Author's Notes:

I'm so very sorry.

My life has been very stressful these past few months, mostly from the military essentially screwing me over. I apologize for the long wait, and for the short chapter. I was originally gonna make this one as long as most of the others, but I was feeling pressured to get this one out there for you guys at least. I know I say this alot, but the next one WILL NOT take this long.

Again, very sorry guys.
Hope you enjoy the chapter.

"Come on. Just step forward and fall. You'll be fine....Just do it....Just do it"

Frigid air sliced through Rainbows uncovered skin as she leaned over the cloud covered edge. Shivering, she took a half step back. The scenery was perfect. Cloudless skies as far as the eye could see, no random magical storms on the horizon, crisp fresh air blowing up from beneath her home. The morning sun was rising in the distance, exploding into a magnificent hue of orange yellow across the sky and creating a scene straight out of a painting. It was the perfect scene for her to fly. But then why couldn't she do it, why couldn't she take that first jump?

Daybreak hovered several feet away over the abyss, unclothed except for a pair of loose fitting, black athletic shorts. His aura shimmered around his body like an outline, then spread out behind him to form a pair of fiery green wings that glistened in the morning sunlight. The light refracted off his wings like water and blazed a rainbow of colors within Dash's view giving Daybreak a very angelic appearance. Despite how real they looked, Rainbow knew if she should try and touch them, her hand would merely slip right through, being only made of aura. But then, if that was true, why did they have to flap? Every couple of moments, she noticed them give a single flap like actual wings, then remain still once more. She thought about voicing her curiosity, but knew it better to focus on her current task instead of worrying about something so insignificant.

"This would be some much easier if he'd let me wear some damn clothes! Seriously! I can see my fucking breath and the wind ain't doing me any favors either...why the hell do I have to be in my underwear for this?!"

She knew why of course, he'd explained it before they'd begun training, but that knowledge wasn't making her any warmer.

Shivering once more as she peered over the edge, she took another full step back and pouted aloud.

"Can't I at least wear shorts like you? My ass is freezing solid. Not gonna be much fun for you if the next time you grope me, you get a handful of ice instead of ass."

She watched him roll his eyes and shake his head. "We've been over this Dash. Clothes are too restrictive for this training. Your aura needs to physically manifest and surround your body. You've never consciously tried to do that before. It's hard enough to make it flow evenly over just skin, which only moves at a cellular level. Now adding in something that's constantly shifting like clothes, no way you can pull that off right away. You want clothes? I suggest you start flying first."

After turning away for a moment, he looked back over his shoulder and added "Besides, I think we both know the temperature isn't your problem here."

She stuck out her tongue, wishing there was something solid around for her to throw at him.

"I have no idea what your talking about! It's just so cold up here that my nipples are becoming ice shards. How do expect me to focus like this?" She rubbed her hands up and down her shoulders, shivering once more.

Facing her again, he raised an eyebrow. "Your skin tight underwear and sports bra are more than enough to keep you as warm as you need to be. Your lucky those things are the proper fabric otherwise you'd be doing this naked instead."

He paused, then let out a sigh "Dash....You know its ok to be afraid right?"

"I'M NOT SCARED! I'M RAINBOW FUCKING DASH, I'M NOT SCARED OF ANYTHING! EXCEPT BUS SIZED SPIDERS! FUCK THOSE THING.......!" Her fists clenched tightly. She was clearly insulted he would even suggest such a thing. But he read her like a kindergarten book.

"Umm....ok...well...If that's true, then why are you slowly inching away from the edge?"

Halfway through her second step she paused, grimacing.

"Dash...We've been out here since before the sun started rising. You've been stalling since we got up.....and it's ok. Come here."

He slowly floated over, stopping just shy of touching the edge of the clouds with his toes. He held open his arms and waited for her to come. She didn't move, her fists clenched ever tighter, it looked painful honestly.

"I...I...I can't ok?! I just can't!"

His lips parted into a warm smile "Sure you can, all I'm asking is for you to give me a hug. That's it, nothing else."

She hesitated. Slowly she moved her left foot forward, inching closer to him at a snails pace.

"Just a hug, right? You promise?"

His smile remained still "I promise."

He waited, and eventually she made her way over. Standing just shy of the edge she reached out her hands for him to grab, but he just casually floated back an extra foot, creating a gap in between them. Now separated by a full foot of endless sky, Rainbow jumped back.

"What the hell man?! You said it was just a hug!"

He shrugged "Come on Dashie, it's only a foot. You can do it. Jump to me, I promise I'll catch you."

She rapidly shook her head "No way! I'll fall!"

He raised her another brow "It's only a foot Dash come on. Don't you think you're being just a little overdramatic?"

She remained rooted in place, and turned her head away hmphing at him.

"First you say it's ok to be afraid, now you're teasing me for it. You're mean."

Her pouty expression was hardly convincing, but the irritation in her voice was certainly real enough. But he wasn't having it.

"Right cause I've always been such a peach until now. Look, I warned you this would be unpleasant, but you wanted it anyways. I'm not gonna float here and sugarcoat this for you Rainbow. It IS ok to be afraid. But it's not ok to let your fear control you. You've never done that before and I refuse to let you do that now! You're the strongest woman I've ever met, and the best athlete at your school bar none. You wanna be a Wonderbolt right? Then jump to me Rainbow Dash!"

"Fine!" For just a moment he saw he eyes flare at him, as though he'd challenged her. He smirked to himself, this was just what he wanted.

Pushing down into the magic laced cloud with her feet, she gave a shriek and leapt across the gap into his outstretched arms. She collided into his chest and struggled not to fall as he wrapped his arms around her waist and back. Shivering in his grip she tried to stand her feet on his, hoping for some kind of solid footing, but was forced to simply except that he was now the only thing separating her from falling through the sky and plummeting to the ground. To make matters worse, he began to slowly float away from the safety of her cloud home, leaving behind the only hope for solid footing.

Terrified as he moved out of jumping distance of her home, she gripped him tighter "Why...?"

"Because sometimes everyone needs a helpful push, even you Dashie. You would've never jumped if I told you I'd start drifting us away afterwards."

"You're damn right I wouldn't have! I'm fucking terrified of heights! Haven't you figured that out yet?!"

He chuckled aloud "Obviously you're afraid of heights Dash, did you think you were being subtle about it or something? I figured that out after the first ten minutes out here."

Her nails began to dig into his chest and back, whether this was from fear of losing her grip of from her own agitation was unclear. "If you know then why are you doing this?! Take us back to my house!"

"No." He said it so blatantly she almost didn't believe he said it. "You wanna go home? Fly. Or make the farthest jump in history. Either way you'd be impressing me, cause I'd say we're at least a good fifty-five feet from the cloud now."

He suddenly leaned her back in his arms, allowing her to have a full view of his face as he looked down at her. Smiling he spoke softly. "Dash, you know I'd never let anything happen to you right?"

Shivering, at both his sudden tenderness and the increasing chill creeping up her spine, she nodded "Yeah, of course."

"And you trust me fully, right?"

Again she nodded.

"Then listen to me..." He pulled her ear to his lips and whispered "...unleash your hidden potential, spread your wings and fly..."

Her eyes widened, not from his words, but from the realization that his hands were suddenly gone from her skin. With only a split second to realize what happened, she let loose a terrified squeal "You promised..."

He smiled to her, cold as ice. "I lied."

It was as though time suddenly began to slow down. Almost in slow motion she looked back to find her body now falling backwards through the sky. She looked back again to find Daybreaks arms crossed, his smile growing ever larger by the second.

"If I don't die, I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch for this."

Those were the only thoughts she could manage before her mind was struck blank by terror and a scream so bloodcurdling loosed from within her body, that Daybreak would have never thought Rainbow Dash capable of it.

She plummeted through the sky, fear enveloping her mind as she swung and flailed her arms in some desperate attempt to make them form her wings. The chilled air ripped away her breath as any attempt to focus on controlling her aura was dashed by the sheer speed of her fall. She screamed and cursed as she tumbled through the sky towards certain death. The ground looked miles away, and it might have been, or it might only be a few seconds. She had no way to know, but she was certain she would die if she didn't find some way to save herself. Flailing in fear, she tried to remember what he'd told her. To focus on controlling the aura within her body and forcing it to flow along her skin, then spread out into wings behind her.

Focusing as best she could, she felt within herself, and reached deep within to spark her aura alive. Feeling her power lurch in her gut, she attempted to force her energy to flow as a solid outline around her skin. To feel it as a solid mass around her form and allow it to crawl alone her skin, like a true extension of her being. She could feel it. It flowed and swam around her body. Uneven and shifty, but it was there!

"Yes! I can do this! Now, fly, form into wings and fly! Fly, fly, fly, FLY!"

Concentrating with all her heart, she forced the mass of energy around her skin to lurch into various directions. She could feel it trying to take shape, attempting to shift and change on its own, but she had to control it. To mold it in the image she chose. She was in command and it was hers to control!

All at once she felt it lurch, and vanish! Like smoke it evaporated from her mind and her eyes shot open as she continued to plummet to earth!

"No no no no! Come back, come back!"

But it was gone. Suddenly she couldn't even feel her magic anymore. Where had it gone?! Panic began to set in as the ground started to grow much larger and much closer by the second.

"No no...I can't do it. I'm gonna die.....I'm scared, I'm scared. I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! I can't fly! I can't...."

She closed her eyes as water began to form and was instantly swept away by the speed of her fall. She wanted to cry, but lacked the breath to even try. Eyes closed she was ready to give up.

"I guess......I couldn't be a Wonderbolt afterall...could I?"

The sounds of the world seemed to shut themselves off as she closed her eyes and waited for it to stop. But then, a familiar voice sounded in her head, louder than even if he'd been right next to her.

"After all this, you're not really the type of girl to let it all end because of a fall are you? I told you already didn't I? You're different. You're Rainbow Dash. Are you really satisfied dying this way? A failure?"

Thump Thump!

Like a heartbeat had sounded in her head. Her eyes shot open, full of rage!

"NO!"

An explosion of power! It was like a rocket was propelling her from behind! Suddenly she was no longer falling through the air, but arching up from the approaching earth and soaring back towards Daybreak with unthinkable speed! It was too fast to comprehend and she feared should she look back, it might cease. She couldn't think! But she knew, all she needed was to make it home right then.

Her home was approaching at more than triple the speed she'd fallen from it. Cheeks flapping in the air current, she blasted up, straight over Daybreak and crashed into the solid cloud mass that held her home together. She rolled through the cloud fluff and came to a stop almost directly in front of her door. Not moving, she just let her head keeping spinning as she heard Daybreaks voice from somewhere behind her.

"I knew you could do it."

"Again!"

The words boomed across the sky's unforgiving air currents as Rainbow once again ran, jumped, and front flipped from her homes edge! Tossing through the sky, limbs flailing in all directions, she struggled to right herself into a solid dive. With strained effort against the powerful air current, she pulled her hands back to her sides and straightened her legs. She enjoyed the speed and the rush for just a moment as she rocketed ever faster through the sky. The knowledge that she was in control of her own fall was something she was starting to appreciate more and more each time she did this.

Feeling her body reaching the perfect speed, she loosed a shriek and felt her magic explode to life! Like a fire had lit within her body and expanded outwards from her core, her magic swarmed over her skin, feeling almost like a layer of clothing. She could feel it, the sensation of her aura becoming like a physical mass and bursting outward from her back, forming into two, beautiful, cyan wings made of her essence. She knew now that she was no longer falling, but flying, and she arched her body back.

Instantly her movement changed and she was ascending back up towards the sun. She twisted and spun with just the slightest shifts of her shoulders. Soaring through the sky like it was her playground, was an exhilaration she couldn't believe! She looked down to see Daybreak still hovering where she'd left him, and found herself an idea. Aiming down, she soared towards him, intent on giving him a little scare of revenge. She folded her magic wings back a slight bit, increasing her speed exponentially, but Daybreaks smirk did not waver. She could see it even from this far away, his signature cocky smirk, ever present across his lips like he knew something she didn't. He probably assumed she was just playing chicken, and would turn at the last possible second. But that's where he was wrong. With her aura flowing around her like this, she could likely collide with him and still walk away with only a minor headache. So that was exactly what she would do.

"I'm gonna tackle his ass straight into my clouds! That'll teach him to second guess Rainbow Dash!"

She rocketed towards him, gaining more speed by the second. His figure was growing larger now, in mere few seconds she'd be right on top of him. Yet, he still showed no sign of movement. He was looking right at her rapid approach and not even blinking. This fueled her determination and she sped up even more. She knew any faster and she'd be approaching a sonic rainboom, but that goal was for another time. She just wanted him to know she was serious, and wasn't going to stop. She counted down the distance in her head, they barely felt like seconds to her.

"Four hundred meters"

He still didn't even move his eyes from her.

"Three hundred meters"

Still no reaction.

"Two hundred meters"

She watched him open his mouth to yawn.

"One hundred meters!"

She noticed his eyebrow raise, just slightly.

"Twenty five meters!"

At the last possible moment, just as she extended her arms to tackle him into the cloudy mass ahead, he vanished in a puff of green smoke. Her eyes widened as the base of cloud suddenly took up her full field of vision.

"That little shit..."

Bracing for impact, she flew straight into the floating fluff, colliding with its side and burying her body halfway inside the nearly solid mass. Only her legs and backside remained free as her entire front half came to an unpleasant stop inside the cloud. She heard a distinctly familiar pop behind her, followed by slow clapping as she loudly cursed Daybreak from within the fluff.

"Wooooow. Impressive works Skittles, you've managed to forget the most important rule of flying on day one. Never crash into anything. Hmmm...crash...maybe that's what I should start calling you...Rainbow Crash?"

There wasn't even a flicker. One second she was lodged in the clouds, the next she was in front of him, with her fist planted firmly in his gut. As she underhand punched him, he doubled over in the air. She firmly grasped him by his arm and held him aloft so that he would not drop. While he attempted to regain his breath, she put her lips to his ear and hissed.

"Never. Ever. Call me Rainbow Crash! You got that?"

As he nodded, she released her firm grip on his arm and allowed him to float back a few feet. Upon inspection he noticed she had gripped him so tight she'd actually left an instant bruise. This was way out of character for just a bit of horse play, even by their standards.

"That felt like real violence...Did I actually offend her?"

"Dashie? Are you ok? I was just teasing you."

Noticing his arm, Rainbow realized how she must be appearing and lowered her head shamefully.

"I'm sorry. That name just kinda sets me off. You're not the first one to call me that. In fact, you aren't even the hundredth. Jerks have been calling me that since I was little. I don't...It's just a sore spot for me, that's all."

Hovering over to her, Daybreak gently placed his arm on her shoulder. "Hey, I didn't mean anything by it. I was just poking fun, I'm sorry. But why would people call you that all the time? I've never heard it before."

She reached up and squeezed his hand "I'm not gonna turn into some weepy mess over this, no need to be so gentle ok? Look...with my speed, its sometimes hard to tell where I'm going if I don't sense the area properly or I'm moving to fast to see well. So when I was little and zipping around all the time, I would constantly be crashing into things, so a bunch of jerks got it in their heads to start calling me Rainbow Crash, cause they were jealous of me, and I guess it stuck. It doesn't normally bother me that much and most people stopped saying it awhile ago...but hearing you say it just set me off. Just don't call me that anymore, even jokingly, ok?"

He nodded, then popped to a mock salute "Yes ma'am"

A smile peeked out the corner of her lip, letting him know he hadn't quite soured her mood. Relieved, he hovered back a few feet and materialized a whistle in his hands.

"Alrighty then! One more run! Back to it ya slacker!" He pressed the whistle to his lips, but instead of a normal sound coming out when he blew, a giant bullhorn seemed to grow from within it and explode outwards in an overwhelming barrage of horrendous noise! It only lasted a second, but it still left Rainbows ears ringing. She quickly took off for another run to escape the ear shattering noise, leaving Daybreak chuckling to himself.

"Oh how I do adore being the teacher for once."

Tucking the whistle around his neck, he couldn't help but ponder all the wonderful mischief he might use it for at a later time.

Rainbow slowly came hovering back to the cloud. After twelve more run through of flight training, courtesy of Daybreak, she was completely drained and was looking forward to a very long nap. She wasn't even in the mood for sex, much to Daybreaks clear disappointment, she just craved sleep. Daybreak helped her release her energy and disengage her wings once they were safely back on the clouds surface. Watching her wings disappear into sparkling dust was slightly disappointing to see, but she knew now she could have them back whenever she wanted. For now, she just needed her bed.

Daybreak helped her slowly walk inside. Her legs were just a tad wobbly after spending so much time zooming around the sky and feeling weightless. He could understand, he'd been the same way after his first time flying, though Rainbows training had gone much better than his first time. Probably because she couldn't just teleport away when she fell like he could, so she had to learn quicker. He remembered infuriating his father every time he'd been pushed off the clouds, just poofing back next to him seconds later. It was funny now, but back then, it had been terrifying.

Speaking of terrifying thoughts, he just remembered that he still owed Scoots some quality time. He shuddered at how mad she'd get if he forgot again. Her young sad eyes filling up with angry tears was torture enough to bring a dragon to its knees, and he did not wish to bring that evil upon himself.

"Yo Dash? After a nap, we should head back to my place. We owe Scoots some play time remember?"

Dash yawned as she fiddled with the handle to her room "Yeah yeah I know...just give me like an hour or so...bed, sleep, now."

The moment she managed to finally open her door, Dash practically threw herself at her mattress. She didn't make it all the way and more or less smashed her face into its side, but she didn't care. Like a cyan colored caterpillar, she slithered her way up from the floor and took over the mattress completely. He knew it'd be a real challenge finding any way to lay down once she was spread eagle like that, without forcing her to move that is.

Luckily, she gave him room as he sat down on the bedside and began removing his shirt and shorts, now soaked in the morning dew of outside air. He tossed them to the side, just barely missing Dashies alarm clock off to the side. He cringed as he swore his clothing would take out her clock or the pictures next to it, but breathed a heavy sigh of relief when they soared past them harmlessly. Watching after his clothing until they safely landed on the floor, he realized that he had failed to notice those pictures before. Curious, he reached for the nearest one, and found a slight blush crawl across his face.

It was a picture of him and her at school together, and he was actually smiling. How she'd managed to take this without him knowing was beyond him. She'd probably coerced Sunset or one of her other friends to hide and take it when he wasn't expecting it, but the fact that she'd managed to catch him smiling was still amazing. He wondered how and when she could have pulled that off. They were just strolling through the hall together, not holding hands or anything, but the smiles on their faces told him he must have been enjoying himself. He leaned over his side and nudged Dash. She responded with a low groan, and gave him no more than that until he held the picture in front of her face for a full minute. When she finally blinked a few times and actually looked at it, she chuckled.

"How? How could you have possibly caught me smiling?"

She grew a thief's smirk on her face, sticking out her tongue, she teased at him "I'll never tell." Then she promptly rolled back over and shut her eyes again.

Unsatisfied with her response, but understanding that was all he was gonna get for now, he reached for the other two photos on the dresser. The second one he grasped was a group photo. It was her and all of her friends, though they looked a few years younger. He was willing to bet it was likely one of their first pictures, since Twilight was wearing the old school uniform of Celestia's. So it was clearly before she'd become a Princess, and Sunset Shimmer wasn't in it.

"Though, maybe she's just the one taking the shot."

Either way, this photo helped solidify how long these girls had known each other. They looked so close even in this shot, all of them hugging each other tight. Part of him wanted to vomit...but even as he thought that, he found his fingers gently swimming over the exterior, touching at each of their smiles in turn. After a moment, he returned it and reached for the final photo, shaking off his stupor. As his fingers closed around the glass covering, he was instantly able to tell this one was different from the others. The dust surrounding it's exterior told him it had not been moved in a very long time, which also likely made it the oldest one there.

He turned it to get a proper view, and found himself confused. At first he thought it was just a picture of Rainbow, taken in bad lighting. Since it made her appear like a male, but upon closer inspection, he realized that it was another person entirely. A male with her same hair and a slightly darker blue skin tone. The jaw was thicker and more defined as well. The man was looking directly into the photo, almost like he was staring at Daybreak, smiling ever so slightly. It was a shy smile, and unsure smile, further solidifying the difference in him and Dash. She always smiled with confidence, yet this man, looked like he was uncertain of something. Daybreak studied his features closely.

"I'm getting the weirdest sense of deja vu here...why does this guy look so familiar?"

He assumed that it was because of Rainbow, of course, but that didn't seem quite right. He felt like he'd seen this man somewhere else other than this photo.

He squinted at the picture"Who, are you?"

"Huh?"

Daybreak jumped as Rainbow rolled over next to him. He'd briefly forgotten she was there.

"Oh, sorry Dashie. I was looking at one of your other photos...could you tell me who this is?"

Her eyes fluttered briefly as he lowered the picture into her gaze. He watched her pupils widen and shrink as she attempted to focus in on the photo. After a short moment, she sleepily answered.

"That's my dad. Cool huh? He's where I got my awesome hair from."

Daybreak took the picture back, and stared at it hard. "Dad huh?...Yeah, I can see that....hey, what's his name?"

"Hm?"

"Your dad, what's your dads name?"

"Oooooooh" She yawned "It's Rainbolt, why?"

Still staring, he was unable to grasp the thought...it just out of reach in his mind "I swear, I've seen him somewhere before."

"Well duuuuuh. You're with me every day, and I look just like him."

He squinted hard at he picture. Something was eating at him, he could feel it, just on the edge of his memories. He'd seen this man somewhere, but just couldn't remember from where.

"Maybe...no...it couldn't be...

"Yeah...you're probably right Dash." It wasn't worth worrying Rainbow over, so he didn't press the issue. Instead he returned the photo to its place and laid himself down with Dash. His arms snaked their way under her and pulled her up against him in a tight snuggle.

"So, got any pictures of your mom then? I'd love to know what she looks like too."

Rainbows eye twitched, just the slightest. "Erm...no sorry...my dad has all those."

That was odd. He knew his relationship with his own mother was shit, but as far as he understood it, most people had at least some form of photography of their parents once they lived alone.

"Really? You don't have any pictures of her? How come? She couldn't be as bad as my mother."

Rainbows eyes winced slightly "No, it's not that. She was a really sweet person and all...but she died when I was very little."

"Oh."

"Smooth one dipshit."

"Oh Rainbow I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Dude, it's fine. You don't need to pity me. I've dealt with it. I'm not about to get all teary eyed or anything. It's in my past, let's leave it there ok?"

He nodded, he knew when he was being dismissed "OK."

She scrunched her head into his chest "Good, now snuggle me. Your puppy demands affection."

He chuckled as her hair comfortably ruffled against his skin "Alright, alright, I suppose you've more than earned it today haven't you? Just don't go around bragging about flying quite yet. You've still got a good amount of practice to do before your ready to start showing off."

"I make no promises."

He felt a smile sneak onto his lips "Of course not."

Moments later, they were out cold. Curled up tight in each others gasp, both exhausted from the mornings activities and paying no attention to the disaster about to unfold over Ponyvilles skies. For within the safety of Rainbows home, the distant rumbling must have sounded like a simple storm.

The distant light of the Celestia's afternoon sun shone through the drawn blinds of Rainbows bedroom. It's blinding light creating a cascading array of unique colors to bounce around her enclosed sanctum. Rainbows eyes slowly squinted open as the annoying light landed perfectly over her sleepy eyelids. The light seemed to shift and shuffle over her face no matter how much she turned away, refusing to shine on any one specific spot and pestering her until she was finally forced to sit up out of frustration. The sight that greeted her eyes when she looked out the window was a hard one to describe. After all, what was one to call several tornadoes in the middle of a snowstorm...with lightning? If there was a term for that she certainly didn't know it.

Perplexed, she dashed from the bed to the window side, certain that she was seeing things. But sure enough, as she pressed her face to the glass, a mountainous pile of turbine-like spinning snow flew by her house. A sudden, but loud, BANG caused her to jump back from the windowsill in surprise!

Taking another look out, she spotted massive streams of multicolored lightning streaking across the sky. Even with this ridiculous weather dancing across the sky, the suns rays still managed to shine through the snow and storm clouds. Rainbow wondered if Celestia was forcing the sunlight through on purpose, perhaps as a symbol. Or perhaps the weather simply chose not to cover the sun. Whatever the reason, all the weather, combined with the broad daylight, told Rainbow it was time to wake Daybreak and get back to Scootaloo.

Moving back to her bed, she was relieved to see he was already beginning to stir. That was good, she didn't feel like going through the labor of trying to wake him. Seating herself down on his side of the bed, she gently ran her fingers down the skin of his back. Using only her fingertips, she drug her nails down, just rough enough to be noticeable, but just soft enough to be pleasant. She watched him give a small shiver and form a miniature trail of goosebumps as she did this. A smile stretched her face as he slowly began to wake. The low sound of lips lightly smacking together told her of his waking before she saw his eyes open.

As he slowly awoke to the world, Rainbow leaned down and planted a quick smooch on his cheek. The outside stimuli successfully sped his awakening, as he stretched out his arms and reached for Rainbow. She laughed, allowing him to wrap himself around her neck, then began pulling him up into a sitting position while he hugged her.

"Mmmph...Hey Dashie...What's up?"

She pointed towards the window. "The world has decided nap time is over. We need to get to your house and check on Scootaloo."

She watched as his eyes took in the sight from her window. He didn't have as good a view as her just sitting down, but it was clear from his piercing gaze that he saw enough.

"The worlds going to hell out there Dash."

She nodded, slowly. "You ain't wrong. And I feel like it's only gonna get worse unless we find Famine and kick her ass, soon."

He nodded back to her, swiftly rising from the bed "Yeah. Guess now's as good a time as any to head back home then. Trapped inside by a storm is the perfect excuse to spend quality time with the Shrimp."

"I hear that." Rainbow strolled to her closet, and began rummaging for clothing.

Daybreak sat, legs crossed on her mattress, enjoying the perfect view he had of her ass from this angle. Rainbow knew he was looking, and was about to sway her hips and comment, when a subtle whiiiiiiiiiiiiiring sound became noticeable over her head. She looked up and gasped with delight.

"Tank!"

"WHERE!?"

The sound of her dresser crashing to the floor immediately followed a loud shriek. She turned quickly, to see Daybreak flinging himself from her mattress and diving to the floor. She didn't have enough hands for the amount of facepalms that was worth. Shaking her head in disbelief, she kneeled down and extended her hand to Daybreak.

"Not a real tank dummy. My pet tortoise. His name is Tank. See?"

Pulling Daybreak to his feet, she quickly scurried back to the closet and withdrew a light green turtle about a foot long in length and width. The turtle was hovering in the air by means of some tiny propellers that had clearly been attached to its shell. His eyebrow might have shot off his face at the speed it rose.

"Why is your pet in the closet? And better yet, why'd ya go yelling like that for? I was expecting some magical tank to be floating outside your window or something...nearly gave me a heart attack woman!

She blew air from her lips, much like a horse would. "Really dude? A magical floating tank? Just, right outside my house for no reason?...Really?"

He crossed his arms in annoyance. "Oh right. Cause after everything that's happened to us so far, that seems more unlikely than my girlfriend pulling a freaking turtle from her closet with a propeller on its back! Seriously! In what universe would anyone ever expect that?"

She waved him off nonchalantly "Yeah yeah, ok you made your point. No need to be an ass. I was just excited. I'd wanted to show him to you, but he was hiding when we got home. Now I know where he was the whole time."

It was physically impossible for Daybreaks eyebrow to raise any higher. "In your closet?...How did he even get in there?"

Rainbow smiled, the released her hold on the little reptile. Daybreak nearly dove to catch him, but held himself back as the turtle did not drop more than an inch. The propeller on his back suddenly activated as Rainbow released her hold, and kept him aloft in the air. Not only did it keep him airborne, but seconds later, after realizing his freedom, Tank began to slowly hover about the room, steering by some unknowable means.

Daybreak couldn't even count the number of reasons this should be impossible, but in a world run by magic that even he didn't fully understand, he tended to not question the laws of possibility too much. Rainbow watched his bemused expression with a snicker.

"Everyone always has that same reaction the first time. I keep most of the doors in the house unlocked, and he just pulls them open with his teeth whenever he wants to go somewhere."

Daybreak barely nodded, mesmerized by watched the tiny reptile slowly zoom about the room, more free than any member of his species had ever been. "Of course he does...next your gonna tell me he lifts weights with you too right?"

"Well he can support my weight on his shell and carry me across the room. But's that's only on the ground though. He can't do that while he's hovering."

Daybreaks head just shook "Right...And I thought Pinkie was difficult to understand..."

He watched her shake her head. "All of my friends are difficult to understand. Hell, you knew Twilight when she was just a little bookworm, this should be nothing for you. I've heard stories about the things she used to do."

He chuckled as he rolled himself back onto her bed top. "Please, she was a goody goody little nerd, she never broke the rules."

"So, you're saying you two never did anything bad huh? Cause from what I've heard, she blew up Celestia's study hall quite a few times." She waited for him to lift his head from her pillow and make eye contact, before she let her grin slip.

"Been talking about old times has she? When did you hear about that?"

Rainbow snickered and turned her back to him, before slowly trotting to the door, shaking her hips with each step. "Guess you'll just have to wonder, won'tcha? Or maybe you can convince me to tell on the way home?"

He was already up and fully redressed by the time she turned back around to him. The look of surprise on her face as he stood there waiting for her, was priceless.

"What? You had me the moment you turned around and showed me your delicious rump. Let's get a move on. I'll go get a portal ready."

As he zoomed past her she couldn't help but recalling a time when getting this from him wasn't this easy.

"You know, I remember when you actually tried resisting my sexy ass!"

He heard her voice echo to him as he jumped the stairs and stuck the landing.

"Yeah? Well that was before you became the most important thing in my life, wasn't it?"

He couldn't see it, but back in her room, a grin warm enough to melt snow was brimming across Rainbows face.

It seemed like the end of the world. Lighting streaked across a creamy orange sky, igniting the horizon in a beautiful dance of horrific destruction. Hail and razor-like rain battered against the shingles of Daybreaks home. Scootaloo found herself curled up on the couch under several piles of blankets and pillows, attempting to muffle out the maddening, earthshattering booms of thunder. She pretended she couldn't feel the very structure of the house shaking beneath her body. The couch practically trying to throw her to the floor as it vibrated to the terrifying bass of the weathers orchestra.

She squealed as each bolt struck the houses barrier, igniting it bright green against the light of the storm. The barrier almost never had a chance to fade back into transparence, as the lighting refused to give it even a moments rest. Each strike caused her fear to grow, she was certain the next strike would be what broke the barrier separating her from the true terrors of the elements. But the barrier held. Despite the intensity, and the sheer house shaking power of each blast, the barrier never showed signs of failing. Yet still Scootaloo could not find any comfort in her apparent safety.

She was trapped here until the storms subsided. She dared not try a trip outside to possibly find her friends, or Rainbow Dash. She'd watched trees and carriages being blasted apart by the lightning, or thrown around, frozen, and then shattered by the icy wind. Outside, was not an option. And it wasn't like this house was a bad place to be trapped. It was comfortable and much better than the conditions she'd have experienced without Daybreaks kindness.

But at least before she hadn't been alone. Usually her friends or Rainbow Dash had always been around to cheer her or keep her brave during the worst of things. But now Rainbow was hardly around. Ever since she'd gotten with Daybreak they seemed to spend every waking moment with each other and barely left any time for Scootaloo to feel involved. That only left her with her friends for comfort, but now that she didn't practically live in their clubhouse anymore, she no longer saw them every single day of her life either. She may finally be living comfortably, but she felt more alone now than she ever had before.

BANG! CRASH! Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirl!

A sound from within the house itself made Scoots shriek at the top of her lungs and fly from the couch like she had wings. When she came down from the ceiling she hid herself fully within the multitude of blankets she had and refused to come out. She was sure the barrier had finally broken and she was about to perish in this evil storm. The sound had been like a explosion, mixed with shattering glass...and then an engine starting up. She didn't know what to make of it, but she'd never heard it before and that was reason enough to be terrified in these conditions.

She shook like she had pneumonia within her sheets, waiting for the cold end to come...that is...until she heard a pair of voices. They were coming from within the kitchen, the same place she'd heard the explosion-like noise. She poked her head to the surface of the sheets, a prairie dog surveying its environment, and listened for the voices to speak again.

"I told you your portal was flimsy, and I was right. Now you've made a mess everywhere!"

"How dare you accuse me of being flimsy! You can't just say that about a man and expect him not to prove you wrong! And what do you mean mess? This happens every time we go anywhere, and look, nothings broken this time! There's barely a scratch on my floor! Hmph! The nerve of some women. There's nothing flimsy about me!"

"Really dude? You vaporized half the room."

"BARELY A SCRATCH!"

Scootaloo felt her ears perk up with hope. It had to be them, no one else spoke like that to each other. "Dash?...Daybreak....Is that you?"

"Squirt? Where you hiding?"

Scootaloo never thought she'd be so happy to hear that name. She burst from her fortress of blankets and darted for the kitchen. She rounded the corner and flung herself at the first piece of blue skin she saw. It wasn't until she made full body contact with Rainbow Dash that she realized she was in nothing but underwear, but she didn't care, she was practically used to it by this point. She squeezed her surrogate sister as tight as she could, relenting only to ask her, very bluntly.

"Where have you guys been?! You promised you'd hangout with me as soon as you were done at the beach! That was yesterday! Were you guys too busy fucking each others brains out to remember your promise again?!"

Daybreak winced, he felt the sting behind Scoots words. Despite being legitimately held up, he still felt guilty. He could tell Rainbow did as well, as her arms wrapped around Scoots as tight as she had been previously embraced.

"I'm sorry Squirt. Alot happened. We got held up. It's a long story and I get that you're upset, let's go sit in Daybreaks room and we'll tell you what happened."

As they began to trod forward, Daybreak watched Rainbows arm lay gently across Scoots neck. It was a cute sight to witness, up until she leaned down to Scoots ear and whispered "I know your upset and all, but if I ever hear you swear like that again, I'll give a wedgie so fierce you won't be able to pleasure yourself the rest of your life. Capeesh?"

He visibly shivered in fear. "Rainbow would make scarily good mother.........wait...oh gods why am I even thinking about that........?.....Shit..."

A significant amount of time later, Scoots was lying back in Daybreaks bed, with her arms behind her head as both Daybreak and Rainbow finished their retelling of the previous days events. Truly they'd had an interesting adventure to say the least.

"So...How's Princess Twilight now?" She asked after they both finished.

Daybreak say on the edge of his bed, his feet dangling as he swung them back and forth. He shot a concerned look to Rainbow, before slowly answering her back.

"She...should be ok Shrimp. Most of her wounds are healed, but I don't know about her sight. The doctors say it's pretty bad..."

Upon seeing Scootaloos worry eyed stare, Rainbow quickly shoved him aside.

"She'll be fine Squirt, ya know Twilight's the smartest girl around. If anyone can think of a way to get her eyes good as new, she can. Right?"

The worry in her own voice made Daybreak realize that she might have actually talking to him, but there was no way to know.

"Yeah, you're right Rainbow Dash. Of course she'll be fine. So...I guess it's ok that you missed our time to hang out, since you were pretty busy. But since you're home now, and we aren't going anywhere thanks to this storm...we can hang out now?"

Scootaloo watched them both trade glances for a moment, she waited with a hopeful smile on her face, until they both turned back to her and nodded.

"Sure Shrimp, no better time to bond than when everyone's trapped inside together."

Scoots sprang from the bed so quick, Daybreak thought she might have been propelled by gasoline. "Yaaaaaaaaay! So what should we do first?"

She looked to him with enormous eyes, he noticed Rainbow eyeing him with curiosity as well. He put his hand to his chin and thought for a moment. What fun activities could they do together while confined to the inside of the house. His eyes slowly drifted about the room.

"Hmm...what can we dooooo?"

His gaze drifted, stopping to linger on many items around the room. He looked to anything that might give him a decent and entertaining idea. The t.v presented the potential for video games...but he got the feeling Scootaloo wanted to do something a bit more physical, considering she could have been playing the games he'd left her all day without him. Physical activity also eliminated the few board games he actually owned as plausible, which was a disappointment, because he'd never actually gotten a chance to play any of them.

"Hmmm...Something physical....Something fun and physical....She did say she didn't have any magic within her...so maybe I could....hmmm...But how to make that fun for her?..."

As his eyes came to rest on the fort of blankets and pillows within which Scootaloo had previously been hiding on the couch, a devilishly good idea began to take root. He returned his gaze to the, still expectant, Scootaloo.

"Ok Shrimp, hope you've got lots of energy, cause we are about to start your magic training!"

He watched her gaze for a moment. He expected her to leap with joy at his revelation, to gleefully exclaim how grateful she surely was at his willingness to train her...but all he received was a frown.

"Really?....Can't we do something a bit more.......fun? I can't do magic remember? Genetic defect?"

"Nonsense!" He exclaimed, turning away from her. He cracked his knuckles and motioned for Rainbow to come closer. "Everyone has some form of magic within them. Just trust me Shrimp. You're gonna love this."

He snapped his fingers and a cloud of white dust swirled into existence centimeters from his fingertips. Reaching forth, he snatched up something from within the dust and turned around to face her. In his hand Daybreak was twirling Jackie's blade. The jawbone-like hilt twirled around his finger as he smiled devilishly at Scootaloo.

"Here take it."

He stopped the blade and held it forward in his open palm. Scootaloo nervously extended her hand forward. Her fingers meekly ran across the intimidating surface of the blades hilt. Aura or not, he knew even Scoots could feel the power this blade radiated, it was intoxicating for sure. Daybreak smiled down at her, after only a moment of hesitation, her fingers closed around the bony hilt and she gripped the blade tight.

"Let's get to it Shrimp."