It had been a few days since Rainbow's encounter with Gilda. Her and Storm celebrated Hearth's Warming together, and exchanged some gifts for each other they had picked up at the market the day they both met Pinkie Pie at the bakery. He got her a Daring Do scarf, and she got him some Sir Elton Pony records to listen to when he was at the house alone. They spent more time together, talking a lot about their lives and catching up with more things they missed over the years.

It was now New Year's Eve, and Rainbow shivered as she flew through the air with the winter chill cutting through her fur. "Stupid weather, always cold this time of year. Year...year...why does that word mean something right now?...Oh, crap!" She had forgotten what day it was, and rushed home as quick as she could. Maybe she could spend some time with Storm, if he was still up. She looked forward to going home after work each day and finding him there, smiling to find his "buddy" back home to talk to. She quickly arrived back at her house a little while after eleven o'clock. After flying in through the same window she used before she grabbed a glass of water and chugged it down, not noticing the state of the living room. Then, she went over to the couch and almost plopped right on top of it, had it not been for a loud snort-snoring sound coming from Storm. She caught herself in mid-fall, holding her breath and waving her front hooves, frantically trying to re-gain her balance.

Storm never looked better. His tongue was hanging out and his left foreleg and hindleg were dangling off the side of the couch. A a little pool of saliva was gathering on the left side of his head as he snored away, and every now and then he'd giggle. Laughing quietly to herself at seeing the sleepy pegasus, she got the blanket from off the back of the couch, and was about to lay it over him, until she saw the living room. It was all decorated with streamers, a bunch of snacks on the table, and a banner saying "Happy New Year!" over the archway to the kitchen.

She shook him awake. "Hey. Hey, Storm. You're hoggin' the couch again, silly."

He awoke with a grunt, "Five more minutes, all that decorating left me pooped."

She smiled down at him, "Yeah, well you're gonna be more than that if you don' move so I can sit down. Now get with the scootching!" Storm got up reluctantly, and moved over a seat as he wiped his eyes. "So, what's with the decorations?"

"Well, I just figured it'd be a nice way to ring in the new year. These past few days of us spending time together has been really nice, and when Christmas was over, I got the idea that I wanted to do one more nice thing for you. Only one though, you're almost at your year-end limit of nice things from Storm."

She looked at his sheepish little grin knowing that, while the decorations may have been simple, he tried. She pulled him in for a hug, and went over and turned on the little radio she had on the table next to the couch. "Do the nice things for me roll over into the new year?"

He cackled a little, "You'll just have to wait and see."

Like a good friend, she punched him in the arm. The speakers suddenly blared with a male pony's voice, "Hello everypony! I'm here in Pony Square in Manehattan, and the ball is only moments away from dropping! We've got quite a crowd down here tonight, and it's amazing to see how everypony is getting ready to usher in the new year!"

Storm looked back to the kitchen, "Oh! That reminds me! I still had some bits left over, and thought I'd bring out one more surprise." He flew into the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets a little. "Now, I know it was here somewhere...where could it...aha! Here it is!" He pulled out an expensive bottle of champagne. "I hope you don't mind?"

"Storm! That...that was really sweet of you. All of this was, really. I don't know what to say."

He poured out two glasses. "You don't have to say anything."

The radio blared once more, "Alright folks, the ball is starting its decent! Let's begin the countdown! Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three!"

Rainbow and Storm both counted together,

"Two!"

"One!"

The radio and the two pegasi all shouted "Happy New Year!" And, just like that, a new year had begun. They both clinked their glasses together, and took a hardy sip. They chuckled and hugged each other, both talking about what they thought the new year had in store for the both of them.

Rainbow took another sip of her champagne. "This was great. Thank you, Storm. I'm just kind of sorry that I don't have anything to give you for all of this."

"Rainbow, please. You've given me so much, I can't begin to thank you. Oh, that reminds me, I did some searching in the newspaper while you were gone, and I thought I'd try to look for a job while I'm here. I saw a position open on the weather team, and I thought I'd apply for it."

"Storm, that's so cool! I'll definitely put a word in. What are you going to do for living arrangements? Have you looked for a place yet?" Her gut churned a little at the thought of him moving out.

Storm looked at the clock, then back at his glass, "Well, not really. But, and this is just an idea, maybe I could just stay here? I can pay rent, and I can pitch in for food and stuff like that."

She almost choked on her drink. Quickly re-gaining her composure, she held the drink non-nonchalantly in her hoof, "Yeah, I guess that's alright."

"Well, that's great! Thank you, Rainbow." He took another sip, looking around the room and eventually at the clock. "Well, I guess it's time for me to turn in. I hope that tonight kind of helped relieve some of the stress from the past few days. I know it's been a little rocky at times, but I just figured this would be a nice little way to decompress."

She smiled at him, and he smiled back at her. He got up, and made his way to the kitchen as she flew to her bedroom door. Just before she went in, he got an idea. He wasn't sure how successful it would be, or if it would get him in trouble, but he went with it. "I have one more little eency-weency surprise for you if you want."

She was curious, "What is it?"

"Well, I can't tell you! Don't you know what surprise means?"

"Haha, okay, okay. What is it?"

He lightly grabbed her shoulders and brought her in for a nice, ten-second kiss. "Happy New Year, Rainbow Dash."

Speechless, all she could to was smile a stupid little grin like she had just been crowned queen of the world. "Happy New Year, Storm." She didn't know if it was because of the booze or if she was just exhausted, but she sighed with a smile on her face, and thanked him. They parted ways, and both went to bed.

Now, whatever Rainbow Dash did was always cool and awesome, as a general rule.

Including the little schoolgirl squeal she let out once she was in her room.

Author's Note

Just a little tid-bit in the story. I tried to make it relevant and tied into the story, but at the same time wanted to do something for the occasion. Happy New Year, everybody!