Lightning Rod

LIGHTNING ROD

ISSUE #06

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead.” Twilight woke me up after a long night of training, learning new spells, working in the library, and other fun stuff. I got off of my bed that was previously a couch before Twilight did a number on that thing. Twilight used her magic to revert it to its couch-like state.

“So what’s on the agenda today, Twilight?” I asked.

Twilight sighed, “Well, you’ve learned every spell you need to know, but we need to apply them. But first, breakfast.”

Twilight cooked up pancakes for breakfast. Time went relatively fast while eating those pancakes. We didn’t talk about anything. Twilight just ate her pancakes and gave me the occasional look, then a smile. I usually smiled back at her. Once breakfast was over, Spike woke up from his usual lengthy sleep, grabbed a few gems from the gem jar, said his good mornings to me and Twilight then proceeded to eat them. It was certainly a rough day for all of us, especially after the big chase. I didn’t feel that good as well. Even though she seemed well energized, I still had a feeling that Twilight wanted to cancel the lesson. But it’s a royal duty that she is performing. She has to torture herself, all in the name of the Princess and the good of my planet. As I thought that in the silence of Spike snacking on gems, I felt I needed to say something to her.

“Thank you for what you’re doing.” were the words that spilled out of my mouth.

“Gee, Thanks, Rod.” Twilight was shocked by the random moment.

“I felt like you needed to hear that.”

Twilight laughed, “I did need that. I’ve been training you for four days, making sure you will fulfill your calling to go back to your world with the Element of Magic. It’s something I have to do. Yesterday was hard on all of us. But today will be a lot easier.”

“How so, Twilight?” Spike asked before munching on another gem.

“We’re going to have fun. We’re gonna start off in Sweet Apple Acres for target practice. Applejack wants to get rid of some bad apples that are rotting in the barn. I thought we could help and get in some target practice in the process.”

“Welcome to the ranch there, Rod.” I was received warmly by Applejack at the gates of Sweet Apple Acres, “So I reckon you’re here to take care of our rotten apples?”

Twilight answered, “Indeed we are. We’re also giving him some target practice.”

“I see where you’re going with this, Twi.” commented Applejack. “Tim is packin’ up all them apples and we’ll head out to the range.”

We walked over to the barn and found Tim loading up the cart full of baskets of nearly rotten apples. There was a buff red stallion linking his harness with the cart.

“Hey, Rod.” Tim greeted me, “I hope you had a good rest last night.”

“I did. Thanks.”

“Mornin’, Rod.” The red pony introduced himself, “The name’s Big Macintosh.”

Applejack noted, “He’s a pony of few words, but he is the hardest workin’ pony around these parts.”

Big Mac responded with just an “Eeyup.”

Applejack directed, “Let’s get to the range so you can work on your aim.”

We walked a dirt laden trail over to the range. Big Mac was towing the cart while Tim was getting ready to help him push the cart once it got stuck. The apples didn’t smell at all from a distance, It’s just if you smell one up close is when you start to feel queasy. After a long walk, we saw a large square plain surrounded by bare apple trees. Tim and Big Mac were unloading baskets off the cart while Twilight, Applejack, and I headed to the middle of the field.

Twilight reminded me while we were walking, “Remember, Rod. Focus, then shoot.”

I nodded to acknowledge her advice.

Tim hollered, “We’re ready to throw some apples.”

I yelled back, “Toss one.”

He tossed up an apple around thirty feet in the air. I immediately focused and let out a lightning bolt on the apple. It exploded and it rained apple bits and juice in the surrounding area.

Applejack yelled to Tim, “I know you can toss higher than that.”

Tim nodded to her. He threw up another apple. This one was around fifty feet high. I aimed and fired, resulting in another apple juice shower.

After a few apples, I yelled to him, “How about tossing two at a time?”

“Sure thing, Rod.” He answered.

He tossed two apples. I focused on them both at the same time. I let out two bolts, each one hitting their mark. Tim threw another pair, and I hit them again. I backed up ten feet and he launched another pair, I focused and shot, yielding the same result.

I asked, “Can you do three at a time?”

“Yeah sure. I can do three.”

He grabbed three apples, two on his right hand, and one on his left. He launched them upwards. I focused on the three apples, and let out three bolts. But only two of them hit their mark. I didn’t know what happened; maybe I didn’t focus enough on the third apple. I told him to launch another three. He did so, and I focused more on all three of the apples. I launched the bolts from my horn and successfully shot three of them at the same time. Another three were tossed, but one of them rebounded off another and didn’t fly so high as the others. It didn’t matter, because I shocked them all. Another more consistent three, and another apple rainfall. After that, I sat down on the grass to take a bit of a break. I saw a human shape in the sky, flying towards us. As it got closer, it appeared to be Doug. It looked like he was gonna land right near us. Applejack galloped towards our direction.

“I see you’re having a bit of a shooting fest.” Doug observed.

“Mhm.” Applejack explained, “Rod here is workin’ on his aim, and at the same time, gettin’ rid of our rotten apples.”

“I see.” Doug noted, “I was helping Rainbow and Greg gather some clouds for tonight’s storm. I figured I come down here to shoot a few rounds, if you don’t mind.”

“No, not at all.” I answered.

Applejack agreed, “Yeah, sure. Go on ahead.”

Doug then hollered to Tim, “Let’s start with two.”

Tim threw up two apples, and then Doug quickly unholstered his gun and shot the two apples. Tim launched another pair and Doug made quick work out of them. Doug called for three apples, Tim threw them up, and Doug shot them in mid air. He called for another threesome, and successfully shot the three, even though one of them bounced off another. Another three apples, another three unfortunate victims. He then called for four at a time. Tim grabbed onto the apples and threw them up. It looked complicated with some rebounding heading up, but he managed to shoot all four of them. He slid the empty magazine out of his gun. He turned to us and asked, “What do you think?”

I commented first, “I think that you’re an excellent shooter.”

Twilight gave her analysis, “Firing dead on a small target at fifty yards away is a mighty impressive feat.”

“Indeed.” agreed Applejack. “I don’t wanna be on the bad end of that pistol.”

“So Rod, are you up for a shootout?” Doug challenged.

“Well,” I nervously shrugged, “I’m not a good shooter”

“That’s just horse manure, Rod.” Doug complimented, “I saw you shooting those apples like nobody’s business. So how about it?”

I was convinced, “Yeah sure. But don’t retire once I beat you.”

Doug commended, “Now that’s the spirit. I’ll get Tim over here to explain a few things to him.”

We all agreed on the rules. It would be contested in three rounds. A hit equalled a point. The first round was split-fire: Tim would throw two apples left and right at a forty-five degree angle three times. The next one was random shooter: Tim would randomly throw six apples either left, right, or upwards. The last round was rapid fire: Tim would throw five apples upwards with a gap of half a second. The most apples shot would win. We did rock-paper-scissors to see who would go first, and I was first. When Tim yelled, “Ready?” I signalled to him. He threw two apples, and I concentrated on both of them at once. It was hard to do, so I ended up braking concentration off the left one, and devoted my total aim to the right one. I shocked the right one, but the other one touched the grass before I regained my focus on that apple. I signalled again that I was ready, knowing what to do. Once the apples left Tim’s hands, I immediately concentrated on the right one, and successfully shot it, and then the left one and shot it as well, and the pattern continued on the last pair. I scored a five out of six. It was Doug’s turn. His first pair was successful, his next pair was as same as his first, and the last pair was just perfect. He scored six out of six. Since we agreed on whoever is trailing goes first, I was first in the next round. Tim was hiding behind the cart so that we couldn’t see where he was throwing. The first one I saw went left. I successfully shot that one. The next one went right, and another point to me. The next one was up, and again it was shot down. Up, left, left, all were shocked. A perfect six for me. Doug was next and he started out with a right throw. He got that successfully. Next was a left one. He did get a piece of it, and was still a hit. However, the next one was also a left one that caught him off guard. He shot and missed. The next one went up, and Doug regained his composure and shot that one, another left one, and a hit to regain his confidence, and the last one was a right which he missed. Now I lead by a score of eleven to ten. Doug and I took a break. After a few minutes, Doug was ready to shoot. He threw up his arm to signal to Tim that he was ready. Tim threw up the five apples around half of a second from each other. He managed to get all five of them. It was my turn. It was four to tie and five to win. I signalled that I was ready. Tim threw up the apples, and I quickly aimed and shocked them one by one. At the third apple, I felt my concentration going off. I managed to shock the third one, but then the fourth and fifth went falling to the ground. I sat on the ground to regain myself.

“Are you alright, Rod?” Twilight was concerned for me.

“Yeah, I am.” I reported, “But I feel really tired.”

“Hey, Rod.” Doug extended his hand towards me, “It was a good match.”

I nodded, “Yeah, it was. I didn’t know I would hang with you.”

“Both of y’all are the best shooters I have ever laid my eyes upon.” Applejack smiled. “How ‘bout y’all come over to my house to have some grub?”

“That’ll be wonderful, Applejack.” Twilight responded. “We can sure need a bite to eat after that workout.”

I just nodded and breathed out a “Yeah.”

“I’m gonna go back and search for some clouds.” Doug then shook my hand, “It’s been nice shooting with you.”

“Thanks. I didn’t know I had it in me.”

“I’ll see you around, Lightning.” And with that, Doug flew off to catch up with Rainbow and Greg.

“I’m leavin’ the leftovers right here. I heard Steven’s making Vern some gun that shoots fireworks, and they’ll be both coming in this afternoon to test them out. Y’all get a ride back. Big Mac can handle our weight, ain’t that right, Big Mac?”

All he said, again, was a simple, “Eeyup.”

We were pulled back to the farm house, but as we were, I thought to start up a conversation.

“So AJ, What do you got planned for lunch?”

“Well,” Applejack paused, “I was thinkin’ about some grilled cheese sandwiches for y’all human folks, and some daisy sandwiches for us pony folk. Or maybe you can try Tim’s chicken soup, y’know, since you need meat for protein.”

“That’ll be perfect.” I agreed.

“Don’t worry, Rod. I make a good soup.” He reassured me.

“Looking forward to it.”

We arrived at the farm house. The inside was nice and homely, like your typical little house in the prairie, in this case, the orchard. I saw a small yellowish green pony with a rose red mane at the door.

“Hi there.” The pony cheerily greeted us.

“Howdy there, Apple Bloom.” Applejack nodded, “We got guests here for lunch.”

“Howdy, Twilight and uhh… What’s your name?”

“The name’s Rod.” I kneeled down, “And you’re Apple Bloom, from what Applejack said.”

“Nice ta meet ya, Lightning.”

I chuckled a bit. I looked back to Applejack. She just said, “I been talkin’ about you for quite some time now. We’ll fix up lunch. ‘Til then, make yourself at home.”

Twilight and I gave our “Thanks.” at the same time.

We chilled at Applejack’s place until our lunch was ready. I talked to Apple Bloom about my experience here, my lightning powers, and my cutie mark. I learned that she’s part of a secret club of ponies called the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I promised to keep it a secret to all of the rest of the fillies. Once lunch was ready, we all sat at the table. I got a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of chicken soup with carrot slices, peas, and potatoes. Tim made himself the same lunch, and Twilight and Applejack had vegetable soup with daisy sandwiches. It was mostly silent. The only words spoken were about Tim’s home cooking. I was impressed on how he made it. After we ate lunch, Twilight and I headed out, but not before we said our farewells.

“It’s been fun, Applejack.” I smiled, “I’ll see you around.”

“Yes. Thanks for allowing my student to have some practice.” Twilight gave her gratitude.

“No problem there, partners. You’re welcome anytime.” Applejack returned the thanks.

On our way back to Ponyville, we ran into Vern and Steven. They had with themselves a bag full of colorful tubes adorned with stripes of white, blue, pink, purple, red, yellow, green, and all sorts of colors I couldn’t identify at the time.

“Hey, Lightning.” Vern waved at us.

“Hey guys.” I hollered back. We ran over to them to see what they were up to.

“So what are you guys doing?” Twilight asked.

Steven was the first to talk, “We’re testing out some prototype weapons to prove how deadly and accurate they are. We are trying to make a weapon that is not deadly but can be accurate. I also have a few close range spread shots, and this,” He pulled out a long tube from the bag. It was around three feet long and was white and red striped. “This is a rifle tube. It’s designed to be the most accurate with its length. I even got this to go along with it.” He then pulled out a spyglass with a couple of screw-on clamps mounted on each end of the tube. “It’s going to be a firework sniper rifle.”

“Cool.” I was impressed by the concepts. “So how does Mr. Surprise feel about the test?”

“Oh, it’s awesome.” Vern answered. “To be honest, it’s the first time I’ll be firing a weapon.”

“Well, you gotta let us know how testing goes.” Twilight suggested.

“I’ll remember that for the next time we meet.” Steven reassured. “Oh, and one more thing: Rarity’s done with our superhero costumes. You should try yours out. It looks awesome.”

“Thanks.” I responded, “We’re gonna head over there right now, unless Twilight has something else in store for me.”

“Nope.” Twilight answered, “Let’s head on over to Rarity’s.”

We arrived at the Carousel Boutique. At the door, there was a sign that read, “Feel free to walk in.” We opened the door and a little bell right next to the door ringed. Rarity’s shop was adorned with pony mannequins clothed with immaculate dresses and simple designs. Rarity trotted down from upstairs. She noticed me and Twilight then immediately invited us upstairs.

“Hello, Rod. I have been awaiting your arrival. Please, do come up here.”

All three of us went up together, but Rarity stopped us by saying, “No. Only Rod can come up.”

“Why can’t I come up?” Twilight asked.

“It’s important that you wait for the big surprise.” Rarity simply answered.

Twilight smiled, “Okay. I’ll wait down here.”

I continued up the stairs and she escorted me to a door. She opened up the door, and gestured her hoof for me to go first. I went in and found myself in her studio, with rolls of fabric hanging from shelves, patterns on the desks, sewing tools right next to the sewing machine, and so much more. It looked like an organized mess.

“Your outfit is right over here, Rod.” Rarity directed my attention to a purple curtain. She pulled a rope to reveal my outfit. There were five pieces; a mask, shirt, and pants that were hung up using hangers and clips, and a pair of boots standing right below the ensemble. The outfit was mainly made of a black and yellow shiny fabric. It was designed with thick lightning-bolt lines going down its pants legs and arm sleeves. And on the chest was my cutie mark, the horn made out of lightning, expertly embroided on the chest. The mask looked like a luchadore’s mask. It had an open mouth, diamond shaped yellow lined eye holes, lightning bolt ears, little bolts just above the eyebrows, and a hole at the forehead for my horn to fit through. I then noticed a two inch gap that extended from just after the horn and to where the tie-on back of the mask is.

Rarity began to explain the uniform, “Your uniform is made out of a non-conductive lightweight breathable material. It is designed for a loose fit for mobility and flexibility. The mask has features with it. The ears have a special fabric that filters out loud noises, but you can hear a slight whisper through them. Steven also added a pocket in there for an earpiece, some sort of tiny speaker that fits in your ear. You may notice a gap at the top of your mask. That is to let some of your hair flow out of it, just to add a stylish touch to the uniform. Go ahead and try it on. I set up a changing barrier over there.”

I grabbed the clothes and changed quickly into my new uniform. When I came out from behind the barrier, Rarity directed me towards the mirror. For the first time in my life, I looked like an authentic superhero.

“It fits perfectly. Now go. You must show Twilight your new clothes.”

I opened up the door and walked downstairs. Twilight smiled and admired my outfit.

“So how do I look?” I asked them.

Twilight answered, “Like a superhero.”

Our hero has gained the skills, knowledge, and power necessary to be a superhero, and now he looks the part. But there is still a little bit more to learn. In the next issue: All six learn their last lessons from their masters, and the debut of the writer’s pony persona. All in the next issue of LIGHTNING ROD!