//------------------------------//
// Final Segment 
// Story: Pardon My Dust 
// by Piccolo Sky 
//------------------------------//

A few hours later the sun had completely gone and the San Palomino sky lit up in a ocean of a billion stars with not one cloud in sight to obscure the view. It was beautiful and breathtaking to behold. Nevertheless, not a single pony that found themselves in the desert would be that interested in looking at it. They'd have other concerns.

Such was the case with Lightning Dust. She had dug herself a small hole in the sand and gotten in it, but it offered little protection. She had tucked herself into a ball and put her intact wing and even her busted one around herself as best as she could, but she was still constantly shivering. Her face was visibly uncomfortable as her breath misted from her snout.

She was still shivering when a shadow fell over her and, moments later, a body slumped next to her. Since she hadn't been able to sleep until now, she cracked her eyes open and looked over her shoulder, and grew fully alert on spotting a familiar rainbow mane.

"What the...? What are you doing here?"

"Helping you keep warm," Dash half-grumbled. "What does it look like?"

Rather than show gratitude, Dust frowned again before turning away. "Whatever. Don't expect a 'thank you'." 

"From you?" she snorted. "Don't worry."

Dust said no more but didn't close her eyes as she stared at the side of her hole. The silence of the desert hung over both of them.

"Let me ask you something. Why is winning so important to you?"

"That's a dumb question. Don't you like winning?"

"Yeah, but it's not like there aren't more important things."

"Oh really? Who holds the fastest record for the Atacanter Crossing?"

Dash scoffed. "Cyclone Sky, of course."

"Who holds the second-fastest?"

Dash opened her own eyes. After a moment she started to grimace. "Uh...um..."

"Hmph. You see? In the end, it doesn't matter if you were a good teammate or a great flier. All anyone will remember about you one day is if you were the biggest winner. It's only the ponies that set the records that become legends, get statues made in their honor, or get stadiums named after them." She sighed. "No one cares about the runner up."

She lay silently for a few seconds, looking at the sky of stars over them.

"Being the best at the Atacanter Crossing was my only chance to be great without being in the Wonderbolts. If I could have won this, if I could have been the first pegasus to win a race that had only ever been won by Wonderbolts...then everypony would have known that I was just as good as them even if I couldn't be one. It was my one way to prove that I was like them."

Her eyes lowered, looking back to the dirt in the bottom of her hole.

"My one way I could still feel like a Wonderbolt even if I never could be one..."

Dash looked over her shoulder again. For just a moment, her face had lost its hostility toward the turquoise pegasus. Dust's words had not only surprised the pegasus, but she was actually looking at her with just a touch of understanding. Perhaps even sympathy. 

She leaned back down, staring at the dirt on her own side of the hole a moment before looking up again.

"Who did Cyclone Sky take the record from?"

Dust exhaled. "North Clipper."

"And who did North Clipper take the record from?"

She paused. She had to think for a moment on that. "Uh...Dust Devil, I...I think..."

"And who did it before him?"

Dust winced and tried to remember, but in the end no matter how hard she thought nothing came to her. "I...I don't know..."

Dash smirked a little. "You said it yourself: records were made to be broken. None of the Wonderbolts wanted to join this race because we all thought Cyclone Sky's record was unbeatable, but you didn't. You knew somepony could knock her off the top. And even if you won't be the one, it'll get broken one day. Once that happens, everypony will start forgetting Cyclone Sky's name too."

Dust took a moment to think this over. She ended up frowning and slumping again when she realized what that meant.

"You may not believe it, but I didn't join this race just to beat you," Dash went on. "Ok, I admit it...I didn't prepare, I didn't practice, and I wasn't ready for...where I'm stuck now. I didn't even care about getting in this race until I realized you probably could break the record, and if some other Wonderbolt could have been here to beat it instead of me I would have been fine."

She looked up to the stars herself. 

"But I'm the only one here now, and I know this is a Wonderbolt tradition. The whole reason we keep coming out here is because we know the legacy. I'm sure Cyclone Sky, North Clipper, and Dust Devil all thought the same thing when they won it. I was never here to race for myself; I was racing for them. If I could have won this race, then I would have really been winning it for them all over again...for all the Wonderbolts. And that's something we'd all have pride in that would last for hundreds of years to come."

Dust lay there unmoving a moment before raising her head just a little.

"Point is...if you can't set a record that's gonna last forever, why not spend more time doing things that will?"

She laid back down after that and said no more.

Dust didn't respond, but her face was now far more uncertain than it had been when she first saw Rainbow Dash at the race, or had been in many years. She lay awake long after Dash herself had started snoring--thinking harder than she had in her entire adult life.





Dust slowly cracked her eyes open early the next morning before the sun had cleared the horizon, not due to the change in light but due to feeling cold again. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Dash was gone, but heard some noise nearby. She leaned her head out of the hole and looked, raising an eyebrow soon after. Dash was currently crouched in front of a desert tortoise that had wandered along during the night. 

"What are you doing?"

"This tortoise must know the layout of the desert! Maybe he can lead us to an oasis that has one of the markpoints!"

Dust looked incredulous. "And...you speak 'tortoise'?"

Dash winced. "Well...no, not exactly... But I have a pet tortoise at home and we understand each other!"

Dust rolled her eyes. "I had a pet goldfish once...doesn't mean I can talk to tuna..."

Ignoring her, Dash leaned up and thought a moment. "Ok, Fluttershy does this all the time... It can't be that hard, can it?"

She looked back down at the tortoise, who indifferently blinked at her.

Taking in a deep breath, Dash moved her hoof over her mane and quickly rearranged it into one of Fluttershy's longer bangs. She leaned back down and proceeded with her best imitation.

"Um, um...excuse me...Mr. Tortoise? We're both very lost in the desert and, um, we could really used your help right now..."

"Now what are you doing?" Dust called out. 

"Hush!" she quickly shouted before focusing on the tortoise again. "Could you maybe, um, possibly, that is, lead us to the nearest oasis?" She punctuated it with a gentle smile.

The tortoise stared back silently. Dash kept staring at him, beginning to sweat and her smile growing more forced with time. 

The tortoise blinked again, then slowly turned his body and began to walk forward.

"Alright!" Dash cheered. "He'll take us there!"

Dust frowned as she crawled out of the hole. "How can you tell?"

"Well...I can't. But Tank gets that same look on his face before he's about to do what I tell him."

"...It's a turtle. It doesn't make faces."

"Tortoise! I found out the hard way they're sensitive about that... Besides, do we have any better ideas? If nothing else, if he's living out here he has to know where to find water, right?"

Dust sighed. "Fine... I guess it's as good as we'll get." She glanced down at the tortoise, who had taken a grand total of four steps since he had started walking. "Although it looks like we might be out here a couple more days..."

Dash looked back at it, saw its progress, and groaned. 

"Hey. Think fast."

She looked back up and was nearly caught off guard as a second Rain Barrel Cactus, the spines cleaned off of it, suddenly landed in her outstretched hooves. With one of her rear legs still numb, it made her spill over onto her backside but she managed to catch it. She looked surprised for a moment, then back up to Dust.

She wasn't looking back and was already walking. "I found one of those before I dug that hole last night. Don't take it the wrong way. You made a nice 'heater' last night so maybe it's a good idea to stick with you after all. Can't have you collapsing on me. Since you got less water yesterday, help yourself to the whole thing."

Dash stared at Dust as she passed, saying nothing. Once she went by, she finally looked back to the cactus and got a good long swig out of it. After exhaling and wiping her mouth, she whistled. "Hey Lightning!"

The pony looked back, only to get a bit of a surprise as the cactus was tossed back to her. Soon after, half-smirking, Dash got up and began to limp along.

"Didn't I tell you I could get by on a couple sips? What do you say we hang onto that one and split it this time?"

Dust didn't answer, but she did look surprised as Dash slowly limped by.





In spite of the fact both pegasi were more tired, thirsty, and hungry than the day before, this one went much better. Both of their tempers had cooled and now they were at least being civil. Lightning Dust never drank the whole cactus but passed it between the two of them until it ran out sometime after midday. Considering the fact they only had to follow the slow-moving tortoise, they didn't get nearly as tired either.

On top of that, Dust actually became helpful. At one point, they were crossing with the tortoise through one of the dips and valleys, but she stopped them and pointed out that they were moving through more sand traps. Working together, for the tortoise was rather heavy for both of them, they picked him up and slowly maneuvered him and themselves up the sloping dunes before resuming. At another point, Dust froze and informed them that they were crossing through another scorpion pit; recognizing their trails in the sand. She explained the only way across was to creep over it slowly without stamping, but with Dash's hoof still numb that seemed nearly impossible for her on three legs.

But after a few seconds, she got a shock when Dust suddenly hoisted her on her back and started to carry her.

"You're slowing us down and we're following a tortoise, for crying out loud," she grumbled. "Ugh, you ought to lay off the junk food... I wouldn't think you'd be this heavy..." 

Dash was speechless a moment more before smirking. "Heh, what? Am I too heavy for a pony who's supposed to have record-breaking stamina?"

"Eh, I oughtta dump you in the next sand trap we come across..." Dust retorted, not realizing she was smiling a little too.

By the time the sun went down, Dash could finally walk on all four legs, but Dust stopped them to dig another hole for the night. It didn't take long with the two working together. 

However, before they could ease down and curl up, Dust looked out at the tortoise. He was still plodding along.

"Hey, he's still moving. What if we lose track of him?"

"You're kidding, right?" Dash answered, eyes already closed and reclining. "How far ahead of us to you think he's gonna get?"

Dust glanced back to the turtle, still in the process of taking one step from when Dust first called to Dash. "Good point."





In spite of doing better on the second day, when the two got up for the third they were growing rather worn out between the little water and the lack of food; to say nothing of the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and the pains in their respective wings. By the time the sun had risen enough to where it was beating down again and both were panting they were very weary; especially since there was no more water to be found.

Dash panted as she used her wing to wipe her forehead, when she blinked. She shaded her eyes to look ahead a bit more intently before exclaiming.

"Lightning, look!"

She groaned listlessly. "Please tell me it's another cactus or six..."

"Better than that! Check it out!"

The other pegasus looked up, shielding her own gaze. While it was just faintly in the distance, there was an outline of a small stand of shrubs around a pool of water...and, just above it, a ring of clouds.

Dust's jaw dropped. "R-Really? We actually made it?"

Dash grinned as she ribbed her. "Told ya' I know what tortoises are thinking about."

"This isn't just some mirage, is it?"

"Only one way to find out! Come on!"

A moment later, Dash took of. In spite of her doubts, Dust followed just as rapidly.

The two didn't take long to overtake the tortoise and keep on rushing toward the sight. Yet as they got closer, it only grew sharper and more distinct. It was definitely real. And with the terrain flat between them and their destination, there was no more worry about sand traps or scorpions. They put the rest of their reserves out there to reach it as quickly as possible.

Halfway there, however, Dash began to notice the ground beneath her was starting to vibrate, and not just from her hoofbeats. It quickly grew in intensity; even reaching the point of quaking. On noticing it, she looked about and saw that it was growing so intense the sand around her bouncing up and down. She slowed to a halt. 

Dust noticed and nearly called out only to realize the same thing. Meanwhile, the shaking kept increasing and in moments it so violent that both of them had to spread out their hooves to balance themselves.

"What...what's going on?"

"I don't know! Is it an earthquake?"

Before Dash could answer, the ground beneath the pegasi suddenly gave way. Both cried out as they dropped down a few feet before slamming against the sandy soil again. However, it was angled downward now. Both of them looked up and gasped on seeing that the landscape for over a hundred feet in all directions had collapsed inward; turning it from flat terrain into a funnel shape that quickly grew steeper as the center dipped lower. Soon, the two of them were sliding on the loose soil toward the bottom. 

Shocked and panicked, they quickly started to plant their hooves in the loose sand around them. After sliding a bit further their legs managed to dig into it and halt them. Yet the ground kept shaking, and as both of them looked down to the bottom of the pit they saw that the sand was churning.

"What in Equestria is this?!" Dust shouted. "A giant sand trap?"

Dash gulped at the sight. "No, worse!"

The center of the pit suddenly swelled before bursting, and a hideous roar peeled through the air. A massive, towering creature that looked like a colossal ant, save for having a male lion's head with massive pincer jaws, emerged and thrashed about before angling its head down and glaring at the two ponies. An instant later, it opened the pincers wide and roared at them so powerfully their manes were blasted back.

"I think that's one of those 'Antlions' Twilight told me about!"

"I don't care what it is! Let's just get away from it!"

Both pegasi turned around and began to tear up the sandy slope as fast as they could. This wasn't nearly as easy as they wanted.  They were practically at the angle of repose and the sand was so loose both of them had to scramble for several steps before only managing to ascend a few feet, and the edge of the pit was far above them.

The Antlion suddenly dipped back in the ground all the way to its head, and as soon as it was there it dipped its massive pincers into the sand before violently flipping streams of the coarse material up at them; slapping them both with clods of sand. Dash cried out as the impact made her slip, sending her sliding back into the pit. Dust managed to withstand it, but the sand still loosened the ground around her on impact. She was soon crying out and sent sliding back down as well. 

Dash recovered as she neared the bottom and looked behind her on doing so--gasping again as she saw herself sliding right to the Antlion's head. It immediately spread its pincers wide and opened it's lion-like maw.

"Ah!"

Instinctively, she wildly bucked behind her, smashing it under its jaw right before it could seize her. Its mouth was slammed shut as its pincers narrowly sliced over her head, cutting off a lock of rainbow hair, and leaving the monster stunned. Dash finished sliding all the way to the bottom and quickly the solid terrain there to leverage herself in a leap back to the slope to start scaling it again. The Antlion itself shook its head and regained its senses, only to see it had newer, closer prey in the form of Dust. As she slid to the bottom, she spotted it sizing her up and gulped. Moments later it opened its jaws wide and dove at her. A moment before it could seized her, she leapt straight in the air. Its jaws embedded in the ground instead, and a second later she landed on top of them. It glared at her angrily and snapped its head up to dislodge her, but she used the motion to launch herself back up and onto the slope, immediately beginning to climb again.

On seeing that its prey had gotten free, the Antlion angrily roared before lowering itself and its jaws once more into the ground. A moment later, it sent out another torrent of loose sand at Lightning Dust.

Rainbow Dash, however, was glancing behind her and saw it coming. "Lightning! Behind you!"

The pegasus snapped around and spotted the incoming sand. Gritting her teeth, she hopped to one side. The touchdown still caused her to lose some ground before her rear hooves embedded in the sand, but not nearly as much as being hit by the attack would have. The monster hissed angrily again before turning to Dash and flinging more at her.

Before she knew what she was doing, Dust shouted: "Look out!"

Dash glanced behind her before jumping much as Dust had to avoid the sand. Her own legs didn't land as hard, however, failing to anchor herself. She slid down much further than the other pegasus as a result and quickly tried to plant her hooves to stop herself. The Antlion readied to fling more sand at her while her footing wasn't holding to send her back down the rest of the way.

However, a whistle from Dust grabbed both its attention as well as Dash's.

"Hey ugly! How about a taste of your own medicine?"

The Antlion whirled on her, just as Dust pulled her hooves out with a pair of bucking kicks. Wads of sand were knocked  right into the Antlion's own eyes. Instantly its face contorted in anguish; rearing up and out of the hole and thrashing around to try and clear it.

Dash grinned. "Hey, not bad! Let's see how he likes it!"

She immediately tore up the side of the pit again. The Antlion finished clearing its vision and whirled on her in anger, but before it could make another move she planted her rear hooves and bucked fresh sand into its eye. It yelled even more angrily than before, and while it struggled to regain its sight both Dash and Dust began to gain ground on the side of the pit. After clearing its vision this time, it squinted; trying to shield them as it got ready to bury its body again. However, Dust stopped it this time by bucking sand right into its open mouth. Its eyes bulged as it was choked, and Dash laughed and seized the opportunity to blind it yet again. 

As it bellowed in anger, the two scrambled all the way to the lip of the sand pit. Both pulled themsleves over the edge just as the Antlion recovered. By the time it was launching clods at them again, both were heaving themselves onto more solid ground. Both sprawled out and took a moment to catch their breath.

As soon as she had enough air, Dash weakly raised her head and looked back to see if they were actually clear, only to exclaim: "Oh no!"

Dust raised her head. "What?"

"Look!"

Both looked at the opposite side of the Antlion's pit. The tortoise hadn't managed to escape when it formed, ending up balanced precariously right on the edge. He had remained there until now but, following the latest tantrum of the monster, he was falling over the side and beginning to slide down the pit. His own stubby legs weren't enough to stop himself. What more, the Antlion, realizing it couldn't get the two of them, was turning toward him instead.

"Oh no..." Dust remarked, not realizing she actually looked genuinely worried. Even scared.

"We have to help him!"

"How? We can't buck sand in its face if it's not facing us and we'll never run around in time! If we jump in the pit, we'll be stuck too!"

"Well, we can't just sit here!"

"But it's hopeless! The only way we'd be able to save that tortoise now is if we could fly!"

Dash froze, a look of realization coming over her. Dust stared back puzzled for only a moment before she came to the same realization. 

"Oh, come on! That'll never work!"

"We've got to try! It's the only shot!"

Dust winced, looking back to the pit. The tortoise was already a third of the way down. Suddenly, the Antlion flung sand at him. Instinctively he tucked himself into his shell for protection, but that only made it easier for his smooth body to slide down.

She groaned. "...Alright, but hurry!"

Dash quickly undid the bands of her number while Dust did the same to her own. By the time they were lashing them about their bodies the tortoise was halfway down. He was on the last third as they finished tying themselves together as tightly as they could. By now the Antlion was done flinging sand and was opening its pincers and mouth again.

"Alright, we've got no chance of pulling this off unless one of us takes the lead!" Dash shouted.

Dust hesitated, standing still a moment, before clenching her jaw. "...Then you do it!"

Dash turned to her in surprise.

"You have more experience flying synchronized in teams! You know what fliers in pairs have to do to pull tricks off!" Closing her eyes, she sighed and forced herself to shout the last part. "You should be Lead Pony!"

The blue pegasus stood stunned for a half a second, but smiled soon after. 

"Alright! Get your wing ready like mine!"

She held her wing up for the first flap, and Dust quickly followed suit.

"Do a practice stroke real quick on three! Quarter speed! One, two, three!"

She flapped down once, as Dash did the same. By now, the tortoise was only twenty feet from the monster.

"Do more of a rowing motion! Not so straight! One, two, three!"

Dust, growing nervous now, forced herself to be patient and slowly performed the stroke. This time it was much closer to Dash.

"Keep flapping like that! I'll count out the wing beat in sets of three! One-two-three! Got it?"

"One-two-three, got it!"

The tortoise was ten feet away.

"You keep it up at that pace until I shout out the move! Once I shout it out, we do it on three, got it?"

"Got it!"

"Already, ready for takeoff! One-two-three!"

Keeping her eyes on Dash and counting in her head, Dust flapped her wing as Dash did. Awkwardly and wobbling, the two began to rise into the air. They stabilized after the first few strokes but then began to lean one way.

"Too strong! Ease up! Just a little!"

Dust grit her teeth and did so. They evened out soon after but then started to yaw slightly.

"Keep the rowing motion! Like I showed you!"

Sweating a bit, Dust adjusted her flaps and slowly the two stopped rotating. For a moment, both of them merely hovered while flapping, both sweating, both straining, both watching each other...and slowly realizing they were doing it. They were both flying as one in midair. As that dawned on them, both of them began to light up in amazement.

The tortoise reached the bottom of the pit. Since he stopped moving, he risked leaning his head out and looking around. Soon after his small black eyes bulged on seeing the monstrous Antlion in front of him, drooling and lunging forward.

Dash snapped out of it and quickly tensed up again. "Alright, it's time! Forward diagonal dive right over its head! One-two-three!"

Nodding, Dust snapped her wing down in sync with Dash and both of them went into an angled dive. Their bodies sailed downward right over the Antlion's head to the space in front of it.  Both tried to reach out and seize the tortoise, but the dive, being their first ever as a pair, wasn't accurate enough and they went too high. However, they did cross the Antlion's path and on spotting them it reared up and focused its attention on them instead.

Seeing they had overshot and were headed rapidly for the edge of the pit, as well as a crash, Dash gaped. "Diagonal climb! One-two-three!"

The pegasi angled their wings up. Both of them got their hooves scraped against the dirt from how tight it was, but they stayed airborne and rose up the side of the pit. The Antlion's jaws snapped behind them, clipping the edge of Lightning Dust's tail, but other than that hit nothing.

"Left bank! One-two-three!"

This was a trickier move. Dust had to think for a moment since one wing would be acting one way and the other an opposite, but Dash anticipated that. She stalled out until Dust looked certain in her expression before making her own move. The two banked one way and swept around, just as the Antlion angrily flung sand up at them to try and knock them out of the air.

"Level out and forward diagonal dive! One-two-three!"

In spite of being two commands, Dust kept her eyes on Dash and the two managed to level out their wings and dive again for the tortoise. Unfortunately, this time the Antlion was ready. He quickly shoved the top of his body in their path and opened his jaws wide, meaning to eat them both in one snap.

Both pegasi exclaimed and began to flap their wings erratically, quickly disrupting their flight and threatening to drop them out of the air, when Dash snapped out of it and screamed in a near babble: "Stall! Onetwothree!"

Both quickly flapped their wings out in front of them, buffeting against the wind. The Antlion snapped forward and slammed its jaws shut but seized only air. Their own hooves were precious inches away from the teeth, and they quickly lashed out to buck them, using the impact to send them away from the monster.

"Hover back! One-two-three!"

Both moved away as the Antlion shook its head and clicked its jaws, glaring at them in a mixture of anger and hunger.

"This isn't working! And we don't have time to practice!" Dust cried.

Dash thought a moment. "I got one idea...but you're going to have to stick with me really tight if it's going to work!"

"Ok, fine!"

Taking in a deep breath, the blue pegasus narrowed her eyes. "Alright, full forward as fast as you can! One-two-three!"

Both pegasi snapped their wings and went into forward flight, sailing straight for the Antlion again. The monster growled, but hunched its body over and opened its mouth wide again. If they were coming right at it, it intended only to keep its jaws open and intercept them.

Dust began to grow nervous. "Uh, Rainbow...?"

"I said full forward! Go faster!"

The pegasus continued to look uneasy but did as she was told. Matching Dash, their wing flaps pushed them faster and faster. The Antlion kept its mouth open expectantly. 

"Rainbow...!"

"Not yet!"

The monster started to drool. The two were now going so fast their streaks were appearing behind them. Dust looked to the side, not knowing what crazy idea Dash was thinking of. It looked like suicide. She glanced to the knot on the rope and realized she could reach out with her teeth to break it if need be. She stared a few seconds, but then clenched her teeth and forced herself to wait for Dash's word. Finally, they were in range of the jaws, which snapped for them like a steel trap...

"Right bank! One-two-three!"

Dust immediately responded and the two snapped away to the side of the pit. The Antlion snapped its pincers closed with a loud clap, but growled on seeing it still had nothing. It snapped its head to one side, but Dash and Dust were now ringing the side of the pit at a blazing speed. They were moving so fast their trails left rings and both were gritting their teeth from the G-forces they were experiencing from their unified mass. Yet Dash hadn't given a new order and so Dust stayed with it. 

The Antlion snapped around, snarled, and lashed out for them. It got nothing but a mouthful of sand for its effort. It lashed out again afterward but still got nothing but dirt. On the third failed try it screeched in rage. As for the two, they were straining harder and harder. They heard their ropes begin to groan and the knots start to buckle. Both could barely hold into the loop together, but still they maintained course.

Just as both of them thought they were at their limit, the Antlion finally had enough. Rearing back, tightening up its body, and following them as close as it could, it lunged forward so hard it pulled its entire body out of the dirt in one last attempt to bite them. Yet while it got closer than before, they were simply going too fast for it. Its jaws sliced only air and its entire body smashed into the side of its own pit. It instantly knocked loose a ton of sand that swept over its own head and anchored it in place, leaving only its swollen abdomen and tiny legs dangling out behind it.

In an instant, the two ponies had come around and were headed right for it.

"Stall! One-two-three!"

Both snapped their wings out together to act as a chute, arching their bodies up and forward. Dust looked to Dash's face and, on seeing the bold smile on it, she understood. She quickly smiled as well as both of them pulled their hooves back. As they reached the Antlion's body, both of them snapped their legs together and bucked with all four legs and the force of their momentum behind it.

An echoing clap rang out for miles, and instantly the Antlion ripped right out of its own pit and launched into the sky like a catapult. The monster was helpless to do anything but gape in shock and wiggle its legs ineffectively as it was flung a clean half mile away and then unceremoniously left to smash into more densely-packed ground head first. In spite of sand breaking its fall, the impact was still hard enough for it to crumple on itself with a resounding smack. The monster slowly slumped afterward, its eyes now googly and spinning over each other. Letting out a dull moan, it lazily began to dig its way back into the desert; finally abandoning the hunt.

As for the pit it had just left, moments later the two rose from within it; this time carrying the Desert Tortoise in between them. The reptile looked around in amazement before smiling at its two pegasi saviors. Both kept in the air long enough to fly the rest of the way to the oasis before finally sweeping around and touching down.

They quickly leaned over and let the tortoise go, which paused long enough to look up to them gratefully before making for the water hole. As for the two pegasi, they both smiled back and kept smiling as they looked to each other.

After a few moments, Dust grinned. "You know...when you saved your friends from that tornado, I thought that was awesome. But going full speed like that right at that monster, ringing around his own pit to mess with him, and then using your stall to buck him? Uh-uh... That. Was. Awesome."

"Well..." Dash shrugged, "I couldn't have done any of it without a great teammate helping me out the whole way."

Dust cracked her own grin a bit wider. "I guess I did make a pretty good 'Wingpony' after all, didn't I?"

Dash grasped the knots with her teeth and pulled them out to untie the two. "I'd say we both did." 

She held out her hoof to her.

Dust's jaw dropped at the gesture. She hesitated and looked back up at Dash, but she only smiled and winked back. After a moment, Dust began to smile again too and held out her own hoof to bump against hers. 

Both continued to smile a moment before the turquoise pony looked away, slumping again and sighing. "Well, I guess we better set those fireworks so you can get back to officiating and I can get started on training for the 101st Atacanter Crossing..."

This made Dash's own smile erode, looking uneasy instead.  She grimaced and dug her hoof into the grass uncomfortably as Dust glumly started looking around. 

But then, a thought came to her.

"Maybe not..."





Spitfire was normally not the easiest pegasus to talk to when she was on Wonderbolt duty, but when acting as the drill sergeant at Wonderbolt Academy in her full regalia she was even more intimidating. 

"I assume you have a good reason for bringing a pegasus who's received a lifetime ban from the Wonderbolts to my office, Crash? Because I'd love to hear it."

After finally being picked up by the staff ponies, rushed back to the start to get treated for a badly sprained wing and dehydration, and enduring a battery of questions from Twilight about both her ordeal and her incident with the Antlion, Rainbow Dash had been more tired than ever but had still been intent on healing up as quickly as possible and head back to Wonderbolt Academy. Now, with one day to go, the dreaded moment had come. She was standing in Spitfire's office with Lightning Dust herself standing at a distance; head bowed and not saying a word unless spoken to.

"Yes, ma'am. I brought her here because..." 

She took in a deep breath. 

"...I request that you give Lightning Dust another chance."

Just as she feared, Spitfire's hard face didn't change. "Really now. I'd think you'd be the last pegasus I'd need to remind of the fact, but Lightning Dust recklessly endangered the safety of her fellow cadets, her Wingpony, civilians, and Wonderbolt Academy itself all in the name of setting new academy records for her own personal glory. She proved herself to be thoughtless and self-centered in regards to her own success over that of the Wonderbolts and others on multiple occasions. To be blunt, Crash...why should I?"

Dust cringed a little more with each statement, but Dash pressed on. "Ma'am, Lightning has come a long way since her first time in Wonderbolt Academy. She's learned a lot in the few days I've spent with her; including humility, teamwork, and putting other ponies and individuals ahead of herself. I wouldn't be here right now if we hadn't worked together in the San Palomino desert. And I guarantee that she understands what it means to be a real Wonderbolt now--that it's not just about being the best but coming together to make sure everypony succeeds."

Spitfire didn't change. 

Beads of sweat began to mount on Dust's brow. She swallowed before breaking her formality slightly. "Also, I don't want to be rude, but uh...you did kinda, sorta keep congratulating her and rewarding her every time she set a new record at the expense of everypony else when she was here the first time..."

Spitfire's frown deepened as her eyes narrowed.

Dash swallowed a lump. "...With all due respect, ma'am."

Spitfire stared at her silently for a few seconds before turning to the other pegasus. "Lightning Dust."

The pegasus quickly drew herself up and walked to Rainbow Dash's side. She stood as tall and attentive as she could, not a shadow of the cockiness and self-confidence she once had showing on her face. "M-Ma'am."

The fiery pegasus leaned over and folded her hooves.

"I don't take any cadet's behavior who acts the way you did lightly. Even if you had been a full Wonderbolt that would have been inexcusable and I would have just as easily banned you for life then as I did at the academy. And unlike Rainbow Dash here, I find it rather hard to believe that any pegasus could turn over a new feather so easily in just a few days, and even if they could I am not about to let something that was grounds for a lifetime ban just disappear with a wink and a nod. The day I expelled you from Wonderbolt Academy was the day I would consider you even showing your face here to be a mark of disgrace to the Wonderbolts, and one that Rainbow Dash has violated by going so far as to bring you into my office. Do you understand?"

Dash looked surprised at the harsh retort but could say nothing more in her defense. Dust quivered slightly, but tightened her jaw and forced herself to look her in the eye. "Yes ma'am, I understand."

"So you accept why you received your ban from Wonderbolt Academy?"

A pause. "...Yes ma'am, I do."

Spitfire leaned back. "Very well then. There is nothing more to discuss. Your trial run for membership in the Wonderbolt Reserve remains 'Incomplete Due to Explusion'."

Dust slumped as she let out an exhale. Dash looked at her helplessly and sorrowfully. As Dust began to turn to leave, she looked back at Spitfire and opened her mouth...

Before a word could get out, Spitfire slapped a piece of paper on the desk. Both Dash and Dust froze.

"If you want back into Wonderbolt Academy, you will just have to reapply with a new, clean record like every other pegasus...provided you first perform 500 hours of community weather service to demonstrate to me just how willing you are to humble yourself to help others succeed."

Dust was stunned. She nearly stammered, clearly not believing what she was hearing. Dash began to light up. "You mean...?"

"You don't have a problem with that, do you, Lightning Dust?"

The pegasus nearly sputtered before quickly shaking her head. "N-N-No, ma'am! Thank you!" She quickly snatched the paper from the desk. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Now get out of here and don't come back unless we send you another letter of acceptance."

Grinning from ear to ear, Dust spun around and flew off. As soon as she was gone, Dash quickly moved into her place. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Soon she was off like a shot after her.

It wasn't until both pegasi were gone and Spitfire was looking back at the latest recruit records that, for just a moment, she risked showing a smile.





As Wonderbolt Academy grew smaller behind them, Lightning Dust was still beaming and clutching her new application tightly to her chest. "I can't believe it! I actually get another shot at being a Wonderbolt!"

Rainbow Dash, flying alongside, smirked a little. "Yeah, well...I wouldn't be too excited if I were you. I still remember how much it was a pain the first time around, and now you're back on square one. And I'm pretty sure Spitfire's going to run you three times as hard your second time in the academy."

Once she calmed down, Dust looked back at her. "Never thought you'd be the one to stand up for me, even after everything that happened in the desert."

"Well," she shrugged, "you had a good point out there."

"I did?"

"If I want to keep being the best flier I can be, I can't just ride on my reputation." She smirked. "I could use another pony who's always trying to aim for the top spot around to keep me at the top of my game."

Dust smirked back. "And I guess, if I ever do get into the Wonderbolts, I could use another pony to keep my head out of the clouds and my hooves on the ground when it comes to being a good teammate."

"Heh...maybe we made a better team than we thought."

Dust flew quietly for a moment. "Say...how's your wing doing?"

She shrugged. "Ok I guess. Why?"

"I was thinking..." She grinned. "Up for a quick race to Cloudsdale, Ms. Wonderbolt?"

Grinning back, she stretched her wings out. "You're on, newbie."

A second later, a streak of rainbow and a streak of lightning painted across the sky.






The End