It was the Washouts' first week on tour in Ponyville—and team founder Lightning Dust was enjoying her day immensely so far.
A huge reason for this was her latest piece of awesome hardware, which she'd devised in less than twenty-four hours! When the Washouts' newest recruit said she couldn't fly, and instead passed the time motorboarding with her wings, it had done two things to Lightning.
First, it had caused her to nearly faint from adorableness. Second, it had inspired her. Inspired her to think outside the box, to scheme, to invent, the way no stunt coordinator had ever invented before!
And now, it all existed, and it was all in front of her. A way cooler-looking board than the filly normally rode, with the biggest combustion engine ever powering it from behind, rested at the top of the nearby hill. Said engine and hill, when working together with gravity—every pegasus's favorite force of nature, no sarcasm, we totally promise—would allow the board to make the raddest jump ever over twenty wagons!
Also, the wagons miiiiiight be on fire when the stunt actually started. But Lightning had decided to withhold that little detail until it was absolutely relevant. No sense in overloading her new recruit's young mind with possible "risks" that almost never mattered in the moment.
The whole setup had actually cost her more bits to make than usual, but it was the rule: for new ponies, always go all out to impress them. Don't give them the chance to have second thoughts.
The Washouts' new recruit was going to fly, no matter what—or, at the very least, jump real good. Once Lightning was done flying Scootaloo to the launch site, anyway. Five seconds later, they both landed in front of the contraption that would blow everypony's mind. By Scootaloo's expression, hers was the first to be blown—a good sign.
"W-Wow," the orange filly said, scratching her pink mane with her hoof. "That sure is—"
"Dangerous? Nah." Lightning thought about it for a full second before then amending, "well, maybe a little."
"Has... anypony tested it before?" Scootaloo asked.
"Where's the fun in that?" Lightning replied, just barely managing to hold in several peals of laughter. She mentally reminded herself that Scootaloo was new, and all new Washouts were... well, new. Scootaloo would come around to see their side fully in time. They always did.
The ones who were good enough, anyway.
Still, maybe Scootaloo had the tiniest bit of a point. Lightning added a few extra strands of duct tape to the rocket. No sense in not being careful until the newbie could get used to how they did things in Lightning's outfit: no tests, no consequences, no waiting. The Washouts were not the Wonderbolts, thank Celestia, and they never would be.
An idea flashed in Lightning's inventive muse, and she added another, smaller rocket to the duct tape, with more duct tape. The legends were true—the stuff really was a mare's best friend. She nodded in satisfaction at her hoofiwork, and looked over to Scootaloo when the filly gasped.
"There's... m-more?" Scootaloo squeaked, with wide eyes.
Lightning Dust was a bastion of patience, but even hers was finite. These officially sounded like second thoughts, and there had never been room for those in her life. She stood upright, forelegs on hips, doing her best to be intimidating, but not too much, as she talked down to Scootaloo. "You're not thinking of backing out, are you?"
"No!" Scootaloo said instantly. "I'm just thinking of drinking through straws."
Again, Lightning almost laughed—but held it in. Still not the time. She groaned inwardly, however. Spitfire's little warning spiel had gotten to Scootaloo. Which meant that Lightning would have to work harder to counteract.
Though maybe not too hard?
When it came down to it, all Scootaloo needed at this moment, so close to their moment of victory, was a little push. Just like Lightning herself had needed, when her naive dreams were shattered thanks to the actions of a certain rainbow-haired pegasus. Just like her teammates had originally needed, when faced with the jaws of certain danger or worse. And just like Scootaloo would benefit from, to make her forget about her flightlessness.
If the Washouts were going to really push past the despair that came with being rejected by the mainstream, by pegasi as a whole... then they would have to forge their own way.
And they would have to do it fearlessly.
Besides: "Are you the president of my fanclub, or not?" Lightning asked with a scoff. She saw the mild panic on Scootaloo's face from hearing that. Good. That would prove a good distraction during the stunt!
"Of course! It's just—"
Lightning refused to let up. Second thoughts were poison. "You wouldn't want to get impeached for dishonoring my wishes, would you?"
"I—" Scootaloo stopped. "Is that a thing?"
Maximum distraction achieved. She picked Scootaloo up, plopped her onto the rocketboard, and screamed out to the rest of her team from atop the hill:
"Light it up!"
Now, it was relevant. One by one, the tops of the wagons at the bottom of the hill burst into flame. Soon, the ground held an amazing line of pyrotechnics that nearly moved Lightning to tears with its present spectacle, and the promise of even more once this stunt was pulled off! She. Could not. Wait.
Scootaloo, on the other hand...
"O-okay," Scootaloo said, raising her masks's eyewear. "I am thinking about backing out."
No. No. Not on Lightning's watch. Especially not at the moment of truth! "Too late!" Lightning said, as triumph coursed through her. She pushed the ignition, and the rocket-powered board took off like... well, a board with a rocket strapped to it.
Moments later, as Scotaloo careened down the hill with the barest amount of control, Lightning wondered if she'd come off too strong. She shook her head. She had to. This was it. This was the moment. This was when she would show Rainbow Dash just who was real stuntpony material! The pony who once looked up to Rainbow now looked up to her, and she was going to be proven right!
Especially since Scootaloo had just gone down the hill and up the lifting ramp, and was now sailing sailed over the flaming wagons, exactly according to plan. This was awesome! This was incredible! The jump was going great—
Wait a minute, what was that? Lightning rubbed her eyes, and took out her binoculars.
Oh. One of the fastening ropes was still attached to the rocket. No worries. Still, sloppy. She'd have to reprimand whoever was responsible when the stunt was over.
A flash lit up her binoculars' view, causing Lightning to avert her eyes. When her vision came back, she refocused her binoculars, and looked closer.
The rope was on fire from the end, eating away at the rope as it the flame moved towards the rocket itself. Fueled by the air around it, it moved extra fast.
There was risk, and there was stupidity. Cursing herself for crossing the line into the latter, Lightning Dust spread her wings, prepared to launch herself towards Scootaloo at top speed. She glanced to the ground below to see Rainbow Dash doing the same. The two of them always had been in sync at the Academy, and even now...
Lightning shook her head. She would win. She was done playing second fiddle to ponies who were absolutely full of themselves.
She flapped her wings to take off, and... nothing. She tried again, and again, with the same grounded results. Why did her wings feel so heavy all of a sudden? At this moment, they may as well have been made of lead. Completely useless. She looked down to Rainbow, to see her struggling as well. The same fate appeared to have befallen her.
Even in the stands, everypony could see what was happening, and were all suitably alarmed—but Scootaloo was far too high for any unicorn magic to be in effective range, even for the Princess in the audience, and every single pegasus around was somehow flightless.
As Lightning's frustration built, a thought nagged in the back of her mind: was this how Scootaloo felt all the time? "Rainbow!" she called out, looking at the crowd, then at the blue pegasus—who was staring back at her with a vindictive glare.
Rainbow's lips moved. Even given the distance between each other, Lightning still heard her clear as day.
"You see, now?" Rainbow's words might have been out of earshot, but they echoed through her mind. "You were wrong. I told you were wrong, Spitfire told you you were wrong, the Wonderbolts told you you were wrong! But did you listen to any of us?"
Rainbow cast a hoof skywards in Scootaloo's direction, then looked right back at Lightning, crossing her arms with a scoff. "Everything about you is wrong! And it always will be!"
Lightning grit her teeth and shook her head, fighting Rainbow's accusations. She didn't have time for a lecture right now! Maybe later, once the kid was safe, but not now! "Scootaloo, look out!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
At the peak of her jump, Scootaloo seemed to hear everypony's cries. Lightning realized this because her vision inexplicably closed in, flying through the sky, even without binoculars, until she could see Scootaloo as close as if she were flying right next to her. The rope was mere feet from the engine now, and upon looking down and behind herself, Scootaloo had at last realized the full direness of situation.
In a panic, Scootaloo held onto the handlebars and flapped her wings, which only caused her to float slightly, and fall over the edge, helpless to her fate, holding onto the edge of her board for dear life.
What few moments were left of it. Lightning's view was zoomed even closer now, face-to-face with Scootaloo as the latter held tears in her eyes, realizing what was about to happen.
"I-I trusted you!" Scootaloo's sobbing wails penetrated Lightning's mind and heart as easily as Rainbow's accusations had. "You told me it'd all turn out fine! You told me—"
Those were Scootaloo's last words, as an explosion shattered Lightning Dust's world.