One Bolt, Moving Forward

by Boltsinger

The Cold Shoulder

Boltsinger looked out the window overlooking the place he had come to know as Klugetown. He had been staying with Capper for two days, now, and was settling into a degree of comfort. Living up to Capper’s promise, not a single creature tried to use him for their own profit, and the two of them shared an exchange of histories. Capper’s history had been more trying than he had expected, having had a best friend betray him to serve his own ends, but he was ecstatic to learn that the very ponies that changed his own life had also helped this suave cat mend his ways after a long period of swindling. Capper, in turn, was enthralled by the life Boltsinger had led. They would often find themselves sharing individual stories of their lives as the hours passed.

“And that leads me to how I got to your…” Boltsinger looked out at the town again. “... quaint little town.”

Capper slapped his knee, laughing hysterically. “Quaint? Now that’s a good joke!” He called down, waving his paw between them. “Nah, this place is a dump on the best days!”

Boltsinger laughed in turn with his new friend. “Yeah, it’s definitely no Ponyville!” He let out a sad sigh, looking out into the distance.

“You missing home?” Capper queried.

“Who wouldn’t?” he affirmed, casting his eyes at the sky. “But she doesn’t need me, so I’m not there.” He turned away from the window, laying on the floor. “That’s just how it works…”

“If that was the case, she wouldn’t have sent this out.” Capper noted, holding out the letter. “I’d send her a reply, but I have no idea how to do it.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure, either. I think it involves magic.” He admitted with a shrug. “Everyone I get letters from that way has a horn, after all.”

“So, how do you send mail out?” The feline wondered, leaning in inquisitively.

“Spike.” the equine replied. “Got so used to having him around that I’m pretty sure no one in the castle knows where the post office is in Ponyville.”

Capper chuckled some more, walking over to the window and looking out. “You know, it’s real nice to hear about all o’ them again. This place is good for turnin’ a profit, but it’s pretty isolated, too. Can’t wait to pay my debts and get outta here…”

“About how much do you need to pay Verko back, anyway?” Boltsinger asked.

“Depends. How much is an airship?” Capper replied. “The cost was in storm bucks, but with no more Storm King to enforce ‘em, we’ve got a bit of a currency lag. I’ve just been using those ‘bits’ you ponies are so fond of.”

“Well, if there’s anything I can do to help… besides letting you sell me… let me know.” the stallion offered. “It’s the least I can do to repay you for all this.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” he stated, waving a dismissive paw. “Besides, my kind of work is too fun to take shortcuts!”

“Okay, then…” Boltsinger said, getting up and looking out the window while he leaned on the sill. “Just means there’s not much to do around here…”

“And just what is there for you to do back in your precious little ‘Ponyville’?” Capper inquired. “Can’t possibly be any better than this town!”

“Excuse me?” Boltsinger replied, turning to Capper with a look that said ‘You must be kidding!’. “There’s lots to do in Ponyville! I can read books in the library, help Twilight with research, talk comics with Spike, jam with PON-3, help Rarity when she needs it, help out at the farm, fly with Scootaloo, fly with Rainbow Dash, have tea with Fluttershy, have random fun with Pinkie, get a cake at--”

“Okay! Okay! You got me!” Capper interjected, holding his stomach with his paws. “Sounds like heaven.”

“Only the best place in all of Equestria!” The stallion stressed, looking back with yet another sigh. “No place like home…”

Capper nodded, “Yeah, I get that.” A soft silence permeated the room, both of its occupants thinking on their homes with smiles on their faces. After a minute, Capper stood up. “Tell you what. You got nothin’ to do here. Why don’t I take you to where you can hitch a ride back home tomorrow? You look like you need to be there more than anything, anyway.”

“I…” Boltsinger took a deep breath, his eyes still fixed on the horizon. “I’ll think about it. I’m just not sure right now.”

Capper shrugged, heading for the door. “Heh. Whatever works for you, I guess. I’m gonna get us somethin’ to eat. You have a good time.”

“Eeyup.” he replied, his gaze unflinching. Should I just go back? I mean, the last few times I left, there was this feeling of never going back at all… This time… I don’t know, it just feels different… He looked up at the stars that began dotting the sky, reminded of his favorite set of them back home. A particular star in the distance had a distinct sparkle to it. It seemed new in the cosmos. Especially considering all of the star-mapping his wife had done, and shown him. He tilted his head, wondering where it came from as it increased in size. “Wait a minute…” He grabbed a nearby pair of binoculars, getting a better look at the supposed star. There, where he thought was a celestial body, was a lilac Alicorn sheathed in magenta lightning, her eyes shut and rocketing at a speed she was still not quite used to towards him with a purple and green dragon latched desperately onto her tail. Boltsinger’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Twilight?! What the…? If she crash lands at that speed… Oh, no… The baby!” He took a step back, flaring his wings as his own lightning surged forth. It sparked around, knocking over various things as his Cutie Mark crackled. “DADDY’S COMING!!!” He shouted, giving one flap of his wings and shooting off towards the mare of his dreams.

To the onlookers below, an orange and blue streak barreled towards a purple and pink one, faster than any airship they had ever seen. Capper looked at the source of the orange one, a smirk lining his face once more as he recognized the purple one. “Go get ‘em, Bolt.”

Back in the sky, Boltsinger sped onwards, drawing closer to the Princess with each passing second. Right as they were about to collide, he reached his forelegs forward, wrapping them around her. Twilight opened her eyes to see what just happened, recoiling as she saw the stallion now holding onto her. “Boltsinger?” She leaned into him, nuzzling him with her cheek. “I’m so glad I found you!”

Boltsinger squeezed tighter. “Shh! Brace yourself!” He ordered, stopping his own propulsion to line his body up with hers. “Gonna be a rough landing!” He wrapped his wings around her, bracing his hind legs around her belly and lowering his head. Twilight looked ahead at the tiny opening they were headed for with a squeak, lowering her own head as they met their mark.

With a thunderous crash, the two ponies and their dragon companion found themselves in a decidedly more wrecked state of Capper’s home. A cloud of dust obscured their vision as Spike sat up with a pained groan. “Whoa… what hit us?” he asked, waving away what he could of the dust.

In the center of the room, Twilight and Boltsinger lay on the floor. Boltsinger was on his back, all six of his extremities wrapped around the purple pony Princess and holding on for dear life. The Princess raised her head, looking around and finally catching the stallion in her sights. She tightened her grip around him. “Oh, thank Celestia! I thought I’d never see you again!”

“How could you have thought that?” Boltsinger queried, letting his legs and wings fall to the floor. “I took off with lightning. Wouldn’t my Cutie Mark show up over the map?” He moved the mare’s forelegs to break the embrace, rising to his hooves.

Twilight let her rump hit the floor, a little surprised at his behavior. “I thought so, too, but this time it didn’t. Maybe it’s because the map itself has changed, but what matters is that I found you!”

Boltsinger looked at her with a hint of stoicism. “I thought you didn’t need me…”

Twilight flinched, raising her foreleg. The words stung, far worse than a thousand stares from Fluttershy. She hung her head in silence, letting it all sink in. “What the heck was that for?” Spike asked, standing up and staring Boltsinger in the face. “She just went so far as to trigger your magic inside of herself so she could come all this way to find you, and this is how you treat her?”

“Spike, don’t.” Twilight pleaded, reaching her hoof out as her husband huffed and walked out the door. She rose to her hooves, trotting past the bewildered dragon to follow him. “Bolt, wait! I really need to talk to you!”

“Oh, now you need something from me.” he spat, dragging a hoof on the floor.

Another flinch crossed the Alicorn’s entire body. “Okay… I deserve that. But, could you at least listen to me?”

Boltsinger breathed a heavy sigh, dropping to the floor and looking back at her. “I’m always listening to you. You know that.”

“You’re right.” she confirmed, taking a tentative step in his direction. “I’m sorry for what I said. I never should have said I didn’t need you, no matter what I meant by it. You were only looking out for me…”

“Twilight… It really hurt when you said those words… Like… worse than a monster living in my brain saying them.” he stated.

“I know… And I wish I could take them back.” she affirmed, stepping closer still. “Can you forgive me?”

A soft smile creased the Pegasus’ muzzle as he shuffled his way around to face her. “Well, I admit I was… probably a little on the annoying side.”

Twilight tilted her head towards him. “A little?”

“Okay, I was an overbearing helicopter husband.” he admitted. “But can you blame me? You’ve been trying to do way too much for MONTHS! And… I’m willing to bet Starlight and Rainbow Dash told you all about the things that have been on .. and in my mind?”

“Yes. And I have to ask. Why didn’t you just tell me straight out?” she wondered, finally sitting in front of him. “We could have worked through it all together, and then that thing would never have come back!”

“Because you already have so much to deal with!” he told her, spreading his forelegs. “You have your duties as a Princess, all the stuff dealing with being pregnant in the first place, which, by the way, is my fault, along with handling so much of the goings on in Ponyville on top of your new plans for this school of friendship! I didn’t think I was good enough…”

Twilight paused for a moment as the gears turned in her head. After a rapid series of thoughts on the matter, she busted out laughing. “Not good enough? For what?” Boltsinger recoiled from her response, looking away. Twilight brought her wing forward, cradling his cheek in her feathers. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to laugh, it’s just that the idea of you not being good enough for anything is funny to me.”

“Funny?” he repeated, looking back at her sternly. “How is it funny? What if I’m not the father our foal deserves? What if I can’t handle it? What if, because I’m so bad at all of this, something awful happens to the baby and it sends you into a rage that changes you forever and--"

Twilight brought her hoof forward, covering his mouth. “You honestly think you won’t be a good father? Seriously? Have you seen what you’ve done this year?”

The Pegasus moved his honey’s hoof away, giving her a confused look. “What are you talking about?”

“Teaching Scootaloo how to fly when even Rainbow Dash didn’t fully believe it was possible.” she started, lighting her horn with a magenta lightning charge to it. Between them, a kind of window formed that showed Boltsinger and Scootaloo’s lessons, ending on an image of the filly flying high with Rainbow Dash. “Helping Soarin.” The images changed to depict their first time with Soarin at Sugar Cube Corner, going through the various events that led up to the surprising end to the Equestria Games. “You were able to befriend Flash when he flat-out hated you! And helped Fluttershy get some real confidence in her flying!” More images went by, showing the budding friendship between Boltsinger and Flash Sentry, followed by his talking with and helping Fluttershy for the Games. “You’ve channeled the gifts of at least four of our friends to help ponies, even though it knocked you out each time!” The next images showing displayed Boltsinger in different scenarios. The first with orange lightning coming from his wings as he saved Flurry from an oncoming impact, the second with pink lightning as he calmed a manticore and an ursa major with Fluttershy, the third with purple lightning as he helped the ponies at the Ponyville Music Festival learn the value of their own voices, and the final image of an orange and blue streak flying by the mountain that held Canterlot moving so fast that it created a Sonic Rainboom. “And… you’ve been looking after me, even when I haven’t quite been thinking clearly.” The image cycled through almost endless moments of the two of them, times when she was suffering the side effects of pregnancy and he stuck to her like glue, when her magic was weak and he gave constant support, all of the hard landings where he cushioned the impact, and every tender moment the two of them had shared since even before he knew she was pregnant. With each passing image, his face softened more, even growing damp as tears began to fall. “Practically everything you’ve done has proven to everypony, without a doubt, that you are going to be an amazing father to our baby. And if you were to ask anypony else, they’d say the same.”

Boltsinger smiled, wiping his eyes. “You are… just… impossible to stay mad at, you know that?”

Twilight giggled and puffed out her chest. “I do my best!” She moved to sit next to him, the two of them putting a wing around each other. “I missed you.” she finally said, squeezing him lightly.

“I missed you, too…” he echoed. “I love you.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek, finally getting comfortable. “Even when I’m mad at you.”

Twilight nuzzled into her spouse’s neck. “I love you, too. And I promise, I’ll never take that love for granted again.” They sat in silence for a minute, enjoying one another’s warmth.

“Aww, such a sweet little moment!” Capper cooed, opening his eyes behind them while bringing his paws together next to his head. Twilight and Boltsinger simultaneously shot into the air while the con artist laughed. “You ponies are so easy!”

The equines landed, the female of the two glaring at Capper, while the male giving him a nervous, yet still amused laugh. “How long have you been there?” Twilight asked.

“Since ‘can you forgive me?’ and a neat little light show.” he replied, swinging a bag back over his shoulder. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, there is much to consume.”

Boltsinger stood up, following his new friend back into the abode. “So, we’re going home via airship, right?”

Twilight smirked, spreading her wings and looking at the starscape above them. “Well, that flight did get pretty interesting. I don’t get to fly that far very often, you know.”

Boltsinger rolled his eyes. “Yes, because we totally want to repeat a flight that took us two days with lightning enhanced speed without the same kind of benefit and try to make it in one go while bringing along a wingless dragon.” He looked her in the eye with an unshakable resolve. “We go by airship, okay?”

Twilight laughed and nodded. “Okay.”

The stallion gave off a small sigh of relief. “Thank you…” His stomach began growling as the satchel Capper brought with him opened, letting the smell of dinner enter his nostrils. He perked up once more, trotting inside.

Twilight lingered outside, watching her favorite stallion in the whole world as he satisfied his hunger. “No, thank you.”

Author's Note:

Okay, this one ended up a little short. I wanted to do more, but... it just didn't feel right to do some of the things I had ideas for, and others, it felt like it was the wrong time. So, we're left with this. Really getting down to the wire, too. I hope you enjoy what comes next!

You may expect a little bit of fluff coming up. One that's a big event, and another just 'cause I wanna.