• Published 18th Feb 2014
  • 1,015 Views, 12 Comments

Vulnerable - Nimbus92



The rise and fall of Nimbus. Rainbow Dash is Nimbus's best and possibly most dangerous friend ever. He learns the struggles of friendship, with their all their crazy antics making their bound more precious than what others may see.

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Stop it! Stop making me do things!

Rainbow Dash groaned as the sound of her alarm drilled its way through her left ear and exit out her right ear. This was an incredibly odd situation for Rainbow Dash. Mainly due to the fact she didn't own an alram clock and she had no idea where it came from. Without moving the back of her head away from her comfortable pillow, Rainbow Dash stretched her left foreleg out and tried to reach for mysterious alarm clock that had somehow magically appeared in her room. After five seconds of having no success in finding the alram clock and only accomplishing to slap her the top of her wooden night stand continuously, Rainbow Dash shot her eyes open wide and realized she has never owned a nightstand either.

Finally turning over in her bed, and throwing the blankets she didn't know were the only reason she was being kept warm from the cold breeze tearing through her window, Rainbow Dash faced the direction where the banshee like alarm was screaming. She picked the alarm clock and struggled to find the kill switch to turn it off. She held it above her head and looked underneath it, like she was trying to find any sort of anatomically correct body part attached to the clock that would inform her if the clock was a boy or a girl. When Rainbow Dash failed to find any sort of button or switch, she resorted to smashing the alarm clock on her newly founded night stand. She pulled her face in the opposite direction as small buts and pieces began to fly into the air, turning into deadly fragments dangerous to the naked eye.

After destroying the alarm clock to nothing but a pile of scrap metal, Rainbow Dash breathed in through her nose slowly and out her mouth to catch her breath back. Smashing the loud contraption on top of her nightstand had left deep ugly scratches on the beautiful wood. Since Rainbow Dash didn't originally own a night stand anyways, she didn't mind the damage she'd done to it.

The cold breeze she felt earlier from when she threw off her blankets hah picked itself up and was now blowing harder than the moment she woke up. Her mane began to wrap around her face into a beautiful mess of colors. Rainbow Dash groaned again when she struggled to spit her mane out of her mouth. At this moment, Rainbow Dash realized her mane wasn't supposed to be this long. To her knowledge, her mane had never been this long before. Making her way to her open window, Rainbow Dash finally saw her own reflection when she slammed the window shut angrily. If it wasn't for the rubber protective seal at the end, Rainbow Dash definitely would've shattered it.

In the reflection of herself, Rainbow Dash confirmed that her mane was definitely longer, way longer. She even had to brush the majority of it to one side with her hoof in order for her to wear it comfortably. Apparently, her mane, nightstand, and alarm clock were the only new things she had woken up to, her whole room had a completely different arrangement, as well as its architect and layout. Rainbow Dash looked past the reflection in her window to see where exactly she was.

From what she could tell, she was still in Cloudsdale, but on another side of the city, a more luxurious side. Rainbow Dash looked lower inside her window and saw that she was on the third floor of whoever's house this belonged to. She wanted to assume the house was owned by her, but with what money? There was absolutely no way she could have lived in such a large house all to herself. If that were the case though, who exactly did she share this place with?

Rainbow Dash her questioned answered when a familiar voice called after her behind her bedroom door. "Hey, I heard noise. Are you ok in there, babe?" Nimbus asked behind the door. His voice sounded tired, more than likely due to the fact he probably ran from whatever part of this mansion he and Rainbow Dash were stuck inside. The fact that Nimbus had referred to her as "babe" set off a trigger inside Rainbow Dash's head she didn't know existed.

"Babe?!" Rainbow Dash roared. She ran towards the door to rip it off its hinges and smack Nimbus across his smug little face, but her path got interrupted when she came across a loose laying roller skate. She stepped onto the filly sized skate and rolled herself right into the door. Rainbow Dash let out a small irritated "Ow" after her head had collided with her door. Kicking the skate off to the side, Rainbow Dash yelled "Who's skate is this, and why is it on MY floor?!"

"It's Derby's, you know that. Don't get so mad over such a little thing. YOU should be looking where you're going." Nimbus pointed out with his voice suddenly a lot more calmer and relaxed than previously.

Rainbow Dash picked her head up slightly only to have it pulled back down. She hadn't gotten used to her mane being so long and had mistakenly stepped on it. "Who, in the goddess's name, is Derby?" Rainbow Dash asked, barking. She could here Nimbus outside whispering to somepony but he was talking to low for her to make out the words.

"Just...come down stairs and eat, you'll feel better. Plus, Star Splash made breakfast and she REALLY wants you to know what you think." Nimbus said. After he finished speaking, he leaned in against the door and listened as Rainbow Dash picked herself up off the floor for the second time. When he heard her standing back up, he opened the door and revealed himself. "I should probably help you down-"

"Whoa..." was the only word Rainbow Dash and Nimbus could get out when they both looked at each other and spoke at the same time.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but to reach out and touch Nimbus's chin. She had to make sure that the facial hair she was seeing was real. This has to be a dream, Rainbow Dash thought. The small hair of Nimbus's goatee bristled against her hoof as she dragged it down his neck.But if this IS a dream...why does it all seem so real? Just like her's, Nimbus's mane was different as well, except in Nimbus's case, his mane was shorter and he had actually brushed it back. Rainbow Dash surprised herself when she felt immediately intrigued and a unsettling large amount of arousal explode inside of her.

The same, however, could not be said about Nimbus. He let out a hard obnoxious laugh, once he saw the tangled mess Rainbow Dash had turned her mane into. "Babe, you look crap." Nimbus joked behind his laughter as best he could.

Rainbow Dash shut him up with a quick slap to his jaw. Her hoof was already at his chin, so her hoof didn't have to travel very far to home in and make contact with her target. She held the hoof out to Nimbus's face, shaking it like a deadly weapon to threaten him. "Ok, first off, stop calling me babe." Rainbow Dash watched as Nimbus sat down and looked at her blankly, allowing her to continue without any interruptions. "Second, where are we? Why do you and I look so different? And who are all these ponies you keep naming off? Who's Derby? Who's Star Splat?"

"Star Splash" Nimbus corrected her immediately. "Look, just come down stairs, eat some food, and you'll feel a lot better. I promise."

"There's nothing even wrong with me!" Rainbow Dash jabbed her hoof into Nimbus's chest. She felt more naturally muscled Nimbus's chest was. It was definately solid like a brick house and it didn't cave in around her touch like it usually did.

Nimbus saw how facinated Rainbow Dash was with his phsyical status and said "If you like that, you're going to love this." Nimbus gripped the back of her head, ready to pull her in for a kiss.

Rainbow Dash saw what he was about to do from a mile away and uppercut him right below his chin with the hoof she had on his chest. He hoof smacked and sent Nimbus staggering back a few inches but not exactly knocking him on his ass, like she was expecting. "But how?" Rainbow Dash asked, watching Nimbus rubbed his chin at her with his eye brow lifted, questioning where that ferocity had come from. "I punched the hell out of you!"

"I'll say" Nimbus agreed "I'm surprised you still got that arm of yours. I didn't even think you still worked out, you know, as busy as you usually are." Nimbus stepped back towards Rainbow Dash and tried to put a foreleg around her, but she quickly swiped away and put a foreleg distance between herself and Nimbus. "But then again, i guess that proves right to ever doubt THE Rainbow Dash." Nimbus praised her name like he was addressing it to a large invisible crowd.

"You still haven't answered any of my questions." Rainbow Dash glared at Nimbus with cross hairs in her eyes, aimed right between his eyes.

"I'm just going to keep repeating myself each time you ask." Nimbus impled dryly. "I'm going down stairs. You can play 20 questions with Tornado if you want, she loves that game, but I'm done."

Rainbow Dash stood glued to her spot squinting at Nimbus, provoked with the tone and new name he left her with "Tornado?! How many more ponies live in this place?" she shouted at him. When she got no reponse from the empty stair case she was facing, Rainbow Dash stomped her way down the steps, titling all the pictures that the stiars were decorated with, and yelled "I'm talking to you, you-"

"Mommy!" a small voice squealed from Rainbow Dash's right.

Rainbow Dash stopped and froze in place, frightened of whatever the object was that had attached itself to her right front leg. She looked down slowly. Her stomach and mind were telling her "There's no way that's possible", but her eyes gave her a completely different story when she locked eyes with a filly that shared a striking resemblance to her. Granted, the filly's coat was light green, but the three shades of pink in her mane told her this very filly belonged to her, and she didn't have to guess too hard who the father was."...Mommy?" Rainbow Dash repeated.

"Noooo" the tiny filly giggled "You're mommy" the tiny filly poked Rainbow Dash's leg "I'm Derby"

Oh, the one who nearly got me killed just a little while ago, Rainbow Dash mentioned to herself.

"That's Star Splash" Derby pointed to her sister, the white one with a solid blue mane and light blue eyes. Star Splash was in the process of setting the plates on the table for the breakfast she had prepared.

The one with a dumb name and for some reason knows how to work a stove better than I ever could, Rainbow Dash commented mentally.

"That one's Tornado" the filly that Derby was pointing at this time had a gun-steel colored coat and a charcoal mane.

No doubt the trouble maker by the looks of her. Rainbow Dash could see the smug little smile Tornado was trying to hide as she began to tie Star Splash's tail to the table cloth, but Nimbus caught her in the act and scowled her.

"annnd that's Hurricane" Derby said, pointing to the filly Rainbow Dash didn't even know existed.

Like Commander Hurricane? Judging from Hurricane being the only one of the four who had a cutie marl, Rainbow Dash concluded Hurricane was probably the oldest. "I'm surprised I have four..." Rainbow Dash said, thinking nopony could hear her whisper, but Hurricane's ear twitched and she faced her mother.

"Soon to be five in a few months, right, dad?" Hurricane asked Nimbus, looking up at him.

FIVE?! Rainbow Dash shouted in her head. She looked at Nimbus and asked him mentally with a strong expression. You want to have a fifth one? Rainbow Dash hoped that this whole thing was just some crude dream and the figment Nimbus could still talk to her with his mind.

Fortunately he could when he answered her back wit ha look at her stomach. Earlier, Rainbow Dash didn't notice the small bulge
in her stomach, but when she followed Nimbus's gaze, she felt stupid and blind for missing something so large.

"There's no way!" Rainbow Dash shouted, putting her hooves to her head and shaking her mane furiously, forgetting how long it was. "T-this can't be real. I-I'm not ready to be a mother." Her breathing wasn't starting to go too fast for her to breathe comfortably with. She felt like an alien force was tightening itself around her throat. She could hear her heart beating in her chest like it was right beside her ear. She didn't have to tell anypony in the room that she was scared and wanted to leave, the expression in her face and actions made that point clear.

Nimbus stepped towards her and held out his hoof to her face "Rainbow Dash..." he cooed, trying to calm her down

Rainbow Dash swiped at his hoof and rudely pushed the poor innocent Derby off her leg. "Get away from me!" She shouted, swinging punches and kicks wildly at all of them.

Nimbus refused to be feared by her and continued to reach for her face "Rainbow Dash..."

***
"Rainbow Dash!" the real Nimbus screamed in Rainbow Dash's face while slapping her awake back and forth with both sides of his hoof, holding her up by the collar of her coat while he hovered the two of the in the middle of the kitchen. Nimbus had been slapping her for the past two minutes after seeing her sleep walk herself through the majority of her home. Thankfully, her parents were heavy sleepers and didn't wake up to find out that Nimbus had been living and spending the night inside of Rainbow Dash's room, underneath her bed for the past three years. Rainbow Dash's parents never went inside Rainbow Dash's room anymore now that she was older, and since the orphanage kicked Nimbus out since he was thirteen, her room was the best place for him too crash, sometimes literally.

Nimbus gave up on slapping Rainbow Dash awake and he had already tried giving her CPR three times already, although it absolutely nothing to wake her up, Nimbus admitted to himself he only gave her CPR because it would probably be the only time he could get away with it. He stopped after third time though, when Rainbow Dash finally uppercut him underneath his chin in her sleep.

Nimbus dragged the unconscious Rainbow Dash to the sink and turned on the faucet to full blast. Holding Rainbow Dash by her neck, he drove her face into the rushing water. Water filled up her nose and sent a burning tingle on the inside that forced tears out of her eyes. She swung her forelgs wildly and pulled away from Nimbus's grip as she gasped for air. Her mane dripped onto the tiled floor of the kitchen once she finally coughed and snorted the water out of her nose.

"Oh thank the goddesses, you're back!" Nimbus went to hug Rainbow Dash, but she growled and donkey kicked him perfectly into one of the dinning table chairs. Nimbus fell into the chair and tilited back on the hindlegs. He was saved from falling back when Rainbow Dash grabbed him byhis mane and pulled him back forward. Nimbus smiled nervously as Rainbow Dash glared a hole through his skull.

"Do you know who Derby is?" She asked in a low growl, her nose was still tingling a bit from the water that rushed up her nose.

"The hell is Derby?" Nimbus asked back, not knowing of the daughter he and Rainbow Dash shared in her dream.

"Call me 'babe'.." Rainbow Dash instructed forcefully.

"What? No...you'll just-"

"Oh thank the goddesses" Rainbow Dash praised, throwing Nimbus backwards in his chair and sending him to the floor. "and" Rainbow Dash stood over the fallen Nimbus and peered in closely to his chin "You have no facial hair! Yes!" Rainbow Dash jumpoed onto one of the other dinning chairs and rode it across the kitchen and into the living room, on its two back legs. "It was all just...a really bad nightmare." Rainbow Dash shivered in place as she remembered the illusion Nimbus trying to kiss her. Sje turned 180 degrees and faced back towards the opposite end of the kitchen where Nimbus was. "It's good to have to REAL Nimbus back, Nimbus"

Nimbus stayed in his over turned chair n fear, not knowing a thing Rainbow Dash was talking about. "Did you take one of my prescription pills?" Nimbus asked before picking himself up off the floor, "Oh, and you're welcome! You're lucky I woke you up. You were sleep walking and saying some reeeaally weird things."

Rainbow Dash stiffened, she was afraid Nimbus might have gotten an idea of what she was dreaming about and didn't wanting him getting any wrong ideas. Especially after the conversation she and Nimbus had about their relationship. "What all did you hear?" she asked hesitantly.

"Just a bunch of mumbling" Nimbus answered right away, releasing a large amount of weight off of Rainbow Dash's shoulders. "But I have to ask..."

Shit Rainbow Dash swore in her head. "Shoot" Rainbow Dash allowed, readying herself for whatever embarrassing question might be asking.

Nimbus cleared his throat thoroughly and asked "You said the number five really loud at one random point..." Rainbow Dash stopped holding her breath and was relieved that this was the only question Nimbus had. "Five what exactly? What does five mean?"

***

"Children!" Rainbowshine shouted as she and the rest of her family from both sides tried to calm down all the young fillies and colts bouncing around on her furniture, turning her living room into their own personal playhouse. The last of the Rainbow family that couldn't make through the storm last night had finally arrived this morning, and Rainbowshine was having a difficult time trying to get everypony's attention with all the screaming and laughing going through her home.

Storm put a hoof on Rainbowshine's shoulder and nodded to her. "I got this, hun." With his throat nearly tearing in half, Storm let out a booming loud "QUIET!" The yell manipulated every child to freeze, sit down quietly, and give Storm their full attention with open ears, ready for his next instructions.

Pushing Rainbowshine forward with the top of his head, Storm gave his wife the floor to speak. Rainbowshine fidgeted and brushed her coat off a bit before saying "Now, I know the 'Big Dinner' was supposed to be yesterday, but since everypony wasn't here to make, we have pushed it back to tonight, and we will continue with the Rainbow Falls Trader Exchange today."

"And since not everypony can fly..."Storm cut in, looking at his mother, Stratus, struggling to reach out to the sink for a simple glass of water without getting out of her chair. "We're taking the train there."

Two large groans broke the large rainbow colored crowd of ponies, both coming from Rainbow Dash and Nimbus in the very back. Nimbus was carrying Rainbow Dash on his back, so she could get a a perfect view of how large her family actually was. Rainbow Dash laughed pure-heartedly as Daisy Cloud adjusted herself over Rainbow Dash's colorful mane. Nimbus didn't mind the extra amount of Daisy Cloud added to his back. He was just relieved that the rest of Rainbow Dash's family hadn't crowded him with attention, like the first portion of her family had. "Do we all have to take the train? Some of us can actually fly faster than the train." Nimbus pointed to himself and Rainbow Dash as examples to validate his point.

"Alright then, hotshot." Wind Fighter called Nimbus out over the crowd of family flooded between the two of them. "You think you can still beat the train if you hauled a chariot full of our stuff?"

"Why do you want me to carry a chariot full of stuff?" Rainbow Dash's cousin, Hotshot, squeaked. Hotshot was a red-brown colored pony covered in red spots, who was one of the very few ever seen pegasus who worked on a farm. His cutie mark reflected a Jalapeno pepper on fire, which perfectly fit his type of labor. "Blimp Bus was the one who said it!"

Wind Fighter cuffed his hooves over his muzzle and responded "No, not you, Hotshot. I was talking about Nimbus."

"Wait, then who's Blimp Bus?" Another one of Rainbow Dash's family members screamed loudly, a member of the family who Rainbow Dash couldn't put a name on by memory.

"There is nopony called Blimp Bus." Wind Fighter answered "Hotshot just said his name wrong."

"Said who's name wrong?" another unidentified voice asked behind Wind fighter.

"Rainbow Dash's coltfriend!" a voice answered humorously with a loud laugh.

"Wait, you mean the one she's standing on? I thought he was chick!"

"Oh, thank the goddesses, he's a guy. I was afraid I was goign to have to start supporting Rainbow Pride Festivals."

"They're not dating!" Storm roared over the chattering ponies who were going back and forth, trying to figure who Nimbus was and his sexual gender. "He's just a friend. An OLD family friend."

"Yeah, for now! I bet they're friends with benefits."

"Say good bye to your daughters virginity, if you haven't already, Storm. Start making an investment in diapers."

Nimbus looked up at Rainbow Dash's horribly embarrassed face. "You know, honestly, this is one of the times I'm proud to be an orphan..." Nimbus admitted to Rainbow Dash.

"Nimbus" Daisy Cloud started, peering her head over Rainbow Dash's head.

"Yes?"

"W-what's a virginity?"

Nimbus smirked at Rainbow Dash with a sly smile. Should I tell her?

Rainbow Dash was too busy trying to hide herself away from her family behind her hooves, and only made the effort to shake her head with little energy. I don't care...

"A virginity" Nimbus looked around the room to make sure nopony was goign to make a leap and stop him from his cruel joke. From everypony yelling at each other like Manticores fighting over who got to eat first, Nimbus clearly saw that the whole family was still too busy fighting with one another to realize the ponies they were talking about, Rainbow Dash and himself, were actually right in the back of the room. "A virginity, my adorable Daisy Cloud." Daisy Cloud blushed red in her pink cheeks at Nimbus's comment. "Is a very special gift a mare gives to her very special colt friend, who holds a very special place in her heart."

"Awww" Daisy let out with dreamy eyes. She imagined a virginity was what a stallion in shinning armor sought out for whenever he had just saved a princess from a dragon. "Has Rainbow Dash given you her virginity?"

Rainbow Dash lowered her hooves slowly down from her eyes as soon as she heard the misunderstood question, curious to hear what kind of response Nimbus was going to give.

Nimbus was fully aware crossing the line with Rainbow Dash was equivalent to that of a mine field, but he ignored every little voice in his head that told him "no" and listened to the one lonely really loud voice that was screaming "DO IT!", and hopped over the fence.

"No, no she hasn't..." Nimbus smiled at Rainbow Dash's armor- piercing glare.

She knew that smile. She didn't have to change her expression to tell him Don't do it, Nimbus.

Nimbus shrugged innocently with a tilt of his smile Sorry, but it's too easy Nimbus continued and said "But that doesn't mean I'm not goign to." He let out a ear scrambling loathing burst of laughter. A burst of laughter that he didn't know had silienced th whole room in utter surprise. After wiping the tears from his eyes, Nimbus saw every gaze set on him with a varying series of disgust, shock, and dismay. He chuckled awkwardly, asking "Oh...did everypony hear that?" Every head in the room bobbed up and down simultaneously with confirmation.

***

"Flap harder!"

"I'm flapping!"

"No you're not, you're just gliding!"

"That cause my wings hurt from flapping so hard!" Nimbus snapped at Rainbow Dash. They had been arguing from one screaming at the other for the past ten miles they'd been flying. Getting ahead of the train as soon as it departed presented no challenge to Rainbow Dash and Nimbus when they first started hauling the sky wagon full of trade items, but about five miles towards Rainbow Falls they'd started to argue who was doing most of the work. "I was flapping so hard because you were too busy slacking."

"Slacking?" Rainbow Dash took the insult personally, despite how true it was. "Are you calling me lazy?"

"No, I'm saying you never left me hoof when it comes to hard work. I'm always pulling your weight, sometimes literally." Nimbus began to move his wings with slower and harder strides.

"If we had fingers, I'd been lifting one in front of your face right now!" Rainbow Dash shook her hoof in Nimbus's face, mimicking the rude finger gesture she would have given him if she had the capability. "Just admit it, I'm doing more than you."

"Your right!" Nimbus shouted shoving his shoulder into Rainbow Dash's ribcage. The thrust had shot an uncomfortable shock into Rainbow Dash's whole left side.

"OW!" Rainbow Dash growled, returning Nimbus's shove with a slap to the back of his head. "Just because you admitted it doesn't mean you have to get all pissed off about-"

"NO! Your right, turn to your right! We're about to hit that cliff!" Nimbus pointed to the the large cliff that Rainbow Dash could have sworn just popped out of then air. Nimbus pushed into Rainbow Dash's left side again and exerted more constant force into her surprisingly muscled body.

Rainbow Dash yanked herself away from Nimbus's intruding shoulder and nearly jack knife herself around the sharp rocky cliff. The sky wagon she and Nimbus were dragging behind them lost a wheel when it 's left side collided and scraped against the cliff's rough edges. The combination of wood and metal scrapping against rock was more than Rainbow Dash and Nimbus could care to bare as the sound raped their ears and cringed their tails. The sky wagon itself suffered little damage, other than the lost back wheel. A small amount of paint had been ripped off, leaving behind small fleshy strips of paint waving to the wind, but there fortunately was no deep visible gashes along the side.

Looking down below himself, Nimbus watched as the loose flying wheel fell to the ground below and crashed into a hundred pieces a fragmented wood. He cursed under his breath when took a moment to reflect on how close he and Rainbow Dash had almost encountered a head on collision with a giant piece of the earth. "Weren't you watching where you were going?" Nimbus asked Rainbow Dash rhetorically. She promptly delivered Nimbus a glowering show of her teeth and taunt bend of her eye brows. "That's rule number one in flying!"

"Oh, so I'm a bad flyer too, is that it?" Rainbow Dash poked Nimbus in his chest "If I'm such a BAD flyer then why am I so GOOD at it?"

"Will you two get a room?" A voice declared, flying past Rainbow Dash and Nimbus at a very casual stroll. The voice rose the last part of her sentence with great intensity and received pronunciation of her words. The alien accent was owned by a pink pegasus with a purple mane, who had a purple and blue compass for a cutie mark. "I've heard you from all the way over there." The unidentified pink pegasus pointed to a random location behind herself. " You two have sounded like" The young adult mare began to make some shockingly accurate erotic make out noises with slurps from her tongue. "The whole time I been flying." she said after finishing her vulgar impression of the two chariot hauling ponies. After that she took off to the not-so-far distance to Rainbow Falls.

Rainbow Dash stared at particularity nothing in front of her after the strange encounter she had just experienced. Flinging her hoof out in front of her, Rainbow Dash asked harshly "Who in the flying feather was that?"

***

Nimbus allowed his body to collapse to the smooth dirt below as he cried "Never. Again. will I ever haul so much crap in a chariot."
Small balls of dirt rolled away from him when he let out a breath of relaxation. The ground felt good underneath his body, if it wasn't for Rainbow Dash pulling him back to his hooves, he would've stayed there all day. She pulled and dragged Nimbus, as her mother and father set about giving everypony the merchandise they had placed in the cart that Rainbow Dash and Nimbus had so graciously pulled.

Like every year, the Rainbow Falls Trade exchange was decorated with ponies from all across Equestria. Some ponies were even types and different cultures Rainbow Dash had never seen before. There were no actual permanent buildings around the Rainbow Falls, or at least not yet anyways. Only booths, tents, and square rented areas were what mainly consisted the majority of the land. Up above, Rainbow Dash saw the armored pegasus guards that patrolled the area with an eagle's view to keep things in order. Of course, nothing notoriously happened at the Rainbow Falls Trade Exchange and the guards were only there as a formality in regard of the present princess. Plus, the insurance of proper security on and above the ground gave the civilian ponies a nice warm and fuzzy.

Rainbow Dash picked up her pace and dragged Nimbus as far as she could before somepony walked around to the damaged side of the cart. She didn't feel like explaining to her grandmother, Stratus, how the cart had lost its wheel.

"Oh, shut up. You barely even-" Rainbow Dash was absurdly interrupted when Nimbus laid a simple hoof to her lips with a soft touch.

Shaking his head slowly left to right, and his mane swaying to the left and right lightly in the calm breeze, Nimbus drawled "No, please, don't..." Rainbow Dash's ears twitched in opposite direction, sharing the same the confusion she had on her face. "I don't want to fight no more today....I just want to spend a nice evening and enjoy the rest of the day in peace." Nimbus stared his silver eyes into Rainbow Dash's magenta colored eyes, wondering what color they'd make if the colors were mixed together. Trying to sound as sentimental as he could, he added with a weak smile "With my best friend."

Rainbow Dash was only able to share her feelings with a dead pan expression and a grave filled look in her eyes. "Nimbus, I'm touched...really." She said with as much energy as water provided to a campfire. "Because, all I really want..." Rainbow Dash started dryly "...is to spend the rest of my evening with a drama queen like you."

Nimbus remained silent. He wasn't going to let Rainbow Dash try to ignite the fire she wanted to start.

"Seriously?" Rainbow Dash finally removed Nimbus's hoof away from her face and back to the ground with a rude slap. "No comment? Not even a smart remark? Or an insu-"

"I'll carry you on my back, if you-" Nimbus flinched and nearly bit off the tip of his tongue when Rainbow Dash kamikazed her body on his back, a few pounds of pressure away from making him collapse again. Her weight sent shocking powerful waves of pain into Nimbus's knees. His breathing paused for a bit, half expecting his body to explode from the sudden blow. Nimbus nearly snapped his neck when he spun his head back to curse at Rainbow Dash. "I didn't mean right now, you mook! " He hollered at her in a raged explosion of hate fueled words.

"There's the Nimbus I know." Rainbow Dash cheered, smacking the tip of Nimbus's nose with something shiny he couldn't quite label yet. "Now, Nimbus, away!" Rainbow Dash jerked back on Nimbus's mane with a rough tug he didn't enjoy at all, and she leaned forward, ready to fight the rushing wind and feel the breeze dance through her mane whenever Nimbus decided to take off, but no wind came while Nimbus had decided to remain in place.

"Never" Nimbus poked at Rainbow Dash's ribs as he glared up at her "Do that again".

Rainbow Dash responded with a grunt and a roll of her eyes. You're no fun. She curled her forelegs over Nimbus's shoulders and rested her chin. Pulling her hind legs up under her belly, Rainbow Dash whipped Nimbus's side with a whack of her colorful tail.

Ignoring Rainbow Dash's mental message, Nimbus wrinkled and stared at the tip of his nose where Rainbow Dash had smacked him. "What did you even smack me with anyways?"

Rainbow Dash hung what Nimbus had at first mistaken for a dirty build up of mud around the edges of her hoof. "It's my new shiny horseshoe." Nimbus cringed as he his own blooded coated and stained on Rainbow Dash's horseshoe. She must have not noticed or ignored the blood that was trickling down onto her hoof. Struggling to balance Rainbow Dash's weight on three legs, Nimbus lightly tapped his muzzle for blood, but his hoof came up clean. He pressed his hoof harder into his muzzle to make sure he wasn't bleeding. There was no pain when he applied more pressure and, like last time, his hoof came up clean.

"You and I have two completely different definitions of the word 'shiny'" Nimbus stated, arching his neck away from Rainbow Dash's possibly infected-looking hoof. "Why are you even wearing horseshoes?"

"I have sensitive hooves." Rainbow Dash stated with a small whine that begged for sympathy "and I didn't want to walk around all day on them."

"So...you put on horseshoes?" Nimbus was struggling to decipher Rainbow Dash's logic.

"Yeah, how else did you expect me to protect my hooves?"

"...we can fly." Nimbus stretched out his wings to demonstrate "That's what these are used for..." Nimbus didn't know if Rainbow Dash was just trying to ruffle his feathers, or if she was actually serious.

"But now" Rainbow Dash slapped the back of Nimbus's shoulders, locking his wings back to his sides.

"How did you do that?" Nimbus asked trying to flick his wings back out, put some sort of unknown remote force was preventing him from opening them, no matter how hard he tried.

Rainbow Dash ignored his question "I don't have to worry about walking around, now that you're carrying me" Rainbow Dash lightly tapped the top of Nimbus's mane, sending small stings of tears to his eyes with her steel horseshoe. "Now that I think about it, I might even try to trade these off."

Give them a few and let them rust. I'm SURE that'll add some value to them. Nimbus thought with a roll of his eyes. "Sometimes I think you only keep me around for your personal butler..." Nimbus said, after giving up trying to open his wings again for what seemed like the twentieth time.

"Pfft" Rainbow Dash made a strange motor like sound with her lips. "You know that's not true. It's because I loooooooooo......" Rainbow Dash dragged out the beginning of the four letter word she almost let out. She wasn't sure what prompted her to say the word, but she was glad she had stopped herself before she had actually said it.

Unfortunately, Nimbus had caught the foresight of the "big L word", as his ears perked up encouragingly. "You...what?" Nimbus's question had a strange twist of confused energy. He didn't know how to feel. Was he supposed to be excited that his best friend almost admitted she loved him, or was he supposed to be upset over the fact she stopped herself. He was felling too many mixed emotions to ask or say anything else. "W-what were you about to say?"

"I just...." Rainbow Dash searched around the Exchange, desperately looking for anything to change the topic on hoof. When she came across what looked like an armor vendor, she quickly used it as a distraction, hoping this shot in the dark would hit her target. "loooove the way that armor looks over there." Rainbow Dash exaggerated. Jumping off of Nimbus's back and running towards the vendor like a filly going to the candy store, she yelled even louder with false enthusiasm.

Luckily for Rainbow Dash, Nimbus was a huge fan of armor and had about the attention span of a third grader to everything around him when armor was in front of him. Surprisingly enough, Nimbus didn't take long to jet forward and beat Rainbow Dash to the booth. Nimbus out running/flying Rainbow Dash to a specific destination, especially when she had the head start, didn't happen as much as Nimbus would like to admit. Rainbow Dash wouldn't have even realized Nimbus had ran past her if it hadn't been for her mane waving in front of her face.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but snicker a bit, both at her white lie and Nimbus's excitement. Making sure he didn't get too close to knock over the armor, she put a hoof on Nimbus's chest, pushing him back a few inches back towards her and away from the armor. While her hoof was on his chest, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but notice that was chest was pretty tight, not as tight as his chest was in her dream earlier this morning, but she had to admit it was pretty impressive. Rainbow Dash considered the fact that his chest (or whole body, now that was looking at it from a different perspective) must have developed muscle very gradually over the past few years. That or the fact she hung around Nimbus so much she didn't even notice until now.

Nimbus caught sight of Rainbow Dash's eyes scanning him up and down seconds later. "A-are you checking me out?" Nimbus asked hesitantly.

Snapping her head back up and her mane waving up, Rainbow Dash snapped and denied Nimbus's accusation "NO!"

Nimbus just gave her a look, tilting his head away from her, not buying what she was trying to sell him. Come on, I saw you looking...

"I wasn't looking at you like that!" Rainbow Dash declared, her words sharp as blades that could have pierced the armor in front of her. Her gaze fell to her hoof, which she had just realized was still touching Nimbus's chest. Ignoring the newly discovered muscles she was grasping, Rainbow Dash could fell Nimbus's heart beating. It definitely sent out a strong thump with the rhythm, but what stood out like a green patch of grass in a desert was the rate that his heart was beating. There felt like there was another thump immediately after the last one. Replacing her ear where her hoof was, Rainbow Dash listened closely and counted each beat mentally.

Before she could could count her the fifth beat, Nimbus pulled away from her. "Will you stop that?" Nimbus kept his distanced and made sure nopony was behind or above him in case he needed to spread the range between himself and Rainbow Dash. "You're freaking me out!"

"Me?!" Rainbow Dash jerked herself towards Nimbus with another hoof back into his chest "You're freaking me out. What in the flying hoof was that? Are you excited or something? You're heart was beating really fast."

"I'm just a little winded from pulling the cart full of crap earlier. You know I'm not as good a flyer as you." As true as Nimbus's words were, Rainbow Dash leaned in and glared at him doubtfully. His breathing was normal, there was no visible sweat anywhere on him, and he seemed pretty calm at the moment. "I'm...just don't worry about it, ok?"

"Hearts don't beat that fast, Nimbus. Even after a flying sprint, my heart doesn't beat that fast." Rainbow Dash kept walking towards Nimbus with each step he took away from her until she backed him up into a corner. "Are you keeping something away from me, or-"

"Heya, kids!" Hotshot yelled, carrying what belonged to him from the cart in the saddle bags off to his sides.

Rainbow Dash huffed angrily as Nimbus tried to escape around her and make small talk with one of her many cousins. She couldn't help but think that whenever something intense was happening between her and Nimbus something else always comes in to interrupt it. Before letting Hotshot get any closer to see that she had Nimbus backed up in a corner against his will, Rainbow Dash pointed to her left and scowled a black look with daggers for eyes at her cousin. "Go. That way."

Not wanting to fuel the fire that Rainbow Dash was breathing through her words, Hotshot turned around and said "Oh, look. Armor!" Then he pretended to browse the small booth of displayed armor and kept his curiosity to himself.

"It's nothing big, Rainbow Dash, just let it and ME go." Nimbus exclaimed as he tried to push Rainbow Dash's hoof off his chest, but she wouldn't budge. He was glad though that she had chosen to use the hoof without the horseshoe to hold him back with, which made him wonder: Why is she only wearing one horseshoe? Doesn't she know how they work?

"No!" Rainbow Dash fumed, turning back to him and pushing her body behind her hoof. Nimbus was absolutely stunned by her strength and her ability to hold him back with such ease. Shameful to admit it, Nimbus envied and was kind of turned on by her dominance. "Are you sick or something?"

"No...I mean, not really..." Nimbus looked down at Rainbow Dash's hoof as she eased some of her weight off of him. "It's nothing serious really.It's just a...condition." Nimbus emphasized air quotes around the word "condition" with a raise of volume in his voice. "Don't worry about-"

Rainbow Dash slammed her hoof like a hammer to Nimbus's chest "Don't tell me: 'Don't worry about it'. Goddess damn it, Nimbus, when WERE you going to tell me?" Rainbow Dash wasn't expecting a specific time period or anything, she just wanted to hear that Nimbus had planned on telling her, but she didn't.

"Look, Rainbow Dash, if you're seriously worried about it....slamming your hoof into my chest probably isn't a good way to show it."
Rainbow Dash immediately pulled her hoof back in a manner like she didn't want to infect Nimbus with a disease she was carrying.

After setting her hoof back down, and allowing Nimbus the opportunity to get his personal (or as much as she would allow him to have), Rainbow Dash sat down with her tail sitting in her lap and her forelegs crossed, waiting for Nimbus to give her explanation.

Nimbus stalled a bit by stretching his wings and cracking his neck for quite awhile until Rainbow Dash snorted and damn near shot fire through her nostrils. "OK, OK!" Nimbus breathed in a bit prepping himself up to conjure some courage. "I'm just a little nervous is all."

"Nervous?" Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow and threw out her hoof like she was trying to grab the question. "About what? You don't do a whole lot except do some flying exercises with me every now and then, work on the weekends, eat, and sleep" Rainbow Dash paused for bit "In MY room might I add."

"Yeah, on your floor, under the bed."

"I gave you a pillow and the space underneath MY bed, you ungrateful bastard. You're lucky my dad-"

"We're getting off subject." Nimbus interjected, not wanted to be reminded that he was still hiding secrets behind Storm's back especially after gaining his trust. "I'm nervous because..." Nimbus looked up at the sun, trying to determine what time it was. "I don't know about dinner today."

"...Seriously?" Rainbow Dash thought about striking Nimbus hard in the chest again just see how much faster his heart would go before it would give out . "That's what's got you so worked up? Some stupid dinner?"

"Oh, did you forget the fact that I'd be there with the rest of your family?" Nimbus had been so worried about making such a good impression at the table tonight that didn't even realize he was hungry until his stomach growled. Although, in hindsight, making that virginity jab at Rainbow Dash this morning probably wasn't the right move and explained why he skipped breakfast with such a rush out the front door.

"So?" Rainbow Dash asked. She didn't understand the suspense Nimbus was personally going to experience at dinner. To her it was just the same as any other dinner except with more plates on the table. In Nimbus's case, it was much more than that. Tonight was going to be his very first experience sitting down and eating with a real family. A family he desperately wanted to be accepted into, and his imagination playing various future clips of him screwing it up wasn't putting him anymore at ease.

"So, I'm a little nervous. Give me a break. I get scared, OK?" Nimbus was hoping that the evening would just come up right now so he could just get the dinner over with.

"You're scared of my family, but not a speeding bullet?"

"That was different." Nimbus argued.

"oh, really?" Rainbow Dash mentally prepared a pen and notebook "Please, tell me what the difference is."

"I don't have to talk about myself to the bullet." Nimbus admitted. The idea of talking to a bullet played out hilariously in his head.

Rainbow Dash's disappointed reaction only made Nimbus more incompetent than he already was "You're scared of talking? You talked to me when we first met." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes back with a smile remembering the very first day she met Nimbus in class. "You were nervous then too."

Nimbus got his feathers ruffled with the memory along with a side of his cheeks blushing red. "I was eight!"

"and now you're sixteen and you're still nervous around me on occasion."

"Ha, horseshit!" Nimbus debated, putting his face closer to Rainbow Dash's. He flinched back a bit with quick reflexes when Rainbow Dash blew her hot breath on his neck to see his reaction. "See how close I'm getting?" Nimbus bragged.

"Yeah, get a room. There are children here." said a passing by earth pony mare who was hauling three cribs behind her.

Ignoring the mother, and hearing the same comment for the second time today, Nimbus continued "Do you see me getting nervous now?" Nimbus rocked his head back and forth towards Rainbow Dash energetically, getting ready to invalidate Rainbow Dash's previous statement and rub it all in her face.

Calling Nimbus's bluff, Rainbow Dash placed her forehead on his, their muzzles not even an inch away from each other. She smiled with a smug when she saw Nimbus's pupils dilated into two sauce pans, nearly conquering all the white in his eyes. "Alright, tough guy." Nimbus hated when she gave him little pet names like tough guy or billy bad ass. "If you never get nervous around me, why do you always turn the other way whenever I stretch right before a flight?"

Nimbus felt his heart leap into his throat. He swallowed it back down hard. "I d-do that out of-"

"What, out of respect?" Rainbow Dash was enjoying making the colt who was about to enter stallion-hood shiver in public. "What if I said I wanted you to look." She picked her hoof up and began to stroke the inside of Nimbus's forearm. She remembered to use the one without the horseshoe, so Nimbus could feel her soft touch up and down his developing muscles. She could feel Nimbus shivering more underneath her touch than he was physically displaying. "You know, give you a little...sneak peek."

Rockets shot off behind Nimbus as they sent a shiver down his spine and to the tip of his tail, making his tail strongly erect. The back of his mane would have stood up on its own if he hadn't already spiked it earlier. He wanted to lean in closer, let his fantasy become a reality, but his body was locked in fear. This was all so sudden and unexpected. It was just about what he wanted if not exactly.

Sadly, once Nimbus finally unfroze form the shock of finally getting the chance to lock lips with his dream mare, Rainbow Dash pulled back let Nimbus fall to the ground like the fragments to a popped balloon. "See?" Rainbow Dash said, placing the hoof with the horseshoe on the back of Nimbus's neck to keep him down "I knew I could still make you nervous."

Nimbus looked up at her angrily. You're a real tease, you know that?

Rainbow Dash shook her head, looking up and walking away with the same smug smile still on her face. Before getting too far, Rainbow Dash told Nimbus "Put your wings down, you're just embarrassing yourself and me."

Apparently, Nimbus wings had sprung back up without his knowing. It must have been the same time his tail had stiffened, he assumed. Picking himself up and dusting himself off, Nimbus couldn't help be hear a multiple round of small giggles off to his left where a group of mares, around his age, were pointing and laughing at the stiffness of wings. Pulling his wings back down to his side, Nimbus turned around and exclaimed loudly "It's just the breeze, it's cold out here, I'm not usually like that." The mares just continued to laugh point and giggle, even when Nimbus ducked his head and chased after Rainbow Dash.

***
After a few hours of walking around the exchange, Rainbow Dash ended up trading some of Nimbus's bits to rent a carrying cart. Nimbus first questioned why she used his bits and not her horseshoe. Rainbow Dash argued that her horseshoe had not yet developed enough value to be traded properly.

"So...why the cart then?" Nimbus asked seconds before his question got answered. Rainbow Dash slapped a huge rough saddle on his back without warning and jumped into the back of the cart, fully spread out and stretching her limbs. The saddle was an ugly shade of shit brown with deep black dark spots covering more than half the apparel. Trying to adjust the saddle more comfortably, Nimbus pulled it farther to one side and ended up pinching a few hairs of his coat off. Putting insult to injury, Rainbow Dash used her loose hanging hind leg to kick Nimbus's rump and moved him forward.

Cursing hateful words underneath his breath, Nimbus unwillingly pulled the cart behind him. He struggled to get the wheels moving at first but once they finally gave in and turned the rest of the pull was easy. Rainbow Dash was absolutely enjoying herself as she looked up at the sky above and watched the clouds fly up top. Covering the whole sky in their thick white color, the clouds covered the majority, but still allowed enough light from the sun trough for a beautiful day. "Wasn't today an awesome day?"

Nimbus used his left wing to open up the pocket in his saddle bag he was using to hold his bits. Shaking his body a bit, Nimbus failed to hear the jingle of gold he was expecting. A small butterfly flew out the empty coin pocket after spending a a few hours of rest inside. "Yeah...awesome day." Nimbus lied. "Who takes bits as trade at the Rainbow Falls Exchange?"

"As long as both parties are happy with what they get it's a fair trade, right? I traded some old stallion some bits-"

"MY bits!" Nimbus snapped, finally clicking his coin pocket to his saddle bag shut with the help of his wing. Nimbus grunted while he was trying to position back in place between the saddle on his back and the his personal saddle bags. It was an incredibly hard task to accomplish while walking. He twitched his wing back and forth between the two, only ruffling up his feathers as a result

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof at Nimbus's whining "for his wagon. He was happy, I was happy, everypony wins." Rainbow Dash continued to lay back in the wagon with her hooves comfortably placed behind her head. She had no problem using Nimbus's bits for her own benefit. In her opinion, she was actually helping him. Earlier he had complained about bringing too many bits to put in one pocket and how heavy it was getting. Another complaint Nimbus had was when he talked about getting in better shape. From renting the cart, Rainbow Dash had helped in both cases. Nimbus's bit pocket was lighter and he was going to get a slight workout hauling her all around town.

Nimbus glowered under his breath "You're about to win a kick to the ass." Stopping to get some rest, Nimbus adjusted his wings finally. In the past few minutes that he had struggled while walking, Nimbus was able to place his wing back in place within a quick two seconds. He grunted again angrily at himself and headbutted his forehead to the ground.

"You don't look too good..." Nimbus assumed the statement had come from Rainbow Dash who was standing in front of him and just trying to get under his skin for the third time today.

"Oh I don't?" Nimbus asked rhetorically right before flicking his neck back up. His voice was flared with the ferocity and stench of a dragon's breath each time he opened his mouth. "Then how about you get off your FAT ASS and- oh....you're not...Rainbow Dash." Nimbus said to the brown mare standing in front of him with a water bottle in her mouth.

The brown mare was a pegasus with a large dark brown spot over her left eye and another one on the back of her neck. Her body looked very well toned, almost like Rainbow Dash except this mare had a distinctive amount of muscle mass. Despite the size of large muscles, the brown mare had very soft face instead of the hardened sharp shape one would have expected her to have. The short twisted braid of her mane and the oil grease on her hooves indicated that she was a working pony, which more than likely lead to the development of her muscles.

The brown mare remained in place and looked at Nimbus looked at Nimbus with a smile that could barely be seen with the bottle she was wielding. She giggled and at Nimbus when he looked behind him and realized Rainbow Dash was no longer in the cart. Answering the question in Nimbus's head, the brown mare said "She left a few seconds after you stopped. She tried to get your attention, but you just kept your head to the ground." Despite the bottle in her mouth, she spoke very clearly. The brown mare looked off to the area where she had seen Rainbow Dash fly off to and squinted "She might have gone to get you something, but I guess she didn't see me coming towards you with water." Holding her hoof out for a neighborly introducing gesture, the brown mare gave Nimbus her name "I'm Sky Forge, but you can just call me Forge or Sky. Although, whatever you want to call me is fine!" Sky Forge was an incredibly friendly creature with a large heart that showed through the gentleness of her voice.

Seeing the blacksmith anvil that resembled Sky Forge's name in a booth behind Sky Forge, Nimbus had no doubt that she was probably a vendor here at the exchange who was either a traveling blacksmith or a blacksmith trying to show her wares off at a large public event in an effort to market herself.

Nimbus shook his head free of the small bright circles that were blinding his vision from his dehydration. Carefully taking the water bottle from Sky Forge with a grasp of his wings, Nimbus began to chug down the liquid down his throat. While desperately trying to replenish his energy and quench the thirst the he was unaware of, Sky Forge lowered the bottle lightly from Nimbus lips and tipped it at an angle that allowed the water to flow into a perfect stream. "You can't be chugging it too fast." Sky Forge tapped Nimbus's stomach "You'll give yourself a really bad stomach cramp and regret it later." She informed Nimbus in a sophisticated manner.

After a few more seconds of drinking, Nimbus lowered the bottle "Thanks. Kinda seems like you've had to teach somepony how to drink a bottle of water before. You were really...teacher-y" Nimbus knew he probably sounded odd by making up that last word.

Sky Forge gave Nimbus probably the hundredth smile she already had for the day "It just comes personal experience from working next to a hot forge several hours out of the day."

Hours?! Nimbus couldn't imagine how resilient Sky Forge was to high temperatures in order to stand over melting metal for so long, or how even more dedicated she was to do it day after day. "Blacksmith huh? That's your booth over there?" Nimbus already knew the answer to his question, for the most part, but she felt obligated to start a small conversation with the mare who had gone out of her way to drop what she was doing in order to help him.

Sky Forge nodded proudly. "Yes it is. Well, not exactly my own personal booth. It's owned and run by my uncle, but more than half the merchandise you see over there is made none by yours truly." It was obvious that Sky Forge took great pride in work just like she prided herself in admitting she was a blacksmith, but she didn't seem to gloat about it. "If you want, you could keep me company until your friend comes back. I do have to get back to work before-"

"Sky Forge!" Sky Forge cringed as the elderly large and brawn pony emerged from the side flap of her booth. "How are we supposed to trade off our wares if you're over there sticking your tongue in colt's mouth." The pony who Nimbus assumed was Sky Forge's uncle glared at him like an archer aiming it's arrow at an enemy "And you, colt." Nimbus picked his head up a few inches to let Sky Forge's uncle know that he had his attention. "Just know that I'm a Gold Medalist javelin thrower at the Equestrian games as of twenty years ago and i will NOT hesitate to prove it if you distract my niece away from this booth again."

Nimbus responded with a winged salute of respect and watched as the elder blacksmith accepted and returned the salute gracefully before turning back inside the back side of booth. Nimbus set his wing back down and smacked it against the saddle he had forgotten was still attached to his side. He flinched against the shock the pain had shot up from his wing to his shoulder. Bting on his words, Nimbus asked "Is that offer still on the table or should I just keep away?"

Sky Forge stifled a giggle behind her hoof. "My uncle? No, he's a real kind-hearted pony once he let's you see it. He's just a bit over protective of me." Sky forge turned around to head back to her anvil and forge inside her booth. "There's no need to worry about him. You still coming?"

When Sky Forge turned her back to Nimbus, he noticed that her flank bared the image of a small anvil with wings, the wings to her side were also tipped with a light brown almost white color, and she also had a small black smith hammer strapped and sheathed to her right hind leg. The holster was drastically tilted forward so she could grip the head of the hammer wing her wing.

Nimbus nodded to her question and followed closely behind her. Just like the back of her mane, her tail was also short and braided so it wouldn't interfere with her work. Nimbus didn't much farther than a few inches before he got pulled back by the unlubricated heavy wheels of the cart. He choked against the strap around his neck attached to the saddle.

The wounded sound from Nimbus made Sky Forge fairly concerned, but it quickly washed away when she was relieved the only problem was Nimbus's saddle. Sky Forge happily unattached the strap around Nimbus's neck and helped him lift it above him. "That strap was supposed to go under your belly, not your neck." She looked closely and rubbed Nimbus's neck for any damage. "Luckily, you didn't pull long enough for the strap to do anything more than leave a crease mark across your neck." Sky Forge placed a strong wing behind Nimbus and pulled him towards her booth.

Once Nimbus and Sky Forge got to the forge and anvil behind the trading counter, Sky Forge went immediately to forge and began to heat up some metal Nimbus assumed was probably steel. Sky Forge manipulated her wings incredibly and impressively. She was capable of grabbing small items usually called for unicorns magic in order to use like metal tongs. Nimbus was fascinated by all the assortments of armor, weapons, tools, grills, tables, and other appliances that decorated the inside of Sky Forge's tent.

"You make all of these yourself?" Nimbus asked as he walked towards a strange green colored piece of armor that had caught his eye as soon as he'd first walked into the booth.

Sky Forge didn't look away whatever she heating up, but answered Nimbus right away "Not all the ones you see in here, no." Sky Forge raised raised the hot red metal with the assistance of tongs her wings were carrying and laid it carefully on the anvil beside her. The red metal released a sizzling sound when the sweat from her forehead dripped onto it's nearly flat surface. "The one's on display outside are mostly mine. My uncle thought it would be a great way for me to get my hoof in the door when I finally decide to open up my own store." Sky Forge struck the metal with a few strong strikes from her hammer before cooling the blade once again. She looked up to see where Nimbus was behind her and noticed him staring hard at the green piece of armor. "That though IS mine." She could tell by Nimbus's desire to touch it, he was very interested in the armor. "Still trying to figure out what it's made of?" Sky Forge asked setting the metal she was working on to the side and making her way to Nimbus.

"It's green, almost like it's made of-"

It IS made of Jade." Sky Forge finished and corrected for Nimbus. She smiled was his wings flared up with even more interest. His words were too fast for her to fully comprehend, but she knew which questions he was asking all to well from others who had seen the masterpiece she had created. Looking back up at the armor and seeing the memories she had forged into it with her own designs, Sky Forge told Nimbus "I had to use an enchanted forge in order to make it."

"An enchanted forge? Kind of like a cloud forge?" Nimbus had never heard of an enchanted forge, and use knowledge of any actual blacksmithing was very limited.

Sky Forge gave a small nod "In a way, yes. You know how we pegasus use cloud forges to turn clouds into solid objects and use them to create our buildings and streets in cities like Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus?"

"Ehh..." Nimbus was familiar the cloud stone that made places like Cloudsdale the beautiful and magnificent cities that they were, but wasn't quite too sure exactly how they were made. "Sure. Let's say I do."

Sky Forge patted Nimbus on the head with her wing to reward him for his choice of words and efforts for trying to understand the subject in hoof. "Well, same principles apply here. With an enchanted forge a blacksmith with enough experience, such as myself, is granted the privilege of forging stone into more solid and durable objects in any shape or form they can, with their imagination being their only limitation." Sky Forge's face lowered down a bit from her usual constant smile and joy. "Well, imagination, budget, and materials." Sky Forge added.

Nimbus looked to Sky Forge once he heard the immediate change of tone in her voice. "Was there something you didn't get to work on?" Nimbus clearly saw that a dark cloud, perhaps regret, had caste itself over Sky Forge. Even with Sky Forge being a larger muscled mare than most other mares (and stallions), seeing a friendly pony like her succumb to an emotion of sadness made Nimbus wrap his wing around her and pulling her close. He felt like telling her she didn't have to explain it, but his curiosity fought a bigger argument over his chivalry.

"I wanted to made a sword to go with this piece, but..." Sky Forges voice had softened from the sweet soft-served ice cream voice she already had to a delicate flower being damaged in a hail storm. "I didn't have enough jade to even start on the mouth guard to between the handle and the blade. Plus, the enchanted forge I was using belonged to school and they're very skeptical about other ponies using the forge. They even make the teachers pay a ridiculous fee so the students can learn about it."

Sky Forge leaned on Nimbus a little closer than she was realizing, but it was the first time in a long time, if ever, she had somepony to talk to and allow her to blow steam. Of course, she had her uncle, but his ears were using closed when she tried to bring up these sort of subjects. Being on the road constantly with no company but her imagination, sketch pad, and hammer, staying behind the forge hours at a time, and being a traveling blacksmith with her uncle made it difficult for Sky Forge to make any legitimate friends. She held on to Nimbus a bit longer before saying "Thank you"

"If you ever need somepony to help you deliver your merchandise, I'd be more than happy to-" Nimbus's wing got torn away from Sky Forge as she turned him forcefully to face her.

"You'd help me and my uncle deliver?!' From the tone of Sky Forges voice Nimbus could tell that his offer had aroused her interest ecstatically.

"I'm actually a courier. Well, part time that is." Nimbus corrected quickly, not wanting to give Sky Forge the false sense that he'd always be readily available. "I'm still a flight school student, so weekends are my only open times, but as of lately I haven't too many orders since I ONLY work weekends."

"That's fine." Sky Forge praised. "My uncle are usually too busy making something to ever have any sort of full delivery system. I'm sure my uncle, Dread Hammer, would more than handsomely compensate you if you even helped with one delivery."

Dread Hammer? Nimbus developed an immediate passionate fearful reverence for the name. Not a good name to have when you're trying to run a business. "Tell you what, I'm not exactly making too much money anymore being a public courier since I only work weekends. So, I can quit my job and be your guy's own private delivery colt whenever you need me....within my schedule of course."

"Nimbus, that's just-" Sky Forge quickly pulled Nimbus into her with a strong tug of her wing and locked in a quick kiss. The kiss was too short for Nimbus to enjoy and even realize that she had kissed him until he saw her checks blushing red. "S-sorry." Sky Forge tried to hide her blush with her wings from Nimbus, who was still trying to calculate what had happened. "I just got a little excited I guess."

"What are you apologizing for?" Nimbus was still stationary and frozen in the spot where Sky Forge had left him. "That was amazing!"

Sky Forge giggled and love tapped Nimbus on the side with her wing "Don't be a tease!" She flinched her wing back to herself in a crooked angle when she saw Nimbus laughing uncontrollably.

"D-don't touch my side." Nimbus pleaded, he failed to keep a straight face without laughing. "I'm ticklish."

An fiery spark lit ablaze an evil plot to Sky Forge's imagination. "Oh, you are?" She lifted two wings over her head like nightmarish claws coming for a filly scared of the dark. She dove her wings into Nimbus's side and began to poke, stab, and brush the tips to his ribs.

"No, no! Please stop, I'm begging you!" Nimbus cried as his body twisted and turned. Sky Forge played and turned Nimbus over with her wings. She had the capability to make him curl up, turn over left or right, and even explode his limbs out so she could tickle the spots underneath his legs. Her wings had turned into her own pair of puppet strings for Nimbus.

When she heard the door flap behind her being torn open, Sky Forge expected to see her uncle, but her assumptions were slaughtered when a Rainbow maned pony dove at her like a Manticore leaping for it's prey. To Sky Forge's benefit, the pony had leaped too early and gave her wide gap of time to react to the pre-emptive attack. Sky Forge's quick and familiar twitching wing strongly pinched the head of her blacksmith hammer. Her wing tip threw the hammer up so her wing could slide down the handle before grasping it firmly. Sky Forge waited and stood her ground strongly as she waited until the hostile pony got within striking distance.

Power Up! <Rainbow Dash>

[Wing Clipping]: Are you tired of having the flying advantage over most of your enemies only to realize they have a flying opponent for you? Bring down the house, or pony in this case, with this sweet, brand spanking new ability. Wing Clip your enemies by slapping the back of their shoulders and deprive them of their wings for 30 seconds. Yikes! Sucks for the guy who was several stories up in the air. WARNING: this ability does not work on dragons.