In the month following the impromptu day off, Comet's journal went from a report of the day to nonsensical ramblings of a pony named 'Meteor' and some odd thoughts he had about a mare. This is one such passage.

'Day 72

Meteor has been bugging me ever since he had that awesome day off. He can't seem to get the final part of the day out of his mind. Could he have changed the outcome? He says he supresses thoughts of that day in order to avoid an awkward conversation with the mare he was with, but when he tries to focus, she pops into his head. It bugs me to no end that he won't stop thinking about it, but what if he could've changed it? What if, instead of just waiting, he just did it? She sure wasn't protesting, but---'

Sadly, the rest of the page was covered with ink. Comet had spilled the vial when Angel had randomly appeared behind him.

The two of them were sitting outside on the training field, silent and still as Corporal Feathermane attempted to move a giant boulder on his own. He claimed every pegasus guard should be able to move it with just his wings, but made the mistake of taking Angel's suggestion to demonstrate. Now he was tethered to the rock with a rope, hopelessly flapping his wings in an attempt to get it to move.

Comet, who was trying not to crack a smile, noticed the name 'Tom' scratched into the rock. He wanted to ask what it meant, but the Corporal gave up trying to make the boulder 'Tom' move. Panting heavily, he untethered himself and trotted weakly over to the duo.

"And that, Anjel and Cometh, isth how you moof a bulder." he mumbled before falling over and passing out from exhaustion.

Angel couldn't help but fall over laughing again and Comet shook his head, grinning while he did so. This wasn't the first time the Corporal had passed out on them, but it amused Comet he passed out from doing actual work. As the duo reveled in the shortcomings of their superior officer, the rumble of thunder rolled across the field. Angel, who was not expecting it, gave a small gasp and immediately stopped laughing. Comet, who was unaware of the break in laughter, looked up at the sky and noticed the weather ponies gathering clouds and piling them into one big gray lump.

"Huh, I didn't know it was supposed to rain today," he mused as Angel got back up on her rump. She eyed the growing storm like it was a dangerous animal, but Comet paid no attention.

"Well, we'd better get him to his bunk before it starts raining," Comet sighed and walked over to the sleeping Corporal. Angel sat as still as she could, never taking her eyes off the gathering storm. Comet tried to lift the unconscious pony onto his back, but the added weight of his armor made him difficult to lift, even with Comet's strength conditioning.

"Hey, you wanna help?" he called over to Angel, which broke her attention away from the storm.

"Oh, er, yeah! Hold on a sec," she shakily got out before getting up to help Comet.

She grabbed his tail with her mouth and helped lay Corporal Feathermane on Comet's back so his hooves hung down. The Corporal was fast asleep as Comet and Angel returned him to the castle barracks where the graduated guards lived. They garnered extra special attention since their superior officer was unconscious on Comet's back, causing him to be shot by several energy bolts while Angel ran off to hide behind a tree.

Several accusations of being a changeling and four uncomfortably personal spells later, Comet had put Corporal Feathermane on his bunk and was escorted out of the castle. Angel was still by the tree, watching like a cat from the branches as Comet trotted over.

"Well, it looks like we have some free time until he wakes up," he offered to Angel. She slowly descended from the branches and landed next to Comet. He offered her a smile, but her eyes were focused elsewhere. Turning to see what she was looking at, Comet felt a bit of teasing was in order.

"First you have those eyes, then you climb a tree and now you're petrified by a storm? You must be a cat pony," he teased lamely.

He chuckled to himself and Angel replied, "At least I wasn't on the receiving end of those guards' spells."

Comet stopped laughing and sighed, "Whatever. Let's get back to the barracks before it starts raining."

The unlikely pair began to trot off to their bunks when the wind began to blow. They were about halfway there when the rain started falling and it wasn't a light drizzle either. Comet grabbed Angel by the hoof and led her to a big tree and some bushes by the edge of the forest as other guards took shelter inside the castle or the training compound.

A flash of lightning, followed almost immediately by thunder caused Angel to scream loudly and cover her ears, pulling her hoof away from Comet. She curled up on the ground as more lightning flashed around the sky, followed inevitably by more thunder and she screamed again. Horrible memories of the caves where she was raised terrorized her mind and she began to shiver. Outside, Comet stopped and turned back to Angel. He wrapped a leg around her and dragged her under the tree where the rain wasn't pouring down on them.

Comet placed her on the driest patch of ground he could find and left her be. He shook himself like a dog and flapped his wings weakly, getting most of the rainwater off. He turned back to Angel, who was now whimpering and couldn't help but wonder. He had never seen her scared like this before and the roll of thunder in the background wasn't helping. He cautiously approached her, like he would a wounded animal, and gently prodded her side.

"Hey, Angel? It's okay now, you're safe," he said gently to her and she opened one eye.

He couldn't tell if it was the rainwater, but her eye had a misty look to it. He slowly reached over and moved a lock of her wet mane away from her face. She allowed him to do that before jumping upwards and giving him another lung crushing hug. Comet stood there trying to catch his breath as Angel rubbed her face into his neck, crying weakly. Comet, unsure of what to do, gently began to stroke her wet mane to try and calm her down. The two stayed like that for two minutes before Angel finally released him.

The rain still came down heavily, but the thunder and lightning had thankfully subsided. Comet sat next to Angel silently, unsure of what to say or even think while Angel kept her gaze away from him. She was clearly embarrassed about her behavior around Comet, but she knew she had to explain it to him.

"You know, Comet, I've never told anyone this, but I'm scared of lightning," she weakly got out.

"You don't say?" Comet rebutted, smacking himself mentally after.

Angel sighed deeply and continued, "Back where I come from, bat ponies live in caves. My ancestors dug them out a long time ago, so generations of bat ponies have lived there. The design of the caves was flawed, though. They would make thunder echo through the caves and would sometimes flood. I nearly drowned when the caves last flooded. My parents were trying to leave and I was just a filly who couldn't fly yet. My father carried me, but the water made me slip from his grip. I was swept into the lowest part of the caves where the thunder continuously echoed and the water level rose. I screamed for help for twenty minutes and nopony heard me."

She began to tear up again and Comet instinctively tried to comfort her. He reached his hoof over and rubbed her back between her mane and wings.

She sniffed a couple times, but then continued, "I thought I was going to die. I wasn't able to swim very well, so I was sinking slowly into the water. My dad came back for me though and saved me, but now when I hear thunder, I think of that day."

Comet simply looked at the quivering bat pony mare who was the cause of his annoyance and for once, couldn't think of anything mean about her. She was sitting next to him, telling him about the closest brush with death she had and he felt nothing but sympathy for her. Without realizing it, he took his hoof and wrapped it around her, pulling Angel into a gentle hug. Her sparkling golden eyes widened, but she didn't protest. The water on her coat was making her cold, but Comet's chest was comfortingly warm. He gently held her there and said nothing. No words could convey what he wanted to at that moment.

The two stayed like that for several minutes and the rain kept pouring. Since it hadn't rained in Canterlot since two weeks after Comet and Angel started training, the weather ponies had made this quite the storm. Comet eventually released Angel and looked into her eyes, something that was so surprisingly easy to do. She wasn't looking at his, but he didn't care. She gave a large yawn and laid down on the grass, so Comet set himself down next to her. His mind was running rampant with all sorts of things to say, but he just said, "I never woulda guessed you would be scared of anything."

That finally got Angel to smile again and she nestled up next to him. He was warm and comfortable to be next to.

"Yeah, I would've thought you'd be afraid of a storm," she replied in her playful tone.

"Nah, not storms," Comet said, cracking a grin, "Dragons. Those are scary."

"Nuh unh!" Angel retorted quickly, "Dragons are sooooo cool!"

The two spent the next few minutes arguing about dragons before Comet conceded defeat. Angel, proud of herself for winning yet another debate with Comet, set her head down on Comet's hooves and fell asleep. Comet, who was hoping to Celestia nopony was around to see this, stayed awake until the storm passed and then some.

As he sat there with Angel snuggled up next to him and sleeping on his hooves, he finally forced himself to admit, not out loud, that Angel was indeed cute and that despite all the loud childish antics, she really was a good mare. 'I just hope she finds the perfect stallion for herself soon,' Comet thought to himself.

Angel, for her part, was dreaming of her dark memories trying to pull her down when a flash of orange light and a set of gentle yet strong hooves fended them away and kept her safe. Outside, she smiled contently.

Author's Notes:

Okay, I ditched some of the comedy here, but I felt they needed a real bonding moment. The comedy will resume in the next chapter which will include Philomena.