Adventures of Blazeby Lightning-BlazeChaptersChapter 1: New ArrivalChapter 2: The Race Chapter 3: What happened?Chapter 4: The TourChapter 5: Best Night EverChapter 1: New ArrivalIn all of Equestria, the day could not get any better. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and everypony was up to their usual daily tasks. Fluttershy was tending to her animal friends, Pinkie Pie was being her usual unpredictable self, Twilight Sparkle was studying in her library, Applejack and her brother Big Macintosh were harvesting apples, Rarity was designing new dresses to be displayed at a fashion show and Rainbow Dash was trying to make the most of her spare time. Dash had to make the most of her time being a Wonderbolt because her job now was to teach the newly arrived pegasus, Lightning Blaze, the advanced methods of flying. Dash noticed that Lightning Blaze was not like all of the other pegasi. He had a dark body with a strange green pattern along his body. His mane and tail were black and dark red. Dash also noticed that he was the type of pegasus who lived life to the extreme and had a need for speed. Rainbow Dash began to think that Spitfire and Soarin had chosen her over any other Wonderbolt to teach Lightning for a reason. When she went out to meet him, Rainbow Dash noticed that he was on his own. She casually flew over to him. “Hey, I'm Dash, the fastest of the Wonderbolts,” she said to Lightning Blaze. “Hi, my name is Lightning Blaze, but my friends call me Lightning,” he replied. “That’s an awesome name but not as great as mine!” Dash replied. “Thanks. I am also the fastest runner in all of Equestria,” Lightning replied. “Really, I never knew that there was a fastest runner in all of Equestria…” Dash replied. “Yeah, it’s not as amazing as the fastest flyer, but fastest runner is also pretty cool.” He paused for a few seconds then asked, “Don't you think we should get started with the lessons?” “Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that!” Dash replied. She started with some easy drills, but as the next few days went by, Dash made the training harder for Lightning. By the end of the week, Dash was surprised with how fast Lightning had learned all of the advanced methods of flying— faster than any other pegasus she knew. He had skills. Dash started to think about what she could do to have Lightning show off his newly acquired skills; she came up with the idea of challenging him to a race. The last thing left to do was ask Lightning. But when she found him on the practice course, she noticed that he was talking to Fluttershy. She decided to trot over to him. “I see you’ve met Fluttershy,” Dash said to Lightning with a wink. “Oh, hey Dash, I didn't notice you there!” Lightning replied as he tried to hide a blush. “Yeah, I have met Fluttershy; she is very nice and caring.” “Why thank you,” Fluttershy replied. “No problem, it is great to meet a pegasus that is so loving and caring”, Lightning replied “Anyway, I need to ask you something, Lightning,” Dash requested. The two walked over to some trees nearby. “What do need?” replied Lightning. Dash answered, “I was thinking that me and you should have a race to show everypony your new skills!” “Wow, that would be great! But I bet I can beat you,” Lightning stated. “Is that a challenge?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I believe it is,” Lightning said with an air of confidence. “You’ll never beat me!” Rainbow Dash replied. “Is everypony going to be watching us?” Lightning asked. “Of course! What kind of race would it be without anypony watching us?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew off. 'Oh, ok’, Lightning replied hesitantly. Lightning parted with Fluttershy and left to go and practice for the race while Dash went to go and fly around Equestria with the other Wonderbolts. Chapter 2: The Race Chapter 2: The Race Over the next few days Lightning trained on his own in preparation for the race. It was the first time he had ever raced the fastest Wonderbolt in Equestria. What if he lost? What would Rainbow Dash say to him? What would happen to his spot in the Wonderbolts? He was so lost in thought he didn’t notice that Fluttershy had nervously entered his room and cantered over to him. ”Erm…Lightning?” Fluttershy asked. There was no reply because Lightning was still lost in thought about the race. Fluttershy said his name again, but louder. Lightning suddenly snapped out of his trance and replied, 'Yes, Fluttershy.' “I…I…I have just come to tell you that everypony has gathered to watch the race and it will be starting shortly. Even Princess Luna, her apprentice Aperture Pony, and Princess Celestia are here to watch the race.” “Who is Aperture Pony?” Lightning asked. “No one knows who or where he came from. I’ve heard he is strange but really good with magic’, Fluttershy answered. “Okay, I’ll talk to the Princesses and this Aperture Pony before the race. Thank you!” “Oh, ok…” Lightning went outside and was surprised when he noticed that everypony in Equestria was there. He spotted Princess Luna and Aperture Pony, who were talking to each other in the distance. Lightning casually made his way over to them. He bowed before Princess Luna and said, “It’s an honor to see you here Princess Luna.” Luna looked at the young Wonderbolt and said, “Lightning, I have heard a lot about you. I’m surprised how quickly it took for you to be in a show, I never thought you would be ready to do something like this." “Not ready?” Lightning asked. Luna replied, “It usually takes a few weeks for a pegasus to complete the advanced flying methods, but you completed them in half of that time. That is truly amazing.” “Thank you your Highness,” Lightning replied. “Please, call me Luna.” “Okay.” Lightning replied. ‘Before you go to start the race, I would like you to meet my apprentice; Aperture Pony," said Luna as she motioned to the unicorn behind her. Lightning noticed that the unicorn behind her looked very nervous. He had a light brown body, a red and black mane and tail and an unusual cutie mark. The cutie mark was unusual, it was a circular shape but the circle was made up of eight triangles. Luna turned to her apprentice; “Aperture Pony, I would like you to meet Lightning Whooves.” Aperture nervously looked at Lightning and approached the pegasus very slowly. It was quiet for a moment, before Aperture then found the confidence to say, “Hello, Lightning, my name is Aperture Pony. But most ponies call me Aperture. Will you be my friend?” Lightning smiled and answered, “Yeah, I will be your friend!” “Thank you, Lightning,” Aperture replied, looking more delighted than before. “I’d better be going, the race is about to start,” Lightning replied and braced himself to take off. Just as Lightning was about to take flight, Aperture shouted, “Hey, Lightning?”’ “Yeah?” Lightning replied. “Good luck for the race!” Aperture answered with a smile on his face. Lightning returned the smile. “Thank you, I hope we get to hang around with each other more in the future.” “I hope we do to,” Aperture replied. After that, Lightning quickly flew over to the start line where Dash was already ready waiting. “I was wondering when you were going to show up!” Lightning replied, “Well sorry! I was on my way; I just had to talk to Princess Luna.” Before Dash had a chance to reply, she noticed a pink pony started to bounce along to the start line. She bounced like a little filly playing hopscotch at school. Lightning looked at the pony Dash was fixated on and noticed that the really happy pink pony was holding a flag in her mouth. The race was about to start. The pink pony then raised the flag. Dash got ready. The pink pony then lowered the flag and Dash had zoomed off within a blink of an eye. Lightning just stood there and closed his eyes. Everypony was wondering what Lightning was doing when Aperture Pony shouted out from the crowd, “Hey! Lightning! You do realize that the race has started, right?” “Yeah I know!” Lightning replied. “Why haven’t you started then?” Aperture asked. “Watch,” Lightning said under his breath. The next 10 seconds felt like forever as everypony watched and waited to see what would happen. Then Aperture noticed something spark on Lightning’s wings. His amazement turned to shock. Princess Luna noticed Aperture’s sudden change in tone and asked, “what’s wrong Aperture?’ “Look at Lightning’s wings.” As they both looked at Lightning’s wings, they both gasped. What had started as a spark had turned into lightning that encased Lightning’s wings. They were both surprised at what was happening to Lightning, but he didn’t appear to be in pain. Then from out of nowhere there was a sudden lightning strike and Lightning’s eyes blazed open; but there were not his natural green colored eyes. Now they were bright yellow. In a split second, Lightning had taken off at a remarkable speed. When Lightning moved, he had left a golden trail just like Dash had left a rainbow trail at the beginning of the race. Meanwhile, Dash was just over the halfway mark in the race. She looked back and noticed that Lightning was nowhere to be seen. She started to think that Lightning had not even started the race. She smiled at how easy this race would be. Then she heard a noise behind her. She looked back and nopony was there. She thought she might have just heard something, but when she turned around, she nearly had a heart attack when she heard somepony say “Hey Rainbow Dash!” Dash was shocked. “How…how could you catch up to me this quickly?” Lightning smiled and replied, “I may be the fastest runner in all of Equestria but I am not a bad flier either!” “Wait…what’s that around your wings?” Dash asked. “It’s lightning.” “L…lightning, how have you managed to get lightning around your wings?” “I don’t know but before I set off, my wings spark and lightning forms!” Dash was baffled. “That is weird… but don’t think your light show will keep me from winning this race!” Dash zoomed off towards the finish line leaving Lightning in her dust. “Two can play at this game,” Lightning thought, so he sped up to try and catch Dash, but it was all too late; by the time he had caught up with her, she had crossed the finish line. He carefully lowered himself to the ground. As soon as he stopped moving, the lightning around his wings disappeared and his eyes returned to their natural green color. But before him having enough time to congratulate Dash, he suddenly started to feel woozy and he passed out just after he heard the sound of hooves coming towards him. Chapter 3: What happened?When Lightning finally woke up, he looked around. He was a little nervous because he didn’t recognize where he was. He was in a bed, and was wearing a white nightgown-type shirt. As he continued to try and look for clues that would reveal his location, he spotted Dash, Aperture, and Luna talking to… a nurse? Suddenly, it hit him; he was in the hospital in Canterlot. He tried to remember exactly what happened in the race the day before, but he couldn’t remember anything about yesterday. It was as if yesterday never happened. Dash, Aperture, and Luna cantered over him after talking with the nurse pony. “Dash! Aperture! Princess Luna! Boy, am I glad to see you,” Lightning said with a smile on his face. “It’s great to see you too. You look like you’re getting better!” Aperture replied. “What happened?” Lightning asked. “Well, you passed out. After the race,” Dash answered. Lightning looked up at the pegasus with confusion. “Passed out? What do you mean?” “Lightning during the race, you managed to catch up to me. I still don’t know HOW you did that, I’ve never seen anypony move that fast…” “But that’s not all.” Aperture gave Dash a nudge. “What is it? What happened?” Lightning asked. ‘When you were at my side, I noticed that your wings were… I mean, they looked like they were encased in lightning. And you didn’t seem to feel it,” Dash explained. “Oh… that. I have to tell you guys something.” Lightning said. “Yes, please do,” Aperture added, “Even as a scientist, I’m lost.” Lightning took a deep breath, and then began: “Okay, when I was a young colt, I had always had a fascination with lightning; I found that it soothed me when I was ever angry, or sad. It just calmed me down, and it seemed to speak to me on an emotional level. Still does. But one day… something happened… and I was hit by lightning. Ever since then, I feel like there’s electricity coursing through my blood, and whenever I get nervous, it seems to come out and take over my body.” “What happened? When did this start?” Aperture asked. “It happened when I…I…I saw my mother and father get murdered by the brutal Seventh Sanctum,” Lightning replied, trying his hardest to fight back the tears in his eyes “The Seventh Sanctum?” Aperture asked. Luna stopped her student. “Please Aperture, let’s not interrogate our friend. Now, Lightning, are you comfortable with telling us what happened?” Lightning nodded took a second to gather his emotions, and then started, “It was a peaceful day; my family and I were out having a day together when…something happened. All I heard was screams. None of my siblings had a clue what was happening. That’s when I saw them—the Seventh Sanctum were holding my mother and father down. One of them pulled out a knife. They killed my father first. My mother saw us, and… and she told us to run. Those Seventh Sanctum thugs saw us and started chasing after me and my siblings. “They were about to grab hold of me, I was suddenly struck by lightning. I don’t remember much of what happened, but when it happened, it got so bright that it managed to stun the Seventh Sanctum and my siblings and I got away—me with remarkable speed. “That’s how I got this ability. It’s only on rare occasions that this happens, and yesterday was only the second time it happened.” Lightning finished his story. Aperture couldn’t hold in his question anymore, “And who is this Seventh Sanctum?” This time Luna replied, “The Seventh Sanctum… they are the brutes that Celestia and I had to imprison because they were a threat to everypony. They did many things, but one of the worst things they did was living pony sacrifices. They are an evil cult, and we worked hard to make sure they never see another living pony outside of their prisons.” “It’s great to know that they’re imprisoned now,” Lightning replied. “So now I have a question of my own; what happened to me after the race?” Dash was quick to answer Lightning, “After the race, Twilight Sparkle alerted us to the fact that your were unconscious and not moving.” “Who’s Twilight Sparkle?” Lightning asked. “She is Princess Celestia’s apprentice, and a really good friend of mine,” Dash said. “Oh, and that reminds me—after you get better, Twilight wants you to come to Ponyville to see her.” “That’s sounds great… but I would also like Aperture to come on the tour as well,” Lightning said as he looked over to his friend. “Is that ok with you, Rainbow Dash?” Aperture asked. “I don’t see why not… I’ll show you both the different places around Ponyville!” Dash replied eagerly. “Thank you Dash!” Aperture and Lightning replied in unison. Luna looked out the window, and noticed how low the sun was in the sky. “Aperture, I need to go back to the castle and raise the moon. When you are done talking to Lightning, please come back.” And with that, Luna disappeared in a flash of blue smoke. “How is it for you being Princess Luna’s apprentice Aperture?” Lightning asked. “It’s going very well, I’m learning a lot!” Aperture replied. “Oh, and before I forget, I have a group of friends that are willing to meet you.” “Really?” Aperture asked. “Yeah, they are some of my best friends and I believe they will be great friends to you too” Lightning told his friend, who was smiling wider than Lightning ever saw him smile. “This is great! I can’t wait to meet them!” Aperture said with excitement on his face. Lightning started to think about his friends. He was wondering how they were doing because he hadn’t seen them in over a year. All he knows was that Kestrel was still living at Cloudsdale and that he was being trained to be a Wonderbolt by Crimson Thunder. Lightning looked over to Dash and asked, “Do you know a Wonderbolt trainer named Crimson Thunder?” Crimson Thunder was the famous Wonderbolt-turned-flight-trainer that was responsible for teaching most of the current Wonderbolts; in fact, his last protégé was Rainbow Dash herself. He also happened to be Lightning’s brother. Dash was busy thinking about what she would show the two in Ponyville and missed most of the ongoing conversation. However, when she heard this name, she snapped out of her trance; she was shocked and asked, “Of course I do! How do you know him?” Lightning replied, “Well, he’s kinda… my brother.’ “Crimson’s— you mean that you…oh my gosh, I never would have guessed! Your brother is Crimson…” Dash said, awestruck. “I’ve heard a lot about this Crimson Thunder, that he was one of the best Wonderbolts. I never knew that you two were related, though. What’s he like?” Aperture asked. “He is the best Wonderbolt teacher in all of Equestria! He trained all of the legendary Wonderbolts when they were younger and he even got to teach Dash!” Lightning replied. “He’s really nice, but you probably don’t know much about him, Dash. When he teaches, it’s like he’s a different pony—like a drill sergeant.” “You sure got that right!” Dash chimed in. “But when he isn’t teaching, he’s friendly, sociable, and kind of a prankster.” After getting over her initial shock, Dash had the chance to say, “I can’t believe that Crimson is your brother. I should have known, he was always talking about his little brother…” Just as Lightning was about to answer, he noticed that another pegasus just walked into the room. He looked very closely and noticed that it was his brother. His brother’s body was an electric blue colour but his mane and tail were crimson red. His cutie mark was a winged lightning bolt, which matched the Wonderbolt logo perfectly. That was how he knew he was destined to be the greatest Wonderbolt in history. “Crimson! It’s great to see you!” Lightning shouted. Crimson smiled kindly at his brother. “It’s great to see you as well, brother. Especially after so long.” “How’s life in Cloudsdale?” Lightning asked. “Haha, it’s great, there are a lot of pegasi there that have the potential to become Wonderbolts one day, and I’m keeping really busy training them all!” Crimson replied with a laugh. “Wow… Crimson, I would like you to meet Aperture,” Lightning replied, motioning over to the pony on the other side of the bed. Aperture was so amazed that there was an ex-Wonderbolt in the room that he didn’t realize that he was being introduced. Lightning reached out and shook his friend to grab his attention. Crimson looked at Aperture and said, “It is a pleasure to meet you Aperture. Any friend of Lightning’s is a friend of mine!” Aperture replied, “It is a pleasure to meet you too.” “Thank you, but I should be getting Lightning home after what happened. I don’t think he’ll be able to do anything else for the rest of the day and I know I could take care of my brother better if I took him back to my house. Besides, the doctors are still trying to figure out where the lightning came from!” After Crimson said that, Aperture left to report back to Luna in the Canterlot palace. Dash went back to hanging out with the other Wonderbolts and Crimson took Lightning home so he could rest and get back to full health. Chapter 4: The TourIt was another beautiful day in Equestria. Aperture was practicing his magic and Dash was trying out a new trick for part of the Wonderbolt routine. As for Lightning, he was still asleep in his bed until Crimson introduced a bucket of water to his face. Lightning shot up from his sleep to see Crimson rolling on the floor. Lightning asked, “What are you laughing at brother?” He was still so tired he didn’t noticing that his mane and face was wet. Crimson replied, “Oh, it’s nothing,” trying his hardest not to laugh even louder. Lightning shifted in his bed when he noticed a few water droplets go past his eyes. He lifted up his hoof and touched his mane. “Wait…what, was that you? Did you splash water in my face?” “Well…I had to wake you up one way or another,” Crimson answered in between laughs. “So you decided to use ice cold water?” “Yeah, pretty much!” “Why did you wake me up anyway?” Crimson replied, “Well…I need to see if you have gotten back to full health. You seem to be fine, except for some excessive sweatiness!” He fell back to the floor laughing. “Oh yeah, haha. So now what?” asked Lightning as he rolled out of the bed. “I’ll need to see how far you’ve recovered… I think the best way to do that is to have a little race. What do you say, little brother?” Lightning replied, “No doubt that I will win.” Crimson gave his brother a smirk. “Oh really? Then let’s see how great you are.” “See you outside in a bit, got to go dry my mane because SOMEPONY splashed water on my face!” Lightning bringing up his wet mane again made Crimson burst out in laughter and he replied, “See you outside soon, brother.” After a few minutes passed, Lightning was finally ready to race his brother. He flew outside to meet up with Crimson for the race and asked, “So, where exactly are we racing to?” Crimson replied, “I was thinking that we race to the Rainbow Factory and back to here.” Lightning replied, “Okay, just try and keep up!” “I see you still have your competitive edge.” “Well yeah, most of the time I can be competitive. You have to be when you’re a Wonderbolt!” “Okay, I guess you’re ready.” “Of course I am.” “Then let’s start… on your marks… get set… go!” and with that both Lightning and Crimson shot off. Both of them were great flyers, neither one of them knew who was going to win. The two pegasi were neck and neck, and neither of them wanted to lose. Suddenly, Crimson dove under the clouds. But Lightning would not be distracted, he was determined to win! Besides, if Crimson was planning on taking the long way, then he would—A puff of smoke hit Lightning square in the muzzle. Crimson came back up ahead of Lightning. “What’s wrong, baby brother, did I hurt you?” Crimson said as he turned around and flew off to the Rainbow Factory. That punk! Lightning thought to himself. But he wasn’t about to let his brother win so easily. He flew off behind his brother, and tried to catch up to him before he made it to the Rainbow Factory. Approaching the Rainbow Factory fast, Crimson was afraid that this race was going to be too easy. He decided to add a challenge be weaving through the cloud pillar of the factory. Halfway through the factory, he felt a tap on his left wing. He looked over. Nothing. He looked to his right. Lightning was right there! “Hey bro, what’s up?” Lightning asked as he smacked him right into a cloud pillar. POOF! Crimson was stuck. Now that Crimson had been taken care of, Lightning easily made his way back to the finish line. Even when Crimson caught up, Lightning had tired his brother out enough to take the win. Lightning beat Crimson by a few seconds. They both carefully lowered themselves down to the ground. Lightning said, “I told you I would beat you, cheater!” Crimson was breathing heavily, but managed to say, “You’re the cheater! But anyway, how do you feel?” “A little tired, but other than that, I feel fine! What time is it?” Lightning asked. “Good, good… oh, and it’s about noon.” “Wait…what?” “It’s noon,” Crimson repeated. “Damn it!” “What’s wrong?” “Remember when Dash said she would give me and Aperture a tour of Ponyville?” “Um…yeah?” Crimson replied. “Well, I’m supposed to meet Dash and Aperture at noon and now I’m late,” Lightning replied anxiously. “You best get going then; don’t want to keep your girlfriend waiting!” Crimson responded with a snicker. “Thanks, I’ll see you later, and she’s not my girlfriend!” And with that Lightning sped off to go and meet up with Dash and Aperture. On the way there he couldn’t help but wonder if Aperture and Dash would be annoyed with him if he was late. Would Dash make him train harder? What would happen with his and Aperture’s newfound friendship? He reached the centre of the village where Dash and Aperture were waiting. “Hey Dash, hey Aperture. Sorry I kept you waiting, had to do something before I got here.” “I didn’t mind waiting,” Aperture replied. “Just a question, what did you have to do that was so important?” Dash asked. “I was racing my brother Crimson,” Lightning replied. “I thought I saw two pegasi racing around,” Dash commented. “Yeah, and then I realized I was late and had to rush here,” Lightning said in an apologetic tone. “Did you win?” “Yes, of course I did!” “Then that’s all that matters!” Dash exclaimed with a wink. “Now, let’s get on with the tour!” “This is the town centre,” as Dash gestured towards the centre that was full of ponies hanging out and talking to each other. Aperture and Lightning then followed Dash to a shop called “Sugar Cube Corner.” They walked inside to be greeted by a lovely smell of cakes and pies and confectionaries; it was truly something that couldn’t be forgotten, it was the sort of smell that makes you want to just stand inside and not move at all. Just then a pink pony came out of nowhere and started to bounce around Aperture and Lightning. Dash called out, “Pinkie Pie, will you calm down?” “Pinkie Pie, I think I remember you… were you the pink pony I saw at the beginning of the race?” Lightning replied. “Yup! She’s the one and only!” Dash replied. “So what do you do then Pinkie?” Aperture asked. “Well…whenever there are new ponies in town, I always greet them and throw them a party,” Pinkie informed them with sheer excitement on her face. “Oh, and that reminds me!” She reached behind the counter and grabbed a box. “Go ahead and open it!” Lightning slowly opened the box. Confetti blasted out onto his face. Inside was two enormous slices of cake that Lightning assumed was for him and Aperture. On each slice was written in frosting; “Welcome to Ponyville!” “Wow, we should have that party someday!” Aperture replied. ‘Yeah, we will, silly! But Rainbow Dash told me that you two were REEEEEALLY busy with the tour, so we can’t do it today, unless we do it at night time, but if we do it at night time, then ponies might accidentally fall asleep which would not be fun, because then some mischievious ponies might draw on their face, or steal their slice of cake—Can you imagine?” Pinkie gasped at the though. “Hey, Pinkie Pie, aren’t you working on something?” “OHMYGOSH you’re right! Gotta go!” Then as fast as Pinkie Pie appeared, she disappeared without anyone knowing. “Right, well that was…strange…” Aperture said “Where are we off to next?” asked Lightning. “Next we’ll go to Sweet Apple Acres!” Dash replied. They walked out of the shop and headed to Sweet Apple Acres. On the way there, Lightning and Aperture started to chat to each other. Aperture said, “So, what do you think about that Pinkie Pie?” Lightning replied, “I don’t know, but the smell in the shop was absolutely amazing. I didn’t even want to leave but we have the tour to do.” “I’m just happy to be learning about Ponyville, this tour is helping me a lot.” “It is really interesting.” Finally, Dash, Aperture, and Lightning reached Sweet Apple Acres. Lightning and Aperture noticed that in the centre of the huge apple orchard was a big red barn. “This is where Applejack and her brother Big Mac live. Some more good friends of mine!” Dash said. “I’ve read about this place…this is where all the apples come from then?” Aperture asked. “Sure is!” came a voice behind them. Just then an orange pony trotted out of the orchard and started coming towards Lightning and Aperture. “Howdy there newcomers!” AJ said with excitement. “And what are your names?” Aperture was the first to reply. “My name is Aperture.” “That’s a strange name for a pony, but pleasure to meet ya!” AJ replied as she shook his hoof. Lightning introduced himself next. “My name is Lightning Blaze, but I prefer to be called Lightning.” “I guess your job has something to do with lightning?” AJ asked. “You can say that…” Lightning replied slyly. Just then a red pony trotted out of the barn towing a cart full of apples. As he walked past he told AJ that he was taking the apples to the town centre. “Before you go Big Mac, I’d like you to meet Aperture and Lightning,” AJ replied. “Howdy!” Big Mac replied looking like he wanted to go to sleep. “This is my brother Nicolas Macintosh but most folk call him Big Mac,” AJ said. “It’s great to meet you Big Macintosh!” said Aperture. “Eeyup.” Big Mac then continued with pulling the cart of apples towards the town centre. AJ waved goodbye to Aperture and Lightning as they set off to the next part of the tour. “Where are we off to now?” Aperture asked. Dash replied, “Now we are going to the library.” “Great!” Aperture replied. On the way to the library, they went passed a clothes shop. Outside the shop was a white unicorn with a long purple mane. “Oh, guys, that’s Rarity. She is Ponyville’s best fashion designer. If we are lucky, we’ll be able to go over and talk to her, if she’s not busy”, Dash explained. She trotted over to her. “Hey, Rarity!” “Hello there Rainbow Dash. Who are your new friends?” Rarity asked as she gestured towards Lightning and Aperture. Lightning and Aperture overheard Rarity ask Dash who they were, so they went over to introduce themselves. Aperture was the first to introduce himself. “Hello, Rarity, my name is Aperture. I am Princess Luna’s apprentice and a scientist pony.” “Charmed! And who are you?” “My name is Lightning Blaze but I prefer to be called Lightning. I’m the newest wonderbolt.” Rarity replied, “Wonderbolt, that’s exciting! Well, it’s a pleasure to meet both of you.” “We better get on with the rest of the tour.” Dash commented. “Okay,” Lightning and Aperture replied. As they were leaving, Rarity said, “Lightning, Aperture, come back her anytime if you want something designing or if you want a makeover.” “We’ll think about it…” Aperture called back. After they finally set off from visiting the clothes shop and a few more minutes later, Dash, Aperture and Lightning finally got to the library. As they walked inside, Aperture’s face lit up; there were books everywhere! They were perfectly organized and stacked on shelves. He thought to himself, I could really learn a lot about Equestria here. Around the corner they found a purple pony with a purple and pink mane was stacking shelves using her magic. Dash called out her name; “Hey there, Twilight!” Twilight replied, “Hey Dash, how’s the life of being a Wonderbolt?” “Oh, it’s great being a Wonderbolt! It’s even better now that we have a younger Wonderbolt joining us,” Dash answered as she gestured towards Lightning. “This is the Wonderbolt who had a race against you…are you feeling okay?” Twilight asked. ‘Yeah, he feels great! This kid is tough, one of the toughest fliers I’ve seen… besides myself!” Dash replied. “Thanks,” Lightning replied, trying to hide a blush. Aperture noticed that Lightning was trying to hide a blush. Why was he blushing? It wasn’t hot in here, and he wasn’t sick, so it must be— “Lightning, do you like Dash or something?” Aperture whispered. “What? No…maybe. I’ll tell you later. Keep it a secret for a bit, I will tell her later. I don’t want her finding out, though, okay?” “Ok, I promise that I will keep it a secret.” Aperture replied. “Thank you,” Lightning said, as the two turned back to the conversation they were having before. After that Aperture and Lightning were glad that Dash hadn’t overheard their quiet conversation. Dash was too busy catching up with Twilight that neither of the mares noticed. After catching up, Dash turned to Lightning and said, “Lightning, you know that Twilight was the one who alerted us that you had passed out.” Lightning replied, “Yeah… thank you again Twilight.” Twilight replied. “You’re welcome. Lightning would you be able to come back soon so I can find out what happened to you.” “Yeah, I will come back soon”, Lightning replied. “So are we ready to go on with the next part of the tour?” Aperture asked. “Yeah, the next place we are going to is Fluttershy’s animal rescue and care centre. You’ve met Fluttershy before, too Lightning!” Dash told the other pegasus. “Okay, lead the way!” Aperture replied. Dash, Aperture and Lightning left the library and headed towards Fluttershy’s animal care home. When they finally got there, Aperture and Lightning noticed a cottage wrapped in ivy and completely let out for nature. “This is Fluttershy’s house. She takes care of the animals here, and she uses it as an animal rescue and care centre for all the animals here,” Dash explained. They looked in the house and noticed that it was full of a wide range of animals—from bunnies and birds to fish and even snakes. From behind Dash, Aperture and Lightning they heard a quiet voice. “Hello Rainbow Dash and Lightning. And who is this?” as she gestured to Aperture very shyly. “My name is Aperture.” “You’re…you’re the one who I heard is really good at using magic.” “Yeah, that’s me! It is great to meet you,” Aperture replied. This seemed to make Fluttershy feel a bit better and she managed to smile back. “There is one more place for us to go to on this tour,” Dash added. “Meet me outside the library just before it gets dark and I’ll show you.” “Okay!” Lightning and Aperture replied. Meanwhile… It was another dark day in the jail cell. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw the sun. Even though he felt his sanity leaving him every day, he couldn’t be calmer. Every day that passed only meant that it was coming closer. The little hatch on the bottom of the door slid open and a platter of cracked wheat slid through. “Dinner,” came the voice from the other side. A smile came to his face as he ate the food. Another day gone. All this waiting would be worth it in the long run. He came up from his food, and uttered one word; “Soon.” Chapter 5: Best Night EverIt was the middle of the night, and tomorrow was going to be a busy day for Lightning… but he didn’t care; he would stay awake all night if he had to. He had to wait for Crimson to come back, so he could get sweet revenge! He knew that Crimson got back from teaching really late, so all he had to do was wait for Crimson to walk in. Minutes passed and Lightning felt droopy. An hour passed… two hours… he left the trap at the door and went to lie down on the couch for a second, “Oh, this is going to be so sweet!” Lightning thought sleepily to himself, “Next time he’ll think twice before splashing water in my face!” Lightning was still on the couch awaiting the return of his brother when he decided to take a quick nap. As his eyes finally closed, the front door opened and all Lightning heard was a crash and a thud. He peeked up from the head of the couch to the pale figure of his brother in the kitchen, covered in flour. He couldn’t help but just burst out in laughter. Crimson overheard Lightning’s laughter and trotted over to him. “Lightning…did you do this?” Crimson asked looking slightly annoyed. “Me? Noo!” Lightning answered, his voice full of sarcasm. “Well, who else could have done it?” “Maybe the Boogeypony?” Lightning broke out in laughter again. “Why did you do this?” Crimson asked. “You honestly think that I was going to forgive you that easily for the bucket of water?” Lightning replied. “Honestly, I hoped you would have forgotten about it…” Crimson muttered. “I can’t let that go until I get you back… which I did! Anyway, you had a great day of teaching?” Shaking off some of the flour, Crimson answered, “Yeah yeah, I did… actually, there is one pegasus that is coming close to becoming the next Wonderbolt.” “And who’s that?” Lightning asked. “It’s your good friend Kestrel.” “Kestrel? Are you telling me that I could be working with Kestrel soon?” “Don’t say anything quite yet, but if Kestrel continues the way he is…yeah!” Crimson replied. Lightning thought about the possibility that he could be working side by side with his old friend. He hadn’t seen him in over a year; it would be great to catch up. “That’s going to be awesome!” Lightning looked at his watch and noticed the time. Had he really been asleep for that long? It was nearly midnight, and he had told Rainbow Dash and Aperture that he would meet them at the library 12:15 for the final part of Rainbow Dash’s tour. He had to get to the library in 10 minutes. “Anyway, Crimson, I’ve gotta go meet up with Dash and Aperture. See you later; hopefully you will be cleaned up by then!” Lightning was laughing even more now that he had brought up Crimson being covered in flour. “Shut up!” Crimson responded as he pushed Lightning out the door and slammed the door in his face. After that, Lightning left to go and meet Dash and Aperture. He found them in front of the library, just as they discussed earlier. Dash and Aperture were already waiting so Lightning was glad that now he was on time. “Hey Dash! Hey Aperture! I’m not late for once, can you believe it?” “Yeah, I can.” “So where are we off to for the last part of the tour, Dash?” Lightning asked. “Well…I’m not going to tell you yet, I’ll let you and Aperture find out for yourselves.” Dash replied. As they set off, to go to their destination, Lightning leaned over to Aperture. “Hey, Aperture; do you have a clue on where we’re going?” “Not a clue, but with it being so dark, I get a feeling that it’s going to be somewhere inside. I hope it’s worth it.” Rainbow Dash butted in. “Oh, it will be!” The caravan continued to walk. “Why don’t we watch the moon rise some time?” Aperture asked. “Yeah, sure. We’ll do that tomorrow!” Dash replied. Minutes passed as the group continued to walk through the town. Lightning and Aperture were about to ask if they were lost until they noticed a big sign that said Club Pon-3 across from the Ponyville Market. Lightning asked, “Hey Dash…is that…” “Sure is!” Dash replied. “It’s the best Club in Equestria. If you’re lucky, you might see Photo Finish or Sapphire Sparkles visit, they love to come here!” “I can’t believe that were actually going to Club Pon-3, I’ve always wanted to go there when I was younger but I never had a chance.” Rainbow smiled. “Well…this will be your first time! And Aperture: there are a lot of ponies that come here that you will be able to talk to.” “That’s great! I can’t meet many ponies in the Canterlot archives, you know!” Aperture replied with excitement. “We best get inside before anypony else, its better when you’re the first there,” Dash said as she dragged the other two towards the doors. They reached Club Pon-3 just as the doors opened. As they walked into the Club, Lightning’s face was full of amazement. There were streamers hanging from the rafters, glitter across the floor, and a bar to the side of the building ready for anypony who wanted a glass of the Smith Family’s Famous Cider. Lights were flashing. Warm-up music was thumping. Lightning felt like he had achieved a childhood dream. In the far corner of the club there was a podium with mixing equipment on it; next to that was a marble white unicorn warming up the turntables for a busy night. “Dash, is that who I think it is?” Aperture asked. “Sure is! Vinyl Scratch: the best DJ in Equestria!” “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Aperture replied bouncing up and down. ‘I can’t believe that I’m actually in the same building as Vinyl Scratch.” “We best get a table before they are all gone,” Dash informed Lightning and Aperture. They found a table that was close to the speakers still not taken, and sat down. An hour passed and the club was full of party ponies ready to dance the night away. The three ponies talked and drank at their table for some time. Lightning then leaned over to his friend, and politely asked, “Hey, Aperture, think you can give Dash and me a moment?” Aperture disappeared into the pony dance floor before Lightning even noticed he was gone. Now Lightning and Rainbow Dash were the only two at the table. The thought crossed his mind—“Well, it’s now or never!” “Pretty busy here tonight, Dash.” Come on, what kind of opener is that? Am I here to discuss the weather with her? “Yeah, it’s always busy at Club Pon-3,” Dash replied. She looked at him with her eyes… those deep purple eyes… snap out of it Lightning! You gotta focus! “I can’t believe that it’s my first time here but I’m enjoying it. Spending time with you…”—Watch it Lightning, too forward—“…and Aperture! My best friends!” Friend? FRIEND?????? Dash’s eyes drooped a little bit. “Yeah… friends.” Lightning, what are you doing?!?!?! “I mean, not friends…” You’re losing her Lightning! Do something quick! “Uh, Dash, I have something to tell you.” “What is it?” Dash asked, her eyes lighting up again. Lightning took a few seconds to gather up his courage. No turning back now. “I…I…overtimeIhavestartedtodevelopfeelingsforyouandIjustwantyoutoknow!” The silence was killing Lightning. Fear about what Dash would say to him, thinking about what he just said…he was so scared, he was holding his breath. He felt a hoof on his back and remembered that Rainbow was still here. She leaned over closer to him. Her answer was one he never expected to hear after his confession, and caught him by surprise; “Didn’t quite catch that, what’d you say?” Lightning took a deep breath. “I think I like you. Like really like you.” “Really? Wow, that’s…sweet! Why didn’t you tell me before?” “I tried before, but I didn’t know what you would think.” “I wouldn’t have been mad at you… you aren’t too bad yourself!” Lightning felt a spark of hope. “So does that mean you feel the same way?” Suddenly, the voice of Vinyl Scratch filled the club. “Fillies and gentlecolts! Think you got moves? Come show them off on the dance floor!” “C’mon Lightning. You got moves, right?” Lightning sighed. Dammit, she avoided the question! “Of course I do! Just watch me!” “Good luck!” Dash replied with a look of intrigue at Lightning, and what he could do. Lightning felt like there was more than just bragging rights on the line here. Dash and Lightning trotted over to the rainbow-tiled dance floor. Lightning noticed that there was already another pony waiting in the circle, probably for the dance-off. He inspected the pony and noticed that it was another pegasus. The other pegasus looked like he was waiting for somepony to come onto the dance floor; Lightning saw the opportunity to show Dash his moves and entered the circle. “It’s about time somepony came onto the dance floor— Lightning?” the voice asked from the other side of the dance floor. “Wait…I know that voice…can it be...” Lightning looked over and, sure enough, there stood his good friend Kestrel. “Kestrel…what are you doing here?” Kestrel heard Lightning’s voice and replied “It is you Lightning! It’s been over a year since we had last seen each other. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you here before, I’m here every time that there is a dance competition.” “Well, I still like to dance, but with me being a Wonderbolt—“ “Enough talk, time to dance!” Vinyl screamed as she started the music. “You may be a Wonderbolt, but don’t think you are winning this dance off!” Kestrel jeered. “You’d be surprised; a lot has changed in the past year. You go first then; don’t want to show you up in front of everypony straight away.” “Still cocky as ever, huh? Ok then, watch this!” Kestrel replied. As Vinyl Scratch dropped the bass, Kestrel began dancing using some moves that even amazed Lightning. Pulling off headspins like a pro and then switching into a flawless windmill with style that intimidated Lightning. He then ended in a perfectly executed suicide corkscrew that left the crowd in an uproar. Lightning couldn’t believe that Kestrel was dancing like that! Kestrel stopped, looked at Lightning with his mouth agape, and taunted, “Try and beat that, Lightning!” Lightning trotted to the middle of the dance floor. He had no idea Kestrel could dance like that; did he have anything that could compare? Maybe it would be better if he just gave up now and save himself the embarrassment. “Hey, Lightning!” Lightning turned around and saw Rainbow Dash and Aperture standing behind him on the rim of the dance circle. “Come on, you can do it!” Aperture reassured his friend. “And Lightning, if you win this I’ll give you an answer!” His body moved almost on its own as soon as Dash promised him an answer. He got in his starting position to get ready to dance, as soon as Vinyl Scratch dropped the bass again, Lightning began to dance. He started to use moves that nopony had seen before. Kestrel looked on as his face went from a smile to shock. He was shocked that Lightning was using different but more complex moves than he was, but then his expression on his face turned to amazement. Lightning felt like he could do no wrong; his windmills moved faster, his headspins lasted longer than Kestrel’s, and he added his own signature moves, like swipes and halos. Lightning was nearly about to use his final dance move when he noticed Dash watching; she was looking right at him, and even Lightning could tell that she was amazed by his skill. She was impressed! Dash noticed Lightning stealing a glance at her, and she gave him a wink. He stopped in the middle of his move, winked back at Dash, and then finished the dance with a leap into the air, two corkscrew flips and a one-hoof landing that he pulled off perfectly. Everypony cheered when Lightning had finished. “Told you I would beat you Kestrel,” Lightning said with a smile on his face. “Damn it, looks like you have changed in over a year. Well done Lightning.” “You too, Kestrel. Anyway I’m going to go and talk to Dash.” “Dash? You mean ‘the fastest Wonderbolt in Equestria’ Dash?” “The one and only!” Lightning replied, “I even got to race against her.” “You mean THAT was you? I was watching, but I didn’t realize it was YOU Lightning! All I saw was Dash at first, but minutes later you bolted straight past me so fast, all I saw was a blur.” “Yeah, that was me! Anyway, I gotta go over to Dash now, I’ll see you later Kestrel!” “Yeah, you too Lightning,” Kestrel replied. Kestrel disappeared into the crowd, and Lightning trotted over to Dash. “I see you enjoyed watching me dance?” “Are you kidding? That was amazing! How did you manage to do all those cool moves?” Dash asked. Lightning smiled shyly. “Before I became a Wonderbolt, I was kinda into freestyle dance.” “Freestyle dance?” “Basically, everything that you saw out there. It’s a hip-hop dance, came from Furlong Island in Manehatten, you know.” “Awesome,” Dash said, grabbing his hoof and yanking it towards her. “Why don’t we go back to our table and relax for a bit?” Dash asked. “Yeah sure,” Lightning replied. They walked back to their table and sat down, Lightning was ready to ask the question once more when all of a sudden, Dash leaned over and rested her head on Lightning’s shoulder. Lightning looked at Dash but couldn’t help but just smile. He didn’t need an answer now; this was good enough! He felt like he had impressed her a lot tonight. Minutes passed and Lightning noticed that Dash’s eyes started to close. “Hey Dash…are you tired?” Dash replied, “Yeah.” “Would you like me to help you get home?” “That would be great,” as Dash let out a yawn. “Let’s go then.” As they were on there way out of the club, Lightning spotted Aperture still on the dance floor. Lightning shouted, “Hey Aperture!” Aperture overhearing Lightning’s shout came straight over to him. “What’s wrong Lightning?” “Nothing’s wrong, just letting you know that I’m helping Dash go home,” Lightning replied. “I assume you’re going to stay here?” “Are you kidding? I have to stay, I’m having a blast! I’ve met nearly everypony here! Like there’s this one guy Kestrel, who…” “Okay Aperture, have fun! I’ll see you later!” “Yeah, see ya!” Aperture replied, returning to the dance floor. As Lightning and Dash left the club Lightning asked her, “Are you okay to fly or would you like me to carry you home?” “Could you carry me home?” Dash replied, her eyes barely open anymore. She was either really tired or really wanted Lightning to carry her. Either way, he didn’t mind. “Anything for you Dash, just climb onto my back,” Lightning said. Dash sluggishly climbed onto Lightning’s back. As Lightning started to fly to Dash’s home, he couldn’t help but look at the night that Luna had made, it was truly spectacular. Lightning began to think to himself on how great this night has been, how he managed to gather up the courage to tell Dash that he likes her, that there are memories made tonight that will not be forgotten. 5 minutes passed and Lightning had finally reached Dash’s home. “Dash, we’re here,” Lightning whispered to Dash. Dash slowly rolled off Lightning’s back and onto the cloud underneath them. “Thank you Lightning, tonight was amazing,” Dash said. “Yeah it was,” Lightning replied. Lightning was just about to leave when he noticed that Dash was nuzzled up against his neck, Lightning nuzzled her back, and they both felt that this was not a night to forget. After they had finished nuzzling their eyes met. Lightning stared into Dash’s rose coloured eyes while Dash stared into Lightning’s light green eyes. Lightning never noticed just how deep her eyes seemed to go. He thought that all those ponies were over exaggerating when they talked about being lost in another pony’s eyes, but now he knew that it was true. Not only that, but he felt like he could stay here forever with Dash. He really liked her, and even if she didn’t quite say so, she definitely felt something for him, too. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, when Rainbow Dash broke the stare and found the front door. “I’ll see you tomorrow Dash!” Lightning said from on Cloud Nine. “I can’t wait Lightning.” Dash let out another long yawn. “Just make sure to get some sleep!” Lightning reminded her as the door closed. As soon as Dash went into her home, he realized that he was starting to fall asleep, so he sped off to get home quickly before exhaustion overcame him mid-flight. As soon as he got home, he flew straight to his bed and went to sleep with a lot of memories from this night—the best night ever. It was another dark day in the jail cell. Officer Sundance was checking the cells before he turned off the lights for the night. He had no idea why he had to, though. No prisoner ever escaped, or even attempted. One of the guards shouted, “Whatever it is you are doing, I order you to stop!” It was the newest recruit Deputy Fife. “Don’t let these freaks get in your head, Fife. Besides, this guy is one of our oldest friends.” “Hello again Sundance. Did you admit that we’re friends? I’m flattered…” came a cold voice from the dark shadows in the cell. Even for Sundance, his voice gave him nightmares almost every night. “Oh, shut it. You’re going to stay in your cell for the rest of your pathetic life.” “You honestly think bars of iron will stop my work?” As they were talking, Deputy Fife didn’t notice a key magically float off his belt and into a jail cell. “Haven’t you realized that Riptide’s cell is empty?” Fife went over to Riptide’s jail cell, and screamed, “He isn’t here!” “Where is he?” “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you… but first, a song.” The pony came out of the shadows and approached Sundance from the other side of the bar. The prisoner had a grey body covered in scars with a ripped and ruffled crimson red and jet black mane and tail. His cutie mark, if any sane pony could call it that, was a pile of skulls dripping with blood. He lifted his head and eyed Sundance with his blood-red eyes. “Ring around the Sundance, carrying a small lance...” “No conditions! Where is Riptide?” “Ashes. Ashes.” “CUT THE CRAP, WHERE IS HE?” Suddenly, Fife let out a blood-curling scream. “They all fall down.” A knife protruded from Fife’s chest. When the knife receded, the pony fell lifeless to the floor. Behind him was the pony in question; an earth pony who had two different shades of grey on his body. He had a ruffled jet black mane and tail and a mark of a skull and crossbones on his flank. “Riptide, do your worst; show this pathetic guard why you should never mess with The Seventh Sanctum.” “It will be done,” as the psychotic pony ran full force. A few slashes and dismembered body parts later, Riptide was the only living pony standing in the hallway. “Now, why don’t you unlock the door for our brother Chalosk?” “Yes, master.” After Riptide opened the cell across the hallway, another pony came out. The other pony was a unicorn with a grey and black pattern that many confused with a zebra—that is, if zebras had a dark red mane and tail. Streaks of black accented the dark red of his tail, giving him the appearance of a pony that was skinned and rotting. On his flank was a burning scroll. Chalosk looked down at the ground. “You know, it’s been forever since I’ve had fresh meat…” “Chalosk, use your magic to unlock the cell doors and chains. Then you can feast.” As the unicorn unlocked the chains that bound their leader and Riptide opened the other cells revealing more and more of the cult members, he began to talk again; “Finally our day has come. We are free; it is time for us to hunt. We have all the souls we need, except for two ponies that have escaped us once; they go by the name of Lightning Blaze and Crimson Thunder. Their father and mother provided their souls, but without these two, our offering will be insufficient.” He stepped around Chalosk as he was feasting on the remains of Sundance, and approached two ponies. The two ponies were both pegasi. One had a dark red body with a grey and black mane and tail. His cutie mark was a blood red skull with a lightning bolt through it on his flank. The other pegasi was jet black with a red mane. Her cutie mark depicted a blood-covered raven. “Dark Fury, Ravenblood! Hunt down our friends and bring them back to our hideout.” “Sure thing,” as they both replied in unison. “Everypony else, let’s get out of here.” The leader of the Sanctum muttered, “It’s only a matter of time before we get you Lightning.”
Chapter 1: New ArrivalIn all of Equestria, the day could not get any better. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and everypony was up to their usual daily tasks. Fluttershy was tending to her animal friends, Pinkie Pie was being her usual unpredictable self, Twilight Sparkle was studying in her library, Applejack and her brother Big Macintosh were harvesting apples, Rarity was designing new dresses to be displayed at a fashion show and Rainbow Dash was trying to make the most of her spare time. Dash had to make the most of her time being a Wonderbolt because her job now was to teach the newly arrived pegasus, Lightning Blaze, the advanced methods of flying. Dash noticed that Lightning Blaze was not like all of the other pegasi. He had a dark body with a strange green pattern along his body. His mane and tail were black and dark red. Dash also noticed that he was the type of pegasus who lived life to the extreme and had a need for speed. Rainbow Dash began to think that Spitfire and Soarin had chosen her over any other Wonderbolt to teach Lightning for a reason. When she went out to meet him, Rainbow Dash noticed that he was on his own. She casually flew over to him. “Hey, I'm Dash, the fastest of the Wonderbolts,” she said to Lightning Blaze. “Hi, my name is Lightning Blaze, but my friends call me Lightning,” he replied. “That’s an awesome name but not as great as mine!” Dash replied. “Thanks. I am also the fastest runner in all of Equestria,” Lightning replied. “Really, I never knew that there was a fastest runner in all of Equestria…” Dash replied. “Yeah, it’s not as amazing as the fastest flyer, but fastest runner is also pretty cool.” He paused for a few seconds then asked, “Don't you think we should get started with the lessons?” “Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that!” Dash replied. She started with some easy drills, but as the next few days went by, Dash made the training harder for Lightning. By the end of the week, Dash was surprised with how fast Lightning had learned all of the advanced methods of flying— faster than any other pegasus she knew. He had skills. Dash started to think about what she could do to have Lightning show off his newly acquired skills; she came up with the idea of challenging him to a race. The last thing left to do was ask Lightning. But when she found him on the practice course, she noticed that he was talking to Fluttershy. She decided to trot over to him. “I see you’ve met Fluttershy,” Dash said to Lightning with a wink. “Oh, hey Dash, I didn't notice you there!” Lightning replied as he tried to hide a blush. “Yeah, I have met Fluttershy; she is very nice and caring.” “Why thank you,” Fluttershy replied. “No problem, it is great to meet a pegasus that is so loving and caring”, Lightning replied “Anyway, I need to ask you something, Lightning,” Dash requested. The two walked over to some trees nearby. “What do need?” replied Lightning. Dash answered, “I was thinking that me and you should have a race to show everypony your new skills!” “Wow, that would be great! But I bet I can beat you,” Lightning stated. “Is that a challenge?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I believe it is,” Lightning said with an air of confidence. “You’ll never beat me!” Rainbow Dash replied. “Is everypony going to be watching us?” Lightning asked. “Of course! What kind of race would it be without anypony watching us?” Rainbow Dash asked as she flew off. 'Oh, ok’, Lightning replied hesitantly. Lightning parted with Fluttershy and left to go and practice for the race while Dash went to go and fly around Equestria with the other Wonderbolts.
Chapter 2: The Race Chapter 2: The Race Over the next few days Lightning trained on his own in preparation for the race. It was the first time he had ever raced the fastest Wonderbolt in Equestria. What if he lost? What would Rainbow Dash say to him? What would happen to his spot in the Wonderbolts? He was so lost in thought he didn’t notice that Fluttershy had nervously entered his room and cantered over to him. ”Erm…Lightning?” Fluttershy asked. There was no reply because Lightning was still lost in thought about the race. Fluttershy said his name again, but louder. Lightning suddenly snapped out of his trance and replied, 'Yes, Fluttershy.' “I…I…I have just come to tell you that everypony has gathered to watch the race and it will be starting shortly. Even Princess Luna, her apprentice Aperture Pony, and Princess Celestia are here to watch the race.” “Who is Aperture Pony?” Lightning asked. “No one knows who or where he came from. I’ve heard he is strange but really good with magic’, Fluttershy answered. “Okay, I’ll talk to the Princesses and this Aperture Pony before the race. Thank you!” “Oh, ok…” Lightning went outside and was surprised when he noticed that everypony in Equestria was there. He spotted Princess Luna and Aperture Pony, who were talking to each other in the distance. Lightning casually made his way over to them. He bowed before Princess Luna and said, “It’s an honor to see you here Princess Luna.” Luna looked at the young Wonderbolt and said, “Lightning, I have heard a lot about you. I’m surprised how quickly it took for you to be in a show, I never thought you would be ready to do something like this." “Not ready?” Lightning asked. Luna replied, “It usually takes a few weeks for a pegasus to complete the advanced flying methods, but you completed them in half of that time. That is truly amazing.” “Thank you your Highness,” Lightning replied. “Please, call me Luna.” “Okay.” Lightning replied. ‘Before you go to start the race, I would like you to meet my apprentice; Aperture Pony," said Luna as she motioned to the unicorn behind her. Lightning noticed that the unicorn behind her looked very nervous. He had a light brown body, a red and black mane and tail and an unusual cutie mark. The cutie mark was unusual, it was a circular shape but the circle was made up of eight triangles. Luna turned to her apprentice; “Aperture Pony, I would like you to meet Lightning Whooves.” Aperture nervously looked at Lightning and approached the pegasus very slowly. It was quiet for a moment, before Aperture then found the confidence to say, “Hello, Lightning, my name is Aperture Pony. But most ponies call me Aperture. Will you be my friend?” Lightning smiled and answered, “Yeah, I will be your friend!” “Thank you, Lightning,” Aperture replied, looking more delighted than before. “I’d better be going, the race is about to start,” Lightning replied and braced himself to take off. Just as Lightning was about to take flight, Aperture shouted, “Hey, Lightning?”’ “Yeah?” Lightning replied. “Good luck for the race!” Aperture answered with a smile on his face. Lightning returned the smile. “Thank you, I hope we get to hang around with each other more in the future.” “I hope we do to,” Aperture replied. After that, Lightning quickly flew over to the start line where Dash was already ready waiting. “I was wondering when you were going to show up!” Lightning replied, “Well sorry! I was on my way; I just had to talk to Princess Luna.” Before Dash had a chance to reply, she noticed a pink pony started to bounce along to the start line. She bounced like a little filly playing hopscotch at school. Lightning looked at the pony Dash was fixated on and noticed that the really happy pink pony was holding a flag in her mouth. The race was about to start. The pink pony then raised the flag. Dash got ready. The pink pony then lowered the flag and Dash had zoomed off within a blink of an eye. Lightning just stood there and closed his eyes. Everypony was wondering what Lightning was doing when Aperture Pony shouted out from the crowd, “Hey! Lightning! You do realize that the race has started, right?” “Yeah I know!” Lightning replied. “Why haven’t you started then?” Aperture asked. “Watch,” Lightning said under his breath. The next 10 seconds felt like forever as everypony watched and waited to see what would happen. Then Aperture noticed something spark on Lightning’s wings. His amazement turned to shock. Princess Luna noticed Aperture’s sudden change in tone and asked, “what’s wrong Aperture?’ “Look at Lightning’s wings.” As they both looked at Lightning’s wings, they both gasped. What had started as a spark had turned into lightning that encased Lightning’s wings. They were both surprised at what was happening to Lightning, but he didn’t appear to be in pain. Then from out of nowhere there was a sudden lightning strike and Lightning’s eyes blazed open; but there were not his natural green colored eyes. Now they were bright yellow. In a split second, Lightning had taken off at a remarkable speed. When Lightning moved, he had left a golden trail just like Dash had left a rainbow trail at the beginning of the race. Meanwhile, Dash was just over the halfway mark in the race. She looked back and noticed that Lightning was nowhere to be seen. She started to think that Lightning had not even started the race. She smiled at how easy this race would be. Then she heard a noise behind her. She looked back and nopony was there. She thought she might have just heard something, but when she turned around, she nearly had a heart attack when she heard somepony say “Hey Rainbow Dash!” Dash was shocked. “How…how could you catch up to me this quickly?” Lightning smiled and replied, “I may be the fastest runner in all of Equestria but I am not a bad flier either!” “Wait…what’s that around your wings?” Dash asked. “It’s lightning.” “L…lightning, how have you managed to get lightning around your wings?” “I don’t know but before I set off, my wings spark and lightning forms!” Dash was baffled. “That is weird… but don’t think your light show will keep me from winning this race!” Dash zoomed off towards the finish line leaving Lightning in her dust. “Two can play at this game,” Lightning thought, so he sped up to try and catch Dash, but it was all too late; by the time he had caught up with her, she had crossed the finish line. He carefully lowered himself to the ground. As soon as he stopped moving, the lightning around his wings disappeared and his eyes returned to their natural green color. But before him having enough time to congratulate Dash, he suddenly started to feel woozy and he passed out just after he heard the sound of hooves coming towards him.
Chapter 3: What happened?When Lightning finally woke up, he looked around. He was a little nervous because he didn’t recognize where he was. He was in a bed, and was wearing a white nightgown-type shirt. As he continued to try and look for clues that would reveal his location, he spotted Dash, Aperture, and Luna talking to… a nurse? Suddenly, it hit him; he was in the hospital in Canterlot. He tried to remember exactly what happened in the race the day before, but he couldn’t remember anything about yesterday. It was as if yesterday never happened. Dash, Aperture, and Luna cantered over him after talking with the nurse pony. “Dash! Aperture! Princess Luna! Boy, am I glad to see you,” Lightning said with a smile on his face. “It’s great to see you too. You look like you’re getting better!” Aperture replied. “What happened?” Lightning asked. “Well, you passed out. After the race,” Dash answered. Lightning looked up at the pegasus with confusion. “Passed out? What do you mean?” “Lightning during the race, you managed to catch up to me. I still don’t know HOW you did that, I’ve never seen anypony move that fast…” “But that’s not all.” Aperture gave Dash a nudge. “What is it? What happened?” Lightning asked. ‘When you were at my side, I noticed that your wings were… I mean, they looked like they were encased in lightning. And you didn’t seem to feel it,” Dash explained. “Oh… that. I have to tell you guys something.” Lightning said. “Yes, please do,” Aperture added, “Even as a scientist, I’m lost.” Lightning took a deep breath, and then began: “Okay, when I was a young colt, I had always had a fascination with lightning; I found that it soothed me when I was ever angry, or sad. It just calmed me down, and it seemed to speak to me on an emotional level. Still does. But one day… something happened… and I was hit by lightning. Ever since then, I feel like there’s electricity coursing through my blood, and whenever I get nervous, it seems to come out and take over my body.” “What happened? When did this start?” Aperture asked. “It happened when I…I…I saw my mother and father get murdered by the brutal Seventh Sanctum,” Lightning replied, trying his hardest to fight back the tears in his eyes “The Seventh Sanctum?” Aperture asked. Luna stopped her student. “Please Aperture, let’s not interrogate our friend. Now, Lightning, are you comfortable with telling us what happened?” Lightning nodded took a second to gather his emotions, and then started, “It was a peaceful day; my family and I were out having a day together when…something happened. All I heard was screams. None of my siblings had a clue what was happening. That’s when I saw them—the Seventh Sanctum were holding my mother and father down. One of them pulled out a knife. They killed my father first. My mother saw us, and… and she told us to run. Those Seventh Sanctum thugs saw us and started chasing after me and my siblings. “They were about to grab hold of me, I was suddenly struck by lightning. I don’t remember much of what happened, but when it happened, it got so bright that it managed to stun the Seventh Sanctum and my siblings and I got away—me with remarkable speed. “That’s how I got this ability. It’s only on rare occasions that this happens, and yesterday was only the second time it happened.” Lightning finished his story. Aperture couldn’t hold in his question anymore, “And who is this Seventh Sanctum?” This time Luna replied, “The Seventh Sanctum… they are the brutes that Celestia and I had to imprison because they were a threat to everypony. They did many things, but one of the worst things they did was living pony sacrifices. They are an evil cult, and we worked hard to make sure they never see another living pony outside of their prisons.” “It’s great to know that they’re imprisoned now,” Lightning replied. “So now I have a question of my own; what happened to me after the race?” Dash was quick to answer Lightning, “After the race, Twilight Sparkle alerted us to the fact that your were unconscious and not moving.” “Who’s Twilight Sparkle?” Lightning asked. “She is Princess Celestia’s apprentice, and a really good friend of mine,” Dash said. “Oh, and that reminds me—after you get better, Twilight wants you to come to Ponyville to see her.” “That’s sounds great… but I would also like Aperture to come on the tour as well,” Lightning said as he looked over to his friend. “Is that ok with you, Rainbow Dash?” Aperture asked. “I don’t see why not… I’ll show you both the different places around Ponyville!” Dash replied eagerly. “Thank you Dash!” Aperture and Lightning replied in unison. Luna looked out the window, and noticed how low the sun was in the sky. “Aperture, I need to go back to the castle and raise the moon. When you are done talking to Lightning, please come back.” And with that, Luna disappeared in a flash of blue smoke. “How is it for you being Princess Luna’s apprentice Aperture?” Lightning asked. “It’s going very well, I’m learning a lot!” Aperture replied. “Oh, and before I forget, I have a group of friends that are willing to meet you.” “Really?” Aperture asked. “Yeah, they are some of my best friends and I believe they will be great friends to you too” Lightning told his friend, who was smiling wider than Lightning ever saw him smile. “This is great! I can’t wait to meet them!” Aperture said with excitement on his face. Lightning started to think about his friends. He was wondering how they were doing because he hadn’t seen them in over a year. All he knows was that Kestrel was still living at Cloudsdale and that he was being trained to be a Wonderbolt by Crimson Thunder. Lightning looked over to Dash and asked, “Do you know a Wonderbolt trainer named Crimson Thunder?” Crimson Thunder was the famous Wonderbolt-turned-flight-trainer that was responsible for teaching most of the current Wonderbolts; in fact, his last protégé was Rainbow Dash herself. He also happened to be Lightning’s brother. Dash was busy thinking about what she would show the two in Ponyville and missed most of the ongoing conversation. However, when she heard this name, she snapped out of her trance; she was shocked and asked, “Of course I do! How do you know him?” Lightning replied, “Well, he’s kinda… my brother.’ “Crimson’s— you mean that you…oh my gosh, I never would have guessed! Your brother is Crimson…” Dash said, awestruck. “I’ve heard a lot about this Crimson Thunder, that he was one of the best Wonderbolts. I never knew that you two were related, though. What’s he like?” Aperture asked. “He is the best Wonderbolt teacher in all of Equestria! He trained all of the legendary Wonderbolts when they were younger and he even got to teach Dash!” Lightning replied. “He’s really nice, but you probably don’t know much about him, Dash. When he teaches, it’s like he’s a different pony—like a drill sergeant.” “You sure got that right!” Dash chimed in. “But when he isn’t teaching, he’s friendly, sociable, and kind of a prankster.” After getting over her initial shock, Dash had the chance to say, “I can’t believe that Crimson is your brother. I should have known, he was always talking about his little brother…” Just as Lightning was about to answer, he noticed that another pegasus just walked into the room. He looked very closely and noticed that it was his brother. His brother’s body was an electric blue colour but his mane and tail were crimson red. His cutie mark was a winged lightning bolt, which matched the Wonderbolt logo perfectly. That was how he knew he was destined to be the greatest Wonderbolt in history. “Crimson! It’s great to see you!” Lightning shouted. Crimson smiled kindly at his brother. “It’s great to see you as well, brother. Especially after so long.” “How’s life in Cloudsdale?” Lightning asked. “Haha, it’s great, there are a lot of pegasi there that have the potential to become Wonderbolts one day, and I’m keeping really busy training them all!” Crimson replied with a laugh. “Wow… Crimson, I would like you to meet Aperture,” Lightning replied, motioning over to the pony on the other side of the bed. Aperture was so amazed that there was an ex-Wonderbolt in the room that he didn’t realize that he was being introduced. Lightning reached out and shook his friend to grab his attention. Crimson looked at Aperture and said, “It is a pleasure to meet you Aperture. Any friend of Lightning’s is a friend of mine!” Aperture replied, “It is a pleasure to meet you too.” “Thank you, but I should be getting Lightning home after what happened. I don’t think he’ll be able to do anything else for the rest of the day and I know I could take care of my brother better if I took him back to my house. Besides, the doctors are still trying to figure out where the lightning came from!” After Crimson said that, Aperture left to report back to Luna in the Canterlot palace. Dash went back to hanging out with the other Wonderbolts and Crimson took Lightning home so he could rest and get back to full health.
Chapter 4: The TourIt was another beautiful day in Equestria. Aperture was practicing his magic and Dash was trying out a new trick for part of the Wonderbolt routine. As for Lightning, he was still asleep in his bed until Crimson introduced a bucket of water to his face. Lightning shot up from his sleep to see Crimson rolling on the floor. Lightning asked, “What are you laughing at brother?” He was still so tired he didn’t noticing that his mane and face was wet. Crimson replied, “Oh, it’s nothing,” trying his hardest not to laugh even louder. Lightning shifted in his bed when he noticed a few water droplets go past his eyes. He lifted up his hoof and touched his mane. “Wait…what, was that you? Did you splash water in my face?” “Well…I had to wake you up one way or another,” Crimson answered in between laughs. “So you decided to use ice cold water?” “Yeah, pretty much!” “Why did you wake me up anyway?” Crimson replied, “Well…I need to see if you have gotten back to full health. You seem to be fine, except for some excessive sweatiness!” He fell back to the floor laughing. “Oh yeah, haha. So now what?” asked Lightning as he rolled out of the bed. “I’ll need to see how far you’ve recovered… I think the best way to do that is to have a little race. What do you say, little brother?” Lightning replied, “No doubt that I will win.” Crimson gave his brother a smirk. “Oh really? Then let’s see how great you are.” “See you outside in a bit, got to go dry my mane because SOMEPONY splashed water on my face!” Lightning bringing up his wet mane again made Crimson burst out in laughter and he replied, “See you outside soon, brother.” After a few minutes passed, Lightning was finally ready to race his brother. He flew outside to meet up with Crimson for the race and asked, “So, where exactly are we racing to?” Crimson replied, “I was thinking that we race to the Rainbow Factory and back to here.” Lightning replied, “Okay, just try and keep up!” “I see you still have your competitive edge.” “Well yeah, most of the time I can be competitive. You have to be when you’re a Wonderbolt!” “Okay, I guess you’re ready.” “Of course I am.” “Then let’s start… on your marks… get set… go!” and with that both Lightning and Crimson shot off. Both of them were great flyers, neither one of them knew who was going to win. The two pegasi were neck and neck, and neither of them wanted to lose. Suddenly, Crimson dove under the clouds. But Lightning would not be distracted, he was determined to win! Besides, if Crimson was planning on taking the long way, then he would—A puff of smoke hit Lightning square in the muzzle. Crimson came back up ahead of Lightning. “What’s wrong, baby brother, did I hurt you?” Crimson said as he turned around and flew off to the Rainbow Factory. That punk! Lightning thought to himself. But he wasn’t about to let his brother win so easily. He flew off behind his brother, and tried to catch up to him before he made it to the Rainbow Factory. Approaching the Rainbow Factory fast, Crimson was afraid that this race was going to be too easy. He decided to add a challenge be weaving through the cloud pillar of the factory. Halfway through the factory, he felt a tap on his left wing. He looked over. Nothing. He looked to his right. Lightning was right there! “Hey bro, what’s up?” Lightning asked as he smacked him right into a cloud pillar. POOF! Crimson was stuck. Now that Crimson had been taken care of, Lightning easily made his way back to the finish line. Even when Crimson caught up, Lightning had tired his brother out enough to take the win. Lightning beat Crimson by a few seconds. They both carefully lowered themselves down to the ground. Lightning said, “I told you I would beat you, cheater!” Crimson was breathing heavily, but managed to say, “You’re the cheater! But anyway, how do you feel?” “A little tired, but other than that, I feel fine! What time is it?” Lightning asked. “Good, good… oh, and it’s about noon.” “Wait…what?” “It’s noon,” Crimson repeated. “Damn it!” “What’s wrong?” “Remember when Dash said she would give me and Aperture a tour of Ponyville?” “Um…yeah?” Crimson replied. “Well, I’m supposed to meet Dash and Aperture at noon and now I’m late,” Lightning replied anxiously. “You best get going then; don’t want to keep your girlfriend waiting!” Crimson responded with a snicker. “Thanks, I’ll see you later, and she’s not my girlfriend!” And with that Lightning sped off to go and meet up with Dash and Aperture. On the way there he couldn’t help but wonder if Aperture and Dash would be annoyed with him if he was late. Would Dash make him train harder? What would happen with his and Aperture’s newfound friendship? He reached the centre of the village where Dash and Aperture were waiting. “Hey Dash, hey Aperture. Sorry I kept you waiting, had to do something before I got here.” “I didn’t mind waiting,” Aperture replied. “Just a question, what did you have to do that was so important?” Dash asked. “I was racing my brother Crimson,” Lightning replied. “I thought I saw two pegasi racing around,” Dash commented. “Yeah, and then I realized I was late and had to rush here,” Lightning said in an apologetic tone. “Did you win?” “Yes, of course I did!” “Then that’s all that matters!” Dash exclaimed with a wink. “Now, let’s get on with the tour!” “This is the town centre,” as Dash gestured towards the centre that was full of ponies hanging out and talking to each other. Aperture and Lightning then followed Dash to a shop called “Sugar Cube Corner.” They walked inside to be greeted by a lovely smell of cakes and pies and confectionaries; it was truly something that couldn’t be forgotten, it was the sort of smell that makes you want to just stand inside and not move at all. Just then a pink pony came out of nowhere and started to bounce around Aperture and Lightning. Dash called out, “Pinkie Pie, will you calm down?” “Pinkie Pie, I think I remember you… were you the pink pony I saw at the beginning of the race?” Lightning replied. “Yup! She’s the one and only!” Dash replied. “So what do you do then Pinkie?” Aperture asked. “Well…whenever there are new ponies in town, I always greet them and throw them a party,” Pinkie informed them with sheer excitement on her face. “Oh, and that reminds me!” She reached behind the counter and grabbed a box. “Go ahead and open it!” Lightning slowly opened the box. Confetti blasted out onto his face. Inside was two enormous slices of cake that Lightning assumed was for him and Aperture. On each slice was written in frosting; “Welcome to Ponyville!” “Wow, we should have that party someday!” Aperture replied. ‘Yeah, we will, silly! But Rainbow Dash told me that you two were REEEEEALLY busy with the tour, so we can’t do it today, unless we do it at night time, but if we do it at night time, then ponies might accidentally fall asleep which would not be fun, because then some mischievious ponies might draw on their face, or steal their slice of cake—Can you imagine?” Pinkie gasped at the though. “Hey, Pinkie Pie, aren’t you working on something?” “OHMYGOSH you’re right! Gotta go!” Then as fast as Pinkie Pie appeared, she disappeared without anyone knowing. “Right, well that was…strange…” Aperture said “Where are we off to next?” asked Lightning. “Next we’ll go to Sweet Apple Acres!” Dash replied. They walked out of the shop and headed to Sweet Apple Acres. On the way there, Lightning and Aperture started to chat to each other. Aperture said, “So, what do you think about that Pinkie Pie?” Lightning replied, “I don’t know, but the smell in the shop was absolutely amazing. I didn’t even want to leave but we have the tour to do.” “I’m just happy to be learning about Ponyville, this tour is helping me a lot.” “It is really interesting.” Finally, Dash, Aperture, and Lightning reached Sweet Apple Acres. Lightning and Aperture noticed that in the centre of the huge apple orchard was a big red barn. “This is where Applejack and her brother Big Mac live. Some more good friends of mine!” Dash said. “I’ve read about this place…this is where all the apples come from then?” Aperture asked. “Sure is!” came a voice behind them. Just then an orange pony trotted out of the orchard and started coming towards Lightning and Aperture. “Howdy there newcomers!” AJ said with excitement. “And what are your names?” Aperture was the first to reply. “My name is Aperture.” “That’s a strange name for a pony, but pleasure to meet ya!” AJ replied as she shook his hoof. Lightning introduced himself next. “My name is Lightning Blaze, but I prefer to be called Lightning.” “I guess your job has something to do with lightning?” AJ asked. “You can say that…” Lightning replied slyly. Just then a red pony trotted out of the barn towing a cart full of apples. As he walked past he told AJ that he was taking the apples to the town centre. “Before you go Big Mac, I’d like you to meet Aperture and Lightning,” AJ replied. “Howdy!” Big Mac replied looking like he wanted to go to sleep. “This is my brother Nicolas Macintosh but most folk call him Big Mac,” AJ said. “It’s great to meet you Big Macintosh!” said Aperture. “Eeyup.” Big Mac then continued with pulling the cart of apples towards the town centre. AJ waved goodbye to Aperture and Lightning as they set off to the next part of the tour. “Where are we off to now?” Aperture asked. Dash replied, “Now we are going to the library.” “Great!” Aperture replied. On the way to the library, they went passed a clothes shop. Outside the shop was a white unicorn with a long purple mane. “Oh, guys, that’s Rarity. She is Ponyville’s best fashion designer. If we are lucky, we’ll be able to go over and talk to her, if she’s not busy”, Dash explained. She trotted over to her. “Hey, Rarity!” “Hello there Rainbow Dash. Who are your new friends?” Rarity asked as she gestured towards Lightning and Aperture. Lightning and Aperture overheard Rarity ask Dash who they were, so they went over to introduce themselves. Aperture was the first to introduce himself. “Hello, Rarity, my name is Aperture. I am Princess Luna’s apprentice and a scientist pony.” “Charmed! And who are you?” “My name is Lightning Blaze but I prefer to be called Lightning. I’m the newest wonderbolt.” Rarity replied, “Wonderbolt, that’s exciting! Well, it’s a pleasure to meet both of you.” “We better get on with the rest of the tour.” Dash commented. “Okay,” Lightning and Aperture replied. As they were leaving, Rarity said, “Lightning, Aperture, come back her anytime if you want something designing or if you want a makeover.” “We’ll think about it…” Aperture called back. After they finally set off from visiting the clothes shop and a few more minutes later, Dash, Aperture and Lightning finally got to the library. As they walked inside, Aperture’s face lit up; there were books everywhere! They were perfectly organized and stacked on shelves. He thought to himself, I could really learn a lot about Equestria here. Around the corner they found a purple pony with a purple and pink mane was stacking shelves using her magic. Dash called out her name; “Hey there, Twilight!” Twilight replied, “Hey Dash, how’s the life of being a Wonderbolt?” “Oh, it’s great being a Wonderbolt! It’s even better now that we have a younger Wonderbolt joining us,” Dash answered as she gestured towards Lightning. “This is the Wonderbolt who had a race against you…are you feeling okay?” Twilight asked. ‘Yeah, he feels great! This kid is tough, one of the toughest fliers I’ve seen… besides myself!” Dash replied. “Thanks,” Lightning replied, trying to hide a blush. Aperture noticed that Lightning was trying to hide a blush. Why was he blushing? It wasn’t hot in here, and he wasn’t sick, so it must be— “Lightning, do you like Dash or something?” Aperture whispered. “What? No…maybe. I’ll tell you later. Keep it a secret for a bit, I will tell her later. I don’t want her finding out, though, okay?” “Ok, I promise that I will keep it a secret.” Aperture replied. “Thank you,” Lightning said, as the two turned back to the conversation they were having before. After that Aperture and Lightning were glad that Dash hadn’t overheard their quiet conversation. Dash was too busy catching up with Twilight that neither of the mares noticed. After catching up, Dash turned to Lightning and said, “Lightning, you know that Twilight was the one who alerted us that you had passed out.” Lightning replied, “Yeah… thank you again Twilight.” Twilight replied. “You’re welcome. Lightning would you be able to come back soon so I can find out what happened to you.” “Yeah, I will come back soon”, Lightning replied. “So are we ready to go on with the next part of the tour?” Aperture asked. “Yeah, the next place we are going to is Fluttershy’s animal rescue and care centre. You’ve met Fluttershy before, too Lightning!” Dash told the other pegasus. “Okay, lead the way!” Aperture replied. Dash, Aperture and Lightning left the library and headed towards Fluttershy’s animal care home. When they finally got there, Aperture and Lightning noticed a cottage wrapped in ivy and completely let out for nature. “This is Fluttershy’s house. She takes care of the animals here, and she uses it as an animal rescue and care centre for all the animals here,” Dash explained. They looked in the house and noticed that it was full of a wide range of animals—from bunnies and birds to fish and even snakes. From behind Dash, Aperture and Lightning they heard a quiet voice. “Hello Rainbow Dash and Lightning. And who is this?” as she gestured to Aperture very shyly. “My name is Aperture.” “You’re…you’re the one who I heard is really good at using magic.” “Yeah, that’s me! It is great to meet you,” Aperture replied. This seemed to make Fluttershy feel a bit better and she managed to smile back. “There is one more place for us to go to on this tour,” Dash added. “Meet me outside the library just before it gets dark and I’ll show you.” “Okay!” Lightning and Aperture replied. Meanwhile… It was another dark day in the jail cell. He couldn’t remember the last time he saw the sun. Even though he felt his sanity leaving him every day, he couldn’t be calmer. Every day that passed only meant that it was coming closer. The little hatch on the bottom of the door slid open and a platter of cracked wheat slid through. “Dinner,” came the voice from the other side. A smile came to his face as he ate the food. Another day gone. All this waiting would be worth it in the long run. He came up from his food, and uttered one word; “Soon.”
Chapter 5: Best Night EverIt was the middle of the night, and tomorrow was going to be a busy day for Lightning… but he didn’t care; he would stay awake all night if he had to. He had to wait for Crimson to come back, so he could get sweet revenge! He knew that Crimson got back from teaching really late, so all he had to do was wait for Crimson to walk in. Minutes passed and Lightning felt droopy. An hour passed… two hours… he left the trap at the door and went to lie down on the couch for a second, “Oh, this is going to be so sweet!” Lightning thought sleepily to himself, “Next time he’ll think twice before splashing water in my face!” Lightning was still on the couch awaiting the return of his brother when he decided to take a quick nap. As his eyes finally closed, the front door opened and all Lightning heard was a crash and a thud. He peeked up from the head of the couch to the pale figure of his brother in the kitchen, covered in flour. He couldn’t help but just burst out in laughter. Crimson overheard Lightning’s laughter and trotted over to him. “Lightning…did you do this?” Crimson asked looking slightly annoyed. “Me? Noo!” Lightning answered, his voice full of sarcasm. “Well, who else could have done it?” “Maybe the Boogeypony?” Lightning broke out in laughter again. “Why did you do this?” Crimson asked. “You honestly think that I was going to forgive you that easily for the bucket of water?” Lightning replied. “Honestly, I hoped you would have forgotten about it…” Crimson muttered. “I can’t let that go until I get you back… which I did! Anyway, you had a great day of teaching?” Shaking off some of the flour, Crimson answered, “Yeah yeah, I did… actually, there is one pegasus that is coming close to becoming the next Wonderbolt.” “And who’s that?” Lightning asked. “It’s your good friend Kestrel.” “Kestrel? Are you telling me that I could be working with Kestrel soon?” “Don’t say anything quite yet, but if Kestrel continues the way he is…yeah!” Crimson replied. Lightning thought about the possibility that he could be working side by side with his old friend. He hadn’t seen him in over a year; it would be great to catch up. “That’s going to be awesome!” Lightning looked at his watch and noticed the time. Had he really been asleep for that long? It was nearly midnight, and he had told Rainbow Dash and Aperture that he would meet them at the library 12:15 for the final part of Rainbow Dash’s tour. He had to get to the library in 10 minutes. “Anyway, Crimson, I’ve gotta go meet up with Dash and Aperture. See you later; hopefully you will be cleaned up by then!” Lightning was laughing even more now that he had brought up Crimson being covered in flour. “Shut up!” Crimson responded as he pushed Lightning out the door and slammed the door in his face. After that, Lightning left to go and meet Dash and Aperture. He found them in front of the library, just as they discussed earlier. Dash and Aperture were already waiting so Lightning was glad that now he was on time. “Hey Dash! Hey Aperture! I’m not late for once, can you believe it?” “Yeah, I can.” “So where are we off to for the last part of the tour, Dash?” Lightning asked. “Well…I’m not going to tell you yet, I’ll let you and Aperture find out for yourselves.” Dash replied. As they set off, to go to their destination, Lightning leaned over to Aperture. “Hey, Aperture; do you have a clue on where we’re going?” “Not a clue, but with it being so dark, I get a feeling that it’s going to be somewhere inside. I hope it’s worth it.” Rainbow Dash butted in. “Oh, it will be!” The caravan continued to walk. “Why don’t we watch the moon rise some time?” Aperture asked. “Yeah, sure. We’ll do that tomorrow!” Dash replied. Minutes passed as the group continued to walk through the town. Lightning and Aperture were about to ask if they were lost until they noticed a big sign that said Club Pon-3 across from the Ponyville Market. Lightning asked, “Hey Dash…is that…” “Sure is!” Dash replied. “It’s the best Club in Equestria. If you’re lucky, you might see Photo Finish or Sapphire Sparkles visit, they love to come here!” “I can’t believe that were actually going to Club Pon-3, I’ve always wanted to go there when I was younger but I never had a chance.” Rainbow smiled. “Well…this will be your first time! And Aperture: there are a lot of ponies that come here that you will be able to talk to.” “That’s great! I can’t meet many ponies in the Canterlot archives, you know!” Aperture replied with excitement. “We best get inside before anypony else, its better when you’re the first there,” Dash said as she dragged the other two towards the doors. They reached Club Pon-3 just as the doors opened. As they walked into the Club, Lightning’s face was full of amazement. There were streamers hanging from the rafters, glitter across the floor, and a bar to the side of the building ready for anypony who wanted a glass of the Smith Family’s Famous Cider. Lights were flashing. Warm-up music was thumping. Lightning felt like he had achieved a childhood dream. In the far corner of the club there was a podium with mixing equipment on it; next to that was a marble white unicorn warming up the turntables for a busy night. “Dash, is that who I think it is?” Aperture asked. “Sure is! Vinyl Scratch: the best DJ in Equestria!” “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Aperture replied bouncing up and down. ‘I can’t believe that I’m actually in the same building as Vinyl Scratch.” “We best get a table before they are all gone,” Dash informed Lightning and Aperture. They found a table that was close to the speakers still not taken, and sat down. An hour passed and the club was full of party ponies ready to dance the night away. The three ponies talked and drank at their table for some time. Lightning then leaned over to his friend, and politely asked, “Hey, Aperture, think you can give Dash and me a moment?” Aperture disappeared into the pony dance floor before Lightning even noticed he was gone. Now Lightning and Rainbow Dash were the only two at the table. The thought crossed his mind—“Well, it’s now or never!” “Pretty busy here tonight, Dash.” Come on, what kind of opener is that? Am I here to discuss the weather with her? “Yeah, it’s always busy at Club Pon-3,” Dash replied. She looked at him with her eyes… those deep purple eyes… snap out of it Lightning! You gotta focus! “I can’t believe that it’s my first time here but I’m enjoying it. Spending time with you…”—Watch it Lightning, too forward—“…and Aperture! My best friends!” Friend? FRIEND?????? Dash’s eyes drooped a little bit. “Yeah… friends.” Lightning, what are you doing?!?!?! “I mean, not friends…” You’re losing her Lightning! Do something quick! “Uh, Dash, I have something to tell you.” “What is it?” Dash asked, her eyes lighting up again. Lightning took a few seconds to gather up his courage. No turning back now. “I…I…overtimeIhavestartedtodevelopfeelingsforyouandIjustwantyoutoknow!” The silence was killing Lightning. Fear about what Dash would say to him, thinking about what he just said…he was so scared, he was holding his breath. He felt a hoof on his back and remembered that Rainbow was still here. She leaned over closer to him. Her answer was one he never expected to hear after his confession, and caught him by surprise; “Didn’t quite catch that, what’d you say?” Lightning took a deep breath. “I think I like you. Like really like you.” “Really? Wow, that’s…sweet! Why didn’t you tell me before?” “I tried before, but I didn’t know what you would think.” “I wouldn’t have been mad at you… you aren’t too bad yourself!” Lightning felt a spark of hope. “So does that mean you feel the same way?” Suddenly, the voice of Vinyl Scratch filled the club. “Fillies and gentlecolts! Think you got moves? Come show them off on the dance floor!” “C’mon Lightning. You got moves, right?” Lightning sighed. Dammit, she avoided the question! “Of course I do! Just watch me!” “Good luck!” Dash replied with a look of intrigue at Lightning, and what he could do. Lightning felt like there was more than just bragging rights on the line here. Dash and Lightning trotted over to the rainbow-tiled dance floor. Lightning noticed that there was already another pony waiting in the circle, probably for the dance-off. He inspected the pony and noticed that it was another pegasus. The other pegasus looked like he was waiting for somepony to come onto the dance floor; Lightning saw the opportunity to show Dash his moves and entered the circle. “It’s about time somepony came onto the dance floor— Lightning?” the voice asked from the other side of the dance floor. “Wait…I know that voice…can it be...” Lightning looked over and, sure enough, there stood his good friend Kestrel. “Kestrel…what are you doing here?” Kestrel heard Lightning’s voice and replied “It is you Lightning! It’s been over a year since we had last seen each other. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you here before, I’m here every time that there is a dance competition.” “Well, I still like to dance, but with me being a Wonderbolt—“ “Enough talk, time to dance!” Vinyl screamed as she started the music. “You may be a Wonderbolt, but don’t think you are winning this dance off!” Kestrel jeered. “You’d be surprised; a lot has changed in the past year. You go first then; don’t want to show you up in front of everypony straight away.” “Still cocky as ever, huh? Ok then, watch this!” Kestrel replied. As Vinyl Scratch dropped the bass, Kestrel began dancing using some moves that even amazed Lightning. Pulling off headspins like a pro and then switching into a flawless windmill with style that intimidated Lightning. He then ended in a perfectly executed suicide corkscrew that left the crowd in an uproar. Lightning couldn’t believe that Kestrel was dancing like that! Kestrel stopped, looked at Lightning with his mouth agape, and taunted, “Try and beat that, Lightning!” Lightning trotted to the middle of the dance floor. He had no idea Kestrel could dance like that; did he have anything that could compare? Maybe it would be better if he just gave up now and save himself the embarrassment. “Hey, Lightning!” Lightning turned around and saw Rainbow Dash and Aperture standing behind him on the rim of the dance circle. “Come on, you can do it!” Aperture reassured his friend. “And Lightning, if you win this I’ll give you an answer!” His body moved almost on its own as soon as Dash promised him an answer. He got in his starting position to get ready to dance, as soon as Vinyl Scratch dropped the bass again, Lightning began to dance. He started to use moves that nopony had seen before. Kestrel looked on as his face went from a smile to shock. He was shocked that Lightning was using different but more complex moves than he was, but then his expression on his face turned to amazement. Lightning felt like he could do no wrong; his windmills moved faster, his headspins lasted longer than Kestrel’s, and he added his own signature moves, like swipes and halos. Lightning was nearly about to use his final dance move when he noticed Dash watching; she was looking right at him, and even Lightning could tell that she was amazed by his skill. She was impressed! Dash noticed Lightning stealing a glance at her, and she gave him a wink. He stopped in the middle of his move, winked back at Dash, and then finished the dance with a leap into the air, two corkscrew flips and a one-hoof landing that he pulled off perfectly. Everypony cheered when Lightning had finished. “Told you I would beat you Kestrel,” Lightning said with a smile on his face. “Damn it, looks like you have changed in over a year. Well done Lightning.” “You too, Kestrel. Anyway I’m going to go and talk to Dash.” “Dash? You mean ‘the fastest Wonderbolt in Equestria’ Dash?” “The one and only!” Lightning replied, “I even got to race against her.” “You mean THAT was you? I was watching, but I didn’t realize it was YOU Lightning! All I saw was Dash at first, but minutes later you bolted straight past me so fast, all I saw was a blur.” “Yeah, that was me! Anyway, I gotta go over to Dash now, I’ll see you later Kestrel!” “Yeah, you too Lightning,” Kestrel replied. Kestrel disappeared into the crowd, and Lightning trotted over to Dash. “I see you enjoyed watching me dance?” “Are you kidding? That was amazing! How did you manage to do all those cool moves?” Dash asked. Lightning smiled shyly. “Before I became a Wonderbolt, I was kinda into freestyle dance.” “Freestyle dance?” “Basically, everything that you saw out there. It’s a hip-hop dance, came from Furlong Island in Manehatten, you know.” “Awesome,” Dash said, grabbing his hoof and yanking it towards her. “Why don’t we go back to our table and relax for a bit?” Dash asked. “Yeah sure,” Lightning replied. They walked back to their table and sat down, Lightning was ready to ask the question once more when all of a sudden, Dash leaned over and rested her head on Lightning’s shoulder. Lightning looked at Dash but couldn’t help but just smile. He didn’t need an answer now; this was good enough! He felt like he had impressed her a lot tonight. Minutes passed and Lightning noticed that Dash’s eyes started to close. “Hey Dash…are you tired?” Dash replied, “Yeah.” “Would you like me to help you get home?” “That would be great,” as Dash let out a yawn. “Let’s go then.” As they were on there way out of the club, Lightning spotted Aperture still on the dance floor. Lightning shouted, “Hey Aperture!” Aperture overhearing Lightning’s shout came straight over to him. “What’s wrong Lightning?” “Nothing’s wrong, just letting you know that I’m helping Dash go home,” Lightning replied. “I assume you’re going to stay here?” “Are you kidding? I have to stay, I’m having a blast! I’ve met nearly everypony here! Like there’s this one guy Kestrel, who…” “Okay Aperture, have fun! I’ll see you later!” “Yeah, see ya!” Aperture replied, returning to the dance floor. As Lightning and Dash left the club Lightning asked her, “Are you okay to fly or would you like me to carry you home?” “Could you carry me home?” Dash replied, her eyes barely open anymore. She was either really tired or really wanted Lightning to carry her. Either way, he didn’t mind. “Anything for you Dash, just climb onto my back,” Lightning said. Dash sluggishly climbed onto Lightning’s back. As Lightning started to fly to Dash’s home, he couldn’t help but look at the night that Luna had made, it was truly spectacular. Lightning began to think to himself on how great this night has been, how he managed to gather up the courage to tell Dash that he likes her, that there are memories made tonight that will not be forgotten. 5 minutes passed and Lightning had finally reached Dash’s home. “Dash, we’re here,” Lightning whispered to Dash. Dash slowly rolled off Lightning’s back and onto the cloud underneath them. “Thank you Lightning, tonight was amazing,” Dash said. “Yeah it was,” Lightning replied. Lightning was just about to leave when he noticed that Dash was nuzzled up against his neck, Lightning nuzzled her back, and they both felt that this was not a night to forget. After they had finished nuzzling their eyes met. Lightning stared into Dash’s rose coloured eyes while Dash stared into Lightning’s light green eyes. Lightning never noticed just how deep her eyes seemed to go. He thought that all those ponies were over exaggerating when they talked about being lost in another pony’s eyes, but now he knew that it was true. Not only that, but he felt like he could stay here forever with Dash. He really liked her, and even if she didn’t quite say so, she definitely felt something for him, too. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, when Rainbow Dash broke the stare and found the front door. “I’ll see you tomorrow Dash!” Lightning said from on Cloud Nine. “I can’t wait Lightning.” Dash let out another long yawn. “Just make sure to get some sleep!” Lightning reminded her as the door closed. As soon as Dash went into her home, he realized that he was starting to fall asleep, so he sped off to get home quickly before exhaustion overcame him mid-flight. As soon as he got home, he flew straight to his bed and went to sleep with a lot of memories from this night—the best night ever. It was another dark day in the jail cell. Officer Sundance was checking the cells before he turned off the lights for the night. He had no idea why he had to, though. No prisoner ever escaped, or even attempted. One of the guards shouted, “Whatever it is you are doing, I order you to stop!” It was the newest recruit Deputy Fife. “Don’t let these freaks get in your head, Fife. Besides, this guy is one of our oldest friends.” “Hello again Sundance. Did you admit that we’re friends? I’m flattered…” came a cold voice from the dark shadows in the cell. Even for Sundance, his voice gave him nightmares almost every night. “Oh, shut it. You’re going to stay in your cell for the rest of your pathetic life.” “You honestly think bars of iron will stop my work?” As they were talking, Deputy Fife didn’t notice a key magically float off his belt and into a jail cell. “Haven’t you realized that Riptide’s cell is empty?” Fife went over to Riptide’s jail cell, and screamed, “He isn’t here!” “Where is he?” “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you… but first, a song.” The pony came out of the shadows and approached Sundance from the other side of the bar. The prisoner had a grey body covered in scars with a ripped and ruffled crimson red and jet black mane and tail. His cutie mark, if any sane pony could call it that, was a pile of skulls dripping with blood. He lifted his head and eyed Sundance with his blood-red eyes. “Ring around the Sundance, carrying a small lance...” “No conditions! Where is Riptide?” “Ashes. Ashes.” “CUT THE CRAP, WHERE IS HE?” Suddenly, Fife let out a blood-curling scream. “They all fall down.” A knife protruded from Fife’s chest. When the knife receded, the pony fell lifeless to the floor. Behind him was the pony in question; an earth pony who had two different shades of grey on his body. He had a ruffled jet black mane and tail and a mark of a skull and crossbones on his flank. “Riptide, do your worst; show this pathetic guard why you should never mess with The Seventh Sanctum.” “It will be done,” as the psychotic pony ran full force. A few slashes and dismembered body parts later, Riptide was the only living pony standing in the hallway. “Now, why don’t you unlock the door for our brother Chalosk?” “Yes, master.” After Riptide opened the cell across the hallway, another pony came out. The other pony was a unicorn with a grey and black pattern that many confused with a zebra—that is, if zebras had a dark red mane and tail. Streaks of black accented the dark red of his tail, giving him the appearance of a pony that was skinned and rotting. On his flank was a burning scroll. Chalosk looked down at the ground. “You know, it’s been forever since I’ve had fresh meat…” “Chalosk, use your magic to unlock the cell doors and chains. Then you can feast.” As the unicorn unlocked the chains that bound their leader and Riptide opened the other cells revealing more and more of the cult members, he began to talk again; “Finally our day has come. We are free; it is time for us to hunt. We have all the souls we need, except for two ponies that have escaped us once; they go by the name of Lightning Blaze and Crimson Thunder. Their father and mother provided their souls, but without these two, our offering will be insufficient.” He stepped around Chalosk as he was feasting on the remains of Sundance, and approached two ponies. The two ponies were both pegasi. One had a dark red body with a grey and black mane and tail. His cutie mark was a blood red skull with a lightning bolt through it on his flank. The other pegasi was jet black with a red mane. Her cutie mark depicted a blood-covered raven. “Dark Fury, Ravenblood! Hunt down our friends and bring them back to our hideout.” “Sure thing,” as they both replied in unison. “Everypony else, let’s get out of here.” The leader of the Sanctum muttered, “It’s only a matter of time before we get you Lightning.”
