When the Lightning strikes

by Crackshot

Rating: mature
Tags: Main 6, Other, Romance, Princess Luna, Original Character, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Tragedy, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 8091

Twilight was planning a little get-together with her friends, but it all gets derailed when Rainbow Dash reveals that she has an older brother, who should be arriving on the next train. All is not well after he arrives, though.

Nopony knows much about Rainbow's family or early life, but that's all about to change when her older brother, Lightning Streak, comes to Ponyville. However, his past is cloudier than hers, and not even Rainbow knows the whole story. Where has he been for the past twelve years? What's he been doing? Why does he keep receiving mysterious letters? Where are their parents in all of this? And just how the hell does a pegasus end up with a unicorn for a brother? These questions, and many more, will be answered in due time... All in due time....(rated mature for in-depth descriptions of murder later on, you have been warned)

Edit: My first original cover art, yay! Done by FlutterPal

Published 2013-11-16 22:00:04 UTC
Last updated 2013-12-12 03:24:12 UTC

Twelve years is a long time

Deep, down in the Canterlot dungeons, daylight rarely shined. There were no windows, no torches, no source of the needed, sight giving rays. It was pitch black, cold, and reserved for only the worst criminals.

And there, among the empty cells, only one was occupied. Only one pony had proven themself worthy of such harsh treatment, worthy of having the entire outside world forget their very existence as time passed on. This pony was a stallion by the name of Lightning Streak, and his once vibrant yellow coat had turned dull and sickly over the years, his blue-green mane now looking as if it was made of sludge.

He was dying, so very slowly. And nopony outside even knew his name, he would not be remembered by a single soul in death, just as it had been in his life.

Or so he thought. But on all accounts, he was wrong. He was going to live, and while many ponies remembered his name, there was only one who cared enough to make sure he did. One pony out of thousands who remembered the stallion he truly was, even after almost twelve years apart.

This, is their story.
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It was a fairly normal day in Ponyville. The princess had raised the shining sun, the birds were singing in tune, courtesy of Fluttershy, and there wasn't a single world-ending calamity in sight. Twilight Sparkle sighed happily, admiring the view of the world she never thought she’d get a chance to see, with all the varieties of monsters and villains that seemed to be constantly pouring out of every nook and cranny. It was nice to be able to enjoy the scenery for a while, and spend some time with her friends. Spike had been given the day off, and was out gallivanting with the Cutie Mark Crusaders while Twilight went to the small coffee shop on the edge of town, at Rarity’s suggestion.

“What was it called again? Cafe de order ‘n’ get out?” she asked herself out loud. I certainly seemed strange, but she remembered Rarity saying that one of the employees had called it that. She shrugged slightly, looking around for another moment and taking a deep breath before getting hit by a solid wall of rainbows.

“Oh jeez, I’m sorry Twilight, I didn’t see you there!” said the source of the prismatic assault with a small giggle. “You alright?” Twilight groaned slightly as she got to her hooves and shook of the dust.

“Yes, I’m fine Rainbow. You really need to be more careful though, you’re going to hurt somepony one of these days.” Rainbow Dash laughed heartily for a few moments, earning a stern glare from her unicorn friend.

“Sorry Twilight, but careful isn’t exactly how I was raised. You gotta take risks if you wanna achieve anything, that’s what my brother always told me.” she said with a smile. “Speaking of which, I’ve gotta get to the train station!” she ruffled her wings a little bit, removing any dust or debris that had been caught inside them. Twilight looked at her with a smile, glad to see her friend so happy.

“Well if he’s coming to visit, we should get the girls and all go together! You haven’t really talked about your family that much, so I’m sure they’d all be just as excited to meet him!” she said, smiling a bit more, only to see her friend suddenly look downcast. “What’s wrong Rainbow? You were ecstatic just two seconds ago.” The cyan pegasus sighed a little and looked down to the side.

“It’s… Just been so long since I’ve seen or heard from him, you know? I’m just worried that he’s changed from the guy I knew way back when.” She said before shaking her head a little and smiling again. “But yeah, if you guys wanna come with me, that’d be great! Let’s go get the others and go, the train should be coming in soon!” The lavender unicorn looked at the sky briefly, noting the position of the sun. It was almost nine o’clock, and there weren’t any trains that came in at that time. She thought it was strange, but she brushed it off as her friend misreading a letter or something of the sort. After all, if this was her brother, he’d be a pegasus too, right? No need for the train then.

They talked more on the way down the street, Rainbow telling her all sorts of things about her brother, Lightning, and how he was, in her words, “The coolest pony ever to live”. Most of her stories seemed a bit far-fetched, but she smiled and nodded along, having never seen her talk about something more than she did the Wonderbolts before.

“And so this big guy comes up to us, talking a bunch of crap about how we couldn't be there, it was private property or something like that, and goes to try and push me away when Lightning just bucks him in the face out of nowhere, grabs me, and runs past him, I swear there was nopony faster, and all a sudden we see this light at the end, and he stops right there, sets me down, and tells me to look up.” She said, looking off in blissful nostalgia. “That was the first time I saw the Wonderbolts, and I had one of the best seats in the place! The guard caught up to us eventually, but we just ran off again and went home. Best. Day. Ever!” by that point, they’d met up with the others, who wholeheartedly wanted to meet this apparently amazing stallion, and had been waiting at the train station for almost an hour.

“Ah have to say Rainbow, yer brother sure sounds like somethin’ else.” The farm mare said with a laugh. “My question now is where’s he been all this time? Why haven’t I met him before?” Rainbow looked down sullenly again.

“He’s, uh, been in Canterlot for a while. He promised me he’d come by as soon as he could when he left, but he’s been…. Real busy, with stuff, and… Things.” She said, seeming to sink lower. “I come by here every day around this time, just to see if he gets off. He hasn't yet, but I’m sure he will today! I mean, he can’t have been THAT… busy.” She said awkwardly.

“Well shoot, I’m sorry Dash, I didn’t mean to go and make ya upset or nothin’.” She said. She could tell she wasn't getting the whole story, but didn’t want to be the one to push it.

“It’s fine AJ, don’t worry about it. I know you –“ she was cut off by the sound of a train whistle off in the distance. She perked up instantly, bouncing up and down energetically, seeming like Pinkie Pie on any given day of the year.

The happy pink mare, however, was less enthusiastic. Her left hind-leg was twitching uncontrollably, and her ears were ringing. She didn’t want to say it, but that wasn’t usually a good sign. She just wanted her friend to be happy.

“Oh my, this train is certainly… Interesting.” Rarity said when the train pulled in to the station. It looked nothing like a usual train, including but not limited to the reasons of: bars on the windows, a dull gray color, and the fact that almost everypony inside was wearing an orange jumpsuit. “The ponies inside seem to have a… strange sense of fashion, heh heh.” Finally, the train stopped, and the doors opened. Out from each came a singular royal guard unicorn, all carrying a quill and clipboard. They started calling off names, none of which seemed familiar to the young mares.

“Star Beam!”

“Rust Wing!”

“Soot Hoof!”

“Maple Leaf!”

“Light Ray!”

The names went on and on for what, to the rainbow mare, seemed like hours. She looked on expectantly, hoping that maybe there’d be a typo and he’d still be on the train. Her friends however were more nervous. This wasn’t a train full of normal ponies, obviously, but Rainbow Dash’s brother couldn’t be a convicted criminal… Could he?

“That’s it ladies and gentlecolts, everypony back on the train, next stop; Trottingham.” Said the middle guard, looking at his list one more time to make sure. Rainbow was devastated, yet again. She fell back on her haunches, not looking up, nor hearing the words of her dear friends. Thoughts began racing through her mind, terrible thoughts, her worst fears. What if they’d come true?

“Hold on captain, I’ve got one more!” came a mares voice from down the line.

“Then call it out so we can go!” he seemed angry, and rightly so. If that train had been stopping at every town in turn, it would take forever.

“Alright, don’t get your knickers in a twist boss. Lightning Streak!” her head shot up. This was it. Today was the day, he was finally back! From out of the train stepped a sickly looking yellow unicorn, who for all appearances had never seen the light of day, nor tasted food or water. He seemed physically unstable, unsure of how to walk, or even stand. That was him alright, she knew it, she’d recognize those eyes anywhere.

“Lightning! Over here!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, waving her hoof frantically. The stallion looked about for a moment, seeming confused before he finally set his eyes on her.

“Rainbow! That you kiddo? My eyes aren’t exactly what they used to be you know!” he said, taking a tentative step forward. As soon as his hoof touched the wooden planks though, his knees buckled, his minuscule bodyweight still bringing him down like a bird from the sky.

Never Alone

“I-Is he going to be okay Doc?” Rainbow asked, standing over the sleeping form of her alleged brother.

“Yes, he’s going to recover, don’t you worry. All of our tests indicate that he’s malnourished; he probably hasn’t eaten anything in a while, let alone anything healthy. Keep an eye on his diet for while after he’s discharged, make sure he gets three squares a day with plenty in between, get some meat on him. He should be back to normal in a few days.” The gruff sounding doctor replied without any interest. “And make sure he doesn’t go on any more long train rides, he doesn’t seem to do very well with those.” The sarcasm in his voice was almost dripping from his mouth.

But Rainbow Dash didn’t notice, nor did she notice the doctor trotting off to deal with other patients. All she cared about was that Lightning would be okay, and that everything could go back to being the way it was before.

“We have to talk Rainbow.” Her head swiveled to find her friends standing at the door, Twilight at the head. “About your…. “brother”. I didn’t want to say anything earlier, and I’m sure you’re still upset by what happened at the station, but I think you owe us an explanation.” The lavender unicorn’s voice was mixed between worry, confusion, and a hint of betrayal.

“Y-Yeah… Yeah, I guess you’re right. Where do I even start?” she asked, not sure what to say anymore.

“Why don’t you start from the beginning, and work your way to the last time you saw him?” the soft voice made them all jump a little bit, Fluttershy’s quiet nature making it easy to forget she was there.

“It’s… Kind of a long story. It all started back when I was just a filly. I was the coolest in flight school, until….
******************************************************************************
Until my parents died. I came home to find the Cloudsdale police at my house, that yellow tape they use was everywhere, and the outside of the house looked completely trashed, like a tornado’d hit it or something, I don’t know. They wouldn’t tell me what happened, or let me in, so I did the only thing I could think of.

I broke into my own home, running past the police and through the front door, just to…. Just to…. find my parents, laying in p-p-pools of blood….

After that, I ran right back out and took off, trying to get as far away as possible. My wings weren’t fully developed yet though, so I couldn’t go too far at a time, and when I reached Canterlot I was beat. I just couldn’t fly anymore. I ended up staying in a box more than once, and I hated it. I hated everything about that place, but I hated the ponies there more than anything. They always looked down on me, called me an urchin or something like that, and would spit on me whenever they felt like it.

One day, a couple of colts found me, and decided it’d be fun to play “Let’s kick the crap out of the poor little homeless filly”, and started beating on me like their life depended on it…. It went on for what felt like hours, and just when I thought I was about to die, it just… Stopped.

Leave her alone, you miserable little shits!

I couldn’t tell where it was coming from, I was still trying to cover my face, but it was close enough for me to know who was getting yelled at.

Or what, you filthy beggar? I doubt you know enough magic to even lift a quill, blank flank! Did you even go to school?

They all laughed at that, but I risked a peak at what was going on. They were all surrounding him, so I didn’t get a good look, but I thought he was going to get worse than I did. After all, seven against one blank flank is not the best odds in the world. But then something happened…

I said leave her alone ass hat…

He wasn’t yelling anymore, not really. It sounded like he was scared, terrified, but his horn still started glowing this bright blue, I’m still not sure what for.

Oh, so you have learned a trick or two, bravo sir, bravo. Now colts, let’s show him what we can do.

They all jumped on him at once, just pounding on him, using their magic to throw him this way and that way, against the walls, the dumpsters, the ground, before just using their hooves to grind him to a pulp. It was brutal, I couldn’t watch, I just couldn’t. The only pony to try and help me since I showed up, and it was probably going to get him killed, or at least pretty messed up. But I never heard him scream, or yell, or say anything else the whole time.

They just… Beat him down so hard. But when they stopped, he stood back up, looking like something out of a comic book. He was bleeding from everywhere I could see, he was covered in cuts and bruises, one of his legs was… It just didn’t look right, let’s leave it at that.

Is… Is that the best you’ve got? C-Come on, my dad’s dead and he still hits harder than you, pansy.

At that point, I was backing away as slowly as I could, so they wouldn’t notice me, but apparently he was trying to distract them so I get out of there. He didn’t tell me that until later on though.

I’m sorry, what was that? Please sirs, beat me some more? I don’t want my mother to recognize me when I meet her in Tartarus? Well, since you asked so politely, I guess we’ve no choice but to oblige, now do we?

That’s when it happened. They were all closing in around him again for another round, and his horn started to glow again.

What’s this, another trick? I hope it’s better than the last one, all that did was bloody your nose a bit. Let’s be good sports, and watch him fail at the only thing he even could be good for, shall we?

They all laughed and agreed, just standing there while he did whatever it was he was doing. He had his eyes closed, and looked like he was concentrating really hard, just trying to do something, anything. But when he opened his eyes, they were different, they were all glowy and green and magic… -iy.

“That’s not a word Rainbow.”

Shut up, you guys wanted to hear the story, so I’m telling it! Now, where the hay was I… Oh yeah, now I remember.

They all noticed it too, and started backing up a bit, but they didn’t get far. Suddenly these bolts of lightning shoot out of his horn, going everywhere, and he starts screaming like it hurts more than a manticore sting. The other colts ran for the hills, but he kept going after they left, and eventually I guess he just ran out of juice. The lightning stopped, his eyes went back to normal, and he just kinda… Collapsed there on the ground, breathing really heavy. I walked up to him and poked him a couple times, trying to get him up.

H-H-Hey, a-a-a-are you okay?

Y-Yeah, I’m fine kid, no worries. H-H-How about you? They were beating on ya p-p-p-pretty hard back there.

I’m okay I think. I-It doesn't hurt that much anymore.

Good… Good.

He wrapped one of his hooves around my neck and hugged me close, like my parents always did when I was sad.

We gotta look out for each other now, alright? Ponies like us stick together, we’re like a family.

And I’ll never let you be alone again. I promise.

Meet the Family

A/N Hey everyone, I just wanted to take a second really quick to thank a bunch of people for their help on this, for giving me original characters to use, I really appreciate the help! Here's everyone who contributed, not just to this chapter but the entire story, and their character; Mythic Spell - Mythic Spell, Colt in the Moon - Quicksilver, Flora Spectrum - Feather Note, ThatGirl2147 - The idea for Boulder, and Doctor_N - White wing. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it so much, you've helped out a ton!

Later that day, he brought me to this little camp in the middle of nowhere. We were still in Canterlot, but we were so deep in the back alleys that there was no way anypony would find us there, hay, I could hardly figure out how he knew where he was going. There were a bunch of tents around, made of old newspapers, tape, sticks, one of them made out of comic books, and a few of them had other foals in them, all of which were obviously older than me.

“Well kid, welcome to your new home. I’ll introduce you to everyone when Mythic and Feather get back. Until then, you can stay in my tent, its right over there.” He said, waving his hoof towards one of the few unoccupied ones. “You should get some rest for now. I’ll give you the whole rundown in the morning, but for now just remember this; we’re a family here. We look out for each other, always.” He sighed, looking sad. “Always. Now, I know it’s not exactly the most comfortable thing in the world, but you’ll get used to it.” he led me over to the tent, and it honestly looked like the most comfortable thing ever compared to where I usually slept.

“T-Thanks mister.” I said. I’ve never really been the best with words, and I was still nervous, and scared, so I wasn’t really sure what else to say. But he just smiled at me and ruffled my mane a little bit.

“You can thank me by calling me Lightning, kid. Speaking of which,” he said, looking kind of embarrassed. “what’s your name? I don’t think I asked earlier.” He was being really quiet, so I guessed that the other kids were sleeping. I wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t exactly right either.

“I’m Rainbow Dash,” I tried being quiet and excited at the same time, but that didn’t exactly work. What came out ended up somewhere between a yell and the sound a pot of boiling water makes when it’s really far away. “and someday, I’m gonna be the best flyer in all of Equestria!” He just laughed a little bit as I collapsed on what I’m still guessing was his bed.

“I’m sure you will be Rainbow. Now get some sleep, you’ve got a long day ahead of you kid.” I just yawned at him, exhausted and sore from what’d happened earlier, and soon enough I was out like a light.

When I woke up, it still wasn’t morning, but I heard voices outside of the tent. One of them was really angry, but the other sounded like it was trying to calm the first one down.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” the first one said, “Bringing in another stray, the fuck is wrong with you? We barely get enough to go around as it is, yet you think it’s a good idea to bring in another mouth to feed!?”

“It was either that or leave her to get beat to death by those stuck-up brats, I didn’t have a choice!” the other one said with a huff. “Besides, yeah she may be another mouth to feed, but you know how this works; everypony does something to get some cash, everyone pulls their own weight around here.” I heard a snort, but I’m still not sure who it was from. “Except you. No, you always do your own thing, make your own money, spend it on your own things, you don’t give two shits what happens to the rest of us, so why the hay are you bitching about what I do!?” he was getting pretty angry too, but they were both trying not to be too loud for some reason, I still don’t know why.

“I’m bitching because what you’re doing is stupid!” The first voice was getting even angrier, and was actually starting to yell. “You shouldn’t have even brought in any of them, but I kept quiet, and now your little ‘family’ is getting bigger, and bigger, and if you keep going on like this you’re going to do something so damn stupid that even Princess Celestia will facehoof and ask what the hay you were thinking, and you’re gonna get so fucked over that you won’t even know who the hell you are anymore, and when that happens I’ll be right there to say I told you so!”

“Keep your voice down damn it, you know we can’t be too loud here. Besides, the others are sleeping, and we’ve got a long day coming up, so why don’t you get the hay out of here and go back to your own camp Boulder?” I looked up a little bit and saw Lightning standing there, face-to-face with another colt around his age, maybe older. The other colt, Boulder, was a dark brown earth pony, I think he had a white mane, maybe a couple streaks of purple, I don’t know, but he looked really angry at Lightning.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go back to my little corner of Tartarus, you and your shit stains can stay here, but don’t say I didn’t warn you how this is gonna end Lightning.” He just walked off into the dark after that, and I never saw him again, but the others mentioned him sometimes. Lightning just sat down and sighed, shaking his head, and I fell back asleep.

“Hey kiddo, come on, rise and shine!” I heard Lightning say in the morning. He was laughing like somehow waking me up was the funniest thing he’d ever done. “Got a big day, remember? I’ve gotta introduce you to everyone!” I was still really tired, so I just kinda rolled over and swatted at him a little.

“C’mon, just give me five more minutes, I don’t wanna get up.” I’d barely said it when I was picked up and thrown on his back.

“Nope, sorry Rainbow, but there’s work to do, and not much time to do it in.” He said. I was really awake at that point, having just been given a heart attack. “Now, let’s get down to business.” He turned around, and I saw a really big group of colts and fillies, more than the ones I’d seen the night before, and they all smiled and waved at me.

“Welcome to the family!” said a pegasus who was right in front of me. He looked older than he was, kinda like Lightning did. They all did. He had a really dark blue coat, and his mane and tail were the same color as my coat. “I’m Mythic Spell, it’s nice to see a new face around here!” he was pretty energetic, but his eyes… They just looked so tired.

“Hey, someone my age! Finally!” I looked over to see a white colt, with short orange hair. He was an earth pony, but he looked like the closest to my age so I felt a little less alone. “My name’s Quicksilver! What’s yours?”

“Hold on now kiddo, we don’t want overwhelm to poor filly.” Lightning said, levitating me off of his back and setting me on the ground. “Everyone, this is Rainbow Dash, I picked her up last night. Rainbow, you’ve already met Mythic and Quicksilver,” he said, waving his hoof at them. “Mythic can help you learn to fly, along with White Wing over there,” he said, pointing to a black pegasus colt with a black and white mane that was leaning against the wall, wearing a white vest that I’m still not sure how he kept so clean. “Quicksilver can teach you the tricks of the trade we work around here, just don’t get him started on comic books or he’ll talk your ear off.” He said with a laugh, causing the colt in question to frown a little. “I’m just kidding Quick, don’t take it personally.” He said, laughing even harder as he ruffled Quicksilver’s mane, and they both laughed.

“Anyway, moving on, clinging to my leg at the moment is your fellow flying student, and resident con-artist, Feather Note. Say hello kiddo, come on, she’s not gonna hurt you.” He and I both looked at his back legs to find a small pegasus filly, barely my age, latched onto him. When she noticed me looking at her, she hid her face behind his leg and whimpered a little bit. She had a coat that looked a lot like yours, Twilight, but her mane and tail were this shade of pink that I can’t really describe. It was then that I realized that Lightning was the only one without a cutie mark; Feathers was a music note or, something like that, with wings on it, Mythic’s was some kind of book, I never asked about it, Quick’s was a comic book, White Wing’s was, well, a white wing with its silhouette, and mine, well, that’s obvious.

“Hey Lightning, where’s Boulder at?” Mythic Spell asked. “Isn’t he usually around for this kind of thing?” Lightning sighed again, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Yeah, but you know how he is. He’s probably just busy doing… Whatever it is he does. He’ll be back eventually. Anyway Rainbow, that’s everyone, this is your new family.” He said with a smile. “There are a few rules though, and these are important so listen up.”

“Oh jeez, here he goes again.” Mythic said, I’m pretty sure he was joking.

“Hey, I did it to you guys; it’s only fair that I do it to her.” Lightning said back, not really expressing anything as he knelt down to my level, Feather running off to go do something. “Now, the first rule is nopony goes hungry. We all pull our weight; we all do something to bring in money for food, that’s just how it is. Rule number two, is nopony is left unhappy. Mythic over there is the family’s nut-job comedian, but even he gets down sometimes. You see somepony unhappy, you try to make them happy; we’ll all do the same for you. You understand so far?” he asked.

“Y-Yeah, I think I get it so far.” I said, nodding pretty hard. He just laughed and ruffled my mane again.

“Good, because this last one is the most important. Rule number three; nopony gets left behind. We all look out for each other, no matter what happens, we always stick together. Always.”

Waking up(the only funny chapter)

“After that, I was put to work. In the early years my job was to be cute and beg passing ponies for bits with Feather and Quick, while the others did odd jobs around the city. When we all came back, Feather and I would get taught how to fly by Mythic and White.” Rainbow said after taking a deep breath. Her audience was captivated by the sad tale she had spun, Fluttershy and Rarity even being driven to tears. Though Rarity’s were more dramatic than genuine, she still felt for her friend. “Next to Lightning, they were the oldest, and had been on the streets the longest. The three of them knew the ins and outs of life there better than most, and were always there when one of us needed a helping hoof.” She had a fresh batch of her own tears finding their way down her cheeks now as she glanced back at the unconscious body next to her. “He taught me how to be a good pony, that loyalty to those you care about is more important than anything, that risks have to be taken to achieve anything, how to appreciate the little things and not think bad of myself…” she slumped into a chair that was nearby and began sobbing softly, her usual tough façade crumbling in the face of the situation.

A hoof on her shoulder caught her attention, and she looked up to see all her friends smiling at her, with Applejack being the closest. “An’ he taught ya well Rainbow, ah’m sure he’s gonna be proud of ya when he wakes up. Ah understand why ya didn’t say nothin’ about it earlier sugercube, it must’a been hard fer ya.” The farm mare said, hugging her friend close. “We’re here for ya ‘till the end, just like you’d be for us. Hay, ah’ll even show ‘im around town when he wakes up, honest.” The pegasus mare’s sobbing quieted down slightly as she clung to the apple farmer as if her life depended on it.

“I might take you up on that offer, long as a food joint’s first on the list, I’m starving.” Came a voice from beside the two mares, causing both to look over. There, sitting up, was the stallion that had been unconscious mere moments ago. “I could really go for some hay fries and a milkshake right about now, let me tell ya.” He said, rubbing his eyes as if he’d just woken up from a good night’s sleep.

“Y-Y-You’re joking, right?” Rainbow asked, gently pushing her friend off of her as she walked towards the bed, her tears stopping but her voice continuing to hiccup occasionally. “You haven’t s-seen me in twelve y-years, and the first thing you talk about is FUCKING HAY FRIES!?” she yelled, causing the unicorn to reel back slightly.

“Well excuse me if I don’t exactly wanna talk about where I’ve been, especially after face-planting onto the ground. It hasn’t been fun for me, as you can probably tell.” He responded defensively. “I was planning on doing that cliché as hell running hug thing, but gravity had other ideas, so blame science, not me.” he grinned and laughed, pulling the angry pegasus over the railing of his hospital bed and into a close hug. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t miss you kiddo. I missed you every day I was gone, but I knew you could handle yourself. All of you could.” He said softly, his own tears starting to flow as he squeezed Rainbow tight. He could feel fresh tears from her wetting his shoulder.

“You’re damn right we could… And we did… But it j-just wasn’t the same without you there…” she choked out between sobs.

“I know Rainbow, I know. But you made it through, stronger and better for it.” he said, squeezing her a little tighter. “You’ve grown up so much kid, seems like just yesterday I was pulling you out of bed and tossing you around a bit.” He laughed a little bit, more so than earlier.

“Yeah, and then you’d throw me to see how my flying was coming along.” Rainbow laughed along. “I still remember the first time I actually didn’t hit the ground. I was so happy I hit a wall!”

“And then you hit the ground!” he replied, releasing her from his near-iron grip. “Those were the days, weren’t they?” he asked, a few tears still finding their way from his eyes.

“Yeah, they were Lightning.” Rainbow replied, getting down from his bed. “Every day’s an adventure, that’s what you always told us. There’s always something new to find, new things to experience and dream of, just work hard for it and it’s yours.” She said, doing a very poor impersonation of her brother, who laughed heartily.

“I did say that, didn’t I? Well, how much trouble did that little speech get you into?” he asked, ruffling her mane. “You were always our little mischief maker.” She giggled at that, but Twilight stepped in to answer his question.

“Oh, she hasn’t gotten into much while I’ve known her.” She said with a smile, trotting up to the bed beside Rainbow Dash. “A few things here and there, but we keep her on a short leash.” This brought even more laughter from Lightning as he began doubling over.

“We? Leash? Kid, I never figured you for the type, but what goes on behind closed doors can stay there!” he said before bursting into another round of laughter, causing everypony in the room to blush intensely.

“O-O-Oh, that’s, that’s n-not what I meant, I-I-I just meant that, oh sweet Celestia that’s so lewd, I can’t believe-“ she was cut off by Rainbow Dash putting a hoof on her lips.

“This is what I grew up with Twilight, trust me, he knows what you meant.” She said before smacking him in the head, causing his laughing to come to an almost immediate stop. “Come on, she’s a nerd,”

“Hey!”

“Hush you, I’m trying to get him to lay off. Anyway, she’s a nerd, it’s too easy to pull that kind of stuff on her. Try it on someone who actually knows about that kind of stuff, like Rarity.” She finished, causing him to go into another round of laughter, this time with the rainbow maned mare joining him.

“How could you insinuate that I have any form of interest in that barbaric sort of thing?! I am a lady of class and elegance, I wouldn’t even think-“ the fashionista began, but a snort from her farmer companion ended her sentence short.

“So mah rope jus’ so happened to disappear overnight and show up in yer house, is that what yer sayin’?” the room went dead silent after that comment, everyone in the room turning their gaze to the alabaster unicorn.

“I-I can explain, I swear, it’s not what you think!” she spouted, her entire face turning red and her eyes widening.

“I just met you, and I already really don’t want you to explain. I have enough nightmares, I don’t need any involving you, thank you very much miss class and elegance.” Said the only stallion present in the room. “Now while I purge the mental image from my mind, when can I get out of here, and where’s the nearest food joint? I wasn’t kidding when I said that I was starving.” He continued, his statement punctuated by a loud grumble from his stomach.

“The doc’ didn’t say much, but ah don’t think we asked him that.” Applejack replied, causing Rainbow to facehoof.

“Damn it, I knew I forgot to ask him something!” she exclaimed loudly. “Hold on guys, I’ll be right back, just gotta find the doctor and check that. Nopony try and make out with my brother while I’m gone!” she said jokingly as she disappeared out the door. The brother in question just laughed slightly as he lay back in his bed.

“Oh dear Celestia I've missed her.” He mumbled as he yawned. “It’s been too long since I’ve seen her, you know?” he asked, turning in the direction of her gathered friends, most of which were still in shock from the apple farmer’s previous statement about Rarity.

“Y-Yeah, I understand.” Twilight replied. “I feel the same way about my parents, with them living all the way in Canterlot I don’t get to see them very often.” Lightning just nodded sadly, causing her to panic. “Oh jeez, I-I’m sorry, Rainbow was telling us about you, and everything, a-and I guess I forgot about your parents, oh sweet Celestia I mentioned them again I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to!” she finished, looking somewhere between embarrassed and ashamed. The stallion just waved a hoof dismissively.

“It’s fine, no worries kid. It’s not like you know anything other than what Rainbow told you about them, mostly because she doesn’t know anymore to tell. I don’t get upset about it anyways, and besides, I don’t even know any of your names, and you’re all Rainbow’s friends, so I can’t really get mad at you.” He said, giving a weak smile as assurance that it was alright.

“Well, I-I guess that makes sense.” She replied, still seeming nervous and abashed. She was about to say something else when Rainbow suddenly burst back into the room, a small trail of rainbows behind her.

“Good news guys! The doc says that Lightning gets out of here tomorrow!” she exclaimed, smiling broadly.

“Tomorrow? Fucking damn it!”

Author's Note

Sorry about this one taking so long, combine a small case of writers block with a bunch of shit going on, and it's been hard to write this one. Anyway, here it is, in all of its glory! Don't expect many laughs from here on in, cause after this it all goes straight to pony hell for all involved.

Memories

The day passed slowly for Lightning, his impatience and inability to do nothing giving Rainbow’s friends some idea where she got it from. Introductions were made, and small talk was kept up to pass the time, the stallion becoming very interested in the elements of harmony and their stories of saving the world from impending doom.

“Well I’ll be.” He said with a grin as they finished recounting the tale of Discord’s return, fall, and how he returned again, though reformed. “I expected great things for you Rainbow, but nothing like this. I figured you’d be in the Wonderbolts by now, not off saving everyone every five minutes.” He ruffled the cyan mare’s mane for the fifth time that day with a soft smile. “I’m proud of you. Damn proud.” She smiled back at him, swatting his hoof away playfully.

“Yeah, well it’s your fault I never have any time anymore big guy. If you hadn’t said any of that crap about loyalty while I was growing up, I wouldn’t be one of the elements, and I probably would be a Wonderbolt by now!” she protested jokingly, poking him in the chest multiple times for emphasis. “You gotta make it up to me somehow, you know that right?” He chuckled softly as he rolled his eyes.

“Right, the guy who just woke up in the hospital owes the filly he helped become famous, I see how it is.” He said, putting on a deep, comical frown. “And here I thought you owed me for raising your ass, but I guess having free time is worth more, isn’t it?” his words were taken with a variety of seriousness from the rest of the group.

“No, not by a long shot! Family is always the most important thing, no matter”

“Twilight?” Fluttershy quietly interjected.

“Yes Fluttershy? What is it?” the librarian replied.

“I think he was joking again…” she said quietly, kicking her hoof softly as she looked down. Twilight simply stopped in her tracks, realizing that she had missed the joke for the fifth time that day.

“I’m just going to stop talking now, before I make an even bigger fool of myself.” She said as her eye twitched slightly. “I’m just gonna shut up and sit down, maybe take a quick nap, yeah, that sounds good.” Instead however, she stepped outside of the room for a moment. The rest of the group carried on, unaware that their intellectual friend was quietly breaking down outside. A loud gasp being the main cause of their ignorance.

“Ohmygosh, I almost forgot that you’re new to Ponyville, so as soon as you get out of the hospital you need to come down to Sugar Cube Corner, I work there with the Cakes, they’re really nice, they let me stay there with them and gave me a job and everything, and they have the cutest kids ever, their names are” a hoof over her mouth stopped her words, though she seemed to continue trying to speak through the makeshift gag.

“Don’t mind her, she’s a bit hyper. There’s nopony better for parties though.” Rainbow explained to her brother, who simply nodded his head.

“I take it that’s where she was going with that?” he asked, causing the pink mare to nod vigorously. “Well, if there’s food there you can bet your ass I will be too. I never miss out on free food.” He said with a laugh, though it seemed forced.

“Yeah, ah’ll bet. Anyway, sorry ya’ll, but ah gotta get back to the farm. It’s getting kinda late, an’ ya know ah gotta work in the morning.” Applejack said, tipping her hat as she walked towards the door. “Was nice meetin’ ya Lightnin’. Ah’ll see ya when yer out an’ about.”

“Nice metting you too AJ, see ya around.” He said, waving a hoof in her direction.

“I should go too, the animals really need me back home, and it’s getting dark out… I don’t like walking in the dark.” The timid pegasus stated, and slowly the others also decided it was time to leave and made their goodbyes, leaving Rainbow the only one left with the recovering unicorn.

“You should head home too kiddo, I’m sure you’ve got shit to do tomorrow, like work and all that.” Lightning said, taking a serious tone that Rainbow had heard before.

“No way big guy, I’m not leaving you here alone. I know you’d stay here if it was me, and besides, my boss won’t mind if I explain.” She said, her eyes suddenly narrowing. “Speaking of explaining, I think you’ve got some of your own to do. You never did say why you were arrested.” Her suspicious tone caused him to sigh heavily, looking away from her.

“I know, and there’s a reason for it. I’ll tell you eventually, I promise, but for now we need to focus on getting my shit together. After all, I can’t mooch off you and your friends forever, now can I?” he asked, his laugh almost non-existent. “But in all seriousness, I’ll be fine. Go on home kiddo, I’ll see you tomorrow, promise.” He said, giving a weak smile as he hugged her around the neck. She hugged him back, wrapping her hooves around him tightly, as if she were to let go he’d drift away like a leaf in the wind.

“Fine.” She muttered after a long while. “Fine, I’ll go. I’m not happy about it, though.” She said as she released her iron grip. “I’ll see you tomorrow Lightning.” She slowly headed for the door, looking back as if to say something before opening it and walking out.

Now alone, Lightning sighed heavily, looking down at his shaking hooves. “Yeah, tomorrow. For sure.” Images flashed by his eyes, memories of times passed. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake away the pictures that plagued his vision. Chains, shackling his body in place, but forcing his mind to wander beyond the darkened walls of his prison. A weapon, a means to an end, the end in question more than justifying the means as far as he was concerned, and even worth the punishment for his actions.

Blood. It was everywhere, staining his coat, spattering the walls, flowing in small rivers across the floor. He began to shake and hyperventilate as the scene changed around him. No longer did he lay in a hospital bed, protected by walls of stone. Now he was in a place that haunted his dreams, as it had for years, the blood running together to form messages of condemnation and blame. Was it his blood? He didn’t know anymore. He didn’t know much anymore, but he knew one thing for certain.

He was completely and utterly alone now.
_______________________________________________________________
]Far away in Canterlot, a young stallion sighed as he stood watch over the battlements. He was a member of Luna’s guard, and while he enjoyed his job, he missed his younger days and the ponies he’d shared them with. “All’s quiet on the western front!” he bellowed out, as per protocol since the changeling invasion, and receiving an “aye-aye” from his comrade on the other side of the castle. He looked out over the city, wondering where all of his old friends were now.

“What troubles thee, young Quicksilver?” a voice asked softly from beside him. He glanced to the side, recognizing the voice of Princess Luna.

“Nothing your majesty, just thinking of family.” He said, a small grin finding a way across his face briefly. “It’s been too long since I’ve heard from most of them, and I’m starting to miss them, crazy as they all were.” He laughed slightly.

“We were unaware that thou had a family.” Luna replied, keeping her voice soft. “If we’d known, we would have granted thee leave to visit them long ago.” Another laugh was drawn from the young earth pony.

“I appreciate that your highness, but I don’t even know where they are. We all went our separate ways a few years ago, and we haven’t really kept in touch since.” Quicksilver replied, looking towards the princess of the night again. “But we all agreed that we’d go see our big brother Lightning after he got out of the dungeons.” He snorted slightly, looking down and shaking his head. “Even though none of us even knew when that was gonna be. I’m sure he’s out now though.” The princess sat down beside her guardian, looking over the city with him.

“Why was he imprisoned? Surly any relative of yours is just as much a law-abiding citizen.” She commented.

“I don’t know. None of us did, but whatever it was it couldn’t have been that bad. I know him enough to know that he’d never do anything too terrible.” He said, leaving his vision floor-bound. “But I miss him, you know? He and the others are all I’ve got. They’re all I’ve ever really had.” He glanced over to see his employer nodding solemnly.

“We do understand, and shall try to assist thee in any way we can.” She stated as she stood. “We shall see if our sister’s student Twilight Sparkle knows anything of this brother of yours, and from there the others.” She started to walk away, but stopped short and turned her head back towards the young guard. “Art thou not accompanying us?”

“Y-Yes your highness.” He replied, snapping a quick salute as he trotted over to the lunar princess. “I appreciate this princess, a lot.”

“Think nothing of it. No family should be separated as yours is.”

Author's Note

Sorry about this one taking so long guys, writers block's a bitch. Anyway, yeah, here it is. Don't worry guys, the rest of your OC's will get their own chapter(and Quicksilver will get a full one too since his part in this was kind of small), this was just some plot device that I realized I had. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys it!