//------------------------------// // Prologue Part 2: Dust to Dust // Story: The Pony Dreadfuls Rise Again // by No one is home //------------------------------// “Well,” Fetlock Skry sighed heavily, “at least I can say I’ve already met the worst of the lot…” “The most hated, maybe,” Captain Shadow muttered darkly, “I hate to break it to you, but Iam Noone was actually one of the less malevolent of the Nopony fragments.  Without the collective he’s… well actually he’s a drug dealing sleaze-ball, but there are worse.  Much worse. Luckily this little ray of sunshine isn’t one of them.  Hey, Dust!  Time to meet your new boss!” The pair approached  a spacious, comfortably furnished cell housing a mint-green pegasus mare with a golden mane and tail who didn’t bother to stop doing wing-pushups as she responded, “I need more access to flight space.  Having the best flier in Equestria on your team is a waste of time if you don’t give me more work out time to actually… I dunno, fly?” “Lightning Dust, the infamous former head of the Washouts?” Fetlock raised an  incredulous eyebrow. “I was not aware that the Pest Control Division was a charity organization.” “Watch your mouth!” The mare spit in his direction. “She’s been publicly disowned by every team she’s ever worked with.” The detective scowled with contempt.  “On some level I can understand that… abomination.  It’s vile, evil, completely insane, but I can see how it’s unique perspective could be… useful.” “Lightning Dust is arguably the most talented flier in Equestria.”  The Captain replied evenly. “She is a sloppy, wreckless sociopath.”  Skry countered.  “She has a repeated record for recklessly endangering her teammates, ultimately resulting in the death of one Short Fuse.  Her trial was a very public affair, as I remember she was turned over to the custody of Rainbow Dash at the…” “”Buck Rainbow ‘Crash’!” Lightning snarled with sudden heated passion, “Buck that stupid nag right in the face!  She left me to rot in the dungeons because she couldn't handle that there was somepony out there who  could actually take her on!” “The mare makes my case,” Fetlock replied grimmly, “How beyond redemption does one have to be before the Element of Loyalty turns her back on them?” -=-=-=-=- RCPCD Personnel File 1109 Lightning Dust (See Related Files, “The Washouts Incidents”) Name:  Lightning Dust Race: Pegasus Gender: Female Know Aliases:  None (Refuses to respond to any code name or alias, limited usefulness in undercover operations) Description:  A pale minty coated mare with a two toned golden mane. In her hay-day, Dust was considered quite striking, especially if one favored athletic mares.  A lifetime  of cheating death has not been kind to the reckless stuntmare alas, as she is marred by scar tissue, prematurely greying fur, and a physique that can best be described as “practical”.  Coupled with her antagonistic demeanor, and confrontational attitude, the visage of Lightning Dust is far more likely to inspire fear than admiration.  She is not a mare one asks for an autograph,she is a mare one hopes not to meet in a lonely alley. Back Ground:  Once she was a rising star in the Wonderbolts Reserves.  She was a rival to Element of Loyalty, Rainbow  Dash herself.  She was and remains arguably the most agile flier in Equestrian history.  Her fall was a slow moving train wreck, begining with her summary dismissal and later outright ban from the wonderbolts.  She is a study of the very concept of discordian virtue.  A mare so devoid of Loyalty that she is an island. Lightning Dust has betrayed everyone foolish enough to trust her.   The Wonderbolts, the Washouts , Rainbow Dash said it best, she will never learn.  The mare is a snake, and it is only a test of time until she bites the hand  that feeds her. -=-=-=-=- “They’re called the Dreadfuls for a reason, Detective,” the captain shook her head, “And we don’t think we don’t keep her on a leash.  She is kept in line by both the carrot of being  allowed to live in the trappings and relative luxury as if she were still  a beloved celebrity, as well as the heavy stick that the only way she will ever see freedom outside of the Dreadfuls would be if we clipped her wings.” “Y-you’re serious?” Skry stammered, “That’s  Barbaric!” “The incident that killed Short Fuse was only the last in a long line,” the captain grimmly intoned, “Prior to that,  she nearly talked a filly Rainbow Dash viewed as a little sister into an almost certainly suicidal stunt involving rockets.  The filly she duped was handicapt from birth and couldn’t fly.  The Element of Loyalty actually gave her one more chance after that.  It was her last chance, and she wasted it.  She can fly for this team, or not at all, isn’t that right, Dust?” The mare sullenly went back to her exercises within her cell. “This… it isn’t right!”  The  detective exclaimed. “No,” the captain agreed, “It isn’t.  You wanted to know the truth.  That is why you came here, am I correct?  You wanted to see it with your own eyes?” “I-I didn’t expect…” Detective Skye stammered… “Did you expect the truth to be easy, detective?” The Captain smirked, “Did you expect the truth to be pleasent?  Or maybe you thought you’d only be working with monsters who weren’t really just ponies?” “They are the dreadfuls,” he heaved a sigh, “Quite right.  It's not going to get better is it?” “These are only your team, your co-workers as it were…” The Captains smiled venomously.  “There’s still time to back out.  Before you see the actual threat we brought them here to stop.” “There’s a pattern here,” he deduced as he was led to his cell, “I was brought here for a reason!  I’m one of them!  Why?” “No more secrets, and no more lies, Mr. Skrye,” The  mare smiled as she locked the door, “You wanted to know every secret.  And this is what secrets and lies cost.  Welcome to the Pony Dreadfuls.”