Rainbow Dash groaned as she woke up. She placed a hoof against her aching head, and looked around.

“Oh it must have been a dream.” she said as she recognized her room. She tried to move her wings but instantly regretted it. It was extremely painful, and she looked to see that one of her wings was badly injured.

“So it wasn’t a dream.” she muttered. She crawled out of bed, and walked down the hall to Storm Shadow’s room. Quietly, she opened the door, and poked her head into the room. Storm Shadow was sleeping in the bed facing away from her. Happy from the fact that he was safe, she went back to her room, and went back to sleep.

Celestia sat in the throne room, thinking about the attack that had occurred, when a pony appeared out of nowhere.

“Hello Final Hour.” she said.

“Oh come on. How do you always know?” she asked with a grin.

“You’re the only pony who can appear anywhere you please.” the princess replied.

“Good point.” she said. There was a moment of silence before the princess spoke again.

“You shouldn’t have warned him. You know you’re not supposed to interfere with the living.” she said.

“I probably saved your ungrateful rump by doing so.” she replied.

“True but Storm Shadow must reach his own destiny just like everypony else.” the princess said.

“Aw you’re no fun anymore Tia.” she said then vanished. The princess only sighed, and returned to thinking.

Storm Shadow woke up with a yawn and stretched as he got out of bed. He walked out into the hall, and down to Rainbow Dash’s room. Suddenly, he heard something moving on the other side of the door. Cautiously, he eased it open, and peered inside.

“You’re awake!” he gasped when he saw Rainbow Dash.

“Yah, I woke up last night. What happened?” she asked.

“You were knocked unconscious when Arcane threw you into the wall. The nurse I took you to says that you need to be careful because your wing was damaged.” he explained.

“I could see that for myself. I’m not crazy Storm Shadow.” she replied.

“Oh, so it wasn’t considered crazy to attack Arcane like you did? I was worried about you.” he said.

“Well I’m not very happy since I can’t fly with this wing. How am I supposed to practice my tricks like this?” she asked.

“You won’t be doing any stunts until you get better.” he answered.

“So not cool…” she said.

“Let’s go get something to eat. I’ll carry you so you don’t have to fly.” he replied.

“Oh fine.” she replied as she followed him out of the house.

Arcane muttered impatiently to himself, as he worked on fixing his limp, and getting rid of the electricity in his body. Every so often, he would twitch from the electricity, but it happened less the longer he concentrated.

“I hate that accursed storm pegasus.” he muttered after another twitch.

After the electricity was removed and his leg was fixed, he levitated the book containing the picture of his family from its shelf. He gingerly opened it, and began to look through the rest of the pages. They each contained a different picture. Some were of his father, while some were of his mother. Most of them were pictures of him doing something with them. Be it playing, napping, or eating. He turned to the very first picture, and shed a few silent tears, before putting the book back.

Aerial paced back and forth in front of the doors until the nurse finally came out.

“Is Swift alright?” she asked.

“Yes, he will be okay. You can go in to see him if you like.” the nurse replied. Aerial walked in to see Swift lying on the table, as if he were asleep. His armor had taken most of the hit, but the fireball had not left him unscathed. His left side had been singed a little, and his red hair was covered with soot. Some of his feathers had been burned away as well, and she could see the gaps between them.

“His feathers will grow back of course, and his coat will return to its normal color.” the nurse said. Suddenly his eyes opened drowsily.

“Aerial?” he whispered.

“I’m here Swift. You’re okay. You’re in the nurse’s care right now.” she said. He smiled weakly.

“Good. I would hate for something to happen to you.”

“Oh Swift.” she said, and hugged him tightly.

“You’re not helping my breathing. I hope you know that.” he whispered.

“Oh, sorry about that.” she said, and let go with a blush.

“I never said you had to let go.” he replied.

“You’re crazy. You know that right?” she said with a smile.

“Crazy in love maybe.” he replied with as wide a grin as he could manage, making her blush even harder.

“You love me?” she asked.

“Always have. Only problem I had was being able to tell you.” he said. She smiled and kissed him. His eyes shot open in surprise and she giggled when she pulled away.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“For saving my brother, and for admitting that you loved me.” she replied with a smile. He smiled back and began to get up. She tried to stop him, but he waved her off. A moment later he stood, looking at her with his emerald green eyes.

“Let’s get out of here.” He said.

“Okay. Don’t try to fly though.” she warned.

“Why not? Oh…” he said as he looked at his wings.

“Just be glad that feathers grow back.” she said. He laughed a little then walked out of the building with Aerial by his side.

Storm Shadow and Rainbow Dash were just finishing their meal when Aerial walked up with a pony that Storm Shadow didn’t recognize.

“Hey sis. Who’s your friend?” he asked.

“This is Swift.” she said.

Storm Shadow noticed that a lot of Swift’s hair had been singed and some of his feathers had been burned away.

“So you’re the one who flew in front of the fireball?” he asked.

“Yep, that was me.” Swift replied.

“Thanks for risking your life like that. It probably would’ve hit us if you hadn’t.” he said.

“No problem.” he replied. They talked for a while, until they noticed how quiet it had gotten.

“How’s it going ponies?” said a jet black unicorn with snow white hair, her crimson red eyes surveying the group.

“What are you doing here Final Hour?” Storm Shadow asked.

“I got bored so I thought I’d pay you a visit.” she replied. Her eyes landed on Swift and she grinned.

“I could fix those burns you know.” she said.

“Really?” he asked skeptically.

“Sure, just hold still for a moment.” she replied and her horn began to glow. The group watched in awe as the burn marks disappeared and new feathers instantly grew into place.

“I could fix you too if you want, Rainbow Dash.” Final Hour said when she was finished.

“Sure, whatever.” she replied nonchalantly, though her look said, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Final Hour only grinned again as her horn glowed once more. Rainbow Dash winced, as her wing snapped and popped back into place, and all the soreness went away.

“Sheesh, you must have hit that wall HARD to dislocate your wing like that.” Final Hour commented when she was finished.

“Well I have to get going. I’ve got plenty of work to do!” she said as she turned and vanished.

“Well she was… interesting…” Swift said. They all nodded in answer, and continued talking.

After about an hour, Swift told everyone goodbye, and flew off to go to sleep.

“I bet he’s tired. He wasn’t even supposed to be moving around yet.” Aerial said.

“So is he your coltfriend?” asked Rainbow Dash, making her blush once more.

“Yes.” she murmured.

“I knew it from the look on your face.” Dash said with a triumphant grin.

“I just hope that you’re happy.” Storm Shadow said with a small smile.

“I am.” she replied, and returned her brother’s smile.

It began to get dark, so they decided to watch the sunset. They flew to a cloud high above Ponyville, and watched as the sun began its descent below the horizon.

“I hope that Arcane won’t come back for a long time.” Aerial said, as she lay next to her brother.

“If he does we’ll kick his flank again.” said Rainbow Dash.

“Oh I have a feeling that we haven’t seen the last of him. He’ll be back.” Storm Shadow said matter-of-factly. The sun set moments later and Aerial flew back to Canterlot. Storm Shadow flew to Rainbow Dash’s house, with Dash close behind, and held the door open for her.

“It felt weird when I couldn’t fly.” she said, as she flapped her healed wing a few more times.

“Well you are a pegasus. Most of what you do is flying.” he replied as he walked inside. She didn’t reply, but kissed him before going to her room. He went into his own room and climbed into bed.

“He’ll be back.” he muttered to himself as he fell asleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter 12 Estimated time remaining: 7 Minutes