The Storm (Prequel to Dash's Letter and The Train)
 
>BOOOM! The roar of thunder yanked you out of bed with a sudden gasp. It was raining. Pretty hard actually, but that was nice. You liked the sound of rain. Thunderstorms, not as much but it wasn't a direct fear. More of an annoyance really. 
>You stretched and cracked your neck, sitting in your bed as the lightning flashed outside, illuminating a soaked town beyond. 
>It had been about a month since you woke up in Ponyville, your house standing there like it had always belonged. There was even a road leading up to it. Of course no one really knew how it got there. How should they? Before that day, none of them knew what Earth was, let alone a human.
>Oh yeah that was a weird experience for them, meeting a human for the first time. Hell Twilight wanted to lock you in a sensory deprivation tank while she studied and memorized your anatomy down to the very last mitochondria.
>Anyways, there you were, staring sleepily at the wall across from your bed while thunder crashed and roared outside. Not the best way to spend the night. But then again not the worst.
>Knock! Knock! You jumped and rolled out of bed, (Who the hell could be at your door? it's like 3a- Yeah it's 3am. 3 in the morning and there's someone at your door).
>Rapping, tapping, at your chamber door.
>Pretension aside, you wandered downstairs, wearing nothing put a pair of pajama pants, your feet slapping on the bare floor as you headed toward the entrance. 
>This was your life now, answering the door at 3am during a rainstorm. What else could you do with your free time? It was better than staring at the wall.
>Booom! The lightning illuminated your hallway, showing the living room you forgot to clean.. and the rest of your house for that matter.
>You reached the door and pulled it open, situated at the other end was a soaked and desperate looking pony, her hoof raised to knock again. 
>She had a rainbow mane.
"Dash?"
 
>She looked up at you, her face streaked from either rain or tears. It was clear she had been out in this storm for a while. 
>"Uh is it ok if I stay here?" She stammered, shaking from the cold.
>Jesus she was soaked to the bone. You motioned for her to come in and she nervously stepped inside your place.
"Uh stay there, let me get you a towel. Why aren't you at your house?"
>You opened a nearby cupboard that always had towels from when you would come home from water gun fights as a kid and made sure to choose the fluffiest warmest one. You knew this from experience. That and a slow process containing many flowcharts and one bar graph.
>Trial and error at its best folks.
>Basically you had a lot of free time here in Ponyville, there wasn't much need for people. Surprising to be honest, you did have hands after all. That puts should put you at a drastic advantage. Then again they did have magic.
"Uh here you go, dry off you must be freezing."
>She nodded and began wiping herself down with the towel, "I can't go home right now. Happens every time there's a storm."
"Why's that?"
>"I live in a cloud house Anon, whenever there's a storm, the house gets yanked all over Ponyville! The first time it happened, I got thrown out and broke a wing! So now when there's a storm, I move all my stuff to Twilight's, or Fluttershy's, or any of my friend's houses and stay there until the storm breaks. But this time, they're all busy! I was able to move my stuff into Derpy's but she didn't have a place for me to sleep!" She finished wiping herself dry and pushed her damp mane out of her face, showing bright rose coloured eyes.
>You took her damp towel and tossed it behind, onto the ever growing pile of laundry.
"So you want to stay here tonight?"
>She nodded and gave you an exasperated smile, "You have no idea what I've been through tonight. Is it ok?"
"Yeah sure, there's a spare bedroom just upstairs at the end of the hall. Bathroom's to the left and there's extra blankets and pillows in the closet. If you need them of course."
>She smiled headed upstairs, "Thanks Anon!" 
>Yeah, go you. The paragon of friendship and general dogoodiness.
>You headed back to the front door and locked it, making sure to turn off the outside light and hall light.
>"Um Anon?" Rainbow Dash's head poked out from the stairs, "Could you possibly get me a glass of water?"
"Yeah sure, be up in a second."
>She grinned and ran back upstairs. She was happy. 
>Booom! Another clash of thunder hit outside and you heard a yelp upstairs!
"Dash?"
>You grabbed the glass of water and ran up, storming into her bedroom!
"Dash are you ok?"
>She turned around wide eyed, "Uh yeah... Why?"
"Oh uh nothing then, I thought I heard screaming."
>"Huh... You feeling alright Anon?" She grinned and climbed onto the bed, before snuggling under the covers.
"Yeah I'm feeling uh fine... Here's your water."
>You placed it on her bedside table, making sure it was within her reach. Then turned and headed out of the room reaching for the light as you left.
>"No!" Yelled Rainbow Dash panicked. You paused, hand outstretched, "It's just that uh, I can get it. I want to drink my water before I go to sleep."
"Alright then, suit yourself."
>You left the room, closed the door, and sleepily wandered back to bed. Flopping down on the blankets, you rolled over and closed your eyes.
>Booom! The lights went out.
>A blackout, just your luck.
>Suddenly another scream emanated coming from Dash's room!
>What th- Ok find out what's going on dude.
>You grabbed a flashlight from the bedside table and walked across the hall to her room, opening the door cautiously.
"Dash?"
>The light shone around the room, something or somepony was hiding deep under the blankets. You reached out and began to gently pull them away.
>"No don't!" She yelled and yanked the blankets back.
"Dash, is everything ok?"
>You sat down on the bed and she slowly poked her head out by the pillow. "Oh hi Anon... I was just, uh..."
>Boooom! She squealed and tackled you, burying her head against your chest, shaking.
"Uh Dash... What's scaring you?"
>She hugged you in a deathgrip, her tail and wing wrapping around your midriff, "It's th-the... It's nothing."
>But she wouldn't let go of you.
"Dash you have to tell me what's the matter. Mainly because I'm concerned and also because I think you might be crushing several vital organs."
>She loosened her grip and laid her head on your chest, "I... It's the storm. I don't like loud sudden uncontrollable noises like that."
"Well why didn't you tell me that earlier?"
>"Because it's embarrassing! I don't want other ponies knowing that the worlds fastest flier is also terrified of storms!"
"Well if it's any consolation, I'm not a pony. So currently no ponies actually know."
>She smiled at that and her cheeks turned a bit pink, "Oh yeah I guess you're right."
>She let go of me and you began to stand up.
>Booom!
>"No wait don't leave!" She went back to hugging you and looked up, her eyes wide and moist, "Please stay."
>You patted her back and lay down.
"Alright I will."
>"Thanks..." She mumbled and snuggled against your bare chest, her coat soft and warm, surprising for such a lean pony. It was almost fluffy. 
>You could feel her heart thudding in her chest with each flash of lightning as she tried not to panic.
>So you hugged her back.
"Hey, It’s gonna be ok, I promise."
>She smiled and curled up even more, almost basically on top of you by this point, closing her eyes and nuzzling the underside of your chin with her snout. You could feel her heartbeat and breathing begin to calm as she slowly drifted off to sleep in your arms. 
"Sleep well Dashie..."
>She murmured something and you pulled the blanket tighter over the two of you. She was gonna be fine. She was just a little scared.
 
The End.
 
By Candles/Anunymau5