"Mercy!?" Princess Luna exclaimed back at the three pegasi that cowered in the dimly lit jail cell. "After thine shameless actions thou dost not deserve mercy!"
The princess of the night steadied her breathing and looked at them one at a time. The fire in the princess's eyes did not diminish, yet despite her rage a bitter sympathy slowly grew around the edges. "But mercy I shall grant. You will not die for your transgressions, however!"
Her horn began to 'glow' with a dark energy. "You still have no remorse for what you did save your fear of punishment. Therefore the punishment you receive will aid in this." The dark energy grew stronger. Three bolts of blood red lightning shot out of her horn and struck all of them on the forehead simultaneously. A crescent moon glowing in the same blood red appeared around their left eyes, almost fully encompassing them.
"You now carry the opposite of my blessing. It will feed off your misdeeds and grow." As she said this she backed away from the jail cell with the rage settling down to a look of contempt. "My curse will draw bad dreams to your resting hours like moths to a flame and give you the fear you so desperately need. The more you feed the curse the worse the dreams will become."
She turned to leave. "I suggest you learn now and do not try to hurt anypony like this again." Her voice turned deathly cold. "I do not think you would survive the backlash." With this she left the jail.
Arriving at the hospital a short time later Princess Luna spoke to the doctor in charge, "How is she?"
"Other than she'll survive, it's too soon to say," Doctor Pulse answered soberly. "They did a real number on her."
From the other side of the hall, they heared Nurse Redheart trying to comfort somepony, "Sweetie Drops, I'm sorry but she needs rest and visiting hours were already over when she came in. I can't let you stay any longer." The nurse escorted a shaken BonBon from a patient's room to the entrance of the hospital wing. "You can come back in the morning. I'll take care of Lyra until then." She stopped at the nurse's station to turn the coffee pot on. "You have my word."
The previous day.
"But mom!" a filly cried out.
"No buts," the filly's mother interjected while not looking away from the pot of sauce that she was cooking. "Just go out there and get it cleaned up."
For the umpteenth time that afternoon, the filly walked back out of the kitchen with the same result. With the needed cleaning tools on a small maintenance cart, she went over to the mess that she knew they had made on purpose. She grumbled under her breath, "The customer is never wrong." She looked at the upside down plate of noodles on the floor that she had been ordered to clean up. "But I always am."
As she approached the mess, a colt from a nearby table blew a party horn right in the filly's ear. She winced away from it and flattened her ear in an attempt to dampen the noise. She held off the desire to retaliate in fear of being punished again.
Once to the mess on the floor, she set out her equipment and started to get to work. She placed the cart between herself and as many of the annoying party animals that she called classmates as she could then focused on the mess itself.
She was about finished with the mess when a drink suddenly got spilled all over her back from one of the fillies that could still see her. Her wings and uniform became soaked in sticky soda. "I hate parties." She scowled at the floor as she cleaned up the new mess.
Once she had everything but herself cleaned up, she started pushing the cart back to the cleaning supply area for the third time since the party began. She did her best to avoid eye contact as she moved between the tables. One of the ponies next to her spoke out meanly. "An earth pony shouldn't be wearing that."
"Huh?" Lightning Dust's mind returned to the present. There were three pegasi stallions leaning on the schoolyard fence next to her as the colts and fillies played at recess.
"I said an earth pony shouldn't be wearing that," the nearest pegasus repeated as he pointed to Pinkie Pie.
Lightning Dust looked over at the two ponies that were finishing up the face painting of every filly and colt at the school to welcome Princess Luna back for Nightmare Night. Applejack wasn't painting but instead coordinated the lines to make sure the other two ponies had a steady flow of foals without making everypony waste their entire recess standing in line. Lyra was in her second hoof chicken costume while Pinkie Pie was in a Wonderbolt uniform. It was clearly a low grade fake but could be mistaken for one at a glance.
"Only pure bred pegasi have the sheer power and speed to be Wonderbolts," he continued to rant. "Even if it is a costume, anypony else wearing that is a disgrace."
"Hey!" Twist called out from the teeter totter near the fence. She got off as soon as she hit the ground—abruptly dropping her partner to the ground as she did—and ran up to the stallions with the same glare she had given Lightning Dust the previous day. "It takes more than a pair of wings to be a Wonderbolt!" she yelled at them.
The pegasus that had been speaking was about to retort back to her when one of the other pegasi cut him off. "Let's go, Blackjack. We don't want any trouble with her." With how he spoke Lightning Dust couldn't figure out if he was talking about Twist or somepony else.
After they walked off Twist looked Lightning Dust square in the face. "And you." Her glare was intense with anger, but not with the same kind of anger as she had before. "You had better teach him right." With this she gave Lightning Dust the same glare for a long moment then walked off slowly.
Lightning Dust, more touched than scared by twist's threat, opened her wing to look at it. 'Purebred power, it takes more than wings...' She put her wing back and shook her head. "I have enough to think about right now." She looked back at Lyra, as she and her pink friend continued painting crescent moons on the school foals' faces.
Lightning Dust then took a bite of the food that she had been holding for a while now. 'Like why I don't like wild and crazy ponies like them.' As she looked at them she could see they were laughing and having fun in their task. Though they were being a bit crazier than Lightning Dust liked, they weren't doing it at anypony's expense. 'And why I was as eccentric as those nut cases when I saw Princess Luna.'
She leaned there on the fence, pondering for a few minutes as she ate before the shadow of a pegasus appeared on the ground at her side. "What do you need this time Rainbow Dash?" she said with a huff of irritation. She didn't even turn around to see who it was hovering behind her.
"Sassaflash had to leave work early in the shift to start maternity leave," Rainbow Dash stated with as much contempt in her voice as she could get away with. "All the other reserves have already been called in to prepare for tonight and there's nopony else Sunny Rays can call in to replace her. So she's falling behind." She moved in front of Lightning Dust to look her in the face bitterly. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're the strongest wing I have to send over. Head over to the east end and help Sunny Rays' half of the squad as soon as lunch is finished."
"Got it," Lightning Dust said with just a hint of snark as she grabbed another piece of food from her lunch pail. Just as she took a bite she saws Keen Wit wave at her from the painting booth. She waved back and shouted as best she could with food in her mouth, "Looking good!"
Seeing this, Rainbow Dash sniped at her as she flew off to get back to work, "Boss's pet."
Lightning Dust swallowed her food. "That went better than expected," she muttered then took another bite.
Lyra finished Keen Wit's crescent moon then ushered in the last filly in line as he left her booth. Pinkie finished her last crescent moon as well. As soon as she put the brush down, she dashed off to play with the school foals. With no more ponies to tend to in line, Applejack came over to the fence where Lightning Dust was leaning. "She still gettin' on your nerves?"
Lightning Dust looked at the Applejack's concerned face for a moment then returned her focus to her meal. "Rainbow Dash has backed off a little. I think she's more focused on getting the weather in order for tonight." She took the final bite of her lunch and started chewing.
"I wasn't talkin' about Rainbow Dash," Applejack corrected her as she tossed her front legs up to lean on the fence next to Lightning Dust from the other side. "She'll come around on her own in good time now that we got all that settled. I was talkin' about her." Applejack threw her head back to gesture towards Lyra still sitting in the booth. "Sometimes she's calm and collected. Other times her energy rivals Pinkie's." Applejack closed her eyes for a moment and gave a huff of laughter through a smile. "Both of them are great ponies to have as a friend, but they make terrible roommates. I have to admire your spirit for managin' to bunk with her for this long."
Lightning Dust looked at her as she smiled weakly at the unexpected compliment and swallowed the last of her food. "It isn't easy putting up with her." She looked over at Keen Wit playing in the sand with Twist then looked down at the ground to hide a growing smile. "But I have my reasons for doing it."
Applejack continued as soon as she felt Lighting Dust was done talking. "I also heard through the grapevine that you have been on the lookout for a new place to stay so that you didn't have to bunk with her anymore." Applejack cocked her head sideways. "Any luck?"
"There aren't many places for rent in this town." Lightning Dust raised her head as her smile faded. "What few there are, are pretty expensive. I've been saving back some money for a deposit in case a place I could rent popped up, but no luck so far."
Applejack smiled at this and gave a hearty giggle. "Then it looks like you might just be the pony I'm lookin' for." Lightning Dust looked at Applejack funny. "You see I was hesitant to ask you before with you bein' afraid of Twilight an all, but now that you finally got that taken care of, I figured I'd throw you the offer."
Applejack pulled her head back upright and put on her business face. "I talked to Brayburn about you a while back. He said he didn't like how you lied about bein' an experienced apple bucker-" Lightning Dust went a little red at this. "-But he also said that he realized you weren't bad for a first timer after he tallied up the buckets.
"Sweet Apple Acres could always use an extra part time farm hoof around to help with a few of the day to day chores, but we can't just put an ad in the paper. I ain't got time to interview everypony like Wayside does. So I just keep an eye out for a good worker that could fit the bill."
The apple seller pushed off the fence and returned her front hooves to the ground. "If you can't find anyplace better, and if you don't mind takin' a day or two off from bein' a weather pony to help during planting and harvest, then you're welcome to bunk with us. No charge. No deposit."
Lightning Dust Looked at Applejack with wide eyes and an open mouth curling up at one side. "That was... Unexpected," she said with pleasant surprise.
"So I can take that as a yes?"
Lightning Dust's expression faded as fast as it came. She looked at Lyra who had joined Pinkie and the school foals to play. Lyra jumped as hard as she could off the swing only to land landed face first in the sand. She spit out some sand in good spirit and picked herself back up to return to playing.
'Is she really that bad?'
Lightning Dust glanced back at Applejack then stared back at the ground. "I'll think about it."
A few minutes before sunset, Keen Wit and a few of his classmates were getting worried as their family members from the weather team reserves hadn't arrived yet.
"Hey Keen Wit!" Featherweight called out to him. "What's taking my mom and dad so long? Isn't the weather team done yet? The summer sun celebration didn't take nearly this long to get ready." It wasn't uncommon for the school foals to look to Keen Wit when they were wondering about anything involving his father's departments.
Keen Wit pointed up to the clouds. "All that took was a sunny day. Nightmare Night takes special cloud cover. On top of that my dad still hasn't finished restocking the reserves. So he doesn't have as many wings up there as last year." He looked at the horizon. "But from what I can see they look like they're about done. Here comes one of the squads now."
Featherweight fluttered his wings in excitement as he turned around to see his parents come in for a landing. Most of the other foals expecting their parents in followed suit. As the parents landed, their foals ran up to greet them.
As the ponies are greeted by their foals, Keen Wit looked around expectantly. Looking up at a still hovering Rainbow Dash he asked, "Where's Lightning Dust? Wasn't she in your squad?"
Rainbow Dash's face turned sour at hearing the question. She looked at him briefly then flew to the edge of the crowd. Ignoring him, she started talking to the three fillies that called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Seeing his dilemma, Featherweight's mother chimed in apologetically, "Lightning Dust was sent over to the other squad to help them catch up. They were so far behind they might not make it before the festivities start."
Keen Wit's face grew sullen at the news. "I see..." He looked around weakly at his classmates.
"Well we better get going." Featherweight's father said. With this, the all the children that had been waiting for their family members headed out to collect candy from door to door. The small crowd turned around the corner from the agreed meet up point for the weather team's families. Keen Wit lingered behind for a moment to look at the sky eagerly one last time. Turning around glumly, he caught up with the crowd as the sun finally set.
* * *
After gathering up just a little more than enough for the candy offering to the statue of Princess Luna's old alter ego, Nightmare Moon, Keen Wit broke off from the group. While sucking on a piece of candy he headed to the square to wait quietly for Princess Luna's arrival. He hoped Lightning Dust would find him soon.
Having your parents celebrate their anniversary on a holiday meant for ponies his age could be a real downer at times, but Keen Wit could never bring himself to disrupt their special night, not after 'that'. Several minutes passed by as he watched the booths near the square finish setting up with growing boredom.
"Hey, aren't you the inn keeper's kid?" Keen Wit heard somepony nearby say. Turning to the sound of the noise, he saw the three pegasi that had rented a room from his mom last night.
"Ya. What did you need?" Keen Wit asked without fear as he saw the sense of respect in their faces that his mom put there yesterday.
"Well," the leader asked in confusion as he sat down next to Keen Wit, "We were wondering, what's with everypony? They all seem to know Nightmare Moon is coming again this year, but none of them are frightened."
Keen Wit looked at them funny and thought hard for a moment. When it finally dawned on him he exclaimed, "Oh! Right! You guys aren't from around here." He explained it to them as best he could, "Nightmare Moon is gone. Luna's not a bad pony. She's actually pretty fun, once you get to know her. We all lost our fear of her last year. I mean sure, she can be scary sometimes, but she doesn't want to hurt anypony anymore."
The three pegasi look at each other funny for a few moments before the large one shrugged. "Well, all the dare really said was I had to stay standing when she comes. This just makes it easier I guess."
The leader turned back to Keen Wit. "Could I ask you something else about this town?"
Being kind of bored from waiting, Keen Wit humored him. "Sure."
"What's with all the mixed race couples in this town?"
"Huh?" Keen Wit looked at him confused.
"I don't mean to offend you of course," the pegasus corrected himself, raising his hooves to wave them defensively. "I got nothing against you. Earth pony half breeds are fine, but any other half breed... It's kinda weird."
Keen Wit began to get nervous. "What do you mean?"
The pegasus sat back and scratched his ear. "How can I explain it? Sure, they have wings or horns, but they don't really have the ability to use them right. Their blood is watered down and weak. I mean take the Wonderbolts for example-"
Lightning Dust had finally gotten off work just as the festivities were starting. The sun had completely set a while ago and the school foals had already gathered at the square for Princess Luna's arrival, who was due at any moment. Out of respect of the princess, she would have to wait until after the ceremony to find Keen Wit. She wasn't expected to be there and she already had her special moment with Princess Luna.
In the meantime, she was searching around the booths out of eyeshot of the square. With a small array of treats she knew he would like already in tow, she came around to the Cake family's pastry stand. "How are the twins feeling Mr. Cake? Did Zecora manage to fix them up?" she asked as she started to browse the treats he had on display.
"They're doing much better now. My wife is at home with them tonight just in case."
Lightning Dust looked at him funny. "So you're running the stand by yourself?"
"Sadly yes. I offered Keen Wit a chance to help out for some extra money-" He shrugged his shoulders as lightning Dust picked out a pastry. "But he said he didn't need it anymore. He wouldn't tell me why."
All of a sudden a large wave of illuminated energy swept the streets from the direction of the square. Lightning Dust had to brace herself against the blast as it passed by her with a fair bit of resistance. "What was that!?" She exclaimed as she brought her head back up.
"Oh that." Mr. Cake said with calm demeanor. "I guess there is no point in keeping it a secret now." He retrieved the sticky pastry and placed it in a small to go container. He then grabbed a few paper towels from the loose stack sitting on the stand and placed them in the box on top of the pastry.
"You remember who was in our shop yesterday right?" As he waited on her to count out her bits for the treat, he looked around at the stall to determine what needed done next to keep it in order. "Well she coordinated with me and a few others on the planning committee to give a little surprise for the school foals. She has just given them her bles..." He trailed off as he looked directly at Lightning Dust oddly.
"What?" she asked as she glanced behind herself.
"Oh, nothing!" He said with a brief shake of the head. He took the money and gave her the pastry. "I thought I saw something, that's all. As I was saying, that was her giving them her personal blessing as a thank you for welcoming her when most everypony else feared her."
Lightning Dust took the pastry and put it in the basket with a look of curiosity. "Kinda like how I did." With this she took the basket in her mouth and started towards the square.
"I... I never thought of it like that," a shaken Keen Wit said in response to the pegasus's explanation.
"Hey Sledge get ready!" the smaller pegasus that was still standing said. "Here she comes!"
A dark chariot raced out of the sky led by a team of four bat wing ponies in the dark royal armor of Princess Luna. As soon as the chariot came to a midair stop over top of town hall, a large cloaked figure opened her wings and descended gracefully down to the small stage that had been constructed for her. Thunder cracked as she landed, illuminating the light in her eyes and teeth menacingly in the shadow of the rest of her form. Everypony is taken back in fright for a brief moment before recovering as she slipped her hood back to reveal her face properly.
As the townsfolk of Ponyville gazed upon the princess of the night she was bombarded with the cheering applause of the town. "Princess Luna!" they cheered in near unison. Some of the younger ponies rushed up to the stage, but were stopped by her raised hoof.
"Citizens of Ponyville!" Princess Luna shouted. "Tonight we return to join in the festivities thou hast thrown in our honor.
"However, there shalt be another honoring that shall take place tonight before the festivities begin. The children of thine community have welcomed us wholeheartedly into their company, and so we now return this spirit of welcome unto them."
Princess Luna raised her head as high as she could and pointed her horn straight up. She gathered her energy for several seconds and released it in wave of light rivaling that of the moon's brilliance and color. The light swept out across all the town in one big ring from Princess Luna's position on the small stand. It passed by most everypony without harm or resistance, but caused the paint on every school foal to glow brightly. As the magical light caught on the marked children, it slowed slightly and washed over them instead of simply passing by them.
"We hereby dub all in thine community whom hast been touched by our blessing our honorary children." With this, she stepped down from the small stage and welcomed the wave of children that had even more energy than before.
As the three Cutie Mark Crusaders came up beside Keen Wit, one of them asked, "Does that mean were princesses too now?"
"No you idiots!" Diamond Tiara rudely snapped at them as she walked up from the other direction in utter rage. "It just means we can visit her at the palace and call her our aunt if we want to." As she passed by them she looked back at the crowd of foals surrounding Princess Luna with contempt. "But what's the point in having it if everypony in school has it too?" With a final huff of anger, she stomped off.
The three pegasi raised an eyebrow at Diamond Tiara's behavior. "Well see you later kid. Thanks for the explanations," the leader said as he got up and left with his two friends. A moment or two later, Keen Wit got up and started heading to the edge of the festivities glumly.
"Hey Keen Wit, aren't you going to come greet our new aunt with us?" Scootaloo asked him.
He turned his head back to them. "Na, the blessing was cool and all, and I like Princ... Auntie Luna as much as you do but..." He turned his head back around. "Nightmare Night has never really been my thing. I'm giving my candy offering early and heading to bed."
"I mean really. What was she thinking giving it to everypony?" Diamond Tiara ranted to Silver Spoon as they walked in no particular direction.
"I don't know. I think it's kinda-" Silver Spoon tried to say while looking back at her friend before she bumped into a large pegasus.
"Hello there. My name is Silver Tongue," another pegasus chimed in. "Don't worry. We don't mean you any harm. It's just that you two look like you have just the skills we're looking for."
Lightning Dust was hovering above the crowd as she looked for Keen Wit with all the treats she had picked out for him in tow. Slowly panning her vision across the crowd, she came face to face with a twitchy eyed Rainbow Dash hovering in front of her.
While giving Rainbow Dash the same cold stare back, Lightning Dust steadily lowered herself to about a foot off the ground then closed her wings to her side tightly. She landed with a loud thud then set the basket down to speak clearly. "Have you seen Keen Wit?" she flatly asked her rival.
Rainbow Dash glanced up behind Lightning Dust for a moment then returned her attention to her. Speaking louder than necessary, she responded, "You mean the colt you hang out with just to get on our boss's good side and get away with whatever you want? Nope." She then flew off to rejoin her friends for the festivities.
"I don't hang out with him for that," Lightning Dust retorted back through her teeth.
"I know that Kid. I'd see right through it if you were," a well groomed Wayside said as he and his equally well groomed wife came up behind her. "I can tell her to-"
"No! That's my fight. I'll handle it my way." Lightning Dust turned around and took a deep breath to calm herself. "I know you wanted me to watch him tonight, but I got put on the second squad after-"
"I know," Wayside interrupted. "You don't need to explain. I'm the one that ordered her to the ground."
Lightning Dust looked around the crowd. "But still."
"Don't worry about Keen Wit," Serra told her. "Odds are he went home early. He's done it for a couple years now."
"He was expecting me and I didn't come..." Lightning Dust's cheek twitched as she looked at the basket of treats in thought. "If it's alright with you, I'm gonna go apologize to him for not being on time."
"You know you're welcome at the inn anytime," Serra responded, "We trust you. But really, it's not you sweetie. You don't hav-"
Lightning Dust looked at her with a sharp concern in her eyes then picked up the basket again. "Yesh I goo."
Back at the Plaza, Lyra and BonBon were enjoying the festivities together.
"We have a winner!" the pony running the booth said. Lyra picked her prize and gave it to BonBon to hold. BonBon opened up the giant, fake six sided die she was wearing as a costume and stored the teddy bear inside with her.
"Coming Through!" Apple Bloom yelled as she and her two friends barreled through the street to the next activity they want to try.
"Apple Bloom! Slow down!" Applejack yelled to her sister as she passed by. Once the three fillies were out of sight, Applejack came up to BonBon. After she shook her head in good spirit, she asked BonBon a rhetorical question, "What would you do to have that much energy again Sweetie Dro-" Applejack cut herself off suddenly.
"Oh! She would just wake up as Fruity or Mint, Applejack!" Lyra answered, hyped up on candy.
"Right..." Applejack half muttered, embarrassed.
"Applejack," BonBon called to her with a calm face. "I'm a pony with four split personalities that were hypnotically induced as a filly and I am in a different one of them every time I wake up. To top it off I'm wearing a giant die as a costume." She smirked. "It's alright. It's a part of me now and I've accepted it. No offense taken."
Applejack recovered and smiled through the embarrassment that she couldn't quite shake.
Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon came walking down the street of booths and started talking unusually loudly. "Did you hear? The Batwing pony guards that pulled Princess Luna's chariot are resting in the park."
"Ya. One of them is even talking to ponies and answering questions about their wings."
Lyra looked at them wide eyed for only a brief moment. The next, she had abandoned the booth she had been playing at and was racing towards the park.
Lightning Dust was sitting on Keen Wit's bed, talking to him. "I had no idea that I reminded you of her. Is that why you warmed up to me so fast?"
"Kinda..." Keen Wit answered then reached for another treat in the basket. "The other part was..." He couldn't quite get the last word out and shrank away from her slightly. Instead, he took a big bite of his brownie and started chewing.
"I was in the Wonderbolt program." She smiled at him with a hint of worry lingering in her tired eyes. "And in a few weeks I'll be your flying teacher."
He swallowed. "Yeah..."
"Hey Keen Wit." She moved the basket away from the edge and scooted over to sit right next to him. "Is something bothering you? I mean aside from her."
Keen Wit glanced up at her for a moment then returned his gaze to the chocolate treat in his hooves. "I don't think it's something you can help with."
Lightning Dust stared at him blankly when she heard those words. He glanced up at her again then shrank away and shoved the rest of the brownie in his mouth.
She scooted way to give him some room then pushed the basket back next to him. "Alright." She got off the bed. Making an indirect path to the door, she stopped in front of him on the bed and turned her head to face him. "But if there is something I can help with, tell me," she said with a warm tone. "And thanks for understanding about tonight. It means more to me than you know."
With a full mouth of food, he leaned forward and nuzzled his face up against hers in a quiet response. As he leaned back again, a look of surprise could be seen on Lightning Dust's face. He smiled at her for a moment as she slowly smiled herself. She then gave a brief nuzzling gesture in the air back to him.
Finally swallowing, Keen Wit put the half empty basket of treats on the floor. "Mom would kill me if I took anymore tonight. I had better brush before I go to bed." He jumped off his bed and headed over to the door of his private bathroom.
'Bed...' Lightning Dust thought to herself as the tiredness of the day's work returned to the front of her mind. "Pity you can't sleep for both of us. With all the candy Lyra's surely had tonight, I'm not gonna get to sleep until dawn," she thought out loud as she left the room.
In no hurry to get anywhere else that night, Lightning Dust leisurely walked out of his room and headed out of the inn. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, she heard Keen Wit call out to her. "Hey Lightning Dust!"
She looked up to the top of the staircase and found Keen Wit come to the edge with his toothbrush still in his mouth. "Did you need something else twerp?"
He walked down the stairs as fast as he could with caution. Once at the bottom, he gestured her in close.
"Do you really think I have what it takes to fly with the Wonderbolts?"
She looked at him with a confused smile. "I hope so. Otherwise what chance do I have?" Seeing him not quite convinced, she paused for a moment.
While looking into his worried eyes, she thought back on when her aunt spoke to her. She repeated her aunt's words as best she could to him, "Bravery, teamwork and skill are the three things Wonderbolts focus on when they train."
Keen Wit cocked his head at her, not sure where she was going with this.
"We'll have to wait until you're in the air before I can judge the other two, but you are by far the bravest little twerp I have ever met. Now go finish brushing before you drip on the carpet."
He smiled shakily at her then went back up to his room. Lightning Dust finally left the inn.
Back in his bathroom, Keen Wit finished brushing and looked at himself in the mirror. "In the air..." With a frown on his face, he finally went to bed.
Lightning Dust wandered around the park aimlessly to kill time. With Keen Wit in bed, she had no reason to join in the festivities herself anymore.
She passed by a bench and recognized it as the one her and Keen Wit had sat on when she first figured out his secret. Having nothing better to do, she sat down and pulled up the next thing on her mental list of issues to contend with.
'I don't really mind Keen Wit when he manages to crawl out of his shell and get a little wild. I guess being eccentric isn't all that bad when it's in good fun. Maybe I'll learn to like ponies like Lyra someday.'
A loud noise from the festivities in the distance distracted her from her thoughts momentarily. There was no telling what it was from where Lightning Dust sat.
'Ya, someday. But for now it would be easier to handle a few predictable chores than her. I think I'll try Applejack's offer on for size.'
With her decision made, Lightning Dust got up and continued on her aimless walk.
She stopped and leaned on the bridge that her aunt leaned on the night that she allowed her to stay in Ponyville. She looked out on the town that she had started to call home. "It really is a nice view, despite not being all that high up," she spoke softly to herself. The festivities were far enough away from the park that it barely tarnished the view with all the buildings between the two places.
She saw a dim glowing around the side of the public restrooms at the far side of the park. It wasn't quite bright enough to be seen from town with the street lights and sheer distance, but Lightning Dust could see it from her perch on top of the bridge after her eyes had adjusted to the dark. "What's that?"
* * *
Once finally taking the long trek to see what the light was, Lighting Dust stumbled upon a horrifying scene. Peeking around the corner with the darkness giving her cover, she could see three pegasi had cornered Lyra. Not only that, but she recognized the formation. It was a gang formation she had seen in Manehattan from time to time. It was the South Wings signature formation for teaching non pegasi their place. They were a gang of fairly prominent street flyers that hogged air for their own purposes. Gangs like this were one of the reasons she had to use a gym to train growing up. They weren't as tough as they looked individually, but a whole gang could be trouble. So nopony bothered fighting back and just stayed to the ground.
Lightning Dust didn't like Lyra, but she didn't deserve this. Lyra was no fighter and didn't have a chance. The situation looked grim. There wasn't somepony with an ace up their sleeve to defend this time. There was no colt with a throat grabbing horn hidden in a crate. Even if there was, that would only work on one opponent. At that moment there were three to deal with. The more Lightning Dust ran the scenarios through her head the more hopeless the situation seemed to become.
The gang shifted their formation. Looking down at the cowering Lyra, the leader spoke up, "OK boys. I think it's time we stop the dirt throwing and get real."
Lightning Dust could tell they were done with their shake down. No real harm had come to Lyra just yet. They were simply getting her terrified first and the scary part was next. They were about to stone her until her horn broke, not caring how much they missed in the process.
With a rising pulse, Lightning Dust ran through her options again fast. 'It's too late to go for help now. They'd be done with her by the time it came.'
"It's a shame we can't get your pink friend too," the leader stated as they approached their pre-collected rock piles.
'I don't think they have anymore gang buddies. So I could take 'em, but not before one of them got Lyra. I can't just guard her. I'd be an open target myself. What should I do!? What's the right move? How do I decide!?'
Lifting his first rock, the leader continued, "We'd teach her a lesson on wearing something not meant for an earth pony. Only pure bred pegasi have what it takes to have the honor of wearing a Wonderbolt uniform."
Those last words rang in Lightning Dust's mind. All of a sudden she was calm. She knew what she had to do. Memories flashed through her mind as she prepared to launch.
"When danger comes we are the ones that step up to meet it before the armies can mobilize."
She launched off the ground with so much force her flanks screamed in pain.
"We are the ones that put our lives on the line to buy civilians the time to flee to safety."
She barreled past the gang members with blinding speed and zoomed straight to her charge.
"When we don that uniform-"
She twisted sharply and landed protectively over her charge's cowering, curled up form. Her hooves landed so hard that they sprayed up dirt on the wall of the building behind her.
"-the last thing that should be on our minds-"
Still looking down from the landing as the dirt settled she moved her wings around Lyra, completing the barrier.
"-is ourselves."
"Stay true to yourself and your path will be clear." Lightning Dust slowly lifted her head.
'I may never wear the uniform again-' Her head finished coming to attention. 'But I still choose the path of the Wonderbolt.' Her eyes snapped open and focused on her nearest opponent. In unbridled fury rivaling that of the Pepper clan's, she screamed at them, "Back off you bullies!"