Thunder & Lightning

Chapters

Chapter 1: All Thunderlane's fault
Chapter 2: Always second
Chapter 3: His only fan
Chapter 4: I have a name, you know...
Chapter 5: It's his fault
Meanwhile...
Chapter 6: Storm incoming
Chapter 7: Darkhorse
Meanwhile... (Shut up and take my money!)
Chapter 8: The Race
Chapter 9: Thunder-struck
Chapter 10: Lightning
Chapter 11: No sunshine, but rainbow
Chapter 12: This time it's really his fault
Bonus #1: The 6th
Bonus #2: Bunnies
Bonus #2,5: Bunnies no more

Chapter 1: All Thunderlane's fault

"Of all the things that could happen, this has to be the! Worst! Possible! Thing!" A hoof slammed the desk, sending all the files flying. "And now I talk like Rarity! Ugh, could this day get any worse!" For the emphasis, a face was slammed right into a desk, sending whatever was left around the office, aside from the few pages that just got smashed by a hollow-boned skull.

Rainbow Dash was officially the most depressed pony in existence. Or at least in Ponyville. Or at least in this office, where she was alone. She barely recovered after hearing it yesterday from a doctor. Just a routine check-up, they said. Just to make sure she's still fine and dandy, as if she wasn't 'Rainbow Danger Dash', most definitely the most awesome pony in the entire town and quite possibly (she left a margin for error, being humble) the most amazing creature that ever lived. Life was awesome and then WHAM!

"Why me?" She lamented, looking over the small, rectangular shaped purple, plastic box on the table. Her first idea was to slam it into the wall, jump on it a few times, strike it with lightning, slam it into wall again, pummel it with a hammer and finally throw it in the trash. But she couldn't. This little thing cost her a hundred bits. An equivalent of hundred cupcakes for a small piece of plastic. Actually, it was the content that was the pricy part, but when you're 'Rainbow Panicking Dash', all that matters is what's in front of you. And around you, like all the paperwork she just recently decorated the room with.

Surrendering to the inevitability of bureaucracy, she cleaned up the mess she made, stacking the files into neat piles (the rhyme did not cheer her up). As much as she hated paperwork and always desperately threw it at anypony else (IE: Thunderlane), this one had to be done by a weather manager, not 'assistant weather manager filling in, because the real one feigned food poisoning and didn't bother coming to work'. That's why she woke up earlier today at 6 AM, a time which didn't exist on Rainbow's clock, unless we're talking about late night Pinkie Parties. But anypony who counts time at Pinkie Parties has to be the saddest pony ever and “Rainbow Party Dash” was anything but.

She sat down and grabbed the first document from the pile and put it in front of her. Her first instinct was to grab a stamp and just get it over with, but since the last fiasco she decided it was safer to actually, and her head hurt even thinking about it, read them before signing for additional ten tons of unneeded snow clouds in summer. That had to be the worst day for Thunderlane to take a free weekend, but she was 'Rainbow Progress Dash', she learned from her mistakes. Sometimes.
She took a deep breath and leaned over the piece of paper. She went a little closer and carefully looked over the text. Few seconds later, she backed away and wiped her teary eyes. One more try, she leaned over the text again and proceed to decipher it again, with same results.

She sighed. There was no other way of looking at it (no pun intended), she was indeed, doomed. She once again looked over at the treacherous, purple box, taunting her with it's... boxiness. She shook her head, swallowed her pride (almost choking on it) and grabbed it, finally opening it with a loud snap. There it was, the object inside which was supposed to be her savior, but at the same time her curse. She knew it was good for her, like alfa-alfa, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

She finally summoned enough courage to reach for it and slowly, carefully put it on her face, closing her eyes in the process. It took her a while before she finally opened them and blinked a few times. She looked around the room noticing no difference. She leaned right back at the documents, only now instead of blurry mess were letters, words, sentences even! She turned towards a small mirror on the wall and looked at herself. She was, as always, pure 110% awesomium ponified, with her multi-colored mane, light blue coat and magenta eyes. What's new, were a pair of brand new glasses.

"Okay, they don't look THAT bad!" She admitted. She expected to see a four eyed monster, with two inch long glassy beads as eyes, but in all honesty, the rectangular, small frames were rather endearing. She left her seat to take a closer look. She lifted her hoof and touched the left side of it, delicately adjusting them, reflecting the sunlight in the process. She giggled, reminded of a certain comic book where a rather cool stallion used to do the same, especially in his awesome moments. He was really cool, despite being an egghead. Having powers to reshape reality helped.

Slowly the idea of wearing them seemed like a less of a pain. Besides, they were just reading glasses, she would only ever have to use them for paperwork and when reading books. Which was never. She didn't need them in flight and everyday life and even if, she heard that Wonderbolts used specialized goggles anyway, so she was safe so long as nopony ever witnessed it.

"Excuse me, anypony here?"

All colors of the rainbow dulled, as she heard an ever familiar voice coming from the door, which was just opened revealing a figure she least wanted to see.

"Hey, I just wanted to get this book back to Thunderla--..." Shining Armor stopped mid-sentence and looked at 'Rainbow Busted Dash'.

And then there it was again. The awkwardness, the ever hated, burning like flames of Tartarus, except harder to extinguish. Their eyes met, his were especially fixated on the new addition to Rainbow's awesome image. His mouth opened, but no words came through. He knew he had to choose his first words wisely and avoid saying anything stupid or reckless.

"So," he scratched his back and looked around the place, looking for anything to say "I like your new gla--"

"Out."

"What?"

"I said out."

"But..."

"GET OUT!" She screamed, grabbing the first brick, actually a tome of regulations and protocols, she could find "GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" And proceed to throw it right at the stallions face. Shiny gasped, instinctively conjuring a shield before his face which stopped the book from crushing his snout.

"I'm sorry, I didn't..." he tried to stop her.

"GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" But her rage was not contained that easily and soon another tome rushed his way, followed by another and at least ten more, before he got the right idea and ran away from the room, closing the door behind him with his magic. Just as the last tome made a sizable dent in the door, Rainbow Dash's tantrum slowed, now reduced to loud breathing and eye twitching. She quickly grabbed the accursed object from her face and raised it above her head.

"STUPID, BUCKING, CURSED PIECE OF CRAP!" She really wanted to smash it on the ground right here and now, but a quiet voice in back of her head kept shouting something. 'One hundred bits! One hundred bits!', it kept chanting. Eventually, reluctantly, she settled on just putting it back in the box, shutting it tight and spending the rest of her time wallowing in self pity, for reasons she couldn't fully understand herself.

Her wallowing had to stop when the door opened once again. She stood up and grabbed the last remaining tome and threw it at the general direction of the door.
"I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT!"

Time stopped to a crawl. Now Rainbow could see everything in excruciating detail. She saw the door, opened not by Shining Armor, but by her lavender coated youngest worker, Cloud Kicker. Cloudy, being a military dropout, trained in martial arts, noticed the book flying her way and immediately, using muscle memory only, ducked under it. Her moment of triumph was short lived and lasted about a nanosecond, before she realized she wasn't alone and right behind her was her BFF and co-worker. Raindrops was not a military kid, just a regular, if a bit too ordinary pegasus without any special qualities, aside from, as of right now, a bleeding, broken nose and a mild concussion.

"Uuh..." Rainbow Dash stopped in her place and looked over her workers. Cloud Kicker looked at her boss wide-eyed, then at her Raindrops, then back at Rainbow Dash. Dash herself smiled sheepish and scratched her head "...duck?"

"Quack!"

"We're almost there, little friends," Fluttershy announced to a small flock of ducklings that followed her through Ponyville "Just a little bit longer to the lake."

"Quack!" The ducks replied, to which Fluttershy nodded and proceed to guide her flock, just passing three particular fillies that stopped on their scooter ride.

"Maybe a bird guiding cutie mark?" Asked Sweetie Belle, looking over the passing birds. Her friends looked at her bemused. "I mean, it's worth a shot." She shrugged. Her friends, as much as they hated to admit it, had to nod and sigh.

"I'd rather have a cooler cutie mark than bird guiding," admitted Scootaloo, leaning on her scooter, resigned.

"Ah'd rather 'ave any cutie mark!" Said Applebloom.

The three let out a collective sigh as their heads fell down. It was over three months since they established their organization, complete with clubhouse, board meetings and a lot of trial and error, usually ending with a sizable amounts of cuts, bruises and property damage they either had to pay for (as in, their parents/guardians had to) or work off. The latter part happened to backfire on many business owners, as the trio went over themselves to try their luck at their new workplaces. With mixed results and no cutie marks.

"All right girls, you know what this means, right?" Scootaloo suddenly perked up and raised her hoof into the sky, triumphantly "Time for plan D!"

Two fillies gasped.
"Plan D?" Sweetie Belle repeated "Don't you mean..."

"Yes, exactly. We will..." she tried to say, but was interrupted by Applebloom.

"But where are we going to find a giant, industrial drill?"

"Uhh... what?"

"You know, so we coul' drill to da core of Equestria! Tha's wha' plan 'D' stands for."

"Wasn't that plan H?" added Sweetie Belle, earning a set of glares "You know, for piercing the heavens?"

"Did ya read another one'a those Rarity's weird books again?"

Sweetie Belle's eyes shifted "...maybe?"

Scootaloo facehooved and groaned before bursting at her friends.
"No, plan D is asking Rainbow Dash for help! Geez!"

"Ooooh!" Two fillies hummed.

"Wait, wasn't that plan R?"

"Nah, that was da gian' robot cutie mark."

All three fillies looked down and went silent over repressed memories. It was too soon. After a minute of silence, Scootaloo was the first one to recover.
"Anyway, if anypony can help us get awesome cutie marks, it has to be Rainbow Dash! I always wanted to get an aerial stunt cutie mark. Or a super fast cutie mark! Or a barrel roll cutie mark!" Her eyes beamed as she mentioned it.

"Why would you want to have a barrel on your flank?" Asked Sweetie Belle.

"Come on girls, with a cutie mark like that, next thing you know we all become Wonderbolts!"

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other, then glared at Scootaloo.
"But we ain't even pegasuses!" said Applebloom.

"Pegasi." Sweetie Belle corrected her.

"Pfft, we'll sweat over details later. First, we're gonna take some flying lessons from the most awesome flier in entire Equestria!"

"Spitfire?"

"No, the second one."

"...Cloud Star?"

"Ugh, you know I mean Rainbow Dash!"

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom giggled, having fun at their feathery friends expense.
"We know."

As Scootaloo was about to once again groan and mutter some barely safe for work adjectives, she was interrupted by some voice.
"Hey kid, tell me more about that Rainbow Dash gal, will ya?"

Scootaloo almost jumped from the shock, then quickly turned back and faced the stranger. She witnessed a light turquoise pegasus mare, with a short, styled back amber hair with golden highlights. She looked with an amusement at the three fillies.
"Well? What's so special about her?"

Three fillies looked at each other, and then inspected the newcomer once again. They noticed her cutie mark being a lightning bolt with three stars under it and she was carrying a large saddlebags on her back, but despite their size and probably weight, she wasn't at all bothered by them. They once again looked at each other and, for once, decided to play it safe, learning from their adventure with the giant robot from week ago. It was still too soon.
"Ahm sorry, miss, but we ain't supposed to talk to strangers." Applebloom muttered, earning a surprised eyebrow raise from the mare.

"Yeah, my sister told me to stay away from ponies you don't know!" Added Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo feigned courage, but was as intimidated as anypony.

The mare chuckled, before finally bursting out with a loud laughter.
"Oh, wow, didn't see that one coming," she said after calming down, wiping a tear from her eye "tell you what kid; your sister is a smart pony. Those are some words to live by," she coughed and fixed her hair "but I guess we won't be strangers for much longer," she extended her hoof forward "the name's Lightning Dust, I'm Ponyville's new Weather Consultant. Now, about my question..."

"I already apologized three times already! Besides I wasn't even aiming at YOU!"

"Yeah, that makes the pain go away." Raindrops deadpanned while holding an ice bag at her snout.

Several minutes passed, which meant that it was only a few more days before Raindrops gets over her grudge against Rainbow Dash. On the bright side, it only takes less than hour for the nosebleed to finally stop, which means the tissue rolls she had to keep in her nostrils to keep from bleeding out were only temporarily annoying.

"Sorry Dropsy," Cloud Kicker patted her friends back, carefully avoiding her glare, sparing her the goofy smile she couldn't hide "if I knew you were behind me, I would've taken the bullet for you instead. Ask my friends back at the academy, I have scars to prove my chivalry!"

"Joy," Raindrops' humor remained as nonexistent as it was. "And don't call me that."

"And speaking of aiming," Cloud Kicker turned to Rainbow Dash "why were you assaulting Mister Shining Studley Mac Studderson? With books, no less?"

"Umm..." she reached back in her memory, five minutes ago. His voice was still fresh in her mind. 'I like your new gla--. I like your new. I like you.' She immediately covered herself in blush and looked away "None of your business."

Cloud Kicker, however, was not a pony who gave up easily. Or ever.
"Wait, let me guess. He said something like 'oh, Rainbow Dash, you look so dazzling', or 'oh Rainbow Dash, your eyes are so deep I could swim in them' or 'oh Rainbow Dash, are you an angel that flew from the heavens' or..."

"One. More. Word." Rainbow Dash grabbed the nearest object, this time an olive lamp "I dare you!"

"Careful Dashie," Cloud Kicker smiled, taunting "you might hurt somepony with that!"

"That's the idea!"

"That's cruel! Didn't Raindrops suffer enough?"

"Leave me out of it!" Raindrops made a few steps to the side, placing herself in a safe distance, with a table in between the two ponies, one already aiming a lamp, while other assuming defensive position. Raindrops had little hopes of surviving the next strike, she knew her partners stance. Flailing Monkey was used to deflect projectiles, not catch them and knowing her luck, it was going to gouge her eye out, in best case scenario. At least her insurance covered “Rainbow Danger To Others Dash”.

Eventually, the two mares slowly, but surely left their combat positions. Rainbow Dash put back the lamp, carefully observing as Cloud Kicker lowered her hooves, also glaring at her. Few moments later, they went back to their usual business, which didn't always include death threats.

"So, Bossmare, what's today's agenda?" Asked Cloud Kicker, peeking over at the documents that Rainbow Dash was stamping blindly (no way in Tartarus she would let Cloud Kicker see her in her glasses) "Any rains to make today?"

"Actually, yes, there are," Rainbow quickly answered, gaining some interest not only from Cloud Kicker, but even Raindrops, whose humor only ever showed during rainy days "we'll be preparing and placing clouds all over entire town and surrounding farms from today till Thursday. Late evening Friday will be the biggest rain this season."

"Wait a minute!" Raindrops interrupted her "Do we even have enough rain clouds stored?" She asked. Cloud Kicker took a moment to realize what was coming at them and her face cringed in fear.

"We don't," Rainbow Dash answered, looking smug at the two. "but we have ten tons of snow clouds..."

Two adult mares rolled their eyes and groaned very, very loudly.

"...Which is why you'll have to reshape them by the end of it. Enjoy!"

Most ponies think Rainbow Dash is a dumb pony that only got as high as she was because of wing power and connections. That's why nopony noticed the mess in timetables. That's why nopony batted an eye when she chose this week for everypony to be on morning shift BUT herself. That's why nopony saw it coming, despite preparing everything weeks in advance. She might not be the most educated pony in Ponyville, but "Rainbow Mastermind Dash" always takes everypony by surprise and nopony expects it.

"You're despicable!" Cloud Kicker muttered at smugly smiling Rainbow Dash.

"Whatever, blame Thunderlane for taking free day when I ordered the wrong batch. Keeping me from screwing up is his job."

And speak of the devil, the door opened and the only weather stallion entered the office, in all his mohawk glory. Cloud Kicker immediately turned at him.

"Thunderlane, I blame you!"

The answer she got, was the last thing she expected to hear.

"GRRRRRR!" He groaned at her, then went past and sat down at the corner, much more interested in some papers than his coworkers. Cloud Kicker gulped.

"On second thought, Rainbow Dash is way more guilty!"

The three mares looked at Thunderlane, then at each other and shrugged. Short moment later, the door opened and this time it was the pink-green maned co-worker without a single weather related thing in her cute mark.

"Hiya Blossom!"

"GRRRRR!" She groaned as well, spooking Cloud Kicker away. Blossomforth went further and stopped when she noticed Thunderlane sitting by himself. Their eyes met for a moment, then both pouted at the same time and Blossom turned the other way and sat in a different corner.

It was at that moment, that all three sane pegasi joined in the facehoofing. They huddled up together, far from the pair and spoke in whispers only. All conflict from a moment ago was gone, they had a common enemy that required an uneasy alliance.
"Damnit, this is too soon!" Started Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah, it's not even Friday yet," admitted Cloud Kicker "something new had to happen!"

"If you want to ask them, then don't count on me, I'm already injured!" added Raindrops "What's the plan?"

"Too dangerous to try anything new," Rainbow Dash hummed. She was 'Rainbow Untouchable Dash', but her co-workers didn't have that luck "we'd better stick to the usual. Everypony know the drill?"

"It's practically in our blood already!" Cloud Kicker nodded. The trio smiled uneasily, realizing full well that this sentence was more true than any one of them wanted.

The plan was simple. Raindrops and Cloud Kicker would take Blossom on one end of the town, while Rainbow Dash would take care of Thunderlane. Even though she was supposed to have a free day today, she couldn't leave her friends hanging. Plus, she knew Thunderlane from way back and if anypony could keep him in check, it was only 'Rainbow Best Friend Ever Dash'. Also, she was faster than him by a longshot, so she had the best odds at surviving his temper.
With that plan in mind, the rest of the day should be easily salvaged. Nothing could possibly go...

"...right, just like that!" Scootaloo finished her story with a loud stomp for emphasis. Lightning Dust couldn't help but smile, seeing a little filly that not only told a story of one of the coolest stunts, but pantomimed it almost perfectly, despite still not being able to fly. If nothing else, she admired the zeal.

"Just like that?"

"Just. Like. That!" Scootaloo nodded and proudly beamed, as if any of these feats were her own.

"Heh, if even half of it is true..."

"I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP!" She immediately went in front of the mare and looked her in the eyes, shooting metaphorical daggers at anything that sounded even slightly like insult of her idol. Lightning Dust found this cute, but decided not to provoke her any longer.

"Alright, alright, sorry, I believe you!" She rolled her eyes when Scootaloo immediately got over it and went back to her over excited persona. Her two friends, whatstheirnames, remained silent all the while, letting their friend do all the talking. After all, she was the number one fan of Rainbow Dash (even had a business card to prove it) "Your sister sounds like a cool pony, I admit."

"S-sister?" Scootaloo repeated that word and smiled, her eyes becoming beady. It was a short lived fantasy, as her ears fell down and she looked away "She's not my sister."

"Really? She sure sounds like one to me."

"Well, we kinda are like sisters..." the filly scratched her head "...almost. Sometimes. Maybe."

Lightning Dust once again raised her eyebrow and looked at Scootaloo with suspicion. She went over to her two friends and noticed both fillies looking away, whistling and feigning ignorance. She shrugged and patted Scootaloo's head.

"Bet she's proud to have a cool little almost sister like ya, then."

"Aww, stop that!" She said, but kept raising her head as if wishing for more. That was something Lightning Dust learned in her life- nopony hates being patted on the head. Some may think it's childish, that it's embarrassing or humiliating, but the truth was, everypony liked being cherished by others. Especially those that didn't experience it often enough.

She eventually stopped and decided it was about time to leave. After all, she was here on a business trip.
"Anywho, I'm looking for the Ponyville's Weather Patrol Branch office. Wanna give me some directions?"

"You'll go here, here, here and here," said Rainbow Dash, pointing at several areas on the giant map on the wall "Menawhile, team B, that's me and Thunderlane, will go here, here, here and here. Everypony got that?"

"Rodger-dodger, bossmare!" Cloud Kicker cheerfully saluted, earning an eye roll from everypony else. Whenever Thunderlane and Blossom had their... episodes, she was the only cheerful pony around, so she had to double the whimsy to keep this place from falling apart. It was a thankless job, but somepony had to do it and Raindrops was too ordinary to pull it off.

"I still can't believe we have to spend hours reshaping the clouds!" lamented Blossomforth "Whose bright idea was it to order tons of snow clouds?"

"We're supposed to blame Thunderlane!" Cloud Kicker raised her hoof with an answer. She earned a head smack from Raindrops instead "What? He took a day off on a resupply day. You know we can't trust Rainbow Dash with it alone!" saying so earned her another smack, this time from Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, don't shift the blame on me!" Thunderlane interjected,

"Figures," Blossom rolled her eyes "every single bad thing comes from you."

"I didn't sign that paper!" Thunderlane protested "And I took the day off to go with you to visit your parents!"

"Oh, so now it's my fault?" she faced him with dagger shooting glare "Well then I won't be bothering you ever again!"

"Good, I can finally have a peaceful day!"

"FINE!"

The two growled, snorted and faced away, leaving Rainbow Dash with a severe headache.

"Damn..." Cloud Kicker shook her head with disappointment.

"Yeah, they never learn." Raindrops nodded.

"No, not that. I just don't have any popcorn on hoof. Gotta resupply after the shift."

Just as the two teams were about to leave the place and head over to do some more productive work, away from source of headaches, they all faced the door to the office, which was now open and somepony looked at them, with one eyebrow raised. None of them recognized the giggling, turquoise coated pegasi.
"Well whoops, wrong door! I thought this is a Weather Patrol office, not a Comedy Club!" she chuckled as she looked at the ragtag bunch of pegasi.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, slowly but surely losing any and all the patience she had.
"This is a private meeting, only authorized personnel allowed. Now scram, we're not buying anything." She waved the hoof at the newcomer, swaying her away. It wasn't very effective.

"I'm Lightning Dust. Pleased to meet you, I guess." she extended her hoof. Rainbow Dash looked at her hoof, then at her face and raised an eyebrow.

"Cool. Am I supposed to care?"

Lightning Dust blinked.
"Umm, yeah. I’m the new Consultant, from HQ. Sorry I'm a little late, I had to ask for directions. This really IS the Weather Patrol office, right?" she asked again "At least that's what Scootaloo said."

Rainbow Dash tilted her head.
"Who?"

"You know, that little filly," she asked, trying to provoke a reaction from Rainbow Dash. All she got was a puzzled look "Orange coat, purple mane, about this size." she waved her hoof.

"Umm..."

"Your biggest fan?"

"You need to be more specific, I have a lot of fans and they all claim to be the biggest."

Cloud Kicker leaned over to Rainbow Dash and whispered.
"She means the 'squirt'."

"Ooooooooh! The one on a bike!"

"Scooter."

"Yeah, that too! Of course I remember him!"

“Her.”

“Whatever.”

Lightning Dust opened her mouth, but couldn't quite say anything. She really pitied Scootaloo for picking such a lousy idol, if first impression was anything to go by. She shook her head and coughed before getting straight to the chase.
"Don't you remember the letter? About getting a new Consultant assigned to work with you? One month ago?"

"Uhh..."

"You signed it."

Rainbow Dash looked back in her memories. One month ago, that was when they were running out of rain clouds and had to order new ones. The same day Thunderlane took a day off to visit Blossom's parents. The same day she had to all the paperwork herself and accidentally, totally not because she couldn't decipher the brackets, checked the wrong position on the shipping form. The same day she also signed some other stuff she couldn't be bother to read.

"Well buck me..."

"What?" Lightning Dust asked, but didn't get a proper answer. Rainbow Dash slowly turned to her second in command.

"Thunderlane...” she muttered at her assistant “...I blame you!"

Author's Note

It's not a Stallionverse story until someone gets hurt, in the face. Check that one out.

Next chapter, Thunderlane actually gets some development. It's all his fault.

Chapter 2: Always second

"THUNDERLAAAAAAANEEE!"

The voice coming from around the school building was loud enough to raise the dead, or be head in Horsetown, or even Canterlot. Or raise the dead in Canterlot and Horsetown, if the local business owners are to be believed. The one in question stopped what he was doing and glanced at the two colts that just stopped with a large slide, sending dust across the entire sandbox. Now there were three colts coughing and fanning the dust away.

"What? Can't you see I'm busy?" Thunderlane asked, glaring annoyed at the two. His threats were ignored, as the tan coated colt entered the sandbox, unknowingly stepping on what was going to be a front wall of an already impressive sand castle, lacking only one tower and plastic pony soldiers that sat in the box nearby. Thunderlane was about to yell at Caramel, but he didn't have to say anything to bring him to tears, as he already was.

"Thunderlane! You gotta help us!" He cried, pleading with his hooves joined. His blue coated friend, Blues, also joined in.

"You're our only hope!"

"Help with what? What hope?"

"It's the new girl!" Caramel started sobbing "She's all big and scary and stuff... and..." he started sobbing again. Blues patted him on the back, calming him a little bit.

"And she called Caramel a loser!"

"Can't you just tell Ms Fluffy Ink?"

Two colts gasped in terror.
"We can't tell on her!" said Blues "She's a girl!"

"Yeah," Caramel nodded "other girls will take her side! We're outmatched!"

Thunderlane nodded. As much as he hated fighting with girls, he couldn't leave his friends behind. Out of the class of twenty, there were only three colts, so when one was being picked on by girls, they had to all stand together. The appearance of a new filly in the middle of the year didn't help, as she was the worst out of them all.

"There you are, losers!" Speak of the devil, Rainbow Dash appeared along with her girl posse, consisting on at least half the class, all taken by her daredevil charisma (read: girls like bad boys… and girls). "I thought you ran away to cry to your mommies!" She laughed, joined by other cruel, cooties filled fillies. Thunderlane stood up and faced the bully.

"Leave them alone, Rainbow!"

"Stay out of it, Bumper Plane!"

"Thunderlane!"

"Whatever! I beat those two, fair and square! I want my six bits, losers!"

Thunderlane's eyebrow rose. He looked at Caramel and Blues, now smiling sheepish and whistling. One nasty glare however from, however, and both cracked and spilled it.
"W-well," Caramel started "I bet two bits that I would beat her at hoof wrestling, but..."

"Then I bet four bits that I can beat her to win back Caramels bits, but..."

Thunderlane rolled his eyes.
"Just give her the bits and get it over with!"

"Yeah, do what you promised and I'll leave you alone," Rainbow Dash said smugly "no point in picking on the weaklings. Unless you want to try yourself?"

"Pfft, why would I..."

"Oh yeah!?" Caramel interrupted Thunderlane "You'll be sorry when Thunderlane's done with you!"

"Yeah!" Blues added "He's the strongest colt in the school!"

"That's not saying much." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"He can beat you anytime, no sweat!"

"Guys, I don't want to..."

"He just doesn't want to make you cry!"

"Oh really?" Rainbow raised her eyebrow and walked to Thunderlane "Challenge accepted! Bring it, Bomber Mane!"

"I am not competing with you! And it's Thunderlane!"

"Whatever. What is it? Are you afraid?"

Thunderlane stopped in place. His eye twitched.

"Oh uh!" Caramel and Blues gulped and took a few steps back, just as the posse of fillies, along with the rest of the class, which by now surrounded the two pegasi in a circle.

"What did you just..."

"What's that? What are you?" Rainbow smiled and looked him deep in the eyes "A chicken?"

"I AM NOT A CHICKEN!" He yelled, scaring everypony else in the process, as all the fillies and colts stepped away to a safe distance. Everypony, except Rainbow Unabashed Dash, who stood still and smiled smug. The tension was rising; the spectators started biting their hooves off, witnessing the staring battle of the century, until...

"Children, behave yourselves!" an old mare from the school building looked at them from behind her thick glasses. That Thunderlane and Rainbow Dash a reaction.

"Yes, Ms Fluffy Ink!" they both replied and stepped away from each other, still glaring.

"Maybe you can have a race?" asked a white coated unicorn filly with gems on her flank. She was one of the few fillies outside the posse and they could swear they remembered her openly dismissing the idea of following Rainbow. "You are the best fliers in the class, right? Why can’t you just solve this in a more civilized way?"

Rainbow looked at the purple maned whatsherface and smiled at the idea.
"Yeah, sounds alright. Let's race to that tree. Unless you're..."

"It! Is! On!" Thunderlane replied, spitting on his hoof and extending it towards Rainbow. She did the exact same thing and bumped her wet hoof against his.

The unicorn filly from the crowd blinked.
"But... that's my line!"

Soarin blinked slowly. He tried his best to pay attention to every single word he heard. From their first meeting at the school, going to the same high school, eventually working in the same place, throughout all this time, time and again, the two would compete and race each other over and over again. And the result was always the same.

"Just once!" Thunderlane lamented, while making himself comfortable on the sofa. "I wanted to beat her just that one little time! But no, I was always second on the finish line. Heck, even when there were others besides the two of us, I always ended up just after her! And every single time, she would rub it in my face and I couldn't do ANYTHING, but swallow my pride and let it go. I mean, it's just a competition, who bucking cares if she's better than me?"

Soarin looked at the clock. There was still a lot of time before he closed for the day. Having no more appointments, his time was free to use as he wished and he promised Thunderlane a talk and advice, at least until an actual client appeared. Or he could just tell him to go away, which would definitely work. But try and tell that to a pony you considered a great friend, who been with you through the worst times and helped avert the apocalypse, who just opened to you after months of hanging out.

"But whatever about the stupid rivalry," Thunderlane continued "I had a life outside her, you know. I had to take care of Rumble first, then there was Blossomforth and then the paper factory," he shuddered just thinking about his time in that soulless place "but then a slot opens in Ponyville and guess who's in charge?"

" I wonder who?" He deadpanned.

"Rainbow Inflated Ego Dash."

"What a shocker."

"And at first it seemed cool, you know, working with an old friend, and Blossom and Raindrops were there too. But then she gave me my first assignment- a stack of papers! A stack she was supposed to do herself, but didn't feel like it. So of course I refused!"

"Mhm."

"But then she went back to her smug self, kept bragging about how she's too awesome for paperwork and has to train some stunts and there were dozens of ponies for my position but she picked me, being a good friend and all. Yeah, turns out my predecessor went through the same thing, so he jumped at the first offer to transfer. Even Raindrops and Blossom refused a promotion to avoid this crap!"

"Mhm, sure."

"I mean, I needed this job more than anything! Seriously, the only thing that keeps me sane is the fact that one of these days she'll become a Wonderbolt and leave us forever, thus making me the actual manager. And the only thing that'll change, is me getting a raise, new desk and a proper nametag!"

"Cool."

"And until then, I'll have to just get on with it, grit my teeth and survive the crap she makes us go through. Like yesterday, she had us reshaping the snow clouds she ordered by mistake!"

"Mhhm, yup."

"Not only that, but she humiliated herself and me in front of the new consultant, which by the way, she had no idea about until today and blamed it all on me... Soarin, are you listening to me?"

Thunderlane looked at Soarin, but instead of meeting his gaze, his was instead focusing on a multicolored puzzle box he was tinkering with.
"Every single word. Rainbow is a jerk, yadda yadda, something about promotional material, stuff about weather, you wanted to be a Wonderbolt and uh..."

"Soarin, pay attention!"

"Fine," Soarin rolled his eyes and threw the cube away "but seriously, what was that about you becoming a Wonderbolt?"

"Not me, Rainbow Dash!"

"Oh, so you didn't want to become one?"

"Not since I was fourteen." He shrugged, earning himself a raised eyebrow. He rolled his eyes to explain. "I was an athletic colt with wings, of course I wanted to become a Wonderbolt! Who didn't?"

Soarin blinked and refrained from answering that question. It was time to ask some difficult questions.
"Thunderlane, I need you to answer me something, just say what first comes to mind, okay?" he asked, receiving a nod from his friend. "Rainbow Dash, is she hot or not?"

Thunderlane blinked.
"Soarin, you met her, you know already."

"I know, but what do you think?"

Thunderlane groaned and rolled his eyes.
"This isn't one of those 'you two compete and bicker a lot, so you must be in love' stuff, isn't it? We've been over this, there is nothing between Rainbow and myself! Take it from a pony who stared at her plot and never got passed it even once... STOP LAUGHING!" But Soarin couldn't even hear him, much too busy rolling on the floor. Thunderlane covered himself in blush, realizing how it must've sounded "When I was chasing her, when we were racing! You know what I mean!"

Minute passed, while Soarin still struggled to close his mouth and calm himself, but failed time and again and kept bursting with another fit every once in a while. Eventually, he lost his breath and was forced to calm down, struggling to climb up his chair, breathing slowly, still grinning madly.

"Are you done?" Thunderlane asked, crossing his hooves.

"I was going to make a joke, but I don't need to anymore!" Soarin took another deep breath, coughed and went back to semi-serious mode "You know, as much as I, ekhem, enjoy our little chat, I can't help but feel disappointed. See, when you first came to me and wanted to talk about mares, I was kinda hoping you meant Blossomforth."

"What about her?"

"That's my line. What is up with you two?"

Another eye roll later "Nothing's up with us. We just had a little fight. We'll be fine, like always."

"Yeah, that's the problem. I've seen some quarrelling couples, but this is just ridiculous! I mean, you're not even married yet"

"Look, I know how it looks on the outside, but that's just how we roll. Sure, we get a little feisty at each other every once in a while, but we're always there for each other. I don't know what I would've done without her when my parents... you know. Besides, we have each other’s backs, like when I need somepony to take care of Rumble..."

"...or if somepony is turned to stone, gotcha." Soarin nodded. He could relate to that, if nothing else. He still couldn't grasp it himself, but it wasn't him that was in love with an emotional ticking bomb, that apparently look like a color swap of Shining Armors sister with more freckles, if photos are anything to go by.

"Can we go back to Rainbow Dash?" Thunderlane asked. Soarin sighed and shrugged. "Because yesterday was the worst! She had me cover for her in front of the new consultant, because she messed up her work. She had me LIE to her!"

"Wait, her?" Soarin's ears perked. "Thunderlane, you need to answer another question!"

"Soarin..."

"Is that new consultant hot, or not?" He lookd at Thunderlane, longing for answer, but instead got death glares. "Come on, it's a simple question!"

Thunderlane finally gave up and shrugged.
"She's okay, I guess."

"Ginger?"

"Kinda? I think so."

"Drat!"

"Well, anyway..."

"So wait," Lightning Dust scratched her head "are you trying to tell me that you didn't know I was coming?"

Raindrops shrugged and started answering.
"Rainbow Dash didn't te--UGHH!" But had to stop, when a certain hoof jabbed her at her ribs, pretty hard. Everypony at weather patrol looked over at agonizing Raindrops, then at Rainbow 'Sweating Like Crazy' Dash.

"Of course we knew!" Rainbow donned her biggest, most fake smile imaginable "Haha, time sure flies, I didn't realize it was Monday already! We were really looking forward to meeting you, Lightning... ermm..."

"Dust."

"Yes, Lightning Dust! Welcome to Ponyville's Weather Patrol branch!" Saying that, she spread her hooves around four necks of her co-workers and hugged them closely, forcing them to bow their heads with her. Once they were down and within uncomfortable distance of smelling her minty fresh breath, she muttered through her teeth "Play along or you're all fired!"

"You can't fire us!" Blossom whispered. Rainbow ignored it.

Once their heads rose, Cloud Kicker was the first one to smile genuinely and walked towards Lightning Dust, extending her hoof.
"Welcome to Ponyville, Dusty! I'm Cloud Kicker!"

"Don't call me that." Dusty replied coldly.

"I sure am glad to see a new face around the place, heh nice rhyme," she hung her hoof around her neck "we're gonna be the best buds, ever! Even thought I kinda wish you were a stallion, we don't have many of them these parts, but oh well. Come on, I'll give you a tour!" Then she dragged Lightning Dust away from others. Her victim tried to shake the mare away, but sadly, her threats were ignored and physical prowess was no match for Mixed Martial Arts of a certain military dropout. When they were walking away, Cloud Kicker turned to others, made sure Rainbow Dash was looking at her before giving her a playful wink. Rainbow nodded back and smiled.

"Sometimes I remember why I didn’t fire her already."

"Again, you can't fire us!"

"Okay gang, huddle up!"

Four sets of hooves joined in a circle, then had to break it and reassemble to make sure Thunderlane and Blossomforth weren't too close to each other to avoid issues. Once they were sure Lightning Dust was too busy being annoyed by Cloud Kicker (for once, Raindrops sighed with relief), they started the briefing.
"Okay everypony," Rainbow 'Serious' Dash started "we need to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't find out!"

"Find out what, Dash?" asked Blossom "That you don't know what you signed? That we weren't informed of anything? That you're a terrible manager?"

"Yeah, yeah, dig me in deeper, sheesh. For the good of all of us, we need to work together and solve this, as a team!"

"Huzzah." Raindrops deadpanned, still rubbing the aching ribs.

"We have to make sure she doesn't see anything out of ordinary, act like this is normal and totally planned! Which is why we're having a slight change in plans! Raindrops, Blossom, take Cloud Kicker and start reshaping these clouds, fast. I'll stay here and look through the files for a copy of that document. And Thunderlane, since this is all your fault..."

"Really? Still not over it?" Asked Thunderlane, completely ignored by everypony.

"...You'll take care of Lightning Dust!"

"What? Why me?"

"Because," she peeked over at the mare in question, being playfully assaulted by Cloud Kicker, desperately trying to shake her of her neck, failing miserably, yet still maintaining the illusion of being a completely innocent show of affection. Cloud Kicker was a pro at it, but there was a limit to her abilities "the less time Cloud Kicker spends with her, the better. Blossomforth is out too because right now she is an emotional time-bomb ready to explode any sec--..."

"BUCK YOU I'M NOT!" She yelled. A moment passed, she smiled sheepish. "Sorry!"

"And Raindrops is too ordinary."

"Stop saying it like it's a bad thing!"

"And what about you?" Thunderlane asked "Why don't you take responsibility?"

"Because," she started, then paused for a moment "because I'm the only pony who knows where the copy might be! Yeah! And looking for it could take hours and we still have a schedule to keep! Those snow clouds won't reshape themselves!"

"Can't anypony stay with you and help? To make it faster?" Asked Raindrops.

Rainbow blinked, then looked at the rectangular box at the desk, still screaming at her. She gulped.
"Not an option."

Thunderlane hated lying. He had a reputation of being cynical and rude at times, but that was just the kind of pony he was, whether it was his natural disposition, or just effects of heavy stress his everyday life puts in front of him. He wasn't perfect, but at the very least he had a clear conscience and an internal reassurance that he was being honest with himself and the rest of the world. Sure, a lie here, fake smile there and his life would be so much easier, but he didn’t want any fake friendship. He cherished those few friends he had right now, knowing they were with him despite anything. That's how he lived his life and that's probably why Element of Honesty chose him.

And now he had to throw everything away in order to keep another one of Rainbow's crazy schemes from falling apart. Urge to kill was raising.

He was told to show Lightning Dust around the town, including borders with Everfree forest. Since Nightmare Moon came back, there was a higher risk of forest getting out of control. If that would happen, obviously Princess herself would intervene, but for now they settled on sending another worker to Ponyville, except instead of local pegasi with minimal training, they sent a specialist, trained to deal with harshest and most unpredictable weather anomalies. Thunderlane wanted to get qualifications in these areas as well (that would warrant a hefty raise), but couldn't be bothered to more time in school and had to find a job, ASAP. That said, he probably had way more experience with Everfree weather in the tip of a single feather than Lightning Dust could squeeze out of all the books.

Lightning Dust whistled at the sight of Everfree. They were high in the air, sitting on a cloud within safe distance from forest entrance. They still couldn't see further than a mile, as the deeper the forest spread out, the darker it was getting, with erratic, random clouds moving on their own.
"Wow, no wonder they needed a specialized consultant nearby. This baby right there looks like it could blow up any second now!"

"It's not that bad," Thunderlane reassured her, leading her back on the ground "at worst we get a giant storm or a tornado. Nothing that can't be contained without some help from HQ."

They fell into silence for a longer moment. Thunderlane tried to find some other topic to keep the conversation going, but anything that came to his mind was too close to work and dangerously close to topics he was desperate to avoid. Now he felt like Shining Armor. Awkward and despising every moment of it. He just needed some ice-breaker, anything.

"So," Lightning Dust started. Thunderlane jumped and slowly turned to Lightning Dust. "What exactly is there to do in Ponyville, anyway? I mean, I'm going to spend some time here, might as well have some fun."

Fun. Thunderlane had a sudden urge to smash his head over a wall for not thinking about a topic as tried and safe as 'fun'. There were no walls nearby, so he had to do that once he was back in town.
"Well, there is a nice restaurant, don't remember the name thought."

"I said fun, not eat."

"Oh. Then I guess local bakery is out too," Thunderlane scratched his head and tried to think of some other places "There's a bowling parlor,"

"Meh."

"A tennis court..."

"Boring."

"...Balloon tours..."

"Yeah, so exciting when you have wings!"

"...There's a nice bar between Ponyville and Horsetown..."

"I don't drink."

Thunderlane raised his brow. This was harder than he thought. He was already out of places he enjoyed. Not that he had much time or disposable income for any more elaborate hobby. He usually hangs out with his friends and read books.
"We have a well stocked Library?" He proposed. She gave him an 'are you serious?' glare "How about a spa?"

"Do I look like a some frou-frou fashionista to you?"

He didn't answer that question. So much for an easy topic.
"Well, there's always Horsetown, they have a lot of cool stuff there, I think."

Lightning Dust hummed, then shrugged.
"You know what, I don't really have time for fun anyway. This is all I need!" She extended her hoof all over the area. Thunderlane blinked and looked around. They were standing on grassy plains, surrounded only by trees of Everfree forest on the one side and road to Ponyville on the other. Other than that, the area was as empty as it could be.

"What, you mean Everfree forest? I wouldn't go there if I was you."

"No, not the forest. The space!" she flew up and did a little twirl. "There's so much free, unoccupied space here! And the grass is so soft, I could fall from a mile and end up with a mildly broken bones at worst, unlike Canterlot's stone streets, where you would, you know, go splat! I knew I picked the right place for a transfer. This is a perfect place for training!"

"Training?"

"Yup, training," she landed right in front of his face, smiling smugly "to join the Wonderbolts!"

Thunderlane couldn't help but roll his eyes. Most fillies and colts grow out of their Wonderbolt dreams by the high-school, once reality hits them and they realize how much hassle and risk there is to it. Some don't, like Rainbow Dash. And right now there was a new one in town. These ponies were rarely a good thing. He only ever started tolerating Soarin once he left them. Technically, he never really disliked him, but didn’t truly open to him until after he left.

"Well, good luck with that."

"Don't need none. I'd rather ponies wished me skills. And fame, that helps."

His eye twitched. ‘Celestia’s plot, there are two of them!’, he lamented in his mind. But it was only just beginning.

"Anywho, you seem like yer close to Rainbow Dash, right?"

"What gave it away?" He deadpanned "The constant bickering, blaming or death threats?"

"What's she like? When I was browsing through the job offers, I heard somepony mention she's a nasty, incompetent, lazy slave driver..."

"Sounds like Rainbow Dash, alright."

"... but she's really good at flying, like, lightning fast. Or should I say, rainbow fast!" she chuckled at the lame pun she just made. Thunderlane didn't comment on it. At least it was better than half the puns Soarin makes.

"HEEEY!" Soarin pouted.

"So I dug a little deeper," Lightning Dust continued "I asked some ponies. Apparently, she's always been an ace in the skies, kept winning awards as a teen, all golden medals."

"Yeah, I know." Thunderlane mumbled. It probably wasn't the time to mention that most of these competitions had more ponies on podiums, like himself, always second and he had a wall full of silver medals for prove it. He doubted it would impress her, though.

"Not much in turn of academics, but in this line of business nopony cares about your knowledge, but what you can do with clouds. I'm not even gonna comment on how her parents are big wigs in the HQ. Like, whatever, her parents won't be worth buck when she's in front of Wonderbolts anyway."

Thunderlane looked around, anywhere that wasn't staring at her eyes. Just few minutes of chatting and he already had so many questions, but didn't feel comfortable knowing what the answers could be. Most importantly…
"Why do you know so much about her?"

Lightning Dust waited with her answer, before shrugging and turning away and walking a few steps.
“No reason, really. Well, okay, maybe it’s because she sounds like somepony that I’ll have to compete with, eventually. And unlike some other ‘potential’, and I use this term lightly, candidates, she actually has something to go with.”

“So what, you transferred here to become her rival?” He asked. She turned to him once again and smiled smug, perfectly mimicking what he saw his entire life, except with more colors of rainbow.

“More like see if Rainbow Overhyped Dash is half the mare they claim she is. And honestly? She has a lot to prove after what I saw today. I mean, why would anypony order ten tons of snow clouds in the middle of summer?” She asked, glaring at Thunderlane. A moment passed and awkwardness level increased, signifying that this wasn’t a rhetorical question at all. He had to find an answer and fast. He recalled his memories from before. Rainbow Dash told him how to handle it if asked…

“I dunno,” Rainbow scratched her head “just say something that’ll make me look good, for a change, like, say…”

“It’s a training exercise!” Thunderlane answered. He earned himself yet another raised eyebrow and a glare clearly noticing his giant beads of sweat he currently produced in mass quantities. It was either ‘tell the truth and ruin her reputation’, or ‘carry on and lie like crazy’. As much as his gut, sanity, conscience and magical necklace locked in Canterlot told him to stay true, he had friends honor to save before eyes of a high ranking employee.

“See, with Everfree forest being around, we never know when we’ll get unscheduled snow fall,” He explained, which much to his relief, was actually true, Everfree magic was known to cause snow sometimes “so she had us practice in case of emergency,” his eyebrows twitched as he repeated Rainbow’s bullcrap story “because there was nothing in our schedule for this month.” That part was also true, but that’s how it always was in Ponyville. “Besides, these snow clouds were leftovers from past few months anyway and were going to be reshaped anyway, so she saved factory trouble by doing the job for them!“

He ended the explanation with a wide, totally fake smile he wasn’t nearly as good at as he wanted to be. He expected the worst. He regretted saying it and expected Lightning Dust to call him out on it, but surprisingly, she didn’t say anything and her face wasn’t betraying any emotions. After a longer, awkwardness filled, while she sighed deeply and turned away.

“Okay, sure. Whatever you say.” She shrugged and started slowly walking away. That was the last thing she said to him that day. Normally, he would be glad to have this conversation over, but he didn’t feel right.

He hated lying, especially for a stupid reason like this. And as much as he wanted to blame Rainbow Dash for forcing him to do it, this time it really was his fault. And that was just the beginning.

Author's Note

Hurray for cameos! Confirmed: Thunderlane, Caramel, Blues (Noteworthy), Rainbow and Rarity are the same age and were in the same class together.

Also hurray for Thunderlane actually doing something! It's still his fault!

Also hurray for Soarin coming back!

Also hurray for... no, that's enough cheering.

Chapter 3: His only fan

"So... now what?"

"Ah dunno. Guess plan R's a bust then."

"That's plan D! D for Rainbow Dash! Get it right!"

After leading the new kinda cool for adult pony to the Weather Patrol office, Cutie Mark Crusaders were once again out of ideas on what to do. If Lightning Dust was to be believed (and she seemed trustworthy to three fillies, one especially), Rainbow Dash would be busy for the rest of the day, meaning their crusading was stopped to a halt. Until they heard an alternative from a familiar voice.

"How about plan S?"

The fillies hummed, rubbing their chins, considering pros and cons of said solution. They came to a simple conclusion at about the same time.
"Wait a second, do we even have a plan S?"

"Plan S stands for going to school, like all good fillies are supposed to." the voice explained.

Simultaneously, the three fillies opened their eyes wide and covered themselves in sweat. They slowly, carefully turned their heads back and smiled at the mare.
"H-hi misses Cheerilee!" Sweetie Belle started, but ended saying nothing else, stopped by the smile of a particular magenta mare. Teachers glare, even the nice and kind types like Cheerilee, was enough to stop any foal from pretending they had anything but doom waiting for them. Cheerilee, being a kind and nice teacher that she was, escorted three fillies to the school safely, glad they were too distressed with their own fates to notice that she was late herself. Glad she dodged the bullet herself, she let them go with only a verbal warning.

"Well, so much fer crusadin' today." Applebloom lamented over their fates, especially hers, since she had so much chores planned for today that any crusader related activity was out of question. Especially since Applejack banned the sleepovers after the incident with the robot.

"Don't worry about it," Scootaloo waved her hoof "we'll just have to wait until tomorrow. And I bet, tomorrow will going to be legen--..."

There were three fillies sitting at the table outside the school grounds. One was a white unicorn, supporting her head with her hoof, staring blankly at the trees in the distance. Next to her, was a yellow earth pony, laying her head on the table, staring into the sky. The third one, an orange pegasus, stared at the pencil she was messing with. All three of them were unnaturally silent.

"I can't think of anything -dary!"

A collective moan could be heard all over the entire schoolyard. Foals and fillies still playing around after the school stopped their business to identify the source of the sound, but quickly went back to their own once they realized it was just Cutie Mark Crusaders. Again. Only two foals were left watching the trio from the sandbox. Incidentally, the two were the only other blank flanks left in the entire class. Unlike the trio, they were much busier building a new fortress for their next epic battle, taking place in future times, after Princesses were gone and ponies were all about war in the post-apocalyptic setting, which Rumble read up in a comic book he loaned from one of his brothers friends. Soarin was a bad role model for foals, but for completely different reasons than anypony expected.

"Here they go again," Rumble shook his head, looking at the cutie mark crusaders "we do the usual?" he asked his partner.

"Yeah, sounds good." Dinky nodded and both foals got off the sandbox and walked towards the table.

'The usual' was a short version of 'let's invite them so they'll cheer up after not getting their cutie marks, again'. It was their obligation to fill as Honorary Cutie Mark Crusaders, a compromise they reached between joining full time and rejecting the offer completely. It made little sense in the long run, but it sounded much cooler than just 'being friends'.

"Hey girls," Rumble greeted the trio "wanna play with us?" He asked, pointing at the sandbox, unfinished fortress and bunch of pony miniatures. The girls in question looked at the sandbox, then at Rumble and Dinky, finally at each other and shrugged.

"Sure," Scootaloo put the pencil away and left her seat "not like we have anything else to do, since Rainbow Dash is too busy for plan D." she mumbled. The last statement made Rumble raise his brow.

"Rainbow Dash? Busy?" He asked, trying to comprehend these two (three actually) words in the same sentence. "With what? Napping and doing nothing?"

"Hey!" Scootaloo turned to Rumble to face him a little too close "Rainbow Dash is the manager, she does all the important stuff so Ponyville can have a good weather. Without her, the whole town would have a drou... drow... droug... umm..."

"Drought." Sweetie Belle added.

"Yeah, that."

"Uhh, no she doesn't," Rumble's eyes narrowed "all she does is laze around and push the work to others."

"Well yeah, that's because she's too..."

"...cool for work, I heard that." he rolled his eyes.

"Exactly!" Scootaloo smiled proudly "She's way too busy being awesome and training to become the coolest Wonderbolt ever!"

Rumble raised his hoof and opened his mouth, until he realized that there was no arguing this statement. As much as Thunderlane complains about her and wishes she would grow up, she really was that good at flying and there was no questioning that she'd become a great Wonderbolt one day. He could continue arguing over nothing (and he was pretty sure Scootaloo wasn't the one to stop either) or just let it slide and avoid any further problems. He looked over at the other fillies. The bored, unamused looks on their faces told him that it wasn't time or place for petty arguments. He had to resort to the ultimate fight-breaker.

"Okay, whatever," he said the magical words, instantly segueing into more important issue "we're playing Equestrian Fall. Which side do you want?"

"Rebels!" Scootaloo was first to raise her hoof.

"Rebels!" Applebloom was the second, bumping hooves with her partner in crime. This pretty much meant that Rumble and Dinky were probably stuck as royals in this one.

Sweetie Belle took a while longer to pick her side.
"I dunno... are we playing before or after Melodious was backstabbed by his wife?" she asked, provoking a very negative reaction.

"SWEETIE BELLE!" all four ponies screamed at the same time "Spoilers!"

"Oh... oops?" Sweetie Belle shrugged and smiled sheepish "You still haven't read the latest issue?"

"No!"

"Oh... sorry. But it's okay, he survived and she was under mind con--..." she started, but suddenly stopped, realizing full well that she wasn't doing anypony favors. Also, she had for vicious glares all pointing at her. "...never mind." Sweetie Belle's ears drooped and she covered herself in blush. She eventually picked royals, if only because Dinky and Rumble handled spoilers a little better.

The battle was fierce, full of blood and spared nopony, as each magical bullet shot and each spear thrust, there was at least one rebel, seeking freedom and justice for their oppressed brethren, or one royal, trying to keep the world under control by iron hoof and discipline, misinterpreting the teachings of the Princesses in their own, twisted way, dead. In the end, nopony was alive to see the end of it.

"Wow, war sucks," Scootaloo admitted and others agreed with her, nodding "what was it good for?"

"Absolutely nothing!" Dinky answered, as she started packing the miniatures back to the box. "But it was kinda fun to play!" And everypony nodded in agreement, fully admitting that war and bloodshed was good only when fictional.

They couldn't see Miss Cheerilee from their point of view, so they missed her single tear of pride for her students, and one more for herself for a job well done. What she didn't take a pride in, were her two worst students. Not in terms of academics, though. One of whom, the smarter, but at the same time meeker, observed the group of five foals from around the corner. Her hoof grabbed the edge of the wall hard enough, she could rip it off if she wasn't a small filly, and only that same grip kept her body from shaking uncontrollably. Back in the sandbox, Cutie Mark Crusaders and Dinky shuddered uncontrollably, feeling a hostile glare looking at them, though none of them realized what it was, or that others felt the same. Rumble had a strange feeling as well, though his felt less hostile, but at the same time just as dangerous. He looked around and could swear that he saw somepony around, but in the end waved it away as imagination. Too much very graphic comic books were indeed making him paranoid.

The figure behind the wall breathed heavily, almost gluing herself to the wall, her heart beating so hard, she could swear that he heard that. Seconds passed, sweat poured from her forehead and she swallowed before taking a small peek. The foals at the sandbox acted normally, hiding the plastic ponies back in the box and chatting happily, no sign of detection noticed. She growled quietly at them. Cutie Mark Crusaders she wasn't afraid of in the slightest- they were too busy looking for their special talents to even comprehend who they were playing with. It was that grey unicorn she was most worried about. Every single time she tried to get close to Rumble, she was always there, shadowing him and not leaving his side, like, ever. They were together at the Summer Sun Celebration (she wanted THAT plush ursa SO badly), always hanging out after school, even staying overnight at each other’s houses. She was a threat, an obstacle, a... rival. Her. A blank flank. She was a danger to...

"Silver Spoon?"

"MEEEP!"

The filly in question jumped, along with her heart, desperately trying to get outside her chest, but she calmed down fast enough to prevent it. She fixed her crooked glasses and turned to the filly that called her.
"Oh, uh, hey Diamond Tiara?" She smiled sheepish. Silver Spoon's hair was a mess, the long, perfectly braided mane had stray hairs poking out and beads of sweat could be seen on her face as she faced her friend. Thankfully for her, empathy was not Diamond Tiara's special talent.

"What are you doing here? I was waiting for you for, like, almost an hour!" She lamented, rolling her eyes. "Do you know what happens when you spend an hour, alone, waiting for somepony in Sugarcube Corner?" she asked. That question was a rhetoric one, the answer was simple. Pinkie Pie and 'Not lonely with me' song. She shuddered just remembering it. "You didn't forget we were meeting, were you?"

Silver Spoon looked around, anywhere that wasn't questioning and thankfully oblivious look from her friend.
"Umm, no I just... I... uhh... well, you see..." She finally gave up and decided that telling the truth was the only option. Just not the important truth. "...yes, I forgot. Sorry..." He ears drooped and eyes went away from facing her friend. Diamond Tiara, for all the flaws she had, couldn't hold a grudge on her best (only) friend.

"Ugh, like whatever!" She waved her hoof. "Come on," she started walking towards the road, which also happened to pass by the sandbox "I don't wanna bump into any of these blan--UGH!"

The pink filly fell on the ground, her golden tiara falling from her head, rolling on the ground before stopping when it collided with an opened, recently dropped box, with over a few dozen pony soldiers desperately trying to run for their freedom. The only thing stopping them from escaping, was lack of sentience, moving parts and the fact that they were made out of plastic. One soldier in particular had a really bad luck of finding himself squashed under relatively small, yet still gigantic for him, orange hoof.

"Oww!" Scootaloo lamented over her aching head, but soon after her concern reached the tiny, non-living pony wannabe, or what was left of it. "Oh no!" She turned to Diamond Tiara, frowning. "Watch where you're going!"

"YOU watch where you're going, Chickenloo!" Diamond Tiara got off the ground, with help from Silver Spoon. "You better hope my tiara's not broken, or you'll pay for it, dearly!"

"What? Who cares about your stupid tiara, like it'll break from this!" She grabbed the piece of the soldier and showed it. "Look what you did to one of Rumble's soldiers!"

'Wait a second,' Silver Spoon panicked 'HIS soldiers?'

"Pfft, that old piece of junk? You should throw that to trash anyway and get a better one!"

'No, Diamond Tiara, please!' Silver Spoon begged her friend in her mind, 'Don't!'

"Hey, it ain't no trash!" Applebloom interjected, defending Scootaloo along with Sweetie Belle and Dinky "His brother gave it to him 'cause they were important!"

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle and Dinky nodded.

"Bah, he gave it to him because they're poor and can't get new ones!"

Silver Spoon was trembling in her hooves. Her best friend was insulting her (she faced it long ago and wasn't afraid to admit it, but only to herself) true love, not to mention other fillies which she didn't care for either. She cursed herself for living in a cruel world like that, and cursed herself for being too weak to say anything, to try and fix the problem. This was officially starting to become the worst day of her entire life, all because Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara (to lesser extent) couldn't be bothered to watch where they were going. She was too afraid to speak and even look at the colt in question.

Rumble on his part was being strangely quiet. His eyes were stuck on the remains of Seargent Iron Wing, Thunderlane's favorite pegasus scout. He took a deep breath and finally walked in between both fillies.
"Okay, that's enough both of you, stop fighting!" He turned towards the evil one. "Is your tiara broken?"

"Well, it's..."

"Is. It. Broken?" His eyes narrowed and even Diamond Tiara, the iron hearted filly of the town, had to stand down and comply.

"N-no."

"Then it's all fine. I'm not mad for what happened to my toy, it was an accident. Sorry for that. I don't expect you to apologize, so at least leave us alone!"

Diamond Tiara rarely interacted with Rumble, especially outside the class, so his sudden, confident and actually dignified outburst was something that caught her by surprise, rendering her shocked and silent for a while. She shook her head and eventually reacted.
"Hmpf, whatever!" She pouted and turned away, avoiding any further eye contact from the colt. She wasn't afraid of him, not at all. But she was worried that she might actually start to... respect him? The thought alone made her shudder.

"Come on girls," Rumble turned to his actual friends, right after picking up the remains of his old comrade "I don't want to stay here, with them, any longer." He received a few nods and the group left the schoolyard, leaving their two morally defeated enemies alone.

"Pfft, who needs them? We were wasting time anyway. Come on, Silver Spoon, let’s just go." She shrugged and walked a few steps forward. She stopped, turned back and retraced the steps she just took to rejoin her friend, who hasn't said or done anything, instead blankly just looked at the ground "Silver Spoon?"

"He hates me, he hates me, he hates me, he hates me..." she quietly murmured to herself, as the drops of tears started falling on the ground. Diamond Tiara waved her hoof before her face, having absolutely no effect. She gulped, not sure what to do at moments like these.

"Ooookay..." She scratched her head and thought "...so, wanna go hang out in my house?"

"..."

"We can have makeovers? You know you love those!"

"..."

"I have ice-cream?"

"...chocolate?"

"All you can eat!"

"...ok." She wiped her tears and allowed to be guided to her best friend’s house.

After saying goodbye to Dinky and Cutie Mark Crusaders, Rumble had to take a deep breath and face the truth, as he opened the door to his home. The smell of fried eggs with dandelions filled the entire room, for the first time making Rumble realize that he haven't eaten anything since lunch break back in school, which was good few hours away. Time sure flew fast when he was playing with his friends. A perfect day, too bad it ended with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon breaking, this time literally, their fun, even if it was an accident. Though to be honest, it was mostly Diamond Tiara, as the other didn't actually say anything. Not that she ever talked to him, even when they were paired in the class for a project. As far as he knew, he never did anything bad to her to earn her spite. In fact, when they first met, he complimented her glasses and helped her with one problem in class, but she insisted on avoiding him from that point on. He blamed Diamond Tiara and her obsession against blank flanks. Like she wasn't one of them just not too long ago.

He finally entered the kitchen, with box of soldiers under his wing. He saw Thunderlane by the frying pan, already finishing up the dinner, with two plates and jug of juice already placed on the table nearby.
"Hey bro!" Thunderlane greeted his little brother, barely looking away from the stove.

"Hey Thunderlane." He greeted him back.

Thunderlane was by no means a difficult pony to decipher and Rumble had no problems figuring out his brother. In between the sizzling eggs, he could hear a loud sigh, not to mention the smile was gone from his face. This usually meant two things: Rainbow Dash and Blossomforth, supported by the fact that there were only two plates on the table, as opposed to three on Tuesdays, whenever Blossom joined them. He wouldn't admit it to his brother's face, not at these times at least, but he missed her. Especially her cooking, which was a little more varied than his brothers. He loved his brother's cooking and it was delicious, but he longed for something different once in a while.

"How was school?" Thunderlane asked, dividing the content of the frying pan onto the plates.

"Good. We stayed a little longer and played with CMC's."

"Equestrian Fall?" Thunderlane asked, raising his eyebrow and donning a sly smile. As with every big brother, there was no hiding it from him.

"Y-yeah... how did you know that?"

"Guess what inappropriate material for foals I found when I was cleaning under your bed?"

"Uhm... oops?"

"Seriously, I really need to talk to Soarin about this. I'll teach him to show my lil'bro something this indecent."

Busted. Rumble gulped and tried to think of anything to get away from consequences. He once heard some line that worked fairly well against him. Might as well give it a shot now.
"Thunderlane? When you were my age, did mom and dad found something under your bed, that you weren't supposed to have?"

At the sound of that, the big, black pegasus went completely stiff, his eyes wide open, twitching, while his face turned red. Rumble had no idea why that was such an unpleasant topic, but it did the job, so he was glad for it. Soon after, Thunderlane coughed and scratched his head.
"Okay, you got me there... I won't mention the comics, if you don't mention... that. Deal?" He extended his hoof forward.

"Deal!" Rumble happily obliged and hoof bumped his brother.

After the meal, it was time to face the truth and be honest. Rumble shifted a little on his seat before gathering enough courage to say something.
"Thunderlane?"

"Yeah?"

"...umm, you see, this morning, when we were playing..." and then he confessed everything. From inviting CMC's to play, Diamond Tiara being, well, herself, to accidental and completely unintentional fall of his favorite pegasus scout.

"Oh no," Thunderlane's ears dropped "not Sergeant Iron Wing! He was the best!"

„I know, I'm sorry, we didn't mean to, I mean, Scootaloo didn't mean to, but I was supposed to take care of them and..."

"No no, it's alright. It happens."

"You're not mad?"

"No, not really. Sad, mostly. I mean, Iron Wing was the best!" He sighed, recalling the memories from his childhood. All the battles he had won, all thanks to one, small pegasus with barely a short hoof-blade as his only means of protection. He was a hero that abolished tyrants, slain dragons and rescued about five princesses, marrying each (now that he thought about it, it was a little messed up) and getting a bunch of half kingdoms as rewards, yet never stopping his heroics. Good times. "You know what we need to do now, Rumble?"

His brother blinked and tilted his head. He had no idea, but should've seen it coming...

"... and for all the other deeds he performed, proving his bravery knew no limits, we thank you, sergeant Iron Wing, you deserve your rest!"

The two pegasi, one a tall, well built black coated with a big white Mohawk, other smaller, gray coated with black mane, saluted, while standing still in the safe distance from a small bonfire burning in their backyard, inside which remains of a plastic toy pegasus became one with the ashes, melting into the burning wood. A few buckets filled with water and sand waited nearby, along with a lone cloud, just in case, ready to end this primitive, yet noble funeral. It was a simple burial, with no fanfares, no publicity, but with utmost respect, just as Iron Wing would have always wanted.

"Rumble," Thunderlane patted his brother on the back, as both shed a tear for their old friend "I know you feel guilty, but you shouldn't. You did your best, but life sometimes gets the better of us. All we can do is go on and remember those who passed as they lived, not how they died."

"I will." Rumble nodded and the two fell silent, instead gazing into the fire, or the sky, where first stars started to appear. They both noticed two falling stars and closed their eyes to make a wish. Rumble had all he ever needed- the best big brother, friends, nice house, he didn't feel the need for anything (maybe aside from that cool action figure set of Power Ponies for his birthday), so he asked the stars to make Thunderlane's life a little easier, just so he could smile more often. That was when their life was at its best.

Moments passed in silence.

"Thunderlane?"

"Yes?"

"Is that a snow cloud?"

"... don't ask."

Author's Note

This chapter is a little different, we'll be back to Rainbow Tyant Dash and Lightning Kinda Cool Dust in a moment.

Daaaamn, even Diamond Tiara is nicer than Rainbow Dash @_@

Chapter 4: I have a name, you know...

Lightning Dust closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to scavenge as much oxygen as it was possible, even though there wasn't that much around here. She opened her eyes and looked down from the cloud. She squinted her eyes as she tried to estimate the rough height she was at. She shrugged, deciding that whichever number of hooves she was, as long as other ponies looked liked microbes from her perspective (literally), it was just enough. Good thing about rural areas- the space was unoccupied by anypony or anything. Nothing to stand on, unless you bring a cloud with you, like she did. She leaned at it and bit a little bit of the fluff then released it to let it show her how was the wind up there. She didn't need to know that, but it's what professionals did, so who was she to question them.

Finally, she closed her eyes again, got up on her hind hooves, extended her fore hooves to her sides and allowed herself to slowly tilt backwards, and finally fall of the cloud, plummeting towards the ground with increasing speed. As she soared through the air, she felt wind rushing around her body and sparks starting to ignite as she went even faster. Eventually she reached the proper speed and opened her eyes, smiling, instantly extending her wings against the air current. Normally, that much pressure and air resistance could break some poor ponies wings, but hers didn't. She was a Lightning, both in name, and in function currently. The moment she lived for, her special talent appeared as a visible, bright yellow surges of electricity going around her body, filling her with enormous amounts of pegasus magic. Unlike unicorn's magic, the pegasi had a more innate, instinctive type of magic that most pegasi discover when they grow up. Some discover a lot more of it and can do miracles with it, mostly related to flying. Which was a good thing Lightning Dust was all about it.

Just as she was about to slam headfirst into the ground, she turned upwards and recovered from the fall, flying past the open, grassy field, leaving only a class full of fillies, colts and one teacher, large surge of wind, dust and harmless electricity that surged through them as well, leaving only their manes electrified and jaw dropped, soon followed by awe, hoof clopping and cheers.

"Wooo! Go Lightning Dust!"

"That was awesome!"

"Do one more!"

Cheerilee, as much as she wanted to chew out Lightning Dust for potentially endangering the foals, couldn't hide her enthusiasm as well, She stopped once she inspected her reflection in the nearby window. Her smile faltered as she noticed her hair, which she desperately tried to fix.
"Great, it's like 90's all over again..." she mumbled, thankfully ignored by the cheering foals. And none cheered harder than a certain purple maned pegasus.

"AH YEAH, THAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER!" Scootaloo screamed, flapping her tiny wings to go along with her hooves.
Lightning Dust turned around and finally landed in the middle of a circle of her new fans.

"Don't mention it. It's a work in progress, I'll get this stunt finished by the end of the month. THEN you can mention it to everypony you know!" She smiled smugly and allowed herself to be praised by her new cult. She caught the glimpse of the teacher, giving her mean looks. Lightning Dust rolled her eyes and proceed. "Oh yeah and don't do this at home, or anywhere really. I am a trained, certified professional, yadda yadda, stay safe and don't do drugs and all that jazz."

She was enjoying the attention, until a familiar voice had to ruin it.
"WHAT. Are. You. DOING. Here?"

"Oh boy, here comes the drama queen..."

Rainbow Dash landed nearby and walked towards the crowd. The fillies were at first excited to see not just one, but two best fliers of Equestria, but soon their smiles faded when they noticed the rage in the Captain's eyes. They played it safe and walked away, avoiding her gaze, letting her reach her original destination, which wasn't in any way, shape or form phased by it.

"Hello, Rainbow Dash," Lightning Dust waved at her "I was just entertaining the nearby school with some..."

"Why are you here?"

"I just told you, I was..."

"I know what that was!" The two pegasi met eye to eye. "Why are you HERE, instead of working on the snow cloud, like you were supposed to?"

The other flier still wasn't even a little bit intimidated, or at least didn't show any of it, as she shrugged nonchalantly.
"Well, first of all," she took a step forward, forcing Rainbow to take a step back to avoid collision "I don't work for you! I'm an independent consultant, I only answer to HQ, same as you, which basically means we're equals and I have my own responsibilities, which by the way, I'm following to a tee."

"Secondly, when I offered my help, I did it strictly out of kindness and boredom, so if I don't do my part, it's because I'm a lazy pony and I'm bad at keeping promises," she raised her hoof to silence Rainbow Dash before she was about to say anything.

"Which by the way, and that's third, I already finished everything, so I'm free until the debrief this evening."

Rainbow Dash blinked. So did Lightning Dust. So did Cheerilee and all the foals witnessing the entire conversation.
"You finished?"

"Yup."

"All of it?"

"Yep."

"But that was..."

"Two tons."

"But... it's only 12 A.M.!"

"Yeah, I did it all in a single run. Took me about, I dunno, ten? Eleven? Maybe twelve minutes to get over it? I don't count the boring stuff."

Rainbow Dash's eye twitched.
"Hold that thought!" She said, then zipped out of the field, leaving only flying dust and rainbow trail after herself.
One minute later, the same rainbow blur came back the same way it came. This time, the mare in question wasn't as angry or surprised as before, instead ore ashamed, blushing.

"I... I checked the warehouse."

"And?"

"Well, you see... you were right..."

"See? Next time check these in advance before you start making a scene, in front of school-foals at that!" She pointed her hoof at the dozen or so foals, now busy whispering amongst themselves, probably judging Rainbow Dash. Harshly. "So Rainbow, what do you say in time like these?"

Rainbow Dash covered herself in even deeper blush and opened her mouth, letting no words come out.

"I can't hear you!"

"I'm... I'm..."

"Well?" Lightning Dust raised an eyebrow and waited patiently, so did the foals (and Cheerilee). Rainbow Dash finally gulped and let out the real magical words.

"I'm... sorry." She said, ear dropping and knees shaking, feeling more humiliated than ever before in her life. Lightning Dust went over to her and patted her on the back, smiling.

"No problem."

"Did you see that?" Said the small, chubby unicorn colt, addressing his other classmates that gathered around. "That was the most awesomestest thing ever!"

"Yeah!" His taller unicorn friend slowly nodded. "She made my hair all funny!" He said, pointing at his still standing mane.

"I say Lightning Dust is the coolest and best flier in the world!" Snips added, earning some nods of agreement. But not everypony shared his opinion and some of those ponies were eager to say it out loud.

"That? Please, Rainbow Dash could do that with her hooves tied up!" Scootaloo went up against Snips to defend her idol. "She's just too busy with actual work to be awesome!" She proudly announced. Meanwhile, in the background Sweetie Belle and Applebloom shrugged at each other and decided not to interfere.

"She is so last week!" Snips hoofwaved. "Can Rainbow Dash turn into lightning like Lightning Dust? Huh?"

"Well, no, I don't think so..." scratched her head "...but she can do something way, way cooler than that!"

"What? Sonic Rainboom?" Snips snorted loudly. "That's all just a story!"

"No it's not! It's true! Rainbow Dash told me, herself!"

"Then she was lying!"

"No she wasn't! You are lying!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

At this moment the conflict had to be resolved with help of Cheerilee, who slapped detention left and right, trying to separate two groups of rabid fans and keep them under control. Only select few from the classroom didn't get involved in the conflict.

"Pfft, buncha losers!" Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, as she and Silver Spoon went towards the school building "Like, who cares about lame stunts anyway. If I wanna see some good fliers, I'll ask daddy to take to an actual Wonderbolts derby! Hmm, maybe I will ask him today? Wanna come with, Silver Spoon?" She asked. And waited for a response. She looked at her friend, totally not paying attention. "Silver Spoon?"

"Wh-what? I mean, yeah, sure!" The gray filly jumped and nodded, hoping she wasn't caught red hooved when watching somepony that wasn't Diamond Tiara. The latter didn't show any signs of knowing, instead caring about one thing she cared the most- herself.

"Silver Spoon, are you sick or what?" She went over her friend and put her hoof on her forehead. "Eww, You're sweating like crazy!" She wiped her hoof on the grass. "I love you like a sister I never had and hopefully never will, but seriously, I'd rather spend a few days alone in class than get your germs all over. Yuck!"

Silver Spoon smiled. That had to be one of the most heartwarming things she heard from Diamond Tiara in, well, ever.
"No, I'm fine, just... tired. Yeah, I'm just tired because, uhm, too much homework?"

"Ugh, yah, I know! Like, when am I supposed to have a life when all Miss Cheerilee ever does is give us more and more homework! Gah, what a chore!"

"I heard that!" Cheerilee yelled from afar. Diamond Tiara smiled widely and pretended innocence at her teacher, while Silver Spoon allowed herself a small chuckle, almost forgetting the colt that already left. With somepony else. With her...

"Achoo!" Dinky sneezed, as she was walking with Rumble, as far away from the fighting crowd as possible.

"Allergy?"

"Nah. I think somepony was thinking bad things about me," She casually mentioned, earning herself a puzzling glare from the colt "at least, that's what Doctor says." she shrugged and so did Rumble. The pair walked a little more, mostly in silence, until Dinky decided it was time to ask the important question.

"So... what do you think about all this?"

"About what?"

"You know. About Lightning Dust, stealing Rainbow's thunder?" She asked, then chuckled when she repeated that sentence in her head. Rumble chuckled as well, noticing the subtle joke in that statement. Then they sighed, realizing they were too old for their age.

"I dunno, I don't really care. Not after I got to hear Thunderlane's rants about Rainbow driving him insane. And now, there's another."

"Ouch. That bad?"

"Well, she keeps ignoring him for the most part. And when she doesn't, she keeps mixing up his name, calling him 'Plumber Mane', or 'Smuggler Flame' or... Dinky, stop laughing!" He ordered his giggling unicorn friend, but as much as she tried to cover her mouth to stop the laughter, there was no stopping the tears she shed. As much as Rumble sympathized with his brother, he had to admit, it was pretty funny. Once she finally calmed down, Dinky wiped the remaining tears and continued the conversation.

"Did he do anything to her? Did he, I dunno, say something bad?"

"No, I don't think so. He's as clueless as we are."

Dinky hummed, then smiled.
"Maaaybe..." she looked around to ensure nopony was in the earshot, then whispered "... she lllikes him!"

Rumble took his time, then answered accordingly.
"What."

"Oh, you know," she waved a hoof "Momma says that sometimes when somepony likes somepony, they are mean to them."

Rumble tilted his head. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"I know. She said it's because they are shy and afraid that other pony will hate them for who they really are, so they act in reverse, so they'll hate the pony they aren't. That way in the end they won't become a couple, but not because they don't like-like each other, but because one of them is shy and other doesn't catch on." She stopped, hummed for a moment, then shrugged. "Or something like that."

Rumble blinked. "Well, that's just stupid! If you like somepony, why won't you just tell them?" He resumed his trot, shaking his head on the way. "Sheesh, as if girls weren't complicated enough!" He groaned at nopony in particular "I'm glad at least you're normal, Dinky."

Dinky paused and blushed lightly "Yeah, thanks..."

"This sure feels nice." Said Thunderlane, sitting at yet another batch of paperwork.

"It sure does." Raindrops confirmed, taking her eyes of her own share of papers.

They both picked their mugs, took a long sip of their teas and sighed with relief. There was no emotional time-bomb Blossomforth around. Nor was there clingy-friendly-molesty Cloud Kicker. Or Rainbow 'Look at me' Dash anywhere to be found. Or Lightning 'New girl' Dust. The bliss of sharing the office with only other sane member of the team was a rare occurrence, so they both cherished it while it lasted.

"Sure is quiet."

"Yeah, it sure is."

"I like it like that."

"Me too."

A moment passed. Birds chirped outside, while a small gust of wind passed through the white curtains.
"Too quiet."

"Something will ruin it soon."

"True."

SMASH!

"That damn !@#$%" Announced Rainbow Dash, dramatically smashing the door open and entering, with smoke coming from her ears, as she accentuated every single step with a loud thud. Thunderlane and Raindrops sighed and shrugged at each other, then looked at Rainbow, as she continued. "She humiliated me! Right in front of the foals! I mean, who does that?"

Thunderlane sighed heavily and massaged his head. He contemplated telling Rainbow Dash to shut up, but decided against it. Let her vent right here and now, when only his and Raindrops' sanity would suffer.
"I came to her, all work and stuff, and what is she doing instead of her job? She's showing off! To a bunch of school foals! And Cheerilee!"

"Wow, how horrible," Raindrops deadpanned "unlike anything you would ever do."

"And then I'm asking, politely, about the clouds, she's all over me! She's like 'Rainbow, you dumb dummy, I already made it all in
like, ten seconds flat and you're not a boss of me so get outta mah face' and all that! So what was I supposed to do? Argh, what's her deal anyway? Who gave her to the right to waltz into Ponyville and butt in to my life? My work? My team? My friends? My audience? My fans?"

"Your pride?" Thunderlane deadpanned.

"Yes, that too!"

"I stole a what, now?" Asked Lightning Dust, as she just appeared in the doorway. Rainbow Dash didn't wait before she went over to her, faces almost touching, eyes glaring at each other.

"You did this on purpose!"

"Again, what did I do?"

"You humiliated me! In front of a whole classroom!"

"Oh please, like I don't have anything better to do than attacking your so called reputation," she shrugged and smiled "you're doing a bang-up job all by yourself."

"Why you..."

That was Thunderlane's cue, as he leaped above the desk and landed right next to the pair, separating them before anypony ended with bruises and lawsuit.
"Okay girls, that's enough!"

"She started it!" Rainbow Dash pointed at Lightning Dust.

"Shut up Sunday Rain, mommy and mommy are talking!" Lightning Dust waved her hoof at him, shooing him away.

"It's Thunderlane!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure it is." She rolled her eyes and went back to Rainbow Dash. "What, you're jealous because I showed some foals a few tricks?"

"Yeah... I mean, no, but, uhh... stop messing with my fans, okay?"

"Fans?" She snorted. "Sorry, I didn't see anypony wearing a badge with 'Rainbow is Awesome' anywhere."

"Because they don't wear them in school, duh!"

Lightning Dust snorted and was about to reply, but went silent and looked closer at Rainbow Dash, then at Thunderlane, finally at Rainbdrops. She blinked.
"Wait, you're not kidding?" Her eye twitched. "She's not kidding?" She looked at the other two pegasi, but only got their resigned shrug as the answer. "You REALLY have a fan club?"

"Yup. With badges, clubhouse and regular meetings every Saturday. And that filly that you like so much? She's the founder AND chairpony. NOW who's jealous?"

Lightning Dust was at a loss of words. It took her a moment to recover and shake her head.
"Whatever. Should've known this little backwater village is boring enough that even somepony like you can get fans."

"Cloudsdale, Manehattan, Canterlot, name the place," said Rainbow Dash nonchalantly "each will get their own awesome fan club once I become a Wonderbolt!"

"You? A wonderbolt? Ha, hilarious," she chuckled and waved her hoof, dismissively "last time I checked, they don't accept lazy bums. No offense." She shrugged, meaning all the offense in the world. She expected Rainbow to lash out on her and others to at least call her out on it, but for some reason, they didn't. She saw Rainbow Dash scratching her head and smiling sheepish. The others had a similar reaction, but she never learned why.

"ACHOO!" Soarin sneezed, sending a few papers from his desk flying. Either he just got himself an allergic reaction to taxes, or somepony was thinking some nasty things about him. Probably taxes. He shrugged and ignored it.

"Well, she IS new in town, so that's to be expected." Raindrops noted, shrugging. She received a few nods from her team, except the ever confused Lightning Dust, who took a longer while to recover this time.

"Whatever. So what if you have a few overzealous fillies watching you like you're some speed princess or whatnot? Just shows that they never saw anything truly cool from a future Captain of the Wonderbolts... until today morning, that is."

"You? The captain?" Rainbow Dash snickered, before unleashing the laughter, full force. "Now who's getting full of herself! You'll be lucky if I let you join the team once I become the Captain first!"

"Yeah, likely story!"

"Grr!" Said Rainbow Dash, glaring at her rival.

"Grr!" Replied Lightning Dust, doing the same thing.

Meanwhile, Raindrops and Thunderlane smacked their faces, hard. That hurt a lot less than prospect of having to deal with two of them.

The storm was still far away.

Author's Note

"Shut up, mommy and mommy are talking!" - the line I wanted to use in forever. Probably I'm the only one laughing, but that's still one person amused.

I realize I didn't give Dinky nearly enough lines, so... problem solved!

Chapter 5: It's his fault

Four days. That's how long it has been since the week began. Since Lightning Dust joined their merry bunch. That's how long it took them to take care of all the snow clouds, though they weren't exactly being hasty, fully knowing that if Lightning Dust or Rainbow Dash wanted, they'd do it in an hour, tops. But more importantly, it's been four days since last time Blossomforth and Thunderlane really talked and it was about time it resumed. Blossomforth didn't even remember what they argued about- probably something stupid, which was a good thing she couldn't recall, otherwise her white coat would instantly turn crimson. Whatever beef she had with her on and off coltfriend, none of that was bothering her anymore. It was time.

"Hey, Thunderlane?" She asked him, right before they went out for their assignment. Now that clouds were ready, it was time to actually setup the incoming storm. It was the best time to approach Thunderlane, who seemed most relaxed when everypony was too busy with work to argue about small stuff. Thunderlane turned to her and at first seemed annoyed, but upon seeing her innocent, humble eyes, he calmed down and paid her more attention.

"Hey, Blossom." He replied, shortly falling into silence. The two shifted and were glad they were the only ponies inside office. Celestia knows they didn't need Cloud Kicker and her antics right now.

"So... a lot happened recently, right?" Blossomforth started. "What with those snow clouds and the new girl?"

"Yeah. No time for boredom," he nodded "especially now that Rainbow's the worst she's ever been."

"Yeah, I can imagine how hard it can be to keep up with her... so, you're doing okay?"

"Not really. But I'll manage. And you?"

"Honestly?" She scratched her head and shifted her eyes around. "I've been thinking a lot recently and, well, I guess what I wanted to say was... I miss you." Her cheeks turned all red. "You think we can start over?"

There it was. The cute smile that he fell for all these years ago, the one that was almost always right next to him. The one that cheered him up all this time. The one he really missed these past few days, even if he didn't realize it. So yeah, they had a lot of bad episodes and this probably wasn't the last time they fought, but at this point, he was past caring about small stuff.

"Blossom..." He looked her in the eyes, getting closer to her face.

"Thunderlane..." She looked at him as well, cheeks burning even hotter than usual.

Their eyes closed, their lips got closer to each other, and they could feel each other’s breaths on their faces...

SMACK! *

"Thunderlane, a word with you! Hi Blossom." Rainbow 'Moment Killer' Dash suddenly entered the office with a loud crash, passing the pair of now confused and annoyed ponies, completely ignoring them and their situation.

"Rainbow!" Blossom barked at her. "We were in the middle of something!"

"I know, I'm NOT blind!" Rainbow answered, taking her seat at the desk. "You two know the rules, no smooching in the office!"

To Rainbow's defense, "No smooching" was literally printed on the wall and signed by everypony working here (even Lightning Dust). This was a rule she invented herself, after she caught the former Weather Manager red hooved going at it with his wife on the former office desk (which she instantly burned and bought another, different color). The awkward part was that former manager was her father. It took her a week off in Las Pegasus with Pinkie Pie to heal that particular wound, which still left a nasty scar.

"Seriously Thunderlane, I need your help with something."

"Can't it wait?"

"No." She gave him a serious, emotionless glare. That was not something you often see Rainbow do, so he nodded and turned to Blossomforth.

"Can we talk later? This seems important."

"Yeah, sure. I mean, we have a lot to do today anyway. After work, Five at Sugarcube Corner?"

"Sounds great. See ya then."

The two hesitated whether it was a right time to say or do something else when saying their goodbyes, but decided against it, at least not until they had a proper 'talk'. The rest of the working hours were out, since they covered different parts of Ponyville, what with the schedule being written to accommodate THEM. Rainbow Dash might have her flaws, but she was fast on her hooves whenever their episodes begun.

Once Blossomforth left, Thunderlane went towards the desk and sat across Rainbow. There was a long silence before Rainbow finally broke down, sighed and turned to Thunderlane with pleading eyes.
"Thunderlane, I need your help!" She suddenly asked, catching him completely unaware. It wasn't often you see Rainbow Dash pleading. And it probably wasn't about homework. He gulped and let her continue.
"You need to talk to Lightning Dust, before she ruins me completely!"

All of ten seconds, that's how long Thunderlane took this seriously. He shook his head, mostly at himself, not seeing this coming from a mile.
"Again, why me? Why can't you just talk by yourself?"

"I tried! But every time I see her smug face, I can't help but want to smack her and before we know it, I'm lashing at her like a... a rabid dog, while everypony glares at us! She's doing it on purpose, I'm sure of it!"

"She's doing what, destroying your reputation?"

"YES! Ever since she appeared, she's been on to me! She was asking everypony about me, heck, she transferred here BECAUSE of me! And it's not because she wants to join the fan club, that much I'm sure of!"

"Still, I don't think I can help you. She doesn't treat me seriously, for some reason."

"At least you'll do a better job than me! You know I suck at this thing, that’s why I'm asking you." As an emphasis, she left her seat and knelt, blushing furiously while doing the unspeakable.
"Pleeaaaaaaaaase!"

Thunderlane had all the intentions of just shrugging her off and leaving. It wasn't his problem and Celestia knows he had enough of those already. But at the same time, a lot of factors worked against that.
For one, Rainbow 'Desperate' Dash was creeping him out.
Two, Lightning Dust was acting a little suspicious, even admitting she wanted to meet with Dash, probably not in a good way.
And three, this was a chance to finally put a stop to this ridiculous farce, once and for all. Dash couldn't count on anypony else, but him.
Which meant four, she would owe him a favor, which was always good.

"... fine."

"OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" And then she glomped and hugged him tightly on his chair. It took Rainbow five seconds to realize just how awkward this moment was getting. Only one thing could make it worse.

"Uuuuuhh..." Raindrops announced, with mouth agape, as she stood there, looking at the absurdity in front of her. Rainbow Dash quickly got up, fixed her mane and coughed.

"You've seen nothin'!"

"Right. Nothing at all." She nodded, still processing it in her head.

Suddenly, another pony entered the office.
"Hiya folks! What did I miss?" Cloud Kicker asked, excited as always.

"Nothing." Answered Raindrops.

'Great', Rainbow thought, 'now I owe two favors! Just peachy..."

"So, how was Lightning Dust then?"

Soarin wasn't a little bit surprised when he had to wait for an answer a little longer. He had time and Luna knew that his Mohawk friend needed all of it in the world. This wasn't just some stressed out pony rambling about his bad day anymore. This was a friend in need. This was Thunderlane, lying on the couch, watching the ceiling half dead, half exhausted from life. And he didn't even talk to Blossomforth yet!

"Well?" Soarin asked again. "Wanna talk about it?"

Thunderlane shifted on the couch, then sighed deeply.
"Might as well..."

Lightning Dust had a different set of duties than most weather ponies. Hers was to monitor Everfree Forest in case of emergency. When that time comes, she would be invaluable to the team. But most of the time, it didn't, leaving her more or less free to do whatever she wanted at any times, but even then, it was an unspoken rule that any free consultants were supposed to help the others with cloud placing. It was to help strengthen the connections between members and form new friendships in work. Lightning Dust wasn't a fan of that, but nothing good came from HQ hearing about you lazing around (unless someone from HQ is your parent, that is). At least it helped alleviate the boredom. She enjoyed working alone, at her own pace, with nopony bothering her. Mostly the 'Chirpy Annoying Blonde One', who couldn't shut up and was too strong for her to beat her up (that, and morality, lawsuits and stuff).

"Hey Lightning Dust, can we talk?"

She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes, as she turned towards the other one she couldn't stand. She almost forgot about him, which was a testament of how much she respected the black stallion.

"What do you want, Clubber Flame?" She asked him, once he took residence on the same cloud as she.

"That's not even close to my real name."

"No? Well, too bad." She shrugged and jumped to another cloud, with Thunderlane following her.

"Nevermind that, we need to talk."

"Sure. Speak, then." She said, busy patching the holes in the cloud she sat on. Thunderlane was hoping she would at least pay attention to him, but he doubted she would turn even if asked.

"Look, can you just stop doing what you're doing to Rainbow Dash?"

"Doing what?"

"Sabotaging her. Making her look bad, humiliating her in front of her fans."

"I'm not doing anything wrong," she shrugged "I'm doing EXACTLY what she does on a daily basis, except better. Is this a crime? Is she the only pony allowed to be 'cool' in Ponyville?"

Thunderlane sighed deeply. Talking to her was never easy, especially when defending Rainbow 'Not Quite Saint' Dash.
"These past few days have been tough for all of us, so why can't you two just get along and spare us the drama? I have plenty without your help!"

For some reason, that caught her attention, which she shifted from the cloud towards him.
"Please, don't pretend anything about it is about you. Honestly, I'm not even surprised anymore that she would send somepony else to do her bidding. Ever since meeting her, I've seen exactly zero positive qualities of a leader. That is, aside from forcing her duties to others, she's a master at it! Boy, I sure hope she's a fast flier, because she has A LOT to prove!"

There it was again. Thunderlane felt like he should defend Rainbow Dash, or at least call Lightning Dust on her general attitude, but had a hard time disagreeing with that logic. Still, they were adults and had to be better than this.

"Whatever, she's not perfect and neither are you. I just want you to stop making her look bad. We're supposed to be a team and we'll be doing it for at least next few months. So tone down your attitude, you're not making any friends that way."

"Pfft, who said I wanted any friends? I'm here to work and train. No more, no less."

"Well, I tried," he shrugged "I can see why Rainbow doesn't want to talk to you," he turned back and was about to leave the cloud "I guess, like her, you're too proud and mighty to consider what other ponies are feeling. What, didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

He was about to jump off and be done with this conversation, report back to Rainbow Dash about his failure. There goes the favor he could get from her later, but considering the price, it wasn't worth it. His nerves were strained as they were, he could live his life not interacting with either of them anymore. Just few more months and they'll both join the Wonderbolts anyway, so why bother. Just as he was about to leave, he shivered and cold sweat started pouring from his forehead. Something wasn't right and he quickly found out what, as a stray spark hit his legs. A spark that went from the cloud he was standing on. A cloud that wasn't even active, and if it was, it wouldn't end on small sparks. He turned towards Lightning Dust and his ears dropped at the sight. Previously, she was annoyed. Now? Her eyes were twitching, he noticed a single vein bulging on her head, as her entire body was covered in electric currents. But more important was the glare she gave him.

"Umm..." he tried asking, but Lightning Dust quickly walked up to him.

"WELL MAYBE THEY DIDN'T!" She yelled straight at his face and shoved him out of the cloud.

The combined surprise and strength of the mare left him completely defenseless, as he plummeted to the ground. He managed to regain control and safely land on the ground without any damage, but his heart was still beating fast. Lightning Dust landed right next to him, still not quite done. Normally, he would jump at her in self-defense, but currently was too terrified and tired to catch a breath, much less form a sentence.

"Wanna know what MY problem is?" She asked, not even blinking when she continued to glare into his eyes. "Well fine, I'll tell you my problem! You know what I hate?
Ponies that have it all served on them on a silver platter, that's what! Buncha friends? Check! Parents in important places? Check. Well paid job of doing not a bucking thing? Check. Adoration from entire town? Bloody bucking check! So excuuuuse me when after spending my ENTIRE life studying, training, saving up every single bit and sacrificing EVERYTHING else, when I finally want to get some appreciation, I'm being treated like a villain! For doing WHAT? Stealing her gig? Being rude and unfriendly? Well buck, welcome to life!"

She stopped her rant to take a few breaths. If there was a time to reply, it was right now. And yet, Thunderlane couldn't bring himself to do anything. He knew she wouldn't be able to do anything to him, not directly, but he was still terrified.

"And who is Rainbow Dash to decide what's right or wrong, anyway? All I've seen so far was a talentless hack, who couldn't even sign a proper document without messing it up and blaming others on her own stupid failures! And those 'humiliating' moments? None of them would have happened if she just shut the buck up and talked like a normal pony would, but who has time to be normal and proper when you're Rainbow 'Somepony Punch Me Already' Dash! Yes, I provoked her here and there, big deal! She has a problem with that? Than tell me in my face, instead of sending her slave to do her work!"

"S-slave?" Thunderlane asked, but didn't elaborate on that, seeing as Lightning Dust was far from over.

"No, I take that back, you're no slave. You're a dog!" She went even closer and pushed him even further. "A poor, little puppy, so attached to a master that doesn't even care! She has a problem? Send a barking puppy to scare the evil doers, give him a biscuit in return. And who cares if you bark at her once in a while, when in the end, you'll be at her hooves all over again, because what choice do you have? It's not like you have any guts to oppose her, right? Seriously, I'd understand if you were a couple or at least bang buddies, then sure, why the heck not! I mean, you don't even like her, or respect her, at least I didn't see it that way!"

"THAT'S why out of all that miserable bunch, consisting of Prima 'Rainbow Dash' Donna, Miss Bubbly No Personal Space, Sarcastic Normal One and Miss Cry-And-Or-Scream-A-Lot, I hate YOU the most! Because you're a doormat, pretending to be somepony bigger and better, while letting everypony step on you and wipe their hooves of your coat! Prove. Me. Wrong!" She stepped closer and accentuated every word with a prod.

He wanted to prove her wrong so badly. He wanted to say a lot of things. But at the same time, he didn't know what those things were. He wanted arguments, but didn't have any. Aside from Elements of Harmony, he couldn't find anything to reply with.

"Didn't think so," Lightning Dust sighed and shrugged "I know when I'm not welcome. I'll go to Rainbow Dash and challenge her to a race, like I always intended. Win or lose, I'll transfer somewhere else and stop disturbing your oh-so-perfect life of lying in front of the doorways, just like you always so enjoyed." And then she turned back and trotted away, leaving the destroyed pegasus on his own.

"Well, now I know who won't be invited to my birthday party!" said Soarin, trying to bring some levity into the situation. Failing miserably, he coughed and tried a different approach. "Oh come on Thunderlane, you can't take that mare seriously! I mean, she's been here for what, four days? She has the nerve, insulting one of my best friends and coolest ponies I know. In broad daylight, no less!"

As energetic as his rant was, it made absolutely no difference in Thunderlane's mood, which was about as far down the toilet as he ever seen him thus far.
"Thunderlane, come on! Nopony believes any of that crap, we know you better than that!"

Thunderlane snorted and sat on the couch, staring at Soarin with the same, tired look he had the entire time.
"Really? Name a few of my good traits. Go on."

Soarin blinked, but took on the challange.
"Umm, okay. For one, you're an Element of Honesty!"

"So what? Feels like anypony could be it, if I wasn't there with you."

"I don't think that's how it works, but speaking of, you went to Everfree Forest with us!"

"Yeah, like I did anything useful there..."

"...we fought a manticore together..."

"...which Big Mac one-shot a moment later..."

"...and you hit Nightmare Moon with a giant thunderbolt..."

"...that did nothing, aside from pissing her off even more."

"You're not making it easy," Soarin shook his head, but was far from done "fine, how about being the best big brother Rumble could ever wish for? Not just everypony can raise a child, alone, at that young age."

Thunderlane remained silent for a moment, then sighed.
"...alright, point taken. That's one. What's next?"

Soarin's smile was short-lived, as he took a moment to think of something else to say.
"You keep the entire Weather Patrol office in check!"

"Because Rainbow Dash sucks at her job and keeps pushing it to me! And you know what would happen if I ever said no?" He paused for a moment, giving Soarin a little bit of time to think whether it's a legitimate question, or just rhetoric one. "Nothing! Because she can't force me to do anything outside my duties, yet I keep on serving her, like a dog on a chain..."

"Whoa, let's not go there!"

"Why not? Almost my entire life is all about her! When we were foals, all I ever wanted was to beat her! When we were growing up, I just tried to catch up! And when I started working in the office, I'm working for her! And I hate every day I see her and bless every hour she's lazing around, because then I'm actually in control for once and stuff doesn't fall apart! ARGH!" He ended with a growl, then fell on the couch once again.

"And the crazy thing?" Thunderlane continued. "It took Lightning Dust chewing me out to make me realize just how messed up my life is! Not just work and Rainbow 'Center Of My Life' Dash, but everything! All my life, is taking care of Rumble, messing up my relationship with Blossomforth time and again and trying not to go crazy in my work. And ever since becoming an Element Bearer, all that's changed is hanging out with you guys once in a while, which I appreciate... but that's it! Meanwhile, you guys do so much amazing things!
You have this office, where you help ponies with their love lives.
Shining Armor is working to become a royal guard.
Blueblood is studying advanced magic.
Big Macintosh runs a giant farm with his family.
Doctor... I dunno, but he seems happy."

"Even Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, for all the flaws they have, at least have a goal they're working forward to. Myself? I can't think of the last time I was satisfied with my life. Heck, I'm not even chasing after Rainbow anymore..."

Soarin was at a loss of words. Thunderlane, the symbol of toughness and willpower, at least in his book was crumbling before him. He couldn't take it anymore, the former Wonderbolt left his comfortable chair and quickly trotted towards his friend to offer a kind, sincere pat on the shoulder, which soon after turned into a full blown friendly hug, which Thunderlane accepted, for once. It's not every time your best friend realizes his life was a mess and you couldn't even convince him otherwise. He was really hoping it was just a moment of weakness and he'd get better over time. And if not, then it was up to him and their other friends to bring back their old, grumpy friend back the way he was. Maybe less grumpy, if possible.

Their tender moment was interrupted by a few knocks on the door, shortly after which the door opened and Cloud Chaser entered the room. Normally a view of two, adult straight stallions would raise some questions, but when working with Soarin, this was one of the tamer scenes.
"Always hate to break the bromance, but we have a client."

"Tell them to wait. I have important things to take care of here."

"We can't. He came directly from Trotsdale, he made an appointment weeks ago! We can't just let him wait!"

"Chasey, we talked about this. Friends always take priority ove--... w-wait," he paused, un-hugging Thunderlane and thinking with hoof under his chin "how many appointments did we have today?"

"Only this one. And it's kinda important."

Soarin raised an eyebrow, then looked at the wall above the door for a clock.
"Huh, already six? Time sure flew by fast..."

Thunderlane sat there on the couch, observing boss and secretary, not registering what they were talking about, not caring in the slightest. He did, however, catch a single word.
"Six?" He asked the pair, then slowly shifted his head towards the clock. His eyes slowly widened, along with his jaw dropping as down as possible, all the while every single pore in his body poured what seemed like entire bodies storage of cold sweat.

"Umm, Thunderlane?" Soarin asked, waving a hoof before his face. "Whats the matter buddy?"

Nopony was ready for the next ten seconds.

...

....

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"

"Waah!" Soarin fell back on his plot, heart beating fast, after being scared to death by sudden scream that would make some of his filliefriends run for their money. "What? What's the matter?!"

He didn't get answer, because the moment the screaming stopped, Thunderlane jumped off the couch and lunged towards the door at hypersonic speed, passing the confused Cloud Chaser with enough momentum, that the wind following him collapsed her, face flat.
"Ouch..." the mare grumbled, as she slowly rose from the floor. She tried to massage her aching head, but a single electric shock from her hair hit her hoof. She looked at her it confused, before turning to her boss. "What was that all about?"

"Honestly? No clue, but..." he looked wide-eyed at the electrified carpet in the office, where harmless sparks were still passing here and there "...that HAS TO be an academy record!"

"Pleasestillbethere, pleasestillbethere, pleasestillbethere, pleasestillbethere!"

Despite the weather being scheduled for a storm not today, but next day, the clouds were already gathered and ready for the discharge. That's why everypony on the streets of Ponyville were surprised to hear a thunderbolt coming from nearby, but not as surprised as seeing said thunderbolt passing them by, vertically, leaving only dust, occasional sparks and coughing ponies behind.

"Pleasestillbethere!"

He finally started slowing down, once Sugarcube Corner appeared on the horizon. He extended his wings, letting them stop his momentum, while planting all four of his hooves into the ground, taking a long slide across the dirt road, leaving even more dust up in the air, until he finally stopped, right in front of the doors to the bakery. Ignoring the complaints of everypony else around bothered by the sudden shower of dirt in their manes and occasionally clothes, he swallowed, took a large breath and opened the door. Once inside the Sugarcube Corner, he slowly scanned the interior, looking for a table where a white pegasus was hopefully sitting. Failing to notice her, he walked further and extended his search, but aside from some foals enjoying hayshakes and one businesspony with after work coffee and donut, he saw nopony else.

"Damn!" He cursed to himself, then scanned the area for the staff. Finding a familiar pink-maned mare, he went to her and asked. "Hey Pinkie, is Blossomforth still here?"

'Please say yes, please say yes!'

"Hi Thunderlane! Nope, she left about ten minutes ago!" She answered with her usual, cheerful demeanor, which only furthered Thunderlane's bad mood. "But, she left something for you!" His ears perked, as Pinkie Pie went towards the counter and fished out a tray with some pie. At first he raised his eyebrow confused, until he noticed that whipped cream was arranged in a barely readable sentence.

'Choke on it!'

"...buck..." he muttered, sitting on the floor with resigned look in his eyes.

"At first Blossom wanted me to smack you in the face with it," Pinkie continued, scratching her head "but that wouldn't be too nice, so she settled on writing this instead. I think she's mad at you."

"Thanks Pinkie, I noticed." He sighed heavily and massaged his forehead. It was bad, really bad, but he wasn't about to give up just yet. He took a deep breath and quickly ran outside the shop, leaving Pinkie with one hostile pie.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come on..."

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Don't do this to me," Thunderlane muttered to himself in between knocking on the doors. He cleared his throat and called through the door. "Blossomforth? I know you're inside, let me in!"

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Blossom, please..."

Knock! Knock!

"Buck... don't do this to me, Blossom..."

He was about to knock once again, but stopped once he heard the doors unlocking from the inside. He gulped and waited as the doors opened, but instead of a white pegasus, he instead met a yellow one.

"Raindrops?" He asked his fellow weather pony. "Let me in, I need to talk to Blossom, this is all a..." He stopped, once Raindrops lifted her hoof at his face. She glared at him and shook her head.

"I wouldn't go there if I were you." She said calmly.

"I need to talk to her, I..."

"You," she interjected him "need to leave. Do you have any idea what you did today? She was really looking forward to making up with you. She waited for an hour, for Celestia's sake! Where the hell were you?"

"I, uhm..." it was right here and there, he realized just how stupid his excuse was going to sound "... Rainbow Dash asked me to... talk to Lightning Dust..." he paused, noticing the less than amused look on Raindrops face "...but she, well, said some stuff that made me think and..." his ears dropped significantly, along with his entire body "...I went to Soarin to get some advice and, I kinda lost track of time... so yeah..." Currently, he wanted to walk out of his body, punch himself once for last few hours, then ten times more for the rest of his life.

"Let me get this straight," Raindrops crossed her hooves "Rainbow sent you to talk to Lightning Dust, and after she said something, you had to spend hours with your buddy, instead of meeting up with you marefriend. Did I get this right?"

"...yes..."

"Do you REALLY want to go there," she pointed at the inside of the house "and tell HER that?"

Silence. Even disregarding Blossom's unstable mood shifts, with or without his today’s screw up, this had to be the worst excuse possible. All of a sudden, he lost any previous interest in going inside this house. He didn't give her an answer, but she could tell what it would be. Raindrops sighed and put a hoof on Thunderlane's back.

"Listen, I know you mean well, but sit this one out, okay? Trust me, she's not ready. And from the looks of it, neither are you."

Once again, Thunderlane was at a loss of words. He knew Raindrops was right and nothing good would come out of him going there. He could already imagine possible emotions that Blossom was going through, from fiery rage, to complete and utter depression. He looked at Raindrops and nodded. She wasn't his best friend, they barely talked and had close to nothing in common other than a job, but when push came to shove, he could count on her. At least she didn't do anything to Blossom to earn her ire.

"Okay..." he answered with a heavy sigh, then turned around and started slowly walking away.

It took around five minutes of slow walking to get home, but it felt like forever. He ignored anything and anypony along the way, even though he could swear he heard some greeting him, maybe even one pony approached him to complain about dirtying their new fashion dress earlier, but being lost in his thoughts made him project a very strong repelling aura, warning everypony from getting too close to a hazard that he now was. Once in his yard, he lazily searched over several potted flowers hanging outside his windows for a key. Inspecting them too long had a side effect of stinging him in his heart yet again. Blossomforth, true to her name and special talent, picked these flowers for him, to help bring some charm into a house of two males. After shaking his head, he went towards the door and slowly opened it, thinking twice before wiping his hooves on a doormat, until he ignored the 'Welcome' and just went inside, closing the door behind him.

A growling sound from his stomach reminded him of the dinner. He didn't have time and mood for appetite since meeting Rainbow Dash today. He breathed heavily and contemplated just lying on his bed and calling it a day, hoping his nightmares wouldn't be nearly as bad as his life. Or scratch that, couch in the living room was closer. It wasn't the most comfortable piece to sleep on, but he had a day off next day, so he didn't need to be in shape.
His stomach reminded him once again. He ignored it just as before, but a voice in the back of his head reminded him of one important detail- somepony else in this home had to eat, bad mood be damned. With only that thought motivating his actions, he headed towards kitchen.

The fridge was almost empty, like every Thursday evening. Friday was a grocery shopping time, after all. He sighed and scanned for anything that could be turned edible. Eggs, few tomatoes, lettuce, milk, baking oil, along with some flour and seasonings from other shelves would have to do.

First was turning on the oven, upon which a frying pan with some oil would start heating up. Meanwhile, he cut the vegetables into small pieces and put them into the bowl.

"Damnit!"

Remembering that eggs were supposed to go there first, but decided to ignore it and poured some milk and flour on it. Then he took the eggs and cracked them on the table, pouring them inside the bowl. He was about to mix the batter, when he noticed some eggshells in the mix.

"Crap!"

He attempted to fish them out with his hooves, without any results, only making the worse mess as he did.

"Buck!"

Giving up, he grabbed a spoon from the drawers and carefully, slowly scooped the unwanted element from the batter. He didn't have any time to be satisfied, when he heard sizzling oil from the red hot pan.

"Shit!"

Leaving the batter, he grabbed the handle of the frying pan with his mouth, learning the hard way that it was also crazy hot. He yelled and fell backwards, grabbing a hold of the first object he could, while the hot oil from the pan sprayed over the kitchen, thankfully in the opposite direction. The object he grabbed happened to be the bowl itself, which went flying along with him, crashing itself on the ground, sending the gooey batter that was going to be their dinner in every direction. He himself fell on his back, right next to the mess that was his kitchen, luckily avoiding the ceramic shards of the bowl. Lucky indeed.

Both his back, wings, hooves, back of the head and still slightly burned tongue, all hurt. And yet, he didn't even bother massaging them. Or standing up, instead content with just looking at the ceiling for the time being, ignoring everything else. Ignoring the broken bowl. Ignoring a batter of flour, milk, vegetables and eggs, colorfully sprayed all over the place. Ignoring the still burning stove, which could, but probably won't cause fire alarms to activate. Ignoring the hot oil on the floor just near him. Ignoring the growling from his stomach, perfectly accompanying the pounding on his head and tingling sensation of his burned tongue.

This was Thunderlane. A pony who couldn't care less anymore, if he tried.

"One reason..." he muttered, staring at the ceiling, talking to some imaginary concepts that could rule the powers of fate. The same ones that made him their chewing toy today, yet for some reason didn't feel like killing him would be hilarious enough.

"One good reason... just one... I shouldn't go crazy and kill the entire town!"

He waited a few seconds in complete silence, ready to yell out all the air in his lungs, if only to stop himself from crying.
Then, a reason entered the kitchen.

"THUNDERLANE!"

The stallion turned his head to look for the reason. He found Rumble, his little brother and only pride, rushing towards him, throwing his saddlebags away, slowing only to avoid stepping on the mess on the floor. Thunderlane sighed and turned towards his ceiling fate gods again.
"Touche."

"Thunderlane, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Thunderlane turned towards his little brother and allowed himself a weak smile.
"I'm..." he was going to say that he's fine, that it's nothing, that he shouldn't be worried about anything. But looking at him right now, at his worried eyes, he realized that he couldn't. There was no force in the world that would make him lie to his own brother.
"...no," he muttered, as his eyes started tearing "...I'm not!"

Rumble didn't say anything at that. His eyes narrowed, as he grabbed his brother by his front hooves and lifted him up into a sitting position. Then, he wrapped his hooves around him and held him tightly, while his older brother, guardian, father figure, his hero, cried himself into him.

Author's Note

*- before anyone else does it:

Damn, now I have to redeem not only Rainbow Dash, but Lightning Dust as well! And in a big way, too! Before you spout how you hate them, remember- I'm the guy who had Blueblood make Pinkie Pie cry once. Just sayin'.

Meanwhile...

"Did I went too far?"

Only a few minutes passed since she finally calmed down after her recent outburst on 'whatshisface'. In a hindsight, blowing up and insulting an innocent, if a little annoying, stallion from her new work was a little too much.
No, she thought. He had his chance to reply and prove her wrong, twice in fact, but decided not to. Which probably meant that she hit all the right buttons. She shrugged. No use caring about some shmucks from backwater village like this. He'll probably forget it and act like nothing ever happened, content with his life as nopony in nowhere. Besides, not like anypony even listened or cared to what she has to say anyway.
In a way, he was lucky to be that simple. He didn't have to work that hard to earn his happiness, spend his entire life scraping from the bottom of the barrel and trying to achieve a goal that only one in thousands ever does. Of course, only one in thousand is as awesome as she is, but these other ponies decided to have 'lives' beyond flying. Life that she had no use for.

She shook her head, trying to get that 'dog' out of her mind. He had it coming, she rationalized. He should have stayed out of somepony else's business. And he crossed the line first.

'Didn't your parents teach you any manners?'

She was fuming, just remembering him saying it. What did that guy know? Nothing, that's what!

...he knew nothing. He didn't realize what he was saying and wasn't angering her on purpose.

...still, not answering her meant that she was completely right on every corner, which makes it all okay. After all, she wasn't lying or anything, just guessing. He had it coming! It's hardly HER fault he was so weak. He wouldn't last a day in Canterlot with that kind of personality, so he can consider himself lucky to be born in Ponyville, happiest place in Equestria. She felt a little sad having to leave it already, but whatever. Nopony wanted her here anyway, so she would do them a favor and keep her promise. Just one more thing to do and she'd have no more reasons to stay. Picking this place because of some local celebrity was a stupid idea anyway.

"UGH!"

Lightning Dust landed on her hind, massaging her head after the impact. That's what she got when she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. Stupid doormats, leave my damn head alone!

She noticed some things rolling around her. Among them several tomatoes, few bread rolls, some carrots and all sorts of groceries. The source of them happened to be a dropped brown bag, previously held by now panicked light yellow mare with impressively long, light pink mane.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean to, please don't be mad!" said the mare, squeaking adorably as she tried and failed to multitask apologizing, retrieving her lost groceries, all while hiding behind her own hair.

"Nah, it's cool," Lightning Dust waved a hoof and grabbed a stray carrot, putting it bag in the bag "I should've watched where I was going."

"No, it's all my fault, I wasn't..." the mare apologized, still collecting.

"Nonono, it was totally my fault! I was lost in thoughts and wasn't looking, my bad!"

"But..."

"No buts!" She extended her wings and flew around the street, gathering what was left in a heartbeat, gently tugging it back where it was supposed to be. "Look, let's just call it a draw, neither of us were paying attention."

"Umm, okay, I guess?" The mare smiled at Lightning Dust, though quickly blushed and looked away.

Lightning dust giggled at her reaction. If only at least one of her new co-workers was anything remotely similar, her job would've been a ton more pleasant. She coughed and extended her hoof.
"Name's Lightning Dust. And you are?"

The other mare looked around and hesitated, before opening her mouth.
"..."

"Excuse me, can you say it again?"

"..."

"Still didn't hear ya."

"...Fluttershy..."

Lightning Dust rolled her eyes and just grabbed her hoof, shaking it in spite of the other.
"Well nice to meet ya, Fluttershy. Hopefully, we won't be bumping into each other too often..." a small silence made her realize her faux pax "... I mean, not that violently, just normally, figuratively speaking and, uhm, you know."

And now it was Fluttershy's time to giggle in response. All of a sudden the initial shyness was gone.
"Oh, I get what you mean, don't worry. Are you new in town?"

"Kinda," she reached in her memory for that conversation and a promise she made "only for a few more days, though. I'll be transferring any time now."

"Oh, that's too bad! Well, maybe we could go out before that, if that's okay with you?"

Lightning Dust thought for a moment and analyzed the situation. Fluttershy seemed like a nice pony and she didn't have anything else to do most of the time. Maybe spending some time with her, inviting her to a coffee or something would be enough to pay back for the incident.
"Sure, why not?"

"Alright then, I'll be meeting you soon. But I'm sorry, I need to go now, my little friends are waiting for me home. Angel Bunny must be starving by now!"

And with that, the two said their goodbyes and went their own ways. Fluttershy went back to her cottage. Lightning Dust, however, had some business to attend to, which is why her next destination, was the office.

Pinkie Pie glared at the pie. She tried to make some sort of connection, find some common grounds and start on the right hoof, but her new acquaintance proved to be mostly unable to cooperate. She wasn't asking too much of it and could eat it any time, but the threat was there and the only way to find out if it was real, was to go at it, after which it could be too late. Maybe if she covered it with more whipped cream? No, she thought. That would be just hiding its true intentions, which could be even worse. In situation like these, she'd rather deal with honesty than sugarcoated danger.

"Hiya Pinkie, what's up?" Cloud Kicker suddenly appeared behind her.

"Oh, hey." Pinkie answered in an unusually calm manner, barely taking her gaze away from the pie. The strange behavior confused Cloud Kicker, before she inspected the culprit.

"What's with the Jerk Pie?" She asked, hoping there wasn't anypony with that name in her family.

"I don't know if I should eat it. Or not." Pinkie answered simply. She hummed, soon joined by Cloud Kicker who also tried to solve said riddle.

"Whose pie is it?"

"Thunderlane's. But Blossomforth bought it for him."

"Ah, go figure." She shook her head, chastising herself for not realizing it sooner. "Anyway Pinkie Pie, are there any parties planned for tommorow?"

"No, I don't think so." She answered not even bothering to turn to Cloud Kicker.

"Good. See, there's this new mare in town..." She started, but before she could say any more, Pinkie suddenly gave her all the attention and grabbed her shoulders.

"What? What new girl?"

"Her name's Lightning Dust, she's working with Weather Patrol..."

"When? When did she arrived?"

"This Monday."

"Drat! I'm already four days late! I need to..."

"That'll have to wait, Pinkie." Cloud Kicker put a hoof on Pinkie's back and smiled. "There's something big coming on tommorow. And I can't think of a single pony more suited for doing it than you."

And then Cloud Kicker told Pinkie Pie everything. With each word spoken, Pinkie's smile grew, while other patrons jaws dropped lower and lower. Tomorrow was going to be a day that this town waited for a long, long time...

Chapter 6: Storm incoming

Knock, knock, knock!

Out of all his ideas today, which were plenty, from closing his office, coming here with intention of barging into life of his friend, not bringing any sort of raincoat was turning out to be the worst idea of them all. He knew that storm would begin any minute now, it was advertised since Monday, so he had no excuse for coming to Thunderlane's house all naked, sans the glasses he wore as part of his hidden identity (which proved to be pointless anyway).

Knock, knock, knock!

"Thunderlane, are you there?" He called at the door, waiting patiently for about five seconds, before getting nervous over the weather. He could swear he heard a thunder in the background. Even the clouds were getting impatient, as if all the stored electricity wanted to get out right now. Soarin knocked the door again, which proved just as pointless. He knew Thunderlane had a day off and already checked any place he might be today, except his home. He sighed and was about to give up and walk away, when he noticed a shimmering glint coming from the potted flowers. Upon closer inspection, he found a key hidden inside it. He thought for a moment. This wasn't a crime. He wasn't going to steal anything or cause any trouble. He was concerned and just wanted to check if everything was alright.

With that in mind, he opened the door and entered. Inside, at first nothing looked out of ordinary. One raincoat, the smaller one, was gone, while the other was still there, right next to the doors. He went further, now turning towards the kitchen. At first glance, nothing seemed out of ordinary, with only two dirty bowls sitting in the sink, with an opened box of cereal still lying on the table. As he was leaving, he noticed a large, dark yellow stain on the wall, which he could swear wasn't there when he was visiting last time. He shrugged and went towards the living room. His eyes instantly turned towards the couch in the center of the room, where his investigation concluded.

"You know," he said, approaching the couch "most ponies would get concerned if somepony was trotting in their house uninvited."

"I knew it was you," Thunderlane answered, not even bothering standing up from the couch or even sparing his friend a glance, instead gazing through the window, at the dark clouds outside "I heard you before."

"Then why didn't you open the door?"

Thunderlane shrugged. "I didn't feel like it."

Soarin took a moment of silence, before taking of his glasses to massage the temples between his eyes. He wasn't going to enjoy this, but sometimes things had to be done for the greater good. He coughed before starting.
"So, since you have a day off, I decided it would be an awesome bonding time..."

"No."

"... so I closed for today, not like anypony will visit on a storm day anyway. So how about we go out somewhere and have some..."

"No."

"Come on, it'll be fun! I promise you a legen--..."

"No."

"You didn't even let me say 'wait for it'!" Soarin pouted, then rolled his eyes and kept on nagging. "Come on, we barely do anything together, just the two of us, Winged... uhm... damn, is there a word for friends spelled with 'W'? Let's stick with 'bros' for the time being, we can think of something better on our way to..."

"Soarin, just leave me alone! I said I'm NOT in the mood for... whatever you wanted to do. I just want to be alone, without screwing up anyponies day! That's what usually happens when I'm around other ponies at times like these."

Soarin hummed for a moment, until he sighed and turned away.
"Fine, I'm leaving. But you'll be sorry, I promise you."

He didn't look at Soarin leaving, but heard him trotting away, closing and locking the door behind him. Thunderlane sighed deeply, mentally reminding himself to apologize later. He knew he wanted well, but Thunderlane knew himself better than that. It was for the good of all of them that he'd stay home and wallow in self pity, without bothering anypony else, hoping his mood improves by the time Rumble comes back from school. After all, they were almost out of cereal.
He looked outside the window, at the gathered clouds and wondered how long till they finally set them off, meanwhile finding out that the couch was a lot more comfortable than he gave it credit for. He didn't even know when his eyelids slowly closed.

The clouds were getting angrier every second, waiting for anypony, preferably from Weather Patrol, to finally set them off and let them rain from the sky. One such thunder didn't wait any longer and soared through the sky, regardless of what the weather ponies wanted. Or at least, that's how some ponies in town seen it. Had they been out there on the field, they'd know better. Like Blossomforth, cursing herself for coming here, staying this long and not bothering to bring a rain coat with her, expecting it to end a lot earlier. About hour ago, she started fighting herself not to lose the patience, as she observed the erratic Thunder flying in the sky. She pre-emptively covered her eyes with a hoof, as the thunder passed her, leaving only flying dust and air current behind. She long since stopped bothering with shielding her mane from the sand and dirt. She was already in a dire need for a bubble bath at least anyway, but if anything got into her eyes, it would still sting like hell. Too bad they only had one set of goggles with them.

She coughed and fanned the dust away, looking at where he landed. Her boyfriend, Thunderlane, breathed heavily and sweat like madpony, trying to compose himself after giving it his all for about twentieth time today. He removed the goggles and walked toward his white turned dirty gray, visibly annoyed filly.

"Time?" He asked in between hard breath.

"Twenty three point five. That's your new record, a second better than the last one!" She said donning the happiest smile she could. Anything to make him stop.

"Not enough!" He shook his head. "Rainbow can do this course in twenty one or less!"

"Come on Thunder, don't say that! You're doing great, this is a huge improvement!"

"Baby steps. And I don't have time for that, the next contest is in a week! I'm going one more time."

"That's what you said an hour ago! Just give it a rest today, the storm will begin soon."

"I know. That's why I have to finish this now!" He wore the goggles once again. "I won't be able to practice for next three days, gotta make it count!"

Blossomforth groaned and massaged her head. She loved him, she really did. But even if her love knew no bounds, her patience had already ran out and she was this close to smacking him in the head and dragging him home unconscious, if that's what it took.
"Thunderlane, I'm serious! Let's go home."

"Just one more lap."

"No, we have to go, NOW! Our parents are probably worried sick already!"

"Blossom, less arguing, more flying!"

And then she finally had enough. She took off the stop-watch from her heck and threw it at the grass.
"I really, REALLY need a shower! I'm going back and that's that, WITH or WITHOUT you!"

This made Thunderlane stop and look at her, as the wind brushed both her long, dual colored mane and his short Mohawk. After a moment of silence, he sighed, took of the goggles and went towards his fillyfriend. Her rage disappeared almost immediately as he got closer.
"Fine..." he said, sighing deeply. Blossom was about to smile and apologize for her behavior, until "...can you tell my parents I'll be late?"

"ARRRGGHHH!" She screamed and turned away, walking away, stomping the heck out of the grass. She looked back one more time and said her goodbye. "JERK!" And then she was gone.

Thunderlane contemplated going with her after all, but decided against it, for two reasons. One, she was already mad, coming anywhere near could make it even worse. Two, he promised himself one more lap. Maybe more if he can make it. He pulled the goggles on his eyes again and soared into the skies, pretty sure that this was going to be it. The clouds above him were roaring wildly, as if taunting and belittling him, but he wasn't intimidated at all. No mere lightning was going to scare him away.

Meanwhile, not so far away, several pegasi stepped on the clouds.
"Can we just start the storm already? I'm getting hungry and tired!"

"Stop whining! What are you, five? But yeah, we're setting them off, but first off, are you sure that nopony's around anymore? Last thing we want is some poor pony getting zapped. These things look mighty nasty."

"Yeah yeah, I'm sure nopony's around anymore."

"What about those foals on the field? They gone?"

"Yeah, they're gone now. I saw that white filly walking away towards the town."

"And the colt? Did you see him?"

"Nah, he's gone too. Did you see how fast that kid is? He's probably already home in the middle of dinner!"

"Heh, you think that's fast? Should've seen boss's kid on the last fair! Now there's a future Wonderbolt over there!"

"More like future boss of us, the way he talks about his little princess."

The two shared a laugh and together kicked the cloud, setting off a chain reaction which passed throughout the entire sky around Ponyville, completely unaware of a lone, black colt, still practicing his best moves. The sky was roaring even louder than before, but Thunderlane opted to ignore the noise, not allowing it to distract him from his concentration. At least until he noticed a single thunderbolt in the distance, blinding him with a flash just before. His goggles didn't do much to shield his eyes, blinding him temporarily. He lost his balance, but regained it easily, though no doubt losing a fraction of a second in the process. The other one he didn't notice at all, until it was too late...

"WOAH!" He gasped as something lifted him into the air. When he opened his eyes, everything before him was not only much lower than he remembered, but also hidden behind a weirdly familiar purple filter. He blinked a few times, until he realized it wasn't his eyes messing up, but a magical sphere he was now encased in. And he knew only one pony capable of that.

"Shining Armor?" He looked down at the white unicorn in question, indeed standing tall, effortlessly holding the magical bubble in the air. He was joined by his other Bearer friends. Big Macintosh, Doctor, Prince Blueblood and Soarin were right next to him, eyeing the floating pegasi. "Let me go!" He punched the bubble a few times, with no result other than hurting his own hoof. "What the hell are you doing?"

"This is what we usually call an 'intervention'." Said Soarin. "And I promised you you'll be sorry!"

"Soarin told us what happened yesterday," Said Doctor, moving closer to the bubble and putting a hoof on the purple sphere "so we, as fellow Bearers of Elements of Harmony, also known as your best friends, took it upon ourselves to cheer you up, no matter what."

"Eyup!"

Thunderlane was at a loss of words. His eyebrow twitched as he watched the serious faces of his friends.
"Seriously? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"No."

"Nnope!"

"Quite honestly," now it was Blue's turn to speak up "I have a lot to do today: clean up the library, write a report and catch up on studying since I have to go to Canterlot for an exam tomorrow morning. So to answer your question... no, there is nothing more important in the world right now. What kind of a silly question is that?"

"I swear, if you don't put me down this instant..."

"You'll do what?" Asked Blue. "Whine even more? I don't think you realize what the situation is. You have only two options to choose from. One, you stop being Grumpylane, we let you out of the purple bubble prison, and you let us, your best friends, cheer you up with tons of great fun, stories and borderline unhealthy amount of booze..."

"You can't be serious! You can't do that!"

"...or two, we do the exact same thing as I mentioned before, except the bubble stays on the entire time. Choose wisely."

"Why you little dirty...!"

"Now now, mister Thunderlane, flattery will get you nowhere!" Blue ended with the subtle, yet still evil sounding laughter, as a villain taunting the poor, imprisoned hero.

Soarin observed the pair and had second thoughts whether this idea was as good as he initially thought. He leaned over to Shining Armor.
"He's enjoying it a little too much."

Shiny waved his hoof.
"He's just glad it's not him this time."

"Eyup!"

"See how good it feels?" Said Blueblood, inhaling the fresh, before-storm air, as he walked in front of the group, leading them outside the town to their bar of choice, Nirvana. "Nothing beats the feeling of wind blowing at your face, unobstructed by any obstacles, magical barrier or anything."

"Do you really want me to punch you?" Thunderlane grumbled as he walked behind him. "Because THAT might cheer me up a little!"

"It'll also get you inside the bubble again."

"I'm considering if it's worth it..."

Meanwhile the four in the back sighed deeply, wondering whose bright idea was to let Prince take vanguard and let him do the talking. At least Thunderlane was showing a reaction that resembled his old self, so it seemed like the plan was going the right way. All it took was avoiding the center of Ponyville at all costs, hoping that Thunderlane won't notice that they're taking a detour. It was hard enough just taking him outside.

"Hey, is that Raindrops?" Soarin pointed at the sky.

"Is it raining already?" Asked Shining Armor, looking up in the sky, in search for any droplets.

"No, I mean her!" He pointed at where the familiar yellow pegasi flew through the city, dropping a bunch of flyers around the entire town. The group took a few seconds to realize what happened and panicked a little too late, when they saw Thunderlane grabbing one of them in his hoof. Even Prince was too late, but now considered teleporting him away, headaches later be damned. Thunderlane inspected the flyer and as he did, his eyes went wide.

"What."

Five hooves slapped their respective faces.
"So much for plan A..."

"I knew you were good and you're the pony I need and all that but..."

Cloud Kicker saw many things in her life and Royal Guard Academy was preparing her for the worst, the biggest, the weirdest. Royal Guard Academy would need to make a class dedicated to Ponyville's No. 1 Party Planner Pony Pinkie Pie (she loved the alliteration). But who was she kidding, there wasn't any explanation beyond "it's Pinkie Pie".

"You like it? I wanted to get some streamers around, but then remembered it'll be raining today, so I had to improvise. I think balloon streamers look alright, but I didn't have enough colors. If I knew, I would've restocked in time, but the only balloon shop was in Canterlot."

"No Pinkie, it looks good. Scarily good, especially since you did this...when exactly?"

"This morning. I was too busy coordinating with Weather Patrols from Horsefield and Canterlot to bake more pies, so I asked Applejack to get some of her baked goods instead. The hardest part was bringing ponies from areas around and oh, those tents over there were tough to assemble, what with most stallions in Ponyville suddenly having to go and help a friend in need. Not sure what that's about, but a friend in need is a friend indeed. I'm still impressed that Caramel did this all by himself." She pointed at the cream stallion in question in the distance, at the medical booth to be precise, where Nurse Redheart bandaged his hurting hooves, while Carrot Top comforted her coltfriend.

Cloud Kicker only nodded, as she still tried her best to keep her jaw closed. The entire center of Ponyville, especially around Town Hall, was currently occupied by a whole plethora of tents all adorned with long, colorful balloons lacking few colors of the rainbow. Under them were stands with food, toys and games, along with the betting booth, already taken care of by some important looking ponies, of which she only recognized their own Mayor Mare and her assistants, talking with representatives from a charity organization. Right next to them was a tent occupied by business owners from Ponyville, including The Cakes, Aloe and Lotus from local spa and then some, few from Horsefield and even a lone donut vendor from Canterlot, all talking about their respective businesses.

Outside the town was where the main event would take place. The usually empty fields were now plenty full of large open tents with enough seats to cover twice the size of Ponyville, all supplied with snack stands full of pastries and hot drinks for the incoming cold weather. But the most important thing was a giant scoreboard with two names on them- Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust. The two tents at the bottom of the scoreboard were where the two stars of the day sat, preparing themselves mentally and physically for the upcoming event. Out of all the ponies gathered, the two racers were the most shocked of what was just happening, but a solid piece of "Pinkie Pie Mantra" along with their respective fanclubs (which Lightning Dust apparently herself already, badges, shirts and all) helped them go with the flow and enjoy the publicity, currently happily signing autographs and holding interviews for newspapers from here to Fillydelfia.

The entire thing started the day before, at the office. Cloud Kicker was right there when Lightning Dust officially challenged Rainbow Dash to a race, which the latter obviously accepted. The fact that there would be a storm incoming this very day made the entire event all the more exciting for both of them and neither had enough common sense to chicken out of it, despite the dangers they would face. This gave Cloud Kicker the idea to turn this into something bigger. After all, it was ages since Rainbow Dash had a race with anypony even remotely as talented as herself, and Lightning Dust was new and could use some publicity. Her idea snowballed and it went from a simple competition into a fully realized fair for anypony else to enjoy. Pinkie Pie recommended turning this into a charity drive and called some of her contacts (Cloud Kicker was as shocked as anypony) to organize the event that was rivaling Summer Sun Celebration from few months ago, even convincing Mayor Mare and a bunch of stores to sponsor it and they knew better than ignore Pinkie Pie. How Donut Joe from Canterlot got into this was anyponies guess. And the scary part was that Cloud Kicker was technically the chairpony of this event and was expected to make a speech soon. She gulped, imagining talking to a crowd this big, fully regretting she didn't take any notes and had no time to practice.

A moment later, her favorite best friend ever landed right next to her, as happy as she always was.
"Done. Can I go home now?" Asked Raindrops, dropping the empty hoofbag away.

"Not so fast, Dropsy..."

"Don't call me that."

"...we still have more to do before we're done! Come on, round up the crowd, it's almost time to begin!"

Raindrops sighed and did as asked. That was a lot less bothersome than trying to weasel out of it and face ticklish consequences later.

Eventually, Cloud Kicker found herself at a makeshift stage, standing behind a small podium and facing somewhere around a thousand ponies, give or take a hundred. She gulped and really wished she had prepared notes. She looked around, first to her left, getting nods of approval from Mayor and charity heads, whatever their names were. Then to her right, where all the 'sponsors' sat, along with Pinkie Pie, suspiciously standing still and patiently maintaining silence (or was she just tired?). Then behind her at the two stars of the day. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust shined, both standing tall and proud, having a time of their lives.
She coughed and finally started the speech.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, Welcome to the first (hopefully not last) greatest, specta... spectacula... amazing Ponyville's Race of The Two Shining Stars!"

The crowd started cheering, which seemed to her like a good sign. She wished she could come up with a better name, though. Or taking up Mayor's offer to make a speech instead, but noooo, she wanted to do it herself. All the regrets were piling up and getting heavier.

"Well, first of all, a little confession to make, I didn't think it would grow this big, but hey- the more the merrier! Just, forgive me if I stutter or slur my lines, this is kinda new to me. Basically, it's my first time, so please be gentle!" She smiled and observed crowds reaction. She heard some snickers, a few ponies laughed, but most were less than amused at her attempt at a dirtier than usual stand-up routine. At least foals didn't get it, as they only tilted their heads, wondering why some adults were reacting weird. She continued.

"Rrright, anywho... We have gathered here for two, or three, reasons. For one, this is the event that will decide- who is the greatest flier in Ponyville? Is it the local champion, undefeated thus far, the biggest concentration of colors per square hoof, Manager of Weather Patrol (Ponyville branch), the one, the only- RRRRAINBOW DASH!"

The crowd cheered, mostly the foals, loudly yelling the name of their idol. Rainbow Dash obviously took this moment to show off, made a few poses for photos and performed some basic stunts for her crowd of fans.

"Also, very humble..." Cloud Kicker rolled her eyes and continued "... Or is it the Challenger? New in town, but already made a big impact and her name should be known to any stunt flying fascio... fans out there. The one with the attitude and talent to back it up, my new best friend- LLLLIGHTNING DUUUUUUUST!"

The crowd cheered once again, this time a different part was more vocal then others, but it was still loud. The mare in question rolled her eyes at Cloud Kicker (mostly for the last sentence), but shrugged and just posed before the crowd, as she was expected to. Once the crowd calmed itself down, Cloud Kicker continued.

"But of course (this is two, by the way), what good is flying and racing when nopony gets anything from it? Which is why I want you to say hello to..." she paused, remembering that she forgot the names of the committee "... representatives from the 'Foal Hope' foundation'!" She high hoofed herself in her imagination, proud to pass the roll check for 'avoid compromitation".
"Foal Hope is a charity organization dedicated to helping improve the lives of orphans and help them grow up and have a happy life. I'm proud to declare that all the profits generated from this event will go straight to them! So even if you're not a fan of our fantastically furred fliers, I urge you to join anyway. You know, for foals!"

"So, in case you just happened to stumble by right now and didn't have time to read any fliers or ask at the booths, here's how it'll work. Our lovely flying stars behind me will test their strength, speed, stamina and determination in a race, from here, to Canterlot then back! Whoever lands on the finish line first, after passing all the checkpoints along the way that is, will be declared

THE

GREATEST

FLIER

EVER!

"...In Ponyville, of course. But, to make things even more interesting, they won't be flying through a clear, sunny sky. I mean, where's the fun in that? Instead, they will be traversing through the stormy weathers, provided by Ponyville's Weather Management branch of course, with help from branches from nearby settlements! Just a fair warning kids, don't do this at home. Those two are trained, professional weather ponies! And even then, we have a team of trained paramedics stationed at every checkpoint. They won't see much work today though, I'm sure."

"But before our lovely ladies take off, we provided a contest for you, my dear crowd. The rules are simple- go to one of those betting booths over there and vote for your favorite! The winning side will earn themselves these coupons," she waved a few paper pieces "that can be exchanged for super tasty products from one of our sponsors. And among the winners, we will randomly choose a lucky double winner, who will spend an entire day in a full course premium care in our local spa, being taken care of by our own lovely twins, Aloe and Lotus!"

The crowd cheered once again. Cloud Kicker didn't have much time to gather the prizes and the idea of a grand prize only came up recently, so her options were limited. Cakes were being milked as they were and only other ponies she could convince were the Spa Twins. It seemed like a weak option at first, considering a winner could be male (after all, ponies from Horsefield were here), but the idea of being taken care of by two lovely mares sounded enticing for both sexes, for probably different reasons, if not both. She felt like a genius. She regretted not being able to participate herself, she always dreamed of the premium full course care, whatever that even was.

"So don't be greedy and get your own ticket right now, it's only 10 bits and it all goes for charity!" Technically, only about 90% went there, as everything else was going to pay for the event itself, but the crowd didn't need to know that. "And speaking of our sponsors, a few words from them..."

That said, Cloud Kicker left the podium and allowed the sponsors to shamelessly plug their business, while she sighed with relief, hoping she would never have to make a speech like that again. Still, the crowd liked it, so not everything went terribly bad.

"You know, it's still not too late to go to a bar," said Soarin, hesitating whether he should touch Thunderlane right now, or was that a one way ticket to a hospital (which was almost empty, seeing as most nurses tended to this event). The black stallion in question stood behind the crowd and calmly listened to the speech.

His friends were at a loss. Plan A, as in "Avoid bringing Thunderlane here, for his sake" was a failure and plan B was never made. They could only guess what his reaction would be and thus far, he was too quiet. But just like the cloud above them, it was just a matter of time before the storm would kick in. After a short brainstorming session, they decided to just stick to him and keep an eye out for possible dangers. Shining Armor was set to trap Thunderlane at the first sign of malicious intent towards either of the racers. Or anypony in general.

After Cloud Kicker's speech ended, Thunderlane started walking towards the stage, with his friends following closely. They soon joined up with the chairpony in the backstage, sitting on the chair, exhausted mentally after the last ten minutes. The stars of the race, however, weren't phased by the event in the slightest. If anything, they were pumped more than they ever were.
"What is the meaning of this?" Thunderlane went towards Cloud Kicker. The mare in question waved to him happily.

"Hey Thundy, I was wondering if you'll show up! Good timing, I could use some help with the clouds up there, it's only me and Dropsy for that..."

"Did you do all that?" He asked, pointing his hoof at the crowds.

"Technically, it was Pinkie Pie who did most of the work, but..."

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" He groaned, massaging his head. "As if their egos were too small, you start a party for them? We'll never hear the end of it!"

"Oh, suck it up, hater! You don't like it, then don't watch it!"

"That's not what I meant!"

"Or should I cancel the whole thing, because you told me? Should I tell the sponsors that the deals are off, pay back for the tickets, clean up the tents, tell the orphans they won't get their much needed funds..."

Thunderlane stared at Cloud Kicker for a moment, before groaning and leaving, defeated. His friends celebrated that it ended with no bloodshed.

Meanwhile, Soarin looked at the two fliers, seeing Lightning Dust for the first time in his life. And he had to admit, Thunderlane was right- she was hot and only kinda ginger. He coughed, fixed his hair and went to make a good first impression, remembering to keep down the charm. Last thing he wanted was banging a mare that his bro was scarred by.
"Hello there, Rainbow Dash, hello there, umm, miss..."

"Lightning Dust," the mare in question answered "didn't you hear the speech?"

"Yes, but it's better to hear it from the pony in question. I'm Soarin, nice to meet you!" he extended his hoof towards her. She rolled her eyes and shook it, if only because she was in a good mood already. Soarin looked at her uninterested face, wondering why she hasn't gone full on fangirl, like any future Wonderbolt should. Then he remembered he had glasses on. They truly were a double edged weapon sometimes. "I don't know if you heard about me already, but I'm a rather popular pony around the place."

"Sorry, never heard of ya." She shrugged.

Rainbow Dash giggled and joined the two.
"Oh come on, don't you recognize him? He's Soarin, he's the..."

"...local Love Guru, if I'm allowed to brag." He interrupted, giving Rainbow a wink. "If you need any love advice, I'm the stallion for the job."

Lightning Dust raised an eyebrow. From the looks of things, none of the gears in her head worked hard enough to make her recognize him, if she even knew in the first place.
"Yeah, sure. If I'll ever need any hints on cuddling and smooching, I'll be sure to find you."

"That's what I'm for!" He smiled and winked again. Realizing this was getting him nowhere, he changed the topic.
"So, how do you two feel about the race?" He asked cheerfully. "The crowd is sure pumped!"

Lightning Dust shrugged.
"It wasn't my idea to make it a town-wide phenomenon, but sure, whatever. Nice to have somepony witness what you're really made of. Especially if it's for the greater good." Her stomach churned just thinking about saying something positive about 'Miss No Personal Space'.

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Rainbow Dash nodded, feeling bad for actually agreeing with her rival "I hope you're half as good as you claim. I didn't have a worthy challenge since I was fourteen!"

"That's my line!"

Soarin blinked.
"Fourteen?" He quietly asked himself, while the two pegasi went back to their banter, which Soarin tuned out of completely.

He left the two by themselves and rejoined his group, where everypony tried to approach Thunderlane with as little damage as possible.
"Thunderlane, what happened when you were fourteen?" He called out, catching their attention. Soarin gulped and continued. "You said you wanted to become a Wonderbolt when you were fourteen and I didn't think much of it, but then Rainbow Dash said something and it made me think... wait, was that when..." he gulped, realizing what it was leading up to. And soon after him, the others also connected the dots and all of a sudden things became really, really awkward. Soarin covered his head from the incoming smack, which never came. Thunderlane just sighed deeply.

"When my parents died? Yes." He answered simply. All the nasty glares went towards Soarin, who by now was sure he would be smacked anyway, he just wasn't sure by whom. The only pony who didn't seem bothered, was Thunderlane himself. "I mean, it's not news or a secret, I just don't like to talk about it."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"I mean, yeah, I was dreaming of becoming a professional flier once. Maybe because I just wanted to show Rainbow Dash or because I loved flying, I don't know. Maybe both. Most ponies grew out of those dreams quickly, but I kept on trying. I knew Dash would get there, no doubt. I was just never really all that amazing, but I did my best anyway. But then it happened and... well, you know the rest." He stopped to lean over the lone tree stump. The others looked at each other, then at Thunderlane, until Doctor went forward and opened his mouth, but Thunderlane beat him to it.

"And don't even try to pity me. Yes, it's not my fault it happened this way. If my parents were still here, or if Rumble was never born, which makes me feel sick just saying it, I have no doubt that at that scoreboard there would be a third name. And who knows, maybe by that time, I would've won at least once. But that's all just wishful thinking. I can't chase that dream anymore, no matter how much I want to."

Despite the loud noises coming from the crowd, along with Dash and Dust banter, combined with angry, thundering clouds above them, silence fell on them once again. For about a minute.
"Says who?" Asked Prince Blueblood, walking out of the group. The pegasus turned to him.

"Huh?"

"I asked, 'says who'? Come on, who was the jerk who told you you're not allowed to follow your dreams anymore? Because I'd like to have a few words with him. Or her."

Thunderlane sighed and shook his head.
"You all know it's not that simple! I can't just abandon my duties like that!"

"Who said you have to?" Doctor joined in the conversation. "If it's about Rumble, you know he's more than welcome to spend some time in my house."

"But... no, you're already doing more than you need..."

"From the look of you?" Doctor continued. "I don't think we're doing enough! Besides, between my... quirks and Ditzy's... ditziness, he's doing most of the chores in our house already." He said with a smile, but was met with confused looks instead. He shrugged. "It was his idea, by the way. That colt knows how to show some gratitude."

"Eeyup!"

"I... I still don't think..."

"Oh for the love of my both Aunts Plots!" Prince rolled his eyes. "This conversation is in dire danger of jumping the shark, so let's boil it down to one simple question that you owe yourself." He went towards Thunderlane and poked his chest few times, accentuating every next word. "What. Do. YOU. Want? And think carefully before giving an answer."

Silence, once again. Thunderlane stood completely silent, lost in his thoughts. He looked at his friends. All five of them smiled and nodded, trusting him completely and supporting with any decision he would make, aside from killing anypony, that is. Everything that went well with his life recently has been their doing, whether it was Soarin helping him with counseling, Doctor taking care of his brother or Blue forcing him to pony up, not unlike what happened to them back in Everfree. He then turned towards the giant scoreboard, with two names. Names that he ended up resenting more than anything in his life, but at the same time, both made a bigger impact in his life than he realized. One to follow and eventually surpass, the other had made him realize how low he's fallen. Not in terms of being a decent pony, though. But as a pony who let others step on him a few too many times. His eyes went towards the two, both as smug as always. He looked up at the stormy, angry sky and at that moment, he got it. He realized what had to be done. He smiled, then started laughing viciously.

His friends looked around and shifted nervously. Soarin leaned to Prince and whispered.
"This is good, right?"

"I'm not sure... I guess?" He hummed, then leaned to Shining Armor. "Get your barrier on standby. I'm not sure Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust are fast enough to run away."

"R-right." Shiny answered, gulping, trying to imagine Thunderlane as something different than serial killers he learned about in Academy.

Finally, Thunderlane stopped laughing, but still smiling widely, he trotted towards the other three pegasi.
"Hey Cloud Kicker!" He called out for the chairpony, still relaxing after her speech, gathering her attention, along with the two pegasi racers of the day. "I want to join the race!"

As expected, jaws were dropped.

"Umm..."She blinked, looked around and scratched her head. "...ooookaaay?"

Author's Note

Originally, it was going to be a whoopass 10k chapter, with a bonus "Meanwhile" afterwards, but in the end, to keep it from being overwhelming, I cut it in the right moment and next one will be a direct follow-up, with the bonus chapter content included. It'll probably take a little less time to finish, too!

I am really starting to like having Pinkie Pie around. I can make any outlandish event happen from nowhere and then say "Pinkie Pie did it" and it all makes sense.

Chapter 7: Darkhorse

The urge to yawn was getting stronger every excruciating second. After all these years, all four of them, Cheerilee thought she would get used it eventually, but sadly she was mistaken. Getting used to boredom was yet another myth you bust once you start teaching a classful of foals, right after 'you'll be able to pay the rent in time' and 'you'll find a good stallion (or mare, we're not judging you, sweetie) in due time'.

"Thanks mom..." she muttered to herself, hoping it was quiet enough that nopony in her classroom heard. She was using the patented 'Gwendo Pikari Pose' (from an old, neighponese comic), supporting her head on her front hooves and staring blankly at her pupils, while they couldn't see her mouth whenever a yawn escaped her. From their point of view, she was a predator, just waiting for any of them to slip so she could slap a punishment for cheating on a pop quiz. That was far from truth of course, she wasn't paying much attention at all. Any foal that was able to see through it was too mature to cheat anyway. Win-win.

She glanced at the clock at the door. Only 5 minutes passed since the class started, meaning they had ten more excruciating minutes to finish their quiz, after which everypony was allowed to talk again, including herself. It usually wasn't nearly as bad as this, but today was different. Weather aside, once in a while her stare gravitated towards a little piece of paper she recently had to confiscate from Scootaloo. What seemed like just another 'pass'em-notes' turned out to be a flier, advertisng a giant charity race between Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust. No wonder half of her student had troubles with concentration and kept tapping their pencils and hooves nervously, glancing at the clock just as often as she did. Se had to admit, the prospect of town's best racer duking it out with the newcommer was rather exciting. But more exciting was the idea of 'Super Premium Deluxe Spa Treatment', which Cheerilee was pretty sure was a made up on the spot name to attract crowds. Probably Pinkie Pie's or Cloud Kicker's idea, she doubted Aloe or Lotus would ever go that low in naming themes.

Cheerilee kept looking it, thinking about the odds of winning. Lightning Dust was new, but she was good, as herself and her class witnessed. A true darkhorse, if you may. She had about equal chances of winning, but very few ponies knew her, which meant less votes, which in turn raised the chances of winning a lottery for grand prize. And it was years since Cheerilee had last visited the local spa, not since her twentieth... yes, let's keep it at that, birthday.
"Thanks mom..." she muttered again, this time adding a weak smile to the mix. However, the longing she felt from her ... long passed birthday, made her even more bored. Bored to the point that she was seriously considering giving her entire class detention just for fun. She would hate herself forever for being the worst pony being in Equestria (not to mention she would get fired), but at least she would survive with some sanity left behind.

She giggled at the thought of that plan. It was stupid, to even think about punishing foals for innocence just for the heck of it. She would never forgive herself, nor would anypony forgive her or let her get away with it.

Unless...

A moment passed, when she had the most brilliant idea ever. She rose her hooves and slammed it hard on her desk, making everypony jump up.
"Class, stop writing!" She called out, smiling viciously. She had full confidence in her actions, especially now that there was no turning back. She coughed before speaking. "Children, I understand you're getting impatient, what with the big festival today all of a sudden, and you all want to see your idols..."

"YEAH!" Scootaloo yelled across the classroom. That kind of behavior would warrant a parental call, but today was special. "Why do we have to waste our time in school, when Rainbow Dash will beat Lightning Dust without ME seeing it?"

That comment inspired foals to take sides and kindly discuss merits of their respective idols.

"No way, Lightning Dust is totally a better pegasus!" Snips snapped at Scootaloo, leading the charge of the "Dusters" faction.

"Yeah right! Rainbow Dash will totally win!" The captain of 'Dashers' faction responded.

"No way, she will totally lose!"

"She totally won't!"

"She totally will!"

"GRRR!" The two agreed, looking directly into each others eyes. Somepony looking from the distance could get the wrong idea without context.

Cheerilee looked at the foals and slapped her face, making four mental notes.

Next time, when you get a brilliant idea, think it through.
Find a replacement word for 'totally', because it was getting totally annoying by now.
Buy A LOT more chalk, because...
Scootaloo and Snips are totally writing 'I won't scream in classroom." and "Taste is subjective, both mares are pretty cool and have their own merits and I shouldn't judge or belittle their fans just because my opinion differs'. Both 100 times over, each.

Sadly, that was all the cruelty she was legally allowed to use.

"Alright children, calm down," she went between the two warring factions (before you ask, they REALLY used those names for themselves and it was too adorable to make them stop) to contain the damage "you'll find out who is the winner in due time. But before that happens, remember to tell your parents that this Monday you'll be staying in school two hours later than usual."

"Huh?" The entire classroom rose their eyebrows.

"But why?" Asked Sweetie Belle.

"Because you're all getting detention for skipping class today!" She answered with a warm smile.

"WHAT!?"

"T'ain't fair!" Cried Applebloom in the crowd. Cheerilee suppressed herself from commenting the fairness regarding her failed date with her brother. Nothing was to be gained for venting her frustrations on an innocent filly. EVEN if she was blood related to Big Mac.

"Sorry class, but misbehavior must be punished. If it helps, I'm going to detention as well!"

"But miss Cheerilee," said Dinky Doo, always first to notice flaws in foalproof plans "you always stay to supervise everypony in detention!"

Cheerilee blinked, trying hard to hide the sweat that itched the back of her head. 'Don't scratch it Cheerilee', she thought, 'not when their eyes are on you!'. She smiled wider and shrugged.
"Well... but this time I actually earned it! Unlike the other times when I had to stay for no reason at all!" She smiled widely, waiting for everyponies reaction.

Dinky thought for a moment and looked classmates. They just shrugged and couldn't say anything else.
"Okay, I guess that makes sense." She admitted, scratching her head.

Fireworks shot inside of Cheerilee's mind, celebrating the victory over an eight year old filly. But to be fair, Dinky was a lot smarter than most foals. Scratch that, she was smarter than half the Ponyville in general.
"If you don't wan't to stay after school next week, you can always stay here, with me, while the race is on. I have a really fascinating, long and detailed lecture about 3rd century Griffin Civil Wars..."

She was interrupted by a massive, collective groan. Foals were so predictable, as all immediately left their seats and went for their raincoats, while Cheerilee nodded, smiling. Her happiness was short-lived, as she noticed one frizzy maned filly still sitting at her desk.
"Twist, why aren't you going with others?"

"Becaushe I wanna lishen about the Shivil War!"

"Twist, just go."

"But..."

"I'll tell you about them next time."

The filly thought for a moment, then shrugged and joined her friends, while Cheerilee wiped the sweat of her forehead while nopony was looking.
"Dodged that one..." she muttered, as she went towards her own desk to grab her things "...I don't know crap about griffin wars! Oh well, there goes my Sunday evening. I guess I was going to meet new librarians eventually..."

After skipping classes (he wasn't sure if that was a correct term when even teacher did it), Rumble didn't feel like joining the festival. Not after what happened yesterday, which he still wasn't exactly sure about details. Thunderlane brushed it off as just a bad day at work, but he didn't buy it. He saw his brother in his worst, but it was never this bad. Not even Nightmare Moon left him this badly hurt. He parted his ways with Dinky and went straight home, determined to take care of Thunderlane. With Blossom out of the picture, he was the only pony for the job... if he could find him. Rumble went straight to the living room where he last saw him, but the couch was empty. Even weirder, the cushions were all over room and the spare blanket was half on the floor. Not even a depressed Thunderlane would leave so much mess behind.

"Curious..." the colt muttered, as he resumed his investigation.

He checked Thunderlane's room, but there was no sign of him, only thing out of ordinary was a messed up bedsheet and pillows, practically untouched since he barely woke him up this morning. He then checked his late parents bedroom, carefully opening the door and finding that no, he wasn't here today. The dust was starting to settle, meaning that his Friday cleaning never started. Finding this odd, he continued towards the bathroom. He knocked on the door a few times, before slowly opening the door and looking inside, finding nopony, thankfully. At this point he started worrying, but shook it away and went to kitchen. He found it dissapointingly empty and messy. No progress on the dish washing or cereal cleaning was made either. He did however find something new. A small note supported by two glasses put together, so that it was standing tall enough for the colt to easily notice. He jumped on the chair and took it out to read the familiar hoofwriting.

"Dear Rumble,

We kidnapped your big brother and will work on fixing him. We'll return him in a day, or two, or eventually. Until then, Ditzy will take care of you. Bring your homework and report to her as soon as possible.

Signed, Doctor.

P.S.: We already have your spare toothbrush, don't bring any with you."

Rumble nodded, having solved the mystery. He imagined they took him out by force, hence all the mess they left. Having nothing more to worry about, he went to grab his raincoat, in hopes he could catch up to Dinky still. But as his hoof reached for it, he stopped and turned back for a moment. He looked at the dirty dishes and hummed. Sighing with resignation, he went back to living room to fix the mess his brother made, made his bed, washed the dishes and hid the cereal box in the drawers, where it belonged. Twenty minutes later, he had no hope of catching up to Dinky anymore. Sighing, he left home, locked the door and hid the key in the usual place (after making sure nopony was looking, of course) and went towards the crowds, looking for the familiar gray mare.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, we have a super special surprise for you! Turns out, we have a new OLD challenger today! Standing right over there, in all of his mohawk glory, the one, the only stallion in our office, the toughest pony I know (In Ponyville) - THUUUUNDEEERLAAAAAANE!"

The crowd cheered... weakly. Most ponies were confused, looking at each other and murmuring, wondering who this guy was and where he came from, but nopony seemed to recall anything. But the few ponies who did cheered were noticeable, to say the least. Thunderlane could see some familiar faces. Ditzy Doo was among them, along with her daughter both cheered loudly. But the one who made the most noise, was nopony other than his little brother.

"GO THUNDERLANE! WOOOOH! KICK THEIR PLOTS!" The gray colt in raincoat shouted. Thunderlane smiled at him, glad to get his support... even if he should be in school right now. He noticed an oddly high amount of foals in the crowd, wondering if they were all skipping school just to see the race. Then he noticed that even Cheerilee was out there, holding a ticket of her own.
All in all, he wasn't welcome nearly enough as the other two, but he didn't expect anything more. So far, he was nopony, but he still smiled confidently, about to make sure it wouldn't be like that for long.

"So, since the new development, uhm, developed," Cloud Kicker continued, slurring her lines just as always "we opened the booth once again, in case anypony wishes to change their favorite!" The crowd went silent, for once. "Uh, anytime you're ready, guys." She gulped and decided it was time to retire and let the crowd do their thing in their own discretion.

"I am never doing this ever again..."

"Well..." Prince Blueblood paused, pursing his lips as he watched Thunderlane leave the stage to prepare for the race. "...that wasn't exactly the development I expected."

"Eeyup!"

"Yeah, it's something we expected from Shining Armor, not Thunderlane!"

"Eeyup!"

"HEY!"

"Guys, focus!" Doctor coughed. "It's a little too late to call this off now, so I guess we should just go with the flow and hope for the best."

"The best?" Prince raised his eyebrow at that comment. "There's no way Thunderlane can pull this off! Even if he was good as a kid, it's been years and he's up against two ridiculously strong fliers! He'll be left in the dust, no pun intended."

"Eeyup!"

"And you," Blue turned to Big Macintosh, giving him a nasty glare "out of all of us, you know him the longest. Don't you have anything more productive to say?" He asked. Big Mac opened his mouth and tried to say something, but... "And don't you dare say what I think you're about to say!"

Big Mac looked shifted his eyes and then shrugged.
"Well, Ah ain't no pegasi, how am Ah supposed to know what to do? Not like anypony here knows anythin' 'bout racin'!"

The group took a moment of silence, before collectively sighing. It was true, they didn't even know what they were up against, since none of them ever had to experience the joy of flying through the air, at maximum speed.

"Wait..." Shining Armor was the first one whose light bulb over head lit up. One after the other, his other friends groaned and resisted the urge to facehoof, instead following his example and directed their glares at one pony who actually knew stuff.

"Actually, not everything is lost..." Soarin finally spoke, completely oblivious to the fact that his friends completely forgot about him, up to including his short-lived but lucrative previous career. That was something they often forgot about.

"What do you mean?" Asked Prince, as they all approached the ex-Wonderbolt.

"I've been thinking. You know, Thunderlane might be impulsive and hotblooded at times, but he's not stupid! He would never do something this foolish just on a whim, especially in front of thousands. Hmmm..." Soarin crossed his hooves and closed his eyes, thinking for a moment.
"There are some circumstances that are in his favor. For one, this race is a marathon- from here to Canterlot and back, that's a heck of a distance. This isn't a contest of pure speed, but stamina, which we all know our Mohawked friend does not lack. He would lose miserably in a short distance sprint, that's for sure, but in this case, he's not nearly as outmatched.
Two, the weather. It'll be a very dense storm all the way through, especially once it gets going in the second half on the way back. We all know that Thunderlane in particular is very tough and has been flying through worse conditions, so he should have an upper hoof over the two in that department.
And three, he's a lot faster than we give him credit for. Yesterday, when he left my office, I didn't have time to blink before he was gone. He's good, he just never had a reason to show it."

"Are you saying he can win?"

"Hmm... I wouldn't go THAT far. I mean, he has a little advantage, but Rainbow Dash is still a better flier and has been flying through bad weather too, and Lighting Dust is an unknown to everypony, but she seems confident enough. I don't think he can win outright, buuuut..."

"He won't lose as badly?" asked Blueblood. Lack of a response was enough to answer his question.

"Wow, you sure know a lot!" said Cloud Kicker, as she walked towards Soarin. "You sound like you were a professional flier yourself!"

Silence, once again, despite the crowds and clouds above. The five stallions looked at the mare with one eyebrow raised.

"What? What did I say?"

"You do realize I was a Wonderbolt, right?"

"Really?" She tilted her head, squinted and looked at Soarin some more. Her face got dangerously close, before she hummed and nodded. "Oh yeah, I knew you looked familiar! Well, good, you're just what I needed! Come on!" She grabbed him by his hoof and dragged him away from the group.

"Woah, what are you...?"

"I could use a cutie like you, right about now!"

"At least buy me a dinner first!"

"No time for food, I need your arse somewhere else, in a good way!"

The other four stood there, saying nothing, but deep inside, they had the feeling Soarin didn't want to be interrupted (a huge grin was an obvious give-away), so they waved him goodbye and went back to their own business.
"So, what can we do?" Asked Shining Armor. The others thought for a moment, until Doctor gave the only answer any of them could think of.

"There's only one thing we can do..."

"Fillies and gentlecolts, we have one more surprise for you! In order to help you keep up with the race, I brought a professional flier to help me with the commentary! Please give big cheers to Ponyville's prime ex-Wonderbolt turned love guru, Soarin!"

The crowd cheered, if only because not everypony in the area knew that they had a (ex) celebrity around. Now they knew and he was sitting right next to the betting booth with Cloud Kicker, waving to the crowds.
"I dunno what I was expecting..." he muttered to himself, forcing a smile on his face.

Thunderlane looked at Soarin, now apparently commentating the entire show for them. Part of him was really glad Cloud Kicker wasn't anywhere near the management seat in weather patrol. She had a special talent for manipulation in her own, unique way, way above what Rainbow Dash could ever do.
"I'm not even going to ask."

Instead of contemplating Soarins' position (it was not his business in the first place), he went back to stretching and preparing himself mentally for the incoming race. It has been a long time, he wondered if there was still enough fight in him, or had he gone too rusty over all those years. It was a lost cause anyway, but there was still hope. And quite honestly, even if he lost, it wouldn't feel nearly as bad as being left out. Not again, not this time.

"Ah, sure brings back memories!" Said Rainbow Dash as she 'happened to' stretch herself right next to Thunderlane. "I missed kicking your plot every Friday all these years."

"Ordering me around wasn't satisfying enough?"

"Nah, that's not the same. I always enjoyed a challenge and nopony in hundred miles had any."

"Challenge?" Lightning Dust snorted, as she 'accidentally' overheard the two. "Please, am I supposed to believe that your lackey here, Sunday Rain is a star flier? Seriously, if it’s about what I said yesterday, then sorry for stepping on your ego, big guy. You don't have to humiliate yourself any more just to prove a point."

Thunderlane's eyebrow twitched as he looked at the smuggliest grin he ever saw. And that comes from a stallion that lived half his life under Rainbow Dash's shadow. He took a step forward and was about to snap back, but Rainbow Dash beat him to it.
"Okay wise-flank, three things!" She went forward to look Lightning Dust in the eyes. "One, that's not his name and you know it. Two, you already used that one once!"

"I did? Tsk, damn!"

"And three, most importantly," she jabbed Lightning Dust in the chest "he's a great flier! To this day, he was the only pony even close to winning with me and I've been to many contests and races. So don't underestimate him just because I'm using him to do my super un-cool, bothersome work, because he's the pony I trust the most! You got that?"

Another moment of silence passed between the three of them. Lighting Dust raised her eyebrow and for once, couldn't reply in a smug way. Meanwhile, Thunderlane was even more shocked and observed his, apparently, friend still standing vigilant in his defense. Finally, Lightning Dust shrugged and turned away.

"Whatever. We'll talk after the race ends. Until then, consider me unimpressed." That said, she walked away.

Rainbow Dash looked at the unimpressed Lightning Dust as she was leaving. She snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Pfft, what a jerk! Oh well, I wanna see her keep that attitude up once she gets her flank handed to her. Am I right or am I right?" She turned to Thunderlane, expecting a smiling face, a friendly nod or even a high-hoof. Instead, she got a glare. And not the good type. "What?"

"I didn't ask you to defend me! I can take care of myself without you babysitting me!"

"You're welcome, Jerklane!" She snapped back and pouted, pretending to not be offended.

Thunderlane sighed deeply. As much as he wanted to beat her, it still felt wrong to be rude to her, especially after she stood up for him.
"Look Dash, don't take this the wrong way." He walked towards her. "She might be a reason I'm here now, but she's not the one I want to beat. Heck, I should be grateful to her! If she didn't chew me out yesterday, I would've never even thought about racing again!"

"Yeah, buy her some flowers, will ya?" She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Whatever your reason, do me a favor. Don't let that arrogant hussie beat you! I'm not accepting anypony else to be my second, but you!" That said she walked a few steps forward before Thunderlane stopped her once again.

"That's my line. You're going down, whether you like it or not. And I won't stop until I beat you, no matter how long it takes!"

Rainbow Dash stopped to laugh, before she turned to Thunderlane one last time.
"Now that's the Thunderlane I know and love!"

As she turned back, she suddenly stopped herself, avoiding slamming herself headfirst into Cloud Kicker's face. A smiling, blushing face. A face that wanted to comment. Rainbow Dash beat her to it.

"Don't you dare!"

"But..."

"Not a word!"

"But..."

"Cloud Kicker, I swear, don't you say a word. Not a single word, not one comment!"

"... uhm..."

"Look me deep in the eyes!" She glared at her, menacingly. "And ask yourself: is Rainbow 'Tantrum' Dash capable of RIPPING MY WINGS out of sheer anger?"

"...aww, but I like my wings..." She pouted, common sense winning over sheer curiosity for the moment. She never saw Rainbow directly hurt anypony, but she didn't grow up in Ponyville, so she wasn't versed in town's lore as much. She made a mental note to ask Pinkie Pie about it later. She suspected what the answer would be, but preferred to be sure.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, now that the betting booths are closed, we have the popularity results, right here!" Cloud Kicker announced, as she opened an envelope, coughed and read it out loud. "Placed at number one, with a whooping 532 votes is Rainbow Dash! Well, years of building up her reputation did pay off, it seems. Second place, with 367 votes, is Lightning Dust! Talk about making a splash, barely few days in and she's already rivaling our local favorite! Way to go, new girl!
And last but not least, we have Thunderlane, sitting at... uhm, 6 votes. Well... now that's a dark horse if I ever saw any, am I right?"

The crowd was silent. Few crickets could be heard.

"Get it? Because he's black coated! And least popular! Anypony?" She smiled sheepish, looking around the crowd. Somepony coughed. "Sheesh, what a tough crowd!" She pouted, ear drooped, wishing she could dig herself a hole in the ground.

The race was about to begin, as all three contestants placed themselves on the start/finish line, doing the final stretches and donning their goggles, while Cloud Kicker and Raindrops flew towards the sky, ready to set off the clouds as soon as Pinkie Pie shot her party cannon to start the race. In case anypony wondered, she couldn't find a single, standard issue sports hoofgun, so she brought a cannon she once bought in thrift store, painted it bright pink and filled it with confetti and streamers instead. Because Pinkie Pie.

"HEY THUNDERLANE!"

The stallion in question heard some ponies from the crowd calling out to him. He couldn't help but smile, when he noticed his friends and Rumble, all together in the front lines (except Soarin, obviously), cheering for him, while waving their tickets towards him. He was pretty sure he knew who they voted for. Although why they were wearing white t-shirts with Foal Hope logos on them instead of actual raincoats was beyond him.

"You better not lose!" Prince Blueblood yelled. "I'm looking forward to that spa!"

"But you already go there every week!" Shining called him out.

"Not the point!"

Thunderlane nodded and turned his entire attention to the sky. It was still a stupid idea, but he never felt more motivated before in his life. He took a deep breath and smiled, trembling from excitement, waiting impatiently for the race to finally start.

"Alright everypony, you all ready?" Soarin asked the crowds, to which he got a loud cheer. "I can't hear ya!" The cheering intensified, now overshadowing even the thundering skies, where Cloud Kicker looked at her co-host with awe and bit of jealousy.
"That's what I'm talking about! Now then, racers, get ready for the countdown!"

Three racers lowered their bodies and started working their wings, ready for take-off.

"THREE!" Soarin announced, helped by the choir of thousand ponies.

Raindrops and Cloud Kicker pushed back their legs, ready to buck any moment.

"TWO!"

Pinkie Pie adjusted the cannon, readied the match, before realizing it's lint that you pull, not burn. Suddenly it made sense why she found it in kids section in the store and why instructions didn't mention fire at all.

"ONE!"

Three pairs of wings rose to the action, while crowd held their breaths.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The confetti and streamers shot in the air, as the weather ponies bucked the nearest cloud, setting of the chain reaction resulting in tons of water pouring, accompanied by thunder and lightning striking around, happy to finally be free to do their reign. The start line was already empty, only dust and dirt flying around.

It had begun...

Author's Note

Yes, you saw it here everyone- the origins of Party Cannon! I admit, not nearly as riveting as you'd expect.

Expect another mini-chapter soon, where I bring back the plot point that you already forgot was even a thing, from the very first chapter.

Meanwhile... (Shut up and take my money!)

"One hundred tickets for Thunderlane!" Prince Blueblood announced proudly, stacking a pouch full of bits on the betting booth. The stallion behind him looked at the large pouch with mouth agape, until he shook his head and responded.

"Uhm, sorry mister, but only one vote per pony allowed." He said, apologetically shrugging.

"What? But... this is a charity drive! Are you saying you don't want MY donation?"

"I didn't mean that, sir. It's just that the rules state clearly that every pony is only allowed one vote."

"Why? Don't you want more money for your cause?"

"We do, but our committee does not approve of unfair advantages when it comes to lotteries."

"But... your prize is a coupon! For pastries!"

"First grade, hoof-crafted, fresh baked goods, I'll have you know, good sir. And spa visit, too! Look, I appreciate your sentiment, but rules are rules. However," she stallion smiled brightly "you are more than welcome to leave your donation in our other booths! We have hot drinks and food, or you could always get our lovely merchandise!" He said, lifting a cup with the colorful logo on it, lifted just high enough that Blue could also see him wearing a t-shirt, filled with badges with the same logo.

"WHAT?" Blue snapped, as his eyebrow twitched. "I'M NOT GOING TO..." He yelled, but cut himself in the middle of the sentence, once he realized that his voice was loud enough, that it attracted attention from all around the fair. He looked back to see his friends, three that were left with him, all mouth agape in shock. What seemed to be every other friend he made, from Ditzy, Dinky, Rumble (latter two probably skipping school), even Lyra, Bonbon, Cloud Chaser, Flitter, the flower trio, along with pretty much everypony he knew by the name, along with all the staff from Foal Hope, including a team of filly scouts, all had their eyes and gasps on him.

"...I... I'm not going to pass on this glorious opportunity! I would love to get my hooves on your, ehem, lovely set of merchandise. You know, for foals!" He gulped, smiling brightly. The ponies in the crowd seemed to calm down and instead happily murmured something among themselves, seemingly getting a better image of him in the process. If there was anything he learned about Ponyville, was that it was very easy to fool, but as easy to enrage and befriend.

"Glad to hear that, good sir! Please head that way for our other booths!" The stallion pointed his hoof at the booths, operated by the filly scouts.

"Can I at least have my ticket," Blue muttered" PLEASE?"

"Certainly," the pony took a small piece of paper and exchanged it to ten bits from the pouch "one ticket for Thunderlane, here you go! Have fun at the race!"

Blueblood just grumbled, lifting his ticket and rest of the money with his magic and leaving, walking in the direction of said booths. There was no turning back, not after so many ponies witnessed it. Then again, it wasn't a bad idea to offer some of his trust fund for charity, now that he thought about it. It was supposed to go for the new suit anyway, which he didn't even need. Not when living in Ponyville, where clothes were a rarity. At least it was easier to explain to his aunt if he ever asks for more money. She was more lenient when it came to charity.

He stopped at the tent of the filly scouts, where most of the merchandise was sold. He saw everything he expected, no surprise. Tons of t-shirts, caps, badges and it wouldn't be a filly scout tent if it didn't have crates full of cookies. He rolled his eyes at the cliché he was looking at and was more than content with leaving his money, no compensation needed. Then, one of the filly scouts noticed him and greeted him with a nice, fresh, minty smile.

"Good afternoon sir, how can I... I..." the filly scout's eyes widened, as she started shaking "...I... I... meep!" She went back a few steps, stopped only because she bumped into a crate behind her, still looking fearfully in his direction.

Blue raised an eyebrow and looked around him. Nothing seemed out of ordinary. The storm didn't start yet, nopony was paying them much attention and he didn't seem to be dirty of anything. The filly was looking precisely at him, which he found quite odd. Why would a filly scout be afraid of a tall, white unicorn stallion with such fabulous mane? As far as he knew, there wasn't anything scary about him right now, aside from that frown he made before, but why would a filly scout be afraid of that?

Unless...

He looked at the filly in question, squinting. She was a pale yellow earth filly, with neck long orange mane, dressed in a typical scout outfit, consisting of sash full of badges, a green beret and two red ribbons, one around her neck and one at her tail. He never knew any filly scout in his life, being a noble and such, yet she somehow seemed familiar to him. Then he had an epiphany.

"No way!" He gasped with realization. "It's you!"

"I-I-I'm sorry!" The filly started tearing, fighting the urge not to cry, winning so far, if barely.

Aside from fear of being misunderstood for child abuser, Blue felt a little bit of nostalgia, as he remembered that fateful day. The one when his new suit died, killed by mud and dirty water, accidentally splashed by a certain filly scout. That was only a beginning though, followed by a nose he got broken by a certain unicorn ex-guard that started his humiliation conga in Ponyville. Good times. He couldn't quite approach the filly now, as she seemed terrified of his very existence. To be fair, she had every reason to be, as their last meeting ended up leaving her quite shaken.

He smiled brightly and put the bag of bits on the counter.
"No apologies needed, little lady. I would like to make a donation."

The filly stopped in her track and blinked. The fear vanished, now replaced by confusion and curiosity, which prompted her to walk forward and inspect the bag. She gasped upon noticing a large stack of bits inside.
"But sir, that's..."

"One thousand bits." Blueblood proudly proclaimed. "Well, nine hundred ninety, to be precise, I had to pay for the ticket."

"I-I can't take all this money!"

"It's not for you, it's for the orphaned foals." He replied, instantly wondering if he just performed the biggest faux pax this century and she was one of the orphans. He gulped, awaiting her reaction.

"But, that's a lot of bits!"

"Use it well." He sighed, as no feeling seemed to be hurt. He started walking away, before that filly would start arguing even more. Seriously, what was wrong with charity workers these days that they won't accept his friggin money?

"Umm, thank you, sir!" She called to him, as he was walking away.

"No, my little pony. Thank YOU!" He replied, waving a hoof as he left her with a bag of money. Monetary loss aside, this was a good thing to do and he was already feeling better. For about ten seconds, before he heard the filly calling him once again. He turned around to see her running towards him.

"S-sir, I changed my mind! I can't take this money from you!" She hastily announced, provoking Blue to slap his face, very hard.

"Why can't you ponies just take my money!?" He whined, which thankfully was ignored by the filly.

"Sir, that goes against the code of a filly scout!" She coughed and rose one hoof up in a salute. "A true filly scout is not a beggar! She will not beg, she will not ask, she will not be a bother!" That last sentence earned an irked glare from Blueblood. Thankfully, by now she was cured of the fear he induced in her a while ago. "A true filly scout will work her hardest!"

"...right. What was I thinking?" He deadpanned.

"So," the filly smiled, as she pointed at her tent "would you like to buy something?"

"You won't leave me alone until then?"

"A true filly scout..."

"I get it!"

"Say, anypony seen Blue?" Asked Shining Armor, as his entire team gathered at the seats before the start line. He only got himself a few shrugs, before they all noticed Blueblood coming back to them, magically hauling a large cart with bunch of crates on it. But what truly caught their attention, was his new attire.

"Should we ask what happened?" Asked Doctor.

"I'd rather you didn't." He muttered back.

"Filly scouts?" Asked Big Macintosh.

"Yeah, how did you... No, wait, let me guess: speaking from experience?"

"Eeyup!"

"Wait a second, does that mean..." Doctor sniffed at the cart, then went towards one of the crates and opened it. His eyes brightened at the look of it. "...filly-scout cookies! Oh, they got mint chocolates over here!"

"Help yourself." As soon a Blue said that, Doctor grabbed a pack and violently opened it, swallowing at least half the pack into his mouth. At least one pony was happy with this purchase (not counting the filly scout).

"Nice shirt!" Said Shiny, as he giggled at the sight of a plain white t-shirt with Foal Hope logo on it. The unamused look on Blue's face was only adding to the effect. A face that soon turned his frown upside down and smiled viciously at Shining Armor, making him feel uneasy for some reason.

"Why thank you, I'm mighty glad you like it," his horn glowed, as another shirt levitated out of the cart and went towards Shining Armor "because I bought one for you one as well!"

Shining Armor's smile faded. He knew just knew that Blue's misfortune would somehow ricochet in his direction. He gulped and took a few steps back, trying to get away from floating, tacky shirt with rather ugly design on it. It wasn't something he wanted to wear in public, despite being rather topical for the event and a lot of other ponies wore similar ones. He smiled once he took a closer look and found a little bit of hope in the situation.
"Umm, thanks, but, uh... this one's too small for me!" He pointed his hoof at the label. "I wear large, but this one's medium. Sorry Blue."

Blueblood raised an eyebrow and levitated the shirt towards him.
"Huh, silly me, of course it's too small for you," he shrugged, while Shining Armor was about to wipe the sweat from his forehead "this one's for Doctor!"

"Huh?" Shiny tilted his head.

"Nomnom-huh?" Doctor looked up, turning away from his third box.

"I got one for ALL of you!" With a bit more magic involved, Prince Blueblood levitated half a dozen more shirts from the cart, which now levitated around his entire circle of friends, Ditzy included. And sadly for some, he had all the different sizes available, including one large and even an extra large, probably for Big Macintosh. Much to Blue's chagrin and the overall irony, they didn't have any kids size, but that was a rant for other day. Not that they would do him any good, seeing as both Dinky and Rumble had their raincoats on, like any foal (or adult pony) should during that weather.

"Umm, thanks Blue, but..."

"Oh come on, now," Blue trotted forward, bringing the shirts with him "don't tell me you'll reject a gift from a friend now, will you?"

Shining Armor, Big Macintosh and Ditzy gulped and reluctantly had to accept the gift. Dinky and Rumble were glad they dodged that bullet.

"Sweet, free shirt!" Doctor smiled, instantly donning his new attire. After all, generosity was just as much about giving, as it was about receiving.

...actually, not really.

Author's Note

This was supposed to be part of previous chapter, but went waaaaay too long to clutter Thunderlane's story.

Didn't expect THAT plot point to ever appear again, huh?

In case she appears again, the filly scout's name is Tag Along. I sometimes see her as Ginger Snap, but I prefer Tag Along. Sounds a lot more puny to me and god knows we need more puns.

Chapter 8: The Race

Several miles away, on the trade route from Ponyville to Canterlot, two pegasi from weather patrol looked up from their books as they heard the first thunders in the sky and see that droplets started falling from the sky. That was their cue to stop fooling around and wait patiently for the racers, so they could report back on the situation. This meant that next few minutes would pass in relative boredom. They packed their books away from the rain and waited patiently, glad they had raincoats. The only consolation from this whole "standing on the rain, soaking wet and looking at the sky", was an invitation to a Pinkie Party afterwards, along with a bunch of sweet cakes from Sugarcube Corner. Considering it was a job for an hour at most, the pay-off was more than worth it.

"How long do we have to wait? I'm freezing here!" Asked one stallion, rubbing his hooves, shivering from the cold.

"Ponyville's a few miles from here, they race in the rain and go uphill, so I'd say about five minu--"

FWOOOOSH!

A multicolored blur passed right above him, leaving a strong enough current to push him forward, forcing him to summon all of his strength in his hooves to keep from falling.

"W-what was that?"

"I think it wa--"

FWOOOSH!

Another blur passed them, this one more of a bluish lightning, though they couldn't get a better look, as the wind she left destroyed every last bit of the stallions balance he had, making him collapse on his face.

"Ouch..." the stallion groaned, as he massaged his nose. Thankfully, he landed on the soft grass, so the damage was minimal.

"You okay?" His friend gave him a hoof, helping him get up. Until...

FWOOOSH!"

A third blur, a dark thunder, passed them as well, toppling the other stallion as well, making him land on his now more comically injured friend. The two didn't have time to despair, as they looked up after the three passing racers, already gone from their view, leaving the two bruised and alone, in very compromising positions.

Back in the Ponyville, even though the storm was raging and rain poured down from the sky, obscuring the view on the racers even more, the residents were far from bored or uncomfortable. Between the roofs of water-proof tents, tons of hot snacks and drinks and Pinkie Pie's many attractions she whipped out of nowhere (roll with it), nopony had time to complain, as they awaited for reports which would be supplied by ponies at checkpoints each time something happens, via light signals using Horse code. One such message was being sent right now, and Cloud Kicker squinted and deciphered it, ready to relay it to the public.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, we have our first development! According to my scouts, Rainbow Dash passed the checkpoint first, Lightning Dust was just few seconds after her and Thunderlane, uhh," she scratched her head as she looked at her note "he cantered into a temple...?"

The crowd hummed, starting to murmur between each other, wondering if there was some sort of temple in the area, despite living in a country where no deities other than Princesses were worshiped, and even they were hardly gods.

Soarin leaned over to Cloud Kicker and whispered something.
"I mean, Thunderlane came in third... heh, whoops!"

The crowd sighed and shrugged it off.

"Cantered into a temple?" Asked Soarin, raising an eyebrow as he looked at a lot cuter then before blushing Cloud Kicker.

"Oh buzz off, I'm terrible at Horse code!" She pouted and turned away, prompting Soarin to giggle at her expense behind her back.

"Third, huh?" Blueblood shook his head. "Things are not looking good."

Doctor shrugged "Soarin mentioned it's a marathon and it's not speed, but stamina that will win in the end."

"Eeyup!"

"Well, look at the bright side," Shining Armor smiled, as he joined in, trying to inject some much needed levity "at least he won't be second this time!" Few death glares later, he regretted ever opening his mouth.

"There's no way he can win, or even catch up to them, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless somepony does something about it..."

A thunder crackling from the sky was nothing unusual during a massive storm on a scheduled day. A thunder hitting somepony directly was a much rarer instance for several reasons. One, nopony sane wanders around on a weather like this, as it's only asking for troubles. In this day and age, if anypony is outside, despite at least a week of warnings in newspapers and message boards, then they are clearly beyond saving. Two, if anypony actually is outside, it's sensible to dress accordingly. Simple raincoats and rubber galoshes are usually enough to cover from both rain and help repel electricity in the air (some claim it's magic, other call it science, we call it 'not important right now'). And three, if none of the above matches, then you are either dead... or a pegasi.

Just as another bolt struck from the sky, it just missed all three of its targets, one of them by the literal feather. All three racers felt it coming and acted accordingly, sacrificing a fraction of their momentum in air for continued survival. While it sounds impressive, it was just another days work, especially for trained weather ponies.

Fun fact about pegasi magic- it goes way past cloud walking and cloud shaping, that much anypony can tell you from just looking up at their winged brothers and sisters. Not many ponies, some pegasi included, are aware of some intricacies of their race, most importantly a phenomenon commonly known as "weather awareness". To put it simple, it's a sort of sixth sense related to clouds, when a pegasi reacts to any changes in the weather around them. That reaction was always very subtle, often unnoticed and regarded as a gut feeling. Learning the ability to interpret the signs from the sky was the first step to becoming a successful member of the weather patrol and anypony with enough experience was able to do it without thinking.

In other words, none of the three were in any danger whatsoever, unless one of them gets sloppy or careless, which was unlikely. It still slowed them down significantly, which was supposed to give Thunderlane a much needed edge. Compared to Rainbow Dash, he was slower and bulkier, which under regular circumstances would be his undoing, but in a tough environment, he had an upper hoof. Not to mention the fact that he was in his own element, while Rainbow was more used to racing in clear skies, which is probably why he could still see her, despite the rain and overall darkness (to be fair, it's hard to miss the rainbow hue left in the air).

But the real problem, not just for him, was Lightning Dust. Ever since the race begun, she kept very close to the lead and didn't slow down one bit, no matter the conditions they were going through. He should have figured that a pony named Lighting Dust, with a lighting bolt as a cutie mark no less, was going to have a very similar talents to his own, except she was much faster. Right now, as she soared through the sky effortlessly, she seemed to merge both his and Rainbow's talents, but not quite as good as themselves. At first thought he had an advantage in this race, but come to think of it, Lightning Dust was the true dark horse of this race. Nopony knew what she was capable of, few stunts here and there were the extent of her abilities she's shown during her first week.

In fact, what if she planned this race from the beginning?

Unlike Rainbow Dash, she's already shown to be rather cunning. She knew about the storm way ahead of time and yet waited until the last moment to issue her challenge, as if she wanted to tip the scales in her favor. Sure, she didn't plan the whole mess by Pinkie Pie and Cloud Kicker, nor was she expecting him in the race at all, but those were hardly problems. She was steadily keeping her second place right after Rainbow Struggling Dash. Was this the extent of her skills, or was she just waiting for a proper moment to unleash everything she had and leave them in the, well, dust? Given the nature of this long distance race, it was very likely.

Meanwhile he had to bust his own plot just to keep the two in his view still, placing his hope in the stamina match. He had to face the truth- without a miracle, he had no hopes of catching up, let alone winning.

"...so basically, the stormy weather is actually working in Thunderlane's favor?" Asked Cloud Kicker, as she continued her conversation with Soarin. She knew all of this already, but they kept the conversation going for the masses at the fair. After all, not everypony in the world was a professional flier, weather pony, or even a pegasus.

"Exactly! While our two future Wonderbolts are used to clear, clean skies used during derbies and stunt shows, their techniques are less effective in more dire conditions. Compared to Thunderlane, whose special talent revolves around it."

"But all three of them are experienced weather ponies, aren't they?"

"That's mostly true. Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane have been in this profession for quite some time, which by default, would make Thunderlane the most privileged, considering what his cutie mark represents. At the same time though, Rainbow Dash is a faster flier with much more basic training, but her experience with weather is limited to her job. It's hard to predict how these circumstances will balance themselves out."

"And what about Lightning Dust?"

"Now that's a good question, indeed! In terms of experience in weather, she's relatively new to her field, as she's fresh out of the academy. And while she has a lot more qualifications on paper than both of her rivals, her experience is limited. Racing-wise, there are very few records of her achievements, limited to few local contests, but nothing that can be compared to Rainbow Dash's achievements. And also, there's the question of her special talent."

"Well, what about her special talent?"

"A very good question, which sadly I have no real answer for. The lightning with stars on her flanks implies speed, which is clearly her strong suit, but she's been seen generating enough static electricity to be visible to a naked eye, so we can safely assume she's proficient with other forms of electricity as well."

"I hope you heard that, folks! So many different strengths, weaknesses and unknown in the mix, there's no way to predict a victor! Ooh, this is so exciting I can barely sit still! And speaking of which, we have a report from our second checkpoint. Lemme see here..."

"Is Lightning Dust joining the Zebrican revolution?" Asked Soarin, smiling smugly.

"Hardy har har..."

"So... would you like to share your plan with us?"

Doctor, Bic Macintosh and Shining Armor looked at Blueblood, who just came back from the library, now holding a scroll with his magic (after previously casting an anti-rain spell on it). Prince unrolled it before him and held it in the air.

"The plan is simple. Since we obviously can't do anything by ourselves and I won't survive teleporting that far, I'm left with one last solution. I know a communication spell, that I'm using to communicate with my Aunt. I can tweak it here and there so I'll be able to send a message to somepony else."

"Like who?"

"I... I'm not really sure myself. I guess I can name a few ponies who owe me a favor. Or I can always call some high society naive young mare I could... ermm, 'convince' to lend a hoof." He blushed, while a set of eyes looked at him suspiciously. "D-don't look at me like that! I know how this sounds..."

"A new stallion, built on the remnants of the old one," Doctor shook his head with disapproval "and we thought you changed, Blue."

"Sh-shut up! I just spent a thousand bits on t-shirts and cookies for charity. I'm allowed to bend some rules in favor of those who need it."

"And look, he's even bribing himself out of guilt!"

"Disgusting!"

"Eeyup!"

Blueblood in response pouted and covered himself in blush. He waited a moment for giggles to stop before he coughed and continued his plan.
"Right, now that you are done, can we please go back to helping Thunderlane?"

His friends calmed themselves.
"Alright, enough joking around and wasting time," said Doctor "so, we call somepony with your spell and... then what?"

Blueblood opened his mouth, but soon after closed it, tapped his chin, hummed, then shrugged.
"To be completely honest, that's as far as my plan goes. I'm open to suggestions."

Emotional outbreak. Breaking up with Blossom. Encouragement from his friends. The need to impress his little brother. His lifelong goal of being able to talk down to Rainbow Dash, at least once. Revenge against Lightning Dust. His own nature.

Thunderlane had a lot of things to blame for his current situation. Or rather, reasons to be in the air, busting his plot and flapping his wings harder than he did in, well, ever. Not even Everfree forest was this harsh on him. Occasional lightning wasn't a problem, they were easy to predict and avoid. Rain was annoying and thick enough that he could feel the cold through his wet coat, but it was bearable. The wind was annoying as hell as well, but he was bulky enough that it made him little difference. All three combined were a real pain in the flank, but even all that wasn't enough to drag him down. In fact, it barely slowed him. That was the final reason he had before he announced his participation. It was his trump card, an obvious yet hidden factor that was supposed to put himself and Rainbow Dash in equal positions. He knew Dash wasn't a slouch- whenever they looked for volunteers to clean up wild clouds in Everfree forest, both of them were the first (and only ones) in line from Ponyville's branch. He knew she was too proud and boisterous to pass it up, even if she wasn't nearly as good there as he was. It was a very minor thing, but those times were one of the few instances where he felt superior to Rainbow Braggart Dash, whose comparatively smaller frame and mass stood little chances, no matter how much she claimed otherwise.

It was his forte. It was his element.

And yet, why was he still dead last? Even through the goggles, he had to squint to notice the rainbow hue that got further and further every second. She clearly struggled on her way- he saw her dodge the lighting just in the nick of time, every time being dangerously close to her, once even grazing her mane by an inch. Not to mention, he could clearly see her frame being tossed and swayed by the wind here and there. Nothing major, she recovered from each of them gracefully and lost maybe a fraction of her speed on the way. But all of that and she was still in the lead.

And then there was Lightning Dust. He didn't mind her much at first. He expected her to be just like Rainbow Dash, but lesser, slower and not nearly as talented. To a degree, he was right. She wasn't nearly as fast, but she was smarter (that much he already deduced) and, unfortunately for them both, the weather didn't seem to affect her at all. Whatever her special talent was, it had to be related to storms and lightnings and she showed it. Even from his point of view, he could see she was surrounded by stray streaks of electricity, which didn't come from the clouds, but herself.

Another fun fact about pegasi that not many knew- they could generate some weather effects by themselves. Of course, there was never a danger of any pegasi learning how to fling lightning bolts or create clouds through sheer willpower (though some of General Hurricanes fan-boys would beg to differ), but it was there. And just like every other trick they had, it was too subtle to notice, usually. Some high-profile fliers used this trick to improve their visual effects. How Spitfire managed to look like a flying fireball was anypony's guess. And then there was Lightning Dust, who somehow learned how to do it as well. Or was that just a side effect of something different it was hard to tell. What wasn't hard to tell, was that she was different. Just how much, they were about to find out soon.

The storm picked up by the time they reached the third checkpoint, leaving two stallions there as flabbergasted as the previous two pairs. Though to their credit, these two at least remained firmly on their hooves. Three down, one more checkpoint to go. The next one was located right above the main Canterlot branch, which served not only as a halfway point and a rapid 180 degrees turn, but also changed the overall feel of the race.

"What do you mean by that?" Asked Cloud Kicker, fully engrossed in her role as the co-commentator of the race. Whether anypony even listened in between having fun with Pinkie games was besides the point, she enjoyed the conversation regardless and would partake in it even without the microphones.

"Up until that point, it was an endurance run. They were going uphill, against winds and rain. Now that they reached the halfway point, it's a downhill glide back here. This means they'll able to cut loose and release all the strength they were holding back. Basically, this part will be about half as long as the previous one."

"Ah, I see," she nodded and faced towards the crowds "you all heard that, everypony! As cool as it was all this way, sadly our dark horse is out of his league. For those six of you who voted for our mohawked racer, when you pour those tears of regret, remember- it's all for charity, so nopony really lost!"

"Woah, I didn't say he lost!"

"Yeah, but he's already outmatched in the part he was supposed to excel. There's no way he could possibly win now that the focus shifts to raw speed!"

"True, but... but the race is far from over! He can still catch up to them!"

"Oh really, can he?"

"...umm... in theory, I guess?"

Cloud Kicker shook her head and giggled at Soarin.
"Oh, that's just so cute! You really do believe in him!"

"Of-of course I do! And I have a receipt to prove it!" He replied, showcasing his ticket.

"Alright, alright, I'm not saying it's a bad thing. In fact," she took a small pause, then looked him in the eyes "I'm really glad he has you. I mean, all of you, not just you you, but the others you too. Gah, words are hard!" She rolled her eyes and shook her head, trying to compose herself. Soarin said nothing, only waited patiently for more.

"What I mean is, I'm glad he found so many good friends that believe in him. Sure, he's grumpy and kinda of a stick in a mud sometimes, but deep inside, he's a good stallion, he deserves to have somepony at his side. And for some unknown reason he doesn't seem to like me. Go figure." She shrugged and it was Soarin's time to roll his eyes. "I mean sure, he seems to get along with Ditzy and Blossomforth, sometimes, but he really needed a man friend... and yes, I do realize how indecent it sounded, no regrets!" She coughed and turned away, blushing slightly.

This revelation gave Soarin something to think about. When the two first met, they were already in a group on the fair, not unlike this one and the reason they even interacted was, well, the entire Blueblood and Shining inspection fiasco, which later turned into the rest of the story. But even after that, living few months here in Ponyville, he couldn't quite tell who Thunderlane's other friends were. Ditzy was obviously a bit more than just a foalsitter, but not much more than a friend. His relations with weather ponies were mixed at best. At most he heard about his so called friendship with Rainbow Dash, but that was a big question mark in itself. Other than that, he couldn't name too many ponies Thunderlane interacted with on a daily basis.

"And he'll really need all the friends he can get," Cloud Kicker continued "after the plot whooping he's about to receive! I mean, I admire his bravery and all, but he never stood a chance. Everypony knows that. Heck, he knows that! Poor guy, his hot-hotheadedness got the better of him once again." She shook her head again.

Her smiled faltered as she noticed that Soarin still looked at her, now with noticeably less amusement than before.

Time was running out and so were the options of helping Thunderlane win the race. Since cheating was a really bad word, the four gentlecolts settled on calling it a 'Divine Intervention' (using a twisted logic which implied that Blue was a divine being, by the rights of being adopted by 'technical but not quite sun goddess'. They wasted a precious minute discussing it instead of actual plan).

"Okay, everything's in place." Blue nodded, getting similar reply from his partners in crime, though Shining Armor's nod was halfhearted at best. He couldn't blame him for feeling guilty, but it was an honor of a good pony on the line here. Which would be solved by 'Divine Intervention'. The irony wasn't lost on any of them.
"All that's left is to send this letter..." He levitated a scroll with instructions and slowly prepared the spell to send it. A bead of sweat passed his forehead, as he swallowed, concentrated, and...

"Hey guys, what are you doing?" Asked Ditzy Do.

"GAAHH!" The four stallions jumped and yelled. The scroll fell on the muddy ground.

They all turned towards the familiar, wall-eyed mare, who at this point had to block her mouth with her wing to stop her from giggling madly. Once she composed herself, her lazy eye caught a glimpse of the scroll, now buried deep in the mud. She walked towards it and picked it up with her hoof. Her eyebrows widened in realization.

"Sweet Celestia!" She gasped, as she scanned the document. Four (five?) hearts stopped as they looked helplessly at the mare, just about to catch them red hooved.

"W-we can explain!" Blue walked forward, dreading that they were under a tent, so rain couldn't hide the sweat that ran through his forehead.

"It's not what you think!" Doctor added, approaching Ditzy with haste.

"I told them it's a bad idea!" Shining Armor took a few steps back, shaking his head.

"Eyup!" Macintosh went after the Shiny's example.

"This scroll is still dry and clean!" Ditzy announced, as she looked at it up close with her right eye (which happened to be her left eye). "Not even a drop of water on it! That's amazing!"

Four (five?) boulders fell from each of stallions respective hearts. Blue sighed with great relief and wiped his sweat with his new shirt.
"Y-yes, I cast a waterproof spell on it!" He grabbed the scroll from her with his magic, away from her wiggly but surprisingly good eyes. "I-I just learned it recently and I, uh, forgot to send it to Princess." He told it with a fake smile. Ditzy looked at him with one eye, as the other wandered wherever it wanted. She held a small, subtle smile as she somehow managed to pierce him with one-eyed gaze. "You know, as a proof that I mastered it. Yeah!"

Time passed, Thunderlane was as far from victory as he was, if not even further, yet a Divine Intervention was being stalled by a single mother. Blueblood waited for a while, resisting the piercing gaze and a creepy, wandering eye that looked at every direction, except forward. He remembered clearly how he used to find it creepy, but grew fond of the mare, despite the... unusuallness she presented. Right now, he felt like she could see his soul through, ready to do, well, he wasn't sure what exactly, but she wasn't going to like it. He gulped and looked at Doctor. Sadly, his friend could only shrug, being as helpless as him.

More time passed, then Ditzy smiled brightly, closing her eyes in the process.
"Well, you did a great job, Blue! I'm sure Princess will be satisfied!" She exclaimed happily, toppling a second boulder from their hearts." And here I thought four of you were doing something suspicious!"

"...you don't say?" Blue asked, his fear coming back. He could feel a third boulder materializing inside of him. And it wasn't pleasant.

"Yeah. From far away it looked like you were up to no good."

"Unheard of!"

"Preposterous!"

"No way!"

"Eyup!"

"Yeah, I know how silly it sounds," Ditzy blushed and scratched her head "I couldn't help but suspect you would do something wrong, just to help Thunderlane win." She laughed out loud. Nopony joined her, as the four looked at each other. "But there's no way you would do anything like that. I mean, even if you knew a way to do something in such short time, there's no way you'd cheat on his behalf!"

"Y-yeah..."

"I owe you an apology. How could I suspect you, of all ponies, of being able to do something this wrong. Not to mention illegal!"

The four stallions fell into silence, busy only with looking at the muddy ground under them.

"I mean, we all trust Thunderlane to win or lose of his own power. He's not doing it to win, but to prove that he can be just as good as Rainbow Dash, and Lightning Dust too I guess. We all know he's better than those two combined, but hey, it's a stallions pride we're talking about. I think we can all imagine how devastated he would be if he found out some sort of "Divine Intervention" tipped the scale in his favor! That would be the worst stain on his honor. I mean, he IS an element of Honesty, right? I don't think he would ever forgive anypony for that!" She ended with a small laughter.
"Oh well, sorry again for the suspicion, I'll bake you apology muffins later. Now, I gotta go back to kids!"

That said, she was gone, trotting away cheerfully humming under her nose, taking back all the cheer along with her leaving only four humbled stallions. Shining Armor was the first to break the silence.
"Blue?"

"Yeah." Prince answered shortly, as the ignited scroll turned into ashes from.

"That mare," Doctor smiled "I pray she never changes."

"Eyup!"

Cloud Kicker felt the tension raising in the air. And not because of the nasty weather or race in progress. Her gentle and obedient guest commentator suddenly looked at her with a glare that could pierce right through her soul. A feat which not even Thunderlane or Rainbow Dash ever managed to achieve.

"I don't know him nearly as long as most of you in Ponyville," Soarin started "but what I do know about Thunderlane, is that once he says he'll do something, no power in this or any other world will stop him from achieving it. And he promised us he will win this. So all the facts and reasons be damned, he will arrive here and this ticket here will suddenly be worth dozens of cakes and maybe even a day full of massages by two superbly beautiful twin mares with gorgeous, shapely plots... uuhh, what was I talking about?” He shook his head and wiped the saliva from his mouth. “Oh, right, Thunderlane. He will win."

Cloud Kicker raised her eyebrow and subtly moved her chair a few inches away, just in case.
"Yeah, sure he will."

"Wanna bet?" Soarin asked. That magical word always worked and this time was no failure either, as her eyes perked. "If he wins, you'll allow me to take you to a dinner."

Cloud Kicker's eyes narrowed, as she contemplated this idea. She couldn't find a reason to refuse thus far.
"Tempting. And if he loses?"

"If he loses, which he won't, I'll buy you a dinner. So, what do you say?"

She hummed for a moment later, until she just shrugged.
"Eh, you only live once, you got the deal!" They shook hooves. "Better prepare your wallet, I'm a mare of good taste."

"There was never any doubt."

The duo smiled at each other and remained like this for a moment, until...

"Ekhem, two things you guys." Raindrops, of all ponies, approached them and looked at them with her usual, a little irritated gaze, now combined with slight blush. "One, you do realize that you're being played into his scheme here, right?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Cloud Kicker shook her head. "And that's why you can't get a date, Dropsy."

"Don't call me that!"

"Win or lose, I'm getting a free dinner from one of the most handsome stallions this side of Equestria. I already won, no matter how this race ends."

Raindrops raised an eyebrow, but couldn't argue with that logic.
"Sure, whatever, but... And that's two, I don't mind you two openly flirting or anything and I don't want to tell any of you how or when to do it, I'm hardly an expert, but... could you please turn off the mics when you do?"

All the sounds screeched to a halt, or so it felt like, as the two pegasi eyes opened wide. They blushed at the realization that the entire crowd was looking directly at them. The reactions were mixed: some were blushing as well, others laughed out loud, others laughed quietly away from everypony, but almost everypony stared at them and waited for more. A few ponies even took it upon themselves to cover their foals ears (that came from those who already knew the pair and expected worse).
Cloud Kicker thought she couldn't be more embarrassed than she was before, yet here she was, slowly burying her entire body under the table, just so as few ponies could see her glowing, red face. Soarin, a former celebrity, took it a little better and smiled sheepish, waving back to all the spectators. Especially Aloe and Lotus, who were too shocked and embarrassed to hide.

Cloud Kicker's hoof extended from under the table and hit the button on the microphones.

As he was approaching the fourth checkpoint, the halfway point, all the hope was pretty much lost. He bet everything on logic and specific conditions, but never thought about just the sheer gap that was between him and the other two. No amount of advantages could save him right now. Even if both mares suddenly broke a wing mid flight (which wasn't impossible, but unlikely), they would still be able to glide down on the other, and way faster than him too. He wasn't about to give up, but now it wasn't about racing or beating them, not even catching up, just ending with as much dignity as possible. And in the end, nothing will change anyway. He will still be the inferior one and there will be two mares with overblown egos right there with him.

Actually, one thing would change- he would no longer be second. Which is basically what he always tried to achieve, but fate now found a way to crush it in the most ironic way possible as well. He wasn't going to lie to himself anymore and accept defeat. It was just a race. There were still many other things in life he should be grateful for and work towards. His brother, friends, job that would improve in the near future once the two speedsters would be gone. He had a lot to look forward to, as soon as today’s compromitation is gone. No use getting worked up over nothing.

"Already giving up, Lumber Crane?" He heard Lightning Dust taunt him, her voice managing to get through the distance and ambient that surrounded them on a stormy day. "So much bark, but you can't even reach me to take a bite? Ha, pathetic!"

His eyes narrowed.

"Don't worry, I'll save some of my cake for you when you get there... next week!"

His teeth grit. His entire body started trembling.

"That is, if you even get there this year!"

Reason- gone. Determination was the only thing that now fueled his body. Now he had two plots he wanted to kick more than anything he ever wanted in his life. Nothing else mattered, anything that was actually valuable and important got pushed back. He wanted to win. He needed to win. His life couldn't continue if he didn't.

Except, there was nothing he could do.
"Unless..." He looked up, at the giant, angry storm clouds.

He never planned on this. It was the most dangerous, stupid move he could do right now. The risk was high, chances were low and all could be for naught. No pony with half his mind would ever go that far. But one look at the two colorful blurs in the sky before him were enough, as he picked up the altitude and flew up, straight into the eye of the storm.

Author's Note

Next chapter, the electrifying conclusion!

Also, many apologies for slow pace. Those who followed my blog should know some reasons. That, and this chapter was damn hard to write, so sorry for the sloppy execution.

Chapter 9: Thunder-struck

Another thunder strike could be heard outside the building, though barely audible, muffled by thick walls and shut first class, soundproof windows. But what some learned to ignore years ago, other registered as the most hellish sound, the scariest thing that sparked imagination of countless horrors. One mare learned this lesson the hard way, after trying to put her newborn baby to sleep, only succeeding after one entire hour, way after she exhausted her entire repertoire of bedtime stories and lullabies and now had to make them up on the spot. Some were a grumbled mess, other had some logical errors and plot holes (which the foal probably noticed and expressed his dissatisfaction quite vocally), but two of them were genuinely good, if a little cliche. She was particularly proud of one where Princess Celestia announced she hated tea and her kingdom fell into chaos, as outlandish as that sounded (though knowing pony society, it wasn't impossible to happen). The other one was even better, but she was too tired to remember what it was about. All she remembered is that it involved Diamond Dogs taking some random magician mare as their queen, but the details escaped her. She suppressed a yawn and finally got up from the chair by the cradle and took one last look at her small pride. Once he finally stopped being a pain in her neck (literally, that chair was not comfortable in the slightest) and calmed down, she remembered that he was the most precious little thing that ever existed.

"Please grow up faster, my little angel," she whispered as she lowered her head to kiss it's forehead "mommy wants to sleep sometimes too, you know." She sighed and went to the door, snapping the lights out as she said her goodbye.

"Sweet dreams, Rumble!"

The sensation of being able to fully stretch your limbs and freely walk in the hallway was always taken for granted, until you're a mother of two and you finally get a chance to get separated from your baby, even if he's going to wake up in an hour or two, tops, to kindly cry for more milk. Such were the joys of parenthood. Even though her bed was calling for her, chanting her name in the sweetest, most alluring voice a bed could muster, she shook her head and instead went downstairs, just in case. Down there she witnessed her husband, just entering the house, his raincoat and wings soaked in rainwater. He was alone and his face wasn't the one that brought good news.

"He's gone..." He muttered quietly.

"Darling?"

"He's gone! I-I looked everywhere! He's not at any of his friend's, or Blossom, not in the Sugarcube corner or anywhere... he's gone!"

"Oh no!" She gasped and went towards his husband to hug hum, wet coat be damned. "Are you sure he didn't hide somewhere? Maybe the school...?"

"It was closed. And empty."

"Maybe... maybe he has some friends we don't know about?"

"Maybe..." he sighed deeply and looked his wife in the eyes "...look, he's a lot more mature than most colts his age. I'm pretty sure he's waiting the storm out in somepony's house."

"Yes, he probably does," she nodded, smiling weakly. The two stood there in silence, interfered only by muffled sounds of thunders roaring outside the house. Their new found calm stopped after about ten seconds.

"I'll assemble some help," he said, zipping his coat back "I'll ask mayor to help, and some weather ponies should be..."

SMACK!

The couple jumped up and turned towards the suddenly opened door, letting in the cold wind and rain from the outside, while a small, shadowy silhouette looked at them, as another flash of lightning exploded in the background. The figure stepped forward and they could clearly see numerous sparks flowing around it. They huddled together and resisted the urge to scream out of terror for long enough for the figure to enter the lit hallway.

"MOM, DAD!" The oddly cheerful colt ran towards his huddling parents, "You'll never believe what just happened!"

"T-thunderlane?" They asked the colt and looked at each other, then at their son again. Earlier worries already forgotten, now their attention was brought towards his even more pronounced than usual mohawk, standing still in more directions, a feat also duplicated by his coat as well, making him appear much bigger and fluffier then he ever was.

"...and then I was all WHOOSH! And before I knew it, I was in Horsetown, where weather was still nice!" The colt finished his story, as his lungs begged for a short breather, but heart and mind had a lot more to express and only barely let him take some much needed air. "Man, going back took forever!"

His parents looked at their little darling, their firstborn, and raised their eyebrows. They didn't get most of what he was saying, but were more shocked to see him express so much enthusiasm about anything at all. It almost made them smile and want to hug him tightly and congratulate him for... they weren't exactly sure what, but he seemed proud. That said...

SMACK! BZZT!

"Ouch!"

"Oww!" Thunderlane massaged the back of his hurting head, while his father recoiled as his hoof was shot by a fairly powerful static shock. "What did I do?"

"What did you...?" His father waved his hoof a few times to make the pain go away, then stepped forward to face his son. "We were worried sick about you! We thought you got hurt, or lost, or..." He groaned and resisted the urge to smack him again, and this time not because of the static. "Thunderlane, what did we tell you today morning?"

"To, uhm..." He shifted, looked left and right, then down. "...to go back after school..."

"Ah, so you do remember."

"But...but the race is in a week and that was the last time I could practice and... and... this time I can do it! I can beat Rainbow Dash!"

His parents exchanged looks and sighed. His mother smiled and walked towards him, extending her hoof to hug him, only to be attacked by another static shock.
"Ouch!" She took her hoof back and opted to keep some distance. "Honey, I know how much you want to win, but you won't achieve anything if you get hurt. There will be another race, but if something happens to you... oh, I don't even want to say it!" She tried to hug him again, but once again got shocked. "Ouch!" She lamented on her inability to cuddle her own foal, which was one of the few reasons why she ever agreed to be a mother.

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"You should be," his father looked at him "because you're grounded for a week!"

"WHAT?!" Thunderlane yelled in response, while the thunder outside accompanied his whining. "But that's not fair!"

"Well, life's tough, get used to it," his father shrugged "and just so you know, moaning and complaining won't change my mind. Now shower, dinner and bed. In this order. Do I make myself clear?"

"...yes, father." The colt went towards bathroom with his head down. He was so deep in his muttering that he failed to notice that a lamp he passed by lighted itself on. Despite being unplugged.

"We should do something about that." His mother remarked. Her husband nodded.

As expected and predicted, once they turned around the Canterlot mountain, the entire race changed and turned from endurance match into a straight dive down with the current, which meant they were going to reach the finish line a lot faster then usual. It was also the part that Thunderlane was the worst at and they knew that all too well.

"Don't get lost there, Glumper Flail!" Lightning Dust yelled without turning her had back.

"You're not even trying anymore?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Cut me some slack, I'm a racer, not a poet!"

"Whatever," Rainbow Dash had an urge to shake her head and shrug, but considering her current speed and position, she settled on rolling her eyes. "Don't listen to her Thunderlane, I said I'm not accepting anypony else as my second! You got that?" She smiled, as she bumped her pace, watching as Lightning Dust was only slightly behind. It took her a few seconds to realize something was missing.

"Thunderlane?" She asked back, expecting her old friend to yell back, throw some playful banter or insults at her, like he always did. But for some reason he was silent. Too silent. She took the considerable risk and turned her head back, fully aware it would slow her down enough for Lightning Dust to use it to her advantage. In this time of the day, weather and overall darkness, Thunderlane wasn't the easiest pony to notice, but she never failed to spot him before. Not so much this time.

"Thunderlane?!" She stopped her wings, taking a few seconds to stabilize herself mid-air. Once stationery, she turned back and had a better look at the locations around the mountain, but saw no familiar black blur anywhere.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, we have another report!" Cloud Kicker, always fast to rebound even after the worst injuries or embarrassing events, was back to her perky, commentating side. "They just reached the third checkpoint and... uh..." She scratched her head and hesitated on relaying the message. As previously established, she was horrible at Horse code. She turned to Soarin just to be sure. "Please tell me it doesn't say what I think it's saying..."

Soarin gulped. He had a feeling she got this message right for once.
"I'm afraid it does..."

She knew he was slow and would fall back during this phase, but she expected him to at least keep closer and not fall back as badly. She knew she could still feel his presence back at the turning point, yet no matter how much Rainbow Dash looked, he was nowhere to be found.
"Crap!" She swallowed as she squinted her eyes and kept searching the area for anything else, trying to see or hear anything else then thunder, falling rain and her rapidly beating heart. "Crap crap crap crap!"

As she was hovering, panicking, she heard somepony else fly towards her from the other direction.
"What the hell Dash, why did you stop?" Asked Lightning Dust, crossing her hooves with irritation. "If you wanna give up, just say so!"

"He's gone..."

"Dash?"

"T-Thunderlane's gone! Just a moment ago, he was flying with us, but now... now... crap crap crap!" That said she started flying all over the area, searching while shouting his name out loud. Lightning Dust meanwhile smacked her face and loudly cursed to herself, as a booming thunder drowned her dissatisfaction.

"Umm, seems like Rainbow Dash is still in the lead and Lightning Dust is just a moment away, but... uhm, no mention of Thunderlane. Apparently he never crossed it, at least not yet."

All of a sudden, the crowd seemed to calm down the enthusiasm, but only to make place for some fearful murmurs amongst themselves. Before she would make a hasty decision, she turned towards Raindrops, now in charge of communicating back with the checkpoints. All she got from her for an answer was a reluctant shaking of her head. She looked at the signals herself to find out that at this point the race stopped entirely, as even Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust stopped and hung around the third checkpoint, which could mean only one thing.

Ponies were very emotional creatures by nature, thus a simple mention of something out of place was enough to spark panic in one pony, who passively instigated it in another, starting a chain reaction which Cloud Kicker knew exactly where it would lead. But the entire crowd didn't matter as much as one particular little colt. Rumble didn't say a word since it started. He was firmly standing on his four hooves, looking longingly at the direction of Canterlot. She could swear she saw a few beads of sweat pass through his forehead, as hard as it was to notice on a colt dressed in a raincoat, on a rainy day no less. He was trembling, his eyes were fighting the urge to let the tears go. Thankfully, Ditzy Do was just beside him, lying her wing on his back for comfort, but also probably to stop him from rushing in and doing something he would regret.

And speaking of rushing in, she turned towards her co-commentator, who now dropped the glasses on the table and stood up, extending his wings. She rushed towards him and grabbed his tail with her teeth just the same second he was lifting off, stopping him mid-air.

"Cloud Kicker, let me go!" The ex-Wonderbolt yelled, trying to get away. Unfortunately for him, despite relatively lower mass and fairly helpless demeanor, she proved to be a force to be reckoned with in terms of sheer strength. She managed to pull him closer, yanking him like a bull with a lasso, grounding him on the podium and stepping on his tail, if only to free her mouth to be able to say something.

"Ah hell no, Mister Pretty Flank! There's enough ponies in danger as it is!"

"Let me go, damnit!" He tried to force his tail from under a hoof, but it proved to be much than he realized. "My best friend is out there, probably in danger!"

"That's why we have rescue squads at the checkpoints!"

"Well, they could use some hooves and I have four, which are wasted here doing NOTHING!"

"Crap, THUNDERLANE!!" Rainbow Dash screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to spread her voice across the valley. The numerous thunder strikes and falling rain didn't help matters and muffled her every time. She could barely hear herself right now. "Thunderlane, I swear, if you’re out there, show yourself so I can KICK YOUR ASS FOR MAKING ME WORRY!"

There was no answer.

"IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU, I SWEAR I'LL RIP YOUR WINGS JUST SO YOU WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

She stopped in her place and took a deep breath to calm her nerves, maybe stop her heart from beating at her chest with sledgehammers. She considered a few possible outcomes:
-He passed them and got a major lead... no, it was impossible, not in million years.
-He got above the clouds somehow and is flying over them... again, not possible. Even if he did managed to break through that much electricity, he still has to pass by checkpoints to win the race. And Thunderlane would never cheat.
-He's lost his way... also impossible, this was Thunderlane she was thinking about, he went to Everfree during storms and never once lost his way in air there.
-Something else happened...

"I should've known," said Lightning Dust, flying with crossed hooves around Rainbow Dash "just for the record, I never challenged HIM."

"You're NOT helping!" Rainbow Dash yelled back. "Start already!"

"Fine!" She groaned and shook her head. "The race's a bust anyway!"

"Ugh," Rainbow Dash groaned and flew towards Lightning Dust to look her in the eyes "forget about this stupid race! He could be in danger!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know! I'm just saying that it wasn't ME who let him join!"

"Wait, so it's my fault?"

"Well, it's not mine!" She went closer to Rainbow's head, almost bumping into her midair. "I saw the look on your face, when your old loverboy..."

"H-he's not..."

"WHATEVER! I saw how you looked at him when he wanted to join! You were 'this' close to kissing him when he declared he's mucho-macho for interfering in OUR race! Argh," she grabbed her head and turned around "why do I even bother? Everypony will blame everything on ME anyway! Because 'how dare I yell at him and make him feel sad'! For all we know, he probably just gave up and sips some tea in Canterlot as we speak."

"HEY!" Rainbow Dash circled around her to face Lightning Dust once again "He's a lot of things, but he's NOT a coward! He'd rather get his plot hooved to him than give up! And if you knew ANYTHING about him at all, you'd know that much!"

"All I know is that he talks a lot and nothing else! And from what he showed me today, I'm still not impressed!"

Rainbow Dash was about to explode and reply once again, dragging the pointless argument further, wasting even more time. But for once, she shook her head, took a deep breath and sorted her priorities.
"If you don't want to help, at least stop bothering me! Just go to the finish line and win, if you want this so much!" She turned back. "I'm not leaving until I've found him!" With that said, she went back to her search.

Meanwhile, Lightning Dust smacked herself for the last two minutes.
"Ugh, why do I even talk!"

She still didn't care about 'whatshisface' and didn't feel any guilt over his supposed demise. He brought this on himself, again. Nopony forced him, nopony pressured him, he did this to himself, despite knowing the risks. The only regret she had was agreeing to let him join. In a hindsight, she'd rather be called a chicken than have anypony risk his life for nothing.

She was about to join Rainbow Dash and help her, if only because her reputation wouldn't get any better for leaving in times of need, when another thunder boomed in the distance. She was used to them by now, at least ten exploded with great noise when she was just talking to Rainbow a moment ago and none of them bothered her. Not like this one. This one wasn't just loud- it was deafening, like a giant explosion that could level a city, and for a moment she was afraid that was what was happening. She noticed Rainbow Dash hearing it as well, also blocking her ears with her hooves, looking around in panic, first at Ponyville, then Canterlot, then the directions of any other nearby cities, expecting a giant ball of fire in the distance, signifying a great evil coming back to Equestria with vengeance.

Nothing. At least nothing out of the ordinary storm she was experiencing past fifteen minutes or so. She looked at Rainbow Dash again. The two exchanged looks and shrugged. Then their heads turned upwards, in the direction of clouds above Canterlot, where something appeared. A very bright, glowing white ball, rapidly approaching them at a speed of, what seemed like, light.

"WATCH OUT!" Lightning Dust screamed at Rainbow Dash, who hovered where she was, blindly staring at the small, but fast meteor coming right at her, paralyzed by fear, or something. Lightning Dust didn't think much when she flew straight at her and slammed into her at her full speed, tackling her at the last moment, as the object passed by them.

After they tumbled in the air for a moment and regained their altitude, Lightning Dust realized one thing. She was wrong. She miscalculated. That thing was a few meters away from where Dash was, she was never in any danger, aside from getting hit by the air pressure it left behind. And Rainbow Dash realized another thing.

"W-was that...?" She started, but couldn't finish her sentence, while the object moved in direction of Ponyville.

While Cloud Kicker struggled to keep Soarin grounded, and he struggled to get away from her grip, his friends ran towards the podium.
"Are you sure he's gone?" Asked hastily Blueblood. "This isn't another mistake, right?"

"I'm afraid not," Cloud Kicker shook her head. Now that other appeared, Soarin held his horses and calmed down, prompting her to finally release his tail. He didn't rush out, but clearly wanted to. "all the weather ponies at checkpoints are already looking for him. Damn, I hope this is just a misunderstanding."

"Yeah, me too..." Blueblood nodded. He looked at his friends and they could already tell what he was thinking.

They knew Thunderlane well. He survived Everfree forest, used clouds more vicious and unpredictable than what they had today as a very powerful (ultimately futile, though) weapon against Nightmare Moon and wouldn't fall if five hit him. He was tough, too tough to fall to just a stray lightning. And he was too hot-blooded, proud and stubborn to even consider giving up. That probably meant something else completely. Something none of them were prepared for. He heard about various ancient, evil entities, some were defeated using Elements of Harmony and no doubt they would like to strike them back when they're vulnerable, exhausted and alone.

He shook his head. This was a very long stretch, even for their standards. Yet no matter how much he wanted to convince himself that it was something else, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was exactly it. He could name a few such beings that could be able to do that, given they escaped from whatever prison they were held.

"I need to find a scroll and quill, right now!" He announced to everypony, as he started searching around frantically.

"Why?" Cloud Kicker asked, tilting her head. Usually they were very careful about keeping their 'national secret' a secret, but they were allowed some leeway in case of emergency. And this seemed like one.

"I need to send a letter to my Aunt, something really big must've happe--"

He couldn't finish his sentence, as a sound of a giant explosion muffled any noise nearby. The noise was like no other thunder they had today. This one was deafening, and everypony in town knelt and blocked their ears, sharing the mutual, noisy agony. As expected of large gatherings of ponies in one place, panic ensued almost instantly- foals were crying, adults grabbed any children they had and started running around senselessly. Tables were flipped, stalls were ruined, hundreds of pastries ended up on the muddy ground, in puddles of rainwater mixed with hot and cold drinks.
Everypony expected apocalypse, some great evil appearing and declaring them their slaves. To be fair, this town already experienced something similar not too long ago, so their fear was not that irrational.

Those few ponies not joining the panic were able to spot something appearing on the horizon. An object, light, not too big glowing something, that flew straight from Canterlot towards the town and was rapidly growing bigger for them.

"It's a monster!"

"No, it's a meteor!"

"No, it's a giant fireball!"

"No... it's something else!" Blueblood hummed, swallowed and magically summoned a pair of binoculars and looked through them. His friends (and Cloud Kicker) didn't get a clear answer as to what it was, but his jaw dropping to the floor level was an indication of something else entirely. Cloud Kicker dived towards him and grabbed the binoculars.

"Pardon me!" She pardoned herself as she took a better look at it. Her reaction was similar to Blue's, but after her jaw came back to her original form, a big, happy grin appeared on her face. She threw the binoculars away and rushed back to her seat. She opened her mouth to start saying something, but ponies were ponies and kept on running amok around the place, getting nowhere even close to a safe place. She rolled her eyes and used her last resort.

SCREEEEEEEEEECH!

Another nasty sound went into the air, stopping everypony on their tracks as they once again had to block the hellish noise from breaking their eardrums. This time instead of explosion, the sounds resembled more a fork scratching the small chalkboard coming from the speakers. And that's because that was exactly what it was.

"Do I have your everypony's attention?" Asked Cloud Kicker, looking at the stunned crowd. She didn't get any answers but at the very least they stopped and looked at her. She shrugged and threw away the chalkboard and fork. "Good, because you wanna see this!" She paused then added. "Oh, and I'd get as far from the finish line as possible if I was you."

One small light bulb after the other lighted as the entire crowd got the idea of what she meant. Now everypony's attention was on the approaching unidentified object, getting closer and closer, now resembling something different. Something familiar. The last ponies to get the hint were, unsurprisingly, located near the finish line. And once they got the hint, they dashed away, just as the object crossed it with enormous speed. The entire crowd of spectators had to hide their eyes from incoming air, dust and static electricity, that gave new haircuts to several unlucky ones that were too close. The object smashed itself into the ground, flying at it at a very sharp angle, making a large crater where it landed. It didn't stop there and kept going, plowing the muddy ground, smashing countless objects, popping all the balloons along on the way, thankfully every pony on the way managed to jump away in time.
Many tables, tents and various other things destroyed later, it finally stopped, though it was impossible to identify due to dust mixed with confetti, combined with rain, fog and slowly decaying bolts of electricity running around it.

Everypony now ran towards the object, but kept a safe distance, only looking and waiting for the revelation, curiosity taking over the fear. The stallion six (minus one), along with Cloud Kicker and Raindrops ran forward a little closer. All the metal objects in the closest area, be it forks, toys or tables, still had some electricity flowing through them.
The closer they got, they could hear some quiet noises that weren't energy currents. Gasping, very fast breathing, as something, or somepony, tried to catch their breath after the biggest workout they had in their lives.

As the visibility increased, they were able to see a silhouette of a pony. A dark, black figure, with long, electrified hair, standing up as expected after generating this much energy. Then they noticed his face, in particular his eyes. They were wide open, as his mouth, still gasping for air. His entire body was trembling, once in a while jittery, though it was impossible to tell if it was from pain, exhaustion, shock or something else, or everything combined.

Soarin gulped and took a few steps closer.
"Thunderlane?" He asked the stallion in question. He didn't dare get closer then few feet, if only because that electricity looked painful. Not to the stallion inside, but to everything else.

Thunderlane blinked. Once, then again, then a few times more. He slowly turned to Soarin and tried to mutter something.

"What's that?" Soarin asked, as he got a bit closer again. "Can you say it again?"

Thunderlane took a few breaths, then tried saying something.
"Ah... ah-am... a-am..."

"Come on, you can do it!"

"A-ah... am... am I..." Thunderlane swallowed, "am... am I..."

"Are you what?"

"Am... I... am I... am I dead?"

Everything stopped. Soarin blinked, Thunderlane didn't. A few sparks still hung onto Thunderlane, but aside from some shivers from time to time, along with messed up mane, nothing stood out. Aside from the dirt trail and small crater he left, of course. Soarin smirked, then snorted.
"I don't think you were ever more alive!"

"...I guess." Thunderlane smiled as well, as the two exchanged glares and it was only a matter of seconds before the two started laughing. After the shock subsided, everypony slowly started realizing what just happened. Cloud Kicker went forward and despite not having a microphone with her, managed to talk loud enough for everypony to hear.

"Fillies and gentlecolts, I hope the awesomness didn't blind you, because you just saw the impossible happen! The true miracle, the most amazing feat recorded in history of flying (in Ponyville)! The true darkhorse victory! The title of

THE!

GREATEST!

FLIER!

"...goes toooooooooo..." She reached to grab Thunderlane's hoof, but was zapped with electricity instead. She recovered her hoof and instead took a step backwards and pointed at him "THUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNDEEEEEEERLAAAAAAAAAAANE!!"

Not a second after she lost her breath, the crowd went nuts. Everypony started cheering louder then they ever were, stomping the muddy ground, making more mess than actual sound, but nopony cared for that at the moment. Fireworks shot up everywhere, courtesy of Pinkie Pie (whose only regret was not being able to use more than one color, effectively wasting the entire rainbow of fireworks). Even though the place was about as clean as a post-nuclear wasteland, with half the tables either turned upside down, broken in half or shattered into small pieces, even despite the heavy rainfall, cold and thundering booms in the distance, nopony had any other obligation then cheering for the winner. Even those few ponies who were really looking forward for the pastry coupons or chance to win a spa visit quickly forgot about their loss.

And in the center of all this, was one stallion who, for the first time in his life, stood still, surrounded by a crowd dedicated to him and only him. He couldn't say anything or even move, much too busy with slowly moving his eyes over every single, smiling face. Nopony could see it from that afar and in this weather, but not all water that fell from his face was coming from the sky.

Few ponies rushed through the crowds and came towards the crater, all smiling and cheering along the way.
"That was..." Blueblood approached him first "I-I don't know what that was, but that was amazing!" He tried to pat him on the back, but was instead shocked. "Ouch!"

"We knew you could do it!" Doctor got closer and was zapped as well. "Ouch!"

"Alright, you showed them!" Shining Armor also couldn't get closer before something zapped him as well. "Ouch!"

"Eeyup!" Big Macintosh kept his distance and congratulated him from safer distance.

But even more pronounced them his friends, was a little colt, flying towards his brother. Rumble was still a relatively weak flier and still learning, but that wasn't enough to stop him from tackling his brother at speed that rivaled his sibling.
"THUNDERLANE!" Rumble screamed through the tears, as he embraced his brother very tightly. "I always knew you could do it! Everypony said you would lose, but I always knew you were the best! And I totally wasn't worried about you, because I knew nothing would stop you!" Some sparks could be heard, but the colt didn't even budge.

"Woah, doesn't this hurt?" Asked Thunderlane, regarding the electricity that now apparently attacking his little brother.

"Not that much." Rumble muttered back. Thunderlane couldn't couldn't help but laugh and pat his head, sending even more sparks.

Surrounded by all his friends, brother, along with entire town's population and then some, Thunderlane felt like he should be the happiest pony in the existence. He would be, he should be, but there was something missing. Something wasn't there but he couldn't put his hoof on it. He found out what it was about two minutes later.

"WHAT? THE! BUCK! WAS? THAT?!"

The booming voice of Rainbow Dash was powerful enough to get through the insane cheering of the crowd and silenced everypony immediately. Everypony's attention turned towards Rainbow 'Confusedly Furious' Dash and Lightning 'Oddly Stoic' Dust as they just landed nearby. Thunderlane looked his rivals in the eyes, then let go of his brother and slowly walked towards them. Nopony in the crowds had the guts to stand in their way or even say anything, nopony daring enough to break their moment, watching carefully as the situation unfolded. Especially Cloud Kicker couldn't help but grin harder then ever, rubbing her hooves and awaiting something really, really amazing to happen.

Once the three were in the close distance, Thunderlane cleared his throat and started.
"Rainbow Dash, I..."

"What the heck just happened?" Rainbow Dash quickly interrupted him. "One moment you were there, then you were gone, we thought you were, I dunno, shot by a lightning and hurt and stuff, but you... what? Just... what? A-and, now you're here, but you were like, huh, like... what! When did you learn to do... that? And what is... that, I mean... WHAT?!" She took a small breather.

"Rainbow Dash, I wa--"

"I mean, we thought you were gone! Scratch that, you were gone! We stopped the race, but you just got and... and... HOW DID YOU... WHAT!?" She shook her head and went closer, nudging him in the chest, getting zapped in the process. "Ouch! Oh, hell no, you're not! I demand rematch! There's no way you would... no way you could... you cheated, did you? That's how you turned into a... living pony lightning bolt thingy, right? Fess up buster, it's some weird magic stuff, right?" She turned towards his friends, all five of them instantly got covered in sweat, despite being innocent (thankfully). "It was the Blueblood guy, right? He's Princess's student, he used some weird spell on you! Right? RIGHT?!"

In the crowd, Prince Blueblood gulped and looked around himself, noticing that some of the eyes from the crowd were onto him.
"T-that's preposterous, I-I don't know any spells like that!"

Thunderlane sighed and couldn't help but roll his eyes. He didn't even say anything to that, it was clear that Rainbow 'Desperate' Dash was just too shocked to think straight. She knew him better than to accuse him of cheating.

"Come on, Lightning Dust!" Rainbow turned towards her other rival. "You were there, say something!"

As for Lightning Dust, she stood there, silently, only humming to herself and observing as the situation resolved. Once the attention was at her, she only sighed and went towards Thunderlane. Nopony could tell what she was thinking about as she glared at him.

"I guess I really was wrong about you," she said "and I admit defeat. Congratulations on coming first, Thunderlane."

"W-wait, so you do know my name... I mean," he shook his head and coughed "I mean, thank you."

"You showed some guts and skill," she extended her hoof "I lost again."

Thunderlane stood there, mouth agape, for a short moment more, until he got a hold of himself and also extended his hoof in a friendly hoof shake. Several sparks went over to Lightning Dust, just like every other ponies before her, but she didn't seem to notice, as the spark went over to her body and dissipated a moment later. The crowd cheered some more, until Rainbow Dash started talking again.

"What the heck are you...? But... but..."

"We lost fair and square." Lightning Dust replied towards Rainbow. "No other way around it."

"B-but..."

"I told you he was fine." She rolled her eyes, making Rainbow even more confused and lost.

"Rainbow Dash!" said Thunderlane, as he walked dangerously close to Rainbow Dash, looking her deep in the eyes. Rainbow 'Perplexed' Dash gulped and took a step backwards, before his gaze completely paralyzed her limbs. "There's something important that I wanted to tell you ever since we first met."

The crowd cooed in unison. The tension in the air was strong enough to melt the falling raindrops into fog, all of which seemed to surround Rainbow Dash and Thunderlane, creating a world for just the two of them. She blushed heavily, as his deep, golden eyes pierced through her like a thunder, a true one. She gulped, scared of what she was about to hear.
"Y-yeah?"

"How do I put it..." he hummed to himself, then took a deep breath and extended his hoof towards her nose. Close enough that she saw the sparks still flowing through him, but far enough that none of them hit her nose. "I'll just say it straight. I wanted to tell you..."

He took a deep breath.

"IN."

"YOUR!"

"FACE!"

And as that declaration ended, the crowd went nuts once again. Rainbow opened her mouth and wanted to say something. She tried and time and again failed, until all she could spell was a complete mess of gibberish. Eventually, she turned around and flew away, no doubt in tears. As he observed her running away he couldn't help but pity her a little. First loss had to hurt a lot, especially after all these years of being undefeated. He almost felt bad for her... but he was too busy being happy too right now.

Amidst all the cheering, Pinkie Pie somehow managed to grab a microphone.
"Hey everypony, do you know what this calls for?" She asked the crowd.

Thunderlane knew the answer. And for the first time really, he really was looking forward to it.

Author's Note

Well, I managed to finish this before going out for a week.

And once again, Rainbow and Lightning are the worst ponies. I'll never learn.

Chapter 10: Lightning

After what seemed like the longest twenty minutes in lives of entire town, the rest of the day went by in almost an instant. Not everypony stayed too long in town for the after-race-party, as there was only so much bad weather any of them could stomach on open tents for hours without catching ten kinds of flu in the process. Eventually the numbers thinned, ponies went back to their homes, others divided into smaller parties spread out around the entire Ponyville, while the the most hardcore party goers turned to their favorite party house available, which of course happened to be the new and improved Sugarcube Corner, now with even more space inside, just enough to somehow fit about two hundred ponies. Somepony said it was bigger on the inside, but only Doctor and Ditzy ponies laughed when they heard it.

And throughout next few hours, Thunderlane had more fun than in his entire life combined. There was barely a moment when he allowed himself to sit down and catch a breath, before another pony, a mare at that, asked him for a dance again and again. Pretty much any mare he knew by name was here and for once paid him any attention, if only because he was at the top, thus he couldn't be ignored anymore. It was a weird feeling, as if he just resurfaced on the relationship map after years of being locked in a, well, prison was a bad word to use, but he had troubles coming up with a different one. He'd usually blame lack of imagination on alcohol, but this was a Pinkie Party, it had no such thing anywhere close. The party pony made sure the fun comes from the fun, not from the third party, after which she'd make a long rant about word party having too many meanings, including wondering where the second party was, losing any cohesion, after which she'd give someone a cupcake.

Thunderlane shook Pinkie and her parties out of his head. He took his two minutes of free time to sip some juice and observe others from the distance. Pinkie Pie herself was hard to miss, as she was almost literally everywhere he looked, having a time of her life, which happened to be her entire life. He always envied her- always in the middle of her own domain, doing what she loved and bringing joy to others. He saw Cloud Kicker as well, talking with the executives of the foundation. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but judging from their smiles it wasn't the last time they collaborated (even after paying for all the damage he accidentally caused). Raindrops was close by, keeping watch on her partner, making sure she's fine. Her face was stern, but once in a while she revealed a smile. She would never admit it, but she enjoyed Kicker's company more than she was willing to admit.

His friends were just being themselves, almost all of them gathering their fair share of popularity. Soarin was Soarin, Shiny was his awkward but surprisingly adorable self, Blue handled himself like a true gentlecolt, while Big Macintosh, while lacking in words, had a wingmare who had his back all this time. And by wingmare, we of course mean Applejack, shooting down any potential candidates with extreme prejudice. Among his friends, only Doctor wasn't surrounded, though it wasn't a mystery why. Like himself a short time a go, he's out of reach as a bachelor, though unlike his complicated situation with Blossomforth (who, as expected, was not here), his relationship with Ditzy was a big question mark even to his best friends. He knew they had a very rich backstory together, but that topic was always shot down as soon as it came up, so they stopped bothering them with personal questions. Doctor had his secrets and they have long accepted it.

And speaking of the pair of devils, Ditzy approached him.
"Having fun there, Number One?"

"I will be, after I catch my breath."

"Well, somepony got popular all of a sudden. Just don't let it get over your head!" She extended her hoof and stroked his head, trying to destroy his mohawk. Sadly, her hoof wasn't doing any more damage than twenty minutes of stormy weather before her. "We're going back home. The kids are getting a little too tired."

"Sure, thanks."

"No problem. But remember: you owe me something."

"I know, I know."

"No, you probably don't know," she shook her head and looked him in the eye, all smiles suddenly dropped. "you really, REALLY owe me."

"... huh?"

"Don't you 'huh' me, mister," she prodded his chest with a hoof "you owe me a bunch of muffins. A bunch of FREE muffins."

"I still don't..."

"This thing..." she pulled out a ticket "is useless, thanks to your latest hijinks. And I don't like hijinks when it comes to my muffins!"

All of a sudden, his old, Grumpy-Lane face was back in an instant. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, when he noticed something on the ticket.
"Wait, you voted for Rainbow Dash? Even AFTER I joined the race?"

"Oh no, don't you try to turn this around, I still need my free muffins!"

"You paid ten bits for that ticket."

"My DISCOUNTED muffins, then." He eyes narrowed. "I love you like a brother I never had and I would normally always support you all the way, but... muffins! Heavily discounted!"

He stopped resisting and rolled his eyes anyway. Ditzy had a special talent of being smarter than she looked, then turning this fact around its head when it came to muffins. He hesitated if it was just a harmless hobby anymore.

"Why do you even need those? You can make much better ones, for cheaper than that!"

"Oh no, don't you dare! My muffins aren't made out of your faulty logic!"

The two stopped arguing for a moment and looked each other, eyes to eye, two to one. They stood like that for a few seconds, before bursting in the laughter.

"Fine, I'll get you some later," Thunderlane started "You're lucky I'm in a good mood today!"

"Nah, no need for that. Doctor will share his anyway. Come to think of, I'd share mine too, so I guess there's nothing to argue about." She shrugged.

Thunderlane blinked.
"Are you mocking me, Miss Doo?"

"Yup!" She giggled. "Just try not to get too cocky. Like somepony else we all know and love regardless. Speaking of, have you seen your two rivals lately?"

"No. Dash probably locked herself in her house, too ashamed to look at anypony. And Lightning Dust, well... come to think of it, I never really noticed when she was gone."

"She's surprisingly humble, I gotta say. You'd think she would make a fuss, but she took it well. A little too well."

"Yeah, that's... not what I expected." He hummed and brought back the memory of that last hoof shake they had. And now he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Right, I'll better go now. See you around."

And with her gone, Thunderlane was free to enjoy his party once again. He had enough time to catch second, or rather tenth by now, wind and carry on, definitely not thinking about Lightning Dust at all...

Lightning Dust was about to go to sleep, after finishing all her chores and work. But all of a sudden, she heard knocking on the door. Not knowing who to expect, she opened her door and noticed somepony she didn't want to see the most.

"If you start bragging I'll smash this door right into your face! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, fine." Thunderlane nodded.

Lightning Dust had two very obvious questions to the stallion. She didn't feel the need to ask how his mohawk was still alive after all this time (though it was bugging her a little), so she skipped to the second one.
"Why are you here?"

"Just wanted to, umm... talk?" He scratched his head, not sure what to say. He could swore he thought at least a few good opening lines on the way, but he couldn't remember a single one of them. "Can I come in? I've had enough of rain for today."

Lightning Dust sighed and let Thunderlane in, closing the door behind him. As soon as he entered the room, Thunderlane could feel something really familiar. It was a long time since he entered a room that felt this empty. She lived in an small, single room apartment. He was standing a bedroom, living room and small kitchen in one, with doors to bathroom just nearby. It reminded him more of a dorm room than a proper house, but it seemed cheap at least. Aside from a bed, he only saw a dining table with two chairs, few cabinets and a fridge next to a stove in the corner. As far as he could tell, it was almost pristine clean, but that wasn't the first word that entered his head. The proper term would be soulless. Walls were covered by a blank, white wallpaper, floors made out of solid wood and as far as he could see, nothing that stood out immediately. Walls begged for some pictures or paintings, desks had nothing on them, even though a potted plant or two would liven up the entire room tremendously. If Blossomforth taught him anything, it was that even a house of two macho stallions (one still in making) could use some greenery inside.
The only thing even remotely interesting was a large, packed bag next to the bed. As he looked more, there was something at the table by the bed. A single frame with a photo.

He couldn't give it any more attention, as he was hit in the face with a towel. At least it was clean and dry.

"So," Lightning Dust started "what do you want to talk about?"

After drying himself a little bit, he looked at her and couldn't find any words to say. Why did he come here, indeed, that was a question he should be asking himself right now. He coughed, trying to at least start the conversation before things get too awkward.
"I just wanted to, you know, check if you were okay after the race and all."

"I'm fine. I would be sleeping by now, but somepony interrupted me."

"Sorry." So much for not ending up on an awkward note. He coughed and continued. "You don't seem too worried about losing today."

Lightning Dust rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.
"Because I'm not worried. I wanted to see if I'm any good and lo and behold, I'm not. I'm used to losing all the time." She blinked, then her eyes narrowed. "Are you here to pity me? Because I swear to Celestia..."

"What? No! Of course not!" He rose his hooves and shook his head. "I'm really surprised you took it that well. I expected you to be more... umm..."

"Like Rainbow Freaked Out Dash?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not sure why everypony wants to compare me to little miss perfect. I know what losing feels like. Today was just another one of those days. No use crying over spilled milk, there's always tomorrow and all that other motivational junk." She shrugged and shook her head. "Or maybe she was just too confused and too scared about what happened. She was worried a lot."

"Worried?" Thunderlane asked, raising an eyebrow. Rainbow Worried Dash weren't common words to be used.

"When you disappeared in the second half. She stopped and went out looking for you."

"She was looking... for me?"

"Yeah. She stopped the race and made me look around with her. Just for the record, I knew you were fine, but I thought you just gave up." Her eyebrow raised. "Didn't you see us there? You passed right through, almost smashed into us too."

"I... I didn't really see too much when I was flying." He smiled sheepish. He could swear there was something on his way that he made a conscious effort to avoid, but couldn't tell what it was, neither did he care. He was too busy being awesome. 'Great, now I think like Rainbow Dash!', he lamented in his head.

After that little tidbit of knowledge, he felt a little bad for telling off Rainbow Dash after the race. Then again, that was nothing compared to years she brought onto him, so she had it coming. That'll teach her to grow a thicker skin at least, like he now has. Also, they stopped the race to look at him, which meant he could've lost anyway, despite launching like a sound breaking rocket. Nopony was able to tell if that made a difference though.

"So..." Lightning Dust stopped the awkward silence "want some tea or coffee? I don't have any snacks, so sorry about it."

Thunderlane's first instinct was to say just yes and later confirm that yes meant tea, but he stopped himself as he got another look at that room. Chills went through his spine, even though it wasn't cold at all. This place was giving him a bad feeling, much more amplifying the already stiff atmosphere around them. His eyes wandered to the bags. What were they? What was inside them?
Then he shot a glance at the photo that he noticed earlier and took a better look at it.

"Do you mind," he asked, looking back at Lightning Dust "if we get to my place instead?"

"What?"

"I have some cookies, if you'd like."

"I'm not into sweet stuff."

Thunderlane blinked. "I have salty pretzels too, if that's any better?"

That day Lightning Dust couldn't believe she was convinced by a bag of pretzels. They were delicious and salty, like it was promised, but deep inside she felt there should've been a better reason to go to his house. Late in the evening. On a day of the biggest storm this month. Right after a race he beat her at. If only she had a better reason to stay home, other than "I don't feel like it". Instead here she was, stepping on unfamiliar floor in a house.

"Don't even TRY anything funny here."

"It's alright, I have a terrible sense of humor." He reassured her, as he finally opened the doors ad let them inside. "Sorry about the mess, I didn't have much time to clean today."
'Because I was too busy wallowing in self-pity because of what you said', was what he could say, but he spared her that comment.

She blinked as she looked around the kitchen.
"Yeah, sure. Once I find any, I'll be sure to forgive you immediately."

Much to his surprise, the kitchen was not in the same state it was when he left house. Gone were the dirty dishes and cereal boxes. He smiled brightly, realizing there was only one pony who could do this while he was gone. He made a mental note to praise Rumble once he's back home.
They sat by the kitchen table, as Thunderlane put a kettle on the oven and prepared them some tea, making sure to remember to bring the pretzels with him.

"So," Lightning Dust started "nice house."

"Why thank you."

"I hope there won't be any misunderstandings with, you know who..."

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean." He grabbed a single pretzel from the bowl.

"What I mean is," she paused, "I'm not sure your wife will approve--"

CRACK!

Dentists around the world cringed, as Thunderlane performed the hardest crunch on a pretzel since pre-Lunar banishment times. At least he wasn't drinking anything- after yesterdays mess he could do without spit-taking his tea on the floor.
"W-what? Wife?"

Lightning Dust blinked, then covered herself in blush as the realization slowly got to her.
"That white pegasus, pink mane, freckles... the one you kept bickering with and..."

"She's not my wife!" He jumped from his chair, equally as red and steaming as her, right when the kettle whistled. "And to be sure, I don't really know what we are anymore, she and I..." He took a deep breath as he took the kettle of the fire and prepared their teas.

Even though they were in the "off" phase of their relationship currently, he still couldn't help but feel a little guilty over inviting somepony else home. A mare. While his brother is away. He shook his head. He was allowed to invite whoever he wanted, he did that only because her apartment was too empty and eerie and he had pretzels and no weird plans towards Lightning Dust. In fact, he could barely stand her and the entire point of this visit was to get to know her better to avoid further misunderstandings and improve their relationship. Which sounded even worse now that he was thinking about it.

"Umm..." Lightning Dust scratched her head, fully realizing how much the tension a simple question created. She looked for a different topic. "So, that colt at the finish line..."

"My little brother, Rumble."

"Oh," she hummed "he's just your brother then."

"What is that supposed to mean?" His eyes narrowed.

"Nothing." She averted her gaze, trying to hide a weak smile.

"How old did you think I was?"

"No comment."

The two stood or sat in silence for a moment, until both burst into giggles and finally laughter. As far as they could tell, the ice has been broken and toasted with their tea.

"So, can I ask about something?" Thunderlane asked.

"Shoot."

"That picture in your room..." he recalled the contents of it. It was unmistakeably Lightning Dust, except much younger, twelve or so years, along with some other pony. An adult, brown unicorn. Both were smiling. "Was that your father?"

Lightning Dust didn't reply immediately. She shifted and looked in the distance.
"Nah. That's the pony I actually care about." She earned an eyebrow raised. She groaned. "Let me rephrase that: no, he's not. But I kinda wish he was."

Thunderlane gulped. This seemed like... no, it WAS a touchy subject, one he should probably avoid. A pony with this kind of attitude had to have some bad experiences growing up. He could tell just by looking. There was something off all this time and this was probably the closest he ever got to it... but he didn't want to know too much. It was her own life, she was under no obligation to talk about it with a relative stranger, especially after a day like that. Take it slow, don't let it turn into a confession marathon and life exchange program. He didn't need to know her that much.

Meanwhile, Lightning Dust sighed deeply and elaborated anyway.
"He was a councilor who helped me a lot when I was growing up. He had to fix a few... mistakes my parents made. Like for example, he took me to my first Wonderbolt Derby when I was a filly. That's when I realized who I wanted to become and I've been training ever since. Even got my cutie mark shortly after!"

Councilor. He gulped once again hearing a word that shouldn't be associated with fillies barely in their teens. The smart thing would be to just stop this conversation here, forget about it and concentrate on some other stuff, but this is where he hit the snag. He already knew too much and he couldn't stop thinking about it. There were so many questions to ask, so many details to elaborate on, so much to find out. And from the looks of things, his guest didn't have any visible blocks that prevented her from talking about it. He could already feel regret from ever coming to her in the first place.

He couldn't do it like it. At least, not sober. With that in his mind, he walked towards the furthest drawers, opened them and took out the universal conversation aid, in liquid form.

"Is that a... tequila?" Asked Lightning Dust, as she raised an eyebrow at the bottle that now stood on the table before her.

"I just spent hours on a sober Pinkie Party," he uncorked the bottle "and I don't drink alone."

"I dunno..."

"Not even a little toast?"

"To commemorate your smashing victory?"

"Actually, to seal the beginning of a new friendship... but your idea's cool too."

"F-friendship?" She stuttered at the sound of it.

"If what we've been doing last ten minutes is not friendship, then I don't know what is. So, you're drinking or not?"

Lightning Dust analyzed her options carefully. It wasn't often somepony was referring to her as a friend. In fact nopony did that in a very long time, yet here she was, talking casually with a stallion that surprised her many times past few days. In a good way at that. She smiled and grabbed her glass.
"Ah why the hell not, to friendship!" She rose her glass up.

"And victory!" He did the same.

Few sips later, two glasses smacked on the table with an audible thud, while two ponies almost choked on what seemed like gasoline poured down their throats, followed by lighted matches and possibly a jar of industrial glue. For a split second both wondered why this poisonous thing was so valuable and sought after. Then Thunderlane refilled both glasses, still gasping for air.

"I just remembered why I don't like drinking!" Lightning Dust lamented, as she grabbed her glass again, ready to down it in one go once again.

"Don't think of the taste. Remember, it's for friendship!"

"I'm not sure it's worth it."

"It's worth way more than that!" And so he downed another glass, Lightning Dust reluctantly following him shortly after.

This time their throats didn't feel like they were on fire, merely scratching and burning a little bit. And among the misery and tears they could even taste it. Both started wondering if the taste would improve the more they consumed. Thunderlane was already refilling to test that theory.

"Should we, I dunno, bit on an orange with it?" Asked Lightning Dust.

"No, I don't think so."

"Or was it lemon with salt?"

"Why would I eat lemon with salt?"

"I dunno, that's what I heard in college."

"Well too bad, I don't have either."

"Not even salt?"

"Lemons and oranges. I have salt, but I dunno if we should eat it raw..."

The two pondered this idea for a while longer, wondering when the alcohol will actually kick in. So far they felt nothing outside of the awful taste in their mouths. Then again, neither was a drinker at heart. Thunderlane limited himself to only drinking at special occasions, though lately he grew fond of Apple Family cider, if only because it didn't taste like bear piss. Or at least he hoped so.

One glass.

"...and then she's all 'it's all your fault, Thunderlane, so I'll blame you for the shit I keep doing'. That's why we had to beat up snow clouds all week long!"

"Pfft, what a jerk of a boss you have."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it!"

"I have time..."

Two glasses.

"...and he's all, like, going back with smiles and stuff! And he was all 'yo dawg, I just swaggered two filly-foolers'."

"No way!"

"Yes way! He even said '-dary'!"

"Woah... you sure yer not making this up?"

"Woah, are you tellin' me I'm lying?"

"I'm sayin' your drunk!"

"I'm not drunk!" Yer drunk!"

"Yer face's drunk!"

The two looked each other in the eyes, then burst into laughter, as another glass was being refilled.

"So anyway, I'm all like 'gotta be Zebra magic or stuff'..."

Three glasses.

"So, I was wonderin'..." Lightning Dust pondered, as she looked at his direction, but her eyes were locked on a giant, yellow stain on the wall. For a moment she was about to ask about it, but had more concerning matters. "...how is your mohawk still alive, after all this time?"

Thunderlane sighed. It had to come to this eventually.
"You see, I know this guys in Horsetown..."

Lightning Dust's eyes widened, she regretted asking. They both needed more help. In liquid form.

Four glasses.

"And one more thing, Slander Frame."

"It's Thunderlane!"

"Damn! I didn't mean it this time!" She groaned and shook her head, covering in blush.

"Whatever. What do you want to know?"

"Ok, see, this thing you did today... the whish whoosh thing..."

"Whish whoosh?" Eyebrow raised.

"What's it even called? Turning into a lightning bolt and flying at mach... 3 or 4, I guess? Maybe more?"

"I didn't 'turn' into lightning. Just got a bit too, well, thunderized?"

"Thunderized?" Another eyebrow raised.

"What I mean is..." he coughed, trying to compose himself enough to form a proper explanation for phenomenon he had very little experience with. Unlike Lightning Dust, he was pretty sure he was already drunk, but details like that never stopped him before. "I got hit by a thunder and that gave me super-powers... sort of."

Lightning Dust blinked once. She grabbed her glass to have another shot, but it was empty.
"Rrrrright... so you won because you made a rookie mistake and didn't avoid it in time?"

"Wha... no! Of course not! I LET IT hit me."

When reminiscing this moment weeks later, both agreed they regretted having empty glass then, losing the potential for the most epic spit take this year. Instead, Lightning Dust's reaction was limited to a blank stare and mouth agape.

"Well, it's official," she calmly announced "you're the biggest moron I ever met. And I've been to college."

"It's not like that! I knew it would work! Sort of..."

"You KNEW getting hit by lightning gives ponies super-powers? Because I don't think pegasi work that way."

"Well I do!"

"Where did you even get the idea? Did you wake up this morning thinking 'gee whiz, I should get some powers, let's have lightning strike me so I'll get a super speed like some stupid superhero' ?"

"First of all, nopony says 'gee whiz'. Ever! Second, he's not stupid! They even gave him a series and it's really good! And third, most important, I knew what I was doing because it happened to me already... once. When I was thirteen."

"Ooookay... if you could do this all this time, then why didn't you win with Rainbow Overrated Dash already, huh?" She asked, trying to look him in the eyes, while he did everything to avoid her glare. "Well?"

It took Thunderlane some time before he finally gave an answer.
"Because... before I could, my parents died."

As expected, the room was now slowly getting filled with silence. Lightning Dust blinked, before slowly burying her face behind hooves.
"Ffffffffffuuuuuuuudge!" She groaned and scratched her head. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know..."

"Well, it's not something to brag about," he shrugged "don't worry about it. It was a long time ago."

She didn't say anything in response and lost any interest in keeping the eye contact. It was about time to refill their glasses.

Five glasses.

After a longer moment, Lightning Dust was the first one to break it.
"So, what were they like? Your parents, I mean."

"Hm? Well, they were good, I mean..." he coughed "...they were always there, they supported me, but were kinda strict, especially when I did something stupid. Which was a lot. I miss them, but I moved on. I have more important things to do than mourn."

Lightning Dust took a while to reply.
"Good to hear. You were a lucky pony then. Unlike some other." She sighed, locking her sight in the once again empty glass. Thunderlane gulped, as could sense a story incoming.
"My parents were... well, they were strict, to be sure. As in, nothing I did satisfied them, ever. Not smart enough, not funny enough, not pretty enough, not colt enough, not filly enough, whatever that meant, and stuff. And they let me know every single day, usually with words. Sometimes with a rolled newspaper. Or a stick. Until it broke, that is."

Thunderlane was at a loss of words, as he looked at Lightning Dust talking with relative ease, if not counting the trembling hooves under the table, stomping in a simple rhythm. Meanwhile he tried to imagine her, except in Rumble's age, undergoing through a childhood that was just described to him and before he knew it, his hooves were trembling as well, perfectly complimenting hers, creating an unusual melody together.

Lightning Dust sensed the tension becoming a little too much, so she stopped her hooves and continued, much louder than before.
"So I did them a favor and ran away! They should be thanking me, now they had one less mouth to feed, ain't it nice? Good thing I'm a single foal, made it all easier to just board a random train and forget them. At least, I hope I'm the only foal. Last time I checked I was, but that was, well, then." She shuddered. "Ugh, I'm getting jitters just thinking of them having another foal! Poor little guy. Or gal."

That was about all Thunderlane could stomach. He thought being drunk would make it a lot easier, but apparently it made things even worse. He tried to shake it away and stop the conversation right there, right now, but apparently his brain melted and sudden movements only increased his headaches.
"Okay, I'm hard enough!" He protested, raising one of his hooves pointing at her to stop, and other to hold his aching head.

"You're that happy to see me?" She teased, giggling.

"S-shut up!" As his mind caught up, he covered in blush and quickly corrected himself. "I mean, I had enough!"

"But I barely begun!"

"I know. And it's too much!"

"Am I boring you?"

"N-no, I'm just..."

"Yo mister, listen to me," she stood up from her seat and leaned over to look at him with her golden eyes "I'm just pouring my soul here, the least you can do is listen!"

"B-but..." He tried to object, but two things stopped her. One, her breath was smelling of tequila, not in a good way. Two, her eyes, as bloodshot as they were, were too hard to resist.

"Don't you but me, mister! I'm talkin' here, so you listen! Yer the second pony I'm telling this, so be honored, damnit!"

He looked at her, too tired to argue anymore, but he had to reach at least a small compromise.
"All right, fine! But you have to listen to MY story too!"

"Fine!"

"I'm warning you, it's gonna be a sappy one! With tears and stuff!"

"Oh, it's on, buster!"

Their eyes narrowed and locked into each other for a moment. Once they stopped, Thunderlane went back to the bottle and started refilling their glasses, as Lightning Dust was starting to continue her story.
"So anyway, that train took me straight to Canterlot..."

Few glasses later nopony was counting anymore. Treating their tragedies called teenage years as a game of 'one paragraph of my life, then yours', they emptied both the bottle of tequila and their souls of any stories they accumulated over the years.
As they talked, one thing became clear- they weren't that different at all. Not because they were orphans (Lightning Dust only technically, she was a runaway instead) struggling with their lives since childhood, but because they shared a dream.
He lost it the day the tragedy struck. She got it because of her own tragedy.
And right now, they were together, a pair of lightweights, smashed after just a single bottle shared among the two.

"C'mon Thundy, one mo'!" She nagged him, as he tried to pour some more liquid courage into their glasses, but failed to squeeze even a drop.

"I'm tryin', but it'sh empty!" He looked up the bottle, wondering where did all the tequila hid itself, resulting in the last drop falling right into his eye. He screamed, dropping the bottle as he tried to rub his burning eye. Meanwhile Lightning Dust didn't even bother to hide her amusement, laughing hard on her seat, barely holding onto it. He could only scowl at her, not even trying to give her a glare, just rubbing the hurt out of his eye.

"So that'sh it," Lightning Dust lamented, looking at the fallen bottle, which thankfully stood intact "t'was a good one!"

"Yeah, it was." He smiled at her, getting a smashed, drunken smile back. "I had fun talkin'."

"Yeah, we should do dis more often!" She nodded, her eyes wandering at the clock by the door, trying to catch it before it flew away. "Damnit Thundy, yer time's running too fast, I can't see where it is!"

Thunderlane looked at the clock as well, but Lightning Dust was right- it was running very fast, neither was able to stop it, so they just assumed it was very, very late. Or early morning, whichever. Thankfully both had a day off next day, so they didn't care.

"Well, I think I gotta go back home... hit the hay... and shtuff..." She announced, slowly taking of the chair.

As all four of her hooves reached the ground, she swayed to her left, smashing into the table instead, almost smashing her glass in the process.
"You okay, Dusty?"

"I'm fine, shut up!" She shook her head, regretting it later, as the stone it turned into banged into her skull and gave her severe headaches. She ignored them, along with a nickname she hated, stood back up and took a few slow steps towards the exit. "I'm alright, shut up!"

"I didn't say anything!"

"I'm fine, shut up!" She repeated, still trying to advance a few steps forward, but the door kept relocating and going all the way, like the clock, meanwhile her hooves turned into literal marshmallows. And she didn't like sweets.

Thunderlane sighed and despite the warnings, stood up from his chair. His hooves were also made out of marshmallows, but he endured eating them, as he needed them right now. Not that he would ever eat his own hooves. He had to watch out for wild Pinkie Pie out of nowhere, though. You never knew. With that caution in his mind, he trudged towards Lightning Dust as well, slow as he was.
"Here, lemme help you." He extended his hoof, but was swiftly rejected.

"I don' need yer help!"

She tried to raise her hoof and push him away, but her weakened hooves were no match for a solidly built stallion and so she fell back. In one last act of desperation, she clutched her hoof at first thing she could grab, which happened to be Thunderlane's wing, hoping the stallion would be enough to keep her balanced. Sadly, he was only slightly more stable than she was right now, and having nothing to hold onto himself, he could only try to regain his balance by frantically flapping his other wing in hopes it would be enough.

It wasn't.

SMACK!

The list of things that hurt both pegasi has been doubled. Not only were they light on their hooves and had severe headaches, now Lightning Dust had an aching back, along with at least a few bones she counted as one crushed, courtesy of an adult stallion falling on her, while Thunderlane on his part now sported a few beaten ribs along with a sprained wing, courtesy of his new drinking buddy who claimed she needed no help.
He slowly opened his eyes, massaging his aching head. As he lazily opened his eyes, he saw the turquoise mare right under him, one blushing face looking at another equally blushing one. His first reaction would be to get out of the way, apologize, help her up, apologize again and hopefully not get slapped. But he was too exhausted to get up. That, and he couldn't stop looking at her pure golden eyes. She was also staring at him, her only reaction was growing an even bigger blush.

"U-umm... I-I..." He tried to form a sentence, or at least look away, but both proved to be too hard to do right now.

"Y-you're kinda... heavy..." She slowly said, equally shaken.

"S-sorry."

"S'okay."

Moments passed in silence.

"So..." She started again and coughed "...c-can you get of me?"

"Y-yeah, sorry."

"S'okay."

Another moment passed, but none of them moved a single muscle and just kept staring at each other for a while longer...

Next day, Soarin woke up with a big yawn. Considering he woke up by himself, without help of any alarm clock, he was safe to assume it was weekend already, a news that he welcomed with open heart. His muscles were still aching after yesterdays party, so he felt no obligation to get up just yet. Trying to close his eyes and get back to his dreams proved futile. He sighed and decided to just laze around at least for a few more minutes, maybe hour if possible. He leaned to see outside his window. The weather was only slightly better than yesterday. Instead of a deadly storm that could sink ships, it was just raining, with sun being blocked by dark clouds. In any case this would be called a dreary and boring day, but he couldn't wash the smile from his face. Not after last night.
Part of the reason he didn't wish to get up just yet, was because he had no heart to remove the light blue hoof wrapped around him, or disturb the amber maned mare, whose head was resting on his chest. He smiled at her and gently stroked her head.
He grew rather fond of Cloud Kicker at the race. Sure they didn't agree to a few things, but he couldn't hold a grudge to her, especially after all the fun he had commentating along with her, finding her to be a fun mare to be around. He met her at the Pinkie party later, once she was done with the business side of the event and then things happened as they usually did and before he knew it, they were back home where the magic happened.

She woke up few minutes after him, slowly opening her eyes and looking him, both smiling.
"Good morning." He welcomed her.

"Mornin'." She answered lazily, yawning. "So, is this the moment when you ask me why I'm still here?"

"What, you don't want to stay for breakfast?"

"Hmm," she hummed "ok, but only because you asked so nicely." She leaned toward him and gave him a kiss at the cheek, then got back to resting her head on his incredibly warm and comfortable chest.

The two spent the next few minutes in complete silence, neither sleeping nor moving, just relaxing on a very good Saturday morning, unaware it was already afternoon. Their pleasant silence was disturbed by the noise coming from the hallway. At first they thought it was Cloud Chaser and Flitter 'going at it' again and contemplated on 'accidentally' disturbing their together time. But as the noise got louder, turned out that among the hoofsteps was a sound of conversation. Two of the voices were obviously his sexy roommates, but the third one was definitely more masculine.

"I told you, you can't barge into our house like that... hey, I'm talking to you!" The voice belonged to Cloud Chaser and got progressively louder.

"It's an emergency, let me through!" The male voice was muffled and fairly weak, but very familiar to both of them.

"No, don't..."

The door slammed open, revealing the all familiar black pegasus with the ever present mohawk, though a little too messed up than usual.
"Soarin, I really, really need your he--..." He stopped mid-sentence as his brain registered the view he just witnessed. His friend, along with his co-worker, sharing the same bed, early in the morning, together, under the same blanket, both looking at him weird. "I-I-I-I..."

"Hi Thundy!" Cloud Kicker awkwardly waved to him, receiving a confused wave back.

"To be fair," Soarin started "are you really THAT surprised?"

Thunderlane rose his hoof and was about to say something, but decided against it and shook his head.
"No, not really." He took a moment to scratch his head. "A-anyway, I really, really need to talk."

"I dunno, can it wait a moment?"

"Please!"

Soarin was finding it harder to decide. On one hoof, a very pretty mare at his hooves length, on other a friend in need, with a face terrified of something other than a simple view of his best friend with his employee. His head went from one to the other, until Cloud Kicker stopped him.
"Just go," she said "he needs you more than I do right now."

Soarin smiled and nodded gratefully. They parted with a kiss, before Soarin stood up from the bed and guided Thunderlane towards his office. They passed by confused Flitter and Cloud Chaser, both of whom were wise not to ask too much questions.

"So," they saw Cloud Kicker walking towards the two mares "what's for breakfast?"

They blinked and looked at each other, then at the mare in question.
"Kicky, it's 2 PM." Said Flitter.

"Oh." Cloud Kicker scratched her head. "What's for dinner then?"

Author's Note

"Thunderized Whish Whoosh" is just a working name, until we get a better one. Any suggestions?

Also, don't thank me for sparing you Lightning Dust's full backstory. That's for another day, this story is long enough as it is. But she's not an orphan, at least... huzzah?

Chapter 11: No sunshine, but rainbow

Morning awoke Thunderlane like a pair of hammers beating over his skull. It was a lazy metaphor, not very adequately describing his feelings right now, but his head hurt too much to think of something better. And even if he wasn't suffering from the worst hangover in his entire life, he had a feeling he wasn't smart enough to expand his vocabulary beyond that. Opening his eyes was a chore that took all the effort he could muster, immediately regretting putting it into action that allowed what little light there was to blind him instantly. He groaned painfully and used his left hoof to rub his eyes. His right hoof was too numb to respond to his commands, so he ignored it. As far as he could see, he noticed the familiar window, pointing at the gray sky above. As far as he could see, it was his own living room, he was sleeping on a couch under a single blanket. He sighed deeply, as he looked at ceiling, trying to remember the day before. His memory was hazy, all he remembered was a storm, but details escaped him.

"Heh... just a dream..." He smiled to himself.

Winning the race, beating Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust. Lightning Dust. The golden eyes.

All of it sounded surreal, even for a drunken fantasy he probably put himself into out of sheer depression. There was absolutely no way any of that could be true. No way at all.

"...mmmhhm... no... no more..."

Thunderlane's eyes shot open in an instant.

"...no more... cakes I... don't even.... zzzz..."

Beads of sweat started appearing on his forehead, as his entire body went stiff. He didn't dare turn his head right, but at the same time, he knew it was inevitable. He swallowed and slowly, carefully turned his head. It was all coming back to him. He remembered the race, going to her house, then to his. He remembered the tequila, slowly but surely emptied by two pegasi. He remembered the talk, the stories, the laughs, tears. The golden eyes.

"...mhmm... be gentle... please... I never... zzz..."

He wanted to scream. But he couldn't.

Soarin hummed after listening to the entire story, starting from leaving the party, ending with waking up, with some details omitted. He didn't hear anything about Lightning Dust's past for one, as it was clearly not something to share with others without consent. The other thing he didn't hear about was the 'other' thing that others usually didn't wish you to tell them without their consent. But even without details he was able to fill in the blanks in his friends descriptions. And as much as he wanted to do an "after-bang-hoof-bump" (working name) with a friend that wasn't called Prince Blueblood (note to self- reiterate it to make it sound less awful), he felt this wasn't a good time for it. At least, that's usually what it meant, when a grownup stallion lied on his couch in fetal position.

"So, I take it you're a little... bothered?" He asked, fully expecting the snark to hit him with vengeance. 'You think?', 'What gave it away?' and his personal favorite, 'No shit Sherclop'. Nothing. Thunderlane didn't activate the grump, instead whimpered something very quietly. Soarin shook his head. "That bad?" He asked, not getting any answers. "Come on Thundy, talk to me!"

Nothing. No talk. Soarin had to take the initiative.

"'Bro code' clearly states- taking advantage of a mare when she's intoxicated is a crime against ponykind..."

Thunderlane whimpered louder, as he covered his face with the blanket.

"...at least let me finish before wallowing in self-pity or whatever you want to wallow in." He coughed. "The rule doesn't apply when both sides are equally smashed. For all intents and purposes, she's as guilty as you are, which in turn cancels both of you out!"

"If that's supposed to be helping... it's not."

"Ugh, seriously," Soarin shook his head again "what I'm trying to say, is that it happens sometimes. You had no ill intentions, neither did she, but the atmosphere was right, you two had some good chemistry and booze did the rest. Happens all the time. What you need to do is set things straight, talk it out and everything should be alright."

"...it will?"

"Sure it will! I got your back, but only if you take that blanket off your pretty, mohawked head first. Whadya say?"

It took a while, but eventually Thunderlane slipped out of the blanket and revealed his face to Soarin. He was still scared, but deep in his eyes you could see a small glimpse of hope.
"O-ok, I guess..."

"Atta boy! Now just keep thinking positive things!"

"Y-yeah, positive."

"Like the fact that you just scored a ginger! Think about it, you just achieved something that even I couldn't do, without even trying!"

"Oh, ok." His smile grew a little.

"And don't even try to think you did something wrong to her. For all we know, she's been through dozens of stallions. I know mares like her- pretends to be innocent, but she's a first grade... huntress! Yes, that's a good word."

"No, she's not." Thunderlane shook his head. "She's not that kind of mare!"

"Please, I know one when I see one. You weren't her first and we both know it."

"Actually..." Thunderlane covered himself in blush and scratched his head.

Soarin blinked. His eyes slowly widened, soon joined by his mouth opening wide. One look at his friends expression told him all he needed to know. Once he recovered mentally and processed it through his head, he groaned and crossed his hooves.
"Damn gingers!" He lamented under his nose, prompting a subtle snort from Thunderlane. Soarin rolled his eyes and smiled as well, glad that at least one pony was having fun from his lifelong misery. "You know, actually that's even better! Now we know everypony she's been with and she has a really good taste." He announced it with a sly, winning smile. "Come on, life's too short to be depressed over nothing." Small pause. "Well okay, it's something, but nothing to be worried about."

"Alright."

"You're not the first or last pony this happened to, yet Equestria still exists!"

"Mhm."

"So unless she gets pregnant, you'll be all okay... no, wait!"

"P-p-p-p-pre-p-pre-pre-..." And thus Thunderlane was gone under the blanket again, trying to mumble the entire word properly, failing.

"Me and my big mouth..."

Thirty minutes later, one faithful assistant, her faithful partner and few cups of hot, herbal tea and biscuits later, they managed to get one stallion to a manageable state. That's when Flitter smacked Soarin in the head.
"Ow! Will you cut it out?"

"Not until you grow a brain!" She lifted her hoof up again, prompting Soarin to close his eyes and brace for the impact.

Meanwhile Cloudchaser took it upon herself to keep Thunderlane calm by slowly, gently stroking his mysteriously solid Mohawk, which she was pretty sure was the exact same from yesterday. How it survived the entire race, storm, getting electric powers, Pinkie Party, bottle of tequila, Lightning Dust and the entire night was a mystery to her or anypony else for that matter. It even had the same smell.
"Thunderlane, I hate to ask you at a time like that, but," Cloudchaser asked "what about Blossom?"

The excessive, if justified, harassment of a certain ex-Wonderbolt stopped. Both Flitter and Soarin immediately paused and looked nervously at Thunderlane. If there was any word that created a lot of conflicted emotions for, it was just mentioned. They subconsciously agreed for a ceasefire to keep Thunderlane from burying himself deep into blanket more than he already was. But much to their surprise, nothing changed in his behavior. He was still himself, sitting on the couch, hunched over a cup of steaming hot tea.

"I... I don't know."

The trio blinked and looked at each other, before going back to him.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Flitter asked.

"I don't know. I didn't even think about her until you asked."

"Not even once?"

"No. Well, maybe except that time I thought Lightning Dust's house could use a plant or two, but other than that, not really."

"Not really?" Flitter repeated. "You... you just cheated on her!" She yelled at Thunderlane, almost sending him into another guilt trip. Until Cloudchaser interrupted them.

"Actually, they broke up this Monday."

"Again?" Flitter groaned and shook her head. "Well, it's not like that EVER sticks for longer than a... what's the record now?"

"Ten days." Said Cloudchaser.

Thunderlane couldn't say anything to that. His relationship with Blossomforth was just something that worked the way it did and nopony batted an eye on it anymore. Except his newer friends, like Blue, Shiny or Soarin. He didn't mind them much, like everypony else they were bound to get used to eventually. If Lightning Dust didn't stop him (indirectly) they'd be a happy couple right now and he would wake up next to her instead. But at the same time, would he still take place in the race if that didn't happen? Would he still find enough courage and determination to stand there and take off, winning for the first time in his life.

Whether he actually cheated on her was a difficult debate.
On one hoof, he slept with a different mare, that much was for sure. But they were drunk, so it shouldn't count. But he provided the alcohol. But neither realized how soft-headed they were. Also, he and Blossom broke up. But they were about to fix it. But they didn't. Because of Lightning Dust. And Rainbow Dash. Mostly Lightning Dust though, but now at least he knew why she had an outburst that day (the "didn't your parents teach you manners" line was a good reason). Rainbow Dash had no such excuse, so maybe it was her fault in the first place. She always screwed up something and made things worse for others.

That's when Thunderlane moaned and hid his head between his hooves again. He was doing it again. Shifting the blame, while he was jut as responsible. But the worst part was the guilt. Or rather, lack of it.

He felt guilty for not feeling guilty. And his head hurt even more.

"Thunderlane, can I ask you something?" Asked Soarin, grabbing their attention. He took a deep breath, then adjusted his glasses and asked the following question with utmost seriousness. "How many mares did you ever bang?"

Silence. Flitter got up from the sofa she was at and slowly marched towards Soarin.

SMACK!

"Ow, why did you do that?"

"Where the heck did that question come from?"

"You just smacked me!"

"Not that question! Ugh, I mean, who asks that?!"

"I'm a love guru, that's what I do!"

While that conversation was going on, Cloudchaser couldn't help but giggle at her boss's and fillyfriend's antics.
"Try not to be jealous when they keep bickering like an old couple, sheesh." That comment managed to get into their heads and force them to stop, both turning away from each other, blushing. Even Thunderlane managed to crack a weak smile at them. Cloudchaser took the initiative and answered the question for him.
"Nope, they met when they were twelve and been together since, with small breaks then and when. Can you believe it all started with a game of 'truth or dare'? Blossom was so against answering 'which colt you like', we just had to make her kiss a colt from class instead. She was so against Caramel and Blues, but when Thundy was mentioned, she suddenly had a change of heart (she denied everything, it was so adorable). And things just escalated from there."

Soarin nodded. A schoolyard crush turned longtime relationship. Then the tragedy struck and suddenly she was the closest pony when he needed comfort. No wonder they ended up together.

"And that's a shame too," Cloudchaser continued "so many fillies ended up heartbroken after that, but hey, what can you do?"

Thunderlane's ears perked up.
"Wait, what?"

"Don't pretend you don't know, you little devil you," she playfully smacked him in the wing "the entire cheerleader squad was totally crushing on you. And yes, that includes me, if I can be perfectly honest."

That statement provoked three different reactions happening at the same time.

"You were a what now?" Thunderlane asked wide-eyed.

"CLOUDCHASER!" Flitter yelled.

"Wait, you were cheerleaders?" Soarin asked, his ears perked. "With pompoms and stuff?"

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes and answered them in reverse order.
"Yes, with pompoms and stuff, yes, but that was before we hooked up, and yes, I was and so was a lot of my friends. I mean, look at you- quite a handsome fella, strong, athletic, hard working, had good grades and manners, what's not to like? Sure, you were a little dark and moody, but after what you've been through nopony blamed you. You were still miles better then any other jerk jock in the hoofball team anyway."

Thunderlane opened his mouth, but not to speak, rather to let it hanging, because he had nothing better to do with it while he was dumbfounded by the revelation. He tried to notice if she was lying or sugarcoating it to make him feel better, but as far as he saw it, she was perfectly honest.

Soarin broke himself out of his new happy place of pompom heaven to ask another question.
"So, why didn't anypony try to make a move on him?"

"Well duh, because he was taken! We cheerleaders take great pride in respecting the Sis-Code."

"Sis-Code?"

"Sis-Code."

Soarin contemplated it for a moment, the nodded and added a note to himself to research that later.

Meanwhile Thunderlane felt like after all these years of living his normal life, somepony just came to him and lifted a curtain he didn't even know existed. So much things started making sense. Why he received the most love letters at Hearts and Hooves day of all the boys. He used to think it was random, or just teasing, or obligatory thing fillies did. All these times Cloudchaser and other cheerleaders tried to recruit him to hoofball team, even though the team was full and having a reasonable success. He felt stupid. All this time he was teasing Shining Armor about his obliviousness over his growing harem, but he had one of his own, just under his nose all this time.
But more than anything, he felt an even worse guilt over the guilt he thought he should have, but wasn't.

"By the way," Soarin interrupted his train of thought again "you stopped your story when you woke up. So, what's Lightning Dust's take on it? Did she say anything?"

"Uhm... not really."

"She didn't talk?" He asked and waited for answer."Thunderlane..."

"I..." His forehead started sweating, as he slowly retreated into the blanket once again. "I didn't really talk to her this morning..."

Slowly, one by one, all the residents of the house opened their eyes and mouths wide, realizing the sad truth that Soarin asked him next.
"Did you... did you leave her?"

"..."

"In your house?"

"..."

"After you drunk-banged each other?"

"..."

"Alone? On the couch?"

His eyes shifted. "...Y-yes." He answered, as his head slowly lowered so much so, that he couldn't see where the three simultaneous flat smacks came from, but he had a fairly good idea.

"YOU FOOL!" Soarin rose from his seat and flew right at his friend, grabbing him by his shoulders. "Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"I-I'm sorry, I panicked, I..."

"Don't just sit there!" He pulled the blanket out of Thunderlane's hooves, dropping a tea of unfinished tea on the floor, but nopony paid it much attention. "Run! Go home! Go!" With help of Flitter and Cloudchaser, he lifted him from the couch and hastily pushed him towards the door, opening it hastily. "And pray to Celestia she's still asleep..."

"'Sup!" Answered the mare behind the door.

"AAAAH!" Thunderlane screamed out of surprise.

"AAAAH!" Soarin screamed as well, equally shocked.

"AAAAH!" Flitter joined in.

"Ah!" Cloudchaser screamed too, not really shocked or scared like the other three, but she didn't feel like being left out.

"Nice to see you too." Lightning Dust answered, rolling her eyes.

Once the hearts slowed their beatings, the three surprised pegasi (plus Cloudchaser) could finally start to think of proper questions, all of them concerning the turquoise mare that, for reasons yet unknown was just sitting there on the chair in the waiting room, holding a fashion magazine, which she gladly threw away instantly.

"H-how did you get in my house?" Flitter asked first.

"The door was open. I met 'Miss no Personal Space' along the way, she told me you're here. I didn't want to interrupt you, so I waited. You took your damn time!" She crossed her hooves, playfully looking at Thunderlane, who at that point wished to have the blanket back.

"L-Lightning Dust, I-I..." he started, but was interrupted by the mare's hoof.

"Let me start," she coughed and shifted nervously and was about to start, but looked at the other three first "so, you three on it already?" She asked, getting nervous, sheepish smiles and head scratches in response. She rolled her eyes and continued. "Whatever, love guru stuff, I get it. There's no point in hiding. Look, Thunderlane, I... I... well..." Lightning Dust blushed and her voice lowered significantly. "I... I... you... me... umm..." the mare struggled with the answer, making Thunderlane blush as well, while Soarin, Flitter and Cloudchaser moved away, observing the spectacle with muffled glee. She continued.
"What I mean to say is... well... you're a jerk!" She nabbed him with her hoof, her expression adding a frown, complimenting her reddened face. "How would you feel if you woke up, in somepony's house, alone after... after..." her voice lowered "...after... y-you know..."

"I-I'm sorry..." Thunderlane replied, lowering his head down to the floor. He was about to say something else, as long as she would give him some time to think. He needed an hour or two. She didn't spare him a second.

"Whatever, just don't ever do that to me again, got that? As a punishment, I helped myself to your shower and breakfast. You're out of milk."

Another moment of awkward silence passed by, as both pegasi were avoiding eye contact, blush intensifying with every time the two met. Finally Soarin couldn't take it anymore and commented on it.

"I'd say kiss already, but you're beyond that." That earned him an rib jab from Flitter. "What? We're all thinking it!"

Last comment notwithstanding, Lightning Dust finally managed to snap out of it, shook her head and looked away.
"Well, I should go home now, I guess. So... see you later?"

Thunderlane hesitated on the answer. "Y-yeah, later."

"Yup." Lightning Dust replied, then waited a moment. Her eyes shifted around, until she sighed and moved her face towards Thunderlane, leaving a gentle kiss on his cheek, rendering him even more paralyzed then ever before.
"Bye." She said, then bolted out of the door.

Some time passed before any of the inhabitants of this house managed to say anything. First was Cloudchaser.
"Wow. This is like high-school all over again." She said. Flitter nodded. Soarin walked to Thunderlane and put his right hoof over him, then lifted his left hoof at his friend.

"I contained myself long enough, but no more! Gimme a hoofbump, you handsome devil!"

"Soarin!"

"No, don't you Soarin me at a moment like this! You just scored a hot, talented and apparently adorable ginger and she's totally into you, while you are technically single! Give me one good reason why we SHOULDN'T bump our hooves right now, and one more why you shouldn't hook up with her?"

"W-well..." He scratched his head and was about to come up with something, until the door opened again and a familiar turquoise mare entered again.

"While I'm here, Soarin, right?" Lightning Dust asked the other male in the room. "You told me yesterday that if I ever need help, well..." she blushed "turns out I really do need some advice on cuddling and smooching. It's more complicated then I thought."

The room went silent for a moment. Soarin blinked once, cleared his throat and leaned towards Thunderlane to whisper something into his ear.
"Just. One. Reason."

As surprised as he was to admit it, Thunderlane longed for yesterdays rain. Hot herbal tea was energizing and calming on its own right, but nothing beat a cold shower, especially from clouds originally designed for snow. Instead, after leaving Flitter's house, he had to do with afternoon chill, creating a perfect view of a dreadful day if he ever saw any. He half expected to see a battlefield, with hordes of dead pony bodies lying around, mixing mud, blood with yesterdays rainwater. Instead, there were only streamers, confetti, popped remains of balloons and an occasional smashed cupcake. Pinkie Pie was Pinkie Pie all right, but even her powers alone couldn't clean her after party in just one day.

If nothing else, clean air helped him regain what little composure he could and plan what to do next. He was in no hurry to go back home. Sure, he could've used a shower, but wasn't too hasty to go there. Definitely not because it could still have smell of Lightning Dust still around it, but that would've still felt weird. Knowing Rumble, he wouldn't be back home until evening anyway (and Ditzy was cooking on Saturdays, any reason to stay was viable). With absolutely no direction or idea what to do now, he went to the first place that came to his mind.

"Oh, hey Thunderlane!"

As he noticed before, the weather wasn't exactly promoting energetic behavior from ponies not in life-death situations. Coupled with it being Saturday, he wasn't at all bothered or surprised to see Raindrops alone in the office, lying on her back at the couch, lazily reading a very thin book. He didn't know the title, but judging by a picture on the cover presenting a young, fainting mare in hooves of a tall, muscled, mustached stallion, he immediately stashed it into "I don't care" shelf.

"Where's others?"

Raindrops shrugged, still not bothering leaving the couch or even properly sitting.
"Dunno, I'm the only one since morning. Bored out of my skull. Reading trash."

Thunderlane hummed and took a quick glance at the bulletin board. Today was a shift for Raindrops, Rainbow Dash and Blossomforth. From a technical standpoint, skipping your shift was a severe breach of rules set by the HQ... but here in Ponyville nopony cared. As long as there was at least one pony holding down the fort and covering for others, they were free to do whatever they wanted, so long as they could be summoned within reasonable time. What "reasonable" meant depended on who was in charge, and since it was Rainbow Dash, the rules were stretched like a taffy at Pinkie's Terrific Taffy Party.

"Any word from Dash yet?" He asked.

"Nope. Not since you "FACED" her yesterday. Knowing her, she's probably hunkered in her house, playing loud, sad music and trying to cry herself to sleep after the humiliation she received from you and new girl."

Thunderlane blinked, while Raindrops turned another page. It took a while for Thunderlane to snort and wave a hoof at that theory.
"Cry? Are we talking about the same Rainbow 'Like a brick' Dash?"

"No. I was talking about Rainbow 'Rekt' Dash."

"Rekt?"

"Teen slang. It means..."

"I know what it means! And really, that's nothing. She's been through worse, this is nothing. Hell, I've been through worse my entire life! Serves her right to be in my horseshoes at least once."

"If you say so."

Time slowly passed. The only sounds loud enough to be heard in the entire building were a clock ticking of every second and another page turned. Finally, Thunderlane coughed
"I'll go check on her," he announced "to see if she'll show up today."

"Yep, you go do that." Raindrops waved her hoof in response.

Thunderlane nodded, took a breath and turned towards the door.

"Thunderlane, before you go." She put the book aside and looked at him, small smile forming on her muzzle. "You were awesome back there. I'll bet on you next time, if that becomes regular."

Thunderlane stopped and blinked, before smiling back.
"You're way too nice."

"Yep, I can be a sweetheart, alright."

Big, elaborate, expensive, unobtainable to anypony beneath her, literally this time- Rainbow Dash's cloud house was just a gaudy as her ego. Shaping clouds was easy. Making them rain was a foals play. Shaping them into a solid enough mass to be able to provide shelter, hold furniture, survive any kind of weather- that was a bit harder, and by harder most ponies meant 'expensive'. Contracting specialists from Cloudsdale, shipping all the cloud, shaping and melding it in midair and who knows what else had to be done to make sure it holds. It almost made it sound like building a house out of bricks and planks on the ground was an easy and cheap task. Go figure that Rainbow Dash, despite living in Ponyville most of her life, was still a Cloudsdale brat through and through.

Thunderlane didn't feel right, standing on her doorstep. Just because the doormat said "Welcome" didn't feel like be belonged. All this time spending with her in Ponyville, the immaturity and brashness, made him forgot that she was a rich kid, from a very wealthy family. If it was her, she'd probably live back on the ground, in a small apartment like Lightning Dust had, maybe with a little more Wonderbolts memorabilia lying around and less empty space. And definitely more trash.

He shook his head. It was no time to think about Lightning Dust, and neither was last one hour yet he couldn't just forget, as much as he tried.
"Just check if she's fine, then go home." He reassured himself, before knocking on the door, still amazed how solid a cloud could get. You work with them for years and they never cease to amaze you.

Nothing happened. He knocked again.
"Rainbow Dash? It's me. Are you there?" He asked. No answer was given, but he still knocked again. It wasn't like she had neighbors in the sky he would disturb with the noise. "Say 'aye' if there's nothing wrong and I shouldn't come inside to check on you." No sound came out either. He shrugged and reached the doorknob, slowly opening the door and taking a look inside. Sure, he was trespassing, but he didn't have any wrong intentions. At worst, she just happened to leave and forgot to lock down. Or she was sleeping too deeply to answer him. Or both, her habit of napping outside taking over. Why she slept outside so much when she had a house this comfortable was beyond him.

He didn't make it far and just as he reached the salon, among the furniture, shelves and various kind of mess he associated with Rainbow 'Only Biologically Female' Dash, there was something he didn't expect to see. Tissues. Lots of them, all crumbled into small balls, lying around.

"What are you doing in my house?"

Thunderlane perked instantly when he noticed his boss coming into the room. She was only slightly more messy than usual, but still noticeable.
"Uh, I knocked and you didn't answer...."

"So you barged in uninvited?" She asked ,giving him a look.

"Well..."

"What if I wasn't home, huh?"

"But... you left the door unlocked."

Rainbow stared at him for a moment, blushing slightly.
"T-that still doesn't give you the right to invade my house! Now leave!"

"Fine, geez!" He shook his head and turned away. Before he could make a third step, he stumbled upon one of the tissue balls. He turned back and asked. "Rainbow..."

"What?"

"Did you... did you cry?"

Everything stopped. Two stares were locked into each other, only occasionally interrupted by a blink form either side.
"...what."

"I didn't think much of it yesterday, but..."

"No, I wasn't."

"But..."

"SHUT UP! I wasn't crying and I don't care about yesterday and you cheated and it doesn't count and I don't care and... and... where did you even get that idea from?"

Thunderlane sighed and pointed at the mess on the floor.
"Because these, when they are lying around can only mean three things. You don't seem sick and I would never accuse you of the second option, so that leaves only one thing."

"Second option?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and her brain gears started moving. A moment later, her second eyebrow joined the other, as she finally figured out what he meant. He eyes narrowed. "You're disgusting!"

"Like I said, I'm not accusing you of any--"

"OUT!" She yelled, rushing towards Thunderlane, pushing him in the direction of the exit. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"

"Ouch, fine, I get it! Let go of me!"

"Get out and never come back! After everything you took from me, at least leave me my house alone!"

"Wait, what?"

He braced his hooves at the floor, stopping Rainbows pushing to a crawl. That didn't stop her from trying though, which is why he was still moving, few millimeters at a time.
"What do you mean 'took from you'?"

"N-nothing! I just slipped my tongue!" She said, still pushing.

"What did I take from you?"

"Nothing, now get out!"

"Rainbow, I know when you're lying!"

"Then here's the truth- you're not welcome here!" Finally she managed to push him into the door frame. Thunderlane wasn't about to lose this, as he grabbed sides of the frame with both front hooves and even wings, latching himself into it.

"I'm not leaving, until you, hgh, tell me what you meant!"

"Too bad, cause, hnggh, I'm not losing this time!"

"Hnngh, that's what you said last time!"

"Let go of my door!"

"MAKE ME!"

"I WILL!"

The struggle continued in silence, each combatant preferring to use their last reserves of strength into forcing the other to submission, which didn't happen. Rainbow Dash wasn't nearly as strong as her opponent, but wasn't about to give up and admit defeat, not at a time like this. Thunderlane, true to his words, latched himself into a cloudy frame and did not let go, though he couldn't do anything else to gain an upper hoof either, aside from just enduring. Which he did like nopony.

What didn't endure, was the frame itself. Even though solid cloud was stronger than wood, more comparable to a stone (magic, don't ask), since it was solid it could be broken, which it did, unable to hold not just one, but two overpowered pegasi of its own, it cracked and finally gave in, breaking away from the walls. Two pegasi yelled as they fell with high speed. Thunderlane fell face first into the cloud floor, which thankfully softened most of the impact (even if he still broke his nose in the process), but Rainbow Dash didn't stop just there and rolled on the floor for a moment longer, unable to control herself or regain balance, until she got dangerously closer to the edge.

"RAINBOW!" He shouted, instantly getting up on his four and lunging at her direction, grabbing her hoof just as she fell from the cloud. He struggled for a moment, but eventually managed to pull up a confused mare back on the cloud. As the two sat on the clouds, slowly regaining their breaths, he looked at her.
"Rainbow, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" He asked, as the mare slowly regained composure and shook her head. She noticed him still holding her hoof, at which she blushed and pulled it away.

"Let go!" She turned away, crossing her hooves. "And I didn't need your help, I can fly!"

"You're welcome." He snorted and turned back too, crossing his hooves as well.

Despite winning her battle (at the cost of one door frame), Rainbow Dash sat on the cloud a while longer instead of retreating to her house like she originally wanted. The silence between the two went for a while longer, but neither moved away from their original spots, nor did they try to turn around to make an eye contact. Thunderlane was the first to act.

"Rainbow, what were you..."

"That was all I had left," he interrupted him "and you took that away too."

"I... huh?"

"I was the fastest pony alive. That's what I was and... that's all I was. Ask anypony- 'what's that Rainbow kid about?', and they said a lot about me. She's a showoff. Insufferable brat. Kinda dumb. Has bad grades..."

"Dash..."

"What, you think I didn't hear what everypony was saying around? I'm dumb, not deaf. I know how things are. But I didn't care what anypony thought about me, and you know why?"

"Well..."

"Because those exact same ponies couldn't deny that I was the fastest thing there was! 'Rainbow Dash? Sure, she's annoying as all heck, but look at her go! She'll be a Wonderbolt, for sure!' But then, something unexpected happened."

Thunderlane raised an eyebrow and turned back to Rainbow Dash. She was still sitting on the cloud, her head uncharacteristically lowered.

"You!" She answered quietly. "Some random colt with a weird haircut!"

He blinked. "But I lost."

"Yeah, you did. And every time after that, for years. But every time we raced, every time I beat you, you were getting closer. And closer. And closer. I don't know how, but you were getting better, on top of getting better grades, bunch of friends, even a special somepony! Meanwhile, I busted my plot every day, got to school so tired I dozed of in class, never made a single friend and I. Still. Couldn't. Keep. Up!"

For a moment later, Rainbow Dash was speechless. So was Thunderlane, still trying to process what he just heard. He always wondered what was going on in her head and how she looked at things. Now he knew. And he wished he didn't. He peeked back at Rainbow Dash again. She sat quietly, but he was pretty sure she was just trying to hide her face to not show her sobbing face. He turned away again. He didn't need to see it to believe it.

"How many times did you hear somepony say 'why can't you be more like Rainbow Dash'?" She asked suddenly, not even waiting for the answer. "Do you have any idea how many times I heard my dad say that I should be more like you? 'He's such a hard working colt, why can't you be more like him?'... that's what he used to say.

A-and then... then you kept telling me about that... that thing, where you got super fast one day. When a lightning hit you and you went mach... 2 or 3, I dunno. Nopony believed it, but I knew you weren't lying. You never lied. I was never this scared in my life, so I... well, I prayed. I prayed to Celestia you'd never make it to the race. And... and I prayed you'd never race again... and... and..."

He knew the rest. The day before the race, that was 'the' day. Now that he reached out to those painful times again, he remembered that when he finally came back to school, everypony kept walking toward him, asking how he felt, offering help, pitying him. Except Rainbow Dash. She went out of her way to avoid him at any means necessary. He didn't give it too much thought before, but was that out of guilt? Did she feel at least somewhat responsible for everything?
Probably not. But among everything he went through, it was possible he, and everypony around, overlooked another troubled kid, only because there were more important things around.

But not all was doom and gloom back then.
"Rainbow... do you know why I still consider you a friend?" He asked suddenly. He peeked behind him. Rainbow didn't turn back, but her ears perked up. He got her full attention. "When I was feeling down back then, I didn't know what to do, or feel, but... I wasn't alone."

"W-well, I didn't really..."

"I don't know what I would've done, if Blossom wasn't there for me."

"R-right, she's great and all."

"I thought I was going crazy, but when she came to me, hugged me tighter then ever, I just... I needed that. More than anything in my life."

"..."

"What made me wonder, was why she was there to begin with. We weren't exactly on speaking terms back then, but she still came. I didn't ask her about it until years later."

"Oh no."

"And she told me exactly what happened. That you happened."

"S-stop it."

"That you went to her house, threatened her, told her that I needed help and there wasn't anypony else she could turn to. You forced her upon me... and I never even thanked you!"

A wild idea passed through his mind. He knew what had to be done.

"D-don't mention iIiiiiTT!" She finished her last sentence with a loud squeak. It wasn't exactly common for her to be surprisingly hugged from behind, by a stallion at that. Her face instantly become redder then before. She started wiggling and squirming, anything to get out of the black stallions surprisingly gentle, yet firm, embrace.

"So thank you, Rainbow Dash!"

"GET OFF ME, CREEP!"

"Don't let anypony tell you that you're worse than anypony."

"HELP! MOLESTER!"

"Because there is at least one pony who wished he was more like you."

All the movement and yelling stopped. The two sat next to each other, one embracing the other from the back, preventing him to see the look on her face. As awkward as it was, she preferred it that way over turning around. In fact, the longer he held her, the warmer her body became. It was a rather pleasant experience, despite everything else. It helped that nopony could see them. Then one pony would need to die an excruciating, painful death. She just wasn't sure which one that was.

He continued talking.
"In fact, I was always a little... well, jealous. You had all those adoring ponies around you all the time."

"T-those were just f-fans, I don't even know half their names..."

"And you have plenty of friends. Like Pinkie Pie."

"D-don't be... Pinkie is friends with everypony!"

"True. But there's also Fluttershy?"

"Fluttershy is just... just... well..."

"And me."

She took a while to answer this one. "Okay, thanks."

"And that little filly fan of yours?"

"What, Scootaloo? She's just a kid, she only liked me because I was winning. She's probably your fan now."

"Oh I dunno. I've seen that glint in her eyes. That's not something that disappears that easy."

"Huh, I remembered her name."

Few moments more passed in complete silence, save for the heartbeats of two ponies, mare and stallion, still not attracted to each other in any other way than pure, platonic friendship. Anypony saying there can't be close friendship between different sexes can go to moon.

"Thunderlane?"

"Yes?"

"Don't take it the wrong way, but... you stink."

Thunderlane blinked. "That's not very nice thing to say to somepony who just consoled you!"

"No, I mean it literally. You reek of..." she sniffed the air, instantly holding off the gag reflex "booze, pretzels and... whatever that third thing is."

He waited with the answer this time. Hesitated whether he should give one. And decided to do it anyway.
"...Lightning Dust."

"What about her?"

Few minutes of silence, one unhugging and several minutes of not overly detailed explanation of last night's events later. Rainbow Dash took it better then he expected.
"You're a moron." She massaged her head, trying to put together the pieces she just heard. "Lemme get this straight- after a drunken debauchery with an even bigger egotist then myself (yes, I said it, shut up!), you decided to ditch one pony who helped you the most in your entire life?"

"I never said I was hooking up with her."

"You're choosing between a mare that's half sweet half awful and a mare who is 100% bad, unless drunk?"

Thunderlane groaned and facehooved.
"Why did I even bother telling you?"

Rainbow shrugged.
"I dunno, why ARE you telling me this? Don't you have friends who are more into this kind of stuff? Did you asked Soarin?"

"I did. He said to go for Lightning Dust."

"And I told you to stay with Blossom. So, which one will you choose?"

Another batch of silence begun. Thunderlane slowly sat down on the cloud and pressed his head towards the cloud. He wasn't used to making mare choices. Or rather- he wasn't used to making choices, at all. Everything in his past few years of life was answering to whatever choice life made for him, whether it be school, work or even world saving. How was he supposed to react when there wasn't a right answer?

"Oh brother," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes "that's why I stay out of that lovey-dovey stuff. I have way too much responsibility already."

Thunderlane rose his head from the clouds to deadpan at her.
"What responsibility? You shift all your work to me!"

"Because you can get the job done, duh!" She rolled her eyes, as if what she said was the most obvious thing in the world. "I wouldn't trust anypony else, you know. Heck, if I could, I'd gladly give you my job already, but... you know..."

"Daddy issues, I know!" He interrupted her, then continued before she recovered from the offended blush. "You don't want to let him down, he'll be all mad and disappointed, but if you become a Wonderbolt, he'll let it pass. Probably."

Rainbow opened her mouth, but suppressed the urge to reply to that last bit. She shook her head before going back on the track.
"Don't change the subject, who are you choosing? Lightning Dust?"

His eyes shifted, as sweat started pouring from his forehead.
"N-no, I mean, not no, but I barely know her. Sure, I like talking with her and she's surprisingly cute and nice when she wants to, but still..."

"Then stay with Blossomforth."

"I... I don't know if we should. Don't get me wrong, I love her... or loved her... and she was great, most of the time, but lately, it's been getting worse..."

She was about to scream out of frustration, but for the sake of preserving their friendship she stopped at just groaning.
"Then marry them both, geez!" Thunderlane blinked, then raised an eyebrow, not sure if she was kidding. "Oh for Pete's sake!" She applied herself a facehoof. "Then don't hook up with either!" She sniffed the air again, then covered her nose. "And take that shower already!"

"That bad?" He asked, sniffing himself as well to confirm that indeed, he wasn't fully fresh. "Can I use your shower?" Then his stomach growled, just now realizing that he didn't have anything in his mouth, save for the herbal tea and biscuits. He smiled sheepish. "And umm..."

"Yes, yes, I'll get you some chow. Just don't get used to it."

The two smiled and went towards the door, Rainbow in safe distance from her stinky friend. The walked in silence... for about two seconds.
"Thunderlane, just to clarify," she started, avoiding eye contact and turning away to hide her slight blush "just because we had a... over-emotional last few minutes, we're not... falling in love, right?"

"N-no, of course not!" He snorted. "Why do you ask? Are you crushing on me?"

"Pfft, yeah, you wish!"

"No, I don't." He earned a smack in the shoulder.

"Jerk."

"Tomboy."

And then both started laughing, even stopping in the middle of their very short route to the house with broken door frames.

"Just to be clear," Rainbow Dash coughed "I'm not going to let you win again!"

"Heh, big words... from a loser!"

"Just wait till I show you the true power of my Sonic Rainboom! It's at least 20 times faster than your... err... what's it called again?"

"Well... the name's pending, but we (Lightning Dust and myself) called it 'Thunderized Whish-Whoosh'."

"... a what now?"

"It's a working name."

"How about you call it Sonic Thunderbo--"

"No."

Author's Note

So... much... dialogue...

So... much... delay...

So... much... emotions...

So... much... elipses...

Chapter 12: This time it's really his fault

After a rejuvenating shower and an even more rejuvenating plate of pancakes (who knew Rainbow Dash was such a good cook?), Thunderlane's day turned itself upside down. All the worries from the morning (afternoon rather) were washed away and replaced by a bunch of positive thoughts. Everything was awesome and he couldn't help but smile, while he walking home. And those few ponies ponies he passed smiled back at him and greeted him like a champion he was. Except Cheerilee, who he could swear held some petty grudge over him. He never found out what that was about.

It was early evening when he reached his house. He could already see the lights coming from the windows, meaning Rumble was already back. He smiled and went towards the door, just in case checking if the key was under a potted plant like always. As he opened the door and passed the hallway, he expected a stench of booze, pretzels and Lightning Dust among other things floating through the air, but it was surprisingly absent from the atmosphere. He sniffed the air a few more times just to be sure, but there was something else in the air. Something he shouldn't be smelling.

Something was burning! His eyes shot up as only one thought crossed his mind.
"RUMBLE!" He shouted, as he gained speed and rushed towards the kitchen... and stopped so fast, his heart didn't even started frantically beating yet.

"Oh, hey Thunderlane!" Rumble answered, donning a sheepish smile as he turned towards his older brother, completely ignoring the smoking frying pan he left on the oven. Whatever was on it before he appeared, was already dead.

"Rumble..." Thunderlane looked at his brother with bemused expression, torn between snickering at his innocent failure to do... whatever he was doing, and getting angry over potentially getting hurt and burning the house in the process.

"Umm... you were late so I thought I'd make you dinner, but... we're out of milk, so..."

"Rumble..."

"I-I don't know what went wrong, I swear!"

"Rumble, get away from the oven!"

Rumble blinked and looked to his left, only to notice a smoking hot frying pan now completely combusted into a giant ball of fire. He screamed and jumped away. Before he landed on his four hooves, he saw a black blur moving towards the pan, grabbing it and safely tossing into the sink, turning on the water and submerging the flaming mess in it. The pan and its contents sizzled and eventually extinguished the flames, leaving only a thick, stinging trail of smoke in the air. Thunderlane coughed a few times before running towards the window, opening it widely, letting it vent the room through. Once there was no immediate danger, his eye went towards his little brother, standing stiff, watching him with eyes and mouth wide open.

"Rumble, are you alright?" He asked, walking towards him, trying to see if he didn't burn himself accidental. On the contrary, not only did his brother seem fine, but his pupils widened. So was his smile.

"You... you did all this in two seconds flat! That..." He paused and beamed at his brother "THAT WAS AWESOME!" He jumped up excited. His enthusiasm was solely his own, as Thunderlane was anything but.

"No, that was dangerous!" He yelled back at Rumble, successfully halting his excitement. "What were you thinking? What if I didn't get here in time? You could've got hurt!"

Rumble lowered his head, his ears dropped as well. He turned his head away, as if contemplating whether he should apologize or stay quiet and not make him even more angry. Thunderlane sighed and scratched his head.
"Are you hurt?" He asked. Rumble shook his head. Just in case he went a little closer and extended his hoof to inspect him a little closer. The colt recoiled when a hoof touched his head, but let it be. Thunderlane looked over his little brothers body, just in case there was a burning hair or any other sort of mark on him. Satisfied with finding nothing out of ordinary aside from a little dirt and few ashes he immediately wiped away, he sighed with relief. He smiled weakly and pulled his head towards him, locking him in a gentle hug.
"Don't scare me like that again."

"I... I just wanted to help."

"You are. You're doing more than enough. You cleaned up after my mess yesterday, and from the looks of it, today too."

Rumble snickered.
"It took me hours! What were you doing here?"

Thunderlane fell silent and looked at the ceiling, looking for answer.
"Well..."

"It's even worse than that time when I got back from the camp." Rumble narrowed his eyes looking at his brother, who at that point got covered in blush and tried looking everywhere except his eyes. Rumble raised an eyebrow and asked. "Is this one of those 'Blossom and I were playing adult games' thing that I'm not supposed to ask until I'm older?"

Thunderlane learned to not talk too much a while ago. But not soon enough.
"Y-yeah, that... A-anyway!" he coughed. Honesty was one thing, but nothing prohibited him from changing the topic. "I'll better take care of this mess. This pan is older than me and you destroyed it in minutes!"

"I-it''s not my fault! I did everything Ditzy told me!" He blushed and looked away.

"What was this supposed to be?" He looked at the piece of junk that once was an old frying pan and dark, steamy remains of some sorts, an abomination that wouldn't look out of place in Tartarus.

"Scrambled eggs."

Thunderlane blinked. He took another look at the pan. Thank Celestia he already ate.

Later, once the smoke has cleared, neighbors calmed down and local volunteer fire department ponies were apologized multiple times, the two brothers could sigh with relief and finally relax after a long day full of events. But even after everything that happened, there were still many things in Thunderlane's head. But one thing was certain. There was no coming back to the way it was until now.

"Rumble." He walked to his brother, interrupting his before sleep play session with his toy soldiers. "There's something we need to talk about..."

The clock was already showing ten o'clock, which pretty much marked the first day Blossomforth didn't do a single productive thing from dusk till dawn. Okay, that wasn't a fair assessment, she did plenty today. Her house was never this clean before- the floors were shining so bright this morning she was barely able to walk around without squinting (and it wasn't a sunny day). No speck of dust anywhere as far as one could look. And she cooked herself a big dinner too. It was only supposed to be a small serving, but she accidentally made more sauce, so she cooked more macaroni as well, but overdid that as well and made more sauce to counter it and so on. On the plus side, she was more than ready for any visitors. She contemplated calling some girls for a long needed night of girl-talk, maybe even a slumber party? Raindrops would enjoy a night off too, especially after she covered her shift today. Inviting Cloud Kicker was a gamble- should she risk losing Raindrops long earned trust, or take pleasure in seeing the two interact? Decisions. Rarity was a must, nopony knew more about makeovers or gossip then her. Should she invite Pinkie Pie was a delicate matter. On one hoof, she was a blast to have and after initial reluctance she always turned out to be a great idea, but at the same time, she was going to bring so much treats there's no way they would even touch the pasta. Eventually cupcakes won, hooves down. She could give it to somepony who needed it.

Her first thought was to give it to Thunderlane. After all, he was a lousy cook and Rumble deserved better home meals. Yes, she was doing it for the little colt she grew to love like a little brother. She wasn't denying Thunderlane any of it, after all, one colt wasn't big or hungry enough to clear half of what she prepared, so he might as well enjoy it too. She wasn't heartless, even if he was a jerk. A super fast jerk. Her jerk, except not really. Or maybe. Even she was confused.
Nopony saw the race coming and she didn't get there until it was too late to get a hold of him, to at least wish him good luck. She knew how important it was, yet she couldn't bring herself to it. And after he won, in a spectacular manner at that, he was too busy and surrounded by fans to even get close to. But more than that, she saw him smile. Laugh. All those years, she rarely saw him display so much pure emotions.

And she wasn't even there with him. He didn't need her anymore.

She twitched when a sudden knocking on the door awakened her from her train of thought. She calmly walked to the door, wondering who in the world would visit her this late. She had one good guess and opening the door proved her right.

"Hey Blossom."

"Thunderlane."

The two looked each other in the eyes for a while. Seconds passed in awkward silence, before Blossom scratched her head and coughed.
"So... I made pasta, if you're hungry?" She asked.

Much to her surprise, Thunderlane was completely quiet, his face showing nothing.

"Blossom... we need to talk."

Rainbow Dash looked at the assembly of her employees in the office with an irritated grimace. Everypony showed up way before the time the work actually started, which annoyed her to no end. Even Lightning Dust was here, even though she wasn't a part of the crew. She lamented over the fact that the one day everypony chose to be on time, was the one day she came earlier as well to take care of all the paperwork by herself. Alone. So that nopony would notice her new glasses, which she didn't hate, but would rather die than let anypony else see her with them. Especially Cloud Kicker and Lightning Dust, Raindrops to lesser extent. Thunderlane or Blossomforth would probably shrug it away. And speaking of the two love-birds, they were here as well. Together, in the same room, not glaring daggers at each other but also suspiciously far away from each other, as if nothing happened. Not just the last few days, but last several years and the two were just foalhood friends, not ticking time bombs she had to defuse on a weekly basis.

She shook her head and continued trying to act like a leader.
"Ehem, now that we all gathered, annoyingly earlier than you should..."

"You were here first." Raindrops noted. Rainbow scratched her back and blushed.

"Crap, I said that out loud?" She looked over her crew (plus Lightning Dust) nodding to her. She coughed. "W-well I just wasn't sleepy today, so I came here to sign the papers, that's all." And keep you from seeing that monstrosity I have to wear to read, she thought. Glad that this time she wasn't speaking out loud, she continued. "E-either way, it's about time we cleared the sky from the previous storm, which was a great success, so yeah, congratz team!" She clapped her hooves unenthusiastically. The others joined in a weak applause as well, Cloud Kicker being obviously the loudest and longest out of the bunch, still clapping her hooves long after the others stopped and just stared at her. Once she was done, Rainbow continued. "This shouldn't take too long, so go do it and go home, I'll stay and take care of this stack. By myself."

Thunderlane stepped forward, proving that if nopony was antagonizing her, it were the good intentions that would haunt her instead.
"Rainbow, you don't have to prove anything, I'll get it done for you. Like always."

"No way, you won't!" Rainbow protested and blocked the way towards the desk with the documents. And that purple box she forgot to hide in the drawers. "I've been neglecting my duties long enough. Time for Rainbow “Leader” Dash to stop slacking." Now leave me alone, damnit, she thought.

There were multiple gasps coming from five other ponies present. Raindrops walked towards Thunderlane.
"I think you broke her into an actual manager." She embraced him with a hug "You're my hero!"

Rainbow blushed and coughed.
"Hey, the rules say clearly "no cuddling and smooching"!" She pointed at the sign on the wall, still stating the exact same rules as before. She could hear others giggling, including Blossomforth. That was all she could take today.
"Okay, I can't ignore it anymore. You," she pointed at hoof at Blossom "and you!" then at Thunderlane. "Stop creeping me out!" The two ponies in question raised their eyebrows and looked at each other, shrugging. Rainbow groaned loudly and facehooved her face, hard. "How in the flying buck are you two so calm after all what happened? Thunderlane, I swear, if you didn't tell her what happened, I will!"

"Oh, I know EXACTLY what happened," Blossomforth interrupted her "he told me aaaaaall about it. With details. And we're fine."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Cloud Kicker, but everypony ignored her.

Rainbow blinked.
"So you know that..."

"Yep."

"... and that..."

"Yes."

"...what."

"U-huh."

Cloud Kicker switched from looking at Rainbow to Blossom back and forth, still puzzled.
"Know about what? What happened?" She was completely ignored as well. Nopony noticed Lightning Dust blushing heavily in the background.

While Rainbow was too busy trying to defuse her own head, Raindrops hummed as she looked at the couple, Thunderlane in particular.
"I agree, you two are acting strange." She inspected the stallions face, along with other parts of his body. "And there are no bruises on your entire body..."

"WHAT THE BUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Blossom yelled. She immediately calmed down and walked away, pouting. "...s-sorry..."

Thunderlane rolled his eyes at Raindrops and put a hoof at Blossom's back.
"I guess we should tell them." He said calmly. She turned to him and nodded.

The two stood still, one next to the other. They looked at each other again and nodded, Blossomforth doing the honor of announcing the news.
"Well, you see, we had a long talk recently and... let's not beat around the bushes, things were a bit too... dicey lately." She allowed them a second to roll their eyes, which they did. "So we reached a conclusion. You see..."

She took a breath and smiled.
"We're getting married."

Silence.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA---"

"Nah, just kidding." She giggled and blew a raspberry at them, while Cloud Kicker and Rainbow Dash fell on the floor with a loud thud. Raindrops stood perfectly still on her four hooves, not believing a single word from it. Lightning Dust meanwhile was never this glad that nopony paid attention to her, as she struggled to wipe the sweat from her head and slow down her heartbeat.

"Well, that was fun!" Blossom admitted, smiling brightly at Thunderlane, as he couldn't help but snicker as well.

"Yeah, but seriously now," he coughed, awaiting everypony to stand up again. Once they did, he stated the actual news. "We're breaking up."

He was met with silence.

"As in, permanently."

As expected, the mere mention of that word was met with a reaction akin to Princess Luna being told that her moon was made out of cheese. Cloud Kicker was the first to recover. She blinked a few times and shook her head, trying to make sure she didn't hear something wrong. Upon confirming that it was indeed correct, she opened her eyes wide and somehow surrounded the two with just herself.
"Woah, you can't just break up! What happened? Why are you two so neutral about it? Was the soup too salty? Did she beat you?" She looked at Thunderlane like Raindrops did before, receiving Blossom's evil glare as well. "I'll take that as a no. And what are we supposed to do with all these contingency plans we made for you two?" The last question, along with most of them, was left unanswered.

"But seriously," Raindrops chimed in "that's not another joke?"

As an immediate answer the ex-couple both shook their heads.
"No, this time it's for real." Thunderlane explained. "Last few months, if not years, were the worst. We tried to make it work, but it just wasn't. Not only we got hurt over small things, but we ended up hurting those around us, so... this is it. We're done."

The group took a while to process the news. The return of Princess Luna from a millennium long imprisonment by Nightmare Moon (official version) wasn't a deal big enough to feel like their lives would change in the slightest. But this one marked a new era. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. It was a scary prospect, as nopony was sure whether it was for better or worse, but it definitely required a painful transition.

"This... this is heavy!" Cloud Kicker noted. "Like, wow. Tartarus froze overnight kind of wow. Celestia abdicated and became a hermit wow. Fluttershy became a fashion model wow. Library blew up and became a crystal castle wow."

"WE GET IT!"

Blossom smiled and shook her head.
"Wait till you hear the second announcement."

The four mares blinked simultaneously.
"There's more?" They swallowed and braced for the impact.

Thunderlane took a deep breath and started.
"I... I had a rough life. I'm not going to bore you with details, you all know what I've been through and I'm through playing a victim. Or so I thought. Ever since my parents died, I did what I could to stay independent, take care of my brother and I neglected one other thing that was important to me. Last few days I learned a lot about myself and I realized that the only pony who didn't believe in me, was myself. But thanks to somepony really smart, if not exactly delicate," he glanced at Lightning Dust. Their eyes met, and she quickly looked away, blushing, but still smiling. "Giving me a push I needed, I did something I was too afraid to do all this time. Something I never thought I was capable of. And even thought it was scary, I'm happy I went through it. It opened my eyes and for the first time made me truly glad to be... me. And I don't want it to be the last time."

Blossom took the small pause as opportunity to say something to the others.
"You girls might want to sit." They looked at her, but none took her advice and were all about to regret it.

"So I decided to not have any more regrets. Which is why..."

"I'm going to become a Wonderbolt!"

SMACK!

The ensuing thud was even louder than before, as four mares lost all the strength in their hooves at the same time and collapsed at the same time.
"Warned you." Said Blossomforth, rolling her eyes.

Once the four mares finally regained their hoofing, they all walked eagerly to Thunderlane.
"Look, I know how it sounds, but I was thinking a lot and I just can't 'not' do it right now. It was always my dream, even when I thought I lost it, but the race, the adrenaline, the feeling of flying, I completely forgot how much I loved it! And when I won, it was the best day of my life and..."

Cloud Kicker stopped by covering his mouth with her hoof.
"We get it, hot stuff! And we're glad you finally realized it!" She smiled brightly. Thunderlane couldn't even fully open his mouth before another one came toward him.

"Took you long enough to figure that one out." Raindrops added, patting his shoulder for emphasis.

"Happy to have you back, nemesis!" Added Rainbow Dash.

"Hmpf, alright, sure." Said Lightning Dust, feigning nonchalance.

Thunderlane couldn't help but tear up a little.
"Y-you guys... I mean, girls."

"Hey, Soarin told me a lot about being a Wonderbolt," Cloud Kicker continued "he said speed is the least of their worries. You already have discipline, patience, leadership skills and presence. You have better odds of entering than Rainbow Dash!"

"HEEEEEY!" Rainbow protested and crossed her hooves, while others laughed at it. After a while of feeling hurt, even she had to loosen up and join the laughter, unable to stay mad at them. Even if they acted like jerks. Not nearly as much as she did on bad days, but who counted?

"Alright, enough wishy-washy stuff in my office," Rainbow pushed her workers in the direction of the door "The clouds won't clean themselves. Go on, chop chop!" So I could finally get to those papers, alone, she thought.

As expected, the team didn't bat an eye at Rainbow "Responsibility" Dash and just did what they were ordered. Except Lightning Dust of course, as she wasn't under her orders and as a matter of fact didn't even need to be here today. Her reasons were different and completely selfish, but not everypony knew that yet. For now, she was content with what she got.

"So," she turned to Thunderlane, smiling slyly "race ya to the edge of the town? Last one buys the lunch."

Thunderlane didn't answer immediately. Just a week ago he would scoff at that kind of challenge, call it childish. But right now, he was feeling particularly young and immature. He smiled back at Lightning Dust and was about to accept the challenge, but something caught his eye. He noticed Rainbow Dash, still at her desk, arranging (or pretending) the papers around, but she couldn't hide her perky ears. He had a good idea of what she was thinking right now.

"Rainbow, you heard her. You in?"

As per their expectations, Rainbow rose her head and stood up, glaring at Thunderlane with a big, sly grin on her face... only to disappear two seconds later. She sat down and coughed.
"Sorry, I'm too busy. I'll get you when I'm done with this... No, I'm not chickening out! Now go away already! Sheesh, try to be responsible for one day..." she grumbled for a while, still waiting for the room to empty, not even realizing that her tantrum only kept everypony around for even longer.

Thunderlane rolled his eyes yet again (it was a common practice when Rainbow was the topic) and walked to her desk, pulling a chair for himself.
"Here, lemme help you." He grabbed a pen along with few papers. "You don't have to to it all by yourself."

Rainbow's eyes shot wide. On one hoof, she was grateful, but that made her problem even worse.
"N-no, you don't need to..."

"It'll be faster that way."

"I-I don't need your help."

"I'm pretty sure you do."

"But..."

"Less whining, more working, Dash."

"But... w-what about Lightning Dust? We can't just let her wait!"

She looked at the mare in question, right now... lying comfortably on their couch, looking through today's newspaper.
"Nah, take your time." She answered nonchalantly.

"By Celestias plot, why can't you be a bitch when I need you?!" Rainbow thought, surprised that it didn't slip through her tongue. She coughed.
"Just leave me alone and go clean those clouds already! I need to be alone for this!" She said, only a second later realizing that this time, she said more than she planned. As expected, this didn't go unnoticed, as Thunderlane eyed her suspiciously, one eyebrow raised. Lightning Dust was listening too, but she hid herself behind newspaper.

"Rainbow Dash? Are you hiding something from us?" There was no answer, but there was a waterfall of sweat coming from her forehead. "Dash, if it's another 'Ten Tons of Snow Clouds' incident, you better confess now, while there's time!"

"N-no, I'm just..."

"Just what?"

Rainbow opened her mouth and tried her hardest to find an excuse, any excuse. Her pride and stubbornness didn't work, not after they reforged their friendship in the most awkwardly adorable way. He wasn't going to just leave, not without an answer and she had none, other than the truth. If it was just him, it wouldn't be that bad. He knew her, he'd understand. But the problems came from other directions. Not only was Lightning Dust within earshot, but all three other girls were still in the office, whispering between themselves, keeping distance but once in a while glancing at them. And one of them was Cloud Kicker, who had a special way of interpreting "alone in the office" (one she would rather not turn into a gossip). She could try and call them off and only tell Thunderlane, but that could backfire even worse. It was bad enough last time they were accused of having an affair, they didn't need one right now (and ripping out Cloud Kickers tongue was still a crime, apparently).

Eventually, Rainbow lowered her head resigned. She couldn't keep it up anymore. They were going to find out one way or the other. At least she could do it on her own terms.
"Fine, I'll show you." She stood up and grabbed her purple box of uncoolness, as her crew (and Lightning Dust) gathered before her desk. "But If anypony laughs, you're fired. All of you!"

"Rainbow, you STILL can't fire us!" Blossom noted.

"I'll find a way." Dash grumbled, as she turned away and applied the cursed item on her face. She took a deep breath and turned toward her crew (and that one other), standing proud with her new glasses on full display, with her eyes closed. There were no immediate comments, or laugh for that matter. "Well? There you go! My secret is exposed! Come on, joke all you want, get it out of your system!"

She waited a moment longer, before she slowly, shyly opened her eyes. Still, nopony was laughing. Thunderlane and Lightning Dust looked at her with their heads cocked, eyebrows raised. Raindrops had a jaw dropped, but not nearly as low as a news like this would provoke. Blossomforth and Cloud Kicker were the only ones smiling. Not 'about to laugh' mocking smiles though. Theirs were a lot more genuine.

"Wait, that's it?" Lightning Dust asked. "Your big secret is... glasses?"

"Tell me about it," Raindrops shook her head "and here I thought it was something important."

Rainbow Dash blinked.

"I think they're cute." said Blossomforth. "In a cool way."

"I'd say," Cloud Kicker nodded, "no wonder Shiny Stud's so smitten with her!"

At the sound of "His" name, Rainbow blushed heavily and didn't even notice as her smile grew tenfold. She turned away, tumbling her hooves.
"Sh-shut up! D-don't think that will make me happy, d-damnit! I-I'm not into that stuff... or him..."

You can probably guess how many eyes were rolled (hint: all of them).

Glad to have that load of her chest, Rainbow Dash smiled proudly this time, glad that her friends were not only understanding and forgiving, but also accepting her, despite now being an egghead. Except... there was one pony that didn't make his opinion known yet. And the only one whose opinion she ever took into consideration (only because he was the closest to beating her at anything... wait, that already happened and she was struggling to get used to it). Thunderlane sat where he was, his head supported by his hoof as he mused over something.

"Rainbow," he finally said "if you hated the idea of wearing glasses so much, why didn't you just wear contacts?"

Pause.

"...what."

"I mean, they're not that expensive and there's even a model for athletes. Cloud Star from Wonderbolts uses them."

"...what."

"In fact, even I'm wearing them right now as we speak."

"What."

"Woah, really?" Cloud Kicker asked, backed by everypony else, except Rainbow "Paralyzed" Dash. "When did that happened?"

"They found out I was shortsighted back in elementary school, way before we met. I didn't want to wear glasses, so my parents got me contacts and I've been that way since." He shrugged. "I keep forgetting they're even there until I have to take them off for the night."

A moments passed as the group observed the still standing Rainbow Dash, repeatedly muttering one word for a while longer. Before they managed to get worried enough to call an ambulance, she stopped talking and went to Cloud Kicker. The room fell silent in anticipation, carefully awaiting her next action. She took off her glasses and hoofed it gently to her.
"Hold this for me."

After he took them, Rainbow walked away in the direction of the bulletin board, passed right by it and stopped at a part of the wall that wasn't adorned with pictures or posters. She pressed her both hooves over over it and backed her head for a moment, until...

WHACK!

The group hissed in unison, as the cracking sound of something being broken was still ringing in their ears.
"Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark!" Said Cloud Kicker. "Not to mention her head!"

WHACK!

As a certain pony was too busy drilling through the wall using her skull, Thunderlane took it as is cue to leave. He nodded to Lightning Dust and the two went their way towards the exit.
"Well, this time's it's going to be just the two of us, I guess." He said, smiling as they passed Rainbow "Drill" Dash.

"Just you and I," said Lightning Dust, smiling brightly as she matched his tempo "sounds good to me!"

WHACK!

Despite being a witness to quite possibly one of the most cathartic moments in their lives, Blossomforth couldn't concentrate on sufferings of Rainbow Dash. Her gaze was placed at the lone stallion, leaving the office building. Smiling brightly.
"Raindrops, are you free tomorrow?" She asked her overjoyed friend.

"Huh? Yeah, sure. Why?"

"Wanna hang out? My treat."

"Sure." She shrugged, going back to the spectacle.

WHACK!

Cloud Kicker joined the two mares them soon after she placed Rainbows glasses gently in their box, hiding it away from all their gazes.
"Blossom, did you know that Thundy's wearing contacts?"

Blossom turned to Cloud Kicker, her face as neutral as it goes.
"He doesn't."

WHACK!

Cloud Kicker snickered. That turned into giggle, then into laughter.
"I dunno what happened to the old Thunderlane," she started "but I'm starting to like the new one better!"

Author's Note

And who doesn't love New Thunderlane? It's all his fault he's too awesome.

Anyway, this story was a lot harder to write than I realized at first, but I'm glad I came this far and finished it. What new adventures await Stallion 6 or Ponyville's Weather Patrol (and Lightning Dust)? Will Thunder and Lightning relationship Blossom into something great?

...see what I did there? Thunder, Lightning, Blossom. I'm too funny sometimes. Oh don't look at me like that! Puns aren't nearly as funny in polish as they are in english, I'm catching up on years of wasted cheap humor!
... I'll shut up now.

Anyway, as per tradition, there will be bonus chapters. Not sure how many right now, but there are definitely a few side stories that require closure. Stay tuned!

Bonus #1: The 6th

Tuesday afternoon, the stallion six gathered together at Sugarcube Corner together, using their honestly earned free coupons for baked goods and hayshakes to celebrate one of their members new achievements. A life changing landmark, new "not quite yet but getting there" marefriend and, most importantly, free food. Or at least they would, if one of them wasn't...

"Excuse me I'm late, fair plebeian friends! Your Prince of Bluebloods has arrived!" Announced the unicorn, as he dramatically entered the establishment. Even the wind agreed with him on this, as it blew itself out of nowhere, just to make sure his recently nourished, silky hair was flowing for everypony else to envy and enjoy, complimented by his smooth, silky and almost sparkling coat.

"What took you so long?" Asked Thunderlane, only partially amazed by his friend's impeccable presence. "We've been waiting for half an hour!"

"Alas, patience is a virtue not attributed equally to the common folk, I see. Fear not, I will not blame you for being born lower than yours truly, as I appreciate and cherish your company nonetheless."

The five stallions blinked, them immediately turned away and huddled together in a circle.
"Why is he talking like that?" Soarin asked the others.

"Reminds me of the Yinyang Panacea from back when." mentioned Doctor.

"Eeyup!"

Shining Armor shook his head.
"Nah, he's always like that when he's back from the spa. It'll pass in a moment."

The group blinked at Shining Armor, then raised their heads to take a sneak peak at Blueblood's condition. He was being greeted by Pinkie Pie in their usual fashion, answering in a similar, dramatic way as he did to them earlier, mentioning to her the splendor of today’s sunny afternoon. Pinkie left him with bittersweet expression. On one hoof, she was happy for sharing his enthusiasm. At the same time she lamented over the fact that the fabulous white unicorn was so against using her first name, even when politely (and repeatedly) asked. She did found being called "Fair Lady Pie" to be flattering.

"Well, somepony sure is enjoying his free spa visits." Soarin mentioned to Blueblood, now sitting at their table. Blue scoffed at that comment.

"Free? Bah, a noble such as I frowns upon taking charity from those who require it."

The group blinked again. Thunderlane turned to Doctor.
"What did he say?"

"I think he means he's paying for his visits."

"Indeed is my friend of Academically Ambiguous Doctorate correct in his assessment. What seems like a fortune to you lot, is but a spare change for those of my stature."

This time it was Shining Armors time to explain.
"Princess Celestia sent him an increased allowance after she found out how much he gave for charity.”

The group nodded in unison, finally solving the short and easy mystery. Which still left one question unanswered.
"Wait, so you didn't win the free spa visit?" Thunderlane asked.

"Why would I hide my good fortune from my friends? I would gladly pass it to any of you dirty peasants, if it would make you more presentable."

Thunderlane blinked and opened his mouth, struggling with his next sentence.
"I... I am not sure if I should be offended by that sentence or not." He thought for a moment, and then shook his head. "Wait, if you didn't get it, then...?" He looked over his friends, but one after the other he only found shrugs, head shooks and one big 'eeynnnoope'.

"Now that I remember it," Doctor put a hoof to his chin and hummed "there are only five of us who were voting... but there were six tickets sold. Who got the sixth one?"

Just an hour ago, she would've scoffed at the idea of paying (insert number she was too afraid to say) for anything that wasn't furniture. But that was then and now was now. And now she was sitting in a giant tub of boiling hot, mineralized water, right after a hooficure, relaxing mud bath, few minutes in sauna and a very thorough massage performed by true artists at their craft. Raindrops was melting. And contrary to what she always told herself, that was a good feeling to have. The only shame was that this would be probably the last time, unless she gets a raise and gets promoted to a manager position (considering how many of her co-workers will be joining Wonderbolts, it wasn't that far from possibility).

And she had to thank for all that her best friend, soaking right there with her.
"I really needed this. Thanks again for inviting me, Blossom."

The white coated mare didn't respond. She was staring at the windows, at the sunny good weather outside, though not concentrated on any of it, merely lost in her own thoughts. Blossom lowered herself until only her head was sticking out of the steamy tub.
"Idiot..." She muttered.

"Come again?" Raindrops looked at the mare, whose face became even redder and she put herself even lower.

"N-nothing. Just... talking to myself..."

Raindrops looked at her friend for a moment, before she shrugged and left her alone to her own thoughts.

Author's Note

I wonder how many caught that little fact back before the race begun? After all, the racers themselves didn't vote for themselves (or anypony else for that matter).

Next up, another side plot you all been waiting to see resolved... even if you didn't realize it.

Bonus #2: Bunnies

Silver Spoon carefully looked around the classroom. Aside from her, the only ponies left were the heads of all three factions. Scootaloo representing the "Dashers", Snips for "Dusters" and newest addition, Rumble for the "Thunders". His side won the best name contest, bar none.
She observed them carefully from behind the door as they absorbed themselves in a heated debate. Somehow she managed to sneak past the three foals, reach Rumbles desk unnoticed and leave her carefully crafted, hoofmade pink, sprinkled with her mom's best perfumes, letter. Now all she had to do was wait until he reads it. Her heart was beating with anticipation with every passing second. It was foalproof plan- she studied all the romance novels from the local library for nights and days for last few weeks. It was going to work. Nothing could possibly go wrong. Nothing could make her...

"Silver Spoon?"

"MEEEP!" She jumped.

Heartbeat was slowly returning to normal levels, as the gray filly held strongly onto the column, about ten feet above the ground level.
"Silver Spoon, stop fooling around and get down here. I found something interesting!" Diamond Tiara said. Once Silver Spoon calmed down and got herself down, she went with Diamond Tiara, who opened her backpack and smiled viciously.

"What did you find?" She asked, trying to take a peek at whatever it was that interested her friend so much. She sniffed the air. Suddenly shivers went down her spine and eyes shot wide upon realization.

Diamond Tiara pulled out the desired object and displayed it to her friend.
"Taa-daa!"

Silver Spoon screamed loudly, if only mentally.
"T-t-tiara, wh-where... h-how...?"

"It was on Rumble's desk. I took it while those dorks weren't looking." She proudly admitted to theft.

"B-but, th-that's..." a violation of MY privacy, Silver Spoon thought. How Diamond Tiara, the least subtle pony in the entire Equestria, managed to sneak past her as she was watching was another story.

"Ewww," Tiara sniffed the letter and pulled it away from her face, gagging "it stinks of cheap perfumes! She'd do better if she didn't use her mothers stinkers!"

Silver Spoon withheld her tears.
"W-who?"

"Dinky, duh! Obviously, that's her letter!" She rolled her eyes, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. She sniffed again, this time at her backpack. "Ugh, now I need a new backpack!" She lamented, unceremoniously throwing it away in a trash bin.

Silver Spoon swallowed. She still didn't found out, which meant that there was a chance to save the situation. She swallowed and donned her best fake smile.
"W-whatever. If she want's to, it's her deal. So just put it ba--"

RRRRIIIIP!

Silver Spoon screamed mentally again, this time a lot louder.

"Oh, oops!" Tiara made a distressed impression. "I ACCIDENTALLY opened it!" She took the letter out. "And it ACCIDENTALY slipped." Then opened it. "And I ACCIDENTALLY read it!"

Silver Spoon lunged at Diamond Tiara, forced the letter from her hooves, tore it apart and ate the remains. Then Diamond Tiara forgot about last 5 minutes of her life and the two went to get some hayshakes.

...if only.

"Dear Rumble," Diamond Tiara started reading aloud, completely oblivious to her friends current paralyzed state "I've been watching you from afar for long time... ugh, what a weirdo! That filly has issues." She shook her head and went back to reading, while Silver Spoon fought the urge to cry, as she couldn't do much else.
"I really like your mane... huh, she has a point, but anyway..." she coughed, Silver Spoon's eye twitched "and I admire your physical pro...prow...prowiss? What's a prowiss?"

"Prowess." Silver Spoon corrected her, against her own will.

"Oh yeah, that. But unlike most colts in our class, you're also smart, nice and kind, ... ugh, I'm gonna puke! I was crushing on you since we first met. I know I'm not the perfect filly, yeah, no duh, but will you be my special somepony? Pfft, where did she get this? Trashy novels from the library?"

Silver Spoon sniffed and muttered something.

"I know, right? Blank flank romance, sheesh." Diamond Tiara laughed and went back to the letter. "Signed with eternal love, always yours..."

Silence.

"Uh... uhm..." Diamond Tiara gradually lost her sly smile. She finally looked at Silver Spoon. The gray filly now resembling a dam, barely holding off on the wave during the biggest raining season of the century. She swallowed and looked at the letter again. "Uh... and there's a... a drawing... of two bunnies. They're nuzzling. In a heart. It's actually rather cute... I mean, it's a really, REALLY good drawing..."

And then the dam burst.

Diamond Tiara recoiled and dropped the letter, a typical reaction when your best friend starts crying like a waterfall. She looked around, hoping that somepony good at calming down foals was around... then hoping nopony was around to see them like that. She tried to find some kind words to calm her friend down.

"S-silver, don't cry..."

That worked about as well you'd expect.

"Uhh, what am I supposed to do now?" She reached her memories back to times whenever she was crying and her parents tried to calm her down. Buying her a dress would take too long (and she didn't have enough bits on her anyway). Neither could she get her new toys. Cupcakes? No. She thought harder, reaching into her deepest, hidden memories, looking for something, anything that could work, as the clock was ticking and tears weren't stopping.
It was then that she found what she was looking for. She never did it before, but it worked when she was younger. It was worth a shot.

"Ugh, things I do for friends!" She lamented, as she extended her hooves and grabbed Silver Spoon in a tight hug. The gray filly at first recoiled, but didn't struggle and instead used the nearest coat to cry herself out on. Diamond Tiara fought the urge to push her away, with all the tears, snot and whatnot ruining her perfect coat. For friendship, she muttered to herself.

A longer while passed (it felt like years), Silver Spoon finally calmed herself down just enough to be able to talk again.
"I-I'm s-sorry..." She muttered.

"Uh, yeah, no problem." Diamond Tiara answered, patting her head, not quite sure what the apology was for: her coat, having to hug her in public or...

"I'm sorry I'm in love with.. with... a blank flank!"

Diamond Tiara's eyes opened wide. She gently unhugged her friend and looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"I'm so, so sorry!" The gray filly continued. "All the times we were making fun of them and... and I was... I was..." her panic attack was raising, dam was filling up again "I love a blank flank! I can't hide it anymore and I don't care what happens!” She paused, then knelt before Tiara. “Please don't be mad!"

"I'm not mad."

"I didn't mean it and I tried to not... to not... what?"

"Silver Spoon, I'm not mad at you."

Silver Spoon blinked.
"B-but I'm..."

"In love with Rumble, the blank flank, yes, I heard you!" She rolled her eyes.

"B-but he's..."

"Sil, do you think I'm dumb?" She asked, earning a curious look from her friend. "Do you think I judge ALL ponies by their cutie marks? For all we know, he's probably be the awesome pony ever, aside from me!"

Silver Spoon blinked and wiped a tear.
"...huh?"

"I mean, Ponyville is like, the most boring place ever! Nothing ever happens here (Nightmare Moon doesn't count)! How is an awesome pony like him supposed to get a cutie mark here? What if it's, I dunno, slaying dragons? Or being a fashion model? Or I dunno... something cool! He'll be a blank flank until something like this happens! That doesn't mean he's lame. Heck, I r-... r... I res... ugh..." She held back the gag reflex and forced herself to finish the cursed word. "I respect him! Not like, like him, but more like like respect like him and... ugh, you know what I mean!"

Silver Spoon looked at her friend for a while longer, wondering what happened to old Diamond Tiara and wished she didn't change back too soon. She wiped her tears away and smiled.
"Thanks, Tiara."

"You're welcome. Now come on," she grabbed Silver Spoon and lead her away from school "we got a lot of work to do before Rumble becomes your special somepony."

Silver Spoon gladly followed Tiara along the way, until something hit her and she stopped.
"W-wait, what do you mean a lot of work?"

Diamond Tiara stopped as well and faced Silver Spoon. She sighed heavily and looked her in the eyes.
"Sil, I'm your friend. I didn't say a word when you messed my mane and coat and I don't mind it when you take pity on those filthy blank flanks. So hear me out when I tell you this..." she took a breath and announced "you suck at seduction!"

Something cracked in the distance.
A wall of some kind.
A wall called confidence.
Inside a gray fillies mind.

Diamond Tiara coughed as she started explaining.
"First of all, those perfumes are disgusting! Are you trying to poison him? Just use the actual love-poison (I saw it in a movie once)! Two, what's a prowess? I like your mane? Who talks like that? Three, observed you from afar? That's like, a creepy stalkery stuff! Gosh, I hope he didn't see you, I would DIE if my friend was called a stalker! And four, like, stop being all shy and weak around him all the time, Sil!"

"B-but..."

"No buts! He's playing with fillies like, all the time! If you don't act now, he'll start dating one of Cutie Mark Crusaders!" The fillies shivered at the thought. Such a good colt, wasted on talentless foals. Travesty!

Silver Spoon's eyes narrowed. She nodded.
"You're right! I need to do something! Diamond Tiara, you need to teach me! Teach me how to make him my special somepony!"

Diamond Tiara smiled smug. Naive, controllable and loyal. That was the Silver Spoon she knew and loved. With that said, they left the school ground to begin their scheming.

Rumble shivered. Must have been wind.

"If Rumble is too awesome to get a cutie mark in Ponyville, does that mean that Cutie Mark Crusaders..."

"No, they're a bunch of dweebs!"

Silver Spoon hummed and nodded.

Author's Note

I think Diamond Tiara is by far the most complex character I wrote in my entire fanfiction career.

Or maybe not. You be the judge!

One more bonus to go.

Bonus #2,5: Bunnies no more

"Did you mean what you said earlier? About the bunnies? Or did you say that only to not hurt me?"

"Pfft, Sil, you know me better than that. Why would I lie to you?"

"Oh, ok." The filly nodded and they walked a bit longer in silence. "Can I have that drawing back?"

"Yeah, sure, just..." Diamond Tiara stopped. Her eyes shot wide as a realization hit her.

Lunch was drawing itself longer than he imagined, so he rushed back to the school playground, hoping he's not too late. Once Chowder got there, Rumble was nowhere to be seen. Assuming his friend was going to be late, he shrugged and sat down on the bench. He unfolded the candy bar he brought, licked his lips and smelled the chocolate delight. Other than almonds, he smelled something else. Something really nice and pleasant. Ignoring the snack for a moment, he looked around for the source, finding it to be a folded piece of paper lying on the grass. He picked it up and started reading.

"Dear Rumble, I've been watching you fro--..."

He couldn't even finish the first sentence, as the letter was violently swiped from his hooves by none other, than tiara-wearing pink filly. Diamond Tiara ripped the letter to pieces, rolled the remains in a ball, ate it, chewed for a while before swallowing, showing a great disgust on her face.

He blinked.

Diamond Tiara held a hoof at her mouth to prevent herself from vomiting. Apparently, eating paper with perfumes was not healthy for a growing foal.
"Drat, I forgot I wasn't supposed to eat bunnies!" She whined as her tummy made strange noises.

Chowder blinked again. He raised his hoof and opened his mouth, but Diamond Tiara beat him to it.
"Nopony will believe you!" She said, then turned away and left.

He blinked for the third time.
"...what?"

"Hey Chowder, sorry it took so long..." Rumble stopped, as he noticed his friend standing on the playground, doing nothing other than occasionally blinking. "You alright?"

Chowder turned to him. Many questions and words were on his mind. He asked the one that was nagging him the most.
"What's a prowiss?"

Author's Note

And that's why ponies don't eat bunnies.

Or something.

Bet you thought I forgot about the lost letter, eh? Sorry, this writer plans ahead all the time. If he spent half the time from planning on writing, he'd be already halfway his next story... what? I'm not allowed to brag without also insulting myself at the same time.

Also, this is the definite end of Thunder and Lightning, unless I think of something else. Thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time.