The thunder rumbled, the lightning flashed and the leaves on the trees rustled as the rain fell on the grass. Dark was the sky as the water in the air clouded her vision. The bated breaths of a fast running earth pony could barely be heard a foot away from her as she ran as fast as she could to the nearest shelter. She didn't know where she was going, or how long it would take her to get there. All she knew for certain was that she had to get out of the rain.
Every crack of lightning, every boom of thunder made her jump with fright. She hated storms. One minute, she was out collecting flowers when the storm hit. She failed to notice her friends going the other way. Now, here she was; lost in the middle of the forest.
Thankfully, among the darkness, lightning struck at the right time to reveal the silhouette of a cave. That looks like a safe place to wait out the storm. She thought as she made way towards it. With her destination set and her focus solely on her goal, she bolted to the entrance of the cave Inside it was dark, but dry. That didn't stop her from sliding to a halt through a pile of rocks.
"Ow!" she whined as she picked herself up from the ground. Wet and cold, she hobbled sadly over to the driest and safest looking place there was.
Sitting as comfortably as she could get, she looked around to try and gather her bearings. "Where am I? I've never seen this place." she wondered aloud. No sooner had she spoken than another sound emerged. It wasn't like that of thunder, not the crackling of lightning. It was a definitive *thunk*. The young pony turned her head around and noticed a figure at the cave entrance. "Who could that be?" she asked herself.
Through the darkness, the cave entrance revealed a pair of pink eyes illuminated through a crack in the roof. Lightning struck again, frightening both the pony and the newcomer. Uh oh! What if it's a Timberwolf?! The pony thought with fear coating her mind. The slightly pained grunting of a male reached her ears along with the sound of clopping against the cave floor. Those are hooves! She thought triumphantly as the clopping sound could be heard making its way over to the wall across from her. Oh good, it's a pony! She assured herself, calming down. But… I wonder if he's hurt? She thought again, chancing a peek into the darkness. It was no good, she couldn't see anything, only hear his pained groans and the relaxed sigh as he sat down against the wall.
"Are you alright?" she asked. The other party sounded startled at first.
"W-what? Uh, huh?"
"It sure is a big storm!" the pony said.
"Oh, is there somebody else here?" the voice asked. He didn't sound surprised, or upset. In fact, he sounded rather calm given the circumstances. "Sorry about that. It's just so dark, I couldn't see you." he explained. The pony felt there was something wrong with his voice, like whomever the voice belonged to was acting.
"I came in here myself just a few moments ago. I'm soaked to the bone!" she said, striking up a conversation. She heard the acting in his voice again.
"Me too, and to top it off, I sprained my ankle! It's just not my day." he said.
"Oh, are you okay?" she asked him. She then heard the sound of a stick hitting the wall and falling to the floor.
"Oh yeah, it's no big deal. It happens all the time." he replied.
"I'm sorry. I've got bruises all over too. I must have run into everything on my way here." she said, hoping to relate to her new roommate.
"It's good to know I'm not alone." he said.
"I agree. You don't know how relieved I am that you came in here." she replied.
"Same here. It'd be scary to be in the cave all by myself." he confirmed.
"For sure!" she concluded. She listened for him to speak again, but all she heard was the beginnings of a sneeze.
"*ACHOO!*" the male let out.
"Oh dear!" the pony said.
"I must be catching something. That's all I need. Now I can't smell anything." he complained.
"Same here. My nose always gets blocked up when I catch a cold.*ACHOO!*" she replied.
"So I guess the only thing we know about each other is the sound of our voices?" he offered.
"I guess so." she replied. "But at least it's safe in here."
"That's true."
"So whereabouts are you from?" she asked.
"I live in Rumbling Rock Ridge." he replied. The pony heard him slump to the floor afterward.
"Really?! But isn't Rumbling Rock Ridge dangerous?" she inquired, recalling the fact that dragons live in that area.
"I suppose so, but it's a nice place to live all the same. The view is rather stunning." he replied.
"My, you're brave. I'm from Ponyville." she said.
"You are? I'm so jealous. The food in that area is the best! I wish there was some around right now." he said.
"Me too. I was thinking the same thing." the pony replied.
"Sometimes I go beyond Ponyville, over to Appleloosa to get a bite to eat." he said.
"What a coincidence, so do I!" she said.
"Just thinking about it's making my mouth water." he said.
"Me too." she replied.
"Oh the delicious… meat!"
"Oh the delicious… apples!"
Thunder and Lightning struck as they both spoke in unison. The final word from both mouths went unheard.
"Oh, I hate thunder storms!" the pony cried.
"Same here. I can't think straight when one is going on." the male replied. "All this talking of food reminds me of what my mother used to say. She'd say I'd have to eat as much as possible so I wouldn't go hungry, then I'd have to work it off so I could run really fast." he said.
"My grandmother said the same thing! I had to eat as much as possible, else I wouldn't survive in the world." she replied.
"Oh? Why not your mother?" he asked.
"Well you see, when I was little, she…"
"Say no more. My mother died too." he said.
"Oh, I'm sorry." she offered. There was a pause between them as they thought of what to say next. "Say, we have a lot in common, don't we?" she asked.
"Yes, I suppose we do. Although it's too dark in here for us to see what the other looks like, but it'd be pretty funny if we looked alike." he replied.
"Yes it would." she said. The two of them exchanged laughs for a moment before the lightning struck.
"Oh… I was looking down. But were you able to see my face just now? Do we look alike?" the pony asked.
"Well, to tell you the truth; I kinda shut my eyes. The flash blinded me." he replied. Another chuckled was exchanged between them before another flash frightened them.
"I really don't like loud noises." she whined.
"Me neither. They hurt my ears." the male replied.
"We sure do think alike, don't we?" the pony asked.
"I was just thinking the same thing." he chuckled.
"Why don't we get together tomorrow when the weather clears up?" she offered.
"Sounds good to me. And here I thought that tonight would be the worst night of my life. But who knows? It may turn out to be the best. Especially if I get a new friend out of it." he replied.
No sooner had he spoken those last words then the rain began to stop, as did the thunder and Lightning. "Oh, it seems to have stopped." the pony commented.
"So it does!" he replied.
"I was thinking; how about tomorrow, we get together for lunch?" she suggested.
"That sounds great. The weather's usually good after a big storm like that one too." he replied.
"Where should we meet?" she asked.
"How about just outside of this cave?"
"Works for me. But we don't know what we look like." she replied.
"Well, why don't we have a password, something like 'One Stormy Night'?"
"That sounds good to me. Our password is: 'One Stormy Night'." she replied.
As time went by, the two discussed their excitement about the following day and how they would carry their meals. The sun began to rise, brightening the day.
"We'd best be going. Don't want to spoil the surprise for Lunch tomorrow." the male offered.
"Yeah. Ooh, AH!" she replied.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine! My leg just went to sleep. Go on ahead." she said.
"Ok, see you tomorrow."
"Definitely!" she replied. With permission to depart, the male opened the door and stepped out. The morning rays revealed him to be a light green dragon with a bulky build and medium sized stature. He made track for the East, where Rumbling Rock Ridge was. As he hit the tree line, where the sun couldn't yet reach him, the pony exited the cave. She looked right, then left. She spotted the silhouette of her new friend.
"Goodbye, 'One Stormy Night'!" she called out. The dragon turned around and his eyes shone brightly, reflecting the rays of the sun.
"'One Stormy Night'!" he called back.