Earlier that same night, about twenty minutes after Sketch left to see Applejack, Lightning Star was feeling pretty bored sitting at home by himself. He thought that maybe he could just turn in early, but that wasn’t like him, He’d usually stay up all night, but he was so damn bored. Maybe he could go out for a nighttime fly. He hasn’t been using his wings lately; meanwhile Sketch can use his unicorn magic like it was second nature. It was pretty ironic, considering the fact that Lightning was more excited about being a pony than Sketch was.

“Yeah, a good stretch of the wings will be good for me,” he said to himself. Just then, the phone rang, and the pegasus scrambled to answer it. Maybe he could strike up a conversation with whoever was on the other line.

“Hello?” he said.

“Hi, Lightning. It’s Twilight,” said the pony on the other line. “I’d hate to bother you again, but while we were in Canterlot, Spike injured his leg, and I don’t have anypony to help me sort out these books.”

“Oh, man. Is the little guy okay? What happened?”

“He’s fine, but he refuses to tell me exactly how it happened. He must be embarrassed or something. Anyway, I was wondering if you and Sketch could come and help me out, so long as you two aren’t busy, of course.”

“Well, Sketch is out of the house, right now, but I’d be happy to come over and help you out.”

“Oh, thank you, Lightning. I owe you one.”

“Nah, think of this as me paying you back for helping me and Sketch find out how we came here. I’ll be right there, ‘kay?”

“Sure.”

Lightning hangs up the phone, gets his keys, and heads out the house on his way to Twilight’s. When he gets there, he’s greeted by a flustered looking Alicorn and a mess of books to stack.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Well, a new shipment of books came in while we were in Canterlot, so I decided to reorganize everything,” Twilight explained. “Spike and I did most of the work, but then I went up to my room for a minute, and when I came back down, the poor dragon was on the ground, clutching his leg. I plan on having Fluttershy come over tomorrow so she can take a look at it.” She then turns around, gesturing to the bookshelves. “As you can see, only the top shelves are left.”

“Not that I don’t mind helping you, and all…” said the pegasus, “but can’t you use your wings to get up there instead of having somepony hold a ladder for you?”

“Well… It’s just that… I haven’t gotten used to my wings yet…”

“Hasn’t Rainbow Dash been giving you lessons?”

“Let’s just say I’m not suited to her teaching style.”

“So, you aren’t used to your wings, which you’ve had for a month, but you thought that getting help from a human that was turned into a pegasus a week ago was a better idea?”

“Well, when you put it like that, it does sound kind of ridiculous.”

“Well, you’re gonna practice using those wings now. Just get some books off the floor, fly up to stack them, and I’ll be right below you so I can catch you if anything goes wrong.”

“Okay…”

Elsewhere in Ponyville, Pinkie Pie was in her bedroom at Sugarcube Corner, sitting idly on her bed, something that was rare for the pink pony. She couldn’t stop thinking about Lightning since last night, and she’s been completely out of it all day. She remembers talking to Rainbow Dash earlier that day.

“Hey, Pinkie. What’s up?” she said.

“Well, I was just going over to see Lightning!” the pink mare happily replied.

“Oh, he isn’t home. While I was on weather patrol earlier today, I saw him at the train station with Twilight and-”

“The train station! Maybe I can catch up to him!”

“I don’t think so. I saw them a half hour ago. Wherever they were going, they’re probably halfway there by now. You can always call him.”

“Oh, I don’t want to be a bother to him. He’s probably busy with something important.”

“Since when do you ever ‘not want to be a bother’ to anypony? Unless… you probably don’t want him to think you’re annoying, do you?”

“Well…”

“And that’s because you like him!”

“Okay, okay, okay, I like him! I really want to talk to him, but I don’t want him to think I’m too pushy, ‘cause then he’ll want to avoid me, andthenhe’llwantnothingtodowithmeandI’llbesinglefortherestofmylifeand-” the earth pony was interrupted by a hand being placed on her mouth.

“You are worrying about this WAY too much,” said Rainbow Dash. “The last thing Ponyville needs is another Twilight.”

Pinkie took a deep breath. “You’re right, Dashie. I’ll catch up with him later tonight.”

The earth pony got up off her bed and set out to go see Lightning, like she had promised herself to do earlier that day.

Pinkie walked down the streets of Ponyville, and she got excited when she saw Lightning’s house, she ran up to it, but as she got closer, she saw that the lights were out.

“Aw, nuts!” the mare said. “He’s probably sleeping. Oh well, I'll just visit him at work tomorrow.” Just then, she heard two voices coming from Twilight’s place; one from Twilight, and the other from… Lightning? Pinkie got closer to the library so she can hear.

“Lightning, I don’t know if I can-”

“Just relax. I’m right here.”

“I can’t hold out. I’m gonna… I’m gonna… AAAGH!”

Twilight’s scream was followed by a thud, and Pinkie tried to process what she just heard. “Wait… they couldn’t be… no way!” The mare ran up to the door and swung it open to see a horrific sight. Twilight was on top of Lightning, looking pretty exhausted, and Lightning had his arms wrapped around her.

“See Twi? You have nothing to worry about,” Lightning said to the alicorn.

“Okay, but you’re still gonna catch me, right?” she asked nervously.

“Of course I am, but don’t worry about that. Just concentrate on what you’re doing,” the pegasus said.

Twilight’s wings began to tire out, and they started to flap at an uneven rhythm. “Lightning, I don’t know if I can-”

“Just relax. I’m right here,” he assured with a soothing voice.

Twilight could feel herself losing her balance. She knew she was going to fall. “I can’t hold out. I’m gonna… I’m gonna… AAAGH!” The alicorn started to fall, and Lightning caught her, falling back to the ground with her on top of him, and his arms wrapped around her. The next thing that the two ponies heard was a loud gasp. They looked up to see Pinkie Pie standing in the doorway, tears welling up in her big, blue eyes. Twilight and Lightning then noticed the compromising position that they were in, and the alicorn quickly got off of her friend, fixing her skirt. Lightning quickly gets on his hooves and walks towards Pinkie.

“Pinkie, wait. It’s not what you thi-” he tried to say, but she didn’t want to hear any of it. She turned tail and ran as fast as she could.

“Twilight, I-”

“I understand. Go after her.”

And Lightning did just that. He ran out of the library and tried to catch up to Pinkie, but it turned out that she was faster than she let on. The stallion had to use his speed boost to catch up to her, but she quickly turned into an alleyway. Lightning decided to fly up to the rooftops to get a better view, that way it would be easier to keep the mare in his sights. He jumped from roof to roof, trying to catch up to her.

“Pinkie! Just hold on for a second!” he called out. “Damn, this mare can run,” he thought.

He finally caught up to her just as she got to Sugarcube Corner. “Pinkie, just give me one second,” he said, out of breath.

“No! I won’t give you a second!” she yelled. “I saw you and Twilight, and I heard what you two were saying inside, too! How could you go out with me one night, then bang another pony the next night!?”

“We weren’t doing that!” the pegasus said. “We were just-”

“I don’t’ want to hear it!” Pinkie said, pushing the stallion. “Just stay away from me!”

Before Lightning can say anything else, Pinkie went inside and slammed the door in his face. Realizing that there was no way to calm the mare down, the pegasus walked home, dragging his hooves and hanging his head.

Later that night, Lightning was in his room, reading through some scrolls. He heard the front door open, meaning that Sketch was home, but he didn’t acknowledge it. A minute later, he heard him knock on his door, but he ignored him, hoping that he’d go away. The unicorn knocked a second time, and Lightning ignored him yet again. Sketch then opened the door and walked inside.

“Oh, sorry, man. I didn’t know you were reading,” he said. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m back.”

“Whatever,” the pegasus replied. Normally, he’d bombard Sketch with questions on how the outing with AJ went, but he had other things on his mind.

“Everything alright?”

“I’m fine. Why do you care?”

“Because I’m your friend. That’s how the whole ‘friendship’ thing works.”

“Well, I’m just fine, so you have nothing to worry about, so just go away.”

“What’s you deal, Lightning?”

“It’s nothing. Mind your own damn business!”

“Dude, calm down!”

Lightning got out of his seat and turned around to face Sketch. “Don’t tell me what to do! I said I’m fine, now get out!” he yelled, grabbing a nearby throwing knife and chucking it at Sketch. Luckily, he was so mad, it threw his aim off completely, and he missed by several inches.

“Alright, alright, I’ll go!” said the unicorn. “What the fuck, man?” He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Lightning walked towards where he threw the knife and pulled it out of the wall. After putting it away, he decided to turn in for the night. As he went to sleep, the memory of the events that transpired earlier that night began to haunt his mind…