakfast for us today. Hope that's cool with you."
"No, please. Go ready ahead."
As Turbo Dash continues to watch over the omelet, Ford sits himself down at the table nearby as he examines all that the older stallion has already prepared for them. The setup includes a tray of sliced oranges, grapes, and bananas, a plate of toasted bread for each of them with butter and jelly on the sides, a couple glasses of orange juice, and a small pot of freshly brewed coffee, no doubt for Turbo in particular since Mustang hardly drinks the stuff himself.
"Alright. Here you go." the older stallion announces as he places one half of the hearty omelet in front of Ford.
"Thanks for preparing all of this." he offers with a grateful smile. "Everything looks really good."
"Anytime." Dash nods with a welcoming grin as he sits himself down on the opposite end of the table. And once he takes a good sip from his cup of coffee, he then asks in a more serious tone, "So, Ford... how did you sleep last night?"
Unwilling to answer on how deeply distressing his night was, he averts his shame-ridden eyes away from Turbo's soft, inquisitive gaze as he couldn't bear to tell the elder stallion on how difficult it was for him get some sleep after all that has happened to him since last night. However, there is no need for Mustang go into any detail as Turbo can practically read everything from the heavy, somber look on the younger Pegasus's face.
"Sigh... Yeah, me too." Turbo acknowledges with a small, sympathetic smile.
Compared to the two of them, Turbo Dash is a lot more cheerful much to Mustang's surprise, so he points it out in a slightly shrew manner, "I could hardly tell difference myself."
"Trust me, I'm used to this by now." he responds with a light chuckle to himself before he gets himself up and places a comforting hoof on Ford's shoulder. "Though I have to say, you're at least handling this a lot better than me when my wife passed away years ago. But anyway, like I said last night: we'll get through this together, Ford. I promise."
Though he didn't come up with a proper response to Dash's reassurance, Ford at least took those comforting words into great consideration as a much more appreciative smile begins to emerge across his face. Along with that budding smile, he gently pats Turbo's reassuring hoof as a welcoming gesture while the older stallion continues to bear that promising smile of his.
Then, with a playful nudge, Turbo insists with a wink and a lighthearted grin, "Now come on, eat up already. Don't want a well-balanced breakfast to get cold and go to waste, you know. Besides, you're going to need all of that energy when we see the twins again this morning." he states it knowingly as he resumes his seat at the table.
And with hungry grins, the two stallions indulge in their big breakfast together. But halfway through their hearty meal, Ford recalls a fond memory over his beloved angel and he lets out a small chuckle before sharing with his father-in-law across the table.
"Heh, I still remember the times when Rainbow and I used to cook together."
"Oh yeah?" Turbo responds after taking another bite from his buttered toast. "I bet with you as the head chef around here, she didn't have to worry with the hassle of running the kitchen herself."
"Actually, there were moments when she had done some cooking by herself."
Dash stares at him with wide eyes before he giggles with a tiny smirk, "You're kidding me!"
"What, you don't believe me?" asks Mustang with an arch of his eyebrow.
"It's not that really, it's just that... she would always have a hard time making a proper meal for herself." Turbo answers with an awkward smile.
"Well get this. During Rainbow's maternity leave, she decided to cook a meal for us while I was out with the weather team that day. And I have to admit, she did an admirable job for herself."
"Really? Do you remember what she cooked that day?"
"Well, I remember it was some type of asparagus dish for dinner, but as for dessert, she decided to make a soufflé for us."
The mention of that ambitious dessert really leaves Turbo Dash speechless before he says something to indicate his absolute astonishment over this matter, "Okay, now you gotta be kidding me!"
"I kid you not." he counters with a knowing grin.
"Huh." Turbo mutters to himself as he gradually lets that sink in despite his own initial disbelief. "Rainbow Dash is always the brash one, but I would never imagine her to even attempt to make a soufflé all by herself! Even I wouldn't dare to create such a delicate dessert like that!"
"Well... it wasn't entirely perfect, but it was still edible to some degree. We both decided in the end that the soufflé didn't meet to our expectations. Still, her skills in cooking grew exponentially after that. I can still remember the delicious scalloped potatoes she made for me this one other time." he confirms with a faint lick of his chops over such cheesiness.
Amazed as ever, he swells up with pride over his daughter's personal accomplishment as he offers a sincere smile to his son-in-law. "Wow... I never knew my baby girl became just an outstanding cook for herself. Thanks for sharing that with me, Ford. That means a lot for me to hear from you."
Without a word, the smiling Mustang nods right back to him, and eventually, they resume what's left on their plate. After that's finished, they clean up their dishes and set them aside to dry overtime before Turbo Dash faces the younger Pegasus to establish what's next on today's agenda.
"Well then, now that breakfast has been taken care of, what do you say we go ahead and pay a visit to our two favorite foals in the world, hmm?"
With a sophisticated grin matching his, Ford Mustang cheerfully complies in an instant. "Yep. Sounds like a plan, Turbo."