The Life Of Lightning Flash

                                                                                   Chapter Twenty One

"Damn it!" Yelled FireSpeed as he dropped the can of paint that was once firmly in his mouth and now plummeting down towards Blossomforth below him.

*CRASH*

The can of paint hit Blossomforth right on her head and drenched her in an Aqua Blue coating.

"G'AAAAH!" Shrieked Blossomforth dropping her bunting on the wall and getting covered in paint.

Banners half held up because of ponies not paying attention, paint spilt around the hall, bunting dangling from its hooks and pins and pegasai whizzing all over to complete their jobs.

Kensei figeting with an unfamiliar Bass machine, Hemlock and Fluttershy painting banners with a pegasus or two trotting over their work occasionally, me and Dash hovering over everypony else to ensure everything goes to plan and Miss Skyline being a jerk of a boss.

Yeah. None of this was going well or as planned.

Allow me to explain.

More than a year has passed and me and my buddies are all now eighteen years old. This is our final year here at Wingbury Academy. One month till we leave for good and we are now in the middle of planning our Prom night.

The original plan was for the dance to be held in the Academy's main hall for the confirmed night. About three weeks spent discussing and planning in our heads and on paper the arrangements. Two days into the actual practical and physical planning side of things and it was going left instead of right.  We only had four days till the night that was agreed on. We all had our given tasks and jobs.

Kensei was of course in charge of music and anything technical. His personal Bass Cannon was out of commision due to Derpy accidently smashing part of it as she delivered it to the Academy. So this meant using a less reliable one we had hired.

Ya know, all this time since I first knew Derpy Hooves. I always felt sorry for her, although almost all of her clumsy mistakes are hilarious, especially when she doesn't get hurt. Ponies love to take a crack at her and make fun out of her..

Me, Dash and a few other friends would always be there to defend her though. Scaring off any bullies and jerks. Eventually everypony accepted Derpy's ways and the insults and bullying died down.

For everypony else's jobs it was varied. Hemlock was incharge of banners and bunting and so were most ponies. Fluttershy was to gather a flock of birds to sing as a choir for a more calm mode of music.

FireSpeed was the guy of errands. He was to assist anypony who needed help with any job. If somepony needed something found or gathered than Speedy would get it.

Me and Rainbow Dash were put in the place as leaders for the organising. Everypony had their inputs and ideas. We all came together to make everything but myself and Rainbow had to make sure everything went as planned.

Miss Skyline just watched from the sidelines and pointed out any flaws and fixes needed. More of a pain than a planner.

Good thing was that she wasn't bothered enough to intervene so that meant worrying about her less.

So far the hall was clear of any interferences and obstacles in our path. It was also days away from being ready at this pace of ours. Art was being demolished by clueless ponies,  there were too many errands for FireSpeed to keep up with, Kensei was having to work with an unfamiliar bass machine and was not at all happy with it. Me and Dash had both realised that we were way behind schedule.

Oh and to top if all off. None of us had something appropiate to wear for the dance. Not that all of us wanted to wear jewelled dresses and official suits but we all knew that it was sorta needed for such an occasion.

"Speedy!" Screamed Blossomforth as she glared above her at FireSpeed.

"Sorry!" Replied FireSpeed with a slightly worried tone.

"Oh great." I said to Dash who hovered beside me giggling a little. She managed to hold back her laughter and flew over to the now Aqua coated Blossomforth.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Screamed Blossomforth as FireSpeed stayed hovering above.

"It was an accident Blossomforth!" Said Dash as she landed beside her and helped her up."Let's go get ya cleaned up in the mares room."

Rainbow Dash glared up at FireSpeed but smiled a little before leaving the hall with Blossomforth.

"Well well Lightning Flash." I heard Skyline say as she flew up to me. "How much of this is actually going to plan than?"

"The food, That's about it. Everything else is either wrecked or unavailable." I replied with a sigh.

"I can cancel all this right now and save you alll the trouble." Added Skyline.

"No. We all want this Prom so badly. We're not gonna give up just because things are going buttside up."

"Fine. Don't say I didn't offer." Said Skyline as she flew out the hall.

"Oh please watch where you're stepping Thunderlane." I heard Fluttershy say in her so timid and polite voice. I looked down at where she and Hemlock sat painting their banner. Thunderlane seemed to almost knock over their can of paint.

Fluttershy had to help Hem with any art like issues because any and all birds for her choir weren't practised enough or ready to sing for us. So we decided to just have Kensei's music instead unfortunately.

I flew over to Kensei Coal to see how he was doing. He seemed to still be rewiring and reconfiguring any and all of the device.

"Any luck with it Kensei?" I asked landing beside him.

"Ummm no. Not really." Replied Kensei still looking at the device.

"Seems that almost everything is screwing up." I sighed and briefly looked all around the hall.

"More than just bad luck eh?"

"Seems so."

"Damn it Derpy! Why did ya have to drop my bass cannon!?" Shouted Kensei hitting the machine.

"Well Skyline isn't helping either."

"What's she doing now?"

"Trying to convince me to cancel this whole thing."

"I know that ya said back off right?"

"Ya know me too well."

"Hahaha! True but ya always manage to surprise me somehow."

"Hahahaha! Good."

The main and only 2 doors into and out of the hall opened with a gush of air swooshing in. Inside stepped an old but familiar pony. Xenon Draft.

"Xenon Draft!?" I shouted in glee as both me and Kensei turned towards him.

"Lightning! Kensei! Ah tis good to see you both once again!" Replied Xenon Draft walking over to us.

"What are ya doing here sir?" I asked with a smile. I hadn't seen him since his last day before retirement.

"I heard of your Prom planning and thought it'd be best to see how it's all going!" Replied Xenon before looking around at the chaos."Oh dear."

"Yeah." Said Kensei simply.

"It's unfortunate to see that it isn't going as planned." Said Xenon.

"Unfortunately." I agreed.

"Well..I was going to ask this before but I thought it wouldn't be needed." Said Xenon looking slightly doubtful.

"What is it sir?" I asked.

"Lightning. You don't have to call me sir anymore remember? I'm retired." Replied Xenon with a smile.

"Right. Sorry."

"Oh what was I on about again?" Asked Xenon being very forgetful.

"About something you were going to ask us?" Said Kensei.

"Oh yes! Right. Well as I heard that your Prom was coming up I was going to ask you if having it held at the Royal Canterlot

Halls sounded any good?" Replied Xenon.

"Wha-Wha-What!?" Said Kensei startled by his offer.

"The Canterlot halls!?" I repeated just as shocked.

"Hahaha! Yes. For having connections to Princess Celestia herself I was able to reserve a spot in the hall for you all but because it was to be held here. I cancelled it. Seeing how things are going...I could get it back for such an honoury student though." Said Xenon Draft.

"Really!?" Asked Kensei.

"I'll have to pull a few strings again but I should be able to yeah." Replied Xenon.

"Well by the way things are going here." I said and looked behind us to see the others working but still swamped with chaos."Well I think a new and clean start would be good! Plus we would have more to work with!"

"Yes. Agreed. If this happens than you'll have access to more decorations, tech, music and food!" Agreed Xenon Draft with a grin.

"Music!? Better than this crappy thing?" Asked Kensei pointing at the machine.

"I would assume so yes!" Replied Xenon.

"Sweet!" Kensei became filled with glee at the thought.

"Well I will do my best to get it arranged! I shall notify you on the outcome!" Said Xenon Draft as he approached the door. "I

shall see you both soon hopefully! Goodbye!"

"See ya!"

"Bye!"

"Still manage to surprise me Light." Said Kensei with a grin.

"Heheh. The magic of the Lightning I suppose."

"Umm one problem dude. We only have a few days until the night. How the fudge would we get the halls ready in time? That's if we're even allowed to use them!"

"Whoa don't start turning all negative on me now! I'm sure Xenon will get it all sorted out. Until than we better get carry on as normal."

"Not telling the others eh?"

"Nope. Can't get their hopes up just incase."

"Well ya got a point there! I'll get back to working with this piece of crud."

"Okay. Catch ya later!"

I hovered away from Kensei as he went back to working with his new and hated music maker. With Xenon's offer being a great possibilty for us all I still couldn't tell everypony just yet. If I did than our plans and work would come to a stop for something that may not happen. On the other hoof if we carry on working and we do get the Canterlot halls than we may not have time to prepare them and would have to undecorate the Academy hall.

Argh! The decisions! None of this was going to plan at all.

"Alright Fluttershy let's hang this up!" I heard Hemlock say to Fluttershy as I turned to see them stand and carry their banner up to the wall.

I quickly hovered over to them to help. They lifted the banner into place on the wall and held it perfectly still. Hemlock went to open his mouth but I appeared next to him as he did.

"Oh hey Lightning!" Said Hemlock.

"Need help?" I asked.

"Yes please." Replied Fluttershy.

With the two of them holding the banner perfectly still and in place, I flew down and grabbed a hammer and nail. Flying back up to nail one corner of the banner into the wall and than back down again to grab another nail.

"So how's everypony else doing Light?" Asked Fluttershy.

"Umm well." I hammered the second nail into place and we all let go of the banner as it stayed in place."Not as best as we planned."

"Oh my." Said Fluttershy.

"Yeah. The only thing going as planned so far is the food! Sweet Apple Acres and SugarCube Corner have promised more than enough treats!" I replied.

"What about the clothes?" Asked Hemlock.

"Umm what about them?" I replied.

"Damn it. I told Thunderlane to let you know about our suits and dresses for the night. He obviously forgot." Added Hem.

"Ah I see. Why did everypony ask for a certain design and set of clothing?" I asked.

"Well some of us did but others didn't like the idea of dressing up so I told the maker to create something fitting for them. I sent her pictures of the ponies and said what I think they'd prefer." Replied Hemlock as we all landed back down.

"Ah ok! Who's making all these clothes for us and how much for them?" I asked.

"Well I convinced the headmaster to rent them for us just for the night. The lovely mare who's making them is called Rarity. She works in Carousel Boutique in PonyVille." Replied Hemlock.

"Heheh and how did ya know about such a place?" I asked with a cheeky grin.

"Oh don't even go there! I unlike you enjoy looking quite suited for business." Replied Hemlock. Fluttershy giggled at our small dispute.

"Well anyway. I told ThunderLane to ask you if ya could check on the clothes?" Asked Hemlock.

"Sure I guess. While I'm gone Rainbow will keep an eye on everypony." I replied. The doors that Xenon once entered through opened again but this time welcoming both Dash and Blossomforth.

They both walked in side by side and seperated as Bloosomforth who was her own and original colour now continued with her work.

"Well with that done and out of the way! How's things been going since I left?" Asked Dash as she walked over to us.

"Um not great. Hey Dash I gotta go check on something so can ya watch over everything while I'm gone?" I replied.

"Sure!" Replied Dash with a cheery grin.

"Thanks." I hugged her tightly and walked past the three of them and out of the hall.

Ahh it was kinda relieving to leave the hall for once in this long day. Ever since we started decorating I and the others had spent all our spare lesson times in that place. With our school year coming to an end it meant that a lot of lessons finished early and our work for the year was finished. We had taken all our exams and wouldn't get our results for a while.

Walking down the hallways and corridors I came across a water fountain and refreshed myself with the simple but rewarding beverage. Taking a few gulps of water and splashing a little on my face to wake me up more. It seemed to do the trick.

I continued through the halls and eventually left the Academy through the main gates. TIme to head to PonyVille to see this mare called Rarity. Carousel Boutique? Never heard of it before.

Posh and etiquette clothing?

Meh more like swag and stylish!! Heheh.

After a couple minutes of calmly flying I reached PonyVille and began looking for the boutique. I probably should of asked

Hemlock what it looked like and where exactly it was.

I landed by a row of stalls selling various foods and goods. The one next to me selling ruby red apples with a stallion selling them.

"Would you like an apple or two mate?" Asked the tall and young looking stallion.

"No thanks." I replied turning to face the opposite direction hoping to see the boutique just pop out of nowhere.

"Damn it. Where is it?" I muttered to myself.

"WHERE'S WHAT!??" I heard an over excited and hyper mare shout from behind me. In shock I fell on my back in the opposite direction of her voice.

While flat on my back, I opened my eyes to see the always excited pink mare with the bouncing and puffy mane. Pinkie Pie.

"Ahahaha! You alright!?" Asked Pinkie Pie as she stood over me with a huge smile.

"Pinkie!?" I asked with surprise. I hadn't seen her in a while. I got to my hooves and stood beside her.

"As pink as can be! Heheheh!" Replied Pinkie Pie.

"As always I see."

"So what brings you to PonyVille today Lightning?"

"Looking for a place called Carousel Boutique?"

"Oh I know that place!"

"Ya do!?"

"Sure do! Do ya want me to take ya there!?"

"Umm ok! Lead the way Pinkie!"

Pinkie Pie began to bounce and hop as she went further into the town. I hovered slightly above the ground as I followed.

"So why do ya wanna visit Carousel Boutique!?" Asked Pinkie in her usual hyper and eager self.

"Apparently the maker of clothes there is supplying me and my friends with suits and stuff."

"Oooh what's it for!?"

"Ummm my class's Prom night."

"PROM!!??" Pinkie halted to a stop and turned to me." That's like a huge PARTY!!!"

"Yeah. Hahaha!"

"Oooh I'd love to come but my school is also holding a Prom!!! So I'd be too busy planning my own!!!"

"Ah ok!"

Pinkie Pie continued on her hop and bounce to the boutique as I followed her still.

After a couple minutes of following Pinkie around PonyVille we eventually came to a large and tall tower like building. It was decorated in many different colours.

"Here it is! Carousel Boutique!" Said Pinkie with a slight accent on the boutique's name.

"Cool! Thanks Pinkie!"

"No problem! See ya Lightning!" Said Pinkie with a huge smile still on her face as she hopped off away from me and dissapeared around a corner.

"Carousel Boutique eh?" I said to myself as I approached the door of the building.

A sign on the door read "Open" so I slowly pushed the door forward and entered the boutique. Furniture of all sorts were scattered across the room but all kept in an organised fashion.

A line of mannequins stood at one side of the room with clothes and accesories on a few of them. Out of the various furniture there was a purple sofa that stood isolated from anything else. Behind the sofa stood a curtain that stood on its own. It was decorated with various patterns on it.

At the other end of the room there was a single door that was shut. Well it was until it was gently swung open by a mare entering the room.

"I thought I heard somepony enter! A pleasure to meet you sir!" The mare said in such an elegant way. Her step so perfect in place. Her coat was as white as the purest snow or cleanest and untouched marshmallow. Her mane and tail was curled but in a fashionable way. Her curled hair was a dark purple that glistened in the room's light.

"Hey! I'm here to meet somepony called Rarity?" I asked walking further into the room and briefly looking around.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Rarity. Fashionista and owner of Carousel Boutique! It;s a pleasure to meet yet another customer." Said the mare with a welcoming smile.

"Cool to meet ya Rarity! Name's Lightning Flash!"

"What an interesting name might I say so myself! What brings you here today Lightning Flash?"

"Thanks! Well my friend Hemlock rented some suits and dresses from ya? Well he asked for them and I'm just here to see how it's going."

"Hemlock? Hmm yes! I remember him. A fine fellow indeed. Let me just grab them for you." Replied Rarity as she dissapeared behind the standing curtain.

"Ya mean they're all completed? Already!?"

"Well of course my darling. When Rarity is asked of a task or favor ponies should expect the best!"

"One, two, three, four, five, six! Four suits for the stallions and two dresses for the mares!" Rarity exclaimed from behind the curtain.

"Cool!" I replied excitedly but to be honest I was afraid of what my suit would look like. I'd never worn anything elegant or fancy before. Well there was the one time for my father's funeral. Only than have I ever worn a suit.

"With only having pictures of each of you to see what would suit you all it restricted my knowing of everypony! So I hope that you like what I have created for you!"

Rarity pulled the curtain aside and what stood before me was a mannequin dressed in a clean white suit. A light grey undershirt underneath that could only be seen through the half buttoned up chest piece.

Alongside the mannequin stood five others but they were each covered and hidden in a large golden cloak.

"Do you like?" Asked Rarity as I stared at the suited mannequin.

"Yeah! I mean I'm not a big fan of suits but this. This is good!"

"Oh you are too kind Lightning. Just wait till you see the others! Would you like to now?"

"Oh umm. Nah. I'll bring the others along to see them with me! We'll take them off ya hooves than."

"So I'll see you soon Lightning? With your friends?"

"Yup! I'll get them to come by tommorrow!"

"Delightful! I'll be looking forward to it!"

"See ya Rarity!" I said approaching the front door and opening it slightly.

"Farewell Lightning Flash!" Replied Rarity with a joyful and elegant wave.

I left the boutique and thought it was time to check on the planning. Hopefully no more paint coated ponies.

After a couple minutes of flying I soon got back to the Academy. I enjoyed taking a break from it all so I didn't rush my arrival back. Once flying through the Academy's gates I landed and worked my way through the many corridors. I sure was getting hungry by now. Let's hope lunch was soon!

I entered the hall once again to see a few more banners hung up, less ponies zooming about hard at work and instead resting at a table. Hemlock and FireSpeed were finishing off a painting, Kensei and Fluttershy sat with Blossomforth and Thunderlane at a table.

"Yo Lightning!" I heard Rainbow Dash yell and began flying down to me.

"Hey Dash! How's everything been going since I left?" I replied as she landed beside me.

"Got the last of the banners up I think! Apart from that...not much."

"Ah ok! It's almost lunch right?" I asked.

Dash looked at the clock that had been taken down for decoration which was now sitting beside Kensei's music maker.

"Yup! Just about to start I think!" Replied Dash with a smile.

"Sweet!"

A loud cluster of bells rang through the hall bringing everypony to a stop. Those that were sitting stood up. Others who were hovering and and hanging up decorations stopped and landed. Kensei, Fluttershy, Hemlock and FireSpeed all walked over to me and Rainbow as most of the other ponies rushed out of the doors.

"Thank Celestia! I'm as hungry as a horse!" Exclaimed FireSpeed appearing beside me.

"Same bro." Agreed Kensei as him and Fluttershy walked past us and waited in the doorway.

"I think we all deserve some grub for now!" Added Hemlock walking with Kensei and Flutters to the door.

"My belly's been rumbling since I started heading back here!" I said as we all walked through the doors and headed towards the canteen.

"Hey Lightning! Lightning Flash!" I heard a mare's voice shout my name from behind us. Me, Rainbow Dash and FireSpeed came to a halt as the others were deep in conversation.

The three of us turned to see a dark green and brown mare trotting towards us. A double coloured coat? Odd indeed but this pegasus looked familiar. Her coat was like camouflage but her mane and tail were a bright blue with a stripe of lighter blue. She wore a pair of dogtags around her neck. They were blank as I could tell.

Just like her cutie mark as well. A pair of dogtags that were blank with a pure chrome colour.

"Umm yeah?" I replied to the mare who was definately familiar.

"I was just wondering if...well.." The mare suddenly turned a little shy as she attempted to reply.

"Spit it out!" Said Dash with an enthusiastic tone..

"Would you mind if I ate lunch with you?" The camouflaged mare asked in a very polite way.

"Umm sure! Ya can chill with us." I replied.

"Thanks!" The mare's face lit up with a smile bigger than Pinkie Pie's almost!

"Heheh. Hey I recognise ya from somewhere. What's ya name?" I asked.

We all turned around as the mare stood beside me to my left with Dash on my right and FireSpeed in front.

The mare held onto her cheery smile and replied...

"Name's Camouflage!"