//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: When Lightning Strikes // by Necrogen Lord //------------------------------// Sunset hummed to herself as she unpacked her guitar, her and the girls opting to get a session of practice in after school. As she plugged her guitar into an amp, she heard the girls starting to chat. "So, we saw that you had a little moment with Trevor," Rainbow said. "Yeah, he seemed really moved by the fact that we wanted to be friends with him," Sunset said. "Seriously? Why?" "Well, maybe he's a bit of a social butterfly?" Fluttershy said. The girls turned to her. "It's just that, well... It really seems like he's almost afraid of social interaction. Even these past few days in Art, he's been trying to keep from talking to us. I mean, he's almost worse than I was when I first moved here." "Hey, maybe that's it!" Pinkie said. "Maybe he's just nervousited about moving to a new town and he's really, really, really afraidxious about meeting new people and trying to make friends!" "'Afraidxious'?" Applejack asked. "Afraid and anxious!" Sunset nodded as she strummed her guitar, tuning it as she thought of the new student. "Probably," she said. "Let's hope that we can at least help him feel welcome to the school." 'I hope I can help him avoid how I felt,' Sunset thought. \\\\\\////// Trevor sighed in frustration as he set his bag down, pulling out a biology book and flipping through to the cardiovascular section. He focused himself on reading through the passage, trying to pull himself out of the image that had been stuck in his mind all day. Seeing Sunset next to him, a warm smile on her face as she reached out to comfort- ZAP The Conduit flinched as a full centimeter thick bolt surged out of his arm, lancing up to the metal wiring across the ceiling. As the bolt was absorbed into the metal wires, Trevor smacked himself about. "Stop it, stop it!" he shouted. DDDDDDDDDDDING DDDDDDDDDDDDDDING He turned to see the landline ringing by the front door, the old phone shaking atop the small table. Trevor's body was consumed in a flash as he appeared next to the phone before picking it up. The plastic in his hand started to glow and hiss from contact with his skin, the Conduit holding the piece out away from his face as he spoke into it. "H-Hello?" "Trevor, I just got a notification that you've pinged nearly 100,000 volts in the last hour," Director Ross-Walker said. "What in God's name is going on over there?" "I-I'm sorry, sir, I just, I... I need to figure something out, there's this girl, I can't get her out of my head and I'm freaking out because I'm afraid I'm gonna hurt someone and now I can't stop seeing her smile an-" ZAP The landline burst apart in Trevor's hand, bits of burnt plastic and metal showering the carpet. "Shit!" he cursed. Trevor began to hurry in his panic, becoming a blur as he picked up each shattered piece by hand before he heard a hard series of knocks on his door. "Bowick, open up!" "C-coming!" Trevor rushed to the door and pulled it open, the hinges groaning as he swung it back to reveal three tall men in black suits. The one in front had an earpiece on his left side, his amber hair cropped to avoid getting caught in it as he looked at the Conduit. "We just got a message from the Director that you've been surging out for the last hour," he said. "Explain." Trevor felt his breath catch in his throat as he pressed his head against the door. "I don't know what to say! I can't get this image of this girl out of my head, and every time I close my eyes I can hear her talking to me!" Trevor said, sparks flying off of him as he seemed to glow. "I can't take a break because every time I try to calm down I think of how nice she is and how nice her eyes are and my heart just starts beating and aching like I've got a clogged artery but I can't just purge it out of my body!" As Trevor finished, a large burst of electricity surged from his back, arcing into the ceiling as the lights dimmed. He stood there, panting as he waited for the suited men to do something. The agent before him looked to the ones behind him and nodded. They responded by walking back to the large Hummer parked in front of the house as the agent sighed. "Look, just use this to talk to the Director and give it back when you're done," he said, handing Trevor a flip-phone. Trevor carefully took it out of the agent's hand before dialing the Director's personal number. "Status update." "Um, s-sir?" "Trevor, what's going on?" Trevelyan took a breath and explained his current feelings as best he could to the Director, a lance of lightning sometimes bouncing off of him. After a brief moment of silence, he heard Charles sigh. "Thank God, thought something was actually wrong." "Sir, please! This is serious! I can't tell if this is some kind of sickness I'm feeling or-" "It's called, 'Love sick', Trevor. You've got a crush on that Sunset Shimmer girl." ZAP The TV exploded as Trevor's eyes widened. "W-WHAT!?"