The Forgotten Elementsby Eternal DawnChaptersChapter 1: Thunderstruck Book 1: Rebirth of Legends Past, Part 1Chapters 2 & 3: Reborn Anew, Dark Days Past (Book 1)Chapter 4: Dreaming of RealityChapter 5: Blessed With Rainbow (Book 1)Chapter 1: Thunderstruck Book 1: Rebirth of Legends Past, Part 1Lightning Chapter 1: Thunderstruck It was another raining night in this hell, not that anypony expected it to be different. The weather always seemed to coincide its best efforts with the masters harshest treatments. The thunder rumbled above the wooden structure, a mere shanty hastily constructed by its inhabitants. Tonight seemed like another storm to topple this sorry excuse for living space yet again. Why did they even let them try and build these? And further yet, why did they allow them to stand? They must’ve found it funny, worthless ponies like them struggling to make their lives better in hell designed just for them. But he couldn’t blame them for it. He would laugh too, in their shoes. He glared at the dark clouds above, who seemed to respond with their own glare back as an arc of blue lightning shot across. This land was truly strange. How many places on this planet could say they saw 7 different colors of lightning? And each deadlier, rarer, and purer than the last. It probably had do something with them being Elementals. Perhaps this was one of the oddities that caused their normal pony counterparts to force them out oh so long ago. It was one the few things he remembered from history class. And he didn’t remember much, years in this forsaken place doing nothing but the hardest of labors and being forced to live with the disgrace that had placed him here all hours of the day. He even erased his own name from memory, as repeating it only brought the memories of his fathers anger towards him. The rolling thunders of the skies beyond him seemed more than happy to help the dark flashbacks begin. 11 years ago… He was only 6 at this time, returning to his bedroom once again after school. If only he’d known then how bad the day was to become. Not that he had many bad days. Being one of the Archduke’s sons came with so many benefits that having a bad day actually required effort. From his saddlebags he took out his notebooks, placing them on his desk and arranging them to be parallel with his wingtip as he fished a pencil from the bags as well. Gently placing them beside the chair, he jumped up, and began to study the notes. “Six Elements, Fire, Water, Rock, Ice, Air, and Lightning.” He moved his eyes down, to the first question that was to pose as homework for them. “Which element are you? Lightning.” He happily wrote that as his answer, as it was blatantly obvious. As full of pride and themselves as they were, being a Lightning Pegasus and not knowing was akin to trying to push a mountain. It simply was not possible. Although, he was a bit different. One of the few in the tribe born without the endowment of the element. At least, not that had been seen yet. He was the only of his brothers to have not shown their holding the element so far. Despite the concern of his advisors, his father insisted he was simply a late bloomer, and that when he did eventually bloom, he would be the strongest they have seen in their time. His father always argued this, though recently, he seemed less and less confident of his words. Even his own brothers were beginning to believe he was just a normal pegasus. While not being born with an Element in many cultures was fine, in most of the Pegasi cultures, it was pretty bad to not have it. Especially if your father was the Archduke of all ponies. Having a son who could not bear the element he bore allegiance to in the royal family was, suffice to say, an incredible disgrace to the reign of that ruler. And his father was not about to be called disgraceful. In his eyes, he’d waited long enough, and his time was up. The door to his room burst open with sudden, and violent force. There was his father, looking at him, it was almost a glare. And even stranger, several guards were with him. The young pegasus raised an eye to the sudden presence of his father, and more concerningly, the guards. “Is there a problem, father?” His question was innocent, as one would expect from a child. He was innocent, had done nothing wrong. Or so he thought. “Actually, there is. And we’re going to be taking care of it right now.” His father looked to the stallions on either side of him and nodded. Without hesitation, the entered, and seized the colt. As anypony would have done, no matter their age, he began to panic. What was his father doing? “F-father? W-what’s happening?” The colt struggled in vain against the two stallions that held him. “What’s happening is that i’m cleaning this family, and my name of the disgrace wrought upon it. You should be glad, now you won’t have to disgrace us all with your pathetic existence. Get rid of him. Now.” The colt began to squirm and resist as fiercely as he could, but the guards had no trouble at all restraining him. Tears clouded his eyes, as he looked, in disbelief, and pleading innocent eyes at his father. No, no… this wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be, could it? His father has always defended him. He would never do this! He flailed and shouted at himself to wake up. But no such thing happened. Either this was the most intense nightmare ever experienced, or it was painful reality. “Father, why? Why?” “I just told you why. You’re a useless disgrace to us all, and now we will be rid of you.” His father stepped from the doorway, and the two stallions carried him out, down the stairs, and out the Palace. Where were they taking him? And why were they walking towards the prison tower? It was a Tuesday, and for the prison tower this was a special day. Every Tuesday, slave traders gathered in the city to pay for new merchandise. This was a practice done by many of the tribes, due to financial struggles. And they were only carrying him closer. Surely they couldn’t be…? His thoughts were broken as they violently threw him into the cart. He looked up dazed, surprised, and still not believing any of this… this… madness? No, even madness could not explain this. What parent would sell their own child into slavery? The slave trader confronted the guards about this. He had no qualms with taking a child, but he didn’t have the money to pay for another. The guards happily smiled and told him quite simply, “This one’s free, courtesy of the Archduke.” The two stallions turned away and abruptly left. It was even worse… it wasn’t being sold into slavery. No, he was being given away into it. His own father didn’t even see him as worth a single bit. Not one. And that was it, the day that began hell as he knew it. Present… The thunder continued rumbling. Infact, a number of others had crowded around the window. What were they looking at, it was just a storm. One of the colts turned to him, disbelief on his face. “Kid, did you see that? did you SEE THAT!? That was White Lightning! WHITE LIGHTNING! Holy crap!” The mysticism of this seemed to be captivating everypony, to the point where the began leaving the small shanty. For once the placed actually seemed to have size to it, now that he was alone in here, everypony having left. He figured he’d had enough flashbacks for tonight. With a groan from the aching muscles in his body, a vivid protest as they tried to ground him, he forced himself up, and joined the others outside. He pushed between them, to the front of the small crowd, staring up at the enraged sky above them. His white coat was more grayish/brown from the dirt he lived in, yet his mane still retained a vivid electric blue color to it. Needless to say, this excluded him from any nighttime sneaking about, as the reflective color would have him spotted in seconds. But with everypony outside, he didn’t care. The thunder grew louder, and another white arc bounced through the clouds. The spectacle earned a gasp from the literally captive audience. Moments later, the real storm began. The wind picked up, angrily pushing against the shack in a battle of wills that nature was always going to win. The rain struck down at them like millions of liquid needles, giving them the closest thing to a shower in weeks. It was probably months, even, who knew how much time went by here? As his coat was slowly washed of the scars of his work here, he couldn’t help but feel a sort of rage boil in him. Suddenly, without any real thought, or warning, he did potentially the dumbest thing in his entire life. He spread his wings, and with a look of pure determination and apathy at the misty-electric demon above him, launched into the sky. Sure, he would likely die. He knew it. But he didn’t care, his life was nothing to want to continue, and he was ready for his judgement day. Blasting through the clouds, he hovered, waiting to be struck. Several bolts whizzed past him. He may want to die, but he wasn’t going to let nature have an easy kill. He rarely got to fly, and he was going to savor it as long as possible before his life was torn from him. He began to fly through the clouds, weaving through them, dodging natures attempts to bring him down. It wasn’t like he had no experience flying. Despite being a normal pegasus he had a surprising amount of grunt in his wings. This meant that on the occasions when a captive elemental pegasus was unable to do it, he would be tasked with flying carts of produce to their destination with armed guards making sure he didn’t try to run. This didn’t stop him from trying, and once he escaped for 2 weeks. He did almost nothing but fly during that time, until one day he was recognized, and found himself surrounded by 5 Lightning Pegasi. Quite understandably, he was returned to his masters without a fight. Now, it felt almost easy, too easy, dodging the lightning. Surely nature could do better than this? Unable to take down a worthless disgrace like himself? This storm was truly pathetic. It was then, it seemed, that the storm had read his thoughts, and accepted the challenge. From the corner of his eye, a white spark was born. He turned and looked right at it. Still, it was nothing more than a spark. He huffed at the display, and as if on cue, it suddenly charged forward into a proper lightning streak. His eyes widened, and he narrowly managed to avoid it pulling up hard. But nature wasn’t kidding when she said challenge accepted. The very same bolt, Celestia knows how, stopped, and made a sharp, angular turn and started straight at him again. What in the hell? He dodged it again, and again it turned on a dime and arced back at him. So he evaded, again, and the bolt followed, again. Getting tired of this charade, he pulled down, spiraling, and then straightening for a brief moment and pulling up, rolling over, spiraling again, and began to pitch down. He could do this all night, and he would happily do just that. But, once again, nature simply was not the joking type. The bolt diverted course again, but by this time, he was already spiraling. All he saw was the bolt as it blazed in, scraping across his chest and arcing through him. Oddly, he wasn’t dead instantly, and he noticed something stranger, it didn’t continue out of it. It was one thing to be struck, but it always continued out and to the ground, its final destination. This particular bolt, though, simply blasted volt after volt into his body for unimaginable seconds. Eventually, it ended, seeing the tail end of the bolt, if such a thing existed, and from what he saw apparently they did, slammed into him with an ear drum shattering clap. And that is when all went dark. Unconscious, he fell from the sky. Thousands of feet, before his eyes weakly opened. What… happened? Why am i falling? The confused pegasus tries to lessen his fall with his wings, but they barely move, as does the rest of his body. He wasn’t how the lightning didn’t kill him but as this speed he was going to be a pancake in seconds. He closed his eyes, as the ground drew nearer. There was a loud smack, and then nothing. “Wake up yah bastard….” He was poked in the head with a stick again. He slowly woke up, again, and more confused than ever. How in the buck was he alive? Infact, how was he not a pancake, let alone that he didn’t even have any bruises. How is this at all possible in the realm of… well, anything, to be frank. “Would ya look at that, he’s alive after all. What’s yer name you sack of shit?” “I don’t have one.” He replied with a growl, still barely able to move. “Well, we going to have fix that. You see what he got hit with up there?” “Looked like white lightning. Even though nopony has ever survived a strike from it.” Which was true, no one has ever survived being struck by white lightning. The reason being, it was the purest, deadliest, rarest form. How he survived any of this was a mystery. “Well, he did. So, we’ll name you after what couldn’t kill you, not sure how it didn’t. White Lightning, yeah i think that’ll well in the colosseum…” Colosseum… what? “If he can survive that i don’t think he can die at all. I guess it’s finally come, eh? Our big break, an unkillable Pegasus. Hehehe.” White Lightning simply stared at them, not really caring at this point what happened. Whether they killed him, tortured him, made him into mincemeat, all were fine by him at this point. “Well, Mr. Lightning, its time to begin your new career as a different kind of slave. Welcome to the world of gladiators, you runt.” The two stallions lifted him up, and threw him into a cart full of hay. Shortly thereafter they began their journey again, to a large city in the distance. Even from here, the colosseum could be seen over the walls. He had substituted one hell for another. And all through the most un-amusing joke ever, of surviving the unsurvivable. Clearly, the universe hated him alot more than he thought. Groaning at his luck yet again, he resigned to sleeping once more, as if there were anything else he could do. Chapters 2 & 3: Reborn Anew, Dark Days Past (Book 1)Chapter 2: Reborn Anew Lightning’s eyes slowly opened again, a loud groan accompanying his wake. Wherever they had taken him, he was in a sort of cell, rather sizable. And rightfully so, he wasn’t alone. The cells had at least a dozen other in it, one of them didn’t look he’d been here long.Actually, he looked more like a university student than anything. This, though raised more questions than it answered. Was he really at a gladiator arena? It sounded like one, sure, but who the hell puts a university student into combat? As he tried to stand, another, more interesting question came to mind. Who the hell sends a pegasus who can’t stand to battle? And more importantly, why is he unable to stand. As if on cue, the scholarly stallion in the corner seems to give him his answer. “What’d they say, you were struck by lightning yes?” Lightning could only manage a nod at this point, not caring to test his abilities of speech, if they still existed. “That would probably explain why you can’t move at all. Zapped all your muscle memory away. You’re going to have to re-learn how to walk, fly, pretty much everything. Have fun with that. Assuming they don’t kill you first.” Oh, great. Not going to sugar coat it. Well, at least he could rely on this guy to tell him the cold hard truth. Maybe he’d be willing to explain to those fine gentlecolts who brought him here why he’s a wasted investment. Wasted investment is probably the wrong term though, to them that means ‘target practice’. What else would they classify him as, though? His thoughts were interrupted, finally, by a banging on the steel door. He immediately looked up, and there they were, the two that brought him here. “Alright, get up you lazy shits it’s time for practice!” The door opened, and with a sigh everypony exited. Except Lightning, who rather frustratedly sat there, unable to move. “Are yah deaf or what? Get yer flank moving!” He could only manage an eyeroll at this, and, once again, the scholar was right on time to do his job of explaining things. Why, he was even so nice as to start off with a bemused chuckle. “He’s not going to be walking for a while, good luck, with that.” “What do yah mean?” “He got hit by lightning, yes?” “Yes. Why?” “His muscle memory and control is gone. He’s going to have to re-learn how to walk.” “Oh fer fucks sake. Bastard lives from a white lightning strike, but can’t walk afterwards.” “He’s lucky to be alive.” Yes, sitting here unable to move bound in chains of slavery and doomed to die for the amusements of thousands. How lucky am i? Lighting rolled his eyes again, at this point, he’d really rather them just kill him. How was he supposed to fight in the arena anyway? He’d never used a sword, and he was born without element. Sure he could obviously take a beating, but nopony is invincible. He thought, maybe, if he asked nicely they might kill him. Though more likely, is that they’d laugh and let him live to continue laughing at his misery. They were having enough joy, so he’d avoid giving them more. “And how do we get him walking again?” “Oh, you? You, my good sir, do nothing. This is the waiting game. Eventually, through sheer force, the connection broken between brain and muscle will re connect. Flying, on the other hand; well, he’ll have to learn that again. Good luck finding a trainer too, anypony can easily recognize the Banished and Disowned Prince when they see him.” Oh for fucks sake it’s been eleven years and they still recognize me. Dammit. He knew his father hated him, but for fucks sake he didn’t think the colt was that much of a bastard. Then again, its hard to think that about a father who sent his son away, for free, as a slave, without a care in the world. Actually, with that in mind, this is probably pretty generous of him. He was expecting something much more appropriate from that asshole, given how much of one he was. He had completely lost track of their conversation now, it seems they were considering killing him. The scholar, though, was given them quite an optimistic side of it. The last pony to survive a strike by such a pure form of energy, was Light Strike, and as far as anything anypony had ever seen, he was as much like a god as the Alicorns who ruled Equestria. And surely, the scholar argued, that since he had survived this, he may be some sort of spiritual successor. In which case, he would undoubtedly win them millions. Lightning laughed at this, mentally of course. If he were the essence he’d break out of here, killing everypony in the process. But it’s rather difficult for one not born of element to actually control lightning at all. So the chance of this was about as hilarious as him ever flying again. Finally, they seemed to conclude it. The scholar left, the door was slammed shut, and the slavers disappeared. Now he was left alone, in the dark, with nothing but his thoughts and memories. Chapter 3: Dark Days Past Not another of those damned dreams. Why was he even dreaming about that? Is this really the thing a twelve year old should be thinking, or dreaming about? Well, maybe, it is about that time when hormones kick in. But this, this wasn’t quite the same as that. How it happened, it was a surprise indeed. Just like she said it would be. “Come on now, it’ll be a surprise.” “I don’t want too, i’ll get in trouble if i stop working!” “You’ll get in more trouble if my father hears you hit his daughter.” “But i…” She held a whip, ready to hit herself with it. He suddenly realized just how serious she was. Unsure of any other option, he followed her into the small shed. Where he got his surprise. A small wrench to the side of the head, a kick to the ground, and she was ontop of him. A devious smile on her face, and a strange, hungry look in her eyes. As he pondered what she could be doing, he began feeling a rather pleasant sensation. And then it made sense to him what was happening, aside from her next sentence giving it away. “The surprise is, you get to be my own little playtoy. Willing or not.” The feeling only persisted, growing stronger and stronger and… He fought to cut off the memory there before he somehow got himself excited again. This place, it twisted everypony. The things their minds had conditioned themselves to enjoy, just to make the pain less. It was disgusting, yet he knew in the back of his mind he welcomed the thought, the idea of it. It was twisted, but clearly so was he. Six years he’d been here, how many more would have to endure? Chapter 4: Dreaming of RealityChapter 4: Dreaming of Reality For just over two weeks now, Lightning had been re learning his movements. Walking, trotting, running, everything. Especially combat handling, weapons, evasion, parrying, all to make him at least somewhat capable of fighting if they needed to send him in. And of course, despite all his wishing, they didn’t. Now they seemed satisfied with his performance of recent, they moved on. Time to learn to fly, again. It took them several days. They wanted a soldier pegasus to teach him, the problem being that any soldier would easily recognize the disowned Prince and turn away laughing. Naturally they searched abroad, following rumors and paper trails to nations far away. They were further annoyed when the favorite candidate happened to be thousands of miles away. On top of this, paying them would be torture. Afterall, according to documents, they’d be taking a very important pony from her duties. This alone meant it was very plausible that they could turn down the offer, no matter how much money was in it. And to their mild relief, and surprise at that, they agreed to come. Now stood Lightning, in the middle of the field outside the ‘barracks’ of his gladiator house. In the distance he could see the two who owned the house walking on either side of mare. He squinted his eyes, making out more of her form and color. She appeared quite young, her cyan coat complimenting quite nicely with a mane that would give a rainbow a fair fight in beauty, at least. His mind began to wander on to a new thought. A rainbow pony? Well, he’s a lightning pony, sort of, and they have lightning. So does a rainbow pony have rainbows? And rainbows are rather known to be the strongest forms of the pure elements, and this was first he’d ever seen or heard of a rainbow pony. So does that make her… a goddess? Not impossible, afterall, she sure as Tartarus looked like one. Lightning was pretty sure of himself that only a goddess would radiate like that in the sunlight. Quite suddenly he became aware of mare giggling as she approached him. What’s she giggling at? As he pondered the meaning of this, he lost track of her, only again remembering her being when a shadow overcame him. Lightning looked up into her magenta eyes. How the hay did i forget that this… beauty was approaching me? Lightning shook his head, or he thought he did. It certainly didn’t feel like it, but that wasn’t the point. As the cyan pegasus approached, the color of her magenta irises became distinguishable. And the attitude… the way she approached… was different as well. At first, she seemed nearly running, now, within 50 feet of him, it was a very casual very slow walk. And he… could not move? What was happening? He could sit only staring at her until she had gotten closer, right in front of him, mere inches away, he could hear her every breath. What felt like minutes passed by, as she reached a wing around him. More, then, seemed to fade into the world, until… she kissed him? The flurry of thoughts and confusions on one matter, on this, were shortly lived and replaced with those of another. “Come on, wake up, dammit!” Lightning was hit again, as he slowly woke up, gazing at the large pegasus who glared through into his soul. Wounded as he was from the blows, or… he thought he was. Or, he should be anyway. Recently, things like pain and fatigue had been becoming less and less a burden to him. His old teacher was right, the only way to truly understand what it feels like having an element is to have it. And yet, Lighting had not made his own lightning yet. Sure, small sparks had occasionally broke away from him, but he had no control over it. The production of these deadly particles seemed a power embedded in a being far beyond his. On top of this, he still couldn’t fly. By now, he’d mastered walking, trotting, running, sprinting, jumping. He’d make an excellent Earth Pony by this time, if not for the wings attached to him. The large, and rather moody pegasus who had none too kindly been his alarm clock departed, and he recognized the stallion, the university student who got into trouble with the wrong people. What was he still doing here? Judging by his waiting expression, he seemed to think he was where he should be. Maybe he was just going to take him to the flight trainer who was arriving today. Supposedly, a pegasus from a faraway land. Was it odd then that the pegasus from his dreams was too from a faraway land? Surely, Lightning though, he was just paranoid. If anyone could understand it, though who better than a university student? He groaned, rolling out of the ‘bed’, or so they called it one. It was of course better accommodations than on that slave plantation. Rubbing his eyes awake, he stared at the university student. What was his name again? “Some dream you had there…” Lightning stared at him, stunned more than anything. How was it that he knew he’d been having a dream. “Judging by the way your body reacted outside of little fantasy land, seems to me like you were having more of a vision.” “What do you mean my body reacted? And what is this vision exactly?” The stallion nodded, motioning for him to follow. Not that he much choice, but Lightning opted for it without question. He led them out of the barracks, and began walking through the yard. “Your body tensed up, and moved, occasionally you even spoke. This normal for dreams of course, what isn’t normal is having a field of static electricity surrounding your body while it happens. And vision, well, let’s put it into different words. A vision, is like a dream, but instead of dreaming a dream, you dream of what will become reality.” Lightning looked at the ground as they watched. This stuff sounded… not normal indeed. “Doesn’t this stuff happen to, i don’t know, like Alicorns and gods and ponies with great magical power?” “Yes, it does. You were struck by white lightning. You have the element. One of out every 2.8 million pegasi are white lightning. Only they have even the slimmest chance of holding the essence. You, having gotten it the pure way, the first to do so, i might add, since the first Essence, it would in theory, place you at the top of the list as the next ‘chosen one’.” At this point, Lightning could not but laugh a bit at this. “That’s… uh.. pretty funny… mister…” He stopped, not knowing his name. “Cloudwind. Funny? I think not. Your little dream suggests that i’m right. In which case, you’ll keep getting stronger, faster, harder, smarter, essentially you’ll be like a super pony.” “Yeah, sure. but what if i am, chosen ponies all get tested? How does the element test me?” Cloudwind smirked, and Lightning noticed they had left the colosseum grounds and were approaching the city library. “You will, uncontrollably, produce the rarest, purest form of lightning, or energy for that matter, known to exist. You will produce the most perfect bolt of rainbow lightning. It will leave, disconnect from you, and then turn back, and strike you. If you live, you tame the pure essence of the element and it becomes permanently tied with your body. If you don’t, well, you die. Simple as that. You either live and become the most power pegasi in the world or you die. Over the last, oh say, 3000 years or so, everyone its happened to has died.” By now, they were walking the steps to the library. Lightning of course was still wondering how in the hell they even left the colosseum grounds. “Wait, how are you allowed in here?” “Simple, our masters aren’t idiots. They know a smart pegasus like me could do alot of good. Lawyer, tutor, doctor, whatever they need. I told them i need clearance to the library, unrestricted. And i got it.” The secretary at the desk nodded to Cloudwind, ignoring Lightning. Immediately they were bound for the section designated for, to put simply, DYI type books. “We’re going to get you the best book here for it, and you will teach yourself to control lightning.” Cloudwind hummed as he quickly sorted through titles for the one he wanted. In seconds he had it, and he led them back to the front desk, where it was checked out, and placed in Cloudwind’s saddlebag. Just as they had come, they now departed, back for the colosseum. “So, Lightning, tell me about that vision of yours.” The older pegasus looked at him curiously, a genuine intrigue present that one would expect from a scholar so knowledgeable on the subject. “Well, it was today, not much later than the time now. They brought me to this open field, the guards. And then in the distance, i saw our masters walking toward me, with this pegasus mare with them. This… beautiful pegasus…” He stared off into space, his legs mindlessly pulling him forward inspite of his having left for another world in the deep void of the mind. “Kid, kid!” Cloudwind began to shake him, Lightning shaking his head and regaining focus. “Good fuck kid, almost lost you. What did she look like to get you that distracted?” Lightning could only smile as he found the perfect description. “Imagine a rainbow.” “A rainbow?” “Yes. Now imagine that the rainbow became a pony.” “A rainbow pony?” “Mhm. And i was, uh, well staring at her of course, our masters left and she walked towards me. Kinda fast at first. Then she started grinning, then giggling. Then it seemed she was approaching really slowly, like, once she had gotten to within 50 feet. And she kept going slower the closer she got, until she was right next to me. Really, really close. After a few minutes, she wrapped a wing around me, and then a few minutes later… uhh…” He began to turn bright red as he remembered the last scene before being awaken. The chances of some vision predicting him with what must be a goddess!? Insane they had to be. “She kissed me, and then i got woke up.” Cloudwind stared at him a few moments as Lightning ended his recollection of the seemingly too good to be true dream. Or vision, it should rather be said. “Sounds like a time progression vision. Rather than showing you one event, it makes up an event, and uses it to show innumerable clues to the future. Everything in the made up event is related somehow, and based on your actions in reality, it can change. So in theory…” Cloudwind trailed off, as he entered through the gates into the courtyard which their masters owned. “Your flight instructor should be-” Lightning’s jaw fell, quite literally, almost off of his body. Tartarus damn this scholar, but he was right. There she was. “Holy shit…” Chapter 5: Blessed With Rainbow (Book 1)Chapter 5: Blessed With Rainbow “I… i can’t believe this how the…” “Mhm, as i thought. Try not to forget she’s here to get you flying by staring at her all day.” Cloudwind looked at the colt, who was already gone, and shook his head as he walked away. Lightning continued staring, until the masters noticed him, and brought the cyan pegasus with them in his direction. “Miss Dash, this is Lightning, the student. Our scholarly expert believes something very special indeed becoming of him, but he needs rehabilitation in his controls of flight which were lost in the accident.” The cyan pegasus nodded and stepped forward, closer to him. “Hi there, i’m Rainbow Dash. And i believe your name is White Lightning, right?” Lightning nodded, his movements somewhat numbed as his faculties were overwhelmingly clouded with staring at her. “So, do you know where your name comes from?” Shit… she asked him a question. In a panicked sort of state he shook free of his daydreams and attempted to regather himself quickly. “Well uh- i-uh, yes… i do. I was struck by white lightning, and i survived.” Rainbow Dash blinked, clearly confused and surprised at this odd information. “You guys have different color lightning here?” “Sure do. In several colors varying in purity. The levels in least to greatest are Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green, Purple, White, and Rainbow. Only a few ponies have survived what i have.” This seemed to impress Rainbow, at least a little. Which Lightning thought could only be good. “Well, shouldn’t be too hard. He was strong enough to survive a lightning strike, and he can still walk. It might take a couple weeks, but he’ll start remembering the muscle movements pretty quick i think.” Lightning smiled. This meant he made a good first impression, right? She believed in him, saw strength in him somewhere. Now he had to find himself. Couldn’t make a goddess wrong could he? Well, he probably could, but would he survive if he did? “Very well then Miss Dash, we hope your confidence makes this process all the quicker. We’ll leave you to your work.” His masters nodded to her, and left, leaving Lightning with a mare truly capable of showing a rainbow what beautiful really was. She turned to him, and smiled. That warm smile… did the sun feel cold when she smiled? “Well, let’s go find an open field for you.” He nodded, and followed her as she led them out the colosseum and through the town. It was blatantly evident Lightning wasn’t the only one who thought she outmatched a rainbow in beauty. The number of eyes stealing glances was staggering. Maybe he should be hoping that Cloudwind was right. How else would he have a chance in this contest? He was praying she’d walk faster, the sooner out of the city and all these eyes the better. “Do people always stare at newcomers like that?” “Uh, not really, no, just you that i’ve seen.” Rainbow Dash looked at him, clearly in thought over the situation. “How strange...:” “Not really. What did you expect to happen as a pony was born with beauty of a rainbow built into her?” Rainbow looked at him, mostly surprised, and a bit red. “Uh… oh…. well, not usually the reaction i get at home.” “Rainbows are very special to here. The signify the greatest of purity, power, and beauty. Looking one, they probably think you’re a Goddess. I’m actually wondering if you are or not.” She looks at him, expecting him to be joking, and waiting for a punch line. “I’m serious.” Rainbow Dash blinks at this, and stares at him. “Seriously? Me.. a goddess?” She laughs almost hysterically. “You might think i look like one and i’m definitely as awesome as one, but i’m not really a goddess.” “Well you have everyone fooled into otherwise for sure.” They stopped, now, in the middle of a grassy field. A light breeze was blowing, and the sky was almost perfect without clouds. The sun was shining ever bright upon them, and Lightning which was brighter. Rainbow’s smile, or the sun? He hoped to find out. “So, can you even move your wings?” “Barely, not much. I can stretch them out, but it takes a while, and they’re stiff as Tartarus.” “You should be practicing opening them at least so that doesn’t happen. For now, just get them out. We’ll see how badly damaged they are.” Lightning takes a deep breath, slowly stretching his wings out. True to his word, it was a slow process, but within the minute they were fully extended. Rainbow began walking slowly around him, closely examining every feather. “Surprising they aren’t more damaged…” “They’ve been preened repeatedly, actually.” Rainbow nods in approval, making one last circle around him. “Not by me, i can barely move them…” “I figured as much. Doesn’t matter, as long as its done. Now, we have to loosen your muscles from being so stiff. Sit down.” He does so without question, his wings remaining out stretched as the cyan pegasus walked behind him. Lightning stared forward, wondering what, exactly, she was doing. He received an answer when he felt her hooves pressing into his back and around his wings. The motions were slow, obviously specifically targeted. And they were working… oh were they working. A shiver ran up his spine as he stared into the distance with a smile on his face, quickly wandering to a world of dreams. A dream, hopefully, of reality. He was to be a gladiator, he knew it. After another match, yet again slaying his opponents in a blaze of glory, he did retire to his quarters. His fame had done much, he had his own separate quarters, his own room, rather than a tiny cell. As usual, after his every victory, he knew he’d get a reward beyond that which was paid to him in wealth and adoration. Here he knew he could count on his lover, a mare so astonishing rainbows model after her. She would, after every battle, come to his quarters, and tend to his wounds, calmly, gently, lovingly. She would massage his wings, as she always did. So perfect in her ministrations, he would, for a short time forget his place in the world, and leave the harshness of his world for a place of the heavens. Soon, they would be in each others embrace, connecting their bodies together in a way of action over the option of speak. Not long, now, before all his stress would be gone, as she laid down and -- A hoof waved frantically in his face, a voice once subtle and muted becoming booming and ever present. “Hey, hey you alright? What world did you just go to and how can i get there? Looked pretty awesome.” He stared at her, still returning to the real world at this point. “Uh, nothing, just daydreams, not that awesome really.” Which was a lie, a stone cold lie, and he knew it. But telling her he was dreaming so vividly of her… well, it didn’t seem like the appropriate time. “Wish i could have daydreams like that. Alright, now, something very simple to get your wings strong again. You’re familiar with wing-ups right?” He nodded, of course he was. Every pegasus was. “Try to do as many as you can.” Lightning took a deep breath, and got into position. He was able to one, with a bit of trouble. Two, barely. On the third, he collapsed miserably on his face. Rainbow visibly winced at this, not realizing just how bad it was until now. “Uhh yeah… that’s… worse than i expected. We’re going to be working on this all day looks like.” All day was right. From 10 in the morning to 8 at night they went on. Ten hours. How he was walking he wasn't sure, probably because he couldn't feel the pain in his legs anymore. Though the burning in his wings was not ignorable. It wasn't Rainbows fault though, infact she talked his masters into giving him that extra five hours, which had started that morning. Unfortunately, they did demand at least 10 hours a day on training, and like it or not, she had to do it. Lightning was, though, at least thankful that the number of eyes staring her down were significantly less numerous now given the time. Which meant more of her beauty to intake for him, he thought. They entered the Colosseum, where the other slaves were still doing their training. They all looked at him jealously. Was it because of Rainbow, or that his training ends early? Probably both, although Lightning figured it was more the latter than the former. Who wouldn't be jealous that he got be around Rainbow all day? Even though he could barely stand, Lightning didn't care. And why would he? Some aching muscles are worth nothing compared to spending the entire day with her. And not just today, but everyday for the foreseeable future. He sighed happily as he entered his cell, and collapsed onto the bed. Hopefully, he could pick up where he left off on his earlier daydream, left with the happy thought that he’d been blessed with Rainbow.
Chapter 1: Thunderstruck Book 1: Rebirth of Legends Past, Part 1Lightning Chapter 1: Thunderstruck It was another raining night in this hell, not that anypony expected it to be different. The weather always seemed to coincide its best efforts with the masters harshest treatments. The thunder rumbled above the wooden structure, a mere shanty hastily constructed by its inhabitants. Tonight seemed like another storm to topple this sorry excuse for living space yet again. Why did they even let them try and build these? And further yet, why did they allow them to stand? They must’ve found it funny, worthless ponies like them struggling to make their lives better in hell designed just for them. But he couldn’t blame them for it. He would laugh too, in their shoes. He glared at the dark clouds above, who seemed to respond with their own glare back as an arc of blue lightning shot across. This land was truly strange. How many places on this planet could say they saw 7 different colors of lightning? And each deadlier, rarer, and purer than the last. It probably had do something with them being Elementals. Perhaps this was one of the oddities that caused their normal pony counterparts to force them out oh so long ago. It was one the few things he remembered from history class. And he didn’t remember much, years in this forsaken place doing nothing but the hardest of labors and being forced to live with the disgrace that had placed him here all hours of the day. He even erased his own name from memory, as repeating it only brought the memories of his fathers anger towards him. The rolling thunders of the skies beyond him seemed more than happy to help the dark flashbacks begin. 11 years ago… He was only 6 at this time, returning to his bedroom once again after school. If only he’d known then how bad the day was to become. Not that he had many bad days. Being one of the Archduke’s sons came with so many benefits that having a bad day actually required effort. From his saddlebags he took out his notebooks, placing them on his desk and arranging them to be parallel with his wingtip as he fished a pencil from the bags as well. Gently placing them beside the chair, he jumped up, and began to study the notes. “Six Elements, Fire, Water, Rock, Ice, Air, and Lightning.” He moved his eyes down, to the first question that was to pose as homework for them. “Which element are you? Lightning.” He happily wrote that as his answer, as it was blatantly obvious. As full of pride and themselves as they were, being a Lightning Pegasus and not knowing was akin to trying to push a mountain. It simply was not possible. Although, he was a bit different. One of the few in the tribe born without the endowment of the element. At least, not that had been seen yet. He was the only of his brothers to have not shown their holding the element so far. Despite the concern of his advisors, his father insisted he was simply a late bloomer, and that when he did eventually bloom, he would be the strongest they have seen in their time. His father always argued this, though recently, he seemed less and less confident of his words. Even his own brothers were beginning to believe he was just a normal pegasus. While not being born with an Element in many cultures was fine, in most of the Pegasi cultures, it was pretty bad to not have it. Especially if your father was the Archduke of all ponies. Having a son who could not bear the element he bore allegiance to in the royal family was, suffice to say, an incredible disgrace to the reign of that ruler. And his father was not about to be called disgraceful. In his eyes, he’d waited long enough, and his time was up. The door to his room burst open with sudden, and violent force. There was his father, looking at him, it was almost a glare. And even stranger, several guards were with him. The young pegasus raised an eye to the sudden presence of his father, and more concerningly, the guards. “Is there a problem, father?” His question was innocent, as one would expect from a child. He was innocent, had done nothing wrong. Or so he thought. “Actually, there is. And we’re going to be taking care of it right now.” His father looked to the stallions on either side of him and nodded. Without hesitation, the entered, and seized the colt. As anypony would have done, no matter their age, he began to panic. What was his father doing? “F-father? W-what’s happening?” The colt struggled in vain against the two stallions that held him. “What’s happening is that i’m cleaning this family, and my name of the disgrace wrought upon it. You should be glad, now you won’t have to disgrace us all with your pathetic existence. Get rid of him. Now.” The colt began to squirm and resist as fiercely as he could, but the guards had no trouble at all restraining him. Tears clouded his eyes, as he looked, in disbelief, and pleading innocent eyes at his father. No, no… this wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be, could it? His father has always defended him. He would never do this! He flailed and shouted at himself to wake up. But no such thing happened. Either this was the most intense nightmare ever experienced, or it was painful reality. “Father, why? Why?” “I just told you why. You’re a useless disgrace to us all, and now we will be rid of you.” His father stepped from the doorway, and the two stallions carried him out, down the stairs, and out the Palace. Where were they taking him? And why were they walking towards the prison tower? It was a Tuesday, and for the prison tower this was a special day. Every Tuesday, slave traders gathered in the city to pay for new merchandise. This was a practice done by many of the tribes, due to financial struggles. And they were only carrying him closer. Surely they couldn’t be…? His thoughts were broken as they violently threw him into the cart. He looked up dazed, surprised, and still not believing any of this… this… madness? No, even madness could not explain this. What parent would sell their own child into slavery? The slave trader confronted the guards about this. He had no qualms with taking a child, but he didn’t have the money to pay for another. The guards happily smiled and told him quite simply, “This one’s free, courtesy of the Archduke.” The two stallions turned away and abruptly left. It was even worse… it wasn’t being sold into slavery. No, he was being given away into it. His own father didn’t even see him as worth a single bit. Not one. And that was it, the day that began hell as he knew it. Present… The thunder continued rumbling. Infact, a number of others had crowded around the window. What were they looking at, it was just a storm. One of the colts turned to him, disbelief on his face. “Kid, did you see that? did you SEE THAT!? That was White Lightning! WHITE LIGHTNING! Holy crap!” The mysticism of this seemed to be captivating everypony, to the point where the began leaving the small shanty. For once the placed actually seemed to have size to it, now that he was alone in here, everypony having left. He figured he’d had enough flashbacks for tonight. With a groan from the aching muscles in his body, a vivid protest as they tried to ground him, he forced himself up, and joined the others outside. He pushed between them, to the front of the small crowd, staring up at the enraged sky above them. His white coat was more grayish/brown from the dirt he lived in, yet his mane still retained a vivid electric blue color to it. Needless to say, this excluded him from any nighttime sneaking about, as the reflective color would have him spotted in seconds. But with everypony outside, he didn’t care. The thunder grew louder, and another white arc bounced through the clouds. The spectacle earned a gasp from the literally captive audience. Moments later, the real storm began. The wind picked up, angrily pushing against the shack in a battle of wills that nature was always going to win. The rain struck down at them like millions of liquid needles, giving them the closest thing to a shower in weeks. It was probably months, even, who knew how much time went by here? As his coat was slowly washed of the scars of his work here, he couldn’t help but feel a sort of rage boil in him. Suddenly, without any real thought, or warning, he did potentially the dumbest thing in his entire life. He spread his wings, and with a look of pure determination and apathy at the misty-electric demon above him, launched into the sky. Sure, he would likely die. He knew it. But he didn’t care, his life was nothing to want to continue, and he was ready for his judgement day. Blasting through the clouds, he hovered, waiting to be struck. Several bolts whizzed past him. He may want to die, but he wasn’t going to let nature have an easy kill. He rarely got to fly, and he was going to savor it as long as possible before his life was torn from him. He began to fly through the clouds, weaving through them, dodging natures attempts to bring him down. It wasn’t like he had no experience flying. Despite being a normal pegasus he had a surprising amount of grunt in his wings. This meant that on the occasions when a captive elemental pegasus was unable to do it, he would be tasked with flying carts of produce to their destination with armed guards making sure he didn’t try to run. This didn’t stop him from trying, and once he escaped for 2 weeks. He did almost nothing but fly during that time, until one day he was recognized, and found himself surrounded by 5 Lightning Pegasi. Quite understandably, he was returned to his masters without a fight. Now, it felt almost easy, too easy, dodging the lightning. Surely nature could do better than this? Unable to take down a worthless disgrace like himself? This storm was truly pathetic. It was then, it seemed, that the storm had read his thoughts, and accepted the challenge. From the corner of his eye, a white spark was born. He turned and looked right at it. Still, it was nothing more than a spark. He huffed at the display, and as if on cue, it suddenly charged forward into a proper lightning streak. His eyes widened, and he narrowly managed to avoid it pulling up hard. But nature wasn’t kidding when she said challenge accepted. The very same bolt, Celestia knows how, stopped, and made a sharp, angular turn and started straight at him again. What in the hell? He dodged it again, and again it turned on a dime and arced back at him. So he evaded, again, and the bolt followed, again. Getting tired of this charade, he pulled down, spiraling, and then straightening for a brief moment and pulling up, rolling over, spiraling again, and began to pitch down. He could do this all night, and he would happily do just that. But, once again, nature simply was not the joking type. The bolt diverted course again, but by this time, he was already spiraling. All he saw was the bolt as it blazed in, scraping across his chest and arcing through him. Oddly, he wasn’t dead instantly, and he noticed something stranger, it didn’t continue out of it. It was one thing to be struck, but it always continued out and to the ground, its final destination. This particular bolt, though, simply blasted volt after volt into his body for unimaginable seconds. Eventually, it ended, seeing the tail end of the bolt, if such a thing existed, and from what he saw apparently they did, slammed into him with an ear drum shattering clap. And that is when all went dark. Unconscious, he fell from the sky. Thousands of feet, before his eyes weakly opened. What… happened? Why am i falling? The confused pegasus tries to lessen his fall with his wings, but they barely move, as does the rest of his body. He wasn’t how the lightning didn’t kill him but as this speed he was going to be a pancake in seconds. He closed his eyes, as the ground drew nearer. There was a loud smack, and then nothing. “Wake up yah bastard….” He was poked in the head with a stick again. He slowly woke up, again, and more confused than ever. How in the buck was he alive? Infact, how was he not a pancake, let alone that he didn’t even have any bruises. How is this at all possible in the realm of… well, anything, to be frank. “Would ya look at that, he’s alive after all. What’s yer name you sack of shit?” “I don’t have one.” He replied with a growl, still barely able to move. “Well, we going to have fix that. You see what he got hit with up there?” “Looked like white lightning. Even though nopony has ever survived a strike from it.” Which was true, no one has ever survived being struck by white lightning. The reason being, it was the purest, deadliest, rarest form. How he survived any of this was a mystery. “Well, he did. So, we’ll name you after what couldn’t kill you, not sure how it didn’t. White Lightning, yeah i think that’ll well in the colosseum…” Colosseum… what? “If he can survive that i don’t think he can die at all. I guess it’s finally come, eh? Our big break, an unkillable Pegasus. Hehehe.” White Lightning simply stared at them, not really caring at this point what happened. Whether they killed him, tortured him, made him into mincemeat, all were fine by him at this point. “Well, Mr. Lightning, its time to begin your new career as a different kind of slave. Welcome to the world of gladiators, you runt.” The two stallions lifted him up, and threw him into a cart full of hay. Shortly thereafter they began their journey again, to a large city in the distance. Even from here, the colosseum could be seen over the walls. He had substituted one hell for another. And all through the most un-amusing joke ever, of surviving the unsurvivable. Clearly, the universe hated him alot more than he thought. Groaning at his luck yet again, he resigned to sleeping once more, as if there were anything else he could do.
Chapters 2 & 3: Reborn Anew, Dark Days Past (Book 1)Chapter 2: Reborn Anew Lightning’s eyes slowly opened again, a loud groan accompanying his wake. Wherever they had taken him, he was in a sort of cell, rather sizable. And rightfully so, he wasn’t alone. The cells had at least a dozen other in it, one of them didn’t look he’d been here long.Actually, he looked more like a university student than anything. This, though raised more questions than it answered. Was he really at a gladiator arena? It sounded like one, sure, but who the hell puts a university student into combat? As he tried to stand, another, more interesting question came to mind. Who the hell sends a pegasus who can’t stand to battle? And more importantly, why is he unable to stand. As if on cue, the scholarly stallion in the corner seems to give him his answer. “What’d they say, you were struck by lightning yes?” Lightning could only manage a nod at this point, not caring to test his abilities of speech, if they still existed. “That would probably explain why you can’t move at all. Zapped all your muscle memory away. You’re going to have to re-learn how to walk, fly, pretty much everything. Have fun with that. Assuming they don’t kill you first.” Oh, great. Not going to sugar coat it. Well, at least he could rely on this guy to tell him the cold hard truth. Maybe he’d be willing to explain to those fine gentlecolts who brought him here why he’s a wasted investment. Wasted investment is probably the wrong term though, to them that means ‘target practice’. What else would they classify him as, though? His thoughts were interrupted, finally, by a banging on the steel door. He immediately looked up, and there they were, the two that brought him here. “Alright, get up you lazy shits it’s time for practice!” The door opened, and with a sigh everypony exited. Except Lightning, who rather frustratedly sat there, unable to move. “Are yah deaf or what? Get yer flank moving!” He could only manage an eyeroll at this, and, once again, the scholar was right on time to do his job of explaining things. Why, he was even so nice as to start off with a bemused chuckle. “He’s not going to be walking for a while, good luck, with that.” “What do yah mean?” “He got hit by lightning, yes?” “Yes. Why?” “His muscle memory and control is gone. He’s going to have to re-learn how to walk.” “Oh fer fucks sake. Bastard lives from a white lightning strike, but can’t walk afterwards.” “He’s lucky to be alive.” Yes, sitting here unable to move bound in chains of slavery and doomed to die for the amusements of thousands. How lucky am i? Lighting rolled his eyes again, at this point, he’d really rather them just kill him. How was he supposed to fight in the arena anyway? He’d never used a sword, and he was born without element. Sure he could obviously take a beating, but nopony is invincible. He thought, maybe, if he asked nicely they might kill him. Though more likely, is that they’d laugh and let him live to continue laughing at his misery. They were having enough joy, so he’d avoid giving them more. “And how do we get him walking again?” “Oh, you? You, my good sir, do nothing. This is the waiting game. Eventually, through sheer force, the connection broken between brain and muscle will re connect. Flying, on the other hand; well, he’ll have to learn that again. Good luck finding a trainer too, anypony can easily recognize the Banished and Disowned Prince when they see him.” Oh for fucks sake it’s been eleven years and they still recognize me. Dammit. He knew his father hated him, but for fucks sake he didn’t think the colt was that much of a bastard. Then again, its hard to think that about a father who sent his son away, for free, as a slave, without a care in the world. Actually, with that in mind, this is probably pretty generous of him. He was expecting something much more appropriate from that asshole, given how much of one he was. He had completely lost track of their conversation now, it seems they were considering killing him. The scholar, though, was given them quite an optimistic side of it. The last pony to survive a strike by such a pure form of energy, was Light Strike, and as far as anything anypony had ever seen, he was as much like a god as the Alicorns who ruled Equestria. And surely, the scholar argued, that since he had survived this, he may be some sort of spiritual successor. In which case, he would undoubtedly win them millions. Lightning laughed at this, mentally of course. If he were the essence he’d break out of here, killing everypony in the process. But it’s rather difficult for one not born of element to actually control lightning at all. So the chance of this was about as hilarious as him ever flying again. Finally, they seemed to conclude it. The scholar left, the door was slammed shut, and the slavers disappeared. Now he was left alone, in the dark, with nothing but his thoughts and memories. Chapter 3: Dark Days Past Not another of those damned dreams. Why was he even dreaming about that? Is this really the thing a twelve year old should be thinking, or dreaming about? Well, maybe, it is about that time when hormones kick in. But this, this wasn’t quite the same as that. How it happened, it was a surprise indeed. Just like she said it would be. “Come on now, it’ll be a surprise.” “I don’t want too, i’ll get in trouble if i stop working!” “You’ll get in more trouble if my father hears you hit his daughter.” “But i…” She held a whip, ready to hit herself with it. He suddenly realized just how serious she was. Unsure of any other option, he followed her into the small shed. Where he got his surprise. A small wrench to the side of the head, a kick to the ground, and she was ontop of him. A devious smile on her face, and a strange, hungry look in her eyes. As he pondered what she could be doing, he began feeling a rather pleasant sensation. And then it made sense to him what was happening, aside from her next sentence giving it away. “The surprise is, you get to be my own little playtoy. Willing or not.” The feeling only persisted, growing stronger and stronger and… He fought to cut off the memory there before he somehow got himself excited again. This place, it twisted everypony. The things their minds had conditioned themselves to enjoy, just to make the pain less. It was disgusting, yet he knew in the back of his mind he welcomed the thought, the idea of it. It was twisted, but clearly so was he. Six years he’d been here, how many more would have to endure?
Chapter 4: Dreaming of RealityChapter 4: Dreaming of Reality For just over two weeks now, Lightning had been re learning his movements. Walking, trotting, running, everything. Especially combat handling, weapons, evasion, parrying, all to make him at least somewhat capable of fighting if they needed to send him in. And of course, despite all his wishing, they didn’t. Now they seemed satisfied with his performance of recent, they moved on. Time to learn to fly, again. It took them several days. They wanted a soldier pegasus to teach him, the problem being that any soldier would easily recognize the disowned Prince and turn away laughing. Naturally they searched abroad, following rumors and paper trails to nations far away. They were further annoyed when the favorite candidate happened to be thousands of miles away. On top of this, paying them would be torture. Afterall, according to documents, they’d be taking a very important pony from her duties. This alone meant it was very plausible that they could turn down the offer, no matter how much money was in it. And to their mild relief, and surprise at that, they agreed to come. Now stood Lightning, in the middle of the field outside the ‘barracks’ of his gladiator house. In the distance he could see the two who owned the house walking on either side of mare. He squinted his eyes, making out more of her form and color. She appeared quite young, her cyan coat complimenting quite nicely with a mane that would give a rainbow a fair fight in beauty, at least. His mind began to wander on to a new thought. A rainbow pony? Well, he’s a lightning pony, sort of, and they have lightning. So does a rainbow pony have rainbows? And rainbows are rather known to be the strongest forms of the pure elements, and this was first he’d ever seen or heard of a rainbow pony. So does that make her… a goddess? Not impossible, afterall, she sure as Tartarus looked like one. Lightning was pretty sure of himself that only a goddess would radiate like that in the sunlight. Quite suddenly he became aware of mare giggling as she approached him. What’s she giggling at? As he pondered the meaning of this, he lost track of her, only again remembering her being when a shadow overcame him. Lightning looked up into her magenta eyes. How the hay did i forget that this… beauty was approaching me? Lightning shook his head, or he thought he did. It certainly didn’t feel like it, but that wasn’t the point. As the cyan pegasus approached, the color of her magenta irises became distinguishable. And the attitude… the way she approached… was different as well. At first, she seemed nearly running, now, within 50 feet of him, it was a very casual very slow walk. And he… could not move? What was happening? He could sit only staring at her until she had gotten closer, right in front of him, mere inches away, he could hear her every breath. What felt like minutes passed by, as she reached a wing around him. More, then, seemed to fade into the world, until… she kissed him? The flurry of thoughts and confusions on one matter, on this, were shortly lived and replaced with those of another. “Come on, wake up, dammit!” Lightning was hit again, as he slowly woke up, gazing at the large pegasus who glared through into his soul. Wounded as he was from the blows, or… he thought he was. Or, he should be anyway. Recently, things like pain and fatigue had been becoming less and less a burden to him. His old teacher was right, the only way to truly understand what it feels like having an element is to have it. And yet, Lighting had not made his own lightning yet. Sure, small sparks had occasionally broke away from him, but he had no control over it. The production of these deadly particles seemed a power embedded in a being far beyond his. On top of this, he still couldn’t fly. By now, he’d mastered walking, trotting, running, sprinting, jumping. He’d make an excellent Earth Pony by this time, if not for the wings attached to him. The large, and rather moody pegasus who had none too kindly been his alarm clock departed, and he recognized the stallion, the university student who got into trouble with the wrong people. What was he still doing here? Judging by his waiting expression, he seemed to think he was where he should be. Maybe he was just going to take him to the flight trainer who was arriving today. Supposedly, a pegasus from a faraway land. Was it odd then that the pegasus from his dreams was too from a faraway land? Surely, Lightning though, he was just paranoid. If anyone could understand it, though who better than a university student? He groaned, rolling out of the ‘bed’, or so they called it one. It was of course better accommodations than on that slave plantation. Rubbing his eyes awake, he stared at the university student. What was his name again? “Some dream you had there…” Lightning stared at him, stunned more than anything. How was it that he knew he’d been having a dream. “Judging by the way your body reacted outside of little fantasy land, seems to me like you were having more of a vision.” “What do you mean my body reacted? And what is this vision exactly?” The stallion nodded, motioning for him to follow. Not that he much choice, but Lightning opted for it without question. He led them out of the barracks, and began walking through the yard. “Your body tensed up, and moved, occasionally you even spoke. This normal for dreams of course, what isn’t normal is having a field of static electricity surrounding your body while it happens. And vision, well, let’s put it into different words. A vision, is like a dream, but instead of dreaming a dream, you dream of what will become reality.” Lightning looked at the ground as they watched. This stuff sounded… not normal indeed. “Doesn’t this stuff happen to, i don’t know, like Alicorns and gods and ponies with great magical power?” “Yes, it does. You were struck by white lightning. You have the element. One of out every 2.8 million pegasi are white lightning. Only they have even the slimmest chance of holding the essence. You, having gotten it the pure way, the first to do so, i might add, since the first Essence, it would in theory, place you at the top of the list as the next ‘chosen one’.” At this point, Lightning could not but laugh a bit at this. “That’s… uh.. pretty funny… mister…” He stopped, not knowing his name. “Cloudwind. Funny? I think not. Your little dream suggests that i’m right. In which case, you’ll keep getting stronger, faster, harder, smarter, essentially you’ll be like a super pony.” “Yeah, sure. but what if i am, chosen ponies all get tested? How does the element test me?” Cloudwind smirked, and Lightning noticed they had left the colosseum grounds and were approaching the city library. “You will, uncontrollably, produce the rarest, purest form of lightning, or energy for that matter, known to exist. You will produce the most perfect bolt of rainbow lightning. It will leave, disconnect from you, and then turn back, and strike you. If you live, you tame the pure essence of the element and it becomes permanently tied with your body. If you don’t, well, you die. Simple as that. You either live and become the most power pegasi in the world or you die. Over the last, oh say, 3000 years or so, everyone its happened to has died.” By now, they were walking the steps to the library. Lightning of course was still wondering how in the hell they even left the colosseum grounds. “Wait, how are you allowed in here?” “Simple, our masters aren’t idiots. They know a smart pegasus like me could do alot of good. Lawyer, tutor, doctor, whatever they need. I told them i need clearance to the library, unrestricted. And i got it.” The secretary at the desk nodded to Cloudwind, ignoring Lightning. Immediately they were bound for the section designated for, to put simply, DYI type books. “We’re going to get you the best book here for it, and you will teach yourself to control lightning.” Cloudwind hummed as he quickly sorted through titles for the one he wanted. In seconds he had it, and he led them back to the front desk, where it was checked out, and placed in Cloudwind’s saddlebag. Just as they had come, they now departed, back for the colosseum. “So, Lightning, tell me about that vision of yours.” The older pegasus looked at him curiously, a genuine intrigue present that one would expect from a scholar so knowledgeable on the subject. “Well, it was today, not much later than the time now. They brought me to this open field, the guards. And then in the distance, i saw our masters walking toward me, with this pegasus mare with them. This… beautiful pegasus…” He stared off into space, his legs mindlessly pulling him forward inspite of his having left for another world in the deep void of the mind. “Kid, kid!” Cloudwind began to shake him, Lightning shaking his head and regaining focus. “Good fuck kid, almost lost you. What did she look like to get you that distracted?” Lightning could only smile as he found the perfect description. “Imagine a rainbow.” “A rainbow?” “Yes. Now imagine that the rainbow became a pony.” “A rainbow pony?” “Mhm. And i was, uh, well staring at her of course, our masters left and she walked towards me. Kinda fast at first. Then she started grinning, then giggling. Then it seemed she was approaching really slowly, like, once she had gotten to within 50 feet. And she kept going slower the closer she got, until she was right next to me. Really, really close. After a few minutes, she wrapped a wing around me, and then a few minutes later… uhh…” He began to turn bright red as he remembered the last scene before being awaken. The chances of some vision predicting him with what must be a goddess!? Insane they had to be. “She kissed me, and then i got woke up.” Cloudwind stared at him a few moments as Lightning ended his recollection of the seemingly too good to be true dream. Or vision, it should rather be said. “Sounds like a time progression vision. Rather than showing you one event, it makes up an event, and uses it to show innumerable clues to the future. Everything in the made up event is related somehow, and based on your actions in reality, it can change. So in theory…” Cloudwind trailed off, as he entered through the gates into the courtyard which their masters owned. “Your flight instructor should be-” Lightning’s jaw fell, quite literally, almost off of his body. Tartarus damn this scholar, but he was right. There she was. “Holy shit…”
Chapter 5: Blessed With Rainbow (Book 1)Chapter 5: Blessed With Rainbow “I… i can’t believe this how the…” “Mhm, as i thought. Try not to forget she’s here to get you flying by staring at her all day.” Cloudwind looked at the colt, who was already gone, and shook his head as he walked away. Lightning continued staring, until the masters noticed him, and brought the cyan pegasus with them in his direction. “Miss Dash, this is Lightning, the student. Our scholarly expert believes something very special indeed becoming of him, but he needs rehabilitation in his controls of flight which were lost in the accident.” The cyan pegasus nodded and stepped forward, closer to him. “Hi there, i’m Rainbow Dash. And i believe your name is White Lightning, right?” Lightning nodded, his movements somewhat numbed as his faculties were overwhelmingly clouded with staring at her. “So, do you know where your name comes from?” Shit… she asked him a question. In a panicked sort of state he shook free of his daydreams and attempted to regather himself quickly. “Well uh- i-uh, yes… i do. I was struck by white lightning, and i survived.” Rainbow Dash blinked, clearly confused and surprised at this odd information. “You guys have different color lightning here?” “Sure do. In several colors varying in purity. The levels in least to greatest are Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green, Purple, White, and Rainbow. Only a few ponies have survived what i have.” This seemed to impress Rainbow, at least a little. Which Lightning thought could only be good. “Well, shouldn’t be too hard. He was strong enough to survive a lightning strike, and he can still walk. It might take a couple weeks, but he’ll start remembering the muscle movements pretty quick i think.” Lightning smiled. This meant he made a good first impression, right? She believed in him, saw strength in him somewhere. Now he had to find himself. Couldn’t make a goddess wrong could he? Well, he probably could, but would he survive if he did? “Very well then Miss Dash, we hope your confidence makes this process all the quicker. We’ll leave you to your work.” His masters nodded to her, and left, leaving Lightning with a mare truly capable of showing a rainbow what beautiful really was. She turned to him, and smiled. That warm smile… did the sun feel cold when she smiled? “Well, let’s go find an open field for you.” He nodded, and followed her as she led them out the colosseum and through the town. It was blatantly evident Lightning wasn’t the only one who thought she outmatched a rainbow in beauty. The number of eyes stealing glances was staggering. Maybe he should be hoping that Cloudwind was right. How else would he have a chance in this contest? He was praying she’d walk faster, the sooner out of the city and all these eyes the better. “Do people always stare at newcomers like that?” “Uh, not really, no, just you that i’ve seen.” Rainbow Dash looked at him, clearly in thought over the situation. “How strange...:” “Not really. What did you expect to happen as a pony was born with beauty of a rainbow built into her?” Rainbow looked at him, mostly surprised, and a bit red. “Uh… oh…. well, not usually the reaction i get at home.” “Rainbows are very special to here. The signify the greatest of purity, power, and beauty. Looking one, they probably think you’re a Goddess. I’m actually wondering if you are or not.” She looks at him, expecting him to be joking, and waiting for a punch line. “I’m serious.” Rainbow Dash blinks at this, and stares at him. “Seriously? Me.. a goddess?” She laughs almost hysterically. “You might think i look like one and i’m definitely as awesome as one, but i’m not really a goddess.” “Well you have everyone fooled into otherwise for sure.” They stopped, now, in the middle of a grassy field. A light breeze was blowing, and the sky was almost perfect without clouds. The sun was shining ever bright upon them, and Lightning which was brighter. Rainbow’s smile, or the sun? He hoped to find out. “So, can you even move your wings?” “Barely, not much. I can stretch them out, but it takes a while, and they’re stiff as Tartarus.” “You should be practicing opening them at least so that doesn’t happen. For now, just get them out. We’ll see how badly damaged they are.” Lightning takes a deep breath, slowly stretching his wings out. True to his word, it was a slow process, but within the minute they were fully extended. Rainbow began walking slowly around him, closely examining every feather. “Surprising they aren’t more damaged…” “They’ve been preened repeatedly, actually.” Rainbow nods in approval, making one last circle around him. “Not by me, i can barely move them…” “I figured as much. Doesn’t matter, as long as its done. Now, we have to loosen your muscles from being so stiff. Sit down.” He does so without question, his wings remaining out stretched as the cyan pegasus walked behind him. Lightning stared forward, wondering what, exactly, she was doing. He received an answer when he felt her hooves pressing into his back and around his wings. The motions were slow, obviously specifically targeted. And they were working… oh were they working. A shiver ran up his spine as he stared into the distance with a smile on his face, quickly wandering to a world of dreams. A dream, hopefully, of reality. He was to be a gladiator, he knew it. After another match, yet again slaying his opponents in a blaze of glory, he did retire to his quarters. His fame had done much, he had his own separate quarters, his own room, rather than a tiny cell. As usual, after his every victory, he knew he’d get a reward beyond that which was paid to him in wealth and adoration. Here he knew he could count on his lover, a mare so astonishing rainbows model after her. She would, after every battle, come to his quarters, and tend to his wounds, calmly, gently, lovingly. She would massage his wings, as she always did. So perfect in her ministrations, he would, for a short time forget his place in the world, and leave the harshness of his world for a place of the heavens. Soon, they would be in each others embrace, connecting their bodies together in a way of action over the option of speak. Not long, now, before all his stress would be gone, as she laid down and -- A hoof waved frantically in his face, a voice once subtle and muted becoming booming and ever present. “Hey, hey you alright? What world did you just go to and how can i get there? Looked pretty awesome.” He stared at her, still returning to the real world at this point. “Uh, nothing, just daydreams, not that awesome really.” Which was a lie, a stone cold lie, and he knew it. But telling her he was dreaming so vividly of her… well, it didn’t seem like the appropriate time. “Wish i could have daydreams like that. Alright, now, something very simple to get your wings strong again. You’re familiar with wing-ups right?” He nodded, of course he was. Every pegasus was. “Try to do as many as you can.” Lightning took a deep breath, and got into position. He was able to one, with a bit of trouble. Two, barely. On the third, he collapsed miserably on his face. Rainbow visibly winced at this, not realizing just how bad it was until now. “Uhh yeah… that’s… worse than i expected. We’re going to be working on this all day looks like.” All day was right. From 10 in the morning to 8 at night they went on. Ten hours. How he was walking he wasn't sure, probably because he couldn't feel the pain in his legs anymore. Though the burning in his wings was not ignorable. It wasn't Rainbows fault though, infact she talked his masters into giving him that extra five hours, which had started that morning. Unfortunately, they did demand at least 10 hours a day on training, and like it or not, she had to do it. Lightning was, though, at least thankful that the number of eyes staring her down were significantly less numerous now given the time. Which meant more of her beauty to intake for him, he thought. They entered the Colosseum, where the other slaves were still doing their training. They all looked at him jealously. Was it because of Rainbow, or that his training ends early? Probably both, although Lightning figured it was more the latter than the former. Who wouldn't be jealous that he got be around Rainbow all day? Even though he could barely stand, Lightning didn't care. And why would he? Some aching muscles are worth nothing compared to spending the entire day with her. And not just today, but everyday for the foreseeable future. He sighed happily as he entered his cell, and collapsed onto the bed. Hopefully, he could pick up where he left off on his earlier daydream, left with the happy thought that he’d been blessed with Rainbow.
