Thunder and Lightning

by UnweptSchlipps

Not a Surprise

Rainbow Dash and her cousin exited the Carousel Boutique with grins on their faces. However, one was smiling because of his thrilling conversation with the town's fashionista. The other however, was grinning to cover up the uneasiness she was feeling on the inside. And the make-up probably helped too.

"You look absolutely marvelous, Rainbow, a complete transformation for the better!" Rarity exclaimed, admiring her work. And it was true, Rainbow Dash looked beautiful. Her rainbow mane was now styled with delicate curls and weaves. Near her ear was a small clip that resembled Dash's lightning bolt cutie-mark; an accessory Rarity had put together herself. Minimal make-up was used; perhaps a little blush for her cheeks and mascara to bring out her shimmering red eyes. Every detail, every curl was done by skilled hooves, and the cyan pegasus should have noticed.

But during the entire procedure, all Dash heard (excluding the apology for leaving her so long, which fell upon deaf ears) was Rarity heaping complement upon complement for her well-learned cousin. Before, she would have happily agreed, even added, to these complements. But now, for some reason, it only made Dash want to get out of the Boutique as soon as possible.

This was why she felt relieved to finally step outside into fresh air at only 11:00 in the morning. Behind her, Rarity said, "I hope you like it. You truly do look great."

Knowing that it would be wrong to leave her friend without a word, Dash replied somewhat half-heartedly, "Of course I like it, Rarity. It's pretty—." The pegasus wheeled around to find Rarity not talking to her, but to her steel colored companion.

"Que linda! It's beautiful, Rarity, really. A masterpiece. This means a lot," Lightning told her, referring to a new bandana hanging around his neck. It was pitch black, like his dark striped mane. But on either side of the cloth flowed bright lightning bolts, white and yellow jewels running along their lengths to give them a shimmering glow.

Dash instinctively began to grit her teeth again, waiting for her cousin to finally say his goodbyes. A little figure dashed out from the front door and hugged the stallions muscled legs. It was Sweetie Belle, who said lovingly, "Bye Lightning!"

Lightning gave the filly a loving smile and replied, "Hasta luego, little one."

Finally, Dash's patience wore thin, and she darted to the sky. Without thinking, she called out, "Can we go now?"

Flash didn't seem to catch on to his cousin's annoyed tone, answering calmly, "No problem, Arco. Shouldn't keep your friends waiting after all."

So, giving one final wave, the stallion followed suit, soaring next to his cousin to their next destination. What he didn't notice however, was his cousin's ambivalent glance as he pulled up next to her.

"Your amigas are really nice, Dash. I'm starting to be glad I came along," Lighting said pleasantly. But Dash remained silent, still contemplating her own personal feelings.

The awkward silence lasted for a few seconds until Lightning figured he wasn't getting a reply. So instead, he asked quietly, "Soooo... who's next?"

"Oh yeah, right. We're heading over to the library for Twilight," Dash said, snapping out of her thoughts for a moment.

"Twilight lives in a library? Well that's pretty cool," the stallion said, trying to make idle conversation as the two glided toward the hollowed out tree up ahead.

"Sure…if you're a bookworm, I guess," Rainbow answered, a small smile playing on her lips. She couldn't help but snicker when she thought about Twilight's academic, and perhaps obsessive compulsive behavior.

"Hey, you know what Abuela Dash used to say," Lightning began. "Books make ponies more smarter." Then he gave a small shrug and added, "Granny was a very blunt speaker."

Dash couldn't help but giggle, knowing all too well how Granny Dash was like. Upon seeing his cousin break out of her sour mood, Lightning's face lit up and he said solemnly, "That's more like it, Arco. Now come on, Twilight's waiting."

"Yeah, waiting to lecture me for being late. And trust me, you don't want to see Twilight in lecture mode," Dash replied, her mood lifted once more.

They lighted down in front of the tall tree that was the Ponyville Library. It was a nice little abode, unchanged since the old days. The only thing that was different was the ponies in it; now it was the residence of Celestia's most faithful student.

Dash gave three short knocks on the front door before callously swinging it inward. Its path was cut short, however, and a loud thud was heard on the other side, followed by the sound of falling books.

Dash cautiously poked her head into the room to find her academic friend buried underneath a large pile of books and a newly 'cleaned' bookshelf.

"Maybe this isn't the best time Twilight, I should come back later," the pegasus said quickly, attempting to bolt out of the vicinity as fast as possible. But she didn't get very far before Lightning promptly shoved her back into the room.

"Hey man, what are you—," she complained. Dash then caught Twilight's annoyed glare, to which she answered with a guilty smile for the second time in two days.

From the balcony popped the pink, curly maned head of a hyperactive pony, three balloons held tightly in her mouth.

"See, Twilight, I said ear-flop/eye-flutter/knee-twitch means you're about to get a door slammed in your face, silly!" Pinkie Pie remarked. But when she opened her mouth, the balloons, now free from Pinkie's grasp, quickly began to float upwards. In an effort to catch the rising spheres of helium, Pinkie leaped off the second floor, latching her teeth onto the party decorations' strings.

From below, Lightning watched in horror, ready to see the pink pony plummet into the hard floor below. But to his surprise, Pinkie instead began to slowly descend, the three tiny balloons somehow supporting the mare's weight.

As she lighted next the large pile of books, Lightning gaped in awe and uttered, "How did you…do that?"

"Do what, Flashy?" Pinkie Pie asked, this time through clenched teeth.

"That…uh, well, never mind," Lightning replied, instead focusing on helping Dash dig Twilight out of her leather-bound prison.

"Jeez Twilight, I'm really sorry about that. Totally my bad. You, uh, okay?" the light blue flier questioned anxiously as she and Lightning lifted the unicorn out of the pile.

Once she had settled herself down next to the somewhat inconvenient mound of books, Twilight rubbed her temple and replied, "Well, aside from the splitting headache and the probable black-eye from being hit in the eye with a doorknob, I'm feeling okay." Sarcasm. Twilight's number one defense for everything.

Already rounding up some of the fallen books, Lightning offered, "Here, I'll help you put these back."

"Thanks, Lightning. I appreciate it," the lavender unicorn replied.

"Hey, you want me help?" Rainbow Dash asked, bending down to pick one of the books up. But before she could, Twilight abruptly intercepted the pegasus's path, saying a bit too quickly, "NO!"

Clearing her throat and regaining her composure, Twilight repeated, "I mean, no thanks Dash. I think we can handle it. After all, we don't want another…accident to happen." Seeing the normally prideful pegasus's ears droop at this ultimatum, Twilight added, "But you can help Pinkie out."

"Sweet," Dash answered. "So Pinkie Pie, what do I need to do?"

At the mention of her name, the town's party mare bounced up to the pegasus and replied energetically, "Oh boy, oh boy! You can help me set things up for Lightning's party tomorrow, Dashie! There'll be streamers and balloons and confetti and balloons and music and balloons! Oh, and cake! Lots and lots of cake! And it'll be all for your cousin, oooh it'll be so much fun!"

Dash looked uneasily at the streamers already hung up around the library and said softly, "Yeah sure, For Lightning and all that. Fun." Then she gave a small unconvincing laugh and went to follow the pink pony's lead. But not before peering back to see Lightning and Twilight already chatting away.

Pinkie led the sky-colored pony outside to a colorful banner with the words "Welcome to Ponyville" painted across it. One side was already hanging on a branch jutting out of the library; the other was draped on the ground where the two ponies stood. "Okey-dokie, first we're gonna put up this banner above the door. Ready Dashie?" Pinkie said excitedly.

"Ready, just tell me where to put it," Dash replied, the end of the bright yellow banner held in her mouth and some tape stuck on the edges of her hooves. The pegasus flew up to the trunk of the tree and held the end near an appropriate spot, saying, "Here?"

With a look of immense contemplation, Pinkie Pie stared at the spot for a few moments before declaring, "Move it a bit lower." The pegasus obliged, descending a few inches.

But the pink pony shook her head and remarked, "No wait, higher…no, no, no, lower…okay, a little higher…a teensy bit lower…oh, waaaay too low, a smidge higher…no wait-."

"Pinkie!" the impatient flier scolded through clenched teeth.

"Oopsie! Sorry Rainbow, that's good! Now tape it to the wall." The pegasus obeyed, and smacked the square of duct tape onto rough bark. Then she let the banner hang freely, it's colorful blue message welcoming anypony that steps through the front door.

"It's perfect Dashie! I hope your cousin will like it!" Pinkie Pie said cheerily.

Resting in the foliage above, the pegasus mumbled, "Why don't you go ask him yourself?"

"That sounds like a GREAT idea Rainbow! I'll be right back!" Pinkie replied, hearing Dash's hushed inquiry.

"No, wait, I didn't mean—," Dash began. But her pink friend already bounced into the door, leaving the pegasus to her own company.

From inside, the cyan pegasus could hear the muffled sounds of the three ponies conversing. One was Pinkie, who was characteristically spewing out random comments that had nothing to do with the banner. Dash couldn't help but smile, albeit reservedly.

She also caught tidbits of a conversation between Twilight and Lightning. Apparently Pinkie Pie had stopped to listen in on their ramblings. Kinda like me, except technically I'm eavesdropping, the cyan pegasus thought smugly.

"Equestrian Aviation: A Complete History of the Art of Flying: Volume 1. Wow, I've been traveling around the world, and I haven't found this anywhere until now!" It was Lightning, who had picked up an old purple book with a pair of wings on the cover. Why am I not surprised, thought Dash, who was getting completely sick of her cousin being totally awesome at everything, and of having to stew in her own frustration.

"Do you have the rest of the collection, Crepus-, I mean, Twilight?"

"Of course, although it would probably be easier to find if Dash hadn't scattered them all over the place," Twilight replied matter-of-factly.

From her perch above, Dash grimaced in response and she said to herself, "Why is it always my fault?" seemingly forgetting that she did knock her friend into the bookcase. Wanting to see what was happening, she lowered herself down to a window which she could look through. However, she didn't stay there for long, because as she lowered her head in front of the glass, Lightning said, "Yeah, i guess it's getting kinda stuffy in here. You mind if I open the window?"

Pefect timing, Dash thought sarcastically as she jerked her head back up into the tree just as Lightning slid the window open. At that moment a gust of wind blew into the library, causing a small tower of newly stacked books to come toppling down once again.

"Oh mierda!" Lightning exclaimed. Then, realizing what he said, he apologized, "Pardon the language Twilight. I'm such a klutz sometimes."

"No problem Lightning, nothing we can't fix!" Twilight answered with determination.

Meanwhile, the cyan pegasus outside whispered to her self, "What the heck? Why does she yell at me when I mess up?"

Dash spent about twenty minutes resting in the green leaves, having to endure another delay in her Wonderbolt plans. Her friends conversed about intellectual topics, scholarly interests, and pretty much everything that Dash could care less about. In fact, the pegasus would have tuned out the entire conversation if it wasn't for one sentence. One sentence, so callously dropped in by her lavender unicorn friend.

"You're much more sophisticated. Perhaps if she was more like you…"

It didn't take a brain surgeon to get the message. Perhaps Twilight hadn't meant for it to sound so insensitive, so horrible. Maybe it was just a joke, just part of Twilight's humor. Maybe, for once, the unicorn had a slip of the tongue. But it was enough. Enough for Dash to jolt up, her mind a mixture of surprise and anger. Enough for her to zip down from her perch, finally unable to take another second of the ponies' conversation. She burst into the library, almost knocking the restored books off their shelves once again.

Her first thought was, I didn't exactly plan this one out.

Her second was, Oh wait, I just realized I don't give a fuck.

She strode into the library, gritting her teeth in frustration. The rainbow-maned pony asked Twilight unsteadily, "Well, Twi', you have anything else for me, or are you finished with everything?"

Taken aback by Dash's sudden appearance, Twilight responded, "Well, uh, Lightning and I finished cleaning quite a bit earlier than I expected-."

"Oh you should've seen it Dashie! He flew around and around so fast, he knocked the dust right off the shelves!" Pinkie interrupted.

"Yes, Pinkie it was very interesting. Ahem, as I was saying, I think we're done," Twilight continued.

"Well then, if I'm not needed anymore then I guess it's time for us to jet," Dash said brashly, flourishing her wings.

Lightning shot up from his seat and said calmly, "We have to go now, Dash? I mean, Twilight and I were just talking and-,"

"Oh, if you want to say, then stay Lightning. I'm not stopping you," the cyan mare responded bluntly.

The harried pony turned towards the door and began to exit the hollow tree. As she shot off into the air, Dash commented, troubled, "Besides, I'm probably not sophisticated enough to stay anyway."

The three ponies that were left stood there, stunned at Dash's rash departure. Pinkie Pie was the first to react, saying disappointedly, "Awww, but we didn't even get to put up the rest of the streamers!"

The studious unicorn just stood in absolute silence, her mouth agape. Although Dash was a bit prone to outbursts, they were usually of pride and confidence. This sort of anger was quite uncharacteristic of her, and Twilight knew that.

"I should probably follow her," the stallion said. "It was nice talking to you, Twilight."

"Uh, no problem Lightning. Thank you for the…company," Twilight finally responded, slowly walking back to the bookshelf. And so the steel-gray stallion stepped out into the sunlight and burst off into the direction he saw his cousin go.

In his wake, Pinkie Pie called out, "Don't forget to be here tomorrow for your not-a-surprise-party!" But she was too late; Lightning was already out of earshot, on a mission to find his lost prima.

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Comments

[FlintLock]

awesome i did not see anything