//------------------------------// // A Party To Remember // Story: Some Redemption // by Cupzy //------------------------------// Storm slowly opened his eyes. The only thing he could feel was Twilight's forelegs wrapped tightly around him. Storm slowly started to remove Twilight's hooves from his body, almost as soon as he attempted to move one of the forelegs, the hug tightened and Storm looked over at Twilight to see that her eyes were open. "Good morning Storm." Twilight said before letting out a rather quiet yawn. Storm felt his stomach growl loudly and Twilight let out a short giggle. "When was the last time you ate something Storm?" She added. Storm was used to going large amounts of time without eating, usually of his own accord considering all he ate back in the Everfree Forest was some kind of unidentifiable grey mush that tasted like changeling droppings. "I should go and make myself something to eat." Storm said. As he attempted to leave the bed, he felt Twilight's hooves pull him back playfully. "Aw... Are you sure you don't want to sleep in today?" Twilight said with a giggle. "What do you think is more important Twilight? Me or Celestia's... Incident." Storm said, putting heavy emphasis on the word "Incident" Twilight put a hoof to her chin and sported a pensive complexion. Storm took the chance to silently slip out of the room. He made his way to the kitchen, where a disgruntled Spike was sitting, quietly eating at some gems. "Good morning Spike." Storm said, Spike was startled by Storm's sudden appearance, almost falling over completely. "Sorry about that. You just scared me when you walked in is all." Spike said. He held out a hand and smiled at Storm. "I don't think we've properly spoken to each other yet, have we?" He added. Storm took Spike's hand, giving it a shake. Although Spike's talons dug into his hoof as he closed his hand. Storm walked over to a cupboard and examined the condiments and ingredients. It was at this point that Storm realized that he didn't actually know how to cook anything. He wore a confused expression as he examined the contents of the cupboard. "What's up? You don't know how to make anything?" Spike asked with his mouth half-filled with a rather large ruby. Storm gave a nod. "Unfortunately, my upbringing didn't have much much to do with cooking. We had chefs for that department, and even then the food they made was horrendous." Storm said. He gagged quietly to himself at the reminder of the food he had to eat to get through an ordinary day. He wasn't even sure if the food had any real nutrients in it, never mind flavor. "I could make something up for you if you want. How does a daisy sandwich sound?" Spike asked. Storm once again nodded his head in agreement. "I think the dirt on the ground would taste better than anything I had to eat..." Storm said. Spike shrugged and started making Storm a sandwich after he finished his plate of gems. In a few moments, Spike handed over a sandwich on a plate. Storm picked the sandwich up, examining it carefully. The only time he ever got anything nice to eat was on extremely special occasions. Such as his graduation from his training school, where the guards dug into the pantry and gave him one extremely small cupcake. He almost instantly developed a sweet tooth and about fifteen percent of his hard work was simply to get some confectionery treats to snack on. Even if he only had around one every two years. He bit into the sandwich and was surprised at how tasty it actually was, considering he had been living off pure air for the last couple of days and he lived his entire life eating nothing but incredibly vile gruel his taste buds were literally exploding at the amount of flavor he received. He ate the last of the sandwich in a few bites and turned around to face Spike. "Thank you Spike, I only just realized how peckish I really was." Storm said. "It was nothing." Spike said. Storm heard a few hoofsteps coming down the stairs and eventually saw Twilight with a very nasty case of bed-head. Twilight's mane was naturally straight and the colors of it contrasted nearly perfectly, right now her mane consisted of a combination of two colors that could make Rainbow Dash jealous and strands of her hair were sticking out in random spots. "Twilight? Uh... I think you should go and take a shower..." Spike said. Twilight rubbed her eyes and looked at Spike wearily. She certainly wasn't like this when Storm got out of bed. "Yes, I think that would be for the better Spike." Twilight said as she ran a hoof through her mane, grumbling loudly. Storm suddenly tried to recall the last time he had any kind of shower. Protocol insisted that a shower must be taken at least once a week in the Everfree forest to avoid disease and other conditions. Storm estimated the time to be around three weeks since he had last had a shower. His mane certainly wasn't in very good condition either. He never really payed much attention to his mane and it kind of did what it wanted. The mane was straight all the way down to his neck but the front of it took a rather unsuspected turn, it ran upwards slightly and ended it a very straight looking fringe. One side of it was shot up completely while the other side drooped down as if it had been out in the rain for too long. Nobody in the Forest took any consideration into their mane and some of them ended up not looking like a mane at all. Twilight walked towards what Storm assumed was the bathroom and decided that he would probably have a shower after Twilight came out. Storm was about to exit the kitchen when a very large belch was heard from Spike's direction. "Spike, even in your own home it's not very acceptable to- What's this?" Storm said as he picked up a scroll from the floor, which looked like it had materialized out of thin air. "Don't you know Storm? I can send scrolls and receive them through my dragon fire. Think of it as a portable mailbox." Spike said. Storm was suddenly intrigued by the power of the young dragon but decided to keep it for later as he removed the seal on the scroll and began to read it. Dear Twilight Sparkle and Shadow Storm Regarding yesterday, I believe it would have been in my best interest to see one of my personal doctors, he is trustworthy, and he swore on oath not to tell another soul. Unfortunately, not much information could be shed on the foal. I hope that your trip to Ponyville was pleasant and I hope that Twilight Sparkle's friends get along with Shadow Storm. I will be visiting the doctor once more in a few days for more information on the foal. Redblade is a simply wonderful stallion, he is always looking out for my well-being. The doctor has informed me that raising the sun will take simply too much magic to do, and therefore Luna will be taking over for the next few months at raising both the sun and the moon. I do hope she is ready for something like this. -Co-ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia Storm finished reading the letter and set it down on the kitchen table. "C-Celestia's pregnant?!" Spike exclaimed. "Yes, I would have imagined Twilight told you about this." Storm replied. Spike shook his head. "I can't remember her telling me anything about it... Well, it was probably a rough day so I'm honestly not surprised that she forgot." Spike said. Storm heard Twilight trot back towards the kitchen. "Wow! I needed that. The bathroom's free if anyone wants to have a shower." Twilight said. Her mane had been straightened back out, still looking a little damp and the shower seemed to have relaxed her a little. Storm walked outside of the kitchen and spotted some steam coming from a slightly closed door. He walked over to it and opened the door. He was immediately greeted by a blast of hot air from the bathroom. He walked inside and took a look around the generally small bathroom. There was a towel hung over the side of the bathtub and some shampoo bottles were sitting on a counter above the sink. Storm walked over to the bathtub and turned the two taps at the end until a warm stream of water started to flow from the shower head. Storm grabbed a shampoo bottle and stepped inside of the bathtub. He let the warm water flow down his face as he began to wash his mane. He thought back to the letter that Celestia sent, and how she had described Redblade. Redblade was viewed as a hero and extremely noble towards his people and he was expected to be a great king. He acted casual towards anypony he met and had a better sense of humor than any other stallion Storm had ever seen. He was similar to Celestia in many ways, although he was more content with violence than friendship when solving problems. Redblade killed Storm's ancestor and almost completely destroyed Storm's very existence, but from the small conversations he could remember from his biological parents when he was a foal, his ancestor was a horrible man and almost always failed to see reason. Redblade certainly didn't act like he was a prince at all and acted like any other ordinary stallion. In many ways, he was essentially perfect for Celestia. Storm finished washing his mane and turned the taps off. He stepped outside of the bathtub and dried himself off with the towel. He walked outside of the bathroom feeling slightly more refreshed than he was a few moments ago. He spotted a familiar piece of clothing sitting next to the front door, it was the hood that Rarity had made him about a week ago. He smiled to himself at the memory and walked back through to the kitchen. When he walked inside, Twilight was reading the scroll sent by Celestia and Spike was nowhere to be seen. She looked up and smiled warmly at Storm when he walked inside. "Hello Storm, did you see this letter from Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked. "Yes, it does sound like she's rather excited for her pregnancy." Storm replied. "You look a lot better now that you've had a shower." Twilight said. Storm's mane was still damp, and a small portion of it was drooping over his forehead. "Do you have anything important planned for today?" Storm asked. "Well... I was thinking maybe you and I could... You know... Go for a walk or something?" Twilight asked nervously. "I still haven't seen all that Ponyville has to offer, so I suppose I could oblige." Storm replied. Twilight smiled at him and wrapped the scroll back up, placing it on the table. "Well, let's go, shall we?" Twilight said. Storm nodded and followed Twilight outside of the house. It was sunny in Ponyville today, and everpony was out and about. Twilight and Storm began walking a random route throughout the town. Before soon it was the middle of the afternoon, and Twilight and Storm had stopped by a cafe for lunch. After ordering their meals, Twilight decided to speak up. "Um... Hey Storm?" Twilight asked. "Hm? Yes Twilight?" Storm replied. "Can I ask you something?" Twilight asked. "Of course, what do you want to know?" Storm replied. "Well... It's about... Us..." Twilight said, "scratching" the back of her head with her hoof. "What about us?" Storm said bluntly. "Well... How long do you think we're gonna be... Together?" Twilight asked. The waiter came at that moment to drop off two daisy sandwiches. The question took Storm by surprise, he had never thought of his and Twilight's relationship like that. Storm placed his hoof over Twilight's and gave it a reassuring pat. "Twilight... I'll be there for as long as you want me to be there." Storm said. This seemed to cheer up Twilight, as she gave him a warming smile. "You always know what to say, don't you?" Twilight said. "I aim to please." Replied Storm, eliciting a giggle from Twilight. They ate the sandwiches and Twilight left a payment lying on the table, Storm also threw in a few more bits for a tip. "We should head back to the library." Twilight said. Storm gave a nod as they started to walk back to the library. Twilight seemed to have a spring in her step as she was walking back to the library, almost as if she was expecting something to happen once they got there. Storm shrugged it off and continued walking back to the library. Once they were within distance of the library, Storm found it odd that the library's lights were turned off, while Twilight left them on after they left the house. Once within a close proximity to the library, Storm could swear that he could hear the unintelligible dialogue of another pony inside the library. Storm shook his head, assuming he was simply going mad. Twilight gave Storm a giddy smile as she opened up the door to the library, it was then when Storm realized that the library was pitch black with the lights out, even in the daylight. Suddenly the lights flickered on, and Storm had to shield his eyes from the intense light. "SURPRISE!" He heard several ponies yell. He adjusted his vision and looked in front of him. He was surprised when he saw nearly a quarter of Ponyville's residents standing around the library, party balloons were adorning the walls along with streamers and a large banner on the ceiling read out: WELCOME TO PONYVILLE! Storm took about five seconds to register the event as a welcome party. "Wha-" Was all Storm could manage until he saw Pinkie Pie enthusiastically jump up from the center of the crowd. "Come on everpony! Let's PARTY!" She shouted. Suddenly, loud music started playing from completely nowhere and the large majority of the party started to dance. "I-I... I don't..." Storm tried to speak, but his voice was too blocked by the loud music that was playing. Pinkie Pie hopped over to Storm and gave him one of the most unnatural and most serial-killer looking smiles that Storm had ever seen, and by Celestia had he seen a few. "I remembered that I didn't throw a party for you when you first came here and I was like "Oh Pinkie Pie, you idiot!" And then I talked to Twilight in private yesterday and organized a party for you!" Pinkie said in an insanely fast speaking voice. "Pinkie Pie... I-I don't know what to say... I can't imagine why anypony would want to throw a party for me..." Storm said in pure disbelief. Pinkie seemed to have a look of horror combined with pure happiness on her face, it was honestly one of the most creepy things Storm had ever seen. "You've never had a party before?! By Celestia this'll be the greatest party EVER!" Pinkie said, shaking Storm violently. She hopped off into the crowd, leaving Storm in a confused state. The rest of the mane six had gathered around Storm and were giving him large smiles. "You honestly think we'd let you come into Ponyville unnoticed?" Rainbow said with a smile of glee on her face. "Considering the rumors I assumed it would be for the best..." Storm said. "Oh darling, don't you worry. I've put those horrible rumors of those to rest!" Rarity exclaimed. Twilight walked up to him and gave him a tight hug. "Just enjoy the party, alright?" Twilight whispered to him. Storm gave her a nod. The rest of the girls dispersed while Twilight stayed close to Storm. I wasn't long into the party before somepony had broken out the alcohol. Storm had never tasted alcohol in his entire life, and he wanted to save it until an extremely important occasion, and whenever a drunken pony walked over to him telling him to have a drink, he would try his best to politely decline. "You don't drink Storm?" Twilight asked after a seventh stallion had offered him a drink. "No, I want to save it for a special occasion." Storm said. "You're saying that this isn't a special occasion?" Twilight said with a hint of sadness. "More special than this... Possibly a wedding..." Storm said. The mention of a wedding seemed to pique Twilight's interest. "Oh really? And what makes you think that you're ever going to get married?" Twilight said playfully. "So I'm assuming we shared a bed simply because we're good friends?" Storm replied, Twilight giggled slightly, before hugging Storm once more. "I love you Storm." Twilight said warmly. "I love you too Twilight." Storm replied. Storm heard a sly whistle from the other side of the room, he turned around to see Rainbow Dash looking at them with a smug grin. "Storm and Twilight, sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G" Rainbow said smugly. "Eavesdropping, Rainbow Dash?" Storm asked. She let out a chuckle and walked up to the duo. "Yeah, but seriously, I'm happy for you two. Oh and *you* I'm keeping my eye on you." Rainbow said playfully, pointing at Storm. "At least I've got a special somepony Rainbow." Twilight said with a giggle. Rainbow was surprised at Twilight's laid-back attitude. She crossed her arms and looked away with a blush. "I-I could get any stallion I wanted!" Rainbow said. Storm let out a cold chuckle and led Twilight away from Rainbow, leaving her to her pouting. The sound of glass breaking seemed to elicit a sigh from Twilight. "I guess we've got a lot of cleaning up to do..." Twilight said with a grumble. "YOU will be going to bed tonight, I'll stay up and clean the library up afterwards." Storm said, looking Twilight in the eye. "That's so sweet of you Storm, but I think I'll stay up, I'd rather clean up with you than sleep alone." Twilight said, resting her head against Storm's side. It wasn't long before Twilight and Storm went outside to catch some fresh air. The music from inside made the library sound like a nightclub. They stood outside of the library before deciding to head back inside. Before they could leave, however, Storm heard the voice of a stallion coming from behind the library. "I'll be back inside in a few more minutes Twilight, okay? I just need some more fresh air is all." Storm said. Twilight gave a nod and kissed Storm on the cheek before walking back inside. Storm decided to investigate the noise coming from behind the library. He eventually saw the shadows of two ponies at the back of the library. It was quite hard to see, as the sun had just lowered over the horizon. Once he was in earshot, he only heard a part of the sentence between the two ponies, judging by the voice, one of them was a mare. "Get away from me!" He heard the mare scream, the music from inside the library was too loud for anyone to hear. The only sentence he heard was reason enough for Storm to step in. Once a silence was made between the two ponies, Storm made his presence known by clopping his hooves loudly against the cobblestone he was trotting across. The stallion noticed Storm and looked in his direction, he appeared to have been holding the colt forcefully, as he appeared to let something go. "Hey... You're that stallion that everypony's celebrating about in there, ain't you?" The stallion asked. "Yes, that would be me." Storm replied, the cold malice in his voice he had learned to control was now returning. "Well, if you don't mind, me and this young mare here have some business to attend to. So if you don't wanna die then I'd recommend that you leave." The stallion said. "I'm afraid I won't be doing that." Replied Storm. The stallion let out a long chuckle. "Brave stallion aren't you? Or are you just stupid? There's a fine line between each one." The stallion replied. He turned away from the colt and pulled out what seemed to be a sharp object and pointed it fiercely at Storm. The stallion charged at Storm, waving the sharp object around uncontrollably, Storm would have thought the situation through if he knew that the stallion would simply wave a sharp object in his direction. He was caught off guard as the stallion made a lucky shot and managed to hit Storm's side. He let out a grunt of pain as the object hit him, he assumed the stallion picked the object up from the ground, judging by the cold touch of the sharp metal. The stallion moved back a few paces, letting out a sadistic laugh. "Who's the tough guy now?" Mocked the stallion. Storm ignored the pain in his side, not knowing how severe the cut was. He couldn't draw his long sword, it would give him a bad reputation among the residents of Ponyville if he severely hurt the stallion. The stallion in question randomly went to waving the sharp object in Storm's general location again, the pure blackness of the night made it hard for Storm to see, but he could see the metal gleam in the moonlight, which gave him a good idea of where the stallion was. He dodged another close blow and threw a strong punch at the stallion's face. The force of the punch made the stallion drop his weapon and hold whatever part of his body that had just started bleeding. Storm took the opportunity to grab the stallion by the throat and slam his head against the closest solid object. This seemed to do the trick as the stallion fell to the ground, unconscious. Storm slowly walked over to the mare who watched the entire fight. Her eyes were filled with a sense of fear and hope. "A-Are you okay?!" The mare said. "F-Fine... Are you?" Storm said, clutching his side in pain. "Y-Yes, i-if you didn't come along when you did that stallion would have..." The mare finished her sentence with a sniffle. "You're safe now. Could you please go inside and alert everyone about this?" Storm asked. The mare nodded and hurried to the front door of the library. Storm walked over to the weapon that was lying on the floor and widened his eyes when he saw what it was; A butchers cleaver. The wound that Storm had was probably much more serious that he had anticipated. He ran a hoof along his side, trying to estimate how big and how deep the cut was, he winced in pain as he felt a large cut going across his side. He heard the sound of multiple ponies rushing towards him and it wasn't long before a large group of ponies surrounded him, with Twilight and her friends standing at the front of the crowd, all wearing horrified expressions. Twilight ran over to him and supported him as he almost fell over. "Storm! Are you okay?!" Twilight shouted. Storm responded by making a weak gesture with his hooves. Storm felt numerous wet droplets on his side, he assumed the rain had just started but when he looked back up, he saw Twilight crying profusely onto his side. "D-Do you have any... Bandages?" Storm choked out, he felt a slight trickle of blood escape form his throat. "Don't speak Storm, you'll only make things worse... W-We'll get you to the hospital and treat those wounds, okay?" Twilight said, almost half-pleading with Storm to stay alive. He let out a weak nod in response and wondered how much blood he was losing. Judging by how many ponies he heard fainting, quite a lot. It wasn't long before he felt his vision fading. He let out a blood-filled chuckle before he almost blacked out. "I-It's been a while since somepony's been able to cut me before..." He choked out. He felt his vision leave him, the last thing he saw was Twilight shedding tears as he blacked out.