Sunset after the Storm

by Sunlight Rays

Rating: mature
Tags: Dark, Sad, Original Character, Suicide / Self Harm, Equestria Girls, Tragedy, Sunset Shimmer, Main 7 (EqG), Profanity, Gore, Violence
Length: 23338

Lightning's past has haunted him for the past six months. As he arrives in Canterlot High as a transfer student, he tries to come to terms with his past. Will he be able to leave history as it is, or will his past consume him?

Lightning Storm has a tragic past, stained with pain and tragedies.

As he struggles to leave the past behind, he transfers to Canterlot High and becomes friends with Sunset Shimmer and the Rainboom. For the first few months, he has a content life, making friends and hanging out with them.

However, an unanticipated event brings the dark event and horrors of it back from his past. Will Lightning Storm be able to leave the storm of his past behind and walk out into the Sunset, or will he be consumed up by the gloomy events of the past?

Rated M since blood, descriptions of suicide/self-harm, and violence are included. Viewer discretion is advised.

Published 2019-11-03 17:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-03-28 04:57:01 UTC

Chapter 2: Befriended

The first day at Canterlot High whizzed by. Lightning met new people and even got to become friends with a few of them.

After school ended, Lightning texted his mother that he would go home later than she expected him to, since he was hanging out with a few friends. As he stepped out the front doors of the school, he found Sunset Shimmer waiting for him with her friends.

“Hey, Lightning! Over here!” She called out to him, waving a hand high in the air.

When Lightning approached her, she introduced her friends to him.

“Lightning, meet my friends. Girls, meet Lightning Storm. He transferred to Canterlot High today.

“Alright, so… Lightning, this is Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie,” Sunset said as she introduced her friends one by one to Lightning.

“Nice to meet you all,” Lightning replied, happily shaking hands with them. However, he had to yelp and cringe after getting his hand caught in Pinkie’s monster grip, eliciting a laugh from the girls.

“Well, it’s good to see someone who’s very enthusiastic,” Lightning said, massaging his aching hand.

“Yup! It’s always awesome seeing new people, especially cool people like you!” Pinkie Pie piped up, a wide grin on her face.

Lightning chuckled and said, “Thanks for the compliment. So, where are we going?”

“Hmm… I’ve been thinking Sugarcube Cafe, how about there?” Sunset suggested.

“Sounds wonderful, darling. The cupcakes they sell there are simply dazzling,” said Rarity in her heavily accented tone, while the other girls voiced their agreements.

“Lightning?” asked Sunset.

“Well, I don’t know much about the area around here, but it sure does sound good to me,” Lightning responded with a light smile on his face.

“Good. Sugarcube Cafe it is, then. Come on, we’ll show you the way,” said Sunset as she and the girls began walking towards the front gates.

Lightning followed as he thought to himself, See? It ain’t that bad. Let’s give this place a chance.

Inside Sugarcube Cafe, Lightning and the girls spent a good time together, throwing jokes and making each other laugh, while telling each other’s stories. Pinkie turned out to be exceptionally good at making people laugh; no wonder she was called the element of laughter.

First, they talked about the things that had happened in their lives recently, as well as about themselves; Rainbow Dash bragged about flattening the opponent team in a recent soccer match, while Applejack talked about helping her family out on her grandmother’s farm. Fluttershy talked about taking care of lost animals in an animal shelter, followed by Rarity talking about working in a fashion shop and dealing with all the fellow snobs who worked there. The way she expressed disgust towards her colleagues was enough to get everyone a good laugh. Finally, Twilight explained about her research, which was something that had to do with how gravitational forces propagated through different dimensions and universes.

Then the topic had moved on to the adventures they had so far, from the point in time where Sunset had turned into a demon-like entity (“They’re not going to let me live this one down, are they?”) to their most recent expedition, which involved getting trapped in a mirror by, as Rainbow Dash put it, “an annoying, whiny, self-centered teenager”.

All the while, the eight of them had smiled and laughed through their conversation, enjoying every moment of it.

“So, Lightning Storm, what’s your story?” Rainbow Dash asked, after laughing for several minutes and finally managing to calm down.

“Hm?” Lightning looked at Rainbow Dash, still trying to stifle the giggles coming up from his throat while wiping a tear from his eye.

“I mean, where did you live before coming to Canterlot? And why did you move here? I mean, we all told you our own stories, so it’s only fair if you told us yours,” Dash inquired.

Lightning’s chuckles disappeared. “Oh, well… it’s a long story…,” said Lightning, fidgeting with his cup of coffee while gazing out the window. The coffee was becoming cold. Or was it his hands that were becoming cold? “Alright, I’ll tell you my story. It’s not like it’s gonna do me any bad.

“I used to live in Manehattan. I attended Manehattan High, which was kinda like a high school version of the shop where Rarity works. I mean, look around and all you see are egoistic, self-centered, childish snobs. I hated it. Naturally, I was alone, without friends. Not that I wanted to become friends with them anyways; I had been backstabbed more-than-enough times to know better. So I made myself an outcast, not expecting anything from people around me.

“What made my life bearable, though, was the presence of a best friend. Not everyone in that school was an egoistic brat, mind you, and, well… Opera Songs was one of them. She was an honest, kind, and pleasant girl, never going around people’s back to stab them, or putting on an obvious facade just so she could keep her nose high in the air, or using others just to look down on them. And… that’s what made the two of us become friends. She was, like, the only person who would be genuine towards me no matter what, and so I cherished our friendship. I still kind of consider myself to be lucky, even after… after what happened….” Lightning’s voice faltered, and his reminiscing smile was replaced by a sad gaze and a frown.

“What… what happened?” asked Fluttershy, her voice barely audible.

“An incident,” Lightning replied, looking down into his cup while his frown deepened. “An incident that ended up in me moving here.”

“Was it… was it bad?” Sunset asked cautiously. Lightning didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. His expression said enough; the way his eyes were looking down into the bottom of his cup; the way he was biting his lower lip; the way he was frowning at the table; how his eyes looked like they were moistening; everything told the girls the answer.

An awkward silence filled the air, the atmosphere of cheeriness and joy gone so suddenly. Even Pinkie sat still in her seat, an expression of sadness in her face. After moments of silently staring at each other, unsure of what to do or what to say, Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Look, Lightning, I’m sorry for bringing it up. I didn’t mean to—”

Lightning interrupted her. “No, no, it’s okay. It’s something I really shouldn’t be hanging on to. I mean, it’s already happened, so it’s not like I can change it.” He looked up from his cup, and the girls couldn’t help but notice the emotion his eyes held: pain. A deep, genuine pain. And yet, there was a small yet distinct smile on his face. “It’s alright, Rainbow. It’s okay. It’s just… a single memory now. Something I have to live with… for the rest of my life, probably.” With that, he leaned back in his chair with a sigh, his eyes gazing up at the ceiling.

Another minute of silence went by before Sunset spoke up. “Oh, right! Lightning, do you happen to play any type of musical instrument?”

Lightning, sitting up in his chair and looking at Sunset with a questioning look, answered, “Uhh, yeah. I know how to play the guitar, and also a bit of piano.”

At that, Sunset’s expression lightened up. “That’s great! You see, the seven of us here are members of the school band Rainboom. We were wondering if you would want to join us as a new member. We are always welcome of new members, you know.”

Lightning hesitated, while his eyes glazed over. The voice began speaking again. Don’t accept it, Lightning. Don’t let her get close to you. She’ll hurt you in the end, just like how Opera did. She’s done that in the past; she can do it again anytime she wants to. She—

“I said. Shut. Up,” Lightning muttered under his breath with clenched teeth. He shook his head and looked up at Sunset. “Sure. I’d be happy to join,” He answered with a smile.

If Sunset had noticed anything off with the way Lightning had reacted, she hid her confusions. She smiled back at him. “That’s great! You should totally come to our practice. It’s on… when was our practice, Pinkie?”

Pinkie gasped, a shocked expression on her face. “It’s during lunchtime tomorrow, silly! How can you forget?”

“Hehe, well… I’m not good at remembering dates, apparently…,” replied Sunset, scratching the back of her head.

“Well… I think I need to get going, my parents will be worried if I don’t go home soon.” Lightning said as he looked out the window. The Sun was setting, painting the sky a mixture of fiery red, golden orange, lavender purple, and ocean blue. The sight was simply magnificent to behold.

“Oh, okay then. I think we should go home as well,” Sunset said to the other girls. The girls agreed in unison.

As they left the shop, Sunset saw Lightning standing on the sidewalk and gazing towards the horizon, hands in his pocket. He was staring at the sunset, the colors reflecting in his eyes.

Sunset said goodbye to her friends and walked up to him. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Sunset asked once she was standing right next to Lightning.

“Yep. The sunset here’s just… amazing. Like, it’s one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen.” Lightning replied, once again wearing a thin yet warm smile on his face.

The sight also planted a small piece of happiness in Sunset’s mind. She had partly seen how badly damaged he was, and yet he was smiling at the sunset that filled and reflected in his eyes. The thought that he could find happiness here was enough to make Sunset happy as well.

Sunset placed a hand on his shoulder as she quietly said, “Hey….” He looked down at her with a questioning expression. “Whatever you had to go through, it’s going to be alright. We’ll be here for you. I’ll be here for you. I promise.”

For a moment, Lightning’s electric blue eyes gazed down into Sunset’s cyan ones. Then he smiled again, wider than before. “Thanks,” he croaked. “Thanks for the encouragement.”

He then patted her on the shoulder and began making his way home. After walking a few feet, he turned and asked, “So, I guess I’ll see you during band practice tomorrow?”

“Yup. You know where the music room is, don’t you?” Sunset replied.

Lightning nodded and turned to continue his walk home.

As his figure reached the top of the hill near Sugarcube Cafe, Sunset shouted out towards him. “See you tomorrow, Lightning!”

Lightning turned around and waved his hand towards Sunset in wide, slow arcs. Then he turned and went over the hill.

Well, he thought as he neared his house, today went better than expected.

Chapter 3: Nightmares and Reliefs

“Having a good time, Lightning?” A voice spoke out from pitch-black darkness.

“What… who… where…?”

“Aw, don’t play dumb with me! You know perfectly who I am.”

“Opera? But… how… where are we? Why can’t I see anything?” asked Lightning.

“Well… let’s just say we’re about in the middle of nowhere,” replied Opera Songs with an air of playfulness.

“Opera, I am not joking around. How did we even get here in the first place?”

“Oh, you want to be serious? Well, I’ll answer your question then. It’s not a matter of ‘how’, Lightning; it’s ‘why’. You’re here because of what you did,” Opera answered, her voice turning from being playful to full resentment, even containing a slight tinge of malice.

“What? But… but I didn’t do anything. I did nothing to you, Opera, I swear—”

“What you did to me was the. Worst. Thing. Possible. You betrayed me and my trust in you. You hurt me, stabbed me in the heart. You broke me. And now… you’ll pay the price.” Opera angrily hissed, her voice overpowering Lightning’s protests.

“Opera, look, I’m sorry. I, I didn’t mean to hurt you. Look, I didn’t know what was going on—” Lightning stammered as he began to panic.

But then, Opera’s words cut deep into his heart. “Too late.”

With that, two hands covered in blood shot out of the darkness, clutching Lightning’s head with its claws. Lightning tried to back away but it was pointless. One hand held his face in place while the other reared back, preparing to strike with its sharp, pointy claws. The hand shot forward, heading straight towards Lightning’s eyes. Lightning had to do something. He couldn’t move. The only thing he could do was scream. He screamed as the claws reached his eyes—

“AAAAAHHHHHH!!!” Lightning bolted up in his bed with a scream.

He hit the light switch, which immediately turned the lights on to reveal the familiar sight of his bedroom. Lightning took deep breaths, relieved that it was only a dream and trying to get his nerves to calm down. He wiped his forehead. He was sweaty, no thanks to the dream. He felt a tear forming at the corner of his eyes. He didn’t care about it, though.

Suddenly, a knock came on his bedroom door. Lightning let out a surprised yelp.

“Sweetie, are you alright? We thought we heard you screaming in your room.”

Thank god, it was his parents.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. Just a stupid nightmare, that’s all. I’m okay, Mom. I’ll go back to bed now,” Lighting called out towards the door, still shaking from the nightmare.

“Okay, dear. If you need anything, just let us know, okay?” His mother replied from behind the door, worry still etched into her voice.

“I’ll be fine, Mom. I’m already seventeen years old. I can do things on my own now, okay?” replied Lightning in a more composed manner.

His mother let out an audible sigh. “Alright, sweetie. Sweet dreams.”

“You too, mom. Have a good night.”

As he heard his mom walk away, Lightning flopped back onto his bed and began smacking his head. “Stop it, stop it, stop it. It wasn’t your fault, Lightning, so stop blaming yourself.” But no matter how many times he said it, something in the back of his mind kept repeating Opera’s words: Too late.

He realized that it was too late to undo what had been done… or stop what had happened. All he could do now was to lay in bed and regret his actions.

As he lay on his bed, he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth. He crossed an arm across his eyes as a tear trickled down his cheek. He waited for sleep to carry him off to dreamland once more. But it never came.

Lightning stifled a yawn as he rubbed his eye. The morning coffee wasn’t doing its job properly. It wasn’t surprising, though, considering he had been drinking coffee every morning for the past few months as a measure to counter his nightmares and insomnia.

He tried to rub the fatigue out of his eyes as he headed towards the music room, his backpack and guitar slung over his shoulders. His head hung forward under his black hoodie, his favorite. He grimaced as he realized that his eyes with bands of dark skin under them weren’t going to wake up anytime soon.

As he neared the music room, his pace slowed. Something in the back of his mind seemed to hold him back from entering the music room. When he arrived in front of the music room, he put a hand on the door… and then lowered it as his body tensed up. He seemed to have lost the energy to push the door open. It was as if the nightmare had taken all of his strength away. For a moment, he wanted to leave, to back away from the door and go on with his day as if he hadn’t made the promise in the first place. His breath began to quicken slightly while his left hand started trembling.

But then he thought of his promise with Sunset. She was clearly delighted when he said that he would join the band, and betraying that promise wouldn’t be good for his relationship with her. Plus, who was he to stand his friends up? So, shoving his left hand into the pocket of his hoodie, he pushed the door open.

He was immediately greeted by a confetti cannon exploding in his face.

“Surprise!” Pinkie Pie yelled from somewhere beyond the cloud of confetti that obscured Lightning’s vision.

As Lightning staggered backward, spitting bits of confetti out of his mouth, his vision cleared enough to see that the girls were already in the music room waiting for him.

The next moment Pinkie Pie was speaking right in front of his face. “You’re late, Lighty! Can I call you Lighty? Cause, you know, it’s lighter than Lightning Storm! Lightning Storm’s a bit, you know, too stormy! Or can I call you Hoodie, ‘cause you’re always wearing a hoodie around? Anyways, I was wondering why you weren’t coming and was getting worried, but Sunset told me not to worry and that you will come eventually! And you’re here, so we can start practicing!” With that, she bounced back into the music room.

Lightning just stood there, slightly bemused. Then he shook his head and walked in, ashamed with himself that he even considered walking away when his friends were waiting for him. He also felt a bit relaxed now that he saw them smiling at him. He didn’t let either of his emotions show, however, and smiled back at them.

As he set his backpack and guitar down, he asked, “So… what are we going to do today?”

“Well…,” Rainbow Dash replied, “since it’s your first day in our band, why don’t you start with showing us what you got? You know, play your favorite song or something.”

“Uh… well…,” Lightning stammered.

“Well, if you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to—”

“No, I’ll do it. I was just thinking of which song to play,” replied Lightning.

“Oh, okay then. Take your time,” said Rainbow.

“Actually, can I borrow your electric guitar for a moment? I need it for the song I’ll be playing,” asked Lightning.

“Oh, sure. Here.” Rainbow handed him the electric guitar.

Lightning took the guitar and slung it over his shoulder. He took a deep breath and began to play a bass tune.

The girls immediately recognized the tune; it belonged to a duet song. Sunset began to sing the lyrics along with the bass and saw Lightning look at her, smiling. Her soft yet firm voice filled the female singer’s part perfectly, capturing every note and syllable as if she were the original artist.

As the male part approached, Lightning took over, pouring out the emotions in his words. Every syllable he spoke carried the grief, anger, and sorrow of the song and Sunset knew why he had chosen this song. The intensity of the emotions included in the song was something that nobody but he could reenact. While singing, he gestured to each of the band members, prompting them to join in. As the song reached its climax, the two singers sang in perfect tandem and finished the song together.

As the song finished, Sunset looked at Lightning, who was looking at her while having a wide smile across his face. Sunset smiled back, and saw it in his eyes; he was happy, right here and now.

“That was… awesome!” Rainbow Dash broke the silence between the two.

“Was it?” Lightning asked, sinking into a nearby chair with a slight grunt, cradling the guitar on his lap. “I haven’t played electric guitar in a long time. Might have been a bit rusty.”

“No, it was perfect. Like, twenty percent cooler than I could ever be!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Ah second her, sugarcube. What she said means a lot, especially comin’ from someone like her. You were pretty darn awesome, Ah gotta admit. The way you screamed your feelings out…,” Applejack added, a proud expression on her face, even though Rainbow cast her a look that said she was unsure whether to be thankful or angry at her farmgirl friend.

“Yeah… it was… kinda scary… when you let your anger out like that…. But… you looked cool, though…,” said Fluttershy from behind her hair.

Lightning chuckled. “Aw, come on guys, you don’t have to go to such lengths to make me feel good about it. I mean, I made some mistakes, and my voice nearly cracked near the end. How can that be called good?”

“Darling, the fact that you made mistakes isn’t important, as long as we didn’t notice it. Your performance was simply splendid, especially the way you translated your emotions into your singing. That was the best singing I’ve heard in a long time!” Rarity chipped in.

“Well… then I must be a good actor because I was acting with the emotional thing the whole time,” said Lightning, getting a laugh from the girls.

“Were you, though?” muttered Sunset.

“Sorry, Sunset, what did you say?” asked Lightning, a look of innocence on his face.

“Never mind, it was… it was nothing,” Sunset replied with a shrug.

Lightning tilted his head and gave her a questioning look for a moment, then gave the electric guitar back to Rainbow Dash. As he did so, the bell signaled that the start of class was ten minutes away.

“Oh shoot! I gotta go!” Lightning yelled as he bolted from his seat and picked up his backpack. “I’ll see you guys later. I can leave my guitar here, right?” asked Lightning, to which the girls responded with a nod.

“Okay, then. Oh, and, girls?” he called out as he stood in the doorway.

The girls turned to look at him.

“Thank you. Thank you… for everything. I needed it,” he said, smiling. For a second, Sunset thought she saw a tear in the corner of his eye. As she tried to get a better look, however, Lightning turned and ran towards his class.

“So… what was that about?” asked Rainbow Dash, clearly confused.

Sunset merely shrugged and headed to her class, staring at the direction Lightning had disappeared.

The days went on, while Lightning adjusted to his new school. He had several more practice sessions with the Rainboom and hung out with them a few times. During classes, he would actively participate, leading group assessments and answering questions. He could be comfortable, be himself in this place. Or so it seemed.

At times, he would be staring into the distance, deep in thought, a slight frown on his face. Then he would jump at the slightest disturbance that brought him out of his trance.

Every day, he would come to school sipping a cup of coffee, dark bags hanging under his eyes. When asked about them, he would simply answer that he “had a rough night”, to which nobody asked further.

Then, one day, during a practice session, after another round of playing a song, Rainbow asked, “Lightning?”

Lightning looked up. “Hm?”

“How are you so good at playing the guitar? I mean, you’re always more awesome than I am when playing the guitar!”

Lightning smiled. It was a nostalgic, sad smile. He stayed silent for a moment, deep in his thoughts, as if he was contemplating an appropriate answer. “Well… let’s just say an old friend of mine taught me,” he finally answered.

For a fleeting moment, Sunset thought she saw a look of pain in his eyes. Then it was gone. Sunset, not thinking much of it, merely shrugged to herself and continued to tune the strings of her guitar.

Everybody saw how he seemed to be adjusting perfectly to his new school. His friends, especially the Rainboom, were glad of it. They had caught a glimpse of the dark side Lightning had in his mind before, and the fact that he seemed to be leaving it behind made them happy. Sunset was among them, happy to see that her friend was content within the bright atmosphere of Canterlot High, free of the emotions caused by whatever dark past he had experienced.

She just hoped that it wouldn’t come back to haunt him.

Chapter 4: Meltdown

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!

Chapter 5: Painful Reunion

Author's Note

After seventeen days of rewriting and checking, it's finally here. Chapter 5. Enjoy.

Chapter 5: Painful Reunion

Sunset lay in her hospital bed as she looked out of the window. It was still the middle of the day, the Sun shining brightly in the sky. She looked down at her left wrist, now covered in bandages with an IV needle inserted into it.

The doctor had told her that she would be okay; the knife had only cut through her capillaries and wrist vein. The surgery had taken about three hours, after which Sunset had almost instantly fallen asleep, so deeply that a speeding train passing feet away from her wouldn’t wake her up.

The next day, seeing that Sunset was awake, her friends went to school after spending the night with their friend at the hospital. While her friends were at school, Sunset mostly remained in her bed, staring out the window and occasionally reading a magazine from the newsstand. She couldn’t concentrate on the magazine, however, as her thoughts constantly returned to what had happened the day before.

After school was over, the Rainboom came back to the hospital to visit Sunset. The six girls mainly spent time talking to her and helping her recover after the surgery.

Sunset had something else on her mind, however.

“I’ve never seen someone that terrified,” she said, looking out of the window. “It was as if he was staring at death itself.” Sunset turned to her friends. “I want to know what happened to him yesterday. It worries me.”

Her friends glanced at each other uncomfortably.

“Er… now that you mention it, Sunset… Lightning… didn’t come to school today,” Rainbow stammered as if each word was stuck in her throat and she was struggling to spit them out.

“What? But why?” Sunset asked in bewilderment.

“Ah’m not sure, exactly. But the teacher did say something about Lightning’s parents saying that he was in the hospital…,” Applejack trailed off, now wishing that she hadn’t said that.

Concern covered Sunset’s expression. “That can’t be good. He panics like he’s out of his mind, and then he’s in the hospital the next day? That doesn’t sound right.”

“But… what can we do about it, then? Can we do something about it?” Twilight asked.

Sunset began to think deeply. Just then, the doctor came in.

“Alright, Miss Shimmer, it looks like your blood vessels and skin are healing pretty well, just like you are doing right now. I think you’ll be good to go. The muscle in your arm will recover pretty soon, so don’t worry too much about not being able to move your arm. I recommend not doing any harsh activities, though; we wouldn’t want the wound to reopen or the muscle tissue being irreparably damaged,” said the doctor, looking at a piece of paper on a clipboard.

“Thank you, doctor… err…,” Sunset stammered.

“Veins. And don’t mention it,” Doctor Veins answered with a wink and a smile. He then stepped out of the room. As he did so, a nurse came in to remove the IV.

As the door closed, Sunset got up and changed into a clean set of clothes, which had been brought by her friends.

Just then, as she finished changing, a thought came to her mind.

“I should go back to his house,” she said with an air of finality, “alone.”

Her friends stared at her in silent surprise.

“Darling, are you sure that’s a good idea? We’ve all seen the state he was in,” said Rarity.

“I know. And he needs help. That’s why I’m going to his house.”

“I get that you’re trying to help Lightning, Sunset, but is there a reason to go alone?” Rainbow asked.

“Right now, he’s probably quite psychologically unstable. If we all barged into his house at once, he’d probably be overwhelmed. I think it’s better if I talked to him alone,” Sunset explained.

“Ah get that, sugarcube, but why does it have to be you? Why can’t it be me or Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash or… ya know, someone else?”

“Because I’m the one who’s responsible for this.” Sunset raised a hand before Applejack could object. “Listen, Applejack. I’m the one who misplaced the knife. Lightning tried to warn me, but the knife fell out before he could. Plus, the emotions he was going through? During that short moment when he held my wrist, AJ, I could feel his emotion turning from panic to a literal hellhole in seconds. Someone with a mind like that…,” she faltered. Then shook her head. And looked at the farmgirl.

“He needs help, AJ. He needs help from someone who can not only listen but empathize with what he’s going through,” Sunset said as she turned towards the door. “I’m going, no matter what. He needs our help and well… I promised that I’d be there for him.”

“Well, shoot. Guess I can’t argue with ya. Mind if we tagged along?” Applejack asked. When Sunset looked at her in confusion, she added, “We won’t barge into his house at once, mind ya, but we will come along just in case something goes wrong. How’s that sound?”

Sunset smiled, grateful for her friends. “I… can accept that, I guess.”

The bus ride to Lightning’s house from the hospital took longer than the EMS had taken yesterday. It had been forty minutes since the girls boarded the city bus, and it was still crawling through the busy Canterlot traffic.

All the while Sunset stared out the window, deep in her thoughts. Twilight gently nudged her.

Sunset looked at her. “Hm?”

“Are you alright, Sunset? You were frowning the whole time we’ve been on this bus,” she said.

“Yeah, just…,” Sunset let out a sigh. “I’m really worried about Lightning, you know? Goddess knows how he’s doing right now, and I’m afraid he might have done something… rather drastic while we were gone. It scares me.”

This created a heavy silence between the girls. Then Applejack reached out and put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

“Don’t ya worry none, sugarcube, ‘cause Ah’m sure he’ll pull through. It’s goin’ to be alright,” Applejack assured her, although she sounded unconvinced herself.

“Wish I could believe that, too, AJ,” Sunset replied, a concerned note in her voice.

They rode the rest of the way in silence.

Another twenty minutes later, and they were standing in front of Lightning’s apartment.

“Alright, we’ll wait here. If something happens, call out to us. We’ll get in there immediately. Got it?” Applejack asked as she and the others hung back in the hallway near the front door of Lightning’s house.

“Got it. And thanks a lot, girls, for doing this for me,” Sunset answered as she stood in front of the door.

“Don’t mention it, darling. You’re our friend, just like Lightning is. And this is what friends do. Now, go on, do what you need to do,” said Rarity.

“Okay, then. Here goes nothing.” She took in a deep breath, let it out, and knocked on the door. Three times.

No response came.

Sunset glanced at her friends, then knocked three more times. No response came.

Sunset tilted her head as she said, “Huh, that’s… unexpected.”

“So… what do we do now?” Fluttershy asked, clearly uncomfortable at the thought of having to wait for a long time in an unfamiliar neighborhood.

Just as Sunset opened her mouth to respond, the elevator doors slid open, and a teenage boy stepped out. The boy, who was wearing a grey hoodie and looking down at the ground, looked up.

It was Lightning. He stared at the sight of his friends gathered in front of his house, not knowing how to react. The girls stared back at him as they took a good look at the state he was in.

Lightning Storm was a mess. The small bit of his light brown hair that was visible under the hoodie was frazzled and unkempt, while the dark bags under his eyes were much more pronounced. His eyes were red and puffy as if he had been crying. The usual sparkle that lighted his eyes was gone, replaced by a dull, empty gaze. Tear marks stained his pale grey cheeks.

They stared at each other like that for what seemed like an eternity until Lightning finally spoke.

“Why are you here?” His voice was devoid of the usual joy and happiness, carrying a slight edge in it instead. His expression showed nothing but fatigue and weariness.

Fluttershy spoke up. “We were worried about you, Lightning. You didn’t come to school today, and, well… after what happened yesterday, we wanted to see if you were alright.”

Lightning stayed silent for a moment, before saying, “I’m alright, thank you very much,” once again with an ire in his voice.

“Are you sure, sugarcube? Ya look quite terrible to me,” AJ asked, concern shimmering in her voice.

“I’m fine, AJ. Now, is there anything else that you girls want?” Lightning snapped, annoyance and frustration clearly showing.

After a bit of deliberation, Sunset spoke up. “Lightning, we… we need to talk about what happened yesterday.”

Lightning tensed up for a moment, and there was a flash of emotions in his eyes. He stared at Sunset, and she could see flames of fury dancing in the pupils of his eyes. Yet she could see something else as well, something deeper and stronger. “There’s nothing to talk about it,” he said as he turned towards the door.

Sunset grabbed him by his right wrist. Lightning jumped and tried to jerk away, but her grip was too strong. As he looked at Sunset, he saw her eyes shining with an intensity he had never seen before.

“Nothing? Nothing? You went through a mental breakdown yesterday, Lightning, and today you didn’t come to school with the pretense of ‘being in the hospital’ or something. You sat there in the corner of the kitchen, crying your eyes out for Goddess knows how long, and yet you say there’s nothing to say about it? Are you serious?” Sunset shouted at him while the others hung back. They had never seen Sunset be so angry at someone before.

Lightning jerked himself free from Sunset’s grip. “So what if I did?” he shot back. “What if I did have a mental breakdown in the middle of cooking? What if I did cry my eyes out, crouched in the middle of a puddle of blood? What does it have to do with you? What does it matter to you?”

“Because we’re your friends, Lightning. Friends just don’t turn away when one of their friends is in trouble. We’re always ready to help you, to be there for you when you need it. What part of it don’t you understand? Why do you keep rejecting our, no, my offer for help?” Sunset pleaded, a tinge of sadness now mixing into her tone.

“Because you wouldn’t understand, goddammit! Do you, do any of you understand what it’s like to be in my situation? No, you wouldn’t, because none of you ever experienced it. And as long as nobody understands what I’m going through, I won’t ask for help. This is my problem, not yours,” he spat as he opened the door.

Sunset opened her mouth to reply, to plead with him once more. However, she was cut short as someone slammed into him, surprising everyone except for the offender. Fluttershy let out a surprised yelp.

“Don’t you get it? We’re trying to help you, Lightning! We’re here to try to understand your situation. But no, you have to reject every single offer to lend you a helping hand. You just have to trap yourself up within your goddamn boundaries. So much, in fact, that you don’t even understand our efforts!” Rainbow shouted, holding him by the collar and pinning him against the wall.

“Rainbow! Back off, now!” Applejack shouted.

Lightning roughly shoved Rainbow Dash away, pointing an accusing finger at her as he shouted, “No, you don’t understand! You don’t know what I’m going through, Rainbow. You don’t know why I was in the hospital today. And certainly, none of you understand what had happened to me!” He glared at the girls standing in front of him, panting slightly. For a long moment, his face spoke of pure rage. After a minute or so, however, they could see something softening in his eyes.

He leaned against the wall as he said, “I… I tried, okay? I tried to tell people, to talk to others about what I was going through. Hell, I must’ve tried at least a dozen times. But… they didn’t listen. And the few who did? They never understood me. They never did.” He looked down again. “Come to think of it, I guess I never understood myself either. And maybe I’m still unable to. And this… all this… started because of her…,” Lightning trailed off. His eyes began to moisture. “Why? Why did she have to do it?” He whispered. “Even worse, why did I have to be the one to find her? Ever since that day I just wanted this to end… wanted this to be over….” As he spoke, Lightning finally gave in. He slid down the wall and onto the ground as he began to cry. Tears began to cascade down his cheeks while Lightning tried to wipe them away to no avail. He let out a shaky breath as he said, “B-but the pain… it doesn’t end…. It never ends. I tried to fight it away but I couldn’t. Why can’t it end? Why can’t it leave me alone?”

“Lightning…,” Sunset said as she approached him. She knelt and held him close. Lightning tensed up for a moment, then his whole body sagged. He leaned into Sunset and let his cries flow as he held on as if his life depended on her.

“I-I’m sick of it!” Lightning screamed between cries. “I’m t-tired of running f-from my past, yet I’m too s-scared to face it! I d-don’t know what t-to do, Sunset! I-I want th-this to just end, b-but I s-see no w-way out!” He shouted, crying harder than ever. Sunset just held him in her arms.

“Shh… shh…,” Sunset whispered as she soothed him, “it’s going to be alright, Lightning…. We’re here…. I’m here….”

She held him as Lightning continued to weep into her, his cries carrying the agony of a bereaved child.

They held onto each other like that for a long time as the Sun slowly lowered itself towards the horizon.

Chapter 6: Good Old Days

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Chapter 7: Into the Storm

Lightning Storm was standing in the middle of a wood. He looked around. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of matching pants. Sunlight poured upon him, bathing him in a golden yellow hue, while a light rain fell upon the landscape. It wasn’t uncomfortable. Rather, it felt warm. Caring. He extended his arms out, embracing the feeling.

Birds were chirping from their trees, each tree lively with their green leaves. A slight breeze caressed him, wrapping his body in the current of the wind. Lightning closed his eyes as he relaxed and let himself feel the flow.

“Enjoying the weather, Lightning?” A voice called out from the woods.

Lightning’s eyes snapped open. That voice…!

He slowly turned around, not sure if he wanted to see what he was expecting to see. Heck, he wasn’t even sure what he was going to see if—

Opera Songs was standing there, wearing the same outfit as she had on the day Lightning had first met her.

Lightning’s mouth fell open. “Opera…?”

Opera smiled. “It’s been a long time, Lightning. I missed you.”

Lightning barely managed to get out of his shock and stumbled towards the girl. When he was a foot away from her, Lightning stared at her, not believing what he was seeing yet never wanting to forget the memory that stood before him.

This was not the Opera that plagued his nightmares, but the Opera when she was at her purest form. The Opera at her purest and happiest form.

Lightning just continued to gape at her, struggling to process what he was seeing.

Suddenly, Opera found herself swept off the ground in a tight embrace. Lightning held her in his arms, his face buried in her shoulder as something broke inside him. His shoulders heaved as he broke into uncontrollable sobs.

“I… I missed you… s, so much, you know?” Lightning stuttered, trying to steady his breath and failing.

“Hey now, it’s okay, it’s okay…,” Opera soothed him, patting his back and holding him steady.

They stood there like that for eternity, basking in the rain and sunlight.

“You’re beginning your first steps, Lightning. Your first steps to being reborn,” Opera said as they trudged through the woods.

“What do you mean?” Lightning asked, confused.

“You’re finally beginning to grow over your past. You were willing to face what happened. Remember you telling them your story back at Manehattan High?”

“Hey, that was because…,” Lightning began to protest before faltering, “well, it was because I thought if I hesitated any longer, I wouldn’t be able to do it. I wouldn’t be able to say anything, and I would have to live with it for… for the rest of my life.” He finished with a sigh, rubbing his right eyelid in frustration.

Opera gazed at him, sadness and mild curiosity on her face. “Why are you so afraid to see the past?”

Lightning blinked. “What?”

“You’re so afraid to even think about what happened half a year ago… why? Why are you so afraid of being reminded of that day?”

Lightning snorted incredulously. “Seriously? You of all people should know best why it’s one of my worst fears. You know what happened that day, how it all led up to that moment, and… and…,” he faltered once more. After a pause, he bitterly said, “What I lost that day. How I never got it back. How I will never get it back. And how I am to blame for it.”

Opera stared at him for a moment, then said, “You know, the things you think you lost? they aren’t so entirely lost as you think, you know….”

Lightning’s ears perked up. “What?”

Opera began walking away from Lightning, deeper into the woods. The purple-haired girl turned to look at him and smiled as she spoke. “Just follow the trail. Maybe, just maybe, at the end of the day, you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for.”

And with that, she slowly faded away into the woods.

Lightning stared in the direction Opera had disappeared, before spotting a trail in the woods. It was nothing more than a foot wide, hindered and covered by the wood’s dense plant life, but it was distinctly a dirt trail. Lightning’s gaze followed up the trail and spotted an exit; a way leading out of the woods.

He started walking along the trail, heading towards the opening. His walk turned into a jog, then into a sprint, then finally into a full-speed run. As he ran towards the exit, bright light poured in from it, becoming brighter and brighter, covering his view with nothing but blinding white light until—

Lightning’s eyes snapped open. The familiar sight of his bedroom ceiling came into view. He sat up and blinked, taking in his surroundings. Sunlight poured in from between his curtains, illuminating the room.

Lightning got out of bed and walked over to the window, where he threw open the curtains and allowed himself a full view of the outside world. The entirety of his neighborhood came into view, with complex alleyways weaving through the cheap apartments that covered most of the area.

He leaned against the windowsill, thinking about his dream. Opera wanted him to face his story, his past. That way, he would be able to move on from what happened five months back.

“Just follow the trail, and you’ll find what you’re looking for…,” Lightning muttered as he repeated Opera’s words from the previous night’s dream.

He took in a deep breath, then released it. A look of determination entered his eyes. If he had to reach the end of the trail just to get closure, he would follow it; he was going to finish his story, and face his past once and for all.

He turned around and prepared to head to school.

Lightning walked towards the front gates of Canterlot High, his footsteps ringing out on the pavement. He passed the Wondercolts statue and headed towards the main building, not giving any attention to the other students who went on their way.

As he got to his locker and took the textbooks he needed for class, a familiar voice called him from behind. Looking around, he spotted Sunset Shimmer walking towards him.

“Hey, Lightning! Glad you made to school today,” Sunset greeted him.

“Yeah, I felt better after last night, so I decided to come to school,” Lightning replied.

“That’s good to hear. So, about yesterday…,” Sunset trailed off.

“Yeah? What about it?” Lightning asked.

“I was kind of worried if you didn’t want to continue telling your story,” Sunset answered.

Lightning paused in his packing and turned around to face her. “Oh? What made you think that?”

“Well, you know, it’s just that you’ve suffered so much from your past that I thought you might not want to talk about it…”

“And I was more concerned about you guys not wanting to listen to my past,” Lightning mused. He then said, “Look, Sunset, I don’t have any intention of stopping just yet, okay? But I’m worried about how it will affect my friends. As I said, it’s not a pretty story in particular. Especially Fluttershy: I don’t think she’ll be able to deal with it, considering where the story’s headed.”

“Well, then why don’t you ask them if they’re okay about it?”

“I already did that yesterday, Sunset. And the thing is, I don’t think they know what they’re going to hear. And I doubt that they’ll like it once they know,” Lightning said with a frown.

“Speaking of which, what exactly happened at the end? Because I’ve never really figured it out, and none of the girls have, either.”

At this, Lightning’s expression hardened. He looked around, then closed his eyes and leaned against the lockers. He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, then said, “I guess you deserve to know, huh? Alright, come close.”

He whispered something into Sunset’s ears, and her eyes widened as Lightning finished his message. When she turned to him, it was with watery, staring eyes. “Did… did she really…?”

Lightning gave a solemn nod. “But that’s just half the story. The other half, well…,” he trailed off for a moment before finally saying, “let’s just say that it’s too long of a story to be told in the hallways. So why don’t we talk about this after school, at Sugarcube Cafe or somewhere, when we have sufficient time for it?”

“Okay… I’ll tell the girls to meet at Sugarcube Cafe at 3:30,” Sunset said, hesitation almost visible in her voice.

“That would do. Thanks,” Lightning said as the bell rang. “Well, I’ll see you in a few, then.”

“See ya, Lightning,” said Sunset as she turned away towards her classroom, still visibly shaken from what she just heard.

Lightning didn’t notice Sunset’s shock as she walked away.

“So, what’s the big deal?” Rainbow asked as she plopped herself down into one of Sugarcube Cafe’s chairs. There were a good deal of students from CHS inside the cafe, chatting away, drinking a cup of coffee, laughing, scribbling in their notebooks…. It seemed like a normal day for the people inside.

“Well, Lightning wants to continue his story but… he wanted to give you a warning beforehand,” Sunset answered, uncertainty continuing to show in her voice.

“Well, ‘warning’ is one way to put it,” spoke Lightning, who was sitting in a chair in front of the same table, arms crossed.

The girls looked at him, and, almost immediately, noticed something was off. The usual energy Lightning’s eyes contained was still there, but they seemed to be… different from the usual electrical, energetic form. His expression was neutral, his head lowered while his eyes peered up ahead. His lips were set as if he was dead set on something.

“Uh, darling, are you… alright? You don’t seem… er, well,” Rarity commented.

Lightning looked up and waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, I’m totally fine. I was just thinking about how to go with this ‘warning’, as Sunset put it.” Even something about his voice was off, the tone being much calmer and collected, yet at the same time, sounding… detached. He put his elbows on the table, leaning his chin into his hands while glancing at Sunset.

The moment Lightning’s eyes made contact with the Sunset’s, she saw those piercing blue eyes staring into hers… and beyond. It was as if his eyes were focused on her teal irises, but also looking at something a million miles away. His gaze looked into her eyes as if trying to look at her very soul… then broke away.

Minutes ticked by, the looks on the girls’ faces growing more and more anxious while Lightning continued to stare into the distance, continuing to think about something.

It wasn’t long until Rainbow Dash finally burst out, “So… are we going to talk or not? Because we’ve been waiting for ten minutes—”

“Girls, have you…,” Lightning interrupted. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and continued, “Have you ever had an instance where you thought someone was in the wrong and blamed her for it, only to find out that she was innocent?”

Immediately Sunset felt her heart stop. He knows, she thought, he knows what happened last Christmas.

All the other girls, minus Twilight, who was looking confused, seemed uncomfortable, too. Noticing the look on their faces, Lightning pleaded, “Please, girls, I’m not gonna hold it against you. I’m just asking, so please be honest.”

Reluctantly, they nodded, not willing to meet each other’s eyes.

“And how far, exactly, did you go before you found out?” Lightning quietly asked, his steely gaze fixed on the seven girls.

“Lightning, that’s enough—,” Sunset said quietly as she laid a hand on Lightning’s arm, only to be cut off as he swatted her hand away.

“So, you girls abandoned your friend here when she needed you the most, left her all by herself when she was getting the scars she will carry to her grave—,” Lightning continued, his voice rising.

“That’s enough, Lightning!” Sunset shouted.

“No, it’s not enough! It’s never enough! You know the extent you were pushed to; you know how it could have ended! You had your back turned against the cliff; one push, and it would’ve been over. End of story. How can you be so okay with it when you were on your last straw for days, no, weeks?” Lightning shouted back, redirecting his fury at the flaming-haired girl, not caring that at a nearby table, a group of students had stopped talking and were gawking at them instead.

“And why are you bringing this up now?” Rainbow interjected, glaring at the angry teenage boy. “We already apologized to Sunset, she accepted it, we left it behind. It’s been almost ten months since the incident. Why do you have to bring this up?”

“Because I saw the same shit happen, damn it! When I first came to CHS, I thought things would be different. I thought I wouldn’t have to see the same crap happen twice. But no, you girls, the five of you, everyone in that wretched school, acted just like the jerks at my previous school. I thought I was free of the shit that Manehattan High used to shovel on my life, but I was wrong. Because guess what? Turns out the same bullshit happened before and is still ongoing.

“I watched while Opera got accused by everyone for something she didn’t do, just like you did. I watched while she got assaulted with cruel words and remarks, and even when things got physical, just like you did! But unlike you oh-so-lucky girls, she didn’t stand back up. Unlike Sunset, she didn’t pull through. She never got to see the other end of the tunnel she got pushed into, and she never emerged from it. She never got to see the sunrise once more, see another day!” Lightning shouted, his voice starting to crack.

“Sugarcube, what—,” Applejack tried to interrupt him, but was cut short.

“You wanna know how this story ends? Fine, I’ll give it to you!” Lightning shouted, tears starting to well up in his eyes. “The whole story ended when Opera killed herself. That ended the whole debacle. For good.”

Silence reigned. Everyone at the table was too stunned to say a single word.

Until Applejack managed to whisper in shock, “What?”

“Ain’t that clear enough for you? Fine, I’ll spell it out for you. Opera Songs, slit her wrists, and bled to death in the girls’ bathroom!” Lightning yelled, his voice hoarse from all the raised voices. The dam finally broke, tears streaming down his face. “A-and I was th-there to watch it, watch it all happen! I saw the life leaving her eyes! I… I WATCHED HER DIE, DAMN IT!”

The moment he finished the sentence, he felt the crushing silence inside the cafe, the fact that everyone was staring at him. He didn’t care.

Lightning breathed heavily; whether because of his emotional outburst or his crying, he didn’t know. It didn’t matter. Nothing did at this point. All that did matter was to get away from this place, this memory.

“I shouldn’t have done this,” he murmured before tearing out of the store, knocking his chair over and not looking back. He crashed out onto the sidewalk, almost knocking someone over before running down the street.

The girls just sat there, shocked and unsure of what to do.

Lightning blindly ran down the streets, not caring where he was going—

“Oh… god, no….”

He crashed into a man, his briefcase falling open and sending papers flying everywhere. “Hey!” the man yelled after him. He just kept on running—

“It’s going to be alright, Opera. It’s going to be alright….”

He ran across the road, not stopping as a car skid to a stop mere inches from him, horns blaring—

“Just stay with me, okay? Stay with me.”

He ran up a hill, not caring if his feet hurt or his breath came in pained gasps—

“Opera, stay with me! No, no, I said stay with me. Come on, wake up, goddammit!”

He was nearing the hilltop while continuing to run, not daring to stop, not daring to catch his breath, not caring that his face was soaked with his tears—

“No! She can still live! Please….”

Suddenly, Lightning felt a sharp pain to the left side of his face, followed by finding himself being thrown to the ground.

Massaging his aching face, he managed to sit up, his trance broken. He looked around; he was in an unfamiliar neighborhood, with identical-looking houses lining the streets. Next to him was a metallic bus stop sign. He must have crashed face-first into it. Next to the sign was a bus stop, with a bench situated under a tin roof.

As he leaned against the pole and took in his surroundings, Lightning had noticed one more thing.

Storm clouds were closing in.

“Shit,” Lightning muttered as he stood up and made his way into the bus station, massaging his hot, aching left eye and feeling it swell up. He was pretty sure it would turn black by the time he got back home, which would raise some questions. Questions he wouldn’t be able to answer.

Seconds later, a distant thunderclap marked the beginning of a rainstorm. Raindrops began pouring from the sky, drenching everything outside within seconds.

Lightning sat down on one end of the wooden bench with a sigh. Even though his entire body was sore from running, his eyes were puffy and swollen, and the left side of his face burned, the cool sensation of the bench, coupled with the noise of the rain pelting the ground, brought him a sense of relaxation. He leaned back against the wall of the bus stop and closed his eyes, ignoring the burning feeling of his left eye. It felt nice to relax. A content smile floated up to his lips. His breathing slowed, his tense muscles slacking.

As he relaxed, bathing in the calming noise of the downpour, a memory floated up to his mind….

Two Months Prior…

“Whew, isn’t it hot?” Lightning asked as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

“Yeah, it sure is,” replied Sunset, fanning her shirt to dry off the sticky sweat.

The August sun had been particularly unforgiving that day, raising the temperatures to a 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite being indoors and the cooling systems running at full power, the heat from the outside was felt by the students of CHS, leaving them sweaty and sticky.

“Well, why don’t you take off your jacket? It’s making you sweatier, anyways,” Lightning suggested as they walked through the hallways.

“Well, my skin’s a bit sensitive to sunlight, so I kinda need it,” Sunset replied.

“Well yeah, but we’re indoors right now. I doubt the sunlight’s going to somehow pinpoint you through the walls and manage to land itself on your skin.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Hey, guys!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she jogged over to the two.

“Oh, hey Dash. What’s up?” Lightning greeted her.

“Well, since I was on my way to lunch and I saw you guys from down the hallway, I thought it’d be cool to join you,” Rainbow answered.

Lightning merely nodded as the three of them walked along the corridors towards the cafeteria. As they walked past a girls’ bathroom, Sunset stood and said, “Could you please wait for a minute here? I need to go to the bathroom.”

Rainbow smirked. “Sure. Go on quick.”

With that, Sunset ran into the bathroom.

Rainbow turned to Lightning. “So, how’s your day going?”

“Eh, pretty much the same as any other day. Moving from class to class, getting a bunch of homework, you know the drill.”

“Yeah, these assignments they give us? They’re so frustrating! Couldn’t they, I don’t know, give us less homework?” Rainbow complained.

“Hey, the stuff they give us is going to show up in the finals. Besides, it will help you when you go out there after you graduate, you know.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, sure.”

They continued to chat for several minutes as they waited for Sunset. After five minutes, she emerged from the bathroom, her sleeves rolled up due to her washing her hands.

As Lightning glanced at Sunset over Rainbow’s shoulder, he noticed something: jagged, irregular lines covering both her forearms, some parallel to her ulna, some vertical. Before he could get a better look, however, she had rolled her sleeves back down.

“So, should we get going?” Sunset asked the two of them innocently.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Lightning answered, unsure whether he had seen correctly.

The three of them continued on their way to the cafeteria, Lightning still trying to figure out whether it had been a mere trick of his eyes.

“Good game, Lightning! You were awesome!” Rainbow called out as she and the other students filed out of the gym.

It was later that day in the afternoon when Lightning’s P.E. class played dodgeball. Despite being under a roof and away from the deadly rays of the Sun, the students were still profusely sweating, due to the combined exhaustion from the heat inside the gym and the heated game they played.

After a massive onslaught had taken place thanks to Rainbow Dash, Lightning had been the last survivor on his team, dodging the ball by mere inches more times than he could count. It was thanks to his excellent reflexes and agility that he had managed to survive on his own for over five minutes, but those qualities could only take him so far. In the end, the game ended as the ball thrown by Sunset Shimmer hit him squarely in the left thigh.

Lightning could only grunt in response to Rainbow’s praise as he lay on the gymnasium floor, panting and creating a puddle of sweat on the floor. Eventually, though, he was able to sit up and join the others as they walked out to head over to their respective classes.

“Well, that was one heck of a game,” Lightning said as he caught up to Rainbow and Sunset.

“Yeah, you were pretty awesome out there,” Rainbow acknowledged him with a smirk.

“Thanks. Appreciate the comment,” Lightning replied with a smile of his own.

As they walked down the hallway, Sunset suddenly paused and said, “Um, could you guys wait for a second here? I need to go to the bathroom to wash my face.”

“Well, sure. I could use some cool water to my face too. What about you, Rainbow?,” Lightning agreed as he and Sunset headed towards the bathroom.

“Well, I need to get going because I have Calculus next period,” the Rainbow-haired girl replied as she began walking away.

“Alright then, see you around,” Lightning said as he bid farewell.

“See you, Lightning!” Rainbow shouted as she waved back at him.

After washing his face and leaving the bathroom, Lightning decided that he’d wait for Sunset to finish. Before long, Sunset emerged from the girls’ bathroom, her sleeves rolled up and her hands still wet.

And then he saw them. The numerous scars covering Sunset’s forearm, criss-crossing each other like the lines of a grid. The white jagged lines that adorned her wrists and forearms. The result of consistent abuse being done to the skin. Lightning could only stare in terror and shock, his worst-case scenario proving to be true.

It didn’t take long for Sunset to notice what he was staring at. She quickly lowered her cuffs as a look of panic appeared on her face, covering the scars up once more. After a moment of awkward silence, all she managed to say was,

“Please forget what you saw, okay?”

“I promised her to forget about her scars. To just drop it and pretend I hadn’t seen anything,” Lightning muttered, more to himself than anyone. He was still sitting on the edge of the bench, his body turned so he was facing away from the wooden installation. His head rested on the plastic wall of the bus station while he listened intently to the downpour outside.

Then, a voice that was all too familiar to him spoke from behind. “But you looked into it. You asked people and searched around the web looking for the reason. It took you about a month to figure out about the whole Anon-A-Miss debacle that happened a year ago. Why? Why didn’t you let it go?”

Lightning didn’t turn around. He didn’t need to. “You know full damn well why I couldn’t let it go, Opera. I just couldn’t forget it. Not when I saw what you did. What you did…, and the impact you left behind.”

“It was your choice, though. You could have forced yourself to drop it. To ignore it. To stay away. Just like how you did last time. You did an excellent job of doing that, you know? What changed?” Opera inquired, a visible sneer in her tone.

“It’s the fact that I already did that once that makes me unable to turn away. You know I can’t turn a blind eye to things like that. Last time my ignorance got the better of me; I’m not about to let that happen again!” Lightning retorted.

“And what happened because of it?” Opera asked, the mocking tone becoming more and more prominent, “Who spilled Sunset’s secret? Who’s the person that caused Sunset to become upset at you? Whose fault is it that made you get left alone?”

“I was only trying to follow the trail just like you said. I didn’t want to hurt Sunset’s feelings. Heck, I didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings!” Lightning protested, still not looking at the source of the voice behind him.

“And yet you did.” Opera coldly returned the favor, “You hurt Sunset with your lies. You hurt all of your friends with your raging. I wouldn’t be surprised if they left your side on your own—”

“Well then maybe it’s your fault!” Lightning raised his voice, still refusing to directly look at the girl. “You’re the one who told me to ‘follow the trail’, to come to terms with my past. You’re the one who made me go talk to the girls about what happened. You’re the cause of me losing control back at Sugarcube Cafe and storming out on the girls. And, most importantly, you’re the one who hurt me so bad that not a single day passes without me exploding. This is your fault, goddammit!”

“Really? Or perhaps you’re the one who lost control of yourself, not me. I only told you to ‘follow the trail’. The rest, you brought it on yourself. Congratulations on managing to mess up such a simple business. I don’t think I would be able to do that even if I tried.” Opera’s voice was practically full of disdain and mockery at this point, making Lightning’s blood boil.

“It wasn’t my fault, Opera,” Lightning spoke through gritted teeth, a final effort at ending this conversation civilly. His hands had balled into a fist while trying to control his fury.

Opera let out a derisive snort. “Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that. We’ll find out who’s to blame when your friends find out what you’ve done in the name of ‘vengeance’ and all leave you alone—”

Lightning bolted up from the bench and swung around to punch her. “Just get the fuck away from—”

Opera Songs was gone, and a familiar figure stood in her place. “…me?”

Sunset Shimmer stood inside the bus station, her hair and clothes soaked and plastered to her skin. Rainwater dripped from her clothes and face, and her eyes shimmered as a look of sadness and terror appeared on her face.

Lightning opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Eventually, he slouched back onto the bench, covering his face with his hands as the burning sensation in his left eye returned. He took a deep breath before finally asking, “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to hear everything you said,” Sunset replied, biting her lower lip.

Lightning understood what she meant. He closed his eyes and slowly, but firmly, bumped the back of his head into the wall. “Fuck,” he spat.

“What happened to your eye?” Sunset asked, horrified at the sight of the bruise covering Lightning’s left eye.

“Oh, you know, ran face-first into a metal pole.” Lightning waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t care about it. It’ll eventually go away, anyways.”

“Oh. Okay, then.”

Unsure what to do, Sunset just stood there for a moment, before walking over to the bench to sit down. She said nothing as she sat down next to Lightning. For a moment they just sat like that, staring out into the downpour in awkward silence while listening to the raindrops hammering the roof. Lightning flashed in the distance, followed by a loud boom echoing out into the city. Several minutes passed before Lightning spoke again.

“So… I messed up, didn’t I?” He quietly asked.

“Everybody messes up, Lightning,” Sunset replied. Lightning merely snorted.

“So how did you find me here?” Lightning asked, finally turning to look at Sunset.

Sunset shrugged. “I… didn’t. After you stormed out of the cafe I tried to follow you, but I lost you in the city traffic. I just walked in the direction I saw you run off, and eventually got here, at the cost of getting soaked to the bones.”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” said Lightning. Then, before Sunset could reply, he asked, “Do the girls know I’m here?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, they don’t. I was the only one who came after you. At least, that’s what I think.”

Lightning let out a sigh of relief. “Good. The last thing I want to see right now is… well, I don’t want to see them being mad at me.”

“We’re not mad at you, Lightning.”

Lightning blinked. “You’re not?”

“Well, at least I’m not. Even though you did rage at us and run out of the store,”—Lightning looked at the ground, visibly scowling at the remark—“it was because you were hurt. It wasn’t because you had evil intentions or anything, but because you were afraid and hurt. You were just trying to run from yourself, from your memories.”

“Still, I did mess up pretty bad,” Lightning replied, still staring at the rainwater swirling past his feet. Lightning flashed in the distance as if agreeing to his words, followed by an ear-popping boom from the thunder that followed.

“That’s alright.”

Lightning looked at her in confusion. “What?”

“I mean, it’s not like you wanted to mess up. You just wanted to come to terms with what you’ve seen. And that just shows that you’re not a bad person, just… someone afraid. Lonely. Tired. Needing help.”

Lightning turned back towards the ground before starting to chuckle. When Sunset looked at him in confusion, he said, “You know, did you ever have the thought that some people just can’t be helped? That they’re beyond help? Because I have.”

When Sunset merely continued to look, he continued, “I mean, I’m pretty much hopeless here. Someone who can’t pass a night without waking up in the middle of the night, can’t pass a day without losing control, rage at his friends for things that aren’t their fault, dig up other’s secrets and spill them to others….” He shook his head. “I’m pretty much a goner at this point.”

“That’s not true, Lightning. You can be helped. You can still get better—”

“And at what cost?” Lightning snapped, his eyes filled with anger. Anger masking his pain. “At the cost of hurting more people as I go along? At the cost of hurting those that I care about? At the cost of… of hurting you, who only tried to give a helping hand? Forget it, Shimmer. It’s not worth it.”

“But you didn’t hurt me. Yes, you did dig into my past, a part of me that I wanted to keep a secret, but it was because you cared. It is slightly frustrating that you didn’t listen to me, but—”

Lightning cut her off. “See, you were frustrated that I didn’t listen to you. I made you upset by breaking my promise, just like I did five months ago. How can you say that I can get better when I’m just repeating my mistakes—”

“I don’t care if you repeat the same mistakes and end up hurting me,” Sunset interrupted, her voice rising, “All I care is that you can get better. I already forgave you about breaking our promise and digging into last year’s mess—”

“See, that’s the problem! You’re so understanding that you embrace people who shouldn’t be forgiven! You’re still hurting from what happened last Christmas, and yet you’ve forgiven them. Not just the girls who hurt you the most, but everyone else at Canterlot High. You know that never works—”

“Well, what was I supposed to do then?” Sunset fired back, starting to reach the end of her patience. “You act like you know all about forgiving, but you don’t. You can’t even forgive yourself to the point where you’ve pushed yourself into a hellhole! You want help but keep pushing people away, not caring if you hurt them in the process. You act like you don’t want to hurt others; in reality, you just don’t want to hurt yourself. You’re so afraid of getting hurt by someone that you don’t even accept help when you know you need it. You’re just a hypocritical. Selfish. Coward!” Sunset screamed, tears finally flowing down her face.

Her yelling seemed to be effective, for he stared at her for a moment, mouth agape, before turning to stare out into the downpour. Lightning continued to flash in the distance, followed a few seconds later by a loud boom. It was as if the thunderclaps wanted to catch up with those brilliant flashes of light—which it never would.

Sunset wiped her tears as she regained her composure, breathing heavily and sniffling from her emotional outburst. Lightning didn’t look at her, continuing to stare out into the rain as a frown creased his face.

They both didn’t say anything in awkward silence until a few minutes later when Sunset spoke again.

“Lightning, I—”

“I messed up again, didn’t I?” Lightning interjected, not looking at her. “I pissed you off until your patience wore thin enough for you to call me a coward.”

“Lightning, that’s not—” Sunset tried to interrupt him. Lightning paid no regard to Sunset.

“I don’t know why I keep doing it. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to get hurt, just like you said. Or it’s just me; nothing responsible for it, just me doing it out of spite.”

“Lightning,” said Sunset, a little louder. Still no use.

“I don’t even know why you stay around me at this point. I keep making you get upset and—”

“Lightning Storm, will you just LISTEN TO ME!” Sunset finally exploded, shouting so loudly that Lightning visibly flinched. “Yes, you did mess up by eating my words, exploding at the girls, and pissing me off, but that was all your desperate call for help. You just want your nightmare to end. And I know it won’t get better overnight; it will continue to hurt for a long time. But I will be here, no matter how much you lash out, or how much you want to give up. I’ll be here to walk you through it, okay? We’ll make it through it. Together.”

She took his left hand in hers and gave a gentle squeeze. “And I’m sorry for calling you a coward. You don’t deserve to be called one. You’re stronger than anyone I’ve ever seen. You pulled through this far on your own. I don’t think I would have been able to do that, like, ever.”

Lightning looked at her, his outer shell beginning to crack as something deep within him awoke. His lips continued to move without making a sound as if he was struggling to come up with what to say.

“Why do you care so much?” he quietly asked, his eyes brimming with tears. “You had your trust thrown back at you once. I lashed out at you when you cared about me. Why do… why do you hold onto me?”

“Probably the same reason you didn’t forget about my scars; we both care too much about each other. And sometimes…,” she trailed off as she looked at the ground. “Sometimes I think we all need someone in our life who cares too much about us.”

Lightning shook his head. “You’ll only get hurt if you try to help me. It’s already hard enough to keep myself in check through everyday life. Every minute, I feel like I’m a bomb that could go off at any moment. It’s so hard, feeling myself getting strained to my limits and yet holding myself inwards, trying not to lash out at others. And yet I keep failing.”

He took a deep breath to steady himself, wiping a tear from his eye, then continued. “I hate it. I hate those who pushed Opera to… to do what she did. I hate Opera for giving up on life when she had me, for leaving me in this muck while she moved onto a better place. I hate the girls for what they did to you, for reminding me so badly of the events that led to Opera’s death. But m-most importantly….” He took another deep breath before closing his eyes. “I hate myself. I hate myself for hating everyone. I hate myself for not being able to leave this behind. I hate myself for making this so painful, for making it so difficult. I just… I just want this to stop, but I can’t. It’s like something’s pushing me further and further into hell while all I can do is just stand and watch from a distance. I just… I don’t know what to do….”

“That’s why I’m here, remember?” Sunset said, looking at him with a small, sad smile. “I’m here to help you get through this. I don’t know specifically how, but we’ll do this. Together.”

Lightning looked down directly into Sunset’s eyes. His eyes were no longer glazed over, nor did they contain the venom they did earlier, but instead they carried an immense amount of pain and sorrow: emotions that had been simmering at the bottom of his heart for so many months. Tears welled up in his eyes once more as emotions swam in them.

“I… I…,” Lightning stammered for a moment, struggling to form coherent words while containing his emotions. He bit his lower lip, trying in vain to hold his tears back.

Then the dam broke.

“I’m s-so sorry-hee-hee!” Lightning sobbed as Sunset held him in her arms.

As they held onto each other, raindrops continued to fall upon the world around them, wetting every single thing in it.

After a while, Lightning had calmed down and simply leaned into Sunset, too exhausted to say or do anything. Sunset didn’t say anything either, continuing to hold him in her arms while leaning into him as well. The two remained so still and so silent as if they had become a part of the bus station.

As they held each other in their arms, Lightning felt something warm spreading in his mind for the first time in what felt like months. He felt content. Peaceful. Secure. He didn’t want this moment to end, for this contentedness to continue.

A sharp ring tone of a phone called an abrupt end to their peace, however.

“Hold on,” Sunset said as she and Lightning separated. She dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone, which was ringing incessantly. Sunset checked the number on her screen: Rainbow Dash. She pressed the green phone icon and put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Sunset? It’s been an hour since you left! Where are you?” Rainbow Dash’s voice came over the phone.

“I’m at a local bus stop. I’m fine, don’t worry,” Sunset assured her.

“And Lightning?”

“He’s with me. He’s alright.”

“Well, he’d better be, because if he wasn’t I was going to beat him up for making us get worried sick!” Rainbow yelled so loudly that Sunset had to take the phone off her ear. Lightning heard Rainbow’s shouts and glanced at the phone.

“As she would,” Lightning muttered.

“Look, Rainbow, we’re alright. It’s just that we don’t have a way to get back without getting soaked. Do any of you have a car?”

“I have a car,” came Rainbow’s reply. “AJ and I will come to get you. Sit tight, okay?”

“Roger that,” Sunset replied before hanging up, shivering as she did so.

“You cold?” Lightning asked, noticing the temperature beginning to drop as a gust of wind sprayed water sideways.

“A little. I did get soaked from head to toe already, you know,” Sunset said, wrapping her arms around herself and trying to warm herself up to no avail.

“Here, put this on,” said Lightning as he took his hoodie off and handed it to Sunset, revealing a black short-sleeved t-shirt underneath.

Sunset shook her head. “No, no, you should keep that on. I’m fine—”

“I’m not about to let you catch a cold just because of me,” Lightning insisted. “Put this on, please? It’ll keep you warmer than that soaked jacket, you know.”

Sunset let out a sigh as she took her jacket off and put the hoodie on. “Alright, fine. But only until Rainbow comes and picks us up.”

“That’s good for me,” Lightning answered with a nod, putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Sunset only stared at his arms in response.

His left forearm was wrapped in white bandages, covering most of his skin from sight. Lightning noticed her gaping at the bandage and waved a dismissive hand. “Surprised, eh?”

When he saw Sunset’s look asking ‘why?’, he merely said, “I did something very stupid. And it wouldn’t the first time I did it, either.” He shook his head, a bitter expression appearing once more on his face.

For a moment, silence reigned. Then Sunset spoke, her voice firm and steady.

“Lightning, show me your right arm,” she commanded.

Lightning looked at her. “What?”

“I said show me your right arm. Now.”

Lightning closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes once more, they were full of fear, shame, and sorrow as he tried to avert his gaze.

“Alright,” he replied as he pulled his right hand out of his pocket and presented it to Sunset. She took the hand and yanked it towards herself, causing Lightning to slightly jerk.

Sunset’s eyes widened as another flash of lightning revealed the jagged scars lining Lightning’s forearm, the discolored, irritated skin tissue vividly standing out against the dull background of Lightning’s skin. She looked up back at him, who avoided eye contact and instead stared at the rainwater gushing past his shoes.

Suddenly, Lightning felt his face getting grabbed by two hands before his vision rotated on its own. He came eye to eye with Sunset, who looked at him with tears in her eyes. Lightning only lowered his gaze, ashamed of doing this to himself.

“Lightning, can you promise me something?” Lightning looked up, sadness now dominating his mind and expression.

“Yes?” He croaked.

“If you ever feel like hurting yourself… if you ever feel like it, just, please talk to me instead. Okay?” Sunset asked, holding Lightning’s right arm in her hands. They felt warm, despite how much she was shivering just a few minutes ago.

Lightning stiffly nodded, not daring to say anything lest he lose control of his emotions again.

“Thank you,” Sunset whispered, wiping the back of her hand against her eyes. She sniffled before saying once more, “Thank you.”

They sat like that, intently listening to the calming noise of the downpour outside the bus station and not saying a word. After a moment, however, Lightning spoke up.

“Hey, uh, Sunset?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you… uh, sing me that song you told me about? The one about the rain?”

Sunset looked at him for a moment. Then she smiled and nodded. “Sure,” she replied.

She took a deep breath, then slowly began singing.

“It’s alright, yeah~
I’m walking right beside you~
I feel the way, I feel the way that you do too
Oh I can’t lie, sometimes~”

The words and notes embraced Lightning like a mother’s lullaby did, the warm and soft singing calming the teenager’s nerves.

He leaned back on the wall of the bus stop, resting his head against the cool plastic and the light tapping of raindrops against it. His eyes closed as a memory washed over him; it had been a rainy day, just like this day….

“Thank you, everyone! Thank you!” Opera called out as she and the others concluded their performance. Despite the chilly early November rain, a sizable portion of the student body of Manehattan High had come to watch the Howling Haven’s first performance.

“Good job, everyone! Excellent performance!” She called out to the other band members as they packed up.

“You too, Opera! That singing was just perfect!” Lightning called back.

“Thanks, Lightning. You did pretty well with your guitar, too.”

Lightning grinned sheepishly. “Thanks. I did make a few mistakes, though…,” he said as he scratched the back of his head.

“You kidding? Your performance was awesome, Lightning! Don’t sell yourself short,” said Strike as he came up next to Lightning.

“Yeah, give yourself some credit, bro,” said Bear as he wrapped up his drum set.

“Thanks, guys. You guys were awesome, too,” said Lightning with an earnest smile.

“Thank you,” Bear said as he smiled back. He then looked out to the darkening sky. “Well, we’d better get going. Don’t think this rain is gonna stop soon, so might as well as get home quick.”

“What about our instruments, though?” Lightning asked.

Strike dismissed Lightning’s concerns. “Nah, the roof of the stage will protect them. It’s not like a storm is going to blow the roof off or anything. Plus, I made sure to cover them with a tarp, so even if we get some strong gusts of wind they won’t get wet.”

Lightning skeptically nodded, his expression still unsure about whether leaving their stuff here was a good idea. He soon shook the question out of his mind, and he pulled out of his umbrella as he prepared to step out into the rain.

“So, guess I’ll be seeing you guys tomorrow, huh?” He said as he opened his umbrella and stepped down from the stage.

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow at school,” said Opera as she continued to pack up.

“Bye, guys!” Lightning waved.

“Bye, Lightning!” The three band members chorused after him.

Lightning smiled as he turned to head home, wondering what the next day would have in store for him.

The next day, when Lightning headed over to the stage to pick up his guitar, he noticed it was missing, along with Strike’s bass guitar and Bear’s drum set.

Lightning tilted his head to the side. Hmm, weird. Did Strike or Bear put it away in the music room for me?, he thought to himself. Oh well, I’ll thank them later.

He then turned around to head to his first period and walked towards the school building. As he walked along the corridors to his class, he ran into Strike Pitches.

“Yo, have you seen my bass guitar?” Strike asked.

“No, I thought you put it in the music room,” Lightning replied, baffled at Strike’s question.

“What? I thought you or Bear did it. It was gone when I went to the stage twenty minutes ago,” said Strike, equally bewildered.

“Well, speak of the devil. Here he comes,” said Lightning as Bear entered the hallway they were standing in.

“Yo, Bear! Have you seen our instruments?” Strike called out to the band’s drummer.

“No, I didn’t. I thought you guys had put it away,” Bear answered as he approached the two confused teenagers. Then he stopped. “Wait, you guys didn’t?”

Lightning shook his head. “No, we both didn’t see a single trace of our instruments.”

Bear scratched his chin. “Weird. Where’d they go?”

“Exactly what we want to ask, Bear,” said Strike, frowning at the sudden appearance of a problem. “We have to find them ASAP, or we won’t be able to practice anymore.”

“You know what, I’ll ask Opera once her first period is over. Shouldn’t be hard since I can text her anytime,” said Lightning, holding his phone.

“Good idea. Tell us what she says,” said Strike as he prepared to head off to his class. Lightning nodded.

As the three students parted ways, Lightning continued to think, Where could these instruments be? It’s not like someone can easily move a drum set around….

Lightning: Hey, have you seen our instruments on the stage, Opera?

Opera: No, I didn’t even go near the stage today.

Lightning: Hmm. Okay then. I just needed to check since our instruments went missing.

Opera: WHAT?!

Lightning, I know, it’s not good. I’ll try asking the others, see if they know anything about this.

Opera: I have a bad feeling about this….

Lightning shoved his phone inside his pocket and walked up to his locker where Strike and Bear were waiting.

“Any luck?” Strike asked.

Lightning shook his head. “She says she didn’t even go to the stage this morning. In other words, someone else took it. Did you check the music room?”

Bear nodded. “We checked the music room to make sure. They weren’t there.”

Lightning bumped a fist into a nearby wall. “Dammit,” he spat.

“Maybe we should ask people,” said Strike. When he saw the looks on the two other band members’ faces, he quickly said, “Not one by one! That would take an awful lot of time. How about we ask people on MyStable?”

“Strike, you know I haven’t gone online on MyStable for years now,” said Lightning, a dark scowl forming on his face.

Strike waved an impatient hand. “I know. We can use my account to ask the problem. Deal?”

Lightning let out a sigh. He particularly wasn’t fond of using MyStable. “Deal,” he said after a moment’s hesitation.

Strike pulled out his phone and accessed MyStable, which showed him a newsfeed of what his friends had recently uploaded.

“Hmm, weird,” he said as he scrolled downwards.

“What is?” Bear asked, peering in to get a closer look.

“People have been uploading posts about losing their stuff for quite some time,” said Strike, frowning at his screen. “Looks like this has been going on for some time now. Strut Jest lost his earbuds about a month ago, followed by Leaf Petals losing her pots of flowers three days after that.”

“Did any of them find their items back?” Lightning asked.

“Not sure if they did, but if one thing’s for certain, it’s the fact that they’re not happy with the person who’s doing this,” Strike replied.

“How do you know it’s a person doing this and not these people losing things on their own? Lightning questioned, not convinced that someone would just randomly steal people’s possessions.

“Well, then how would you explain people’s belongings just magically disappearing from inside of their lockers as every post on MyStable says? It has to be someone stealing others’ possessions, otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense!” Strike impatiently insisted.

“Alright, suppose it’s a person that’s stealing others’ possessions. What then?” Lightning asked.

“Well… we report to the principal about the stealings and hope for the best?” Strike suggested.

Lightning facepalmed. “I seriously doubt that’s going to work. If this person hasn’t been caught for a month, either the teachers don’t care about what goes on between the students, or this person is very elusive and sneaky.”

“What choice do we have, then? Talking about this to the principal is the best chance we got,” said Bear.

Lightning scratched his chin, deep in thought and considering their options. “Maybe,” he said, staring off into the distance.

Lightning knocked on the door to the principal’s office. As he waited for a response from inside, he continued to ponder whether this was a good idea. He didn’t trust the principal to be able to take care of this mess; after all, they didn’t know the details of what went on inside the student body.

As his internal conflict continued, he heard a voice from the inside say, “Come in!”

After a second of hesitation, Lightning turned the doorknob and went inside. The Principal, an old yet burly man, sat behind the desk in his office. Upon seeing Lightning he gave him a warm smile.

“Ah, Lightning Storm. Please, take a seat,” the Principal said. As Lightning sat down into a chair across the Principal, he asked, “So what brings you here?”

“Well, you see, sir, we seem to have an issue going on between the students. Belongings of two dozen students have gone missing, even when they left them in places that are supposed to be secure, like the lockers. I— we suspect that someone is behind this, a culprit, if you may,” Lightning explained.

“I… see. I’ll look into what can be done for the case, try to look at the security camera recordings, then call you back. Is that alright?”

“Yes, I think that would be good, sir,” Lightning said politely.

“Good. Is there anything else you want to talk about?” asked the Principal.

Lightning shook his head. “No, sir. And thank you for your time,” he said as he stood up.

“Don’t mention it, son,” the Principal called after Lightning as he left the office.

As he walked along the hall once more, Lightning pondered, Hmm, maybe telling the principal about this was a good idea after all….

Two days passed without a word from the principal. The members of the Howling Haven were on high alert, just like the other students were.

To Lightning, it seemed almost silly as to how he hadn’t noticed the heightened tensions inside the school. The signs were there; everybody making sure to put their possessions away in their lockers or carry them home, people not lending their belongings to others even if it was something small like an eraser, and even students arguing over something that had to do with stealing. The more he thought about it, the more he was surprised by himself being socially reclusive.

But then again, he thought, I didn’t want to cut off ties with others in the first place. I was forced to do that.

Just then, the PA system came to life as the speakers crackled. From them, a voice said, “Lightning Storm, please present yourself to the Principal’s office.”

Lightning let out a sigh and stretched as he stood up from the bench he was sitting on. It was lunchtime, with Lightning having finished his lunch early. He trudged down the hallway the Principal’s office was situated in and knocked on the door.

“Come in!” the Principal’s voice called from inside.

Lightning opened the door and entered, once again in the Principal’s office.

“You called for me, sir?” Lightning asked.

“Oh, yes, I did. Please, take a seat,” the Principal said. As Lightning sat down, the Principal continued. “So, I have looked into this matter of continued disappearance of personal belongings. We looked into the security camera footage as well. And… well…,” the Principal trailed off.

“Well…?” Lightning asked cautiously.

“It seems that the security camera system has malfunctioned about two weeks ago. We haven’t noticed it since it didn’t mess with the cameras themselves. Instead, it erased all previous recordings, as well as preventing the system from recording the footage any further,” the Principal explained.

Lightning let out a groan. “And… how long will it take for it to be fixed?” he asked, calmly suppressing the frustration that was growing inside of his heart.

“We’re not sure. We’ve been trying to get a technician to solve the problem, but as of now, we’re not even sure what the cause of the malfunction is. For now, we’ll just have to make sure that every student is on alert.”

Lightning let out a sigh, then nodded. “Alright, thank you for your time, sir,” he said as he stood up.

“You’re welcome, Lightning,” the Principal replied as Lightning opened the door, his grimace palpable in his voice.

As Lightning walked along the same hallways he had walked three times before, he let out a sigh of frustration, thoroughly ticked off by the fact that the security cameras had to malfunction at such an important timing. He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it up in distress.

As Lightning stared off into the distance, he thought to himself, Now what?

Two weeks passed without a change in situations. Belongings continued to disappear among students, the tension and distrust starting to spread among the majority of the students. Now and then there would be a loud argument in one of the hallways, and once even a fistfight had broken out between two students. More than once, Lightning spotted someone emptying his or her locker, trusting their homes to be more secure than the school lockers.

The most disturbing thing, however, was the fact that the Howling Haven was no longer able to practice. Instead of the guitar tunes, the drum beats, the beautiful cadence created by the band, only silence reigned in the music room as the members idly sat in their chairs, the silence occasionally broken by meaningless chatter between the band members.

As much as Lightning enjoyed the chance to socialize with his friends, it was depressing nonetheless; he wanted to play the guitar again, to practice with his friends. He wanted to hear the sweet notes of Opera’s voice, the thrumming sounds of Strike’s bass guitar. He wanted to feel the vibration of his guitar strings on his fingers, wanted to see Bear beating away on his drum set.

And so as the days passed, the more and more frustrated he became. That was until a video was uploaded to MyStable one day.

It had been another normal day for Lightning so far. He moved from classroom to classroom, listening to different classes. He ate lunch with the band members, talking about trivial matters. It would have ended as another normal day, had it not been for Strike Pitches running down the hallway towards him as the day’s classes were over and he was about to head home.

“Lightning!” Strike gasped, out of breath from running the entire length of the hall, “You gotta see this. Now.” He handed Lightning his phone.

“See what?” Lightning asked in confusion, taking the phone from Strike’s hand. The screen showed a video posted on MyStable, with a description that read: Caught the culprit at last! Does anyone know who this is?

Lightning tapped the play icon on the screen. The video began to play. The camera seemed to be held by someone hiding in a corner of a hallway. The camera was focused on a figure wearing a black hoodie, a mask, and a pair of blue jeans near the lockers. The figure looked left and right, before pulling out a device from its pocket. The figure then proceeded to fumble with the numeric lock on the locker before the telltale sound of the lock coming open was heard. The figure opened the locker, peered inside, then stood there for several moments, before pulling an object out: a set of expensive-looking headphones. The figure slipped the headphones into its hoodie before rounding a corner and disappearing out of the camera's line of sight.

“That’s…,” Lightning stammered, not believing what he was seeing.

“That’s Simmer Beat’s headphones,” Strike explained, “He posted on MyStable saying that he lost it today during fifth period. He had put it in his locker after lunch, and when he checked during break time after fifth period, it was gone.”

“Okay…? We still don’t know who this stealer is, though,” questioned Lightning.

“No, we don’t. But there’s a person dressed exactly like that, who’s still in your classroom,” Strike replied.

“What do you…,” Lightning began. Then it dawned on him. Opera Songs had been wearing blue jeans and a black hoodie that day. She sat with him during their last period.

“Opera?” Lightning asked, mouth agape. “But that doesn’t even make sense! Why would she do such a thing?”

“Exactly. That’s why I’m here. Considering the rate students are learning about this post, we need to get her out of here before anyone starts jumping to conclusions. Now,” said Strike, his voice urgent.

“I’ll go get her,” said Lightning, stepping back into the classroom. Within seconds, he spotted Opera packing her things… and spotted several other students starting to cast suspicious glances her way.

Hurrying over to the turquoise-haired girl, Lightning called out, “Opera!”

Opera looked up from packing her backpack and brushed a strand of her hair out of her eye. “Oh hey, Lightning. What’s up?”

“No time to explain. We need to go. Now,” Lightning said urgently.

“What? Why?” Opera asked, baffled by the sudden urgency.

Lightning let out a sigh. “I said there’s no time to explain. I’ll tell you on the way out, okay?”

“Okay…,” Opera reluctantly nodded as she finished packing her bag and slung it over her shoulders. Then she added, “But you’d better have a good reason for making me pack hastily,” still with that playful tone of hers.

Lightning only managed to nod as they walked out of the classroom.

“So, what’s this all about?” Opera asked as the four band members convened in the school backyard, where people rarely ever came.

With a reluctant sigh, Lightning merely said, “Strike, show it to her.”

Strike pulled out his phone and opened the MyStable post. Quite a few people had commented on the post, and even more students had read it. As Opera watched the video, her expression showed mild confusion.

“Okay, so…?” Opera asked, not fathoming what the video truly meant. “Somebody stole a pair of headphones from the lockers. So?”

“Replay the video and see what the person was wearing,” said Lightning. “And then think who’s been wearing that outfit.”

“What do you….” Opera’s voice faltered. “Oh.”

Lightning let out a sigh. “Yup.”

“But I wasn’t the one who stole those headphones!” Opera protested.

“We know, Opera. We don’t suspect you, but there are some people out there who clearly have a grudge against you or are just plain blind enough to suggest that it might be you, as you can see from some of the comments,” Bear assured her, “such as Slim Serpents here.”

Lightning did a double-take at the mentioning of the name. “Who now?”

“Slim Serpents. You know her, don’t you?” Bear asked.

“Of course I do,” Lightning scowled, “She’s the one who—,” before stopping mid-sentence.

“Uh, Lightning?” said Opera. “What did she do?”

“Nevermind,” Lightning answered, still scowling. “Just know that I don’t like her. Not one bit.”

“We’re just worried that you might get wrongly accused, Opera. We don’t want some bastards getting on your nerves,” said Strike.

“Nah, I’ll be fine, Strike. Don’t worry about me,” said Opera. “But thanks for trusting in me, guys. It means a lot to me.”

Lightning lightly bumped Opera’s shoulder. “Hey, what are friends for? Don’t worry, we’ll be by your side.”

“Yeah, as long as you don’t steal any of our stuff,” Strike said jokingly.

Lightning shot Strike a disapproving glare while Opera merely laughed it off.

“So that’s how it all began,” Lightning finished as Sunset listened in intently. Noticing that Sunset remained silent, Lightning added, “Everything seemed fine up to that point… and then two months later, everything goes to hell.”

They were resting inside the bus station, an exhausted Lightning resting his head against the wall. His left eye continued to burn, but he ignored it. Rainwater continued to rush past their feet, threatening to soak their shoes and socks. They heeded it no mind.

“Hey, Sunset?” He called out.

“Yeah?”

“There’s… this thing I’ve been wanting to ask…,” Lightning trailed off, looking out into the distance and not making eye contact.

“What is it?” Sunset asked.

Lightning turned his gaze to her. “Did you truly forgive them?” he asked. “For what happened last Christmas?”

Sunset looked down, her expression hardening. Lightning was quick to notice this and said, “You don’t have to answer that question, you know. If you don’t want—”

“No,” Sunset answered. “I didn’t forgive them. Not… not in a genuine sense, at least.” When she saw Lightning looking at her, equal parts surprise and sadness mixed in his expression, she said, “I didn’t bring it up for a long time. Nobody wanted to talk about it. They just wanted to move on with their lives instead. So I tried to. I buried the incident into my mind, pushed it out of my consciousness. I didn’t want to be reminded of the time when they all left me. But now and then the memory pops up and….” Sunset let out a shaky breath and sniffled before wiping a tear away from her eye. “It just hurts so much, you know?”

Before Lightning could answer, Sunset wrapped her arms around herself as tears began coursing down her cheeks. She rocked back and forth as sobs wracked her body.

Lightning shifted in his seat and held her in his arms. Sunset leaned into his chest, her cries now becoming uncontrollable. “Hey, hey… it’s okay… I’m here…,” consoled Lightning.

“I, I thought I e-earned th-their trust! I thought f-fighting the Dazzlings would make things okay! Was that not good enough?” said Sunset, half screaming, half sobbing into Lightning’s chest.

“Shh… it’s okay… it’s okay…,” said Lightning, continuing to soothe her painful cries. She held this in for ten months, he thought, and I pulled it out into the open and held it up for everyone to see. God, what have I done?

Lightning squeezed his eyes shut as tears began coursing down his cheeks. I hurt her, just like I hurt her back then. I wanted this place to be a fresh start, yet I came around full circle. Do I ever learn? Will I ever be better? Can I even get better? I just want this to stop….

The thoughts swirled in his brain, ravaging his mind and devolving into a torrent of self-hate, fear, sadness, and anxiety.

Then the voices came.

You were the last thing I had, Lightning, and you took that away from me.

You promised her that you’d be there for her. You broke that promise…

None of this would have happened if you were there for her…

You hurt so many others after she died. And for what?

You’ll never be more than the monster you were…

Your life will be full of pain and sorrow, just like what you deserve…

The voices assaulted him from all directions, cutting and stabbing at his heart in the form of every people he’d known in his life.

Lightning was only vaguely aware of letting Sunset go as he tried to block out the voices, tried to cover his ears—

You’ll never be free from your past, Lightning…

Your actions shall follow you to your grave. You betrayed your friend and made others suffer because of it…

You will never be forgiven, Lightning. Betraying your friend and leaving her to die? That’s the worst thing you could do…

I’m disappointed in you, Lightning. You failed as a friend, as a human being. You’re no friend of ours…

Lightning let out a whimper. “No….” He curled up into a ball, trying to shield himself from the voices, trying to make them stop—

You raged and shouted at us! How could you do that to us… to your friends!…

You took Sunset’s secrets and hung it out for all to see. Some friend you are, aren’t you?…

You tore our friendship apart, Lightning. I don’t think I could forgive you for that…

“No, stop… please….”

You were my lifeline, Lightning, and you pulled the plug.

You made me die.

“Lightning!”

Lightning’s eyes flew open as reality came crashing down upon him. He was curled up into a ball with his head between his hands, while Sunset’s hands were on his shoulders as she tried to get him back to reality.

As he came to his senses, he realized that tears were streaming down his eyes and that he was hyperventilating.

Sunset noticed this and tried to calm him down. “Lightning, it’s alright. I’m here, okay? Just breathe, slowly. Okay? Just—”

“Sunset,” Lightning cut her off. “I… I don’t know if I… I can do this… anymore,” He gasped, choking on his words as he struggled to get his breathing under control.

Sunset held his face and directly looked into his eyes. “Lightning, look at me. Now breathe. In, out. In, out.”

Lightning did as he was told, his breaths, albeit shaky, becoming deeper and slower instead of the short gasps a few moments ago.

“Feel better?” Sunset asked, to which Lightning nodded. “Good. I want you to remember this, Lightning. Whatever you go through, I’m here with you. I’ll be here by your side for you. Got it?”

Lightning nodded. “Thanks, Sunset,” he croaked. He then added, “And… I’m sorry. For being such a burden….”

Sunset gave him a stern look. “Don’t you dare say that, Lightning. You’re not a burden to anyone. Okay?” She then took a deep breath and said, “You’re a good person, Lightning. You’ll see that when things get better. When everything gets better.”

Before Lightning could answer, a pair of headlights lighted up the bus stop as a car pulled up to them. The window of the passenger’s seat slid down, revealing Rainbow Dash and AJ sitting inside.

“Get in!” AJ called out. Her gaze then turned to Lightning. “What in tarnation happened to yer eye? And why is Sunset wearin' yer hoodie?” she asked, her expression showing horror at the severe bruising.

“Slapstick comedy,” Lightning replied with an expressionless face as he stood up and approached the car. “Pretty sure it would have looked hilarious if anybody was watching me from one of those houses. As for my hoodie, Sunset got positively soaked while looking for me.”

He opened the car door and got in, followed by Sunset. As the two got themselves seated, Rainbow Dash pulled away from the bus stop, the car driving through the rainy streets of Canterlot City.

They rode in silence for a few minutes as Lightning stared out the window and into the distance. He watched as the raindrops dotted the car’s windows and pelted the car roof and created a steady stream of white noise. He took in a deep breath and let it out as he closed his eyes.

“Hey… Rainbow? AJ?” Lightning called out.

“Yeah?” Rainbow replied from the driver’s seat.

“I… I’m sorry for yelling at you back at Sugarcube Cafe. I… I lost control of myself and… I shouldn’t have shouted at you girls,” said Lightning, eyes still closed and head leaning against the window.

For a moment, the four teenagers were silent.

Then Rainbow said, “Hey, it’s okay. We all lose our heads at some point. It’s no biggie.”

AJ didn’t say anything, but if Lightning’s eyes were open, he would have seen AJ giving him an assuring smile in the rearview mirror.

As the car drove down the streets of Canterlot City, the downpour slowly began to lighten, the clouds opening up to let through a ray of sunlight.

Author's Note

You've waited long enough. It's time for the rewards.
Writing this chapter has been both enjoyable and painful, but it was more joy than pain. Not that I like seeing my OC go through psychological torture. :twilightsheepish:
Want to see what happened in Lightning's past? Stay tuned for Chapter 8!

Special thanks to billiy, who supported me throughout the six previous chapters. I wouldn't have made it this far without this person.

Also, did you find the reference to a certain game I made in the chapter? If you did, point it out in the comments!

Chapter 1: Calm after the Storm

Sunset after the Storm

-by SunlightRays-

Lightning Storm walked down the sidewalk leading to his new school. He sighed from under his grey hoodie.

Others would have said that it was fine weather, with blue skies and warm temperatures. To him, however, it looked just as bleak as a day with heavy cloud cover and chilly winds. Every building he walked past, every tree he saw, every car that passed by him seemed greyer than reality. It had been like this for the past few months, after she….

Lightning shook the thought out of his head. He sighed again, walking the rest of the distance between him and Canterlot High. His mom had offered him a ride, but he had rejected her offer. He was going to do things on his own now, just like how he dealt with… with the incident on his own a few months back. He passed through the school’s main gates and headed towards the front door.

And here he was. Looking up at the school building that loomed before him. Just like he had done during the past few years. Just like that day, when… when….

Come on, Lightning, this isn’t your old school. New school, new memories, new chances. Lightning shook the thought out of his head and entered the building. He looked around the lobby, which had only a few students here and there. Not surprising, really, since the start of class was about an hour away.

Now, what was I supposed to do? Oh right, pick up my papers and schedule from the principal’s office. Now I wonder where could that be? He considered finding the principal’s office on his own, but after considering the possibility of getting lost in this unfamiliar place, he decided to ask for directions.

After looking for someone he could ask, he walked up to a girl wearing a pair of purple sunglasses and headphones standing by the lockers. At first, he tried to ask without disturbing her.

“Um, excuse me?” Lightning asked. The girl didn’t respond.

Lightning tried again. “Excuse me?”, this time a little bit louder.

Still no response. Slight anticipation spread through him as he feared that this girl might not appreciate being disturbed. Lightning considered walking away and finding another person who would help him. But he decided to try. He had been rejected more than a few times before; once more wouldn’t make a big difference.

Lightning waved a hand in front of her eyes, while still saying “Excuse me?” even louder.

The girl turned to look at him. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t know you were there.” She took off her headphones and asked, “So how can I help you?”

“Oh, uh, um, do you know where the principal’s office is?” asked Lightning.

“Oh, sure. It’s down that hallway, third door on the left.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks.”

“No problem. By the way, are you new here?” The girl asked.

“Oh, y-yeah. I transferred here today.”

“Oh! It’s good to have new friends here. I should introduce myself then. My name’s Vinyl Scratch, although I go by DJ P0n-3 around here.”

“My name’s Lightning. Lightning Storm. Nice to meet you, Vinyl.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” Vinyl then closed her locker and picked up her bag. “Well, I’d better get going. See you later, Lightning!”

“See you!” Lightning said as he turned around and headed down the corridor Vinyl had told him.

Down this hallway, third door on the left…. Bingo! He stopped in front of a door and knocked.

“Come in.” A woman’s voice answered from the other side. Lightning opened the door and went in. “Oh, you must be Lightning Storm, the new transfer student.”

“Yes, ma’am. I came here to get my schedule.”

“Well, of course. I’m Principal Celestia. Welcome to Canterlot High, Lightning.” She stood up and held out a hand towards him.

He shook her hand and took a seat while Principal Celestia went to pick up Lightning’s file.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll have a great time here. Here are your schedules and periods, as well as a list of scheduled school events. Take a good look at them,” said Principal Celestia with a smile.

“Thank you so much for these, ma’am,” said Lightning.

“It’s my pleasure. Oh, and before you go to your first period, you’ll need someone to show you around the school, lest you lose your way in this building. The corridors can be a bit confusing at times.” With that, she pressed a button and spoke into the microphone. “Sunset Shimmer, please report to my office. We have a new student who needs a tour of the school.”

“Sunset Shimmer?” Lightning asked with an air of curiosity.

“Oh, yes. She’s probably one of the most brilliant minds Canterlot High has. She… well, she does have a certain history, but she’s a good student now.”

Just then, a knock on the door came. “Come in,” said Principal Celestia. The door opened, and a girl came in. She had red and yellow hair and wore a black leather jacket with a light blue dress under it.

Lightning was stunned. Not because she was pretty — not that she wasn’t — but because of something she had that reminded him of… of her…. She was different, definitely, yet she had something quite akin to her….

Lightning began to panic. No, stop it Lightning! Stop it! It’s all in the past; your old school, her, the incident…. She’s not her! She’s—

“Hello, anybody there?” A voice penetrated through Lightning’s train of thoughts.

“Huh? Oh yeah, yeah, sorry. W-what did you say?” Lightning stuttered, trying to hide the thoughts that had been flowering in his mind.

“I said that my name is Sunset Shimmer, and I’m pleased to be your guide,” said the red-haired girl, extending a hand towards Lightning while stifling a giggle.

“Oh, um, I’m Lightning Storm. Nice to meet you Sunset.” He shook her hand.

“Well then, let’s get going, shall we?” said Sunset, opening the door and stepping outside.

“Sure. Oh, and thank you, Principal Celestia!” Lightning said as he rose from his seat and picked up his bag.

“You’re welcome, Lightning,” answered Principal Celestia, wearing a warm smile.

“…and here’s the chemistry classroom, where we do a lot of fun experiments. Any questions?” asked Sunset as she concluded the tour.

Lightning shook his head, deep in thought.

“Hey, you’ve been awfully quiet during the whole tour. Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s just…,” Lightning let out a sigh. “It’s just myself, I guess. I’m just having some personal thoughts right now.”

“Oh. Well then, are you sure you heard what I’ve been saying? You wouldn’t want to get lost in this maze of a building, would you?” Sunset said, with a playful tone and a faint smile on her face.

“Nah, I’m pretty sure I picked up most of what you were saying. I’ll be able to find my way around here, thanks,” Lightning replied, answering with a smile of his own. Just then, the bell signaled ten minutes to the start of class. “Oh geez, I’d better get going. Wouldn’t want to be late on the first day of school.”

“Yeah, sure. Oh, and Lightning?” Sunset called after him.

Lightning turned around. “Yeah?”

“Do you want to hang out with me and my friends after school today? I could introduce you to them,” said Sunset.

Lightning hesitated for a moment. Once again a voice began to speak inside his mind. Don’t. Don’t become close to her. You know what happened the last time you did that. How your ‘friend’ hurt you. How your so-called ‘best friend’ left you in endless pain. She might do the same. She might hurt you again. She might—

“Shut up,” Lightning hissed to himself. Then, realizing Sunset’s questioning gaze, he regained his composure and said, “I-I mean, sure. I’d love to.”

“Alright then, meet me at the front doors after school. See you then!” With that, Sunset jogged away to her own classroom.

“See you later, Sunset!” Lightning called after her.

As Lightning turned around, he began muttering to himself. “Look, however much she may resemble her, Sunset Shimmer is not her. This is a new school, a new start for me, and I would like to leave what happened behind, okay? It won’t happen again. I won’t allow it.”

Lightning then sighed, rubbed his pounding right eyelid, and picked up his pace towards his first day of chemistry class.