Lightning's Life | Equestria Girls

3. Over the rainbow

Basketball practice had gone great, with Lightning and Indigo being the best on the team, obviously. Afterwards, the 2 girls had stayed in the gym together. They were sitting on the bleachers chatting.

"So, how did you get so good?" Indigo asked. "Your family must be into sports, right?"

"Kind of," Lightning replied. "It's just a natural talent, you know, it's not like I've played a lot before." This wasn't fully true. Lightning had played sports in her old school as well, but having a natural skill seemed more impressive.

"You should!" Indigo told her. "We could go professional together."

"No thanks, Zap," Lightning said. "I've got other plans. I've always wanted to join the Airforce."

"Oh, well, that's quite different," Indigo laughed. "But that is so cool! I hear it's not very easy."

"No, it's not," Lightning agreed. "But it's what I want and I'm going to get it."

"I love your attitude," Indigo complimented her. "You just remind me of myself. What do your parents do?"

Lightning wasn't ready for that question. She looked away for a second, but then decided she would open up to Indigo. They were friends, after all.

"Well, it's a long story," Lightning started. "My parents were in a band together with some of their other friends. It was called Over the Rainbow. But not too long after I was born...my mom passed away." Lightning looked up at Indigo, and noticed her regret asking the question. "I don't remember much about her. But after that, the band kind of fell apart, they couldn't keep going without her."

"Oh no...that's too bad," Indigo said. "So, your dad was a singer?"

"Sometimes, but mostly he played the piano," Lightning continued. "My mom was the main singer, and she was amazing. According to my dad and his friends anyway. I don't know much about music. But they also opened a music shop together, and my dad still works there today."

"I thought you'd know a lot about music," Indigo commented.

"No, I kind of have an aversion to it," Lightning explained. "Maybe because it reminds me of her." After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she got up and jumped down. "I've got to get going," she said as she picked up her bag and headed for the exit. It wasn't hard for her to tell the story, as it had been long enough. She had somewhat accepted it.

~.~.~.~.~.~

That evening after dinner, Lightning was on her computer. She didn't usually go online without a purpose, as it made her feel unproductive. However, she was still thinking about her parents and their band. She never let herself stay in her feelings too long, but she wondered if she could find a video of the band online.

Wondering why she hadn't tried this before, she typed 'Over the Rainbow' in, and searched for videos. To her surprise, a video came up of the band performing a song she was familiar with. Her dad would sing it to himself around the house sometimes. She clicked on the video, but noticed her headphones weren't plugged in. It was too late! The video had already started and the volume was way up. She fumbled around trying to plug the headphones in, but then there was a knock on the door.

"Wait one second!" she called, slamming her computer shut and luckily, it turned off. "Okay, come in!"

Her dad came in and looked at her strangely. "What are you up to?"

"Just uh...gonna go to bed soon," she lied, then glanced up at the clock at the same time he did.

"It's only 7:30," he commented.

"Well..." she trailed off. "Yeah, okay."

"Did I hear music?" he asked. "I didn't know you listened to music very much."