It was the middle of the night, and tomorrow was going to be a busy day for Lightning… but he didn’t care; he would stay awake all night if he had to. He had to wait for Crimson to come back, so he could get sweet revenge!
He knew that Crimson got back from teaching really late, so all he had to do was wait for Crimson to walk in. Minutes passed and Lightning felt droopy. An hour passed… two hours… he left the trap at the door and went to lie down on the couch for a second, “Oh, this is going to be so sweet!” Lightning thought sleepily to himself, “Next time he’ll think twice before splashing water in my face!”
Lightning was still on the couch awaiting the return of his brother when he decided to take a quick nap. As his eyes finally closed, the front door opened and all Lightning heard was a crash and a thud. He peeked up from the head of the couch to the pale figure of his brother in the kitchen, covered in flour. He couldn’t help but just burst out in laughter. Crimson overheard Lightning’s laughter and trotted over to him.
“Lightning…did you do this?” Crimson asked looking slightly annoyed.
“Me? Noo!” Lightning answered, his voice full of sarcasm.
“Well, who else could have done it?”
“Maybe the Boogeypony?” Lightning broke out in laughter again.
“Why did you do this?” Crimson asked.
“You honestly think that I was going to forgive you that easily for the bucket of water?” Lightning replied.
“Honestly, I hoped you would have forgotten about it…” Crimson muttered.
“I can’t let that go until I get you back… which I did! Anyway, you had a great day of teaching?”
Shaking off some of the flour, Crimson answered, “Yeah yeah, I did… actually, there is one pegasus that is coming close to becoming the next Wonderbolt.”
“And who’s that?” Lightning asked.
“It’s your good friend Kestrel.”
“Kestrel? Are you telling me that I could be working with Kestrel soon?”
“Don’t say anything quite yet, but if Kestrel continues the way he is…yeah!” Crimson replied.
Lightning thought about the possibility that he could be working side by side with his old friend. He hadn’t seen him in over a year; it would be great to catch up. “That’s going to be awesome!”
Lightning looked at his watch and noticed the time. Had he really been asleep for that long? It was nearly midnight, and he had told Rainbow Dash and Aperture that he would meet them at the library 12:15 for the final part of Rainbow Dash’s tour. He had to get to the library in 10 minutes.
“Anyway, Crimson, I’ve gotta go meet up with Dash and Aperture. See you later; hopefully you will be cleaned up by then!” Lightning was laughing even more now that he had brought up Crimson being covered in flour.
“Shut up!” Crimson responded as he pushed Lightning out the door and slammed the door in his face.
After that, Lightning left to go and meet Dash and Aperture. He found them in front of the library, just as they discussed earlier. Dash and Aperture were already waiting so Lightning was glad that now he was on time.
“Hey Dash! Hey Aperture! I’m not late for once, can you believe it?”
“Yeah, I can.”
“So where are we off to for the last part of the tour, Dash?” Lightning asked.
“Well…I’m not going to tell you yet, I’ll let you and Aperture find out for yourselves.” Dash replied.
As they set off, to go to their destination, Lightning leaned over to Aperture. “Hey, Aperture; do you have a clue on where we’re going?”
“Not a clue, but with it being so dark, I get a feeling that it’s going to be somewhere inside. I hope it’s worth it.”
Rainbow Dash butted in. “Oh, it will be!”
The caravan continued to walk. “Why don’t we watch the moon rise some time?” Aperture asked.
“Yeah, sure. We’ll do that tomorrow!” Dash replied.
Minutes passed as the group continued to walk through the town. Lightning and Aperture were about to ask if they were lost until they noticed a big sign that said Club Pon-3 across from the Ponyville Market. Lightning asked, “Hey Dash…is that…”
“Sure is!” Dash replied. “It’s the best Club in Equestria. If you’re lucky, you might see Photo Finish or Sapphire Sparkles visit, they love to come here!”
“I can’t believe that were actually going to Club Pon-3, I’ve always wanted to go there when I was younger but I never had a chance.”
Rainbow smiled. “Well…this will be your first time! And Aperture: there are a lot of ponies that come here that you will be able to talk to.”
“That’s great! I can’t meet many ponies in the Canterlot archives, you know!” Aperture replied with excitement.
“We best get inside before anypony else, its better when you’re the first there,” Dash said as she dragged the other two towards the doors.
They reached Club Pon-3 just as the doors opened. As they walked into the Club, Lightning’s face was full of amazement. There were streamers hanging from the rafters, glitter across the floor, and a bar to the side of the building ready for anypony who wanted a glass of the Smith Family’s Famous Cider. Lights were flashing. Warm-up music was thumping. Lightning felt like he had achieved a childhood dream. In the far corner of the club there was a podium with mixing equipment on it; next to that was a marble white unicorn warming up the turntables for a busy night.
“Dash, is that who I think it is?” Aperture asked.
“Sure is! Vinyl Scratch: the best DJ in Equestria!”
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Aperture replied bouncing up and down. ‘I can’t believe that I’m actually in the same building as Vinyl Scratch.”
“We best get a table before they are all gone,” Dash informed Lightning and Aperture. They found a table that was close to the speakers still not taken, and sat down. An hour passed and the club was full of party ponies ready to dance the night away.
The three ponies talked and drank at their table for some time. Lightning then leaned over to his friend, and politely asked, “Hey, Aperture, think you can give Dash and me a moment?”
Aperture disappeared into the pony dance floor before Lightning even noticed he was gone. Now Lightning and Rainbow Dash were the only two at the table. The thought crossed his mind—“Well, it’s now or never!”
“Pretty busy here tonight, Dash.” Come on, what kind of opener is that? Am I here to discuss the weather with her?
“Yeah, it’s always busy at Club Pon-3,” Dash replied. She looked at him with her eyes… those deep purple eyes… snap out of it Lightning! You gotta focus!
“I can’t believe that it’s my first time here but I’m enjoying it. Spending time with you…”—Watch it Lightning, too forward—“…and Aperture! My best friends!” Friend? FRIEND??????
Dash’s eyes drooped a little bit. “Yeah… friends.” Lightning, what are you doing?!?!?!
“I mean, not friends…” You’re losing her Lightning! Do something quick! “Uh, Dash, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?” Dash asked, her eyes lighting up again. Lightning took a few seconds to gather up his courage. No turning back now. “I…I…overtimeIhavestartedtodevelopfeelingsforyouandIjustwantyoutoknow!”
The silence was killing Lightning. Fear about what Dash would say to him, thinking about what he just said…he was so scared, he was holding his breath. He felt a hoof on his back and remembered that Rainbow was still here. She leaned over closer to him. Her answer was one he never expected to hear after his confession, and caught him by surprise; “Didn’t quite catch that, what’d you say?”
Lightning took a deep breath. “I think I like you. Like really like you.”
“Really? Wow, that’s…sweet! Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I tried before, but I didn’t know what you would think.”
“I wouldn’t have been mad at you… you aren’t too bad yourself!”
Lightning felt a spark of hope. “So does that mean you feel the same way?”
Suddenly, the voice of Vinyl Scratch filled the club. “Fillies and gentlecolts! Think you got moves? Come show them off on the dance floor!”
“C’mon Lightning. You got moves, right?”
Lightning sighed. Dammit, she avoided the question! “Of course I do! Just watch me!”
“Good luck!” Dash replied with a look of intrigue at Lightning, and what he could do. Lightning felt like there was more than just bragging rights on the line here.
Dash and Lightning trotted over to the rainbow-tiled dance floor. Lightning noticed that there was already another pony waiting in the circle, probably for the dance-off. He inspected the pony and noticed that it was another pegasus. The other pegasus looked like he was waiting for somepony to come onto the dance floor; Lightning saw the opportunity to show Dash his moves and entered the circle.
“It’s about time somepony came onto the dance floor— Lightning?” the voice asked from the other side of the dance floor.
“Wait…I know that voice…can it be...” Lightning looked over and, sure enough, there stood his good friend Kestrel. “Kestrel…what are you doing here?”
Kestrel heard Lightning’s voice and replied “It is you Lightning! It’s been over a year since we had last seen each other. I’m surprised I haven’t seen you here before, I’m here every time that there is a dance competition.”
“Well, I still like to dance, but with me being a Wonderbolt—“
“Enough talk, time to dance!” Vinyl screamed as she started the music.
“You may be a Wonderbolt, but don’t think you are winning this dance off!” Kestrel jeered.
“You’d be surprised; a lot has changed in the past year. You go first then; don’t want to show you up in front of everypony straight away.”
“Still cocky as ever, huh? Ok then, watch this!” Kestrel replied. As Vinyl Scratch dropped the bass, Kestrel began dancing using some moves that even amazed Lightning. Pulling off headspins like a pro and then switching into a flawless windmill with style that intimidated Lightning. He then ended in a perfectly executed suicide corkscrew that left the crowd in an uproar. Lightning couldn’t believe that Kestrel was dancing like that! Kestrel stopped, looked at Lightning with his mouth agape, and taunted, “Try and beat that, Lightning!”
Lightning trotted to the middle of the dance floor. He had no idea Kestrel could dance like that; did he have anything that could compare? Maybe it would be better if he just gave up now and save himself the embarrassment.
“Hey, Lightning!” Lightning turned around and saw Rainbow Dash and Aperture standing behind him on the rim of the dance circle.
“Come on, you can do it!” Aperture reassured his friend.
“And Lightning, if you win this I’ll give you an answer!”
His body moved almost on its own as soon as Dash promised him an answer. He got in his starting position to get ready to dance, as soon as Vinyl Scratch dropped the bass again, Lightning began to dance. He started to use moves that nopony had seen before. Kestrel looked on as his face went from a smile to shock. He was shocked that Lightning was using different but more complex moves than he was, but then his expression on his face turned to amazement. Lightning felt like he could do no wrong; his windmills moved faster, his headspins lasted longer than Kestrel’s, and he added his own signature moves, like swipes and halos.
Lightning was nearly about to use his final dance move when he noticed Dash watching; she was looking right at him, and even Lightning could tell that she was amazed by his skill. She was impressed! Dash noticed Lightning stealing a glance at her, and she gave him a wink. He stopped in the middle of his move, winked back at Dash, and then finished the dance with a leap into the air, two corkscrew flips and a one-hoof landing that he pulled off perfectly. Everypony cheered when Lightning had finished.
“Told you I would beat you Kestrel,” Lightning said with a smile on his face.
“Damn it, looks like you have changed in over a year. Well done Lightning.”
“You too, Kestrel. Anyway I’m going to go and talk to Dash.”
“Dash? You mean ‘the fastest Wonderbolt in Equestria’ Dash?”
“The one and only!” Lightning replied, “I even got to race against
her.”
“You mean THAT was you? I was watching, but I didn’t realize it was YOU Lightning! All I saw was Dash at first, but minutes later you bolted straight past me so fast, all I saw was a blur.”
“Yeah, that was me! Anyway, I gotta go over to Dash now, I’ll see you later Kestrel!”
“Yeah, you too Lightning,” Kestrel replied.
Kestrel disappeared into the crowd, and Lightning trotted over to Dash. “I see you enjoyed watching me dance?”
“Are you kidding? That was amazing! How did you manage to do all those cool moves?” Dash asked.
Lightning smiled shyly. “Before I became a Wonderbolt, I was kinda into freestyle dance.”
“Freestyle dance?”
“Basically, everything that you saw out there. It’s a hip-hop dance, came from Furlong Island in Manehatten, you know.”
“Awesome,” Dash said, grabbing his hoof and yanking it towards her. “Why don’t we go back to our table and relax for a bit?” Dash asked.
“Yeah sure,” Lightning replied.
They walked back to their table and sat down, Lightning was ready to ask the question once more when all of a sudden, Dash leaned over and rested her head on Lightning’s shoulder. Lightning looked at Dash but couldn’t help but just smile. He didn’t need an answer now; this was good enough! He felt like he had impressed her a lot tonight. Minutes passed and Lightning noticed that Dash’s eyes started to close.
“Hey Dash…are you tired?”
Dash replied, “Yeah.”
“Would you like me to help you get home?”
“That would be great,” as Dash let out a yawn.
“Let’s go then.”
As they were on there way out of the club, Lightning spotted Aperture still on the dance floor. Lightning shouted, “Hey Aperture!”
Aperture overhearing Lightning’s shout came straight over to him. “What’s wrong Lightning?”
“Nothing’s wrong, just letting you know that I’m helping Dash go home,” Lightning replied. “I assume you’re going to stay here?”
“Are you kidding? I have to stay, I’m having a blast! I’ve met nearly everypony here! Like there’s this one guy Kestrel, who…”
“Okay Aperture, have fun! I’ll see you later!”
“Yeah, see ya!” Aperture replied, returning to the dance floor. As Lightning and Dash left the club Lightning asked her, “Are you okay to fly or would you like me to carry you home?”
“Could you carry me home?” Dash replied, her eyes barely open anymore. She was either really tired or really wanted Lightning to carry her. Either way, he didn’t mind.
“Anything for you Dash, just climb onto my back,” Lightning said. Dash sluggishly climbed onto Lightning’s back. As Lightning started to fly to Dash’s home, he couldn’t help but look at the night that Luna had made, it was truly spectacular. Lightning began to think to himself on how great this night has been, how he managed to gather up the courage to tell Dash that he likes her, that there are memories made tonight that will not be forgotten. 5 minutes passed and Lightning had finally reached Dash’s home.
“Dash, we’re here,” Lightning whispered to Dash. Dash slowly rolled off Lightning’s back and onto the cloud underneath them.
“Thank you Lightning, tonight was amazing,” Dash said.
“Yeah it was,” Lightning replied.
Lightning was just about to leave when he noticed that Dash was nuzzled up against his neck, Lightning nuzzled her back, and they both felt that this was not a night to forget. After they had finished nuzzling their eyes met. Lightning stared into Dash’s rose coloured eyes while Dash stared into Lightning’s light green eyes.
Lightning never noticed just how deep her eyes seemed to go. He thought that all those ponies were over exaggerating when they talked about being lost in another pony’s eyes, but now he knew that it was true. Not only that, but he felt like he could stay here forever with Dash. He really liked her, and even if she didn’t quite say so, she definitely felt something for him, too. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, when Rainbow Dash broke the stare and found the front door.
“I’ll see you tomorrow Dash!” Lightning said from on Cloud Nine.
“I can’t wait Lightning.” Dash let out another long yawn.
“Just make sure to get some sleep!” Lightning reminded her as the door closed. As soon as Dash went into her home, he realized that he was starting to fall asleep, so he sped off to get home quickly before exhaustion overcame him mid-flight. As soon as he got home, he flew straight to his bed and went to sleep with a lot of memories from this night—the best night ever.
It was another dark day in the jail cell. Officer Sundance was checking the cells before he turned off the lights for the night. He had no idea why he had to, though. No prisoner ever escaped, or even attempted.
One of the guards shouted, “Whatever it is you are doing, I order you to stop!” It was the newest recruit Deputy Fife.
“Don’t let these freaks get in your head, Fife. Besides, this guy is one of our oldest friends.”
“Hello again Sundance. Did you admit that we’re friends? I’m flattered…” came a cold voice from the dark shadows in the cell. Even for Sundance, his voice gave him nightmares almost every night.
“Oh, shut it. You’re going to stay in your cell for the rest of your pathetic life.”
“You honestly think bars of iron will stop my work?” As they were talking, Deputy Fife didn’t notice a key magically float off his belt and into a jail cell. “Haven’t you realized that Riptide’s cell is empty?”
Fife went over to Riptide’s jail cell, and screamed, “He isn’t here!”
“Where is he?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you… but first, a song.” The pony came out of the shadows and approached Sundance from the other side of the bar. The prisoner had a grey body covered in scars with a ripped and ruffled crimson red and jet black mane and tail. His cutie mark, if any sane pony could call it that, was a pile of skulls dripping with blood.
He lifted his head and eyed Sundance with his blood-red eyes. “Ring around the Sundance, carrying a small lance...”
“No conditions! Where is Riptide?”
“Ashes. Ashes.”
“CUT THE CRAP, WHERE IS HE?”
Suddenly, Fife let out a blood-curling scream.
“They all fall down.”
A knife protruded from Fife’s chest. When the knife receded, the pony fell lifeless to the floor. Behind him was the pony in question; an earth pony who had two different shades of grey on his body. He had a ruffled jet black mane and tail and a mark of a skull and crossbones on his flank.
“Riptide, do your worst; show this pathetic guard why you should never mess with The Seventh Sanctum.”
“It will be done,” as the psychotic pony ran full force.
A few slashes and dismembered body parts later, Riptide was the only living pony standing in the hallway. “Now, why don’t you unlock the door for our brother Chalosk?”
“Yes, master.”
After Riptide opened the cell across the hallway, another pony came out. The other pony was a unicorn with a grey and black pattern that many confused with a zebra—that is, if zebras had a dark red mane and tail. Streaks of black accented the dark red of his tail, giving him the appearance of a pony that was skinned and rotting. On his flank was a burning scroll.
Chalosk looked down at the ground. “You know, it’s been forever since I’ve had fresh meat…”
“Chalosk, use your magic to unlock the cell doors and chains. Then you can feast.”
As the unicorn unlocked the chains that bound their leader and Riptide opened the other cells revealing more and more of the cult members, he began to talk again; “Finally our day has come. We are free; it is time for us to hunt. We have all the souls we need, except for two ponies that have escaped us once; they go by the name of Lightning Blaze and Crimson Thunder. Their father and mother provided their souls, but without these two, our offering will be insufficient.” He stepped around Chalosk as he was feasting on the remains of Sundance, and approached two ponies.
The two ponies were both pegasi. One had a dark red body with a grey and black mane and tail. His cutie mark was a blood red skull with a lightning bolt through it on his flank. The other pegasi was jet black with a red mane. Her cutie mark depicted a blood-covered raven.
“Dark Fury, Ravenblood! Hunt down our friends and bring them back to our hideout.”
“Sure thing,” as they both replied in unison.
“Everypony else, let’s get out of here.” The leader of the Sanctum muttered, “It’s only a matter of time before we get you Lightning.”