//------------------------------//
// Chapter Five: Old Rival, New Bearings 
// Story: A Compass for a Lost Dreamer 
// by reflective vagrant 
//------------------------------//

	Lightning Dust wanted to kick herself for being so stupid.  She knew that Applejack knew Rainbow Dash.  So of course she would run into her here sooner or later.
"I said what are you doing here Lightning Dust?  Here to harass my friends again?" Rainbow Dash yelled before she jumped on the table.  She looked down at a now cowering Lightning Dust.  "Was almost killing them once not good enough for you?  Had to come and finish the job!?"
"I... I..." Lightning Dust tried to respond, but nothing would come.  After a moment that was actually very brief but seemed to stretch on forever, the conflict was abruptly interrupted.
"Rainbow Dash!  You will get off of that table and calm down!" Serra commanded her.  She started marching towards the table in a very dominating form.  "If anypony quarrels in my house it will be with me!"
"But she-" Rainbow Dash tried to retort.
"I don't care!"  Serra interrupted again with a cold blooded stare.  It was completely unlike anything she had shown in front of Lightning Dust before.  It was like she was ready to tackle Rainbow Dash right off the table and start beating her if she didn't back down.  "If she broke the law then take it to the police.  Otherwise you can take your squabble outside after breakfast.  Now sit down and eat your oatmeal peaceably or get out!"
Sunny Rays had taken it in stride, having picked up her bowl before Rainbow Dash landed on it.  She moved away from the table, finishing her bowl calmly from the counter she had set it on.  Wayside was looking confused at the conflict between Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash but he was not scared of the current situation in the slightest.  He had simply moved off to the side of the doorway.
Rainbow Dash stared into Serra's eyes for a long moment then backed down.  She jumped off the table and stomped out the door without saying another word.
After Wayside closed the door behind her, he eyeballed Rainbow Dash's oatmeal but Serra stopped him in his tracks.  "Don't you think about it mister.  You have had your breakfast and you don't need any more weight on your belly.  It goes in the fridge for when Rainbow Dash calms down and that's final."  With that, she went back to the dishes.  She didn't even have to look at him to know what he was thinking.
Defeated, he took the bowl and put it in the fridge, before sitting at the table with Lightning Dust.  As Sunny Rays took her finished bowl to Serra, she fetched a new spoon for Lightning Dust to replace the one she dropped on the floor.  Then put the dirty spoon in the sink for Serra and started helping her.
"If you want to explain what that was about I'm all ears kid, but only if you want to." Wayside said in an unusually calm voice for the situation.
Lightning Dust tried to speak up, but instead hid in her oatmeal.  Wayside picked up his morning paper, cleaned off the dirt from when Rainbow Dash landed on it and started reading.
When she finished her oatmeal she tried to take her dishes to Serra but she was already there to take them from her before she left the table.  She gave her a warm smile as she took them from her.  "Doctor Pulse said don't lift anything heavier than an apple until tonight.  You can bring me your dishes tomorrow."
Lightning Dust could see that Serra was trying to let her understand they didn't blame her for Rainbow Dash's outburst, but she knew she was to blame.  No warm smile could erase that.  Hearing the front bell, Serra gave Sunny Rays the dishes to finish and went out to the front desk for business.
"I'm sure you're gonna hear it from her anyway," Lightning Dust said to Wayside as she rested her temples on her hooves.  "Remember when Applejack talked about me almost taking her out with a tornado?"
"How could I forget?" he responded without putting down his paper.  "Your heart jumped so hard it made your monitor freak out."
Lightning Dust was kind of glad he wasn't looking at her or forcing her to tell.  It made it a bit easier, and a lot less awkward.  "Well that's what got me kicked out of the academy."
"I wondered if that was it, but what did that have to do with Rainbow Dash?" he asked as he turned the page.
"Remember how I said I had a partner?" Lightning Dust asked.  "Rainbow Dash was my wing pony until I got kicked out.  She was also the one that turned me in for being reckless and putting her friends at risk.  It looks like she's still holding it against me."
"I didn't see that coming." he said, taking it all in stride.  Lightning Dust was beginning to wonder if listening was a skill of his, with how he reacted so calmly.  "I knew she was in the academy around the same time, but the odds of you two being in the same squad were slim at best.  I'm sorry for stirring up old trouble."
"It's not your fault.  I would have to face it sooner or later."  Lightning Dust responded in return while shaking her head gently.  "Even if I never ran into her before I tried out for the Wonderbolts again, I'd have to confront it then anyway."
Wayside put away his paper and looked directly at her.  "Well regardless, I can recognize a stressed mind when I see one.  It's clear you won't be able to study today.  Especially considering on top of that just now, you have already been through a lot these last few days."  He leaned forward slightly to show he was getting to a point.  He turned to Sunny Rays for a moment to get her attention too.  "So I'm giving you a very different assignment today and, if you need to, tomorrow:  Take the day off."
"What!?" Lightning Dust softly exclaimed as she raised her head from her hooves, looking him square in the face.
"You heard me.  If you're gonna study right, I need you to have as clear a focus as possible.  So I'm putting off your studies for a day or two so that you can clear your head.  If you want to do something then wander around to learn the lay of the town and meet some locals.  Once you get your mind off things for a while then you can come back to your studies."
"But won't I fall behind?" Lightning Dust asked with a bewildered expression on her face.
"Kid, I have been managing the weather and wildlife control teams for years now," he responded with a knowing look.  "I know the signs of mental fatigue and what it does to a worker.  I find giving a hard worker a day off so they can clear their head and get whatever is on their mind settled can pay for itself within a week.  It usually ends up being a pretty good investment in the long run than if I didn't.   So worry about your studies later and just go get some R&R for now."
With this he tried to go back to his newspaper, before an interruption came from the doorway to the reception area of the inn.  "Can I show her around town?  There isn't any school today," Keen Wit called out.
Lightning Dust turned to see the colt from his eavesdropping spot.  "When did he get there?"
"He's just naturally quiet and sneaky like that.  He doesn't even try," Serra said as she came back from her business up front, giving a sly glance to her husband.  "He gets it from his father."
"Can I hang out with her today?  She said we could hang out later," Keen Wit asked his mom as she passed next to him through the doorway.
After a brief conversation of not words but expressions between his parents, his father answered him, "If she'll have you.  But mind your money bag Lightning Dust.  He is a real sly business colt and he'll squeeze every bit out of you that he can if you let him."
Lightning Dust saw the colt's face turn away disgruntled as his father warned her.  A sly thought filled Lightning Dust's mind. "Heh, if you don't mind being my back for the day and carrying some things, sure."  With this she got up carefully and began to head out, through the reception area.
Wayside sat there for a moment then continued with an afterthought right before she left the kitchen.  "But one more thing before you leave.  Don't get any ideas about trying to get a free day off down the road.  I know the difference between a troubled mind and somepony pretending to be troubled.  I can spot a faker a mile away and I hate fakers as much as I hate slackers."
Lightning Dust turned her head around and answered him with a look of surprise before leaving, "N-noted."

After Lightning Dust and Keen Wit were out of earshot, Wayside called out to somepony, "OK, you can come in now, Rainbow Dash.  I know you were listening."
Rainbow Dash came back in the screen door from her hiding place just outside and sat down at the table.  Serra brought her the bowl of oatmeal from the fridge.
Rainbow Dash sat there, eating her breakfast cold as punishment for starting a ruckus.  Wayside asked her calmly, "How much of what she said was the truth?"
"...All of it."  Rainbow Dash said as she stared down into her oatmeal.
"And is there anything else you want to add?"
"...No...  But what was that about the doctor telling her not to lift anything?"
"About that Rainbow Dash," he responded with a slight grimace.  "I am going to have to ask you to not bother her for a while.  She just got out of the hospital and her back is still very tender.  I just finished the paperwork paying for it so that she could be our new weather pony in a few weeks' time after her back gets better."  He put his newspaper up, having finally read what he wanted despite all the interruptions.  "So it is very important that she heals.  We have already invested a fair deal of money into her and the last thing we need is some old grudge throwing it all down the drain.  I can't let the rest of the team down.  They're happy she finally came along to take over for Sassaflash."
"But..." she started to protest, before she saw Serra look at her with a very calm, but cold, face from the other side of the kitchen.  "...All right, all right, I won't get in her face again until she heals."  She gave her boss a sour look.  "But I want you to understand.  I'm only doing this for you because you asked.  I am not doing it for her.  And if she starts trouble with me or my friends then I'm not backing down, bad back or not."
Remembering princess Celestia's warning, Wayside held back on his desire to fight her on her last point.  "That's fair enough.  Moving on.  Why did you do that?  You have been here often enough to know that Serra wouldn't tolerate an outburst like that.  You have seen what she has done to ponies that stir up trouble, and it never ends pretty.  What were you thinking when you jumped on the table?"
She put her head back down to stare at her oatmeal again for a moment then answered, "I...  I don't think I was thinking."
Putting his face in his hoof, Wayside responded in frustration, "Rainbow Dash.  You are my best weather pony hooves down, but you can be so thick headed at times."





Lightning Dust headed out with Keen Wit to see the town, haven gotten her things together.  The little colt's saddle bag was strapped to his back with Lightning Dust's bit bag reluctantly placed inside.  As they head down the street she asked him a question, "Um...  So how why were you standing there in the doorway?"
"I wasn't trying to listen in.  I came in to see Rainbow Dash," he said, looking up at her.  "Then I heard Mom telling her to either eat or get out.  I knew it was a bad time to ask.  So stayed by the door hoping I could see her after it was over."
"Why were you wanting to see Rainbow Dash?"
"Well, I admire her flying but I rarely get to see her one on one.  Since I'm not a pegasus, I think she just sees me as a fan and doesn't try to teach me."
Not understanding him she asked, "I don't get it.  What would she want to teach you that you couldn't learn from somepony else?"
At this the colt became rather shy.  "Over here," he said as he dashed to an ally between two buildings.
When Lightning Dust followed him to the ally he started talking quietly, "You were really in the Wonderbolt academy?  Rainbow Dash really was your wing pony?"
Feeling awkward at being asked the question, she answered as simply as she could, "For a short while.  I got kicked out for making some bad calls."
"Ya, I heard that too but I can't afford to be picky," he said with a blush.  "There aren't a lot of pegasi with that level of skill around here.  Rainbow Dash was the only one local enough for me to ask before."  He switched from a mood of disappointment to one of hope and excitement.  "But if Rainbow Dash was your wing pony then you must be around her skill.  That means you can teach me instead!"
"Teach you?  Teach you what?" she asked in a confused manner, not knowing where he was going with this.
Unfazed by her confusion, he answered with the same excited voice as if the answer was obvious, "How to fly."
Lightning Dust stared at him with a deadpan expression.  It took her a moment to register what the colt just said.  When she knew for sure that she heard that right she responded in the only way she could think of, "What?  But you're not a pegasus.  How do you expect to fly without wings?"
He seemed hesitant to tell her as he fiddled with his hat.  "Umm...  I'm working on a plan for that, but it's kind of a private thing.  Will you teach me anyway?"
Hearing his unusual request, Lightning Dust tried to let the colt down softly.  "Umm, unless you somehow get a working pair of wings I can't teach you a thing Keen Wit, sorry."
Still looking up at her, he asked hopefully, "But if I can, will you teach me then?"
Her head shot back when she heard this new twist.  She saw the same admiration in his eyes as she saw in them yesterday at the hospital.  Lightning Dust felt torn.
Knowing it wouldn't happen, she thought about saying yes just to make him happy.  Yet the image of him with a broken limb and his father's eyes glaring at her immediately followed.  She could have just said no, but by the look in his eyes this was pretty important to him.  She wasn't sure if letting him down that hard could also upset his dad.  She needed to mind her manners until she had a better grasp of things.  She would just have to wing an answer and hope that it would suffice.
"I'm not saying no but I'm not saying yes either.  If you can find a way to safely do it...  Well, we'll see when the time comes but the last thing I need is your dad angry at me for getting you hurt."
Keen Wit Jumped up and down as he shouted, "Woohoo!"  He hopped around Lightning Dust then around in the street, continuing to yell in excitement.
Having realized what she had not quite promised him, she thought back on all the things that had happened in the last few days.   The eccentric party pony, the apple seller forgiving her for almost killing her for some reason she still didn't understand, the whole incident with the hospital and the rhyming zebra healer, the strange circumstances of her getting her job on the weather team, then running into her ex wing pony and finding out she was on the same weather team she just got hired to, and now here was a colt that wasn't even a pegasus wanting her to teach him how to fly.  The son of her new boss of all ponies.
She let out a grunt and a mumble of frustration as she walked out of the ally, "Ugh...  This town is weird."


* * *


After Keen Wit calmed down and told Lightning Dust he wasn't going to charge his 'new flying teacher' for help anymore, he showed her a few of his favorite shops around town.  First he showed her local restaurants, which Lightning Dust tried to smile through.  When they reached the Sugar Cube Corner bakery, she was both unsettled and yet happy to find out the party pony named Pinkie Pie worked there.  Both the foods and the pony she didn't want to be around were in the same place.  When they reached the candy shop, Lightning Dust was surprised to see a minotaur inside the window, shopping.
"And here is BonBon's sweet shop," Keen Wit said as they entered the front door.
"Welcome," Lightning Dust heard somepony say from the counter in a simple, business like, fashion.  When she saw BonBon so calm and focused she did a double take.  She wasn't anything like the cheerful pony she met back in the hospital two days ago.
"Hi BonBon.  Thanks again for helping me at the hospital.  I think I would have gone crazy without some company."
"Not a problem.  It was nice to meet somepony new," BonBon responded, in a near deadpan face.  She spoke in the same voice Lightning Dust had just heard saying 'welcome' a moment ago.  It was quite different from her voice from the hospital and park.  Now that she thought about it, those two voices were also a little different.
"Hey BonBon.  Is Twist in today?" Keen Wit asked BonBon, leaning up on the counter.
"No.  It's my apprentice's day off.  And I really don't like you distracting her at work."
"That's not what Fruity would say," he said in disappointment, dropping down back to the floor.
"Well Fruity isn't working today.  I am," she continued in her bland manner.
"Hands!" Lightning Dust heard somepony else exclaim from behind her.
Turning around, she saw a mint green unicorn mare with a lyre for a cutie mark holding the hand of a light beige minotaur in her front hooves, while balancing shakily on her back hooves.  In addition to the usual pants that minotaurs traditionally wore he also had a home made traveling cloak on.
"May I help you?" the minotaur asked, in a surprised but calm manor.
"Ya, could you kneel down so I can look at this closer?"  She indicated at the hand that she was holding.
"An odd request, but I see no harm."  He knelt down to let her look at his hand, in fascination.
"I just love studying strange anatomy.  It helps with my art.  I've seen all sorts of things other creatures have instead of hooves.  I've seen diamond dog paws, griffin talons, a baby dragon's claws.  I've even seen the split hooves of cattle and buffalo, but this is the first time I've seen a hand up close outside of a book!"  She moved the digits of his hand around with her hoof as she spoke.  "Tell me, do you really have no hoof keenness whatsoever?  Your... f-fingers...?" she half asked to see if she has it right, "...really let you hold things without it?"
Lightning Dust turned back to BonBon as she heard her give a disgruntled sigh.  "That's my Lyra."
"What's wrong BonBon?" Lightning Dust asked.  "You're not nearly as cheerful today."
"It's... complicated," BonBon answered hesitantly.  "Let's just say my mood from day to day is fairly random."
"So what's your name Mr. nice minotaur that let me see his hands?" Lyra asked the minotaur.  "My name's Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings."
Standing up, he answered, "Since I have made something of an audience, allow me to introduce myself properly to all of you.  In your language my name would approximate to the words 'Steel' and 'Will'.  It is the same name as my father.  So I believe I would be called Steel Will the second when speaking formally in your language.  I am accompanying my half-brother Iron Will on a pilgrimage for greater enlightenment, at the request of my village counsel.  Though I have been getting less than satisfactory results."
"Why is that?" Lyra asked, still completely fixated on him like a foal listening to a story.
He went silent for a moment, put some candies in a bag with his hands—which Lyra was amazed by—then went to the counter to pay for them and the others that he had already gathered.  As he gave BonBon the correct amount of bits, he answered her question, "He was not raised in my village but in Equestira by his mother.  When he was being raised, he did not learn the minotaur language and in turn did not learn the proper meaning of his name.  The word for 'will' in our language is the same word for 'self control'.  My brother only learned the first half of its meaning in his youth.  I am with him to teach him the true meaning of his name and the minotaur language as well as what it means to be a minotaur.  Until this much is completed teaching him more complicated things of his heritage will continue to be difficult."
He gestured at Lightning Dust and continued.  "Like your pegasus ancestors of old, the minotaurs are a race of warriors; however, there is more to a warrior than simply fighting and forcing your way on others.  The way of the minotaur warrior is to fight for the peace and prosperity of his people, using force and weaponry only as a last resort.  I was in here trying to buy some sweets to give out to the children in the park with him.  I hoped it would help him understand this.  Ah, here he comes now."
A slightly smaller minotaur with a larger set of horns, a dull blue coat and only the basic pair of pants came through the doorway. He pushed the door so hard without even trying it slammed against the door stop, just before it would have hit the glass of the large window beside it.
"And that's why I had that door stop installed before I opened shop." BonBon said with the same deadpan face. Though she seemed rather irritated at the door being thrown open.
As the minotaur approached his brother, Lightning Dust overheard Lyra say something to BonBon in a tone that had an air of play about it, "Almond, you really need to lighten up!"
Lightning Dust turned her head away from the minotaur.
"Lyra, you know I can't,"  BonBon said to her friend plainly.
"I know," Lyra responded with a playful smile.
Before Lightning Dust could understand why Lyra had just called BonBon by the name Almond, the minotaur had walked up to his brother and spoke in a commanding voice demanding the attention of the entire store.  "Iron Will has finished the prep-" he started to say before his brother covered his mouth with his hand, accompanied by an annoyed but patient stare.
"Remember your inside voice brother of mine," he said as he removed his hand.
"Oh, uh...  Iron Will has finished the preparations his brother has asked of Iron Will."
The larger brother tilted his head.  "A simple 'I am finished' would have sufficed.  You're not on stage either.  You can use personal pronouns for yourself.  No one will think less of you for it."  His voice sounded calm and patient, though the tone seemed to imply he had said something similar several times before.
"Sorry, I uh..."
"Much better," the first minotaur said with tone of acceptance.  "Now with our business settled for the day, let us head out and work on our lessons.  Oh! And miss Heartstrings," he said, turning to Lyra.  "I do hope we have the chance to meet again.  I find it fascinating how most of our technology is compatible with your hooves with little to no adaptation and would love to discuss it further with you sometime."


* * *


After the minotaurs left there was little excitement left in the tour save the fact that there were royal guards posted around the library.  "What's up with all the guards?" Lightning Dust asked.
"Oh, that's where the new princess lived before she became a princess," Keen Wit answered.  "She still stays there when she's in town so the guards are watching the place until it's security enchantments have been brought up to royal standard."
"Princess Twilight Sparkle lives here, and in a library?!"
"Only when she's in town.  Judging by how few guards there are she probably isn't in right now.  I kind of miss her not being a princess.  When she was just the local librarian she used to help me study how-"  He stopped suddenly and fidgeted with his hat again for a moment.  "She used to help me study.  She rarely has time to hang out anymore.  I've only seen her at a distance once since she became princess."
'The new princess used to be the local librarian.  Well there is another one to add to the weird list on this town.'  Lightning Dust thought to herself.
"Well that's the last of the tour.  Anything else you wanted?"  Keen Wit looked up at her affectionately.
"Ya, let's put that back of yours to good use.  I want to get some shopping done."  She didn't need a lot but she would find something heavy for him to carry after she bought some new supplies.  Just so long as she didn't break him she could have some fun.  'This twerp is bound to be an easy laugh.  I wonder how long he will last before he gives up.'

As she went to the market with the colt, two siblings watched her from the shadows.
"It looks like you were right.  She is new in town and won't be missed too greatly.  She will make quite the 'volunteer' for your test.  Plus she is already injured, making it much simpler," the elder sibling spoke. "Normally a pegasus would be impossible, but it looks like she can't even carry anything right now, much less fly away."
"Iron Will shall break her," the younger one responded with an empty tone.
"Remember to keep control of yourself.  We must wait for the right time, when she is alone.  I have taught you much but it takes more than what lessons can teach to go through the rite of passage.  I won't be able to help you if you fail to pull this off, brother.  The penalty for failure is high and you won't have a second chance."