What once had been an almost cheerful and relaxing atmosphere turned into an cold and unnerving silence as two specific ponies stood face to face with threatening glares.
Rainbow Dash, who's nerves were getting on edge thanks to Spitfire's proposal, watched with great apprehension as the two pegasus glared metaphorical magical beams at each other. The cyan mare was not expecting this encounter to happen this soon. A great part of her believed that such encounter would only happen during the event.
Which was also know as the part of her that never really cared much.
Twilight, who was still trying to get over the fact that Spitfire just came uninvited with the solely purpose of taking Rainbow away with a cheap move, glanced at Lightning Dust standing with a hateful expression on her face.
The alicorn was expecting something similar like this to happen at the encounter of those mares, but the moment couldn't be any worse. Lightning was still too deep into her hate against Spitfire and, considering that Lightning probably heard the proposal, it was safe to assume the former cadet wasn't thinking highly of Rainbow either.
Spitfire's stern expression did not betray any of her emotions, but it was perceptible that she was moving more stiffly than before.
"Figures I would see you around here." Spitfire's voice sounded strangely formal "It's been a while Dust." Judging by Lightning's hardening gaze it was safe to assume that she took the casual reply in a very bad way.
"Spare me of your horseapple talk!" Some ponies gasped at the blunt insult, to the Wonderbolt Captain no less. "Who do you think you are to come here and talk with as if I was your old friend?! You never meant anything to me! Don't you dare to pretend you ever gave a hay about me! None of us really mattered to you unless we got in your way! That's you after all! Nothing but a coward hiding behind your own fame!
....
Spitfire remained oddly still despite the ammount of insults she's been assaulted with. Rainbow, Gilda, Twilight and everypony else around them stood mouth agape at the shocking display. Lightning stood defiantly while breathing hard to contain a bit of her onslaught. All the ponies around her were slowly moving away in genuine fear of getting caught in Lightning's deadly glare.
Rainbow, who's mind was still trying to process what was happening, felt her mouth moving on it's own accord before she could think clearly.
"You brought that into yourself Dust. You have no right to insult Spitfire like that!"
Unsurprisingly Lightning focused all her infuriated energy on Rainbow Dash. Surprisingly Spitfire glanced alarmed at the cyan mare.
"Shut the buck up Rainbow! You're at fault just as much as her." Lightning pointed a hoof at Spitfire while sounding disgusted. "You and your precious friendship with her was exactly all you needed to get what you wanted! If this is what friendship means to you then I'm all better without any!" Twilight gasped dramatically at the mere thought of a pony refusing friendship.
"Rainbow Dash it's not responsible for the tornado that devastated our Academy and nearly fatally injured the Elements of Harmony." Spitfire proclaimed automatically as if she was expecting the need of saying this. Lightning let out a madly laugh that only made the ponies around even more wary.
"NOT RESPONSIBLE?!She has been at my side during the whole time! Everything I did, Rainbow did too! So how come I came as the monster and she as the hero?!"
Spitfire, who's firm resolving and patience were slowly shattering, opened her mouth to retort but nothing came out of it. Lightning saw this and accounted as a personal victory.
"See?! Even you know!" Lightning's voice changed from anger to desesperation. "You know! You know! You know! It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair! It wasn't....fair....It..."
Seeing Lightning slowly succumb into tears and despair was more than Spitfire felt she could handle. The Wonderbolt slowly turned around and made her way to the exit. That until a stallion stood in front blocking her path.
"Thunderlane?" Spitfire said in mild surprise at seeing him standing against her. His serious expression meant businesses and it was clear that he was not moving away. It has been a long time since Spitfire saw the stallion, though she's been told Thunderlane made into the reserves.
"I think we all would like to hear the reason behind Dust's expulsion. " Thunderlane said with some severity. " It has to be something really bucked up if it can drive her to cry." He added while narrowing his eyes on the Wonderbolt Captain.
Spitfire frowned at him but remained in silence. She had a lot to say regarding the incident, even the captain herself knew her decision was somewhat biased in favor of Rainbow Dash and, shamefully, her career. Yet she would probably be sent to Tartarus if she let these ponies know the truth.
If they actually believe on it in the first place.
"Princess Twilight, do you have a moment? We need to talk....in particular. "
"No!" Thunderlane stomped his hoof harshly against the wooden floor, perhaps a bit too forcefully as some cracks were heard and became visible over the afflicted area. " Don't you dare hide this from us Spitfire! You came all the way from Cloudsdale to steal Rainbow away and made my friend Lightning miserable. The truth!" The stallion demanded angrily. Spitfire scoffed.
"You can't handle the truth newbie. None of you can." She turned her head around towards Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare standing petrified while observing her friend and coworker challenging the Wonderbolt Captain.
This was so unlikely of Thunderlane, the stallion was always a great admirer of Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts in general. Yet he stood valiantly for the sake of Lightning Dust, going as far as calling her a friend despite the things Lightning yelled about regarding friendship.
"I will be expecting your response Rainbow. Send a letter once you've finally decided."
"Now where d-
Before Thunderlane could finish a sudden burst of smoke and wind shook all the ponies present. Spitfire made a brutal dash to the outside with great style passing above Thunderlane without problem. The stallion stood in shock for a second, once he realized what happened he felt compelled to chase her but decided against it. No way he could catch Spitfire while on the air.
"Ponyfeathers, I can't believe it!" The stallion stood frustrated for a second before moving around and trotting towards Lightning. "Hey, you're alright?"
Lightning kept her head downwards as she wanted to avoid staring at any pony at the moment. All her yelling and cussing probably scared them off, yet Thunderlane came for her aid despite barely knowing her at all. Why did he called her a friend? Why did he stood up for her?
"I...." The aquamarine pegasus was finding difficult to talk since her throat felt somewhat constricted. "....why?"
The ponies around were slowly returning to their previous conversations but with greater agitation than before. Surely the whole town would know what happened in few hours.
"Because we are a team. We look up for each other, not only during a training or a race. Besides I seriously doubt you meant any of these things you said." Lightning slowly raised her head to give him a skeptical stare. Thunderlane smiled sheepishly before adding. "Well, at least not the whole friendship stuff."
Lightning nodded slightly while still lost in her own doubts. Thunderlane was about to try to talk her out of it, but then he felt something grasp gently at his right wing. Looking back he found Gilda standing by his side with the most compassionate expression he ever saw on a griffon. Not that he saw many griffons before.
"Thanks, what you did it really means a lot. Why you don't stay with her for the rest of the party? She could use a pony to talk with that cares." Gilda suggested quite gently, much to Thunderlane's surprise.
The few brief times Thunderlane saw the griffon she always seemed annoyed, angry, or just on the verge of snapping at somepony. This sympathetic side of her was a huge change from her usual self even for Rainbow Dash. Twilight, who stood quiet during the whole affair, was relieved to see the griffon being more solidary to other ponies.
"Uh, sure...I'll stay with her." He said while still in awe with Gilda's behavior. It was a good thing Thunderlane stared away few seconds later. Once the griffon glanced towards Rainbow Dash all that compassion melted into cold indifference.
Rainbow took notice of Gilda's more hostile behavior as the griffon returned back to her spot near Twilight and a very distressed Fluttershy. Applejack also stood quiet during the affair, strangely enough the farmer's resentment towards Gilda disappeared. Whatever caused the change it was a mystery to the others.
"Rainbow." Gilda stopped only few inches away from the cyan mare. " You and I are gonna have a serious talk."
***************************************************************
Thunderlane carefully managed to move Lightning to a corner of the party and was kind enough to brink her something to eat. At least that was the intention until Lightning decided to take in every glass of cider she could. The mare was still too distressed to care, the stallion knew she wanted to be left alone but that never did anypony any good. Some of Thunderlane's friends tried to approach to start a conversation but the stallion shooed them away, earning him a disdanful glare from Cloud Chaser. Even if Lightning didn't want to talk he wasn't going to waste the moment she changed her mind by talking with somepony else. At least that much Gilda expected from him, he probably scored few points in her book by helping Dust. Getting into the team was much more than just being a great flier.
He wondered if Spitfire ever saw it that way. Relationships apparently weren't one of her strengths.
"I hate all this."
Thunderlane blinked in confusion as he focused on Lightning. The mare was staring upset at the floor as if it had just insulted her.
"This whole thing with the Wonderbolts!" Lightning raised her voice as to make a point. At least she wasn't moping anymore. "My whole life spent looking up to them, wanting to be one of them...."
Dust's voice trailed off as she didn't know more what to say. Thunderlane felt this was the moment to pick up the conversation.
"So did I. Well, not really. I never believed I could be a Wonderbolt. I was so relaxed and happy with being just a weather pony." The stallion smiled fondly at the memories. "Cloud Kicker and Chaser kinda talked me into applying for the academy. They really convinced me to do some training outside work. I felt like I was being tortured and would give up at any second if wasn't for my little bro. He wanted so badly to see me becoming a Wonderbolt and....I couldn't let him down."
"He means a lot to you, huh?" Lightning asked. Thunderlane could tell he managed to ease her up a bit judging by the way she spoke. The stallion let out a sad smile before answering.
"He's the only family I got. I really love him and I wouldn't risk him being dissapointed at me." Lightning's eyes widened in alarm once she realized what he just said.
"Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-
"It's okay." Thunderlane said with a reassuring smile after a quick shrug. "We've been living alright ever since, I can also thank Flitter and Chaser for doing the mother role I couldn't. " Lightning nodded though she still felt bad for getting him to talk over such personal things. "What about you? Got anyone you looked up to?"
Thunderlane regretted asking as soon as he saw Dust flinch. Perhaps the mare had her own share of traumas regarding family members.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked." The stallion quickly apologized.
"No, it's alright. I....did have a cousin I looked up once. When I was a young filly I always saw him as the greastest flier. Mom and Dad ocassionally would leave me with his family at Stratusburg. They never minded having me staying over ever since I was a foal."
Lightning paused as she tried to recollect the memories of her fillyhood. Thunderlane stood still listening with interest everything she said. It really would help to see Dust under a better light if he find out more about who she was and not like most of his friends believed her to be.
"Heh, turns out he wasn't that good. His friend was helping him do most tricks behind his back without him even knowing. He always said he wanted to become a Wonderbolt. It's kinda weird to think a doofus like him still has a shot while I'm at the dumpster." Lightning chuckled, but Thunderlane was absolutely sure that there was nothing humorous behind that chuckle.
"I guess your cousin is older than you. Hsve you seem him at the academy?" The stallion asked curious.
"Nah, he didn't apply when I did. I'm sure he said he would be applying for this season."
"Oh, maybe I see him around. What's his name?" Lightning found Thunderlane's curiosity somewhat funny. Or maybe it was just the cute doofy smile on his face.
"Sky Stinker. Even if you don't see him right away you can always ask for his marefriend. I think her name was Vapor Tail or something like that. I wish I could see his face when he finds out she's been cheating on his back this whole time." Lightning couldn't help but smirk at the thought. Sky's always tormented Dust with his insufferable speeches of being the greater pegasus of the family.
"If that's true why you didn't told him he's being helped?" Thunderlane frowned slightly at Lightning's disregard for her cousin. The mare huffed at the question.
"Because, unlike the insensitive jerk Rainbow Dash, I won't be the pony that's gonna crush my cousin's dreams!" Lightning retorted defensively. Thunderlane sighed. Back to square one.
"Even Rainbow has feelings Dust. You don't have to like her, but if you keep hating on her for making a mistake it's only going to make her worse!" The stallion was really getting impatient with their bickering. It was a wonder how Gilda could stand these two. "Rainbow is my friend and I don't want to see her hurting. Just as I don't want to see you hurting either."
"What do you want for me to say?! She went on my back because she couldn't stand the idea of not being the Lead Pony! She went to complain on Spitfire, twice! First for not being the Lead Pony and then she gave away her badge, clearing meaning that if I didn't go out she was!"
Thunderlane remained quiet while taking in this info he hadn't know about. He knew Dust wasn't making this up, she was livid just by mentioning it.
"Wow, I knew Rainbow wouldn't take it well being Wing Pony, but..." He let out a heavy sigh while thinking on what to do next. "...why we don't try to solve this now? Before gathering with the rest of the team tomorrow?"
"I don't wanna talk with her..." Lightning said unsuredly.
"If yelling at her will make you feel better I'm not gonna stop you." Thunderlane said humorously. Lightning rolled her eyes but laughed anyway.
"Fine, but it something bad happens it's your fault."