> Blizzard Warning
>  by DemyxNocturne
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chaper 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1

A day off. Finally a day away from training, warm ups, shows, everything really. Ultimately, a day to relax!

Sighing to himself in content, Thunderlane fell backwards and allowed himself to sink right into a nice fluffy white cloud with his forelegs spread out at his sides. His dark gold eyes were gently closed and wings stretched out just as all four of his legs were in exhaustion. Even his short silver-blue streaked tail was practically wagging at the enjoyment of finally having a day to himself and away from the Wonderbolts.

Now don't get him wrong here. Thunderlane totally loved his new job and the crew he was on as a Wonderbolt. Hay, it's practically almost everypony's dream to before one if they're a pegasus and he got to his of someday becoming one come true. Just sometimes it could get a little bit stressful and tiring to the point where somepony would just wanna toss up their hooves and yell out that they needed a break!

...Which...is kinda what he had actually done during practice the other day with Spitfire, Soarin, and Rainbow Dash...Whoopsie...

As he laid there upon the pillowy softness of the cloud, almost actually drifting off into a light slumber, something cold and wet suddenly landed on his muzzle causing his nose to scrunch up slightly and snort in an effort to get it off. However, when he felt a few more land on his dark grey coat in other places, he finally opened up his eyes and rolled himself to lay on his side and stomach with his legs folded up somewhat under himself. Lifting his head up, he glanced around curiously, only to realize that what had been landing on him were actually light flakes of snow.

Blinking slightly in surprise and confusion at this, the stallion glanced above himself towards a few more clouds where his confusion only seemed to grow even further as more snowflakes landed in his silver-blue mohawk styled mane. "The hay? Where's this snow comin' from? There's no snow clouds around me and it's the middle of summer...Well, this is weird; huh?"

Just as Thunderlane mumbled this to himself, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. It was only for an instant, but he saw what looked to be a flash of colors whisp on by and through one of the clouds. Becoming curious now about what it was and thinking that, perhaps, it was the cause of this light snowfall, he rose up onto his hooves and stretched out his muscles and wings before leaping off the cloud. Flying through the skies as he looked around carefully for whatever that had been earlier, he caught sight of something on a distant cloud and quickly dove into the nearest one to himself. Peeking carefully out of it so as not to be spotted, his dark gold eyes soon widened at the sight before himself in the slight distance.

Standing there on the cloud was a slender pegasus with an ice blue coat that held what looked like three silver snowflakes on their flank as their cutie mark. Their slightly long, wild mane and tail seemed to be a mixture of white, light blue, and mint with quite possibly a single streak of lavender at the top of their mane and tail. Strands of their mane fell into their face a bit, almost obscuring their left eye, which said eyes looked to be maybe teal? He couldn't really be sure at the current distance he was at, but there was definitely something he could see very clearly. In fact, anypony, even ones with all brawn and no brains like Dumbbell and his group, could tell this was most definitely a mare...

As he was lost in thought over this, he was suddenly pulled out of it in realization that the little mare was gone and no longer on the cloud she had been on just a moment ago. Perking his head up out of the cloud completely now, he glanced around a bit in a panicked search for her again. That is...until she suddenly popped up out of knowhere!

"Hey!"

"Whoa!"

Jolting at being taken by surprise, he lost his balance on the cloud he had been hiding in and fell right over the side of it. Quickly catching himself in the air, Thunderlane flew back up and rested a hoof over his chest. "Jeez, way to give somepony a heart attack. Is that how you greet everypony you meet?"

The mystery mare arched a delicate brow at this through her bangs and crossed her forelegs over her chest. "Is spyin' the way ya meet everypony?"

Ooookayyy...So Thunderlane had that one coming; he could be a stallion about it and admit it.

Chuckling sheepishly at being found out about it though, he lifted a hoof and rubbed the back of his head guiltily. "Eheheh...Not exactly. This is actually the first time I've ever spied on anypony before." Ok, so maybe that was a bit of a lie. He mayyy have done a little bit of spying back when he was still just a little foal and then admittedly a few times when Soarin claimed to be going out to get himself some pie. It was true enough that everypony else on the team believed him, but he figured there had to be more to it than that so Thunderlane had actually followed him in secret. Turns out, his spying had led him to actually discovering that Soarin had been slipping off to meet and spend alone time with a certain little rainbow maned Wonderbolt recruit that he personally trained, himself. Who woulda thought that the pie lover, himself, actually had a secret marefriend?...Course, that secret was out now. Actually, it had come out a few weeks ago when they confessed to their entire team and all their fans after completing a show, but that was besides the point.

The sound of a throat being cleared got the dark grey pegasus to snap out of his thoughts as he blinked slightly out of his daze and brought his full attention to lock with the mare's own gaze before him. Huh...So her eyes really were teal...A really bright, pretty teal actually.

'Gah, no. Stop thinking how pretty she is, Thunderlane! Focus!' Shaking his head a bit roughly, he snapped out of it completely and gave the mystery mare an apologetic smile. "S-Sorry. I didn't really mean to spy. It's just that the snow caught me off guard while I was napping a bit in one of the clouds and then when I caught a glimpse of you, I got curious and followed. I uh...take it you're the pony that made the light snowfall?" The curious look in his dark gold eyes had returned at this point and the irritated one in the pegasus before him's seem to gradually vanish with his apology along with his question.

Seeing her slowly begin to relax, he smiled faintly as she nodded her head lightly to confirm his theory. "Yeah, actually. I'm a weather pony like my cousin, but my special talent deals with snow. I bring in the winter winds and snowfall when the weather for the day calls for it. I can even make or lighten of blizzards of different sizes if I feel like it and I always leave a snow trail in my wake when I fly."

As she told him this, Thunderlane was actually a bit amazed. After all, one hardly ever saw snow fall in Cloudsdale and it wasn't too often that any did so in Ponyville either since Rainbow Dash handled the weather there despite her duties as a Wonderbolt so this actually excited him a tiny bit. It also gave him something in common with the mare. After all, his own cutie mark was of a storm cloud with a lightning bolt striking out of it. The more he continued to think about this, the more curious he got about the slightly smaller mare before him.

...Which was rather strange since in all honesty, it was the mares that loved him. None had ever really gotten him curious like this before.

Dragging himself out of his thoughts once again, Thunderlane blinked slightly, only to have his eyes widen when he noticed that the unknown mare wasn't in front of himself anymore. Quickly glancing around, he spotted her casually flying off towards Ponyville and immediately flew off after her in a rush. "H-Hey! Wait up, will you?!" As he saw her halt and turn her head to face him, he noticed that she seemed almost annoyed with him now. Maybe she was needing to be somewhere? "Uhhh...I mean,...I've never seen you around Ponyville or Cloudsdale before. Are you um...new by any chance?" 'Smooth, Thunderlane. Real smooth. Of course she's new around here, you idiot!' Thunderlane couldn't help but mentally beat himself up over his own stupid question.

The pegasus gave him a strange look from his question and he honestly could have facehoofed over how he seemed to just trip over his own words and at his utter stupidity at the moment. However, she surprisingly still replied to him, though thankfully, her tone wasn't all that annoyed. "I guess ya could say that...I visited a time or two back when I was still just a li'l filly with my parents and older brother before I ever got my cutie mark, but that was a long time ago. I'm visitin' my cousin again since it's been a while since I last seen her, given I live all the way in Los Pegasus and all..."

"Oh, I see. So it's been a while since your last visit. In that case, would you like me to show you around? After all, I am a gentlecolt." Well,...maybe not entirely, but he was pretty smooth and a gentlecolt sometimes. It was her answer though, that caused the stallion to force himself to restrain from showing any excitement.

"Sure, why not. Just no more spyin' on me, got it?"

Her eyes were narrowed in a glare towards him when she said that last part, but the sight of the faint smirk told him that she was actually joking a little with him now. Laughing a bit at this, he shook his head and lifted a hoof as he used the other to make a cross fashion over his heart. "I promise. No more spying on you. Next time, I'll just sneak up and scare you like you did to me earlier." Smirking back in response as he said this, both pegasus flew off as they headed towards Ponyville together.

"I'm Thunderlane, by the way; what's your's?"

His attention was almost fully on the mare with him as they flew since they were still high enough in the air to not cause him to crash into anything while he looked at her and the number of clouds around them were pretty sparse. Whether or not she noticed this though, he had no clue at all. "Name's Blizzard Rush, but my friends back in Los Pegasus, and then my cousin, call me Rush...Oh yeah, speakin' of which, ya might know her. Her name's Rainbow Dash."

That...actually sent him into shock as his eyes widened and he suddenly put on the breaks in mid air causing her to halt as well as she held a sudden look of confusion towards him. Then again, he probably couldn't blame her since the look on his face was like that of a fish out of water or something cause his jaw was, quite literally, dropped.

"You're...Whoa, whoa. You're Dash's cousin?! Seriously?! Celestia, I really never would've guessed." Slowly coming down from his shock, Thunderlane gave her a closer look before he started to actually notice a few things. Her mane and tail were styled a bit similarly towards Dash's, though both were slightly longer and her tail also had a bit more of a wave to it and her eyes were the same shape as Dash's too. Hay, even the way she spoke was similar despite where Blizzard Rush said she lived. However, no matter how anypony looked at it though, the mare before him was definitely cuter than his friend, Dash. 'Wait,...did I seriously just think that?!'

Seeing that she was still confused, Thunderlane blushed and ran a hoof through his mohawk styled mane. "Uhh...Sorry about that. It's just that I know Rainbow Dash and she and I are kinda friends; we even work together, but I never woulda guessed you were her cousin. I mean,...yeah, now that I get a better look at you, you have similarities to her, but at first glance, no pony woulda been able to see it..."

Shaking his head as he said this, Thunderlane smiled again and finally pointed towards the town in the slight distance that was Ponyville. "Well anyways, lets get going, okay? I did promise to show you around after all, heh."

Blizzard Rush seemed to relax again as she actually smiled lightly and nodded her head once towards him before they continued their flight course towards Ponyville.

Upon arriving at their destination, they landed in the streets and the older of the two pegasi began to show her around. As they walked around and chatted though, Blizzard Rush became more and more grateful that he offered to show her around. A number of the shops that were here now hadn't been when she had last visited. Of course they ended up talking bout a number of different subjects as they wandered, only to finally end up at Sugarcube Corner.

Offering a smile, Thunderlane nodded his head towards the cafe; his left foreleg raised up off the ground slightly with the motion. "You'll really like it here. My little brother, Rumble and I used to come here often. They have the best sweets."

As they stepped inside, with Thunderlane actually opening the door for the younger mare, causing the bell above said door to chime lightly, an older mare stepped out of the back and smiled sweetly towards them. "Well, hello there, Thunderlane. I've just finished baking some fresh blueberry cupcakes. Would you like some?" It was then that she seemed to take notice of the fact that he didn't have his little brother with him this time, but instead, a mare. "Oh my...And who's your little friend, dear?...Hm?" As she asked this, Miss Cake seemed to halt all words the more she stared at the smaller mare beside him. It was then that her eyes widened and she slowly stepped out from behind the counter; walking towards them. "My word...Is that really you, Blizzard Rush? Oh my dear, you've grown so much." In an instant, the earth pony had her forelegs around the younger mare as she hugged her closely.

Seeing Blizzard Rush return Miss Cake's embrace for a few seconds before pulling away, Thunderlane watched as she smiled sweetly at the much older mare before speaking. "Yeah, it's me Miss Cake. It feels great to be back visitin' Ponyville again after so long. I might actually stick around a while with my visit, ya know? Think Dashie would tie me up if I didn', hehe. Just...don' let her know yet. She hasn' a clue that I decided to come visit yet. I kinda wanted it to be a surprise." Her smile only seemed to grow a tiny bit more when Miss Cake nodded her head in understanding of this and even promised to make Pinkie Pie swear later on when she returned that she would keep quiet as well and not...throw any parties for once, which Thunderlane could actually find himself being grateful for.

Don't get him wrong, he loved parties as much as the next pony, but a Pinkie Party tended to get a bit too much what with her...excessively bubbly personality and near endless amount of cheer and energy. He could get tired just from watching or listening to her excited rambling.

With things settled, he and Blizzard Rush walked over to a booth and ordered up some of the fresh cupcakes that she had mentioned earlier as well as two apple smoothies. Needless to say, what started off as a relaxing day to take a nap turned into an enjoyable day with a new mare that he had become fast friends with despite his first impression having not bee exactly the best... 'I'd like to think that it was my overall charm and good looks that got me on her good side...Yeah, it was totally not my absolute awkwardness at all...'

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end at some point and that included this day as much as he was silently wishing for an extension on it.

Walking out of Sugarcube Corner and onto the streets, Thunderlane began to notice that the skies were beginning to take on shades of purples, darker blues, reds, and then the clouds took on a pink hue along the edges. He hadn't even realized how fast the time went by and here it was, already sunset. As he glanced over at his new friend, he was almost stunned as his dark gold eyes widened faintly at the sight before him. The shades of the sunset's light bathed a curtain along her ice blue coat and made her bright teal eyes practically sparkle. At this point in time, he didn't care if he had never noticed details like this before with other mares, but the one before him at this very moment was the most breathtaking sight he had ever seen. Unfortunately, that realization didn't really help him out much at all as he was currently flying the friendzone.

...Now he knew how everypony else that was ever friendzoned by somepony felt. Only difference was that Blizzard Rush had absolutely no clue that Thunderlane just might have been starting to form a little crush on her...

"Well, I best get goin'. I'm stayin' in a hotel back in Cloudsdale for the night till I surprise my cousin. I had a great time with you, Thunder." Casting a smile towards him, her words snapped the stallion out of his train of thought again as he glanced down at her and saw the smile she was giving him. Managing to smile back in return, he nodded his head lightly before she actually took him by surprise and gave him a hug. Standing there for a few seconds with his mouth hung open and a blush upon his features, he quickly snapped out of his shock and returned the hug before they both pulled back at the same time, though Thunderlane was more reluctant. "We should do this again sometime. It'd be great to see ya again since we're friends now and you're, ya know, not spyin' on me, heh..."

Nodding his head lightly, he chuckled a bit in amusement towards her joke at the end. "I had a great time too and getting to hang out again definitely sounds like a blast, Blizzy. You oughta come visit Pegasus Stadium sometime since I work there with the other Wonderbolts just like your cousin does." As he said this, she seemed surprised, but he couldn't really tell what had caused that reaction. At first, he actually thought it was towards him being a Wonderbolt, but then he remembered that, that had been one of the topics they had spoke about while he was showing her around along with his training as a recruit.

It was then that he spied the faint blush that colored her muzzle and he realized what the cause of it had been. It had been completely subconscious, but he had actually called her 'Blizzy'. "Uh...sorry...D-Do you not want me to call you that?"

Blizzard Rush snapped out of it quickly when he asked that and quickly shook her head. "N-No! Ya can call me Blizzy if ya want. Ya just caught me by surprise, I guess. I haven' been called that since I was a li'l filly still and even then, only my big brother had ever called my that. Anyways, I best get goin' before it gets too late. Bye Thunder." With that, she smiled a bit shyly and gave him a little wave before quickly flying off, leaving a snowy trail behind herself in the process.

Watching her leave, Thunderlane couldn't help but smile a bit to himself. This mare was definitely different from any other he had ever met thus far, save for her cousin of course. For one, she didn't adore him in that manner like other Wonderbolt fanmares did and despite having just shown a bit of a shy side to herself, she had a playful attitude and was also spunky. As he headed back home himself, he chuckled lightly. One thing was for certain out of all that had happened.

...Thunderlane was gonna enjoy getting to know and be around Blizzard Rush even more during her visit and maybe even win over her heart. After all,...he was a Wonderbolt. How hard could it be since they'd already hit it off great as friends?
> Chapter 2
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Chapter 2


Pegasus Stadium.

That was where the Wonderbolts were all at currently as they were going over their daily exercises and routines for future shows. Thunderlane was, of course, practicing with Fire Streak, Silverlining, and Fleetfoot. He had been teamed up with them, as their Captain, Spitfire had instructed that they would come up with tricks and stunts that required four members to pull off successfully more easily than it would with just two or three.

As they finished up with their exercises, Thunderlane dove down quickly towards the ground below before jerking his hindquarters forward in a sudden sharp halt just before collision would've happened. Touching his hooves to the ground, he sighed softly as he folded her wings slightly at his sides; glad that the training was over for the time being. After all, his wings had started to ache a bit from all those speed runs, sharp dips and turns, and then the Multi Twister Burst move...

That move was enough to make your head spin and feel like you were gonna lose a few feathers more often than not...

As he took the time to enjoy the ground beneath his hooves, he was quite nearly collided into by a cyan and rainbow blur as it zipped passed him. It was only at the startled yelp from his teammate, Soarin, that he actually chuckled lightly; knowing exactly what it was that had happened. Turning around halfway to see the scene before him, Thunderlane had to struggle with himself not to fall over in a fit of laughter, as just a few yards away was a collapsed Soarin with Rainbow Dash pinning him there with her front hooves as she hovered over him with an excited look in her rose colored eyes. "Hey, Dash. What's with the greeting? I mean, yeah, Soarin's your coltfriend, but I don't think that's any reason to practically pile drive him into next week whenever you want, haha."

Lifting her head up to look over at the dark grey stallion, she gave him a look that told him to be quiet, but then it quickly vanished as she got off of the older light blue stallion and helped him back up onto his hooves. Once he was standing again, Rainbow Dash pretty much began to jump around him in excitement. It was almost like seeing her reacting in the manner she had back when she had first Officially met the Wonderbolts up close; before she had managed to become one of them.

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Soarin, you'll never believe what has happened! I mean, I'm still having trouble believing it; it's that amazing!"

"More amazing than when you met the Wonderbolts or even when you got recruited to become one? Come on, Dashie." Soarin chuckled softly at how his marefriend was acting. He couldn't help but to find it to be adorable and also find her amount of energy to be rather infectious.

"No, of course not! But it's still pretty close! I mean,-"

"What my ball of energy of a cousin means is that I'm back in the area for a while."

Soarin and the other Wonderbolts glanced in the direction of the new voice, only to have their gazes land on the ice blue mare that was casually walking towards them. While most of the 'bolts held looks of confusion or curiosity in their gazes, Thunderlane's own gold eyes lit up slightly and ran over to the new arrival. "Blizzy, you really came by!"

Blizzard Rush rolled her bright teal eyes slightly in a playful manner before smirking slightly. "Of course I did. Ya invited me to do so, after all and plus, Dash wanted to stop by even on her day off to see her coltfriend and show me around where she usually trains with you guys. She honestly wouldn' shut up about this one certain colt the whole flight out here." She then drifted her gaze over towards the stallion that stood at her still grinning cousin's side before giving him a look over despite the fact that the whole team had their uniforms on. "So you're Soarin, eh? Not bad...You're a pretty cute stallion, actually. Dash certainly knows how to pick 'em." The mare then finally flashed a playful wink towards the two, causing them both to blush. "I totally approve, cuz."

As the two pegasi continued to blush and then exchanged glances with each other, the young couple finally smiled as if they had been approved of by their own parents. Soarin then returned his gaze onto Blizzard Rush and trotted over to her to properly greet the mare with Rainbow Dash close behind. Holding out his hoof to shake her's, he grinned in a slightly goofy manner when she took his greeting and shook before letting go.

"So you and Dashie are cousins? Where are you from and how long are you playing on staying?" The light blue stallion then took note that their newest recruit seemed to know the new mare and was actually curious about that considering how excited he had seemed to be about seeing her. "And how do you know Thunderlane here?"

"Wow, a field of questions already, huh?" Chuckling softly to herself, the ice blue mare decided to answer it all the best she could in order. "Lets see...Yeah, I'm her cousin. We're actually the same age, but I'm older by only like a month; name's Blizzard Rush, but ya can just call me Rush. I'm from Los Pegasus and actually, I'm not sure how long I'll be stayin' yet. It's kinda up in the air right now since I'm on leave from work. My big bro's handlin' things back home for me." Tilting her head to the side slightly in thought, she then shook her head, causing her multi-color streaked mane to shift a bit with the movement. "I'll be here a while though, I think. I only arrived in Ponyville yesterday and I kinda ran into Dash this mornin' durin' one of her runs to clear away the clouds from her duty as a weather pony." Drifting her gaze back onto the dark grey stallion in question towards the last part, she casted him a small smile. "Met this stallion yesterday in the clouds. Guess ya could say I popped in on him, heh."

Blushing faintly at this, Thunderlane lifted a hoof and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he chuckled. "I was sorta, maybe...spying...on her a little bit when I saw her. After she caught me in the act though, we became fast friends and hung out the rest of the day together."

After all the questions seemed to get answered, Rainbow Dash glanced up at the pegasus next to her. "Hey, Soarin, I'm gonna go show her around, ok? I'll see ya later though." With that, the rainbow maned pegasus leaned up and gave the older stallion a kiss on the cheek before trotting off with her cousin as they immediately began to chat back and forth and laugh as they caught up with each other on everything.

Watching the two mares leave with a smile on his face, Soarin drifted his gaze to the side as he spied something within his new recruit's own gaze. It was a look he had actually seen before, but not in Thunderlane's nor anypony else's. Thinking he would talk to the stallion about it, he tabbed his shoulder to get his attention before jerking his head slightly to the side. "Come on. Lets go for a bit of a walk and get us some pie." Walking off, he didn't need to glance back to know that Thunderlane had trotted off after him and was now walking along side of him. When they arrived in the cafeteria that the stadium provided and ordered up two pies for the both of them, Soarin grabbed his own pie between his teeth like his companion did and walked over to a nearby table. "So...What's on your mind, Thunder? You were looking at that new mare long enough to where you coulda burned a hole right into her flank."

"Huh?" Thunderlane's dark gold eyes widened slightly in surprise at the question and jolted somewhat as if he had been caught with his hoof in the cookie jar. "I uh...I don't know what you're talking about."

Soaring rolled his emerald eyes slightly at the horrible act that the other stallion was putting on before smirking towards him. "Oh, please. I'm not as dense as some ponies think I am. Rush and Dashie might not have noticed, but I certainly did. You were giving her the same look I sometimes gave Dashie whenever I saw her before I finally gathered up the courage to confess that I liked her."

At being told this, and even worse, caught, Thunderlane's eyes only seemed to widen a bit more if that were actually possible and a fierce blush began to creep up onto his face and neck.

"Now...Mind telling me what exactly is up, Thunder?"

Sighing lightly in defeat of this now, Thunderlane lowered his head as he seemed to act almost ashamed now. "I kinda...maybe...like Blizzy a little..." It was then that he groaned in even more defeat after a moment and dropped his head onto the table with a thump, somehow managing to avoid landing in his pie. "Ok, make that a lot."

Feeling pity for his fellow teammate, Soarin walked around the table and lifted a hoof as he patted the stallion comfortingly on the back. "Wanna talk about it?"

Lifting his head up, Thunderlane gave Soarin a look, but then sighed once more as he began talking. "It's just, have you ever looked at a filly just once and then instantly feel something in the back of your mind click?"

Soarin arched a brow at this and thought for a moment on what he meant by that. "You talking about that 'love at first sight' kinda thing?"

The dark grey pegasus nodded his head. "At first, I was just curious, but when she popped up and startled me, the moment I got a really good look at her up close for the first time, all I could think about was how beautiful she looked. Something in the back of my mind just clicked in that instant and I had to know who she was and anything else I could about her. All I keep thinking about when I see Blizzy is how much I wanna be with her." He then finally threw his hooves above his head in frustration before dropping his head back onto the table with his forelegs outstretched in front of him. "Ugh! She has no clue what she's done to me and on top of that, she friendzoned me without even having the faintest idea that I'm crazy about her already after just one day with her! I mean, what kinda mare has that effect on a stallion?!"

Watching as his friend began to ramble on in a slightly muffled tone about his situation and how he felt about Blizzard Rush, he couldn't help but to chuckle lightly in amusement. "Actually, I know what you're going through a bit more than you might think. Dashie had a similar effect on me. I'm beginning to think it might run in the family."

Shifting his head slightly at hearing this, Thunderlane side glanced up at his companion. "...Really...?"

Laughing fully now, he nodded his head. "Yup. She made quite the impression on me when we first met the day she saved me and the others from our falls and even succeeded in doing the Sonic Rainboom in the process. I was instantly impressed and in the back of my mind, I knew I liked her, but it wasn't till the Grand Galloping Gala when she made a dive just to save my pie did I actually realize just how much I liked her." Smiling lightly at the memory that sprouted forth within his mind, Soarin chuckled softly once more in amusement. "I mean, who really does that? Other than me of course. I doubt any other filly would've sprung into action like that just to save a pie from utter disaster for anypony. From that night on though, I made it my mission to spend as much of my free time with her as I could when she wasn't busy, herself and well,...you know the rest on how it ended up."

Nodding lightly in understanding as he did know how it ended up and exactly how they finally got together, but he still couldn't help but feel like he might not have a chance with Blizzard Rush. After all, for all he knew, she might've already had a coltfriend back in Los Pegasus waiting for her. "Lemme ask you something, Soarin, and I want you to be totally truthful here...You think I might have a chance with Blizzy?"

Soarin was silent for a moment as he was asked this. He wasn't really sure how to answer that sort of question since he really hadn't seen how the two of them really interacted around each other enough to actually come up with at least a good guess. He didn't wanna hurt his friend, but then again, he also didn't wanna get his hopes up either, and Thunderlane had even told him to be honest with him... "I think...if you really put your mind to it, that anything's possible. I can't say if you have a good shot with her or not, but I think it might be a possibility if you're determined enough..."

Thunderlane didn't say anything towards the advice as he simply thought hard on the words spoken to him. After a moment, a slight smile found its way onto his face as he nodded his head once. "Thanks, Soarin. You're a good friend." With that, he drifted his gaze over towards the clock and creased his brows slightly at the time. The cousins had been gone for a while now and he hoped nothing had happened. He knew that he shouldn't worry, but he had been hoping that they'd have returned to them by now. "Wonder what Blizzy and Dash are up to..."

"Returning back ta you guys before ya decide to come find and spy on us, that's what."

Turning his head to glance behind himself and Soarin, he saw the two younger mares step into the cafeteria and walk over to them. "Where'd you two go anyways? You were gone for a while and I doubt it takes that long to show a pony around the stadium."

Rainbow Dash rolled her rose colored eyes at this before sticking her tongue out at the two stallions playfully and spoke up again. "Wouldn' you guys like ta know."

Blizzard Rush rolled her own eyes as well at this, but it had been more towards the way her cousin acted than towards the stallions' nosy curiosity. "We only went for a walk around the stadium and caught up on what we've been up to. She also introduced me to the other members. That satisfy ya enough?"

Thunderlane seemed hesitant on that. He actually wanted to know just what all they 'caught up' with, and when he casted an instant long side glance towards Soarin out of the corners of his molten gold eyes, he knew that the other stallion was just as curious; most likely wondering if his marefriend had talked about him at all. When he locked his gaze with the two mares before them once again, he saw the slight impatience within rose colored depths and expectancy in the bright teal ones. Sighing softly in defeat, Thunderlane nodded his head lightly. "Yeah, ok. Good enough, I guess."

"Good! Cause we weren't gonna tell ya anymore anyways even if ya begged." Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed in a playful manner as a matching smirk played onto her features as she said this. She was actually liking that the curiosity seemed to be eating away at them. As she drifted her gaze over to the clock though, she noticed the time and panicked slightly. "Ohmygosh! I'm late meeting with my friends!" The cyan mare then quickly closed the gap and planted a kiss to Soarin's lips before just as quickly, if not more so, into the air as she whipped around in a 180 and bolted out the door in a manner that would make you think a swarm of angry bees were hot on her rainbow colored tail.

Rolling her eyes at her cousin's antics again, Blizzard Rush locked her gaze onto the two in front of her before nodded her head once. "I best get goin' myself. Gotta get my things moved outta the hotel I was stayin' at last night and into the spare bedroom that's at Dash's cloud home. See ya around guys." With a kind little wave of her hoof to them, the ice blue mare turned around and trotted off leisurely. Apparently, unlike her cousin, she was not one to feel the need to rush.

Thunderlane watched as the younger flier left; a look of slight longing in his gaze. It was only when Soarin nudged him in the shoulder and motioned silently with his head in a manner that told him to go after her, that he did just that. Quickly shooting his superior a thankful look, the dark grey stallion quickly galloped off out of the cafeteria after her.

Once the new recruit was gone, Soarin shook his head and laughed softly to himself as he headed off as well to get cleaned up in the showers from the training earlier. "That Thunder. Makes me surprised that I acted just like how he is now only a few months ago before I finally got the courage up to confess to Dashie..." Finding it honestly amusing to see the usually 'charming' stallion practically tripping over himself for once over a mare, he couldn't help but hope that his new friend and teammate would be able to sweep that pretty little mare off her hooves.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ch: 3


It was the fifth night of her stay in Ponyville. Blizzard Rush had met and even befriended her cousin's friends, who were actually quite the odd bunch really. They definitely all had their quirks and sometimes she actually wondered how they were all such close friends since all their personalities clashed in certain areas. Still though, she couldn't help but be grateful that her cousin had made such good and loyal friends that had her back. It made her feel a bit less guilty over the fact that she had been unable to remain at her side and watch over her despite being only a tiny bit older than the cyan mare.

As she wandered the streets of Ponyville though, she sighed contently as she enjoyed the way the area became so bathed in moonlight. It really just made everything so peaceful and the fact that everypony was inside for the night, it made it even more so. However, as she decided it was getting late enough, she made a shift in movement to begin making her way back to her the cloud home she was staying in during her visit.

Well,...that's what she had intended on doing anyways. 

However, something had caught her eye that moved within the shadows of an alley, causing her to suddenly halt in her hoofsteps. Her muscles tensed and her wings twitched at her sides in anticipation; readying herself to flee if it was anything too dangerous for her to handle. It was then that the movement in the shadows stepped out of the alley and her bright teal eyes widened in surprise at the sight before her. She honestly hadn't expected such a visit...

Stepping slowly towards her was an older alicorn stallion. His dark amethyst coat shimmered intensely in the moon's light just as his blood red mane and tail did that was styled in a similar manner to Soarin's except his mane also had strands that fell into his face on the left side; his piercing ice blue eyes baring into one's very soul, it seemed like, if you were to lock gazes with him. Upon his flank were three crimson colored music notes that was styled in a way that looked like the notes themselves were actually bleeding. Halting a few feet from the mare, the alicorn shifted on his onyx hooves more dominantly as his wild tail flicked behind himself. "Good evening Blizzard Rush...I do so hope that your visit in this...quaint little Ponyville has been enjoyable so far. After all,...I would hate to know that my dear companion was not having any fun during one of the times I permitted her away from my side..."

Blushing faintly at the smooth, alluring tone that the stallion constantly spoke in when he wasn't angered, she fidgeted faintly on her hooves before nodding her head slightly in confirmation. "Of course I have Prince Nocturne. I hadn' seen my cousin in quite a while so I've quite enjoyed seein' her and catchin' up."

"Oh? Catching up, you say?" Chuckling in amusement at this, he took another step forward to close the distance a bit more between him and the mare in front of him. "Surely you haven't really 'caught up' on things...After all, what would your dear younger cousin think if she were to find out the truth on who you really are? That her once loving, innocent older sister figure had become the guardian and right hoof to myself?"

Turning her head to the side a bit to break eye contact for the first time in quite a while, Blizzard Rush's eyes softened almost ashamedly. It wasn't that she was ashamed of what she had become nor that she was Prince Nocturne's most trusted and loyal ally. Oh no...She doubted she could ever regret that. What she was ashamed of was that she had actually lied to Rainbow Dash about where she lived and what her job was. "No...I told her that I still lived in Los Pegasus and was a weather pony there."

At hearing this, the alicorn barely contained his laughter as he grinned to show his pearly whites, but in doing so, he actually revealed two sharp fangs at the top and two at the bottom. "Oh my dear sweet mare...You are quite the actress towards these unsuspecting ponies. You even have that Twilight Sparkle utterly fooled and she's the precious favored student of that noble hearted Princess Celestia." At this point, he couldn't help but go from amusement in his tone to a disgusted, spiteful growl when he said the Princess' name. He truly despised Celestia and her little sister Luna. They were both a great thorn in his side and it was because of them and the Elements of Harmony that he had yet to been able to accomplish his goals in taking over all of Equestria.

"Um...My Prince?"

Blinking slightly as he came out of his haunting thoughts, his icy gaze landed upon the younger mare as she seemed to show faint concern for him. He truly did hate pity and his followers knew this as did his Dark Knights. However, Blizzard Rush was a completely different pony. She was someone very special and the only one that he allowed to get close to him, for unlike the others that loyally followed him without hesitation back at the Dusk Empire where he ruled, the only one he was loyal to in return and would risk his life to protect if needed was the one standing before him now. She was the only one he cared about; none of the others truly mattered since all of them could easily be replaced with other ponies in his eyes. Blizzard Rush was the only one that was irreplaceable along with perhaps her older brother simply due to how important he was to the mare in question.

Sighing softly as he thought all of this, he finally closed the last little bit of gap between himself and the quite a bit smaller pegasus as he lowered his head and nuzzled the side of her face and mane gently. He never showed his soft side to anyone else. Only she deserved to witness that he even had such a side that was beyond cruelty and darkness. "I need to fade out now Blizzard. I sense one of my knights nearing the throne room and I need my consciousness focused solely on there for the time being." Pulling back as he raised his head back up, he saw that her eyes had closed gently at the very rare show of affection he had given her. Chuckling softly in amusement towards this, he watched her eyes flutter open once again to gaze up at him with unwavering loyalty. "You needn't worry, my dear. I shall visit you again soon enough. In the meantime, keep up with your mission here. After all,...it's not often that I give you a mission that could possibly become long term since I usually loath you being away from my side for long periods of time...It makes me incapable of making sure you remain safe and unharmed despite fully knowing what you're truly capable of..."

Nodding her head lightly in understanding, Blizzard Rush still couldn't help but feel a bit at a loss when Prince Nocturne informed her that he had to fade out. She had already begun to miss him and even though they weren't together romantically, she held a deep care for the stallion before her and she knew the feeling was mutual. "Understood, my Prince. I'll keep to my mission here and gain everypony's trust. Once accomplished, I'll set into motions with your plan and slowly destroy their defenses so that ya can come in with the Dusk Army and take down the Princesses."

"Good good...I know you won't let me down Blizzard, but I do have one last thing I must know...Will you be able to bring down the Elements of Harmony despite knowing that the Element of Loyalty is your very own cousin, Rainbow Dash?"

The ice blue mare seemed to hesitate on this for a moment, but he knew that it wasn't because her loyalty with him wavered. He understood that it was due to the fact that she still held care for the cyan pegasus. It was only natural after all since her cousin had been the one of the two closest to her as far as family went when they were still just fillies; the other being her older brother. It was when she spoke though, that a smirk appeared onto his features. "Yes...Dash may be my cousin and I admit that I'll always love her, but...my loyalty to you comes first and foremost. Disappointin' you and losin' your trust and own loyalty would be worse than my betrayal towards any of my family outside of my brother, who is also loyal ta you..."

Nodding his head once towards this slightly in a silent manner that told her he was pleased with her answer, he lowered his head once more and rested his forehead against her own, though he was careful of his slightly curved back horn. "Good luck then, my dear...I shall see you again soon..." And with that,...Prince Nocturne's form vanished.

Watching as he vanished into sparkles of dust that faded away before it hit the ground, Blizzard Rush sighed softly as she closed her eyes gently and turned around as she extended her wings; taking to the night sky as she headed to her cousin's home to get some rest.

{Dusk Empire}


Focusing his full consciousness once again in his real body, rather than his copy as well, Nocturne's eyes slowly opened as an echoing knock sounded off at the double doors that was at the entrance to his throne. It was then that a black stallion with dark silver armor on his torso and a matching helmet appeared through the doors as they opened with the use of his magic when his curved horn glowed faintly to allow entrance. His stark white wild mane and tail stood out like a beacon and the faint showings of his cutie mark, a spiraling light silver cloud, was seen on his flank. "What is it Stormcloud? You don't usually pay me a visit so late in the evening..."

Coming to a halt at the base of the throne, Stormcloud lowered his front half towards the floor in a bow as his aquamarine eyes gently closed. When he rose back up though, his eyes opened once again as he spoke. "My apologies sire, but I had wished to ask you about Blizzard Rush and how she's currently doing with her mission in Ponyville and the surrounding cities of Cloudsdale and Canterlot. Not that I hold any doubts in neither your decision nor her capabilities to succeed, but I wish you could've let me accompany her..."

"Stormcloud, I understand your concern, but you can't always keep her around to protect her. She has her own duties and is more than capable of completing them without fail." He then lifted his head as Nocturne allowed an almost arrogant look to grace his features while he gazed down at the pegasus before him. "After all,...I doubt you would wish for your own little sister to believe that you don't think she can handle this mission on her own till the time is right for us to join her..."

Stormcloud tensed up faintly at this and his aqua eyes seemed to have widened faintly in panic at the thought of his little sister thinking he didn't trust nor believe in her. Just the image of her look of hurt and disappointment appearing in his mind caused him to roughly shake his head as his eyes clenched shut to clear the image from his mind. "No sire...I would never wish upon my sister such emotions. Please forgive me Prince Nocturne."

"Calm yourself, Stormcloud. I know you simply worry as an older brother rightly should. However, I would like for you to put more faith into Blizzard Rush. She may be younger than you and myself by a few years, but she is just as skilled and capable in a way that is beyond her years." Nocturne then lifted an onyx hoof and waved the pegasus off in an almost lazy fashion. "Now be off. Return to your quarters and get some rest. Your mind is in no condition for guard duty right now. I will have Flareblitz take your place for the remainder of the night."

"Yes sire. Goodnight then." Stormcloud then turned around and made his way out of the throne room to get some rest.

Watching as his strongest knight left the massive room and the double doors closed behind him, the alicorn closed his ice eyes as he chuckled softly to himself. Everything was going accordingly thus far on Blizzard Rush's side and at this rate, all of Equestria would become rightfully his soon enough. And then, perhaps, once that was accomplished,...he would have his loyal little right hoof rule with him at his side...


To be continued