Down to Equestriaby TheSillyDuckChapters1Chapter 2Chapter 31Rainbow Dash was scrambling. After a series of missed rain showers over Ponyville the weather manager was in a rush to play catchup with a massive storm. Sweet Apple Acres was losing crops because of her mistakes and no bucking way was she going to let her best friend suffer for it. She and the other pegasi ponies were chasing the dark gray storm clouds into position, combining them with the leftover rain clouds. She was so caught up in her work that she didn't even notice the storm gray pegasus flying right into the grouping. Yelling to all the other weather ponies to get clear, Rainbow Dash yelled in her usual flamboyant attitude "fire in the hole!" She kick-started her cloud, setting off a chain reaction through the entire storm cell, lightening flying, rain pouring, the static raising the furs on everyponies' back as they flew away.... All except for one storm gray pegasus who didn't get the message. The lighting flashed, thunder cracked, and a single pony suddenly saw his world go dark as he fell from the sky. The thud as he hit the ground just outside Sweet Apple Acres echoed ominously as cloud of dust enveloped the young stallion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next morning Big Mac and Applejack walked out across their farm to survey the damage. She knew they desperately needed the water, but wished Rainbow Dash could just remember to keep the showers on schedule rather than giving it to them all at once. While effective, the storms had the nasty habit of breaking of branches, knocking apples loose, and knocking over the occasional tree. Applejack stopped and looked around before speaking with her southern drawl, "Big Macintosh, why don'tcha head off an check the west orchard. Last storm took out half the apples." Big Mac just looked at her with a stern face before replying with as much as could be expected of him. "Eeyup!" He trotted off as Applejack kept checking the south fields before something caught her eye. It wasn't the broken branches or small rivers running between her beloved trees, it was something beyond the orchard. Just out of the treeline was something that shouldn't be. A small mound of dirt and grass... as she walked closer she saw something that made her stop dead in her tracks. A few gray feathers were scattered around what appeared to be a mangled wing just barely visible above the dirt. Applejack ran to the site and gasped. "Big Mac, get over here! Bring a cart!" A storm gray pegasus was laying in the hole. His dark blue mane was swept back across his head, the edges were frosted with an almost sky blue color. His tail was cut extremely short with the same frosting along the edges, just barely covering his cutie mark--a golden shield with a rose-red hue to it. His fur was singed in places and his left wing was contorted to an extreme angle, his right was buried under his torso. Applejack lifted a hoof to her muzzle, fearing the worst. Suddenly she saw it. A slight rise in the pony's chest. "Big Mac, hurry! Ah think he's alive, but he's hurt real bad!" Big Mac showed up with the apple cart and the two earth ponies threw the pegasus onto the back. "Big Mac, we need to get him to the hospital, ahm gonna run ahead and let them know yer comin!" "Eeyup," Big Mac bellowed as he started heading towards Ponyville Hospital. Applejack was already halfway to town at a full sprint when she had to throw on the breaks. A pale yellow mare with a pink mane was backing her way across the road. "Ok c'mon little ones, that's it," she whispered to the ducklings that were following her lead. "That's it, you're doing great." Despite her talking to all of them, one could barely hear her voice. "Fluttershy! Get a move on! Big Mac's comin' an' we need tah get to the hospital!" "Oh my, come on friends!" Fluttershy tried to hurry the ducklings up. As they finally crossed the road the cloud of dust rapidly grew into view as Big Mac came rushing down the road. "C'mon sugarcube, we need to get to tha hospital. Somepony's hurt real bad!" Applejack took off running without even waiting for a response from the timid mare. As Big Mac passed by Fluttershy caught a glimpse of the injured pony and immediately got a shiver running the length of her spine. As a pegasus she had a feeling she knew exactly what happened and flew off towards Rainbow Dash's cloud house. "Nurse Redheart! Nurse Redheart! Ah need some help!" The brilliant white pony with a pink mane and red cross cutie mark looked up and saw Applejack running towards the hospital, an ominous cloud of dirt trailing a short distance behind. "Nurse Redheart, Ah found this pegasus outside the orchard. Ah think he's hurt real bad!" Nurse Redheart immediately called for the doctor and more hooves to come help as Big Macintosh pulled up. The medical ponies unloaded the unknown stallion and took him straight in. Nurse Redheart spoke with Applejack in her usually sweet voice, before going in, herself. No matter the stress, that pony seemed able to calm a raging manticore with her soothing voice. "Do you have any idea who he is?" "No Nurse Redheart, ah have no idea who he is. Ah was checkin' the orchards for damage and ah saw him half buried in the dirt, wing stickin' up at a god awful angle." "Ok, Applejack. If you and Big Mac want to wait around, I'll let you know as soon as we know his condition." "Thank ya, Nurse Redheart." Despite having no idea who this stallion was, Applejack found her voice trembling with concern for the newcomer. Big Mac just stood next to her and wrapped a foreleg around his little sister's shoulders. Applejack was one of the most caring ponies he knew, and he knew exactly how this was affecting her. "He'll be ok, right Big Macintosh?" He just looked back at her. "Eeyup." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fluttershy landed at Rainbow Dash's doorstep about the same time Applejack and Big Mac were getting to the hospital. Panting and out of breath, adrenaline rushing, she started banging on Rainbow's door, yelling for her. Or, at least in her mind she was. Rainbow Dash was just inside of her cloud home and heard a gentle knocking at the door and a muffled voice from outside. She trotted over to the door and opened it a crack. Looking out and seeing the timid mare in such a state she quickly opened the door. "Hey Shy, what's wrong?" "Oh Rainbow Dash, I think there might be a problem. Applejack just took somepony to the hospital and they looked pretty bad... I think he may have gotten caught in last night's storm!" Despite the sky-blue mare brimming with confidence, all the color drained from her face and her eyes got enormous when Fluttershy mentioned the storm. Besides the fact that as weather manager this was going to drown her in paperwork, the fact that she may have hurt somepony by her negligence was the worst thing she could imagine. Rainbow slammed the door behind her and took off for the hospital like a vampire fruit bat headed for Sweet Apple Acres after a long winter. Fluttershy took off after her, albeit at a much slower pace. "Oh dear... I hope the poor thing is ok" she said sheepishly to herself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash landed outside Ponyville Hospital and trotted into the waiting room, finding the burnt orange mare and gigantic red stallion waiting, their heads held low. "H-hey guys," said Rainbow Dash in a slightly ragged and subdued voice, still out of breath from her flight. "Any word how he's doing?" "Nah sugarcube, Nurse Redheart ain't been back to see us yet. He looked pretty bad when ah brought him in though," Applejack replied sullenly to her best friend. An image of burned fur and that misshapen wing crept into her head. "Which weather pony was it," Rainbow asked, trying to figure out how to break the news to one of her friend's family members. "Uh... Rainbow? Ah have no idea who it was... Ah never seen him before in my life." For the second time that day Rainbow's eyes grew wide. If it wasn't one of her weather ponies then who was the stranger? Fluttershy walked in, but before she could speak the doors opened and Nurse Redheart came out to speak with the ponies. "The good news is he seems to be stable, unfortunately he's still not awake. If you want I can let someone stay with him until he wakes up, but I'd rather not crowd the room." Applejack looked at Big Mac and before she could even speak he knew what was on her mind. "Eeyup." "Ah appreciate it Mac, tell Granny ahll be back soon." "Eeyup." Big Mac grabbed the cart and started to head back to the farm to finish clearing up the damage, as Applejack trotted back to the pony's room. Rainbow Dash, the look of responsibility still painted on her face, asked Fluttershy to go tell Twilight what happened before slowly walking back to the room. The guilt she was feeling almost seemed to actually weigh her down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Six hours later, 18 hours after the storm began Rainbow Dash lay curled in a ball on a chair in the corner, Applejack was resting sitting on the opposite side of the bed, her head having fallen onto the mattress. Both ponies were out cold. A thin white sheet covered the storm gray stallion, his dark blue and frosted mane now cleaned up and falling gently over his forehead. A slight noise woke Applejack from her slumber. A breeze from the open window was slowly filling the room with cool air. The sheet covering the pony wavered slightly. Applejack wrinkled her nose, "ahh shoot, mah mind must be playin tricks on me." Laying her head back down she heard it again. This time when she opened her eyes she was sure the sheet shifted slightly. The stallion was moving. Slowly, weakly, but moving none the less. "Psst, Rainbow. Hey, Rainbow!" Applejack tried to get the cyan mare's attention from across the room.... "ahh shoot, tha' stubborn pony wouldn't wake up if Pinkie set off her party cannon right next ta her." Applejack sat straight up, keeping an eye on the pony, just as his eyes started to flicker. As the pony opened his eyes she could see that they were a darker blue than any ocean she'd ever seen, and more brilliant than any diamond. A true royal blue that stood out even against his mane. "Ugh...." the stallion grunted in frustration. His head was pounding, his ears were ringing, and his mouth tasted like he'd been munching on bits. But when his eyes opened he forgot all about the pain when he saw the jade green eyes of a brilliant orange mare with a blonde mane and cowpony hat staring at him. "Uhh... hi?" He said weakly. "Ummm... where am I?" "Shhh, ya just hush now sugarcube, you're in the hospital. Y'all look like ya had a heck of a ride..." Chapter 2The stallion shifted uncomfortably in the bed, wincing in pain. His eyes shifted to his left wing, radiating in pain and cast in a folded position. His right wing, uncomfortably numb, sat folded underneath his body. He shifted his eyes back to the golden mare with the brilliant green eyes sitting next to him. "I still don't quite remember what happened." Applejack just looked at him. "Uhh... well.... as strange as it sounds, ah found ya in a hole in the ground. Ya were barely moving, ah honestly thought ya was gone. Ya looked like ya may have been hit by tha storm last night and took quite a spill." The stallion looked himself over again, noticing the bits of blackened fur and singed mane in the mirror, thinking to himself on the plus side I won't need a new mane cut anytime soon.... I think this actually looks cooler. "I'm sorry, miss..." "Applejack," she quickly cut in, giving a slight curtsy, crossing her hoofs and nodding her head. "Applejack, well thank you for helping me. But I honestly can't say I remember the storm even.... or much else for that matter." "Well why don'tcha start with your name, sugarcube." "Umm... Storm Shade, most ponies just call me 'Shade' though." Her accent is just fantastic, he thought to himself. As he spoke, Rainbow Dash shifted in the corner, her gentle snoozing replaced by a snore that would scare a full grown dragon. "Uhhh, excuse me, Shade." Applejack got up, walking around the bed to the chair Rainbow slept in. Looking around the room as if tracking an imaginary fly she turned her flank towards Rainbow and gave a quick buck to the chair leg with her rear, right hoof. The chair came flying out from under Rainbow Dash as she came crashing to the floor. "Huh, what!? I'm awake I'm awake!" Rainbow shouted at the room before seeing Applejack with a hoof to her face attempting--poorly--to stifle a laugh. "Oh HA HA, AJ..." Rainbow grumbled. "Well now that yer awake, can ya go let Nurse Redheart know that our friend is awake? And tell her he's got a name for us too." Rainbow Dash looked at Shade, who was trying to keep himself from laughing at Applejack's little trick with the chair. "Yeahhhhhhhhhh.... uhhhhh ok." Rainbow Dash slowly backed out of the room with her shoulders low in a defensive stance, checking to make sure Applejack wasn't planning anything else for her, before disappearing around the corner. Shade started laughing hysterically at Rainbow Dash's reaction to Applejack.... for all of half a second. As soon as he started laughing his reaction turned from one of joy to one of pain as he started coughing, his chest expanding and contracting with each breath, each one seemingly causing more pain. "So where am I at again?" "Yer in Ponyville, Shade. Do ya remember where ya were comin' from at least?" Before he could answer, Rainbow Dash returned with Nurse Redheart and the doctor, a chestnut brown stallion in a white lab coat. "Ah, you're awake! Good, I understand you were at least able to tell us your name?" "Shade, Storm Shade," the pegasus replied with a grimace on his face. "Well, Mr. Shade, you seemed to have a bit of a run-in with a storm last night and.... well, frankly you lost. Your left wing is shattered in 5 places, your right wing is bruised but intact. You have several broken ribs, a fractured hoof, and electrical burns throughout." The look of despair in Shade's face grew exponentially as the doctor rattled off everything wrong. "Uhh.... doc, that's great... but why are the only two ponies I know in this room?" A quizzical expression came over the doctor's face. "You don't remember anything about last night?" Shade shook his head. "What do you remember?" The doctor came towards him and shined a light in both of his eyes back and forth until the pony was seeing spots and his eyes moved in circles. "I remember flying and.... dark.... and waking up here. I don't know where I was coming from or where I was going, but it had to be important if I was trying to go through the storm." Rainbow Dash sheepishly looked away and backed herself back into her corner, not wanting to admit that it was her fault he was here. The doctor spoke briefly longer with Shade before leaving. Rainbow didn't notice a thing he said. Her mind was racing a million miles a minute and as the doctor walked out, Shade shifted uncomfortably, pulling the sheet from under the bed. His rose-gold colored cutie mark just barely peeking out into the world. Rainbow Dash caught a glimpse of this color and before even asking she threw the sheet off to reveal the entire thing, her jaw slightly open, a blank stare on her face. "Uh... Rainbow? Ya alright? You look like ya seen a ghost." Applejack gave her a blank look. "Uhhh... of course! Why wouldn't I be alright? I'm awesome remember? By definition I'd have to be alright. Couldn't be more alright than I am right now. Yup!" She gave a wide toothed smile, catching on that she was rambling. Applejack just gave her another dead stare with her right eyebrow slightly raised. "Uhhh.... ok?" "Yeah!" The rainbow haired mane shouted. "Uhhh, be right back!" Rainbow jetted out the door without so much as a second glance. She couldn't quite place it, but that cutie mark had triggered something in her memory. She'd flown all over Equestria... and above it, and she could swear she had seen something like that before. She headed to Twilight's library without another second's hesitation, hoping the lavender unicorn would have a book or scroll or anything that could point her in the right direction. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fluttershy meekly walked around her cottage, trying to make sure all of her little critter friends were fed for the day. All of them seemed to be grazing happily at what she had provided... except Angel. "Oh please Angel bunny, you need to eat up so you can get big and strong!" Angel sat on his tail and crossed his front paws, giving her a glare, before pushing his food dish towards her and turning his nose up. "But you like fresh lettuce! C'mon now eat up. It's good, see! Omnomnomnom." Fluttershy mimed eating from the bowl. Angel just looked at her. "Please Angel, I really need to get going. What if I fluff your tail extra today when I get back?" The bunny just stared at her. "Two times?" Angel wiggled his paw as if to ask for more. In an almost whisper, Fluttershy asked "three times?" Angel's eyes opened wide as he nodded before digging into his food. He knew he'd win. He always did. Fluttershy left for town hoping to find Rainbow Dash or Applejack to find out how the new guy was doing when she saw a rainbow streak across the sky to Twilight's library. She started to head towards the library before spying a particularly large, red stallion hauling an apple cart. "Oh my..." she whispered to herself before hiding behind a flower cart until the pony had walked past. Ever since Pinkie Pie's last party for Gummy's one and three-quarter year old birthday party she'd been shy of Big Mac. As everything was getting out of hand (as it usually did with a Pinkie Pie party) she had been inadvertently pushed into Big Mac's haunches. Before she had even turned around she was already trying to apologize. "Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't even..." she stopped as she turned around and saw Big Mac looking at her with his own shy smile and his big green eyes. "....see you there. Are you ok?" she whimpered out before putting a fake smile on. "Eeyup." The big stallion smiled at her, but before he could say anything else she had flown off. Rainbow Dash had just landed outside the front door of Twlight's but just before she could knock, Fluttershy wandered up behind her. "Um... hi?" She whispered. "What? Who?!" Rainbow jumped as she spun around. Fluttershy let out a quick "Eep!" Before falling back on her rump in the dirt. "Oh, hey Shy. Never thought YOU of all people would be able to startle me. Guess I'm still a little worked up over Shade." "Um... who's shade?" The yellow mare asked. "Oh, that pegasus Applejack brought in yesterday is finally awake!" She said it excitedly, glad her actions hadn't killed somepony, but there was still a hesitation in her voice. Something coming from that cutie mark that she couldn't quite place. "He said his name was Storm Shade, but couldn't tell us much else." As the two ponies were talking Twilight could hear the commotion and opened the door. "TWILIGHT!" Rainbow Dash shouted before tackling the surprised unicorn. "I need your help with something. I was hoping you may have a book or record that could shed some light on something for me." Twilight's eyes grew wide with anticipation. Not only was she getting another excuse to spend all day buried in her books (not that she needed one, she was planning on it anyways), but it was Rainbow Dash of all ponies who was asking her to do it! The fact the sportster pony was asking anything beyond the science to help her train harder was nothing short of a miracle in the lavender unicorn's eyes. "Sure, Dash, happy to help! Just one thing..." Twilight grunted out the last sentence as the cyan mare was still sitting on her chest. "Name it," said Dash coolly... noticing Fluttershy walking in and pointing at Twilight who was still underneath Dash she sported a sheepish grin. "Oh, haha, right." Rainbow got off of Twilight and helped her up. " After filling Twilight in on Storm Shade and the whole incident that landed him (no pun intended) in the hospital she began to describe the stallion's cutie mark to Twilight. "It's the strangest thing, Twi! I feel like I've seen it somewhere before. That I should know what it means. That rose-gold color, the shape of a shield. Usually it pertains to a pony's special talent, but the only thing I can think of for this would be some sort of Royal Guard. He's DEFINITELY not that." "Hmmm... I'm getting the same feeling you are, like I've seen this somewhere" replied the unicorn. "Or rather, read about it. Give me a while, I need to find a book." "Shocker," Rainbow deadpanned. "Well, let me know what you find, k?" But Twilight was already turned away from her, buried in a pile of books, looking for just the right one. Rainbow turned to Fluttershy. "C'mon Shy, you wanna go see if Applejack has had to beat him back with a stick yet?" "Oh Rainbow... I don't think that would be such a good idea. Applejack wouldn't hurt ANYpony unless she had to." Rainbow Dash gave the yellow mare a blank look. "Fluttershy, we really need to get you out more." They both took off back towards the hospital. Chapter 3Back at Ponyville Hospital, Storm Shade had shifted off to a restless sleep. Tossing and turning, images kept flashing through his head that he just couldn't place. A letter addressed only to Storm Shade slips underneath a door on the largest building in Cloudsdale. The fact that no address is attached doesn't phase anyone. Anonymity is the name of the game. A dark figure opens the letter and walks to the next room. "Storm Shade. It's time." The gray stallion gets up and walks to the door, disappearing into obscurity. Storm Shade shifted, the pain in his wings forcing a small grunt from his mouth as he turned in the hospital bed, pulling the sheet further up. The orange mare with a blonde mane and stetson opens her eyes and sees the stallion writhing in the bed, a sense of worry comes over her before falling back to sleep. The gray pegasus flew from Cloudsdale to the glowing blip on the horizon. As he got closer the city of Fillydelphia came into view. He landed just outside a nondescript building. Meeting with a smaller mare not a word was spoken between the two. The mare, hidden in the shadows, handed over a small piece of paper that had one word written on it. "Ponyville." Flipping the paper over was a picture of somepony he had never met. Unfortunately for Shade, the blob of ink never materialized into a face. "Yeeaagh!" Storm Shade let out a sharp cry. He had shifted just too far, crushing his broken wing between his body and the bed rail. Even in the cast the pressure turned into radiating pain and he awoke in a cold sweat. Applejack jolts awake, a line of drool coming from her muzzle. "Ahm awake!" She explains, wiping her mouth with her foreleg she sees the look on Shade's face. "Nurse Redheart," she hollered, "Ah think he needs help!" Nurse Redheart came rushing in, but by that time Shade had moved off of his bad wing and the pain had quickly subsided. "Nurse, as grateful as I am, how long until I can get out of here?" "Well you seem to have stabilized, but if you're having trouble remembering things still I'm not sure the doctor will let you go." She gave him a worried look. "If you lose consciousness again or forget where you are and no one is around you could be in serious trouble." Applejack's ears rotated front when Nurse Redheart said that last part. She had no idea what possessed her to do this but before she even knew what she was doing she heard her own voice. "Well shoot Nurse Redheart, if ol' Shade here just needs someone to keep an eye on him, Ah can manage that until he's up and doin... uh... whatever it is he usually does." The look on her face as soon as she finished speaking told it's own tale of 'what were you thinking?' Awww ponyfeathers, she thought to herself. What didja jus' get yerself into, AJ? Nurse Redheart looked at Applejack for just a moment before cheerfully telling her that if she was willing to follow the discharge instructions, Shade could be released from the hospital that night. "He needs to be back here in one week for a follow-up, and keep moving," she said staring at the pegasus intently. "Go easy, but keep moving. Given everything you went through it's a miracle you're in as good of shape as you are, I think keeping active should even help the healing. Just don't overdo it." The nurse shot Applejack a quick look as she gave Shade his final instruction. She knew that despite the Apple generosity, that same generosity also tended to garner help around the farm. The farm pony gave a curt nod in reply. "Well then! I'll just go get the doctor and square this all away!" The pearl white pony went back to her usual cheerful self and wandered out of the room as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were walking in. "Hey guys!" Boomed Rainbow Dash. "Hey Rainbow, Fluttershy! How are y'all? So glad ya made it! Nurse thinks that ol' Shade here may actually get out soon!" "Hey Applejack. Oh... well I don't want to interrupt..." Fluttershy could barely be heard over the sound of moving ponies. "Nonsense, sugarcube! Yer not interrupting. A friendly face is always welcome!" Fluttershy smiled gingerly at Applejack before turning her gaze on the gray stallion. "Oh well... in that case... I'm Fluttershy." She finished her introduction looking down at her hooves, trying to hide behind her flowing, pink mane. Storm Shade blinked at the butter colored pegasus. "Well it's nice to meet you." Looking back around the other ponies in the room he started to speak again, "well as much as I love laying here, I don't suppose we can move these introductions somewhere else? By the way, Fluttershy, I'm Storm Shade." Shade reached a hoof out towards the mare who still seemed to be trying to hide from her own shadow. Upon realizing that she was still in the spotlight a small "eep" escaped her lips and she disappeared around the corner and out of the room. "Uhhh....?" Shade blinked repeatedly, looking to Rainbow Dash and Applejack for an explanation as to what just happened. "Aw, t'ain't nothin, Fluttershy is just a lil skiddish is all. She'll warm up to ya." Trotting to the door and leaning out she yelled after the timid mare, "if yer not gonna stay and be social at least tell Pinkie Pie we're gonna be stoppin' by!" Fluttershy got close to Sugercube corner, smelling the delicious culinary confections from blocks away. The smells of fresh baked pies, cakes, cookies, and cupcakes making even the most resolute pony's mouth water. Rumor was that even Bulk Biceps had a bit of a sweet tooth he liked to indulge in from time to time.... though nobody could prove it. That pony was into fitness more than anypony else in town, but every week and order request was delivered by mail, requesting various treats be left on the back step at the same time. It was also no secret that every week at the same time a rather loud and rough "YEAH!" was heard from behind Sugarcube Corner before somepony galloped off before being seen picking up said treats. Fluttershy walked tenderly through the front door, the bell ringing alerting the Cakes to her presence. "Why hello, Fluttershy!" Mr. Cake came out from the kitchen, "need some treats for your furry friends?" "Umm... no? Is... is... Pinkie around?" "She's upstairs with the twins, you can go ahead!" "Um thank you..." she made her way up towards the second floor of the bakery, which had been turned into the living space for Pinkie and the Cakes. Hoof sitting on the top step she spied Pinkie Pie finishing up what seemed to be some sort of dance routine for the twin foals, Pound and Pumpkin Cake. Not getting a response from them the pink, cotton candy haired mare proceeded to dump a bag of flour over her head until the two foals were laughing so hard that Pound Cake fell over backwards. "...." Fluttershy was about to announce her presence but before she could even say anything Pinkie Pie appeared in front of her, seeming to disappear and reappear without walking across the space. "Hi Fluttershy!" The party pony bouncing up and down on all fours scooped her friend into a big hug. "What's up? Well besides the sky... and I guess the ceiling. Hopefully not Pound Cake though because I really need to get him down for a nap and he shouldn't really be flying." She stopped for a breath before looking back at the two foals. "Be right back!" Pinkie took off at light speed again to scoop the twins up and gently lay them down in their cribs to sleep. "Awwww much better! So what's up Fluttershy?" The energetic mare stood back in front of her friend, still bouncing with a seemingly endless amount of energy. "Oh, well, Applejack just wanted me to tell you that she and Rainbow Dash were bringing a new..." a pink hoof shot out to Fluttershy's muzzle before she could finish. "There's a new pony in town and I'm just finding this out now!?" The mare jumped so high Fluttershy thought she was going to go through the ceiling. "Well.... yes. You see..." Once again the meek pony was cut off by a hoof to the muzzle. Pinkie took a deep breath and belted out a reply without a single stop for air, "Applejackwasouttendingtothefarmwhenshesawamoundofdirtthatwasn'tamoundofdirtitwasa ponythatgotcaughtinRainbowDash'sstormandtheponywashurtsosheandBigMacbroughthimtothehospitalandnowRainbowDashfeelsguiltybuttheponyisgettingreleasedfromthehospitalandAJwantstobringhimheretocheerhimUP!?" She started panting to catch her breath with a grin bigger than all of Canterlot. "yes," replied Fluttershy. A look of shock on her face. "How did you know?" "Eh," shrugged the mysterious pink pony, "lucky guess. It's also time to break out the party cannon!" The bell rang from downstairs and Mr. Cake's voice boomed up the stairwell to the two mares. "Pinkie, Fluttershy, Twlight is here!" Before Fluttershy could even turn around, a cloud of dust was all that was left where Pinkie was standing. The mare yet again seemed to defy reason by simply vanishing rather than running from place to place. Fluttershy could hear the overly jovial greeting Pinkie was giving the lavender unicorn downstairs and knew Pinkie was trying to talk the poor mare's ear off. She shrugged and cantered down the stairs after her friend. Shade, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash walked slowly through Ponyville, giving the stallion a chance to see the sights he missed when they brought him in on the cart the other day. One side of his mind was taken aback by the rustic beauty of the little town. Everything from the intricately designed town hall, the library that appeared as if it were built into a tree, and.... his nose started to twitch ever so slightly. Shade's nose lifted into the air and his pace slowed. "Ah think the guy's caught wind o' Sugarcube Corner," chuckled Appledash. She wrapped her foreleg around Shade's shoulder, sending a shiver down his spine and eliciting a sideways glance from the stallion, before pointing him at the large cake shaped confectionery shop. Not having eaten in over a day he tried to take off for the sweets store, forgetting entirely that his wings were out of commission. Shade made a jump and extended his forelegs, and subsequently fell flat on his belly. "Urgh!" Shade recoiled from the pain, holding his hooves close to his chest. Rainbow Dash let out a laugh knowing all too well what the pegasus was going through thanks to having had her own injuries in the past. Applejack helped Shade to his feet and stared at the cyan flier as, who quickly zipped her lip. She couldn't even say anything though before his nose was back in the air and he followed the smell back to the door. Almost being carried by the intoxicating aroma. Rainbow Dash flew quickly ahead and knocked on the door to the bakery. A small crack formed as the door opened and a lone eyeball looked out to see the other two ponies approaching. Rainbow streaked inside and the door slammed shut again. Shade gave Applejack a confused look. "Uhhh... s'cuse me," Applejack knocked on the door. This time it opened wide into a darkened sales floor. Nopony in sight. Applejack walked in followed closely by Shade. "Ummm... where'd everypon..." "SURPRISE!" Yelled the four friends inside. A loud boom with a short fizzle at the end coming from Pinkie's party cannon as streamers and confetti shot everything. Shade jumped backwards into the doorway before landing on all four hooves, haunches high, forelegs bent and his head and shoulders down in a defensive posture. Shade had his eyes narrowed and small snarl on his face for just a second before quickly regaining composure before anypony could notice. Anypony except one, anyways. "What is all this?" Shade asked in amazement. "Wellllllllllllllllllll...." the pink party pony started to explain, "You're new in town so I had to throw you a 'welcome to Ponyville party' and Dash said she was sorry about sending you to the hospital, so I made it an apology party, plus you just got OUT of the hospital so it's a released from the hospital party, plus youneededtofeelwelcomesoit'sapartyforthesake of a PARTY party." The pink mare just bounced on all fours with her same Canterlot grin. "Uhh... Pinkie?" Applejack started, "how about ya get your guest some punch?" The pony cocked her head and looked at Applejack and Shade... "Okie dokie lokie!" She bounced off on all fours with what Shade almost thought might be an actual spring in her step. "Sorry bout that sugarcube," the orange country mare started, "Pinkie can be a little.... over tha top, but she means well." "Heh, well I can honestly say I've never had a welcome like that before....." he scratched his head with his hoof, "I think anyways," he said chuckling to himself. Before he could say another word his nose was back in the air. His eyes closed he followed the smell to the table of tasty treats Pinkie had laid out before them. After selecting a large slice of pie he turned around to talk with Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "So do you folks treat all newcomers with this much fun when they come to town?" He smiled as he stuffed his face full of pie and rather thank take another slice, simply put a whole pie on his plate before continuing talking. "Uh yeah, because Ponyville is awesome!" Rainbow Dash spoke with her usual flamboyant attitude. "I am really sorry about the whole storm thing though, I could've swore I checked the area before starting it off..." she dipped her head in shame. "I hope you can forgive me and that this party makes up for it though!" "Heh, sure Rainbow. You guys have been nothing but great to me since the accident." He decided to toy with the cyan pony though, "although the party is fun.... it could use to be maybe 20% cooler." He chuckled to himself. The blue pegasus' jaw just dropped open almost as if she were challenged. Shade wasn't sure where that comment came from, he just knew it felt appropriate. He made a mental note to figure out why. Applejack took a hoof and closed the mare's jaw. "Lighten up sugarcube, Ah think he's messin' with ya." Rainbow Dash came back to reality and looked at the gray newcomer, eyes squinted shut, hoof over his mouth, fighting back a laugh. A blush covered Rainbow's cheeks, almost making her face as red as her mane. "Alright alright new guy," she pointed a hoof at him. "You get one of those for free, now it's game on!" She gave him a wink. "Uh annnnnnnyways," Applejack cut in. "Figure Ah'll show ya who's who 'round here." She took her hoof and pointed to each of the respective ponies. "This here ya know is Rainbow Dash, over there are tha two that run this joint, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. We got Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, oh and that there is Gummy," pointing to the small alligator who seemed attached to Pinkie's tail. The bell rang and a sterling white unicorn with a flowing purple mane walked in followed by an almost identical filly and a few others. "Tha' there is Rarity and her sister, Sweetie Belle an' some o' her friends." Swinging her hoof across the party she spotted her next friend, "an' tha' purple unicorn there is Twilight," she said with a smile. Shade's eyes grew big. He didn't know why, but all of the sudden things just seemed to get very, very real. He took a step back as his eye twitched and before Applejack could stop him he bolted out the door. "RD, stay here," she said to her friend before taking off after the newcomer. "Ah gotta go make sure he's ok." She sprinted out the door, hoping to catch up to the ground pegasus before he hurt himself.
1Rainbow Dash was scrambling. After a series of missed rain showers over Ponyville the weather manager was in a rush to play catchup with a massive storm. Sweet Apple Acres was losing crops because of her mistakes and no bucking way was she going to let her best friend suffer for it. She and the other pegasi ponies were chasing the dark gray storm clouds into position, combining them with the leftover rain clouds. She was so caught up in her work that she didn't even notice the storm gray pegasus flying right into the grouping. Yelling to all the other weather ponies to get clear, Rainbow Dash yelled in her usual flamboyant attitude "fire in the hole!" She kick-started her cloud, setting off a chain reaction through the entire storm cell, lightening flying, rain pouring, the static raising the furs on everyponies' back as they flew away.... All except for one storm gray pegasus who didn't get the message. The lighting flashed, thunder cracked, and a single pony suddenly saw his world go dark as he fell from the sky. The thud as he hit the ground just outside Sweet Apple Acres echoed ominously as cloud of dust enveloped the young stallion. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next morning Big Mac and Applejack walked out across their farm to survey the damage. She knew they desperately needed the water, but wished Rainbow Dash could just remember to keep the showers on schedule rather than giving it to them all at once. While effective, the storms had the nasty habit of breaking of branches, knocking apples loose, and knocking over the occasional tree. Applejack stopped and looked around before speaking with her southern drawl, "Big Macintosh, why don'tcha head off an check the west orchard. Last storm took out half the apples." Big Mac just looked at her with a stern face before replying with as much as could be expected of him. "Eeyup!" He trotted off as Applejack kept checking the south fields before something caught her eye. It wasn't the broken branches or small rivers running between her beloved trees, it was something beyond the orchard. Just out of the treeline was something that shouldn't be. A small mound of dirt and grass... as she walked closer she saw something that made her stop dead in her tracks. A few gray feathers were scattered around what appeared to be a mangled wing just barely visible above the dirt. Applejack ran to the site and gasped. "Big Mac, get over here! Bring a cart!" A storm gray pegasus was laying in the hole. His dark blue mane was swept back across his head, the edges were frosted with an almost sky blue color. His tail was cut extremely short with the same frosting along the edges, just barely covering his cutie mark--a golden shield with a rose-red hue to it. His fur was singed in places and his left wing was contorted to an extreme angle, his right was buried under his torso. Applejack lifted a hoof to her muzzle, fearing the worst. Suddenly she saw it. A slight rise in the pony's chest. "Big Mac, hurry! Ah think he's alive, but he's hurt real bad!" Big Mac showed up with the apple cart and the two earth ponies threw the pegasus onto the back. "Big Mac, we need to get him to the hospital, ahm gonna run ahead and let them know yer comin!" "Eeyup," Big Mac bellowed as he started heading towards Ponyville Hospital. Applejack was already halfway to town at a full sprint when she had to throw on the breaks. A pale yellow mare with a pink mane was backing her way across the road. "Ok c'mon little ones, that's it," she whispered to the ducklings that were following her lead. "That's it, you're doing great." Despite her talking to all of them, one could barely hear her voice. "Fluttershy! Get a move on! Big Mac's comin' an' we need tah get to the hospital!" "Oh my, come on friends!" Fluttershy tried to hurry the ducklings up. As they finally crossed the road the cloud of dust rapidly grew into view as Big Mac came rushing down the road. "C'mon sugarcube, we need to get to tha hospital. Somepony's hurt real bad!" Applejack took off running without even waiting for a response from the timid mare. As Big Mac passed by Fluttershy caught a glimpse of the injured pony and immediately got a shiver running the length of her spine. As a pegasus she had a feeling she knew exactly what happened and flew off towards Rainbow Dash's cloud house. "Nurse Redheart! Nurse Redheart! Ah need some help!" The brilliant white pony with a pink mane and red cross cutie mark looked up and saw Applejack running towards the hospital, an ominous cloud of dirt trailing a short distance behind. "Nurse Redheart, Ah found this pegasus outside the orchard. Ah think he's hurt real bad!" Nurse Redheart immediately called for the doctor and more hooves to come help as Big Macintosh pulled up. The medical ponies unloaded the unknown stallion and took him straight in. Nurse Redheart spoke with Applejack in her usually sweet voice, before going in, herself. No matter the stress, that pony seemed able to calm a raging manticore with her soothing voice. "Do you have any idea who he is?" "No Nurse Redheart, ah have no idea who he is. Ah was checkin' the orchards for damage and ah saw him half buried in the dirt, wing stickin' up at a god awful angle." "Ok, Applejack. If you and Big Mac want to wait around, I'll let you know as soon as we know his condition." "Thank ya, Nurse Redheart." Despite having no idea who this stallion was, Applejack found her voice trembling with concern for the newcomer. Big Mac just stood next to her and wrapped a foreleg around his little sister's shoulders. Applejack was one of the most caring ponies he knew, and he knew exactly how this was affecting her. "He'll be ok, right Big Macintosh?" He just looked back at her. "Eeyup." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fluttershy landed at Rainbow Dash's doorstep about the same time Applejack and Big Mac were getting to the hospital. Panting and out of breath, adrenaline rushing, she started banging on Rainbow's door, yelling for her. Or, at least in her mind she was. Rainbow Dash was just inside of her cloud home and heard a gentle knocking at the door and a muffled voice from outside. She trotted over to the door and opened it a crack. Looking out and seeing the timid mare in such a state she quickly opened the door. "Hey Shy, what's wrong?" "Oh Rainbow Dash, I think there might be a problem. Applejack just took somepony to the hospital and they looked pretty bad... I think he may have gotten caught in last night's storm!" Despite the sky-blue mare brimming with confidence, all the color drained from her face and her eyes got enormous when Fluttershy mentioned the storm. Besides the fact that as weather manager this was going to drown her in paperwork, the fact that she may have hurt somepony by her negligence was the worst thing she could imagine. Rainbow slammed the door behind her and took off for the hospital like a vampire fruit bat headed for Sweet Apple Acres after a long winter. Fluttershy took off after her, albeit at a much slower pace. "Oh dear... I hope the poor thing is ok" she said sheepishly to herself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rainbow Dash landed outside Ponyville Hospital and trotted into the waiting room, finding the burnt orange mare and gigantic red stallion waiting, their heads held low. "H-hey guys," said Rainbow Dash in a slightly ragged and subdued voice, still out of breath from her flight. "Any word how he's doing?" "Nah sugarcube, Nurse Redheart ain't been back to see us yet. He looked pretty bad when ah brought him in though," Applejack replied sullenly to her best friend. An image of burned fur and that misshapen wing crept into her head. "Which weather pony was it," Rainbow asked, trying to figure out how to break the news to one of her friend's family members. "Uh... Rainbow? Ah have no idea who it was... Ah never seen him before in my life." For the second time that day Rainbow's eyes grew wide. If it wasn't one of her weather ponies then who was the stranger? Fluttershy walked in, but before she could speak the doors opened and Nurse Redheart came out to speak with the ponies. "The good news is he seems to be stable, unfortunately he's still not awake. If you want I can let someone stay with him until he wakes up, but I'd rather not crowd the room." Applejack looked at Big Mac and before she could even speak he knew what was on her mind. "Eeyup." "Ah appreciate it Mac, tell Granny ahll be back soon." "Eeyup." Big Mac grabbed the cart and started to head back to the farm to finish clearing up the damage, as Applejack trotted back to the pony's room. Rainbow Dash, the look of responsibility still painted on her face, asked Fluttershy to go tell Twilight what happened before slowly walking back to the room. The guilt she was feeling almost seemed to actually weigh her down. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Six hours later, 18 hours after the storm began Rainbow Dash lay curled in a ball on a chair in the corner, Applejack was resting sitting on the opposite side of the bed, her head having fallen onto the mattress. Both ponies were out cold. A thin white sheet covered the storm gray stallion, his dark blue and frosted mane now cleaned up and falling gently over his forehead. A slight noise woke Applejack from her slumber. A breeze from the open window was slowly filling the room with cool air. The sheet covering the pony wavered slightly. Applejack wrinkled her nose, "ahh shoot, mah mind must be playin tricks on me." Laying her head back down she heard it again. This time when she opened her eyes she was sure the sheet shifted slightly. The stallion was moving. Slowly, weakly, but moving none the less. "Psst, Rainbow. Hey, Rainbow!" Applejack tried to get the cyan mare's attention from across the room.... "ahh shoot, tha' stubborn pony wouldn't wake up if Pinkie set off her party cannon right next ta her." Applejack sat straight up, keeping an eye on the pony, just as his eyes started to flicker. As the pony opened his eyes she could see that they were a darker blue than any ocean she'd ever seen, and more brilliant than any diamond. A true royal blue that stood out even against his mane. "Ugh...." the stallion grunted in frustration. His head was pounding, his ears were ringing, and his mouth tasted like he'd been munching on bits. But when his eyes opened he forgot all about the pain when he saw the jade green eyes of a brilliant orange mare with a blonde mane and cowpony hat staring at him. "Uhh... hi?" He said weakly. "Ummm... where am I?" "Shhh, ya just hush now sugarcube, you're in the hospital. Y'all look like ya had a heck of a ride..."
Chapter 2The stallion shifted uncomfortably in the bed, wincing in pain. His eyes shifted to his left wing, radiating in pain and cast in a folded position. His right wing, uncomfortably numb, sat folded underneath his body. He shifted his eyes back to the golden mare with the brilliant green eyes sitting next to him. "I still don't quite remember what happened." Applejack just looked at him. "Uhh... well.... as strange as it sounds, ah found ya in a hole in the ground. Ya were barely moving, ah honestly thought ya was gone. Ya looked like ya may have been hit by tha storm last night and took quite a spill." The stallion looked himself over again, noticing the bits of blackened fur and singed mane in the mirror, thinking to himself on the plus side I won't need a new mane cut anytime soon.... I think this actually looks cooler. "I'm sorry, miss..." "Applejack," she quickly cut in, giving a slight curtsy, crossing her hoofs and nodding her head. "Applejack, well thank you for helping me. But I honestly can't say I remember the storm even.... or much else for that matter." "Well why don'tcha start with your name, sugarcube." "Umm... Storm Shade, most ponies just call me 'Shade' though." Her accent is just fantastic, he thought to himself. As he spoke, Rainbow Dash shifted in the corner, her gentle snoozing replaced by a snore that would scare a full grown dragon. "Uhhh, excuse me, Shade." Applejack got up, walking around the bed to the chair Rainbow slept in. Looking around the room as if tracking an imaginary fly she turned her flank towards Rainbow and gave a quick buck to the chair leg with her rear, right hoof. The chair came flying out from under Rainbow Dash as she came crashing to the floor. "Huh, what!? I'm awake I'm awake!" Rainbow shouted at the room before seeing Applejack with a hoof to her face attempting--poorly--to stifle a laugh. "Oh HA HA, AJ..." Rainbow grumbled. "Well now that yer awake, can ya go let Nurse Redheart know that our friend is awake? And tell her he's got a name for us too." Rainbow Dash looked at Shade, who was trying to keep himself from laughing at Applejack's little trick with the chair. "Yeahhhhhhhhhh.... uhhhhh ok." Rainbow Dash slowly backed out of the room with her shoulders low in a defensive stance, checking to make sure Applejack wasn't planning anything else for her, before disappearing around the corner. Shade started laughing hysterically at Rainbow Dash's reaction to Applejack.... for all of half a second. As soon as he started laughing his reaction turned from one of joy to one of pain as he started coughing, his chest expanding and contracting with each breath, each one seemingly causing more pain. "So where am I at again?" "Yer in Ponyville, Shade. Do ya remember where ya were comin' from at least?" Before he could answer, Rainbow Dash returned with Nurse Redheart and the doctor, a chestnut brown stallion in a white lab coat. "Ah, you're awake! Good, I understand you were at least able to tell us your name?" "Shade, Storm Shade," the pegasus replied with a grimace on his face. "Well, Mr. Shade, you seemed to have a bit of a run-in with a storm last night and.... well, frankly you lost. Your left wing is shattered in 5 places, your right wing is bruised but intact. You have several broken ribs, a fractured hoof, and electrical burns throughout." The look of despair in Shade's face grew exponentially as the doctor rattled off everything wrong. "Uhh.... doc, that's great... but why are the only two ponies I know in this room?" A quizzical expression came over the doctor's face. "You don't remember anything about last night?" Shade shook his head. "What do you remember?" The doctor came towards him and shined a light in both of his eyes back and forth until the pony was seeing spots and his eyes moved in circles. "I remember flying and.... dark.... and waking up here. I don't know where I was coming from or where I was going, but it had to be important if I was trying to go through the storm." Rainbow Dash sheepishly looked away and backed herself back into her corner, not wanting to admit that it was her fault he was here. The doctor spoke briefly longer with Shade before leaving. Rainbow didn't notice a thing he said. Her mind was racing a million miles a minute and as the doctor walked out, Shade shifted uncomfortably, pulling the sheet from under the bed. His rose-gold colored cutie mark just barely peeking out into the world. Rainbow Dash caught a glimpse of this color and before even asking she threw the sheet off to reveal the entire thing, her jaw slightly open, a blank stare on her face. "Uh... Rainbow? Ya alright? You look like ya seen a ghost." Applejack gave her a blank look. "Uhhh... of course! Why wouldn't I be alright? I'm awesome remember? By definition I'd have to be alright. Couldn't be more alright than I am right now. Yup!" She gave a wide toothed smile, catching on that she was rambling. Applejack just gave her another dead stare with her right eyebrow slightly raised. "Uhhh.... ok?" "Yeah!" The rainbow haired mane shouted. "Uhhh, be right back!" Rainbow jetted out the door without so much as a second glance. She couldn't quite place it, but that cutie mark had triggered something in her memory. She'd flown all over Equestria... and above it, and she could swear she had seen something like that before. She headed to Twilight's library without another second's hesitation, hoping the lavender unicorn would have a book or scroll or anything that could point her in the right direction. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fluttershy meekly walked around her cottage, trying to make sure all of her little critter friends were fed for the day. All of them seemed to be grazing happily at what she had provided... except Angel. "Oh please Angel bunny, you need to eat up so you can get big and strong!" Angel sat on his tail and crossed his front paws, giving her a glare, before pushing his food dish towards her and turning his nose up. "But you like fresh lettuce! C'mon now eat up. It's good, see! Omnomnomnom." Fluttershy mimed eating from the bowl. Angel just looked at her. "Please Angel, I really need to get going. What if I fluff your tail extra today when I get back?" The bunny just stared at her. "Two times?" Angel wiggled his paw as if to ask for more. In an almost whisper, Fluttershy asked "three times?" Angel's eyes opened wide as he nodded before digging into his food. He knew he'd win. He always did. Fluttershy left for town hoping to find Rainbow Dash or Applejack to find out how the new guy was doing when she saw a rainbow streak across the sky to Twilight's library. She started to head towards the library before spying a particularly large, red stallion hauling an apple cart. "Oh my..." she whispered to herself before hiding behind a flower cart until the pony had walked past. Ever since Pinkie Pie's last party for Gummy's one and three-quarter year old birthday party she'd been shy of Big Mac. As everything was getting out of hand (as it usually did with a Pinkie Pie party) she had been inadvertently pushed into Big Mac's haunches. Before she had even turned around she was already trying to apologize. "Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't even..." she stopped as she turned around and saw Big Mac looking at her with his own shy smile and his big green eyes. "....see you there. Are you ok?" she whimpered out before putting a fake smile on. "Eeyup." The big stallion smiled at her, but before he could say anything else she had flown off. Rainbow Dash had just landed outside the front door of Twlight's but just before she could knock, Fluttershy wandered up behind her. "Um... hi?" She whispered. "What? Who?!" Rainbow jumped as she spun around. Fluttershy let out a quick "Eep!" Before falling back on her rump in the dirt. "Oh, hey Shy. Never thought YOU of all people would be able to startle me. Guess I'm still a little worked up over Shade." "Um... who's shade?" The yellow mare asked. "Oh, that pegasus Applejack brought in yesterday is finally awake!" She said it excitedly, glad her actions hadn't killed somepony, but there was still a hesitation in her voice. Something coming from that cutie mark that she couldn't quite place. "He said his name was Storm Shade, but couldn't tell us much else." As the two ponies were talking Twilight could hear the commotion and opened the door. "TWILIGHT!" Rainbow Dash shouted before tackling the surprised unicorn. "I need your help with something. I was hoping you may have a book or record that could shed some light on something for me." Twilight's eyes grew wide with anticipation. Not only was she getting another excuse to spend all day buried in her books (not that she needed one, she was planning on it anyways), but it was Rainbow Dash of all ponies who was asking her to do it! The fact the sportster pony was asking anything beyond the science to help her train harder was nothing short of a miracle in the lavender unicorn's eyes. "Sure, Dash, happy to help! Just one thing..." Twilight grunted out the last sentence as the cyan mare was still sitting on her chest. "Name it," said Dash coolly... noticing Fluttershy walking in and pointing at Twilight who was still underneath Dash she sported a sheepish grin. "Oh, haha, right." Rainbow got off of Twilight and helped her up. " After filling Twilight in on Storm Shade and the whole incident that landed him (no pun intended) in the hospital she began to describe the stallion's cutie mark to Twilight. "It's the strangest thing, Twi! I feel like I've seen it somewhere before. That I should know what it means. That rose-gold color, the shape of a shield. Usually it pertains to a pony's special talent, but the only thing I can think of for this would be some sort of Royal Guard. He's DEFINITELY not that." "Hmmm... I'm getting the same feeling you are, like I've seen this somewhere" replied the unicorn. "Or rather, read about it. Give me a while, I need to find a book." "Shocker," Rainbow deadpanned. "Well, let me know what you find, k?" But Twilight was already turned away from her, buried in a pile of books, looking for just the right one. Rainbow turned to Fluttershy. "C'mon Shy, you wanna go see if Applejack has had to beat him back with a stick yet?" "Oh Rainbow... I don't think that would be such a good idea. Applejack wouldn't hurt ANYpony unless she had to." Rainbow Dash gave the yellow mare a blank look. "Fluttershy, we really need to get you out more." They both took off back towards the hospital.
Chapter 3Back at Ponyville Hospital, Storm Shade had shifted off to a restless sleep. Tossing and turning, images kept flashing through his head that he just couldn't place. A letter addressed only to Storm Shade slips underneath a door on the largest building in Cloudsdale. The fact that no address is attached doesn't phase anyone. Anonymity is the name of the game. A dark figure opens the letter and walks to the next room. "Storm Shade. It's time." The gray stallion gets up and walks to the door, disappearing into obscurity. Storm Shade shifted, the pain in his wings forcing a small grunt from his mouth as he turned in the hospital bed, pulling the sheet further up. The orange mare with a blonde mane and stetson opens her eyes and sees the stallion writhing in the bed, a sense of worry comes over her before falling back to sleep. The gray pegasus flew from Cloudsdale to the glowing blip on the horizon. As he got closer the city of Fillydelphia came into view. He landed just outside a nondescript building. Meeting with a smaller mare not a word was spoken between the two. The mare, hidden in the shadows, handed over a small piece of paper that had one word written on it. "Ponyville." Flipping the paper over was a picture of somepony he had never met. Unfortunately for Shade, the blob of ink never materialized into a face. "Yeeaagh!" Storm Shade let out a sharp cry. He had shifted just too far, crushing his broken wing between his body and the bed rail. Even in the cast the pressure turned into radiating pain and he awoke in a cold sweat. Applejack jolts awake, a line of drool coming from her muzzle. "Ahm awake!" She explains, wiping her mouth with her foreleg she sees the look on Shade's face. "Nurse Redheart," she hollered, "Ah think he needs help!" Nurse Redheart came rushing in, but by that time Shade had moved off of his bad wing and the pain had quickly subsided. "Nurse, as grateful as I am, how long until I can get out of here?" "Well you seem to have stabilized, but if you're having trouble remembering things still I'm not sure the doctor will let you go." She gave him a worried look. "If you lose consciousness again or forget where you are and no one is around you could be in serious trouble." Applejack's ears rotated front when Nurse Redheart said that last part. She had no idea what possessed her to do this but before she even knew what she was doing she heard her own voice. "Well shoot Nurse Redheart, if ol' Shade here just needs someone to keep an eye on him, Ah can manage that until he's up and doin... uh... whatever it is he usually does." The look on her face as soon as she finished speaking told it's own tale of 'what were you thinking?' Awww ponyfeathers, she thought to herself. What didja jus' get yerself into, AJ? Nurse Redheart looked at Applejack for just a moment before cheerfully telling her that if she was willing to follow the discharge instructions, Shade could be released from the hospital that night. "He needs to be back here in one week for a follow-up, and keep moving," she said staring at the pegasus intently. "Go easy, but keep moving. Given everything you went through it's a miracle you're in as good of shape as you are, I think keeping active should even help the healing. Just don't overdo it." The nurse shot Applejack a quick look as she gave Shade his final instruction. She knew that despite the Apple generosity, that same generosity also tended to garner help around the farm. The farm pony gave a curt nod in reply. "Well then! I'll just go get the doctor and square this all away!" The pearl white pony went back to her usual cheerful self and wandered out of the room as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were walking in. "Hey guys!" Boomed Rainbow Dash. "Hey Rainbow, Fluttershy! How are y'all? So glad ya made it! Nurse thinks that ol' Shade here may actually get out soon!" "Hey Applejack. Oh... well I don't want to interrupt..." Fluttershy could barely be heard over the sound of moving ponies. "Nonsense, sugarcube! Yer not interrupting. A friendly face is always welcome!" Fluttershy smiled gingerly at Applejack before turning her gaze on the gray stallion. "Oh well... in that case... I'm Fluttershy." She finished her introduction looking down at her hooves, trying to hide behind her flowing, pink mane. Storm Shade blinked at the butter colored pegasus. "Well it's nice to meet you." Looking back around the other ponies in the room he started to speak again, "well as much as I love laying here, I don't suppose we can move these introductions somewhere else? By the way, Fluttershy, I'm Storm Shade." Shade reached a hoof out towards the mare who still seemed to be trying to hide from her own shadow. Upon realizing that she was still in the spotlight a small "eep" escaped her lips and she disappeared around the corner and out of the room. "Uhhh....?" Shade blinked repeatedly, looking to Rainbow Dash and Applejack for an explanation as to what just happened. "Aw, t'ain't nothin, Fluttershy is just a lil skiddish is all. She'll warm up to ya." Trotting to the door and leaning out she yelled after the timid mare, "if yer not gonna stay and be social at least tell Pinkie Pie we're gonna be stoppin' by!" Fluttershy got close to Sugercube corner, smelling the delicious culinary confections from blocks away. The smells of fresh baked pies, cakes, cookies, and cupcakes making even the most resolute pony's mouth water. Rumor was that even Bulk Biceps had a bit of a sweet tooth he liked to indulge in from time to time.... though nobody could prove it. That pony was into fitness more than anypony else in town, but every week and order request was delivered by mail, requesting various treats be left on the back step at the same time. It was also no secret that every week at the same time a rather loud and rough "YEAH!" was heard from behind Sugarcube Corner before somepony galloped off before being seen picking up said treats. Fluttershy walked tenderly through the front door, the bell ringing alerting the Cakes to her presence. "Why hello, Fluttershy!" Mr. Cake came out from the kitchen, "need some treats for your furry friends?" "Umm... no? Is... is... Pinkie around?" "She's upstairs with the twins, you can go ahead!" "Um thank you..." she made her way up towards the second floor of the bakery, which had been turned into the living space for Pinkie and the Cakes. Hoof sitting on the top step she spied Pinkie Pie finishing up what seemed to be some sort of dance routine for the twin foals, Pound and Pumpkin Cake. Not getting a response from them the pink, cotton candy haired mare proceeded to dump a bag of flour over her head until the two foals were laughing so hard that Pound Cake fell over backwards. "...." Fluttershy was about to announce her presence but before she could even say anything Pinkie Pie appeared in front of her, seeming to disappear and reappear without walking across the space. "Hi Fluttershy!" The party pony bouncing up and down on all fours scooped her friend into a big hug. "What's up? Well besides the sky... and I guess the ceiling. Hopefully not Pound Cake though because I really need to get him down for a nap and he shouldn't really be flying." She stopped for a breath before looking back at the two foals. "Be right back!" Pinkie took off at light speed again to scoop the twins up and gently lay them down in their cribs to sleep. "Awwww much better! So what's up Fluttershy?" The energetic mare stood back in front of her friend, still bouncing with a seemingly endless amount of energy. "Oh, well, Applejack just wanted me to tell you that she and Rainbow Dash were bringing a new..." a pink hoof shot out to Fluttershy's muzzle before she could finish. "There's a new pony in town and I'm just finding this out now!?" The mare jumped so high Fluttershy thought she was going to go through the ceiling. "Well.... yes. You see..." Once again the meek pony was cut off by a hoof to the muzzle. Pinkie took a deep breath and belted out a reply without a single stop for air, "Applejackwasouttendingtothefarmwhenshesawamoundofdirtthatwasn'tamoundofdirtitwasa ponythatgotcaughtinRainbowDash'sstormandtheponywashurtsosheandBigMacbroughthimtothehospitalandnowRainbowDashfeelsguiltybuttheponyisgettingreleasedfromthehospitalandAJwantstobringhimheretocheerhimUP!?" She started panting to catch her breath with a grin bigger than all of Canterlot. "yes," replied Fluttershy. A look of shock on her face. "How did you know?" "Eh," shrugged the mysterious pink pony, "lucky guess. It's also time to break out the party cannon!" The bell rang from downstairs and Mr. Cake's voice boomed up the stairwell to the two mares. "Pinkie, Fluttershy, Twlight is here!" Before Fluttershy could even turn around, a cloud of dust was all that was left where Pinkie was standing. The mare yet again seemed to defy reason by simply vanishing rather than running from place to place. Fluttershy could hear the overly jovial greeting Pinkie was giving the lavender unicorn downstairs and knew Pinkie was trying to talk the poor mare's ear off. She shrugged and cantered down the stairs after her friend. Shade, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash walked slowly through Ponyville, giving the stallion a chance to see the sights he missed when they brought him in on the cart the other day. One side of his mind was taken aback by the rustic beauty of the little town. Everything from the intricately designed town hall, the library that appeared as if it were built into a tree, and.... his nose started to twitch ever so slightly. Shade's nose lifted into the air and his pace slowed. "Ah think the guy's caught wind o' Sugarcube Corner," chuckled Appledash. She wrapped her foreleg around Shade's shoulder, sending a shiver down his spine and eliciting a sideways glance from the stallion, before pointing him at the large cake shaped confectionery shop. Not having eaten in over a day he tried to take off for the sweets store, forgetting entirely that his wings were out of commission. Shade made a jump and extended his forelegs, and subsequently fell flat on his belly. "Urgh!" Shade recoiled from the pain, holding his hooves close to his chest. Rainbow Dash let out a laugh knowing all too well what the pegasus was going through thanks to having had her own injuries in the past. Applejack helped Shade to his feet and stared at the cyan flier as, who quickly zipped her lip. She couldn't even say anything though before his nose was back in the air and he followed the smell back to the door. Almost being carried by the intoxicating aroma. Rainbow Dash flew quickly ahead and knocked on the door to the bakery. A small crack formed as the door opened and a lone eyeball looked out to see the other two ponies approaching. Rainbow streaked inside and the door slammed shut again. Shade gave Applejack a confused look. "Uhhh... s'cuse me," Applejack knocked on the door. This time it opened wide into a darkened sales floor. Nopony in sight. Applejack walked in followed closely by Shade. "Ummm... where'd everypon..." "SURPRISE!" Yelled the four friends inside. A loud boom with a short fizzle at the end coming from Pinkie's party cannon as streamers and confetti shot everything. Shade jumped backwards into the doorway before landing on all four hooves, haunches high, forelegs bent and his head and shoulders down in a defensive posture. Shade had his eyes narrowed and small snarl on his face for just a second before quickly regaining composure before anypony could notice. Anypony except one, anyways. "What is all this?" Shade asked in amazement. "Wellllllllllllllllllll...." the pink party pony started to explain, "You're new in town so I had to throw you a 'welcome to Ponyville party' and Dash said she was sorry about sending you to the hospital, so I made it an apology party, plus you just got OUT of the hospital so it's a released from the hospital party, plus youneededtofeelwelcomesoit'sapartyforthesake of a PARTY party." The pink mare just bounced on all fours with her same Canterlot grin. "Uhh... Pinkie?" Applejack started, "how about ya get your guest some punch?" The pony cocked her head and looked at Applejack and Shade... "Okie dokie lokie!" She bounced off on all fours with what Shade almost thought might be an actual spring in her step. "Sorry bout that sugarcube," the orange country mare started, "Pinkie can be a little.... over tha top, but she means well." "Heh, well I can honestly say I've never had a welcome like that before....." he scratched his head with his hoof, "I think anyways," he said chuckling to himself. Before he could say another word his nose was back in the air. His eyes closed he followed the smell to the table of tasty treats Pinkie had laid out before them. After selecting a large slice of pie he turned around to talk with Rainbow Dash and Applejack. "So do you folks treat all newcomers with this much fun when they come to town?" He smiled as he stuffed his face full of pie and rather thank take another slice, simply put a whole pie on his plate before continuing talking. "Uh yeah, because Ponyville is awesome!" Rainbow Dash spoke with her usual flamboyant attitude. "I am really sorry about the whole storm thing though, I could've swore I checked the area before starting it off..." she dipped her head in shame. "I hope you can forgive me and that this party makes up for it though!" "Heh, sure Rainbow. You guys have been nothing but great to me since the accident." He decided to toy with the cyan pony though, "although the party is fun.... it could use to be maybe 20% cooler." He chuckled to himself. The blue pegasus' jaw just dropped open almost as if she were challenged. Shade wasn't sure where that comment came from, he just knew it felt appropriate. He made a mental note to figure out why. Applejack took a hoof and closed the mare's jaw. "Lighten up sugarcube, Ah think he's messin' with ya." Rainbow Dash came back to reality and looked at the gray newcomer, eyes squinted shut, hoof over his mouth, fighting back a laugh. A blush covered Rainbow's cheeks, almost making her face as red as her mane. "Alright alright new guy," she pointed a hoof at him. "You get one of those for free, now it's game on!" She gave him a wink. "Uh annnnnnnyways," Applejack cut in. "Figure Ah'll show ya who's who 'round here." She took her hoof and pointed to each of the respective ponies. "This here ya know is Rainbow Dash, over there are tha two that run this joint, Mr. and Mrs. Cake. We got Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, oh and that there is Gummy," pointing to the small alligator who seemed attached to Pinkie's tail. The bell rang and a sterling white unicorn with a flowing purple mane walked in followed by an almost identical filly and a few others. "Tha' there is Rarity and her sister, Sweetie Belle an' some o' her friends." Swinging her hoof across the party she spotted her next friend, "an' tha' purple unicorn there is Twilight," she said with a smile. Shade's eyes grew big. He didn't know why, but all of the sudden things just seemed to get very, very real. He took a step back as his eye twitched and before Applejack could stop him he bolted out the door. "RD, stay here," she said to her friend before taking off after the newcomer. "Ah gotta go make sure he's ok." She sprinted out the door, hoping to catch up to the ground pegasus before he hurt himself.
