> A Compass for a Lost Dreamer
>  by reflective vagrant
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Credits and Alternate Universe tag explained.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special thanks to non-brony inspirations and support that might read this.(pen/nick names used for privacy)
1) The Fairy Not Mom
2) Soul Catcher
3) Han Solo the 2nd
4) Detective's Apprentice
5) Mrs. Mentor

Recognition to bronies that contributed to the story.(greentext/linked names are from bronies on FimFiction)

AMaleAlicorn for his review of chapter one.  It helped me get started on the right foot on a few little things so to speak.

Brawny Buck for his explanation of paragraph flow and quotation usage on multiple paragraphs in the same quotation (aka mono logging).  which I'm still having trouble with executing right, but he has gotten me started.  I also wish to thank him for his explaining of a few other writing rules and guidelines that helped keep the story as orderly as I managed.

kento124 for his review of the story in mid completion to help point out flaws in character development at that point.

Rated PonyStar didn't contribute directly, but was kind enough to give an honest opinion of the story when I asked him to read it.

Lexomancer for letting me bounce some many ideas off of him, as well as correcting some dialog flow.

Sonik for tutoring me in grammar, even though I did not always take his advice.


Alternate universe explanation:

I added this tag because the story was founded before the start of season 4 and would likely be disproved as cannon compatible as season 4 came out.  This has been supported with the suggested details of the academy actually being a one off course such as a summer camp and not a recurring activity like it shows in my story, and further separated from cannon by Spitfire not being a prime example of morality in episode 10 of season 4  "Rainbow Falls"  clashing with her portrayed persona in my story.  This makes it infeasible in the cannon universe of MLP FIM, and so, alternate universe.
> Prologue: Spitfire's Lament
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Spitfire slammed down the phone at her secretary's desk, having gotten off the phone with her brother's wife.  She had once again called to ask where Lightning Dust was and this was starting to frustrate her.
"Let me make this very clear," Spitfire said to her secretary with barely restrained fury in her eyes.  "Unless it's somepony that outranks me or an emergency, I do not want to be disturbed tonight, especially by her."
"Y-yes ma'am," her secretary responded in a shaky voice; however, she wasn't worried for herself.  Spitfire was one of the most composed ponies in all of the Wonderbolts.   In fact, she was normally so well composed that she had become a public face for them a long time ago, yet she was anything but composed at that moment.
Spitfire went into her office and sat down at her desk.  The moment she touched the seat she went limp with worry.  Her face was full of inner turmoil.  She opened a drawer and pulled out a personal possession, an old photo album.  The album was made out of hardy material, but it clearly showed signs of being well used, like an age-worn blanket carried around everywhere by its owner.
When the album opened, the first pictures she saw were of her family.  Some of the pictures were of birthday parties, family outings, special events and holiday visits, but one section was special.  Spitfire turned to the section that was dedicated specifically to her niece.  It was easily the most worn section in the whole album.
Spitfire ran her hoof down the photos and nostalgia of times where she foal sat her niece flooded her mind.  The memories of her niece's smiling face, energetic spirit and considerate heart had forever left their mark on Spitfire.  She stopped on a particularly cherished photo of the day she had been on a camping trip and was teaching her niece to fly outside the constraints of Manehattan's busy streets.  It was taken the day of their Child's Flight.  The day after Lightning Dust got her cutie mark.  Spitfire's wings stiffened as they flared with phantom pain from the experience.  She took a pause to relive the memories in her mind.

"Auntie?" Lightning Dust asked her aunt as they flew through the night sky in the effort to ease the pain.  "Why do you have to leave?"
Trying to comfort her, Spitfire explained, "I was drafted out of the part time Wonderbolts to go full time."
That was only half true.  The draft was a request and a recognition of her skills.  Because there was no shortage of willing part-timers, they didn't have to use the draft's full power.  They would have just asked others if she refused.  She didn't have to go except she had already agreed and couldn't back out.
"There has to be at least so many full time Wonderbolts at the ready or Equestria could be in danger if something went wrong."
"Like when the big, sneaky monster got out of Tartarus?"  Lightning Dust asked as she twisted around in her aunt's grip to look at her.  She looked into her aunt's eyes wishfully.
Spitfire retold the tale from the campfire earlier that evening with a grin, "A great beast had escaped from Tartarus.  No fighter, save the princess, had the power to quell its might.  Due to its sneaky nature, the beast would slip away into the shadows of every village it attacked before Princess Celestia could arrive to fight it.  The villages were always distraught.  Few survivors were left in its wake, if any.
"But then, a team of athletes from the beast's next targeted village stood up to it.  By working together they were able to split the creature's attention, distracting it away from the village for a while.  The time they bought the villagers had given them the chance to flee.  Though the beast managed to destroy the village, it had not harmed a single pony that day.
"The beast was also so distracted by the acrobats that Princess Celestia was finally able to catch up with the beast.  She rendered the beast powerless again and sent it back to the pits of Tartarus.  Seeing the bravery of those acrobats and the lives their quick action saved, she created a new faction of military from them which is now known as the Wonderbolts."
Her niece listened intently, probably daydreaming about becoming a Wonderbolt like her.  A sad look formed on the filly's face after the story was over.  "You really have to go then..."  Spitfire could see a look of abandonment in Lightning Dust's face.  She had just gotten her cutie mark the night before and Spitfire could see that her niece still felt like didn't quite care anymore.  Like it was mission accomplished and now there was no more reason for her to stay or to care about her.
The night before, Spitfire had told her to push her limits, to aim past what she thought she could do.  She told her to not feel bad that she failed, but to feel good with the fact she got as far as she could.  Lightning Dust, as the filly she was back then, aimed for the first thing that came to her mind, the stars.  She jumped as high as she could, flapping her wings as hard and fast as possible.  Reaching out with her forehoof she tried to grasp a star.  With a flash of light there her cutie mark was.  The next second, her concentration broke from the flash and she was falling to the mud below, just to be caught by her aunt right before crashing.
"Yes," Spitfire said to her niece as she carried her through the sky. "But you will always be my niece."  Spitfire nuzzled her affectionately. "With Celestia and Luna as my witnesses," she started, taking a gander up at the full moon, "You will always be my precious Lightning Dust—my little limit pusher."
She could see the mare in the moon, Luna, as if she was staring down at her.  She knew that Lightning Dust wasn't afraid of the whole Nightmare Moon myth, nor shared the fear most ponies had of her.  She saw Luna just as she did Celestia: A princess.
Spitfire gave Lightning Dust only the slightest of warning, then threw her excited niece up in the air.  Her niece flapped her wings as hard as she could and tried to reach the star she had reached for the night before.  She once again fell short but stayed up far longer this time.  Spitfire caught her again as she fell then nuzzled her affectionately.  "My special star chaser."

She had no regrets about that camping trip and never would; however, that was where the memories of innocence ended.  It was just after that Spitfire went off to be a full time Wonderbolt.
Moving further along in the album, she happened along the pictures that her niece sent her about the school play.  She campaigned so passionately to have the play be about how the Wonderbolts were first formed that the school picked her suggestion out of all of the ones the students gave.  The photos were clearly taken by an amateur.  Her niece borrowed her father's camera then took the pictures herself and sent them to Spitfire.
One was showing how her idea was chosen.  Others were about how the play was being set up.  One was taken by a fellow student at the dress rehearsal while Lightning Dust played one of the extras.  Spitfire still giggled about it after all this time.  Lightning Dust certainly wasn't the best actress in her class but she still played her part so passionately.  Spitfire was glad the photo was there.  She never got to see a photo of the actual performance.  It was the last photo Lightning Dust took wholeheartedly.
The night of the play was where it all started to go downhill.  Lightning Dust was so late getting to the play from her mother being preoccupied with business that the play had already progressed past her parts by the time they got there.  It was then Lightning Dust started feeling bitter towards her mother.  Her mother knew the play was important but put her business first regardless.  It was also when Spitfire wished she could have been there to take her to the play on time.
Ever since that day, Lightning Dust had trouble trusting her mom to be there for her.  With the trouble she got from her schoolmates for botching up her part of the play, her distrust grew to where she couldn't trust anypony any farther than she could throw them.  She grew withdrawn and the wound never healed right.
The next photo Spitfire stopped at was one her sister in law had sent.  She had a strong feeling that it was to spite her.  She had never really gotten along with her after the camping trip.  It was about a year later and Lightning Dust was now working under her mother at the restaurant.  Her mother tried to get her to follow in her hoofsteps and stop worrying about flying.
It might have been well intended, but it had disastrous results.  Gossip about Lightning Dust's job got out at school and she was mocked.  Her humbled nature gave way to a temper and a bad tongue.  Some of the kids even went out of their way to throw parties at the restaurant, just to be mean to her by being wild and forcing her to clean up the mess.
Pausing for a moment, Spitfire tilted her head back and closed her eyes.  "Chocolate Dust, why couldn't you accept your daughter was a flyer?"  She held her head there for a long while.  If she had been there, she could have helped in so many ways.
Spitfire continued on with the photos as they became more spaced apart over the years.  Spitfire saw a little more of the niece she knew slip away with each photo she skimmed over.  With more and more friends abandoning her to bigger and better things, Lightning Dust started to not even care for anypony but herself, even becoming bitter towards Spitfire in later years.  Being considerate of others feelings for anything other than self-preservation was an alien concept to her by the time she was a full-sized mare.
In the place of the earnest, humbled and considerate filly now stood a young mare full of distrust, pride and selfishness.
Shifting back to the earlier, happier photos, Spitfire repeated the same feelings she had experienced every night since she kicked her niece out of the Wonderbolts.  While moving her hoof back across the photo of the camping trip affectionately, she softly cried out, "What I wouldn't give to have that sweet, little filly of a niece back."  Her hoof started shaking as she reached up to her jacket to grab the symbol of her rank.  Forcing the tears of grief back to keep the page from getting stained any further she cried out again, "Oh sweet Celestia, what I wouldn't give."
> Chapter One: Chancing the Rapids
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lightning Dust approached her idol and commanding officer, Spitfire.  Despite this she didn't want to be there.  It was quite the contrary—she barely kept herself from trembling in fear.  Spitfire wasn't happy with her tornado stunt and was about to punish her for her actions.  Spitfire turned around and got right into Lightning Dust's face.  She could see shame hidden within Spitfire's anger.  Spitfire ripped off her lead pony badge and directed her to leave.  She was being kicked out of the academy.
As she began to walk away as ordered, she briefly looked back at her idol with sorrow while lightly fluttering her wings, to which Spitfire didn't even seem to notice.  The Wonderbolt Police escorted her to the entrance of the academy hastily.  As she reached the cliff at the edge of the academy grounds her escorts gestured for her to take off.
Something was wrong—her wings wouldn't budge.  She looked back and saw that they were gone.  Her escorts were annoyed that she wasn't leaving and came closer.
"No, no, no!" she yelled to the guards, trying to show them her wings were gone.
She tried to struggle but the ponies were set in their actions.  Her efforts to put up a fight were useless as they flung her off the edge of the cliff and she began to free-fall.  Screaming, she did everything she could to try to slow her descent but nothing seemed to work in the slightest.  Soon it felt like she wasn't falling but being pulled by some other force.
She finally landed on a giant plate of her mother's famous barley flour noodles.  She looked around and to her horror she found that not only was she back home in her mother's restaurant, but her academy uniform she wore had changed into a waitress uniform.
"Oh, sweet Celestia, no..." she spoke to herself as she saw what was going on.
"Come on Lightning Dust dear.  The customers at table seven-thousand one-hundred and thirty two are waiting for their noodles.  We mustn't keep them waiting," her mother called in a booming voice.
There was a rumble in the plate beneath her as a giant version of herself picked up the plate and carried it to the table.  At the table, there were giant versions of Spitfire and Rainbow Dash in fully fledged Wonderbolt uniforms.  Beside them was another Lightning Dust in the waitress uniform.
As the plates she carried were being set down, she could see the version of her sitting at the table staring at her with blank white eyes.  It was as if it were a soulless doll designed to look like her.  Emotionlessly the giant doll grabbed her off the plate and threw her in its mouth.
"Nooooo!" Lighting Dust screamed, abruptly ending the nightmare.
Lightning Dust found herself in the middle of a dirt highway.  She had fallen asleep walking.  It was funny how some ponies could do that and not worry about getting lost.  She cantered up to the nearest road sign and sighed in relief when she discovered she hadn't wandered off course.
That wasn't the first time Lightning Dust had a dream like this one.  The darkest hour of her past had been haunting her dreams on and off ever since it happened.  She knew she had to shake it off or it would creep in again the next time she closed her eyes for sure.
Lightning Dust was so exhausted that she tiredly walked, not flew, to the next town on her way to an interview.  Flying took too much energy for the distance it covered and she had to conserve her energy since she couldn't eat a wholesome meal regularly.  Besides, by scrounging the paths as she walked she would occasionally find an edible plant or mushroom along the path, letting her stretch her supplies.  That was something she couldn't do in the air in her condition.
As her body traveled the road, her mind traveled the familiar thoughts that had plagued her many times before.  After being kicked out of the Wonderbolts, Lightning Dust had a rude wakeup call from reality.  She realized just how badly she couldn't afford to be kicked out.  Being out on her own she realized how much had been riding on her success.  Food wasn't provided to her like it was at the academy and shelter wasn't always easy to find. Even if she had been reduced to wandering, she refused to let her dream of being a Wonderbolt just slip away.  Somehow, one way or another, she was going to accomplish her dream in spite of this great setback.  She was going to redeem herself to Spitfire no matter what hardship she had to endure to do so.
Though it had been several weeks since being kicked out of the Wonderbolt academy, she still felt down about the whole ordeal.  Her dream to be among the best of the best was dashed from her just because she 'could have' harmed others with what happened at the academy.  Not only that, but she was kicked out by her own aunt Spitfire of all ponies, her idol growing up.  As angry as she was at Rainbow Dash for getting her in trouble, she was furious at her aunt.
Despite this, she couldn't bring herself to think about her without balling up in tears of shame.  What did she do wrong?  Her aunt always told her to push past her limits when growing up.  She even promoted her to lead pony when she showed her will to do so.  Then next thing she knew she was being kicked out for the same thing.  Lightning Dust couldn't figure out why her aunt did such a turn around.  If any other cadet had done what she did they wouldn't have been kicked out.  They would have been reprimanded and demoted but not kicked out.
She knew that she could try out again in three years.  Her aunt did the paperwork of her resignation in such a way that she left with reasoning of 'inexperience' instead of dishonorable conditions.  Her aunt would have been kinder to beat her than do that.  Calling her inexperienced was an insult to her skill.  She easily had twice as much flight time as any cadet there except her ex-wing pony Rainbow Dash.
Even on the bright side it was only a bitter consolation prize at best.  Nopony had passed the remedial course in generations.  She would have to put everything she had into it.  It would be tough for her to keep her edge until then but she would find a way to do it.
Not even bothering to look up to see the sign that said "Welcome to Ponyville" with the evening light shining on it, she searched around for the local inn.  She came here knowing she would fail the interview she saw in the paper, but she had run out of options in Appleoosa and had to try anyway.
If she went home, her mother would try to get her to forget about flying professions and come to work with her at the restaurant.  Even if the Wonderbolts were out of reach for the next three years, she wouldn't go back to that life waiting for her in Manehattan.  The open air gym that had let her practice had been converted into a private gym for some company shortly before she went to the academy and she hated working as a waitress for her mom.
Even though her mom insisted she was the best she had, Lightning Dust needed speed.  She needed action, or at the very least the chance to use her wings for something besides holding menus.  No flying was allowed in the restaurant even if it could triple her delivery speed.  The open road was the only place where she would be able to get the practice she needed to keep her edge until she could go back.  Even if she had to resort to grazing to make her food budget stretch, she would do what she had to.
Fortunately, her father suggested she save half of her tips ever since she started working at the restaurant into an account of her own for a rainy day.  She never thought she would have to use it, but now she was glad she took the advice.
She picked up any job in Fillydelphia that she could to get by until the wire transfer from her savings in Manehattan came through.  After it finally did, she hit the road to find work in the less populated parts of Equestria.  She hoped it would let her find a job that would let her flap her wings more freely than the cities ever did.
Dodge Junction and Appleoosa were almost total strikeouts.  There were only a few tiny one-off jobs here and there.  Most of them were not even in the air.  She barely managed to see an ad in the classifieds of a paper that somepony left at the rail way station for an upcoming opening in a weather team based in Ponyville.
It wasn't much, but at least it was a job where being a pegasus was actually useful, and on top of that she would finally have a steady job.  She would be able to spend time to practice without the constant worry of food or shelter always nagging at her mind.  Fortunately, the date for the interview she managed to set up at the local telephone box was still late enough to walk there and save on a train ticket.  This kept her from having to dig into her funds further.
Lightning Dust's mind snapped back to the present as she walked up to the town's only inn.  She saw a reddish rust brown colt in a slightly oversized, puffed out Gatsby hat front near the door.  She couldn't help but be reminded of the colts and fillies back in Manehattan that would often be on the street corner in the very same kind of hat selling newspapers, under the table information, or the occasional hoof shine for the ponies that felt they needed to look nice for work.
Though it was strange to see this in a small town she knew the routine.  The colt was trying to earn some change by helping travelers find things or unload stuff.  He was either doing this to get by or for spending money.  It was probably the latter considering the size of the town and small amount of travelers.
She paid the colt a bit for some directions.  She could see the sour look on his face and hated tipping him so little, but she needed to conserve what she had left.  Her funds were almost depleted.
After asking for directions to the town hall for her interview, she went to the counter and paid for her room for the night.  She didn't want to rent the room but she had to get rested and cleaned up before the interview tomorrow if she wanted any chance of getting the job.  She was pretty trail-worn and there was no hiding it.  At least the room was still cheaper than a train ticket.
"All right.  If you want you can just leave your saddle bags here and I'll have my boy bring them to your room promptly," the fire red earth pony mare at the counter said to her.
After seeing Lightning Dust glance outside at this, the pony behind the counter raised an eyebrow and continued.  "I see that my little entrepreneur has already gotten some money from you somehow.  I'll make sure he earns whatever you paid him with real work."
Lightning Dust dropped off her saddle bags then went back outside to collect her thoughts and wind down from the all day trek she just made.  She sat down on the bench just outside the inn and waited a few minutes, watching the sun being lowered.  The power of Princess Celestia truly was awe-inspiring.
Soon she would be able to watch her favorite part, Celestia's little sister—Princess Luna—bringing forth the night sky.  Ever since Princess Luna reclaimed her duties from her sister about a year ago, the night sky had become a true spectacle to those that cared to watch.  Princess Celestia was the elder and stronger, but the moon and the subtleties of night were Princess Luna's domain.
A few moments after sun went down, she sighed.  "What was I thinking?  Me a weather pony?  Ha!" she said with a strong sense of impending disappointment.  "A bunch of weather scheduling paper pushers that barely have to have the wing power to keep themselves aloft to get the job.  An acrobat like me wouldn't have a chance."
She heard a voice beside her say, "Now why do you say that kid?" with a sense of confusion.
Being startled, she jumped off the bench and away from the voice in reflex.  She hovered in the air for a moment before getting exhausted and came down to the ground sooner than she would have liked.  She turned around to see a somewhat old, cerulean pegasus stallion sitting on the other side of the bench she was on.  She couldn't help but notice his bizarre cutie mark of a sign post with the signs pointing in different directions.
"Sorry kid. I didn't mean to sneak up on you. I come out here to watch the sunset most evenings and I forget how quiet I can be at times."
Lightning Dust calmed herself down and tried to breathe semi-normally again then went back to the bench.
"Though your performance wasn't all that grand, I will definitely say you have the reflexes of an athlete."  He laughed heartily for a moment.  "All jokes aside though, I'll ask again:  Now why do you say that kid?"
She breathed deeply for a moment more to finish calming down then glanced at him.  She decided to humor the old pony.  "I'm no good at desk work.  I don't know anything about the rain station.  Heck, I have barely even been to Cloudsdale.  Why would any weather team manager ever hire somepony like me?  It's not like I actually know anything about weather."
The older pegasus simply listened to her and waited for her to finish.  A moment later he asked, "So, why are you trying to become a weather pony then?"
Lightning Dust became uncomfortable with that question and hesitated to answer for a few seconds.  She looked up at the sky as it filled with more and more stars from the efforts of Princess Luna.  She lifted a hoof to one of the stars.  "I love flying.  I want to be a Wonderbolt someday.  Until the next try outs to the academy are open, I have to stay at the top of my game and hone my skills."  She lowered her hoof back down slowly.  "But practicing doesn't exactly pay the bills."
When her gaze came back down from the sky, she paused to replenish her courage for a moment.  "I need a job that lets me fly and exercise my wings.  Weather pony isn't grand, but it can do that for me.  As long as I'm earning money like that, I can still have the energy to hone my skills on my own time without having to worry about where my next meal is coming fr-"
Lightning Dust stopped herself mid-sentence and quickly looked over to the old pegasus, but the damage was done.  He was just looking at her, waiting for her to finish.
"-from..."
He raised an eyebrow at her.  She found it scary that she couldn't read anything about what the old pegasus thought at that moment; however, the moment ended as his thoughts ended and he broke the awkward silence.  "So being a weather pony is not your cup of tea.  If you're really so determined as to go that far out of your way why didn't you apply for the academy last time?  Applications were only four months ago.  Surely you were good enough to apply then."
As Lightning Dust listened to his question, she could finally see something in his face.  She saw an intelligence in the pegasus's eyes that she couldn't hide anything from and regretted opening her mouth in the first place.  No matter how she tried to divert it, he would figure out the truth.  She decided it wasn't worth her already limited energy.  She hung her head in defeat as she explained, "Fact is, I was accepted in last time, but due to events I'd rather not talk about, I ended up getting thrown out."
After hearing this, he just sat there for a moment.  He leaned back and rubbed the back his head on the window seal just behind the bench, thinking.  When he was done the conversation continued.  "You must have messed up pretty bad for that to happen.  So what makes you think they will take you back?"
Lightning Dust said nothing for a moment.  Instead her eyes furrowed as she glared down at the road.
"I'm sorry, I should-" he began to say when she suddenly blurted out her answer, changing her attitude from one of shame to one of raw determination.
"Because if they don't, I'll be stuck as a waitress back home in Manehattan, doomed to never fly more than a few yards a day ever again."  She did not look at back at him to see what expression he might be wearing.  She took a deep breath and continued with a fire in her eyes.  "I don't expect to get this job.  I can live with that.  I'll search for another until I find one and get by somehow."  She got a little more control over herself and closed her eyes, as if looking inward. "To be honest I have no certainty that they will ever let me fly with them again, but to Tartarus with me if I just pack up and go home without exhausting every last option first."
When she was finished he said nothing else, letting the fire in her eyes diminish.  They just sat there for a few minutes before they heard somepony come to the window from the other side.
"Honey darling, it's-Oh I see you're out here too miss," the innkeeper said as she saw both of them through the window.  "It's time for dinner.  Why don't you join us sweetie?" she requested.
As tempting as the meal sounded, Lightning Dust knew more questions would be asked.  If the innkeeper was anything like her husband, she wouldn't have the power to keep them from learning even more than she already had told them.  She didn't want any pity.  "It is a tempting offer, but I need to get to bed."
As she got up and trotted towards the front door to get to her room, she failed to see the husband throwing up his hoof up to keep his wife from insisting.  He had an even stronger look of interest on his face than when the conversation began.


* * *


Upon entering her room, she saw her saddle bags on the bed.  She opened them up and grabbed the mixed bag of oats and alfalfa out of it.  Diving in muzzle first, she took a mouth full and chewed.  After she finished the first she took a slightly smaller mouth full, pulled her muzzle out and closed the bag.
Just as she put her saddle bags back in order she heard a knock on the door.  When she went to open the door she saw the colt with the Gatsby hat from before, with a slightly miniaturized housekeeping cart.  It was barely small enough for him to push safely, but still large enough for an adult to use if they had to.
Perplexed, she asked, "Did you need something?"
Looking at her while leaning on the cart, the colt answered her.  "Mom remembered that we didn't quite have your room ready.  She was getting dinner fixed when you came in and didn't expect anypony else to rent a room tonight.  Here are a few things mom told me to bring you."
The colt pulled out a towel from the cart and passed it to her.  He then reached back and grabbed a tiny bar of soap wrapped in paper and a wash cloth, which he promptly gave to her too.  When he tried to offer her one of the pillow mints, she smiled and declined.
"Gotta go now. Your room wasn't the only one that we missed," he said as he started to push the cart away.
"But don't you need to eat?  Your mom said it was time for dinner just a minute ago."
He stopped only a few steps away and turned back to answer her, "Oh. Mom let me eat as soon as I brought your bags up.  She lets me eat mine early while it is still warm then adds a few things to the pot for her and dad.  I can't stand those peppers she puts in."  He shifted his body back to push the cart.  "But really, I've gotta finish my chores before bed or mom will be mad."  At this, he scurried down two doors with his cart and went inside to clean.
After she tucked the towel and other items under her wing, she stood there for a moment to look in the direction of the colt's cart.  "Huh.  Looks like she really is having the twerp earn that bit after all.  Somehow this place reminds me of home."  She looked back at the towel again then turned around to go back in her room. "Regardless, a bath sounds good right now."


* * *


The next day, Lightning Dust woke up somewhat sore and stiff, but was still well rested.  Even if it wasn't a cloud bed like at the academy, she had to admit the bed was a lot better than laying down in a tent that took the properties of the ground underneath like she had done the past two nights.
After she got her game face and saddle bags on, she headed to the reception area and saw the colt and his mother talking.  She got a good look at her cutie mark: A house with smoke coming out the chimney.  Somehow the cutie mark had a feeling of welcome to it.
'Definitely suited to innkeeping it seems.'
She walked up to the counter and stretched the soreness out of her legs and her back while she waited for them to finish talking.
"Now remember, Keen Wit," the innkeeper said to her son.
"I know, mom.  No more than three bits in the machines even if the other kids offer to pay.  I have to limit my video games until my grades improve."
She looked at him as if he wasn't getting the point she wanted to get across.  "And?"
"And don't talk to strangers without a designated adult around."
She gave him a dead pan stare.  "...And what else?"
"And umm... don't eat just junk food?" he added, not sure what else she wanted.
"Well that too, but what else?" she responded with a brief nod and a look of thought.
"Umm...mmm..."
The mother bent over and kissed her son low on the forehead, just below the brim of his hat.  "And be sure to have fun at your friend's party.  Now, get going or you will be late."
The colt trotted out the door and then went into a full gallop once he was clear of the door as his mother watched.
"That boy might not have his father's wings, but he certainly has his sharp mind."  The inn keeper went around the counter and got a few things organized, before she finally addressed Lightning Dust, "If only he was more interested in his school work, he would be the top of his class.  So, how was the room sweetie?"
Having been done with her legs and back, she finished stretching her neck to work out the stiffness.  "I'm a little stiff this morning, but I don't think that was from the room.  That bed was the best thing I've slept on in weeks."
"Good to hear," the inn keeper responded with a chipper smile.  "Are you sure you don't want me to book you for the whole week?  I'll shave off last night's bill from the package price if you change your mind."
Lightning Dust thought about her dwindling funds.  If she kept renting rooms, she might not have had enough money to last another week.  Rooms were expensive and she needed her money for food.  She put on an act of confidence that she just didn't have the energy for last night to mask the fact she was running low on money.  "Na, I don't expect to be in town that long.  Even coming back tonight is slim at best."
The inn keeper's smile gained a hint of disappointment.  "I'll still make sure your room is actually ready tonight, just in case."
Lightning Dust turned in her room key, went outside and saw the pegasus stallion from last night sitting on the bench again.
"Good morning sleepy head.  Need directions to anywhere in town?"
"Your boy already told me where town hall is," she responded in kind, "but since you're offering could you point me to the market?  I need to find some supplies."
"Ha!  I'll do you one better.  I'll show you the market," he said with a laid back tone.  "I was about to go there myself for a few supplies before work."  With this he got up and threw an old saddle bag across his back.


* * *


Lightning Dust was surprised when the old pegasus showed her not only where the market was, but around the market.  After he gave her a brief tour, they came up to a stand he wished to show her in more detail.  "And this is the Sweet Apple Acres apple stand.  It might be the only apple stand in town, but don't let that fool you.  Their apples are easily the best in Equestria."
Lightning Dust took a closer look at the apples. "Huh.  I worked as a substitute apple bucker for a few days in Appleloosa when they were short hoofed during a harvest season, and those apples were pretty good."
Hearing this, the orange earth pony behind the stall piped in, "Well naturally.  Most those trees were grown from my pappy's apple seeds; however, I can guarantee that Sweet Apple Acres' apples are still better.  My cousin Brayburn and his kin might do wonders down there with the barren land they have, but you just can't beat the fertile soil here in Ponyville."  Coming around the stall, she picked up an apple from one of the baskets and offered it to Lightning Dust.  "In fact here's a sample for ya just to prove it.  You look like the kind of pony that works up an appetite pretty fast.  I have a friend like that."
Lightning Dust looked at the apple seller uneasy for a moment. Trying to avoid having to buy some out of obligation, Lightning Dust did her best to spin a lie.  "I had a pretty hearty breakfast already.  So I don't think I could eat another bite without barfing.  Besides, I doubt I'm gonna be in the market for apples any time soon.  It would be a waste of an apple."
The stall owner saw right through her excuse as her stomach growled.  "Now, don't you be gettin' all proud on me missy!" she said with a smirk on her face. "I can be one of the most stubborn ponies around these parts, so don't you think for even a second that I will be taking no for an answer, and besides these here are my apples to waste."
After squatting on her rump to use both front hooves, she practically forced the apple into Lightning Dust's hoof, a bit to to the recipient's irritation.  "Just remember how it tastes next time you are in the market for some apples," she said with a wink to join the same smirk from before then got back up on all four hooves.
"Not that she'll need any help remembering the taste." the old pegasus said with enthusiasm followed by a small laugh.  Lightning Dust just looked back and forth between the apple in her hoof, the stall owner and her companion.
Still seeing her still unsure, the stall owner reassured her one more time.  "Go ahead darlin'.  It ain't gonna bite back."
The pegasus leaned over and whispered into her ear.  "Just eat it or she's gonna get upset."
Lightning Dust took a nibble to get them off her back and gave a look of surprise at its quality.  She continued to eat it slowly, enjoying the first good tasting thing she had eaten in days.  Satisfied with her response the other two ponies started talking business.
"So can I have you get Big Mac to bring another shipment around to the inn some time tomorrow?"
"Why sure. Will you be havin' the usual load Mr-"
"Actually, I believe only half that will do for now.  Just have your brother bring it around whenever he is heading that way.  Business is a little slow this time of year and I don't think we need more rotten apples in the basement like last year.  They are too good to waste like that."
Lightning Dust was distracted by the taste of her apple.  She didn't notice the subtle signals the pegasus was giving to the stall owner.
"Oh, Riiight! How could I forget?  We don't get many travelers this time of year."  The orange mare said as she watched Lightning Dust finish her apple.
"That was amazing!" Lightning Dust exclaimed when she was done eating it.  "It was crisp at first but quickly turned just the right amount of soft as I chewed.  The skin gave the perfect accent to the texture but didn't get in the way.  Not even the Appleloosa apples were that good!"
"See?  I told you that Sweet Apple Acres apples are the best!" the stall owner boasted.
"Well, that's all I think I need to show you.  I need to take care of a few more small things then I'll have to head off to work.  This should cover the delivery." The pegasus pulled out a bit bag out of his saddle bag with his mouth and put it on an empty space on stall.  "Put the rest on my tab," he said with a wink and a circular flick of the ear.  This confused the orange mare for only a moment.  With the bit bag on the stand, he left the stall.
"I had better be off too.  I don't have much time to shop."  Lightning Dust said and turned to leave as well.
"Well you take care of yourself now miss..." the stall owner called out, asking for her name.
"Lightning Dust," Lightning Dust called back.

As Lightning Dust walked away, the stall owner softly called to her assistant, "Apple Bloom, you wanted to go play with your friends, right?"
"Yeah," a filly answered her from behind the cart while she double checked baskets for bad apples.
"Well, I have a mission for you.  After you're finished with it you can go join your friends in the park."
"Sweet.  So, what's the mission?"  The filly she stopped her task and came out into the open.
"Mr. Wayside is calling in a favor.  Let all the stalls know he doesn't want to be mentioned to anypony new today."
"OK, I'm on it." The filly dashed off.
As the apple seller watched her sister run off, she thought to herself, 'Whatever this is, it had better be important, Wayside.  You know I don't like keeping secrets.'
When the filly was out of sight, the stall owner looked back at the new pony in town, still trying to find the stall she needed.  'And I just know I've seen her somewhere before.'





Lightning Dust tried to visually comb the stalls and make sure she didn't accidentally miss the ones she was looking for.  Her supply of food was almost gone, and if she was going make her bits last, she had to find food that would last.  Crushed alfalfa and oats had loads of the nutrients she couldn't find grazing and they were cheaper than normal food since both were normally cooking supplies like flour and sugar.
She also needed to keep an eye out for some rope.  The old foalscout tent she had was needing a new rope if it was going to last for much longer.  It was one of those old fashioned ones that were simple and made to last, but the rope that came with it was practically string.
After visiting the stalls to see if she could find some deals on odds and ends, she found that every one of them seemed to take a caution to her.  They were especially paranoid when she mentioned staying at the inn or having an interview at town hall.
She was almost done combing the stalls and started to get worried when a pink earth mare with the fluffiest curly mane she had ever seen popped out of nowhere and jumped right into her face.
"Hi there!"
Startled, Lightning Dust jumped back and turned around to run the other way, only to find the pink mare somehow standing in front of her again.  Confused, she glanced back and forth between where the pink mare had been standing before and where she was standing at that moment, finding the old spot empty.
"Wha- How?" Lightning Dust muttered, stumbling over her words.
"You must be the new pony in town that Keen Wit was talking about!  It's so nice to see you again!" the pink mare said enthusiastically, much to the confusion of Lightning Dust.  She didn't recognize this pony and she was definitely the kind of pony that nopony would have a hard time remembering.
Then seeming to talk almost as fast as Lightning Dust could fly she added to Lightning Dust's confusion.
"I'm-sorry-I-haven't-got-your-welcoming-party-ready!  I-was-having-some-trouble-with-the-arcade-manager's-rules-while-setting-up-my-first-arcade-style-party-so-I-didn't-have-time-to-set-up-your-welcome-party-either!  Last-time-I-tried-to-do-two-parties-in-one-day-they-were-both-ruined-so-I-can-make-sure-you-get-a-super-duper-extra-spectacular-welcome-party-tomorrow!  But-for-now-let's-head-to-the-arcade!  The-party-is-about-to-start!"
She started bouncing off using all four legs at once for a moment, before realizing Lightning Dust wasn't following her.
Lightning Dust ignored her and turned around to continue shopping when suddenly she found herself being yanked off of her hooves.  Falling flat on her chest, she looked behind her to find that she was being pulled by the pink mare who was now holding onto her tail with her mouth.
"Come on, da arcade ish dish way!"
Lightning Dust went from confused to just plain irritated.  "Look, I'm sure you are a great pony to party with, but I have an interview in about half an hour and I can't be late!"
"Aww, bu' i' will 'e fun!"
"I said-" Lightning Dust said as she flapped her wings to get her footing back under her.  "No!" she declined right as she delivered a swift buck to the pink pony's face.  The pink party pony was bowled backwards from the blow, tumbling over a few times before she finally came to a stop.
Lightning Dust's blood was boiling.  She yelled at the pink pony that was picking herself back up out of the dirt, "Go ahead and do both this party and that next crazy party you have planned without me if you're that set on doing it!  I can't afford to miss this interview!"
The pink mare, now sporting two hoof marks along the side of her face and a partial black eye but surprisingly not a busted jaw, called back to her, "Okie dokie lokie!  I'll save you some cake!"
At this, Lightning Dust just stared at her in confusion for a moment as the pink mare merrily hopped off the same way as before despite her injury.  She muttered to herself, "She really is crazy..."

A few minutes later, Lightning Dust saw a yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane and a few items in her saddle bag, including some dry barley that must have come from the stall she was looking for.  Walking up to her, she tried to ask her for directions. "Hello?  I'm trying to find the-"
She was cut short when the yellow mare suddenly let out an "Eep!" and dashed behind the nearest stall that would accommodate her, much to the irritation of the owner.  Her things were left behind, dropped on the ground where she had been standing.  Lightning Dust stood there, not sure what just happened.
Her companion, a white unicorn mare with red tinted glasses, called out to her in a somewhat upbeat tone, "Hey, Fluttershy, it's all right.  Come on out.  It's just somepony asking for directions."  Her companion came up to Lightning Dust and sighed, "And she was doing so well today.  I'm sorry about that.  She can be spooked pretty easy.  Can I help you instead?"
Seeing the yellow mare starting to peek out from behind the stall, Lightning Dust turned to the unicorn and continued.  "I'm trying to find the stall where she got that dry barley.  I was hoping to find some oats."
With a look of surprise that turned quickly to embarrassment, the unicorn answered, "Oh!  Well, you see..."  She turned to the stall her companion was hiding behind.
It only took one look at the stall owner's face to tell that now was not a good time for haggling.  Feeling disappointed, Lightning Dust simply said, "I see..." and walked off, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with him today.  In defeat, she thought about finding food to fill her and tide her over until after the interview, but she realized she didn't have much time left to get to it.
"I'll just have to find something later."  She left the market to head to town hall.  She found a bench on the way there and finished off her remaining oats and alfalfa as quickly as she could then stored the empty bag back in her saddle bag, making it easier to mix the next set without spilling any.





Once Lightning Dust got to town hall, she spoke with the receptionist, "Hi.  I'm here to talk to the pony resources manager for the Ponyville region weather team.  I made an appointment a few days ago."
The earth pony stallion behind the desk moved his head up from his work just enough to see her wings and raised an eyebrow.  "Another applicant.  I swear that boss of mine is so picky on who he hires.  If it wasn't for the mayor forcing him to hire me he would probably still be taking applicants for a receptionist.  That weather pony job should have been filled weeks ago."
Setting his paperwork aside, he got up and gestured for her to follow him down the hall.  "Still, if you want to try your luck against that overcritical vulture of a boss I guess I can let you in.  Just know there is no shame in running for the door if it gets too tough in there."  He paused for a moment to look back at her.  "Many others have."
As Lightning Dust followed him she suppressed the urge to show fear.  The pony that she was about to ask for a job was starting to sound pretty mean.  She knew that if she was going to survive this, she had to put in everything she had.  Any doubt would only guarantee failure.  She thought to herself, 'Just take each challenge as they come and face them without fear, Lightning Dust.'
Wait.  Why did that sound so familiar to her?  Where had she heard that before?  Before she could think on it further, they had reached their destination.
> Chapter Two: Over the Waterfall, Into the Unknown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Well here it is, Mr. Wayside's office.  Don't bother knocking.  When you're ready just go on in.  He hates it when ponies knock on his door—it's one of his pet peeves.  Good luck."  The receptionist gestured to the door then made a hasty retreat.
She stood outside the door for a minute to remind herself why she was doing this.  She had to have a job to get by.  It wasn't her dream and it wasn't anything she was good at so the chances were slim she would actually get it, but if she didn't give every chance her all then she would never find any long term work.  On top of that, this job was one that not only let her use her wings but required it.  If she chickened out on this then she deserved to go home in defeat and do nothing but wait tables her whole life.  She could live with herself if she failed, but she couldn't live with herself if she didn't try.
The idea of getting the job was great, but just going in there head held high and not showing her fear is what she needed to worry about.  The job wasn't her goal at this exact moment—giving this her all was.  No matter how stubborn this Mr. Wayside was, he couldn't take that from her.  Only she could.  Remembering this got her the courage she needed.  She opened the door.
"Didn't anypony teach you to knock!?" she heard some pony call out.  She was taken back by his sudden outburst after what the receptionist said.  "Well now that the door is open come in, come in," he said with a still irritated but lowered voice.  The voice seemed to be coming from behind a tall chair that was facing away from her.
As soon as she was clear of the door, an unusually large white and light brown patched unicorn slammed it shut behind her, causing her tail to blow about for a moment from the force.
"Well speak up.  What are you here for?" the hidden pony she presumed to be Wayside said with the same mood as before, showing no intention of brightening up.
Refusing to let the 'warm' welcome shake her, she responded clearly, "I am here for a job interview with a Mr. Wayside about an opening in the local weather team."
After a pause, the voice of the pony in the chair went flat.  "Well you're talking to him now.  So suggest you get to telling me your qualifications before I lose interest."
Lightning Dust was put on the spot with this.  She thought about stretching the truth, but the last time she did that, it got her fired without any pay for the work she did, when she didn't live up to expectations.  She would only waste her time and money if she had a repeat of that.  It would be better if she came clean about what little she knew, even if it meant not getting the job.  That way she could get back to searching for a different one.
Not knowing much about the book work, she focused on the other aspect of the job: Field work.  "I have practiced flying for most my life and have-"
"Ha!  You and every other pegasus.  You're not special just because you can fly.  What makes you think you're different?" 
Standing her ground she finished her statement when he was done interrupting, "-have built up the wing power to deliver faster and longer flight time than most pegasi.  So I can easily keep up with the physical workload in the field."
"Is that all?" he said as if he was expecting more.
His attitude made it clear it was going to be hard to convince him.  Thinking hard on what else might impress him, she thought back to the academy.  "In my last job pertaining to cloud busting my partner and I broke the record for both fastest run and most clouds busted in a single session on our second day."
"Your partner?  You mean you couldn't do it alone?"
It was like he tried to pry at her every flaw.  Back home, if somepony had given her this attitude she would have been right back in their face.  If she wasn't so desperate for a job, she would have given him a piece of her mind right there.  Instead, she did her best to keep calm and continue.  "We were not given the options for working solo, company rules.  Though my partner followed my lead during the session."
"I see.  An arrogant loudmouth that thinks I'll make them team field manager just like that.  What is the matter?  Can't stand following somepony else's lead?"
Hearing him jump to wild conclusions like that really gave her more than just a jolt of irritation, but she knew she had to keep a level head.  She took a small breath to regain her composure.  "I made no such claim sir, I am more than willing to work under another pony for as long necessary."
"So you're wanting somepony to hold your hoof the whole way then?  I should warn you that I don't tolerate slackers.  If you thought you could come in here to get an easy show up and get paid job then think again.  I need workers that know what they are doing, that can make sure the job is done right on time, every time, all the time."
As Lightning Dust heard him clear his throat before continuing she couldn't help but wonder what this pony's problem was.  It was like he enjoyed being upset and making everypony's life around him miserable.  He was doing a good job at it too.  Lightning Dust found it more than a little difficult to keep calm.
"Just to make this clear: The last time somepony was foolish enough to mis-schedule a sprinkle, we had to waste a lot more of the valuable water reserve to make up for it with a downpour.  Needless to say, I made sure that pony wasn't even on the weather team by the time we got around to making the downpour."
Lightning Dust wasn't fazed anymore by the insulting accusations at this point, yet she had a sinking feeling on where he was heading with this and she didn't like it.
"Speaking of which, you haven't mentioned anything on your qualifications in the office," he said just as she predicted.  "What do you know about managing weather?  It doesn't matter how much muscle you have if you can't understand where, when and in what way to use it.  The weather team has a lot more to their work than just putting clouds out in the sky randomly."
She knew it.  Her weakness was going to be brought up sooner or later.  She absolutely had to make the best impression she could here without saying something wrong and making a complete foal out of herself.  If there was one spot that would break her chances, it was here.  She didn't have much knowledge on the in's and out's, but she could at least show that she knew the basics.
"I know that the main weather station is located in Cloudsdale.  All resources are first processed through there for all of Equestria.  They make the snowdrops into snowflakes there so that the weather team can handle them with a lot less trouble in winter than if they were left as snowdrops.  There is also the rainbow factory that purifies rainbows out of..."  Lightning Dust couldn't help but pause here because she had drawn a blank as to what the rainbows were made out of.  She had heard rumors but she knew those couldn't possibly be right.  Her face scrunched up in frustrated thought.  'If I could calm down I would remember!'
Before she could remember though, Mr. Wayside finished for her in an irritated tone.  "Sunlight droplets.  They form from the magical properties of the concentrated sunlight up in upper regions of the sky, taking on some of those properties themselves.  They are the main reason Cloudsdale is in so high in the sky.  They hardly retain any of the useful properties by the time they reach the ground on their own and have to be refined immediately after being formed for the best results."
Set back by the fact he had to finish her statement, she stuttered for a moment as she tried her best to recover from the mistake.  "Y-ya, and it is the weather team's task to make sure the resources gathered and processed there are managed to opti-"
"Bucket!" Mr. Wayside interjected.
"Sir!" the unicorn at the door responded.
"It is pretty clear that our applicant has little more than a school filly's knowledge of weather.  I have heard all I need from this interview to make my decision," Wayside called to the unicorn.  "Please escort the applicant out of the building."
"Yes, sir," the unicorn responded again.
"Hey!"  Lightning Dust yelled as she was suddenly lifted from the floor with Bucket's magic.  Everything hit her at once.  She had just been insulted yet again, failed the interview, and to top it off, was about to be thrown out forcefully.  The sudden rush of it all made her disoriented.
She was able to tap into her training of recovering from disorienting situations quickly by picking the most pressing problem and dealing with it first—the bouncer holding her in his telekinetic grasp.  "Hey, let me down! I can walk you know!  You don't need to throw me out like garbage!" she yelled as she struggled against his hold, not sure if she could break it directly.
"Bucket, I know you don't want a repeat of what happened last time, but let the lady have her dignity,"  Mr. Wayside ordered him with a very different tone of annoyance, almost as if he was being patient with Bucket.  It was so distinctively different to how he was talking before that even Lightning Dust stopped in her struggling.
As Bucket set her down, she was confused as to what just happened between those two.  Her thoughts, however, were promptly redirected.  "For as long as she behaves like one anyway," he finished, changing his tone to a very cold one and directing it more to her than Bucket.
After listening to this last insult she had no desire to stay there any longer.  She could feel her anger rising and she knew she might lose her cool if she did.  She turned around and marched out of the office with as much dignity as she could muster.
As she made her way to the door she couldn't help but be happy that she never saw Mr. Wayside's face.  It would probably only make her angrier if she had a face to be angry at.  She wanted to explode.  Not because she didn't get the job, but because of the shear lack of respect she had been given.  He didn't even bother looking at her.  She did her best at mimicking her mind set of keeping a level head while flying at hard core speeds through the gym back home.  She knew that if she made a scene, then she would have an even harder time of getting a job in the area.  Besides, Bucket was right behind her ready with his horn.  Even with all that, keeping control of herself still wasn't easy.
As they walked by the front desk, the receptionist began to look at her with a smile, but it quickly disappeared when she glared at him for the bad advice.
When she left town hall, Bucket said something to her from the doorway that was very unusual for a bouncer.  "Sorry about all that back there."
She looked back at him with just as mean a glare on her face as she gave the receptionist.  As her eyes fell on him, she saw a sad look on his face as if he really was sorry.  Though she didn't say anything, her face softened just enough to let the glare level out to a look of confused frustration.
After Bucket closed the door, she stared back around at the town.  With her rage starting to subside, her half empty stomach felt like it wanted to toss up what was left in it.  It was unusual for any professional flyer to feel motion sickness, but now she could honestly say that she knew what it felt like.  Walking back to the bench where she had eaten her lunch, she sat down just as she did the night before outside the inn.  She asked herself, "So what now?"


* * *


A few hours later, she managed to acquire a newspaper from a nice pony in the park.  It was previous day's paper, but she couldn't be picky.  At least it was still fairly up to date.  She went out of town to a field she had seen the day before and started grazing.  She had seen the field the day before on her way into town and hoped she wouldn't have to use it.
When she couldn't to stand the taste of the grazing anymore, she set up her tent by a tree that would conceal it from the road.  She then unhooked her saddlebag and threw it in the tent.  She jumped to a low branch in the tree with the aid of her wings then opened the newspaper to look for jobs she could apply for.  Strangely, she found that the job she had applied for was still in there after all this time but she knew it was simply not an option anymore.  Aside from that there was very little in the classifieds.  None of it she felt she would be able to do—not even any of the short term work.  She sighed and closed the paper then put it under her wing to put in her saddle bag before going to bed.  It wasn't important anymore, but littering was one easy way to get your camping spots discovered fast.
She inhaled slowly, and then let out a big sigh to let out all the stress and frustration of the day.  Almost as if on cue, a familiar pink pony's head popped down at her out of the tree branches above her.  "Hi again!"
"Wow!" Lightning Dust exclaimed as she fell out of the tree in shock.  Before she could catch herself, she landed flat on her back on top of her own tent.  The tent collapsed but managed to break her fall to a small degree.  "I swear that at this rate if my inability to get a job doesn't kill me, the crazy locals around here will."  She heard a few bones pop as she worked herself back up to her hooves and off the tent.  "Oh, I'm gonna be feeling that one in the morning."
When Lightning Dust got up from the ground, she found the pink pony in front of her again.  "Like I promised, I saved you some cake!  I even managed to save you a slice from both cakes!" the pink pony told her with glee.
"What?" Lightning Dust asked as she got a good look at her.  The pink pony was now sporting a bandage covering most of the right half of her face where she had bucked her earlier.  She was still smiling as if she was in perfect health.
Looking at the plate in the pink pony's hoof, she saw two slices of cake with what looked like the lingering words of whatever celebration it was for on it.   "I hope you like them!  The one with the icing on the side is from the cake I made.  So I'm sure you're bound to love it!"  The pink mare smiled creepily at Lightning Dust.
Lightning Dust looked at the pink mare in a right state of irritation. "Look you crazed pink ball of chaos, I don't ea..."  All the stress and randomness from the day caught up to her and she broke.  She gave up and went with it.  "Actually, you know what?  I'll take the cake."  She took the slice without the side icing.  She bit down on the slice of cake and looked at her tent to see what damage had happened to it from the fall.
After chewing and swallowing, she finished the slice in a big second bite.  She looked more closely at the tent to discover the cheap rope had finally snapped.  She looked at the rest as she finished chewing the cake, but found nothing else wrong.  "Great, the rope is busted, now I can't use the tent.  Looks like I'll have to sleep under the stars tonight.  I hope rain isn't scheduled."
"Oh, you're camping out?" the pink mare said as if she had a bright idea.  "Let me go get something."  Before Lightning Dust could protest, the pink mare set down the plate and zoomed off towards town.  Glad to be rid of her for the moment, her focus returned to the cake and the tent on either side of her.  Her back wasn't feeling very well.  So she laid down and started nibbling on the second cake.  She discovered it to be white chocolate.  She looked back at her tent, wondering if she could at least use it as a blanket tonight.
Somehow, the pink mare was back faster than she thought she could be with a rope.  "I always keep different things stashed around town, just in case somepony needs them.  Here use this!"
Lightning Dust began to wonder what the pink pony would need to stash rope around town for, but quickly decided not to question it.  Something told her that asking any questions about this pony wouldn't do any good.  She just took the rope and set it on top of the tent to fix later.  She was glad that one of her things to do that day was finished after all, even if it was a minor one.
As she ate more of the cake, the pink mare jumped back up in the tree and seemed content to just watch her eat.  As Lightning Dust pondered about what to do the next day she started to feel a little sleepy.  Not feeling like finishing the cake, she set it aside.
"What's the matter?  Don't you like my cake?" The pink mare sounded slightly upset that she didn't finish it.
"It's not bad.  It's actually pretty good," Lightning Dust admitted begrudgingly.  "I'm just not much for chocolate or huge amounts of cake.  As an athlete, I try to keep my food as healthy as possible."
"Aww, that's too bad...  Hey!  Do you like cupcakes then?" the pink pony asked in an off the wall fashion.
Confused as to what the pink mare was talking about, she started to look up at where she sat in the tree, when suddenly, whack, a hoof struck her hard across the back of the head.  She barely heard the mare's muffled voice as everything went black.





Wayside was on his way to work, thinking about the kid that rented a room at the inn last night the night before.
The kid was quite unusual.  In some ways it seemed like she was running from something in her past, but in other ways it seemed like she was facing it head on.
This intrigued Wayside.  Like many ponies, his cutie mark and name were true to his life's calling—in his case, helping ponies find their way when they were feeling down or unsure about something.  Normally, he would have loved to listen to her troubles more than he did the night before, but there was a complication.
Wayside was in charge of managing the labor and scheduling of both the weather team and the wildlife management team.  He also oversaw some of the more menial tasks in the town hall that the mayor delegated to him.
This kid was the one scheduled to be interviewed by him today for the opening in the weather team.  He had to be careful on how he did this.  He loved helping ponies out, but if she just threw a sob story at him for the sake of pity then she wasn't worth hiring.  He took pride in knowing every pony he hired was going to pull their weight and not just suck off the town's labor funds.
The funds he saved on not hiring slackers is what got the bulk of the funds to fix town hall when it needed repair from the fire.  By saving back bits by not using them unnecessarily he slowly, but surely, accrued emergency funds.  Those funds that were at the ready to help when disaster struck the town or one of his workers.  This careful budgeting and saving back for hard times was what made his departments shine above the rest of the Equestrain weather and wildlife teams.
That, and picking only quality workers to be on a quality team who were ready to jump into action and put their full effort into minimizing damage, and in turn repair costs, helped too.  No other civilian weather team could do what his team could.  Only the Wonderbolts could respond faster than them.
Keeping the quality of the team members was tricky at times.  Sometimes it took months to find a suitable applicant when one of his team had to leave.  His weather team was in one of those times.  If this pony really was a former Wonderbolt cadet, she would definitely have the skills he was looking for and it would be nice to stop filling the gap with his recently understaffed reserves.
Sassaflash was the one who stepped down from her position so she could enjoy married life.  Though she was willing stay in the reserves and help out a little where needed, she was begging him to fill the position already so she could go on her honeymoon.
Both Blossomforth and Flitter were employed part time in his wildlife management department.  In fact, they were the only pegasi in the department aside from Fluttershy and as such they were able to help out the weather team every now and again as part time reserves.  They made no complaint about it when they did as they loved the extra bits in their paycheck.  This would have been great in theory; however, the problem was that their schedule only worked for a fraction of the week as reserves and it completely overlapped between the two of them.  The work they did on the wildlife management team was excellent, and their work on the weather team wasn't shameful, but it wasn't anything special either.  He hated having to use them but what slack they managed provide for the rest of the team with their contribution was about the only thing keeping the team from getting outright angry with him.
He would have had more members in his reserves to draw upon to fill the gap, but Cloudchaser, Thunderlane and Star Hunter left the reserves entirely when they went to the Wonderbolt Academy with Rainbow Dash.   For some reason Rainbow Dash stayed on the team.  She insisted staying on as much as possible when she wasn't at the academy.  Although he was happy for the help, Wayside had mixed feelings on this.
Despite not being in the reserves, she offered to work double shifts to give the others time off but Wayside had to forbid it.  The official reason was that she needed to keep her strength for the academy and one shift draining her stamina was bad enough.  He wasn't about to get the Wonderbolts angry at him for ruining one if their top cadets.
The real reason for not leaning on her however, was that Wayside, alongside Mayor Mare, were told by Princess Celestia herself almost a year ago at the Summer Sun Celebration that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash mustn't be forced to choose between work and their friendships for the sake of national security.
When Mayor Mare asked why this was so important the princess simply answered, "There is more that rides on the shoulders of these young ponies and the bonds between them and their friends than I feel can be revealed safely.  Please do not question this any further."
Since the academy took so much of Rainbow Dash's time, Wayside needed to make doubly sure her job didn't cut into what friend time she had left.  He wasn't about to let Rainbow Dash push herself harder for him and risk whatever it was the princess was so afraid of happening.  He even had to threaten to fire her if she tried to do more than her own shift.
Sunny Rays was the only other non-reserve still willing to pick up hours beyond her normal shift.  She was brilliant at the bookwork and unrivaled in terms of looking at problems in a new light but was only a slightly above average worker by Wayside's standards.  She was getting irritated too.  She didn't mind filling in on occasion, but doing it so often on top of her normal hours started to cause problems in her personal life.  Other than Sunny Rays, very few of the team members outside of the reserves would pick up any of the slack.  It wasn't that they weren't good workers—he hired them after all.  They just didn't have time for it.  He needed to get around to finding more reserve workers, but none of the applicants so far were even worth putting in the reserves.
If it was a temporary shortage of labor due to injury, or family emergency, he could call in short term help from Cloudsdale with little trouble, just some extra expense for paying the outside help and compensation to the department that lent them; however, if he called in due to a shortage of staff, he would be forced to deal with whatever rejects Cloudsdale sent his way as a permanent fill in.  It would be much harder for him to fire a transfer than somepony he hired himself.  Not to mention that if he called to Cloudsdale for aid, he would have to play by several of their backwards regulations in exchange for the 'help'.  It wasn't a very promising prospect for Ponyville in the long run.  
That left him with no choice but to fill in the gaps with his own wings.  He was getting old and didn't have the energy of these younger ponies.  He was able to hold his own for a while if he had to but the extended time of a full shift was taking a toll on his stamina.  Every time he came home from a shift in the sky he would be so tired he could barely pay attention to his son and wife before going to bed early and he hated doing that.  He was past his prime and needed to start leaving the field work to the younger generation.  He really hoped that this Lightning Dust could do the job.  It would mean major trouble for his department if he had to resort to calling Cloudsdale for help.  This kid could be his last chance to not have to do that.
He wanted to hire her, but he had to be careful.  It would be difficult, but still possible to find another if he didn't hire her, but if he had to fire her, none of his workers would be willing to fill in the shift anymore and Cloudsdale would become the only option.  He needed to know what she was made of before he made the call.  He had a plan to know for sure, but he needed help to pull it off.
He instilled the help of his receptionist to make him sound like a mean guy and to set her up to not knock on the door so he could start the interview with her off balance.
He even managed to get the janitor to act like a bouncer and give a report on how she behaved after she left.  How she acted behind his back was even more important to know than when she knew he was around.  No other applicant had been given this treatment, then again no other applicant had poured their heart out to him the day before, not knowing who he was.
After going through the preparations in his head one final time, he was satisfied.  He sat down at his desk, spinning his chair around backwards to stay out of view.  Trying to stay calm, he waited for her to finally come through the door.
Showtime.


* * *


The interview was almost over.  Wayside had managed to read the kid's reactions from behind the chair, and was pretty sure that she was earnest.  She didn't put on any of the sob story she said the day before, and to top it off, what she said about her weather knowledge the day before was surprisingly accurate.  She didn't know much but at least she was honest about it.  Despite this he could have her trained a whole lot easier than he could handle a transfer from Cloudsdale.
Yet, there was one last thing Wayside had to know before giving her the job.  He needed to know how she would react to him making calls she didn't like.  This is the part all his preparations were leading up to.  He needed to know if she would be insubordinate.  Being kicked out of the academy was not a good sign of this.  He only had one sure fire way of knowing.  The method he had in mind wasn't a very nice one:  Get her angry then make it seem he was making an unfair call.  Despite the fact that most of the interview had already made him disgusted with himself for being so mean, this last piece he was about to pull took the cake.
"Bucket!" he yelled at his impromptu bouncer.
"Sir!" his helper answered on cue.
"It is pretty clear that our applicant has little more than a school filly's knowledge of weather.  I have heard all I need from this interview to make my decision.  Please escort the applicant out of the building."
"Yes, sir!"
The next moment he heard her screaming.  At first his heart dropped, thinking she was yelling at him from losing her cool.  He took it as a clear sign she wasn't the pony he needed.
When he realized she was yelling at Bucket from using his horn to 'escort' her, his heart jumped right back up and almost entered his throat.  This turned the situation out of control unbelievably fast.  He should have drilled Bucket on a better way to respond.
Thinking fast, he improvised as best he could in attempt to save this.  Shifting his tone to try to convey a message to Bucket subtly, he took control of the situation before it exploded.
"Bucket, I know you don't want a repeat of what happened last time, but let the lady have her dignity," he said as calmly as his racing heart would let him, hoping to get across the point that what Bucket was doing wasn't what he meant for him to do.
The moment seemed to stretch thin for Wayside as he listened for any signs of what was happening behind his chair.  All he could hear was her hooves touching down on the floor and a long pause, too long a pause.  She wasn't yelling at him and she wasn't leaving.  That could only mean she was wondering what just happened.  He had messed up the message and let on too much.  He had to get it out of her mind promptly before it sank in.
"For as long as she behaves like one anyway," he spat in a cold tone.  It was a last ditch effort to keep her in the dark.  He prayed she wouldn't explode at it.  If she could keep calm after these last unexpected turns, there would be no doubt in Wayside's mind she could do the job; however, if she exploded in the way he is afraid she was going to, it would not only be impossible for him to hire her, but impossible for her to find any job in the area again.  Holding his breath, he heard her stomp out of the room with Bucket following after.  There was nothing left he could do, it was all up to her and Bucket now.
Once out of hearing range, he let out his breath.  He turned to his desk and reached into it for his mixed bottle of peppermint extract and tonic water to soothe his throat after straining his voice.
After taking a heavy swallow to get the same burn and shot of courage as most ponies would get from liquor, he asked himself, "Oh, sweet Celestia.  Why did I push her that hard?"


* * *


"Thank you both for helping with this.  You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that," Wayside said to his receptionist and Bucket the janitor.
Wayside had just been filled in on how Lightning Dust held herself when she left.  It was obvious she was angry with the glare she gave everypony that dared look her in the face.  It was just as amazing how she kept herself under control after the grossly miscalculated amount of disrespect she got at the very end of the interview.  Bucket even saw her face soften when she got an apology from him, which surprised Wayside.
He turned to his receptionist. "I have things to take care of now.  I'm sorry but I have to leave the office in your hooves.  Hold it together until I get back."
His receptionist smiled and simply went back to his work.  "I always do."
"Bucket, thanks again."  He nodded to the janitor.  "You slipped up a little at the end but it worked out.  You can get back to your work now."
He dashed out the door as fast as his old bones let him.  He needed to find her to let her know she had the job.  The sad part was that he couldn't seem to find her anywhere. 

When he ended up running into Pinkie Pie heading from the hospital to the arcade, he noticed she had a bandage on her face.  He was surprised to hear the story about how she got the injury.  "Nopony has ever landed a blow on you before, you always seem to know they're coming and dodge at the last second."
"Eh, my Pinkie sense kept my jaw from breaking.  I just couldn't let go of her tail fast enough," she said merrily, not caring that she was injured.
"You were kinda asking for it."  Sometimes, Pinkie needed guidance on some of the more basic things of pony to pony interaction.  "Crazy as it sounds, Pinkie, a pony has the right to not go to a party if they don't want to.  Now I have to get back to searching.  I can't stay away from the office for very long.  Enjoy the party and give Keen Wit a hug for me."
He heard her say, "Okie doke lokie!  Will do!" as he ran off to search around the market.

Upon reaching the market he still didn't see Lightning Dust.  Thinking she might have come back to find something, Wayside checked with Applejack to see if she had seen her.  He received a very unusual response.
"First, you ask me to have the stall owners keep that new pony Lightning Dust in the dark," Applejack said irately, shifting her weight to one side, "and then, I have to practically force Pinkie Pie to go to the hospital to get her face cleaned up before she went back to the party," she continued as she threw her head the other way, "and now you're askin' me where Lightning Dust is runin' off to.  Today has just been too random for me so I'm just gonna be blunt."
She closed her eyes and seemed to mentally reset herself.  "With all due respect Mr. Wayside, I sell apples.  I don't like gettin' into other ponies' affairs or keepin' secrets.  Knowin' you it was probably for a good reason, but whatever you did it caused that Lightning Dust gal a heap of pain.  She was wanderin' around with her head down and I could swear by the look in her face she wanted to cry." 
Hearing her point, he agreed with her.  "All right, all right, Applejack.  I think I owe a few explanations..."


* * *


After explaining in a nutshell what happened, Applejack was so upset with him she was literally right in his face.  Despite him normally being somewhat taller, she had cowered him down to where he was staring up into her eyes with their foreheads meeting.  Her ears were pressed flat against her head and the look in her eyes made him afraid she was gonna turn around and buck him a good one at any second, if she didn't bite his face off first.
"Darn right ya shouldn't have pushed her that hard!  She didn't deserve any of that!  It's not like she ever hurt nopony!"  She had her voice raised loud enough that she could be heard from most of the market.  "I don't care if ya have to weed out the slackers!  Desperate or not, ya went the wrong way about doing it from the get go!"  Her anger became more focused on him as she came to the end of her point.  "And what's worse, ya had me help ya!"
"That's why I'm trying to make it up to her.  I have to find her first," he explained trying to calm her down, scared for his life.  "I want to let her know she has the job if she still wants it after what I did."
Backing out of his face, she lowered her voice but her ears didn't even twitch from their place.  The look in her eyes barely diminished at all as she got control over herself.  "Well, last I saw of her, she was looking for a newspaper."  She gestured in the direction of the park with her head.  "Feeling sorry for her, I told her how I sometimes see old newspapers in the park that ponies leave behind when they're done with 'em."
Wayside brightened up as much as he dared in front of the angry pony.  "She must be looking for another job.  That's good.  It means she will still be sticking around.  I'll be able to find her if she is still looking for a job."
As Wayside ran off to the park, he heard Applejack yell a warning at him with the same volume as before.  "You'd better make this up to her, or help me Celestia I'll buck you hard enough for the both of us!" she declared as she shook her hoof at him aggressively.  
Wayside knew Applejack meant that as no idle threat.  She was a pony that made good on her promises, especially for a pony in need.


* * *


By the time Wayside got to the park, he knew he was running out of time and had to get back to the office soon.  If she wasn't there he would have to try again tomorrow.  He checked every place he could think of but she didn't seem to be anywhere.
After asking BonBon and Lyra, he discovered that they gave her the paper that BonBon did crosswords on while Lyra burned off her extra energy.  He also found out Lightning Dust left shortly before he arrived at the park.
"I'll just have to find you tomorrow," he said in disappointment.  "Where could you be Lightning Dust?"
> Chapter Three: Washed Up on Friendly Shores
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lightning Dust woke up groggy with a throbbing headache.  As some of the drowsiness faded, she noticed she was lying face down on some sort of table with her face resting in a hole.  When she tried to move she found herself restrained.  Her legs were clamped down and there were some sort of straps keeping her neck and torso from moving.  Even her wings were immobile from some device she couldn't see holding them fully extended.
Lightning Dust began to panic and struggled against her restraints.  Hardly a moment later she heard a familiar voice, "Whoa, nelly!  Calm down girl.  It's all right."  An orange mare poked her head under the table, causing her cowpony hat to fall off her head and onto the floor.  Lightning Dust recognized her as the pony from the apple stall.
Lightning Dust turned her head slightly, the only part of her that didn't seem fully restrained.  "Wh- where am I?  Why am I tied down?"
"You're at the hospital," Applejack tried to explain.  "Ya had a bit of a mishap and your back got twisted all funny.  That's why you're tied down.  The doctors won't let ya up until it's been fixed."
"If I'm here for my back, why does my head hurt?" Lightning Dust asked skeptically, still not up to full speed.
"That'd be Cranky's fault.  He owns the land you were on.  When he saw you he thought you were up to no good and knocked you out," Applejack explained.  She rolled her eyes ever so slightly in both humor and embarrassment. "Ya must've been really distracted to let that loud donkey sneak up on ya."  She closed her eyes for a moment to focus and get back on topic.  "But long story short, after the misunderstandin' Pinkie went to fetch help and they brought you here.  That's when they discovered that yer back was all messed up and set ya in restraints, to keep it from gettin' any worse."
As she listened to Applejack, she started to wonder why in the world she of all ponies would be the one to be there when she woke up and not one of the medical staff.  "So that's why I'm here. Why are you here?"
Applejack's eyes widened ever so slightly at the question.  "When I saw 'em carryin' you t' the hospital I followed to see if I could help," she said, picking her words carefully.  "About all they let me do was sit here and keep ya calm when ya woke up so ya wouldn't hurt yourself."
Lightning Dust took that in for a moment then thought of something that made her hair and feathers stand on end.  "I can't afford to be hurt!  I'm nearly broke as it is!  How am I supposed to pay for this?"  Lightning Dust exclaimed in a very worried tone.
"Well, shouldn't yer insurance pay for this?" Applejack asked her with a look of wonder.
"What?  What are you talking about?  I can't afford insurance either."  Lightning Dust became even more worked up.
"Yer insurance from work," Applejack explained in a tone of even greater confusion.
"What work?  I'm jobless!"  Lightning Dust screamed at her, wondering what in Equestria she was talking about.  Tears welled up in her eyes as she yelled frustration.
At this the look on Applejack's face slowly changed from confusion to realization.  She tried to stifle a giggle and soon had to kneel on the floor as giggle turned into full blown laughter.
"Why are you laughing?  This isn't funny!"  Lightning Dust cried at her at the top of her lungs.  Her tears now ran down her face and were on the verge of dripping onto the floor.
Applejack finally managed to get her laughter under control.  "I'm terribly sorry darlin'.  It's just a lot of things finally make sense now.  Rest assured you have nothing to worry about.  I'm gonna go get somepony that's here waiting for ya who can explain this to ya a mite better than I can."  She took the back of her front hoof and wiped the tears from Lightning Dust's face.  "Promise me you'll stay calm 'till I get back?  It should only take a couple seconds.  He's just fillin' out some paperwork at the nurse's station."
Lightning Dust didn't stop her from cleaning the tears away but she refused to give her an answer.  She just looked away from her in irritation once Applejack removed her hoof.
"I'll take that as a yes," Applejack said before leaving.
Lightning Dust laid there, stuck strapped to the table facing the checkerboard floor, waiting for answers.  She didn't like the situation. 
'If I have to pay the hospital, then what will I do for food?  I'm out of supplies, and I need what money I have left to get more."  Her breathing quickened.  'There aren't any jobs I can do around here to get by and who would want to hire a pony with a messed up back?'
She started panting.  'Celestia help me!  If I can't get my back fixed, I won't even be able to go home to waiting tables, much less be a Wonderbolt!  I'll be nothing more than a cripple stuck moving as slow as an old timer for the rest of my days!'
She heard a door open.  Applejack called out to her, "Now I told ya to stay calm.  Look at yourself!  You're gettin' all worked up before we even have the chance to explain everything."
Those words knocked Lightning Dust back to her senses.  'She's right,' she thought to herself.  She breathed slowly to calm herself down, though only with partial success, 'I have to keep calm about this or I won't make it through.  Panicking is a good way to guarantee failure.  Use your head here, Lightning Dust, not your wings.'
"Good evening Ms. Dust.  How are you feeling?" a new pony called out.
"It feels like my head wants to explode, and my back hurts like I was just pile drived," Lightning Dust answered the new pony in a sarcastic tone with a strong hint of anger.  "And, to top it all off I'm tied down to a table and can't move.  So why don't you tell me how I'm doing, Doc?"
"Oh, my!  It sounds like you're up and kicking.  That's a good sign," the pony responded, somewhat embarrassed.  "However, I'm not the doctor, dear. I'm a nurse.  Nurse Redheart is my name and I'm just here to check up on you when you're finished visiting."
"Oh, OK..."  Lightning Dust did a double take.  "No, wait!  Hold up!  I thought you said you were going to get somepony that could explain all this," Lightning Dust inquired as she turned towards the Applejack's face just as she put it under the table again.
"She did, and that would be me, kid," a familiar voice called from the door.  The pony that called out came over to the table on the opposite side of Applejack and brought his head below the table.  Lightning Dust recognized the pegasus from the inn—the one that showed her around the market.  "There you are," he said with a warm smile.  "I was wondering where you disappeared to.  You ran off on me before I could congratulate you."
"Congratulate me?  Congratulate me for what?" she said, getting confused again.
He responded with a slight laugh, "For getting the weather team job."
At this Lightning Dust was even more confused.  "But I didn't get it.  Mr. Wayside kicked me out before the interview was done.  He even had his bouncer escort me out."
"Actually, he's just the janitor.  He isn't my bouncer."  His smile turned somewhat mischievous.  "I might look old kid, but I can still handle myself good enough."
"He's just a janitor?" she repeated.  "Wait, what?  Not your bouncer?  Handle yourself good enough?  What are you talking about?"
At this last question the old stallion cocked his head a little further than before. "Hehe, let me introduce myself properly kid.  My name is Mr. Wayside."
Lightning Dust processed this last statement through her head a few times.
'Let me introduce myself properly kid.  My name is Mr. Wayside...'
'My name is Mr. Wayside...'
'Wayside...'
'Wayside.'
When it finally clicked, Lightning Dust's mind went a dozen different directions at the same time before the prominent thought made it to her lips.  "Waa?  You're Wayside?  But you don't sound anything like him!"
Switching to the irritated and raspy voice from the interview, he responded, "Oh, don't I now?"  He returned his voice to normal with a cough.  "Sorry about being so rough on you before.  I had to see what you were really made of."
He gave a small huff of a laugh as the corners of his mouth turned up, widening his smile.  "You handled yourself like a pro in that interview.  You didn't let me discourage you.  You played to your strengths but didn't over sell them.  You didn't try to sound like a know-it-all.  You were just honest about your limits, even when they put you at a disadvantage."
His smile relaxed slightly as his face lit up with admiration.  "You were confident yet humbled.  I like that, even if nopony else in town hall agrees."  He trailed off for a moment in irritation before getting back on track.  "You have no idea how many ponies I had to interview that thought they could just throw the 'weather station for dummies' book at me then expect me to give them the job."
All the while he spoke Lightning Dust looked at him in disbelief, not even able to react.  All her brain could manage to do was absorb what he was saying and wait for him to finish.  This seemed impossible to her.  Could this warm hearted, laid back pony really be the loudmouth that interviewed her?
"And Bucket told me about how you behaved when you were leaving," he spoke warmly.  "All things considered, you really did handle yourself like a lady.  I value a worker's attitude just as much as their skill, but unlike skills attitudes can't be taught or trained so easily.  If there was one pony I interviewed that I would want on my team and wasn't already on it, it would be you kid."
He knelt down on the floor and scooted in, bringing him within inches of her face.  "However, there is one part of that mean stuff I said that I meant:  I do not tolerate slackers."  His tone was very serious but not mean.  "I do need workers that know what they are doing.  Workers that can make sure the job is done right on time, every time.  I also want you to know I will fire anypony..."  He paused for a moment to add emphasis.  During this moment, he gave Applejack on the other side of Lightning Dust a quick glance as if expecting some input then returned his gaze to Lightning Dust.  "On.  The.  Spot.  If I see fit and I have before."
He scooted back out and his laid back smile returned.  "So if you're willing to give me a hundred and ten percent then the job is yours kid."
After staring at him for a good ten seconds, not being able to do much else than let what he said sink in, she broke her stupor and inquired, "But you said that I only have a school filly's knowledge of weather.  Won't that be a problem?"
He looked at Applejack again with a face of worry for far longer than before then made a subtle swallowing action.  If Lightning Dust had been more focused, she would have looked back at Applejack to see her glaring at Wayside to watch his words.  "Not if you give your full effort and study hard under the trainer I have in mind for you.  Now do you want the job kid?" He started to sweat.
Lightning Dust's mouth hung open slightly.  Just a few minutes ago, she felt like she would never be able to live her dream again due to the injury, but now she had her hoof in the door of a job that could lead her back to that dream.  She wasn't about to waste it and had only one thing to say to him.
"You want a hundred and ten percent?  If it means I can get my back fixed and staying fit for the Wonderbolts, then I'll aim for a hundred and eleven percent!"
"Yee-ha!"  Applejack yelled with such volume it made the room echo her voice in a startling, almost rhythmic, manner that caused Lightning Dust's headache to sharpen.  "That's the spirit!"
"Applejack!" Nurse Redheart exclaimed, "Need I remind you this is a hospital not a barnyard?  Keep your voice down!"
"Sorry Nurse Redheart."
Applejack finally picked up her hat from the ground as she stood up.  After placing it on her head she paused.  "...Wait, Wonderbolts?  So that's where I remember you from!"  Applejack exclaimed with irritation.  "You're that cocky cadet that nearly took me and mah friends out with that twister!"
Lightning Dust's heart skipped a beat.  It caused a brief critical alert on the monitor she was hooked up to.  It caught the attention of everypony in the room save Lightning Dust, as she was too focused on her realization to notice.
'That's why the crazy pink mare recognized me!  Her and this apple seller where the friends of Rainbow Dash that visited her at the academy!  On top of that, Wayside has regular business... Oh boy, she's gonna tell him to not hire me, and he'll listen!'
"Umm...  Hello again?" was all Lightning Dust could bring herself to say.
How Applejack responded topped everything else Lightning Dust had experienced today on the unexpected scale; the accident, the job coming out of left field, even anything Pinkie did.  "Humph...  Welcome to Ponyville Lightning Dust," Applejack said, in a warm and welcoming tone, quite opposite of the voice she just had.  She then simply left the room with nothing more to say.
"A twister?"  Wayside said with surprise, yet somehow not upset.  "Wow, and I thought somepony managing to land a blow on Pinkie Pie was impressive.  You are full of surprises kid!  I'm gonna go to the nurse's counter and finish filling in your insurance form.  I'll be back tomorrow to talk more details on work."
After both of them left the room, Lightning Dust spoke up in a confused tone. "What just happened?"
"What do you mean?"  Nurse Redheart asked while moving to a drawer and opening it.
"She recognized me from when I nearly killed her then she just walked out of the room saying welcome to town."
The nurse answered after a moment of thought, getting some examination tools ready as she did so, "It's called being forgiven.  Applejack can get quite upset with ponies from time to time but she is not so stubborn to be above forgiving."
"But why?"
"I don't know.  That is something you will have to ask her."  The nurse knelt down and slid under the table.  "Now I need you to hold still so I can check a few things."
"Not a problem I guess.  I ain't going anywhere." Lightning Dust answered back, pondering on the nurse's words.

After about half a dozen tests and a set of sore eyes from a light shining in them later, Lightning Dust asked the nurse, "How long was I out?"
"About two hours.  It's night time now," the nurse replied, as she put a stethoscope on her back, having gotten done with the tests she needed to be on the ground for.  "Now I need you to breathe in deeply and hold it, but go slow and stop if it starts hurting."
Lightning Dust breathed in as directed and held it as she reached as much as she felt she could hold.
"OK, you can let it out."
Letting go, she asked another question, "So why are you doing this? I thought stuff like this was a doctor's job."
"I'm a certified nurse practitioner with a full doctor of nursing degree.  So I guess you could call me a doctor by title after all but it would get confusing," the nurse said as she wrote down a few things on her clipboard.  "Suffice to say I am much more than a normal nurse."
"OK then...  So what happens now?" Lightning Dust asked, tilting her head back as best she could to indicate her injured back.
"Well, Doctor Pulse will be looking at the X-rays of your back in the morning when he catches up on sleep.  A delayed call is often a better choice than a poor call in these cases."  The nurse wrote a few more things on the clipboard.  "But if it is what we think it is, we will have to operate to set the bones right."
"Operate?  Am I really messed up that bad?"  Lightning Dust turned her head abruptly in the direction of where the nurse was standing.
"Possibly.  The muscles in your back are over strained from either you placing a great load on it for far too long or sleeping on it wrong, the doctor was having a hard time figuring out which, but either way it looks like this didn't happen overnight."
Lightning Dust knew exactly what she was talking about on that one.  Walking all day with her heavy saddle bag that carried all her belongings and sleeping in that small tent was what was causing her to be stiff in the mornings.
"Even all that can be fixed by simple tender love and care at home, provided you avoid whatever you were doing to strain them in the first place."
The nurse came over to the table.  Having finished the tests, she tilted her head down back into Lightning Dust's view out of respect for her patient.  "However, your spine and a few ribs have been jarred out of place.  That is what the doctor thinks will require surgery but he won't be able make a call on it until morning.  There is also another medical specialist who wants to look at your X-ray and give the doctor some advice."
Lightning Dust took a moment to think about what the nurse explained.  "Well that leaves me hanging for a few hours.  Can you knock me out until they're ready or something?  I don't think I can sleep on my own with all that has happened and I'll go nuts with nothing to do."
"Sadly no," the nurse answered her in a tone of regret, looking down briefly.  "I can override the rules on visiting hours and request some company for you if you want, but the doctor has given orders to not to give you any sleeping aids or tranquilizers unless absolutely necessary."  She returned her gaze back to Lightning Dust very professionally and with stern purpose.  "Now that you're awake, it is a bad idea to fall asleep again for the next several hours while your head recovers from the shock.  I'm sorry but you will have to bite the bullet."
After pondering on it for a moment, Lightning Dust responded.  "I think I would like that but I don't really know anypony in town."
"That shouldn't be much of a problem," the nurse stated with cheer.  "The hospital knows a few ponies that will keep somepony company even if they don't know them.  If you want I can see if they are available tonight."
Lightning Dust took another moment to consider the options.  Her face scrunched up for a brief moment.  "OK, but not anypony that gets loud.  My head is still ringing from Applejack's... whatever that was."
The nurse looked up in thought.  "I guess that leaves out Pinkie and Lyra.  I'll see if somepony else can come in."

It didn't take too long for the nurse to come back with an answer, hardly even five minutes.  "Unfortunately Ms. Punch is... unavailable tonight.  And Ms. Scratch was unable to answer her phone.  She must be at a job right now."  The nurse poked her head under the table again.  "However, Ms. BonBon will be available as soon as her roommate goes to bed."
Lightning Dust became perplexed at this last statement.  "Why does she have wait for her roommate to go to bed?"
The nurse turned somewhat red in embarrassment.  "Unfortunately, I woke them up when I called."


* * *


Several hours and a few board games later.  "Hey, I didn't roll a five. I rolled a four, put me back!" Lightning Dust called.
It was getting to be early in the morning and if they had been near a window they would have noticed the sun rising.  Instead they just kept playing the game and talking.  She was a fun loving and easy going pony.  Despite this, she wasn't all that eccentric.  Though that might have been because of the fact that they were in a hospital.
"Oh, my bad," BonBon said, correcting her mistake.
Lightning Dust and BonBon had been playing games under the table to keep Lightning Dust from falling asleep.  It was weird at first, with BonBon having to set everything up, roll the dice and move the pieces for the both of them, yet they had soon gotten used to it and were having fun.
That is, until the doctor came in and interrupted.  "Ms. Dust, are you feeling better?"
"Oh hey, you the doc?" Lightning Dust called out to the new pony in the room.  "My headache is feeling a lot better now, but I'm pretty tired.  When can I finally get some shut eye?"
"Yes, I am Doctor Pulse.  To answer your question Ms. Dust, just another hour or so if your checkup goes well.  Ms. Fr-" The doctor paused for a moment as if correcting a slip of the tongue.  "Ms. BonBon.  You won't be needed from here.  You can go home and get some sleep.  I can take over now.  Thank you for the help."
"Thanks again for coming BonBon."  Lightning Dust called to her as she started to gather the board games.
"Oh!  And Ms. BonBon, while you are here," the doctor added, coming over to them.  "I'd like to thank you for that package of sweets the other day.  There were a few odd ones, but overall I'd say Mint did an excellent job on the new flavors.  I should be able to get you my list of the ones I liked sometime tomorrow."
By this time BonBon had gotten her board games together and was putting the last few pieces up from the one they had just been playing.  "Thanks.  I'll make sure to read your list before I add any to the special order menu."
After BonBon left, the doctor thought out loud, "That BonBon can really make some interesting sweets when she is in the mood."
"Wait," Lightning Dust asked, confused.  "I thought you said somepony named Mint made them."
"Oh, well the thing about Mint is..." the doctor began to explain then diverted the question.  "Well it's probably best to let BonBon explain that next time you see her.  As her doctor I'm not really supposed to talk about it."
"Alright I guess," she conceded, not wanting to force the unimportant matter.  "So what can you tell me about my back doc?"
"Well I have two bits of good news and one bit of bad news," he answered her with mixed feelings as he finally bent over to talk to her face to face.
"Give me the good news first.  I could use some good news," she said somewhat excitedly.
"I can't.  It wouldn't make sense without the bad news," he answered apologetically.
"Sigh..."  Lightning Dust slumped her head down for a moment then looked back at him weakly. "Then just give me the bad news already doc."
"Bad news is if we go by the book the only option is surgery.  Your back is messed up pretty bad.  Surprisingly your spinal cord is somehow undamaged.  It's a miracle it wasn't severed when you fell; however, if we don't treat it and let it heal right then the bones that are displaced might still do just that at any given time."
"Dang!  That is some bad news!" she exclaimed in surprise, her gaze returned to the floor again and her breathing rose slightly.  The concept of being paralyzed didn't sit well with her.
The doctor cleared his throat to get her attention again.  "The first bit good news is none of your bones have taken any significant damage.  They have simply been thrown out of place.  This will keep the surgery from having any added complications."
"That's... kinda good news?" she responded, coming out of it slightly, though her gaze was still unbroken.  "You said there was a second bit of good news."
"I did, but it is somewhat... unorthodox," he said with a slight hesitance.  "I said if we go by the book the only option is surgery, but I have been consulting with Zecora on a different route we might be able to take.  She is well versed in alternative medicine.  Although her licensed fields are not well documented, what techniques she has done in this hospital have shown amazing results and has earned the respect of... most every staff member here."
He shook his head from the last part.  "She has looked at your X-ray and believes she can set your back without surgery with one of her techniques.  If all goes well then we believe you should even be out of the hospital later today; however, as I said before it is 'alternative' medicine.  As your doctor I can't encourage you to take it or to not take it.  It is a choice you have to make for yourself.  She is checking on some patents now, but she will be by as soon as she can manage to explain further."
Lightning Dust came out of her daze as he spoke, "That sounds... not so bad if I can trust it.  So where does that leave us until then?"
His mood shifted right along with the conversation.  He answered her in a less factual and more optimistic tone, "First, a morning checkup and then your breakfast."
'Hospital food, not the best in the world,' she thought to herself.  'Then again, aside from that apple, I haven't eaten anything worth noting besides dried oats and alfalfa for a while now.'  She looked up at the doctor with a forced smile.  "Not too excited about that first one but breakfast sounds good."
"All right then.  If you want to get to breakfast quickly look into this light for me," the doctor said as he slid under the table with the same tool that the nurse had earlier.


* * *


"I have never seen a pony in as much pain as you must be in, have such an appetite.  How can you manage that pain so easily?"  Doctor Pulse set down the second empty tray of food, that his patient had finished eating, with his help.
"Trust me doc, it isn't easy, but I'm familiar with pain."  She swallowed the food, to talk more clearly.  "Sure it hurts, but stopping to cry doesn't get...""  Lightning Dust's eyes wandered back to the floor as her eyebrows furled.  "Doesn't get anything done.  All I can do is listen to it, to understand what's damaged, and work with it.  It's a lesson I learned back home at the restaurant." She inhaled and sighed briefly.  "And it's been proven pretty tried and true ever since."
She looked back at the doctor to find that he was staring at her with a hint of something she didn't find to her liking, pity.  Her ears promptly went flat.  "As for the food," she said with great emphasis, "I don't know what everypony complains about.  This food is fine.  It's nothing like the restaurant back home, but fine."
The doctor gently shook his head and gave an uneasy smile.  "Don't say that too loud, they're still trying to get the cooks to add gravy to the mashed potatoes."  He gestured with his hoof to keep her voice down with a shaky sarcasm.  "If they hear you say that then they won't budge."
Lightning Dust heard the door open.  The doctor stood up and addressed the new arrivals, "Ah good! Nurse Redheart... and Ms Zecora.  I believe the patient is ready to hear your idea.  I shall now take my leave.  There are other patients I need to tend to.  When all of you are done talking it should be fine for you to get some sleep Ms. Dust."
After the doctor left with the food trays, Nurse Redheart came over to the table and bent down to talk to her again.  "Good morning."
"Morning Redheart."  Lightning Dust answered back sluggishly.  "Doc said something about that this Zecora pony could fix my back?"
Nurse Redheart shifted at something Lightning Dust said before responding, "It might be possible.  Zecora is a licensed herbal pharmacist and alternative medicine specialist.  Her skills take a... 'different' route than mainstream medicine."
The tone in the nurse's voice put Lightning Dust on edge.  "Different?  Like what?  You aren't saying she is some snake oil pony are you?"
"If you must be crude about it she is more of a modern day shaman, or medicine mare."  Nurse Redheart answered back, trying to reassure her.  "Ms. Zecora is well known in this area for her wisdom and knowledge.  Both in medicine and daily life."
Lightning Dust looked at her funny.  "Regardless what you call it, you seem to be putting a lot of trust in this backwoods medicine," Lightning Dust said unconvinced.  "No offense Zecora."
She could swear she heard a soft grunt.  Though whether the grunt was out of disapproval or recognition she couldn't tell.
"We had a similar attitude towards her when she first came along offering assistance," Nurse Redheart said, trying to empathize with her.  "However she has never made a claim she couldn't back up.  You are not the first patient in this hospital she has helped when the doctors were at a total loss."  She tilted her head to the side and looked up in thought for a moment.  "But to be fair, this is the first time she has offered an alternative to surgery in this hospital."  She returned her gaze to her patient.  "Every other patient she has helped was with medicine, therapy or counsel."
"And has anypony seen what this procedure is supposed to do?"  Lightning Dust asked, making sure she didn't make an uninformed call.  "This is my back we are talking about.  I only have one."
"When the doctor was shown what Zecora was wanting to do he had a similar thought and was skeptical for a moment, saying the procedure could make the problem worse if handled wrong,-"she paused briefly to prepare for a new point.  "But Zecora has performed the technique on many zebras of her homeland under her teacher's supervision before being declared a competent healer of her kind.  She knows what she's doing."
When the realization of Zecora's species sank in, Lightning Dust's went wide as she exclaimed, "Wait!  This is a zebra technique?  It isn't meant for ponies?"
"Zebra and pony anatomy are remarkably similar and the technique is very noninvasive," Nurse Redheart said, coming to Zecora's defense.
"Noninvasive or not!" Lightning Dust shouted again.  "If it's messing with my back then I don't want something that hasn't been tested on a pony!"
Sensing her panic, Zecora came over to the side of the table opposite of Nurse Redheart.  She quickly leaned down to let Lightning Dust see her face, somehow moving in such a way that it demanded her attention without even speaking.
As she stared at Zecora, it was not quite what she expected of a zebra.  She was expecting her to look more like a donkey or at least a mule with black and white stripes.  But her face seemed more like a pony in shape than anything, if slightly off in subtle ways.  Looking at Zecora made it clear that Nurse Redheart wasn't lying about zebra anatomy being similar to pony.
Zecora stood there for few moments, letting Lightning Dust stare at her without any expression of expecting her to do or say anything, just to stare.  When she felt that Lightning Dust had gotten a good look at her and had calmed down, she spoke up, "I have used this technique on your kind many times in the past.  All of them have recovered and returned to their tasks quite fast."  Lightning Dust noticed that she spoke in purposeful rhyme.  "A paralyzed pony I came across, years ago as I traveled.  With her injury, all her dreams had unraveled.  Though among ponies she was by far my worst case, she now lives her life's passion with a smile on her face."
Lightning Dust wasn't convinced and she was getting skeptical about the zebra's boasts.  The rhyming and funny accent didn't help.	 'She's smooth with her words, too smooth.  I can't take anything she says for granted,' Lightning Dust thought in caution.  "That sounds like a lot of hollow words to me.  How can I know you're telling the truth?"
Zecora seemed to smile from ear to ear after hearing this as if she was expecting it.  "You are skeptical of the claims I make.  To seek proof is a wise caution to take."  She raised an eyebrow confidently.  "If the proof to my skills is what you inquire, you may reference my old patient Spitfire."
"Zecora!" Nurse Redheart exclaimed.  "You know you are held to oath to keep conventionality for all patients, past and present, even the ones you treated before you obtained your medical license.  I should repor..."
Lightning Dust had barely registered any of what Nurse Redheart was blabbing about as anything more than the source of her headache's new found strength.  She was recalling memories from her days as a filly when her aunt would tell her stories of her youth while foalsitting her before her career forced her to stop.  One was of a foreign healer that had treated her injury and saved her career as a Wonderbolt when the doctors said she would never be able to fly again.
It was a story of new found hope, one of the many that her aunt had told her that made her want to be a Wonderbolt.  'Could this zebra really be that healer?  I have to know for sure.'
"Nurse Redheart!"  Lightning Dust yelled to interrupt the one sided argument.
Startled, Nurse Redheart responded, "Y-yes?"
"I appreciate you helping me and I know you're just doing your job but shut up!  It's making my headache worse."
Not even bothering to see Nurse Redheart be taken back from shock, she turned to the zebra.  "Zecora, you said you treated Spitfire.  That story was in the papers and it said a 'wandering healer' healed her.  Anypony can claim to be them.  If you want to fix my back then prove to me it was you.  Tell me what you asked her to never tell anypony that wasn't family.  Tell me what you told my aunt when she insisted on paying you."
"Aunt?  You're Spitfire's niece?" Nurse Redheart nearly mumbled through her shock.
"I don't like showing it off, but ya.  Now zip it and let the zebra answer my question!" Lightning Dust snapped at her.  "I'm dead tired and I don't need all this noise."
Zecora looked at Nurse Redheart under the table with a flat face and one ear drooping down half way, clearly holding back the desire to glare at the pony that had just chewed her out.  "To our company I mean no disrespect, but your ears I must ask you to redirect."
"What?"  Nurse Redheart responded dully, not fully recovered from the last retort she was given.
"She means she doesn't want you to hear what she is going to say," Lightning Dust clarified rudely, not having much patients for her at that moment.
"O-oh.  I'll be at the door then?  You can whisper it right?"  Nurse Redheart got up to go to the door, still off put from Lightning Dust's unusual request to shut up.
Zecora looked at Lightning Dust with a knowing glance.  "To learn of your relation is no surprise.  I saw the same spirit in your eyes."
Laying down on the ground, Zecora moved in to where she could whisper into Lightning Dust's ear.  "A healer helps those in need, not those moved by greed.  The gifts of healing must not be for trade, lest the healer's heart become easily swayed."
After this, Lightning Dust looked at her, waiting for her to finish, but Zecora stared back as if expecting something.  "What?" Lightning Dust asked, confused.
Zecora just raised an eyebrow at her and gestured to her, as if telling her to finish.
Lightning Dust stared into the zebra's eyes and finally made the connection.  She wanted her to prove she knew the story as well.  She started the next line, "If a debt you feel you still owe, then a request I shall make, before I go."
Smiling, Zecora continued, knowing Lightning Dust understood what she was wanting her to do.  "Go boldly in life and take hardships in stride."
Without skipping a beat, Lightning Dust continued where Zecora stopped, "Learn from your mistakes and let go of pride."
Zecora continued again, "Take each challenge as they come and face them without fear."
Stopping the rhythm, Lightning Dust realized this is where she remembered the phrase she thought to herself before the interview from.  'That's why it was so familiar.  It was a lesson from Aunt Spitfire's foalsitting.'
She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Zecora clear her throat.  "Oh!  Uh, stay true to yourself and your path will be clear."
Zecora had a look of interest in her eyes from Lightning Dust's pause, but continued speaking as if nothing happened, "Teach to your children and students your lessons from youth."
As Lightning Dust finished the last lyric, Zecora finished with her, "Through your past, they will be enlightened with wisdom and truth."
"By Luna's mane!" Lightning Dust exclaimed in awe.  "It was you!"
"Are you two finished then?"  Nurse Redheart asked after she heard Lightning Dust's exclamation.  "Zecora, we will be discussing your breach in privacy later, but for now am I correct to assume you have made your choice Ms. Dust?"
"Ya, I think I have, but umm...  Everypony else has been able to go to bed.  I think it's about my turn now.  Can I give you my answer after I sleep on it?"
> Chapter Four: Seeds of Trust
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Lightning Dust fell into a deep, dreamless sleep almost immediately after Zecora and Nurse Redheart left.  She didn't know how long her sleep lasted, but it was finally interrupted by the sound of her health monitor's steady beeping.
A few minutes passed by before somepony came in the room.  "Hello?" she called out to them.
"Good to see you're awake," Doctor Pulse said as he went over to the health monitoring station.  "And judging by your charts you slept well.  How is your headache?"
"I can barely feel it now, just a little throbbing in my temples but it still hurts pretty bad where I got hit.  It's starting to get itchy there too."
"That's a good sign.  It means your body is healing."  He brought his head under the table so that she could talk to him face to face.  "Have you decided what you want to do with your back now that you have gotten some sleep?"
"Ya.  I actually made up my mind this morning," she said with a confident face, "but I wanted to get a clear head so I knew it was the right choice."
"Very well.  Did you want to take the surgery then?"
"Actually, if it's alright with you I want Zecora's idea."
"...OK then.  I'll go fetch her and we can get started."  The doctor was not surprised per say, but there was something else to his voice lightning Dust couldn't place.


* * *


"That's it? That's all?  Why couldn't you do that doc?"  Lightning Dust asked as the straps that held her to the table were being untied.
"I know it might have seemed like a simple bone popping but trust me, it wasn't," the doctor said from a distance, letting Nurse Redheart work.  "If Zecora had slipped up in the slightest, you could have been in worse trouble than you were already in.  There is no way for a normal doctor to know where the bones are going when they are being knocked around like that.  I told you the only 'by the book' way was surgery and I meant it.  Zecora was only able to do it safely because of her years of practice under her teacher.  For any normal doctor to do what Zecora did would have been reckless.   A one out of three shot of not paralyzing you at best.  Never mind actually fixing it."
"What!?"
"But those are the odds of a normal doctor, Zecora knew what she was doing," he added quickly.  "If I had to give the odds on her doing it, I'd say it would have even had better chances than the surgery with the fact she has never failed to set a back correctly.  The surgery would have had about a twenty percent chance of failure or complications based on the statistics of past surgeries.  You were in capable hooves."
Lightning Dust slid off the table with Nurse Redheart's help and stepped down onto her hooves for the first time in almost a day.  Hearing the doctor's explanation disturbed her, but she checked her back.  Though she found it was still very sore, it still felt much better.  "Well It's fixed anyway, but don't you ever leave me in the dark like that again."  She started stretching her sore limbs with Nurse Redheart's help.
"I am sorry.  I didn't mean to hide anything from you," the doctor apologized, "But you need to understand that your back isn't quite 'fixed' yet.  The bones have been set back in place but your back is still quite fragile.  You still need to go very easy on it until it heals up on its own.  I am giving you some orders to follow to make sure it heals right.
"No lifting anything heavier than an apple until tomorrow evening.  Even after that, I still want you to try to avoid lifting anything heavy enough to where you have to put in effort if you can help it.  No flight at all for the next two weeks.  I don't even want you flapping your wings in that time.  If you have to stretch them, do it slowly.  After those weeks are up, I want you to do nothing more than a gentle glide to work your muscles for the two weeks following.  No speedy flying, sharp turning or dives.  Keep it to basic, just above the ground exercises only.  Also no carr-"
"Are you trying to throw her back out again!?" Zecora interrupted loudly from the corner, which she had been sitting in ever since she finished working on Lightning Dust.
Everypony looked at Zecora in shock.  Lightning Dust whispered to Nurse Redheart, as they stopped doing the particular stretch that Zecora was yelling at them about, "She can talk without rhyming?"
Nurse Redheart answered her in just as soft a whisper, but with a small tone of fear in it, "Ya.  When she's really pissed off."
After Zecora knew she has everypony's full attention, she spoke up again, in a more controlled, but obviously still irritated, voice.  "Of those forms I would be weary.  They strain more than necessary."  She got up from her chair, sat down on the floor next to a wall and placed her back up against it.  She then tapped a forehoof on the wall to her side and directed her attention to Lightning Dust.  "If limbs stretched is what you need, then come here and follow my lead."
After getting a somewhat hesitant nod from both the doctor and nurse, Lightning Dust headed over to Zecora then carefully sat down next to her.  She began to mimic Zecora's strange movements, finding them unusually easy yet effective.  While she moved with Zecora's lead she didn't feel any of her sore parts being strained.  A little bit later as she got the hang of stretching in the new form and could split her attention, the doctor continued.
"As I was saying, no carrying anything on your back for the next month.  If you need something carried, get somepony else to do it.  I'm also ordering you to sleep only in a quality bed for that same month.  Since you're a pegasus, I strongly recommend a cloud bed, if you can arrange for one to be brought down to the ground.  No more of that tent sleeping or you will undo all of Zecora's work and she might not be able to put you back together again."  Looking at Zecora, he blandly asked her, "Anything you want to add, Zecora?"
Hearing the tone of irritation on his voice, Zecora simply answered calmly as she stood up again, "As a healer your advice is most sound.  From my knowledge not a flaw to be found, but wings and flight are not my field.  So to your wisdom I must yield."  Zecora bowed out to the doctor in a very respectful form that held just of hint of going through the motions.  She then turned her head and smiled warmly at Lightning Dust as the pegasus got up slowly from the floor.  Just before Lightning Dust looked up from her hooves, Zecora moved away from her, towards the door and into the hall, not letting her see the smile.
"That was interesting.  I might have to add some of those to my morning regimens," Lightning Dust thought out loud.
The doctor spoke in a dispirited voice, while rubbing his head with his hoof, "At any rate, my orders will be on your copy of the discharge papers so that you can remember them after you leave, but for now, there are some ponies waiting for you in the lobby, if you feel up for a walk."
Lightning Dust turned her head to the doctor.  "Really?  Who?"
"Mr. Wayside and a few others," he answered with an uneasy smile.
"That's right!  He did say he would be back today, didn't he?"


* * *


As they walked down the halls, Lightning Dust thought back on the conversations with Zecora.  She was interesting for sure, but there was something else bothering her.  "Hey doc, can I ask you something?"
The doctor turned his head towards her as they walked.  "What did you need?"
"You and Zecora seemed to respect each other, but after she fixed me up you seemed bitter towards her, and when I think back both you and Nurse Redheart where acting flip flop towards her the whole time.  You were respecting and defending her one minute, then it felt like you two would be practically at each other's throats the next if I wasn't in the room.  What's up with that?"
The doctor stopped a few feet before reaching the lobby door.  "...I had hoped you wouldn't notice."  After letting out a sigh then drawing a breath, the doctor explained, "The fact is, to call Zecora a remarkable healer would be an understatement.  She does things for the patients here that are just astounding.  Otherwise, we would have never let her touch your back; however, she has a very different view about medicine than our own.  Since she was raised believing healers should never charge for their services she feels we rob our patients every time we bill them.
"She doesn't fight it anymore but she has made her opinion on it quite well known in the past.  You saw how she isn't afraid to fight us back there.  When she sees us doing something that she feels is wrong she doesn't hesitate to say it.
"There is also a very big difference in our approaches to our work.  The rest hospital staff and I hold ourselves in a professional manner.  We have strict codes of conduct with set procedure.  While she holds herself to some pretty high morals, sometimes they are not fully compatible with our professional approach.  She generally respects and follows our rules when she volunteers hers skills to the hospital, but if they conflict with her own beliefs she won't think twice on breaking them."
He started moving towards the door again and placed a hoof on it.  "So let's just say while we have learned to respect each other, it still isn't uncommon for us to have to butt heads over a problem on occasion, but right now you have some visitors to focus on.  Now brace yourself," he said as he opened the door.
Lightning Dust didn't have long to wonder what he was talking about when he said 'now brace yourself', because a very startling noise came from the door as soon as he opened it. "Surprise!  Aww..." she heard several ponies call out from the lobby, disappointed.
"She's right here everypony.  I just didn't want her hit full force.  Now remember: be gentle with her back as well as the bump on her head, and be sure to keep the noise down," the doctor said to them as he gestured to Lightning Dust to come out.  "And that goes doubly with your promise, Pinkamena Diane Pie," he added in a very authoritative tone.
Lightning Dust was confused at first, from not seeing what he was talking about on the other side of the door; however, she quickly realized what is going on when she heard the formal name being said.  It sounded far too similar to the name of a pony she had hoped to not see again to be chance.  "Oh no...  This isn't what I think it is, is it?" she whined as she walked up to the doorway, seeing what she hoped she wouldn't.
"Yes.  Yes it is," the doctor answered her in an apologetic tone.
"Oh for the love of the royal sisters..." Lightning Dust called out in an exasperated sigh as she noticed the nearest corner of the lobby set aside for a small party.  There were streamers, carefully tied down balloons, balloon animals and what looked like a punch bowl on a cafeteria cart with other party treats all waiting there for her.  There were also not quite a dozen ponies, huddled as close to the door as they can without being in the way.  Some of them she recognized, others she didn't.
The doctor turned to her and explained, "We normally wouldn't have allowed it, but Pinkie would have thrown you one anyway.  With your condition, we decided to throw it here in a controlled setting for your safety."
Pinkie, not bandaged any more but still sporting the remains of a black eye, came bouncing up and stopped farther away from Lightning Dust than she normally did, much to Lightning Dust's relief.  "Sorry about not being able to make the party super-duper extra spectacular like I said I would, but Doctor Pulse said you could get hurt at a big party and it just isn't fun if somepony gets hurt."
Lighting Dust hated parties and celebrations with a passion.  They were filled with noisy, eccentric ponies.  She just wasn't comfortable in them but she needed to be on her best behavior.  Her boss was right there watching her.
"Umm, Pinkie was it?" Lightning Dust asked, trying to swallow her pride and bear the situation.
"Yup-yup! That's my name!" she said with an innocent look on her face, giving Lightning Dust her full attention.
"Well to be honest Pinkie," she said as calmly as she could, with a small and forced smile, "I'm actually kinda glad it's a small party.  I don't really like parties."
"Whhaaa!?" Pinkie gasped, throwing her head up.  Her eyes lost focus and she became unresponsive.
The doctor came up to her and waved a hoof in front of her face with no response.  He then tried to shake her shoulder with the same result.  "Oh dear.  I think you may have broken her," the doctor softly exclaimed.  He gave a small but merry laugh.  "I guess that about makes you two even for her causing you to fall.  Could somepony bring me one of the balloons?"
A pegasus mare with a pale turquoise coat and vanilla mane flew fairly quickly over to the corner for the party, retrieved a balloon and brought it to the doctor.  The doctor asked the pegasus to help Lightning Dust cover her ears.  He then bit the balloon down by the stem where it wasn't stretched and inhaled as much of the gas from the balloon as he could.  He then let the rest go in Pinkie's face in a loud sequel.  The wind from the balloon made the front part of Pinkie's mane flip up and swirl in the air and the muffled sound still caused Lightning Dust's headache to sharpen a little.
Seeing this do nothing, he spoke to her in a very funny sounding voice from the gas, "Pinkie Pie polishes pretty pebbles around Ponyville."  After a little deep breathing the doctor regained his normal voice.  "Still nothing.  I really didn't want to have to do this."
Leaning up to Pinkie's ear nervously, he spoke softly, "Somepony broke a pinkie promise."  The doctor backed away quickly even before this registered.
Pinkie's eyes came back into focus and her entire face became encompassed in rage.  She turned to the doctor and grabbed him by his lab coat with both front hooves.  "Who broke their Pinkie Promise!?" Pinkie screamed at him in a voice so fiery that Lightning Dust wondered if Pinkie had become possessed.
"N-nopony Pinkie!  I just had to say that to snap you out of it!  I'm sorry!" the doctor exclaimed in fear.


* * *


After Pinkie calmed down, the party went pretty smoothly.  Lightning Dust met some of her soon to be coworkers including her trainer Sunny Rays.  She also found out the pony that held her ears down was known as Sassaflash and was the pony she would be replacing.  She, as well as her husband, stated that they were grateful she finally came along so that they could go on their honeymoon.
Even Wayside and his wife and child were there, though Keen Wit was already digging into the cart of food from the lobby chair he was standing on to reach it.  His normal hat was tied down with a coned party hat on top of it.  When she was properly introduced to Wayside's wife, she found her name to be Serrano Pepper but everypony just called her Serra.
Lightning Dust found that instead of normal party food, Pinkie worked hard with somepony called Ms. Cake to find healthier alternatives to respect Lightning Dust's distaste for unhealthy food.  She was surprised at the fact they would bother to throw a party for her, but she was amazed that they would go through that much trouble just to fit her tastes when she had barely even mentioned it.
The punch was tasty yet unique, almost like a sports drink but not too sweet and it had a subtly pleasant bitterness to it.  Some of the more notable treats were some sort of dipping sauce in a bowl with carrots, celery and other things to dip.  There were a few baked items with a filling inside them that reminded her of the appetizers at her mother's restaurant, though the filling tasted a little different.  The only sweet on the cart was what Pinkie called figgy pudding cupcakes.
When she bit into one of the cupcakes, she found it filled with as much fruit and nuts as it could hold without falling apart.  It reminded her of the fruit cakes in the stores around Hearth's Warming Eve, but not nearly as disgusting.  It was actually really good, for something healthy-ish yet sweet.  
Pinkie was eager to hear her opinion as soon as she swallowed.  She was ecstatic when she found Lightning Dust liked it despite not wanting the second one she made for her, which Keen Wit was more than happy to take instead.
When Wayside heard Lightning Dust mention that the doctor recommended a cloud bed, he immediately sent one of his team that was at the party to go get one.  When asked why he did that, he stated that he was just protecting the investment he made in her with the hospital bills.
The rest of the party was spent simply having fun, exchanging jokes and enjoying their company.  With calm conversation, no loud noises and nopony trying to be wild, she actually didn't mind this small party so much.
When she was dragged somewhere like this back home, even as a guest, there was always some underlying feeling of expectation that made her feel out of place.  Yet there was just something about these ponies that made her feel, not quite fully at ease, but accepted without expectation.  She was the guest of honor, yet they just let her be herself.  By the end of it all, Lightning Dust was simply enjoying herself without worrying for the first time since she was in the academy, despite the lingering headache. 


* * *


About half an hour after the party, Lightning Dust was checking out of the hospital.  "And with that you are free to go Lightning Dust.  Just remember my orders and you should heal fine," Doctor Pulse said as he gave her the patient copy of the discharge paperwork.
"So any idea where you want us to put your cloud bed for the night?" Wayside asked as they headed towards the hospital entrance.
Lightning Dust stopped in her tracks and dropped the discharge paper from her mouth, letting it fall to the floor.  "Oh just great.  I don't have anywhere to stay!"  She looked at her boss then to his wife and then to the ground in rapid succession.  She shook her head in dismay.  "I guess I'll have to rent a room back at the inn for tonight.  Then I'll have to find something else in the morning."
With a look of inspiration, Wayside spoke up. "Don't worry about the rent kid.  I'll take care of the rent for you out of my personal stash until your first check comes in."  His wife gave him a strange look of both admiration and confusion.  "I owe you at least that with how I treated you yesterday."
Lightning Dust looked happy at this for a moment, but thought about how her mother would help her out then expect her to do something else her 'dear' mother's' way.  It often ended up leaving her dependent on her mother again one way or another.  This was another reason she didn't want to go home.  Almost every charity 'freely given' that Lightning Dust had to take in the past had some sort of string attached to it or some other 'unsaid obligation'.  At this thought, her face quickly turned sour.
"I can't have you do that.  You've done enough already with giving me a job.  I don't need your pity."
"Hey! The job has nothing to do with pity!" Wayside retorted firmly.  "That's businesses.  In debt to you or not, I'd still fire you if you slack off.  I don't waste the town's funds on slackers."
Glancing at his wife to give him some space, he pulled Lightning Dust in gently to talk to her privately, "And I'm not doing this out of pity either.  I have three angry mares riding my flank on this for different reasons.  One is both willing and able to put me in the hospital next if I don't make this up to you.  Another is threatening to fire me if you don't prove to be worth your hospital bills.  And the last one -"  He paused to do a subtle shift of his head, accompanied with a pointing of his eyes, to gesture to his wife.  "- is the scariest pony I have ever met and would do even worse to me if I left anypony out on the street in the condition you're in, whether I knew them or not.  Like I said, I'm not doing this out of pity kid.  I'm doing this out of self preservation.  So please, just take the offer already."
Lightning Dust looked down and pondered a moment.  It sounded nice but she felt if she took it she could still get hooked.  Turning back to face him, she asked, "If I take it can I walk out on it at any time no strings attached?  You won't get mad and fire me?"
Wayside looked at her surprised, stopping to think about what she just said for a few seconds.  "Kid, you must have had some poor jobs in the past to think that.  The only reason I would fire you is if you didn't handle your job professionally or did something bad like steal or kill somepony.  So if it makes you feel better I promise you can stop staying at the inn at any time you think you need to, without me getting upset about you leaving, 'no strings attached'."  He pointed down to something at her side.  "Just be warned, Keen Wit has grown fond of you ever since he found out about you wanting to be a Wonderbolt."
She looked down to her side and saw the colt with a little food still on his face, looking up at her. "Will you be my big sister?" the colt asked with a smile of admiration.
Lightning Dust pulled her head back slightly upon hearing this.  "Um..."
"Keen Wit!  We're only offering her a room for a time," Serra called to her son.  "We're not trying to adopt her."
After a short, awkward moment, she answered the colt gently, "No.  I'm not gonna be your big sister."  She saw a sad look on his face from hearing this.  "But maybe we can still hang out later."
Something about the innocence of the colt's renewed admiration broke her determination, but just barely.  The corner her mouth curled up ever so slightly.  "Alright I'll take the room."  She paused for a moment again.  "For now."


* * *


Upon getting to the inn, despite having rested only a few hours earlier, Lightning Dust simply asked for the key to her room and went to bed.  Upon entering the room, she found the cloud bed Wayside asked for already replacing the mattress of the normal bed.  She also found her saddle bags and tent with the new rope all put up and in order, sitting on the nightstand next to her bed.
When she saw all of this, she realized Wayside had been planning on offering her the room the whole time.  She felt both touched and disturbed but there was nothing to do about it.  'At least I know I can walk away from all this help without getting fired if I have to.'
Out of the lingering remains of paranoia, she reached into her saddle bag for her bit bag to make sure nopony slipped some into their own bags.  Feeling it carefully with her hoof, she got a rough estimate of the number of coins inside.  She felt a little guilty checking it after getting all the help today, but she still wanted to make sure.
She carefully replaced the saddle bag's flap and crawled into her bed.  She would worry about the rest of tomorrow's worries tomorrow.  Right now she was happy to be at peace for a brief moment.  She had plenty of reason to be.  She finally had a real job and a roof over her head, not just occasional day labor and a tent.
Somepony thought she was worth taking a chance on.  The throbbing from her recently fixed back, the cloud bed she was laying on and the ceiling she was staring at were all proof of this.  She didn't realize that the her face would be even sorer than her back from falling asleep while smiling so hard the next morning, but she wouldn't mind either.


* * *


Lightning Dust Looked Spitfire right in the eye.  She knew what was coming and she accepted it.  She didn't even flinch as the badge was torn off.  When she was directed to leave, she didn't hesitate.  She took the order in stride with little more than her ears going limp in sadness.
As she left with her escort, she looked back at her Idol with hope.  Her wings stayed still as she did so.  Upon reaching the entrance to the academy, she was still in high spirits.  She opened her wings to take off.
When she took off she felt a pull on her tail.  She looked back to see one of her escorts was pulling on it.  He was now wearing a waiter uniform.  The other had turned into her mother, holding a plate of noodles out to her to be carried out to a table.
"Sorry mom, but-" she said as she looked at her mom, while getting her back legs ready, "-No!"  She gave the stallion holding her tail a swift kick in his face that seemed almost familiar.  She flew up and circled back to her mom.  "I'm not coming home," she called out to her from a few meters up in the air.  "I'm a flyer and my dream isn't dead yet."  She flew off to the horizon with no particular destination.  She just drifted, enjoying the sensation of being in the air like she used to.

Still groggy and half asleep in bed, she muttered to herself, "I'll be back someday Aunt Spitfire.  I will make you proud of me."  She then fell back into her deep sleep.


* * *


When Lightning Dust woke up in the morning, she could smell Serra's cooking.  It smelled like oatmeal, yet there something was special about the scent it.  Before she went outside she did her morning routines.  She tried to incorporate some of Zecora's methods that she managed to remember into her stretches, being careful to remember how not to strain her back as she did so.
When she went outside, she found Keen Wit coming down the hall.  "Oh good you're up!  Mom wanted me to fetch you for breakfast and dad said he wanted you to stay long enough to meet somepony from the weather team."
"But I met them last night." she responded in a mildly confused tone.
"Not all of them.  Some of them couldn't come.  This one has been out of town for the last week."

She followed the twerp to the Kitchen, which doubled as a dining room just off of the main room of the inn.  Upon entering, she saw Serra and Sunny Rays sitting there, waiting for her with two extra bowls ready.
"Morning sweetie," Serra said as she got up and pulled out a chair for Lightning Dust.  Lightning Dust hoped it was just out of respect for her back and it wouldn't be a normal thing once she recovered.
After sitting down Serra pushed one of the bowls to her then told her to eat up.  Lightning Dust started eating as Sunny Rays talked with her cheerfully.
"Good morning Lightning Dust.  If you felt up to it, Wayside wanted me to get started teaching you some of the not so hooves on stuff today, but we have the better part of a month to get through all of it.  So we can take it slow and make sure you get it right."
"That sounds great," Lightning Dust answered after swallowing the first bite.  The oatmeal tasted like it had some of the apples from the market and something else subtle in it, butter maybe.  It wasn't common for something like this to elude Lightning Dust's taste.  She had been drilled in understanding food from her mother and couldn't hardly eat anything without doing it reflexively.  Whatever it was, it was good for oatmeal.  "But don't you need to be out there?  Wouldn't you spending time with me keep you from work?" Lightning Dust asked her as she gave up trying to identify the ingredients.
"Normally yes," she answered with a half nod and a slight tilt of the head.  "But since you are technically an employee now we aren't short winged anymore.  So now that you're on 'sick leave' Wayside was able call in some temporary help to cover for you from Cloudsdale without nearly as much trouble as if he had nopony at all."  She shook her head as she recalled something.  "The central weather office has some funny rules about that.  He also called in an extra wing to cover some my shift to make sure I have the time train you right."
"Strange rules for sure but it got me the job so I won't complain," Lightning Dust thought out loud.  Looking at Sunny Rays eating with her, she asked, "Are you here every morning for breakfast?"
Sunny Rays stopped eating and set her spoon back down in the bowl.  "Naw.  Sometimes Serra invites us, sometimes she doesn't."  Lightning Dust could only guess she was talking about the rest of the weather team.
Sunny Rays looked over at the lady of the house cleaning up dishes and made sure she was out of earshot.  She then leaned in at the table beckoning Lightning Dust to do the same.  After complying with her as best she could, Sunny Rays spoke softly.
"Word of advice while you're staying here.  She loves to cook for ponies but it isn't a part of her inn's service.  Just be sure to only come in to the kitchen when she invites you and you'll be fine.  If she doesn't call you then she doesn't want you in the kitchen.  Got it?"
After she gave Serra a quick glance as she absorbed what Sunny Rays was saying, she answered back, "Got it," then went back to her oatmeal.
"That's right.  This is my kitchen.  So I had better not catch any midnight snackers in it," Serra said confidently.  Both ponies at the table looked at Serra in surprise when she said this.  "No.  I didn't hear you.  I just knew what you were talking about.  I am a mom after all," she responded with a smile, not even looking away from her dishes.

As she got a good way through her oatmeal, Lightning Dust Heard Wayside outside, coming up to the door while talking to what must have been the other weather team member that he wanted her to meet.
"I'm sure you're gonna love working with this one.  Once she's trained she might even give you a run for your bits."
"Ha!  Fat chance!  Only the Wonderbolts can keep up with me!"
Lightning Dust dropped her spoon when she heard the familiar voice.  It clattered on the edge of the table then fell to the floor.  The blood drained from her face before the screen door to the kitchen even opened to reveal who Wayside was talking to.
"So where is sh... You!  What are you doing here!?" Lightning Dust heard her ex-wing pony Rainbow Dash exclaim, looking like she was ready to attack.
> Chapter Five: Old Rival, New Bearings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Lightning Dust wanted to kick herself for being so stupid.  She knew that Applejack knew Rainbow Dash.  So of course she would run into her here sooner or later.
"I said what are you doing here Lightning Dust?  Here to harass my friends again?" Rainbow Dash yelled before she jumped on the table.  She looked down at a now cowering Lightning Dust.  "Was almost killing them once not good enough for you?  Had to come and finish the job!?"
"I... I..." Lightning Dust tried to respond, but nothing would come.  After a moment that was actually very brief but seemed to stretch on forever, the conflict was abruptly interrupted.
"Rainbow Dash!  You will get off of that table and calm down!" Serra commanded her.  She started marching towards the table in a very dominating form.  "If anypony quarrels in my house it will be with me!"
"But she-" Rainbow Dash tried to retort.
"I don't care!"  Serra interrupted again with a cold blooded stare.  It was completely unlike anything she had shown in front of Lightning Dust before.  It was like she was ready to tackle Rainbow Dash right off the table and start beating her if she didn't back down.  "If she broke the law then take it to the police.  Otherwise you can take your squabble outside after breakfast.  Now sit down and eat your oatmeal peaceably or get out!"
Sunny Rays had taken it in stride, having picked up her bowl before Rainbow Dash landed on it.  She moved away from the table, finishing her bowl calmly from the counter she had set it on.  Wayside was looking confused at the conflict between Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash but he was not scared of the current situation in the slightest.  He had simply moved off to the side of the doorway.
Rainbow Dash stared into Serra's eyes for a long moment then backed down.  She jumped off the table and stomped out the door without saying another word.
After Wayside closed the door behind her, he eyeballed Rainbow Dash's oatmeal but Serra stopped him in his tracks.  "Don't you think about it mister.  You have had your breakfast and you don't need any more weight on your belly.  It goes in the fridge for when Rainbow Dash calms down and that's final."  With that, she went back to the dishes.  She didn't even have to look at him to know what he was thinking.
Defeated, he took the bowl and put it in the fridge, before sitting at the table with Lightning Dust.  As Sunny Rays took her finished bowl to Serra, she fetched a new spoon for Lightning Dust to replace the one she dropped on the floor.  Then put the dirty spoon in the sink for Serra and started helping her.
"If you want to explain what that was about I'm all ears kid, but only if you want to." Wayside said in an unusually calm voice for the situation.
Lightning Dust tried to speak up, but instead hid in her oatmeal.  Wayside picked up his morning paper, cleaned off the dirt from when Rainbow Dash landed on it and started reading.
When she finished her oatmeal she tried to take her dishes to Serra but she was already there to take them from her before she left the table.  She gave her a warm smile as she took them from her.  "Doctor Pulse said don't lift anything heavier than an apple until tonight.  You can bring me your dishes tomorrow."
Lightning Dust could see that Serra was trying to let her understand they didn't blame her for Rainbow Dash's outburst, but she knew she was to blame.  No warm smile could erase that.  Hearing the front bell, Serra gave Sunny Rays the dishes to finish and went out to the front desk for business.
"I'm sure you're gonna hear it from her anyway," Lightning Dust said to Wayside as she rested her temples on her hooves.  "Remember when Applejack talked about me almost taking her out with a tornado?"
"How could I forget?" he responded without putting down his paper.  "Your heart jumped so hard it made your monitor freak out."
Lightning Dust was kind of glad he wasn't looking at her or forcing her to tell.  It made it a bit easier, and a lot less awkward.  "Well that's what got me kicked out of the academy."
"I wondered if that was it, but what did that have to do with Rainbow Dash?" he asked as he turned the page.
"Remember how I said I had a partner?" Lightning Dust asked.  "Rainbow Dash was my wing pony until I got kicked out.  She was also the one that turned me in for being reckless and putting her friends at risk.  It looks like she's still holding it against me."
"I didn't see that coming." he said, taking it all in stride.  Lightning Dust was beginning to wonder if listening was a skill of his, with how he reacted so calmly.  "I knew she was in the academy around the same time, but the odds of you two being in the same squad were slim at best.  I'm sorry for stirring up old trouble."
"It's not your fault.  I would have to face it sooner or later."  Lightning Dust responded in return while shaking her head gently.  "Even if I never ran into her before I tried out for the Wonderbolts again, I'd have to confront it then anyway."
Wayside put away his paper and looked directly at her.  "Well regardless, I can recognize a stressed mind when I see one.  It's clear you won't be able to study today.  Especially considering on top of that just now, you have already been through a lot these last few days."  He leaned forward slightly to show he was getting to a point.  He turned to Sunny Rays for a moment to get her attention too.  "So I'm giving you a very different assignment today and, if you need to, tomorrow:  Take the day off."
"What!?" Lightning Dust softly exclaimed as she raised her head from her hooves, looking him square in the face.
"You heard me.  If you're gonna study right, I need you to have as clear a focus as possible.  So I'm putting off your studies for a day or two so that you can clear your head.  If you want to do something then wander around to learn the lay of the town and meet some locals.  Once you get your mind off things for a while then you can come back to your studies."
"But won't I fall behind?" Lightning Dust asked with a bewildered expression on her face.
"Kid, I have been managing the weather and wildlife control teams for years now," he responded with a knowing look.  "I know the signs of mental fatigue and what it does to a worker.  I find giving a hard worker a day off so they can clear their head and get whatever is on their mind settled can pay for itself within a week.  It usually ends up being a pretty good investment in the long run than if I didn't.   So worry about your studies later and just go get some R&R for now."
With this he tried to go back to his newspaper, before an interruption came from the doorway to the reception area of the inn.  "Can I show her around town?  There isn't any school today," Keen Wit called out.
Lightning Dust turned to see the colt from his eavesdropping spot.  "When did he get there?"
"He's just naturally quiet and sneaky like that.  He doesn't even try," Serra said as she came back from her business up front, giving a sly glance to her husband.  "He gets it from his father."
"Can I hang out with her today?  She said we could hang out later," Keen Wit asked his mom as she passed next to him through the doorway.
After a brief conversation of not words but expressions between his parents, his father answered him, "If she'll have you.  But mind your money bag Lightning Dust.  He is a real sly business colt and he'll squeeze every bit out of you that he can if you let him."
Lightning Dust saw the colt's face turn away disgruntled as his father warned her.  A sly thought filled Lightning Dust's mind. "Heh, if you don't mind being my back for the day and carrying some things, sure."  With this she got up carefully and began to head out, through the reception area.
Wayside sat there for a moment then continued with an afterthought right before she left the kitchen.  "But one more thing before you leave.  Don't get any ideas about trying to get a free day off down the road.  I know the difference between a troubled mind and somepony pretending to be troubled.  I can spot a faker a mile away and I hate fakers as much as I hate slackers."
Lightning Dust turned her head around and answered him with a look of surprise before leaving, "N-noted."

After Lightning Dust and Keen Wit were out of earshot, Wayside called out to somepony, "OK, you can come in now, Rainbow Dash.  I know you were listening."
Rainbow Dash came back in the screen door from her hiding place just outside and sat down at the table.  Serra brought her the bowl of oatmeal from the fridge.
Rainbow Dash sat there, eating her breakfast cold as punishment for starting a ruckus.  Wayside asked her calmly, "How much of what she said was the truth?"
"...All of it."  Rainbow Dash said as she stared down into her oatmeal.
"And is there anything else you want to add?"
"...No...  But what was that about the doctor telling her not to lift anything?"
"About that Rainbow Dash," he responded with a slight grimace.  "I am going to have to ask you to not bother her for a while.  She just got out of the hospital and her back is still very tender.  I just finished the paperwork paying for it so that she could be our new weather pony in a few weeks' time after her back gets better."  He put his newspaper up, having finally read what he wanted despite all the interruptions.  "So it is very important that she heals.  We have already invested a fair deal of money into her and the last thing we need is some old grudge throwing it all down the drain.  I can't let the rest of the team down.  They're happy she finally came along to take over for Sassaflash."
"But..." she started to protest, before she saw Serra look at her with a very calm, but cold, face from the other side of the kitchen.  "...All right, all right, I won't get in her face again until she heals."  She gave her boss a sour look.  "But I want you to understand.  I'm only doing this for you because you asked.  I am not doing it for her.  And if she starts trouble with me or my friends then I'm not backing down, bad back or not."
Remembering princess Celestia's warning, Wayside held back on his desire to fight her on her last point.  "That's fair enough.  Moving on.  Why did you do that?  You have been here often enough to know that Serra wouldn't tolerate an outburst like that.  You have seen what she has done to ponies that stir up trouble, and it never ends pretty.  What were you thinking when you jumped on the table?"
She put her head back down to stare at her oatmeal again for a moment then answered, "I...  I don't think I was thinking."
Putting his face in his hoof, Wayside responded in frustration, "Rainbow Dash.  You are my best weather pony hooves down, but you can be so thick headed at times."





Lightning Dust headed out with Keen Wit to see the town, haven gotten her things together.  The little colt's saddle bag was strapped to his back with Lightning Dust's bit bag reluctantly placed inside.  As they head down the street she asked him a question, "Um...  So how why were you standing there in the doorway?"
"I wasn't trying to listen in.  I came in to see Rainbow Dash," he said, looking up at her.  "Then I heard Mom telling her to either eat or get out.  I knew it was a bad time to ask.  So stayed by the door hoping I could see her after it was over."
"Why were you wanting to see Rainbow Dash?"
"Well, I admire her flying but I rarely get to see her one on one.  Since I'm not a pegasus, I think she just sees me as a fan and doesn't try to teach me."
Not understanding him she asked, "I don't get it.  What would she want to teach you that you couldn't learn from somepony else?"
At this the colt became rather shy.  "Over here," he said as he dashed to an ally between two buildings.
When Lightning Dust followed him to the ally he started talking quietly, "You were really in the Wonderbolt academy?  Rainbow Dash really was your wing pony?"
Feeling awkward at being asked the question, she answered as simply as she could, "For a short while.  I got kicked out for making some bad calls."
"Ya, I heard that too but I can't afford to be picky," he said with a blush.  "There aren't a lot of pegasi with that level of skill around here.  Rainbow Dash was the only one local enough for me to ask before."  He switched from a mood of disappointment to one of hope and excitement.  "But if Rainbow Dash was your wing pony then you must be around her skill.  That means you can teach me instead!"
"Teach you?  Teach you what?" she asked in a confused manner, not knowing where he was going with this.
Unfazed by her confusion, he answered with the same excited voice as if the answer was obvious, "How to fly."
Lightning Dust stared at him with a deadpan expression.  It took her a moment to register what the colt just said.  When she knew for sure that she heard that right she responded in the only way she could think of, "What?  But you're not a pegasus.  How do you expect to fly without wings?"
He seemed hesitant to tell her as he fiddled with his hat.  "Umm...  I'm working on a plan for that, but it's kind of a private thing.  Will you teach me anyway?"
Hearing his unusual request, Lightning Dust tried to let the colt down softly.  "Umm, unless you somehow get a working pair of wings I can't teach you a thing Keen Wit, sorry."
Still looking up at her, he asked hopefully, "But if I can, will you teach me then?"
Her head shot back when she heard this new twist.  She saw the same admiration in his eyes as she saw in them yesterday at the hospital.  Lightning Dust felt torn.
Knowing it wouldn't happen, she thought about saying yes just to make him happy.  Yet the image of him with a broken limb and his father's eyes glaring at her immediately followed.  She could have just said no, but by the look in his eyes this was pretty important to him.  She wasn't sure if letting him down that hard could also upset his dad.  She needed to mind her manners until she had a better grasp of things.  She would just have to wing an answer and hope that it would suffice.
"I'm not saying no but I'm not saying yes either.  If you can find a way to safely do it...  Well, we'll see when the time comes but the last thing I need is your dad angry at me for getting you hurt."
Keen Wit Jumped up and down as he shouted, "Woohoo!"  He hopped around Lightning Dust then around in the street, continuing to yell in excitement.
Having realized what she had not quite promised him, she thought back on all the things that had happened in the last few days.   The eccentric party pony, the apple seller forgiving her for almost killing her for some reason she still didn't understand, the whole incident with the hospital and the rhyming zebra healer, the strange circumstances of her getting her job on the weather team, then running into her ex wing pony and finding out she was on the same weather team she just got hired to, and now here was a colt that wasn't even a pegasus wanting her to teach him how to fly.  The son of her new boss of all ponies.
She let out a grunt and a mumble of frustration as she walked out of the ally, "Ugh...  This town is weird."


* * *


After Keen Wit calmed down and told Lightning Dust he wasn't going to charge his 'new flying teacher' for help anymore, he showed her a few of his favorite shops around town.  First he showed her local restaurants, which Lightning Dust tried to smile through.  When they reached the Sugar Cube Corner bakery, she was both unsettled and yet happy to find out the party pony named Pinkie Pie worked there.  Both the foods and the pony she didn't want to be around were in the same place.  When they reached the candy shop, Lightning Dust was surprised to see a minotaur inside the window, shopping.
"And here is BonBon's sweet shop," Keen Wit said as they entered the front door.
"Welcome," Lightning Dust heard somepony say from the counter in a simple, business like, fashion.  When she saw BonBon so calm and focused she did a double take.  She wasn't anything like the cheerful pony she met back in the hospital two days ago.
"Hi BonBon.  Thanks again for helping me at the hospital.  I think I would have gone crazy without some company."
"Not a problem.  It was nice to meet somepony new," BonBon responded, in a near deadpan face.  She spoke in the same voice Lightning Dust had just heard saying 'welcome' a moment ago.  It was quite different from her voice from the hospital and park.  Now that she thought about it, those two voices were also a little different.
"Hey BonBon.  Is Twist in today?" Keen Wit asked BonBon, leaning up on the counter.
"No.  It's my apprentice's day off.  And I really don't like you distracting her at work."
"That's not what Fruity would say," he said in disappointment, dropping down back to the floor.
"Well Fruity isn't working today.  I am," she continued in her bland manner.
"Hands!" Lightning Dust heard somepony else exclaim from behind her.
Turning around, she saw a mint green unicorn mare with a lyre for a cutie mark holding the hand of a light beige minotaur in her front hooves, while balancing shakily on her back hooves.  In addition to the usual pants that minotaurs traditionally wore he also had a home made traveling cloak on.
"May I help you?" the minotaur asked, in a surprised but calm manor.
"Ya, could you kneel down so I can look at this closer?"  She indicated at the hand that she was holding.
"An odd request, but I see no harm."  He knelt down to let her look at his hand, in fascination.
"I just love studying strange anatomy.  It helps with my art.  I've seen all sorts of things other creatures have instead of hooves.  I've seen diamond dog paws, griffin talons, a baby dragon's claws.  I've even seen the split hooves of cattle and buffalo, but this is the first time I've seen a hand up close outside of a book!"  She moved the digits of his hand around with her hoof as she spoke.  "Tell me, do you really have no hoof keenness whatsoever?  Your... f-fingers...?" she half asked to see if she has it right, "...really let you hold things without it?"
Lightning Dust turned back to BonBon as she heard her give a disgruntled sigh.  "That's my Lyra."
"What's wrong BonBon?" Lightning Dust asked.  "You're not nearly as cheerful today."
"It's... complicated," BonBon answered hesitantly.  "Let's just say my mood from day to day is fairly random."
"So what's your name Mr. nice minotaur that let me see his hands?" Lyra asked the minotaur.  "My name's Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings."
Standing up, he answered, "Since I have made something of an audience, allow me to introduce myself properly to all of you.  In your language my name would approximate to the words 'Steel' and 'Will'.  It is the same name as my father.  So I believe I would be called Steel Will the second when speaking formally in your language.  I am accompanying my half-brother Iron Will on a pilgrimage for greater enlightenment, at the request of my village counsel.  Though I have been getting less than satisfactory results."
"Why is that?" Lyra asked, still completely fixated on him like a foal listening to a story.
He went silent for a moment, put some candies in a bag with his hands—which Lyra was amazed by—then went to the counter to pay for them and the others that he had already gathered.  As he gave BonBon the correct amount of bits, he answered her question, "He was not raised in my village but in Equestira by his mother.  When he was being raised, he did not learn the minotaur language and in turn did not learn the proper meaning of his name.  The word for 'will' in our language is the same word for 'self control'.  My brother only learned the first half of its meaning in his youth.  I am with him to teach him the true meaning of his name and the minotaur language as well as what it means to be a minotaur.  Until this much is completed teaching him more complicated things of his heritage will continue to be difficult."
He gestured at Lightning Dust and continued.  "Like your pegasus ancestors of old, the minotaurs are a race of warriors; however, there is more to a warrior than simply fighting and forcing your way on others.  The way of the minotaur warrior is to fight for the peace and prosperity of his people, using force and weaponry only as a last resort.  I was in here trying to buy some sweets to give out to the children in the park with him.  I hoped it would help him understand this.  Ah, here he comes now."
A slightly smaller minotaur with a larger set of horns, a dull blue coat and only the basic pair of pants came through the doorway. He pushed the door so hard without even trying it slammed against the door stop, just before it would have hit the glass of the large window beside it.
"And that's why I had that door stop installed before I opened shop." BonBon said with the same deadpan face. Though she seemed rather irritated at the door being thrown open.
As the minotaur approached his brother, Lightning Dust overheard Lyra say something to BonBon in a tone that had an air of play about it, "Almond, you really need to lighten up!"
Lightning Dust turned her head away from the minotaur.
"Lyra, you know I can't,"  BonBon said to her friend plainly.
"I know," Lyra responded with a playful smile.
Before Lightning Dust could understand why Lyra had just called BonBon by the name Almond, the minotaur had walked up to his brother and spoke in a commanding voice demanding the attention of the entire store.  "Iron Will has finished the prep-" he started to say before his brother covered his mouth with his hand, accompanied by an annoyed but patient stare.
"Remember your inside voice brother of mine," he said as he removed his hand.
"Oh, uh...  Iron Will has finished the preparations his brother has asked of Iron Will."
The larger brother tilted his head.  "A simple 'I am finished' would have sufficed.  You're not on stage either.  You can use personal pronouns for yourself.  No one will think less of you for it."  His voice sounded calm and patient, though the tone seemed to imply he had said something similar several times before.
"Sorry, I uh..."
"Much better," the first minotaur said with tone of acceptance.  "Now with our business settled for the day, let us head out and work on our lessons.  Oh! And miss Heartstrings," he said, turning to Lyra.  "I do hope we have the chance to meet again.  I find it fascinating how most of our technology is compatible with your hooves with little to no adaptation and would love to discuss it further with you sometime."


* * *


After the minotaurs left there was little excitement left in the tour save the fact that there were royal guards posted around the library.  "What's up with all the guards?" Lightning Dust asked.
"Oh, that's where the new princess lived before she became a princess," Keen Wit answered.  "She still stays there when she's in town so the guards are watching the place until it's security enchantments have been brought up to royal standard."
"Princess Twilight Sparkle lives here, and in a library?!"
"Only when she's in town.  Judging by how few guards there are she probably isn't in right now.  I kind of miss her not being a princess.  When she was just the local librarian she used to help me study how-"  He stopped suddenly and fidgeted with his hat again for a moment.  "She used to help me study.  She rarely has time to hang out anymore.  I've only seen her at a distance once since she became princess."
'The new princess used to be the local librarian.  Well there is another one to add to the weird list on this town.'  Lightning Dust thought to herself.
"Well that's the last of the tour.  Anything else you wanted?"  Keen Wit looked up at her affectionately.
"Ya, let's put that back of yours to good use.  I want to get some shopping done."  She didn't need a lot but she would find something heavy for him to carry after she bought some new supplies.  Just so long as she didn't break him she could have some fun.  'This twerp is bound to be an easy laugh.  I wonder how long he will last before he gives up.'

As she went to the market with the colt, two siblings watched her from the shadows.
"It looks like you were right.  She is new in town and won't be missed too greatly.  She will make quite the 'volunteer' for your test.  Plus she is already injured, making it much simpler," the elder sibling spoke. "Normally a pegasus would be impossible, but it looks like she can't even carry anything right now, much less fly away."
"Iron Will shall break her," the younger one responded with an empty tone.
"Remember to keep control of yourself.  We must wait for the right time, when she is alone.  I have taught you much but it takes more than what lessons can teach to go through the rite of passage.  I won't be able to help you if you fail to pull this off, brother.  The penalty for failure is high and you won't have a second chance."
> Chapter Six: Family, Shame and Secrets
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The plan went horribly wrong.  The younger brother was now doomed to his fate for failing the rite of passage one way or another.  The elder sibling was running for his life, hiding from the guards in alleyways and shadows as best his alien form could in this town.  If he could get out of the town he would be safe.  He knew how to hide from ponies in the open country, but until then he had to hide in the nooks and crannies of the town of Ponyville.
He had been hiding from the guard for hours because he couldn't move undetected very often with them constantly patrolling the streets looking for him.  His travel cloak's magic which helped him be overlooked while hiding didn't work while he was moving.  His cloak was the only thing that kept him from being detected by the guard, but the effect wasn't perfect against something looking for him specifically.  Sooner or later his luck would run out and he'd be caught if he didn't get out of town fast.
After checking to see if the guards had gone he made another dash to the next ally.  Upon reaching the other side he scanned the surroundings.  He was almost safe.  There was one final stretch between him and freedom with a mare with a dark blue and pink mane.  He recognized her from the candy shop and knew her temperament wasn't that of a fighter.  She was a creative yet absent minded spirit.  She didn't take anything seriously and would probably not be any hassle, but he knew better than to take the risk of her fire being spurred in the heat of the moment and causing trouble for him.
He waited a few moments to see if she would pass by, but it soon became apparent that she was going to be standing there a while, pondering about something.  A few seconds posed no particular risk greater than what was already present, but the guards were getting better at their searching every passing minute.  He couldn't wait all day for her to move on.  He needed to make a run for it with or without her present.
He knew that once he exposed himself to make a run for it even a small delay could give the guards enough time to catch up to him before he could hide.  He wasn't as fast as a pony, especially not a trained pegasus guard.  On top of that, unicorn guards could be problematic for him if they came in close enough to use their magic.  So he took a few seconds while still hidden to add that extra little touch to make sure she didn't delay him.
If he wasn't in town or being chased he might have been able to use a killing poison to silence her permanently, but a dead pony would only heighten the authorities' alertness and make them want to bring the killer to justice all the more.  It would make it even harder for him to hide in the long run.  Using poison recklessly was as dangerous as drinking it.  He had to get her out of the way without killing her.  Due to a lack of suitable local ingredients he didn't have a sleeping or paralyzing alternative at the ready.  He only had one viable option left.
He took a blowpipe from his travel cloak, then saturated one of his dry blow darts with a different substance.  The substance he chose was a fast acting serum to weaken a creature's resolve usually reserved for making 'interrogations' go smoothly.  The fast natured serum only worked right on the weak minded but his more thorough serum would require more time to take effect, time that he wouldn't have once he shot the dart.
However, for this particular mare he knew it would do the job of shaking any feeble confidence she might have.  This information he had gathered about her would give him that extra insurance he needed to get past her quickly and make his getaway.  Knowing your opponent's mentality was vital in his art, as was hiding your own in deception, lies and half-truths.
Searching for the best spot to land the dart, the dark figure took aim.  Knowing that his aim was good but not the best, he didn't aim for the head.  Not all of the serum would enter if the dart just bounced off the skull.  He wanted the full effect.  The neck was a far larger and more giving target.  It would still deliver the serum more than fast enough.
He listened to make sure the guards would be at the farthest distance from his escape route.  If and when she screamed in pain or his approach they would be at the worst possible position to make chase.  He blew hard.  He quickly tucked his blowpipe away as the dart flew deep into the meat of its target, delivering the serum just as planned.
As he saw her feel for the dart in her neck he ran towards his freedom, knowing that by the time she had a chance to stop him she would be stricken with fear from the serum and flee instead.  She hadn't made any noise alerting the guards just yet.  All the better for him.
The startled look in her eyes when she saw him coupled with what he had learned about her reinforced what the elder sibling already knew.
He just had to keep running and was home free.





Earlier that day.  "Lightning Dust, mom is calling you to come get some breakfast," Keen Wit called out after knocking on the house guest's room.
"Boo!"  Lightning Dust called from the window ledge on the outside of the hall where she had first talked to the colt's father.
"Gah!" the colt exclaimed as he turned around with his hoof holding his hat on by the brim.
She had gotten up early this morning after, being hinted towards being invited to breakfast the night before.  She had grown fond of picking on Keen Wit.  He always seemed to come back for more punishment regardless how much she teased him.
It had been almost two weeks since she got out of the hospital and Lightning Dust was getting used to living at the inn.  Her back wasn't sore or stiff anymore and she was eager to start exercising her wings soon.
After taking the rest time that Wayside had ordered her to take, she found her studies were actually progressing well.  Sunny Rays was an ingenious trainer.  Whenever she had trouble identifying the different kinds of clouds and what they were for Sunny Rays was always there, somehow knowing what her block was and helping her find a new way to remember it.  She didn't just tell her what was what and expect her to remember like her teachers back in Manehattan.
Clouds weren't the only thing she had been studying under Sunny Rays.  She also had studied why some summers needed to be hotter than others, just as some winters were light while others were heavy for a reason.  Her current lessons were studying the purpose of wet and dry seasons and why they were needed as well as what side effects there would be if they're durations weren't carefully measured and scheduled correctly.  She had grown to like the lessons under her new trainer but she definitely wanted to get back in the air as soon as she could.  Flying was still her dream.  She was just enjoying herself in the meantime.
"I was hoping you would say that," Lightning Dust said through the window.  "Your mom hasn't invited me into the kitchen for over a week!  I can't ever seem to figure out her dishes.  She's quite the cook."
"Well maybe mom might do it more often if you weren't always running me ragged carrying all your library books after school," he retorted back.
"Well you shouldn't have been so eager to do it for free Mr. 'sly businesses colt'," she teased.  The library proved to be the perfect spot to find something heavy for him to haul for her.  She even managed to find a book worth cracking open.
"But I..." he began to say, then rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.  "Ya.  I should really re-think that one."

When Lightning Dust entered the kitchen she saw Rainbow Dash already at the table.  When she made eye contact with her rival Rainbow Dash stopped eating halfway through her pepper hash browns and left the table.  "I have to go.  My friends are waiting for me at the train station," she stated coldly.
After hearing this, Serra called out to her, "Have fun at the Crystal Empire."
Not giving a response, she quietly left the kitchen through the back door with her face tight in anger and ears flattened.  This was pretty much the same response Lightning Dust had gotten whenever she ran into her rival.  Although she generally only left upon seeing her when she was at the inn, t was pretty clear that Rainbow Dash was still angry at Lightning Dust but wasn't allowed to touch her.
Lightning Dust knew it was wrong yet she couldn't help but like watching her ex wing pony get flustered.  She had squealed on her.  The fact that Rainbow Dash was trying to quit when she ended up turning her in by mistake was the only thing keeping Lightning Dust from being just as bitter back.  Despite knowing that she still was somewhat bitter to her.  She had a hoof in taking her dreams away.  Where there was potential for a comrade, rivalry now blossomed.
"Go ahead Keen Wit.  She won't be back anytime soon," Serra said to her son, who was eyeballing Rainbow Dash's half finished breakfast from a distance.
"Why can't she just get over it?" Lightning Dust thought out loud as she sat down.
"She cares for her friends dearly and it isn't easy for her to just let go."  Serra answered her rhetorical question in an 'as a matter of fact' tone.  "She feels like she would be betraying them if she did.  From what she told me you still haven't apologized to them."
Lightning Dust was going to retort back at the idea she needed to apologize when Keen Wit interrupted her train of thought.  "Aww... peppers," he whined as he looked closer at the half eaten breakfast.
"You wanted seconds, there's your seconds.  Take it or leave it."
"Are they hot?" he asked as he looked over his shoulder at his mom cooking Lightning Dust's breakfast.
"That's for you to find out.  You're the only one that doesn't like peppers in this family.  So either learn to not look at other ponies' plates or learn to take what you get when you ask for their leftovers," she said while putting the last little touches on the dish she was cooking.
To toy with the colt just for the fun of it, Lightning Dust looked over at the plate as if she would take it instead.
Guarding his prize from her prying eyes, he reflexively wrapped it with one front hoof protectively then dived in muzzle first, grabbed a large chunk of the hash brown and bit down.
After a moment, the colt's eyes widened in shock to what he just did, though the flavor hadn't quite touched his tongue yet.
"Chew!  Don't you dare spit it out," his mother commanded him. "You took it.  Now you eat it."
After a short whimper, the colt started chewing the hash browns in his mouth.  With a look of surprise he turned around to look at his mother, his mouth still full.
"Bell peppers.  They have no heat at all," his mother answered him with a grin, while she carried Lightning Dust's breakfast to the table.  "Rainbow Dash only likes mild peppers."
As Serra set down Lightning Dust's plate, Keen Wit dived into his seconds.  Lightning Dust saw that the peppers in her hash browns were a little different from the ones Keen Wit was eating.  "Are they?" she asked.
"Not very," Serra answered warmly.  "They're called poblano peppers.  They are similar to bell but just a little hot.  I buy them from Carrot Top and ask her to raise them as mild as she can, in case I want to try to slip some into Keen Wit's food,"  she said with a sly look on her face, glancing at her son out of the corner of her eye.
The colt coughed a little on his hash browns before swallowing, then gasped and finally looked at his mom in horror.  Lightning Dust couldn't help but cackle at this before she started on her own breakfast merrily.

After the somewhat hot yet interesting breakfast, Lightning Dust was off to her studies with Sunny Rays.  Keen Wit was off to play with Twist and Serrano Pepper was left with the dirty dishes.
"May I help with that?" Steel Will called from the doorway, bending over slightly for his head to be seen through it.  "My brother is out taking care of some personal business and I would love to help out in exchange for some company today."
Turning her head to face him, she looked at him with pleasant surprise.  "This is new.  Usually you two are locked away in your room or out on businesses together.  Sure.  Grab that towel and start drying 'muscles'."





Iron Will watched the children play in the park while he reflected on his brother's lessons.  The village counsel only gave him so long to get trained and take his supplemental rite of passage from not being raised in the village.  He was running out of time but he wasn't ready.  There was so much to being a minotaur that he just didn't know about growing up.  Some of it seemed so distasteful to him that he had a hard time accepting them as a true way of doing things at first.  He had seen his brother do the very same things countless times but it just seemed so unlike what he had ever believed that it was extremely difficult to do it himself.  To top it all off, the bizarre bouts of anger he had been suppressing weren't helping him stay focused at all.  It was like something was bugging him but he couldn't place his finger on it.
But ready or not, focused or not, the rite of passage would come.  He had to be willing to act when the time came.  Failure was not an option for Iron Will.





Several hours later, after her studies for the day were finished, Lightning Dust was conned into playing of hide and seek with Keen Wit and his friend Twist.  He had blackmailed her with tattling on her with all the heavy hauling she had him do.  He had discovered she hadn't even read the books.  She could tell he was doing it in good spirit and just wanted a playmate, but it was easier to just humor with him than face his father.  With the condition it had to be 'walk only' for the safety of her back added, she had agreed.  She found that these two kids were fairly calm compared to the 'crusaders' she had seen dashing around town.  Keen Wit and Twist weren't all that bad for children in her eyes.
Twist wasn't convinced she wouldn't use her wings to cheat and she had to wrap them in a bed sheet to convince her.
They had found her quickly each time it was one of their turns to seek.  True to their word, they wouldn't run after her but walked.  This made the chasing rather drawn out.
It had come to her turn to play seeker and managed to find Twist easily.  After a funny little walking chase scene down the block and across the front of the inn, Twist managed to get back to the bench that acted as base before Lightning Dust could catch her.
"I win!"  Twist called out in triumph.
"Good.  Now you need to get to the candy shop Twist."  Serra called out from the front door in a very serious tone.  "Cinnamon called looking for you.  She said you're late for work."
Twist stopped dead in her tracks.  Her smile of victory is suddenly whipped clean off her face, replaced with a look of terror.  "Cinnamon's working today!?  Oh, I'm in trouble.  I gotta go!"  She ran down the street in panic.
Looking at Serra in the doorway, Lightning Dust was perplexed by something.  "How many workers does BonBon need at that candy shop?  I've heard of Mint, Fruity, and now Cinnamon in addition to herself.  Does she really need an apprentice in that tiny shop too?"
Looking at Lightning Dust oddly, Serra opened her mouth, then closed it without saying anything.  She then opened it again after a moment of thought. "It's not all that small.  Now go find Keen Wit.  He doesn't come out of his hiding spot until somepony finds him or he hears them give up, and be sure to put that sheet in the dirty laundry when you're done with it."  She then went back into the inn with an amused face.
Lightning Dust realized she was still wrapped in the sheet.  She thought about getting rid of it to save face but decided against it.  Even if Twist had left, she knew Keen Wit would still expect her to keep it on until the game was over.  She sighed in frustration. "...She still didn't answer my question.  I had better find that twerp."





Twist ran down the street and barreled through the door of the candy shop.  She was stopped dead when she suddenly bumped into Cinnamon and fell backwards onto the floor.
"Eh...hehhe...  Hi... C-Cinnamon...  Sorry I'm late?"  She said in fear of the pony standing over her with fire in her eyes and delivery saddle bags already strapped to her back.
"..."  The pony simply continued to glare silently.
"I'm sorry.  I lost track of time and-"
"Thought Fruity was the one running the shop today and that she would give you some slack like she always does?" Cinnamon said with a strong dose of vinegar as Twist picked herself up off the floor meekly.  "You know the shop can't be unattended while the deliveries are being done.  What good is having an apprentice if she can't be dependable and be on time?"
Seeing the apprentice cower she eased up, knowing she was getting her point across.  "We can finish this conversation when I get back from my rounds.  I'm already late thanks to you.  Just mind the shop."  She headed out the door while still oozing with irritation.





Looking as high and low as her back and tied wings would allow her, Lightning Dust searched for Keen Wit.  When all the easy to get out of spots had been combed and ruled out, she started searching in less strategic spots.  Hiding spots that once discovered wouldn't allow for an escape, areas in where there was only one way in and out.
When she went into a one entrance ally to search a second time, she decided to give up and call out to him but she was interrupted by a sudden outburst from behind.
"Iron Will shall crush your bones pegasus!"
Turning around she saw the smaller Minotaur brother blocking the exit.  A thirst for blood was in his eyes.





Keen Wit was trying to be as quiet as he could be from his hiding place in the crate that he had crawled into.  Lightning Dust had come down the alley second time searching for him and was probably about to give up, making him the winner of the game.
"Iron Will shall crush your bones pegasus!"
Shifting in his hiding spot to look through the knot hole at a different angle, he saw the minotaur that was staying at his mother's inn.  In the minotaur's face, Keen Wit recognized the same willingness to hurt somepony that his mom had from time to time, but unlike his mom he didn't see any sense of control in his face.  This wasn't good.





"Thank you again for helping me Steel Will.  It is a pain to get my husband to clean these gutters for me and I have trouble reaching them myself," Serra said to the minotaur as she came outside with a drink for her helper.
From on top a step stool that normally wouldn't allow a pony to reach the gutters, Steel Will was having little difficulty cleaning them.  Finishing the area in his current reach, he came down from his step stool and sat on it, taking the drink that was offered.  "And thank you for the company.  I don't like to admit it as a warrior, but I get lonely easily."  He adjusted his travel cloak carefully as if there were a few things inside it.  "Please, continue your story about your family name."
"Well as I was saying, the youth of the family were planning to take the weakened Onion family out and end the land feud once and for all.  The night before the intended raid, the leader of the family was trying to stop it without further bloodshed but couldn't get the point across to his family.  As he walked through his garden of smaller crops he happened upon a personal favorite.  It was a particularly hot pepper plant that he shared with nopony else in his family to protect them from it known as the ghost pepper.  He looked at how many of the stray animals that would come to eat from his garden would simply leave it alone and how it had little trouble growing in comparison to the rest of his garden because of this.  It was then he realized this is exactly what he needed to do.  After picking from the plant he went back to the house and demanded everypony get out of bed and come outside, young and old alike.
"He then asked the bravest of the family to step forward, ones who didn't fear being hurt by their foes.  Two of his own children and one niece stepped forward claiming to be so.  He then asked them to eat from the basket that he had his peppers in one at a time until they were gone.  Each of them boldly grabbed a pepper and threw them into their mouths without a care and started to eat.
"As they ate, they felt the burn of the pepper on their tongues and lips.  All three of the challengers were completely on the ground within a minute.  After a long time on the ground moaning in pain, they recovered from the fire of the peppers.  When they stood up again, he asked them to continue eating the remaining peppers one at a time.  None of the challengers dared return to the basket.  When he asked why they hesitated, they explained that the peppers were extremely painful to eat.
"He then asked if they would ever want to eat the pepper again.  They answered not if they could help it.  He then told to his entire audience how the peppers had done no harm to the challengers before and if they did not mess with them again the peppers would do no harm to them in the future, but now that they had messed with the peppers once they knew better than to mess with the peppers again.  Just as the Onion family now knew better than to mess with their family.
"He said that he and his family would adopt the same philosophy from this plant, as well as its name.  They would make sure that if anypony ever messed with them or their loved ones they would feel the wrath of the peppers and would know better than to mess with them needlessly again.  Also as the peppers, they would live and let live for all that would do the same regardless of whether they had quarreled in the past, just as the peppers they would now be named after.
"Such has been the family's way since that time.  Even if we don't like somepony, we don't fight them or provoke them.  But if we are forced to fight, we make sure our opponent never forgets the experience.  The regular inclusion of peppers in our food is a reminder of this philosophy."





Lightning Dust wasn't in any shape to fight or flee.  This wasn't a good situation.  Her wings were tied up and she wouldn't have time to untie them.  Even if she could depend on them to get away, her not fully healed back would be in trouble from the sudden jarring and she wouldn't make it far.  One blow from the minotaur and she would indeed be crushed.  If he got a hold of her it would all be over.
A Sudden stirring in a crate off to the side distracted both of them.  Next thing she knew it fell over and Keen Wit rolled out of it with both front hooves holding his hat on. 'The twerp should have just stayed hidden.  Now the minotaur will hurt him too.'
After quickly standing up on all four hooves, Keen Wit jumped between Lightning Dust and the threat with her to his backside.  "Back off you bully!" he yelled at the minotaur.
"Iron Will has no time for earth pony children," the Minotaur declared as he pointed at Keen Wit.  He then swung his arm quickly to the side.  "And no fear of them either!  Get out of Iron Will's way!"
Keen Wit continued to yell at the opponent that was easily ten times his size, "No!  You will not touch my friend!  I don't want to hurt you but I will if I have to!"
Lightning Dust was amazed at Keen Wit standing up to such an overwhelming adversary on her behalf, but she knew the twerp didn't have a chance.  She wanted to get him to run but she was afraid that if she did anything recklessly it would only make the minotaur jump.  She couldn't think of anything she could do that would get either of them out of this pinch.
"Then Iron Will shall crush you too..." the minotaur said coldly just before moving in.
Before the minotaur could close the distance, Keen Wit suddenly took his front hoof and ripped his hat off his head, revealing a horn glowing with magic.  The minotaur stopped in his tracks as he grasped his throat.  A magic aura with the same color as the energy that emanated from Keen Wit's horn held the Minotaur's throat tightly, barely letting him breathe.
Keen Wit responded to the minotaurs advance in a voice that carried the same spirit as his mother's when she stood up to Rainbow Dash in the kitchen; fiery, yet cold and dead serious, "Better hurry up then, cause you're dyin'."





"And that is why my brother and I are traveling.  I am trying to prepare him for his substitute rite of passage when we return to our village.  If he fails to pass he will be humiliated by his horns being broken off and being stripped of his tribal name.  He will no longer be allowed to call himself Iron Will if he fails," Steel Will spoke as he finished his tale while they folded laundry, mostly bed sheets.
"Such an interesting tradition you have, and so similar to my family's past in some ways.  I knew Minotaurs were generally rough around the edges, but I had no idea your kind had a culture so rich in teaching self control and learning to master your rage."
"If we didn't, we would be no better than the mindless beasts locked away in Tartarus.  That is why the rite of passage is so grueling.  The month long period of near starvation pushes our bodies and minds to such extremes that we are prone to lash out at anything.  If we can manage to control our anger in this state while completing the difficult tasks set by the elders, we can stay in control easily in our daily lives.  If we fail, then we are weak enough to be brought under control by our family and friends before we deal any great amount of harm.
"When a young minotaur fails, then they have until the age of full adulthood to try again and again before being disgraced.  But my brother is already past that age."  Steel Will swallowed a lump that had been forming in his throat.  "Normally he would be stripped of his name immediately, but since he wasn't raised in the village the elders are allowing him one chance."
His tone changed from that of a tutor giving a history lesson to one of a mentor with concern for his student's future.  "Though they expect him to fail.  Every minotaur fails the first time.  Even I did."
"Your illegitimate little brother," Serra said sympathetically.  "His birth shamed your family and you still took him under your wing.  You must truly care for him to try to prepare him for this."
"I do."  Steel Will paused as he finished folding the last sheet.  "But he is not my 'little' brother.  Since our father's affair with his mother took place three months before my conception he was actually born before me, making him my elder.  So technically I am his little brother, though not by much."





Lightning Dust could hardly believe her eyes.  The colt that she had teased and made carry way more than she needed to had no reason to push himself this far for her sake.  Yet here he was risking his life for her.
Keen Wit had been holding the minotaur by the throat in a stand-off for longer than a colt should have been able to last.  Every time the minotaur tried to advance into attacking range, Keen Wit tightened his grip and pushed back and up just enough to put the minotaur off balance to remind him what would happen if he came at them, then eased up again when the minotaur would shake his head a little and back off.
Nevertheless, it was becoming obvious that Keen Wit's energy was getting low.  He was breathing hard and his stance was getting shaky.  He held his magic strong with sheer adrenaline fueled determination but even this was starting to fail.  His horn was bound to give out anytime now.
For some reason no pony heard her cries for help.  In fact she couldn't hear anypony nearby.  Lightning Dust just didn't get it.  They were right next to one of the busiest streets in Ponyville.  It was like something was isolating them from the rest of the town.
Just as her hope of rescue was about to flicker out, she heard a loud clatter on the roof next to her.  Looking up, she saw Zecora with some strange staff that she held against her body with one of her front hooves.  She was chanting in some other language that sounded creepy.  Lightning Dust wasn't about to be picky.  She called to Zecora but the zebra ignored her, focused on looking for something.
Zecora suddenly reared up on her hind legs and threw her staff with all her might down behind the minotaur.  The staff broke some sort of veil as it struck, revealing another zebra.  He held some sort of doll in his hooves with fur strapped to it that looked the same color as the minotaur that Keen Wit was holding off.
As the new zebra looked up at Zecora he screamed, "Shaman!" in a thick accent.  He attempted to flee but Zecora stops him by throwing a bottle in front of his only escape route at the entrance of the ally.  The breaking bottle exploded into some sort of smoke.  The smoke made the young zebra hiss and back down in defeat, dropping the doll he was carrying.
As the doll fell the rage in Iron Will's eyes started to fade.  Lightning Dust became aware of the sound of ponies outside the ally.  Coming around Iron Will backed off.  Keen Wit, no longer having to hold the minotaur at bay, made an extreme effort to pull his hat back on then fainted from exhaustion.
Seconds later, royal guards came running through the fog with spears and horns at the ready.  "Search the area for another zebra.  This one had a teacher and he can't be far."  The commanding officer called out to the ponies on his left.  He looked around the scene.  "Is everypony here alright?"
"I am thanks to Keen Wit," Lightning Dust answered, pointing to the unconscious colt, "but he ne-"
"Private!  Get this colt to the hospital on the double!" the officer commanded one of his remaining troops, already ahead of Lightning Dust.
"Sir!" a pegasus answered as he scooped up Keen Wit and took flight.
After the guards had arrived and was arresting the young zebra, Zecora had jumped down and was tending to Iron Will with some sort of breathing salt to clear his head.
Once the younger zebra was sent away, the captain of the guard came up to Zecora and spoke to her.
"I am sorry for doubting you Miss Zecora.  If it wasn't for Mayor Mare vouching on your reliability when she did it would have been too late."  He looked at the minotaur then at Lightning Dust, though with a raised eyebrow when he saw the bed sheet. "I had heard of zebrian magic, but I didn't think it could do something this dangerous.  If it wasn't for your efforts we would have never found them."
In a voice with a deadpan tone of seriousness fitting a royal guard, Zecora answered the head of the search party.
"Blood Voodoo is a dark art amongst my kind.  Even for Shamans their tricks are hard to find."  She took the breathing salts away from Iron Will's nose.  "For the young witchdoctor, a chance to turn a new leaf.  Give time and love for his soul's relief."  Zecora put the stopper back into her bottle of breathing salts and placed it back among her baubles.  "But the teacher can never be changed.  With blood spilled, his soul became deranged.  Capture him and seal him for the good of all.  If he finds freedom, more innocent will fall."  With this she ran off to join the search.
> Chapter Seven: Seeds of Camaraderie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keen Wit sat in the hospital, staring at his hat that was laying on the far edge of his bed.  Doctor Pulse let him keep it nearby on the condition he didn't try to put it on.  His horn was hooked up to some monitoring equipment and he could move around in bed with it, but if he tried to put the hat on it would mess up the equipment and the doctor would take it away.
He thought about the hat as he stared at it quietly.  There wasn't anything special about the hat.  It was just a hat.  If he lost it he would find another.  It had no sentimental value, yet it had been his constant companion ever since he moved to town and started going to school.
'School.'
He still remembered his first day of school.  It was almost two years ago but he still remembered it like it was yesterday.  He had just moved in to town when his family bought the local inn.  It was so much easier for dad to get to work without having to fly into town every morning.  It was by some bad luck of the draw that his dad was born with below average wing magic and had to put extra effort into long or hard flights.  Getting old was making it even harder for his dad.  So they moved to town, or that was how his mom explained it at the time.
Keen Wit had never met anypony from town before.  He was so embarrassed about his horn.  Neither his mother nor father had one.  He also had heard that most the ponies in Ponyville were earth ponies like his mom, no wings or horns.  He didn't want ponies to know he wasn't an earth pony.  So he grabbed his dad's old hat and covered his horn with it.  His parents said he was being silly but they didn't stop him.  They thought that once he saw the other unicorn students at the school having fun he would just take off the hat and have fun with the rest of them.
When he got to school early with his mom she explained what was going on to the teacher.  Ms. Frizz Lane was understanding, if a bit odd for a grownup.  She let Keen Wit keep his hat on without any fuss.  Even though it turned out that there was still a fair number of unicorns like him, he was still cautious at first.
The first day of school was going smoothly and the other unicorns in the class seemed to be doing fine until recess.  They shared recess time with the other class.  When he got outside he was about to take his hat off and forget about the worries, but then he saw a pair of fillies from the other class picking on an older unicorn that had trouble using their horn.  They were teasing them and calling them all sorts of names.  Names that still haunted Keen Wit to that day even though he wasn't the one being teased.  Ever since that day he had always been careful to keep that hat on at all times.
Even though Keen Wit had practiced hard in private and knew how to do magic beyond what was expected for his age, he still didn't want her knowing about his horn.  It was pretty tricky though.  She had a way of learning things ponies didn't want anypony to know.  The only way to keep it from her was keep it a secret from everypony.  Only his parents, Ms. Frizz Lane, his magic tutor Twilight and the doctors had known about his horn.  Everypony else thought he was just an earth pony, even his best friend Twist.
Only when he was at the library basement with Twilight or when he was shut up in his room with the door locked and a 'do not disturb' sign on the door to practice did he ever dare take it off.  His parents knew what he was doing.  He didn't keep it a secret from them.  His mom could unlock his door anyway, but it wasn't for them.  It was for anypony that tried to visit unannounced.
He had managed to keep it a secret until now.  Hearing the door open he reflexively turned his head away from it to hide his horn from whoever was entering.  "Go away!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Keen Wit, it's us," his father called to him in a very concerned voice.





Lightning Dust and Iron Will stood outside Keen Wit's room in the hospital.  It was still strange to her, standing next to the thing that was trying to kill her barely even two hours before.  Doctor Pulse insisted that only Keen Wit's parents go in at first.  He would come get them when they were ready for them.
"So...  None of that was you?" Lightning Dust asked the minotaur.
"Not exactly.  From what that Zecora lady was saying, the other zebra was using his magic to try to influence me to-"  He swallowed.  "-kill you for some sort of graduation test but he couldn't force me.  His magic could toy with my mind but not control it.  He had to make me want to do it myself.  So if I had managed to... kill you... it really would have been me."
"But you don't want to now, right?" she asked with a slight worry in her voice that she couldn't quite hide.
"No.  I don't.  I'm ashamed that I wanted to at all," he said as he looked away from her.
"So why did he pick you?  Your brother is a lot stronger."
Looking down, he thought hard on how to explain it.  She couldn't help but remember the night Wayside sat next to her on the bench and waited patiently while he listened to her, but now she was the one listening.
"My brother was trained.  He has mastered his rage and has passed his trials.  Any attempts to mess with his head would have been in vain.  They probably tried.  I, however, am just learning and I have an old habit just letting my rage go where it wants.  It's even harder to kick than my habit of speaking in the third person when I'm talking about myself," he said with his cheeks blushing in embarrassment on top of the shame.
After a short pause he got his thoughts back on track.  "I was a far easier choice.  I have no control over my rage and it was easy for them to push me to hurt you.  If it wasn't for the child's efforts, I would have."
Tearing up, his thoughts shifted with his weight towards Keen Wit's door.  "The child...  I almost crushed an innocent child and now because of me he's-" the minotaur lost his voice at the thought.  Glancing to his side at the entrance to Keen Wit's room, he gripped his horns and yanked at them, falling to his knees as he did so.  "I don't deserve these..."
Lightning Dust wasn't sure what the horns meant but it was apparent he was ashamed of himself.  Lightning Dust knew shame from being kicked out of the Wonderbolt academy and could relate to what he was going through.  She felt compelled to comfort the big guy.
"Don't say that.  You're just emotional from the experience.  I'm sure you were fighting it on some level... somehow."
He let go of his horns and turned to look at her skeptically.  "How?  How was I fighting any of it when the boy holding me by the throat was the only thing that kept me from attacking?"
"...Give me a minute on that one," Lightning Dust answered as she drew a blank.  Having the whole experience burned into her head to where she couldn't forget for days, even if she wanted to, she went through the incident step by step until she remembered something that now struck her as odd.  "You gave him a chance to run."
"What!?" he stammered, frustrated.
"You gave him a chance to run," she repeated.  "You said you didn't have time for him, but you still took the time to let him get out of the way and run.  He was hardly even a tenth your size and you yourself said you had no fear of him.  You could have forced him out of the way a lot easier and faster than telling him to."
He listened but he wasn't convinced.  "He would have just used his horn if I tried," he said with melancholy, as he turned back to face the ground.
"You didn't know that at the time!" Lightning Dust insisted.  "You thought he was an earth pony!  Even I thought he was an earth pony."  She bent over slightly, since she didn't have to kneel down properly with his massive size, and looked him square in the face.  "I think you're stronger than you give yourself credit for.  You just need to work at it some more."
Iron Will stopped to think on this.  After a long moment he looked up at her.  "Thank you for your kind words."


* * *


Steel Will came down the hall from his attempts to search for the missing zebra to check on Iron Will.  Recognizing his brother's hoof steps, Iron Will stood up with his head still down in shame. "How are you holding up brother?" Steel Will asked.
"I'm... not feeling too good."  He looked at Lightning Dust for a brief moment before he returned his attention, if not his face, back to his brother. "But I think I can manage now.  What news of the chase brother?"
"We have not found him yet," Steel Will answered with a grim face.  "His ability to hide himself is far more potent than that of his student.  Zecora is having great trouble locating him, but she says the 'scent' of his magic is still thick in the air. He's still in the town, hidden, trying to find an escape route through the guard's watch."
Iron Will growled in an undirected frustration at this news.  "Earth ponies standing constant watch, unicorns running magical sweeps, pegasi watching from above and we still cannot find this zebra?"
"The eyes of the earth pony and pegasi are easy to trick with his deceptive magics," Steel will said as he shook his head lightly for a brief moment.  "No one could see his student until Zecora revealed him and as I said before, his abilities are even stronger than his student's.  The unicorns don't know exactly what they are looking for.  Zecora can fight their magic with hers, but it is a different kind than hers and she can't duplicate it to give them an accurate example to scan.  She only has a loose description of it for them to go by.  So unless he was right in front of them, it would be easy for his magics to go undetected."
"So why can't they scan his student for an example?" Iron Will asked, trying to find any venue he could think of.
"It isn't as simple as that," Steel Will explained patiently.  "Zebra magic only exists when the wielder makes it happen.  They don't have stores of energy like unicorns.  They produce it on site from other sources.  Unless he volunteered to do some for them to scan their scans of him would be no more productive than if they scanned Zecora."
Steel will put his hand on his head and rubbed his hair.  Breaking composer he showed frustration matching his brother's for a moment, though far more controlled.  "Zecora also says scanning his tools would be useless too.  Even if we found something that could be scanned for a signature, odds are the teacher already knows and has gotten rid of anything with the same signature as what his student carried.  We already found a doll abandoned not far from the crime scene, matching the one that we found with the student."
Placing a hand on his brother's shoulder he tried to comfort him.  "I'm sorry brother.  He has made this a game of cat and mouse.  This will probably go on for several more hours.  Despite our best efforts, he might slip through."
"Gaa!  I wish I could be out there."  Iron Will slammed a fist behind him against the wall of the hallway.
"His student was able to manipulate you with little trouble.  Even without his doll, he could play you like a flute if you were out there searching.  In your troubled state you would do more harm than good.  He could use you as a distraction to escape if you were out there.  You staying here in the hospital where he would have no strategic reason to come is the safest thing for everyone."
He let go of his brother and backed up, as if to leave again.  "Don't worry about the search.  Instead, focus on the task you can do.  Make amends with the boy and his family.  Now that I have seen you are holding up alright, I must rejoin the search, but one more thing before I go.  Iron Will, my brother."  He stopped for a moment, and corrected himself.  "No, my student.  Do you know why a minotaur always fails his first rite of passage?"
"We succumb to our rage in our impaired state," he answered as if it was obvious.
"That is only half of the truth.  The real reason that we fail when we go through the trials for the first time is because we don't understand the pain of guilt.  It is the understanding of the pain knowing we could have hurt someone that drives us to never do it again.  As painful as our suffering of the trials are, it is nothing compared to the guilt we remember from our past trials.  It is from those memories we are able to dig deeper within ourselves to find the willpower to overcome our rage and become its master.  Once we do this, we are able to draw from its strength without losing ourselves in it.  This is what made our ancestors true warriors and why our family name in minotaur means both 'will' and 'self control'.
"I tell you this now because I believe you finally understand why control is so important.  I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this family secret before.  You had to experience it for yourself."  He briefly looked at Lightning Dust apologetically.  "Though the circumstances weren't the best, I am glad you have learned this before we have to go home for your rite of passage."  Steel Will's eyes lost a portion of their sorrow to be replaced with a bitter joy.  "I truly believe you now have a real chance to pass the trials."
Iron will look up at his brother for the first time since he came to check on him.  Steel Will gave him a small, reassuring nod then went off to rejoin the search.


* * *


A few minutes after Steel Will left, Doctor Pulse came out to fetch them.  "It took some time but he's willing to see you now, barely."
As they come in the door they saw Keen Wit in bed, facing away from them with his head down and several monitoring cords coming from what must have been his horn.  "Close the door," Keen Wit called to them softly.
After Iron Will closed the door behind him, Wayside spoke up, "Doctor Pulse said that you were here before any of the rest of us.  He said you were ranting about how you wanted all the bills sent to you.  He even said you were in tears, saying you wouldn't fight any charges we pressed.  Is this true?"
Iron Will answered him with as much respect as he could muster under the pegasus's stare, "I said I would plead guilty to everything I have done today when the time came.  I have already filled out the paperwork with the hospital to charge the bills to my estate in Los Pegasus and have called my estate manager telling him to approve it."
"..."	Iron Will stood there waiting for Wayside to respond.  Lightning Dust could feel the tension in the air.  If it was moisture it would have been thick enough for her pegasus hooves to stand on.
Wayside finally broke the silence.  "You caused a big mess the last time you came to town," he spoke more coldly than before.  "My wildlife management team had a hard time cleaning up the filth left from your stage to get the area suitable for the wildlife again.  My best wildlife worker locked herself up in her cottage for days, thinking she had become a monster from the lessons you gave her.  It made it even harder for the rest of my crew to get their jobs done on top of cleaning up your mess.
"After all that you shamelessly tried to collect your bill from her.  Without even counting all the ponies you scared the living daylights out of while being 'assertive', that alone was despicable enough."  His eyes furrow in anger and his voice shifted to match while still remaining just as cold.  "Now you've returned, putting my only son in the hospital."
Iron Will Just stood there, letting them finish.  Lightning Dust could see him just listening and waiting.  He didn't show any outward signs of fear save his hands being clenched.  "I think you should rot in a jail cell for what you've done,"  Wayside said as he looked at the minotaur square in the face, "if not Tartarus, but this is a family matter.  It isn't my choice alone to make."
Wayside turned to his wife and let her speak her thoughts in turn.  "You caused a lot of trouble for everypony in this town back when you came as an assertiveness trainer.  When you came to the inn asking for a room so politely, I was shocked at what a turn around you had done.
"It was strange how you were asking for a room with four beds when you came to the inn alone.  It was stranger still when you asked for permission to put them together into two beds.  I only had one room that would accommodate what you were looking for, my most expensive room.  You didn't hesitate to pay the high price for the room or put down the deposit for the beds when I insisted on it for permission to move them.  You were taking responsibility for your actions long before you did them.  After you found out what you had done to our son you came to the hospital, telling the hospital to bill you before we even got here.  Even now you're trying to be responsible and do everything you can to help whether you were to blame or not."
Lightning Dust felt a pang as she listened to Serra.  Something in the back of her mind made her feel like this is relevant to her but she couldn't quite place it.  She shirked off the feeling and continued to listen.
"It's like you're a whole new minotaur.  I want to believe you are sorry for what you did."
Turning back to her husband she let him finish.  "My wife and I are split on this matter and neither of us are willing to budge.  So we have agreed to leave your fate in the hooves of our last family member."
As he turned to Keen Wit, everypony else did as well.  All eyes rested on him.  He still sat there facing the other way.  Wayside came around the bed then knelt down a little to look his son in the face.  "Keen Wit.  Your mom and I have always let you make your own choices and you have always made us proud of you.  So we are letting you make the call.  You're the tiebreaker today.  There is no wrong answer and we will still love you either way."
He brought up his hoof to his son's chin to make sure he had his full attention.  "Do you want us to punish him for what he did?"
Keen Wit did nothing but sit there on the bed.  Upon hearing the choice come to him he became very still for a moment.  He then began to breathe a bit more rapidly than normal.  His heart was probably beating hard but Lightning Dust couldn't tell since only his horn was hooked up to the monitor.  Lightning Dust could only imagine what was going through the colt's mind.  He was given the responsibility of deciding the fate of the minotaur that attacked them.  This went on for almost two minutes before he suddenly stopped.
He had made his call.  Iron Will swallowed the lump in his throat.  Keen Wit took a breath to steady himself then spoke up, "Peppers don't hold grudges.  I say let him go."
His father silently closed his eyes in frustration as if he was upset, but a smile crept in at the corner of his mouth with approval of Keen Wit's choice.  His mother was beaming with pride.  Lightning Dust could swear she saw her mouth 'That's my boy'.
"But..." Keen Wit asked while still turned away from the rest of them, "Could I ask you, both of you, a favor?"
"Of course," Iron Will responded in relief.
Lightning Dust was a bit slower in her response.  "Um.  Sure, you can ask."
Turning towards them finally, Keen Wit looked both of them in the face with frightened eyes.  The monitor cords twisted around the side of his head as he pulled them along with his horn.  "Could you not tell anypony I have a horn?"





Cinnamon was walking back to town from Cranky's house.  Cranky had been planning on a special surprise for Matilda on their anniversary.  He had placed an order special for some sweets from the shop to be delivered to his house long enough before the anniversary to keep from raising suspicion.  He was also the last order she delivered for the day.
After talking with cranky on how annoying little colts and fillies could be, Cinnamon felt a little better.  She paused for a moment to think about how to approach Twist on being late when she got back.
All of a sudden there was a sharp pain in her neck as if she had been stung.  She felt the spot and she felt some sort of wooden splinter with a bit of feather at the end.  Whatever it was, it was getting her annoyed.
She was surprised when she saw a pony—no, a zebra—in a travel cloak running at her from the direction of town.  She didn't need much time to put two and two together and figure out where the little wooden spike had come from.  If he wanted to scare her he should have known better.  Sweetie Drops, Mint, Fruity and maybe even Almond might cower or flee from a fight, but Cinnamon's fiery spirit didn't know fear.  An Ursa Major could roar in her face point blank showing teeth that were taller than she could reach while reaching up on her hind legs and she probably wouldn't even flinch.
He came closer and tried to dart to the side to get around her.  By the time he did this she had already turned with him, ready.  She put all her anger into one strong shot from her front hoof and knocked the zebra off his hooves.  He skidded limp across ground from the momentum of his running.  He was out cold.  She stood over her would be assailant with her hoof still raised.  "Whoever you are, you picked the wrong day to mess with me."
"We found him!" a pegasus called to some ponies on the ground before she came down to the scene.
When the local pegasus volunteer saw the zebra on the ground unconscious, with a bump forming on his head, she looked up at the earth pony standing over him and asked, "What happened here BonBon?"





"So you are not pressing any charges on me either?" Iron Will asked Lightning Dust, making sure he heard her right.
"I can't exactly take you to court without breaking my promise to the little twerp now can I?" Lightning Dust answered the minotaur with a weak smile.
The memories from the last time she was in the hospital rang through her mind.  "She recognized me from when I nearly killed her then she just walked out of the room saying welcome to town.", "It's called being forgiven."
"Besides.  You aren't the only one that has ever made a choice they regretted," she added sheepishly.
Iron Will stared at her with curiosity for a moment.  "Lightning Dust.  I thank you again for looking out for my well being when I was at my lowest.  You had nothing to gain from comforting me and you had good reason not to.  Though we have not known each other long and I doubt we will ever meet again after my brother and I move on, I would be proud to call you a friend if you would let me."
Lightning Dust was taken back at this.  She never had thought of a friend this way.  Usually a friend would mean somepony to just hang out with.  Back in Manehattan she hadn't thought a friendship could be something this meaningful, but with her experiences in this town it wasn't such a strange idea to her anymore.  Even Keen Wit had demonstrated this for her without expecting anything back for it or her even asking for it.  "Let...  Let me think on it and get back to me later," was all she managed to say.  She suddenly needed to do a lot of thinking.
> Chapter Eight: Mentors' Love
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three weeks after the commotion with the Blood Witch Doctors.  To keep their promise to Keen Wit while testifying, Iron Will and Lightning Dust were vague on exactly what it was that fought back against the mind manipulation.  They said his desire to not harm the child was what held him back and Keen Wit simply went to the hospital from the combat fatigue of standing in a minotaur's path.  They didn't mention his horn or him using his magic.
The elder Zebra brother, Tendaji, gave no effort to defend himself and was convicted of attempted murder of the first degree, use of mind affecting magic without the subject's informed consent, aiding in the delinquency of a minor, evading arrest, possession of restricted substances and assault.  Tendaji was sentenced to life in prison.  Against Zecora's plea he was granted a chance at parole in thirty years' time.
He smirked at Zecora when she dishearteningly translated the explanation of his possible parole.  Zecora had to translate for the court, as he did not fluently know equestrain like his brother.  As he was escorted out of the courtroom he gave his brother a deranged and malevolent smile.
After the elder zebra brother left the courtroom, the younger zebra brother Faraji pleaded guilty to use of mind affecting magic without the subject's informed consent, as well as a charge of assault reduced from attempted murder.  He had assisted the magical division of forensic analysis in understanding what bits he knew about the art of blood voodoo as an apprentice with the condition his brother was not to be informed.  With this assistance in his favor, Zecora's push towards rehabilitation for the young zebra and the fact he was a minor, the judge was lenient on him.
Faraji was placed in the custody of Steel Will, who agreed to act both as his parole officer and his legal guardian until the day he would come of age.  Faraji was ordered to serve under him as his general assistant until the said date in substitution to community service.  Faraji was warned that due to the nature of the magics used in his crimes if he violated the conditions of his parole his sentence will be changed to the maximum sentence for his convicted crimes and he would be sent to prison.
Faraji took his sentence without complaint, but with the way he sighed deeply upon hearing his sentence it was as if he had been sentenced to death.





"Are you sure about this, brother?"  Iron Will asked his brother as he packed the last of his supplies in his travel bag.
"The boy needs guidance," Steel Will answered without turning back to his brother.  "He can't stay in this community because of the rumors that have spread about him.  They fear him and their fears aren't completely unjustified.  If they send him off to a detention center he will be picked on for being the only zebra there among ponies and he will not learn anything good from the experience.  I am the only one that can help him."
"You didn't answer my question."
Steel Will finished tying down the flap to the travel bag.  "...No.  No, I'm not sure about this, but Zecora is one of the wisest equines I have met in my travels and I trust her judgment.  Now that he is away from his brother I think he can change if someone can give him the chance.  I want to give him that chance."  He started to turn towards his brother then quickly returned his gaze to his bag before he met eye contact.  He took a moment to check if the bag's straps were secure.
"Here is where I would say it is too great a risk," Iron Will commented with his head tilted slightly, "and that he could pull the same trick again only we won't have a shaman to flush him out this time."  He looked down and shook his head lightly.  "But you gave me that same chance when you first found me stumbling into the village seeking answers.  I was lost and confused and... needing guidance... just, like him, so..." Iron Will stumbled over his words and couldn't finish.
Steel Will finished for him, "I am both proud and grateful that you are taking the risk for him.  It isn't something you would have done back then.  You have been a difficult student but you have still learned much these last few months.  With any luck, maybe he can do the same.  Let us pray this risk pays off."
Faraji came up to them at the edge of town accompanied by two guards.  Steel Will signed the release paperwork and the guards left.
As Faraji looked up at his new guardian and parole officer he asked with a sullen voice, "What do you wish of me?  I understand we are to travel.  Shall I carry your bag?"
Steel Will looked at his brother for a moment in bewilderment at the young zebra's glum mood then returned his gaze to the young zebra.  "That won't be necessary.  I can carry my own bag without trouble."
"As you wish," Faraji responded calmly and respectfully. "Will we be heading out now?"
"Not just yet, but soon," Steel Will answered with a shake of his head.  "We need to wait for Zecora.  She wanted to meet with you before we leave."


* * *


A little while later, Zecora arrived with a gimp, a wrapped back leg and Lightning Dust carrying a zebra style saddle bag behind her.  As she came close enough to talk she spoke to Faraji in a foreign language for a few moments.
She switched to Equestrian a few moments later to let the minotaurs and Lightning Dust understand what she was saying.  "Though the paths we walk bear different fruits, our arts share the same roots."  She gave him a warm grin.  "A true witch doctor is a healer at heart.  So a gift from one to another as you depart."
"Take a look," Lightning Dust called out on cue to the word gift as she turned to let Faraji look inside the pack she carried.
As he looked inside the saddle bag on the pegasus's back he saw all sorts of herbs, dried berries, nuts, roots, pre-made potions that would keep well, medicinal muds stored in powder form in jars and moss packs along with other little ingredients and small tools of the healer's trade.  There were even some items from the market that Zecora had found useful from her time volunteering at the hospital in there, though not many.
His eyes were wide and his jaw slack at the sight he saw inside the improvised medicine bag.  "You know how to use these, right?" Lightning Dust asked.  "Cause I sure don't."
"I do, but why would you waste this on me?" he asked in bewilderment, turning his attention to Zecora.
Zecora had a knowing look in her eyes.  "Faraji, I know what you dread," she answered empathetically with the voice of a loving mentor.  "Your teacher's wrath hangs above your head.  Impending doom from his magics you feel, but never is it a waist to let a healer heal."  Her voice shifted to a more cheerful tone.  "If all that you accomplish with my wares be one pain eased, in knowing they helped I will be pleased."
Faraji looked back at the bag in confusion.  "But, I have nothing to give you in return.  This is far too much to be a gift."
Zecora sighed as she put her hoof on her muzzle just above the soft of her nose then shook it back and forth gently.
"I got this one Zecora," Lightning Dust said, giving Zecora a wink.  Zecora responded back with a skeptical look as if she knew what she was going to say but let her say it anyway.  "Ahem.  In the words of a mare much wiser than myself:  A healer helps those in need.  Not those..." Lightning Dust began to quote Zecora from times past.

After repeating a nursery rhyme that Faraji already knew by heart from foal-hood, Lightning Dust was red with embarrassment as the two zebras broke into a giggling fit at her expense.  Embarrassment aside, it had gotten the point across to him.  He made no further protest.
"Oh!  Ha!  Ha!" she barked loudly with irritation.  "Just take the darn bag already.  Wayside wants be back in the sky helping the team out as soon as I'm done helping Zecora deliver it."  She stood there, waiting for him to undo the zebra style strap that she wasn't used to.
As Faraji undid the strap for Lightning Dust, Iron Will spoke up, "Lightning Dust.  About what I said in the hospital."
Lightning Dust remembered what Iron Will was talking about.  "Oh, right!  I, um."  She gestured him over just as the strap was undone and the medicine bag was removed.  Whispering in his ear she answered, "I don't mind you calling me a friend but don't you tell anypony I said that."
With a short but hearty laugh, Iron Will stands back up and gave her a small wink.  He then threw his own pack on and returned to his brother's side.
"I am happy we could say our goodbyes," Steel will said to all of them, "but we have stayed in the area far too long already.  We must travel quickly and cover much ground if we are to get back to our village on time."  He exchanged a few unspoken words with Zecora through expression then threw his pack on as well.
"Why can't you use the train?  It isn't like you're short on funds."  Lightning Dust asked, recalling just how rich Iron Will was.
"Our pilgrimage has been on hoof for a reason," Steel Will answered.  "Anywhere worth going is worth getting there the right way, especially when you are seeking enlightenment.  To take the train now would make our entire journey pointless even with our delays here."
With this said, the two minotaurs and the young zebra—with a medicine bag so big he almost had trouble carrying it—headed out of town.  The young zebra still walked with his head down, despite the amazing gift.

As Zecora and Lightning Dust watch them depart, Lightning Dusts spoke up, "You didn't tell him about the thing you took from his brother.  He would have loved to know about it."
Zecora continued to stare at the group fading in the distance.  She answered Lightning Dust with such a smile on her face she looked like she was holding back the urge to either cry in joy or laugh—Lightning Dust couldn't tell which, "In good time, Faraji will find the cure to his despair, as he searches the bag to find his lost lock of hair.  Likewise, Tendaji will find his brother untouchable through such magical tactic.  As he uses his own hair by mistake, it will prove-" She paused ever so slightly with a mischievous grin on her face, not quite breaking rhythm. "-problematic."
A brief thought of what Tendaji might inflict on himself made Lightning Dust laugh softly.  "So, are you sure you can get back to your hut on your own with that bad leg?  Wayside said I can walk you back there again if you need me to.  Now that I know the way I'm not so..." A small blush formed on her cheeks again.  "...Prone to get lost.  I can just fly up and out when we get there."
Zecora closed her eyes and gently shook her head briefly.  "Back home safely on my own I can return.  Bearing the gift in time was my concern.  Your work calls now.  So make haste and fly.  Should you need counsel, you are welcome to stop by."
Lightning Dust cocked her head at this unexpected offer, then responded casually before leaving.  "Ya.  I might visit sometime.  I'd love to learn more of those exercises you showed me at the hospital.  They were cool."
After Lightning Dust took flight and headed over to where the weather team was working, Zecora took off the bandage from her back leg with a coy smile on her face.  From the place they had met up with Steel Will and his two students, she trotted to the edge of the Everfree Forest to return home.  She didn't gimp or show a single hint of pain as she trotted.
Before entering the forest, she looked back at the horizon where Lightning Dust had become but a speck in the distance.  She hoped the pegasus managed to pay her a visit for counsel soon.  It was plain as day to Zecora that the troubled soul could use some.





Lightning Dust was happy to be back in the air—truly in the air and not just fluttering over the ground to get her wings back up to strength like she had been doing for the last couple weeks.  Her worries could wait.
It didn't matter right now that she had only one bit left in her bit bag to last until payday with almost no backup food.  It didn't matter she still hadn't found a place to stay after she got paid and Wayside's charity rent ended.  It didn't matter that she had gotten several ponies upset at her for walking out of the second surprise party Pinkie Pie threw for her a few days ago in celebration of recovering.

Ahh, what an interesting night that was.  Pinkie Pie had managed to trick her into coming to sugar cube corner to pick up something with Keen Wit's help, probably slipping the colt a few bits to do it.  When they all yelled surprise, she just gave a deadpan expression back.  She could have heard a pin drop from the silence after the big reveal.  She asked if the order was ready and when she confirmed that it was just a decoy to lure her in, she just backed out the door and flew off.
Rainbow Dash chased her down to confront her about leaving.  She knew she couldn't out fly her having just recovered. So she stopped to hear her out.  The sudden stop caused her rival to almost total out into a tree when she sped past her.  That alone was worth it but there was more.  Rainbow Dash gave her a long chewing out about how she was being rude.  She halfheartedly listened to it while hovering.  When she was able to get a word in she shut her up with driving one solid point home.
"I've already put up with one of her parties.  She knows I don't like parties and she didn't even ask if I wanted one.  I find that rude on her part.  So I'm putting my hoof down on this.  How would you like it if you were forced to go to the spa?"  She remembered from the academy days in the mess hall when Rainbow Dash told her about how she hated hooficures.
Oh, the look on her rival's face when she was caught in her own double standard was priceless.  Yes.  Even if she had gotten half the weather team angry at her from the party, even that didn't matter right now.  She had her wings back.  She was one step closer to reclaiming her dream.

She was flying blissfully but still with purpose.  She needed to get back to work.  She had managed to perform well at work thanks to the lessons that Sunny Rays had given her.  She still had a few advanced lessons to go but she had the basics down packed.  She managed to impress a lot of her coworkers with her speed and precision in cloud placement during her first couple days on the job.
The clouds she placed weren't meant for rain.  These clouds were dry clouds to give shade to the ground.  They didn't carry much water and were practically useless for making rain.  However, the shade they provided protected crops from the heat of the late summer sun and slowed moisture loss.  That reduction of moisture loss alone made them pay for themselves if placed right.
But the clouds needed to go away to allow for some clear sunlight through for a while.  That meant cloud busting.  For community celebrations only the sky above town needed to be cleared.  A single pony could be assigned to it for half a day and still get it done thoroughly, but for a normal day of cloud busting it required a full squad of five or so to clear the entire area surrounding Ponyville on schedule.
'Clearing them up with a tornado would be fast,' Lightning Dust thought to herself as she flew through the air.  A smirk found its way to her face but faded as quickly as it formed.  'But Sunny Rays was prudent on making sure I knew that we're responsible for any private property damaged from-' her front hooves shifted from their standard flight position slightly and moved in a gesture of quotation, while her face showed slight disgust.  '-"preventable causes".  I can't afford to mess up like that right now.  If I do something that reckless Wayside might still fire me "On.  The.  Spot."  Whether something got hurt or not...'  Her face grew grim as her eyes watered and closed for a brief moment.  'Just like aunt Spitfire did.'

When she got to the area that the weather squad was supposed to be working on at that hour, she saw the area was completely cleared already.  That meant only one thing.  Rainbow Dash was showing her up.  She was the only one that could.
Lightning Dust bolted as fast as her still recovering stamina would allow to the next area and the next after that.  Finding both of them cleared, she went to the next and found the team wrapping up the area with Rainbow Dash taking over half the area herself.
"Look who finally showed up!" Rainbow Dash declared as she finished her section of the area.
"Hey!  Wayside authorized Zecora to borrow me and you know it!" Lightning Dust retorted back, irritated.
"So?  She could have had anypony do that.  It's not like her little errand was actually helping with the weather!" she called out in an effort to belittle her.  "Did the boss's pet enjoy her break?" she taunted.
"That is enough!" Sunny Rays called loudly as she flew closer.  She was angry yet somehow her voice was not all that scary.  Her mind was brilliant but she lacked presence.
"You might be the best cloud buster we have Rainbow Dash but you are not in charge today. I am!"  She reprimanded Rainbow Dash as best she could.  Judging by the way her words seemed rehearsed, Lightning Dust figured that she probably saw the situation forming before she even came back.
While lowering her voice but trying to keep her tone of authority with limited success, Sunny Rays continued, "Wayside has a good reason for everything he does, this included.  Zecora has helped the weather team with injuries and ailments countless times and has never asked for so much as a bit in return.  Her efforts has saved the weather team countless insurance claims, time and resources.
"You of all ponies should understand how valued Zecora has become to Ponyville Rainbow Dash.  You were among her first patients.  If it wasn't for her you would still be stuck flying upside down.  So I don't think you should be complaining that our boss decided to repay a little of that kindness."
Rainbow Dash glared at Sunny Rays like she had just crossed an unspoken line when she mentioned flying upside down.
"Besides, she's back early," she added, her feeble tone of authority breaking completely as she gestured to Lightning Dust.
Just staring at Sunny Rays for a moment longer, Rainbow Dash went from flustered to outright angry.  "Fine.  Requesting permission to work solo from the other end and meet in the middle miss 'squad leader'," Rainbow Dash asked Sunny Rays, mocking her authority.
In a mentality more fitting a puzzle solver than a leader, Sunny Rays looked around at each of her squad members, sizing them up then looked around to do an abstract mental mapping of what areas had and hadn't been done.  "Go ahead," she said, returning her gaze to Rainbow Dash.
As soon as Rainbow Dash flew off, Sunny Rays exhaled in exhaustion as if she had dodged a dozen lightning bolts.  "I hope she gets the kink out of her gears soon so Wayside can put her back in charge.  I'm not cut out for this leadership stuff."


* * *


When work was over, Lighting Dust had found that Rainbow Dash had flown off to the academy early, instead of staying to spend her days off in Ponyville.  Sunny Rays said it was just her trying to clear her head and that she was happy Rainbow Dash was finally trying to do so.





Lyra was a free spirit that loved to just enjoy life.  She had all sorts of hobbies she would pick up and set down.  She didn't mind having very little money.  She loved having the freedom to do what she wanted more.  She hated the idea of constantly working somewhere and pretty much had to have four to five days a week off or she would go nuts.  Though some ponies thought she already was.  After Pinkie Pie, she was the most eccentric pony in Ponyville.
Today however, Lyra was having a hard time managing to find the money to pay rent to BonBon this month, not that rent was a lot with BonBon.  Few ponies could tolerate living with the quirks of BonBon's personality.  So renting out the spare room was not as expensive as one would expect.  Yet Lyra loved BonBon's quirk and the low rent was just what she needed so they were a perfect match up.  Nevertheless, BonBon was usually adamant about rent being on time.
Normally this wouldn't be a problem.  She would usually make enough money after what she earned at her part time job at Quills and Sofas by doing her life passion of street performing or selling her other artistic work as she performed.  Right now though it was getting to the lean season where ponies had little change for extras.  She hated to admit it but she needed some way of getting the rent money for next month.  Which meant either finding a roommate to split the rent or getting a loan from Money Bags.
Problem was, Money Bags said she didn't work enough for any kind of loan.  He ran a business, not a charity.  He said she would need to have more 'real' work before he loaned her anything.
Though she didn't mind the idea of a roommate, it pretty much wasn't going to happen.  So she decided to get started on finding a second job.





Lightning Dust was enjoying her practice session.  It was the first one she had since getting the clearance from the doctor to do them.  Every time she had tried to practice before, she was interrupted by Rainbow Dash cutting her off or sending her into a spin.  When she asked what her problem was her rival just said, "No problem.  This is what we do in practice, isn't it?"
Lightning Dust knew what she was talking about.  She had done this to the other cadets without a second thought back in the academy.  Because of this, Rainbow Dash wasn't about to let Lightning Dust practice unbothered on her watch.  But since Rainbow Dash had went back to the academy early, Lightning Dust finally was able to practice in peace.
Coming down from practice, Lightning Dust landed in front of the inn.
"That was a whole lot better than when I first saw you kid.  You really are something up there.  I'd expect no less from a soon to be Wonderbolt," Wayside called from the bench.
"Yay Lightnin' Dust!  Woo-Hoo!" Lightning Dust heard the gray pegasus mare next to Wayside cheer.
When Lightning Dust got a good look at the pony that just cheered, she suddenly had a very strong feeling of Déjà vu.  Which was strange because she knew she had never met her before.  The wall eyes and childishly cheerful face were definitely unforgettable.  Normally she would be asking what was up with this weird freak of a pony, but something she just couldn't place made her feel jealous of her instead.
"I've done a lot better before, but it will take time for me to get back into the full swing," she responded, unsure of what else to say.
Before the silence got too awkward, Keen Wit came down the street with an adult sized double saddle bag full of stuff draped over his back. "Hey Ditsy Doo.  I got the stuff you wanted from Sugar Cube Corner for muffin night."
"Thanks!" The grey pegasus said as she took the saddle bag from him and put it on her own back.
Slipping his hoof in the pocket of his own practically empty saddle bag, which had been hidden underneath hers, he reached in and pulled out a few bits.  "Here's your change."
"Keep it!  It was worth it to see the show!  You should have seen her.  She was amazing!" she said enthusiastically, gesturing over to Lightning Dust.
With a grin suddenly appearing on his face, he gave no argument. "OK!" He slipped the change back to where it came from.
As Lightning Dust overheard the 'sly business colt' doing this thing, she decided to go to her room to get cleaned up.  She needed to find a way to get some more money herself before payday or she would go hungry.  Her food stores wouldn't last that long and her bit bag was finally empty.  Being covered in sweat wasn't going to help fill it.
She needed the money fast and didn't have the time to fiddle around finding work.  She knew one thing that could get it.  Though the Idea of it was disgusting, she had to work on getting it set up soon or she still wouldn't earn it in time.  It was getting late today.  She would do it tomorrow morning since she was scheduled to work in the afternoon.  She would have plenty of time to set it up tomorrow.

As Lightning Dust went into the inn, the pony named Ditzy Doo talked to Wayside, "So she's on the team now?"
"Yes, and she is pretty good considering her inexperience.  Sunny Rays taught her well," he responded with admiration.
"I see..." she said as she looked down in a glum mood.
Knowing what was getting her down, he tried to cheer her up.  "Hey don't be like that. I had to let you go.  You couldn't keep your scheduling straight but you always put in your full effort.  Besides, you're a great mail mare now."  He recalled nights she would stay up late at town hall triple and quadruple checking the planned schedule to make sure she had it right.
Seeing this didn't quite do the trick he added some more to it.  "And it was nice of you to help the ground crew get ready for the storm even after I had to fire you for missing the sprinkle.  You have a heart of gold, Ditzy Doo.  I can't trust your hooves with storm clouds any more, but I am proud to have met you and call you a friend."
"Ya, I guess so." she said with her mood picking up just a little.  "Thanks again for giving me a good reference with the post office Mr. Wayside.  I was pretty down when I had to leave.  When I got fired from the delivery company, I didn't think I'd ever get another job."
Seeing a golden opportunity Wayside interjected, "I didn't 'give' anything.  You earned that reference yourself."
That perked her face right up.  "Really?"
"Really."
"Gee thanks!  You're the best Mr. Wayside."
"Now you had better get home and get those muffins made before Dinky gets hungry."
"Gah!" was all she could say before jumping into the air to hurry home, realizing she was late.
As Ditzy flew home, Wayside couldn't help but smile inside.  When he stuck to his talents and didn't pull stupid stunts like he did with Lightning Dust at the interview, he was good at what he did.





Spitfire was in the Rec Center of the Wonderbolt academy off duty.  The disappearance of her niece was bothering her.  Her brother and sister in law said she never made it home.  Spitfire was the last family member to see her and they were bugging her about it, asking what she did with their daughter.
Spitfire didn't know where she was but she knew what happened.  Lightning Dust had ran off after being discharged.  Whether it was from pride or shame the end result was the same.  Spitfire wanted to go find her but she couldn't go absent without leave to just search randomly.  It had been months and her family was worried sick about her.  Some feared the worst.
Spitfire was sitting at the bar, sipping her drink when Rainbow Dash came up beside her.
"Requesting permission to-"
"Just sit down already Rainbow Dash," Spitfire interrupted.  "I'm not on duty."
As Rainbow Dash sat down, Spitfire asked her, "What brings you back so early?  Your squad isn't due back for another two days."
"Trouble at home," Rainbow Dash said with a huff.
"I should have guessed," Spitfire responded blandly.
Rainbow Dash started rambling without any particular direction, making Spitfire suffer through it, "Nopony will listen to me.  I keep telling them she is no good and she will cause trouble but every pony keeps defending her."
Not really wanting to concern herself about her cadet's problems, she only listened halfheartedly while sipping her sports drink.
"She is one of the most reckless and uncaring ponies I have ever met but nopony believes me.  They all keep giving excuses for her."
About to order another drink, Spitfire shifted her weight so that she could use her hoof to flag down the barkeep.  'Maybe something a little on the hard side this time.'
"I mean really, Lightning Dust has all of Ponyville fooled into thinking she is some goody two shoes.  My boss has even been paying for her room at the inn for the last month."
Spitfire's hoof stopped in mid extension and her feathers stood on end when she heard her niece's name being mentioned.  Rainbow Dash was too busy with her ranting to notice.
The barkeep, responding to Spitfire's half raised hoof, asked what she wanted.  She thought hard for a moment.  "Get Rainbow Dash any cadet approved drink she wants and put it on my tab with this."  She pushed her empty glass to him then put a few bits on the bar.  "I remembered something I need to take care of.  Finish up for me here would you?"  She tossed her head in Rainbow Dash's direction.
The barkeep took the tip and watched her hurry out the door.





When Rainbow Dash showed up for drills two days later, she was surprised to see First Lieutenant Fire Streak on the runway.  He stated Captain Spitfire had taken a leave of absence for a family emergency and he would be taking over for the week.
> Chapter Nine:  Camaraderie Blossoms
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was two days later, still three days before Lightning Dust's paycheck came in.  She was hungry and out of food.  It was her day off and she needed money now.  She didn't have many options.  So she did the one thing she knew she could get money from.  Though the idea of it unnerved her greatly, she entered the doors of a place that she thought she would never be caught dead in.


* * *


The pony which Lightning Dust had begged to give her a chance earn a little bit of money was staring at her with a look of satisfaction on his face.  "That was amazing!"
'That was wrong...'
"I had no idea somepony so young could be so good at it!"
'I feel sick...'
"I'm going to have to show the other girls that trick you did with your wing."
'Like I just lost a piece of myself and I'll never get it back...'
"You definitely earned every single bit of what you asked for yesterday."
'It definitely wasn't worth it...  I should have just asked Wayside for an advance...'
"It's a shame you don't want to stay.  We need some new blood here."
'I'm glad Rainbow Dash wasn't able to see this.  She would never let me live it down...'
"You're more than welcome to come back if you change your mind."
'And if my family saw...  I don't even want to think about that...'
"Regardless, here is your money as promised.  I'm sorry I can't pay you more."
'I never should have come here...  I'm ashamed of myself.'  She took the small pile of bits she had earned and poured it into her bit bag.  It would be enough to feed her through payday.
"I found it strange how you asked to work for tips under the table as a one day worker but now I see why.  You are an awesome waitress.  Where did you learn to be so good at it?"
Lightning Dust was utterly disgusted with herself having to fall back on her old trade of waiting tables, but it got the job done.  "I worked for my mother in her restaurant back in Manehattan since I was a filly.  I hated every minute of it but I learned fast.  I had to.  Otherwise mom wouldn't let me train at the gym on my time off."
"I, see," he said, as he finally realized her distaste for the work.  "Well the shift is over now.  Turn in the uniform and you're free to go."
Lightning Dust was only too happy to oblige him.  She never wanted to wear one of those 'things' again.


* * *


Lightning Dust went to the park, sat on the nearest bench and counted her tips.  It wasn't enough to count as a full day's wages like what the other waitresses got, but it was still more than she expected from a small restaurant's morning shift.
"You too huh?" a pony called with a sigh, walking up to her as she counted the last few bits.
Looking up, she recognized the unicorn that hung around the park to street perform on her lyre and try to sell some of her arts and crafts while doing it, Lyra Heartstrings. "What?"
"It's the short season.  Not many ponies have change to spare.  You're counting your tips, aren't you?" Lyra said as she sat down on the bench next to her.
"How?"
"I saw you in the restaurant," Lyra said disappointed.  "I wanted to try to out for the job, but I saw you there.  Congratulations..."  
Lightning Dust nervously threw a response together.  "I-I was a fill in, a one off."  She knew ponies would see her.  It came with the territory.  It still wasn't easy to take when they came up to her mentioning it.  "They paid me under the table.  I'm not permanent.  I was only working there this morning."
The unicorn stared into space in deep thought at this for only a short moment then practically jumped off the bench and ran full gallop in the direction of the restaurant.
Lightning Dust gave at her an odd look as she ran off.  "Well good luck with that."  She wasn't as bad as Pinkie Pie but she was still pretty energetic.  She was glad she only ran into them on occasion.  She would go nuts to have to see them every day.  She felt sorry for anypony that had to live with them.
Still, Lyra seemed to be a tiny bit more aware of things than the party pony.  Lightning Dust thought that as long as she could keep her distance she wasn't so bad.  She might have to tip her performance when she managed to get the change to spare.
Which reminded her.  She had enough money now to get the supplies to get her though payday and might still have enough after to treat Keen Wit to ice cream.  She promised the brave little twerp some for saving her when she got the chance.  She felt that it was best to get stuff like that done and out of the way as soon as she could afford it so that it didn't sneak up on her later when she couldn't.  He wasn't out of school yet so she decided to get her supply shopping done first.
Grwoll, her stomach rumbled.  Ya, supply shopping first.





Keen Wit's horn was still throbbing.  According to Doctor Pulse, he wasn't in danger and it would heal just fine, but it still hurt after all this time.
He had to put extra effort into his school work to fight through the headache, which had bled down from his horn the first few days back.  That made school awkward to say the least.  Yet with help from Iron Will's and Lightning Dust's careful testimony reaching the paper, he managed to keep his horn on the down low.  His secret was safe for now.
Keen Wit was in his room after school studying his books on magic.  Doctor Pulse told him he mustn't use anymore magic until he gave him the OK or he could hurt his horn permanently.  Keen Wit needed his horn.  So he made sure to follow the doctor's orders to the letter, but that didn't stop him from just reading up on magic.
He still had his dreams and he was going to strive towards them, but engineering new ways of using existing magic was tricky, especially for a young colt who had to earn the money for his materials mostly on his own.
His mom told him he had to keep his door unlocked.  She said it was for his safety in case something happened, but Keen Wit knew his mom just didn't want him using magic and she knew he wouldn't dare do it with the door unlocked.  He wouldn't have anyway, but he had no problem keeping it unlocked to let his mom feel safe.  That is until he heard the door handle turn without a knock.
His parents always knocked and always made sure anypony that went to see him knocked and waited for him to answer.  This was somepony else coming in, somepony that didn't check with his parents first.  He saw the multiple books he had out that only a unicorn would be interested in at his age strewn across his room.  There was no way he could hide them all in time, not even half of them.  One thought raced in his mind before the knob even finished turning, 'Not good!'





The shopping trip went off without a hitch.  Lightning Dust was even able to get some bargains on the supplies and haggle down others better than she expected.  She still wasn't rich but with the supplies in tow and payday so close she was finally out of the red zone.  She definitely had enough to take care of her promise to Keen Wit.
She dropped off her supplies in her room, climbed up the stairs and walked over to were Keen Wit's room was supposed to be.  She had seen him go in there a few times after school and knew this must be it.
As she opened the door she suddenly heard Keen Wit shout at her, "Twist! I can explain! I-"  He just stared at her for a moment with a look of worry on his face.  She briefly saw him and all sorts of magic books strewn all over the room.  Some on his bed, some on his desk and a few on the floor.  "Get in! Get in and close the door!" he said as he grabbed her and pulled her in.
After she was inside his room she heard him quickly slam the door shut behind her when she didn't do it herself.  She turned around to see him panting in a panic, still braced against the door.  "Um... I came by to see if you wanted that ice cream I promised.  I managed to get a little money on the side and I have enough to spare now."
Coming to, he looked at her for only a brief moment.  Without even answering her he dashed off, grabbed his books and tried to put them away in his chest as fast as he could.
Lightning Dust saw the titles of two books before he got them all put away, 'The Many Methods of Levitation, Volume IV.  Using levitation on yourself.  Why it is so difficult.' and 'The Ins and Outs of Spells with Passive Effects, Volume II,  Repellents and attractants, cloud tangibility, and—'
She couldn't read the rest because he had snatched it away to put it in the chest with the rest of them then locked the chest with a pain charge combination lock.  "Sure!  Ice cream sounds great!  Let's go!" he said over enthusiastically as he quickly turned to her.
He stood there with a forced smile, waiting for her to respond.  She was lost in thought on what just happened for several seconds.
Lightning Dust was tempted to question him on the books, but judging by the fact he had a pain charge lock it was something just as private as his horn and he wanted to protect it.
Colts and fillies weren't normally supposed to have those at his age.  They were enchanted to shoot massive pain into anypony that put in the wrong combination, tried to pick the lock or bust the lock off.  It wasn't meant for children and they had an unmistakable crest on them as a warning.
Pain charge locks weren't something easy to get and they were almost impossible to just borrow.  Though they didn't require a permit, they had to be custom ordered and individually cataloged to ownership.  On top of that, they had tracking enchantments in them to make sure they didn't leave their owner's residence as an anti-theft precaution put in by the company that sold them.  It was an item that allowed for decent security at an economic price.  It wasn't perfect but it was very good against amateur thieves and snooping noses.
Judging by how there were scuff marks on the chest from where it had rubbed on it many times before, he had had it for a while.  That meant it could only belong at the inn.  Otherwise the company would have tracked it down by now if it belonged somewhere else.  This also meant his parents were the only ones that could have gotten it for him.  Whatever it was he was hiding, his parents knew.  So she could just leave it at that for now.  "O... K...  Let's go."





Lyra was out of luck.  She had tried every job in town.  She either didn't have the skills they needed, they weren't hiring or they just flat out thought she couldn't do the job.  Her backside was still sore from being thrown out of the restaurant.  Even her boss at Quills and Sofas said there was no way she could get any more hours.  She was in a tight spot.  She just had to pray that Mint was around when the rent was due in three days.  Otherwise, she was out on the street for sure.





Lightning Dust sat on the park bench with Keen Wit as he ate his ice cream.  She thought about leaving him to it and looking for a place to stay but she had a few days left before Wayside stopped taking care of the rent for her.  She had taken care of enough today.  She could worry about a permanent place to stay tomorrow.
"You had to get a triple scoop?" Lightning Dust asked, having spent so much on his ice cream cone she didn't dare buy one for herself.  Not that she even wanted one.
"No, but you didn't have to promise me one either," Keen Wit teased back.
"Ya.  I should really re-think that one," she said to her favorite twerp, hinting back to when he had promised to not charge her for help, which he had taken back when she abused it.
With a good spirited laugh from the inside joke, Keen Wit finished off the rest of the second scoop in one big bite leaving ice cream all over his face.  With nothing else to worry about, Lightning Dust thought back on how the inside joke became so funny in the first place.  She had worked him hard when he promised to not charge his new 'flying teacher', whatever that meant.
'Wait.'
'Flying teacher...'
'Spells with Passive Effects - cloud tangibility...'
'Many Methods of Levitation - Using levitation on yourself...'  All of a sudden it clicked!
"That's how you were gonna do it!" she blurted out while she turned to him.
He stared at her in confusion at her sudden outburst.  His mouth was open in a questioning look, showing the half of a scoop of ice cream that still rested on his tongue.
"That's how you were-" she started to say loudly, catching herself before she accidentally revealed it to everypony.  She whispered the rest quietly, "How you were going to fly.  You're going to use magic."
Upon hearing her figure it out, he reflexively swallowed hard then stared at her in shock.  The brain freeze from the ice cream knocked him out of his shock only seconds later.  Dropping the rest of his ice cream, he fell to the grass.  He held his head and hat as he screamed, waiting for the brain freeze to wear off.
His screaming attracted the attention of the ponies in the park.  Some looked concerned.  Others that saw the dropped ice cream cone just laughed and continued on.
After a very awkward moment of Lightning Dust feeling like she would be arrested for foal abuse, Keen Wit recovered from the headache, stood then looked down and away from her with what looked like fear.  She couldn't tell clearly.  "Yes..." he muttered softly.
"What?"
"Yes."
"Was that a yes?"
He gulped and looked her in the eye.  "...Yes...  That's how I want to try to do... that," he said, muttering again at the end.  He gave in to the urge to break eye contact and put his gaze back to the ground.
She stared at him as she churned his answer over in her head.  Unicorns trying to do sustained flight with their magic had always had limited success at best.  Either the magic was so taxing that didn't last long or it was so frail that it was grossly unsafe.  Even when it had been stabilized it was slow and clunky, barely considered flight.  Nothing that could compare to pegasi wings had ever been created.
Even a prosthetic wing only worked good enough to restore basic flight.  They relied on crudely harnessing the energy drawn from the same source the original wing of the pegasus using it, be it the stump of a wing, half way down the wing or even straight from the back of the pegasus in some cases.
They weren't anything anypony besides a pegasus could ever use.  It was impossible to synthesize pegasus wing magic to any usable degree.  Without it such wings were nothing more than decoration.  With the invention of air balloons and other devices for transport the development of personal flight for non pegasi was discontinued.  He must have been trying to finish it.
For a colt to study this as a hobby was nuts!  But once again true to the 'blow your mind' Ponyville tradition Lightning Dust was getting used to, here he was trying to do it.  He was trying to follow a dream that seemed impossible.
Just like a disgraced pegasus trying to rejoin the Wonderbolts.
No pony that tried out a second time managed to make it for generations now.  Many of the ones that could try again were still declined reentry.  The few that were accepted back had never made it all the way through the academy's 'remedial' course and passed.  The only thing that ever came from the course was maybe two or three ponies a year would get a letter of recommendation out of the ones that made it to the end, permitting them to reenlist into the normal air force, though forbidden from ever becoming an officer.  But that wasn't her goal nor would it ever be.
She knew she was chasing the horizon when she started and apparently he did too.  No wonder he kept it a secret.  He would be the laughing stock of the town if anypony found out.  "And your dad knows?" she asked curiously.
"Yes," he answered plainly as if he were in trouble with his parents. "He paid for half of every book I have."
'Kind of makes sense.  Only his parents would be able to get him the lock.  Why not the books?'
He was standing there with the same look he had at the hospital, scared and bordering ashamed.
"..."
She could see the tension from her impending judgment scaring him to no end.  His knees started shaking as he waited for her to respond.  He tried to control his breathing as panic rose.  He held his jaw tight as it started to tremble and she saw something in him that she had seen but hadn't recognized before.  Memories of him flashed through her mind.
"Well that's the last of the tour.  Anything else you wanted?"
"No!  You will not touch my friend!"
"Can I hang out with her today?  She said we could hang out later."
"Will you be my big sister?"  He feared her judgment so greatly because he looked up to her.
For reasons she couldn't fathom, he truly looked up to her.  He looked up to her the same way she looked up to her aunt.  She could see the fear of rejection growing in his every subtle movement as she continued to stare at him.  She knew that feeling all too well, having lived through it herself.  She felt it when her mother constantly tried to keep her out of the skies as she was growing up and when her aunt took the Wonderbolts away from her.
When she looked at him, she saw a child desperately chasing a dream with everypony around them saying it couldn't be done.  At that moment her eyes went wide because she saw:
Herself.
Giving in to the overwhelming compulsion to comfort him, she came up and hugged him tightly to herself.  Not daring to let him go, she wrapped her wings around him just as tightly.  She didn't care if what she was about to do was going make reaching her dreams even harder.  She didn't even care about the fact that his horn was stabbing her armpit.  All she cared about at that moment was making sure his heart didn't break and letting him know she would be there for him.  She wasn't sure why she felt this way, but she didn't even care about that.
"OK," she spoke softly to him.  Once he managed to get his horn free, he looked up from her embrace and stared her in the face.  With a tear just starting to stream down one side of his face, barely missing the drying ice cream blotch that covered his muzzle, she stared back.  "I have no idea how you are gonna pull it off, but when you manage to get off the ground I will teach you.  With Celestia and Luna as my witnesses, I will teach you how to fly."
After she said this and fixed his hat to where it wasn't showing the horn again, she just stood there holding him, letting it all sink in.  She had a pupil.  She was a mentor now.  She never thought she would want to be saddled with a kid.  And yet here she was, willingly obligating herself to the little twerp.


* * *


A few minutes later, Serra came up to them being led by Pinkie Pie.  Keen Wit and Lightning Dust had sobered up and were sitting on the bench again, laughing in simple conversation.
"See!  Here they are!" Pinkie said, pointing to them before bouncing off.
"So here's where you ran off to," Serra addressed them.
"Hey mom," Keen Wit called to his mother, "Lightning Dust finally got me that ice cream."
"I see that." she said while looking at his face and the spilled cone on the ground, which they never bothered to pick up.  "Is your homework done?"
The colt looked at the ground to avoid eye contact, not wanting to answer.  It was written all over his dirty face that he didn't have it done.
"I didn't think so.  Go home, clean up, and get started on it," she said calmly.
Keen Wit got off the bench again and started trotting home with his head down in disappointment.
"Sorry," Lightning Dust apologized.  "I didn't know you would be worried about him."
"Oh, I'm not worried.  Keen Wit can handle himself.  He is a Pepper after all—as you have seen with your own eyes.  I worry more about his father's safety than his," Serra said without a care.  "Besides, I didn't come here looking for him, sweetie.  I came here looking for you."
"What?" Lightning Dust asked with surprise.  Serra rarely left the inn unattended and never without good purpose.  What could she possibly need from her to make her come looking for her?  She knew she would be back tonight.
"Your aunt stopped by the inn asking for you a little after I saw you leave with Keen Wit."
"Aunt!?" Lightning Dust asked again, this time in worry.  She doubted it was Spitfire.  Spitfire was way too busy with her career and there would have been a commotion if she came, being a celebrity.  It could be one of her aunts on her mother's side of the family, but any family member knowing she was here meant trouble.
"Yes.  Your aunt Campfire came by and I told her you were out.  I asked her if she wanted to stay, but she said she would look for you herself then she just went into town.  I thought I'd find you so you could come back and wait for her."
The theory of it being an aunt from her mother's side flew right out the window as Lightning Dust's blood ran cold in fear.  Campfire was the name Spitfire called herself when she used to dye her coat green to keep the media away from her when she would visit on the holidays.
Aunt Spitfire wasn't the kind of pony to give up a search easily once she started.  The fact that she was doing it in that old disguise meant only one thing:  She was going to great lengths and was bound determined to find her.  She would comb the town several times over without getting discouraged.  The fact that she hadn't found her already was pure luck and it was bound to run out any time now.
If Spitfire found her it would ruin everything.  She would be dragged back home to Manehattan and she wouldn't be able to practice anymore.  She wouldn't be able to keep her edge and try out for the Wonderbolts again.
Everything she had struggled for and had just about gotten stable was getting ready to fall apart again right before her eyes.  Lightning Dust absolutely could not let that happen.  She had to find a place to hide and fast.  She thought of all the places she could hide out until her aunt moved on yet every one of them were grossly flawed, except one.  There was one place she knew she could go that nopony knew she might be there.  It was out of the way and wouldn't be looked at by chance on Spitfire's search.  It was her only chance and she had to go now!
She garbled a quick goodbye to Serra as she dashed out of town as fast as her hoofs could carry her.  She dared not fly.  Spitfire would be looking at the skies.  She was breathing hard to make sure she had the breath she needed for as long as she could have it.  She ran, pulling everything she could into every moment of it.  She couldn't pace herself.  Every second counted.
She zipped across the open field between town and the Everfree Forest, using her wings to fly low to the ground to move faster than she could on hoof.  She was moving so fast she could feel a wall of air pushing against her as she flew.  She pushed against it as hard as she could, not wanting to waste a single moment regardless of the extra energy it spent.
As she entered the Everfree Forest she landed while still running.  She let the momentum of her flight help carry her down the path for a few moments before the momentum waned.  Her heart was racing so loud it was the only thing she could hear in her ears.
She dashed along the path to the hut that housed the semi reclusive shaman.  The emergency fight or flight energy stored in her muscles was thoroughly drained.  She was running as fast as her lungs could carry her.  It was normally a brisk twenty minute jog from the park to the edge of the forest, and even more time for the path in the forest to where she was at.  It had hardly been three panicked minutes since she left the park and the burst of borrowed energy for all that speed was collecting on its debt now.
Just short of entering the tiny clearing that Zecora's hut was in, she collapsed out of breath and crawled to the hut with all the energy she could scrape out of her lungs.  If she had more time to recover her stamina after healing she wouldn't be as out of breath, but that's how it was.  Nevertheless, the panicked fear of her dreams being lost at any moment drove the desperate pegasus to drag herself through this last little painful stretch between her and safety as fast as she could muster.





Earlier:
Zecora was walking through the market to replenish some of the ingredients that were out of season in the forest which she had given to Faraji before he left.  She didn't like using domestic varieties for their lack of potency and troublesome impurities.  However, after she had looked at her stock being so low this morning she knew it would be better than not keeping any on hoof.
She finished the apple that Applejack gave her in thanks for always looking after her family's ailments and continued home.  Healers of her homeland never asked anything for their healing but it was customary for communities of her homeland to look after their healers.  So although it was against her moral code to accept any payment, be it money, power or worldly goods, it was not against her moral code to accept general hospitality from the ponies of Ponyville.
She also managed to get a good price for the berries and herbs she was looking for.  The stall owner was happy to see her and she hardly even needed to haggle for a good price.  She had become popular in this town once the ponies got over their fear of her.  It showed almost everywhere she went nowadays.  It was nice to see the good karma her services had spread blossom in this community.  Not just coming back to her, but being spread to others as well.  Young Pinkie Pie might do wonders in bringing out an optimistic smile for a while, but Zecora's talents were able to dig more deeply into a pony's mood over time and had a more subtle, longer lasting effect.
As she moved among the streets to head back home she saw somepony she recognized, somepony she hadn't seen in a long time.  Despite the funny way she looked, there was no mistaking her.  Zecora never forgot any of her patients no matter how long ago they were treated.  Every one of them were special to her.  She even remembered the little boars whose mothers she helped bring them into the world during her youth as practice under her teacher, all thirty one of the darlings.
She simply had to say hello and invite her back to her hut for cup of tea and a friendly chat.





Spitfire was incognito, searching the town for her niece.  Rainbow Dash wasn't one to lie when she was speaking her mind like that.  Lightning Dust had been in this town for a while and would still be here.  As worried for her niece as she was, she took her time to get some reconnaissance done.  She could get angry once she found her.  In the meantime she needed to track her down and the best way to do that was to ask around.  Waiting at the inn would waste time.  If she didn't find her by sun down she could just go back and check there again.
She was looking through town when she felt a hoof gently placed on her shoulder.  When she turned around she saw a face she never thought she would ever see again.  The zebra that had healed her back all those years ago was smiling at her.  "We meet again, not so young acrobat.  Would you mind coming home to chat?  Catch up on our time apart over some tea, we must.  I have much to say of your niece, Lightning Dust."
Surprised was too weak a word to describe Spitfire's mental reaction of all these developments hitting her at once.





Back to the present:
Lightning Dust managed to catch enough of her breath to stand.  It wasn't quite a proper second wind but it was still something.  She had calmed down a little when the fact she was already out of danger when she entered the forest sank in.  She still stumbled towards the door to finish hiding anyway.  As she opened the door, she heard a familiar voice speak in a very distasteful tone, "Well speak of Discord.  Here comes my niece now!"
Upon seeing Spitfire sitting at Zecora's table with her coat dyed green, Lightning Dust didn't even have the energy to scream from her fears being realized.  She just rolled up her eyes and fainted.
> Chapter Ten: Judgment, Part One—Desperate Appeal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Zecora!  I think she's coming around," Lightning Dust heard somepony call as she woke up to the scent of something putrid.
Opening her eyes, she saw her Aunt Spitfire looking at her with great concern.  She was still sporting her green tinted coat and mane.  "Don't you ever frighten me like that again," Spitfire said as Lightning Dust started to realize where she was at.  She was on a bed inside Zecora's hut.  She also realized that the putrid smell was coming from something smeared on her nose.
"Ghugh!  What is this?" she asked, trying to wipe the stuff off her nose as best she could.
"Something Zecora said would help," Spitfire answered as Lightning Dust got up and sat the edge of the bed.
"Huh?  How do you kno-," she began to ask before remembering it was Zecora that fixed both of their backs.  "Oh, right."
Spitfire gave her a wash cloth to finish cleaning the gunk off.  As Lighting Dust's head cleared some more she remembered why she came to Zecora's in the first place.  In the middle of washing up the rest of her face she paused in realization of the situation she was in.  She glanced at her aunt.  "Oh no..." she whined as she put her face back in the washcloth.
Upon seeing Lightning Dust was alright and up to speed with what was going on, Spitfire went from worried to furious.  "'Oh no' is right.  You have a lot of explaining to do."  Which really meant she was about to have things explained to her.


* * *


Zecora looked like she wanted to help Lightning Dust but knew she couldn't.  She simply stayed silent and tended to her cauldron for her evening meal, or a potion.  Lightning Dust couldn't tell which and didn't dare look long enough to see.  Spitfire was expecting her full attention and not giving it simply wasn't an option.
Spitfire was chewing Lightning Dust out for what seemed like hours before they even left the hut.  She spoke with enough vinegar in her voice to pickle her tongue several times over.  Back at the academy, Lightning Dust didn't take it personal.  She knew it was her aunt's job, but right then with her out of uniform she felt like finding a hole to crawl into and dying.  Spitfire was so angry she ended up covering several points multiple times like 'your parents were worried sick about you', 'no letters, no calls', 'we didn't even know if you were alive'.

It wasn't until they had gotten back to town and in the semi busy evening streets of Ponyville that Lightning Dust was even able to get a word in edgewise, but it didn't help.  It made it worse.  "But I'm doing alright on my own, really."
"Really?  From what Zecora told me, you half-starved yourself, bucked a pony in the face, threw your back out, and nearly got yourself killed."  Spitfire stopped in her tracks and looked her niece right in the eye.  "It was sheer dumb luck you have even made it this far!  Give me one good reason I shouldn't clip your wings the moment I get you home."
Lightning Dust's ears went back as she thought hard.  She had her own reasons but her aunt was in no mood to hear her desires to rejoin the Wonderbolts.  Though it was technically possible it was a fool's errand.  It would have to be something her aunt could understand through her anger.
Seeing her pause and not think of anything Spitfire said, "I didn't think so.  We're going to get your stuff from the inn and leaving."
Lightning Dust wasn't done thinking of a reason yet.  'She is too angry at me to listen.  I know she is just doing what she thinks is best for me but dam it to Tartarus!  Why does she have to care about me so stron...  That's it!'
Blurting out an answer before she could think it through, she gave her best argument, but started it off in the stupidest of ways.  "There's a boy here th-," she began to say before being cut off.
"A boy!?  On top of all this you've went and had an affair with some stallion!?" Spitfire exclaimed, misunderstanding Lightning Dust's argument.
"It's not-" Lightning Dust tried to clarify.
"No!" Spitfire interrupted as she shoved her face into Lightning Dust's own.  "Say another word and I'll pin you down and clip your wings with my own teeth right here and now!"  The maternal anger in her face had been coupled with a desire to kill.  "And let's pray your stallion doesn't run into me or I'll make sure he regrets ever messing around with my niece behind my back."  There was no getting through to her now.

Coming up to the counter at the inn, Spitfire demanded to know what room Lightning Dust was staying in so she could grab her things.  The Inn Keeper's response put a snag in Spitfire's plan.  Lighting Dust had lost her key when she ran her heart out to Zecora's hut and they had to get the spare key from the counter, but Serra only stood there at the counter calmly, refusing to give it to her.
"Ma'am, I know you are upset with your niece for something and I respect that," Serra said in a very calm and controlled manner, "But you will lower your voice in my inn or I will not give you so much as the time of day."
"You have no idea who you're dealing with lady," Spitfire said in anger, as she leaned over the counter to get into Serra's face.  The desire to kill still raged in her eyes.  "Just give me the key to my niece's room, and nopony gets hurt."
Serra continued to stay perfectly calm and stared right back into Spitfire's eyes.  "I'm not scared of you.  I will tell you one last time.  Lower your voice and get out of my face."
Lightning Dust knew what was going to happen, though she had no idea who was going to win.  Spitfire was trained, but if Serra's fighting spirit was anything like her son's then there was going to be a showdown here.  Wayside did call her 'the scaryest pony I have ever met' and Lightning Dust knew by now that it wasn't all bark.  She backed up from the counter to get out of the way before Serra was even finished talking.  She wasn't sure just how ugly this might get.  Spitfire raised a hoof to strike.

It was over in seconds.  Serra had grabbed Spitfire's punch, pulled her over the counter, and flipped her into the wall behind her upside down.  Spitfire couldn't use her wings to maneuver because the motion was too fast.  She barely had time to open her wings by the time she hit the wall.  Whatever it was, Serra was clearly well practiced with the move.  Right after Spitfire landed on the wall Serra took a swift punch to her opponent's gut before she even started to fall.
Once Spitfire was limp on the ground behind the counter, Serra hefted her up like she was nothing and tossed her back over the counter rather unceremoniously.  She landed on the ground in front of the counter like a rag doll.  Spitfire's body was completely limp except for her mouth, which was wide open and gasping for breath.
"I'm sorry but this area is for employees only," Serra said in a confident and somewhat cocky, yet professional manner.  "Honey!" she called to the Kitchen. "Put the kettle on.  We have a guest that could use some tea."
"Already did."





Keen Wit was finally finished with his homework when he heard his mom doing her thing down stairs.  Having an inn was tricky at times if you didn't know how to keep order and his mom was good at that.  Anypony on his mom's side of the family was good at that.  Even his late grandmother...
Keen Wit stopped in his thoughts as he raised his hat just enough to touch the horn his Gran-Gran had given him.  He missed her.  She was the only relative he had on either side of the family that was a unicorn like him.  Everypony else on his dad's side were pegasi and everypony from his mother's side that he had ever met were earth ponies.
Even his Gran-Gran from his dad's side was good at keeping order.  Although she did it in a different way than the Pepper family, she was still good at it.  She was good at many things, including listening to a little colt that just needed an ear.  She was the only reason he never tried to break off his horn to fit in.  She was the one that taught him not to be ashamed of what he was and was the one that inspired him to try to study how to use it, even if he didn't have the courage to show it to anypony just yet.
Still, the connection between him and his Gran-Gran ran deeper than just the horns.  She taught him so much before she passed on.  She taught him so many little things that he couldn't keep count of them all, but most of them were about how to learn.  As she laid on her deathbed, she told him not to cry.  She had no regrets and he shouldn't either.  The last words she said to him would forever be burned into his mind.
"Keen Wit.  Don't let anypony tell you something just can't be done.  Whatever path you choose to take in life is bound to be a hard one, but don't give up on it.  Promise me you will always do your best to stay true to your heart.  Don't ever give up on your dreams once you find them.  The sky is not the limit.  Shoot past even the stars."
He looked over to the poster of the celebrities Spitfire and Soarin from the Wonderbolts.  Both him and his dad were huge fans.  If it wasn't for their project, him and his dad would blow their spare money on tickets to every show they could afford instead.
Just under the poster with the Wonderbolts was his chest with the pain charge lock, which held everything he owned pertaining to the project his Gran-Gran inspired him to do.  He went over to the chest that contained the books he had been studying so hard on, then put his hoof on the chest.  He would find a way.  The stars weren't his dream but he knew what his grandma meant.
What his dream was most ponies thought impossible, but it wasn't.  It was just difficult.  Through sheer luck his dad and him had cracked the core problems in the designs already.  He just needed to get the little things all together.  That's why he scraped and saved every bit he could.  He needed some expensive materials and lots of them if he was going to make it work right.  His dad was firm on only paying for half.
If anypony ever heard what he wanted to do they would just laugh at him.  So it was just him and his dad.  Their secret project in Gran-Gran's memory.  They wouldn't show to anypony until it was finished.
He had studied the little things enough that night and decided against breaking the books out again.  It was scary earlier with Lightning Dust finding out his secret.  When she was staring down at him, he felt that he might wet himself from being so scared of what she would say.  He was so excited about how she agreed to teach him right then and there that he barely had enough focus to do his homework.  He had enough excitement for one day.  He decided to go to bed early.
As he climbed into bed he thought about going down stairs to see what the commotion was about, but still decided on going to bed instead.  Although he kind of liked most of his mom's teas, he didn't really care for his mom's special 'talk things out' tea.  Besides, it's not like it could have been somepony really interesting downstairs, like one of the Wonderbolts.





"Your first mistake was getting upset.  It improves power but dulls perception.  You left yourself wide open and didn't even know it," Serra said to Spitfire as her guest sat at the kitchen table, getting her wind back.  "Your second mistake was refusing to calm down.  If you can't control yourself, you can't control the fight," she continued while placing a mug of herbal tea on the table in front of Spitfire.  "And your third mistake was picking a fight with a Pepper.  We don't mess around when we fight," she finished as she sat down with her own mug.
"Pepper..." Spitfire thought aloud.  "As in Lieutenant Colonel Cloud Pepper?"  She slowly inhaled.  "Wonderbolt close quarters combat champion?"  She slowly inhaled again.  "Honored instructor of returning cadets?"
Lightning Dust internally cringed at this.  It was what she wanted to avoid thinking about ever since she decided to not return home.  When actually accepted back, returning applicants were given an even harder course with extremely unforgiving conditions.  Nopony had passed them for generations now.  Not since the regimen was revamped at princess Celestia's command.  The modern grading method was always kept secret from civilians and anypony below the rank of Major.  Even her aunt didn't know how it was done.  Only the most grueling and cold drill instructor held the position of being in charge of the returning cadets and the occasional ex-Wonderbolt wanting back in.
For the last seven years it has been her that held that 'honored' position, Lieutenant Colonel Cloud Pepper.  The pegasus that would be her new drill instructor when she returned to the academy on what was considered a fool's errand.  Looking back, it would have been a lot easier to just have been careful to not get kicked out of her aunt's cadet squadron.
"Oh, you're a Wonderbolt fan?" Serra piped in at Spitfire's comment, after drinking her mug slowly in one long sip.  This snapped Lightning Dust out of her thoughts.
Spitfire realized she almost blew her cover with mentioning this.  "Sorta," she said, trying to make the blush forming in her cheeks look like it was out of embarrassment.
"And yes.  Cloud Pepper is my second cousin once removed on my mother's side," she said while pouring herself another mug of tea.  "Though she was technically adopted," she added, seeing the confusion on Lightning Dust's face.  Serra had told her that Keen Wit was the first non-earth pony to be born to the Pepper family since it got its name.  "So what was getting you so upset if I might ask?" Serra inquired to move the discussion forward.
Spitfire took a moment to collect her thoughts.  She drank some of her tea before she spoke up, "Lightning Dust never came home after she left the Wonderbolt academy.  When she didn't show up her family was worried sick.  I came here to bring her home as soon as I heard news of her being here."
"Oh my.  Sweetie," Serra exclaimed softly when she heard this, "You really need to tell your family how you're doing."
"And what?  Tell them I'm almost broke and hurt bad but recovering fine?"  Lightning Dust answered back skeptically.  "They would come in mass number and drag me home!  I was plan-"  She saw her aunt giving her a raised eyebrow at what she was going to say.  "...OK, 'thinking' about writing them after I got my first paycheck and found a more permanent place to stay."
She looked down at her own tea mug that Wayside had given her while Serra helped 'Campfire' into the kitchen.  She hadn't touched it but she held onto it fast.  There was something about having something to stare into besides all the eyes looking at her, judging and weighing every little thing she did, that held a certain level of comfort.  Though it wasn't much she was still happy to have it.
She was so nervous that she felt that if she slipped up in the slightest then this chance bit of luck would slip through her hooves and she would be back to square one.  She couldn't bring herself to form any more words.
Spitfire had gotten most of her wind back but still hadn't recovered from the shock of being beaten by a civilian, both physically and the blow to her pride.  She was having trouble of thinking of what to say at this point as well.
Serra was working extra hard to help them let out their stress by being as neutral and accepting as she could.  She couldn't contribute much to the conversation while doing this.
Wayside was just listening, taking it all in but keeping his distance.  It saved brain power to keep from having to fight everypony in the argument and he could use that brain power he saved to think on a more productive solution.  After the awkward silence he had one.  "Well kid, you're three days away from that first paycheck you mentioned and you can still write to your family to tell them how you're doing.  The only problem I see is a place to stay when your paycheck comes in."
At this both Spitfire and Lightning Dust looked at him funny.  It made sense but it didn't seem to fix anything, until he finished that is.  "Why don't you and your aunt hang out for a few days and try working on that last one.  That is if you have the time Campfire, and if you aren't still dead set on taking her home."
Spitfire remembered the dye she used on her coat had an enchantment imbued into it which kept it from fading for several days but also kept it from being washed out.  She couldn't return to work like this even if she wanted to.
Now that she had calmed down, the excuse to finally spend time with family and not at work was just too tempting.  Even if she still had to drag her home right after, she rarely had time to spend with any of her family and wasn't wanting to waste it now.  "Alright.  You get your paycheck in three days?  Then you have three days Lightning Dust.  Three days to convince me I shouldn't drag you back home but that's it, and I had better meet this stallion you mentioned by then."
Lightning Dust opened her mouth to correct her but held off a moment to think.  Instead she finally picked up her tea meekly and said, "I think you would like him," then finally took a sip.





The Innkeeper and her husband were preparing for bed.  "Are you sure about this?  There isn't anything you can do?"
"I have a lot riding on her staying here but I can't fight her whole family Serra.  Her contract says she can still leave at any time.  I haven't been able to get the mayor to authorize a long term contract for her with her being so young."  As he climbed into bed beside his wife, he sighed heavily.  "The only chance I have is convincing her aunt to let her stay.  That is something only she can do.  All I can do is support her and make sure we aren't getting in the way."
"Then let's hope she does convince her, or the mayor will have your hide.  She hasn't worked long enough to get the mayor off your back yet."
"The mayor isn't the only one that will be upset with me."  He gestured to the top corner of the room that was in the direction of their son's room.  "Keen Wit told me she just agreed to teach him today."
"So that was what that smile in the park was about," Serra said with a small smile.
"Serra, you know what this really means don't you?"  He gave her a concerned look.  "He has finally opened up to somepony besides us again.  He never even told his magic tutor or his friend about his dream to fly.  If she goes right now it'll crush his heart."
Serra lost the feeble confidence and her smile from her last thought.  "...I know."
Wayside gave a soft wail full of years of grief.  "If I were a stronger flyer I would have promised to teach him myself and we could have avoided this whole mess."  He thumped the nightstand beside his bed with his hoof as hard as he could.  "Why did I have to be born with such weak wings?"
"..." Serra said nothing for a moment, knowing she needed to let him vent a few breaths of frustration to calm down.
As his breathing steadied out she tried to console him.  "Because those weak wings are what let us meet in the first place."  She moved up beside him gently, placing her head against his neck.  "Without them we wouldn't even have our son."





It was getting late and Serra and Wayside had agreed that they wouldn't mind Lightning Dust sharing her room with her aunt, if it was just for three days.  So the two pegasi retired for the night.
"How did the old innkeeper know your pay check was in three days anyway?  Why would you tell him that?" Spitfire asked as she climbed into bed.  With Lightning Dust's back healed, the cloud bed was put back into recycling and the old mattress returned.
"Wayside isn't the inn keeper.  His wife Serra is," Lightning Dust answered.  "She is the one in charge of the inn, not him, and I didn't tell him when my paycheck would come in.  He told me.  He's my boss," she said while climbing in beside her.  It was only a one bed room.
"That...  That explains a lot, but you still have a lot more to explain tomorrow Lightning Dust."  As Spitfire said this, she pulled the covers over herself before relaxing, not wanting her niece to see just how sore she was from the fight.
"Will you actually let me explain this time?" Lightning Dust asked in a skeptical tone while she pulled the covers up over herself as well.
"Only if you don't try to run off again," Spitfire stated in a manner that implied she wanted a response.
After a pause, the only response she got was, "Good night aunt 'Campfire'," as her niece turned out the lamp next to the bed.
Spitfire was irritated at first but became surprised when Lightning Dust called her by 'Campfire'.  She remembered back to when she first got the nickname on that fateful camping trip.  It was made out of an unspoken trust between her and her niece when she was a filly.  Lightning Dust never actually promised to not say her real name but she understood why she shouldn't.  Even back then Spitfire was something of a celebrity.
It wasn't quite a promise she had made just now.  Her niece might still try to run off if she felt she needed to, but with as brash as she had been that day it was probably the best she would get.  As she thought about it, maybe it was more than she even deserved.
But that isn't what made Spitfire surprised.  Lightning Dust had just said her fake name in the same manner she did when she had made it up on the spot back then.  She used to be one of the most understanding and respecting of fillies, but something had changed in Lightning Dust over the years.  She grew more arrogant and less understanding.  She spent more and more time in the gym, hiding from her mom as often as she could.  She only said the name 'campfire' out of necessity in public anymore.  Even then, she would often revert back using her real name when they were alone despite being reprimanded about the risk to her identity getting out.
This was first time her niece had said it voluntary like that in years.  Though it was laced with a strong dose of irritation at the edges, there was no mistaking the main tone in it.  Something in her niece had changed again.  She had started to respect and trust others again, but Spitfire had no idea what had done it.
She'd get her chance to find out tomorrow.  She would just have to make sure to listen this time.





The next day.  "Huh, your aunt isn't that bad Lightning Dust.  I think she even sped us up a bit," Sunny Rays said to Lightning Dust and Spitfire as they came in to land beside her.
Spitfire refused to leave her niece's side at all that day.  She even followed her to work.  She acted as Lightning Dust's wing pony while they got the storm clouds for a light sprinkle over Sweet Apple Acres and the neighboring farm land.  Agricultural land needed just a little more water than town to keep the crops going strong.
Spitfire had to hold back her flying ability to keep under cover and in turn slowed her niece down.  Despite this, Lightning Dust was able to take half as many trips to fill the same quota with her aid, making up for it.
Pretending to be winded, Spitfire gave a soft thanks.  She thought back on the last few hours.  Lightning Dust took orders without complaint and was paying attention to her coworkers' actions.  She even showed the responsibility of a lead pony and kept an eye out for Spitfire when she acted as her wing pony.  'She's become more of a team player.'

Once they were alone at the inn after work they looked into finding a late lunch.  Pretty soon a small argument formed.  "There is no way I am eating any more of that 'prison food'," Spitfire retorted, pushing the bag of oats and alfalfa across the bed to her niece.
"Come on.  You ate it this morning," Lightning Dust said, pushing the bag back across the bed.
"Only because we would have ran late otherwise," Spitfire retorted again while ignoring the bag being pushed back to her.  "We have time now.  So we are going to get some real food."
"But you know I'm broke.  The oats aren't really that bad."
"Who said you were paying?"  Spitfire asked rhetorically, pulling her plump bit bag out of her saddle bags.
Resisting the urge to slap her face with her hoof, Lighting Dust responded, "I forget you get paid like a fat rat."  Defeated, she asked, "Could we at least not go to the restaurant at the plaza?"
'Could her stallion friend work there?'  Spitfire grew a wild grin.  "The restaurant at the plaza it is then."


* * *


On the way to the restaurant Lightning Dust hoped one of the crazy locals might pull some stunt and get her hurt so that she could go to the hospital instead.  Alas, the town was fairly calm that day.

Once at the restaurant, Lightning Dust picked a booth that was as hidden as possible.  Spitfire let her, knowing she still couldn't get away or hide even there.  Lightning Dust sat as low as she could and kept her face turned towards the wall.  She hoped whoever waited on them wasn't somepony that worked with her yesterday.
Fate has a way of torturing somepony in the most agonizing ways when given the chance.  It was not only one of the ponies she had worked with, but a pegasus that had learned to put the menus under her wing from her and was bound to recognize her.  "May I take your- Hey Lightning Dust!  Good to see you again!"
'She had to call my name.  If she hadn't I might have been able to deny it, but no!  She just had to call my name,' Lightning Dust thought while still turned the other way.  Somehow she had managed to shrink down further after this.  She gave no response.
Spitfire looked back and forth between her niece and the waitress as her niece did her utmost to become invisible.  "Oh, have you known my niece long?" she asked with a subtle mischievousness growing at the edge of her smile.
"No.  I just met her yesterday," the waitress answered.  "She came in here looking for a little work to earn some money to tide her over to pay day."
"She did, did she?"  Spitfire said curiously as she turned to look at Lightning Dust fully, who was avoiding eye contact completely at this point.
"She was the best waitress-" Lightning Dust just slipped out of her seat at this word, causing everything but her mane to be hidden under the table. "-we have ever seen work here.  She even showed me how to hold certain things under my wing to keep it simple.  That trick has saved me a lot of trouble already today," the waitress explained, while oblivious to the situation between the two ponies sitting at the table.
"Just let me die..."  Lightning Dust cried softly while her aunt lost control, pounding her hoof on the table and laughing her flank off when she found out what her niece had done.
"You ran away from home to-"  She stopped to muffle a laugh.  "To get away from your mom's restaurant just to have to, ha-ha, work in a restaurant!?" Spitfire exclaimed while holding her gut from the pain of holding back the laughter.  The fact that she didn't want to work at her mom's restaurant was no secret to Spitfire.  She didn't even have to say it for her to know.
"I'll come back to take your orders later then." The waitress responded, finally realizing what she just did.
"Just let me die..." Lightning Dust repeated as she laid on the ground under the table, covering her head in embarrassment.

After a few minutes that seemed like hours, Spitfire had finally calmed down and looked under the table at her quivering niece.
"As funny as it is, I can understand why you did it."
Lightning Dust slowed her quivering and raised an ear.  Refusing to get up, she listened to her aunt while still covering her face.  "Your mom practically forced her dream down your throat.  She tried to get you to learn as much about running the restaurant as she could, but the restaurant wasn't your dream.  You wanted to live your own life, not hers.  You-"
Lightning Dust feared her aunt figured out she was still trying to rejoin the Wonderbolts when she paused like that.  She would know it would be 'impossible' and drag her home thinking it was a waste of time.  She breathed a little easier when she heard her aunt guess wrong.
"You needed to get out on your own and find a new dream, but you had a rough start so you swallowed your pride to make ends meet.  I think I can respect that."
Lightning Dust looked up at her aunt when she heard this last part and just stared at her square in the face.  That was unexpected.  Her aunt and her had grown somewhat bitter towards each other over the years even though she still looked up to her.  It was like she was looking into a glimpse of the past when she looked at her aunt's face.  There in front of her at that moment was the same loving face she remembered from all those years ago.  She thought, for only a moment, she might not have to give her the slip when her paycheck came and her time was up.
Her aunt fixed that real quick.  "That doesn't mean you're off the hook yet.  It will take more than this to convince me and I still expect you to introduce me to that stallion of yours."  Just like that she was back to the present, problems and all.


* * *


After lunch and a glare at the waitress from Lightning Dust, they ran into somepony.  It was somepony that Lightning Dust hoped might be able to help her get back at her aunt.  Somepony that would make her sweat in fear but not actually cause any harm.  The only pony in town that knew who her aunt really was aside from herself—and Zecora even though she wasn't a pony—Nurse Redheart.
"Hey Nurse Redheart," she called out to her as Redheart was walking towards the school house.  "I want you to meet somepony."
Spitfire was at odds with this sudden change in mood.  Her niece had done her best to hide so far today yet now she is going out of her way to introduce her to somepony.  Something was off.
"I'm on my way to pick up my daughter but I can spare a moment.  Who is it you wanted me to meet?"
"This is my aunt.  My aunt 'Camp'fire," Lightning Dust said with an exaggerated wink.
"Oh, nice to meet yo-" Nurse Redheart started to say before it registered who she was really meeting.
Nurse Redheart stood there, staring at Spitfire.  Spitfire grew nervous under that stare.  She knew that kind of face.  It was the face of a fan.  That's what was off.  Her niece had just ratted her out.
For a few seconds Spitfire was in a state of panic.  "It is truly an honor Ms. Campfire," Nurse Redheart said as she came up and shook her hoof wildly.
Spitfire was confused with how this pony recognized her but still used her fake name.
"I never thought I'd actually get to meet one of-"  She paused briefly to form her words carefully.  "Your profession face to face.  Don't worry.  I can keep a secret.  Confidentiality is a part of my job.  I won't tell anypony you're in town."
Nurse Redheart stopped shaking her hoof and trotted off to the school house with a look of glee on her face.
Spitfire looked at her niece coldly.  Lightning Dust was just smiling from ear to ear.  "How could you?"
"I knew she wouldn't tell," Lightning Dust said confidently.  "I just wanted to see you sweat for embarrassing me back at the restaurant."
"But what if she does tell?"  Spitfire reprimanded her.  "This disguise will be useless.  It will be even harder to devise a new one."
"Then I have to go home and we both lose," Lightning Dust answered without a care, confident that it wouldn't happen.  "But let's wait until you start drawing a crowd before we do that.  You wanted to meet the boy, right?"
"Your stallion friend?  Let's go.  I had better be meeting a complete gentlecolt after what you just pulled."
"Oh, trust me.  You'll like him."  'Complete gentle'colt' indeed.'


* * *


"I thought we were meeting your stallion friend.  What are we doing at the school house?" Spitfire asked as she eyeballed Nurse Redheart wearily from across the schoolyard.
"We are.  Here he comes now," Lightning Dust said as she saw Miss Frizz Lane walk out with Keen Wit.  The teacher came up with him and met her at the gate.
"Hello again Lightning Dust.  No hard feelings from last time?"
Miss Frizz Lane was the one that taught all her student's to not talk to strangers.  Serra didn't worry about her son, knowing he could handle himself.  His teacher however, being raised in Los Pegasus, was not too keen on her student walking off with some strange pony.  She had started lobbing anything she could get her hooves on, trying to scare Lightning Dust away when she tried to pick up Keen Wit for Serra.  Serra had to come down to the school to explain Lightning Dust was alright.
"Na.  Only thing that hit was the eraser and it didn't hurt for long." Lightning Dust said without a care before turning to Keen Wit.  "Hey twerp!  Did you miss me?"
"Um...  I was kinda focused on my school work," Keen Wit answered with meek honesty.  "But I did at recess," he added with a smile.  Miss Frizz Lane walked back to the school house as the rest of the school foals were leaving. "Hey Lightning Dust, who's this?" Keen Wit asked as he pointed at Spitfire.  "She looks familiar but I can't place it."
"Well my dad says I take after her," she responded to keep him in the dark about her real identity.  She had pushed that line enough.  "This is my Aunt Campfire."
Spitfire looked at the colt in confusion.  "I don't get it.  Is this his little brother and we're meeting him here?"
"What?  I'm an only child," Keen Wit responded at the odd remark.  "But I wouldn't mind having an older brother-"  He looked up at lightning Dust with a hopeful smile.  "Or sister."
Lightning Dust gave a warm but stern 'don't push your luck' glare at the colt.  She then looked back at her aunt and spoke up, "I think I've left you in the dark long enough."  She moved beside Keen Wit and began to introduce him, "I never said he was a stallion.  You assumed that when you were angry yesterday.  This-" she said as she extended her wing to gesture to Keen Wit, "-is Keen Wit.  The 'boy', as I tried to say, I have just recently taken under my wing so to speak."  She folded her wing back to her side.  "He's Serra and Wayside's son."
"Hey!  Are you the one mom threw around last night?"  Keen Wit asked her.
This caught Spitfire off guard.  She had no idea the innkeeper had a son.  She looked keenly at them.  She didn't believe her niece would take a colt under her wing.  Her niece probably just bribed him to act the part when she wasn't looking.
Spitfire looked at her niece with a face of skepticism.  "So what is Lightning Dust trying to teach you?" Spitfire asked Keen Wit.  If it was another pegasus she wouldn't have to ask, but an earth pony generally didn't have much to learn from a pegasus that they couldn't learn from somepony else.  So nothing came to mind.
Keen Wit looked scared for a moment then he soon got a look of cunning in his eye and went over to Spitfire to whisper in her ear.  Spitfire listened to him quietly.  At first she seemed to listen intently.  Her face then turned to confusion for a moment before she busted up, laughing hard for the second time that day.  "Ha-ha!  You were right.  I do like him.  He sure can spin a tale," she said as she recovered herself.
Looking down at Keen Wit, she addressed him directly, "Alright.  You don't have to tell me."  She glanced up at Lightning Dust with an underlying message.  "I think I have pried into enough privacy for one day."  Lightning Dust could see in her aunt's eyes that she wasn't convinced, just playing along.





After they got back to the inn, Keen Wit was told to go look for the key for the room that Lightning Dust was staying in since he didn't have any homework.
"Isn't that a lot to ask of a colt?" Spitfire asked.  "She could have dropped it anywhere between the hut in the forest and town.  That's a lot of ground to cover."
All Serra said was, "Don't worry.  I know he can do it.  His eyes are almost as sharp as his mind."

A little while later, Keen Wit was doing his best to find the key as his mom asked.  Lightning Dust had described the path she took to him and he was combing it diligently.  He could do it a lot faster if his horn was working.  Metal detection was the one spell he could perform while his hat was on so that he could still keep it hidden.  He often found cents or even full bits on occasion when he walked down the street with it as he exercised his horn.
However, since he was under doctor's orders to not to use his horn, he had to fall back on older tricks.  Tricks he had used before he learned his second and most recent of the two spells from Twilight.  Using just his eyes, he combed the ground to see anything shiny or in the rough shape of the room key.
He didn't have to look far.  It was just outside the park next to the fence.  On the way back he started to wonder about this 'aunt Campfire' Lightning Dust introduced him to.  He could tell it was definitely her aunt.  They had the same eyes.  It was not so much the color, which was definitely similar, but the spirit.
He liked her at first, but when they were walking him back to the inn he could see there was some tension between them.  He couldn't place it but whatever it was it wasn't something they wanted to say in front of him.  This worried Keen Wit.  What was making his friend so scared of her aunt?

As he approached the inn he saw Campfire pass by the window by the bench.  Since his mom was waiting on him to get the room key, he knew she wasn't coming from Lightning Dust's room.  She must have used the tiny public restroom at the end of the hall.
Just as he got in earshot of the reception area of the inn, he overheard them talking.
"Good.  You haven't ran off," Spitfire said with the same tension as before, only she made no attempt to hide it this time.
"You were expecting me to?" Lightning Dust asked skeptically, throwing the same tension back.
"I...  It was a possibility," Spitfire responded in a guilty voice.
"Well, could you blame me?" Lightning Dust asked as if the answer was obvious.  "It's not like I asked you to come here and force me to come home."
Hearing this made Keen Wit freak out.





"No!" Lightning Dust heard Keen Wit yell from the door of the inn, dropping the room key to the floor as his mouth let go of it, long forgotten.  He must have found the key early and over heard them on his way back.
He ran up to them and placed himself between them, not too much unlike when Iron Will attacked.  This time however, he wasn't facing away from Lightning Dust but hugging her around the neck tightly.  All the while he was still screaming "No!  No!  No!"  Still holding onto her tightly, he looked at her aunt with fear and said, "No!  Don't take her away.  I don't want her to go.  She's my friend.  Just, just go away!"
Lightning Dust was shocked.  She didn't know what to do.  So she just stood there and let him scream.
Spitfire was suddenly at a loss for words from the colt's commotion.  She just stood back and watched him yell at her from around her niece's neck, unsure what to think or say.
After a few moments, Serra and Wayside had heard the commotion and had stumbled upon the scene.  "Keen Wit..." was all Wayside could say as he approached but stopped.  He couldn't bring himself to tear his son away from her in such a state.
Everypony there stared at Keen Wit hold onto Lightning Dust with a practical death grip.  The back of Lightning Dust's neck started to hurt from him squeezing so hard.  Serra and Wayside couldn't do anything.  He was clearly not going to listen to her aunt now.  She was the reason he was upset.
Lightning Dust tried desperately to comb through the options of what to do.  Hardly a minute had passed since Keen Wit started yelling, yet he had worked himself into being so upset that he couldn't even form words anymore.  All he could do was hold his eyes closed tightly and pout while still clinging to Lightning Dust's neck.
Lightning Dust knew she was the only one that could do anything for him now.  She had to calm him down and get him to listen.  She couldn't do it with everypony else here.  She had to be alone with him for a while.
She knew what she had to do for him.  Even though she was willing, it wasn't something she ever thought of doing before.  With her bond to the colt still being new, the idea still left a bitter taste in her mouth.  She still hadn't quite gotten used to not being a loner anymore.
With a disgruntled sigh she flapped her wings just enough to raise herself and Keen Wit off the ground.  As he started to dangle from her neck not even an inch off the ground, she took him up in her forelegs.
"Serra.  Could you get the door for me?" she asked as she hovered there, holding Serra's son.
Serra looked at her admirably, knowing what she was about to do.  "Try to be back before dark."  Serra responded as she opened the door to let Lightning Dust fly out and carry Keen Wit through the sky.  The three remaining ponies followed her outside and watched.

As Lightning Dust and her passenger flew off, Spitfire just stood there, dumbfounded in disbelief of what she saw her niece doing.  It had happened so quickly that she had to run through the events of the last few minutes in her mind to make sure.  "A Child's Flight?"
A Child's Flight was when a pegasus would carry a child that can't fly, or at least can't fly yet, through the air to experience the sensation in the innocence of youth.  It was a slow and tedious task for the one carrying the child and was not performed often.  It wasn't even expected of parent pegasi to do it.  It was a terrible risk for any pegasi of less than normal strength to perform on their own.  Even for strong flyers like Spitfire who could do it safely, it left the flyer unbelievably exhausted.  The great price was only outweighed by the great need to comfort a child.
Though it was possible to transport ponies in a flight carriage, it wasn't the same.  A Child's Flight was a very personal endeavor where the participants don't simply go from point A to point B.  They drift in the sky and allow the child to play as they hold them, acting as the child's wings.  They listen carefully to what the child wants to do, doing their best to accommodate them through their first glimpse of the freedom of flight.
Spitfire's wings once again flared with the phantom pain from the night of Lightning Dust's Child's Flight as she thought about it.  It was something only a parent pegasus or somepony that held a child almost as dearly did, but for those that dared do it, it was a truly magical treat for the child they cared for.
After a moment longer as Lightning Dust was still climbing up higher into the sky, Spitfire realized her niece couldn't possibly be faking this.  "I couldn't believe it at first, but she really has taken him under her wing, hasn't she?" Spitfire said as she looked over to the other two ponies that had come outside with her.  They didn't even look back at her.  They just watched the beginning of their son's special moment from a distance.
The colt's father said, "I can't count how many times I have wanted to do that for him."  She saw him hold his somewhat ragged wing in a quivering hoof while refusing to break his gaze.
Spitfire knew what he was talking about the moment he grabbed his wing.  He was a weak flyer and couldn't hold his son long enough to perform a child's flight of his own.
"Please Lightning Dust," he said as he let go of the wing.  "Make this a moment in his life that he will never forget."
> Chapter Eleven: Judgment, Part Two—Seeds of Humility
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey.  Open your eyes already twerp," Keen Wit heard Lightning Dust call to  him.
He was still holding onto her neck tightly with his eyes closed.  They had been closed ever since he heard his dad call his name.  He just didn't want to let go of her.  So he shut everything else out.  He didn't even listen to what his mother was saying when he heard her voice.
"How do you expect me to teach you how to fly when you won't even open your eyes?"
"Huh?"  He thought she was carrying him to bed but when he saw the sky behind her he was shocked.  Looking down, he saw the town rolling by and they were up high in the air.
"Whoa!" he called out, gripping her even more tightly.  His hat flew off from the sudden jerk down that Lightning Dust did when he tightened his grip.
"My hat!" he called in panic, his horn suddenly exposed.
By the time he had said 'hat' he was already being jolted around from Lightning Dust swerving to reclaim it as it gusted over in the direction of the Everfree Forest.  After a quick bout of speed that nopony down below would have been able to follow, she had managed to grab the hat with her mouth and plant it loosely upon his horn keeping his secret safe once more.
"Let's get that fixed up first.  Then we can get to the fun part."  She gently dived down into the Everfree Forest, right next to Zecora's hut.  Still hovering in midair, she approached a vine on a tree at the edge of the small clearing.
"Grab it and fix your hat up right.  You're gonna have to do it.  My hooves are full carrying you."  She patiently waited for him to ease up his grip on her neck then grab the vine.
After they got his hat fixed up right, he put his front hooves around her neck again and they flew off.

The zebra in the hut witnessed the spectacle.  "Not for nothing did I fret. It seems there is hope for her yet," Zecora said to herself as she returned to her work preserving the ingredients she bought in town the day before.
She was not surprised to see Keen Wit's horn.  She knew he was a unicorn from the time she had given him medicine for a fever.  It was a different kind of medicine that reacted to unicorns far more quickly than earth ponies or zebras.  The fact that he was up and playing again within the hour left no room for doubt.
She also knew he kept his horn hidden for a reason.   So she never spoke of it needlessly.  Shamans didn't betray the trust of a patient without a good reason, especially not the fragile trust of a child.  Sometimes the best medicine she could provide was simple kindness and consideration.





"Well they should be up there for a while.  Now that they're out of sight there's no point in waiting up for them," Serra said with a lingering smile.  "Care to help me with dinner Campfire?"  She turned to go back into the house.
"Um...  Sure," Spitfire answered back.  Dinner was as good an excuse as any to get the dozens of questions that were suddenly buzzing through her mind answered.





Back up in the air, Keen Wit asked Lightning Dust, "Why are you leaving?"
She just smiled and glanced at him before returning her gaze to her task. "I have no intention to.  She will have to pry me away from you first, but don't think about that right now.  Wait until we are back on the ground for that.  Right now this is your special moment.  I can't ever give you this again so just enjoy it."
"Enjoy what?" He asked, cluelessly.
She looked directly at him and widened her smile.  "Your first taste of the skies."
She flapped a bit harder and flew up to and over the large cloud that had been used for rain earlier that day.  She knew from her lessons with Sunny Rays that it was empty and had no energy for lightning in them.  It was safe for him to be near.  She tilted her flight to let the tip of her wing scrape the surface.  She was careful to do it only at the surface where the cloud was thin and soft.  If she went any deeper it would have been trouble.
"Whoa..." he said in awe.
He just stared as the tip of her wing pushed through it like it was solid.  It threw whole pieces of the cloud out of the way instead of it swirling around like water or mist.  She leveled out as she felt the momentum that was keeping her aloft waning.
"Hey twerp, I have you.  Do you mind letting go of my neck already?"  She could tell he wasn't enjoying it right.  She needed to get him relaxed.
He was hesitant to do it, but after a moment of looking into her warm smile he finally did.





"And you trust my niece that much?"  Spitfire asked from the table.
"You said she was inconsiderate," Serra responded in a simple fashion.  "That might have been the case at one time.  I can't deny I see it in her."  Serra paused for a moment and smiled.  "But from what I have seen she has been very considerate and careful around town, increasingly so as time has passed."
Serra placed a new pepper on her cutting board and continued her work.  "I think having a rough time on her own probably cooled her down quite a bit.  Even if she is a little-"  She paused for a moment. "Spicy," she said as she lifted up the cutting board slightly to show the peppers as an example, "I know she has a good heart just under the surface."
Spitfire thought back to the run in with Nurse Redheart.  'She's still Lightning Dust though.'
"And I could see she cared about him even before she realized it," Serra added with a knowing look in her eye.  "I know she won't do anything to endanger him."





Keen Wit immediately regretted letting go.  The moment he had, Lightning Dust flung him high in the air and swooped away from him, letting him free fall through the large, empty cloud.  He was screaming the whole way.
Just seconds after he fell through the bottom of the cloud she caught him again, still screaming.  After a few moments, he realized she had him again.  He looked at her confused and frightened.
"See?  I told you I have you.  Now stop worrying about falling and enjoy yourself," she said warmly yet mischievously.  "Or do we have to do that again?"
He pondered while looking at her.  His front hooves still gripped his hat even though the vine held it in place firmly.  "Maybe just one more time?"  He finally let go of the hat.  Lightning Dust was beginning to wonder if keeping the hat safe was so conditioned in him that it was second nature now.
"Now you're getting it!" she said with glee as she flew up to do it again.  With him finally loosened up she could let him enjoy the experience.  She thought she saw something in him at that moment but she had to make sure.





About an hour later back at the inn.  "And she thinks she can get back in?" Spitfire asked, having been told about Lightning Dust's desire to rejoin the Wonderbolts.  She gestured Wayside over to her work.
"She doesn't think that," he answered as he walked towards her from the table.  "She doesn't expect them to take her back, but by the way she described it to me, as long as there is even the slightest chance, she has to go for it."  He taste tested the sauce that Serra had put Spitfire in charge of.  "Like she couldn't live with herself if she didn't try."  He gave a hesitant nod of approval to the sauce.
A memory played through Spitfire's mind, "Don't feel afraid of failing at it Lightning Dust." She was recalling the night she had tried to teach her niece how to fly.  "Just be afraid of not trying.  Push your limits and be happy that you did your best.  Reach for what seems impossible."  Spitfire's wings flared in pain as she remembered the camping trip, yet again.
"You gave Lightning Dust her child's flight, didn't you?"  Wayside asked, looking at her in as she was in deep thought.
"How did you know?" she asked in surprise.  At that moment she saw the same intelligence in his eyes as Lightning Dust did on her first night in Ponyville.
"The way your wings went stiff as if they were sore gave it away.  You still feel it, don't you?  The pain?" he asked curiously.
She gave him an odd look for a second.  "From time to time," she answered, trying to empathize with him.  She could understand how he was so curious.  He longed to perform a child's flight but knew he would never be able to.  "Even though I stayed up longer than I should have, my wings are just fine.  It only flares up when I think back on it."
His face shifted to show some joy from the answer, yet some curiosity remained.  After a moment he asked another question, "Do you have any regrets?"
She looked him square in the face with far more confidence this time.  After a short moment she opened her wings slightly to look at them.  Folding her wings back to the resting position, she looked back at him.  "I will never regret that night.  The pain is a welcome reminder."





A little over half an hour after dark, Lightning Dust and Keen Wit finally came back down to the ground, vine discarded shortly before.  Lightning Dust was exhausted more than she thought was ever possible.  Her strength hadn't fully returned and she was once again paying the price.  Nevertheless, the smile on Keen Wit's face was worth every last bit of the pain in her wings and legs.
She was glad she stuck out the last hour to let him see the night sky, if only briefly.  She had to see how he reacted to not being able to see anything but the stars.  No ground, no lights from below.  Nothing but the stars and free flight. 'I have no doubt about it now.  He really does belong in the air,' she thought as she let him down gently on the ground.  She was remembering the twinkle in his eye as he enjoyed it.   It was the same look she had at that age when she was first learning to fly.  She didn't know what it looked like per say, but she could still see it there.  The spirit of a flyer.
"Whoa...  Just whoa...  That was so awesome," he said, not even able to come out of the daze he was in.
Lightning Dust sat down on the bench outside the inn to re-gather her strength.  Keen Wit didn't even skip a beat and jumped up on the bench beside her.
Lightning Dust was still breathing heavy to catch her breath from the prolonged Child's Flight with Keen Wit.  Somehow it had winded her even more thoroughly than when she fled town yesterday.
It was not as demanding at any one moment.  Instead, a more subtle, unquenchable need to catch her breath ravaged her lungs relentlessly.  It was like all the air she was absorbing from them was being sucked away to debts unknown as fast as she could breathe, barely leaving her enough air to sit there on the bench, slouching lazily and breathe again.  Her muscles were feeling the pain too.
She had to let her wings drag because they were so tired.  Even trying to lift them for a moment made them burn in pain wildly.  The only reason her legs were working long enough to get to the bench was because she wasn't using the muscles in them that she had used to carry Keen Wit.
"That was...  Just whoa.  We have to do that again some-"  He stopped in mid-sentence then looked at her sadly and asked, "Why does that mean lady want to take you away?"
She looked at him funny for a moment.  "That's right, we're on the ground now, aren't we?"  Sitting up from her slouch, she started explaining it to him as best she could through the gasps of her exhaustion.  "She's worried about me...  To put it in a nutshell I pretty much ran away from... home a few months ago.  The whole time, my family... had no idea what I was doing or where I was...  They didn't even know if I was alive.  I just disappeared."
She took a moment to breathe and put the next few thoughts together before she continued.  "I still don't know how my aunt found out where I've been... but she wants what is best for me and... she thinks taking me home is for the best."
Keen Wit sat there beside her for a moment with the look of several thoughts going through his head.  Lightning Dust thought that he might finally understand and be able to let her go.  She didn't really think she could convince her aunt anyway.  So it would be a long time before she could come back and she needed him to understand this.
"I don't care!" he suddenly yelled, standing up on the bench.
'Well that threw that out the window.'
He yelled out to the street as he vented his feelings.  "You're my friend.  I don't want you to leave," he shouted with anger in his eyes.  "I can't imagine not being able to hang out with you anymore and she wants to take you from me," he continued to shout with his anger coming to a boil.  "She can go to Tartarus for all I care."
Lightning Dust was surprised to hear him speaking this foully.  Tartarus was an actual place and not considered a bad word in conversation, but to wish it on another was a different matter entirely.  Hearing it come from such a mild mannered colt was shocking.
"She is the meanest, nastiest old lady ever-"  He paused with the sudden realization of something.  "And her and mom are right behind me, aren't they?" he said in a much quieter voice.  He lost his confidence and began to shake in fear.
Lightning Dust became aware of a presence behind them.  After turning around to look into the darkened hallway window, Lightning Dust saw the silhouettes of two ponies looking out from the darkness of the inn.  A light flipped on and sure enough it was her aunt Spitfire and the innkeeper Serra.
"Keen Wit.  Did you enjoy your time with Lightning Dust?" his mom asked in an overly sweet tone that clearly had an underlying meaning waiting to come out.  The happy grin on her face made it all the creepier.
He turned his head and body just enough to stare at her in dread.
"Keen Wit.  Did you enjoy your time with Lightning Dust?" she asked again in the same sweet tone to imply she wanted an answer.
"Y...y-yes?" he answered shakily, not sure what she had planned.
"Good.  Now go get some dinner and get ready for bed," Serra told her son, still perfectly calm and sweet.
"And don't worry.  This 'mean and nasty old lady' won't take her away before you get a chance to see her again," Spitfire said in a comforting tone, just as overdone as his mother's sweet one.
Keen Wit hopped off the bench and shakily trotted back to the front door to do what his mother told him.  Spitfire looked at Lighting Dust and said, "Stay there.  I'm coming out.  We need to talk," with a calm voice that was neither warm nor cold, but simply spoken.  Lightning Dust couldn't read it.  This made her even more afraid of what her aunt was going to talk about when she got outside.





Keen Wit did as his mother told and ate his dinner.  He didn't even check to see if peppers were in it.  He just closed his eyes and ate.  There weren't any.  They must of set them aside because he could smell them lingering in the air.  Though the sauce was a little off, it was made pretty much the way he liked it.  This made him dread what his mom was going to do all the more.  He just wanted her to get the punishment over with.
He got his before bedtime routine done in his private bathroom.  Living at an inn had some cool perks at times.  He brushed his teeth, combed his mane and tail briefly, as she told him to do to keep it from getting tangled.  It was still tricky doing it with hooves instead of his horn, ever since the doctor told him not to use it.  He even made sure his school pack was ready for in the morning.  He was glad he didn't have any homework that day.  That would just give his mom more to put over his head.
As he was climbing into bed, his mother came in.  'Time to pay the piper,' he thought to himself.  She came over to him to tuck him in, then gave him a firm hug and a kiss goodnight.  She then simply turned around and walked to the door.  She hadn't said anything to him.
"Aren't I going to get punished?" he asked in confusion.
"For what dear?" she responded, with just as sweet a voice as before.
"For saying all those nasty things."
"Hmm."  She pretended to think.  "No.  Just go to bed and try to have some nice dreams."  She came back over to him then gave him a second kiss goodnight.  "We can talk about it all in the morning."





Spitfire had told Lightning Dust to walk with her once she got outside.  Though it took time for them to walk at a pace Lightning Dust could keep up with using her sore legs, they had managed to walk to the park where they would have some privacy.
"Wayside and I talked while you were up there," Spitfire stated calmly to finally strike up conversation.  "He told me how you wanted to rejoin the Wonderbolts.  Is this true?"
Lightning Dust didn't look at her.  She just kept her head to the ground.  She was having trouble keeping up from the throbbing in her legs and didn't have the energy to run from her.  She barely had the energy to walk.  Even if she even had the energy to spin a lie she had no idea how much her aunt had learned from Wayside.  She was trapped.  Struggling would only make it worse.
"Yes..." she answered with fear of what her aunt would say.
"It's because of how I wrote out your discharge papers isn't it?  'Inexperience' isn't a dishonorable reason for discharge.  You can still try again."
"That's part of it..."
Still staying perfectly calm and unreadable, her aunt continued her questions in the same manner as they walked.
"You know you will have to take the remedial course along with all the other second round cadets?"
"Yes..."
"You also know that nopony has passed that course in generations?"
"Yes..."
"And that I'm not high enough rank to know what the secret is.  So I can't help you pass?"
"I didn't want your help with it..."
"Many ponies think it is a fool's errand now.  Including me."
"I know..."
"You thought that-"  Spitfire turned to look back at her niece as she walked up to the bridge.  "-if I knew I would have hogtied you and taken you home the moment I saw you. Or something just as bad?"
"..." Lightning Dust didn't answer.  She didn't need to.
Reaching the ark of the bridge, Spitfire stopped and let her niece stay at the bottom of the bridge.  "I might have, but there is something else now.  Something in this town has changed you, Lightning Dust."
Lightning Dust started to look up past her aunt's hooves, which had been the only part of her aunt that she had been staring at up to this point.   Slowly she raised her head to meet her aunt's gaze.  It wasn't a gaze of anger, pity, disgust or sympathy.  It was one of curiosity.  Her aunt looked away and out towards the horizon while she jumped up to lean on the railing of the bridge.
When Spitfire spoke again she spoke nostalgically.  "You used to be the most considerate and modest filly I knew.  You would always make sure to mind us."  Spitfire looked down at the water with a smile that she just couldn't contain.  "When the other fillies wanted something of yours you didn't mind giving it to them.  You were very generous."  She gave an embarrassed titter of a laugh.  "To a fault.  You didn't want to show off.  You loved spending time with me when I foal sat you or when I tried to teach you to fly."  She turned her head just enough to look at Lightning Dust with one eye.  "We almost succeeded before I left."
Her tone turned sad and she looked back at the pond.   "But after I was forced to go back to work full time your mother tried to get you to forget about flying and work the restaurant."  The smile on Spitfire's face was long gone.  "You grew bitter.  You made every attempt to pull away from her."  Spitfire tilted and bobbed her head slightly for a moment.  "And in time even me for some reason.  You spent more and more time venting your frustration in the gym.  At least that's what your father told me."
Jumping off the rail, Spitfire walked down off the bridge to her niece again then looked her in the face.  "Every time I managed to visit I saw a little more of the niece I remembered missing."
Closing her eyes, she recalled more recent events.  "I still remember the day I approved your application with only your father's signature on it."  A naughty smile appeared and she had to suppress a laugh.  "Your mom was outraged with both of us but there was nothing she could do.  Though it was very difficult for me to get approved without both signatures, it still technically required only the signature of one guardian."  She opened her eyes and looked at her niece again with admiration.  "You were finally living your dream, but it was too late."
Her look of admiration turned to one of sorrow.  "You had grown bold, arrogant and uncaring.  I had hoped you would just work out the bugs and calm down again.  Then you went and used the tornado..."  With her voice breaking up, she stopped and looked down at the ground frustrated.
Returning her gaze back at her niece, Spitfire had a look of great sorrow.  "Please understand," she said in a voice to match the look in her face.  "I wasn't acting as your aunt when I kicked you out.  I was acting as your commanding officer."
Spitfire paused for a moment after hearing what she said.  She looked down again and corrected herself.  "No.  That's not entirely true.  I knew that if I just reprimanded you it would only make you angrier.  You had learned to snap at things that threatened you.  I had to act before you did something stupid enough to have you thrown out dishonorably."
She came up to her niece and held her shoulder as gently as she could.  "Do you know what happens to ponies that have been dishonorably discharged?  It would have been impossible for you to find any decent job anywhere, get insurance, find a place.  You might as well of been a criminal in their eyes."  Worry for Lightning Dust became unmistakably apparent in her aunt's face.  "You really would have been stuck at your mother's restaurant for the rest of your life.
"I was able to pull a loophole to have you discharged on the reasoning of 'inexperience' not because of your lack of this-"  She opened her wings.  "-but a lack of this."  She took the hoof off her niece's shoulder and poked at her niece's heart.
Seeing the confusion in her niece's still exhausted face, she dropped her hoof and explained.  "The three main focuses of a Wonderbolt's training are bravery, teamwork and skill, in that order.  The reasoning of inexperience can be placed in any of these three categories.  Though it usually means skill, I managed to get it approved for your discharge through the category of teamwork."
She paused for several seconds, lightly shaking her head in an attempt to think of a way to explain it better.  "Do you remember the story of when the Wonderbolts were first formed?  It was what you did for the school play, right?" Spitfire asked, motioning her niece to answer her.
As if quoting a history lesson she had memorized long ago, Lightning Dust answered her aunt as best she could.  The need for air was still almost as strong as before and she still had to speak slowly between gasps.  "A monster escaped from Tartarus...  The princess had a hard time finding it before it would run off... but some acrobats were able to work together to stall it long enough for the princess... to catch up and banish it...  When she saw how useful they were... she created the first Wonderbolts from those acrobats."
Spitfire looked at her niece patiently as she quoted the story.  Once it was finished, she continued her explanation with a strong sense of hope in her voice.  "Not the full story, but enough.  You hit the point I was trying to say.  No one pony could do it but as a team they did.  We aren't just an air show.  That was only made to keep our skills sharp.  We are, at our core, a strike force.  When danger comes we are the ones that step up to meet it before the armies can mobilize.  We are the ones that put our lives on the line to buy civilians the time to flee to safety.  When we don that uniform the last thing that should be on our minds is ourselves."
She emphasized with her hoof that she wanted her niece's full attention, as she got to her final point.  "The Wonderbolts are a team, Lightning Dust.  You didn't understand this back then-"  She smiled slightly.  "-but I think you're starting to now."
Spitfire took a moment to gather her thoughts after a long speech.  "I still think you trying out for the Wonderbolts again is a fool's errand but it's not the only thing that's driving you anymore.  Something in this town has changed you, Lightning Dust."
Spitfire Looked Lightning Dust square in the eyes with the same look of curiosity she had at the beginning of the conversation, yet paired up with a strong sense of admiration.  "I can see you're still very rough around the edges."
Knowing her niece didn't have the strength to fight a sign of affection meant for foals, Spitfire gave in to the urge she was feeling.  Coming up to nuzzle her as she used to when her niece was a filly, she continued while showing her affection.  "But right now, at this exact moment, you are more like the filly I knew back then than you have been in years."
Lightning Dust didn't fight the sign of affection but didn't return it either.
Backing out of the nuzzling, Spitfire looked at her niece square in the eyes yet again.  "You said that I think that dragging you home is for the best?  Well I did think that for a time, but now..."  She took a pause to look up and out at the town.  "Now I think the best thing for you is to stay here and keep doing whatever it is that's changing you."
Lighting Dust stood there for a moment as she let her aunt's last line sink in.   After she made sure she heard that last line right, she looked at her aunt with disbelief.  "You mean?" she started to ask.
"But," Spitfire interjected, seeing she had her niece's full attention, "I have some conditions and every last one of them will be met or you will be going home after all."
"Oh!"  Lightning Dust looked around uneasily for a brief moment then returned her attention to her aunt.  "Um...  OK I guess.  What are they?"
Spitfire looked at her niece warmly.  As Lightning Dust looked at her, she felt as if she was somehow seeing her aunt both as she was in the past, loving, and as she saw her more recently, strict and stern.  It was scary to gaze upon her with such opposite extremes working as one, yet Lightning Dust couldn't bring herself to look away as Spitfire explained her conditions.
"First and foremost, you stay in contact with me.  I expect you to keep me in the loop on how you're doing."  Spitfire waited for her niece to agree with this.  Lightning Dust nodded after a moment of indecision.  "Second, you will keep yourself well fed.  No more of that 'prison food.'  It goes in the garbage when we get back."  Spitfire gave her a 'this isn't negotiable' stare after she took a little too long to nod again.   "My final condition is that you keep a roof over your head.  I'll do what I can to help you find a place, but if we can't then I'm still taking you home."
She tilted her head and continued, not forcing her niece to hollowly agree to the last condition.  "If I think you aren't being honest in your letters or calls or if I think you aren't taking care of yourself, that's it.  I will come back and take you home.  But I want you to know-"
She took a deep breath and stopped acting like an officer.  She reached up for the sky with one hoof and stared at it.  "Even if I have to take you home, I'll still be rooting for my special star chaser when she tries out for the Wonderbolt remedial course."  She looked back at her niece without dropping her hoof.  "Don't you forget that."
"Now come on."  She dropped her hoof and walked back towards the direction of the inn.  "We should finish our walk and get to bed.  We need to get started early tomorrow morning if we are going to find you a place to stay when I leave."
Her niece stared at her, still panting.  Gratitude practically flowed from every inch of her tired face.  All of it was directed at the source of her joy: Her childhood idol who once again believed in her.
Lightning Dust walked up beside her aunt and leaned up against her affectionately, though she would later claim that it was due to the fatigue.  She muttered a soft, "Thank you," as they started walking again.  It was the last thing spoken from either of them that night.





The next day at breakfast.  "She's staying!  She's staying!  She's staying!" Keen Wit shouted cheerfully while he jumped around the table after hearing the good news.
"Keen Wit!  Calm down!" Serra commanded her son as she put down Spitfire's plate. "Or do you want me to add peppers to your food too?  I have enough cut up to spare," she added threateningly as she went back to the stove.
He paused for a moment in worry.  He soon smiled at his mom and said, "Go ahead!  I don't care!"  He then continued to bounce around while shouting, "She's staying!  She's staying!"  His mom, surprised at this, took him up on the offer and put peppers into the pan, knowing it was a rare opportunity to get him to try it.
"What's with all the spicy food?" Spitfire asked as she looked at her plate.
"In a nutshell?  A family tradition.  You don't want to know any more than that," Lighting Dust answered hastily, not wanting to be distracted.
"...I'll take your word on it.   So what does the paper say?  Any leads?" Spitfire asked her niece, who was looking at the paper borrowed from Wayside to look for a place to stay.
"A few."  Lightning Dust flicked an ear in concentration.  "A lot of them are asking way too much for the rent."
"You could ask for an advance," Wayside piped in.
Spitfire set down her fork and looked Wayside right in the face.  "I know I shouldn't be saying this while eating at your table, but she has gotten enough charity from you.  She needs to be able to afford the rent herself.  If she needs help with a deposit we might pitch in a little."  Spitfire looked over at her niece, still re-combing the paper for anything subtle that she might have missed.  "As much as I want to help her too she has to stand on her own."
As Spitfire and Lighting Dust finished their breakfast, Keen Wit had calmed down enough to eat his, panting as he did his best to not complain about the peppers that were making his eyes water.
Spitfire put enough of her own bits on the table to let Wayside buy a new paper and took his as they left the kitchen.

The few places they tried from the paper weren't any good.  Without any more leads, they decided to spend the day combing the streets to see if there were any unlisted rooms open.  They still didn't have any luck.  By the time they had gotten home that night, their prospects were starting to get pretty bleak.
Spitfire started to look worried as they settled down for bed at the in for the final time before the deadline came.
Seeing her aunt looking at her, Lightning Dust rekindled the fire in her belly.  "No!  You gave me three days and I still have one left!" she said sternly.  She jumped into bed and turned out the light before her aunt could even reach the bed.
Spitfire knew the last day would be a waste of time in any practical sense after they got Lightning Dust's paycheck.  "Reach for what seems impossible.", "Like she couldn't live with herself if she didn't try."  She decided to still let her have it anyway.


* * *


The final day arrived.  Spitfire and Lighting Dust had trouble cashing her check at the bank.  "I'm sorry, but if you do not have an account with us I just can't cash it," the bank teller explained.  "I know you work for the city, but if I break the rules then somepony else could try to use it as an excuse and try to force a bad check on us."
"So you're saying my check is un-cashable?"  Lightning Dust asked the bank teller in frustration.
"Anywhere here in Ponyville for now, until you set up an account, yes but-"  He gestured them closer to the window. "You didn't hear this from me, but the Central Bank of Cloudsdale is able to cash them.  They don't like doing it but they can.  They're the bank the weather team's checks are based out of and the paperwork says they are obligated to cash them once they confirm the check number with their records."  The bank teller looked at them worriedly as if he was about to get in trouble.  "Just don't abuse it."
Lighting Dust backed up out of the bank teller's window, grimaced and turned to her aunt.  "You've been to Cloudsdale before, right?"


* * *


After spending a few hours taking a slow flight to and from Cloudsdale, Lightning Dust and Spitfire returned to Ponyville with Lightning Dust's refilled bit bag in tow.  The last few days hadn't been kind on her weakened stamina.  Her wings were still burning slightly from the child's flight.  Hopefully she would be able to rest and it would finally subside.  Wayside had already arranged for substitution for her at work for the next few days.

Their search for a place for Lighting Dust to stay continued but they had ran out of options, even the farfetched ones.
"Ghuhh!" Lightning Dust groaned in frustration.  She stomped the ground.  "This isn't over yet!"
"Lightning Dust.  I know you are passionate about this, but let's face it.  You can't afford any of the places available right now and nopony is going to magically kick out their tenant just to open up a room for you."
"I said I'm not giving up!" Lightning Dust retorted in stubborn defiance.  "I'm going to find some place to stay today, even if it kills me."
"Lightning Dust-" Spitfire started to say before she was suddenly interrupted by a noise in the house next to them.
"Nooooooooo!  Noooooooo!" screamed a mint green unicorn as she was drug out the door and along the ground.  She held on to the back hoof of what must have been her landlord.
"What? Oh dear Celestia, not her!"  Lightning Dust exclaimed as she saw who was screaming.  It was her second least favorite pony in Ponyville.  The eccentric, freelance artist, Lyra Heartstrings. To top it off she definitely wasn't in a calm mood like before, the only time she was tolerable.
"Please BonBon, no!" Lyra balled at her landlord.  "I'll pay you what I have.  I'll get the rest soon.  Just please, please don't kick me out.  BonBon.  BonBon!"
Looking more closely, she saw Lyra was holding onto the leg of the candy shop owner, Almond, or BonBon, whatever her name was.  Lightning Dust wasn't sure.  'This must have been what she was looking for a job for.  Looks like she didn't get it.'
"I said no, Lyra!" the landlord said in the same voice that Lightning Dust heard on the day Steel Will introduced himself.  "The rules are there for a reason.  You don't have the money and it is due today."
She picked up a sign on a wooden stake and slammed a rock into the stake to drive the sign into the ground at the front of her front yard.

On the sign it said:


ROOM FOR RENT.


TERMS NOT NEGOTIABLE.


DETAILS AVAILABLE


UPON REQUEST.


Spitfire looked at her niece like something impossible just happened.  Lightning Dust didn't ask questions.  She jumped at the opportunity as if her life depended on it.
"I'm going to the bank to get your deposit.  I want your stuff out by then," BonBon said coldly.  Lyra didn't respond except for continuing to cling to her friend's back leg and beg.
"Excuse me?"  Lightning Dust called, trying to get BonBon's attention.  "I hate to rub salt in your friend's wound,-" 'sort of' "-but what are the details of the room?" she asked as she pointed back to the sign.
Still ignoring the whimpering pony attached to her back leg, BonBon stopped and answered the question blandly, "It is a room that is comfortable for one pony or crowded for two on the second floor.  The bathroom upstairs is allotted for the tenant's personal needs, but the bathroom on the ground floor is mine, period.  The rented room is expected to stay clean at all times.  The common area can be used for your needs so long as you don't make a mess, but if I ever need it, I get it, no arguments."
After a pause to inhale slowly, she continued just as blandly.  "The rent is not much, but in exchange you have to deal with my... oddities.  They aren't anything dangerous, just strange.  The rent is one hundred and fifty bits a month."
Lightning Dust looked at her aunt.  One hundred and fifty bits was dirt cheap.  About half that of what average rent might be.  "I can afford that."
"With a deposit of eighteen hundred bits," she added, once again speaking just as blandly as before.
'I should have known it was too good to be true' Lightning Dust thought as she winced from hearing the deposit.  It was just as high as the rent was low.  Even with Wayside and Spitfire both backing her there was no way she could afford that deposit.  "I can't afford that though."
"Very well.  Good day," she responded in the same bland tone as she continued to drag the blubbering unicorn—that still refused to let go of her leg—down the street and towards the bank.
"What are you doing Lighting Dust? Go get her!" Spitfire told her pointing at the landlord.
"But I can't afford the deposit," Lightning Dust responded in a slight confusion to her aunt's demand.
"Well you don't have to!" Spitfire retorted with urgency.
"What?" Lightning Dust asked, cocking her head at this.
"Here, let me take a shot at this and you'll see what I mean," Spitfire said as she turned away from Lightning Dust.  Walking up beside BonBon, Spitfire tried her luck.  "BonBon was it?"
"That is... what I am called, yes." BonBon said without breaking her stride any more than she was before.  Her voice still bland and uncaring.
"You said the room was comfortable for one pony but cramped for two, right?"
Lightning Dust following behind them suddenly got a pit in her stomach.  She knew where her aunt was going with this.  'No.  Not that.'
"I did," BonBon said, recalling how she described the room.  "What of it?"
"Your sign said the terms aren't negotiable, but you didn't say how many ponies could rent the room.  Is it possible for the current tenant to split the rent with my niece?"
BonBon stopped in her tracks and Lyra jerked her head up from her pleading at this thought.
'Please no,' Lightning Dust silently pleaded in her mind.  'Not with her.'
"They would have to share the upstairs bathroom and I'd expect both tenants to keep the room tidy."
'Unacceptable!  She's just too wild!'
"Then it's settled," Spitfire said with a nod.
Lyra jumped off the ground and hugged Lighting Dust, covering her with the dirt from the road that she had picked up.  "Yay!  New roommate!"
Lightning Dust did her best to back out of the hug.  "Hold it!  Y-you expect me to share a room with her!?"  This pony was almost as eccentric as Pinkie Pie.  Seeing her around town was one thing, but living with her?  That was asking a lot.
Spitfire shook her head in frustration.  "We can always fly back home to Manehattan, Lightning Dust.  You need a room.  Here it is.  We're out of options."  She craned her neck to look back at her niece coldly.  "Now how badly do you want to stay?"
Lightning Dust Looked at her aunt staring back at her, expecting her to make a choice.  She looked at BonBon looking back at her, just waiting indifferently for her to make her call.  Finally she looked at Lyra, still snuggling her neck awkwardly.
Pushing, then prying and pushing Lyra off of her so she could think, she tried to remember why she wanted to stay.  The Wonderbolts had always been her dream.  This would get her aunt off her back but this seemed a bit much even for that.  'It would be easier to just run away again and find another town.  As long as I don't return here she wouldn't find me again.  I just can't bunk with somepony that crazy.'
She was about to say no when her eye caught something.  Discarded and brushed to the side of the road lay the vine Keen Wit had used to keep his hat tied down as she held him up in the air two nights ago.
'Keen Wit,' her mind whispered to her as something else tugged at her reasoning.
She remembered the admiration in his eyes when he asked if she would be his big sister.  She remembered the anger in those same eyes when Iron Will threatened her, burning with the desire to protect her.  She remembered the fear in them when she had discovered his fool's errand of a dream, the desire to fly on his own power.  She remembered the joy in them when she agreed to teach him and the promise she made on the name of the royal sisters to him.  She also remembered the love that was in his eyes when they were in the air together two nights ago.
Most importantly, she remembered the pain in his eyes when he heard about her leaving.
She had never felt so torn in her life.  She cared for the colt but she couldn't stand the idea of sharing a room with anypony, especially a nut case like Lyra.  She absolutely hated eccentric ponies and made a vivid point to avoid them like the plague.
She stood there for a long moment.  "I... won't... do it," Lightning Dust said as she pulled her head up with closed eyes and a disgruntled face.
Spitfire seemed to slump at this.  She started to turn around and head for the edge of town.  "Come on then Lightning Dust.  We need to fly-"
"I won't leave him!" she yelled out in a burst of frustration.  Her aunt turned her head around to look at her in shock.
"I won't... I..." she sniffled as she fell to the ground with a broken spirit. "I just... can't leave him.  I'll...  I'll take the room," she finished in a shaky voice as she tossed her bit bag towards her new landlord.
Lyra was all giddy at this and, despite Lightning Dust's obvious discomfort, tried to hug her again.
"Don't touch me!" Lightning Dust shrieked at the unicorn with a face of sheer fury, stopping Lyra in her tracks.  "Don't...  Don't touch me..." she said again.  Her face shifted back to sadness as she looked back down.
Lightning Dust sat there on the street, crying and hugging herself in self-loathing at the choice she just made.  Her aunt had picked up the bit bag and was counting out Lightning Dust's half of the rent for her.  Both pride and sorrow was on her face as she did so.
'This is beyond humiliating.  Find a room if it kills me?' Lightning Dust thought as she began to shake and sob uncontrollably.  'It just might.  Why did I have to get so attached to that twerp?'


* * *


A few hours later.  It didn't take long to move Lighting Dust's things in the room once she finished crying.  She just had to go grab her supplies from the inn and plop them down in a corner of her new room.  Before they left the inn, however, Spitfire pulled the fixed tent out of the saddle bag and gave it to Wayside.  "Donate this.  Throw it away.  I don't care," Spitfire told him firmly, "But it doesn't go with my niece."

After a little work, they managed to get the second half of the bunk bed out of BonBon's garage and secured tightly onto the first half that was waiting in Lightning Dust's new room.
The odd part was when Lyra wanted the top bunk.  When ponies shared a bunk bed and one was a pegasus it was normally the pegasus that got the top bunk, but Lightning Dust still was in too down a mood to argue.

She finally cheered up a little when they went to get Keen Wit from school.
"Good news, twerp," she said to him as he came up to her, trying her best not to sound flat.  "I found a room I could rent.  My aunt isn't taking me away."
"Alright!" he cheered as he jumped to hug her.  Despite the action being almost identical to Lyra's earlier, she didn't fight it.  Instead, she wrapped a foreleg around him in return.  With her broken spirit she soaked up the affection like a dry sponge, yet she still felt somewhat empty.
"It's getting time for me to get back, Lighting Dust," her aunt said as she broke the hug.  "You have some good ponies looking out for you here, and if Zecora is still anything like she used to be she will look out for you too.  I couldn't leave you in better hooves.  Just don't forget to keep in touch or you know what will happen."
Lightning Dust nodded soberly, unable to form words.  Spitfire turned around and got ready to take off before pausing.  Turning only her neck around, she added one last thing.
"Oh!  And one more thing.  Keep an eye out for him and his tall tales.  When we first met, he said you promised to teach him how to fly so that he could be the first non-pegasus Wonderbolt.  Crazy, isn't it?"
Lightning Dust looked at her aunt in surprise at this.  Spitfire mistook it for shock and took off.
Keen Wit looked up at Lightning Dust happily for a moment as she looked back down at him with a look of shock.
"Wonderbolt?" she asked rhetorically.
Keen Wit's eyes suddenly grew wide and he looked down in embarrassment and worry.
"Heh.  It's not that crazy a tale," she told him with an earnest smile, easing his worries.
She sat down close to the colt, watching her aunt fly off to get back to work for a few seconds.  She remembered the poster of her aunt she saw in his room, but hadn't thought about at the time.  "Hey, Keen Wit."
"Ya?"
"You're a Wonderbolt fan right?"
"Ya."
"Well, can you keep a secret?"
"What kind of secret?" he asked, looking at her funny.
"Like-" she bent over and whispered into his ear, "a 'could you not tell anypony about my horn' kind of secret?"
"I...  I think so." he answered, not sure where she was going.
While still whispering in his ear, she asked him, "Have you ever wanted to meet Captain Spitfire?"
"You bet I have!" he yelled with great enthusiasm.  "Sorry," he added, seeing her yank her head back in pain.
Shaking the pain off and accepting the apology in stride, she returned to whispering in his ear.  "Well remember it's a secret.  You met her just now."
"What?" he asked as he scrunched his face in confusion.
"My aunt Campfire is actually Captain Spitfire in disguise.  I'm Spitfire's niece."
He laughed as she backed out of his ear, "Ha!  Ya right."
She just looked at him calmly, waiting for it to sink in.
"Wait..."  A look of uncertain thought came to his face.  "Really!?"
After a moment of giving a warm smile to the twerp she realized that she had grown to love, she answered him calmly, "Yes.  Really."
Keen Wit turned to look in the direction that Spitfire had flown off to with a grin.  "Sweet."
Seeing his smile filled Lightning Dust's emptiness a tiny bit more.  'Maybe, just maybe, I made the right call today.'





As Spitfire flew to a place that she could finally wash the dye out of her coat now that the magic would wear off soon, she thought back on what her niece said.
"I just... can't leave him.  I'll...  I'll take the room."  Her niece was growing up.  It took a child to do it.  Not a stern mother, not a drill instructor, not even some stallion.  A child.  A child that wasn't even hers.
She remembered a line from a book that she had once read to her niece.  'To find your path in a tempest you need not a strong ship nor a great sail, only the courage to stay afloat and a compass that points you true.'
"You've always had that courage, Lightning Dust.  But, after all these years you've finally found a new compass.  I'm happy for you."
After a moment of thought about Nurse Redheart she said something else, "But you had better not screw this up or tell anypony else about me."
> Chapter Twelve: Skeletons from the Closet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Lightning Dust flew through the air with Keen Wit.  He was almost late for his magic lessons with the princess.
They landed just outside the library where the princess stayed.  Meeting her at the door he looked up at her.  His face was relaxed and his smile was devoid of the subtle fear of his horn being discovered.  It was an expression given only to a pony he felt completely comfortable around.  Aside from family, he only looked at her and Lightning Dust in such a way.  "I'm glad you're back in town.  I missed you."
"So am I.  I've missed Ponyville and I've missed you Keen Wit."  Once Keen Wit had passed inside the princess looked calmly at Lightning Dust, who was still standing there.  "Did you need something?"
Lightning Dust's knees had the urge to knock and her ears began to twitch.  "Hello your highness...  I have been meaning to apologize."
The princess tilted her head.  "Apologize for what?"
"F-for causing that accident back at the ac-c-cademy."  Lightning Dust bit her lip and her ears twisted backwards while she waited for a response.
The princess's eyes formed a glare as they filled with fire.  "That was you!?"  Her wings flared out and her voice gained an otherworldly resonance.  "Seize her!"
Guards came out of nowhere and had Lightning Dust thoroughly restrained within seconds.  Her mouth was gagged and her wings were tied up together and pointing away from her body, removing any chance of them slipping free.  She fell to the ground and was dragged to a guillotine.  She struggled with all her might against her bonds but they would not give in the slightest.
Just as her head was placed inside the guillotine, she saw her aunt flying in with all haste.  Spitfire landed in front of her.  "Princess, please," Spitfire pleaded.  "She doesn't deserve death."
The princess came to face Spitfire with her regal fury.  "Then speak.  What does she deserve?" the princess demanded.
Spitfire's voice ceased to sound concerned and became cold.  "Take her wings from her and send her home.  Death is too kind a punishment."  Spitfire looked at Lightning Dust with disgust.  "I am ashamed to have ever called her my niece."
"So be it!" the princess declared.  She levitated Lightning Dust out of the guillotine just to insert her wings instead.  Lightning Dust still struggled frantically against her bonds as they became tighter and tighter.
She stopped struggling when she saw Keen Wit standing next to the guillotine.  His breathing was heavy and his face was tear struck.  "You didn't really do it, did you?" he asked her through his tears.
Lightning Dust gave him as wide and warm a smile as the gag would let her.  She did her best to move her restrained forehooves in a caressing fashion despite not being able to reach him.  Nevertheless, the remorse in her softened eyes gave the truth away.
All sympathy for her left his face to be replaced with loathing.  "I hate you."  His horn glowed with magic as he held the guillotine's rope in his levitation then yanked the rope.  As the blade dropped she heard an odd voice come from him.  "Good Morning! Bathro-"
Waking up violently as the blade made contact, Lightning Dust smacked Lyra's chin with her head when she lurched up.  Lyra's head bounced into the edge of the low hanging bunk bed above her.
"Owie..."  Lightning Dust heard Lyra whine as she got her bearings.  Her blankets had wrapped around her body, pinning her legs and wings to her.  Her left wing felt like she had been sleeping on it extended.
"What!?  Lyra!?"  Lightning Dust looked around and saws Lyra nursing a sore noggin a few staggered paces away from the bunk bed.  "Three months and you still haven't learned to let me sleep?"  She worked her way out of the blanket's bindings and scooted to the edge of the bed, careful to not hit the top bunk herself for the umpteenth time.
Lyra managed to pry her eyes open.  "I just wanted to tell you I was done in the bathroom."  She recovered her stance but her forehoof continued to rub the back of her head.  "You can take your turn now."
"You didn't have to wake me for that!"  Lightning Dust stated irately.  She saw a pain in Lyra's eyes that wasn't from the bump on her head.  Lightning Dust's face scrunched up for a moment.  'Don't get her upset.  You still need her.'  She relaxed her face and softened her voice.  "Ugh...  But maybe it was a good thing this time.  I haven't been having all that nice of dreams lately.  You alright?"
With the deposit for the room in Lyra's name, if it ever came to one of them being kicked out it would be Lightning Dust.  Now that Lyra's 'short season' was over she didn't have to have a roommate anymore.
After seeing Lyra nod with a shaky smile, Lightning Dust began her morning routine.  As she started preening her wing to fix the feathers that got messed up in the night, words from the past plagued her mind again.  "From what she told me you still haven't apologized to them.", "You were taking responsibility for your actions long before you did them."  She gave her wing a test flap to see if there was anything she missed then went back to preening to fix a spot.  "Even now you're trying to be responsible and do everything you can to help whether you were to blame or not."
She did one final test flap then returned her wing to the resting position.  She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.  'You can't keep putting it off forever Lightning Dust.  You need to apologize to them already.'  After holding her breath for a moment she let out her frustration in one big sigh.  "Dam it conscience!  You're a real pain in the flank sometimes."  She opened her eyes again and went downstairs for some breakfast.  'The princess and his tutor.  Either one would have been bad enough.'  "Of all the ponies it I could have hit with that tornado why did it have to be her?"
As she entered the kitchen to get some food, BonBon was there with some crazy confectionery project of her own.
"What are you doing in my house?"  BonBon asked, not recognizing her.
"Mint, it's me," Lightning Dust answered her as if she was expecting this.  "Lightning Dust?  Lyra's roommate?"
"Never heard of you."  BonBon responded as she started to get upset.
Lightning Dust groaned in frustration.  She spoke in a gravelly voice just loud enough for BonBon to hear, "The crybaby..."
"He-he-ha!  Oh yea!"  BonBon cackled as she finally recognized her then went back to her project.
Lightning Dust calmed herself from her landlord's insensitive remark with another deep breath.  "Can I fetch some milk from the fridge now?"
"Sure.  Just don't touch the tray up top."  BonBon said, not even looking away from her project.
"Wouldn't dream of it."  'It's not like you ever make anything I'd want to eat anyway.'

Lightning Dust took her cereal outside, finding it more comfortable than being cooped up with Mint.  She saw Lyra waiting by the mailbox.  "I still don't get how you can be so cheerful about having to live with her."
Lyra looked away from the street and towards lightning Dust, who had laid down on the grass to eat.  "And I don't see how you can stand that tasteless food," she counterpointed.  "Besides, I have nothing to complain about.  I get five friends in one."
'She would say that,' she thought to herself while chewing the bran currently in her mouth.  She swallowed just as a grey mail mare flee down to the mailbox.  "If you had to eat what I had to as a filly you wouldn't have much of a sweet tooth either," Lightning retorted back softly.  The noise of an egg timer going off in the kitchen followed by a loud bang distracted the three ponies for a moment before the mail mare went back to delivering the mail.  "What did she do to get to be like that anyway?"
"Hey! It's not her fault!"  Lyra exclaimed as her cheeks puffed out and her face scrunched up.  She bolted over to Lightning Dust and stared her right in the eyes.  "You try having your head hypnotically scrambled sometime!"
Thud.  Lightning Dust and Lyra broke eye contact to see the mail mare picking herself up off the ground.  "I'm fine! I'm fine!"  The mail mare said as she shook off the fall then continued her route in some sudden hurry.  As she rounded the corner, she passed a bouncing Pinkie Pie with a saddle bag strangely not filled with party supplies.
'Sure.  Why not?  It's not like the two regular nut cases are enough for one morning,' Lightning Dust thought as Pinkie came up to the yard.
"Good morning everypony!" Pinkie shouted loud enough for the whole block to hear.
"Good morning," BonBon hastily shouted from the kitchen.
"Good Morning Pinkie dear," a white unicorn with a well-kept purple mane and tail called out from the other direction.  "Mustn't stay and chat, need to hurry home."  She hurried past them with multiple shopping bags in telekinetic tow.
"Good morning Pinkie."  Lyra said as she gave her a quick hug.
First Pinkie, then Lyra, looked at Lightning Dust expectantly.
Lightning Dust stared back at them with a deadpan expression while she finished her most recent mouth full of cereal slowly.  Once she finished it she responded flatly, in hopes they would leave it at that, "Good.  Morning."
"Don't mind her Pinkie," Lira responded.  "She just doesn't know how to have fun."
"I do when it doesn't involve immature shenanigans," Lightning Dust muttered under her breath before returning to her breakfast.
"I brought you my old costume from last year."  Pinkie brought out a chicken costume for Nightmare Night.
Lyra put on the head piece right then and there, ripping a hole in the top with her horn.  "Oh this year is going to be so much fun.  Are you ready to do the face painting with me this year?"
Lightning Dust watched them geek out about tomorrow night as she finished her cereal.  'Just like a pair of hyperactive fillies.'  She heard Lyra squeal as she peeked at what must have been Pinkie Pie's new costume in the other side of her saddle bag.  'Except bigger and more annoying.  Thank Celestia Keen Wit doesn't do that... often.'





"Are you sure you're sister has us covered?"  Blackjack asked Silver Tongue as he stepped off of the train from Manehattan.  "If they find out that we broke parole then we'll be in big trouble."
"Relax already will ya?" Silver Tongue said with complete confidence.  "My little sister is the best at what she does.  Just remember to use the alibi she gave you and nopony will be any the wiser."  He nudged up on the third member of the group then wrapped his foreleg around him in a buddy hug.  "Besides, you don't want Sledge here to be thrown out of the gang for not seeing his first dare through because of us do you?"
Sledge turned his head towards the pony that was slightly straining in his effort to wrap his foreleg around Sledge's large form.  "A-a-are you sure she's gonna show up, Silver?"
At this, Silver Tongue gave him a sharp glare.  "Hey!  You're new.  So I'm gonna let that slide this once but you need to understand."  He unwrapped his gang buddy and leaned back on his hind legs, so that he could gesture towards himself with both forelegs.
"I might not always be able to get info for the gang, but when my contacts do tell me something-"  He waved his forehoof outward. "-it's good."  He pointed at Sledge as he stood back up.  "So don't question my contact's word again."  He looked out at the town of Ponyville with a smirk on his face.  "Luna's gonna show up here again this year for Nightmare Night.  When she does we will be there to watch you as you stay standing when everypony else cowers."
"Ha!" Sledge called.  "If-"  He stopped then corrected himself quickly when Silver Tongue gave him another sharp glare.  "When Luna shows up I won't just stand up to her I'll-"
"You will just stand up to her Sledge!" Blackjack yelled at the large pegasus. "You might not be on parole but we-"
Silver Tongue stopped the worried gang member with a gently placed hoof on the chest.  "It's OK Blackjack."  He turned to Sledge.  "But he does have a point.  Just stay standing.  The last thing we need is trouble with a princess.  Our alibi won't work if we start trouble with somepony that important."
Sledge was taken back, then looked down to think for a moment.  "But if it's somepony unimportant?" he asked as he looked back up.
Silver Tongue smiled.  "Then we'll do what South Wings do best, and then after we go home we can have our fill of barley noodles at your favorite joint to celebrate."
With this, all three pegasi laughed loudly and launched into the air.





Lightning Dust was talking to her aunt at a local payphone.  Gritting her teeth, she answered her aunt's question in a disgruntled voice, "He's.  Fine."  Her eye twitched as she spoke the final word.  "I wish you'd stop calling him that."
~~~~~
"No," Spitfire responded mischievously while she sat on her secretary's desk.  "I've let your tongue slip too often already.  Now either I consider that adorable little colt my niece's honorary little brother-"  She leaned forward and her voice gained a slight malevolent flare.  "-or she's in big trouble for telling somepony that's not family."
~~~~~
Lightning Dust firmly planted her head against the phone booth due to the lack of an available hoof to slap herself with.  "I still can't believe he went and asked you for an autograph."
~~~~~
'She should have known better than to set the phone down.'  Spitfire tilted her head back again. "Still feeding yourself right?" she asked in a more upbeat tone to change the subject.
~~~~~
Lightning Dust smiled for a moment as she lifted her head off the booth wall.  "Yea, I am.  The one good thing about this place is the low rent."  She thought about her search for a different place to live and her need for a deposit when she found it.  "Not only has it helped me eat good, but it's let me put some of my pay back in my savings."
~~~~~
Spitfire's already smiling face brightened further.  "That's great to hear!"
~~~~~
"Well that's the rundown this time," Lightning Dust said, having covered the basics.  "Anything else?"
~~~~~
Spitfire's face lost its luster and her voice became more serious.  "Actually there is.  I don't want to pry but is something wrong?  You've been on edge lately."
~~~~~
Lightning Dust's ears went limp as she looked down at the ground.  "Rainbow Dash has been giving me all the grungy work at every opportunity that she can manage now that Wayside put her in charge again."
~~~~~
"Listen Lightning Dust.  I've been your aunt your whole life.  I can tell it's something else that's bothering you."  Spitfire jumped off the desk.  "Please don't shrink away from me.  If you need advice I'm here.  If you're in a pinch then I'll find a way to come."  She leaned into the phone as if it would help.  "I just got you back.  I don't want to lose you again."
~~~~~
Lightning Dust looked out on the town nervously as if she were searching for something waiting to pounce.  "I am ashamed to have ever called her my niece."
Lightning Dust's words were laced with a tone of melancholy as she answered her aunt, "I don't think it's something you can help with."  She spotted Zecora heading for the hospital.  An idea formed in her head as her ears shot to attention.  "But I think I know just the mare who can," she said with enthusiasm.  "I gotta go.  Talk to you soon?"
She hung up the phone without waiting for a response and began to chase after Zecora.  However, her plans were promptly stopped by Wayside flying in and landing in front of her.  Though it was rare, when Wayside actually did use his wings for flight it was for something important.  By the time Wayside was finished speaking with Lightning Dust, Zecora had entered the hospital.  Talking to Zecora would have to wait.





Spitfire set down the phone and looked at her secretary with the signs of a stressed mind.  "Thanks again for keeping my secret Paperclip.  I don't think I could manage this without you."
Taking it in stride with a smile, the secretary comforted her boss.  "I have been around the block a few times.  I know keeping family off your back can be a chore."  She looked down at the phone sourly.  "Besides, Chocolate Dust always seems to have her nose in a budget book.  What did your brother ever see in her?"
Spitfire closed her eyes in a subtle pain.  Not one of regret.  Just one of sorrow.  "She wasn't always that bad."  She looked over at the wall to the picture of her family.
The picture was from when Lightning Dust was coming home from the hospital after being born.  The picture had Spitfire's brother, Plasma Wave, and her sister in law, Chocolate Dust, standing next to her in her wheelchair.  It was taken just after Zecora fixed her paralysis.  The doctor's ordered her to stay at the hospital for observation because they were skeptical of the so called 'healer'.  Cradled in Spitfire's forelegs was the tiny filly that she had fallen in love with at first sight, wrapped in a foal blanket made of the rare fiber cloud cotton.  Spitfire was told the blanket was originally meant for a foal that ended up being stillborn and its maker had given it to Chocolate Dust for her daughter instead.  Those chance moments at that hospital had touched the lives of both Spitfire and her sister in law.
Spitfire ran her hoof gently across the frame of the picture.  "Over time she just lost sight of what was important."  She started shaking her head and looked back at her secretary.  "Did I make the same mistake when I left?"
The secretary moved around the desk and placed a hoof on her boss's shoulder, in reassurance.  "Even if you did, you've learned from it."
Spitfire smiled weakly at her secretary.  She then moved out to the window where she could see the training grounds that she was due to be on in less than an hour.  A voice from the past echoed in her mind.  "Learn from your mistakes and let go of pride."  She grabbed the symbol of her rank again and looked at it for a brief moment before letting it go.  With her being a public face for the Wonderbolts, it would be at least another decade before she would be free of the obligations that kept her from her niece.  "Have I?"





Twist was getting out of a half day at school and had been looking for Keen Wit.  He hadn't been playing with her nearly as much as he used to.  Instead, her friend was usually whisked away most days by 'her' for some reason.
Twist wasn't the jealous type.  She tried to be as understanding as she could but something was nagging at her mind.  Every time she saw him with her she could see something.  For as long as she knew him Keen Wit was always nervous about something, but when he was around Lightning Dust he was completely relaxed.  Though he was not as nervous around Twist as others he still held back.  What made Lightning Dust so special that he could trust her even more than his best friend?  This question hounded her more and more as they hung out less and less.
But that day Twist was bound and determined to figure it out.  When she saw him on the top of the highest hill in the playground, she ran up to him with the intent of getting some answers.

After several minutes of trying every angle she could, Keen Wit still hadn't budged in the slightest.  She tried making him slip up while talking about the Wonderbolts to guilt tripping him.  She even tried to pull some tricks from Sweetie Belle's big sister with no better results.  Instead of getting weak at the knees, he stared blankly at her as she blinked her eyes and asked if she had something in them.  No matter what she did to pry, he just shrank away like he always did. 
Seeing a figure approach from the air, he grabbed a hold of his hat.  Keen Wit was plucked from the ground by Lightning Dust as he yelled back to her, "Sorry Twist.  I gotta go!"
Twist stood there with a scowl on her face as they flew off.  "I'm not giving up that easy Keen Wit.  Not this time."  She dashed off to follow them as best as she could.





Lightning Dust had literally picked Keen Wit up from school.  She had been doing so every chance she got ever since she had recovered her stamina fully.  She had even started considering it an easy way to get some exercise in.  Rainbow Dash didn't dare mess with her while she carried their boss's son.  As such she could get away with flying him to anywhere he wanted.  She tried her best not to abuse it, mostly.
"So where are we heading today?  The park?  The arcade?" he asked excitedly as he held his hat on with both forehooves.  "Or are we doing another long flying session?  We haven't done that since your aunt left!"
Her wings flared with pain.  "No. Can. Do twerp," Lightning Dust interjected as she struggled to keep her wings extended.  "Your dad wants you home as soon as possible."
"What!?" he exclaimed as he twisted in her grip to look at her as best he could.  "Why?"
"Something about you getting a package in."  She turned to line up her flight path with the street in front of the inn to use it like landing pad.  "I'm just supposed to get you home."
"Keen Wit I presume?" A large delivery griffin just outside the inn said as they land.  "If I could get your signature I can give you your package and be on my way."  He pulled out a clipboard with a quill and opened the ink well at the top of the clipboard.
Keen Wit looked at his dad with concern as Wayside came through the front door.  "Go ahead Keen Wit," Wayside told him.
Keen Wit was still hesitant.  "But you always signed before."
"Yes, but I didn't order this," Wayside explained.  "It's from a friend of yours."
"Who?"
"The package is from one Iron Will," the griffon explained in irritation as his feathers ruffled slightly.  "And I have prepaid orders to either get your signature for the delivery or return the package to him."
Keen Wit finally signed the clipboard.  The griffon gave them the package then promptly took flight.

"Are you sure you don't want to come up?"  Wayside asked Lightning Dust as he carried the package that was almost as big as his son inside.  "If it's what I think it is you're gonna want to see it."
Lightning Dust rubbed her foreleg with her other forehoof.  "It's tempting but there's something I need to take care of."
Wayside raised an eyebrow and looked keenly at her for a moment.  "Alright.  You go do what you have to.  I'll fill you in later.  Thanks for bringing him home."
With this Lightning Dust took her leave, Serra temporarily closed down the currently vacant inn and the Pepper family headed up to Keen Wit's room, package in tow.
Just as they headed upstairs, nopony noticed the curly red maned filly nudge the front door open quietly.





Lightning Dust was giving a hasty trot to the hospital when she saw Zecora leaving.  As she approached Zecora, she tried to talk to her with limited success, "Hey Zecora.  I was want... hoping... wonder..."  She tried to get the question out but couldn't seem to find the words to ask Zecora what she wanted to ask.
Zecora looked at her with an insightful twinkle in her eye and a smile growing on her face.  "Come speak to me your troubled mind, and together answers we may find."  With this she turned and gestured Lightning Dust to follow her to what must have been her next patient in town.





Upstairs in Keen Wit's room, Wayside opened the letter that came strapped to the box and read it.  He blushed half way through the letter.  When he was finished he gave a small titer and smiled.  He then gave it to Serra to read aloud.

Dear Keen Wit,

I, Iron Will, much to the astonishment of the village elders have passed my trials.

It is a custom of my people for one that has finally passed his or her trials to give a personal and meaningful gift to the one or few that had given the most inspiration to them.  I cannot think of a single soul that inspired me more than you.
You were a little warrior standing your ground against a foe far more powerful than yourself.  You showed me perfect examples of how and when to use both fury and mercy.  It is those examples that were burned into my mind along with other revaluations I learned from the ordeal that gave me the clarity needed to pass my trials.
Before I left your small town of Ponyville, I explained to your father this custom-

Wayside turned away from his son with a grin of embarrassment as Keen Wit looked at him.

-and asked if there was anything that would be appropriate for this.  Though he utterly refused to explain why you would need this exact material, I made sure to remember it well.

I give this to you now for both your inspiration and your forgiveness.

Eternally grateful,
Iron Will.

P.S.  I hate to write this in but Faraji will not stop begging me.  Please tell Zecora that he wishes to thank her for the contents of the medicine bag.

"It couldn't be..." Keen Wit said as he took off his hat.  He used his magic from his fully recovered horn to remove the tape from the package.  He opened it and looked inside.  "It is!" he shouted as he jumped in surprise.  "Wind thread!"
"And lots of it." Wayside said as he peeked at the package himself.  He shook his head slightly as his son stared at the box with unbridled glee. "It looks like we're going to need a bigger chest to accommodate for parts now.  There is too much here to fit in with your books."  Wayside picked up one of the many industrial sized spools of pink metallic thread that resided in the box.
"Still." Wayside put the spool of wind thread back.  "It looks like Lightning Dust will be teaching you to fly sooner than we thought.  I didn't expect him to go all out on this.  There's at least enough for four sets of wings in here."
A subtle noise of the door being bumped alerted everypony in the room.  As they looked over they saw a small shadow peeping under the door where somepony must have been listening in.  
Serra quietly gestured to Keen Wit as the two Peppers prepared themselves to face the intruder.  Keen Wit got his hat ready to cover his horn as soon as he opened the door.  With a quick telekinetic yank and loud bang the door slammed open.  Serra pounced on the intruder.
"Twist?"  Serra said with surprise at the pinned filly.
Twist wasn't even looking at Serra as the earth pony got off of her.  "Keen Wit!?"  Though the maneuver Keen Wit had done was very fast, if simple, it did have a brief moment of exposure.  He could see it in her confused eyes.  She had seen the glow from his horn.
"Twist..." was all he could say back as his head went down and his ears went back softly.  His mind was screaming what seemed like a thousand things.  Not one of them could reach his lips as he stared at her hardening face.
Before he could say anything else, she bolted to the stairs.  She had stumbled down the last few steps, recovered and bolted out the door by the time he had given chase and reached the top of the stairs.  She was gone.  His heart sank like lead as he felt the loss of a friend hit him.
Keen Wit sat down at the top of the stairs with tears forming in his eyes as his mother came up behind him.  Iron Will's gift long forgotten, he leaned into his mother's embrace, pouting.  "Twiiist..."





Lightning Dust tried to apologize for rambling about her recent bad dreams instead of just saying what she was trying to say.
She was stopped suddenly as Zecora cut her off with a look of concern at the edges of her eyes.  "Do not apologize for taking this healer's time.  It is our purpose and-"  She stopped and lifted Lighting Dust's sunken head just enough to look at her straight in the eyes. "-by no means a crime.  I am here to lend an ear."  She dropped her hoof and continued walking.  "Navigate your thoughts one by one.  We will find the problem's heart when you are done."  With this, they spent several minutes rambling and stumbled over several pesky details before they finally got to the core problem, figuring out how to apologize.

"-I don't even know what this Rarity lady looks like and I can't ask around much without letting out what I did.  So I can get back to her.  As for Pinkie..."  Lightning Dust closed her eyes and shivered for a moment.  "I'll survive her somehow."  Having her mind focus entirely on her dilemma, she absentmindedly followed Zecora into Sugar Cube Corner.  Apparently the Cake twins were sick or something.  "I already managed to apologize to Applejack when I asked her about who was in the hot air balloon with her, but what really scared me was..."
Lightning Dust stopped in her tracks.  Zecora stopped only a step further and looked back at the pony that was doing her best to say what she needed to.  "What scared me was when Applejack said it was Princess Twilight Sparkle in that balloon.  I want to say I'm sorry for being so reckless and I know I need to but..."  She looked Zecora right in the face.  "How can I say it to her without her punishing me?"
Zecora gave a look of understanding and tried her best to answer her.  "You are wise to be daunted by the size of your task.  Forgiveness should never be an easy thing to ask.  Though on the others I agree.  A reason to forgive they will see, but if Twilight will see the same I must digress.  What do you think-"  She looked behind Lighting Dust to somepony behind her.  "-princess?"
Upon hearing that last word, Lightning Dust's blood ran cold in fear.  As she turned her head, she had a desperate hope that Zecora was just joking with her.  Time seemed to slow as her eyes inched closer and closer to the table behind her and the cool colored pony that she was seeing in her peripheral vision.  The pony that had just heard the bulk of her confession.
When her eyes finally landed on their target properly, she was numb with disbelief at who she saw.  There sat a pony of royalty in a common catering bakery.  She was dressed regally from her horn to her hooves.  Lightning Dust's mind was doing a double check as it shut down.
'Horn, check..  Wings... check....'  There was no mistaking this pony for just a normal pegasus or unicorn.  It was a royally crowned alicorn princess of Equestria that sat in front of her.  '...That's.... Prin.....cess......'
Lightning Dust wobbled a little as her mind tried desperately to restart.  Now was not the time to freeze up.  After several long seconds, she finally managed to get the words out.  "P-P-P-Princess-"
> Chapter Thirteen: Purging Darkness
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"-Luna..."
Lightning Dust could hardly believe it.  The infamous moon princess herself was sitting there in Sugar Cube Corner, staring back at her calmly.  The pony who could masterfully place the moon and stars into the sky without aid.  The very pony whose name promises, both to and by Lightning Dust, had been made on.  Lightning Dust had heard of her release from the moon a little over a year ago and her return to her sister's side as proper royalty, but she had never thought she would ever actually meet her.
"Twilight is not one to abuse the power of her crown on a whim," Princess Luna said as she stood up and came around the table.  Seeing Lightning Dust still in shock, she became uneasy.  "We had thought the citizens of Ponyville had lost their fear of-"
"Princess Luna!" Lightning Dust shouted as she jumped for joy.  Her wings fluttered wildly and sporadically, extending the jumps and making her landings uneven.  Her uneven landings resulted in uneven jumps and she was soon jumping around the room.  "It's really Luna!" she yelled out again.
The bewildered alicorn and the perfectly calm zebra watched her as she made an almost literal foal of herself.
As the sheer, unbridled joy began to fade, Lightning Dust suddenly realized what she was doing.  She stopped abruptly and bowed down clear to the floor in Luna's direction.  "I'm sorry!  I don't know what came over me."
Still bewildered by the display, Luna responded, "Be at ease.  I am not angry at your display of..."  She hesitated for a moment.  "...Joy.  It is nice to know some ponies do not fear me."  She gestured for Lightning Dust to rise.
"As for your fear of the young Princess Twilight Sparkle," Luna inquired as she walked up to Lightning Dust.  "Could you kindly explain your dilemma?"
Reality hit Lightning Dust like a ton of bricks as she remembered her situation.  She began to whimper before the princess.  She answered the only way she could think of to a pony that had power enough to move celestial bodies completely on her own and lifetimes of experience seeing through lies, "Yes.  Yes I can..."





Lyra was in the park.  With everypony getting ready for Nightmare Night not many ponies were in the mood for music at this hour.  She had earned a few bits in the morning with her lyre, but there weren't many ponies in the park aside from colts and fillies that had gotten out of school early.  So she decided to spend the time working on her painting instead.
Using the one spell she could do, Lyra levitated her paint easel to the standing position and broke out her paints.  She normally would sell her paintings but this one was special.  It wasn't something she tried to throw together to get by.  This one she had poured her heart into.
Thanks to Lightning Dust taking up half the burden of the rent, Lyra had been able to keep up with rent and manage a lot more free time for her gift to her mother.  She tried her best to show her roommate as much respect as she could to keep her from leaving.  Despite this she always seemed to be getting her upset one way or another.  Just this morning she was afraid Lightning Dust was going to leave from being so upset.  She had to double over her efforts on both keeping her roommate from getting upset and working on her gift.  She only had until the winter holidays to finish it.
As she slowly mixed the paints with tender care to get the color and shade just right, she thought back to her childhood and the time she spent with her mother.  She strained her mind to make sure she had every detail of her mother's face just right.  After a long moment of drawing out the old memories, Lyra was finally in her zone.
The paints were set up just right on her paint pad.  She hardly needed to glance at it as she painted, if it weren't the fact that she wanted to make absolutely sure every stroke was exactly how she wanted it.
Several minutes into the painting process she had made only a small number of strokes, having taken her time to make each and every one count to its fullest.  The lower part of her mother's face was now visible.  It was the part of the face that she had inherited from her mother.  So wasn't all that hard.  She would soon get to the mane, forehead and upper part of the face, but once she got through that she would have to think even harder to paint the eyes.  She had inherited her father's eyes and she would have to spend a long time getting her mother's eyes right as she had nothing to remind her.
She would have to make several practice sketches and paintings to keep from messing up this one, before she finally added the eyes.  The eyes that were always there to comfort her when she came home from a bad day at school.
"Well what do we have here?" somepony called from behind.
Lyra stopped her paint brush maybe an inch from the painting and pulled it away slowly in her levitation, making sure she didn't smudge her work.  Turning around, she saw three unfamiliar pegasi stallions.
"Looks like a street performer," the one that looked like the leader said.  "And she's drawing some pegasus.  Looks good too."  Lyra could tell the compliment was genuine, but everything else they said seemed to have an underlying tone to it.
"I'd date the mare she's drawing," the large one said.
"Hey!" Lyra shouted without thinking.  "Don't talk about my mother like that!"
The pegasus that had spoken first quickly looked between the wings on the painting and the horn on the painter several times.  His eyes narrowed.  "You're a half breed."
The leader piped in, "Come to think of it I can see it in you."  He took a step towards Lyra.  "Your horn barely works, doesn't it?"
"That has nothing to do with my mother."  Lyra started to shrink away from them, paints long dropped on the grass next to the paint easel.  "It's just luck of the draw.  Ponies with only one kind of parent get it too."
"A half breed would say that," the leader retorted.  "Half breeds shouldn't have wings or horns.  It's a waste of air and magic.  They should all be earth ponies."  The three ponies had come forward and backed her into a large tree at the park.  One of them picked up a rock.
"Maybe we should help her with tha-" he was cut off by the rock he was holding suddenly being knocked out of his hoof, followed quickly by the hoof that was holding the rock being shaken wildly.
"Welcome, welcome, welcome," Pinkie said enthusiastically as she quickly darted between the three of them, shaking the hoof of all three pegasi in rapid succession.  "I can't throw you a welcome party right yet with the Nightmare Night committee wanting me to help get ready for tomorrow night, but welcome to Ponyville anyway.  I hope you enjoy spending Nightmare Night with us."
The confused pegasi look at the pink blur of chaos as it finally came to a stop, looking away from them and towards Lyra.  "You gave greeting new ponies your best shot Lyra, but maybe next time you'll get it right," Pinkie said to her, completely oblivious to what was going on.
The three pegasi recovered their bearings.  They gave a quick glance at each other then decided to just continue.  Picking up a rock, one of them aimed at the back of the pink mare's head.
"Did you get the special paint we need for tomorrow Lyra?"  Pinkie asked, dodging the rock at the last moment with a tilt of her head.
"Not yet Pinkie."  Lyra said with worry as a second rock bounced by, which pinkie had dodged again by tilting her head and shifting her weight to her other side.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Pinkie asked as she dodged three rocks at the same time by squatting to the ground.  She dodged the rock that followed after the other three quickly with a jump.  "Let's go get it silly!"
Pinkie turned to the pegasi that had failed to strike her.  "It was fun playing dodge rock with you guys, but I have to go," she said with cheer.  "Hope to see you at the festivities tomorrow night."  With this she bounced off.  Lyra desperately followed Pinkie in all haste, taking only enough time to levitate the painting of her mother off the paint easel as they passed by it.  She grabbed only the painting and abandoned all her other painting supplies.
Blackjack opened his wings to follow them before Silver Tongue grabbed his front hoof.  He spun sharply as he tried to take off and landed face first in the dirt instead.
"What was that about?" Blackjack asked with irritation, spitting out some dirt.
"That girl has mad skills," Silver Tongue answered him.  "It would take the whole gang and some help from the South Horns to get her.  Leave her alone.  We can get the half breed later.  Let's just find a room."





"Eventually I realized I needed to apologize to them," Lightning Dust spoke with her face looking at the floor.  "But when I found out the new princess that was in that air balloon as well-"  She tensed up and shrank away from Princess Luna.  "I-I got scared of what she might do if she found out I was the one that made the tornado."
"Something of a wild tale," Luna said after Lightning Dust finished her explanation.  "You do not fear me, yet you were not in Ponyville during my any of my past visits.  Were it not for the glum manor of your entrance with Zecora I would be inclined not to believe it."
"My foalsitter's foalsitter was a historian," Lightning Dust explained with her head still down.  "So my bedtime stories had a few more explanations to them than most."
Luna looked at the pony before her for a moment in thought then turned to Zecora with an inquisitive expression.  The worried zebra nodded ever so slightly.  "I believe I know what to do with you," Luna stated very calmly.
Luna bent her neck down and gently placed her horn on lightning Dust's forehead.   Lightning Dust winced in fear.  Luna's horn glowed for a moment then something seemed to flow from the horn and wash over Lightning Dust.
"I grant thee," Luna spoke formally yet softly, "Lightning Dust, a pardon for the crime of endangering the ones known as Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkamena Diane Pie and Twilight Sparkle."  She lifted her horn to find Lightning Dust looking at her with bewilderment to match that of the alicorn's only a few minutes ago.
Lightning Dust sat there, her brain threatening to fail her again.  Had she really been pardoned just like that?  It was supposed to be impossible for one ruling princess to pardon a crime committed against another ruling princess.  Completely oblivious to anything else, she stared at Princess Luna.  "You can do that!?  I thought that only she could do that."
Luna looked back at her with a warm look in her eyes that Lightning Dust could not place.  "As she was but a common citizen at the time, your trespass was not against royalty.  Any of the co-rulers may pardon you for it."
Luna then reared up on her hind legs, opened her wings and pointed at Lightning Dust.  Her voice became overwhelmingly loud.  "But know now, young Lightning Dust!  Indeed 'tis true, if ye trespasses be against enthroned royalty of Equestria, only said royalty thou trespassed against may pardon thee.  Thou hast been warned."
As Lightning Dust got back up from laying on the ground with her eyes closed and ears covered, she noticed the glass display case behind her had been shattered.
"See to it that the glass is replaced,"  Luna commanded a guard as she came back down to all four hooves.  "I do apologize.  I will refrain from using such volume when the little ones arrive," she said to a concerned Mr. Cake, who had been cleaning the glass that just broke.
Luna turned back to Lightning Dust.  "You can now apologize to the young princess without fear of retribution.  I wish you luck in your endeavor."
"Th-th-thank you..." Lightning Dust muttered as she began to comprehend what Luna had just done.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Luna asked with court manner politeness.
"No," Lightning Dust answered as she stood up shakily, "No.  I don't think there is."  She began to walk towards the door, but stopped when she was reminded of something.  "Actually..." she said with a blush.  "No, no..."
"No please," Luna called out to her.  "Share with me.  I rarely have the chance to speak with a subject who is not afraid of me."
Still blushing, Lightning Dust turned around.  "Well..."  She looked down and away from the princess.  Her blush deepened to two strong spots of pure red on her cheeks.  "It's kinda embarrassing but I've always wanted to, just once, touch-"  Her eyes flicked towards Luna for a brief moment before the returned back to the ground, shutting tightly.  "The ethereal mane of the night princess."  Her blush deepened further, covering the entirety of her cheeks and muzzle in pure red.  The rest of her head and a short ways down her neck was still strongly tinted.
Her voice tightened.  "It's the closest I'll ever hope to get-"  She turned, eyes still closed tightly, and showed her star encrusted cutie mark.  She inhaled deeply to get the courage to force the last few words out.  "To touching a star."
Silence filled the room for a long moment.   Lightning Dust's heart felt like it was going to jump right out of her chest.  She was more embarrassed that she said it than when her aunt discovered she had worked at a restaurant to make ends meet.  She could swear she was shaking as much as Keen Wit was when she discovered his dream.
Despite it all, she had no idea why she felt like this or why she had started jumping around randomly.  This wasn't all that big a deal, was it?  The royal sisters probably had worse requests from fan mobs than what she had just asked.  Princess Luna was probably offended, but she wouldn't punish her for just asking.  So why was she so tense about it?
Lightning Dust could hear Luna speak slowly and clearly as the night princess stepped closer, "Never, in all my centuries-"  Something soft brushed up on the side of her face that was turned away from Luna.  It pressed against Lightning Dust's cheek, guiding her to look towards the princess.  "-have I heard such-"  As Lightning Dust opened her eyes she could see the princess looking at her straight in the face.  The princess's eyes were on the verge of tears and her mouth was curled up in an almost quivering smile. "-a flattering request."
Looking in ever so brief a glance, Lightning Dust could see that it was Luna's ethereal mane that had guided her head to attention.  Returning her now widened eyes to the princess, she saw the princess give a brief motion which was something of a nod and something of a gesture towards her mane that was coming forward from its usual place of rest.
As Lightning Dust picked up a quivering hoof and ever so slowly moved it towards the mane that glimmered like the night sky, she suddenly understood.  It wasn't something she had dedicated her life to but it was still a special moment.  Just as when she worked hard on making the school play a success all those years ago, the magic was in the experience of making the dream real and not simply the act.  Just Princess Luna being there, acknowledging her simple wish and that it was important enough to the princess for her to bother to grant it, was worth more than if Luna let her touch her mane a thousand times after this.
With her hoof finally making contact, she realized what she was feeling.  Not even when her aunt let her stay in Ponyville did she feel this.  What she felt right now and when she first saw Luna in the flesh was something she hadn't felt in years.  It was pure, raw, childish glee.
"Thank you," Lightning Dust said sincerely as Luna's mane slipped back to its normal flowing position behind her head.
"I have business I must attend to shortly."  Luna said to Lightning Dust then calmly directed her to leave.
Lightning Dust went to leave Sugar Cube corner then stopped at the door and looked back at the moon princess in a blissful daze.  "Thank you again, for everything."

As Lightning Dust wandered out onto the street she felt like a million bits.  She decided to look for Princess Twilight Sparkle right away to apologize.  "Nothing could ruin my day now."
As she wandered only a few steps more, she heard a filly scream at the top of her lungs.  "There you are!"  Lightning Dust turned to see Twist running towards her at full speed.  "Giiive hiiiiim-"  Twist jumped towards Lightning Dust to attack.  As she moved through the air towards her, Lightning Dust could see Twist's eyes overflowing with tears.  "-Baaaaaaack!"
With her daze, Lightning Dust was bowled over by Twist's landing.  With the filly on top of Lightning Dust, Twist began punching her as hard and as fast as she could.  If it weren't for the fact the little filly was clearly winded, Lightning Dust would have been majorly hurt from the blows.  Instead, Lightning Dust managed to roll with the punches and receive only a few bruises as the filly kept screaming, "Give him back! Give him back!"
Only a few seconds after the punches started, Twist was suddenly lifted off of Lightning Dust by an equally winded Wayside.  The filly was still screaming, "Give him back!  Give him back!" as she continued to direct her futile swings at Lightning Dust.
No longer in a daze, Lightning Dust stood up again.  She stared at the filly in Wayside's forelegs who started to come down from her fit.  "Give him back!"  Her forehooves slowed their swings as she realized she couldn't reach her target.  "Give him back.  Give him back..."  She finally broke down in a sob and Wayside set her on the ground.  "Give Keen Wit baaa-"  Hic.  "-aaack..."
Lightning Dust looked at Wayside looking back at her with a face of sheer urgency.  "Lightning Dust.  I know you are in the middle of taking care of something, but please, I really need you to come with me right now."


* * *


Twist sat on Keen Wit's bed while Lightning Dust sat right next to her on the floor at the foot of the bed.  Keen Wit had been explaining his heart out to Twist, "-and that's why I need the wind thread.  It grabs the air much in the same way a pegasus wing does to generate power for different stuff.  It's not the same thing as wing magic, but if I reverse the flow of magic and feed it with my-" He swallowed a lump in his throat and gestured up to his hat. "It'll have the same effect.
"Lightning Dust didn't make me want to do this.  She was just going to teach me once I get them built since-"  He paused for a moment then looked up at his dad, who sat beside him.
"Since I can't," Wayside said as he opened the wings that could barely keep himself aloft.
"It's what I've been hiding in that chest."  He pointed to the chest under the Wonderbolt poster as he stood under his friend's glare.  "I-I wanted to do this even before we met Twist."
Twist looked from the chest to Keen Wit to Wayside, then intensified her glare as she looked at Lightning Dust.  She returned her attention to Keen Wit, still holding the glare.  Keen Wit waited for her response for a long moment.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?  I thought I was your best friend." She quickly glanced at Lightning Dust again with the same glare then jumped down off the bed and walked up to him.  "Why did you tell her but not me?"
He went red with embarrassment at this as he pawed the floor with his hoof.  "Lightning Dust only found out about it by accident.  I couldn't tell anypony or..."  He looked at his friend straight in the face and explained it all in two words.  "Diamond Tiara."
Lightning Dust didn't understand what he was talking about, but Twist apparently did.  "Oh!" the filly exclaimed with a long pause of thought to follow.  Finally getting rid of her angry face, she picked up a hoof and curiously pressed it against his hat where his horn was hidden.  She swung his horn back and forth for a moment as if making sure it really was there.
"Could you please stop that?" he asked as he closed an eye while his head bobbed back and forth with the motion.
She gave a soft giggle and let go.  "Enough said.  Let's go play."  She turned to leave the room.  Keen Wit's face beamed as he followed Twist outside.
Lightning Dust looked at Wayside once the two children left the room.  "Diamond Tiara?"
"She's a filly at his school," Wayside explained.  "From what I've been told, she loves to be mean and tease her classmates about anything she can."
"Oh."  Lightning Dust remembered a scared little colt in the park with an ice cream covered muzzle.  "Enough said."





Serra was pouring some tea for the three stallions that had gotten a little too wild in her reception area when she had reopened the inn.  She smiled as she looked through the kitchen door to see her son following his friend outside, laughing.  "Now if you boys want to rent a room I will still let you, but you will respect my inn and my family during your stay or you will pay the price."
Sledge and Silver Tongue had a real smack down and could barely breathe.  Blackjack knew when to give up and had gotten significantly less hurt.  "Yes mam," he responded for the three of them.  The other two could only nod in agreement.





Several hours later at Sweet Apple Acres, Lightning Dust had apologized to the princess and all the other ponies that she had put in danger, save Pinkie who was not present for reasons unknown to Lightning Dust.
"That's enough Dash," Applejack stated calmly.
"Aww, come on you guys!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.  "She almost killed all of you."
Applejack's eyebrows furled.  "That's enough Rainbow Dash."
"And she's apologized for it," Princess Twilight answered.
"You guys would just let somepony that almost hurt Twiligh-"
"I said that is enough!" Applejack yelled at her winged friend.
"But she-"
"She's paid her debt!"  This put Rainbow Dash at a loss for words.  "Even if Luna hadn't pardoned her she was still kicked out of the Wonderbolts.  We all know she's trying to get back in, but odds are she'll never be able to go back.  That course can't be passed.  That's punishment enough."
Lightning Dust did her best not to look hurt by the statement that Applejack had made in her defense.  It was basically true.  She faced that fact on a daily basis almost every time she opened her wings.  Even so, it still hurt every time.  Nopony had earned a good enough score to pass.  Even second round cadets that out performed Wonderbolts and broke records still hadn't passed.
"Besides," Applejack called in a much softer tone, "I think I know the real reason you're being so hard on her."  Rainbow Dash pulled her head back in worry.  "You were a part of that twister too.  You still blame yourself, don't you?"
The weather pony came down from her hovering to sit on the ground in the barn.  Her ears went limp and her eyes winced up in pain as her friend hit a bull's-eye.  "Ya need to understand,"  Applejack said as came up to her friend with a slow walk.  "We've forgiven.  We've forgiven both y'all."
The apple seller gave Rainbow Dash a tight hug, causing Rainbow Dash to blush in embarrassment from it before she slowly gave a reluctant hug back.
"Ya just need to forgive yourself already girl," Applejack said sympathetically.  The hug lasted for several seconds until Rainbow Dash started tapping her overwhelmingly strong friend rapidly to let go so she could breathe.
"Well forgiven for the tumble at least," a well groomed, white fashion pony stated after the special moment was over.  "I still cannot believe you would mix up me with that ill groomed Vinyl."
"Hey!  All I remember was a white unicorn with Fluttershy."  Lightning Dust pointed at the pony she barely knew from Wayside's other department.
"Her coat is most certainly not white!" the fashion pony stated bitterly.  "It has a distinctive tint of yellow with all the smoke and fog from her work.  It might be mistakable for a pale cream after she's taken a thorough shower, but-"  The fashion pony glared at her intently.  "If you ever want to step a single hoof in my boutique, you will learn your shades."
"Well forgiven or not," Rainbow Dash snarked at Lightning Dust as she recovered from the embarrassment, "I still don't like you."  She jumped into the air and flew off.
After giving a sigh, Lightning Dust snarked back to the empty barn door, "The feeling is mutual.  See you at work tomorrow."
As Lightning Dust headed towards the barn door to leave, she turned to the young alicorn that sat on the hay.  "Thank you again for forgiving me princess."
"Keen Wit really likes you," Princess Twilight Sparkle stated with a grin forming at the corners of her face.  "At times I can hardly get him to focus on his studies when he's rambling about you.  He would never let me live it down if I didn't, but please-"  She rolled her eyes.  Standing up, she walked to Lightning Dust. "I don't like being called princess when I'm in Ponyville with my friends.  Could you just call me Twilight?"
"Th-thank you, Twilight," Lightning Dust corrected herself with a twitch to her smile.
"Besides, it wasn't all that hard," Twilight added casually.  They started heading for the door of the barn together.  "I mean, Luna must have been really impressed with you to fly all the way back to Canterlot to write up a pardon."
"Back to Canterlot?"  Lightning Dust looked at her confused.
"Of course.  A pardon has no official weight unless it has been written down and submitted to the Canterlot courts for archiving."
"Oh!" Lightning Dust softly exclaimed as her eyebrows shot up and her head quickly turned back to leave.  She moved out as quickly as she could without being suspicious.  Despite not exerting herself, Lightning Dust could faintly hear her rising pulse in her ears.  Princess Luna hadn't left Sugar Cube Corner.





"We're back," Mrs. Cake called.  "Sorry for being so late.  The doctors were hesitant to give them the medicine.  They had to inspect your message to make sure it was from you."  The twins rested in their hampers that were around Mrs. Cake's back, drugged into a much needed dreamless sleep.
"That is alright Mrs. Cake," Luna responded with tired eyes as she lifted her horn from one last sealed container, which Pinkie promptly took and hid away as if it were golden chocolate.  "It took longer on my part as well but if it means their safety-"  She looked at the foals as they slept.  "-I will do what is needed to protect my subjects."
"The nightmare forces trying to seed themselves in our little Pound and Pumpkin."  Mr. Cake shook his head.  "They have no shame."
"An eternal force to be held in check every generation."  Zecora came forward out of the corner of the room.  "The tide of terrors stemmed back to prevent devastation.  Careful each step must be in the eternal dance, to insure neither joys nor woes be pushed off balance."  She looked at the foals affectionately and carefully pushed a hoof against a cheek of each of them in turn, just enough to cause discomfort in their sleep.  "Fears and pain have a purpose in life."  She then took out a fine hoof stitched blanket and placed it on the table.  "But hope must counterbalance such strife."
"Rest now dear children," Luna called sweetly to the foals as she levitated them out of their hampers and placed them on the blanket.  "Though bad dreams will come again in time, never again will they be forced upon you by the nightmare realm.  My blessing will see to that."
Luna came up to the foals and wrapped the blanket that Zecora had provided around them with her magic.  "With Ponyville so close to the proximity of their latest encounters with our world their grip on the minds of the locals is stronger than most."  Her horn glowed as she set it ever so delicately on the infant pegasus colt's forehead.  Magic washed over him as Luna gave him her blessing.  "The adults of Ponyville have grown in resolve and can resist their pull, but the little ones still need protecting."  She then moved to unicorn filly and repeated the process.  "Today I have seen that they are still seeking ponies with natural ability.  Pound and Pumpkin are both bound for greatness."
She gently wrestled her horn out of the grip of the child, who had grabbed it with her mouth out of reflex while still asleep.  "It is a good thing Zecora saw the signs and contacted me.  Coupled with Zecora's regimen, my blessings will help them recover from the seeds I have purged."  She looked out at the door.  "I will take care of the rest of the town's little ones at the celebration."
"It is good to know they will be able to sleep peaceably again," Mrs. Cake responded, "But wouldn't it be better to get the rest of the town taken care of now, before they harm somepony else's foal?"
Luna answered them with a heavy sigh, "No.  I have tried in the past and it was not pretty.  They feed off uncertainty and it would do more harm than good to alert the townsfolk.  I can do it more effectively if I integrate the procedure into the holiday events to keep from fears rising."  
Luna looked at Zecora with gratitude.  "Zecora has taken care of the littlest of the little ones with the hospital's aid.  Her talents will also keep more seeds from spreading to anymore newcomers or newborns.  Even if the efforts of the nightmare realm are refocused into the other seeds that are too firmly rooted for Zecora to take care of, they won't be able to do any harm by the time I purge them tomorrow night."
Luna cast a simple illusion to disguise herself and her honor guards then left Sugar Cube Corner.  She thought back on the events that day as she waited for her chariot to land.

Shortly before the chariot landed, Luna saw Lightning Dust trotting down the other side of the street.  The pegasus moved with such haste that it was obvious something must have scared her at some point, yet the young mare's face had an unmistakable look of accomplishment to it.  "It looks like Twilight accepted your apology," Luna muttered softly to herself as she felt a trickle of nostalgia form a small but in-suppressible smile.  "It feels wonderful, doesn't it?"
A royal chariot, also disguised in illusion, landed in front of Luna to take her back to Canterlot.  "Several hours of sleep lost today, but the crisis has been averted."  She climbed into the chariot as her smile began to grow bitter.  "...For once."





Back inside, Mrs. Cake was marveling at the baby blanket Zecora had given Pound and Pumpkin.  "This is simply magnificent.  What do you call this material?"
"In your tongue, it would be called cloud cotton," Zecora answered the mother's question as if she knew it was coming.  "In its embrace, a day's woes are easily forgotten.  Only small blankets can be woven of it at best.  Rare is the delicate plant found in the right state to harvest."
Zecora came over and smiled as she saw the foals sleeping soundly in the blanket's embrace.   "When I found an unheard of amount, right away I knew.  The blanket was not meant for one-"  She looked up at the mother with a knowing smile. "-but two."
Mrs. Cake gave a small titter and a blush.  "You probably say that to all the twins you've given blankets to."
Zecora gave a stern look at the mother as she shifted her attention fully to her.  "One should know, this art is not easily done.  Aside from today, I have given only one."  The zebra's eyes cut into the mother like daggers.  "In my homeland, the greater forces send such blessings for a reason.  To give them like candy is as foul as treason."
After reprimanding the pony about the seriousness of such a gift, she took a moment to close her eyes and calm herself.
"I, I'm so sorry. I didn't-"  Mrs. Cake was cut short by the zebra raising a hoof.
"I am the one needing to apologize.  I should not have put the fire in my eyes."  Zecora opened her eyes again with a subtle pain in them.  "The first blanket I wove was for my unborn brother, or so my young self had thought," she began to explain.  "But fate meant it for another.  When he was born dead-"  The healer looked down at the floor.  "I was distraught.  I learned the blankets are to be made then given, not the other way around.  My teacher told me in time, the right foal would be found."
She looked back up with a subtle happiness hidden behind her watering eyes.  "In my travels I found the child of one worried with the need to provide.  To her I gave the blanket and told her to take hardships in stride."  Zecora paused for several moments to clear the tears from her eyes before finally succeeding.  "To some, remembering a foal you only saw for a moment might seem silly, but I will never forget that beautiful pegasus filly."
> Chapter Fourteen: Humility Blossoms
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mercy!?" Princess Luna exclaimed back at the three pegasi that cowered in the dimly lit jail cell.  "After thine shameless actions thou dost not deserve mercy!"
The princess of the night steadied her breathing and looked at them one at a time.  The fire in the princess's eyes did not diminish, yet despite her rage a bitter sympathy slowly grew around the edges.  "But mercy I shall grant.  You will not die for your transgressions, however!"
Her horn began to 'glow' with a dark energy.  "You still have no remorse for what you did save your fear of punishment.  Therefore the punishment you receive will aid in this."  The dark energy grew stronger.  Three bolts of blood red lightning shot out of her horn and struck all of them on the forehead simultaneously.  A crescent moon glowing in the same blood red appeared around their left eyes, almost fully encompassing them.
"You now carry the opposite of my blessing.  It will feed off your misdeeds and grow."  As she said this she backed away from the jail cell with the rage settling down to a look of contempt.  "My curse will draw bad dreams to your resting hours like moths to a flame and give you the fear you so desperately need.  The more you feed the curse the worse the dreams will become."
She turned to leave.  "I suggest you learn now and do not try to hurt anypony like this again."  Her voice turned deathly cold.  "I do not think you would survive the backlash."  With this she left the jail.

Arriving at the hospital a short time later Princess Luna spoke to the doctor in charge, "How is she?"
"Other than she'll survive, it's too soon to say," Doctor Pulse answered soberly.  "They did a real number on her."
From the other side of the hall, they heared Nurse Redheart trying to comfort somepony, "Sweetie Drops, I'm sorry but she needs rest and visiting hours were already over when she came in.  I can't let you stay any longer."  The nurse escorted a shaken BonBon from a patient's room to the entrance of the hospital wing.  "You can come back in the morning.  I'll take care of Lyra until then."  She stopped at the nurse's station to turn the coffee pot on.  "You have my word."





The previous day.
"But mom!" a filly cried out.
"No buts," the filly's mother interjected while not looking away from the pot of sauce that she was cooking.  "Just go out there and get it cleaned up."
For the umpteenth time that afternoon, the filly walked back out of the kitchen with the same result.  With the needed cleaning tools on a small maintenance cart, she went over to the mess that she knew they had made on purpose.  She grumbled under her breath, "The customer is never wrong."  She looked at the upside down plate of noodles on the floor that she had been ordered to clean up.  "But I always am."
As she approached the mess, a colt from a nearby table blew a party horn right in the filly's ear.  She winced away from it and flattened her ear in an attempt to dampen the noise.  She held off the desire to retaliate in fear of being punished again.
Once to the mess on the floor, she set out her equipment and started to get to work.  She placed the cart between herself and as many of the annoying party animals that she called classmates as she could then focused on the mess itself.
She was about finished with the mess when a drink suddenly got spilled all over her back from one of the fillies that could still see her.  Her wings and uniform became soaked in sticky soda.  "I hate parties."  She scowled at the floor as she cleaned up the new mess.
Once she had everything but herself cleaned up, she started pushing the cart back to the cleaning supply area for the third time since the party began.  She did her best to avoid eye contact as she moved between the tables.  One of the ponies next to her spoke out meanly.  "An earth pony shouldn't be wearing that."

"Huh?" Lightning Dust's mind returned to the present.  There were three pegasi stallions leaning on the schoolyard fence next to her as the colts and fillies played at recess.
"I said an earth pony shouldn't be wearing that," the nearest pegasus repeated as he pointed to Pinkie Pie.
Lightning Dust looked over at the two ponies that were finishing up the face painting of every filly and colt at the school to welcome Princess Luna back for Nightmare Night.  Applejack wasn't painting but instead coordinated the lines to make sure the other two ponies had a steady flow of foals without making everypony waste their entire recess standing in line.  Lyra was in her second hoof chicken costume while Pinkie Pie was in a Wonderbolt uniform.  It was clearly a low grade fake but could be mistaken for one at a glance.
"Only pure bred pegasi have the sheer power and speed to be Wonderbolts," he continued to rant.  "Even if it is a costume, anypony else wearing that is a disgrace."
"Hey!" Twist called out from the teeter totter near the fence.  She got off as soon as she hit the ground—abruptly dropping her partner to the ground as she did—and ran up to the stallions with the same glare she had given Lightning Dust the previous day.  "It takes more than a pair of wings to be a Wonderbolt!" she yelled at them.
The pegasus that had been speaking was about to retort back to her when one of the other pegasi cut him off.  "Let's go, Blackjack.  We don't want any trouble with her."  With how he spoke Lightning Dust couldn't figure out if he was talking about Twist or somepony else.
After they walked off Twist looked Lightning Dust square in the face.  "And you."  Her glare was intense with anger, but not with the same kind of anger as she had before.  "You had better teach him right."  With this she gave Lightning Dust the same glare for a long moment then walked off slowly.
Lightning Dust, more touched than scared by twist's threat, opened her wing to look at it.  'Purebred power, it takes more than wings...'  She put her wing back and shook her head.  "I have enough to think about right now."  She looked back at Lyra, as she and her pink friend continued painting crescent moons on the school foals' faces.
Lightning Dust then took a bite of the food that she had been holding for a while now.  'Like why I don't like wild and crazy ponies like them.'  As she looked at them she could see they were laughing and having fun in their task.  Though they were being a bit crazier than Lightning Dust liked, they weren't doing it at anypony's expense.  'And why I was as eccentric as those nut cases when I saw Princess Luna.'

She leaned there on the fence, pondering for a few minutes as she ate before the shadow of a pegasus appeared on the ground at her side.  "What do you need this time Rainbow Dash?" she said with a huff of irritation.  She didn't even turn around to see who it was hovering behind her.
"Sassaflash had to leave work early in the shift to start maternity leave," Rainbow Dash stated with as much contempt in her voice as she could get away with.  "All the other reserves have already been called in to prepare for tonight and there's nopony else Sunny Rays can call in to replace her.  So she's falling behind."  She moved in front of Lightning Dust to look her in the face bitterly.  "As much as I hate to admit it, you're the strongest wing I have to send over.  Head over to the east end and help Sunny Rays' half of the squad as soon as lunch is finished."
"Got it," Lightning Dust said with just a hint of snark as she grabbed another piece of food from her lunch pail.  Just as she took a bite she saws Keen Wit wave at her from the painting booth.  She waved back and shouted as best she could with food in her mouth, "Looking good!"
Seeing this, Rainbow Dash sniped at her as she flew off to get back to work, "Boss's pet."
Lightning Dust swallowed her food.  "That went better than expected," she muttered then took another bite.

Lyra finished Keen Wit's crescent moon then ushered in the last filly in line as he left her booth.  Pinkie finished her last crescent moon as well.  As soon as she put the brush down, she dashed off to play with the school foals.  With no more ponies to tend to in line, Applejack came over to the fence where Lightning Dust was leaning.  "She still gettin' on your nerves?"
Lightning Dust looked at the Applejack's concerned face for a moment then returned her focus to her meal.  "Rainbow Dash has backed off a little.  I think she's more focused on getting the weather in order for tonight."  She took the final bite of her lunch and started chewing.
"I wasn't talkin' about Rainbow Dash," Applejack corrected her as she tossed her front legs up to lean on the fence next to Lightning Dust from the other side.  "She'll come around on her own in good time now that we got all that settled.  I was talkin' about her."  Applejack threw her head back to gesture towards Lyra still sitting in the booth.  "Sometimes she's calm and collected.  Other times her energy rivals Pinkie's."  Applejack closed her eyes for a moment and gave a huff of laughter through a smile.  "Both of them are great ponies to have as a friend, but they make terrible roommates.  I have to admire your spirit for managin' to bunk with her for this long."
Lightning Dust looked at her as she smiled weakly at the unexpected compliment and swallowed the last of her food.  "It isn't easy putting up with her."  She looked over at Keen Wit playing in the sand with Twist then looked down at the ground to hide a growing smile.  "But I have my reasons for doing it."
Applejack continued as soon as she felt Lighting Dust was done talking.  "I also heard through the grapevine that you have been on the lookout for a new place to stay so that you didn't have to bunk with her anymore."  Applejack cocked her head sideways.  "Any luck?"
"There aren't many places for rent in this town."  Lightning Dust raised her head as her smile faded.  "What few there are, are pretty expensive.  I've been saving back some money for a deposit in case a place I could rent popped up, but no luck so far."
Applejack smiled at this and gave a hearty giggle.  "Then it looks like you might just be the pony I'm lookin' for."  Lightning Dust looked at Applejack funny.  "You see I was hesitant to ask you before with you bein' afraid of Twilight an all, but now that you finally got that taken care of, I figured I'd throw you the offer."
Applejack pulled her head back upright and put on her business face.  "I talked to Brayburn about you a while back.  He said he didn't like how you lied about bein' an experienced apple bucker-"  Lightning Dust went a little red at this.  "-But he also said that he realized you weren't bad for a first timer after he tallied up the buckets.
"Sweet Apple Acres could always use an extra part time farm hoof around to help with a few of the day to day chores, but we can't just put an ad in the paper.  I ain't got time to interview everypony like Wayside does.  So I just keep an eye out for a good worker that could fit the bill."
The apple seller pushed off the fence and returned her front hooves to the ground.  "If you can't find anyplace better, and if you don't mind takin' a day or two off from bein' a weather pony to help during planting and harvest, then you're welcome to bunk with us.  No charge.  No deposit."
Lightning Dust Looked at Applejack with wide eyes and an open mouth curling up at one side.  "That was...  Unexpected," she said with pleasant surprise.
"So I can take that as a yes?"
Lightning Dust's expression faded as fast as it came.  She looked at Lyra who had joined Pinkie and the school foals to play.  Lyra jumped as hard as she could off the swing only to land landed face first in the sand.  She spit out some sand in good spirit and picked herself back up to return to playing.
'Is she really that bad?' 
Lightning Dust glanced back at Applejack then stared back at the ground.  "I'll think about it."





A few minutes before sunset, Keen Wit and a few of his classmates were getting worried as their family members from the weather team reserves hadn't arrived yet.
"Hey Keen Wit!" Featherweight called out to him.  "What's taking my mom and dad so long?  Isn't the weather team done yet?  The summer sun celebration didn't take nearly this long to get ready."  It wasn't uncommon for the school foals to look to Keen Wit when they were wondering about anything involving his father's departments.
Keen Wit pointed up to the clouds.  "All that took was a sunny day.  Nightmare Night takes special cloud cover.  On top of that my dad still hasn't finished restocking the reserves.  So he doesn't have as many wings up there as last year."  He looked at the horizon.  "But from what I can see they look like they're about done.  Here comes one of the squads now."
Featherweight fluttered his wings in excitement as he turned around to see his parents come in for a landing.  Most of the other foals expecting their parents in followed suit.  As the parents landed, their foals ran up to greet them.
As the ponies are greeted by their foals, Keen Wit looked around expectantly.  Looking up at a still hovering Rainbow Dash he asked, "Where's Lightning Dust?  Wasn't she in your squad?"
Rainbow Dash's face turned sour at hearing the question.  She looked at him briefly then flew to the edge of the crowd.  Ignoring him, she started talking to the three fillies that called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Seeing his dilemma, Featherweight's mother chimed in apologetically, "Lightning Dust was sent over to the other squad to help them catch up.  They were so far behind they might not make it before the festivities start."
Keen Wit's face grew sullen at the news.  "I see..."  He looked around weakly at his classmates.
"Well we better get going."  Featherweight's father said.  With this, the all the children that had been waiting for their family members headed out to collect candy from door to door.  The small crowd turned around the corner from the agreed meet up point for the weather team's families.  Keen Wit lingered behind for a moment to look at the sky eagerly one last time.  Turning around glumly, he caught up with the crowd as the sun finally set.


* * *


After gathering up just a little more than enough for the candy offering to the statue of Princess Luna's old alter ego, Nightmare Moon, Keen Wit broke off from the group.  While sucking on a piece of candy he headed to the square to wait quietly for Princess Luna's arrival.  He hoped Lightning Dust would find him soon.
Having your parents celebrate their anniversary on a holiday meant for ponies his age could be a real downer at times, but Keen Wit could never bring himself to disrupt their special night, not after 'that'.  Several minutes passed by as he watched the booths near the square finish setting up with growing boredom.
"Hey, aren't you the inn keeper's kid?" Keen Wit heard somepony nearby say.  Turning to the sound of the noise, he saw the three pegasi that had rented a room from his mom last night.
"Ya.  What did you need?" Keen Wit asked without fear as he saw the sense of respect in their faces that his mom put there yesterday.
"Well," the leader asked in confusion as he sat down next to Keen Wit, "We were wondering, what's with everypony?  They all seem to know Nightmare Moon is coming again this year, but none of them are frightened."
Keen Wit looked at them funny and thought hard for a moment.  When it finally dawned on him he exclaimed, "Oh!  Right!  You guys aren't from around here."  He explained it to them as best he could, "Nightmare Moon is gone.  Luna's not a bad pony.  She's actually pretty fun, once you get to know her.  We all lost our fear of her last year.  I mean sure, she can be scary sometimes, but she doesn't want to hurt anypony anymore."
The three pegasi look at each other funny for a few moments before the large one shrugged.  "Well, all the dare really said was I had to stay standing when she comes.  This just makes it easier I guess."
The leader turned back to Keen Wit.  "Could I ask you something else about this town?"
Being kind of bored from waiting, Keen Wit humored him.  "Sure."
"What's with all the mixed race couples in this town?"
"Huh?"  Keen Wit looked at him confused.
"I don't mean to offend you of course," the pegasus corrected himself, raising his hooves to wave them defensively.  "I got nothing against you.  Earth pony half breeds are fine, but any other half breed...  It's kinda weird."
Keen Wit began to get nervous.  "What do you mean?"
The pegasus sat back and scratched his ear.  "How can I explain it?  Sure, they have wings or horns, but they don't really have the ability to use them right.  Their blood is watered down and weak.  I mean take the Wonderbolts for example-"





Lightning Dust had finally gotten off work just as the festivities were starting.  The sun had completely set a while ago and the school foals had already gathered at the square for Princess Luna's arrival, who was due at any moment.  Out of respect of the princess, she would have to wait until after the ceremony to find Keen Wit.  She wasn't expected to be there and she already had her special moment with Princess Luna.
In the meantime, she was searching around the booths out of eyeshot of the square.  With a small array of treats she knew he would like already in tow, she came around to the Cake family's pastry stand.  "How are the twins feeling Mr. Cake?  Did Zecora manage to fix them up?" she asked as she started to browse the treats he had on display.
"They're doing much better now.  My wife is at home with them tonight just in case."
Lightning Dust looked at him funny.  "So you're running the stand by yourself?"
"Sadly yes.  I offered Keen Wit a chance to help out for some extra money-"  He shrugged his shoulders as lightning Dust picked out a pastry.  "But he said he didn't need it anymore.  He wouldn't tell me why."
All of a sudden a large wave of illuminated energy swept the streets from the direction of the square.  Lightning Dust had to brace herself against the blast as it passed by her with a fair bit of resistance.  "What was that!?"  She exclaimed as she brought her head back up.
"Oh that." Mr. Cake said with calm demeanor.  "I guess there is no point in keeping it a secret now."  He retrieved the sticky pastry and placed it in a small to go container.  He then grabbed a few paper towels from the loose stack sitting on the stand and placed them in the box on top of the pastry.
"You remember who was in our shop yesterday right?"  As he waited on her to count out her bits for the treat, he looked around at the stall to determine what needed done next to keep it in order.  "Well she coordinated with me and a few others on the planning committee to give a little surprise for the school foals.  She has just given them her bles..."  He trailed off as he looked directly at Lightning Dust oddly.
"What?" she asked as she glanced behind herself.
"Oh, nothing!"  He said with a brief shake of the head.  He took the money and gave her the pastry.  "I thought I saw something, that's all.  As I was saying, that was her giving them her personal blessing as a thank you for welcoming her when most everypony else feared her."
Lightning Dust took the pastry and put it in the basket with a look of curiosity.  "Kinda like how I did."  With this she took the basket in her mouth and started towards the square.





"I... I never thought of it like that," a shaken Keen Wit said in response to the pegasus's explanation.
"Hey Sledge get ready!" the smaller pegasus that was still standing said.  "Here she comes!"
A dark chariot raced out of the sky led by a team of four bat wing ponies in the dark royal armor of Princess Luna.  As soon as the chariot came to a midair stop over top of town hall, a large cloaked figure opened her wings and descended gracefully down to the small stage that had been constructed for her.  Thunder cracked as she landed, illuminating the light in her eyes and teeth menacingly in the shadow of the rest of her form.  Everypony is taken back in fright for a brief moment before recovering as she slipped her hood back to reveal her face properly.
As the townsfolk of Ponyville gazed upon the princess of the night she was bombarded with the cheering applause of the town.  "Princess Luna!" they cheered in near unison.  Some of the younger ponies rushed up to the stage, but were stopped by her raised hoof.
"Citizens of Ponyville!" Princess Luna shouted. "Tonight we return to join in the festivities thou hast thrown in our honor.
"However, there shalt be another honoring that shall take place tonight before the festivities begin.  The children of thine community have welcomed us wholeheartedly into their company, and so we now return this spirit of welcome unto them."
Princess Luna raised her head as high as she could and pointed her horn straight up.  She gathered her energy for several seconds and released it in wave of light rivaling that of the moon's brilliance and color.  The light swept out across all the town in one big ring from Princess Luna's position on the small stand.  It passed by most everypony without harm or resistance, but caused the paint on every school foal to glow brightly.  As the magical light caught on the marked children, it slowed slightly and washed over them instead of simply passing by them.
"We hereby dub all in thine community whom hast been touched by our blessing our honorary children."  With this, she stepped down from the small stage and welcomed the wave of children that had even more energy than before.
As the three Cutie Mark Crusaders came up beside Keen Wit, one of them asked, "Does that mean were princesses too now?"
"No you idiots!" Diamond Tiara rudely snapped at them as she walked up from the other direction in utter rage.  "It just means we can visit her at the palace and call her our aunt if we want to."  As she passed by them she looked back at the crowd of foals surrounding Princess Luna with contempt.  "But what's the point in having it if everypony in school has it too?"  With a final huff of anger, she stomped off.
The three pegasi raised an eyebrow at Diamond Tiara's behavior.  "Well see you later kid.  Thanks for the explanations," the leader said as he got up and left with his two friends.  A moment or two later, Keen Wit got up and started heading to the edge of the festivities glumly.
"Hey Keen Wit, aren't you going to come greet our new aunt with us?" Scootaloo asked him.
He turned his head back to them.  "Na, the blessing was cool and all, and I like Princ... Auntie Luna as much as you do but..."  He turned his head back around.  "Nightmare Night has never really been my thing.  I'm giving my candy offering early and heading to bed."





"I mean really.  What was she thinking giving it to everypony?" Diamond Tiara ranted to Silver Spoon as they walked in no particular direction.
"I don't know.  I think it's kinda-" Silver Spoon tried to say while looking back at her friend before she bumped into a large pegasus.
"Hello there.  My name is Silver Tongue," another pegasus chimed in.  "Don't worry.  We don't mean you any harm.  It's just that you two look like you have just the skills we're looking for."





Lightning Dust was hovering above the crowd as she looked for Keen Wit with all the treats she had picked out for him in tow.  Slowly panning her vision across the crowd, she came face to face with a twitchy eyed Rainbow Dash hovering in front of her.
While giving Rainbow Dash the same cold stare back, Lightning Dust steadily lowered herself to about a foot off the ground then closed her wings to her side tightly.  She landed with a loud thud then set the basket down to speak clearly.  "Have you seen Keen Wit?" she flatly asked her rival.
Rainbow Dash glanced up behind Lightning Dust for a moment then returned her attention to her.  Speaking louder than necessary, she responded, "You mean the colt you hang out with just to get on our boss's good side and get away with whatever you want?  Nope."  She then flew off to rejoin her friends for the festivities.
"I don't hang out with him for that," Lightning Dust retorted back through her teeth.
"I know that Kid.  I'd see right through it if you were," a well groomed Wayside said as he and his equally well groomed wife came up behind her.  "I can tell her to-"
"No!  That's my fight.  I'll handle it my way."  Lightning Dust turned around and took a deep breath to calm herself.  "I know you wanted me to watch him tonight, but I got put on the second squad after-"
"I know," Wayside interrupted.  "You don't need to explain.  I'm the one that ordered her to the ground."
Lightning Dust looked around the crowd.  "But still."
"Don't worry about Keen Wit," Serra told her.  "Odds are he went home early.  He's done it for a couple years now."
"He was expecting me and I didn't come..."  Lightning Dust's cheek twitched as she looked at the basket of treats in thought.  "If it's alright with you, I'm gonna go apologize to him for not being on time."
"You know you're welcome at the inn anytime," Serra responded, "We trust you.   But really, it's not you sweetie.  You don't hav-"
Lightning Dust looked at her with a sharp concern in her eyes then picked up the basket again.  "Yesh I goo."





Back at the Plaza, Lyra and BonBon were enjoying the festivities together.
"We have a winner!" the pony running the booth said.  Lyra picked her prize and gave it to BonBon to hold.  BonBon opened up the giant, fake six sided die she was wearing as a costume and stored the teddy bear inside with her.
"Coming Through!"  Apple Bloom yelled as she and her two friends barreled through the street to the next activity they want to try.
"Apple Bloom!  Slow down!" Applejack yelled to her sister as she passed by.  Once the three fillies were out of sight, Applejack came up to BonBon.  After she shook her head in good spirit, she asked BonBon a rhetorical question, "What would you do to have that much energy again Sweetie Dro-"  Applejack cut herself off suddenly.
"Oh!  She would just wake up as Fruity or Mint, Applejack!" Lyra answered, hyped up on candy.
"Right..." Applejack half muttered, embarrassed.
"Applejack," BonBon called to her with a calm face.  "I'm a pony with four split personalities that were hypnotically induced as a filly and I am in a different one of them every time I wake up.  To top it off I'm wearing a giant die as a costume."  She smirked.  "It's alright.  It's a part of me now and I've accepted it.  No offense taken."
Applejack recovered and smiled through the embarrassment that she couldn't quite shake.
Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon came walking down the street of booths and started talking unusually loudly.  "Did you hear?  The Batwing pony guards that pulled Princess Luna's chariot are resting in the park."
"Ya.  One of them is even talking to ponies and answering questions about their wings."
Lyra looked at them wide eyed for only a brief moment.  The next, she had abandoned the booth she had been playing at and was racing towards the park.





Lightning Dust was sitting on Keen Wit's bed, talking to him.  "I had no idea that I reminded you of her.  Is that why you warmed up to me so fast?"
"Kinda..." Keen Wit answered then reached for another treat in the basket.  "The other part was..."  He couldn't quite get the last word out and shrank away from her slightly.  Instead, he took a big bite of his brownie and started chewing.
"I was in the Wonderbolt program."  She smiled at him with a hint of worry lingering in her tired eyes.  "And in a few weeks I'll be your flying teacher."
He swallowed.  "Yeah..."
"Hey Keen Wit."  She moved the basket away from the edge and scooted over to sit right next to him.  "Is something bothering you?  I mean aside from her."
Keen Wit glanced up at her for a moment then returned his gaze to the chocolate treat in his hooves.  "I don't think it's something you can help with."
Lightning Dust stared at him blankly when she heard those words.  He glanced up at her again then shrank away and shoved the rest of the brownie in his mouth.
She scooted way to give him some room then pushed the basket back next to him.  "Alright."  She got off the bed.  Making an indirect path to the door, she stopped in front of him on the bed and turned her head to face him. "But if there is something I can help with, tell me," she said with a warm tone.  "And thanks for understanding about tonight.  It means more to me than you know."
With a full mouth of food, he leaned forward and nuzzled his face up against hers in a quiet response.  As he leaned back again, a look of surprise could be seen on Lightning Dust's face.  He smiled at her for a moment as she slowly smiled herself.  She then gave a brief nuzzling gesture in the air back to him.
Finally swallowing, Keen Wit put the half empty basket of treats on the floor.  "Mom would kill me if I took anymore tonight.  I had better brush before I go to bed."  He jumped off his bed and headed over to the door of his private bathroom.
'Bed...' Lightning Dust thought to herself as the tiredness of the day's work returned to the front of her mind.  "Pity you can't sleep for both of us.  With all the candy Lyra's surely had tonight, I'm not gonna get to sleep until dawn," she thought out loud as she left the room.

In no hurry to get anywhere else that night, Lightning Dust leisurely walked out of his room and headed out of the inn.  Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, she heard Keen Wit call out to her.  "Hey Lightning Dust!"
She looked up to the top of the staircase and found Keen Wit come to the edge with his toothbrush still in his mouth.  "Did you need something else twerp?"
He walked down the stairs as fast as he could with caution.  Once at the bottom, he gestured her in close.
"Do you really think I have what it takes to fly with the Wonderbolts?"
She looked at him with a confused smile.  "I hope so.  Otherwise what chance do I have?"  Seeing him not quite convinced, she paused for a moment.
While looking into his worried eyes, she thought back on when her aunt spoke to her.  She repeated her aunt's words as best she could to him, "Bravery, teamwork and skill are the three things Wonderbolts focus on when they train."
Keen Wit cocked his head at her, not sure where she was going with this.
"We'll have to wait until you're in the air before I can judge the other two, but you are by far the bravest little twerp I have ever met.  Now go finish brushing before you drip on the carpet."
He smiled shakily at her then went back up to his room.  Lightning Dust finally left the inn.

Back in his bathroom, Keen Wit finished brushing and looked at himself in the mirror.  "In the air..."  With a frown on his face, he finally went to bed.





Lightning Dust wandered around the park aimlessly to kill time.  With Keen Wit in bed, she had no reason to join in the festivities herself anymore.
She passed by a bench and recognized it as the one her and Keen Wit had sat on when she first figured out his secret.  Having nothing better to do, she sat down and pulled up the next thing on her mental list of issues to contend with.
'I don't really mind Keen Wit when he manages to crawl out of his shell and get a little wild.  I guess being eccentric isn't all that bad when it's in good fun.  Maybe I'll learn to like ponies like Lyra someday.'
A loud noise from the festivities in the distance distracted her from her thoughts momentarily.  There was no telling what it was from where Lightning Dust sat.
'Ya, someday.  But for now it would be easier to handle a few predictable chores than her.  I think I'll try Applejack's offer on for size.'
With her decision made, Lightning Dust got up and continued on her aimless walk.

She stopped and leaned on the bridge that her aunt leaned on the night that she allowed her to stay in Ponyville.  She looked out on the town that she had started to call home.  "It really is a nice view, despite not being all that high up," she spoke softly to herself.  The festivities were far enough away from the park that it barely tarnished the view with all the buildings between the two places.
She saw a dim glowing around the side of the public restrooms at the far side of the park.  It wasn't quite bright enough to be seen from town with the street lights and sheer distance, but Lightning Dust could see it from her perch on top of the bridge after her eyes had adjusted to the dark.  "What's that?"


* * *


Once finally taking the long trek to see what the light was, Lighting Dust stumbled upon a horrifying scene.  Peeking around the corner with the darkness giving her cover, she could see three pegasi had cornered Lyra.  Not only that, but she recognized the formation.  It was a gang formation she had seen in Manehattan from time to time.  It was the South Wings signature formation for teaching non pegasi their place.  They were a gang of fairly prominent street flyers that hogged air for their own purposes.  Gangs like this were one of the reasons she had to use a gym to train growing up.  They weren't as tough as they looked individually, but a whole gang could be trouble.  So nopony bothered fighting back and just stayed to the ground.
Lightning Dust didn't like Lyra, but she didn't deserve this.  Lyra was no fighter and didn't have a chance.  The situation looked grim.  There wasn't somepony with an ace up their sleeve to defend this time.  There was no colt with a throat grabbing horn hidden in a crate.  Even if there was, that would only work on one opponent.   At that moment there were three to deal with.  The more Lightning Dust ran the scenarios through her head the more hopeless the situation seemed to become.
The gang shifted their formation.  Looking down at the cowering Lyra, the leader spoke up, "OK boys.  I think it's time we stop the dirt throwing and get real."
Lightning Dust could tell they were done with their shake down.  No real harm had come to Lyra just yet.  They were simply getting her terrified first and the scary part was next.  They were about to stone her until her horn broke, not caring how much they missed in the process.
With a rising pulse, Lightning Dust ran through her options again fast.  'It's too late to go for help now.  They'd be done with her by the time it came.'
"It's a shame we can't get your pink friend too," the leader stated as they approached their pre-collected rock piles.
'I don't think they have anymore gang buddies.  So I could take 'em, but not before one of them got Lyra.  I can't just guard her.  I'd be an open target myself.  What should I do!?  What's the right move?  How do I decide!?'
Lifting his first rock, the leader continued, "We'd teach her a lesson on wearing something not meant for an earth pony.  Only pure bred pegasi have what it takes to have the honor of wearing a Wonderbolt uniform."
Those last words rang in Lightning Dust's mind.  All of a sudden she was calm.  She knew what she had to do.  Memories flashed through her mind as she prepared to launch.
"When danger comes we are the ones that step up to meet it before the armies can mobilize."
She launched off the ground with so much force her flanks screamed in pain.
"We are the ones that put our lives on the line to buy civilians the time to flee to safety."
She barreled past the gang members with blinding speed and zoomed straight to her charge.
"When we don that uniform-"
She twisted sharply and landed protectively over her charge's cowering, curled up form.  Her hooves landed so hard that they sprayed up dirt on the wall of the building behind her.
"-the last thing that should be on our minds-"
Still looking down from the landing as the dirt settled she moved her wings around Lyra, completing the barrier.
"-is ourselves."
"Stay true to yourself and your path will be clear."  Lightning Dust slowly lifted her head.
'I may never wear the uniform again-'  Her head finished coming to attention.  'But I still choose the path of the Wonderbolt.'  Her eyes snapped open and focused on her nearest opponent.  In unbridled fury rivaling that of the Pepper clan's, she screamed at them, "Back off you bullies!"
> Chapter Fifteen: Wounds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Back off you bullies!" Lyra heard her roommate scream from directly above her.  She couldn't see anything as she lay there curled up with her eyes closed, but she had still felt Lightning Dust's hooves graze her coat on all sides when she landed.  She could also feel feathers brushing up against her gently.  Like a tiny candle in the darkness, the sensation of her protector's touch was barely there, yet it burned into her mind with the power of Celestia's sun.
"Well look at this!" her attacker retorted.  "We got ourselves a regular Daring Do here.  Still, that was an impressive stunt.  Boys?"
"Darn shame, a pure blood with that kind of speed.  Oh well."
"Ya, pure blood or not, nopony gets in the way of the South Wings."
"So be it.  Hope you enjoy living like an earth pony little miss hero, 'cause those wings are going bye-bye.  Change formation boys."
Lyra heard her attackers take to the air.  For several minutes she felt the weakening gusts of Lightning Dust's wings as she danced around her in rhythm with her attackers' movements.
As the fight above her raged on, Lyra soon felt something warm starting to drip on her.





Princess Luna was doing her best at the bobbing for apples game when she felt one of her children's blessings call out to her in pain.  Though it was meant to alert her to malevolent forces while dream-walking, it also worked in the waking world if the pony in trouble was in relativity close proximity to her.  It was faint but there.  It must have been just within range.  In the dream world she did not need to worry about distance and could be by their side in an instant, but in the waking world distance was time.  She needed to hurry.
Forfeiting the apple she just about had, she lifted her head from the basin and launched into the air.  Letting the call of her blessing guide her, she paid little attention to the land below as she soared through the air at her personal top speed.  Her loyal guards took note and came to her side within seconds.  No words needed spoken.  They knew what drove her and how to aid.  Once she knew a precise enough direction by the growing strength of her blessing's call, she ordered her guards ahead with a single gesture.





The fight grew quiet for a brief moment and Lightning Dust finally stopped moving, for the most part.  She seemed a little wobbly when she came to rest overtop Lyra.  Lyra heard one of the attackers spit something out. "You put up a good fight I'll give you that, but it's time to finish thi-what the?"  Lyra heard the sound of something else coming and landing near her on virtually every side.
"Touch a single hair more on our child and thou shalt be skinned alive!"
"Run!" one of the attackers called as multiple sets of hooves turned around in haste.
"Thou shalt be dealt with later!"  A faint humming of a spell could be heard then Lyra ceased to hear the movement of her attackers.
She heard something approach on the ground with haste.  "Stay awake Lightning Dust!  Stay with me!"
Lightning Dust's hooves brushed against Lyra limply as she was levitated up.  Finally daring to open her eyes, Lyra saw Princess Luna levitating her protector with a spell that had an unusually potent aura with multiple shades.  Luna quickly turned away and Lyra began to panic when she saw her protector being taken away from her.

The rest of that night was a blur to Lyra as she followed the floating form of her protector to the hospital as if her life depended on it.  A nurse's aide had to restrain her from following Lightning Dust into the operating room.  Hours later, Lightning Dust came out of operation and was set in a critical care bed.  Lyra ignored even BonBon's pull and curled up as close to her protector's bed as the hospital staff would allow then became unresponsive.





Several days later.  "Sledge you're a genius!"  Silver Tongue said to the pegasus laying on the jail bed.  "Finding a loophole in the curse!  You'll fit right in the gang when you get back."
"Ya, I guess."  Sledge rubbed the area surrounding his left eye in thought.  "It's a shame you guys won't be coming back with me."
"Well getting caught breaking parole has its price," Silver Tongue responded sadly for a moment before smirking.  "But knowing that Lightning Dust mare is gonna pay after all sure will help the time go by."
"Still, it's kinda funny," Blackjack thought out loud, pondering on the bench.  "You don't think she could be..."
"What!?" Silver Tongue responded skeptically.  "No way.  Not possible.  Uh-Uh.  Nope."





Lightning Dust was sitting in her hospital bed after being moved from intensive care.  Lyra had come out of her daze the day before and reluctantly went home with BonBon.  The way her former roommate acted when she left still made her laugh a day later.
"But I don't want to go home BonBon," Lightning Dust repeated to herself out of boredom.  "They sure are a real pair of nut cases."  A tingle in her throat cut her laugh short with a minor coughing fit.
"Miss Dust?" Doctor Pulse called to her as he opened the door.  "It's almost time.  How are you feeling?"
Lightning Dust moved her bandaged wings forward and wrapped them in a gentle hug.  "Nervous, and the throat's still itchy from the tube."
"Looks like I owe you a drink after all then."  He pulled out a juice carton from his coat and put the straw in for her.  "I'll get another at lunch."  He gave her the drink.
As she let go of her wings to guzzle the drink down, the doctor continued.  "There are a few ponies waiting for you.  Did you want to see them before or after the examination?"
She finished the drink with a small gasp.  "Who?"
"Applejack, Wayside and his boy."
Lightning Dust looked at her empty carton for a moment.  She looked back at her wings then turned her attention to the bin on the far side of the room.  She threw the carton.  It bounced against the wall above the bin and almost missed the bin itself.  "During."
"What?"
"During if you don't mind."  Lightning Dust looked back at the doctor.  "I'm no good at explaining stuff like this.  It's best if they hear it the same time I do."
The doctor looked at her funny.  "I can do that I suppose.  It's just, I thought you would want some privacy."
She looked back at her bandaged wings again.  "Wayside needs to know what's going on with me.  So does Applejack and to be honest..."  She looked down for a moment.  With turmoil coming to the surface she looked back at the doctor.  "Don't tell anypony, but I just know I'm gonna need to hug that little twerp."





An air taxi chariot landed at the outskirts of Ponyville.  "Bulgh... I hate flying," the dark coated unicorn muttered to herself as she got off.  "Here."  She pulled out a few currency gems worth a fair amount of bits each, from her saddle bag.  She gave them to the two pegasi that were pulling the taxi.  "That should cover the meter for a few hours.  If I'm not back here by the time those are up, I'll take the train back."
The unicorn looked out on the rural town in front of her with anger.  "Sledge, you had better not be lying to me or you're in-"  Her horn pulsed with energy.  "-big trouble."





Lightning Dust was sitting on the examination table.  The doctor slowly and carefully unwrapped the bandages from her wings.  Applejack and Wayside watched in silence, but Keen Wit was failing horribly at trying to put on a brave face.
"Take it easy twerp.  I'm not dead," Lightning Dust called out to him.  Her brave face had only moderately more success than his.
He trotted up to the stepping stool then jumped up, and up again onto the table.  "It's what Wonderbolts do."  A little bravery showed through his eyes as he carefully leaned up next to her.  "That's why you did it, right?"
"..."  She said nothing verbally.  Instead she answered him with a hoof around his shoulder, a short but warm smile and a slow nod.
"Ms. Dust, I know you're comforting the boy but please, I need you to hold still," the doctor reprimanded her in frustration.
"Sorry doc."
Wayside saw Lightning Dust's courage waver subtly and spoke up, "I want you to know kid.  It doesn't matter how long it takes for you to recover.  If the doc thinks you can get back in the air again, your job will be waiting for you when you do.  I already got the mayor's approval for that."
"And no matter if'n you do or don't," Applejack said in turn, "You're welcome at the farm for as long as ya need, full time or part."
Lightning Dust took a slow and deep breath in order to hold back the tears without messing up the doctor.  "Thank you, both of you."
The doctor finished taking off the last of the bandages and looked carefully at the wings.  There wasn't much to them as almost all of the feathers were gone.  The meat of the wing was about all that was left and it didn't look too pretty either.
The doctor went about examining the wings with an enchanted magnifying glass on a mechanical arm, occasionally adjusting his tool.
"So how are they doc?" Lightning Dust asked as the doctor continued to examine them quietly.
"..."
"Doc?"
"Just give me another moment," he said in an unreadable tone.  A moment later he put away the magnifying glass.  "So do you want the good news or the bad news first?"
"Just give it to me doc."
The doctor lost his poker face and came around the table to face her directly.  "Good news is that the early treatment and Zecora's salve managed to help your follicles heal better than expected.  Your feathers will grow back and you'll be able to fly again when they do."
Lightning Dust smiled weakly, though not in relief.  "And the bad news?"
The doctor shook his head softly for a moment, then drew a deep breath.  "The bad news is the follicles are still somewhat damaged from the feathers being ripped out so violently.  Your new feathers won't be quite as strong as your old ones.  This means your overall wing power will suffer somewhat."
He pointed to the joints at the far end of a wing.  "There will also be some scar tissue around the metacarpus of both wings.  It shouldn't be any problem for normal day to day things but..."  The doctor looked at the guests in the room then back at his patient in silence.
Lightning Dust knew what he meant and practically smothered Keen Wit in a hug.  She closed her eyes in pain and rested her chin against the back of his head, just past his hat.  She spoke up in a weak and crackled voice, "But it's gonna be a problem for acrobatics, isn't it?"
"...Well, it's definitely going to make it harder."


* * *


"Not to sound cold, but now that I have the results I need to go," Wayside said to Lightning Dust.  "I have to get Keen Wit back to school, inform the mayor about the results and help Candy Jar get your extended leave of absence papers started.  See you at lunch Lightning Dust."  With this, Wayside and Keen Wit left the hospital.
"You sure you don't mind taking me in like this?  It will be a couple weeks before the doctors let me help with the heavier farm chores," Lightning Dust asked Applejack as they headed to the front counter from the doctor's office.
"We all know BonBon has to stick to her rules for a good reason and ya ain't gonna be earnin’ any rent money like that."  Applejack pointed to what was left of Lightning Dust's wings.
Lightning Dust looked down and lowered her ears.  "I'll still try to help out where I can."
Applejack cocked her head and gave the pegasus an unsure smile.  "I won't stop a pony from trying to keep her dignity, but don't forget that your main chore for now is getting healed up right."  Her head turned straight again in thought.  "That reminds me."
Applejack moved around the nurse's counter as a nurse met her halfway with her saddle bag.  She pulled out a quilted saddle blanket.  "Granny Smith made this with a few donations from the school foals.  Should keep ponies from staring so much and help with the chill."
"What chi-" Lightning Dust asked just as the lobby doors open, bringing a cool autumn breeze with it.  Lightning Dust instinctively clamped her wings to her sides tightly as it bit at the exposed flesh of her wings.
"That chill," Applejack said as she gently placed the blanket over Lightning Dust's back and wings.  It was just large enough to cover them comfortably without dragging on the ground or being too heavy.
Lightning Dust signed the discharge paper work.  After her copy of the paperwork was safely tucked away in Applejack's saddlebag, Lightning Dust placed a hoof on the blanket.  She looked at the patches it was made from.  "From the school foals..." Lightning Dust said with worry. "Don't tell me they..."  She stared at Applejack.
"Think of you like a big sister now that you're one of Luna's children too?"  Applejack finished as they started out the door.  "Some of 'em."
"...Apple Bloom?"
"Hehe, no," Applejack answered with a smirk.
"Good," Lightning Dust said in bitter relief.  "At least I won't be living with any of th-"
Lightning Dust was cut off as she found herself face to face with Rainbow Dash.  Her rival looked down and away in frustration.  This was unusual because Rainbow Dash was almost always hovering.  Yet there she was, standing in her way.  Lightning Dust tried to move aside, only to find her rival moving in front of her again. "I won't stop you from flying anymore," she grumbled.
"Huh?"
"I won't stop you from flying anymore," she grumbled again.
Applejack gave another smirk with a raised eyebrow to match.  "Come on Dash.  I know you can say it right."
Rainbow Dash looked up from the ground to give Applejack a sour glare.  She then returned her gaze back to Lightning Dust with renewed fire in her belly.  "I still think you're a no good boss's pet, but after what you did for Lyra..."  She looked away again with a huff.  "I won't stop you from flying anymore."  She eyeballed her rival from the corner of her eyes and opened her wings to take off.  "And I still don't like you."  With a strong gust she was gone.
Lightning Dust stood in thought for a moment then turned her attention back to Rainbow Dash fading in the distance and gave a weak smile.  "The feeling's mutual.  See you at work in a few months."
"Actually you'll see her at lunch."
Lightning Dust looked at Applejack oddly. "She's invited too?"
"It's Serra's Kitchen.  She invites who she wants to invite," Applejack said, as she started walking past her.  She stopped again to look back at Lightning Dust.  "Just be glad I've got Pinkie occupied with me-"  She winked.  "-and behave yourself."





Keen Wit got dropped off at the edge of the school yard by his dad just moments after the lunch bell rang to start the lunch period.  "Take care of yourself Keen Wit.  I have to get going."
"I know dad, I know.  You need to get the paperwork started," he said dishearteningly.
"I mean it Keen Wit.  I don't like seeing you like this.  Try to cheer up."  With a nudge on his son's cheek, Wayside finally left.

Twist called out as she ran up to him from her classroom.  "So how is she?"
He looked towards his friend without quite making eye contact.  "She's never going to be one hundred percent again, but she'll still be able to fly just fine when she heals."
"That's...  Well it's not great but it's still good right?  She can still...?"  Twist looked at him with worry.
"I guess so."  He walked past her to go get the lunch Miss Frizz Lane had waiting for him.  "It doesn't really matter anymore."
"You're not still going on about that are you?"  Twist walked up beside him with a look of annoyance.  "I told you already, I'm sure there's plenty of Wonderbolts that are..."  She stumbled over the term she'd come to dislike for a moment.  "...half breeds.  They wouldn't care about that."
"Really!? Name one Twist!"  Keen Wit shouted at her in anger, getting the attention of several of the school foals at the outside lunch tables that were otherwise out of earshot.  He lowered his voice again, but his frustration didn't waver.  "I looked at the library for records on every Wonderbolt's family I could find.  Every last one of them was pure."
His fury started to burn out as he fell into the despair that he had been holding off.  "Name one Twist."  Tears welled up in his eyes as he began to shake.  "Name one."  She came back up to his side as he slumped his head down.  She placed a hoof on his shoulder in support with little effect.  "Name one and I'll believe you."





The dark coated unicorn had been walking around Ponyville, looking for the pony that Sledge had said was in this town.  Her eyes, though weary and tired, showed the primal fire that drove her ever onwards to her goal.
After about an hour of searching, her eyes fell on her target about half a block away from her.  She marched with a demon's speed towards Lightning Dust.





"Are you sure it can't wait till we get to the Serra's place?" Applejack asked Lightning Dust.
"I just need to leave a message for her.  She kinda likes me to call her as privately as possible."
"Alright...  Here ya go." Applejack put a bit in the payphone for Lightning Dust.
"I'll pay you back when I get the chance."  Lightning Dust started dialing the number for Spitfire's office and didn’t have to wait long for somepony to pick up.  "Hello?  Paperclip?  It's me, Lightning Dust.  Could you tell you know who I need to talk to her in the morning?  Some new things happened.  I thought she should know about it as soon as possible."
"Ahem," somepony from behind cleared her throat firmly as she approached.
"Ya, I am calling more often aren't I?"
"Ahe-he-hem!" the pony behind her called again, gently placing a hoof on her to imply she needed her attention.
Shrugging the pony off with a bump, Lightning Dust retorted without looking back, "I'll be off in a second!"
"Uh, Lightning Dust?" Applejack tried to hint at her.
Lightning Dust ignored both of them and returned to talking on the phone, "You know, I might just have enough courage soon to finally call home and talk to-"  Lightning Dust felt the phone being telekinetically grabbed by the pony behind her and saw it placed back on the hook.  Upon seeing the color of the levitation field holding the phone, she was gripped with fear.  Her blood ran so cold it threatened to turn to ice.





Rainbow Dash was taking a rest on one of the low hanging clouds just above town square.  'Do I really want to go to lunch?  I could just head home for lunch.  If I go then they might think I'm wanting to be friends next.'  She faked a gag.  "Fat chance on that."
"Moooooooooooooooooooom!"
When she heard her rival scream in terror, she instinctively flipped around on the cloud and looked down to see what was going on.
"Mom?" Rainbow Dash said aloud.  She couldn't hear what was going on, but she could still see.  She watched her rival struggle from a distance with her mom for a few moments then finally run off in a panic in the direction of the inn.  An evil grin spread across the face of the pegasus watching the scene.  "Oh, I'm definitely going now."





"-oom!" Lightning Dust screamed as her mother pounced.
Chocolate Dust pulled her daughter into a tight hug.  "You're-alive!  You're-alive!  You're-alive!  You're-alive!  You're-alive! You're-alive!  You're-alive!  You're-alive!  You're-alive!" she sobbed ecstatically.  
"Mom?"  Lightning Dust looked at her mother in shock.  "You're not angry?"
"How could I be!?"  Chocolate Dust nuzzled her daughter's cheek so hard it started to hurt.  "Praise Celestia!"  She sniffled.  "Praise Luna!  My baby's aliiiiive!" she whined.
"Mom!?  You don't even praise Luna."
With a snort she responded, "I know!"
Applejack stood there, watching them in a mildly confused silence.  A few seconds pass as Lightning Dust looked around frantically for help.  Finding none, her face hardened.  "I'm not coming home mom!"
"OK," Chocolate Dust responded softly, still holding onto her tightly.
Lightning Dust pried her mother off of her.  Chocolate Dust gave little resistance and let go.  Still looking into her mother's overly ecstatic face, Lightning Dust deepened her scowl.  "I said I'm not coming home!"
Chocolate Dust gave her daughter an even wider smile, tears of joy flowing freely.  "OK," she responded again just as softly.
Lightning Dust failed to even register her mother's response.  She turned away and ran as fast as she could without the blanket falling off.
"My baby's alive..."  Chocolate Dust called again through the sobs as she calmly watched her daughter run from her.





Back in the jail cell.  "She has to be adopted, or from her dad's old marriage or something.  No half breed could hope to be that strong," Silver Tongue stated plainly.  "The moment her 'mommy' lays eyes on her, she'll be dragged home."  He cackled briefly.  "Knowing that old crone that runs the noodle joint, she might even put her in shackles."  He smirked as he flew up to the top bunk to lay down and relax.  "Looks like the curse is working.  We're doing good deeds already."  A sinister smile grew across his face.  "Reuniting a long lost daughter with her mother."
"The joint doesn't just serve noodles you know," Sledge piped in from the bottom bunk.
"Have you ever ordered anything else there?  Side orders don't count."
"...No."





Serra was getting the finishing touches for lunch done when she heard Lightning Dust come in early.
"Serra?  Serra!?" Lightning Dust called out for her from the reception area.
"In the kitchen sweetie," Serra called back.  She could hear the worry in Lightning Dust's voice. "You're early.  What's the trouble?"
Lightning Dust barreled into the kitchen then hopped back and forth between her hooves as if she were on hot coals.  "My mom's in town!" she exclaimed in panic.  "Hide me!"
Serra looked at her blankly for a long moment.  "You still haven't called her?"
"I, um...  Just hide me!" Lightning Dust said frantically.  She went to the counter and opened a few cupboards to find one with enough space to hide in.
"I'll do no such thing," Serra stated firmly as she closed the cupboard door that Lightning Dust was currently trying to open.
"Why bother hiding?  She's already seen you,"  Rainbow Dash asked as she came in the back door.  She pulled up a chair, leaned back in it with a smug look on her face and put her back hooves on the table.  "I couldn't see what you were talking about, but judging by how you ran you're in some pretty hot water.  This is gonna be good."
Serra gave Rainbow Dash a mean look.  "If you fall you're standing to eat," she warned her flatly then looked back at Lightning Dust.  "But Rainbow Dash has a point.  There's no hiding now.  You need to talk to her."  She took her front hoof and pulled Lightning Dust face gently to attention.  She smiled supportively to the worried pegasus.  "Would you like me to make some of my special tea to go with lunch?"
Lightning Dust looked around frantically, much to Rainbow Dash's amusement.  Finding no other options, she hung her head in defeat while still looking at Serra.  "I'd rather hide..." she whined, ears laid back.
"I'll put the kettle on."


* * *


Not long after, Chocolate Dust found her way to the inn with Applejack's directions, entering along side Wayside.  Serra had the tea ready and Lightning Dust was at the table, waiting for them awkwardly.  Rainbow Dash was still leaning back in her chair, watching her rival sweat under the pressure.  Every so often she had to stifle a small laugh.  After the awkward introduction and invite to lunch, Chocolate Dust sat down at the table accepted the mug of tea offered.
"I'm sorry we had to meet under such circumstance," Wayside said to Chocolate Dust, "But please believe me when I say it is an honor to meet the pony that raised such a hard worker."  Lightning Dust looked away from them in irritation and Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, bemused.
Chocolate Dust said a simple, "Thank you," to Wayside then looked back at her daughter.  "There's so much I want to know.  How have you been doing?  What's happened?" she asked earnestly.  "I see you've found a replacement for your old baby blanket."
Lightning Dust gripped the edge of the saddle blanket with her hoof.  "Mom!" she exclaimed in embarrassment.  Rainbow Dash put her fore-ankle to her mouth to stifle a not so little laugh.
"And made a friend."  Chocolate Dust added.  To this, Rainbow Dash stopped her laugh cold and took her turn to look away.
"Mom," Lightning Dust stated firmly.  She then looked at Wayside and Serra again for a way out.  All she found was silent support.  She shook her head in frustration and looked back to her mother.  "If you promise not to get mad until the end, I'll tell you what's happened since I got ki-"  She stopped in mid-sentence and looked down at her mug of tea.  Grabbing it, she looked back at her mother with lowered ears. "Since I ran away."
"Alright," Chocolate Dust responded, once again speaking earnestly.  "I Promise I won't get mad."
Lightning Dust looked at the mug again then to Serra, who gave her a smile and a nod in reassurance.  Lightning Dust swallowed the lump in her throat.  "It all started when I found a technicality in my discharge papers..."

* * *
"..."
"Aren't you going to tell me it's impossible?"
"Go on..."
* * *
"Oh my!  Are you al-"
"Mom, my back's fine."
* * *
"Thank you for taking care of my baby.  If you can tally up the bill I'd be happy to repay you," Chocolate Dust stated in a very businesslike fashion.  Lightning Dust squirmed in her seat at this.
"That won't be necessary," Serra responded with a coy smile.  She gestured with her head to her husband.  "That bill is between me and him.  Let's just say he won't be getting any cider this year."
* * *
"Minotaurs and zebras?"
"Mom, I'm not lying!  It really happened!"
"I know that.  You were never good at lying.  I'm just a little surprised.  Go on."
* * *
Chocolate Dust's voice crackled.  "Your aunt came by and didn't tell me where you were at?"
"Mom!  You promised not to get mad."
"You're right."  Chocolate Dust took a deep breath and did her best to calm herself.  "But I'm going to have some 'choice words' with your Aunt Spitfire later."
Rainbow Dash’s chair tipped back and crashed to the ground.  Serra coughed out the tea she was choking on.  "Aunt Spitfire!?" Serra exclaimed.
Rainbow Dash had a face of worry as she climbed back up to the table.  "Aunt Spitfire!?"
"I knew it," Wayside muttered softly to himself.
Lightning Dust's head landed firmly on the table with a thump.  "And she calls me the loud mouth."  She raised her head from the table only to hit it against the table again.
Rainbow Dash ground this new revelation through her brain for a moment as her eyes darted around with no particular focus.  After it sank in, she looked at Lightning Dust and approached from around the table.  "Is it too late to take back some of that mean stuff I said?"
Lightning Dust rolled her head to the side to look at her rival, revealing a bruised forehead.  "Oh, don't let that stop you from hating me..." she growled irately.
* * *

"There's something you're not telling me Lightning Dust.  I can see it in your eyes."
"..."  Lightning Dust fidgeted in her chair.
"Lightning Dust."  Chocolate Dust looked at her expectantly.  "I promised I wouldn't get mad.  Just tell me."
"...I almost killed some ponies back in th-"
"Your aunt told me about the accident right after it happened.  You're hiding something else."
Lightning Dust fidgeted for a second longer before becoming still.  Her face lost all emotion.  "I said I'm not coming home and I meant it."  She removed the saddle blanket from her de-feathered wings, exposing them to her mother.  "I'm still going to try.  I have to try."
Chocolate Dust's voice went dementedly cold.  "Who did this!?"
Lightning Dust's emotionless demeanor held fast.  "Some punks from that stupid gang back home came to town and tried to pick on somepony with a weak horn."  Chocolate Dust's horn pulsed with energy as her daughter said this. "I...  I played the hero and got hurt."
"Was one of them an oversized pegasus?"  Chocolate Dust's pupils were dilated and out of focus.
This unexpected bit of news shook Lightning Dust out of her emotionless demeanor.  "Mom!?  How did you know?"
"..."  She said nothing for a moment as she seemed to be restraining herself.  "Breathe," she told herself out loud in an attempt to calm down.  After a moment of breathing, her focus returned.  "If Sledge knows what's best for him, he will never show his face anywhere near me again."
Chocolate Dust finished her current mug of tea and breathed again.  She levitated her empty mug to Serra, who happily refilled it.  "So, now that I'm up to speed-"  She took another sip.  "How can I help?"
"Help?"  Lightning Dust asked in an uncomfortable confusion.
"Yes help.  I can see you've left the nest for good, but I still want to help."
Wayside raised an eyebrow.  "You're being awfully understanding about this."
Chocolate Dust looked down and away, the tiredness suddenly returning to her eyes.  "I...  I've had a lot of time to think about it."
"Well she has a place to stay, but she won't be working for a few weeks while her wings heal."
"I see.  Maybe I can send an allowan-"
Lightning Dust jumped out of her chair and slammed her front hooves on the table.  She exclaimed in a crazed anger, "Just go back home to your restaurant!  I don't want any help from-"  She jabbed a hoof directly in her mother's direction.  "-You!"
Before Serra could intervene, Lightning Dust saw her stand and saved her the trouble.  She backed off, quickly grabbed the saddle blanket and stormed out the back door.
As the back door swung back on its spring and slammed shut, Chocolate Dust hung her head.  "She really does hate me."
> Chapter Sixteen: Labyrinth of Feelings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't hate her.  I just..." Lightning Dust rambled as she walked beside Zecora through town.  She had been trying to vent her feelings to the one soul she felt she could trust to listen but not judge her.  The healer had been listening intently as they walked from stop to stop, checking in on the different ponies that she had treated recently.
Mrs. Cake met Zecora at the door of sugar cube corner and received a package of powder from her.  "Thanks for bringing the formula, Zecora.  Now I need to start mixing this batch with their normal milk like you told me, right?"  Zecora nodded and pointed to the directions tied down to the package.
"I don't hate her.  I just..." Lightning Dust repeated as they began to walk down the street again.
Zecora's ears twitched and perked up slightly higher from their already upright position.  She turned to the pegasus in a deliberate manner.
"I just-"  Lightning Dust was cut off when Zecora placed a hoof firmly against her nose.  Though she could still speak through her unhindered mouth, she was too distracted to continue.  Their eyes met and Zecora began to press harder and harder as time passed.  The zebra's eyes showed no expression of what she was doing, but Lightning Dust's eyes began to wince in discomfort, more so as more pressure was added.
The odd moment lasted about ten seconds before Lightning Dust finally struggled away from the zebra's hoof.  "What was that about?"  She nursed her sore muzzle for a moment.
Zecora dropped her hoof.  "Though my actions have made you irate, for me, do you bear hate?"
Lightning Dust processed this for a moment.  Her frustrated face lost a small amount of its confusion.  "...No...  No I don't."  The corner of her mouth perked up ever so slightly as she finally managed to say in example what she couldn't in words.  "So can you help?" Lightning Dust asked in hope as they continued walking.
Zecora raised her head to look up at the sky as she gave a bitter smile.  "All I can do is give insight.  This wound cannot mend overnight."  Her eyes returned to the road as the hospital entrance rolled into view.  "Though time is what can heal the sore.  To let it begin, you must do more."
They walk towards the hospital entrance as the shaman continued.  "Your heart has forgotten the root of your pain.  Dig deep and hard to remember again.  Search for the cause of your heart's divide.  Face the demons you have kept inside."
She gave Lightning Dust a courteous bid good day.  "In this task lean on the ones you love and trust.  I pray you find closure with your mother Chocolate Dust."  With this Zecora entered the hospital and left Lighting Dust to her thoughts.
"Ones I love and trust."  Lightning Dust pondered as she walked away from the hospital in no particular direction.  'I can't just call Aunt Spitfire up and she's already tried to help.  Wayside's a good listener and I don't think he's too angry about me storming out.  I'll start there.'
Lightning Dust reversed direction and started towards town hall to catch her boss when he left work.  It had been a while since lunch and he was probably about to pick up Keen Wit.
Once she had left the hospital grounds an odd thought caught up with her.  "Wait."  She paused there a moment, trying to think but drew a blank.  "When did I tell Zecora my mom's name?"


* * *


"So you can't talk to your aunt, but you can talk to me?"  Wayside asked Lightning Dust as they walked from town hall to the school yard.
"I can't get her involved any further.  Mom would have her head.  You knew who my aunt was and you didn't say anything.  I feel I can trust you."
Wayside raised both of his eyebrows and glanced at her.  "Alright then.  If Zecora thinks you need a few ponies to listen then I'm all ears."
"Well..."





"You seem to have some tension with your daughter."  Serra said to her guest as she drained the dirty dish water from the sink.
Chocolate Dust was a mess, sitting there at the kitchen table.  "What made her hate me?  That's the question I've been asking myself for the last five months.  I want her to be happy, but everything I've done to that end seems to backfire."  Months of worry had left its toll on her and she had no strength for composure left.
"Chocolate Dust.  I might not be as sharp as my husband, but I can still see things.  What I'm about to say, I say as a mare that is both a mother as well as a business owner like yourself."  Serra came over with a hot tea pot filled with a different kind of tea than before.  She set it on down on the table then looked her guest right in the eyes.
"You.  Are.  Not.  A.  Bad.  Mother," she told her then poured a mug.  She placed a mug in front of her guest and sat down.  "Now drink up.  It will help get your strength back."  
Getting the hint, Chocolate Dust sipped the tea and found it filled her with a tiny bit of energy, while at the same time calming her ever so slightly.  She greedily drank the rest of her tea until it was gone.  When she lightly slammed her mug on the table, she found that she had regained some composure.
"I don't know where it started to go wrong.  I tried to make sure she had everything she needed."
~~~~
"She wasn't a bad mother.  She always made sure I didn't go without."
~~~~
"I tried my best to teach her to work hard."
~~~~
"As much as I hate to admit it, some of the skills that have gotten me by I learned from her."
~~~~
"I helped her stay safe while learning to fly by paying for a gym membership.  That way she could practice in peace."  Serra looked at her funny for a moment.  Chocolate Dust turned away from her slightly.  "I hate to admit it, but the streets of Manehattan aren't exactly the best place for a young pegasus to learn to fly."
~~~~
"She always held that Gym membership over my head.  If I didn't put everything I had at work she threatened to suspend it."
~~~~
"It might have been that one time I spoke rashly.  I just wanted her to take her job seriously."
~~~~
"She forced...  OK it wasn't so bad at first, but she forced me to try to learn how every dish was made.  Now unless it's bland-"  She stopped for a brief second and smiled at Wayside.  "Or something Serra makes, I can't eat anything without analyzing it.  She killed my taste for sweets with all those desserts."
~~~~
"I tried my best to get her into the kitchen.  She wouldn't let go of the tips that being a waitress gave.  I tried to explain if she took a better job I could pay her better and she would be away from the crowds but she wouldn't listen."
~~~~
"She never even paid me for working.  She always put every last bit of my wages into some 'account' so I could buy the restaurant from her someday.  Like I'd ever want it.  My tips were my only spending money for all the trouble."
~~~~
"Maybe I should have let her have some of her wages instead of putting it all in the nest egg I was saving for to her.  I was saving it back so she could use it to get her started on whatever she wanted to do.  I was so afraid of there being so little in there by then that she wouldn't have been able to do anything with it.  I wanted her to feel like she had earned it herself.
"I was about to say I could send the allowance from her nest egg.  It's her money really.  All I was doing was holding it for her."
~~~~
"I don't want one red cent from her.  If I let her send an allowance she'll pull some trick.  She's gonna use it to snare me and drag me back to the restaurant.  I just know it."
Wayside had been listening politely, but had to interject when she said that, "Lightning Dust.  That was the most unrealistic thing I have ever heard you say."
Lightning Dust became defensive when he said this.  "What?  You're not siding with her, are you?"  They reached the school yard fence slightly before the final bell rang.
"Hardly!" he said with a huff.  "You know I want you to stay-"  He extended his wings as if he were in flight and moved one of his front hooves as if he were holding a foal in midair.  "For more than one reason."
"Ah!" Lightning Dust exclaimed as her already sore wings stiffen in pain.  "Sweet Celestia!  Don't remind me of that right now!"
He waited for her to recover from the phantom pain before continuing.  "But you need to realize something.  You're old enough to live on your own and be called an adult in Equestira, but you are still young enough for your parents to step in and take the reins if need be."  He turned from her to look towards the school house again.  "She doesn't need to snare you with some allowance to drag you home.  She could just do it."
Lightning Dust had nothing to respond with as this dawned on her.  The school bell rang and the school foals started coming out.
"I think she's genuinely going to let you stay," Wayside said before his son came into hearing range.  Still in his glum mood, Keen Wit practically went through the motions of a hug when he reached his dad.  "I have-" Wayside gestured down to his son with his eyes.  "Other things I need to take care of, but if you still need an ear I think Applejack can help you out."
Wayside and Keen Wit headed home and Lightning Dust stood there for a moment, thinking, 'Applejack...  Maybe, but not while she's anywhere near Pinkie.  Somepony else.'





"Keen Wit," Wayside called to his son as they approach the inn.
"Ya dad?" Keen Wit responded with a little sadness in his voice.
"Your teacher called me at the office.  She said you had a bit of an outburst after I left.  Is this true?"
Keen Wit lowered his head but kept eye contact.  "Yes."
Wayside stopped himself and his son before they entered the front door.  "I want you to know that I'm not mad."  He turned around to his son and knelt down to him.  "But you haven't opened up to me about whatever this is and now it's starting to make you lash out at others.  You know what I have to do, right?"
Keen Wit broke eye contact to look at the ground, pawing the ground with a hoof while he did so.  A second later he nodded his head while still looking down.  "You have to pull the 'stern dad card.'"  He inhaled sharply and let it out in a huff.  "I understand."
"Good," Wayside responded as he stood up.  His face was as solemn as his son's.  "Now go do what you need to, pick out an after school snack and meet me in your room in ten minutes."  With this Wayside went inside ahead of him.
Keen Wit looked at the door for a moment.  "How do I say it to him?"  His ears went limp then he went inside as well.





"Thanks for coming down Sunny Rays," Lightning Dust said with a blush as her old weather team trainer came down from her cloud house—one of two that had a permit to be placed around Ponyville.
"Not a problem.  I needed to get out anyway.  You look-"  Sunny Rays stopped to look Lightning Dust over.  The blanket covered the wings that she knew were injured and the face told her the rest.  "Well you look terrible, but still it's good to see you, and Candy Jar told me you'd be back on the team in a few months.  What did you need?"
"Can we talk?  I need to talk to somepony."





"I'm back from the repair shop.  Your chair is as good as new Serra," Rainbow Dash shouted from the back door to the kitchen.
"Put it back at the table Rainbow Dash.  I have to get to cleaning," Serra called from the reception area.
Rainbow Dash put the chair back.  She was about to leave when Chocolate Dust called out to her from the table, "Wait."  Rainbow Dash turned back to her rival's mother.  "Can we talk?  You're her friend right?"
"No, not really."  Rainbow Dash could see a look on her face that she couldn't bear.  "But what did you need?"
"Well Serra told me th-" Chocolate Dust began to say before being interrupted by a colt in the doorway.
"Gran-Gran?" Keen Wit asked as he weakly stared at the unicorn at the table.  He lightly shook his head for a moment and rubbed his eyes with a fore-ankle then looked back at her once again with better focused eyes.  "No.  You're not Gran-Gran.  Who are you?"
Both the mares looked at the colt oddly.  A question formed on Chocolate Dust's face as they look back at each other.  "He's Serra's son," Rainbow Dash answered.
"Well nice to meet you 'Serra's son',"  Chocolate Dust said as she stood up and came over to greet the colt.  "My name is Chocolate Dust.  What's yours?"
Keen Wit stared at her with the same bewildered face as before.  "...Keen Wi..." he began to answer before his face changed expression dramatically as he staggered back a step, wide eyed.  "Dust?  As in Lightning Dust?"
"Oh?"  Chocolate Dust looked at him inquisitively.  "You know my daughter?"
"Daughter!?"  His eyes shifted from looking at her face to looking at her horn.  "You're her mom?"
"Yes..." she answered with a raised eyebrow.  "That's generally what daughter means."
Keen Wit's breathing quickened as he looked back and forth from her horn to her face. "Her...  Her b-birth mom?"
Chocolate Dust looked at him confused.  Silence filled the kitchen save for the colt's near frantic breathing.  He leaned in slowly.  All other things in the world were oblivious to him as he waited for her response.  
"Not that a young colt should be asking something like that, but-"  He leaned forward so hard he barely kept from toppling over.  She glanced back at Rainbow Dash, who was looking at the colt with complete confusion, then glanced back at the doorway to the reception area.  She looked back down at the colt for a long, baffled moment then finally answered him, "Yes."
He dropped his rump to the floor and his jaw went slack.  "So Lightning Dust is a half breed?"
Chocolate Dust pulled her head back and wrinkled her nose.  "Excuse me!?"  She gave the colt a mean look.  "Why in Equestria does that matter?"
For a few seconds, he did nothing but sit there, soaking in her response.  His eyes closed slowly but tightly as his body began to shake.  Laughter came in the form of wheezing as he tilted his head back and his face went flush.  Once he gained control over himself again, he breathed deeply and answered, "It doesn't matter!"  His eyes opened and his face had lost all signs of his old mood, replaced with an open smile as wide as his the restrictions of his face would let him have.  "It really doesn't!  It-"  His smile is dropped as he realized something.  He turned and ran out of the kitchen, screaming, "Dad!  Dad!" with just as much enthusiasm as a moment before.
A bewildered Chocolate Dust stood there in the wake of the odd colt's response.  Coming out of her daze, she turned to an equally bewildered Rainbow Dash.  "What was that about?"
Not even turning her cocked head away from the doorway, Rainbow Dash responded, "I have no idea."





Lightning Dust and Sunny Rays were sitting on a bench in the park, trying to sort out her thoughts.
"She always hated the idea of me joining the Wonderbolts!  She-" Lightning Dust suddenly found her head being jerked away from the ground that she was staring at while ranting.
"Calm down!  Breathe!" Sunny Rays told her with as stern a voice as she could muster, looking her coworker right in the eyes.
Lightning Dust scrunched up her face and inhaled deeply.  Her ears returned from being pinned back against her neck as she held it for a moment, then finally exhaled.  "She would always disapprove of anything new I tried to do if she hadn't thought of it herself.
"When I said I wanted to try out for the Manehattan weather team, she said I wouldn't make it.  She said I didn't have the drive to study and that I'd hate all the paperwork."  She looked at Sunny Ray's with a smile, gratitude mixing with her frustration.  "We sure proved her wrong, didn't we?"
"Actually," Sunny Ray's responded with a small shake of her head, "We are a little different from the rest of the weather teams.  Because we pay for our supplies directly from our own taxes without any aid from the capital and have followed the rules of the Fair Mutual Aid Clause, we don't have as many regulations or paperwork forced on us."  She gave a short, uneasy laugh.  "The paperwork is a real nightmare in the cities, or so I'm told."
Lightning Dust cocked her head in thought for a moment, then became flustered again and shook her head. "Still, she would always point out how I could fail when I brought an idea to her.  She hated the idea of me doing anything dangerous."  She took a pause to breathe again to temper the anger building in her eyes.
A moment passed as Lightning Dust calmed down.  Sunny Rays looked at her with concern then closed her eyes.  "I'm not saying she was right, but it sounds like she was worried about you."
Lighting Dust rolled her eyes and turned away from her with a bitter huff.
A long silence came as they chewed on each other's words.  This was not the only silence they had done like this as they watched the ponies in the park play and enjoy the first autumn leaves fall from the breeze.  The minutes rolled by and they finally continued again.
"I'm sure there's something else to it, but would you agree with me when I say it's a mother's right to worry about her child?"
Lightning Dust said nothing for a moment as she watched a few colts play.  They laughed and ran as they chased around a ball in the open.  She could imagine a unicorn colt that hid his horn under a hat playing alongside them.  The idea almost put a smile on her face.  "I guess so, but if that's the case-"
Any smile that may or may not have been creeping along the edges of her face vanished abruptly as her eyebrows furl into a scowl.  "Why didn't she?"  Her scowl deepened as she closed her eyes and breathed again a few times to keep herself calm.  "I mean she did, but she didn't."
Lightning Dust's hoof loudly struck the bench they were sitting on.  "She worried about keeping 'her daughter' fed and sheltered, sure."  Her head shook violently for a moment.  "But why didn't she ever worry about the filly named Lightning Dust.  She never tried to support me when I tried to do something."
She began to pant and the scowl started to break, tears beading in her eyes.  "She never supported my dream to be a Wonderbolt.  Not once."
Her panting broke down into a full blown sob.  Her wobbly front legs were barely strong enough to keep her from falling off the bench.  "Why couldn't she accept me for the flyer I was?"
Her strength finally failed and she laid down with all four hooves, leaning towards her companion for comfort.  "Why wasn't she there for me?"  She sniffled.  "Why didn't she ever support my dreams?"
Sunny Rays blushed.  She stroked the mane of her blubbering coworker in the effort to support her as the minutes passed.

When she felt she had cried enough, she pushed Lightning Dust back up to her front hooves.  She looked into her eyes and waited a little longer for her to sober up enough.  "I don't know why.  I wasn't there, but isn't that what she's trying to do now?"
Lightning Dust looked down in thought.  Her breathing was still a little uneven, but her focus was coming back.  "I..."  Her face held the slightest glimmer of a smile before it disappeared into a sigh of frustration.  She looked up at Sunny Rays again with a sour look on her face.  "I guess so, but that doesn't mean it's all OK."  Her ears were still down and her eyebrows started to scowl again.
"Maybe not, but it is a start."
Lightning Dust thought on this for another few seconds.  She inhaled and gave another bitter huff before getting off the bench.  "...Ya, I guess so."  Not even bothering to say goodbye, she started walking out of the park.





Chocolate Dust stood there at the train station.  Though it wasn't nearly as crowded as the city, it was still busy enough to not see the other end of the platform clearly.  She stood near the ticket booth, not quite close enough to have the vendor's full attention.  Her ears were limp but not laid back as she looked back and forth from the boarding platform and the stairs that led back to town.
"Hey lady.  Are you gonna buy a ticket or not?" the vendor asked once he was finished with the last pony in line.
She craned her neck around to face him for a moment without saying anything.  She tried to answer him but couldn't find the words.
"Oh, I see," he said after a moment of looking into her eyes.  He gave a bittersweet smile to her.  "I'll wait 'till you're ready."
She briefly gave a weak half smile back then went back to her pondering.  She once again looked back and forth between the boarding platform and the stairs leading back to town for a few seconds.
She hung her head and activated her horn to pull out her bit bag.  Just as her bit bag left her saddle bag she felt a hoof being gently placed just past her flank.
She turned around to see her daughter looking back at her with just as glum a face.  "Hi mom..."  Her telekinetic grasp on her bit bag failed and it dropped to the floor.  Lightning Dust broke eye contact and returned her gaze to the ground.
"Lightning Dust?  How did you sneak by me?"
"I came the back way," her daughter answered her as she swung her head back towards the stairs on the far end of the platform.
"But Ponyville is that way," she responded with a gesture back to the first set of stairs.
"It was faster coming this way.  I learned a few things from being here so long.  Besides, I had to make a stop on the way."
With the small talk out of the way, the air became thick as both of them went silent and broke eye contact.  Lightning Dust rubbed her foreleg with her other forehoof while her mother waited for her to say something else.  The long moment finally passed and Chocolate Dust spoke up.
"So did you come to see me off?"
"Actually."  Her daughter gently threw her head side to side for a brief moment in hesitation.  "Actually I was wondering-"  She returned her eyes back to her mother, only to have them scrunch up as she continued.  "If you wanted to see where I'll be staying."
Chocolate Dust's ears shot upright, her mouth went slightly slack and she stared at her daughter for a second.  "I'd love to."  In her peripheral vision, she saw the ticket vendor give a warm nod to her then put up his closed sign.





"This place.  It's definitely..."  Chocolate Dust tried to find the words as she looked around the farmhouse of Sweet Apple Acres, after being given the short tour.  "Definitely not what I expected."  She saw her daughter shrink away slightly out of the corner of her eye.  "Don't get me wrong.  It's perfectly fine.  I just wasn't expecting you to be a farm hoof."
"Only part time to pay for the room."  Lightning Dust looked over at Applejack with a look of gratitude.  "My main job is still gonna be the weather team after..."  She paused and glanced back at the blanket still draped over her back.  Her ears drooped slightly lower as she returned to facing her mother.  "Well, you know."
Chocolate Dust looked at her with a face that had many conflicting features.  Her eyes were looking at her daughter fondly.  Her eyebrows showed a little confusion.  Half of her mouth was curled up in a smile while the other was turned down.  "You've done so much growing up these past months.  You've found a job on your own and managed your own bills."  Her eyes lost their luster and her half smile turned to a full but mild frown.
She tried to say something else, but once again had trouble saying the words.  Instead, she turned around and walked out the door.  Lightning Dust took a step towards her then stopped herself.  She turned to Applejack, who had been kind enough to give her permission to show her mom around the place.
Applejack could read the question on her face as the pegasus tried to form words.  "Ya best get to sayn' and listinin' what needs said and listened while she's still here.  Might be a long time before ya get another chance."
Lightning Dust gave a furled brow of frustration and a smile in thanks then went outside after her mother.

Out in the yard the sky was starting to turn orange and red as the sun crept closer to the edge of the horizon, getting ready for Princess Celestia to nudge it under to give way to the moon.  "Hey mom!" Lighting Dust called out.
Her mother stopped and turned around again, her face still filled with subtle pain.  "Yes?"
Lightning Dust trotted up to her and looked her straight in the eyes.  Her face had no particular joy to it, but it wasn't resentful either.  "You looked like you wanted to say something back there."
"..."  Her mother smiled weakly, but failed to get the courage to say what she wanted to say.
Lightning Dust looked at her expectantly for several seconds.  "Would it help if I promised not to get mad?  At least until the end?"  Her ears went limp again as she shied away from her mother's surprised look.  "You did it for me," she stated in embarrassment.
Her mother looked at her with an unsure face.  She fixed the saddle blanket that was threatening to fall off her daughter's back with her levitation then finally started talking, "I can't help but worry about you Lightning Dust.  I'm your mother.  I want to help, but I'm afraid you'll pull away again.  It's nice of these farmers to let you stay for a little help, but how are you going to feed yourself?"
Lightning Dust drooped her ears and looked at the ground at this.  "I had a little saved back before the accident.  I was planning on living off that until the doctor lets me do the heavier stuff around here and go full time."
"You know how reckless that is, right?" her mother asked skeptically.
Lightning Dust lowered her already lowered head down almost to the ground and gave a feeble nod in response.
Her mother tilted her head down and to the side to catch her daughter's gaze again.  Her tone softened.  "That's why I wanted to send you some of your nest egg as an allowance."
Lightning Dust Shot her head straight up at this.  "The nest egg?  But what about the Restaurant?  Didn't you wan-"
"To Tartarus with the restaurant!" Chocolate Dust screamed in anger, though not at her daughter.  "My baby's injured and doesn't have a way to feed herself."
Her daughter pulled her head back as her mouth went slack from hearing this.
Chocolate Dust slowly walked up to her daughter and lit up her horn.  Pressing gently against the back of her daughter's head telekinetically, she pulled her forward and planted a kiss in the center of her forehead.  Lightning Dust's eyes closed and her ears winced back flat on her neck as she did so.
Chocolate Dust's voice had become soft and calm.  "I wasn't being greedy with it."  She let go and backed away a step.  "If you need it, I'll send it.  The money I saved back in it is yours.  It always was."
They looked at each other for a moment.  Their eyes portrayed the emotions they were feeling quite clearly as they did so.  Chocolate Dust's eyes were warm and full of acceptance while her daughter's were filled with uncertainty.  "Besides, the restaurant isn't doing so hot anymore," Chocolate Dust added.  "I'll probably have to shut it down or sell it soon."
"Mom?"  Lightning Dust cocked her head.  Her voice was unsteady as she asked, "What's wrong with the restaurant?"
Chocolate Dust took her turn to look at the ground again.  "It's not the restaurant.  It's the competition.  Our old rival, Mr. Flambe, monopolized on a new supplier from some town down south about a month back.  The stuff is surprisingly good."
"So why not buy from them too?"
She shook her head wildly for a few seconds.  "No other restaurant can buy from them.  I tried.  Something about them having to limit the food they sell and keeping to a deal.  He's been able to raise his prices due to the demand being so high.  He's making twice as much profit off any dish made with that produce than he should.  If he wasn't trying to drive me out of business, he'd raise them even higher."
Chocolate Dust hung her head silently for a second or two.  "But the worst thing is the dishes he makes with their apples.  The Appaloosa Flambe Cobbler is crazy.  He sells it for nearly triple what he should and ponies still buy it left and right."
Lightning Dust perked her ears up at this.  "Appaloosa apples?"
"Yes," her mother answered, almost in tears.  "That's the name of the town he's buying from."
Lightning Dust grinned an almost evil grin as she glanced back at the farmhouse for a brief moment.  "Mom, don't sell.  I can help you with that."
"How?" her mother asked in doubt.
Her grin changed to a smirk.  "Trust me.  I'll tell you before you leave."
"OK...  So where was I before?"
"Oh!"  Lightning Dust's smirk faded and her ears lowered again.  "Nest egg."
"Right."  Her mother did her best to clean up her face with her fore-ankle.  "I want to send you some of it a little at a time if you will let me.  Please?"
"I..."  The uncertainty in Lightning Dust's eyes returned.  "I want to say yes, but I'm afraid."
Chocolate Dust cocked her head.  "Afraid of what?"
Lightning Dust looked into the face of the pony she had been shying away from for so many years.  "Face the demons you have kept inside."
She lowered her head again to match her lowered ears. Her voice is cracked at first as she began to answer, "I-I'm a-afraid of what unsaid strings might be attached to it.  You always pushed me to do things your way, but it didn't always work out and you never really realized how much it dragged me down."
She bit her lip and inhaled deeply.  "I couldn't argue with the pony putting a roof over my head and feeding me, even if my hunches ended up being right in the end.  So I had to bite my tongue and take it.  I don't want to go back to that."
Chocolate Dust stared blankly at her daughter for a long moment when she heard this.  Finally coming out of it she spoke in a near whisper, "Sweet Celestia, I've become my mother."  She stood back and almost had to sit down on the ground.  Having lost focus, she pondered for a good time.
She managed to get her thoughts together and looked back at her daughter.  "OK then.  How about one tangible string instead?  Agree to it and you can rest easy knowing I can't pull any others.  You can even call me out on this if I try to pull something else."
Lightning Dust's raised her ears for a moment at this, then lowered them down again.  "I don't know."
"At least hear me out?"
Lightning Dust raised her head again but turned her face away.  "I guess I can do that much."
Chocolate Dust composed herself for a moment then looked her daughter straight in the still exposed eye, waiting.  Lightning Dust forced her face forward to give her mom her full attention.  "Promise me that when you go back to the academy-"


* * *


Lightning Dust was looking at her mother with shock at what she just asked of her.  She slowly smiled.  "I think...  I think I can actually promise that."
Her mother smiled at her and tried to embrace her in a hug, only to have her daughter shrink away.  "I'm sorry mom.  Not yet.  Give it time.  But I promise."





Two and a half years later at the Wonderbolt Academy's remedial course, Number Twenty Six was standing in the delivery crate that would act as her personal barracks for the next two months.  She was waiting for the door to be unlocked from the outside.
Her coat had been dyed black from her wings to her nose to the tip of her tail.  The enchantment in the dye was particularly potent and would keep it from being washed out for the two months she would be here.  Her flight jacket was also carrying a potent enchantment that made her face and most all of her figure to appear universal.
The few glimmers of features of a second round cadet's figure that still shown through the enchantment would only be able to show the general frame of a mare or a stallion.  Otherwise, the cadets could only be told apart by the numbers on their uniforms.  As a part of the course, a pony had to give up even their identity for the duration.  Twenty Six was her name for the next two months and she wasn't even supposed to think her old one.
The crate door finally unlocked and opened and Twenty Six went forth into the training grounds.  She fell in line between Twenty Five and Twenty Seven as was expected of her.
'I made a promise,' Twenty Six thought to herself.
"Alright fillies!" Lieutenant Colonel Cloud Pepper 'spoke' to them in the volume of what would otherwise be a scream.  "For the next two months, I have been obligated to foalsit your worthless flanks as you make the pathetic attempt to fly as a member of the Wondebolts one last time!"
Twenty Six looked ever so slightly higher than eyes front to look at the night sky.  'I made a promise to her back then.'
"Let me make this perfectly clear!  There will be no pleasing me!  The only thing you could possibly do to please me is have every last one of you turn around and walk back in your crates to go home!  That way you would save me from having to fail you sorry excuses for pegasi and get another two months added to my next vacation!"
Twenty Six resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at that comment.  'One two-month training session a year as her only duty and the rest of it off with full pay and benefits-'  This was the unique perk that only the 'honored instructor' was given out of the entire military branch that was the Wonderbolts.  '-and it still isn't enough for her?  Besides, isn't she retiring this year?'
"And here is a good example of what you will be facing!  Imagine performing a Child's Flight with half your feathers pulled out!"
Twenty Six's wings stiffened in pain from this comment as she did her best to control their quivering.
"That will be the general feel of your morning warmups!  Never mind the actual training!"
Twenty Six looked back up at the particularly bright star she saw a few moments before.  'I made a promise to her, and by Luna's star speckled mane I'm going to keep it.'
> Chapter Seventeen: Redeemed or Damned?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honored Instructor Lieutenant Colonel Cloud Pepper marched down the row of returning cadets.  "As I am sure you are aware, nopony has passed this course in over four hundred years!" she 'spoke' to the cadets.  "There is good reason for that!  After the Wonderbolts became a public air show, it became a joke!"
She stopped and spun around on the spot then shoved her face into Twelve's own, forcing his head back and most of his weight onto his back hooves.  "Every two bit flyer that wanted a piece of the fame joined up!"  Cloud Pepper's eyes were mere inches away from his.  They might as well been spears with how she gave him the stink eye.  "Disorder followed.  Ponies were being kicked out then rejoining faster than a Canterlot noble could change her hat to match the going trend!"
Twelve bolted back to his crate and it slammed shut behind him.  The detection system recognized his unauthorized re-entry with a beep.  The sign up top changed from 'Training' to 'Quit' as the door locked.  "Something had to be done!  We were the elite of the Equestrian air force, not a spa to visit as one pleased!"
A team of pegasi picked up crate twelve as the honored instructor moved out and away from the forty nine remaining cadets.  "And so, Princess Celestia in her wisdom had the re-entry procedures for anypony that had been thrown out from general to cadet reworked to what it is today!"  She turned and faced the entirety of the cadet squadron.  "A nigh impossible course!  Only those who have the dedication deserving of the title Wonderbolt even have a chance at passing!  It took years-" She stomped her hoof loudly on the runway.  "-but we finally weeded out the slackers and returned the Wonderbolts to their former glory!"
She started back towards the direct middle of the squadron.  "When ponies realized they only had one real chance at the honor of this elite force, they finally took the duties of Wonderbolts seriously again!"  She stopped right between Twenty Five and Twenty Six.  "And now you!-"  She turned to look Twenty Five in the eyes. "Pathetic!-" She turned to Twenty Six to do the same.  "Worthless pieces of scum, not worthy to be scraped off the bottom of my hoof, think you have what it takes to achieve the grade nopony has achieved and earn the coveted redemption contract!?"  Twenty Six's ear twitched at this.
Honored Instructor Cloud Pepper's eyes glanced up at the ear twitch as it happened.  "If I hadn't been doing this for so long, such a notion would be funny!"  She brought her head back out of Twenty Six's face and continued down the line.
"The only reason I am still here and not retired is because I have yet to find a suitable officer to be my successor!  I will not let this course, which has held the integrity of the Wonderbolts in the balance, be passed off to somepony that won't do it right!  Nor will I allow somepony that doesn't understand what it means to be in military rejoin!  If I order you to fly, you fly!  If I tell you to land, you land!  If I tell you to do something crazy, you do the crazy thing I told you to do!  The only thing article twenty two tells me I cannot directly order you to do until the course has been completed is to go home!"  She spat at the hooves of a random cadet.  Her nose wrinkled up and her ears went flat as she stared at the pony she had just spat at.  "Believe me when I say I would if I could!"
Over the course of the next hour, Honored Instructor Cloud Pepper continued to drill and grind her squad until three more ponies ran for their crates.





A reddish rust brown unicorn sat on the top of a small hill at the edge of Ponyville, staring off into the distance.  He was still a colt, but he was starting to show the early signs of becoming a young stallion.  Thoroughly strapped around the colt's barrel was a new pair of prosthetic wings, folded to his sides and slightly oversized for him to grow into.  An intricate pattern of pink wire was embedded into the artificial feathers and carefully fed down the wings, up his spine and onto a cap for his horn alongside a smaller set of blue wires.
"She'll be fine Keen Wit," his father called out to him.  "She'll be back in two months' time."
"I'm not worried about her.  She's awesome.  I just know she'll make it.  I was out here for something else."  The colt turned to his father.  "I was thinking about tomorrow.  You have me assigned to Sunny Rays as her wing pony."  He gave his father a furled brow and a smile.
"She's the only one I trust with you while Lightning Dust is at the academy."
Keen Wit stared at him for a good moment as his smile turned into a smirk.  "You know what I mean dad."  His eyes closed for a moment as he levitated the cap over his horn.  His artificial wings sprang to life as the cap latched to his horn's magic like a magnet.  They flapped about excitedly as he let loose, jumping around.  His wings made for some impressive gliding as he circled around his father.  "I can almost take whole shifts up there now.  I want to fly as a lead pony, or at least fly on my own!"
Wayside smiled as he waved his son down.  "Not until you grow out of that condition.  Doctor Pulse says it's gonna be another year at least."
Keen Wit came down to the ground in front of his father.  "Come on!  I've grown out of it already!"
His father raised an eyebrow then came forward and placed a hoof on the tip of his son's horn cap.  Keen Wit gave him an uneasy smile.  "See?"
Wayside pushed on his horn.  Keen Wit closed one eye and started to buckle at the knees under the mild pressure.  His wings lightly spasmed and the eye that was closed began to water, soon forming into a single tear that ran down his cheek.
"No.  I don't see."  Wayside removed his hoof.  "But you will grow out of it before too long.  I'll let you fly freely then.  Don't break yourself before you get a chance to shine."
Getting his stance straight again, Keen Wit looked to his dad with a frown and lowered ears.  His artificial wings even dropped in reflection to his mood.  "Sorry."
"You're growing into the stallion you'll be for the rest of your life Keen Wit."  Wayside smiled at him and gave him a light tap to the chin.  "Experimenting is a part of it.  One little lie isn't gonna make me stop loving you."  Wayside looked at the setting sun.  "We can talk about this later.  Your mom is expecting us back.  Just think about what kind of stallion you want to be while you still can."





Over the course of the next week, Twenty Six was pushed to her limits as lap counts that would only be given as punishment in the normal course were the early warm ups before they were even allowed breakfast.  After a meal that fell short of the calorie needs of the morning, they began other exercises from wing ups to exercises that had nothing to do with flight.  Some briefly cocked their heads at these, but none were brave enough to question orders.  'I don't care if she asks me to pull a cart full of bricks like an earth pony.  I'll do it.  I have to.'
By the end of the first week, the squadron was cut almost in half.  Twenty seven cadets total remained for the first week's scored examination of mid aerial recovery.  The machines they were flung from to practice midair recovery were more heavily built than the dizzitrons in the normal course and they were always set on maximum.  The lack of food made it difficult to get decent scores.  After the final cadet had landed, the Honored Instructor snapped.  "Come on you lazy pieces of manure!  I am past well my prime and can still best every one of your scores!  Eleven point two seconds is the best score you have to give me!?  I could do that in my sleep!"
A stallion who held the best score screamed and charged her from behind.  "Why don't you try it then you old hag!?"  He jumped in the air a few lengths from her, attempting to tackle her from above.  She stood there quietly until the last moment, waiting.
At just the right time, she squashed down and threw her entire weight into a double back hoof buck right to his gut, earth pony style.  Twenty Six's gut quivered at the sight.  'Ouch.'
He laid there for a moment, suspended on her hooves with a look of pure shock on his face.  Cloud Pepper picked one hoof out of his gut while holding him with the other.  With her free back hoof, she bucked him in the face and sent him into a backwards tumble.  He landed on his face and chest in the grass.
"My mama didn't raise no weakling!  You should know better than to challenge the still reigning Wonderbolt C.Q.C. Champion!  I can out power, out maneuver and out strategize any of you!"
'I don't doubt it.  I've seen the abilities of the Pepper family first hoof.'
While her victim lay on the ground bleeding, the Honored Instructor jumped up and loaded herself into the heavy duty dizzitron.  "Activate and release at random!" she ordered the operator.  He pulled the lever and she started to spin.
Ten point eight seconds of flight later, she landed over top of her victim's bloody face.  "You are disqualified on the grounds of breaking silence!"  Looking up from her helpless victim, she called out, "Major Iron Lung!  Get Cadet Copper Tongue to the medical ward and patched up then off academy grounds!"
Half the remaining squadron flinched as they heard the cadet's real name being mentioned.  To run out part way through or be dismissed at the end was to be expected and could be done anonymously, but to have your real name called by the instructor was quite different.  He had broken policy by speaking and the disgrace would follow him through the rest of his life.
As Major Iron Lung and his medical team carried off the shamed pony, Honored Instructor Cloud Pepper looked around at her cadets.  "Anypony else have something to say?" she spoke unusually calmly.  Her voice was still loud, but softer than anything she had spoken thus far.  Somehow it carved her words into their minds in even deeper.  Every cadet, Twenty Six included, shook their heads in one of the only two ways they were allowed to respond: no.
'I have to make it to the end.  My pride is nothing.  Not anymore,' Twenty Six thought to herself.
"All right then!"  The Honored instructor spoke, returning to her old volume.  "With that settled, this set of drills will be the first of many to be added to your final scores!"  She turned to the scoreboard.  "Remove Cadet Thirty Two's score and show them!" she called to the score box.  A large board near the remaining delivery crates revealed the top five scores.
"Well now, I don't see that every day!"  The top scores did not show the actual scores as they were kept secret, but the five highest cadets' numbers were still shown for all cadets to see.  Twenty held the top position with Thirteen, Seven, and Thirty Five holding second, third and fourth respectively.
When Twenty Six scrolled down the scoreboard she was taken back.  Her number was paired up with Seventeen in a tie for fifth place.  The Honored Instructor looked at Seventeen.  "Next week's scores won't be as straight cut!"  She turned to Twenty Six with a look of almost malevolent amusement on her face.  "I wonder which one of you two will manage to stay on the list here on out!"
Twenty Six looked over at the cadet that had managed to match her score.  'It's nothing personal Seventeen.  I'm just not the athlete I used to be.'  Her ears went flat on her head.  'I have to stay on that board.'





Later in Cloud Pepper's office.  "Did you really need to buck him in the face, ma'am?" Major Iron Lung asked his superior.  "You need to remember that you're stronger than most pegasi.  That is going to take some intensive surgery to fix."
Cloud pepper was looking at a photo on her wall of her family.  "Need to?  No," she answered with a voice that crackled with sad bitterness.  "But I have to keep them in line.  They have to fear me."
"I know you're trying as hard as ever to keep the image up, but I also know you have better control than that.  The gut blow alone would have worked."
She passed her hoof over the smiling young pegasus filly that had just been brought home from the orphanage and into the pepper family.  "...Maybe."  She gently touched the face of her surrogate mother in the image.  "Sometimes I wonder."
Iron Lung came up beside her.  "I think she would have been prou-"
"Don't you say anything about her!  You never knew her!" Cloud Pepper shrieked at him.
Staggering, he shrank away from her.  "Yes m-ma'am."
When she gazed upon the fear in his eyes, her anger subsided.  "Sorry Major."  She turned back to the photo. "I should have retired four years ago when she passed, but none of the applicants these last couple years knew what it took to do the job."
"And the four this year?"  Iron Lung asked in earnest.
Her face lit up with hope for a brief moment before returning to its painful frown.  "We'll see.  They're fine officers, but we both know what it truly takes.  It's too bad I can't convince you to take it."
"Hey! It's one thing to know the secret!  It's another thing entirely to do what you do!  I ain't got the spine for it."  He lit up his horn with a brief pulse of energy.  "Besides, it has to be a Wonderbolt.  I'm just a doctor on loan to them."





In the busy streets of Manehattan, an orange earth pony pulled her cart of produce to her destination.  Upon reaching her destination, she was greeted at the door by a dark coated unicorn.
"It's good to see you again Applejack," Chocolate Dust called with a strong smile.  Her eyes show a hidden pain in them.
"It's good to see ya too."  Applejack unhooked her cart and let the restaurant staff start unloading it while they talked.  "Ya still jittery about Lightning Dust?"
"Yes!"  Chocolate Dust went slightly limp as they shift from business to more personal topics.  "How can't I be?  It's no secret that course is grueling, but it's what she wants to do."
"Aw, cheer up!  Just another six weeks left."  Applejack brought out a photo of Lightning Dust entering her delivery crate on the farm's front lawn.  Lightning Dust had shaved her mane completely off and trimmed her tail to exact code length.  Applejack gave the photo to Chocolate Dust.  "Ya coming to Ponyville to greet her when she comes back home?"
Chocolate Dust looked at the picture with a bittersweet smile.  "I don't know.  She doesn't come for the deliveries and she doesn't really have much to say to me when I visit.  I'm not really sure if she would want me there."
"Are you kiddin'?"  Applejack looked at her with a raised set of eyebrows, a smirk and a glint in her eye.  "Last thing she said to me before walking into that crate was that she made a promise to ya and that she was gonna keep it."
"She's still doing that?  I thought she took it back after..."  Chocolate Dust returned her gaze back to the framed photo in her hooves with lowered ears.
"All I remember was she asked ya to hold onto her money for her a bit longer after I mentioned we were plannin' on feeding her too.  I didn't hear her say anythin' about takin' any promises back."
Chocolate Dust caressed the edge of the photo.  Her bittersweet smile shifted to more sweet than bitter.





Two weeks later, Twenty Six was racing through a floating maze as it dropped slowly through the air.  One of the many gas chambers keeping it aloft had been cut and it was a race against time to find as many pony sized dolls to rescue for points as they could.  Once the maze dropped to low, the Honored Instructor would blow her whistle a second time.  When this happened they would have to ditch the maze before it crashed.  Otherwise, they had been ordered to see to it that as many dolls could be rescued in whatever way they saw fit.
Holding a doll in each forehoof and one in her mouth by the nose, Twenty Six darted out of a hole and dropped the dolls in the circle with her number.  That was probably the last full load she would get.  The maze was sinking slower than expected, but she didn't have time to dwell on that.  More points is what she needed.  She had to act fast.
Seven was now in the lead, though by how far only the Honored Instructor knew.  Twenty was reduced to second place with Seventeen holding third.  Thirty Five got sent to the hospital ward for over straining himself and was doomed to never return to the squadron.  Thirteen had been dropped entirely from the rankings and now Forty Four held fifth place.  Twenty Six had managed to hold her own in fourth place, but she still needed to push herself.
Twenty Six bolted ahead and grabbed another doll, cutting off Seven in the process.  'It's everypony for themselves here,' she thought with a grim face.  The dolls were becoming scarce and time was running out.  She needed every point she could get to appease Officer Cloud Pepper.  Playing fair wasn't an option anymore.
Another squad member that was flying out of the maze in front of her hit a bar and dropped his doll.  She dodged around him and grabbed the doll as it fell from his clutches.  She deposited what was sure to be her last double load and raced back inside.  A few moments passed as she darted around paths to find any missing dolls left.  Just seconds after she grabbed another doll and exited the maze, the whistle blew.  Behind her the sounds of devices dropping walls and retracting bars for easy maneuvering out could be heard behind her.  Anypony still inside the maze at this point was expected to ditch the dolls and retreat.  She got lucky on that last doll.
She quickly deposited the last doll into the grasp of a unicorn assigned to assist that day.  Once it was out of her grasp she dropped to the ground like every other cadet was doing.
The ponies that were assigned to counting the dolls counted them quickly as they were being deposited.  Then they gave the results to the booth keeping track of the scores.  After a moment of cool down time for the cadets, the maze finally dropped to the ground gently while being partly suspended by the remaining chambers in the giant gas balloon above.  The Honored Instructor gave the orders to update the scoreboard.
It seemed like the entire squadron turned their heads in unison to look at the board.  Twenty had reclaimed his position at the top.  Seven had dropped to second place with... Twenty Six's jaw went slightly slack.  She could hardly believe it!  She was in third now.  Forty Four now held fourth and...  Three held fifth?  'That's not right.  Where's Seventeen?'  Twenty Six looked around.  From what she could observe of Seventeen the last two weeks, she was probably the biggest threat to her in an exercise like this, how could she have been kicked clean off the list from third place?
"Attention!" Cloud Pepper called to them.
As they came to attention, Twenty six craned her eyes to look at Seventeen's circle though her flight goggles.  The sand that should have been marred by the landing of dolls was completely undisturbed.  'She didn't manage to get any?'  Looking at Seventeen herself, she could see she was panting heavier than anypony else.  She could barely keep her stance up as sweat rolled down her face freely.  There was so much of it Twenty Six could see a puddle of it clear from where she stood in the circle of cadets.  'What happened to-' Twenty Six was beginning to ponder, when she suddenly found herself staring directly into the eyes of her commanding officer.
Snapping her eyes front, she knew it was useless.  She was caught.  Lieutenant Colonel Cloud Pepper had spied her glance though the protective haze of her goggles.  A cold prickle shot down her spine then branched off into her legs and wings as she waited for what was to come.
Cloud Pepper glared at her like she was trying to pry into her soul.  She couldn't fully suppress her breathing as the moment seemed to stretch on forever.  The Honored Instructor slowly pulled her head back, turned to eyeball the rest of the squadron and took an ever so brief pause at the direction of seventeen.  She continued the lecture that Twenty Six hadn't been paying attention to thus far.
"Now that I have all of your attention!" Cloud pepper spoke to the squad.  "I will be assigning teams tomorrow!  Since there is an odd number of cadets, either one of you will be stuck with an extra wing pony,-" She pointed to the far end of the grounds, where thirty eight still loaded delivery crates and one empty delivery crate had been moved to.  "Or I will be sending one of you to the rejects' pin until we finally send you home!"
Another shiver flowed through Twenty Six at the thought.  Being on the list all but guaranteed her a spot on the teams, but that slip up might have cost her.  She knew she was going to pay for it somehow.
"Now get back in your crates and take off your jackets!  You're all due for another shower!"
Twenty Six lowered her ears as she followed orders.  New dye had to be applied every couple of days to accommodate for hair and feather growth before any natural color could be seen and a shower inside their crates was the method of choice.  The enchantment in the dye was weaker each time, but it wasn't any less pleasant.  She has gone through the procedure multiple times already, but she knew she would never get used to it.  If any ever showed through, it was the cadet's fault and disgrace would follow.
Before she entered her crate, she exercised the privilege to look at the scoreboard briefly like many others did.  'Still, third place is better than fourth.  I had to play dirty-'  Her eyebrows furled into a scowl to match the frown on her face.  '-but I'm one step closer now.'  With that thought, she entered her crate.  The doors closed and she got ready for the shower quickly.





"I can do it major!  I can!"  Cloud Pepper retorted to him.  Her stance was uneasy and the smell of vomit emanated from the trash bin.
"No, you can't.  You're slipping.  I saw how you failed to reprimand her," Iron Lung snapped back.  "If you try to go another year, you'll crack and the cadets will see it.  The limit is there for a reason."
"I don't care!"  She stomped a hoof on the floor loudly.  "I don't leave until a replacement is found!"
"I admire the spirit ma'am, but let's face it.  The equilibrium enhancement spell almost didn't last long enough for you to make it to the dizzitron this year."  The two other majors behind him shifted uneasy as they saw the fire in her eyes.  "Even if you put your heart and soul into it like you used to, your system can't take another year of enchantments.  You have to retire or you'll lose your ability to fly."
Her face became soft and her eyes lost focus as she collapsed to the floor.  "I'm still a good flyer..."  Her eyes began to water.
Iron Lung came up to her.  "Yes you are.  You're as good as any Wonderbolt your age could hope to be, but if you're inner ears take another enchantment, your balance will go from perfectly fine to shattered.  Even if the ten year limit wasn't in place, I couldn't give my medical approval."
She placed her head against her friend's shoulder as she gave a loud snort.  "I just don't want to be the first to make Princess Celestia appoint another."
He placed a hoof on her shoulder to ease her shaking.  "Hey, one of them might have the right stuff this year, but even if that isn't the case there is no shame in it.  You'll have seen it through to the end.  I'll support you 'till then."
A moment passed and she stopped shaking.  She slowly pulled her face out of his shoulder and gave a stress releasing sigh.
"Now get some rest and stop worrying about it.  It's literally making you sick."  He gave her heartfelt smile that only an old war comrade could give.  "Doctor's orders."





Rainbow Dash flew into the inn's back door, which had been left open for her.  "Sorry I'm late Serra!" she yelled out as she skidded to a halt on the kitchen floor.  She barely stopped short of the reception room door, which was also left open.
"What are you talking about Rainbow Dash?" Serra called from the stove.  "If anything you're a little early."  She stirred her dish for a moment.
"I lost track of time and I... Oh!"  Rainbow Dash lowered her head and smiled in embarrassment.  "He-he...  That's good then, right?"
Serra stopped the timer from dinging and turned off the oven. "But since you are early, care to set the table?"
"Sure..."  Rainbow Dash flew up to the top cabinet and pulled out some plates.  Her face looked troubled as she went about her task.
Serra raised an eyebrow at this.  "Stop worrying will you?  There's only three weeks left," she said with a straight face.
Rainbow Dash's head shot up from her task.  "I'm not worried about Lightning Dust!  What makes you think that?"
Serra's face couldn't take it as a smile finally burst forth.  "I didn't say anything about Lightning Dust."
Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide, her ears went back and her jaw went slack.  "I mean-"  Her eyes darted back and forth.  "I just-"
Serra gave a hearty laugh then took a deep breath.  "It's alright.  I know you like to keep an image."  She opened the cabinet for the cups, getting Rainbow Dash back on task.  "But seriously, it was years ago.  You're the only one keeping it up anymore."
Rainbow Dash slumped with a blush and went to retrieve the cups.  "I guess I am worried about her."  She retrieved the cups and paused for a moment as if she had more to say.  Instead she went back to the table and continued her task.
"Worried she'll fail?"
"No!" she retorted back with a sour glare.  Serra wasn't even phased by this.  She waited patiently, looking at her guest with questioning eyes.  Rainbow Dash lost her glare and looked back at the table.  She continued with a tone of melancholy.  "I'm...  I'm worried she'll pass."
Serra cocked her head.  Her smile showed both admiration and confusion.  "You think she can do it?" she asked with mild shock.
Rainbow Dash looked away from Serra.  "Not exactly.  She's not as strong as she used to be, but..."
She shook her head for a moment and gave a huff.  "She recovered from full plucking, got Princess Luna to adopt her almost on site-"  She looked back at her host.  "And she's taught a unicorn how to fly!"  She shrank back at Serra's questioning, but otherwise deadpan stare.  "Not that that's a bad thing."
Rainbow Dash shook her head in a softer manner.  "It's just that all my respect for her has been built on the fact she's she won't ever get back in.  That's how she paid her debt."  Her eyes scrunched shut for a moment.  "The course is supposed to be impossible but she's done the impossible before."  Her ears went limp as her eyes opened and look down at the floor, scanning for something to look at.  "What do I do if she passes?"
Serra turned off the burners and went over to Rainbow Dash.  Lifting a hoof to the pegasus's chin, she directed her attention.  "You've worked with her for years now.  If that happens, you'll know it will be because she did it fair and square."  She dropped her hoof.  "I think you'll figure out what to do by then."





'I can't afford to play fair.'  Twenty Six thought right as she butted Seven into her wing pony.  This forced them into the wing pony ring, giving the points for passing through it to the wing of the team instead of the leader.  Meanwhile, she blazed through the lead pony ring and gained another point for herself.  'Onto the next one, fast.'
Seven looped around to go through the lead ring as well.  She couldn't undo the point he had gained for her wing, but she could still get one for herself.  It was a long way around the edge of the academy grounds to the next ring and she wasn't about to make all that time a complete waste.
The orders for the squadron were a vague 'obtain as many points as possible' after the rules were explained.  They were once again given freedom to choose how.  Seventeen was assigned to Twenty Six as her wing pony the week before.  Even though it turned sour in the last graded exercise, it hadn't cost her her position at third somehow.  Still, she wasn't about to let her partner drag her down again.
If she wanted to have Cloud Pepper's approval, she had to fit the bill.  It was the only way Cloud Pepper might give her what she needed.  It tore at her morals, but she just had to do it.  It was that important to her.  Nothing else could let her achieve her goals.
She zoomed as fast as she could through the potentially infinite number of laps available within the twenty minute time limit.  She hadn't lapped anypony yet.  They were all doing the same thing as her; pushing for as many points as they could.  Despite this, she was pretty much in the lead.  She pushed through the old pain of the child's flight that was creeping back into her wings.
She had ditched her wing pony right from the start.  The teams were really just a formality due to the scores still being counted up separately.  A lap's points wouldn't count if a pony didn't fly through at least one of the two rings positioned at every quarter of a lap in order.  The wing ponies were ditching their leads and flying through their own rings anyway.  Nopony bothered following orders to fly through the lead rings with their leaders.
As she turned around a building that acted as a corner for the track, she saw a wing pony turning upward into a loop.  She had just exited the next lead pony ring and was looping around to pass through the wing pony ring.  She must have been knocked off course.  As she came closer she saw the number Seventeen on the barrel just before the pony dived through her own ring and the whistle blew.
'I know Cloud Pepper paired me with her on purpose.  Maybe as a punishment?'  Twenty Six thought as her ears went flat.  She landed and looked at the scoreboard going blank to take in the new tally.  'Still, I wonder if it's possible.  Could-'
"Listen up numskulls!" the Honored Instructor called to them as they gathered, redirecting Twenty six's thoughts.  "Next week is your final test!  Since the lot of you are too thick to get the hint and leave by now, I am required to accommodate you on this last attempt!  Your rations will be increased and your exercises will be reduced!  Get your strength back because you will need every last ounce of it this time next week!  I will have no excuses for you not giving your best performance!"  She turned to the board and gave the command.  "Update the scores and unlock the crates!"
Twenty Six stood there for a moment after seeing the scoreboard show that she held second place behind Twenty.  'That couldn't be right.  My score couldn't be that much higher than Seven's.  How did I-'
"Move it!  Move it!" the Honored Instructor screamed in her ear.
Twenty Six jumped slightly at the reprimand and did a hasty trot to her crate.  'Whatever.  I shouldn't be complaining.  Just one step away now.'


* * *


Later that night, Twenty Six laid in the bed part of her personal barracks.  She should have been sleeping, but a question nagged her mind.  'What's the secret to the grading method?  I gotta figure it out.  There's only one test left.'  She lifted her head and lightly slammed it against her bunk.  'There's no way I'll get through this without it.  What is it!?'
> Chapter eighteen: Clarity and Closure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twenty Six did her best to finish her extra stretches during the independent warm up period between breakfast and the time when the crate would unlock to let her out onto the academy grounds for the final time.  She made absolutely sure every muscle and joint that could possibly be needed was as limber as it could be.
The crate finally unlocked and she snapped her wings to her side to leave.  Adjusting her eyes to the fullness of a sunny day, she quickly got in line beside Seventeen at the end of the line of teams.
Support ponies came up and attached somewhat heavy drag lines to each cadet.  "Listen up!" the Honored Instructor called to them.  "Today is the final test!  This will make or break your chances!"
Behind the Honored Instructor, five fully fledged Wonderbolt majors marched.  As they passed each team they broke off one at a time to stand in front of them.  "Today's goal is to tag the Wonderbolt in front of you as quickly as possible!"
Notably lighter drag lines were attached to the Volunteers by the support ponies.  "You will not, I repeat, will not gain any points for grabbing them by their drag line!"  She placed a single hoof on the flight jacket of the nearest major.  "Only direct contact with them will gain you any points!  The sooner you tag them, the more points you will gain!"
"When I blow my whistle, one team at a time will chase their designated Wonderbolt to tag them by whatever means necessary!"  She dropped her hoof and looked at each of the five teams one at a time.  "However!  Only the pony that tags them will receive the points!"
Before this thought could register properly, Cloud Pepper blew her whistle and the furthest Wonderbolt took to flight.  The first team hesitated for a second before they realized the clock was ticking.  Taking to the air, they chased after their target.
"Permission to spectate granted!" Cloud pepper yelled at the remaining cadets.
With this all of the cadets on the ground turn their heads to watch.  The cadets in the air were fighting for the lead as the Wonderbolt flew ahead easily with his significantly lighter drag line.  Minutes flew by as the Wonderbolt danced around as if to tease them.  The first flight finally drew to a close as he turned around a building, only to find one of the two cadet's waiting for him there.  With an easy downward swoop, the first of the volunteers were tagged and they came to the ground.
"Back in line!"  Cloud pepper called.  The cadet that won was receiving a nasty glare from her teammate, though she hardly seemed to care.


* * *


The other matches were almost identical.  By the time the third team landed, Twenty Six noticed something in common with the flights.  Every Wonderbolt seemed to hold back just enough to tease the teams with their drag lines.  Twenty had obviously noticed this too.  During the fourth team's flight, he bit into it for a brief moment then let go when his team mate thought he had the advantage.  Before Sixteen could realize his mistake, he flew directly into the drag line a full length behind the Wonderbolt.  Their drag lines became entangled and Twenty managed to nab the points in the confusion just over a minute in.
He landed and went back to his place in line on the other side of Seventeen.  As he passed by the Honored Instructor, she turned her head to follow him.  She didn't say anything, but the raised eyebrow and smirk on her face said it for her.
'Is that what she really wants?'  Twenty Six asked herself as the support team ran over to the entangled mess made up of the other two ponies and their drag lines.
A large part of her wanted to give the Honored Instructor a piece of her mind, even if she would be in unbearable pain three seconds into the argument.  'Just a little longer.  You can do it.  Just get through today.'  With a deep inhale, she sighed and waited for the field to be cleared for her turn.





Two months prior to the Wonderbolt academy remedial course, Captain Spitfire entered a dimly lit office.  "You called for me ma'am?" she called to her superior officer sitting at the desk.
"You threw a pony out of one of your training squadrons about three years ago."  Lieutenant Colonel Cloud Pepper didn't even look up as she spoke.  Her eyes were fixated on the mass of applications in front of her, bathed in the light of her desk lamp.  "Do you recall this?"
Spitfire stood rigid to keep her knees from knocking.  "I do.  One Cadet Li-"
"Lightning Dust," Cloud Pepper interrupted her in an irritated tone.  "Your blood niece if I'm not mistaken."
Spitfire's jaw went slack and her eyes went wide.  "How?"
"It's my job to know these things," Cloud Pepper spoke coldly.  "It's also my job to accept only fifty applicants each year.  I have to filter out applicants that don't have the flight abilities and drive to keep up."  Her eyes finally came up from the applications.  They showed clearly against her shadowy silhouette with the light reflecting from them.  Spitfire almost wished she had kept them down with how coldly they pierced into her.  "To do that, I have to figure out many things that I don't have time to explain to every officer that I ask a question to."
Cloud Pepper tilted her lamp to shine into Spitfire's eyes.  "It's not my job, however, to be nice to anypony."  Spitfire couldn't help but squint at the light.  "I don't have any desire to play twenty questions with you.  I don't need to know how you felt when you did it, or if you think she deserves another chance."
Cloud Pepper spun the lamp upwards to reflect light off the ceiling, illuminating the room just enough for a pony to see the room in some color if they hadn't been blinded.  "Now that I've made myself clear, I only have one question for you and I expect your answer to be a single word."
Spitfire's eyes adjusted and she was able to see Cloud Pepper's face was every bit as cold and business like as her eyes and voice had let on.  "Her application says she was kicked out for inexperience.  Which of the three focuses was this under?"
"T-teamwork, ma'am," she sputtered out.
Cloud Pepper's face remained unchanged as she responded in a formal and bland form, "Thank you Captain.  That was all I required.  You may leave."
Spitfire turned to leave.  Just as she reached for the door knob, Cloud Pepper called out to her, "Oh, and Captain."  Spitfire stiffened as she turned just enough to see Cloud Pepper through one eye.
Once Cloud Pepper had Spitfire's attention again, she finished her thought, "I couldn't help but notice some of your 'recent activities'."  Spitfire's ear and cheek twitched and Cloud Pepper's voice became almost threatening.  "It wasn't hard to figure out what you're after.  Now I won't stop you from trying, but don't think it will be easy.  It never is.  You had better grow a stronger back bone.  You will need it.  Keep that in mind."





Back in the present, Twenty Six was in mental overdrive, figuring out how to tag the Wonderbolt volunteer assigned to her fast.  She looked back at the drag line coiled up behind her.  'It won't take full effect until it's fully uncoiled.  If I dash just as the whistle blows to where he's going to be, I might be able to nick him.'  She turned back to the Wonderbolt volunteer in front of her.  'He's a good two lengths ahead.  I'll have to act fast.  Otherwise it will drag out and the score will be worthless.'
The Honored Instructor went into position.  Twenty Six's temporary reprieve was just about up.  'It's a big gamble but there's no other way.  I have to get to the top of that board.'
The Honored Instructor brought the whistle to her mouth.  Twenty Six got her stance ready.  A good launch would be vital.  Her wings would only be able to do so much without the momentum from a launch.  She didn't wait for the sound of the whistle being blown.  Instead, she watched for the pressure of a dedicated blow and risked disqualification from an early start.
When she launched, she didn't worry about being caught.  She had heard the whistle being blown as she launched and prayed it would be enough.
Time seemed to slow as she put every adrenaline filled ounce of energy she could muster into her wing beats.  She could see the path the Wonderbolt volunteer was taking intersecting with her own.  'Come on!' her brain screamed at her wings.  As he came closer and closer, the hope was torn away from Twenty Six.  She was going to miss him by inches.
All of a sudden, the drag line beside her grew tight.  Before she could think, her target's speed fell dramatically.  She crashed into and tumbled over the Wonderbolt volunteer.
She crashed landed into the ground relatively unharmed.  Her drag line sailed over her from its momentum.  She rolled over, sat up quickly and found her bearings.  She saw the Honored Instructor marching straight for her partner.
Her head cleared and she realized what had happened when she saw her partner spit out the volunteer's drag line.  "What in the blazes of Celestia's sun were you thinking!?"  Cloud Pepper screamed at Seventeen as she took a hoof to her chest, picked her up and slammed her down on her back.
Twenty Six's eyes shot open.  She knew the secret.  She grew shaky as she tried to stand.  'Of course!  How could I be so stupid?'
"Is this some sort of game to you!?"  Cloud Pepper screamed at Seventeen.  "Did I tell you to get up!?" she screamed again as she slammed Seventeen back to the ground while she tried to rise.
"You have been the poorest excuse for a cadet I have ever seen, but this takes the cake!"  Cloud Pepper looked up at Twenty Six for a moment.  Her eyebrows shifted when she saw her frantically trying to get her drag line off.  "Just tally up Twenty Six's points and get the cadets back to their crates to go home," she called out in frustration.  "I'm sick of looking at them."  With this, she finally got off of Seventeen and started marching towards her office.
Twenty Six finally got the drag line detached and ran towards her crate.  She tried her best to ignore the sound of the scoreboard shifting her to first place.  She didn't want it anymore.  A memory of a special night flashed through her mind, "The Wonderbolts are a team, Lightning Dust."
Not even caring if her crate had shifted to authorized re-entry yet, she dove in and the door locked behind her.  "You didn't understand this back then-"  She went for the toilet.  "-but I think you're starting to now."
For the second time in her life without being ill, Twenty Six's stomach had the urge to release its contents.  For the first time in her life, she gave into it.  Vomit flew from her and into the toilet until she was empty, only to leave her dry heaving for a fair time after that.
After a few minutes passed and her stomach realized it had nothing left to heave and had finally settled, Twenty Six wiped her mouth off.  "Teamwork.  That's the secret," she spoke to herself in a soft and bitter voice, full of self-loathing.  "Putting the points aside and working as a team."
She took off her flight jacket and placed it back where she had found it two months ago.  She paused for a moment and a tear rolled down her frowning face.  She went to the shower area of the bunker for the final shower that would rinse out the dye in her coat.  She curled up into a ball at the bottom of the shower, waiting for whenever the spray would start.  Her face curled up slightly from its frown, yet couldn't bring itself to smile as she softly muttered two final, painful words, "Congratulations Seventeen."





Hours later in Cloud Pepper's office, Cloud Pepper's forehead was beaded with sweat.  Her eyes darted back and forth across the statistics of her cadets and officers.  "I finally find an officer that can do the job and this happens."
Her hoof came to her temple.  "After hundreds of years of nopony coming close to passing, it had to be this exact one at this exact time.  Ponies would say there were some scandal if I gave both of them what they want."  Her hoof drew back and she slammed her forehead on her desk.
Her head laid there for a moment, still as night.  "What did I do to piss off whatever force did this to me?"
She sat there for several moments, doing nothing but stare at the desk that was barely an inch away from her eyes.  Finally, she pulled her head up.  "There's no helping it," she said with melancholy.  "I'll have to give Princess Celestia the responsibility of appointing a new Honored Instructor.  It's what she would want."
She pressed the pager.  "Major Pit Crew, I've made my decision.  Continue as planned."





Lightning Dust sat there in the dark of her crate.  After a shower with a dispelling agent to rinse out the dye and lingering traces of the enchantment, she felt she could finally call herself by her real name again.  The crates were dislodged from their power docks and sorted for delivery home several hours ago.  There was a long wait in the dark with the crate sitting still.  Then the crate was finally lifted again and she could feel the rocking of her crate in flight to take her home.


* * *


She sat there in the dark of the crate after it landed again.  "We had a good run, didn't we girls?"  Her wings were cradled in her forelegs.  "We gave it our best shot.  It doesn't matter that we failed."   An old promise to somepony dear to her soon played through her mind again.

"Promise me that when you go back to the academy you won't let the custo..." Her mom paused, unsure whether to keep going.
"I said I'd hear you out.  Go on."
Her mom looked back up at her with a little more confidence.  "Don't leave a pony waiting for their food.  Bring it to them the moment it's out of the kitchen.  Don't say that you're too tired to clean that table right now.  Get it cleaned.  Don't get mad when they get upset about their order.  Smile through it and carry on."
Her mom shook her head.  "I'm sorry.  I know all that doesn't make much sense for flying, but basically promise me this: When you go back to the academy, do whatever you're supposed to do the right way.  Don't cut corners.  Don't do it the easy way.  Don't be tempted to cheat or play dirty.  Do it right.  Give it your all so that you can come back home with your head held high, knowing you gave it a hundred and eleven percent."

Lightning Dust hugged her wings one last time then let them go.  She stood up as the door finally unlocked to let in what was like a blinding light compared to the dark she had been sitting in for hours.  "And I kept my promise.  I can leave the Wonderbolts behind me now," she stated firmly and clearly.  She walked out of the crate with her head held high.
"Not if I have a say in it Number Seventeen," Cloud Pepper called out to her in an unusual tone.
"What?"  Lightning Dust asked as her eyes started to adjust to the light.  When she could see around her again, she saw that she wasn't at Sweet Apple Acres.  She wasn't even in Ponyville or Manehattan.  She was in the middle of a Wonderbolt flight gymnasium.
"I said not if I have a say in it, Lightning Dust."  Cloud Pepper approached her with a smile.  
Lightning Dust looked back at the pony that was approaching her.  "What?  Am I being punished?"
Cloud Pepper burst into a hearty laugh.  "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! He! He! Ha! Ha! Ho, ho, ho... "  She gasped for breath and looked back at her.  "No Lightning Dust, just the opposite.  You're being congratulated.  You passed."
Lightning Dust's mind had stopped like a machine that just had a wrench thrown in the gears.  Logic of all sorts was locking up and threatening to break under the strain.  Her head slowly cocked to an impressive angle and was nearly sideways.  "I..."
A long moment crawled by as the two ponies stood there.  "...Passed?"  Her eyes finally blinked, though her head remained cocked to the side.  "How?"
"Follow me to my office and I'll explain."


* * *


"-and you did your best to slow the decent of the maze," Cloud Pepper explained to the pony that sat in front of her desk.  "When you did that, you gave the other cadets time to save more dolls than if you had joined in yourself.  You were the only cadet that understood what I was really asking them to do in the tests."
Lightning Dust had been sitting there absorbing what Cloud Pepper had been saying.  She was still in a state of disbelief.  So much so she had failed to fully close the door on her way in.  "So the points?"
Cloud Pepper picked up a small stack of papers clipped together.  "They're real and counted and all that, but they mean nothing to the grade."   She tossed it into a trash bin.  "They're just a distraction to keep ponies from figuring out the real secret."  She looked at Lightning Dust expectantly.
They stared at each other quietly for a moment until Lightning Dust finally spoke up, "...Which is?"
Cloud Pepper stifled a laugh.  "Oh wow, you are naive!"  She took a brief moment to compose herself.  "The secret is attitude.  A true Wonderbolt doesn't put themselves first.  That's why the real test has to be kept secret.  If they knew, it could be faked."  She shook her head.  "I'm sorry I had to be so rough on you.  It was the only way we could know for sure what you were made of."
She reached into her desk and pulled out a clipboard with roughly a dozen pages on it.  "So congratulations again, Lightning Dust.  You've redeemed yourself and earned the right to be called a Wonderbolt."  She placed the clipboard on the desk in front of Lightning Dust.  "Here's your contract."  Lightning Dust looked at the contract in front of her—which nopony had signed the likes of since its creation over four hundred years ago—with awe.
All of a sudden Lightning Dust was no longer in a state of shock or disbelief.   Her heart raced as she realized that this was for real.  She stared at the contract for a few seconds more then took the quill from the ink well into her teeth to sign.  She came close to the signature line before stopping suddenly.
"What's wrong?" Cloud Pepper asked.
She got no reply.  Slowly, Lightning Dust withdrew the quill and placed it back into the inkwell.  She then skimmed the contract to find a specific section.  Stopping at a section on the third page, she combed the section carefully.
When she was done reading it, she put the pages down and finally looked up at Cloud Pepper.  "This is a full time contract and a twenty year one," she stated distastefully.
"Well of course it is," Cloud Pepper answered in confusion.  "It's the redemption contract."
Lightning Dust looked down at the contract again.  Her breathing was heavy.  "Could I have a part time contract instead?"
Cloud Pepper was now the one in a state of disbelief.  "What?  The redemption contract doesn't have a part time version.  Why would you want one?"
Lightning Dust's ears went limp and a painful frown spread itself across her face.  "The fact is, my wings aren't what they used to be.  I don't think I'd last twenty years."  She gave a huff and pushed the clipboard with the contract back to Cloud Pepper.  "In fact, I don't think I even came back to be a Wonderbolt.  I just wanted to get my honor back."
Cloud Pepper fell back in her chair.  "Figures," she said with a huff.  "Well in that case."  She leaned forward and pressed her page button.  "Major.  Could you come in here please?  She...  She turned it down."
She pulled herself upright again.  "There's somepony else that wanted to talk to you once you were done."
Lightning Dust looked at her with disinterest.  "Who?" she asked halfheartedly.
"One of the officers I had in the squadron as a decoy.  Your partner, Twenty Six, ironically.  Had you accepted the contract, you would have been sworn to claim her number as your own to keep others from learning the secret by studying you."  Cloud Pepper stopped for a moment as something occurred to her.  "Speaking of which.  You will still have to swear an oath to secrecy, even to family.  Are you sure you don't want the contract?"
Lightning Dust shook her head.  "I have something else I have to do.  There's a colt that wants to be a Wonderbolt waiting back home for me to teach him more about flying.  I thought I wanted to follow in my aunt's hoofsteps and be a Wonderbolt, but now I realize I just wanted to make her proud of me.  She taught me to shoot for the stars and now I want to do the same for him.  How could I make her proud of me if I abandon him?"
The ajar door creaked open behind her.  "I couldn't be prouder of you if you had come from my own womb, Lightning Dust," a familiar voice called from behind.  Lightning Dust's heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
"Well Major Spitfire," Cloud Pepper called to the pony Lightning Dust had fell out of her chair to see.  "It looks like you're stuck with my job after all."
"Yes.  I guess I am." Spitfire responded.  Her mane was no longer than Lightning Dust's, barely over an inch tall.
"Two solid months of swallowing your pride to don the mask of the heartless Honored Instructor," Cloud pepper said with a raised eyebrow.
"And pretty much the rest of the year to be with my special star chaser and her little brother," Spitfire said with a smile as she rubbed the partially grown back mane of her stunned niece.
After absorbing the last part of her aunt's statement, Lighting Dust came out of her shocked state.  "Damn it to Tartarus!  He's not my little brother!" she screamed at her aunt.
Spitfire couldn't help but give a hearty smile at her short tantrum.  "But you do love him like one, don't you?"
Lightning Dust lowered her head.  Her ears drooped and a blush formed across her meekly smiling face.  "Ya.  I guess I do."





At Sweet Apple Acres, Lightning Dust's delivery crate was finally being delivered.  As she stepped out she saw only the stallion Big Macintosh at the place.  Judging by the empty cart hooked up behind him, his being there to greet her was pure chance.
"Hey Big Mac, I'm back," she called out to him meekly.
He watched the team of delivery pegasi pick up the crate again and head back towards the horizon from which they came.  "Eeyup."
"Is Applejack around?"
"Nnope."
"Keen Wit?"
"Nnope."
Her head dropped with her spirits for a brief moment.  "They're all at Sugar Cube Corner dearie."  An elderly pony called out from the porch.  "They didn't know exactly when you'd get back.  So they told me to send you their way when you came."
"Thanks Granny Smith," Lightning Dust called out as she started towards town.

As Lightning Dust walked towards town, she saw a shape in the sky she was expecting.  "Hey Auntie!  Down here!" she called out to her aunt.
Spitfire came down and landed beside her.  "Sorry about being late."
"I know."  Lightning Dust gave her a brief nudge on the chin with her head, then started walking towards town again with her.  "You had to take the scenic route."  She brought up her wing and ruffled the back of her aunt's full length mane, impressed. "And you had to... get your hair done.  Come on.  I think they're waiting for us."





Outside Sugar Cube Corner, they found Rainbow Dash standing next to the door.   When she saw them approach, she walked up to them with her head held low to Spitfire.  "Captain," she called out in formal greeting.
"Actually It's major now, but I'm not here as a Wonderbolt.  I'm here as Lightning Dust's aunt.  So you can stand easy private."
Rainbow Dash lifted her head slightly and looked to Lightning Dust with a question burning in her eyes.
Lightning Dust turned her gaze from her rival.  "No.  I didn't make it, Rainbow Dash."  Her ears went flat on her head as she spied something in the window.  "I'm not a Wonderbolt," she said through clenched teeth.
Rainbow Dash slowly raised her head to fully upright as an uneasy smile came over her face.  "Y-you gave it your best shot, r-right?  Come on in.  We've been waiting."

As they came inside, a crowd of familiar faces greeted them.  Friends she had gained over the last few years were there to welcome her back.   There was no loud hurray or noise makers.  The warm smiles said it all.  They stood or sat where they were as the three pegasi came in and waited for her to mingle at her own pace.  Even Lyra and Pinkie Pie did their best to keep calm as they saw her.
She looked around and barely saw a scuffle of movement at the kitchen door.  "Excuse me everypony.  There's something I need to take care of real quick.  I'll be right back."

She went into the kitchen area and found Keen Wit quietly crying in a corner.  "Hey twerp.  Come here and give me a hug.  I missed you."
He got straight up from the floor and practically tackled her.  "You didn't make it," he pouted.
"No, I didn't," she said as she gently stroked his mane.  "But thousands of ponies tried before me and they all failed.  It doesn't mean anything."  She pulled out of the embrace and wiped his tears.  "I didn't give up on myself.  So don't you dare give up on yourself either.  I believe in you."
She stood up again.  "Now come on.  There's a party out there and I know you're hungry."

As they exited the kitchen, Keen Wit took a pause and let Lightning Dust move on without him.
Spitfire stood next to him.  "Hey.  You're bummed out on how she didn't make it, right?" she asked softly.
"Ya..." he answered with his eyes to the floor.
She came down and whispered into his ear.  "Well let me tell you a secret.  Don't tell anypony else though or I'll get in big trouble.  Not even Lightning Dust.  She didn't get the contract, but she came close.  I can't say anymore because it's classified, but I swear by my new title as Honored Instructor, she came close."
Keen Wit broke his gaze from the floor and looked up at her.  His smile was unsure and his eyebrows were furled.  He then looked back across the room at Lightning Dust, spoke a simple, "Huh," and just like that his sour mood was gone.





Lightning Dust looked around the room for a specific pony with waning hope.  She slumped down in the nearest seat and started to despair.
"Sorry I'm late everypony.  There were delays with the trains in Manehattan," Chocolate Dust called from the door.
"Mom!" Lightning Dust called out to her.  She got up and met her part way across the floor.
The brief moment of joy soon faded as they both broke eye contact and let their ears droop.  Chocolate Dust bit her bottom lip and Lightning Dust rubbed one foreleg with the other.
"It's good to have you home," Chocolate Dust finally piped in.
Lightning Dust looked back at her mother with an unsure gaze and a weak, quivering smile.  Slowly, she walked up to her and placed her head and neck against her mother's.  With a mildly distasteful smile that her mother couldn't see but surely knew was there, she brought up a hoof and completed the hug.  "Thanks for the advice mom.  It really helped."
Her mother paused in minor surprise before managing to return the hug briefly.  The hug ended and they were looking at each other face to face again.  Their faces were still riddled with mixed emotions as Chocolate Dust fought up the courage to ask a question, "Your father's birthday is coming up soon.  It will be about the time of the next delivery from Sweet Apple Acres is due.  Would you like to come visit?"
Lightning Dust smiled and looked away shyly.  After a moment of thought, she looked back at her mother sincerely.  "I'll think about it."