> The Dreams We Share
>  by Silentpegasus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


The Dreams We Share

Chapter 1


Storm Chaser, a white Pegasus stallion was napping on a dark cloud in the afternoon, he spread his wings and let his white coat soak up the warm rays of Celestia’s sun, his mane and tail were black with red tips, his cutie mark was a red wing with the tips wrapped in black flames. He didn’t know why he enjoyed laying on storm clouds, maybe it was the way his coat shined against the dark clouds or maybe it was from the small amount of electricity that would massage his aching back and wings in all the right places. 

Storm had moved to Ponyville one month ago from Trottingham, he managed to score a job as a weather pony controlling the clouds on the edge of town. It was a relatively quiet and easy job, his favorite kind. Storm had become friends with a few of the ponies around town, including the farmer Big Macintosh, he was a lot like him in a few ways; quiet, hard working and always up for some cider. Storm had begun to drift off to sleep when he felt the cloud beginning to discharge it’s stored lightning, he looked over the edge to see a cyan Pegasus mare with a flowing rainbow mane kicking his cloud bed.

“Hey! I’m sleeping here.” he yelled. The mare suddenly looked at him with a surprised look on her face.

“Huh? Sorry, I didn’t think any-pony was up here.” she said with a smile. Storm knew the mare, Rainbow Dash. The self proclaimed ‘Fastest flier in Equestria.' “You’re......sorry what’s your name again?” she said as she landed on the cloud next to him.

“It’s Storm Chaser, I was hired last week.”

“Right the new guy. What are you doing up here?”

“I was napping.” he deadpanned.

“On a storm cloud?” she said.

“Yes, they’re comfy.” he said as he laid back down on the cloud.

“Whatever, WHY are you napping?”

“It’s my day off, what else is there to do?”

“Tons of stuff!”

“Well, that sounds real interesting Skittles, let me know when you’ve thought of something, till then I’ll be here catching some Z’s” he said as he yawned. Rainbow punched him in the shoulder. “Ouch!”

“I HATE that nick name!” she said in a stern tone.

“I know.” he said with a grin. 

“Then why do you call me that?”

“Seeing you get flustered is too good to resist.” he said in a playful tone, the cyan mare flew off the cloud and gave it a hard kick, making it evaporate. Storm looked at her with an annoyed look on his face as he started to fly in place. “Thanks a lot Rainbow, you just killed my bed.” the cyan mare smiled as she stuck her tongue out at him.

“Well, now that you’re done with your nap wanna hang out?”

“Fine, what should we do?” Rainbow bit her lip at the thought.

“Umm......head over to Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Sure, Big Mac might have some work for us to do.” he said as he and the cyan mare started to fly through the sky.

“What’s with you and working all the time?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The only time I see you is when we’re at work or you’re helping Mac and AJ with their work. Don’t you ever chill out?” she asked as she raised an eyebrow.

“I like to work, what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing it’s just that......you need to learn how to unwind, get a hobby or something.”

“I have hobbies!”

“Like what?”

“I read.”

“Fine what do you read?” Storm bit his lip at the next part.

“Cloud reports.” he said as he adverted his gaze.

“Work related, doesn’t count!” she yelled.

“What ever, how I spend my time should be no concern of yours.” he said in a harsh tone as he descended onto the farm, he and Rainbow landed in front of the red barn just as Big Mac and AJ were coming out.

“Howdy Rainbow, howdy Storm, what brings you two here?” the orange mare asked in her southern accent.

“I was bored so I was wondering if you guys needed any help.”

“Well, that’s mighty kind of ya. Ya’ll can help Big Mac with some apple trees, he’s in the South orchard.” the stallion nodded and took off in the direction the mare had instructed. Storm flew through the orchard, he soon came across the quiet red stallion bucking apple trees.

“Hey Mac.”

“Howdy.”

“AJ told me to lend you a hoof, that all right with you?”

“Eeyup, ya can start on the third row over there.” he said as he pointed to the lone of trees.

“Will do.” Storm began to work on said trees. As he did his mind drifted off and he began to stare into space. His mind drifted back to his flight school days, his mind began to fabricate the good old days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Another five laps around the track then hit the showers!” the coach said as he blew his whistle at the group of pegasi who were circling the track field. Storm was head of the pack along side his best friend Thunder Kicker, a light brown Pegasus stallion with a white mane. Thunder finished just a few seconds ahead of Storm. The coach blew his whistle and the exhausted stallions made their way into the locker room.

“Hah! Still the champ!” Thunder said as he raised his hoof in victory. Storm rolled his eyes and trotted over to his locker.

“Yeah, yeah. Enjoy it while it lasts hot shot, you are going down next time.” he said with a grin. The brown Pegasus slapped him on the back with a laugh.

“Yeah, keep dreaming Storm.” he said with a cocky grin. Storm pushed him off him and smiled. “You okay?” his friend asked. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The vision collapsed and he was back at Sweet Apple Acres looking into the maroon eyes of Rainbow Dash who had a confused look on her face. “ Hello? Equestria to Storm. I said are you okay?” she said as she tapped him on his head.

“Yeah I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You seemed kind of out of it.”

“Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Stuff.” Rainbow deadpanned him.

“Fine be all secretive and what not. It’s time to head home.” she said with a smile. Storm nodded and started to walk with Rainbow to the gate. “So Storm, where do you hang out?”

“Why? Looking to spend some more time with me?” he said with a smug grin.

“Yeah right. I just want to see if your a total loser or not.” she said as she rolled her eyes.

“That hurts, to answer your question I guess my house mostly.”

“Doing what?”

“Reading, listening to music, watching T.V. playing video games, the usual.” he said in a calm tone.

“You don’t ever go out?”

“No, I usually go to the bar with Big Mac. We talk, joke around...stuff like that.”

“What do you two talk about?”

“Sorry, Bar Code Rule #1: What happens at the bar, stays at the bar.” Rainbow looked at him in disappointment. “That look doesn’t work on me Rainbow.” he said in a flat tone. 

“What games do you play?”

“You probably wouldn’t be interested in them.” he said as he looked at the mare.

“Hey I’ve played a game occasionally!” she said in a defensive tone.

“Really? You never struck me as a gamer.” he said as he raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I am! I have my own account and everything on the P-Box 720.”

“Cool, what games do you play?”

“I asked you first.”

“Fine. Colt of Duty, Stallions of War, Pony’s Creed, Pony’d for Dead, Equestria Noire, Sonic the Pegasus, and Palo.” he finished.

“Cool....I’ve played some Colt of Duty and Palo. Not sure about the others.”

“They’re more story driven than just blowing stuff up.”

“What’s the fun in that?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” he said as he let out a sigh.

“So what’s your Game Plate?”

“SilentPegasus17. Yours?”

“Rainboom#1. I’ll add you when I get home.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Will you accept the invite?” she said as Storm began to take flight.

“We’ll see.” he said as he flew off to his home. He flew through the air at a slow pace, despite his flying ability he liked to fly slow and take in the surroundings. He soon arrived at his house, Storm lived on the outskirts of Ponyville. He preferred to keep to himself, he didn’t consider himself antisocial, he just had a few ‘close’ friends and that’s how he liked it. He arrived at his home and trotted inside, it was small for a two story apartment, quaint and simple. One bedroom, one bath, living room and kitchen. Storm wasn’t much of a cook but he knew enough to get by. He made himself some dinner and sat down in front of his television and turned on the seven o’clock news. Nothing ground breaking or disastrous. He turned on his game console and saw who was on, sure enough he had a friend request from Rainbow. He ignored the message and decided to head to the bar in hopes of seeing Big Mac. He put his dishes in the sink and made sure that his ‘vault’ was locked. After Storm had locked up he took flight and made his way into Ponyville.

The night was calm and cool, perfect flying conditions. He marveled at the night sky and enjoyed the night’s cold embrace. He stopped in front of a red bricked building that held a sign that read ‘The Rusty Horseshoe.' he made his way inside and sat down at the bar. The interior was mostly made of wood that looked and smelled like chestnut, the bar itself had more of an Oak tint to it. The bartender, an old orange earth pony stallion made his way over to the white Pegasus and stopped in front of him.

“Nice to see you Storm, what can I get you?” the bartender asked.

“I’ll take a nice shot of AJ Daniels.” he said with a smile.

“Sure thing.” he said as he poured the drink. “Just don’t overdo it.”

“C’mon Rusty, it’s been a week since I’ve had a drink.” he said as he took a swig from the glass. The door opened to reveal a familiar red stallion, who took a seat next to the Pegasus and ordered a drink. “Hey Mac.”

“Howdy.”

“What’s new?”

“Not much. Have to plow the orchard tomorrow to get ready for the growing season. How’s the sky business going?” he said as the red stallion took a drink from his glass.

“Today was my day off so it was easy going. Until Rainbow came along and disturbed my nap.” he said in a grumble.

“Eeyup, ah figured that she’d try to pull something like that.”

“Yeah, she’s cool and all but she can get on your nerves.”

“Eeyup.” Storm glanced at the clock and realized it was getting late.

“I’d better get going, I have the early shift tomorrow.” he said as he payed for the drink and got to his hooves. “See you later.”

“Eeyup.” the red stallion said as the Pegasus left the establishment. Storm made his way back to his house. He trotted inside and locked the door behind him. As he walked down the hallway he turned and faced a metal black door, Storm breathed a heavy sigh as he put a hoof on it. He continued on his way and trotted up the stairs until he got to his bathroom, he had a quick shower and brushed his teeth. Storm made his way into his room and pulled out the cloud schedule for tomorrow.

Okay...sunny in the morning, with a midday shower. Easy enough. he thought as he closed the report, he trotted over to his bed which was made out of a thunder cloud, similar to the one that he was napping on in the afternoon. As he crawled into bed he set his alarm for 6:15am and eventually fell asleep.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 2
             

Storm woke up in a cold sweat to the sound of the alarm clock going off, he reached over and deactivated the device. Storm made his way down into the kitchen and made himself a pot of coffee and poured himself a bowl of cereal. He did the dishes, locked the door and flew into the brisk morning air. He looked to the East and saw that the sun was about to rise, he quickened his pace and rocketed towards the weather agency building. Storm stepped inside the cloud building and signed in at the front desk, he glanced at who was on call that day. The usual pegasi; Thunderlane, Wildfire and Rainbow Dash. He noticed that Rainbow was the squad leader for the day, so he waited for her to arrive so he could start his shift. Wildfire and Thunderlane soon reported in and the trio anxiously awaited for their leader to arrive. After what felt like and eternity, Storm glanced at the clock and let out a grunt. 

“Alright that’s it! Time to go mare hunting.” Storm said as he got to his hooves.

“What are you complaining for?” Wild fire asked.

“It’s been three bucking hours and I haven’t seen that rainbow maned menace anywhere.” he said as he flew out the door. Thunderlane and Wildfire rolled their eyes and let the stallion did as he wished. Storm was rocketing through the sky at a break neck pace until he came to Sweet Apple Acres. He landed in front of a familiar orange mare. “Hey AJ, have you seen Rainbow?”

“Nope, haven’t since yesterday. Why?” she said as she kicked a tree.

“She’s three hours late for her shift and is holding the rest of us up.” he said in an irritated tone. “Know where she might be?”

“Hmm....ah haven’t the slightest-” she was cut off by the stallion taking flight and rocketing towards the town. Storm peered into the bar he was in last night and saw a rainbow tail sticking out of one of the booths, he galloped inside to see a passed out cyan mare in the booth, he trotted over to her and poured a pitcher of cold water onto her head. 

“Wake up!” he barked as the mare shot up in surprise.

“Wha- huh?” she instantly grasped her head in pain.

“Next time you have a hangover the least you could do is-” he then noticed that the tough as nails Pegasus had tears in her eyes. “Rainbow? Are you okay?”

“No!” she said as she broke down and started to cry. Storm put a hoof on the mare’s shoulder trying to comfort her. “My roommate kicked me out last night.” she said through the sobs.

“What? Why?”

“She said that she was tired of living with a dead beat loser and threatened to bash my skull in if I didn’t leave.” Storm then noticed that Dash’s left eye was black and blue, he wrapped a wing around the mare and tried to calm her down.

“Do you have a place to stay? Maybe with Applejack or-”

“NO! They can’t know about this!” she said as she looked at the stallion with tears in her eyes.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to be burden.” she said as snother tear escaped her eye.

“Do you have enough money for a hotel?”

“No.” she said in a defeated tone. Storm scratched his mane and let out a heavy sigh.

“You could....stay with me.”

“No! I told you-”

“It won’t be a burden. You have a job and I’ll keep my mouth shut about it to the others.”

“I-I thought you didn’t like me.” she said in a sad tone.

“You get on my nerves sometimes, but I don’t hate you and I’m willing to help out a friend who’s down on their luck.” Rainbow pondered the idea and breathed a heavy sigh. 

“O-okay. Thanks” she said in a weak voice.

“Don’t mention it. Do you have some stuff you want to get?” the mare nodded her head slowly. “Okay, we’ll head there after my shift and pick up a few things. In the mean time I gotta head back to work.” Rainbow’s eyes shrank.

“P-please don’t tell any-pony about-”

“I’ll only say that it’s a personal matter and that I’m not at liberty to discuss it.” she wrapped her hooves around him and brought him into a hug.

“Thank you!” she said in a cheery tone.

“No problem.” he said as he broke the hug. “Where will you be at noon?”

“Um...I guess at the library.”

“Cool. I’ll see you then.” he said as he started to walk away.

“See ya later roomie.” she said with a smile. Storm stopped for a moment, but continued on his way and flew back to his job. As he entered the weather facility, he saw that Thunderlane and Wild fire were still waiting for him.

“Find her?” Thunderlane asked.

“Yeah, she’s having some.....personal issues at the moment.” he said in a flat tone.

“What does that mean?” the cream colored Pegasus asked.

“It means it’s an issue and it’s personal. End of story. I’ll be picking up Rainbow’s slack today.” he said in a harsh tone. The other pegasi rolled their eyes and followed the white stallion to their work zone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow was waiting outside the library for Storm to arrive. As she started to poke the ground with her hoof her mind began to wander.

Where is he?

He’s probably running late. He had the morning shift today, you know how long that takes.

Yeah. I still can’t believe that he offered me a place to crash. I guess he’s not so bad after all.

Is that a tone of affection in your voice?

No way! I barely know the guy.

So what?

So he probably has a mare friend or- she was cut off by a white stallion landing in front of her.

“Sorry I’m late. Had to move a few storm clouds before my shift ended.” he said as he caught his breath.

“It’s fine, I only got here ten minutes ago.” she said with a weak smile.

“All right then, are you okay to fly?”

“Yeah I’m sobered up.” 

“Okay, we’ll go get your stuff and then grab some lunch.”

“Sounds good to me.” she said as she took flight. Storm flew after the mare, hoping that she didn’t crash into anything along the way. Rainbow’s mind couldn’t settle down as she approached her former home. Storm’s eyes boggled at the building in front of him, a house made entirely out of white clouds complete with a swimming pool filled with liquified rainbows.

“Oh my Luna.” he said as he looked at the massive house. Rainbow trotted up to the door and gave three hard knocks, a rather large griffin answered the door. Storm had met griffins before but never had a long lasting conversation with one.

“Well, look who’s-”

“Save it. I’m only here for my stuff.” Rainbow said in a cold tone. The two trotted upstairs and entered the first door on the right. The mare opened it and withdrew a few suitcases, Storm looked around the room to see the walls plastered with Wonderbolt posters, he scoffed at the images and began to pile things into the duffle bags. Rainbow joined him and began to shovel her things into the bag. Storm was collecting the mantel pieces when he came across a golden crown with wings on the either side of it. “Hey, careful with that!” she said as she flew over to him and snatched the crown out of his hooves. After they had finished her old room was stripped down to the paint and furniture. Storm had three bags on his back and two in his front hooves.

“Forget anything?” he said in a sarcastic tone.

“No, I’ve got everything I need. Let’s go.” she said in a cold tone. Storm took the lead and led Rainbow to his home. “Why do you live on the ground?” she asked as they stopped in front of his house.

“I just like to I guess.” he said as he opened the door. The cyan mare followed him up stairs and into the guest room. “Okay here you go. I’ll let you get settled and then I’ll give you the tour.”

“Thanks.” she said as he closed the door behind him. Storm trotted down stairs and began to make himself some lunch. He began to boil some water and threw a soup mix into the pot, he sat down at the table and waited for the pot to boil. Storm looked up to see Rainbow trotting toward shim with a smile oh her face. “Hey what’s up?”

“Making some soup. Want some?”

“Sure.” she said as she sat down at the table. “So you live here on your own?”

“Yup.”

“Don’t you get lonely?”

“Not really, I’m not much of a socialite, plus I have my books and work to keep me preoccupied.” he said as he poured the soup into two bowls. “Mind if I ask a question?” the mare nodded. “Do you have a colt-friend? Or...mare-friend?” Rainbow’s face turned red at the question.

“No! Why?” 

“Just want to make sure I don’t open a door one day and I see something I can’t UN-see.” he said as he sipped his soup.

“Oh...Well what about you?”

“Nope. I’m taking a break from the dating game for a while.”

“Why?”

“My last relationship ended......poorly.”

“Disaster?” she said as she slurped the liquid.

“More like a bucking cataclysm.” he said in an annoyed tone.

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” he said as he finished his soup. Rainbow handed him the bowl and he put them in the sink. “Okay time for the tour, this is the kitchen.” he said with a smirk. Rainbow rolled her eyes and got to her hooves. the two pegasi made there way into the living room that was well furnished with a reclining chair and a leather couch. The television had at least a fifty inch screen. Next to it was a P-Box 720, a Play Pony 4 and a Ninten-pony 64. He trotted over to a cabinet and opened it to see that it was stacked with games and movies. “Feel free to play, just be sure not to erase any of my progress okay.”

“N-no problem. You have a lot of games, didn’t know that you were this big of gamer.” she said in amazement.

“Most of them are left over from when I was a kid.” he said as he looked at the oldest console. He left the room with Rainbow following close behind. He stopped in front of a wooden door. “This is the bathroom, theres another one on the second floor at the end of the hall.” he came to another doorway that led down stairs. He flicked on the light to reveal at least eight different weight machines, a treadmill a small swimming pool complete with a small hot tub on the side. Rainbow’s jaw dropped at the equipment. Storm looked at her and smiled. “Relax, membership included. I’m sure you can figure out how to work most of the machines and the pool is fairly obvious.” he said as he trotted over to the edge. “The water’s kept at room temperature so it should be-” he was cut off by Rainbow pushing the stallion in the water. His head rose from the surface and saw that they cyan mare was laughing at him. “What was that for?”

“Payback for dumping that pitcher of water on me at the bar earlier.” she said with a smile.

“Very funny. Now help me out.” he said as he outstretched his hoof. Rainbow grabbed it only to feel herself being pulled into the water. Storm lifted himself out of the pool and smirked at the cyan mare. “I believe the score stands at two to one.” he said as Rainbow got out of the pool. As she slung her hair back, Storm couldn’t help but look at the mare’s attractive features, Her mane being completely wet and sticking to her well toned body. Storm trotted over to the towel rack and handed one to Rainbow. 

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” he said in a flat tone. He turned around and began to dry off, Rainbow glanced over and saw how the water slid off his muscular body. She began to blush as he flicked the remaining water off of his wings. Storm turned his head to see Rainbow staring at him. “What?”

“Nothing...just wondering how you afforded all of this.” she lied.

“I saved up my money over the years and eventually had enough to pay for it.” he said in a flat tone.

“Right.” she said in a sarcastic tone. The two finished drying off and made their way back upstairs. Rainbow then noticed a huge black metal door at the back of the house. “Hey what’s that door to?” 

“What door?”

“That big black one.” she said as she pointed to it. Storms eyes shrank at the question.

“Nothing..storage.” he said in a cold tone.

“No way a door like that is just for-” she was cut off by the stallion casting an icy glare at the mare.

“It’s storage. Drop it.” he said ina stern tone. “It’s actually good that you brought that up, time to explain the rules.”

“Rules?” she said in a grumble.

“Yes, rules. One; DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR. Two; Consult me first if you want to throw a party, I don’t mind if you have a few friends over, but if it's more than seven then that qualifies as a party. Three; If you bring some-pony home with you for some under the covers action then keep it in the bedroom and tie something on the door knob so I know that we have a guest. Four; I’m not your housekeeper, so if you make a mess you clean it up. That includes dishes and clothes, theres a washing machine in the basement opposite the work out room for laundry. Lastly Five; DO NOT OPEN THAT DOOR.” he finished.

“You said that last one twice.”

“That’s because it’s twice as important as all the other rules. Understand?”

“Y-yeah.” she said in a nervous tone.

“I should also mention I have a three strike system.” 

“A what?”

“Simply put, break the rules three times and you are O-U-T. OUT. But if you even attempt to break rules one or five I will kick your rainbow flank to the curb faster than you can say ouch. Are we clear?”

“Cr-crystal.” she said as she backed off.

“Good.”

“Do you mind if I hang up some posters?” she asked.

“Of what?”

“Wonderbolts.” Storm’s right eye began to twitch, he cracked his neck and gritted his teeth in frustration.

“As long as it’s in your room then I don’t mind.” he said ina calm voice.

“Why did you just twitch out like that?”

“I don’t like the Wonderbolts.” he said in a flat tone. Rainbow let out an audible gasp and flew in front of the white stallion.

“WHAT!? HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE THE WONDERBOLTS!? They’re amazing.” she yelled.

“I just don’t like them and I would appreciate it if you would accept my decision.” he said as he tried to side step the mare.

“But still I don’t see-”

“Look Rainbow, Thunderlane hates strawberry’s, Wildfire despises anything that has to do with flowers and I don’t like the Wonderbolts. Every-pony hate’s something. Even you must hate something.” he said as he raised an eyebrow. The cyan mare started to pout. This is getting off to a great start. he thought sarcastically. “But...I like to keep an opened mind, you can try to change my mind, but don’t count on anything ground breaking.” Rainbow’s eyes lit up at the words. “So what should we do?”

“I don’t know...maybe play a game?”

“Sure.” he said as they trotted into the living room and picked up the controllers. “What do you want to play?”

“Um...I guess some Palo.”

“Cool, I just got the new one.” he said as he popped the disk in. The two pegasi sat side by side and began to play. “Let’s go with Campaign first. I’ve been dying to see what happened to the Chief.”

“Fine by me.” the two spent the next few hours running and gunning through the game. When they stopped once they got past the tenth mission. “Wow, did you believe those things!”

“Yeah they were pretty tough.” Rainbow glanced at the clock and her jaw dropped.

“Oh man I was supposed to meet the others at Sugar Cube Corner ten minutes ago.” she then looked at the stallion and bit her lip. “Do you wanna come along?”

“Umm.....sure I guess.”

“Cool. Follow me.” she said as she made her way towards the door. Storm dashed over to the black door and double checked the locks. Rainbow was waiting for him at the door, he walked up next to her and locked the door behind him. “All set?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” he said as the two took flight into the cold night sky. The two flew in silence until they reached the bakery. As they made their way inside they were greeted by five familiar faces.

“Hey Rainbow.” the lavender mare said as she waved her friend over to the table. The two pegasi trotted over and sat down. “Who’s this?” she said as she looked at the white stallion.

“This is Storm Chaser.” she said as she pointed to the stallion.

"How do you two know each other?" the lavender unicorn asked.

“I’m on the weather team and Rainbow offered that I tag along with her. ” he said as he gave a nod at the cyan mare.

“Well that’s awfully nice of you.” the white mare said in a cheery tone. 

“Storm this is Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.” the mares smiled as he gave them a nod. 

“Sup AJ?” he said as he looked at the orange mare.

“Nothing much...Oh that reminds me, where were you today Rainbow?”

"What?”

“Storm here came to farm looking for you this morning. He said something about you being three hours late for work.” Rainbow’s eyes shrank as she tried to come up with an excuse.

“Oh that. Turns out some idiot on the weather team accidentally put Rainbow’s name on the list for this mornings patrol.” Storm lied. Applejack’s eyes narrowed and glared at the pegasi. The orange mare then noticed Rainbow’s black eye.

“What happened to your eye sugar cube?” 

“Oh this? I...walked into a door walking out of my house this morning.” she lied.

“Okay...ah understand.”

“So Storm, what do you do for the weather patrol?” Twilight asked.

“I mostly handle inclement weather.”

“Huh?” AJ said.

“Thunderstorms.” he deadpanned.

“Oh.”

“Sounds dangerous.” Rarity added.

“Nah, it’s not so bad. Thunderclouds are really comfortable to sleep on.” Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Sleeping on a thundercloud? Won’t you get shocked?”

“Yeah, but the electricity help relieve a lot of tension in the muscles.” he said with a grin. “My bed back home is a thundercloud.”

“Really?” Rainbow said in surprise. The stallion nodded and the group continued to talk, Storm didn’t pay much attention to their conversation. He’d chime in once in a while but he mostly kept his mouth shut. Soon it was time to leave and the two pegasi departed. As soon as they were out of earshot Applejack had a quizzical look on her face.

“Something wrong dear?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah. Rainbow seems to be spending a lot of time with Storm recently.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well they work together, they helped me with some apple bucking yesterday and they arrived together when they came here.” she said as she turned her head towards the exit.

“You think she’s interested in him?” Twilight asked.

“Maybe...ah don’t know.” she said as she bit her lower lip.

“Well let’s see how things play out.” Rarity suggested.

“Good idea.” Twilight said as she looked back at her friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at Storm and Rainbow’s home the the two pegasi entered the quiet house and trotted upstairs.

“Hey thanks for covering for me back there.” Rainbow said.

“No problem, I said that I wouldn’t tell them and I meant it.” he said as he reached the top of the stairs.

“Well....goodnight.”

“Night. See you tomorrow.” he said as he entered his room. Storm set his alarm and crawled into bed. He gave a long yawn and closed his eyes fro some well deserved sleep. 
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 3


Storm was falling at an alarming rate, he tried to flap his wings but he was too heavy and his wings were too small. He looked down to see the ground becoming closer and closer as he rocketed towards it, his heart was beating faster than a humming birds’. Storm closed his eyes and braced himself for the inevitable pain. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a streak of blue and yellow flying towards him, he suddenly felt himself being lifted back towards the sky, he looked up to see that a pegasus stallion in a blue uniform with a yellow trim that looked like lightning bolts had caught him and was bringing him back up. He heard the sounds cheering and relief as he and the stallion stepped onto the cloud. The stallion began to wave at the crowd as Storm looked up at him with tear filled eyes. He then felt a massive shock rip through his body.

Storm’s eyes snapped open and he sat in his bed panting and sweating. He could feel his heart about to break out of his chest. He looked down at his hooves and calmed himself down. 

“Man, haven’t had that dream in a while.” he said out loud.

“What dream?” his eyes instantly looked up to see Rainbow Dash looking at him with a worried look on her face.

“What are you doing in my room?” he said with a frown.

“I heard you screaming so I came to see if you were all right.” she said as she sat on the cloud bed. 

“I’m fine....It was only a nightmare.” he said in a flat tone.

“You sure?”

“I’m fine.” he said as he turned off his alarm clock and got to his hooves. “C’mon it’s almost time to go to work.” as he trotted past the mare, Rainbow casted a concerned look in his direction. She quickly hopped of the bed and followed him down into the kitchen. The two had a bowl of cereal each and ate in silence. 

“So...sleep well?” she said as she tried to lighten the mood.

“For the most part. You?”

“Yeah. The bed is fine, I guess I just miss my cloud bed.”

“We can probably go get another one if you want.”

“No no. It’s fine.” she said a she waved her hoof. The two put their dishes in the sink and trotted out the door. The pegasi took flight and made their way to the weather facility, they clocked in and waited for Wildfire and Thunderlane to arrive. Once hey did they began their morning routine of moving the clouds away from the small town. Rainbow and Storm were finished before the other two and took an early lunch. They dropped by Sugar Cube Corner and grabbed a booth. After Mr. Cake came over and took their orders Rainbow let out a massive yawn.

“Tired already?”

“Kinda, didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“I thought you said the bed was fine?”

“It is, just not used to it yet.” yet as she stretched.

“I said we can go and get your bed from your place. It’s no trouble.”

“And face Gilda again? No thanks.” She said as she let out a low growl.

“She was that griffin?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you even get a griffin as a roommate anyway?” he asked as their food arrived.

“Gilda and I have been pals since junior flight camp. We had a small...falling out two years ago when she visited Ponyville.” she said as she took a bite of her sandwich.

“What happened?”

“She acted like a huge jerk to my friends, she even made Fluttershy cry.”

“Fluttershy......she’s that yellow pegasus from last night, right?”

“Yeah. I didn’t talk to her for a while after that. When the Changeling’s invaded Canterlot it caused a lot of damage to the city, which caused higher taxes and my landlord had to raise the rent.” she said as she took another bite. “I figured I’d give Gilda a second chance, for old time sake you know.” Storm nodded his head. “And well.....you know the rest.”

“I can guess. Personally I think second chances are a complete waste of time.”

“What?”

“I have a rule, no second chances.”

“Why?”

“If they fail you a second time it just hurts that much more.” he said in a sad tone. “You know what they say, ‘fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.’ pretty simple if you think about it.”

“I take it you learned that from your ex?” Rainbow commented. Storm looked at her with an icy glare. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, and yes.” he said in a defeated tone.

“What happened?”

“My mare-friend had a busy job so she often would bring work home with her. Turns out her co-worker was included with that package.” Rainbow’s eyes shrank.

“Oh...sorry to hear that. How long ago was that?”

“Two years ago.”

“Two years! No offense dude, but that’s a long break.”

“Hey it took time for me to heal.”

“Did you ever try and patch things up?”

“No.” he said in a flat tone. He got to his hooves and paid for the meal. “So what now?”

“I don’t know....wanna race?”

“Why?”

“For fun, duh! You do like fun right?” she said with a smirk.

“Fine. Where to?” he said as he rolled his eyes.

“Hmm.....Sweet Apple Acres’s?”

“Okay.” he said as he drew a starting line in the ground. He lined up next to Rainbow and the two started to stretch. As he cracked his neck he couldn’t help but notice how flexible the cyan mare was as she dug her hooves forward and arched her back in a downward motion, causing her wings to flare and her flank to stick up. He felt his face blush as he turned away and began to flex his legs. Rainbow glanced over at the stallion to see him cracking his legs and neck, his veins looked like they were ready to burst out of his skin against the wall of muscle he hid behind his shinning white coat. “Ready?” 

“Ready!” the two took their starting positions. “3,2,1, GO!” she said as the two pegasi launched forwards. They started to climb in height, Rainbow looked to her right to see that Storm was keeping up with her..no he was beating her. Inch by inch the white stallion gained a little bit of distance, surpassing the mare. Rainbow kicked it into high gear and reclaimed the lead only to be even with the stallion once again. Rainbow couldn’t believe that some-pony, her roommate no less was keeping up with her. She had had enough and decided to bust out her secret weapon; ‘The Sonic Rainboom.’ 

She poured all of her strength into her wings and gradually began to feel the cone of pressure form around her front hooves, she kept going until she felt the pressure release and she was shot forward leaving behind a rainbow trail in her wake. Sweet Apple Acre’s came into view and she could taste victory. She then saw a white object overpass her leaving a black and red flame trail behind it. Her concentration was shattered and began to lose control of her flight, as she tried to correct herself she felt a splitting pain in her right wing. She began to lose altitude and plummet towards the ground, Dash tried to flap but her wing wouldn’t obey her commands. She began to scream as the view of the ground became clearer. She felt her body being grabbed by a pair of hooves, she looked up to see Storm wrapping his hooves around her and holding her close.

“Hang on! This is gonna be a rough landing!” he said as he began to descend, he hadn’t slowed down enough to come to a complete stop and Rainbow’s extra weight wasn’t making it any easier. Rainbow’s eyes were filled with fear and her face was stone cold white as the two hit the ground, knocking over an apple tree in the process. Storm felt his back digging into the dirt and sliding creating a crater. He opened his eyes to see that Rainbow had her hooves wrapped around his chest and was shaking. She looked up to see his vibrant red eyes staring at her, he was panting heavily. Rainbow’s face turned bright red, they heard hoof steps fast approaching. The looked up to see Applejack and Big Macintosh with confused looks on their faces.

“Are you two okay?” Applejack asked. Storm then realized the position he was in and quickly got to his hooves.

“Yeah, I’m fine...just a little banged up.” he said as he got out of the crater he dug himself. Rainbow soon followed suit she began to tremble and she sat on the ground trying to collect herself. Applejack rushed over to her friend and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Are you alright there RD?”

“Y-yeah. I just need a moment.” she said as she got to her hooves. She looked over to see Storm sitting on the ground catching his breath. Applejack looked at the two with a raised eyebrow.

“What in the name of Celestia were you two doing?” she said as Rainbow made her way over to the stallion.

“Racing.” he breathed out. He looked up at the sky and and gave a grin. “I think I won.” the other ponies looked up at the sky to see a rainbow trail side by side with a trail of black flames with red tips. The fire trail exceeded the length of the rainbow trail by a good fifty feet and then began to curve outward. He looked back at Rainbow who was sitting with her head hung low. “We’ll call it a draw.” he said as he stood up he looked over at Dash who was still on the ground. He put a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to look at him in surprise “You okay?”

“Y-yeah. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” he said as he held out his hoof. Rainbow got to her hooves.

“No seriously you saved- AHH!” she yelled in pain. she began to stagger, Storm caught her before she hit the ground.

“Easy, easy. I got ya.” he said as he stood her back up. “What’s wrong?” 

“My wing, I think it’s broken.” she said as she gritted her teeth.

“Let me see.” she looked at him in confusion. “Relax, I’ve dealt with stuff like this before.” Rainbow turned around and felt his hooves on her damaged wing, she blushed as he felt how delicate his touch was. “Good news, it’s not broken. Just dislocated.”

“It’s what?” Applejack asked.

“It got forced out of it’s socket.” Applejack cringed at the thought. “Relax, I can put it back in.” Rainbow’s eyes shrank at the thought. “That okay with you Rainbow?” he asked.

“Yeah. Just do it.” she said as she gritted her teeth.

“Okay... hold still.” he took the wing in his hoof and forced it into the socket. Rainbow let out a cry of pain and immediately jumped to her hooves and looked back at him with a frown. “Well? How does it feel?” Rainbow rotated her wing and cracked her back.

“Better, but still pretty sore.” 

“That’s expected.” he said as he began to limp away.

“Hey you okay?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah....Just shaking off the crash.” he said as he cracked his neck.

“Ah’m surprised ya can even stand after that.” Big Mac said.

“After what?” Rainbow asked. Big Mac pointed at the tree broken in half, in line with the crater. Rainbow’s jaw dropped at the sight, she looked back at the stallion who had a calm look on his face. “How did you-?”

“I’ve taken worse hits.” he said as he staggered and threw on a cocky grin. 

“How did you beat me?”

“You’re not the only pegasus in Equestria who’s broken the sound barrier before Skittles.” he said with a smile. She instantly slugged him in the arm, he let out a small cry of pain.

“I HATE that nick name!” she yelled.

“Right sorry.” he breathed out. “I’ll see you guys later, I’m heading home for some R&R.” he said as he began to limp towards the town. Rainbow trotted up next to him.

“C’mon. I’ll walk you home.” she said with a smile. The two pegasi made their way through town. “Hey, thanks again for saving me.” she said with a small blush.

“No problem. It’d suck if my roommate died on day two.” he said with a laugh.

“So where did you learn how to break the sound barrier?”

“I figured it out, I heard the rumors and decided to test it. It took me years to perfect it though.” he said. 

“What do you call it?”

“Call it?” he said in surprise.

“Yeah it’s gotta have a name. Like I have the Sonic Rain-boom, so what’s it’s name?”

“I don’t know....Sonic Blaze-boom?”

“Awesome!” she said as the two arrived at their home. Storm opened the door and limped his way inside, with Rainbow following close behind. “I’m gonna go lie down for a bit, okay?”

“Fine by me.” he said as the mare trotted upstairs. Storm, bypassed the stairs and heading into the weight room, trotted over to the hot tub and he stepped in and let out a sigh as he entered the warm water. He set his head back and let out a moan as the jet’s turned on. Storm closed his eyes and took in the silence he was enjoying. His eyes snapped open as he heard something splash in the water, he looked over to see Rainbow entering the hot tub at the opposite end. “What are you doing?”

“Getting in to relax. What’s it look like I’m doing?”

“I thought you were going to sleep.”

“Well my wing is still bugging me, so I figured that I relax it before I tried sleeping on it again.” she said as she submerged her wings into the water. “Oh sweet Celestia that feels good.” she said with her tongue sticking out of her mouth. Storm rolled his eyes and dunked his head under the water for a moment. He let the air bubble out of his mouth in a slow fashion. As his head broke the surface of the water he noticed that Rainbow was fidgeting with her wing.

	“What’s wrong?”

“My wing still feels pretty stiff.”

“Dislocation will do that to ya. There is something I can do to get rid of it. But it’s a pretty dumb idea.” he said with a small blush.

“What’s that?”

“Massaging it.” Rainbow’s face turned crimson at the thought of his hooves rubbing her wings. “Like I said, dumb-”

“Alright.” she said in a weak tone. Storm looked at the mare in surprise, Rainbow made her way over to him and sat in front of him. Storm hid his blush and got closer to the mare, Dash flinched as he put his hooves on her wing.

“Okay...Tell me where it hurts.”

“A little to the left.” he adjusted his hooves. “ A little to the- Oh right there!” she said with a sigh of relief. As Storm began massaging the area Rainbow started to pant, she was trying her best not to pop a wing boner in front of him. He began to dig his hoof into the base of her back, Rainbow let out a quick yelp of surprise at the motion.   

“Am I getting the right spot?”

“Y-yeah.” she said weakly. Storm removed his hooves and got out of the hot tub and began to dry himself off. “Why’d you stop?”

“That’s all I really know. If you need anything more than that I suggest you go to a spa.” he said as he put a towel over his head.

“A spa?”

“Yes. They may be extremely boring but the masseuses have to be trained in physical therapy.” he said as he hung the towel back up. “I’m going to go lay down, see ya.”

“Later.” she said as he trotted back upstairs. As soon as he was out of range Rainbow relaxed her wings, which immediately sprang up in arousal. “Damn you hormones!” she said as she floated on her back in the warm water.

Storm had just reached the ground floor when he glanced at the giant black door at the back of his house. He trotted over to it and pressed the numbered keys on the keypad. A series of loud creaks and turning gears occurred as the massive metal door swung open. He trotted inside and closed the door behind him.

A half hour later Rainbow had gotten out and started to make her way upstairs when she heard that loud creaking noise again. She poked her head out of the door way to see storm closing the door and locking it with a security code. As he turned around Dash closed the door and reopened it again as he trotted past.

“Hey.”

“Hey. Your wing feel better?” he asked.

“Yeah.” she said with a smile. She then noticed severe redness in his eyes, almost like he had been crying. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Your eyes are red.”

“They’re always red.” he deadpanned.

“No, I mean the white parts.” Storm trotted over to a mirror and saw what she meant.

“I got some of the hot tub water in my eyes and it’s irritating them.” he lied.

“Oh, okay.”

“I’m going back to sleep if you need me.” he said as he side stepped the mare and trotted up the stairs. Rainbow watched him leave and cast a glance back at the massive door. She approached it and examined the large piece of metal.

Why would he need something like this? It looks like a bank vault door.

Maybe he’s a murderer?

Yeah right.

I know, but he’s still hiding something.

True. But he’s not so bad, he’s fast, strong, nice sometimes.

Not to mention cute.

Shut up! I don’t know anything about him.

So? You know he’s single.
Um yeah. But he’s getting over a bad break up.

I think two years is long enough.

Shut up.

All I’m saying is claim him before he’s taken. Rainbow dismissed the thoughts and walked back to her room with her head hanging low. She opened her door to see a cloud floating in the place where her bed used to be. She saw a note attached to it.

Skittles~
Don’t go all ‘you didn’t have to do that’ on me. It’s done. Deal with it.
-Storm.  

Rainbow tossed the message in the waste basket and laid in the fluffy surface and let out a relaxed sigh. She pulled the covers over herself and soon fell asleep. 
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 4


It had been a few weeks since the incident at Sweet Apple Acres, since then Storm had gotten used to having Rainbow as his roommate. The two got along well, aside from the minor embarrassments which included when Rainbow tried to make pancakes and ended up nearly destroying the kitchen. He decided to suspend Rainbow’s cooking privileges for a few days. He had grown to know the rest of Rainbows friends fairly well. The two had stopped at Sugar Cube Corner for their usual lunch break.

“And that’s how Pinkie cloned herself.” Rainbow finished.

“Jeez that many Pinkie Pies...Now that’s scary.” he said as he took a bite out of his sandwich. They were soon approached by Applejack and Big Mac. “Hey guys what’s up?”

“Nothing much, just popping in for a quick bite. What about you two?” the orange mare said.

“Same. Grab some chairs and have a seat. I was just telling Storm about the time Pinkie cloned herself.” Rainbow said with a grin. The two farm ponies cringed at the memory of that day. Applejack nudged her brother who gave her a nod.

“Hey Rainbow can ah talk to you for a second? In private.” she said as she eyed the mare.

“Sure.” she said as she got to her hooves. The two mares trotted over to the other end of the bakery as Mac took a seat across from Storm.

“Ah’ve noticed that you’ve been spending a lot of time with Miss Dash.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Ah gotta ask are y’all.....together?” Storm almost choked on his food at the question.

“What? No. What gave you that idea?” he said with a weak grin.

“Well considering how much time ya spend with her and the fact that she’s slept over yer house the past few-”

“What! Did you follow me home or something?” he said as he started at the red stallion.

“No. AJ did.”

“Look Mac, there is nothing in between Dash and I.”

“Then why was she sleeping over?” Storm let out a heavy sigh.

“Alright fine, I’ll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell any-pony or Rainbow will kill me.” the stallion nodded. “Rainbow got kicked out of her house a month ago, she’s been living with me since then.”

“Oh, well that explains it. Why didn’t she just tell us?”

“You know how Rainbow is, with her pride and all. She didn’t want to look vulnerable and weak.”

“Ah can respect that and yer a good stallion for helping her. But ah know that there’s more to it than that.” he said as he stared at the stallion.

“Well...I don’t know. Rainbow’s nice, funny, hard working not to mention cu-” he stopped himself before he finished his statement. He looked at Mac who had a smug grin across his face, he opened his mouth to say something but was cut off. “Don’t even say it.” he breathed out, the stallion finished his lunch in silence.

“Alright Rainbow what’s going on between you and Storm?” Applejack asked.

“N-Nothing.” Rainbow said nervously.

“Then why whenever ah see him he’s with you?” she said as she raised an eyebrow.

“W-we hang out a lot, what’s wrong with that?”

“Does ‘hanging out’ involve you sleeping at his house?” Rainbow’s eyes shrank.

“H-how did you-”

“Ah followed you two one day.”

“Ugh! So you just decided to spy on me?” she said in a defensive tone.

“Ah did it cause ah was worried about ya. Ah don’t want to see you get hurt.” she said in a calm tone. “Are you and Storm dating?”

“No.”

“Then what is it?” Rainbow let out a sigh and looked at her friend.

“Promise not to tell any-pony?” the mare nodded. “Storm and I live together, I got kicked out a few weeks ago and I’ve been living with him since then.” 

“Why didn’t ya tell me? I could’ve-”

“I didn’t want to be burden.” she said in a sad tone. 

“Dang it Rainbow! Y’all gotta learn to set aside your pride.”

“Oh like how you did two years ago during Apple-buck season.” she said as she frowned.

“That was completely different!” she yelled.

“How?”

“.....Alright ah see where yer coming from.” she said in a sigh.

“And you won’t tell any-pony?”

“Ah won’t. On one condition.”

“What?”

“Ah want to see this new place of yours.”

“Umm....okay. I’m sure Storm won’t mind if I invite you over. Let me just tell him.” the orange pony nodded and the two mares trotted back to the stallions. “Hey Storm, AJ was wondering if she could see our house.” his eyes shrank at the question.

“Does she-”

“Ah already know sugar cube.” she finished.

“Oh good, alright then follow us.” he said as he and Rainbow got to their hooves and walked out of the bakery with the two farm ponies following close behind. Storm trotted up next to Rainbow and started to have a side bar conversation. “So you told AJ?”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t blame you, I kinda told Big Mac.”

“YOU WHAT!?”

“Hey, I had no choice. He was persistent and his original idea was completely ridiculous.”

“What was his original idea?” she said with a raised eyebrow.

“He thought that we were a couple.” he said adding a fake laugh.

“Oh...yeah. Really stupid idea.” she said with a weak laugh and a hint of disappointment in her voice. The two fell silent after that comment. The ponies came upon the house and went inside.

“Woo nelly! This here’s like one of them fancy mansions.” Applejack said in awe at the house’s interior.

“Eeyup.”

“C’mon I’ll show you around.” Storm said as he and Big Mac went down to the work out room. Rainbow led Applejack upstairs to her room.

“Golly Rainbow, this place is great.”

“Yeah it’s pretty awesome.”

“How did he afford all of this?”

“Don’t know. He just said he saved his money.” she said as she scratched her chin.

“Weird.”

“Yeah and that’s not the only thing, he hates the Wonderbolts!”

“WHAT?” the orange mare said in surprise. “Granted I’m no super fan, but those ponies are good.”

“I know! He just says that he doesn’t like them.”

“That’s not a good reason.” Applejack scratched her chin. “Which room is his?” 

“The next one over but-” Applejack walked out of her friends room and into the stallions. “I really don’t think that this is a good idea AJ.”

“Why not? You know next to nothing about him and this is your way of finding out.” she said as they began to rifle through his closet. 

“What the hay is this thing?” Dash said as she threw on a blue cape.

“Looks like some kinda cape.”

“Duh, I know that. But-”

“WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!?” an angered voice said coming from the doorway. The mares turned around to see and angered Storm Chaser glaring at them with daggers in his eyes. “Take it off!” he barked. Rainbow quickly took off the cape and handed it over to him. Storm snatched it from her hooves and rested it on his back. “Rainbow why don’t you go show AJ the pool.” Rainbow lowered her head and left the room with AJ following close behind, as she passed the stallion he gave him an icy glare. Storm let out a sigh as he flopped the cape on his bed.

“Was that really necessary?” Mac asked.

“Was is necessary for them to go through my stuff?”

“Just saying, ya didn’t have to be so hard on em.” Storm let out a sigh.

“Yeah, I know. It’s just that....this cape is really important to me and I don’t want to see it get ruined.” he said in a low tone. Big Mac shrugged and left the stallion in his room.

Back downstairs Rainbow and Applejack trotted into the workout room, AJ was still angry at the stallion but her mind was too focused on the pool and hot tub in front of her. 

“Wow, this looks amazing.”

“Yeah, it feels even better.”

“You’ve been in it?”

“Yeah, Storm said I can use it as much as I want.”

“So let me get this straight. He’s okay with you using a hot tub, but flips out when you touch some old cape?” Rainbow shrugged at the comment. “Rainbow, be honest with me. Does he ever hurt you?”

“WHAT? NO! He’d never do that to me!”

“Ah’m just looking out for you.”

“Thanks AJ but I’m fine.” she said as she began to walk back upstairs. 

“Ah know that. All ah’m saying is that all of this just feels mighty strange.” Applejack’s eyes then fell upon the massive metal door. “What in the hay is that thing?”

“No idea. All I know is that sometimes he goes in there and doesn’t come back out for hours.”

“You’ve never been inside?”

“Nope. Rule number one: ‘Do not open that door.” she said as she made quotation marks with her hooves. Applejack trotted up to it and gave it a hard kick. The door didn’t even budge an inch.

“Celestia, that things strong enough to stop a freight train.” she said as she rubbed her sore hoof.

“That’s because it’s Iron made in the dragon kingdom. Nothings getting through there.” Storm said as he trotted over to the mare’s. “Hows your hoof?”

“Fine.” she said ina cold tone. “C’mon Mac we’re leaving.” she said as she walked past the two pegasi. Mac nodded goodbye and closed the door behind him. Rainbow avoided eye contact with the stallion and let out a heavy sigh.

“Look I-” Rainbow began.

“I’m sorry.” he breathed out.

“What?”

“I’m sorry I yelled at you. It’s just that this cape is really special to me.” he said as he withdrew the garment.

“What was it for?”

“It was my dad’s. It’s the last thing I have of him.” he said in a sad tone. Rainbow came over and gave him a hug.

“I’m so sorry, I had no idea.”

“It’s fine. It happened a long time ago.”

“How long ago was that?”

“I was around ten.” he said as the tears came pouring out. Rainbow brought him in closer and rested her head against his shoulder. “All I ever wanted to do was be like him, I’m not even a fraction of the stallion he was.” he said as he hung his head in shame.

“Hey, don’t talk like that.” she said as she looked up at him. “You’re one of the nicest stallions I know, you’ve let me live with you and I can be a real pain sometimes, remember the oven incident?” she said with a small laugh.

“Any-pony else would’ve done the same for a cute mare is distress.” Rainbow’s ears perked up at the word.

What did he just say?

“Y-you think I’m cute?” she said as she began to blush. Storm’s brain had had just exploded and his face turned bright red.

“I......um.....you see-” he was cut off by the mare grabbing his face and pressing her lips against his. Storm’s eyes shrank at the mare’s action, he felt her tongue start to penetrated his lips and explore his mouth. She tasted like a mixture of blue berries and pomegranate. 

What the buck is going on?

A hot mare is kissing you stupid! If you let this one get away I will kill you! he thought to himself. As she broke the kiss he noticed that both of their wings were standing at attention. He sat there dazed at what just happened. Rainbow was looking at him with a worried look on her face.

“S-Storm?” she said in a sad voice.

“........” he was still getting over the shock.

“A-are you ok-” she was interrupted by Storm locking her in a passionate kiss. Rainbow’s eyes began to flutter, she felt her hooves turn to jello in the stallions arms. They were both panting heavily as they broke the kiss. “Wow.” was all she could muster.

“Ditto.” he said. “So what do we do now?”

“I can think of some thing.” she said in a seductive voice. Rainbow trotted past him and let her tail tickle his chin as she walked towards the upstairs. Storm stood there stunned for who knows how long with a bright blush on his face. “Well are you coming?” Storm snapped back to reality and followed her voice. He walked into his room to see the cyan mare laying on his storm cloud bed  with the biggest pair bedroom eyes he’d ever seen. His jaw hit the floor at the sight, Rainbow began to chuckle and reposition herself in the bed until her parted legs were facing the white stallion who’s wings were standing at full attention. Storm gulped and made his way over to the bed. Rainbow grabbed him and climbed on top of and pinned him to the bed. “Now I think it’s about time I paid my rent.” she said as she leaned in for another kiss.    
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 5


Two months have passed since Rainbow and Storm had become a couple. Storm apologized to Applejack for the way he reacted, she forgave him after he bought her and the others a round of cider at the bar. Storm was heading to Sugar Cube Corner for Rainbow’s birthday party.

“Hmm.” she said as they took flight.

“Awwe, what’s wrong Skittles?” he cooed. 

“Nothing, just wondering what you got me.” she said with a smirk.

“Well wait and see.”

“Can’t you just give it to me now?” she said with a pouting look on her face.

“Nope.” he said as he sped ahead of her and landed in front of Sugar Cube Corner. As they made their way inside the lights turned on and Rainbow’s party commenced. Within an hour it was time for presents. Twilight got her the new ‘Daring Do’ book, Fluttershy got her and Tank matching flight goggles, Rarity gave her a necklace to go with her gala dress. Applejack got her a years supply of their cider, Pinkie got her a prank manual, Storm waited to go last. “Here. Happy Birthday!” he said as he handed her an envelope. Rainbow’s eyes began to boggle and her jaw hit the floor.

“Y-you got........Front row ticket’s to the WONDERBOLTS!”

“Yeah I figured you-” he was cut off by Rainbow locking lips with his.

“B-but you hate them!” she said in a realization.

“I figured I could stomach them for one day.” he said with a smile.

“You’d do that...for me?”

“Sure.” he said with a smile.

“You are the best colt-friend ever!” she said as she nuzzled his chest.

“I know.” Rainbow punched him in the arm and chuckled.

“HOW DID YOU GET THESE?”

“I know a guy who knows a guy. The show is tonight at 7:00pm.” he said with a hug. Rainbow went off and started to giggle to Pinkie. Applejack went over to Storm and put a hoof on his shoulder.

“That’s real sweet of ya. But ah got one question, why do you hate the Wonderbolts so much?”

“Let’s just say it’s a personal matter.” he breathed out.

“That still ain’t an explanation.” she said with a raised eyebrow.

“Look AJ, it’s a sensitive topic, alright.” he said as he glared at the orange mare.

“Fine, but Rainbow thinks the world of you and if you hurt her I will kick you so hard that you won’t walk straight for months!” she said as she narrowed her eyes.

“Applejack relax. I would never do anything to hurt Rainbow and if I do then you have my permission to beat me until your hearts content. Deal?” he said as he outstretched his hoof.

“Deal.” she said as she shook it. “This is one bet I hope I don’t win.”

“You and me both.” he said as Rainbow trotted over to him with a smile on her face.

“Ready to go? I want to get there early!” she said with a giggle.

“Fine, I just need to grab something from the house real quick.” he said as the two took flight. Along the way Rainbow kept the same look on her face. Storm hurried inside and pulled out a white hoodie, he threw it on and trotted back outside. “Okay I’m ready.”

“What’s with the get up?”

“I just want to keep a low profile.” he said as he took flight. The two flew through the sky and made their way towards Cloudsdale.

“Hey...can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Why do you hate the Wonderbolts?”

“I just don’t-”

“I’m tired of the excuses we’ve been dating for two months and you’ve never given me a real reason. Is your big secret more important than me?” she asked. Storm stopped flying and let out a heavy sigh.

“Of course not! But...you’re right, once we get back from the show I’ll tell you everything.”

“Pinkie promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” he said as he made the gestures.

“Thanks.” she said as she gave him a quick kiss. The two continued to fly to the cloud city, they saw a lot of pegasi getting into the stands. Storm flipped the hood over his head and thee two made their way inside. The stopped in front of a security guard and showed them the ticket’s. The guard pulled away the red rope and the couple stepped inside. Rainbow was jumping with anticipation with a massive grin on her face. The light’s started to dim and the speakers turned on.

“FILLIES AND GENTLE-COLTS! LET’S HaVE A WARM WELCOME FOR....THE WONDERBOLTS!!” the light brightened as the blue suited pegasi soared above their heads. Rainbow was jumping out of her seat in excitement while Storm was keeping his head low and gritting his teeth trying to control his rage. Rainbow noticed his discomfort and put a hoof on his shoulder.

“Hey...you okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine, just have a good time.” he said as he forced a smile. Meanwhile the Wonderbolts had taken the stage. Spitfire grabbed the microphone.

“Thank you every-pony! For our last act we need some help from two lucky pegasi!” Storm’s eyes shrank.

Oh for the love of Celestia please don’t-

“Rainbow Dash! Come on down!” the golden mare said with a smile. Rainbow was close to having a heart attack. She looked over to Storm to see him shaking.

“We don’t have to-”

“No. It’s your birthday, go on I’ll just watch from the side lines.” he said as the two pegasi took flight and landed next to the blue suited ponies. Rainbow could barely contain herself. Storm was using every ounce of will he had to fake a smile.

“So Rainbow what brings you here?” Soarin asked.

“Well it’s my birthday and-”

“You hear that every-pony!” Spitfire said over the microphone, the crowd cheered.

“How about I give you a special present.” the blue stallion said. Rainbow looked over to see the blue stallion leaning his head closer to her. Storm’s eyes began to burn, Rainbow put a hoof on the stallions lips stopping his movement.

“Thanks for the offer Soarin, but I’m here with my colt-friend and I don’t think he’d appreciate it.” she said as she looked over to the hooded pony.

“Oh! Sorry about that bro.” the blue stallion said as he made his way over to him.

“Don’t. Touch me.” he retorted in a harsh tone.

“Hey take it easy man.” Spitfire said with a smile. “We just want a good show.”

“Fine. Watch.” he quickly took flight and began to fly in a circle creating a flaming tornado. He quickly flew outside the funnel and flew to the bottom of the cyclone. He dug his hooves into the cloud and began to flap his wings as fast as he could. He picked up his hooves and he launched forward into the cone, the added pressure shot him forward a massive booming noise came from inside the tornado and it was quickly flipped inside out. The ponies looked up to see the inverted flaming cyclone. Every-pony’s jaws hit the floor, Soarin and Spitfire looked at one another and nodded. The tornado began to disappear and Storm landed in front of Rainbow with a smile on her face.

“Dude that was amazing!” she yelled. Soarin and Spitfire quickly landed in front of the couple. Spitfire trotted forward with a worried look on her face.

“Storm...is that you?” Storm let out a sigh and removed his hood to reveal his white coat. She put a hoof to her mouth in surprise, as did Soarin. Rainbow looked at them in confusion.

“You know them!?” she asked.

“Rainbow, I’d like to introduce you to my ex mare-friend.” he said as he pointed to Spitfire, who hung her head in shame. Rainbow connected the dot’s and her eyes lit up.

“You mean that she.......with him?” she said as she looked over at Soarin who shared the same look.

“See you at home.” he said as he trotted past the Wonderbolts. Soarin flew beside him and put a hoof on his shoulder.

“Listen man-” he was cut off as a white hoof connected with his face. Soarin was sent to the ground. Every single pegasus let out a gasp at the action. Spitfire flew next to the blue stallion and helped him to his hooves. Storm held his right hoof up and looked at the blue stallion with hatred in his eyes.

“You EVER touch me again and so help me I will rip your wings off!” he said as Spitfire flew up to him.

“Look Storm, I know things ended badly between us but-”

“You honestly think I care about you’re stupid fling? No! I’m pissed because of the OTHER reason!” Spitfire’s eyes began to water, Soarin trotted up next to her and looked at the white stallion with sadness in his eyes.

“Is there anything we can do to make up for it?”

“Can you bring him back?” he said as he raised and eyebrow. Soarin and Spitfire were speechless and hung their heads down. “That’s what I thought.” he said as he took flight, leaving the Wonderbolt’s and Rainbow standing in the middle of the arena. Rainbow stood next to them with a look of shock on her face.

“Go after him Rainbow.” Spitfire said. “Don’t make the same mistake I did.” she said with tears in her eyes. Rainbow nodded and flew after him. As she stepped through the door she saw the massive metal door close with a loud slam. She quickly hurried over and began to knock on the massive door.

“Storm?”

“WHAT?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you and Spitfire-”

“I don’t hate them because of that!” he said through the door.

“Then why?” she said with tears running down her face. “You promised me that you’d explain why? Or was that just another lie?” a long silence fell in between the two. Rainbow began to walk away when she heard a series of loud clangs and the door swung open. Rainbow cautiously made her way inside the dark room, the light’s flickered on to reveal shelves filled with golden trophies and photo albums. She saw the white stallion sitting in front of two mannequins. One had an old Wonderbolt uniform on, along with the cape she had tried on. The other was a Wonderbolt trainee uniform. “What is all of this?”

“Bad memories.” he said as he began to cry. Rainbow held him close and rested her head against his shoulder. “I was ten years old. When my father died, he was performing in Trottingham and he brought me along. He was rounding a corner when he lost control and slammed into the side of the wall. I rushed onto the field next to him. He smiled at me and told me ‘to never give up.’” He began to bawl uncontrollably. “He died right then and there.”

“I-it’s okay you don’t have to-”

“NO! I have to get this out.” he yelled. “All I wanted to do was be like him. Me and my best friend Thunder Kicker entered the Wonderbolt Academy. We were the best! Ever-pony knew it even the instructors.” he said as he got to his hooves. “That’s where I met Spitfire and Soarin. They were the only ones that could keep up with us. We were the top of the class and graduated with high honors.”

“What happened?”

“Spitfire and I started dating for a while, then I caught her in bed with Soarin. I was a wreck, started drinking heavily, Thunder managed to pull me out of the grave I was digging. I took a leave of absence from the group when I attended Alcoholic meetings.” he started to cry again. “When I came back the team was glad to have me back. I wasn’t talking to Soarin or Spitfire for obvious reasons. Then it all went to shit.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two years ago.

“Okay guys standard formation and let’s have a good show.” Spitfire said as she looked at the team. Storm remained silent as did the brown stallion standing next to him. “Break!” the ponies flew onto the field and stood in front of the cheering crowd. Storm looked over to his friend who had a slight limp.

“You okay man?”

“Yeah, just pulled a muscle yesterday at practice. I’m fine though.” 

“DUDE! You know how-”

“Trust me I know what I can handle. I’m fine.” he said with a cocky grin. The team took off and began their routine with a series of flips and areal maneuvers. Storm was side by side with Thunder, he saw him wince in pain, Thunder was about to pull of a flip when his right wing clenched up in pain, he started to fall towards the ground and crashed into the grand stands. Storm raced to his side and propped him on his back and flew him to the hospital.

“Thunder? You okay man?” The brown stallions eyes opened to see his friend looking at him with tears in his eyes. 

“Yeah...I’m fine.”

“Thunder take it easy. You just woke up from surgery.”

“What surgery? I just need to stretch-” his eyes shrank and he looked up at his friend who had tears streaming down his face. “Storm...I can’t feel my wings......Get me a mirror.”

“I don’t think-”

“GET ME A BUCKING MIRROR!” he barked. He hopped out of bed and rushed into the bathroom. Storm tried to stop him but the door slammed in his face. He heard a scream come from inside, a nurse and doctor rushed into the room. They forced open the door Storm looked to see a brown pegasus stallion sobbing on the floor, the fur on his back was matted and sticking together with dried blood. His eyes then fell upon the two bandaged stubs that were once his wings, the doctor and nurse walked forward and got the stallion to his hooves. Storm put a hoof on his friends shoulder who refused to make eye contact. 

“Thunder...I’m...” he couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Sir, I’m sorry but visiting hours are up.” the nurse said.

“Please...please take care of him.” he said as he left the room, he saw Spitfire and Soarin running up to him.

“What happened?” Spitfire asked.

“They had to amputate his wings.” he said in a defeated tone. Spitfire began to cry and Soarin put a wing around her. He then saw a bright red stallion land next to them.

“How’s he doing?” he asked.

“Not good captain, he just woke up and....the doctors had to restrain him.” he said with tears in his eyes. “I’m gonna take some time off, y’know to help him.”

“That’s fine, take all the time you need.” the red stallion said. “I just need to talk to the doctors for a second, then we’ll head out.” the pegasi nodded. Storm looked at the two and let out a sigh.

“I’m gonna head home.” he said in a low tone. The ponies nodded and let him go. Storm flew by the cemetery and stopped in front of a grave and sat there in silence. “Hey dad, sorry I haven’t visited in a while, we’ve been traveling around so much.... Thunder..lost his wings.” he began to cry. “I miss you and mom.” he sat there for hours, when it started to rain he went inside his and Thunder’s apartment and went to bed. Hours later he heard a loud knock on his door, he got to his hooves and opened the door to see Spitfire standing there with a worried look on her face. “What’s up?”

“It’s Thunder! You have to come quick!” Storm and Spitfire raced back to the hospital to see a crowd of ponies standing in front of it. Storm looked up to see a brown pony standing on the edge of the roof. The two pegasi raced up to him and landed behind him.

“Thunder? What are you doing?!” Spitfire said with tears in her eyes.

“I’m done, finished! I’ve got nothing left.” he said as he looked back at them with tears in his eyes.

“Don’t talk like that!” he said as he took a step forward.

“Storm..I’m sorry. Take care of yourself.” he said as he jumped off the edge, Storm lunged forward to try and catch him. He flew straight down with his hoof outstretched, he was too late. He saw the brown stallion hit the ground and blood splattered on the surface. Storm landed next to his friend and put a hoof to his neck. No Pulse. Storm closed his friends eyes and began to sob as he held his friends body in his hooves.

A few days later a funeral was held, the Wonderbolts were there, every-pony wore black. Storm stayed there hours after the ceremony, it had started to rain. When he finally rejoined the others at the Wonderbolt HQ. Spitfire trotted up to him and handed him a letter.

“It’s from Thunder.” she said in a sad tone. Storm opened it and his eyes began to move across the paper. His saddened eyes were replaced by pure rage and hatred. He stormed into the captains office where a red pegasus stallion was sitting at his desk. “Storm what’s going on!?” Spitfire said as she and Soarin followed him in. Storm slammed the letter down on the desk and the two Wonderbolts read it.

Dear Thunder Kicker,

It is with great displeasure that due to your current physical status I will have to terminate your Position as a Wonderbolt, effective immediately. Good luck with your future.

~Captain Red Streak. 

The ponies looked at him in surprise, he held a stone cold look in his eye.

“Just business. He was of no more use to me.” he retorted. Storm grabbed the red stallion and started to pound his face into a pulp. Spitfire and Soarin were trying to restrain him. He broke free, grabbed a letter opener and held it to the stallions throat. “Go ahead.” he spat at him. Storm dropped the weapon and walked past the two pegasi with tears in his eyes.

“Storm! You’re gonna get fired for that.” Soarin said.

“No I won’t. I QUIT!” he tore the uniform off his body and threw it in front of the group of Wonderbolts that had gathered outside the door. He walked past them and made his way out of the door with tears in his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      
Back in the vault Rainbow was looking at him with tears in her eyes. Storm was standing in front of the uniforms with his ears low and rivers of tears coming from his eyes.

“It’s been one year since then and I’ve never looked back. The Wonderbolts took my father, my love life and my best friend. I’ve lost too much, I can’t bare the thought of losing you to them too.” he said as he slumped to the ground. Rainbow hurried over to him and wrapped her wing around him.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Chapter 6.


Rainbow sat there holding her colt friend with tears in her eyes, they heard a knock on the door. The cyan mare got to her hooves and answered it. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Spitfire and Soarin who had saddened looks on their faces.

“What do you two want?” she said with spite in her voice.

“Can we come in?” Spitfire asked. Storm trotted over to them and led them inside. Rainbow still held the same glare filled with anger. “Storm....we.....I can’t say anything to make up for what happened.” Spitfire said as she sat down at the table.

“Damn right.” Rainbow said as she looked at her former idols.

“She knows?” Soarin asked. Storm nodded. “I see. We came here to try and make amends.”

“Make amends? How can you even hope to make amends after you’ve taken everything from him!?” Rainbow yelled.

“Rainbow we-”

“NO! I can’t believe I even looked up to you!” she said as she began to cry. Storm put a hoof on his mare friends shoulder. He looked at the two Wonderbolts who hung their heads in shame.

“You’ve got three minutes.” he finally breathed out.

“Thank you.”

“Two minutes fifty-five seconds.” he said in a cold tone.

“After you left that day, nothing was the same. No-pony wanted to work for the Wonderbolts, not even us. We went straight to the top and every-pony filed an official complaint of ‘mistreatment of performers’ to the manager. Red Streak was stripped of his position and was imprisoned for driving Thunder to suicide.” Soarin finished.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“I know you won’t forgive us. We don’t deserve it, we should have followed your example and quit right there.” Spitfire said as she hung her head. “Thunder’s death was hard on all of us, we knew that you took it the worst. To be honest we thought that you had gone into hiding or solitary.”  

“What did you expect? My best friend died in my hooves because of your...our manager’s stupid mouth! I understand that Thunder couldn’t perform anymore and so did he. Red didn’t have to give that letter to him so soon!” he said as tears formed in his eyes. “He could have waited until he was out of the hospital, he could have given him a desk job or something! But no he flat out told him that he was useless without his wings! How would you feel if that happened to you?” he bellowed. Rainbow put a hoof on his shoulder.

“I understand.” Spitfire said as she looked up with tears in her eyes. “I know that there’s nothing that we can say to rebuild that bridge. But just ask yourself this; what would Thunder be doing had it been you?” Storm’s eyes shrank at the thought of his friend crying over his body.

“get out.”

“What?”

“GET OUT!” he yelled. The pegasi complied and left the house with their heads hanging down. Rainbow ran over to the white pegasus and hugged him. Storm gently pushed her away. “Rainbow please....I just need to be alone. Okay?”

“Sure. I understand.” she said as she gave him a quick kiss and left the house. Rainbow flew up to a cloud and started to process all the information she just gathered.

“Rainbow? Is that you?” Rainbow looked over to see Applejack, Twilight and the others looking up at her. She flew down next to her friends. “How was the-.... Are you okay?” Twilight said as she noticed her friends red puffy eyes.

“No.” she said with tears running down her face.

“What happened sugar cube?” Applejack said as she put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Let’s go to the library, I’ll tell you there.” Once the mares were inside the tree, Rainbow began to explain what had happened at the show, inside Storm’s vault and when the Wonderbolt’s arrived at their house. By the end the every-pony was in tears, Pinkie’s usually curvy mane was a tad darker and hung straight.

“I-I can’t believe that he’s been through so much.” Twilight said as she tried to calm herself down.

“Indeed.” Rarity said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Should we go and...check on him?” Fluttershy asked.

“Good idea.” Applejack said with a nod. The ponies made their way back to the pegasi’s house. Applejack looked at Rainbow who looked like she was having a wrestling match with her thoughts. “You okay Rainbow?”

“I just feel bad.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Even after all the things the Wonderbolts put him through, part of me still want’s to be one of them.” the ponies looked at her in surprise. “I don’t know why...I just....I feel horrible for thinking it.” she said as she started crying.

“Well you’ve looked up to them for so long, it’s not surprising that you’d still feel that way.” Twilight said.

“What am I gonna do?”

“Hey, we’ll help you get through this.”

“Thanks guys, but I think Storm needs our help right now.” she said as she opened the door. The ponies walked up to the massive vault door. Rainbow knocked on it. “Storm? It’s me, the others are here too.” no response cam from inside. 

“Maybe he’s not in there.” Twilight said. The ponies nodded and fanned out around the house. Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy took the upstairs, while Twilight, AJ and Rainbow took the down stairs. Twilight’s eyes boggled at the gym. “Wow, he’s got quite the set up here.”

“Yeah, I guess now we know how he paid for all of this.” AJ said as she looked around. “What’s that?” she said as she pointed to an empty bottle. Rainbow picked it up to reveal that it had held vodka. 

“That’s not good.” Rainbow commented. The friends continued to search for their friend. Twilight glanced over at the pool and saw a dark shadow in the center.

“What’s that?” she pointed with her hoof. Rainbow totted over to the edge of the pool, there was a some dark red liquid splattered on the edge. The cyan mare looked down, Her eyes fell upon a white dot at the bottom.

“STORM!” she yelled as she jumped into the pool, she swam towards the white stallion, his eyes were closed. She grabbed him and shot towards the surface. As they broke the pools surface Twilight quickly levitated the two pegasi onto the floor. Rainbow was panting heavily, she looked over at Storm who had a bright red bloodstain on his head. “Storm! Storm! Speak to me!” she said as she tried to resuscitate him. She pressed her lips against his and breathed into him. She began to press on his chest as the paramedics arrived.

“Ma’am stay back.” the medic said. They continued with the exercises as Rainbow started to cry. Storm coughed up the swallowed water and began to breath. “We’ve got him!” they laid him on a stretcher and carried him out the door. Rainbow and the others followed close behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow and the others waited patiently in the hospital lobby sick with worry. Big Mac was consoling his sister who was trying to hold back her tears. Rainbow looked up to see Soarin and Spitfire out of uniform walk up to one of the doctors.

“How is he?” Spitfire asked.

“Currently unconscious with a mild concussion.” the doctor said as Rainbow trotted up to them with anger in her eyes. “You’re Spitfire correct?” the golden mare nodded. “Good thing you called when you did, we got there just in time.” the doctor said as he left. Spitfire turned around to see a dumbfounded Rainbow Dash staring at her.

“YOU called the medic?”

“Yeah.”

“But....why?”

“We’ve lost enough friends.” Soarin said.

“But..he hates you two!”

“With good reason. The last time I saw that look in Storm’s eyes was when Thunder jumped off the building.” Spitfire said as she began to whimper. “If anything ever happened to Storm because of me....I’d never forgive myself.” she said as she sat down and cried. Soarin put  hoof on her shoulder as he looked up at Rainbow Dash.

“We know that he’ll never forgive us, but that doesn’t mean we don’t care about him.” he said as he let out a sigh.

“What? You stole his mare-friend from him!” Applejack said as she joined the conversation.

“I know and....I’ve regretted that day ever since. No offense Spit.”

“It’s fine. I know what you mean and I feel the same way.” she said as she wiped the tears away.  Soarin nodded.

“So..you two regret hurting him?”

“Of course! Spit and I love each other but.....I wish we could have done things differently.” the blue stallion hung his head in shame. A pony in a whit lab coat trotted over to them.

“Storm Kicker is stable if you want to see him.” the ponies nodded and followed the doctor. “Just keep your visit brief, he needs his rest.” the ponies made their way inside, while Soarin and Spitfire waited outside. Mac stopped and looked at the Wonderbolts.

“Yer not coming in?”

“I doubt he want’s to see us. Don’t tell him we called either.”

“Alright.” he said as he made his way inside. The red stallion’s eyes fell upon a white pegasus hooked up to a series of machined and an I.V. drip. Rainbow trotted next to him and wrapped her hooves around his. 

“Storm. If you can hear me, I just want to say that I’m here for you. So is every-pony else. So please....please come back to me.” she said as she started to cry. “I love you.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Storms eyes opened to see a brown pegasus stallion staring at him with an annoyed look on his face.

“Thunder?”

“I told you to go easy on the drinking!” he let out a sigh as his friend helped him up.

“Sorry. I just....had a bad day.”

“So I’ve seen.”

“Wait...am I-”

“No, not yet.” he said as he trotted away from his friend.

“Thunder....I’m so-”

“Shut up! It wasn’t your fault.”

“How can you say that? I should have made you sit out that day.”

“Pfft, like you could ever take me.” he said with a cocky smile. Storm hung his head in shame. “Look man it wasn’t your fault, it wasn’t Soarin or Spitfires. Hell it wasn’t even Reds’ fault.”

“Still I-”

“No. I loved you like a brother Storm. I understand that your angry at them, at yourself and me.” Storm looked at him in surprise. “ I’m sorry for leaving you like I did, but that doesn’t give you the right to destroy your life too!”

“First off....I just needed some time alone. I was going down to the hot tub, I slipped and...everything goes black after that.”

“Yeah. You do know that Spitfire and Soarin have your back right?”

“Yeah....I guess it’s just that....I’ve been angry at them for so long it’s hard to come out of something like that.”

“You’re still bummed that Soarin stole her from you huh?”

“At first yeah.....but since I met Rainbow all that hatred seemed to slowly go away. Then when I saw him almost kiss her it came back with a vengeance.”

“I can kinda understand that. So what did you do?”

“Clocked him in face.”

“I expected as much. So about this Rainbow you mentioned.”

“She is amazing. She’s funny, athletic, great in bed and extremely loyal. She turned down an opportunity to kiss her idol for me!”

“Wow, now that’s dedication.” he said as he bro-hoofed him.

“Yeah....she is the best thing to happen to me in a long time.” he said as he looked down at his hooves. “Honestly man....I love her.”

“I’m happy for you.” the stallion began to fade. “Well looks like my time’s up, keep on going man. Remember your dads’ rule!”

“Never give up.”

“Right. If you do, then I will come back and kick your ass into oblivion!” he said as he faded more.

“See ya Thunder and thanks.”

“Hey see you later!” he said as the image vanished.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rainbow was sitting by the stallions bed still holding his hoof. The friends looked at each other and tapped Rainbow on the shoulder.

“Visiting hours are almost up sugar cube.” Applejack said in a sad tone. “We’ll com back tomorrow.” Rainbow nodded and gave the stallion a kiss.

“I love you.” she said.

“I love you too skittles.” Rainbow looked into his red eyes and smiled, she wrapped him in a teary hug. 
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Chapter 7


They broke the hug as the other ponies made their way over to him, Rainbow delivered a quick slap to the stallions face.

“JERK!”

“Okay....I deserved that.” he said as he rubbed the sore spot.

“Damn right you do!” she yelled. The other ponies let out a sigh and smiled at their friend.

“Are you alright sugar cube?” Applejack asked.

“A lot better than I was.” he said as he sat up. “How long have I been here?”

“Around five hours.” Twilight said.

“How did I get here?”

“Spitfire and Soarin called the medics and-” Big Mac gave a nudge to his sister.

“Oh...are they here now?” he asked. The ponies nodded with a weak smile. “Could you get them? I need to talk to them.” the ponies looked at him in surprise. Applejack complied, she stuck her head out of the door and looked at the pegasi.

“Um...guys. Storm’s awake and he want’s to talk to y’all.” the ponies looked at her in shock. “Ah don’t know either.” she said as the farmer and the Wonderbolts came into the room.

“Would you guys mind giving us some privacy?” the ponies nodded and and started to leave. Storm grabbed Rainbow’s tail and nodded for her to stay. As the door closed Storm looked back at his former teammates.

“Storm we-” Spitfire started to say as Storm raised a hoof.

“Let me just say what I need to say.” the mare complied and closed her mouth. “First off...thanks for saving my flank.” the ponies looked at him in surprise.

“How did-”

“Applejack told me before Mac could stop her. I figured you didn’t want me to know.”

“Y-yeah we thought you’d be pissed.” Soarin said.

“When did you guys call the hospital anyway?” Rainbow asked.

“Around five minutes after we left. We were scared you might try something.....drastic.” Soarin said.

“Let me just get this off my chest.” he took in a deep breath and looked at the ponies. “I’m not gonna lie you two put me through hell. You lied to me, took advantage of my friendship and my best friend died under your watch. I reacted harshly and spiteful towards you two for years.” the pegasi hung their heads in shame. “So now comes the difficult part.” he took in a long breath and looked back at his former teammates. “Can you two find it in your hearts to forgive me?” the ponies looked at him in surprise. Storm had a sad expression on his face. “I guess what I’m saying is.....I’m sorry. I’ve been treating you two like crap for years and for something that was out of your control.” the two ponies eyes started to well up with tears, they approached the stallion and hugged him.

“Of course!” Spitfire said through the tears of joy.

“Honestly I though this day would never come.” Soarin said.

“Yeah me either. Oh and Soarin.” he said as he broke the hug.

“Yeah.” Storm delivered a quick punch to the stallions gut. “THAT’s for trying to kiss my mare-friend in front of hundreds of ponies!” he said with a smirk. Soarin looked up at him and smiled. 

“So....we’re cool.”

“Yeah I guess, but if you ever try and do that again, so help me I’ll beat you until your spine turns to a fine powder. Deal?”

“Deal.” the stallion said as he shook his hoof.

“One question. Why are you forgiving us?” Spitfire asked.

“A wise mare once said that she believes in second chances. Since I believe in her, I guess I’ll give it a shot.” he said as he held Rainbow’s hoof. She looked back at him with a teary smile across her face. A nurse trotted into the room with a smile on her face.

“Alright everypony, visiting hours are up. Storm needs his rest.”

“When can he go home?” Rainbow asked.

“He should be good to go by tomorrow, we just want to keep him under observation to make sure that nothing unexpected happens.” she said with a grin. Rainbow gave him a goodbye kiss and hurried out of the room. Storm held Spitfire back for a moment.

“Hey Spit, I hate to be a pain but could you do me one more favor?”

“Sure what is it?” Storm brought her closer and whispered in her ear. She looked back at him and nodded. 

“Thanks.” 

“See you tomorrow.” she said with a wave. The golden mare soon caught up to her light blue companion.

“Hey what’s up?” Spitfire whispered to the stallion who let out a chuckle. “Good idea.” The two soon caught up with they cyan mare who was about to leave. “Hey Rainbow hang on a second.” the mare looked back at the two with an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah what’s up?”

“Would you like to become a Wonderbolt?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 years later.

Rainbow was waiting anxiously, as she donned waited for her cue. She was donning a light blue uniform with yellow lightening bolt’s on it. Even though this wasn’t her first performance she still got the shakes. A light blue pegasus stallion trotted up next to her and put a hoof on her shoulder.

“You okay?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Relax you’ve done this a million times just stick to the routine.” he said as he listened for the horn. The crowd started to cheer as the pegasi took flight. Rainbow took her position at the front of the pack, she broke away and made her way high above the rest of the group. She took a few breaths and started to dive bomb towards the arena, out of the corner of her eye she saw a familiar stallion come closer to her. He nodded at her as she wrapped her hooves around him. The two started to pick up more speed, they felt a massive resistance beginning to build up in front of them. The air around them began to crackle and brighten, the resistance vanished and the two pegasi were launched forward, a burning rainbow trail with black flames on the edges began to form. The stallion tightened his grip around the mare as they moved closer to the ground. They suddenly pushed off from one another and rocketed back up towards the cloud arena. They rejoined and began to move in a spiral motion, as they cleared the floor of the arenas they broke apart and they each began to curve towards each other as they began to lose momentum. The two landed side by side and waved to the crowd. The ponies looked up at the burning rainbow trail that was in the shape of a heart. The stallion removed his mask to reveal his bright white coat. Rainbow leaned closer to him and smiled.

“A little late on that entry.” she said in a playful tone.

“Relax I knew you could handle it.”

“Still it was risky.”

“Since when don’t you like taking risks?” he waved at Spitfire who threw him a small box. “Hey Skittles.”

“Yeah wha-” she looked next to her to see him on one hoof holding a small box, he opened it to reveal a vibrant rainbow diamond on a necklace along with a small white feather. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” she exclaimed.

“Rainbow Spectrum Dash, will you marry me?” he said with a smile. Rainbow ripped the mask of her face and kissed him.

“YES! A MILLION TIMES YES!” she said as the cyan mare began to cry tears of joy. Rainbow put the necklace around her neck and kissed him again. The ponies started to cheer and clap for them.. The other Wonderbolt’s went out and started to congratulate the couple. As they went off stage Rainbow began to squeal like a fan girl. Soarin came over to Storm and high hoofed him.

“Nice work man.”

“Thanks.”

“So.....mind if I throw the bachelor party?” Storm chuckled at the thought.

“Sure.” Rainbow came over him and wrapped him in a hug.

“I-I can’t believe this! Where did you get this ring?”

“I called in a favor from Twilight. She got Cadence to send from the Crystal Empire.” he said with a smile. “Speaking of which we’d better go tell-” he was cut off by a bright pink blur.

“OH MY GOSH!” Pinkie yelled.

“I know right!” Rainbow squealed. Storm looked over to see the other five mares hurry over to them.

“Congratulations!” Twilight said as she hugged him.

“Ah’m mighty happy for y’all.” AJ said with a smile. 

“Thanks AJ.”

“I’d better get dress idea’s!” Rarity chimed in.

“OH OH! CAN HOST THE RECEPTION!? CAN I CAN I?” Pinkie said as she jumped.

“Sure, I couldn’t think of any-pony better.” he said with a smile.

“Oh my goodness theres so much to plan and-” Twilight was cut off by Storm and Rainbow zipping away from the group and soaring into the open sky. The two rested on a cloud and embraced one another.


FIN

> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Epilogue


8 months later.

Storm was standing in a full pressed tuxedo. Big Mac was standing next to him along with Soarin, he looked over to see Twilight and the others in dress’s with tears in their eyes. Princess Celestia stood at the altar with a warm smile. The music kicked on, Storm turned his head to see Rainbow Dash in a stunning wedding dress. She made her way down the isle with a massive smile on her face. She took her place next to Storm and wiped the tears from her eyes. The ceremony began as Celestia started the speech. Storm looked over to see Spitfire smiling at him, he returned the nod. He looked towards the doorway and saw two familiar ghost’s, both pegasus stallions. One was brown and the other had an old Wonderbolt uniform on with a vibrant blue cape. They smiled at him and vanished.

“Do you Storm Chaser take Rainbow Dash to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do.”

“And do you Rainbow Dash take Storm Chaser to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do.” she said with tears of joy in her eyes. Celestia levitated two necklaces with a golden ring on each to the pegasi. 

“Then I now pronounce you mare and colt.” she levitated the necklace holding the cyan feather onto the white stallion. “You may kiss the bride.” Storm swept the mare off her hooves and locked her in a passionate kiss. The ponies in the hall clapped and cheered for the newly weds. Rainbow and Storm wrapped their hooves around each other and soared into the sky. 

They arrived at their hotel room and smiled at one another.

“So what should we do now Skittles?” he said in a teasing tone.

“I have an idea.” she said with a sly smile. “Remember the sonic rain-boom?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I just had an idea.” she said as she poked at his chest.

“What are you-......Oh... Is that really a good idea? At that speed I mean.”

“I don’t know. Let’s find out.” she said as she stood on the balcony.

“You don’t ever slow down, do you?” he said as he joined her.

“Nope. Are you coming or not?” Storm gave his wife a kiss and readied himself for take off. The two shot into the air leaving behind a vibrant trail of flames and rainbows. As the sun set  a vibrant explosion of rainbow’s and flames lit up the sky. The two pegasi rested on a cloud panting heavy, Storm wiped the sweat from his forehead as he looked over at Rainbow who had a satisfied look on her face. “Best.....move......Ever!” she said through the panting.

“So what’s the name of it?”

“Um.....Sonic Rain-gasm?” 

“I like it.” he said as he held her in his hooves. She nuzzled against his chest and let out a soft snore. “Awwe is little Rainbow tired?” he said in a baby sounding voice. 

“Shut up.” she said as a sigh left her lips. Storm looked into the sky and breathed out a long relaxed sigh. He looked down to his sleeping wife and closed his eyes.