No Official Title Yet

Chapter One

Falling Fast

'Has it really only been a week? It has to have been longer.' Storm Fall thought to himself as he crashed through a particularly large cloud. A week and three days ago, he had left Cloudsdale. It had been a bittersweet parting; Cloudsdale was his home. However, in the last year, he had realized just how much he disliked Cloudsdale; pretty much everything about it. The ponies, the memories, and even the ever changing scenery had become a drag on him, and it wasn't just a mental drag; it felt like a physical weight on his shoulders. He had decided to leave, and had left within a week. No big send off, and not much at all left behind. He was glad to go, and yet, leaving your home is somehow always hard. Since arriving in Ponyville, he had been pleasantly surprised with the place. It was new, it was quiet, and it lacked that certain hustle and bustle that Cloudsdale seemed to extrude. It felt much more like home. Finally, he had escaped the ponies, the memories and the fast paced life that swept you up with it if you weren't careful.

Rainbow Dash stood staring into the sky above Ponyville. She had recently hired a new pony for the Weather Patrol, and she wasn't entirely sure what to make of him. He was good, sure. But he wasn't as fast as she thought he should be. Of course, Rainbow Dash thought that everypony on the Weather Patrol was too slow. She rolled her eyes at that realization. 'Hey, it's not like it's my fault they're too slow.' Rainbow thought as she watched the stallion clear the sky of clouds with ease. 'I have to admit, he may not be as fast as me, but he is faster than the rest...' She thought, then, speaking aloud, “Well, I guess I have to take what I get. Beggars can't be choosers.” After all, no pony really wanted to move to Ponyville it seemed. Not when there were places like Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Canterlot and Cloudsdale. Places far more interesting than Ponyville.

“Take what Rainbow?” Fluttershy's quiet voice asked from behind Rainbow. Rainbow jumped at the sudden noise. “Oh jeez, Fluttershy, it's you. You scare... I mean, startled me.” “Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry Rainbow. I didn't mean to startle you.” Rainbow Dash flipped her mane, shaking it off. “It's nothing.” Rainbow looked back up to watch Storm Fall intently. Fluttershy waited for a moment, waiting for an answer from Rainbow. When none seemed forthcoming, she asked again. “Take what Rainbow?” She asked as she stepped up next to her friend. “Oh. This guy.” Rainbow said pointing her hoof at Storm Fall. “He's the newest member of the Weather Squad. We don't get many new Pegasi her in Ponyville, so I guess I have to take what I get.”

Fluttershy looked up into the sky. She felt a twinge of regret as she did so. Rainbow Dash had asked her to join the Weather Patrol when they lost a Pegasus to a particularly tough cloud. She cringed at the memory. It had been pretty gruesome. He had slammed into the cloud with enough speed to send him into unconsciousness, but not enough to break the cloud. He had then fallen some seven hundred feet to the ground. He hadn't survived the fall.

Fluttershy knew that she just couldn't be a part of the Weather Patrol; she wasn't that great of a flier and all. She had made enough excuses and apologized enough that Rainbow said that she would take the extra shifts until she could find a new pony for the job. Gazing into the sky however, Fluttershy was relieved at what she saw, and slightly confused by what Rainbow had said.

“Ummm, I'm sorry Rainbow Dash. I don't understand. Why do you have to take what you get? She seems rather qualified for the job.” Fluttershy observed as Storm Fall broke three clouds in a controlled falling arc. “It's not a she, silly. It's a he. His name is Storm Fall. He's just not as fast as me. That's all. He could be faster. About 20% faster, by my count.” Rainbow Dash said, squinting into the sky as he busted up more clouds.

“Oh! Storm Fall. That's that new pony in town, right?” Fluttershy said, her ears falling low as she took a few steps back. “Yeah, that's right.” Rainbow said, looking over. When she didn't see her friend right next to her, she look back. “Oh no you don't.” She said as she stepped behind Fluttershy, pushing her back up to where she stood. “You have to meet him at some point. Ponyville is a small enough place as it is. You'd want me here to divert his attention if you want to leave, right?” Rainbow said looking hard at Fluttershy. Fluttershy shrank under Rainbow's stare. “Umm... Yes?” She said. She shook her head and stood up, trying to be braver. She swallowed hard. No matter how much she went out with her friends to far away places, she still had trouble meeting new ponies in town. It was something about the fact that they would be living there that got to her. She didn't have as much of a problem when it came to meeting strangers in places like Canterlot and Appleloosa.

Together, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stared into the sky, watching as Storm Fall headed up into the sky, vying for the last few clouds.

Spiraling upwards, Storm broke through a cloud and flipped over to crash into another. As they broke apart he smiled, he had cleared all of the other clouds in the sky and the last one was about a hundred feet above him. Storm Fall flapped his wings harder and gained the necessary altitude and speed to break up this last cloud. As he burst through it, he evened out until he was flying straight up. As he lost speed, he felt his stability waver, and he tilted his wings back just... slightly... Just enough to... fall.

This was Storm's favorite part of flying: free falling. To him, it was the time when he felt most free. The uncontrolled fall back towards the earth. He twisted and turned, not gaining any speed, neither controlling his descent. He loved this. He thought of his cutie mark, and how long it had taken him to get it. It came years after his classmates had theirs, and he had suffered his fair share of ridicule and bullying. “Blank Flank”. The term was older than dirt, but it had been his name for so long that ponies had almost forgotten what his real name was.

His father had aspirations that he would one day join the Wonderbolts and bring their family fame. As a result, ever since he was a little colt, he had been pushed to learn how to fly. It was always faster, better, more control. It was never good enough though. He had taken to flying quick enough, but excessive speed scared him for the longest time, and that kept him from getting the speed he needed to stay vertical long enough to perform the tricks the Wonderbolts did.

He was by far the best flier in his class; faster and possessing a control during flight unparalleled. At least for a little while. His parents were proud at first, but this soon faded as others began to surpass him. While he was the fastest in his class during his younger years, he seemed to have a ceiling value for speed; which took him years to overcome. Once he did though, he was sure he would get his cutie mark. When it was apparent that no cutie mark was forthcoming, he nearly lost it. He was inconsolable, frustrated and stressed out and hardly able to function. He had pushed himself past his limits and become everything his parents wanted, now being able to do all the things he previously couldn't, even ascending to the lost throne of the best flier in class. His parents seemed placated for a while, but that didn't last long. They began pushing him to practice harder and perfect the tricks the Wonderbolts performed and even to push past this and work on new feats of flight.

He received top marks in his academic studies and flying abilities, and doting parents for both of these, but his classmates were relentless in their bullying. It didn't matter that he could beat anyone in a race, or out maneuver anyone, including the flight instructors. He still didn't have a cutie mark and that was the one thing that kept him from making friends and feeling accepted. It wasn't until...

His revelries were interrupted by shouts coming from the ground. He opened his eyes and caught sight of Rainbow Dash and another pony about a hundred feet below, but only on glimpses and flashes. He spread his limp wings out. Thanks to all his work as a colt, his wings had grown up exceptionally large and strong. He leveled his flight out easily enough with seventy-five feet to go. He reoriented himself and glided down to land easily in front of a very surprised, angry looking Rainbow Dash.

“Hey Rainbow Dash.” he said sheepishly. He hadn't realized that anyone had been watching, and he was rather embarrassed. “I... uh. Cleared the clouds. Job's all done!” He said with a grin. Rainbow's face remained a stone wall of disapproval. “And just what do you call that!? Whatever it is it certainly isn't flying! You could have been killed!” Rainbow shouted. Fluttershy drew back. That seemed a bit harsh. He had after all easily leveled out into a smooth glide down into a beautiful landing, and he couldn't have known about what happened to the last Pegasus on the weather patrol.

“Oh... That... Sorry Rainbow Dash. I was just having some fun. That's my favorite thing to do. You should try it sometime. Free falling is a lot of fun.” Rainbow Dash didn't speak, but looked at him rather intensely. Fluttershy, just now getting over her shock, first of Storm Fall's drop from the sky and then Rainbow Dash's reaction, tried to quietly slip behind Rainbow.

“Oh who is this Rainbow?” Storm Fall asked easily, resting his gaze on the yellow and pink pony. Rainbow didn't even blink as she pushed Fluttershy out from behind her with back leg. “Oh, me...” Flutterhshy said quietly. 'Of course you silly. Who else is there?' “Umm... My name is Fluttershy.” She said her name kind of quietly, but not nearly as bad as when Twilight had first come to Ponyville. Storm smiled. “It's good to meet you Fluttershy. My name is Storm Fall.” he said smiling warmly at her, bowing a bit, sweeping a wing in front of him as he did so. He returned to a standing position easily. Fluttershy blushed gently and looked away.

He returned his gaze to Rainbow Dash, who still hadn't dropped her gaze. “We'll, I'll be going then.” he said as he began to walk off. “Sky is clear, I'll be here bright and early tomorrow Rainbow.” He said as he spread his wings and took off in one powerful jump and flap. He soared into the sky and flapped some for altitude, catching the up draft of a thermal, rising quickly into the sky.

Rainbow finally let her gaze drop. Her heart rate had already slowed considerably, but for a moment there she had really been afraid that he had lost control at that high altitude and had passed out, or worse, that he was a suicide risk! That silly stallion was just having fun. Rainbow shook her head and walked off, leaving Fluttershy standing there staring into the sky. Rainbow was a little more than miffed at Storm's antics that day.

Fluttershy was already more than over Storm Fall's antics, but she hadn't yet gotten over how unobtrusive he was when he introduced himself. She had been much too shy to say anything to the confident stallion. But he hadn't made her say anything at all. That was something she had never seen before in a stallion. She slowly recovered from her shock, and turned around, and began to head back to her cottage in the woods. She had completely forgotten what it was she had originally come to see Rainbow Dash about.