Knock, knock, knock!
Out of all his ideas today, which were plenty, from closing his office, coming here with intention of barging into life of his friend, not bringing any sort of raincoat was turning out to be the worst idea of them all. He knew that storm would begin any minute now, it was advertised since Monday, so he had no excuse for coming to Thunderlane's house all naked, sans the glasses he wore as part of his hidden identity (which proved to be pointless anyway).
Knock, knock, knock!
"Thunderlane, are you there?" He called at the door, waiting patiently for about five seconds, before getting nervous over the weather. He could swear he heard a thunder in the background. Even the clouds were getting impatient, as if all the stored electricity wanted to get out right now. Soarin knocked the door again, which proved just as pointless. He knew Thunderlane had a day off and already checked any place he might be today, except his home. He sighed and was about to give up and walk away, when he noticed a shimmering glint coming from the potted flowers. Upon closer inspection, he found a key hidden inside it. He thought for a moment. This wasn't a crime. He wasn't going to steal anything or cause any trouble. He was concerned and just wanted to check if everything was alright.
With that in mind, he opened the door and entered. Inside, at first nothing looked out of ordinary. One raincoat, the smaller one, was gone, while the other was still there, right next to the doors. He went further, now turning towards the kitchen. At first glance, nothing seemed out of ordinary, with only two dirty bowls sitting in the sink, with an opened box of cereal still lying on the table. As he was leaving, he noticed a large, dark yellow stain on the wall, which he could swear wasn't there when he was visiting last time. He shrugged and went towards the living room. His eyes instantly turned towards the couch in the center of the room, where his investigation concluded.
"You know," he said, approaching the couch "most ponies would get concerned if somepony was trotting in their house uninvited."
"I knew it was you," Thunderlane answered, not even bothering standing up from the couch or even sparing his friend a glance, instead gazing through the window, at the dark clouds outside "I heard you before."
"Then why didn't you open the door?"
Thunderlane shrugged. "I didn't feel like it."
Soarin took a moment of silence, before taking of his glasses to massage the temples between his eyes. He wasn't going to enjoy this, but sometimes things had to be done for the greater good. He coughed before starting.
"So, since you have a day off, I decided it would be an awesome bonding time..."
"No."
"... so I closed for today, not like anypony will visit on a storm day anyway. So how about we go out somewhere and have some..."
"No."
"Come on, it'll be fun! I promise you a legen--..."
"No."
"You didn't even let me say 'wait for it'!" Soarin pouted, then rolled his eyes and kept on nagging. "Come on, we barely do anything together, just the two of us, Winged... uhm... damn, is there a word for friends spelled with 'W'? Let's stick with 'bros' for the time being, we can think of something better on our way to..."
"Soarin, just leave me alone! I said I'm NOT in the mood for... whatever you wanted to do. I just want to be alone, without screwing up anyponies day! That's what usually happens when I'm around other ponies at times like these."
Soarin hummed for a moment, until he sighed and turned away.
"Fine, I'm leaving. But you'll be sorry, I promise you."
He didn't look at Soarin leaving, but heard him trotting away, closing and locking the door behind him. Thunderlane sighed deeply, mentally reminding himself to apologize later. He knew he wanted well, but Thunderlane knew himself better than that. It was for the good of all of them that he'd stay home and wallow in self pity, without bothering anypony else, hoping his mood improves by the time Rumble comes back from school. After all, they were almost out of cereal.
He looked outside the window, at the gathered clouds and wondered how long till they finally set them off, meanwhile finding out that the couch was a lot more comfortable than he gave it credit for. He didn't even know when his eyelids slowly closed.
The clouds were getting angrier every second, waiting for anypony, preferably from Weather Patrol, to finally set them off and let them rain from the sky. One such thunder didn't wait any longer and soared through the sky, regardless of what the weather ponies wanted. Or at least, that's how some ponies in town seen it. Had they been out there on the field, they'd know better. Like Blossomforth, cursing herself for coming here, staying this long and not bothering to bring a rain coat with her, expecting it to end a lot earlier. About hour ago, she started fighting herself not to lose the patience, as she observed the erratic Thunder flying in the sky. She pre-emptively covered her eyes with a hoof, as the thunder passed her, leaving only flying dust and air current behind. She long since stopped bothering with shielding her mane from the sand and dirt. She was already in a dire need for a bubble bath at least anyway, but if anything got into her eyes, it would still sting like hell. Too bad they only had one set of goggles with them.
She coughed and fanned the dust away, looking at where he landed. Her boyfriend, Thunderlane, breathed heavily and sweat like madpony, trying to compose himself after giving it his all for about twentieth time today. He removed the goggles and walked toward his white turned dirty gray, visibly annoyed filly.
"Time?" He asked in between hard breath.
"Twenty three point five. That's your new record, a second better than the last one!" She said donning the happiest smile she could. Anything to make him stop.
"Not enough!" He shook his head. "Rainbow can do this course in twenty one or less!"
"Come on Thunder, don't say that! You're doing great, this is a huge improvement!"
"Baby steps. And I don't have time for that, the next contest is in a week! I'm going one more time."
"That's what you said an hour ago! Just give it a rest today, the storm will begin soon."
"I know. That's why I have to finish this now!" He wore the goggles once again. "I won't be able to practice for next three days, gotta make it count!"
Blossomforth groaned and massaged her head. She loved him, she really did. But even if her love knew no bounds, her patience had already ran out and she was this close to smacking him in the head and dragging him home unconscious, if that's what it took.
"Thunderlane, I'm serious! Let's go home."
"Just one more lap."
"No, we have to go, NOW! Our parents are probably worried sick already!"
"Blossom, less arguing, more flying!"
And then she finally had enough. She took off the stop-watch from her heck and threw it at the grass.
"I really, REALLY need a shower! I'm going back and that's that, WITH or WITHOUT you!"
This made Thunderlane stop and look at her, as the wind brushed both her long, dual colored mane and his short Mohawk. After a moment of silence, he sighed, took of the goggles and went towards his fillyfriend. Her rage disappeared almost immediately as he got closer.
"Fine..." he said, sighing deeply. Blossom was about to smile and apologize for her behavior, until "...can you tell my parents I'll be late?"
"ARRRGGHHH!" She screamed and turned away, walking away, stomping the heck out of the grass. She looked back one more time and said her goodbye. "JERK!" And then she was gone.
Thunderlane contemplated going with her after all, but decided against it, for two reasons. One, she was already mad, coming anywhere near could make it even worse. Two, he promised himself one more lap. Maybe more if he can make it. He pulled the goggles on his eyes again and soared into the skies, pretty sure that this was going to be it. The clouds above him were roaring wildly, as if taunting and belittling him, but he wasn't intimidated at all. No mere lightning was going to scare him away.
Meanwhile, not so far away, several pegasi stepped on the clouds.
"Can we just start the storm already? I'm getting hungry and tired!"
"Stop whining! What are you, five? But yeah, we're setting them off, but first off, are you sure that nopony's around anymore? Last thing we want is some poor pony getting zapped. These things look mighty nasty."
"Yeah yeah, I'm sure nopony's around anymore."
"What about those foals on the field? They gone?"
"Yeah, they're gone now. I saw that white filly walking away towards the town."
"And the colt? Did you see him?"
"Nah, he's gone too. Did you see how fast that kid is? He's probably already home in the middle of dinner!"
"Heh, you think that's fast? Should've seen boss's kid on the last fair! Now there's a future Wonderbolt over there!"
"More like future boss of us, the way he talks about his little princess."
The two shared a laugh and together kicked the cloud, setting off a chain reaction which passed throughout the entire sky around Ponyville, completely unaware of a lone, black colt, still practicing his best moves. The sky was roaring even louder than before, but Thunderlane opted to ignore the noise, not allowing it to distract him from his concentration. At least until he noticed a single thunderbolt in the distance, blinding him with a flash just before. His goggles didn't do much to shield his eyes, blinding him temporarily. He lost his balance, but regained it easily, though no doubt losing a fraction of a second in the process. The other one he didn't notice at all, until it was too late...
"WOAH!" He gasped as something lifted him into the air. When he opened his eyes, everything before him was not only much lower than he remembered, but also hidden behind a weirdly familiar purple filter. He blinked a few times, until he realized it wasn't his eyes messing up, but a magical sphere he was now encased in. And he knew only one pony capable of that.
"Shining Armor?" He looked down at the white unicorn in question, indeed standing tall, effortlessly holding the magical bubble in the air. He was joined by his other Bearer friends. Big Macintosh, Doctor, Prince Blueblood and Soarin were right next to him, eyeing the floating pegasi. "Let me go!" He punched the bubble a few times, with no result other than hurting his own hoof. "What the hell are you doing?"
"This is what we usually call an 'intervention'." Said Soarin. "And I promised you you'll be sorry!"
"Soarin told us what happened yesterday," Said Doctor, moving closer to the bubble and putting a hoof on the purple sphere "so we, as fellow Bearers of Elements of Harmony, also known as your best friends, took it upon ourselves to cheer you up, no matter what."
"Eyup!"
Thunderlane was at a loss of words. His eyebrow twitched as he watched the serious faces of his friends.
"Seriously? Don't you have anything better to do?"
"No."
"No."
"No."
"Nnope!"
"Quite honestly," now it was Blue's turn to speak up "I have a lot to do today: clean up the library, write a report and catch up on studying since I have to go to Canterlot for an exam tomorrow morning. So to answer your question... no, there is nothing more important in the world right now. What kind of a silly question is that?"
"I swear, if you don't put me down this instant..."
"You'll do what?" Asked Blue. "Whine even more? I don't think you realize what the situation is. You have only two options to choose from. One, you stop being Grumpylane, we let you out of the purple bubble prison, and you let us, your best friends, cheer you up with tons of great fun, stories and borderline unhealthy amount of booze..."
"You can't be serious! You can't do that!"
"...or two, we do the exact same thing as I mentioned before, except the bubble stays on the entire time. Choose wisely."
"Why you little dirty...!"
"Now now, mister Thunderlane, flattery will get you nowhere!" Blue ended with the subtle, yet still evil sounding laughter, as a villain taunting the poor, imprisoned hero.
Soarin observed the pair and had second thoughts whether this idea was as good as he initially thought. He leaned over to Shining Armor.
"He's enjoying it a little too much."
Shiny waved his hoof.
"He's just glad it's not him this time."
"Eyup!"
"See how good it feels?" Said Blueblood, inhaling the fresh, before-storm air, as he walked in front of the group, leading them outside the town to their bar of choice, Nirvana. "Nothing beats the feeling of wind blowing at your face, unobstructed by any obstacles, magical barrier or anything."
"Do you really want me to punch you?" Thunderlane grumbled as he walked behind him. "Because THAT might cheer me up a little!"
"It'll also get you inside the bubble again."
"I'm considering if it's worth it..."
Meanwhile the four in the back sighed deeply, wondering whose bright idea was to let Prince take vanguard and let him do the talking. At least Thunderlane was showing a reaction that resembled his old self, so it seemed like the plan was going the right way. All it took was avoiding the center of Ponyville at all costs, hoping that Thunderlane won't notice that they're taking a detour. It was hard enough just taking him outside.
"Hey, is that Raindrops?" Soarin pointed at the sky.
"Is it raining already?" Asked Shining Armor, looking up in the sky, in search for any droplets.
"No, I mean her!" He pointed at where the familiar yellow pegasi flew through the city, dropping a bunch of flyers around the entire town. The group took a few seconds to realize what happened and panicked a little too late, when they saw Thunderlane grabbing one of them in his hoof. Even Prince was too late, but now considered teleporting him away, headaches later be damned. Thunderlane inspected the flyer and as he did, his eyes went wide.
"What."
Five hooves slapped their respective faces.
"So much for plan A..."
"I knew you were good and you're the pony I need and all that but..."
Cloud Kicker saw many things in her life and Royal Guard Academy was preparing her for the worst, the biggest, the weirdest. Royal Guard Academy would need to make a class dedicated to Ponyville's No. 1 Party Planner Pony Pinkie Pie (she loved the alliteration). But who was she kidding, there wasn't any explanation beyond "it's Pinkie Pie".
"You like it? I wanted to get some streamers around, but then remembered it'll be raining today, so I had to improvise. I think balloon streamers look alright, but I didn't have enough colors. If I knew, I would've restocked in time, but the only balloon shop was in Canterlot."
"No Pinkie, it looks good. Scarily good, especially since you did this...when exactly?"
"This morning. I was too busy coordinating with Weather Patrols from Horsefield and Canterlot to bake more pies, so I asked Applejack to get some of her baked goods instead. The hardest part was bringing ponies from areas around and oh, those tents over there were tough to assemble, what with most stallions in Ponyville suddenly having to go and help a friend in need. Not sure what that's about, but a friend in need is a friend indeed. I'm still impressed that Caramel did this all by himself." She pointed at the cream stallion in question in the distance, at the medical booth to be precise, where Nurse Redheart bandaged his hurting hooves, while Carrot Top comforted her coltfriend.
Cloud Kicker only nodded, as she still tried her best to keep her jaw closed. The entire center of Ponyville, especially around Town Hall, was currently occupied by a whole plethora of tents all adorned with long, colorful balloons lacking few colors of the rainbow. Under them were stands with food, toys and games, along with the betting booth, already taken care of by some important looking ponies, of which she only recognized their own Mayor Mare and her assistants, talking with representatives from a charity organization. Right next to them was a tent occupied by business owners from Ponyville, including The Cakes, Aloe and Lotus from local spa and then some, few from Horsefield and even a lone donut vendor from Canterlot, all talking about their respective businesses.
Outside the town was where the main event would take place. The usually empty fields were now plenty full of large open tents with enough seats to cover twice the size of Ponyville, all supplied with snack stands full of pastries and hot drinks for the incoming cold weather. But the most important thing was a giant scoreboard with two names on them- Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust. The two tents at the bottom of the scoreboard were where the two stars of the day sat, preparing themselves mentally and physically for the upcoming event. Out of all the ponies gathered, the two racers were the most shocked of what was just happening, but a solid piece of "Pinkie Pie Mantra" along with their respective fanclubs (which Lightning Dust apparently herself already, badges, shirts and all) helped them go with the flow and enjoy the publicity, currently happily signing autographs and holding interviews for newspapers from here to Fillydelfia.
The entire thing started the day before, at the office. Cloud Kicker was right there when Lightning Dust officially challenged Rainbow Dash to a race, which the latter obviously accepted. The fact that there would be a storm incoming this very day made the entire event all the more exciting for both of them and neither had enough common sense to chicken out of it, despite the dangers they would face. This gave Cloud Kicker the idea to turn this into something bigger. After all, it was ages since Rainbow Dash had a race with anypony even remotely as talented as herself, and Lightning Dust was new and could use some publicity. Her idea snowballed and it went from a simple competition into a fully realized fair for anypony else to enjoy. Pinkie Pie recommended turning this into a charity drive and called some of her contacts (Cloud Kicker was as shocked as anypony) to organize the event that was rivaling Summer Sun Celebration from few months ago, even convincing Mayor Mare and a bunch of stores to sponsor it and they knew better than ignore Pinkie Pie. How Donut Joe from Canterlot got into this was anyponies guess. And the scary part was that Cloud Kicker was technically the chairpony of this event and was expected to make a speech soon. She gulped, imagining talking to a crowd this big, fully regretting she didn't take any notes and had no time to practice.
A moment later, her favorite best friend ever landed right next to her, as happy as she always was.
"Done. Can I go home now?" Asked Raindrops, dropping the empty hoofbag away.
"Not so fast, Dropsy..."
"Don't call me that."
"...we still have more to do before we're done! Come on, round up the crowd, it's almost time to begin!"
Raindrops sighed and did as asked. That was a lot less bothersome than trying to weasel out of it and face ticklish consequences later.
Eventually, Cloud Kicker found herself at a makeshift stage, standing behind a small podium and facing somewhere around a thousand ponies, give or take a hundred. She gulped and really wished she had prepared notes. She looked around, first to her left, getting nods of approval from Mayor and charity heads, whatever their names were. Then to her right, where all the 'sponsors' sat, along with Pinkie Pie, suspiciously standing still and patiently maintaining silence (or was she just tired?). Then behind her at the two stars of the day. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust shined, both standing tall and proud, having a time of their lives.
She coughed and finally started the speech.
"Fillies and gentlecolts, Welcome to the first (hopefully not last) greatest, specta... spectacula... amazing Ponyville's Race of The Two Shining Stars!"
The crowd started cheering, which seemed to her like a good sign. She wished she could come up with a better name, though. Or taking up Mayor's offer to make a speech instead, but noooo, she wanted to do it herself. All the regrets were piling up and getting heavier.
"Well, first of all, a little confession to make, I didn't think it would grow this big, but hey- the more the merrier! Just, forgive me if I stutter or slur my lines, this is kinda new to me. Basically, it's my first time, so please be gentle!" She smiled and observed crowds reaction. She heard some snickers, a few ponies laughed, but most were less than amused at her attempt at a dirtier than usual stand-up routine. At least foals didn't get it, as they only tilted their heads, wondering why some adults were reacting weird. She continued.
"Rrright, anywho... We have gathered here for two, or three, reasons. For one, this is the event that will decide- who is the greatest flier in Ponyville? Is it the local champion, undefeated thus far, the biggest concentration of colors per square hoof, Manager of Weather Patrol (Ponyville branch), the one, the only- RRRRAINBOW DASH!"
The crowd cheered, mostly the foals, loudly yelling the name of their idol. Rainbow Dash obviously took this moment to show off, made a few poses for photos and performed some basic stunts for her crowd of fans.
"Also, very humble..." Cloud Kicker rolled her eyes and continued "... Or is it the Challenger? New in town, but already made a big impact and her name should be known to any stunt flying fascio... fans out there. The one with the attitude and talent to back it up, my new best friend- LLLLIGHTNING DUUUUUUUST!"
The crowd cheered once again, this time a different part was more vocal then others, but it was still loud. The mare in question rolled her eyes at Cloud Kicker (mostly for the last sentence), but shrugged and just posed before the crowd, as she was expected to. Once the crowd calmed itself down, Cloud Kicker continued.
"But of course (this is two, by the way), what good is flying and racing when nopony gets anything from it? Which is why I want you to say hello to..." she paused, remembering that she forgot the names of the committee "... representatives from the 'Foal Hope' foundation'!" She high hoofed herself in her imagination, proud to pass the roll check for 'avoid compromitation".
"Foal Hope is a charity organization dedicated to helping improve the lives of orphans and help them grow up and have a happy life. I'm proud to declare that all the profits generated from this event will go straight to them! So even if you're not a fan of our fantastically furred fliers, I urge you to join anyway. You know, for foals!"
"So, in case you just happened to stumble by right now and didn't have time to read any fliers or ask at the booths, here's how it'll work. Our lovely flying stars behind me will test their strength, speed, stamina and determination in a race, from here, to Canterlot then back! Whoever lands on the finish line first, after passing all the checkpoints along the way that is, will be declared
THE
GREATEST
FLIER
EVER!
"...In Ponyville, of course. But, to make things even more interesting, they won't be flying through a clear, sunny sky. I mean, where's the fun in that? Instead, they will be traversing through the stormy weathers, provided by Ponyville's Weather Management branch of course, with help from branches from nearby settlements! Just a fair warning kids, don't do this at home. Those two are trained, professional weather ponies! And even then, we have a team of trained paramedics stationed at every checkpoint. They won't see much work today though, I'm sure."
"But before our lovely ladies take off, we provided a contest for you, my dear crowd. The rules are simple- go to one of those betting booths over there and vote for your favorite! The winning side will earn themselves these coupons," she waved a few paper pieces "that can be exchanged for super tasty products from one of our sponsors. And among the winners, we will randomly choose a lucky double winner, who will spend an entire day in a full course premium care in our local spa, being taken care of by our own lovely twins, Aloe and Lotus!"
The crowd cheered once again. Cloud Kicker didn't have much time to gather the prizes and the idea of a grand prize only came up recently, so her options were limited. Cakes were being milked as they were and only other ponies she could convince were the Spa Twins. It seemed like a weak option at first, considering a winner could be male (after all, ponies from Horsefield were here), but the idea of being taken care of by two lovely mares sounded enticing for both sexes, for probably different reasons, if not both. She felt like a genius. She regretted not being able to participate herself, she always dreamed of the premium full course care, whatever that even was.
"So don't be greedy and get your own ticket right now, it's only 10 bits and it all goes for charity!" Technically, only about 90% went there, as everything else was going to pay for the event itself, but the crowd didn't need to know that. "And speaking of our sponsors, a few words from them..."
That said, Cloud Kicker left the podium and allowed the sponsors to shamelessly plug their business, while she sighed with relief, hoping she would never have to make a speech like that again. Still, the crowd liked it, so not everything went terribly bad.
"You know, it's still not too late to go to a bar," said Soarin, hesitating whether he should touch Thunderlane right now, or was that a one way ticket to a hospital (which was almost empty, seeing as most nurses tended to this event). The black stallion in question stood behind the crowd and calmly listened to the speech.
His friends were at a loss. Plan A, as in "Avoid bringing Thunderlane here, for his sake" was a failure and plan B was never made. They could only guess what his reaction would be and thus far, he was too quiet. But just like the cloud above them, it was just a matter of time before the storm would kick in. After a short brainstorming session, they decided to just stick to him and keep an eye out for possible dangers. Shining Armor was set to trap Thunderlane at the first sign of malicious intent towards either of the racers. Or anypony in general.
After Cloud Kicker's speech ended, Thunderlane started walking towards the stage, with his friends following closely. They soon joined up with the chairpony in the backstage, sitting on the chair, exhausted mentally after the last ten minutes. The stars of the race, however, weren't phased by the event in the slightest. If anything, they were pumped more than they ever were.
"What is the meaning of this?" Thunderlane went towards Cloud Kicker. The mare in question waved to him happily.
"Hey Thundy, I was wondering if you'll show up! Good timing, I could use some help with the clouds up there, it's only me and Dropsy for that..."
"Did you do all that?" He asked, pointing his hoof at the crowds.
"Technically, it was Pinkie Pie who did most of the work, but..."
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" He groaned, massaging his head. "As if their egos were too small, you start a party for them? We'll never hear the end of it!"
"Oh, suck it up, hater! You don't like it, then don't watch it!"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Or should I cancel the whole thing, because you told me? Should I tell the sponsors that the deals are off, pay back for the tickets, clean up the tents, tell the orphans they won't get their much needed funds..."
Thunderlane stared at Cloud Kicker for a moment, before groaning and leaving, defeated. His friends celebrated that it ended with no bloodshed.
Meanwhile, Soarin looked at the two fliers, seeing Lightning Dust for the first time in his life. And he had to admit, Thunderlane was right- she was hot and only kinda ginger. He coughed, fixed his hair and went to make a good first impression, remembering to keep down the charm. Last thing he wanted was banging a mare that his bro was scarred by.
"Hello there, Rainbow Dash, hello there, umm, miss..."
"Lightning Dust," the mare in question answered "didn't you hear the speech?"
"Yes, but it's better to hear it from the pony in question. I'm Soarin, nice to meet you!" he extended his hoof towards her. She rolled her eyes and shook it, if only because she was in a good mood already. Soarin looked at her uninterested face, wondering why she hasn't gone full on fangirl, like any future Wonderbolt should. Then he remembered he had glasses on. They truly were a double edged weapon sometimes. "I don't know if you heard about me already, but I'm a rather popular pony around the place."
"Sorry, never heard of ya." She shrugged.
Rainbow Dash giggled and joined the two.
"Oh come on, don't you recognize him? He's Soarin, he's the..."
"...local Love Guru, if I'm allowed to brag." He interrupted, giving Rainbow a wink. "If you need any love advice, I'm the stallion for the job."
Lightning Dust raised an eyebrow. From the looks of things, none of the gears in her head worked hard enough to make her recognize him, if she even knew in the first place.
"Yeah, sure. If I'll ever need any hints on cuddling and smooching, I'll be sure to find you."
"That's what I'm for!" He smiled and winked again. Realizing this was getting him nowhere, he changed the topic.
"So, how do you two feel about the race?" He asked cheerfully. "The crowd is sure pumped!"
Lightning Dust shrugged.
"It wasn't my idea to make it a town-wide phenomenon, but sure, whatever. Nice to have somepony witness what you're really made of. Especially if it's for the greater good." Her stomach churned just thinking about saying something positive about 'Miss No Personal Space'.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Rainbow Dash nodded, feeling bad for actually agreeing with her rival "I hope you're half as good as you claim. I didn't have a worthy challenge since I was fourteen!"
"That's my line!"
Soarin blinked.
"Fourteen?" He quietly asked himself, while the two pegasi went back to their banter, which Soarin tuned out of completely.
He left the two by themselves and rejoined his group, where everypony tried to approach Thunderlane with as little damage as possible.
"Thunderlane, what happened when you were fourteen?" He called out, catching their attention. Soarin gulped and continued. "You said you wanted to become a Wonderbolt when you were fourteen and I didn't think much of it, but then Rainbow Dash said something and it made me think... wait, was that when..." he gulped, realizing what it was leading up to. And soon after him, the others also connected the dots and all of a sudden things became really, really awkward. Soarin covered his head from the incoming smack, which never came. Thunderlane just sighed deeply.
"When my parents died? Yes." He answered simply. All the nasty glares went towards Soarin, who by now was sure he would be smacked anyway, he just wasn't sure by whom. The only pony who didn't seem bothered, was Thunderlane himself. "I mean, it's not news or a secret, I just don't like to talk about it."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"I mean, yeah, I was dreaming of becoming a professional flier once. Maybe because I just wanted to show Rainbow Dash or because I loved flying, I don't know. Maybe both. Most ponies grew out of those dreams quickly, but I kept on trying. I knew Dash would get there, no doubt. I was just never really all that amazing, but I did my best anyway. But then it happened and... well, you know the rest." He stopped to lean over the lone tree stump. The others looked at each other, then at Thunderlane, until Doctor went forward and opened his mouth, but Thunderlane beat him to it.
"And don't even try to pity me. Yes, it's not my fault it happened this way. If my parents were still here, or if Rumble was never born, which makes me feel sick just saying it, I have no doubt that at that scoreboard there would be a third name. And who knows, maybe by that time, I would've won at least once. But that's all just wishful thinking. I can't chase that dream anymore, no matter how much I want to."
Despite the loud noises coming from the crowd, along with Dash and Dust banter, combined with angry, thundering clouds above them, silence fell on them once again. For about a minute.
"Says who?" Asked Prince Blueblood, walking out of the group. The pegasus turned to him.
"Huh?"
"I asked, 'says who'? Come on, who was the jerk who told you you're not allowed to follow your dreams anymore? Because I'd like to have a few words with him. Or her."
Thunderlane sighed and shook his head.
"You all know it's not that simple! I can't just abandon my duties like that!"
"Who said you have to?" Doctor joined in the conversation. "If it's about Rumble, you know he's more than welcome to spend some time in my house."
"But... no, you're already doing more than you need..."
"From the look of you?" Doctor continued. "I don't think we're doing enough! Besides, between my... quirks and Ditzy's... ditziness, he's doing most of the chores in our house already." He said with a smile, but was met with confused looks instead. He shrugged. "It was his idea, by the way. That colt knows how to show some gratitude."
"Eeyup!"
"I... I still don't think..."
"Oh for the love of my both Aunts Plots!" Prince rolled his eyes. "This conversation is in dire danger of jumping the shark, so let's boil it down to one simple question that you owe yourself." He went towards Thunderlane and poked his chest few times, accentuating every next word. "What. Do. YOU. Want? And think carefully before giving an answer."
Silence, once again. Thunderlane stood completely silent, lost in his thoughts. He looked at his friends. All five of them smiled and nodded, trusting him completely and supporting with any decision he would make, aside from killing anypony, that is. Everything that went well with his life recently has been their doing, whether it was Soarin helping him with counseling, Doctor taking care of his brother or Blue forcing him to pony up, not unlike what happened to them back in Everfree. He then turned towards the giant scoreboard, with two names. Names that he ended up resenting more than anything in his life, but at the same time, both made a bigger impact in his life than he realized. One to follow and eventually surpass, the other had made him realize how low he's fallen. Not in terms of being a decent pony, though. But as a pony who let others step on him a few too many times. His eyes went towards the two, both as smug as always. He looked up at the stormy, angry sky and at that moment, he got it. He realized what had to be done. He smiled, then started laughing viciously.
His friends looked around and shifted nervously. Soarin leaned to Prince and whispered.
"This is good, right?"
"I'm not sure... I guess?" He hummed, then leaned to Shining Armor. "Get your barrier on standby. I'm not sure Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust are fast enough to run away."
"R-right." Shiny answered, gulping, trying to imagine Thunderlane as something different than serial killers he learned about in Academy.
Finally, Thunderlane stopped laughing, but still smiling widely, he trotted towards the other three pegasi.
"Hey Cloud Kicker!" He called out for the chairpony, still relaxing after her speech, gathering her attention, along with the two pegasi racers of the day. "I want to join the race!"
As expected, jaws were dropped.
"Umm..."She blinked, looked around and scratched her head. "...ooookaaay?"