Disclaimer: I do NOT own MLP: FIM or any of the characters. I only co-own this story with a good buddy of mine from Middle Grounds. Half of the original characters are owned by me the other by him. That said and done, I hope you enjoy this first chapter. First time doing a MLP story, something I NEVER thought I would find myself doing. _
Chapter 1: Home Coming
Twilight Sparkle yawned as she stretched up from her bed, glancing out to the window as she noticed the sun shining brightly outside. There was one thing that the young pony looked forward to everyday when she woke up. It was the beautiful sunlight that her teacher, Princess Celestia, would bring to the day.
She blinked some as she turned to her calender, June 12th. Twilight gasped at the date, remembering the event that she and her friends had planned. Quickly jumping out of her bed, she stretched once more. As she stretched, her eyes found her assistant, and best friend, Spike, snoozing in his basket. Twilight giggled.
"He worked himself to the bone last night, I'll let him sleep for a little while longer." She thought, walking towards the bathroom.
The young unicorn proceeded with the morning rituals. She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth, and straightened out her mane. When she was done preparing for the day Twilight walked back out to notice her assistant, Spike, still snoozing. She sighed some as she gently taps the basket he was in.
"Wake up, sleepy head. It's time to face the day." She softly said.
Spike however continued to snore peacefully in his basket. Twilight sighed, Spike was always a heavy sleeper after all, though she had to remind herself that he was a baby dragon who did need his sleep. The only problem? It was eight thirty A.M, a time that he always up at. Once again, she tapped the basket with her hoof.
"Come on, Spike. Today's the picnic day, we've been planning this for weeks!" Twilight urged on, rocking the basket this time.
This got a reaction from him this time.
"zz...No more for me, tha..." Spike's eyes fluttered a bit, then widened as he notice Twilight looking down at him. He rolled out of his basket, falling onto the floor before jumping back up on his feet.
"OH! Uh...sorry bout that..man, we gotta stop scheduling these things so early, but I'm ready."
Twilight chuckled a lil, then gently nuzzled Spike.
"Oh Spike, I know that you are a baby dragon, but that doesn't mean that we can't avoid important dates." Her horn glowed as a bag and supplies floated over to her. "You sure you're not too tired, Spike?"
"I'll be fine, Twilight." Spike assured her, grabbing his own supplies as he gets a thought, "Hey, you think the new guy will show up?"
Twilight blinked at that question. What did he mean by the new guy? Last time she remembered, there wasn't anyone else coming to the picnic other than their friends. She glanced back to her assistant, raising an eyebrow at him.
"New guy? Who are you talking about, Spike?"
"Don't you remember?" Spike asked, surprised to see that Twilight had forgotten, "That new pony Dash introduced us to the other day?"
Twilight thought hard on the subject, searching her memory as best as she could to remember who Spike was talking about. She knew it wasn't any of the three former bullies from Cloudsdale, Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom pretty much opened their eyes. Twilight tapped her front left hoof in annoyance, trying to remember who it was. Was it one of the members of The Wonderbolts? The last time Dash saw them was at the Gala, and it really didn't go over that well.
"Twilight?" Spike asked, noticing that she was still deep in thought, "Equestia to Twilight? Hello?"
Twilight's eyes closed for a second, then opened once more as a smile came to her face. She turned to her assistant with a slight smirk now.
"You mean the new pegasus that you were green with envy over, during that storm that Dash caused?" She asked, her memory returning to her.
Spike turned away, a slight blush appearing on his face as he crossed his arms in annoyance.
"You didn't have to go and put it THAT way..." He grumbled.
"My point is, Spike," Twilight continued, "I do remember that day now, it started out like a normal day too..."
One month earlier, Twilight was hanging out with her friends on a hill that they would usually hang out together at. Taking shelter underneath the tree's shade to avoid the hot rays of the sun, the group sat closely together as they enjoyed the peace and quiet. However, one pony was not happy about the heat and had to vocalize her opinion on it.
"This heat is a nightmare!" Rarity complained, whipping her forehead with her left front hoof.
"Oh pipe down, Rarity." Applejack said, rolling her eyes at Rarity's whining.
"Pipe down? Excuse me?" Rarity asked, "In case you have forgotten, Applejack, I am a lady and ladies do not like extreme heats!"
Applejack raised an eyebrow at her friend in annoyance.
"Then why in the hay are ya out here if y'all can't stand the heat?"
Rarity huffed as she turned her head away from her friend. Applejack groaned as she turned to Twilight, looking to her for support. Twilight chuckled lightly as she glanced over to Rarity now.
"Come on Rarity, it's not that hot now." She said.
"It's still hot, Twilight," Rarity complained, "the only reason why I am out where with you all is because Fluttershy told me that we'd see some beautiful scenery that could potentially inspire moi."
The yellow pegasus pony, sitting a few feet away from the group, blushed and hide her face away from them. Out of all the ponies in Ponyville, Fluttershy was the nicest and sweetest of them. This of course meant that she really disliked conflict and would avoid it at any chance she got.
"I'm sorry girls," Fluttershy said quietly, "it looked like such a nice day today..."
Rarity frowned some now, worried that she might have upset her best friend a bit as she gently nudged Fluttershy once.
"Oh now darling, don't be sorry now." She said in a much kinder voice, "You had no idea that the heat was gonna be like this today."
"Oh oh oh! I know who did though!" Pinkie Pie said, her head popping up from the tree branches above them. The group blinked at this sight as they glanced up at their random friend.
"Pinkie, how did you get up there?" Twilight asked.
"I climbed, silly!" Pinkie answered, jumping down from her branch as she turned towards the group, "Besides, we all know that Dashie planned the heat today!"
Rainbow Dash groaned as she got up from her spot, the light blue pegasus pony glanced towards Pinkie with an annoyed look on her face.
"Hey, it's not my fault that the heat was just a tiny bit hotter than it should be!" She said, arguing her defense.
"That doesn't excuse the fact that YOU made it hot!" Rarity argued, trying to cool herself off as best she could. Spike ran over to her with a fan and tried to cool her off with it.
"Here you go, Rarity!" He said quickly, if it was possible for his eyes to have hearts, they would have replaced his emerald green eyes.
"Rarity does got a point, Rainbow." Applejack said, frowning, "I know it's summer time and all, but couldn't y'all make it a lil bit cooler?"
Rainbow Dash groaned as she opened her wings, floating in the air some as she flapped them. Turning away from the group a bit as she studied the skies above her carefully.
"Hey, there should be a minor rain cloud coming soon, all right?"
"How sure are ya at that, Rainbow?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Positive, I made sure that a simple rainstorm, ok?"
True to her word, a cloud of rain was soon approaching the group. The girls smiled at the sight, a slight rain cloud would be a warm welcome compared to the heat they had to endure. But just as soon as the cloud reached them, it's friendly shape turned dark and dangerous. Thunder rumbled from within as rain began to fall harder than it should have been.
"Ow!" Rarity complained, "It's coming down too fast!"
"Huh?" Rainbow asked dumbfounded, "I didn't plan it to be a storm cloud!"
Before Applejack could make a retort at her friend, the storm cloud soon was over them. Thunder boomed from it as lighting struck the ground near the group. Fluttershy yelped as she jumped back, hiding behind the tree. To make matters worse, a powerful wind followed the torrential rain and booming thunder. Rarity looked like she was about to have a heart attack from all the rain. A couple of the tree branches fell down, blocking the group's path.
"We gotta get out of here!" Twilight shouted, putting up a magical shield around Spike and Rarity.
"Easier said than done!" Applejack bucked kicked one of the fallen branches away. She turned to Rainbow Dash, narrowing her eyes.
"Rainbow, what in tarnation were you thinking planning a storm like this?" She shouted.
"Hey, don't blame me!" Rainbow countered, getting ready to fly into the air.
"This was supposed to be a simple rain assignment, but apparently some wiseguy decided to schedule Ditzy making a windstorm without telling anyone else, ok?"
Rainbow Dash hastily ended the argument as she looks on the stormy horizon with worry as she thought to herself about a pony she knew that could have made the situation much better. She bit her lip as she flew into the air.
"Dammit, where are you...?" She asked under her breath.
Fluttershy looked over at the others as Rainbow flew into the air. Despite the harsh rain and weather, her concern for her friend shined through the storm.
"Um...is it me, or does Dash seem to have something on her mind?" She asked Applejack.
Applejack blinked as she looked up at Rainbow, a frown appearing on her face.
"Rainbow, is there something that you're not telling us?" She shouted to her friend, but before Rainbow could answer, Rarity let out a scream as a nearby tree begun to plummet towards the group. "Rainbow, hurry!" Twilight shouted
Suddenly a mighty blast of wind comes from behind the group as the storm clouds and tree began to head towards the other direction. Twilight grabbed Spike by his tail to prevent him from flying as the strong winds continue to push back against the storm. Pinkie was holding onto one of the tree branches with both her front legs.
"Whee!" She called out, "This is fun!"
"Ow ow!" Spike cried, "Twilight, that's my tail!"
"Partner, would you rather she let you go?" Applejack snapped.
Another crack of lighting came from the storm cloud. This time it struck the bark of their tree. Slowly but surely, it began to fall towards the group.
"Rainbow!" Rarity shrieked, closing her eyes tightly.
"Wha?" Rainbow turned and saw the tree. Her eyes widened as she raced towards it. She spun around in a circle, forming a protective cyclone around herself. When the cyclone was ready, she barreled into the tree, sending it harmlessly on the ground far away from the group.
Rainbow fell to the ground, eyes rolling in her head. The storm cloud above the group began to move away slowly, eventually disappearing all together.
Rainbow stumbled a bit as she tried to straightened herself out. Pinkie ran up to her, a big smile on her face.
"Boy Dash, that was awesome! That was such a cool ability with the wind shell! Since when could you-"
"I'll tell you as soon as I figure out which one of you three is the real one, Pinkie..."
"Rainbow, y'all right, cowgirl?" Applejack asked, racing towards her friend with the rest.
"I'm fine, AJ..." Rainbow answered, standing up on her legs, eyes still rolling around in her head.
"That was amazing!" Twilight grinned, "I had a feeling that you'd get rid of the rainstorm!"
Rainbow blinked once. Her eyes straightened out before turning to Twilight with a confused look on her face.
"What do you mean? Isn't it still here?"
"Darling, that cyclone you pulled up pushed the entire storm away!" Rarity exclaimed, "I don't think anyone else could have blown it away."
"There was someone else back then..." Rainbow thought quietly, turning away from her friends.
Behind the group on a nearby hill stood another pony, a male pegasus. He grinned some as he began walking towards them.
"Sounds like to me you're taking things way to fast for your own good, Dashie girl." He said, catching everyone's attention.
Twilight blinked as she turned around. She turned to Applejack whose mouth had dropped to the ground.
"Well I'll be a sour apple, is that who I think it is?" She asked.
"It is!" Rarity squealed happily, hopping up and down in her spot by Spike. The purple dragon noticed her excitement at the new comer. Fluttershy gasped quietly as Pinkie's smile turned into a huge grin.
Rainbow shook her head, clearing it. "Oyyy Sky Fire, can't you just shut up for one-"
Her eyes widen as she turned to the pegasus pony approaching the group. At first her mouth gave a scowl, but then a smug grin at the new comer. "Y...Oh NOW you show up! That totally figures!"
Twilight rubbed her eyes some, trying to get them clear so she could get a better view of the new pegasus. His mane and tail shared a similar pattern together, almost as if they are on fire themselves. His fur coat color being pure white, like a cloud, and green eyes that seem to shine in the night. On his flank was the sky itself, but flames covering it completely. Going by what Rainbow said, she already knew his name.
Sky Fire smiled some as he bows his head down to the girls.
"Hello ladies." He said, "I'm finally home."
To Be Continued...