//------------------------------//
// A New Brother 
// Story: Blue Skye's Story 
// by Skyfire Storm 
//------------------------------//

Oct. 23, 1998
It was already after school and Blue Skye and Thunder trotted down the road leading to their homes. It was a nice October day and it's already begun to get colder in Cloudsdale, so Blue and Thunder decided to enjoy one of the last days of warmth in the city and possibly one the last days of their friendship. 

"So, how's your weekend been?" Blue asked Thunder.

"It's been pretty good. My dad's close to getting a job promotion and we might move house." Thunder explained.

"Where about are you guys moving? Are you going to be leaving Cloudsdale?" Blue asked. It took Thunder a while to answer that question.

"It's possible we'll move to Ponyville or Canterlot. We're still looking at house prices." Thunder replied.

"I'm gonna miss you, buddy. We've been best friends for over 4 years." Blue said with a sad face, while putting a hoof around Thunder's shoulder. 

"I'm going to miss you too, Blue. I'll still probably be at school for Nightmare Night; I think we're moving in November." Thunder explained. 

"Alright then. But still, you were a great friend." Blue replied. Thunder simply smiled.

"Anyways..." he begun. "I forgot to ask, how was your weekend?" Blue thought to himself. 

"It was pretty good. Dad signed me up for the Weather Team's junior program. I'm starting today." Blue explained with a grin. Blue was one of the youngest recruits so far on the Weather Team's junior program, which included ponies from ages 10 to 18 and he was starting his first day as a junior recruit on that very same day, so Blue was pretty nervous. 

"Oh, cool! I know I didn't tell you this before, but when I grow up, I want to either be a Royal Guard, a weather pony or a businesspony like my dad is." Thunder explained.

"If you want to be a weather pony, you should ask your dad if he can sign you up for the junior program. I haven't been yet, but it should be fun." Blue said with mock excitement in his voice. 

"I don't know..." Thunder simply replied. "I still need to think." 

"It's fine." Blue said. "I still don't know whether I'd be a good weather pony when I'm older. I mean, my parents are great weather ponies. I don't know if I'll ever amount to that." 

"Maybe you will. Just... try your best." Thunder said, nudging Blue playfully. Eventually, the two colts reached Blue's home. 

"See you tomorrow, Thunder." Blue said and waved back at his friend. 

"See you, Blue." Thunder replied and continued trotting off. Blue opened the door to his house and stepped in.

"Mom, I'm home." Blue said.

"Hey, sweetie." Summer replied and nuzzled Blue. "How was your day at school today? Are you ready for your first day in the Junior Program?" she asked him.

"It was pretty good, except for the fact that Thunder might be moving away." Blue replied, with a hint of sadness in his voice. "And yeah, I am ready." he said. 

"Thunder's moving away?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, they might be moving to Ponyville or Canterlot. They're still looking for a house." Blue replied.

"Oh, right..." Summer said. "Hm. Maybe I could talk to Thunder's dad if maybe I could take you to his house for a few hours every Saturday or Sunday. What do you say?" 

"That'd be great. Thanks, mom!" Blue replied.

Summer simply smiled at him. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen. I have hay fries and salad for you, Blue." Blue simply grinned. A few hours later and Lightning Fast came back. Blue grinned as he watched his dad walk towards the house from his bedroom window; he knew that Lightning Fast is taking him to the Weather Factory for the Junior Program. The moment Blue heard the door click open, he immediately trotted downstairs to greet his dad.

"Hey, son!" Lightning Fast said and hugged Blue.

"Hey dad!" Blue simply replied.

"Are you ready to go to the Weather Factory?" Lightning asked.

"I sure am!" Blue said in reply.

"Alright. I better go eat. I'll see you in twenty minutes. For now, you can go back upstairs. Alright?" Lightning asked.

"Okay, daddy." Blue replied and trotted upstairs. Summer came out of the living room and stood beside Lightning Fast. He wrapped his wing around her and sighed.

"Our son is growing up, Lighty." Summer said with a smile on his face.

"He sure is..." Lightning replied with pride. "I remember him trotting around the house in diapers like it was just yesterday, and now he wants to be a weather pony, just like us." He nuzzled Summer.

"We should tell him about the foal." Summer whispered into Lightning's ear.

"Good idea, honey." Lightning replied and they both went back into the kitchen to eat. About twenty minutes later, Blue trotted down the stairs into the living room. He stopped as he noticed his parents standing in the middle of the room. 

"Mom, dad?" Blue asked.

"Blue, we have something very important to tell you." Lightning replied. Blue raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"You're going to be a brother." Summer replied, with a smile on her face. Blue was lost for words.

"So, d--does that mean, that you-you're pregnant?" Blue asked.

"Yes, son." Summer replied. Blue was lost for words and simply grinned.

"That's great, mom!" Blue said. "Is it a colt or a filly?" he asked. 

Lightning simply chuckled. "We don't know yet, son." He replied, smiling. 

"This is great news!" Blue replied, while Summer and Lightning simply smiled at their son. It was time to go.

"Alright, son. Are you ready to go to the Weather Factory with me?" Lightning asked.

"I sure am, dad." Blue replied. Lightning smiled and both of the trotted out of the house and flew off towards the city. It was one of those clear nights when the most of the city could be seen from Blue's house, not just part of it, including the Weather Factory, which is usually not visible from Blue's house. Blue was nervous during the flight there, not just about the Junior Program and joining the weather team when he's older but also about his mom being pregnant. He decided to bring the subject up to Lightning Fast.

"Dad?" Blue asked.

"Yeah, son?" Lightning replied.

"Will mom be alright?" Blue asked.

"She will, son. Don't worry." Lightning said. "I know you're not used to this, but trust me, everything will be alright." he replied, putting his wing around Blue. "You'll get used to it, son." 

At the Weather Factory...
Blue and Lightning trotted up to the rain chamber of the Weather Factory, where the lessons took place. As they walked across the factory, the feeling of nervousness overtook Blue again. This wasn't the first time Blue was at the factory, but it was his first time doing the Junior Program lessons. That and most of the ponies in the class were taller and more intimidating than Blue is. Lightning Fast left Blue in the cue and went to stand nearby with all the other parents. Blue felt pretty uncomfortable standing between two pegasi who were a lot taller than him, but after a reassuring wink from Lightning Fast, he calmed himself down. He could tell that the pony standing before him was Streak Lightning, Thunder's older brother. Streak Lightning was a 16-year old colt who was almost finished with the junior lessons and was assisting the coach. 


Blue looked at the front of the cue. There were over a dozen ponies standing in front of him. He then looked over the edge of the platform. There was a cloud about fifty feet off the platform, floating over a pretty deep gap. Although the task (which was to punch through the cloud) seemed pretty easy at first, it actually was a nightmare; the technicians activated large fans which simulated wind and pushed the ponies around the gap. Blue was a good flyer, but he was still nervous about taking off and about the entire "new foal" thing. Eventually, it came for Blue's turn to punch through the cloud.

"Next!" the coach shouted. Blue reluctantly walked up to the edge of the platform.

"Alright Blue Skye, is it?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's me." Blue replied.

"I want you to fly out there, fly through that cloud and fly back, okay? It's as simple as that." the coach said. 

"Okay..." Blue said and begun to flutter his wings. He pulled off the platform and flew towards the cloud. The technicians then turned on the fans, which pushed Blue around the room. Blue screamed as he flew out of control and accidentally hit a wall in the progress. He eventually bounced off the wall and regained control of himself.

Easy now... he thought to himself, but he still had that thought of the new baby stuck in his head. He was about 10 feet away from the cloud, when suddenly he turned back out of nerve. 

"What are you doing?" the coach shouted. "You're meant to tear through the cloud!" Blue ignored him and flew back to the platform. The coach then came over to him, along with Streak Lightning, who was less-than-pleased.

"What was that all about?" the coach shouted. "You were just mere feet away from the cloud and you turned away! What's gotten into you?" 

"I'm sorry..." Blue replied, with a tear rolling down his cheek. The coach simply sighed. 

"Blue, if you want to get accepted into the team, I'd suggest you be the best you can be and not goof around." the coach said with a stern face and turned away. Streak Lightning simply shrugged.

"Nice work getting 'accepted' into the Junior Program, kid." he said before turning away and following the coach. Some of the kids in the cue smirked, while Lightning Fast, who was overlooking the entire situation, simply shook his head. Blue trotted back to Lightning Fast and waited for a reaction.

"Come on, son. Let's just go home." Lightning replied. Blue trotted by his father, who was disappointed in him. Eventually, when both of them were out of the Weather Factory and were flying over the city towards home, Lightning spoke.

"I thought you wanted to be a weather pony." he said with a disappointed tone in his voice.

"I do, dad..." Blue replied.

"Then why didn't you do what they told you to do?" Lightning asked him.

"Because... Dad look, I was nervous." Blue replied.

"About what? About the new baby? Is that what you're nervous about?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah, and not just that. I was nervous about joining this entire Junior Program too." Blue spoke. "I just don't know if I'd live up to your standards." Lightning sighed.

"Blue, look." he begun. "I know you're nervous about all that stuff, but you can't let that hold you back. And yeah, you can live up to my standards. You are a very talented and smart young pony whom I know can take my place when I retire. You'd be a great weather pony son, but you need to try harder. Alright? And you need to put distractions like the new foal aside. I know you're pretty nervous about your mom having a baby, but that's not going to help you train harder." 

"I guess you're right..." Blue replied. 

"Hey." Lightning said to Blue and winked at him. "We're almost home." 

The next day...
Blue and Thunder were hanging out in Thunder's backyard. Thunder's dad had bought a trampoline not long ago, so both Blue and Thunder could play in the garden without getting bored. Blue was thinking about what happened yesterday, and had decided to explain everything to Thunder. Both of them were playing hide n' seek and were hiding amongst the clouds that made up the backyard. This time, it was Thunder who was seeking. Blue was peeping through a gap in the cloud bushes and chuckling to himself while looking at Thunder through it. Thunder eventually noticed Blue staring at him through the gap.

"Ah, found you!" he said with pride.

"Yeah... I'm not good at not giving away my location." Blue explained.

"It doesn't really matter, Blue." Thunder said. "I'm bored..."

"Yeah, me too. Oh, and I have something to tell you." Blue said. 

"Yeah? What's wrong?" Thunder asked.

"Nothing... my mom's pregnant." Blue started.

"Woah. Really?" Thunder asked.

"Yep. It's because of that I failed my first lesson in the Junior Program. I kept thinking too much about the new baby and impressing my dad." Blue explained. 

"Well then, just try not to think of it too much." Thunder explained. "I mean, you do want to be a weather pony like your mom and dad are, don't you?" he asked Blue.

"Yep. I mean, why am I so nervous about it? I mean, my mom's probably due in like, 11 months or something. I don't have to worry now." Blue explained.

"I agree. Do you want to continue playing hide-n'-seek or do you want to do something else, Blue?" Thunder asked.

"We should go to the park to play a game of hoofball. Ask your dad if he'd let us." Blue said. 

11 months later...
It was a nice September afternoon in Cloudsdale and Blue was busy practicing his flying with Lightning Fast. In those eleven months that have passed since Blue's first lesson in the Junior Program, he has improved his concentration and his flying skills hugely and was now at the stage of creating his own clouds. He sometimes spent his weekends in the Weather Factory and learning about how rainbows are made or how wind is created, but now, since it was still pretty warm, he was busy perfecting his flying. Lightning was sitting on a bench, watching Blue flying around the park and reading a newspaper while doing so. 

"Great work, Blue!" Lightning cheered Blue on as he flew around the jungle gym and beneath the slide in the playground. It was his third time doing so. He zoomed up to where Lightning was sitting down, out of breath but still standing. 

"So, how did it go?" Blue asked. 

"You did pretty well, son. Maybe we should've signed you up for the Wonderbolts Academy?" Lightning replied and gave Blue a bottle of water.

Blue drank the water voraciously and then spoke. "No, not really. I don't want to be anypony famous. Not yet anyway." Blue explained.

"I see." Lightning replied. "Your flying skills remind me of a certain pegasus filly. She's really good at flying and she goes to your school. I think her name is Rainbow Dash or something." Lightning explained.

"I know her." Blue said. "She's in my grade." he explained. Blue often looked up to Rainbow Dash, especially in Phys Ed, since she was far better at flying than Blue was, although she was always ready to give a helping hoof.

"Oh, that's cool. She's the daughter of one of my friends." Lightning said. "We better get home, alright? I'm supposed to be cooking dinner tonight."

"Okay." Blue replied and Lightning folded up his newspaper and hid it under his wing. They returned home about 15 minutes later to Summer Skies lying on the sofa. Summer was visibly weak and tired and had grown by a lot, but she had the strength to wave to them. 

"Hi, boys." Summer said. "How did it go?" she asked.

"Hey mom." Blue replied.

"Hey honey." Lightning said. "It went pretty well. Blue's flying is incredible." Blue simply smiled sheepishly at the comment.

"You alright, mom?" Blue asked. 

"Yeah, I'm just pretty tired, that's all." she explained.

"Okay then." Blue replied and sat down beside her. About 20 minutes later, Lightning came out from the kitchen carrying a large dish with hay pizza on it. As the family sat down to eat, Blue couldn't help but notice Summer feel more nauseous and unwell. 

"Mom, you sure everything is okay?" Blue asked her, with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine son. Don't worry about me. Eat your pizza, okay?" Summer said. 

"Okay..." Blue said and cut into the pizza. Summer ate her piece reluctantly, and by the time she was done, Lightning was washing the dishes in the kitchen and Blue was upstairs doing his own thing. She walked over to the sofa and lay down, hoping to get a rest after a long day. A few hours later, Summer woke up to cramps in her stomach, which grew more persistent every minute. 

"Ugh..." she groaned as she got up from the sofa. "Lighty, I don't feel too good." she said.

"What's wrong, honey?" Lightning asked from the kitchen.

"I don't know. I think that---AUUGHHH..." her answer was cut off by a sharp scream, caused by a sudden pain in her abdomen. "The foal's coming!" she shouted. Blue rushed down the stairs over to his mom.

"Daddy, what's going on?!" Blue asked frantically.

"Blue, I want you to go and play with Singer at his house. Mom's giving birth..." Lightning explained to Blue. When Thunder moved away to Ponyville that previous year, Blue begun to hang around and respect Singer Case a lot more, usually when Violet wasn't around. Most of the time, Blue would hang out with either Singer Case, Rainbow Dash or he'd go to the park and play with the ponies there. 

"Okay..." Blue replied. Lightning wrapped his wing around Summer and flew off with her towards the Cloudsdale Hospital, while Blue trotted off towards Singer's house. It was still dusk, so Blue could still see where he was going, but Blue's mind concentrated on other things, such as whether his mom would be okay. Eventually, Blue reached Singer's house. He frantically knocked on the door, waiting for an answer. Eventually, the door opened.

"Hi, Blue." the soft, friendly voice went. It was Singer's mom. "Are you here to play with Singer?"

"Hey, Mrs. Case." Blue replied. "And yeah, I sure am!" 

"Okay then, come on in." Mrs. Case (or Belle) lead him into the house. "Are you hungry, Blue?" she asked him.

"No thanks. I already ate at my own house." Blue replied. 

"Alright then. Singer! There's a friend here to see you!" Belle called upstairs.

"Alright, mom." Singer replied. He went over to the stairs and realized who it is. "Hey Blue! Come on upstairs." he said.

"Okay." Blue replied and reluctantly trotted up the stairs. Belle went back into the kitchen to prepare something for her husband to eat. While Singer and Blue were playing up the stairs, Blue kept being distracted and confused by things.

"Hey, Blue. Do you want to do a roleplay session with me?" Singer asked Blue.

"Uh, okay..." Blue replied awkwardly. "What kind of roleplay? A band or something?" he asked.

"No, I was thinking something book-related." Singer explained. 

"Okay..." Blue replied.

"I mean, we could be brave explorers, just like Daring Do is or we could be space ponies." Singer suggested. "Is everything alright?" he asked.

"Not really..." Blue begun. "My mom's... having another baby as we speak."

"That's cool." Singer said with enthusiasm in his voice. "Is it going to be a colt or a filly?" he asked.

"How am I supposed to know, dummy?" Blue replied with a hint of anger in his voice, but calmed down. "Look, I'm just very nervous about having a new sibling." he said.

"Brawn must have felt the way you were feeling, Blue back when my parents had me." Singer explained. "But look at us now. We're kinda friends with each other." he explained.

"Singer, don't start!" shouted a voice from the next room. Blue and Singer simply chuckled.

"Well, most of the time we are." Singer explained. "Who knows? Maybe you and your little brother or sister will be best friends?"

"Only time will tell..." Blue said.

"Yeah..." Singer replied. "So, what are we roleplaying? Daring Do or Space ponies?" he asked.

"I don't know... Space ponies sounds like a pretty cool idea." Blue said. 

"Alright, we'll give it a go." Singer replied. While the two colts were playing together, at the hospital, Summer has finally calmed down and was exhausted. The doctor was holding a very light-orange pegasus with a tuft of brown hair for a mane. The foal was crying. 

"Congratulations, Mr. Fast, Mrs. Skies! It's a colt!" the doctor said and handed the colt over to Summer, who stroked it lightly with his hoof, which calmed the colt down. 

"He's beautiful, Lighty. He's perfect." Summer spoke to him.

"I know, honey. Just like you." Lightning replied to her and nuzzled her and the colt lightly. "I'm going to go and fly to get Blue."

"Alright, honey." Summer replied and nuzzled the colt, who seemed to calm down even more. 

At the Case house, there was a knock. "I'll get it!" Briefs said and went to open the door. Lightning Fast was standing in front of the door, overjoyed.

"Hey, Briefs." Lightning said, smiling and breathing at the same time.

"Hey, Lightning. What's gotten into you?" Briefs asked. 

"My wife... she's had a second foal. I'm here to get Blue. Alright?" Lightning replied and walked into the house. "Hi, Belle." he said as he walked past Belle, who was lying on a sofa in the living room.

"That's great!" Briefs spoke with an excited tone.

"We're so happy for you!" Belle said.

"I know and thanks. Hey, Blue. Can you come downstairs?" Lightning spoke from downstairs. 

"I gotta go. Bye Singer!" Blue said and waved to his friend. 

"Bye Blue!" Singer replied and waved back. Blue trotted down the stairs.

"Hey dad." Blue said. "Is mom alright?" 

"She is, in fact, I'm taking you to meet the newest member of our family! Come on." Lightning said. Lightning and Blue then flew over to the Hospital, where Summer Skies was waiting for them. 

"Hey honey." Lightning said as he walked into the room.

"Hey guys!" Summer said. "Oh, and Blue?"

Blue trotted over to Summer's bed. "Yes mom? Is the baby here?" he asked her. Summer simply smiled and nodded. Blue flew up into the air, revealing the new arrival snuggled on Summer.

"Blue, meet the newest member of our family. This is Firestorm." Summer said. Blue could only look on in happiness and pride, but also in confusion. He suddenly remembered what Singer said about his friendship with his older brother and wondered if he could be the same.