//------------------------------//
// Inferior 
// Story: Thunder and Lightning 
// by UnweptSchlipps 
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Lightning roamed the city for almost an hour, searching for his runaway cousin. He was worried after all, and he had good reason to be after seeing Dash's outburst back at Twilight's house. As he flew about, surveying the ground for any sign of his rainbow-maned cousin, Lightning muttered to himself, "C'mon Dash, donde estas?"

He was about to head back to the library when he noticed something in the far horizon, in the Everfree forest. At first it was like a sudden gust of wind had barreled though, bending every tree in sight. Then Lightning noticed the countless woodland creatures running away in fear, and he immediately thought, Yeah, that's her. Determined, the stallion glided towards the grim, dark forest, hoping to find his beloved family member.

He would not be disappointed, for in the center of the blast radius was Rainbow Dash, who was panting heavily from exhaustion. The cyan pegasus noticed the stallion and quickly turned away, trotting to a nearby tree. Her cousin lighted down next to her and said, troubled, "Arco, I've been looking all over the place for you!"

The pegasus gave an apathetic scoff and replied monotonously, "Oh hey Lightning, what a surprise." Dash has been continuously blowing off steam for a while now. She had spent the time practicing her tricks for the Wonderbolts, while also contemplating who she should be angry to, her friends or her cousin.

"Are you okay, prima?" Lightning asked gently.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" the mare answered, giving a short glance at her cousin's shining hazel eyes.

"Well, it's just that, back at Twilight's place, you seemed a little…angry."

Upon hearing this, Dash snorted and gave a sarcastic sneer, snarling, "Angry? Heh, why would I be angry? What would possibly give you the idea that I…was…ANGRY!" On the last word, she lashed out with her hind legs, kicking and snapping a tree in half and scaring out the family of birds living inside it. The splintered wood fell to the ground next to Lightning, who was, needless to say, caught quite off guard.

The stallion calmly replied, "Well for one, you just bucked a hole straight though a tree and probably made enemies with a family of hummingbirds."

Dash gave a dejected sigh and uttered, "Whatever, Lightning. I'm fine, really. I just needed to be alone for a little bit."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," she said, trying to give her best assuring tone as possible.

"Well, I'm glad," Lightning responded softly. "You know I can't stand it when you're unhappy. It makes me feel sad too, y'know?"

Dash leaned against a tree and sighed, closing her eyes and thinking, You're making it awfully hard for me to hate you, Flash. 

"Whatever, let's just go help out Fluttershy," Dash said half-heartedly. Her cousin nodded and flashed his trademark smile, but even that couldn't break Dash out of her mood. So the two family members took to the skies, propelling themselves forward in silence.

The sun was now beginning to descend, its position showing that it was around 2. Fluttershy's tiny garden was only a bit away from the gloomy Everfree forest, despite being almost complete opposites In terms of look. Fluttershy's home practically glowed with beauty and innocence, in stark contrast to the Everfree's dark and imposing demeanor. Needless to say, the two pegasi were very relieved to be out of the dismal foliage, back into the sunlight.

Lightning landed softly near Fluttershy's front door, waiting for his cousin to arrive. However, Dash was still a bit distracted, narrowly trampling a family of rabbits as she landed. Lightning was about to say something, but decided against it after seeing his cousin's foul mood. Instead, he gave three short knocks on the door, trying to act like he wasn't worried about Dash. Little did he know, Dash was also doing her best to act as unworried as possible.

"Please come in, the door's open," a soft voice called from inside. Lightning slowly opened the door, revealing Fluttershy giving some veggies to two gophers. Some food was strewn across the floor, along with herbs and veggies.

The kind mare turned around, and when she saw the electric stallion walking through the door, she immediately began to blush. "Oh, umm, hello Lightning. I…I'm sorry I didn't clean the place up. It's just that I wasn't…um…expecting any other visitors," she stammered, trying to cover her face with her long bangs.

"Buenas tardes, Fluttershy," the stallion started gently. "Don't worry, the place is fine. Besides, if this is messy for you, then you don't want to know how Dash's house looks."

"Hey!" Dash objected, trotting through the front door.

"Just kidding, Arco," Lightning said, giving his cousin a playful tap on her nose, which Dash humorously attempted to swat away. Humorous, at least, for Lightning and Fluttershy anyway.

The stallion returned his attention back to Fluttershy and said, "We're here to help, ma'am."

"Oh no, Lightning. I can't ask you to do my chores for me. You're Ponyville's guest after all…I wouldn't want to impose," the timid mare said.

"No work? A'ight then 'Shy. Peace!" shouted Rainbow Dash as she prepared to bolt out of there, trying to get a head start on her cousin. But Lightning was extremely agile, so he caught the fleeting pony by the tail before she could escape.

As he pulled the pegasus down to the ground, Lightning scolded, "¡Basta ya! Stop being so hasty, Arco!"

"Well why don't you… stop being dumb!" Rainbow Dash spat, rubbing her hind quarters.

"Real mature, Arco!"

"Your face!"

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"What doesn't make any sense is why, while you work with Fluttershy, I have to stay and watch!" The two cousins began to butt heads, their eyes locked in a vicious stare down. They were growling, grinding their teeth in annoyance for the other. Meanwhile, in the corner, Fluttershy cowered in fear.

Finally, Fluttershy uttered meekly, "Please stop fighting you two. You both can please stay here and help. That is…if you don't mind."

Hearing Fluttershy's shy remark softened Lightning's expression, causing to break away from his cousin. He turned back to the timid pegasus and gave a slight apologetic bow. "Sorry Fluttershy. We'd be happy to stay and assist you."

The cyan pegasus almost raised her voice to object, but she stopped short because Lightning gave her a glance that pled, C'mon Dash, please? So instead of protesting, she simply gave a small growl and answered, "Fine."

As Fluttershy lead Lightning out into her garden, Dash uttered under her breath, "But it doesn't mean I'm going to like it."

The trio of pegasi stood outside in Flutteshy's small garden, which was home to a number of small critters. "So…um…this is my garden. It's a little small but…it's home."

Dash stood there with an uncaring look on her face. She has seen this garden numerous times before, been there done that. However, when she looked over at her cousin, she was surprised to see him looking quite uncomfortable. In fact, he was constantly pulling at his new bandana, his face a complete turnaround from his usual cool and collected features.

"Dude, you okay? You're shaking in your hooves," Dash questioned.

Lightning cleared his throat nervously and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just…uh…are we going to be working with…uh…animals?"

"Yes we are," Fluttershy answered softly. Then she added, "Only if that's fine with you of course."

"Oh it's fine, it's just, uhh-." Lightning began to stare at the ground. He lowered his voice and uttered, "Animales and I, we don't exactly get along."

"Lightning, you do realize we're animals too, right?" Dash callously answered, rolling her eyes.

"You know what I mean, prima. Wild animals, y'know?"

Upon hearing this, Dash began to snicker harshly, pointing to her cousin and saying, "Wait, wait, wait, let me get this straight. The great Lightning Flash is afraid of cute little bunny rabbits? That's priceless!" Then she proceeded to laugh hysterically while her cousin glared at her indignantly.

"I'm not afraid of them! They just don't really…like me," Lightning tried to say over his cousin's incessant laughing.

But Fluttershy, who had been standing idly away from the two, came up to the electric stallion and said reassuringly, "Don't worry Lightning. These animals are so cuddly and friendly, they'd never hurt anypony. Watch."

The timid mare cleared her throat and called out to the house, "Angel? Could you get some water for our guests, please?" On cue, a small white bunny hopped out of the tiny cottage, balancing a tray of water on its head. The bunny set the tray down next to the trio of pegasi, to which Fluttershy replied, "Thank you Angel." The rabbit gave a quick salute before hopping back into the house.

Fluttershy, after taking a quick sip of water, gave a small smile to Lightning and said, "See? Nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, nothing to worry about," Dash mocked, gulping down the glass of water in one swig.

Putting on his best smile, Lightning replied, "Yeah, okay sure. Nothing to worry about."

Fluttershy gave a small laugh, and she said, "That's the spirit Lightning!" Then, pointing to a burlap bag sitting near the garden, she added, "Now then, if you don't mind, could you please give the chickens this bag of feed?"

"No problem, amiga!" Flash beamed. Then, with newfound confidence, he began to drag the bag towards the chicken coop, leaving the two mares by the cottage.

Fluttershy had a small smile plastered on her face, and her bangs were pushed back, showing her face. Still grinning, she said to Dash, "Your cousin is such a nice pony. You must love him very much, Dash."

"Whatever," the pegasus responded. Truthfully, she could've cared less about her oh-so-kind cousin right now. After all, he's had more than enough attention from her so-called friends for one day. At least it comforted her knowing that, tonight, all the attention would be on her and her Wonderbolt routine.

Dash was so deep in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Fluttershy attempting to grab her attention. It was only when the shy mare tapped Dash on her shoulder that the rainbow pegasus whirled around, saying harshly, "What do you want?"

Fluttershy was taken aback looking extremely hurt, but Dash apologized, saying, "Sorry 'Shy. I…uh…was distracted for a little bit. What's up?"

"Oh, I was wondering if you could-," Fluttershy began, still a bit wary from Dash's outburst. But she didn't finish her sentence, because from the chicken coop came a cacophony of squawking, followed by the screams of the stallion inside.

"¡Pinche cabron!" Lightning swore. And even though Fluttershy and Dash couldn't speak his language, the curse still made them cringe.

The small coop was trembling from the commotion, and feathers began to fly out of the tiny compartment, being carried along by a slight breeze. After the feathers came a stampede of chickens, quickly scuffling out into the garden, scratching and clawing their way out. The mob ran through Fluttershy's garden, trampling some of the small veggies scattered across the ground and forcing some animals from their burrows underground.

Finally, out stumbled Lightning himself, who was struggling with a rooster that had latched onto his face. "Get off of me, you...you... gallo estúpido!" he screamed, tearing the rooster of his face and putting it back in the chicken coop.

The mare's stood in shock at the sight before the scene unfolding before them. It was complete chaos; the chickens were fluttering to and fro, little critters were being driven from their burrows, and the vegetable garden lay in ruins. And in the middle of it all was Lightning, who stood with a regretful, embarrassed look. For some strange reason, Dash actually smirked at her cousin's mishap.

"I'm-I'm so sorry, Fluttershy. Your garden…your yard…I'm just so sorry. The animals, they just…Aw, I'm really sorry," the stallion stammered, for once broken from his usual calm nature.

You're gonna get it now, cous', Dash thought, waiting for Fluttershy to scold him. But, to her surprise, Fluttershy began to laugh. Not just one of her quiet giggles either, but a full on joyous laugh. "Oh Lightning," Fluttershy started to say. "It was just an accident, it's okay. Besides, that was possibly the funniest thing I've ever seen…no offense or anything."

The cyan pegasus was actually quite uneasy when the normally timid Fluttershy laughed heartily, and she questioned, "What, that's it? You're not even gonna give him The Stare or something? I mean, Lightning just ruined your backyard for crying out loud!"

"I'd never do The Stare to anypony, Rainbow," Fluttershy answered innocently. "Besides, this mess is nothing a little hard work can't fix!" She then plucked a chicken off of Lightning's legs and placed it into the wooden chicken coop, still standing even after a stampede of hens.

"But-but, the chickens, the garden, Lightning—!" Dash stuttered, motioning towards the wrecked garden. But Fluttershy and Lightning were already setting to work, fixing up the mess the stallion had created.

"Can you help us with rounding the chickens up, Dash?" the pink-maned pony asked, her most polite look on her face. But Dash stood firm, not even moving an inch. It was then that Fluttershy's look began to harden, and her glare began to concentrate on the stubborn pegasus. The timid pony's eyes began to radiate with the power of a thousand suns, her stare burning deep into Dash's mind. The intensity only kept increasing, its sheer power causing the confident pegasus to falter in her stance.

Finally, Dash shouted, "Okay, fine! Just stop it with The Stare, jeez! I" And with that, Fluttershy returned to her gentle smile as Dash joined in with the clean-up duties. "Never use The Stare on anypony, my flank!" she muttered to herself.

The trio of ponies toiled in the yard for 30 minutes, trying to gather up every single wild animal that had been relocated during the commotion of feathers. Once again, Lightning was talking with Fluttershy, who had actually begun to shed her normally shy personality for the kind stallion. All the while leaving Dash to round up some chickens by herself.

"You okay over there, Arco?" Lighting called out.

Facing the other way, she secretly rolled her eyes and answered sarcastically, "Don't worry about me, Lightning. I'm totally fine."

"Okie-dokie-lokey then, prima!" her cousin happily replied, mimicking Pinkie Pie.

Dash, unsatisfied with Lightning's reaction, uttered to herself, "Pffft. It's freakin' sarcasm, dude." Unfortunately, she was once again too distracted to see a little critter in front of her, in this case, a small chick. The pegasus stomped a little too close to the furry, yellow chick, causing it to instinctively scurry away. Before the cyan mare could react, the chick was already headed into the nearby forest.

With a big groan, Rainbow Dash first took a glance back at Fluttershy, who was helping Lightning with the chicken feed. The duo hadn't seen the chick run into the foliage as they were too busy amusing the other, so Dash said to herself bitterly, "Don't worry guys, I'll get it." The pegasus slowly trotted into the green forest, looking for the lost chick.

This forest wasn't like the gloomy foliage of the Everfree, although the pegasus decided she probably wouldn't want to be in there at during the night. But during the day, the forest gave an aura of serenity, the sunlight piercing through the tall trees to brighten up the surroundings. It was quite peaceful, discounting the cyan pegasus scuffling along the ground.

"C'mon, you stupid chick. The faster I find you, the faster I can practice my stupid Wonderbolt routine!" Rainbow Dash Said through clenched teeth. "And the faster I can get away from my stupid friends and my stupid cousin!"

She spent the next few minutes surveying the forest, and with every second came more frustration. However, the pegasus didn't know which frustrated her more, the chick, or her cousin. The event of the past few hours kept repeating through her mind; the apple bucking, Rarity's not-so-perfect beauty treatment, the fiasco at the library.

Yer a natural at this stuff!...I am very grateful your cousin could lend a helping hoof…More sophisticated…

Perhaps if she was more like you. Those words echoed in her head, driving her to insanity. These words…words that she had heard countless times before....

"I'm sick of you comparing me to him, Mom!"

"Why can't you act like him, Dash?"

"BECAUSE HE'S NOT ME! Why is everything I do always WRONG!"

Childhood memories came rushing back to her, broken memories of a time way before flight school. Even memories of when she dropped out, and meanwhile Lightning graduated at the top of his class. Ever since fillyhood, Dash had been compared to her "perfect" cousin. For all her life, she was expected, no, demanded that she meet the high expectations her cousin had set. Sure, the two had been close ever since they were young, but that didn't stop her relatives from their cruel, callous remarks. They had a bond, forged from their friendship, but for the first time, Rainbow Dash wasn't sure if that bond was still there.

Now Dash was sick to her stomach, and she lashed out at the nearest tree in anger, causing it to pull about 3 inches from the ground. She was about to lash out again, until she recognized a small chirping from behind the tree. A small yellow puff ball scurried out, and the pegasus swiftly caught it, picking it up with her teeth. "Gotcha you stupid chick!"

Dash began to head back to the garden, the tiny chick squirming, yearning for freedom. With a sigh, she said solemnly, "You don't know how easy you've got it, little guy."

When Dash got back, she found the garden abandoned. Everything had been tidied, and no pony was in sight. As she set the tiny chick back in the chicken coop, she heard the sound of laughter emanate from the tiny cottage. She didn't need to check to know who they were. Forgotten, abandoned, and her head hanging low, the cyan pegasus slowly took off to the sanctuary of the clouds. The sun still hung brightly over Ponyville, and yet the golden rays couldn't warm Dash's heart. For on the inside, although she'd never admit it, she was weeping.


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