I had just finished loading the balloon when I heard Miles and Twilight talking. I walk around to the front to see him walking away. I wonder what he wanted… I'll just ask Twi. I walk to the door to catch Twilight locking up.

"Hey Twi, what did Miles need?"

"He just wanted to see what we were up to, but I told him we were going to see my parents so he went off. Is everything ready?"

"Yup. Ready whenever you are." She nods and we head for the balloon together. We jump in and Twilight uses her magic to send us into the air, going straight for Canterlot.

"So... why do we need to visit my parents?" Twilight asks as she sets her legs over the edge and looks out below.

"What? I don't get to meet my marefriend’s parents?" I ask as I jump behind her and wrap my legs around her waist.

"Storm... what are you planning?" she asks as she grabs onto my legs.

"Nothing."

"Storm..."

"Do I really look like the planner type?"

"Well... maybe not. I can feel you concocting a plan right now," she says as she wags her tail against my flaccid member.

"It’s a two-hour trip..."

"Yeah, and I don't want to have to drag your unconscious body to my parents’ place."

"What? It’s a lot of work getting my mare to come multiple times."

"Yeah, and it’s a lot of work getting you to wake up afterwards," she says, getting us both to laugh.

"Alright, later," I say as I nuzzle her neck a bit. We spend the entire trip cuddled together, whispering sweet nothings to each other. Once the landing platform comes into view we separate from each other as I grab our bags. The platforms are just long flat concrete docks that stick out of the side of the mountain, making access points for blimps, balloons, any flying contraptions really. There are a couple of larger vessels here, but we find an empty spot and head for it.

"MOM! DAD!" Twilight yells out as we land on the platform. She jumps out of the basket and runs up to two ponies, hugging them both tightly. One is a light blue stallion with light yellow eyes, and dark blue hair that's styled to the side. His cutie mark is a yellow crescent with a smaller white crescent inside of it. The other pony is an all-white mare with light blue eyes, and light purple and white striped hair. Her cutie mark is three purple stars. The mare is the same size as Twilight, where the stallion is a bit shorter than me.

"I would like you to meet my coltfriend, Storm Cloud. Storm, these are my parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet," she says as she steps aside for them to get a good look at me. I flap my wings and land in front of them, trying to put on my best smile possible.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I say as I stick my hoof out to Night Light. He takes it and gives a rough shake, sizing me up as he does.

"So, you're the Storm Cloud my little Twilight has been talking so much about. What are your intentions-"

"Oh stop it, Night," Twilight Velvet says as she pushes him aside and walks up to me, looking at me with her mouth slightly open. "Wow, you are buff!" she says as she walks up to me and gives me a hug... a rather grabby, touchy hug.

"Uh... Mrs. Velvet..."

"So, I hope you’re treating my daughter alright," she says as she lets go of me and walks back to her husband with a slight blush.

"Of course. I would never..."

"Never what?" asks Shining Armor as he walks up to us.

"Shining!" Twilight says as she runs up to him and hugs him.

"It’s good to see ya Twiley," he says as he hugs her, giving me a dirty look as he does.

"I would never treat her poorly... hello, Captain Armor," I say as I offer him a hoof. He steps away from Twilight and shakes my hoof, trying to put as much pressure into it as possible as he stares me down. I have a strange feeling that the only one that likes me here is Velvet. "So..." he says as he lets go of my hoof and looks back to his parents, "I have to get back to the barracks, but I'll swing by for lunch at twelve."

"Alright, be sure to bring Cadence with you," Night Light says to him as he leaves. "So, we actually have a business meeting to attend, so why don't you two enjoy the city and meet us at Pony Romas at twelve for lunch?"

"We'll do that daddy," Twilight says as she walks to my side.

"Alright, have fun you two," he says as he walks away. Twilight Velvet walks after him while looking back to Twilight and mouthing something excitingly. We wait for them to disappear behind a crowd of ponies before we both sigh in relief.

"Wow... your dad and brother hate me already."

"Well... at least my mom likes you… or at least your flank," she says as she looks away, gagging.

"Hmm... so it seems that all Twilight's are attracted to my flank... interesting..." I say as I hold a hoof to my chin. Twilight laughs and punches me, but pulls her hoof back and shakes the pain away.

"Can you tell me why I let Miles make you so darn buff again?"

"Because you like it, now come on, show me Canterlot," I say excitedly as I start to run off, making her chase after me. I make it to the front of the airport offices and wait for her to catch up. Once she does we walk off into Canterlot, Twilight being my unofficial guide. Everywhere we go I can see all of the mares staring at me, whispering things to their friends and giggling. I wouldn't mind it so much if it wasn't for the fact that some of them were following us as well. I ignore them and just follow Twilight around. We explore the shopping district, visit her favorite public library - leaving with three new books - and see some local restaurants. We keep walking around until we finally stop for a late breakfast at some doughnut shop.

"Twilight Sparkle, haven't seen you in my shop since the gala two years ago, how have ya been?" asks the pony from behind the counter. He's pretty tall and scruffy looking.

"Hello Pony Joe, I'd like you to meet my coltfriend, Storm," Twilight says, getting a large collection of awws from behind. We both turn around to see a large group of mares - and a few stallions - standing behind us. We stare at them as most start to walk away, but four stay behind and take a table and start whispering to one another. There's a light green stallion with white hair; a pair of twin unicorns that are both light grey with dark blue hair, and a pegasus mare that's cream yellow with white hair. They keep whispering to one another while glancing back to us. We ignore them as we turn back to Pony Joe and order a couple of doughnuts. After I pay we go to a booth and start eating. These are actually really good; I can see why Twi would come here for her late night study sessions...

"Excuse me." I look up to see that the group is now standing at the edge of the table, looking at me nervously.

"Umm..."

"Can we help you?" Twilight asks. They glance between me and her before the stallion steps forward.

"Um... well... we were wondering what your name is?" he asks in a feminine voice. My gaydar had never rung louder than right now.

"I'm..." I start to say, but get cut off by Twilight.

"I am Twilight and this is my coltfriend Storm, is there something we can help you with?"

"Well, is this an… open relationship?" he asks as I bite into a doughnut, choking on it immediately.

"It most certainly is not!" Twilight yells at them as I try to stop choking.

"Uh, why don't you let him answer for himself, bitch?" says the pegasus, getting Twilight to stand up and march up to her face.

"Excuse me, you want to run that by me again?" Twilight says as she stares down the other mare.

"I said, why don't you let him choose for himself, or does being Celestia's prized pet make him all yours... bitch," she says as she pushes against Twilight and flares her wings. I finally swallow the doughnut and jump between Twilight and the other mare as Twilight starts to flare her horn. I push Twilight back a bit and try to calm her down.

"Whoa... easy there Twi..."

"That whore called me a bitch!"

"I know, let me handle this..."

"I'm going to smack that smug look off of your face and drag you back to Golden Gate where you belong, you slut!" Twilight yells as she tries to rush her. I grab a hold of her and keep her from tearing the other mare apart.

"Twilight! Calm down!" I yell as I pull her back, getting her to calm down a bit. "Let me handle this, we don't need to start a fight right before we have lunch with your parents." She sits on her haunches and crosses her legs as she looks away with a pissed off look. I turn around to the others and take a deep breath before I talk to them. "Look, I'm sorry but I'm taken. And no, it's not an open relationship, now please leave us be." The pegasus looks back to her friends before she starts to walk towards me, giving me a sultry look as she sways her hips.

"If you say so," she says as she walks right up to my face. I lean back as much as possible before she finally stops, inches away from my face. Before I can react she grabs the back of my head and starts to kiss me. I start to flail around as I try to pry her from my lips, but she won't let go. I finally push her off and take a few steps back as a red blur flashes past me.

KER-PUNCH

Twilight has turned white with her mane and tail turning to fire as she runs forward and punches her straight in the face, knocking her flat on her back. Her friends run to her side and help her up as she holds her bloody nose.

"I'm only going to say this once. Storm. Is. My. Stallion. If I see you near him again, I will turn your coat red, got it?" she threatens as she looms over her.

"Got it," she says timidly as the group runs around us and leaves the store as quickly as possible. I watch in horror as Twilight stares them down with her bright red eyes. Once they run out of sight she takes a few breaths before she finally turns back to her old self.

"OK, so, what do you want to do next?" she asks cutely as she closes her eyes and tilts her head.

"Damn Twilight… that was scary..."

"Oh, did I scare the big bad Spartan? I'm sorry," she says cutely as she lightly twiddles her hooves around.

"Trust me, there is nothing you can do that could scare me more than what Miles did. Why don't we head out... I think Pony Joe is calling the guards," I say as I look back to see him writing a letter. Twilight nods and we head out together. We run through town, weaving from alleys to streets in an attempt to avoid city guards, until we reach the hotel I'll be staying at. We walk inside and check in before we head to my room. The room is simple enough: bed, bathroom, window, nothing special for a one-night stay. Twilight walks in and drops on top of the bed, burying her face in the pillow. "Is everything alright Twi?" I ask as I set down my bag.

"Mmm mmmnn hnm," she mumbles from the pillow. I lay on the bed next to her and just rub her back until she looks at me.

"Wanna repeat that?"

"Sorry you had to see me lose it like that. I'm usually level-headed and..."

"Don't be sorry, she had it coming. Imagine what I'd do if some stallion just came up and kissed you," I say as I move my hoof down to hold hers. She gives me a smile before reaching over and giving a peck on the lips. I pull her closer and start kissing her, pushing my tongue into her mouth. We spend the next few minutes pushing our tongues from one mouth to the next until I start to get on top of her, getting her to stop. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah, we have lunch with my parents in an hour."

"Oh... yeah," I say, slightly disappointed - so close. "Maybe we could..." I start to say but stop when she levitates me off of her, letting her get off of the bed.

"We should get going soon, it’s on the other side of Canterlot," she says as she walks toward the door, still holding me in the air.

"Hey Twilight, wanna put me down already?" She looks back to me and gives me a smile.

"Not until you put your pet snake away," she says as she walks out of the room. I look down to see my pride standing straight up. Well... I guess I could take a cold shower... so close. After an icy shower I come out to find Twilight lying on the bed reading one of the books.

"How is it?" I ask as I rub a towel in my mane.

"Fascinating, not as good as The Myths and Legends of Equestria, but still enticing," she says as she flips to the next page.

"Myths and... isn't that the other book you bought?"

"Yeah, why?"

"When did you read it?"

"Just now... I'm a fast reader," she says with a slight blush. That book was thicker than my head... damn.

"Well, I'm done, let’s get going," I say as I head to the door. I wait for her to put the book away before we head out together. We walk down one of the main streets together, getting odd looks from everypony... or at least I was. We finally make it to the restaurant where I stop in disbelief. "The restaurant is called... Food."

"Yeah... is that a problem?" Twilight asks as she heads to the door. I follow after her and keep my mouth shut. I was kind of expecting something a little more... fancy. We make it to the doors and walk in when my jaw drops. Marble flooring, giant ornate chandeliers, waiters in full black and white suits... fancy beyond my belief. "There they are," Twilight says as she trots off for a table with her parents and siblings. After I pick my jaw up I follow after her, dreading the conversation that's to come. We say our hellos, Twilight doing a strange little dance with Princess Cadence, before we take our seats. I don't see any menus, so I figure that they either already ordered our food, or there's only one thing to get. I end up taking a seat between both Twilights, facing Shining, who is still giving me the stink eye.

"So, Storm, how did you like the city?" Velvet asks as she takes a sip from her glass.

"It was... nice. I'm not usually into the bigger cities, but Canterlot has a... unique charm to it," I say as a waitress places a glass of wine in front of me and Twilight. I look at the waitress and recognize her as the mare from the doughnut shop, the one Twilight punched... better not eat the food.

"Yes, Canterlot has quite the charm," Night Light says as he glares at me from behind his glass.

"So Storm, what do you do for work?" Cadence asks, oblivious to the hatred from the other two.

"Well, I bucked apples at Sweet Apple Acres before I did Spartan training..."

"What’s a Spartan?" Velvet asks.

"Uh... it’s a soldier of Terradisia..."

"You mean like Miles?" Shining asks.

"Yeah, and..."

"So you know about how he got his fighting prowess?" he presses.

"I have his fighting prowess," I say, getting an amazed look from Shining.

"Would you come by the training grounds and give us a few pointers, maybe give a little training…?"

"No, I can't," I interrupt, getting a confused look from him.

"You can't, or won’t?"

"A little of both actually. Spartan training is very secretive. If I were to tell anypony, even a tiny bit about what I went through, Miles would legally have to kill me and whoever I told. Twilight doesn't even know what I went through." When I finish saying this the table falls silent, everypony staring at me in disbelief of what I just said. The silence is finally broken when a group of waiters bring us our food. It looks like green goop with some orange goop swirled into it... whatever, I've had goop before. I take a spoon and give it a try... weird. It’s like eating a hay smoothie... what the buck. So much for not eating the food.

"So then... how's the guard doing after the attack, Shining?" Velvet asks to break the awkward silence.

"We lost a lot of good ponies, but we're holding strong. I won't let something like this happen again," he says in a serious tone. Yeah... the guard will stop this from happening, good luck.

"Well, hopefully next time the Princesses will be able to detect them before something like this happens again. Just another testament to the power of your love," she says as she takes a bite of food.

"That's what worries me though, it wasn't our love they were using," Cadence says as she holds onto Shining's hoof. "They just cast us aside to set a trap for the human. So the human loves somepony more than I love Shining... do you know anything about that?" she asks Twilight and I.

"Miles... in love... I'd find it hard to believe," Twilight says as she puts down her spoon. "He's a good pony and all, but he seems to have severe social problems, at least when in the right setting..."

"Yeah, he's in love," I say, getting everypony's attention. "I don't know who it is, but I saw that spark in his eyes a while back. He has his eyes for somepony, I just don't know who."

"It would have to be somepony in Canterlot... somepony he's met more than once," Shining says as he looks down in thought. "You don't think it’s Luna... do you?"

"Princess Luna?! Why would you think that?" Night asks in disbelief.

"Because when we were rescued, we ran into Miles and Luna... only the Luna was a changeling. Not to mention that he and Luna were the ones to defeat Chrysalis... what has she been up to recently, anyway?" Shining asks Cadence.

"Luna was gone for a day awhile back, and recently she's been... distant... you don't think..."

"Oh my... Miles and Luna are in love," Twilight says as her face falls to a serious look. "The soul things kissing, why he mumbles her name in his sleep... do you think Celestia knows?"

"If she does, that would explain Luna's current state. There's no way she would allow them to be together," Cadence says as the table falls silent.

"Excuse me... I have to use the restroom," Twilight says as she gets up.

"I'll join you," Cadence says as she gets up and follows her to the restroom. NO! DON'T LEAVE ME WITH THEM!

"Well, now that she's gone, Storm, what are your intentions today?" Night Light asks as he leans towards me. Everypony else looks at me and waits for me to answer... well, now would be as good a time as any to ask. I take a moment to build up my courage before I look to Night Light.

"Well... I came here to ask for permission to ask for Twilight's hoof in marriage," I say, getting shocked looks from everypony except Night Light.

"You wish to marry Twilight."

"Yes sir."

"You."

"Yes sir."

"And how will you provide for my daughter, assuming I allow this?"

"I have sixty million bits in the bank, am a majority stockholder of the cloud production industry and am the sole proprietor of the Cloud n' Cloud factory. I have the means to provide," I say, getting even more shocked looks from everypony.

"You’re Rain Cloud’s son," Velvet asks, to which I nod. "The one that was banished..."

"No. That was my brother, Storm Breaker. I was… I went missing when I was a foal. We recently reunited and I just inherited all of this. But none of that matters. What matters is that I love Twilight, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. Now I'll ask again, may I marry your daughter?" They stare at me a little longer until Twilight and Cadence walk back and take their seats.

"Okay, what did we miss?" Cadence asks.

"Just me saying yes, nothing special," Night Light says as he takes a drink from his glass. I feel my heart nearly jump out in joy as a huge smile grows on my face.

"What’s got you so happy?" Twilight says as she takes her glass.

"What, oh... uh... just realized how much I love wine," I say as I take the glass and take a sip. I look at the glass and realize I'm an idiot before I pass out.

Shout out to Night Terror for picking where the group went. Thanks for ready and like always, Brony on!