A Light in the Darkness

by Silentpegasus

Chapter 12: Old Friends

Chapter 12

Old friends.

Sky woke up late, as he sat up he noticed a cyan pegasus sleeping soundly next to him. He was a little shocked, but he let it go considering it was his fault that she had to share a bed with him. He then trotted to her room, and put things back where they were. As he moved the dresser back in place he accidentally knocked a photo down off the piece of furniture. He picked the photo up it showed a young Rainbow Dash being held by a dark stallion and a bright blue mare. As he put the photo back in its proper place he looked up to see a tired cyan pegasus.

“Hey, thanks for moving my stuff back.”

“No problem, sorry but this picture fell down and I think the frame might have-” Rainbow then snatched the photo from his hooves, she then put the photo in a drawer.

“Th-thanks I’ll take care of it.” she said with a nervous smile. Sky then gave her a quizzical look.

“O..kay? Well I’m gonna go get some breakfast.” he said as he left the room. Making sure that Sky was out of range she withdrew the picture from the drawer and held it in her hooves close to her chest and let a single tear roll on to her cheek. She put the picture back into the drawer, and headed downstairs for breakfast. Sky was making pancakes, after they ate the went down into Ponyville and stopped to see Applejack. Sky was chatting with Applebloom and Big Mac mostly while Rainbow went to go find Applejack. She found the farm pony in the back of the barn.

“Hey AJ, over here.” she whispered.

“Dash what in the hay are you doing whispering for?” she said as she cocked an eyebrow.

“Did you think of anything? you know concerning my ‘situation?’”

“Oh that. Well uh....Rainbow I’m gonna be honest I don’t know the first thing about romance, to get advise for that you need some-pony like Rarity.”

“Good point.” she said with a sad look on her face.

“Look Dash this is something you need to work out for yourself, ah wish I could help ya but like I said it’s not my area of expertise.” AJ said as she put a hoof on her friends shoulder.

“Yeah thanks AJ, I gotta get to work see ya later.” Rainbow said as she exited the barn. Sky then flew next to her with a grin on his face.

“So what did you and AJ talk about?”

“Oh just mare stuff.”

“Oh....never mind then.” he said as the two pegasi trotted into Ponyville.

“So what are you going to do today?”

“Maybe see what Rarity’s doing.” Rainbow shot him a glance.

“Why?”

“Don’t know just bored I guess, you and AJ are working, Twi is probably studying and Pinkie is doing...what ever she does. Rarity said she needed my help with modeling clothes anyway.” he said as he took flight. “I’ll see you later Dash.” he sad as he sped off towards Ponyville. He trotted into the dress shop to see a familiar whit unicorn. “Hey Rarity.”

“Sky, I’m glad you came, shall we get started?”

“Alright. So what do I do?”

“Just stand there and look pretty.” she said as she looked through her fabric.

“Pretty?”

“Handsome, cute, hot whatever. Just stand still.” Rarity then wrapped the black fabric around Sky’s shoulders stretching down to his flank. “Well Sky you certainly take care of yourself.” Rarity said as she eyed his flank.

“Um. Rare’s you’re cool and all but I’m starting to feel a little uncomfortable.”

“Why darling?”

“Well how would you react if I said ‘Hey Rarity nice flank’?”

“I’d be flattered.” she said as she gave him a wink. The two were then startled by a grey pegasus mail mare bursting through the wall.

“Hey, Rarity I got a letter for you.” the mare said as she withdrew a white envelope from her saddle bag.

“Thank you Ditzy.” Rarity said in an aggravated tone, Ditzy made her way over to Sky.

“Hey I know you! You’re the stallion that beat up Fluttershy’s ex yesterday. That was so cool.”

“Thanks. Nice to meet you I’m Sky Blazer.”

“Sky Blazer? Why does that name sound familiar?........Oh I have a letter for you too.” she then withdrew a chocolate chip muffin.

“Um. I didn’t know the mail service was handing out muffin-grams.” he said with a confused look on his face.

“Oh sorry, That’s my lunch. Here’s your letter.” Sky traded the muffin she just gave him for the letter, Ditzy then exited the shop the same way she entered it, through Rarities wall. Sky opened the letter and smiled at it with a mischievous grin.

“What is it darling?”

“An old friend of mine is going to be in town for a few days, he wants to chill on Saturday.”

“Oh dear don’t you know? Saturday is Rainbow’s birthday.”

“Really? She hasn’t mentioned anything.”

“Well she wants to keep it small she doesn’t really like her birthday for some reason.”

“Why not?”

“She’s never told us.”

“Well maybe he can hang out with us, think Dash would mind?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. Is your friend nice.”

“Yeah he’s cool he’s...........Rarity I just had the best idea in the history of ideas.” He said with a smile.

“What is it darling?”

“It’s a surprise, You’ll see at Dash’s party.”

“You tease.” The two spent the rest of the day chatting about recent events and occurrences in Ponyville.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in Canterlot Princess Celestia was speed reading through her entire library. Piles of books and documents covered the floor of her study. She raced back and forth between book shelves. Suddenly Princess Luna walked through the door with concerned look on her face.

“Sister, what is wrong with you? You’ve been like this since we returned from Ponyville. Thou hasn’t slept in a fort night.”

“No time! I need to find it. I know it’s here somewhere.”

“Know where what is? Tia you’re starting to scare me, you’ve barely eaten or slept since we’ve returned to Canterlot. Is this about Sky Blazer?” Celestia put the book down and glared at her sister with tears streaming down her face. “Tia what’s wrong?”

“Luna, Twilight and her friends may be in more danger than we know.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday had finally arrived, Rainbow Dash crawled out of bed in a very sluggish manner. She just wanted this day to be over and done with, she trotted down stairs to see that Sky had left a note for her.

Rainbow,
Left to help a friend in Canterlot. I’ll be back later.
~Sky Blazer.

P.S. Happy Birthday!

Rainbow let out a huff as she crumpled up the message and tossed it in the trash.
“Great the one pony I want to be with on my birthday isn’t here.” she said as she poured herself some cereal. As she finished doing the dishes she mentally prepared herself for the never ending ‘happy birthday’s’ she was going to receive from ponies she didn’t even know. As she trotted out the front door she let out a small sigh and put on her usual grin brimming with confidence. The day went pretty much as expected, ponies she didn’t even know waving to her as she flew by, constantly putting up a fake smile for the ponies and finally being ‘surprised’ at Pinkie’s party at Sugar Cube Corner. She was happy to see her friends having a good time, they talked played games, and danced a bit.

“So Rainbow how’s you’re birthday been?” Rarity asked.

“It’s been.....okay.” she said with a weak grin.

“I bet you would feel better if Sky was here right?” Rarity said with a giggle.”

“What? Why?”

“Darling please, I know quite a bit about romance and you are definitely smitten with our favorite pegasus stallion.”

“Fine, I really, really like him. Just please don’t tell any-pony. Please?” Dash said in a begging voice.

“My lips are sealed, but I suggest you get a move on I’ve heard a few mares have their eye on him.” their conversation was cut short by a pink mare suddenly appearing in between the two ponies.

“C’mon Dashie it’s time for you to open your gifts!” she said as she took the cyan mare by the hoof and brought her over to the pile of gifts. They were very kind and thought full, Twilight got her the new Daring Do book signed by the author, Rarity gave her a pair of earrings that went with her gala dress, Applejack gave her a case of her world famous cider, Fluttershy knitted hat’s for her and tank and Pinkie pie got her a one year supply of pranks. As the last of the gifts were unwrapped, Twilight trotted up to her friend and withdrew an envelope.

“It’s from Sky. He told us to make sure it was the last one.” Rainbow opened the envelope and looked at the message with a confused look on her face. The other ponies looked at the two worded message

“Head outside” The mares did as they asked and trotted outside the bakery. Rainbow’s jaw dropped at who she saw standing in front of her. Soarin of the Wonderbolts.

“Hey Rainbow Dash I haven’t seen you since the wedding. I came here to wish you a happy birthday.” he said with a grin.

“H-how did you know it was my birthday?” she said as another Wonderbolt trotted up next to Soarin.

“A friend of mine told me.” Rainbow was confused, she looked back at her friends who all shot glances at one another in surprise. When Rainbow looked back around she saw that the pony standing next to Soarin had removed his mask revealing the face of her roommate.

“Surprise.” Sky said with a smile. Rainbow then proceeded to faint. Sky and the others soon crowded around the cyan mare. “Great, I think I just broke my roommate.”

Rainbow slowly opened her eyes to see her friends looking down at her. As she got to her hooves she tackled Sky to the ground and began shaking him.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE A WONDERBOLT?!”

“I’m not a Wonderbolt.” he said as he got to his hooves “Soarin just loaned me this suit for the surprise.”

“Well why didn’t you tell me that you knew Soarin?” she said with as ad look on her face.

“And miss that priceless reaction?” he said with a laugh. Rainbow glared back at him with a cross look. “Oh don’t give me that look, I brought Soarin her to hang with us.” he said as he pointed to the other wonderbolt.

“Yeah Spitfire will be here soon to.” Soarin said

“Really, cool I haven’t seen her in ages.”

“How do you know the Wonderbolts?” Rainbow asked with eagerness in her voice
“We have a complicated history.” said a mare’s voice coming from the door way. The ponies then looked to see a golden pegasus in her uniform. “Nice to see you Sky.”

“Like wise.” he said as he gave her a hug.

“Yeah, we go way back.” Soarin said with a grin. “This guy here totally saved our flanks once from a horde of fans.”

“He let us crash at his place for a few days until the crowd died down. Those were some crazy nights. One night we-”

“SPITFIRE! We swore never to talk about that night again!” Sky interjected.

“Right sorry. Any way’s when Sky here told us he needed a favor we came right over, I just didn’t know that our number one fan had such connections.”

“Well Rainbow here is my roommate, and I felt bad about not getting her anything and I knew that she liked the Wonderbolts.” Sky said as he put a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. Rainbow blushed at the action. Soon the party was in full swing, Sky was chatting with Twilight and the others while Soarin helped himself to the desert table.

“So Rainbow looks like you got a crush on Sky.” Spitfire said with a chuckle.

“How did you-”

“They way your eyes lit up when you saw him, not to mention that blush while he was standing next to you.” Spitfire said with a grin.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Kind of if you know what to look for. Hey I have an idea Soarin and I are going to hit up a bar later why don’t you and Sky tag along.”

“You mean like a double date?”

“If you want to call it that. Then yeah, but it’s up to you to make it a date.” Spitfire said as she pointed to Dash. “Can I tell you something?”

“Sure.”

“If theres one fault Sky has it’s that he can’t take a hint when some-pony has a crush on him, I talking from experience here.” she said with a small blush. Rainbow looked at her with a quizzical look.
“You and Sky dated?”

“Only for two weeks, we decided to call it quits because of his traveling and my job.” she said with a sad look.

“Oh, do you still-”

“Care about him? Yeah but only as a friend. I’ve moved on and couldn’t be happier with Soarin.” she said with a reassuring grin.”But I suggest you get a move on because the mare’s are gonna go after him like a manticore during mating season.”

“So I’ve heard, but I don’t know about the-” Rainbow started to say until Spitfire waved Soarin and Sky back over to them.

“Hey Sky, Soarin and I were going to hit up a bar or two you want to come along?”

“Sure, I know a great one in Canterlot. Can I bring a friend?”

“Of corse.”

“Rainbow you want to go?” Rainbow’s eyes shrunk to the size of pin tips and her face started to turn red. “Rainbow you okay?” Sky said as she snapped back to reality.

“Um..yeah...sure.” she said nervously.

“Alright then lets go!” Sky hollered.

“Sure..I just want to let the girls know I’m going.” she said as she trotted over to Twilight and the others. “Hey gals, Sky, Soarin, Spitfire and I are going to hit up a few bars, hope that’s alright with you.” AJ and Rarity had a sly grin across their faces.

“Sure thing sugar cube, It’s your birthday. We’ll be fine here.” AJ gave a wink to her cyan friend.

“Of corse darling whatever you want to do is fine by us. Have fun.” Rarity said with a smile.

“Thanks guy’s I’ll be back later.” she said as she left to go join Sky and the other pegasi. THe four took flight and flew for over forty minutes until they saw the bright city of Canterlot. They touched down in front of an old brick building. They trotted up to a big iron door with a slot at eye level, Sky gave five knocks and the slot opened to reveal a pair of auburn eyes squinting at them.

“What’s the password?” the pony asked

“Password.” Sky responded, the slot closed and the massive door opened. As the group stepped inside the air was thick with the smell of alcohol and smoke. The room was filled with ponies and griffins alike. Sky took the lead and bellowed. “HEY BUCK ASS HOW BOUT A DRINK!” the ponies and griffins all looked over to the blue stallion and started to cheer and shake his hoof. “Good to see you guys again!” the three ponies behind him followed closely as they made their way over to the bartender. A dark orange earth pony with a martini glass as a cutie mark. “Rusty, how ya doing?”

“Well I’ll be a dragon’s arse! How are yah Sky?” he said in a thick Irish accent.

“Good, just out for a night on the town with some friends. Put them on my tab. In fact...” Sky then stood up on the bar. “Alright every one! Next round is on me!” the crowd cheered a second time. Sky then got off the bar and sat down next to Rainbow. They spent the res of the evening talking and drinking until a large griffin came over next to Sky.

“Hello there.” Sky said with a cocky grin on his face. The griffin stared at him with a smirk across his face.

“Word has it you’re quite the drinker.”

“I’ve been known to hold my liquor from time to time. Why?”

“I’m quite the drinker myself, I propose a challenge the one who can drink the most wins.”

“What are the stakes?” Sky said with a grin.

“Loser covers drinks the rest of the night.” Sky shook the griffins talon.

“Challenge accepted, let’s get a table then.” the two trotted over to a table in the center of the bar and sat down on either end. “Rusty, break out the good stuff, ‘black dragon number five’ it you would be so kind.” the bartender had a surprised look on his face as he bent down behind the bar and withdrew a black bottle with a dragon embroidered on the glass. Rusty trotted over and put the bottle down in between the two along with ten shot glasses.

“Alright let’s get the show on the road.” Sky started the challenge off, by shot number five the griffin was starting to get hazy. The entire bar was captivated by the challenge, Rainbow watched in amazement as Sky downed shot after shot. The griffin was on his eighth shot, the griffin held up three claws.

“Three shot’s at once.” he poured himself the shots and guzzled them down with haste. He looked back at the blue pegasus who now had an eyebrow cocked.

“Impressive, usually any other guy would be on the ground by now. But it’s time I finished this game. FIVE SHOTS!” he exclaimed as he poured the liquid into the glasses. Every one in the room held their breath as he downed the five shots and slammed them down on the table. He looked back at the griffin who had fear in his eyes. “Your call.” Sky said with a grin on his face. The griffin raised his shot glass to his lips and fell on the floor with a loud thump. The crowd started to cheer as Sky rose from his seat. “Undefeated!” he said as Rusty trotted over to a chalk board and put another mark under the Win box. Rainbow rushed to his side in amazement.

“WOW, that was awesome.” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Thank you....” he suddenly started to stumble. Rainbow helped him to his hooves.

“Relax missy, he usually drinks more than that in a challenge. He’ll be fine after I give him this.” Rusty said as he handed him a glass of water and a tablet of Advil. Sky took the pill and drank the water with haste.

“Thank’s Rusty.” he said. He looked over to see Rainbow Dash and Soarin drinking what was left of the bottle. “Rainbow don’t!” his warning came too late as Rainbow started to drink the bottle. Rainbow soon felt woozy and fell on the ground next to the already unconscious Soarin. “Great, looks like I have to call it a night. Spitfire can you handle Soarin?”

“Yeah, we’ve got a room in the city what about you?” she said as she lifted Soarin onto her back.

“I’ll be fine, Ponyville isn’t that far away, plus her friends will kill me if I don’t bring her home.” Sky said as he did the same with the cyan mare. “See you all later and remember, he’s got the drinks for the rest of the night.”sky said as he pointed to the still unconscious griffin. The occupants cheered as he and the golden mare stepped out the door. Sky Spitfire and Soarin said their goodbyes and took off in opposite directions. As Sky flew through the night, he felt the cyan mare on his back starting to stir.

“Ugh, what happened?”

“You drank a shot of the ‘black dragon’ and ended up on the floor.” he said looking back to the mare.

“Where are we?” she said as she rubbed her eyes.

“About twenty minutes away from Ponyville.”

“Let me off I need to fly.” she said as she began to move.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, you’re still drunk.”

“No I’m not! Watch.” Rainbow then jumped off the blue stallions back and started to plummet straight to the ground. Rainbow tried to flap her wings but found herself unable to. She was rocketing towards the ground until she hit something fairly hard. She then looked up to see Sky on his back and on the ground.looking up at her with an annoyed look in his eyes. “Sorry.” she said with a small chuckle and blush on her face. Sky then got to his hooves and cracked his neck

“Look how about we just walk back?” he said in an annoyed voice.

“Sure, I’m cool with that.” The two pegasi started to trot down the path that was lit by Luna’s moon. As they did Sky tried to strike up a conversation.

“So, enjoy your birthday?”

“Yeah best one I’ve had in years.”

“Rarity told me that your usually glum. Any reason for that?” Rainbow than stared down on the ground with a sad look on her face. “Sorry, too personal?”

“No it’s fine. It’s just that eight years ago my parents kicked me out on my birthday.” Sky looked back in surprise.

“What? They kicked you out on your birthday, that’s just cruel! Why did they do that?”

“They wanted me to give up on my dreams of becoming a Wonderbolt and become a boring business pony like my dad or a secretary like my mom. They started to berate me and say that I couldn’t be their daughter because of my attitude and views.” a tear started to roll down her cheek. “One day, after I dropped out of flight school they pushed me over the edge. They went into my room and tore down all my posters, destroyed my books and burned my diary.” her eyes were now filled with tears. “I had it with them and left that night, Fluttershy gave me a place to crash until I got a job at the weather factory and bought my current house. I’ve been on my own ever since and I’ve never looked back.” Rainbow slumped to the ground in tears. Sky put a wing around the sobbing mare and held her close.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re not alone now are you?” he said with sympathy in his voice.

“No, I’ve got Twi, Rarity, AJ, Pinkie, Fluttershy and....”

“And?”

C’mon Rainbow it’s now or never. she thought to herself.

“And you.” The cyan mare then moved her face closer and locked lips with the stallion. Sky returned the kiss. The two sat there for what seemed like hours. As they broke the kiss Rainbow looked back at the stallion with a smile.

“Best Birthday ever?” Sky asked the mare.

“Yeah.” she said as she hugged the stallion. They continued back down the path. “Hey can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How did you REALLY cope with being alone all those years?” Sky let out a sigh.

“My father had a saying. ‘Don’t let your past control your future.’ Most ponies in my situation would’ve given up. I didn’t, I looked ahead and hoped for the best.” he looked back down at the cyan mare. “And I can see that it’s paid off in the long run.”

“Wow, that’s heavy.”

“Yeah, of corse not everyone turned out okay.”

“Really like who?”

“No-pony important. They’re probably doing fine now.” he said with a calm look in his eyes.

“Well, I’m glad you moved past it. So you’ve let go of your past completely?”

“No, no-pony can do that. You just learn how to carry it.” he said as he looked down to the mare.

“That’s true, but-” she was cut off by Sky pressing his lips against hers.

“Rainbow, it’s okay. I’m happy, I’ve got a roof over my head, friends I can count on and a beautiful mare friend.” Rainbow then slugged him in the arm.

“Dude you are so corny, and that’s why you’re with me.” she said as she nuzzled him.

“Again with the physical abuse.” he said with a laugh. The two soon found themselves below the cloud house. Sky picked Rainbow up by her hooves and carried her up to the house. As they trotted up to their rooms. Rainbow stopped Sky in front of her door.

“Look let’s just take this slow okay?”

“Of corse I don’t want to put pressure on you.” he said with a smile.

“Well, down the road I won’t mind having your pressure being forced on me.” she said with a sly grin. Sky kissed her goodnight and went to his room and laid down to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in Canterlot Princess Celestia and Luna were deep in the Canterlot Archives, still looking through the books. “Sister you still have not told us what we are supposed to be looking for.” Luna said as she eyed her sister.

“We are looking for a book, a very old book about the Element’s of Harmony.”

“Sister if thou are curious about the elements then thou could just ask Twilight-”

“No, this is knowledge not even she or even you know about the elements.” she said coldly. She continued to trot down the massive corridor until she came to a massive locked gate with six key holes. “And I believe we just found it.”

Author's Note:

Sorry for the lateness ever-pony Final's just got over so no I have loads of free time to get back to my stories.

~Silent.

Comments

[James Koach]

Well, bloke, not bad. Ye still have a few spelling mistakes here and there, but overall great chapter.

[dbanksischillin]

Now the 7th element gets explained. Should be interesting

[Fallflower]

When she fly's to Ponyville you say he multiple times