//------------------------------// // Lost (and found) // Story: Redemption // by RarityEQM //------------------------------// "...So..." "...So..." An echo. Something Rainbow Dash had been expecting, sitting on the other side of the table from Lightning Dust. She and the other pegasus had a lot in common - enough so that occasionally the similarities bothered her. Like there was something uncanny about it. They weren't identical, though. Rainbow hadn't been that brash and reckless since- Rainbow Dash blinked. That's what it was. That's what was bothering her. Lightning Dust was just like her, but not how she was now. Lightning was just like she was when she was younger, long before she met Twilight and the others. Lightning was her if she'd never grown up. A silence rippled through the room as the clock on the wall slowly ate the seconds in between words. It was midafternoon and while Rainbow Dash had gone into the weather station anyway and taken stock of the damage that the storm caused she only made it half a shift. To her disappointment, the damage was much more extensive than she'd thought; the storm had been much more powerful than she'd gathered watching it. Then again, it always was when mother nature had her way with things. Once the weather station had its orders, Rainbow took off for home and was surprised to find Lightning Dust still there - sitting at the kitchen table. Waiting for her. "Wanna talk about it?" Rainbow asked, her voice a tender whisper - as if a single decibel louder would shatter Lightning Dust like glass. The aqua pony turned away, peering out the window with a pensive stare. "Nothin' to talk about. I needed a place to crash. You gave me one. You get to tell all your friends how I'm a loser and I'm pathetic. So here's what's gonna happen: I'll leave, you'll never see me again, and we can forget this ever happened. Deal?" "I won't." Rainbow Dash sighed. Lightning Dust perked her ears. "You won't?" "I won't." "Won't what?" "I won't tell my friends and I don't think you're a loser." Rainbow Dash explained quietly, using the same calming voice Twilight sometimes used when she was talking to a frustrated Rainbow Dash. Lightning Dust gave a disgusted snort and shook her head, narrowing her eyes at Rainbow Dash as a spark of anger erupted inside of her. "Pity from the great Rainbow Dash? Element of Loyalty, lap dog to the princess and in close with the Wonderbolts. I suppose from your position as a high horse the only thing you could feel would be pity," she grumbled. It was Rainbow Dash's turn to snort, and she rose up resting her forehooves on the table with a sharp huff. "First of all, shut up. I earned the element, I earned my spot with the Wonderbolts, and I earned my favor with the princess. Secondly, if I say we can talk, we can talk. If I say I'll kick your tail, I'll kick your tail. And if I say I don't think you're a loser, then I don't think you're a loser. " Rainbow snapped. Lightning leaned back silently, glancing down at the floor and then back towards Rainbow Dash quietly. "So what do you think I am I then?" Rainbow Dash gave a quiet grin and leaned back as well taking on a more relaxed pose. "Well uh...You're like me, I guess. I've never met anypony who loved the Wonderbolts as much as I did, until you came along. And we can fly. I mean we can really fly. You and I flew circles around those cadets at the academy. Honestly, I sorta kinda admired you a li'l bit. You pushed yourself to the limit and past. You weren't held back or restrained or anything. You were...well...it was like you were free. I wanted that. I wanted to be free." Rainbow said quietly, forcing Lightning Dust's eyebrow to raise. "Yeah? Why didn't you? You can be free too ya know? What's holding you back? You wanna be the best don't you?" she asked curiously. Rainbow frowned, searching for the answer sitting on the tip of her tongue. Why did she restrain herself? Why not fly recklessly with complete abandon? Why not push herself to the limit and go as fast as possible? And the first thought that popped into her head was Fluttershy. Fluttershy, followed by Pinkie Pie, followed by Applejack, followed by Rarity, followed by Twilight. Her friends. Who would take care of them if Rainbow wasn't around? They'd never be able to keep up with her, going at full speed. Did being the best mean leaving all her friends behind? Is that truly what she wanted? It hit her like a bolt of lightning from the sky. The difference between her and Lightning Dust. "Being reckless gets you hurt, and if I wasn't around, who would protect my friends? I can't afford to be reckless. 'Sides, I'd never leave my friends behind. Would you?" Rainbow explained quietly. For a moment, her mind flickered to images of Tank, and the race that lead up to him being Dash's first and foremost. Lightning Dust scowled and stood up. "Are you saying that's why I'm reckless? I don't have any friends? I've got lots of friends, you loser!" Rainbow Dash nodded her head. An answer she'd expected. "Then why did you come to me and not go to them?" It was a simple question, but one that caught Lightning Dust off guard nonetheless. She paused, opening and closing her mouth, looking for an answer that wasn't there. She stood up, as if to leave, than sat down, as if she remembered she had nowhere to go. Now she was mad. This deep inner rage that was bubbling up towards the surface. Rainbow knew that rage. She'd felt it before. She hated that rage, when you were lost within yourself, and facing something you couldn't understand - it was infuriating, especially once you thought you had yourself already all figured out. Rainbow absolutely hated being lost, metaphysically or otherwise, and now Lightning Dust was lost, trapped in a hurricane of feelings, emotion and confusion. All she wanted in life was to fly, just like Rainbow Dash. But Rainbow found something richer in life through her friends. Something worth more to her than the sky, and her wings. Something that Lightning didn't have. But she could have it... "ICE CREAM!" Rainbow screamed suddenly, forcing Lightning's Dusts ear's to perk in shock and drawing her out of her emotional spiral. "The hay? What does ice cream have to do with anything!?" Lighting snarled. Rainbow flashed a grin. "What? You don't like ice cream?" She asked smugly. Dust tilted her head curiously to one side. It was working. Push her right into thinking about something else, and she would forget about the previous train of thought. At least temporarily. "...Well...Yeah, but-" Dust began, but Dash cut her off, motioning towards the door, and flashing another smile. If Lightning Dust needed friends, then that was something Rainbow was capable of doing! They were friends once before, and now it was obvious Lightning Dust needed her help and Rainbow wasn't one to turn her back on her friends. "So let me get you a cone. Ice cream is freakin' awesome! I'll show you around town, come on, it's summer, it's sunny, it's perfect! You've had a rough few days, I know a place that serves the most awesome soft serve in Equestria!" And with that, Rainbow was up and out the door on impulse, leaving an extremely confused Lightning Dust in her wake. Rainbow Dash already knew what Lightning Dust would do even before she stepped out the door. An offer for ice cream and to get outside and get some air? Explore the town and not be cooped up inside? Oh, Lightning was easy to guess - she was just like her, after all. Rainbow Dash grinned. She'd taken a page from Pinkie's book, using treats to defuse a tense situation, and it had worked perfectly. She would have to discuss more ways to make friends with her, if she wanted this to work. When Rainbow caught sight of Lightning Dust leaving her home, a plan already started to form in her mind. First, Lickity Splits, for the best ice cream in Ponyville. Then, Sugar Cube Corner, After that, she'd give her a tour of Cloudsdale, and then? A race at Ghastly Gorge to burn off all of that sugar. It would work. That's the kind of day Rainbow would want, which meant it couldn't be too far off from the sort of day Lightning would want. Friends fixed everything, and if it was friends Lightning Dust needed, than it was friends Lightning Dust was going to get. After all, friendship was magic- so what could go wrong?