Applicant Dossier #005: Lightning Dust
Lightning Dust was the last to interview with Mrs. Harshwinny. Lightning Dust was also twenty minutes late for her appointment, a fact duly noted on a hoofnote affixed to the front of her file, atop her officially submitted photograph and adjacent to another photograph that showed her drinking from a long tube filled with a brown frothy liquid connected to a keg.
"Crushed sugar treats." Lightning Dust threw herself into her seat. "I'm late because the city guard are a bunch of jerks with too much time on their hooves."
"They thought I was smuggling drugs again."
"No, I've never done it. They've just thought I've done it because I'm not snooty about who I'm friends with. It doesn't matter if a pony's clean or dirty, if a pony's a good person, I'm there for them. I've been subject to enough unfair ostracism that I wouldn't want anypony else to go through the same excrement."
"Yeah, I got shut out of the Wonderbolts because the Princess' best friend said my flying was too dangerous. Know what--she got lots of chances when she messed up, because she's the Princess's best friend. I got one chance. Things didn't work out and I was gone. No job. No dream."
"This is my new dream. I'm not going to take foolish risks. All my risks are calculated."
"My shows are dangerous. That's what my Washouts do--dangerously exciting shows. But we practice the Tartarus out of them. We have safety precautions. I've spent less time lounging in hospitals than the Princess's best friend."
"For the record--that pony's Rainbow Dash. Youse never met a more conceited pony. Can't stop talking about herself. Always has to be number one."
"And to answer again--no, I don't do illicit substances. I barely drink licit ones anymore."
"That beer funnel photograph--old news from the Washouts' early days. We don't do that anymore. 'least I don't do that any more. And when I did it--it was after a show, not before or during. Drinking and flying's an easy way to end up dead."
"I'm from Manehatten. Didn't youse guess from the accent?"
"No, I'm not familar with Soarin' outside of a few meetings when I was a Wonderbolt candidate. He's a pretty famous bachelor. I think he modeled for Playmare. Talented too."
"Hay! He lived in Manehatten for a while? Wish I'd known him before he hit it big."
"No, I wouldn't have used him for a job. But I'd have hit that hot flank, most def'."
"No relatives."
"Lovers? Yeah." She listed a long catalogue, appended to the interview materials as an appendix. "But nothing permanent. And yep, no creatures other than ponies."
"Mostly pegasi. Some unicorns. Earth ponies aren't really my type, with due apologies."
"Don't have a lot of friends with other species, except a mailgriffon--Gabby. She's almost like that inane Element of Happiness, but she knows when to stop, youse know?"
"Fears?"
"Not being remembered."
"No, that's not arrogant. And it's not like Rainbow Dash. I don't care how I'm remembered, just that I am. I don't have to be the best. I just have to be memorable."
"Sure, Rainbow Dash will probably be known for reinventing the sonic rainboom. I'm going to be first in space."
"Sure, we'll go in the order selected by the Princess. There are a lot of firsts to be had. No one pony can do them all. I'll wait my turn."
Lightning Dust's emotional and mental state wasn't the best. But she tested well. Physically, she was talented. Notes in her file indicated that her contact, Gabby the mailgriffon, was under supervision by Twilight's spy organization, SMILE, and had been cleared of any potential collusion with the rival space program from Griffonstone's former colony.
Lightning Dust was the best stunt flyer of her generation, outperforming most younger performers. So, despite Mrs. Harshwinny's reservations, she was:
Cleared for project Marred Mare.
All these ponies, despite their flaws, were cleared. But Derpy Hooves wasn't. She didn't have their professional experience.
But friendship was supposed to power magic, Derpy thought. She'd read the Princess' textbook from Dinky's school and wondered why it was so hard to follow its precepts.
Reviewing the dossiers again, searching for a way to rescue Lightning Dust from her own foolishness and the vicissitudes of new technology, Princess Twilight Sparkle came to the same conclusion as Derpy--even though she worried the outcome might end with both ponies dying.