We make our way back to the library and land on the balcony to Twilight's bedroom. I go straight in and take him downstairs to get him dressed, while Princess Luna stops by the girls. I lay him on his cot and begin to put his pants on. When I finish, I’m about to start with his shirt when I hear something fall up stairs. I run up to see Luna collapsed by Twilight's bed.

"Princess Luna!" I say as I run to help her up.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm just tired. I just need some rest is all," she says sleepily, wavering slightly.

"Well, there's an extra bed downstairs, why don't you take a nap on that while I sort out this mess?" She nods and walks down towards the room. I turn to the other stairs and go to the front room. When I get there I find Spike feverishly cleaning the room, scrubbing the walls as hard as possible with a torn up sponge. "Spike, what are you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, I was... cleaning..." he stutters as he twists the sponge in his claws. I walk up to him and set a hoof on his shoulder.

"I can see that. Why are you cleaning right now?"

"I... well... um..."

"It's alright Spike. Everything is going to be alright-"

"But I almost killed him! How can you say everything is going to be alright when-"

"Spike. Miles is tougher than he looks, he's going to pull through this, I know it." Spike looks up to me before he grabs me in a tight hug and begins to cry into my shoulder.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"Shhh, it's alright, everything is going to be fine-"

"I won't send the letter, I promise, I won't..."

"Thank you Spike..." I hold on to him and rub his back until he stops crying. I feel bad for putting him through this, he is just a kid after all. I hear his stomach grumble so I break the hug with him. "I guess we should get something to eat, shouldn't we?"

"Heh, *sniffle* yeah, food sounds good," he says, as he wipes his eyes clean of tears. We go to the kitchen and make some food for the two of us. We eat in silence until a knocking at the door catches our attention. I walk to the door and open it to find... myself... standing there.

"Hm... long time no see Storm Cloud, where's this troublesome human at?" He says as he walks past me into the room. I watch him closely as he enters. Same mane, same body build, even the same cutie mark. Who is this guy? "So... this is where that slut Twilight lives now... not surprising. She could never put a book down-"

"What did you call her!?" Spike says as he enters the room.

"Hey! Looky here, if it isn't the most glorified slave ever, Spike. So, Twilight hasn't replaced you yet, I see. I guess that's no big surprise, not like many could stand to be near her that long-"

"Hey, feather brain!" I say as I get between him and Spike, "Who the buck are you and what are you doing here?"

"Heh... is that any way to talk to your younger brother, Storm Cloud?"

"My... younger brother... I don't have any relatives. I was raised in an orphanage..."

"Oh that's right, you can't remember, it was a pretty long fall now that I think about it," he says as he circles around me.

"W-what are you talking about? What fall?"

"It doesn't matter right now. I'm here on official business from Celestia herself. Where's the human?"

"I'm not bucking telling you anything until I get some answers! Who are you? Why do you look like me? Wh—"

"Enough, foal! The Princess herself told me to-"

"What did my sister tell you?" Luna asks as she walks into the room. Everypony falls quiet as she approaches the two of us. She eyes the other Storm for a while before he looks away.

"I'm under strict orders not to discuss my assignment. All I can say is that I must check on the human... right now." Luna thinks about this for a while before she walks up the stairs. The three of us look to one another before we all follow her up. Storm... the other Storm, stops in Twilight's room and looks up to her bed. I look up and see her getting out of bed, holding her head with one hoof. "So, did som—"

"Shut the buck up and keep moving."

"Hehe, alright. Enjoy your sloppy seconds." I look back up to see Twilight looking down at us with a mortified look. I wanted to go talk to her, but I also wanted to make sure that this guy doesn't do anything to Miles, so I follow him down. We make it to the downstairs room and find Miles in the same spot, sleeping peacefully. The other Storm walks up to him and looks over his body. He gives a few pokes here and there, but other than that he really doesn't do much.

"Well?" Luna asks.

"Well, I'm done here. I'm going back to my post to write up a report," he says as he begins to walk out of the room. I look back to Luna, who gives me a nod, and follow him out. When we get to Twilight's room we stop to find Twilight in the middle of the room. She looks between the two of us and rubs her eyes before looking between us again."Hey there Twi' spy..." he says as he approaches her, making her eyes go wide. I push him aside with a single hoof and get between the two of them. When he finds his balance we get in each others faces and stare each other down.

"You don't talk to her. You don't look at her. You don't even as much as think about her or I'll-"

"You'll what? Hit me in the back of the head with a mace and toss me off a cloud? ‘Cause I have a feeling I'd survive." I continue to stare him down until he slowly backs off. He turns to the door but stops and looks back to me. He sizes me up a bit before he turns and leaves the room.

"Twilight are yo—MMMMmmm-" Before I can finish, she runs over and plants a solid kiss on my lips. I immediately return the kiss by pressing hard against her. I pull her in and start to take charge over her, pressing my lips ever harder against hers, only separating once for air. We hold each other for what feels like an eternity before a cough catches our attention and forces us to stop. I look over to see Princess Luna smiling at the two of us, while Spike has his back turned to us. "Umm- "

"Well, I guess I can add this to the reasons to let you stay. I'll be leaving now, I don't want to intrude. I'll be sure to stop by and check on Miles until he awakens. Oh, and Storm, let’s keep what we saw between the two of us." With a bright flash she disappears from the room, leaving Spike to deal with next.

"So... Spike-"

"Just... don't do anything that you wouldn't want me to see and I'll be fine."

"Heh, I think we can manage that," I say as I pull Twilight close, making her blush heavily.

"Ew... I'm going to go clean up dinner now... ew," he says with a shiver as he walks out of the room. I look back to Twilight and give her a big smile as she leans her head against my shoulder.

"So, does this mean-"

"It means I know who you aren't, and I kind of like who you are. So I want to get to know the real Storm even more... my Storm."

"So then you-"

"I'm open tomorrow night, after eight," she says as she looks up to me, "I hear the theater has a new one of those movie things we can go see." My smile grows even larger when she says this. She said yes. I've got a date! I lean in to give her another kiss but stop when she puts a hoof on my lips. "Sorry, only one for today," she says as she slips out from my hold and walks out of the room, giving her hips a little more sway than needed.

I sit on my haunches and feel my lips with my hoof as I watch her leave. I can't seriously believe she finally said yes, given I asked only a day or two ago, but still, she bucking said yes! She said yes. She said yes.... AW BUCK! I haven't been on a date in years, what am I supposed to do? Should I get flowers? Or chocolates? Does she even like those things? I need to ask someone for advice... Miles? No, he's unconscious... Spike? No, that would be too weird to ask him. Umm... the only other stallion I know right now is Big Mac, but I don't know him well enough to just ask him. BUCK! Okay, okay, don't panic, just relax, just go downstairs, act normal, everything will be alright. I start to turn when I hear some shuffling from Twilight's bed. I look up to see Applejack fumbling out of bed.

"Ahh... consarn it... what in the hay happened..." she says as she wobbles down the steps.

"Hey Applejack, how're you feeling?"

"Like a barrel a' apples fell on mah head after ah got mah butt bucked."

"Oh, sorry to hear that."

"OW... shh... not so gosh darn loud!" she says as she rubs her head with a hoof.

"Well, why don't you go downstairs and see if Twilight has anything for your headache," I whisper to her. She nods and starts to walk downstairs, mumbling something about a tree and a train explosion. I look up to see if Rarity has woken up, but she doesn't seem to be moving so I leave the room to check on Twilight.

---

I've just woken after the most wonderful nap I have ever taken, to see two Storms glaring at each other. I rub my eyes to make sure I'm not seeing double, but sure enough there they are. Two Storms. Giving barbaric threats to one another. Once one of them leaves, the other turns to Twilight who... oh my. This is too juicy! She's kissing him and, and, and oh my he's kissing her back now! This is so romantic. I see Princess Luna walk up to the two of them and just watch, oh please don't ruin this for Twilight, I know she could use a good stallion in her life. Spike's just looking ever so embarrassed as they kiss, I love the way his cheeks turn so red, aw he turned around, now I can't see his face. Oh, they're talking, I shouldn't eavesdrop, it wouldn't be proper. I lay back and pretend to be asleep, but the thought of Twilight and Storm being together is just so juicy. I have to tell the girls about this... NO! I can't tell anypony about this, Twilight is so sensitive when it comes to matters of the heart. I cannot tell a single soul. Well... maybe Fluttershy...

---

I can't help but walk with a spring in my step. I haven't been this happy in way too long. But at the same time, I can't seem to get rid of these butterflies in my stomach. I really want things to go over well tomorrow, but I'm afraid I'll do something stupid. Should I get something to wear? I don't know what to do-

"Hey Storm, are you going somewhere?" Twilight asks from the kitchen. I look in front of myself to see that I'm almost out the front door. I smile sheepishly as I shut the door and head into the kitchen. I take a seat next to Applejack, who has her head on the table buried under her hooves, and look back to Twilight. I seriously can't take my eyes off her, she just seems to just radiate beauty. She's got the most alluring curves I've ever seen and a-

"Storm? Storm!? Equestria to Storm. Hheeelllooo?" Spike says as he waves his arm in front of my face, getting my attention.

"What?"

"So, who was that guy? The one who says he's your little brother?"

"I don't know. The earliest thing I can remember is, when I was young I was in an orphanage. I don't really recall much from earlier than my eighth birthday. If what he says is true, I have no memory of it."

"I may be able to help with that," Twilight says as she walks to the table and levitates some mugs of coffee over, "but it'll be risky. I'll-"

"Aw fer pony’s sake!" Applejack says as she grabs the mug in her mouth and walks out of the room. We all look to one another and chuckle lightly.

"I'll tell you about it later," she says with a wink, making me smile.

"Seriously?" Spike says as he walks out of the room. We sit there looking into each others eyes for a while longer. I still can't believe she said yes. After everything that happened today, this was the last thing I thought would happen. Seriously, didn't see it coming.

"So-"

"I-" we say at the same time.

"You first," I say as I take a sip from my mug.

"Well, please don't take this the wrong way, but I want to try to keep us being together quiet for a while."

"Really? Well... okay, if you feel that way..."

"It's not because of you or anything like that. I just don't like it when others pry into personal matters."

"No, it's alright. I understand... but I think I may need some convincing first," I say, leaning forward. Twilight looks to the side before she gets out of her seat and walks over to me. She steps on my seat and gets as close as possible without touching to my face.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I think a kiss would help me." She gives a light chuckle as she leans a little closer. I lean forward to kiss her but she moves to the side and gives me a light peck on the cheek.

"There, that should work," she says as she gets down and walks out front. I sigh and follow her out. Yeah, I think I'll be fine tomorrow. I mean, what could go wrong?

Next Chapter: Chapter 33 Et Salutant Mortuus Estimated time remaining: 81 Hours, 20 Minutes