//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Ein Sof Zealotry // by ZhaoZoharEX //------------------------------// Original Title: Mandatory Leave This chapter is part of the older version of "Ein Sof Zealotry" and is to be considered non-canon in lieu of the pending rewrite. This along with the rest of the old story remain for the purpose of comparison. “And then she said they could use the practice. Can you believe that?!” Look disturbed, Twilight, just play along. Soon this will be over and you will return to more important things. It was beyond Twilight why Wonderbolts decided to promote Rainbow Dash when Lightning Dust was disciplined. She was sure that demotion was only a beginning. Well, another proof how the corruption interspersed in all branches of pony culture. She wouldn’t be surprised if there were special instructions directly from Celestia regarding how Rainbow was to be treated. Another thing Twilight couldn’t wrap her head around was why Wonderbolts with such a high budget to work with served such a poor excuse for coffee in their canteen. A more comfortable furniture would improve the image of Academy as well. All in all, Twilight was getting rather annoyed with the whole academy areal and she was there for just three hours at that point! “Oh my, that is horrible, Rainbow. Did you at least apologize to those ponies afterwards? That is, if you don’t mind me asking.” Fluttershy looked very shaken by the story Rainbow Dash was presenting them. It probably had something to do with her own experience from flight camp. Hear the voice of reason, albeit quiet one. A thought about Fluttershy brought Twilight’s mind to another kind and quiet pony she recently met. From the letters she got from Canvas, the talented earth mare had a time of her life in the new school and improved every day. How it was possible to win more and more affection from a pony when you weren’t even in their proximity, Twilight still couldn’t understand, but Canvas showed her that such occurrence was more than real and it worked both ways for them. “Well… Not quite. But I will soon!” Rainbow Dash defended her lack of proper behavior. There probably wasn’t a single pony in the group who was surprised by the admission. Nopony would classify Dash as a pony that would say sorry on daily bases. “Ya better should. The leader has to be an example for the others. Like Twi here Ah tell ya’ll.” The praise from Applejack actually made it through the labyrinth of Twilight’s thoughts and brought a red tint into her cheeks. Not just because it came from a pony she trusted the most of her friends, but also because it wasn’t the first such proclamation she heard in recent time. She didn’t have much time for herself, what with the symposium ending just recently and the library needing her full attention after Spike’s honest but futile effort to keep it going, so she managed to steal just a small while to visit Trixie in her temporary home in Zecora’s hut, but even that short encounter convinced her that she chose well. Trixie’s attitude lost its prideful flourish and she did everything in her power to help Zecora with whatever task. The kind words she had for Twilight who was secretly worried she would be scolded for not keeping her promise, warmed Twilight’s heart like nothing else. “Thank you, Applejack, but I’m nothing special. I just do what is necessary, nothing else. Rainbow will make for a great leader though, if she just takes others in consideration next time,” Twilight said and threw a pointed look in direction of Rainbow Dash. Gah! Now I am even lying directly. Great leader? Not in a million years! But if it gets me out of here quicker… “I will do my best, Twilight. I have to get back to duty, we have dexterity training. They will surely need my awesome moves!” “We should start our journey home anyway. It will be a much longer one, since we have to walk that rocky path instead of flying in a balloon,” Twilight added. Does my insurance cover artificial tornados? That balloon wasn’t exactly cheap. “Ok, see you in few days then. Thanks that you visited, by the way!” Rainbow shouted and flew out of the canteen so quickly she overturned few tables. Yes, be considerate of others. Don’t do reckless things, Rainbow. As if there were a chance for that. “I hope she doesn’t forget to open her care package! I will have to write her and ask her about how she liked it. And if she doesn’t like it, I will send her another care package and it will be even better one than the previous one! Oh oh and I will bring it by myself again. I will use my propeller-powered bicycle!” A much longer journey. The tired turquoise pegasus paced slowly down the hall to her room. She did her best to keep her head up as she tried to avoid the glares of the other recruits. What am I doing with myself? I’m not supposed to be intimidated by them. Those stares aren’t supposed to bother me. But why do they?  It wasn’t so much her fellow recruits staring daggers at her that troubled her. She wasn’t bothered by that alone. If they didn’t like her, that was one thing. But right now, she understood WHY they didn’t like her. She couldn’t blame them. Not only did I damage my chances of being a Wonderbolt, but I nearly caused serious injury. All because I let my ego get the better of me. What would mom and dad say if they were here right now? Probably something about bringing shame on to the family. Lightning Dust’s walk to her room only took about five minutes, but to her it seemed like five hours. When she reached her door, she hesitated. She heard a familiar noise on the other side. Damnnit. Looks like she IS in there. I can hear her snoring. She contemplated for a moment on how best to face her partner after what she nearly did to her friends. After a little while, she decided it was best to just get it over with. She would take whatever choice words, among possible furniture, the rainbow maned pegasus would throw at he. She deserved whatever punishment that was to be given to her. Alright LD. You can do this. You are a soldier, you have to go through with this kind of suicide mission. With a deep breath, she turned the knob on the door, and pushed it open. Rainbow Dash nearly fell off her bunk in surprise when she heard her roommate come in; they had a race the first day to decide who would get the top bunk and Rainbow won. Lightning averted her eyes in shame as she expected to be assaulted with obscenities. “Lightning? Where were you all this time?” the cyan pegasus inquired instead. Lightning didn’t detect any hint of malice in the question which confused her, and thus it took a second to respond to it. “I was… just doing some reflecting. I… owe you and your friends, and everypony else in this academy for that matter, a proper apology.” Rainbow opened her mouth to respond, but the other pegasus held her hoof up to stop her. “Please, Rainbow. I need to do this. No, I want to do this. You were right, I was reckless in my actions. I always prided myself on my speed and agility. My family put a lot of emphasis on military merit and honor. What I did the past few days was anything BUT honorable. I… looked to you as my first friend here at the academy. We shared the same competitiveness after all. I wanted to push my limits because I was always told that’s how strong soldiers are made. But at what point does pushing your limits becomes crossing the line?” Lightning Dust sat on the floor as she removed her uniform. “Clearly, I didn’t know. And I crossed that line several times. I made you clip your wing and made you go on regardless. I kept persuading you to pull off stunts with me, that caused the other recruits to fly off course and injure themselves. And then I led that tornado that almost killed your friends. You have every right to be mad at me. My actions were motivated to impress family yes, but that’s NO excuse for how I acted. So all I can say is… I’ve been a fool.” As she was speaking, Lightning got down on the floor as low as she possibly could get, her head down, a way of expressing her shame in her family. She apparently didn’t consider herself worthy enough to even sleep in her own bed as she had pulled her blanket and pillow off of it. Rainbow Dash didn’t really know what to say. She was not expecting such a humble apology from this mare, the same one who for the last week was like a long lost twin. She was still steamed with her for what happened, but despite this she couldn’t bring herself to hate her. “I forgive you, LD,” she said finally. Lightning’s ears perked up at that statement. She started to rise back up with a confused expression. “You… you would still talk to this poor excuse of a pony? After what happened?” “Well… yeah. I mean, we still have course together. And I wouldn’t condemn a pony for one mistake.” “But I didn’t make one mistake! I made several.” “No, WE made several mistakes. You may have started them, but I went along with it. To tell you the truth, I was kinda jealous.” Lightning grew even more confused. “Je… Jealous? For what?” “For Spitfire making you the leadpony. I always figured I would be the one in that position so I asked Spitfire about it. She told me she gave it to you because you liked to push yourself harder than I did. And because of that, I tried to do the same. As fast and awesome as I am, I had a hard time keeping up. So you see, we’re BOTH to blame. You let your ego get ahead of you, and I let my jealousy get me.” “So… does this mean…?” Rainbow Dash jumped off her top bunk and held her hoof out. “That we’re still friends? Yes. But as my wingpony, I want you to keep me in line okay?” Lightning bumped her hoof with Rainbow’s, completing the friendly gesture. “Sure thing. As long as you keep me in line in exchange.” The two mares bumped hooves again and shared an apologetic hug. As they pulled away, Lightning’s face turned sour as she realized something. “I’m glad we can start over, RD. But I still have a long way to make up for all the trouble I caused. And… my family won’t be happy with me.” “C’mon, it will be alright. Once everypony else here sees your efforts to change, they will warm up to ya again in no time!” “I don’t think my family will be as kind…” “Hey, want some help with that maneuver? It can be tricky at first!” Lightning Dust shouted and not waiting for an answer flew toward the flock of other recruits at the closest commulonimbus. Earlier I would have been surprised, but with how she acts now, nothing new, Rainbow Dash thought with a grin. Over the past few days, Lightning Dust made a persistent effort to better herself. No longer was she motivated by competitiveness, but a genuine desire to help others improve. The other recruits were apprehensive at first. They were caught in the middle of many “accidents” caused by her after all. One does not simply forget something like a tornado. However, it was clear the new Lightning Dust was not the same ego driven pony from the first week. Rainbow Dash also made an effort to help her wingpony become more restrained. The pegasus was used to pushing her limits, but she wanted to make sure this would not cause anymore issues. She also took the time to help her partner apologize to their fellow cadets, also adding her own apology in the process. The two stars of the academy became even brighter. Recently, Lightning Dust even started to take on more difficult and bothersome tasks on herself to help relieve the strain from others. She volunteered to fly for supplies, she did kitchen duty, clean up duty, and so on. Rainbow wasn’t far behind either as she pitched in to help her new friend. “What kind of leadpony would I be if I didn’t assist my partner?” It’s still awesome how much she changed so quickly. If only I knew why she tried so hard. Her family can’t be that bad as to make her work so incredibly hard just to impress them, can it? Pushing her worried thoughts back, Rainbow decided to mimic her friend and try to help other recruits with today’s lesson. For her it was a routine maneuver, but apparently Lightning and she were the only ones who felt it that way. They could make us Wonderbolts right away anyway. The sound of hooves pounding on the wooden floor in strict military rhythm echoed through the headquarters of the Wonderbolt Academy in the early morning. Soon the sound was followed by a muscled yet sleek pegasus stallion, most of whose silvery white coat was concealed by his black flight uniform. His electric purple eyes matching his mane slicked back to reduce air resistance seemed to send lightnings in every direction. He stopped in front of a door marked as the commanding officer’s office and gave the wood three sharp knocks. “You may enter,” a slightly annoyed voice sounded from inside. He shook his head on that and entered briskly. Captain Spitfire sat behind her desk with her hindhooves on it and forelegs behind her head. When she noticed who her visitor in fact was, she nearly fell on her back, but she caught herself quickly enough, jumped up and performed a salute precisely. “General Blitzschlag!” He returned her gesture. “Captain Spitfire, at ease!” Both pegasi took a seat on their respective sides of the desk. Spitfire looked a bit unnerved, knowing full well that her behavior was far from commandable, but Blitzschlag decided to let such petty matter slide for once. “I was informed that there was an incident concerning my daughter. Would you mind to explain the details further?” He kept his voice cold and uninterested. In his position it wasn’t acceptable to show emotions. They signaled partiality, clouded judgement and unstable mind. “Yes sir! A week ago there was an accident. A hot air balloon with five ponies aboard was caught in an artificial tornado and destroyed. The passengers were saved and refunded accordingly. Since the tornado was caused by cadet Lightning Dust, she was demoted to a wingpony and is waiting for disciplinary punishment, sir!” Blitzschlag's heart fell upon hearing that. So it is true. She really stepped so low. My sweet filly, why do you cause me such grief? You know well what I have to do now. He wouldn’t let Spitfire know of his troubled state though, steeling his resolve to carry through what he came to do. “Would you please call cadet Lightning Dust into your office, captain?” he asked, straightening his posture. Despite his best efforts, Spitfire still caught up on his sadness and signaled her compassion by giving a slower than required nod. Doing anything more would be seen as an insult by her superior. “Sergeant!” Spitfire called and a pegasus stallion entered the office from a door to the side. “Bring forth cadet Lightning Dust. She has a visitor.” The stallion saluted sharply and left the office to fulfill the order. Uncomfortable silence befell the office, only the ticking of the clock disturbing the tomb-like atmosphere. “Would you like something to drink, general?” Spitfire asked after a while, desperately trying not to fidget in her seat. Visits always caused her goosebumps, the ones under such unfortunate circumstances even more so. “No, thank you, captain. I wouldn’t feel appropriate savouring a drink with what I am about to do.” In all honesty, Blitzschlag wasn’t even sure he would be capable of swallowing anything at that moment. The wait felt eternal to him, although he would rejoice if it were. Sadly, the door opened soon afterwards and Lightning Dust entered. She visibly paled at seeing who requested her presence. Blitzschlag couldn’t really blame her for that, she probably knew what was coming right away and hoped it would take longer. He took small pride at the fact that she reacted much quicker than Spitfire and hid her feeling under the mask of indifference, while she saluted. “General Blitzschlag, cadet Lightning Dust reporting in. You asked to see me?” “Cadet Lightning Dust. At ease.” They both let their hooves drop, but remained standing, both tense and worried. “Cadet, I asked to talk to you in order to verify certain information I was given. Is it true that your actions endangered lives of five civilians and brought harm to other cadets and property of the academy?” “Yes, sir.” “Is it true that you were demoted as a direct result of such actions and that a disciplinary commission will decide your further punishment in next few days?” “Yes, sir.” She didn’t defend herself, didn’t provide more details about what happen. All she did was answer the questions. He couldn’t help but admire her self-control, even though he easily saw under the stoic expression on her face. It would be a shame if a father couldn’t pick up on his child’s feelings. “Thank you for your honesty, cadet.” Now the hard part would come and he braced himself for it. “Surely you understand that I have to draw consequences from such deeds. They are unbecoming of a heir of an officer family and throw a bad light on all of us.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, fearing the look on his daughter’s face. “Therefore, you are disowned from the family, effective immediately. The documents as well as the finances to support you for the first few months are in this envelope.” “I understand, sir.” He reached into his uniform and retrieved a thick white envelope with Lightning Dust’s cutie mark on it. Then he opened his eyes again and glanced at Lightning Dust. Not a single muscle moved in her face, not a single emotion made its way into her voice. She was raised as a soldier and soldier she would remain at all times. She reached for the envelope and returned to her position immediately, not attempting any physical contact. “Once you clear your name of shame and prove that you are worthy of being member of our lineage, you will be admitted back. You are dismissed.” She saluted, made about face and marched out of the office, not once glancing over her shoulder. He sat down and hang his head low for a moment. Then he returned his attention to clearly shaken Spitfire. “Captain, I want you to prepare a report on how such dangerous tendencies in cadet’s behavior could have slipped the attention of the instructors and how to remedy those failures.” “Of course, sir. I am very sorry that we didn’t stop it in beginnings.” From the tone of her voice he could tell she meant every word. “As am I, captain, as am I. If you wouldn’t mind, I would take your offer of the drink now. Whiskey, if you can.” Shame. Unparalleled shame and sorrow is what filled the mind of Lightning Dust when she got back to her room and buried her head in the pillow. For awhile, she just layed there and cried her eyes out. Dad. I’m sorry for failing you…  After a good hour, her eyes could produce no more tears. She just lay there in the dark room with the curtains close, blocking out Celestia’s morning sunlight. Then she glanced over at the desk where she had placed her father’s envelope. With nothing else to really do, she lethargically stood up and went over to open it. Inside, along with the documents and finances her father promised, was a letter with his signature. To Lightning Dust, my beloved little filly. If I know you, you are ashamed of yourself. I know you are having a hard time dealing with what I told you, that you are crying. Please, do not hate me or yourself for anything. I could care less about the stunt that you pulled. Personally, I’m pleasantly surprised that you were able to create such a powerful tornado with only yourself and your partner to power it. I can overlook your mistake because in the end, nopony was injured or killed. However, you must understand that because of my position, I had to do what I did. I know this is going to sound shallow or harsh of me, but our family has a position we need to uphold. I am a general, I have to set an example for everypony. I cannot cut any slack just because the misbehaving ones happen to be my relatives. Our family comes from a long line of soldiers and as such, we are brought up to reflect that. Regardless, please understand that this is hard for both of us. I love you with all my heart. I’m proud of you, I want you to know that. My reason for disowning you the way I did was not hatred or disappointment, but sheer necessity. I still would love nothing more than to be able to talk to you again, not as a superior, but as a father. We both need to learn discipline. Once you will have proven yourself, I hope I can let you back in the family again. Please, make us proud. Your mother wants to see you again. As does your uncle. I know you are well on your way. Again, please understand why I did it. And I am sorry for telling you in this format. If not for my position not allowing me the luxury of emotion, I would have told you in person how painful this is for me, and how much I care for you. I’ve watched you grow from a little foal into a grand young mare. Despite everything that happened during your first few weeks as a recruit, I am proud to be your father. And I’m confident you will continue to make all of us proud as the years go by. Godspeed General Blitzstreik Lightning Dust held her father’s letter as close to her chest as she could; if her father was there is person, she knew she would be holding him instead. I love you daddy… Suddenly, the door opened to show her roommate and training partner. “Lightning Dust, what happened? You skipped breakfast and then you were absent from the roll call,” the cyan pegasus said concerned. “Rainbow…” Lightning said with a sniffle. “This isn’t a good time...” “Hold on, let me guess. It’s about your family, right?” “How did you-” “Spitfire clued me in though she didn’t actually tell me. See, I was worried when you didn’t show up so I asked her if she knew anything. She told me that your father came to see you this morning and well…” Rainbow Dash paused. “You mentioned something about your family not that long ago so I just assumed…” “They disowned me!” Lightning Dust cried out and threw herself back on her bed. “Listen… I really don’t feel like running morning courses today.” “I’m not going to either.” Lightning Dust looked up with a shocked expression. “But-” “No buts!” Rainbow interrupted. “My friend is torn up about something awful. I’m not gonna leave her behind to do exercises.” “But the Wonderbolts-” “Can go buck themselves right now for all I care! My friends are more important. So tell me, do you need anything?” Rainbow smiled warmly. “Well…” Lightning began, “could I… possibly get a hug? I kind of need one right now.” Rainbow Dash happily complied. Lightning thought at first she had cried herself dry, but apparently she was wrong. With her best friend there to comfort her, she let it all out. Once she calmed down, she explained what exactly happened. “Hey don’t worry buddy! We can work harder, and before you know it, you get back with your family in no time!” “I really hope so. But I don’t think I can ever undo something like this…” Dear Twilight. You know I’m not one for writing letters, but this is important. You sure remember Lightning Dust. Damn how could you forget that tornado! And you know what I said about her afterwards. Back then I would have cheered for any punishment going her way. But now, I can’t help but feel sorry for her. See, what happened was the evening you guys left, she came into our room and apologized. This by itself wouldn’t really do it for me after what happened, but I dunno. She just seemed so sincere about it. I don’t know how to describe it, but I believed every word of it. I decided to give her another chance and she’s been really turning herself around this past week. She’s still got that competitiveness, but she’s balancing it out this time. I also took the time to mend things with the other cadets too, just so you know. But recently, I found out something about her that made me feel uneasy. Thing is, her actions during the first week were done out of an attempt to impress her family, who are apparently all soldiers. But the whole tornado thing really did a number on her reputation here and just this morning, she was… disowned by them. She mentioned awhile back that her family was kinda strict, but damn. I talked to her later and she told me about the letter she got from her dad. It looks like neither her dad, nor her whole family, wanted to, but I guess I understand why it was done. I have to give Lightning credit, she handled it like a true professional from what I was told. Still, she hurts inside and wants to be able to see her folks again. Which brings me to the reason I’m writing this in the first place: I was wondering if I could get some help. If it’s possible, do you think you can get Celestia to vouch for her or find some way to support her yourself? If not, I totally understand, but I really want to help her out. I mean sure, she did some things in the past that weren’t right, but she’s kind of wrecked over what happened and I don’t want to see anypony down in the dumps. Besides, she’s becoming a better pony and I think she deserves a second chance to prove herself. The rest of the academy sure thinks so. If you can’t, don’t sweat it. I’m gonna help her out still. Sincerely Rainbow Dash Twilight put the letter down and pondered it for a while. Well, she certainly has the spirit of a warrior. And if she sincerely changed, she could be a great help. Rainbow certainly would. Why, Rainbow, why couldn’t you be loyal to me instead… She got up and hid the letter, so Spike wouldn’t accidentally come across it. Explaining why she did nothing would be more than difficult. Nothing bad can happen if I try. She wants a chance to prove her abilities and character, she should be up for this. But that can wait. Sometimes I need to do something for myself as well. “Spike! Where are my bigger saddlebags? I will need them for my trip to Everfree tomorrow!”