G4.05: Special Delivery
Even through the walls, James could recognize the familiar sound of quadcopter rotors spinning somewhere nearby. She rose from where she'd been studying, ignoring her racing heart as she darted to the window, and scanned the sky with acute eyes. The quality of pony eyesight in daylight was one of the many wonders James had discovered since leaving her confines of the basement, and it was an ability that came even more naturally than flight. There was no need to run outside and get the attention of the passing drone—her house didn't have real windows so much as openings to the sky covered in ice. Ice so thin she could break it with her hooves if she wanted, which was exactly what she did now. Once she made a sizeable hole, the rest crumbled away in a wave. She could only hope Lightning Dust wouldn’t be too mad.
The delivery drone wasn't meaningfully different from the ones that delivered packages back on Earth, a slim plastic drone covered in solar paint with six soft plastic propellers. This one had the same design they did, which minimized "sound bleed" by focusing almost all the noise directly downward. Not all of it, obviously, since she'd still heard it. Still, these ponies could fly. Did anyone see you? James thought, nervously watching the drone as it soared in over her head and landed on the bare floor. Well, landed wasn't quite the right word.
It tried to land, but the cargo box it was carrying sunk through the clouds like they weren't there, and the whole thing nearly went tumbling through the house.
James jumped after it with an urgent scream of pain and frustration, ignoring the spinning propellers as they raked shallow gouges in her coat and tangled up in her mane. She got her forelegs around the box the drone was carrying just as the floor completely dissolved, and she went tumbling through into the kitchen. She crashed down on the table, which was made of clouds as much as anything else, and smashed into the ground floor, sinking nearly a foot into the clouds.
Only then did she realize she was bleeding, chunks of her mane had been ripped out, and she'd smashed the drone into two pieces. It was a little tricky to climb out while keeping one hoof wrapped around the drone, which still squeaked and struggled in vain, electric agony. She surged out of her fluffy white prison, climbing up onto the floor and hugging the broken drone to her chest like the survivor of a shipwreck might cling to her flotation device. Several large chunks of broken plastic that had once been part of the drone slid off her chest, leaking fluid and trailing wires as they fell out of the house into the abyss below.
None of that mattered. Clutched in James's hooves was a hard-shell plastic case, so large she could only just hold it. Inside were replacements for all her gear. No more struggling with paper, no more living in the dark. With her computation surface, everything would be good again. James might very well complete her mission in weeks, if she worked really hard. After that... she'd be free to do whatever she wanted.
James still didn't know what that would be, but it would probably involve living with Lightning Dust.
* * *
Lightning Dust knew something was wrong from the very moment she stepped into the factory. She walked straight to the big magnetic board of assignments the way they all did when it was time to start a workday, removing the metal card she used to check in from her saddlebags and holding it in her mouth as she approached.
The board divided the labor of weather creation in Stormshire into three basic sections: Raw Materials, Production, and Distribution. The last category was by far the most glamorous of any weatherpony's job, and it was always reserved for the most skillful ponies. Lightning Dust always had the pick of any assignment she wanted, and she could always find the magnet with her own name at the very top of "Distribution." Everywhere Stormshire went, she was always leading whatever weather crew was out distributing what they produced.
Yet her name was no longer in the top slot. It was no longer on the board at all. She hadn't even been placed into the intern level of production, where young ponies visiting for summers frequently watched work at the factory. She searched the floor, wondering if perhaps her magnet had slipped off the board somehow, but there was no sign of it. Dust sighed, making her way over to the locker room anyway. She walked down the back of the building, through huge spaces packed with machinery. Thanks to the cooperation of the tribes and the introduction of unicorn magic, a job that would've taken hundreds of pegasus ponies now took only about a dozen.
The lockers were full of chatting ponies, each of them at least on friendly terms with her. She'd had brief flings with a few, though nothing had lasted. Dust didn't live such a meandering lifestyle because she was good at commitments.
As she entered, the entire factory went silent. Half a dozen ponies—mares and stallions half-dressed in their weather gear—all stared at her as though she'd grown another set of wings. Dust felt herself tense, but she didn't say anything. Though she didn’t know for sure, she had her suspicions. Mentally she prepared herself for what was to come next.
Lightning Dust didn't want to be traveling the world without a home. When she had finally saved up the bits to move to Cloudsdale she hadn't expected she would ever leave. Unfortunately, life hadn't been kind in that respect. It never is.
Dust found her locker combination no longer worked. She tried unlocking it, going through the motions as though she didn't already know what was coming next. After three attempts, she sighed, turning for the far door and leaving her locker with all her stuff still inside.
Stormshire's weather supervisor had an office on the top floor, with wide round windows that overlooked the sky for miles around. She found the door already hanging open, and so she didn't bother knocking. It wasn't as though she didn't already know how this would end.
Morning Showers was sitting at her desk as she always was, going over a stack of weather schedules with a forced nonchalance. Yet as she looked, Dust found a brown box resting in one corner of the room, a box already packed with Dust's belongings. "Morning," Showers said, watching her come in. "I suppose you'll be..."
"You could say that, yeah," Dust interrupted. She could feel her whole body tensing. She was ready for a fight, even if she didn’t expect one. It was easy to see the transformation in their eyes—she was an outsider now. A herd was great until its members all turned on you. "What gives?"
"Well, uh..." Showers took a deep breath, lifting several folded sheets of paper from the table beside her and setting them atop the weather report. Dust could read the headline even from several feet away: “Wonderbolts Cadet Dismissed in Disgrace After Injuring Several." A black and white picture of herself was right below the title, glaring at the camera as officers of the Air Corps escorted her away. It hadn't been her most photogenic day. "Look, there's no painless way to say this."
"Go on." Dust sat down on her haunches, glaring across the desk. "I can wait. Apparently I don't have a duty shift." Dust would never have spoken to her boss this way before—at least not before getting a liter of cider in her first. But she'd done this dance three times now, and it always ended the same way. Being friendly with the boss never helped, so what was the point? The least she could do was make the experience as miserable and difficult as possible. It was only fair.
"Right, right." Showers opened the article. "Look, I need to know, Dust. Is this true? The Examiner isn't known to be sensationalist. If you can tell me what I'm reading here didn't happen, or didn't happen the way it says..."
Dust shook her head. "I don't know what it says. But if it says ponies got hurt and it was my fault, it's right. That's the only thing you ponies ever care about."
There was a long, awkward silence. Showers folded up the worn-looking newspaper. Dust had once wondered what it would take to gather up each copy—not a feat a common pony could accomplish, unfortunately. There was no way to escape her shame.
"I can't have you on a crew anymore," Showers eventually said. "I'm not the only one who saw this. Someone was passing copies—"
"Yeah, I bet." Dust didn't even try to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "I know Nightwing resents me after I wouldn't go on a second date with him. Lots of others... ponies can't fly like I do, couldn't beat me, so they'll talk about me behind my back and spread rumors. I get it."
"No, you don't." Morning Showers rose to her hooves, taking a deep breath. "Dust, you know the kind of trust a weather team needs in each of its members. I didn't plan on doing anything... but no one will be your wingpony."
"So, I'll work in the factory," Dust said flatly. "I can do every job there better than anypony you have. Just tell me where to report."
"Sorry Dust, that isn't happening either—for your safety, as much as ours. The Wonderbolts are national heroes. Learning what you did to them, how badly you—"
"Cadets," Dust interrupted, raising her voice a little. "Cadets who flew so weak they wouldn't make it onto the backup reserve here in Stormshire.”
"Doesn't matter," Showers said, her voice firm. "The point is that you're dangerous and I don't want you in my factory. You're gone."
Dust sighed. This part of the dance was always the worst. The first time she'd been fired this way, she had tried hiring a lawyer, defending herself in court. It wasn't right that one mistake would be held against her for the rest of her life, a mistake that hadn't even done permanent injury to a single pony. She had learned many things during that fight, but the most painful lesson was that they could fire her. It didn't matter that all weatherponies worked for the crown. "I do not quit," she said, speaking slowly and clearly. "I do not resign."
"It'll be easier for everypony," Showers said, her expression hardening. "Take your stuff and go."
"I do not resign," she said again, her voice flat and determined. "I'm the best performing pony in this factory. If you want me out, you'll have to fire me."
Morning Showers swore under her breath, throwing several of her drawers open in frustration. She pulled out a pad of paper a moment later, along with a pen. "You claim to be loyal," she muttered, glaring. "But you make me do this. This factory has had a hard-enough quarter."
Dust shrugged. "I've saved lives, Showers. I took in an orphan when the rest of this damn place let her rot in a basement. I think the least I've earned is the severance pay I need to relocate."
Showers only grunted, scribbling rapidly on the sheet. It was the standard message, informing that she'd been terminated from employment and was due a lump sum of no less than three months’ wages. As she had expected, Showers couldn't put a single critical remark on that page about her work performance. That's never what it's about though, is it?
Dust took the note with a matching glare of her own, storming over to the box and dumping its contents into one side of her saddlebags. It wasn't as though she had very much—a few flightsuits, some spare goggles, and a few old posters. She didn't care that she was crushing many of them.
Dust managed to keep her cool on her way out of the factory, walking with her shoulders straight and her hooves crushing the clouds confidently below her. Yet with each step she made, she grew less confident. Her breathing became shallower, her heart started to race. Why did it have to be so soon? The mayor was responsible for this somehow, he had to be. But what could she do?
Nothing, as usual. There was no way to get even, only to get away. Only now I'm not the only one I should worry about. Lucky Break was hardly in an emotionally stable position, almost constantly at the edge of hysteria. She was learning Eoch quickly, but that was about the only thing in her life that seemed to be going well. She isn't ready to move.
Dust stopped outside the factory, staring across town at her own house in its slow drift. Maybe she'd be better off if I gave her back. It wouldn't be hard. If anything, it would only show the mayor that he'd won. It would be her admission that she'd been wrong. How many more basements will she have to sleep in if I do? That wasn't to say the little pony had much better prospects waiting for her if she did accompany Dust to wherever she traveled next. Whatever fortune Dust had once enjoyed was now gone. Lucky would be in for a long ride across Equestria, bound for who knew what destination.
Would she even want to? After hearing her story... It was more than possible she would want to remain close to whatever power had sent her, so that she could return when her mission was complete. Assuming any part of that story had been true.
But having a little filly would probably help me. Ponies would be way more likely to give me a job if they knew I was supporting somepony. Dust shook her head and forced herself to banish those thoughts as she took flight for city hall. She would not become the sort of pony she hated, who manipulated the lives of others for their own personal gain. She wouldn't have to decide, really. She could give the pony what had never been given to herself: a choice. The filly might not have her cutie mark, but she was old enough to make decisions for herself.
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8180707
Minor curiosity: Dust mentioned the "dark forbidden magic" of the minotaurs. Is it something similar to dragonkind eldritch rites from the previous trilogy?
I just hope we won't have to wait too long to find out why Mayor Jackass would do this over some strange filly. The fact that he has not even attempted to use more that a token "official" argument and instead resorted almost immediately to bribery, threats and personal attacks does not fill me with confidence as to the legality of his motives.
Dust really got the short end of the stick in that episode. She had been doing everything the bolts pushed her to do. Only to get tossed out because a group of idiots (in her eyez) decided to fly in dangerous and probably restricted airspace. Twilight and co. had no business flying a baloon there. I like to think Spitfire was more worried about pissing off the princesses if Twi and the elements got injured so she cut Dust loose to save face
Guys, he said the probe was handling its own resource extraction.
Think real hard about what all goes into being able to consider drones expendable.
'Cause I'm not sure it's a coincidence that the thing is in the badlands...
Wow, a lot of the ponies so far are really sucky in the humanitarian (ponytarian?) department. Or is it just moondancer and stormshire in particular? LD must have been really desperate to come here.
a exultant chapter.
I have a feeling this is going to turn in to a fight for Dust to keep Lucky, and I have a vary good idea of ware dust can go / do for this to happen.
but I will not give out spoilers if Starscribe is interested he is free to contact me for my idea.
And I'm just sitting here waiting for foals in power-armor to come raining hot molten lead on a bunch of mother-f^ckers.
8192244
Well, really, have the Bolts ever done anything in canon that puts them in a good light? They're missing from most major battles. When they show up they're swatted down instantly. They fail to rescue a single falling unicorn, then barely remember the name of the person who saved their lives. They watch an important water delivery almost fail, and lift not a feather to help. They abandon an injured teammate and try to replace him for the Equestria Games. Their treatment of Lightening Dust (encouraging her behavior, then pulling the rug out from under her when someone politically connected complains) is just the middle of a loooong string of failures and douche-baggery.
Honestly, while not outright villians, you have to wonder why the Wonderbolts are held in any higher esteem than, say, Blueblood.
I expect LD's world to be shattered with the Alien revelation next chapter.
Since Dust almost certainly got fired over James, it doesn't seem likely the mayor is going to want them leaving town, and that's the obvious thing for Dust to do next. If there are ponies from the mayor's office about to arrive and insist Dust is too unemployed to look after James, those injuries from the drone aren't going to look too good.
Wow, sad that LD lost her job... But it makes sense for the story of the struggles she has faced and we'll face when she finally understands that the filly is an alien and she has to protect her from forces that either don't want aliens come in peace or make sure that Equi is the only living planet out there...
I knew the package would fell, at least joe caught it and threw out the droid... Boy, that was scary for her, I thought for a moment she would fell out of the house down below
I have a question. What is the G3 & G4 stand for, and was there another story with G1 & G2?
Which way to go which way to go there seems to be 2 ways cloud surfaces are handled in many stories. Unless its necessary for plot tables, counters will support mundane things or at least no attention is paid to any necessary prep to keep them from falling. Otherwise they have to be enchanted which I hope is a better spell than the cloud walking spell other wise you'd have to get a unicorn to renew it every few days.
8192366 Lets keep in mind the show focuses mainly on Twilight and company. Otherwise nothing has shown them overly good though you could dismiss that as the writers don't want them to overshadow the Mane six.
8192407 I think the mayor will be happy to just have them gone less noise less trouble and nothing to rock the boat
8192407
Replacement equipment: One shortwave relay transmitter. One portable computation surface. One nonlethal incapacitation sidearm. Food and water. Something to carry it all in.
I wonder if a taser will work against Pegasi.
unless it uses other means to knock them out...
oh almost forgot the "standard XE-201 suit" ; "woven of rigid biopolymer" ; "tough enough to stop a bullet" ; "and with enough strength-enhancement to help her bend crystallized durasteel if she needed to."
punching and bucking might work to stop those "ponies from the mayor's office"
really I just want to see the suit used, to toss that slimy bureaucrat of a Mayor, into a wall
8192467
G3 and G4 are version numbers for bodies created by the probe. G3 is "filly pegasus" (i.e. James) and G4 is "adult (mare) pegasus", with the problem during incubation that kept James as a child fixed. It's not spelled out what G1 and G2 were, but the most likely seems to be a generation of standard humans for G1 and a generation of either modified humans or a generation of a different Equestrian lifeform for G2.
Either G1 or G2 or a mix of both were probably present in the underground base that the probe had to clear of bodies and bullet holes for the newest generation to inhabit. G2 being, say, a generation of changeling drones who were biologically disposed to do what the first changeling queen they met ordered might be an explanation of what went wrong previously, though that's just a guess.
8192514 Thats a really interesting answer. I have to wonder if Changlings came from G1 & G2, and maybe the reason why they have to feed on love is because something went wrong building the emotions of the person...
Only cure that was found to restore Changlings to what they we're originally meant to be was what happen in S6.
That's a neat theory that I would definitely like to see.
Am I the only one worried about how James' stuff is going to fall and get broken the very instant she tries to put it down on literally any surface?
8192546
I thought about that too, but there is a table that is enchanted, and not cloud I think.. cause the last shortwave relay transmitter was resting on a surface
Aww, poor Lightning
The lack of foresight on what these so called Elements of Harmony to those they slam to the ground is really irritating. Look at Trixie, she was a showmare who was tempted to the Alicorn Amulet because Twilight and her gang outright demonise her reputation and career. Harmony my ass.
Well time to find a new place to live. This isn't the first time this has happened and Dust is prepared.
8192598 were they responsible for the "demonizing" in this fic? RD gave Dust a much deserved dressing down for her recklessness, but demonizing? No. Twilight may not have been very trusting after Trixie after incident number two (as seen when glimmer befriended her), but she wasn't shown actively spreading rumors in canon, and a bit of heckling is a far cry from demonizing.
Them demonizing the ponies in question is strictly your headcanon, nothing more.
Within THIS FIC, it's clearly not their fault. No, this is all on the stupid mayor for dredging this back up.
8192900 Just to add to that, nothing that happened to Trixie was Twilight's fault. Sure, Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity kinda screwed over her show for no good reason, but the Ursa thing was Snips and Snails' fault, not Twilight's. If Twilight had done nothing, how many ponies would the Ursa have killed?
I feel kinda on the fence about Lightning in this fic. Sure, she admits that she screwed up, but she's still pulling a "It wasn't that big a deal," when ponies could've died, and basically blaming them for not being stronger, that's messed up. Still, she's probably earned forgiveness, and I don't feel like she deserves to get fired. And she is good enough to consider James/Lucky's needs ahead of her own.
I never thought about it that way. Twilight is pretty oblivious of the political power that comes from being Celestia's student and I agreee that it was a dumb idea for her to fly a balloon near the academy. Barring the vaudeville conponies, LD and the other minor characters are only villains because the Mane Six (sans Fluttershy) has screwed 'em over in some form.
Well now that I think about it I wonder what happened to lightening dust after the academy, unless there was an episode I missed in the past about her.
Bet we'll see het the season, it does seem the season of recuring past characters. Lol
And so we come to the realization, that Lightning Dust has problems too.
8192244
What I'm worried about is that there's even more going on around that matter in this story than what's in canon; remember, this is an AU story...the author could have easily set things up so that matter went even worse in some manner (probably politically) than it did in the episode. Considering that ponies were legitimately injured by LD's own confession, that right there is enough for me to suspect more happened in that event than it did in the episode.
The question remains...what? And why are ponies apparently so up in arms over it?
As for the timing...that obviously deals with James being in the picture. Somebody somewhere high up, higher up than that pawn of a mayor, definitely knows more than the public and wants very much to hide it, and does not appreciate LD trying to mess that up, unknowing or not. I very much would like to know who that someone is, and the details on what's being covered up. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's the same thing the probe is covering up as well...something went very wrong sometime before all of this, that much is certain.
Convicted criminals actually do get treated this way, even if they've served their sentence and haven't committed any further crime. The only way it wasn't realistic is that they didn't give Lightning Dust that schpiel in the very first job interview, forcing her to live on the streets, or perhaps enslaving her into hard labor, under unfair contracts, because nopony else will hire her. Well, that and the magical cloud buildings. Lightning Dust had to go out into the boonies to find work, but at least she found work for a while before ponies figured it out. In our "real world" we force each other to remain under constant surveillance from birth to death, allowing exploitation to continue even after one has reformed, denying anyone a second chance. Every employer on the planet will know every wrong you've ever committed, your privacy bedamned. (Mostly because of income tax and "immigrants booga booga.") Even if they're jerks, it's nice to know ponies haven't gotten as crazy about surveillance as people have become in reality.
Wow that was kind of all over the place. But I'm saying you did a good job highlighting the tragedy of Lightning Dust being unable to escape her stigma. James? Who's James? Moar Lightning Dust!
And now to wait another week to see Dust reaction to drone's package and to hope that Lucky's injuries aren't considered abuse by anyon
8193778 It depends here convictions for minor crimes are removed from a persons criminal record after seven years for this reason.
8193832 Oh dear, I hope that doesn't come to that but hey that actually might happen.
8192244 Sorry, but no. You're being way to lenient on LD there. Even if they were in "restricted air space" (which was definitely not established in the episode), it was still LD's showboating that sent them plummeting to their deaths. If RD hadn't caught them, they would have been killed. That's simply not excusable, regardless of who they were or where it happened.
I would argue that Spitfire bears some of the blame for ignoring the warning signs about LD and egging her on. (Also, if it *was* restricted air space as you suggest, why the hell did Spitfire not have sentries out there to turn them back?) But even granting that, LD still absolutely deserved to be kicked out for it.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily justify her being fired here. If she's been a solid and dependable member of the team, then that should be what matters. But to try to blame this on Twilight is simply wrong. LD *did* make a pretty horrible mistake that nearly killed a few ponies, and it's come back to bite her (in an arguably unfair way, but nonetheless).
8192900
Nothing against either argument but the show has shown that almost all ponies are rumor mongers that easily believe the worst of others despite the supposed harmony of ponies and take the views of the mane six as influential. That's means they don't have to actually demonize anyone as long as someone somehow publicly opposed them in some way where everyone else thinks the mane six are in the right chances are it's blown out of proportions by somepony. The show wavers back and forth on how influential the mane six are but logically it makes sense if you look at some of the things ponies who have openly opposed them have had to deal with. And if you accept the comics as well then yeah the mane six have screwed over the lives of enough beings whether they realize it or not that they're even willing to help villians just to get back at them. Ironically the biggest example of this is in the only comic arc that the show's head director and most of the writers acknowledge enough that they won't do anything in the show that could invalidate it as canon.
8193858 I wasn't aware of that. That's good news, at least. But still, I doubt possession of drugs is ever what you'd call a "minor" charge. Then there's gang related crime, which ironically causes everyone except that gang to exclude you. Most times, criminals are just idiots and jerks who we'd be wise to exclude, since the justice system isn't that broken, but it's those few rare exceptions that really make me sad. Should be a way to show people that you've learned your lesson. I personally would trust a criminal with a clean record more than someone who hadn't yet committed a crime. At least the former had to prove themselves, and if they were still untrustworthy, they'd have committed more crimes since then.
Awww so short :0
aww darn, you stopped right before the scene i wanted to see
I'm a bit surprised Lightning didn't take a more direct shot at the comment, "if you care about loyalty, why do you want compensation for being forced out of a job for prior bad behavior that has never been an issue while you worked here?" But maybe she just figures that her boss's mind is irrevocably made up and doesn't even care about pointing out the hypocrisy.
If the firing is really due to the leaked information and not direct string-pulling, I wonder if Lightning couldn't find a place that would at least let her work in the factory and not a weather team, as Lightning suggested she would accept. Unless this sort of "soft exile" shunning completely permeates the culture, I guess.
Aww, poor Dust. And the problem is, she IS trying to be better. But that mistake is going to haunt her forever.
Not terribly surprising, but still saddening. There's definitely something inthe shadows that's not pleased with Lightning Dust right now. The question is who and what they want with James.
As for James herself, there's the not-inconsiderable issue of her stuff not being enchanted yet. That's going to be very awkward. I can only imagine what Lightning's going to think when she gets home, especially given the cuts and the broken window.
Oh god, It just occurred to me. The broken ice "Glass", The wounds on James, the firing of lightning dust... Someones probably gonna visit the home and say how she can't support the foal without a job.... and well. Glass + Wounds + Left at home alone.
What are the days you update
8205694
Every Saturday.
8192313
I don't think that's likely, since their mission is to negotiate rather than to subjugate, but like a certain strange doctor, they can continue their offer to negotiate for quite a long time.
If things were THAT bad, I would almost say either form a suit, go to the princesses, or change your name/fur colors and hope for the best
I feel like Lightning hasn't really learned much from her experiences. Instead, it seems she is trying to run away from it, act like it never happened, and then layer good deeds on herself to make it look like she's better for it. But this is evidence A.
Yes, they were cadets, and yes, they didn't fly well, but is that really how you want to approach the situation? Because if that's how she sees it, that they were just cadets that couldn't fly very well anyway, then what did she learn? She should have seen that, at the end of the day, it was her actions that got her expelled from the academy. She is the reason why the tornado went out of control. She is why ponies were injured and nearly died.
If anything, I can accept the idea that she is pissed about her past constantly stopping her future, but I already know that if she really wanted to become a better pony, she would have made it right with the ponies she wronged, and it is evident that didn't happen is will most likely never happen.
However, I feel like she isn't a bad pony. I feel like she is a broken one, one that (in this story) had a hard life that she had to overcome by not being nice. I wonder if having James to take care of (even though his mind is that of a 50-year-old) will change her and maybe bring out her motherly instincts or something. It could really help to calm her down in the long run.
8419584
It depends on interpretation.
Yes Lightening Dust messed up by pushing further than she was capable - but the wonderbolt instructors rewarded and encouraged and approved of that behaviour right up until Dash (a national hero) threatened to quit. Then they started to 'care'. And it's hardly the only time the wonderbolts have engaged in ethically dubious behaviour to try and get Dash on their team. Lightening Dust has good cause to believe that the wonderbolts threw her under a bus and used her as a scapegoat just so they could remain buddies with a more popular pony.
Compare and contrast Twilight Sparkle destroying part of Canterlot Castle and 'assaulting ponies with magic' when she hatched Spike.
Darn you and your vivid characterization- I read this and then dreamed that I'd gotten sacked.
8428266
For further comparison, Lightning Dust messed with a few Cadets and endangered the lives of the Mane Six. For her crimes she was thrown out, and is now being condemned by the court of public opinion. Twilight Sparkle mind-controlled the population of an entire town, and started a riot that in a non-cartoon world would have lead to children like the CMC being trampled to death. For this, she got a stern lecture, and got off scott-free. I call bullshit. Cronyism at its finest, folks.
8976911
I just realized how many laws Twilight has broken when it comes to studying magic, and how much she has gotten rewarded for it. Using magic on non-consenting sentient creatures (parents/Spike), dark magic (Crystal Empire), manipulation of the timeline, mind controlling an entire population center, however small. Only one of these would be defensible in court, which is the first one, if magic surges are a common occurrence in Equestria, because it could be argued that she wasn't in control of her actions. As for any who would say that dark magic wouldn't be outlawed, between Nightmare Moon and Sombra, you would have to be retarded to keep it around as a legal form of magic.