Seeing Rainbows

Chapters

Chapter 1. Just another day
Chapter 2. First day on the job
Chapter 3. Party with Pinkie
Chapter 4. A day with a Dash of Rainbow
Chapter 5. Not so secret
Chapter 6. Tests and experiments.
Chapter 7. Advice
Chapter 9. Secret Revealed
Chapter 10. Confessions
Chapter 11. Surprise?
Chapter 12. All good things.
Chapter 8. Before you can finish

Chapter 1. Just another day

"UUUGGGHHH" You mutter rather loudly as your alarm clock BLEEPS. "Yeah, yeah, I'm up, I'm up," you say as you hit your hoof against the clock. You feel the top of your night stand looking for your shades, the electric blue glasses that have become part of your personality. You pull them on and hope out of bed, you lightly float down to the floor. Your ears twitch as you hear and feel the floor make contact with your feet. I never get tired of that you think to yourself. In fact it’s your first good look of the room in the morning.

Ever since that one day seven years ago, when you were only a colt of 13 years old, you have used your ears and sense of touch to navigate your world. The accident that made you Blind. You haven’t seen a color, word, sign, or picture in seven years. But that accident gave you something extraordinary. Your new found ability. You can see with sound. Every slight movement, every flap of a wing, every step of a hoof you can see. Every vibration in the ground you feel, every gust of wind, every drop of rain you feel. The discovery of your sensitive ears and hooves opened a new world for you. You could be independent again. Without even having to focus, the world around you comes to life. While you no longer had vision you could still see. And now, apparent by the large amounts of ribbons and trophies decorating a shelf in your room, you were the best night flyer in all of Equestria. You shake yourself out of your happy thoughts and head downstairs.

“Solar storm!” your mother yells as you reach the bottom of the stairs, “Your father and I are leaving now. I made you a quick breakfast; I left 5000 bits in the cupboard for groceries plus an extra 2000 for emergencies.”

“Thanks mom,” you say as you begin to eat your breakfast; Eggs and cheese on a bagel with a glass of apple juice. Wow does your mother know how to cook.

“Oh and one more thing,” your father shouts as he grabs the last bag, “your mother and I have a surprise for you.” You can tell by the tone of his voice he’s grinning ear to ear. “We got you the job at the Ponyville Weather Patrol.”

“GGGAAAHHH!” you choke slightly on a bit of your sandwich.

“What?! The weather patrol? Not that I can’t do it but HOW? You know with my…” you search for the right words, “unusual condition.”

“Oh well, the mayor didn’t ask so we didn’t tell,” your mother responds.

“I see, and who will I be working with?”

“Only one other pony,” your dad calls from the carriage, “some pony named Rainbow Dash. You start tomorrow in front of town hall.”

“Now we have to get going, Storm so please try not to do anything stupid while we’re gone,” your mother calls as she is helped into the carriage.

You put on your mischievous face, “what? me? What could I possibly do?”

“Ha ha,” comes the sarcastic reply, “Good bye Storm, have a nice summer will you?”
Her voice grows fainter as the carriage speeds off.

You finish your breakfast and wash the dishes.

"It’s a new day" you think to yourself; "it’s quite a nice day out. Let’s do some exploring."

Your passion and talent originated with your blindness. Suddenly every familiar place was a new land; A new place to explore. As soon as you developed your echolocation well enough, you started to venture out of the house. Looking around, you started with rediscovering Ponyville. Though one day your parents were home early, to announce they were sending you to a special school for the blind, and you weren’t home. You had flown up to the house in time to watch your parents freak out. You managed to calm them down and eventually impress them with your new abilities. Eventually you
started going out at night, until your father pulled you back inside one night. Your night outs were cut short.

You occupied your time during the lonely summers were spent building obstacle courses in the clouds and racing yourself. Your mother loved the idea of you eventually entering a race; your father was a bit reluctant. After several weeks of convincing your parents entered you in the Wonderbolts’ Dark race, with the Wonderbolts themselves the judges. It pushed you too your limits but in the end, your training and exploring paid off. You won the race by a snout. You even had your medal autographed by Spitfire! It was the happiest moment of your life. And there is where you received you cutie
mark, a comet surrounded by a blue flame.

Ever since then you entered in every night race and obstacle course you could. Your blindness never was even a factor in those races. And when you weren’t competing you explored. Every cave, every forest, every mountain top around Ponyville was explored by you.

And today was going to be no different. You stretched your large, majestic wings and took off into the sky, the wind rushing through your black and lightning blue main and over your gray coat, you never felt freer than when you were flying.
You take off towards Ponyville. You dive towards the ground and flip before you hit the ground, extending your wings to slow your descent before you stick the landing. Your shades still stick to your face, everything is fine. Sugarcube corner is
only a few blocks away. Today will be a good day you think to yourself.

“LOOK OUT!” comes a cry up above. You notice it even faster than everyone else. Somepony is coming in rather fast. Judging by the shape of the body, it’s a mare, she’s slightly shorter than you, slightly smaller than you too, but from the looks of her just as athletic. All this information comes to you from the air into your ears where your brain builds an image of the mare and environment in the blink of an eye. Fast enough to realize where the object is going to hit. Not fast enough to jump out of the way.

“OH HORSEA – UUGGGGGHHHHFFFF,” as the mare hits you at 50 miles an hour.

Chapter 2. First day on the job

If you could see you would be seeing stars. You feel your face, good your shades are still there. “Who in Equestria just hit me?” you think to yourself.

***

Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. “Note to self, when performing the Rainbow Loop, do it higher,” she thought to herself. She quickly searched the ground for the pony she just t-boned. He was lying on his side, pulling himself up.

***

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh, I am so sorry, are you ok?” you ‘look’ up at the mare now hovering nearby.

“I’m fine but ow, that hurt, just watch where you’re going next time,” you laugh slightly.

“Heh heh, sorry ‘bout that, I’m Rainbow Dash, the best flier in all of Equestria. Who are you?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I’m Solarstorm. I’m more of a night flier,” you say, trying to be modest, “wait, you said your name was Rainbow Dash? I think I’m supposed to start my job at the Weather Patrol with you.”

“Oh, so you’re the rook who’s supposed to be joining me tomorrow,” she replies, “mayor told me this morning, the more help with the weather the better.”

“Ok, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Sure, it was good to meet ya, Storm,” Rainbow Dash says. She takes off and heads off. You dust yourself off and head toward the park

Though you lived in Ponyville since the accident, you rarely ventured into town. Not that you needed to with your new senses. The entire layout was always available whenever you stepped on the ground. Your parents used to take you with them whenever they left on any of their many business trips. When they finally trusted you to stay home by yourself, you ventured into town had the pleasure or displeasure of meeting the famous Pinkie Pie. Her hectic and eccentrics were funny at first. Then at the Summer Sun Celebration she got into a barrel of the Apple family’s famous sparkling apple cider. Needless to say you tended to stay out of Ponyville whenever possible.

But today was a new day. The first day of summer and you were feeling adventurous.

Your thoughts are interrupted by a loud gasp behind you. “Oh dear Celestia,” you think.

“Hi, who are you? I think we’ve met before, did we? I can’t remember. Are you new here? I’ve never seen you in town before. Are you from Cloudsdale? My friend Rainbow Dash is from Cloudsdale. Why do you wear those glasses? My friend Vinyl Scratch wears purple glasses all the time. Oh, silly me I didn’t get your name. I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?” the pink pony with the cotton candy mane says all in one breath.

“Uh… I’m Solarstorm. And we have met before. At the Summer Sun Celebration four year ago,” you say, shuddering slightly as you remember the night Pinkie went Postal.

“Really? You were there that night?” Pinkie giggles, “oh well I guess you know why I can’t have sparkling cider anymore.”

“Yeah I remember quit vividly.”

“Well, nice meeting you. I have to get to Sugarcube Corner now. Bye!”

You sit there relieved that you survived that encounter unscathed as Pinkie bounces down the road, saying hello to everyone she meets.

You head to the park and sit on a bench enjoying the warm Summer sun…

BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP. Your alarm clock rouses you from your slumber. “No point in rubbing the sleep out my eyes today,” you say sarcastically. Your clock woke you up at 7 o’clock every morning. You make a quick breakfast of eggs on toast before heading out the door.

Today was your first day of working on the Weather Patrol and you didn’t want to botch it up on the first day. Come to think of it, it was your first job anywhere. You fly towards town center and land in front of town hall.

“Excuse me, but what’s the time?” you ask a passing mare.

“Can’t you read the clock?” comes the snobbish reply.

You just ‘stare’ at her.

“Fine, it’s 8:15.” She says.

Hmmm, that seems a bit early. Wait “I never asked dad what time I start,” you mentally scold yourself. You sit yourself on a nearby bench. Might as well wait…

***

“Hey, wake up sleepy head.”

“Not now mom, it’s Saturday,” you reply.

“Uh, I hate to disappoint you but its Wednesday, hotshot. And I’m not your mom.”

You focus your hearing. There’s a mare standing over you. Judging by the height and shape and voice, she’s the same one who crashed into you yesterday; Rainbow Dash.

“Aaahhhh! How long was I asleep?! What time is it?” you fanatically scramble up.

“About 9:00,” Rainbow Dash replies, “you ready to get started?”

“You bet,” you say, now fully composed.

“OK, follow me,”

***

“He keeps up surprisingly well,” thought Rainbow Dash.

***

Your echolocation lets you keep track of her and all other objects in the air and on the ground. There’s a bunch of ponies at the market, somepony is heading into the Carousel Boutique, and the mail pony everypony says has wall eyes just crashed into a mailbox.

“Alright Storm, today we’re going to clear the clouds. Today schedule calls for blue skies and a sunny day. Can you handle that?” Rainbow dash instructs.

“Piece of cake.” You both zip off and begin pushing all the scattered clouds out of Ponyville, and into Everfree forest. Any spares you both pop with your hooves. You’re both done in 20 minutes. Though your dad was a scientist, he taught you everything about the weather. “Any Pegasus, no matter his/her occupation should be able to manipulate the weather,” he would say. Before you could go off and explore you had to practice weather manipulation.

“Wow, your good,” Dash breaths.

“I learned everything I know from my father,” you reply, breathing a little heavy yourself, “he had a thing about me learning it.”

You both hover above Ponyville, admiring your work.

“So how much do we get paid?” you ask to break the silence.

“We both get paid 500 bits a day at the end of the week.”

“Wow, this job pays good money.”

Her tone changes to something happy. You can sense she’s grinning, “oh yes, very good.”

“Hey! Are you doing anything later?” she asks

“Um… no not really. Why?” you ask back.

“I was wondering if you wanted to hang out or something,” Dash says, “I mean, we do have the rest of the day off.”

“Sure I Guess,” you smile.

“Awesome, I just need to pick up one thing at Sugarcube Corner.”

“Oh no,” you think to yourself.

Dash and you race to Sugarcube corner. You’re both neck and neck as you descend. You pull up at the last second and land next to Dash.

“I won!” Dash proclaims triumphantly.

“But look who’s closer to the door,” you say.

“Fine, it’s a tie,” she says.

“No, I won fair and square,” you laugh as you reach the door. “Oh great,” you think. You already know what’s waiting behind it.

“My friend Pinkie Pie works here,” Dash says, “though she can be a little eccentric.”

“I know, I saw her drunk four years ago,” you mutter as Dash opens the door.

“SURPRISE!!”

Chapter 3. Party with Pinkie

“SURPRISE!!”

Music blares, hitting you with like a wave and a room full of ponies pops seemingly out of nowhere. You saw this coming before you walked in the door. All the hushed, “ssshhh, here they come,” and the sound of breathing may have escaped a normal pony’s ears but not yours. Music turns on and Pinkie Pie bounces up to you.

“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie, welcome to your ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party.”

“I bet you had something to do with this,” you say, turning to face Dash.

“Nope,” Pinkie Pie replies, “this was my idea, but Dashie did help bring you here. Let me introduce you to my friends.”

Four other ponies walk up to you. “This is Twilight, and this is Rarity, and this is Applejack, and this is Fluttershy,” Pinkie says as she points at each pony left to right.

“Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I run the town library, and this is my assistant, Spike,” says a warm and welcoming voice.

A small bipedal creature walks up to you; you can only assume it’s a baby dragon, “what’s up dude?”
Another pony draws his attention, and immediately he’s fumbling with his spikes.

“I’m Rarity; it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. You simply must come down to my shop so I get your measurements,” a fancy yet not too uptight voice addresses you.

“Alright Rarity, don’t pester the fella too much. I’m Applejack; my family and Ah run the apple farm in town,” says the pony with a southern accent. She had something on her head that you assume was a hat.

“Well go on Fluttershy dear, introduce yourself to the nice pony,” says Rarity.

A Pegasus who seemed light on her feet quietly walked up to you, “I’m Fluttershy…,” she says, her voice growing faint towards the end of her sentence.

“Um, hi I’m Solarstorm. Thanks for all the warm welcomes but I’m not new here,” you say.

“Really? I haven’t seen you around town,” says Dash.

“I rarely go into town, I mostly explore the mountains and forests around Ponyville but I’ve lived here for seven years,” you reply.

“Wait, earlier you said you’ve seen Pinkie all tipsy, you weren’t here for the celebration four years ago, were you?” Dash asked.

“Yup, I kind of stopped visiting town after that,” you say.

“I still don’t even remember what happened that night either,” says Pinkie.

“Yeah well ur not gettin any of that cider again. Not after what ya did to that nice young Pegasus, scared the daylights outta him, not to mention the rest of us,” says Applejack.

“I said I was sorry,” Pinkie replies.
“Um, that nice young Pegasus was me, but it’s nice to see you not curved out of your mind,” you say, soliciting a laugh out of everypony.
“Well no point in letting a perfectly good party go to waste, LETS PARTY!” yells Pinkie. And with that DJ Pon-3 puts a new record on restarts the music.

“So you said you like exploring, where do you go when you do?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“Surprisingly, there is a lot to see outside of Ponyville. There’s the Everfree forest, the caves at the base of the mountains, the mountains themselves, it’s a lot of fun,” you say.

“Wait, how far do you go into the forest? I mean, our friend Zecora lives in the forest so we see her there all the time, but you go into the caves? There’s rumored to be an ursa major living in one of those caves. That’s so awesome,” Dash says, clearly impressed.

“Really? I’ve never run into one before but if I see one I’ll te-”

“You two just gonna sit there talking or are you guys gonna dance?” yells Pinkie. She has something in her hooves. What is it?

BANG! BANG!

And with that you no longer see. The world goes black, slowly returning in patches. There’s a loud ringing in your ears.

“Hey, Storm. You OK?” the voice sounds faint, out of touch. Who is it? You wait until the ringing stops enough for you to get a blurred look on your surroundings.

“Ow, what was that?”

“Party poppers,” Pinkie says, “why?”

“Nothing, I just have a slight ringing in my ears,” the environment has not returned into focus. You stand up. “Just don’t do that near my head like that. I have…sensitive hearing.”

“Uh, partner? You’re kind of talking to the ice sculpture,” Applejack remarks.

You feel your face heat up, “Oh, uh, I knew that.”

“Hey no problem, I talk to ice sculptures all the time,” Pinkie says, and bounces away.

The world has returned to focus again. You turn to Rainbow Dash, “She’s like this normally?”

“Eh, you get used to it, besides, she grows on you.”

The party continues for a few more hours. You and Dash continue to talk.

“So how many Wonderbolts’ shows have you been to?” Rainbow Dash asks.

“As many as I can. Whenever they are in area or nearby town, I’m there,” you answer.

“What’s your favorite trick? I love The Flamethrower.”

“Oh my gosh, I absolutely love The Fire Bomb. The beautiful shape of the flames is what I love the best. They always bring the best for all their shows.”

"Ya know, I met Spitfire once," Rainbow Dash says.

"NO WAY! What's she like?" You respond excitedly

"She's awesome, the leader of the Wonderbolts, she has got to be the coolest pony in the world," she says as if Spitfire is here in front of her.

“This is so great,” Rainbow says excitedly, “I never knew there was another pony who appreciated the Wonderbolts with such enthusiasm, we have to go to a show together.”

A few hours later the party begins to wind down and ponies begin to leave.

(Yawn) “Alright guys, I’m gonna head home, besides, Spike is tired,” says Twilight as she walks by carrying the baby dragon, “It was nice meeting you, Solarstorm.”

“Me too, I’ve got some apple trees to harvest tomorrow, I’ll see ya round partner,” Applejack says as she heads out the door.

The party is over, you start to head home when you hear a Pegasus flying to catch up to you. Its Rainbow.

“Hey, you heading home?” she asks.

“Yeah, so same time tomorrow?” you ask.

“Uh hug, 9:30 Monday through Friday. Hey do you wanna get hangout for real tomorrow? I mean, I’m sure you didn’t expect that party, but maybe we can do something fun. ” she says, her voice is slightly soft.

“Uh sure,” you reply, your face blushes slightly, “right after the weather.”

“Oh, ok, see ya tomorrow, hotshot,” her voice regaining its confidence.

You return home. Climbing into your bed you feel happier than ever. Suddenly it hits you.
Did she just ask you out?

Chapter 4. A day with a Dash of Rainbow

You spring awake, excited for the day’s events. You head down stairs and make a breakfast of a bagel with cream cheese. In your haste you almost forget your shades on your way out the door.

You meet up with Rainbow Dash and begin the day.

“Alright rook, today’s weather calls for partly cloudy in preparation for the weekly rain. So half of those clouds we moved yesterday have to come back,” she says.

“Sounds good, let’s get started,” you respond.

Over the next few minutes the two of you retrieve and place clouds all over Ponyville. You are careful not to put too many clouds in one area. You’re both done in half an hour.

“Race ya to the park,” Dash says as she zips toward town.

“Hey, no fair you got a head start,” you reply, laughing as you gain on her.

Your strong wings accelerate your body and soon you’re again neck and neck. You’re careful to pay attention to the approaching ground. But not careful enough this time.

Dash wins as you flop to the ground, having misjudged the distance. “Horseapples, got to work on the landing,” you think to yourself. Though you had for the most part mastered your sense of hearing, you found yourself still…desiring in some areas.

“H-Hey, you a-alright? BAH HA HA HA!”

Your hear her voice crack up as she laughs at your not so perfect landing; you blush as she flops on the grass laughing.

“Oh, I think that just made my day,” she starts to crack up again.

“Yeah, yeah, glad to be of entertainment,” you say, slightly sarcastic, “so you said you wanted to hang yesterday, what do you wanna do?”

The softness you heard yesterday returns to her voice, “Well, I was wondering… I was wondering if you could show me some of the places you explore. It sounds like blast.”

“Well it does have an exciting quality to it,” you say, “come on, I’ll show you a spot I found where you can see all of Ponyville.”

You both head off into Everfree forest. You follow the path into the forest until you reach your shortcut.

It’s a dark cave that leads into the ground.

“Well, here we are,” you announce, “this is the only way there without going through the timber wolf den,” you shudder at the thought.

“UH, you sure we can go in there? I mean, do you know what’s in there?” Rainbow asks, slightly skittish.
“Sure I know what’s in there, I come here all the time. Just follow me and you’ll be fine, unless your chicken,” you smirk.

“NO! Don’t you know who I am? I’m Rainbow Dash, the best flier in Equestria. I’m not afraid of anything,” she responds, the confidence returning to her voice, “you coming or what?”

You can’t help but smile as you both descend into the cave. Inside it’s nearly pitch black. Not that that’s a problem for you. The dark is your domain, where normal ponies are just as blind as you. You’re aware of every sound and what makes them.

“S-s-so, how can you see in this,” Rainbow Dash asks, slight fear in her voice, “AH! What was that?!”

“Ha ha, there’s nothing to worry about. No pony accept me ever comes in here,” you say, chuckling.

“And you never worry about cave ins?” she asks.

“Nope, come on we’re almost out,” you say.

Rainbow speeds past you and out of the cave.

“Thank Celestia, light! Wait, why didn’t we fly her?” she asks, irritated.

“Now where’s the fun in that? It’s more exciting to use the cave, keeps you on your toes doesn’t it?” you respond.

“You’re sick,” she says, her friendly attitude has returned.

“Look up, we can fly the rest of the way up from here.” Before you lay a huge mountain range. To your right is Dragon Mountain and your left is Luna’s Castle from the Nightmare incident. Up above is your destination; a ledge with a small tree growing on it, with a long path leading down the mountain.

You both fly up the cliff face and land. You ‘watch’ as Dash looks at the view. Something you’ve never seen. You always came here when you needed to think, or wanted to be alone, or simply enjoy the nice weather.

“Whoa, the view up here is so AWESOME,” Rainbow Dash says, clearly astonished, “how did you find this place?”

Hmmm, how did you find this cliff? When you were a young colt you always loved to read. You always looked out your window at home and saw it. So one day you grabbed your favorite book and flew up the mountain. Over the next year your came here to read or simply enjoy the view. The accident however changed that. The fact that you may never see the sky or stars again terrified you. As soon as you could navigate the ground without bumping into something you tried to get back to your cliff. The cave was ironically the first place you started out. Each day you crept further up the mountain until you reached the ledge. It not only became a place of solitude but comfort as you dealt with your new condition.

As soon as you remastered flight, you stopped using the cave as frequently. You brought some braille books from the Canterlot book store up with you and slowly got on with life as a blind pony.
“I always used to eye this ledge from my house and one day decided to actually come up here. I absolutely love this place. It’s the best place to simply lay back and relax or read a book.”

“I like the sound of that,” she says as she flies over to the tree and lands on a branch “, lie back and relax.”

And with that she falls fast asleep. You begin to realize something. For the first time you have been looking forward to every day. You had become actually kind of sociable. And it was because of Rainbow. You had heard the rumors about Rainbow, that she was a fillyfooler. You don’t care; she’s your friend either way.

You’d never had many friends after losing your sight. As a blind colt you’d bump into everything, crash into anything, you were clumsy. The other Pegasus ponies in your school laughed at you or took advantage of your blindness. You were no longer capable of living in Cloudsdale. That was when your parents moved to Ponyville.

At first your parents had homeschooled you, until you had begun to regain your ‘sight.’ Your parents were amazed; the doctors who examined you were dumbfounded. As far as they were concerned all you couldn’t see were colors, words, and facial expressions.

You had your parents re-enroll you in public school. That summer before school started you saved up bits from your allowance and had your father buy you pair of electric blue glasses to cover your now colorless irises.

You hear a rustling in the tree. Rainbow wakes up, knocking you out of your reminiscing.

“Wow! Look at that sunset. It’s so…” for once she’s at a loss for words, “I don’t know how to describe it. Are sunsets up here always like this?”

You couldn’t see the sunset, so you respond by saying “, yeah, all the time.”

You walk to the edge of the cliff and ‘look’ off at Celestia’s setting sun. Though you can’t see it, you know Luna’s moon begins to rise.

Rainbow walks up to you and sits next to you.

“Ya know rook, I’ve never met anyone quite like you. You’re different than most stallions I’ve met. I don’t know how but you’re different,” she moves in closer and leans up against you. You can feel her heartbeat through her chest. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced.

You smile as you sit with Rainbow, enjoying each other’s company, as you both ‘watch’ the sun set.

Chapter 5. Not so secret

You’re quick to head out the door today. You can’t wait to ‘see’ Rainbow. Ever since the night on the cliff last week, she’s been lurking in your thoughts. Every night she’s in your dreams; you finally realize it.

You like Rainbow Dash.

You both love racing, you both love flight, you both love speed. She’s everything you’d been looking for, all in one. Relationships had never worked with you. Blindness made it difficult with some mares more than others.

“How do I look?” the fancy ones would ask. You never cared about that as you couldn’t. “Does this dress make my flank look big?” “Does my makeup look good?”

You could never answer, too many, “I don’t care how you look, you look fine to me” ruined it for you. Others found it weird how you never took you shades off around them. After a few to many of those relationships you stopped taking off your shades all together. Even around your parents.

After you both finish your weather duties you head to the park.

“You up for a game of horseshoes, rook?” Rainbow asks.

“Sure, I’ve got nothing planned today.”

You retrieve the shoes and pound the stakes in. Rainbow goes first. The shoe lands a few inches from the stake.

“Ha ha, think you can beat that?”

“Oh yeah,” you grab a shoe and toss. It lands two inches closer than Rainbow’s.

“Hmph, this game has just begun, hotshot,” Rainbow says with a grunt. She tosses her last shoe.

CLANG

“Yeah baby, Ringer!” she cheers.

Your turn. You toss, “Oh horseapples, I over did it,” the shoe lands two feet past the stake.

“Nice one, rook,” Rainbow chuckles

“Best two outta three,” you smile at her.

What was supposed to be two out of three turned into best nine out of seventeen.

You toss your shoe, “Ringer, I win this one, Dash.”

“Best ten outta nineteen,” she says. The clock tower in the center of town rings. The sound resonates loudly within your head, disorienting you slightly.

“Oh sweet Celestia, I forgot,” Dash says in a panic, “I was supposed to meet Twilight and Applejack for lunch today, uh sorry, I have to go,” there’s regret in her voice, is it from nearly missing her date or leaving you behind? “I’ll see ya later rook, we should hang more often; go hiking again or something, I had fun,” with that she speeds off.

You head home, a cloud over your head. You’d been looking forward to spending the day with Rainbow. You make a daffodil and hay sandwich for lunch, carefully smelling each ingredient before you assemble your lunch. When you’re done you sit in the living room and eat.

Today is quickly becoming boring, but then again most of your summers were just you exploring the area around Ponyville, but with most of it explored, there’s not much to do. Why was your summer suddenly not a bummer? Rainbow Dash. So far this entire summer you’d hung out with her. She’d brightened up every one of your days so far.

Suddenly you remember something.

What was that book series Rainbow wanted you to read? Daring Doo was the name; maybe Twilight had some braille versions of the series. Couldn’t you just say they were for your cousin or something? She would believe that, after all everypony else who heard that believed it. Ok, you’ll try it out.

You grab your saddle bag and fly out the door.

You land at the library just as the clock strikes 3:00. Good, Twilight should be back from lunch by now. You open the door and walk in.

“Hi, welcome to the Ponyville libr- hey I know you,” Twilight says, “You were the stallion that Pinkie threw that party for last week. You name was… uh… Storm that’s it. What can I help you with?”

“Uh do you have the Daring Doo series,” you ask unsure of how to approach the subject.

“Sure, I have every book in the series. The next book Daring Doo and the temple of dreams comes out next month, if you want I can order it for you once you’re finished with others.” She hands you the books.

“Um, I kind of need them in braille. I’m just… uh picking them up f-for my cousin, yeah that’s it. He has a sight problem.”

“Ok, no problem, I’ll just be a moment. You know, Rainbow really appreciates you helping her with her weather duties. She says you really know your stuff.” She walks through a door and downstairs. Without even stepping foot in the place you can tell the basement is spacious. More shelves of book and equipment line the shelves.

She shouts up the stairs, “Spike, can you get that ancient spells book? The one with the invisibility spells in it.”

A small creature, Spike, you remember him from the party, trudges down the upstairs stair case, “Do I have to? That book weighs a ton.”

“Yes you do, now please get it.”

“Fine,” he retrieves a ladder and pushes it over. He climbs up the ladder and grips a large object. You walk over, trying to get a better ‘look’ at the book. It’s huge for the little guy.

“Spike, do you have it yet?”

“Yeah yeah, I got it Twilight, don’t get you mane in bun-whoa!” he falls off the ladder with the book in close behind.

THUD

“UGGHHH!” you yell. Someone is running up the stairs.

“Oh sweet Celestia, are you ok?”

“yeah,” you feel your face, NO, where are they, NO NO NO, “my glasses, oh horseapples where did they land?”

“Here they are; you know, they almost look like Vinyl Scratch’s Dj gla-ooohhh,” your glasses hit the floor.

You stand up, “Twilight, I can explain, I, um I, oh, my, they just,” you stutter, covering you face with your hoof.

“You…your….blind,” she stutters.

“I, I,” you don’t know what to say. Absolutely no one had ever learned your most closely guarded secret. You never even planned for what you would say if someone found out. No accept you parents knew. Not even you grandparents or cousins or aunts and uncles knew. But now, this purple unicorn who you’d’ met only last week knew your largest secret.

You feel something on your face. Your glasses. Twilight slid your glasses back onto your head.

“T-t-thanks,” you say.

“You're blind, how? I mean, how do you do all the things you do? You can’t see,” Twilight says, the astonishment still in her voice.

You sigh, “Yes, I’m blind. I don’t want anypony to know so please don’t tell anypony.”

“Sure, I pinkie promise.” She makes a sign over her chest and head with her hoof.

“What’s a pinkie promise?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she says, chuckling, “How can you fly? I mean being blind, and everything. Yet you do everything like a normal Pegasus.”

“I have this ability to hear a lot better than most ponies, I also feel better than most ponies. I can hear any vibration in the air and build an image in my head around it. That’s how I see.”

“That’s so interesting, how’d you learn that? How accurate is it? Oh, I’d love to test that.”

“It’s accurate most of the time, nine times out of ten. It doesn’t help when Pinkie sets off a party popper right next to my head.”

“Oh, so that’s why you were talking to the ice sculpture at the party,” Twilight laughs.

“Yeah,” you say embarrassed.

“Oh I can’t wait to tell the others, they’d love to see your ability-”

“Wait, you can’t tell ANYPONY, not Rarity, or Pinkie Pie, or Applejack, or Fluttershy, and especially not Rainbow Dash.”

“Why ever not?” she asks.

“Because I don’t want any of them telling Dash, if she found out I might lose my job on the weather patrol, or she might think I’m a freak. I just don’t want her finding out; she’s the first pony I feel like I can be myself around.”

“Ok,” she says disappointed.

“I can come in and do experiments with my hearing,” you say. As long as it keeps her from blabbing.

“Uh, my head. What happened?” Spike says as he rises from the floor.

“Oh sorry, Spike, I was… helping Storm up, and I guess I forgot about you, sorry,” Twilight lies.

“Looks like that book knocked you out little dude,” you say.

“Uh, tell me about it later, I’m gonna get an icepack. Ow,” he says holding his throbbing head.

“So, I take it these books aren’t for your cousin?” Twilight asks, handing you a stack of books.

You put them in your saddle bag, “No, they aren’t. Rainbow recommended them to me.”

“Well they’re a great series, I’m glad she recommended them. She never used to read until this series.”

“Cool. So I’ll see you later, Twilight.”

“Bye Storm,” she waves as you fly out the door.

Oh Celestia, this is just great…

Chapter 6. Tests and experiments.

Sorry for the shortness on this one. Next one will be longer

You head out the door the next day. There’s a paper on your doorstep. You place your hoof on it, it's braille. You begin to read.

Dear Storm,

Can you come by the library after your weather duties? I would like to conduct some experiments on your hearing. We would be testing how precise your hearing is and how sensitive your hooves are. Don’t worry I won’t tell anypony, especially Rainbow,

Sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle.
“Great,” you sigh.

You fly to town hall.

“Alright, rook. Today we have to make this place cloudy for tomorrow’s rain,” Rainbow Dash says.

“Ok,” you sigh, slightly depressed.

You work over the next hour to bring in and make the clouds. You sink to the ground once you’re done.

“Hey, you alright? You look like you got a dark cloud over your head, no pun intended,” Rainbow counsels.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you put on a fake smile, “I’m just feeling under the weather today.”

The joke solicits a laugh out of her.

“That was a terrible pun, hotshot.”

You can’t help but smile along with her; again she’s made you day just by being around her. You hope this feeling never stops.

“So…you wanna do hang out today? We could go exploring again, you still have to show me all the places you’ve found,” she asks.

“I’d love to but I have to… to….pick something up at Twilight’s and then I, uh, I, have to clean my cloud house. Ya know, parents.”

“Yeah, parents,” she laughs, almost sadly, “Alright, I’ll see ya later then.”

You head off to Twilight’s. You enter Twilight’s voice calls from the basement, “Storm?”

“Yeah, so watcha got planned for today?”

“Come on down and I’ll show you.”

You head down the stairs. As you round the corner, your echolocation reveals a maze that’s been constructed, presumably for you.

“Oh, hello. All you have to do is navigate the maze, simple enough.”

“Alright, let’s get started.”

You enter the maze, stamping you hoof loudly. The sound echoes through the maze. An image forms in your mind. Every corner, every turn, the whole layout of the maze is now loaded into your head, including the way out.

You spread your wings and zip through the maze with ease, emerging triumphantly at the exit.

Maybe this won’t be so bad, you think, as long as she doesn’t tell Rainbow or anypony else, I’m fine.

“Wow, that was fast,” Twilight says, scribbling on a board levitating in front of her, “now, put these on,” she says, handing you something, earmuffs?

“Why?”

“I want you to navigate the maze again without using your hearing. Just hover while I rearrange the maze.”

“Alright, challenge accepted,” you jump into the air and hover over the floor.

Sometime later someone taps you. You’d fallen asleep.

“You done?” you ask.

“Yup. Just navigate the maze without your ears.”

You land and put the earmuffs on. You hit you hoof on the side of the maze, feeling the vibrations of the impact. You stomp your hooves on the floor several times, ‘watching’ the shockwaves map the redone maze. You soon have a path through to the exit.

You run through the maze this time, feeling the floor, making sure you’re on the right path. You reach the end within minutes.

You pull the earmuffs off, “How’d I do this time?”

“A lot better than I expected,” Twilight says impressed, scribbling away, “looks like we’re done for today.”

“Really? We only did two tests.”

“You fell asleep while I was rearranging the maze. And that took about four hours.”

“Alright then,” you say as you head out, “I’ll see ya later,”

You guess it’s about 3:00. You decide to head home.

“GGUUUUHHHHH,” you moan as an object crashes into you. You feel pieces of…something landing on your body. You feel your face. Your glasses are out lopsided; you quickly readjust them.

“Heh heh, Sorry Storm,” says a familiar voice.

“Hi Rainbow, what were you doing this time when you crashed into me?” you say as you get up out of the dirt.

“Oh, well I was posting flyers for Pinkie’s lakeside luau she’s having. Here,” she shoves a flyer in your face, “It’s next week on Saturday, you coming?”

“I don’t know,” you joke, pretending to consider.

“Aw come on, you’ve gotta come. You’re like, one of the best fliers in Equestria. YOU HAVE TO GO.”

“Alright Alright,” you laugh, “and who says I’m one of the best fliers in Equestria? I’m just average.”

“I kind of did some gloating on your behalf.”

“Really. Well I guess I’ll see you there.”

“Sure,” Rainbow opens the library door, “Twilight! Pinkie’s hosting a party at the lake next week, you coming?”

“Yeah, just leave the flyer on the door,” Twilight calls from the basement.

“Say, didn’t you say you had to clean you house earlier? Why are you at Twilight’s?”

“Oh, uh I, forgot a book I was picking up earlier,” you lie.

“Ok,” she says, cheerfully. She leaps into the air, “See ya tomorrow, rook.”

You fly home. After you eat you decide to get ready for the party. You’ll need… what will you need? Hmm, you guess just going as you are will work.

As long you don’t have to swim, everything will be great.

Chapter 7. Advice

You’ve gotten messages from Twilight all week. Every day you’ve been participating in all sorts of tests and experiments as Twilight records observations. You’ve been looking forward to the party on Saturday all week. Hopefully you can spend time with Rainbow and have a good time with her. The party is tonight and you’re crawling with anticipation. You open your front door; no note today.

You head as usual and meet Rainbow at town hall.

“Hey, rook! You ready for the party tonight? Pinkie got DJ Pon-3 to play! It’s going to be so awesome!”

“I know, I can’t wait! So what do we have to do today?”

“Well normally we’d be cleaning the sky but seeing as it’s a nice sunny but seeing as there are no clouds, I guess we have the day off! So you wanna hang today or are you going to Twilight’s again?”

“Nope, I’m free today.”

“Just wondering, why have you been going to the library all week? Are you and Twilight dating or something?” she laughs, slightly nervously

You can feel the color drain from your face, “NO! Why would you ever think that? I don’t like her like that or anything.”

“Then who do you like?” she says, punching your shoulder.

“Uh, I, um, well, I kinda, I-hey look at the time! Shouldn’t we be doing something by now?” you ask, trying to avoid the subject.

“OH, Horse apples you’re right! Hey! You wanna race through Ghastly Gorge?”

“Didn’t you get caught in landslide there?”

“Yeah, but I won’t be stopped by some landslide. Don’t you know who I am? I’m the best flier in all of Equestria!”

“Ok Ok, you’ve proved your point. I’ll race ya. And when I win-”

“Wait wait wait wait, who said you were gonna win? If anything I’m gonna leave you in the dust.”

“We’ll see, Rainbow Dash.”

You head over the gorge. The layout of it is amazing. It’s huge with Zigs and Zags and its dips and dives. It truly looks like a challenging fly through. In one spot there is a large section where a large portion of the cave wall collapsed in; that landslide had been when Rainbow was having her pet competition. She’d gotten her wing stuck under a rock until her now pet tortoise saved her.

“So, you think you can still beat me here? I race through here as a warm up every time I go training. No one has beaten me here.”

“Oh yeah,” you say, your echolocation will come in handy on this one, “I got this.”

You start off at the beginning of the gorge. You both flex your wings in anticipation.

“Ready,” Rainbow calls, “Set, GO!”

You both rocket off. You zip left and right, avoiding obstructions such as jutting out rock formation, and the walls themselves. Rainbow is ahead but you quickly gain and soon it’s neck and neck. You both reach the first major obstacle, a windy cave. You smile; the cave is will be a piece of cake. Rainbow rushes ahead, avoiding all the stalagmites and stalactites. You quickly use your senses to find a path with zero obstructions.

You ‘see’ Rainbow up ahead, she’s stopped, “Hey, what’s the matter Storm? Am I too fast for ya?”

You fly out of the cave in a flash, “See ya at the finish line, Rainbow Dash,” you laugh.

“Hey, no fair!”

“All’s fair in love and war!”

She struggles to catch up to you. You can tell by the sounds of breathing. She pushes herself once more and is soon right next to you.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she yells.

“Oh, Uh, it’s just an expression.”

You both head for the next major obstacle. The bramble bushes; Rainbow rushes ahead and through the tangle, bouncing left to right avoiding the thorns. You’re right behind her as you both race along. A rush of pain surges through your wing. It’s stuck on a thorn. You pull and eventually you’re free; you rush to catch up. Dash is already approaching the quarray eel nests.

They rush out of their homes in vain attempts to bite her. She’s through in a jiffy.

“Let’s see ya do beat that!” she calls

You surge your wings to push you as fast as you can go. The eels have barely left their nests as you rush past Rainbow.

“See ya at the finish line! Rainbow Dash!”

“Oh no ya don’t,” with that she begins to gain on you.

You’re almost at the end of the gorge. Rainbow is only a tail’s length behind you. She pushes once more and is right next to you.

“AAAAHHHHH!” you both scream as you both push your wings to their limits. You both fly out of the gorge. You hold your wings out and decelerate. You land, breathing heavily. No pony ever pushed you this hard in a race before. Sure some came close but you always beat them by longshot. But Rainbow had pushed you to your very limit. She truly challenged you, pushed you to be better. You like that.

“Wow,” Rainbow huffed, “You are one fast Pegasus.”

“You’re not bad yourself. To be honest, you’re the first real challenge I’ve had in forever.”

“Really? Cruz you’re the first pony to ever keep up with me in a race since flight school. This is so cool! We should defiantly do this more often; race I mean. We could become the fastest duo in all of Equestria!”

“I’m game, so… when should we race?”

“I don’t know, how about after we do the weather each day?”

“Sure,” you say eagerly, “Hey, don’t we have a party to get to?”

“Oh horse apples! You’re right; let’s go!” with that you both rush off to the lake.

When you get there the party has just started. The music has started playing a nice island tune; it’s pleasing to your ears and allows you to see perfectly. There looks to be tiki torches lining the ground, and tents with tables under them, and ribbons all over the place.

“Oh my gosh, You guys made it! Hooray! Let’s get this party STARTED!” Pinkie shouts.

You walk around, mingling with everypony. You even get into a conversation with Octavia about the complexities of the type of wood in her cello. You head over to the drink table.

“Storm,” Twilight says, “I got you a gift for being such a cooperative test subject.”

“Oh, you really shouldn’t have, really I, let me see it,” you joke.

She hands you a box; it feels like a hard solid oak box. You place it on the table and open it. Using a series of clicks you get a look at the contents.

You gasp, “Oh my gosh, thank you!”

“I noticed your current glasses tend to fall off, especially when Rainbow crashes in to you. Since you’ll soon be dating Rainbow I thought you need something that wouldn’t get knocked off so easily. I made sure they’re the same electric blue color as your old ones.”

“I love them,” you say pulling the goggles out of their case. You put your old glasses in the case, covering your eyes as you pull the goggles over your head and onto your face. They are a perfect fit, “Where did you get these I-wait what? Who said me and Rainbow are dating?” you say, feeling the heat rise in your face.

“Oh, come on. I see the way you look at her, even if you can’t, no offense. Don’t worry, I haven’t told her, but you should just up and tell her. She can be a little blunt.”

“I, uh, I don’t, I, what if she doesn’t like me? What if she laughs at me? What if she finds out about, you know?”

“I don’t know. But if you don’t ask, you won’t know.”

“UH, great,” you say, grabbing your drink and sauntering away.

What shout I tell her? Should I be blunt like Twilight says? Should I tell her outright that the Pegasus who’s been helping her with the weather is blind? What should I do? You think to yourself.

You wander through the party aimlessly.

“Hey dude, cool shades,” comes a slangy yet melodious, modulated voice. It’s the DJ; the august and legendary Vinyl Scratch. She calmly strolls out from behind her turntables.

“Thanks, uh Miss Scratch is it?”

“Heh heh, your funny. Just call me Vinyl. You look like a pony with a problem,” she continues.

“Eh, you could say that.”

“You wanna talk about it or no?” her voice carries a strangely trusting quality.

“Hmm, eh what the heck? I kind of have a problem with a mare. I really like her but-”

“But you don’t know what to say or how to say it.”

“Uh, yeah, exactly that. How’d you know?”

“Eh, I’ve been there. I also have certain abilities. Kind of like you,” she says.

“Eh what?”

She giggles, almost musically, “I can see people; read them, see their problems, see what they feel. It helps me set the mood when I DJ. I see the world differently, like you.”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s a secret, but about your problem. Each pony is different; each pony prefers a different method of approach. It’s quite complicated. All I have to say is listen to your heart and don’t do anything or not do something that you will regret later on. Bye.”

She returns to her turntables. She picks a record and sets it on the player.

“ARE YOU READY?” she yells, raising her hoof high. The crowd cheers and she plays the song.

Somepony runs up to you. It’s her.

“Hey, what’s up rook? Come dance with me,” she says bluntly.

Horseapples. What do you say?

Chapter 9. Secret Revealed

The train arrived in Canterlot right on time. You walk out of the car followed by Twilight and Spike, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and last but not least, Pinkie.

“So just how sure are you that this is gonna work?” asked Applejack.

“We’ll they do owe my mother and father a favor so this should work. Though my parents may be a bit upset that I’m doing this they’ll most likely get over it when they find out why,” you respond.

“Why would the reason make a difference?” Twilight asked.

“We’ll I’ve never had much of a social life,” you say embarrassed, “they’ve been trying to get me to make friends for years, though I never did.”

“Why? Making friends is the bestest possible thing in the whole world!” Pinkie yipped.

“We’ll my back ground made that kinda difficult. Apparently in the eyes of the media I’m either friends with all the other famous racers or have no friends at all. So all my supposed ‘friends’ I attempted to make all had ulterior motives.”

BEEP BEEP. You pick up your phone.

“Hey, lover boy!” comes a slangy, melodious and modulated voice.

“Uh hello? Who is this?”

“Sheesh you’re a bit clueless in more ways than one,” comes the voice, “HOW ARE THINGS GOIN WITH RAINBO-”

You cut her off, “Vinyl? Can you please keep it do- wait. How in Luna’s name do you know?”

“I have my ways,” Vinyl says, “Anyway; there was a storm near Las Pegasus so my tour is delay for two weeks so I’m available for whatever Pinkie called about.”

“A few things, one, why didn’t you call Pinkie, and two, how did you know I would be attending this thing?”

“Pinkie doesn’t have a cell phone and I have my ways. So what time should I be there?”

“Uh I guess at around 9:00.”

“Ok. And while you’re getting party supplies be sure to get an extra 100 ft. ribbon to cover those trees. You’ll run short if you don’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“I read ahead. You don’t think Pinkie is the only one capable of breaking the fourth wall do you? Bye.”

She hangs up.

“Who was that darling?” Rarity asks.

“Vinyl Scratch. She can attend next week. Oh, Pinkie! What did she mean by ‘breaking the fourth wall?’?”

“You wouldn’t understand, wait, she can break it too? Hmm, I thought I was the only one,” Pinkie said.

“Ok anyway, Pinkie, Rarity, AJ, you guys go pick up some more party supplies. And Vinyl said to get an extra 100 ft. of ribbon. Apparently we’ll run short if we don’t.”

“Oh I should have read ahead earlier, she’s right. Come on girls,” Pinkie said as she bounced off.

“Come on, if we don’t catch them soon we’ll have to come back tomorrow,” you say as you run off followed by Twilight and AJ.

***

Rainbow Dash was confused. All her friends had mysteriously had emergencies that required immediate attention. Even Storm had disappeared, and she could always count on him. What were they doing?

Her birthday was in nine days and she was hoping to make some plans to do something with her friends. Hmm. She floated up to a cloud and sulking, wondering where her friends were. Maybe they all did have emergencies to deal with. She sighed as she fell asleep.

***

“So we can cross entertainment, decorations, and the best gift ever off our li-what?” you ask.

The others were simply staring at you. Even Spike was giving you an astonished look.

“So wait, let me get this straight,” Spike said, “They owed your parents a favor and would just drop everything to attend this party? How in Luna’s name did you get them to do that?”

“Hey, they know me pretty well and have been personal friends of my family for years.”

“We’ll anyway,” Twilight said, “we should be getting back to Ponyville to set up the party and get everything ready.”

“Right, Pinkie? You have all the party supplies?”

“All in the party cannon!” she says.

“How did you fit all of that in there?” you ask.

“Silly, if I told you that then it wouldn’t be a secret!” Pinkie said as she pushed the cannon into the train.

***

They forgot. They forgot about my birthday.

Rainbow Dash lay in her cloud house, a feeling of depression washed over her. Her birthday was today and her friends had forgotten. They were all busy doing other things today. She was about to head up to her room when she heard a noise.

Knock Knock.

***

A few minutes earlier.

“So everything is in place?” you ask.

“Yup,” Pinkie bounced.

“Good, I still don’t know how you managed to pull off an invisibility spell like this, Twilight. Great job,” you say, the irony only hitting you and Twilight.

“Thanks. Now the only thing left to do is to get Rainbow,” Twilight said.

“Cool. Finish up here, and I’ll get the guest of honor.”

You walk out of the dome and are once again visible. You take off and head to Rainbow’s. You reach her house and knock.

She answers the door.

“What do you want?” she says coldly.

“Well I have a surprise for you,” You say holding out a blindfold, “but you’re not allowed to peak.”

“Fine,” She says putting it on.

You guide her to the ground and head off to the park.

“So what is this surprise?” she asks curiously.

“You’ll see.”

You reach the park and walk into through the invisibility field. A tingle runs over your coat.

“You can peak now,” you smile

She pulls off the blind fold and gasps. All of Ponyville is in attendance. Decorations are all over the trees. Tables of food and treats line the ground. A dance area has been built. Speakers all stand ready for the party to begin.

“You…you did all of this for me?” she asks, her voice is quivering.

“Yup!” Pinkie says, “This was all Storm’s doing!”

“Pinkie!” you moan.

“Thank you so much,” she grips you in a hug, “Thank you, all of you.”

“Let’s get this party started!” Pinkie shouts.

The music starts, ponies begin to dance. You fly up to a tree and sigh. Everything was perfect. Rainbow Dash converses with all the guests. A piece of cake is tossed up to you. Rainbow stands below you. She begins to say something but a pony grabs her attention. You shrug and eat the cake.

It’s almost time for presents. And yours is the best. Ponies begin to give Rainbow gifts. Soon yours is the only one left. A group of them.

You hop down from your perch and grab one of the three boxes. You give it to Rainbow.

“A new pair of flight goggles!” she pulls them on, “Thanks!”

“There are still two more,” you say.

You pull Dash over to a huge box. Its eight feet by eight feet. A rope dangles down from the top. You grab it and hand it to Rainbow.

“Pull this.”

She gives it a yank and the sides of the box fall revealing the Wonderbolts. Rainbow screams.

“OH MY GOSH!” she screams, “How did you do this?”

Spitfire steps forward, “Well Storm here was my protégé during training for the Dark Races. He was my best trainee there. He and his family have been friends of ours for years.”

“I called in a few favors,” you say. You hand Rainbow the last box. She opens it. It’s a shirt signed by all the Wonderbolts.

Though you can’t read it, you know what it says.

To our Number 1 fan, Rainbow Dash.
Never Stop Chasing Your Dreams.

“Oh my gosh,” she sounds like she’s about to cry, “This is the nicest thing anypony’s ever done for me. Thank you so much.”

You fly up to your tree as Rainbow is hoisted above the crowd and carried to the dance area. The music begins to play again. You sigh again as you fall asleep.

***

You wake up to the sound of music. The party is still going on. Jumping down from your perch you head to the drink table. Rainbow is there. She sees you approach and speaks.

“So, how long have you and Twilight been dating?” She asks. What’s that in her voice? Is it sadness? No, Rainbow is happy. Is it jealously? No, it can’t be. She’s Rainbow Dash.

“What?!” you say surprised, “No, we’re not dating.”

“Oh come on, you were at her house all last week and the week before. I saw her give you those goggles you’re wearing. You’re defiantly dating her.”

“No,” you say panicked now, “It’s not like that at all.”

“Then what is it like?” Rainbow says annoyance in her voice.

“I was over her house because she was doing tests on me.”

“What for?” By now a crowd has gathered around you.

“Rainbow, I… She was doing tests on me because I’m…I’m,” you stutter.

“You’re what?” she says beginning to get in your face. You can almost feel her gaze digging into you.

“I’m blind,” you say.

There’s a silence, the music has stopped. Rainbow stares at you.

“What?”

“I’m blind, Rainbow.” You pull off your goggles to reveal your now grey eyes. The crowd gasps; Rainbow the loudest. Even Spitfire is in shock.

“I’m sorry,” You say. You take off and fly away as fast as you can. For the first time in seven years, you cry.

Chapter 10. Confessions

“Twilight! Open up!” Rainbow Dash yelled pounding on the door.

Twilight opened the door, “For Celestia’s sake Rainbow! The door was unlocked.”

“Whatever. Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

Rainbow strolled in.

“So what’s on your mind?” Twilight asked as she closed the door.

“Storm,” Rainbow sighed, “I haven’t seen him since the party last Saturday. I’m getting worried.”

“Well did you visit his house?”

“Yeah, but he either wasn’t there or didn’t answer. I even went to the cliff he likes to hang out at but he wasn’t there either. He didn’t show up for weather patrol on Monday or today.”

“Hmm, that is a tough one Rainbow,” Twilight said perplexed.

“What do I do Twilight? I’m supposed to be the element of Loyalty but I’ve probably bucked up our entire friendship,” she sighed as she flopped down, “He’s a nice guy and I don’t want to lose him.”

“Would you feel responsible if you do?”

“Yeah I wo-Hey! How would I be responsible?”

“You kind of unmasked him and made him reveal his biggest secret in public,” Twilight sighed.

“How did I do that?”

“You backed him into a corner Rainbow. You gave him no way out.”

“No I didn’t, he could have come to me in private and told me.”

“But then there’s the other side to it. When Spike knocked his glasses off in the library, that’s how I learned he was blind. He made me swear not to tell anypony, especially you.”

“Me? Why me?” Rainbow asked defensively.

“He was afraid of your reaction. He didn’t want to lose his job at the weather patrol, he didn’t want you to think he was a freak; he didn’t want his condition to ruin his relationship with you.”

“Why would he be afraid of my reaction? Or losing his job or any of that other stuff? I think it’s pretty cool that he’s blind yet can fly so well. I don’t care that he’s blind.”

“I don’t know. Maybe you should ask him.”

“How? I have no clue where he is?”

Twilight nodded out the window towards the cloud houses, “You’ll figure it out. And when you see him, give him his goggles back.”

“Heh heh,” Rainbow blushed, “Yeah I probably should,” she said, pulling the blue goggles off her neck.

***

You hadn’t left your house in days. Without your goggles you’ve tied a blindfold around your head. You were probably the laughing stock of the town. A blind pegasus! Oh that’s rich!

You’d been unmasked. And by her! Out of anypony in Ponyville it had to be her. She probably thought you were a freak. She probably didn’t want you returning to weather patrol. She was probably humiliated to even be associated with you.

You were sitting on your parent’s couch. The shades were down and the lights were off. Not that you cared. You couldn’t see them anyway. Would your parents understand? Should you write them? Maybe you should just leave and go to them in Las Pegasus.

There was a knock at the door. This was the fifth time. Clouds were soft so you couldn’t use your hooves to see who was behind the door. You never bothered to answer the door.

“Storm? Are you in there?” It was Rainbow Dash.

Should you answer the door? What do you do?

“Storm, are you there? I…I…I’m sorry for what happened Saturday.” She’s sorry? What is this? Some kind of joke?

“If you’re not here then I’ll wait until you get back. If you are and don’t want to talk, I understand,” she sighed, “After the kind of friend I was I wouldn’t want to talk either. I don’t want you to hate me.”

Is she serious? Should you open up? What do you have to lose? You walk up to the door and remove the bar lock. You open the door. Rainbow Dash is lying on the door mat just outside your door. She perks up.

“Storm! You’re here! I…I…Uh…how much of that did you hear?”

You face remains stolid, “Enough.”

She stands up, “Can we talk please?”

You move out of the way and let her in. She walks in and lies in an armchair. You lay back down on the couch. It remains silent but there’s enough vibration in the air for you to see. Rainbow is turning her head, looking around, never looking at you.

“You don’t have to avoid looking at me. You wanted to talk?”

“Oh right. I…Uh…listen rook, I’m really sorry for what happened on Saturday. I made you give up your biggest secret in front of everyone. I…I…I know sorry won’t cut it here. I…I…I don’t want to lose you as a friend,” she sighed hanging her head low, “Can you ever forgive me?”

Should you? After what happened? You already know the answer. You will but not for all the reasons she thinks, “I…I…I forgive you, Rainbow Dash.”

She looks up. This was the answer she wanted to hear but not the one she expected, “Really? You’re serious?”

“Holding grudges was never my style. I always thought holding grudges made you die faster.”

She jumps off the chair and grips you in a bear hug, “Thank you! thank you! Thank you! I’m sorry again. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“Stop…Trying…To…Kill…Me,” you gasp. Sheesh she’s strong. She lets go and sits back the couch. She stares at you.

“Can I see your face?”

“What?”

“I want to see your face. You always were wearing those glasses or goggles and now a blindfold. You don’t have to wear that. I don’t care that you’re blind. I just want you to be yourself.” She reaches up to your face and begins to untie the blindfold. She pulls it off to reveal your colorless eyes. She gasps but continues to remove it.

You turn your head away from her but she tilts it up so she’s looking into your eyes.

“What happened?” she asks. There’s sincerity in her voice. She’s asking as a friend, someone who cares.

You begin to talk, “It was seven years ago. I was only thirteen. I was coming back from a summer training program with the Wonderbolts…”

***

Seven Years Earlier.

“That was the best summer ever! I can’t believe we met Spitfire! Spitfire!” you yelled.

“I know, that was so cool! Spitfire is the coolest,” Featherfoot said.

“No, Soarin is the coolest. Who wouldn’t want to be Soarin?” Smash said.

“Me,” you say, “I don’t want to anyone else other than me. I’d rather be cool for being me not someone else.”

“I guess you’re right, but still-” He was cut off. You turn around in your seat. There was a thump. The train was rocked by another thump. Ponies gasp. There was a screeching sound now. Sparks fly past the window. The train begins to shake violently. Another boom and screech and the car is sideways. You’re smashed against the window as the ground approaches. Impact.

You get up. You’ve been thrown clear of the train. You stumble onto your hooves. You stare at the sight before you. The train is a wreck. Cars have been thrown off the track. Ponies are climbing out of the wrecked cars. You try to spread your wings. Pain. You look towards your left wing. It’s broken. You stumble back towards the wreck. You hear a hissing sound. It’s the engine. Steam is pouring out of a crack in the side. You see the conductor. He’s unconscious. You run towards him and pull him clear. With all your strength you toss him clear of the wreck. The hissing gets louder. You turn back towards the engine just as it explodes in a burst of steam…

***

“I was in the hospital for six months. The doctors fixed the burns on my skin but…they couldn’t do anything about my eyes. I’d lost the ability to see as I knew it forever.”

Rainbow listens intently, her hoof over her mouth. Finally she finally finds her voice, “How do you fly if you can’t see?”

“When I was recovering I learned I could hear extremely well. It turned out I could use my ears to detect vibrations in the air and use them to see. I also learned to feel vibrations in the ground with my hooves. With those I can fly and do normal things for the most part. I can’t tell time like others, I can’t read like others, I can’t see the faces of others; only their body positions. I have to listen to the tones of their voice to detect their mood. But being blind gives me some advantages. I had to practice harder to re learn how to fly. Eventually I got to train directly under Spitfire during the summer. Eventually I entered the Wonderbolts Dark Races. The night time races put everyone on the same level as me.”

“Wait. The Wonderbolts Dark Races? That means…” She let out a girlish scream, “You’re Solarstorm!? The champion of the Dark Races for the past five years?!”

“Yeah,” you smile, “I never go out or really tell people my name because…of well that type of reaction. Those signature shades I wore were to hide my eyes.”

“So the only reason you were at Twilight’s was she wanted to do experiments with your ears?”

“Yeah, she found out when Spike knocked my shades off. I didn’t want her telling anypony, especially you.”

“Me? Why not me?” she asked.

“I was afraid of your reaction. I…I…I didn’t want you to think I was a freak. I didn’t want to lose my job at the weather patrol or mess up my relationships with anypony. Especially you.”

“Why would you be afraid of my reaction? I think it’s pretty awesome that you can do all those things you do without your eyes. If I couldn’t see I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! It’s pretty cool. But why didn’t’ you want anypony to know about your blindness?”

“I didn’t want anypony’s pity. I didn’t want to be seen as different. I don’t need to be pitied. I’m no different than anypony else. I just see the world differently. That along with…other reasons.”

“What other reasons?” she asks perplexed.

“I didn’t want…my condition…to ruin my chances…with a certain somepony,” you rub your hoof on the back of your head, “But she already knows now so it’s kinda pointless.”

“Who’s the lucky mare?” Rainbow asks.

Shit. No backing out now, “Well she’s nice…kind… a little blunt sometimes and a little rash…but she’s loyal...and well…” you sigh, ‘staring’ at the floor, “Well…she’s you.”

“What?” Rainbow gasps.

“I really like you Rainbow Dash,” you manage to gasp.

You can feel her eyes staring at you. You continue to stare at the ground. Your face feels like it’s on fire. You feel a hoof lifting your head up.

“That’s the nicest thing anypony’s ever said to me,” Rainbow says, her voice is soft.

“Oh Celestia I shouldn’t have said that! I mean I’m in love with my own boss an-” your silenced. There’s something on your lips. It’s warm and moist. Rainbow is kissing you! You have to be dreaming. Something this perfect only happens in dreams. You’re finally able to breath.

“Ah wha? I mean. Uh I uh-” she puts a hoof to your mouth. You’re blushing like mad.

“You’re funny when you don’t what to say,” Rainbow laughs, “I’ve never had somepony actually like me for me. No pony’s ever fallen for me without even seeing what I look like before. And…I…I like you too. You’re the coolest guy I’ve met before. Not to mention you’re cute. Never been one for the mushy stuff but…” She puts her hoof to the back of her head. Though you can’t see, you can tell she’s blushing.

“I would return the compliment but I don’t know what you look like,” you say.

“Come on rook,” she says handing you something. It’s your goggles! You’d left them at the party, “You’ve been coped up inside for too long.”

You pull on your blue goggles and smile, “Thanks.”

Chapter 11. Surprise?

You both land and walk through town. Everypony is going about their daily business but all of them drop what they’re doing and wave hello. You’re confused.

“They’re waving. Why?”

“Well we were all worried about you. You ran off and weren’t seen for a few days, ponies began to wonder if you were OK. I’m really glad you were alright,” Rainbow puts her hoof to the back of her head.

You can feel yourself blush, “Thanks. No one’s really cared about me like that before.”

“Really? Why?”

“I’m supposed to be the son of a famous scientist and an august fashion designer. I’m supposed to be the champion everyone expects me to be. Not many ponies really see me for me. In fact, you and the others are the first outside my parents and Spitfire.”

“Well let me show you how much I care,” Rainbow says. You feel her plant a kiss on your cheek. Your face lights up and feels like it’s on fire. Suddenly you hear a pony run up behind you two. It’s Twilight! Oh crap. She just saw…

“Storm! We were so worried about you! Where were you? And I see you and Rainbow have gotten a bit close,” she laughs at the end of that.

“Yeah,” you feel your face getting hotter, “She found me.” You nod toward Rainbow.

“He was in his house the whole time. Just didn’t answer the door,” Rainbow laughs. Music to your ears.

Twilight’s tone softens, “So you’re alright?”

“I am now. I guess I over reacted a bit. But I’m feeling a lot better thanks to her,” you nod towards Rainbow again.

“So you two are officially dating?” Twilight asks excitedly.

“Well I, uh, um, I think, well she’s, I re-” You’re cut off again by Rainbow Dash. Her lips are pressed against yours. She breaks away. You blush like mad.

“Yes,” she says confidently. You put a hoof to your head again. Suddenly there’s something in front of you. It has the same consistency as a pony and cotton candy. Pinkie Pie.

“Oh my gosh! You and Dashie are dating?! Finally! I’ve been waiting for this chapter for the last few weeks now. This is so exciting! I need to go get more ammo for my party cannon and throw you two an ‘Aww, it’s so cute you’re finally dating’ Party. Bye!” With that she jumps down the hole in the laws of physics she just emerged from.

“Um, what just happened?” You ask.

“Oh that’s just Pinkie being Pinkie,” Rainbow laughs.

“You’ll get used to it,” Twilight said, “Well I’ve got to get back to the library. Have fun you too love birds!”

She runs off.

“So what do you wanna do today?” you ask.

“I don’t know. I was hoping I could just hang out with you. If that’s ok with you.”

“Yeah. I’d like that a lot.”

***

You wake up. This is the best you’ve felt in years. For once you’re not alone. For once you’ve met somepony or a group of ponies who don’t judge you on your disability. It feels wonderful. And on top of that you have a marefriend.

You fall out of bed and flop on the floor. You bounce back up and pull your goggles on. You hear a knock at your door after you finish breakfast. Right on schedule.

You open the door to find Rainbow Dash. You can only imagine what she looks like but you don’t care. You’re hers.

“Hey Storm!” she says.

“Hey Dashie,” you say.

“So what did ya wanna talk about earlier?” she asks.

“Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to…” You drag on the last word. Make her guess.

“Wanted to what?” she asks.

“Guess.”

“Is it a race?”

“Nope.”

“A movie?”

“Nah,” you say, “Try harder.”

“A picnic? Pie eating contest? Prank war? Who can stay in the same room with Pinkie talking the longest? I don’t know, tell me,” she says.

“Oh I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me to the Cantorlot Summer Games.”

“The Games?! As in the Delta games? The greatest games for Equestria’s best athletes?” she shouts in a fan girl squeal.

“Yeah,” you say, “Surprise?”

“Surprise?! This is the most awesome surprise in the history of the world! How did you get tickets?”

“I know people,” you say holding up the tickets and a pamphlet. You hand it to her and pull on a pair of earmuffs so you won’t be blind for the rest of the day.

Vibrations in the floor hit you as you wait for the floor to stop shaking. You remove the ear muffs.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh,” she says.

“And that’s another thing,” You say, “When I went to buy the tickets an official wanted to know if you would be interested in competing this year. The final decision remains up to you of course but-” A large mass tackles you to the floor, kissing your face over and over.

“THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU,” she says between kisses.

You manage to push her off of you. She still grips you in a hug before finally letting you breath.

“Where do I sign?” she asks.

You pull out a piece of paper and pen, “I would say sign on the dotted line but I don’t know if there is one.”

After some scribbling the paper is handed back to you.

“Who do we give this to?” Rainbow asks.

“The officials at Cantorlot. I can have this mailed there today.”

“Cool. Oh and it also said that I’d have team mates to practice with before my event. You know who they are? Cause I hope they’re good.”

“Us,” says a voice standing in the open door. A group of ponies has gathered

“Hey Spitfire,” you smile at your old teacher, “Fancy seeing you here.”

A thud is heard as Rainbow faints.

Chapter 12. All good things.

Note: Final Chapter.

“Hey. Hey Rainbow Dash. You alright?” Spitfire asked.

You simile, “Yeah she’ll be fine. I’ll go get a cup of a water.”

“I hope so, Storm. We’ve got some training to do if we’re gonna win this year.”

Rainbow shot awake, “Did you say training? I’m gonna be training with you guys?!”

“Well yeah. That’s the idea of having an Equestrian Flight Team for the games. We’ll be competing against several other flight teams from neighboring nations. And we’ll need to be at our best.”

“I’m Training With The Wonderbolts…” Thump.

“And she fainted again.”

***

“I don’t know about this Storm,” Rainbow said nervously. You were standing just inside the stadium waiting to go out onto the track. The rest of the flight team was waiting on the track, stretching and doing starts. The stadium itself was crowded with all sorts of species. Ponies, Griffins, even some nasty looking gargoyles were attending.

“Relax, you’ll do great!” You console her.

“Heh, easy for you to say! You’re not competing!”

“Damn right I’m not! Been there, done that!”

“Exactly! Do you have any idea how nervous I- wait what?”

You turn around and fly up to stands laughing, “You’ll do great! Let’s see if you beat my records!”

You can’t see her face as you fly up but you know your information tease worked as you land next to Twilight and the rest of your friends.

“How’s she doing?” Twilight asked as Rainbow trotted onto the track.

“I think she’s properly motivated,” you say slyly, “This is gonna be interesting.”

***

You grin as you, Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and the Wonderbolts all head back to Ponyville. Rainbow wears a grin of pride and happiness. Around her neck are three gold medals.
You can’t help but grin along with her. She won all of her events, even beating out some of the Wonderbolts.

“That was so awesome!” Rainbow squeals.

“I’ll say,” you smile, “You won nearly every single one of your events.”

“And I brought home the gold!”

“So you plan on participating next games?”

“Of course! That griffin nearly tied me in that race. Next time I’ll beat him by a mile!”

You grin, “Well you better get training. Only four years until the next games.”

Rainbow’s face drops, “Four years?! That’s like forever! What am I gonna do until then?”

“You’ll figure it out.”

Rainbow groans as the rest of you laugh as the train heads back to Ponyville.

***

“LETS PARTY!!!”

The entire town was celebrating Rainbow’s victory. You couldn’t have been prouder or happier. Your marefriend was now a world class athlete, the best of the best, and everyone now knew it. And best of all, she was yours. She had chosen you. Even after learning about your condition she stuck with you.

You sat at one of the tables near the buffet tables and ‘watched’ as everyone danced. Vinyl played her latest hit which the crowd loved. It was nice since it gave you a clean view of everything. Pinkie Pie was on a sugar high bouncing all over the place. Applejack tossed some sort of thing into the air, you assumed it was a rope of some kind and looped it around the crazy party pony.

“Pinkie! Yall’ve had enough sugar for one lifetime!” the strain in AJ’s voice is clear as she attempts to control the pink menace. Hmm, what did pink look like again?

“HeyAJyoutiedmeupprettygoodthere. IthinkI’msohyperisbecauseofthosesugarcoatedcupcakesDerpy
made. They’rereallygood, youshouldhaveone.oohisthatchocolatecake?” Pinkie said all in one breath.

AJ’s hooves could be heard scrapping against the ground as Pinkie Pie dragged the farmer pony away.

“Whoa! Pinkie!”

You can’t help but laugh at the comedy of the situation as you ‘watch’ blob of cotton candy pull a pony in a Stetson hat across the park grounds.

Suddenly the music stops. There’s the sound of someone testing a microphone. Needless to say the feedback does wonders on your highly sensitive ears and you go dizzy for a second before regaining your footing.

The mayor steps forward to speak, “Today we’re here to honor a hometown hero! Winner and competitor in the Canterlot Summer Games, she won gold in five out of her eight events! Element of loyalty and best flyer in Equestria I give you Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow steps up to the podium. Times like this you wish you could see her face. Blindness was something that had crippled you in more ways than one. Until she crashed into you that day. Now everything had changed.

“Hey, uh, Yeah. Hi I’m Rainbow Dash! The fastest flyer in Equestria,” She says awkwardly. This obviously wasn’t her exact forte.

“Well I uh, I guess I won huh?” That elicited laughs from the crowd.

“Well um, I guess I’d like to thank the Wonderbolts for being great partners and teammates and my friends for being there for me and…” Her head turns to you. You can tell she’s staring at you.

“Uh, listen. I’m not good at this type of thing but I have to at least say this. I owe all of this to my coltfriend who’s sitting at the table over there,” she points at you, “He was a great motivator and drove me to fly harder and faster. He helped me prepare for the competition. He’s the wind beneath MY wings and I couldn’t have done it without him.”

Whoa. Now no one’s ever said anything like that to you. But then again you’ve never had a marefriend like her. Does she mean that? She’s Rainbow Dash! The element of Loyalty! She doesn’t need anypony. Does she?

You never really get the chance to continue that thought.

“Come on up here big guy,” she waves at you. Everyone turns. Oh no. You’ve never been good at this type of thing. She doesn’t want you to speak does she? Can’t really refuse can you?

You get up from the table and fly up to the podium, “I never thought I’d meet a guy like him. He’s funny, tough, happy and fun to be around, if a bit secretive at times,” the crowd laughs a bit. You laugh too, no longer ashamed of your blindness.

“He’s hard working and most importantly, he can keep up with me. He’s my best friend and I love him,” she reaches up and pulls your head in and kisses you on the lips. This one out does your first kiss with her. It feels electric, like a connection has been made. Your face must be as red as a tomato. It certainly feels that way. Your face is burning with the heat of Celestia’s sun itself. Your blush intensifies when you realize this perfect moment is happening for all the world to see. An audible, ‘Aww,’ is heard from the crowd. Nothing can ruin this.

This, this is perfect. Just a few weeks ago you had never thought you’d ever meet somepony like her and yet now here she is. She means everything to you and you mean the world to her. Life couldn’t get better. Briefly, you find yourself wishing that you could see her. Just once.

***

Rainbow Dash lean’s against you as you both ‘watch’ the sun go down. Since you can’t really see it she describes the vivid colors to you.

“Well around the sun are these reds. They look pretty awesome. Ooh! And around those is this orange color. And along the horizon is a streak of pink!”

You can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm.

She turns, you guess she’s giving you a look but you can’t really tell what kind, “What? What’s so funny?”

“You. You’re so alive and animated about everything. It’s one of the things I love about you.”

“Oh? What are the others?”

You rub the back of your head, “Well you’re adventurous, athletic, brave, loyal, you know what? Buck it. I love you for you,” you finish with a sigh.

“Ok. Something’s eating at you,” Rainbow says with concern.

“Well, remember that kiss we kinda… you know, shared in front of everyone?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow laughs, “It was awesome.”

“Yeah it was. Just… I wish I could see you Rainbow Dash. I mean really see you. Not just your outline in my head.”

“That’s what’s bothering you?”

“Yeah. I mean. This is the first time I’ve actually had a marefriend that I actually love but… I can’t even see her.”

Rainbow brought her hoof to her chin, as if pondering something.

“Hmm…” she said, “You know, I think I got you covered on that.”

She leans in toward you and sighs contently.

***

“Come on Storm!”

“Rainbow I can’t see when you do that!”

You still had no idea where you were. Rainbow had successfully gotten some headphones over your ears, basically blinding you to the world without entirely making you deaf.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

You still have no idea where you’re going. Rainbow had been all secretive about it since she picked you up this morning.

“Alright we’re here,” she said. She removed the ear muffs and knocked on the door.

You were in front of Twilight’s tree.

“Alright what is this?” you ask.

“A surprise.”

The door opens. Twilight stands before you.

“Ah Rainbow, You’re here,” she says cheerfully, “You ready for this?”

“Yup!”

“What are we doing?” you ask.

“You’ll see.”

You follow them into the library.

“Do you have the spell ready Twi?” Rainbow asks

“Yes. But it will be temporary and you will have to be in contact with each other the entire time.”

“Yeah I know.”

You were getting slightly impatient, “Alright. What is this?”

Dash turns to you, “Well you said you wished you could see me; so we’re gonna do just that. Hit it Twilight!”

“What do you mean by tha-”

A burst of energy hits you. It tingles and buzzes. Soon you can feel the tingling condense behind your eyes. It begins to hurt slightly and you close your eyes in pain.

But when you open them the pain is gone and replaced by something different. Wonder. You can see! Everything has a bluish tint to it but that’s just from your goggles. You remove them from you head and the world comes into focus. The colors are there again! You can see everything again! The library is laid out before you. Books line the shelves and there’s a table in the center.

A purple unicorn stands before you. You assume it’s Twilight. She speaks, “Well it looks like it worked Rainbow.”

“How can you tell?” she asks.

Rainbow!

“See for yourself.”

You are suddenly aware of a wing draping over your back. Hers. You turn to see her.

She’s a beautiful Cyan Pegasus. She has a toned, athletic body. Her wings are well kept and cleaned. You can see the muscles that beautifully compliment her athletic frame. But the thing that strikes you the most is her face. Her beautiful face. You stare into her beautiful magenta colored eyes. You could get lost in them. Her cheeks are rosy red in a blush as she notices you examining her. Her main is a scruffy cut. Not too short but not too long. It’s a spectrum of colors that gives makes her signature look and name. Her cutie mark is a blue, yellow, and red lightning bolt that’s shooting down from a cloud.

“H-h-how is this possible?” You finally stammer.

Rainbow blushes even more, “Well… you mentioned that you wished you could see me so… Twilight and me worked something out.”

“The spell is only temporary,” Twilight said, “and you have to keep in physical contact with Rainbow but… you’ll be able to see. If only for a few hours.”

Rainbow turns to you, “You have cool eyes.”

“What?” You had almost forgotten. Before the accident they were an icy blue color. But it looks like the spell had fixed that.

“Your eyes. They have this piercing blue color to them.”

“Oh yeah. I had forgotten. Been a while since I last used them huh?”

A silence filled the room though you hardly noticed. You were too preoccupied staring at the mare in front of you.

“Sooo…” Twilight said, “How about you two love birds get out of here and enjoy the day?”

Rainbow looks up with a blush on her face, “Oh uh, right.”

“And remember, Rainbow, you have to be in constant contact with him or else the spell will be broken.”

“Alright,” she says and guides you out of the tree house.

Once you are in the street you ask, “So how does this spell work?”

“Well Twilight said something about it allowing you to highjack one of my senses for a little bit but whatever. I didn’t listen. As long as it let you see for a while then who cares how it works?”

You laugh, “So what do you want to do today?”

“I don’t care what we do as long as it’s with you.”

Your heart explodes. You feel a single tear begin to form and fall down your face.

“Storm? Are you crying? Come on now; don’t get all mushy on me.”

“Yeah… I’m fine Dashie. I’ve never been happier in my life.”

***

The two of you sit together under a tree. Rainbow kept her wing on you the whole day. Today was perfect. The two of you toured the town together. It was an exciting experience. Viewing all the familiar places in a new way. In a way you hadn’t experienced in years. She re introduced you to all her friends. While you had to admit some of them were lookers, you only had eyes for Rainbow Dash.

Now you were sitting under a tree at the lake, watching the sun reflect brilliantly off the water. It was a sight you would miss when you became blind again but you would miss Rainbow’s beautiful face more.

“Today couldn’t have been better,” Rainbow sighs contently from under your wing.

“Agreed.”

You sigh and nuzzle her face which she returns before turning it into a kiss. You turn and stare into her beautiful magenta eyes.

“I love you Rainbow Dash.”

You see her eyes begin to water. She smiles happily at you and grips you in a bear hug.

“I love you too…”

You close your eyes contently. You feel a tingling in your eyes again. You sigh. The spell is wearing off. At least the last thing you saw was the most beautiful face in the world. When you open your eyes again, the world is black. But that doesn’t matter. You’re here with the perfect mare, in the perfect moment of the best day of your life.

***

You open your eyes. Again the blackness greets you. Your goggles lie next to you on your nightstand but you don’t reach for them. Not today anyway. You are faintly aware of another pony lying next to you, snoring softly.

You smile to yourself and pull yourself out of bed and flutter down the stairs towards the kitchen. You set about making breakfast of the two of you.

Soon enough you have the food cooking. Haycakes. Rainbow’s favorite. You hear the flutter of wings behind you.

“Morning hotshot,” Rainbow says.

“Morning to you to beautiful.”

Rainbow reaches up from behind you and pulls you into a hug. She gently nuzzles your face. You smile and close your eyes. You’re so content that you fail to hear the carriage land outside, the carriage door slam shut, or your own front door opening behind you.

“I swear dear that was the best trip we’ve ever been on!”

“Easy for you to say! You won all the blackjack games!”

“Oh yeah. I wonder how Storm’s summer wa- oh.”

Your eyes shoot open. Horse APPLES! Your parents were BACK!

“Well I see someone had fun while we were gone,” Your father’s gruff voice reaches your ears.

Rainbow lets go of you and you turn around, “Oh, uh, hi mom, dad. Uh, what’re you guys doing home?”

“It’s the end of summer. So who’s the filly?”

“Oh, uh, well um, uh, you see, this is, uh-”

Dash cuts in, “Rainbow Dash! The fastest flier in Equestria! Well… not anymore at least,” she blushes.

“What do you mean by tha…?” The realization finally began to sink in.

“You got yourself a marefriend while we were gone?!” Your mom squeals, “I told you we should have stayed home this summer! Look what we missed! Miss Rainbow Dash is it? How’s he been treating you? He hasn’t been too big a stick in the mud I hope?”

Rainbow laughed, “Nah, he’s totally awesome and the best coltfriend in Equestria.”

“So…” You say, “What did you guys do this summer?”

“Oh no,” your father says, “You’re not getting off of this one that easily. Why don’t you tell us about YOUR summer?”

“Oh, uh, are you sure about that?”

“Positive.”

You turn to Rainbow Dash who gives you an encouraging smile.

“Well here goes nothing. It started the day you left. I went out for a flight like usual…”

Hello Everyone.
I never thought I'd ever be here saying this so I'll get right to it.
This chapter concludes the first story I ever wrote, EVER, on this site or anywhere else for that matter. Needless to say it's been a great run. I hope no one minds the quality too much considering how much of a learning curve I was on when I began this story. But anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who read this and gave a whimp like me a chance. I would like to give a special thanks to everyone who gave feedback on this story. I appreciate it tremendously and because of it I have become a better writer.
Well that about wraps this up. Hopefully you all enjoyed this last chapter. I'll see you all out there.
Au Revoir

Chapter 8. Before you can finish

This Chapter will be told through a third person POV for certain areas

***

What do you say? Why does she want to dance with you? You’re just an average Pegasus and she’s Rainbow Dash. She probably has a coltfriend already. How do you say no? What do you say in a-

“Well don’t just stand there, hotshot,” Rainbow grabs your hoof, “Come on.”

You’re flung into a mesh of people. Rainbow dances to the beat of the music. The crowd’s movements flow with the beat. You feel the music just as well as you hear it. The beats flood over you. The music runs through your system. You feel the urge to dance along. You ‘look’ over at Rainbow. She’s having the time of her life. Your inhibitions disappear and you let the music take over.

“Ha ha. Now you got it, rook,” Rainbow laughs. She grabs your hooves and you begin to dance the night away. The feeling of elation returns to you for the first time in years. You hadn’t felt this way since you realized you were not completely blind. But this feeling, this is better. The butterflies are still there but you don’t care; you’re happier than ever.

You both dance for you don’t know how long. Soon the music begins to lull. Vinyl calls intermission.

“Hey,” you say to Dash wiping sweat from your forehead, “I’m gonna go get us some drinks.”

“Cool,” She says collapsing on a nearby park bench.

“Hey,” Twilight says, “So… how’d it go?”

“How’d what go?”

“You know, with Rainbow. I saw you dancing with her; you looked like you were having fun with her.”

You blush, “You saw that huh? Yeah I did.”

“So you do like her!”

“You can stop reading me like a book. Yes I do. But I don’t know what to say to her. How do I act? What does she like to do? How do i-”

“Sshhh,” Twilight shoves her hoof over your mouth, “Just be you; she seems to like you that way anyway.”

“Uh, Ok.”

“Here,” She shoves two drinks in your hoof, “Now go, here,” she shoves you over to the bench where Rainbow lies.

You head towards her, “Hey,” You slosh the liquid around.

“Thanks rook,” she quickly downs the beverage. With that all the exhaustion disappears from her body as she jumps into the air, “Come on, rook. One more time.”

With that she grabs you and runs back onto the dance floor.

***

BEEP BEEP BEEP. The familiar sound of your alarm clock rouses you from your slumber. You reach out and mash the button on the top or your clock. Pulling your new goggles on you head downstairs.

After breakfast you head outside. What happened last night? Oh now you remember. You danced with Rainbow and then… what happened after that? You… you… got some cider and…blank. What happened? How did you even get home? You decide to head over to Twilight’s place.

You open the door. There are five ponies in a chaotic frenzy. Twilight is frantically looking through event calendars, catalogs, maps, artifact books, everything she can get her hooves on. Rarity and Fluttershy struggle to comfort Pinkie who’s crying frantically. Applejack is walking in a circle with her hat in her mouth muttering to herself.

“Uh, I guess I came here at a bad time?” you ask nervously.

All eyes shift on you. Everything has stopped.

“Storm!” Twilight yells, “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Um what’s going on?”

“Rainbow’s (sniff) birthday is in two weeks, and everything we wanted to do for a party hasn’t been working out,” Pinkie sighed.

“Yeah, normally we’d’ve come up with somethin by now,” Applejack said.

“Really? What’s been goin wrong?” you ask.

“We’ll none of the entertainers are available for another month, the party supply store had a shipment error and everything is out of stock, we can’t even get DJ Pon-3 to come since she’s on tour for two months!” Pinkie said.

“Well maybe I can help; my parents can probably pull some strings. Can someone take a letter for me?”

***

Rainbow Dash was confused. Where was Solarstorm? She was hoping to be able to race him again today. She had flown to his cloud house but nopony was home. She decided to go to Pinkie’s house.

She walked by Twilight’s. Hmm, all the shades were down. She headed to Pinkie’s.

“Hey Pinkie!” she said as she knocked on the door, “You up for anything today?”

No answer.

Hmm. Strange; eh, she probably went to get more party supplies. That pony can’t go a few days without throwing a party. With that Rainbow decided to take a nap.

***

“Can we at least throw a minor ‘thank you’ party for Storm?” Pinkie asked.

“I’m sorry darling but you can’t. Do it for Rainbow,” Rarity said.

“I still can’t believe your dad is the famous Solar Pulse. That’s sooo amazing!” Twilight practically screamed.

“I don’t really like to talk about my family too much,” You say, “I always get peppered with questions, asked for autographs, etc.”

“I’d heard of you before. Well mentioned by your dad at that Night tournament last year, but I had no idea you were The Solarstorm. What’s it like to race at night li-”

“Now Twi, stop pesterin him. He already had to give up his identity to call in that favor from his father, he don’t need to be interrogated like that,” Applejack said.

“Um, shouldn’t we be going now?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh horseapples,” you say, “the train leaves in twenty minutes. Let’s go.”

You all head out of the library.

“Hang on,” Twilight says, plastering a note to the door, “Alright, now let’s go.”

***

Rainbow awoke. She looked up. The sun was high so it was nearly lunch time. Maybe Twilight will want to do something for lunch.

She headed to the library. There was a note on the door.

To all library patrons,

The library will be closed for the following week due to an emergency. Please return all books in the drop off area like normal. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle.

Hmm. Strange again. Eh whatever. Lunch time.