Rainbow Dash is the element of Loyalty. She sticks by her friends- regardless.
Rainbow Dash is the element of Loyalty. The living embodiment of the concept of being there for someone, through thick or thin, but no matter who you are, the road of redemption is a long one. And a hard one- even with help from somepony like Rainbow Dash
(Oh, you're going into this story blind, but Rainbow Dash isn't the only character)
She felt guilty; watching the night sky tear itself to pieces. It was a storm. It was a bad storm. The rain drove itself into the ground, mercilessly condemning the earth underneath to a savage beating. The wind tore into itself, lashing violently into the night sky as if trying to soothe an endless anger. The lighting rippled across the sky in jagged lines of white rage and the thunder blared like some devastating war drum, promising suffering to anypony whom might oppose it. And even though she knew it might be silly, Rainbow Dash felt guilty anyway. She didn't know quite why exactly, but watching the sky, her sky, destroy itself with it's own fury was upsetting her.
Oh, she knew very well that it wasn't her fault. That it was nopony's fault really. They never really had control. They could shift the weather, yes. Could manipulate it, change it, and modify it for their needs. A sunny day here, little shower there. But to control it? To dictate to the very sky itself what it could, and could not do? The idea itself was laughable- if it weren't so utterly horrifying. Not her fault, no, but as a captain of the weather team, it tore at her.
Twilight had once mused that changing the weather to suit the needs of ponies disrupted some sort of natural flow of nature itself. Meddling with it's 'schedule' caused the random anomalies of the weather that were dangerous, and while Rainbow hadn't given it much thought at the time, now the conversation haunted her. Could she have been doing this all along? Crushing the sky itself with her weather work? No-no, these things just happened. She was sure of it, but still, asking Twilight about it couldn't hurt.
The lightning bit through every corner of darkness in Rainbow's house, flashing through the halls and doorways with a sickening crack, but she'd long been used to the sounds of storms. The endless echoes of thunder, and the volume of the lightning barely caused the twitch of an ear, and it was precisely that reason, that Rainbow caught the sound of something else. A dull thud in the explosions of the storm. Something not made from the storm itself- outside it's range of influence. Hail, perhaps- but then there it was again. Soft blue ears arched violently into the air, and Rainbow whipped her body around towards the front door. She'd been sitting in the kitchen, the power of the storm having woken her up in the wee hours of the morning. There it was again- this time three in succession. A knock. Somepony was knocking on her door. In the middle of the night. In the middle of this terrifying display of nature's power. The sound echoed through the house once more, and Rainbow bounced to her hooves. It was insanity- knocking at the door, at this time of night, in this kind of weather- so what did it say about her; she who answered the knock.
On her doorstep, stood a pony. Her mane had lost it's pretentious and arrogant spikes- tufts of gold now drooping down into her face. Her fur was ragged, the aqua colored coat drenched in freezing rain, and her eyes-those hopeful, expressive golden eyes, no longer had the spark Rainbow Dash remembered. A pony of broken dreams and savage nightmares trembled before her. A pony Rainbow Dash once considered a friend.
"Lightning Dust?" The name was sputtered and broken. Never, had Rainbow Dash expected Lightning Dust to appear on her doorstep, broken and soaked, and clearly in dire need of help. Help, Rainbow Dash was not hesitant to offer.
The voice was little more than a whisper, fractured and shredded as it trickled past her throat. "I...D-don't have anywhere go. " Humbled words. Words Rainbow Dash never wanted to say- words that made her cringe just to think about. Words she never wanted to hear from a pony like Lightning Dust. Slack jawed and at a loss for her own response, Rainbow simply nodded her head and stepped to one side, beckoning Lightning into her home. She shuffled inside, her steps were sullen and quiet, anchored by defeat and depression. Rainbow Dash hated seeing it even more. Lightning Dust was so much like her they might as well be sisters. Watching her hurt like this was a stabbing pain in her heart. Lightning Dust was just like her, before the hard lessons of Loyalty were carved out for Rainbow's destiny. Younger maybe. Reckless definitely. It was a strange juxtaposition Rainbow felt, staring at Lightning Dust. She was suddenly the responsible one in the house. The wiser one. She shivered.
"You know, I thought you were reckless, not nuts. What the hay are you doing out in the middle of a storm like that? And how did you find my house? Do you have any idea how dangerous flying is during a-" Rainbow paused, her words lost to the sight of Lightning dust having fallen asleep on the couch. Exhausted and tapped out of every last drop of energy she had. Rainbow Dash knew that feeling- track and acrobatics back in flight school had done that to her.
"Guess we'll talk in the morning. " Rainbow said quietly. Silently, Rainbow Dash opened the closet in the hallway, and rifled through what scant clothing she had to pluck out a blanket, which she gently pulled across Lightning's frame. Outside, the wind howled, and the lightning split the sky in two. Lightning Dust however, was fast asleep through it all. You could sleep through a hurricane, if you were tired enough. Rainbow knew that first hoof, and Lightning looked like she'd had better days. Gazing one last time at Lightning Dust, and pinching herself to make sure this wasn't a dream, Rainbow Dash wandered back into her room, and tried to drift off to sleep. She had the very distinct feeling that she would need it and she'd need to take the day off of work tomorrow. This was going to turn out to be an adventure.
"...So..." An echo. Something Rainbow Dash had been expecting, sitting on the other side of the table from Lightning Dust. She and the other pegasus had a lot in common - enough so that occasionally the similarities bothered her. Like there was something uncanny about it.
They weren't identical, though. Rainbow hadn't been that brash and reckless since-
Rainbow Dash blinked. That's what it was. That's what was bothering her. Lightning Dust was just like her, but not how she was now. Lightning was just like she was when she was younger, long before she met Twilight and the others. Lightning was her if she'd never grown up.
A silence rippled through the room as the clock on the wall slowly ate the seconds in between words. It was midafternoon and while Rainbow Dash had gone into the weather station anyway and taken stock of the damage that the storm caused she only made it half a shift. To her disappointment, the damage was much more extensive than she'd thought; the storm had been much more powerful than she'd gathered watching it. Then again, it always was when mother nature had her way with things. Once the weather station had its orders, Rainbow took off for home and was surprised to find Lightning Dust still there - sitting at the kitchen table. Waiting for her.
"Wanna talk about it?" Rainbow asked, her voice a tender whisper - as if a single decibel louder would shatter Lightning Dust like glass. The aqua pony turned away, peering out the window with a pensive stare.
"Nothin' to talk about. I needed a place to crash. You gave me one. You get to tell all your friends how I'm a loser and I'm pathetic. So here's what's gonna happen: I'll leave, you'll never see me again, and we can forget this ever happened. Deal?"
"I won't." Rainbow Dash sighed. Lightning Dust perked her ears.
"You won't?"
"I won't."
"Won't what?"
"I won't tell my friends and I don't think you're a loser." Rainbow Dash explained quietly, using the same calming voice Twilight sometimes used when she was talking to a frustrated Rainbow Dash. Lightning Dust gave a disgusted snort and shook her head, narrowing her eyes at Rainbow Dash as a spark of anger erupted inside of her.
"Pity from the great Rainbow Dash? Element of Loyalty, lap dog to the princess and in close with the Wonderbolts. I suppose from your position as a high horse the only thing you could feel would be pity," she grumbled.
It was Rainbow Dash's turn to snort, and she rose up resting her forehooves on the table with a sharp huff. "First of all, shut up. I earned the element, I earned my spot with the Wonderbolts, and I earned my favor with the princess. Secondly, if I say we can talk, we can talk. If I say I'll kick your tail, I'll kick your tail. And if I say I don't think you're a loser, then I don't think you're a loser. " Rainbow snapped.
Lightning leaned back silently, glancing down at the floor and then back towards Rainbow Dash quietly. "So what do you think I am I then?"
Rainbow Dash gave a quiet grin and leaned back as well taking on a more relaxed pose. "Well uh...You're like me, I guess. I've never met anypony who loved the Wonderbolts as much as I did, until you came along. And we can fly. I mean we can really fly. You and I flew circles around those cadets at the academy. Honestly, I sorta kinda admired you a li'l bit. You pushed yourself to the limit and past. You weren't held back or restrained or anything. You were...well...it was like you were free. I wanted that. I wanted to be free." Rainbow said quietly, forcing Lightning Dust's eyebrow to raise.
"Yeah? Why didn't you? You can be free too ya know? What's holding you back? You wanna be the best don't you?" she asked curiously.
Rainbow frowned, searching for the answer sitting on the tip of her tongue. Why did she restrain herself? Why not fly recklessly with complete abandon? Why not push herself to the limit and go as fast as possible? And the first thought that popped into her head was Fluttershy. Fluttershy, followed by Pinkie Pie, followed by Applejack, followed by Rarity, followed by Twilight. Her friends. Who would take care of them if Rainbow wasn't around? They'd never be able to keep up with her, going at full speed. Did being the best mean leaving all her friends behind? Is that truly what she wanted? It hit her like a bolt of lightning from the sky. The difference between her and Lightning Dust.
"Being reckless gets you hurt, and if I wasn't around, who would protect my friends? I can't afford to be reckless. 'Sides, I'd never leave my friends behind. Would you?" Rainbow explained quietly. For a moment, her mind flickered to images of Tank, and the race that lead up to him being Dash's first and foremost.
Lightning Dust scowled and stood up. "Are you saying that's why I'm reckless? I don't have any friends? I've got lots of friends, you loser!"
Rainbow Dash nodded her head. An answer she'd expected. "Then why did you come to me and not go to them?"
It was a simple question, but one that caught Lightning Dust off guard nonetheless. She paused, opening and closing her mouth, looking for an answer that wasn't there. She stood up, as if to leave, than sat down, as if she remembered she had nowhere to go. Now she was mad. This deep inner rage that was bubbling up towards the surface.
Rainbow knew that rage. She'd felt it before. She hated that rage, when you were lost within yourself, and facing something you couldn't understand - it was infuriating, especially once you thought you had yourself already all figured out. Rainbow absolutely hated being lost, metaphysically or otherwise, and now Lightning Dust was lost, trapped in a hurricane of feelings, emotion and confusion. All she wanted in life was to fly, just like Rainbow Dash. But Rainbow found something richer in life through her friends. Something worth more to her than the sky, and her wings. Something that Lightning didn't have.
But she could have it...
"ICE CREAM!" Rainbow screamed suddenly, forcing Lightning's Dusts ear's to perk in shock and drawing her out of her emotional spiral.
"The hay? What does ice cream have to do with anything!?" Lighting snarled.
Rainbow flashed a grin. "What? You don't like ice cream?" She asked smugly.
Dust tilted her head curiously to one side. It was working. Push her right into thinking about something else, and she would forget about the previous train of thought. At least temporarily.
"...Well...Yeah, but-" Dust began, but Dash cut her off, motioning towards the door, and flashing another smile. If Lightning Dust needed friends, then that was something Rainbow was capable of doing! They were friends once before, and now it was obvious Lightning Dust needed her help and Rainbow wasn't one to turn her back on her friends.
"So let me get you a cone. Ice cream is freakin' awesome! I'll show you around town, come on, it's summer, it's sunny, it's perfect! You've had a rough few days, I know a place that serves the most awesome soft serve in Equestria!" And with that, Rainbow was up and out the door on impulse, leaving an extremely confused Lightning Dust in her wake.
Rainbow Dash already knew what Lightning Dust would do even before she stepped out the door. An offer for ice cream and to get outside and get some air? Explore the town and not be cooped up inside? Oh, Lightning was easy to guess - she was just like her, after all. Rainbow Dash grinned. She'd taken a page from Pinkie's book, using treats to defuse a tense situation, and it had worked perfectly. She would have to discuss more ways to make friends with her, if she wanted this to work.
When Rainbow caught sight of Lightning Dust leaving her home, a plan already started to form in her mind. First, Lickity Splits, for the best ice cream in Ponyville. Then, Sugar Cube Corner, After that, she'd give her a tour of Cloudsdale, and then? A race at Ghastly Gorge to burn off all of that sugar. It would work. That's the kind of day Rainbow would want, which meant it couldn't be too far off from the sort of day Lightning would want.
Friends fixed everything, and if it was friends Lightning Dust needed, than it was friends Lightning Dust was going to get. After all, friendship was magic- so what could go wrong?
