//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Pegasus Meetup // Story: Broken Wings // by ComradeUncleJoe //------------------------------// Chapter 7: Pegasus Meetup Rainbow Dash and her friends had been running around Las Pegasus all day. It was getting late and they were starting to get tired. They had been to casinos, bars, boutiques, shows, and several more “adult” venues. After such a long day on the town, the girls were getting tired and decided to head back to the hotel, all but Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash decided she wanted to explore the city some more. After all, we all know that the best of Las Pegasus is off the strip. Rainbow Dash started wandering around looking for interesting things to do. This was her first time in Las Pegasus and she wanted to make it memorable. So she continued to wander around the city looking for enjoyable things to do. Dash wandered around Las Pegasus, observing various street performers and obtaining different foods. Dash was enjoying herself; it was nice to do something other fly around and pull pranks. Dash also enjoyed spending time with her friends without some accident or world shattering event interrupting. Rainbow Dash was watching a particularly skilled street juggler and hadn’t noticed a certain pony approach her from behind. The pony snuck up behind her and quickly put his hooves over her eyes. “Guess who!” said the mysterious pony. Rainbow Dash recognized the confident way of talking almost immediately, despite only hearing it briefly. “Gee, I wonder who it could be; surely not Lightning Bolt.” The pony laughed and removed his hooves from her eyes. “Surely not, miss Dash.” Lightning stepped in front of Dash. “Nice to see you again Dashie.” Lightning spoke with his usual confident, smooth way of talking. “Nice to see you too Lightning. So, what brings you out here?” “I could ask you the same Dashie. I thought you were with your friends.” “Well I was, but they got tired. I decided to stay out a bit.” “Well that’s always fun. I fly solo at night all the time, but what’s better is company.” “Yeah. Anyways, you still haven’t answered me, what are you doing?” “Well I got bored of sitting around my apartment and happened across you watching a juggler. So I figured I’d say hi.” “Well hi.” “So Dashie, find this juggler compelling?” “I guess it’s ok.” “Well, want a veteran of this place to show you around?” “Are you asking me on a date Lightning?” “Can you have a date at 3 in the morning?” Rainbow Dash laughed “Seems a bit late for dating.” “Well then no, I am not.” Rainbow laughed “Sorry, but it’s late. Maybe tomorrow.” “Dang, I was hoping I could seduce you and skip town by tomorrow.” Rainbow laughed and whacked Lightning on the shoulder. Afterwards she agreed to meet Lightning the next day and let him show her around Las Pegasus. So the two went off on their separate ways; Lightning back to his apartment and Rainbow off to her hotel room. Upon arriving at her room, Dash flopped down on her bed. She began to realize that she really liked Lightning and was excited to see him tomorrow. Dash continued to think of Lightning, his way of talking, his confidence, his lack of wings. The last thought made her feel strange. It felt wrong, in a sense, for a Pegasus to be wingless; it felt like some kind of sick joke was being played on Lightning. Dash continued to think about Lightning until her thoughts finally led her to a deep sleep. Lightning strolled home leisurely; he had been out for several hours and was ready for some R&R. He walked slowly, thinking about his life. Lightning thought of how his brother came to live with him, how he and his brother became famous, and how he lost his wings. His thoughts went through everything of his life; despite him being only 23 he had been through much. While his thoughts constantly changed, one thing remained constant, the thought of Rainbow Dash. Lightning couldn’t help but think about that cyan Pegasus. He thought of how strong willed and head strong she was, how athletic she was, and how cute she was. He couldn’t help himself; Dash was the cutest pony Lightning had ever seen. Lightning had been with several mares in his life (in fact, he had been quite the playcolt before his accident), but Dash was different. He liked her for more than superficial things like looks; he thought she had a great personality and fun to be around. “To be fair,” Lightning reasoned with himself, “You’ve only known her for a day and hadn’t had enough time to really get to know her. For all you know, she could be a total bitch.” Lightning laughed. It was true; he didn’t know her that well. However, he had a good feeling about her, and his feelings were (almost) always right. Lost deep in his thoughts, Lightning hadn’t noticed he had arrived at his apartment building, or even approaching his door to his apartment. In fact, when he finally noticed his surroundings, it spooked him a bit. “How the fuck did I get here?” He stood there looking around. Finally, he just shook his head and opened the door to his home, going inside. Once inside, he quickly headed for his room, but stopped dead in his tracks. Thunder lay on the couch, fast asleep; obviously exhausted from another hard day of work. He had fallen asleep while watching Guards: Equestria’s Finest. Lightning grabbed a blanket from the closet and draped it over his little brother, and turned off the TV. He stood there staring at his brother; he remembered how his brother would try so hard to stay awake with him when they were younger, only to fall asleep almost immediately. Thunder hadn’t changed since childhood. He was still shy and awkward around other ponies; he even looked the same, only slightly bigger. Lightning laughed; his brother was peculiar. He would be far too shy to even speak sometimes (especially around girls), but when he began to show off his magic, he became a different pony. When he wielded magic he became confident and brave. Lightning had to admit; he had always been a bit jealous of Thunder, he was jealous of how Thunder pushed himself so hard to achieve his goals, but knew when to stop and to rest, he knew his limits. He was jealous of how strong Thunder was in front of adversity; how he didn’t let terrible events or ponies break his spirit. Of course, Lightning could never let Thunder know this. Lightning snapped out his thoughts soon afterwards. It was then he realized how tired he himself actually was. So without hesitation, he went to his room and jumped into bed. Before he knew it, Lightning was fast asleep. Rainbow Dash awoke at 12:46 PM and rolled out of bed. She went to the bathroom and stared into the mirror. Dash felt terrible, smelt terrible, and looked terrible. Her mane was even more of a mess than usual, full of knots, and was a dull color this morning, She felt like she was going to vomit at any moment, and she smelt like booze and fish. She needed a shower and bad. Dash quickly hopped into the shower and let the warm water run over her body; the warmth quickly soothed her aching muscles and her nausea. She spent a good hour in the shower; she washed every nook and cranny. Upon exiting the shower Rainbow Dash felt much better (and certainly looked better). Her coat and mane were back to their usual brightness. Instead of brushing her mane, Dash simply shook her head and ran her hoof through her hair. Dash felt much better, although she still felt a little sick; too much booze it seemed. Dash ordered room service to bring her breakfast, and while she waited, she watched TV. Soon Dash’s breakfast had arrived and she began to dig in. It was a large, hearty breakfast; complete with eggs, pancakes, hay, and a glass of orange juice. Dash devoured it all in record time. Shortly after engorging herself on breakfast, Dash realized she was alone in the suite. Her friends must’ve decided to leave her behind and head off on some kind of adventure. Fine by her Dash thought. She wasn’t feeling up to any sort of activities like yesterday. So Dash simply sat and watched TV. However, soon she got bored and decided to head to the lobby; maybe something fun was happening there. On the other side of the spectrum, was Lightning. Lightning woke up at 9:31 AM and felt amazing. He had had the best night’s sleep he had in years. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but last night he slept like a baby; no nightmares to speak of. In any case, Lightning got up and began listening to his favorite band, Cage the Manticore, while he got ready. He looked into the mirror and said his usual pep talk, showered, and went to the kitchen. To his surprise, Thunder was still asleep on the couch. Usually Thunder would’ve been up and about by now. Lightning wondered what was wrong with his brother. Lightning walked over and shook his brother, “Hey, T., wake up man.” Thunder stirred and starred at his brother. “What the fuck do you want?” despite his apparent shyness, Thunder could be an asshole when he was tired. “I was just wondering if you were ok bro. Normally you’re up long before me.” “Today I’m off. So I want to get some sleep in.” “Can’t argue with that. Sorry for waking you.” “Don’t sweat it bro.” and with that, Thunder passed out again. Lightning was left with a bit of a problem, however. He didn’t know how to cook and Thunder wasn’t able to make breakfast. He thought long and hard before deciding that breakfast wasn’t important, and if he had to eat, he could eat breakfast with Rainbow Dash. It was decided then; he would go to Dash’s hotel and offer to take her to breakfast. “Man Lightning, you certainly are one handsome genius.” And with that, Lightning was off towards Giovani Tower, hoping to catch Dash before she left her hotel. Rainbow Dash strolled out of the elevator and into the lobby. She looked around and saw the usual cast of ponies about; there was the usual hotel employees running around, ponies leaving the hotel ready for a night on the town, ponies returning from a night on the town, and a certain pegasus Dash knew. “What are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked as she approached Lightning, who was sitting upside down one of the lobby chairs. “Why, I’m waiting for you Dashie.” Lightning grinned up at Rainbow Dash with his signature grin. “Why are you waiting for me?” “Because you said we would hang out today.” “No I said maybe. There’s a difference.” “Aw come on! I was gonna show you the best breakfast restaurant in Las Pegasus.” “Sorry, but I already ate breakfast.” “That’s fine; we could just hang out then.” Lightning began relying heavily on his smooth way of talking and his good looks. Although it probably wasn’t working because he was upside down and looked like an idiot. “Come on Dashie, it’ll be fun.” He gave her a quick wink. “Sorry I have plans.” Dash lied; of course she didn’t have plans, but she liked messing around. Lightning hopped up and stood straight and tall. He looked away and got his best, most charismatic face on and then looked back. “Come on Dashie, I’m sure these plans can wait until another day.” “Sorry, but I was met this guy at a bar and he wanted to meet up again.” Again Dash lied. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was lying, but the look on Lightning’s face when she said that was priceless. “Wait, WHAT?!?!” Had the infamous Lightning Bolt just been denied a date with a mare, and, what’s worse, been beaten by another pony? Lightning was crushed. No mare ever denied him a date. He ALWAYS got the girl. “Yep. He’s this cute stallion who works on a farm. He’s big and red with a blonde mane. He works on an apple farm.” “Wh-wh-wh-what the fu…” Rainbow Dash ran off before Lightning could finish his sentence. Lightning just stood there, shocked and, honestly, a little heart broken.