Thunder at Dusk

by Sterling Sketch

Chapter 1

Come on, Lightning, you’ve got her right in your sights!

Lightning Flair, a young pegasus, raged through the sky, angry at himself for not catching up to his lesser cousin. Her speed was no uncommonness, though, for she had been an emphatic flyer ever since she was a filly. As for how she had gotten so much faster recently, he had no clue. It appalled him that someone two years younger than him was so much further in the art of the race.

His speed had always rivaled her own. She had done a Rainboom first, and he followed soon after. She made it into the Wonderbolts Academy one summer; he made it the next. Their back-and-forth made it all the more fun. For now, he wore the crown. Fearing he would be dethroned as the Bullet King of Equestria, he pushed himself further toward the colorful mare.

The upper atmosphere’s air stung his face as he neared the cyan missile. His wings grew tired, but he pressed on. Cloudsdale was approaching fast, and his victory was coming soon. Attempting to make himself scarce to increase his speed, he sped ahead, gaining headway by mere inches past Dash. I can make it! I’ve got her!
Rainbow looked left at Lightning, and grinned devilishly. Her wings began to beat furiously, quickening her pace and disturbing the passing air between them. Lightning began to lose his balance, and his neon fur paled as he realized what was about to happen.

He had fallen for it.

A loud shock emanated from beside him, along with a bright flash of light. The white expanded and burned outward into waves of brilliant hues. She had baited him into a close pass and smeared him off the course with a Sonic Rainboom. He was sent careening toward the earth.

As Lightning cascaded from the blast zone, he collected his thoughts. Hitting clouds to slow his descent was his best bet for safety. He aimed himself at each puffy white haven, hoping for a thick cloud to land on softly. With his trajectory aimed directly at a thick mass of white, he offered up a gaze once more toward Cloudsdale, seeing the streak of color paint the sky in a plethora of hues. You win this time, Dash. He smiled as he tore through his target cloud.

Looking back toward Ponyville, it occurred to him that he could counter his fall with his wings pushing him up, but he decided he’d let himself fall like the lightning he was. A shiver of pride snuggled up his spine thinking of his uncanny namesake. He steered himself toward another cloud and prepared to slow his descent. Lighting had failed to take notice of the color of the approaching cloud; his trajectory would hit spot-on a raincloud.

Lightning’s eyes widened as he realized his fate. Another story would soon be told to justify Sketch’s favorite nickname for him: Lightning Rod. He narrowed himself as he slammed through the cold, wet mass.

He felt the friction build up between his fur and the cloud. The static laughed as it tickled him all over, and he exited to the sky. To think this would be how he made his debut in Ponyville made him cringe even more than the bolt that followed him and struck his behind.

His consciousness began to fade as Ponyville neared. He had become the true Bullet King of Equestria, smoking from the Rainbow Pistol from whence he came. The gold and red of his eyes sank behind his eyelids as he fell under the fatigue of his shock.

Rainbow screeched to a halt in Cloudsdale as she crossed their imaginary finish line. She let out a howl of victory that eventually became laughter. “Flair-bear, you should’ve seen your face!” She continued to cackle as she fell to the ground. After hearing no disgruntled retort, she peeked from under her hoof. No Lightning was to be found. Dash raised herself from the soft surface of Cloudsdale. He wasn’t even in lag on the course. She couldn’t help but grin as she realized that her plan had done just what it should’ve.

Peeking over the edge, she pondered if he had fallen all the way to Ponyville. If so, she would catch up later. For now, she had a few things to grab from her home, including Lighting’s favorite food, apple pie. She had planned a picnic for all her friends to meet her favorite cousin, and he’d be much more sociable when he had a treat straight from her home, donned with the pride of Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow took flight once more, leaving behind any possible worry for Lightning as she made her way home.

Back in Ponyville, lightning was crashing on the balcony of the beloved neophyte princess.

“Ahem, hrrm hmm.” Spike cleared his throat as he began to read Celestia’s letter to Twilight. “‘Dear Princess Twilight, I fear Equestria may be in great danger. Rumor has it that someone has found ill of your coronation as Princess as of late.’ What do you think it could mean?” He looked to Twilight as if she had already read the letter.

“The best way to find out is to read it, Spike. I’ve only been back in Equestria a few days, and I’ve been a little too busy trying to find a way to keep up with Sunset Shimmer to read it myself.” She looked up from her book and met Spike’s eyes. “You wouldn’t mind reading onward, would you?”

“I’m your assistant, Twilight. Of course I wouldn’t mind,” he said, offering up a smile. She had signs of obvious guilt on her face as she returned to her spells. “Is everything alright?”

“Sort of.” She slid a piece of paper into the book and retired it to a stack near her podium. “Even if you’ve always been my assistant, I can’t help but feel a little strange asking you- well, anyone, really- to do anything now that I’m a princess.” She trotted over to Spike, using her magic to whisk away the letter into her own control. “I can handle it from here.” She yielded a smile to him as she walked to her bed.

“If you insist,” Spike replied. “You’re sure there’s nothing you need me to do?”

Twilight perched herself comfortably with her legs folded underneath herself.. “Positive.” She looked to Spike with one more comforting smile. “Go spend some time at Rarity’s house. She’ll enjoy the company with the Cutie Mark Crusaders out of town with Zecora.”

“Gladly.” Spike left with hearts in his eyes and wings on his heels. Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of a dragon and a pony together. He’s still young, so it shouldn’t be any trouble to let him dream. She began reading Celestia’s letter after her giggling had ended.

A moment later, the house shook in conjunction with a loud bang coming from outside. Twilight poised her head toward her balcony with concern and confusion. Dashie said she had company coming today, so it couldn’t have been the result of her practice going awry again. She flew all the way down to North Marolina to escort some family to Ponyville. Rising from her bed, she approached her balcony.

She swung the doors open using her magic to find a stallion pegasus crash-landed on the floor. He was singed throughout his mint green coat, with thin columns of dark smoke ascending from his wings and tail. Had he been struck by lightning?

Hurriedly, Twilight lifted him onto her back, not thinking of using her spells, and carried him inside. She laid him on her bed, pushing aside the letter which had almost kept her attention. She gathered up her wits and began casting a spell, one that would heal him enough to keep him alive between here and the hospital. Before she could finish casting the spell, he stirred and moaned, lifting himself to sit upright. She gasped and laid him back down, fearing he might hurt himself. His eyes opened, revealing two different colors: one wearing a coat of shimmering gold, brazen in every sense of the word, with boldness and brilliance; the other, burning with a deep crimson, that warmed her to her very soul.

Heat rushed to Twilight’s face as she felt the stress of the situation assume itself all over her body. “Are you okay?”

Lightning opened his eyes painfully. Somepony was holding him down firmly, yet gently. His head reeled as he sank into the soft surface behind him.

Sure, being zapped had happened to him before, but this had been the most tremorous shock. He couldn’t focus just yet on who was holding him or where he was. Maybe this strike had damaged more than his eye’s color? Then he heard a sweet voice, one of care and concern, calling out to him. All concern for his eyes leapt from his conscious thought to the corner of his mind. “Are you okay?”

For a moment, Lightning didn’t know how to respond. Whoever this pony was, it wasn’t Dash. They lacked the gruffness and familiarity of his cousin, his mother, or anypony he had ever heard. Such tenderness kept him mute for what seemed like an eternity of admiration. A lavender figure came into view as his pupils adjusted to the indoor lights.

“Dandy,” Lightning said as he feigned a smile. He winked his left eye closed, leaving only his gold eye to meet with the mare above him.

“Oh, no. You don’t look fine.” The mare responded with disbelief. “Hold still for just a moment, and I’ll let you explain what happened to yourself.”

Without objection, Lightning quelled his desire to rise and laid his head back on the pillow under his mane. He had seen whoever this was before, though he just couldn’t place the source. At that moment, a wave of cool washed over him, along with a contained glow. Magic? Just who was this mare?

“Okay, you can sit up if you want,” the mare spoke, concern still lining her words, “but don’t push it so far that you hurt yourself.” Lightning took the invitation and lifted himself up, now feeling strangely rejuvenated. His eyes came into perfect focus on the violet mare as he sat up.

“How did you do that?” Lightning spoke with accidental admiration. He was grateful and in unimaginable awe, but he didn’t want to seem so naive.

The purple mare was slightly taken aback by his question. “Why, magic, of course. I’ve been saving that spell for a rainy day, so….” Her voice trailed off as she looked away humbly.

“It was certainly rainy for me,” Lightning felt even more air-headed as he spoke.

“I can tell,” she replied, now sitting next to the bed. “Care to tell me how all this happened?”

“Sure, but first, what’s your name?” His mind itched with irritation, trying to recall her source.

“I’m Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.” She smiled at her inquisitor. “Nice to meet you, even though it was through something so scary.”

Lightning’s wings clenched and his jaw dropped as he remembered her: he had been saved by Princess Sparkle herself!

Author's Note:

This was my first fanfic ever attempted. Honest criticism would be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading! ^u^

Comments

[Lightning Flair]

[Yoru-the-Rogue]

Awww~!! Personally, I think this is an incredibly solid start to your story. You have a pretty fun double-hook in this story, you have a gift for visually-cinematic writing, and your OC so far is fun, intriguing, and I consider him to be a nice counterweight to Rainbow Dash's character. Plus, I'm a shameless OCxCanon junkie, so a TwilightxOC fanfiction? I'm all for this! I must say that all in all, I am VERY impressed with this for a first chapter and I am looking forward to more! *applauds*

[Sterling Sketch]

3499890 Thank you so much~! ^U^ Thanks for renewing my faith in myself as a writer, good sir/madame!

[Yoru-the-Rogue]

3499926 You're very, very welcome, on both counts! And hey, just calling good writing where I see it! ^^~

[Shadow_Wolf]

I find this to be a pretty solid start and is like to know what happens. Sorry for the short comment, but hard to go in depth from my phone ^^;