Chapters Thunder and Lightnings Adventures
Thunder and Lightning’s Adventures: Prologue-The Beginning
Thunder and his friends Lightning, Shadow, Arrow, and Silver were hanging out at their usual meet up spot in Ponyville. They were all meeting up to discuss about a new movie coming out that they all wanted to see together. The movie was from the Daring-Do series so it was gonna be good. The movie was called ‘Daring-Do and the Quest for the Ruby Staff’. They sat their discussing about where to sit in the theaters, what time to get the snacks and when they should go to the bathroom before the movie starts.
“Now, who will be buying the snacks this time since I did last time?” Thunder said, looking around the table of his kitchen. All of them sat silent, knowing whoever said they would pay for the snacks would kinda be in debt for a bit.
“I will this time” Lightning said, raising his hoof.
“Thanks Lightning” Silver started. “Just think about it, next time we go, you won’t have to pay for the snacks”
Lightning just rolled his eyes at that comment. Everypony knew the ‘Snack Pony’ was the pony who would spend the most amount because everypony went overboard on snacks. They sat there for a good fifteen minutes before they had everything else planned out for the best movie experience ever.
They leave their hangout spot from Sugar Cube Corner and start to head out for the movie theater. They make stops in their trip to gather everything they need for the movie. They stop at general stores to grab the snacks, drinks, and other necessities they need. After they’re finished shopping, they make their way back down the street towards the theater. They make it their before the movie starts but, the line to get tickets is longer than they expected.
“Alright, even though it’s a big line to get tickets, we can survive till we get up there” Shadow said, looking past the line to see how many ponies are actually in line.
“We aren’t worried about getting to the ticket booth” Arrow started. “It’s about getting the actual tickets to see the movie. If we can’t get tickets then we have to wait ANOTHER week to see this movie” Arrow was getting annoyed at the fact that they had to wait for such a long time to see this movie. The movie has been out for three weeks now and they tried for the past three weeks but couldn’t get to the booth in time. They see a few of their good friends, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, get behind them in the line. It was awfully quiet the whole time they waited but, it had to or else everypony knew that the movie you would want to see would be gone quicker than normal. The five friends sat in line for sixteen minutes before they reach the front of the line. They walk up to the booth and request their tickets.
“Five tickets to see ‘Daring-Do and the Quest for the Ruby Staff’ please” Shadow said, looking like he was about to pass out.
“Sorry but, their are only three left to see that movie” the sales pony said.
Silver, Shadow, and Arrow were all in shock from not getting the tickets, while Thunder and Lightning just looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
“Guys, it’s not that surprising to see them run out that quick” Lightning said, walking away from the line. “Besides, it’s not that big of a deal anyways” Lightning looked back to see the same three friends in shock, now in disgust looking at him.
“What do you mean ‘Not a big deal’?” Silver said, walking towards him.
“Yeah, we all really want to see this movie and you’re taking it as if the movie isn’t important” Shadow said, getting out of line as well.
“Guys, come on” Thunder said from behind Silver and Shadow. “Lightning has a point here. Even though we didn’t get to see the movie, there’s always another time. Me and Lightning wanna see this movie just as much as you guys do but, if we keep complaining about not seeing it then, we won’t get anywhere” Thunder stood confident, thinking his point got across to his friends.
“Then I guess we will watch it without you then” Arrow said, chiming in. “If you guys don’t want to then there’s enough tickets for the three of us. Right guys?” The two others nod their head in agreement while Thunder sat their smirking at them.
“Whats got you smirking?” Shadow said, still having his face of anger.
“You might of wanted to stay in line if you were gonna watch the movie. Seems like someone else beat you to it” Thunder said, pointing a hoof towards the booth. The three look towards the booth to see Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo purchase two tickets to the same movie. The three are now looking like they had just seen an amazing magic trick from a dog.
“You guys were saying?” Lightning said, matching Thunder’s smirk. The three turned back with their heads down in defeat.
“I can’t believe we lost another chance at seeing the movie!” Shadow said in frustration. His wings flare up in anger.
“Shadow, have some respect. We have young one’s here” Arrow motioned toward a group of adults with their colt or filly. Shadow quickly put his wings down and gave a weak smile of embarassment while waving weakly.
“Alright, here’s a new plan” Thunder started, getting up from a bench. “We keep the snacks we have until next week when we try to watch it again. That way there we won’t have to spend anything for snacks”
The four nod in agreement before Thunder gave a sigh of relief, now knowing they understood. “Finally. I thought wewould be here forever” Thunder thought to himself. The group of friends start to head off towards Ponyville and get some rest for the night.
“Me and Lightning have work in the morning so, we can’t make it in time” Thunder said walking besides Arrow.
“Alright but, next time you have to be there. It’s not the same without you and Lightning” Arrow looked pleadingly.
“I will” Thunder replied. “Now, let me go home so I can sleep and I can actually make it to work” Arrow saw that Lightning was waiting for Thunder to be finished talking. Arrow and Thunder said their goodbyes and headed off towards their home.
“What did he want?” Lightning said, breaking a silence between them.
“He wants us to go to his get together next week and I told him we would be there” Thunder said, grabbing the keys from his saddlebags with his magic.
“You do know that I have to work longer next week right? I have been selling a lot ever since I started to get the hang of things there” Lightning said in a very proud and boasting manner.
“Thats why I told him to plan it on your day off” Thunder started to unlock the door to his and Lightnings home.
Lightning stopped dead in his tracks, realizing what Thunder just told him. “You know that my days off are limited. Why would you do that?”
“He’s our friend and we need to see him when we have the time to sometimes. Plus, he didn’t stop bothering me until I said we would show up” Thunder and Lightning were now inside getting everything all set for them to play a few games before bed. They only play for a good hour before looking to see what time it was. A little past 9 but they both knew work was early in the morning. They were just getting settled in for bed when a knock was heard from the front door.
“I’ll see who it is” Thunder yelled, getting out of his bed. Thunder walked downstairs towards the door when another knock was heard from the door. “I’m coming. Jeez” Thunder opened the door to see that it was a royal gaurd from Canterlot. “Oh, good evening sir. Is there something you need?”
“I’m here to warn Ponyville about the threat of some dark magic coming this way. Please, stay indoors for the next few days until it has been dealt with, we don’t want any of you getting hurt” The gaurd finishes and just walks off towards the next house.
Thunder shuts the door and locks it. He heads back upstairs into his bedroom and shuts the door. “I don’t care if dark magic is coming, I have a shop to run in the morning” Thunder knew that a little bit of some spooky magic wasn’t gonna stop him from going to work. Thunder drifted off to sleep a few minutes after. Outside, the clouds were turning dark and had spikes coming from them. The only clue to know who is behind it is an ominous laugh, coming from the distance.
Thunder and Lightnings Adventures
Thunder and Lightning’s Adventures Chapter 1 - King of the Damned
Thunder woke up at around seven. Thunder got out of bed and started to get ready for work. He also made breakfast for him and Lightning, whenever Lightning got up. Thunder knew his friends schedule well so, he went up to Lightning’s room and woke him up.
“Lightning, you have work in an hour. Gotta get up and get ready. Also, i made breakfast for you. It’ll be in the microwave when you get up” Thunder sat there waiting for a response from Lightning.
“I’ll be down in a minute” Lightning finally replied, lifting his head from the pillow.
Thunder knew that as soon as he left the room, Lightning would just go right back to sleep so he stayed in the doorway until Lightning got up and out of bed. Lightning kept checking to see if Thunder was gone but he would still be there. After about five minutes, Lightning knew he had to get up or else Thunder would not leave. Lightning lazily got up from bed and started to head toward the doorway and Thunder turned to leave the doorway.
“Do you have to stay there every morning?” Lightning asked, yawning as he spoke.
“Until you learn to get up on time for work then yes, I have to stay there every morning” Thunder said, giving Lightning a little smirk. Lightning only groaned back at him, knowing that it’s no use arguing about it. Thunder made his way back downstairs while Lightning went to take a shower. Thunder went to get the keys to his shop and to grab his lunch he packed. Thunder had half an hour to get to his shop and open up so he wasn’t worried about waiting for Lightning to get downstairs. Lightning finally finished getting ready for work and saw that Thunder was still here.
“Shouldn’t you be at your shop by now?” Lightning asked, getting his work shirt and name tag on.
“Yeah but, you know me, I have to make sure that you get to work as well” Thunder started to exit the house.
“Thanks but, I don’t need you to watch over me. I can handle myself” Lightning said, getting ready to argue with Thunder.
“That’s what you said about being a substitute study hall teacher for the class with the CMC in it. I forget, how did that turn out?” Thunder said, locking the door behind both of them.
Lightning looked toward the ground as he walked, remembering how that day went. “That was.... I wasn’t.... I thought it would be easy but, I can see your point. I guess I overlook jobs and stuff” Lightning couldn’t win almost any argument him and Thunder have. Thunder’s always a step ahead somehow.
“And what did you say when you came back that day?” Thunder said, nudging his shoulder with his hoof.
Lightning sighed before he said, “I can’t handle that many kids on my own”
“And that’s fine but, I’m just letting you know what my point is. It seems it got across to you”
“Yeah, It seems it did. Well, i’ll see you after work dude”
“Yeah, see ya later”
Lightning went down a path to head to his job, Quills and Sofas. Thunder kept going until he got to a small shop. Thunder looked up to see his sign for the store name, “Thunders Electronics”. He went up to the door and took the keys to the shop from his bag. He entered his shop and started to set up the display cases and the shelfs. He flipped the sign to ‘open’, went to the counter and started the first day of his new shop.
Thunder finished selling a new console to a customer and went to check how much he made that day. He went to the back of the shop, put the register down, and opened it to count his bits.
“130, 135, 140, 145, 147... One-hundred and forty-seven bits” Thunder said, proud of how much he made on his first day. “This should help out around the house for a bit” Thunder put the bits into a seperate saddle bag and went back up to the counter. He looked around the store to make sure no one was still in the shop. No one but him was in their. He started moving to the other side of the store to start packing things away, when he heard a noise come from the counter. “Anyone here?” Thunder said, trying to get whoever was in heres attention. “Did you need help finding anything? Maybe you wanna buy something?” Thunder still had no response, so he went back to the counter to check on the pony. There was nopony even up near the counter. He went behind the counter to check in the back of the shop and got the same results, nopony. Thunder was getting a little nervous but just put the thought aside for now. He went back out to the front of the store and before he got out from the counter, he saw a figure run to the far side of the store. “Hey, wait!” Thunder yelled, making sure the figure heard him. The store was a little large, so Thunder was on a chase for a good minute or so. Thunder finally cornered the pony and was panting heavily from running. “Why *huff* must *huff* you ponies *huff* run so much? And HOW do you run so much?” Thunder caught his breath and saw that this part of the store had no lighting in it, so he had to get that checked out. He shook his head from that and readjusted his gaze upon the pony before him. He finally got a good look at the pony. It was a filly with a magenta coat of fur and a light pink mane and tail. She was a unicorn, for sure, and still had no cutie mark. She had purple eyes that reminded Thunder of... Thunder didn’t want to think about that right now, he had to figure out why this filly was in his store still.
“Hey, are you lost? How come you didn’t answer me when i was asking if anyone was here? Why did you run from me?” Thunder was being calm so he didn’t spook the filly anymore. He sat down to get eye level with the filly and the filly just stared back at him. She seemed to look very nervous and Thunder saw that he needed to rethink his approach. “Ok maybe my approach was a little too much. *Sigh* Ponies in this town are just... Sensitive. I think I need to retry my approach” Thunder stopped thinking and looked back towards the filly. “Hey, i’m sorry for seeming rude. I just want to know if your lost or need anything?” The filly looked up towards the ceiling and back towards Thunder.
“I... I... I am lost” The filly finally spoke looking very scared. “I can’t find my parents anywhere in Ponyville. I checked every store and resturant except here and I thought they were in here” The filly just stared at the ground when she spoke, tracing a circle with her hoof on the ground.
“Didn’t they tell you where they went?”
“No. They usually never tell me where they go” The filly looked up at Thunder. “I’m usually at home most of the time but, today I felt like going outside”
“So you went out looking for your parents, so you can be with them?” Thunder mentally facehoofed himself for the last part of the question. “Nice Thunder, your just repeating everything this filly is pretty much saying. Way to go Detective”
“Yeah but, you can see how that turned out” The filly looked back towards the ground again and sighed a bit. Thunder has no clue what to do with her right now. He wants to help her find her parents but, she said she checked everywhere for them. Another part of him wants to take her back home so she can wait for them but, he believes that won’t be for awhile. “Man, now I have to figure out what to do with this filly. I know she is telling the truth but not fully. I can trust her for now but, at somepoint, I will get her to tell me everything” Thunder looked at the filly and thought of his next question carefully.
“How long are your parents away for usually?” Thunder asked, a bit curious.
“A few days, maybe weeks. They are usually gone for a long time” The filly responded.
“Wow, if she doesn’t even know when they’re gonna be back then maybe I should actually do something” Thunder looked down and back up at her with a smile. “Well, until they come back, you can stay with me for awhile”
“I don’t know. My parents told me not to listen to strangers”
“This filly really needs to stop being difficult” Thunder thought a bit more on the matter and looked back at the filly. “Don’t think of me as a stranger, think of me as a... foal-sitter” Thunder weakly smiled at the filly.
“I guess I could do that. Even though...” She mumbled the last few words so Thuder couldn’t hear her. The filly looked up towards Thunder with a small smile of her own.
“Also, I never got what your name was”
“My name is Spectrum. Spectrum Prism”
“That’s a pretty name. Now, let’s go back to my place so we can grab something to eat” Thunder got back up on all four and started towards the door. “Man, she really reminds me of you.... So, she’s... Wow, who knew?” Thunder stopped thinking about who she reminded him of and started to actually help the filly. Spectrum went outside to wait for Thunder to finish locking up. “A bit of a warning, I have a roommate living at home so you’ll be able to meet him when he gets out of work”
“Sounds fine but, I’m kinda shy. It might take me awhile to speak with him”
“That’s no big deal. Take as much time as you need to feel comfortable” Spectrum and Thunder had a conversation on the way home talking about things they like to do and what type of cutie mark Spectrum might get.
It took about twenty minutes to get back to the house. When Thunder got home, he went straight to the kitchen to whip something up for him and Spectrum to eat.
“What kinds of food do you like?” Thunder asked, looking up towards the shelfs. “I don’t want to give you something you don’t like”
“I’ll eat almost anything. I’m not that much of a picky eater” Spectrum said from the doorway to the kitchen.
“Alright, at least it makes it easier to choose what to cook. If you want, I have a T.V. and a game console in the other room, you can go play while I cook this up for us”
“Really? Are you sure?” Spectrums’ face lit up with excitement.
“Of course. Just don’t delete anything on the console, I worked hard for all my progress” Thunder just seemed to stare in a random direction for a bit before shaking his head and getting back to cooking for him and Spectrum.
“I won’t. Thanks Thunder!” Spectrum walked off towards the living room to go play some games while Thunder made some hay burgers.
Thunder would occasionally poke into the living room to check up on Spectrum and see what game she was playing. She was playing one of his favorite games, Silent Mills. It was a game that he brought from his own world and he never lost track of that game. She created a new save file, which Thunder was glad about, and it seems like she was having a bit of trouble.
“Ugh, this puzzle is confusing me so much” She said, before putting the controller down and really concentrated with the riddle.
“You having trouble?” Thunder said from behind Spectrum.
“A little. I just can’t seem to figure out what this means” She said, not turning from the screen.
“Need any help? I know this game like the back of my hoof”
“Maybe, but for now, I’ll try to figure this out myself. I like to challenge myself with these type of things”
“OK, just holler if you need help” Thunder said before trotting back to the kitchen to check on the hay burgers. They were cooked a little bit over but, Thunder never was good with making burgers. He got them out from the pan and put them on burger buns and put a little bit of some seasoning on the burgers to help get rid of the burnt flavor. “Spectrum! Your hay burger is done!” Thunder called.
“I”ll be there in a sec!” Spectrum called back. Thunder picked up the hay burgers and placed them at the table in the kitchen. Spectrum walked in not much after he called her in.
“I hope you like it. It’s the way my father made them when I was growing up” Thunder took the hay burger with his magic and started to eat. Thunder noticed that Spectrum was trying to use her magic as well but, with no luck she couldn’t levitate for more than a few seconds. “You having trouble with your magic?”
“Yeah. I can’t seem to do any basic unicorn spells. I should be able to by now but, nopony ever taught me how” She seemed to mumble something under her breath but Thunder couldn’t hear a word of it.
“I’m not the best at it but, I can help you with your magic” Thunder said, taking another bite of the hay burger.
“That would be great!” Spectrum said with excitement. “What kind of spells will you teach me? Oh, maybe turning an orange into an apple. That would be cool. Thunder just smiled at her.
“Whoah, lets stick with the basics for now. If you can get that far before me, I would give up my life as a unicorn and become an earth pony. No joke” Thunder liked to make things seem like a joke for most occassions. Spectrum laughed a bit at that and went back to eating her burger. After they finished eating Thunder cleaned up the kitchen and the dishes and went into the living room. Spectrum was still having trouble with that puzzle. Thunder sat on the couch and went on his phone.
“Why do games have to be so difficult?” Spectrum was getting very angered at the game. She couldn’t figure out the first puzzle in the game.
“You want my help now?” Thunder said, looking up from his phone.
“Yeah, I can’t seem to figure this out” Spectrum looked back towards Thunder, waiting for him to tell her.
“I won’t give it to you easily but I’ll give you a hint. You see how the poem is worded? Only certain letters of the poem is the answer” Spectrum looked back towards the game and started to read the poem once more. She gasped in realization and started to put in the code.
“It worked! Thank you Thunder” Spectrum said, continuing on with the game.
Thunder looked towards the clock to see what time it was. It was close to 8 p.m. “Alright Spectrum. I don’t wanna ruin your fun but, my roommate is coming back from work soon so that means it’s almost time for me to head off to sleep. I have to open up shop early tomorrow” Thunder said, getting off his phone and getting up from the couch.
“Alright, can i save first though?”
“Of course. Save it under the save file two because the first save file is mine”
“I know” Spectrum went to save before looking at Thunders save file. “You beat this game six times?” Spectrum said, turning towards Thunder.
“Yep. This is my favorite game to play. It’s never a boring game. Plus, there are six main characters to play as and then about three or four side characters. So, I need to play this game about four times to beat it completely” Thunder looked back at Spectrum and her eyes looked with confusion. “I’ll explain it someother time” Spectrum nodded and saved her game. Thunder shut the T.V. and game system off while Spectrum went up to get ready for bed. When she got up the stairs, Lightning came through the door looking very happy.
“You won’t believe what happened today!” Lightning was very excited that he couldn’t stand still.
“Well, if you can stay still for a bit maybe you can tell me the good news” Thunder remarked, cleaning up the rest of the kitchen from dinner.
“Sorry. It’s just that the manager gave me a promotion from worker to sales associate!” Lightning did a little flip in the air when he finished talking.
“Lightning, I knew you would do great. And I also have some.... Interesting news” Thunder stopped cleaning before turning towards Lightning.
“What is it? Did you do good at your store?” Lightning was still excited despite Thunder being a little quieter than usual.
“I have to tell him now or else he’ll bark me later tonight. Hope he doesn’t yell at me now” Thunder looked at Lightning, seeing his friends big smile on his face. Thunder chuckled a bit, “I may or may not have taken in a... filly for a few weeks.... Surprise...” Thunder said, giving a weak smile. Lightnings excitement slowly disappeared from his face as he processed what Thunder just said.
“What do you mean you ‘took in a filly’?” Lightning said a little confused.
“I mean that i took in a filly for a few weeks. Her parents are gone and I couldn’t just leave her by herself” Thunder knew that Lightning didn’t like the idea of him doing something like that.
“Are you serious? We can’t keep a filly for a little while. We barely even have things for us around here. Unless you plan to pay for everything she needs to stay” Lightning was being serious about this. He didn’t like that his best friend would just do that without talking about it with Lightning. Thunders face started to scrunch up a bit as he went into a deep thought.
“Can i take care of her by myself?” Thunder thought. “I mean, it can’t be that hard. Plus, she doesn’t have anywhere else to go and I don’t want to make her stay alone at her house”
“Well. Can you?” Thunder was taken away from his thoughts when Lightning disturbed him.
“Of course I can. I’m capable of taking care of Spectrum” Thunder said, kinda without thinking. “I might have just dug myself a grave here... I know that but... *Sigh* Your right, I know why I said it” Lightning only looked at him and just studied him.
“Well alright then. I guess she can stay only until her parents return”
“That was the plan the whole time anyways. I can’t just take someone else’s child as my own. Anyways, I need to go up and get her in bed. I’ll see you later or tomorrow morning”
“We’ll see which comes first” Thunder started to finish cleaning up the kitchen while Lightning started to get ready for bed himself. Thunder started heading up the stairs as Lightning passed him to go into the kitchen. “You didn’t make me dinner?!”
Thunder was making sure Spectrum was comfortable in the spare bed he had. She kept saying that she was comfortable enough but Thunder kept asking, just to make sure she was. Thunder finished tucking in Spectrum and turned the light off and got into his own bed on the oppisite side of the room.
“Thunder?” Spectrums said through the silence of the room.
“Yeah?” Thunder replied back.
“I overheard you and your friend talking and I was just wondering…” She paused.
“You were wondering what? You can ask me anything” Thunder said, in a calm voice. “Well now she knows that she won’t stay long” Thunder thought to himself.
Spectrum took a deep breath before she asked her question. “Why did you take me in?” That question struck Thunder with surprise as he thought she knew why he took her in. “I’m just a random little filly you found in your shop and yet you wanted to take me in. Why?”
Thunder was quiet from Spectrums questions. He thought for a while before answering her. “I took you in because you looked like you didn’t want to go back home to your house for some reason. When I mentioned home you had a face of worry and maybe fear. Is there something about home you wanna tell me?” It was Spectrums turn to become quiet now. She was more quiet than when Thunder found her. After a good thirty seconds, she finally replied.
“I.. I.. I don’t live anywheres” Thunders heart just dropped when he heard that. “My parents took me to a fair that happened a year ago. They told me to choose a ride to go on while they went to go get some food and drinks. I went on a ride and I waited at the ride, waiting for them to come back. They never came back” Thunder was sitting up now, taking in all this new information. Thunder was holding back his tears but just couldn’t. He teared up but didn’t start to cry.
“I’m sorry. I had no idea your parents did that to you” Thunder now got up from his bed and went over to Spectrum. “Don’t worry though, that won’t happen to you ever again” Spectrum looked up at Thunder who had a soothing smile on his face with tears running down his cheeks. “Spectrum, would you like to stay and live here with me?” Spectrum didn’t say anything at first. She was starting to tear up as well, while forming a smile on her face.
“Yes. I would love to stay here” Spectrum started to cry a bit as she jumped up and hugged Thunder. Thunder hugged her back and started to tear up a little more.
“Alright, now we need to actually get some sleep. We gotta get to work tomorrow” Thunder got up and headed back towards his bed.
“We? I’m coming with you?” Spectrum said, returning back under her covers, wiping her tears from her face.
“Well I mean, I don’t wanna leave you here alone and maybe if you help me out around the shop, I don’t know, maybe you can earn yourself some bits to spend the way you want to” Thunder looked back towards Spectrum to see her look at him.
“Really? My own money?”
“Yep. But only if you help out at the shop. I do have some things I can’t do myself whiling working the counter so I’m sure you’ll be quite busy while I tend to the customers needs”
“Sounds like fun” Spectrum said in a cheerful voice.
“Good. Now, get some sleep. We got a big day ahead of us”
Thunder and Spectrum fell asleep pretty quick after they talked. The night was silent as ever and the night sky was shining brighter than ever that night. Nothing could make that night even better than it already was. Instead it got worse when dark clouds came floating overhead of the small village of Ponyville.
Thunder and Lightnings Adventures
Thunder and Lightning’s Adventures
Chapter 2 - The Start of Something New
Thunder woke up feeling like he had forgotten something. He glanced around to find his clock and to look at the time. 5:30 A.M it read. Thunder sighed in relief knowing he wasn’t late to work. Thunder got up and out of bed, so that he wouldn’t fall back to sleep and actually miss work. He was being really quiet since he didn’t wanna wake Spectrum up. He checked on her before heading to his dresser and getting out a shirt to wear. Thunder picked out his shirt and went towards the bathroom to take a shower to freshen up a bit. After he was done with his shower, Thunder went downstairs to go make breakfast for him, Lightning, and Spectrum. He got out some eggs, flour, and milk and started to make pancakes. Thunder hadn’t made pancakes in awhile so he felt a little worried making them. It was around 6 now and Thunder finished making the pancakes. He put an even amount on three plates so nopony can say somepony has more. Thunder got out the syrup and started heading back up the stairs towards Lightnings room. Thunder opened the door to see that Lightnings alarm was going off but it was too quiet for him to hear.
“Lightning!” Thunder started. “Your alarms been going off for quite some time now. You need to get up so you can get ready for work” Lightning woke up lazily and just turned his head to face Thunder.
“I don’t have to work until 7:30” Lightning said, yawning after his word. “Why wake me up now?”
“You need to get up so your not so tired when you get there. Besides, you don’t wanna lose your position after you just got it, right?” Thunder said, antagonizing him before leaving the room. After Thunder left, he heard many things being moved and the sound of drawers opened and closed. Thunder went back to his room to still see Spectrum fast asleep. He started towards the bed and stopped just short of it. “Spectrum” Thunder said soundly. “Spectrum it’s time to get up. We got to get ready to go to work in about an hour” Spectrum just stirred in her sleep. It took her awhile before she opened her eyes to see Thunder sitting on his bed playing on his phone.
“What time is it?” Spectrum said, rubbing her eyes from sleepiness.
“About quarter after six” Spectrum just yawned at his answer before removing the covers and getting out of bed.
“Where’s the bathroom?”
“Down the hall, on the right. You can’t miss it” Spectrum went to the bathroom while Lightning came out of his room looking like he was nervous. “Think your ready for your first day as a sales associate?” Thunder asked walking down the stairs behind Lightning.
“Kinda, sorta, maybe. I just think that it might be more pressure on me” Lightning said, heading towards the kitchen to see a few pancakes on a plate for him. “Why do you have to know me so well?” Lightning asked rhetorically before starting to eat.
“Well if it’s gonna be pressure on you then maybe you should ask them what’s different about the positions. That way there you won’t have to worry so much” As Thunder was talking, Lightning was eating but, he heard everything his friend said and knows that he should do something like that. “I’m just saying, that’s all.” Thunder looked at the clock and saw that it was close to 6:30.
“Hey,” Spectrum said from the top of the stairs. “Thunder, do you think that maybe we can get me a shirt to match yours? I’m only asking because I thought that it might be a good idea” Spectrum got down the stairs and saw her plate of pancakes waiting on the table. She looked at Thunder to confirm those were hers and he nodded to her. She ran over and started to eat her pancakes.
“And to answer your question” Thunder spoke up. “Yes, I will get you a shirt to match mine and maybe a few more because I wear a few colors other than green” Thunder walked over to Spectrum and ruffled her mane up a bit. “Maybe i’ll get you a few extra things since you will be staying here” Lightning started to choke on a bit of pancake when he heard Thunders’ words.
“What do you mean *cough cough* ‘staying here’?” Lightning said, recovering from his choke.
“Lightning we talked about this last night and there’s no need for me to repeat myself” Thunder looked seriously at Lightning. Lightning knows that when Thunder looks at somepony that way, you know not to question further.
“Fine” Lightning said, getting up from the chair. “I’m gonna get to work early today. I’ll see you after work” With that, Lightning left the house without another word. The other two were quiet eating the rest of breakfast until they had to leave for work. Thunder wanted to leave a little earlier so he could take Spectrum to the store for a shirt for today, just to show she sorta works at his shop.
“What color goes good with green?” Thunder said from the racks of shirts for fillies. “They don’t really have much to go with green. Maybe a blue? Red? AAGH! I can never find colors that match right!” Thunder was getting a little annoyed of his lack of fasion. Thunder really wanted to find something that could match but just couldn’t.
“Thunder!” Spectrum said from the opposite side of the filly section. Thunder went right over to where Spectrum was and saw that she had found a nice rose red shirt that matched the green a lot better than what he was looking at. “What about this one? I think it could work. Don’t you?”
“Well, at least one of us found something that could match this green. I thought we would have to open shop a little late” Spectrum took the shirt off and folded it neatly. “You sure you want this one? I know we’re coming back later to get a couple more but, this is when we go to the shop”
“Yes, this one is perfect” Spectrum got up and looked up at Thunder to confirm his question.
“Alright, let’s go get it and get to the shop” Thunder took the shirt with his magic and walked with Spectrum to the register. They bought the shirt for only a few bits and left to “Thunders Electronics.”
Thunder was trying to keep up with the number of customers in the building as they started to pile in now. “Wow, It’s a bit busier today” Thunder looked at the many ponies coming in. “Maybe after a week of being open, I should have a sale. That’ll help out the business a bit” Thunder was helping out a colt having some issues with cables.
“Are you sure that this is what I need for my cable?” Asked a customer holding an HDMI cable in hoof.
“Yes, this cable will enable you to route it to three different cable ports. What did you say you needed it for again?” Thunder asked to clarify.
“We need to have something for the router and cable. So, how does it work?”
“Well, you put the cable from your wall in the input port and then you plug in the two coax cables into the output ports and then plug the other ends into the router and the cable box. If you need more help, just ask” Thunder cand the colt had a conversation about how it works. Spectrum came out from the back to see how things were.
“Woah, was it this busy your first day?” Spectrum said, shying back a bit.
“Yes, we do accept old consoles. Oh, hey Spectrum. You finished with the supplies I gave you?” Thunder looked back at her. Thunder asked the colt if he could wait for just a moment. He nodded.
“Yeah, I just was coming to see if you needed anything else done. Maybe in the back?” Spectrum was still shying back from the crowd behind Thunder.
“Actually, I was thinking that maybe you could help with just restocking the shelfs and bins up in front. I’m starting to see some shelfs becoming very bare. Do that and we’ll close up tonight” Thunder smiled at Spectrum.
“Alright, I can do that” Spectrum grabbed a small box and started to drag it to the far end of the store. She kept stopping here and there looking at how many people were in the store at the time and she got a little nervous as she went towards the front. Thunder went back to tending the colt with his questions and before anypony knew what was happening, the store got increasingly dark and everypony went quiet. They didn’t know what was going on and they really wanted to know what would make the store so dark. A storm was approaching fast and it seemed like nopony was controlling the clouds. People in the shop were getting worried and started to pay for what they needed. Thunder answered questions as quick as he could to let the other customers get out with what they need. After the last customer, Thunder gathered up a few things to get ready for closing the store.
“Spectrum!” Thunder called. “You’re still here, right?”
“Yeah, just finishing up putting some items back where they belong but, I can’t seem to find where any of this goes” Spectrum was still in the same isle, putting away and rearranging supplies.
“Save that for tomorrow. We’re gonna start heading home soon. I think it’s gonna storm really bad” Thunder gathered up his and Spectrums stuff, and the bits he made from today and just put them in his saddle bag. He put everything away so nothing bad happens to his supplies. Him and Spectrum head back home so the storm doesn’t hit when they’re walking.
Lightning was having a confusing day at work. His managers kept having to remind him about a few jobs he missed. Lightning was doing a great job on his main tasks though, helping customers with finding appliances they need, selling appliances, and keeping customers in check. He got used to working at Quills and Sofas pretty quick and he finds it pretty satisfying to work with others. He was dealing with a troubled couple trying to find them the perfect sofa for their living room they described.
“We need something that isn’t too big but we do need something comfy enough for us. Maybe something with a nice tanish color?” The couple were looking at most of the sofas, trying to find one that would work for them.
“What about this one?” Lightning suggested from the right of them. “It may not be the color you want but it does match what you guys are describing. It’s not too big for your living room, its got very comfy cushions, plus it can turn into a nice bed as well” Lightning unfolded the couch to reveal that it could turn into a bed.
“Oh. That is something! If only it was the color we need though…” The lady sighed as she looked over the sofa Lightning showed them. Lightning knew he needed to get these people what they wanted so he had a great idea.
“I can see if we can order one with the right color you want. Just give me a few moments” Lightning left to see if one of the managers could get an order for the sofa they wanted.
“I don’t think we can do that” The manager said, going over the stock.
“What? How can we not do something like that, Wulfgar?” Lightning was getting irritated from his manager Wulfgar. Ever since he has become manager, ponies were quitting left and right. The manager always does things his way but, never listens to others ideas. “All we have to do is contact the company and see if they can send one in for us in a specific color. It may take awhile to come up with a compromise but, we can still get them what they need”
“By the time the sofa even gets here, they will have moved on to a different store and find a sofa that fits their description to a ‘T’” Wulfgar said, looking towards Lightning.
“Then we have them pay for the sofa and we deliver it to their house for them. Honestly, I feel like you don’t even know what your even doing half the time” Lightning was getting more and more frustrated from the way Wulfgar was acting ever since he became the manager. He has been making workers do ridiculous tasks and getting stocks mixed up and orders come in late because he became manager.
“You don’t talk to your manager like that!” Wulfgar came to a full turn and started glaring daggers at Lightning. Lightning didn’t back down though, he knew that he needed to remain strong in his argument. “I could have you fired instantly if i wanted to but, since you can sell more appliances than any other half-minded pony in this store, we need to have you here or else we will lose revenue”
“Well now, this isn’t the type of leadership I thought you would have Wulfgar” A voice came from the doorway of the store and back room. Both ponies turned their heads to see who it was. The store owner.
“Vern, I-I-I thought you had the day off today?” The manager said becoming nervous and smiling weakly.
“I did but, their is a mighty storm coming and I came to release you ponies early and what do I see when I walk through the doors? Poor management. I thought you had more skills with this kind of stuff, since you worked hard to get to this position. And you,” Vern pointed at Lightning with a firm hoof. “I haven’t heard that kind of argument from a sales associate ever in my life time”
“I’m sorry sir” Lightning said softly.
“Sorry? Sorry?!” Vern walked up towards Lightning. “That kind of argument gets ponies fired” Lightning hung his head low in shame. “But you should be proud of yourself instead” Lightning looked up with confusion on his face. “You came back here to have an order placed for a customer even if it meant waiting a couple weeks and when you confronted the manager about it and he denied your request, you stayed firm in your opinion and faced him with courage” Lightning’s face just became even more confused as Vern went on. “Lightning, I haven’t seen this kind of courage in a long time from a sales associate. So, how would you like to become the new manager of Quills and Sofas?” Lightnings faced turned from confusion to shocked. Lightning had no words for what he had just heard from Vern. He just argued with Wulfgar in order to become the new manager. He didn’t think that would happen but, apparently it works for some shops.
“It would be my honor sir” Lightning said, looking firmly into the owners eyes.
“Good, now as for you” Vern turned towards Wulfgar. “You will be stripped of your manager position and be put back in the worker position starting immediately” Vern ripped the manager badge off of him and put it on Lightnings shirt. Wulfgar just turned and stormed out of the back. “I jsut know you will make this store better. I see a spark in your eyes that shows your dedication. Now, as for my news from earlier, there is still that storm coming so I would suggest heading home before it hits”
“Alright sir, let me just tell the customers that i will be in contact with them about that sofa” Lightning started to leave the back before Vern called him again. “Yeah, boss?”
“Great alternative with the sofa. That was a great decision on your part”
“Thank you again sir” Lightning now left the back and went back to the couple standing near the sofa he left them at. “Sorry for taking so long, just had to deal with a few issues real quick”
“It’s no big deal. Anyways, about the sofa?” The colt said.
“Yes, we would be able to order this sofa in the color you want it. It may take a little while to get here but you will be able to get it. Only thing is, you will have to pay for it now so we can order it for you guys”
“Sounds fair enough. How much is it?” The mar said, taking out a bag of bits.
“It’ll be 150 bits. Actually, no, i’ll make you folks pay 120 since you guys had to wait for me to come back” Lightning started to walk towards the front with the couple.
“Then take the thirty bits as a tip” The mare said, giving Lightning the thirty bits personally.
“You don’t have to do that you know” Lightning never takes money from others that he didn’t earn legitimately.
“You’ve done us a great thing ordering the sofa so we think you deserve this” The mare put the bits in his hoof. “I won’t take them back no matter what you say”
“That’s very kind of you. Now, lets ring you up” Lightning went up to the cash register and put in the amount for the sofa. They paid and Lightning told them it would be a couple weeks before they get it. Lightning went into the back once more to lock up for the day, on the owners request. Lightning started for home and he couldn’t wait to tell Thunder some more news.
“I think we should stay home Thunder” Spectrum said from the window looking at the dark clouds. “You were right about it looking like it was gonna storm and if we go out there now, we could possibley be rained on” Spectrum didn’t wanna go anywheres right now since the clouds came in. Thunder didn’t either but the house needed more food.
“I know Spectrum but the house needs more food so when it does storm, we can have food while it does” Thunder knew the kinds of storms that could happen just from looking at the clouds. He was named a part of a storm after all. Lightning was the other part so he could also tell the types of storms coming. It was a natural born gift but not their talent. “Also, we could stop by the clothes section again so we can get some clothes for you. I haven’t forgot about our deal” Thunder ruffled her mane and she just giggled at that.
“Alright” Spectrum said, fixing her mane back to normal. “But what if we get stormed on while we’re getting there?” Spectrum said getting a giant coat on. It was Thunder’s old coat he didn’t need anymore and gave it to her to use for when they go out until they got to the store.
“Okay I know she doesn’t know about my ability but I think I should make the walk more interesting” Thunder thought about it for a few seconds and came up with an idea. “I’ll make a deal with you” Thunder got eye level with Spectrum. “If it rains on us before we get to the store, i’ll get you something you want. Anything you want and its yours” Thunder extended his hoof to shake on it and Spectrum shook it back.
“Deal” Spectrum said with confidence.
“Alright then, let’s get going to the-”
“Thunder! You won’t believe what happened today, again!” Lightning came bursting through the front door. Thunder and Spectrum were spooked by the door being bursted opened.
“Woah! Lightning, you need to be a bit more careful” Thunder said, getting up from the floor. “What’s so important that you just had to burst through the door for?”
“Remember the manager at the store I always told you about, Wulfgar?” Thunder nodded in response. “Well, it turns out that the owner, Vern, chooses ponies with lots of courage to be manager and I am that pony he saw that courage in”
“Wow, in two days you got two promotions. Who knew you were so good at being a sales associate. Let’s just hope you don’t screw it up” Lightning glared at Thunder as he just smirked at him. Thunder went back towards the door and turned back to Lightning. “I’m going to the store with Spectrum. Did you wanna go with us or no?”
“Yeah i’ll go with ya since it is gonna rain soon. I need to grab a few things anyway” Lightning put on his coat and grabbed an umbrella.
“Alright then, let’s get moving team. Alpha Squad moving out!” Thunder said, pretending to be part of the military. Spectrum just laughed at how Thunder looked when being a soldier.
“This is something you’ll have to get used to” Lightning said from behind Spectrum. “He isn’t right in the head” Spectrum laughed at Lightnings comment and heard Thunder yell a few feet away.
“Come on team! We need to move, now!”
“Better not leave him hanging” Lightning said, locking the door behind them. “Come on medic, we need to help out the infantry” Lightning trotted towards Thunder, who was pretending to be hurt from getting hit.
“Don’t worry Thunder! I’ll help you get better!” Spectrum said, rushing towards Thunder, going along with them.
The three of them were in the store getting food, drinks, and other necessities. Thunder lost his end of the deal with Spectrum since it started to rain just two minutes before they got their. Thunder was with Spectrum while she searched the store for something she really wanted, and Lightning was off in the electronics section getting an upgrade for his phone.
“I know that this phone has a better storage but that’s not what i’m looking for in the phone. I need a phone that will run clearer and I know you guys have those types of phones” Lightning was tryin to get the worker to give him the upgrade he waited for a whole year for but the worker wouldn’t give it to him.
“I know sir but, we can’t just give it to you” The worker said, putting the phone he showed to Lightning away.
“I waited a whole year for my upgrade and you can’t give it to me? This is downright outrageous” Lightning couldn’t argue this worker for something he had no experience in. The worker just apoligized to Lightning and turned towards another customer.
“Having trouble brother?” Lightning turned towards the sound of a pony talking to him. It was Arrow.
“Arrow! What’s up? I haven’t seen you since we tried going to the movies” Lightning said walking away from the counter.
“Well, I have been working for the most part and with that storm coming, I needed to get a few things before it came” Arrow walked up towards a shelf and starated looking at cases for phones. “I’ve also been in the process of making each of us a nice phone case. I only have mine and Silvers done. Your’s and Thunders are a little more difficult to do since, well I don’t wanna spoil anything” Arrow picked out a phone case and went up to check out. “I would love to stay and chat but, I have to get back home and work on my actual project for work. I’ll see you around though” Arrow paid for the case and walked away.
“Nice talking with you too” Lightning said plainly. Lightning sighed and waited for Thunder to come looking for him so he can deal with this worker. Thunder always knew what to say to workers if they didn’t cooperate. Lightning sat on a nearby bench, and just waited.
“What are you thinking about getting?” Thunder said, getting some milk and eggs.
“I don’t really know yet. I know you said anything but, I don’t wanna choose something and you say that it would be expensive” Spectrum said, looking towards the next section.
“I did say anything and when I said anything I meant it. Choose something, anything, and it’s yours” Thunder was walking towards the Electronics. Spectrum decided to wait and see if she can find something in the Electronics sections. Thunder went towards the console sections and searched for the new game that came out “The Pony Scrolls V: Skyrim” but the remastered version. “Come on, come on............ Yes!” Thunder saw that there was still a few left in stock. He asked a store associate to get it for him before somepony else came along. The worker unlocked the case and grabbed one for Thunder before locking up the display door.
“Thunder, I’m gonna save my decision for another time. Is that alright?” Spectrum couldn’t really decide on anything. She didn’t really find much of the stuff here interesting.
“Yeah that’s fine, I’ll write it down so I won’t forget” Thunder went up to pay for it before he felt a hoof tap his shoulder. He turned to see who it was. It was Silver. “Oh hey Silver, what are you doing here? Getting the new Skyrim game?”
“No but I am here for a new game. It’s callled ‘Forever Distant’ and I heard it’s one of the best horror games out there” Silver loved his horror games. He always wanted to play any horror game that came out. “I did just want to just drop by and say hi. I would love to stay and chat though but, I have a huge project at home i’m working on so i’ll talk with you later” Sliver bought his game in the lane next to Thunders and left without saying another word. Thunder was a bit confused at what just happened. Silver usually stays around to chat for a little while before leaving but, this time he just said one thing and left.
“Well that’s.... Odd? Oh well. He has to go, he has to go” Thunder shrugged it off like it was nothing and continues to purchase his game. He purchased his game and felt another hoof tap him. “Silver, I thought you went to... Oh, hey Lightning” Thunder was surprised to see that it was Lightning who tapped on him.
“Thunder I need to talk to you privately for a sec” Lightning looked at the store worker and back towards Thunder.
“What’s wrong Lightning?” Thunder said, following Lightning away from the counter.
“You know that I had a free upgrade after a year right? Well this worker won’t let me have it because it has to be one of the same model, even though it clearly says ‘upgrade’ on the phamplet I got” Lightning knew that if it was anyone to help him get this upgrade was Thunder. He has a nack for these types of things. Surprising that it’s not his talent. Thunder looked over the phamplet for anything he could use for his case. Thunder walked back towards the counter with Lightnings phone in his magic and the phamplet in hoof.
“Excuse me, sir?” Thunder said getting the workers attention.
“Is there something you need help with?” The worker replied giving Thunder his undivided attention.
“Yes, I have this phone here that is supposed to get a free ‘upgrade’ after a year I had the service. I’m hearing this from my friend that just recently tried and he told me that you can only give him a phone of the same model. Is this correct?” Thunder’s eyes and face expression were completely serious when he dealt with these kinds of things.
“Yes, and like I told him, you can only get a phone of the same model. Nothing else” The worker, now realizing what’s going on, got rid of his smile appearance.
“I understand that but, in the phamplet, it states that, ‘all ponis who have this service plan for one full year will recieve a free upgrade of their phone.’ All we want is something that we paid for. And then we can leave” Thunder gave a slight smile to show he wouldn’t back down.
“Ha. You think you can just use a pamphlet against me? Does it say what kind of upgrade you get from me? No, it doesn’t. So either take what you can get or leave with what you got?” The worker lost all kindness in his voice and now sounded more confident and cocky. Thunder looked down at the pamphlet and back up at the worker... He smiled.
“I know that a pamphlet isn’t the only thing I need. I have the power of the ponies. If I go around asking random ponies what they think this interperts to, they would say that we would get a free upgrade a model newer. And if i have enough data, we could bring an official to come down and tell you to be more specific with your wording and give us the free upgrade we want or to get rid of your kiosk. You don’t want that, do ya?” Thunder gave a smirk to show how right he was in his argument. The worker just tried to say something to counter him, but soon lost all thoughts and sighed.
“Fine. I’ll give you your upgrade” The worker opened up the display case to show which phones to choose from.
“Go ahead Lightning, this is all you man” Lightning walked up and started to look at all the choices. Thunder walked back towards the other side of electronics to take a look around.
“How did you do that?” Spectrum said, coming up from behind Thunder. Thunder almost forgot about Spectrum during that argument.
“I just have to think for a bit before talking about what we want. After that, I bring up any possible ways, in my mind, to bring their kiosk down in reputation because of all the scammers out their. I don’t do it to get what I want, but to reveal how people are scamming others into ridiculous plans or contracts” Thunder stopped as he heard something coming from above them.
“That’s pretty cool. Can you teach me how you do that?” Spectrum was interested in what Thunder did. Thunder looked at Spectrum and saw that she really looked up to him, like a father.
“Sure but, stay quiet for a bit. I hear something... Odd” Thunder just looked around wondering where the object was gonna land. He went eye wide when he heard the noise getting closer. “We need to go, now” Thunder wanted to take Spectrum as far away from that noise as possible. Not even moments after, a loud crash was heard from above them and they looked to see that it was a big chunk of crystal heading straight for them. Spectrum screamed and held tightly onto Thunders leg. Thunder’s world around him turned slow motion. The crystal was heading towards him and Spectrum, with very sharp edges and spikes. Thunder was thinking at very increased speeds, almost as if he won’t think of something to do. “What is this crystal doing here? Are we gonna die soon? Is this a revenge prank taken too far? Maybe it’s not real? What if it is? I need to think of a plan quick!” Thunder heard Spectrum say something but couldn’t quite make out what she said. Thunder started to wrap his hooves around Spectrum and lower his head to her. The crystal was closing in on them. To Thunder’s right, Lightning could be seen flying towards them, but is too far away to actually help. Thunder, now realizing what’s gonna happen, tightens his face up for what is about to come. The world speeds back up to normal as the crystal comes into a full crash on top of Thunder and Spectrum.
Thunder and Lightnings Adventures
Thunder and Lightnings Adventures
Chapter 3-The Time for Action
The smoke cleared from the electronics section of the store. The crystal was giving off some smoke to indicate that it was going at a very high speed before it came crashing down. The crystal was dark, and somewhat Illuminating from the inside. Lightning was a few feet away from the crystal just staring at it. He didn’t know what to think. He just lost his best friend and now, he doesn’t know what to think. Lightning moved closer to the crystal, still staring, and as he moved closer he started to tear up a bit. Lightning was on the urge to crying when he heard a voice come from behind him. It wasn’t Thunder’s voice, but it sounded like...
“Lightning! What’s going on?” He heard his friend Shadow from across the section. Lightning turned back to see him running up towards him. He just looked back towards the crystal and stayed quiet. “Lightning... Tell me what happened”
“He’s gone” Lightning finally said, shutting his eyes tightly, holding back his tears.
“Who is? Is it someone we know?” Shadow asked trying to see if there is any clue as to who died.
Lightning just shut his eyes even tighter and started to sniffle a bit. “We knew him very well. Too well” Lightning said, almost on the urge of bursting out crying. Shadow was still confused as to who it was but started to sniffle knowing it was someone he knew. They both sat there, looking at the ground or at the crystal, wondering what’s gonna happen next. Lightning got up from the ground and started to walk away from the crystal. Shadow only looked over at Lightning and left in another direction.
Lightning bursted through the house door and started to search around the house for something. He searched everywhere, under the beds, under the stairs, in the cabinets, even under the T.V. stand that is almost impossible to move without Thunder. Lightning just growled when he couldn’t find what he was looking for.
“Urrgh, where could he have hid it?” Lightning said, still searching around the house. He went into Thunder’s room and just stopped. Memories of his best friend now surfacing into his mind. Lightning turned to face a wall of pictures that decorated the wall. He was looking over certain pictures that him and Thunder shared other adventures with. “I remember this one, this is the one where we had to travel all the the way to Las Pegasus. This was the first adventure we had together, even though we almost lost” Lightning put the picture back down on it’s spot and it sunk down a bit. “Huh? What the…” Lightning was confused as to why the picture sunk down like that. Lightning didn’t think much about it, he was more focused on finding what he was looking for. “Need to stay focused, just for Thunder. He would tell me right now that I need to focus” Lightning sat on Thunders bed, now going into a deep thinking mode. Lightning remembered when they found the device. Thunder told him something about where he would hide it that day too.
“Lightning, for the last time, i’m not gonna tell you where I hid the device” Thunder was sitting on a chair in the dining room, preparing for what seemed to look like a meeting.
“Why not? What if evil hits and you're not around to use it? What do I do then?” Lightning sat across from him, hoofs crossed to show how annoyed he was.
Thunder looked just to the left of him and just sighed. “Fine, if you wanna know where I hid it, I’ll tell ya”
“Really?” Lightning sat in anticipation, waiting for Thunder to tell him.
“Yes I will but, not straight out. I’ll give it to you in a form of a riddle. An easy riddle”
“Auugh, I hate your riddles when you want me to find things. I never find them anyways” Lightning put his head on the table, wrapped in his hooves.
“Listen closely because I’m only gonna say it once. ‘The device you seek seems to give you some appeal, just look into our past and the device will surely reveal’ There, now either try to find it or let me get ready to go buy the property for my shop” Thunder shut a briefcase to show that he is almost ready to leave.
“What do you mean ‘Into our past?’” Lightning was sitting up more confused than ever trying to figure out Thunders riddle.
“I don’t know, maybe something to do with our past? Something that we might have done in the past? Something we may have kept to show our victories? That’s all i’m giving you, now I’m going to leave and get this property. I’ll leave you here to find the device and stuff. I’ll talk with you soon”
That was the last time Thunder ever talked about the device. Lightning was now sitting in the seat he heard this riddle from and seemed to be contemplating on what Thunder could mean by his riddle. Thunder sometimes knew how to make his wording seem very complicated and skeptical like. “Into our past…. What would he mean by that? Something we may have kept…. Wait! Something we may have kept from our victories…. The only things we kept from our victories was the device and those….” Lightning jumped from his seat and rushed back up the stairs. He went back into Thunders room and stared at the wall of pictures from their adventures. “Clever Thunder. Very clever” Lightning knew it was these pictures that had something to do with it but, didn’t know what he had to do with them. He looked over at the one that sunk down when he put it down. “If i’m thinking this correctly, it’s about our adventures in chronological order. Which one was our second one?” Lightning looked over all the photos and racked his brain to figure this out. He looked over a photo of them in Manehattan and seeing the crown of Queen Chrysalis. “This was our second adventure. I now remember because after this adventure, we got into an argument about becoming the defenders of Equestria and, of course, Thunder won” Lightning saw that this one was on a wall instead of a surface. “Do I push it in?” Lightning pushed the picture gently and saw that it went inwards toward the wall. Lightning smiled a bit at how crafty all this was. Lightning knew Thunder was a pony to make traps but, never thought he would be able to build a locking mechanism this crafty. Lightning looked back at the pictures and saw that four of them were still untouched. He went over towards another picture and saw they were in Canterlot. In the background, he saw a statue of them on top of Discord's throne. “I remember this one very well. Thunder wouldn’t stop having fun instead of actually saving the day” Lightning pushed the picture and it went inwards, just like the last. Lightning looked at the other three and looked over them carefully. “This was our fourth since we had to stay in Ponyville for this fight with Tirek. I couldn’t get over the fact that I couldn’t fly because of him” Lightning pushed the picture in and looked at the last two pictures. “Our fifth was the battle between Sunset Shimmer, except we had to go back to being humans for that one” Lightning pushed that picture in and the last one that wasn’t pushed in. He heard many gears and metal creaking as the lock became unlocked. Lightning looked around where it could be opening from and before he knew it, he saw a world of darkness around him.
“Ugh. Where am I?” Lightning awoke with his head throbbing with pain. Lightning looked up slowly and took his surroundings in. He was still in Thunders bedroom but, now with a door near the pictures. He was finally on all four hooves when he started to look around for any other changes. Nothing different. He looked back at the door and started to walk towards it. He put his hoof on the door handle and turned it. Lightning opened the door and was amazed at how the room looked. It was a nice castle looking room with the trophies they have had recieved from all of their adventures. It had Queen Chrysalis crown, Discord's throne, Sunsets’ broken amulet, Tireks horn, Celestia and Lunas corrupted necklaces, and Starlight Glimmers staff. “I can’t believe Thunder kept all of this. I thought we were gonna give it to a museum” Lightning walked past all of their souvenirs and saw that there was one slot he didn’t see yet. It was the one at the far end of the room. Lightning knew this had to be the device and trotted up to it.
He saw that the device was surrounded by a barrier of some sort and couldn’t see or reach it because of that barrier. Lightning looked around the slot to see if there was a button to stop this barrier. There was nothing. He saw, when he was looking, a plaque underneath the slot. It showed two pictures. One of a pegasus, and the other of a unicorn. Lightning didn’t know what this meant to him. He saw that their were two small buttons underneath each plaque. “Maybe I should press the pegasus one since I am a pegasus but, Thunder is a unicorn. Thunder would make it a unicorn for sure” Lightning pushed the button for a unicorn and he heard gears grinding. He saw a target fall from the ceiling from a place far away. “Oh. I see. Thunder would press this so he can prove it’s him probably. Maybe the pegasus was for me and I would have to do something to prove it’s me” Lightning pressed the unicorn button again and the target disappeared into the ceiling. Lightning proceeded to press the pegasus button and waited for something to appear for him. He saw a board and four other buttons come down from the ceiling.
A question appeared from the boards dim light. “Who won the right to be the one to light the torch for the party we had three years ago? What?” Lightning didn’t know what party they had three years ago but, he does remember a torch lighting and the fact that Thunder wanted someone to challenge him to have the right to light the torch. The four answers read: Applebloom, Thunder, Shadow, and Sweetie Belle. Lightning went into the back of his mind to try and find out who did light the torch. “It couldn’t of been Thunder for sure since it was his party and wanted someone else to light it. As for Shadow, I think we both knew that he couldn’t win the argument since Thunder was the opponent. So, it was one of the CMC, eh?” Lightning still couldn’t remember who lit the torch that night. He really didn’t want to find out what happens when he got the answer wrong. Lightning kept going back and forth from Sweetie Belle’s button and Applebloom’s button. Lightning tried remembering back deeper into that day but couldn’t think of anything. “Sweetie Belle is really good at arguing but Applebloom does know how to convince anypony to believe her. Urg! Which one was it?” Lightning kept going back and forth between both buttons starting to build up a sweat. He finally pressed one of the buttons at random and shut his eyes in case something happened.
He heard something being typed on the board and opened his eyes. It read: “You are correct! Hey Lightning, if you're reading this then that means you unlocked the device you really so badly wanted. If you were having trouble, I’ll explain to you why it was Applebloom who lit the torch. Applebloom was the only one who could match my arguing skills but, still couldn’t best me at it. Anyways, congrats and take it, you earned it.” The slot for the device started to open up and the buttons and board were being lifted up towards the ceiling. Lightning looked back towards the slot being opened and couldn’t wait to get to use the device. When the slot opened up, his mouth dropped. He didn’t remember the device looking so small. It was a small device with a few buttons and a screen on it. There was a power button and two knobs to turn on the top. Lightning turned on the device and saw that there was a picture trying to form on the screen.
“Get back to work!” Lightning heard a voice come from the screen yelling at somepony. The picture was getting more clearer so he can now see who was on the other side. The other pony was looking in the other direction from the screen and was talking with another pony fellow.
“Um, hello?” Lightning said, not knowing if he could speak to the pony in the screen. The two ponies on the screen turned to look at Lightning and both of their jaws dropped. “You guys can hear me, right?” Both ponies shook their heads and starting to talk faster. The pony that yelled dismissed the other and walked towards the screen.
“Are you Thunder or Lightning?” The pony asked.
“Lightning” Lightning responded. “Maybe he’s easy to talk to”
“Prove that your Lightning by naming something only Thunder or Lightning would know” The pony sat back and waited for an answer. Lightning just sighed at his question.
“Or not *Sigh* Why do ponies have to be so difficult?” Lightning wracked his brain for something and remembered something. “Towards the end of our last adventure, I had to... Seduce... Starlight Glimmer in order to get her plans.... Turns out they were fake and I did all that for nothing” Lightning was a bit embarrassed at the fact that he had to say something like that to someone he didn’t know. He looked back at the screen and saw that the pony on the screen was typing away on a computer.
“Hmmm.... Yep, it’s true and it says only you and Thunder know that. So, what you need Lightning?” The pony on the screen didn’t seem to care for what they did during their adventures but instead only cared for helping them.
“First off, who are you? Second, why are you there? I thought that this was a device to detect evil?” Lightning had other questions but knew that introductions were first before anything more.
“Whoa there! I thought Thunder told you about me? If not, i’m the ‘device’ that can detect evil and my name is Specter. I am the pony that can help you find the location of evil but not who is behind the evil doing” Specter started to type away on his computer and looked at another monitor while Lightning was thinking of his next questions carefully.
“So, you can detect evil but not find its source? That’s kinda lame but is there anything else you can do?” Lightning knew this pony could probably be more help but needed to find out from him.
“Well, I would be able to help more if you could get a sample of the evil magic for me. Wait... Shoot. I just remembered, you’re not a unicorn like Thunder. *Sigh* That’s fine, you can still get the sample but you must get a unicorn to get the sample” Specter looked towards the third monitor to his left and started typing away again.
“Alright well, how do I collect the sample when I get a unicorn?”
“Just put it in a container or glass vial for now. After you get the sample, get back to me” The screen turned off from Specter saying those last words. Lightning looked away from the device and towards the trophies from his and Thunders adventure.
“This is for my very best friend” Lightning started, walking towards Discord’s Throne. “I learned so much from you as these adventures progressed. I learned that even though things seemed fruitless, you still find a way to save the day. Even if you have fun while doing it” Lightning looked towards Starlights staff walking slowly towards it. “I also learned that you sometimes have to be evil in order to beat evil. Even if that evil actually turns out to be something you’re not comfortable with” Lightning shuddered at his thoughts and started walking towards Sunsets necklace. “During this adventure, I learned that even the biggest evil fiends can have a soft spot. This one seemed bleak but, you found a way to turn it around, even if that way was to use our friends as bait” Lightning gave a weak laugh, remembering that he used his friends as the bait. Lightning stared down towards Queen Chrysalis crown at the other end of the room. “That adventure taught me to be someone I’m not to get what I need... Only if it worked for real life” Lightning walked down towards Tireks horns shedding a small tear. “Even though this was a tough adventure for me, I still learned that ponies who sacrifice themselves to help are the true heros” Lightning wiped his tear from his eye and walked towards the final trophy, the two Princesses corrupted necklaces. “And this adventure taught me the most important lesson of them all” Lightning shed a few more tears remembering back to their very first adventure. “This one taught me that even the weak can overthrow the strong, even though we just arrived in Ponyville, we still somehow found a way to be the ones to save the day. Who knew name calling could be so effective during an adventure” Lightning started to cry a bit at all the memories rushing into his mind.
“I’m so glad you were able to learn something from all this, Lightning” A voice said from the entryway of the room. Lightning went wide eyed and started to slowly look towards the source of the voice.
“Thunder? Is that really you?” Lightning knew Thunder died but there was no doubt that was Thunders voice. Lightning finally got to see who it was. It was indeed Thunder. Lightning perked up after seeing Thunder and started to trot towards him. “I-I-I thought you were dead? You were crushed-”
“-by the crystal meteor, yes I know what happened” Thunder cut off Lightning and gave him a smirk. “I think I would remember my own near death experience. Anyways, I don’t have much time to stay” Thunder looked towards the room and studied it for a while.
“Stay? Wait, you’re leaving me? We’re a team though” Lightning was in shock from the words Thunder said. Thunder looked back towards Lightning with a smile.
“Don’t worry Lightning, it’s not like i’m leaving forever or something like that. I just need to be somewheres else for now. What I wanted to say before I leave is, we need the six in order to defeat this evil. The device may not know it but, we need the six in order to defeat the source of this great evil” Thunder was speaking a bit fast, almost as if he needed to get out of their. Lightning didn’t understand what his friend was talking about.
“Alright but, where are you going? Can I come with you?” Lightning didn’t want to leave Thunder but knew that when he said something seriously, he knew that he shouldn’t deny him.
“I wish you could but, only certain ponies can come where i’m going and you’re not one of them. I’m sorry but I must go now. Good Luck with the adventure” Thunder then used his horn to teleport out of the room. He left Lightning with a very confused thought in his mind.
“I need to use the six? The six... Six.. Six.... Wait, the Mane Six! That’s what he meant by ‘use the six’. How could I have been so forgetful?” Lightning got the device and rushed out the door as quick as he could. He gathered up a few other necessities just in case and started to head out the front door. It was night out. He could barely see anything but was still able to know where he was going. Before he could get even a few feet out the door, he heard his name being called in the distance.
“Lightning!” The voice seemed far away but, it could be closer than he thought. “Lightning!” He heard it again and it sounded like it was still the same distance. Lightning started to look around for the source of his name being called but couldn’t find where it was coming from. “Lightning! Over here!” It sounded a bit closer this time but still not close enough to know where it was coming from. “Lightning! Are you deaf!?” Lightning was looking all around for whoever was calling his name. He looked down the street and finally saw a figure within the darkness.
“Who is it?” Lightning yelled back, seeing the figure slowly walk towards him. The figure just started to wave at Lightning and started to become more clear to see now.
“Lightning? How come you didn’t recognize me?” Lightning still couldn’t make out who was there.
“Maybe because it’s too dark to see out here? Who are you since I can’t see ya” Lightning asked squinting his eyes.
“It’s me, Boulder. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about me already?” Boulder finally came into view. Lightning walked up to him and smiled at Boulder.
“Sorry. It’s just that it is dark out and stuff so I can’t really see much” Lightning started to walk again with Boulder heading towards the castle.
“Yeah, I know. Where you headin off to? You usually stay in when it’s this dark” Boulder asked, confused where Lightning was headed.
“I’m going to Twilight’s castle. I need to speak Twilight” Lightning cringed at that sentence, knowing why he had to go there.
“Why you need to go there? Also, where’s Thunder he’s usually with you” Lightning stopped dead in his tracks. He put his down and closed his eyes tight.
“No, I shouldn’t tell anyone else about what happened yet. Even though he is fine, I still find it a bit upsetting. I’ll tell them eventually” Lightning still had his head down, thinking about his friend. Lightning finally raised his head up and looked at Boulder. “He’s just at somepony’s house. He’s foal-sitting for somepony” Lightning then started to trot again and Boulder followed suit.
“Alright, I bet he’s having a blast. Am I right?” Boulder bumped his shoulder and laughed a bit, being sarcastic when he talked.
“Yeah... I bet he is” Lightning only smiled a bit and stared ahead. “Listen, I don’t want to leave you but I have to get to the castle quick and it’s taking forever for me to walk there. I’m gonna fly there so I can go and come back. Alright?” Lightning really didn’t have time to keep hearing about his friend and he had to get Twilight as quick as possible.
“No problem. You need to talk with Twilight, it’s important stuff. I’ll see you around Lightning” Boulder turned away and waved back at Lightning. Lightning waved back and took to the sky, heading towards Twilight’s castle.
“You say that Thunder got crushed by a spiked meteor and lived?” A curious Twilight asked, taking notes as Lightning was explaining the story.
“Yes. I don’t know how he did it but, he came to talk to me when I was looking over some photos and stuff about our adventures in this world” Lightning was sitting on a small couch in the middle of the library section. Twilight sat across from him, writing more notes here and there. “I have a feeling something is still missing though. Like something inside of me is not there anymore” Twilight stopped taking notes and looked over at Lightning. She drooped her ears down when she heard him say that. “What? Is something wrong?” Lightning looked up, confused and worried about what Twilight will say.
“Nothing. It’s just that he might be trying to help you in a different way than you think” Twilight looked back with a small smile on her face, eyes starting to water up.
“You okay Twilight?”
“Yes. I’m just astonished that you haven’t figured it out yet” Twilight look at him at bit astonished. She was right, in a way.
“What do you mean I haven’t figured it out yet? Thunder survived the crash and now he is trying his best to help out. That’s what I figured out” Lightning got irritated from Twilight saying something like that. Lightning didn’t think she would say that to him.
Twilight opened her mouth to say something but, seemed to look a little ways behind Lightning. “You're right, I’m sorry for suggesting something like that. I just thought that was it but, I realize now he is helping in any way he can as we speak” Twilight smiled at Lightning and turned to look at the clock. “It’s getting late, I need to get some rest before I head out tomorrow”
“Where you heading off to?” Lightning said, tilting his head.
“The princess wanted me to go see her about this dark magic that is coming this way. I didn’t go earlier because she wanted to confirm it was dark magic” Twilight said getting up and putting the book she had back and putting her notes on her desk. Lightning lightly shook his head up and down before remembering that he had to come here for a question.
“Twilight?”
“Yes? Did you think of something?” Twilight said turning back towards Lightning.
“Thunder told me something, before he left the house. He said, ‘use the six’ and i’m only guessing that it’s the mane six he is referring to” Lightning said, getting up and moving a bit towards Twilight. Twilight remembered what Lightning was talking about earlier in his story and looked a bit towards her notes.
“Maybe. I’ll look into it with the princess and i’ll see what we come up with. That’s the most I can do as of right now” Twilight said, levitating her notes over to her so she can review them with the princess. “I will have spike send a letter to you as soon as we figure something out though. I promise, Thunder.... Will be there for you when you most need him” Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder and gave him that same small smile again.
“What is with her and giving me that smile? She thinks it’s gonna help me or something?” Lightning thought to himself, a little creeped out from that. “Right, thanks again Twilight. I should head home for the night. I hope you and the princess can figure this out as well. Oh, speaking of it, can you get me a sample of the magic from the crystal in the store?” Lightning pulled out a glass vial and handed it towards Twilight. “It’s something Thunder wanted me to do”
“Of course! If it helps you two in your research” Twilight levitated the vial and put in her already packed saddlebags. “I’ll get you a sample by tomorrow. Expect a visit tomorrow” Twilight waved goodbye and Lightning waved before he flew off into the night, heading back home.
Lightning was stirring in bed, having trouble going back to sleep. He kept waking up from his sleep from the event that happened in the store kept repeating in his head. Lightning sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes to look at the clock, which read 5:30 AM. He got up from bed and went downstairs to try to wake up before he went to see what else he could do to help. He put a pot of coffee on as he went outside to check the mail. There were about seven letters that day and most were for Thunder. He sighed at seeing his name and just went back inside to open the mail. He went to the dining room and started to open the letters for himself and read through them. They were just bills he had to pay for his service and for the house. Lightning put them aside and just stared at Thunders letters. Lightning knew it was rude to look through someone's mail without them saying so but, Thunder wasn’t there at the moment. Lightning picked up one of the letters and started to open it.
“What are you doing?!” came a voice from the living room.
Lightning jumped and put the letter down and turned to see Thunder there looking at him. “I was just.. Uuhhh.... Checking your mail?” Lightning said, giving a weak smile while laughing nervously.
“Really now? Oh, well then I guess you wouldn’t mind if I went through all of your stuff in your closet, right?” Thunder started towards the stairs slowly with a smirk on his face.
“No. That’s not necessary. Come here and open your mail” LIghtning put Thunders mail down and slid it towards him. Thunder looked at his mail and smiled.
“I think figuring out who this mysterious pony is more important than some mail. Leave it there, I’ll be back for it” Thunder started to turn to leave but the sound of a chair sliding back made him look back towards Lightning.
“You're leaving.... Again? Can’t you let me go with you this time?” Lightning was worried about Thunder. He hasn’t been himself lately ever since yesterday.
“You remember what I said, only certain ponies can go where I’m going and right now, it’s not your time to go with me yet” Thunder said frowning at Lightning. Thunder started to look away from Lightning, ears drooping.
“You okay? You don’t seem to be yourself lately” Lightning said, getting up from his seat and walking towards Thunder.
“I’m fine. You know me, I don’t crack that easily” Thunder said. Lightning got a sense in his gut.
“He’s lying to me. I can’t believe he would. *Sigh* I know that I can’t get anything out of him until I actually get something to show he is” Lightning looked at Thunder, disbelief in his eyes.
“I have to go now, I will be back as soon as I find something new out. See ya later Lightning” Thunder walked out the front door, leaving a very dissatisfied Lightning.
“Why would my own best friend lie to me? No matter, I’ll deal with him later on” Lightning heard a knock on his door. “Coming!” Lightning yelled walking up to the door. “Thunder you gotta make up your mind if your gonna stay or…” Lightning opened the door to reveal Twilight and Fluttershy.
“Hey Lightning. Since I was on my way back to my castle, I decided to drop by a bit early” Twilight said with a smile. That smile, why that smile?
“Oh, that’s fine. Just asking though, why is Fluttershy with you?” Lightning asked as they both walked in.
“She’s here to help me explain a few things… I hope” Twilight said, looking at Fluttershy.
“Oh, I will Twilight. Especially for someone that’s going through a lot right now” Fluttershy said, looking at Lightning with sad eyes. Those eyes just seemed to melt all the anger out of Lightning and made him feel at peace.
“Well, I hope it’s good news since i’m not in the mood for some bad news. Also, did you see Thunder on your way out?” Lightning said, sitting down on the chair in the living room. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other and back towards Lightning.
“Well, you see Lightning, about Thunder and when you’ve been seeing him…” Twilight started. Lightning knew where this was going and wanted to tell her to stop where she is but, something in him prevented him from doing so. Something in him wanted to hear what she had to say. “You see, when we went to check the meteor you told us about… We got the sample you wanted me to get but, we also found.... found....” Twilight couldn’t bring herself to say it. She didn’t want to say it either.
“What Twilight is trying to say is that.... Thunder’s traces of DNA was found there and with a medic team there....” Fluttershy said, starting to tear up and hug Twilight a bit to try and calm her down. “They confirmed it’s from Thunder and that… *Sniffle* It’s from dead flesh” Fluttershy was in a full cry mode now.
Lightning couldn’t believe it. He heard somepony say that to him from somepony he thought never imaginable. Lightning had a face of shock, disbelief and horror on his face. Lightning didn’t want to accept it but, hearing it from Fluttershy sounds more believable. Lightning’s mind was racing, he didn’t know what to think of all of this. His heart doubled in speed, his mind was processing many thoughts at once. Lightning looked up at Fluttershy and Twilight and next to them was… Thunder. Thunder had a face to show how much he tried to keep the truth from him. Lightning looked at Thunder for a few seconds more, and his colorful world around him started to fade from his sight. Lightning only heard the thud of his body hit the ground, and the sound of two voices screaming to him. Lightning tried his best to stay awake but, his vision soon turned black.