One Bolt, Many Questions

by Boltsinger

Everypony's Accounts

Three days had passed since the Gala, and noon was approaching as the Princess of Friendship began to stir from her sleep.She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes with a hoof, listening for any indication of a familiar voice in the distance. She had grown used to the sound of a certain stallion’s humming some mornings, and relished the chance to search the castle for the source. Alas, there was no music today. as the source wasn’t present. She got up out of bed and moved to her mirror, brushing her hair.

“Twilight?” Spike called from the hallway. “Are you awake?”

“Hm? Good morning, Spike. I’m awake.” She replied, looking over at the door.

The baby dragon poked his head into the room. “Starlight is making lunch. Cauliflower Bites! My personal recipe!”

Twilight finished brushing her hair and turned to her assistant. “I’ll be right down.” She floated her friend’s pendant around her neck, making her way to the hall. Over the past few days, she had a myriad of thoughts swirling through her head. She worried for her friend that had flown away at the Gala, while simultaneously thinking on the words he had said to her just before the debacle began. He said he ‘loved’ me… But does that mean what Applejack and Rarity have been insisting? If it does… What does that mean for me?

She made her way to the dining room, feeling what she thought was the heat from the oven in the nearby kitchen as she sat down. Starlight floated plates in to set the table, sitting down and looking over at Twilight with a grin.

“Thinking about somepony special?” the Unicorn teased.

Twilight tilted her head, wondering what her friend meant. She raised a hoof to her face, feeling heat coming off of it. Her eyes widened as she lowered her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She huffed, floating up some cauliflower bites and stuffing one in her mouth.

“So, when did you get to bed last night?” Starlight asked, “This is the third day in a row you’ve gotten up this late. You’ve been lagging behind on your Princess duties.”

Spike sat at the table and munched on one of the bites. “She was up half the night doing research. Something about search patterns.” He picked up another morsel. “There were a few other books in the pile, too, but I didn’t see much of them. Just the covers.”

Twilight quickly swallowed the food in her mouth, quickly getting up from the table. “Well, thanks for breakfast! Gotta get to those Princess duties, bye!” She sped out of the room, leaving a cloud of dust where she stood. Starlight and Spike looked at one another as the Alicorn ran off, nodding.

---

A pile of papers sat on the map, surrounded in turn by a pile of books. Twilight sat in her throne, filling out each piece of paper one at a time, sighing as she filled each new stack. The door opened wide, Rainbow Dash flying in past the Princess. The turbulence from her dash caused the paper stacks to wobble like mad.

“Oh no…” Twilight began, her mouth agape as the towers of paper swayed back and forth. Her horn began to light up, building up towards the tip as the stacks fell apart. “NononononononononNO!!!” Light erupted from the tip of her horn, stopping half of the papers from falling as the rest dispersed throughout the room. Twilight righted the stacks that she was able to save, then sent a dirty look towards her flying friend.

Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped, sending her falling to the floor. “What the heck, Twilight?! Normally you’d catch all that in an instant! You’re really messed up if you can’t catch a bunch of paper!” She walked over to a sheet. “Here, let me help you clean up.” She gathered up the fallen documents and brought them over to her friend in a messy pile. The Princess cleaned the dirt from her book and levitated the various papers.

“I’m sorry.” she started, beginning to sort each piece into its pile. “I’ve had a lot on my mind. What do you need?”

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna be gone for a few days.” Rainbow explained. “I’m gonna be going south for a while after Wonderbolts practice is done. Should make for a good vacation!”

“Oh! Well, have a nice trip!” Twilight said with a smile, quickly returning to her work. “I’ll be…” she let out a bored sigh. “... here… like always…”

Rainbow Dash sat on the floor next to Twilight’s throne. “Have you heard from him?” She inquired.

Cue another sigh. “No. I’ve been trying to figure out how we might be able to find him, but I don’t think I can convince a search party to cover that large of an area just to find one pony!”

“Well, I’ll let you know if I see anypony familiar down there.” Rainbow Dash put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder, receiving a smile in return. “Well, I’ll see ya later!” With that, she flapped her wings and flew off.

As the pile of completed paperwork reached its peak, Twilight shot up from her throne, taking every last piece of paper in front of her that lacked the binding of a book and floating it to another room in the castle. Swelling up with pride at finally catching up on all her work, she cantered back to the throne room to open up those research books some more. There were still several that she hadn’t looked at yet, and she had high hopes that she could use the information in them to find--

“Cadence?!” the lilac Princess exclaimed, coming to an abrupt stop in both movement and thought at the doorway to the throne room. There stood the Princess reigning over the Crystal Empire, smiling softly as her sister-in-law entered the room. “What are you doing here?”

Cadence trotted over to Twilight and gave her a hug. “Spike and Starlight sent me a letter telling me about your recent emotional state.” She walked her fellow Alicorn to the map, where the two sat. “I heard about what happened at the Gala from Sunburst. Frankly, I’m surprised you’ve gotten sleep!”

“Only because a certain dragon insisted, and my friends all made good points about not freaking out.” Twilight answered. “Except for Pinkie.”

“They’re good friends. And it was wise of you to listen to what they had to say.” Cadence affirmed. “But anypony who knows you can tell that it’s still bothering you, and it’s a lot more than just worry. What’s wrong?”

“I’m sure Starlight told you already.” Twilight told her. “Everypony has been teasing both me and Boltsinger about it for a while, now. Applejack and Rarity especially.”

“They did talk about how close you two got after your visit to the Crystal Empire.” the Crystal Princess confirmed, putting a hoof to her muzzle as she remembered her conversations. “I spoke with some of them before I came here. But nothing they had to say sounded like ‘teasing’. Could you possibly give me more of an insider’s perspective?”

Twilight gave a frustrated sigh. “All right, fine… You’re right. I’m worried about where he’s gone, but that’s not all. While we were dancing, he said something that I… didn’t expect.”

“And that was…?” Cadence led, holding out a hoof.

“He told me that he… loved me.” she admitted.

Cadence gave a knowing nod. “And this surprised you?”

“Well… yes!” Twilight said. “I know we’re friends, and life has been different ever since he arrived. But he’s never shown that kind of interest! Least of all said anything!”

“Are you sure he’s never shown it?”

“He’s always been jumpy, and he stammers a lot! He’s been spending time with everypony, not just me! I thought that the little bit of music he made every day was just him being happy, not from… Well, you know.”

Cadence giggled to herself. “I know. But Rarity said something interesting when I spoke to her.

Twilight’s head tilted slightly. “She did? What was it?”

“She referred to him as ‘butter in your hooves’.” Cadence proceeded to light up her horn, causing what seemed like a window to appear between the two mares. Rarity’s face was on it in the Carousel Boutique.

“Oh, darling, it’s obvious that Bolt has a ‘thing’ for Twilight! Every time she’s around he gets this adorable little goofy grin on his face, and whenever he goes into one of his panic attacks, she’s the only one that can calm him right down! It’s so easy for her! Why, when I was treating his mane for the Gala, it took total confinement in the room to get him to let me even touch his mane with a hair brush!” She looked behind her at a box filled with broken hair brushes. “Luckily, the result was worth the effort.” Twilight laughed at the sight. “And the way she talks about him sometimes! She was so excited that he asked her to tutor him that she stayed up all night coming up with a syllabus! And she goes on about how nice it is to have somepony to read with in the dead of night, even though they’re hardly ever reading the same book. It’s really quite charming.”

Cadence changed the image, showing Applejack in front of the farm. “Y’know, for such a spookable stallion, he sure does come through when it counts.” the farm pony said, looking over at the pigs and chickens. “Give ‘im the right job an’ he does it better than Big Mac on Buckin’ Day!” Big Mac walked by in the background, glaring at his sister for the comment. “I was a little surprised that he wanted to work here at the farm, though. He said sumthin’ ‘bout wantin’ to contribute back at the castle, so he needed the bits for it.” She brought a hoof to her mouth. “Personally, I think he just didn’t wanna have Twilight see ‘im as a burden of some sort. Not that she would, o’ course!”

”Has he been paying rent?“ Twilight realized aloud. “That does explain the big pile of bits in my room every first of the month… I thought he just wanted some money to spend at Sugar Cube Corner.”

Cadence laughed, switching the image to show Fluttershy in her cottage. “When we all first met him, I was scared that he wasn’t going to like anypony, or that he was gonna run away. But he turned out to be so friendly whenever he wasn’t in… you know… a panic…” Fluttershy said the last words in a whisper. “I’m ever-so-glad he was able to warm up to everypony. I believe that he’ll get home safe, even if we don’t find him! Why, even Angel wants him to come back! Don’t you, little bunny?” She nuzzled her bunny with her muzzle. The bunny in question gave a deadpan look at Cadence, shaking his head slightly. Twilight laughed at the little bunny’s displeasure, her face lighting up as she saw the different accounts of her friends.

Cadence looked at her sister-in-law with a warm smile. She switched the image one more time to show Pinkie Pie sitting in Sugar Cube Corner, already laughing. “You should have seen him when he saw the test cake for Twilight’s birthday! He thought it was gonna be for the real thing, and that it was the next day! He was thinking so hard on what to get her! Then, the look on his face when I told him how long it was until her birthday!” She couldn’t contain her laughter, falling over backwards a bit. She bounced back up quickly. “He really seemed to enjoy the cake, too!”

“Test cake? She made one of those?” Twilight pondered. “Well, it is Pinkie we’re talking about. I wonder what Boltsinger thought to get me…”

“Books, most likely.” Cadence flatly replied, switching the image to show Rainbow Dash in her Wonderbolts jacket, packing her bags.

“Yeah, that’s probably it.” Twilight agreed, looking at the image of her Pegasus friend.

“Of course I can tell that Bolt has a thing for Twilight!” She shouted. “The only thing even more obvious is how oblivious she is!” She put a bunch of Daring Do books into one of her bags. “As a flyer, he’s aight. He’s definitely improved a lot over time. But I don’t think he puts all his effort into it. He could be an amazing stunt flyer if he put his mind to it, but I think somepony else is in his head a lot more, these days. Oh! I have to tell you something!” She leaned in close, appearing to whisper into Cadence’s ear. “When Twi was announcing that she gets to write some new Cutie Mark research book, I was excited for her just like everypony else… But the way she put it… Oh, man! You just had to hear it! She was talking about how she’d… pay ‘close attention’ to his flank! I don’t think she even realized what was so funny, but I just couldn’t help myself!” Remembering the occasion, she fell to the floor laughing. After a few seconds, she got back up and gave a serious look. "I'm gonna let you in on something... I'm not going on vacation. I'm going to be searching for Bolt. I can cover a lot of ground in a few days, and if I find him, that's a huge load off of Twilight. It just kills me to see her depressed."

Twilight thought back on the announcement she made, remembering her words. Her jaw dropped as she looked at the image of her laughing friend. “I did not mean it that way! I was talking about his Cutie Mark! Nothing else!” She waved her forelegs in front of her, facing Cadence with a rather deep shade of red covering her face. Cadence smiled and ceased her spell, walking over to the younger Alicorn.

“You know, even Shining Armor caught onto how he feels.” she told her.

“Really?” Twilight responded.

“Yup! Right when he heard that Boltsinger was a friend of yours, he came right up to him and started teasing the idea that you two were ‘more than friends’.” She smiled and put a wing around Twilight, turning towards the door and starting her spell up once more, revealing an image of more memories from her own perspective, seeing Shining Armor and Boltsinger in the Crystal Empire, with Twilight chasing Flurry Heart overhead.

“Who is this?” Shining Armor asked the Princess.

“Oh! Shining Armor!” Cadence exclaimed, getting up to trot over and hug her husband. “This is Boltsinger, a friend of Twilight's!”

Shining Armor looked at the Pegasus, who saw the much larger pony and drooped his ears. “A friend, huh?” He trotted over to Boltsinger and sat down next to him, putting a hoof around him. “You sure you’re just a ‘friend’, Boltsinger?”

The orange stallion ducked his head, his eyes darting around the room. “Why is everypony assuming that today?!” He raised his head and stepped forward, spreading his wings. “First Rarity, then Starlight, and now you! What are you? Her brother?!” He raised a hoof and looked back at Shining Armor, seeing his Cutie Mark and dropping his jaw. “You’re her brother, aren’t you?”

Shining Armor closed his eyes and nodded, a sly smile present on his muzzle. Boltsinger jumped up, hovering in place and raising his forelegs, shaking them rapidly.

“I swear, sir, I’m not planning to make a move on your sister!” He shouted. “She’s a very important friend of mine, and I don’t want to ruin that! I promise!”

Shining Armor burst into laughter, walking over to the spot just below Boltsinger. He looked up at him and beckoned him down. “Calm down! It’s okay!” The Pegasus slowly descended as the playing Princesses sped on by. “Twilight may be my sister, but she’s a smart cookie.” He looked up as his sister and daughter flew by again. “I trust her to make her own choices. You don’t have to worry so much.”

Twilight fondly looked on as the memory played out before her. “I didn’t realize Shining Armor trusted me that much… Wait, was everypony really teasing him about that all day? Why didn’t he say anything to me then?”

“I wondered the same thing, myself.” Cadence replied, changing up the image once more to show Boltsinger in the room he’d stayed in at the Crystal Empire. “So I decided to ask him before you all left.”

In the image, Boltsinger was seated on the floor, his right hoof and wing both raised up and scratching his messy, wind-blown mane. “Don’t get me wrong. She’s beautiful. Stunning, really. But… she’s a Princess, for Celestia’s sake!” He spread his forelegs out to imply just how big of a deal that was. “And I’m just some malfunctioning pony she just met a little while ago… Even if I did want to make a move, she’s out of my league. Plus… She’s my first real friend. I would love to have her as my special somepony, but not if it means the risk of ruining that friendship. It’s too important to me.” He lifted his pendant with his wing, taking a long, hard look at it.

Twilight, in turn, lifted the very same pendant. There were little electric shocks going through it, as if it was trying to activate. She looked from the pendant to the now-still image that Cadence had up in front of her, seeing the main occupant of her thoughts for the last several days. Tears welled up in her eyes as she turned to her sister-in-law, who ceased her spell and came in for a big hug.

“Have you sorted things out?” Cadence inquired. “Because the way you feel right now is pretty clear to me.”

After a minute or two in embrace, Twilight finally spoke up. “I think so…” She broke the hug, wiping the tears away with her wings. “I just wish I’d caught on sooner. Thank you, Cadence.”

“You should thank your friends.” the pink Princess told her. “They were the ones that contacted me and let me know what was going on.”

“You’re right.” Twilight agreed, moving to her throne. “But you still came and helped me. So thank you.”

Cadence laughed. “Anything for my favorite sister-in-law.” She sat in Rainbow Dash’s throne.

As the two were seated, a light shone from Twilight’s flank, Boltsinger’s pendant loosing a small shock to the area. Around her Cutie Mark, several smaller versions of the same mark appeared, repeatedly moving into the main mark in a flashing manner. Twilight took a look at the glowing mark, well aware of what it meant. From there, a magical image of the mark flew off her flank, flying over to the map as it came to life. Twilight and Cadence lifted the plethora of books stacked on top of it away, putting them on the side of the room. The floating Cutie Mark encircled the map of all of Equestria, flying over a number of locations before finally landing on a city situated atop a cloud.

“Las Pegasus?” Twilight wondered, looking at the revealed location. “Wait a minute…” She lifted the pendant with her magic, floating it over the location, where the sparking intensified in conjunction with her Cutie Mark. “And it’s only calling me…”

“Well, you know where to go, now.” Cadence affirmed, looking closely at the map. “So, what’s your plan?”

Comments

[Luckyfanisaac]

As the source wasn’t present.

“I’m sorry,(——” she started, beginning to sort each piece into its pile,(—— “I’ve had a lot on my mind. What do you need?”

Cadence giggled to herself. “I know. But Rarity said something interesting when I spoke to her.“(——

“As a flyer, he’s alright.

She was talking about how she’d… pay ‘close attention’ to his flank! I don’t think she even realized what was so funny, but I just couldn’t help myself!” Remembering the occasion, she fell to the floor laughing.