This is a continuation of my The Rising Flame. It's not quite done yet but it's my longest piece!

Enjoy!

- Nerdyredhead

The clouds drifted by, undisturbed. A flash of grey interrupted the quiet. Stratus tore by, flying as fast as his wings would let him. He loved feeling the wind is his mane. It reminded him a lot of his mom, Spitfire. He stopped to turn around and see where she was but he was spun by a blur of tan.

"HEY!" he shouted. "No fair! You got a head start!" The blur froze in midair and the mare flew back around."Well I won, you lost." she said. "Ha ha very funny Eclipse." he laughed and nuzzled her. "Hmm, it's nice up here. I gonna head to Canterlot. I have to go to the royal library." Unnoticed by the two, a dark cloud flew behind Eclipse and shocked the tan pegasus. Unconscious, she plummeted to the ground.

"Eclipse!" Stratus pulled in his wings and shot down towards her. "Almost there.." he muttered. She was so close….

Stratus' descent was becoming faster and faster. All in a moment, the sky exploded in rainbow colors as he grabbed Eclipse in his hooves and soared gently back up to the clouds.

He gently laid her down on a cumulonimbus.

"What happened?" she asked puzzled. "A rogue cloud hit you with lightning and you fell. I saved you and did a sonic rainboom in the process. I think." She stared open-mouthed.

"Oh hello, did I hit anypony with that thundercloud?"

A grey alicorn said flying up to them. She had curly purple mane with turquoise streaks and violet tinted wings. "Who are you?" Eclipse asked. "Oh I'm Diamond Heart. Nice to meet you." "Yeah, hi Diamond Heart. You almost killed my mare-friend here." Stratus said, but he quickly covered his muzzle.

Eclipse blushed. "Oh I see. Sorry about that." the alicorn replied. "That's ok. Where are you from?" Eclipse asked. "Oh, Manehattan." she replied.

"I came to see my aunt, Princess Cadance."

"Wait, your aunt is Princess Cadance?!" Stratus asked shocked. "Well, yeah. That's why I'm an alicorn." Diamond Heart replied. "She's in New Canterlot. We can take you there. But we'll have to take the train." Eclipse suggested. "Sure!" Diamond Heart replied cheerfully. "Follow us!" Stratus said, and they flew to the train station.