//------------------------------// // Dust in the Wind // Story: No Heroes Part I - The Roster // by PaulAsaran //------------------------------// Another hot day. Lightning Dust was getting sick of this heat. Granted she had the wind from flying, but it was a dry, sand-filled, scratchy wind. Nothing like the cool, moist air of Foal Mountains, and certainly not helpful right now. But you know what? This was perfect. The bad flying air and depressing heat suited her mood just fine. “Hey, Lightning!” A mustard-yellow mare with dark pink hair flew up close to her. “Speed up, would you? I’d like to finish cloud duty before the week is up.” Lightning Dust said nothing, but increased her speed as told. Her lead pony made a familiar grumbling sound and moved ahead. Lightning was fast. She was incredibly fast. So fast she’d almost managed to become a Wonderbolt. But for the past three weeks she simply didn’t have any energy. Fortunately, nobody in Appleloosa noticed because she’d only been there for two weeks. They just assumed she was a weak flyer. They soared over the dusty landscape, gathering up clouds. In many places across Equestria, clouds were unwelcome for obscuring the sunlight. Sunlight brought warmth, and made a day bright and cheerful. But here in the desert the sun’s heat could kill, and clouds were lifesavers. Appleloosa, still considered a colony rather than a town, was in need of pegasi to bring in the clouds, so Lightning had come here. It was better than home. It was dull, boring, a bit backwards. Unpopular and underpopulated. Very out of the way, even by pegasi standards. Better than home. Sandstorm wouldn’t have been anywhere near as fast as Lightning on her best day, but she was still pretty impressive in her own right. Lightning didn’t blame her frustration. Rounding up some clouds was easy, of course, and within an hour they had a significant cloud sized up and ready to bring back to town. When it got there they’d connect it with the other clouds being brought in by other pegasi teams to cover the entire colony. Enough shade to keep the area cool for another week. They were on their way back, a pegasus on each side of the great cloud so as to keep it under control. Lightning had hardly said anything throughout the flight, and Sandstorm had given up trying to make friends with her days ago. So they flew on in silence, keeping an eye on the cloud and observing the terrain with boredom. They saw the train snaking along the rocky desert landscape at about the same time. Neither of them thought anything of it at first. Then Lightning noticed something strange: the smoke from the engine was forming an odd angle, stretching a bit too long, moving across the horizon a bit too… Sandstorm flew closer to her and pointed. “Does that train look like it’s moving fast to you?” “Yeah,” Lightning agreed. “You want to go down and take a look?” “I dunno,” her lead pony replied, glancing at the big cloud they’d gathered. “We need to get this thing to Appleloosa. If it breaks up we’ll have to gather it all again, which would be so annoying.” They watched the train, which would pass under them in a few minutes. The more they observed, the more obvious it was that the thing was going way too fast. “Okay, that looks really unsafe,” Sandstorm admitted after a while. “I don’t like leaving this big guy, but I guess we’d better have a look.” She zoomed down towards the tracks and flew alongside them, Lightning close behind. They kept their distance from the line as they approached the speeding locomotive...then stopped as it screamed by in a flash! For a moment they hovered there, looking at one another in confusion. “Did that train just scream?” Lightning asked. Sandstorms’ face was white. “I think that was the passengers.” Another moment of shocked staring, and they were in motion. Lightning flew at her full speed for the first time since…in a long time, coming alongside the train within seconds. Now matching the train’s speed, she could see things more clearly. There were only five cars on the train, and three of those were passenger cars. They didn’t have a lot of ponies in them, but the ponies that were there looked not just a little scared, waving and gesturing for help. Sandstorm finally caught up. “Since when could you fly so fast?!” she shouted over the rumbling train. “What’s going on?” “I think the train’s out of control,” Lightning shouted back. She looked up and down the train, not sure what to do. “Maybe we can fly ahead, warn Sheriff Silverstar?” Sandstorm suggested. But Lightning shook her head. “This thing’s a rocket on rails! I don’t think anypony in Appleloosa can help.” Sandstorm chewed her lip with an anxious frown. “All right…you go to the engine, see what you can do. I’m gonna start getting ponies off the train!” “Got it,” Lightning agreed with a wave. She zipped forward, easily outpacing the train, a blue and yellow streak of lightning trailing her. It had been a while since she’d seen that. She reached the engine, startled at the amount of black smoke that was billowing from its smokestack. She flew close to the engineer’s window, trying to see inside. There was a lot of heat, but it didn’t seem dangerous. She saw the conductor lying on the floor, and somepony else standing over him. She tried calling out, but the noise of the train was too loud. Cursing, she slowed until she was level with the back of the engine. It would be a tricky maneuver… On the count of three she performed a swift canopy roll, slipping between the engine and the coal car. She had barely fit, the roof of the engine brushing her amber mane. Safely within the train, she tucked her wings and kicked against the coal car, landing neatly within the engine room. Wow, was it hot! Heat waves rolled out of the coal boiler, making it difficult to move forward. She spotted the other pony, a mottled brown stallion in a black vest, leaning over the conductor. She approached and set a hoof to his shoulder, and the stallion reared up and nearly struck her with a hoof! “Whoa, watch it!” “Sorry,” the stallion – a unicorn, she now saw – said over the raging noise. “Shocked me!” He turned and leaned back over the conductor. It was then she noticed the blood. “What happened?” she demanded, sitting down next to him and trying to ignore the heat. “Don’t know,” the unicorn confessed. “I came forward from the third car to see what was up, and he was like this.” “So what do we do?” The unicorn stood, backing away from the heat. “For him? Nothing, he’s gone.” She winced at that news, a pang of sadness rushing through her. But there were more pressing concerns. Lightning backed up alongside him, feeling not just a little worried. “Then how do we stop the train?!” “I’m not an engineer,” he explained, voice ever-calm. “I don’t know what any of those switches and gizmos do. Besides, it’ too hot to get near the boiler, anyway.” “You’re a unicorn,” she snapped in annoyance. “Don’t you have some sort of spell that might help?” He shook his head, turning away from a spark of coal that shot up at the two of them. “I know one fire-related spell, and it’s designed to intensify heat. Not very useful in this situation.” “What if we closed the boiler door?” “Might cause an explosion,” the stallion noted seriously. “If you could get close enough to touch it, that is. Brakes?” “At this speed?” Lightning asked. “They’d break, alright.” The unicorn glowered at the engine, still lacking in anything resembling fear or worry. “By Luna, this trip isn’t going at all like I’d planned. If we could just get that fire put out, the train would stop on its own!” Put out the fire? Lightning had an idea. “I’m gonna try something,” she told him, turning to the back of the engine. “Get the conductor out of the engine, ‘cause things are about to get a lot hotter!” And with that she jumped, kicked off the coal car, and was back out beside the train. Her opal wings caught air and she was zipping up into the cloudy sky! The train had passed the cloud she and Sandstorm had created. It had taken the two of them an hour to form that cloud, but she knew she could have done it alone in a third that time. Now, finally working at her full potential, she was able to corral the thing and have it floating after the train in mere moments. Accelerating the cloud to match the train’s speed required a lot of effort, and she had to pause to gather up more clouds as she went. Yet she pulled it off, and after a while she had a massive white cloud well ahead of the train’s path. Now she began shaping the cloud, her body a blur in the sky. Thinner, denser, darker, soon she had the entire thing snaking along just above the tracks, a black roiling string of storm cloud. Once sure everything was in place she zipped to the front and hovered, watching the train’s fast approach. She was sweating, hopefully from tension and not the exercise. She kept her eyes locked on the engine; she had to get the timing just ri— Now! She zipped above the cloud, matching the train’s speed. Her lightning wake bounced along the clouds as she hopped from one section to the next, kicking down on the black, rain-bloated thunderheads. Each hit made an intense splash of rain fall atop the engine; or at least she hoped she was hitting the engine. If her timing was off she’d be showering the coal car, or perhaps missing the train entirely! When she at last cleared the long cloud, she looked down to see nothing but track. For a moment her heart sank – had she missed? – but then she saw the train rumbling along behind her, a small puff of smoke breezing feebly out of its stack. “Woo yeah!” She’d done it! She congratulated herself on an awesome and expertly-timed maneuver. That was Wonderbolt material, there! The train was steadily slowing, and she dove down to land on the back of the last car. Feeling awfully proud and ready for some praise, she opened the back door and entered… …to silence. “Huh?” She looked around at the empty car. But she’d seen ponies in here earlier! “Where did everypony go?” She moved through the train, feeling not just a little let down. At the last passenger car she found the mottled-brown unicorn. “Hey,” she asked, “what happened to everypony?” “Your flight partner got everypony off the train ten minutes ago,” he announced. He was sitting calmly in a booth, studying what appeared to be a list with noticeable annoyance. “Great job stopping the engine.” “What? Seriously?” She paced the floor, glaring at nothing in particular. “You mean I went through all that trouble wrangling clouds and executing that perfect maneuver, and nopony saw me?!” “I saw you,” he noted helpfully. “It was pretty impressive.” “Impressive? That has to have been one of the coolest tricks ever! I don’t believe this. But that just figures; ever since the Academy it’s been one disappointment after another. They’re probably all out there, cheering on Sandstorm at this very moment. I’m the one who stopped the train before it reached Appleloosa!” “But she’s the one that got everpony off the train,” he noted, still studying his list. She paused and gave him a sour look. “Not everypony. Why are you still here?” “I wanted to see your plan,” he answered with a smile. “Really, it was a great maneuver.” She bowed her head and turned to head for the door, a wave of sadness coming over her. “Yeah, lot of good it did.” The unicorn sat back and studied her curiously. “What’s your name?” “Lightning Dust,” she growled. “Excuse me, I wanna brood.” The unicorn gazed at the door after she’d left, thinking long and hard. After a while he picked up his list and poured over it. It was very long. When he’d gone through every name he sat back and stared at the door again. “Why isn’t that name on my list?” A dark, moonless night in Cloudsdale. The cloud factory was churning at its usual pace, skeleton crew going through the motions. Like the rest of the city, nopony noticed the thing flying in a slow orbit just beneath the cloudcover. It was a curious creature: orange, feline head, shoulders and arms with a long green-scaled tail like a snake, and a pair of wings that had both orange feathers and green scales. The creature paused and hovered, studying the clouds with a playful grin. Kit-a-kit-a-kit-a-kit! Its giggle was a strange clicking sound as its two sandpapery lizard tongues clicked deep in its throat. It raised an arm, extracted a single claw from its paw, and slowly ripped open the cloud above. A flap of its wings and it was in the factory, startling a pair of worker ponies. They stared, opened their mouths to cry out, and the creature clapped its paws together. A single sound cracked through the room, and instantly the two pegasi disappeared in a poof of orange smoke. A pair of chickens dropped out of the cloud and disappeared, flailing to the earth below. Why are you bothering with this? “Let me have some fun.” The cat-snake creature replied, fluttering about the factory. It observed the various gadgets, gizmos and gears with a wicked smile. A clap here, and that gear became a sunflower. A clap there, and pistons became marshmallows. It spotted a tiny metal something-or-other connected to a bunch of hooks, springs and wheels. “Ooooh, that looks very specific and special and…hard to make.” Clap; it turned to jello. Pressure valves were whistling. Gears were locking up. Pistons got stuck. The place was in chaos. When the rest of the night’s crew arrived they found a factory on the verge of catastrophe. None of them could hear the fading kit-a-kit-a-kit-a-kit laughter. They were too busy fleeing. I really don’t think that was necessary, Tazel. The pegasi were all in attendance outside the sheriff’s office. Lightning remained in the back of the pack. The incident with the train had been over a month ago, and she was still fuming. But there was no time for self-pity; the town was in a state of emergency. Sheriff Silverstar was pacing before the pegasi, face grim. “I’m afraid the news isn’t good,” he declared solemnly. “Cloudsdale has sent two pegasi here in answer to our letter. They report that the repairs to the factory is going to take at least another month.” Frantic murmurs filled the crowd. Lightning only grimaced. “The Seven Heavens and the Ninth Cloud factories are struggling to provide cloudwater to the rest of Equestria, and the Cloudarba pegasus colony won’t have its factory ready to produce for at least another year. That means Appleloosa is going to have to find a way to survive another month of drought entirely on its own.” Bad news; the colony was already struggling to survive after just two weeks. “Naturally, we’re going to be dependent upon all the town’s pegasi to pull this off. Cinnamon Swirl and Cream Tangerine were sent by Cloudsdale as expert advisors for this crisis, and as of now will take over as Cloud Patrol Captains. Ladies?” A red-coated, green-haired pegasus stepped up beside the Sheriff. They exchanged a few quiet words before Silverstar stepped back to let her talk. “Alright everypony,” she began, “I’m Cinnamon Swirl. Cream Tangerine’s in the air checking conditions. We’re going to divide everyone here into teams, which will then fan out and search all across the desert for wayward clouds. Cream and I will work together with Sheriff Silverstar to determine how we ration the cloudwater brought back to town, but the Apple Orchard will take priority as it feeds everypony. “Clouds will be difficult to come by in the coming weeks. Every piece of fluff is helpful, so don’t skip anything! Remember, the survival of this town depends upon all of us working as best we can. Together we can save Appleloosa!” A round of cheering. Lightning didn’t join in. Another week come and gone. Lightning was at the back of the pack, three other ponies flying ahead so that they all made a diamond pattern. She didn’t like this team. Airheart, a pink-coated and orange-maned volunteer from Ponyville, she was fine with. But the other two members were the so-called ‘experts,’ Cinnamon Swirl and Cream Tangerine. Lightning didn’t have any problem with them…until they realized from their records that she’d been a candidate for the Wonderbolts. Now everypony in Appleloosa knew. So she didn’t like those two. They wanted her on their team. They wanted to see what she could do, perhaps put her in a position of leadership after they’d gone. She wanted no part in any of it. The team was flying east over the desert’s low mountains. Red as far as the eye could see, and not a cloud in sight. At last Cinnamon Swirl gestured the halt, and the four hovered close to discuss strategy. Or rather, to receive orders. “Okay girls,” Cream declared, “we’re gonna spread out and meet back here in two hours. I’ll head North, Cinnamon South. Airheart, you head Northeast, Lightning, take the Southeast. If you find a cloud, gather it up and bring it back here. If you find a big one, note its location, speed and direction and we’ll come back for it after we get back together. Any questions?” “Lightning and I are sure to hit the Everfree Sea,” Airheart noted. “What if we find clouds from there?” Cinnamon Swirl shook her head. “That region is wild; clouds move on their own. They can’t be controlled, so don’t try. If you hit the sea, just follow the coastline.” “Got it.” “Anypony else?” Cream Tangerine cast a look at Airheart and Lightning in turn. “Then let’s get started. See you gals in a few.” And so she flew. And flew. And flew some more. Lightning was glad to be alone, it gave her time to mope. She watched for clouds, as she was meant to, but she didn’t expect to find anything. Appleloosa was hanging on by a thread. The patrols were turning up clouds, but it was only barely enough to keep the orchard and the ponies alive. Her own stomach churned every now and again from the lack of water. But she kept flapping her wings, kept soaring through the skies. Even if she didn’t feel like flying anymore, she had a job to do. She couldn’t just quit, not when so many ponies needed her help. So she kept on going, bitter and miserable but focused. It didn’t take long for her to spot the shining blue horizon that signaled the Everfree Sea. It was a lot closer than she’d thought, having only taken some forty-five minutes to reach from the rendezvous point. So much water. Too bad it was all salt water. She landed on a jagged outcropping, watching the waves lap against the sand a dozen or so feet below. She was so thirsty, and hadn’t seen even one cloud along the way. Watching the waves only made her stomach churn more, so she looked up, instead. Clouds. Beautiful, white, pristine clouds. They floated over the sea, big and soft and alluring. But those clouds were wild, not the same as the ones produced in a factory. She’d never tried to wrangle a wild one before, despite her hometown being in wild country. She glanced around, as if to ensure she was alone. She still had some thirty minutes before she would have to turn back. Why not give it a try? She flew out over the sea and immediately sensed the change in the air. Air currents blew of their own volition, rocking her through the skies wildly. She struggled to control her flight path in the unfamiliar winds, more than once dropping perilously. The challenge fed her passion, charged her energies, excited her! Before she knew it she was flying at full speed, using all her skill to dance and sway in the currents. The winds battered her, fought with her, tried to knock her out of the sky…but this was her domain. There was no telling how long it took, but at last she was accustomed to the strange shifts of the air. She was coming to understand how the air behaved at different altitudes, how air pressure could change from one current to the next. She was doing something that few pegasi dared: she was surfing the wild skies! The reminder of home brought a smile to her face for the first time in ages. Refreshed and invigorated, Lightning turned her attention to the clouds. If she could tame the winds, surely she could tame one of the clouds out here, right? It wasn’t at all as easy as she’d hoped. Bucking the cloud did absolutely nothing; it was like kicking air. Try to push it and it floated around her body like water. Blow on it and the white puffs separated and spread out randomly, not at all moving where she wanted them to. She tried every trick she knew, but the clouds just wouldn’t behave! She was at it for well beyond the thirty minutes she’d allotted herself. Heck, she’d been out there for hours. She was tired, hungry, and low on energy. But she kept trying; she was going to defeat these clouds if it killed her! At long last, she discovered a way to move a cloud without dissipating it. It involved a lot of circling and careful maneuvering, but she was able to pull a small tuft out from over the sea and above dry land. She had hoped that upon leaving the Everfree Sea the magic might be lost and the cloud would become just a regular cloud. She didn’t have to try to touch it to know that she’d been wrong; the cloud was as wild over land as it had been over the water, it just didn’t have any crazy winds to move it around. But it was still a cloud. Not a big cloud, but a cloud. She could bring it back to Appleloosa, prove to the others that it could be done. Then, when they all learned how to do it, the water shortage would be over. She’d be a hero! It took the rest of the day to get the cloud to town. Endless circling, constant fretting over little puffs that kept trying to escape, hunger and thirst gnawing at her the whole time. But finally, as the twilight began to fade over the horizon, she reached Appleloosa. It was already covered by a single massive cloud. Ponies were celebrating below. She could hear singing, could see them dancing. And deep down she fumed. “Lightning!” Airheart arose from below to greet her. “Where have you been? We spent half the day looking for you.” “And hit paydirt in the process?” Lightning asked, her tone glum. “Sure did!” the pink pony grinned. “Cinnamon thinks there’s enough water in it to keep Appleloosa going for another week.” She noted Lightning’s distressed expression and misunderstood. “Oh, but you must be famished! Come on, let’s add that cloud to this one and…” “Can’t,” Lightning muttered, abandoning her hard work and floating slowly down to the town. “Oh my,” Airheart noted from above, “this thing's wild!” Lightning landed near a table which had clearly been set up as a buffet and immediately grabbed an apple. She gobbled it down quickly, even eating the core. Some water was there, too; she grabbed a cup and drank every drop. “We were wondering when you’d turn up.” It was Cream, stepping up on one side of the table. “You got lost?” “Something like that,” Lightning muttered, dropping her cup unto the table unceremoniously. “Well at least you found a cloud,” Cinnamon noted, approaching to stand by Cream, “and look what we found while we were out searching for you!” “Yeah,” Lightning grumbled, not bothering to look up. “Great.” “Hey, girls,” Airheart called as she hovered overhead, “take a look! Lightning nabbed a wild cloud!” Aw, nuts. “A wild cloud?” Cinnamon glancing up at the thing with scrutiny. “You mean you went to the Everfree Sea?” Cream asked seriously, flying up take a look. A brief pause. “It’s wild, alright.” Cinnamon turned her dark look upon Lightning, who returned it with a grimace. “We told you not to bother with wild clouds.” “Well I did.” Airheart landed by Lightning, frowning anxiously. “But she was able to get one. It’s impressive…right?” “It’s a waste of time,” Cream corrected, landing next to Cinnamon. “Time and energy,” Cinnamon added. “You spent an entire day wrestling wild clouds in the Everfree Sea when you could have been helping us with this!” She gestured to the cloud above them. Lightning bristled. Airheart shied back even as she attempted to smooth things over. “But…at least she brought a cloud back. That’s good, right?” “No, it’s not,” Cream declared. “We can’t get water out of a wild cloud! That thing is useless.” “Hey,” Lightning snapped, “you found your big cloud because you were searching for me.” “We found it in spite of you, not because,” Cinnamon shot back. Cream shook her head. “No wonder you weren’t Wonderbolt material.” Lightning snarled, jerked about and bucked. The table flipped up and smacked right into the mares, sending them sprawling to the ground in a mess of food and water. She spread her wings and flew, fighting back tears. She was a disgrace. A total, complete loser. She’d not flown in three weeks. She simply lay in bed, or slumped her way around the house. Sometimes she’d stand in the station, watching trains come and go. She thought about getting on one and just going…but there was nowhere to go. Every town would be the same, all the problems would continue to exist. She used to be somepony. She used to be admired. Now she was just pathetic. Sometimes, when the sympathetic looks became too much to bear, she’d head into the desert and just walk. She’d stare into the sun-streaked lands, barren like her heart, and wonder if anypony would care if she just kept on going until she collapsed. Would anypony even notice she was missing? There were times when she would have dreams about Foal Mountains, about home. Dreams of her friends, her cousin, of flying free over the green hills and plateaus that were so fragrant with flowers in the Spring. Dreams of being loved, of being a hero, of being the best. These dreams didn’t only come when she was sleeping; now and then they’d come when she was wide awake. Did that mean she was going mad? They made her cry, nonetheless. But there were worse dreams: dreams of being at the Academy, of finally achieving her destiny, of making everypony she’d ever cared for proud. Dreams of her. Those dreams used to infuriate her. Now she would wake up from them numb, staring up at her ceiling blankly until sleep and dreams returned. But one night she lay there, staring and trying not to think or – worse – fall asleep. That night things seemed a little different. Her ceiling was normally a drab brown. Tonight it was orange. The cracks and creases she’d become intimately familiar with were casting long shadows that danced strangely on the wood. Perhaps she was still dreaming. If so, this was certainly a new one. She watched the dancing orange glow through heavy eyelids. Where did the light come from? It probably wasn’t important… She turned on her side, eyes going to the window. The world outside was filled with that bright orange glow. If this was a dream, perhaps it would show her something different. Something positive. She yearned for something positive to happen in her existence again. So she crawled out of bed, slowly and without anticipation, and went to stare glumly out the window. Fire. The Appleloosa orchard was on fire. No, that wasn’t positive at all. She very seriously considered going back to bed. She almost did. Then the shadows slipped by, shadows of running ponies. Blinking glumly, wondering if she might see something else in this dream, she moved to the window again and opened it. She looked out and saw ponies running about the orchard, trying to do something. They seemed so frantic, so concerned. Then she realized this wasn’t a dream, and she wasn’t asleep. Instinct kicked in, and Lightning was out the window and running to the blaze. “What in the name of Celestia?!” The fire was spreading swiftly, the trees dry as sand from weeks with too little rain. The Appleloosans were frantic, for the apple orchard was the town’s life. Without it they would have to abandon the colony or starve. Some were in tears. Others were fighting among themselves, trying to think of a solution. There was no water. There was nothing, absolutely nothing. Lightning gazed at the ponies, taking in their misery and anger and frustration. That spark within her was igniting again. Regardless of her past behavior, there was no way she was going to let this happen. She had to help…but how? She closed her eyes and thought, struggling to find a solution. Something, anything that might stop this… And then she remembered the Wonderbolt Academy. She opened her wings and lifted off for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Hot wind and ash stung her face and wings, but she ignored it and flapped, stretching muscles sore from disuse. The air, the open air! How wonderful it felt! With each pulsing beat of her wings she could feel that old energy and drive coming back to her. It was time to see if she still had what it takes. She flew along the perimeter of the flames, moving in circles. She went faster, faster, faster! She’d had a partner before, but now she was going to have to do it alone. Faster. Faster. Faster! The winds whipped, the fire began to twist in the air. Her lightning wake was like a ring of light, a halo that whistled its high pitch, beautiful tune while she flew with all the power and strength of one of the best fliers in Equestria! The tornado formed, it roiled, it rose. She was doing it, she was actually doing it! “Lightning! Lightning, stop!” Lightning blinked, lost her concentration, and then her control. She tumbled and rolled in the wind, and then the tornado collapsed. It took her only a few seconds to regain her composure, and then Cream and Cinnamon were in her face. “What do you think you’re doing?!” She blinked, confused at first, but then grew angry. “What does it look like? I’m trying to blow out the fire!” “Blow it out?!” Cimmanon cried. “Look!” Cream pointed downward, and Lightning's eyes followed her hoof. All her excitement and energy faded in an instant. Bits of burning debris, flung high by her tornado, had landed in a wide arc all around the orchard, and even into town. Dry wood was lighting up, basking the night sky in a deadly orange glow. She’d made the situation worse. “For Celestia’s sake, you’re hopeless,” Cream cried, flying back down to help the Appleloosans. “And to think the Factory will be working again in the morning!” “Can’t you think before you act, just once?” Cinnamon added, following. And Lightning just hovered there, the orange glow reflecting in her eyes and smoke coating her feathers. She watched, speechless and miserable, as the Appleloosans got together to form a plan. They began cutting down trees. Soon they’d cut an entire circle of toppled all around the blaze she’d spread. The fire, with no wood left to jump to, was contained. Sniffing, she turned back to the town and watched as the Appleloosans knocked down burning buildings to keep the flames from destroying the rest of their homes. Her own little house she’d rented was among those being turned to rubble. So she flew away. Weeping, blind of direction or destination, she flew. Flew, and screamed into the night for her uselessness. Lightning had heard of ponies flying in their sleep. Until now she’d always assumed it was just a story. But when she finally opened her eyes she was still in the air, wings flapping steadily of their own volition. She was beneath a beautiful blue sky, a yellow sun hanging low in the East. And below her were mountains. Pristine, grey, snow-capped mountains. No clouds. No trees. Just air all around and rock and snow below. How long had she been asleep? How far had she flown? She yawned, stretched, and tried to adjust her rate of flapping. It hurt, a lot. She’d been in the air too long. Lightning scoured the world below and saw a large, snow-covered outcropping. Wincing against the sting, she circled it and slowly descended. She landed on soft snow covering hard rock, and almost teared up at the pain of folding her wings. She was alone. Alone in a big world that didn’t want her. As she gazed out at the pristine mountains and empty sky, she wondered what she was going to do now. But then something very strange happened; a black cloud roiled into existence right in front of her. When it faded away it revealed a stallion. She realized, with some amazement, that it was the unicorn she’d met when she’d stopped the train. That seemed like years ago. The stallion shook himself, black mane whipping about wildly, and gave her an exasperated look. “Thank Luna! I thought you’d never land. You know I can only do that trick so many times before it wears me out?” He certainly looked tired. Lightning glanced around at their lifeless, barren surroundings in amazement. “You’ve been following me? For how long?” “All night,” he answered with a weak smile. She took an astonished step back from him. “Why?” He sat and reached into his saddlebag, pulling out a couple large pears. He tossed one to her. “I thought you’d settle down somewhere after an hour or so,” he explained before biting into his pear. After swallowing, he added, “If I had known you were gonna go on for so long I’d have figured some other way to meet you.” She lowered her head and turned away. “You don’t want to meet me, trust me.” He chuckled lightly. “I just traveled for ten hours straight following you with that damn spell. You trust me, I want to meet you.” It made no sense at all. She frowned and kept her back turned to him. “Well…what do you want?” “You.” She blinked and turned to give him a confused stare, then took a cautious step back. “Seriously?” He broke into laughter. “Not like that!” She sighed in relief, but realized she still didn’t understand. “Then like what?” He’d taken another bite of his pear. He raised a hoof to indicate she should wait, chewed for several seconds and swallowed. “You’ve caught the attention of a few ponies,” he announced with a pleasant smile. “Some very important ponies. You’ve been hoof-picked, Lightning Dust.” She eyed him warily, but her curiosity had been piqued. “Hoof picked by who?” He leaned forward with a grin. “Me, for one.” She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re on about, but you don’t want a loser like me.” “You being a loser is actually part of the point.” She raised her head at that, astonished at his directness. “What?” He stood, pear finished, and began to pace. “You’re not a hero, Lightning. Or a champion. You’re always in second place, assuming you even finish. It’s truly astounding that a mare with your incredible skills just can’t seem to make the cut. Ever since they booted you from the Wonderbolt Academy for reckless behavior, you’ve been in a horrible rut.” Nervous, perhaps even a little afraid, she took a few extra steps away from him. “You know a lot about me.” He glanced at her, face still serious, still pacing. He was beginning to wear a line in the snow. “I know a lot more than you’d like. I know you still secretly blame Rainbow Dash for your expulsion. I know you’re afraid to go back to Foal Mountains, afraid to face your cousin who was so happy when you were accepted to the Academy, and afraid to face your fellows at the orphanage, the ones with the Wonderbolts posters all over their rooms. I know you decided to hide in Appleloosa, a place so remote, so dull that nobody would ever think to look for the exciting and energetic Lightning Dust there.” “Shut up!” She turned from him, tears welling in her eyes. For a moment he obeyed, giving her time to gain control of her emotions. She could hear the snow crunch beneath his hooves as he approached. “You’re a gifted pegasus, Lightning. One of the best I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot in my line of work. But you just can’t seem to get things right, can you?” She dropped to the ground, legs too weak to support her weight. “I keep trying,” she whispered. “I tried so hard, but nothing ever works…” She kicked an angry hoof at the snow, white powder flying up in the air. “I’ll always be second place…” Another long, patient silence. “Do you still think you have something to offer Equestria?” She didn’t understand the question. She considered it, pondering for some time. Then she rose on legs much less wobbly and turned to look at him. Really look. “Who are you?” He reached into another pouch and pulled out something small. He tossed it, and it landed softly in the snow. She studied it, recognized it, and gave him an astonished look. “There’s somepony out there who wants to give you a chance, Lightning. A real chance to show what you can do.” He stepped back and sat, gesturing for her to take the thing. She did. “Someday soon you’re going to receive a letter. It’s going to have that on it. When you get it, read it. Pay attention to it. Obey. You may finally have your opportunity to be recognized.” Smoke began to billow around him. “Wait!” He was gone. She sat in the cold snow, unbelieving. Who was he? She considered his words wonderingly. Could it be possible? Was there really a way for a pony like her to be all that she could be? Was she going to get a real, legitimate chance? She looked down at the object, which she’d dropped in the snow at his departure. It was a tiny metal pin. On it was a crescent moon before a clear night sky. It was the cutie mark – and therefore the crest – of Princess Luna of Canterlot. Princess Luna My apologies for contacting you by letter again with news. In this case I was forced to make a very long, unfortunate detour as part of my investigation, and it may be a full week before I can make it back to Canterlot. I am extremely pleased to announce that I have located the fifth candidate. She was a rather surprising find, discovered during the testing phase of another potential whose results were…discouraging. I found that she’d been discontinued from further investigation at the earliest stages, as she was considered over-qualified for the role sought. After my chance encounter I had her re-investigated, and the results are amazingly promising. In all these investigations I have never seen a candidate more perfectly suiting what we have been looking for, and I am confident you’ll agree with me on this matter. As before, you’ll find the full report attached with this letter. I look forward to discussing all five candidates for final approval upon my return. I remain yours loyally, Fine Crime PS – Do you know of any chance there might be a road or railway being made to pass through the Surcingle Mountain Range to the Bay of Trotaloosa? I hope so. It would make traveling on missions like this one much easier.