//------------------------------// // 01 A Name // Story: Raising a Storm // by WonderboltWing //------------------------------// 01 A Name Morning came swiftly, though it was somewhat hard to tell with the rain clouds blotting out the sky. Hail Storm let out a soft groan, and slowly opened her eyes. She was greeted by a small muzzle inches from hers, and big green eyes staring into hers. “...good morning,” she said surprisingly calmly, looking to the sides of her vision, then back to the colt. “...morning,” he responded, moving back from her then sitting down, ruffling his feathers. She sat up in her bed, and shook her head in an attempt to wake herself up a little more. “Hungry,” he said, looking up at her. She nodded, and began untangling herself from the bed sheets. During the process, she had somehow managed to fall to the floor with a solid ‘thump’. He peeked his head over the edge of the bed to see her on her back, her hooves in the air and wings out. “...i’m okay…” she mumbled, before quickly getting up. Hail shook her head and flexed her, now somewhat sore, wings, yawning loudly. She mumbled an ‘excuse me’, before setting off to the kitchen. The colt watched her go out before jumping down from the bed, his wings flapping a few times before folding back to his sides. He quickly went through the door, following her down the hall and into the kitchen. She was inside, getting out the ingredients for pancakes and setting them out on the bench. “Have you ever had pancakes before?” She asked, not looking behind her. He stood still for a good few seconds before answering. “Pancakes?” He asked curiously. “That’s a no then,” she mumbled to herself, setting about cooking the wonderous thing known as pancakes. He jumped up on a nearby counter and watched her as she worked with mild interest, his wings fluffing up again for seemingly no reason. Soon enough, the smell of pancakes made itself known. The colt sniffed air a few times, his stomach grumbling hungrily. “...smells good,” he mumbled, his mouth watering. She looked over to him and giggled softly. “That they do,” she agreed. A few minutes later, the two were seated on the couch, the smaller one stuffing his face with pancake, and the larger one holding back laughter. Barely. He gave her a strange look, before returning to eating his pancake, if you could call it that. It was more like ‘savagely tearing into it’, if anything. It took her a minute, but she calmed down and began to eat her own pancake, eyeing him with interest. He had finished his pancake, and was now wandering all over the lounge, exploring the place. Hail Storm looked away from him and out the window for what felt like a few seconds, but, judging by the fact that the colt was now up on two legs with his front ones pushing against her, was a mite longer than that. She looked down at him, noting that her pancake was gone. “Sorry, I don’t know why I keep dozing off,” she apologized. “What is it?” He jumped back down onto the carpet, and said one word. “Toilet?” “Oh,” she said simply, getting up with slight haste, walking down the hall. “This one,” she said, opening the door for him. “U-um, you know what to d-do?” She asked softly, somewhat embarrassed. He nodded, and ducked underneath her legs to go through, his wings fluffing up as he did. She pulled the door back to a nearly closed position, then returned to the lounge room, gathering up the minimal dishes, going and washing them up. Hail began to hum a tune softly as she wiped down the plates, her wings twitching slightly. The sound of hoofsteps on the kitchen tile made her ears flick back. “Better?” “Mhmm,” he responded simply, standing next to her back leg. She glanced back at him to see him looking up at her curiously. Laughing gently, she dried her hooves on a tea towel and turned to face him. He blinked up at her, then sat down on the cold tile, cocking his head. She looked down at him curiously. “What’re you doing?” She asked. He shook his head, and quickly got up, turned around and exited the kitchen. She raised an eyebrow at his behaviour, before shrugging it off and following him. He wandered into the lounge, hopped up on the couch, then crouched down and jumped onto the windowsill. While it was certainly strong enough to hold him, she still panicked, rushing over to him, ready to catch him in case of anything. As it happened, nothing happened except for him sitting down and looking out the window. She let out a sigh of relief, and took a few moments to calm herself down. Outside, it was still raining, but the clouds had cleared out a fair amount since how she had last seen them. No longer were the clouds absolutely covering the sky, instead it was now more like a thin blanket of dark grey. A trio of pegasi flew past, flying up to the clouds and setting down on them, two of them discussing something as the third grabbed out a jar, scooped some cloud in and put it back in his saddlebags. The foal looked on in interest for a few moments, before looking back to the city’s streets, his tail twitching slightly. A rapid knocking on the door startled both the foal and Hail Storm, causing her to jump around, landing back on the ground with her wings bared, and him to nearly fall off. Knock-knock knock-knock. “Who is it?” She called, hastily trotting towards the door. “I’ll give you one guess!” Came a stallion’s reply through the door. “Princess Celestia?” She ‘guessed’, as she unlocked and opened the door with a grin. She was met with an unamused glare. “Absolutely,” he said, sounding seriously serious, before breaking into a slight grin. “Storm, how are you this…” He looked over her shoulder and out her window. “...what?” He looked befuddled. She glanced behind her, and saw the foal, now staring at the new pony. She blinked. “Uh, please come in, Dusk,” she said hastily, pulling him in through the door and all but slamming it behind her. “How?” He asked, turning to look at her. “I f-found him last n-night in the storm!” She explained quickly, walking around him and in between the two, her wings fluffing up nervously. “...ah,” he said after a few moment of processing what exactly she had said. “...sorry,” he mumbled after a few moments. “I-it’s fine,” she waved it off, looking over at the foal, who was now on the ground and slowly approaching the unicorn. Dusk looked down at him, sitting back on his haunches. He looked curiously at the small one, and received a curious look in return. “Hey there,” he said softly, giving a little wave. “....hi,” came the quiet response from the foal as he sat down in front of him. Hail Storm smiled gently. “A-anyway Dusk, this is… um...” She trailed off into a slight frown. “No name?” Dusk guessed softly, looking over to her. She shook her head gently, a sad expression on her face. “Oh,” he murmured, turning back to the foal. quietly, looking over at her. She gently shook her head, a sad look falling over her face and her ears flicked back. Dusk frowned for a moment, before turning back to the foal, who was now right in front of him. The foal gazed up at him, slowly reaching up with a hoof towards the larger pony's nose. He blinked as the foal gently booped him and giggled, before smiling gently. He let out a few chuckles himself, before looking back out the window, watching the weather teams attempt to remove the clouds. “Cloudburst?” He suddenly suggested, looking over to the mare. She thought about it for a moment, before directing her attention towards the foal. “I suppose. What do you think?” She asked the small pony. He looked over at Hail Storm for a few long moments, before looking at the ground, his wings twitching as he thought. He nodded softly after a few moments. “...I guess that's that,” Hail murmured softly, her wings twitching by her side. “Indeed,” Dusk agreed simply, looking around. Cloudburst stood back up and began circling around the unicorn, headbutting one of his front legs gently after doing a full rotation. “...really now?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “Mmmhhhmm,” Cloudburst murmured, nuzzling into him shortly afterwards. An “aaawwwwww~” from Hail Storm made the two turn their heads towards her, much to her amusement. “You two are adorable!” Cloudburst murmured happily, while Dusk just blushed silently. Storm giggled softly, getting back up on her hooves. Dusk looked up at Hail all of a sudden. “Wait a minute. Would Cloudburst here be, I dunno, registered as a citizen or something?” She paused midstep. “...oh. I don’t think so…”