The light of dawn streamed slowly into the bedroom from the outside. A beam of light struck Lightning Bolt's eyelids, rousing him from sleep. He yawned and stretched, noting the sleeping form of Fluttershy laying next to him. Gently, Lightning eased off of the bed, taking care not to disturb her sleep. I need some breakfast... and a shower. Lightning trotted down the hallway towards the bathroom.

After a hot shower, Lightning headed downstairs. Searching the kitchen, he found a collection of fresh fruit. Lightning Bolt grabbed two bowls and a knife, and began to slice the fruit to make fruit salads for himself and Fluttershy. As he prepared breakfast, he heard the sounds of Fluttershy showering upstairs. Lightning set the two bowls of fruit on the table and took a seat, waiting for Fluttershy.

From seemingly nowhere, Angel bunny hopped up onto the table. Lightning Bolt sat up in shock. Oh Luna, I almost forgot about him! Wait, was he watching us last night?

"Uhh... hey there," he managed to say. Angel gazed steadily in return, his little face a mask, showing no emotion. Without looking away, he reached down and grabbed a fresh, red strawberry from Lightning's fruit bowl. Angel popped the strawberry into his mouth and chewed slowly. Lightning Bolt started to speak, managing "Look, about last night-" before Angel cut him off with a wave of his paw. He swallowed the strawberry and stared directly at Lightning. After a few seconds of stillness that felt like hours... Angel bunny gave the tiniest of nods. Lightning Bolt sighed in relief, and Angel hopped off the table, once again slipping away among the wispy clouds that made up the floor.

"Good morning, Lightning." Fluttershy greeted Lightning Bolt from the entrance to the kitchen. He turned to face her, opening his mouth to reply. His mouth stayed open.

She looked stunning; somehow even better than when she arrived yesterday. Her mane and coat, previously disheveled and matted, were now perfectly clean and tidy. Her mane, which had yesterday been carefully styled and accented with the bow, was now only casually tidied. It was a natural look, fitting her love of nature. She smiled with an honest, open smile. There was no shyness, nor unease. This was a completely comfortable and happy mare. The mare he loved.

"Good morning to you too, Fluttershy. I made us fruit salads, figured you'd be hungry." She nodded and took the other seat at the table. Now that she was close, however, Lightning noticed something even more surprising about her.

Her mane smelled like... action. Daring. It was a powerful, dominant scent, contrasting her quiet demeanor completely. He recognized the scent immediately. It was the scent he had known since his colthood back in Cloudsdale. A scent that he hadn't smelled in years before last morning. The scent of the shampoo in the shower, belonging to the owner of the house they were in.

Fluttershy smelled like Rainbow Dash. The pony he loved, with her mane smelling exactly like his sister. That raised some conflicting feelings in him, to be sure. On one hoof, the aroma was oddly enticing on Fluttershy, perhaps because of the irony. On the other hoof, it was so connected to Rainbow Dash in his mind that he couldn't feel attracted to it without the thought of his sister making it weird. Lightning did his best to shelve those thoughts and focus on breakfast.

The meal passed quickly, as there wasn't much to say that hadn't been said already after last night. When their bowls were empty, Lightning accompanied Fluttershy to the door.

"I should get going," she said. "Rainbow Dash will probably be back soon, and I need to check on the animals. Lightning, I... really enjoyed last night. It was even better than I had ever dreamed. Will you be staying in Ponyville?" He shrugged.

"I'll have to go back to Cloudsdale in a few days to get all my old stuff, but yeah, I plan on coming back, don't worry." He smiled and nuzzled her. After a moment, they separated, and Fluttershy turned and took off. Lightning watched her go, seeing a small Angel bunny hop out of the clouds and land on her back. When she faded to a dot in the distance, he closed the door.

Lightning Bolt flopped down on the couch. He wasn't sure exactly when Rainbow Dash was coming back, but he assumed it wouldn't be long. After a few moments, he realized that his eyes were feeling droopy. True, he hadn't slept much last night, but it was strange to feel this tired. Lightning tried to stand up, but found himself unable. A few seconds later, he fell into a sudden deep slumber.

zZz

When Lightning Bolt came to, a dark fog swirled around him. He stood up, shakily, and tried to make sense of his surroundings. The fog shrouded the area, covering even his hooves below him, but up above he could see a night sky with thousands of swirling stars. Brightest of all was the moon, full and much larger in the sky than usual. Nervously, Lightning called out into the darkness.

"H-hello? What's going on, what is this?" He listened, but at first there was no response. Then, out of the shadows, a large figure drew near. The fog parted, revealing a deep blue alicorn. "Princess Luna!" Lightning Bolt gasped and bowed awkwardly, caught off guard by her sudden appearance.

Princess Luna laughed softly and waved her hoof, motioning for him to rise.

"Please, Lightning Bolt, there is no need for such formalities here," Luna teased. "All are equal in my plane of dreams."

"I'm... dreaming?" Lightning asked, confused. Luna nodded, and continued to speak.

"Yes, dreaming. As princess of the night, I often visit my subjects as they dream. If necessary, I can call them to dream at any time, which is what I've done to you. Do not worry, in the waking world you have just passed out for a few minutes. I would have contacted you last night, but I figured you needed the rest after your... night with Fluttershy."

Lightning Bolt went pale. First Angel bunny and now this? Is there anypony else who feels the need to comment on my sex life? Princess Luna smiled warmly.

"I should mention," Luna said, "since this is my realm, any thoughts of yours are revealed to me." Lightning Bolt went from pale to blushing, frantically trying to dispose of certain thoughts. Luna stepped towards him, bringing her face close to his.

"Be calm, your intimate desires are safe with me. Yes, even the ones you're having about me right now. I'd gladly fulfill those desires... but I doubt Fluttershy would appreciate that now, would she? Speaking of Fluttershy... it is my duty to watch over my subjects in the night. Last night, you and her in particular caught my attention."

"I-I'm sorry!" Lightning sputtered. "Please don't be angry Luna, I just... I love her! And she loves me! And if you've got a problem with that... well, uh..." He trailed off as he remembered just who he was talking to. Princess Luna froze for a second, then laughed.

"Oh, Lightning, you misunderstand! I'm not mad, I'm grateful. Grateful towards you, for what you've done." Seeing his confused expression, she elaborated.

"When I returned to Equestria as Nightmare Moon, Fluttershy was one of Twilight's friends who helped bring me back to being Princess Luna. Because of what she did to help me, I care greatly about her health and happiness. For years she's dreamt of yesterday's events. Meeting you again. Catching up, remembering old times. Falling in love. For years, unbeknownst to her, I played the part of Lightning Bolt in her dreams, giving her what she so badly wished for. But I could never make it real; that was beyond my power. I wanted to thank you, Lightning Bolt. Thank you for returning, and bringing her the happiness that I could not. If there's anything you need, anything I can do for you, just call upon me in your dreams and I will answer, That is a promise, and the least I can do."

Lightning Bolt opened his mouth to thank her, but it felt like everything was moving in slow motion. His vision swirled and blurred, and everything went pitch dark.

zZz

"Uh, Lightning? Bro?" The voice roused Lightning Bolt from unconsciousness. He shook his head, feeling the tiredness rapidly fading, and looked up from the couch to see his sister standing over him. "Why are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Um, well, you see... it's kind of hard to explain actually..." He replied, unsure of how to tell her about his dream. She waved a hoof in the air, expressing her sudden disinterest.

"You know what, never mind, that isn't important. Where's Fluttershy? Did she leave already?" Rainbow Dash looked around the room.

"Yeah, she left a few minutes ago," said Lightning. Rainbow flopped down next to him. Thankfully, she had showered somewhere else last night, so her mane didn't smell like Fluttershy's had. Ugh, that fragrance is ruined for me now. I can't even think about it without conflicting thoughts of both of them! Maybe I can convince her to switch shampoos... "So, where did you go last night, Sis?" She shrugged.

"Eh, I crashed in Twilight's castle for the night. Rarity came over too. Nothing really happened, we mostly gossiped about you and Fluttershy. They both helped her get ready yesterday. Rarity took her to the spa, and Twilight gave her a summary of a book on how to date." Rainbow leaned in. "They're both very eager to hear what happened, same as me. So, that's two more ponies who will be very disappointed if you blew it with her. You didn't blow it, did you?"

"Hey, c'mon Sis, have a little faith in your brother!" Lightning Bolt took offense. "The date went fine. Great, actually. More than great. We ate dinner, and afterwards we watched the sunset together while I told her the story of how I got my cutie mark. Perfect date." Rainbow Dash's eyes narrowed.

"And after that?"

"After that we, uh," Lightning stammered, "we went to bed."

"That's it?"

"...Wellll," he started. Rainbow Dash laughed and punched him lightly in the shoulder, smiling.

"Oh, you dog! Really, on the first date you two- bwahahah!" Rainbow collapsed into giggles.

"That's not all," Lightning said, teasingly. "We did it... in your bed." Rainbow gasped.

"Bro, really? Not cool! I swear if you made a mess..." He nodded, grinning widely.

"Oh yeah. Wanna hear the details?" He asked, poking Rainbow Dash in the side. She recoiled, a look of disgust on her face.

"No! No. No details," Rainbow said, looking away from him, embarrassed. He leaned in close.

"Here's one for you," he said. His muzzle was right next to her ear as he whispered three words: "She's a screamer." Rainbow Dash slugged him, sending him tumbling to the floor. Despite the pain in his side, he laughed uncontrollably at her fury.

"Why? Why did you have to tell me that. Sweet Celestia, I'll never be able to look at her the same way, you understand that? Dammit Lightning!" Lightning bolted, running for the front door. Rainbow Dash chased him, yelling. "First, you bang one of my best friends in my own bed! If that wasn't enough, you drop her super-personal sexy-time quirks on me, things that I'm never going to be able to forget, you hear me? Never!" He burst out the front door, sprinting towards the edge of the cloud. Rainbow followed, still shouting. She was clearly mad, but there was a playful note in her tone of voice. "I swear to the princesses I'm dragging you back in there and making you clean up my room, which apparently you seem to think of as your personal love chamber!" Lightning lept off of the cloud.

"You'll have to catch me fi-irst!" Lightning Bolt kept his wings by his sides, gaining speed rapidly. As he hit terminal velocity he spread them, shooting over the treetops at a breakneck pace. Behind him, he heard a deafening boom. Turning his head, he saw the remnants of a sonic rainboom as Rainbow Dash barreled towards him. Almost as loud as the boom were her words that came next.

"Lightning Boooooooooooolt!"

End

Author's Note

Whew, this is finally done. I spent way longer on it than i intended to. I hope you enjoyed! I find it kind of funny that this epilogue ended up being the longest chapter. It was supposed to be just a few quick scenes to wrap the story up, but I kept coming back to add a little more. This might not be the last you see of Lightning Bolt, assuming he can survive his rapidly-approaching sibling beatdown. I might even write a prequel story about his time in the zebra lands, since I feel like there's a lot more to tell there. No promises, but it seems compelling. Anyway, thanks for sticking around and reading this!