The Long Reach - Part 2
As the sun rose on the morning of the second day of exercise long reach, pegasus ponies from two platoons woke up and got out of their tents one by one at the guard base outside White Tail Woods. Amongst each team, there were sounds of discussion and laughter as they all had breakfast, suited up into their armour, packed up their tents, reviewed their routes for their journeys, and waited for their turn to take off.
That was, except for the team comprised of Gallus, Scythe, Nicknames, Pound Sterling, and Lightning Dust. Whether it was the feeling that Razorwing was looking over them or the feeling that Lightning Dust’s constant gloomy expression might break if the wrong thing were said louder than a whisper, but the cadets could feel a tension so thick that it could be cut with a knife.
Once breakfast was over for them, each cadet put on their suit of armour, at that moment only providing protection to segments of their bodies on the cold winter morning. For Gallus, suiting up was a shorter process as he wore his leather boots and gloves before ever leaving his tent, his claws and paws never felt warmer being wrapped in such tacky garments.
As tents were being packed up, the cadets could only catch a glance at Lightning Dust fixed to her map, still sullen over the anger she was met with that night and the upset she was caught in soon after. It was only after they were all packed up and lined up in the same upside-down V formation from the day prior, and given the salute to signal take-off, that Lightning Dust final spoke up.
“Wings out.” Her words were calm and dulled, evidently heard by the rest of the team as each cadet stretched out their wings, yet with a volume of a casual conversation instead of a loud call. Combined with her slouched stance, the other cadets looked to each other, aware her enthusiasm had dropped since the day prior. “Steppin’ Time, left side clear?”
“Oh uh, all clear!” answered Pound Sterling as she glanced leftward, she seized briefly upon being called. Lightning Dust calmly nodded and continued.
“Nicknames, right side clear?”
“All clear.” His answer was monotone as he held his head facing rightward, likely to avoid any actions that would lead to a horseshoe in the face.
Instead, Lightning Dust set her targets on the two cadets in the back, as she swung her head around to look behind. “Bluebird, Mumbles, rear-end clear?” she asked with a slighting glare.
Gallus and Scythe looked at each other, they recognised why she was glaring at them almost instantly. They were the two cadets who called out Lightning Dust’s actions that resulted in them getting late and almost injured in the process, so they sensed whatever state she was in, they were not on her good side for the time being. Scythe gave a slight nod to insinuate that they should play along, and so Gallus turned back to look at the louring turquoise mare.
“Um, all clear?”
Lightning Dust slowly turns her head back to face forward, the pre-flight checks were done, all that was left was the runway and cloudy sky that draped over the base and the woodlands.
“Okay, in three, two, one, take off!”
The cadets ran down the stretch and quickly took off, gaining altitude quickly as they flapped their wings against the cool winter breeze. Perhaps it was because of how chilled the air was that day, but the flight was less strenuous than it was the previous day. The weight of their armour and camping equipment had only lessened by a fraction of a kilo, yet none of them hardly noticed it trying in vain to pull them towards the ground.
As soon as they passed over the White Tail Woods, they turned to travel south-east, going over the river and towards the destination of their first flag, the Ghastly Gorge. “Flag spotted!” Nicknames pointed out the red flag dug into the grass on the west edge of the gorge, and Lightning Dust immediately descended towards the flag, the rest of the cadets followed to make a safe landing to capture their fourth flag of the exercise.
The team took a quiet break near the cliff edge, grabbing snacks from their rucksack and catching their breath. Nicknames took the few minutes to lie down on the soft grass, using his rucksack like a large hard pillow, whilst Scythe and Pound Sterling took to peering over the edge. Gallus considered joining in their fun observations on the grounds below, he recalled Sandbar and his family taking a hike when he was little and told stories of the eerie sound of winds blowing out of the cave and the chilling growl of what were apparently giant quarry eels that lived within them. He was a little curious if those sounds were as ghastly as he tried to make them out to be, it was the nightmare night he told it, enough to give Ocellus nightmares.
However, he looked over towards Lightning Dust, she was looking at her map with serious intent sat furthest away from every other cadet. She did not talk to anyone, not even Pound Sterling, the cadet she was at least closest to. He casually approached Sterling and stood to her left side, as she was in the middle of leaning as far as she could over the gorge without falling in. Gallus figured that if anyone most likely knew how Lightning Dust was feeling at that moment in time, it would be her.
“Hey,” he called out in a whisper, keeping his eyes fixed towards the stream flowing at the bottom of the gorge to avoid gaining attention, “how is Lightning Dust doing after the, you know…?” He quickly glanced over and saw her smile shift into a hard line. She knew that Gallus was referring to the moment last night when the team found her crying behind a tree.
She carefully leant her head towards Gallus, keeping her eyes fixed towards the same stream, “Dunno, she din’t say a wud all neet,” she admitted in a low whisper covered by her accent, even when it was just the two of them lying in the same tent as her roommate, she was quiet. She quickly turned her head to catch Lightning Dust staring outwards towards the sky, as another team could be seen flying overhead. It was clear that her continued silence was strange, even to Sterling. “Neva seen ‘er actin’ all stoic bafore,” she quietly remarked.
Gallus leant forward and lowered his head, although to appear as if to look deeper, to glance over at Scythe on Sterling’s other side as he cautiously looked over and turn his head, so his ears faced downwards. Gallus knew that if it wasn’t for both Scythe and him being honest and calling her out, Lightning Dust wouldn’t have gotten the berating she had from Staff Sergeant Razorwing.
He asserted in his mind that she deserved to be called out, but there was an inkling in his mind that maybe she did not deserve to get upset over it. “You think that maybe we had something to do with it?” asked Gallus. He had to, if not the way Lightning Dust glared towards the pair earlier that morning, just for a bit of assurance.
Sterling twisted her lip as she paused for thought, then she regained her smile and chucked. “Nah, ya did the reet thin” she answered, giving Gallus a light punch on the arm with no worries as the two were still stood at the very edge of a deep and sharp-rocked gorge. “She might be pissy at ya, but she’ll get o’er it.”
“Alright, lunchtime’s over. Let’s get a move on to our last checkpoint at the ruins.”
Lightning Dust firmly called the other cadets to take off as a group, Gallus turned to look over as the other cadets made their way towards her. “Pissy, huh…” he thought as he stared at her waiting for the team with a fixed jaded gaze, it made sense in his mind, but the thought of her getting over it was attached strongly to the question of when. He finally made his way over to the formation, as he oddly sensed a low growl emitting from underneath.
The team were back up in the air and followed their way north up the gorge with the plan to go east over the Everfree forest. Although not the most direct route, it was probably better than the thought of any wind pulling the cadets into the gorge in any way by flying over it. That did not mean their route was void of danger, as they were nearing the end of the gorge and the edge of the forest, a dark billowing in front of them.
“There’s a storm cloud ahead of us.” Nicknames called out, his non-clamant tone revealing his sense of deja-vu. There was no response from Lightning Dust, her eyes held forward and her speed was picking up.
“Should we nip aroun’ it?” Pound Sterling asked loudly through the passing breeze, but like before, there was no response. “Dusteh?” The more they kept flying, the cloud was closer, appearing slightly bigger by the second. The cadets peered at each other, with deadpanned looks as they saw another incoming trip through a thunderous storm cloud.
Gallus gave an audible groan from the back of the formation, anticipating the heavy winds and lightning bolts to try and follow him, certain that Lightning Dust’s upset before was probably just for show. Why wouldn’t she try to make the whole group sorry for her because she got yelled at for something she did?
However, Nicknames and Pound Sterling noticed Lightning Dust moving towards them. Neither of them changed how fast they were going, yet Lightning Dust was almost flying beside them, her wings flapping at a slower and slower rhythm. Once those two were compelled to slow down, Gallus and Scythe noticed and slowed down. Gradually, the whole team were up in the air, flapping in one spot several metres from the storm cloud.
While still facing towards the dark wafting clouds, Lightning Dust reached her hoof into her rucksack and pulled out the map. She opened it up and started to search through it. “We’re going to pass the clouds on the east side,” she commanded in a dejected mood, before turning around to face the rest of the team. “Once it is behind us, we’ll head towards the ruins. Sound good?” She scanned the team, eventually recognising subtle nods from Nicknames and Pound Sterling. Once she finished, her head darted towards Gallus, “Sound good, Bluebird?”
The second time was sharp and cold, almost as if she were expecting some complaint from the griffon. Gallus gave a half-lidded stare in return, “Yeah. That sounds fine,” he flatly answered. He then folded his arms and raised an eyebrow, “Is something wrong with that?”
The sounds of lightning bolts in the distance filled the air of uncomfortable silence, as the two cadets stared off at each other. “…No. Nothing’s wrong.” One cadet by one, the team made their move around the storm cloud, and on their way to get the last flag.
The team arrived at the ruins to collect their last flag, before making the last leg of their journey towards the academy. When the team flew over Ponyville, Gallus attempted to work out where his friends may have been. It was early in the afternoon, so his friends working at the School of Friendship were likely on their first or second period after class, his friends might see him through their windows. Yona would be working from the Carousel Boutique, and Sandbar would probably be at Saddle Lake, possibly freezing his flank off in the water. He smiled and chuckled to himself at the mental image.
They made their orbit around the mountain where Canterlot stood and descended on the open field in front of the academy. At the edge of the field, a red pegasus mare was watching the sky through binoculars, Captain Westland was waiting for them. The cadets swooped down, flapping against the wind to slow down, their hooves and paws catching on the grass below.
Although they finally landed, that unfortunately did not mean they could relax. The team held the same formation from when they took off on the ground and waited for the captain to meet them face to face. She stood tall and firm, as the cadets gave their salute, their bodies tense as they looked for her approval. Westland nodded, “Your flags?” she asked in a raised voice, checking to see if the team reached all the checkpoints.
Each cadet carried a flag that was collected at a base through the two days: the Rock Farm, Everfree Forest, the Smokey Mountains, the Ghastly Gorge, and the Ruins. The flags were hooved over one by one before Westland addressed the team. “Alright cadets, exercise long reach is over.” Some of the cadets felt their legs loosen underneath them upon hearing those words, the exhaustion from several hours of flying and the short sleep in-between left them struggling to stand. “Change out of your armour and come to my office as a group for your debriefing, understood?”
“Yes, Captain!” the whole team responded in fatigued unison.
“Dismissed.”
It was not long that Lightning Dust, Pound Sterling, Nicknames, Scythe, and Gallus, all got out of their heavy uniforms. Captain Westland walked to her office to see all of them stood outside in single file, once Scythe caught sight of her, the pegasus shot his head upwards and held to attention, the others followed suit shortly after.
She calmly walked past the line and entered her office, she had to prepare her papers for the debriefing, and it was not going to be a short one. She had been receiving messages about the activities of each of the teams over the last two days, but only one of them was crazy enough to fly through a storm over the Evergreen Forest.
Flying through storm clouds was against procedure for pegasus guards, even ones that are controlled by the weather ponies from Cloudsdale. The Everfree Forest clouds are far worse, those clouds move on their own, as bizarre as that was in Equestria, and far more dangerous. No cadet would be in their right might to go through one of them, and yet, given the cadets she called in and lined up in front of her desk, she was not surprised.
“Okay, your total time to complete the exercise was thirty-three hours and twenty minutes, not a winning time by any means, but a good time, given the circumstances during the first half of your journey” she opened cordially as she relaxed into her chair, checking through the time logs of their route. “I’ll be giving detailed assessments on your performances individually, but for now you can all be relieved to know you passed.”
“YES!”
Everyone had turned their heads immediately towards Nicknames, the cyan pegasus turned scarlet as everyone in the office caught him with one of his arms cranked back in silent jubilation. Gallus and Pound Sterling both gave a sardonic smirk, whilst Scythe breathed a heavy sigh of relief, his hindlegs shaking as he resisted the urge to fall backwards. Westland would share in their relief, yet she noticed in the corner of her eye, the one pegasus neither smiling nor celebrating at that moment.
“I would like Lightning Dust to stay behind, the rest of you, disappear.”
The smiles all ceased, any expectation to leave as one whole group had left their minds in an instant. Eyes quickly shifted towards their fellow cadet, but with her stolid expression, Lightning Dust made no effort to look back. Despite internal reluctance, the team turned to face right, marched three steps, and departed from the captain’s office. Pound Sterling was the last to leave, giving one last glance behind her, before following the others towards the dorms.
Captain Westland made Lightning Dust stand in silence in front of her desk, taking time to go into her draw to search through manilla folders one by one, before picking out one that she required. There was no doubt in her mind that Lightning Dust was responsible for the whole ordeal, her logs and messages made that perfectly clear.
There was also no doubt what needed doing either, the Royal Guard Academy had zero tolerance for cadets putting other cadets in harm’s way. Westland stood up behind her desk, resting her hooves on its surface with the folder laid flat in-between. “I believe your staff sergeant, Razorwing, spoke with you the night before. Do you need a reminder, to understand why you’re still in my office?” she asked in her relaxed tone with her eyes fixed on Lightning Dust’s deadpanned look.
“No, Captain” answered a monotoned Lightning Dust.
“Well then, what should we do about your actions?”
The room went silent as the two looked at each other, the captain hardly moving a muscle as Lightning Dust breathed in and closed her eyes, her behaviour signalling anticipation for whatever punishment will come her way. What she did not expect was Westland anticipating her reaction, as the captain leant forward on the desk. “I’m not asking rhetorically by the way, so I expect an answer from you” she followed, her voice had suddenly dropped an octave.
Lightning Dust opened her eyes, dumbfounded by the prompt that she would be expected to answer. She tilted her head, half-expecting the captain to be joking, but Westland had no intention to kid around.
Westland began to open the manilla folder and skim through the pages, as she continued speaking.
“At the start of the exercise, you claimed you were the most experienced flyer of the group, and snarky remarks aside, Officer Cadet Nick was correct when he said you’re the oldest cadet in the First Wing platoon of Larson Company. As such, you should be more than capable of deciding for yourself what should be done to ensure you learn from your actions.”
Lightning Dust was stunned, her jaw dropped. She tried to make a sound, but the most she could muster was a slight stutter. The captain was sincerely requesting her to issue her own punishment for her behaviour.
When no answer could clearly be given, Westland shrugged looked upwards, to give the appearance that she is thinking through other options. “I could simply place you under a warning, but in your case, I’m not convinced that would be enough. Based on the improvements that have been reported today, you can demonstrate responsible leadership, but I’m sure you’ll be back to your original self soon after. Care to take a guess why?”
The bewildered mare glanced down at the manilla folder on the captain’s desk. The pages were a short distance away and upside down, but it was visible enough to make out what the pages consisted of. There were handwritten flight reports, scoresheets, testimonies, all records that had a similar lightning-shaped symbol with outstretched wings.
“The Wonderbolt Academy…” she finally mustered.
Westland responded with a cheeky smirk, which had the effect of being less comforting for the mare she was speaking to. “You know, Captain Spitfire and I have known each other since Junior Speedsters Flight Camp, twenty-five years later and we still catch up,” she casually remarked, referring to Lightning Dust’s drill instructor at her old academy. “That’s beside the point,” Westland continued, her nostalgia trip left brief as she shifted back to a straightened glare, “she considers you somewhat infamous at the academy. She told me how you were a very skilled and determined flyer who was willing to push yourself to the limit, and I agree with that.
“What she also told me, was that you were also reckless and had a disregard for the safety of others, with stunts that injured other students and damaged academy property. When you were promptly expelled, you could have made yourself better, but if I told Spitfire about what happened yesterday with the storm cloud, I can imagine her saying you haven’t changed a bit.”
Lightning Dust’s head started to sink, even though she went through a loud beratement, being reminded of her failures at the Wonderbolt Academy made it hurt even more. And yet, Westland wasn’t done, she had an ultimatum to give.
“Why you joined here and ended up assigned to me we can speculate, but I think you can tell, I’m not going to treat you like Spitfire would. If you want to carry on doing your stunts that endangers everypony but yourself, you should tell me but face the facts that this place is not for you. Or you can give me something that can convince me that the situation we’re in right now won’t happen again.
“So, Lightning Dust, let me reiterate my question: What should we do about your actions?”
Since the day was reserved for exercises, there were no classes or drills to do for the rest of the day. As much of a welcome break for all the cadets, it did not mean they could lounge around freely. In their own dorm room, Gallus and Scythe had the joyous task of studying for their classes. Scythe had his language course, so he was revising his Yakyaki, muttering sentences under his breathe as he lounged on his bed.
Sat hunched over his desk, Gallus wracked his brain over tactical exercises without troops, dragging himself through his notes and sheets on hypothetical scenarios. A scenario involved enemies that could either fly, use magic, or brute strength, and what kind of location they would be in, either open field, forest, mountains, and Gallus had to figure out what soldiers he would need and what manoeuvres they needed to do.
Considering the academy’s high standards to getting the best answers made planning out battle tactics in an Ogres & Oubliette’s game sound like a breeze, as he tried to figure out what kind of soldier would go up against what kind of enemy. The griffon fidgeted in his seat and quietly groaned as he tried to remove the distractions in his head to think straight.
One of the distractions was Lightning Dust’s predicament, he couldn’t help but think of how long it had been since they left her in the captain’s office, wondering if she was still being talked down to, and what would happen to her. She could be kicked out, or even D.O.R’d, just like their former cadet Wind Breaker did. It wasn’t unlikely considering how sudden the news that he was discharged on request, so it was difficult for him to rule it out from his mind.
Another distraction was the sound of talking coming from the hallway of the dorms. The doors were insulated enough that the muffled dialogue was impossible to make out, but the sounds were more likely of two mares. Gallus considered leaving his desk to complain, but he was stopped by the sound of three knocks on the door.
“I’ll get it” Scythe offered, scooting off his bed before Gallus could give any time to object. He briskly made his way over to the door, yet he turned the door handle and opened the door slow and cautiously. When the door was fully open, both Scythe and Gallus froze with surprise at who was on the other side.
“Hey…”
It was Lightning Dust, standing in the middle of the corridor, unsettled with her worn-out hair and her tired eyes. She did not look through the doorway, although that was not out of shame, Gallus and Scythe saw within the frame that Nicknames was also present, sitting inside the opening of the dorm room on the opposite side. In fact, unusually, the only pony that was not in the scene was Pound Sterling, even though there were notions that suggested she should be.
There was a sense of relief to see her back, but Gallus knew that her return was not always good news. “Hey…” he replied with suspicious caution.
“I know that you both may not think of me as being good, considering how I’ve been acting today… and yesterday…” Lightning Dust opened, her voice trailing off as she tried to explain why she was standing where she was. “It does not help that this is difficult to say but…” she turned to look at Gallus, who remained sat at his desk, his body slightly twisted to face her. “Bluebird, a while back you asked why I’m here when I was in the Washouts?”
“Yeah…” he carefully nodded.
“I… wasn’t telling the truth.” She shamefully admitted, taking a deep breath. “At the Washouts, it was great. The crowds loved us, we made a good living, we went all around Equestria like celebrities doing stunts that no other pony dared to try.” A small smile was slowly creeping up as she recalled her time at the Washouts, before fading away as she continued.
“I thought we were an awesome team, but after one bad show where I made an underaged pegasus join the team, the other ponies started to suspect something. They noticed that in every show, at least one of them got hurt, but it was never myself, and I was the one planning and coordinating the stunts for everypony else. Some of them brought it up, I brushed it off, and we carried on. Eventually, after one too many injuries, the others had enough, and I was ousted from the team.”
For a moment, Gallus’ eyes widened. It shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise, since it was clear she was previously kicked out of the Wonderbolt Academy, but getting fired from your own stunt group when you were the leader, it was no wonder that she avoided admitting any of it, until that moment at least.
“The thing is, I enjoy flying, for the thrill, the speed, the danger, it is what I’ve always been best at. I wanted to carry on, but my reputation meant nowhere else would accept me, apart from here.” Her voice started to break; she quickly brought a hoof up to her eyes, preventing any of the others from seeing if they would start to well up. “This academy is the only chance I have left to do what I love, and already I screw it up.”
“I know what I like, but I get carried away. I should not be putting others at risk for my own benefit. So, with that said, I’m… sry…”
Gallus, Scythe, and Nicknames, all raised an eyebrow. “Wait, you’re what?” asked Gallus, openly as they were sure Lightning Dust said something, but she murmured her sentence much worse than Scythe, who remained silent. Lightning Dust, however, was showing reluctance to speak up and started to back away slowly with her head down.
“I’m sorry…”
Although quietly spoken through her teeth, Gallus had read her lips and smirked. “We… didn’t catch that” he teased. Then from out of view, a single white hoof emerged and stomped heavily onto the Lightning Dust’s hind hoof. The fire-maned mare’s face contorted with pain, holding her breath before throwing her head back.
“I’M SORRY!” she blurted out. “I’M SORRY I DIDN’T LISTEN AND ALMOST GOT YOU IN TROUBLE AND DANGER, ALRIGHT?” She then pouted as the sound of distant doors opened to see or hear what the commotion was about, leaving Lightning Dust with a slight shade of red on her face.
“Ahm sorreh too, Dusteh” uttered Pound Sterling, who finally emerged into view, sporting a cheeky grin.
Nicknames smirked as well, he folded his arms and leant against his door frame. “You’re right, that was difficult for you to say,” he snidely remarked. Lightning Dust was quick to stare daggers at him, even if she showed her red pouted face in full view.
Meanwhile, Gallus was processing what Lightning Dust had said with a look of scepticism. It was clear that she was the kind of pony who would make excuses and judge others instead of taking herself to account, something that was apparent earlier in the day. Yet, despite a reluctance, her apology felt sincere.
Perhaps this time, after repeatedly being ousted for her actions, she opened so she could try and make herself better. If that was the case, Gallus felt like he should give her that chance.
“Lightning Dust…” Gallus called out, Lightning Dust turning her head with intrigue “thanks.” As if by magic, Lightning Dust’s mouth curved into a smile, her head arose as if a weight had been lifted on her back.
Pound Sterling caught the smile. “Aww ye see,” she said as she moved her arm over Lightning Dust to pull her into a light hug, “told ya it makes ya feel betta.” This time, Lightning Dust didn’t lose her smile, she didn’t pout, nor felt embarrassed.
Gallus was glad she took the acceptance of her apology well, although he got out of her seat and moved closer to the door, he had an itch left that he needed to get rid of. “So… you’re still gonna be here, right?” he asked, nervously rubbing the back of his head, “I was hoping I could see you in the aerial athletics team.”
Lightning Dust paused for a moment; her mouth twisted as she tried to think of a good answer. It did not give much hope until Lightning Dust started to smirk. “For now, I’m on platoon commander’s warning, and I’m kinda stuck here until the captain says so. When that happens, you’ll be seeing the best flying from a front-row seat, that’s a guarantee” she followed with a wink, before heading off back to her own dorm room with her head held high.
Gallus and Scythe looked at each other, they smirked as they figured she would keep some of her arrogance. She might be taking small steps, but at least this time, she was finally taking steps in the right direction. All it took was a two-day flight across Equestria, and a long reach.
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So...she washed out...from the Washouts. Man, just the sheer irony of that must've stung.
Still, glad to see she's committing to the chance to finally right her ways. Like Gallus, I was worried for a second she was going to give up and leave too, so good to see she's going to stick around for awhile longer. Hopefully the effort pays off for her and things work out for her in the end--surely Lightning's going to get a lasting win eventually.
10866055
You have to keep in mind that Alondro's of the "nuke them now and ask questions later" sort.
Thank you for not writing out lightning dusts character in your story
i am glade to see Dust is going to be around in the story after this mess.
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Honestly, I never thought of it as an option until I was writing this chapter. Even if I did consider it, I still wouldn't do it because 1) she's already been through not learning her lesson and getting kicked out and 2) kicking her out after she faced consequences and broke down in tears would have been cruel.
10873477
Yeah, I see that now, I'd rather not have that mentality commenting on stuff irrelevant to my work.
Well whose fault is that lightning
It should be "I'm not asking rhetorically".
Yep Lightning Dust it looks like your past is coming to bite you again hopefully this will teach you a lesson
Ok wow that was something so it looks like the they turn out to be a little bit awkward between the teammates mostly Lightning Dust she looks like she shut down a little bit but giving a little bit more emotion during the flight but all of them were called in the office and told them that they pass but it looks like the general is not done yet she wants to talk with lightning about her performance saying something that she's very Reckless and putting other ponies endanger during the Wonderbolt Academy but it looks like General wants to give her a chance to prove that she can actually turn this around meanwhile Gallus and Scythe are relaxing or doing something until Lightning Dust came to the room and talk to them and she even talked about her past why she's not with the washouts Apparently because of the controversy about what happened to Scootaloo a lot of ponies and creatures question about her approach even her teammates kicked her out so this was her last chance to prove something and she really don't want to ruin this chance so she apologize to her teammates mostly to gallus and Scythe and that's pretty big of her and it turns out that she's still under a warning and I'm kind of glad that she's not kicked out this is pretty much her Redemption story that we wish we had with her but anyway things turned out pretty well for them I wonder what's going to happen next I guess we'll find out next time
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Fixed. Thanks for pointing that out.
The US military lets people join as late as age 42 if qualified. How old is Lighting? She must be getting to an age where her career as a stunt flyer is winding down.