The Legend of Lightning Ace: Childhood

by LightningAce7

Ponyville Elementary Play

One month later...

Lightning and the others had enrolled at the Ponyville schoolhouse, as school time had come. The season had grown late, and the trees reflected this as their leaves began to change colors. The air started to carry a very slight chill to it, signifying the approach of the famous 'Running of the Leaves' in which a race is held to assist the leaves in falling from the trees. Lightning's wing had made a full recovery a week ago, and he had to practice for a while to get his right wing to be as strong as his left again. Rainbow Dash and Flash helped him, and as that week went by he eventually was back to his former glory. Pinkie had become the life of the group, and Moonlight had become the group's go-to for information. To pay for the up keep of their new home, they had to get jobs around town. Flash and Rainbow Dash had joined the Junior Weather Team, and had the job of helping clear the sky of small clouds and remove fog when necessary. Lightning had gotten a job at Sweet Apple Acres as a farm hoof, though with his small size but flight power he was relegated to doing high-up high dexterity jobs and minor repair jobs.

/////////////////

Lightning woke up to the sound of rain hitting the side of his bedroom window. He got out of bed and trotted over to look outside. The clouds weren't very high above their house, so he couldn't see very far out his window. It was unfortunatly a school day, and he had been up all night doing homework. He packed his school stuff into his saddlebag and went downstairs to find the others doing the same. One could just feel the enthusiasm as the three gave each other some heart felt deadpans and then left for school. As usual Flash and Rainbow went to get Moonlight as Lightning went to get Applejack. They all met at a crossroads that led up to the school house itself. They talked about recent events including Lightning's ability to one again fly as they got to the school. As they entered they beheld a filly dressed in a rather fancy get-up. It was encrusted in jewels of various kinds. She had a white coat with a dark purple mane and tail that had a curl to them. On her flank were three light blue jems arranged in a triangular pattern. Everyone in the room but Flash and Lightning knew her.

"How are you, Rarity?" Moonlight greeted the upper class filly.

"Not too bad though I do wish it weren't raining it does wreck havoc on my mane." Rarity said as she prodded her mane with her hoof.

"I'd like you to meet my new friends, Rarity." Moonlight said. He then motioned to Lightning and the rest of the group. "This is Lightning Ace, Flash Firestorm, Applejack and Pinkie Pie...wait when did you...or rather how did you get here?" Moonlight asked Pinkie Pie, who was hopping up and down in place.

"I walked here silly!" Pinkie said in her usual playful tone.

"Anyway umm...these are my friends." Moonlight continued.

"Nice to meet you everypony. My name is Rarity, and I'm destined to be Ponyville...no...Equestria's premier clothier!" Rarity said. And with an outfit like the one she had on, it was hard not to believe her.

"It's nice to meet you Rarity. I'm new and..." Lightning was interrupted.

"You and your friend Flash are just perfect for the school play!" Rarity suddenly said.

"Wait what?" Lightning and Flash said at the same time.

"You see I was put in charge of costumes for the play and with my talent now obvious to me I know I'll just make you all dazzled! And you two are just absolutely perfect for the pegasus roles! You must be in the play! You must! You must! YOU MUST!!!" Rarity begged, wrapping her forelegs around Flash's foreleg.

"Well I suppose we could but..."

"OH THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! You won't regret it I promise you!" Rarity said, interrupting Flash.

Lightning had a look of shock on his face. "What h...have you d...done!? Me...in a PLAY!? I uhh..." Lightning then started having a panic attack. "Me on s...stage...with everypony staring at me!?" Lightning was getting histyrical.

"Just thought I'd help you find your inner...actor!" Flash said. "After all you ARE still a blank flank. Maybe your special talent is in acting?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Lightning protested. "Even back in Cloudsdale I was and still very much am stage fright."

"Oh don't worry about it darling."Rarity said. "You'll do just fine! This month's play is a recreation of a rather historical Grand Galloping Gala, in which two young stallions thwart a plot to shut the gala down and at the same time find their true loves!" Lightning's face started to implode with embarrassment as thoughts of the cliched lovers kissing at the end came immediately to his mind. "And just wait until you see who is playing the lucky mares! This will be the best play ever!" She finally finished.

Lightning then left a burning trail towards the message board and quickly looked it over. As his eyes scanned the main character area his heart sunk through his chest, all four of his legs started to give and his wings stood straight on end. His vision somewhat blurred as he took a step back as he tried to wrap his mind around it. It was Applejack. The filly that he had a crush on, and has even admitted it to her. He then turned around to find himself face to face with Aj. "Oh ah...ummm...so yeah...you're in the play too..." Lightning nervously said, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Rarity saw your stage fright face and thought that Ah would be a good addition to the play. So she asked the teacher if Ah could also be in it to help..." Applejack's face blushed at the thought of the ending scene. "Ah...also didn't realize that Rarity had arranged for me to be the main filly character..."

They both then blushed at the thought, causing some classmates to chuckle, some even chanting "Lightning and Applejack sitting in a tree..." Which caused them to blush a little more. Thankfully the teacher intervened and returned order to the class. A maroon filly with a pink and light pink mane and tail then turned to Lightning.

"Your welcome, Lightning." She said

"Wait what? Who are you?" Lightning asked the filly.

"I'm Cheerilee! Someday...well I'm not sure what I want to do just yet." Cheerilee said as she looked at her blank flank. "I'll figure it out someday though. Anyway it was me who got the teacher to stop that little display. But I must admit..." Cheerilee giggled. "You two DO make a cute couple."

This only made Lightning blush a little more.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful, besides the occasional crazy antic by Pinkie Pie. It was getting late as Lightning and company found themselves once again at Sugarcube Corner. They were about to enter as they heard a huge crash coming from inside. In a panic Pinkie swooped into her home to find a massive mess of muffin crumbs and empty muffin boxes strewn about the main business room. In the middle of the mess was a small mountain of muffins with a small grey pegasus filly with a familiar set of offset eyes and several bubbles as her cutiemark.

"DERPY!!!" Lightning exclaimed as he tackle hugged her to the floor, both of them laughing and hugging one another. As the two foals were greeting each other as if they haven't seen each other for years the rest of the group was simply standing there watching the event unfold.

Rainbow Dash then joined in herself. "Derpy! It's been awhile!" Rainbow said as she also hugged the grey filly, sandwiching Derpy in the middle.

"Hi Lightning! Hi Rainbow Dash!" Derpy finally said, returning the hug to both of her friends. Meanwhile the Cakes were now busy cleaning the mess that the little grey filly had caused.

"What brings you to Ponyville Derpy?" Lightning asked.

"My parents decided to move here after you disappeared from summer flight camp." Derpy replied, with both eyes focused on the muffins still on the floor.

"A...Any news on m...my mom?" Lightning asked, he was afraid for her after what happened on the train.

"Oh! Ummm...I was supposed to give you this..." Derpy said as she pulled out a letter from her bag that was resting against the wall.

"A letter?" Lightning asked. Flash and Applejack were also curious about the letter

Derpy then hoofed it over to Lightning, who then opened it.

"Whats it say Lightning? Who's it from?" Applejack asked.

"It's from my Mom...it say's...
Dear Lightning,

I recently received a letter from Princess Celestia stating that there was an attack on the Friendship Express while it was inbound to Ponyville, and that you were on it during the attack. What in the name of Celestia where you doing on that train in the first place!? Why did you run away? Did it have something to do with the attack? I'm so worried about you. I'd help you but the Princess said it would be best for you to stay away from me to keep me safe from whoever attacked you. She also said she'd send us both Dragon Candles, so that we can write to each other without the terrorists tracking us. Please write to me as soon as you get your candle. I have mine as of writing this letter so you can send yours right away. I love you my son!

Your mother, Sky Breeze.

..." Lightning started to tear up after reading the letter aloud to his friends.

Applejack then placed a comforting hoof on Lightning's shoulder. "Yer Mother sounds like she cares a lot 'bout y'all."

Lightning wiped the tears from his eyes. "She cares for me more than anything in Equestria. I'm happy that she is okay."

"I'm sure as apple pie that she's very proud of y'all." Applejack said as she hugged him.

"Thanks Applejack." Lightning said, returning the hug. Lightning then noticed how dark it had gotten outside. "Did we have school tomorrow?"

Flash then thought for a second. "That would be a resounding...yes."

"BUCK!!! It's sooo late! I need to get my homework done!" Lightning freaked out. "Aj, did you want to be flown home? I need to get back home to get my homework done!"

"Sure...wait what?" Applejack said as Lightning wedged himself under her and lifted her onto his back. "Are y'all sure yer wing is healed enough for this!?"

Lightning turned to Rainbow and Flash. "I'll meet you guys back at home! Later!" With that he staggered outside and then flapped his wings a couple of times before taking off, with Applejack clinging to Lightning for dear life as he sped through the street as he tried to gain altitude. Once he was in the air it was a relatively short flight to Sweet Apple Acres. After dropping of Applejack and saying good night to her, Lightning essencially left a burning trail to his home, to which his homework awaited him. After several arduous hours of study he finally went to bed. He cringed at the thought of being in a play once more.

////////////////////

Another month later...

It was getting colder out now as fall continued it's course. The Running of the Leaves now behind, leaving bare trees in it's wake. However things were heating up at the Ponyville Schoolhouse. The time of the play had come...much to Lightning's dismay. Even Applejack was getting nervous as to the ending of the play. Like the previous two plays, Rarity had been put in charge of designing the costumes. Unlike last time, these costumes had to be essentially gala outfits, considering that the play was about the gala. All the preparations had been made, and the eve of the play had arrived. Everypony's parents had come to see this and the school had to enlarge the audience area to accommodate the impending crowd. As the evening fell ponies from all over Ponyville began to quickly fill the area designated for them. The crowd was talking amongst itself as the lights overhead began to dim, quieting the crowd. Stepping forward on the stage as the curtains opened was Cheerilee, dressed in a cute little gala-esk outfit. It was a dark red, meant to accent her coat. She looked out over the expectant crowd, as she was gathering the nerve to begin her part as the narrator of the play. She looked at the floor for a second and then looked back out and cleared her throat.

"It was mid-summer as the Grand Galloping Gala started it's opening ceremony. Everypony had attended this year as it was rumored that several royal families had received invitations from the princess herself. Two of which, the Sky family..." As Cheerilee pointed a hoof at stage right a light came on illuminating five pegasus foals, dressed in fancy Gala get-ups. Lightning and Flash among them. "...And the Summer family..." Cheerilee pointed at stage left, and another light came on, revealing another five foals, though all earth ponies, Applejack among them, dressed in similar garbs." These two families in particular were not too fond of one another, and were not told that each other was attending. Nopony could even begin to come up with reasons as to why Celestia would invite the quarreling ponies but even further still nopony would see what else was coming." Cheerilee finished as the spotlight over her head dimmed out and more lights came on, revealing the rest of the stage and set. The set was a basic resemblance to the main dance hall in Canterlot Castle. Though the set work was crude, it was well enough to convey the feeling of the dance hall, which was pleasing to the eyes.

Scene one was now under way as the party guests were mingling and the musicians were playing a somewhat catchy background music. On the strings instrument was the music student Octavia dressed as a Royal Musician. On the piano next to her was a unicorn who was not amused with this style of music at all. Her name was Vinyl Scratch. Beneath her fake stage grin was a burning desire to "spice up" the music and make this party a party. Unfortunately for Vinyl she had no chance here and continued with playing the music.

Lightning's time to enter the stage had come. "It's your turn Lightning...just do your best." The teacher said as she nuzzled Lightning onto the stage and into the 'dance guests'.

Lightning, or 'Brisk Sky', as was his character's name, entered the dance hall. He was dressed in a dark blue suit that had silver trim and buttons adorning it. To say he looked like he belonged in a royal family was perhaps an understatement. He was the son of the head of the Skys, who's name was Ice Storm Sky. Flash,or 'Ice Storm', who was renowned (and feared) for his brutal methods of controlling his domain, was dressed in a similar outfit to Brisk but his was more lavish. As the Gala droned on the other family made it's entrance: The Summer Family. Among them was Applejack, who was playing the part of Golden Summer, sister to the orphaned heir to the Summer Royal family.

"What do we have here?" Ice Storm said as the Summers entered the dance room.

"It's just the Summers and-" Brisk tried to say, but was interrupted by his father.

"If only you knew...the Summers could never match our power." Ice proudly boasted.

"All you ever care about is power, father, and I..." Brisk again interrupted.

"I hope everypony is enjoying the Gala." Princess Celestia said. Celestia was being played by a pegasus foal with a fake horn attached to her head. Though Celestia normally doesn't wear a dress to the gala, for the purpose of the play she did. Though for size the teacher had to find a highschool student to fill her role. She then turned to the Summers. "I hope the Skys arn't giving you any trouble."

"Of course not!" The young heir noble said to the Princess. "We Summers are above such nonsensual behavior such as stooping as low as the brutish Sky family." At the remark Celestia only shook her head.

Celestia had known that bringing these two families together would most likely end in fighting, but she had to find a way to end their squabbling. Harmony had to be restored...even if it involved some...tricks. And so the Devious Princess withdrew from the conversation and into the crowd, where she was then pressed into greeting guests. Though she kept an eye on the two families, hoping she would find a way to bring them together and end the feud.

Ice then rudely nudged his son. "You still don't have a mare yet...do you?" He said in a teasing and sarcastic tone, causing Brisk to look away from his father. "You know it's up to you to continue our line...our reputation"

Brisk only looked away.He didn't care for his father's ambitions, and his mare would be his choice...not Ice's. With that he trotted into the crowds of mingling guests. He was aimlessly making his way through the crowd until he collided with a random mare, causing the two to wind up in a heap on the floor. The crowds around them continuing on as if they didn't exist. Flustered, Brisk quickly got up off the mare. "I...I'm terribly sorry Miss...I really should pay more attention and...wait..." Brisk studied the mare. "YOU! You're a member of the Summers..." Brisk said with a dying angry tone...as the young mare shied from him a little. He then was entranced by the mare for a few seconds, then managed to break the locked stare. Both ponies then left the center.

Meanwhile Celestia had been watching. Hmmm...this could be the way...why didn't I think of it earlier?! The Princess thought to herself as she watched the two part ways. All I have to do is distract the heads of the two families and these two will likely run into each other again. Celestia then withdrew into the crowd again, disappearing as a food server passed in front of her.

Ice was about to once again chastise his son as mythical hair then started to drape around from behind him. With a startle he turned around to find himself no more than a meter from Celestia. "Oh...um...Princess! What brings our fair ruler over to somepony like me?" He nervously said as the imposing figure stood before him, her power causing him to slightly tremble.

With his father out of the way, Brisk once again wandered into the crowd. He didn't want to admit it, but he was hoping to come across the mare again. If anything to apologize for earlier. After a few minutes of wandering, he once again found himself in front of the mare from the summer family. It was an awkward few seconds before Brisk managed to speak. "I uhh...I'm sorry about earlier...let's start over..." Brisk composed himself, barely able to keep eye contact with the mare before him. "My name is Brisk..." He thought for a moment. "It's just Brisk."

The mare finally spoke up. "I'm Golden Summer...but..." The mare looked away. "You're from the Sky Family...Aren't you?" She asked Brisk, still looking away.

"...Unfortunately...yes. I won't hide that my family is a pain at the very least. I'm at least sorry for what my family has done to yours. I'm not like my father...I really hope you don't see me as being like him." Brisk continued as he and Golden went to sit down at a nearby table.

"No! Of course I don't see you as your father. You, at least are talking to me...and why are you looking at me that way?" Golden wouldn't admit it but she couldn't take her eye's of Brisk either.

Celestia meanwhile was still trying to keep Ice occupied long enough for Brisk and Golden to spend more time together.

"Well this has been an...interesting conversation Princess but I really need to find my son and-"

"I'm sure your son is having a good time...just let him be. And besides...um..." Celestia needed a diversion, and fast. After some fast thinking, Celestia knocked a bowl of punch off a nearby table sending the punch flying into Ice's face, which cause a few guests to look over and chuckle. Which also brought a short laugh from the audience.

Ice was about to yell at Celestia before realizing her station. "I don't suppose you have a nearby bathroom?" Ice asked under a low growl.

"Right this way...if you'll follow me..." Celestia said as she led Ice out of the party room. She then stopped by a guard. "Lead him to a bathroom...but take the long way." She whispered to the guard, who then bowed before leading the still soaked Ice down the hall and away from the party. One down...one to go... Celestia thought as she returned to the party to seek her other target.

The troll then found her mark, the head or rather the heir to the Summer Family. She knew she had to work fast, as she was slowly but surely making her way towards the table that Brisk and Golden were sitting at. Just as she was about to breach the crowd and discover who Golden was talking with, a cascade of magic mane flowed around her, startling her. "I'm so sorry Miss...Summer." Celestia lied, as she pulled out another secret weapon, an expensive dish of food. "I just thought I'd surprise you with this complimentary dish to show you how much I appreciate your coming here." She hoofed over the dish. "Now let's find you a spot to sit down." Celestia said as she led the mare to the other side of the room. After she got the mare's table set up she turned to the chef. The chef was played by Pinkie Pie, who was wearing a chef's hat and coat. "Make sure she always has more to eat." She whispered to the chef.

"Oke doke loke!" Pinkie said as she hopped off to the kitchen.

Meanwhile Ice had managed to lose the guard. His only goal was getting back to the dance room, for he had heard rumors from some passing guards that the son of the Skys was sharing a meal with the sister to the hier of the Summers. He galloped for what felt like hours as he frantically searched hallway after hallway for the entrance to the party. He eventually found a door with lights under it and burst into the dance room...to find Brisk and Golden in the middle of the dance floor in a slow dance, causing his jaw to drop through the floor. Before he could say or do anything to disrupt the harmony between the two young love struck ponies, Celestia's mane started flowing around him.

"Gotcha." Was all she said into his ear, causing him to take a few steps back and trip over a chair leg, sending him into a nearby mare.

He got up off the startled mare and then realized it was the hier to the Summer family. Before he could speak again Celestia then levitated him then placed him in front of her.

"Never in a thousand years have I gotten true harmony to bloom between your family and the Summers, Ice." Celestia said to Ice. "Who knew they'd even fall in love?"

Just as she was finishing her retorical question Brisk and Golden then moved in closer to eachother. Unaware that all the lights except the one above them had been dimmed, they then started to nuzzle one another. Everypony was entranced at the very thought that this was even happening, and before long everypony in the room was watching. They then kissed as Ice's eyes pretty much exploded out of his eyes to what he was seeing.

The curtain then came down as Cheerilee once again took center stage.

"And the rest of the Gala went on as it usually did...except for two young ponies who had found eachother from the most unlikely of places. And as for the families? Ice returned to his home without his son in tow, and the hier to the Summer family no longer had to worry about her sister wanting her power. And as for the new couple...they decided to stay in canterlot and start a new noble family. One that follows the way of harmony and drops the intolerant ways of the families of old."

And with that the ending music started to play as the curtain rose back up to reveal the cast standing in a row, bowing to the audience. The crowd now erupting with appluase as the curtain eventually closed for one final time. Behind the curtain the teacher was telling the class of what a good job they did. Lightning and Applejack however were still red in the face from their big scene.

"AHHHAhaHAHAhahahahHAAAAA" Flash was hysterical with laughter at witnessing them kiss on stage.

"Give them a break, darling." Rarity said to Flash, who was still laughing uncontrollably. "What they pulled off took ALOT of guts. In fact they pulled it off a little too well now that I think about it...just the thought of romance makes me feel all warm inside."

Derpy then wandered into the back stage and simply sat down as the group continued it's conversations. As time went on she reached to somewhere out of sight and brought out a muffin...then ate it. After everypony was done getting out of costume and winding down, they all went back to their homes.

After Lightning got home after the longest night of his life, he got into bed with only the thought of how kissing Applejack felt. The many different thoughts of how kissing her felt. As his eyes closed she was all that was on his mind...except for one nagging thought. Or rather the bare feeling on his flank. He then drifted off to sleep.

Comments

[MoonlightKnight8]

That was such an adorable scene of lightning and AJ kissing on stage. Not to mention how romantic it was with them thinking of the other while drifting off to sleep.