Nubs

by Ghostly Glow

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Rainbow Dash, Romance, Original Character, Gilda, Discord, Sad
Length: 5890

That bolt took it all from him. But now, maybe he can get it back.

Lucky Roll has never been lucky. Ever. His father beats him, his brother generally ignores him, his mom is dead, and he has no friends. Fortunately, that last bit changes. But only for a while. Good things never last, and with that streak of lightning, the world he made with her died. But maybe this was for the best after all.

Published 2012-08-20 02:54:03 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-15 19:35:14 UTC

A Tale of Two Ponies

Lucky Roll sat awake all that night. Tonight was THE night. The one where everything in his foalhood went wrong. Granted, it never went well in the first place, but it had gotten better. For a little. But then THE night happened, and everything went downhill quicker than a Sonic Rainboom.

He shuddered at that thought. Sonic Rainboom. That was her move. It had once been his; though there was no rainbow at the end. He remembered teaching it to her. How proud he was when she finally pulled it off, when she finally got her cutie mark....

Now the memory left a bitter pang in his heart.

He sighed, and tried to sleep on his other side. The move was useless. He wouldn't be sleeping tonight. He knew it.

Slowly, he pulled himself into a sitting position. He stared into the darkness that currently inhabited his RV. He hopped nimbly out from under the blankets and walked to the door, tripping a little over discarded items in the process.

It was cold in the carpark, but he brushed it off. He made a mental note to order a portable heater; maybe that would make it better. Buying it wouldn't be an issue, he was making thousands of bits at this very moment. His band was a sensation, just as he knew it would be. How could it not? He had spent years trying to track down highly talented ponies, and this was the payoff.

He pushed open the hallway door and into the slightly warmer walls of King Studio. This was his paradise. Normally he'd say it was their paradise, but he owned this place. He just let the others live here, a fact he never let them forget. Sure, this place was run-down and infested with zomnies and demons and restless spirits, but it was still home.

But he wasn't really reflecting on that right now. He mechanically walked down the halls, up many stairs, and finally onto the roof. He stared across the trash heap and graveyard that made up the front lawn, and let himself get lost in memories. Memories of her. His Crashie.

The only mare he had honestly loved.

He was left alone for a while, unwary of what was happening around him. The soft click of hoofsteps brought him back to reality. He didn't need to look behind him, he knew it was his guitarist. P2 was too much of a klutz to move so quietly, and Backbeat was quite heavy. It could only be Spaghetti.

She sat next to him, silent. She knew something was wrong, but she also knew that Lucky didn't like to admit weakness of any sort. It was best to wait until he was ready to talk. Otherwise he'd get too defensive.

He glanced back at her, silently acknowledging her presence. He liked the little filly, though he'd never admit it. There was always a silent understanding that ran between them. They weren't sure how to classify their bond. It was just there, and both parties appreciated it.

Finally, she broke the silence, unable to contain her concern anymore. "Are you alright, Lucky-San?" she enquired.

He smiled faintly at the sound of her voice. He'd always found it sort of cute. He rather liked Nieghpanese accents.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about waking you up, kiddo." he responded.

She weighed his words, and knew they weren't true. He was too quiet, and he never apologized on something so trivial. His deep, scratchy rasp had a shaky quality to it that she'd never heard before. Something was definitely troubling him.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked.

He sighed, chuckling a little. You couldn't hide anything from her.

"It's not a very pretty story..." he mumbled.

She leaned against him, ignoring his stench of sweat, booze, and smoke. "Tell me." she insisted.

"Well, it's really the story of how I got my wings and horn." he stated, gesturing to the huge set of dragon wings he sported, and the large, jagged horn that had sprouted through his forehead. "It was pretty long ago, back when I was colt, 'bout your age, but twice your size..." he began.

********************

About ten miles away, deep in the heart of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash sat on the roof of her friend Fluttershy's house.

Rainbow had tried to sleep earlier, and found she couldn't. Tonight was THE night. The night of the most horrible thing she had done to anypony.

The night she had betrayed her love, just because he had been crippled. Because her other friends demanded it.

"I....I don't know what got into me, Shy. I'm supposed to be the element of loyalty. How could I do that to somepony? Especially somepony I cared so much about." she whispered. "He was the pony who needed me most... His mom was dead, his drunken father always abused him, his brother just sat back and let it happen... I was supposed to help him. But I ended up hurting him more than his dad ever did. It was my fault he got in that accident in the first place."

Fluttershy was silent. She didn't know what say. In an act of trying to comfort her crying friend, she hugged her tightly. Rainbow didn't return the favor, but it was obvious she was grateful. They sat together in silence for a bit, waiting for the tears to stop.

"You...you know...telling somepony about what you did could make you feel better....i-if you want to, that is." Fluttershy said softly.

"I-I can't." Rainbow sobbed. "What would you think of me then?"

"Nothing different." Fluttershy assured her. "We've all done some bad things in our time, but that doesn't make us bad ponies. What's important is to move on, but you can't if you have all these nasty feelings in you. So tell me. I hate to see you like this, and I just know it will make you feel better."

Rainbow Dash sniffed, feeling ashamed of herself. This wasn't like her. She was never weak like this.

But even after all this time, this still hurt so bad....

"Promise you won't think of me differently." she demanded.

"I promise."

"All....all right. I'll tell you." Dashie sighed, steeling herself up for the onslaught of painful memories that were sure to come. "This was back when I was in flight school..." she began.

Blaze On

Lucky Roll stretched out his wings, ignoring his aching joints.

He had to get off the ground, and into his sanctuary. The blue beyond was the only place were he couldn't get to him. His father had no wings. Thank Celestia for that.

He shivered as he remembered the anger on his father's face the night before. The poor colt had forgotten to get his father more booze, and he was absolutely furious about it.

"YOU USELESS PRICE OF SHIT!!!!" he had roared. "YOU UTTERLY USELESS MULE!!!" His father had then thrown an empty glass bottle at the helpless foal. It had shattered against him, cutting into his olive-green coat and leaving long bloody streaks behind. It was all Lucky could do to keep from crying out in pain. Crying just ment beating. This Goliath had no sympathy.

His father struck out with one of his powerful hooves, striking his son in the side, which sent him flying across the room. Lucky slammed against the wall at top speed. He coughed harshly as air was forced out of his lungs. He gasped, struggling to breath. His father stormed over to him, grabbed him by the neck, and slammed him against the wall, strangling him further in the process. "WELL?! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, YOU GELDING?!!!"

" I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he cried. "It won't happen again! I promise!"

"WORDS MEAN NOTHING!!!" His father then proceeded to beat his son senseless, throwing his limp body onto his bed.

That was where he woke up the next morning, bloody and in considerable pain. He had stumbled down the stairs and out the door, and there he stood now, preparing for take-off.

Sky was paradise. Air was safety. It was the only place were he was safe, the only place he belonged. He needed to get up there.

Lucky snapped open his wings and shot into the air. Euphoria overtook him as the wind hissed past his ear. He heard it as a comforting voice, welcoming him home. His pain was forgotten. There could never be pain here.

He decided to test his injuries. He attempted a corkscrew, and immediately spun out of control. No tricks today. His body wasn't up for it. He decided that speed was the main focus today, he began to zip between the clouds, not caring about direction, not caring about his horrid life. All that mattered was the thrill of dashing through and around the clouds.

**********************************************

"Rainbow Dash! You're up!"

Rainbow stepped forward nervously. Today was dive day, and she was no good at diving. Everytime she tried, she smacked into the ground.

But she was no quitter. She was getting into the Wonderbolts if it killed her. Diving was just a standard skill. She couldn't get in if she couldn't complete a basic.

She took a deep breath, going over the game plan. She needed to keep her wings pinned at her sides at all times, needed to keep her legs straight, and at the last moment possible, she needed to open her wings to slow herself down and pop back up. Simple.

She crept up to the edge if the board, breathing deeply to steady herself. You got this, Dashie. She told herself. You can do this.

She gracefully jumped off and went into position. For a few moments, all she could focus on was her racing heart. Then she noticed the ground approaching fast, so she tried to open her wings.

They wouldn't budge! They were stuck!

**********************

Lucky snapped out of dreamworld long enough to finally stop and take in his surroundings. Somehow, he had ending up above the diving arena for Cloudsdale Junior Flight School. He wasn't attending there, of course, but sometimes he watched the other foals practice. Like right now.

The last colt completed his dive without flaw. Lucky clapped quietly in admiration. Dives were one of the hardest things to do, but this colt was obviously a natural. He started in surprise when he saw the next contender.

It was a cyan filly with a rainbow-colored tail and mane. He'd never seen anything like her before.

It was her turn. Even though it looked like she was trying to hide it, she was quite nervous. She took her time in getting to the edge, before jumping off and snapping into a dive. She was doing fine until it came time for her to pull out. Her wings weren't working!

Instinctively he sprang into action, going into a dive himself and ignoring his body, which screamed in protest. He had perfected this move long ago, and it showed, and he flew toward the ground at record-breaking speeds, ripping past the arena where all the teachers and trainees watched in complete shock. He closing in on her quickly when his hooves began to spark. In moments, a plume of fire and smoke followed his plunge. If he wasn't focusing on the filly at the time, he would've yelled in excitement. He'd only managed this feat once in his life, and now it was happening again.

But all he cared about at the moment was rescuing a fellow flier. At the last possible second, he snatched her up and rocked into the air, pausing at the arena instead of returning to his previous hight.

********************************************

Rainbow Dash was frozen in shock.

She had honestly thought she was a complete goner when her wings locked up. But then, suddenly, a huge streak of fire had come barring toward her, making the loudest sound she had ever heard, and had whisked her back up to the sky, terrified but unharmed.

Everypony else was frozen too. No one could process what exactly had happened. It was unheard of.

She heard her rescuer clear his throat, before saying "As you were, everypony." and dropping her on the clouds. He zoomed off again at breakneck speed.

Finally her coach regained movement and rushed towards her to see if she was alright. The huge stallion was shaking. The spell lifted, and the ponies roared in applause for the stunning rescue.

Rainbow Dash could only think of one thing: Who was that pony?

*****************************

Lucky beamed at the sound of praise.

He was aching all over, but it worth it. Not only had he saved somepony, but he had accomplished the hardest move possible: a Blazeball.

Nothing could break his joy that night. Nothing.

Let Me Help You

Rainbow Dash laid awake that night.

She just couldn't get over it. She had nearly died and had been rescued by a colt no one had ever seen, doing a move nopony had ever done before.

Who was he? How did he do it?

She laid there until morning, with only those thoughts circling in her mind.

****************************

Lucky might have been happy yesterday, but he certainly wasn't happy now.

Everything was stiff and sore. It hurt to breath.

His wings were definitely the worse. Every two minutes or so, he forced his head up so he could check and make sure his wings were still there. It felt like they had been chopped off.

He groaned. He was still glad of his accomplishment, but the pain was taking all the fun out of it. He wondered if he should get up at all today. But that was a dumb question; of course he had to. His father would be up soon, and if he was still in the house....

He hauled himself to his feet, wincing with every movement. He stumbled down the stairs, nearly tripping. He snapped his wings open in panic, and instantly regretted it. His eyes teared up as twin bolts of agony shot through his back. He breathed in sharply and made his way to the door, wondering if he'd ever be able to fly again.

Cloudsdale was fairly empty at the moment. He was glad of that. Usually, he'd attract attention, and not the good kind like yesterday. Lucky had a certain....demonic quality to him. His mane and coat were nothing to stare at; his coat was olive green and his mane was black, with thick bangs that covered his eyes. His eyes were on of the first things ponies usually noticed about him. One was a icy grey, but the other was an odd shade of pink. That was his fathers fault. He had once poured bleach into Lucky's eye as a punishment. Miraculously, his eye still functioned normally, but it was still pink.

His teeth were the next negative point. They were long and pointed. That, along with his snake-like tongue and mis-matched eyes, generally sent ponies trotting to the other side of the street. He didn't really blame them, he scared himself sometimes by getting a glimpse of himself in the mirror. But still, it'd be nice if they weren't so obvious about it.

His stomach growled impatiently, reminding him that the tank was empty. He started looking around for something to swipe. He immediately caught the scent of apple pie. Some foolish pony had left it on the window sill to cool.

Score.

He slowly wandered to the target, giving the air of complete innocence. He scanned the streets. Was anypony there? No? Good.

He seized his prey and vanished into a sidestreet. He was about to enjoy his prize when a female voice cried out "Stop! Thief!"

*************************

Rainbow Dash was up bright and early. Having gotten no sleep, it was easy to pop right out of bed and start her morning. Today was Saturday. She had the whole day to herself! And of course, she knew just what she was going to do today.

She was going to find her rescuer.

After gobbling down her breakfast, she eagerly trotted outside, ready to find her savior. The streets were quite empty. Maybe he'd be out here! He seemed a bit shy. This would be the perfect time for him to be out and about. She walked from street to street, but found nopony.

Until she reached Mane Street.

She watched in horror as the tall green colt stole the pie. He ran away as quick as he could, which wasn't very fast at all. He looked rather stiff.

This was a thief! This was her chance to be a hero! She flew quickly after him into a sidestreet, and just as he was about to take a bite, she yelled " Stop! Thief!"

He jumped, startled. He tried to run, but he obviously was sore. She lunged at him a little too quickly, and sent them both flying into a wall. She stumbled back, stunned. The thief fell to the floor, out cold. She regained her balance and surveyed the scene in front of her. Her first objective was to return the pie. She carried it back and placed it back on the sill, before returning her attention to the thief.

He was just coming around when she returned. She froze as his eyes focused on her. He groaned and struggled to get up, but he fell back on his side when he tried.

Rainbow could never really place the feeling she felt that day. She finally tagged it somewhere between fate and pity. She thought there was a name for it, but she never found it. But as she stared down at him, she suddenly knew she couldn't rat him out. Nor could she leave him there.

She knelt next to him. He stared back at her, defiance overriding the fear she could see hiding in his eyes. She reached out to him, and he shrank back. Gently, more gentle than she had ever been before, she laid her hoof on the back of his head. He flinched and shut his eyes tightly, obviously expecting to be hurt, but no blow ever came. Instead, he got a question: "Are you alright?"

He simply stared at her, confused. He obviously was expected a hit. But she didn't want to hit him.

He shyed away from her touch. "Hey, it's okay." she comforted. "I'm not gonna hurtcha."

She tried to touch him again, but he snapped at her hooves with his surprisingly sharp teeth. She yelped and drew back. He staggered to his feet and started to slowly back away, glaring at her the whole time. She fluttered forward slowly, then suddenly shot up and over him, holding him down. He wailed and struck out angrily, but he was in no condition to fight. The moment he stopped squirming, she picked him up and started carrying him off. "It's okay." she assured him. "Quit fighting and let me help you."

***************************

Lucky decided it was probably best to listen to the filly. He was too sore to move now, and she was quite strong, for somepony so tiny. At least she wasn't taking him to jail. At least, he thought so.

Time crawled by, and he was starting to doze off when the filly said "Here we are! My private fort!"

It wasn't much to look at, just your standard little shed with a small fence around it. But he wasn't going to say anything, of course. Better than going to jail, after all.

It wasn't much better on the inside. There was some balls and a baseball bat in one corner, a Wonderbolts costume in the other, and a beanbag in the last. She helped him onto the beanbag and disappeared somewhere.

He just laid there, unwilling to move. He laughed a bit bitterly. This beanbag was softer than his bed. Just went to show how crappy his life was.

He fell asleep, waiting for her to return.

Putting On the Blaze

Rainbow snuck into her house and headed for the kitchen. She dug frantically through the pantry, looking for some form of instant food to give to her captive. It had to be something fast; if her parents caught her, they'd find out about the colt in her fort, and then they'd be in big trouble. Some crackers? No. Not filling enough. Maybe pair it with some cereal? That could work...

She quickly dumped some cereal into a bowel and just threw the crackers in there. There was no time to be fancy! She could be caught at any moment!

Feeling like a ninja, she walked to her fort as quickly as possible. But she was not greeted by a pretty sight.

Her prisoner was sweating heavily and was making faint whimpering sounds while he slept. He trembled violently. Worried, she placed the bowel on the ground and placed her hoof on the colt's forehead. It was very hot.

She stared at him, completely confused. He looked fine before; why did he have a fever now?

She pushed those thoughts away quickly as she realized he needed medicine. She quickly wondered where her mother kept it. Her mother was a doctor, she had flu medication on constant standby. Her mind went on fast-forward as it tried to remember...oh yeah, the medicine cabinet! That's where her mom always kept it! She mentally facehoofed herself for being so slow.

Ever-so-carefully, Rainbow stealthy hovered up to the second floor, where, just as carefully, she slide the window opened and climbed inside. Her eyes darting all about, she quickly opened the medicine cabinet, claimed her prize, and jumped out the window. Landing gracefully, she trotted over to her fort. Her prisoner was wide awake now, and was licking the crumbs of his finished breakfast from the sides of the bowel. She watched in awe. His tongue was HUGE!

He looked up at her, smiling a little at her obvious amazement. He still looked a bit sick and sore, but obviously he was well enough to have a sense of humor. "Well, warren?" he asked, in a raspy voice. "What're you gonna do with me?"

"Umm..." she mumbled, not sure of what to say. She didn't really have a plan. Rainbow Dash was a filly of impulse. Nothing was ever fully planned out for her. She did best when she improvised.

"Well...you didn't look so good, so I thought I'd help...." she mumbled.

"And that's it?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."

He sneered at her, showing off his pointy teeth. Alarmed, she backed up a few paces. "Didn't I save your plot yesterday?" he asked. "Seems like an odd way to repay me, knocking me out and whatnot. You always do that to strangers?"

"N-no, not usually." she stammered. The was a quick pause as she realized what he'd said. "Wait...you're the pony who rescued me?!"

"Who'd you expect, sweetie? The Wonderbolts?" he snickered.

"How'd you do that!? That move was insane! Nopony's ever done that!" she was now bouncing around him in excited circles.

"One thing at a time, if you don't mind." he said, a bit taken aback by her sudden change in mood. "You got an name, rainbow?"

"It's Rainbow Dash." she replied breathlessly. "Who're you? And how'd you do that fire thing!? It was totally awesome!"

"Name's Lucky Roll. Nice ta meet ya...Crashie." he grinned.

Rainbow scowled. "It's Rainbow Dash, not Crashie."

"Whatever you say...Crashie." he teased.

Rainbow realized scolding would do nothing. She sighed and brushed it off. If he wanted to call her Crashie, then fine. She'd put up with it, if it meant learning an awesome new move.

"So...the fire thing. How'd you do it?"

"Completely confidential, lassie. One does not hand out their signature move to other ponies. It's not as special if everypony else can do it." he stated calmly, slowly trying to stand up. His shivering limbs would have none of that, and he promptly fell over. "Dammit." he snarled.

Rainbow suddenly remembered what the colt required. She quickly undid the bottle and poured the proper dosage into the now-empty bowel. "You'll hafta drink it if you want to feel better."

Obviously, he had never had experience with medicine, for he gulped it up without hesitation. But soon he started gagging as the bitter taste finally hit home. Rainbow giggled as he scratched at his tongue, trying to remove the taste. "What was that?!" he exclaimed, "Vinegar?"

"Nope. Just medicine." she laughed. Moving closer to him, she went into full beg mode. "Could you please, pleeeeaaassseee tell me how to do your move? Pretty please?"

"No."

She backed away, scowling. Her puppy eyes didn't seem to be working today. "Well...you can leave when you feel better, then..."

"Wait!" he called after her. She turned to face him, hopeful. "While I'm not gonna let you in on my move, I can teach you how to dive properly. You'll get booted out of Cloudsdale if you don't, so it's the least I can do."

While that wasn't really the answer she'd been hoping for, she couldn't help but grin. She was tired of smashing her face into the ground. If he could help, she was willing. "I'll take it!" she chirped.

"Right." he said flatly, face expressionless, "I'll start training you once I can move again. But all I'm gonna show you is a dive. Once that's done, I'm gone."

"Deal."

"Glad you're reasonable, Crashie."

******************************************************

Two weeks had passed, and under Lucky's careful guidance, Rainbow Dash had blossomed. Lucky was quite pleased with the results. He hadn't had to save her in the past four days at all. And while her dive was quite sloppy, she was definitely starting to get the hang of it. Lucky found himself drawn to the blue filly. They both shared the same spirit of one-upmanship, and the same bull-headedness. He hadn't been too happy with helping her first; many a time he had wanted to call it quits and just disappear. But then she would advance, and he would come back for her again. It was sort of nice, having somepony trust you and listen to you. Soon Lucky realized that being around the filly made him feel something he only felt while flying: happiness.

And so there they were, in the diving arena during after-school hours, Lucky trying to show Rainbow the proper position to put your legs at for maximum velocity. "No, Crashie, you're bending it too much. It's supposed to be completely straight." he called, seeing her legs splay out a bit.

"But coach says you're supposed to bend them." she huffed.

"Well, obviously your coach has no idea what he's saying. If you wanna go fast, you keep your legs straight. That's how it works."

She grumbled a little, but she dived again, this time keeping her back legs straight-and going much faster. Lucky smirked. Mister Big-Shot Coach was clearly meant to be in another field. Rainbow, or Crashie, as he teasingly called her, shot back up through the clouds with a big, happy grin on her face. "Say it." he chuckled.

"You were right." she panted.

"Of course I am. But now your wings are going a bit crooked. See, it's supposed to be more like this...." he stated, going into one of his breath-taking dives. His wings were held perfectly straight and still until the very last second, when they popped open and flung him back up into the air.

"See..."he panted, "That's how you do it."

"Do I try again?"

"Try again."

And with that, Crashie took off once more.

**********************************************

Rainbow glowed with pride as her parents congratulated her. She had made so much progress in the last week, the coach had boosted her up to Advanced Aerobatics. Her parents hugged her close and told her over and over how very proud they were of her. "How'd you get so good, honey?" her father asked.

She smiled mysteriously. "Let's just say that somepony's looking after me."

Watching through the window, Lucky grinned.

**************************************

"They're such JERKS!!!" Rainbow fumed as she angrily kicked at the clouds. "Just because she's slow doesn't mean they get to bully her!"

Lucky watched silently, waiting for his friend to calm down a bit. She had ranted to him about the injustice some of her classmates were performing against her friend, Fluttershy. Lucky had seen the timid little filly before, and silently admitted she wasn't very good. In fact, she sucked. But he wasn't going to say that. He never lashed out without provocation, and obviously, this filly was important to Crashie. He didn't dare to upset her.

Rainbow groaned and plunked herself down next to him. "I just don't know what to do, Lucky. Every time I try to help, they just laugh at me too. I want them to leave her alone, but if they won't listen to me, how can I get them to quit?"

"Challenge them." he said simply. "That's how you'll get their respect. Do something better than them. Prove your worth. That's the only way they'll back down."

"Like...a race?" she asked, ears perking up. She was very fast. She could beat them easily.

"That'll work. Make them eat cloud, and they'll leave Shy alone."

It was silent as Rainbow considered it. Instinctively, she leaned against him. It took every ounce of Lucky's considerable streanght to keep his wings still. He hungrily drank in her warmth, breathing in her scent of ozone. He loved that smell.

She sighed. "What if I don't win, Lucky?" she asked, worried.

"You'll win. I've seen you in action, and I've seen them in action, and trust me, you're definitely the better flyer. They'll still be at the starting line while you reach the finish. I don't see how they're in your class; that is some of the shoddiest wingmanship I have ever seen." he said, voice ringing with confidence. "And, if by some miracle, they DO beat you, I'll come buck the living shit out of them. How about that?"

"Lucky!" she giggled. "Watch your language!"

"Shit, crap, buck, ass, mule, bastard!" he sang, grinning devilishly.

"You're hopeless!" she howled, lying back on the clouds, rolling with laughter.

"Watch yourself, Crashie. Don't fall off the edge." he chuckled. A pleasant warm feeling started spreading inside him, a feeling he was unfamiliar with. He had no clue what it was, but at the moment, he didn't care. He was just happy that she felt better.

*******************************************************

The next day, the bullies made the mistake of insulting Fluttershy again. Rainbow had immediately challenged them to a race, a race for Fluttershy's dignity. Hiding behind the arena walls, Lucky watched, eyes narrowed. Bastards. They were gonna get their just desserts, he was sure of that.

Fluttershy waved the flag, and they were off. Lucky held his breath as he watched Crashie zoom past. The bullies were starting to pull ahead! "C'mon, Crashie." he murmured. "Don't make me eat my words..."

As if she heard him, her ears went back and she shot forward like an arrow. Nopony but Lucky noticed as a white wall started to build along Crashie's hooves. His jaw dropped. Was she really going to...?

Yes. She did.

A loud roar echoed through the stadium as Rainbow Dash broke the sound barrier. Lucky cheered and laughed. He knew she would win, but this...this was downright unbelievable! Finally, all that training had paid off! He watched for the wall of flame, but got an even bigger shock when he saw her trail. It was not fire, but a brilliant, shimmering rainbow. "Sonic Rainboom...." he whispered, awestruck.

Nopony ever did a Sonic Rainboom before.

Afterwards, after a tearful embrace from Crashie, after she had shown him her new cutie mark, they sat together in silence. Lucky wasn’t the complementing type. He rarely showed what he considered weak emotion. But tonight, he couldn’t help it.

“I’m proud of you, kiddo.” he whispered.

Thunder Falls

Five weeks later, Rainbow nervously stuffed her essay in her saddlebag.

Flying was only part of her education. A wide understanding of weather patrols, aerodynamics, and physics was also needed. This essay encompassed all of those topics. This was what would mark her future. This was what would earn her a job. If she lost this, she'd never be considered for the Weather Factory or the Wonderbolts.

She zipped the top of her bag shut, with the essay now stowed inside. She took a deep breath. You got this, Dashie.

Rain pounded on the glass. She groaned. Of course it had to rain today. She hoped the water wouldn't soak through her bag.

She trotted outside, grumbling bitterly as the rain water soaked her coat. She took off, heading for the Arena.

She didn't notice that the zipper to her saddle-bag was broken.

******

Lucky was already out and flying. He loved storms. He zipped around one of the angry clouds, causing its rain to come out in a swirling motion. He snickered, thinking of the befuddled looks the raincloud was probably getting from below, and moved onto the next cloud, eager to spread his mischief.

That was when he noticed Dashie.

She was flying like a demon, ripping sharply through the conflicting air currents. He whistled in approval, momentarily catching her attention. She smiled at him for a second, and then turned her focus back to flying. He picked up his speed so he could match her pace. "What's the rush?" he yelled over the wind.

"I have to turn my essay in today, remember?" she called back, swerving as the wind tried to knock her to the side.

"Oh, right! Forgot about that. Need me to tag along and beat the shit out of those snotty administrators?"

She laughed. "I'm gonna say no to that."

******

Just a little behind and above the couple, a factory worker was desperately trying to silence a charged and rumbling thundercloud. Somehow, this one had got through the lighting test. Now it had to be removed immediately, or somepony was going to get hurt.

He growled and groaned in effort. This one was a fighter. Still, he clung to it, desperate to keep it steady. Then the smell of ozone filled the air.

The worker yelped and fled as the cloud illuminated the sky with a lightning bolt.

******

"Alright, it you're sure you don't need me..." Lucky laughed as he started to fly away from her.

At that moment, the wind found Rainbow's schoolwork and flung it out of the unsealed pouch.

Lucky, seeing it, immediately slowed and flew a bit up. This was going to be an easy catch.

And then the world exploded.

Everything flashed white and red. He couldn't control his limbs, couldn't stay up, couldn't feel anything but indescribable pain. For a few moments he could hear a cry of fear, then the hiss of the wind, and then nothing. The moment the light faded, everything went black.

Author's Note

So far, this has been a cute little foal-love story. But I can't have that! That's not my style!
So now, everything's going to hell. This is where this story will earn its dark and sad tags.
You have been warned.