Chapters I've got to get out of here. Right now. I'm not spending any more time with these bloodthirsty psychopaths, I'm not going to slip deeper into the abyss.
This place is fueled with anger, hatred, and, of course, the smell of blood slain from helpless victims. How I hadn't noticed for so long? Well, I guess I was so blinded in my own quest for happiness that I somehow ended up here. Must sound sick, huh? I could try to justify it, but it's no use.
I honestly don't know why I'm still here. Don't know where else to go, I guess. Well, who am I kidding, I do. Somewhere that's not here. Duh. But and can't be that easy, can it? Surely there will be heat. I can't deny that. But if it leads to a bigger corridor, I can take it. Anything to live a semi-normal, happy life. Really find myself, perhaps. I'm going to break free. Free from the chains of the people who put the bread down and kept me "safe." No decisions are on my part right now, just "do this" or "do that." In return, I get my basic provisions. Maybe the occasional gift. "Gift."
What the fuck is wrong with me? Well, I suppose I would've been in a much worse situation had I rejected. Or would I? It couldn't have been that bad, now that I think of it. Never mind, I'd rather not. Oh, what the hell is that?! Shit, I need to go.
"Lightbolt, up!" He heard a voice yell. Jumping out of bed, he quickly rolled up his possessions and saluted. He looked around to see the familiar dreary stormclouds that they seemed to frequent so often.
"Good to see you sir."
"Yeah, whatever," responded The Leader, a dark pony with menacing eyes. "Now I need you to go talk some sense into some fools who think they can challenge our authority. They're talking about killing us off or something like that." The pony smirked at the thought. He had a jet black coat that had scars all over; battle scars he wore proudly. His face was dominated by his angry expression that never seemed to fade. A dark, mysterious trail followed him, same as the others (when they were in form, of course.)
"You leave in 10 minutes. I will brief you on the location once you are ready. Now get into form, would you?"
"Yes sir," Lightbolt responded. He closed his eyes and looked down, transforming into what could be considered a completely different pony. His greyish azure coat shaded into a wicked black, his mane and tail went from its brilliant blue to fire and ashes, and his teeth morphed into bloody fangs. He put his armor on and snarled, The Leader nodding in approval. "Excellent," he said in a villainous voice.
Lightbolt was then left to his own thoughts. He pondered about how he could escape; he would have to go stealthily for sure, as there was no way he could take on all of them at once. But how?
“Okay, Lightbolt!” The leader said harshly, breaking his train of thought. “There they are, way out there in those pathetic makeshift tents. Get in there and scare them off by any means necessary. Take anything that may be useful as well, and get back up here.”
“I’m on it.” Lighbolt said. He quietly coasted down to under the treeline and started making his way towards the encampment. Perhaps they will have something of use stored up in there, he thought. Something that can be of use to me.
As he saw the tents come into view, he flew down, ducked behind a bush and scouted out the area: a few tattered tents sat scattered around a clearing, and in the center was a group of makeshift boxes. At the far end of the camp, he spotted two earth ponies conversing. That’s it? He thought. Well, I suppose I should go in. He heard rustling behind him, but didn’t think much of it.
“Get the fuck out of here, both of you!” His voice was of terrifying ferocity. The two earth ponies sat wide-eyed and in shock, unable to move. “This is your last and only warning! Now! Unless you would like to die, of course!” The ponies then dashed off as fast as they possibly could, not looking back once.
Once they were gone, Lightbolt started to feel a sorrowful feeling overcoming him, as he seriously doubted those two even wanted any trouble. The Leader had a notable reputation of ordering his ponies to terrorize innocents.
He reluctantly traipsed around the clearing looking for salvageable materials and cleared the area, but was then brutally bowled over by an inexplicable force.
“Ssssssshit!” He shrieked in pain. Unable to move, he looked to his left flank to see a brutal, grisly gash.
“Lightbolt, you’ve been doing a great service to us,” he heard a wickedly familiar voice say quietly. “But unfortunately, we don’t need you anymore. I am terribly sorry.” With that, he felt an excruciating blow to the face and nothing else.
What seemed to be green leaves started to come into the view of Lightbolt’s eyes, albeit very slowly. Soon he could start to hear the sounds of birds chirping and a seemingly distant conversation. As he started to regain feeling, however, he started to seethe in pain from his wounds. He tried looking around amidst the agony, noticing his body was back to its original form. But he wasn’t able to think much more than that due to the extreme pain in his head, and he sat there incessantly in misery, eventually slipping back into unconsciousness.
The second time his eyes opened, things were undeniably clearer. He was able to make out that he was still in the same general area he was knocked out, or at least he assumed. After much hesitation, Lightbolt cautiously moved his head to get a better view of his surroundings; the same deserted camp was vaguely in view through a thicket of bushes, and the area was surrounded by the same dense forest.
“Ugh,” he sighed in pain, but also in relief. Well, it happened. Not exactly the way he planned, but it did. He was free, presumably at least.
Lightbolt could feel a small wave of serenity flow over him, despite his aching body, and let out a small smile as he lied there. “I’m free…I’m free…” He whispered ever so quietly, embracing the moment, The Leader unwittingly giving him the greatest gift of all.
Feeling a flash of confidence, Lightbolt gingerly tried moving his right back leg, and then his injured left. Surprisingly, it only caused a small amount of pain to flow through his bones. With that in mind, he steadily attempted to rise. At first an excruciating throbbing coused through his nerves, but once he was fully up and leaning against the coarse bark of a tree for support, the pain subdued considerably. He took the chance to take a good look at his wounds; his left back leg was still marred by a large, bloody gash, but the swelling had gone down. Other than that, he only had a few bruises and presumably a hoove print in the face. His large wings seemed to be relatively unscathed. "I'm a lucky bastard," he mumbled.
Lighbolt first went in the camp and grabbed some materials, and then hobbled along into the deep forest dragging the stuff, being careful not to fall. Eventually, he came along a small pristine stream and sighed when he realized how thirsty he was. Taking big gulps from the stream, he decided to set up camp in the direct vicinity. By my decision, he thought happily.
Lightbolt started to organize the materials he took from the camp: a roll of hay, some kind of game-like meat, a small metal canteen, and a tent.
"Nice," He exclaimed, but then immediately silenced himself to avoid attracting attention. It was too late however, and his heart skipped a beat when he heard a vicious snarl honing in closer and closer. A large gray timberwolf broke through the underbrush, fangs showing, and barreled towards him. "No! Please don't!" Defensless Lightbolt yelped before curling up on the ground and bracing for inevitable impact.
But to his suprise, the bloodthirsty beast leaped right over him and engaged combat with something else; Lightbolt whipped around to see it was a dark pony of his size with that black coat and ashes as a mane.
"Holy shit..." He murmured in shock as the wolf brutally ripped out the pegasus's jugular, leaving him lifeless on the ground in a mess of gore. Growling deeply, the wolf quickly whipped around to face the blue pegasus and slowly prowled towards him.
"H-hey..." Stuttered Lightbolt as calmly as he could, still stunned. "Do you w-want some, uh... Food?" The wolf's ears shot up and a more friendly expression grew on his face, clearly not intent on beating Lighbolt to a pulp.
"H-hang on just a moment," he said as he scrambled over to his supplies and pulled out some deer meat. "T-there ya go."
The wolf slowly approached the food and sniffed the food tentatively. Obviously approving, he snarfed it down. Then, to Lightbolt's surprise, he actually came over, licked him a few times, and plopped down by his side. Hmm, guess I'm a natural, he supposed.
Feeling relieved and actually somewhat comforted by the wolf's presence, Lightbolt started thinking out loud about the issue at hand. "I need to get the hell out of here before they send more, sooner or later they will find out about that guy and..." He heard the wolf whining lightly, making him wonder.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked inquisitively. The wolf got up and nudged Lightbolt, a sad expression on his face.
"Oh, you want more food?" The wolf thought for a second, and then shook his head, nudging Lightbolt again.
"Oh... You can understand me!" The wolf nodded, and then stood saluting.
"Ah... You want to... Stay with me...?"
He nodded vigorously, a happy expression on his face.
"Oh, of course! And... Thank you so much for, you know, saving me. I'm in a bit of a tough situation if you can see," he said, pointing to his left side. The wolf nodded once more, and then bolted off.
Lightbolt sat there in confusion for a few minutes, wondering if he would come back. But sure enough he did, carefully balancing a mix of forest herbs. He brought it over to Lightbolt and used his large paw to point at the leg wound.
"Ah, I see..." Lightbolt cautiously put the blend of leaves on his leg, feeling an instant pain relief.
"You're a lifesaver!" He declared, the gray wolf smiling cheerfully. "Now, once I heal up fully we need to keep moving and get to another part of Equestria. Somewhere safe from those guys."
Over the next two days, Lightbolt taught his new friend, who he decided to name Scout, to only attack aggressors. He certainly didn't want to cause problems wherever he ended up. On the third day,feeling fully healed, he came to the decision to mobilize. After much traveling with his companion, he came across a sign:
Ponyville: 5 miles.
Saturday started as just another normal day in Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle was reading a book while Pinky Pie rambled on about something irrelevant to her, Rarity was teaching Apple Jack about good color combinations for clothes, Rainbow Dash was taking one of her naps and Fluttershy was tenderly caring for her pets at her cottage outside of town. But then, for no apparent reason, Pinky suddenly shot up and bolted off.
"About time," Twilight murmured, not paying attention to exactly where Pinky was running.
She galloped as fast as she could through Mane street and over the horizon, her eyes widening a disproportionate amount. Finally she stopped - in front of a grey-azure Pegasus stallion with a wolf companion. He had a glorious blue mane that streaked gracefully down his neck, and an expression that was both confident yet sincere. But Pinky didn't give a hoof about what he looked like; she just wanted to greet him to Ponyville.
She sat there for a moment, grinning ear to ear.
Lightbolt, somewhat confused, decided to introduce himself. "Oh, hello, my name-"
"New pony!" She chanted and then sped off so fast that the stallion couldn't even respond.
"Hmm... Come on Scout!" the stallion called, and then carried on his way to Ponyville.
"New pony! New pony! New pony!" The yelling was distant at first, but it grew louder and soon everypony could hear it.
"Come on everyone! Get the balloons ready! Make some cake! QUICK!" Pinky Pie shouted with glee as she bounced around.
"Simmer down, partner!" Said a voice. Said voice belonged to Apple Jack, of course. "Now, I understand yer excited and all, but you need to stop jumpin' around like that!"
"Okay... But he's going to be here soon!"
Apple Jack looked at Pinky intentively. "Wait, it's a boy pony? Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit! You don't see many of those feller's 'round these parts."
"Oh, well I sure hope he's classy," said Rarity.
Twilight Sparkle chimed in. "Wow, your right AJ, this book says male pony's are only 1 in -"
"WHO CARES!?" shouted Pinkie Pie as Twilight rolled her eyes. "Now we need to give a warm welcome to whoeverpony he may be."
Then, the stallion finally walked into town. He observed the place was very nice looking, with colorful, quaint houses surrounding a central plaza. Lightbolt was expecting a quiet little place; what he got was the complete opposite when he entered the central square. Pinkie Pie, of course, ran right up to him.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! What's your name. I'm Pinky Pie. Welcome to Ponyville. And what a cute little pet you have. Weeeeeeee!" Scout smirked at the thought of him being called cute.
"Oh! Hello, nice to meet you all." He was thankful for the extremely warm welcome, but it sure came unexpected. "My name's Lightbolt."
Rarity came up to him with wide eyes. "May I say you are dashing!"
"Why, thank you," he said, blushing slightly.
Then, there was a soft voice that came from the back of the loosely packed crowd of other ponies. "Excuse me please, oh, I'm so sorry, I just really need to get through... if that's okay..."
A mare with a yellow face and pink mane timidly popped out in front of the crowd. "Girls? There you are... Oh, I'm so sorry for disturbing, umm..."
Then, she noticed the newcomer. She froze when she first saw him, but then nervously tried to introduce herself. But she couldn't muster out any words.
"Well hello, I'm Lightbolt," the stallion said, bridging the silence.
She ended up just standing there blushing, barely able a form a shy smile. She then proceeded dash off.
Lightbolt then sat there momentarily thinking about the shy mare, but was brought back quickly.
"So that was Fluttershy," said Twilight. "As you can see, she's a little, well, shy. Oh, and I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"Nice to meet you."
The other ponies came up to fully introduce themselves. Pinkie Pie sat there and watched with her wide grin.
"Howdy partner" said AJ. "Name's Apple Jack. Nice meeting you."
"Nice to meet you too."
"Hello darling, my name's Rarity, fashionista. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Well met."
"Hey, wait a minute," Twilight Sparkle said. "Where's Rainbow Dash? Hmm, I've got to go find her. How disrespectful of her to ignore a new pony."
The ponies conversed for a few minutes while waiting, and then Rainbow Dash finally came over with persuasion from Twilight.
"So um. .? What was it you brought me over for Twilight?," she said, eyes half closed. "What can be SO important that you have to wake me up from my nap?"
"Well if you would just look right there, you would see," Twilight said impatiently.
"Ohhhhh," the cyan pony said, noticing Lightbolt straight in front of her. "Well, nice to meet you, um..."
"Lightbolt."
Rainbow Dash gave him a funny look. "You must think your hot stuff, huh?"
"Uhh... What?" Asked confused Lightbolt.
"Hehe, just giving you a hard time. It's just your name. Lightbolt? You must be some racer, right?
He in fact was, or at least used to be when he was young. "Yes, I've had my share of races," He said, level-voiced as possible. He tried to change the subject; he didn't want to think about back then.
"Hey, do any of you know a place around here somepony could get a good lunch?"
"Hey, how about you come on down to my old families orchard?" Applejack exclaimed. "You can have some delicious apples, on me. As a welcoming present."
"Oh, that's awfully generous of you, I'd love to," said Lightbolt, genuinely surprised by how friendly everypony was.
“Well great, come on then.”
The forest outside of Ponyville was of brilliant colors that day. The variety of shades on the trees seemed infinite, the wildlife was pouncing about everywhere, and the streams gently trickled through their course. Lightbolt saw it as a great place to relax after such a long, eventful day. He wandered through the forest and watched the wildlife intently. He wanted to fly, but decided to refrain as he didn't want to disturb the little birds. But as he walked along the trail, he saw something in the distance. He couldn't quite discern what it was at first, but as he drew closer it became clear; it was a quiant cottage surrounded by trees. He was instantly intrigued. He kept his distance though, as he didn't want to disturb anyone who might inhabit it. But as he neared closer, he saw a familiar face.
He quickly found cover behind a bush to avoid alerting her. He didn't even know why he cared so much about staying hidden. Oh, I just did it to keep from scaring her, he convinced himself, remembering how shy she was from their encounter in the square. He watched her from behind the bush intently as she walked around her yard, taking care of what appeared to be many animals. She seemed so gentle, kind, beautiful...
Jesus Hooves Christ, I've got to get these thoughts out of my head, he scolded himself. I've only seen her once, for Celestia’s sake. Ugh, I'm such a creepy stalker.
He then decided to leave the area. But as he was walking away, something heavy-an apple perhaps-fell from a tree and hit him in the face.
"Ouch!" He yelled.
The mare squeaked in fear when she heard the sound, and then darted her eyes toward the source. Seeing Lightbolt, she freaked out even more and scrambled to find cover behind a bush.
Nice job, dumbass! He thought to himself. He sort of awkwardly stood in place for 10 seconds or so, looking at the ground, unsure what to do. Well he did know, actually; he should of gotten the hell out of there. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
Then, he looked up to see her head sticking up shyly from her hiding spot, much to his surprise. He slowly walked over.
"I-I-I'm sorry," she stuttered quietly. An awkward silence ensued. For some reason, Lightbolt felt really nervous too, more than he had been for a long while.
"Uh… Why?" Lightbolt responded, looking into her lovely cyan eyes.
Fluttershy let out a small, uneasy smile. "It’s just... I, um, shouldn't of ran like that, earlier. But, you see, I'm very... nervous around new ponies sometimes.... Pleas-" Her voice faded off.
"Don't worry about it, I understand," Lightbolt said. He stood there silently for a few seconds before continuing. "Well… I suppose I should be leaving now, sorry to startle you." He instantly wish he could take it back, but what Fluttershy said next made him change his mind.
"Oh... No, p-please stay. If you want."
"Oh... Sure,” he said, very surprised by her response.
Another moment of silence began. Fluttershy nervously rubbed her front hooves together and emerged completely from her hiding spot.
Lightbolt looked around him, trying to find a conversation starter. "Wow, that's quite a lot of animals you have here."
“Oh, thank you!” Fluttershy said enthusiastically, perking up. “See, I run a bit of a nursery at my house where I heal hurt animals.”
Lightbolt was thrown off and surprised by her instant shift in voice, which was in stark contrast of her earlier tone, but he tried not to show it. “Wow, that’s really nice,” he responded. “I’ve always had an interest in wild animals.”
"Oh, that's great to hear. I can show you around, if you like."
As they walked around and she introduced him to all of her animals, Fluttershy asked Lightbolt a question that she had been wondering.
“So, um… Where are you staying here in ponyville? If you are okay with telling me, of course."
Lightbolt came to the sudden realization that he didn't actually have any place. He had gotten to Ponyville in such a hurry, and the busy day kept him from looking for property. "Oh, right... I have a place for tonight," he lied.
Fluttershy wasn't convinced. “Are you sure? Y-you can be honest with me, really," she responded tentatively.
"Well..... No. Not really. I mean, I can get a hotel room, or sleep in the forest. I'll be okay."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that… Would you, um, care to... Sleep a-at my place? I mean, just until you get your hooves on the ground." She smiled timidly.
Lightbolt's mind was a race of thoughts, and his heart was beating faster than ever before. Oh my... Is she on the same page as me? Just being polite? What to say...
He finally responded. "Oh, um, that's okay. Thanks for the offer though." Smooth.
“Really, I insist. I would hate to see you sleeping out in the cold. Stay at my place. I mean... If you want to, of course…"
Lightbolt looked around for a second. "Oh, well, okay."
"Great, please come inside. Oh! And I can't believe I forgot, how rude of me. My name's Fluttershy."
But then, Lightbolt heard something in the distance and stood still. It was thumping-no, clopping, and it grew louder with each passing second. He gazed out into the dark forest to see a familiar candy pink mare speeding towards them.
Coming to an abrupt stop right in front of the two, Pinkie Pie panted there for a good minute while Lighbolt and Fluttershy stared at each other flustered. Finally, she caught her breath. "There you are, I've been looking all over for you! Didn't expect to find you here... But anyways, come on, you're going to be late for the PAR-TAY!!!"
"Party?" Lightbolt replied.
"Yea, of course! What else would I mean? Every new pony has got to have a party!"
"Oh, okay then!" He said. Pinkie Pie bolted off in glee.
"Hey, wait up!" He called out. "Come on Fluttershy, we gotta catch up to her." He jumped up in the air, ready to fly off.
"Oh, um, I'm not sure... I'm not exactly... I mean, I broke my wing. Yes, so I um, so I can't fly right now. Heh, what a shame.” She looked down with an embarrassed look on her face.
Lightbolt could see right through her white lie, but he decided to go along with it. "Oh, well we can walk then."
"That would be great, thank you." She let out a sigh of relief.
As they walked to town together, Lightbolt contemplated why he felt so attracted yet nervous towards the mare. It's almost like she has a missing part of me, the part that was taken from me at such a young age... Ugh, there I go again getting all dramatic. It's just a phase, I'm sure. Now I just need to go and enjoy the party.
"Hey, um, Fluttershy, where is this party? Do you know?
"I think it is in the library," she responded. They went over to the building, which was cleverly built inside a large tree, and cracked the door open.
"SUPRISE!" The word echoed through the room as the lights flicked on and Lightbolt looked around to see nearly everypony in ponyville gathered around to celebrate.
"Oh, it's great that you made it!" Cheered Pinkie Pie ecstatically. The other mares came up to him and Fluttershy.
"Hah, we were wondering when you two would get here," remarked Rainbow Dash, giving Lightbolt a strange look. Twilight glared at Rainbow Dash, shaking her head slightly.
"Well, please help yourself to refreshments and have a great time!" Said Pinkie Pie, prancing off to go play Pin The Tail on the Pony.
"Awh, well aren't you two just so cute together," said Rainbow Dash, causing both Lightbolt and Fluttershy to blush.
"Oh... Well, we're just acquaintances," responded Lightbolt awkwardly after a long silence.
"Well I suppose we should leave you two "acquaintances" alone to talk, then," said Dash, giggling.
Pinkie Pie found out and said something, didn’t she. I guess she’s more clever than I first thought, Lightbolt contemplated.
After the others were gone, they both stood there for a while longer until Lightbolt spoke. "Hey, um, I'm going to get some fruit punch, do you want some?"
"Oh, that's alright, thanks for the offer though."
"Okay, I guess I'll be right back soon. I mean, unless you want to come," Lightbolt spit out.
"Oh that's okay, but I'll be right here."
"Alright, so, I'll be back in a minute." Lightbolt awkwardly walked off. Once again, real smooth, he thought, sulking. As he walked through the large crowd to the concessions, he passed by Rainbow Dash and heard her whisper to him loudly.
"Hey, Lightbolt, come over here. I wanna talk to you about something." Lightbolt walked over to her.
Rainbow Dash looked at him aggressively."I just need to ask, what are you thinking?"
Lightbolt stared at Rainbow Dash, confused. "What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean. I see the way you look at Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash responded, seemingly aggravated.
"Sorry, I really don't know what you're talking about."
Rainbow Dash laughed, losing her angry tone. "Just messing with you. You're a pretty bad liar, I have to say. But really, why do you like her?"
"You know, I don't really want to talk about it," said Lightbolt.
"Oh, you like her even more than I thought!"
Lightbolt blushed. "Well, I suppose I need to be going now," he announced, and then continued on his way to the concession table.
"Wait, Lightbolt," Rainbow Dash said before he was out of earshot. He turned around. "Sorry about being so pushy. Really.”
Lightbolt smiled and gave her a forgiving look. "Oh, it’s no problem. See you around," he said, and then made his way back to Fluttershy.
As Lightbolt neared where Fluttershy was standing, he noticed she was not alone; Twilight Sparkle was there talking to her, both of them completely unaware he was near. He attempted to blend into the crowd, getting close enough to hear their conversation.
"So Fluttershy, what do you think about the new pony?"
"Oh, um... Actually Twilight, there’s something I want to talk to you about, It’s about him… Please just don’t tell anyone..."
"I won’t, you have my word."
Fluttershy hesitated. "Um, well, okay. I think I may have a… Crush."
Lightbolt's heart skipped a beat. Did I really just hear that? He pulled away to get a grip on the situation.
Wow... So... What to do now? I guess just go on like I never heard it... Or not... Agh, I don't know. But I wouldn't be in this kind of situation if I wasn't such a stalker.
But on second thought, it is good to know, I guess. I like her and she likes me back... Wow, this is all moving so quickly. Just this morning, she was too nervous to speak to me...
As Lightbolt went deeper and deeper into his thoughts, he suddenly remembered he needed to actually get back to the person he was thinking about. I'll just go with the flow, I guess. Nothing stupid or crazy.
Fluttershy was all alone. Twilight was long gone, and she was standing there anxiously waiting for Lightbolt to come back. Looking down despairingly, she began to give up hope that he would even return as the minutes ticked by.
Well, I should have known it was all too good to be true. A pony like him wouldn't concern himself with someone as timid and weak as me. Heck, he's probably found somepony else already.
Fluttershy attempted to end her gloomy thoughts. Not now, not in public. Save it for when you're alone, you don't want to embarrass yourself. It was no use, however, and she could feel sorrow sweeping over her entire body. I thought for a moment... Maybe Lightbolt really cared about me. How could I be so foolish? Really...
A voice pierced through her depressive thoughts, one she recognized to be Lightbolt's. "Fluttershy? Are you okay?" Fluttershy looked up, tears nearly ready to swell from her eyes, to see it was indeed him.
She felt a mixture of surprise, happiness and embarrassment as she saw him appear before her. "Oh, u-um, I'm okay."
Lightbolt didn't know exactly what she was so sad about but he still felt sympathetic, so he walked up and imbraced her in a gentle hug. Fluttershy's heart warmed at his show of affection. She lifted her head up slightly and shakily brought one of her hooves up to hug him too.
"S-sorry," she murmured. That's all she could think of to say. It was the word she seemed to default to every time.
"You don't need to be sorry."
Fluttershy then really came to the sense that she was nearly crying at a party. "I think we s-should go outside. If that's okay with you, of course."
"Of course it is," Lightbolt said with a smile. They both walked to the door, Fluttershy's eyes plastered to the ground to keep people from seeing her red face. But as she walked, she did feel a little bit of contentment course through her body. You know, maybe I was wrong after all. Maybe he does care about me. Just maybe .
As they went out the door into the fresh air, Fluttershy felt relief. It was one of those cool, brisk evenings where everything was so quiet and peaceful yet full of life.
Fluttershy spoke once they were outside. "Sorry..."
No! Stop it! Stop saying that! She scolded herself. "I mean, um, I just got a little nervous, I guess. I mean, sad. I-I don't know."
“It’s alright,” Lightbolt said soothingly.
"Okay." Fluttershy paused. "I j-just... Thought y-you left me back there, for a second, but I was wrong of course. But never mind, there's really a bigger problem..."
"Oh," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to take so long to get back to you, I just got caught up in a little conversation. I'm sorry."
"Alright," Fluttershy said with a bashful smile.
Lightbolt started to feel really strange comforting her, considering just about a week ago he was terrorizing ponies like Fluttershy. He quickly brought himself away from the thought, however. That was the past, after all.
Feeling a bit more confident, Fluttershy spoke again. "So, do y-you want to go back into the party?"
"Sure."
The rest of the night went much more smoothly. Lightbolt and Fluttershy met up with the others and they talked and got to know each other. Fluttershy didn’t speak very much, but she listened actively and closely. The ponies conversed well into the night, but eventually the crowds started to thin out.
“Well, I suppose I better be hitting the hay," said Rainbow Dash with a yawn. "Lots of work to do tomorrow."
Twilight gave her a dubious look, knowing that the cyan mare spent much of her time napping instead of being productive.
"I should probably be getting to bed too, 'night y'all," said Applejack.
"Indeed, me too. Good talking to you, Lightbolt," chimed in Rarity.
As the others left, Pinkie Pie suddenly bolted her head up ecstatically, her grin growing bigger than normal. "Oh my... The party is going to have to end soon! I've got to go strut my stuff!" With that she hurried off, leaving just Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Lightbolt.
Twilight smiled nervously, unsure what to do next, unsure if she should even trust this newcomer with sensitive Fluttershy...
You know what, I'm being too protective, she told herself. "Um... Oh darn, I need to send a letter to Celestia! I'll see you two tomorrow!" She walked off gawkily, leaving the two alone.
"So, um, what do you want to do now?" Asked Fluttershy quietly.
Lightbolt raised a hoof up and scratched his head. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting pretty tired.".
"Oh, I am too. Do you want head back over to my place now? I have a guest bed, of course," she said sheepishly.
"That would be great. Thank you."
But as they were about to exit the library, Pinkie Pie popped her head out in front of them. "You two are leaving already? But I never even got to ask you where you're from, Lightbolt!" She said enthusiastically. "I like to know about everypony!"
"Oh, right..." Lightbolt said weakly. "...I'm just in a bit of a hurry, I can talk to you tomorrow. Thank you very much for the party, though."
"Oh, pleeeeease stay!" Pinkie started bouncing around.
"I really wish I could, but..."
"Pleeeeeeeeease!"
Suddenly, Fluttershy's expression turned severe and her eyes locked on to Pinkie, seemingly forcing the pink mare to look at her too.
"He doesn't want to talk about it, Pinkie Pie." Her voice was still soft, but it possessed an unusually harsh, stern tone.
Pinkie Pie's huge smile started to dim. "Oh, of course," she said faintly, and slowly started to back off.
Fluttershy's expression then turned sorrowful and her voice even quieter than usual. "I'm sorry Pinkie Pie."
"It's okay," she said, walking off somberly.
Where the hell did that come from? Lightbolt thought, and then turned to Fluttershy. "Thank you for clearing that up... I don't really like talking about my past, it makes me uncomfortable."
"I-I don't like to either," she agreed.
The orange moon illuminated the narrow trail through the woods, guiding Lightbolt and Fluttershy to the cottage. The walk so far had been silent, as they were both enjoying the serenity of the forest at night. Well, at least Fluttershy was; Lightbolt was too busy contemplating how he was going to introduce her to his wolf friend, Scout. He could just see calling for the wolf and him coming through the trees with a dead animal in his jaws. Surely Fluttershy would break down at that sight. It was a pretty crappy idea to let the wolf roam free around the forest while he was with Fluttershy, now that Lightbolt thought about it.
But suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Scout's head peering up from behind the bush, winking. Then, the large gray wolf casually strided out in front of them.
"Ahh!" Fluttershy squeaked, her eyes widening in fear as she jumped behind Lightbolt, grabbing onto his sides.
"Don't worry Fluttershy, he's tame. Remember when he was in the square with me?"
"Oh, o-of course," she said. The wolf came up to the quivering pegasus and sniffed her contemplatively.
"H-h-hi," Fluttershy stuttered nervously, the wolf right up in her face. He gave her a big lick and then plodded back over to Lightbolt, Fluttershy mustering a nervous laugh.
"See, he's nothing to be afraid of." With the following sentence, he glared sharply at Scout. "And he won't hurt any of your animals." The wolf nodded.
"Alright. This may sound rude but, is i-it okay if he sleeps outside? My animals might be afraid of him."
"He'd be fine with that," Lightbolt said. The wolf sulked unhappily, and they continued towards Fluttershy's cottage.
Once they arrived, Fluttershy opened the door for her guest and he walked in. It was quaint, homey place with wood siding and light green floors. Around the walls of the living room were a stove, some couches, and what appeared to be little staircases for animals to come in the house. There weren't many pictures hung up, though.
“What a nice place you have here,” complimented Lightbolt.
“Oh t-thank you. It’s pretty humble, really,” she said. ”But please, come upstairs.” Lightbolt followed the shy mare up the stairs, through the hallway, and to a door.
"So, here's the guest room. I guess I'll, um, leave you to get comfortable." With that, she smiled shyly and walked to her own room. After her door clicked shut, Lightbolt could hear Fluttershy give out a small squeak of joy, causing him to chuckle lightly.
Lightbolt didn't realize how exhausted he really was until he lay his head on the soft, cushiony pillow. He smiled lightly, embracing the warm sheets, and quickly fell into a deep, long sleep.
"Look out there baby... Isn't it beautiful?"
"Yes it is," responded a small Pegasus filly, looking out into the billowing, colorful clouds that gently graced the sky.
"Soon, you'll be out there with all of the others."
"Mom? I don't... I don't know if want to go. Not yet." The filly tentatively nestled her head against the mare's chin.
The mare sighed. "You need to honey. You can't stay under my wing forever."
"But it looks scary out there, mom."
"But there's much joy to be had. Now, please be strong for me."
"Okay..."
"Great. Now please, get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow." The mare gave her a soft kiss on the cheek and walked with her to the filly's room.
"Do you think they will be nice me, mom?" The filly asked as they walked.
"Of course they will, sweetie."
"Will I be able to keep up with them?"
"Yes, of course."
"But I haven't spent much time around other ponies yet. What do I say? Oh, mom, I'm scared."
The white mare gently tucked her into bed. "You will know, trust me."
"Okay." The filly got more comfortable under the sheets.
The mare began to sing a divine, peaceful melody as the filly slowly dozed off.
'Out in the clouds
Beyond the haze
Lies a young angel
With love and grace.
She looks around
For the swan
To see it flying
Until it's gone.
The light blows out
Into the wind
And so she thinks
The dream is gone.
But really she knows
It's in no way true
All will come through
The morning gloom.'
Once her eyes were completely shut, she could feel her mom's gentle lips touch her forehead.
"I will always love you. Never forget that."
---
The filly had long ago dazed off, hugging tightly to her soft pillow, when suddenly her eyes jolted open due to a muffled thud. She lay there breathing heavily, her eyes bolting around. 'It was just a bad dream,' she comforted herself. But still, something felt off.
She gingerly removed the covers from her body, bieng careful not to make a peep, and gently placed her hooves on the soft, wispy floor. Still, everything looked normal. On the other side of the room was the same old window looking out towards the grand structures of Cloudsdale. Her small desk was under it, and to her right was the door. Except it was cracked open. The filly faintly remembered hearing the door closing lightly before she fell asleep, just like every night.
Taking a deep breath, the filly nervously tip-hoofed towards the open door to investigate. As she slowly entered into the dark, eerie hallway, she heard a door creak, causing her to jump in fear.
Once she had calmed down, the young pegasus turned a corner in the hallway to see her mom's door cracked open slightly.
"Mom?" She called in a fearful, almost inaudible voice.
Nothing.
"Mom?" She said it a little louder this time, but still nothing.
She walked up and opened the door nervously. There was nothing but a small pool of blood on the bed where her mom should've been sleeping and a colt about her age standing there, horrified.
'Run,' the colt mouthed right before he was shrouded by a thick layer of black smoke.
And then nothing.
Lightbolt woke up to sweet rays of sunshine beaming through the window of the guest room, seemingly inviting him to enjoy the beautiful day to the fullest. Stretching, he slowly made his way through the hallway. Downstairs, there were all kinds of animals eating breakfast happily. As he watched, he saw Fluttershy pouring food in one of the bowls, noticing a fatigued expression on her face.
"Hey, Fluttershy," he said as he walked down the staircase.
Fluttershy jumped a little has his voice. "Oh, hi," she said quietly, the bowl topping off with food.
Lightbolt slowly made his way over to her. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired." Her eyes failed to look up at first.
"Alright... Well, do you need any help with anything?"
"Oh, I'm fine." Her eyes finally met his, a slightly contemplative look crossing her face for just a moment.
"Well then, I suppose I should get out of your mane," Lightbolt said with a weak laugh. "See you soon, thank you for all of the help. "
She nodded, and as Lightbolt slowly walked towards the door, Fluttershy watched him closely. Once he was gone, she let out a small gasp she had been holding in.
"There's no way..."
After checking on Scout, Lightbolt felt like taking a nice flight around Ponyville to get his bearings. Of course, for a pegasus as fast as himself, that flight went by very quickly as he whizzed above the town square, Sweet Apple Acres, and the dark Evertree Forest. As he came in for landing on a low-lying cloud, he saw a familiar cyan pegasus appear before him.
"Not bad," said the pegasus, brushing her colorful mane back from her eyes.
Lightbolt grinned. "If you say so, Rainbow Dash."
"But not as good as the..." The cyan mare paused, doing a quick flip around Lightbolt before finishing. "Best flyer in Equestria!"
"And who would that be?" Lightbolt said jokingly.
Rainbow Dash snickered. "Well, let me show you! We'll race from here to the Town Hall."
"Oh, why not."
Dash grinned. "Get ready to eat my dust."
The two lined up on the cloud, focusing on the tall building in the distance as Rainbow Dash counted down.
"Three...
Two...
One...
One half...
One quarter..."
Lightbolt sighed, growing slightly impatient of her shenanigans.
"GO!"
The two charged off through the sky, wind quickly rushing through their coats. Rainbow Dash took an early lead, but eventually Lightbolt edged around her as she started to slow down from fatigue, much to her suprise. For the final dive, Rainbow Dash put all the effort she could to catching the speedy stallion, but ended up hitting her hooves on the roof just after Lightbolt did.
Rainbow Dash caught her breath, astonished at her defeat. "How... How could you have beat me?"
Lightbolt brushed a bead of sweat from his forehead. "That was fun," he said, panting.
Rainbow Dash continued. "But... But... This can't be right. You beat me in a race. How come I've never heard of you? Are you from a different kingdom?" She gasped at the thought.
"No," said Lightbolt, confused by the assumption.
"Where are you from, then? Because I'm the best flier in Equestria, and you..." She winced. "Beat me, so..."
Lightbolt didn't know what to say or how he was supposed to wiggle his way out of the situation. Surely even a pony like Rainbow Dash would be terrified if she found out that he used to be in the...
"So, where?" Rainbow Dash asked again after Lightbolt didn't respond.
"Yeah, you know, I'm just from around here. And I guess I've just never tried racing before, so I didn't know how good I was going to be," Lightbolt lied.
"Didn't you say you used to race when we were in the square?" Rainbow Dash questioned him.
"Just forget it," Lightbolt shot back, his voice more hostile than he intended.
"Okay, jeez." Rainbow Dash backed up, and a small silence ensued.
"Well, hey, at least Fluttershy will be impressed at your flying abilities."
Lightbolt smiled lightly. "Yeah, I guess. She doesn't seem like she likes flying a whole bunch, though."
"Yeah, well, that's a long story," Rainbow Dash said in defense of her friend.
"Oh." Lightbolt started to feel bad for even mentioning it.
Rainbow Dash changed the subject. "You know... We could use another pegasus to help with the weather. Would you be interested? It has good pay."
Lightbolt pondered the idea. He could really use a job, and he knew weather jobs could be hard to come by. "Sure, I'll take it." He had a faint thought that it may be a bad idea, but ignored it.
"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash said excitedly. "I'll teach you the ropes tomorrow."
Looking out into the sky, she noticed a large, dark cloud in the distance. "I've gotta go do weather duty. See ya later!" She sped off as fast as she first appeared, leaving nothing but a long rainbow streak that slowly dissipated.
As Rainbow Dash sped around banishing the storm clouds, a cream yellow pegasus struggled to catch up with her and gain her attention. Her soft voice wasn't helping matters, and she was about to give up when the cyan pegasus finally caught sight of her and turned around.
"What's up, Flutters? You don't look so good," she said, noticing her tired looking eyes.
Fluttershy landed softly on a cloud next to her friend and sighed. "Um, sorry about disturbing you, I just really need to talk to you about something. I've been looking all over for you."
"Are you okay?" Asked concerned Rainbow Dash.
"Just tired. See, there's something I-I need to talk to you about, involving Lightbolt."
Rainbow Dash just laughed, jumping to conclusions. "Yes I know, you have a crush on him. It's pretty obvious."
An embarrassed look grew on Fluttershy's face. "Oh, no, that's not it. Well, I do... But that's not the point." She paused.
"Well, what is it then?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"Well... Um..."
"For Celestia's sake, just say it."
"Okay..." Fluttershy took a deep breath and then let it all come out. "Y-you see, last night, I had another one of my flashbacks, and I couldn't sleep after it, which is why I'm so tired. But anyway..." Fluttershy's voice grew shaky. "It was about when my mom was... Taken away. And there was that colt there who I think saved my life before he was surrounded by black mist. You remember that story, r-right?"
Rainbow Dash respectfully nodded.
Fluttershy's voice had a mixture of excitement and uncertainty. "So, as it all started to come back to me...I now remember that the colt had a blue coat and mane. I swear, Rainbow Dash... I think it might've been Lightbolt."
Rainbow Dash was dumbfounded at first as she let the words sink in, but she tried to think as logical as possible. "But Fluttershy, there's no way that colt could have survived it. That wasn't just some normal terror group, those were the Fire Devils." They both knew that they were the most dangerous, ruthless group of crime-doers in all of Equestria. "And besides, don't you think he would've remembered you?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I-I'm just over over-thinking it."
Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Well, you never know. There's still a chance it may be him."
"Alright. Just please don't tell anyone else what I told you."
"Of course."
"Thank you, Dash." To her surprise, Fluttershy pulled her in for a hug. It was like they were fillies again, Rainbow Dash comforting Fluttershy after something bad happened to her. "I'm so happy to have a friend like you."
"Me too, Fluttershy," said smiling Rainbow Dash.
"Well, anyway, I think I messed up this morning. My tiredness was probably seen as rude by Lightbolt. I need to make things right..."
"Don't worry about it too much."
"Okay," responded Fluttershy. "See you later." Certainly not the best flyer and weighed down with fatigue, the pegasus struggled to fly all of the back to her cottage across town before deciding to walk instead.
Rainbow Dash was then all alone in the air, her mind full of thoughts. She didn't know if she should be excited for Fluttershy or worried about her heart eventually being broken. But what she was thinking more about was whether Fluttershy was right about him being that mysterious colt that saved him. It would explain why he is so reluctant to talk about his past. Either way, they seemed to like each other, and Dash couldn't help but feel proud of her shy friend for charming such a pony.
But deep down, she could also feel something else...
Was it jealousy?