//------------------------------// // Left in the dust.(Lightning) // Story: No redemption. // by zman123 //------------------------------// Crack went the whip again and again as it was swung again and again into the flesh of the already bleeding prisoner chained against the wall. The captive made neither sound nor motion as the whip struck again and again into her already badly wounded flesh. She was determined not to appear weak and to hold on to what little dignity she had left after her lifelong dreams and ambitions had been shattered one by one in front of her. She did not cry, her tears had long been worn out and her eyes were still dry from her previous lamentations when she was first admitted to this terrible place. She did not protest, any pleas for mercy would fall on deaf ears, she had learned that the hard and painful way. The guards had given her nothing to chew on and trying to stop herself from biting her tongue was already difficult enough as it was. Talking would only make harder still. "Spitfire must really be disappointed in you, you little creep" remarked the guard nonchalantly "Selfish little freaks like you are an insult to the good wonderbolt name." Upon hearing the name of what was once her mentor, the only pony she had ever managed to trust in, she shivered slightly but quickly pulled herself back together. The past was the past and there was no backtracking in the sad irony of life. She had learned that the hard painful way too. The guard continued to give her lash after lash while continuing to hurl terrible insults at her as he did so in a terrible voice which would have made a good impression of a cheese grater. Only guilt and the gruesome knowledge that it would be easy for her to bite her tongue if she moved her lips even slightly, stopped her from responding in kind, but the cold and icy glare which she regarded her tormentor with said more than her words needed to, The pain surged through her body, coursing through her veins. Her skin felt as if it were burning and her vision became only more distorted with each crack of the whip. Then the pain subsided and darkness washed over her fading sight as her body gave in to the horrible sensations, no longer able to resist. She smiled, at least unconsciousness offered her brief respite from the horrific torture which would return very very soon. It was dark outside when she finally came to, groggy with both fatigue and pain. She was in her cell once more, her hooves tightly cuffed together and her wings bound tightly by metal chains. The guards had once again conveniently forgotten to leave her any food or water, and her lips felt as dry as desert. Her stomach rumbled with hunger, nothing she had not endured before. But that did not make it any less painful. She glanced outside the barred window only to catch a glimpse of a herd of pegasi soaring past at a speed that even sound would envy. She didn't have to see them clearly in the blackness of night, one glimpse at their incredible pace told them that those were the Wonderbolts. Her heroes, her idols, and once even her mentors. Her mentors who once gave her the only respect she ever had in the cold, cruel world she had been born into. They taught her the one moral she ever learned to live by, the one rule she believed would make her a good, respectable and moral pony. They taught her to work harder and to push herself further than all others, and that in return she would be rewarded with respect and favour. She followed that mantra to the end, and they threw her out. Threw her like garbage that had long outlived its usefulness. Now they saw her as no better than a traitor. Now she was nothing more than a disgrace. But most tragic of all, now she was no better than the common criminal scum that deserved nothing. She had a future, a life, and most of all she had friends. But now she had nothing. Not even friendship. Lightning, the hardest working student in her class, who sacrificed what few days she had off to improve her skills and studies even further, had been left in the dust. How fitting for the outcast named Lightning dust, and how very very ironic. How long she had been left here to rot, she had long lost track of. Not that it mattered in the end, since her punishment was to last her entire life anyway, or at least what she had left of it. She didn't expect to live long like this. One glance at the several lasting marks the unforgiving whip had left on her, told her that it wouldn't be many years anyway. She sighed irrepressibly. Her friend "Dash" was probably celebrating her victory in euphoric bliss, and for all she knew, was probably already in one of those beautiful uniforms living her dreams. A part of Lightning could not help but feel jealousy and to some extent even betrayal. Surely he couldn't expect her to be fine after the way Spitfire ejected her away in such a manner. Did it not occur to her even once in the forgotten period of time she had been jailed for, to even inquire about her state? No, was clearly the answer. Her dreams were clearly much more important than a one time "friend" she had known for no more than one day, two days tops. Another part felt regret. Regret for endangering the lives of five innocent ponies who were almost killed because of her. Five innocent lives were nearly lost because of her. However any lawyer were to analyse her actions that day, they could only conclude that five lives were almost lost because of her and that she deserved the blame. She didn't expect Dash to care. Evil murderers who went around killing for their own sick amusement, were not worth the time of good, law abiding citizens. It wasn't as if she wanted to endanger life. Proud of her actions that tragic day was something she was not. But it did not matter in the end. Attempted murder was attempted murder, even if it was an unfortunate and unintended accident mixed with a unlucky case of wrong time, wrong place. She didn't know that five ponies would be there, they just appeared, seemingly out of nowhere particular. She had no warning, no prediction, no time to change what could have been changed had she just known what it would have led to. The tornado, it wasn't meant to injure anyone. No one was supposed to be injured, no one was meant to get hurt. It was meant to be a harmless and efficient way of carrying out her orders. And as Lightning closed her sore, reddened eyelids in an attempt to fall asleep on the cold metal floor, she knew that this would be what every last day of her life would comprise of. This was the ending to a story to which a happy ending could not be earned written by an emotionless, sadistic sicko who delighted in seeing the tears and lamentations of his readers. Happy ever after for her , was happy everyone was after her. It didn't take long for sleep to come. She gave herself up to the brief respite of a very short rest, and fell asleep cursing. Cursing the cold, hard fact that in the life of a prisoner, tomorrow would be just as grim as yesterday. Her resentment and desire to one day be free of this state, was belied only by her sheer remorse and guilt which she knew would hurt far more than the beatings she was given tomorrow or any day for that matter ever would. Part of her could not help but feel justified to this eternal torment considering just how close she had come to killing those five ponies she endangered. That part of her would gladly have traded anything to be given the chance to give them the apology she never had the chance to give them. But she couldn't apologise to them now, or ever. The guilt of her actions that day, would follow her to her grave and beyond. And that, that was the worst kind of torment. The worst of the worst.