Alez has proved his worth with Lightning Dust, but how will Equestria react to her being back on her hooves?
Remember Alez and Lightning Dust? Yeah, they're still together, and going strong at...two months. Well, rumors have spread like wildfire, and they're not good rumors. And also, Spitfire's still on Lightning's trail, just as Rainbow Dash was. Alez handled Dashie okay, but will Spitfire push his limits? Read A Mare Named Lightning: Part 2 to find out!
A shadowy figure raced through an alley way, and stopped in a dark corner by a dumpster. A streetlamp clicked on, revealing a brown stallion wearing a white-collared shirt and a green tie. "Oh, thank goodness Mr. Whooves! I thought I'd never find you!"
"I am generally hard to find, aren't I?"
The other pony gulped, and stepped into the light. She was small and thin, and she had a camera with a long lens around her neck. "You're not going to believe this! It's about Lightning Dust!"
"What's she up to now? Gambling? Drinking?"
"No sir. She's back on her hooves! She even-"
"Prove it."
She showed him her camera, and he leaned in close to get a good look at the screen. "What is this! A picture of somepony's hoof?" She fumbled around with the camera, "no, no, that was accidental. Here, it's this one." He gave her a funny look, then took the camera from her, glaring at the screen, trying to make out what it was. "That's definitely Lightning Dust, but who's that with his arm around her?"
She blushed, "I don't know sir, I think I may have cut his head off."
"Are you sure you're a photographer, and not a bloody copy-boy?"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay!"
Mr. Whooves sighed, "yeah, I'll get an article in the paper. Try to get some more info on who she's with. This could go big."
"Yes sir!" She galloped off again, into the shadows. He shook his head, and then realized he was still holding her camera. He sighed again, and was about to turn his back, when a voice said, "It'd be a shame if Lightning Dust saw that." He whirled around toward the sound of the voice, and saw a short, hooded colt with brown and black hair. "What I mean is, I'm Alez, and you're Mr. Whooves, also known as 'The Doctor' to some."
"You're the colt from the-"
"Yeah buddy, about that..." He dug around in his pocket, and pulled out a wad of cash. "Lightning Dust won't know a thing about this, and you'll blur her out in the photo."
The reporter hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "I'm sorry, Alez, but I can't do that."
Alez shrugged. Then turned around, "Hey Lightning, what do you think we should do about it?"
The mint-green mare with a bright orange and yellow mane stepped out of the shadows next to Alez. The reporter's face turned pale white. "Sweet Celestia," he murmured. Lightning Dust stepped forward, "how about this: I'll forget this ever happened, and you won't publish the article or the photo."
"Yes ma'am!"
"When I'm ready, I'll write a story for the paper, but not yet. Not now." He was long gone already. Alez stuffed the cash back in his pocket. "Let's go home. Hopefully he got the message, and won't write the article."
"We should have made him delete the photo. Oh well."
He took her hoof, and they left the alley, back onto the lighted street.
"So, Spitfire, huh?"
"Yep. She's mad alright. You made her look bad y'know."
Alez and Lightning Dust were back in their apartment, snuggled up on the couch watching Wheel of Fortune. Alez hated to remind her about Spitfire, but he didn't want her to let her guard down. "I don't think Spitfire knows we're together yet, so that's a small advantage. I can try and convince her."
Lightning Dust knew that the "I'll convince him/her" strategy usually worked pretty well with Alez; he always knew just how to handle the situation.
"But Alez, Spitfire is a different case! I was with her for a whole week, and she was acting like a drill sergeant the entire time! Her attitude is like her name: firey."
"I know. I'll be extra careful."
The Wheel of Fortune landed on the "vacation to Canterlot" space, and the lucky mare who spun picked up the piece of cardboard and waved it around like a flag. Alez scoffed, "look at her. She looks like she's going to explode! I could fly over to Canterlot any time I wanted!"
"Not anymore, actually. They've closed it down to the general public under suspicion of fraud by the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation. Dashie told me that dangerous stuff was happening that shouldn't have been because of unsafe working conditions."
"Wow. Didn't she used to work there?"
"Nah, she worked somewhere else. I don't even know where, but it wasn't in Canterlot. I'm pretty sure it was tied to the Cloudsdale Weather Corp, but I dunno."
Alez watched as the same mare that won the vacation landed on a "bankrupt" space and sadly gave up her prize and all of her cash. Lightning Dust sighed, "I'm worried that something bad is going to happen to you because of me."
"Lightning, no pony is inherently bad. You just like to push yourself a bit more than others, and that gets you into trouble occasionally. Trust me, I know the stakes."
"I think we worry about each other more than about ourselves. Anyway, I'm going to bed. It's been a long day!"
Alez looked at the clock: 7:30 PM. "I guess I'll go to Cloudsdale then. I'll try and scout out where Spitfire is." He started to head for the door, but Lightning Dust grabbed his hoof.
"Be very, very careful."
"I will! Hey, relax! Don't worry about me, I'll be fine!"
Alez grabbed a hoodie for the rain, put his saddlebags on, and left the warm apartment for the seemingly less-inviting Cloudsdale.
Flying was hard enough for Alez, but flying through the rain was ten times harder. "So much for today's workout. I won't need another one for a week!" He finally got to the edge of Cloudsdale, and immediately headed for the training grounds. The streets were deserted, most likely because of the weather. His hooves clopped loudly on the cobblestones, echoing off the buildings. The guard at the gate smiled at Alez. "What's up kid?"
"I'm looking for Spitfire. It's quite important, so..."
The guard frowned and took a sip of coffee. "I'm so sorry, she's just left for Ponyville! She's going to be gone the next few days."
"Why is she going to Ponyville?"
"Something about 'meeting up with an old friend.'"
"Oh. Thanks anyway."
"What do you need from her?"
Alez stepped right up to the guard and said, "I need to issue an apology on behalf of Lightning Dust, sir!"
The guard looked left, looked right, and glanced over his shoulder. He knelt down next to Alez, and whispered, "look here, kid, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but if you wanna see Lightning Dust again any time soon, I'd get back to Ponyville as fast as you can! "
Alez went pale, and nodded. "Thank you very much sir."
"You're welcome. Now hurry!"
He galloped back down the street and took off as if it were a runway, shooting into the sky, then diving down toward the ground.
He hit the ground running, and literally flew up the stairs to the apartment. He reached the top of the stairs, and gasped. The door had been hacked down, and there were marks from where somepony had been dragged out the door. He carefully entered the room, only to find broken furniture, shredded curtains, and broken trophies and medals. He ran back outside, calling "Lightning Dust! Come back! Lightning!" When no answer came, he ran back down the stairs, and as he rounded a corner, he slammed into another pony, sending them both tumbling down the rest of the stairs. Alez landed with his face buried in a rainbow mane. "Rumphho Daphh?" He mumbled into the mane. Rainbow Dash jumped up, nearly giving Alez rug burn. "Alez! I've been looking everywhere for you! You're looking for Lightning Dust, aren't you?"
"What is going on? Please tell me...you don't..."
"No, this is not my doing. It was Spitfire of course. I tried to stop her, I really did, but she just blew right past me," she said, pointing at a large gash in her side.
"Where did she go? Let's go before-"
"Alez, you don't understand. It's over already. There's no saving Lightning Dust."
Alez's voice trembled, "I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get her back!"
Rainbow Dash sighed, and looked sadly at Alez, "have fun in the Rainbow Factory."
Part 3: Alez's World Falls Apart / Memories from the Past
Alez didn't have the slightest idea what she was talking about. "I don't know where that is! Will you-"
"No. I'm not going anywhere near the place, and neither should you." She started to turn her back, but Alez grabbed her.
"No! You don't know how much this means to me! Please!"
"No."
"But-"
"Alez, this place gave me nightmares for years after I worked there! And I was a full-grown mare! You won't stand a chance."
Alez stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "Lightning's favorite quote was 'It's not about pushing yourself, it's about pushing yourself in the right direction.'"
"Couldn't live up to it, huh?"
"No, but I sure as hell can. Is it not a step in the right direction to save the only filly I've ever truly loved?"
Rainbow Dash stopped and sighed. "I'll take you inside the perimeter, but that's it! I'm not helping you face Spitfire, and I'm not going near Lightning Dust!"
"Oh, thank you so much! You're a real Samaritan Dashie."
"If she really is there, we won't have much time. C'mon Alez, you can't be late for this!"
The sun was just beginning to rise when the two travelers passed the tall spires of Canterlot. "We're not stopping here," Alez asked.
"No, no. It's far past Canterlot, in fact, some say it's not even part of Equestria."
The entire city of Canterlot passed by and disappeared before Rainbow Dash spoke again. "Kid, this is the last time I'm going to say this, but you've got a death wish trying to save Lightning Dust!"
Alez kept staring ahead, not looking back. "If I found out that she was being abused without my intervention, or if I...lost her, I would hurl myself off the highest tower in Canterlot. Without using my wings to fly."
"Does she really mean that much to you?"
Alez glared at her out of the corner of his eye, then smiled again. "Take a guess at how old I am. Go ahead!"
Rainbow Dash turned him around, and looked at him for awhile. "I'm guessing eighteen, maybe nineteen."
"Eighteen! Ha! Bit far of the mark there, Dashie!"
"What?! How old are you," Rainbow Dash said, annoyed.
"I'm fifteen: my birthday was three months ago!"
Dashie smirked, "happy belated birthday."
"Oh, shut up."
"So Lightning Dust is-"
"-fifteen. Her sixteenth birthday is in three days."
"Oh, well-"
"-I even made a pan of brownies, and cupcakes with green-and-yellow icing. They took an age-and-a-half to make!"
"Oh, wow. I'm so sorry that-"
"But now we'll never get to enjoy them because she made a few mistakes in life that caused her to be dragged out of her home and brought to this 'Rainbow Factory,' which you say still gives you nightmares, by the co-captain of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire, just because she was too humiliated by the fact that she let a 'failure-'" Alez did air-quotes with his hooves, "-into the academy!"
"Alez-"
"I even used to admire Spitfire! Before Lightning Dust, I thought Spitfire was cute, and of course she's an amazing athlete. I had Wonderbolts posters all over my walls! I even-" Alez suddenly stopped. "What in Equestria..."
Dashie flew up beside him. "We're not in Equestria anymore, Alez." She gestured at the black walls and smokestacks of a giant factory looming in front of them, "welcome to the Rainbow Factory, 'where your fears and horrors come true, and where not a single soul gets through.'"
Dashie directed Alez to a hill outside the black gates. After they had landed, Alez stretched his back and wings, which were sore from flying for two hours straight. Rainbow Dash produced a black suit and a dusty I.D. from her saddle bags. When Alez looked up at her again, she was looking off into the distance. "This is where they used to line them up," she finally said. "Most of them were fillies and colts no older than you, just out of flight school in Cloudsdale. But these few were different: they had failed the flight test."
She began to tear up as she told the story of a filly and her friend who had helped a classmate up after she hit an obstacle and broke her wing. All three of them were brought to the Rainbow Factory. "They never made it out, and no one knew why, except for the employees and me."
"...because you work here," Alez said pointing to the I.D.
"I used to work here. I gave up my position a few years ago."
"Why?"
Rainbow Dash sighed deeply, and looked at Alez with tears in her eyes. "Everypony talks about how stressful their jobs are, but the implications of working here...were..."
She paused for a moment to cry softly. Based on what she was saying, Alez was feeling less and less sure of himself. But whatever they did to those fillies and colts, he thought, they're going to do to Lightning Dust! I can't let that happen no matter what! "Sorry Dashie, but I have to do this."
"Then let's go. I don't want to linger here any longer than I have to."