The last thunderbolt

Ever since Whitemane made Ponyville his home, he's been having way more fun than ever before in his life, mostly spending time with Rainbowdash. Not even Cheerilee could count the amount of races they've had. Since Whitemane was the only rival for Rainbowdash there was no other pony she enjoyed racing with, and he with her. While racing they talked about a lot of things, and soon afterwards Whitemane knew about everything there was to know about Ponyville. One thing that Rainbow never understood was how a pony so fast has never made a sonic rainboom or something like that...at least that's what Whitemane told her.

For some reason there was one topic Whitemane never really wanted to talk about and tried to avoid- the Wonderbolts. Rainbowdash never really paid much attention to that and mostly was cool with it, but eventually she got tired of it, after all, they were the best flyers in whole of Equestria and Rainbowdash was a real fan of them, and she wasn't really fond of Whitemanes attitude towards them.

One day Rainbowdash decided to bring Whitemane to Cloudsdale and show him around and he didn't turn down the offer. While walking around Cloudsdale Rainbowdash remembered that the Wonderbolts are gonna pass through Cloudsdale in a couple of minutes as they usually do at midday.

                                                                                      ***

"Hey Whitemane, how come you never want to talk about the Wonderbolts?" Asked Rainbowdash in a calm voice.

"Coz i don't want to" Quickly replied Whitemane.

"But why?" Asked Rainbowdash, slightly raising her voice.

"Well..." Whitemane paused for a moment to think of a good reply for the curious pony. "Lets just say that i might have done something of which the Wonderbolts might not be to happy about." Said whitemane in a humorous  while scratching the back of his head.

"Aha! I knew it!" Shouted Rainbowdash. "I knew there was something more than just a bad mood. You don't want the Wonderbolts to see you, do you?" Asked Rainbowdash with a mad expression while looking right into Whitemanes eyes which were covered by his sunglasses.

Whitemane paused for a very short moment and replied in a calm voice " I guess you could say that".

"Well it's too late now, they're already here" Said Rainbowdash in a loud, excitement filled voice while pointing her hoof up to the air, in the direction from which the Wonderbolts flew in shortly after she finished speaking.

Whitemane barely even understood what she was talking about when the Wonderbolts had already passed by over his head, all he could do is follow them with his eyes and loudly swallow the spit in his mouth.

"Getting a little nervous, aren't we?" Said Rainbowdash in a mocking voice.

"No, of course not. Why would i be nervous?" Asked Whitemane, trying to remain cool.

"Ohh, i don't know, you did say you didn't want them to see you just a second ago, didn't you?"  Asked Rainbowdash in a slightly sarcastic voice.

"It's no big deal, it was something that happened a really long time ago, i'm sure they..." Whitemane paused as he saw the leader of the Wonderbolts stop in mid air, leaving her group and gazing right towards him.

"Stormwing? Is that you?" Asked Spitfire so loud that even they could hear it.

"Stormwing? I don't know who that is, but it sure sounds cool. You must have confused Whitemane for some other pony Spitfire." Shouted Rainbowdash back to Spitfire. "Right Whitemane?" asked Rainbowdash turning to Whitemane. "Whitemane?..." Rainbowdash looked around and couldn't find him anywhere. "Where did you go?"

Spitfire noticed Whitemane slipping away but didn't follow him. She flew down to talk to Rainbowdash.

"Did you say his name was... "Whitemane"?"

"Yeah. Why? And who's this Stormwing dude? Rainbowdash raised her voice higher and higher with each question "And why did he leave? Why doesn't he want you to see him?"

"Listen, just help me find him, it's important" Said Spitfire emphasizing the last two words.

"Why? Has he done something bad to you? I'm not selling out a friend, he's a good pony i know him, whatever he did i'm sure he.."

Spitfire interrupted Rainbowdash before she could finish her sentence "He hasn't done anything bad, i just need to talk to him"

"Why? If he hasn't done anything bad than how come he's hiding from you?" Something ain't right here." Rainbowdash noticed Spitifre lowering her head and asked "What's going on?"

Spitfire paused for a bit, as if trying to keep something from Rainbowdash.

"What did he do?" Asked Rainbowdash in a calm voice, but all Spitfire did was turn her head away, so Rainbowdash shouted "Tell me!"

"He saved my life! Happy now?" Said Spitfire in a loud and slightly annoyed voice.

""What?" Asked Rainbowdash in a surprised voice  "How? When?..."

"Just take me to him already, will you?!" Shouted Spitfire expressing her unwillingness to answer to her questions and after that calmly adding " I'll explain everything once we find him, ok?"

Rainbowdash calmed her excitement and made a serious look on her face and said "Right! Lets go"

"Thank you" Said Spitfire and followed the ponys lead.

                                                                                      ***

While they were talking Whitemane made his way back home and was sitting on the edge of his bed and thinking with a worried look upon his face. It wasn't long before Rainbowdash and Spitfire arrived.

The first one to get there was Spitfire

"Stormwing!" Shouted Spitfire as she flew in through the window and landed on the floor.

"Huh? Oh, damn it! I knew i should have closed the window" Said Whitemane with a grin on his face. "So what now? Have you come to put me behind bars?" Whitemane laughed.

"Heroes don't belong in jail Stormwing." Said Spitfire as if admiring whitemane.

"What hind of hero kills his own team?" I'm a betrayer and a murderer...not a hero" shouted Whiteamne.

"You were the one who got betrayed Stormwing. You did the right thing" Said spitfire in a calm and soothing voice while moving closer to Whitemane.

"Of that i have no doubts" Said Whitemane looking up to Spitfire. "But that does not change the fact that i'm a cold blooded murderer!" Stood up and shouted Whitemane in a voice so furious it made Spitfire back up.

"Stormwing..." Said Spitfire in a sad voice, scared of Whitemane.

"And don't call me that!" Yelled Whitemane, interrupting Spitfires sentence. "Those times are long gone and no one calls me that anymore"

"You're scaring me Storm....i mean... Whitemane.  What has happened to you?" Asked Spitfire in a sad and worried voice.

"Nothing." Whitemane paused for a short moment and calmed down "I'm sorry Spitfire...i'm so sorry" Said Whitemane and went back to the edge of his bed, sat down and laid his head low and grabbed with his head with hooves. "It's just that...i...i..." Whitemane couldn't find a word to express what he felt inside of him.

as they went on talking, Rainbows impatience kicked in and she couldn't bare being stuck in a conversation about which she knew nothing about for so long and finally interrupted " Okay, can some pony, PLEASE explain what's going on here?" Rainbow raised her voice and continued " Who got killed? and why? and why do you call him "Stormwing", huh?"

As Rainbow ranted, it seemed like no pony really paid attention to her words, so she Shouted "WELL!?"

"Calm down Rainbow!" yelled Spitfire back to Rainbow.  "I'll explain everything." Said Spitfire afterwards, in a quiet voice while walking up to a chair and sitting down.

"Yeah well, you'd better!" Said Rainbow in impatiently and crossed her hooves while standing still and angrily looking at Spitfire. Spitfire was looking at the window so she didn't notice Rainbows angry face.

Whitemane was sitting still and didn't make a sound.

With a grim look upon her face, Spitfire recalled the old memories in her mind. After a short pause she took a deep breath and started slowly retelling the entire story of what happened back then.

Before she actually started the story she asked something to Rainbow "I assume Whitemane hasn't told you about something called "The Thunderbolts"?

"The Thunderbolts?" Asked the confused pony.

"They were a group of fliers just like the Wonderbolts once. The only difference between the two was that instead of a bright spectrum, they left a dark one behind them when flying."

"How come i've never heard of em before?" Asked Rainbowdash, having suspicions  of Spitfires words.

"Because they just weren't as popular as us, well duh!" Said Spitfire back to Rainbow in a mocking voice.

"Hmph." Muttered Rainbowdash.

"Khe, khem." Spitfire cleared her throat and continued "As i was saying..The Thunderbolts were a group of fliers very similar to the Wonderbolts. We used to compete against them back in our school days."

"But what does any of this have to do with Whitemane?" Interrupted Rainbow.

"He was one of the fliers in the Thunderbolts, the best flier, might i add." Said Spitfire in a flattering voice while looking upon Whitemane who was still sitting silently.

"Of that i have no doubts." Added Rainbowdash. "From what i've seen, i bet the Thunderbolts would beat you every time if they had Whitemane with them."

"Not exactly..." Said Spitfire in an unsure voice.

"Huh?" Asked Rainbow, confused from Spitfires answer.

"We used to beat them every time we raced, but it definitely wasn't Whitemanes fault. By the way, did i mention that back then he called himself "Stormwing"?" Asked Spitfire to Rainbow, even though she already knew the answer.

"No..." Said Rainbow in a slightly ironic voice. "That explains a lot."

"Yes well, anyways...The reason why the Thunderbolts used to loose every time was because of that terrible team captain they had- "Hurricanetail". His horrible flying strategies downed the entire team!" Said spitfire in a loud voice. "Why, i bet if Stormwing would have lead the team, they would have won leaving us miles behind. Ain't that right Stormwing?" Asked Spitfire, turning to Whitemane again.

"Whatever you say, Spitty." Said Whitemane with a wide smile on his face and laughed.

"I thought i told you never to call me that again!" yelled the annoyed pony.

"Spitty? hehe."  Laughed Rainbow.

"We used to give each other nick names back at school" Explained Spitfire.

"Let me guess, his nick name was "Ace"?" Asked Rainbow while smiling and thinking it was very clever.

"How did you know?" Asked Spitfire wondering how the hell could have she known that.

"He told me his nick name back at school was Ace. What i don't get is- How can some pony be so talented at two things at once?" Asked Rainbow turning to Whitemane.

Spitfire also looked upon Whitemane.

"What can i say? I'm a badass, hehe" Said Whitemane with a grin on his face.

"Maybe if you're such a badass then perhaps you would like to continue the story?" Said Spitfire sarcastically.

"Naah, i'm fine with just listening" Said Whitemane just as sarcastically.

"Right, so as i was saying..." Spitfire suddenly widened her eyes and sharply looked upon Whitemane. "Wait a minute...Why so cheerful suddenly?" Asked Spitfire shocked by Whitemanes sudden cheerful attitude.

"Coz i remembered your nick name, ha ha ha!" Said Whitemane and laughed loudly. Rainbowdash joined him and started laughing too. After they stopped laughing, they looked upon Spitfire and saw a furious look upon her eyes.

"He he...right...sorry" Said Whitemane and remained silent.

Spitfire still glanced at Whitemane for a short moment, then calmed her furious look and continued "Right, so as i was saying...The leader of the Thunderbolts was a complete moron and was also impatient, rude and just plain mean. Whenever the Thunderbolts would loose a match would loose a match he would just walk through the halls of the school screaming, kicking everything in his way and pushing every pony that would get in his way aside. God, that pony really had some anger problems!" Said Spitfire in a disgusted voice.

"And what's weird is that despite the countless of looses they suffered, he would never change his strategies or hear any of his teammates opinions. Added Spitfire.

Whitemane interrupted and continued from where Spitfire left the story " He wanted to win so badly, he was willing to sacrifice anything just for one single win. And he knew that if they can't compete against the Wonderbolts then he had to make sure they don't." Said Whitemane, leaving the two ponies confused and looking upon him with wide eyes.

After a short moment of starring at them Whitemane continued "What i mean is- He wanted to make sure that the Wonderbolts wouldn't ever race again...he wanted to get rid of them for good!" Said Whitemane bringing the two ponies out of their trance and drawing their attention.

"He wanted to kill them?!" Asked Rainbow surprised by Whitemanes words, still unable to believe her ears.

"Yes." Answered Whitemane. "He devised a plan to kidnap the entire team while they were getting dressed right before the next race and then bring them over to the Everfree forest all tied up and slowly assassinate them 1 by 1. Unfortunately, the rest of the team was nearly just as desperate as him, and so they agreed. I was the only one who refused to participate in the event. I still recall his anger after i said i wouldn't be a part of his plan."

Whitemane imitated Hurricanetails words "Coward! Traitor! DESERTER! you were never any good to the team! Get out of my sight you pathetic excuse for a towel boy!"

"And so i did. What choice did i have? But i wasn't just going to leave the Wonderbolts for certain death. Luckily i already knew the place and time when they were going to strike. What i didn't know, was that the race was planned a little earlier that day, and so when i tried to find them and warn them it was already too late." Said Whitemane in a voice full of shame.

"It wasn't your fault Whitemane. Stop blaming yourself! You still got there in time didn't you? Said Spitfire, trying to cheer him up.

"So it seems. When i realized that the race was early that day, the Wonderbolts had already been pulled over to the Everfree forest. Without further delay i rushed over to there." Said Whitemane while imitating himself flying.

"And you got there just in time too." continued Spitfire  "I remember we were being pulled over unable to see anything because we all had bags on our heads. When we finally got there and they pulled the bags of our heads i was furious.

                                                                                             ***

Spitfire retold her emotions back at Everfree forest after the bag got pulled of her head

"Alright, what's the big idea? If this is your idea of a joke then i don't...." Spitfire focused her attention to the captain of the Thunderbolts. "Hurricane? What do you think you're doing? Untie me now!" She yelled at Hurricane.

Spitfire repeated the dialogue she had with Hurricanetail.

"Now, now dearie, don't be to feisty. Wouldn't want you to ruin your precious mane before your surprise now would we?"

"Wh..What surprise?" Nervously asked Spitfire.

Spitfires eyes suddenly were wide open and full of fear as she saw Hurricanetail pull out a sharpened knife and point it towards her neck.

"No! You can't be serious! Not even you would do such a thing!"

"Oh wouldn't i? Would you look at that boys, the captain of the Wonderbolts is teaching me how to live"

The rest of the Thunderbolts laughed in a loud and sinister laugh.

"Now then my dear, where were we?" Said Hurricane turning back to Spitfire and drawing the knife near to her throat.

"HELP!" Desperately shouted Spitfire.

"Shh, no sense in shouting. No one can hear you here" Said Hurricane in a quiet voice. Something suddenly drew his attention away from Spitfire.

(back to the present)

"And that's when Whitemane arrived, storming through the woods...i still remember his shout as if it was just yesterday" Said Spitfire.

(back to the past story)

"I BEG TO DIFFER!"  A loud shout echoed through the entire forest. The voice sounded nothing like Whitemane. More like some kind of an angry spirit of the woods. but it was him.

"What the?!" Were the last words of the leader of the Thunderbolts

A black and white colored cone surrounded by lightning stormed through the team of Thunderbolts with unimaginable speed. The entire team got electrocuted and started shaking surrounded by an electric force field. they weren't able to say a word even though they were still alive for a short moment. It wasn't long before they all fell to the ground one at a time and stopped shaking as their souls left their bodies.

(back to the present)

"I saw the entire thing, i was the only one who did since the rest of the Wonderbolts still had bags over their heads" Explained Spitfire "Shortly after, Whitemane came back, pulled a string that was holding the ropes together and we were able to get free. Whitemane looked upon the lifeless bodies of his former team.

Then he looked upon his own hooves and yelled "What have i done?!"

"Even with his sunglasses on it wasn't hard to tell that he was about shed a tear as he realized what he has done."

"He then turned to me  and said "I'm sorry" and flew away without even giving me a chance to thank him for saving my life. I thought i'd never see him again, but it seems our paths have crossed once more." Spitfire said happily. Then she walked over to Whitemane grabbed his hooves and looked deep into his eyes as she said the words she had wanted to say for so long "Thank you, Stormwing....you saved the lives of me and my entire team."

Whitemane didn't say a word, he could only glance upon the joyful and ever so excited pony who had tears in her eyes...he just didn't know what to say.

After a short moment Spitfire spoke again "Thank you."

This time Whitemane replied " You're welcome"

They stared at each other until Rainbowdash interrupted them  "WOAH!" gasped Rainbowdash "you shocked them to death just by passing through? that's so freaking awesome!...wait a minute...Ha! I knew it! I knew you'd be able to preform something similar to my sonic rainboom...you can do a...erm...an electric cone! Said Rainbow in a voice filled with excitement, as if trying to express her dedication towards the subject.

after a short moment she instantly stopped cheering and added "Wait, a cone? Wasn't there supposed to be an explosion or something?"

"It was...and it's called a sonic electrocosion by the way...at least that's what my brother called it" Said Whitemane suddenly becoming sad again and laying his head down.

"YOUR BROTHER!?" Shouted the two ponies in high voices, astonished by Whitemanes words.

                                                                                                 ***

"You never told me you had a brother." Said Spitfire.

"Yeah, you'd better start explaining buster!" Added Rainbowdash.

"Yes, i do have a brother" Confessed Whitemane. After taking a deep breath he continues explaining "His name was "Blackmane" we grew up together in a town called "Coltifornia". Our parents died when we were still young, so we grew up together, always looking out for each other." Whitemane smiled as he remembered the days he used to spend with his brother

"We've been through so much together, i still remember him helping me reach the apples from the higher branches of an apple tree, and how i used to help him fly when he had injured his wing. I even remember how we found out what was poison joke. The only difference between me and him was that my mane was white and black and his was black and white, that's the only way some pony could tell us apart. When we found some poison joke, it changed our manes so ponies would always mistakes one of us for the other. We would laugh ever so cheerful when we told the others that they've been mistaking us for the entire day."

As Whitemane finished his sentence he laughed and after a short while he added "Ah, those were the days..."

His cheer soon turned into sadness and sorrow.

Spitfire quickly noticed his grim look and asked "Whitemane?...what's wrong?

"I bet you're wondering, why i never told you about him before, and where is he." Said Whitemane slowly and sadly

The two ponies stood silent as Whitemane was mustering his strenght to tell them the sad truth. It wasn't hard to see by the look on his face that this won't be a story with a happy ending.

"I remember you telling us about how you made your sonic rainboom Rainbowdash...twice, and we saw the rainboom the first time you did it from our town. Ever since that day we've been trying to make one ourselves . My brother was the only one of the two of us who ever did it...very similar like your second time, he made it trying to save a friend from falling to his imminent death, and save him he did, breaking the cone and causing the explosion right in the middle of the town, right before catching his friend."

"I was right there in the town when the explosion happened, i saw it and smiled ever so cheerfully as i saw my brothers proof of success moving towards me. As the explosion engulfed me i thought i would feel like in a warm and rainy day and hear thunder in my ears. Instead i got hit by lightning and electricity ran through my blood, shaking my body.

Whitemane paused for a few seconds as he remembered the horrible event. "Brrr" He started shaking as he recalled the pain he felt back then.

"The pain i felt as my body was shaking, immobilizing me completely...it was unbearable. But somehow i survived it and the electricity left my body and my mane turned whiter and blacker than ever before. I guess there was a bit of lightning in me from my birth, so my body could bare the electricity that struck me."

Whitemanes face suddenly turned so grim and pale as if he was about to die. The two ponies stood with their hoofs over their mouths as they awaited for him to continue.

"What happened then was not meant for any ponys eyes...i thought that the electricity only hit me...damn was i wrong. When the cloud dispersed into thin air i walked across the town in hopes of finding my brother. Suddenly i saw one of my friends collapsing to the ground and shaking as electricity coursed through him. When i walked up i didn't know what had happened to him...i had never seen death before in my life. I kept poking him and jumping around him and yelling "Wake up!" but to no avail."

"As i turned around i saw every pony that i had ever known just laying lifelessly  on the ground. I started walking through the town in hopes of finding some pony that could explain to me why was every pony asleep. When i walked through the town i didn't find any pony who could still move and nor did i find my brother. I searched the town again and again, but found nothing except sleeping ponies. I went to the edge of the town once more and looked up to the sky in hopes of seeing any trails of my brother. unfortunately that was the last day i ever saw him"

"I saw nothing...then i started wondering "what if no pony will ever wake up?" I fell down to my knees and then collapsed to the ground and started crying loudly. What else could i do? i was still just a foal...a foal without a family or friends....or any pony."

The two ponies still stood silent. They shared the pain that Whitemane felt in his heart from hearing his grim story but couldn't say a word. It looked like Spitfire wanted to say something but simply couldn't interrupt his story. So Whitemane continued.

"I cried for so long, and no pony would hear my cries...usually when i cried my brother would always walk up to me, raise my chin up and and say "Why are you crying?" And the way he asked it would always make me forget why i was crying and would cheer up instantly. But now there wasn't any pony here who could do that to me."

A spark of hope returned to Whitemanes voice as he went on with his story. "But then as i raised my head and saw something spark up in the sky. The spark was of white and black color, and i knew it could only mean one thing. "Brother!" i said to myself as i started flying towards the direction of the spark, abandoning the only place i've ever called home forever. Right then i only cared about finding my brother. I flied for days, not stopping for anything or any pony, until i finally just ran out of breath and collapsed to the ground unable to move"

"I knew that my end was near and no electricity in my body could save me this time, i only wished i had just slept with the rest of the ponies back at my home. My eyes were already closing by themselves, but then i saw a blurry image of a pony walk up to me. I didn't know who it was, all i saw was a blurry vision, but who ever that was, he saved my life...perhaps it was my brother..who knows."

"I woke up in a town called Mareington and i had no idea how did i get there. But a family there took care of me and raised me as their own child. Soon afterwards i joined a local school and became a part of the Thunderbolts. But i made a promise to myself, never to try anything like what my brother did back in Coltifornia."

Whitemanes story was over and now he spoke to the two ponies that gazed upon him with wide open eyes, even Rainbowdash looked like she was about to shed a tear.

"Now do you see why i was so frustrated? Because i broke a promise to myself when i made that lightning cone...and if i hadn't stopped it in time then the Wonderbolts might have been electrocuted too!" Shouted Whitemane but not stopping his sentence "And why did i never speak about my brother? Because he might not actually even be alive! There! I've said everything! Are you happy now?" in a voice full of anger yelled Whitemane at the two shocked ponies.

Having said everything he's been holding in him, Whitemane sharply stood up from the edge of his bed and slowly walked over to the open window and looked to the sky. "Sometimes i still hope to see a spark in the sky...i know he's out there, i know he's alive...and some day...i'm going to find him." Whitemane lowered his sunglasses and gave a clear look to the sky. It was so long since he's actually looked upon the world without seeing everything half black.

Rainbow and Spitfire looked upon each other as if trying to tell each other to say something to Whitemane with eye contact, but before one of them could say anything, Whitemane said one more thing, which drawed their attention "I bet you're wondering "what's with the sunglasses?" Rainbow and Spitfire looked at each other once more, both wondering whether they should say "yes, kinda" or just wait for Whitemane to tell it anyways. It wasn't long before he did

"I forgot to mention, that after i fainted from trying to catch my brother and something brought me to safety, i woke up with these sunglasses on my eyes. Ever since that day i've been considering them as a gift from my brother and have barely ever taken them off." Said Whitemane putting his sunglasses back on and turning around and giving a short look upon both of the ponies.

After a short moment of looking at each other, one of the two mares finally decided to brake the chain of silence " Wow...you made me regret ever asking about your brother." Said Rainbowdash in a very sad voice so quietly that the other two ponies could barely hear a word she said.

"We're sorry Whitemane. If only we had known, we would never have asked. Such a thing must be really painful to remember." Said Spitfire, hoping that Whitemane would understand her care.

"Was it really that hard to tell by the look upon my face?" Said Whitemane sarcastically, but shortly after changing his accent to a more serious one. "Nevertheless, you couldn't have known, so don't blame yourselves."

"Yeah but..." Rainbowdash tried to say something but got interrupted by Whitemanes loud voice.

"What's said, is said! We shall speak of this no more!" Said Whitemane in a voice worthy of a king.

Whitemanes words nearly made the two mares back up from him, but they stood still. Whitemanes little speech was just what they needed to wake up from their trance of sorrow.

For a moment there, Spitfire did not understand why Whitemane was suddenly so furious, but then she just coped with it and tried to speak on as if though none of this would have happened "So what happens now? Asked spitfire.

"Nothing" Answered Whitemane and went back to his bed, only this time he laid down with both his front and back hoofs crossed. it seemed like he just didn't give a damn about what happens next. "This is the part where we all go our seperate ways. I stay here until a new day dawns, Rainbowdash goes hang out with some other pony for the rest of the day and you go back to your Wonderbolts...i bet they're worried sick about you." Said Whitemane with such an expression on his face that it just wasn't possible if he was happy, sad or just plain cold.

"So we're  just gonna leave and pretend like nothing ever happened today?" Asked Rainbowdash, disgusted by Whitemanes careless attitude.

"Yup!" Replied Whitemane in a emotionless voice. "that's what i said."

"But don't you want to at least...." Said Rainbowdash, suddenly interrupted by a loud "Nope" from Whitemane.

"Not even..." And again a loud "Nope" Interrupted Rainbows sentence.

"UGHH!" Grunted Rainbowdash, annoyed by Whitemanes interference on her sentences. "Why won't you listen?" Shouted Rainbowdash angrily looking upon Whitemane and gripping her hooves.

Whitemane got up and sharply answered in a voice just as loud "Why won't i listen? Why won't you listen? There is nothing to talk about, nothing else i can tell you, and nothing you could say that would make me feel better. If you want to stay here until dawn then be my guest, if not then i'd suggest you'd leave!" After he stopped yelling, Whitemane sat on the edge of his bed again and covered his face with his hooves.

Rainbowdash gave one last angry look upon Whitemane and then turned around and started walking towards the window. "Lets just go Spitfire. We're not getting anything out of him...at least not today."

"Wait!" Shouted Whitemane in a stressed voice raising his right hoof up and pointing it towards Rainbowdash.

"I'm...sorry."

"Yeah well, keep your apologies to yourself, me and Spitfire are leaving. Right Spitfire?" Said Rainbowdash turning her eyes to Spitifre who wasn't paying too much attention to her at the moment. "Spitfire?" Asked Rainbowdash after not receiving a reply from the still standing pony.

"Wait Raibowdash. Let him finish" Said Spitfire to Rainbowdash and after that turning to Whitemane "What was that Whitemane?" She asked.

"I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry!" Said Whitemane, with the carelessness having left his voice.

"Yeah well, sorry isn't enough! Lets go Spitfire." Rainbowdash said in a cold voice and started moving towards the window once more.

"Wait Rainbowdash, let him finish." Said Spitfire trying to stop Rainbow from leaving, but to no avail, Rainbow had already left. Spitfire saw Rainbowdash fly away and stared angrily towards the direction she flew off in. Spitfire was about to fly after her, until Whitemane spoke.

"Wait! Let her go. She has every right to be angry." Said Whitemane, drawing Spitfires attention away from the window and towards him.

"That doesn't mean she can't hear you out." Replied Spitfire refusing to approve of Rainbows actions.

"True, but it was still my fault that she even wanted to leave. Clearly Rainbow doesn't wish to speak to me for now, but right now, i'm talking to you." Spitfire was all ears to what Whitemane was about to say. "Can you forgive me for my carelessness?" Asked Whitemane in a voice full or regret.

"Ha!" Loudly laughed Spitfire. "You're asking the person who owns you her life to forgive you about something as unimportant as a simple careless attitude?" Asked Spitfire laughing even more.

"It's still not polite" Said Whitemane with a smile on his face and laughed with Spitfire.

After the two ponies stopped laughing Spitfire asked in a joyful mood "So what now?"

"I don't know" Replied Whitemane also enjoying the conversation.

"I've yet to repay you for saving my life, and i'm not a pony who likes to be in debt." Said Spitfire in a serious but also cheerful accent. "Got any ideas? Anything i could help you with to repay the debt? But please don't make me be your servant or something." Spitfire started shaking. just the thought of such a thing seemed disgusting to her.

"Don't worry" Said Whitemane and laughed "I don't want some pony wearing a dress and following my every footstep, bringing me a bowl of fruits and asking "anything else your highness?" every five minutes" Said Whitemane barely finishing his sentence before laughing out loud for nearly half a minute.

Spitfire also laughed but nowhere near as loud or long as Whitemane did. "Yeah, that would be pretty awkward." Said Spitfire and continued to laugh. When the laughing finally ceased Spitfire asked "So then...got anything particular in mind?"

Whitemane didn't think for long, for he already knew what he wanted "Actually there is one favor i'd like to ask from you"

                                                                                                       ***

On the next day the Wonderbolts were passing through Cloudsdale as they do every day. Only this time Whitemane was the watching them fly with a very satisfied expression, no longer hiding from them. As the Wonderbolts flew over Whitemanes head one of them left the group, circled through the air a bit and landed next to Whitemane and stared at him with a wide smile and her teeth shinning brightly.

"Still mad at me for yesterdays little incident? Or have you forgiven me? Asked Whitemane in a cheerful mood.

Rainbowdash stuttered for a bit and replied "eerm, I, might or might not have forgiven you." Said Rainbow and looked away from Whitemane, closing her eyes and imitating a careless face, trying to hide her true emotions. She peeked at Whitemane after a second, and he was still smiling. Rainbowdash couldn't hide her true emotions for long and screamed from joy "YES!" Then Rainbowdash jumped at Whitemane and gave him a big hug "Thank you, thank you, thank, you thank you! You're the best"

Rainbows instincts were telling her that she should just let go and act cool as she always did in these kind of situations, coz some pony might be looking at her and that might ruin her reputation. But for the first time in her life, she simply didn't care for reputation. This pony made her lifes dream come true and even wanted every pony to know how much she loved Whitemane for what he did for her. And Whitemane hugged her just as sincere.

Not many ponies noticed the two but there was one who was looking at them from above. "How fares my new Wonderbolt?" Asked Spitfire loud enough to attract the attention of the two ponies. Spitfire giggled as the two ponies smiled back at her. "Hurry up or you'll miss your first flight training Rainbowdash!" Yelled Spitfire but not roughly, more like trying to encourage Rainbowdash to follow her. Spitfire flew off to join back up with her team.

"well, gotta go, hehe." Said Rainbowdash as the two ponies stopped hugging each other.

"Make em proud, my little rainbow!" Said Whitemane raising his hoof and giving a sharp and encouraging look right into Rainbows eyes.

"Yoooouu bet cha!" Said Rainbow, as assured of herself as she's ever been, and flew off to join the Wonderbolts that were nearly out of of Cloudsdale already. she caught up fast enough and laned between Soarin and Spitfire who gladly made room for her and smiled at each other as they pushed on through the sky.

And as the Wonderbolts flew away, Whitemane could only glance and feel happy for Rainbowdash as she dashed through the clouds with her newest friends.

"I know you will Dashie...i know you will."

                                                                                     To be continued....