Chapter 3
Storm was falling at an alarming rate, he tried to flap his wings but he was too heavy and his wings were too small. He looked down to see the ground becoming closer and closer as he rocketed towards it, his heart was beating faster than a humming birds’. Storm closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable pain. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a streak of blue and yellow flying towards him, he suddenly felt himself being lifted back towards the sky, he looked up to see that a pegasus stallion in a blue uniform with a yellow trim that looked like lightning bolts had caught him and was bringing him back up. He heard the sounds cheering and relief as he and the stallion stepped onto the cloud. The stallion began to wave at the crowd as Storm looked up at him with tear filled eyes. He then felt a massive shock rip through his body.
Storm’s eyes snapped open and he sat in his bed panting and sweating. He could feel his heart about to break out of his chest. He looked down at his hooves and calmed himself down.
“Man, haven’t had that dream in a while.” he said out loud.
“What dream?” his eyes instantly looked up to see Rainbow Dash looking at him with a worried look on her face.
“What are you doing in my room?” he said with a frown.
“I heard you screaming so I came to see if you were all right.” she said as she sat on the cloud bed.
“I’m fine....It was only a nightmare.” he said in a flat tone.
“You sure?”
“I’m fine.” he said as he turned off his alarm clock and got to his hooves. “C’mon it’s almost time to go to work.” as he trotted past the mare, Rainbow casted a concerned look in his direction. She quickly hopped of the bed and followed him down into the kitchen. The two had a bowl of cereal each and ate in silence.
“So...sleep well?” she said as she tried to lighten the mood.
“For the most part. You?”
“Yeah. The bed is fine, I guess I just miss my cloud bed.”
“We can probably go get another one if you want.”
“No no. It’s fine.” she said a she waved her hoof. The two put their dishes in the sink and trotted out the door. The pegasi took flight and made their way to the weather facility, they clocked in and waited for Wildfire and Thunderlane to arrive. Once hey did they began their morning routine of moving the clouds away from the small town. Rainbow and Storm were finished before the other two and took an early lunch. They dropped by Sugar Cube Corner and grabbed a booth. After Mr. Cake came over and took their orders Rainbow let out a massive yawn.
“Tired already?”
“Kinda, didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“I thought you said the bed was fine?”
“It is, just not used to it yet.” yet as she stretched.
“I said we can go and get your bed from your place. It’s no trouble.”
“And face Gilda again? No thanks.” She said as she let out a low growl.
“She was that griffin?”
“Yeah.”
“How did you even get a griffin as a roommate anyway?” he asked as their food arrived.
“Gilda and I have been pals since junior flight camp. We had a small...falling out two years ago when she visited Ponyville.” she said as she took a bite of her sandwich.
“What happened?”
“She acted like a huge jerk to my friends, she even made Fluttershy cry.”
“Fluttershy......she’s that yellow pegasus from last night, right?”
“Yeah. I didn’t talk to her for a while after that. When the Changeling’s invaded Canterlot it caused a lot of damage to the city, which caused higher taxes and my landlord had to raise the rent.” she said as she took another bite. “I figured I’d give Gilda a second chance, for old time sake you know.” Storm nodded his head. “And well.....you know the rest.”
“I can guess. Personally I think second chances are a complete waste of time.”
“What?”
“I have a rule, no second chances.”
“Why?”
“If they fail you a second time it just hurts that much more.” he said in a sad tone. “You know what they say, ‘fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.’ pretty simple if you think about it.”
“I take it you learned that from your ex?” Rainbow commented. Storm looked at her with an icy glare. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine, and yes.” he said in a defeated tone.
“What happened?”
“My mare-friend had a busy job so she often would bring work home with her. Turns out her co-worker was included with that package.” Rainbow’s eyes shrank.
“Oh...sorry to hear that. How long ago was that?”
“Two years ago.”
“Two years! No offense dude, but that’s a long break.”
“Hey it took time for me to heal.”
“Did you ever try and patch things up?”
“No.” he said in a flat tone. He got to his hooves and paid for the meal. “So what now?”
“I don’t know....wanna race?”
“Why?”
“For fun, duh! You do like fun right?” she said with a smirk.
“Fine. Where to?” he said as he rolled his eyes.
“Hmm.....Sweet Apple Acres’s?”
“Okay.” he said as he drew a starting line in the ground. He lined up next to Rainbow and the two started to stretch. As he cracked his neck he couldn’t help but notice how flexible the cyan mare was as she dug her hooves forward and arched her back in a downward motion, causing her wings to flare and her flank to stick up. He felt his face blush as he turned away and began to flex his legs. Rainbow glanced over at the stallion to see him cracking his legs and neck, his veins looked like they were ready to burst out of his skin against the wall of muscle he hid behind his shinning white coat. “Ready?”
“Ready!” the two took their starting positions. “3,2,1, GO!” she said as the two pegasi launched forwards. They started to climb in height, Rainbow looked to her right to see that Storm was keeping up with her..no he was beating her. Inch by inch the white stallion gained a little bit of distance, surpassing the mare. Rainbow kicked it into high gear and reclaimed the lead only to be even with the stallion once again. Rainbow couldn’t believe that some-pony, her roommate no less was keeping up with her. She had had enough and decided to bust out her secret weapon; ‘The Sonic Rainboom.’
She poured all of her strength into her wings and gradually began to feel the cone of pressure form around her front hooves, she kept going until she felt the pressure release and she was shot forward leaving behind a rainbow trail in her wake. Sweet Apple Acre’s came into view and she could taste victory. She then saw a white object overpass her leaving a black and red flame trail behind it. Her concentration was shattered and began to lose control of her flight, as she tried to correct herself she felt a splitting pain in her right wing. She began to lose altitude and plummet towards the ground, Dash tried to flap but her wing wouldn’t obey her commands. She began to scream as the view of the ground became clearer. She felt her body being grabbed by a pair of hooves, she looked up to see Storm wrapping his hooves around her and holding her close.
“Hang on! This is gonna be a rough landing!” he said as he began to descend, he hadn’t slowed down enough to come to a complete stop and Rainbow’s extra weight wasn’t making it any easier. Rainbow’s eyes were filled with fear and her face was stone cold white as the two hit the ground, knocking over an apple tree in the process. Storm felt his back digging into the dirt and sliding creating a crater. He opened his eyes to see that Rainbow had her hooves wrapped around his chest and was shaking. She looked up to see his vibrant red eyes staring at her, he was panting heavily. Rainbow’s face turned bright red, they heard hoof steps fast approaching. The looked up to see Applejack and Big Macintosh with confused looks on their faces.
“Are you two okay?” Applejack asked. Storm then realized the position he was in and quickly got to his hooves.
“Yeah, I’m fine...just a little banged up.” he said as he got out of the crater he dug himself. Rainbow soon followed suit she began to tremble and she sat on the ground trying to collect herself. Applejack rushed over to her friend and put a hoof on her shoulder.
“Are you alright there RD?”
“Y-yeah. I just need a moment.” she said as she got to her hooves. She looked over to see Storm sitting on the ground catching his breath. Applejack looked at the two with a raised eyebrow.
“What in the name of Celestia were you two doing?” she said as Rainbow made her way over to the stallion.
“Racing.” he breathed out. He looked up at the sky and and gave a grin. “I think I won.” the other ponies looked up at the sky to see a rainbow trail side by side with a trail of black flames with red tips. The fire trail exceeded the length of the rainbow trail by a good fifty feet and then began to curve outward. He looked back at Rainbow who was sitting with her head hung low. “We’ll call it a draw.” he said as he stood up he looked over at Dash who was still on the ground. He put a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to look at him in surprise “You okay?”
“Y-yeah. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” he said as he held out his hoof. Rainbow got to her hooves.
“No seriously you saved- AHH!” she yelled in pain. she began to stagger, Storm caught her before she hit the ground.
“Easy, easy. I got ya.” he said as he stood her back up. “What’s wrong?”
“My wing, I think it’s broken.” she said as she gritted her teeth.
“Let me see.” she looked at him in confusion. “Relax, I’ve dealt with stuff like this before.” Rainbow turned around and felt his hooves on her damaged wing, she blushed as he felt how delicate his touch was. “Good news, it’s not broken. Just dislocated.”
“It’s what?” Applejack asked.
“It got forced out of it’s socket.” Applejack cringed at the thought. “Relax, I can put it back in.” Rainbow’s eyes shrank at the thought. “That okay with you Rainbow?” he asked.
“Yeah. Just do it.” she said as she gritted her teeth.
“Okay... hold still.” he took the wing in his hoof and forced it into the socket. Rainbow let out a cry of pain and immediately jumped to her hooves and looked back at him with a frown. “Well? How does it feel?” Rainbow rotated her wing and cracked her back.
“Better, but still pretty sore.”
“That’s expected.” he said as he began to limp away.
“Hey you okay?” Applejack asked.
“Yeah....Just shaking off the crash.” he said as he cracked his neck.
“Ah’m surprised ya can even stand after that.” Big Mac said.
“After what?” Rainbow asked. Big Mac pointed at the tree broken in half, in line with the crater. Rainbow’s jaw dropped at the sight, she looked back at the stallion who had a calm look on his face. “How did you-?”
“I’ve taken worse hits.” he said as he staggered and threw on a cocky grin.
“How did you beat me?”
“You’re not the only pegasus in Equestria who’s broken the sound barrier before Skittles.” he said with a smile. She instantly slugged him in the arm, he let out a small cry of pain.
“I HATE that nick name!” she yelled.
“Right sorry.” he breathed out. “I’ll see you guys later, I’m heading home for some R&R.” he said as he began to limp towards the town. Rainbow trotted up next to him.
“C’mon. I’ll walk you home.” she said with a smile. The two pegasi made their way through town. “Hey, thanks again for saving me.” she said with a small blush.
“No problem. It’d suck if my roommate died on day two.” he said with a laugh.
“So where did you learn how to break the sound barrier?”
“I figured it out, I heard the rumors and decided to test it. It took me years to perfect it though.” he said.
“What do you call it?”
“Call it?” he said in surprise.
“Yeah it’s gotta have a name. Like I have the Sonic Rain-boom, so what’s it’s name?”
“I don’t know....Sonic Blaze-boom?”
“Awesome!” she said as the two arrived at their home. Storm opened the door and limped his way inside, with Rainbow following close behind. “I’m gonna go lie down for a bit, okay?”
“Fine by me.” he said as the mare trotted upstairs. Storm, bypassed the stairs and heading into the weight room, trotted over to the hot tub and he stepped in and let out a sigh as he entered the warm water. He set his head back and let out a moan as the jet’s turned on. Storm closed his eyes and took in the silence he was enjoying. His eyes snapped open as he heard something splash in the water, he looked over to see Rainbow entering the hot tub at the opposite end. “What are you doing?”
“Getting in to relax. What’s it look like I’m doing?”
“I thought you were going to sleep.”
“Well my wing is still bugging me, so I figured that I relax it before I tried sleeping on it again.” she said as she submerged her wings into the water. “Oh sweet Celestia that feels good.” she said with her tongue sticking out of her mouth. Storm rolled his eyes and dunked his head under the water for a moment. He let the air bubble out of his mouth in a slow fashion. As his head broke the surface of the water he noticed that Rainbow was fidgeting with her wing.
“What’s wrong?”
“My wing still feels pretty stiff.”
“Dislocation will do that to ya. There is something I can do to get rid of it. But it’s a pretty dumb idea.” he said with a small blush.
“What’s that?”
“Massaging it.” Rainbow’s face turned crimson at the thought of his hooves rubbing her wings. “Like I said, dumb-”
“Alright.” she said in a weak tone. Storm looked at the mare in surprise, Rainbow made her way over to him and sat in front of him. Storm hid his blush and got closer to the mare, Dash flinched as he put his hooves on her wing.
“Okay...Tell me where it hurts.”
“A little to the left.” he adjusted his hooves. “ A little to the- Oh right there!” she said with a sigh of relief. As Storm began massaging the area Rainbow started to pant, she was trying her best not to pop a wing boner in front of him. He began to dig his hoof into the base of her back, Rainbow let out a quick yelp of surprise at the motion.
“Am I getting the right spot?”
“Y-yeah.” she said weakly. Storm removed his hooves and got out of the hot tub and began to dry himself off. “Why’d you stop?”
“That’s all I really know. If you need anything more than that I suggest you go to a spa.” he said as he put a towel over his head.
“A spa?”
“Yes. They may be extremely boring but the masseuses have to be trained in physical therapy.” he said as he hung the towel back up. “I’m going to go lay down, see ya.”
“Later.” she said as he trotted back upstairs. As soon as he was out of range Rainbow relaxed her wings, which immediately sprang up in arousal. “Damn you hormones!” she said as she floated on her back in the warm water.
Storm had just reached the ground floor when he glanced at the giant black door at the back of his house. He trotted over to it and pressed the numbered keys on the keypad. A series of loud creaks and turning gears occurred as the massive metal door swung open. He trotted inside and closed the door behind him.
A half hour later Rainbow had gotten out and started to make her way upstairs when she heard that loud creaking noise again. She poked her head out of the door way to see storm closing the door and locking it with a security code. As he turned around Dash closed the door and reopened it again as he trotted past.
“Hey.”
“Hey. Your wing feel better?” he asked.
“Yeah.” she said with a smile. She then noticed severe redness in his eyes, almost like he had been crying. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Your eyes are red.”
“They’re always red.” he deadpanned.
“No, I mean the white parts.” Storm trotted over to a mirror and saw what she meant.
“I got some of the hot tub water in my eyes and it’s irritating them.” he lied.
“Oh, okay.”
“I’m going back to sleep if you need me.” he said as he side stepped the mare and trotted up the stairs. Rainbow watched him leave and cast a glance back at the massive door. She approached it and examined the large piece of metal.
Why would he need something like this? It looks like a bank vault door.
Maybe he’s a murderer?
Yeah right.
I know, but he’s still hiding something.
True. But he’s not so bad, he’s fast, strong, nice sometimes.
Not to mention cute.
Shut up! I don’t know anything about him.
So? You know he’s single.
Um yeah. But he’s getting over a bad break up.
I think two years is long enough.
Shut up.
All I’m saying is claim him before he’s taken. Rainbow dismissed the thoughts and walked back to her room with her head hanging low. She opened her door to see a cloud floating in the place where her bed used to be. She saw a note attached to it.
Skittles~
Don’t go all ‘you didn’t have to do that’ on me. It’s done. Deal with it.
-Storm.
Rainbow tossed the message in the waste basket and laid in the fluffy surface and let out a relaxed sigh. She pulled the covers over herself and soon fell asleep.
