Storm cut through the air, wind whipping through his wild mane. He heard Rainbow coming fast from behind as she zoomed past him with her signature rainbow trail. He smiled and shook his head as he saw her slow down for a second, "Ha, took you long enough to catch up!"
She was surprised by his boldness, "Oh yeah? Well, time for you to do some catching up yourself!" She sped off, leaving him in the dust.
She touched down in Town Square and looked behind her as he followed suit. He was laughing as he landed and trotted over to her, "You know, I thought I almost had you there. Wouldn't that be something? 'The amazing Rainbow Dash lost a race to a non-Wonderbolt'." They started their walk towards a particular destination.
She nudged his shoulder with her hoof, "Psh, like that would ever happen. Ever since I got into the academy, I've been in better shape than I've ever known."
"I can tell. I think this is the best you've ever looked." He blushed as he tried to play off the compliment he gave her. "Anyway, what's on our agenda for today?"
Concealing a small blush herself, she stammered, "Uh…ahem. I uh, I was thinking maybe we could start off with something to eat?"
"Didn't we just have breakfast like, an hour ago?"
"Yeah, but you've never experienced Sugar Cube Corner."
"I'm guessing from the sounds of it, that's the bakery you mentioned last night?"
She nodded, "Yep, that's the one. Oh, I should probably warn you about something, rather somepony first."
Confused, he glanced at her, "Who?"
She sighed, as if preparing to break bad news to someone, "Pinkie Pie."
All was quiet for a change as Rainbow Dash and Storm Cloud walked through the front doors of Sugar Cube Corner. Storm was oblivious as ever, seeing as how he didn't know what to expect. Rainbow, however, knew all too well that something was up. Very rarely was the bakery quiet like this. This could mean one of two things: the bakery was closed and Pinkie forgot to lock the door again, or she was up to something.
They walked over to the counter, but no one was behind it. Storm looked at Rainbow in curiosity, "Uh, are you sure they're open? We can always come back later if we need to."
Rainbow spoke in hushed tones, "No, just I have a weird feeling that something's about to happen."
Storm deadpanned, "It's a bakery. It's not like someone's going to jump out and –",
Just as he said that last part, a pink, overly-excited pony literally jumped out from behind the counter, "SURPRISE!"
"AAAHHHH!" Storm had never been more startled in his life. He backed up, taking a few deep, long breaths as Pinkie just sat there with a smile that was stretching ear to ear. "You, you…what's the big idea?! And where did you even come from? No one was even behind the counter!"
Rainbow just stood there, however, as she was expecting this. She spoke in a monotone voice, going through the motions of introductions. "Storm Cloud, Pinkie Pie. Pinkie, Storm."
Able to re-collect his thoughts, he slowly approached the counter once more, "H-hi. Nice to meet you." He extended a hoof for a shake.
She, however, took this as an invitation to leap over the counter and give him a back-breaking hug, "Oh, it's SO NICE to meet you! Are you new here?! You must be new, because I've never seen you before!" She gasped loudly. "And you know what that means!"
He was thoroughly confused, "Uh, actually, I have no idea. I'm guessing it means I'm new?"
"That's right! And that means it's time to PARTY!" She suddenly pulled out a party hat seemingly out of nowhere and slammed it on his head. His eyes shot back to Rainbow Dash in fear while she stood there chuckling at his first encounter with Pinkie.
He was jolted out of his thoughts, though, after hearing the explosion of Pinkie's party cannon. Pinkie then threw him in a chair, and again defied the laws of physics as she pulled out a plate complete with cupcakes, muffins, and other assortments of dessert items from behind her back. She took one of the desserts off the plate and stuffed it in his mouth as she giggled with glee at the new arrival to Ponyville.
Rainbow stopped her giggling, as she figured Storm had enough of the introductions. She proceeded to kindly pull Pinkie off of him. After the party girl calmed down for a few minutes, she was able to show Storm around the bakery and calmly give her two guests some food. While the pair was eating though, Pinkie called Rainbow Dash over to the counter.
"Hey Dash, can you come over here and help me count the change in the register?"
Rainbow replied with a full mouth, "Be right there! Hey Storm; I'll be right back, ok?"
He nodded absentmindedly as he continued to munch on the tasty pastries. She grinned a little at seeing him eat so sloppily, and went to help Pinkie with her task.
Once at the counter, Rainbow was quickly yanked into an over-the-shoulder hug as Pinkie whispered loudly into her ear, "Your secret's safe with me, don't worry Rainbow."
Rainbow was confused by Pinkie's sudden antics. Mimicking her friend's whisper she asked, "What are you talking about? What 'secret'?"
Pinkie looked like she could explode, grinning wider than when she met Storm, "That you got a new coltfriend silly goose! Really Rainbow, you should pay more attention to the plotline sometimes."
"What plotline? You're not making any sense. And Storm is not my coltfriend!" Rainbow turned her head and felt heat flush into her face as she said this, for she felt a little embarrassed. "And how did you even think that? You just met the guy like, ten seconds ago."
"Oh come on, Dash. You really need to get that denial out of your system! Remember whenever you had to let Tank hibernate? The more you deny it, the more it hurts."
"What does Tank have to do with Storm?"
Pinkie face-hoofed, "Ugh! You're missing the point!" She grabbed her friend's face, and turned it to the direction of Storm. She pulled out a pair of binoculars and shoved them onto Rainbow's eyes to focus more on the stallion who was currently eating an éclair in a very messy fashion. "Look. He's right over there, indulging himself."
Rainbow was utterly lost. "So what's your point? I was doing the same thing before you called me over here." She shoved the binoculars off of her. "And where do you keep getting all this stuff?"
Pinkie shook her head, ignoring the last question. "The point is you think he's absolutely adorable!"
Rainbow's eyes shot open and a blush re-appeared on her face at her friend's words. She shot a look to Pinkie Pie, "I do not! He's just a friend that's visiting for a while. I don't even know how long he'll be sticking around. Plus, we just ran into each other for the first time in years yesterday. Don't get any ideas."
Pinkie just shook her head, "I don't know, I saw it in your eyes when you came in. You can't hide your feelings from Aunty Pinkie Pie."
Rainbow's blush deepened as she sighed loudly. "Look, whatever. Maybe he's kind of cute. But that's beside the point! You can't just go assuming he's my coltfriend just because he happens to be a colt, and happens to be a friend. Got it? I mean, we go way back, and he's a great friend, sure. But that doesn't mean I have feelings for him." She trailed off, and sadly swatted her friend's grasping hooves away from her face as she tried to re-collect herself.
Pinkie, however, wasn't so easily convinced. "If you say so!" With that, she winked, and went back to counting the change in the register. Rainbow helped her, but couldn't shake off what her friend had just told her. It kept eating at her, even more so than how Storm was eating the desserts.
After enjoying some delicious pastries and sugary delights at Sugar Cube Corner, Rainbow Dash and Storm Cloud decided to go on a little stroll together through the town, casually walking by all the shops and stands. They decided on window shopping for now, seeing as how they wanted to save their bits as much as possible; unless something really caught their eye. They still had all of their bits on them from when they left that morning, as Pinkie generously declined them when it came time to pay for everything, using the clever excuse of, "They were only sample platters." So, with bits in their bags and a whole afternoon to spend, they decided to take it easy.
Rainbow was busy showing Storm the town as they went along. She pointed out where City Hall was, where the restaurants were (that were at least worth the money), and where the hospital was, (in case she needed him to drag her there during his stay). She also showed him where the old Golden Oaks library used to be.
He looked at the burnt crater, which was left empty since the girls had uprooted the stump for Twilight's castle. "Huh…sounds like a real tragedy whenever this place went down. From what you told me, it sounds like you guys all had some great memories here."
She smiled a small smile, as if she saw the library standing right before her once more. "Yeah, those were some good times for sure. But, there's always the now and tomorrow to make new good times, right?"
"Haha, yeah. You're absolutely right. Speaking of which, what would you like to do now? It seems like we've hit just about everywhere around the town. Everypony seems really nice, just like you said."
Dash put on that famous smirk of hers, "I told ya! See? Just stick with me and you'll be alright."
He smiled and continued trotting along. "Yeah, you were right. I'm really having a great time with you today."
"Same here; it's been a while since I got out like this and just spent the day away."
Storm nodded. After a while of looking around at vendors, he found himself looking at Rainbow. This was really their first day spending time together, and the first time he got a good look at her. She didn't look stressed out or upset, which he was thankful for. That morning had been a hell of a ride, and he was glad to see her not letting any after effects linger on more than what was required.
He was now stuck staring at her. He couldn't help but love the way the sun shone on her mane; how it made every fiber of her multi-colored hair sparkle in the radiant light. Her eyes seemed to have a twinkle in them – one that showed how content she felt in the moment she was in. He saw her smile seemed to stretch wider as he walked closer to her whenever the crowd began to get a little more populated. He put on a smile himself. For the first time since his arrival, Storm felt comfortable.
The afternoon was over now, and the evening hours were approaching at a modest pace. Most of the ponies left in the town square were finishing up their shopping for the day, leaving for home to start preparations for dinner and time with their families or significant others. Rainbow and Storm were just finishing up buying the last few items they wanted, getting ready to head back to Dash's place. Rainbow got some new Wonderbolts memorabilia, and Storm bought some new guitar strings. Rainbow looked at him with surprise, "I didn't know you played guitar. Since when did you learn?"
His voice softened a little, "Well, I always kind of did, I just never did it around anypony."
"How come?"
"I just never really thought about it. I just kind of did it for me."
Rainbow shrugged and they resumed walking again. After a while of silence, they approached Rainbow's house. She unlocked the door, and they headed inside to relax for the remainder of the evening. After getting settled in, Storm generously offered to prepare a meal for the both of them, to which Rainbow did not decline. While cooking up a stir fry, he thought it would be nice to make some conversation.
"So, Pinkie seems like a real…energetic pony. Has she always been that way?"
Rainbow scoffed, "Heh, for as long as I can remember. I met her after she had her cutie mark, so yeah; pretty much she's always been the same energetic girl. Though, sometimes she gets depressed. That's when things get truly weird."
"It can't be any weirder than hugging random ponies who don't know her, right?"
"You've clearly never seen her talk to a bucket of turnips."
Storm just looked at her. "What?"
"Nothing; I'll tell you about it later, long story." Rainbow chuckled a little bit at remembering Pinkie's mental breakdown.
As they ate, Storm remembered that Pinkie had called Rainbow over to discuss something that day at the cash register. "So, what did Pinkie want with you today? I saw her call you over to help her out, and then I saw her like, yank you into a weird hug. Was everything okay?"
Rainbow froze at what he asked. She forgot that, while he was stuffing his face with treats, that didn't make him oblivious to absolutely everything. She put her fork down as she tried to come up with an answer, "Uh, yeah. It's nothing, really. Just…girl stuff. Yeah, girl stuff – you wouldn't really understand."
"Huh. Girl stuff requires looking at me through a pair of binoculars INSIDE a building?"
Rainbow was glowing red now. She really didn't want to push this any further than it needed to go, and he was starting to travel down a road she wasn't ready to venture yet. "I uh, I'd really rather not talk about it."
"Alright, I mean, if you're sure. You know I'm here for you if you need me."
Suddenly, Rainbow felt very uncomfortable. Almost like someone was pushing down very hard on her chest. She got up from the table, "Excuse me, I need to go out for a bit. I need some air."
Storm was confused, "Was it something I said?"
"Yes. Well, no, not exactly; just, I'll be back in a while, okay?"
Storm looked on as Rainbow bolted out an open window in the kitchen, and he was left cleaning up as he thought about her odd behavior.
Dash rested on a cloud a few miles away from her house. She needed to get away from Storm. It wasn't his questioning that annoyed her; it was what he was asking about. She usually had no problem opening up to him – but it felt different this time. She remembered back to what happened at graduation – how it was all so beautiful and horrible. How he left her standing in the condolences of her friends. How after that he suddenly seemed to vanish from everyone's view for years.
She never really thought about the things that happened between her and Storm after that night. She always figured that he was the victim, and that it was all her fault. She didn't want to think about herself too much, because she always imagined that she was the one who hurt him, and not the other way around. Now her anger started to flare a little bit. Now that she was alone with her thoughts about the matter, and she was looking at things from a new perspective, she started to feel a bit differently.
The more she thought about it, the more it stewed in her brain, the more she grew pissed at Storm. She was mad at him for just leaving her after that magnificent kiss. Sure she could understand that he was scared – but he acted cowardly about it. He didn't even go to her house the next day to see if she was alright! How could he? How could he be so selfish?
But then, she remembered something – she was the one that kissed him, not the other way around.
As she let this thought settle in her mind, it made a little more sense that Storm would back away. Still, she was angry that he just left. She was angry that she felt like she might have feelings for him. She was angry that Pinkie Pie pointed that out so easily. Was it that obvious? She cursed under her breath as she punched the cloud out of frustration. Her ear perked up though, as she heard the flap of foreign wings behind her.
She looked around, but nopony was there besides her. When she looked above her, though, she saw the silhouette of an odd shape flying above her. She squinted her eyes to get a better look.
It was a griffon.
And it was flying down towards her at a rapid speed.
She prepared herself for a quick launch off the cloud, when suddenly she was tackled down onto it. She was ready to fight off her attacker when she heard laughing, and she knew that laugh from anywhere.
It was Gilda.
"Damn, Dash. Getting a little rusty on the agility, are we?"
"Ha! You wish. I was just getting ready to flip you over my back and toss you to the ground!"
"Yeah, looks like you're the one who's wishing now. So, what are you doing out here so late?"
"Eh, just needed to clear my head a little. I guess I can ask you the same thing – why are you here? You're pretty far from Griffonstone."
"I'm just passing through. I was on my way to see Fluttershy, we get together every now and then to talk about stuff and keep caught up on the latest drama in our lives. I looked down and saw a blue pegasus punching a cloud, and figured that was you not getting your way again or something."
Dash chuckled and lightly punched her friend in the shoulder for that remark. "Nah, just…some stuff happening."
"What's going on, Dash?"
Rainbow sighed heavily, "Well…I ran into Storm the other day."
Gilda's eyes went wide for a second, "Really? And how did that go?"
"Well, it started off great! We ran into each other at the bar, and got talking and stuff. He needed a place to crash, and I offered a helping hoof, and he's been at my place since yesterday."
Gilda looked skeptical, "You really think that's the best idea? You know, after what happened?"
Rainbow looked down, pushing a bit of cloud fluff with her forehoof. "That's the thing, I'm still not sure. I mean, he's nice and everything, and we got a lot of stuff out of the way this morning, but I still don't know. I don't know how I feel. I was doing just fine with everything, ya know? I have great friends, I go on adventures, and I got a steady job that isn't half bad. And then this happens! Ugh!" She punched the cloud again, and felt her eyes get a little watery. "Why does life do this? Why can't it just be simple? I was doing so well, and then he comes back…"
Gilda sat next to her friend, and wrapped a wing around her. "Look, Dash. I'm not the best when it comes to giving advice, we both know that. But if there's ever anything you've taught me, is that everything happens for a reason. You think I was expecting you to come to Griffonstone with Pinkie and help us? Hell no. Am I thankful for it even though I didn't like it at first? Of course I am. So, maybe that's the same case with Storm."
"What do you mean?"
"What I'm saying is, think about it – isn't it odd that he just happened to be at the same exact bar you were at? How, out of all the ponies in Equestria, you were the one he ran into? Maybe something good is meant to come out of this. I'm not saying to get all mushy gushy right off the bat, I'm just saying – give whatever happens a chance. Who knows? You might like the outcome."
Shocked at her friend's serious disposition and wise advice, Rainbow looked up and hugged her griffon friend, "Thanks, Gilda. I guess it just feels like I just have no idea what to expect lately, and I don't like that."
"Sometimes, Dash, things happen that we don't expect. But, that doesn't mean it won't be a good thing. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to be getting to Fluttershy's place. She said something about having tea. Ugh…save me…"
Rainbow laughed at Gilda's discomfort at feminine things, empathizing with her pain. She waved goodbye, and started her flight back to her home.
Maybe things won't be so bad?