Lightning Dust's Third Act

by Pip232

4: Cookies And Milk

After exiting the barber shop, Lightning Dust made a beeline for the house she’d seen Scootaloo go in earlier.

As she walked, though, anxiety started to creep in. Scootaloo was a hair’s width from being the one to take the rocket ride and have the same consequences she did. Sure, she backed out but the thought still made her feel mildly ill.

She’d tried to compose what she’d say in her head, but there was honestly no telling how this would go. As she walked up the steps she felt her heart quicken and before she could have second thoughts she quickly knocked on the door. Some rustling could be heard inside before the door opened to reveal a brightly colored earth pony.

There were a few things she immediately noticed about the pony who answered: she was plump, at least a decade older, and definitely pissed off. “Of all the nerve, what are you doing here?”

Lightning Dust gulped, fiddling with the strap on her bag. “I’m here to see Scootaloo, please.”

Holiday narrowed her eyes into a glare. “Scootaloo isn’t here.” Without another word she moved to shut the door.

“Wait!” Acting on impulse, Lightning Dust put her hoof in the way, yelping as the door slammed down on it. “I wanted to tell her, and you, that I was sorry!” She clutched her hoof and looked up at the older mare, seeing Holiday fully opening the door now, her face switching from a glare, to confusion, finally settling on a disapproving look.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t ask if it was alright for Scootaloo to do that show with us, and for nearly putting her in danger.”

Holiday’s face seemed to soften a little bit, taking her hoof off the knob. “What are you hoping to accomplish here?”

“I’m hoping to mend fences with you and Scootaloo. We don’t need to be close; heck we don’t even have to be friends, but I don’t want us to be enemies.”

“Scootaloo’s too young to be doing stunts with you, Lightning Dust. You haven’t been out of the hospital that long, have you?” Holiday asked. “How did you even find where we live?”

“I just got out today, actually. I was going to get my fur trimmed, and I saw her leave the schoolhouse and come here.”

“That’s exactly my point,” Holiday’s look of disapproval intensified when she heard how she’d found their house, and that her earlier lie was pointless. “Your rocket accident left you bedridden for weeks, Scootaloo shouldn’t be doing anything like that.”

“Will you at least tell her I stopped by? I wanted to give her something.”

Holiday seemed to consider it, looking pensive before she eventually gave an exhausted sigh. “Let’s just get it over with.” Holiday saw the younger mare rubbing her hoof. She frowned, but her attention was drawn elsewhere when she heard a ding coming from the kitchen. “Come inside and I’ll get you an icepack.”

As Lightning Dust followed inside, a wave of nostalgia hit her as her eyes landed on the hoof-sewn quilt resting on the couch. It looked like the style of quilt she kept in her own living room, and from all the different colors and designs she could only guess how many hours went into it.

Her ear twitched at the sound of hoofsteps against wooden stairs, but her focus was still on the quilt until her eyes landed on Scootaloo’s cutie mark. Her concentration was only broken when a hoof poked her side. She turned and saw none other than the filly the cutie mark belonged to, unable to keep the smile off her face.

“Hey, kid. Been staying out of trouble?”

Scootaloo just stared for a few seconds until her question snapped her to attention. “Are you kidding? I’ve been in nothing but trouble since I was in your show. It’s just been school and home. When I saw the cast you were in I thought I’d be grounded forever.”

“Tell me about it, I’m still working some of the cricks out of my joints…” Lightning Dust muttered until what the filly said clicked in her brain, “Wait, they tied your punishment to my recovery time? And when did you see me?”

“Dash took me to visit you. She wanted to show me what I was close to ending up in, and my aunts thought I needed to be shown how long I would’ve been in it. But you were asleep so we didn’t stay long.”

“Even if you had woke me up, you wouldn’t have been the worst visitors I had.”

“Who was?”

“Spitfire,” Lightning Dust grit her teeth, almost trembling in her seat. “She came into my room and it wasn’t to see how I was or wish me a speedy recovery. No, she was there to belabor the state of my body to me and tell me how much of an idiot I was as if I wasn’t painfully aware of it every second I was stuck in that bed!”

It was only after she finished she realized her voice had definitely elevated, taking a breath before continuing. “At least you two didn’t kick me while I was down.”

“You think that’s bad? She practically gave me whiplash trying to tell me I’d end up in a full body wing-and-hoof cast drinking through a straw. She’s got some issues.”

“Tell me about it.” Lightning Dust agreed, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Cookies are done,” Holiday announced as she came into the room with a tray of chocolate chip cookies, three glasses of milk, and an ice pack which she immediately handed to her guest. “Is there any swelling?”

“No, just bruising.” She took the ice pack and used a wing to hold it against her hoof, shivering slightly as her primaries chilled.

“Most ponies know better than to put their hoof in the way of a closing door, Lightning Dust,” Holiday chided. “I’d have thought you’d learned your lesson about being so careless.”

“I have, but if I hadn’t done that we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” She couldn’t help the brief smirk at her verbal victory, but it didn’t last long. “If there’s one thing I learned while spending two months being completely unable to move, it’s that I never want to do it again.”

“Touche,” Holiday admitted before both mares took a cookie.

Scootaloo was finishing her first one while they spoke before joining in. “It must’ve been really boring being stuck in that cast.”

“Tell me about it,” Lightning Dust said through a mouthful of cookie before she washed it down with a drink of milk. “If it weren’t for my friends and the support I got from Doctor Horse, I woulda gone stir-crazy looking at the ceiling and listening to the clock ticking all day.”

Holiday offered the younger mare a small smile. “I’m sure your parents were very relieved to see you up and walking again.”

Lightning Dust shifted in her seat, caught off guard by Holiday’s innocent presumption. “No, my friends picked me up after I was all better.”

Her response made Scootaloo’s expression fall, gently nudging her side to get her attention. “They did visit you, right?”

Seeing as any response other than a yes would just bring up more questions, Lightning Dust cut to the chase. “Look, kid, I don’t have a family the same way you do. I never met my parents, I was raised by my meemaw, but she passed away not that long ago. For a little bit, it was just me, but when I met Rolling Thunder and Short Fuse, I learned that family isn’t just blood, it’s also those you love. I know it sounds crazy but-”

“No, I understand more than you think,” Scootaloo interrupted. “Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are like sisters to me, and Rainbow Dash agreed to be my honorary big sister when she took me under her wing, so I get it.”

Lightning Dust smiled, giving her mane a playful ruffle. “Thanks, Scoots. Fitting you two are honorary sisters, you’ve got a lot of her in you.”

“For better or worse,” Holiday chimed in, though she was admittedly grinning at the wholesome sight, “but before anything else, didn’t you have something you wanted to tell her?”

“Yeah, I wanted to tell you I was sorry I almost put you in danger. Honestly, I never should’ve let you in on it, and if you hadn’t backed out I’d have been buried under criminal charges or buried by Rainbow Dash.” Lightning Dust shuddered at the thought before continuing. “And that brings me to the next thing to apologize for: I’m going to have to kick you off active duty until you’re of age.”

“Off active duty? Not off the team?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah. If you want, you’d be a reserve member until you turn eighteen, then you’d be able to do shows with us again. We’d keep your spot for you.”

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. “Why are you concerned about age now?”

“Our insurance premiums were already ridiculous. Between letting a minor onto a show and my accident, I’m dreading finding out what they are now.” Lightning Dust admitted with a nervous chuckle. “But until then, I’ve got something for you.”

Setting her ice pack aside, Lightning Dust used her wing to pull open her bag before reaching a hoof inside, coming out with a black card that she passed to the filly beside her. “For whenever you want to come see us.”

Scootaloo watched her take another cookie before looking at the card in her hooves. It was a season pass, but the expiration date had been crossed out, the word Forever written in its place, Lightning Dust’s initials beneath it.

“Hope you like it,” Lightning Dust said after giving the filly a few seconds to examine it. “Consider it a consolation prize until you’re old enough.”

“I’m not sure I want to be on your team, even when I am older,” Scootaloo replied. “You said you’re going to be safer, but I don’t know if I believe that yet.”

“You have several years to think about it.” Lightning Dust didn’t miss a beat, taking a big drink of milk. “And if you don’t believe me now, maybe you will if you see us next season.”

Holiday watched the two younger pegasi with a certain amount of curiosity. She wasn’t sure how she was expecting from Lightning Dust, but it certainly wasn’t this. Everything she’d heard about her was universally negative, but then again it had all come from Rainbow Dash, so maybe she should’ve taken it all with a grain of salt. Who she saw talking to her niece certainly didn’t appear to be a dangerous mare with no regard for her own safety or the wellbeing of others. She was brought back to reality when Lightning Dust stood up, setting her ice pack on a coaster.

“As fun as this is, I need to get going. I have a few more errands to run before the day is out.”

“Where are you going?” Scootaloo asked.

“Need to see someone else while I’m in Ponyville, and maybe see if I can make it to a tailor. If not, there’s always tomorrow.”

Holiday offered her a warm smile. “Be safe, dear, and try not to hurt yourself again.”

“Thanks, Holiday. Hope to see you again soon, kiddo.” Lightning Dust slung her bag over her shoulder, giving Scootaloo’s mane one last affectionate ruffle before heading out the door.

As soon as she’d left Scootaloo looked at the card she’d been given. “I’m glad Lofty wasn’t here to see this, she’d never let me keep it.”

“She’d never have let her set hoof in the house.” Holiday corrected with a chuckle. “It’ll be interesting to see her reaction when we tell her about this.”

Author's Note:

No time like way too long to update a story, and just in time for the holidays, too! Hope you all enjoy the adventure to come (if I ever get to writing it lol)

Comments

[Xtr3m3nuk3]

That was cute. Glad to see more of this!

[EmptyPlotFiller]

Finally caught up. Nice to see how LD is turning her life around.