//------------------------------//
// Confessions and Revelations 
// Story: Thunder and Lightning 
// by UnweptSchlipps 
//------------------------------//

The next time Dash came to, she was in a hospital bed with linen bandages wrapped around her head. She was lying on one side due to the fractured wing, and when she tried to sit up, pain pierced her flank. She let out a short, painful grunt before easing herself back into her resting position.

At first, she wasn't sure how she had got there. Most of the incident at Town Hall was a blur. There was the Buccaneer Blaze, then the crash, then…Oh yeah. Lightning.

As she rubbed the bandaged wing, Dash couldn't help but think that the crash was all Lightning's doing. After all, it was his fault she lost her concentration. At least, that's what Dash's opinion was on the matter.

God, first my friends, then the Wonderbolts, and now my freaking wings too? This is bull, Dash thought angrily to herself. Her wings pretty much reflected how her mind felt right then; fragile, crooked, broken. There was definitely no way she was lifting off anytime soon. What if she could never fly again? It would be the ultimate disaster for the young flyer; she'd rather die than live the rest of her life grounded. As Rarity would undoubtedly say, "This has got to be THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" And who was there to blame but her perfect cousin?

While Dash lay on her comfy white bed, listening to the steady beeps from the monitor next to her, a pony shuffled into the room. When the injured pony tried to turn her head, a throbbing pain tormented Dash's head. So instead, she shifted her gaze, and from the corner of her eyes she caught a glimpse of her caretaker. In her mouth she carried a pouch of medication, no doubt for the pain.

The pony was Fluttershy, whose face lit up at the sight of her friend alive and well. Except for the whole broken wing and the shattered dreams of course.

"Oh, you're awake! That's good," Fluttershy said, placing the bag on the side table. "How are you feeling?"

"I guess I'm alright. Kinda sore though. Now I know how the trees feel during bucking season," Dash replied. An attempt to chuckle only made her body ache even more, so she remained quiet and watched her timid friend prepare the medication.

"Well Dash, truthfully I haven't taken care of ponies in a while. You're actually the only one in the hospital right now. I figured that…well…I should probably warn you," Fluttershy said shyly.

"It's just, like, morphine or something, Fluttershy. Can't be all that hard," the cyan pegasus said bluntly. Fluttershy gave a small giggle before injecting the medicine into Dash's bloodstream. Sure, the needle was a bit painful, but to Dash it was worth it to feel the pain in her wings slowly subside.

As Fluttershy disposed of the bag, the timid pony said gratefully, "That was quite the nasty crash you had, Rainbow. It was a good thing Lightning was there, otherwise you could have…well…I don't want to say it." Although Lightning had practically saved Dash from death, the cyan pegasus only harbored hatred for her cousin. Sure, he had saved her life, but he did practically steal her livelihood only minutes later. I guess this is the only way for my friends to notice me, huh? Getting in a life-threating crash, Dash thought to herself grimly.

But Fluttershy didn't notice her rainbow-maned friends look of distaste, instead continuing, "Speaking of your cousin, did you hear the great news? Lightning was offered an invitation to the Wonderbolts! Isn't that wonderful?"

"Just super," Dash mumbled, burying herself into her pillow. The last thing she wanted was to hear her friends speak of the incident so callously. As if she didn't have enough to worry about without the constant reminders. Rainbow could only imagine what Twilight, Rarity, or, Celestia-forbid, Pinkie Pie had to say about it.

Pretending for it to be an innocent question, Dash asked, "Are the others coming in too?"

The timid pony shook her head and answered, "It's after visiting hours, so they can't come in. The only reason I'm here is because Nurse Redheart is tending to some business in Canterlot. But don't worry, I can assure you that everyone is going to be happy you're awake, especially your cousin." Feeble consolation, but Dash gave Fluttershy some credit for trying. However, just because her friends were worried for her, it didn't necessarily mean she was going to feel better about herself.

Fluttershy checked the monitors one last time before going back to Dash, assuring her, "But don't worry, we'll come visit you as soon as we see Lightning off. It's a shame that you two couldn't say one last goodbye, but the Wonderbolts' schedule is very strict. He told me to say goodbye for him, but I'm sure you'll meet him again sooner or later."

Let's hope it's later rather than sooner, Dash thought as Fluttershy fluffed her pillow. Then her friend gave a friendly tap on her uninjured wing and shuffled out the door saying, "Good night, Rainbow. Sweet dreams!"

The cyan pegasus could only sense irony in those parting words. After all, how could her dreams be sweet if her day had been anything but?

xxx

It was late at night, and almost everypony was off to sleep. Almost.

Rainbow Dash lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Fluttershy had given her another dose of painkillers so she could sleep, but no amount of medication was going to send her to dreamland. No, she was wide awake, reflecting on the events of the past day.

Truthfully, she was far from just reflecting. She was absolutely enraged, thinking about her "amazing" cousin. How he completely took over her friends, her fans, and her life.

Frustrated from the lack of sleep, Dash angrily called out, "Can somepony turn up the freakin' heat? It's freezing in here!"

To Dash's surprise, a shadowy figure appeared from the door, reaching toward the thermometer. The room immediately got warmer, shielding the two ponies from the cold night outside. Leaning back into her pillow, Dash said gratefully, "Thanks."

The shadow replied softly, "No problem, prima." The mysterious pony flicked the light switch on, revealing a steel-colored stallion leaning against the wall.

Upon seeing Lighting's surprise appearance, Dash snarled and uttered, "Oh, it's you."

The steel pegasus kept standing in the doorway, and Dash questioned harshly, "How'd you get in here? It's, like, one in the morning."

"I snuck in. You guys aren't much for security around here," he replied nonchalantly. "You and I need to have a talk."

The stallion strolled up to the foot of Dash's bed, attempting to smile. But Dash avoided eye-contact, preferring to keep staring at the ceiling. "You can't keep acting like this, Dash," the stallion began, worried. "You've been moping around all day. Obviously something's wrong." He tried to place a caring hoof on Dash's chest, but the mare quickly swiped it away.

"Wrong? What could possibly be wrong? My world just got turned completely upside down, what could possibly be wrong?" the cyan pegasus replied, her voice dripping with detest.

With a look of concern, Lightning said softly, "I want to help you, Arco. But how can I do that if I don't know what the problem is-."

"The problem is-," Dash interrupted, throwing her hooves in the air, her voice dripping with venom. "Is you're perfect Lightning, and I hate you for it,". The mare couldn't hold it in anymore; her hatred, her story, any of it. She wanted her cousin to make sure he knew why she hated him. More than anything, Dash wanted him to listen to how tormented she felt, just so she could see Lightning writhe in torment himself.

So she began, "Ever since we were children, I was told to be like you. I was told that you were the model pegasus, and that I should follow in your hoof-steps. I was told that if I was just a fraction of what you were, then maybe I could actually do something with my life. But you know what, if that means being a selfish, ignorant jerk, then…then no thanks!"

The cyan mare paused to watch her perfect cousin slowly realize what she had meant. But to her surprise, she found her cousin staring right back at her with the same exact defiant glare she was giving him. Is he even listening?, Dash thought, unsure. But Lightning was listening; he had been taking in every word she had said. But her story didn't make him feel sad. In fact, Lightning looked calm, almost serene.

Finally, Lightning blurted, "You think you've had the hard life, Dash? Huh? I was always told to make sure you were happy, that you were okay. And I've tried, Arco, that's what cousins are supposed to do, am I wrong? Even though you have this amazing life, wonderful friends, and a better world than I could ever hope for, I've still tried to be a good cousin."

This revelation was a shocker to the injured mare. He's delusional. Me with the better world? That's crazy! Ready for an argument, Dash accused,"What the hell are you talking about, asshole? You were the one that graduated. You were the one who was going to be successful before you chose to travel the world! Me, I'm just the flight school dropout!"

The stallion stopped for a moment, looking down towards the floor as though he were hiding something. With a sad chuckle, he whispered, "You really believed that story, Arco?"

"What?" Dash said in disbelief. Her cousin's eyes began to shift, as though he had said something he wasn't supposed to say. The injured mare, on the other hand, was now captivated by her cousin's words, and now she was attentively sitting up.

Biting his lip, the stallion hesitated to speak at first. But finally, he decided to let everything out. "I didn't leave my home for some...some stupid soul-searching. I never wanted to travel the world, Arco. I wanted to become a star back at Veneighzuela. And I was 'this' close too. But I never did."

Dash asked suspiciously, "Why not, huh?"

Her cousin slowly looked up at her and said, "Because of you." His eyes showed no resentment, no anger. Only sadness, and Dash couldn't even tell if it was for himself or for her.

Once the stallion realized his cousin was just going to sit there stunned, he began to recant his tale. "When you dropped out, the others…they didn't take too kindly to your statement. I guess they felt, I don't know, betrayed for what you did. You were everypony's hero. You were the one who pulled off the legendary sonic rainboom when you were only a filly. So when the Legendary Rainbow Dash left, it wasn't exactly a boost to everypony's morale."

His voice had no hint of emotion, but Dash could see he was looking quite uneasy recounting his story. Now curled on the linoleum floor, Lightning continued, "The rumor spread all the way back to Veneighzuela, Dash. Soon, everypony began to hate you. Around the place, ponies were spewing your name like a curse. I heard rants, arguments, even threats. Threats to hurt everypony closest to you. And guess who was number one on that list?"

Giving himself time to steady his breath, Lightning paused. Closing his eyes, he confessed, "I tried to cover for you, Dash. Amidst all those…those threats, I've tried to defend what you did. I still believed that you were the greatest pegasus ever to touch the clouds. And…and they didn't like me because of it. In their eyes, it was either stay on their side and hate you, or defend you and be exiled…Can you guess which one I chose?"

Finally, Dash realized what her cousin had meant. As much as Lightning wanted to look strong for his cousin, a wet tear began to creep down his cheek. But the stallion still stared straight as his beloved cousin, and said, "I ran away, Arco. Not because of some stupid soul-searching either. I ran because ponies wanted to hurt me. I ran because I couldn't take seeing those pegasi look at me with only wrath and anger. They hated me…because they hated you.

"I could have been some kind of flying superstar. I could have had a comfy life back in my hometown. But then there was this one little mistake, one mistake that you made. Now, I can't even go back to Veneighzuela without being attacked by some…some vicious pegasus who holds a grudge against you."

"You…you ruined my life."

Those words hit Rainbow right in the gut. The pain from the crash wasn't nearly as bad as the guilt she had felt right then. And yet, even so, that still didn't excuse her cousin from stealing her friends and dreams away from her. At least, in her eyes.

But before the injured mare could retaliate, Lighting continued quietly, "But, even after all that, I've still tried to be nice to you. Even though you practically destroyed everything I had, I have still tried to help you, to protect you, to…to make you happy. I've sacrificed all I had to keep you safe, even though I'm not even sure you're worth the trouble." Hearing this made Dash's blood boil once again, but her cousin wasn't done just yet.

"Why you ask? Why would I work my ass off to make the life of the one whom I envy so nice? Well, it's simple, Arco. Because we're family, and I thought that's what good family members do. At least, that's what I thought, but I can tell that, for you, this is not the case. But you're the only family I've got left, Dash. You're the selfish, cocky, spoiled rotten brat that ruined my existence…and you're my cousin. And I love you."

Truthfully, Dash didn't like being called a brat. Although her cousin was pouring his heart out for her to hear, all she could concentrate on was her cousin's angry undertone. No talks about me like that, the mare thought, clenching her teeth. She wanted to make sure he knew it too. And what better way to show your discomfort, than with a remote control to the eye? The mare suddenly lashed out, flinging the control for her bed through the air, hitting the stallion square in his eye. As Lightning clutched his face in pain, Dash said spitefully, "I don't give two horse-shits about your little sob story, Lighting. About you losing your life or whatever the fuck you're saying. Quite frankly, I don't see how it's my problem. You could've just let it go, man. You could've just gone on. But you didn't. Not my fault, and so I don't care."

Although the stallion's voice was still soft and quiet, Dash could sense some anger in his words when he said, "Why are you so fucking insensitive?"

"Why are you such a bucking self-righteous prick?" Dash remarked smugly.

"I don't know why I even bother to try and talk to you, prima!"

"Because you love me, isn't that what you said?" Dash asked cynically.

Thinking of his next words carefully, Flash answered with his voice still low, "Well…now I'm starting to rethink that statement."

As Lighting's voice began to get almost derisively quieter, Dash's voice only continued to grow in volume. "You're not the only one. I've had to deal with a self-absorbed ass that has been taking my friends and stealing my spot in the Wonderbolts all day!"

"SHUT UP!"

The mare recoiled in surprise at her cousin's spiteful shout. Still covering his throbbing eyeball, the stallion said, "I had no idea, Dash! I would be glad to give up my spot on the Wonderbolts if it would make you feel better." Unbeknownst to him, he was attempting to sacrifice yet another thing for his cousin, and it only made Dash even angrier.

The rainbow-maned flyer would have none of it, and as her rage began to spiral out of control, she screamed, "THAT'S NOT THE POINT! The point is you've been messing up my whole life the moment you got here! And the worst part is you've been so intent with your little "Making Prima Happy Campaign", that you haven't even noticed it until now! You haven't been helping me by being perfect, Lightning! You've been making me completely miserable. If you're too absorbed to see that, then you can just…just…go to HELL!"

Dash's words stung Lightning's ego. Her rage-filled speech pierced deep into his mind, and the last harsh words kept echoing like a broken record. This sort of anger was never before seen from the confident mare, and Lightning couldn't help but cringe. With tameness only comparable to Fluttershy, the stallion replied, "You…you don't know how unfair you're being right now. I've envied your life, Dash! You're friends…they're the greatest friends anypony could ask for. This town is the most perfect town I've ever seen; no crime, no hurting, only happiness and joy. It's…it's what I've always dreamed of.

"And as for the whole thing with your friends, you need to wake up and smell the Poison Joke, Dash! Everything I did, I did for you. I tried being nice to your friends because…because I thought it would make you happy. Throughout all of these times when… I wasn't even sure if my life even meant something anymore, I've still done everything in my power to help you. Even now. Even though my entire future was ruined 'cause of what you did, all I've ever wanted…was for you to be happy."

In a fit of anger, Dash blurted, "You want to make me happy, Lightning? You know what would really make me happy? If you went with the Wonderbolts. Because then, I'll never have to see your ugly face around here ever again."

The stallion stood stoically by the doorway, gazing at the angry figure that was his cousin. All the times they shared during their childhood flashed through Lightning's mind. Every scene, every word leading up to this moment. The rainbow-maned pony was still his cousin, and although he had envied her and hated her for what she did, all of that was now gone. Now, all he had was sorrow for what he was about to do.

With a heavy heart, the stallion whispered solemnly, "If that's what you want prima, then…then that's what I'm going to do."

Those words. They were the very same words Lightning had said to her just the night before. Dash let the sentence ring in her ears. She realized that the same passion and love the sentence had the first time around was still there. But now, it seemed like it was mocking her, as though it were some cruel, sick joke.

It took the pegasus a moment to realize she had a tear falling down her face. Whether it was out of spite or sadness, she didn't know. Through her blurry vision, the cyan mare said ruthlessly, "You just never know when to quit, Lighting! Don't you ever get tired of being nice?"

But the steel-colored stallion was already on his way out of the doorway. Not even giving a glance back, Lightning uttered, "Goodbye, Arco. For good."

With that, the pegasus disappeared from view, leaving Dash to lay in her bed. Her mind was still conflicted; a jumbled mess of thoughts and ideas. Guess that prick's gone for good then, huh?, Dash thought with her head wrapped in her white pillow.

But for some reason, she didn't know if that was extremely good, or something very, very bad.

xxx

The next morning, Dash lay in her bed silently. A tray of food was placed before her, but not a single bite was taken. The blinds were left closed, leaving only a tiny sliver of light streaming into the dark compartment.

Fluttershy wasn't there to help her; she was busy saying farewell to her cousin. Whatever, I don't need her. I don't need any of 'em. And especially that stupid, self-righteous little prick, Lightning, Dash thought to herself. But if that was true, then why did she feel so uneasy?

Meanwhile, at the Town Hall, the steel-colored stallion was saying goodbye. He wore a pair of goggles over his eyes, mostly because they had begun to swell from Dash's surprise attack.

"It's a shame we couldn't have that party, Pinkie Pie," Lightning said half-heartedly.

Shaking his hoof, Pinkie chattered, "Oh, that's okay Flashy. Maybe the next time you come and visit!" The stallion could only frown beneath his flight suit and think, If there is a next time.

Quickly shaking hooves with the rest of Rainbow's friends, the stallion began to depart with his new group, The Wonderbolts. They flew next to him, welcoming their new recruit with admiration. Lightning attempted to give the most joyous look he could, but in reality, it was all just a mask to hide the anguish he was feeling.

As he quickly began to soar away from Ponyville, he couldn't help but sneak one final guilty glance at the disappearing village. Although he tried to deny it and push it back into the recesses of his memory, Lightning knew what was happening. Deep down, he realized what he had done; what he was doing right now.

He was running away.