Life at Canterlot High went on. More assignments, more homework, more projects, more tests…. But Lightning didn’t mind them. He could take on all the tests and assignments CHS had to offer, as long as he was content here. He made lots of friends, with the Rainboom as his closest friends, and he performed well academically. He couldn’t ask for more.

On one day just like any other, the chemistry teacher, Mr. Basic Acid, assigned his class a group project: to find instances of chemical reactions taking place in the kitchen, and bring the class the results of the aforementioned reactions, as well as the balanced chemical formula involved in it. The students within the class, including Lightning, groaned altogether.

“But, Mr. Acid, it’s going to be difficult to bring an actual result of a chemistry experiment going on in the kitchen!” A student protested.

“Nonsense. Chemical reactions are used in the kitchen daily, and therefore it should be quite easy to find a tangible result of such reactions,” snapped Mr. Acid.

“But—”

“No ‘but’s, this assignment has been given out and is due until next Monday. You will have plenty of time to find an example and figure out the chemical formula behind it. Class is dismissed,” he said as the bell to the end of class rang.

Lightning grumbled to himself as he packed his bag and prepared to leave. As he walked towards the door, however, he shook his head and smiled to himself.

Well, he thought, at least it was another good day at school. Sure, a project like this is a pain in the backside, but at least nothing depressing or sad happened. Looks like I was right when I told myself to give this place a chance. When I’m here, I feel safe. I know that something like… the incident wouldn’t happen again. I won’t fall again, not when I’m here. I’m okay now, and I will continue to be okay. Right? Right. Everything’s fine. It’s going to be alright.

As he took a deep breath, let it out, and walked out into the hallway, somebody called him from behind. He turned around to see Sunset walking towards him.

“Hey, Lightning. You didn’t forget our promise to hang out today, did you?” asked Sunset with her playful tone.

“How can I forget? I’m good at remembering promises and schedules, unlike a certain somebody with flaming hair that’s standing right next to me,” replied Lightning, teasing her in a playful voice.

It earned him a good elbow in the ribs.

“Hey, I was only teasing and you know it!” Lightning protested as he rubbed his aching ribs, wincing from the pain. Thank god she wasn’t walking in the front or she would have knocked the wind out of me, he mused as he walked on.

“And that’s what you get for teasing me. Any complaints?” Sunset shot back with a mischievous grin on her face.

“Not that I’m aware of, except for the fact that if we kept this up, we’ll be late for our appointment,” he replied as he smiled.

Sunset giggled. “You have such a strange way of saying things, you know that? But yeah, you do have a point, we should hurry,” she said as she stepped out of the building.

“Wanna race?” Lightning suggested as he, too, increased his walking pace.

“You bet. Oh my gosh, what’s that?” Sunset shouted, pointing at a nearby tree behind Lightning.

“What? Where?” When Lightning turned around after taking a glance at the tree, Sunset was already running off in the distance. “Hey! Get back here, you cheater! It ain’t fair, you know!” Lightning shouted after her, beginning to run. Sunset merely stuck her tongue out at him.

“The one who wins is the one who’s fair!” she shouted back, not slowing down one bit.

“Oh, it is so on then.” Lightning then took off at full speed, closing the gap between him and Sunset.

Their race ended as they reached the door handles of Sugarcube Cafe at the same time.

…

Sunset and Lightning were still bickering about who won the race as they made their way towards the table, where their friends were already waiting.

“No way, Miss, you had a head start and I still caught up to you. That means I was faster, which is a win for me,” argued Lightning, looking a little flushed but looking fine otherwise.

“Uh-uh… I arrived… at the door… at the same time as you did… if not… a tad bit earlier. Therefore… it’s still a win for me…. A tie, at best,” replied a panting Sunset, trying to catch her breath between words.

“Nope, you ran off while my head was turned the other way. That’s not how racing works. Also, you might want to sit down or you’re going to collapse onto the floor,” Lightning answered, chuckling at the wheezing girl.

“Fine, you win. Next time, I will beat you,” said Sunset as she sank into one of the chairs near the table.

“I guess we’ll see about that. And…,” Lightning faltered as his left hand began to twitch. His fingers jerked uncontrollably while his hand trembled violently.

“Oh, for god’s sake! This hand won’t give me a break!” he shouted as he hit his left hand and arm repeatedly with his right fist. The tremor died down eventually, and Lightning sunk into a chair. He sighed, then noticed the looks he was getting from his friends. “What, never seen someone with a hand tremor before?”

His friends either looked away or began coughing into their fists.

Lightning just shook his head and said, “Never mind what just happened. So, what are we going to do today?”

“Well, Ah was thinkin’ that we should talk about our assignments. That darned chemistry teacher won’t pass a day without homework…,” said Applejack, irritation clear on her face.

“Ugh, come on AJ, do we have to talk about our assignments right now? I mean, school day’s just over, can’t we take a break?” complained Rainbow, looking just as annoyed as Applejack was.

“Personally, I think it would be a good idea to finish it earlier than later. I can help with finding the formulas for each example. Although creating an actual result that can be carried to school, I’m not so sure about that,” said Twilight, scratching her head with a pencil.

“Of course, you’re the official bookworm of Canterlot High! Twilight, you have to help us with our assignments. Please, Twilight~?” Rainbow pleaded at Twilight with puppy eyes, eliciting a chuckle from the others who were watching the scene.

Twilight sighed. “Alright, Rainbow. But only if you agree to finish this assignment today. The earlier it’s done, the better,” she replied.

“W, well… fine! Let’s get this stupid assignment done, and get it over with!” Rainbow stuttered, obviously unhappy with the catch that came with Twilight’s agreement.

“Alright, so, can anyone think of a place to do this assignment?” Sunset asked.

“How about my house?” Lightning suggested, gaining a surprised glance from everyone else. “It’s about time I showed you where I live, and I’d also be doing a favor. I mean, you guys have been so much help when I came here. I don’t think I’d be doing half as well if it weren’t for you guys.”

“Aw, shucks, don’t mention it, sugarcube. We only helped you because you were our friend,” said Applejack with a slight blush on her face.

“Which is precisely why I want to return the favor. You guys helped me when I needed it the most, and I would like to show my thanks to all of you. I mean, if you don’t want to come, that’s fine, but I’d be very grateful if you did,” replied Lightning, arms crossed and a sincere, soft smile upon his face.

“I’d like to come over,” Sunset answered, gaining a joyful look from Lightning. “I don’t know about the others, but I’d be willing to. If you’re okay with it, that is.”

“Sunset, I was the one who suggested that you come over to my place. Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?” Lightning chuckled, while Sunset let out an embarrassed cough at his remark.

“I’m going, ‘cause you’re so much cooler than the others. Not cooler than me, though. You already beat me with your guitar skills and that’s as much as I’m going to let you do that,” said Rainbow as she signed up. Lightning let out a hearty laugh at that.

“Yeah, just wait until I beat you at soccer, Rainbow. Then you’ll have to take that back,” replied Lightning while Rainbow Dash glared at him.

“Oh, I’d love to join. You’re kind and nice and… I think it’ll be fun,” whispered Fluttershy, quietly as ever.

“Welcome aboard, Fluttershy. You’re always a pleasure to be around,” replied Lightning, smiling warmly at her.

“Yay…,” whispered Fluttershy.

“Well, since I’m helping you guys with finding those formulas, I’m willing to join,” Twilight added.

“Aw, shucks, Ah’m goin’ too. Not ‘cause everybody’s going, mind, but ‘cause Ah don’t want to see you being disappointed. Also, Ah do need to do my homework, and Ah’d like to do it with my friends,” said Applejack, while Rarity nodded her agreement.

“And… Pinkie? Is there a problem?” Lightning asked the party girl, who hadn’t signed up yet and had been silent during the whole process. Pinkie was staring into the table as if she was trying to melt the wood with her stare. “Um… Pinkie?”

“A problem? Are you kidding me? Lighty is inviting his friends over to his place, and this deserves a party of its own! I mean, you’re superrific, fantastic, and full of surprises! How can I say ‘no’ when such a cool guy invites his friends over? Oh, oh, oh, we should have confetti cannons and party hats and muffins and—” Pinkie Pie ranted in her bubbly tone, a wide smile stretched on her face.

“Pinkie?” Lightning interjected, barely holding back a laugh. “As much as I appreciate your consideration, I think just the muffins will do. Thanks for the offer, though.”

Pinkie looked downtrodden. “Aww… but I thought you liked a Pinkie Party….”

“Well, I do! It’s just that if a confetti cannon were to go off, I would prefer it to be somewhere far away from my face. In fact, I think I still got a piece of confetti from one of your cannons stuck somewhere in my ear…,” said Lightning as he pumped his left ear with his palm.

“Oh, you mean this one?” asked Pinkie, holding up a small piece of confetti.

“What the… it’s actually gone from my ear. Pinkie, did you actually— how did you— what—?” Lightning stuttered, profusely confused.

“Well, duh, I just did it! It’s easy!” Pinkie piped up.

“You know what, I’m not even gonna ask. Anyways, thanks for taking that out, Pinkie. It’s been a terrible itch in my ear, that thing,” said Lightning, to which Pinkie smiled with a ‘squee’. “Anyways, we should get going. I want to finish the assignment while the Sun’s still visible,” he said as he stood up from his seat.

“Sure thing. Come on, guys, let’s go.” Sunset gestured to her friends as she, too, rose from her seat. The rest of the Rainboom followed, and, a few moments later, they were on the way to Lightning’s house.

…

Lightning’s house was a normal-looking apartment, with a living room, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen, as well as several smaller spaces for other uses.

“Welcome to my house, guys. Make yourselves at home,” Lightning said as he stepped inside.

“Er, where are your parents?” Sunset asked cautiously.

“Oh, they’re both at work. They should be back at around… 9 in the night, so we have plenty of time ‘til they come back.”

“Okay, so, where’s the kitchen?” asked Rainbow as she set her backpack on the floor.

“Over here,” Lightning called out from the kitchen. “I’m pretty sure we have everything we need for… erm… cooking, but I’m not sure if it’s enough for making a result that we can explain about….” He said, scratching his chin.

“Well, it’s not like we can make copies of the same food and present it in our chemistry class, so Ah’m thinkin’ it’s gonna be more complicated than that,” said Applejack.

Lightning looked at Applejack, sporting a devilish grin on his face. “Who says we can’t?”

…

The plan was simple: using the baking tray Lightning had, bake various types of Pinkie’s cupcakes, enough for each person to have a sample, and present it for their chemistry class.

Finding the chemical formula for the reaction was easy enough; Twilight was practically a walking dictionary when it came to matters like this.

Soon, four steaming baked goods came out of the oven. The Rainbooms’ mouths watered at the wonderful scent, but they refrained from eating it. They had promised to bake more cupcakes once their project was finished, and they could wait for a few more minutes.

“Alright, now we need to cut these so we can bring them home,” said Sunset, rubbing her hands excitedly(a side effect of holding her appetite off for too long). She took a knife from a nearby knife holder and began cutting the cupcakes into halves.

Lightning tensed up, his eyes fixed on the blade of the knife.

“Is everything alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“Huh, what? Oh, yeah, I’m fine, totally fine,” stammered Lightning, with an unconvincing smile on his face.

Applejack stared at him for a few moments, clearly suspicious of his statement, but then turned away to assist Sunset in cutting the cupcakes.

Lightning mentally slapped himself in the face. How many times do I have to tell myself: It’s. All. Over. Get it over with, Lightning! It’s in the past; you can’t do anything about it, okay? Now snap out of it!

“Alright, now that’s all done, I think we’ll need plastic bags so that we can take these home. Where can I find them?” Sunset asked.

“Oh, uh, they should be up in that cupboard, over there in the corner,” Lightning replied, having recovered from his recent trance.

Sunset, still holding the knife in one hand, opened the cupboard with the other. The cupboard was too high for her to properly look in, so she began feeling around inside with her free hand. When her search with one hand came up empty, she set the knife down inside the cupboard and began feeling around using both hands.

Lightning began to feel uneasy. “Sunset, be careful. You might—,” he began.

“Aha! Found them!” shouted Sunset as she pulled the folded up plastic bags out of the cupboard.

The tip of the knife, which had been pointing sideways due to how Sunset had placed it, caught itself on one of the plastic bags. The momentum of the plastic bag pulled the knife along, yanking it out from inside the cupboard and sending it spinning horizontally through the air.

It flew directly at Sunset’s face.

Sunset had barely enough time to react. She raised her hands instinctively, her left hand still clutching the plastic bags. Her face, fortunately, avoided being struck by the spinning weapon.

Her left arm wasn’t so lucky.

The momentum of the knife, combined with its rotation, forced the blade tip to rip through Sunset’s leather jacket and her tender skin. The blade continued to rotate, cutting open two inches of flesh before stopping due to the resistance her jacket and tissue was putting up. The handle of the knife hit Sunset’s left arm before the tool-turned weapon fell to the floor.

Sunset let out a gasp of mixed shock and pain, instantly clutching her left wrist. She sunk to the floor, sliding against the kitchen counter, tearing up in pain.

“Sunset!” Lightning shouted, rushing over to the bleeding girl. He rolled up her left sleeve, revealing the gash where blood was spilling out. He squeezed her arm in his hands, trying to stem the blood flow. “It’s going to be okay, Sunset. It’s going to be alright,” he said as he tried not to panic himself.

“It’s going to be alright….”

“Damn it, somebody get me a first aid kit!” Lightning shouted, and Rainbow Dash disappeared into the living room at lightning speed.

“Please, someone go get me a first aid kit…!”

“AJ, call 911 right this instant!”

“Somebody, please, call 911! She’s dying right here, and….”

“And, and….” Lightning’s voice faltered. His eyes widened and glazed over, staring into nothingness.

This… everything…, he thought, it’s just like… no….

Red blood spilling out of her wrist onto her body and the floor, soaking her clothes and body….

Rapid breathing, from me or her, I can’t tell….

“…please, anybody, help her! She can still live, please….”

“Let her go, son. There’s nothing you can do….”

“No!”

“No…,” Lightning murmured. His breathing began to shallow.

A razor blade clutched in her other hand….

“You can’t help her, Lightning. Let her go.”

“No! Please, she’s still alive, please….”

Her skin white, deadly pale….

“No…,” said Lightning once more, this time louder and clearer. He let go of Sunset’s injured wrist, slowly backing up. Fear began to creep into his eyes.

He backed up into a counter, where he slowly slid down onto the floor. He was hyperventilating.

“No! She’s not dead! Please, she needs help! No, please… please, no… no….”

Her final tears staining her cheeks….

“No, please no…,” Lightning muttered as he wrapped his hands around his head. He began to sob hysterically. Sunset could only watch as she fought against her panic and terror, trying to stem the blood flow.

“I got the first aid kit! Here— Lightning?” Rainbow Dash shouted as she burst into the kitchen, only to freeze at the sight of the teenage boy crouching on the floor, crying and wailing into his arms.

“We’ve got no time for that!” shouted AJ as she snatched the first aid kit from Rainbow Dash. She opened the first aid kit, pulled out some gauze, and pressed it against the wound.

The gauze immediately turned a crimson red, soaking itself with blood.

AJ and Rainbow continued to apply pressure to Sunset’s wound, changing gauze whenever it got too wet.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was trying to console the crying Lightning Storm.

“Lightning…?” Fluttershy asked.

Lightning only continued to sob.

“It’s okay, Lightning. It’s alright. I’m here…,” said Fluttershy as she attempted to hold him.

As soon as she made contact, however, Lightning flinched away and cowered further into a corner.

“S-stay away,” he croaked. His eyes spoke of pure terror. “I-I don’t want t-to hurt you.”

“But, Lightning—,” Fluttershy said as she reached out once more.

“I said STAY AWAY!” Lightning shouted, shoving Fluttershy in the chest and leaving a crimson handprint on her shirt. Fluttershy fell back onto her backside, shocked at the aggressiveness Lightning had just shown towards her.

Everybody stared at him, stunned by what had just happened.

“Just… please… everyone, stay away from me…,” said Lightning, crouching back into a corner and burying his head in his arms.

Just then, the EMS arrived. Sunset was carried out of the house, followed by her friends. Each of them gazed at Lightning, who was still crouched on the floor, not looking up at them. They said their ‘goodbye’s as they left Lightning’s house. Lightning didn’t answer.

As the last of the Rainboom left, the front door closed with a final ‘bang’, shutting out the single beam of sunlight flowing into the house and plunging the apartment into darkness.

And Lightning was left all alone, crouching and sobbing on the floor.

Author's Note

Well, things just got real, it seems like.
What will happen to Sunset and Lightning? What caused Lightning to have a panic attack? Stay tuned to find out in the later chapters!