Raising a Storm

by WonderboltWing

04

04

Celestia's sun shone through the window in Hail's apartment, a thin ray of sun streaming in and just missing Hail's eyes.

Said mare let out a soft groan, and gently squeezed the warm and strangely pony shaped pillow, nuzzling into it's fur.

A moment passed before she realised that pillows generally don't have fur or breathe.

Her eyes opened, and she took in the scene before her.

She was currently snuggled into Dusk's chest, her front legs wrapped around him as his held her tightly in return.

A fierce blush came over her face, the warm breath down the back of her neck not helping either.

It was then she turned her attention to the weight pressing down on the side of her chest.

Carefully, she moved her head to look at what it was, and upon seeing it, let out a "aawww~."

Cloudburst was curled up on her, twitching every now and then as he dreamed.

While the sound she made was quiet, it had seemed to wake up Dusk, judging by the murmur of "wha?"

Hail giggled, nuzzling back into his neck. "morning."

She felt his grip on her loosen, and his breathing quicken.

"Hey hey hey, calm down," she said softly, pulling away from his neck and looking directly at him.

His eyes were wide and his breathing was much too erratic for her liking. "H-hail?" He asked, his voice fearful.

"Yes, now relax, nothing happened," She said in the same, calm tone, head butting his chest gently, simultaneously hugging him a little tighter.

She felt him relax at that, his glad-sounding exhale causing her ears to twitch for a few moments.

The mare laughed softly and made a careful attempt to snuggle closer to him, managing to do so successfully without disturbing the foal.

While she couldn't see it from where she was, she was all but certain that there was a blush on the stallion's face. She was right.

His forelegs slowly pulled her closer to him causing Hail to smile gently as she nuzzled into his neck in response.

She let out a content sigh as he began stroking her mane gently, a warm feeling blooming up in her chest.

The two stayed there for some time, quietly enjoying each other's company.

Until Hail spoke up, that is.

"...sleep well, Dusk?" She asked quietly.

"Certainly. No nightmares or anything," he said with a small amount of happiness.

"You have nightmares regularly then?" She asked.

"I feel like that may have been due to you," he mused. "And yes, sadly."

She hugged him a little tighter for a few moments and nuzzled into his fur, breathing deeply.

'Mmm, cinnamon...'

"Well?" His voice broke into her train of thought and hijacked it, causing it to get derailed.

"Pardon?" She looked up at him, head tilted to one side.

He raised an eyebrow. "I asked how you slept," he repeated.

A faint blush tinged her cheeks. "Oh. Um, rather well, thank you. I don't think I've slept this well in a while..."

He chuckled softly, leaning down and nuzzling her cheek. "That's good then."

Her blush intensified, the bright pink once again a stark contrast to her normal grey.

A yawn caught her attention and she looked down at Cloudburst, who was now awake.

"Morning, Cloudburst," she said softly.

He let out a tired mumble in response and rolled over into the gap between the two adult ponies.

Her ear flicked as she registered Dusk's chuckle, a soft smile on her face.

She watched the foal for a few more seconds before putting her head back down on the pillow, a content sigh escaping her.

Dusk did the same moments later and she almost immediately nestled into the crook of his neck once again, murmuring happily.

The three stayed there for some time, quietly enjoying each other's company.

That is, until a loud banging made itself known.

Hail let out a whine, but after a moment untangled herself from Dusk and fell off the bed with a quiet yelp.

"i'm fine!" she said, standing up and ignoring Dusk's worried/questioning gaze, her wings fluffing up self consciously.

"...Sure."

The the knocking resounded again, causing Hail to jump ever so slightly and all but bolt out the room, getting to the door in a matter of moments.

"Who is it?" She asked as she unbolted the door, taking a moment to fix her mane.

"Princess Luna!" Came the sarcastic but familiar sounding reply.

She opened the door, and lo and behold, standing in front of her was...

...not Princess Luna.

In fact, the pony in question looked exactly like the one she had in her bed.

'...That sounds kind of bad.' Hail thought to herself.

"I don't suppose you happen to know where Dusk is?"

It was then she picked up the key differences. The mane style was different, the body shape was a lot more feminine, and the voice was as well.

A muffled thump from the bedroom cut whatever Hail was about to say off, and the two's attention was redirected over in that direction.

While it took a few more seconds than expected, Dusk trotted out of the hallway, looking to the door.

"Hey Umbra," He said simply. "Wha's up?"

Hail looked between the two, confusion written on her face.

"The roof," she responded swiftly, ignoring Hail's expression. "Anyway, I need your help again."

Dusk sat down to think. "The runes again?" He asked after a moment of thinking.

Umbra nodded. "Eeyup," She said, causing a large red stallion to sneeze.

"...Can somepony tell me what is going on?" Hail demanded, her confusion audible.

"That's my twin, Umbra," Dusk began, only to be cut off by Umbra.

"I work as a researcher in the castle, and Dusk here knows a lot more about runes than I do, and I need some help with a thing I'm working on."

Hail blinked, then turned to Dusk. "I didn't know you had a sister," she said before turning back to Umbra. "Do feel free to stop standing in the middle of the hall and come in."

"...it didn't really need to be mentioned...?" He shrugged uncertainly.

"Like having a marefriend didn't need to be mentioned?" Umbra quipped, tapping her brother on the nose.

Hail froze mid-step out of surprise, and fell over, impacting the ground with an almost silent yelp. "...'m fine."

The two siblings stared at her for a few moments, before looking to the other, with Dusk shrugging.

The pegasus jumped back onto her hooves a moment after, her wings fluffing up then returning to their resting position.

After a moment of fixing her mane again, she trotted into the kitchen. "Imma make pancakes," she said in the direction of the lounge. "You want to stay for some?"

There was around three seconds of silence before Umbra spoke up. "Sure."

At that, Hail began to cook the best type of food; Pancakes.

Author's Note:

Anndd another chapter, not as impressive as the christmas special, probably due to it in the first place. Oh well.