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// Ch. 8 The Brewing Storm 
// Story: Pegasus Dreams 
// by BluePhoenyx 
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Authors Note: Sorry this took so long, I went on a trip. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. PLEASE COMMENT. Comments help me more than votes do, thank you.	


Rainbow Dash and Cloud Dream stood at the top of a tall hill just on the outskirts of Ponyville. The wind rushed over the hills and through Cloud Dream’s and Rainbow Dash’s wings. Rainbow Dash walked up to Cloud Dream and looked at him with a concerned look. 
“Are you sure you want to do this?” She asked. She clenched her eyes shut in preparation for his answer.
“Yes Rainbow, yes I do.” Cloud Dream said sternly. He could feel the wind gently moving his silvery mane and tail and rustling through the feathers of his wings. The wind made him feel he could do anything, and now he could feel it and understand it. 
“Fine… Spread your wings” She said. Cloud Dream opened them as wide as he could, forcing Rainbow Dash to take a couple of steps back.  Before him, lay a steep slope that led down into a field where the wind was running free. She was going to have him run right into the wind’s playground and let it take him. 
“Now run! Run as fast as you can!” Rainbow said just as a large gust of wind came up behind them and raced down into the valley. 
Cloud Dream chased the wind, feeling it swirl and climb over his body and wings as he ran nearly straight down. He felt the subtle changes of the wind’s movements and corrected himself to follow them. As he tore down the hill he felt the wind start to level out and spread across the field. Cloud Dream’s speed rose as gravity pulled him down. Finally, just as he hit the flat field, he hit top speed and could feel the ground slowly leaving him with each step of his hooves. He felt his body lift slowly; finally the ground completely left him. He flapped his wings hard and it propelled him upward and forward at the same time. Rainbow Dash watched in awe as the gray and white Pegasus soared through the air and up towards the clouds. She grinned and shot up towards him, leaving a trail of rainbow behind her.
Rainbow Dash flew up beside him and saw the look of pure joy on his face; the wind through his mane and tail made his heart race, his blind eyes sparkled and shimmered with tears of happiness and pure ecstasy poured out. Rainbow Dash nearly cried herself as she watched Cloud Dream fly alongside her. 
“Hey Cloud Dream, wanna race?” Rainbow Dash called to him. She planned on going easy, staying just in front of him, but still win.
“You’re on!” Cloud Dream called. He had figured out how to glide but he felt a race would really teach him what he needed to know. 
He could feel Rainbow’s wind currents beside him and followed her as she banked hard to the left. Rainbow Dash then shot up straight into the air, flying as fast as she could. His wing was still too weak to make the sudden turn, so he opted for a gradual climb upwards. He flapped his wings hard to catch up as Rainbow Dash looked back and smiled. She was impressed with his ability to keep up the way he was. 
“You’re gonna have to better than that to beat me!” She yelled and shot up into the air again faster, going against the wind. 
Cloud Dream’s lungs burned from the exercise and his muscled ached and tightened, making them hard to move. He panted and tried galloping in the air to give him more power but he was losing his battle quickly. 
“R-Rainbow!” He called out as he started falling back towards the ground. Rainbow Dash didn’t hear him and kept climbing into the sky. She landed on a cloud and laughed happily.
“Too bad Cloud Dream, maybe next time you can-huh?” She looked around, noticing her opponent wasn’t anywhere to be found. She looked down into the sky and saw Cloud Dream losing altitude quickly. She jumped off the cloud and shot down towards the ground and Cloud Dream. 
Cloud Dream’s wings gave in and he began free falling back towards the ground. Rainbow Dash raced downwards, gaining more and more speed as she flew down to catch Cloud Dream. Tears formed in Rainbow Dash’s eyes as she sped towards the ground, faster and faster. About 50 feet before Cloud Dream hit the ground; Rainbow Dash slams into Cloud Dream’s side, grabbing him around the waist. She tried to pull up towards the sky to give her as much room to land as possible. They crashed landed into the ground at an angle, creating a groove in the earth.  They skid to a stop and panted from the fear and adrenaline pumping through their bodies.
“I think…we’re done….for today….” Cloud Dream said between breaths. Rainbow Dash got up and shook the dirt from her mane and coat and started laughing.
“What?” Cloud Dream asked, turning his head towards her voice.
“That was sooo awesome! I didn’t think I was going to get there in time!” She yelled and did a loop in the air in excitement. The adrenaline was still pumping through her and the daring rescue only made her more excited. Cloud Dream was stunned at first then laughed as well. 
After they had calmed down, Rainbow Dash and Cloud Dream walked back to Ponyville where Fluttershy was running towards them in a panic. Her wings were flapping to give her some speed, forcing her mane back behind her face. She was panting and some tears were in her eyes.
“Oh my, oh my. Rainbow Dash, you have to hurry!”  She said as she finally reached them.
“What is it?” She asked. A chill crept up Cloud Dream’s spine, and he turned his nose up to the air, trying to smell and listen.
“The… there’s a huge storm coming…” Fluttershy said panting. Rainbow Dash looked up to the sky, squinting as the sun hit her eyes.
“There isn’t a storm scheduled for another month!”  Rainbow Dash said, sounding a little annoyed. 
“That’s just it. It’s not coming from Cloudsdale, its coming from the Everfree Forest!” Fluttershy said. “What do we do?” 
“We’ll just push it back. When will it get to Ponyville?” Rainbow Dash asked. 
“Thunderlane said it would be here tomorrow.”  Fluttershy replied. 
“Alright, Go back to Cloudsdale and get weather control ready. We’ll meet the storm on the edge of the forest. Tell them we’ll need everypony available.” Rainbow Dash said, pointing towards the sky. Fluttershy nodded and flew off 
“I want to help.” Cloud Dream said.

“You just figured out how to fly” She said, looking at the still tired Cloud Dream. I can’t afford losing you to this storm.” She cleared her throat, a little embarrassed that she had so blatantly stated she didn’t want to lose him. “Go to Twilight’s, you can find your way back from here right?” She asked quickly. Cloud Dream nodded slightly and looked down as Rainbow Dash flew off towards the forest.