//------------------------------// // The Fourth First Day // Story: One of a Kind // by cpthitsugaya //------------------------------// Laying comfortably in bed, the morning light filtered through Lightning's window shining on his face. A few birds were outside chirping, as he slowly began to open his eyes. All in vain though, as he was jolted up by a loud crack of thunder, which followed an intense light from outside. Lightning quickly fell off the bed and onto the floor, letting out a heavy sigh. Not the most.... casual way to start the day. He walked over to the window to see who the culprit was, and at no surprise, Dash was laughing hysterically on a dark cloud outside.”Dash... Urgh....” Dash was laughing too hard to even get a legitimate word out. “Ahahaaha I uh....hahaha!” He fell over again kicking his legs. Lightning rolled his eyes, and walked over to the opening in the floor. With a swift jump down, he ended up in living room of the house. Baer was laying on the couch with a small bowl of oats, and a newspaper. Seems as though he was quite the morning type, with his mane all messed up and eyes shot from tiredness. “Hey bud, what’s the agenda for today?” He groaned and scratched his head. “Err, I usually fly around a bit to wake up, then just relax on a cloud until a storm blows in. Usually, the farmers tell ya if they do or don’t want the storm, and if they don’t, we just knock it away. Plain, simple, fun.” Lightning nodded as he liked the idea; very simple, and something he couldn't mess up at. He spread his wings and stretched them out, along with his legs, then took off out the door. Outside, Dash was setting up another devious scheme for Baer, but Lightning grabbed another cloud Dash had been using before, and bucked it right next to Dash, causing a loud crash of thunder. This time, he was the one that fell over, and Lightning laughed as he stumbled down; fallen by his own scheme. Baer came out laughing as well, as Dash got back up grumbling. “Karma caught up with ya that time Dash!” Dash made a sarcastic laugh as he told Baer, “Next time, you won't be so lucky.” With a quick laugh from everypony, Lightning, Dash, and Baer both leaped off the front step, and flew off towards the sunrise, ready to start their day off right. flying closer to the town center, The glimmer of sunrise was beaming off the grey fog and clouds that had blanketed the sky above ponyville. Baer looked around for a second and said, “well this stinks, the earth ponies are stuck in that gloomy mess. You know what that means right?” They both nodded as Lightning said, “lead the way, and we’ll do our best to clear the area.” Baer laughed a bit and said, “Lightning, chill! We’re in no severe rush, and neither are they. Haven’t you noticed the sun has just come out over the horizon? Most earth ponies don’t even get up anytime before seven!” He laughed a bit more and flew down towards the grey stretch of clouds, and started gliding through them slowly. “The clouds feel great in the morning! I usually like to stretch my wings out and just relax for a bit before getting down to business. Try it!” Lightning took less than a second to decide on dive bombing into the clouds. With a lap "WHAP", he had plunged into the blanket of morning clouds. To him, they felt crisp, and refreshing, partially waking him up from the long night of sleep. After a few moments in the clouds, Lightning built up a bit of energy, and began to perform a few warm-up stunts. Performed a quick helix loop, followed by a double barrel twist; and just like that, he was back to being the speed obsessed Lightning that everypony in Cloudsdale had just recently heard of. “Alright fellas, over here!” Baer called both Dash, and Lightning together, as he gave them a quick game plan. “Alright Dash, can you take care of all the clouds that stretch from here to Sweet Apple Acres?” “Yeah sure, i’ll get this done quickly.” Dash was just about to blast off into the clouds before Baers had stuck his hoof out in a hault. “Take your time dude, no need to rush things and do a poor job.” Dash nodded in comprehension, and flew off into his designated area. “Alright Lightning, I know good and well how much you crave speed, but just take it easy alright? I need all these clouds cleared correctly.” Lightning nodded as well, still awaiting his orders. “Alright, take from here toooo-..... ehhh- let’s say the river. Can ya handle that?” “Well sure, no problem at all!” Baers grinned as he replied, “good to hear! Let’s get too it.” And flew off into the direction opposite of Dash and he. Lightning was left facing the zone he had to clear, which wasn't too large, yet still a good amount to cover. He stretched his wings out, and immediatly flew off, into the area of clouds he was responsible for. These clouds were so light and small, it was barely even an effort to clear them. One quick swing of his hoof, or one swift kick with his leg, and the cloud simply vaporized into the morning sky. A few minutes had passed, and along with it, a large stretch of cleared sky. He peeked down to the ground, and saw a few early risers wondering the market. Mostly the stall owners getting set for another business day, but a few older ponies were wondering the market getting the fruits and veggies while they were fresh. Refocusing on the task at hand, he began clearing a few more clouds. One by one, a quick swing and they vanished from plain sight, bringing a lot more sunlight to the ground below. Eventually, he had cleared enough to see river that marked the end of his zone. A few stray clouds that may have detached from ones in Dash’s zone had drifted over to his zone, and Lightning took immediate action. With a last, firm buck, the last of the original clouds had vanished, leaving only the stray clouds that wandered the sky aimlessly. Each one was relatively heavier and harder to clear, probably because of the lack of a system of clouds to drain it’s vapor. Poof! A few strong bucks, and the cloud vanished, along with a quick in-air tackle to finish it off. The clouds felt cool against his body each time he smashed it to vapor. Taking a quick look around, he made absolute sure his zone was totally clear before moving on. Flowers had began to sprout after a long night, and the ground was starting to look alive once again. Job well done! Out in the distance, he heard the faint call of his name from Baer. In haste, he rushed over to see what Baer was wanting. “Great job bud! Sky looks clear, and I don’t see any strays. Awesome!” In that moment, Dash flew over, and joined in on the conversation as they landed on the only stray cloud over the town center. “Nice job on clearing the sky guys. This would have taken me another two hours almost to clear it!” “it’s what we’re here for.” Replied Lightning. Baer nodded and asked them, “how about we go get some sundaes, on me?”