//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12: This time it's really his fault 
// Story: Thunder & Lightning 
// by Jetto 
//------------------------------//

After a rejuvenating shower and an even more rejuvenating plate of pancakes (who knew Rainbow Dash was such a good cook?), Thunderlane's day turned itself upside down. All the worries from the morning (afternoon rather) were washed away and replaced by a bunch of positive thoughts. Everything was awesome and he couldn't help but smile, while he walking home. And those few ponies ponies he passed smiled back at him and greeted him like a champion he was. Except Cheerilee, who he could swear held some petty grudge over him. He never found out what that was about.

It was early evening when he reached his house. He could already see the lights coming from the windows, meaning Rumble was already back. He smiled and went towards the door, just in case checking if the key was under a potted plant like always. As he opened the door and passed the hallway, he expected a stench of booze, pretzels and Lightning Dust among other things floating through the air, but it was surprisingly absent from the atmosphere. He sniffed the air a few more times just to be sure, but there was something else in the air. Something he shouldn't be smelling. 

Something was burning! His eyes shot up as only one thought crossed his mind.
"RUMBLE!" He shouted, as he gained speed and rushed towards the kitchen... and stopped so fast, his heart didn't even started frantically beating yet.

"Oh, hey Thunderlane!" Rumble answered, donning a sheepish smile as he turned towards his older brother, completely ignoring the smoking frying pan he left on the oven. Whatever was on it before he appeared, was already dead. 

"Rumble..." Thunderlane looked at his brother with bemused expression, torn between snickering at his innocent failure to do... whatever he was doing, and getting angry over potentially getting hurt and burning the house in the process.

"Umm... you were late so I thought I'd make you dinner, but... we're out of milk, so..."

"Rumble..."

"I-I don't know what went wrong, I swear!"

"Rumble, get away from the oven!" 

Rumble blinked and looked to his left, only to notice a smoking hot frying pan now completely combusted into a giant ball of fire. He screamed and jumped away. Before he landed on his four hooves, he saw a black blur moving towards the pan, grabbing it and safely tossing into the sink, turning on the water and submerging the flaming mess in it. The pan and its contents sizzled and eventually extinguished the flames, leaving only a thick, stinging trail of smoke in the air. Thunderlane coughed a few times before running towards the window, opening it widely, letting it vent the room through. Once there was no immediate danger, his eye went towards his little brother, standing stiff, watching him with eyes and mouth wide open. 

"Rumble, are you alright?" He asked, walking towards him, trying to see if he didn't burn himself accidental. On the contrary, not only did his brother seem fine, but his pupils widened. So was his smile.

"You... you did all this in two seconds flat! That..." He paused and beamed at his brother "THAT WAS AWESOME!" He jumped up excited. His enthusiasm was solely his own, as Thunderlane was anything but.

"No, that was dangerous!" He yelled back at Rumble, successfully halting his excitement. "What were you thinking? What if I didn't get here in time? You could've got hurt!"

Rumble lowered his head, his ears dropped as well. He turned his head away, as if contemplating whether he should apologize or stay quiet and not make him even more angry. Thunderlane sighed and scratched his head.
"Are you hurt?" He asked. Rumble shook his head. Just in case he went a little closer and extended his hoof to inspect him a little closer. The colt recoiled when a hoof touched his head, but let it be. Thunderlane looked over his little brothers body, just in case there was a burning hair or any other sort of mark on him. Satisfied with finding nothing out of ordinary aside from a little dirt and few ashes he immediately wiped away, he sighed with relief. He smiled weakly and pulled his head towards him, locking him in a gentle hug.
"Don't scare me like that again."

"I... I just wanted to help."

"You are. You're doing more than enough. You cleaned up after my mess yesterday, and from the looks of it, today too."

Rumble snickered.
"It took me hours! What were you doing here?"

Thunderlane fell silent and looked at the ceiling, looking for answer.
"Well..."

"It's even worse than that time when I got back from the camp." Rumble narrowed his eyes looking at his brother, who at that point got covered in blush and tried looking everywhere except his eyes. Rumble raised an eyebrow and asked. "Is this one of those 'Blossom and I were playing adult games' thing that I'm not supposed to ask until I'm older?"

Thunderlane learned to not talk too much a while ago. But not soon enough.
"Y-yeah, that... A-anyway!" he coughed. Honesty was one thing, but nothing prohibited him from changing the topic. "I'll better take care of this mess. This pan is older than me and you destroyed it in minutes!"

"I-it''s not my fault! I did everything Ditzy told me!" He blushed and looked away.

"What was this supposed to be?" He looked at the piece of junk that once was an old frying pan and dark, steamy remains of some sorts, an abomination that wouldn't look out of place in Tartarus.

"Scrambled eggs."

Thunderlane blinked. He took another look at the pan. Thank Celestia he already ate.





Later, once the smoke has cleared, neighbors calmed down and local volunteer fire department ponies were apologized multiple times, the two brothers could sigh with relief and finally relax after a long day full of events. But even after everything that happened, there were still many things in Thunderlane's head. But one thing was certain. There was no coming back to the way it was until now.

"Rumble." He walked to his brother, interrupting his before sleep play session with his toy soldiers. "There's something we need to talk about..."





The clock was already showing ten o'clock, which pretty much marked the first day Blossomforth didn't do a single productive thing from dusk till dawn. Okay, that wasn't a fair assessment, she did plenty today. Her house was never this clean before- the floors were shining so bright this morning she was barely able to walk around without squinting (and it wasn't a sunny day). No speck of dust anywhere as far as one could look. And she cooked herself a big dinner too. It was only supposed to be a small serving, but she accidentally made more sauce, so she cooked more macaroni as well, but overdid that as well and made more sauce to counter it and so on. On the plus side, she was more than ready for any visitors. She contemplated calling some girls for a long needed night of girl-talk, maybe even a slumber party? Raindrops would enjoy a night off too, especially after she covered her shift today. Inviting Cloud Kicker was a gamble- should she risk losing Raindrops long earned trust, or take pleasure in seeing the two interact? Decisions. Rarity was a must, nopony knew more about makeovers or gossip then her. Should she invite Pinkie Pie was a delicate matter. On one hoof, she was a blast to have and after initial reluctance she always turned out to be a great idea, but at the same time, she was going to bring so much treats there's no way they would even touch the pasta. Eventually cupcakes won, hooves down. She could give it to somepony who needed it.

Her first thought was to give it to Thunderlane. After all, he was a lousy cook and Rumble deserved better home meals. Yes, she was doing it for the little colt she grew to love like a little brother. She  wasn't denying Thunderlane any of it, after all, one colt wasn't big or hungry enough to clear half of what she prepared, so he might as well enjoy it too. She wasn't heartless, even if he was a jerk. A super fast jerk. Her jerk, except not really. Or maybe. Even she was confused.
Nopony saw the race coming and she didn't get there until it was too late to get a hold of him, to at least wish him good luck. She knew how important it was, yet she couldn't bring herself to it. And after he won, in a spectacular manner at that, he was too busy and surrounded by fans to even get close to. But more than that, she saw him smile. Laugh. All those years, she rarely saw him display so much pure emotions.

And she wasn't even there with him. He didn't need her anymore.

She twitched when a sudden knocking on the door awakened her from her train of thought. She calmly walked to the door, wondering who in the world would visit her this late. She had one good guess and opening the door proved her right.

"Hey Blossom."

"Thunderlane." 

The two looked each other in the eyes for a while. Seconds passed in awkward silence, before Blossom scratched her head and coughed.
"So... I made pasta, if you're hungry?" She asked.

Much to her surprise, Thunderlane was completely quiet, his face showing nothing.

"Blossom... we need to talk."





Rainbow Dash looked at the assembly of her employees in the office with an irritated grimace. Everypony showed up way before the time the work actually started, which annoyed her to no end. Even Lightning Dust was here, even though she wasn't a part of the crew. She lamented over the fact that the one day everypony chose to be on time, was the one day she came earlier as well to take care of all the paperwork by herself. Alone. So that nopony would notice her new glasses, which she didn't hate, but would rather die than let anypony else see her with them. Especially Cloud Kicker and Lightning Dust, Raindrops to lesser extent. Thunderlane or Blossomforth would probably shrug it away. And speaking of the two love-birds, they were here as well. Together, in the same room, not glaring daggers at each other but also suspiciously far away from each other, as if nothing happened. Not just the last few days, but last several years and the two were just foalhood friends, not ticking time bombs she had to defuse on a weekly basis. 

She shook her head and continued trying to act like a leader.
"Ehem, now that we all gathered, annoyingly earlier than you should..."

"You were here first." Raindrops noted. Rainbow scratched her back and blushed.

"Crap, I said that out loud?" She looked over her crew (plus Lightning Dust) nodding to her. She coughed. "W-well I just wasn't sleepy today, so I came here to sign the papers, that's all." And keep you from seeing that monstrosity I have to wear to read, she thought. Glad that this time she wasn't speaking out loud, she continued. "E-either way, it's about time we cleared the sky from the previous storm, which was a great success, so yeah, congratz team!" She clapped her hooves unenthusiastically. The others joined in a weak applause as well, Cloud Kicker being obviously the loudest and longest out of the bunch, still clapping her hooves long after the others stopped and just stared at her. Once she was done, Rainbow continued. "This shouldn't take too long, so go do it and go home, I'll stay and take care of this stack. By myself." 

Thunderlane stepped forward, proving that if nopony was antagonizing her, it were the good intentions that would haunt her instead.
"Rainbow, you don't have to prove anything, I'll get it done for you. Like always."

"No way, you won't!" Rainbow protested and blocked the way towards the desk with the documents. And that purple box she forgot to hide in the drawers. "I've been neglecting my duties long enough. Time for Rainbow “Leader” Dash to stop slacking." Now leave me alone, damnit, she thought.

There were multiple gasps coming from five other ponies present. Raindrops walked towards Thunderlane.
"I think you broke her into an actual manager." She embraced him with a hug "You're my hero!"

Rainbow blushed and coughed.
"Hey, the rules say clearly "no cuddling and smooching"!" She pointed at the sign on the wall, still stating the exact same rules as before. She could hear others giggling, including Blossomforth. That was all she could take today.
"Okay, I can't ignore it anymore. You," she pointed at hoof at Blossom "and you!" then at Thunderlane. "Stop creeping me out!" The two ponies in question raised their eyebrows and looked at each other, shrugging. Rainbow groaned loudly and facehooved her face, hard. "How in the flying buck are you two so calm after all what happened? Thunderlane, I swear, if you didn't tell her what happened, I will!"

"Oh, I know EXACTLY what happened," Blossomforth interrupted her "he told me aaaaaall about it. With details. And we're fine."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Cloud Kicker, but everypony ignored her.

Rainbow blinked.
"So you know that..."

"Yep."

"... and that..."

"Yes."

"...what."

"U-huh."

Cloud Kicker switched from looking at Rainbow to Blossom back and forth, still puzzled.
"Know about what? What happened?" She was completely ignored as well. Nopony noticed Lightning Dust blushing heavily in the background.

While Rainbow was too busy trying to defuse her own head, Raindrops hummed as she looked at the couple, Thunderlane in particular.
"I agree, you two are acting strange." She inspected the stallions face, along with other parts of his body. "And there are no bruises on your entire body..."

"WHAT THE BUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" Blossom yelled. She immediately calmed down and walked away, pouting. "...s-sorry..."

Thunderlane rolled his eyes at Raindrops and put a hoof at Blossom's back.
"I guess we should tell them." He said calmly. She turned to him and nodded.

The two stood still, one next to the other. They looked at each other again and nodded, Blossomforth doing the honor of announcing the news.
"Well, you see, we had a long talk recently and... let's not beat around the bushes, things were a bit too... dicey lately." She allowed them a second to roll their eyes, which they did. "So we reached a conclusion. You see..."

She took a breath and smiled.
"We're getting married."

Silence.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA---"



"Nah, just kidding." She giggled and blew a raspberry at them, while Cloud Kicker and Rainbow Dash fell on the floor with a loud thud. Raindrops stood perfectly still on her four hooves, not believing a single word from it. Lightning Dust meanwhile was never this glad that nopony paid attention to her, as she struggled to wipe the sweat from her head and slow down her heartbeat.

"Well, that was fun!" Blossom admitted, smiling brightly at Thunderlane, as he couldn't help but snicker as well.

"Yeah, but seriously now," he coughed, awaiting everypony to stand up again. Once they did, he stated the actual news. "We're breaking up." 

He was met with silence.

"As in, permanently."

As expected, the mere mention of that word was met with a reaction akin to Princess Luna being told that her moon was made out of cheese. Cloud Kicker was the first to recover. She blinked a few times and shook her head, trying to make sure she didn't hear something wrong. Upon confirming that it was indeed correct, she opened her eyes wide and somehow surrounded the two with just herself.
"Woah, you can't just break up! What happened? Why are you two so neutral about it? Was the soup too salty? Did she beat you?" She looked at Thunderlane like Raindrops did before, receiving Blossom's evil glare as well. "I'll take that as a no. And what are we supposed to do with all these contingency plans we made for you two?" The last question, along with most of them, was left unanswered.

"But seriously," Raindrops chimed in "that's not another joke?"

As an immediate answer the ex-couple both shook their heads.
"No, this time it's for real." Thunderlane explained. "Last few months, if not years, were the worst. We tried to make it work, but it just wasn't. Not only we got hurt over small things, but we ended up hurting those around us, so... this is it. We're done."

The group took a while to process the news. The return of Princess Luna from a millennium long imprisonment by Nightmare Moon (official version) wasn't a deal big enough to feel like their lives would change in the slightest. But this one marked a new era. Nothing was ever going to be the same again. It was a scary prospect, as nopony was sure whether it was for better or worse, but it definitely required a painful transition.

"This... this is heavy!" Cloud Kicker noted. "Like, wow. Tartarus froze overnight kind of wow. Celestia abdicated and became a hermit wow. Fluttershy became a fashion model wow. Library blew up and became a crystal castle wow."

"WE GET IT!" 

Blossom smiled and shook her head.
"Wait till you hear the second announcement."

The four mares blinked simultaneously.
"There's more?" They swallowed and braced for the impact.

Thunderlane took a deep breath and started.
"I... I had a rough life. I'm not going to bore you with details, you all know what I've been through and I'm through playing a victim. Or so I thought. Ever since my parents died, I did what I could to stay independent, take care of my brother and I neglected one other thing that was important to me. Last few days I learned a lot about myself and I realized that the only pony who didn't believe in me, was myself. But thanks to somepony really smart, if not exactly delicate," he glanced at Lightning Dust. Their eyes met, and she quickly looked away, blushing, but still smiling. "Giving me a push I needed, I did something I was too afraid to do all this time. Something I never thought I was capable of. And even thought it was scary, I'm happy I went through it. It opened my eyes and for the first time made me truly glad to be... me. And I don't want it to be the last time."

Blossom took the small pause as opportunity to say something to the others.
"You girls might want to sit." They looked at her, but none took her advice and were all about to regret it.

"So I decided to not have any more regrets. Which is why..."

"I'm going to become a Wonderbolt!"

SMACK!

The ensuing thud was even louder than before, as four mares lost all the strength in their hooves at the same time and collapsed at the same time.
"Warned you." Said Blossomforth, rolling her eyes.

Once the four mares finally regained their hoofing, they all walked eagerly to Thunderlane.
"Look, I know how it sounds, but I was thinking a lot and I just can't 'not' do it right now. It was always my dream, even when I thought I lost it, but the race, the adrenaline, the feeling of flying, I completely forgot how much I loved it! And when I won, it was the best day of my life and..."

Cloud Kicker stopped by covering his mouth with her hoof.
"We get it, hot stuff! And we're glad you finally realized it!" She smiled brightly. Thunderlane couldn't even fully open his mouth before another one came toward him.

"Took you long enough to figure that one out." Raindrops added, patting his shoulder for emphasis.

"Happy to have you back, nemesis!" Added Rainbow Dash.

"Hmpf, alright, sure." Said Lightning Dust, feigning nonchalance.

Thunderlane couldn't help but tear up a little. 
"Y-you guys... I mean, girls."

"Hey, Soarin told me a lot about being a Wonderbolt," Cloud Kicker continued "he said speed is the least of their worries. You already have discipline, patience, leadership skills and presence. You have better odds of entering than Rainbow Dash!"

"HEEEEEY!" Rainbow protested and crossed her hooves, while others laughed at it. After a while of feeling hurt, even she had to loosen up and join the laughter, unable to stay mad at them. Even if they acted like jerks. Not nearly as much as she did on bad days, but who counted?

"Alright, enough wishy-washy stuff in my office," Rainbow pushed her workers in the direction of the door "The clouds won't clean themselves. Go on, chop chop!" So I could finally get to those papers, alone, she thought.

As expected, the team didn't bat an eye at Rainbow "Responsibility" Dash and just did what they were ordered. Except Lightning Dust of course, as she wasn't under her orders and as a matter of fact didn't even need to be here today. Her reasons were different and completely selfish, but not everypony knew that yet. For now, she was content with what she got.

"So," she turned to Thunderlane, smiling slyly "race ya to the edge of the town? Last one buys the lunch."

Thunderlane didn't answer immediately. Just a week ago he would scoff at that kind of challenge, call it childish. But right now, he was feeling particularly young and immature. He smiled back at Lightning Dust and was about to accept the challenge, but something caught his eye. He noticed Rainbow Dash, still at her desk, arranging (or pretending) the papers around, but she couldn't hide her perky ears. He had a good idea of what she was thinking right now.

"Rainbow, you heard her. You in?" 

As per their expectations, Rainbow rose her head and stood up, glaring at Thunderlane with a big, sly grin on her face... only to disappear two seconds later. She sat down and coughed.
"Sorry, I'm too busy. I'll get you when I'm done with this... No, I'm not chickening out! Now go away already! Sheesh, try to be responsible for one day..." she grumbled for a while, still waiting for the room to empty, not even realizing that her tantrum only kept everypony around for even longer. 

Thunderlane rolled his eyes yet again (it was a common practice when Rainbow was the topic) and walked to her desk, pulling a chair for himself.
"Here, lemme help you." He grabbed a pen along with few papers. "You don't have to to it all by yourself."

Rainbow's eyes shot wide. On one hoof, she was grateful, but that made her problem even worse.
"N-no, you don't need to..."

"It'll be faster that way."

"I-I don't need your help."

"I'm pretty sure you do."

"But..."

"Less whining, more working, Dash."

"But... w-what about Lightning Dust? We can't just let her wait!"

She looked at the mare in question, right now... lying comfortably on their couch, looking through today's newspaper.
"Nah, take your time." She answered nonchalantly.

"By Celestias plot, why can't you be a bitch when I need you?!" Rainbow thought, surprised that it didn't slip through her tongue. She coughed.
"Just leave me alone and go clean those clouds already! I need to be alone for this!" She said, only a second later realizing that this time, she said more than she planned. As expected, this didn't go unnoticed, as Thunderlane eyed her suspiciously, one eyebrow raised. Lightning Dust was listening too, but she hid herself behind newspaper.

"Rainbow Dash? Are you hiding something from us?" There was no answer, but there was a waterfall of sweat coming from her forehead. "Dash, if it's another 'Ten Tons of Snow Clouds' incident, you better confess now, while there's time!"

"N-no, I'm just..."

"Just what?"

Rainbow opened her mouth and tried her hardest to find an excuse, any excuse. Her pride and stubbornness didn't work, not after they reforged their friendship in the most awkwardly adorable way. He wasn't going to just leave, not without an answer and she had none, other than the truth. If it was just him, it wouldn't be that bad. He knew her, he'd understand. But the problems came from other directions. Not only was Lightning Dust within earshot, but all three other girls were still in the office, whispering between themselves, keeping distance but once in a while glancing at them. And one of them was Cloud Kicker, who had a special way of interpreting "alone in the office" (one she would rather not turn into a gossip). She could try and call them off and only tell Thunderlane, but that could backfire even worse. It was bad enough last time they were accused of having an affair, they didn't need one right now (and ripping out Cloud Kickers tongue was still a crime, apparently). 

Eventually, Rainbow lowered her head resigned. She couldn't keep it up anymore. They were going to find out one way or the other. At least she could do it on her own terms.
"Fine, I'll show you." She stood up and grabbed her purple box of uncoolness, as her crew (and Lightning Dust) gathered before her desk. "But If anypony laughs, you're fired. All of you!"

"Rainbow, you STILL can't fire us!" Blossom noted.

"I'll find a way." Dash grumbled, as she turned away and applied the cursed item on her face. She took a deep breath and turned toward her crew (and that one other), standing proud with her new glasses on full display, with her eyes closed. There were no immediate comments, or laugh for that matter. "Well? There you go! My secret is exposed! Come on, joke all you want, get it out of your system!"

She waited a moment longer, before she slowly, shyly opened her eyes. Still, nopony was laughing. Thunderlane and Lightning Dust looked at her with their heads cocked, eyebrows raised. Raindrops had a jaw dropped, but not nearly as low as a news like this would provoke. Blossomforth and Cloud Kicker were the only ones smiling. Not 'about to laugh' mocking smiles though. Theirs were a lot more genuine.

"Wait, that's it?" Lightning Dust asked. "Your big secret is... glasses?"

"Tell me about it," Raindrops shook her head "and here I thought it was something important."

Rainbow Dash blinked.

"I think they're cute." said Blossomforth. "In a cool way."

"I'd say," Cloud Kicker nodded, "no wonder Shiny Stud's so smitten with her!" 

At the sound of "His" name, Rainbow blushed heavily and didn't even notice as her smile grew tenfold. She turned away, tumbling her hooves.
"Sh-shut up! D-don't think that will make me happy, d-damnit! I-I'm not into that stuff... or him..."

You can probably guess how many eyes were rolled (hint: all of them). 

Glad to have that load of her chest, Rainbow Dash smiled proudly this time, glad that her friends were not only understanding and forgiving, but also accepting her, despite now being an egghead. Except... there was one pony that didn't make his opinion known yet. And the only one whose opinion she ever took into consideration (only because he was the closest to beating her at anything... wait, that already happened and she was struggling to get used to it). Thunderlane sat where he was, his head supported by his hoof as he mused over something. 

"Rainbow," he finally said "if you hated the idea of wearing glasses so much, why didn't you just wear contacts?"

Pause.

"...what."

"I mean, they're not that expensive and there's even a model for athletes. Cloud Star from Wonderbolts uses them."

"...what."

"In fact, even I'm wearing them right now as we speak."

"What."

"Woah, really?" Cloud Kicker asked, backed by everypony else, except Rainbow "Paralyzed" Dash. "When did that happened?"

"They found out I was shortsighted back in elementary school, way before we met. I didn't want to wear glasses, so my parents got me contacts and I've been that way since." He shrugged. "I keep forgetting they're even there until I have to take them off for the night."

A moments passed as the group observed the still standing Rainbow Dash, repeatedly muttering one word for a while longer. Before they managed to get worried enough to call an ambulance, she stopped talking and went to Cloud Kicker. The room fell silent in anticipation, carefully awaiting her next action. She took off her glasses and hoofed it gently to her.
"Hold this for me." 

After he took them, Rainbow walked away in the direction of the bulletin board, passed right by it and stopped at a part of the wall that wasn't adorned with pictures or posters. She pressed her both hooves over over it and backed her head for a moment, until...

WHACK!

The group hissed in unison, as the cracking sound of something being broken was still ringing in their ears.
"Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark!" Said Cloud Kicker. "Not to mention her head!"

WHACK!

As a certain pony was too busy drilling through the wall using her skull, Thunderlane took it as is cue to leave. He nodded to Lightning Dust and the two went their way towards the exit.
"Well, this time's it's going to be just the two of us, I guess." He said, smiling as they passed Rainbow "Drill" Dash.

"Just you and I," said Lightning Dust, smiling brightly as she matched his tempo "sounds good to me!"

WHACK!

Despite being a witness to quite possibly one of the most cathartic moments in their lives, Blossomforth couldn't concentrate on sufferings of Rainbow Dash. Her gaze was placed at the lone stallion, leaving the office building. Smiling brightly.
"Raindrops, are you free tomorrow?" She asked her overjoyed friend.

"Huh? Yeah, sure. Why?"

"Wanna hang out? My treat."

"Sure." She shrugged, going back to the spectacle.

WHACK!

Cloud Kicker joined the two mares them soon after she placed Rainbows glasses gently in their box, hiding it away from all their gazes.
"Blossom, did you know that Thundy's wearing contacts?"

Blossom turned to Cloud Kicker, her face as neutral as it goes.
"He doesn't."

WHACK!

Cloud Kicker snickered. That turned into giggle, then into laughter.
"I dunno what happened to the old Thunderlane," she started "but I'm starting to like the new one better!"