//------------------------------// // Chapter 3. // Story: Thunder Struck // by Synthetic Soul //------------------------------// “Did you find it yet, Spike?” Twilight Sparkle asked her assistant. “Not yet, are you sure nopony checked it out?” “I checked the registry, from what I can tell we should still have it. But it isn’t in the magic reference section like it should be!” The two were currently searching for a magical reference book that the studious unicorn needed for one of her experiments. “Maybe you had it in bed with you or down in the basement?” responded the dragon. “Well maybe, I’ll head downstairs and check-“ but before Twilight could continue, she was interrupted by the hatchling as he waved the coveted item in his grasp. “Oh here it I found it! It was in the theoretical magic section instead of the reference section!” “Well how did it get there?” questioned Twilight as she trotted over to her ward and took the book from him with her magic. She opened it and began flipping through the pages. “One of us must have misfiled it,” reasoned Spike. “Well it wasn’t me,” said Twilight. “Well I know it wasn’t me either,” huffed spike with his arms crossed. “It must have been you, because I know for a fact it couldn’t possibly have been me. A book would never be misfiled under my watch,” retorted Twilight her eyes closed and an air of pride in her voice. “Oh yeah, maybe you were a little too distracted to notice your mistake,” chided Spike playfully. “What’s that supposed to mean,” she questioned back. “We both know that you’ve had your nose practically buried in that romance novel Rarity lent you!” asserted Spike with a smug grin. “Maybe you had your mind on all those kissy bits when you were shelving the books!” Twilights cheeks began to turn red. “W-that’s preposterous Spike! I’m simply reading that book to expand my horizons. And I’ll have you know that I’m far more interested in the well crafted story of the novel than with any vicarious fixation on the romance between the characters,” twilight responded with dignity. “Riiight,” Spike responded slyly. The two stared each other down with mock intensity before they both broke into a fit of giggles. After a few moments, Twilight returned her attention to the tome floating in her magical field. “Well, now I can get back to my research! I’m trying to improve a spell I found in here by editing the spell matrix’s to allow more mana to-“ Before another word could be said, an object slammed into the front door of the Golden Oaks Library with such force that it caused the wooden portal to burst off of it’s hinges and hit the floor with a loud thud. Both residents of the library let out equally high pitched screams of terror, their hearts nearly bursting out of their respective chests. “Twilight!” It was Rainbow Dash. Normally when Rainbow collided into Twilights door or burst through her windows it was the result of her refusal to slow down enough to take the time to enter the abode properly. But at this time Rainbow seemed to be in a panic. Before Twilight could recover or question the Pegasus, she was upon Twilight, and began speaking at a rapid pace, one that could only be matched by Pinkie Pie herself. “Twilightyou’vegottahelpme!IprankedAnonwithatotallyfunnylightningboltprank!ItwassupposedtobefunnyIt’dscarehimhe’dyelloutbutthenwe’dlaughaboutitandthenwe’dhangoutbutinsteadsomethingwentwrongandIthinkhe’shurtandhe’snotmovingandIneedyourhelpnow!” Despite her astute mind, Twilight couldn’t even begin to understand what she’d just been told. The entirety of the situation she now found herself in had occurred in the span of just a few seconds. Her heart rate still had not returned to its normal rate. “Sweet Celestia Rainbow!” exclaimed the unicorn, taking a step back. “You can’t just barge through my door and start yelling like a crazy pony, you’re going to give me a heart attack!” “Didn’t you hear what I just said?” questioned the Rainbow with a flabbergasted expression. “As a matter of fact I couldn’t make out a single word you were saying! You were talking faster than Pinkie Pie during a sugar rush! Start again, but slower.” “I messed up Twilight, I messed up bad! I-I was, it was just supposed to be a prank! But then the lightning bolt struck Anon, and at first I thought he was faking it, but then I smelled burning, and there was this big mark on him, and he’s not moving, and I left him out in the field, and I need your help now!” Twilights pupils shrunk as her head reared back, taking in Rainbows words. “Lightning…Rainbow, what did you do?!” Twilight asked while shuddering. “There’s no time Twilight, I need your help now! Just follow me!” With that Rainbow dashed out of the library, leaving Twilight no choice but to chase after her. She quickly turned to Spike who had a look of worry and confusion on his face. “Spike stay here, I need to see what this is about!” Twilight then sprinted out of the Library as fast as she could. Spike’s wide eyes trained after her as she left. He then trudged up to the doorway and watched as the two became specks in the distance. “Yeah, um o-okay…” Twilights mad dash after the pegasus pony brought her past the market to the outskirts of town. She was just past the city line when she saw Rainbow hovering above a prone figure on the ground. Narrowing her eyes she saw what was indeed the form of the only human in Equestria. Having them both in her line of sight, she sparked her horn to life and teleported directly next to the two. She immediately looked at Anon with concern. He wasn’t moving except for a few scant twitches of his fingers. One of his eyes was training far away from the other, and there was indeed a foul smell wafting from him. “Anon, can you hear me?” She questioned the fallen human. His lips floundered slightly but he did not audibly respond. “What happened?” She turned to Rainbow Dash. “What did you do Rainbow!” Her tone was now accusatory. “I-it was just a prank! I just tried to scare him with a little bit of lightning! I do it all the time, and it never hurt anypony!” While Rainbow was explaining this, Twilight lifted Anon’s shirt to examine any possible damage. Upon seeing the grisly wound that had now begun to cause the skin to warp and swell, she fought the urge to vomit and covered the ghastly image back up with the shirt. “Dear Sweet Celestia…” she muttered quietly. “This is the worst thing I’ve ever….YOU SHOT HIM WITH LIGHTNING!” Twilight turned to Rainbow, now realeasing a righteous fury. “It wasn’t supposed to actually hit hi-“ “Don’t you remember what I told you and the girls about Anon’s thaumaturgical levels when I did my first evaluation of him!” “What do thermometers have to do with anything?” Rainbow asked earnestly. Twilight looked at her with a look of pure indignant astonishment. “I-I don’t have time for this right now! We’ll speak about this later, right now I need to get Anon to the hospital!” Twilight turned and leaned over Anon and looked at him with deep concern. “Anonymous, I don’t know if you can hear me right now, but I’m going to get you to the hospital! You’re going to be okay!” With that, Twilight ignited her horn and with her magic, teleported both Anon and herself out of the field, leaving Rainbow Dash alone. “I…I’m sorry….”