The Life Of Lightning Flash

                                                                                     Chapter Thirteen

Today was my last day at Sweet Apple Acres and I was sad to experience my last set hours there with AJ and Big Macintosh.

I was also excited to finish my work experience and to finally hear how everypony else had been doing. It was gonna be nice to return to my usual schedule and routine but I didn't want today to just fly by.

I arrived at the barn alone and to my surprise nopony else was there. Neither AppleJack or Big Macintosh were waiting for my arrival but instead I found a single slightly mud stained note pinned to the barn door. It read:

"To Lightning Flash

Sorry me or Big Mac aren't there to see ya. We had to make an emergency delivery in PonyVille. When ya ready head over to Sugar Cube Corner, I'll meet ya there!

AppleJack"

Of course being AJ's writing there were quite a few grammar mistakes but that didn't stop me from understanding her note. I quickly popped inside the barn to feed the pigs before heading into PonyVille.

I didn't have much of a breakfast today so I just hoped AJ wouldn't mind me grabbing something to eat at Sugar Cube Corner. I don't think I've been to a more tastier bakery! It only took me a few minutes to reach Sugar Cube Corner and when I arrived the place was desolate with ponies. The curtains were shut with not a single flare of light slivering into the bakery, the door shut tightly and not a single sound from inside. Quite odd.

I approached the door and slowly opened it being cautious of my weird surroundings. As I opened the door completely my eyes were blinded with a sudden explosion of light from all around the room and my ears were pierced with the loud screams of..

"SURPRISE!!!"

"Woah! What!?" Was my only response rubbing my eyes trying to recover from the blinding light which had now deminished itself so that I could see the entire room clearly.

"I told ya'll he'd be surprised!" I heard AppleJack say as she appeared in front of me. I quickly looked around me and noticed everypony in the room. Big Macintosh was standing next to a table of cakes with Mrs Cake on the other side. Mr Cake was behind the counter and in front of me was AJ.  The room was filled with bunting and balloons along with many cakes stacked on each table.

"What is all of this AJ?" I asked finally absorbing in everything around me.

"It's a surprise party silly!" Shouted a pink mare who jumped in between me and AJ before she could reply. Wait this was that same mare from before, the one that ran off at first sight of me.

"Wait I know you! You legged it as soon as ya saw me!" I said in surprise of her being here.

"Yeah I remember you too! Oh I love memory games! Oh uh what day was it yesterday!?" Replied the pink mare with a ridiculously curly mane and tail that seemed to bounce with every jolt of movement.

"Uh what?" I replied.

"It was Thursday silly! I guess I won the game! Oh I'm Pinkie Pie by the way!" The pink mare replied still fulfilled with excitement and hyperness.

"Hi Pinkie Pie I'm Lightning Flash. Is all of this for me?" I asked staring at all the cakes slowly and carefully.

"Of course! AppleJack came to me and said she knew a certain pony she wanted to congratulate and celebrate his hard work! I never refuse a party! Or Cupcakes! Mmmm do you want some cupcakes!" Replied Pinkie Pie jumping over towards a table filled with cupcakes. All of which were decorated individually and differently.

"Uh sure! So you did this for me AJ?" I asked walking over besides Pinkie as she handed me a cupcake and than grabbing five more for herself.

"Sure did SugarCube! Thought ya outta get some praise for all ya hard work and help!" Replied AppleJack walking next to me as she grabbed herself a cupcake too.

"Thanks AJ! I really didn't expect this!" I replied biting into my cupcake. It tastes so damn good!

"Well that is the point of a surprise party! You aren't supposed to expect it!" Pinkie said finishing all five of her cupcakes in one go!

"Heheh I guess so! I can't thank you enough for all of this you two!" I said wrapping my two forelegs around their necks pulling them both into a group hug.

"All the work you've been doing around the acres is enough of a thank you Lightning." Replied AJ.

"Just party!!!" Shouted  Pinkie Pie jumping out of our grasp and into the middle of the room to begin dancing.

We carried on partying for a couple of hours. The cakes were amazing! AppleJack tried to convince to Big Mac into dancing at some point but her efforts were pointless. He wouldn't budge from his spot beside the table of cakes and milkshakes. Pinkie Pie never seemed to tire herself out which was pretty odd.

The party had caught me completely by surprise and by the end of it everypony except Pinkie were quite tired. When the party finally came to an end me, Big Mac and AJ left and returned to the barn. Big Mac went back to his usual jobs while AppleJack  stayed with me as we decided to buck some trees. We chatted as normal while we worked sometimes reminding eachother of the crazy antics at the party.

It was about five o'clock when AJ said I could finish my days work.  It was a bit earlier to leave than usual. She was being extremely kind and generous towards me. I just tried to pay her back by working as hard as possible. I could tell our friendship had really grown since our first meet. I think AppleJack really liked hanging out with me, it was pretty crazy how much you could get to know somepony just through bucking apple trees. Just before I left work I walked with AJ to the barn to drop off some apples.

"So what ya gonna be up to now that your shift is finished?" Asked AppleJack as we walked beside eachother.

"Probably gonna meet up with my buddies for something to eat and see how their work places went. We haven't really been able to talk much because of us all being very busy and some of us having work to complete after our daily shifts." I replied.

"Sounds mighty fine. I'm gonna be checking up on little Applebloom later. Make sure she's ok with GrannySmith and all." AJ replied.

"Alrighty. Hey AppleJack even though my work and time here at Sweet Apple Acres is over I want to make sure we still get to hang out occasionally. Can't forget a friend now can I?" I said knowing she'd agree.

"Sure will have to Sugar Cube! When I'm not working and all of course!" Replied AJ agreeing with me. We finally reached the barn and dropped off the apples we collected.

"Well I hope I'll see ya real soon Lightning Flash. You were a mighty fine help round these parts." Said AppleJack offering me a hoofshake.

"I'll be sure to visit whenever I need a good lunch! Or some apple bucking practice. It was great fun working with ya AJ. Thank you." I replied hugging her tightly. I felt kinda close to AppleJack by now. How a teacher becomes friends with their student. That's what it was like between me and AJ.

Me and AppleJack finished our goodbyes and I flew back to CloudsDale hoping everypony else had finished work too.

Last Sunday we all decided that after we finish our last hours of work we will all meet at the local restuarant in CloudsDale. With that in mind I headed straight there and once I arrived I instantly noticed FireSpeed sitting outside reading a book.  I sat beside him and had to nudge him a little so that he would notice me here with him.

"Oh hey Lightning! Guess I was really wrapped up in my book!" Said Speedy.

"That's alright! Guess you finished early too huh?" I replied sitting down next to him.

"Yeah. They cut my shift short as a thank you for working so hard. I said my goodbyes to my teachers and class before heading here." Replied FireSpeed closing his book and shoving it into his satchel.

"I literally just said goodbye to AppleJack and than left. They even threw me a thank you party!" I said with a gleeful smile.

"A party eh? Better than one of Kensei's?" Asked Speedy.

"It was good! Not better than Kensei's though! A challenging opponent to his." I replied. Kensei's parties were the best!

"I wonder when the others will be here?" Said FireSpeed.

"Hopefully soon." I quickly looked around us to see if I could see the others arrive.

"Enjoy your week than?" FireSpeed asked.

"Sure did! At first I didn't think I would enjoy working at Swe-"

"Hey Look there's Kensei and Fluttershy!" Interrupted FireSpeed as he noticed Kensei and Fluttershy walk round the corner.

"Oh sweet!" I replied.  We flew over to them and landed in front of them both catching them by surprise as they chatted to each other.

"Hey you two!" I shouted with a huge smile.

"Heya Flashie and Speedy! Almost startled us!" Replied Kensei.

"Just got off of work?" Asked Speedy.

"Yes." Fluttershy said simply as appeared from behind her mane.

"Cool. Now we just gotta wait for Rainbow and Hemlock." I replied.

"Shall we wait for them in the restaurant?" Suggested FireSpeed turning towards me.

"I agree plus I am kinda hungry! What about you Flutters?" Added Kensei turning back to Fluttershy.

"Okay. I  guess I'm pretty hungry too." Fluttershy agreed with Kensei.

"Lets go then!" I said turning around and flying towards and into the restaurant.

We entered the restaurant and all sat round a reasonably large rectangular table. Kensei sat opposite me next to Fluttershy who was next to Speedy. The table came to an end to my left due to the wall. The last two empty seats to my right. We ordered a few drinks and a couple of sandwiches and when they arrived at our table we were instantly distracted by Hemlock walk through the door followed by Rainbow Dash.

"Hey guys! Over here!" Shouted Kensei waving a hoof at them both trying to signal our table.

"You're already here? Coolio." Replied Hemlock as he approached the table.

"Hey guys! Whaz up?" Added Dashie as she sat beside me and then Hem sitting on her other side.

"Just ordered a couple of drinks and sandwiches. Glad we're all finally together!" I replied nuzzling Dash's mane.

"Well on my way here I bumped into Hem and we came here together. It's cool to all be together again too." Replied Dash.

"So anything interesting happen on your last days of work?" Hemlock asked but to nopony inpaticular.

"Just got let off early and a few little gifts from my students." Replied Speedy.

"Well aren't you quite the teacher!" Said Dashie teasing him a smile.

"Well me and Flutters weren't working with the nicest bunch of ponies so they didn't really give us anything for our work." Added Kensei looking at each of us briefly and then setting his eyes on Fluttershy.

"Hmm well that sucks! You two are amazing with animals!" I replied pointing at them both.

"After a couple of days working with them we realised they weren't much help. Me and Flutters decided that we would try to sneak off occasionally when the others were busy. We wanted to look after the animals but not with them." Added Kensei while he grabbed one of the drinks off of the table and taking a sip.

"That kinda sucks. Atleast you two got jobs doing something you both love and together as well. Unlike Lightning who didn't plan on bucking trees on some acres." Replied Hemlock looking over to me.

"Yeah so how was it Flash?" Asked Kensei.

"Pretty awesome actually!" I replied suddenly gaining everyponies attention except Speedy who was too busy enjoying his sandwich.

"Really?" Replied Hemlock, Dash and Kensei all perfectly synchronised in time.

"Hahaha...Yeah! I didn't think I'd enjoy working on some acres but to be honest.." I took a sip of my drink before continuing. "I really enjoyed it!" I replied with the others still curiously staring at me.

"Heheh. Sorry about taking the last placement at the weather factory." Dash apologised laying her head on my shoulder for a few seconds.

"Don't worry about it Dashie. I'm  sure it was awesome." I replied nudging her in the side with my hoof.

"Awesome? Try the best ever!" Replied Dash almost leaping into the table from her seat.

"That good eh?" Hemlock asked grabbing one of the many drinks from the table.

"It was so awesome! I got to see how they gather and create all different types of weather!  I had a tour around the entire factory and met some radical ponies." Rainbow Dash couldn't sound more happy and yet exhausted. "Of course I got given the job best fit for me. Spreading and taking care of the spectra for rainbows. I told them about my Sonic Rain-Boom and they were super interested!" Dash added sitting back down.

"By them you mean?" Asked FireSpeed intrigued about who she was referring to.

"My teachers! Clockwork Thunder and Dr Atmosephere, Clockwork had a pretty cool job. She collected thunder bolts and was pretty high up in the factory's ranks. I didn't see Dr atmosphere as much as her though." Replied Dash.

"Hey did ya get to visit the rainbow factory itself?!" I asked excited to hear more. I had always heard weird rumours about that place. Some good and pretty interesting, others not so pleasant.

"Well kinda. I got to see quite a bit of it but they didn't let me in the restricted zones where they said "The magic happens." Guess it must all be really top secret. I think Dr Atmosphere mainly worked there, there was something odd about him. The way he acted and spoke was just.....creepy." Dashie replied turning her exciting news into a whisper as she mentioned Dr Atmosphere.

"Hmmm. Some doctors are just born weird and creepy." Kensei added. With that being said a silence fell upon the table, we all had something to drink and eat. A waitress came and took our next set of orders.

"So FireSpeed you never actaully told us about your work place.....neither did you Hem." Kensei said looking at them both while they finished their meals.

"Yeah! Don't be keeping secrets now!" Dash added poking Hem.

"Neither has Fluttershy." FireSpeed replied looking across to Fluttershy.

"Well she worked with Kensei so I doubt she wants to say how mean their jerks of partners were." Dash replied also looking at Fluttershy who had by now raised her head from eating.

"Oh umm. Well...Kensei kinda said it all. We just tended to all the little mamals and creatures. L-Like we usually do." Fluttershy said including herself back into the conversation.

"So? Who's gonna speak first!" I asked Hem and Speedy.

"Mine was pretty cool I guess. Wish I got to show off some more though!" Replied FireSpeed at last.

"Whatcha mean?" Hemlock asked.

"It was fun and all but a lot of the time I just taught the younger ones how to stay in the air and speed up a little. I wanted to show off my own skills ya know." Replied Speedy with a deep sigh.

"All in the day of a teacher. I think you'd make a fine teacher one day Speedy as well as a wonderbolt or famous racer. That's why they picked you to work with them." I said trying to cheer him up. I knew what it was like to be a teacher. My father had been a teacher for years not just to his students but to me too. So many lessons and so many questions to still ask...

"You're right there I guess. I did enjoy it though. There were some students who reminded me of us! There was an overconfident little colt who always took his wings over his hooves. He reminded me of you Dash!" Replied Speedy pointing at Dash and then giggiling.

"Hey what are you hinting at!?" Asked Dash suddenly confused and irritated.

"Oh nothing. There was a very shy one who always apoligised for every mistake she made." FireSpeed looked over to Fluttershy followed by the rest of us. Fluttershy hid behind her mane as our eyes fell upon her.

"W-What?  D-Do you mean me?" Fluttershy asked minimizing herself by slipping under tha table slightly.

"Hahaha! Don't worry Fluttershy...ahh good times." FireSpeed replied looking back at his drink which was half full.

"Well Hem? Anything interesting happen while you were picking flowers?" I asked trying not to giggle.

"Hmmm very mature Flash. Well..." Hemlock replied scratching his chin and looking up at the ceiling as he thought. "Lets see..I got to learn about many different rare and wonderful plants, met some royal gardeners and a well known herbalist...oh and I met Princess Celestia!" He added.

We all stared without a single blink from each of us at him in suprise. Our jaws almost hitting the table at his brief news. None of us had ever got even close to meeting royalty let alone the Princess herself.

"That's....super cool!" Replied Kensei recovering from the shock.

"What was she like?" Asked Fluttershy bursting with anticipation and impatience.

"Heheh. Hmmm...She was very generous, kind, intelligent and might I say beautiful. She was what you would expect but like times that by ten! She knew exactly what she was talking about  all the time." Replied Hemlock.

"Don't be getting a crush on a princess now." I added teasing him just for fun.

"Shut up Lightning." He replied sharply turning back to me.

We spent another hour going into a bit more detail of some of our work's events. I told them all about my tornado trick and my surprise party. Hemlock told of Celestia's royal grounds and his work with her personal herbalist. FireSpeed mentioned his top students and their capabilities.

Kensei and Fluttershy said a tale about an injured family of otters and how they treated them back to good health. Rainbow Dash went on and on about the different departments in the weather factory.

"Well sounds like everpony had an awesome two weeks. Even though I had a barrel of fun...I gotta say I missed you guys and gals so much." I said looking at everypony individually and seperately. "It was weird not hanging out with everypony..." I added and noticed Fluttershy stare at me and wink. With that simple sign she reminded me of our previous chat about this.

"Agreed." Hemlock replied.

"Definately strange." Kensei added.

"Yeah" Dash agreed leaning back in her seat.

"Well I don't know about you but I was glad to be rid of you all! Just joking!" FireSpeed replied and instantly getting smacked round the back of his head by Kensei.

"Ow!" Speedy yelled getting caught by surprise. We all shared an immediate laugh and giggle at their little dispute. Like Dashie I leaned back into my seat and wrapped a foreleg round her neck pulling her in for a hug.

"Ahhh. It's good to be back."