//------------------------------// // A Day Off The Chart // Story: Washout For Your Feelings // by Beakwood //------------------------------// "I swear I'm going to kill ya later! Dammit Thunderlane!" "Oh, just relax. That's why we are here after all." "Ya lucky I'm feeling sore, otherwise I would whoop your fatass." Thunderlane couldn't help but laugh. Lightning was sounding extremely flustered and she had a good reason for it. Both pegasus spent the majority of the morning doing flying excercises. It was not exactly as the stallion expected, the mare was very insistent for both of them to do more than just casual flight. Thunderlane had a strange suspicion that Lightning wanted to try him out on a race, but he knew better than waste his time trying to outrun her across the skies. He worked his way around a very likely embarrassing defeat by suggesting a more complex course for their race. Dust was a bit puzzled by his suggestion, low flyby through the town seemed far from safe. Yet, Thunderlane knew his only chance at keeping up with her was by taking advantage of his weight while performing tight turns, Lightning's lighter physique would cause her to overextend her turns, giving the stallion some edge where in everything else he had none. The race was planned as a single lap across the town, Lightning quickly got ahead, but she dropped speed right after she nearly collided with a roof on the first turn. Thunderlane couldn't help the anxiety he felt after she nearly crashed, but since the mare lost her primary strenght he decided to cast aside his worries and focused on his own flight pattern. At first his idea of gaining on the turns worked, with Dust slowing on turns he managed to pair up near her. Yet, no matter how tight he turned, he was unable to overcome her at any point. The stallion was confused. How was she able to keep up on a faster pace than him during such straining wing movements? Not to mention she was flying through unfamiliar ground while Thunderlane knew the town's layout in it's entirety. The answer was immediately obvious, especially when she pulled the most narrow turn through two houses, flying the small gap in-between, reaching the other side and gaining a lot more ground over him. The amount of strength on her wings was fairly superior to his own, and that was something he knew ever since he met her back at the gym. Thunderlane couldn't help the frustration and disappointment he felt. He simply wasn't good enough, no matter the strategy, there was no way of beating her and he had no idea if he would ever be able to. Both ponies were already on the end of the lap, but Lightning suddenly broke out of the course. Thunderlane was about to fly after her, wondering what happened, but that wouldn't be necessary. He wasn't counting on Rainbow Dash getting in the way of his flight path. But instead of breaking off, he flew right into her. The collision wasn't the prettiest sight, and didn't felt pleasant either. Both ponies spiralled out of control for few seconds, but managed to regain themselves before impacting with the ground a few inches below. Rainbow Dash was shocked, pained and infuriated. She swore several words his way, at least until Cloud Chaser and Blossomforth, that were working nearby, came for his aid. The three mares argued incessantly during minutes, but Thunderlane was too busy looking around for Lightning to care. He found her moments later, hiding behind a very familiar apple stand. Needless to say that Applejack was confused at having the captain of the Washouts hiding behind one of her sack of apples. Her confusion only grew after Thunderlane landed nearby and kindly requested for the other pegasus to stop covering herself with fruits. Lightning coughed, clearly embarrassed by her actions, but she quickly shrugged the event from her consciousness. Thunderlane realized that the race was pretty much done for, so he recommended for both of them to go at the place he suggested last night. Lightning accepted the idea, somewhat curious and relieved for getting out of scene. But regret and righteous fury hit the mare hard once she realized that Thunderlane had led both of them to Ponyville SPA. Muttering several treats under her breath, the mare followed her companion inside, while considering going back to hiding behind a sack of apples. In her mind that idea was far less embarrassing. So after a very awkward introduction to the pony twins, Aloe and Lotus, both Thunder and Lightning spent several minutes under the care of the sister's hooves. It was only a matter of time until Lightning voiced her displeasure, but Thunderlane knew her heart wasn't really into it. "I don't see why you're complaining. If anything you, and me, could use a time like this to recover. I can't even remember the last time I came here. Felt like ages ago." The stallion said, a grin on his face despite his companion's mood. Lightning snorted. She wasn't even going to ask why he was here before, and true to be told, she knew Thunderlane meant well and her previously sore muscles did not complain once during the treatment. "Ya win this one. I guess I can take this over dealing with Dash again. Can't believe she decided to pop up all of sudden." The mare lamented. It has been weeks since Lightning ever had to be in a real race, she had nearly forgotten how refreshing it was to fly at her limit without a defined course to follow. "Also great work back there. Ya sure gave me trouble." She added humorously. But Thunderlane did not reply. The silence that followed only occasionally interrupted by one of the twins when repositioning themselves, both mares seemed oddly quiet as the conversation followed. Lightning frowned at the lack of response. She couldn't exactly look at Thunderlane due both of them being on different beds and laying on opposite directions, but Lightning felt she had bothered him somehow. If anything, Lightning learned at this point that the stallion prefered the silence when upset, worried, or doubtful. "Hey, you're not mad at me, right?" She asked. "No, it's not you. Don't worry." He replied way too quickly. "Thunder, don't say to me not to worry when ya worry all the time. We talked about this before. Don't hide stuff from me. Please." The stallion sighed. Despite his clear reluctance on speaking his mind he had no way to argue against Lightning's concern. "It's just... I suck." Lightning blinked. She wanted to ask for clarification but waited for her partner to follow thorough the conversation. "I couldn't take lead, even knowing the town's layout and being more stable while turning, it just wasn't enough." He explained, his voice dragging across the words with such despondency that really surprised her. "I guess this is what it feels like knowing you will never win, no matter what." Lightning had no idea of what to say. She couldn't exactly pin him as being pessimistic on that regard, but she found herself too ashamed to admit that he was right. She would always be faster than him by default, no matter how much training the stallion submitted himself into, his heart was into flying, but not into winning. Never before the mare ever thought she would feel bad at being so good at something, and a feeling caused by her partner being realistic and truthful about himself. This wasn't a bitter opponent she was dealing with, but her special somepony instead. It was hard to find words to console her forlorn partner. "Hey, it sucks. I know. How do ya think I felt when Rainbow got everything she wanted and I lost everything? Guess I'm a great flyer, but not great at kissing ass." That earned her a chuckle from the stallion. Hearing that brought an immense sense of relief to the mare. At least she was onto a good start. "I mean, ya shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I've been pulling nothing but crazy stunts for the past months. Being narrow, fast and sharp is all about my job. Wonderbolts are not so demanding like we are. I'm sure ya would do a lot better if ya had our kind of training." The benefit of doubt never sound so welcoming as it did for the stallion. Lightning had a good point overall. "I guess you make sense. I didn't think about that. Still, I wonder what else should I do. It's not like I will get at your level an- "Ya want me to train ya?" Thunderlane paused. While the idea seemed very interesting there was also the problems that would come along that whole training package. Like how harsh she was going to drive his head across the mud, and how she would set every muscle in his body on fire for the sake of losing weight. Thunderlane was well aware he needed to lose some of it. "Tempting, but I don't think I would survive that kind of training." He replied, feebly attempting to sound humourous. "What? I'm not gonna drill you senseless. The heck ya think I am? Spitfire? Pffff, chill. It will be fine." She replied, a mix of irony and confidence masking her words. Thunderlane raised an eyebrow. "When you helped me back at the gym it wasn't really light work you made me go through." He sharply reminded her. "Yeah, well. You were such a fatass back then, I needed to help ya burn out quicker. Ya still could use the extra effort. Besides, the training is way more than just losing weight and gaining muscles. Ya will see." Thunderlane frowned. He wished to reply but Lotus, who was currently massaging his wing joints, stifled a laugh before giving her own opinion on the matter, much to the stallion's chagrin. "She does have a point. You are much easier to reach around than it was few weeks back." "Thanks, Lotus" Said Thunderlane through gritted teeth. The stallion could've sworn he heard the other mares laugh at his expense. Lightning had a funny way of achieving payback. It was Thunderlane who dragged her into a spa after all. "Anyways, think about before you start sweating. If anything ya will look a lot more impressive for your teammates." Lightning advised after calming down her laughs. "Don't ya have any Wonderbolt ya look up to?" "A few." Thunderlane admitted. "Soarin, Silver, Rapidfire, Fire Streak, he retired though. Also Fleefoot and Misty Fly." Lightning raised an eyebrow. The majority of the names were part of the main squads, but it was notable the absence of few important names on his personal list. "No Spitfire, no Blaze, no Rainbow Dash?" "Meh." "That's doesn't sound like a very good explanation." "Does it matter?" The stallion replied more hastily this time around. "Speaking of it, why did you ran off when Dash showed up? I thought you two talked the other day. Why you still avoiding her?" "Urgh, don't get me wrong, I do tolerate her. It's just I prefer to avoid her muzzling her stupid face into my races. I had enough problems about that when she tagged along." "Sounds like you really don't want to compete with her again." Thunderlane commented, understanding that Dust has a decent excuse playing at her hoof. "Yeah, well, I guess I don't feel like arguing with somepony that doesn't know how to lose." Thunderlane had no reply to that. It surprised him how well Dust knew about some of Rainbow's issues. The rest of their session went quietly. After half an hour, of what the stallion usually would call 'stress relief', both pegasus were free to leave the premises of the spa. Lightning seemed fairly satisfied, especially that now she no longer felt aches in places that always annoyed her. "Alright, it was no a bad call, but gimme a heads up next time. I don't mind coming to a place like this, just doesn't mean I wanna risk certain folks knowing about it." Dust said as both pegasus reached the outside area. The sun was still high up in the sky, indicating both ponies still have a lot of time for further activities. "So, what ya wanna do now?" "Well, I was thinking we c- "Yo, Thunderlane! Finally found ya!" The stallion jumped at the familiar voice calling his name. His eyes widened in shock as he turned around to face one of his Wonderbolt colleagues. "Fleetfoot? What are you doing here?" Thunderlane asked, perplexed by the mare's sudden appearance. Fleetfoot trotted towards them at reasonable pace, a signal that nothing really urgent was happening, also the fact that Fleetfoot wasn't using uniform was another give away. "Wha ya mean what I'm doing here? You asked me to be here, did you forget already?" She asked with a smirk on her face. Her eyes detaining on Dust for few seconds before growing larger. "Wait! Wait, wait, wait, wait.... is this Lightning Dust?!" Thunderlane felt a fair amount of apprehension at that question. "Huh, you see, she h- "Wow, I'm a big fan, girl! You a total badass!" Thunderlane did a double take, staring in utter confusion towards his teammate. "Come again? Fleet, you know who this is, right?" The stallion asked, bewildered by her reaction. "Duh, who doesn't? She is a sensation back at my hometown." Lightning could only smile awkwardly at the weird exchange. She was also surprised by Fleetfoot's sudden introduction, but it seemed that Thunderlane should be expecting this. "Huh, thanks? So what brings you here?" Dust asked. "Pfff, Thunderlane, of course. He wanted me to help him get in contact with my uncle." Fleetfoot explained, still looking far more excited than it should be normal. "Your uncle?" Lightning eyed the other mare in confusion. While Rainbow Dash would be a pony that would pride herself about her knowledge of each member of the Wonderbolts, Lightning Dust never cared to know much about the current or previous members. "Who would that be?" "Whispering McFly, who else?" Fleetfoot retorted humorously. Lightning's eyebrows shot up in surprise at this revelation. She glanced at her partner, a worried look on her face as she thought about the implications of such encounter. Thunderlane saw and felt her worry, but he couldn't really say much about it. This meeting was going to happen, no matter what. "So, you two are actually friends?" Fleetfoot asked, looking particularly interested on Lightning's reaction. "Uh, well, we kinda dating." Dust replied distractedly. Fleetfoot seemed completely gobsmacked by that answer. She stood mouth agape for few seconds before adressing her teammates, expressing her confusion at the news. "Wait, what?! But... ain't you gay Thunder?" Lightning could not help but laugh. Thunderlane, in the other hoof, was clearly livid. "No! That's some stupid rumour a friend of mine started long ago! Never been at any point whatsoever." He replied heatedly. Fleetfoot nodded, looking troubled for some unknown reason. She eyed both ponies with mixed feelings. "Okay... this might change things a bit." She said slowly. "Anyways, uncle Fly say he can receive you at his house in around two days, somewhat around the afternoon. He's dealing with some stuff with other senior members and won't have much free time during this weekend or next." Fleetfoot explained, her eyes going back and forth from the other mare to the stallion. "So midweek is your best chance, that if you don't have anything better to do of course." "No, it's fine. Thanks a lot Fleet." Thunderlane replied, genuinely grateful for her help. "Not only for this, but... everything else." "Hey now, I couldn't leave you hanging, I don't care what Spits says, even though she probably won't be so hard on you from now on." Thunderlane frowned. Yes, Spitfire wasn't the most pleasant pony around him a couple weeks after the stallion joined the ranks, but Soarin and Fleetfoot were there to support him when he started doubting himself. There was nothing that would ever suggest that the captain would lay off from his back. So why Fleetfoot thinks that will be the case? He wanted to ask more, but Lightning was getting anxious at his side and it was very noticeable, the reason probably being the resonating sound of a sonic rainbow going off at distance. "So she can use her special powers whenever now?" Lightning asked aloud, probably not expecting an answer from any of the other two. "Huh? Oh, you mean Dash?" Fleetfoot said as she looked at the same rainbow trail in the sky that Lightning was glaring at. "Yeah, she does that whenever, although Spitfire got mad at her for doing that during one of our friendly races. Not only she got a cheap win but also knocked Wave and Misty sideways pretty hard due the air blast in the wake of her boost." Lightning's ears perked in surprise, although her expression was one of disdain. "I'm pretty sure I got kicked from the Academy for pretty much doing something like that a few times." This time it was Fleetfoot who was taken aback by the new revelation. "Oh! You're the... the cadet who she... oh, shit." The seasoned Bolt seemed extremely uncomfortable all of sudden, her eyes darting towards Thunder in a desperate plea for help. But the stallion was unable to come for her rescue, he also wasn't keen on discussing that incident. "So.... huh... Thunderlane, you do know about the form, right?" Fleetfoot asked slowly, looking extremely tense as the words came out her muzzle. ' The fo- oh, damn! I forgot! ' The stallion internally panicked for a second. Thankfully he kept his cool and remained stoic. Yet, the feeling of tightness on his chest wasn't making him feel any better. ' Yep, I'm definitely screwed. ' "Oh, huh. Yeah, yeah. I know about that." He played it off calmly as possible. "I will work on that eventually." Fleetfoot was throughly unconvinced. "Thunderlane, you really think so? It's pretty obvious you gonna take Lightning to the form. Especially since this is a...well, party and all of that." She pointed out. "Do you really wanna do this?" "Look, I don't really think it matters. Besides she will be with me, nothing to complain about." The stallion retorted, sounding slightly distressed. "Huh, what's going on? What's this form you two talking about?" Lightning asked, confused and upset for being left out of the conversation despite being right next to them. "It's an informal event of graduation the Wonderbolts have each couple of years." Thunderlane quickly explained. "They mix seasoned members with cadets and reserves. It's a confraternity kind of thing they do. They usually allow us to bring company for the night. So... yeah." Fleetfoot gave Thunderlane a questioning look. She wasn't sure why was the stallion referring to the Wonderbolts as them. But before the lieutenant could say anything, Lightning finally understood what was the problem that Fleefoot was trying to get at. "Look, I don't mind going wherever ya wanna go. But if there's Spitfire on the way, that's not a path I'm taking." Thunderlane was clearly dissapointed by her reply, he remained pensive for few seconds before sighing in resignation. "I guess I'm not going then." "Why not? Sounds fun." Thunderlane jolted in surprise, his eyes focusing back on Lightning Dust, he wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. "Because... I'm not supposed to go alone." He replied hesitantly. Lightning scoffed. "Ya just said that cause ya don't wanna be by yourself." She said with a coy smile on her face. "But I guess I can make a sacrifice and deal with it for ya. I expect a reward later though." Thunderlane tensed for a second. Whatever idea Lightning would have in mind that would count as a 'reward' he had no clue. "If you're so sure about it... I can think of something to keep us out of view. But..." "But what?" Lightning asked, not understanding his constant hesitancy. "Well, your cousin will be there too." "...." "Dusty?" But the mare did not reply, seemingly conflicted all of sudden by hearing about her blood relative. Her eyes danced from Thunder to Fleet in a near panic state, the stallion was surprised by how intensely she was reacting to it. "L-Look, I will go with you. But I don't want to see that fucker even a room next to me." Fleetfoot was taken aback by how incredibly rude and aggressive the other mare sounded. Even Thunderlane, who had been through his fair share of listening Lightning's colorful words, seemed a bit shocked by Dust's response. "Don't look at me like that! I told you what I think of him! Why you even surprised?!" Lightning questioned, clearly upset with Thunder's reaction. "Sorry." The stallion quickly apologized. "I had a lot to think these days. A bit of that conversation we had kinda flew off my mind." "Didn't peg ya for being a bird brain." Dust joked. Fleetfoot snorted while Thunderlane simply rolled his eyes at the childish insult. "Ha ha, ain't we all laughing right now?" He asked as ironically as possible. Although his expression went from annoyance to seriousness in a matter of seconds. "But to get back on the matter. I really want you to go Dust, it would mean a lot, to both of us." The Washout blew hot air through her nostrils, a clear display of impatience for anypony who witnessed such reaction. Lightning was very annoyed that Thunderlane was pulling a card on both of them, one card that could strengthen or weaken their relationship depending on her reply. Going to this form meant dealing with ponies Lightning dislikes to all extents imaginable. Spitfire and her were at an impasse, both couldn't stand seeing the other face to face, Rainbow was a pony Dust would rather avoid if possible, and Sky Stinger was just somepony she wanted to see crash and burn. But dealing with ponies she hates was part of following along with the pony she loves. As much she would be tempted to hit her hooves on faces she didn't like, she had to work her manners around the pony she wanted to cuddle with. Not that she would ever admit that to anypony. "Fine. I can deal with it, but don't expect me to bring flowers or wear a stupid dress." Lightning warned begrudgingly. "Hate that nonsense." "I guess I better keep you away from Rarity then." Thunderlane humored himself outloud. "Who's that?" Dust asked, unsure if the name was familiar or not. "She has a shop here in Ponyville. Does clothing design and lots of other things." The stallion explained. Before Lightning could reply Fleetfoot coughed into her own hoof to grab their attention. "As interesting as this may be, I gotta bail. Ya have the address so good luck Thunder." Fleetfoot informed before saluting, something both Thunder and Lightning did in return. Lightning realized they both were giving her intriguing looks right away. "What?! Old habits die hard." She explained herself while being unable to contain the blood rush to her face. Fleetfoot chuckled at her response. "I don't know about ya Thunder, but I think our uniform would look good on her." "Fleeet." Thunderlane warned, his glare preventing the mare from saying any further. "Besides, it looks good on anypony." "Ain't that the true. Alrighty, nice seeing both of ya. Don't be a stranger Thunder, and keep it cool Dust!" And just like that Fleetfoot shot into the air, a puffy trail of clouds following her departure. Lightning stared, first at the mare disappearing into the horizon, and then back to her special somepony. "What she even meant by that?" Lightning asked, confused by Fleetfoot's comment. Thunderlane did not reply. Getting this favor out of Fleefoot came at a cost, a cost of telling her everything the stallion planned to discuss with her uncle. He was surprised that she was on board with his ideas right away, perhaps he wasn't the only one being aggravated by the Wonderbolt system. "I will tell you, but another time. By the way... aren't you supposed to be in a show right now?" Lightning froze, her eyes widening considerably at the sudden reminder. "Ah, fuck."