Running Into You

by EagleWings21

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Original Character, Gilda, Fluttershy, Random, Main 6, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash
Length: 14807

Rainbow Dash runs into an old friend, which may or may not be a bad thing.

Things are great for Rainbow Dash. At least, she thinks they are. An old friend comes back into her life. This could be good, right?

...Right?

Published 2015-06-07 04:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-01-02 06:30:41 UTC

Old Friends

Old Friends

Rainbow Dash flew back towards Ponyville. Her round of training at the Wonderbolt academy had just finished, and she raced to get back home.

Her cloud home was a welcome sight, and she walked leisurely through the front door. Plopping her bags on the floor, she made a beeline for the shower. The shower's warm water was a welcome pleasure. The water beat on her back and her chest. She felt herself slipping in ecstasy as the steam filled the room and her muscles relaxed. Once she was done with getting settled back in she grabbed a bag of bits, her keys, and she flew out her window to the local bar for a dose of beer that was long overdue.

Storm Cloud flew in the sky at a snail's pace. He had recently moved away from Cloudsdale, looking for something. Anything. He knew he didn’t want to be stuck in Cloudsdale as another weather factory worker – he figured there were plenty of those. Just because he was a pegasus didn’t mean he had to live up to a stereotype.

He was mainly looking for a change of scenery. Cloudsdale was his hometown, but he wanted to get out and spread his wings. He had heard about Ponyville from a friend in casual conversation, and wanted to check it out for himself. It sounded like a decent enough place to try and get established, even if only temporarily. With his saddlebags were packed with a few pieces of paper, a quill with some ink, and a hoof-full of bits to his name, he left Cloudsdale to find his way in life; wherever that may be.

He had been traveling for a while. He enjoyed sleeping in for the last time at his house that morning and left around noon, spent the day in flight almost non-stop, and finally reached the city limits of Ponyville around the twilight hours of the next day. Everyone had Hearth's Warming decorations out, and the lights all dangled from the houses and shops dotting the town. He decided to take a break from his journey. Flying above the town, he saw a bright neon sign with a pony holding a beer mug; that must have been the bar. He slowed his flight down, and landed in front of the doors. Once he went inside, he was greeted with warmth, and a calmness rushed over him like a flowing breeze. It wasn’t very big, but it definitely left room for anyone who didn’t particularly like getting too close. It had that old-time homey feel to it. As he went up to order his drink, he looked around for anyone who was able to serve him. Luckily for him, a stallion with a cutie mark of a martini glass came right up to him.

“Good evening sir, what’s your poison?”

Storm smiled and ordered, "Peach Schnapps please.”

The stallion bartender smiled back, and Storm continued to look around aimlessly for a bit. He tried to plan out his journey as he sunk in his seat and felt his eyes grow heavy and his wings grow sore. He wasn't exactly a record-holding flyer, though he could hold his own. He really wished he had exercised his wings more lately. But, practicing flying would have to wait. He was too busy trying his best to plan out whatever idea of a journey he had in mind, only to get as far as arriving to Ponyville. Storm just wasn't able to get past that particular point in his planning for some odd reason. After he received his drink, he downed the shot. He looked down at the little glass, and debated the idea of staying in Ponyville for a few days. The ponies here seemed nice enough. He took a look around the bar once more to further take in his surroundings, he jumped as he heard a voice he hadn’t heard in a long time call his name from behind him.

“Storm, Storm! Is that you? Is that really you?!”

He turned around to see an female cyan pegasus look at him with wide eyes and a smile that could put Pinkie Pie's to shame. He recognized that prismatic mane anywhere and dropped the shot glass on the bar counter, fumbling to pick it up and set it down as he nearly fell out of his seat.

“R-Rainbow Dash? Is it really you?!” The mare he grew up with right in front of him literally popped out of no where. He looked her over to make sure that his eyes weren’t deceiving him; a tricolor lightning bolt cutie mark, that rainbow mane, and her one-of-a-kind magenta eyes - not to mention, that beaming, gorgeous smile of hers. After a few years, she still looked amazing.

“Well, duh it’s me! Oh wow, how are you?! It feels like it's been forever!” She sat her drink down next to his and closed in to give him a hug. She felt her nerves going crazy, with numerous chills shooting up and down her spine as her stomach fluttered. She took a step back to look at him. He looked decent: a white stallion with a dark brown mane and tail, with a cutie mark of a treble and bass clef. His blue eyes looked back at hers, just as wide and scanning her up and down. She felt her stomach go a little more knotty when he did that, and took a drink of her beer to calm it down.

He hugged back and continued, “I know! I think the last time I saw you was at graduation like, four years ago! What have you been doing since then?” He knew all about the Elements of Harmony and such from reading the papers; news like that doesn’t tend to stay confined to just one region of Equestria. He figured it would be a good springboard for conversation, though.

“Oh, you know, just being my awesome self and saving the world from unimaginable horrors and such, the usual.” She smiled her trademark smug grin and lightly dusted off her mane. He couldn’t help but chuckle; she hadn't changed a bit.

“What about you?” She asked as she picked up her beer and took another sip.

“Huh? What about me?” He ordered a beer, a slight crack intruded his voice.

“Yeah! You can’t just go running off for like, four years and not expect me to ask what you’ve been doing or where you've been. It feels like after graduation, you just disappeared off the face of the world.” She picked up her beer again and took another sip.

He took a small sip from his own drink and cleared his throat, “Well, I…you see, I haven’t really done too much, to be terribly honest. I mean, I went to school and graduated with a degree, but that’s about it so far. I still just haven't figured out what I really want to do with my life. I enjoyed college, but...a 9-to-five job just...isn't for me. So, I figured I would just kind of wonder around Equestria for a while until something comes my way. I know it really doesn't sound like much of a noble plan, but I guess it's better than doing nothing."

“Ohh... Well, almost any plan's better than no plan, right?" She tapped her hoof on the bar in a steady rhythm, looking around the room for a distraction. “So...what are you doing here in Ponyville? Just passing through, or are you looking to move here?”

“Well, I’m not too sure yet. Like I said, I don’t really know what I’m looking for.” Storm looked up at the clock on the wall, sighing when he saw the hands on the clock. “Though, it is getting kind of late, and I should probably get going. I was planning on crashing at this hotel nearby. One of my buddies from school told me about it being near the town square, and I should probably get there before it gets too late.”

Rainbow nodded slowly, but then her ears perked up and a grin plastered on her face, “You know, you could just crash at my place for the night!”

Storm nearly choked on his drink when he heard her proposition. “Really? I mean, I don’t want to impose or anything, and that’s not what I was trying to get at. I mean, I have plenty of bits to pay fo -” He was cut off by Rainbow’s hoof in his mouth.

“Nope, I won’t take no for an answer. You know how many times you saved my flank back in school from getting in trouble? Consider this as a small bit of retribution. C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

Storm smiled weakly at this unexpected generosity from her; so he paid for both their drinks, and they then took their leave.

They headed down the road from the bar towards her cloud home was. It was a clear night out, and snow blanketed the landscape. Storm asked if they could on walk instead of fly for now to give his tired wings a break. Though their hooves were getting numb, they both managed to walk slowly. Storm shifted around a bit as he walked and turned to Rainbow, “Hey, I really don’t know about this. I mean, I really don’t want to intrude. I don’t even know if you’re seeing anyone, and I don’t want to invade on your life that way.”

Rainbow Dash scoffed, “Seriously? You think I’d really invite you back to my place if I was seeing someone? Please. I didn’t need anyone back in school, and I definitely don’t need anyone now. Not many stallions can handle my degree of awesomeness.”

Storm rolled his eyes, to which he got a punch in the shoulder. They both laughed, and he spoke up, “Honestly, that surprises me. I figured you would’ve been the first one our of the group to get together with someone.”

She squinted at him, and dropped her tone quite a bit, “Oh really now? And why’s that?”

He bowed his head a little, looking sheepishly back to her, “Well, I mean…you’re nice and all, and kind of pretty, so I just figured…” he trailed off as he tripped over himself, desperately scanning his mind to come up with something more to say. ‘Dammit, Storm. Why do you have to be so awkward?’

She looked at him, a small smile forming on her face. She cocked an eyebrow, “Huh, just kind of pretty, eh? Alright, I see how it is…” She looked away and allowed her words to trail off, but not before giving a look back to see him squirm.

“No! I didn’t mean like that! I just, well, I…” He stopped talking and took a deep breath. He let it all out and sighed, “Just forget it. I’ll think of something smart to say one of these days.”

Dash chuckled as she saw his slightly downtrodden face and playfully bumped his shoulder with her side, “Hey, I’m only kidding. You haven’t changed a bit. What about you, got any lucky ladies falling at your hooves?”

It was his turn to scoff, “Please, Rainbow. You know how awkward I am. I can barely say ‘hi’ without making a fool of myself. Maybe one of these days I’ll meet someone who can look past all that.”

She quickly interjected, “Aw, c'mon now. You’re being too hard on yourself, Storm. I personally think someone would be lucky to have you. I mean, you’re not as lame as you think you are. I’d argue that you’re at least half as awesome as me, or maybe even more! Heck, I'd even venture to say that some days you are as awesome as me!” She looked around quickly and pulled him in close, "But don't tell anyone I said that, I got a rep to protect, you know."

He laughed a little at her antics and continued his walk with her. “Well, thanks for that, I appreciate it. So, what about you? What do you do for yourself? Surely being awesome alone can’t put food on the table.”

She sighed and looked back at him, “I’m a weather pony. I just kind of fly around, making sure things get rained on that need it. And, when I’m not doing that, I’m practicing with the Wonderbolts.”

He smirked at her as he remembered all those times she used to rave about them back in school, always talking about how she would strive to make it among their ranks one day. He looked back at her, “So, you finally joined huh? I remember whenever you, me, Fluttershy and Gilda would hang out, that's all you wanted to talk about."

She looked back in return, “Of course! Well, technically, I'm only in the reserves right now. I just need to be promoted to active duty then I’m home free. The waiting list is pretty long though, so I got quite a ways to go till I get my time to really shine. But it’ll come, just you wait.”

His eyes found their way in front of him again, “I'm sure you will. Oh, I almost forgot; speaking of Fluttershy and Gilda, how are they? It's been forever and a day since I've seen or talked to them, too."

"Oh, they're doing fine. Fluttershy's pretty much the animal expert around these parts. She has a tiny cottage near the Everfree Forest."

"Really?! That's nuts. Out of everyone I know, she's the last one I'd imagine to live near that place." He may have never ventured into the forest, but the legends of the dangers that place has to offer still ring out in his mind.

She laughed, "Yeah, she's full of surprises anymore. She's really come out of her shell a lot since school."

"That's great for her! What about Gilda?"

Rainbow sighed and spoke in a hushed tone, "Well, we had a falling out for a while, because she was really disrespectful to some of my friends when she came to visit me one time. But we patched things up recently whenever I made a trip to Griffonstone."

"Well, that's good. At least you got things all sorted out, it sounds."

They both smiled to themselves as they continued down the road, taking in the sights of nighttime as they strolled down memory lane together.

A silence fell upon them after more conversation as they approached the base of her cloud home together. Dash poked at his side with her wing to snap him out of the little trance he'd fallen in.

“Alrighty, we’re here! You think you can fly up after flying all day?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll be alright.” He strapped on his saddlebags a little tighter to prepare for the short flight up.

Once on the porch, Rainbow fiddled with her keys as she prepared to unlock the door. He soon joined her. She looked back at him, remembering something. She looked up sheepishly, “Heh, uh...excuse the mess by the way, I just got back from a week of training at the Wonderbolts Academy today, so I really haven’t had time to unpack a whole lot.”

“Oh, you’re fine. I’m just thankful that you offered me a place to stay.”

“Psh, no biggie. Really.” After fiddling with her lock a little more, she opened the door and led him inside her cloud castle in the sky.

Upon walking inside, Storm's jaw dropped to the floor. Her home had archways and a high ceiling; it wasn’t a terribly spacious floor plan, but still large enough to provide a comfortable living space. The puffy cloud floor was a welcoming comfort to his sore hooves, and instantly felt a wave of heat wash over his cold body. He also found that it wasn’t nearly as messy as Rainbow made it seem. There was an overnight bag lying in the middle of the living room with various clothing items strung about, as well as a few crumbs on the kitchen counter, but that was pretty much it. “Wow, this place is amazing! I mean, you really did well for yourself. I bet your dad is really proud of you.”

Rainbow tossed her keys on the table next to the door and winced, “Yeah, he’s pretty happy for me. Every now and then he comes to visit, and we always have a great time together.” Her eyes darted about the room as she started to clean up the house, quickly gathering all the clothes off the floor and frantically stuffing them in her bag.

"That reminds me, I forgot to ask earlier; how is your dad?"

She twinged a little more and felt a pressure in her chest, and felt sweat trickling down her forehead. "He's...he's okay for now. You want some water or something? I have tons of that!"

He looked at her and his ears drooped a little. However, he dismissed it for now and declined her offer as he walked into the house some more, and continued the exploration his host’s palace in the sky. Dash walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass. As she did this, she sighed to herself while she eyed her guest. He eventually put his bags down next to the couch.

Rainbow Dash had her friends among the citizens of Ponyville like Fluttershy, Applejack and the rest; but she had very few male friends. In fact, she couldn't think of any off the top of her head besides Storm. One big reason was due to the fact that most of them only wanted to be her friend for one night, then leave her on the wayside. She was too smart and awesome to be taken advantage of like that. However, growing up with Storm proved to be quite a different experience.

She remembered back to when she first met him, how he offered to play with her at elementary school. He would always go over her house, or her over to his. They'd get in trouble together, laugh together, and fly around pretending to be apart of the Wonderbolts. Eventually, they met Fluttershy and Gilda when they got to high school. Fluttershy was always quiet, but still tagged along in all their teenage antics. Gilda was there too, but always seemed to keep a certain distance. Going through high school, she would still go over to Storm's house and spend time with him, doing homework and having him help her study for tests, because that was for eggheads; and Storm was definitely a major egghead when he wanted to be.

Then came the divorce. After her father broke the news to her, she would sneak out and pull pranks on others. While most of these pranks were fairly harmless, vandalism and destruction of public property was still a crime. Whenever she would get in trouble, Storm would sit for hours listening to her rave on and on about how much everypony sucked, and how she would try and get her revenge. And whenever her father started drinking, she would disappear more often, and Storm would be the one looking for her. She looked back at the water she was holding, stuck staring at the clear liquid as she stopped blinking for a full minute.

She was cut from her thoughts, however, when she heard his voice. “Is the couch okay?”

She blinked, but her eyes stung. "Ack!" She rubbed her eyes furiously. "What? What's okay?"

He chuckled and asked again, “I asked if the couch was okay. You know, for me to sleep on?”

“Oh, oh yeah! That’s fine! I mean, let me get some blankets and stuff for you.”

She took her momentary leave, and looked back at him while he unpacked a small book and sat on the edge of the couch. She hurried to her bedroom and got a blanket and a pillow. She quickly returned and saw him scribbling a few words down on some paper. “Whatcha got there?”

He scribbled and talked. “Oh, this? It’s my journal. I’m just kind of writing down stuff that happens to me along the way, just to have something to look back on; self-reflection and all that jazz.”

“Huh, that’s pretty interesting. Maybe I should start one. After all, my life’s full of awesome adventures! After some of the stuff I've been through with the gang, Daring Do might have some competition.” She took a moment to sit on that thought, a smile beaming from ear to ear as he laughed in the background.

“Yeah, I think you’d need a few journals to document all that.”

"You kidding me? Not even the biggest library in all of Equestria could hold all the books my awesomeness would fill up!"

"You just keep telling yourself that."

She blew a raspberry at him. "Just you wait. I'll even sign your copy." She finished up the last touches on the couch. “Alright, I think you’re all set. If you need anything, my room’s the last door on the left at the end of the hall; bathroom’s the first door on the right.”

He finished writing the last bit of his thoughts down in his journal, closed it up, and put it back in the bag. “Thanks again, Rainbow. I really appreciate all of this.”

She smiled and looked down at the floor, “Like I said, it’s no problem at all. I’m just glad I ran into you!" She looked back up at him. "I hope you’re not planning on leaving so soon, we have tons we have to do together!”

It still hadn't occurred to him what he would do when he got to Ponyville. The last time he thought about that was at the bar, and he didn’t even get to finish thinking about it completely. “Well, I have to admit I really didn’t know where I was going whenever I got up tomorrow, so I’m all for spending some much needed catch-up time together. What is there to do around here? My friends said this place gets crazy sometimes."

Her ears perked up, “Oh, I know Ponyville looks small, but trust me, it grows on ya. There’s the bake shop, and the Apple Farm, and a whole bunch of other stuff! There’s even a princess who lives here now! You’ll love it! I’ll introduce you to all my friends, and I’m telling you: by the end of the week, you’ll never want to leave."

“I'll never wanna leave, huh? Is that a fact, now?”

“Yep. Wanna know how I know?”

He let out a breath and smiled, “Okay I’ll bite. How do you know?”

She offered her own smile back and leaned in as if to tell a secret, “Because whenever I came here from Cloudsdale, the same thing happened to me.”

He gave a few chuckles, with her doing the same in return. However, after he let out a yawn and stretched his limbs in fatigue, he decided it was time to call it a night. “We’ll see what happens. But I think if we’re going do all that, I should try and get some sleep for now.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you. Sounds like you had a long day.” Her ears drooped slightly, but let out a yawn of her own. Suddenly a warm bed and fluffy pillows didn't seem like such a bad thing.

Her thoughts of sleep were snatched from her as her eyes suddenly widened and she drew in a quick breath as he pulled her in for a nice tight hug. “You truly are awesome, Rainbow Dash. I’m so glad I ran into you tonight.”

Her eyes darted back and fort at the sudden display of affection. Still, she returned the hug and held him tightly against her. Flashes of memories with her and Storm together in the same kind of hug from years past flooded through her mind. With a small lump in her throat and a growing blush on her face she softly spoke, “Yeah…no problem…”

They said their goodnights, and she hovered slowly to her room as she took another quick glance back at the stallion getting situated on her couch. With that, she went to her room and found her way under her covers, and fell asleep with a smile on her face. She was soon lost to her dreams, as sleep took hold of her.

Author's Note

I'll try to update soon. I really enjoyed writing this, and I'll go back and make edits as needed. I'm open to suggestions and such as to what kind of adventures they could go on, This is a fun sort of story for me, and it's largely experimental because of my new character I created. I can't wait to see what I can do with it. Anyways, happy reading and God bless as always~

Heavier Ground

Rainbow Dash woke up, sleep still in her eyes and her body one with the bed. The sun had a distinctive talent of, while being far away, aim perfectly through the curtains of any bedroom. She cursed this unfortunate fact of life. Slowly she got up, and staggered her way to the living room.

Storm was still sleeping, but somehow he managed to knock the blanket off him in the middle of the night. She walked over to put it back on him, but noticed him whimpering in his sleep. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked closer. Was he...crying? She knew she sprung the whole, "Come stay at my place" thing on him kinda suddenly, but she didn't think he'd get all sappy about it.

She walked carefully away from him and into the kitchen to get some coffee. As she was pouring it into her mug, she saw Storm slowly get up. She saw him head for the kitchen, but flew over and stopped him briefly and put her hoof on his shoulder. “Storm, are you okay? You look like you had a rough night.”

He looked at her like he had just. “What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“No offense, but you don’t look fine. You sure you’re okay? You wanna talk about somethin'? I mean, I'm not all that good at the whole advice thing, but I can listen if you want.”

“I promise I’m okay.”

She threw her hooves in the air, “Okay, as long as you’re sure.” She gave him her coffee. “Here have some; you need it.”

He gave a nod, and walked to the table. She watched him scratch his head as he lazily took a sip of the morning brew. She kept her eye on him as she poured another cup, walking gingerly over to sit down next to him.

After a breakfast of toast and some fruit, the two pegasi decided to get out for a little bit and hit the town. Storm was still new to Ponyville, and Dash thought that since she was the only friend he currently had living there, she would be the one to break him in. While they flew alongside each other, she decided to play a little game of catch-up.

“So, I remember you mentioned that you went to school for a few years. What did you study?”

Storm looked at her quizzically before remembering that he told her about what he did the previous night, “Oh, yeah. I earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology.”

She raised her eyebrows, “Wow, that's...actually pretty neat. But, that doesn’t really surprise me. You’ve always been the one to go to about problems."

He smiled back, “Well, thanks. I just like being there for others if I can. I always got a sense of fulfillment from that. That being said, I’m not totally sure if sitting in an office somewhere listening to ponies complain to me about their lives all the time is exactly what I had in mind when it comes to a career choice."

She saw him starting to slow down. “How are your wings holding up from yesterday? Are they still sore?”

“Yeah, just a little bit tender. I’m guessing it’s because I haven’t worked them that hard in quite a while.”

“Well, if you want, we could take a quick break on a cloud for a few minutes and let you stretch them out for a bit?”

He looked back at his wings, as he felt them start to cramp a little. “Sure, sounds good to me.”

She scouted for a comfortable cloud. She found one after a few seconds of looking: a stray cumulus was floating idly by as they approached the outskirts of Ponyville’s airspace. She landed on the cloud to test its fluffiness, and nodded in approval at the texture. She motioned for him to join her as he landed next to her. He started to preen his tender wings soon after his touchdown.

She looked at him, almost studiously as he preened his wings. Every time he'd pull a feather out, he'd flinch but then smooth over that area and look for more feathers to pluck. She grew tired of the silence, and finally decided to break it. “Man, nothing like a good cloud to just chill on, huh Storm?”

He nodded as he preened away, “Yeah, one of the benefits of being a pegasus. I don’t know how Earth ponies and Unicorns do it.”

She huffed, “Yeah, me neither. I could never get used to being on the ground like that all the time. Though, alicorns seem to have a pretty good thing going on."

"Tft, yeah they do. When I was a kid I always wanted to be one. Best of three worlds, right?" They both let some chuckles escape. He looked back at her for a second, wanting to try to come up with a topic this time. “So, what’s it like being a bearer of an Element of Harmony? Like, what exactly is it that you do? I read about the stuff you guys pulled off, and it’s amazing. Do you have any other duties?”

She looked at him strangely, but then understood what he meant. She shrugged, “Eh, not really. I didn’t even know about the elements until Twilight came to town. Normally I’m just myself, and go about my business. If the elements need to be used, Twilight calls on us. Otherwise we just hang out and do girl stuff.” She shuddered when she said the last two words, earning her a snicker from Storm.

She stared into the distance of the sky for a while. One of her life-long friends was in her house, crying his eyes out last night. His words may have said he was fine, but she wasn't buying it. She knew Storm, at least she thought she did. And, though she wasn't good at advice or stuff like that, she knew it would bother her later if she didn’t at least make a true, genuine attempt to help him. She wasn’t about to let him get away with it that easily.

The conversation reached a standstill. Rainbow saw her chance to take the risk she was waiting for. She looked over at Storm, breathed in deep, and exhaled. He finishing up tending to his wings. She looked back in front of her and closed her eyes. She spoke barely above that of a trembling whisper, “Hey… you remember the last time we saw each other?”

Storm stopped preening. His eyes shot open, and turned to look at her. The feather dropped from his mouth, floating gently away in the breeze. Of course he remembered. He’ll always remember. It’s not something he could easily forget, no matter how much he tried.

The graduating students of Cloudsdale High School prepared to walk into the gymnasium for the final time. Graduation was set at six p.m., though everyone was starting to arrive a few minutes early to take their seats and get situated for the upcoming ceremony. Fluttershy and Gilda were talking among themselves as they awaited the arrival of their two other friends.

“I sure hope that Storm and Dashie get here soon. Being in crowds is so…unsettling.”

Gilda took a sharp breath in and put her claw over her chest as if offended, “Oh, what, and I’m just chopped liver?”

Fluttershy's eyes grew wide, “Oh my! I'm Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I just wonder what’s taking them so long.”

Gilda waved her off, “Geez, I'm just kiddin' ya. And yeah, seems like those two have been spending a lot of time together recently.”

As if on cue, Storm and Rainbow Dash came rushing in, hastily throwing on their caps and gowns to get ready for the soon-to-start ceremony. Dash was the first one to speak up, “Sorry we kept you guys waiting; we had a bit of a problem to fix.”

Gilda let her impatience talk for her, “Yeah? Well, seems like that’s a common occurrence these days with you two.”

Dash narrowed her eyes, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

To Rainbow’s surprise, Gilda put her talon around her neck and led her away from Storm for the time being while he talked with Fluttershy. “Listen, Dash, are you sure there’s nothing going on?”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean, exactly?”

“What I mean is that Fluttershy and I have been talking, and we notice you guys are spending way more time together than you used to. I mean, we get it. We just wish that you would spill it already. You don’t need to keep secrets from us.”

“Get what? You’re not making any sense. What are you trying at?” As she tried to think, Rainbow froze as she pieced the puzzle together, “Y-you think that Storm and I are-”

Gilda interrupted, “What’s the big deal? So you guys are going out, it was only a matter of time really. We both know that you care about him a lot, there’s no shame in that. In fact, if that’s what’s been going on, then we’re really happy for you! We just wish you’d be honest with us about it.”

Rainbow blushed furiously at the accusation. She knew that she and Storm were considerably close, but that was for completely different reasons. It was no secret that she had been going through a tough time lately, but her and Storm? Together? She laughed as she thought about that. “Look, we’re not together. He was just helping me out, alright?”

“Helping you out with what? You can talk to us too, ya know. We’ve been worried about you, Dash. We’re your friends just as much as he is.” Gilda wasn’t really one to offer comfort, but confrontations were somewhat of a specialty to her.

Rainbow sighed, “Look, let’s just get through graduation, okay? Forget about this for right now, we’ll talk more about it later. I just want to enjoy the rest of the night and get through this.” Rainbow put on her best fake smile as she hugged her friend for re-assurance, and tried to get past this whole conversation.

Gilda received the hug hesitantly, but gave a wry grin. “Alright Dash, but you’re still not off the hook yet.”

Eventually the ceremony started. Speeches were given, memories were shared, and the graduating class of Cloudsdale High was finally dismissed for the last time. Three out of the four friends were hanging around congratulating each other as they discussed their plans for later that evening.

Fluttershy strained to have her voice heard above the crowd, “I’m going to fly to my cousin’s house. We’re going to watch movies all night and have a slumber party. What are you doing, Gilda?

“I’m heading back to Griffonstone to see my extended family – we’re doing a pig roast! I can’t wait to get my claws on those juicy succulent pork chops! And the bacon! So much bacon…” Her saliva trail hit the ground, as Fluttershy and Rainbow took a step back in disgust. Fluttershy started to whimper at the thought of innocent little pigs being killed and eaten.Rainbow knew the tell-tale signs of a Fluttershy meltdown, and put a wing around her timid friend as she shot Gilda a glare.

Gilda sheepishly responded, “Oh, forgot about that…sorry.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes as Storm approached her from behind and gave her a huge hug. “Guys! We finally did it! We’re done! Can you believe it?!”

A little taken aback from the sudden gesture, Rainbow turned around to give him a proper hug in return, “I know! I’m sooo gonna party tonight! You wanna come along?”

A smile grew on his face, “Haha, count me in! I can’t wait to see what kind of stuff we’re going to get into!”

As he said that last bit, Dash, though smiling, felt her mind drift back to what Gilda confronted her about before the ceremony. She tried not to show it, but he caught onto her expression quickly deflating, “Is something wrong, Rainbow?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing! Nothing’s wrong. We’re gonna have such a great time!” She tried to play it off cool, but he kept at it.

“Rainbow, can we talk for a few by ourselves for a few minutes?”

She froze for a second, but still managed to find words. “Sure...what’s up?”

Looking to take this away from the crowd, he pulled her in close, “Here, let’s go outside to get some air.”

He led her away from the group as Gilda leaned over to Fluttershy, “See? What did I say? I knew it.” Fluttershy simply nodded her head, looking on at Rainbow and Storm as they eventually were lost in the sea of ponies around them.

She asked Gilda with concern in her voice, “Do you think they’ll be okay?”

Gilda shrugged. “I dunno. You know who definitely won’t be okay though?”

Fluttershy looked at her friend, her eyes wide once again, “Who?”

The Griffon smirked, “That little piggy back home once I get my talons on those juicy chops.” She licked her beak and batted her eyes as she fantasized about her future meal.

Fluttershy deadpanned. “Why are we friends again?”

Away from the commotion in the gym, Storm and Rainbow walked quickly outside.

Rainbow tried to reason with him, “Woah, Storm. Take it easy, what’s the rush? You’re kind of acting a little loopy all of the sudden. Was your cap on too tight or something? You do know that you could have ordered a bigger size, right?”

Storm stopped her by the columns at the main entrance and cut to the chase. “Rainbow, what’s going on? You were acting really weird back there. Is this about what happened earlier today?”

Rainbow got quiet as her mind played back the day’s events. Her dad was drinking and shouting again. Shouting at Rainbow for reminding him too much of her mother, shouting because he drank the last of his whisky, and even went so far as to hit her. Rainbow flew out of her bedroom window like she did so many times before to Storm’s house, to tell him about what was going on. She once again told him about her broken home, and cried in his tender embrace for a solid hour and a half, and gripped him tighter with each sob. She apologized for being such a burden to him as well as a clingy friend. No matter how many times she would say that, he always told her that she was nothing of the sort, and that he was always happy to try and help her in any way he could. She smiled through her tears and held him like a teddy bear. It was like this ever since the beginning of their freshman year together and four years later, now graduating seniors, nothing seemed to change.

“No, it has nothing to do with that. Or…maybe it does. Ugh, I’m not sure, okay?!” She didn’t mean to snap like that, but first Gilda got on her case, and now Storm? This was getting ridiculous.

He put a hoof on her shoulder, putting the other beneath her chin and making her look him in the eye. “Rainbow, you know you can trust me with anything. I’d like to think that you would know that by now after all we’ve been through in the past few years.”

She sighed, “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Storm; it’s not that at all. Some days, I feel like you’re the only one I can trust. It’s not even that big of a deal! Gilda was just trying to rustle my feathers earlier by talking about us. She kept on going on about us being a couple, and I tried to tell her that nothing was up! That’s all that happened, I swear. But for some reason, I feel bad about it.”

He really didn’t know how to answer her. In all the years he’d known Rainbow Dash, he never really thought too much about them dating. Sure he thought she was really pretty and had an attitude to match, but he always figured she’d date someone more athletic, or fun to be around, or just better in general. He was just Storm - no one special.

He looked at her, and spoke with caution, “Well, why do you feel bad about it?”

“I – I don’t really know. I mean, you’ve always been there for me, and you know me better than anyone else does. I guess the more I think about it, I feel like it would make some sense, but I feel bad because I’m pushing it away...or something like that. I don’t know, okay?!” She just had enough. She looked back at him, taking short breaths as she thought more about it all, “You’re the smart one out of us; you should be able to figure this out for me!”

He laughed in a vain attempt to lighten the mood a little, but she wasn't laughing. She looked up at him with a look that pierced right through his soul; the weight of everything pushing hard on her shoulders. She had to figure this out, one way or another. For some reason, this suddenly became the most important matter in the world for her. She needed to try and see if this was really something, or if it was just a matter of circumstance. This called for some drastic measures. Looking away from Storm, she spoke in a hushed tone, “I want to try something.”

His ears perked up, “Um…okay, what is it?”

She sighed deeply and then spoke in an uneasy voice, “Well, I don’t know if this is all just me being weird, if there’s anything to it, or what…but you got to trust me on this, okay?”

He shifted nervously, “O-okay. Rainbow, not going to lie, you’re scaring me a little here.”

“Shhhhh.” She pressed her hoof softly to his mouth. She spoke again, but this time she was much quieter as an innocent tone graced her words, “I need you to just please trust me, okay?” She looked into his soft blue-grey eyes with her magenta ones, tears starting to appear and gloss over her eyes.

He sighed, looking back at her. “Okay, Dashie. I trust you.”

Her stomach fluttered when he called her that. A warm, tingling sensation spread from her head all the way down to her tail. The only ones to ever call her that before were her parents and Fluttershy. But it sounded different coming from him.

She gently took his face in her hooves, and gazed into his eyes as she whispered, “Close your eyes.”

He did what she said. As soon as he did, he felt warm lips press tightly against his. His tense body relaxed as she wrapped her forelegs around him, while he did the same to her. They succumbed to a tight embrace, one that snuffed out the world like a candle's flame in the wind. Their A single tear rolled gently down Rainbow’s cheek.

Their slice of Heaven was interrupted though whenever the couple heard a voice, “Dash, Storm, there you are! We’ve been looking all over for you and -” Gilda stopped right in her tracks as she caught them in the act. Time froze.

Storm’s eyes shot wide open as he looked hastily to his left, meeting eye-to-eye with a speechless Griffon. Fluttershy was trailing not too far behind as she caught up with her half-lion, half-eagle friend. As soon as she saw what Gilda saw, however, she too froze in her tracks; and the four friends were caught in the most compromising position they had been presented with yet.

Storm stammered, “I-it’s not what it looks like, I just came to talk to her, and I -” Storm quickly released Rainbow from his embrace, much to her disappointment. “- I wasn’t trying anything funny, I swear!” He felt his chest tighten up and sweat trickling down his neck. He knew that Gilda and Fluttershy were aware about Rainbow’s situation at home, and he didn’t want them thinking that he was trying to take advantage of Rainbow in her fragile condition.

“Storm, no one said you were! We were just coming out to see what was going on, that’s all!” Fluttershy tried to calm him down with her words, but to no avail. He backed away from the group as he felt his body start to quiver.

“I… I need to go.” He looked back at Rainbow dash and he backed up even further. “I’m sorry… I’m so, so sorry…”

He flew the fastest he’d ever flown that night.

“Storm, wait! Come back! I’m the one who’s sorry, it’s my fault! PLEASE!” Rainbow shouted and begged through a cracking voice, but it was no use. He was long gone, and she was left to the comfort of her friends as they tried their best to help her in any way they can. As they listened to her shaky explanation of the events that occurred, she steadily broke down more and more. Nothing could comfort her now. She looked up one last time at the sky, but all she saw were blurry stars glowing in the dark of night.

Rainbow walked over to where Storm was sitting on the cloud, and noticed how silent he had fallen. She looked, and saw tears make trails down his face. Though there were tears, he had no expression on his face.

She draped her wing around him, and made him look her in the eye, “Storm, I don’t know if this will ever make it better, but for what it’s worth, I’m so, very sorry. I never should have done that to you. I never meant to put you on the spot like that. I was so confused, and angry, and miserable. It wasn’t fair to you, and I won’t ever pull another stunt like that again. Please…can you ever forgive me?”

Storm just kept his gaze fixed on hers, and sighed, “I would forgive you, if you did anything wrong – but you didn’t. As you said, you were confused, and you just wanted answers. I can’t fault you for that.” He pulled her into his own embrace and continued, “I’m only sorry I ran off like a dammed coward. You really needed me, and I just flew away without even giving you a a chance to talk it out or anything. I’ve let that shame eat at me for four long years, because I just can’t stand the fact that I left you hanging like that. I’m the one who’s sorry, Rainbow. Can you ever forgive me for that?”

Rainbow felt her voice grow hoarse and a lump bulge in her throat. “I forgave you the second you did it.”

The dam broke, fresh tears flowing freely like a flood on his face. Seeing him in his condition, she soon followed suit. As the two friends cried into each other’s tight embrace for a few good minutes, Rainbow Dash spoke up as the tears steadily came to a halt.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m willing to put all of this behind us. I still have tons to show you, and I want this to be a fun day. Can we please do that?” She looked at him with a gentle smile.

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and looked back with a smile of his own. "That sounds perfect."

She wiped away a few tear stains. “Well, in that case, let’s get to town! I have all my friends you need to meet and I know you’re gonna love ‘em!”

As he smiled in anticipation, an idea struck him. “Hey, Rainbow, want to race?”

She lost her words at the out-of-the-blue request. She figured he wouldn’t be up to it with his wings being sore; then again, she wasn’t one to turn down a friendly challenge. She offered her famous grin, “I thought you’d never ask. I’ll even give you a ten second head start! But don’t worry, I promise you’ll still lose.”

He chuckled and shot back, “Oh, it is so on!” With that, he took off futilely for the victory he pretended he would have. He knew he’d lose, but he also knew how much fun it would be.

As Rainbow looked on at the stallion charging off towards Ponyville, she felt a warm, tingly sensation. Only this time, she welcomed it instead of questioning it. Getting into position and spreading her wings, she smiled to herself: “Yeah, it’s on.”

Author's Note

Well, here it is, the second chapter. I appreciate the criticism I've received, you guys are great. As I said before, can't give you a guarantee on when I'll upload the chapters, but I'll do it as they come to me. I'm aiming to have the third one up within the week, but I make no promises.

Big thanks and shout out to my friend Shellie for helping me come up with a name for the chapter, as well as editing. Also, a shout out and thanks to my friend UnlicensedBrony for helping me edit some as well.

As always, enjoy!

New Friends and Punching Clouds

Storm cut through the air, wind whipping through his wild mane. He heard Rainbow coming fast from behind as she zoomed past him with her signature rainbow trail. He smiled and shook his head as he saw her slow down for a second, “Ha, took you long enough to catch up!”

She cocked an eyebrow and laughed at him. “Oh yeah? Well, time for you to do some catching up yourself!” She sped off, leaving him in the dust.

She touched down in Town Square and looked behind her as he followed suit. He was laughing as he landed and trotted over to her, “You know, I thought I almost had you there. Wouldn’t that be something? ‘The amazing Rainbow Dash lost a race to a non-Wonderbolt’.” They started their walk towards a particular destination.

She nudged his shoulder with her hoof, “Psh, like that would ever happen. Ever since I got into the academy, I’ve been in better shape than I’ve ever known.”

“I can tell. I think this is the best you’ve ever looked.” He blushed as he tried to play it cool. “Anyway, what’s on our agenda for today?”

Concealing a small blush herself, she stammered, “Uh…ahem. I uh, I was thinking maybe we could start off with something to eat?”

“Didn’t we just have breakfast like, an hour ago?”

“Yeah, but you’ve never experienced Sugar Cube Corner.”

“I’m guessing from the sounds of it, that’s the bakery you mentioned last night?”

She nodded, “Yep, that’s the one. Oh, I should probably warn you about something, rather somepony first.”

Confused, he glanced at her, “Who?”

She sighed and looked into the distance, “Pinkie Pie.”

All was quiet for a change as Rainbow Dash and Storm Cloud walked through the front doors of Sugar Cube Corner. Storm looked around aimlessly. Rainbow, however, quirked an eyebrow at the lack of noise. Pinkie was usually always bouncing around and carrying on baking things, especially since it was Hearth's Warming Eve. Very rarely was it quiet like this. This could mean one of two things: the bakery was really closed and Pinkie forgot to lock the door again, or Rainbow had lost her mind.

They walked over to the counter, but no one was behind it. Storm looked at Rainbow skepticism in his voice, “Uh, are you sure they’re open? We can always come back later if we need to.”

Rainbow lowered her voice, “No, just I have a weird feeling that something’s about to happen.”

Storm deadpanned, “It’s a bakery. It’s not like someone’s going to jump out and –“

Just as he said that last part, a pink, overly-excited pony literally jumped out from behind the counter, “SURPRISE!”

“AAAHHHH!” Storm clutched his chest and reeled back, tripping over a stool. He backed up on the ground, schooching his way to the door as Pinkie bounced eagerly in his direction. Taking a few deep, long breaths as Pinkie just sat there in front of him with a smile that was stretching ear to ear, he stammered, “You, you…what’s the big idea?! And where did you even come from? No one was even behind the counter!”

Rainbow just stood there, however, her forehead resting in her hoof. She spoke in a monotone voice, going through the motions of introductions, pointing to each respective pony as she talked. “Storm Cloud, Pinkie Pie. Pinkie, Storm.”

Trying to re-collect his thoughts, he slowly sat on his haunches, “H-hi. Nice to meet you.” He extended a hoof for a shake.

She, however, leaped over to where he was sitting and give him a back-breaking hug, “Oh, it’s SO NICE to meet you! Are you new here?! You must be new, because I’ve never seen you before!” She gasped loudly. “And you know what that means!”

“Uh, actually, I have no idea. I’m guessing it means I’m new?”

“That’s right! And that means it’s time to PARTY!!!” She suddenly pulled out a party hat seemingly out of nowhere and slammed it on his head. His eyes shot back to Rainbow Dash while she stood there chuckling at his first encounter with Pinkie.

He didn't have time to think anymore though, after hearing the explosion of Pinkie’s party cannon. Pinkie then threw him in a chair, and again defied the laws of physics as she pulled out a plate complete with cupcakes, muffins, and other assortments of dessert items from behind her back. She took one of the desserts off the plate and stuffed it in his mouth as she giggled with glee at the newest arrival to Ponyville.

Rainbow stopped her giggling and figured Storm had enough of the introductions. She proceeded to pry Pinkie off of him. After the party girl calmed down for a few minutes, she was able to show Storm around the bakery and calmly give her two guests some food, despite being a little fidgety still. While the pair was eating though, Pinkie called Rainbow Dash over to the counter.

“Hey Dash, can you come over here and help me count the change in the register?”

Rainbow replied with a full mouth, “Be right there! Hey Storm; I’ll be right back, kay?”

He nodded absentmindedly as he continued to munch on the tasty pastries. She grinned a little at seeing him eat so sloppily, and went to help Pinkie with her task.

Once at the counter, Rainbow was quickly yanked into an over-the-shoulder hug as Pinkie whispered loudly into her ear, “Your secret’s safe with me, don’t worry Rainbow.”

Mimicking her friend’s whisper she asked, “What are you talking about? What secret?”

Pinkie looked like she could explode, grinning wider than when she met Storm, “That you got a new coltfriend silly goose! Really Rainbow, you should pay more attention to the plotline sometimes.”

She gave Pinkie a strange look, “Wait, what plotline?...Nevermind! You’re not making any sense. And Storm is not my coltfriend!” Rainbow turned her head and felt heat flush into her face. “And how did you even think that? You just met the guy like, ten seconds ago.”

“Oh come on, Dash. You really need to get that denial out of your system! Remember whenever you had to let Tank hibernate? The more you deny it, the more it hurts.”

“What does Tank have to do with Storm?”

Pinkie face-hoofed, “Ugh! You’re missing the point!” She grabbed her friend’s face, and turned it to the direction of Storm. She pulled out a pair of binoculars and shoved them onto Rainbow’s eyes to focus more on the stallion who was currently eating an eclair in a very messy fashion. “Look. He’s right over there, indulging himself.”

Rainbow strained her eyes through the binoculars, taking them off her eyes and rubbing them. “So what’s your point? I was doing the same thing before you called me over here. And where do you keep getting all this stuff?”

Pinkie shook her head, ignoring the last question. “The point is you think he’s absolutely adorable!”

Rainbow’s eyes shot open and a blush re-appeared on her face at her friend’s words. She shot a look to Pinkie Pie, jabbing the binoculars back to her friend's hooves. “I do not! He’s just a friend that’s visiting for a while. I don’t even know how long he’ll be sticking around. Plus, we just ran into each other for the first time in years yesterday. Don’t get any ideas.”

Pinkie just shook her head, “I don’t know, I saw it in your eyes when you came in. You can’t hide your feelings from Aunty Pinkie Pie.”

Rainbow’s blush deepened as she sighed loudly. “Look, whatever. Maybe he’s kind of cute. And I'll hurt you if you tell ANYPONY I said that. But that’s beside the point! You can’t just go assuming he’s my coltfriend just because he happens to be a colt, and happens to be a friend. Got it? I mean, we go way back, and he’s a great friend, sure. But that doesn’t mean I have feelings for him.” She trailed off, and swatted her friend’s grasping hooves away from her face as she tried to re-collect herself.

Pinkie, however, just stared at Rainbow from the corner of her eyes, a small smirk inching its way on her face. “If you say so!” With that, she winked, and went back to counting the change in the register.

After enjoying some delicious pastries and sweet delights at Sugar Cube Corner, Rainbow Dash and Storm Cloud decided to go on a little stroll together through the town, casually walking by all the shops and stands. They decided on window shopping for now, saving their bits for something worth spending them for.

Rainbow hated shopping, but kept busy showing Storm the town as they went along. She pointed out where City Hall was, where the restaurants were that were at least worth the money, and where the hospital was, in case she needed him to drag her there during his stay. She also showed him where the old Golden Oaks library used to be.

He looked at the burnt crater, which was empty since the girls had uprooted the stump for Twilight’s castle. “Huh…sounds like a real tragedy whenever this place went down. From what you told me, it sounds like you guys all had some great memories here.”

She smiled to herself, looking on as if she saw the library standing right before her once more. “Yeah, those were some good times for sure. But, there’s always the now and tomorrow to make new good times, right?”

“Haha, yeah. You’re absolutely right. Speaking of which, what would you like to do now? It seems like we’ve hit just about everywhere around the town. Everypony seems really nice, just like you said.”

Dash put on that famous smirk of hers, “I told ya! See? Just stick with me and you’ll be alright.”

He smiled and continued trotting along. “Yeah, you were right. I’m really having a great time with you today.”

“Same here; it’s been a while since I got out like this and just spent the day away.”

Storm nodded. After a while of looking around at vendors, he found himself looking at Rainbow. This was really their first day spending time together, and the first time he got a good look at her. She didn’t look stressed out or upset, which he was thankful for. That morning had been a hell of a ride, and he was glad to not see any after effects linger on.

Problem was, he was now stuck staring at her. He couldn’t help but notice the way the sun shone on her mane; how it made every fiber of her multi-colored hair sparkle in the radiant light. Her eyes seemed to have a twinkle in them, and every time she looked his way he tried to pretend he wasn't looking. He saw out of the corner of his eye that her smile seemed to stretch wider as he walked closer to her whenever the crowd began to get a little more populated. He put on a smile himself, and walked upright and tall as they made their way through the busy streets.

The afternoon was over now, and the evening hours were approaching at a modest pace. Most of the ponies left in the town square were finishing up their shopping for the day, leaving for home to start preparations for dinner and time with their families or significant others. Rainbow and Storm were just finishing up buying the last few items they wanted, getting ready to head back to Dash’s place. Rainbow got some new Wonderbolts memorabilia, and Storm bought some new guitar strings. Rainbow looked at him with surprise, “I didn’t know you played guitar. Since when did you learn?”

His voice got quiet, “Well, I always kind of did, I just never did it around anypony.”

“How come?”

“I just never really thought about it. I just kind of did it for me.”

Rainbow shrugged and they took flight back to her place. After a while of silence, they approached Rainbow’s house. She unlocked the door, and they headed inside to relax for the remainder of the evening. After getting settled in, Storm generously offered to prepare a meal for the both of them, to which Rainbow did not decline.

Storm was stirring the veggies as a thought came to mind, “So, Pinkie seems like a real…energetic pony. Has she always been that way?”

Rainbow scoffed, “Heh, for as long as I can remember. I met her after she had her cutie mark, so yeah; pretty much she’s always been the same energetic girl. Though, sometimes she gets depressed. That’s when things get truly weird.”

“It can’t be any weirder than hugging random ponies who don’t know her, right?”

“You’ve clearly never seen her talk to a bucket of turnips.”

Storm just looked at her, “Wha-what?”

“Nothing; I’ll tell you about it later, long story.” Rainbow chuckled a little bit at remembering Pinkie’s mental breakdown.

As they ate, a thought popped into Storm's mind. “So, what did Pinkie want with you today? I saw her call you over to help her out, and then I saw her like, yank you into a weird hug. Was everything okay?”

Rainbow froze at what he asked. She totally forgot about that. While he may have been stuffing his face with treats at the time, that didn’t make him oblivious to absolutely everything. She put her fork down and stumbled over her words, “Uh, yeah. It’s nothing, really. Just…girl stuff. Yeah, girl stuff – you wouldn’t really understand.”

“Huh. Girl stuff requires looking at me through a pair of binoculars INSIDE a building?”

Rainbow was glowing red now. She really didn’t want to push this any further than it needed to go, and he was starting to travel down a road she wasn’t ready to venture yet. “I uh, I’d really rather not talk about it.”

“Alright, I mean, if you’re sure. You know I’m here for you if you need me.”

Rainbow started fidgeting in her seat. It suddenly felt warm, and her stomach started to churn. Almost like someone was pushing down very hard on her abdomen. She got up from the table, “Excuse me, I need to go out for a bit. I need some air.”

Storm was confused, “Was it something I said?”

“Yes. Well, no, not exactly; just, I’ll be back in a while, okay?”

Storm looked on as Rainbow bolted out an open window in the kitchen, and he was left cleaning up and thinking about her odd behavior.

Dash rested on a cloud a few miles away from her house. She needed to get away from Storm. After that morning, and with what Pinkie said, she just needed a break. Taking a few slow, steady breaths, she felt her body start to cool down and her stomach calm. She usually had no problem opening up to him, but something was off this time. She remembered back to what happened at graduation – how it was all so beautiful and horrible. How he left her standing in the condolences of her friends. How after that he suddenly seemed to vanish from everyone’s view for years.

She never really thought about the things that happened between her and Storm after that night. She always figured that he was the victim, and that it was all her fault. She didn’t want to think about herself too much, because she always imagined that she was the one who hurt him, and not the other way around. Now that she was alone with her thoughts about the matter, and she was looking at things from a new perspective, things started to look different from another angle.

The more she thought about it, the more it stewed in her brain, the more she got short breathed. She gritted her teeth and bit her lip, letting out deep breaths but still not satisfied. How could he just up and leave like that? Didn't he care about her at all? Sure she could understand that he was scared – but he was a coward about it. He didn’t even go to her house the next day to see if she was alright! How could he? How could he be so selfish?

But then, she remembered something – she was the one that kissed him, not the other way around.

As she let this thought settle in her mind, it made a little more sense that Storm would back away. Still, he just left. She cursed under her breath as she punched the cloud she was laying on. Her ear perked up though, as she heard the flap of wings behind her.

She looked around, but nopony was there besides her. When she looked above her, though, she saw the silhouette of an odd shape flying above her. She squinted her eyes to get a better look.

It was a griffon.

And it was flying down towards her at a rapid speed.

She prepared herself for a quick launch off the cloud, when suddenly she was tackled down onto it. She was ready to fight off her attacker when she heard laughing, and she knew that laugh from anywhere.

It was Gilda.

“Damn, Dash. Getting a little rusty on the agility, are we?”

“Ha! You wish. I was just getting ready to flip you over my back and toss you to the ground!”

“Yeah, looks like you’re the one who’s wishing now. So, what are you doing out here so late? I half expected you to be in bed with your teddy bear dreaming about Soarin.”

She scoffed, “Heh, you're just jealous that I have a better chance with him than you do, even if it is only in my dreams. And I don't know, just needed to clear my head a little. I guess I can ask you the same thing – why are you here? You’re pretty far from Griffonstone.”

“I’m just passing through. I was on my way to see Fluttershy, we get together every now and then to talk about stuff and keep caught up on the latest drama in our lives. I looked down and saw a blue pegasus punching a cloud, and figured that was you not getting your way again or something.”

Dash chuckled and lightly punched her friend in the shoulder for that remark. “Nah, just…some stuff happening.”

“What’s going on, Dash?”

Rainbow sighed heavily, “Well…I ran into Storm the other day.”

Gilda’s eyes went wide for a second, “Really? And how did that go?”

“Well, it started off great! We ran into each other at the bar, and got talking and stuff. He needed a place to crash, and I offered a helping hoof, and he’s been at my place since yesterday.”

Gilda looked skeptical, “You really think that’s the best idea? You know, after what happened?”

Rainbow looked down, pushing a bit of cloud fluff with her forehoof. “That’s the thing, I’m still not sure. I mean, he’s nice and everything, and we got a lot of stuff out of the way this morning, but I still don’t know. I was doing just fine with everything, ya know? I have great friends, I go on adventures, and I got a steady job that isn’t half bad. And then this happens! Ugh!” She punched the cloud again, and felt her eyes get a little watery. “Why does life do this? Why can’t it just be simple? I was doing so well, and then he comes back…”

Gilda sat next to her friend, and wrapped a wing around her. “Look, Dash. I’m not the best when it comes to giving advice, we both know that. But if there’s ever anything you’ve taught me, is that everything happens for a reason. You think I was expecting you to come to Griffonstone with Pinkie and help us? Hell no. Am I thankful for it even though I didn’t like it at first? Of course I am. So, maybe that’s the same case with Storm.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I’m saying is, think about it – isn’t it odd that he just happened to be at the same exact bar you were at? How, out of all the ponies in Equestria, you were the one he ran into? Maybe something good is meant to come out of this. I’m not saying to get all mushy gushy right off the bat, I’m just saying – give whatever happens a chance. Who knows? You might like the outcome.”

She stared at Gilda, taking in her friend’s serious disposition and wise advice. Rainbow looked up and hugged her griffon friend, “Thanks, Gilda. I guess it just feels like I just have no idea what to expect lately, and I don’t like that.”

“Sometimes, Dash, things happen that we don’t expect. But, that doesn’t mean it won’t be a good thing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to be getting to Fluttershy’s place. She said something about having tea." She sighed and put her face in her claws, "Ugh…save me…”

Rainbow laughed at Gilda’s discomfort at feminine things, empathizing with her pain. She waved goodbye, and started her flight back to her home.

New Year Celebrations

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!

Work 101

Storm woke up with his head pounding and his vision hazy, courtesy of a lovely hangover. After last night's celebrations for New Years, he felt like his head was just slammed into a brick wall, then bounced on the pavement for good measure. He limply got up off the couch, clutching the empty champagne bottle in his left foreleg. Just then, Rainbow Dash popped in the living room, bouncing over to where he was standing with a wide smile on her face. "Morning, Storm! Look how beautiful this day is! Here, check it out!" She flew over to the living room window and grabbed the string for the blinds in her teeth.

Storm rapidly waved his hooves, dropping the bottle. "Rainbow Dash, wait!" But, it was too late. The excited mare jerked her head back, and in flew the bright, blinding, and horrible rays of the sun into the living room. "Ahhh!" He grabbed his head and writhed in pain, dropping back on the couch.

Rainbow flew over in haste, "Storm, are you alright? You look so..." She stopped in her tracks as her eye caught the bottle next to him on the floor. A grin started to form on her face, "Ohhh. I know what'll help that! Some breakfast!"

Storm grunted.

"Here, I'll make my famous Rainbow Dash-cure-all hangover cure...thingy. Now, where are those eggs?..." She trailed off, seeming to make as much noise as she possibly could in the kitchen. Pots and pans clanged together with loud ringing after tones, and the sun wasn't getting any dimmer. Had he had any less patience, he would have been saying some profanities that definitely would have had some impact on their current friendship. But, thankfully, he was too tired and sore to open his mouth.

Sick of being so negative, he spoke up. "So, how'd you sleep?"

Rainbow muttered to herself while she talked, "Oh, ya know, just another night. I had a cool dream about uh...hotsauce...me in the Wonderbolts again!"

"Really? That sounds cool."

"Yeah, totally! You should have seen me! Flying around in the...anchovies...the uh, sky and doing all these flips and spins! I mean, you couldn't see me because it was in my...spam...dreams, but yeah. You get the picture. Looking forward to today? I bet you can't wait to start your new exciting life as a weather pony. And, after I put in a good word, you'll get that job for sure, I can pretty much guarantee that."

He ran a hoof through his mane. "Yeah, I really am. Who knew that sleeping with the right pony could help me so much?-" Realization struck him upside the head upon seeing the stunned expression on Rainbow Dash's face. "-no no! I didn't mean it that way! I meant, uh, uh, like, you know, sleeping under the same roof! Ugh, what do you call it...STAYING! THAT'S what I meant to say! Heh...Heh..." Rubbing the back of his head, he started to feel a nervous sweat coming along.

It was then that he saw something.

Something awful in every way.

"Uh, Rainbow, what's that?"

"You know what a blender is, stupid."

"Yeah, I know what it is, but why are you getting it out?"

"Pft, I gotta mix all these things together somehow."

"Do you really think that's a good idea to do that in front of someone who has a severe hangover?"

"Well, normally no, but you're a special case."

"But right now I don't wanna be special."

"Sounds like a personal problem. Now stop complaining! I'm gonna help whether you like it or not!" With that, she firmly pressed the button on the blender that said, "Obliterate", and everything was mixed together in a loud, salmon-colored liquid.

Pity that she forgot to put the lid on.

By the time about over half the contents of the blender had made its way in the room and on both ponies and she stopped the blender from any more destruction, Storm just sat there, nodding his head. She looked around the room, and back at him. With an apologetic look and a high-pitched voice, she tried to put on her best act of puppy-dog to avoid trouble, "Uh...Sorry?"

He looked at her with an expressionless face. He stuck his tongue out, licking up the liquid that had just attacked him. Holding his expression, he deadpanned, "That's pretty good. I think I'm going to go apply for that job now. Never speak of this again?"

"Eeyup."

Storm got to the Weather Station in about ten minutes flying time. There was little traffic, so it led to a speedy arrival. He landed softly on the plushy clouds. He gulped a little, seeing the big building and all the pegasi flying in and out of it. But, he sucked in a breath, and walked in the building.

Once inside, he was greeted by a receptionist desk and a grey pony with aqua eyes, and a smile that could make anypony's heart melt. "Welcome to the Weather Station! How may I direct you two today?"

"I was told to ask for Sun Spot?"

She looked up to the ceiling, then to him, "He's in a meeting right now. But, if you take the stairs, he should be in his office by the time you get up there."

"Okay, thank you."

He approached the stairwell, and gulped as he looked at the many flights of stairs he had to ascend. "Well, I could fly up...but he might still be in that meeting. Better work out my legs a little."

By the time he made it up, he was panting and in a deep sweat. "Oh dear Celestia, that was awful."

He made his way into the lobby of Sun Spot's office, a receptionist with her mane in a tight bun sharply instructed him to sit and wait patiently. He waited patiently in the chair next to the door after what felt like hours of hearing muffled voices talk. But after a while, the door opened up, and Sun Spot beckoned him inside.

He smiled nervously as he got up and walked into the office, shutting the door behind him. Behind the desk sat a rather portly blonde pegasus pony with a mustache and a fat cigar sitting in the crook of his mouth. He was a jolly old type, with yellow teeth and a relaxed disposition. However, for Storm's sake, he put on a bit of a stern face for the sake of the interview.

Sun Spot gently pulled the cigar out of his mouth and set it on the side of the ashtray that was on his desk. "So, Mr. Cloud, you think you have what it takes to be a weather pony? It ain't no joke out there, contending with the sometimes life-threatening storms we have to put in place to ensure the natural cycle of life on this planet."

Storm took a deep breath, "Yes, sir. I do believe I can handle it."

Sun Spot chuckled, "Heh, we'll just see about that, rookie. Rainbow Dash tells me good things. Though, she did mention that you need to get in better shape. That gonna be a problem, rookie?"

"Wait, she said what?-" Storm heard a slight snicker come from the other side of the door "-oh. I should have figured she'd say something. Yeah, I can afford to lose a few, but I don't think that'll be too much of a problem, Mr. Rider."

Spot looked Storm over, and noticed his demeanor. He wasn't much, but he was someone. However nice Storm appeared to be, Sun Spot could just tell that he had no clue about anything to do with weather duty. "Alright, I'll give ya a shot. But, we're starting you at the bottom: you get 9 bits an hour, and you work 5 days a week. We'll talk about benefits after you've stuck around for a while and proved yourself. I'm also sticking you in with Rainbow Dash's crew. She'll keep ya on the straight and narrow."

Storm stood up when Sun Spot did, and shook his hoof. "Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate this opportunity."

"Yeah, no problem. Now, you start tomorrow, so I'd suggest you go and rest up. Weather maintenance ain't no joke."

"I'll get right on it." And, with that, Storm went back to Rainbow's house.

"So, I need to lose some weight, huh?" He playfully nudged her on the shoulder. "In any event, thanks a lot, Rainbow. What you did really meant a lot to me."

"Hey, no problem. That's what friends are for, right? Now, let's go celebrate. I think I can smell the sweets cooking at Sugar Cube Corner already!"

"Wait, but according to you, I need to lose more weight, wouldn't that be counter-productive?"

"Heh, let's just say that you'll get a rude awakening whenever you start your shift tomorrow"- she draped her foreleg around his shoulder -"I'll make sure of that one."

He glanced down to the side briefly, but shook it off. Also, her touch made him feel weird; his stomach started to go in knots, and he started to feel pressure in his chest. But, he shook it off. He had sweets to eat.

Author's Note

Please forgive me for the short random chapters, I just tried to have a little fun in between.